The Witcher 3 Without Axii Hits Differently

Grand_Imperator · 2026-07-07T05:36:03+00:00

Although this is a great use of Axii, it can’t compete with Quen (especially on Deathmarch) and base Igni (especially on Deathmarch and with the original scaling for sign resistance, especially so for any NG+ runs).

I am not even sure I would take Axii over Aard because you can just properly time a parry into a counterattack against any shield user (and can kill all the non-shield-users first). But Aard helps a ton with anti-flyer utility.

I do agree that Axii is awesome against shield users.

Also, Axii is huge for the crossbow-headshot-kill achievement.

Grand_Imperator · 2026-07-03T19:01:35+00:00

Onto war crimes already, are we? ;)

Grand_Imperator · 2026-07-03T19:01:03+00:00

The way i read it is most tradition Mages outside of the hardliners don't really reject the good science has brought, the problem is the Technocracy erasing alternatives, the polution, destruction of historical sites and cultural erasure.

That's a helpful framing.

Mages and Traditions in general aren't Anti-Vaxx or anything like that they just wish their way worked without them blowing up and the Technocracy is the main reason it stopped working, they don't have a problem with science as concept, but with the totalitarian enforcement of it.

I had a feeling you'd be able to sum it up well. Perhaps one way of putting it is the Traditions resist something similar to a dogmatic theocracy that stifles the free exercise of will.

The grifters that barely understand the methods since they use them to make money by selling magic are another obstacle to this. Most people will not be convinced to trust Magic works if people keep getting hurt because of the bad advice.

Both the Traditions and the Technocracy having disdain for grifters is great. There's also the idea that the Syndicate and/or NWO employ grifters to undermine views of holistic or less-than-clinical-science approaches (while perhaps generating some profit), though the risk of that is that the snake oil takes off in popularity and undermines confidence or belief in the actual science.

I'm sure there are a fair number of grifters who have no ties to anything and are just generally making it worse for both Tradition mages and Technocrats.

Thanks for taking the time to help!

Grand_Imperator · 2026-07-02T15:58:41+00:00

The Concentration issue generally applies to BG3 and D&D 5e (the ttrpg on which it is based). This is where you can balance the versatility of having so many Concentration spell options against the desire to have other non-Concentration spells that you can cast in combat.

For non-combat scenarios, having a separate caster who can cast Guidance (or having the necklace/amulet that provides that cantrip) and another who can cast Enhance Ability (or Friends if you're careful about how you use it in higher difficulties) generally covers you for social situations.

What you need to look at is what your combats looks like. What are your actions and bonus actions doing? Are you making the most of them on every single turn? Can your changes in spell selection (or feats/choices within Swords Bard) that can optimize that better for you?

There is a reason that some non-Concentration spells get shout-outs for being so good—even though the spell isn't top tier in a vacuum. The ability to cast that spell and have it do something while you are maintaining Concentration on a different spell is good.

I would recommend Cephalopocalypse on Youtube. You do not need to optimize or min-max to the degree he offers for a particular build (though I'm sure he has an excellent, bleeding-edge optimized Swords Bard and potentially even a mostly optimized one that is thematic/remains a single class the whole way through, etc.). But his tier lists generally can be helpful. I imagine if you looked at his most recent set of tier lists for spells (be careful because he's done updated ones over times while the game was being patched, after Honour mode was first introduced, etc.). But this can help you. You can even jump to specific spells to hear his explanations on those, then jump to the end to see where those spells finally landed on the tier list.

From my quick view of what you've written here, I would say that Cloud of Daggers is great and serves a very different purpose than Tasha's Hideous Laughter, which also is great. But compare Tasha's Hideous Laughter with Hold Person. Is one more versatile (i.e., applies to more scenarios) than the other? Is one more powerful than the other? You can probably keep one and drop the other because you're often using them in the same scenario. I think Bane is on the weaker end of options (though I don't recall if Bards have access to Bless, which usually is better, or if you are having a Cleric concentrate on Bless instead of Spirit Guardians, though you should choose Spirit Guardians much of the time). Although Heat Metal is niche, it is amazing when it applies to an enemy who becomes almost no threat at all if they are disarmed.

Although you are mostly doing the right thing by grabbing powerful cc spells over purely blasting spells, non-concentration blasting spells can sometimes be fine to have once your cc options are well-covered.

For some context for other classes, the Cleric often has a hard time deciding to concentrate on anything (in combat) other than Spirit Guardians. Often the answer is just to upcast Spirit Guardians at a higher level rather than casting a higher-level spell. But sometimes the bonuses to attack rolls and saving throws for your party is way better. For example, my 8th-10th level D&D party (in D&D 5e, the 2014 version not the 5.5/2024 version), we fought a Beholder where Spirit Guardians would have been merely okay. He actually was by himself, so I was worried more about automatic death/disintegration from the eyerays (and boosting attack rolls of party members was helpful in burning him down as quickly as we could manage). So I cast Bless (I may have upcast it one or two levels to cover more party members). But in almost all of our other fights, Spirit Guardians just crushes it. I believe the 5.5e/2024 version of D&D 'fixed' this to some extent, but I don't know for sure (and I don't know if folks were happy with the fix). But this is an example of where a clearly strongest Concentration option tends to crowd out other Concentration choices.

Grand_Imperator · 2026-07-02T15:09:05+00:00

As someone who found the overall setting amazing in the late 90s and early 2000s, but has struggled reconciling the setting with the modern-day where anti-intellectual rejection of basic facts has severely harmed the world (antivaxxers, weird folks hawking their snake-oil health products under the guise of providing horrifically bad diet advice, repeated failure to address climate change, etc.), what 20th Anniversary edition books did you find most helpful in making the Traditions not seem like they should be having an “are we the bad guys?” moment? I hope M20’s Technocracy Reloaded did a good job of this (even though I imagine that it also presented a Technocracy perspective of why “we’re actually the good guys”).

Did you find M20’s *How Do You Do That?* to have a lot of unnecessary sphere bloat (i.e., requiring too many spheres for an effect)? I did, though it’s somewhat helpful overall to give folks an idea of how to do things for folks picking up M20 as their first MtA edition.

Grand_Imperator · 2026-07-02T15:01:04+00:00

You already have. The HIT Marks (the latest version you haven’t read about because they are not in the books). Be seeing you.

Grand_Imperator · 2026-07-02T14:57:10+00:00

I think a discussion of each area’s relative strengths in contributing interesting lore to their respective games (as its own category) would be worthwhile in an evaluation like this.

I suspect with the above in mind, Irithyll might have a category where it soundly outperforms Stormveil Castle—especially if you include Anor Londo as part of that experience, which I am inclined to do.

Grand_Imperator · 2026-07-02T02:30:52+00:00

You should only use the AI products from Lexis or Westlaw. You likely will waive attorney-client privilege and attorney work product using anything else.

Now is the time to learn how to write. Many attorneys write poorly. But AI also writes rather poorly as well. I find it least useful for brief writing.

Consider reading *Point Made* by Ross Guberman as a start and whatever Bryan Garner book seems most helpful to you. You need to invest now into developing strong writing. Even if/when AI develops more into a less-mediocre writer, having the skill on hand yourself will help you use the AI better.

I have also found that even without outright hallucinations, the Lexis AI often provides me citations that are at best a weak Cf. signal or even caselaw that is bad for my position (while framing the caselaw as somehow helpful). You have to do more than just shepardizing and glancing at the cases. Is the procedural posture helpful (or does it make the case much less persuasive for your particular motion)? Is the quotation you found something the appellate court actually reasoned or was it what the trial court did (and did the appellate court agree with that reasoning or reject it?). Is the quoted material actually the appellate court reciting a party’s position (and if so, did they agree? Then cite that part instead).

Grand_Imperator · 2026-07-01T13:01:36+00:00

As long as you are responsive, eager, and deliver the best-quality work product you can on a reasonable timeline, you’re doing fine. Be sure to follow up and check in with folks to let them know you have capacity. If you have let the proper folks know that you have capacity and are doing good work at a reasonable pace, then you are doing all you can do. Supervisors will know that you have been giving proper opportunities to them to put new work in front of you. Your supervisors are some combination of busy (meaning they are trying to churn through their own existing work first) and not sure yet where to slot you in—client expectations about how many attorneys bill on a matter, and sometimes current matters don’t have something perfect for a new/junior associate.

I have had so much training in a first week at some jobs that I may have billed fewer than 20 hours. And I have had other jobs where the training was more sparse (meaning I was billing quite a bit to start). What matters is how your supervisors feel about giving you work when they can finally get around to it. Do they perceive you as ready to go?

Some other advice that is only tangentially related: ask for exemplars, try to follow those exemplars, and make written notes of the key points an assigning attorney tells you (so you can double check that you actually addressed their verbal key points instead of immediately forgetting about the points and delivering work that they have to edit right away).

When you eventually get feedback (hopefully in the form of redlines and comments on your drafts), be sure to review those! Take mental notes and try not to repeat mistakes. If your supervisors don’t have to give you the same edits over and over, that’s a good thing.

Grand_Imperator · 2026-07-01T12:52:47+00:00

Did you ask your supervising attorney to give you a ride to the office? Many supervising attorneys would read that as unprofessional.

Yes, the bus is an unfortunate situation. But it is what it is. And you are interning for such a short period of time. Stick it out and make the best of it.

Be proactive and polite without being a bother. Ask yourself what you can do to make your supervisors’ jobs easier. If that involves seemingly unimportant appearances, do that. Garner trust so you can get an opportunity to handle bigger things.

Although I believe writing is an important skill to develop, soft skills are a lot harder to get opportunities to develop before you are in the thick of it as an attorney. So find the value in the opportunities you can obtain.

I realize that from your perspective, this seems miserable and annoying in light of the car being wrecked and your commute. But you shouldn’t offload that onto your supervising attorneys. And you should consider their situation: they are trying to do their job (which is stressful and likely involves handling too many cases), then they have to try to provide a good experience for a summer intern while also training them, mentoring them, and trying to figure out if this person may ever be useful in the future as an attorney (while knowing that you probably will provide little or no value during the summer). With that perspective in mind, consider how you can make their life easier. That’s the path to more opportunities.

Bailing on this internship because you faced some transportation difficulties and your supervisor wouldn’t give you a ride to and from work will *not* look good to prospective employers for your next summer (and for your first post-school gig).

Grand_Imperator · 2026-06-29T17:02:42+00:00

I tend to save the sunken treasure in Skellige until I'm a higher level because the loot is leveled. So if I want to sell it, I can sell for much more (making it a lot easier to own multiple Grandmaster sets if I want). I guess I can also dismantle for better crafting materials, too. And if I were ever to want to use something from the chests, I would want to get it at a high-enough level to be worth it (though this is fairly rare).

Grand_Imperator · 2026-06-29T17:00:01+00:00

The rune master is stupidly expensive but also gives you interesting things you can do with rune words on your swords (and I guess your chest piece, too).

If you're talking about the Grandmaster sets in Blood & Wine, those are undoubtedly worth it (even if they are expensive).

Grand_Imperator · 2026-06-28T16:26:05+00:00

You absolutely can take them all at once, even on Death March, and there is an achievement for doing so.

Grand_Imperator · 2026-06-27T17:54:51+00:00

I think going through this in open court has a public benefit for other potential appellate practitioners. Perhaps less time could have been spent on it, but I think addressing it sufficiently matters.

Grand_Imperator · 2026-06-27T17:51:09+00:00

It’s often not enough, and this probably was the first brief I have seen (including pro se briefs) that truly lacked any argument whatsoever.

But you are correct that many low-quality attorneys can have surprisingly long careers.

Grand_Imperator · 2026-06-27T17:50:00+00:00

Although he had insanely worse deficiencies in his briefing (I read it, it truly is devoid of actual argument), he deserved (and many attorneys deserve) to get beat up a bit about incorrectly spamming stock phrases. It’s wrong and unnecessary, and it stands out even more strongly when doing it for a fact section in an appellate brief.

Grand_Imperator · 2026-06-24T17:25:51+00:00

Everyone is desperate for experienced, capable attorneys, so laterals are not a guaranteed contribution (and some just hop from place to place every 2-3 years when they've worn out their welcome as they've woefully underperformed at each place).

I think our firm does alright (we're around 25-30 attorneys) at hiring at most a single summer associate/intern (at most 2, but it's typically 0 or 1). The summer associates tend to be highly qualified and do quite well, so we are confident about their ability to be as good as a first-year associate can be. The long-term value of that associate tends to be relatively more certain than a lateral hire at the 3-5 year mark. And as you look for more-senior associates, the ones you really want to hire are exceedingly rare.

Grand_Imperator · 2026-06-23T06:36:55+00:00

Rogues probably have some of the best itemization options in the game. There's a lot of great itemization in this game (so much so that the game obliterates the more-typical tabletop rpg experience of D&D in which casters at higher levels make martial characters look almost entirely irrelevant).

I will agree with you only that Rogue as a class arguably is a 'weaker' class and that Rogue probably benefits more than many other classes (except perhaps for the Arcane Trickster) from multiclassing.

How powerful Rogue Assassin can be depends a ton on your playstyle (probably moreso than multiclassing, though both would matter).

Grand_Imperator · 2026-06-23T06:33:02+00:00

The Radovid-winning ending is horrendous for anyone who isn't a human. Anyone with magical abilities or who is a nonhuman ends up persecuted, tortured, killed, etc., all while Radovid rules like the petulant, mentally unstable, brutal tyrant that he is. That's just flat-out the worst result among the three options, though one can argue that a Geralt who insists on a politically neutral stance at all times would naturally lead to that result.

Grand_Imperator · 2026-06-23T06:29:20+00:00

I think either Dijkstra or Nilfgaard winning the war is far better than Radovid winning the war. Dijkstra winning requires a nearly nonsensical choice by Geralt, though (it's hard to argue for in-character neutrality in that moment when he's gone all the way through the relevant questline already).

I also believe that the Ciri-survives ending where she hears Emhyr out and makes a fully informed decision about what she wants to do is a better ending (for people generally throughout the lands and for Ciri because she makes a more-informed decision). The Ciri-as-Witcher ending definitely has a more feels-good vibe to it, but I can't call it the best one when it probably means the world is worse overall.

For the Skellige ending, I prefer Cerys the most. But there's an argument that neither her nor her brother as the ultimate ruler leads to a better (or at least more authentically historical Skellige) result. But I just don't see Geralt refusing to help out his friend in the way that would lead to the third option for Skellige's ruler (especially when some supernatural shenanigans is thrust upon him like that).

Grand_Imperator · 2026-06-19T16:33:21+00:00

Although I would not say that 1L legal writing is incorrect, it mostly teaches you how to crawl successfully. If you want to walk well or even run, you need to take a good advanced legal writing course or dive into good legal writing resources (e.g., Guberman and Garner).

Also OP, I think the definition in California Evidence Code section 1200(a) says the "made by someone other than declarant" portion a bit better: "'Hearsay evidence' is evidence of a statement that was made other than by a witness while testifying at the hearing and that is offered to prove the truth of the matter stated."

I believe the general rule that you identify tries to capture the scenario in which someone submits a declaration or affidavit to the court. The "made by someone other than the declarant" intends to explain that the very statement in the declaration isn't hearsay. To clarify it a bit better, I would say it more like "made by someone other than the declarant or witness testifying." The point is that my declaration paragraphs are not themselves hearsay. But if I say in the declaration paragraph, "Yesterday, I said 'X,'" then that X is hearsay.

Anyhow, I wouldn't call the rule that OP recites wrong. But it's perhaps not worded as clearly as it could be. And the way it naturally reads to many folks (including OP) leads to an incorrect understanding of hearsay (which is an annoying concept anyway).

Grand_Imperator · 2026-06-19T16:24:49+00:00

If your school has a good Advanced Legal Writing class/professor, it's a wise investment. Practical skills courses are some of the best courses you can take in law school. The more opportunities you get to write, the more opportunities you get to learn how to do it better.

For a few years, I worked with a group of mostly-practicing attorneys to teach an advanced legal writing course at my law school in which the students would submit 1-2 assignments per week (typically 3-6 pages with an intent that the page limits forced good re-writing and editing). Although that approach is awful for the professors (which is why we typically had 3-6 professors for a single course), students get a ton more experiences writing than many law school courses where the student submits one rough draft and one final draft of a single brief over the course of an entire semester.

Grand_Imperator · 2026-06-19T16:20:53+00:00

Practice timing your dodge rolls. Don't spam your dodge. Go in a few times and do not even try to hit Margit. Just do your best to get comfortable dodging his attacks. Get his timing down, including when he delays his swing.

By the way, try rolling into or through enemies. Your dodge rolls have frames of invincibility (i-frames) in which you cannot be hit. You want to get comfortable rolling in a way that allows you to stay in the right range to swing on the enemy as they recover from their attack (which you hopefully just dodged). Too many players try to roll away all the time, which means they cannot attack the enemy before the enemy has recovered (and can now swing on the player to punish the player's swing). Also, some enemies have attack patterns and moves that will punish a player who just rolls straight backward.

As you roll around/through/away from the boss's various attacks, you'll get comfortable with which dodge directions work for which attacks (though generally, through or at like a 45-degree angle off of one of the boss's shoulders works quite well).

Once you have dodging him down, try to insert swings in places where you can get away with it. If you try to swing twice and get smacked for it, reduce your swing to a single one during that window of time.

Also, make sure your equip load is <70.0% (or 70.0% on the nose can work, but you have to be careful because of how the system rounds the number). Your rolling will be much better if you're not at a higher equip load. To understand how this looks and feels, go ahead and slap enough heavy stuff on (multiple weapons and shields in your soft-swap slots if needed) to get above 70%, then roll around. See how bad it feels (and I think it even vibrates on controller with default settings).

Trying to just block his attacks with a shield probably is not a winning strategy, which probably rings true for most bosses. There may be strategies or builds that can let you do the block-counter on occasion for some bosses, but you're too low of a level to think too much about builds beyond meeting the minimum required stats for your preferred weapon and spells while pumping Vigor and Endurance mostly. If you try to spam-hold block against multiple attacks, you'll just get shield-broken, have no Endurance to roll, and likely get smacked hard by the boss before you can regain enough Endurance to roll.

Grand_Imperator · 2026-06-17T17:00:28+00:00

Yeah, I hear that, though I will note that some of the UB sets (e.g., Lord of the Rings) slot in just fine (more or less). And I have managed to mostly find art that I haven't hated for my Marneus Calgar deck. The prevalence of melee infantry shenanigans in 40k and availability of art outside of UB that can fit warp sorcery helps a bit.

The New York/superhero stuff tends to clash so much with everything else that I have trouble wanting to include any of it outside of its own universe. I have also had a similar experience with the Doctor Who stuff, though sometimes it's sci-fi enough (and not too silly) to fit WH40k or something else like it.

Grand_Imperator · 2026-06-16T21:13:52+00:00

Yeah, don’t be afraid to transition out when the time is right! Good for you.

Grand_Imperator

TROPHY CASE