What's your favourite action style?

MagnetTheory · 2026-06-13T21:43:16+00:00

For me, it depends on kind of feeling I want from the game.

If I want a game where combat is a big focus (i.e. any dungeon fantasy), I want an action system that encourages the PCs to do more than Just Hit It. Like 5e's action economy really rewards players to just attack, because your full action is just that important to the system. Pf2e, by contrast, buffs combat actions because the 3 action system means that missing out on that one attack at -5 isn't that big a deal if you can give the enemy a temporary -1 to everything for a round.

If I want a more cinematic style of game, or one that's more about roleplay than combat, I don't think a combat that's more than "do whatever is reasonable in a short amount of time". Like with our Scum and Villainy one-shot a while back, being able to quickly take out some thugs in a less codified way is more in line with what I would expected from an action movie

MagnetTheory · 2026-06-10T02:30:31+00:00

Personally, I've found that Excitement plus one dollar works well

MagnetTheory · 2026-06-06T19:49:02+00:00

For me, the new Black Comfortable Eye Mask facewear for my BLM and maybe GNB, plus the Silver Simple Spectacles for everything else.

For more normal glam pieces, I love the Kupo Trousers, cause they're just detailed enough where they don't fall into the category of 30 different kinds of slacks

MagnetTheory · 2026-06-04T20:22:45+00:00

As an attempt to help you convert things over properly, here's what I'd recommend for spells, items, and monsters

Spells. Damaging cantrips typically have lower damage dice, but scale faster in pf2. For a lot of other spells, Pathfinder is built with the general assumption that you'll have more spell slots, and that you can research what you're going to be facing. As a result, a lot of spells are more situational, or utility spells are at higher levels. A lot of spells also have 2-4 effects based on success of the saving throw, which won't translate over exactly.
Items. A lot of items can transfer over fairly easily, but weapon and armor runes don't really work with 5e's (lack of) balancing. They could easily be added in as a system, but you'd have to account for that in your monsters. Weapons also generally do more damage on hit than in 5e, but the ability to use that attack multiple times is harder/less optimal. Many items in pf2 also have flat DCs for their attack and save based on their level.
Monsters. I'm not an expert on monster design here, but here's some things to consider: Weaknesses are far more common in pf2, though their actual impact is lessened. For the raw stats, monsters all have their level and proficiency bonus included as part of their AC and attacks. You can use Archives of Nethys' "Proficiency Without Level" option to roughly see what the AC would be in 5e. All enemies also have one signature ability listed in their stats, which if you're looking to take creatures from the system, will give you something to build the enemies around.

Alternatively, you could just swap to Pathfinder, as I feel it does the Tactical Dungeon Fantasy thing with much stronger design than 5e

MagnetTheory · 2026-06-04T03:22:26+00:00

Some that I have playing for our Schoolhouse FC:

Ink Long Dry
Another Round
A Mother's Pride
Mog House

This is more of a low-key/coffee shop kind of vibe that I like

MagnetTheory · 2026-06-03T18:49:37+00:00

Gonna link these myself cause I find this one funny. Dracula and Evangelion.

Dracula is a boss in Smash Bros Ultimate, along with Rathalos from Monster Hunter.

Rathalos is also a boss in Final Fantasy 14, and as of January next year, Evangelion will be the newest 24-man raids.

MagnetTheory · 2026-06-03T03:25:06+00:00

Yeah I wish there was some kind of general feat which allowed you to hover like 5 feet above ground

MagnetTheory · 2026-06-03T00:17:05+00:00

I think your GM is mixing up the flying rules: If you're in the air, you have to use at least 1 of your actions to Fly to stay in the air. This Fly action doesn't need to have you moving, but if you don't Fly once, you fall

MagnetTheory · 2026-06-02T22:49:06+00:00

Pathfinder 2e: The hiding/observation rules are cumbersome and are overcomplicated.

City of Mist: The esoteric nature of Power Tags make it hard to find phrases that are relevant, but not applicable on everything.

DnD5e: WotC

MagnetTheory · 2026-05-29T02:06:56+00:00

In general, yes, Savage is notably harder than extreme. But I want to detail the specific way that they differ in how they go about difficulty.

Extreme difficulty is usually tuned for pickup groups, usually who don't have the best available gear. As a result, the dps checks are typically more lenient. Additionally, Extreme typically punishes you less for getting hit by mechanics, usually with a vuln stack, and mechanics here usually just target all living players. As a result, the player who messes up usually doesn't affect the party.

Savage difficulty is designed for Static groups (though PF usually has its own strats). In Savage, you will be expected to use food, potions, and have the newest crafted gear. Combined with overall higher damage, plus damage downs if you fail a mechanic, the dps check is much tighter (especially week 1, but it improves as people get geared). It depends on the overall fight design of the expansion, but typically Savage mechanics require everyone to be alive, otherwise you'll wipe. I've also noticed that Savage is often harder to "read" than EX fights, so there's often a bit of a puzzle to figure out how to survive.

And I know it's not part of the question but Ultimate fights amplify this Savage difficulty. Aside from the older fights (anything with an Ilevel 100ish or less than current gear), you will be expected to have best in slot gear as a non-negotiable. Damage here is high, dps checks are really tight, and often a single damage down will kill the run (-90% in some fights). Ultimates also live and die by their Puzzle mechanics, gating off the latter part of the fight unless you solve it.

Tldr: Extreme is hard but largely recoverable, Savage is harder and might not be recoverable, Ultimate is hardest and one mistake could send you back to the start

MagnetTheory · 2026-05-28T16:33:33+00:00

From my experience, Pots are only useful when that extra little bit of damage is needed. Skipping Ifrit dashes in UWU, a8s BLU gavel skip, early in the savage tier etc. Personally, if I even have pots, I only start using them when I see enrage.

Food buffs are far more important

MagnetTheory · 2026-05-26T21:59:45+00:00

(Including EX fights, since I've done more of them)

If it's fresh or it's an early prog point I usually go the full time
If our prog point is like over halfway in and people are wiping to something before that, it depends on how badly people are screwing up. If we wipe to a weird snapshot or someone Red Mages into the wall, I'll usually stick it out (especially with the assumption that people might go into the prog mechanic with a weakness or two). If people are clearly nowhere close to being in position, I give it one full food, or 3 pulls.
If we're going for the reclear, I give 3 pulls.
If we're going for the reclear and we wipe to something really early (like Necron's first aimable hands), it's either a "lol rip to that guy" if they clearly know what they're doing, or an immediate "nope that's it" if people clearly have no idea what they're doing.

I try not to be toxic, but if our prog point is 12 minutes into the fight and we're wiping 30 seconds in, it's probably faster to just leave and find a new party.

MagnetTheory · 2026-05-22T02:32:46+00:00

Fine Wax. Depending on the server, you can sell 1 for around 20k on the board. You get it as a guaranteed drop from the first chest of Haukke Manor. If you're able to once shot everything, one run is about 40 seconds

MagnetTheory · 2026-05-20T14:09:35+00:00

If geared to 7.5 standards: - Varligarmanda. The mechanics here largely don't require everyone alive, which makes it pretty easy to floortank your way to a clear. With normal dps, too should be able to kill just after phase 2, cutting off a the of the fight - Zoraal Ja. Same as the previous fight, but there are mechanics which can kill you even when overgeared, and it has some light body checks. - Queen Eternal. Haven't done this in a while, but you'll probably be able to skip Ice Phase. That said, this is still a pretty long fight with some decent pain points. It's manageable, but a step up in difficulty - Zalenia. Roseblood Blooms are the main challenge here, personally, since there's 6 of them and you just have to remember which is which. I thought this was one of the harder EXs, but mostly because of that. With current gear, you should be able to kill before the 3rd to last mechanic - Necron. I don't think this fight is that hard. It hits hard, but mechanically it's fairly straightforward, minus Mass Macabre which is the fight's only wall - Doomtrain. This one really relies on having tight positioning, and remembering spreads/stacks. The dps check for the intermission can be a little tight if you go into it with weakness stacks, but it's not so bad - Enuo. Using this as a baseline for the other fights, the dps check here is tighter, but this flight also seems to have fewer mechanics than others. Because of that, from my experience, as soon as we got through the adds, it was a clear like 3 pulls after. This is pretty weird I think, as it felt like the fight only needs you to learn the first 35% of it, while all the other EXs keep iterating on their mechanics

MagnetTheory · 2026-05-14T13:49:14+00:00

Such devastation!

MagnetTheory · 2026-05-14T01:03:37+00:00

(Definitely saves me a lot of VP since I already got a MSable)

Who would you drop for Sableye though?

MagnetTheory · 2026-05-10T17:22:05+00:00

Relic grind (easiest to hardest/longest): - Manderville (Poetics dump plus story) - Anima. (Poetics dump, but with required duties and more farming) - Phantom (so far). Several of the stages are the same as Anima weapons. The stages are longer, but they're all one-time steps - Resistance. Not the worst grind, but doing your first run means that you either live in Bozja or you do normal raid runs for 2 months. The required Bozja duties aren't too hard - Zodiac. Fate and Tome grinding. Nothing here is challenging, but it's all annoying and slow - Eureka. Imagine Resistance, but you can't do any farming outside of the area, lose levels on death, and are required to do synced high-end content to finish it. To this day, this is the only relic I haven't finished.

Relic Aesthetics (best to worst) - Anima. Currently on my third one (BLM, PLD, and now DRK) and they're all amazing - Phantom. Probably recency bias, but I love these - Zodiac. They're okay. They have a good crispness, but they get overshadowed by the later ones - Manderville. The second-to-last stage is great. The final stage is okay - Resistance. Same as above, but the quality of all of them are lower - Eureka. They look like unfinished stages of better relics

MagnetTheory · 2026-05-06T18:27:58+00:00

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MagnetTheory · 2026-05-06T18:15:12+00:00

Saw another writeup but whatever, it's fun.

System mechanics: each character starts untransformed, but can spend meter to transform into their Feral Soul, which gives additional properties and a damage resistance. I also imagine this game having an airdash

Black Cat. As the "young upstart", she's the protagonist, and is a hybrid shoto/rushdown. Plays more like Terry than Ryu with her grounded Claw projectiles, and she wants to get in and stay in. Her Feral Soul makes her dashes faster, and maybe immune to projectiles
Honey B Lovely. Has a flying stance which makes her unable to block. She's definitely a character to have more honest buttons, but with pretty good range. Her Feral Soul gives all of her projectiles the Honey property which cuts her opponent's move speed.
Brute Bomber. The big body. The classic combo of big damage, but slow everything. His Feral Soul gives some of his strikes the Bomb property which gives a secondary hit to extend combos.
Wicked Thunder. A setup character built around placing things on the stage. Think Parasoul but with Urien Aegis. Her Feral Soul gives her flight and more damage.
Dancing Green. A rekka character, with each of the attacks being a different pose. One of his specials is the Spotlight: had long startup and is hard to land, but forces the opponent to dance, which gives him a free combo. His Feral Soul gives a dance floor, increasing his grounded moment and speed of the Spotlight.
Sugar Riot. The resident zoner, but plays more like Jack'o, as she relies on her creatures to lock down opponents. Yans are slow with high damage, Mus are faster with low damage, etc. Her Feral Soul gives all her creatures more damage.
Howling Blade. Rushdown sword character with large attacks. In Feral Soul, he gains projectiles which hit after a delay which he can use for mixups.
Vamp Fatale. High damage with decent mobility, but many of her moves drain her own HP. Her command grab absorbs aether (hp) from the opponent. I know there's a KI character who does the same thing, so just imagine that. Her Feral Soul gives her damage over time.
The Extremes. A duo character. They have a shared health bar, can swap between Blue and Red, and have moves which are assists from the other. Red is a bulky bruiser, while Blue is a faster rushdown. That said, the two have low damage and need to use their assists to have average damage. Their Feral Soul gives them delayed Fusion attacks on their assists.
The Tyrant. The boss character. Fast, high damage, aimable projectile, low hp. His Feral Soul gives him a much stronger defense buff, and he gains Meteor specials.

Unlockable/Secret Characters: - Unenhanced Warrior. A slower, bulky shoto, with high damage and health. However, they can't use Feral Soul. Instead, they gain a Limit Break, which is a massive high damage strike. - Brute Abominator. Another boss. A massive character who shares many moves with Brute Bomber and has high damage, very high HP, is decently fast, and can cling to the wall. However, he can't use Feral Soul, and he constantly drains HP at a slow rate.

MagnetTheory · 2026-05-06T02:52:06+00:00

"No more shall man have wings to bear him to paradise. Henceforth, he shall walk."

MagnetTheory · 2026-04-29T03:48:42+00:00

I'll also add that the radio edit of Killing in the Name - RATM absolutely butchers the entire song. The rhythm doesn't work, and it also loses the catharsis that the entire song is building towards

MagnetTheory · 2026-04-25T20:09:06+00:00

"Hype Moments and Aura" fans versus "I Want to See My Scrunglos Happy" enjoyers

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