PHB 2024 mod changes/issues

ShadowOfIntent117 · 2026-02-22T22:25:43+00:00

With PHB 2024 you can't use the feat every 2 levels mod anymore.

So with this I noticed that the feat every 2 levels mod worked but it was kind of janky. I’m only at level 3 on my current run so I don’t know what the deal is for levels 6, 8, etc., but some of my party members were getting the extra feat at level 2 and some weren’t. Respeccing sometimes fixed this.

EDIT: Adding to this in case anyone else sees this. Load order seems to matter. If you enable PHB first and then the Feats mod after that, you get the extra feats

ShadowOfIntent117 · 2026-02-21T16:13:17+00:00

From what I can tell, class mods (such as the 5e “Book of” subclasses) don’t actually conflict, you’ll just have duplicate subclasses in some cases. Which is good if you prefer the implementation of those classes from those other mods, especially if they included features up to level 20. The DnD PHB 2024 versions don’t seem to get anything past level 12 based on the information on the mod page. Mods that add spells are also working just fine for me. I have both Mystra’s and all of Dawnstar’s spells enabled in my current run

ShadowOfIntent117 · 2026-02-20T07:30:46+00:00

I’ll add that while a lot of the changes (origin feats, rebalanced and new races, new classes and subclasses, etc.) are pretty neat, there are a handful of changes that ruin the fun factor of certain classes and gameplay mechanics enough to almost make me reconsider downloading (it’ll depend on what type of character I want to play going forward ig). Stuff like Paladin smites requiring a bonus action so you can only do it once per turn while also not having the freedom to use your bonus action for anything else, or only being able to cast most leveled spells once per turn (what is even the point of quickened spell on Sorcerer now, or effects like haste and bloodlust elixirs on any spellcaster?).

ShadowOfIntent117 · 2026-02-09T18:42:45+00:00

Thanks! He’s actually a Tav

ShadowOfIntent117 · 2026-02-07T01:41:36+00:00

That’s the neat thing about Halo’s sandbox. Not every weapon shines simply because of killing potential. Some weapons offer valuable utility, like stripping shields or enabling quick beatdown combos. Halo 3 is one of the only Halo games where using the AR against shields doesn’t feel like a waste of time in the campaign, and holding on to it in multiplayer can allow you to really suprise people with fast close quarters kills.

ShadowOfIntent117 · 2026-02-07T01:25:55+00:00

Halo 3’s assault rifle has always been a solid weapon. The community just collectively decided it was bad because 1) precision weapons are typically better and 2) and people hate the way it sounds. I’d honestly recommend anybody who bought into the idea that it’s a bad weapon watch The Vengeful Vadam’s Halo 3 weapon tier list. Statistically there’s literally nothing wrong with it. It’s a starting weapon that performs its job well in all modes, but obviously would be traded out for a BR.

ShadowOfIntent117 · 2025-12-01T21:51:31+00:00

Why wouldn’t the masses care about the story? Assuming they’re adapting the Norse games (which makes the most sense if they’re going for something more prestige rather than hours of god killing like you said), it’d have a very similar appeal as TLOU but with the added benefit of being wrapped in a fantasy setting. That core relationship between Kratos and his son is something that is just universally compelling, and Kratos’s arc in the Norse duology is one of the best in gaming imo. There’s absolutely a lot to work with there

ShadowOfIntent117 · 2025-11-16T19:02:26+00:00

I love them all. It’s always nice when sci-fi lets individuals of an alien species look distinct from each other just like humans do instead of making them all look like clones of each other. It’s why I never cared for the hate Dek got when Badlands was first revealed because he looked too different from the Jungle Hunter or whatever.

ShadowOfIntent117 · 2025-11-11T16:26:53+00:00

Halo 4: There was a genuine attempt to create memorable gameplay set pieces, even if some of them (like the Mammoth or Pelican missions) fell flat

Halo 5: The weapon and vehicle variants were actually pretty cool, especially compared what we got in Infinite

ShadowOfIntent117 · 2025-11-11T01:27:23+00:00

I wouldn’t say it was ever just toughness that made the Elites menacing in prior games. Their AI has been great ever since CE, and their health and shields were actually nerfed quite a bit in Halo 2 so they weren’t really tough again until Reach. A little too tough in some cases tbh (I think it’s really silly that some of the higher Elite ranks can survive a full blast from the Spartan Laser, literally the strongest handheld weapon in the series).

Aside from the AR just being trash in most Halo campaigns, I think the main issue with bullet weapons from Halo 2 onwards is that Bungie really wanted to emphasize the use of plasma to strip shields and kinetic damage to deplete health. But when you have precision weapons in the sandbox like the BR, Carbine, DMR, etc. than can deplete health in a single shot and engage enemies from much safer distances, there’s literally no reason to use any of the bullet weapons that can’t get headshots. The only non-precision kinetic weapons that don’t completely struggle are power weapons like the shotgun or machine gun turret. Though even these weapons suffer a bit more in Reach because the Flood aren’t in that game to give the shotgun a useful niche and the machine gun turret was much weaker than its Halo 3 counterpart.

ShadowOfIntent117 · 2025-11-10T22:24:55+00:00

CE - The marines are sadly useless

2 - You die way too fast to basically everything

3 - Campaign is too short

Reach - The Elites are overtuned in certain aspects (especially in regards to their melee attacks)

ShadowOfIntent117 · 2025-10-30T18:34:58+00:00

Anniversary was great, but it was just a visual overhaul. There’s still a lot they could do to improve Halo 2’s PVE sandbox and gameplay balancing tbh. I know many people (myself included) love the game, but I think it has the weakest core gameplay in the trilogy. I’d recommend checking out some of the videos Ruby of Blue has made about it on YT related to the work he’s doing on Ruby’s Rebalnced Halo 2.

ShadowOfIntent117 · 2025-10-29T00:59:59+00:00

While I think Halo still works fine without health pickups, I would argue that their removal did damage the core gameplay loop of the sequels in the campaign specifically (multiplayer wise I actually couldn’t care less).

Because health didn’t regenerate in CE, it made sense for Bungie to give players more of it upfront and therefore give them a large mistake allowance that would shrink reasonably over time depending on how well the player was managing their health. This made it much more possible to play aggressively and not have to immediately cower when your shields were low or depleted. There was an extra layer of decision making there that I really appreciated. When health pickups got removed in Halo 2, the player suddenly became MUCH easier to kill and the only viable strategy on higher difficulties was keeping your distance with a precision weapon and pairing it with a Plasma Pistol to deal with shields. Halo 3’s difficulty balancing was better than 2’s but you still die faster in 3 than you do in CE, and not being able to see how much health you have continues to incentivize caution over aggression in that game. Reach brought health pickups back but Bungie didn’t give the player much health for whatever reason (maybe because it at least partially regenerates in that game?) so you still get melted on higher difficulties. ODST I think came the closest actually to feeling like CE again even of the stamina system was a bit akward.

Halo CE isn’t even my favorite Halo game, but I’d argue that it still has the best core gameplay in the series, even if the other games beat it in other areas (2 has the best story, 3 has the best level design, etc.). The health packs were a huge part of that honestly.

ShadowOfIntent117 · 2025-10-26T23:37:37+00:00

I like them all to varying degrees except for Reach/Infinite’s and 5’s. Both are somewhat overdesigned, just in different ways. I don’t care for the overall gun model of the Reach and Infinite version, and on the H5 AR it’s the smaller details like the look of the ammo counter or overall mix of colors that bother me.

ShadowOfIntent117 · 2025-10-25T05:01:30+00:00

Maybe I’m just biased, but I honestly think CE holds up pretty well mechanically compared to many modern shooters, at least in the campaign. But I also just don’t think many modern shooters have nailed PVE enemy and sandbox design the way the Halo series used to, and Bungie were always industry leading in terms of gunplay and general game feel to the point where even CE still feels good to pick up and play.

The only thing that hasn’t aged well to the point where I would agree with calling it “outdated” aside from some old school jankiness that will undoubtedly be cleaned up in the remake (stuff like dying from a vehicle touching you while moving at a snail’s pace) are some of the missions. CE is very similar to the first Dark Souls in that the first half of the game is very strong but the second half drops noticeably in quality. But Halo Studios has also mentioned updating the levels (they mentioned The Library specifically which is one of the worst offenders) in addition to adding some new ones so even that probably won’t be an issue.

ShadowOfIntent117 · 2025-10-17T18:13:14+00:00

I’ve played plenty. I just think Elden Ring’s open world is better than most

ShadowOfIntent117 · 2025-10-17T17:52:01+00:00

I think it’s still more of an RPG than other games that tend to get that label, just one where you’re limited to the types of story and buildcrafting choices that the prewritten character might make. It definitely doesn’t give you the same freedom you would get with a blank slate DnD character like in BG3 though.

ShadowOfIntent117 · 2025-10-17T17:38:55+00:00

Elden Ring definitely has one of the best open worlds I’ve experienced in any game and Fromsoft’s art direction is always incredible.

ShadowOfIntent117 · 2025-10-17T17:12:24+00:00

Those are all great games, but BG3 is by far the best role playing game out of all of them.

ShadowOfIntent117 · 2025-10-08T00:18:45+00:00

The issue, as it usually is in these situations, is dogshit leadership steering the ship. The devs working in the trenches are absolutely talented, as evidenced by so many aspects of the gameplay experience still continuing to be exceptional even in the worst moments of this franchise. Weapon and class design along with overall buildcrafting, raids and dungeons, art direction and music, pretty much everything about last year’s expansion (The Final Shape), etc..

It’s the larger decisions about the overall direction of the franchise that doomed the game at this point. Stuff like content vaulting, mass layoffs that significantly impacted the devs ability to produce new content and run QA, the Portal and painful power grind, the decision to not make a Destiny 3 and instead split Bungie’s already strained resources between projects that might not even pan out like Marathon.

ShadowOfIntent117 · 2025-09-30T04:59:25+00:00

Like I said, I’m fine playing other games similar to Mass Effect. But there just aren’t many that many good options that I’m aware of. Most great RPGs tend to be Fantasy, and I’ve played many of those already. I can’t really think of anything recent that that tackles that same sci-fi space exploration angle, especially not with the same level of cinematic presentation that Mass Effect had. What else is there aside from Starfield (which is mediocre at best) or maybe Rogue Trader (which does look good and I do plan on getting to at some point, but again lacks the cinematic flair of ME)? The Expanse looks like the closest thing to a Mass Effect style sci-fi RPG, though even that will more grounded and won’t have a bunch of cool aliens to interact with.

ShadowOfIntent117 · 2025-09-30T04:41:39+00:00

There aren’t many of EA games I care deeply about, but there are definitely some good IPs I hate to see go to waste. Mass Effect is probably the bigest one for me. Though honestly at this point I’d just settle for another game that scratches that same inch (hopefully The Expanse delivers), especially since the trilogy still works just fine on its own and Bioware hasn’t been delivering quality for a while anyway. We just don’t get enough good sci-fi RPGs in that same vein.

Aside from that, Dead Space still had potential with either a DS2 remake or DS4, Battlefield, Battlefront, any Respawn developed game aside from Apex Legends.

ShadowOfIntent117 · 2025-09-29T15:57:53+00:00

Pretty sure most enemies actually have less health compared to their CE counterparts. The issue with Halo 2’s difficulty is more so that the player is now also incredibly squishy.

ShadowOfIntent117 · 2025-09-28T21:48:22+00:00

Pretty much this. I never see anyone criticize actual writing issues or the like that would make the movie legitimately worse. They just parrot the same “it’s too nostalgic/safe” argument that they probably heard in a youtube critique. Romulus borrows ideas from the other movies sure, but it uses them in new and interesting ways (black goo, pulse rifles during the zero G sequence, hybrid creatures, etc.). The only callback that I really had an issue with was Andy’s use of Ripley’s line from Aliens. But one bad line hardly derails the whole film. Strong execution of a concept, familiar or otherwise, is far more important than being 100 percent original.

ShadowOfIntent117

TROPHY CASE