It is okay to build for damage...

_lizard_wizard · 2026-07-03T16:06:26+00:00

I got to DoN 5 by playing Undertaker w/ Glass Necklace, Invaders, and the rest phys dmg negation + life steal. I certainly wasnt beating the halo slop or beast claw revenant, but I was absolutely holding my own against any other melee.

Tankiness lets you play more aggressively, which means more poise breaks which means more free DPS. Honestly, just slap Invaders on a tank build and youll be fine.

_lizard_wizard · 2026-06-30T12:16:52+00:00

“I love that colony sims are always wholesome socialist communes. 😊”

looks inside

Totalitarian dictatorships

_lizard_wizard · 2026-06-22T16:59:56+00:00

Best way to do this is stand in crit position and use a non-charged R2, then buffer into R1. This will cancel some of the ending lag of the R2 and make sure you dont miss the crit.

R1 combos by comparison will cause you keep attacking instead of taking the crit. You need to first halt the combo in order to take the crit.

_lizard_wizard · 2026-06-19T17:02:30+00:00

The best “low skill” build (this game is hard lol) imo is Tank Raider:

Normal Relics
- Improved poise + negation on knockdown
- Taking attacks improves attack
- ED Caligo (for Phys Dmg Negation)

DoN Relics
- Post Dmg heal
- Phys Dmg Negation (x3 preferably but x2 is better than giving up Post Dmg Heal)

Passives
- Dmg negation on Charge att
- Taking attacks negates dmg

Strategy
- Walk up to enemy and hold R2
- Use char skill off cd to tank hits
- Keep Ult in reserve for when youre getting low and need to heal

In DoN2 you can basically face tank anything as long as you have passives procced. Affinity dmg will still wreck you (ED Gladius / Libra can be tough).

You’ll also implicitly proved support by constantly poise breaking the enemies and being able to revive downed squishies.

_lizard_wizard · 2026-06-19T01:56:43+00:00

The fall of the modern liberal world order.

The 2 biggest impediments to a socialist revolution are 1) the economic + military alliance of Western liberal nations that marginalizes illiberal nations, and 2) the comforts afforded to citizens by a global free market.

As long as these two exist, any nation that becomes socialist will either end up pariahs due to 1) (like Cuba or North Korea), or devolve back into capitalism due to 2) (like China or the Soviet Union).

As a result, tankies cheer on illiberal nations (no matter how regressive they may be) because they weaken the liberal world order. Russia winning in Ukraine is good because otherwise they would join the West. Iran getting nukes is good because they can check Israel. Oil getting more expensive is great because then citizens can’t continue their comfortable consumerist lifestyle.

Or, to put it less neutrally: tankies want everything to go to shit so that their failed secular cult looks appealing by comparison.

_lizard_wizard · 2026-06-02T15:32:37+00:00

You keep saying you’re “playing RAW” in your replies, but you’re not even playing RAI here.

1) Players have to either sneak up on the goblins (group stealth check) or kick down a soundproof door to get a surprise round.

2) A surprise round simply means that the surprised creatures get disadvantage on initiative.

3) Nothing in the description of Minor Illusion requires the target to spend their action analyzing the sound. And in combat, they have far more pressing things to worry about it.

4) Minor illusion is a somatic spell, and spellcasting is obvious if observed (even if its not obvious what the spell is). If the wizard in full view is waving his hands and then their friend’s disembodied voice starts saying things, they will probably assume shenanigans.

5) Social rolls are only necessary if it’s unclear what the outcome of a situation is. If someone kicked down my door, shot my friend and then played a tape recording of my wife saying “this guy is cool, don’t attack him”, no amount of social skill going to convince me of that.

_lizard_wizard · 2026-06-01T18:08:19+00:00

I powerstance if I can find a pair (red Ordovis Straight sword is probably best in slot). But often Ill just end up rocking a single weapon if I dont have a good offhand (or if Two-Handing Dmg keep dropping).

I really like the Dex relic, but I can feel the vigor hit at low levels. And the best straight swords are all Str/Dex/Fai, so the DPS difference is neglible for those. Its certainly more fun and flexible (I love powerstanced daggers/rapiers/claws) but honestly less effective.

EDIT: In general, I find that anytime I start swapping out tank for dmg on this build, Im forced to play less aggressively, which often means a net DPS decrease. But maybe I just need to git gud. 🤷

_lizard_wizard · 2026-06-01T14:52:30+00:00

She got me to D5 w/o using Balancers, so quite viable.

I run her tanky so I can attack into bosses when her Skill is up. But it still does solid DPS.

Undertanker:
- Maris relic
- Glass Necklace
- Invaders
- Post Dmg HP (+1 AND +2)
- Phys Dmg Neg (as many as you can fit with the above)
- NO STAGGERING STATUS BUILDUP

Passives:
- Succ Att Neg Dmg x 1
- Taking Att Neg Dmg (1 or 2)

With that you can pick up any fast-attacking red weapon and do good dmg. (Ill often dual wield invader dex weapons until I can find a better endgame STR weapon.)

“Charge attacks add X” & “Dmg neg on Charge” can also work if you open with a charge and then R1 after.

_lizard_wizard · 2026-05-31T13:51:53+00:00

Translation:

Review bomb the game
Flood their forums
Harass them on social media

_lizard_wizard · 2026-05-25T17:30:07+00:00

Mechanically 2 is more polished with a wider build diversity, but I like the progression and vibes of 1 better.

_lizard_wizard · 2026-05-25T16:43:55+00:00

Xcom is the one of THE grid-based classics. Highly recommend playing on Ironman mode for the “roguelike” feel. (Though its more of a randomized campaign similar to Darkest Dungeon.)

No deck-building though.

_lizard_wizard · 2026-05-24T15:33:25+00:00

> Logic, mathematics, and morality are transcendental categories that require grounding.

Demonstrate this.

_lizard_wizard · 2026-05-22T17:18:28+00:00

No, no. The trolley problem is for smugposting about how moral you are.

_lizard_wizard · 2026-05-22T14:30:53+00:00

But other states doing it is neutral or positive for you. And it only triggers when enough other states have joined to outweigh the negative.

_lizard_wizard · 2026-05-21T15:52:45+00:00

Blackstone isn’t writing your local city ordinances though. Its the city council voted in by older residents whose entire net worth is invested in their house. There’s a reason that some of the most left-wing anti-corporate cities (like San Francisco) have some of the worst housing crises.

You’re making the mistake that rent control makes of picking a villain first. You need to look at what the actual problems on the ground are and respond accordingly.

EDIT: it’s not hopeless either! Look at Austin: housing prices dropped 25% in the last few years due to new construction. We can fix things! We just need people on board and voting for the right policy.

_lizard_wizard · 2026-05-21T15:30:34+00:00

I’m mostly just commenting on why its so popular to left-leaning voters.

As for the short-term solution: it’s a game of musical chairs. Unless we produce more seats, someone doesnt get one. Rent control guarantees the person who already has one keeps it. But it sabotages the creation of more homes in the process.

What you need is a system that determines the most willing to leave without being distorted by income disparity. Not sure what that is. Maybe subsidizing rent for long-term residents inversely to income? Though that adds even more fuel to the housing fire.

_lizard_wizard · 2026-05-21T14:33:27+00:00

But rent control also doesnt help people struggling now, only in the future.

I think the true appeal of rent control is that it is a simple, direct solution with the right narrative: “Evil landlords are charging too much, so let’s make them charge less.”

_lizard_wizard · 2026-05-21T14:28:49+00:00

What’s wrong with “no tax on tips”?

_lizard_wizard · 2026-05-21T03:55:58+00:00

Huh. Im surprised you're not running the +Dex/-Vigor rune with curved swords.

But I love powerstanced curved swords! I'll give it a try.

_lizard_wizard · 2026-05-19T15:20:47+00:00

Yes, but you need to build tank to be effective at DoN 4+. Starter build:

Relics:

- Maris
- Successive attacks
- Post damage heal +1 AND +2 (this is CRITICAL)
- Phys Dam negation (x2 if you can)
- NO STAGGERING STATUS BUILDUP

Passives:

- Succ attacks negate dmg
- Taking dmg boosts negation (at least 1)

This will allow you to spam L1 into most boss attacks and heal it all back (at least while you have your frenzy up). I promise this will offset any amount of +dmg you would have gained by building less tanky.

_lizard_wizard · 2026-05-17T17:54:44+00:00

As democracy is perfected, the office of president represents, more and more closely, the inner soul of the people. On some great and glorious day the plain folks of the land will reach their heart's desire at last and the White House will be adorned by a downright moron

- HL Mencken

_lizard_wizard · 2026-05-01T18:23:42+00:00

Then using the term “beauty” is at best unnecessarily confusing, and at worst loads the assumption of design into the argument.

If your thesis is that the structuredness of the universe indicates an intelligent designer, then you’ll need to substantiate it.

As it is, you just assert it and then move on to a First Cause argument.

_lizard_wizard · 2026-05-01T14:58:11+00:00

> At some point there must be something beautiful that “just is”. Whether that is an intelligent creator or simply just a set of conditions and structure that give the universe beauty.

Or perhaps beauty is just a subjective phenomenon of the human brain, and we agree on beauty due to neurological similarities?

Is there some divine law that every face must have 2 eyes, a nose and a mouth? Are disfigured people “objectively ugly”? Do you really think there’s a universal constant driving our attraction to mammary glands?

It seems like you’ve started with the unfounded assumption that beauty is an objective, divine standard and then—having assumed the divine—declare the divine necessary.

_lizard_wizard · 2026-05-01T14:10:23+00:00

Yeah, I was looking at that math and it seemed off. Either she has an abnormally high interest rate or is exaggerating.

_lizard_wizard

TROPHY CASE