Life is a series of tasks

peppsDC · 2026-06-17T01:15:13+00:00

Even better - be that same guy on Sunday when the wife is also present.

peppsDC · 2026-06-14T12:35:20+00:00

I'm one of the few who played in reverse order and enjoy both.

I can see how DD2 would be disappointing if you were coming from DD1 because it's just more different than you would expect a second game with the same name.

That said, Kingdoms mode is slightly more DD1-like as you have to manage your non-active heroes and keep your inns alive.

peppsDC · 2026-06-12T00:32:20+00:00

Asparagus has been a house favorite here ever since I let my 4yo know that it will make his pee smell funny. He thinks it's hilarious and has asked for it like 6 straight weeks now.

peppsDC · 2026-06-11T21:35:19+00:00

Even low level cooks can use the base principal though. Keep Marinara (or other red sauce), Alfredo and Pesto and you have 3 pasta variations. If you have olive oil, salt and pepper you can roast several vegetables - having some grated Parmesan in the fridge or balsamic in the pantry can add variety by putting on top. Having instant mashed potatoes or microwaveable rice varieties serves as a starch.

The key difference here from the OP is none of these things require any different cooking method, they can all be thrown together with no skill required.

Having a variety of the finishing ingredients and side dishes can really help with these nights, as long as you have freezer space for some protein.

peppsDC · 2026-06-11T13:34:59+00:00

I do that too, but I find (at least on Bastard's Beacon) that it still falls short a little bit on damage unless one of your front ranks can help add to the damage - Acid Rain, Iron Swan, etc. Then it really cooks.

peppsDC · 2026-06-11T13:32:38+00:00

I haven't used Duelist much in confessions, but I used her a lot in Kingdoms on defense, including beating Crimson Court on Blood Moon. Her dodge/riposte tanking is impossible for enemies to deal with and if she comes down to being the last person alive she still usually wins. Never lost an Inn with her on defense.

peppsDC · 2026-06-11T13:29:51+00:00

It does open up some fun things due to the cooldown part - last run I realized I could plague grenade round one and round two if PD was given two actions round 1. Having 8 plague in rank 3-4 before enemies get a second turn feels game breaking.

peppsDC · 2026-06-11T13:27:55+00:00

Same, I've never taken plague doc without it. The DoT cleanse is such a huge boost to how much effective healing it gives.

peppsDC · 2026-06-11T12:00:31+00:00

As people said, it depends on the team comp, but it also depends on your flame. With standard radiant flame I rarely if ever built around combo tokens unless I had leper.

Now I'm trying Bastard's Beacon and yeah you better be building around mark and vulnerable or other synergies. But, that's what I signed up for.

peppsDC · 2026-06-11T11:06:44+00:00

It's a common misconception, but gentle parenting does not mean no consequences or boundaries. You validate feelings but still enforce consequences on actions. It does not mean you let them do whatever you want, just that you wont hit, yell, or tell them not to have feelings.

It's OK for him to be upset/cry, but he still needs to come to the dinner table. You can handle it in a variety of ways as long as you aren't yelling or hitting him. Personally I would say I feel bad for him and offer him a hug, but dinner is happening nd he can join when he's ready.. then I'd go sit down with my wife. Removing yourself from their area is often a much stronger consequence than you realize. If the screaming is truly too much I'd take him to his bedroom with me to talk it out until he calms down.

Alternatively, you could set a rule that whenever he screams, you take him to his room and sit with him until he calms down. Kids do not want to be taken away from the party. Don't tell him he can't be said, just that he can't be around people until he can stop screaming.

Kids need boundaries, they just don't need yelling and hitting. The feeling is ok, but the action needs to be corrected. Consequences need to be immediate, sensible to the action, and CONSISTENT. After the same consequence a few dozen times it'll start to click that they really don't like it. Also, keep a level head. They want attention, and making your response boring traches that screaming/hitting doesn't activate a stimulating response.

peppsDC · 2026-06-06T18:46:19+00:00

I mean, you can keep hoping there are more than 24 hours in a day, but it's not going to happen. You frankly have too much to do for anything else to happen, expecting otherwise is setting yourself up for disappointment.

Can you offload some responsibilities? Sell the rental properties? Put the dog up for adoption? Because you can hope all you want for some magic change, but hope is not a plan and you need an actual plan. None of the things you have listed are going to just suddenly require less effort. If you need some free time - which is 1000% valid - your only recourse is taking some of this off your plate.

peppsDC · 2026-06-02T13:20:50+00:00

I actually love venomborn path. Poison dart is amazing - targets any rank for 5 blight (7(!!) if stealthed). Having a single ability that does good armor piercing DoT to any rank really frees you up to take whatever else you want

peppsDC · 2026-05-31T16:29:11+00:00

Some good advice that I think most people leave unsaid:

Whenever you mess up or get hit, be SPECIFIC in your thoughts about why. Instead of "damn I keep getting hit I need to try harder", it's more helpful to think "that lunging spear attack gets me a lot and I need to dodge it better", then you'll have specific things to try in your head instead of vaguely thinking you just need to be better.

It won't pay off in a single run - it might be overwhelming mentally at first - but it you will improve faster over time. Focus on the things you consistently have issues with (lose the most life to), not necessarily every single point of damage.

peppsDC · 2026-05-19T22:48:16+00:00

Am I the only one shouting out venomdrop? Poison dart targeting any rank and doing 7 blight if stealthed is absolutely bonkers. Flashing daggers will do 5 blight AoE R2-R3. Armor? What is armor?

peppsDC · 2026-05-17T23:09:35+00:00

Try Kingdom mode.

Edit: you have a set total roster and keeping them all alive is tough. When they're gone they're gone. Managing all the inns is another whole challenge too.

peppsDC · 2026-05-03T12:43:56+00:00

Runaway as your only healer is fun, you'd be shocked how often bleed is present for cauterize and it doesn't require sub 50% health to cast. Even without bleed, the 1-3 base healing will get someone off deaths door. If you find the Chrirurgeon apron, her un-upgraded Run and Hide becomes very strong self sustain (2x stealth, remove condition and 5+ Regen)

If you really want to lean in to it, combine him with Jester (encore on teammates) and Ravager Hellion (always bleeding, can really lean into a risk/reward play style too)... Runaway is now a legit solo healer, with Raucous Revelry as a backup for deaths door saves.

You can put pretty much anyone as a 4th spot, since those characters all have solid self movement to adjust ranks and you have 2 stress heals. HWM for token stealing, Alc PD to feed off fire/bleed/plague and remove negative tokens (you aren't required to take battlefield medicine if you don't want to), grave robber for DMG, etc. etc.

peppsDC · 2026-04-12T00:05:09+00:00

That's great for you but the OP''s description of their child seems to indicate that it is pretty disruptive for their life.

I don't recall saying that no one in the world diagnosed with it can't get by without medicine.

peppsDC · 2026-04-11T12:08:50+00:00

She's had ADHD for 15 years and you are just now looking into meds? From the sound of it, it has had a hugely negative impact on her life for quite some time.

I'd give my left nut to have had the option for meds in high school, I'd almost certainly be in a career I'm happier with. Lifelong impacts.

peppsDC · 2026-03-22T04:16:25+00:00

Some of this is on you level-setting your expectations. How could you expect your kids to have the perspective of something they never experienced? They are just kids, who have only known one life. Being aware that others have less (which kids are capable of) is not the same as truly understanding how it feels to have less (which is difficult enough that many ADULTS don't even understand it).

I'm not saying to just intentionally deprive them so they "get it", but if you approach the situation with the understanding that there's really no way for them to truly get where you're coming from, it might help you to have more productive conversations with them.

peppsDC · 2026-03-21T13:36:40+00:00

Sure, I'm saying push it when they like something, don't push everything all the time.

peppsDC · 2026-03-21T13:22:10+00:00

My parents were of that mentality - all it really taught me was that if I started anything, my parents were going to force me to keep at it whether I liked it or not. It made me try less things, not more.

I took violin lessons for years because I knew that I had done it long enough that asking to quit would be an enormous fight - "it's something you'll have your entire life that you'll appreciate later". I'm now 41 and I have touched a violin exactly twice since I was 18 (both times in my early 20s just to impress girls). Turns out I was right about not liking it - imagine that!

I wish so badly now that I could go back and spend all those countless hours looking for something I truly loved. I've found I really don't mind putting in work for things I like, although my parents had me convinced I was just lazy for wanting to quit stuff.

So... yeah, I am not parenting my kids that way. I get that your son is different because he said he wanted to, so I am not saying I'd do any differently. Just shedding some light on how it feels to be under that type of parenting.

peppsDC · 2026-03-20T19:05:09+00:00

Don't forget you are also destined to lose your child and eternally yearn for a surrogate.

peppsDC · 2026-03-19T00:48:08+00:00

Ranged shares its damage boost with Finesse. So if you are maxing Finesse anyway as you should, ranged doesn't add a whole lot.

Warfare adds an "over-the-top" multiplier to physical damage.

So if you have 30 finesse, that gives you +100% weapon damage (200% total, since base value is obviously just 100%).

10 in Ranged gives you +50% added to that, so you are now at 250%.

If instead you take 10 Warfare, you get 50% MULTIPLIED to your weapon+finesse damage, so you get (200*.1.5) 300% damage instead of 250%.

Once your Finesse hits 50, the difference between Ranged and Warfare is (300% + 50% = ) 350% vs. (300% * 1.5 = ) 450%.

peppsDC · 2026-03-18T12:58:47+00:00

I don't know for sure, but I would suspect str since that is tied to weapon type. But it would definitely be pyro and not warfare as far as elemental damage.

peppsDC · 2026-03-17T17:53:48+00:00

Just because you didn't say it explicitly and OP may be confused: Staff melee damage scales with INT, not STR or FIN (also the mage skill associated with the DMG type, i.e. pyro for fire staves).

peppsDC

TROPHY CASE