Battle Praxium/Logs/20220817 Praxium Lesson 2

Event Name: Praxium Lesson 2

Event Instance: Prime

Real Date: 2022-08-17

Game Date of Event: Unknown Date

Point of View: Kalderen

You say, "Well, let's go ahead and get started." You say, "Rakkor sends his regards, he won't be able to make the meeting tonight." You exclaim, "But, I'll do my best to honor his introductions!" You exclaim, "Welcome to Week 3, Lesson 2 of the Praxium!" You say, "It is great to see everyone again after the week off." You say, "As always, we're going to work through the same four phases of the night. Attitude, Instruction, Implementation, and Application." You say, "A couple of ground rules, if you'd please." You say, "There's a...lot of people here." You say, "OOC: And that means a lot of scroll." You say, "Where possible, please keep the chatter to a minimum. Your opinions are important, but I want to honor those that are trying to follow along to the best of their ability." You say, "Also, if you have questions, please whisper them to myself, to Natarian, or to Dantia. They'll help collate some of the questions along the way to make sure they get answered." You wink at Dantia. Dantia smiles. Kaelie whispers something to Dantia. You exclaim, "But with that, on to the content!" You say, "As always, we'll start with Attitude." You say, "I'm going to be mostly OOC during this section, unlike usual." You say, "But I want to make sure things are crystal clear in this section in particular." You say, "Regarding Attitude and PvP, how you approach PvP will either encourage or discourage people from PvPing with you." You say, "And I'll make a bold claim here: Ensuring that *everyone* has fun is a better aim than ensuring *you* have fun." You say, "Let that sink in for a moment." Kaelie praises you. Gahston falls over. You say, "Your goal when engaging in conflict with others should be fun, excitement, and enjoyment by the broader audience...not just for yourself." You say, "The people who get so wrapped up in making conflict fun for them...." You say, "They don't get a lot of people willingly engaging in conflict with them." You say, "I think to my interactions with Madigan, Dantia, Rifkinn, Raikage...and even Jondong...." Dantia chuckles. You say, "Those were and are incredibly fun. I want more of those interactions." You say, "And then I think of the interactions I've had with Serakk, Drach, Jackmerius, and others along the way...those weren't fun." You say, "And over time I grew to actively avoid those." You say, "And those people eventually phased out of the game." You say, "Because people stopped interacting with them." You say, "So...if I might offer some suggestions there:." You say, "Before, during, and after every fight, honestly evaluate:." You ask, "How did I come across to the very real person that is also typing on a computer somewhere in the world, choosing to engage with me?" You ask, "Am I winning/losing at the expense of others?" You say, "Do I need to own anything? (read: do I need to ask for someone else's forgiveness anywhere)." You ask, "Do I need to clarify anything?" You say, "Those are the questions that I'll encourage you to work through before, during, and after every fight." You exclaim, "I'll *never* send a Discord DM to Rifkinn, Raikage, or otherwise saying, "Here we come!" You say, "But I'll *often* send one afterwards, asking some of those questions." You ask, "Hey, how did this go tonight? Did we have fun? Is there anything that was unfun?" Deathbeing whispers, "how do you check the "tempature of the room" if the other person is enjoying the conflict?" You say, "And that's led to a better situation overall for all of us." You nod to Deathbeing. You say, "Deathbeing had a fantastic question." >look death You see Deathbeing Darkerjoy of M'Riss, an Elothean. Deathbeing has tilted almond-shaped milky blue eyes. His black hair is very long and straight, and is worn tied back. He has tanned skin. He appears to be middle-aged. He is in good shape. He is wearing some mail gloves, a chain helm, some well-made shalswar-hide leathers, a dark stained target shield, a blackened steel parry stick with sturdy steelsilk straps, some pine cufflinks edged in white gold, a dainty cowbell fit with a polished fishtail oak handle, a lumpy bundle, some ankle-high buckskin moccasins, a hide cloak edged in thick bear fur, a soft black leather thigh sack with an alexandrite nightshade flower clasp, some faded pants, a twisted cambrinth armband and a rugged backpack. Deathbeing grins. You ask, "He asked, "how do you check the "tempature of the room" if the other person is enjoying the conflict?" You say to Deathbeing, "If things are going "okay" or "expedcted", I'll usually whisper after one side or another has died a few times." You ask Deathbeing, ""Hey, you guys took some losses there. Do we need to take 10 minutes and then come back and have more fun?" You say to Deathbeing, "That's been a semi-common whisper." Deathbeing nods to you. You say to Deathbeing, "And they've asked the same to us. When both sides have fun, we all have more fun." You ask, "Any quick questions, comments, or concerns about what we've been sharing so far?" You nod. You say, "Okay, let's keep going." You grin. You say, "As always, I want to make sure we're paying attention week-to-week." You grin evilly. You ask, "Praxium, how do we win?" Anuril ponders. Anuril casually observes the area. Nawain says, "With grace, offering encouragement to your opponent." Nawain coughs. Akeiro says, "With grace, offering encouragement to your opponent." You grin at Nawain. Tekhelet says, "With grace, offering encouragement to your opponent." Nawain grins at you. Tambellis joylessly says, "With grace, prepping the debilitation spells quickly." You say, "I just earned 100 plat, Nawain." Selame says, "Grace and offering encouragement to your opponent." Nawain laughs! You say, "I knew you'd answer first." Madigan grins at Tambellis. Roletiel grins. You chuckle. Dantia grins at Tambellis. >look naw You see Enelne's Daughter Nawain, Shrine Keeper of Siksraja, a Rakash Cleric. Nawain has a triangular face, kind moss-green eyes and a freckled nose. Her honey-streaked russet hair is hip length and frizzy with stark white streaks at the temple, and is worn loose. She has fair skin and a lissome figure. She is tiny for a Rakash. A cloisonne butterfly with large rose-patterned wings floats lazily around her head, glowing with a lustrous sheen against her skin. She appears to be middle-aged. Her right palm has a tattoo of a stylized butterfly sketched in thick inky black lines. A dim orb of rippling cerulean light hovers like a will-o-wisp, following her diligently. She is in good shape. She is wearing a sumptuous dragonfire brocade uaro's'sugi, a pair of onyx earrings, a delicately braided tursa choker suspending a single black diamond disc, a pair of translucent butterfly wings bearing silvery smokelike images, a heart-shaped loveglass token festooned with spun rainbow ribbons, a well-worn luck charm of Rakash tokens, a snug dragonfire brocade bodice tied with firesilk laces, a lavishly engraved platinum promise ring, a long dark red velvet sash, a hip-slung bright red skirt worked with smoldering wisps, a blue-white mistglass anklet encrusted with chunks of dour saffron ismenite and some fiery scarlet whisperlayne slippers affixed with translucent mistglass heels.</nowiki> Hobbro says, "Grace and encouragement." You say to Nawain, "Spot on, ma'am." You ask, "Praxium, what are victories?" Vaddon humbly says, "Victories are opportunities for humility." Nawain covers her mouth with her hand. Nawain hums to herself. You grin at Vaddon. Tekhelet says, "Victories are opportunities for humility." Madigan grins at Nawain. Selame says, "Opportunities for humility." You poke Nawain in the ribs. Nawain laughs! You say, "You did that on purpose." You snicker. Warbrolus grins. Nawain nods in agreement. You ask, "Praxium, how do we lose?" Tekhelet says, "We lose with dignity, and a desire to do better." Vaddon humbly says, "With dignity, and a desire to do better." You say, "Oooooooh." You hold out a hand towards Tekhelet for a highfive. Selame says, "With dignity and a desire to do better." Brutoc says, "With dignity, and a desire to do better." Nawain says to you, "I brought back up." Tekhelet raises his hand and highfives you! Nawain leans on Tekhelet. Akeiro says, "With dignity, and a desire to do better." You snicker. You say, "You guys have great memories." You grin. Tirost smiles at Kintryn. You ask, "Praxium, what are losses?" Nawain cheerfully exclaims, "'Losses are opportunities for excellence!" Selame says, "Opportunities for excellence." Akeiro says, "Losses are opportunities for excellence." Brutoc says, "Opportunities for excellence." Hobbro says, "Paths to future success." You say to Nawain, "I almost shook it up, to see if you were actually paying attention." You wink at Nawain. Anuril quietly says to himself, "Grace... humility... dignity... opportunities.. swimsuit competition... got it." Anuril nods. Tekhelet says, "Losses are opportunities for excellence." Nawain grins at you. Dantia grins. Madigan grins at Anuril. You say, "Okay, let's move from Attitude to Instruction." You say, "Tonight we're talking about your offensive tools in combat against other adventurers." You say, "Specifically, your debilitations, your targeted magic, and your weapons." Natarian exclaims, "Like crossbows!" You say, "And we'll cover them in that order." You ponder. You say, "I don't see a Golameth here." You say, "Let's start with Debilitations." You ask, "How many of you know the difference between the terms "hard CC" and "soft CC"?" You arch your eyebrow. Zalinyar asks, "Close contact?" Tambellis raises her hand. Nawain ponders. Anuril asks, "A stun vs a mild inconvenience?" You ask, "Tambellis, would you care to enlighten us on the difference?" You whisper to Madigan, "I might need you to bombo me in a moment." You whisper to Madigan, "If you're up for that." Madigan whispers, "Sure." You whisper to Madigan, "Once without me having Tremor up, once with." You whisper to Madigan, "I'll let you know when." Madigan nods to you. Tambellis joylessly says, "Hard CC is something that triggers diminishing returns. Deadfall for instance, can cause a stun or unconcsiousness, but chaining them together will provide vastly lower results. I can go into the exact numbers, but that's the idea. Something like calm or compel doesn't trigger those as far as I know." Madigan whispers, "Remember the cooldown." You nod to Tambellis. You say, "Those are great examples of Hard CC." You say, "Hard CC are debilitations that completely lock you out of any return action." You say, "Ice Patch, Arc Light, Deadfall, Mental Blast, Nissa's Binding...these are all fantastic examples of Hard CC." You say, "Soft CC, unlike Hard CC, don't lock you out of return actions." You ask, "Anyone able to give me a few examples of what you think I mean by Soft CC?" Anuril says, "Vertigo." Akeiro winces. Anuril asks, "Tremor?" Tambellis joylessly says, "Tremor, annoyingly." Roletiel says, "Lethargy." Nawain asks, "Malediction?" Dantia grins at Tambellis. You grin. Tambellis joylessly says, "I think all of the debuffs, devolve, curse of the wilds..." Tekhelet says, "Anthers Call." You say, "I see a bunch of good Soft CC's in there." Anuril nods to Tekhelet. Warbrolus says, "Soul bonding." You say, "Vertigo, Tremor, Lethargy, Anther's Call, Soul Bonding are great examples of Soft CC." You ask, "So if Hard CC locks you out of return actions, and Soft CC doesn't...why would anyone use Soft CC in combat against other adventurers?" Melindrha says, "Still messes with them." You nod at Melindrha, in complete agreement with her views. Roletiel says, "Doesnt have dimeninshing returns." You nod at Roletiel, in complete agreement with his views. Tekhelet asks, "It stacks?" You say, "Both of those are absolutely correct." Anuril says, "To then land a hard cc after." You say, "Tremor still messes with your opponent's accuracy." You say, "So does Vertigo." Hobbro says, "Varied effects of soft CC mau applu in different situations." Akeiro says, "A lot of the soft cc listed are wildly annoying spells." You say, "Soul Bonding can keep someone at range for the entire duration." Tambellis joylessly says, "For me sometimes it's because of the contests as well. Bards are notorious for having debilitations that target Will, which is often tough to break through." You say, "Anuril, say what you said again." You say, "Because I think people missed it." Anuril clears his throat. Anuril loudly says, "To then land a hard cc after." You nod to Anuril. You praise Anuril's efforts, supporting him with your approval. You hold out a hand towards Anuril for a highfive. Anuril smiles. You say, "Absolutely." Anuril raises his hand and highfives you! You say, "Anuril and Meli, you hit on *exactly* some of the strengths of Soft CC." You say, "And how/when to use them." You say, "Way to go, you two." Anuril gives a slight nod. You say, "When we get into Implementation, we'll see how some of that works out." You say, "But, to some raw data." You say, "Hard CC has a maximum duration of 25 seconds." Madigan quietly says, "That feels like forever." Akeiro says, "Feels like forever." Akeiro nods to Madigan. Akeiro grins. You say, "If you are hit with another Hard CC in the next minute, it doesn't have to be the same spell, the second Hard CC's duration is reduced to 12 seconds." You say, "That's what we call "Diminishing Returns." Brutoc says, "12 seconds still seems like a lot." You nod to Brutoc. You say, "It can absolutely feel that way." You grin. You say, "The third Hard CC in the next 60 seconds will then be reduced to a single second of duration." You say, "As will the fourth, fifth, sixth, etc..." Roletiel says, "Ouch." Illiya ponders. You say, "That's a great time to potentially shift over to using Soft CC." Natarian says, "Also note that the second hard CC will reset the timer. If you're at 58 seconds after the first CC and then cast the second, it'll be another 60s before you can get full power." You say, "Opening with an Ice Patch, and following it up with a Tremor, is a great way to continue to keep your opponent off-balance until you can Ice Patch for full duration again." You nod at Natarian, in complete agreement with his views. You ask, "Everyone clear on Hard and Soft CC?" Akeiro nods. Illiya says, "I hav a question." Tirost nods. Nawain nods. You nod to Illiya. You ask, "Yes?" Illiya asks, "What if you cast a different Hard CC?" Hobbro nods to you. You say to Illiya, "Still goes on Diminishing Returns." Illiya nods to you. Roletiel says, "Whats the max duration of a soft CC." You say to Roletiel, "45 seconds." Gahston shudders. Roletiel grins. Damoone whispers, "how do you tell the difference. It doen't show in discern or spell listing?" Natarian says, "Also note that the timer is on the player. If I hit you with Arc Light and then Kalderen hits you with Ice patch, the ice patch will only be 12 seconds." Tekhelet raises his hand. You say to Roletiel, "But a second soft CC is not subjected to Diminishing Returns...so you'll get a full 45 seconds on the second cast as well." You say, "Damoone had a fantastic question." You ask, "Damoone asked, "how do you tell the difference. It doen't show in discern or spell listing?" Anuril grins. You say to Damoone, ""any spell or ability that causes the stun, immobile, webbed, calmed, or unconscious state is considered Hard CC." You say, "In a little bit, we'll put what we're learning here into practice so you can see first-hand what I meanl." You say, "Let's switch gears, though. Still Instruction, but lets move on to Targeted Magic." Dantia whispers, "From Tekhelet: So a soft CC would stack with a different soft CC or a hard CC?" You nod to Tekhelet. You say, "Tek, we'll answer that question in a bit, if that's okay." Dantia smiles at Tekhelet. You say, "There are a...lot...of flavors of Targeted Magic." Tekhelet says, "Absolutley." You say, "You have normal single target spells with no special riders." You say, "You have normal single target spells with special riders." You say, "You have single target multi-hit spells." You say, "You have death from above spells." You say, "You have Area of Effect spells." You say, "And you have Cyclic spells." You pant. You say, "That's...." You feel fully attuned to the mana streams again. Natarian says, "And combinations of all of them." You say, "A lot of Targeted Magic options." You grin. Nawain grins. You say, "I'm not going to make this part of the lesson exhaustive. Honestly, we could talk just targeted magic all day." Natarian says, "Soul Attrition is a cyclic single target death from above spell, for example." You say, "But I do want you to decide when to pick and choose different TM types." You say, "Single target TM spells with no special riders are those with the shortest targeting time." You say, "Examples of this list include Air Lash, Dinazen Olkar, Horn of the Black Unicorn, and Breath of Storms." You say, "These...just do damage." You say, "They're not fancy. They hit one person a single time. And they don't do anything else." You ask, "Natarian, how long does a bog standard TM spell like this take to target and cast?" You say, "(Assuming full prep)." Natarian asks, "7-ish seconds?" You grin. Natarian turns to face you. You say, "For a non-Warrior Mage." Natarian begins to focus intently on you! Natarian exclaims, "8!" Natarian says, "WMs can do it in 5." You nod to Natarian. Natarian says, "Sometimes." Zalinyar asks, "What about for a non mage that uses sorcery to use our spells?" Natarian says, "Same." You say to Zalinyar, "That doesn't change targeting time." Zalinyar nods to Natarian. Anuril asks, "Prep time can also be influenced by prep style?" Zalinyar nods to you. Anuril raises an eyebrow. You say, "The spells I just talked about are useful, some of the time." Natarian says, "Doesn't change full targetting time, but if, for example, a War Mage wants to target Burn they'll need to wait the full target time before casting or risk a backfire." You say, "The next category of TM spells are those single target TM spells with special riders." Natarian says, "A trader could cast in 3 seconds or less, but lose out on the full target bonus." You say, "They maintain the same targeting time as the spells listed above, but feature a special extra effect." You say, "Examples of this category are Partial Displacement and Frost Scythe, which both ignore armor." Madigan makes a grunting noise. You say, "Hand of Tenemlor is another example, which not only damages, but also dispels a single ward or buff on your victim." Natarian says, "PW and Paralysis are also interesting in that they don't directly do damage." You ask, "Question for the audience. All things being equal, and just thinking about these two categories of TM spells (not the rest yet), which would you more likely default to use? Bog standard damage spells? Or damage spells that have an extra effect?" Gahston exclaims, "Extra effect!" Anuril says, "Extra effect." Natarian exclaims, "Trick question!" Akeiro exclaims, "Extra effect!" Tekhelet says, "Both." Roletiel says, "Depends." You grin. Tambellis joylessly says, "Against someone my skill or higher I pretty much need the extra effect of LB to hit." You say, "Shhhh, we're not talking about Lightning Bolt yet." You grin. You say, "That's in a different category." You say, "Generally speaking, lots of folks (but not all) will lean toward spells with an extra effect. Again, if just considering these first two categories." You say, "I'm going to breeze past single target, multi-hit spells. These are spells like Fire Shards, Stone Strike, Fist of Faenella, and more." You say, "Let me be blunt: there is almost never a situation where those spells are the correct choice to make." Illiya ponders. Illiya asks, "Why not?" Natarian says, "They take twice as long to target." You say, "The targeting time on those spells goes through the roof." Madigan says, "RT is currency in PvP." Tekhelet raises his hand. Natarian says, "If a 12 second stun feels like an eternity a 15 second full target feels doubly so." You nod. Sliyder asks, "So snapcasting isn't a thing anymore?" You chuckle. Natarian says, "Not for TM." Natarian says, "You'll whiff." You nod at Natarian, in complete agreement with his views. Illiya asks, "Always wait for full target?" You say, "Snap casting works for debilitations, but not for TM, unless you *dramatically* outrank your opponent." Natarian says, "Most of the time wait for full target." Natarian says, "Unless you know you can hit with a shorter target." Sliyder nods. You say, "When in doubt, skip those spells for combat against other adventurers." Natarian says, "Better to hit in 7 seconds than to miss twice in 4." You say, "They will almost never be worth the time." Sekmeht asks, "Like gnome shorter?" You say, "Next category, Death from Above." Madigan grins at Sekmeht. Sekmeht says, "Hey just checking." You grin evilly. You say, "These...these are your "money makers"." Sekmeht says, "Im a student, I don't make the lecture." Qij quietly says to Sekmeht, "Like Gor'tog after gettin' kneecapped by a gnome shorter." You say, "Examples of Death from Above spells/abilities are Lightning Bolt, Burn, Harm Evil, and Backstab." You ask, "Now...why do you think those spells/abilities are so good?" Qij says, "They ignore shield." Gahston exclaims, "They ignore shield!" Madigan shakes his fist! Golameth exclaims, "Because they hurt!" You nod to Qij. Dantia praises Qij. Golameth says, "Alot." Selame nods to Golameth. Nawain grins at Golameth. Qij nods emphatically at Golameth. Selame says, "I was going to say that." You say, "They completely ignore one of the defenses." You say, "And as a result, they are more accurate than the other spells that you are going to have access to." Sekmeht says, "Well technically there is a shield, its just your face at that point." Illiya grins at Golameth, her dimples flashing into view. Sekmeht jots down some notes. You say, "A little tip regarding death from above spells." Qij nods at Sekmeht, obviously agreeing with his views. Selame chuckles at Sekmeht. You say, "If you find yourself in a grapple." Qij quietly says to himself, "Never thought of it that way." Melindrha says to Sekmeht, "Well, if there's a face parry..." You say, "Say...with an annoying barbarian that keeps earthquaking you..." You glance at Golameth, a male Elf. Natarian laughs! Nawain chortles softly at some secret joke. Dantia glances at Golameth. Dantia nods at you, obviously agreeing with your views. You say, "A Death from Above spell will still reliably hit your target when all of the previously mentioned spells will not...even if you are on your knees." You say, "They are simply that much more accurate than the other spells at your disposal." You ask, "So Praxium, if Death from Above spells are the most accurate ones out there...why would you *ever* not use one?" Roletiel says, "Do all of them require open space." Natarian looks at you and shrugs. Illiya ponders. You grin at Roletiel. Natarian says, "Can't think of a reason..." You say, "You're on the right track Roletiel." Anuril nods to Roletiel. Anuril says, "Lack of the sky for LB." Tekhelet raises his hand. Tambellis joylessly says, "I guess if you don't have access to one or you can't use it." Roletiel says, "Some rooms you cant use them." Natarian exclaims, "Oh, I can! Because one of the ravens killed you and you lost your Lightning Bolt memorized spell!" You say, "Burn and Lightning Bolt both require open sky." Illiya grins at Natarian, her dimples flashing into view. Madigan grins at Natarian. You say, "If I'm inside, I can't use either." Illiya asks, "If you need to cast faster?" You say, "Which means I then need to make a choice." Vaerek smirks at Natarian. Akeiro says, "Against a warrior magic with aether cloak up." Gahston grins at Natarian. You ask, "Do we have any Moon Mages in the house?" Vaerek casually observes the area. Vaerek blinks. Decavitan asks, "How's their targeting time compared to other TM spells?" Madigan grins at Vaerek. You ask, "Vaerek...you're inside. You can't use Burn. What spell do you use?" Tambellis joylessly says, "His legs to move outside." Anuril observes Vaerek with fascination. Vaerek says, "Probably partial displacement." Natarian laughs! You snicker at Tambellis. You nod at Vaerek, in complete agreement with his views. Sekmeht says, "Because its death from above (DFA), as a side recommendation as I made the mistake personally, avoid being in shield stance. Or again, you will block with a face shield guaranteed." You say, "Absolutely, Partial Displacement." You say, "It does the same rough damage as Dinazen Olkar, but partially bypasses armor." You say, "You'll hit more reliably with that than DO." You ask, "Warrior Mages in the house?" Tekhelet raises his hand. Tirost nods. Golameth points at you. You ask, "Tek, you're inside. You can't use Lightning Bolt...what do you use?" You snicker at Golameth. Nawain gazes at Tekhelet. Golameth exclaims, "You are one!" Natarian says, "Back door WM here." Dantia grins at Natarian. Tekhelet asks, "Frost scythe?" Decavitan asks, "Not Fire Shards?" You say, "Frost Scythe or Air Lash are typically my two go to's if I'm inside and can't cast Lightning Bolt." You nod to Tekhelet. Natarian says, "Frost Scythe unfortunately has lower base damage, so even though it ignores armor it's not really a good choice." Tekhelet nods to Natarian. (Sekmeht scribbles down notes about if you spar a warrior mage to run inside your house and lure them in with bbq.) Sekmeht jots down some notes. You say, "Okay, we're getting late in the hour. I'm going to summarize Cyclics for a moment." Brutoc asks, "So Frost Scythe and Partial Displacement both do slightly less base because of the armor piercing?" You say, "Cyclic TM, as you progress in ranks, become less and less effective to use when fighting other adventurers." Natarian says, "I'm not sure if PD has the same lower template. Gut feeling from being on the receiving end is that it does a normal amount of damage while ignoring armor." You whisper to Natarian, "Can you explain cyclic TM inaccuracy? Son just came downstairs." Natarian nods to you. Natarian says, "When you fully target a spell you get a nice accuracy bonus." Natarian says, "This can be the difference between hitting a target and missing." Natarian says, "Cyclics do not get this bonus." Natarian says, "Which means that all things being equal your cyclic will miss." Natarian says, "Unless you manage to CC your opponent, or knock them off balance." Gahston asks, "Is that a bonus no bonus deal or do i still get some bonus for prepping longer but not full?" Natarian says, "But they have some great advantages in that they're passive. You set the cyclic and forget it." Natarian says, "No bonus at all." You nod to Natarian. Gahston nods to Natarian. Natarian says, "So feel free to snap cast your cyclic." You say, "Thanks for explaining Cyclics." You grin. Anuril asks, "I think the question was about targeted?" Brutoc snaps his fingers. You say, "Final part of Instruction for tonight. Weapons." You say, "Two things we need to know about Weapons, Praxium." You say, "The first thing is...weapons don't by themselves do a ton of damage." Sekmeht jots down some notes. Golameth draws forth a monstrous igorat axe with a gnarled haft wrapped in goblin-skin leather. You say, "Generally speaking, you need to land 15 weapon attacks on your target to drop them." Golameth glances at a monstrous igorat axe with a gnarled haft wrapped in goblin-skin leather. You say, "Which is easier said than done." You grin. Golameth says, "Hear that axe? you are no good." Dantia chuckles. You say, "As a result, people generally do one of two things." Qij pats Golameth on the back. Sekmeht says to Golameth, "Drop it on your toe, it doesn't do damage till ya do that." You say, "First, they aim for an easy-to-hit body part." You ask, "Anyone know what the three easiest body parts are to hit?" Natarian exclaims, "Left toe!" Gahston exclaims, "Chest!" Akeiro says, "Chest." Nawain says, "Chest." Melindrha says, "Chest, back, abdomen." Qij says, "Chest back abdomen." Roletiel says, "Abdomen." Tekhelet asks, "Back?" You exclaim, "Meli takes the prize!" You hold out a hand towards Melindrha for a highfive. Nawain lets out a hearty cheer for Melindrha! Melindrha says, "3 of the 5 places you can't live without." You say, "Chest, back, and abdomen are the easiest places to hit." Melindrha raises her hand and highfives you! You say, "They are all critical wound zones, though that's a conversation for another time." You say, "When in doubt, if you are using weapon attacks, those are you go-to locations to hit." You say, "However, those are SIGNIFICANTLY harder to hit than simply ATTACKing someone." You ask, "Praxium, how can we make someone easier to hit?" Natarian exclaims, "Get them drunk!" Selame says, "Knock em down." Nawain says, "Debils." Roletiel says, "CC." Tekhelet says, "With a debil." You nod to Selame. You nod to Nawain. Tirost whispers, "For weapon second or tertiaries, is it still recommended to target a body part?" You say, "It's almost like these two topics go hand-in-hand." You grin. Nawain chuckles. Anuril asks, "Be hidden?" Selame says to Natarian, "That was my second guess." You say, "Debilitate them, and then you will have a much easier time hitting them." You say, "If you've ever seen Madigan and I spar, it usually goes something like this." You say, "I say "Boo!" He curls into a ball. I hit him." You wink at Madigan. Dantia laughs! Roletiel says, "Debil, grapple, circle and pray." Nawain laughs! Sekmeht asks, "Deblitate them with like dad jokes? or magik?" Madigan exclaims, "Don't you set me on fire!" Sekmeht says, "Barbarian, sorry, need to learn this." You snicker at Madigan. Sekmeht jots down some notes. Madigan smiles warmly. You untie a bottle of naphtha from the straps of your grass toolstrap. You wave your bottle of naphtha at Madigan. You attach a bottle of naphtha to a strap on your grass toolstrap. You grin. Sekmeht jots down some notes. You say, "All joking aside, I'll usually engage Madigan, prep Ice Patch, wait until just before I reach pole range, cast Ice Patch, and then immediately grapple him when I get to melee." You say, "That puts Madigan prone on the ground, grappled, and gives me the best possible opportunity to hit his chest, abdomen, or back." You ask, "If I'm not in a spot where targeting body parts are able to work...what's the other key thing that weapon users can do in a fight?" You glance at Golameth, a male Elf. You point at Golameth. You ask, "What's the thing, Gola?" Tambellis joylessly says, "Advanced combat maneuvers." You grin. You nod to Tambellis. You say, "Advanced Combat Maneuvers, exactly." You say, "ACM's cannot be body part targeted." You say, "But they hit like a truck." You say, "And they hit with enough accuracy that even weapon secondaries or terts can hit reliably." You say, "The number of times I've been beaten up by Ayduin, an Empath, is very high." You sigh. Melindrha snickers. Dantia chuckles. Natarian says, "Ayd is a chump." Illiya grins at Natarian, her dimples flashing into view. Akeiro grins. You say, "You might hear people use the word "Bombo." You say, "That simply means swapping from weapon to weapon, making use of each ACM along the way." You say, "Bombo is...very effective." Golameth says, "They know all the things." You wince. Natarian says, "Exceedingly effective." Madigan grins at Golameth. You say, "So. I want to move us to an abbreviated Implementation time tonight." Mazrian asks, "Is this where we set Madigan on fire?" Mazrian casually observes the area. You say, "I've run long, and I want to honor my commitment to Warbrolous." Madigan grunts at Mazrian. Madigan gets a twisted frozen-bone wand ensnaring a faceted Syrin's heart from inside his traveler's pack. Madigan points a twisted frozen-bone wand ensnaring a faceted Syrin's heart at Mazrian. A sheet of slippery ice forms beneath Mazrian! Mazrian barely manages to stay on his feet. Madigan puts his wand in his traveler's pack. Madigan grins at Mazrian. Mazrian flashes a quick grin at Madigan. You ask, "Golameth, can we showcase Hard CC and Soft CC?" Natarian gestures at Mazrian. A soft crackle briefly comes from Natarian's direction. Natarian mutters to himself. You say, "I'm going to have Golameth bombo me." You step up to Golameth and say, "I challenge you to The Pain in a contest of skill!" Natarian gestures at Mazrian. Small globes of blue and orange light appear and dart upward like fireflies. Creating an ominous shadow, a large acacia branch falls from above! The branch slams heavily into Mazrian, knocking him completely out! Golameth says, "Sure thing." You say, "And I'm going to not use any form of CC to protect myself." You wince. Dantia laughs at Natarian. You say, "This...is going to hurt..." Madigan winces. Akeiro grins. Mazrian says, "Well, I needed a nap." You say, "Do your worst, wicked barbarian." You grin at Golameth. Golameth has allowed your challenge to go unanswered! Mazrian stands up. You step up to Golameth and say, "I challenge you to The Pain in a contest of skill!" Natarian exclaims to Mazrian, "Looked like you did!" You poke Golameth in the ribs. Golameth accepts your challenge. Golameth explodes in a wild rage of dangerous power, his bloodshot eyes gleaming with an insatiable lust for battle! Golameth grimaces slightly as their taipan coils tightly around their arm and flicks its tongue across their skin. Golameth begins to advance on you! Golameth is still a distance away from you and is closing steadily. You wince. You say, "Eep." Golameth closes to pole weapon range on you! Golameth closes to melee range on you! Golameth assesses his combat situation. You poke Golameth in the ribs. You say, "Do the damage already." You grin. You assess your combat situation... You (incredibly balanced) are facing Golameth at melee range. Golameth (incredibly balanced) is facing you at melee range.