karaddin

I beelined straight to 20 int but with the lower level decks (purple for the boss fights I've mentioned) I decided to diversify out a little for more options instead of relying just on hacks. I did make the mistake of not immediately maxing another attribute though, took tech and cool to 10 and then 15, then some into reflexes (probably a waste other than some of the mobility perks), a couple into body and only just maxing tech now. Once pistols hit the point of being able to one shot with the silencer I switched from knives to that and the iconic smart smg from the Arasaka industrial Park as the fall back for getting stuck in combat and that's what I've been working with since - mix of silencer and hacks depending on the situation. Might play around with one of the sniper rifles from PL as well. Didn't play too much today but the little I did is still excellent

@Ran What level were you for

Got back to PL content tonight and all I'll say is I'm enjoying the hell out of this, absolutely fantastic.

I haven't done that one yet but I'm sticking to my policy of all scavs get shot if a quick hack takes them down still alive. I'll see where things go with everyone else but scavs and nomad scavs (ie wraiths) have made their choice already.

From the perspective across the Pacific it feels like the right in the US has been more successful at undermining public education, but that might simply be my skewed perspective. It also might be that the things which jump out as severely lacking aren't the focus of the education system anyway - I guess mostly international knowledge whether it be simple stuff like knowing where countries are on maps or broad historical knowledge. I've also seen college level essays that don't seem of a college standard to me, although I guess they're written well on the superficial level - just lacking the content I'd expect so that may also be a reflection of priorities rather than a failure. And in the interests of acknowledging the failures of my own country we blow the US and UK out of the water in terms of percentage of children in private schooling which is a different but dangerous failing of the public education system.

Ah excellent. Made the right call switching to non PL quests last night then

Damn I'm wishing I'd waited more, the first part felt like my phone had been switched off so I was hoping nothing came during there

I was wondering if people got those without subtitles on, pretty hilarious if not. A win for watching with subtitles on!

I think the idea is that the Stone of Tear and Callandor are left for later in the story - that Rand doesn't really do much with it for several books after getting it, so it can be pushed back until it's actually needed and the world needs to accept him rather than almost repeating what happens in season 2.

Yeah I really don't want Siuan to die and leave Moraine with this as the close of their relationship. And I don't think it's necessary, I understand the concerns about actress availability but that's not iron clad.

The Chimera seems to have more advanced displays than the rest of the imperial fleet which I can only assume have been retrofitted in the galaxy less far away. I wonder if it's a spoiler for what happens to Thrawn that he never gets to expand these to the first order fleet? Unless only Enoch can install them since he's one hell of a ship engineer.

Now I knew it was her I can hear her voice in there, but yes - wasted. And I can't hear Wes at all.

I think it's skill xp though not level xp? I always think it's level xp, then notice the tool tip and get disappointed.

I checked on the show only Reddit and Lanfear has a lot of fans lol, wouldn't have been popular with them!

Cutting a shield from outside of it is very different from inside one, especially when he can see the weaves for the one that isn't effecting him but he can't see the weaves for the one that shields him. Even when cutting the shield on Moraine he still hesitated several times - speed with weaves comes with practice and being able to anticipate a shield you can't see and cut those weaves is a level of mastery beyond merely getting the hang of the weaves - and he doesn't even have that yet. He will have explosive power when he needs it at this point but these weren't that - blowing up the Amyrlin would piss off all his allies (unless you're counting Lanfear lol) and REALLY get off to a bad start with the Aes Sedai.

I did another gig in dog town tonight, then went and did the parade and struggled with Oda functionally one shotting me if I was in line of sight when he used his smart smh. Eventually managed to burn him down by switching from trying to stack control hacks first and focusing on damage so I could mostly stay out of sight. Hit level 40, had my jaw drop at the price of tier 5 cyberware and did some scanner hustles and gigs to build up some eddies lol. Also progressed Judy's quest and Panam's, probably back to dog town tomorrow once I pick up some more cyberware. Also opened my inventory and I'd accidentally stashed half my equipped clothes and was thus missing 50 armor and hack upload speed which wouldn't have helped struggling on Oda lol.

Another detail from this episode I liked - traveling is pretty much confirmed now (which I had assumed would be the case) with how Lanfear popped Mat across to Falme and was back in time to have her stroll, but she didn't tip her hand (and risk Moraine catching the weave) by offering that. She just continues with their plan to go via the ways and opens that gate even though she hates slow travel. So often we see dumb mistakes from villains in stories so it's worth recognizing when they're doing the opposite.

Another point I really liked - Alanna abiding by the outcome of a vote amongst her and her warders, I think it's nicely establishing how deeply she respects that relationship so it will be clear when she bonds Rand its out of perceived necessity - not that she doesn't care about his feelings. They've really put the work into both sides of that landing.

I have absolutely no issues with Siuan being able to shield Rand at this point, he still has very little idea what he's doing and none about trying to break a shield. Especially when its very likely all set up for him to have a big showing next episode. I also liked Lan figuring it out. He's had months hanging with Moiraine at Verin's home and its nice showing yet another way that he did pick up a lot of skills from all the years of working with her, and he's got the perfect trigger for it in wondering "why am I not suicidal?". Personally I think this is partially paying off the Stepin stuff from season 1 that everyone else hated lol, we needed to see what should happen when the bond is broken to understand that its not what we were seeing here. The Aes Sedai were all too busy not believing him when he said he wasn't suicidal to actually accept he's not, and thus realize that there's an implication there. Those scenes with Lan earlier in the season were also hammering that home - they kept treating him like he was glass and he was clearly frustrated by their not understanding. So given he's in a situation where he should be suicidal and isn't, he's also primed to notice that Moiraine should also be suicidal and also is not. That's enough for him to dig for legends from the AoL that pointed him in the right direction. I'm also liking increasing the interactions between Ishy/Lanfear and main characters. I don't think it would work so well with the rest of the Forsaken, but Ishy is playing a long game and Lanfear is playing her own game - both of which can work with them being heavily involved with the main characters without it being a contrivance that they don't simply kill them. So putting them together can bring out some interesting dynamics and I have hopes for what we'll see between Lanfear and Moiraine.

Unfortunately they haven't fixed the bug where picking up a shard wipes that off, although sometimes it does the health boost from the shower instead haha.

XP progression is significantly faster than pre 2.0 imo. Gigs used to give a lot less than main quests but I think they give similar xp now so it really can go quickly.

The time variance between doing gigs with the fastest approach vs any other approach can be huge haha. The Regina gig in SW Watson rescuing the guy from the TC dojo normally takes me about 2 minutes, but I didn't have the body or tech levels to get the right door open this time so had to stealth through the whole thing (which is laid out so you literally have to go through the entire building to get there) and once you factor in reloads after screwing up and getting spotted etc I think it took over 30 minutes. Which is fine, just explains how you can really zoom when you know them well lol.

If they're scaling with the level it might not matter, but I think I'd do the GIM earlier in future as I'm pretty sure scaling made that harder lol. Net runner is probably fine but not so much all in on stealth as well with 3 body. I did watch a video of someone else beating the thing I struggled on very hard as well that had a much easier time than me, they were 52 so maybe more levels would be helping there. Or maybe it's my cyberware. I literally wasn't able to do the hack sequence they used.

You're at a very similar point to me when I decided to start PL. I headed to Pacifica at 35 and went in as soon as I got the call because I was worried I was getting over level or something as well, I was also melting the gigs and scanner hustles elsewhere. It changed quickly lol. Gigs wise I've done all of Reggie's and Wakako's but nothing else and haven't even finished all the scanner ones in Watson. I suspect your build is going to have an easier time than mine though.

Continued with PL tonight and definitely feeling the difficulty increase. Maybe netrunner wasn't the best choice, either I'm missing some cyberware that will make the whole thing come together or I'm just paying it wrong but any fight I can't take down from the shadows is a real struggle. PL very slight non story spoiler ETA: extra details in spoiler box