Mexal

I’m not stressed about price. Rice is a leader, English and a top talent so of course that would be expensive. Arteta wants him because he is one of the best in the PL (if not the best) at breaking up play, he is one of the best at carrying the ball forward once he wins it back and he is an absolute engine. Given how tight and compact we play, he will be critical in winning the ball back and quickly transitioning to offense. He will also be critical in breaking the press. Not sure there is another player on the market as accomplished as he is at this position and with Gabriel/Saliba behind him and some quality in front, think his talent gets further unlocked. I think with where Arsenal are in their build, his usefulness is more important to them than other teams. Hard to understate the importance of Rodri for City or Kante was for Chelsea. Those types of players are critical and though he’s more expensive than both (he’s English), I think we will ignore the price tag if it makes us better. Havertz will be the tough one. I get the skepticism. His best years in Germany was as a CAM so while he won’t bring the defensive strength that Xhaka did, he should bring significantly more creativity and speed in transition (Xhaka took forever!). How Arteta manages to balance strengths vs weaknesses will remain to be seem, but at this point, given the hit rate on our transfers since he took over, I have to believe he has a super detailed plan of exactly how he will be used. And it seems to align with Havertz’s desires as well aa he thinks his best position (and favorite) is at 8. So I put my hands up as a homer and hope for magic. Timber will also be a fantastic signing and bring much needed depth and versatility to the squad. So while I get skepticism of price and fit in an inflated market, these moves feel very targeted to improve our starting XI (and compliment the existing skill sets of the players) and everything I’ve seen from Arteta is that he has a very very detailed view of how this will all fit together based on their profiles and strengths. Exciting for me. They all feel like upgrades over what we had and what we had was pretty damn good.

Managed to get a sacred Raiment of the Infinite to drop last night at level 60 and now feeling pretty decent about my gear for my level. My build is super solid and now just need to push the paragon board for that incremental dps/survivability and incrementally add more mana reduction (this will come in Torment when I can get resource reduction stats). When I teleport into a mob, drop a frost nova and light into them with ice shards, everything dies in a second. It’s fun.

Huge signing. Will transform the side. And I’m super excited about Havertz (get the concern over Chelsea years but I think his talent will be unlocked in #8 position with this side around him) and Timber. If all 3 are in before preseason, we will be in a really good spot to start strong again. Love the strength of conviction from Arteta on exactly what he wants to take this side to the next level. Massive.

It really doesn’t for me. Not even a little. I got everything I needed in one episode because they were so fantastic.

There we go.

This is definitely getting another season.

Think that’s about right. I need another 3-4 levels and some paragon points. Might focus on the renown because those 20 pts will make a fairly significant difference. My gear set up at 60 is pretty solid.

Finished. Fuck me, Chef. Very well handled, happy and simultaneously brutal. I need season 3 badly.

I was up for a challenge so decided to try the capstone dungeon to get to Tier IV at level 60... it didn't go great. I was able to get to final boss without too much hassle but couldn't beat him as I kept getting one shot and just didn't have enough DPS to take him down fast. I'll try again in another 4-5 levels.

Episode 7 was absolutely phenomenal. And needed after episode 6. Wow.

Build is starting to feel good. Level 59 ice shards sorcerer. Just completed a few level 18 nightmare dungeons. Still a bit difficult but completely doable and just got 4 new pieces of gear that will help, just need to upgrade and get some aspects on them (I have the ones I want). Will do a bit more grinding and then maybe try the tier iv capstone dungeon, suspect I could do it soon (maybe level 62-63).

Dude. My heart rate is up and not in a good way.

Pushing level 54 on my Sorc. I switched up to ice shards build and it’s super fun though the mana issue is very much an issue. That being said, it doesn’t bother me, as I can compensate with frost bolt and keep killing. I have most of the affixes I need but gear gets upgraded and it becomes expensive to keep switching up. Still fun though, will do my first nightmare dungeon today.

Seen 3 so far. Love this show so much. More happens in 25 minutes than any show on tv. Just a kinetic energy that is tough to watch at the same time as being so real. No surprise there are still anxiety inducing episodes. Just hopefully less than season 1.

And it seems done.

Still less than they paid! And I’m sure it’s a lower fee with escalators. I’m excited by Havertz… Fat Frank ain’t going to get the best out of anyone and this guy is only 24 and was one of the top talents in the world. I think Arteta can turn him around like he did Odegaard. I am shocked how much we are going to pay though but I trust at this point.

Finally killed Lilith on my main character (arc lash/chain lightning sorcerer). Think because I was already level 50, it was fairly easy. Looking forward to pushing forward and getting a feel for the end game content. I have so much left to do just on side quests, aspects, altars - might focus some time there before pushing forward. I do want to convert to ice shards at some point too so building paragon board with that in mind.

I hate this Chelsea / Saudi connection. Taking the extremes of football to a new level of corruption. Fucking sucks.

Sisu was excellent. 90 minutes of a Finnish badass killing Nazis. If that trailer did it for you, the movie will deliver.

My wife and I had a blast with it. Just a fun movie.

I actually don’t remember why it was called Wool.

I’m not suggesting that. But show her out of breath and stopping at the hostel or show her walking up a flight or two and then say “those 50 floors are killing me”. It ain’t that hard to show scale rather than Allison going up and down 100 floors in an afternoon.

I'm enjoying it as well. Both my wife and I read the books (well, I read the first two) and are impressed so far. My biggest issue:

Jorginho was immense. Odegaard is class. Martinelli so dangerous. Kiwior doing the job. What a match. We won't win the league with City winning likely 17 in a row to close out the season but we aren't going quietly either. ETA: City does finish with Brighton and Brentford away. Maybe they give us a shot.