Had a good time fighting you. Giant warrior v giant warrior is very competitive - and unlike fighting most of the others in hero range I actually had a shot at you.

Very classy that time in hamsah as well. Always enjoy our tussles!

Thank you for the kind words.

As a healer, I liked having a powerhouse around. A invoker like Nhas, or a warrior like you or Sindrir. Man, you had me hanging by the key board several times, with your OBLIT flurry's... I was just like... Holy crap... Glad im on not on the other side... A black sanced flurry warrior like you was no walk in the park for any enemy.

Also, I think its the first time I was on team Twist...

In all my years of CF I think this is the first time that we've been on the same team. It was a pleasure.

I decided to be the Empire "nice guy" and gear/gold/rank lowbies who showed promise. I figure it's cheaper to buy loyalty young than it is old.

And I always felt Ulthrok was loyal. Though when you hit your peak Sindrir had the same view of you that you had of Celent. Since you've read my role you know what's that rooted in.

In that sense we were on an interesting collision course. Especially with my tattoo, your religion, my insecurities and an aging War Master. I was really looking forward to seeing how that turned out.

You'll be missed in the Hall. Best of luck with whatever is beating our asses next.

>In all my years of CF I think this is the first time that
>we've been on the same team. It was a pleasure.
>
>I decided to be the Empire "nice guy" and gear/gold/rank
>lowbies who showed promise. I figure it's cheaper to buy
>loyalty young than it is old.
>
>And I always felt Ulthrok was loyal. Though when you hit your
>peak Sindrir had the same view of you that you had of Celent.
>Since you've read my role you know what's that rooted in.
>
>In that sense we were on an interesting collision course.
>Especially with my tattoo, your religion, my insecurities and
>an aging War Master. I was really looking forward to seeing
>how that turned out.

You might have been a bit disappointed at the lack of drama. Ulthrok idolized Sindrir and always considered him to be War Master Lieutenant, obviously next in line for the job.

Of course, Hanord and Hunsobo were each clearly the second-best choice for War Master and both got War Master, so who knows what would have happened.

You'll remember I told you you would be Emperor

If I was to use one word ... Watching you was incredible! never had I found such a good use for Travellers March Your eight hit flurries all ===OBILIT=== ***DEV*** certainly put my little kicks to shame!

I was just as stoked as you we made it from Dis ... You don't know the half of it tho but a discussion for a time in the near future.

It was really cool having you around, thanks for showing me a few things, in the shortish time you were around you brought a lot of depth back into a few things for me.

Even tho you deleted due do it being time to move on, I hope you enjoyed the time you did have.

Destuvius: Thanks for the talks, tattoo, and all that good stuff. Sorry I couldn't perform your final task, just lost interest in the character.

Imms who read my roles: Thanks for reading!

Xeneth: Didn't spend a WHOLE lot of time with you, but you got me to hero along with Sindrir and being part of the group to take down Tiamat was cool.

Kregan: It was fun getting through from Dis to the bottom of Inferno with you as the only source of healing. Pretty amazed we made that work, actually. Our playtimes generally didn't match up a whole lot, but it was cool when they did.

Khalmarnasa: The only other Destuvian, really, heh. Most of my other commentary is on your death thread.

Zhabala: Thanks for Armageddon (repeatedly) and for the promotion to Elite. You're a very competent healer. Keep up the good work.

Birtoc: Where'd you go?! Yeesh. In some ways, you were the backbone of what had made Empire so damn strong for so damn long - trapper thieves are rough to raid against and so on.

Sindrir: Man, you were awesome to Ulthrok. Midnight dragon gear just for reporting where Milonuthial was when I was low-level, helping me level up LAMMF (remember dragging me and my group through Darsylon and getting us like 5 levels in minutes, it seemed like? Woot.)

Ulcia: Where'd you go? We leveled up and had some good times, but I don't recall seeing you much after Tiamat.

Yaztran: Fun grouping with you a few times. We leveled up a bit together too. You have an interesting build going.

Nhasheli: I said most of the good stuff on your death thread. That crash bug screwing you over had me physically staring at my screen slack-jawed. Once my mouth moved again, it was to say "f*ck."

Celent: If you read my other post first, you'll see I had plans to screw you. Maybe you had an inkling, or maybe you're losing interest in the char, but I didn't see much of you recently. I have nothing personal against you! You were good to group with. Hope you're having fun.

Talisin: I said it in Gryndelwul's death thread, but I'll say it again more strongly here - you're pretty much the heart of Nexus right now. We had some fun scraps, hope you're enjoying Talisin as much as you seem to be.

Marintok: I didn't really have an answer for you if you had any significant damredux. The one (two?) times I got you were both due to your link failing, I think.

Obughum: Your build is pretty much what Ulthrok's build was meant to destroy. Retrieving against you and that shifter was pretty exciting. You handled the death very well. Keep up the good work!

Adesoka: Sorry I didn't fight in the way you would have preferred. I know your style is much more of a "let's just fight, dammit" but I have played too many STSF (and too many AGAINST STSF) to sit and fight you straight up after you've had any chance to build up charges. So if I didn't have you in a position where a flurry would end you by about round 3, I was going to flee and use whatever I could (teleporting away, hiding at the Council, whatever) to make you lose STSF charges and/or take damage from sources other than me in combat with you. That said, you're a great Captain, I think, and I do like your style.

Aurescmont: You had my number at the lower levels. But once you Wighted, hoo-boy did things turn around. Still, I think you're getting the hang of playing a Wight and would have eventually had me for lunch again.

Jeede: That kill on you was sooo satisfying. Largely because you're clearly very skilled and getting you was a pretty big achievement. Also because I was half dead myself from raiding Outlander so it was a fairly good size risk to bash you while you were fighting the guard.

Tsalantha: I thought sure I had you when I was shoving you into the gargoyle, but it wasn't meant to be. Forgot to make sure I had enough moves. Classic win for you, nice job.

I left out quite a few folks, but these are the ones at the top of my brain right now. Thanks to everyone. I don't recall any really bad interactions once I hit hero.

man you were tough for sure, and yeah one time you got me was because of my crappy internet i mentioned before, i put in some commands and my screen froze then like 60 seconds later it all scrolls by at 100mph and whammo I am dead, you were super cool about it though and the next time i gave you a freebie shot because of that and you tore me up with a awesome flurry (which is what you were trying for I am sure) but yeah if I had anything other than just vanguard up (like that time at the tree with the lich, i was prepped to the max)it seemed to just take the wind from your sails, I did like you because you were never afraid to mix it up and even if there was five imperials on I knew you werent going to 5v1 me like some of them I did like you and man you burn through some chars don't you hahahaha...

Good luck with your next

Marintok

Thanks for the kind words, means a lot coming from you.

I just loved chatting with Ulthrok! I can't believe you were both he and Gryn at the same time, I think it's hard to manage two hero level characters at the same time. I was actually the (long since deleted) arial dagger in that Darsylon ranking group with Sindrir (I had never intended to rank that fast, and never really got into a groove with that character anyway).

I enjoyed our few fights, for sure, but I think we did more random chit-chatting than actual fighting. When darkness/order swayed, I tried to needle some of the Blades about their coziness with the other sects (and citizens), but you were the only one who ever really responded to the bait. I liked hearing your story of meeting Satan too--Ulthrok's sheer pride shone through in the retelling.

Kudos to another impressive character, back to back. I hope you've got something cooking right now.

Ugh, so embarrassing to see that this is you (embarrassing for me, that is). While I like to think my rants are IC, I you saw the worst of Adesoka, and got the worst of my whining when I would unfairly lump you in with some imperials I had less respect for. I think you characterised our fights spot on, I was kind of like "it's been 4 days of either 6 empire vs me or no one on at all, I finally have a good opponent, why won't you just shut up and die to me!!!". But you were too smart for that, and went from being a bit of a pushover on your way to hero to face-melting me with flurries if I didn't have lots of dam redux. Even then it just let me survive (damn you, Armageddon).

Not gonna lie, I was pretty crushed when I almost got you at the council with Sindrir and Kregan there, only to chase you to Hamsah (instead of redirecting on Sindrir which might have gotten him), only to get owned in one flurry. Would be curious to see that log, but it summarises most of my losses where I overextend myself. Was I actually close?

Thanks for taking my rants with class, and sad to have lost a good enemy.

Adesoka

>Ugh, so embarrassing to see that this is you (embarrassing
>for me, that is). While I like to think my rants are IC, I
>you saw the worst of Adesoka, and got the worst of my whining
>when I would unfairly lump you in with some imperials I had
>less respect for. I think you characterised our fights spot
>on, I was kind of like "it's been 4 days of either 6 empire vs
>me or no one on at all, I finally have a good opponent, why
>won't you just shut up and die to me!!!". But you were too
>smart for that, and went from being a bit of a pushover on
>your way to hero to face-melting me with flurries if I didn't
>have lots of dam redux. Even then it just let me survive
> damn you, Armageddon).

You weren't too bad to me. At least, some times I was sitting and waiting for some scathing remark after a win and it wouldn't come. The only bad part for me was the taunting during the periods when you clearly had my number. It was probably all IC. But when you'd send me packing so clearly 1v1, then say "This is what passes for Elite within the Empire?" it was kinda bleh. Again, that's probably your role though.


>Not gonna lie, I was pretty crushed when I almost got you at
>the council with Sindrir and Kregan there, only to chase you
>to Hamsah (instead of redirecting on Sindrir which might have
>gotten him), only to get owned in one flurry. Would be
>curious to see that log, but it summarises most of my losses
>where I overextend myself. Was I actually close?

As you'll see in the log, you were very close in the Palace. And if I hadn't quaffed a flight potion and you'd been able to trip me, the one round of melee you'd have gotten before I could flurry might have gotten me in Hamsah.

Thanks for posting.

It can get frustrating when it feels like your primary function is to pad PK stats and provide gear for fairweather players who never take risks, but you didn't deserve my condescending comments or fall into those categories. You took the high ground and were the bigger man in our interactions.

Class act as always.

I rolled Ulthrok while I still had Gryndelwul going. It was a mistake in part, as it killed my drive for Gryndelwul. I had a few goals with Ulthrok when I rolled (and gained a few more, later).

Pre-rolling:
1. Investigate accusations of permas from the "inside." I don't want to clog the Battlefield with conversation about this, so I'll be making a post on Gameplay with my findings, such as they are.
2. Build a char based around trying to do as much damage as possible on "normal" hits (i.e. no deathblows/ambushes/backstabs/spells).
3. Be one of the few Imperials who actually followed Destuvius.

Post-rolling:
1. Reach the end of the Inferno and tell Satan to take his tattoo and stick it where the sun doesn't shine (i.e. in the room Satan is in) in favor of the true God of Empire, Destuvius.
2. Kill Tiamat with the group.
3. Steal/sacrifice Celent's weapon.


All goals accomplished except the final one. I tried to stick it out and play a lot in the hopes that Celent would show up more frequently (and with Khalmarnasa con-dying, maybe he will now?) but I had just lost interest. But then I didn't want to delete because Nhasheli did and I figured Empire might be going downhill after that. So I stuck it out for a couple weeks after the deletion. But I realized that Empire won't be going downhill (not enough for me to justify playing a char I wasn't enjoying overly much, anyways) when my last night of playing, this was my PK range:

<1419/1419(100%) 271(73%) 1209(100%) civilized 10 AM>
<51 D-Elf Hea> (PK) Zhabala Dohaz the Hand of Belial, Imperial High Priest
<51 H-Drw Bar> (PK) Kregan Gower the Grand Mistress of Artistry, Imperial War Master
*51 Fire War* (PK) Ulthrok Kul-thok the Boisterous Votary of Destuvius, Elite Imperial Blade
<51 W-Elf Bar> (PK) Talisin Aranhir the Grand Master of Artistry, Bearer of the Sanguine Chalice
<51 H-Drw Sha> (PK) Yaztran Ken'und the Student of Spiders, Priest of Kron'antar, Imperial Acolyte
<45 Svirf Inv> (PK) Parandalia Amberfoot the Mistress of Ice, Meter of Mind
<45 Felar Asn> (PK) Fessara the Menkyo, Elite Imperial Shadow
<51 Mummy Nec> (PK) Khalmarnasa Nol'Akra Dis the Crafty Mistress of the Undead, Imperial Dread Lady
<46 Gnome Thi> (PK) Niwec the Unseen, Kingpin of Galadon

Players found: 9
And this is how cabal wars were going:
You say 'which items we NOT got?'
The Imperial Blademaster says 'The Imperial Throne contains a folding glass key with a platinum handle, the
bloody head of a magician, the Unholy Icon of the Scarab, a radiant crystal orb, a primitive bone fetish and
the Imperial Codex.'
The Imperial Warlock says 'The Imperial Throne contains a folding glass key with a platinum handle, the bloody
head of a magician, the Unholy Icon of the Scarab, a radiant crystal orb, a primitive bone fetish and the
Imperial Codex.'
The Imperial Assassin says 'The Imperial Throne contains a folding glass key with a platinum handle, the bloody
head of a magician, the Unholy Icon of the Scarab, a radiant crystal orb, a primitive bone fetish and the
Imperial Codex.'
The Imperial Prelate says 'The Imperial Throne contains a folding glass key with a platinum handle, the bloody
head of a magician, the Unholy Icon of the Scarab, a radiant crystal orb, a primitive bone fetish and the
Imperial Codex.'



So, the build: Sword/mace Trapping/Cry. Stacked as much +DAM (without sacrificing too much stat coverage). With a berserk and Cry I reached between 105 and 115 dam. With Armageddon on a non-vuln target with all that I could do normal OBLITS. On up from there. I was the perfect machine for killing the cloud giant healer next to Tiamat before he could really factor into the fight. I was also perfect for the first 4 circles of the Inferno, or thereabouts.

In PvP though, I wasn't so hot. I was definitely hitting my stride at the end, don't get me wrong. But it took me quite a while to get there and with Trapping, you become very gear dependant.

Trapping was essentially a wasted legacy for me if I didn't have Armageddon. No other sword that I found weighs nearly as much, and no maces that were worth having (or were in) had any weight at all.

If I had to do it over again, I might go with Axe/Pole. I found all kinds of heavy axes and polearms. Meh.

As it was, this char became a poor-man's Hunsobo.

Why Celent's weapon? Well, buy the PBF and read the role if you like. But seriously the tl;dr version is Ulthrok felt like the Empire was weakened by all the Devil-worshippers and that Celent, once he had a big weapon, was the biggest threat. He was also jealous of Celent doing more damage than him on a per-hit basis. So, I'd planned to take Celent dracolich-killing or some other dangerous deal. Or, if we all died in Hell, to be able to outlast Celent and then loot the weapon. I was also interested to see if I could do it and get away with it. "Ulthrok nuh know whut happen to sword. Wus too busy run from stupid beard-devil."

Eh. So it goes.

I think this post is long enough, and I want to start that Gameplay post, so I'm wrapping it up now. I'll do goodbyes on another post.