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Remnant: from the Ashes - The Undying King

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[Part of our Remnant from the Ashes story]


We finally made it to this damn tower!

The Undying King is a chatty fellow who once nuked this planet to eliminate the Root from it. He offers us a key to the locked doors in the labyrinth in exchange for a creature's heart; a creature that happens to be the guardian of another world and is doing a good job keeping the Root out so we decline this trade which enrages the monarch into a boss battle.

Unfortunately for him, he is nowhere as strong as Claviger or the Hive. In his first mode, he is supported by Goa'uld attendants while he either summons pew pew orbs (which should be killed ASAP as they have low HP and don't move, to have one less thing shooting you) or, if he has his swords out does some lethal combos if he closes the distance which actually downs DL in this fight. His style has a fatal flaw though - back away until he does his jumping lunge and dodge AT him and he'll miss every swing. Thank you Dark Souls experience!

Once weak enough he heads over to his throne to regenerate while summoning a swarm of the man spiders but between our dogs and Jim's flame pistol, those never make it up the stairs leaving the idiot King open for all my strong melee attacks which kills him. Once. Obviously he gets up again, hence his title, but is easily burned down by beam rifles wielded by Jim and myself. Stupid king felt what happens when you cross the streams - there's no coming back from that!


Castlevania (TV Series)

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Because a whip is the best weapon against vampires.

Based on the video game series this four season adult animated series primarily follows the adventures of Trevor Belmont against the regular Castlevania nemesis: Dracula. The art style and animation is very good, with epic fight scenes being the highlight and the voice cast does a great job with the well written lines (warning: lots of swearing).


I really like the art style.

If anything it's the plot that is the weakest element here, mainly noticeable in the latter seasons where things just happen for no / poorly explained reasons. I was often wondering out loud why characters forget to use previously used skills or suddenly skill up mid fight. I guess I have to settle for "they needed to fill their rage/musou bar first". That said it is still a very good series and one I can easily recommend. I give it four morning stars out of five, and I would definitely watch it again.

Adventures in Black Desert Online

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I'm finally trying out this game (the "Remastered" version) after seeing the trailers years ago (now that I can play it for free). Character wise I'm starting with a Musa, since sword and bow is my jam and more because all the write ups for him are "was once really good but is now not very" which fits me perfectly. :P

I'm also making use of the "noob catch up channels" of New Olvia for as long as I can, as it offers some nice boosts and generally makes things a little easier and as usual, I'm editing some of what's in the game simply because I can. Let's see just how far a free-to-play tourist can get!

Chapter 1 - Cheap Adventurers 

This story is on going. Please return for updates!

BDO: Cheap Adventurers

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[Part of my Adventures in Black Desert Online]

Since the excavation team really made a mess of things I was part of the many cheap adventurers (noobs) hired for protection against the literal army of "imps" (which look a lot like kobolds) they displaced during the dig. Not just for the crew either, but also for the nearby village of Velia which is already troubled by surprisingly tall goblins and exiled soldiers in an old castle.


Imps grow big here.

Defeating the imp leader also revealed that the excavation had freed a cutesy black spirit which empowered the creature physically. The little bastard then fled and did the same for the goblin leader and castle lord, both of whom I had to beat while chasing it down before losing its trail.

Alas, since I lost it again I was promptly fired from the protection detail. Awesome.

Insight: Thank god for the "T" auto travel key. I use it a lot!

BDO: Hired Muscle

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[Part of my Adventures in Black Desert Online]

With not much else to do at Velia I headed on South to the next city of Heidel and find representatives of two merchant factions having an argument over trade contracts in town. Since I get roped in to helping one of them, I pick the one whose representative is a hot chick the esteemed Lady Isobele and promptly get employed as her muscle.


Pretty good graphics for an MMO.

My first tasks involve carrying crates from point A to point B, clearing a road of more imps and then finding proof that the opposing merchant guild is actually supporting the nearby rebels (by killing them, naturally).

With proof in hand and Lady Isobelle's trade contract secured I am then sent off to the swamp town of Gilsh to handle the local froglodyte population who have made it a habit to ambush trade caravans. After "a pleasant conversation with their prince, they agree to stop" (aka I wrecked their homes, killed over a hundred of them and annihilated their leader). I'm now level 37.

Insight: Aggroing a bunch of enemies and then backing off usually makes them cluster into a single group in front of you, making it faster to hit all of them. Crowd control abilities are quite useful.

BDO: Cure All

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[Part of my Adventures in Black Desert Online]

Since I did such a good job last time, Isobelle lets me take a short vacation to take in the sights at the quiet village of Olvia which seems to be a fantastic place to settle down. In addition, there's some sort of water festival happening down at the beach with tons of people (players) fishing at the shore.

As I naturally hate fishing, I quickly returned to Lady Isobelle in time to escort her caravan to resupplya cliff side stronghold which is under attack by harpies. Pushing through there we arrive at the Northern Plantation where Isobelle suddenly collapses from some sort of poison.


Shai are short and cute mouse type people.

I set off to the Shai village of Florin, also known for its herbalists and cures and they agree to help. In exchange I do random chores for them, such as collecting herbs and timber, hopping on bellows and repairing roofs. They also get me to cull the masked owl tribe (literally humanoid owls wearing masks) to harvest their spleens... for science? O_O

Insight: I love that there are so many little optional mini-games scattered pretty much everywhere.

May 2021 Review: Ten Years

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Black Desert Online continues to be the highlight of my solo game time and Remnants: From the Ashes has taken the place of GTFO as our Friday night co-op since Rundown 5 has introduced connectivity issues to the game, which are way more frustrating than their actual monsters! The guild in Neverwinter Online continues on though, and we are now at Guild Hall level 17!

I'm sure you've also noticed I'm getting more into cryptocurrency these days and thanks to the recent correction I'm currently down in all my holdings (XRP, VRA, VET, DOGE and now SHIB). Perfect time to buy more though. This is a very addictive experiment.

Something basic I learned from it this month is that percentage reporting can be misleading. For example: if a token goes from $1.00 to $0.50 it’s a change of -50.00% However, to get back to $1.00 the price needs to move +100.00%.  On the flip side if a token goes form $1.00 to $10.00 it’s a +900.00% move. When the token price then goes from $10.00 to $5.00 it’s a -50.00% move so percentages can be misleading (thank you golden_state7)!

In other news: sad tidings for fans of Berserk as it's creator has sadly passed at the start of this month, leaving the tale unfinished. Hopefully the studio / someone can forge on to complete that task. As to not end on a downer: this blog is now ten years old! Happy Birthday blog! Man, my first post was full of cringe... just like most of my current posts! :P

Most Viewed Posts in the last 30 days

GTFO: R5A1 - Floodways (Normal)
Tyranny: The Fatebinders
The First Tree

Interesting grouping this time around with my "not happy" review of The First Tree sneaking into the third spot just behind the first Tyranny story post. GTFO proves walk throughs are still the most popular though, which is a shame since I don't have any more of those coming currently thanks to the technical issues I mentioned at the start of this post.

Remnant: from the Ashes - Queen of the Butts

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[Part of our Remnant from the Ashes story]

Using the King's Key, we are able to unlock the other doors in the labyrinth and the first one we step through puts us on a swamp that has corrosive bug infested people and dogs. The four armed ones need a delay to dodge properly, while the ones sporting head crabs actually need the head crabs killed as well afterwards, otherwise they just find another body to play with.

At a large hut we meet a giant butcher fellow wielding a giant hammer. He is actually the most light hearted boss thus far as his weak spot is his butt, and many of his moves have him bending over. Main tip for this one is he can break the walls, which caught us by surprise initially. Not a hard fight since he has loads of windup.

We meet the Queen of the bugs next, but she is not hostile - explaining that her kind are a hive mind and that for some undisclosed reason she wants the heart of the planet's guardian, probably the very same one we strongly rejected the Undying King over. At least she doesn't go nuts when we refuse, and instead sells me a pretty cool scythe to replace my sledge hammer. 


I guess she likes "strong and wide travelers"?

Being lawful good, Jim leads us back to the labyrinth to explore the other world first because hopefully we don't need to kill whatever guardian whose heart is on the most wanted list. This next world is a nice foresty one full of angry satyrs and basilisks. After a particularly brutal encounter with multiple elites (don't get caught in the doorway, make use of the huge arena) we meet some "good" satyrs - and these ones know about the founder we've been looking for.

Remnant: from the Ashes - Zombie Onslaught

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[Part of our Remnant from the Ashes story]

Learning that the founder has been kidnapped by the Empress of this world (not the Queen of the Butts) we go exploring to fight more of these shock based enemies. The boss named "Onslaught" embodies the shock trope nicely, as he is a big melee brute that can insta-teleport. Killing his bat type adds is a good idea if you have time, but you need to be ready to dodge if he locks on to you.

I quickly discover he doesn't quite teleport so much if he has someone in melee range, and so I try to continuously semi-duel him (semi because I would lose an "actual" duel) giving Jim and DL more time to shoot him in the back. When I learn to dodge his double spin attack is when we finally put him down.


It's cool that between all of this there's a musician just randomly chilling in the forest!
Wait a minute, only now am I noticing those bells beside him...


Much harder is a horrible crypt full of slow zombie satyrs, peppered with much quicker teleporting assassins who explode on death. These guys don't stop spawning until the three summoning stones are destroyed and it takes us awhile to work out the correct tactic: split up. Since my scythe seems to be the fastest stone destroyer I am given that job while DL and Jim have the way more dangerous task of luring the enemies away not just from me, but from each other.

Summoned dogs really help a lot here, as does the group heart heal when in range (and Jim's range is massive since he was upgrading the cooperation trait). Even so, it takes us many frustrating attempts before finally clearing this challenge and our reward is... a dead end! LOL.

BDO: Attack on Calpheon

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[Part of my Adventures in Black Desert Online]

While waiting for the Shais to complete the cure I take a short adventure to the nearby Bree Tree ruins where the excavation team from the beginning is now digging. I help them with rock spiders and active stone guardians before reaching the lowest relic which is being absorbed by the black spirit!


It looks pleased with itself...

It's not a cute fuzzball anymore but a sinister looking ghost with a cloak. One look at me and it runs off though, and since I do have to deliver the cure back to Isobelle I don't bother chasing it this time.

Eventually I make it back to Lady Isobelle (who miraculously hasn't died yet with all the delays) to give her the potion. Since she will still need a few days to regain her strength I decide to help out at the Western border against a full blown troll invasion, complete with siege weapons and artillery!

Lucky the trolls aren't very dangerous and once they are taken care of, some soldiers ask I deliver the message of victory to the Calpheon City council so that's where I head next. I am now level 50. Coincidentally this is also the level where open world-PVP unlocks... dun dun dunnn!

Insight: While the dual sword Musa skill is great since it can heal per hit (and hits fast), I still rely on healing potions most of the time which are both useful and relatively cheap!

BDO: Into the Leight

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[Part of my Adventures in Black Desert Online]

Calpheon City is ridiculously huge and hosts many people: from the protesters in the slums, merchants in the artisan districts and finally the nobles, church and knights in high town but they all share a single passion: getting other people to read books for them in the hill top library that is really a pain to walk to. Guess which sorry sap gets to do that chore? :P


There's always something to protest about.

Eventually I find the council chambers to deliver the report on the troll war, and once council lady Elina Leight is so impressed that she asks me to work for her merchant company and I accept. The first job is to help the Church of Elon Musk Elion at a nearby refugee camp where some refugees have become contaminated by rabid dogs (or something). After dealing with the sick (by killing them because a dead one has 0% transmission rate) I move on to investigate some really poor quality chimeras blocking the nearby road.  

These seem to have gotten loose from a nearby laboratory, and after fighting my way in discover that the flesh golem lab assistant in charge has become possessed by the black spirit. I defeat this new form and cull as many of the chimeras as I can before reporting back to a very pleased Elina.

Insight: Calpheon is where I learned that city quests are fricking endless, and where I decided to stop trying to do everything especially since there's a limit to how many active quests you can carry at a time.

BDO: Isobelle and Elina

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[Part of my Adventures in Black Desert Online]

Elina next sends me to the mining village of Keplan to try secure a trade agreement. The miners are hesitant to agree so I first foster some good will by culling the junk golems and petrifying diseased miners in their quarry (really, don't get sick in this world), and then pushing back the clan of giants trying to reclaim the dig sites which used to be their home. Some of these guys are a little dangerous!


Bwahahaha! Now I have two swords!

Finally with the trade agreement in hand I return to Elina who is again happy with my work. She then reveals Lady Isobelle is under investigation for being a traitor to Calpheon, and that as someone who worked for her - I might be implicated unless I pledge my loyalty to Leight guild.

So, I attend the inquisition hearing and proclaim my loyalty to Isobelle, much to Elina's displeasure. Luckily Lady Isobelle arrives at that moment with proof of her innocence. Her wealth that was initially thought to be going to the Heidel "rebels" was actually simply to buy a tavern in that city, the receipt/deed of which seems to appease the inquisition fully. I mean, I'm no lawyer but that still could be supporting the Heidel rebels... but whatever. I'm in the clear!

Anyway, since I didn't pledge my allegiance to Elina she dismisses me from service. Lady Isobelle also fires me when she learns I helped Elina win the trade agreement from Keplan which used to be hers. Furthermore, Isobelle reveals it was Elina's henchmen that poisoned her during our travels - a fact Elina doesn't deny. In this world all is fair when it comes to making money.

Insight: The yellow dots on your radar are your quest targets.

BDO: Nella's Quest

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[Part of my Adventures in Black Desert Online]

As a free agent again, I find work assisting the local military in suppressing enemies at the border in the form of Rhutum orcs, always nicely grouped Mansha goblins, and an unending swarm of catfishmen. It sounds ridiculous, but the lake catfishmen are the most dangerous foes I've faced thus far mainly due to the mob density. I literally slay just over a thousand of them.


Ugh, too many catfishmen!

Afterwards I help a newbie knight named Nella investigate a forbidden book which is banned by the Church of Elion. To find a copy we first travel to the lumber village of Trent and help them harvest some Treants (the huge ones are spectacular to watch), then on to the hunters village of Behr which is having a problem with a nearby massive graveyard filled with undead.

These skeletons are certainly tough but quite slow, and with other adventurers here stemming the undead it isn't long before their source is found: Hexe Marie, an ancient witch who once summoned a world-level threat known as the Kzarka! She's pretty easy to kill though - easier than her minions! I suppose it's just because she's really old. We find the forbidden text on her person and Nella gets to translating it. I'm now level 55 and get a cool +15 sword as a bonus.

Insight: Press V to turn into a ball of smoke to escape a dangerous spot! There's a long cool down on it though so try to save it for when you need it.

Remnant: from the Ashes - Flaming Totem

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[Part of our Remnant from the Ashes story]

Thrown by the dead end, it takes a bit of exploring the forest before finding a way up into the tree top villages of the satyrs whose main defender is an archer and imp combo that both like fire attacks. For a single player this might have been a tough fight, but for us - Jim just kept the archer busy while DL and I murdered the imp. While tough, the archer had no chance against three of us, especially since he didn't have the cheating moves of Shroud.

Not far beyond is the ziggurat prison, guarded by the Totem Father - a giant satyr whose totems summon adds. Outside his boss fight is a totem that can be spun to either make him use ranged magic while hopping on pillars while his adds are bladed assassins, or have him fight in close quarters while his adds have crossbows. We found the former much easier to deal with, especially once I realized he forgets to summon adds if he has a clear target to attack.


And the door to the final level is right at the first level...

With these easy fights out of the way we finally locate the founder, who gives us the info and access we need to stop the root. A crazed dreamer in Ward 17 is what's letting the plant people advance across the planets so we head there immediately and because we can't just shoot the defenseless sleeper for some reason, we are drawn into the final battle in his mind!

Remnant: from the Ashes - Sweet Dreams Mothra

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[Part of our Remnant from the Ashes story]

The dreamer (who looks like Doc Ock or a Matrix squiddy) likes summoning Root to defend him but they are the least of our concerns as he has some nice attacks of his own that also wipe out his own adds. Bombardment is countered by sprinting, and his vacuum spin/slam combo as well as his one/two fire punch can dodged. Hit him in the head enough and he goes into phase two... Mothra HP sponge mode!

This second mode is really boring as he only has one telegraphed fireball attack and magic wave that throws us into a nightmare arena (with clear portal exits) against Root that drains HP the longer you stay inside. It took us awhile before learning we needed to stay in that nightmare mode to kill some root as it gives an incredible damage buff, which really needs to be on when shooting Mothra dreamer to do any significant damage. We even made it a point NOT to attack him if the buff is off to save ammo, and we still used a lot of ammo crates.

Hurting him enough stuns Mothra, leaving the human dreamer exposed to receive incredible amounts of damage. Since automatic weapons work best in this fight Jim and I went back to the beam rifles here and upgraded them and our submachine guns which do the job nicely. And so, with the dreamer's death the spread of the Root is over... as is the game, unless we play it again but that's not really our style.


That's a good enough ending for us. The end!


BDO: The White Witch

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[Part of my Adventures in Black Desert Online]

The forbidden tome sheds some pretty damning light on the Church of Elion, which is reluctantly confirmed by the head priest at a local monastery when shown the torture chambers in the haunted monastery basement. It turns out a radical sect of the Church is still into preserving still living Kzarka tentacles and kidnapping then sacrificing people in hopes of resummoning the creature so Nella and I head to their mountain temple and kick their tentacle loving asses... Uh, that might have come out wrong.


Hello, ugly.

Anyway, we reach the main sacrifice chamber at the exact moment they summon Kzarka but before we can fight it properly a magic spell cast by a white witch knocks us away. She then proceeds to one hit kill-steal the creature and takes its soul before teleporting away.

Since such a powerful individual could be a threat, Nella tasks me with chasing her down - with the only hint being her clothing resembling that worn in the Eastern lands of Mediah. She does provide a tier 5 horse to assist in this task, which is awesome as it means I don't have to sprint everywhere anymore. Yeah, I probably should have bought a horse much earlier huh?

Insight: The shadow knights in that monastery hit really hard, fortunately they are very slow to draw/summon their weapons so kill them quick before they are ready! Just don't try it on the purple rank ones in the hidden corridor. Eek!

BDO: A Song of Barbarians

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[Part of my Adventures in Black Desert Online]

The road East is long and the first stop is by a small elven sanctuary, who claim something is happening underground which is causing trouble for their trees so I head to the nearby Omar Lava Cave where goblins have pushed out the miners who worked there. Since there is a wizard (player) training there, it is relatively easy for me to reach and defeat the goblin boss.

The thankful miners then point me to the direction of Altinova city, which hold the best odds of me finding a clue to the white witch's whereabouts. Alas, despite the bustling markets, tight streets and people every where the best lead I get is from some barbarian drinking song so to find out more I head to their base which is a not so abandoned quarry where they are using slaves to mine some black crystals.

Since they don't want to talk and I dislike their work ethic, much blood is spilled. Ultimately it is Altinova merchant lord Neruda Shen that resolves this though. Since he wants my support in taking control of the city he simply hires the barbarians and legalizes slavery! In exchange they tell me that their boss is a servant of the witch and is the reigning Altinova arena champion. He also happens to be a death knight.


The death knight looks pretty cool.

Insight: The tall barbarians with the long spears are especially dangerous since in a crowd you might not realize you aren't hitting them (it looks like you might be in range, but you aren't).

BDO: Shen Rising

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[Part of my Adventures in Black Desert Online]

The arena battle is pretty cool as the death knight is the only enemy so far that can out pace me, but with potions and good dodging I still manage to kill him - which is bad because I forgot to ask about the white witch first. At least he gave me her name: Illezra.

After the match Captain Sarma Amin of the Shroud Knights and servants of the rightful lord Prince Barry Bareeds III, approaches and berates me for siding with the wannabe merchant despot, Neruda Shen. He is hurt by these accusations and so instructs me to assist the Shroud Knights in an effort to extend good will.


When player guilds can select their own emblems, you get funny flags.

Sarma is hesitant at first but welcomes the assistance as I take down a base of Illezra worshiping rogues and an army of manes (gnolls) threatening the small, sorceress filled village of Tarif. Thanks to my efforts, Prince Bareeds III (who turns out to be a kid) appoints Neruda Shen as Steward of Altinova while he seeks asylum at Valencia until he comes of age. Way to put off problems of the realm till later kid.

Neruda then asks I help the miners who are having horrible nightmares and after consulting with the sorceresses at Tarif, I am directed to find my old friends: the excavation dig team, who are now working on a ruin in this region! These guys certainly work fast!

Insight: My bonus beginner bag space ran out at this point, and if you are wondering - any items left at the bottom at the bag are now locked and held hostage until you can unlock more bag space, either through payment or by completing quests. I'm obviously going for the latter

BDO: You need to Train

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[Part of my Adventures in Black Desert Online]

It's tricky to reach the excavation team this time as there are some deadly golems in the way which requires some nice footwork. They agree to help quell the miners nightmares by creating relic necklaces, but in exchange I have to deal with a nearby helm orc threat. Strangely, I got to beat their "Captain America" boss early, but a new version of him from a nearby dark rift easily kicked my ass. Good thing beating him (again) wasn't a requirement for the necklaces!


When Captain Orcmerica had a spiky shield... and a mace?

My return to Altinova is short as Neruda Shen simply takes the necklaces and redirects me to the Nothern Shroud Knight fortress where a war is brewing against the neighbouring Susans Sausans, most likely because the Sausan leader was recently murdered in Altinova!

Captain Sarma leads the defense but I am of no use as even the Sausan scouts require a full skill rotation to defeat. Not interested to have another corpse, she instructs me to go train up elsewhere before rejoining the coming fight. This is probably a wise decision so I return to Velia. I am now level 57.

Insight: Dark Rift bosses are no joke as only YOU can see them. In my current state it's pointless to even attempt them! The only good part is that you lose nothing if you get killed by one.

BDO: Sword on a Stick

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[Part of my Adventures in Black Desert Online]

Since I've plateaued a bit with my sword skills, I decide to learn a new weapon: the glaive Crescent Blade (aka Sword on a Stick) and it is pretty awesome since it has a lot of strong knockdowns and area effect abilities. Then, while fooling around and still getting used to the weapon I suddenly run into... Illezra!?


She was in Velia the whole time.

Anyway, apparently she was impressed by the few seconds I fought the Kzarka and wanted to see how good I actually am which leads into a surprise boss fight out in the Velia village fields! Not against her of course, instead she summons a shadow clone of myself! It is an epic duel which I nearly lose, but still come out triumphant at the end. Erm. I suppose I technically punched myself in the face?

While this isn't enough to impress Illezra who simply leaves without saying a word, it gives me great confidence as I return to the Altinova-Sausan border where I proceed to totally wreck the Sausan forces with my new weapon. I am only stopped when Captain Sarma realizes the Sausan's are in league with the barbarians Neruda Shen hired (thanks to using the same weapons, and found correspondence between them), and they are now planning to take over Altinova!

Insight: In game you can pick between Awakening or Succession skills, one focuses on giving you a new weapon to play with based on your class (losing some other abilities) while the other focuses on building up your existing skills but no new weapon.

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