Order of the Stick Comment thread 611 and counting.

[frigidmagi]

Bitch had it coming.

[Dark Silver]

is it just me, or does the GitP server suck more donkey balls than usual?

I mean, seriously.

I can barely pull up a old comic, much less the new ones lately.

[The Minx]

is it just me, or does the GitP server suck more donkey balls than usual?

I mean, seriously.

I can barely pull up a old comic, much less the new ones lately.

It's not just you. This is one reason I don't post there any more. The other being the weird priorities in moderation (see previous rant).

New comic, incidentally: 649

Oh, and the cast page got updated too: link.

[LadyTevar]

*DIES LAUGHING*
Now that is just fuckin' hilarious.

[Rogue 9]

Now taking bets. Will Vaarsuvius' soul meld run out right before its power can be brought to bear on Xykon?

[frigidmagi]

You know I'm actually betting that it doesn't matter, he's facing Xykon, who's epic level and Redcloak who is pretty damn near close together with an army of flunkies.

He could take the flunkies. He could take Redcloak. Hell maybe he could even take Xykon.

All at once? Alone?

I bet not.

[The Minx]

Link: 651

V is going to be defeated one way or another, since this is not the end of the story. I doubt that the story's main villain would go down just like that...

Of course, I could be mistaken - it could be that V is set to replace X as Redcloak's ally (he might fall for the temptation of more total absolute power the Snarl could bring) but I find that very, very unlikely. Major villains just don't go out that easily.


With exceptions: link. Though she was hardly a "major" villain (she just worked for one).

[Cynical Cat]

Xykon's a lich. He can die and come back. In fact, he already has.

[The Minx]

Xykon's a lich. He can die and come back. In fact, he already has.

But Redcloak is carrying his phylactery. It's not in a secure location. :/

[Cynical Cat]

Xykon's a lich. He can die and come back. In fact, he already has.

But Redcloak is carrying his phylactery. It's not in a secure location. :/

So? The phylactery is tough. Even if Redcloak bites it, the phylactery will probably survive. V doesn't know where it is.

[The Minx]

So? The phylactery is tough. Even if Redcloak bites it, the phylactery will probably survive. V doesn't know where it is.

V knows about phylacteries now, and is not just going to ignore the problem of finding it. Those epic level mages should give him the power he needs to detect it if he casts a divination to figure out where it is if he manages to defeat both X and R.

Nonetheless, I doubt X is going to be destroyed here. Storytelling reasons - something is going to prevent this from ending right now.

[Cynical Cat]

So? The phylactery is tough. Even if Redcloak bites it, the phylactery will probably survive. V doesn't know where it is.

V knows about phylacteries now, and is not just going to ignore the problem of finding it. Those epic level mages should give him the power he needs to detect it if he casts a divination to figure out where it is if he manages to defeat both X and R.

Nonetheless, I doubt X is going to be destroyed here. Storytelling reasons - something is going to prevent this from ending right now.

Death doesn't destroy Xykon. And those mages are as much a distraction as an aide. Even in V wins, he hasn't won.

[The Minx]

So? The phylactery is tough. Even if Redcloak bites it, the phylactery will probably survive. V doesn't know where it is.

V knows about phylacteries now, and is not just going to ignore the problem of finding it. Those epic level mages should give him the power he needs to detect it if he casts a divination to figure out where it is if he manages to defeat both X and R.

Nonetheless, I doubt X is going to be destroyed here. Storytelling reasons - something is going to prevent this from ending right now.

Death doesn't destroy Xykon. And those mages are as much a distraction as an aide. Even in V wins, he hasn't won.

Of course death doesn't destroy Xykon. That doesn't change the fact that V knows that he needs to destroy the phylactery, and the mages are his to command. :)

As for whether it is even relevant... do we even know that Xykon is going to be defeated by V in the first place? He has already demonstrated that he can defeat an Epic level wizard, and those soul splices aren't unbreakable.

[Hotfoot]

His to command, until someone verbally bitchslaps that arrogant elf ass and concentration is shattered. Then you've got two incredibly powerful souls who only need a body to inhabit in order to cause havoc on the world once more.

Oh, hey, look at that. An epic level necromancer in a city FILLED with corpses. Whatever shall he do?

[Charon]

The new OOTS is up, in which we see the difference between "power" and power.

[frigidmagi]

Just two chumps who didn't have the balls to stay in the game. Damn he calls it harsh but true sometimes don't he?

[Dark Silver]

he does, but he calls it like he sees it.

And he has a point, if they were evil mages worth their salt, they would have avoided the Hells like the firey Pits of Hell that they are.

[Cynical Cat]

Reminds me of the Lasombra mockery of the Giovanni's mastery of the spirits of the deceased. "If they were good at what they did, they wouldn't be dead in the first place."

[The Minx]

Reminds me of the Lasombra mockery of the Giovanni's mastery of the spirits of the deceased. "If they were good at what they did, they wouldn't be dead in the first place."

I was reminded of that also. :)


652

The fact that energy drains hit both of the mages at once is important. Also, it seems that V uses his own skill checks and each mage uses their own spell-casting powers separately. Which is bad news for V, since this suggests that the levels don't stack for ECL purposes. This changes everything.

BTW, this means that Haerta Bloodsoak cast "Familicide" by herself.


Rules geekery:

Xykon can cast Maximized Energy Drain. So, he can use 12th level spell slots. Therefore, he has the Improved Spell Capacity feat in addition to his Epic Spellcasting feat. Therefore, he is at least 26th level. Assuming Rich is going by the book, which he probably isn't.

[Cynical Cat]

Unless he used Sudden Maximize or a has a metamagic rod/equivalent goodie stashed on his person. Then it's a 9th level slot.

[The Minx]

Unless he used Sudden Maximize or a has a metamagic rod/equivalent goodie stashed on his person. Then it's a 9th level slot.

Might be.

Though, they don't really seem to use that many magic items in that comic. At least not overtly. :/

BTW, I just realized that Jaephthon (or whatever he's called) may be down to 12th effective level by now - since he just lost his Epic spellcasting before Xykon cast Maximized Energy Drain (which scrubbed 8 levels). V is in some serious trouble. One would have thought that he would have buffed himself against necromantic spells - especially energy drains - before going against someone like Xykon, but I guess overconfidence is his hallmark.

[Rogue 9]

You know, the really amazing thing is that Xykon has apparently never run into anyone with the foresight to cast death ward before engaging him. It would shut his favorite anti-caster tactic down cold.

[Cynical Cat]

You know, the really amazing thing is that Xykon has apparently never run into anyone with the foresight to cast death ward before engaging him. It would shut his favorite anti-caster tactic down cold.

Not really. It's his favorite anti-arcane caster spell, but arcane casters don't get Death Ward, which has a limited duration. Almost all of his arcane caster fights tend to be one on one duels. He tends to use different tricks with divine casters, like his Symbol of Insanity paladin smash.

[frigidmagi]

Keep in mind the two fights we've seen with this have been against people who were mentally and emotionally distraught.

V should have brought some beefed up divine casters for this dance. As it is he's way out of his league. His levels having failed to keep up with his ego. A common failing amongst wizard players.

[Rogue 9]

Indeed. Anyway, it sucks to be V. New comic.