I started a game medium galaxy as humans. I have a nice little pocket of planets in the north.

But my first contact with another race is one of my scouts stumbling across a size 75 ocean artifacts planet ( 8) ). Already in the hands of the Psilons ( ).

And then not too many turns later - Mineral Depletion event hits Sol :mad:. That ALWAYS hits Sol in my games (usually hits the AI Humans but MOO doesn't discriminate in it's discrimination). Fortunately it's not nearly so bad on a already maxed world and my 2nd 2 planets were size 75 and 95 so Sol stuck with research and pop growth and my other planets were capable of continuing expansion (and actually were closer to the action than Sol), I was also blessed with a very balanced tech draw - near perfect economy and defense, which made the partial-loss of my homeworld easier.

Still, sure enough the Psilons proceeded to massively run away in tech and in fact they settled a barrier of planets clear across the map making it impossible for me to contact the other races who were all huddling in the south (the Psilons were always at least a couple of range and habitat techs ahead of me so there was just no chance to get a foothold in their territory).

Anyway eventually I got an alliance with the Psilons, I took a central world from the bears giving me contact with everyone (I've never before made first contact with a race by taking their homeworld... then declaring to all their neighbors "We come in peace", yeah right! Like a scene out of a bad sci movie except the alien invaders win instead of the humans, but in this case the alien invaders were the humans and it was sapient bears being chased around and shot at in comical fashion)

The Psilons had weapons comp and propulsion tech coming out their ears, BUT they had no planetary shields, no scatterpacks, no Factory Controls (!!!), very little terraforming, no soil enrichment and bad Gropo. Meanwhile being humans I had XV planetary shields and the usual massive pop deal with decent gropo - enough to shame the bears. I got Psilons in a war with everyone then slid the dirk in their back, taking half a dozen worlds in the opening moves, which gave very little tech because they had no factory controls! Should I have traded them factory controls just to get a bigger haul? Hmmmm...

But anyway they had no answer to my massive swarms of fusion bombers and marines and on the turn that Mentar's defenses fell, I won a diplomatic victory. One of the funnier things is I only ever researched 3 weapons techs - hand lasers, NPG and Merculites (I said my tech draw was good!). I traded for Megabolt and fusion bomb then pointy-sticked Hercular missiles and those were the only weapons I needed to finish the game. I didn't actually fight the Psilons as such just got their fleet distracted and bombed+invaded any undefended world.

Oh the funny thing? I was going to play a variant where I win a diplo victory asap then choose final war (manic-apes, I changed my mind, I kill you all!). But by the time I won the darn diplo victory I'd already won the game. No plan survives contact with the RNG gods .

This game does unfortunately highlight for me just why the AI is so bad, in that it has absolutely no awareness of what techs it needs to develop economy or how it needs to get at least some techs of each line, so getting critical techs like robotic controls or terraforming is purely a matter of luck. It was a game which should have had true runaway psilons, but they ended up running away and joining the circus.

We had a small bit of an issue getting people for GvG tonight, 5 were there and ready and the other 3 slowly joined in. The roster this time was:
Wyrm - W/Rt
Xyn - W/E
Moo - N/E
Miyu (KKoP guest) - N/A
Seijin - Me/E
Fox - E/Rt
Hawk - Mo/E
Vort - Mo/A

For starters, I was a bit of an airhead and didn't realize which necro was which until 2 matches had gone by. Oops. Next time, I think we'll order it so that the N/A and E/Rt are next to each other on the roster to keep that straight.

Our first match a warmup match that didn't count.

I don't remember much of the second match either, but it didn't exactly go our way either.

Our third match was fun. We went up against Basin Amazons, which none of us were really expecting, but turned out well since we won.

So, the first 2 matches are a blur at this point, so I'm going to make a few statements based on the third one (and the few bits I do remember from the first 2), which you can watch any time over the next 24 hours or so.
- We're getting better.
- We pretty much have the "critical" roles filled out now thanks to good ol' election by default.
- Communication is still an issue, especially for the person leading (guess that's me, huh?)
- People need to spend more time with their builds to get acquainted with them.
- We're playing too defensively (also my fault).
- Flag runner doesn't need to ask for permission to cap the stand. If the other team is controlling the tower, that's permission enough to cap. The only reason you wouldn't cap is if it would mean death.
- Similar note to above, we did a much better job controlling the tower stand this time around, even during the matches we lost. Yay to Fox for that one.
- Monks should pay attention to the health bars of NPCs if they can. We lost the bodyguard against AB, which was something that didn't need to happen. That's something I had trouble with for a while when I would guest for Fang, so don't worry about it.
- Whoever uses the W/E needs to make more liberal usage of Shock. Don't worry about the exhaustion, just make sure you've got 25e (radiant/glad's chest and leggings) and you're set. You can also consider bringing along a +30/-2 set on switch so you can dip below 0 energy to Shock someone. Remember, a KD is a very effective interrupt.
- People shouldn't be afraid to mention things they notice about the team movements, or if you see someone using a skill that really hurts our build (aka Divert Hexes) point them out asap.

I'm trying to think of what else to say here, but my brain is a little scrambled right now. Let's hear what other people have to say about the matches.

Eventually, we could probably make a thread for each class since we've got the space for it now. In the meantime though, I just felt like putting up the builds I use for Koss and Goren almost all the time. The one I use (i.e. Hammer, Axe, Sword) depends on what weapons I have them equipped with (aka whatever was lying around and was max damage) at the time.

Sword:
Str: 3; Swords: 12; Tactics: 12
Barbarous Slice, Gash, Sun and Moon Slash, Galrath Slash/Pure Strike, "Watch Yourself!", "Shields Up!", "Charge!", Res Sig

Axe:
Str: 3; Axe: 12; Tactics: 12
Dismember, Executioner's Strike, Critical Chop, random, "Watch Yourself!", "Shields Up!", "Charge!", Res Sig

Hammer:
Str: 3; Hammer: 12; Tactics: 12
Hammer Bash, Crushing Blow, Irresistible Blow, Counter Blow, "Watch Yourself!", "Shields Up!", "Charge!", Res Sig

Obviously, they're all basically the same thing. Every now and then I'll take "Watch Yourself!" off one of them and give them another attack skill. The reason for 12 in tactics is so that "Charge!" will last 10 seconds meaning it stays up all the time. The reason for "Charge!" instead of an elite attack is because when you're walking around in PvE, you're usually doing just that: a lot of walking. Using "Charge!" helps reduce the time you're out there wandering. "Shields Up!" is great on 2 warriors because you can have it up all the time, meaning you've got great defense against archers, which really helps in the later stages of Nightfall when you're going up against Barrage users almost constantly. During missions/quests where the idea is to defend, or if you don't need to be mobile a lot (i.e. short treks between fights), then I probably will exchange "Charge!" for an elite attack and lower tactics a bit since getting that breakpoint is really the only reason to run it that high.

Last time we went down to The Deep during the free-for-all weekend, we only took 9 people with us. We could/would have beaten Kanaxai but for some reason we forgot to bring Inspired Enchant (oops). Anyways, here's what the team consisted of:

2x warriors with Recall as tanks
1x BiP necro acting as secondary tank when we needed an extra body to block
1x SS necro
2x Fire eles. One was a Renewal nuker, the other SF
3x monks. One was RC, 2 had Healing Seed, and at least 1 had LoD.

I would think it might be possible (and worth trying sometime) to cut that number down even further, possibly to 6. We could get rid of 1 monk, a fire ele, and the BiP (monks just have to be careful and not spam spells). I'd also like to try using a dervish to tank at some point. Anyway, as long as at least 1 person has a mule or unused char kept there we can go whenever we want.

Another thing to try is adding EoE to one of the chars and seeing how that works.

Hey, I warned you guys I would probably go a little nuts with sub-forums.

I think it would be a good idea for everyone who's interested in TA runs every now and then to say so. Since it only needs 4 people we don't have to worry about scheduling matches like we do with GvG, we just need to find out who's interested so we can put together ad-hoc teams. It's also relatively easy to put together a build so that's not a real issue either.

Battling TA is great practice for GvG (hint hint) since most GvG (char) builds will work (unlike in RA where you pretty much have to be self-sufficient) and it gives you a chance to practice your skillbar. It's also a pretty decent way to get Bal faction for skill unlocking.

Anyways, I'm interested, who else?

This is the build we're currently using for GvG:

W/Rt
Str: 3; Axe: 16 (12 +3 +1), Tactics: 13 (12 +1)
"Fear Me!", Steady Stance, Drunken Blow, Desperation Blow, Disrupting Chop, Bull's Strike, Heal Sig, Flesh of My Flesh
Skill Template: ABORckclnS9QpN6WoKMlAwFD
Equipment Template: RmHu5kAOSqRSmatjaEmjEs7Mmj8EEKmisL9BmiMs+Gm70TA

W/E
Str: 10; Hammer: 16 (12 +3 +1); Earth: 8; Air: 2
Flail, Rush, Devastating Hammer, Crushing Blow, Bull's Strike, Shock, Grasping Earth, Res Sig
Skill Template: AhNRCj6kHmy5YsAWaF/E+qAA
Equipment Template: RmGF6EPQSqaEmj0T7MmjMsMKm70L9BmiMs+GmiMs

N/A
Curses: 13 (12 +1); Soul Reaping: 14 (12 +1 +1)
Dash, Reaper's Mark, Malaise, Insidious Parasites, Faintheartedness, Signet of Sorrow, Price of Failure, Res Sig
Skill Template: A0JgxHPTQUGjYPcIODTVBAA
Equipment Template: RmGX6kNRKqKDmikDrLmiEs0ImisDlAmiEsuFmi0T

N/E
Curses: 3; Death Magic: 14 (12 +1 +1); Soul Reaping: 13 (12 +1)
Rotting Flesh, Rising Bile, Shadow of Fear, Deathly Swarm, Glyph of Lesser Energy, Icy Veins, Putrid Explosion, Res Sig
Skill Template: AkNQxGfjUzpxprGfBigMCAA
Equipment Template: RmGW6kNRKqKDmisDrLmiEssImicDlAmiEsuFmi0T

Me/E
Domination Magic: 14 (12 +1 +1); Inspiration Magic: 10 (9 +1); Fast Casting: 10 (9 +1)
Energy Burn, Glyph of Lesser Energy, Panic, Backfire, Wastrel's Demise, Spirit of Failure, Mind Wrack, Res Sig
Skill Template: AlNAkCP5QDUBcgbaMAGgMEAA
Equipment Template: RmHGyMrRN0xkqIVWwUkWYaxUkei/wUkXoBwUkg1qwUkZAA
Alternate Equipment Template: RmHGyErRN0xkqOVWwUkWYaxUkei/wUkLpBwUkg1qwUkZAA

E/Rt
Fire Magic: 14 (12 +1 +1); Energy Storage: 9 (8 +1); Restoration Magic: 10
Weilder's Boon, Weapon of Warding, Flame Djinn's Haste, Mind Blast, Fireball, Smoldering Embers, Fire Attunement, Mark of Rodgort
Skill Template: AGOiCzgh6oL8zCxMW80XUWxF
Equipment Template: RmHF1UhJN/xkqOVcwUkeYgxUkhlKxVkfoIwUkh1wwUkeCA

Mo/E
Healing Prayers: 14 (12 +1 +1); Divine Favor: 13 (12 +1)
Heal Party, Jamei's Gaze, Words of Comfort, Glyph of Lesser Energy, Ethereal Light, Healing Touch, Healer's Boon, Dismiss Condition
Skill Template: AjNRjfDkn46H53lRorgRkxmG
Equipment Template: RmGQ9kNRKqCEmi0EjMmiMssJmicElBmiMsmGmi0T

Mo/A
Protection Prayers: 12 (10 +1 +1); Divine Favor: 12 (11 +1); Healing Prayers: 7; Shadow Arts: 7
Restore Condition, Spirit Bond, Holy Veil, Reversal of Fortune, Gift of Health, Dark Escape, Mending Touch, Return
Skill Template: AzRR7eKc/3QR0izk8aYsm0AFYA
Equipment Template: RmGc6sNRKqCEmi0EjMmiEs0JmisElBmiEsmGmi0T

I'll post my guestimates for attributes the next time I sign on to check what I did with templates.

We've used it a total of 4 matches so far, winning 2 and losing 2 (although the first loss doesn't really count since we were warming up). I'd like to hear what people think about the build; what its strong points are and what the weaknesses are. Also, if you think a few skills should be changed around for a certain char, which ones should go out and which should go in?

I know one comment we've had so far is that it lacks defense, so how should we improve that one?

Unless people are really unhappy with this build, I would suggest we stick with it for as long as we can so that people can get used to the skills and worry more about who to use them on and less about what button to press to use the skill they want to.

Edit: added attributes
Edit 2: added templates for the builds, see notes in post below.

I brought this idea up earlier on guild chat and people generally liked the idea and thought it would be good to propose on the forums, so here goes.

It's been an on and off discussion over the past year or so to add some new sub-forums on the boards, mostly about adding a PvP sub-forum. The argument that's always killed the idea where it stood has been that we don't have enough activity on the forums to justify making the added subs. Even more so, of the people on the forums, we have even fewer people in the guild who are involved with PvP. So that's the way things have gone: KoP has offered, we've refused due to lack of participation or something along those lines.

I think we need to take the risk and add the PvP sub-forum along with a couple others; the participation will come on its own. As of right now, there are 3 sub-forums I would like to propose we add: PvP, Builds and Templates, Variants.

The first, PvP, would be for us to have all of our discussions on everything PvP in a more "spaced out" manner. Right now, just about all PvP discussion goes on in the GvG thread: skill comparisons, build, strategy, everything. I'm pretty sure no one remembers everything that's been discussed in the thread at this point (seriously, I don't even remember half of what was posted) and it's getting pretty cloggy in that we have multiple conversations overlapping. With the new sub-forum we could have 1 topic for build/skill discussion, 1 for strat, etc.. Basically, we'd be able to keep them simple so that by page 2 people didn't have to reply to 20 things in 1 post. Also, it wouldn't be limited to just GvG, we'd be able to bounce ideas for TA, AB or HA off each other as well. I suppose if there's someone out there that actually does HB you could even talk about that... with... someone...

The second, Builds and Templates, could be for everything from build for your heroes to a full 8-man team build. And it wouldn't have to just be for PvE either, although most PvP builds would go in the PvP section for the most part. But anyways, a lot of people like sharing their ideas and like getting ideas for how to use their skills and attributes, and this would be the forum (literally and figuratively) for just such an exchange of ideas.

The third one I'm proposing is for variants, which I've come to see as one of the most important things about RB and the community. From what I've seen, RB has a long history of being a variant community and I think that's something we should push again. For starters, it's a way to distinguish ourselves from the rest of GW. Anyways, before I start sounding like I should be on a soap box, let me just say that this sub-forum would be the place for people to post any ideas they have for various variants, solo or team, and where we could put individual/team progress reports for whatever variant we're working on (the nudist journal and voices in the wilderness are more for chronicling, this would be for saying what we did and where we got so people could follow the progress and if someone missed a team meeting they could have an easy way to find out where the team left off).

If other people have ideas for other sub-forums or if you think one of these is unneccessary, then please say so. I just wanted to say that I think the risk is worth the reward and if we try to justify sub-forums by the amount of participation we have now, then we're only holding ourselves back. Even if there are only 3 people who use a particular sub-forum at first, I think it'll be worth it; participation will come once the system is in place.

Yes, you read that title right. I am reporting on game that closed two months ago. I wasn't joking when I said I was going to start playing some of the old games if nothing new came out. I picked this first, as there was little reporting and I recalled nothing much about it.

http://www.kendter.com/war1-1.htm


Now to pick the next target. Some games, such as Epic4 I just know to much about...

IRONMAN -- Warrior and Bard
Attika and I have been playing some Hellfire IM. The Hellfire addon was
never too popular with Diablo players but some of us have always enjoyed
it, even it is a bit buggy. It uses the 1.04 engine and so the "of
thieves" feature(!) is alive and well and also quite useful even if used
as intended since Hellfire traps are far more damaging than those in
Diablo. One of the annoying features of Hellfire is that characters
block spells even if they have resistance which can make killing of
witches and mages more tedious for characters such as a monk, warrior or
bard using a shield. We don't use hellfire oils or runes and we don't
play IM games in the new areas (nest and crypt). Attika keeps the notes
since I am too lazy to do so. We first tried a Monk/Bard combo and won.
What follows is our quest with the warrior and bard.
Town Purchase: Quilt 10 (to Warrior)
Church One: standard foes
Drops: Staff HB, Staff CB, Bronze Dagger, Short Bow of Readiness, Books
FB, S, and H
Shrines: Purifying Spring!!!
Thenry-3, Attika-2
Woot! PS! If the right books drop, this game has great potential.

Church Two: Burning Dead, Corpse Captains, Rotting Carcasses, Scavengers
Drops: Jagged Falch, Bow of Flame, Butcher = Scimitar of Zest,

Shadowbite = Short Sword of Light
Shrines: Fascinating
Thenry-7, Attika-4

Church Three: Devil Kin, Dark Ones, Corpse Bows
Drops: Leo=Topaz Full Helm, Skullfire=Raven's Staff of Lightning,

Crystalline Scimitar of the Fool-10 Magic, Books HO and TP
Shrines: Mysterious (to Warr, +Dex), Spooky
Thenry-8, Attika-6

And there's our book Heal Other!

*****End of First session, about 2.5 hours*****

Church Four: Shadow Beasts, Flesh Clan Archers, Burning Dead, Corpse

Captains, Flesh Clan Mace
Drops: Spineeater=Valiant Small Shield of Protection, Madeye= Fine Staff

of Lightning Wall, Books FB, FB, and CB
Shrines: Sacred (Warrior hits by accident during a fight), Divine,

Enchanted
Thenry-10, Attika-9

Catacombs Five: Blinks, Glooms, Flesh Clan Archers, Burning Dead

Archers, Shadow Beasts, Dark Ones
Drops: Staff Warp, Foulwing=Holy Defender, Bloodskin Darkbow= Leather of

Power +15, Shadowcrow=Wisdom's Wrap, Wrathraven= Short Sword of the

Bear, Amulet of Light, Books Berserk, Firewall, and Lightning Wall
Shrines: none
Thenry-11, Attika-10

This was a nice level because it had so many bosses, and we started

getting some terrific drops.

Catacombs Six: Unseen, Winged Demons, Glooms, Horror Captains
Drops: Ring of the Mind +8, Ring of the Eagle, Studded Leather of

Brilliance+13, Books Mana Shield and TK.
Shrines: Stone
Thenry 13, Attika-11

Large ambush by Unseen at level start; Warrior takes care of them. Some
nice jewelry drops, and good books!
and doggonit but I had added +2 to my Bard's Magic after the Wisdom's
Wrap had dropped so that she could read books FW and LW, and the just a
bit afterwards, there's a Ring of the Mind dropping! Oh well.

Catacombs Seven: Gargoyles, Familiars, Night Clan Mace
Drops: Ring Mail of the Eagle, Ring of Eagle, Ring of Moon,
Blightthorn=Short Battle Bow of Shock, Nightwing=Large Shield of
Accuracy, Book Stone Curse, Ring of Accuracy.
Shrines: Goat x 2
Thenry 15, Attika-14

More nice ring drops and a good shield and a decent armor for the
Warrior.

Catacombs Eight: Mudmen, Familiars, Mudrunners
Drops: Elixer Magic, Storm Spire, Baron Sludge=Hard Leather of Thieves,
Books FB and TK
Shrines: Eerie (Bard)
Thenry-16, Attika-15

*****End of second session, about 4 hours*****

Caves Nine: Mudrunners, Magma Demons
Drops: Breakspine=Silver Ring of Accuracy, Bastard Sword of Brilliance,
Ring of Accuracy, Amber Ring
Thenry-16, Attika-16
What a great drop from Breakspine! Lousy experience that level though.

Caves Ten: Storm Riders, Lava Lords
Drops: Ring of Brilliance, Crown of Precision, The Flayer=Longbow of

Sorcery
Thenry-18, Attika-17

Bard helps clear the area around the stairs and finds a door, and then
Warrior (Thenry) is soloing most of this level, coming up for Heal
Others from me. Unfortunately, one time he comes up to Nine for a HO,
and my finger slips on the keys and I cast Firewall instead! We end up
with a dead warrior.

Caves Eleven: Frost Chargers, Red Storms
Drops: Unique chainmail, Cap of Wolf, Bluehorn=Glorious Chainmail of
Absorption, Ring of Precision, Ring of Wolf
Thenry-19, Attika-17

Warrior soloes mostly.

Caves Twelve: Pit Beasts, Vortex Lords
Drops: Elixers Magic x 2, Mace of Giants, Kite Shield of Brilliance,
Windspawn=Helm of Harmony
Thenry-20, Attika-18

Warrior soloes mostly.

*****End of third session, about 4 hours*****

Hell Thirteen: Succubi, Guardians
Drops: Cobalt Long Battle Bow of the Moon, Maul of Brilliance, Gothic
Plate of Wolf, Cap of Giants+17, Books Berserk and Flash
Thenry-21, Attika-19

*****End of fourth session, about 1.75 hours*****

Hell Fourteen: Blood Knights, Lava Maws
Drops: Mithril Falchion, Small Axe of Slaying, Sapphire Composite Bow,
Great Axe of Titans, Ring of Giants+18, Crimson Gothic Plate, Brutal
Bastard Sword of Sorcery, Ammy of Stars +10, Ammy of Stars +10 (no, not
a duplicate, we dropped then both at the same time; they came from
different foes).
Thenry-22, Attika-20

Loved this level. Mostly melee foes (or foes that move to engage,
anyway) against our two melee adventurers, heavily armed if not heavily
armored. The Warrior has perfect block against even Blood Knights! Some
high level foes giving us some fairly crappy drops though.

Hell Fifteen: Soul Burners, Magistrates
Drops: Bloodlust=Club of Gore, SWB of Giants, Scale of Deflection, Mace
of Precision+20, Red Vex=Hunters Bow of Precision, Black Jade=Battle Axe
of Stars, Lazarus=Lord's Blade, Books Elemental, TK, and Heal (lagged
out)
Thenry-23, Attika-21

Thenry dies to three Soulies here at the start of the level when we
don't have much room to maneuver in. This uses up our second-to-last res
scroll. What a pain in the ass level, with Witches and teleporting
mages, and us with no Haste/Speed weapons.
Then Lusty, Red Vex, Black Jade, and Lazarus ALL drop items of really no
value to us. Bah.

*****End of fifth session, about 4.25 hours*****

Hell Sixteen: standard foes
Drops: Gothic Plate of Stars +10, Sir Gorash=Dagger of Stars+9,
Broadsword of Haste, Obsidian Ring (hehe, this dropped from one of the
last knight guarding the fourth room, a bodyguard), ring of Giants +18,
Books Heal, TK, Bone Spirit.
Thenry-24, Attika-22

We FINALLY get our second book of Heal! Warrior reads.

Desync is an issue, Thenry steps in front of a bow-firing bard and gets
killed. We use our last res scroll!
We park Diablo up north past the third room (the one with two levers).
We are working the fourth(last) room just fine, having brought out and
dispatched all the knights, when suddenly Diablo appears (errant bow
shot, or someone dodged too far toward room three and D gets
activated?). It's a mad scramble, with the Bard diving back out the TP
set above room three, and the Warrior leading Diablo into the second
(maze) room to TRULY park him. Then we finish off the rest of the
bodyguards and prepare for Diablo. It is apparent that the warrior will
not be able to do enough damage to consistently stun Diablo (who is mlvl
45 in Hellfire), so we equip him for perfect blocking and the Bard for
maximum damage.

Grey-Mouse (Attika) Level 22 Bard, Exp 1863028

Str 50 (67)
Mag 25 (45)
Dex 100 (128
Vit 20 (37)
Life 112
Mana 119
AC 49, To hit 130%, Damage 53-97, Resists 14/42/14; using Topaz Full
Helm, Crimson Studded Leather of Brilliance +13, Broadsword of Haste,
Crystalline Scimitar of the Fool-10, Ammy of Stars+10, Silver+16 Ring of
Accuracy+11, Ring of the Moon +7. Haste AND 100% stun, a nice combo from

the Bard!

Barbarosa (Thenry) Level 24 warrior, Exp 3365397

Str 108 (128
Mag 9 (49)
Dex 60 (143)
Vit 25 (45)
Life 156
Mana 70

AC 104, To hit 121, Damage 40-57, Resists none; Crown of Precision(+20).
Ring of precision (+19), Ring of accuracy (+12), Shield of accuracy
(+12), Gothic plate of the stars (+10), Amulet of the Stars (+10),
Brutal(83) bastard sword of sorcery (+20)

We enter the labyrinth and find Diablo just past the first corridor --
obviously he made some effort to get out of the maze after we had parked
him. As I turn the corner following the warrior, on my screen Diablo is
RIGHT ON TOP of Thenry, so I have to swing at Thenry to hit (hopefully)
Diablo. Bizarre. Diablo is pretty consistantly stunned, he gets off only
three apoc blasts the entire battle which make me drink two small blues.
After about 17 seconds of swinging and stunning, however, Diablo is
dead.

*****End of Sixth Session, about 3.5 hours*****

Next attempt currently in progress with involve Barbarian and Bard.

The next big event is happening in Cantha. None of the festivities are open yet (will open Friday afternoon) but you can still see the redecorated versions of LA, Kamadan, and Shing Jea. It's not much compared to Wintersday and Halloween, just a lot of dragon heads and some lights strung up here and there. Also, in Shing Jea are 5 chefs who want various collectables. Here's a list of what they want, in case you want to gather your collectables:

Imperial Chef Jiong: Kappa shell soup
Archaic Kappa Shells, Mantis Pincers, Kraken Eyes, Naga Hides

Imperial Chef Tian: Dessert (umm... yeah...)
Truffles, Ebon Spider Webs, Half Eaten Blobs, Azure Remains, Icy Lodestones

Imperial Chef Ruen: Salad?
Alpine Seeds, Guardian Moss, Celestial Essence, Dragon Root

Imperial Chef Chen: Main Course
Igneous Spider Legs, Ebon Spider Legs, Bonesnap Shells, Azure Crests, Unctuous Remains

Imperial Chef Yan: Appetizer
Iridescent Griffon Wings, Tangled Seed, Fiery Crests, Smoking Remains

No idea on what any of this stuff will do yet. May be for the collector items, may be for something else entirely.

Edit: typos fixed.