Mr_Morbid

It's likely that when the shadow shard and references to 'The Coming Storm' the devs themselves hadn't really decided just what the 'Coming Storm' referred to. More recently Prometheus has stated explicitly that the Battalion are the Coming Storm and that the well itself is more than a little worried about how things are going to work out.

I see three most likely ideas of what the coming storm will constitute.

1) The Battalion is the coming storm and Rularuu is uninvolved. It's possible that the Shadow Shard is largely abandoned lore. The appearance of the Rulu-shin in the WWD storyline does show that the devs haven't given up completely on the big R.

2) The Battalion are unrelated to Rularuu, but their invasion causes enough chaos that Rularuu is able to break at least some of the magic keeping him in place and he adds to the problem.

3) The Battalion are in fact related to Rularuu. They may be his worshippers/servants or (worst possible case) his fellow Elder Things/Members of his Species (I don't recall anything from lore that indicated Rularuu is a truly unique individual) and that freeing him is a major objective of their invastion.


PS My money is still on The Center being the letter writer. Either him or Miss Francine.

Giving Flash Arrow a much higher -to hit effect would make a world of difference in making it a major debuff effect.

It should be noted that low level 'baked in' EB's like Lt. Blechley and the Family heads (both in Port Oakes) are tougher than plain bosses, but not by that much really (Frostfire is a big exception to this, but he's blueside anyway.) They're pretty much tuned to be challenging but beatable at levels where players have limited powers. At higher levels EB's are more likely to be toned-down versions of AV's and GM's meant to make them easier for solo players to take down, but still much more powerful than everyday bosses.

Poor Beastyle, forced to work at keeping the crowds happy while everyone else ditches the office for the Christmas holiday. I suggest you spend time rummaging through their desks.

I still don't think Wade is the real mastermind behind the whole thing.

I really don't want much for pet customization. Just letting me pick a primary and secondary color to apply to part of their costumes.

On a related note, I really wish that once you've named a minion then that minion would retain the same model and 'job.' For example, I summon my thugs: The arsonist is a red haired model and I name him Opie. Next time I bring out the henchman the name Opie may be assigned to one of the the regular thugs and have an African-American model. That's NOT Opie anymore!

There are two main possibilities for the future of Arachnos and the Rogue Isles if (and I don't think it's something happening in the near future) Recluse dies.

1) Someone succeeds in making a relatively bloodless takeover. Arbiter Daos seems to be in the best position for a smooth take over. Ghost Widow would probably go along since a stable Arachnos is important for her own existence. Scirocco would probably also support a smooth transition given his unusual (for a villain in the rogue isles) sense of honor.

2) Arachnos splinters or becomes involved in a civil war. Mako and Black Scorpion probably don't have what it takes to really run things, but that doesn't mean they wouldn't be able to work up enough support to try for it. A fallout among the the big bads in Grandeville would probably also give others a chance to grab their own small domains such as Dr. Aeon in CaD and Kirk Cage in Sharkhead. They (along with the Family in certain areas) are already acting more or less independly but only at the discrection of LR. Aeon would probably take a chance and get rid of Marshall Brass and Amanda Vines. St. Martial would probably dissolve into total anarachy with the Wailers finally breaking the Giza barriers among the chaos. After that the whole island would become a battleground between the Carnies, the Freaks, and the Family.

I don't know DC that well, but in all my interactions with him he has come across as both a good player and a good person. Victory has been a better place with him around.

On the hero side mission you DO fight Johnny and he does use a whip. He also goes on at length about having gotten a new artifact from Wade. Possibly the demon summoning whip is the artifact in question.

What are the base resists/defenses of the Rikti Pylons?

Did TPN the first time the other night with MP running and we managed to get the Fair and Balanced and Television Addict badges despite a number of us not really knowing what to do and a few incidents of people not realized that no AOE near the protestors REALLY meant no AOE near the protestors. I was on the Maelstrom fighting team so I can't make any good observations about activity in the building, but here are a few observations about the outside fighting:

When Maelstrom is despawned, everyone but his tank should scatter out to help the telepathists team. It should be fairly easy to have them at one or none by the time MS pops back.

If you have any toggle debuffs on MS when he despawns, make sure to turn them off immediatly. If they are left running then when he pops back in he will shoot you to bits because of the debuff aggro unless the tank is inhumanly fast at grabbing him. I found this one out the hard way.

Ilsa leaves with Victor.

Shell Beach doesn't exist, until it does.

The Battle School's simulator isn't really a simulator.

The Statesman that dies will turn out to be a robot that is being controlled by a miniaturized real Statesman looking out through the eyeball.

Numina stops by Statesman's apartment/house/whereverthehellhelives and hears the shower running. She pulls back the curtain to see States alive and well revealing that WWD was all just a dream.

The remaining heroes kidnap Protean. Sister P then screws with his brain to make him believe that Protean has died and that he is really Statesman himself.

Dr. Vahzilok steals the body and performs his most successful experiment ever.