Tyler F.M. Edwards's Blog, page 57

Review: The Expanse, “Back to the Butcher” + 500 Words of Rambling

Here’s why this is a difficult show to review: This entire episode could have been condensed down into ten minutes, and nothing significant would have been lost. And I’m being generous with that ten minute estimate.

Holden and company receive an offer of help from an OPA terrorist, and despite the characters immediately acknowledging that they have no other options, half the episode is spent on their debating whether to take it.

The most noteworthy part of the episode comes from a series of flashbacks depicting the backstory of said terrorist, which manage to be both very brief and longer than they need to be. But at least they’ve got a good emotional punch.

Meanwhile, Miller painstakingly teases out a few other minor clues about Julie Mao — something that could have been done in a single scene. Which makes this most eventful episode for Miller to date by a wide margin.

And that’s it. How do I review this? What do I analyze? It takes serious talent to fill an hour with this much nothing.

I think it’s time I just give up on this show. We’re five episodes in, and it’s still going nowhere slowly. Even Stargate: Universe — the poster child for shows that sucked at first but then became awesome — was showing significant improvement by now. Maybe The Expanse will attain greatness sometime down the line, but at this point we’ve hit “life is too short to waste on this” territory.

Overall rating: 4/10 Like watching paint dry in slow motion.

Even though this blog is free, I feel like I’m ripping you off with just a two hundred word review, so now I’m just going to ramble incoherently for five hundred words or so.

Well, my father is always saying I should talk about music on the blog, so I guess I’ll talk about my awful, awful taste in music for a bit.

For the last several months, most of my musical attention/obsession has been focused on the most recent offerings from two of my favourite bands, Metric and Chvrches. Last September, within a week of each other, Metric put out their sixth album, Pagans in Vegas, and Chvrches released their second album, Every Open Eye.

I was a bit disappointed with Metric’s last album, Synthetica, but Pagans in Vegas has once again completely blown me away. After playing it safe with Synthetica, they’re trying new things again, and while some songs are clearly failed experiments (Cascades comes to mind), many are excellent.

Something else interesting about Pagans is that a lot of the songs feel like throwbacks to the many different sounds Metric has had over the years. Celebrate and Lie Lie Lie remind me of Old World Underground, whereas For Kicks sounds like the best of the Fantasies era.

But by far my favourite song on the album is The Governess, which is a clear throwback to their first album, Grow Up and Blow Away, in all its quirky and morose glory. That was and still is my favourite album, and I had long since despaired of them ever revisiting that style of music, so The Governess just fills me with happiness.

Probably doesn’t hurt that it always puts me in mind of a character from my current writing project, either.

Meanwhile, Every Open Eye turned out to not be quite as good as Chvrches’ first album, The Bones of What You Believe, but there are still more than a few strong tracks on it. In particular, the standout by far is Down Side of Me, an achingly beautiful and haunting song that is possibly my new favourite Chvrches song (which says a lot) and definitely Lauren Mayberry’s best vocal performance to date (which is also saying a lot).

I saw them live back in October, and let me tell you: Lauren is the real deal. Absolutely amazing performer, as well as an all around charming and lovely person.

…I sincerely apologize for subjecting you to all that.

Oh, and if you’re looking for a good mystery novel, I’d highly recommend The Cuckoo’s Calling by “Robert Galbraith” (who is of course really J.K. Rowling).

Actually, in theory, it’s not that good of a book. The twist at the end strains credibility, it relies on a lot of cheap tricks to maintain the mystery, and there isn’t a lot of drama or suspense. But the characters are colourful and fiercely likable, and the writing is just so excellent that it’s just a delight to read even despite its flaws.

Filed under: Misc., Reviews Tagged: music, Off topic, review, sci-fi, The Expanse, TV

Review: The Shannara Chronicles, “Chosen” (Pilot Episode)

If you read this blog often, you will remember that I did not have high hopes for MTV’s Shannara Chronicles, which adapts Terry Brooks’ Elfstones of Shannara into a TV series. Now at last the pilot has premiered, and despite my very low expectations, I gave it a try in the hopes my long quest for some good fantasy TV would be satisfied.

So what did I think?

Well, it’s not good news.

First, a little backstory for those who are new to Shannara.

The Shannara Chronicles is based on the Elfstones of Shannara, which was the second book of the original Shannara trilogy (or quartet if you count First King).

The heart of the story is the Ellcrys, a magical tree which seals away the forces of the Void, otherwise known as Demons, in a magical prison called the Forbidding. The Ellcrys is maintained by a sacred sect of Elves called the Chosen, but when the Ellcrys sickens, Demons begin to escape, and the Chosen are murdered.

Only one remains, Amberle Elessedil, having fled the Elven capitol of Arborlon shortly beforehand.

But though Amberle is the main character, the chief protagonist is Wil Ohmsford, scion of the legendary Shannara bloodline. Directed by the enigmatic druid Allanon, Wil must protect Amberle as she embarks on a quest to restore the Ellcrys.

Along the way, they also cross paths with and are joined by Eretria, a cocky young Rover (Gypsy) girl.

The TV series follows the same basic story, but right away, there are differences.

Now, anyone who knows me knows I’m not a stickler for continuity or staying slavishly true to source material. Stories change and evolve; I accept that.

But a lot of the changes in The Shannara Chronicles are just change for change’s sake. They serve no purpose; they don’t make the story more interesting or more suitable for television. Often they make the story less interesting.

For example, in the TV series, the rules surrounding the Chosen and the story of Amberle and her time in the order are completely different. A sacred and dignified ritual is transformed into some bizarre Hunger Games-esque bloodsport, and Amberle’s reasons for fleeing Arborlon are totally different, robbing the story of a crucial piece of foreshadowing and the heart of Amberle’s story.

And hey, let’s throw in some random sexism because why not!

Similarly, for no reason at all, the leader of the Demons is now not actually a Demon.

What? Why?

Seriously, why? That doesn’t serve any purpose at all. It does, however, defang the Demons quite a bit, and whatever other flaws Brooks’ early works might have had, his Demons were bloody terrifying. The fact that their leader is now a human just completely robs them of their alien horror.

The one change that is positive is that we see a lot more of the ruins of the old world — our world — than were in the books. In the books, the remnants of the old world are rarely seen, especially in the earlier parts of the series, but the fact the Four Lands are not some alternate world but actually our distant future is at this stage of the story the main thing distinguishing Shannara from any other generic high fantasy story, so I think they were smart to play it up.

A shame that it is purely a visual element and does not impact the story. Not so far, anyway.

Visuals are one aspect of the Shannara Chronicles that I cannot praise enough. This show is beautiful. The special effects and art design are second to none. It’s an absolute feast for the eyes from beginning to end.

Beyond that, though, I find little to compliment.

My biggest worry when I found out that MTV was doing this series was that it would be all flash and no substance, and unfortunately, I was right to worry.

Even by Hollywood standards, the cast of the Shannara Chronicles is absurdly pretty and clean. I’m not a fan of the school of fantasy where everything is brown and everyone is dirty, but this is the opposite extreme. I was particularly distracted by the fact that Amberle’s uncles appear to be approximately six months older than her.

Also, what is with the music? I don’t want to hear New Agey pop music in the middle of a medieval fantasy.

The dialogue is similarly entirely too laden with modern slang and idioms. And even that aside, it’s still pretty bad dialogue. Not Lucas bad, but bad.

Of all the show’s weaknesses, though, the biggest is the core cast, none of whom are particularly inspiring. Wil is just a pretty boy with no personality. Allanon is the biggest disappointment by far, being about thirty years younger and a hundred times more handsome than he ought to be while completely lacking the mystery and intensity I associate with the last druid.

I’m not sure how I’d rate Eretria. I find her absolutely insufferable, but I did in the book, too, so maybe that’s a win for the show?

Amberle is the only bright spot. She’s not great, but she offers no cause for complaint, at least. To borrow a phrase from my father, she’s the only one I can’t hear acting.

A lot of the minor cast members are actually pretty good, too — Wil’s uncle, Flick, is a pitch perfect match for how he was in the book — but being minor cast members, we don’t see enough of them for it to matter.

So in the end The Shannara Chronicles has almost exactly matched my expectations. I wish I had been wrong, but I was not.

If I could watch the show for free, I might give it another episode or two to see if it improves, but so far the only way to see it I’ve found is to buy episodes on Google Play, and it’s not worth the money. The pilot was two dollars and two hours that I dearly want back.

Overall rating: 4/10

Why is it so bloody hard to find decent fantasy on TV? It’s so rare to begin with, and what fantasy shows do exist are rarely of any quality. Once Upon a Time is wildly inconsistent, and it spends most of its time in our world, so even at its best it doesn’t entirely scratch the fantasy itch. The Shannara Chronicles, well, you just read the review. I don’t have any way of watching Game of Thrones, but for all its hype, the more I hear about it, the less appealing it sounds.

Sci-fi TV has a long and storied history of greatness. Why can’t television get fantasy right?

Filed under: Reviews Tagged: fantasy, review, Shannara, TV

Heroes of the Storm: My Builds – Johanna and Sylvanas

I now continue my build guides for Heroes of the Storm. Today, I’ll be looking at my top-played warrior and specialist: Johanna and Sylvanas Windrunner.

Coincidentally, Sylvanas is also one of the characters you can permanently unlock using my referral link. Learn the details here.

And don’t forget to check out my previous guides for Jaina and Tassadar.

Johanna: Shield of the Faithful

General thoughts: Johanna is the archetypal tank. She has very weak damage and mobility, but she’s extremely hardy and offers very strong crowd control. As Johanna, your most likely cause of death is going to be the inevitable overconfidence that comes from being almost — but not entirely — invincible.

As Johanna, your job is to get into the thick of battle and stay there. Constantly fowl the enemy team with your crowd control abilities. Force them to turn their attention to you — and away from your more vulnerable team mates.

Punish can more or less be your bread and butter damage ability. Condemn is useful for grouping up enemies for your team mates’ AoEs or interrupting powerful channeled abilities, like Valla’s strafe or Li-Li’s jug of a thousand cups. Shield glare is always handy but shines the most against auto-attack heroes like Valla or Illidan, and in rare cases, its long range and ability to ignore walls can allow you to land kills that would otherwise be out of reach. Iron skin’s shield is handy, but its crowd control immunity is arguably even better.

This build focuses on Johanna’s existing strengths, making her the perfect tank.

1: Reinforce: Using basic abilities grants a stack of block, reducing enemy auto-attack damage.

Pretty self-explanatory.

4: Laws of hope: Increases health regeneration. Can also be activated to provide a quick burst of healing.

Johanna has a pretty strong survival toolkit to start with, but the one she lacks is self-healing. This addresses that. The passive healing lets you recover from mild to moderate damage between fights, while the activated ability gives you burst healing to survive in the heat of battle.

Note that the passive regeneration continues even when the ability is on cooldown.

7: Battle momentum: Auto-attacks reduce ability cooldowns.

A versatile talent that allows you to apply crowd control more consistently, get more use out of reinforce, and boost your (admittedly meager) damage.

10: Falling sword: Leap into the air and crash down a few seconds later, damaging and knocking effected enemies upward.

Strong arguments can be made for both of Johanna’s ultimates, but I prefer falling sword. It deals more damage and can hit more targets, and in a pinch, you can use it as an escape tool.

13: Hold your ground: Increases the shield provided by iron skin and reduces its cooldown if it is destroyed.

Another talent that lets you hang in the thick of things longer, reinforcing your role as a frontline brawler.

16: Holy renewal: Shield glare heals you for each hero hit.

This plus laws of hope serves to address Johanna’s lack of self-healing. The healing for each hero hit is actually pretty substantive, so if you hit most or all of the enemy team, you’ll heal for a huge chunk of health. It’s at this point that you really start to get in the “she just won’t die” realm.

20: Indestructible: Upon reaching zero health, gain a shield equal to your maximum health for a few seconds. Two minute cooldown.

The name says it all, really.

If you’re being hit hard enough for this to activate, odds are you just want to retreat. You might also be able to get in some quick healing with shield glare.

Sylvanas: Screaming Fury

General thoughts: Sylvanas is listed as a specialist, but I find she’s better played more like an assassin.

In theory, she has great push power, but she’s extremely squishy and her escape tool is difficult to use, so she melts under any kind of pressure. That means that while on paper your specialist toolkit is awesome, in practice you’ll only be accomplishing much pushing if the enemy team is dumb enough to ignore you.

Unlike most specialists, Sylvanas is usually not a good choice to solo a lane — which is something I dearly wish my team mates would understand.

She is, however, a great defensive specialist — that is, she can counter enemy pushes brilliantly. She’s one of the few good counters to a pushing Azmodan, for instance.

She has also has fantastic damage and can be a real asset in a team fight, unlike many other specialists. Just remember that you’re one of the most vulnerable heroes in the game. Rely on the support of your team and be cautious.

This build increases Sylvanas’ damage, making her as lethal as any true assassin.

1: With the wind: Increases withering fire’s range.

Where possible, I like to pick talents that have both offensive and defensive applications. Something Sylvanas excels at is hunting down wounded enemies and finishing them off, and with the wind enhances your ability to do that.

Meanwhile, it also allows you to put out strong damage from a greater distance, thus putting yourself at less risk. This is crucial when you’re as squishy as Sylvanas.

As Sylvanas, your best defense is a good offense.

4: Paralysis: Doubles the duration of black arrows.

This is my one specialist pick in the build. The default duration of black arrows is a bit weak, but this gives you all the extra power you need to completely shut down enemy minion waves.

It also allows you solo mercenary camps more effectively, but despite Sylvanas’ role as a specialist, I’d still recommend getting the help of team mates where possible, especially for bruiser camps.

7: Remorseless: Using an ability empowers your next basic attack.

As Sylvanas, you’ll be spamming withering fire almost constantly. That means remorseless amounts to a nearly constant increase to your already high auto-attack damage. You can ruin people with this talent.

Try to space out your withering fire shots so that there’s an auto-attack between each one.

10: Wailing arrow: Fire an arrow over a long distance. When it reaches the end of its path or you reactivate the ability, it explodes, dealing area damage and silencing enemy heroes.

Possession is wildly regarded as one of the game’s weakest ultimates, so wailing arrow is the default choice.

There are two many uses for it. One is to fire it in the middle of a team fight to silence as many opposing players as possible. The other is to use its range to finish off one or more low health enemies that would otherwise escape. Both good choices.

You can also use it to interrupt channeled spells, but this requires very good timing and aim due to wailing arrow’s relatively slow travel time.

13: Evasive fire: Withering fire increases your movement speed for a short time. Stacks.

As Sylvanas, mobility is crucial to offense and defense. You’ll be spending most of your time either chasing and harassing enemies, or running for your life. Evasive fire helps with both.

16: Cold embrace: Shadow dagger increases damage taken by enemies, but its range is reduced.

This can be useful for clearing minion waves, but it really shines against enemy heroes. It can win team fights outright, but even against single targets, it’s plenty useful.

20: Bolt of the storm: A targeted teleport on a cooldown.

Sylvanas has a teleport by default, but between how awkward it is to use, her extremely low health, and a lack of strong competition on this talent tier, bolt of the storm becomes the obvious choice.

Filed under: Games Tagged: fantasy, guides, Heroes of the Storm, sci-fi

Rage of the Old Gods, Chapter Twenty-Five: The True Battle

We have now come at last to the twenty-fifth chapter of Rage of the Old Gods, the first book of my epic science fantasy trilogy the World Spectrum. In the coming weeks, I will be posting the entire book for free on this blog. If you’re just joining us, you can get caught up with the previous chapters now.

The war is over, but the true battle has just begun.

———————

Chapter Twenty-five: The True Battle

Consciousness returned slowly. At first, she was aware of only brief snippets of unintelligible sounds or flashes of pain. Then, gradually, her mind ordered the sensations, and her thoughts churned to life.

She groaned and started to rise, but a hand pressed against her chest. “Don’t move,” Erik said.

Leha opened her eyes. Erik crouched over her, holding her down with one hand. In his other hand, his staff glowed faintly. Yarnig knelt next to him, his eyes closed, holding his hands over her charred belly. One hand held a piece of silver-wrapped quartz. Her body throbbed with pain, but it was not as intense as she would have expected. Odd sensations fluttered across her stomach as Yarnig mended the burns.

The sky was still dark, and the firelight had diminished; a Clan lantern to her left provided most of the illumination. The smell of smoke was still present, but it had lessened.

“You were very badly injured,” Erik explained. “Most of your body was burned in the battle, and you broke a bunch of bones in the fall. We need you to sit still while Yarnig Heals you.” She noticed that Yarnig mouthed some of the words as Erik spoke them.

Leha remembered the last few moments of the battle, and she realized that she must have been near death when Yarnig and Erik had started Healing her.

The thought reminded her of what had befallen Doga and Natoma before she’d blacked out.

“Doga… Natoma,” she gasped.

“They’ll be fine,” Erik said quickly. “Doga won’t be back on his feet for a while, but he’ll live. Natoma just broke a leg and got a knock to her head. She’s organizing the camp through the link.”

Leha breathed a deep sigh of relief. She had feared the worst, especially for Doga.

She took a moment to calm her breathing. “What happened?” she asked, indicating the ruins around them with a sweep of her eyes.

“The Automatons are gone,” Erik said, removing his hand from her chest. He sounded tired. “I think the loss of their leader broke their spirit. When it happened, a bunch of them just ran off. A few others went on suicide runs. I heard one laid down and let itself be destroyed – I don’t think that’s true, though. There are still a few out in the wilderness, but no one thinks they’re a real threat.”

Leha nodded weakly and muttered her thanks to him.

Yarnig finished with her stomach and moved on to a badly burnt knee.

After a few minutes, Leha thought to ask, “Where’s Drogin?”

“He’s back from his mission,” Erik replied. “He’s leading a crew cleaning up the camp, I think.

“I’ll get him for you.”

Leha thanked him again and settled in to wait.

“Leha!” her brother called a few minutes later. She heard footsteps, and then Drogin’s smiling face appeared above her as he knelt next to her. He had a cut over one eye and some blisters on one hand, and his clothes were burnt in several places, but otherwise, he seemed well. “How are you feeling?” he asked.

“I’m getting better,” she said. “What about you? How did the mission go?”

He smiled wider. “We did it. The ziggurats are gone.”

She returned his smile. She squeezed his forearm with one weak hand. “Good job.”

* * *

Soon after, the two Tors finished treating her more serious wounds, and she sent them away to find people more in need of their abilities. Drogin left to continue the cleanup effort. Leha planned to join him later.

She tracked down Doga and Natoma. The Lost One was still unconscious and undergoing treatment, but Natoma was well enough to talk. She congratulated Leha on her victory.

Then, Leha sought out Benefactor. She found him at the side of a tent, resting and drinking from a water skin. His crossbow sat at his side, and he still wore his armor.

He greeted her, but she began to praise him profusely for his hit to the Automaton Lord’s eye before he could do anything else.

“You saved me. You saved everyone!” she said more than once.

If he had possessed the physical capacity, she thought he would have blushed.

“How did you do that?” she eventually thought to ask. “That would have been a difficult shot for an experienced archer.”

He paused briefly, then he worked his lips furiously. You didn’t notice. I shot at the eye twenty-one times. I hit it once. His whole body shook with silent laughter.

Leha burst into laughter.

When their humor subsided, a sad look came into Benefactor’s eyes, and he glanced up. My family is avenged, he said.

Leha lost her smile. She sat in silence for a time, unsure of what to say.

She came forward and wrapped him a hug, burying her face in his shaggy fur. “Thank you. For everything,” she said, remembering everything he had done for her since her first journey to Sy’om.

He hesitated, surprised by the unfamiliar gesture, before returning her hug. He managed to hold her without touching any of her tender burns. He could read her thoughts; he knew the places to avoid.

They released each other, and Leha held him at arm’s length.

We did a good thing, he said. The Automatons were dark creatures. The universe is a better place without them.

She nodded, sending her agreement.

She thanked him one more time, and left.

She attempted to aid with the efforts to return order to the camp, but she found she was too tired and hurt to do much of anything. Drogin sent her to find her bedroll – after she made him promise to do the same – and within minutes, she had fallen asleep.

* * *

Early next morning, she forced herself awake, and went in search of Natoma, who would no doubt be at the head of the cleanup efforts. The walk gave her the opportunity to see the situation in the camp for herself.

The still-present pall of smoke stained the sunlight red, painting the ashen camp in a surreal tone. The air was warm, but the humidity of the past days had dissipated. Bodies still littered the ground in places, but she noted that many had been collected and moved off. None of the wrecked Automatons had been moved, and their dark forms dotted the camp. About half the tents still stood – most of them in the southeastern quarter. The others had been crushed, torn apart, or incinerated. Distantly, she heard the cries and moans of the wounded. Elsewhere, she could hear people shouting instructions, though the words eluded her. Otherwise, the camp was eerily quiet. She saw almost no one. She assumed that the people were occupied elsewhere.

She found Natoma conversing with Eranna at the northwestern edge of the camp, and they brought her up to date. About a third of the able-bodied survivors had been sent to the River Sheen. A dam of ruined Automatons and other debris had been created by the destruction of the barrier machine, and if it was not dislodged soon, it was possible that the camp might be flooded. Another large group had been assigned to collect and bury the bodies before disease could spread. The area west of the camp had been turned into a vast graveyard. The Northern Clans, the Lost Ones, and the ice creatures had begun to send laborers, medics, and supplies to aid those in the camp.

The forest fire had moved on to the south and was in the process of burning itself out. It was expected to die within the day.

No one had sighted any Automatons since the end of the battle. Once they had the situation here under control, Eranna and Natoma planned to send out parties to hunt them.

When Leha had arrived, the other two women had been planning a census to determine their losses. Leha told them to go ahead. She knew their losses would turn out to be heavy, but she also knew it had been worth it.

She bade farewell to Eranna and Natoma and headed for the river, where she used her strength and her powers to aid those trying to clear the blockage.

Once she settled into the rhythm of work, her thoughts began to wander.

The war was over.

She let that thought move through her mind as she slowly adjusted to it. It seemed too sweet a thing to be true. After all the months of pain and toil and terror, the power of the Automatons had been broken. Those few machines that remained would never be able to adapt to life without the infrastructure of the ziggurats or the leadership of the Automaton Lord. Soon, humanity’s victory would be total.

Her mind turned to the future. Soon, people would be able to return to their lives – what was left of them. They would begin the process of rebuilding. The losses inflicted by the Automatons were beyond measure; it would likely take centuries for the human race to recover.

And that brought her to her own dilemma. With the defeat of the Automatons, her duties as the leader of humanity were almost complete. But not entirely. She had pledged herself to safeguarding the future, to ensuring the mistakes of the past were not repeated. She had spent long hours searching for a solution to humanity’s flaws, but she had yet to find one, hoping that she would in the future.

Now the future had come. The war was over, and her people would soon disperse to rebuild their nations or found new ones. What was to stop them from eventually returning to the old national divides, the old prejudices? She couldn’t stand the thought, after all they had suffered through, of the nations once again going at each other’s throats.

But what could she do to stop it? She couldn’t change human nature, and even if she could, she didn’t think it would be right. Her people could not be forced into peace.

She wondered if there was anything she could do that would have any real impact. Ultimately, people made their own decisions. She could only influence them, and even that power would fade over time. She could not preach her views to the generations that would be born after her death.

She doubted there was anything she could do that would guarantee a peaceful future for humanity.

But, she decided, she had to do what she could. She was a revered figure, the Hero of Heart, and she wielded more influence than anyone alive. If she spoke, people would listen.

She didn’t think she would be able to live with herself if she did not at least try to change things for the better. She would do her part – however small it may be in the long run.

She started to formulate a plan.

* * *

The gathering took place upon a churned and ash-covered but relatively clear field near the west edge of the camp. Several thousand attended – all those who were not too wounded or caught up in the recovery efforts to come – spreading out in a great fan of humanity. Those unable to see it in person would witness it through telepathic links to their comrades. None but Leha knew the true purpose of the gathering, but most believed she would speak about their victory. The people chattered to each other in anticipation.

The sun shone brightly in the hazy sky, warming those below it.

At the far edge of the gathering, Leha climbed atop the back of a ruined Automaton, the platform from which she would make her speech. The metal was cold, but it lacked the unnatural chill of a functioning machine.

She surveyed the crowd and took a deep breath, enhancing her voice and lungs so that she would be heard.

“The war is over,” she declared, her voice reverberating through the afternoon air.

A cheer went up from the crowd. Some clapped.

“The power of the Automatons has been broken. Their ziggurats are dust. Their leader has fallen,” she continued. “Humanity has once again triumphed over the Old Gods!”

They cheered even louder, their voices booming in joy. Leha let them enjoy the moment, smiling faintly.

When they quieted, she spoke again. “But the true battle is yet to come.”

The people fell silent, seeming confused.

She tried to calm her tense nerves. She didn’t find this as intimidating as she had her address before the battle, but she knew just how much rode on how they reacted to her next words.

“The true battle will lie in making sure that the mistakes of the past are never repeated. The true battle will be fought not just by us, but by our children, by all future generations.”

The people stayed quiet. She could not gauge their reaction, so she pressed on.

“The blame for this war cannot be placed upon the shoulders of the machines. Hate is their nature. We are the ones who resurrected them, the greatest enemies humanity has ever known. It was our distrust and our greed that led us to build armies of them, to refine them until they had the power to overthrow us. The destruction you see all around you is the result of human folly, human hatred. The blame for it rests upon our shoulders.

“We can’t allow something like this to ever happen again!”

She heard muttering among the crowd. She feared that they would be unwilling to accept any responsibility for the war.

“The greatest danger we now face comes from within ourselves. We can’t allow ourselves to again fall into fractured nations and factions. We are one race.

“The future of humanity will not be won on the battlefield. It will be won in our hearts and the hearts of our descendants. The darker aspects of ourselves – hate, ignorance, and selfishness – are our enemies now, and it will take all of our strength to hold them back.”

She paused, letting her words ring through the air. She still couldn’t read the mood of the crowd. She sweated.

“It won’t be easy. But if there is to be any hope – any hope – of a bright future, we can’t allow ourselves to forget the danger that they represent. If we fail, the future will suffer, and this – ” she gestured at the devastation that was the camp “ – will be the result.”

She paused, her heart pounding, and prepared to finish making her case.

She stared into the crowd, standing proudly. “The next great battle has come, and we must face it. Who will stand with me?”

For a brief moment, all was silent, and Leha’s heart stopped.

The thousands in the crowd spoke as one. “I will!” they cried, their voices shaking the Automaton beneath Leha’s feet.

The tension left Leha’s body, and she allowed herself the joy of the moment. The crowd clapped and cheered for her, the noise of it vibrating through her being. She surveyed the familiar faces in the throng. Unmitigated pride filled the faces of her brother and her friends.

Leha smiled and raised her hand in salute to the gathering, feeling an overwhelming sense of relief. She smiled and laughed.

It was finally over. She had defeated her enemies, and she done her part to ensure a better future.

It was possible that the efforts of her people would ultimately fail, that the human race would once again fall into chaos. But now, she had hope. She had planted the seeds of peace, and she and those who believed in her would do everything in their power to make sure that they took root. Her words and her actions would be recorded in books and tales, and future generations would take inspiration from them. The ice creatures would be there to stand as a symbol of unity and serenity, and Lahune’s order would continue their efforts to bring humanity to its greatest potential.

There was hope.

———————

Enjoying the story so far? The next chapter will be posted soon, but if you can’t wait, you also have the opportunity buy the full ebook now!

As an aside, I find posting this chapter a fairly depressing experience, as this is a battle those of us in the real world seem to be losing badly as of late. We’re incredibly eager to turn on anyone who bears even the vaguest or most tangential resemblance to those who would do us harm, and one of the leading candidates for leader of the free world is a guy whose political philosophy seems to be that the problem with Nazi Germany was a lack of gold plating and scantily clad women.

One could also look back to GamerGate or its cousins in the Sad/Rabid Puppies camps. Or consider how many people are still displaying the Confederate flag with pride — even here in Canada, which is as depressing as it is confusing.

There’s a prevailing sentiment among “social justice warriors” (as the Internet is so eager to label us) that things like this are the last dying gasp of an outmoded way of thinking, but I fear this is an overconfidence that could cost our society badly.

And if you think you’re above this kind of hate and fear, you’re not. No one is. But if you can be aware of this, if you can make the effort to fight against the darker parts of yourself, if you can choose to be driven by hope and compassion rather than fear and self-interest, then you are part of the solution. The true battle isn’t something won through a single, final victory, but through constant struggle. For all of us.

Also, I do hope I’m not coming across as tooting my own horn here. I certainly don’t expect my silly little sci-fi novel to do much, if any, good in the long run, and I’m sure my rather ham-fisted attempt at a message has all kinds of criticisms that can be leveled against it. I just hope you see some value in the message, however inelegantly presented.

Next up is the epilogue, and then we’ve reached the end of the book.

Filed under: My writing, World Spectrum Tagged: books, fantasy, Rage of the Old Gods free chapters, sci-fi, steampunk, The World Spectrum, writing

SW:TOR: Third Time’s the Charm?

Regular readers will remember that I have tried Star Wars: The Old Republic twice before. The first time earned a hearty “meh,” though I was intrigued by what little I saw of the Imperial agent story. The second time resulted in a rage quit and a massive rant, thanks to the game’s ungodly abomination of a free to play model.

But regular readers will also know I’ve been agonizing over whether to give the game another shot, due to the major changes made by the Knights of the Fallen Empire expansion.

So, yeah, I finally broke down and gave SW:TOR one final chance. I even went so far as to buy a month of subscription, because it’s pretty unplayable otherwise.

I feel like I have to justify this decision, though I really shouldn’t. I may not be a big Star Wars fan, but I’ve always wanted to be. And I figure if anyone can make Star Was not dumb, it’s Bioware.

For the record, I still think the business model is a miserable horror show. I wouldn’t recommend the game for that reason. Myself, I’ll put up with almost anything if a game can provide a good story. I was having a hankering for some Bioware-style story-telling, and seeing as Mass Effect: Andromeda and Dragon Age 4: Tevinter Strikes Back* are probably still aways off, this was my best option.

*(Probably not what it will actually be called.)

I decided it would be best to start over from scratch, but I’m playing as essentially the same character. A Chiss Imperial agent who is as good as her loyalty to the Empire will permit.

So is the third time the charm for SW:TOR? I’m still not sure.

Better, but…

I’ll say this much: Knights of the Fallen Empire has made the game much better.

SW:TOR has some good stories, but they were always bogged down by, well, the rest of the game. As of Knights, you can now skip all but the main storylines. You won’t even see most of the side quests unless you chose to — a smart move considering the nature of gamer completionism. You can just sit back and enjoy the story without the tedious MMO grind. Mostly, anyway.

Also, I love the new leveling scaling system. There’s a double XP event on right now, so even though I’m still in chapter one, I’m already near max level, yet enemies still put up a fight, and quests are giving me relevant rewards. It’s wonderful.

I also like that you can solo some dungeons now. Dungeons were always one of the messiest examples of SW:TOR’s attempts to marry single-player style story with MMO mechanics.

The remaining leveling dungeons have been retooled to be role-agnostic, similar to WoW’s unfortunately abandoned scenario feature. Any attempt to break free of the trinity gets my support, and it certainly helps queue times, but it’s definitely an imperfect system. Some of my runs have gone perfectly well, but others have been miserable slaughterfests.

Admittedly, it’s also a bit hard to separate the improvements from Knights of the Fallen Empire and those from being a subscriber. The improved fast travel options, in particular, help massively. For a game with relatively small and claustrophobic maps, SW:TOR has an incredible amount of travel time.

If I’m still enjoying the game by the time my subscription runs out, my plan is to buy a bunch of cartel coins and unlock what I can to make the game bearable as a preferred player, but we’ll see.

I’m still a bit on the fence about the game as a whole. It’s a lot better, but it’s still struggling to shake off its WoW clone roots. The crafting is still mindless and grindy, the combat is still basic and overly easy, and it still has a horrific case of button bloat.

I am liking the Imperial agent story still, but thus far it hasn’t quite equaled its initial quality during the Hutta leg. It’s a pretty fun class, too, my issues with button bloat aside. SW:TOR is a textbook case of my least favourite style of MMO combat, but it’s probably the best example of that style. Complex rotations, good class flavour.

I’ll also give them some credit for creating a class where energy management is meaningful without being resource-starved or tediously slow. WoW still hasn’t figured that out.

Can’t stand Kaliyo, though. Really wish you unlocked companions more quickly.

New things (to me):

Having gone farther into the game than ever before, I’ve had a chance to explore more of SW:TOR’s features.

The player housing system, strongholds, seems pretty good. I’ve heard a lot of criticisms of it, but I’m enjoying it, in so much as I ever do housing anyway. We’ll see if it holds my attention long term, but it’s pretty easy to use, and it does have at least a little practical benefit.

I’ve also tried a few space missions, which are… odd. Nothing really wrong with them, but they feel so totally disconnected from the rest of the game, mechanically and story-wise.

I’ve tried crafting, as well, as mentioned above. It’s not so bad, but it’s not explained well. I kind of crippled myself by not realizing you need two gathering professions for each production profession. So now I’ve got 300 points in slicing and a completely useless armstech profession. As with so many things, I’m not sure if I want to keep at it. Slicing was a good money-maker, but the missions seem to be getting less cost-effective as I level.

Altitis strikes back:

And of course, my endless lust for alts has risen again.

There is actually something approaching good reason for this. I don’t know if I’ll stick with any of these alts, but in case I do, I want to get past the first few levels while I’ve still got all the subscriber, double XP, and anniversary bonuses.

I’ve focused on Sith so far. Played both inquisitor and warrior to a bit past level ten. I liked the “underdog” story angle of the inquisitor, and his voice actor is a little better, but I liked the mechanics of the warrior much more. Inquisitor was more of a caster type, and while I like that fine normally, if I’m going to play a class with a lightsaber, I want to use the lightsaber as much as possible.

Also, I took an instant liking to Vette, so that’s pretty much decided.

I feel I should have a Republic character to see both sides of the story, but I can’t decide what class to pick. I recall from my first time trying the game (as well as my experience with the warrior) that I enjoy the mechanics of the Jedi knight, but while I’ve heard good things about its story, what I saw of it was snore-inducing. They do get Jaina Proudmoore as a companion, though, so there’s that.

I was considering a consular, but I’ve heard a lot of people say their story is quite weak. The trooper story sounds like something I’d enjoy, but I’m not sure what I’d make of the class’s gameplay.

I have no interest in smuggler at all.

And there’s the final Empire class I haven’t tried. I initially had no interest at all in the class, but then I heard the female bounty hunter is voiced by Grey DeLisle, and now I’m tempted to make one just because of that. If I do, it’ll be a human female with blonde hair and green eyes. Ideally named Nova, but that’ll probably be taken. As will November, Annabella, and NovaTerra, I suspect.

Hmm.

Anyway, since I’m experimenting with polls, I’ll let you readers have a say. What should my next SW:TOR alt be?

Take Our Poll

Feel free to offer justification for your vote in the comments.

* * *

So I’m still a bit uncertain with SW:TOR. It’s certainly a much better game than it was, but it still suffers from its origins as a “me too” WoW clone. But it’s growing on me a little, and it has at least managed to hold my attention longer than on my previous two sojourns to a galaxy far, far away.

We’ll see if it lasts.

Filed under: Games Tagged: sci-fi, Star Wars, Star Wars: The Old Republic

Review: The Expanse, “CQB”

Well, here’s something we haven’t seen from The Expanse so far: excitement.

“CQB” sees the Martian warship carrying Holden and his crew come under attack by unknown assailants… who bear a suspicious similarity to the ship that destroyed the Cantebury.

What follows is a very lengthy and largely entertaining battle only slightly hampered by the facts that I still don’t really care about Holden and his crew and that the bad guys apparently went to the storm trooper school of marksmanship.

Meanwhile, Miller’s plot continues to go nowhere. Seriously, why is he even in the show at this point? We’re four episodes in, and while I enjoy his hard-boiled attitude and general snark, he hasn’t done anything at all.

Also, Chrisjen apparently still exists.

I’m starting to feel like Holden’s the only character the writers even care about. He’s the only one whose plot has had any significant development so far. They should have just not bothered with Miller and Chrisjen, or at least waited to introduce them until they actually had something to do. They’re just taking up space (har har) right now.

But at least the titular “Close Quarters Battle” was entertaining. A slightly more drawn-out, stately kind of space battle than we tend to see these days. I’m reminded of Star Trek’s original vision of emulating old naval battles.

I’m also getting a bit more drawn in by the mystery. I think I’ve figured it out — they don’t keep including random mentions of the Mormons for nothing — but we’ll have to see if my theory pans out.

Though there’s still that feeling of being strung along. They’re certainly taking their sweet time offering any kind of reveals.

“CQB” was entertaining enough to convince me to keep watching for at least one more episode, but The Expanse remains on thin ice where I’m concerned.

Overall rating 7/10

Apologies for the short length of this post. There just isn’t much to say about this show. It’s very good at filling an hour with very little.

Filed under: Reviews Tagged: review, sci-fi, The Expanse, TV

TSW: Issue #13, Orochi Tower, and Challenges

I’ve been distracted with so many different games lately that The Secret World has fallen by the wayside a bit. But this has not been through any fault of the game itself, and with a slight reprieve in my all-consuming mission to play ALL OF TEH GAMES, I’ve had a welcome reunion with my favourite MMO.

This happened to come just as issue #13 was due for release, and I’ve also had the opportunity to further explore the last major story issue and some of the other improvements in recent months.

Issue #13: Trail of Shadows

Issue #13 was a pleasant surprise. It’s billed as the final major update for Tokyo, but since I had assumed Reaping the Whirlwind was the end of the Tokyo story, this is a welcome bonus.

That said, issue #13 did turn out to be a bit of a disappointment. In fact, it may have replaced issue #6 as my least favourite issue to date. It’s not awful by any stretch of the imagination, but it’s nothing special.

There isn’t much in the way of an over-arching plot, and it’s just not all that fun. The first several missions were fairly tedious — though part of that is my fault for trying to do an investigation mission before any guides were up — and as much I love Ricky Pagan, his standalone mission was, again, kind of generic and just not that memorable.

That said, the final mission of the issue was very cool. Exactly the kind of inventiveness that we all love about TSW.

Sorry if I’m being a bit vague about it all, but the issue is still new, and I don’t want to spoil too much.

It did make me a bit wistful for other roads the game might have taken, though.

I love the story-telling in TSW, but one thing that always bothered me is how faceless and voiceless the player character is. We’re surrounded by such colourful characters with so much rich development, but we ourselves are empty non-entities.

I would have liked something a bit closer to Bioware’s style, where the main character is fully voiced and you can make some choices about your character. I don’t need to be able to direct the story or have as much choice as I might in, say, Mass Effect, but even if all our choices were ultimately meaningless flavour that didn’t affect the game’s plots, it would have been nice to have some backstory or personality given to the player.

This is finally realized a bit in issue thirteen, but I can’t help but wish something like this had come much earlier, and that the choices were irreversible.

Don’t get me wrong. I still loved the mission. My pining for what could have been doesn’t detract from the experience. I just wonder what might have been. Obviously it’s too late to change things now.

But even as issue #13 disappoints, I’ve gained a new appreciation for the last major story issue, Reaping the Whirlwind.

They all to the dark tower came:

It’s safe to say the reception for issue #11 was a bit lukewarm. I found it a bit uneven myself. As a result, I’d only done it once up until about a week ago, when I decided to return to Orochi Tower.

I discovered that you’re able to easily pick and chose which mission you want to repeat, which means you can do The Eight-Headed Serpent, which has you exploring the randomized floors of the tower, without bothering with the initial assault or the overly long finale with Lilith and the Mitsubachi.

I set out to explore every single floor of the tower, and I found it an extremely enjoyable experience.

The mission is fairly quick to complete, and the variety of different floors keeps it fresh and interesting. It’s exactly the kind of high quality solo experience that makes me love TSW so much: all the excitement, challenge, and high production values of an MMO dungeon without the need for a group and its associated drama.

The various floors overflow with Easter eggs, lore, and odd little mini-stories. I was particularly surprised by how much humour there is to be found, though perhaps I shouldn’t be considering how much of a walking joke the Orochi are. Regardless, it’s a thoroughly entertaining ride.

Going in, I expected Sycoil and Vali to be the most interesting subsidiaries to explore, based on their appearances earlier in the game, but while they had their moments, I actually found Zagan and Faust Capital’s floors to be on the whole the most enjoyable. Faust Beta and Omega are among the more creative floors, and in Zagan’s case, I just have to stand by the bizarre, twisted things TSW’s writers can come up with.

I’ll also give a shout-out to Anansi Beta and its life-size Pac-Man game for once again being wildly original. This is not something you’ll see in any other MMO, that’s for sure.

On the downside, I found Plethron and Manticore to be overall the least enjoyable. Manticore Beta, in particular, is probably the most annoying floor, combining all the worst aspects of sabotage missions with none of their usual virtues. That said, there is one bit in Manticore Alpha is very amusing.

“Seriously, how did you get funding for this?”

Running Orochi Tower also turns out to be fairly rewarding. You can net yourself three biohazard containers and a decent chunk of black bullion without too much effort, and I’ve discovered that it counts as all three mission types* for the purposes of daily challenges, so if you get a challenge to do any mission in Kaidan, it’s an easy way to knock that out.

*(I haven’t tested to see if it qualifies as an action mission, but seeing as it has more action than anything else and definitely counts as both sabotage and investigation, I’d be shocked if it didn’t.)

Speaking of challenges:

The last few weeks have also been my first opportunity to really delve into the new challenge system. Now, I knew off the bat I’d enjoy this. It’s exactly the kind of reward system I like in an MMO — do whatever you want and get rewards — and I’ve wanted something like this in TSW for a long time.

Hell, you could argue it was my idea. I spent over a year advocating for a system almost exactly like this on the official forums.

It just feels good to be able to easily access good rewards just doing whatever you were going to do anyway, and the steady stream of currency and XP can get very addictive, very quickly. It can even start pushing you to do things you would never normally do.

I’ve been running dungeons again, despite swearing off them until the dungeon finder is implemented, and even more shockingly, I actually participated in some PvP recently — a Stonehenge match.

Even more shocking, it actually wasn’t that bad of an experience. The last round of changes to the PvP buffs had a much bigger impact than I realized. I gained over ten thousand health, and for the first time in a TSW PvP match, I spent more time alive than dead. I was actually able to meaningfully contribute to my team. We still lost, but compared to the miserable experience I’ve found TSW PvP to be in the past, it’s a night and day difference.

And losing didn’t sting that much, because I still completed my challenge. Sweet, sweet bullion!

The Secret World has always provided fantastic story-telling and ambiance. I’ve said it’s the best single-player RPG on the market. But it’s always lagged as an MMO, with its group-focused and repeatable content being severely limited in scale and burdened by all kinds of blunders and poor system designs.

Now, that’s turning around. TSW will always be about story and solo-friendly content first, and that’s as it should be, but they’re doing a great job of bringing the rest of the game up to snuff without majorly jeobardizing its existing strengths.

It’s been three years since I joined The Secret World, and the game is still finding new ways to impress me.

Filed under: Games Tagged: fantasy, The Secret World

Review: The Expanse, “The Big Empty” and “Remember the Cant”

The Expanse is apparently still offering early previews of its episodes, so when I went to watch the second episode, I found the third ready to go as well. That means you get two reviews for the price of one!

…Though given that the price is “free,” that’s maybe not such a great deal.

“The Big Empty”:

Most of this episode is devoted to Holden and his ragtag crew trying to escape in a crippled shuttle. Desperate repairs needed, little hope, you know the drill.

It’s certainly more eventful than the pilot, but that isn’t exactly saying much. It’s all things other sci-fi shows have done, and done better.

There is once again a cliff-hanger, so at least they’re good at making you want to move on to the next episode, but if they don’t provide a good pay-off soon, they’ll just be stringing the viewer along.

I hate being strung along.

The other plots continue to go nowhere slowly. My only comment on Chrisjen and her arc so far is that she appears to be pretty much just Dick Cheney in space. It’s making me feel oddly conflicted because I liked the actress so much in Mass Effect, and every time she speaks, I’m still thinking “Oh, yay, Quarian,” but now I kind of want to see her get hit by an asteroid.

The only thing that really interests me so far is Miller’s story — it is at least an effective mystery, and that’s always welcome — but it is, again, going nowhere. Most of his scenes in this episode are devoted to some side plot about water theft that doesn’t appear to have anything to do with anything.

I have seen some sci-fi shows that were very dull to start and then became great — Stargate: Universe comes to mind — but if The Expanse doesn’t do something impressive soon, I’m giving up.

Overall rating: 5/10

“Remember the Cant”:

Three episodes in, and we now get our first real glimpse of the third major faction in The Expanse: Mars.

Turns out they’re basically the Galactic Empire, at least in terms of art design.

Rifts quickly form in Holden’s crew as the Martian interrogators attempt to find — or create — guilt among them, and I come to the conclusion that I don’t particularly like any of them.

I do, at least, enjoy seeing the Martians get some development. It’s very early days yet, but they have the potential to be an interesting culture.

Meanwhile, Chrisjen’s story takes an odd turn. On the one hand, she seems much more sensible and a bit more likable this time around, but on the other, it seems very out of sync with the rest of her character to date. Is she a warmonger or not? Make up your mind, Expanse.

Miller’s investigation on Julie Mao continues to go absolutely nowhere, and tensions on Ceres reach a boiling point, costing the series the one character I liked after the last character I liked died.

In fairness, “Remember the Cant” is definitely a step up from previous episodes. There is a pretty good mystery developing here. Who is trying to start a war, and why? It’s certainly keeping me guessing.

But again, I can’t escape the feeling I’m just being strung along. Sometimes a good mystery only serves to make you drag yourself through an otherwise tedious story. I’ve had that happen before, and I’ve regretted falling for it.

“The Expanse” definitely has the potential to be a good show, but it’s still aways off, and I’m not sure how much longer my patience is going to last.

The fact is I’m just now enjoying this show very much. I want to, but I’m not.

Overall rating: 6.7/10

Filed under: Reviews Tagged: review, sci-fi, The Expanse, TV

Heroes of the Storm: My Builds – Tassadar and Jaina

I meant to do some Heroes of the Storm guides when the game officially launched, but with all the chaos of apartment-hunting and moving, I didn’t get a chance.

But now that life is more settled, and I’d like to start sharing some of what I’ve learned in my year plus of playing. I’m going to share my standard builds for my most played characters in each of the four roles. I’ll also be sharing links to their talent calculators on Heroes Nexus in case you need more info on the heroes and their abilities.

Today, I’ll be talking about my favourite support and assassin, Tassadar and Jaina. These are my two most played characters, with over 150 games played and master skins unlocked on each at the time of this writing.

And please remember any Heroes of the Storm newcomer under level five can get some sweet perks by using my referral link: https://battle.net/recruit/78ZHCGZ5GP

Read more about the recruit-a-friend a program here.

Tassadar: Executor of All Trades

General thoughts: The great thing about Tassadar is his versatility. He doesn’t necessarily excel in any particular area, but he brings a little bit of everything to the table, and he has few, if any, major weaknesses or obvious counters.

He’s also an excellent counter to stealth heroes, especially Nova. Between his trait and psionic storm, he’s fantastic at knocking enemies out of stealth, his shields help counter their burst, and dimensional shift completely negates Nova’s triple-tap while still triggering its full cooldown.

This build is meant to build on his versatility. It will allow you to put out very high healing numbers (rivaling a Malfurion or Kharazim) while also being supremely hard to kill and doing some some fairly respectable damage.

1: Conjurer’s pursuit: Collecting healing globes permanently increases your mana regeneration.

This build focuses on making very heavy use of plasma shield and psionic storm, and you will need all the mana you can get. If you’re diligent about grabbing healing globes in the early game, this talent should be enough to sustain you.

4: Leeching plasma: Basic attacks by shielded targets heal them.

This tier offers Tassadar’s only means of actually healing damage, and leeching plasma is more reliable than healing ward. Prioritize shielding squishy heroes with high auto-attack damage, like Valla and Illidan.

7: Khala’s embrace: A portion of plasma shield will remain indefinitely after its duration runs out.

This is a crucial part of the build. Once you have this talent, you should pretty much be using plasma shield on cooldown, even if — especially if — there’s no fighting going on. By blanketing shields across your entire team, you can greatly increase their survivability. Prioritize low health heroes. Shield yourself only if you’re near death or everyone else is already shielded. Staying at range and making judicious use of dimensional shift should be enough to keep you alive under most circumstances.

10: Archon: Gain a shield and greatly increased auto-attack damage for short period.

This is by far the easier to use ultimate, and therefore my pick. It’s been nerfed a few times, but the damage can still make a difference if the enemy team is backed into a corner or otherwise unable to escape. In a pinch, its shield can also save you from certain death.

13: Prescience: Dimensional shift activates automatically at low health.

Tassadar is pretty hard to kill to begin with, but with prescience, you’re nearly immortal. It will activate when you’re stunned, and it doesn’t trigger and isn’t effected by dimensional shift’s main cooldown.

16: Second strike: You can cast a second, free psionic storm after the first one.

With the survivability of you and your team covered, it’s time to boost your damage. A second psionic storm allows you to deal more AoE damage to the enemy team, recover from a misclick, control the battlefield, or clear large minion waves easily.

Important note: Multiple psionic storms do not stack. Placing two storms directly on top of each other will not double your damage.

20: Twilight archon: Increases the damage bonus and shield of archon and increases your auto-attack range while active.

Although the damage of twilight archon is devastating, its real value is in the increased range. Enemies will find it much harder to escape your wrath.

Storm shield is also a decent choice, but twilight archon is just too much fun. People underestimate you. And then they die.

Jaina: Blizzard Entertainment

General thoughts: Jaina is a very strong assassin, but in some ways a peculiar one. She’s not a duelist or a ganker. She’s not the best in small engagements. Team fights, though? She reigns supreme. Her AoE damage and crowd control will ruin the enemy team.

Keep in mind that Jaina has very low health and no escape tools. Always stay at range, and don’t take chances. A cautious Jaina is a successful Jaina. Blizzard is your main source of damage, and frost bolt can be used to poke, wear down, or finish off a wounded target. Cone of cold is mainly used to discourage enemies who get too close. You can use it offensively, but it’s very risky, so I don’t recommend it for beginners.

This build focuses on blizzard, capitalizing on Jaina’s existing strengths.

1: Lingering chill: Chill effects last longer.

Mostly this just makes your play more forgiving by making combos easier to execute. It allows you to easily keep a target permanently chilled by spamming frost bolt.

4: Snowstorm: Increases blizzard radius.

The default radius for blizzard is pretty small. This makes it easier to clear minion waves or hit multiple enemy heroes.

7: Frostbitten: Increases damage bonus against chilled targets.

More damage.

10: Summon water elemental: Fairly self-explanatory.

I actually think ring of frost is a better ultimate if you can land it, but it’s extremely hard to use effectively. Water elemental is much safer choice.

Two things to keep in mind about water elemental: It’s very good at chasing down wounded enemies without risking yourself, and it attacks fast enough to keep a Nova from re-entering stealth. This is a great way to force her to disengage.

13: Storm front: Increases cast range of blizzard.

This is, in my view, Jaina’s most mandatory talent. The default range for blizzard puts you entirely too close to the front lines. You need the extra range.

17: Snow crash: Adds an additional hit to blizzard.

Realistically, you’re not going to hit many heroes with all three blizzard waves, but this talent is a great asset for capturing mercenary camps and keeping enemies zoned out, and the other talents in this row don’t really fit this build.

20: Bolt of the storm: A targeted teleport on a cooldown.

Jaina is extremely squishy, and with all the burst potential in late game, you absolutely need an escape tool.

* * *

Any questions? Ask me in the comments.

Filed under: Games Tagged: fantasy, guides, Heroes of the Storm, sci-fi

Review: The Expanse, “Dulcinea” (Pilot Episode)

Later tonight, the TV premiere for the new sci-fi TV series The Expanse will air, but the first episode has already been available online for several days. Always eager for some new sci-fi, I decided to give it a shot.

I knew little of The Expanse going in aside from the fact that it was getting a lot of buzz and had already been compared to Battlestar Galactica and Game of Thrones. That isn’t entirely good news where I was concerned, but I figured it was worth a try anyway.

The premise for The Expanse is pretty interesting. Two hundred years into the future, humanity has begun to colonize the rest of our solar system. Earth, ruled by the United Nations, and Mars, ruled by its military, are the dominant powers, with a smaller civilization of “Belters” eking out a existence in the asteroid belt.

Tensions are high between Earth and Mars, with war potentially on the horizon, and there is unrest in the asteroid belt as well, as its oppressed underclass chafes under the heel of the inner planets.

The world-building is pretty good, and the show has a fantastic eye for detail. For example, a bird that has adjusted to the low gravity on Ceres* and barely has to flap its wings to fly.

*(Which bears a suspicious similarity to Mass Effect’s Presidium.)

This is also an incredibly beautiful show, with absolutely stellar special effects (no pun intended). The Expanse is an absolute feast for the eyes, even with the crappy video quality of Space’s player.

Unfortunately, the rest of the show is less impressive.

“Dulcinea” seems to have been mainly written using a handbook of standard sci-fi pilot cliches. We’ve got “woman finds something strange and scary and screams hysterically,” and “gratuitous sex scene.” Throw in some casual torture, a wide-eyed rookie cop, and call it a day.

The characters are likewise extremely cliche. Thus far the story focuses on Detective Miller, a roguish but not entirely heartless detective on Ceres who is tasked with tracking down a missing woman, and Jim Holden, a roguish but not entirely heartless starship officer whose freighter investigates a mysterious distress signal.

We’re also introduced to a ruthless UN secretary, Chrisjen Avasarala, but her role is too small to form any real opinions of her. She is, however, played by Shohreh Aghdashloo, who voiced Admiral Shala’Raan in the Mass Effect games. Which is cool.

So thus far I’m terribly underwhelmed by the cast. The one character that I kind of liked has already been written out. And once again, in an incredibly cliche way.

It’s a pretty uneventful pilot, too. Only Jim’s plot advances in any meaningful way, and then only barely and only at the end.

On the whole, “Dulcinea” has mostly given me a greater appreciation for how good Dark Matter’s pilot was.

Still, it’s pretty, the concept is interesting, and sci-fi shows often have slow starts, so I’ll probably give it at least one more episode.

Overall rating: 6.1/10

Also it fills my heart with warmth that as of right now the Enterprise episode still appears higher in Wikipedia results for “The Expanse.”

Filed under: Reviews Tagged: review, sci-fi, The Expanse, TV