Pet Peeve: Wrath of the 20K Post Cap

She normally ignores them in phase 3 for me, can make her hit a corner up until she shoots poison up into the air.

I sat down watching all the old cinematics of WoW and I am struck with the sad realization that we will never ever have such a terrifying, awe-inspiring and complex villain as Arthas as the LK.

Now before anybody jumps on this telling me there are better villains in both video game history and/or films/books in other genres: Sure, there are. Or that Arthas’s story isn’t original but rather something we’ve seen before in characters like Darth Vader: Sure.

But in the context of Warcraft, a franchise now over 20 years old, his story is remarkably nuanced, thought out, and consistent. Better yet, he actually (as far as we know so far into Shadowlands) got a good, cool death and didn’t come back to ruin his character arc (See: Illidan).

Everything about his backstory (e.g. Invincible’s death, pressure to step into the big boots his father was going 2 leave to him/impressing his paladin mentor Uther), relations with other major lore characters (e.g. Jaina, Kael’thas, Illidan, Uther), encounters with other story arcs of the franchise (e.g. Predicting that it was unwise to teach Thrall to fight/strategise), it makes him appear like he truly was a real character.

Then there’s his entire story arc-, which, by the way, isn’t just a story a single one, but a budle of them: Everything about his previous relationship with Jaina, all his adventures, Invincible’s death, all coming together to form and affect his journey to try and save Lordaeron and take the fight to Malgaenis. His insatiable need to not fail and make things right. The path to hell is paved with good intentions, and all that.

And then there is his whole villain arc- From becoming a death knight to becoming the lich king. All the stuff ranging from ravaging Lordaeron, Silvermoon and Dalaran. All the new narratives he creates (e.g. Kel’thuzad, Sylvanas, rivalry with Illidan, killing Uther) it all feels so natural.

And then there is his whole bravado in the game itself. He makes appearances throughout the expansion, reminding you of his presence no matter where you go, and taunting you to come to get him (or rather, letting you live to test you), which is really the onion of his plan: He laid out his masterplan plain for everyone to see and hear, yet Tirion + all the adventurers fell victim to it all the same.

His downfall is also poetic in the sense that the very same force he felt failed him so consistently ended up being his downfall.

Don’t get me wrong, there’s other villains too: Deathwing, Malygos, Edvin, Lei Shen, etc- But as of late (really, for the last 3 expansions), I don’t feel we’ve had a compelling and good villain in the game. Somebody whose logic and motifs not only makes sense (even if flawed/one sided), but who manages to instill awe with his presence throughout the expansion and makes you anticipate facing them.

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That just begs more questions, like why do the rest of Slytherin, namely their dang house head, not know about the chamber and its stone cold snake, when the kids start getting stoned?

Yeah it’s possible for sure. Parrying her (it’s female? I never knew) is just something that can make the fight a lot easier and reward a more aggressive ‘greedy’ playstyle.

This never ceases to amaze me… How incredibly different every player’s experience with the Soulsborne games is. It’s really cool. A sign of a very good game, imo.

The only game I can parry consistantly in is DS1, and then I can parry Gundyr and the NPC purple invader in DS3.

Yeah, apparently so. I’m trying to recall my source for that. Think it may be the guide.

Come to think of it, I’ve heard someone mention the blood starved beast as her before. Even though the approach to lore is cool, I’d appreciate more consistent and accessible storytelling for those games.

your ds example is another example of what I was mentioning. I could never for the life of me, parry in DS. Only in DS3 with certain encounters ,but that game also played a lot more like Bloodborne.

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I never learned to parry in the DS games, I got good at dodging but never parrying. I also got good at learning how to deal with backstab fishers in pvp.

I know most the parry timings in DS1.

The only things i struggle with is the axe black knights and the maneater serpents. BKA is because there’s only 2 in the game before the last area and maneaters because if you fail that parry, it hurts like hell, so its more panic than precision.

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The Black knights are fun. Despite having clogged like 250 hours into the first game and like 300 in DS2, I still get completly destroyed by the ultra-greatsword ones, particularly the one in the keep after the red dragon.

https://i.ytimg.com/vi/jBpY_Lcr6Oo/maxresdefault.jpg

JK Rowling made Wizards and Muggles, but Samuel Colt made them equal.

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I must admit, DS3 taught me how to dodge them, so these days, i apply my DS3 knowledge to deal with them in DS1.

And er… I have a lot of hours in all 3 DS games.

EDIT: I want to go back to my DS games, but the saves are on my main computer… which is busted.

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I agree, but with the caveat that once he puts on the helmet I stop caring.

Arthas’ journey is arguably the true heart of WarCraft 3, more so than the coming of the Legion and events in Kalimdor, and the gradual way in which Arthas ceases to be culminates in him becoming the physical body of the Lich King in TFT… but then it all gets kinda ruined by the idea that Arthas, the man whose weakness of spirit allowed Lordaeron to fall, is strong enough to take over and actually become the Lich King, who is then identified with Arthas from that point on.

Ner’zhul as the Lich King imprisoned made a lot of thematic sense, he reached for ultimate power at the expense of his world not for a good cause - like Arthas - but for his own sake, and he achieved that power… with the price being his soul imprisoned and enslaved.

Had the two been joined into one entity, I feel like that would’ve made a far stronger villain (in terms of character) than one that is essentially just Death Knight Arthas with a power boost.

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I read through a synopsis of the Kalevala (Finnish pagan folklore) in more comprehensible language rather than the old timey poetic language it was originally written in.

Mfw Gandalf tried to kill jesus

The female satyr from WCIII looks pretty cool.

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Tfw no female satyr gf to bully me into serving the legion

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I discovered there was an alternate ending to Final Fantasy XV where Ardyn gave Bahamut the middle finger, made himself too powerful for Noctis to defeat, caused Bahamut to resurrect Lunafreya under the false pretense of helping Noct by giving her the same powers he gave Ardyn but unknowingly infecting her with the starscourge because guess who unleashed it in the first place.

She was then barely saved by Noctis and Ardyn. who both set aside their differences because it was time to channel Kratos. rather than the ending we saw, Ardyn took the ring of the Lucii knowing it will kill him faster than it would kill Noct and the two of them took down the corrupt god. ardyn died but was post-humously recognised as the founder-king and him and aera had the ghost-wedding scene while noct and luna had their big miracle final fantasy happy ending.

this vex me it was in a Japanese novel

Can’t wait for its English release :pray:

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I’ll be honest, I found the story of XV near impossible to follow. By the end I had no idea what the hell was happening, but enjoyed the spectacle.

I can introduce you to my mom if you want.

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The original game definitely had huge gaps in the story that were cut out, so it’s not surprising. Luna’s brother’s face-turn comes completely out of nowhere, for example.

DLC fleshed it out a bit (and even then, they cancelled Episode Noctis and Episode Lunafreya) and there’s things like the movie/anime if you really wanna go wide.

Kinda wish they’d left Nomura in charge for a bit longer but might’ve delayed KH3 so I probably got the better timeline in that regard.

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