Back in the warrens, we send the team of
@Computery Guy,
@AngeloTheWizard,
@Bones, and
@Mysterious Capitalist out to finish off the locals and see if they can find one of the fucking invitations that the courtyard mandates.
The Warrens have changed little since last we visited. Killing both the Swine Prince and Flesh haven't really stopped the pigmen from showing up, nor raiding the nearby farms periodically, though
@Solzhenitsyn and
@RJ MacReady issuing the local farmers firearms has done a bit to curtail this practice. Honestly, I'm surprised there's any of these bastards
left after
@lolwut elected to pay the Warrens a visit and have a friendly chat.
It also dawns on me that we've never seen a female swinefolk. That's not at all disturbing to think about or leads perfectly into a joke about Troons that's too low a hanging fruit even for me.
As if in response to these utterings, we run into some cultists. Nice to know that while we have Pigmen, Vampires, Fishmen, Skeletons, and Mushroom people running around, we can still run into these dipshits for a laugh.
@Computery Guy greets them in the way he is accustomed. Slice Off, his main attack, is similar to
@KidKitty's harvest, but hits only one target, does noticably more damage, and inflicts a nastier bleed proc. All in all, it's perfect for Computery Guy's assassin role.
@Mysterious Capitalist is a user of tracking shot, and he's the first character I've had that can honestly make routine use of it. It fires a long-ranged shot that does minor damage - and provided a buff to his combat stats that lasts
the entire fight. While Capitalist isn't as powerful as Slag by any stretch, this ability makes up for it and gives him a bit more utility. It's especially nice for finishing off weak foes, so he can go after the others with the boosted stats.
@Bones serves as the party tank, and not in a way most would expect. He soaks damage for the whole team, using Absolution to burn off any injuries he takes, and using his debuff skills to corral the enemy.
He can then transform when it's time to get his murder on, and tear the opposition to shreds.
@AngeloTheWizard is probably the most unusual example of an Occultist we have. Fundamentally, he has the same combat role as his counterparts,
@Techpriest and
@c-no - healing and offensive support - but where he differs is that his main role is debuffing enemies with Weakening Hex. This team doesn't have anyone hugely high in HP - Bones is all they've got - so this ability taking the edge off is a lynchpin in this team's operation. The fact that he can essentially take all the threat out of a Swinetaur or Skivier is kind of neat.
He's also a scholarly class, which means he automatically sheds stress interacting with knowledge curios thanks to the Athaenum District. This really helps keep his stress down.
This team is remarkably efficient for a comparatively low-level party, and may be one of the ones that heads into the courtyard alongside
@Curt Sibling's team and
@Smutley's team. We'll need to see!
Mister Stewart is also capable of counter attacks, just like Slag. So far, things are going well.
The team is settled in for the evening, and thanks to Bones being there, the team gets more Respite Points to spend. This lets us buff Bones and Capitalist with Dark Strength and Psych up, then have Computery burn off the stress buildup with just enough time for Capitalist to also lay snares and prevent nighttime ambushes.
I'm surprised, but this team can really go the distance.
Really go the distance, as Bones quickly shows, killing the front lines off again.
Soonafter, though, an old friend comes to play.
Is it a bad sign that I had actually forgotten this guy even
exists with all the other shit wandering around right now?
A round in, the team's cut his HP by roughly half, and he's summoned his Faces of Evil. Clearly we will need to conquer each. But there's no time for terrible CD-I memes, since there's fighty time to be had.
Angelo channels his inner Techpriest and wreaks havoc on the front lines. Alternately, he grabs the fucker with Eldritch Pull and drags them within stabbing range of Capitalist and Bones.
The Collector tries to show the party what lies within his mantle, but Bones and Capitalist have viewed one too many threads in the Tumblr subforum to not know where this goes, so the attack is ineffective.
Bones transforms and gets right to work getting these unworthy motherfuckers out of here.
Capitalist shivs the bastard, and every time he tries to go to the back lines, Angelo drags him right the fuck back up to the front line, while Computery keeps the team's stress levels down and alternately bleeds the heads white.
Finally, Bones ends the fight after the Collector's been softened up enough.
This is one Abomination I'm glad we rescued.
The ol' dash-then-blam tactic favored by Ol' Slag still works on Capitalist, letting him easily take bigger prey.
This outing has been phenomenally successful. I'm genuinely surprised. Fitting then, that it ends with us fighting the same three douchebags we've put in the ground a few dozen times by now.
It goes fairly predictably.
Really predictably.
Back at town, I'm testing a new skin that goes along with Sibling's tendency to feature 80s-style Heavy Metal-inspired babes as avatars and combined it with his previous one, allowing us to have a female Crusader Skin.
Which do you prefer, Sibling? Let me know either in-thread or below as situation merits.
Moving ahead,
@Smutley,
@Hodor,
@patchwork, and
@Ginger Piglet continue to hunt for Invitations.