From
FidoNews Robot@2:2/2 to
All on Mon Jun 7 03:11:56 2021
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EDITORIAL =================================================================
Freedom of Speech
This subject seems to be more and more difficult to understand by some
people for each year that passes. Not only in FidoNet but worse than
that, all over the entire world.
Freedom of Speech is, like all freedoms, binary. Either you have it
or you do not. There is no middle way.
Voltaire (François-Marie Arouet) did not actually say it, it was
Evelyn Beatrice Hall that interpreted his thoughts this way:
"I disapprove of what you say, but I will defend to the death your
right to say it."
Adolf Hitler, Joseph Stalin, Pol Pot, Kim Il-sung and all other
dictators we know of were all in favour of Freedom of Speech. As long
as that speech did not oppose to what they regarded as proper.
I'm constantly reminded of what a bad person I am to allow this or
that user to execute his Freedom of Speech in the FIDONEWS echo. "Ban
him!" shouts the crowd. I.e. "No more Freedom of Speech here, unless
we like it!"
Can't you really see what you are saying? Is it really that hard to
press the Next key if you find someone opposing to what you regard as
proper?
After all, nobody is forcing you to read anything. Neither in a
FidoNet echo nor on Twitter, FaceBook, Fox News or wherever. Surely
you have more important matters to be upset with, or even angry with,
in your lives?
Once again:
Freedom of Speech is, like all freedoms, binary. Either you have it
or you do not.
It's your choice, be sure to choose well. Once you've lost it, it
can take ages to get it back, if ever.
.
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--- Azure/NewsPrep 3.0
* Origin: Home of the Fidonews (2:2/2.0)
From
FidoNews Robot@2:2/2 to
All on Mon Jun 7 03:11:56 2021
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ADAM'S COLUMN - ADAM PARK =================================================================
Land of Devastation Grind Guide Pt 4
Adam Park 1:134/302
****
Welcome to our continuing series examaning the epic door game from the
90s, Land of Devastation. Check out previous issues of Fidonews for
parts you may have missed!
****
Coming/published sections:
1) About
**In Issue - Volume 38 No. 20**
2) General Gameplay Guidelines
**In Issue - Volume 38 No. 21**
3) Shopping Recommendations
**In Issue - Volume 38 No. 22**
4) Stat Points
4a) Overview of Sources of Stat Points
4b) How to Distribute Stat Points for this Build
*We are HERE*
5) Combat Strategy
6) Tables
6a) Leveling Order
6b) Key Purchase Order
7) Grind Guide
7a) Zone 1
7b) Zone 2
7c) Drugs: Everything in Moderation
7d) Zone 3
7e) Zone 4
7f) Zone 5
7g) Shrine of Hercules
7h) Zone 6
7i) Endgame content
8) Supplemental Information
** And now for this week's content: **
4) Stat Points
4a) Overview of Sources of Stat Points
- The main way to get stats is by leveling, where you pick how to
assign 5 stat points per level; NEVER bother with the money option.
- Further to leveling, there are three other ways to raise stats:
through stat fountains, a laptop ROM and drugs.
- There are 3 stat enhancing fountains in the game, two are in Sacre
Base; one gives +5 dex and the other +5 agl. One fountain much later,
in the Shrine of Hercules gives +25 strength; this also works out well
for my build as it neglects strength until late-game. In total stat
fountains give 35 stat points, equivalent to 7 levels.
- You can also find a Tetris laptop ROM which will add 4 poits to your
dex, a nice bonus considering you'll just find this randomly, and
relatively easily.
- Drugs, in the mid-to-later game, are an extremely effective way of
raising your stats. In my sample run-through of the game, I gained 44
stat points, equal to nearly 9 levels in stats. A word of warning: If
the proper procedure for raising stats through drugs is not followed,
you risk permanently screwing up your character; raising your stat
points the safe and correct way, however, will be quite costly, thus
why it is a mid-to-later game endeavour. Make sure to read my section
on drug use carefully.
- In addition to stat points received by levelling, you will see a
guaranteed 39 stat points from fountains and the ROM, and, with a
little luck, in the neighbourhood of 44 from drugs, for a total, in my
case, of 83 stat points, over 16 levels worth; pretty significant when
you consider that you're in the endgame around level 45-50.
4b) How to Distribute Stat Points for this Build
- Dexterity is by far the most important stat for this build, which I
believe is the most effective build. Dexterity increases your average
short and long range damage by making you hit more often, whereas
strength, by comparison, only increases average short range damage by increasing the damage when on hit; it is, furthermore, less
consistent. By the mid-game, you will have a long-range weapon with
3-burst mode, and a grenade launcher, but the price of that is that
its attacks will be less accurate, so having a high dexterity is vital
to making the best of it. While it is easy to upgrade the damage of
your weapons simply by upgrading them, there is no way to upgrade
their accuracy until you're able to afford very expensive upgrades,
which you will still need even with this dexterity-based build.
- Agility is the second-best stat, but the saying "a little goes a
long way" applies, as you will experience diminishing returns in each
zone for how much dexterity you have. That is to say, at first points
give you a much better chance to dodge enemies close to your level,
then less and less as you increase the stat, so there's a limit to how
much agility you really need to bother with per zone. (It's a relative calculation compared to your opponent's dexterity).
- Hit Points are the third-best stat. By the mid to late game, armor +
shield + agility will mean you are hit very seldom, say, 10-15% of the
time, but for when you are, you will want to have enough hit points to
survive a couple of hits from most enemies.
- Strength is the least important stat until very late in the game,
especially since you receive 25 free strength from a fountain, but
only 5 free dexterity and agility. Once you start being able to
consistently hit enemies in the highest zone with most of your gun's
burst mode, and levels get easier (oddly enough) to grind, it's worth
putting some focus in strength to increase your short-range damage.
- The coming tables in section 6 contain level-by-level specifics.
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Stay tuned next week for Combat Strategy!
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--- Azure/NewsPrep 3.0
* Origin: Home of the Fidonews (2:2/2.0)