A Dance Of Fire And Ice Hardest Level

[Lucrecio Poinson]

Im now 200+ hours deep in Baldur's Gate 3 and midway through my third run, a massive time sink I have decided to blame on a teenager-strength crush on Astarion and the slightly more sensible desire to really sink my teeth into the magnificent battle system. I want to fully understand it. I want to wear the shiny "Critical Hit" achievement from clearing the game on its hardest difficulty like a badge of honour. I want to set someone who isn't on my side on fire for once.

After playing the game once on easy and once on normal, Tactician has been quite an adjustment. Everything hits harder, acts smarter, and I swear some enemies are pulling off moves I haven't seen them do before. I can't panic-spam my most powerful spells and skills the instant a fight gets bloody anymore, especially as this mode demands double the amount of supplies to fully restore everyone's health and special abilities with a long rest. Instead I have to hold back and think about how to use everything I'm carrying, as well as everything around me, to cause the most trouble in the most efficient way possible.

Now that I'm forced to be creative, I'm realising just how much fun it is to do more than hit monsters really hard. It's not just about the explosive barrels begging to be introduced to a flaming cantrip, but all the other details I didn't even consider before:

A burning brazier hanging from the ceiling is a golden opportunity to drop a bowl of fire on someone's head, or at least force them to take a little damage as they charge at me through the burning cinders.

The Create Water spell (or a bottle of the stuff, lobbed with enthusiasm) isn't a weird invitation to give my enemies soggy feet, it's the exciting first step in a horde-disrupting mass electrocution.

By forcing me to consider these characters in their entirety, rather than just the vessels for fun stories who I dress up in nice armour to hit things with, I've ended up with a far more varied and interesting experience. All of my tadpoled team's best and worst traits matter all the time, not just when I bother to pay attention to them.

This is assuming I fight at all, of course. There was one battle in the Temple of Shar that has always given me trouble, and it was no different this time around. I repeatedly threw myself at it, I reloaded when I made stupid decisions, I tried everything I could think of, but it always ended the same way. And then I remembered I'd seen people talking their way into a win here, and kicked myself for not doing it earlier.

More than almost any other RPG, Baldur's Gate 3 manages to consistently fulfil the core videogame fantasy of "If I think I can do it, I probably can." That rickety bridge that a marauding mob of bandits have just piled on really can fall away while they're standing on it, instantly cutting their forces down by a tide-turning amount. I didn't even need to consider doing anything like that before, not when the lower difficulty settings gave my party enough extra health to absorb unnecessary damage as they blindly charged ahead, flimsy wizards and sturdy warriors alike.

I had a similar revelation in a winery full of drunk kobolds and leaking barrels of spirits: why race in for a lengthy resource-draining scrap when I could sneak attack the one passed out by the door and then ignite every sloshed drop of alcohol in the entire room with a few no-cost fireballs before half of them even realised I was there? Never before has "Fight smarter, not harder" lead to such a satisfying display of pyrotechnics.

I want to quietly shut the door behind me when I enter the room containing a surly NPC with a fat stack of HP, and then split my party into Team Chatty Distraction and Team Sneak Attack to punch above my weight.

It's the best way to play, even if it does bring out the absolute worst in me. Oh no, did I deliberately goad you into attacking me? And you're sure I'll never leave this place alive now that you've called for reinforcements and you've activated all the traps? Brilliant. That just means I've got more to work with.

I used to worry when Baldur's Gate 3's scuffles got a little complex. But now? Whenever I hear a certain sarcastic bloodsucker gleefully say "Let's turn someone inside out," I can't help but pause for a moment and figure out the most elaborate way to make it happen.

When baby Kerry was brought home from the hospital her hand was placed on the space bar of the family Atari 400, a small act of parental nerdery that has snowballed into a lifelong passion for gaming and the sort of freelance job her school careers advisor told her she couldn't do. She's now PC Gamer's word game expert, taking on the daily Wordle puzzle to give readers a hint each and every day. Her Wordle streak is truly mighty.\n\nSomehow Kerry managed to get away with writing regular features on old Japanese PC games, telling today's PC gamers about some of the most fascinating and influential games of the '80s and '90s."}), " -0-10/js/authorBio.js"); } else console.error('%c FTE ','background: #9306F9; color: #ffffff','no lazy slice hydration function available'); Kerry BrunskillSocial Links NavigationContributing WriterWhen baby Kerry was brought home from the hospital her hand was placed on the space bar of the family Atari 400, a small act of parental nerdery that has snowballed into a lifelong passion for gaming and the sort of freelance job her school careers advisor told her she couldn't do. She's now PC Gamer's word game expert, taking on the daily Wordle puzzle to give readers a hint each and every day. Her Wordle streak is truly mighty.

Choosing the right fire staff dimensions which will feel right & allow you to pursue your own personal style of fire dancing can be daunting. There are many variables to consider including length, weight & weight distribution. It may be helpful to seek the advise of an experienced artist.

Currently I recommend a staff length at armpit level for those pursuing my dance-based style of fire dance. Because arm-length varies from person to person, it may be more accurate to measure from wrist to wrist when your arms are stretched out in a T.

Contact staffs are often weighted differently because learning the technique works best with staffs which maintain their momentum once in motion. For this reason, many beginner contact staff spinners generally prefer a heavier staff which is weighed more evenly throughout. For this group, the heavier the better and fixing a wooden dowel within the metal tubing is a common design. However, beyond the beginner phase of contact staff, a lighter staff is preferable as less of an impulse is needed to change planes/ directions. Pro contact staff spinners have raved about my pro fire staffs because of how lightweight and straight they are (providing a perfect role).

It took some getting used to at first but now there is no going back! The thinner diameter tubing makes controlling the staff easier. I am able to spin faster with less effort and with greater enjoyment.

By now you have an idea about the elements to consider to create the ideal fire staff. Before ordering your pro fire staff, have a peak at our past product specs on facebook. This can give you an idea of what total weight you can achieve by playing with the different elements. And if you still have questions, send me a message!

Phase 3 builds off of the lessons learned and dues paid during 75 Hard, Phase 1 and Phase 2 of the program. It is also the final phase of the Live Hard program. Finish it and you complete it. Every day for 30 days you do these 10 tasks with zero compromise.

What made this Phase unique is that it had to be accomplished exactly 30 days before the 1 year mark of starting the Live Hard program. That just so happened to align with the start of the Coronavirus for me (March 24, 2020). Nothing like layering on a global pandemic on top of a mental toughness program.

After I stopped being a bitch I reframed my mindset. I started to get excited. I am very personable so I loved the idea of meeting one new person a day. I also loved the idea of doing a random act of kindness. I was already doing that in some capacity, but this would increase the frequency of it. I started thinking of ideas of what I would do to prepare for both of those tasks. That way I could hit the ground running when it started.

As I am getting ready to start Phase 3 and complete the year long mental toughness program the unexpected happens. A global pandemic hits in the form of the Coronavirus and the country was in quarantine. The city of Chicago was shut down except for a few essential businesses, and people were urged to stay at home. This threw every pre-plan I had out the window and completely changed the game.

Knowing that I become the best version of myself when I am on the Live Hard program I started to crave the structure. I wanted it because I knew the benefits of it. I started to count down the days until Phase 3 started. I knew how much of a competitive advantage it would be for me to operate at the highest level of my life during what many saw as the hardest moment of their life. This level of focus and determination is what ran through me each of the final 30 days.

Because I was completing this Phase during a quarantine I had to be extra vigilant to make sure I completed this task. The second I woke up this task was on my mind, trying to figure out how to meet someone new. There are a few things that I did which contributed to my success at meeting new people.

The first was to Design My Interactions ahead of time. Because there was a stay at home order my options for who to talk to were very small. Because of this I wanted to be prepared for when I came across someone that I could talk to. The way I did this was by having a process and topics already in place before the conversation even started.

Another thing I did, on recommendation from my wife, was to ask people something positive that has happened for them during the quarantine. Because there was so much negativity going on in the world, this question became a beacon of light. It helped people focus on gratitude and what they are thankful for. Because the majority of my interactions where at places like the grocery store or Target, it was often with hourly workers. What I found is that many of them were so thankful to still be working and earning a paycheck. Not everyone was fortunate enough to keep their jobs, so the fact that they could really had a positive impact. Upon hearing stories like this over and over again, it ended up making me feel good because I could receive what they are saying and send back a smile and some praise to them.

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