CS: GO Advanced Tips

General

• Minimizing exposure when peeking [adreN]
• Shotguns overview [WarOwl]
• Reflex/aim practice website

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• Playing mid doors on CT side [adreN]
• Don't play too close to the wall since it exposes your left side without you being able to see them.
• (A site attack) Fast catwalk from T spawn including flashes [adreN]
• Must smoke mid first, then run down suicide
• Flash over the top of mid to blind awpers or flash close cat
• (A site attack) Smoking off platform from catwalk [adreN]
• Aim slightly to the left and above the barred doorway.
• Also covers flashing goose by tossing it over
• (A site attack) Smoking off long A corner from T spawn [adreN]
• From T spawn, aim over the middle of the double doors. Vertical release point will be at the bottom of the four wires. Rush towards it, but tap walk right when you throw.
• (A site attack) Smoking off elevator/CT spawn when going long A  [WarOwl]
• Aim slightly to the left of the top of the three windows, run forwards and throw
• (A site attack) Flashing the site from long A [WarOwl]
• Bounce the first flash off the elevated porch's roof
• Toss the second flash over the buildings to your left
• (A site attack) Bomb plant locations [WarOwl]
• (A site defense) Smoking off Long A double doors from car [adreN]
• Move to between the car and the basket in front of the cars, align to between the three wires crossing above your head, do a stationary toss
• (A site retake) Nading or flashing the platform from CT spawn [adreN]
• Slide out to the right, throw the nade against the far box on platform. Keep the nade very low.
• (B site attack) Double flash to enter from tunnels [WarOwl]
• Throw a low one off the left wall first as you enter tunnels, then a high one (hit the blue stripe at the top) as you step out and can see the site
• (B site defense) The importance of not facing the tunnel on initial approach due to pop flashes [adreN]
• (B site defense) Defensive flashes for a tunnel rush [adreN]
• Throw the first flash to the left of the door (the angle will bounce it over the doorway)
• Throw the second flash to the right jut out pillar
• (B site defense) Flashing site from mid to help your teammate [adreN]
• Toss it through the double doors and against the far wall so that it bounces low and on the other side of big box (to avoid flashing your teammate)
• (B site retake) Tossing smoke off left double door and wall to cut off car/tunnel angles [adreN]
• Aim at the rightmost point of the left door.
• (B site retake) Smoking off tunnels from outside B [adreN]
• Move to the corner of the right scaffolding and the right wall and throw it over the spraypainted "B" (height should be just above the wall).
• (A site attack) Perfect smoke off of mid doors so you can go catwalk as Terrorist [WarOwl]

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• B Site smokes [adreN]
• Taking B Site flashes and molotovs [WarOwl]
• You don't need to jump to get up the ramp to T side apartments (towards B).
• Wallbang spots [WarOwl]

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• Taking mid (A)

[This War of Mine] Survival Guide

General tips

• Sell damaged crowbars for nearly their entire value.
• Zlata is the only person who plays the guitar well (and you hear a different song).

Locations

• Garage
• An old man and his son run this place. The son desperately wants medicine for his father and will give you an outrageous amount for it. Additionally, he sells tools and parts very cheaply.
• Central Square
• Easily the most exploitable location in the game. There are four specialized vendors (medicine, food, parts, drugs) that all sell their own items extremely cheaply. You can literally buy all of their items just by trading between them. The most efficient way to do this is to either bring alcohol or trade for it from the drugs vendor, then use that to purchase everything else.
• I'm 100% the prices are bugged (you can trade 1 sugar or 1 water for basically everything a vendor has) but it's not patched yet as of 11/19.

Item Value Chart When Selling to the house salesman (everything relative to 1 Component)

• 1 Medicine = 26 Components
• 1 Bandage = 22 Components
• 1 Mixer = 20 Components
• 1 Pistol = 17 Components
• 1 Knife = 14 Components
• 1 Pure Alcohol = 9.5 Components
• 1 Broken Guitar = 8 Components
• 1 Raw Food = 7 Components
• 1 Saw Blade = 6 Components
• 1 Moonshine = 5.5 Components
• 1 Lockpick = 5 Components
• 1 Electric Part = 4 Components
• 1 Fertilizer = 3.5 Components
• 1 Ammunition = 2.8 Components
• 1 Book = 2.5 Components
• 1Weapon Part = 2 Components
• 1 (Mechanical) Part = 2 Components
• 1 Homemade Tobacco = 2 Components
• 1 Real Cigarette = 1.66 Components
• 1 Wood = 1.25 Components
• 1 Sugar = .8 Components
• 1 Coffee = .8 Components (price fluctuates a lot)
• 1 Quality Roll-up = .8 Components
• 1 Gunpower = 5/6 Component
• 1 Shell Casing = 5/6 Component

[Pathfinder] Useful Information Compilation

Magic Weapons and Armor costs

Barbarian Guide


List of useful adventuring magical items (across all classes)

Compilation of Logic/Math/Probability Puzzles

• The Pirate Game (five pirates splitting 100 coins)
• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pirate_game
• Dropping two eggs from a 100 story building
• http://www.programmerinterview.com/index.php/puzzles/2-eggs-100-floors-puzzle/
• Three Men and a Bellboy (missing dollar, also more of a trick than a puzzle)
• http://puzzles.nigelcoldwell.co.uk/twentyeight.htm
• Dragon and Knight well drinking puzzle
• http://n1b-algo.blogspot.com/2010/03/dragon-and-knight.html
• Should change the description to include a well that has unpoisoned water.
• Hungry camel fueled by bananas
• http://www.crackpuzzles.com/?p=116
• Love in Kleptopia (two lovers trying to send a ring in a box, only have padlocks + keys)
• https://math.dartmouth.edu/~pw/solutions.pdf
• Monty Hall problem
• Disease Accuracy Test
• 98% positive accuracy, 97% negative accuracy, 1% of population
• http://qr.ae/m1ZWx
• Three cards problem
• Green/green, red/red, green/red
• http://qr.ae/m1ZZf
• 100 people, 100 boxes, one name in each box
• Riddle: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eivGlBKlK6M&list=UUUHW94eEFW7hkUMVaZz4eDg
• Solution: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C5-I0bAuEUE&feature=youtu.be

Speeding up animations in Endless Legend

You can, but only battle animations (not unit movement animations outside of battle).

Also, it's only possible when you make a new game. I know, it's silly.

When you create a game, open the "Advanced Settings" tab on the left, and set the battle speed to whatever you want. The fastest it can go is 3x.

The Long Dark: Tips for Survival

Here's somebody else's guide to the game on Steam.

Mystery Lake Map

• Navigation
• You can use the sun as a compass. When it's before noon, the sun rises in the east. After noon, it will be in the west. If you want to go north in the morning, keep the sun to your right.
• High ground is useful as it allows you to see further (and avoid wolves)
• You go faster downhill than uphill.
• Running drains fatigue faster than walking, but not by too much. Don't be afraid to run if you're bored, or if the cold is a factor.
• Your condition is your actual "health". If any of your "need" bars (hunger/thirst/fatigue/cold) get too bad, your condition will start degrading. The worse the bars, the faster your condition will drop. Additionally, injuries (falls, wolf attacks) can instantly remove a chunk of your condition.
• Being fatigued reduces your carrying capacity.
• Carrying more weight also increases your rate of fatigue loss.
• Being hungry also increases your rate of fatigue loss.
• Consecutive hours of rest refresh you faster than interrupted hours.
• Different beds rest you better than others.
• Place snares wherever you see rabbits. You have a chance of catching a rabbit every 12 hours.
• The direction of the wind matters. If you are trying to rest or build a fire when it's windy, hunker down behind a ledge or tree on the side sheltered from the wind. Crouching can also help.
• Trying to sleep at night outdoors is in general a bad idea. You can die of cold exposure or wolf attack very easily. If you are going to do it, build a campfire and bed down in at least a partially enclosed space, like a shed.
• Note that the wind direction frequently changes, which can leave a fire you built downwind blown out a couple hours later.
• If you need to defrost an animal carcass to get at the meat (often the case when you have no tools), build a fire next to it.
• Dealing with wolves

1. Avoid them. If they haven't noticed you yet, you can take a wide path around them to avoid detection.
2. If they do detect you and you're planning on traveling a long way, just keep going and check back occasionally to see if they're still following you. If you're going a long distance they will eventually give up.
3. Drop a decoy (typically beef jerky, but can be salty crackers as well) to distract them. By default, pushing the "4" number key will automatically drop one where you are standing. Make sure they take the bait after you keep going.
4. Light a flare. They will shy away from flares and not approach you while you have one lit, or pass a lit flare. You can light a flare to bypass a wolf that's holding a chokepoint, then drop it behind you after you keep going to prevent the wolf from chasing.
5. Fight it. The best way is to build power before striking, instead of just flailing. Build up at least 3 (preferably 5+) left-clicks before doing the right-click. However, you will suffer bleeding from this that will need bandaging and probably antiseptics.
1. Also note that your combat ability varies based on weapons available. The knife, hatchet and prybar can all be used (in that order of preference) automatically in a fight with a wolf. It will damage the tool's condition however.
2. Fighting it can very well only be a temporary fix. Sometimes they will come back and stalk you again.
6. Shoot it with the rifle. One shot, one kill. Since there are an unlimited number of wolves and a very small number of bullets, this should be your last resort.

• Injuries
• You can burn yourself walking into a fire.
• You can sprain your ankle when falling, even short distances.
• Opening a safe
• If you mess up at any time, start from zero to reset.
• Starting at zero, turn the dial right until you hear the dial click and the first tumbler shows as unlocked. If you pass it that's fine, just remember the number.
• Turn the dial left until you find the next number.
• Turn the dial right until you find the last number, and the safe should unlock.
• Rifle
• In the Mystery Lake map, there must be a rifle somewhere on the map. It's possible that there's more than one, but typically it's exactly one.
• Locations:
• Forestry Lookout
• Trapper's Homestead
• Carter's Hydro Dam
• Endurance
• Under normal difficulty, it will take about 7 hours to fill your thirst bar and you will drink .18 gallons of water.
• Wood Foraging
• Foraging for Softwood is the most weight-efficient for fuel.
• Foraging for Hardwood is the most calorie efficient for fuel (e.g. you get more hours of fuel per attempt).
• Tinder/Wood Types
• Tinder
• Newsprint (.22 pounds) --> 2 Tinder Plugs (.44 pounds)
• Newsprint Roll (1.32 pounds) --> 4 Tinder Plugs (.88 pounds)
• Tinder Plug (.22 pounds)
• Reclaimed Wood (.55 pounds, 30 minutes)
• Soft Wood
• Cedar (1.1 pounds, 1 hour)
• Hard Wood
• Fir (2.2 pounds, 1.5 hours)
• Firelog (4.4 pounds, 2 hours)
• Can only be found (not foraged) as it is chemically created
• Mystery Lake Locations
• Forestry Lookout
• Possible rifle spawn
• Possible hatchet spawn
• Possible Prybar spawn
• Lake Cabins (by Mystery Lake)
• Always has the Mariner's Peacoat

Unrelated, but this is a good Let's Play for The Long Dark.
Also, here's an interview with the developers on their mentality around designing the game's mechanics.

What's the point of X dungeon? (Puzzles and Dragons)

New dungeons are introduced on a very frequent basis, and it can be difficult at first glance to understand why you would run them. Here is a (work-in-progress) list of dungeons and why you'd run them.

• New Shinrabansho Choco Collab (Chaotic Darkness)
• Consistently drops Emperor Masterion, which is an odd mix of a poor man's Hera (20% gravity) and Red Sonia (x2 ATK and RCV for devils).
• Due to average stats and lousy awakenings (other than two-pronged attack), there's no situation where you wouldn't use Hera or RSonia over this guy if you had them available.
• However, if you lack one or both, this card can get you some mileage.
• Rare drops King Saiga which is a very mediocre Dragon/God in both stats and awakenings.
• Key skills ups:
• Bokkle skills up Drawn Joker, Jester Dragon and is a common drop. It needs to evolve with Wafer Man before doing so, however.
• Holy Dragon Stone skills up Shiva but is a rare drop. As of October 2014 this is the only way to skill up Shiva without using another Shiva.
• Secondary skill ups:
• Izuna skills up Lakshmi
• Banchak is a common drop and skills up Baal when evolved, but requires Wafer man to do so.

• Holy Dragon Knight (Ancient Holy Hour)
• Key skill ups:
• Shiron can be used to skill up the popular leader Da Qiao & Xiao Qiao (only way to skill them up as of October 2014)
• Rare drops Light Sprite, Sunrich which can be used to skill up the decent sub Sun Wukong.
• The boss drop is a mediocre Dragon/Attacker who is unlikely to fit in any lineup.

Wasteland 2 Quick Tip Guide

General

• Having even one level of a skill is very useful, especially early in the game. Make sure your party starts with at least one skill rank in all of the utility skills (lockpicking, demolitions, computer science, etc.)
• Similarly, when you level up, save those skill points! Don't use them unless you're having trouble with combat (put them in your weapon skills) or face a skill challenge that you can't complete without a higher skill level (e.g. a high-level safe, tough toaster, complicated machinery).
• Looking at an object multiple times may yield different results. Examples include signs with writing on both sides, and robots with objects inside of their chest cavity.
• To find out if an object is trapped, select the demolitions skill (currently selected character needs to have that skill) and mouse over it. If you can interact with it, it's trapped.
• Ammo is expensive, especially for the more powerful weapons (e.g. sniper rifles). Conserve ammo by using blunt weapons to finish off injured or weak foes.
• Staying alive is more important than ammo, even. If there's any doubt whether you'll take a serious or fatal wound, don't be afraid to shoot.
• You cannot save in wasteland random encounters. Make sure to be ready ahead of time.
• The order of cost for healing items, from cheapest to most expensive, is
• first aid
• surgeon
• painkillers
• This means you should use first aid kids whenever possible, and save painkillers (which require no skills to use) only in emergencies.
• Surgeon kits can only be used for reviving characters.
• Perception is a skill that can be activated- this will automatically try to detect things of interest near you. You should always turn this on with any characters that have it when you load into a new area. It's especially useful for finding mines.
• Armor is your #1 priority for items. Your characters all start with none, so as soon as you find some or are able to buy any, do so. However, Armor 2 won't get you very far since many weapons have 2 armor penetration or better. You should really try to hold out for Armor 4 or Armor 5.
• Don't sell Broken Weapon Parts (you get them from stripping a weapon down for parts) to any old vendor. You can get a premium on them if you sell them in the Ranger Citadel to Sergeant Melson.
• Hard up for cash? Weaponsmithing can help. For cheap weapons, you can weaponsmith them into many broken weapon parts, which you can see very profitably in the Ranger Citadel (see above).
• However, if you have a high Weaponsmithing skill you might consistently get a mod instead of parts. Use a character with a low weaponsmithing skill as a solution.
• Also if the item has a high innate base value, you should probably just sell it as is.
• Similarly, save any guano you get (e.g. Bat Shit) and sell it TNT Tan in the Ranger Citadel for bonus scrap and experience.
• Angela Deth, who you start the game with as an NPC, has:
• Weaponmaster 2
• Brute Force 5
• Hard Ass 3
• Outdoors 2
• Thus, you may want to avoid picking up those skills in character creation.
• As soon as you finish either the Highpool or the Ag Center mission, go back to the Ranger Citadel. The gear selection there is excellent, you can sell Broken Weapon Parts for more, and you get some free equipment too.
• Use level ups strategically. In a mission you'll often have injured members that you don't want to spare resources healing- if you can wait till they rank up, their health will be restored. Note that this doesn't work in combat.
• Make sure to grab the shovel at the beginning of the game, next to Ace's grave. It'll be useful to dig up loot throughout the rest of the game.
• Unsyncing your group (by pushing spacebar) is very important. You can use it to set up your party in the right formation when starting an ambush. It can also be used to do multiple skill checks at once (e.g. one guy defuses land mines while another opens a safe).
• Sabot Rockets can be used to blow through metal doors. This is helpful when you can't open them through other means (e.g. lockpicking, computer science)
• Don't forget that Animal Whisperer can be used in combat to instantly dismiss an enemy animal.
• Early on, the ammo for weapons is a key factor in cost. The ammunition for a single magazine can be as expensive as the weapon itself. Later on this becomes much less of a factor.
• Once you go to LA, there is a new Ranger Locker in the big room outside of the radio room (with the Lieutenant). It will keep the same items it had before back in Arizona.
• The best "Outdoorsman" skill of any of your characters applies to the whole party. Thus you only need one person with the skill.
• "Base Rogue Chance" of your NPC followers makes a huge difference on combat. Some followers are far more of a liability than others.
• Corrain Cain: 15%
• Ralphy: 18%
• Angela Deth: 20%
• Vulture's Cry: 30%
• Scotchmo: 30%
• Chisel: 50%
• Ammo costs:
• $3 per 9mm (pistols, revolvers, SMGs)
• $3 per .38cal (pistols, revolvers, SMGs)
• $ per energy cell (energy weapons)
• $5 per 5.56mm (assault rifles, heavy machine guns)
• $8 per .30-06 (sniper rifles)
• $8 per 12 gauge (shotguns)
• $12 per .45cal (pistols, revolvers, SMGs)
• $12 per 7.62mm (assault/sniper rifles, heavy machine guns)

Weapons Advice

• Pistols
• Fire cheap ammo
• Good at close to medium distance
• Shotguns
• Useful for fighting groups at a time
• Can destroy cover quickly
• Require low AP to use
• The "double-barrel" shotguns do tremendous damage in a low amount of AP (but require reloading immediately after)
• Rifles
• Fires medium value ammo
• Most versatile, with widest optimal range of any of the guns
• Can be toggled between accurate single shots and high damage burst fire
• Good armor penetration
• Sniper Rifles
• Long range
• Excellent armor penetration
• Uses expensive ammo
• Poor accuracy up close
• High AP cost to fire
• Energy Weapons
• Very accurate
• Does exceptional damage against armor
• Can't jam
• Can't critical (dedicated Energy Weapon specialists shouldn't bother with Luck)
• Limited modification slots
• Blunt Weapons
• Best all-around melee weapons
• Typically high AP to use
• High damage, excellent armor penetration
• Very high critical modifiers
• Very high base accuracy (like all melee weapons)
• Bladed Weapons
• Attacks faster but with less damage and armor penetration than blunt weapons
• High critical chance
• Very high base accuracy (like all melee weapons)
• Best against poorly armored foes

Need Scrap? Tips for more!

• Sergeant Melson in the Ranger Citadel buys broken weapon parts for ~14/scrap. That's the best price you can get anywhere, and means that for some cheaper weapons it's better off stripping them for parts than selling them straight up.
• Buy TNT whenever you can and strip it for parts. It only costs 25 typically, and will always yield more value from its broken weapon parts (see above) than it costs.
• Pipe bombs are similar, but don't have quite as good a yield. You can't buy and resell for a profit, but you are better off stripping and selling than selling it straight up.
• Higher weaponsmithing skill yields more broken weapon parts, which compensates the increased rate of weapon mod successes (which will likely decrease your profit if that's what you care about).
• Dr Tildemann buys pain relievers at ~29 scrap/item (double normal sell price). It'll be tough to repurchase them elsewhere and sell it to him for a profit.
• Lieutenant Tan in the Ranger Citadel buys any form of manure (pig shit, bat shit, etc.) for $19/each.
• Prices can differ from vendor to vendor. Especially be wary of ones that offer you a discount after you help them, as they always have worse-than-average prices to start.

Character Creation

• Attributes come slowly (every ten levels) so pick wisely. Skill points come relatively quickly, so changing a decision you made early is not that difficult.
• Intelligence is the single most important attribute in the game. It determines how many skill points you get, and skill points are required to experience a huge part of the game.
• The next most important attribute is anything that gives you action points, since a character that has 10 AP is able to fire most weapons twice every round, while one with 7 AP can fire once every round and possibly fire twice every other round. Note that depending on your attribute level, either Speed, Strength or Coordination gives you more AP.
• A high Charimsa is not important for any character except for your "lead", but a low one can hurt your experience gain significantly.
• Energy weapons cannot critical, so Luck is far less useful on characters with them.
• The ideal party setup would contain something like this:
• At least two max intelligence character to act as skill specialists (splitting important, high-level-required skills like Lockpicking, Demolitions, Safecracking)
• One character with a high Leadership and Charisma (team-wide accuracy bonus plus it prevent rogue actions by your companions, also your conversation starter)
• Several characters with high Coordination and Strength [ranged] or Strength and Speed [melee] for combat specialists
• At least one character with a high Strength (for carrying items and tanking in combat) and for good melee damage against weak enemies or when out of ammo
• Skills by importance:
• At least one character needs a level in First Aid and Doctor to heal and revive. You probably should have at least two (if not three) with Doctor in case the primary Doctor goes down.
• (Critical) Lockpicking, Computer Science, Weaponsmithing
• (Important) Safecracking, Demolitions, Leadership
• (Nice) Brute Force, Leadership, Perception [doesn't need to be very high], Mechanical Repair
• (Luxury) Toaster Repair (gives you access to many unmarked quests), Animal Whisperer
• (Could live without) Alarm Disarming [much more important if you're playing a stealthier game], Barter [eventually you are very comfortable with your scrap], Outdoorsman (you honestly only need a skill level of about 3 to avoid encounters 75-100% of the time)
• (Random) Kiss Ass, Hard Ass, Smart Ass: these come up infrequently, but when they are useful they are usually EXTREMELY useful. However it's hard to predict them and you usually only get one shot (can't end the conversation, level the skill and try again), plus they often have fairly high requirements relative to other skills checks in the same area.

Plot stuff

• When you're in Highpool, after you get the power back on, don't forget to attach the radio repeater to the crane radio:

• The code for the safe in the Infected Village is MAYBERRY.
• Red's PWCS Store Code: ROSEBUD (answer courtesy of Joseph in the comments, a reference to Wasteland 1). You can't find it in the game, all codes given are expired. If you don't want to use the code you can get in using an alternate route that starts next to the sick woman, Anna Hegedus.
• How to save Ralphy (drowning)? Use Brute Force on the southeast totem (the one further from the bridge, without the bones on top). Doing it on the wrong one will kill him.
• I would strongly advise saving him, since it allows him to be recruited as a Ranger afterward.
• Looking for clues to H.R. (Hell Razor)'s death? There's a logbook hidden in the grass right next to his body. Just wait a few seconds and you'll see the glitter of an item.
• Trying to get through Darwin's Village without killing any of the Plague Victims?
• When you go downstairs, there are two paths. One is unlocked and leads to halls and halls of ghouls before finally reaching the purifier.
• The other is a locked door with a code lock. Without the code or a very high Computer Science (7+), you can use a Sabot Rocket to blow through it. Walk through that hallway, disarm an explosive trap, blow up a chemical (regular gunfire works) tank in your way, then unlock a final door (~60% success rate with Computer Science 4), go through a vent and it will lead you to the air purifier. Note that before the final door is a room with the "Night Terror" and three turrets. Killing the turrets is not particularly hard (concentrated fire or just ducking back and forth around a corner between turns with one character is fine. 
• Opening the Night Terror room is pointless. You can't interact with him and he doesn't do anything. He will follow you if you unlock his room, but this has no real effect. Killing him gives you negligible experience and loot.
• Alternatively, you can run past the ghouls. I suggest leaving all your characters at the entrance except one, the "runner". You will need to run through two explosive traps and a locked door (Lockpicking) so plan according. For example, if you had demolitions+lockpicking, you could just bypass it all yourself. However, high speed and action points are necessary to not get caught by the ghouls. You can also use a high health/speed character with either painkillers or the first aid skill to heal through the traps, then a Sabot Rocket to blow up the locked door.
• Note that you only need to save the majority (51%) of the mutants to get the better outcome.
• Healing Doc in the Canyon of the Titans...
• This requires the Surgeon skill. No items necessary.
• Skill level 4 gives you 28% chance of success
• Skill level 5 gives you 63% chance of success
• The injured cowboy on the ground nearby can also be healed in the same manner as above.
• Skill level6 gives you a 28% success chance.
• Skill level 7 gives you a 63% success chance.
• Healing him will give you 80 experience, with no other dialogue changes or rewards.
• If you have Ralphy with you when you go to the Canyon of the Titans, he will meet his father, Brother Rannel.
• Code to downstairs Temple of Titan door: 60845
• Saving Binh from Tinker: Use Computer Science on the main power generator (that's the big one). Then two terminals will activate. One of them will say "DISABLE WIRELESS RADIO" on it. Use Computer Science on that one and that will prevent the insta-kill on Binh. Trying to hack the wrong terminal will result in her death.
• Getting past Danforth's turrets: You can't. At least not at first. You need to continue on to Damonta (in the far east, past the Canyon of the Titan) and pick up a tank tread there. Your logbook will then update with a suggestion to come back and try the prison again.
• In the Angel Oracle, you can get the girl out of the tree by using some Rope. You find the Rope near the entrance of the map, next to the hanging men.
• Figuring out who took Fletcher in Angel Oracle:
• Walk behind the cell, on the other side of the wall. You'll see footprints that lead away from the area towards a sealed vent.
• Talk to Elizaveta. Get her to confess to breaking Fletcher out.
• Talk to the CE Captain, near the entrance of Angel Oracle in a room by himself. He'll mention that two CE uniforms went missing.
• Talk to Roger Yee down by the farms (he's the one next to a safe). He'll tell you he spotted two men, Gene Cronk and Nick Chavin, carrying Fletcher away.
• Confront Nick Chavin at the cafeteria. He'll send you to Gene.
• Confront Gene Cronk at the water pump (that's the area right behind the cell). He'll tell you where Fletcher was taken.
• (Side note) This is probably a bug (as of 10/11/2014), but when they return your character afterwards, you only get their inventory and not their held weapons. The weapons are stored in the special access room near the entrance with a guard in front and Matt "Zebe" Lee inside. You will get access to that room after you side with the Robbinsons, or after you complete Mr. Manners request in the Los Angeles Aqueduct.
• Fixing Mr. Manners' toaster: there is no actual toaster to fix. Also, you can't give him the Toast you have either (if you managed to pick that item up). Instead, you must go to the Los Angeles Aqueduct (if you complete the main storyline in Angel Oracle you will get there eventually). There is a broken toaster next to a sign in front of the last encounter, which contains a Toaster Heating Element. Bring that back to Mr. Manners.
• Beating Whittier:
• The CotC ambush at Whittier is probably one of the hardest fights in the game. You're clustered together, heavily outnumbered, attacked from all sides and have limited cover.
• However, winning is easier than you might think. The key is to remove all your armor before you begin the fight. The enemy uses predominately energy weapons, which can easily do 80-120 damage per shot if you're wearing heavy armor (likely at this point in the game). If you have low armor you can put that on (5 or lower), otherwise just go naked.
• Without armor the energy weapons will do negligible damage. Focus on the melee enemies, the heavy gunner and the lobber first.

Random Stuff

• There is a working nuclear warhead in the library at Ranger Citadel that, if detonated, will give you a special "end of game" splash screen.
• The special, uncrackable safe in Silo 7 can only be opened by typing "joshua" to the computer next to it. You must do so before you disarm the nuke.
• In Darwin's Village in the basement, you can find a computer with the original Wasteland 1 (and even get the floppy disk!)
• The SA-44 grenade "white item" that you get earlier has no purpose, but when you get to the Citadel at the end of the game, it'll explode (not inert after all!).
• There's a Reddit AMA (ask me anything) with the Wasteland 2 leads, and it's got some fun stuff in there.
• RPS interview with Brian Fargo on Wasteland 2
• RPS interview with Fargo on the dark days of business before Kickstarter
• Original vision document for Wasteland 2

Black Cove Quest: Billeh Gahr Puzzle

You enter a normal-looking house when you're confronted with a ghost who tells you that the room is trapped to explode if you move at all.  What do you do?

To solve this, you will need teleportation.  I'm sure there's a way you can do it without teleportation, but it'd be tough.


First, find the switch.  It's under the crate in the middle of the room, but very hard to see. Crate is highlighted below.

Now that the crate is gone, you can see the switch.

Teleport any party member next to the switch...

Then have them push the switch.  The trap will be disarmed.

Shadowrun 5th Edition Combat Rules Summary

Glossary

• Combat Turn: A three-second chunk of time where players act in order of their initiative
• Composed of a series of Initiative Passes
• Initiative Pass: Chunks of a Combat Turn.  Characters get one Action Phase per Combat Turn. Typically, all characters are guaranteed an Action Phase on the first Initiative Pass, but subsequent passes will depend on how high their Initiative is.
• Action Phase: When a character acts.
• On an Action Phase, you can perform either one (1) Complex Action or two (2) Simple Actions.
• Additionally, you may always take on Free Action per Action Phase.
• If you do not use your Free Action, you may use it at any point until your next Action Phase, even if it's during another character's Action Phase.

Useful Links

• General rules cheat sheet

Initiative (p. 159-160)

• Initiative Attribute
• This is a derived value that depends on summing two other Attributes, depending on the Initiative Type.
• Physical: Reaction + Intuition
• Rigging AR: Reaction + Intuition
• Matrix AR: Reaction + Intuition
• Astral: Intuition * 2
• Matrix (cold-sim) VR: Data Processing + Intuition
• Matrix (hot-sim) VR: Data Processing + Intuition
• If it's Physical Initiative and your Reaction is 3 and your Intuition is 4, your Initiative Attribute is 7.
• Initiative Dice
• Each Initiative Type has a Base Initiative Dice.  Certain upgrades (such as Wired Reflexes) can give you more dice to roll, but it's not improvable with Karma.
• Base Dice:
• Physical: 1d6
• Rigging AR: 1d6
• Matrix AR: 1d6
• Astral: 2d6
• Matrix (cold-sim) VR: 3d6
• Matrix (hot-sim) VR: 4d6
• Edge can be used to give yourself the maximum 5d6 dice for a single Combat Turn.
• (House Rule) Only gives you +2d6 dice (still limited to 5d6)
• Initiative Score
• This is the sum of your Initiative Attribute and a roll of your Initiative Dice.
• For example, Astral Initiative is (Intuition * 2) + 2d6
• If you had 5 Intuition and rolled a 3 and a 6, your Initiative Score would be (5 * 2 + 3 + 6) = 19
• Ties are resolved in this order:
• Edge
• Reaction
• Intuition
• Coin Toss

Shadowrun 5th Edition Character Creation Rules Summary

Confused about other rules? Check out my other notes (Rigging, Matrix, Technomancers). If you are looking for advancement costs when you have already started play, see here.


Every character (excluding Street-Level and Prime Runner games) starts with 25 Karma.

Recommended order to creating your character (p. 65):

1. Select "Magic or Resonance" Priority
1. Record your new Magic or Resonance starting value, if any
2. Select Positive and Negative Qualities
1. These may change your maximum Attribute and Skill levels
3. Select Metatype Priority
1. Spend Special Attribute Points
4. Select Attributes Priority
1. Spend Attribute Points
5. Select Skill Priority
1. Spend free Knowledge and Language skill points (based on Intuition + Logic)
2. Spend "skill group points"
3. Spend "skill points"
6. Select Resources Priority
1. Spend Nuyen
2. Select Lifestyle
7. Spend Leftover Karma
1. Spend Free "Contacts Karma" (based on Charisma)
2. Improve skills, attributes, etc.
3. Make sure you have <=7 Karma when you're done

Metatype (and Special Attribute) Priority

• The number in parentheses of your metatype is the number of Special Attribute Points you receive.
• Special Attributes are Edge, Magic and Resonance.
• Special Attribute Points can be used to increase Special Attributes at a one-for-one ratio.
• Magic and Resonance start at 0 by default.
• Selecting a Magic or Resonance Priority besides "E" will change your starting Magic or Resonance value.
• Edge starts at 1 (2 if you're human) by default.
• Special Attributes are generally capped to 6 for all metatypes at start of play.
• Humans can have an Edge of 7
• Certain qualities can bring you further (Lucky, Exceptional Attribute) which require GM approval.
• Note that since you cannot be both a Technomancer and a Magician, there is no reason to ever have a positive number for both Magic and Resonance.

Purchasing Qualities

• Qualities must be purchased with Karma (you start with 25 as mentioned in the beginning).
• Negative Qualities give you karma.
• You are capped to at most 25 karma worth of Positive Qualities and 25 karma worth of Negative Qualities.

Attributes Priority

• You are given between 12 and 24 "attribute points" (not to be confused with karma) depending on priority level.
• Each attribute point raises a Physical or Mental attribute by one point.
• Eligible attributes are
• [Physical] Body, Agility, Reaction, Strength
• [Mental] Willpower, Logic, Intuition and Charisma
• Note that special attributes (Edge, Magic, Resonance) CANNOT be raised with attribute points (they require "special attribute points" that are granted in the Metatype Priority step).
• Initiative can never be directly raised (it is a derived attribute).  Your Initiative is Intuition + Reaction + 1d6.
• Astral Initiative is (Intuition * 2) + 2D6
• Matrix Initiative (Cold Sim) is (Data Processing + Intuition) + 3d6
• Matrix Initiative (Hot Sim) is (Data Processing + Intuition) + 4d6
• All attribute points must be spent in character creation.
• Only one Mental or Physical attribute can be at the racial maximum.
• This limitation does not apply to Edge, Magic or Resonance (special attributes).

Magic or Resonance Priority

• The priority table (p. 65) shows you what your starting Resonance or Magic special attribute level is. Your Special Attribute score should be immediately changed to reflect this, and this should be done before adding Special Attribute Points (see Metatype Priority).
• Aspected Magicians can never change back to regular Magicians.
• You may also get Magicial Skills if you select priority "A" or "B".
• Magical Skills are listed on page 90.
• Alchemy, Artificing, Banishing, Binding, Counterspelling, Disenchanting, Ritual Spellcasting, Spellcasting, Summoning

Skill Priority/Purchasing Skills

• Skills are classified as either Active, Knowledge or Language.
• Your Skill Priority Level gives you a certain number of points (ranges from 18 to 46 "skill points", 0 to 10 "skill group points").
• You are given free "Knowledge and Language" skill points equal to (Intuition + Logic) * 2
• They can only be used for Language and Knowledge skills.
• Language Skills are tested with (Language Skill) + (Intuition)
• In character generation, the language skill level cannot exceed 6
• You start with one native language as well (indicated by a "N" on the character sheet).
• Knowledge Skills when first selected must be either Academic, Interests, Professional or Street depending on how your character learned it.
• Academic and Professional skills are tested with (Knowledge skill) + (Logic)
• Interests and Street Knowledge skills are tested with (Knowledge skill) + (Intuition)
• All Skills start at 0.
• Increasing a Skill costs 1 "skill point" per level.
• Increasing a Skill Group costs 1 "skill group point".
• A skill group increases all skills in the group by 1 level.
• Skill groups are listed on page 90 (e.g. Athletics, Electronics, Sorcery).
• In this step you cannot separate skill levels from the skill group level (if any). That must be done in the "Spending Leftover Karma" step.
• You may also purchase Specializations with your "skill points".
• Specializations cost 1 "skill point".
• Specializations give you +2 dice pool when applicable.
• Specializations can never apply to a skill group, and once purchased they "break up" the skill group preventing them from ever being raised together as a skill group again.
• In this step you cannot specialize a Skill Group, as it would break it up.  that must be done in the "Spending Leftover Karma" step.
• In character generation, skills are capped to level 6 (7 with the Aptitude quality).
• Once play begins, skills are capped to level 12 (13 with Aptitude).
• Magic and Resonance skills cannot be purchased unless you have the associated Special Attribute.
• Aspected Magicians can only use one category of Magic Skills (Sorcery, Conjuring or Enchanting).

 Spending your Nuyen (p. 94)

• Your Resources Priority level will give you between 6,000 and 450,000 starting nuyen.
• You cannot end character generation with more than 5,000 nuyen.
• Karma can be converted to nuyen at 1 karma point = 2,000 nuyen
• This is capped to 20,000 extra nuyen
• Nuyen cannot be converted to karma.
• Note that some metatypes have cost modifiers.
• Trolls have a 10% Lifestyle cost increase
• Dwarves have a 20% Lifestyle cost increase
•  (note that the Errata removed the extra cost for gear and increased the Lifestyle costs)
• For character generation, there are some limitations on gear:
• Each attribute (Mental and Physical) cannot have an augmentation bonus of greater than +4 (from cyberware and bioware)
• Availability <= 12 (note that this ignores Restricted/Forbidden, Gamemasters may choose to disallow Forbidden at character creation)
• Device Rating <= 6
• Essence is lost whenever installing cyberware and bioware.
• Essence starts at 6.0
• Whenever Essence is lost, it reduces Magic and Resonance.
• Losing .01 - 1.0 Essence reduces Magic and Resonance by 1.
• Losing 1.01 - 2.0 Essence reduces Magic and Resonance by 2
• etc.
• If your Magic and Resonance reaches 0, you can become permanently burned out.

Spending Leftover Karma (p.98)

• Your leftover Karma amount is 25 - (Positive Quality cost) + (Negative Quality value)
• All limits from the above steps are still in force (e.g. only one Physical or Mental attribute at maximum, skill levels cannot exceed 6)
• Note that in this stage you are now allowed to break up Skill Groups by improving individual skills in that group with Karma, or purchasing Specializations.
• Conversions (all conversion done at standard Character Advancement Rates p. 103)
• Physical and Mental Attribute levels increase at (new level * 5) Karma.  Going from 5 to 6 Strength would cost 30 Karma.
• Note that you cannot have more than 1 Mental or Physical Attribute at the maximum during character generation.
• All Special Attributes can also be raised with Karma at the same cost as Physical and Mental attributes.
• You may have all your Special Attributes maxed out if you wish.
• Active skill levels increase at (new level * 2) Karma.
• Note that Active skills cannot exceed 6 in character creation (excluding Aptitude)
• Knowledge and Language skill levels increase at (new level *1) Karma.
• Note that Knowledge skills cannot exceed 6 in character creation (excluding Aptitude)
• Note that Language skills cannot ever exceed 6.
• Note that skills cannot exceed 6 in character creation (excluding Aptitude)

• Skill Groups can be increased at (new level * 5) Karma.
• Complex Forms cost 4 Karma each.
• New spells cost 5 Karma each.
• 1 Karma per Bound Spirit service (Force = charater's Magic level)
• 1 Karma per Registered Spirit task
• Bond Foci: see page 318
• Contacts
• You receive free "Contacts Karma" equal to Charisma * 3
• This can only be used to acquire or improve Contacts.
• Increasing Loyalty or Connections levels requires 1 Karma point each
• All Contacts must have at least 1 Connections and 1 Loyalty level, which means the minimum Karma cost for a Contact is 2.
• A single Contact cannot have more than 7 Karma (including "Contact Karma") spent on them.
• This means you are capped to 1/6, 6/1, 4/3, etc.
• You cannot start the game with more than 7 Karma.

Inherent Limits

• Mental Limit is [(Logic * 2) + Intuition + Willpower] / 3 (round up)
• Physical Limit is [(Strength * 2) + Body + Reaction] / 3 (round up)
• Social [(Charisma * 2) + Willpower + Essence] / 3 (round up)

Links to (not mine) character sheet builders.

[TIP] How to fuse +stat eggs in Puzzles and Dragons efficiently

Fusing costs 100g x level of the base monster.
Fusing a monster with +stats costs an additional 1000 x the *sum* of the plus modifier of the base and the "fodder" monster.

If you are fusing a fodder monster to a level 7 base monster, it costs 700 gold (100 x 7).
If you are fusing a +1 fodder monster to a level 7 +5 base monster, it costs 8700 (100 x 7 + [7+1] x 1000) gold.

As a result, it's way cheaper to combine multiple lower stat monsters together before doing the final fusion.

Let's ignore the level for the moment.  Let's presume you are fusing 5 +1 monsters to a single +10 base monster.

If you fuse them directly (even if it's at the same time), it will cost:
([10+1] x 1000) * 5 = 55,000 gold.
(base monster stat bonus + fodder monster stat bonus) x 1000 * (number of monsters)


If you fuse the five fodder monsters together first, then fuse the resulting monster to the base monster, it costs:
([1+1] x 1000) * 4 = 8,000 gold for fusing the five fodder together into the "intermediate" monster
([10+5] x 1000) = 15,000 gold for the final fusion
...which sums to 23,000 gold.

Shadowrun Dragonfall: The Lab Below

How do you get into the weapons locker?

• You will encounter a room that is behind some glass "that has a crack down the middle".  In order to enter, you must get the drone control box from the safe on the southeast side of the map, next to a terminal.  You will need to use the terminal to open the safe.  After you have the box, instruct it to deploy drones to the "weapon locker" and it will blow open the wall.

Shadowrun Dragonfall: OTK International run

The username to the terminal (left of start, past the late night guy) is swilliams.

The password is 0629 (June 29th, his daughter Lucy's birthday).

Shadowrun Dragonfall: AG Chemie Europa run (MKVI Prototype retrieval)

• The passcode to Lennart Stromberg and  Annika Schroeder's office is 54139. You could find this by venting the toxic gas in the laboratory and examining the note on the desk.
• The passcode to the elevator that leads to the 25th is 84792.  In Schroeder's office (passcode listed above) there is a note in the desk that has the combination.
• The prototype will be considered "undamaged" as long as it's not killed or suffers injury from a plot/conversation event.  Taking damage in combat short of killing it will not qualify as "damage'.
• Killing the rigger in every fight should be considered your top priority.  You will only have one turn until they turn the prototype against you.  Killing the rigger will again restore control once more. 

Titanfall Quick Start Guide

First impressions

Call of Duty-like.  Definitely a run and gun shooter.  Minimal reason to stand still.  The addition of AI soldiers is okay, gives you something to do besides stalk enemy players and there's some strategy in efficiently killing them to help you get your titan faster.  They're even less dangerous than creeps are in DOTA though.  You can literally stand in the middle of a pack of them and barely take any damage.

The pilot (infantry) combat is meh.  Like I said, feels similar to CoD.  Parkour element is tough to utilize in combat and most people are using it just for movement.  Accuracy of the standard assault rifle is good enough that you can basically hold down the trigger at close and medium range and whoever does it first wins.  Long range combat requires some fire discipline.  Health is pretty low, expect to die in a gunfight in 1.5 seconds or less.  Melee is insta kill and comes out very quickly, making it a serious danger (about 1/3 of my pilot kills were melee kills without intentionally trying to setup any of them).

Titan combat is much more interesting, similar to old mobile mech games like Armored Core without jetpacks.  Quick dash abilities in any direction and sprinting makes them surprisingly mobile.  Unsurprisingly, they have super lethal weapons and can near instantly kill any infantry.  However, your long range AT weapons can harass them, and being able to climb on their backs and shoot the internals destroys them very quickly.

Additionally, titans start with a power to "grab" fired enemy bullets and missiles (think Neo from Matrix) and toss it back at them.  Interesting fight tactics happen between titans when they duel with bullets, missile and vortex shield.  Battles are quick, mobile and lethal, which I like a lot more than Mechwarrior "stand there and blow each other up" gameplay.  Think more Japanese mech inspired vs. Western (like Pacific Rim).

[TIPS] Stuff you didn't know about DOTA 2

Heroes:

• Abaddon can deny himself with Mist Coil.
• Axe's Culling Blade and Ancient Apparitions ultimate go through Dazzle's Shallow Grave.
• Axe's Berskerer's Taunt works through magic immunity.
• Beastmaster's boars can slow heroes through magic immunity.
• Bloodseeker's Blood Rage cannot be dispelled.  If you cast it on a hero before they pop magic immunity, they will still be silenced.
• Bounty Hunter can deal bonus Shadow Walk damage twice with a single cast. You can attack during the fade time to get free bonus damage without cancelling the invisibility, and then attack again to remove your invisibility.
• Centaur Warrunner's Double Edge has a small AoE.  Once you have good health regen you can actually use this to farm creeps.
• Centaur Warrunner's Return works on towers as well (it will deal damage to them when they attack him).
• Razor's Static Link (draining damage) works through magic immunity.
• Silencer's ultimate interrupts channeling spells (e.g. Pudge's Dismember or Enigma's Black Hole).
• Death Prophet's spirits deal physical damage (and are reduced by armor) but are unaffected by damage block from shields.
• Disruptor's Glimpse at level 4 has 1800 range, as far as you can see in daytime.
• Enchantress' Nature's Attendants will heal through BKB, and will continue after she dies (staying in the place where she fell until the end of the duration).
• Ezalor's (Keeper of the Light) Mana Leak will instantly stun Lone Druid's bear since it has no mana already.
• Ezalor's Mana Leak will not work on Blink or teleport abilities (very fast movement in under 0.1 seconds will not drain mana).
• Faceless Void
• Backtrack is not considered evasion so MKB does not work.
• When in Chronosphere, evasion is not possible.
• Invoker's Tornado dispels many buffs (e.g. Drum of Endurance, Empower).
• Juggernaut
• You can attack during Blade Fury...
• Against magic immune targets, it does full damage
• Against magic vulnerable targets, it does no damage but can still apply attack modifiers (like maim)
• His Healing Ward moves at an incredibly fast 450 move speed.
• Omnislash
• Goes through magic immunity and Linken's sphere (Linkens will block one attack but not the ministun on first hit)
• You can attack during omnislash, but must manually target enemies (and be next to them)
• Kills creeps in one unit (non-player controlled or ancients)
• Does not target Undying's Tombstone zombies
• Leshrac's Diabolic Edict at max level, when used against a single target, does 200 damage per second for eight seconds and can hit invisible and magic immune units as well.
• Lina and Lion's ultimates can be disjointed.  You have a .25s interval between the animation and the damage to avoid it (e.g. with blink).
• Lion, Shadow Shaman and Scythe of Vyse all hex enemies into different animals.
• Luna's Eclipse ultimate will turn day into night while it is active (between 1.8 and 5.4 seconds, depending on level).  Note that she has full vision at night as long as she has at least one level in Lunar Blessing.
• Omniknight's Guardian Angel (physical invulnerability) and Repel (magic invulnerability) can be purged.
• Silencer's Glaives of Wisdom do not work on Visage's gargoyles.
• Silencer's ultimate Global Silence will work through magic immunity, but can be removed by activating BKB after it has already been casted.
• Sniper's Headshot, when it triggers, will ALWAYS hit.  It will bypass any kind of evasion (e.g. Windrun, uphill miss chance).
• Spectre
• Dispersion...
• damage does not put blink dagger on cooldown
• only deals damage between 300 and 1000 units (the closer you are the more damage you take).  Thus if you are closer than 300 or farther than 1000 you take no damage.
• Haunt can be used on any illusion you have, such as from Manta Style and the Illusion rune.
• Sven's ultimate, God's Strength, cannot be purged.
• Terrorblade
• ...has the highest starting armor in the game of 7.08.  Visage, Phoenix and Io all have negative starting armor values.
• ...can sunder his own illusions.
• Tidehunter's Anchor Smash's damage and debuff (-60% damage) goes through BKB.  Activating BKB will also not remove it (though purging will).
• Timbersaw can cast and use items normally after he fires Timberchain.  This includes using Whilring Death and Chakram, but you can also activate a teleport scroll and it will keep channeling even while being pulled.
• Undying's Tombstone will continue spawning zombies even while enemies are slept by Naga Siren's ultimate.  You can stack quite a few zombies this way before releasing the song.
• Ursa's Overpower cannot be purged, but his ultimate (Enrage) can be.
• Viper's Corrosive Skin triggers on many interesting effects.  For example, Corrosive Skin will be triggered by Centaur Warrunner's "Return" passive, applying your passive to him every time you attack.
• Phoenix
• Can fly over Earthshaker's Fissure with his slow movement while Sun Ray is on.
• If Phoenix activates Blade Mail before using his ultimate, whoever kills the Supernova will take reflection damage based on Phoenix's health before he used his ultimate.
• Phoenix can be denied by teammates while in Supernova and under 50% health.
• Venomancer
• Poison Gale has the longest slow in the game at 15 seconds.  This makes Venomancer an excellent lane partner with Dark Seer, who can easily use ion shell to get kills.
• Poison Gale does 25 total damage at level 1, but 200 damage at level 2.
• Poison Sting does not dispel healing or prevent blinking.
• Poison Sting goes through BKB.
• Viper's Corrosive Skin works globally when a DoT is placed on him (e.g. Phoenix's Flame Spirits), damaging the enemy even when they're not around anymore.
• Viper's ultimate slows through magic immunity (including Naix Rage and BKB).
• All heroes have the same day sight range (1800) except for two: Batrider and Night Stalker, who have 1200.
• All heroes have the same night sight range (800) except for four: Night Stalker and Slark (1800), and Sniper and Bounty Hunter (1000).  Luna also gets 1800 night vision, but only after she gets a level in Lunar Blessing.
• At level 16, Dragon Knight has 20.5 armor with no items. This makes him excellent against any hero that relies on armor reduction for damage.

Items:

• You can only use Blink dagger in the direction you are facing.  Trying to use it behind yourself will force you to turn before blinking.  View the forum post on this here (originally about Puck's Phase Shift + blink).
• It costs more to build a Dagon to level 5 than a Divine Rapier.
• Black King Bar can be repurchased from scratch to reset the cooldown (you should probably sell your old one).
• Desolator applies to buildings as well as heroes.  Also, the armor debuff is applied BEFORE your attack lands, meaning that even your first attack benefits from the -armor.
• Magic Stick and Magic Wand only gain charges from visible enemies within 1200 units.  Enemies casting from the fog of war or while invisible do not add to your charges.
• Mjollnir pops its damage every tick when you're being damaged by Phoenix's Fire Spirits, which can add up to quite a lot of damage.
• Monkey King Bar bypasses all evasion, including smoke screen from Riki, Windrun from Windranger, and uphill miss chance.
• Necronomicon minions have extremely fast attack speeds.  The warrior's base attack time is .75 and the archer's is 1.0.  Compare that to Anti-Mage at 1.45, who has the fastest unbuffed hero attack speed in the game.
• Linken's Sphere can be casted on a teammate to give them the same protection temporarily.
• You can activate Shiva's Guard, then blink, and the frost radius will follow you.  Very effective if you wait till it's mostly expanded before blinking.
• The Cheese that drops every time from Roshan on and after his 3rd death can be sold for 750 gold.
• Couriers can hold Smoke of Deceit and use it (it does not make them invisible but will work on nearby friendly heroes).
• Manta Style activation removes Dust of Appearance.
• Orb of Venom and Skadi both slow someone who is magic immune from Black King Bar.
• Smoke of Deceit
• will hide heroes from the minimap, even if they are visible from a sentry ward.
• will not be removed by illusions of heroes
• Vanguard does not block damage from Serpent or Plague Wards.
• You cannot queue (shift click) items or abilities that are on cooldown.

[TIPS] Dota 2 Hero Counter Pick List

• Abaddon
• Ancient Apparition's Ice Blast will prevent him from healing during Borrowed Time, but he still won't take damage.
• Culling Blade can kill him even with his ult active as long as his health is low enough.
• Doom prevents his ultimate from activating if you use it beforehand.
• A very high damage attack (such as Laguna Blade or Finger of Death) can kill him without activating Borrowed Time if it kills him from outside the trigger threshold (400 hp).
• Any form of Hex disables his ultimate from going off (but you must kill him while he is hexed).
• Beastmaster
• His boars will slow through magic immunity, making him an excellent counter to magic immune melee carries.
• Bloodseeker
• Immediately teleporting when you see him coming for you can be a very effective way to survive a gank.
• Bristleback
• Venomancer can be very powerful against him in the lane, doing a large amount of damage over time (DoT) with his passive poison.
• Leshrac is a decent lane support against him as Diabolic Edict can be a very powerful harassment tool.
• Magic Stick is extremely useful against him in lane as he spams goo and quills. I would get it even on a hero I wouldn't normally (like a late game carry) if I was in the same lane as him.
• Any source of hex (Lion/Shadow Shaman/Scythe of Vyse) is a great counter as it will remove his rear damage protection from his passive.
• Broodmother
• Alchemist can get a ridiculous amount of gold from killing her spiderlings thanks to Greevil's Greed and his Aoe poison spray.
• Any AoE hero is effective at stopping her pushes (e.g. Lina, Leshrac, Jakiro, etc.) but you must have some degree of mobility to get away in the event that she surprise attacks you from her web.
• Centaur Warhammer
• Necrophos can exploit his self-damage from Double Edge with his ultimate.
• Chen
• Very strong in situations where the enemy lacks AoE and creep killing abilities (e.g. Devour, Midas)
• Clinkz
• Ghost Scepter is extremely useful against him as it totally negates his damage against you.  Often picked up by supports.
• Ogre Magi is an excellent pickup against Clinkz, as your extremely strong stun and slow have a good chance at instantly killing him and your high health means you'll typically live long enough to get it off.  Watch out for Orchid silence, however.
• Dazzle
• Axe and Ancient Apparition's ultimates both go through Shallow Grave.
• Doom
• Any hero that doesn't need to continually use spells or items once combat begins is effective against him.  Death Prophet and Razor are popular pro counterpicks.
• Medusa's Mana Shield is not removed by Doom.
• Dazzle can keep Doomed heroes alive through the debuff using Shallow Grave.
• Healing in general works well against Doom due to how long it takes for the target to die.
• Magic resistance is very effective against the ultimate, as well as having high health and health regeneration.  Hood of Defiance and Pipe of Insight are both especially good.
• Faceless Void
• Pugna can Decrepify Faceless Void's target, or Faceless Void himself if he's not magic immune. This can save teammates when Chronosphere is up.
• Omniknight's Guardian Angel prevents a lot of Void's damage (note that bashing will still happen).
• Axe shuts him down well with blink + taunt, combined with the massive bonus to armor. Counter Helix also goes through magic immunity (physical damage).
• Tiny matches up well against him all game ,with his nukes one shotting Faceless Void for much of the game and craggy exterior stunning attackers in late game.
• Io
• Disruptor totally shuts him down with Glimpse countering Relocate easily.
• Juggernaut
• Ghost Scepter and Ethereal Blade are excellent item counters against him, as they prevent his Omnislash from hitting you.
• As his ultimate does physical damage (and bypasses magic immunity), high armor is extremely effective.
• Legion Commander
• Pugna can decrepify him or his Duel target.
• Vengeful Spirit can swap his Duel target away.
• Lion
• Extremely effective at countering illusion heroes (especially slow spawners like Chaos Knight and Terrorblade) using Mana Drain and Hex
• Zero cast point of Hex makes him great against mobile, evasive heroes (Anti-Mage, Storm Spirit, Slark)
• Morphling
• Ancient Apparition's ultimate prevents him from healing from his strength conversion.
• Naix
• Razor.  You can Static Link through his magic immunity, and it continues working even when Naix jumps into a creep!
• Siren can activate Song can isolate Naix from his team, as he will be the only one unaffected.
• Viper, whose ultimate goes through his magic immunity.
• Nature's Prophet
• Spectre can find Nature's Prophet wherever he is on the map, preventing him from split pushing effectively.
• Necrophos
• In the laning phase, Dragon Knight is an excellent counter pick as your health regeneration will outpace his Heartstopper Aura.
• Omniknight
• Both his repel and his ultimate can be purged.
• This means that Shadow Demon, whose ultimate purges, is a good counter.
• Omniknight's Guardian Angel prevents all physical damage, which can protect teammates caught in Chronosphere.
• Outworld Devourer
• Black King Bar prevents ALL of his abilities (including the orb) from being used, which makes him a carry that focuses on a strong mid game.
• In the mid lane, he struggles against any hero that does good damage and requires minimal mana (Viper, Kunkka, Razor).  All were common counter picks in The International 3.
• Phantom Assassin
• Ghost Scepter is extremely useful against him as it totally negates his damage against you.  Often picked up by supports.
• Phoenix
• Huskar resists magic damage extremely well, and harassment by Phoenix will only make him attack faster (which also helps him to kill Phoenix during Supernova).
• Razor
• He's an excellent counter himself for many carries that rely on staying power through the fight over burst damage output (like Spectre).  He's also great against Lone Druid since he can suck damage from the bear.
• Rikimaru
• Any hero that provides detection will be useful against him whenever he shows himself: Slardar, Bounty Hunter, Zeus, etc.
• Dust of Appearance is obviously effective, but remember he can purge himself with Diffusal Blade.
• Monkey King Bar will prevent any miss chance due to Smoke Screen.
• Skywrath Mage
• Pugna. His Nether Wand easily annihilates Skywrath Mage when he attempts to use his ultimate.
• Slardar
• Dragon Knight's very high armor mitigates the impact of Amplify Damage as well as reducing normal attack damage.
• Slark
• Necrophos is very effective at exploiting Slark's Dark Pact (which injures himself).  Death Pulse and Heartstopper Aura also affect invisible units.
• Sniper
• Spirit Breaker is an excellent counter because he can charge Sniper from any distance and repeatedly bash him to prevent him from attacking.
• Tinker has an 1100 cast range on his Laser which is longer than Sniper's attack range, and it causes Sniper to miss all of his attacks.
• Storm Spirit
• Enchantress' passive ability Untouchable dramatically reduces Storm Spirit's damage output.  Since the passive takes effect when he starts his attack animation, it takes quite a while for him to land even his first overload attack.  Until Storm Spirit has a Black King Bar or Scythe of Vyse (which disables Enchantress' passive), she can prove very hard to kill.
• Lion/Shadow Shaman.  Both of them have instant cast stuns (hex) which makes it harder for Storm Spirit to escape after engaging.  Additionally, both of them have follow up stuns as well (and Impale goes through Linkens as long as it's targeted on the ground).
• Scythe of Vyse: For the same reason as above, it gives you an instant disable on Storm Spirit.
• Silencer. A silenced Storm Spirit loses the ability to deal damage, silence, stun, slow, and escape.  A well-timed ultimate from Silencer can easily shut down Storm Spirit.
• Templar Assassin
• Dark Seer is an excellent support against TA.  Ion Shell quickly removes her Refraction charges and hits invisible units.  Vacuum and Illusory Wall can also hit her while she's Melded.  His Surge also totally counters the slow from her traps.
• Shadow Demon's ultimate can purge away her Refraction, removing her primary source of survivability and damage.
• Immediately teleporting when you see her coming for you can be a very effective way to survive a gank.
• Terroblade
• His very high starting armor (7.08, best in the game) and excellent agility gain makes Elder Titan's "Natural Order" passive very effective.  With level four of the ability, he reduces Terrorblade's armor by at least 7.  If the Terrorblade was level 16 it would reduce his armor by 14 (7 from starting, 7 more from agility gain).
• Tidehunter
• Leshrac can be a powerful lane support against him by using Diabolic Edict.
• Timbersaw
• Keeper of the Light's Mana Leak is extremely effective against Timbersaw, who relies on mobility to deal damage.
• Leshrac can be a powerful lane support against him by using Diabolic Edict.
• Tinker
• Spectre can find Tinker wherever he blinks to when he's split pushing. You'll still need a way to cancel his teleport, however (Spectral Dagger doesn't ministun).
• Phantom Assassin can close the gap to Tinker quite easily with blink strike and interrupt teleports and Tinker's own blink with Stifling Dagger.  As long as you have BKB you can ignore the miss chance from Laser and his missile damage.
• Tiny
• Silencer's Curse of the Silent is very effective against Tiny (and other high mana cost spell heroes) in the laning phase, forcing him to either take full damage from the spell or use some of his very limited mana pool.
• Undying
• Earthshaker's Echo Slam works as an excellent counter against the zombies spawned from Tombstone.  Additionally, since Undying's Soul Rip is stronger when he stands near many units, he sets himself up for your ultimate.
• While the zombies are magic immune they are affected by physical AoE abilities normally (such as Bristleback's Quill Spray or Axe's Counter Helix).
• Ursa
• Both Force Staff and Ghost Scepter are extremely useful against him, as he relies on quick melee damage to finish people off and has no chasing ability.
• Omniknight's Guardian Angel completely shuts down Ursa's damage output.
• Viper
• His ultimate goes through all forms of magic immunity (the slow, not the damage) which makes him great at kiting melee carries.
• Corrosive Skin will be triggered by Centaur Warrunner's "Return" passive, applying your passive to him every time you attack.  It makes you a strong laner against him.
• Weaver
• Weaver is a great counter to any slow projectile stuns (Alchemist, Sven, Wraith King) as her invisibility will dodge them as long as they have no true sight.
• Windranger
• Shadow Demon can purge away Windrun, preventing her from escaping or evading attacks.

[TIPS] Killing the Year of the Beast (New Bloom Festival)

Not sure how to "kill" it yet (if it's possible at all) but here are some tips:

• There's a new item, Force Boots, which is automatically created from Boots of Travel + Force Staff.  Get it.  It gives you a 5 second cooldown force push on yourself only.
• The damage done for the purpose of rewards is based on your TEAM damage, not your personal damage.  Thus you can play a support (e.g. Omniknight) that does no damage to the monster and still get credit.
• Synchronize the killing of the horn and the tail to disable it longer.  Once you kill one limb or the other, it will thrash around and give you a small window to kill the other.
• You can buy firecrackers for 100 gold that will save your teammates from being devoured.
• Reserve two item slots.  One for the healing/clarity salves the beast drops, and the other for firecrackers to save teammtaes.
• Any unspent gold after the battle will be turned back into ingots.
• There are three distinct body parts- a body, a horn, and a tail.  You should be aiming at either the tail or the horn all the time.  Taking out both will stun him for quite some time.
• You get one free (1 gold) buy back, and then after that it's too long of a cooldown for you to use again (20+ minutes).
• Templar Assassin is an excellent pick due to her refraction preventing four kinds of any damage from the Beast, excluding his grab.
• If his horn is damaged, he cannot grab.
• If his tail is damaged, he cannot stun.

[FUN] Spelunky Videos

Compilation of some great Spelunky videos:

World record Olmec speed run of 2:13 (he steals a jetpack then finds a teleporter)

World record Hell speed run of 5:18 (watching him clear the Black Market with just a teleporter and a couple bombs is amazing)

There's this guy who manages to sticky bomb a bunch of shopkeepers in the face.

Here's the full version of that game, which is pretty entertaining and a more normal video of gameplay.

Some hilarious free-for-all deathmatch

Did you know you can kill the Ghost?  The "easiest" way is to hit him 999 times with lava by kiting him back and forth through pools of it.

Best videos and articles on DOTA 2

Videos

• Top 50 Dota Plays (Hall of Fame edition)
• Fails of the Week (this whole series is good but this one is especially funny)
• Alliance vs. Na`Vi Grand Championship Game 5 of 5 Their entire series was incredible, but the last one was unbelievable.  Extremely lethal (it was like 1.9 kills per minute) and action-packed, with multiple lead switches during the game.
• Best (and funny) moments from The International 3 (2013)
• A Kunkka leading his team back from megacreeps with the help of five Divine Rapiers.
• An extremely humorous (but useful) guide to playing Leoric.
• Dendi's Youtube channel.  Dendi is considered one of the best players in the world and usually goes solo mid.
• Dendi talks about the mentality of playing solo mid and how he approaches it.  It's a video that's done in Dota 1, but almost everything is still applicable today.
• Dealing with dual offlanes as a support (by Fluff)
• Sometimes you can't zone due to the matchup- just hit the offlaner when they go for CS and secure farm for your carry
• Use sentry wards as an early warning against bounty hunter. It's better to never get hit than to do damage to the BH
• Give your mid a sentry ward vs. a bounty to protect them
• At level 1 or 2, it's more efficient to suicide to neutrals than it is to walk to fountain. Make sure to buy any items first so you don't lose gold (worst case scenario, buy branches for 50g)
• Fluff's smurf account is still 5100
• General guide to supporting by Blue Span
• Hexor's Youtube
• Highlights of Na`vi
• Arteezy highlights
• Dendi highlights

Articles

• The ultimate guide to warding
• How to chain pull (multiple camps with a single friendly creep wave) on Radiant side
• Diagram of all unusual creep pulls
• Table of Hero Statistics
• Advanced tips for becoming a better player
• Dotabuff for some well known players:
• Merlini
• Na`vi Dendi
• When to buy Orb of Venom (one of the highest winning % but least used items in the game)
• Jungling
• Chokepoint jungling (using positioning to fight one melee creep at a time)
• EternalEnvy, one of the top Dota 2 players, talks about how one becomes a professional Dota player.
• Editing your autoexec.cfg (changing properties to improve your playing experience)
• How to do it
• Configuration for EternalEnvy (scroll down)
• Configuration for Moonmeander

Hero Guides

• Invoker (written by one of the best Invoker players in the world and an 83% winner)
• Luna
• Nyx

Team Fortress Airshots

A fun comparison on airshots back in Team Fortress Classic (Half-life) 1 vs. Team Fortress 2:

TFC:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QHXRG1ZZAfw

TF2:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WqmNe1RvmVU