The 5 Most-Impactful Steam Trades in My Life

There’s something kinda nice about having all my years of gaming stored on Steam. For people like me who got into the scene late, I can pretty much track my entire life through my Steam history, traipse through old screenshots and reviews to see what I was into during those phases of my life. But at least personally, the tab with the most nostalgia is somewhat hidden away in a dusty corner of the inventory screen. Expanding the dropbar near “Trade Offers” lets you see an itemized list of everything you’ve ever done to alter your inventory across Steam’s many… [Continue Reading]

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5 More Great Weapons in Call of Cthulhu

Last year I covered five (really six) of my favorite weapons in the Call of Cthulhu RPG system. Since then, I’ve gotten to play more campaigns and more characters, and I’ve found some additional combat options that I think really hold their own. Whether raiding eldritch tombs or staking out satanic speakeasies, here are some effective personal defense options I think you should consider: 1. Sawed-off Shotgun The famous double-barrel boomstick is the archetypical survivalist’s weapon, and it should have made the first article for its laundry list of positive traits. It can fire twice a round and each shot… [Continue Reading]

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The 5 Best Stealth Weapons in Payday 2

Payday 2‘s stealth missions require a completely different set of skills to a regular heist, and correspondingly, your stealth weapons will be focused on very different stats to their loud counterparts. Plenty of weapons offer high concealment, the bread-and-butter stat to stealthing, which means the standout weapons bring some sort of additional utility. Today, we’re covering The 5 Best Stealth Weapons in Payday 2! Starting with #1, the Judge shotgun pistol is widely agreed to be the best stealth weapon in the game. Great stats, great performance, high concealment, unobtrusive silencer, and like any shotgun, it sends victims flying when… [Continue Reading]

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The 5 Best Weapons in D&D 5e (That You Can’t Use)

D&D 5th Edition simplified the weapon tables to an extreme degree compared to its predecessors. Gone are Exotic Weapon Proficiencies, or most subqualities like “keen” or “masterwork”, and most of the surviving options differ only in damage type or dice. And for the most part, martial NPCs/monsters honor these categories and follow the same rules for their own loadouts. But sometimes they don’t. Occasionally, a certain official monster or villain carries some seriously cool racial weapon with unique stats, and every GM just knows the party’s gonna ask if they can loot it from the corpse and use it themselves.… [Continue Reading]

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My 5 Favorite Bows in Gaming

Since Medic recently covered her 5 favorite bows in Warframe, I was inspired to do something similar, but for gaming as a whole. I’ve often found myself gravitating to bows when available, in part due to their uniqueness in a modern setting. They often play wholly differently to regular firearms, with arcs and draw times and often extra ammo types. The general trend is “rewarding if you learn how to use it,” and I love standing out through mastering the intricacies of an unusual weapon or gadget. One last note before we begin that crossbows are also eligible for this… [Continue Reading]

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D&D 5e: A Guide to Throwing Weapons

There are a few playstyles in 5e that don’t really receive enough developer support, in my humble opinion. Strength-based unarmed builds, for one, as well as single-wielding one-handed weapons without a corresponding shield. But throwing builds are probably the most-maligned on the list. Unless you stretch all the way into archery, non-spellcasters unfortunately aren’t going to hold their own in ranged combat. In today’s article, I want to discuss a few of the reasons why, and what an enterprising player can do to mitigate the issues. Problem #1: Action Economy Martial characters (except rogues) gain more attacks as they level… [Continue Reading]

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D&D Druid: On Choosing Your Weapons and Armor

Generally in D&D, full spellcasters are squishy but powerful, and martial classes are chonkier but with less magical versatility. But then there’s druid (and cleric), who gets both! Druid’s equipment options are structured differently from most other classes. You’re only allowed to use a handful of weapon types, and you can’t wear armor/shields made of metal. But there are nevertheless some great options in your proficiencies. Today I wanted to discuss some common considerations/options available to you when you kit out your new druid. And before we can discuss anything, there’s an important question you need to ask your GM.… [Continue Reading]

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My 5 Favorite Weapons in Call Of Cthulhu

As a fan of historical firearms, my biggest complaint with the Call of Cthulhu system was its relatively-limited firearm roster. I understand why (it’s not a combat simulator, your characters should be avoiding firefights at all costs), but that doesn’t mean I want to give my investigator some generic pistol or rifle. Your character’s weapon-of-choice is a hugely defining characteristic, often tying into their personality, backstory, and team role. But there are only a handful of common options for every weapon type in the core rulebook, and they all differ only in damage, magazine size, range…mathy stuff like that. So… [Continue Reading]

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5 Weapons Every Vanu Medic Should Unlock in Planetside 2

 Tired of running around with that default Pulsar rifle? If you’re anything like me, you slowly figured out it wasn’t quite living up to your expectations. Then, once you maxed out your Medical Applicator, you finally had some decent certs to explore other options. This article catalogues some great guns you should consider when that time finally comes! Terminus I have been reliably informed that the Terminus is the best overall assault rifle in the Vanu Medic arsenal, with heavy-hitting bullets and a generous rate of fire for medics who can control the weapon spread and recoil. However I must… [Continue Reading]

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Theorycrafting Thoughts on Galvanized On Kill Effects

Something is bothering me about this upcoming update to gun mods. The idea of buffing guns has always appealed to me. However, I’,m not sure why we’re going down the path we’re going. While I understand that melee was going to get a slap on the butt a little, the gun mods still just… don’t hold water. There seems to be something weirdly off about these new Galvanized mods before we even get them. The whole concept is flawed. Seriously. While the idea behind these mods are cool, there’s something missing here. These mods are all designed to have a… [Continue Reading]

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