Massive Nerd

(For a full listing of Character Guides, please go here)

Clank.

Unless you're using Shale in his Stoneheart form, you'll need a Warrior for tanking.

Party Members

Alistair is ready to go in this role.
Sten starts with a couple points spent in Two-Handed talents, but could be switched to tanking with minimal loss.
Oghren and Spoiler join your group too late in the game to be effective tanks, with several points already spent in Two-Handed talents.

Stats

Strength: 42 - This is the requirement for wearing the heaviest armor in the game. Anything beyond this is wasted, since it will only increase your damage, which is less important than your defensive abilities.
Dexterity: Maximum - Dexterity increases your chance to dodge attacks, as well as the amount of damage absorbed by armor. Every extra point you have should go here.
Willpower: 20-25 - Honestly, whatever you're comfortable with. Tanks use several sustained abilities, which will eat up your Stamina pool. The last thing you want is to be unable to use Taunt in an important situation. Your choice of Specialization will also factor in here.
Magic: Minimum - Nearly useless
Cunning: 16 - This is the minimum amount required for max-rank Coercion (for your main character) and Combat Tactics (for your companions).
Constitution: 20-25 - Again, whatever you're comfortable with, as well as adjusted for difficulty. Though, keep in mind, you only gain 5 HP per point.

Specializations

Templar: Alistair comes pre-loaded with this, so many think it's the Tanking Specialization. In reality, it isn't that useful. All of a Templar's skills are for use against Mages, which is a job better suited for your Rogues.
Berserker: Berserker talents are offensive-oriented. While not bad, your Stamina is better used elsewhere.
Champion: THIS is the Tanking Specialization. War Cry decreases enemies' chance to hit, which is very handy for a tank. Superiority gives War Cry a knockdown effect, and makes it invaluable. Rally & Motivate are great, but only if you invest in extra Willpower to offset the upkeep cost.
Reaver: Reaver is a decent SECONDARY Specialization, because of only one skill. Frightening Appearance increases the effectiveness of Threaten and Taunt, two vital Tanking abilities.

Talents

Instead of listing EVERY talent, I will just point out the important ones, both good and bad.

Powerful, Threaten and Taunt: Of course.
Bravery: Grants several offensive and defensive bonuses when engaging more than two enemies. This will be often.
Death Blow: While a Stamina return seems like a good idea, your tank will rarely be getting the killing blow.
Precise Striking: You have to get this as a prerequisite for Taunt. Additionally, it's a decent ability to use early in the game when you don't have a full compliment of abilities to drain your Stamina.
Perfect Striking: While this seems like a great ability to generate aggro, the Stamina cost is not worth it.
Shield Bash, Shield Pummel, Overpower and Assault: Nice aggro-building skills, and the stuns and knockdowns are very handy. However, use them sparingly to conserve Stamina and focus on your defensive Talents first.
Shield Defense and Shield Wall: Should be your top priorities. They do not stack, so Shield Defense should be cast aside once you get Shield Wall.
Shield Cover: Useful early on, but unnecessary once you have Shield Wall and better gear.
Additionally, all Passives in the Weapon & Shield tree are mandatory.

Over the past several weeks, I've had several people asking me for advice on Dragon Age: Origins. Instead of repeating myself, I figured I'd make a few blog posts with the info.

As has been my style, this post will be the central database for the guides.

Warrior

Tank
Two-Handed
Dual Weapon

Variant cover to Thor (v3) #1

Of all the characters to ever grace the pages of a comic book, Thor is by FAR my favorite. No character is more true to his ideals, more heroic than Thor.

Thor made his Marvel premiere in Journey into Mystery #83 in 1962. I'm going to dispense the usual character backstory on this one. If you want to know more, go read a freaking book. That's right. Marvel's Thor is not a hero with mystic powers or a guy pretending to be Thor. He is the ACTUAL freaking Norse God of Thunder.

Thor stays relatively true to the mythological roots. Odin, Loki, Balder and the rest are all there and intact. The only place where Marvel really deviates is Thor's "alter ego." While it would be funny to have an ancient God roaming the modern world, that would get a little old after a while. So, they took a bit of liberty with the story. Odin, wishing to teach his son humility, trapped Thor in the body of a mortal, Donald Blake. This dual-personality gives Thor a connection to the mortal world. Otherwise, what reason is there for a God to take notice of human problems? It's worked for almost 40 years, so I guess it's a good call.

Much of Thor's power is derived from his hammer, Mjolnir. Forged from an unbreakable metal and enchanted with magic from Odin himself, Mjolnir is one of the most powerful weapons in the universe, capable of controlling the very forces of nature. Mjolnir bears an inscription: Whosoever holds this hammer, if he be worthy, shall possess the power of ... Thor Very few people other than Thor have been able to even LIFT the hammer, much less USE it. Some, such as the always-awesome Beta Ray Bill, even proving to be Thor's equal.

The Norse myths center around the battle of Ragnarok, in which the Gods and heroes battle the forces of evil at the end of the world. The world is reborn and everything starts over again. In the comic continuity, Thor managed to stop the Ragnarok Cycle. None of the Gods would be reborn, but being Gods, they weren't really dead, either. Their spirits wandered the void, eventually attaching themselves to human hosts. Thor, used to this as Donald Blake, set out to free the Aesir and rebuild Asgard, free from the threat of Ragnarok.

This is where J. Michael Straczynski started his 2007 relaunch of Thor.

And that, Comic Noobs, is where you should start, too. Thor, Vol. 1 Yep, no fancy subtitle, just freaking THOR. Though, be sure to read Civil War first if you want to avoid some spoilers.

Questions? Comics can be very confusing to new readers. Feel free to email me at samodeanhc(at)gmail(dot)com. If I can collect enough questions, I would love to publish them in a Q&A Session post! Please specify if you would like the question answered publicly or privately.

I don't think I've ever been happier to have a book in my hands than The Gathering Storm. Especially considering it was almost never written.

For those who don't know, Robert Jordan, the author of the previous 11 Wheel of Time books, passed away in September of 2007. Jordan's wife and long-time editor, Harriet, chose Brandon Sanderson to finish the story, giving him all of Jordan's notes and unpublished chapters to the proposed final book, A Memory of Light.

Realizing that Jordan still had too much story to tell, Sanderson and Tor Books decided to split A Memory of Light into three books, The Gathering Storm being the first.

Bottom Line: Egwene al'Vere saved The Wheel of Time.

Writing the series, Jordan became a victim of his own creativity. Around the 4th volume, The Shadow Rising, Jordan started expanding the cast to critical mass. With all these characters running around, some got lost and some just ate up chapters. After 3 books of huge plot developments, book 7, A Crown of Swords started a small decline for the series. Now, with all these characters, they all have to DO something, GO somewhere.

Jordan spent so much time explaining what each individual character was doing that the main plot slowed down to a crawl. The focal point of the fan's anger: the Aes Sedai.

Egwene, Nynaeve, Elayne, Suian, Leane, Elaida, Alviarin, Cadsuane and so many others just brought the plot to a crawl. Nobody cared about the women plotting how to control (and hopefully save) the world. They cared even less about the girls running around like idiots trying to clean up their own messes.

The fan favorite characters Mat, Perrin, Thom and The Forsaken all shined in their too brief and infrequent segments, which made it even more maddening.

Book 10, Crossroads of Twilight started bringing the story back in line and Book 11, Knife of Dreams brought the pace up to a comfortable level.

So, with a large portion of The Gathering Storm focusing on Egwene and the other Aes Sedai, it looked like we were in trouble. Miraculously, Sanderson made this part of the story very engaging and entertaining, by the halfway point, I was actually upset when the focus went back to one of the other characters!

So, yes, Egwene al'Vere saved The Wheel of Time.

The rest of the book is Sanderson setting up Jordan's chess board. All the pieces are in place for the endgame to begin. The Aes Sedai have found direction, Rand has gotten his head out of his ass, and long-dangling plot threads are being picked back up.

For those who have avoided the series for the past 20 years, now is the time to start reading. There are only 2 books left, to be released later this year and next. Robert Jordan's writing has influenced every fantasy author of this generation, it would be a shame to miss out on it.

(Read the previous entry here or refer to the Fiction Index for a full listing.)

Corrigan sat in his cell, shocked by what he just heard. This woman, this Warlock asking for his forgiveness? Baring her soul as if some sort of kindred spirit?

She was responsible for his capture. Leave forgiveness for the Priests. Paladins deal in Retribution.

His mind seemingly made up, Corrigan tried to get some rest. Normally, Corrigan could capture a few fitful hours of sleep. Tonight, even that was denied him. He was constantly awakened mere seconds after drifting off. He could not remember the nightmares, but the terror stayed with him. After several nightmares, he no longer wished to rest.

So Corrigan waited. They would be coming for him.

In time, after what Corrigan assumed would be daybreak, he was given a breakfast of bread crusts. Was it Sylphine? She did not speak, so he had no way of knowing. Were there other Warlocks tasked with feeding him? Did he even care? Should he?

The day passed, like any other. Occasionally, exhaustion would overwhelm Corrigan and he would drift off to sleep, but the nightmares were still there.

His evening feeding drawing near, Corrigan heard the familiar sound of footsteps, but not the soft ones he was used to. Somebody new was coming to his cell. His world shattered with a screech. Rusted metal grinding against itself. The door to his cell was open.

"Rise, Paladin."

Corrigan remained sitting. "Come make me, Warlock."

"As you wish, boy." The Warlock raised his palm and there was a brief glow to his hand. Corrigan was overcome with revulsion. He was choking in his cell and knew, just knew that he had to get out to live. Scrambling out, he found himself on his knees before the Warlock, gasping for breath.

"That wasn't so difficult, was it? Now, will you come along willingly, or should I persuade you some more?"

Corrigan hated the thought of submitting. Even worse, though, was the idea of being manipulated into doing what his captors wanted. One way or another, he was going to follow the Warlock, it may as well be on his own terms.

They left the cells behind. The halls beyond were bathed in torchlight. Corrigan could never have dreamed in his previous life just how happy he would be to see an actual torch. The hallways twisted and turned, actually leading farther down. In time, Corrigan found himself in what looked like an apothecary's laboratory. The Warlock led him to a table at the far end of the lab, used his power to restrain Corrigan and strap him down. Confident that Corrigan would not be going anywhere, the Warlock departed.

"Make this easy on yourself and submit now, Paladin."

Corrigan must have been exhausted to the point of delusion. He could have sworn the shadow in the corner was speaking to him.

"I promise you will not like what follows. This is your last chance."

The shadow moved. It unfolded itself, gaining a vaguely human form, but somehow off, like a bad reflection in dirty water. "What... are you?" Corrigan asked.

"What am I? Boy, I am a fragment, a whisper, an echo of what you could be. Submit yourself willingly now to become the host for my master and you will possess power previously unknown to any mortal."

Become the host for my master. What madness was this... thing... speaking. Suddenly, Corrigan remembered a discussion with his old mentor, Rondrey. The Legion.

"I will never submit to you or your master, DEMON. My faith in the Light is strong."

The Shadow Demon chuckled, "The Light? Where is your light now? If the Light favors you so strongly, let it strike me down right now!" The demon paused, raising his hands, as if physically reaching for the Light itself. "No? Too bad for you."

Why had the Light abandoned Corrigan when he needed it the most? Even here, outside his cell, he still could not feel its warm glow, always in his heart.

"This is your last chance, boy."

"Do what you will. I fear nothing you or your kind could do to me." Corrigan lied. For the first time in his life, he was truly alone, and he was terrified.

"Your choice. You will submit to me before my work is done. It is not a question of 'if,' merely 'when.'"

The Shadow Demon drifted to the door. He had legs, at least in form, but apparently felt no need to actually use them. He touched the door with his hand and it was opened from the other side by the Warlock guard from earlier. The Warlock stepped aside to allow... something into the room.

"Paladin, allow me to introduce you to my associate, Shaamon."

Corrigan was momentarily dumbfounded by the beast in front of him. Larger than any dog he had seen, with skin thick like leather. The size of the beast alone would have been striking, but its dominant feature was the two tentacles protruding from its back.

A Felhunter.

I was digging around Google Analytics the other day, looking at some stats from my old blog, when I happened upon something unexpected.

This

Phoenix_Fire is a student studying interactive media. He decided to start a blog, Fight Fire with Frostfire, exploring various aspects of online life.

In the above post, he examines the writing style of a blogger. Me.

After reading this article, I started thinking. It's important to draw the distinction between an "author" and a "writer." An actual AUTHOR would look at my work and lose their lunch.

I was going through some old fiction posts the other day as part of a side-project I'm considering. Reading through some of those old posts, with this new perspective in mind, I had a revelation.

My writing style is a jacked-up, back-asswards MESS.

But it's an AWESOME mess. All my stunted paragraphs and "one-line turnarounds," as Phoenix_Fire calls them, serve as a visual representation of the pace and flow of my writing. This was not intentional, just the way things worked out for me, but now has become my thing.

But so what? THIS. IS. SPARTA THE INTERNET. There are no rules here. If an AUTHOR submitted something like this, their publisher would throw them out a window. Luckily, I'm a WRITER. This non-traditional form of media calls for some non-traditional writing.

I just may be good at this thing, afterall.

Fellow writers, I would love to see your thoughts on your own styles, especially in the context of "online media" as opposed to "traditional media."

The full listing of Comics for Noobs posts can be found here.



Tony Stark, aka Iron Man is one of my favorite comic characters. He has no superpowers of his own. All of his power is a direct result of his own intelligence.

Iron Man is a great character for Comic Noobs. If you've seen 2008's Iron Man movie, you know Iron Man. The movie nailed the character and backstory perfectly.

Early Years

First introduced in Tales of Suspense #39 in 1963, Iron Man was given his own ongoing title in 1968.

Very little of his origin has been changed over the years, short of being retconned to a more modern setting. One of the world's foremost weapons designers, Tony Stark is kidnapped by warlords and pressed into service. Seriously injured in the attack, Stark creates the first Iron Man armor to both save his life and help him escape. In contrast to the movie's plot, Tony Stark would not reveal his identity as Iron Man for many years. Early on, Iron Man was seen as Stark's personal security force, battling enemies of Stark Enterprises. In time, he moved on to larger threats.

Every great hero has their own personal demons to overcome. The Hulk has his anger. Spider-Man has the guilt of letting his uncle die. Iron Man has spent most of his life battling alcoholism. The man in possession of the world's most powerful weapon was often unable to pilot it. During the years he was battling his illness, the Iron Man armor was worn by Stark's good friend James Rhodes. Once Stark was ready to be Iron Man once more, Rhodey was given his own suit of armor and became known as War Machine.

Modern Day

No hero has been more integral to the current Marvel Universe than Iron Man. Following the New Warriors disastrous attempt at apprehending several supervillains, Stark (now publicly recognized as Iron Man) was the leading voice of the Superhuman Registration Act. This led to the Civil War. Stark's Pro-Registration side was victorious and Tony was selected by the President as the new director of SHIELD.

Tony Stark is one of the smartest men on Earth. Unfortunately, political maneuvering is not one of his talents. Every crisis was a problem to solve. Sadly, every solution caused more problems to pop up. He had a plan, but completely ignored the human element involved. He was more interested in what "had to be done" instead of what "should be done." The Secret Invasion hit Stark particularly hard. SHIELD was disbanded and the most powerful man in the world lost everything, including his entire armory. He has spent the last year on the run from his successor, Norman Osborn, who has even gone so far as to use a version of the Iron Man armor, calling himself the Iron Patriot.

There is one title I recommend to Comic Noobs. Invincible Iron Man. Launched in 2008, Invincible Iron Man was intended as a perfect starting point for new readers. It took the Iron Man character, complete with his current role in the Marvel Universe, and inserted him into the setting more familiar to movie viewers. The movie characters, who also exist in the comics, became his supporting cast. It is a great way for readers who no nothing about the character outside of the film to learn about the Iron Man comic readers have loved for years. Additionally, Matt Fraction is one of Marvel's best new writers and Salvador Larroca has been one of my favorite artists of the last several years.

Questions? Comics can be very confusing to new readers. Feel free to email me at samodeanhc(at)gmail(dot)com. If I can collect enough questions, I would love to publish them in a Q&A Session post! Please specify if you would like the question answered publicly or privately.