Rant 1104 / Path Of Exile Looks Good So Far

Path of Exile was a little different than expected. I knew it was like a MMO version of Diablo 2, but what took me by surprise was that the active skills were all derived from crystals that I could equip (and unequip at will) on my equipment.

Basically, the FF7 Materia system.

The skill tree is only for passive skills and all classes use the same gigantic map of a skill tree, albeit from different starting locations.

Due to the size of the tree and the speed at which players gain level, the starting locations really matter a lot for a large portion of the game. Maybe the effect will be diluted enough at much higher levels but respeccing is not easy in this game.

The trading part was also quite strange in that it was a barter system when trading with the NPC merchants. Instead of buying my loot with cash, they give me things like Scrolls of Wisdom (for identifying items). In other words, these little items become some kind of currency.

Very interesting.

Right now I'm trying to be some kind of battlemage as a Templar. I'm going for melee damage for now and then elemental damage later. Main focus is on mace-and-shield combat and some proficiency at magic.

I could also be a summoner but I might as well start as a Witch if I wanted that, especially since a mace-and-shield guy with summons can't be very effective - one is focused on melee damage and HP while the other is on MP and buffs. I could be good at summons but I'll suck at doing anything myself (might as well be a Witch), or I could be good as a warrior but my summons will be just for decorative purposes.

That's how I see it anyway.




















So I found this website that I thought was a Chinese pirate site. Now, I don't think it was.

The game I found there came with several games I didn't want and a launcher filled with ads.

I think the site's legitimately providing free downloads of old games and making money through ads, and I really like the idea.

This could theoretically take the place of the indie bundles.

On the other hand, it's China, a country where I feel it's easier to find counterfeit products than originals, so I could be wrong about it being legit.

























Holy crap! Shop N Save is selling rice at 5kg for $6.80!

Promotional price but still, that's way cheaper than anything I've ever seen.

The cheapest was its housebrand 10kg bags at about S$16 like early last year or something, and they're now going at about S$18.

But today, the housebrand 5kg bags are priced at $6.80! The only reason I can think of is that they're trying to clear stock desperately for some reason.

I kinda doubted it was true when I first saw it but bought 2 bags anyway just to see if it was a typo error. At worst, their normal prices are still below $20 for 2.

There was no typo. The rice really costs $13.60 for 2 bags of 5kg.

I've never seen rice going below $16 for 10kg since I started buying groceries, so I'm definitely going back to get another 2 bags tomorrow. Hopefully they don't get sold out by then.























After cooking at home for so long, I finally thought of using the Lee Kum Kee hotpot soup bases. Can't believe I've completely forgotten about them for so long. My mum used to use them and she left like 7 packets of those in the fridge. One of them had been neglected for so long it was covered in some dried black powdery stuff that I believe used to be raw meat juices.

But it was unopened so I just rinsed it to get rid of as much of the stuff as I could so that none of it drops into the pot when I pour the contents in.

I'll be needing more of those in the future so that I can make easy soups. I just buy some cabbage and fishcakes and fishballs and throw them all in with the soup base, chicken bones optional, and I get dinner.