text:
Air NZ take-off shows up low-altitude Qantas
Air New Zealand's outstanding profit result on Wednesday was just the curtain-raiser Qantas didn't need.
Where the Kiwi airline has defied the global problems in the aviation industry to post a 45 per cent boost in net profit and return a bumper dividend to its shareholders, Qantas looks set to break a less illustrious record and post a loss north of $1 billion.
The big question is how much further north. It's a white knuckle moment. Analysts' expectations are quite varied – the most optimistic of them are shooting for a $700 million loss, while other industry sources are suggesting it could be as high as $1.5 billion if the company decides to include major impairment charges on items such as aircraft.
Such an outcome would make for sensational headlines but it is the underlying result that will provide investors with some better clarity on how the national carrier is performing.
This is a company whose prospects matter to a wider group of constituents. In addition to shareholders, its performance will be closely watched by the government, staff, competitors, airline customers and, more particularly, its frequent flyers.
It is a stock that conservative investors have steered clear of but punters love because good (or bad) news can really move the share price.
Beyond the size of the loss, investors will be focusing on how Qantas boss Alan Joyce is faring with the transformation program that he has already outlined.
If Qantas decides to pursue a split of its international and domestic divisions in response to recent changes in the Qantas Sale Act, then this is the opportunity for Joyce to give the market an update on the board's thinking.
There has been much speculation that such a move is being considered, given the airline is free from some of the foreign ownership shackles that had limited overseas airlines and investors from taking a larger stake in the group.
Meanwhile, at an operational level there are $2 billion in costs being stripped out of the airline, 5000 staff being culled, aircraft being retired and unprofitable routes being jettisoned.
There will be intense interest as to whether the airline has seen any green shoots of improvement in the domestic side of the business since July, when the airline and its competitor, Virgin, raised the white flag on a long-time capacity and price war.
In addition, investors will be looking to see whether competition on the Asian routes has subsided and whether its budget offshoot Jetstar International is showing any signs of improvement in its performance.
Roughly half the cost cuts are thought to be coming from the international division but the airline has been light on detail around specific programs.
Based on speculation over the past month, it appears unlikely there will be any additional international routes cut. To the extent any more asset sales are announced, this would be confined to the possible sale of the Melbourne terminal. It appears the larger sale of the Sydney terminal is not on the agenda at present.
The bigger question is whether Qantas will announce the part-sale of its Frequent Flyer loyalty program, which is currently the company's biggest-earning asset. The latest speculation is that there will not be any move to deal in this asset. Whether it is ultimately sold depends on how much Qantas needs to further shore up its balance sheet.
If there are no major additional transformational or structural announcements from Qantas on Thursday, there is likely to be a fair level of disappointment among investors that are keen to see some radical corporate surgery.
They understand how critical the airline's financial position is. Short of some big moves, investors will need to see an outlook statement that provides some sense the cost initiatives are gaining traction or revenues have picked up.
In the first half of the financial year, the airline lost $252 million before tax on the back of a 4 per cent decline in revenue and a 3 per cent fall in yield.
Qantas domestic earned $57 million before interest and tax against a profit of $218 million in the first half of last year.
But it was Qantas international's ballooning loss that caused most of the red ink. It reported a loss before interest and tax of $262 million, compared with a loss of $91 million in the previous corresponding period.
We know the second half of 2014 has been worse but we don't know how much worse.
But we do know that Air New Zealand does not appear to have been afflicted by international competition or structural issues. It's humming along like a well-oiled machine, increasing passengers and capacity rather than shrinking. Air New Zealand's net profit rose from $NZ181 million last year to $NZ262 million in 2014.
And the board is expecting the current year's profit to improve again – which would make it the fourth consecutive year of earnings growth for the airline, which is 53 per cent owned by the New Zealand government.
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Sign up for our daily wrap of the news you need to start your day.


text:
Join us in the library and watch the presidential debates!
We will stream them live in Study Rooms 3 & 4 on the main level of the library.
All debates will take place from 9:00-10:30pm Eastern Time.
First presidential debate:
Wednesday, October 3
Topic: Domestic policy
University of Denver, Denver, CO
Moderator: Jim Lehrer, Executive Editor of the PBS NewsHour
Vice presidential debate:
Thursday, October 11
Topic: Foreign and domestic policy
Centre College, Danville, KY
Moderator: Martha Raddatz, Senior Foreign Affairs Correspondent, ABC News
Second presidential debate:
Tuesday, October 16
Topic: Town meeting format including foreign and domestic policy
Hofstra University, Hempstead, NY
Moderator: Candy Crowley, Chief Political Correspondent, CNN and Anchor, CNN's State of the Union
Third presidential debate:
Monday, October 22
Topic: Foreign policy
Lynn University, Boca Raton, FL
Moderator: Bob Schieffer, Chief Washington Correspondent, CBS News and Moderator, Face the Nation
Those who cannot come to the library or who would like to watch the debates from another device can view the streaming debates hosted by ABC News via the YouTube Elections Hub, http://tinyurl.com/94h8db7.

subset: commoncrawl


text:
Out call in ninth confirmed in O's-Rays clash
By Jim Hawkins / Special to MLB.com
ST. PETERSBURG -- Rays manager Joe Maddon said he had nothing to lose by challenging the out call at first base in his team's half of the ninth inning during a 5-3 loss to the Orioles on Tuesday night.
Ryan Hanigan's bunt advanced David DeJesus and pinch-runner Sean Rodriguez, representing the potential tying runs, into scoring position.
It appeared that Maddon was questioning whether second baseman Ryan Flaherty, who was covering first, had his foot on the bag when receiving the throw from third baseman Manny Machado.
"Why not?" Maddon said. "I had an opportunity to find out without question if he [Hanigan] was out or safe."
It took just 47 seconds to confirm the umpire's call that Hanigan was out.
Jim Hawkins is a contributor to MLB.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.


text:
Nuevo Midstream LLC, Houston, has completed Phase 2 expansion of its Ramsey natural gas gathering, processing, and treating in the Delaware basin near Orla, Tex., Reeves County, about 65 miles west of Odessa.
Nuevo's new cryogenic processing plant, Ramsey 2, can process 100 MMcfd, bringing processing capacity at the Ramsey site to 110 MMcfd.
Drilling projections from existing and potential customers, strong performance of wells in the basin, and additional acreage dedications have prompted Nuevo to plan a third cryogenic plant, the company said. The plant is being built by Cameron to use Randall Gas's NGL technology.
Nuevo expects to bring Ramsey 3 online in early 2014, raising total cryogenic processing capacity there to 310 MMcfd.
In addition to the processing expansion, Nuevo has increased amine treating capacity at the Ramsey plant to 625 gpm and will make add more treating capacity within the year.
In addition to the natural gas produced from the shallow Delaware sands, Nuevo also processes natural gas produced from five other distinct resource pays in the Delaware basin, the company said.
As producers in the Ramsey area continue to define the extent of each play and as drilling programs evolve, Nuevo said, it will explore a fourth expansion to the Ramsey site, which could add 200 MMcfd in capacity as early as 2015.
In connection with expansion of Ramsey gas processing, Nuevo has completed several natural gas-gathering projects that bring its Ramsey gathering system to 210 miles of high and low-pressure lines. The company has also completed a second interconnect to the El Paso Natural Gas pipeline system.
The company further announced that it will offer gathering to crude oil producers in the Delaware basin. Nuevo is planning to build out a crude gathering system that will complement the company's expanding gas gathering and will provide deliveries into several longhaul crude pipelines.
Nuevo said its expansion into crude gathering will provide gas producers an alternative to trucking crude from tank batteries to injection points. It expects to begin construction on the first phase of its crude system in the second quarter with this system coming online in the third quarter.


text:
Price Each
Herbatint is a permanent hair coloring with a natural herbal base and no ammonia that gently colors and protects hair structure while giving hair a deep natural gloss and brilliance.
Herbatint with the natural color series from 1N to 8N, colors white hair from hair from the first application. The color 8N, 9N and 10N have a lightening capacity of two tones. It is the only color that has the advantage of coloring without damaging the hair structure. Covers your gray hair naturally. You can select a shade close to your natural haircolor, but you can also lighten or darken while perfectly covering your gray hair. Gentle and easy to use Herbatint's gel formula is easy to apply and gentle for your hair.
Please Read Item Label and Packaging for Recent Product Information.
Use only on dry hair. Using a plastic or a glass container only, combine equal amounts of Herbatint with the glycol developer (included in pack). Make sure the mixture has been thoroughly blended before application. Put on the gloves (included in pack).
For non-treated hair, apply colour mixture onto dry hair, making sure that the hair shaft from root to end is fully covered. Wait for 40 minutes. For previously dyed or permed hair, apply a portion of the mixture on dry roots first, wait 30 minutes and then apply the remaining mixture onto the rest of the hair. Wait an additional 10 minutes.
Rinse out Herbatint mixture thoroughly with water until the rinse water is clear, then wash hair using a natural pH shampoo such as Herbavita Normalising Shampoo. Then apply a natural pH conditioner such as Royal Cream. Wait 5 minutes and rinse again.
This product contains ingredients which may cause skin irritation on certain individuals and a preliminary patch test, according to accompanying instruction, should be made prior to each application. This product must not be used for dyeing eyelashes or eyebrows. To do so may cause blindness. Should mixture come into contact with your eyes, rinse immediately with cool water.
Herbatint Permanent Herbal Haircolor Gel With Aloe Vera #2N Brown - 4.56 Oz
Price: $9.72
Herbatint Permanent Hair Color Gel, 7M Mahogany Blonde, 4 oz


text:
Brownbag Lectures: Building the Bridge: The Collaborative Art of Mike Miller and Brian Gillis
Presented by Michael James Miller, M.F.A., Associate Professor of Painting and Drawing, University of Illinois Springfield
Mike Miller will discuss his approach to creative collaboration as a visual artist. He will present an ongoing project that began with an exhibit at the Illinois State Museum, and has recently culminated in a site specific project in China.
One of our Brownbag Lectures
Weekly lectures held at the Museum's Research and Collections Center. Lectures are usually held during lunchtime on Wednesday. The RCC is located at 1011 E. Ash Street in Springfield. Access to the building is from 10 ½ Street (between Ash and Laurel Streets), where there is ample visitor parking in the west parking lot. For more information, please call 217-785-0037. Brown Bag Lectures are free and open to the public.
Also, if you want to be informed of upcoming lectures by email, you can sign up for the brownbag announcement list.


text:
Android users have found themselves the victim of perhaps the first
full-fledged Trojan to hit the system. Our story on
the trojan yesterday drew a great deal of attention, so we decided to
dig into this one a bit deeper.A reader -- Jon Oberheimer --
founder of security startup Scio
Security and Ph.D candidate at the University of Michigan,
writes us that he obtained the dreaded Android trojan, disassembled
it, and posted an
analysis in gory detail.From his results it's readily
apparent that the effort is amateurish, but slightly clever.
The program bears a great deal of similarity to the "HelloWorld"
tutorial hosted by Google for aspiring developers. It even
prints a string "Hello Android from NetBeans".When
the MoviePlayer activity of the app fires up, it triggers the app's
onCreate event. This event checks an SQLite database with a
single table and column to see if a string "was" was
previously written. Here comes the (sort
clever part -- on the malware's first run, after accomplishing its
ill objectives it writes the string to the database. That way
on subsequent runs, the string is detected and the program merely
exits without continuing the attack. By doing as such, it's
able to keep a low profile and its evil actions might escape
notice.Returning to the actions themselves, assuming it's the
first time the app has been run, the app tries to broadcast an SMS
text message to premium Russian text numbers -- "3353" and
"3354" with a numeric message. Meanwhile it displays
to the user Russian text that translates to "Wait, seeking
access to video library..."What's more, as Mr.
Oberheimer aptly points out, the premium texts should only go through
in Russia. U.S. users likely won't incur toll charges from the
attack. Of course similar trojans could
employed in the U.S. in the near future, so beware.Also, the
user has to physically download, install, and approve the permissions
on the app. This much relies on the Russian tricksters
advertising the app as a "media player". A number of
people (in Russia) reportedly did fall
for this, completing these steps. The final step is that the
users have to open (run) the application. Again, a number of
users apparently fell for this.Basically the only mistake
Google made in this case, in terms of security, was overestimating
users' ability to handle their own security policies. Most
Android users are in the U.S. and China (less than 1 percent are in
Russia), so fortunately in this case a minimal number of people
appear to have been affected by their membership in
the security-ignorant
masses.From this information, it's clear that the threat
to savvy American users (or international ones) is minimal.
Just be sure not to install strange apps. And if you suspect
that an app may not be what it purports to be, notify Google and your
carrier immediately, so you can be refunded in the case of malicious
activity.Android isn't the only platform to be hit by similar
schemes. Owners of jailbroken iPhones have been hit by worms in
the past -- some mere
pranks, others malicious.Thanks,
Jon for the email about your analysis!


text:
The NH Judicial Branch Self Help Center provides basic, practical information about the New Hampshire court system, how it works, and what the procedures are for bringing a case to court. Find links to forms, fees, court rules, alternatives to court and many other links to useful information for anyone representing themselves in Family Court. For more information go to: http://www.courts.state.nh.us/selfhelp/index.htm
The Lawyer Referral Service can refer you to an attorney who may assist you with representing yourself through "unbundled legal services", enabling you to hire an attorney to handle just a portion of your case for a fraction of the cost of full representation. For more information call 603-229-0002 or fill out the online request form.


text:
* Follows initial nod in December
* US health authority backed Perjeta in June
* Peak Perjeta sales forecast at 2 bln Sfr (Adds detail)
ZURICH, March 5 (Reuters) - Roche said on Tuesday it clinched European approval for its breast cancer drug Perjeta, fuelling the company's hopes that the drug will become the standard of care for an aggressive, incurable form of the disease.
Roche aims to combine Perjeta with its older drug Herceptin, the company's second-biggest seller, for women with a form of cancer known as HER2-positive, which makes up about a quarter of all breast cancers and has no cure.
U.S. health regulators approved the drug last June and Perjeta won initial backing from European authorities in December.
Perjeta, part of Roche's strategy to develop new drugs to extend the longevity of its best-selling brands, had sales of 56 million Swiss francs ($59 million) in 2012.
Analysts forecast peak sales of roughly 2 billion francs.
Breast cancer is the most common cancer among women, with about 1.4 million new cases diagnosed each year and more than 450,000 women dying of the disease annually, according to the World Health Organisation.
A typical 18-month course of Perjeta plus Herceptin costs approximately $188,000.
Roche is also developing an "armed antibody" known as TDM-1 as a treatment for HER2-positive breast cancer. TDM-1 combines Herceptin with a derivative of a powerful type of chemotherapy and is designed to reduce unpleasant side effects. ($1 = 0.9417 Swiss francs) (Reporting By Katharina Bart, editing by Emma Thomasson and David Cowell)


text:
Dungeon Defenders
FAQ/Walkthrough by KholdStare88
Version: 1.1 | Updated: 08/01/12 | Search Guide | Bookmark Guide
Table of Contents
- Versions & Updates
- Introduction
- Controls
- Tips & Tricks
- Frequently Asked Questions
- Classes & Towers
- Character Builds
- Tower Building Strategies
- Attacking Towers and Blockades
- Elemental, Piercing, and Splash Damage
- Use Summoner's Minnion
- Beware of Wyverns and Djinns!
- Upgrade, Upgrade, Upgrade!
- Summoner and Overlord Mode
- Tower Buff Beam
- Defenses Covering Each Other
- Proximity Mine Trap + Gas Trap
- Backwards-Facing Spike Blockades
- Archer Wall/Archer Spam
- Command: Hold Offensive
- Stretching Out Physical Beams
- Campaign Mode Walkthrough
- Map 1: The Deeper Well
- Map 2: Foundries and Forges
- Map 3: Magus Quarters
- Map 4: Alchemical Laboratory
- Map 5: Servants Quarters
- Map 6: Castle Armory
- Map 7: Hall of Court
- Map 8: The Throne Room
- Map 9: Royal Gardens
- Map 10: The Ramparts
- Map 11: Endless Spires
- Map 12: The Summit
- Contacts & Credits
Versions & Updates
Version 1.0, July 30, 2012
- Campaign Mode Walkthrough is finished.
- Statistics for Classes & Towers are finished.
- Character Builds complete for main heroes.
- Other parts of the guide are finished.
Version 1.1, July 31, 2012
- Removed manual table of contents.
- Fixed some tower and ability effects.
- Fixed some really bad typos.
Dungeon Defense is a tower defense game. If you are new to the genre, you have to protect something against an ongoing onslaught of enemies. In this game, that something is an Eternia Crystal, which is relevant to plot. Instead of rushing into the fray, you build towers to blockade and attack your enemies while you upgrade and repair your towers. In short, attacking enemies is a support role. You can play as the four main heroes, and if you're on the PC, then even more classes are available for you to buy via DLC. Additional material such as maps and costumes can also be bought as DLC. You may play as a single player, but teamwork is a main factor of Dungeon Defenders which is why a multiplayer mode exists.
This guide will have statistics, general tower defense strategies, and a walkthrough. You may choose to read any one section or all of them, depending on how much assistance you require. All maps presented have been tested and made sure to work well. If you have any feedback, please visit the Contacts & Credits and please send me your comments or concerns. This guide is accurate as of Version 7.39c of Dungeon Defenders.
PC Controls
You may have noticed that by left-clicking, you attack. Right-clicking can either be another attack (Apprentice/Adept, Monk/Initiate, Series EV, Barbarian), reload (Huntress/Ranger, Series EV), or block (Squire). Summoners left-click and right-click are quite different and you should visit the Summoner section for more details. To jump, simply press space.
Now that's over with, how do you build towers? Press middle-click for a whole bunch of actions, including access to hero abilities as well as summoning defenses. From there, navigation is pretty easy, keeping in mind that middle-click or right-click will perform something similar to "go back" in menus.
In combat, you might want to know about Shift, which shows the minimap. To pick up an item and put it in your box, use E while hovering over it. To pick it up and wear it immediately, use F. Pressing I will view your information, and Tab will allow you to chat with your teammates.
|special attack/skills, varies with class
|action menu, build or activate abilities
|move around
|view minimap
|ability hotkeys
|Mouse Wheel
|zoom in/out
|Ctrl + Mouse
|rotate camera
|activate objects, store equipment
|wear equipment
|activate crystal from anywhere
|cancel, point where you are for others to see
|show inventory and stats
|drop mana for others to use
|chat by typing
|see chat log
|chat by talking, when Push To Talk is enabled
|change weapon for Series EV
|pause menu
XBox Controls
The Xbox has limited buttons which means limited hotkeys. Instead of having 10 numberkeys as ability hotkeys, you only have 4, bound to the DPads. Which means that by default, you have to open the action bumper to build towers. You have to go to your inventory to drop mana for others to use, and you cannot use G to activate the crystal from anywhere. As of now, I
|Right Trigger
|Left Trigger
|special attack/skills, varies with class
|Right Bumper
|action menu, build or activate abilities
|move Left Stick
|move around
|push Right Stick
|view minimap
|ability hotkeys
|move Right Stick
|rotate camera
|activate objects, store equipment
|wear equipment
|cancel, point where you are for others to see
|show inventory and stats
|push Left Stick
|change weapon for Series EV
|pause menu
Tips & Tricks
In this section we'll look at some things that I wish I knew when I first started playing the game. Some of these tips are merely small conveniences, but some can really save you headaches in the long run. Even if you are an an experienced player who only glances over this guide, you might still learn a few things here. If you have more tips and tricks that I haven't listed, please share them with me and so I can add for everyone to see!
Useful Tips
- Make your character in Ranked Multiplayer! (Play Online -> Ranked) This is very important and hence it's the very first tip. If you are planning to only play solo and locally, then play Ranked anyways. Who knows, maybe if you realy like the game you might seek multiplayer, and you cannot export local characters into multiplayer. You can still play solo in Ranked by choosing Private Match.
- At the end of the round, loot on the ground with autosell for mana and autosplit to everyone in the map. Thus, don't go around and loot everything thinking it will be a waste to leave them. Just pick up items you don't need and leave the rest to be split among teammates.
- Upgrade your weapons so they can do more damage! Go to your weapon's info page (accessible through Hero Info or Item Box, depending if you have it equipped). Then check the "Pro Mode" box and you can enhance any stat glowing green for the price of mana! Check the mana cost under "Next Level" to see when you want to stop upgrading. You can do this to armors too, but it's not much needed until level 74.
- Armor sets give you bonuses across all stats. The five "types" of armor are: leather, mail, chain, plate, pristine. For example, having all four leather-type armor will make them glow blue and all positive stats in each armor will be boosted.
- Weapons and armor that are possibly better than your current gear have green arrows pointing inwards and appear with a green box around them. You can also press Shift (minimap) to see where they are located on the map, marked by greed dots.
- Equipment drops marked green are not necessarily better. The factor that most affect whether the game thinks a certain gear is is good or not is the number of upgrades. You may not have enough mana to upgrade gear more than 200 times, so instead look at the stats they give. For players not yet level 74, compare damage for weapons and Generic Resistance for armor. They are probably more important than other stats for now.
- Press Esc -> Options. Here, you should turn off "Auto Adjust Camera" and "Step Towards Melee Target". The former may already be turned off by default, and it's very annoying to accidentally have it on and you lose your camera angle every wave. The latter may seem useful until you hit an area full of lava and pits. You may also want to turn off "Camera Shake" to keep your character steady when dancing around those aforementioned lava and pits.
- At level 70, you will find yourself gaining levels slowly. Go to "Services" tab in the Tavern Shop and buy XP Bonus for 70k mana, which should help you greatly. It's not permanent and you can only buy it once per level. The cost is probably affordable at level 70, where it's not so useful to buy it at level 10.
- You can also Respec your hero for 100k mana in the "Services" tab and rename your hero for 50k mana. While this may seem like a lot of mana for a new player, later on you'll be getting 1 million mana per wave on Insane difficulty (without Survival mode).
- Want one of those cool pets yet they're too expensive at the Tavern Shop? Grab a friend and do a Campaign map in Survival mode until wave 15. Any group of four below level 74 can probably do The Deeper Well on Easy difficulty Survival mode, and will get a level 50 dragon pet for free if they reach wave 15 (complete wave 14).
- Even if you're not a "tower build" you can still use mana to repairing and upgrading your allies' towers. Don't be selfish and use all the mana you collected to activate flashy skills. Teamwork is most often the most important strategy in tower defense!
Clever Tricks
- Press "G" when away from the crystal to ready yourself. This is extremely helpful when you want to be ready at a specific location.
- Use -/= keys to decrease/increase the size of your Monk auras and Huntress trap trigger area. This is helpful when trying to avoid identical auras or overlapping traps for chain reactions.
- You can look at other players' Hero Info or initiate a trade with them in the Esc menu. If they're being annoying with their microphone on, you can also mute them here.
- Don't want to annoy people with background noise? Your microphone always on by default, so press Esc -> Options -> Voice and check "Push to Talk" to turn on your microphone only when you want to talk. You do this by press and holding the Alt key.
- When leveling up, you can choose to spend all your points into a stat by simply Ctrl-click that stat, or Shift-click to put 5 points into a stat at a time, until you reach the hard cap of 180. This is very useful when you Respec your hero.
- If you're using a staff, you can fire continuously by holding down left-click then right-click.
- Barbarians can activate their Melee Combo by holding down left-click and right-click. You can deal much more damage like this!
- Summoners can hover by holding down the jump key. Rangers with the jet pack costume (complete all Campaign maps in Nightmare difficulty) may also do this.
- Pets can be leveled up using mana, but don't do so! Just gain experience and when you go to their "item info" you can increase their stat from time to time.
General FAQs
- Q: What is "Auto Adjust Camera" and why doesn't it work?
- A: This may not mean what you think it means. You could be thinking that every time you turn the camera adjusts so you're always facing forward, but that's not the case. Auto Adjust Camera resets your "zoomed in" position that you adjust by scrolling the mouse wheel, which is often not very useful at all.
- Q: Why does my friend have the exact same weapon that is so much better than mine?
- A: There are three main reasons why this may happen. The first reason is that weapons have randomized stats up to a point, so you could simply be unlucky. Secondly, stats differ depending on what difficulty they drop on, so your Mythical Retribution that you got on Medium difficulty will also definitely be worse than the one your friend got on Nightmare difficulty. And finally, your friend may have used "Pro Mode" to boost his weapons' stats up the roof.
- Q: What is the AFK Shop and how does it work?
- A: In Dungeon Defenders, you cannot just list items in a shop and go play on a map. To have your shop enabled properly, you have to be at your tavern not playing a map, hence the name AFK Shop. Even though your shop will be opened when you host a custom game, by clicking on the "Show Shops" tab and then "Host AFK Shop", you will increase the number of players coming to your tavern to 12.
- Q: Why does my mana get stuck at 600 million?
- A: You have a soft cap of 600 million mana. After that, you won't be able to gain money through gameplay (such as autoselling at the end of a round). You could still make more money by selling items to the tavernkeep or selling items in your AFK Shop.
- Q: What is the maximum mana you can have?
- A: Right now it's 2 billion, although there are ways to get past them, by using mana tokens.
- Q: What are mana tokens?
- A: You can store your mana into tokens, up to 999,999,999 mana at a time. You can later on sell this token to the Tavern Shop and get back that exact amount of mana. This is useful if you are worried about going over 600 million mana and getting no mana from autoselling.
- Q: What if I go over 2 billion mana when someone is buying at my shop?
- A: If that happens, the mana you get will automatically be converted into mana tokens. Of course since you have limited inventory space, this could be problematic too, but most of the time it will cause no problems.
Gameplay FAQs
- Q: Help, I've never played tower defense before! What do I do?
- A: You probably tried out left clicking and right clicking, which does basic attacks and block/reload depending on your class. Your goal here is to build "towers" to prevent enemies from reaching your crystal.
- Q: Should I build
- Q: Which class is the best?
- A: I won't be boring here with "all classes have their strengths and weaknesses," but it still depends on what you're trying to go for. If you want melee DPS it's Barbarian or Monk, while ranged DPS is Huntress. For tower blockades, Squire and Series EV are best. For tower damage, go with Apprentice or Squire. And for support (slow and confusion), Monk and Huntress are best. Summoner is the jack-of-all-trades that can add to offense or defense well, but has no basic attack.
- Q: Okay, so which class should I use as a newbie?
- A: Apprentice or Squire would be an easy choice. The setups I've included in this guide mostly use Apprentice or Squire, because you don't need to be flashy to use them and they do the job well.
- Q: Should I go full hero stats, full tower stats, or hybrid?
- A: Most of the time I would advise against hybrid. Many players have at least 1 tower character and 1 "DPS" character so that they can build with one and switch out to their DPS character before combat phase.
- Q: My Squire is so incredibly slow!
- A: Don't fret it. When you get to level 74 and use Mythical gear, you will probably get over 100 Hero Speed easily without ever putting a point into it.
- Q: What is the most useful tower in your opinion?
- A: Buff Beam of Series EV. It raises damage of attacking towers and health of blockade towers with just 4-6 DU.
- Q: Why are traps so useless?
- A: Huntress traps seem useless near the beginning of the game - they only have 2 charges while the Apprentice towers can fire seemingly forever. But they deal a lot more damage per hit (740 instead of Magic Missile Tower's 49), so at the beginning put them near the crystal as a last burst of defense. Later on when your traps have a respectable number of charges (around 30), then can be put in front of blockades to stall/damage enemies efficiently.
- Q: I can't beat the ogre and it's only the second map!
- A: If your towers are not strong enough, just attack it from behind to get "aggro" from it. Then it will turn to attack you as long as you keep attacking it and forget about the crystal. While someone keeps the ogre busy, the other 3 pummels it with ranged attacks. The Squire is very useful in distracting ogres. This also works on a lot of bosses.
- Q: Why would I ever use Detonate unless it's to troll my ally Huntress/Ranger?
- A: If you put a Proximity trap around a crystal, its AoE has vertical range, but it can't be trigger by flying enemies. Therefore, you can simply Detonate the trap when wyverns come and they will be damaged. But other than that, there's really not much use for it, I agree.
- Q: I invited my friend to play and he said he was banned from the match!
- A: If you click "Hide Match" on the Esc menu, then no one can join, no matter what. The "banned" message is sort of erroneous and could be better phrased.
- Q: I'm in a Challenge where we have a limited amount of lives. Why is it that no one died but the number of lives decreased?
- A: Did someone join your game? Every time someone joins, they use a "life" no matter if they stay or leave. If you think your team is strong enough without four people, then just hide your match (press Esc -> Hide Match). People can get bored and leave when they join during combat phase, so if you want more players to join mid-game, only show your match during build phase.
Classes & Towers
In this section, I will go in-depth about the different classes - their weapons, abilities, and most importantly towers. There are 12 classes in Dungeon Defenders, with one being not yet released as of this version, which is Jester. Four of the classes - Adept, Countess, Ranger, Initiate - are opposite gender counterpairs of the "main heroes" - Apprentice, Squire, Huntress, Monk - respectively. Thus, when I refer to Squire, know that most of what I'm saying also applies to Countess. The other three available classes - Barbarian, Series EV, Summoner - are derivatives of one or more of the original four classes.
General Terminology
- LMB: left mouse button
- RMB: right mouse button
- DU: Defense Units - each map has limits the number of towers that can be built
- MU: Minion Units - shared among summoners and doesn't intrude into Defense Units
- Hero Build: A character with stat allocations primarily into hero health and hero damage, also hero abilites (often called DPS Build).
- Tower Build: A character with stat allocations primarily into tower health and tower damage, also tower range and tower attack rate.
Statistics Explanation
- DPS: damage per second - a way to measure average damage
- Damage Scaling: how damage is increased when points are put into tower damage, relative to the base case which is Magic Missile Tower
- HP Scaling: how HP is increased when points are put into tower health, relative to the base case which is Magic Missile Tower
It is important to note that tower HP is scaled normally across most towers (1.00) so HP Scaling not often displayed. That is, putting 100 into the tower health stat will have the same multiplier across most towers. Attack range and attack speed also have scaling, but for the simplicity of this guide, they are considered normal and linear unless otherwise noted.
Apprentice & Adept
The Apprentice is considered an easy class to play by the game, and I would have to agree. He has one blockade tower and four attacking towers, while he stays behind them giving attack support with his ranged staff. His special attack deals damage and knocks enemy back, giving his towers or crystal a little reprieve. Just because the Apprentice is easy to play, that doesn't mean he's the weakest class. In fact there really is no "weakest" class in Dungeon Defenders, and he fills an important role in many parties. Most of the examples I give will include heavy usage of Apprentice towers.
Weapon: Staff
- Click LMB: shoots energy projectiles
- Hold LMB: Charge Attack - charges to release stronger projectiles
- Click RMB: Knockback Attack - smash the ground, knocks back enemies
- Hold LMB + RMB: shoots energy projectiles repeatedly
The staff is a relatively weak weapon compared to others, but it is ranged, can shoot extra projectiles later on, and is quite fast most of the time. Since most players who use an Apprentice put their stat points into tower health and tower damage, they will be fragile, which makes the staff a perfect long-ranged weapon suitable for the Apprentice.
Ability: Overcharge (Apprentice)
- Hero Level 5
- Type: toggle (default - press 2)
- Effect: quickly summon, repair, and upgrade towers, and also quickly healing self and cast Mana Comb.
- Cost: 8 mana to activate, continuously drain mana per seconds used
This is an amazing and extremely wasteful ability. You never want to toggle Overcharge on all the time, but when you do want to, then it's very useful. For example, you could be surrounded and it doesn't look like you can escape. Quickly pressing 2 then 1 will activate Overcharge and Heal yourself quickly - even if you're surrounded! A more conventional use would be to repair/upgrade an almost dead tower with less risk of being flinched by an attack because you essentially finish in less than a second.
Ability: Instant Upgrade (Adept)
- Hero Level 5
- Type: passive (always active)
- Effect: instantly upgrade a defense
- Cost: 157/314/628/1110/1400 mana to upgrade instead of 100/200/400/700/1220
As a counterpart to the Apprentice's Overcharge ability, I somewhat dislike this ability. Because you have it active all the time, you may not want the surcharge cost of upgrading all the time. Also note that at level 5 (3 stars), attempting to upgrade that tower with an Adept will turn into instant repair, costing 1400 mana. This is good, because you can choose between normal repair for normal cost and instant repair when you need it.
Ability: Mana Bomb (Apprentice)
- Hero Level 20
- Type: trigger (default - press 3)
- Effect: deal good damage to a group of enemies within a radius
- Cost: 200 mana
This is a very nice skill that costs a truck load of mana. Like Overcharge, you shouldn't use it often, but it will be useful when you see a lot of enemies ganging up on you or an severely damaged tower. It has a 45s cooldown.
Ability: Purity Bomb (Adept)
- Hero Level 20
- Type: trigger (default - press 3)
- Effect: deal low damage to a group of enemies within a large radius, with extra damage versus undead enemies
- Cost: 200 mana
There seems to be some confusion about Purity Bomb. It does hurt normal enemies for a larger radius but way less damage. It does have a faster cooldown (30s), but that doesn't really help it being a costly spell that doesn't do a lot of damage.
Apprentice vs. Adept
Apart from the difference in abilities, both Apprentice and Adept have the same types of towers. The one last difference is that the Adept can move slightly faster and has slightly less HP than the Apprentice. I personally prefer the Adept overwhelmingly because I think Overcharge has much more uses than Instant Upgrade. Mana Bomb is also better than Purity Bomb in most situations, but I don't use Mana Bomb that much anways.
Towers: Overview
- Level 0: Magic Missile Tower - single damage
- Level 3: Magic Blockade - barrier
- Level 7: Fireball Tower - splash damage
- Level 11: Lightning Tower - chain damage
- Level 15: Deadly Striker Tower - single damage
Magic Missile Tower
- Hero Level 0
- Cost: 3 DU
- Range: 6.5
- Rate: 1.4s
- Damage: 49
- DPS: 35.00 single
- Damage Scaling: 1.00
Your first tower is the basic attacking type. It has a cone-shaped range in front of it, and will attack once every 1.4s. This attacking rate, along with damage and range, will go up as you increase your stats and get better gear. As you will see, the Magic Missile Tower is useful because of its cheap DU cost and its fast attacking rate.
Magic Blockade
- Hero Level 3
- Cost: 1 DU
Here we have the cheapest blockade in the game, costing only 1 DU. It is also the weakest one, but with repairs and upgrades it should be manageable should you need a blockade with only 1 DU remaining. More importantly, it has more HP than any of your attacking towers, which means no matter how it compares to other blockades, you should place them in front of your attacking towers.
Fireball Tower
- Hero Level 7
- Cost: 6 DU
- Range: 8.5
- Rate: 4.2s
- Damage: 215
- DPS: 51.19 splash
- Damage Scaling: 0.82
The Fireball Tower is very useful, and it is probably the most useful Apprentice tower near endgame. It does very high splash damage, so it is worth it despite its slow attacking rate. You will rarely find isolated enemies in Dungeon Defenders, so having a Fireball Tower at a chokepoint is usually a good idea. Note however that it costs twice as much as a Magic Missile Tower, so if all you use are Fireball Towers, then you can only summon half as much and probably get less coverage on the map. Therefore it's a good idea to mix up your tower types.
Lightning Tower
- Hero Level 11
- Cost: 7 DU
- Range: 6.0
- Rate: 6 targets at a time, 5.0 apart
- Damage: 780/s for 2s
- DPS: 780.00 chain
- Damage Scaling: 1.09
This tower has no directional component, meaning it will attack anything that gets within a radius of it. As the name implies, the lightning will "jump" off an enemy to the next some distance apart, starting with 6 targets at a time. Both number of targets and distance, as well as the duration of damage (the 2s) can be improved with better stats. Think of this tower as the "chain lightning" of Dungeon Defenders. Overall, it's expensive, but useful in quite a few situations.
Deadly Striker Tower
- Hero Level 15
- Cost: 8 DU
- Range: 7.0
- Rate: 8.0s
- Damage: 780
- DPS: 97.50 single
- Damage Scaling: 0.98
The Deadly Striker Tower is almost an anomaly. It costs a lot to summon and has a slow cooldown, but it can do massive single burst damage and can shoot through walls. Therefore, best use for it is maybe to kill wyverns, which can fly past your defenses to your crystal and is best off killed immediately. Otherwise, it doesn't have much use, and you're better off using Magic Missile and Fireball Towers.
Squire & Countess
Next up the difficulty is the Squire, the class with medium difficulty. I think it's true, but this needs some explanation. Before you get your Harpoon Turret at level 7, you only have blockades. Even so, your cheapest ranged attacking tower costs 6 DU while the Apprentice can make a Magic Missile Tower with only 3 DU. So when it comes to flexibility, the Apprentice is ahead. Also, Squires are relatively slow compared to their "main hero" counterparts. To make up for it, he has higher HP and can dish some good damage with a long sword, even with a tower build. My examples include heavy use of Squire towers, specifically Harpoon Turrets.
Weapon: Sword, Axe
- Click LMB: swing your sword
- Hold LMB: Melee Combo - 3 consecutive hits, increasing damage
- Hold RMB: block enemy attacks, take reduced damage, cannot move or attack while in blocking stance
Squire's weapons range from fast swinging swords like katanas to slow axes and even chainsaws. There are a few exotic weapons they can equip as well such as boxing gloves, very fast but extremely short ranged. Because swords are melee weapons, each slash will probably damage three or more enemies since they tend to come in a group, giving squires good damage output even if the damage stat of their weapons are similar to a bow or staff. His Melee Combo attack (hold down LMB or attack repeatedly manually) is a 3-hit combo that has higher damage and range than normal attacks.
Ability: Circular Slice (Squire)
- Hero Level 5
- Type: trigger (default - press 2)
- Effect: do a spin attack that also knocks back enemies
- Cost: 60 mana
Circular slice is very useful. Not only does it hit a lot of enemies when you're surrounded, but it knocks them back in case you want to heal yourself immediately afterwards or run away. It's a perfect ability that sort of compensates for the Squire's low movement.
Ability: Joust (Countess)
- Hero Level 20
- Type: trigger (default - press 3), optional - press again to manually cancel
- Effect: rush forward, dealing damage with knockback
- Cost: 60 mana
We will talk about Joust first because it's the damage dealing counterpart to Circular Slice. I personally don't like Joust a lot because you don't get damage reduction while it's active and I run into lava or pits too much. I'm sure that at the hands of someone very skilled, they can toggle Joust on/off to push enemies instead of themselves into lava and pits, but it's not an essential skill to me and I prefer Circular Slice. Note that if you don't toggle Joust off, you'll keep running until you hit an object (most likely a wall).
Ability: Blood Rage (Squire)
- Hero Level 20
- Type: toggle (default - press 3)
- Effect: drastically increases damage and speed
- Cost: 30 mana to activate, continuously drain mana per seconds used
Blood Rage is an incredibly good skill although along the same lines as Overcharge. Remember that Overcharge is wasteful but very useful when you need it. The same is said here. When you're fighting a boss or a tough group of enemies, Blood Rage is excellent. But you don't want to use it whenever you can, because the mana could be used for upgrading towers instead. If you have a pet, Blood Rage will affect that as well.
Ability: Call to Arms (Countess)
- Hero Level 5
- Type: toggle (default - press 3)
- Effect: increases damage and resistance to user, also increases damage of allies within a radius
- Cost: 30 mana to activate, continuously drain mana per seconds used
Call to Arms is sort of like a weaker Blood Rage but the damage extends to allies too. I don't particularly love it because most of the time I use it, no one else is nearby. But when you're fighting melee with a squire or barbarian, it can come in handy. It's a lower self-boost than Blood Rage, but when fighting a boss, every help you can get is welcome. Note that Call to Arms also affect nearby pets.
Squire vs. Countess
I personally think that both Squire abilities are better than their Countess counterparts. You can factor in that Countess walks faster although with less health, but at level 74 Squires will hit the hard cap for Hero Speed through gear and run decently fast. Even though I would pick Squire, many people love using Countess. If you can countrol Joust, you're basically a ninja. You don't need to use Joust when there's enemies but as a super boosted run speed, which could be useful in a tower build. For a hero build though, Blood Rage wins outright in Nightmare difficulty.
Towers: Overview
- Level 0: Spike Blockade - barrier & damage
- Level 3: Bouncer Blockade - barrier & knockback damage
- Level 7: Harpoon Turret - piercing damage
- Level 11: Bouncing Ball Turret - chain damage
- Level 15: Slice N Dice Blockade - barrier & damage
Spike Blockade
- Hero Level 0
- Cost: 3 DU
- Range: 2.25 (constant)
- Rate: 0.4s (constant)
- Damage: 57
- DPS: 142.50 adjacent (read below)
- Damage Scaling: 1.46
The Spike Blockade has the highest HP of any blockades. It also costs the most for its size, 3 DU. For a barrier, it is wider than Magic Blockade and has more HP than a 2 DU Physical Beam of the same length. It also does damage to enemies in a 2.25 range in front of the spikes at a 0.4s rate, both which cannot be improved by tower stats. Although it seems to have extremely high DPS, note that it can only damage enemies extremely close, so a Magic Missile Tower which damages enemies from far away most definitely will do more DPS by the time those enemies arrive at your Spike Blockade.
Overall, it's a great blockade when you need to really lock down a location or do extra damage. Most will prefer the Series EV's Physical Beam for its slightly cheap cost and the ability to be stretched out which saves mana when upgrading. A trick with the Spike Blockade is that if you face it backwards, as in the spikes away from the enemies, then it will be attacked less. Whether or not this is worth losing the damage that the spikes do is up to you.
Bouncer Blockade
- Hero Level 3
- Cost: 4 DU
- Range: 3.25 (constant)
- Rate: 3.8s
- Damage: 149
- DPS: 39.21 adjacent
- Damage Scaling: 1.82
Here comes my favorite Squire blockade, the Bouncer Blockade. It has a slow rate, but it can push enemies into pits/lava or push them away enough for bowling balls to roll down and bounce off them. Even though it has very useful offensive functions, it actually has very high HP too, about 1.5 times Magic Blockade's HP. The reach of the Bouncer Blockade cannot be improved by tower stats, but overall it is a solid defense against most enemies.
Harpoon Turret
- Hero Level 5
- Cost: 6 DU
- Range: 10
- Rate: 3.5s
- Damage: 108
- DPS: 30.86 small area
- Damage Scaling: 1.59
By now you've probably noticed that Squire towers scale much better damage-wise compared to Apprentice towers. This isn't an error, and the better scaling really shines with the Harpoon Turret. It does a lot of damage near endgame, has great range, and can hit more than one enemy per arrow. It does cost twice the amount of Magic Missile Tower, but considering everything I think it's well worth the DU. Because of its range, it's very useful in knocking down wyverns or placed after Apprentice towers.
Bowling Ball Turret
- Hero Level 7
- Cost: 7 DU
- Range: 12
- Rate: 2.35s
- Damage: 114
- DPS: 48.51 chain
- Damage Scaling: 1.48
Here comes the statistically best tower for Squires (and probably one of the best in the game). It should be used in only specific situations however. For example, it does best in hallways or downhill. Putting them near pits or lava would be a waste because the balls may fall into them before reaching their full damage potential. Nevertheless, when it is usable, it destroys enemies very fast and often better than Harpoon Turrets.
Slice N Dice Blockade
- Hero Level 11
- Cost: 8 DU
- Range: 4.35
- Max Spin: 15s charging time
- Max Rate: 0.2s max spin
- Damage: 33
- DPS: 165 adjacent, max spin
- Damage Scaling: 0.75
This is probably my least favorite blockade because of its high cost and low HP. It does do a lot of damage even though it doesn't scale well. Instead, I would rather spend one extra DU for a Harpoon Turret + Spike Blockade, or even better have Harpoon Turret + Physical Beam for the same DU. When enemies get close, they will be shredded most of the time, no questions asked. But having a Harpoon Turret behind a barrier means you can start attacking enemies while they are far away. Plus I see ogres and orcs smashing through the Slice N Dice before it reaches maximum spin, and I have to repair it simply too much.
It's down to playing style, but I think there are better options. One good use of the Slice N Dice is if you need to block an intersection, where attacking towers' cone-shaped range may not cover all directions enemies come from. In this case though, it's best to upgrade the Slice N Dice as much as possible due to it being attacked at all sides and having relatively modest HP.
Weapon: Bow, Gun
- Click LMB: shoots from a bow or gun once, may have multiple projectiles
- Hold LMB: Repeating Fire - repeatedly fire projectiles
- Click RMB: Reload - manually reload
Ability: Invisibility (Huntress)
- Hero Level 5
- Type: toggle (default - press 2)
- Effect: become invisible to enemies except dark elf warriors and bosses
- Cost: 15 mana to activate, continuously drain mana per seconds used
Ability: Invisibility Field (Ranger)
- Hero Level 5
- Type: toggle (default - press 2)
- Effect: become invisible to enemies except dark elf warriors and bosses, nearby allies and defenses also become invisible
- Cost: 30 mana to activate, continuously drain mana per seconds used
Ability: Piercing Shot (Huntress)
- Hero Level 20
- Type: trigger (default - press 3)
- Effect: ethereal bird pierces through enemies and obstacles
- Cost: 40 mana
Ability: Piercing Spreadshot (Ranger)
- Hero Level 20
- Type: trigger (default - press 3)
- Effect: 3 ethereal birds pierces through enemies and obstacles
- Cost: 50 mana
Towers: Overview
- Level 0: Proximity Mine Trap - area damage
- Level 3: Gas Trap - flinches enemies
- Level 7: Inferno Trap - area damage, lasting
- Level 11: Darkness Trap - removes elemental resistances, enemies stop attacking
- Level 15: Ethereal Spike Trap - single damage, random
Proximity Mine Trap
- Hero Level 0
- Cost: 3 DU
- Charges: 2
- Trigger Range: 1.65
- Blast Radius: 4.0
- Reset Rate: 13.88s
- Damage: 740
- DPS: 53.31 radial
- Damage Scaling: 0.86
Gas Trap
- Hero Level 3
- Cost: 3 DU
- Charges: 2
- Trigger Range: 1.65
- Blast Radius: 3.76
- Reset Rate: 14.80s
- Duration: 7.00s
Inferno Trap
- Hero Level 7
- Cost: 4 DU
- Charges: 2
- Trigger Range: 1.65
- Blast Radius: 3.75
- Reset Rate: 16.64s
- Damage: 54
- Duration: 7.00s
- Damage Rate: 1.00s
- DPS: 22.72 radial
- Damage Scaling: 0.66
- Element: Fire
Darkness Trap
- Hero Level 11
- Cost: 3 DU
- Charges: 1
- Trigger Range: 1.65
- Blast Radius: 4.10
- Reset Rate: 16.64s
- Duration: 7.00s
Ethereal Spike Trap
- Hero Level 15
- Cost: 3 DU
- Charges: 2
- Trigger Range: 1.65
- Reset Rate: 12.25s
- Damage: 1896
- DPS: 154.78 single
- Damage Scaling: 0.52
- Element: Lightning
Weapon: Spear
- Click LMB: swipe your spear
- Hold LMB: Melee Combo - 3 consecutive hits, increasing damage
- Click RMB: Energy Projectile - focuses chi and fires it
- Hold RMB: continuously fire energy projectiles
Ability: Defense Boost (Monk)
- Hero Level 5
- Type: toggle (default - press 2)
- Effect: buffs and repairs nearby towers, will not repair traps
- Cost: 15 mana to activate, continuously drain mana per seconds used
Ability: Remote Defense Boost (Initiate)
- Hero Level 5
- Type: toggle (default - press 2)
- Effect: buffs all towers summoned by nearby allies
- Cost: 80 mana to activate, continuously drain mana per seconds used
Ability: Hero Boost (Monk)
- Hero Level 20
- Type: toggle (default - press 3)
- Effect: increases damage of hearby allies while healing them
- Cost: 15 mana to activate, continuously drain mana per seconds used
Note: Hero Boost also affects your pet.
Ability: Enemy Drain (Initiate)
- Hero Level 20
- Type: toggle (default - press 3)
- Effect: decreases damage, resistances, and speed of nearby enemies except bosses
- Cost: 60 mana to activate, continuously drain mana per seconds used
Towers: Overview
- Level 0: Ensnare Aura - slows down enemies
- Level 5: Electric Aura - continuously damage enemies
- Level 7: Healing Aura - continuously heals allies
- Level 11: Strength Drain Aura - reduces enemies' strength
- Level 15: Enrage Aura - enemies attack each other
Ensnare Aura
- Hero Level 0
- Cost: 3 DU, 30 mana
- Range: 3.77 radial
- Rate: continuously
- Effect: 70% enemy speed (-30%)
- Percentage Scaling: 1.00
- HP Scaling: 0.24
Electric Aura
- Hero Level 3
- Cost: 5 DU, 50 mana
- Range: 3.86 radial
- Rate: 1.50s
- Damage: 34
- DPS: 22.67 radial
- Damage Scaling: 1.08
- HP Scaling: 0.24
Healing Aura
- Hero Level 5
- Cost: 4 DU, 40 mana
- Range: 4.41 radial
- Rate: 1.25s
- Healing: +13 HP
- "DPS": 10.40 radial
- Healing Scaling: 0.26
- HP Scaling: 0.16
Strength Drain Aura
- Hero Level 7
- Cost: 5 DU, 60 mana
- Range: 3.95 radial
- Rate: continuously
- Effect: 75% enemy damage (-25%)
- Percentage Scaling: 0.90
- HP Scaling: 0.19
Enrage Aura
- Hero Level 11
- Cost: 5 DU, 100 mana
- Range: 3.35 radial
- Rate: continuously
- Effect: 62% chance of making enemies attack each other when entering aura
- Percentage Scaling: 1.06
- HP Scaling: 0.24
Weapon: Sword, Axe
- Click LMB: swing your left sword
- Hold LMB: swing your left sword repeatedly
- Click RMB: swing your right sword
- Hold RMB: swing your right sword repeatedly
- Hold LMB + RMB: Double Slice Combo - 5 consecutive hits, increasing damage
Ability: Battle Leap
- Hero Level 5
- Type: trigger (default - press 2)
- Effect: leaps towards a facing enemy in range and deal damage in a small area
- Cost: 30 mana
Ability: Battle Pound
- Hero Level 25
- Type: trigger (default - press 3)
- Effect: 3-hit combo: circular, single, short range
- Cost: 100 mana
Stances: Overview
- Level 10: Tornado Stance - increase attacking/movement speed, decrease damage
- Level 20: Lightning Stance - stun enemies but take damage when attacking
- Level 25: Hawk Stance - increase damage for the very next attack
- Level 30: Siphon Stance - gain HP when attacking, lose more HP when hit
- Level 40: Turtle Stance - lose less HP when hit, move very slowly
Tornado Stance
- Hero Level 10
- Type: toggle (default - press 6)
- Increased movement and jump height
- Increased attack speed and knockback
- Decreased weapon damage by half
- Cost: 10 mana to activate, increasingly drain mana per seconds used
Lightning Stance
- Hero Level 20
- Type: toggle (default - press 7)
- Attacks will stun enemies
- User will be damaged with each hit on the enemy
- Cost: 15 mana to activate, increasingly drain mana per seconds used
Siphon Stance
- Hero Level 30
- Type: toggle (default - press 8)
- Attacks drain HP from the enemy
- Decreased resistances
- Cost: 40 mana to activate, increasingly drain mana per seconds used
Turtle Stance
- Hero Level 40
- Type: toggle (default - press 9)
- Increased resistances
- Decreased movement drastically
- Decreased jump height and damage slightly
- Cost: 20 mana to activate, increasingly drain mana per seconds used
Note: You cannot get webbed by spiders while in Turtle Stance.
Hawk Stance
- Hero Level 25
- Type: trigger (default - press 0) then attack
- Increased damage for the next attack
- Trigger 1: Assume Hawk Stance
- Trigger 2: turns off Hawk Stance
- Click LMB: After Hawk Stance, deals massive damage to enemies in front
- Cost: 120 mana
Weapon: Staff
- Click LMB: shoots energy projectiles
- Hold LMB: Charge Attack - charges to release stronger projectiles
- Click RMB: Knockback Attack - smash the ground, knocks back enemies
- Hold LMB + RMB: shoots energy projectiles repeatedly
Weapon: Bow, Gun
- Click LMB: shoots from a bow or gun once, may have multiple projectiles
- Hold LMB: Repeating Fire - repeatedly fire projectiles
- Click RMB: Reload - manually reload
Ability: Holographic Decoy
- Hero Level 10
- Type: trigger (default - press 2)
- Effect: makes a clone to ditract enemies, which explodes when it has no HP left
- Cost: 100 mana
Ability: Proton Charge Beam
- Hero Level 25
- Type: trigger (default - press 3) then LMB to fire
- Effect: using mana collected, materialize a beam that continuously damage enemies
- Trigger 1: Mana Charge - gathers nearby mana for the blast
- Trigger 2: turns off Mana Charge and disables Proton Charge Beam
- Click LMB: After Mana Charge, the beam will fire, how long depedent on mana collected
- Cost: 0 mana to activate, will not gain mana while Mana Charge is activated
Towers: Overview
- Level 0: Proton Beam - continuous damage
- Level 3: Physical Beam - barrier
- Level 5: Reflection Beam - deflect projectiles
- Level 11: Shock Beam - damage in small area, stuns enemies
- Level 20: Buff Beam - buffs touching towers
Proton Beam
- Hero Level 0
- Cost: 2-5 DU, 40 mana
- HP: 120.0 x DU (240-600)
- Rate: 0.30s
- Damage: 19
- DPS: 63.33 touching
- Damage Scaling: 2.48
Physical Beam
- Hero Level 3
- Cost: 2-5 DU, 30 mana
- HP: 346.7 x DU (693-1734)
Reflection Beam
- Hero Level 5
- Cost: 1-3 DU, 20 mana
- HP: 579.3 x DU (579-1738)
Shock Beam
- Hero Level 11
- Cost: 2-6 DU, 55 mana
- Charges: 1-2 (22-48 with 151 tower health)
- Rate: 5.25s
- Stun Duration: 1.33s
- Damage: 139
- DPS: 26.48 touching
- Damage Scaling: 3.64
Note: Shock Beam functions like a Proximity Trap, but stuns enemies and covers a smaller area.
Tower Buff Beam
- Hero Level 20
- Cost: 4-6 DU, 70 mana
- HP: infinite, until a touching tower is brought down
- Damage Buff: 1.03
- Resistance Buff: 1.05
- Range Buff: 1.05
- Rate Buff: 1.05
Note: All tower stats affects the boost efficiency of Tower Buff Beam.
Weapon: None
- Basic LMB (normal): enter select minions mode
- LMB: select minions within the green selection circle for commands
- MMB: cancel out of select minions mode
- RMB: deselect minions within the green selection circle
- Basic RMB (normal): access Commands to direct minions
- Basic LMB (overlord): select a minion to command
- Drag LMB (overlord): any minion within the rectangle will be selected
- Basic RMB (overlord): commands minions to do certain things
- RMB on a minion: command that minion to attack nearby enemies
- RMB on a empty space: command selected minions to move there and defend
Ability: Phase Shift Overlord
- Hero Level 0
- Type: toggle (default - press 2)
- Effect: turn into ethereal form for an overhead view of the map
- Cost: 0 mana
Ability: Phase Shift
- Hero Level 0
- Type: toggle (default - press 3)
- Effect: turn into ethereal form to move around without being hit
- Cost: 0 mana
Ability: Flash Heal
- Hero Level 7
- Type: trigger (default - press 0)
- Effect: heal minions and towers within a radius
- Cost: 0 mana
Note: In overlord, Flash Heal now also heals minions and towers.
Minions: Overview
- Level 0: Archer Minion - single damage, can turn 360 degrees
- Level 5: Spider Minion - lunge damage, reduces movement and attack speed
- Level 10: Orc Minion - damage to small area, slow movement
- Level 15: Mage Minion - splash damage, area healing
- Level 20: Warrior Minion: - damage to small area, fast movement
- Level 30: Ogre Minion - area damage, poison projectile, knockback, high HP
Note: Attack Rate is different from Rate, which is given in seconds. For example, Rate: 0.3s means a tower will attack every 0.3 seconds, so lower Rate is better. For summoners however, this is split into Attack Rate and Attack Speed, where higher is better. Attack Rate: 4.0 actually means the lag between attacks is 1/4.0 = 25% or 75% faster than default, and Attack Speed: 2.0 means the animation of the attack is 1/2.5 = 40% or 60% faster than default. Also because the exact default lag and animation speed is unknown, there is currently no DPS stat for minions.
Archer Minion
- Hero Level 0
- Cost: 4 MU, 40 mana
- Range: 8.54
- Attack Rate: 1.00
- Attack Speed: 0.80
- Damage: 110
- Damage Scaling: 1.41
Spider Minion
- Hero Level 5
- Cost: 5 MU, 80 mana
- Range: 0.80
- Attack Rate: 0.80
- Attack Speed: 0.80
- Damage: 71
- Damage Scaling: 1.27
Orc Minion
- Hero Level 10
- Cost: 6 MU, 140 mana
- Range: adjacent
- Attack Rate: 1.00
- Attack Speed: 0.80
- Damage: 86
- Damage Scaling: 1.68
Mage Minion
- Hero Level 15
- Cost: 7 MU, 180 mana
- Range: 4.80
- Attack Rate: 1.00
- Attack Speed: 0.80
- Damage: 170
- Damage Scaling: 1.60
Warrior Minion
- Hero Level 20
- Cost: 8 MU, 300 mana
- Range: adjacent
- Attack Rate: 1.00
- Attack Speed: 0.80
- Damage: 110
- Damage Scaling: 1.55
Ogre Minion
- Hero Level 30
- Cost: 13 MU, 600 mana
- Range: 5.50
- Attack Rate: 1.00
- Attack Speed: 0.80
- Damage: 351
- Damage Scaling: 1.29
At the moment we do know that Jesters have the ability to move existing towers. Her towers are in the form of gifts - small, medium, and large. Gifts yield random rewards, and larger gifts can yield a random tower for less DU, loot, or mana. The Wheel of Fortune ability, which places a random buff on the allies or enemies, seem to not be too useful unless as a desperate last attempt.
Character Builds
I believe that character builds are so important that they deserve a separate section. For most of the experienced players, allocation skill points are easy and automatic, but I remembered how lost I was when I first played Dungeon Defenders. It's more than putting skill points mindlessly to a strict rule, however. Depending on your equipment, you may or may not want to stray from the norm. Before we get to that, here's a simple table of how much SP you gain per level.
Note: I believe that you should really pay close attention to builds when you can wear Mythical gear. Therefore, this section is mostly for level 74 and higher. if you start seeing number in the hundreds and your stats are in the tens, then don't worry about it until you can wear Mythical gear.
Skill Points per Level
|SP Gained
- Cumulative SP of key milestones:
- Level 70: 299
- Level 74: 331
- Level 90: 650
Most characters should be have either Hero Build or a Tower Build. A Hero Build focuses on Hero Damage and Hero Health, then on Hero Abilities. A Tower Build focuses on Tower Damage and Tower Health, then on Tower Attack Rate and Tower Range. Making a Hybrid Build is generally a bad idea, because specialization in tower or combat is important in Dungeon Defenders, and this will be more apparent in higher difficulties.
Builds Notation
- SP: Skill points, how much you get when you level up that can be allocated into different stats.
- Hero Build: A character with stat allocations primarily into hero health and hero damage, also hero abilites (often called DPS Build).
- Tower Build: A character with stat allocations primarily into tower health and tower damage, also tower range and tower attack rate.
- Hybrid Build: A character with careful stat allocations into a mixture of hero and tower stats. There are sometimes many types of hybrids.
- Hero ( a / b / c / d ): This means with hero stats for Hero Health / Hero Attack / Hero Speed / Hero Casting Rate.
- Tower ( a / b / c / d ): This means with tower stats for Tower Health / Tower Attack / Tower Speed / Tower Attack Rate.
- Ability ( a / b ): This means with ability stats for First Ability / Second Ability.
Note that for towers, under Hero Info -> Defenses, you may not see Tower Health / Tower Attack / Tower Speed / Tower Attack Rate. But the order that they're listed in is what I meant. For example, for the first Defense stat, Squire has Defense Health, Monk has Aura Lifespan, and Huntress has Trap Charges. But they are all generally referred to as Tower Health, and respectively for the other Defense stats.
My recommendations may be revised based on your equipment. Let's say I told you to put 151 into Tower Health and 180 into Tower Damage. But your equipment gives you Tower (900/650/200/500). In this case, your cumulative stats would be Tower (1051/830/200/500). That's not bad, but because your equipment has so much Tower Health and you end up with so little Tower Range, you might want to put 151 into Tower Range instead and end up with (900/830/351/500). While Tower Health and Tower Damage are most important, you want your other Tower stats to be around 400 too. So keep balance of equipment in mind when taking my advice.
Goals for Stats
- Mythical (Level 74): 2800-3000 total for main/supporting stats
- Hero Single Ability: Hero (900/1000/100/400) + Ability (900/--)
- Hero Double Ability: Hero (900/900/100/400) + Ability (500/500)
- Tower Build: Tower (900/900/500/500) + Ability (--/--) + Hero (300/--/100/400)
Note: You always want at least 300 Hero Health, 100 Hero Speed, and 400 Hero Casting Rate regardless of your build. For Hero Speed, 100 is the hard cap so getting more of it will do you absolutely no good.
So take this as a guide for how to allocate your points. If your equipment already gives you more than 900 Tower Health and I tell you to put SP into it, then you might want to rethink about putting it somewhere else that's lacking. An example of a Hero Build that uses Single Ability is Ranger with Piercing Spreadshot. An example of a Hero Build that uses Double Ability is Barbarian focusing on two of his stances. Also, the goals listed are for people who upgrade casually, such as 10-20 times each weapon or armor. For example, you can go very high with Mythical gear if you find and upgrade over 200 times each.
Apprentice Build
The Apprentice & Adept have 1 blockade and 4 attacking towers. Their weapon is a staff, which does decent damage but is inferior to bows and guns. They do have an attack ability, Mana Bomb (Purity Bomb for Adept) but it has a very long cooldown. Therefore, if you want to play a Hero Build, there are better options, not that it's impossible. So with that in mind, I consider the only viable build for Apprentice/Adept to be a Tower Build.
Tower Apprentice/Adept
Because your Mana Blockade is too weak and is often used to fill up the last remaining DUs, you should go pure offense. But you shouldn't ignore Tower Health either, since although you expect other blockades to protect your towers, a second or two that you towers live may be the difference between success and failure.
- Stats Priority: Tower Attack > Tower Attack Rate >> Tower Health >= Tower Range
- Before 70: Put most of your SP into Tower Damage and Tower Attack Rate, occasionally putting some into Tower Health.
- Level 70: Tower (50/150/0/99)
- Level 74: Tower (50/180/0/101)
- Level 90: Tower (110/180/180/180) with some into Hero Health if you're feeling weak
Squire Build
The Squire & Countess have 3 blockades and 2 attacking towers. Their blockades attack as well, making him a balanced tower character. Squire's first ability Circular Slice is meant for crowd control, giving him room if he tries to get somewhere and repair or killing enemies. His second ability Blood Rage is very useful for defeating bosses and enemies in general, making a Hero Build very viable. Countess' Joust is good for piercing through enemies or getting somewhere else on the map very fast. Her Call to Arms gives her and her allies a hero boost.
Hero Squire
One of the main reasons why a Hero Squire is used over Barbarian is because he can put down some emergency blockades and they can have good health even with bad tower stats. Plus, his Blood Rage gives him a huge increase in damage output against tough enemies, mainly bosses. Because Call to Arms isn't as good as Blood Rage, if you want to deal damage as a Squire or Countess, then choose Squire.
- Stats Priority: Hero Attack > Hero Health >> Blood Rage >> Tower Health
- Before 70: Put all of your SP into Hero Health and Hero Attack.
- Level 70: Hero (149/150/0/0)
- Level 74: Hero (151/180/0/0)
- Level 90: Hero (180/180/0/0) + Tower (110/0/0/0) + Ability (0/180)
Tower Squire/Countess
Out of all Squire towers, the Harpoon Turret is most used. His Spike Blockade could be substituted for the cheaper Physical Beam, but the damage and range of the Harpoon Turret is extremely useful. The Bouncer Blockade and Slice N Dice have their uses, and for them to be used they need to last long. Harpoon Turrets can reach their desired range through upgrading and Tower Buff Beam, but you can never go wrong with mor Attack Rate.
- Stats Priority: Tower Attack > Tower Health >> Tower Attack Rate > Tower Range
- Before 70: Put all of your SP into Tower Health and Tower Attack.
- Level 70: Tower (149/150/0/0)
- Level 74: Tower (151/180/0/0)
- Level 90: Tower (180/180/110/180)


text:
Proof *
FB is the devil's work!!!!
* as much as the RC Church understands evidence.
A Spanish nun has been kicked out of her closed religious order after clocking up 600 friends on Facebook. After 35 years closeted at the 700-year-old Santa Domingo el Real convent in Toledo, Maria Jesus Galan is back living with her mum, and has declared she rather fancies visiting New York and London. The convent reportedly …
FB is the devil's work!!!!
* as much as the RC Church understands evidence.
Did the iPenance App get a papal thumbs up a few weeks ago? So iPhones are good, but FB is bad...
"Nuns. No sense of humour."
The Kurgan
Father Jack
Well those 88mm AA Nuns can make short work of a Priest.
As can Sister Assumpta (who can also make short work of a large amount of chocolate)
She's a big strong girl.
"Dominicans are known for their focus on education."
Also known for their inhumane toture. Just ask the Cathars....second thoughts you can't because they killed them all off.
we are talking about farcebook here...
The Catholic church ....
"What remained of the city was razed by fire. Arnaud wrote to Pope Innocent III, "Today your Holiness, twenty thousand heretics were put to the sword, regardless of rank, age, or sex." (on the taking of Carcassone in 1209 - from Wikipedia).
Who cares what this murderous organisation or it's representatives think?
Are you trying to judge an organisation based on something that was done EIGHT HUNDRED years ago??!
What were YOUR ancestors doing at the time then? All sweetness and light?
It was a very different, very BRUTAL, world back then - to try and apply today's morality to it is just idiotic.
"It was a very different, very BRUTAL, world back then - to try and apply today's morality to it is just idiotic."
Yet there are those from the church who want to apply the morality of two thousand or more years ago to the world today!
Don't be inconsistent - why can't you judge an organisation which claims its morality is based on teachings from 2000 to 5000 year old on events that happened merely 800 years ago?
I don't think anyone is judging the the modern organisation of the Domincans! Just saying it's founder Domingo Félix de Guzmán was not exactly a "Saint" going by modern day standards.
ALL I Know for certain is my ancestors were probably Catholics and certainly not Cathars.
>>Are you trying to judge an organisation based on something
>>that was done EIGHT HUNDRED years ago??!
I think on the basis that the organisation in question promotes living a life style popular a couple of millenia ago, I think it is justified.
Aliens - because they probably exist, somewhere, unlike the mythical big man.
...why said organisation applies morality from 'back then' to today.
to get away from the Israel-Hamas conflict on another page.
I never knew how exciting IT could be, until I discovered The Reg.
"why can't you judge an organisation which claims its morality is based on teachings from 2000 to 5000 year old on events that happened merely 800 years ago?"
Because the hierarchy of the church is composed of human beings, and the corruption of the clergy during the so-called Holy Roman Empire is well documented and accepted both within and outside of the church.
Changes caused by the era include the introduction of celibacy for priests (to avoid dynastic empire building and misappropriation of funds), a ban on clergy taking most positions of public office (effectively separating church and state) and the reform of the doctrine of "papal infallibility" from "the pope's always right" to applicability in vastly more restricted circumstances.
If you're going to try to judge the catholic church "in its own terms", you need to know what those terms are first, otherwise no-one's going to give any serious consideration to your argument.
Firstly, you are making an assertion that I don't know the terms of reference which constitute your organisation's philosophy. Maybe I do, maybe I don't - my question is agnostic to the underlying facts and only deals with the logic of the debate.
Secondly, you are trying to argue that the deeds of some human beings at some time in the past should be disregarded, while the writings of other human beings at some other time in the past should be accepted when forming an opinion of your organisation. This arbitrary selection of evidence invalidates your argument.
It is only because some people don't pretend that whatever is the "done thing" at the time is OK that anything improves. For example, some people didn't think slavery was acceptable even in societies where it was the norm. There were people *before* women got the vote who thought they should have it - otherwise they still wouldn't.
Maybe, just maybe, James 5 was not applying today's morality, but his own ... what's that thing called? Human decency.
In fact it is organisations like the Catholic Church that apply the morality of the day. They do whatever they think will be acceptable to enough people that they can get away with it. So if brutal mass murder is normal they'll do it. If it isn't they'll condemn it.
We're much more civilised today than the Catholics of 1200AD.
We use the word "terrorists" instead of "heretics".
Instead of an imaginary friend, we have imaginary WMDs. We are so much more advanced, don't you know?
When we go rampaging around, killing people, it's for a good cause. Or votes, or oil.
We give our allegiance to Science rather than the Christian God and this has brought so many benefits, one of which means that when we go to war, very few of our own people die and lots more of our enemies die, even those not yet born at the time of our attacks.
Mind you, it isn't surprising that we are willing to sacrifice the unborn children of our enemies. We sacrifice almost 200,000 our own on the altar of adult's rights and lifestyle choice *every year* in the UK alone. We do the Cathar slaughter 10 times every year using our children as Cathars. That's over fifty 9/11's-worth of dead babies. It's ok though because we agreed between ourselves that it is ok and wrote it down on a bit of paper. I'm sure the worshipers of Moloch didn't do that.
Sorry, were we talking about murderous organisations and brutal societies?
I'm sure religion is the problem. All hail Science and Democracy! See how much we've changed since the middle ages!
"It's good to see people referring to the Roman Catholic Church as an organisation as distinct from any personal means towards spiritual fulfilment."
Sorry to be harsh here, Chuts, but spiritual fulfilment is not anything good or meaningful if it means uncritical faith and the worship of a hypothetical being.
Personal development begins with seeking truth, regardless of which organisations you associate with.
"Sr Maria's expulsion does appear to be a result of internal strife, rather than any Church position on Facebook."
So she (a) used Facebook and (b) got kicked out of the convent, but there is no clear indication about what the relation between (a) and (b) is? And I thought El Reg was read by people with a scientific mind-set. (Perhaps global warming is caused by a lack of pirates after all)
...one less brainwashed member of a cult.
Always the stickler, I read "Sr" as the (former) nun's "title", but to the best of my knowledge, "Sr" is the abbreviation of "Señor". So, unless she has had gender reassignment or been quick to get married after being expelled from the convent, I would expect her to be a señorita and thus "Srta" -- in case she has been married, she should be "señora", "Sra".
I might, obviously, be completely off on this and "Sr" meaning something completely different -- and appropriate -- in this context, thus making an arse of myself! (That would certainly not be the first time ;-)
Sr == Sister
You're welcome.
Quite common for nuns, so I'm told
now call me Dr.
As "Sister" in this context.
Frankly though, who cares?
Sr. would be Sister
but while reading, I interpreted Sr as Sister. eg Sister Mary....
Sr. stands for "Señor" which would translate as "Sir", "Dear Sir" = "Estimado Señor", aprox.
for a nun it would "Sor"
(The pirate flag as we need more pirates to avoid global warming )
I think you're right. Sr couldn't possibly be an abbreviation for anything else.
In addition to this gender reassignment, the saint after whom the convent is named has been feminised. He should be Santo Domingo el Real.
The author uses English-language honorifics
That means you owe money, doesn't it?
Or is that joke too old.
Coat for obvious reasons as is the anon!
No comment.....
"the Pope issued a warning to social-networking Catholics not to trivialise or dilute the message of Christianity"
they are working on this - lots of enthusiasm for the old Latin mass from all these recent converts (plus those who were always opposed to Vatican 2); yet another thing p*sing off those cradle catholics who haven't moved elsewhere yet.
"It's complicated"
I wonder how many times she got poked?
In a short period of time the expelled sister will learn to regard what has happened to her as a miraculous blessing...
Give it up on the ancient feuding people, I'm all for multiculturalism! For instance I'm *just* starting to get uses to all those Roman/Frenchy/Viking sorts hanging around these Isles. It does add a bit of colour to the place you know.
Y Cymro.
PS: I really don't mind them but hey do often reek of garlic and drink that awful alcoholic red stuff made from some some bizarre small squishy fruit clumps. As for not believing in lots of gods that you can actually see (sun,rock,plant,animal,sky) and only in one invisible one, Well, It might impact the hut prices around here (its already at two goats and a hen!) Thats all I'm saying, you know.
/ tongue, cheek, coat.
Hail Xenu!
...she tried to sell her virginity on eBay.


text: This is Daisy, my new puppy rescue she is completely wonderful. At 10 weeks old she is proving to be a rather smart cookie! She has a particular fetish for shoes and slippers and will dash off with anyones unguarded footwear. Her mother was apparently a retriever cross (all white) while we are unsure of her father, although the litter of pups had Daisy, one that looked like a long haired GSD and 3 that looked like beagle crosses. I have never seen a litter of pups that looked so different to each other with different markings and coats. The sanctuary thinks she may be a Giant breed as her paws are very large! She is just a delight, very comical, docile and laid back!Add to Favorites


text:
The US Supreme Court, in Kelo vs. City of New London, held that government may use eminent domain to take property from its owner for the purpose of transferring it to a private developer. This decision skewed the Constitution's original wording of "public use" to one of public benefit. "Public use" originally meant the direct use of property by a government agency for the purpose of transportation, utilities, or facilities. Now, it has been redefined as public benefit, where the government benefits if it can realize increased tax receipts by taking property and transferring it to an entity that can generate greater tax income. The supposed intent of each Proposition is to protect private property owners from this glaring redefinition of the US Constitution.
However, Prop 99 does not provide this protection. Prop 99 is worded to ONLY prohibit government from taking "owner occupied" homes. No mention of business property, rental property of any type (including detached homes, apartments, condos, or trailer homes), or even farm and ranch property. It doesn't even protect those "owner occupied" homes if the owner has occupied it for less than 12 months. An analysis by the Institute for Justice, (a non-profit public interest law firm out of Arlington, VA that litigated against expanding eminent domain in the Kelo case) states Prop 99 would provide insubstantial protection against abuse of eminent domain for private commercial development. The State of California's non-partisan Legislative Analyst's Office says that Prop 99 "is not likely to significantly alter current government land acquisition practices."
Opponents of Prop 98 state it is a deceptive plan to force people out of their rent controlled apartments or trailer homes. This is a distraction based on emotional fear. In fact, Prop 98 states that any statute or ordinance that limits the price an owner may charge a tenant may remain in effect as long as at least one of the tenants continues to occupy the space as his or her principal place of residence. Would it be ironic, or just plain sad, for those in rent controlled apartments or trailer homes to vote against Prop 98 then have their residence taken because it was not "owner occupied" and thus not protected by Prop 99? Only Prop 98 addresses the main issue of taking private property, of any type, unlike the narrowly defined conditions for property found in Prop 99.
So who stands to benefit, given the passage of one over the other. Opponents of Prop 98 lump supporters into the categories of either Apartment Owner Interests or Mobile Home Park Interests, all otherwise known as Wealthy Landlords (how the Howard Jarvis Taxpayer Association can be labeled an "Apartment Owner Interest" is bewildering). These "Interests" are portrayed as greedy and evil. I don't think I can completely attribute nefarious motivations to someone who wants to protect his or her property from being taken by the government.
Backers of Prop 99 include elected government officials (Feinstein, Pelosi, Schwarzenegger), government agencies, environmental groups, labor and development groups. It was authored by the League of California Cities. These groups benefit immensely with greater ease in taking private property. The Livermore City council endorsed the Kilo decision after it came out. They now back Prop 99. Don't you think they are in favor of making it easier to take private property?
So if you fall for sappy, emotional advertising and are in favor of greater governmental control and confiscation of property, then it looks like Prop 99 is for you.
If you are for stopping governmental encroachment on your private property rights then vote Yes on Prop 98.


text:
I'd just looked at the Latest Leaders list for January…
And boy was I shocked by what I saw. Why? Because I'd discovered that I am among the top 50 fan blogs, at #35 no less. What is that a shock? Because I did not upload too many posts during the past month, and therefore did not expect to be even close to making the list. To say that there was almost no peep out of me last month is an understatement. And that was mainly because my home team, the Phils, did almost nothing newsworthy during the past month. Boy, I guess not saying too much might actually be a good thing. Since the time that pitchers and catchers are to report to Clearwater is just around the corner, I won't be as quiet as a church mouse too much longer. Soon it'll be time for me to start earning my keep.
Anyway, here's the Fans #50 list:
1. Sarge's Phillies Phantasy Camp Diary
2. Rockpile Rant
3. Rays Renegade
4. Red State Blue State
5. Unfinished Business
6. Hands off my Pirates Booty
7. The Three Bs
8. The Future Blog of the Red Sox
9. Yankee Yapping
10. Phillies Phollowers
11. Pinstripe Birthdays
12. Julia's Rants
13. The Pittsburgh Peas
14. I'm Not A Headline Guy…
15. Diamonds are a Girl's Best Friend
16. Strictly Cubs Baseball
17. Cook & Son Bats' Blog
18. Dodgerfilms
19. White Elephant Parade
20. The Closer
21. 2011 Red Sox Fantasy Camp
22. Counting Baseballs
23. The Greatest Hitter Who Ever Lived
24. Yankees Chick
25. Crzblue's Dodger Blue World
26. FutureAngels.com
27. Blogging 'Bout Baseball
28. Pessimistic Cub Fan
29. Prose and Ivy
30. The Cub Den
31. The Phanatic Addict
32. Art of the Pale Hose
33. San Jose A's Fan
34. SPANdemonium
35. Phillies Red Pinstripes
36. Sports Propaganda
37. Minoring In Baseball
38. Purple Pride
39. King of Cali
40. This is a very simple game…
41. Thomas' Trolley
42. Rants, Raves, and Random Thoughts
43. Live, Eat, and Breathe Yankees
44. DYNASTY League Baseball from designer of Pursue the Pennant
45. Baseball Addict
46. Bjarkman's Latino and Cuban League Baseball History Page
47. There's Always Next Year
48. Cardinal Girl
49. Smitty's Sandlot Smatterings : Lumber, Leather and Life
50. All Things Pirates: Breaking down the Buccos
As can be seen, there appears to be five Phils related blog on the list this time, although one, Sarge's Phillies Phantasy Camp Diary is a new one. Anyway, give all of the blogs on the list a look see, folks. I'm sure that we'll all appreciate it.


text:
Join EnglishCentral on July 14th at the Seventh Annual VUS TESOL Conference in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam.
EnglishCentral will be at the 7th Annual VUS TESOL Conference in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam on July 14th. We have partnered with ELT publisher, e-future, to offer a new blended program for language schools and universities. This offers a structured course that includes both EnglishCentral's online environment with a class textbook that provides additional language support, and task-based language activities.
To find out more about our new program, stop by the conference and attend our presentation at 13:40 in Hall 1 of the City Conference Hall (Hội Trường Thành Ủy, 272 Vo Thi Sau, Dist. 3, Hochiminh City). Attendees will be presented with a three-month premium access to EnglishCentral.
Contact efutures for more information about this blended textbook – video curriculum solution.


text:
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Meetings are open to all registered delegates unless otherwise indicated by a + sign.
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text:
BROWNSVILLE, Texas, Oct. 3 (UPI) -- A Texas judge suspended after an online video showed him whipping his daughter has agreed not to appeal a warning on his conduct as he seeks reinstatement.
Aransas County Court-at Law Judge William Adams was suspended with pay in November 2011 after a video posted online showed him beating his daughter, then 16, in 2004, apparently because she disobeyed his orders on downloading file-sharing content to her computer.
The video shows Adams hitting his daughter at least 19 times with a belt, forcing her to bend over on her bed, threatening at one point to smack her in the face and saying he will "beat you into submission."
The State Commission on Judicial Conduct suspended Adams and issued a warning on his conduct.
In a motion filed Wednesday seeking reinstatement, Adams agreed not to contest the warning, the San Antonio Express-News reported.
The misconduct warning was issued after the commission interviewed witnesses at a hearing on Adams' fitness to serve as a family court judge. The Texas Department of Family and Protective Services has said it would request its cases be sent to another judge besides Adams, the newspaper said.
Adams, who was elected to the judgeship, had been seen as a respected figure in the community before his daughter, Hillary Adams, now 24, posted the video of him beating her. His wife, Hallie Adams, is seen on the video striking her daughter once, after telling her to "take it like a grown woman."
The statute of limitations for filing criminal child abuse charges has passed, the newspaper noted.


text: I swear there was a SimCity thread here somewhere but I can't seem to find it. Anyway, yeah, THAT went well. http://arstechnica.com/gaming/2013/03/simcity-impressions-we-waited-ten-years-for-this/ I had heard that the new city sizes were small. I didn't realize just how small until watching this Quick Look: http://www.giantbomb.com/videos/quick-look-simcity/2300-7103/ Each of the three cities in the region (map) can be controlled by different players or a single player can create multiple cities within a region. The actual cities themselves can barely be called cities considering the total land area. It also sounds like the plots each city can be built on are fixed and can't be terraformed which is another WTF design decision. Add to that the fact that you cannot save in a single player game (huh??) and the fact that you need an internet connection and EA's servers to be up to play the game and that pretty much guarantees I won't buy this pile of crap. I was waiting to see if EA could return to form and release something better than the Cities XL games but they appear to have failed on all fronts. Fuck you EA for taking a steaming dump all yet over another game.