u/WanderingRagabond

For the past couple of months, I've been on-and-off doing mono-discipline runs, seeing how each one would perform on their own. I know that's not at all how the game was intended, might be unfair to judge them in this context, but I thought it would be a fun and silly little exercise. Also, I'm judging the disciplines as they are in WESP's Unofficial Patch.

I apologize for the wall of text, but... you clicked this.

F-TIER (don't use these):

• DOMINATE: What a disappointment. Making enemies fight each other sounds great, but enemy AI turns on the freshly brainwashed mook so quickly that they die in a hail of bullets before the animation is even finished. Trance and Sleep trivialize stealth segments and are good single-target CC, but did we need two powers doing the same thing? I basically forgot that Brain Wipe existed, and Mass Suicide was incredibly inconsistent, being randomly resisted by weak enemies for no good reason. Finally, against bosses, you basically don't have a discipline. What an aggravating blood sink of a power this was.
• POTENCE: Melee combat already falls off tremendously halfway through the game, and even maxed out Potence does very little to change that. If I had to say one good thing about this discipline... at least it's cheaper to sustain than Bloodbuff.

D-TIER (you can do better):

• FORTITUDE: In its defense (hah), it does exactly what you want it do it, and it does it extremely well. It makes close combat absolutely stress-free from beginning to end, which is how I chose to play that run. However... it's interminably boring on its own. And sadly that completely outweighs its indisputable usefulness and consistency for me.

C-TIER (serviceable):

• PRESENCE: Initially I thought I'd be just as bored of this one as I was by Fortitude, but it actually surprised me. Its mass debuff makes a tremendous difference, and the chance to "mesmerize" enemies is really helpful CC. I only wish it wasn't just "Persuasion with a blood cost" in dialogue. Other disciplines have more sauce, and maybe it's my inner prima donna speaking, but it's a pretty solid discipline.
• OBFUSCATE: The discipline to breeze through stealth segments. And honestly, nothing else. The melee damage boosts from higher levels NEVER comes up. You already have stealth kills by hitting E, and bosses automatically flush you out of Obfuscate, even at absurd distances. It gets a C strictly because it helps you run past the excessively long gauntlets of combat with mooks in the late game.

B-TIER (good, but flawed):

• PROTEAN: Quite a lot of upsides packed into a single power. Claws that deal aggravated damage, boosts to Strength, Wits and Stamina... Very viable even without Fortitude, provided you don't neglect your Dodge and Wits. On the downside, the attack animations are annoying, taking active effort to prevent a useless spin move. I also recommend messing with the game files to remove that eye-searing red filter, because it was legitimately giving me headaches.

A-TIER (excellent):

• CELERITY: What's there to say? It's bullet time, it's infinitely powerful offensively and defensively, whether with swords or guns. Also surprisingly helpful in stealth segments, when you have only a short window of opportunity to slip past a patrolling NPC (or those annoying museum cameras).
• ANIMALISM: Deceptively powerful. Ravens are basically Trance for stealth sections; the wolves insta-kill annoying gunmen and CC stronger mooks with damage on top; the bats are essentially Theft of Vitae; and Pestilence is an AoE damage and CC BOMB. Grab a Background that boosts Animalism, unlock the bats ASAP, and become basically a beastly mage.
• DEMENTATION: Dominate if it slayed. The real star is Vision of Death. Insta-kills weak enemies and infalibly stunlocks every single boss in the game. Voice of Bedlam is perfect for large groups, no matter what random power affects each target. And of course, those delicious and inimiatable uses in dialogue! You're not playing Malks to the fullest without this discipline.

S-TIER (game-breaking):

• THAUMATURGY: Some of you will disagree with me, but consider this: you can easily beat the game with this, and only have to use a weapon ONCE. It surpasses Animalism in sustainability, with Blood Strike "reloading" you even against bosses. Only one of whom is unaffected by the discipline: the Gargoyle (so pop Bloodbuff and whip out that sledgehammer). I steamrolled Ming Xiao with only Thaumaturgy and no weapons, that's how insane this discipline is!
• AUSPEX: Hear me out. This one discipline gives you so much in many different facets of gameplay. It makes you better at hacking. It makes you better at sneaking by seeing NPCs through walls. And in combat it makes you a deadly and near-untouchable gunsman. All with minimal blood investment to sustain.

This is a silly idea I had with a friend, and after a few minutes spitballing ideas, this is what I put together. Probably not worth all the effort, but it was a fun little exercise. Thoughts?

The bizarre dissonance between these two settings is not lost on me, but who knows what the Venn diagram between both fandoms looks like. We contain multitudes, or something.

Behold my newest vampire, Ambrose Somerville. An expert oenologist in life, now he's a blood sommelier and provider of blood dolls, all lovingly procured, conditioned and fleshcrafted to perfectly suit his clients' preferences. Each vessel is a project, a libation to be cultivated, brewed and meticulously bottled. As you can imagine, the Blue-Bloods at court appreciate that perfectionism and willingness to accomodate their highly specific tastes.

He's of a homebrew bloodline unique to the RP server he was made for. Of which clan? Well, let's say he and his lineage inherited the Iron Hag's smile, and the Tzimisce have another group to sharpen their axes for.

He must periodically bathe in fresh blood, or he'll gradually revert to his true, monstrous form each time he calls on his vitae's power.

A friend and I had a little exchange years ago about Gary's reaction to a Toreador player character. Gary immediately despises us for being conventionally attractive and assumes we're a stereotypical shallow Rose that's all flair and no substance (which is TOTALLY not because he's bitter about losing his own good looks when he got Embraced, no siree).

Our Toreador can react with immediate disgust, but my friend and I were baffled that there was no dialogue option for "OMG, Gary Golden?! I loved all your movies!", which would be totally fitting for a cinephile Rose in LA.

It would be an absolutely hilarious dynamic, our Toreador being all star-struck and not giving two shits about Gary's current appearance, while Gary himself is vexed and confused by that attention from someone of a clan he despises.

Anyone else headcanoning a post-game scenario where those two become unlikely friends? Watching old movies together, exchanging critiques, throwing shade at VV ("Ooh, she's a dancer, not a stripper..."). Maybe even scouting mortal talent together and begrudgingly putting them in Isaac's path so their career can take off.