Writeup

Update: I liked how “Herald of Progress” formatted his writeup (easier to read) and modified mine to be a little more like it

Update: Switch third GI as I finally settled on a 3rd method, took additional complication/blessing, switched an item and quest

Update: implemented the suggested Elemental Root (and other more direct blessings) from the last thread, which meant dropping some of the social powers I was going to use to be a crime boss. Long term strategy changed as a result.

Methods

So as my name implies, I choose my methods so that I could be a baddass Golem. Stone Titan Ascent and Litany of the Living Forge are similar methods with a good bit of synergistic overlap while also both bringing unique things to the table. Forge has good defense, but Titan truly excels at it and with both of them together it should be even greater. The real gem on the Titans side is the eventual ability to translate physical defense into esoteric defense. On the ability side Titans size changing ability could be very interesting combined with Forge’s shapeshifting arsenal. I am particularly interested in being able to integrate artifacts and weapons on the Forge side and several of my other choices concern this. Also, the methods have similar resource requirements (rare ores) which makes things easier overall.

While it doesn’t synergize in its method of advancement Eternal Frost Pages adds significantly to the lethality of my living weapon body with it’s INSANE time powers and adding an energy method really balances things out. It’s doesn’t feel very “icey” IMO but the metaphor of “freezing” time becoming literal is the exact sort of conceptual bullshit that makes me like cultivation.

Blessings

Weapon God Physique (body)- An amazing choice as being a living arsenal with the Forge Method essentially means I can be a master of almost all weapons and learn a wide variety of weapon techniques.

Heaven-Blessed and Lowly Junior- just straight up among the best choices as most anons know and fit almost any build.

Decentralized Organs- truly makes my Golem body without weakness

Imperial Ancestry (Royal House of Weapons)- I enjoyed the build of “Artist”, which is quite similar to mine but with a crafting emphasis and thought he made very good use of this blessing. I will use it to obtain the secrets of a lineage dedicated to all forms of armed combat with a variety of secret weapon and combat techniques, recipes, and insights. The improved body is the icing on the cake.

Iron Will- incredibly powerful defensive boon and explicitly synergizes with other defensive boons.

Warhound-Can't go wrong with a raw combat aptitude boost on a living weapon, also important as I am going to have less combat experience due to being a “NEET”

Third Eye- I have been thinking about how difficult insight into the Dao of time is and seeing the fabric of reality itself will help greatly with this. Seeing through illusions and other invisible phenomena is a great power too (especially since I had to drop the Spirit Lantern) and covers an important blindspot (pun intended). The improved RE efficiency also gives me some justification for taking this even though my emphasis is combat.

Mutated Dantians-Added this as with the addition of Eternal Frost Pages I have a much greater need for combat RE (I think it is safe to assume that timey wimey powers are expensive)

Perfect Conduit- it is great as it could potentially allow for me to integrate metals, ores, and artifacts I wouldn’t be able to otherwise, and despite it no longer making pills work better, it now allows for pills to never lose effectiveness which is potentially more powerful (some of the rarest most powerful pills have limits on how many times they can be used normally).

Elemental Roots (Metal)- I appreciate the feedback on my question on which root might fit my build and while I had thought of this, I didn’t know that Metal and Ice/Water are both Yin aligned and so it synergizes with all three methods and not just Titan and Forge. Exactly what I was looking for, thank you. Most weapons are metal aligned as well so I am hoping this will improve weapon techniques as well.

Protagonist Aura- mostly to keep my companion's viable long term as they cover some import gaps in my abilities and a 3rd one is nice too.

Merchant’s Guile- to get the most out of the Bazar and Lost Legacy

Mastermind-potentially able to trade for very difficult to acquire blessings like bloodlines or physiques, also master schemer

Seventh Sense- the sort of power that is guaranteed to save me at some point and spidy sense is amazing for a melee specialist. Akso synergizes with Eternal Frost Pages.

Dreamwalker-thanks anons for giving me some extra context on this one. I am mainly taking it to gain extra insight (especially time insight), but the potential of eventually scouting out the sea of souls is very good as well as the truly powerful artifacts that are hidden there would be well worth locating. Might be some synergy with grandaddy as well.

Treasures

Market Ticket- the MVP which allows the limited nature of earth's resources to be circumvented.

Training Array- Great discussion on the drawbacks of being a Lost Legacy “NEET” which I definitely qualify as, and it compelled me to improve my battle readiness.

Extradimensional Library - mostly for the benefit of my auxiliary companions

Spliced Tree- everyone knows why this is good, especially with lost legacy

Power Concealer- Switched to this as I no longer have deceitful trickster and would benefit greatly from being hard to find and being able to disguise myself

Grand Inheritances

Heavenly Conqueror Foundation- Wanted a third method (see methods for more info), the other benefits are nice, and I respect the Nerf but the third method is the real meat and potatoes of this. Was always my intention but I couldn’t settle on what the third method should be (I am very happy with my choice now though). I will sorely miss the Dharma Weapon, but this is much more versatile.

Mentor Ring- primarily because I REALLY like my methods and would love to move on to a superior version of them (also given the Heavenly Conqueror foundation no longer includes improving your methods this is more appealing). This synergizes with Heavenly Conqueror Foundation as well as now the mentor will teach me three super methods instead of two. Also given how resource intensive or difficult to comprehend those methods are his secret knowledge, and insights will be extremely valuable. Even if I have the raw material side of things covered, unique artifacts are still worth tracking down, and a few forbidden techniques would be great too. Also, I appreciate the change from him being reluctant to share his knowledge, to him having a bad memory and needing to ask the right questions.

Lost Legacy- the fuel for my cultivation, and the benefits of this choice are well known.

Companions

My companions serve an important role coving my blindspots with Yesod covering crafting, Dr. Nalka covering alchemy, and Iska covering esoteric BS. I am also very interested in Dr. Nalka’s ability to “improve” metaphysical organs. I definitely feel upgrading them with protagonist aura is worth it long term as well.

Quests

For my quests I am mostly focused on long term value over short term advancement and Earth exclusive benefits.

Wandering Temple- my ticket out of here and given the descriptions of other worlds nearby I might want to leave sooner rather than later. Hopefully Yesod can fix it or I have to convince that idiot in the temple to do it.

Unstable Rifts-The reward is essentially a perfect prison which could be perfect for dealing with powerful enemies (such as the dragon).

Passing Through-very useful as having 3 favors from an actual sect could be invaluable and joining them might be worth considering. I will reveal my actual identity to them before the contest so there is no deception.

Treasure Hunt- its funny because I already have lost legacy, but the thing about wealth is you can always have more. If even one treasure is unique and worth using it will be worth it.

Profundity in Violence- I didn’t care much about the Stepford Village artifact and now that I have Eternal Frost Pages insights like this will be much more valuable (Dao of Time is especially hard to gain insight into).

Complications

Fading Away- shouldn’t be too bad as I can cultivate fairly quickly and importantly it is finished for good at level 10 RE.

Parasite- only a temporary inconvenience and I am hoping Dr. Nalka can take care of it and my decentralized organs will make the surgery easier.

Possession-also temporary as I can eventually exorcise it. With that in mind I am hoping Iska can help me with this and Perfect Conduit means once I get it out it will stay out.

Minotaur's Lair- as others have said can be dealt with by cultivating in the pocket plane first or if I have to using Seventh Sense to carefully move through and then it is done.

Courting Death - one of my more serious drawbacks but dealing with the odd assassin here and there is par for the course. The Power Concealer will help enormously, and I am hoping I might be able to use one of my favors from Passing Through to contact this clan and negotiate. If not, it is still a temporary drawback once I slaughter the clan.

Fated Nemesis- In my estimation the most serious drawback. The Swordswomen’s narrowmindedness means I know what to expect from her and she will be honorable and more importantly it should mean I can hopefully outsmart her (which I feel pretty confident about with my blessings). Also the rewards for defeating her are significant as her sword would be quite the prize (GI level if the nemesis scaling works the way I think it does). The reason I think this is because the Swordswomen would reject any good fortune that deviates from the path of the sword which means fate has to empower her in a way that is compatible with it. This likely means empowering her technique or the sword itself. By no means am I assuming this and the sword is a powerful relic regardless.

Incursion-last of the big boy drawbacks, I have the skills to evade with the likes of seventh sense and the Power Concealer. Longterm, I have a lot of options, for one the Titan method allows for changing to a size that could challenge him or using the rift plane to imprison him. I personally intend to spare/release him in exchange for a COPY of his bloodline (mastermind), and with protagonist aura he might show up latter in the adventure and save me from a tight spot or something.

Youthful- irritating but temporary and I can make it go faster with the time chamber

Defective Meridians- Rake has made it clear that most drawbacks can be beaten and I have the perfect solution; Dr. Nalka. She can eventually (after much study and acquiring rare reagents of course) perform surgery to fix this.

Toad Lusting After a Swan- Rake said transformation can remove this and Living Forge comes with shapeshifting, will use the Power Concealer to hide this in the meantime.

Indebted- Pay off using Lost Legacy Wealth, use Merchant’s Guile to get lowest possible pay off.

Doomsayer- Will use the Power Concealer to hide my identity most of the time but my stay on Earth is going to be mostly in the time chamber anyway, it will definitely cause some issues but they are manageable

Deviated Form (Glowing Red Eyes)- permanent but it is kinda cool and more of an inconvenience than a true bane,

Incompetent-definitely sucks but the thing about auxiliary disciplines is you either go big or go home, so if you don’t take auxiliary master, it isn’t so bad. Not being able to make mediocre pills isn’t the end of the world.

Next Steps

So I have been thinking about it and with my particular build I have a very good chance to reach RE 10 and escape Earth. Thing is it won’t be much of an adventure as I spend most of my time in my pocket dimension and don’t have to fight much (I have a few things to take care of but overall, less combat) due to my obscene wealth. While the average protagonist fights over scraps there is always the young master who had it easy and was guaranteed to ascend. That's going to be me; initially anyway. The thing is I am very dependent on my wealth to ascend and due to the way settings like this work, this type of wealth no matter how significant eventually becomes depleted or turns out to be insignificant at a high enough level. I am hoping to slow this down by becoming a Merchant Prince in the Crossroads but eventually I will have to be more direct in my approach.