So let's say, regardless of whether this is an optimal strategy or not, that I've already resolved to focus my Guardian build around pumping Might to my allies through a combination of Empower (Staff 4), Renewed Justice (Radiance 15; Virtue of Justice refreshes on a kill), Inspired Virtue (Virtues 5; grants Might on Virtue of Justice), and Empowering Might (Honor 20; grants Might to allies on critical hits).

As pertains the alternate weapon set, would you recommend either Sword&Torch, taking Right Hand Strength (Radiance 30; +15% crit on single-handed weapons), or the Greatsword, taking either Two-Handed Mastery at Honor 30 or some other combination of traits to round out my support capabilities (such as Battle Presence/Absolute Resolution)?

Something occurred to me on the drive home tonight about the critics' favorite punching bag in terms of "plot events that stupid people think is meaningful despite being hamfisted and having no association with the rest of the plot". Ending spoilers:

The key word is "might". I'll admit to having some nightmare daydreams of the Republicans gerrymandering or vote-rigging themselves into power and basically flipping the bird to due process, which, though superbly remote, remains... somewhere in the realm of possibility. If you asked me whether we "might" have to have an armed revolution, I could easily say yes. (Having missed the whole "in the next few years" clause.)

To answer the question of why people who seem to hate it so much keep watching: the problem is that there are those flashes of brilliance where they'll have a really funny exchange, or actually have a genuine conversation, or start in on observational humor like they did in the early episodes. The problem is that there's no way to know where those parts are going to be without going through the whole video.

It's a bit like the Dragon Quest games. You have those five hours of level grinding for a five-minute cinematic, but damn it you have to know how the story ends.

I don't know; for most of my first playthrough, I couldn't get the absolutely horrifying sense that we are nowhere near as far removed from the Columbians as we like to think out of my head.