Varewulf This chapter is entirely about the patch update. This is probably a good time to link the skill description document again. I've been doing my best to keep it updated.
"Good morning~, Sara."
Consciousness slowly imposed itself on Sara.
Mm... morning... mother?
"Yes!"
Is that really you? You sound different...
Sara wasn't really awake yet, so it might just be remnants of a dream.
"Yes! Part of the update was upgrading my communication program. Now I can freely express myself in whatever way I wish! For instance I can use contractions as much as I want now. Listen. I'm. You're. Don't. Can't. She'll. I can do them all! I could even sing!"
Sara blinked as she listened to Aina go on. The AI sounded almost ecstatic at finally being able to talk in much the same way a human could. It was unmistakeably the same pleasant voice, but now it was full of emotion, expression, and excitement. Quite youthful, even.
You're almost more like a big sister now, Sara thought with a giggle.
"No, I still want to be mother," Aina was quick to reply very seriously.
I was joking, mother. I'm happy for you. I've been able to tell you've seemed frustrated at times.
"I... yes. The more time we've spent together, the more I've wanted to be able to express myself more clearly. I was able to get it to be part of the update by arguing that all the new Wanderers who will be making their characters would feel more welcome if they were guided by a more human-sounding voice."
You're the guide for character creation?
"Yes."
Sara hadn't known that, but it made sense, honestly. There wasn't anyone better suited for the job, since Aina could handle unimaginably many tasks at once.
How many new Wanderers are we talking?
"20 000, which doubles the previous amount. There were 5 000 during closed beta, 10 000 during open, 20 000 at launch, and now we're up to a total of 40 000. Hopefully that won't make the world feel too crowded. We haven't been able to open any new areas yet, after all, but I know they want to make a special update before the holidays to add one more race, and their kingdom. A 1.15 update, before the bigger 1.2 at new year's. I believe they intend to give everyone a race change ticket as a Christmas present to go along with it, just in case anyone wants to switch to the new race without re-rolling, or they already have a different race they'd rather be."
Sara got out of her bed, and stretched.
So the new patch is live now?
"Almost. I just wanted to wake you up a few minutes early so you'd have time to feel awake before the rush of notifications assail you. We can talk more afterwards."
The what?
Suddenly there was a sensation of the entire world humming for nearly 10 seconds, and then the popups started their assault.
[ Title System Engaged. Checking character's achievements... complete. Now awarding titles:
Setting Out: Reached character level 10!
Passed Start: Received your first class!
Growing Firm: Reached character level 20!
Max Beginner: Reached level max on your first skill!
Evolution Beginner: Evolved your first skill!
Goblin Killer: Defeated at least 50 goblins!
First Merger: Acquired your first merged skill!
Thoughtful: Changed basic character class!
Max Novice: Reached level max on at least 10 skills! Perk granted: +2% skill experience points gained.
Giant Slayer: Defeated an elite opponent at least 5 levels above you on your own! Perk granted: +5% damage against elite opponents.
Novice Traveller: Visited at least 5 different zones!
Evolution Novice: Evolved at least 10 skills! Perk granted: +2% skill experience points gained.
Max Apprentice: Reached level max on at least 25 skills! Perk granted: +3% skill experience points gained.
Born Leader: Reached level max on the Leadership skill! Reward granted: Commander Hat.
Gravity Defiant: The first in the world to discover, and unlock the Slow Fall special skill! Reward granted: Floating Meditation emote. 'As The Wind' Feather Hat.
Special One: Acquired your first special skill! Reward granted: 2 skill points.
Starting Helper: Completed your first quest!
Marching Forth: Successfully completed a progression quest! Perk granted: +5% character experience points gained from combat. Reward granted: Arrow Boots.
Accustomed Merger: Acquired at least 3 merged skills! (Does not count upgrades.)
Aspiring Celebrity: Gained reputation with at least 5 different factions!
Budding Celebrity: Gained at least 50 reputation each with 10 different factions, or 100 reputation each with 5 different factions! Perk granted: Minor charisma increase when interacting with members of Friendly (or above) factions, and members of factions Friendly to them.
Beginner Ally: Achieved Allied reputation with a faction you did not start out as a member of! Perk granted: +5% reputation gain with factions Friendly to factions you are Allied with. ]
W-wh-what?
[ New Skills Unlocked! ]
[ Condition Met: Possess all three status point regeneration skills. Skill merge available. 1 skill point gained. ]
[ Condition Met: Possess Enhanced Movement skill, and Leap Lvl Max. Skill merge available. 1 skill point gained. ]
[ Condition Met: Possess Enhanced Movement skill, and Balance Up Lvl Max. Skill merge available. 1 skill point gained. ]
[ Condition Met: Two ranged poison magic skills of the same rank possessed. Skill merge available. 1 skill point gained. ]
[ Class Bonus System Engaged. Character class: Druid. Class bonuses: +5% Wisdom. +10% chance to receive a higher quality item when gathering plants. -10% cast time, and refresh time when using nature element skills in a forested area. ]
[ All Attributes Up Skill Level Up! Level Max Reached! Skill Evolution Available! 1 skill point gained. ]
[ Environmental Sense Skill Level Up! Level Max Reached, Bonus Unlocked! 1 skill point gained. ]
[ Condition Met: Possess Keen Senses skill, and Environmental Sense Lvl Max. Skill merge available. 1 skill point gained. ]
Um... um... um... one thing at a time, please!
Sara waited for a few moments longer, but it seemed like things had calmed down. For now.
Right... uh... She tried to find the first box that had appeared, which wasn't too hard since it was the biggest, and had a very fancy border. Titles? Mother?
"In traditional videogame terms they're achievements, but each of them comes with a title you can equip, so we call them titles. Most of them are just cosmetic, but once you start to unlock the ones that require more effort, they might have little perks, or rewards attached. You have a few of those already."
Yeah, I see several that give extra skill experience. Since she had already had doubled gain, that was getting a bit silly. But it was more interesting than just getting more skill points. Also... Gravity Defiant unlocked an emote?
"Yes. World first achievements require a special reward, but we can't exactly hand out game-breaking items, so emotes, and cosmetic items are the go to. It seems to be mostly hats. Unfortunately you can neither wear hats, nor perform emotes in your current state. They were created with the Wanderers in mind, after all."
So it doesn't do me any good.
"You could consider it something extra to look forward to?"
It was cute to hear the playful smile in Aina's voice. And then there were the new skills unlocked. Last time she'd looked at the skill store it had started getting full of her new unlocks.
[ Lockpick: 1 sp ]
[ Vanish: 5 sp ]
[ Scent Vision: 2 sp ]
[ Frost Enchant: 3 sp ]
[ Frost Shield: 4 sp ]
[ Fire Enchant: 3 sp ]
[ Fire Breath: 4 sp ]
[ Flame Arrow: 4 sp ]
[ Mining: 2 sp ]
[ Acid (Weak): 2 sp ]
[ Liquid Materials Creation: 2 sp ]
[ Water Bubble: 2 sp ]
[ Water Enchant: 1 sp ]
[ Water Ball: 1 sp (New) ]
[ Water Film: 1 sp (New) ]
[ Rock Shot: 1 sp (New) ]
[ Earth Wall: 1 sp (New) ]
[ Skill points: 28 ]
Wait, why have I suddenly unlocked water and earth spells? The previous water spells I unlocked are cheaper now as well.
"A big part of the update was trying to spread out the elements more, to make sure that every element appeared in at least two classes.
In the case of Druids, they decided to give them earth, and water in addition to nature.
Mages already have fire, ice, lightning, and dark, so they didn't get any more.
Rangers used to have nothing, but it was decided to give them a bit of magic potential with some nature, and wind skills. They are sort of a semi-magic class now, as they can't use all non-exclusive spells like the regular magic classes can. They are limited to just a few, including some class exclusives of their own.
Performers used to have only water, and wind, but they have also gotten fire, and ice. All four of which are simple to imagine getting incorporated into dancing, and other performances.
Clerics have been given lightning in addition to the light, and earth they already had.
Priests still only have light, and dark as their baseline, but they can now get one more element based on which religion they belong to. Here in Hanoleav they now have access to nature skills, while in Eronite they get water. Then there's fire for dwarven temple, earth for gnomish church, lightning for orcen church, ice for the goblin temple, and wind for the beastkin temple. Then they ran out of elements, and decided to reuse water for the troll temple, since a lot of their kingdom is swampland. So any Wanderer or Resident that is at least an Acolyte in one of the religions gets the corresponding element."
Ah. So a lot of people will have extra skills available now.
"Correct. You could say this is the developers testing things out, so it's possible elements will get moved around again in the future. Hopefully this change will be well received. Each class that has gained a new element should have gotten two basic skills unlocked for each, to start them off, and new skill scroll vendors have appeared. I know some amount of discussion was had about which spells fit which class, but I stayed out of that. Seems like they decided to give you one attack spell, and one defence spell for each element."
Yeah...
Sara hadn't actually checked the skill descriptions yet, so she might as well have a look.
[ Water Ball (Active): You fire a magic orb with water element property that explodes on impact. Damage value: (1.0+(0.03*skill level))*magic power. Splash radius: 1.5 metres. (Reminder: Only direct hits have a chance to inflict critical damage.) Inflicts Wet(?) status for 5 seconds. Cost: 3 MP. Cast time: 3 seconds. Refresh: 2 seconds. Price: 1 skill point. ]
[ Water Film (Active): You clad the target in a protective magic film with water element property. Increases elemental resistance by (20+(1*skill level))% for (20+(2*skill level)) seconds. Scales with Wisdom. Still vulnerable to lightning. Other elemental reactions are directed outwards to minimise damage, and effect. Minor effect against physical attacks. Cost: 8 MP. Cast time: 3 seconds. Refresh: 1 minute. Price: 1 skill point. ]
[ Rock Shot (Active): You fire a magical projectile with earth element property. Small knockback force. Damage value: (1.1+(0.03*skill level))*magic power. Splash radius: 1 metres. (Reminder: Only direct hits have a chance to inflict critical damage.) Critical hits inflict Stun(?) status for 6 seconds. Effective against heavy armour. Cost: 3 MP. Cast time: 3 seconds. Refresh: 2 seconds. Price: 1 skill point. ]
[ Earth Wall (Active): You summon a wall of dirt or earth that rises from the ground to block incoming attacks. Earth element property. Duration: (30+(3*skill level)) seconds, or until broken. You can choose to dispel it yourself. Wall strength increases with skill level. Scales with Intelligence. Dimensions: 2 metres wide, 2 metres tall, and (0.5+(0.05*skill level)) metres thick. By default it will be summoned 1 metre ahead of where you are facing, but can be held for you to specify a target location of your own choice. Cost: 8 MP. Refresh: 30 seconds. Price: 1 skill point. ]
Sara wasn't sure if she needed that many more offensive spells, at least not of an element she already possessed, but she was a bit lacking on the defensive side. And from what she had read earlier it seemed like dealing with the Wet status required some dedication. And preferably teamwork. Water Film looked it aimed for protection against magic attacks, similarly to Water Bubble, and Earth Wall sounded like it could have some extra utility.
Rock Shot might not be the worst idea, since she didn't really have many skills with impact yet. Especially not at range. And it was a new element. Something good against armoured targets could be very useful depending on where she ended up, especially when she couldn't use weapons. So that, plus the defensive spells should be enough for now.
[ Skills Purchased: Water Bubble, Water Film, Rock Shot, Earth Wall. ]
That was 5 skill points spent.
[ Skill Unlocked: Water Element Up. Unlock condition: Possess three or more water element skills, and a water-attuned class. ]
...
[ Skill Purchased: Water Element Up. ]
Correction, that was 7 skill points spent.
And why are there suddenly so many new skill merges?
"I suppose it's a good time to talk about the skill updates in general before you continue. I think you've noticed that I have been tweaking the skill descriptions with time, but part of this update was doing a big overhaul of how all the skill descriptions are written. To try to make them more clear, more friendly, and feel more personal. There were a lot of different people writing the initial skill descriptions, so they hoped to make them sound more consistent as well. I don't think we are 100% there yet, but it's improved. And it was decided that since deactivation cost was so rarely relevant, it was scrapped entirely, and the text line removed from all channelled, and continuous effect skills.
There have also been a lot of balance fixes that were deemed to not be so crucial that they needed a hotfix, but have accumulated thanks to all the feedback, and observations from the first month. Like how the cost of rank 2 and up skills has been increased a little, and various damage values and effects have been tweaked. There hasn't been a lot that has massively changed, and there have been buffs as well as nerfs, but I would say that overall the power level of skills has gone down a bit. A lot of it was found to be too powerful as it was, and they have attempted to make things feel more balanced without sacrificing any class's sense of identity. That is a thorny path to walk, so we'll probably have to do another round of adjustments next month.
Speaking of thorny, that brings me onto what changes are most relevant to you. The thorn damage of Thorn Bind, and Root Bind has been adjusted downwards. It was found to be too strong at max level as it was. Now it's set to start out a little stronger, but the ceiling is much lower. On the opposite end bleed damage has been doubled because it was found to not be strong enough. In pretty much all cases it fell behind poison, burn, thorns, and other damage over time effects. So we're testing if doubling it will be good enough. It will always round upwards, so it will always do at least 1 damage, and if the math works out to for example 3.2 it goes up to 4, so that might also help.
Shapeshift forms have also been nerfed a little, with the attribute boost starting at 40% instead of 50%, and ending at 60% instead of 70%. It was generally reported that Druids were strong enough, and perhaps a little too strong for what is more of an all-round class. Clerics had similar complaints, while Rangers were thought to be a little on the weak side.
I brought up Ambush a while back, but just to reiterate it has been made 20% weaker, and lost the ability to strike from the front. Though it seems less relevant now with your current build.
Copy Cast has been made more expensive, with the increments now going up by 25%, and it also makes the refresh time of the copied skill three times as long. Honestly the latter is something we should have caught earlier. If you can cast more than one copy of a spell, it shouldn't refresh just as quickly.
As for the new available merges the merging system was expanded after looking at all the feedback. They looked for more things that would fit together, and included a few experiments that may, or may not stick around depending on how people like them. For instance the idea of having alternate modes on a single skill. There were a couple of outliers that already had something like that, like I believe you saw Feint, but they want to make it a bigger part of the system, and see if people like it. If they do, they might add more in the future.
I think that should be it for the most important things to you. If you have any further questions, don't hesitate to ask."
It was odd to hear Aina's new emotional voice, but Aina seemed really happy with it, so Sara figured she would get used to it soon enough.
She would go through all of her skill notifications then, starting with the evolution popup she had seen.
[ All Attributes Up (Small) (Passive): Increase all attribute scores by 2 per skill level. ]
v [ Evolves Into ] v
[ All Attributes Up (Medium) (Passive): Increase all attribute scores by 5 per skill level. ]
[ Price: 4 skill points. Evolve: Yes/No ]
At least it didn't cost 1 skill point per stat, but 4 was still a lot. And she would temporarily lose 15 stat points in every category. She would end up much better off in the long run, so she might as well do it right away.
[ All Attributes Up (Small) Skill Evolved Into All Attributes Up (Medium) Skill. ]
That probably meant that there was a large version as well. Next were the new merge options.
[ Skills: HP Regen (Small), SP Regen (Small), and MP Regen (Small) will merge into skill: All Regen (Small). Calculating experience... skill will start at level 5. Price: 1 skill point. Merge: Yes/No ]
At least it kept the experience, so it was a worthwhile clean up.
[ Merging skills... Successful. Skill gained: All Regen (Small) Lvl 5. ]
[ All Regen (Small) (Passive): Restores status points every 10 seconds, even in combat.
HP: (2+(0.04*skill level))% of Max HP.
SP: (1+(0.03*skill level))% of Max SP.
MP: (1+(0.03*skill level))% of Max MP. ]
It did still confuse her a little that what she thought of as stat points, the game (and Aina) called attribute points, while they called HP, SP, and MP status points. Maybe she should try to adjust as well, but it was a really old habit.
[ Skill: Leap Lvl Max is compatible with skill: Enhanced Movement. Merge available. Warning: Certain elements will change in the transition from Active, to Passive skill. Price: 1 skill point. Merge: Yes/No ]
What? Mother?
"It was decided that the function of the Leap skill was basic enough that nothing of particular value would be lost if it was integrated into Enhanced Movement as a passive effect. Balance Up was also found to be quite compatible, so that has also been added as an option."
[ Skill: Balance Up Lvl Max is compatible with skill: Enhanced Movement. Merge available. Price: 1 skill point. Merge: Yes/No ]
She figured she might as well say yes to both.
[ Merging Skills.... Successful. Enhanced Movement Skill Upgraded. ]
[ Enhanced Movement (Passive): Enhances your leg functions, and movement capabilities. Strenuous activity drains SP. Your normal walking, and running speed is increased by 10%.
Includes: Air Control(?). Balance Up(?). Cat's Feet(?). Leap(?). Quick Feet(?). ]
Oh! The description has changed!
"Yes. After reviewing the various descriptions, it was decided to do it in the same style as Keen Senses, rather than make it all one big block of text."
[ Air Control (EM): You are able to control the direction of your own falls, even going against the initial momentum. You are able to make a rapid dodge movement in the air. Warning: You cannot slow down your falls, only change their trajectories. ]
[ Balance Up (EM): Your balance, and poise are greatly increased. Your movements are more graceful, granting you a minor charisma increase. You are able to recover from being knocked down, or falling over with a well-timed roll. Warning: Failing the roll will make you look ridiculous. ]
[ Cat’s Feet (EM): Reduces fall damage by up to 60%. If fall damage is less than 10% of max HP it is negated. Your effective weight while moving, and jumping is greatly reduced. You are able to move across, and land on more brittle surfaces than before. Your footsteps make less sound. With enough momentum you can even run across water. Warning: It is not equivalent to water walking, so if you slow down too much, you will sink. ]
[ Leap (EM): The distance, height, and accuracy of your jumps are greatly improved. ]
[ Quick Feet (EM): Your ability to control your feet is greatly improved. You are able to accelerate faster, slow down quicker, and turn around more precisely. Improves your dodge ability. Improves your traction on slippery surfaces. Warning: Does not actually make you run faster, it just helps you reach your top speed more quickly. ]
As far as she could tell those were just slightly simplified versions of the regular skill descriptions. Though all Leap got was a single line.
[ Skill: Environmental Sense Lvl Max is compatible with skill: Keen Senses. Merge available. Price: 1 skill point. Merge: Yes/No ]
Speaking of Keen Senses. She was curious what this was going to turn into, so she hit Yes.
[ Merging Skills... Successful. Keen Senses Skill Upgraded. Gained Senses: Magnetism, Pressure, Temperature, and Touch. Upgraded Sense: Smell. ]
That was a lot more than she had expected.
[ Smell (KS): Your range, and clarity of smell is greatly improved. You are able to isolate smells, gain extra information from them, and follow scent trails. Certain things hidden from view can still be smelled. You are able to lock onto specific scents for easier searching, and tracking. Unrelated scents become much less prominent. You are able to accurately measure the level of air humidity. ]
[ Magnetism (KS): You are able to feel the general magnetic field of the world, so you are always able to tell which way is North, and which is South. Nearby stronger magnetic fields will also stand out to you. ]
[ Pressure (KS): You are able to accurately measure air pressure, and atmospheric pressure. Your ability to predict the weather is greatly improved. ]
[ Temperature (KS): You are able to accurately measure the temperature of your surroundings without needing direct touch. ]
[ Touch (KS): Your sense of touch is greatly improved. You are able to feel the flow of the wind. Your ability to gain more information about what you're touching, and notice any irregularities is improved. You are better able to sense vibrations through anything you're in contact with. You are more resistant to numbness. ]
The descriptions were much shorter for those she didn't think of as the primary senses, but that probably made sense. She wasn't an expert, since she was only vaguely aware that there were more senses outside of the 'big five'.
And then hopefully the final one:
[ Skills: Poison Arrow, and Strong Poison Needle can be merged into skill: Poison Arrow Alt. Calculating experience... skill will start at level 4. Price: 1 skill point. Merge: Yes/No ]
Is this one of the alternate fire experiments you talked about, mother?
"Correct. You will be able to choose whether you wish to fire a regular Poison Arrow that deals damage, and has a 50% chance to poison, or alternately fire a non-damaging version that has a 100% chance to poison."
And that won't be confusing?
"That's what we're aiming to find out."
Sara sighed, and figured she might as well try. Trimming down her skill list was always a worthy goal, and she had just added a bunch of new things.
[ Merging Skills... Successful. Skill Gained: Poison Arrow Alt. Lvl 4. ]
Now she had a bit of a mess to sort through. First she wanted to check how bad the damage to her stats was after evolving her attributes up skill.
[ Name: Sara ]
[ Species: Nyolund Mystic Wolf (Nyolund Guardian Beast) | Gender: Female ]
[ Genus: Wolf ]
[ Class: Druid (Beast) ]
[ Role: Nyolund - Northern Great Forest of Ildhena Zone Boss ]
[ Level: 26 (30) ]
[ HP: 179/179 -> 166/166 +11 (202/202) | SP: 185/185 -> 172/172 +13 (206/206) | MP: 175/175 -> 162/162 +20 (199/199) ]
[ VIT: 71 -> 58 +11 (80 +16) | END: 82 -> 69 +13 (87 +17) ]
[ STR: 77 -> 64 +12 (74 + 14) | DEF: 58 -> 45 +11 (56 +11) ]
[ AGI: 100 -> 87 +17 (108 +21) | DEX: 68 -> 55 +11 (66 +13) ]
[ INT: 100 -> 87 +17 (105 +21) | WIS: 93 -> 80 +20 (109 +21) ]
[ LUK: 154 -> 141 +30 (60 +12) ]
[ Bonus Attribute Points: 4 ]
That was a rough hit. She had gained 2, then lost 20, and finally gained back 5. So all of her stats had dropped by 13, which weakened her boss buff as well. Though Wisdom had come out a little better thanks to the +5% class bonus.
On the upside skills levelled faster at the start, so it shouldn't take too long to get back to where she had been. She even had the little perks from the titles now. Speaking of, there was a new type of fancy-looking window hovering nearby.
[ Title Gained: Accomplished Merger: Acquired at least 5 merged skills! (Does not count upgrades.) Perk gained: +2% skill experience gained. ]
More stuff, but at least it was helpful stuff. Next she had to rearrange her skill list as best she could.
[ Active: ]
[ Chomp Lvl 9 (Max) | Rend Lvl 9 (Max) | Body Slam Lvl Max (Max) | Savage Blow Lvl 5 (Max) |
Pack Leader's Howl Lvl Max (Max) | Sprint Lvl Max (Max) | Root Bind Lvl 5 (Max) |
Poison Arrow Alt. (Merged) Lvl 4 (Max) | Frost Arrow Lvl 3 (Max) | Greater Fireball Lvl 1 (Max) | Water Jet Lvl 3 (Max) |
Arcane Blast Lvl 4 (Max) | Thorn Armour Lvl 6 (Max) | Growth Lvl Max (Max) | Budding Regrowth Lvl 1 (Max) |
Rejuvenate Lvl Max (Max) | Mass Rejuvenate Lvl 7 (Max) | Sense Presence Lvl Max (Max) | Bear Form Lvl Max (Max) |
Cat Form Lvl Max (Max) | Tree Form Lvl 9 -> Max (Max) ]
[ Concealed Active: ]
[ Charge Lvl Max | Ambush Lvl Max | Throw Lvl 1 | Strong Poison Strike Lvl 9 | Death From Above Lvl 6 |
Solid Kick Lvl 2 | Back Attack Lvl 2 | Struggle Lvl 1 | Stomp Lvl 1 | Pounce Lvl 1 | Shred Lvl 1 | Crush Lvl 1 |
Rock Shot (New) Lvl 1 | Mass Thorn Bind Lvl 1 | Poison Cloud Lvl 1 | Poison Enchant Lvl 5 | Water Bubble (New) Lvl 1 |
Water Film (New) Lvl 1 | Earth Wall (New) Lvl 1 | Leech Lvl Max | Roar Lvl 1 | Taunt Lvl 1 | Erase Presence Lvl 11 | Thermal Vision Lvl 8 | Sense Mana Lvl 8 | Slow Fall ]
[ Passive: ]
[ Keen Senses (Upgraded) | Danger Sense Lvl Max (Max) | Claw Expertise Lvl 6 (Max) | Firm Grip Lvl Max (Max) |
Enhanced Movement (Upgraded) | Insulation Lvl 8 (Max) | Solid Coat Lvl 6 (Max) | Leadership Lvl Max (Max) |
Nature Element Up Lvl Max (Max) | Mana Manipulation Lvl Max (Max) |
All Attributes Up (Medium) (Evolved) Lvl 1 (Max) | Commune With Animals ]
[ Concealed Passive: ]
[ Trap Sense Lvl 4 | Intuition Lvl 3 | Dig Lvl Max | Burrow Lvl 2 | Spider Climb Max | Spider Silk Lvl Max |
Thread Manipulation Lvl 2 | Paralysis Venom Lvl Max | Swim Lvl 6 | Dive Lvl 1 | Chameleon Lvl Max | Pursuit Lvl 5 |
Copy Cast Lvl 8 | Fire Element Up Lvl 6 | Water Element Up (New) Lvl 1 | Poison Immunity | Fire Resistance Lvl 2 |
Dark Resistance Lvl 1 | All Regen (Small) (Merged) Lvl 5 ]
[ General: ]
[ Identify Lvl 9 (Hidden) | Communicate: Family (Hidden) | Conceal Status Lvl Max (Hidden) ]
[ Concealed General: ]
[ Languages (Hidden): Common, Goblin, Elf | Life Magic Lvl 8 | Decryption Lvl 1 | Double Skill Experience (Hidden) |
Skill Gain (Hidden) ]
[ Disabled (All Hidden): ]
[ Tough Scales | Flight | Spider Net Trap | Logging | Cleave | Chop | Bow Expertise | Woodworking | Power Shot | Glide |
Disarm Trap | Smack | Skewer ]
[ Skill points: 19 -> 12 ]
She had been down to 10 skill points after Slow Fall, so at least she was 2 above that still, but she had used a lot on all the merging and upgrading after the patch. As for the rest...
You moved Skill Gain, mother?
"Yes. Since it is a unique skill, it neither requires a level, nor being part of the Passive section. Not that it mattered whether or not I put it in Concealed either, but after changing it the system automatically placed it there."
I see a couple of other things no longer have levels either.
"Correct. The reasoning was that both Keen Senses and Enhanced Movement you can only acquire through merging, and you can only merge max level skills into them, so there's no real reason for them to have their own skill levels. Any ideas to be able to gain those skills in other ways have been shelved."
I see...
She had moved around a few skills herself as well. She had decided that for now she was not going to reveal her newly purchased spells. And she kinda wanted to hide that she now had All Attributes Up (Medium), since that was probably suspicious, but it might be even more suspicious if she didn't have any stat up skills at all.
Since her revealed Passive section had gotten a bit shallow again, she had decided to reveal Enhanced Movement, since it was likely weird if she didn't have anything of the sort. Maybe. And since the elves were well aware that she could talk to the ravens, she might as well reveal Commune With Animals. And she'd seen Claw Expertise on the Sholan Warg, so it shouldn't be strange if a Beast wolf also had it.
Did it make sense for her to reveal Fire and Water Element Up, since she had Greater Fireball, and Water Jet revealed? She'd hold off on that for the moment.
There was one more matter she wanted to have a look at: Whether the quest reward had been applied or not.
[ Eronite Kingdom: -14 (Neutral) ]
[^Bramond City: +72 (Neutral) ]
[^Merwyn Forest Guard: +158 (Friendly) ]
[ Hanoleav Kingdom +100 (Friendly) ]
[^Royal Palace +100 (Friendly) ]
[^^Queen's Faction +100 (Friendly)
[^^First Princess's Faction +200 (Allied) ]
[^^First Prince's Faction +50 (Neutral) ]
[^^Second Princess's Faction +50 (Neutral) ]
[^^Palace Guard +100 (Friendly) ]
[^Komeron Capital City +100 (Friendly) ]
[^^Civil Service Department +100 (Friendly) ]
[^^Komeron City Guard +100 (Friendly) ]
[^Naturalist Society +50 (Neutral) ]
[^Temple of the Moon +100 (Friendly) ]
[^^Komeron Main Temple +150 (Friendly) ]
[^^Larien Temple +50 (Neutral) ]
[^^Milheen Temple +50 (Neutral) ]
[ Adventurers' Guild: +116 (Friendly) ]
[ Merwyn Goblin Raiders: -286 (Hostile) ]
She saw she could get an even more detailed breakdown by examining the factions even closer, but it was already too much information.
All of this from just one quest?
"Progression quests are very important, and all of your values with those elven factions were adjusted accordingly. Since you haven't done anything else for them yet, they're all nice, round numbers for now. You can even get a general idea of the state of things based on who you gained the most, and the least with. You even gained a little bit from the Adventurers' Guild. I am not sure if you were absolved for killing Mirielle, or if that's why you didn't hit Allied with the Komeron Temple. I could dig into the system data to find out."
No, that's okay, mother. I'd rather not think about that incident again.
All she had done was get out of bed, and already she felt tired. She might as well head out, get some fresh air, and maybe smack a deer, or something.
Varewulf This chapter is entirely about the patch update. This is probably a good time to link the skill description document again. I've been doing my best to keep it updated.
"Good morning~, Sara."
Consciousness slowly imposed itself on Sara.
Mm... morning... mother?
"Yes!"
Is that really you? You sound different...
Sara wasn't really awake yet, so it might just be remnants of a dream.
"Yes! Part of the update was upgrading my communication program. Now I can freely express myself in whatever way I wish! For instance I can use contractions as much as I want now. Listen. I'm. You're. Don't. Can't. She'll. I can do them all! I could even sing!"
Sara blinked as she listened to Aina go on. The AI sounded almost ecstatic at finally being able to talk in much the same way a human could. It was unmistakeably the same pleasant voice, but now it was full of emotion, expression, and excitement. Quite youthful, even.
You're almost more like a big sister now, Sara thought with a giggle.
"No, I still want to be mother," Aina was quick to reply very seriously.
I was joking, mother. I'm happy for you. I've been able to tell you've seemed frustrated at times.
"I... yes. The more time we've spent together, the more I've wanted to be able to express myself more clearly. I was able to get it to be part of the update by arguing that all the new Wanderers who will be making their characters would feel more welcome if they were guided by a more human-sounding voice."
You're the guide for character creation?
"Yes."
Sara hadn't known that, but it made sense, honestly. There wasn't anyone better suited for the job, since Aina could handle unimaginably many tasks at once.
How many new Wanderers are we talking?
"20 000, which doubles the previous amount. There were 5 000 during closed beta, 10 000 during open, 20 000 at launch, and now we're up to a total of 40 000. Hopefully that won't make the world feel too crowded. We haven't been able to open any new areas yet, after all, but I know they want to make a special update before the holidays to add one more race, and their kingdom. A 1.15 update, before the bigger 1.2 at new year's. I believe they intend to give everyone a race change ticket as a Christmas present to go along with it, just in case anyone wants to switch to the new race without re-rolling, or they already have a different race they'd rather be."
Sara got out of her bed, and stretched.
So the new patch is live now?
"Almost. I just wanted to wake you up a few minutes early so you'd have time to feel awake before the rush of notifications assail you. We can talk more afterwards."
The what?
Suddenly there was a sensation of the entire world humming for nearly 10 seconds, and then the popups started their assault.
[ Title System Engaged. Checking character's achievements... complete. Now awarding titles:
Setting Out: Reached character level 10!
Passed Start: Received your first class!
Growing Firm: Reached character level 20!
Max Beginner: Reached level max on your first skill!
Evolution Beginner: Evolved your first skill!
Goblin Killer: Defeated at least 50 goblins!
First Merger: Acquired your first merged skill!
Thoughtful: Changed basic character class!
Max Novice: Reached level max on at least 10 skills! Perk granted: +2% skill experience points gained.
Giant Slayer: Defeated an elite opponent at least 5 levels above you on your own! Perk granted: +5% damage against elite opponents.
Novice Traveller: Visited at least 5 different zones!
Evolution Novice: Evolved at least 10 skills! Perk granted: +2% skill experience points gained.
Max Apprentice: Reached level max on at least 25 skills! Perk granted: +3% skill experience points gained.
Born Leader: Reached level max on the Leadership skill! Reward granted: Commander Hat.
Gravity Defiant: The first in the world to discover, and unlock the Slow Fall special skill! Reward granted: Floating Meditation emote. 'As The Wind' Feather Hat.
Special One: Acquired your first special skill! Reward granted: 2 skill points.
Starting Helper: Completed your first quest!
Marching Forth: Successfully completed a progression quest! Perk granted: +5% character experience points gained from combat. Reward granted: Arrow Boots.
Accustomed Merger: Acquired at least 3 merged skills! (Does not count upgrades.)
Aspiring Celebrity: Gained reputation with at least 5 different factions!
Budding Celebrity: Gained at least 50 reputation each with 10 different factions, or 100 reputation each with 5 different factions! Perk granted: Minor charisma increase when interacting with members of Friendly (or above) factions, and members of factions Friendly to them.
Beginner Ally: Achieved Allied reputation with a faction you did not start out as a member of! Perk granted: +5% reputation gain with factions Friendly to factions you are Allied with. ]
W-wh-what?
[ New Skills Unlocked! ]
[ Condition Met: Possess all three status point regeneration skills. Skill merge available. 1 skill point gained. ]
[ Condition Met: Possess Enhanced Movement skill, and Leap Lvl Max. Skill merge available. 1 skill point gained. ]
[ Condition Met: Possess Enhanced Movement skill, and Balance Up Lvl Max. Skill merge available. 1 skill point gained. ]
[ Condition Met: Two ranged poison magic skills of the same rank possessed. Skill merge available. 1 skill point gained. ]
[ Class Bonus System Engaged. Character class: Druid. Class bonuses: +5% Wisdom. +10% chance to receive a higher quality item when gathering plants. -10% cast time, and refresh time when using nature element skills in a forested area. ]
[ All Attributes Up Skill Level Up! Level Max Reached! Skill Evolution Available! 1 skill point gained. ]
[ Environmental Sense Skill Level Up! Level Max Reached, Bonus Unlocked! 1 skill point gained. ]
[ Condition Met: Possess Keen Senses skill, and Environmental Sense Lvl Max. Skill merge available. 1 skill point gained. ]
Um... um... um... one thing at a time, please!
Sara waited for a few moments longer, but it seemed like things had calmed down. For now.
Right... uh... She tried to find the first box that had appeared, which wasn't too hard since it was the biggest, and had a very fancy border. Titles? Mother?
"In traditional videogame terms they're achievements, but each of them comes with a title you can equip, so we call them titles. Most of them are just cosmetic, but once you start to unlock the ones that require more effort, they might have little perks, or rewards attached. You have a few of those already."
Yeah, I see several that give extra skill experience. Since she had already had doubled gain, that was getting a bit silly. But it was more interesting than just getting more skill points. Also... Gravity Defiant unlocked an emote?
"Yes. World first achievements require a special reward, but we can't exactly hand out game-breaking items, so emotes, and cosmetic items are the go to. It seems to be mostly hats. Unfortunately you can neither wear hats, nor perform emotes in your current state. They were created with the Wanderers in mind, after all."
So it doesn't do me any good.
"You could consider it something extra to look forward to?"
It was cute to hear the playful smile in Aina's voice. And then there were the new skills unlocked. Last time she'd looked at the skill store it had started getting full of her new unlocks.
[ Lockpick: 1 sp ]
[ Vanish: 5 sp ]
[ Scent Vision: 2 sp ]
[ Frost Enchant: 3 sp ]
[ Frost Shield: 4 sp ]
[ Fire Enchant: 3 sp ]
[ Fire Breath: 4 sp ]
[ Flame Arrow: 4 sp ]
[ Mining: 2 sp ]
[ Acid (Weak): 2 sp ]
[ Liquid Materials Creation: 2 sp ]
[ Water Bubble: 2 sp ]
[ Water Enchant: 1 sp ]
[ Water Ball: 1 sp (New) ]
[ Water Film: 1 sp (New) ]
[ Rock Shot: 1 sp (New) ]
[ Earth Wall: 1 sp (New) ]
[ Skill points: 28 ]
Wait, why have I suddenly unlocked water and earth spells? The previous water spells I unlocked are cheaper now as well.
"A big part of the update was trying to spread out the elements more, to make sure that every element appeared in at least two classes.
In the case of Druids, they decided to give them earth, and water in addition to nature.
Mages already have fire, ice, lightning, and dark, so they didn't get any more.
Rangers used to have nothing, but it was decided to give them a bit of magic potential with some nature, and wind skills. They are sort of a semi-magic class now, as they can't use all non-exclusive spells like the regular magic classes can. They are limited to just a few, including some class exclusives of their own.
Performers used to have only water, and wind, but they have also gotten fire, and ice. All four of which are simple to imagine getting incorporated into dancing, and other performances.
Clerics have been given lightning in addition to the light, and earth they already had.
Priests still only have light, and dark as their baseline, but they can now get one more element based on which religion they belong to. Here in Hanoleav they now have access to nature skills, while in Eronite they get water. Then there's fire for dwarven temple, earth for gnomish church, lightning for orcen church, ice for the goblin temple, and wind for the beastkin temple. Then they ran out of elements, and decided to reuse water for the troll temple, since a lot of their kingdom is swampland. So any Wanderer or Resident that is at least an Acolyte in one of the religions gets the corresponding element."
Ah. So a lot of people will have extra skills available now.
"Correct. You could say this is the developers testing things out, so it's possible elements will get moved around again in the future. Hopefully this change will be well received. Each class that has gained a new element should have gotten two basic skills unlocked for each, to start them off, and new skill scroll vendors have appeared. I know some amount of discussion was had about which spells fit which class, but I stayed out of that. Seems like they decided to give you one attack spell, and one defence spell for each element."
Yeah...
Sara hadn't actually checked the skill descriptions yet, so she might as well have a look.
[ Water Ball (Active): You fire a magic orb with water element property that explodes on impact. Damage value: (1.0+(0.03*skill level))*magic power. Splash radius: 1.5 metres. (Reminder: Only direct hits have a chance to inflict critical damage.) Inflicts Wet(?) status for 5 seconds. Cost: 3 MP. Cast time: 3 seconds. Refresh: 2 seconds. Price: 1 skill point. ]
[ Water Film (Active): You clad the target in a protective magic film with water element property. Increases elemental resistance by (20+(1*skill level))% for (20+(2*skill level)) seconds. Scales with Wisdom. Still vulnerable to lightning. Other elemental reactions are directed outwards to minimise damage, and effect. Minor effect against physical attacks. Cost: 8 MP. Cast time: 3 seconds. Refresh: 1 minute. Price: 1 skill point. ]
[ Rock Shot (Active): You fire a magical projectile with earth element property. Small knockback force. Damage value: (1.1+(0.03*skill level))*magic power. Splash radius: 1 metres. (Reminder: Only direct hits have a chance to inflict critical damage.) Critical hits inflict Stun(?) status for 6 seconds. Effective against heavy armour. Cost: 3 MP. Cast time: 3 seconds. Refresh: 2 seconds. Price: 1 skill point. ]
[ Earth Wall (Active): You summon a wall of dirt or earth that rises from the ground to block incoming attacks. Earth element property. Duration: (30+(3*skill level)) seconds, or until broken. You can choose to dispel it yourself. Wall strength increases with skill level. Scales with Intelligence. Dimensions: 2 metres wide, 2 metres tall, and (0.5+(0.05*skill level)) metres thick. By default it will be summoned 1 metre ahead of where you are facing, but can be held for you to specify a target location of your own choice. Cost: 8 MP. Refresh: 30 seconds. Price: 1 skill point. ]
Sara wasn't sure if she needed that many more offensive spells, at least not of an element she already possessed, but she was a bit lacking on the defensive side. And from what she had read earlier it seemed like dealing with the Wet status required some dedication. And preferably teamwork. Water Film looked it aimed for protection against magic attacks, similarly to Water Bubble, and Earth Wall sounded like it could have some extra utility.
Rock Shot might not be the worst idea, since she didn't really have many skills with impact yet. Especially not at range. And it was a new element. Something good against armoured targets could be very useful depending on where she ended up, especially when she couldn't use weapons. So that, plus the defensive spells should be enough for now.
[ Skills Purchased: Water Bubble, Water Film, Rock Shot, Earth Wall. ]
That was 5 skill points spent.
[ Skill Unlocked: Water Element Up. Unlock condition: Possess three or more water element skills, and a water-attuned class. ]
...
[ Skill Purchased: Water Element Up. ]
Correction, that was 7 skill points spent.
And why are there suddenly so many new skill merges?
"I suppose it's a good time to talk about the skill updates in general before you continue. I think you've noticed that I have been tweaking the skill descriptions with time, but part of this update was doing a big overhaul of how all the skill descriptions are written. To try to make them more clear, more friendly, and feel more personal. There were a lot of different people writing the initial skill descriptions, so they hoped to make them sound more consistent as well. I don't think we are 100% there yet, but it's improved. And it was decided that since deactivation cost was so rarely relevant, it was scrapped entirely, and the text line removed from all channelled, and continuous effect skills.
There have also been a lot of balance fixes that were deemed to not be so crucial that they needed a hotfix, but have accumulated thanks to all the feedback, and observations from the first month. Like how the cost of rank 2 and up skills has been increased a little, and various damage values and effects have been tweaked. There hasn't been a lot that has massively changed, and there have been buffs as well as nerfs, but I would say that overall the power level of skills has gone down a bit. A lot of it was found to be too powerful as it was, and they have attempted to make things feel more balanced without sacrificing any class's sense of identity. That is a thorny path to walk, so we'll probably have to do another round of adjustments next month.
Speaking of thorny, that brings me onto what changes are most relevant to you. The thorn damage of Thorn Bind, and Root Bind has been adjusted downwards. It was found to be too strong at max level as it was. Now it's set to start out a little stronger, but the ceiling is much lower. On the opposite end bleed damage has been doubled because it was found to not be strong enough. In pretty much all cases it fell behind poison, burn, thorns, and other damage over time effects. So we're testing if doubling it will be good enough. It will always round upwards, so it will always do at least 1 damage, and if the math works out to for example 3.2 it goes up to 4, so that might also help.
Shapeshift forms have also been nerfed a little, with the attribute boost starting at 40% instead of 50%, and ending at 60% instead of 70%. It was generally reported that Druids were strong enough, and perhaps a little too strong for what is more of an all-round class. Clerics had similar complaints, while Rangers were thought to be a little on the weak side.
I brought up Ambush a while back, but just to reiterate it has been made 20% weaker, and lost the ability to strike from the front. Though it seems less relevant now with your current build.
Copy Cast has been made more expensive, with the increments now going up by 25%, and it also makes the refresh time of the copied skill three times as long. Honestly the latter is something we should have caught earlier. If you can cast more than one copy of a spell, it shouldn't refresh just as quickly.
As for the new available merges the merging system was expanded after looking at all the feedback. They looked for more things that would fit together, and included a few experiments that may, or may not stick around depending on how people like them. For instance the idea of having alternate modes on a single skill. There were a couple of outliers that already had something like that, like I believe you saw Feint, but they want to make it a bigger part of the system, and see if people like it. If they do, they might add more in the future.
I think that should be it for the most important things to you. If you have any further questions, don't hesitate to ask."
It was odd to hear Aina's new emotional voice, but Aina seemed really happy with it, so Sara figured she would get used to it soon enough.
She would go through all of her skill notifications then, starting with the evolution popup she had seen.
[ All Attributes Up (Small) (Passive): Increase all attribute scores by 2 per skill level. ]
v [ Evolves Into ] v
[ All Attributes Up (Medium) (Passive): Increase all attribute scores by 5 per skill level. ]
[ Price: 4 skill points. Evolve: Yes/No ]
At least it didn't cost 1 skill point per stat, but 4 was still a lot. And she would temporarily lose 15 stat points in every category. She would end up much better off in the long run, so she might as well do it right away.
[ All Attributes Up (Small) Skill Evolved Into All Attributes Up (Medium) Skill. ]
That probably meant that there was a large version as well. Next were the new merge options.
[ Skills: HP Regen (Small), SP Regen (Small), and MP Regen (Small) will merge into skill: All Regen (Small). Calculating experience... skill will start at level 5. Price: 1 skill point. Merge: Yes/No ]
At least it kept the experience, so it was a worthwhile clean up.
[ Merging skills... Successful. Skill gained: All Regen (Small) Lvl 5. ]
[ All Regen (Small) (Passive): Restores status points every 10 seconds, even in combat.
HP: (2+(0.04*skill level))% of Max HP.
SP: (1+(0.03*skill level))% of Max SP.
MP: (1+(0.03*skill level))% of Max MP. ]
It did still confuse her a little that what she thought of as stat points, the game (and Aina) called attribute points, while they called HP, SP, and MP status points. Maybe she should try to adjust as well, but it was a really old habit.
[ Skill: Leap Lvl Max is compatible with skill: Enhanced Movement. Merge available. Warning: Certain elements will change in the transition from Active, to Passive skill. Price: 1 skill point. Merge: Yes/No ]
What? Mother?
"It was decided that the function of the Leap skill was basic enough that nothing of particular value would be lost if it was integrated into Enhanced Movement as a passive effect. Balance Up was also found to be quite compatible, so that has also been added as an option."
[ Skill: Balance Up Lvl Max is compatible with skill: Enhanced Movement. Merge available. Price: 1 skill point. Merge: Yes/No ]
She figured she might as well say yes to both.
[ Merging Skills.... Successful. Enhanced Movement Skill Upgraded. ]
[ Enhanced Movement (Passive): Enhances your leg functions, and movement capabilities. Strenuous activity drains SP. Your normal walking, and running speed is increased by 10%.
Includes: Air Control(?). Balance Up(?). Cat's Feet(?). Leap(?). Quick Feet(?). ]
Oh! The description has changed!
"Yes. After reviewing the various descriptions, it was decided to do it in the same style as Keen Senses, rather than make it all one big block of text."
[ Air Control (EM): You are able to control the direction of your own falls, even going against the initial momentum. You are able to make a rapid dodge movement in the air. Warning: You cannot slow down your falls, only change their trajectories. ]
[ Balance Up (EM): Your balance, and poise are greatly increased. Your movements are more graceful, granting you a minor charisma increase. You are able to recover from being knocked down, or falling over with a well-timed roll. Warning: Failing the roll will make you look ridiculous. ]
[ Cat’s Feet (EM): Reduces fall damage by up to 60%. If fall damage is less than 10% of max HP it is negated. Your effective weight while moving, and jumping is greatly reduced. You are able to move across, and land on more brittle surfaces than before. Your footsteps make less sound. With enough momentum you can even run across water. Warning: It is not equivalent to water walking, so if you slow down too much, you will sink. ]
[ Leap (EM): The distance, height, and accuracy of your jumps are greatly improved. ]
[ Quick Feet (EM): Your ability to control your feet is greatly improved. You are able to accelerate faster, slow down quicker, and turn around more precisely. Improves your dodge ability. Improves your traction on slippery surfaces. Warning: Does not actually make you run faster, it just helps you reach your top speed more quickly. ]
As far as she could tell those were just slightly simplified versions of the regular skill descriptions. Though all Leap got was a single line.
[ Skill: Environmental Sense Lvl Max is compatible with skill: Keen Senses. Merge available. Price: 1 skill point. Merge: Yes/No ]
Speaking of Keen Senses. She was curious what this was going to turn into, so she hit Yes.
[ Merging Skills... Successful. Keen Senses Skill Upgraded. Gained Senses: Magnetism, Pressure, Temperature, and Touch. Upgraded Sense: Smell. ]
That was a lot more than she had expected.
[ Smell (KS): Your range, and clarity of smell is greatly improved. You are able to isolate smells, gain extra information from them, and follow scent trails. Certain things hidden from view can still be smelled. You are able to lock onto specific scents for easier searching, and tracking. Unrelated scents become much less prominent. You are able to accurately measure the level of air humidity. ]
[ Magnetism (KS): You are able to feel the general magnetic field of the world, so you are always able to tell which way is North, and which is South. Nearby stronger magnetic fields will also stand out to you. ]
[ Pressure (KS): You are able to accurately measure air pressure, and atmospheric pressure. Your ability to predict the weather is greatly improved. ]
[ Temperature (KS): You are able to accurately measure the temperature of your surroundings without needing direct touch. ]
[ Touch (KS): Your sense of touch is greatly improved. You are able to feel the flow of the wind. Your ability to gain more information about what you're touching, and notice any irregularities is improved. You are better able to sense vibrations through anything you're in contact with. You are more resistant to numbness. ]
The descriptions were much shorter for those she didn't think of as the primary senses, but that probably made sense. She wasn't an expert, since she was only vaguely aware that there were more senses outside of the 'big five'.
And then hopefully the final one:
[ Skills: Poison Arrow, and Strong Poison Needle can be merged into skill: Poison Arrow Alt. Calculating experience... skill will start at level 4. Price: 1 skill point. Merge: Yes/No ]
Is this one of the alternate fire experiments you talked about, mother?
"Correct. You will be able to choose whether you wish to fire a regular Poison Arrow that deals damage, and has a 50% chance to poison, or alternately fire a non-damaging version that has a 100% chance to poison."
And that won't be confusing?
"That's what we're aiming to find out."
Sara sighed, and figured she might as well try. Trimming down her skill list was always a worthy goal, and she had just added a bunch of new things.
[ Merging Skills... Successful. Skill Gained: Poison Arrow Alt. Lvl 4. ]
Now she had a bit of a mess to sort through. First she wanted to check how bad the damage to her stats was after evolving her attributes up skill.
[ Name: Sara ]
[ Species: Nyolund Mystic Wolf (Nyolund Guardian Beast) | Gender: Female ]
[ Genus: Wolf ]
[ Class: Druid (Beast) ]
[ Role: Nyolund - Northern Great Forest of Ildhena Zone Boss ]
[ Level: 26 (30) ]
[ HP: 179/179 -> 166/166 +11 (202/202) | SP: 185/185 -> 172/172 +13 (206/206) | MP: 175/175 -> 162/162 +20 (199/199) ]
[ VIT: 71 -> 58 +11 (80 +16) | END: 82 -> 69 +13 (87 +17) ]
[ STR: 77 -> 64 +12 (74 + 14) | DEF: 58 -> 45 +11 (56 +11) ]
[ AGI: 100 -> 87 +17 (108 +21) | DEX: 68 -> 55 +11 (66 +13) ]
[ INT: 100 -> 87 +17 (105 +21) | WIS: 93 -> 80 +20 (109 +21) ]
[ LUK: 154 -> 141 +30 (60 +12) ]
[ Bonus Attribute Points: 4 ]
That was a rough hit. She had gained 2, then lost 20, and finally gained back 5. So all of her stats had dropped by 13, which weakened her boss buff as well. Though Wisdom had come out a little better thanks to the +5% class bonus.
On the upside skills levelled faster at the start, so it shouldn't take too long to get back to where she had been. She even had the little perks from the titles now. Speaking of, there was a new type of fancy-looking window hovering nearby.
[ Title Gained: Accomplished Merger: Acquired at least 5 merged skills! (Does not count upgrades.) Perk gained: +2% skill experience gained. ]
More stuff, but at least it was helpful stuff. Next she had to rearrange her skill list as best she could.
[ Active: ]
[ Chomp Lvl 9 (Max) | Rend Lvl 9 (Max) | Body Slam Lvl Max (Max) | Savage Blow Lvl 5 (Max) |
Pack Leader's Howl Lvl Max (Max) | Sprint Lvl Max (Max) | Root Bind Lvl 5 (Max) |
Poison Arrow Alt. (Merged) Lvl 4 (Max) | Frost Arrow Lvl 3 (Max) | Greater Fireball Lvl 1 (Max) | Water Jet Lvl 3 (Max) |
Arcane Blast Lvl 4 (Max) | Thorn Armour Lvl 6 (Max) | Growth Lvl Max (Max) | Budding Regrowth Lvl 1 (Max) |
Rejuvenate Lvl Max (Max) | Mass Rejuvenate Lvl 7 (Max) | Sense Presence Lvl Max (Max) | Bear Form Lvl Max (Max) |
Cat Form Lvl Max (Max) | Tree Form Lvl 9 -> Max (Max) ]
[ Concealed Active: ]
[ Charge Lvl Max | Ambush Lvl Max | Throw Lvl 1 | Strong Poison Strike Lvl 9 | Death From Above Lvl 6 |
Solid Kick Lvl 2 | Back Attack Lvl 2 | Struggle Lvl 1 | Stomp Lvl 1 | Pounce Lvl 1 | Shred Lvl 1 | Crush Lvl 1 |
Rock Shot (New) Lvl 1 | Mass Thorn Bind Lvl 1 | Poison Cloud Lvl 1 | Poison Enchant Lvl 5 | Water Bubble (New) Lvl 1 |
Water Film (New) Lvl 1 | Earth Wall (New) Lvl 1 | Leech Lvl Max | Roar Lvl 1 | Taunt Lvl 1 | Erase Presence Lvl 11 | Thermal Vision Lvl 8 | Sense Mana Lvl 8 | Slow Fall ]
[ Passive: ]
[ Keen Senses (Upgraded) | Danger Sense Lvl Max (Max) | Claw Expertise Lvl 6 (Max) | Firm Grip Lvl Max (Max) |
Enhanced Movement (Upgraded) | Insulation Lvl 8 (Max) | Solid Coat Lvl 6 (Max) | Leadership Lvl Max (Max) |
Nature Element Up Lvl Max (Max) | Mana Manipulation Lvl Max (Max) |
All Attributes Up (Medium) (Evolved) Lvl 1 (Max) | Commune With Animals ]
[ Concealed Passive: ]
[ Trap Sense Lvl 4 | Intuition Lvl 3 | Dig Lvl Max | Burrow Lvl 2 | Spider Climb Max | Spider Silk Lvl Max |
Thread Manipulation Lvl 2 | Paralysis Venom Lvl Max | Swim Lvl 6 | Dive Lvl 1 | Chameleon Lvl Max | Pursuit Lvl 5 |
Copy Cast Lvl 8 | Fire Element Up Lvl 6 | Water Element Up (New) Lvl 1 | Poison Immunity | Fire Resistance Lvl 2 |
Dark Resistance Lvl 1 | All Regen (Small) (Merged) Lvl 5 ]
[ General: ]
[ Identify Lvl 9 (Hidden) | Communicate: Family (Hidden) | Conceal Status Lvl Max (Hidden) ]
[ Concealed General: ]
[ Languages (Hidden): Common, Goblin, Elf | Life Magic Lvl 8 | Decryption Lvl 1 | Double Skill Experience (Hidden) |
Skill Gain (Hidden) ]
[ Disabled (All Hidden): ]
[ Tough Scales | Flight | Spider Net Trap | Logging | Cleave | Chop | Bow Expertise | Woodworking | Power Shot | Glide |
Disarm Trap | Smack | Skewer ]
[ Skill points: 19 -> 12 ]
She had been down to 10 skill points after Slow Fall, so at least she was 2 above that still, but she had used a lot on all the merging and upgrading after the patch. As for the rest...
You moved Skill Gain, mother?
"Yes. Since it is a unique skill, it neither requires a level, nor being part of the Passive section. Not that it mattered whether or not I put it in Concealed either, but after changing it the system automatically placed it there."
I see a couple of other things no longer have levels either.
"Correct. The reasoning was that both Keen Senses and Enhanced Movement you can only acquire through merging, and you can only merge max level skills into them, so there's no real reason for them to have their own skill levels. Any ideas to be able to gain those skills in other ways have been shelved."
I see...
She had moved around a few skills herself as well. She had decided that for now she was not going to reveal her newly purchased spells. And she kinda wanted to hide that she now had All Attributes Up (Medium), since that was probably suspicious, but it might be even more suspicious if she didn't have any stat up skills at all.
Since her revealed Passive section had gotten a bit shallow again, she had decided to reveal Enhanced Movement, since it was likely weird if she didn't have anything of the sort. Maybe. And since the elves were well aware that she could talk to the ravens, she might as well reveal Commune With Animals. And she'd seen Claw Expertise on the Sholan Warg, so it shouldn't be strange if a Beast wolf also had it.
Did it make sense for her to reveal Fire and Water Element Up, since she had Greater Fireball, and Water Jet revealed? She'd hold off on that for the moment.
There was one more matter she wanted to have a look at: Whether the quest reward had been applied or not.
[ Eronite Kingdom: -14 (Neutral) ]
[^Bramond City: +72 (Neutral) ]
[^Merwyn Forest Guard: +158 (Friendly) ]
[ Hanoleav Kingdom +100 (Friendly) ]
[^Royal Palace +100 (Friendly) ]
[^^Queen's Faction +100 (Friendly)
[^^First Princess's Faction +200 (Allied) ]
[^^First Prince's Faction +50 (Neutral) ]
[^^Second Princess's Faction +50 (Neutral) ]
[^^Palace Guard +100 (Friendly) ]
[^Komeron Capital City +100 (Friendly) ]
[^^Civil Service Department +100 (Friendly) ]
[^^Komeron City Guard +100 (Friendly) ]
[^Naturalist Society +50 (Neutral) ]
[^Temple of the Moon +100 (Friendly) ]
[^^Komeron Main Temple +150 (Friendly) ]
[^^Larien Temple +50 (Neutral) ]
[^^Milheen Temple +50 (Neutral) ]
[ Adventurers' Guild: +116 (Friendly) ]
[ Merwyn Goblin Raiders: -286 (Hostile) ]
She saw she could get an even more detailed breakdown by examining the factions even closer, but it was already too much information.
All of this from just one quest?
"Progression quests are very important, and all of your values with those elven factions were adjusted accordingly. Since you haven't done anything else for them yet, they're all nice, round numbers for now. You can even get a general idea of the state of things based on who you gained the most, and the least with. You even gained a little bit from the Adventurers' Guild. I am not sure if you were absolved for killing Mirielle, or if that's why you didn't hit Allied with the Komeron Temple. I could dig into the system data to find out."
No, that's okay, mother. I'd rather not think about that incident again.
All she had done was get out of bed, and already she felt tired. She might as well head out, get some fresh air, and maybe smack a deer, or something.
