Varewulf Sometimes it feels like the world gets a little worse every day.
Anyway, I'm back home, and as promised here is the final part of the raid.
There were even more of them this time, so Sara had pondered how to adjust the mob numbers properly. They'd blazed through the first two waves, so she wondered if maybe she had scaled those two incorrectly. Maybe she'd made it too easy for them.
Even Kathleen hadn't been able to stall them much, but since Sara didn't get a direct view of that fight, she wasn't really sure what sorts of tips she could give her on how to improve. Since regular mobs were forced to obey aggro, and Kathleen didn't have any ranged skills to mix things up, it was possible for Adventurers to just lock her down. It would be nice if it was possible to give her more tools to work with.
Maybe the wolves should spam Howl more to try to inflict more Fear, but Adventurers weren't as affected by it as mobs. It was possible they had acquired extra Fear resistance items in preparation as well.
But that was a matter for another time, since right now she had to focus on how the raiding party had already reached her den. If Aina was correct, then they weren't actually able to see the entrance to it, so she was curious what it looked like to them. Just a hill, maybe?
Some of them she recognised, but she hadn't memorised all of them, so she wasn't sure which of the others were entirely new, and which were returning. Regardless she figured she should greet them. She took out her board, and wrote:
"Welcome back! Let's have fun!"
Thinking back on her early days, it was odd to think about how she was now looking forward to fighting the Adventurers. Well, having her own little army to command against them did switch things up from being hunted on her own. It made it feel more like a game, and not in a bad way.
She had already worked with some of the Adventurers as well. It was odd how she would be on the same side with them one day, and then on the opposing side a different day, but there were no hard feelings about it. At least not from her end. And it wasn't like it was the exact same people. The thought that the Wanderers might split into pro-Sara, and anti-Sara factions did amuse her a little, but it probably wouldn't be anything that dramatic.
It was possible some of the ones from the bandit raid were part of this raid too, but she genuinely didn't remember any of their faces or outfits well enough to say for sure.
She had increased her side to 28 Dire Wolves, and 8 Shade Wolves, but kept it at 12 Night Ravens. Hopefully that wasn't making it too easy for them. She just felt a little sorry for them after how much they'd struggled last time.
She used Pack Leader's Howl as the starting signal for her side, and then the wolves charged at the raiders.
Best of luck, she thought.
* * *
"Why did it write us a message?"
"Have fun?"
"I'm sure it's just taunting us."
"Alright everyone, here they come! Quickly get up there to grab the boss's aggro! Remember the plan!"
The plan they had come up with was to start with one tank immediately moving in to Provoke, and using other high aggro skills from below, while a second tank scaled the hill to engage the boss in melee. Thankfully they had someone with an axe, which was the Tree Form's other weakness, so that should help with controlling aggro. They had another 50 or so HP to deal with this time.
The Dire Wolves were good at running interference though, and they needed to keep people back to deal with the Shade Wolf Ambush, so they weren't quite able to push through in time before the boss started casting. However they were more prepared this time, as they had already spread out as much as they could. A Fireball should at most catch two, maybe three of them. Unfortunately they didn't have infinite space to work with, but with Water Films and Barriers deployed it should be mitigated somewhat.
However instead of a Fireball, the boss used Water Jet this time, scoring a direct headshot on one of the healers, who immediately went down. Not dead, but getting hit in the head like that would in most cases knock someone over, and stun them for a bit from the sheer shock of it.
Another healer immediately threw up a shield over the downed healer to prevent them from being finished off, but they became the next target as a Water Jet pierced right through their chest. They dropped to their knees from the pain spike. Some people played with higher pain sensitivity than others.
Thankfully that was the end of it, as the two tanks managed to push through, and one of them Provoked the boss while the other ran around to the side to find a place where it was reasonable to climb. Those who specced towards tank typically didn't go for the Climb skill, but Firm Grip was common for most melee players, and did help a bit.
One of the new mages fired off a Chain Lightning into the wolf pack, striking 6 of them in quick succession, and startling some of the nearby melee combatants. Even if they were safe from friendly fire, most humans would jump at lightning striking next to them.
Suddenly calls went up from the back as the Scouts on lookout detected the Shade Wolves approaching, and were able to start Marking them. Time for the interceptors to go to work. Unfortunately they were only able to Mark six of them before the last two struck. One hit a Priest who had just cast Holy Shackles on another of the stealthed wolves, and the other went for the Mage who had cast the Chain Lightning. They were able to save the Priest, but the Mage went down to a couple of Night Ravens who decided to help out.
Still, they'd gotten through that part with minor losses, and could turn to dealing with the ravens before focusing the boss. The Dire Wolves weren't going to let them get away with it that easy, though. There weren't that many more of them, but they seemed more motivated than last time for some reason.
One of the members above level 30 had classed up to a Necromancer, so the raiders had some extra help in the form of a squad of four skeletons, but they proved to be a bad match against the wolves. Better than nothing, but maybe zombies would have been a bit more durable. Though those were so slow that they came with their own problems against such quick enemies.
They were making better progress than last time. They were losing members at a slower rate, and the ravens were starting to drop. The birds weren't easy to hit, and they were decently bulky, but if the Mages managed to slow them with ice, then it made it easier for them to be hit with bows, which it seemed like most flying mobs had an inherent weakness against.
The other tank finally reached the boss, and it felt like they were establishing control. So long as they could keep most members alive, they should be fine.
Then the boss changed its behaviour. Perhaps it was because it had noticed how the fight was progressing, or it was triggered by someone engaging in melee, but it stopped exclusively casting support spells, and targeted someone else with an attack spell. One of the non-tank Fighters who wasn't watching the boss got struck in the head with a Water Jet, and then torn down by the surrounding wolves before they could recover from the shock.
And they had forgotten about the one special melee skill the Tree Form had, as the next axe swing with Heavy Smash from the tank was answered with a Smack that almost knocked them down from the hill, followed by an Arcane Blast that finished the job, sending them right off the cliff.
Thankfully the fall wasn't long enough to cause much damage, but it meant they were losing control again.
"Shit!"
That plan hadn't worked. And there was likely no point in trying to climb up a second time.
"Anyone with fire skills target the boss immediately! We need to get it down from the hill!"
They could figure out how to deal with it afterwards. Those who didn't have fire were better off focusing on the ravens while they were still a problem.
The boss's HP bar started going down at a steady rate, and when it was nearly at 60% they finally triggered the next phase. It turned back into a wolf, and jumped a good distance into the air before dropping down on the tank who had kept up with the aggro-increasing attacks from below. It certainly looked like Death From Above now that they were paying closer attention.
They were ready with the healing, and support spells this time though, so the tank didn't die, but he was stunned after getting hit with a Savage Blow, and the other tank wasn't able to grab the boss's attention before it charged over to the rest of its pack, used Pack Leader's Howl, followed by an Arcane Blast again.
The raiders had been better at reducing the amount of adds this time, and dying less themselves, so it wasn't as devastating, but it still threw things into chaos as the tanks had to chase after it. It seemed to be immune to taunt skills for a short while, before it finally paid attention to a tank again, and they were able to pull it away from the thick of the melee.
It no longer had the Tree Form's general resistance buff, but it was still pretty tough. Fire seemed less effective now than other elements, so the call went out for casters to switch. It was still dangerous for melee to try to swarm it, since if they didn't have enough poise, weight, and/or balance they might get blown away by an Arcane Blast. It was better for them to focus on taking down the remaining adds.
They still had to deal with someone getting targeted with a Water Jet every 10 seconds or so, but it was apparently harder for the boss to aim precisely from ground level, so it wasn't a huge problem unless it scored a lucky hit.
When most of the adds were down, and the boss was at about 30% HP, it changed again. It jumped far away from the tank, and they could see it was charging up something. The tank ran to catch up, but they weren't able to interrupt whatever was going on before they found out what it was. Six Frost Arrows shot out at once, two of them striking the tank, and the others hitting four different raiders. Seemed like the (hopefully) final phase had started.
"It can cast several at once now?!"
"Seems like it has unlocked more skills again! Be wary!"
Since they had all been the same spell, it was probably Copy Cast, or some equivalent ability. That was certainly a way to ramp up the threat even when it had less helpers. At least it took a while to charge up, so they could try to find cover, or cast defensive spells, or attempt to interrupt it.
A boss unlocking new skills wasn't the only thing to look out for in such fights. Mobs, especially boss mobs, sometimes had inherent abilities that weren't listed among their skills, so they had expected something to change, they just hadn't been sure what.
But they still had numbers on their side, so they were able to focus the boss down fairly quickly. Even if the scaling made it more dangerous than last time, it didn't have a lot of adds left to distract the raiders any longer, so it was almost easier for them to handle this final phase than the first two. It managed to take several of the raiders with it as it didn't just target the tanks any longer, but the boss eventually, and finally went down.
"We... we did it!"
"Yes!"
"It wasn't that bad, honestly."
"Speak for yourself..."
The raid was a triumph. The Guardian Beast was slain. It wasn't the hardest raid some of them had taken part in, since it had only taken three attempts, but it had been kinda interesting. It felt like it required some balance updates in terms of the challenge level, for instance it had maybe been a little too easy to overpower the final phase, but the ones who had taken part since the first attempt were especially happy with the success. It had taken them most of the day.
What was left was to wait for respawns, distribute the loot, and head back to town.
Where a surprise waited for them.
* * *
[ Respawn Timer: 0:59:59 ]
An hour?! Yikes!!!
"Yes. As a zone boss your respawn timer has increased by a lot. If you were a legendary world boss it would have been even more."
So you're saying I should count my blessings?
"Basically."
Ah well. At least it was fun to play the part.
"Was it necessary to taunt them?"
What? I didn't taunt them!
"You wrote messages to rile them up."
W-what? No, I was just greeting them, and wishing them the best!
"I don't think they saw it that way."
Hmph. They can think what they want. I was just being friendly.
"If you say so."
Sara sighed internally. Though it wasn't like she could sigh out loud at the moment anyway. Maybe it was weird for a boss to be friendly to those who came to fight them. She hadn't really thought about that in the moment.
And maybe she hadn't balanced the difficulty well enough, but she didn't really mind them winning. That was just part of the game, and if it was nigh impossible to win only the biggest try-hards would show up. She hoped it would be fun for more casual members too.
She'd revealed Copy Cast for the final phase, but it hadn't made a huge difference. Maybe she should consider using even more concealed skills to make it more interesting. Being a good boss was hard to figure out. It sucked how long she'd be out, but it had still been fun, and she hoped the raiders felt the same way.
Did I drop anything good, at least?
"Yes, the loot table the system gave you is quite impressive. The ones who won the rolls seem pleased. Kathleen also has good drops, so they got an altogether decent haul."
That's good.
She would have felt sorry for them if they had done all of that for no reward. She probably gave pretty good exp too. Had to be better than an elite mob, otherwise that would be a little depressing.
Speaking of experience, she had a look at her popups again. Still just skill experience.
[ Water Jet Skill Level Up! ] [ Water Element Up Skill Level Up! ] [ Poison Arrow Alt. Skill Level Up! ]
[ Fire Resistance Skill Level Up! ] [ Water Jet Skill Level Up! ] [ Budding Regrowth Skill Level Up! ]
[ Thorn Armour Skill Level Up! Level Max Reached, Bonus Unlocked! Skill Unlocked: Thorn Barricade. 2 skill points gained. ]
[ Smack Skill Level Up! ] [ Fire Resistance Skill Level Up! ] [ Death From Above Skill Level Up! ]
[ Arcane Blast Skill Level Up! ] [ Water Element Up Skill Level Up! ]
[ Solid Coat Skill Level Up! Level Max Reached, Bonus Unlocked! 1 skill point gained. ]
[ Frost Arrow Skill Level Up! ] [ Arcane Blast Skill Level Up! ]
[ All Regen (Small) Skill Level Up! Level Max Reached, Bonus Unlocked! Skill Evolution Available. 1 skill point gained. ]
[ Frost Arrow Skill Level Up! ]
There were some new maxed skills to check out.
[ Thorn Armour (Active): You clad a target in thorny vines that damage melee attackers for 15 seconds. Each incoming strike causes (5+(1*skill level)) HP damage to the attacker. Does not affect those able to attack from beyond 2 metres range. Cost: 8 MP. Refresh: 30 seconds.
Max level bonus: Reduces physical damage taken by 5%. ]
[ Solid Coat (Passive): +5% Defence. +5% resistance to Fire, and Ice elements. +(5+(0.5*skill level))% resistance to Slashing, and Piercing damage.
Max level bonus: Your hair/fur feels softer, looks shinier, and healthier. Bleed(?) status resistance: +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.
Max level bonus: If your MP would be reduced to 0, it will stop at 1 instead, preventing mana exhaustion(?). Refresh: 2 minutes. ]
v [ Evolves Into ] v
[ All Regen (Medium) (Passive): Restores status points every 12 seconds, even in combat.
HP: (5+(0.05*skill level))% of Max HP.
SP: (3+(0.04*skill level))% of Max SP.
MP: (3+(0.04*skill level))% of Max MP.
If your MP would be reduced to 0, it will stop at 1 instead, preventing mana exhaustion(?). Refresh: 2 minutes. ]
[ Price: 2 skill points. Evolve: Yes/No ]
Thorn Armour was straightforward, but Solid Coat had a weird bonus in the same vein as Insulation.
I'm softer now? Is that important enough to incorporate into a skill, even as a bonus? More Bleed resistance is useful, though.
All Regen seemed like a safe one to involve. The ticks were a little slower, but the amount would be bigger. Maybe just levelling up herself, and her skills was enough to up the difficulty of the raid, but there was still only so much she could do against superior numbers. She'd have to give the issue more thought.
[ All Regen (Small) Skill Evolved Into All Regen (Medium) Skill. ]
She hadn't heard about mana exhaustion before though.
[ Mana Exhaustion (Status Condition): Cannot be cleansed. When your MP reaches 0 you enter a state of mana exhaustion for 30 seconds. During that time MP cannot be recovered through any means, be it potions, or skills. Magic defence is halved, and all magic resistances are reduced by 25%. ]
That didn't sound great, which gave her a hunch for something else to search for.
[ Stamina Exhaustion (Status Condition): Cannot be cleansed. When your SP reaches 0 you enter a state of stamina exhaustion for 30 seconds. During that time SP cannot be recovered through any means, be it potions, or skills. Movement speed, Agility, and Dexterity are all halved. Physical damage taken is increased by 25%. ]
Even nastier. Sara had yet to put herself in either of those situations, so at least she hadn't found out the hard way. 'Health exhaustion' had been her only problem so far.
And finally one new skill unlocked.
[ Thorn Barricade (Active): You conjure a barricade of thorny brambles to hinder others from advancing. Nature element property. Duration: (60+(6*skill level)) seconds, until broken, or until dispelled. Weak to fire. Bramble strength, and thorn sharpness increase with skill level. Dimensions: 1.5 metres tall, 1.5 metres thick, and (3+(0.1*skill level)) metres wide. Anyone pushing their way through will suffer damage to exposed skin, and thin clothing. By default it will be summoned 1 metre ahead of you, but can be held for you to specify a target location of your own choice. Cost: 10 MP. Refresh: 15 seconds. Price: 3 skill points. ]
Since she already had Earth Wall she wasn't sure if she needed this one, but she still had 19 skill points, so it probably wasn't a bad idea to get more defensive options.
[ Skill Purchased: Thorn Barricade. ]
Which left her with:
[ Active: ]
[ Chomp Lvl Max (Max) | Rend Lvl Max (Max) | Body Slam Lvl Max (Max) | Savage Blow Lvl 6 -> 7 (Max) |
Pack Leader's Howl Lvl Max (Max) | Sprint Lvl Max (Max) | Root Bind Lvl 7 (Max) |
Poison Arrow Alt. Lvl 5 -> 7 (Max) | Frost Arrow Lvl 4 -> 7 (Max) | Greater Fireball Lvl 6 -> 7 (Max) |
Water Jet Lvl 6 -> 8 (Max) | Arcane Blast Lvl 6 -> 9 (Max) | Thorn Armour Lvl 7 -> Max (Max) |
Growth Lvl Max (Max) | Budding Regrowth Lvl 4 -> 7 (Max) | Rejuvenate Lvl Max (Max) |
Mass Rejuvenate Lvl Max (Max) | Bear Form Lvl Max (Max) | Cat Form Lvl Max (Max) |
Tree Form Lvl Max (Max) ]
[ Concealed Active: ]
[ Charge Lvl Max | Ambush Lvl Max | Throw Lvl 1 | Strong Poison Strike Lvl Max |
Death From Above Lvl 8 -> 9 | Solid Kick Lvl 3 | Back Attack Lvl 4 | Struggle Lvl 1 | Stomp Lvl 1 |
Pounce Lvl 5 | Shred Lvl 5 | Crush Lvl 1 | Smack Lvl 1 -> 2 | Rock Shot Lvl 7 | Lightning Arrow Lvl 1 |
Mass Thorn Bind Lvl 1 | Poison Cloud Lvl 2 | Thorn Barricade (New) Lvl 1| Poison Enchant Lvl 8 |
Water Bubble Lvl 1 | Water Film Lvl 1 | Earth Wall Lvl 1 | Leech Lvl Max | Roar Lvl 1 | Taunt Lvl 1 |
Vanish (New) Lvl 1 | Erase Presence Lvl 13 | Extrasensory Perception | Slow Fall ]
[ Passive: ]
[ Keen Senses | Danger Sense Lvl Max (Max) | Claw Expertise Lvl Max (Max) | Firm Grip Lvl Max (Max) |
Enhanced Movement | Insulation Lvl Max (Max) | Solid Coat Lvl 9 -> Max (Max) | Leadership Lvl Max (Max) |
Nature Element Up Lvl Max (Max) | Mana Manipulation Lvl Max (Max) |
All Attributes Up (Medium) Lvl 5 -> 6 (Max) | Commune With Animals ]
[ Concealed Passive: ]
[ Trap Sense Lvl 4 | Intuition Lvl 4 | Dig Lvl Max | Burrow Lvl 2 | Spider Climb Lvl Max |
Spider Silk Lvl Max | Thread Manipulation Lvl 5 | Paralysis Venom Lvl Max | Swim Lvl 6 | Dive Lvl 1 |
Chameleon Lvl Max | Pursuit Lvl 5 | Ranged Attacks Up Lvl 1 | Copy Cast Lvl Max | Fire Element Up Lvl 9 |
Water Element Up Lvl 3 -> 5 | Poison Immunity | Fire Resistance Lvl 2 -> 6 | Dark Resistance Lvl 1 |
All Regen (Medium) (Evolved) Lvl 1 ]
[ General: ]
[ Identify Lvl Max (Hidden) | Communicate: Family (Hidden) | Conceal Status Lvl Max (Hidden) ]
[ Concealed General: ]
[ Languages (Hidden): Common, Beastkin, Goblin, Elf, Human, Troll | Life Magic Lvl 9 | 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 | Skewer | Spear Expertise | Cooking | Slash | Blacksmithing | Sweep |
Medium Armour Expertise | Snipe | Fire | Tailoring | Sword Expertise | Lockpick | Alchemy ]
[ Skill points: 22 -> 16 ]
If these raids kept coming, she might actually max out Fire Resistance just from that. Oddly she felt better about that than setting herself on fire. In a raid it was more like an occupational hazard. It wasn't pleasant either way, but at least it wasn't her fault. Technically.
It was actually kinda nice to not have to worry about getting a bunch of random skills. She preferred specifically aiming for ones she wanted, rather than just getting a random pile that might, or might not contain something useful. And she had already gained a decent enough amount to give her a path for the future.
Hey, mother? Would it be possible to switch off Skill Gain for certain occasions? I would prefer to have more control over whether or not I'm gaining more skills.
"I can set that up for you. Just don't forget about it."
I... I'll do my best.
She had wanted to say 'I won't', but unfortunately Sara was good at forgetting things.
She might as well try to nap while waiting to respawn, assuming that was possible, and thankfully she found herself able to enter a state of dormancy that felt similar to sleeping.
Varewulf Sometimes it feels like the world gets a little worse every day.
Anyway, I'm back home, and as promised here is the final part of the raid.
There were even more of them this time, so Sara had pondered how to adjust the mob numbers properly. They'd blazed through the first two waves, so she wondered if maybe she had scaled those two incorrectly. Maybe she'd made it too easy for them.
Even Kathleen hadn't been able to stall them much, but since Sara didn't get a direct view of that fight, she wasn't really sure what sorts of tips she could give her on how to improve. Since regular mobs were forced to obey aggro, and Kathleen didn't have any ranged skills to mix things up, it was possible for Adventurers to just lock her down. It would be nice if it was possible to give her more tools to work with.
Maybe the wolves should spam Howl more to try to inflict more Fear, but Adventurers weren't as affected by it as mobs. It was possible they had acquired extra Fear resistance items in preparation as well.
But that was a matter for another time, since right now she had to focus on how the raiding party had already reached her den. If Aina was correct, then they weren't actually able to see the entrance to it, so she was curious what it looked like to them. Just a hill, maybe?
Some of them she recognised, but she hadn't memorised all of them, so she wasn't sure which of the others were entirely new, and which were returning. Regardless she figured she should greet them. She took out her board, and wrote:
"Welcome back! Let's have fun!"
Thinking back on her early days, it was odd to think about how she was now looking forward to fighting the Adventurers. Well, having her own little army to command against them did switch things up from being hunted on her own. It made it feel more like a game, and not in a bad way.
She had already worked with some of the Adventurers as well. It was odd how she would be on the same side with them one day, and then on the opposing side a different day, but there were no hard feelings about it. At least not from her end. And it wasn't like it was the exact same people. The thought that the Wanderers might split into pro-Sara, and anti-Sara factions did amuse her a little, but it probably wouldn't be anything that dramatic.
It was possible some of the ones from the bandit raid were part of this raid too, but she genuinely didn't remember any of their faces or outfits well enough to say for sure.
She had increased her side to 28 Dire Wolves, and 8 Shade Wolves, but kept it at 12 Night Ravens. Hopefully that wasn't making it too easy for them. She just felt a little sorry for them after how much they'd struggled last time.
She used Pack Leader's Howl as the starting signal for her side, and then the wolves charged at the raiders.
Best of luck, she thought.
* * *
"Why did it write us a message?"
"Have fun?"
"I'm sure it's just taunting us."
"Alright everyone, here they come! Quickly get up there to grab the boss's aggro! Remember the plan!"
The plan they had come up with was to start with one tank immediately moving in to Provoke, and using other high aggro skills from below, while a second tank scaled the hill to engage the boss in melee. Thankfully they had someone with an axe, which was the Tree Form's other weakness, so that should help with controlling aggro. They had another 50 or so HP to deal with this time.
The Dire Wolves were good at running interference though, and they needed to keep people back to deal with the Shade Wolf Ambush, so they weren't quite able to push through in time before the boss started casting. However they were more prepared this time, as they had already spread out as much as they could. A Fireball should at most catch two, maybe three of them. Unfortunately they didn't have infinite space to work with, but with Water Films and Barriers deployed it should be mitigated somewhat.
However instead of a Fireball, the boss used Water Jet this time, scoring a direct headshot on one of the healers, who immediately went down. Not dead, but getting hit in the head like that would in most cases knock someone over, and stun them for a bit from the sheer shock of it.
Another healer immediately threw up a shield over the downed healer to prevent them from being finished off, but they became the next target as a Water Jet pierced right through their chest. They dropped to their knees from the pain spike. Some people played with higher pain sensitivity than others.
Thankfully that was the end of it, as the two tanks managed to push through, and one of them Provoked the boss while the other ran around to the side to find a place where it was reasonable to climb. Those who specced towards tank typically didn't go for the Climb skill, but Firm Grip was common for most melee players, and did help a bit.
One of the new mages fired off a Chain Lightning into the wolf pack, striking 6 of them in quick succession, and startling some of the nearby melee combatants. Even if they were safe from friendly fire, most humans would jump at lightning striking next to them.
Suddenly calls went up from the back as the Scouts on lookout detected the Shade Wolves approaching, and were able to start Marking them. Time for the interceptors to go to work. Unfortunately they were only able to Mark six of them before the last two struck. One hit a Priest who had just cast Holy Shackles on another of the stealthed wolves, and the other went for the Mage who had cast the Chain Lightning. They were able to save the Priest, but the Mage went down to a couple of Night Ravens who decided to help out.
Still, they'd gotten through that part with minor losses, and could turn to dealing with the ravens before focusing the boss. The Dire Wolves weren't going to let them get away with it that easy, though. There weren't that many more of them, but they seemed more motivated than last time for some reason.
One of the members above level 30 had classed up to a Necromancer, so the raiders had some extra help in the form of a squad of four skeletons, but they proved to be a bad match against the wolves. Better than nothing, but maybe zombies would have been a bit more durable. Though those were so slow that they came with their own problems against such quick enemies.
They were making better progress than last time. They were losing members at a slower rate, and the ravens were starting to drop. The birds weren't easy to hit, and they were decently bulky, but if the Mages managed to slow them with ice, then it made it easier for them to be hit with bows, which it seemed like most flying mobs had an inherent weakness against.
The other tank finally reached the boss, and it felt like they were establishing control. So long as they could keep most members alive, they should be fine.
Then the boss changed its behaviour. Perhaps it was because it had noticed how the fight was progressing, or it was triggered by someone engaging in melee, but it stopped exclusively casting support spells, and targeted someone else with an attack spell. One of the non-tank Fighters who wasn't watching the boss got struck in the head with a Water Jet, and then torn down by the surrounding wolves before they could recover from the shock.
And they had forgotten about the one special melee skill the Tree Form had, as the next axe swing with Heavy Smash from the tank was answered with a Smack that almost knocked them down from the hill, followed by an Arcane Blast that finished the job, sending them right off the cliff.
Thankfully the fall wasn't long enough to cause much damage, but it meant they were losing control again.
"Shit!"
That plan hadn't worked. And there was likely no point in trying to climb up a second time.
"Anyone with fire skills target the boss immediately! We need to get it down from the hill!"
They could figure out how to deal with it afterwards. Those who didn't have fire were better off focusing on the ravens while they were still a problem.
The boss's HP bar started going down at a steady rate, and when it was nearly at 60% they finally triggered the next phase. It turned back into a wolf, and jumped a good distance into the air before dropping down on the tank who had kept up with the aggro-increasing attacks from below. It certainly looked like Death From Above now that they were paying closer attention.
They were ready with the healing, and support spells this time though, so the tank didn't die, but he was stunned after getting hit with a Savage Blow, and the other tank wasn't able to grab the boss's attention before it charged over to the rest of its pack, used Pack Leader's Howl, followed by an Arcane Blast again.
The raiders had been better at reducing the amount of adds this time, and dying less themselves, so it wasn't as devastating, but it still threw things into chaos as the tanks had to chase after it. It seemed to be immune to taunt skills for a short while, before it finally paid attention to a tank again, and they were able to pull it away from the thick of the melee.
It no longer had the Tree Form's general resistance buff, but it was still pretty tough. Fire seemed less effective now than other elements, so the call went out for casters to switch. It was still dangerous for melee to try to swarm it, since if they didn't have enough poise, weight, and/or balance they might get blown away by an Arcane Blast. It was better for them to focus on taking down the remaining adds.
They still had to deal with someone getting targeted with a Water Jet every 10 seconds or so, but it was apparently harder for the boss to aim precisely from ground level, so it wasn't a huge problem unless it scored a lucky hit.
When most of the adds were down, and the boss was at about 30% HP, it changed again. It jumped far away from the tank, and they could see it was charging up something. The tank ran to catch up, but they weren't able to interrupt whatever was going on before they found out what it was. Six Frost Arrows shot out at once, two of them striking the tank, and the others hitting four different raiders. Seemed like the (hopefully) final phase had started.
"It can cast several at once now?!"
"Seems like it has unlocked more skills again! Be wary!"
Since they had all been the same spell, it was probably Copy Cast, or some equivalent ability. That was certainly a way to ramp up the threat even when it had less helpers. At least it took a while to charge up, so they could try to find cover, or cast defensive spells, or attempt to interrupt it.
A boss unlocking new skills wasn't the only thing to look out for in such fights. Mobs, especially boss mobs, sometimes had inherent abilities that weren't listed among their skills, so they had expected something to change, they just hadn't been sure what.
But they still had numbers on their side, so they were able to focus the boss down fairly quickly. Even if the scaling made it more dangerous than last time, it didn't have a lot of adds left to distract the raiders any longer, so it was almost easier for them to handle this final phase than the first two. It managed to take several of the raiders with it as it didn't just target the tanks any longer, but the boss eventually, and finally went down.
"We... we did it!"
"Yes!"
"It wasn't that bad, honestly."
"Speak for yourself..."
The raid was a triumph. The Guardian Beast was slain. It wasn't the hardest raid some of them had taken part in, since it had only taken three attempts, but it had been kinda interesting. It felt like it required some balance updates in terms of the challenge level, for instance it had maybe been a little too easy to overpower the final phase, but the ones who had taken part since the first attempt were especially happy with the success. It had taken them most of the day.
What was left was to wait for respawns, distribute the loot, and head back to town.
Where a surprise waited for them.
* * *
[ Respawn Timer: 0:59:59 ]
An hour?! Yikes!!!
"Yes. As a zone boss your respawn timer has increased by a lot. If you were a legendary world boss it would have been even more."
So you're saying I should count my blessings?
"Basically."
Ah well. At least it was fun to play the part.
"Was it necessary to taunt them?"
What? I didn't taunt them!
"You wrote messages to rile them up."
W-what? No, I was just greeting them, and wishing them the best!
"I don't think they saw it that way."
Hmph. They can think what they want. I was just being friendly.
"If you say so."
Sara sighed internally. Though it wasn't like she could sigh out loud at the moment anyway. Maybe it was weird for a boss to be friendly to those who came to fight them. She hadn't really thought about that in the moment.
And maybe she hadn't balanced the difficulty well enough, but she didn't really mind them winning. That was just part of the game, and if it was nigh impossible to win only the biggest try-hards would show up. She hoped it would be fun for more casual members too.
She'd revealed Copy Cast for the final phase, but it hadn't made a huge difference. Maybe she should consider using even more concealed skills to make it more interesting. Being a good boss was hard to figure out. It sucked how long she'd be out, but it had still been fun, and she hoped the raiders felt the same way.
Did I drop anything good, at least?
"Yes, the loot table the system gave you is quite impressive. The ones who won the rolls seem pleased. Kathleen also has good drops, so they got an altogether decent haul."
That's good.
She would have felt sorry for them if they had done all of that for no reward. She probably gave pretty good exp too. Had to be better than an elite mob, otherwise that would be a little depressing.
Speaking of experience, she had a look at her popups again. Still just skill experience.
[ Water Jet Skill Level Up! ] [ Water Element Up Skill Level Up! ] [ Poison Arrow Alt. Skill Level Up! ]
[ Fire Resistance Skill Level Up! ] [ Water Jet Skill Level Up! ] [ Budding Regrowth Skill Level Up! ]
[ Thorn Armour Skill Level Up! Level Max Reached, Bonus Unlocked! Skill Unlocked: Thorn Barricade. 2 skill points gained. ]
[ Smack Skill Level Up! ] [ Fire Resistance Skill Level Up! ] [ Death From Above Skill Level Up! ]
[ Arcane Blast Skill Level Up! ] [ Water Element Up Skill Level Up! ]
[ Solid Coat Skill Level Up! Level Max Reached, Bonus Unlocked! 1 skill point gained. ]
[ Frost Arrow Skill Level Up! ] [ Arcane Blast Skill Level Up! ]
[ All Regen (Small) Skill Level Up! Level Max Reached, Bonus Unlocked! Skill Evolution Available. 1 skill point gained. ]
[ Frost Arrow Skill Level Up! ]
There were some new maxed skills to check out.
[ Thorn Armour (Active): You clad a target in thorny vines that damage melee attackers for 15 seconds. Each incoming strike causes (5+(1*skill level)) HP damage to the attacker. Does not affect those able to attack from beyond 2 metres range. Cost: 8 MP. Refresh: 30 seconds.
Max level bonus: Reduces physical damage taken by 5%. ]
[ Solid Coat (Passive): +5% Defence. +5% resistance to Fire, and Ice elements. +(5+(0.5*skill level))% resistance to Slashing, and Piercing damage.
Max level bonus: Your hair/fur feels softer, looks shinier, and healthier. Bleed(?) status resistance: +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.
Max level bonus: If your MP would be reduced to 0, it will stop at 1 instead, preventing mana exhaustion(?). Refresh: 2 minutes. ]
v [ Evolves Into ] v
[ All Regen (Medium) (Passive): Restores status points every 12 seconds, even in combat.
HP: (5+(0.05*skill level))% of Max HP.
SP: (3+(0.04*skill level))% of Max SP.
MP: (3+(0.04*skill level))% of Max MP.
If your MP would be reduced to 0, it will stop at 1 instead, preventing mana exhaustion(?). Refresh: 2 minutes. ]
[ Price: 2 skill points. Evolve: Yes/No ]
Thorn Armour was straightforward, but Solid Coat had a weird bonus in the same vein as Insulation.
I'm softer now? Is that important enough to incorporate into a skill, even as a bonus? More Bleed resistance is useful, though.
All Regen seemed like a safe one to involve. The ticks were a little slower, but the amount would be bigger. Maybe just levelling up herself, and her skills was enough to up the difficulty of the raid, but there was still only so much she could do against superior numbers. She'd have to give the issue more thought.
[ All Regen (Small) Skill Evolved Into All Regen (Medium) Skill. ]
She hadn't heard about mana exhaustion before though.
[ Mana Exhaustion (Status Condition): Cannot be cleansed. When your MP reaches 0 you enter a state of mana exhaustion for 30 seconds. During that time MP cannot be recovered through any means, be it potions, or skills. Magic defence is halved, and all magic resistances are reduced by 25%. ]
That didn't sound great, which gave her a hunch for something else to search for.
[ Stamina Exhaustion (Status Condition): Cannot be cleansed. When your SP reaches 0 you enter a state of stamina exhaustion for 30 seconds. During that time SP cannot be recovered through any means, be it potions, or skills. Movement speed, Agility, and Dexterity are all halved. Physical damage taken is increased by 25%. ]
Even nastier. Sara had yet to put herself in either of those situations, so at least she hadn't found out the hard way. 'Health exhaustion' had been her only problem so far.
And finally one new skill unlocked.
[ Thorn Barricade (Active): You conjure a barricade of thorny brambles to hinder others from advancing. Nature element property. Duration: (60+(6*skill level)) seconds, until broken, or until dispelled. Weak to fire. Bramble strength, and thorn sharpness increase with skill level. Dimensions: 1.5 metres tall, 1.5 metres thick, and (3+(0.1*skill level)) metres wide. Anyone pushing their way through will suffer damage to exposed skin, and thin clothing. By default it will be summoned 1 metre ahead of you, but can be held for you to specify a target location of your own choice. Cost: 10 MP. Refresh: 15 seconds. Price: 3 skill points. ]
Since she already had Earth Wall she wasn't sure if she needed this one, but she still had 19 skill points, so it probably wasn't a bad idea to get more defensive options.
[ Skill Purchased: Thorn Barricade. ]
Which left her with:
[ Active: ]
[ Chomp Lvl Max (Max) | Rend Lvl Max (Max) | Body Slam Lvl Max (Max) | Savage Blow Lvl 6 -> 7 (Max) |
Pack Leader's Howl Lvl Max (Max) | Sprint Lvl Max (Max) | Root Bind Lvl 7 (Max) |
Poison Arrow Alt. Lvl 5 -> 7 (Max) | Frost Arrow Lvl 4 -> 7 (Max) | Greater Fireball Lvl 6 -> 7 (Max) |
Water Jet Lvl 6 -> 8 (Max) | Arcane Blast Lvl 6 -> 9 (Max) | Thorn Armour Lvl 7 -> Max (Max) |
Growth Lvl Max (Max) | Budding Regrowth Lvl 4 -> 7 (Max) | Rejuvenate Lvl Max (Max) |
Mass Rejuvenate Lvl Max (Max) | Bear Form Lvl Max (Max) | Cat Form Lvl Max (Max) |
Tree Form Lvl Max (Max) ]
[ Concealed Active: ]
[ Charge Lvl Max | Ambush Lvl Max | Throw Lvl 1 | Strong Poison Strike Lvl Max |
Death From Above Lvl 8 -> 9 | Solid Kick Lvl 3 | Back Attack Lvl 4 | Struggle Lvl 1 | Stomp Lvl 1 |
Pounce Lvl 5 | Shred Lvl 5 | Crush Lvl 1 | Smack Lvl 1 -> 2 | Rock Shot Lvl 7 | Lightning Arrow Lvl 1 |
Mass Thorn Bind Lvl 1 | Poison Cloud Lvl 2 | Thorn Barricade (New) Lvl 1| Poison Enchant Lvl 8 |
Water Bubble Lvl 1 | Water Film Lvl 1 | Earth Wall Lvl 1 | Leech Lvl Max | Roar Lvl 1 | Taunt Lvl 1 |
Vanish (New) Lvl 1 | Erase Presence Lvl 13 | Extrasensory Perception | Slow Fall ]
[ Passive: ]
[ Keen Senses | Danger Sense Lvl Max (Max) | Claw Expertise Lvl Max (Max) | Firm Grip Lvl Max (Max) |
Enhanced Movement | Insulation Lvl Max (Max) | Solid Coat Lvl 9 -> Max (Max) | Leadership Lvl Max (Max) |
Nature Element Up Lvl Max (Max) | Mana Manipulation Lvl Max (Max) |
All Attributes Up (Medium) Lvl 5 -> 6 (Max) | Commune With Animals ]
[ Concealed Passive: ]
[ Trap Sense Lvl 4 | Intuition Lvl 4 | Dig Lvl Max | Burrow Lvl 2 | Spider Climb Lvl Max |
Spider Silk Lvl Max | Thread Manipulation Lvl 5 | Paralysis Venom Lvl Max | Swim Lvl 6 | Dive Lvl 1 |
Chameleon Lvl Max | Pursuit Lvl 5 | Ranged Attacks Up Lvl 1 | Copy Cast Lvl Max | Fire Element Up Lvl 9 |
Water Element Up Lvl 3 -> 5 | Poison Immunity | Fire Resistance Lvl 2 -> 6 | Dark Resistance Lvl 1 |
All Regen (Medium) (Evolved) Lvl 1 ]
[ General: ]
[ Identify Lvl Max (Hidden) | Communicate: Family (Hidden) | Conceal Status Lvl Max (Hidden) ]
[ Concealed General: ]
[ Languages (Hidden): Common, Beastkin, Goblin, Elf, Human, Troll | Life Magic Lvl 9 | 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 | Skewer | Spear Expertise | Cooking | Slash | Blacksmithing | Sweep |
Medium Armour Expertise | Snipe | Fire | Tailoring | Sword Expertise | Lockpick | Alchemy ]
[ Skill points: 22 -> 16 ]
If these raids kept coming, she might actually max out Fire Resistance just from that. Oddly she felt better about that than setting herself on fire. In a raid it was more like an occupational hazard. It wasn't pleasant either way, but at least it wasn't her fault. Technically.
It was actually kinda nice to not have to worry about getting a bunch of random skills. She preferred specifically aiming for ones she wanted, rather than just getting a random pile that might, or might not contain something useful. And she had already gained a decent enough amount to give her a path for the future.
Hey, mother? Would it be possible to switch off Skill Gain for certain occasions? I would prefer to have more control over whether or not I'm gaining more skills.
"I can set that up for you. Just don't forget about it."
I... I'll do my best.
She had wanted to say 'I won't', but unfortunately Sara was good at forgetting things.
She might as well try to nap while waiting to respawn, assuming that was possible, and thankfully she found herself able to enter a state of dormancy that felt similar to sleeping.
