Healer Book 6 -- Chapter 11

Chapter 11

The choice of where to stick his extra stat points, thanks to the 450 Consumable Free Stat Stones he had left over from completing the SPECIAL Quest with the Warpath Dungeon breakout, was a fairly easy one to make.  The two stats that he relied on the most to do damage to almost all monsters he encountered was Physicality and Fortuity – at least while solo; there was something to be said for a higher Mentality stat when he was in a Party, but it was already high enough—and the cost of his spells were low enough—that he could cast as much as he wanted to right now even without wearing any equipment.  Therefore, he split the 450 stones in between Physicality and Fortuity; overall, it wasn’t that big of a difference, but every little bit helped.

When he looked at his stats, now that his solo-focused Growth set of equipment was at Level 242[1], he felt like there wasn’t too much improvement that could be had from that point.  With his unique spells and fighting style, there wasn’t much that could stand up to him – unless he encountered another Director or a monster that didn’t take any magical damage at all.  In those cases, it was unlikely that having higher stats would even make much of a difference.

Physicality – 15,746 (85,955)

Celerity – 11,558 (68,376)

Mentality – 23,566 (48,088)

Personality – 1 (-597)

Fortuity – 15,567 (32,023)

With his stat choices done with, he turned to his Competencies, or more accurately, his pending Advancements.  The first one he looked at was for his Natural Regeneration Competency, which he’d acquired a little while ago but hadn’t had time yet to make a decision.

Please select (1) Advancement for your Natural Regeneration Competency:

Quicker Regeneration – Natural Health regeneration is now 50% faster

Firmer Regeneration – Natural Health regeneration now toughens the skin, reducing further damage by 25% for 30 seconds

Deeper Regeneration – Natural Health regeneration now heals major injuries at double the normal regeneration rate

Softer Regeneration – Natural Health regeneration is 75% faster, but max Health is temporarily decreased by 33% for 10 minutes after being fully healed

The Little Death – Natural Health regeneration is increased by 333% for 10 minutes after being resurrected

Pain Is Pleasure – Natural Health regeneration rate is increased by 3% for each consecutive incidence of damage to Health within 30 seconds, with the time resetting at each damaging incident (max 300%)

Seeing as Thaden didn’t take direct damage to his Health very often, he didn’t think the new addition to the options, Pain Is Pleasure, would necessarily be of much use to him.  In the end, he thought about the times when his Natural Regeneration actually came in handy, which was typically after his Death Ward had activated; in those cases, he had typically taken so much damage that he ended up passing out, so something that would help prevent him from dying again as he recovered would be appropriate.  Therefore, while it wasn’t a flashy Advancement, he chose Firmer Regeneration, which would reduce damage taken by 25% for 30 seconds after his natural Health regeneration kicked in.

Next, he looked at his 2 Advancement options for his Emboldened Leadership Competency.  Looking at his selections, he somewhat felt like he hadn’t earned them, given that he had been essentially been given 1,000 points in the Competency from his <Hero of Tarth> title, but he wasn’t going to pass it up even if it wasn’t earned the normal way.

Please select (2) Advancements for your Emboldened Leadership Competency:

Rubbing Off – In addition to Physicality, Celerity, and Mentality bonuses, each member of your party also receives an equal amount of additional Personality

Lucky in Love – In addition to Physicality, Celerity, and Mentality bonuses, each member of your party also receives an equal amount of additional Fortuity

Groupies – The more allies in your party, the higher their Perceived Level, up to a total of 60% of their base Level, while their temporary bonuses in Physicality, Celerity, and Mentality are reduced by an equal amount

Indecent Proposal – All allies within your party can choose to have their temporary Physicality, Celerity, and Mentality bonuses converted into Perceived Level, and vice versa, every 3 hours

Perfectly Paired Posse – If the number of living party members in your party, including yourself, total an even number, their Physicality, Celerity, and Mentality bonuses are increased by 66%; if the total number of living party members in your party is odd, their Physicality, Celerity, and Mentality bonuses are reduced by 66%

Selective Aphrodisiac – You may now selectively choose which targets are affected by your Visible Charisma Advancement; the more selected, the lower their additional Perceived Level, starting at 69% of their base Level at 1 selection and reducing 9% with each additional target selected, with a minimum of 18%

Exhibitionist – The higher the number of hostile targets within 270 feet, the higher the Physicality, Celerity, and Mentality bonuses, as well as additional Perceived Level, your party members will receive; while these bonuses and the additional Perceived Level start at 20% for the first hostile target and scale up by 30% with each additional target, these bonuses only affect those who are wearing or holding any equipment that do not provide bonuses to stats or grants any effects or abilities; in addition, all of these bonuses are negated if you are wearing or holding any equipment that provides bonuses to stats or grants any effects or abilities

The choices for Emboldened Leadership were a lot more difficult than Natural Regeneration.  In them, he saw the potential for allowing party members to earn some PICK if he were to group up with them, but he would have to consider it carefully to ensure it would actually work.  Going down the list, he immediately disregarded Rubbing Off and Lucky in Love, as they simply provided Personality and Fortuity in addition to the Physicality, Celerity, and Mentality bonuses that came from being in a party with him.  Unfortunately, the other 5 Advancement choices could be combined together to make a difference in the Perceived Level of his party members.

First, the Groupies Advancement seemed like a no-brainer, as it would increase Perceived Level up to 60% with more people in his party.  Therefore, if he maxed out the Perceived Level of a Raid Party of Level 200 Contenders, they would essentially be Level 320 with a 60% Perceived Level increase; that wasn’t quite enough to ensure that everyone would get PICK, as he needed to be within 50 Levels of the average Perceived Level of the Raid Party.

To boost that Perceived Level even further, there were a few options.  The new Selective Aphrodisiac Advancement allowed him to selectively choose which targets were affected by his Visible Charisma Advancement, and the fewer the targets, the higher the additional Perceived Level.  The biggest difference between Groupies and Selective Aphrodisiac was that Groupies simply affected the base 30% Perceived Level that Visible Charisma gave, while Selective Aphrodisiac clearly said that it gave additional Perceived Level.  Therefore, even at the smallest bonus, with both of them active and with enough people to satisfy the maximum 60% Perceived Level for Groupies, he was looking at 78% Perceived Level – which still wasn’t enough for his purposes. 

If he only selected a single party member, however, that person would be at a Perceived Level of 458 – which was more than enough to earn some PICK; a quick calculation told him that he could get this to work for a small party of 4 in addition to himself, as their Perceived Level would be Level 404 – just within that 50-Level range to earn PICK in a Raid Party.  However, a Raid Party had to have at least 6 people in it to qualify for the 50-Level difference, and it took the average Perceived Level to determine if it would work.  If he had a Raid Party of the minimum of 6 Level 200 Contenders, the average Perceived Level for the whole party would be approximately Level 397, which wasn’t quite enough to allow any PICK to get through to them. 

Of course, if the Contenders were a higher Level to start with, such as Level 205 or higher, then he would be able to take 5 Contenders with him in a “Raid Party” of 6 and allow them to make some PICK.  Unfortunately, with Selective Aphrodisiac, ensuring his party had enough extra Perceived Level meant that he wasn’t targeting monsters with his Visible Charisma, meaning that they wouldn’t be a high Level.  As his current Level stood, if none of the monsters in the Wildlands had their Perceived Level boosted by his Advancement, then they wouldn’t give any PICK even if his party was within 50 Levels of him.  As time went on, as Sadia had informed him, the monsters’ Levels would gradually increase, meaning that they would eventually be within range of granting PICK without their Perceived Levels being boosted, but from what he understood, that might not happen for a couple of months to a half a year.

So, therefore, he disregarded Selective Aphrodisiac for now.  The other new option he looked at was Exhibitionist, and it seemed perfect for boosting the Perceived Level of people in his party.  With higher numbers of monsters within 270 feet, everyone in his party would have not only their Physicality, Celerity, and Mentality stats increased, but additional Perceived Level, as well.  The only caveat?  Everyone had to be naked.

Well, not exactly naked, but the only clothing, armor, or weapons that could be used were essentially mundane items without any stat bonuses or effects.  He considered if there might be a way to cheese the process by swapping out equipment just before a monster was killed, but a quick question to Sadia disabused him of that notion; apparently, checks for these kinds of requirements when it came to calculating PICK and loot rewards were assessed constantly during a battle, and it was highly unlikely that such a thing would be possible.

Still, it was something to consider, though he had to consider if he took a party of any size through a NEST to clear it, then once he got down to only a few or a singular monster – such as a Boss, then they might miss out on any PICK or loot because the bonuses wouldn’t be high enough to hit that 50-Level threshold. 

Then there were the Advancements Indecent Proposal and Perfectly Paired Posse.  The first one was a bit nebulous, as it converted the stat bonuses that his party members received from the Emboldened Leadership Competency into Perceived Level; unfortunately, there wasn’t a conversion rate listed with the Advancement description, so he wasn’t sure how effective this would be.  If, say, a party member received a +200 bonus to Physicality, Celerity, and Mentality because they were in his party, would the conversion of that be 1:1, so a 200% increase in Perceived Level?  Or was it more like 5:1, which would only a 40% increase – which wasn’t enough to make a difference in what was needed to earn PICK.  Without knowing exactly how effective it was, he was hesitant to pick it. 

By itself, Perfectly Paired Posse wasn’t directly related to Perceived Level, but the 66% bonus to the stats he imparted on his party members when there were an even number of people in his party could be used in conjunction with Indecent Proposal to increase Perceived Level even further.

The problem he needed to work through with Indecent Proposal was that the Groupies Advancement, which he previous thought of as a no-brainer as a choice, also reduced the Physicality, Celerity, and Mentality bonuses as Perceived Level went up.  If he combined that with Indecent Proposal, then even if the conversion rate was favorable, there might not be a high enough of a stat bonus to make a difference.

The way he saw it, he had two methods of allowing party members to reach a high-enough Perceived Level to gain some PICK when partying with him.  The first was to go with the Groupies Advancement and then Exhibitionist, which would certainly work when facing multiple monsters – with the caveat that they all had to be wearing none of their good equipment.  The second was to take a chance with Indecent Proposal by converting the stat bonuses they would receive into Perceived Level, along with Perfectly Paired Posse to boost that even further – with the requirement of having an even number of party members. 

In the end, he went with the second option, as there were fewer requirements needed to achieve a boosted Perceived Level – as long as the boost from Indecent Proposal was enough to reach that 50-Level threshold with larger Raid Parties.  What really solidified the choice, however, was the fact that he wouldn’t be able to wear any equipment himself with Exhibitionist; when he accumulated PICK by killing monsters, he would have to absorb it into his reserves rather than into his Growth equipment.  If he was forced to do that, then he would quickly hit his limit and have to Level-up, furthering the gap between him and other Contenders.

His deliberations took long enough that once he finally selected the 2 Advancements for Emboldened Leadership, there was a loud, tinny chime that seemed to come from the crystal pedestal.  Standing up, he glanced at Sadia, who nodded at his unspoken question.

It seemed as though the 60 minutes of safety after subjugating the NEST was up.

Jumping toward the top of the walkway above the gate, he looked out at the nearby landscape outside of the town ruins.  It didn’t take long for him to see dozens of Skeletal Giants moving rather swiftly, for their size, toward the Defensive Fortification.  They were coming from all directions, even from where the gap in the mountain range was located, which made him slightly worried for those working on constructing the defenses.  He had only seen a single Giant on the way from the Region to the Wildlands after his meeting with Corinna and the other Guild Leaders, but apparently there were quite a few more.

Even though they were coming from pretty much every direction, as they got closer to the Fortification, he could see them migrating toward where the Steel Gate was located.  Just as an experimentation, he jumped on the Arcane Ballista nearby and shot a large, glowing bolt toward one of the Giants as it lumbered into range.  His aim was amazingly accurate, and he saw the projectile slam into its rib cage, tearing through its bones and leaving a large hole where the ribs used to be.  He just barely missed hitting its spine, though he nicked it and took a chunk out of it – but that didn’t seem to affect it all that much.  Even missing a portion of its chest, the Skeletal Giant wasn’t fatally injured, though it did stumble slightly and slow down a little after it was hit by the bolt.

Not too bad, I suppose.  A critical hit, such as to its head, might kill it in one shot, but something tells me it won’t be that easy. 

As if to prove that assumption correct, he used his Celerity and Physicality to quickly load and ready another bolt, before firing it at yet another Giant that was getting close.  He aimed for its head but it ended up being a little low, but even a neck-shot could potentially decapitate the monster.  That didn’t happen, however, as the Giant seemed to react quickly enough to raise its bone club and smack the projectile out of the air, deflecting it harmlessly away.  Thaden saw that the club had a portion of its length chipped off from the deflection, but it was still relatively intact.

Trying the Catapult next, he was pleased to see that his first launch of an exploding projectile was nearly a direct hit, though even the close hit was sub-par in the amount of damage it did.  As it detonated only a few feet away from a Skeletal Giant, the explosion only cracked some of the bones that were closest to the detonation – though it did knock the Giant down on its back, so that was at least something. 

Multiple strikes or even a direct hit might have a more impressive result, but at least it can stun them a little.

The Omenic Drifter didn’t use any of his spells to kill the Giants as they approached, as he wanted to see how well the defenses held up under the assault.  As the first dozen arrived, they gathered around the gate and started beating at it – and the surrounding stone – with their clubs; almost immediately, he saw cracks forming in the stone, and the Steel Gate was beginning to deform.  After about 10 seconds, he could see that if the Giants that were there weren’t stopped soon, he didn’t think that the walls or the gate would hold for more than a minute.

Thankfully, the Horizontal Cutters along the outside walls were already taking a toll on the attacking Giants, and he watched as one of the Cutter emplacements got lucky as one of the Giants was pushed from behind by another and ended up stumbling straight into the upgraded defense.  While its bones were cut apart in multiple places, the Undead monster fell apart and collapsed in front of the wall, blocking and further damaging the Cutters located there.

He quickly checked his messages as he saw the Giant die. 

Defensive Kill [#32599999-E] – SP Earned: 9 SP

A quick calculation told him that the Skeletal Giant was worth, at its base, 2 SP points – which wasn’t a lot, but with how many of them there were, those numbers would add up.  When he applied his SP accumulation bonus, he was earning 9 SP per kill – a substantial increase compared to the base value.

“Huh.  So, I could kill all of these attackers and only earn about, hmm, 400 SP or so?” he asked Sadia, who was standing next to him, looking down at the Giants battering their way inside.  He estimated that there were about 45 Skeletal Giants converging on the Fortification.

“I believe that’s just what you earn from the defenses here,” she clarified, without explaining what she meant by that.  However, Thaden immediately understood what she was implying.  A quick cast of Exceptional Full Heal on one of the Giants killed it in one shot, and he looked at his messages again.   

Defensive Kill [#32599999-E] – SP Earned: 23 SP

“Whoa!  That’s a big difference,” he said as he did another rapid calculation.  “Not a huge difference without my bonuses, going from 2 SP to 5 SP for a kill I made myself, but that’s another 14 SP per kill.  If I kill all 45 of these Giants instead of letting the defenses do it, then I’ll earn just a little over 1,000 SP.”

When he considered that he’d initially upgraded most of the Fortification to Stage 3 for less than 200 SP, he figured he could upgrade it all again up to Stage 5 or 6—or perhaps further—with 1,000 SP.  Plus, since it had been an hour since he subjugated the NEST, he had another 106 SP from his hourly accumulation, so he would be practically swimming in SP to spend.

At this point, the Autonomous Defenders that were stationed on the walls and down below near the gate were starting to have a slight effect on the Skeletal Giants.  The Fighter had jumped down and was slicing at the Giants through the bars of the gate, its sword glowing with ability-enhanced strikes, and bones were cut through with each attack.  The Mage was up top and was sending fireballs and basketball-sized stones at the gathered Undead, setting them on fire and shattering bones as if they were kindling.  The Scout had a bow which released charged arrows down on the attacking Giants from the murder holes, each of which exploded once they struck.  The Control-Class Defender was using the dirt and stone of the pit outside, which the Giants were too tall to really be hampered by much, to bind one of the attackers, keeping them from moving.  The Support hung back and… did nothing, as far as he could tell.

Despite the wounds the ADs inflicted, there was no real coordination between the autonomous constructs, so they didn’t actually kill anything.  At least a dozen of the Giants were wounded, and given another few minutes Thaden was sure that some would eventually fall, but he was beginning to see that Sadia was correct about their limited usefulness; they weren’t a replacement for a party of Contenders, only an additional source of damage that would simply aid in killing attackers that assaulted the Fortification.  Or, at least, at their current numbers and Stage, they weren’t very effective; if they were at an upgraded, higher Stage, or if there were dozens of them defending the walls and the gate, that could make a difference.

As he spent some time watching the Autonomous Defenders do their best, the damage to the wall and the gate was becoming critical.  He estimated that they would start getting through within a few seconds, especially as the other Giants that had been further out started to arrive.  With a nod toward Sadia, he started casting healing spells like crazy, absolutely annihilating every single Giant in range within seconds.  It took another 15 seconds for the stragglers to arrive, but they fell quickly once they were within his spell-casting range.

“Easy enough to earn some more SP, I suppose.  But now we have some more waiting to do,” he said, jumping down from the wall along the outside.  As he began to extract loot, he thought about the information he would be gathering next. 

First, he needed to see how long it took the Defensive Fortification to repair itself, as it was quite damaged by this point and looked like it was near to falling apart near the gate.  Second, he needed to see when they would be attacked again; Sadia had mentioned that nearby NEST would start sending groups of monsters at different intervals to take the NEST back, but he wanted to see if any other monsters randomly wandered by. 

And finally, he wanted to see just how strong he could make a Defensive Fortification after fending off the initial attack and then waiting 24 hours.

There were more experiments after that, of course, but for now, he was planning on taking it easy for the next day and get some much-needed sleep with his companion watching over him.  After 24 hours passed, then the real work would begin.

[1] Deadly Crimson Robe of the Lonely Annihilator (+5 AMP)

Rarity: Artifact

Imprinted User Restriction: #32599999-E

Level Restriction: 242

Physical Damage Resistance: 106 (+530)

Magical Damage Resistance: 442 (+2,210)

Durability: Indestructible

Special Properties: Growth

+448 Physicality (+2,240 Physicality)

+362 Celerity (+1,810 Celerity)

+155 Mentality (+775 Mentality)

-131 Personality (-655 Personality)

+242 Fortuity (+1,210 Fortuity)

+40% (+200%) increase in Support and Defensive spell effectiveness when targeting caster

+40% (+200%) reduction in Support and Defensive spell effectiveness when targeting others

+21% (+105%) increase in damage done to all hostile targets while solo

+0.04% (+0.20%) decrease in all spell Mana cost, cooldowns, and casting times for each consecutive target killed within 45 seconds of each other (Max Override to 99.3%); this bonus will only reset when no further targets are killed within 45 seconds

Set Bonus (2): +30% (+150%) to Support and Defensive spell effectiveness when targeting caster, Fortuity/350 % chance for all Support and Defensive spells targeting caster to be cast twice (+5 times) and all Support and Defensive effects to trigger twice (+5 times) (AMP set 5)

Set Bonus (5): All previous Set Bonuses, +126 (+630) to Physicality, +108 (+540) to Celerity, +60 (+300) to Mentality, +121 (+605) to Fortuity, and a +16% (+80%) increase to all damage done to hostile targets while solo (AMP set 5)

Set Bonus (8): All previous Set Bonuses; with every hostile target within 300 feet while solo, you automatically heal and gain damage mitigation equaling 0.1% (+0.5%) of your maximum Health every second (AMP set 5)

Set Bonus (11): All previous Set Bonuses; the Omenic Drifter Class trait of a 1% chance of instant death with single target spells and effects is increased by Fortuity/5,000 % (Chance triggered +4 times) (AMP set 4)