Patch 17 (Realm of Arkon) (27 page)

There were also talents common to all trees, such as portal creation, as well as overlaps between the trees, such as Lava Lake which required earth and fire, but those were few and far between.

The water specialization sacrificed damage output in favor of crowd control, which made it arguably the best in a player versus player situation. So, let us see what we could do with this build.

I had two trees interweaving before my eyes: water and ice. As I'd already mentioned, the ice specialization was the more popular of the two, by far. Despite the fact that at level 150 a Water Disc dealt 10% more damage than Ice Spear, most folks still chose the path of ice due to the fact that the same spear could be boosted by secondary talents that would also slow the target by 40% on impact with a 5% chance of freezing them for five seconds. In fact, ice magic conferred the same slowing benefit to all offensive spells, from spear to boulder, whereas water didn't.

So, what did we have for crowd control spells? I scanned my available talents and found five: Morph, Silence, Bound by Frost, Ice Chains and Ice Shackles.

Transform. Available to all specializations, two second cast time. Transforms a living opponent into a similarly sized animal for one minute. Usable against only one target at a time. The caster does not need to be in combat. The transformed foe cannot attack or cast spells. Range of spell—40 yards. Any damage taken breaks the effect.

As I understood it, the point of this spell was to neutralize for a while one opponent out of any given group. Any way you slice it, it's better to face off against two mobs instead of three. A good skill to have, and cheap at only 10 points: five for the connecting talents and five more for Morph itself.

The talent tree was designed in a way that you couldn't simply throw a point into any talent and learn it. Most were only available after investing at least one point into each of the talents leading up to the one you really wanted. And there was no way of circumventing the rules. Gamers were a crafty folk by default, and this was especially true of us Russians. Koreans were the opposite—law-abiding and remarkably assiduous. God forbid anybody take offense—Russia had plenty of hard workers as well. But here's the thing about the science of statistics—it's uncompromising.

You didn't need to be a rocket scientist to realize the easiest path was to ask your friends to powerlevel you to level 100, at which time you would throw your first point into Ice Spear or Water Disc (in the case of a mage) and become super duper powerful while retaining a whole heap of available points. For that very reason the best talents were typically reserved for the last slots of various connecting branches. In the case of Morph there were only five, which wasn't too many. But I digress.             

Silence. Like Morph, available to all specializations. Instant cast. Prevents the target from casting any spells for a period of ten seconds. Range—100 yards. Cooldown—one minute. Damage sustained does not break the effect.
  

As with Morph, ten talent points were required to learn: five for the connecting talents and five for the actual skill. Most importantly, the spell could be used in combat. Awesome! This factor made the talent a must-have.

Bound by Frost. Silence that also pins the opponent for up to six seconds at the spell's highest level. The affected target cannot move or cast spells. Any damage taken breaks the effect.

Thirty connecting talents and five into the skill itself. Maximum mastery available at level 120. I could see the utility here: catch a mage, charge him and hack away with Ice Blade or Tongue of Flame. Of course, the very first strike would break the effect, and any mage with a decent pain tolerance could simply Jump away and start playing hard-to-get. Plus, a one minute cooldown.

Ice Chains. Essentially Bound by Frost minus the silence.

Simply pinned the opponent in place. No, that wouldn't do.

Ice Shackles. One of frost mages' most potent weapons. Instant cast. At the skill's maximum level, all enemies within a 12-yard radius of the caster freeze to the ground for ten seconds if their cold resistance is less than 75%.

Moreover, all pinned opponents suffered damage equal to the caster's primary stat. Cooldown—30 seconds. Damage taken may break the effect, but the likelihood is unknown.

Cool story! Pin everybody in place and focus fire till they're all dead. Not a sound strategy against hunters and other mages, but potentially deadly against warriors, rogues and other melee fighters. And if something goes wrong, bind them, Jump away and sprint your way to safety.

An excellent spell, but painfully expensive with the first tier only available at level 50. The second tier opened up at level 75 and required ten connecting points to get there. In all, the spell required 45 talent points to max out at level 150. Of course, all connecting talents strengthened the ability, increasing the effective radius, damage and so on. The chain of secondary skills also branched out toward Ice Spear—a definite plus if building a frost mage. For me, however, the value of this spell was questionable—it worked best against melee fighters, and those I feared least of all. What I needed was a similar ability but with a longer range.

I got up from the desk and started pacing around the room—I found it was easier to think that way. Silence and Morph were obvious, but I questioned the utility of the other spells in the water school of magic. Clearly, theorycraft wasn't my forte. Besides, I'd never played a mage before. Truth be told, I hadn't really played a warrior either.

But wait, why was I so fixated on water? I should be considering other schools as well. I sat back down and peered into the monitor.

Earth Shackles. Instant cast. Select an area up to ten yards at the spell's highest tier. All enemies caught within the area of effect will be bound by the power of earth. Maximum range—forty yards. Cooldown—same as Ice Shackles.

Compared to Ice Shakles, the drawbacks were a smaller radius (by two yards) and no damage dealt to opponents on impact, while the advantages were the ability to select any area within a 40-yard radius and damage taken not breaking the effect. The fifth tier required pouring 45 talent points into the spell, just as with Ice Shackles. But I liked this spell quite a bit more.

Earth Shackles also branched off to Stone Disc—the earth equivalent of the water school's Water Disc—which would consume another 15 talent points through level 200. There didn't appear to be any other viable alternatives to work towards. My damage output with spells would still be inferior to that of pure mages, but at least it was something.

I stuffed my pipe, fell back in my chair and lit it. I could turn on ventilation in my private room's settings, removing all foreign smells with the press of a button. That is why I wasn't concerned about sleeping in a smoke-filled space. The sun had long set—it was time to turn in.

Am I an earth mage?
I chuckled. Let's sum up: there would be 130 talent points till level 200, five of which I already had.

Tier three portals—30 points.

Tier four Jump—3 points.

Tier four Step through Darkness—3 points.

Melee attack upgrades—10 points.

Morph—10 points.

Silence—10 points.

Earth Shackles—45 points.

Tier five Stone Disc—15 points.

Reserve—4 points.

So,
Earth Shackles I
,
Silence V
and
Morph V
through level 90. Then I'd save ten talent points and learn
Portal I
at level 100. It was settled. I opened the character menu and threw four connecting points toward Silence and one into Shackles.

You've learned the spell:
Earth Shackles I
.

Instant cast.

Duration: 10 seconds.

Mana cost: 300 points.

Cooldown: 30 seconds.

You create an area of powerful terrestrial magnetism two yards in diameter within 40 yards of yourself. All creatures caught in or entering the area are shackled by the element of earth for the duration of the spell.

I added the spell to the action bar and turned on the monitor. Now that the decision was made and the talent points spent, only future would tell what would come of it.

What a load off my back! I rose from the desk and flexed my neck and shoulders, stiff from all the sitting. It was deep into the night, with nothing else to do but hit the proverbial hay. I quickly removed my armor, took a shower, ventilated the room and climbed into bed.

Struggling to fall asleep, I decided to make a plan for tomorrow. First, I would take a stroll to the citadel and deliver the letter to the lord's wife. Then a visit to the archivist, who was somewhere in that same area. By dinnertime I was supposed to be at Ylsan's with the skhiarta eye fragments and blood. I'd kept them in my bag, having unloaded into storage only the equipment it had dropped. Oh! I should also stock up on potions and inquire about weapons and armor. There were plenty of stores in the city, and there should be time to shop in between my errands.

I woke up surprisingly early. Gerid appeared to be still asleep. Or running errands of his own. The same young demon from yesterday was manning the bar, a large earring sparkling as it swung from his left ear. I breakfasted hastily, refusing a mug of beer, smoked my pipe, and headed out into the street.

Chapter 6

Nittal in the morning was just as good as in the daytime hours. The streets weren't as crowded, but the doors to the shops I was passing by were invitingly open. About three blocks down I saw a sign with the drawing of a flask and the words "Master Regus' Alchemical Goods" written on it. With boatloads of time at my disposal, I decided that this shop was as good as any I might encounter.

The indoor space was fairly small with a counter right at the entrance, the air filled with the scent of vanilla. Master Regus himself—a short elderly demon manning the counter—turned my way, squinting myopically.

"Hello."

"Hello, young man," the demon rose from his chair, put his mug with a beverage onto a small table, and walked over to the counter. "What brings you here?"

"I need twenty healing potions and just as many stamina ones. If you have them, of course," I asked politely, scanning the myriad bottles on the shelves.

"Young man, you have come to the right place. My shop has everything you could possibly need. From Cat's Eye Elixirs to Swiftfoot Potions," said the shopkeeper, following my eyes.

"I just need stamina and health. Nothing else."

There was a hint of disappointment in the old demon's shrug, but he had everything I'd asked for on the counter within five minutes. I counted the vials—the same kind I'd gotten from Mirana severals days back—and handed the demon four gold coins.

"Master, do you have elixirs that boost certain characteristics?"

"Such as?"

"Strength, stamina, constitution."

"Five silver each," Regus nodded.

Half a gold for one bottle with a two-hour buff wasn't cheap at all. However, the memory of not being knocked unconscious back in Lamorna precisely thanks to this stuff was still fresh in my mind, and I wasn't going to stint myself. Elixirs and potions were lightweight and didn't take up much space.

"Forty of each, please. And the same number with spirit and intellect if you have 'em."

"Err..." the old demon was floored by the requested volume. "You see, Krian, unfortunately I don't have that many in stock. It was real busy in the morning hours and I'm running low."

Busy morning, yeah right,
I chuckled to myself.
As if it's time to close for the day
. But hell, I was just like that once—lying to clients and getting off on it. I didn't want to offend the old demon, so I acted like I believed him.

"When could you fulfill the order?"

"If you leave a deposit, I should have it all ready by tomorrow," the demon thought for a moment. "Will you be using all five simultaneously?"

"Most likely. Why?"

"Perhaps you'd rather use this one instead?" the shopkeeper produced a lilac-colored vial from under the counter. "The same bonuses plus agility, and lasts for four hours."

I examined the vessel.

Medium Elixir of Possibilities.
Adds 50 points to all stats for four hours.

Not bad at all.

"How much do you want for it?"

"Seven gold per elixir," the shopkeeper answered. "But if you take ten, I'll let them go for six each."

Six hundred bucks! Imagine that! And people actually bought this stuff, as far as I knew. I did some quick mental calculations as to how many of these I might need. Only medium elixirs could be used through level 100, meaning I had another 25 levels to go till the next tier. How long would that take? A few weeks? A month?