Plague tank a litrpg adv.., p.40
Plague Tank: A LitRPG Adventure (Getting Hard Book 2), page 40
“That’s right,” I said. “We’re looking for the sweet spot where you can dish out high damage while surviving the reflect. Of course, we’ll also take healing time into account.”
“Sounds like a plan,” Nitana said. Her staff disappeared, followed by her flowing cloak, then her gloves, vest, and so on. “Meg, be careful not to get hit, okay? Remember, our defenses also go way down when we remove equips.”
“Nitana stripping?” Megan giggled. “So scandalous!”
“We don’t have much time,” I said. “Twenty-five minutes.”
“Me first.” Nitana raised her right hand. Wild flames erupted on top of her palm, swirling into a ball. She gracefully threw the fireball, and it connected with the heap of vines. “Ow!” she exclaimed. A fifth of her health got chunked off even though she scarcely tickled the Vinereavers.
“Are you okay?” I asked. Something was wrong. Why did it reflect that much?
“Like it’s not actually painful. Just surprised by the damage.” Nitana trotted away, drinking a healing potion. Bejeweled gloves reappeared on her hands. “Meg, you try before my next one.”
Megan used the same skill as her best friend and suffered the same consequence. They continued the test, adding one piece of equipment after the next in between fireballs. The scratches they made on the Vinereavers’ health bars became more noticeable with each subsequent fireball, but they disappeared the next second, swallowed by the Vinereavers’ regeneration.
This wasn’t going well. I doubted we could win even if we found the proverbial sweet spot. That’s what she said—wait, that’s a different spot. Anyway, the reflected damage shouldn’t be this high, given the puny damage dealt by Megan and Nitana.
Unless…
I maxed [Ancestral Constitution] stacks and refreshed [Greater Pyro Shell]. I also stood still to activate the defense buffs of [Band of Loamy Renewal]. Then, I changed out a shield for my slingshot and flung a stone at the mini-boss. My shell didn’t explode, but my life zoomed down.
“Herald!” Nitana shouted.
Although I half-expected it, I was still caught off guard by the damage. I cast [Healing Touch] and searched my inventory for anything useful, hastily consuming the [Frigid Yew Salve] I had made in front of Gula.
“I’m fine,” I said. “It’s retribution. The mini-boss has insanely high retribution—what the?” My [Healing Touch] finished its cooldown, but I couldn’t cast it or any of my skills.
I was Silenced—the blasted side-effect of the [Frigid Yew Salve]. Even my [Cleansing Flames] was unusable. That’s a question answered at such an inconvenient time.
“Herald, what were you saying about retribution?” Megan asked. “Should we continue attacking?”
“Stop, stop,” I said. “Let’s leave so we can discuss in peace. We only have a short time to plan. The boss has already healed, so there’s no point staying.”
Kezo arrived as we exited the boss area. I told him about the shared health and our tests. Thus began a planning montage. Not really a montage because we didn’t have much time—a planning snippet.
“Less than twenty minutes left,” I said. “Let’s quickly go over what we know. The Vinereavers have both retribution and reflect. I hit it once and almost died. Very high retribution damage for their levels. It could be those five combined their retribution stats like their health.
“We’re also sure it has reflect because the damage Megan and Nitana suffered went up as they re-equipped their gear. If it was retribution alone, the damage should be the same. No. Actually, it should go down since they’re increasing their Armor with each piece worn. The opposite happened. Kezo, you mentioned you called Jensen?”
“Just a short talk because he’s at work,” Kezo said. “The name of the Vinereaver he fought—the golem non-Blight version—was also Mon Aleh, but with a different title. We’re fighting the same guy, so this information should be somewhat applicable. The golem has meager defenses but a huge health pool, way larger than you’d expect a mini-boss or even a boss at its level. That’s the reason for its massive reflect damage.”
Megan meekly raised her hand. “Sorry, I don’t follow. I suck at this.”
“Imagine you throw a fireball at someone,” I said, “with, let’s say, fifty percent reflect. The target has high Magic Resilience and Fire Resistance. Your fireball deals a tiny amount of damage, around ten percent of its full potential. Because of reflect, you’ll suffer half of that. Very likely, you’ll survive.
“In comparison, Mon Aleh is squishy but very bulky. Perhaps your fireball would deal around eighty percent of its max damage. You suffer forty percent as reflected damage. Painful, right? A large health pool means the boss is still tanky in a sense, even if lacking other defensive attributes.”
“Like thick blubber instead of a carapace,” Nitana said.
“I get it now.” Megan tilted her head with a confused frown. “I think?”
“This is more difficult than the golem Jensen farmed,” Kezo added. “These are five Vinereavers, merging their health, retribution, and probably reflect too.”
“Uh-oh, do we even have a way to win?” Megan asked.
“I asked Jensen for some tips,” Kezo said. “His advice was to add a high-level Healer to our party to power through the reflect. Use the strongest spell possible without dying from the reflect, heal to full, cast again, heal, cast, and so on. We’ll grind the boss down.”
“Sounds like brute forcing too,” Megan said. ‘Brute forcing’ seemed to be her word of the day.
“This is the way people fight bosses with strong reflect. My lifesteal won’t work because reflect comes first in the calculation or something—Jensen didn’t finish his explanation because he had to go.”
“Do we have enough time?” I asked. “Who do we ask to join us?”
“I don’t know.” Kezo brought up his interface and scrolled through it. “I’ll check my online friends. Jensen also said it’d be better if they have mass ress spells, in case we make a mistake.”
I raised a brow. Resurrection?
“In the meantime,” Nitana said, “we’ll go back inside and test how high we can push our damage without dying.”
“Yup. Continue what we were doing,” Megan said.
“This’ll be so much freaking faster if we can just let it rip! Use our strongest spells.”
I raised my other brow. Strongest spell?
Kezo sighed. “Only a few Healers online. I’ll try messaging Cleo and Marshall. Fingers crossed that they’ll reply soon. How many minutes left, Herald?”
“Fifteen.” I didn’t say anything more because I was slowly opening the flaps of the box in the palace of my mind.
“Oh my gosh!” Megan exclaimed.
“Fuck, not enough time.” Nitana clicked her tongue in irritation. “If only this is like Zoar Elab’s fight that we can redo.”
Both my brows lowered. The spirit of Herald Stone ascended from the mental box. Redo…
“No one’s replying,” Kezo said. “Sorry, Herald, that—no, we’ll still try. Everyone, let’s return inside.” They all buffed up. “We’ll try our best, okay?”
“Use your strongest spells,” I blurted.
“But I thought—” Megan began to say.
“Go, go inside! I’ll explain!” I interrupted, pushing my party mates along.
They followed my command without question.
“Choose your highest damage, single hit skill,” I said as we rushed back into the boss room. “Single hit. Not multiple hits like your swarm of fireballs or fairies, Nitana. Once the first fireball connects, you’ll die, wasting the rest. Kezo and Nitana, both of you are going to attack the boss—”
“And freaking die?” Nitana interjected, though she was already buffing up for battle even if she didn’t understand my plan yet. “You just mentioned that.”
“Exactly,” I said. “You’ll die and run back here. Before I forget, let’s trade. Give me your Toxic Goops, and I also have something for you.”
They needed a fast return trip, so I gave them one [Sour Litchi Juice] each, increasing their movement speed by twenty-five percent. Good thing I bought several pieces from Clement when I fought the Blighted Mud Golem.
While executing our trades, I said, “One more thing, Kezo. Do you know if DoTs trigger retribution or reflect?”
Recalling RPGs I’ve played, reflect didn’t work with DoTs, but I had to confirm if it was the same in Mother Core Online. Surviving a DoT of one percent of my max health per second was easy enough. Surviving a percentage of the Vinereavers’ humongous health was another story. Kezo could kill me with a flick of his finger, but he removed only a tenth of the Vinereavers’ health with his signature skill—I didn’t want to imagine how much one percent of the Vinereavers’ health pool was.
“Damage over Time effects are not considered hits,” Kezo replied. “They usually don’t trigger retribution or reflect unless special mechanics are involved. If you’re thinking of poison, I’m positive you’ll be safe. Jensen ran a retri-tank build before. He told me about it when we fought a monster that poisoned us.”
“Good to hear.” I gave him a thumbs up. “I can counteract the Vinereavers’ healing.”
“What about me?” Megan asked. I got the twelve [Toxic Goop] she looted while fighting toward this boss area but didn’t give her a [Sour Litchi Juice] in return.
“You’re going to do something else,” I told her.
“A different mission? I hope it’s not too hard.”
That’s what she said, I quipped in my head.
“Let me get this straight,” Nitana said. “Our part is to hit the ugly plants, die, come back, and repeat?”
“Yes, we continuously throw ourselves at the boss,” Kezo said. A red smoke enveloped him like a ghost trying to enter his body; this must be his strongest skill. “It’s a modified version of the strategy Jensen told me about.”
“Very modified, seems like,” Nitana muttered.
“Since we don’t have Healers or ress spells, this is our alternative,” I said.
“Good thinking, Herald,” Kezo said. The ethereal crimson cloud around him puffed up and began to take shape. “An advantage is that we can use our most powerful spells because we don’t care about getting instantly killed.”
“The disadvantage, on the other hand, is you’ll have to run back here,” I said. “The Sour Litchi Juice can help. A waste of time to visit the merchants to buy more powerful food buffs.”
“Nitana, once you respawn in the village,” Kezo said, “use a Sigil Totem to teleport to the other side of the tunnels and enter from there. That’s what I did. It’s a much shorter route, and you don’t have to play hide-and-seek with the village guards.”
“Copy that,” Nitana said. “I’m ready.” A multi-colored fireball ballooned at the end of her staff, making it look as if she held a giant lollipop of energy.
“I’m still a few seconds away from fully charged up,” Kezo said. By now, the wispy substance had solidified into the ghost of a Mardukryon—a colossal warrior, larger than Chief Nogras, wielding two swords. “This is my strongest skill, but I rarely use it because it takes a while to get ready and has penalties after casting.”
“I’ll have to debuff the boss first,” I said. “Watch out. It’ll attack after I use my skill.” I cast [Gnawing Rot] on the Vinereavers.
Lvl. 7 Gnawing Rot: Spread a festering miasma over a small area (maximum of four), causing any enemies entering it to lose 97 Armor and Magic Resilience (maximum 545), 2% Armor and Magic Resilience (maximum 10%) each second. The effect of the decay persists for 13 seconds after leaving the area.
Cost: 85 Energy
Duration: 45 Seconds
Cooldown: 5 Seconds
Vines shot forward, and eyes and mouths opened.
“Wait five seconds, Nitana, before attacking,” I said, using [Horde Stampede] next. We all ran around as vines tried whipping us. It was funny to see a gigantic Mardukryon ghost trotting after Kezo. “Megan, you’re going to use your Totem. Only your Totem will attack and die. Not you. Drink potions to refill your health. I’ll help out healing you.”
“Oh, okay!” she said. “Thank goodness my part is simple.”
Then I used [Poison Bottle Cast], throwing a [Nam-Go Poison Bottle] and [Vaporizing Reagent] at the enemy. I went with Nam-Go first because it was the more potent of my two poisons. Its Armor reduction debuff would boost Kezo’s damage.
Lvl. 1 Poison Bottle Cast: Throw an Akhos Poison bottle and a vaporizing reagent, turning the specific poison into a gas cloud that spreads over a small area (maximum of two). The Akhos Poison in cloud form has a 15% increased chance of inflicting its negative status, with its duration increased by 3 seconds. Enemies in the affected area have their poison resistance reduced by 10%.
Item Cost: 1 Akhos Poison Bottle, 1 Vaporizing Reagent
Duration: 40 Seconds
Cooldown: 10 Seconds
Nam-go Poison Bottle | Item Level: 15
Epic | Consumable | No Requirement
A potent poison carefully extracted from the Nam-go serpent and distilled to its most concentrated form over a fortnight. This modestly difficult-to-prepare concoction reduces a poisoned unit’s Armor and Health Regeneration by 10% and causes a loss of 2% of Max Health per second. (If applied to equipment, it has a 12% (10.5%) chance of poisoning the enemy per damage instance. Poisoned Status lasts for 6(+5) seconds)
Duration: 10 Minutes
Uses: 5/5
“Begin!” I ordered.
“Meg, tell my dog I love him,” Nitana said with a laugh. The rainbow fireball grew larger as it left her staff and zoomed into the monstrous heap of tendrils.
“Nitana, I won’t forget our friendship!” Megan melodramatically said as she planted her [Spell Bonded Totem].
Nitana’s fireball exploded in a beautiful technicolor fireworks display. Her health bar whizzed down to nothingness, and she vanished. Megan’s Totem spewed a stream of fire and disappeared a second later.
“My Totem’s damage is so tiny,” Megan complained. “It died super quick!”
“That’s because your spell is channeled damage,” I said, “not a single hit like what Nitana used. Just stick with it. No time to go to the Chief’s Lodge, change Shards in your slots, and transfer LSPs. Kezo, are you done?”
[Poison Bottle Cast] finished its cooldown, so I cast another one, this time using [Morabodry]. I layered the two types of poison clouds.
“Here I go!” Kezo shouted, charging at the boss with swords raised. His giant ghost buddy copied him. Burning red liquid that looked like blood oozed from Kezo’s sword, seemingly flowing upward. The ghost’s own blades radiated golden light so bright it was blinding. He shouted, “I’m going to meet my ancestors!”
A colossal blast followed, shaking the floor.
The Vinereavers lost thirty percent of their combined health from all our attacks. Vines reached deep into the blue canisters to absorb healing nutrients. Purple bubbles danced along the fleshy tendrils. The annoying plants healed with their bullshit-sucking, but my poison put in the work, keeping it down. Hey, I’m a contributing member of society.
“So cool!” Megan gushed. She plopped another Totem, paying its health cost. “We can do this!” In her excitement, she didn’t notice a thin golden thread beside her and the laser sniper sight on her knee.
“Watch out!” I called.
An eye fired. Megan jumped left. The laser clipped her hooves, nearly killing her. I rushed to Megan’s side and used [Penitent Fortune Healing], followed by [Healing Touch], then [Cleansing Flames] to remove the movement speed penalty so I could evade unhampered.
“Sorry, my bad,” Megan said.
“Keep an eye on your health when making Totems. We don’t have time to redo this.”
“Should I return to the village and buy stronger health potions?”
“No need and no time. Just continue what you’re doing. A couple more attacks from Kezo and Nitana, and we’ll win. Our job is to negate the Vinereavers’ heal.”
A few minutes later, we heard shouts echoing from the corridor and the powerful beating of hooves.
“I’m here. I’m here!” Kezo burst through the circular door, his red ghost buddy in tow, materializing through the walls. “A fresh delivery of ancestors!” Gigantic swords swung down at the Vinereavers. An explosion. And Kezo was gone again.
Nitana arrived about half a minute later, carrying her lollipop of energy. “Did Kezo already pass by here?” Megan nodded and opened her mouth. But before Megan could speak, Nitana attacked the boss and also died.
The boss had less than thirty percent health left. One more wave!
“Five minutes,” I told Megan. “I’m running out of poison bottles.” Specifically, the [Nam-Go Poison Bottle]. I had plenty of [Morabodry] left, but I couldn’t stack multiple poisons of the same type.
“Oh no!” she exclaimed. “What’s going to happen?”
“The boss’ health will start going up,” I told her as I flung another poison bottle at the boss. Then I refreshed [Gnawing Rot] and [Withering Rot]. “You must damage the boss more to guarantee that Kezo and Nitana can finish it off when they return.”
“Wha-what?” Megan jolted in surprise. Good thing she jerked back. A laser missed her by half an inch. “Don’t rely on me for important stuff like that. What if I mess up?”
“You’re not going to mess up. I have a backup plan.” I quickly explained what it was. “Can you do that?”
“Definitely,” she said with conviction.
Two minutes to go. I didn’t have any more [Nam-Go Poison Bottle] to throw. The health of the Vinereavers started to creep up noticeably. Megan planted her [Spell Bonded Totem] each time her health was past halfway; she also didn’t get hit again.
Where was Kezo and Nitana? They should kill the boss soon!
Megan also shared my thoughts. “Should I message them? They’re still not here! Oh my gosh, oh my gosh, oh my gosh!”
“Trust in them,” I said, trying to calm my voice. I also wanted to scream like Megan. Every second the Vinereavers were alive was another second to absorb chemicals, gradually inching the threshold to kill it higher and higher.
