Endgame

"Affirmative. STATEMENT: You are a druid. STATEMENT: I am a machine. QUERY: Do you not feel some disdain for my presence?" Round Four of the Quartz Cave Clash! >Grimwald casts Frailty on Dirt Rat A (back): Success! >Grimwald VS Dirt Rat A (back): Critical Hit (6x2=12+12=24x2=48x2=96-3=93 damage) >Arthur retrieves his weapons >Arthur VS Gold Rat B (Spider Leg, back): Special Damage Critical Hit (8x2=16+31=47x4=188-8=180 damage, 114 gold overkill) >Minoid VS Charcoal Rat B (back): Shield: Dance of Drills (13+18=31, 31+8x2=47x2=94 damage to Gold Rats, 31+5x2=41 damage to Charcoal rats, 31+3x2=37x2=74 damage) >Erdathcath heals herself (back): No heal Lesser heal (20 HP restored) >Erdathcath VS Charcoal Rat A (back): Damage Damage (35/2=18/2=9 damage, Poison 7 transferred) >Grimwald VS Dirt Rat B (back): Hit Hit (12+6=18x4=64-3=61 damage) The party has another great round, shredding the vermin's numbers all the way down from 6 to 2. Now only 2 Charcoal rats remained, their superiors and inferiors vanquished by Arthur, Grimwald, and the Minoid. Charcoal Rat A, Level 35 Vermin *Poison 7!* HP: 227/330 SP: 5 Specials: Swarm: The Charcoal Rat rams the hero for 38 damage, making them Fragile. Lethal Bite: The Charcoal Rat bites the hero, and inflicts the Poison 10 effect. Specials decided by die roll. Passive Specials: Contagion: On rolls of Damage, the Gold Rat inflicts all negatvie effects it currently has onto the damaged hero. Drops: Fire Bomb Charcoal Rat B, Level 35 Vermin *Poison 7!* HP: 227/330 SP: 5 Specials: Swarm: The Charcoal Rat rams the hero for 38 damage, making them Fragile. Lethal Bite: The Charcoal Rat bites the hero, and inflicts the Poison 10 effect. Specials decided by die roll. Passive Specials: Contagion: On rolls of Damage, the Gold Rat inflicts all negatvie effects it currently has onto the damaged hero. Drops: Smoke Bomb The Party: Arthur Justus Regulus VII, a Hero Who Is Actually Worth Something (played by Flipz), Level 31 Mystic Knight, 22-year-old male Human *Immune to Fragile and all Poisons* *Only Receives One Negative Effect At A Time* [ Currently in: Six Thousand Feet Under] *Lucky!* *Hastened!* *Encouraged!* *Party Leader!* Power: 42 (31 + WP:11) Health: 54/54 (Basic Health: 5 + Level Bonus: 30 + Class Boost: 15 + Permanent Boost: 4*) Ether: 36/36 (Basic Ether: 5 + Level Bonus: 30) Defense: 20 (Arm Shield: 14 + Duke's Coat-of-Arms: 5 + Unicorn Helmet: 1) Gold: 187 (Owed 128 gold by Boomingham) Equipment: Gladiator Trident (WP: 11, Spear, causes bleeding effect), Arm Shield (SP:14), Overkill Gloves (Gives the wearer 1 gold for every point of damage they do extra when they defeat an enemy. (Example: Enemy has 50 HP left, you do 75 damage, you earn 25 gold.)), Duke's Coat-of-Arms (Protects against Fragile and all Poisons, SP; 5, suitable for knights, dragoons, skirmishers and regulators; bodywear), Unicorn Helmet (SP:1; the wearer can only receive one negative effect at a time, with a new effect replacing the old one; usable by barbarians, knights, dragoons, infiltrators, regulators, skirmishers, and winged warriors; headwear), Zap-Tap Badge (Artefact, Accessory. Has a 1/2 chance to deal Electric damage to an opponent who has dealt damage to a hero, equal to the hero's level.) Inventory: Weapons: Zoot's Rebel (WP:20 broomstick, suitable to Arthur only), Sir Roderick's Sword (WP:12, Longsword), Sword of the Vampir (WP:17, user is Jinxed), Duplovian Swift Halberd (WP:3, stuns on successful hits, Hollow [Ambrosia] halberd),Spider Leg (WP:8, doubled against flying enemies; spear), (Unsuitable weapons: Hollow Blade Dagger (WP:6, dagger, hollow-blade [nothing]), Ammit (Greatsword, WP 6, gains 5 Ether for each kill), Artifacts: Duplovian Helmet of the Guard (SP:2, Immune to Magic and Healing), Shackles of War (Accessory, Prevents anyone from fleeing battles), Cloak of Deception (Backwear, Free hits against the wearer have a 1/6 chance to be redirected to a random opponent), Jester's Hat (Headwear, Wearer may choose to gain one immunity from targeted enemy), Stingy Gloves (Handwear, wearable by everybody. Prevents enemies from ever stealing gold from you.), Minoid Card Key (Unsuitable Artifacts: Sticky Gloves (Handwear, Increases the amount of gold stolen by 50% (rounded up), suitable for rogues and beast warriors) (sent to Isaac Shawe) ) Gems: Opal (Ice), Amethyst (Darkness), Topaz (Lightning), Diamond (Light), Garnet (Earth), Tools: Bedroll, Telescope, Shovel, Magnifying Glass, Pickaxe, Magic Compass Scrolls: All Lent! Consumables: *Healing: Potion, Grand Potion x10, Tonic, Grand Tonic x8, Ether Core, Remedy x9, Elixir x4, Sushi x3 *Status: Nostrum x3, Hurricane, Smelling Salts x 2, Mead x3, Ambrosia x2, Dragon Scales x2, Jinxy Juice x2, *Venoms: Exterlate, Noxious Venom (When used on a weapon, the weapon deals the Poisoned-by-10 effect for the duration of the battle and the Confused effect for the next three rounds, for the duration of one battle.), *Permanent Improvement: Bright Polish, Grating Stone, Ella's Pie (Permanently boosts max. ether by 5 but permanently decreases max. health by 5 when consumed.), *Bombs: Smoke Bomb x5, 3 Bones, Chaotic Bomb (Causes 100 random elemental damage to all opponents), Pumpkin Bomb (Causes stunned-, poisoned-, asleep-, blinded-, sealed- and confused-effects to all opponents when used.), *Currency: Scrap Metal x2, Silver Ore Erdathcath Madilinas, 199 years old, *Hastened!* *Poison 7!* Level 20.33 Druid Power: 35 Health: 16/34 Ether: 21/23 Gold: 87 Equipped: Tritech Handcannon (WP:15, Fire-elemental), Satchel of Awesomeness (Permanent Lucky-effect; bodywear), Amulet of Optimism (Adds the confused-effect to all attacks; suitable to Erdathcath only; accessory) Inventory: Longbow (WP:7), Quick bow (WP: 6, Suitable to rangers, provides hastened effect for one round each battle), Helmet (+1 max. health), 6 Potions, 3 Grand Potions, 6 Mead, 6 Smelling Salts, 15 Venoms, 3 Deadly Venoms, 1 Super Deadly Venom, 2 Floral Bombs, 2 Ice Bombs, 2 Lightning Bombs, 1 Fire Bomb, 3 Smoke Bombs, 2 Water Bombs, 2 Holy Bomb, 2 Dirt Bombs, 2 Air Bombs, Bone, Skeleton Decoy, Bedroll, Shovel, Pickaxe, Telescope, Saber teeth, Scroll of Weakening, Snake Eye Charm (protects from petrified), Mage's muffler (protects from sealing), Jinxy Juice, Grand Tonic x2, Love Potion, Blind Fury, Grating Stone, Jinxy Juice, Deadly Venom, Mythril Shard, Unlucky Horseshoe (WP:13, retrievable, causes Jinxed-effect; throwing weapon), Staff of Ennon - (WP: 5, Light-Elemental, Restores 2 ether on a roll of 2, 3, or 4), Scroll of Sleep, Scroll of Frailty, Scroll of Blindness, Scroll of Confusion, Healing Staff (WP: 5), Noble Mask (Wearer gains gold equal to the number of enemies after each victorious battle; headwear), 69 year old male gnome Cleric (Immune to Weakened) *Hastened!* Level: 12.5 Power: 19 (12 + 6 + permanent boost of 1) SP: 0 Health: 20/20 Ether: 10/16 Gold: 100 Equipment: Knotted Broom (WP: 6), Pugilist's Gloves (Power +2, protects from Weakened ), Lens of Speed Reading (Accessory, Allows a scroll to be read in addition to a normal action. Suitable for scroll users.), Inventory: Shovel, Pickaxe, Scroll of Frailty, Scroll of Sleep, Mead, Tonic, Remedy x3, Potion x2, Bone x2, Grand Potion, Bunch of Cherries (10/10 cherries that each restore 1 ether when eaten), Chaotic Bomb (Causes 100 random elemental damage to all opponents), Bedroll, Ice Bomb, Root beer (Restores 10 health, or can be used as a bomb against Undead enemies for 20 damage (Does not affect non-Undead enemies)), Ambrosia, Scroll of Blindness, Scroll of Confusion, Scroll of Armor Sundering (Reduces target’s SP by 5 and has a 50/50 chance of success), Scroll of Poisoning (Grants target’s weapon the Poisoned 10 effect for one battle at the cost of 5 ether), Scroll of Luck (Grants target the Lucky-effect for one battle. Costs 10 ether.), Scroll of Weakening, Healing Staff (WP: 5), Scarf of Misfortune (Accessory, Wearer deals the Jinxed effect on every third round), Staff of the Cultist Battlemage (WP: 7, 50% chance of Fleeing upon being KO'd; suitable for Mages and Clerics), Tricorne (suitable for anyone, SP: 3, headwear), "Progress is needed." Minoid, Level 18 Drilling Automaton *Crippled!* HP: 23/30 Power: 28 SP: 2 Equipment: Minoid Drill Arm (WP: 13), Iron Shell (SP: 2), Scanning Eye (Allows the Minoid to analyze most foes before battle. If in battle, it can spend a turn to analyze the fight) Inventory: Ether Core, Health Core, Remedy x3, Grand Potion x3, Ambrosia

Unless anyone objects, I fire at Aureole twice, stopping if I roll Damage or Special Damage.

"...Don't worry. I'm just going to get a little tan, that's all." I give a saddened smile as I ready my bow. I stare down the silent menace, feeling nothing but hate for it - This demon was going down.

Nope. Old, creaky, and would smell like literal death, with or without the hood.

<Feh... I was hoping to slip that past you... perhaps you giants are more... *gulp* ...intelligent than I originally implied. But Frostbarb the Omnipotent will not go down without a fight! I may have attempted deceit, my code of war will last til' the very end. But should I fall... Give that bastard Kos my regards, alright...?">

Why? Sorrow is blatantly unattractive - does Heckz just hate Karie that much?

"...I'll stay behind and snuff out this damn demon. Heckz, Karie, Amorith... get those kids to safety, alright? I'm counting on you."

Is it because it was never attempted, or because it was already shot down? I'm guessing its the same principle as healing, but I suppose Scrolls conflict with it as well.

Since healing prevents free hits, that means items should too, right?

Also,instead of booting out Hoanganhbeo, because it wouldn't make snese plot wise, I'm probably just going to make it so that he is incapable of recieving levels/loot until he proves that he is capable of following the quest.

Only one more battle after Frostbarb.

If Hoang Anh doesn't post by the battle's conclusion, he's pretty much out of the quest as far as I'm concerned. I've been slowing down the pace pretty signifcantly to account for him, but he appears he's lost all interest.

Healing does, does it not? No chance of getting hit there.

Pfft, if 79, 81, and 99 aren't telling you anything, perfect Regret is sooo last year.

Give LDD a shot.

I target Aureole with a remedy to hold back the free hit, waiting for whatever the lamp does. "Do you want me to go with you, Karie? In case we run into a fight while escaping... Hey, don't forget the kids we saved from the globe! They can escape too, right?"

It gets all the more bitterly ironic when you realize what Sorrow looks like.

"I don't neccesarily think that the worth of a life should be based on how attractive they are, but unless that magic lamp does something beyond extraordiany, I suspect our situation will remain largely the same... Worth a shot, though?"

I think it should be a full party flee, no matter what. Either you pack your bags and run, or you stay til' the bitter end; fight or flight and all that.

"I'm still of the opinion that we should all flee... If we get hit by a special damage (considering our offesnive capabilities and the amount of health it has left, practically inevitable) we're all hurt and crippled. In that state we need to have someone target Aureoloe, or else it unleashes another wave by default and murders us all right then and there. If someone rolls damage and special damage in the same round, they are practically dead as well; we could play a game of stop and go, healing ourselves and stopping all of our actions every time someone is wounded, but at that point we'll move so slowly and would probably get ambushed by eventuality 1 anyway. Every turn of this battle is going to be a massive gamble from here on out, and one that will end us nigh instantly if our luck goes sour. Considering just how long this is going to take, I'm afraid getting nailed by 2 special damages in a row will be all but inevitable. We need to flee, now. All of us."

As one of the more formidable assasins in the game: As long as each battle has one enemy that can be insta-killed, and the rest have some sort of gold drop, I'm fine with immunity to insta-kill. Complete stonewalling is pretty frustrating, though.

QM Note: Fixed.

It's also because we're largely cautious, murderous little heroes. Also: I would honestly not mind if one or two more enemies per battle wer eimmune to insta-kill. I prefer the gold gaining aspect. Also, I will always prefer immune to sudden death to immune to all effects, even though I can't inflict them myself.

Single enemies can be extremely tough to balance. Either they're push overs (obsidian Dragons) or rock-hard without a real strategy to beat them (Aureole.) I've been thinking about something Nstickney has proposed for some time, but ultimately I'd prefer if it was something separate from Hastened. Perhaps just make it a passive?