Flipz

Man, you guys are changing plans so much, it's got to be creating Chaos. I'm surprised your enemies haven't Encouraged themselves by this point. Nah, I'm just kidding; we'd likely be in that spot, too, if Zane were still up.

No, Arthur just figured out that we're kind of screwed in general. As it is we're likely going to have to split our party, and we'll probably already be too late. That said, if you live to round 3 and Atramor manages to score a hit, then maybe you'll be alright.

If we had the entire party with you, it'd be an almost automatic Quest Failure; I don't think numbers would help you there at all, and then we'd have lost all three Spires to Wren in one fell swoop. (Well, unless Gnash somehow managed to beat up the Hovels group all on his own ) The strategy involves the entire party having to take a total of at least 60 points of unblockable damage, PLUS dealing with Free Hits, Fragile, Stuns, and ordinary damage. Yeah, sorry, that party's boned (pun intended ). If they had Arthur and Cronk together with Jinxed-support on the first Round, maybe. But as-is, toast, pretty much guaranteed.

I love this class, awesome but still balanced.

Not a feather duster? No, you have to kill the ten enemies ONE PER ROUND, AND get Zee to do Special Damage six times. At that point, all of the soulless enemies will disappear (or if Zee is dead). Also, once Soulless, the enemies can't be killed again. It's like the Quest 38 Priest battle taken Up To Eleven! (Though that WAS my least favorite battle of all time... )

Something that just popped into my mind: a class that Counterstrikes automatically as a permanent job trait would be interesting to see. (I'm not saying a class should be built around it, but it's an interesting potential Job Trait for a class that can use shields.)

And now we see why the "Dark vs. Demon" discussion. WBD obviously had the same train of thought as I did in strategy.

OOC: Zane's dead. He's a Demon Humanoid, and Skrall favors both types, so it's an x6 multiplier instead of x3, which means he dealt 630 damage. Zane's dead, sorry! In other news, I officialy love Counterstrike Gloves, even though they're not as helpful on me as I would have imagined. "Nice one, Skrall! All right, I can take another Free Hit, so let's leave A untargetted while Hoke and I focus on D, if that's okay with you, Skrall." Arthur casts another Light spell at Expert D from the Back Row.

Agreed. Not sure about the "beat the Threshold Monster" idea, though...somehow that seems a little too limited, especially since some classes just aren't well-suited for Fields play. Buyable with GP would be one option, though I'd put the GP cost just a little below the Medal, somewhere in the 75-90 GP range. I like Endgame's idea of "randomly drops" in the Fields, though, it just feels...right, somehow. (Obviously, it'd have to be determined by dice roll; i.e. a 1% chance for Mediocre areas, a 10% chance for Difficult areas, and a 25% chance in Hard areas (and so on and so forth, since I believe Sandy said that the areas past the Threshold Monsters start at Very Hard).

Yeah, that's what I was trying to say.

No, he's responding to the edit to my post, where I suggested such a concept. I don't see it as OP, so long as there are also monster variants that deal physical damage instead. That said, your way is a lot simpler.

For reference: IMO, the "Demon/Dark" label indicates that they're the same thing, though I can understand from a QM perspective wanting to keep Skrall from completely tearing through all the enemies. (Then again, he always seems to get the worst rolls... ) I'd like to wait for a Sandy clarification before we run the Round, if that's all right with everyone else in this sub-party. I don't mind (thinking from a QM standpoint) if Dark and Demon are two different types of enemies for Marking the Favored purposes, but if that's the case I think all types (other than Undead, Ancient, and Etherial) could use an "alternate" classification. EDIT: Oooh, great idea: what if Demons deal normal damage on a Damage or Counter roll, but Dark enemies deal Darkness-elemental damage? (And obviously a similar thing for each of the other Elements.) That would simultaneously allow for "variant" types AND make elemental immunities a LOT more useful.

*cough* Ella *cough cough* This won't be an easy fight, but if we play strategically we'll be alright. Speaking of which, Skrall IS favoring both types these enemies have, correct? I'd like a confirmation just to make sure my calculations are running correctly.

"I believe so...but it somehow feels we're all playing right into her hands...even though she claims she isn't playing those games anymore." Arthur's eyes widen. "Oh, no...no,no, not possible..." Arthur scrunches his eyes shut for a few moments, then opens them again. "We need to take care of this. Quickly. Whether we beat them or join them or let them go, we have to get this job done fast. Why didn't I see it before?" Arthur frowns, but focuses on the battle in hopes of ending things more quickly.

"Hasn't anyone mentioned it to you, Skrall? Wren doesn't just plan to summon Zoot...she plans to usurp him."

"Leave me and Hoke at the top of the Battle Order, I'll counterstrike Zane and while Hoke drinks his Grand Tonic he can possibly dodge one of the Experts and cause them to damage their ally. Nobody target Zane, we should just Counterstrike him to death. Anyway, I'll take Expert D from the Back Row with Light."

"You are the jester to the Court, eh? Then why don't we play a game instead of fighting over who gets to use the Spire?"

"No trouble wanted, my friends Atramor Gibbin and Tarn Valco told me this would be a good place to come if one wanted to practice their skills at alchemy; the rest of my party and I were just patrolling the area on an important mission, when we realized we were running low on supplies. Could we have...let's see...eight units of Ennonian Rose Petals, eight units of powdered Super Scarab shell, eight units of Mopagian Pale Root, four units of Waldurk Pine Nettles, four units of Crushed Chimera Hoof, and four units of Ground Golem's Kidney?"

I was already planning this as soon as the Apothecary was mentioned. This is why I've built Arthur the way he's built (well, excluding Q53, since he's loaned out most of his gear; I think it's become apparent that he's a LOT less flexible without his Scrolls). As it stands, he's got a pseudo-Cleric skill (Healing Staff) that, on a SHIELD, can still serve as a pseudo-Guardian Angel. With support from Scrolls and the Lens, he's a solid status-dealer, and when I have him fully outfitted with a little more SP, the Cloak of Deception, and Counterstrike Gloves, he can also be an effective Free Hit tank. Add that to his ability to hit all but one type of enemy for super-effective damage, and you have a built that's quite literally a huge boon to any party he's a part of.

Oh, that's right. But the weapons that hit all enemies still have the Assassination chance on all (at least, that's how Sandy seems to have been running it in Q50 ).

Alternatively, you could go Assassin and have a shot at Assassinating up to four enemies per turn. It's all in where you want to go: Witch can self-heal, and is great if you want to inflict a lot of Effects (Witch works well with Scrolls and weapons that deal effects), but that's going to come at something of a cost as you buy artifacts and items you'll need. On the other hand, Assassin wouldn't really need much investment (since you'd obviously not care too much about using a bow since your scissors have that useful dual-strike effect), but it comes at the cost of less assured damage and a SHIELD that does no direct damage at all. As yet another alternative, you could even stick with Rogue past Level 15 and build your strategy around super-powerful Mugs, coupled with the Nostrum-Mead strategy; it's all in how you want to play your cards. Also, nice touch, WBD--those two cadets don't have uniforms because Arthur stole them.

Just before the parties separate, Arthur walks to Alexis. He places his hands on her shoulders. "Be safe," he says simply. He embraces her tightly, then follows after Skrall and the others. The group's path took them past both Zeigfried Manor and Heroica Hall; indeed, the party's outpost was just minutes from the wizards' residence. Will we have time to recruit their aid before the final battle? Or is it already too late? As he followed Skrall and Haldor contemplatively, he can't resist sneaking a peek into the Hall through its great oaken doors--to his surprise, he saw De'kra wearing a mask--perhaps a Grogmas present? It is the sort of thing I would have asked for him--but I never sent in a list. Who...? The Sorcerer was sorely tempted to go inside and speak to his fellow, but he heard Haldor's strong voice and knew he would be missed. He took one final glance inside at the echo, his mind and heart still burdened, then returned to his party. "Haldor," he says, "There's something that's been bothering me. About Wren, I mean," he adds quickly at Haldor's expression. "'A Ace Refill, Owlish Ill, Wilt Orzo.' Where does that fit into her plan? You don't think...could the final spire, the final Door to Chaos...be in the Hall?"

Arthur replies to Atramor in the same quiet tone. "Well...I understand the attachment, but there's too much at stake to not eke out every advantage we can. Besides, if there's anyone here she seems to trust, it's you, Atramor."

Holy heck, Thormy, you're like a front-row Sorcerer with that sword! And you do damage on a SHIELD and gain Gold on a Miss! ...nice stat build! In other news, I know it's a pain waiting, but I really, really, really want to wait for that item switcheroo I mentioned in 53. Now that permadeath is about to happen, we need to have our builds optimized; after Hoke and Arthur are both Level 20, I'll ask Alexis for the Lens back and let Hoke use the Counterstrike Gloves, which will make him a Free Hit champion (has SP AND Counterstrikes AND has a 1/6 chance of dodging Free Hits).

"Before we go--no one individual should have more than one Phoenix Essence, and each party should have at least two. Also, I really, really think we'll be better off if Atramor uses Nyx's Explosive Staff and Dyric, in turn, uses the Cat O' Nine Tails, could we wait for her reply?"