by Arthur Stone
“Hell’s bells! The shield is a total blast! All we need now is a full set!”
“Oh, it’s not that great. Once you sustain 1750 damage, the shield disappears, and that isn’t that much—can take just a few seconds in a serious battle.
“It will save you from a surprise attack—an ambush in the bushes, a stealthed assassin, that sort of thing.”
“Oh yeah? Against a serious opponent, you’ll barely be able to count to two. But you’re right about the set—it grants a couple of good bonuses, even if not essential.”
“Is the ring from the same set as the boots you got the previous time?”
“It is.”
“In that case, we’ll only sell it over my dead body once rigor mortis sets in.”
“Why?”
“Do you understand why sets are valuable at all?”
“Well… a full set gives you a good bonus.”
“That’s not it, you dolt. The main advantage of sets is complete merging. Are you familiar with the principles of character equipment?”
“Not really.”
“Up to level 100, you can wear a single ring on every finger and a single bracelet on every wrist. Once you reach level 100, you can wear an extra ring on every finger and an extra bracelet on every wrist, provided they have the ‘merging’ stat. When you get to 250, you can add another item on the same conditions, and wear an extra pendant, choker, or necklace on your neck. Obviously, the extra item must have merging. Then you’d have to level up to 500 to add some extra jewelry, but even the Chinese are nowhere near there. The thing is, none of those calculations account for sets. Or, rather, set items are considered separately. You can dress yourself up in legendary items from head to foot, and don an extra full set in merging mode to boot. No one will see you wearing it, and you won’t feel it, but it won’t stop it from functioning. And when you get to level 100, you’ll be able to wear two sets at once—no matter what kind, including duplicates, as long as you remember to activate merging.”
“I see. So you can wear three once you get to 250, and four after reaching 500.”
“That’s right. That’s how you really soup up your character by level 250 and transform him into a bona fide Second World superhero. Those are the ones who call the shots here. Imagine one of those clad in level-appropriate legendary gear, rocking three sets of awesome jewelry, and three more sets of armor with all the perks that come with it. You’d need a small army of players to kill just one—they’re like high-level raid bosses. Those characters might as well be gods, and the military power of top clans relies on them.”
“How much are you supposed to invest in a character like that?”
“Millions. But it isn’t just a matter of money. Collecting a single full set is hard enough. Have you seen many set items for sale?”
“Can’t say that I have. More like, I haven’t seen any. I couldn’t even find out the price of those boots.”
“That’s right. The reason is that the juiciest bosses and caches where you can find such stuff are constantly farmed by top clans, and they won’t let any strangers come close. They don’t sell their set items. They store them in their warehouses and wait for the set to be complete. As you probably realize, the set is then awarded to one of their head honchos.”
“Looks like leading a top clan is good business.”
“It’s like being a CEO of a large corporation IRL—you won’t starve, that’s for sure.”
“Do you really think we can collect a full set—just the two of us?”
“We already have two items, so that’s a good start. And it seems they tend to drop in this dungeon, which belongs to us so far. So, why don’t we keep on farming it? Especially given that this run wasn’t particularly fortuitous loot-wise. If it hadn’t been for the dagger, we’d have nothing of value.”
“What about the ring? Isn’t it valuable?”
“We’re keeping the ring, so I’m not taking it into account. Your Luck should really fetch you more of the good stuff. But I probably shouldn’t join you on these runs anymore. I reckon the system calculates the median Luck stat from both players, and mine sucks. You should do this alone—you’ll manage it perfectly well. Unless the level of the mobs grows critically all of a sudden and you find yourself in need of a team, which can happen sometimes.”
“So, then, we don’t sell any set items, and keep gems and metals for future Enchanting needs. What’s going to pay the bills, then?”
“We’ll sell the minor stuff.”
“It won’t amount to much.”
“We can sell the dagger. Neither of us needs it—we’re both mages, so it’s not a weapon either of us can use. It’s more like something that can be used against us.”
“At the auction?”
“We can try the site’s classifieds. It will take longer to sell it that way, but you don’t have to pay the middleman, so there’s a chance of netting a higher return. We’ll launch our own auction there.”
“Won’t it attract any undue attention?”
“A legendary item will always draw attention. But you can arrange for a bank’s representative to give the item to the buyer. You’ll have to pay four or five hundred gold for the service, but the customer won’t see you, and the bank’s insurance won’t come amiss, either.”
“Aren’t you a fount of knowledge…”
“Well, what else could I do before Lady Luck smiled at me with your handsome face? I studied theory as much as I could, so, yeah, I know a few things. Ros, we’ll need lots of money in the nearest future, and selling the dagger would take care of all our expenses.”
“What do you plan to spend it on?”
“Leveling and collecting soul crystals, for one. The higher the level of the mob that drops a crystal, the more expensive the enchantment. It’s even better if the mobs are elite or enhanced. And then there are the bosses. A boss almost always drops an elite crystal. And if you get lucky with the skill, there may be more than one. Elite mobs hardly ever drop elite crystals, but there’s always a chance they might.”
“I know.”
“If you do, you should understand that your best bet is to hire a team of power-levelers working with level 200+ mobs in a location where you can find elite critters. We shall also need money to get us both fully equipped, too. There are a few more things, but these two should be enough to leave us penniless.”
“I can relate to why we need to outfit me, since I’ll be the one clearing the lair. But what about you? Don’t think that I’m greedy or anything—I just don’t get it. Your level is too low to care about this stuff. Once you tet to 30 or 40, we can start thinking about gear.”
“Yeah, well, what am I supposed to do while you’re away? I have thought about it and decided to level up Alchemy—everybody needs it, including us, and you have no time for it. Also, a high-level alchemist boasts a higher chance of getting a rare ingredient from a mob, which is why any self-respecting party has at least one. I shall also start on Leatherworking and Tailoring. There are a few other things, too. I’ve been thinking about your adventures, and I’ve decided to start on a chain of achievements where you need to kill mobs that are 10 or even 25 to 30 levels higher than you.”
“Why would you?”
“I should become a hero at some point, and then I’ll be able to remove all the locks without your help.”
“As far as I understand, you won’t be able to remove all the locks—just up to level 10 or 30, perhaps. Also, my heroic deeds have resulted in making the achievement requirements more stringent.”
“Come again?”
“There’s a forum topic about it you might want to look up—they call me all sorts of names. I’ve become a scapegoat, since it used to be much easier.”
“Well, they’ve always been strict about these things. For instance, you cannot drop a mob into a pit and then take your sweet time shooting it with a level zero character. No such tricks work, generally speaking—try as you might, the monster wouldn’
t be credited to you.”
“Even so, some stuff was still allowed, but now they’ve banned buffs from other users and elixirs that you didn’t make yourself. Basically, not even a hint of third-party interference is allowed, and the character can’t be decked out, either. Which means you can forget all about legendary items. That’s according to the observations of those who’d tried for the achievement—there are no announcements here, as you know.”
“That’s pretty strict…”
“It gets less strict if you tackle mobs that are 40 levels above you and twelve times your size, but it’s clearly harder—a whole lot harder, in fact.”
“I might hunt the ones that are 20 or 30 levels higher—you get achievements for those, too, even if they’re not heroic. A little bit here, a few points there…”
“The prizes are a great deal more modest.”
“It should still be enough for grinding. And I’ll still try to get to heroic level—slowly, one mob at a time, and, hopefully, there’ll be bonuses of some sort. It may not be anything big, but it might be useful, and cover the entire party, just like your collection. Any bonus will come in handy. They’ll also level my skills, and I need that badly—you know I’m not like the others, having been given a raw deal at birth. They also gave you the most delectable skills of the Chaos school. What if I luck out with some of that, too?”
“I wouldn’t bet on it. It’s also gonna be hard for you to deal with level 30 mobs at level zero. I’d say you’re aiming to bite off more than you can chew.”
“Well, I’ve done some calculations. A ring that adds two to your general level costs fifteen hundred grand in gold. Eight rings like this will run up to twelve thousand. The virtual point will bring my general level to seventeen. It’s not easy to collect that much jewelry, but given time and motivation, nothing’s impossible. And that’s an investment, mind you—as soon as I get everything unlocked, I’ll sell it right back—such accessories are always in high demand.”
“It still isn’t that easy to kill level 30 monsters when you’re level 17. Pretty damn hard, in fact.”
“When you have a goal and spare no time or effort, it’s doable.”
“Well, I do happen to have six rings, each of which adds two points to the level, and another one that adds three.”
“Wherever did you get them?!”
“The thylbits dropped them the first time I visited.”
“Why don’t they drop them anymore?”
“No idea. There were actually a great deal fewer trophies this run than the last one.”
“You see! With your Luck being up the wazoo, we should have gotten more. A lot more.”
“I’m surprised myself. Could it have been because I was the first to clear the dungeon the previous time?”
“I don’t think that would account for such a difference. I’m telling you, Ros, raiding parties are really keen on having characters with Luck at ten or more along on such raids. And yours is nearly a hundred. Either we’re dealing with something really weird, or it’s just the result of me being, um, challenged…”
“Could there be something we don’t know?”
“Sure. But anyway, there’ll be a lot less to invest if we put those rings of yours to use, though it’ll still cost a pretty penny. I figure that a few excellent- and good-quality items for a level 17 character will cost around seven or eight thousand—at that level, gear isn’t exorbitantly expensive. So, it should run up to a little under ten thousand, all in all. And, in the meantime, I can do a few achievements that involve killing mobs 10, 20, and 30 levels above you. There should be bonuses for that, too.”
“But your character is no fighter—you have nothing to hit them with.”
“I could learn Fireball like you, or some School of Light trick—it doesn’t conflict with Chaos whatsoever, for some reason. And the combat skills from that school are useful against all kinds of undead—even a noob can deal them some real damage. Well, assuming at least decent gear, and, in my case, a specific kind of a staff—which I’ve found one at the auction today.”
“If you go for mobs 40 levels higher or more, the bonuses are a lot more attractive.”
“I wouldn’t be able to do anything against those without scrolls and similar paraphernalia.”
“Scrolls?”
“Yup.”
“Could you elaborate?”
“Characters with high-level Calligraphy can write their spells on paper, creating a scroll. You can only use it once. Another player can use the spell, too, if you give them the scroll.”
“Well, why don’t I level my Calligraphy and make you some?”
“It’s not as easy as that. The level of the scroll is the same as that of its creator. What’s yours?”
“44.”
“Damn! You grew by ten levels as we cleared the dungeon!”
“Well, I did get a lot more XP than you.”
“That’s obvious. Anyway, I wouldn’t be able to use your scrolls. I need a level zero scroll—or, perhaps, something for a slightly higher level after factoring in the equipment bonuses.”
Ros considered the idea, which seemed rather promising, from another angle.
“What about the power of such a spell? How much damage does it do? What are the key factors to consider?”
“Equipment means nothing—it’s all up to the character’s stats.”
“Mental Power, Intellect, and the like?”
“Yeah. Otherwise, high-level Calligraphists would be rolling in money. You’d just have to level up to 200, which isn’t that hard, and then drop all the way back down to 100. Some of the points would get lost due to penalties, but half should still be available. If you dumped them into Intellect and Mental power—and nothing else—you could make as many scrolls as you wanted. It’s a pain in the ass to create such a character, but there’s nothing impossible about it. Most budget combat-oriented characters are level 100 with locks. They could do decent damage with those, especially given that you spend no mana whatsoever. You can’t do a hard raid without scrolls, and they’re always in demand. It’s not that you can use them to replace proper mages, healers, and buffers, but they can save you in a pinch. There used to be a time when folks who leveled their Resurrection could do pretty well for themselves with nothing but scrolls. No one wants to lose so much experience when they die, after all. But then too many folks got into it, everyone got competitive about the whole thing, and the prices plummeted. Why did you mention it in the first place, anyway?”
Ros chuckled smugly.
“Who’s the noob now? Or did you forget that I don’t care about levels at all? In fact, I plan to keep rolling them back.
Digits slapped himself on the forehead.
“I am the noob indeed. How many primary stats do you have right now?”
“One thousand thirty-four.”
“How many?!”
“Just told you.”
“Did you get them through achievements?”
“Not only. I did manage to do some serious leveling back at level zero—I took down some pretty high-level mobs back then. Cleared a dungeon like this on my own, and got me a bunch of achievements. Then, when they announced everything about me worldwide in red lettering, I got a few more things. So, I leveled to 88, but then dropped all the way back to ten—without any penalties, since my race is all but extinct. Then I leveled to 44, so there was a point to every primary stat for every level. It all adds up.”
“Damn, what’s a guy like you doing in a dungeon like this, then? It’s for noobs! For shame!”