by Alex Knight
“We’ll make this quick,” Kaiden assured her as he began looting. Dead mobs were piled everywhere, and among them, wardens. Dozens and dozens of them.
DimReaper **Deceased**
Power Warden
Faction: Warden Corps
Level: 47
LorenThyme **Deceased**
Shield Warden
Faction: Warden Corps
Level: 48
On and on, corpse after corpse. All of them had been real players, but not true players, Kaiden knew. Most of them were Party employees who’d been ordered to power-level accounts. Not that it mattered now. They were out of game for a week. Could come back on new accounts, no doubt, but that’d start them all over at level one.
“Here.” Kaiden stepped up to the corpse of what had been a level fifty blast warden. “This’ll do,” he said as a ‘loot corpse?’ prompt appeared.
Unsurprisingly, the corpse didn’t have many items on it. No need to when it’d spent all of its time in-game stuck in the Grinder. It did have two things that drew Kaiden’s attention, though: its armor and weapon.
He focused on the armor first. The armor Kaiden was wearing now – and had been wearing since the battle against the grachnids on Zeross – was sleek and matte gray, with tubing flowing over its frame like tendons attached to muscles. In contrast, this armor was a whole different beast. There were no tubes around it, no joints between pieces. There weren’t even pieces to it. The whole thing was slim, sleek, and looked like it was completely made out of one solid piece of metal. Like a second skin, really. Some areas – particularly around the chest, thighs, and neck – were thicker. Reinforced, no doubt. Looking closer, Kaiden noticed there was small lines flowing through the otherwise matte-gray metal skin. Almost like veins. They flowed out from the chest of the suit and down the arms, across the torso toward the legs, and to every other extremity.
For carrying charge, he realized. Their current armor had tubing to do that, but this new set – this almost max-level warden armor – had miniaturized that technology and integrated it even more holistically into the suit.
I wonder how that affects the charge capacity?
Warden Bombardier Power Suit
Rarity: Rare
Durability: 55%
+5% charge gained from Atmospheric Charge
+5% AOE damage resistance
+15% melee damage resistance
+30% charge capacity
Stimulant Cooling Slots: 3
Based on these stats, this thing’s made for a blast warden. No surprise, considering it was on the corpse of a blast warden. Kaiden smirked to himself. Zelda’s going to love this.
He looted the armor set and the corpse on the ground was suddenly wearing only a thin undersuit. Gotta love game logic, he thought with a chuckle, then turned his attention to the corpse’s weapon.
Warden Hammer-Rifle, Heavy Hitter Edition
Rarity: Rare
Durability: 85%
+15% damage to ranged targets within twenty feet
+5% damage on attacks that target a single enemy
Your first critical hit of each combat deals double damage to its target.
Is this better than Zelda’s current weapon? It’s once-daily ability to make an attack hit three targets is pretty useful. Probably best to let Zelda decide.
Kaiden snapped a screenshot of the armor and weapon and sent it to the group.
“Oh dang,” Titus said. “That makes what we’re wearing now look like scrap.”
“Yes please!” Zelda said through comms a moment later.
“Just found a set for you, Titus,” Thorne said. “‘Warden Guardian Power Suit.’ Same thirty percent increase in charge capacity, some damage resistance, but mainly it buffs your shield. On first equip it lets you pick a type of damage to reduce by thirty percent until you die.”
“Don’t even play. You’re serious?” The big man hurried over to her, then looted the armor set immediately.
Gotta find armor for myself, too. Titus’ exclamations over his new armor continued as Kaiden turned his attention to the rest of the corpses, searching for an enhanced warden among them.
Harrolde02 **Deceased**
Shield Warden
Faction: Warden Corps
Level: 48
Titus is already covered.
Kaiden looted the armor and hammer anyway. Could probably be sold for a nice profit. There was a limit to how much each of them could carry in their inventory, but as long as they looted what they wanted first, then they could use the rest of their inventory spots to just loot valuable gear.
Daudilus05 **Deceased**
Power Warden
Faction: Warden Corps
Level: 52
“There’s one for you,” Kaiden said, pointing Thorne toward the corpse. He took a quick glance at the armor’s stats before moving on.
Warden Berserker Power Suit
Rarity: Rare
Durability: 62%
+15% ranged attack damage resistance
+5% AOE damage resistance
+5% melee damage resistance
+5% stun resistance
+30% charge capacity
Stimulant Cooling Slots: 3
Not bad, not bad at all. Stun resistance is cool, too. Haven’t seen that before. Makes sense, though. Power wardens are all about attack. Stuns can throw a big wrench in that plan.
The armor, though, like all of the others Kaiden saw, was damaged and had a lowered durability. No doubt from the lethal fight they all had just been involved in.
We’ll need to repair any of these we want to keep.
“Think I found the only enhanced warden armor in the room,” Thorne laughed, then waved to Kaiden. He rushed over, tripping on corpses of wardens and mobs alike in his haste.
Jeez. Really thought there wasn’t going to be any. The idea of being stuck with low-level armor while everyone else got upgrades wasn’t exactly a pleasant one.
Warden Blitzer Power Suit
Rarity: Rare
Durability: 81%
+8% dodge chance on ranged attacks
+8% dodge chance on melee attacks
+10% chance of critical hits when attacking from behind
+30% charge capacity
Stimulant Cooling Slots: 3
All right, all right, Kaiden thought, looking over the stats. We can work with this. Good boosts to dodge chance, but most importantly, a thirty percent increase to my charge. That’ll be a big one. Means my shield can take more hits before overloading and I can attack back with more abilities.
“There’s a weapon, too,” Thorne said. She was right.
Chrono Sledge
Rarity: Rare
Durability: 95%
+5% damage dealt on critical hits
+5% damage when attacking from behind
On critical hit, target is target is slowed by 30% for 2 seconds (does not stack).
Whoa. Hello there! Kaiden thought, looting the hammer as quickly as he could. Looking closer at it, he could see it had small, ornate designs carved into its grip. They looked to be… hourglasses?
Oh. Chrono Sledge. Chrono as in time. And it slows opponents on crits. A bit on the nose, but it makes sense.
The handle looked to be made out of some kind of metal, but it’d been roughened to provide a better grip. Wires ran along the hammer’s length, seeming to flow from the little ornate hourglasses and up to the heavy metal head.
“Mean-looking thing,” Thorne said, admiring it as well.
“Hate to break up the party, y’all, but we’re running out of time,” Ellenton said through comms. “Get back here. It’s time to skedaddle.”
Chapter Thirty-Five
Back to Kyraxis, then, Kaiden thought, leaning against one of the Veritas II’s man-sized windows and watching the digital stars of Nova pass beyond. Back to Kyraxis, but this time, we’re prepared.
Nothing gave him more confidence in that than his new level. Fifty, now. Grinding out
ten levels might’ve taken a special – and life-threatening – trip to the Grinder, but after that, earning two more was a cakewalk. They’d stopped off at a turen station where they’d sold the loot they weren’t keeping, then picked up missions that kept them moving in the general direction of Kyraxis. From there, all there was to do was knock the missions out one after the other – a feat made all the easier thanks to Titus’ new-found drive.
The big man had been more focused than ever since the Grinder, studying his new abilities and putting them to use in just about every way he could. Partly because the whole Maximus tournament plan was his, probably, but there was more to it than that; a score to settle, and Titus had been preparing for it like a boxer ready to fight for the title.
Level fifty, Kaiden thought, then chuckled. He couldn’t deny it felt good. He felt powerful. Felt strong. Felt like the Party had better watch its ass, because he was coming for them.
It helped that he and the rest of the team had so many new abilities backing them up. Kaiden pulled up the screenshots to go over them one more time. Titus had been studying virtually non-stop and, being honest, Kaiden figured he could take a note from the big man’s playbook.
The screenshots of the new abilities appeared in his vision, but Kaiden disregarded them for a moment to open his character sheet. Better to start with the changes there. And a lot had changed, mainly his stats.
Character
Name:
Kaiden
Race:
Human
Level:
50
Class:
Enhanced Warden
Attributes
Strength:
65 (+2)
Intelligence:
59
Endurance:
65
Perception:
59
Dexterity:
164 (+2)
Unassigned:
0
Abilities
Kickback
Shield Bash
Hammer Toss
Shackle
Lightspeed
Improved Enhanced Senses
Improved Riposte
Flash Bang
Improved Blur
Onslaught
Enfeebling Strike
Slayer
Hamstring
Matter Shift
Distortion Field
Intangible Defense
Lethal Precision
Perks
Turen Tinkering
Everything in there’s shot through the roof. Each of his attributes had risen by nineteen points since level thirty-eight, except for dexterity. Thanks to the level-ups and the three unassigned points that came with each level – which he always put into dex – the stat had jumped all the way to one hundred sixty-four.
The implications of this weren’t lost on Kaiden. Many of his abilities relied on dexterity. All of them would be more effective now. It’d seem like a big jump, but that was just because he’d jumped up to fifty so quickly.
The other thing that caught his eye about his new and improved character sheet was the addition of two new abilities. He’d seen Distortion Field when he’d earned it in the Grinder. The others, though, he hadn’t looked closely enough at.
Time to change that.
He focused on the ability he’d gotten for level forty-four.
Ability: Intangible Defense (passive)
Charge pours into your body, causing you to vibrate at such speeds that you become semi-intangible. When combat begins, the first damage you take is reduced by 100%, after which this ability deactivates. If no damage is taken during the following 3 minutes, this ability reactivates.
Now this one is something special. This can be a total game changer. Basically, I get to blank the first attack that hits me every time I go into combat. Then, if I can avoid taking damage for three minutes, I can blank another attack. Three minutes is a long time, but relying on dexterity means I’m hard to hit, and I have my shield to block attacks. So, three minutes will be tough, no doubt. But it can be done. Just gotta be smart.
The downside to being a warden was that one needed to block attacks on their shield to build charge and use abilities. It was a fine line, though, blocking attacks versus taking damage from them. A line Kaiden was all too familiar with walking, though. And all the same, increased survivability was a plus. He didn’t have the defenses of Titus or the ranged prowess of Zelda, which meant staying alive in combat was more of a challenge. With Intangible Defense, though, things had just gotten that much – well, not easier, but at least interesting.
Last up was the ability he’d received for level forty-eight.
Ability: Lethal Precision
Your knowledge of the enemy increases the chance of you and your allies landing critical attacks. For a duration of 15 seconds, all attacks from you or your allies (within 50 feet) gain a +20% chance of becoming critical attacks. Improved Enhanced Senses must be active
Cost: 80 charge.
Cooldown: 5 minutes.
So, it’s like giving my allies a bit of my ability to dish out critical hits. They won’t get the same bonuses from them that I do, but a critical hit, at the least, deals more damage than a regular one.
Increased Enhanced Senses needed to be active first, but that only cost ten charge to activate. Really, this ability costs ninety charge, then. But still, if timed correctly before Zelda unleashes a flurry of attacks, or Thorne charges in all buffed up, this could change the tone of an entire fight.
Two new abilities, then, and both of them good. It seemed like at these higher levels the game was directing him to be less of a solo player and focus more on helping the group. Instead of abilities improving what he could do, they improved what his group could do. Apparently, group combat was key at the higher levels. He’d sampled a bit of that in PVP encounters so far, but that had truly been only a taste.
On to everyone else’s abilities, then. He needed to memorize them as well, particularly if combos were going to be important going forward.
Kaiden looked back to the screenshots he’d pulled up, then started with Titus’. That was the natural place to start, considering the insane ability the big man had picked up at level fifty.
This is endgame-type stuff, Kaiden thought as he looked it over again. Feels like the ultimate ability for a shielder.
Ability: Saving Grace
You expend a massive amount of charge to save yourself or an ally from death. If a target within 100 feet has been reduced to 0% health in the last 5 seconds, they return to 50% health instead, with 10 charge.
Cost: All of your remaining charge and 50% of max health if targeting an ally. If targeting yourself, all of your charge but no health and you resurrect with only 5% health and 10 charge.
Cooldown: 6 hours.
This is a rez, plain and simple. I mean, Titus would have to pay half of his max health to use it, but this... this is huge. He can save himself or someone else from dying. From losing a week out of game. Kaiden had read through the ability several times since Titus first unlocked it. There hadn’t been a chance to use it yet – which was a good thing, he supposed – but still, it was hard to believe the big man had been gifted such a powerful ability.
Though he does risk killing himself to do it, Kaiden realized. ‘Fifty percent of max health.’ That means if Titus is below fifty-one percent health, he can’t use the ability. And even if not, it could leave him so weak the next stiff breeze would kill him.
“Titus!” Kaiden called, then remembered he was the only one still in-game. The others were logged off, getting some much-needed sleep. Something he needed, too. But he had a bit more studying to do first.
It wouldn’t be good practice to rely on Saving Grace to make their strategies work, but having it in their back pocket was not something Kaiden was displeased about. They could take bigger risks, could afford to make a mistake here or there. Considering the path ahead, he was pretty sure they’d be making a mistake or two. Ha
ving a ‘get out of jail free’ card was exactly what they needed.
He forced his thoughts from Saving Grace in order to look at the next ability Titus had unlocked.
Ability: Karmic Reprisal
Your shield glows brightly, infused with charge. You may expend X% of max charge to reduce damage from a single attack by that percentage. Additionally, your next attack deals base damage plus additional damage equal to the amount this ability negated.
Cooldown: 3 minutes.
Big counter attack potential on this one. Never hurts to blank an enemy’s biggest attack, then smack them back with bonus damage, eh? It’s almost similar to my Intangible Defense in how it can suck up an attack. Just more intentional and with a bigger upside, I suppose.
Kaiden lost himself for several moments as he imagined all the ways Karmic Reprisal could be used to throw an opponent’s damage back at them, each of them increasingly more fun and wilder than the last.
A blast warden in Sniper Mode could fire an Inferno Shot, I could warn Titus it’s coming, and he could blank it, then attack back for how much damage? His head spun at the thought. Let’s just say ‘a lot.’
So, that was Titus’ abilities. Saving Grace and Karmic Reprisal. Not to mention Intransigence, which Titus had already been putting to excellent use.
Next up, Zelda’s abilities. The first was upgrade on a pre-existing one.
Ability: Improved Paralyzing Shot
Fires an electric blast that confuses the electrical impulses in the target’s muscles, deals 110% base damage, and slows target’s movement by 60% for 10 seconds.
Cost: 40 charge.
Cooldown: 1 minute.
I’ve seen this before. Kaiden thought for a moment, then remembered where. Werner! He used this on me back in Boyd City. A pretty effective ability to handicap my speed. If – or more likely, when – we fight more wardens, I’m going to need to watch out for this one. On the other hand, if we ever run into an enemy enhanced warden, we know what to hit ‘em with.