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Added 2021-01-24 06:01:04 +0000 UTCNot until after: 1F408-1F40D
Comments
I like this chapter, he side character stories add flavor to the world. I probably wouldn't have enjoyed it as much if I didn't have a backlog of a few unread chapters.
Loipers
2021-02-07 22:41:27 +0000 UTCRain does need to do a lot of training to increase the synchronizations and especially the tolerances for Strength and Endurance if he wants to make the most of his Physical-Combat mode fallback as he levels up.
David
2021-01-30 17:46:35 +0000 UTCHere is how Rain should have handled the fight with Hegar. If Rain were alone and attacked by a level ~20 monster, the strategy would be similar. First, Rain should have been in Mage-Combat mode with 15,900 Mana and 190 Focus. He begins by slowly circling and/or backing away from the threat to try to entice them into charging him. Once they begin to charge, he leaps to the side and does a 1-second Velocity Nova (WITHOUT Aura Focus) followed immediately by Force Ward in case Velocity does not trip them up. Assuming they are not an instant away from slamming into him then he swaps Force Ward for a 1-second Nova of Refrigerate or Immolate using all his metamagic intensity boosts except for Extend (damage will be about 6,000). Hopefully the opponent is still down from the Velocity Nova and/or is more reluctant to charge him again after the first fiasco. After the Offensive Aura Nova, Rain resumes slowly circling (with Force Ward activated) and whenever he is not in immediate danger of being charged by his opponent he launches another Offensive Aura Nova, and repeats that until the opponent is disabled or dead. If Rain starts running low on Mana, or if his Offensive Aura Novas do not have any effect (even if boosted to 9,300 damage with Extend), then he should switch to Physical-Combat mode with Force Ward active and delay or stall or try to disengage. If that fails, he better hope that Tallheart has made him a good sword or spear to fight with. At least he has some strength in Physical-Combat mode.
David
2021-01-30 15:06:35 +0000 UTCwell it would double up on force related auras and delay getting suppression. and while he needs to pick 4 def auras and 3 off auras more to get 5 specializations. He needs 8 auras with different typings for that sweet supression aura, He already got 3/8 in heat, cold and force (4/8 if we count purify or one of the other utility aura's as arcane). so he needs light, dark, chemical and mental. All that said i do think shear is a prerequisite for a hidden skill. Since the two other skill in the offensive aura tier 1 help unlock a tier 2.
Jeppe Fiig
2021-01-29 19:11:09 +0000 UTCOh snap just thought of something! The Cat-snake didn't die in a way that would prevent resurrection. I mean yea Lyn kinda broke some bones there at the end, but that's not too bad. Hanes should totally give healing it a shot.
Starless
2021-01-29 05:48:35 +0000 UTCIf Rain can get just one more level to his cap, he should take Shear as his next skill. Since it is not occluded by mundane materials, it opens up an excellent strategy for Rain and Ameliah. They find some rocky ground in a lair and Ameliah opens up a hole about 5 meters deep. Rain climbs in and then Ameliah puts a rock roof over him a couple meters thick. Then they use whatever trick they can to attract a Blue, and Rain can fire off Shear Novas with little fear of being attacked. Suppression would be a complete waste of a skill point. Rain needs to get a full set of Ward Auras, not waste points getting a skill that might possibly have a small effect against some specific types of monsters, and even then is not as effective at defeating them as Shear, Fulmination, or Discombobulate.
David
2021-01-29 01:35:41 +0000 UTCThe reason for concentrating on the Novas is because Aura Focus (with Compression) is a far more mana-efficient to inflict magical damage than the Extend (with Compression) combination. So Rain's Novas should maximize all the metamagic except no Extend. With Aura Focus, 200% Channel Mastery, Amplify, and range Compression from 54 meters down to 10 meters, he can do about 6000 damage per second at a cost of 900 Mana per second. Compare that to using Extend (with range compressed from 108 to 10 meters) which ups his damage to about 9300 dmg/sec but costs 2700 mana/sec. That is about 50% increase in damage but 200% increase in cost. The lesson is to not use Extend unless absolutely necessary. This was mentioned in the comment section before. Since Rain always does his math homework, I'm not sure why he would make such a basic tactical mistake. The alternative of using everything EXCEPT Aura Focus, while reasonably cheap at 900 Mana/sec, only hits with about 1600 dmg/sec. That will barely get past the resistances of some of the creatures Rain will likely be up against. So until he gets to Silver and ranks his skills up to 15, his best tactical approach is going to have to rely on 1-second Novas for mana-efficient damage. And he should always start with non-Extend Novas and only use Extend if 6000 dmg/sec is not enough and 9300 dmg/sec could make a difference.
David
2021-01-28 21:21:13 +0000 UTCRain also needs to revise his tactics for fighting a powerful creature (or person). His tactics against Hegar were awful. Against a powerful creature that can tank a lot of magical damage, Rain should stick to 1-second Novas whenever possible. He should either stay back from the melee fighters so he is unlikely to be attacked during his 1-second of being insensate, or else have either Tallheart or Ameliah stand between Rain and the creature to protect him during his 1-second Novas.
David
2021-01-28 21:20:39 +0000 UTCI'm also starting to think just leaving for a month-long delve with Ameliah and Tallheart is not the best plan. It would be better to start with a few shorter (and not as deep) delves while bringing along a fourth person. My plan for advancing people in "the Crack" starts with Tallheart, Ameliah, Rain (TAR) taking Samson to get a Blue in the 12-18 range (plus Crysts & metal for powerful armor & sword for Samson). Then return and TAR take Carten to get a Blue in the 18-26 range (plus Crysts & metal for better armor & shields for Carten or Rain). Then return and TAR take Samson to get a Blue in the 18-26 range. Then TAR delve for a Blue in the 26-29 range (possibly taking either Carten or Samson depending on their levels) and return to make Rain more enchanted equipment with the loot. Finally, TAR go on a long delve to get a Blue in the 30-35 range. The idea is for Rain to gain delving experience while simultaneously improving the power of two of Ascension's people (hopefully at least one reaching Silver) so they can protect Ascension while TAR are gone for the extended Delve to get Rain (and Ameliah) to level 30-35. Rain really needs to get to about level 33 before his build reaches the highest levels of power and usefulness, but he is not likely to get there in one leap (going straight to killing a level 33+ Blue). And it would not be great to leave Ascension by themselves for a month or more when their most powerful people are only level 12 and their most competent combat leader (Samson) is only level 6. So they can kill multiple birds with one stone by starting out with shorter delves to power-level Samson and Carten (Jamus is harder to powerlevel because an Arcane mage is squishy and cannot fight well in armor).
David
2021-01-28 20:02:00 +0000 UTCHere is some more delve planning that Rain is hopefully working on. He should try to get a Forceweave balaclava made, preferably with Mental Resistance also included. This is to take care of the flaw he previously noticed with his nose breaking against the visor of his helmet, and the Mental Resistance should be helpful in case he ever gets hit with Mental magic when his visor is up or his helmet is off. Speaking of adding Resistances to underwear, it might be helpful to add Arcane Resistance to his Forceweave long-underwear if possible. Just in case he ever gets hit with some unexpected magical attack when his armor is off (or damaged). A cloak with built-in Light- and Dark-magic Resistance could be useful. As well as several (4 or 8 or 10) rings with the four Resistances his armor lacks (Mental, Arcane, Light, Dark).
David
2021-01-28 19:59:56 +0000 UTCWhen he needs to recover, here is his best configuration for recovery: 2 slots: southshore rat warren health+1,000 (guess T2-U) 10 slots: 5x of the icy cellar T2-C health+500 4 slots: 2x of the ice cavern T2-R str+20 2 slots: 2x of sharpton's delving T1-R staminaRegen+200 1 slots: the everdeep fortress T1 perception+10 with malleable ring settings: str+00 rec+50 end+30 vig+30 foc+90 cla+00 str50 rec60 end40 vig40 foc100 cla200 health4,500(healthRegen600/day) stamina800(staRegen800/day) mana10,500 He sacrifices Mana (Focus) to get more Stamina-Regen and Health-Regen, but he still has a Mana pool of 10,500 in case he has an unexpected fight. These configurations are based on the efficiency of the Accolades. A few of his Attribute or Stat Accolades are what I will call "High Efficiency" and "Peak Efficiency". The Southshore Rat Warren is Peak, since it provides (I assume) +500 Health per slot. That exceeds the +250 Health per slot of the Icy Cellar, and +200 Health per slot derived from the +10 Strength per slot of the Ice Cavern. So the former is Peak, while the latter two are High. Sharpton's Delving StaminaRegen is also Peak since it provides 200/day StaminaRegen per slot which is double what a +10 Vigor per slot Accolade (High) would hypothetically provide. And the Halls of Corruption +10 Focus per slot Accolade is High. All the other Attribute and Stat Accolades are Medium or Low Efficiency (except for the +500 Mana per slot which is technically Peak but is almost worthless for Rain because he has a x3 Intrinsic Focus multiplier which essentially raises the Focus Accolade from High to Peak+)
David
2021-01-28 19:26:30 +0000 UTCI do not have anything to say about this chapter specifically, except that it sounds like Rain has been making progress binding Accolades in the background. Hopefully he quickly gets his slot-strain tolerance up to 19 so he can use his full number of Accolade slots. I think this will be his optimal configuration for combat readiness: 2 slots: southshore rat warren health+1,000 (guess T2-U) 10 slots: 5x of the icy cellar T2-C health+500 4 slots: 2x of the ice cavern T2-R str+20 2 slots: 2x of the halls of corruption T1-R foc+10 1 slots: the everdeep fortress T1 perception+10 with malleable ring settings: str+00 rec+00 end+30 vig+10 foc+160 cla+00 str50 rec10 end40 vig20 foc190 cla200 health4,500(healthRegen100/day) stamina800(staRegen200/day) mana15,900 I assumed the Accolades do not contribute to attribute soulstrain so Rain can boost his attributes with the malleable ring independent of his Accolade boosts. This maximizes his Health and Mana pools while still providing a reasonably balanced build with increased Strength balanced by increased Endurance as well as a moderate Vigor boost. And of course his Perception Accolade is well worth 1 slot.
David
2021-01-28 19:22:16 +0000 UTCDon't forget Druidboy introduced summoning monsters to the Delve sandbox and we don't even get an inkling of how that's goes. Some crunchy skill exposition delivered POV switches would indeed be amazing in these side chapters.
Starless
2021-01-26 01:39:59 +0000 UTCI had no problems (Moon reader) which app do you use? I'll try it on my Kobo tonight
Umut Numanoglu
2021-01-25 22:57:47 +0000 UTCI know SenescentSoul doesn't want to spend all his time creating and balancing skill trees, but would it kill him to give us just a little bit of insight into the system? This chapter would have been a good opportunity with Staavo's POV. It just leaves me feeling dissatisfied.
Cirvante
2021-01-25 18:36:51 +0000 UTCPlease use different font for system messages. It's in Korean in epub and hard to read on pdf.
Senjo
2021-01-25 18:09:02 +0000 UTCThank you! Looking forward towards Rains future with the accolades.
Atli
2021-01-25 10:50:18 +0000 UTCLoved the chapter! Keep up the good work
TromJH2424
2021-01-25 06:02:49 +0000 UTCWould have been a bit problematic since it has an aversian to light and humans generally try to keep light in as many areas as possible to prevent monster spawns. On the other hand, if it COULD be tamed and made to sit in shadowfog form in areas of darkness, it would most likely prevent monsters from spawning there. Also, all that Dark-aspect blood they're wasting probably has some neat alchemical properties. All-in-all a terrible waste of a once-glorious cat-snake.
Starless
2021-01-24 22:49:53 +0000 UTCMeh chapter. All action.
Froyo Baggins
2021-01-24 22:19:56 +0000 UTCThis sucked
Devin Nippard
2021-01-24 22:00:08 +0000 UTCNah itโs fine for me, I mean with that size ๐
Bram Haver
2021-01-24 21:35:27 +0000 UTCI thought a plausible explanation was put forth, which was tamers.
Kevan Benson
2021-01-24 21:32:14 +0000 UTCInvisible stuff makes me nervous. Kinda reminds me of when a much weaker Rain first used detection in the sewers while hunting slimes and noticed there were invisible monsters intermingling with humans above him in the city. Then proceeded to to never follow-up on that discovery.
Starless
2021-01-24 20:34:08 +0000 UTCI like the idea of different fonts for System Skills, but the current font is difficult to read
Eric Hartz
2021-01-24 20:04:48 +0000 UTCI admit, I was hoping they would keep the creature as a pet, or find a way to farm it for resources. if all those resistances stayed with the hide then think how effective a cloak of it would be.
Erik Zorger
2021-01-24 18:03:23 +0000 UTCThink you for the chapter
Luke Preston
2021-01-24 16:53:20 +0000 UTCThanks for the chapter! Could you post the chapters in html as well?
intemoc
2021-01-24 15:58:48 +0000 UTCWasn't necessarily what I wanted, but I was captivated and enjoyed it. Thanks!
kyle
2021-01-24 13:32:56 +0000 UTCNice chapter.
Enkelados
2021-01-24 12:09:27 +0000 UTCFixed, thanks! Dang epub readers. Not following web standards. Try a different one, or the pdf, I guess :(
SenescentSoul
2021-01-24 10:40:25 +0000 UTCFixed, thanks!
SenescentSoul
2021-01-24 10:37:02 +0000 UTCI think you ment meant :P Fixed, thanks!
SenescentSoul
2021-01-24 10:36:29 +0000 UTCThe hair [-rose-] on Staavo's neck rose as the... ...was [-proof-] enough proof of its efficacy. One Arcane Bolt had been [all] it took to... ...the best time to strike [was] when it was in midair and couldn't dodge.
Elmhedera
2021-01-24 10:32:35 +0000 UTCtypo met -> ment
His Dad
2021-01-24 08:16:46 +0000 UTCHey now
Yshua
2021-01-24 07:47:23 +0000 UTCIโm fairly positive that it was a ferret. Earlier in the story, Rain told Staavo and others about Ferrets and they didnโt believe them to be real. Described them as cat-snakes.
Ben P
2021-01-24 07:12:04 +0000 UTCDid it look like a snake rat or cat? It is described as looking like a rat but they called it a cat snake. This is important because a cat snake sounds like a cool pet but a rat snake needs to be exterminated.
Chris
2021-01-24 07:02:55 +0000 UTCAn entire chapter, about... a random monster that only eats their torches. What a fucking waste of space.
Garend
2021-01-24 07:02:12 +0000 UTCGreat Chapter. Found a typo. One Arcane Bolt had been ^all it took to finish the second ant, which had just come around the corner. Also check the font skill names not showing up in epub version. Edit: switched to pdf looks great there.
Roderick McKinney
2021-01-24 06:54:33 +0000 UTCYou need a blue to raise the level cap
Jack Trowell
2021-01-24 06:50:53 +0000 UTCIt's unicode. Google them individually without the hyphen
Draugluir
2021-01-24 06:41:14 +0000 UTCFun
Alexander Dupree
2021-01-24 06:40:57 +0000 UTCNo Rain this chapter. Still good though. I can picture the Hanger prosthetic in my mind. Good character interactions and plenty of action. Will some of the people get a new level cap since it is a higher level or does it have to be blue specifically? Something about being full of essence. Can't wait for Rain to fix his soul and get Dozer back. I think it will happen in the next 20 chapters. See you next time.
Michael Hughes
2021-01-24 06:39:37 +0000 UTCTheyโre in fancy English font for me lol
Robert
2021-01-24 06:37:39 +0000 UTC๐๐
Gnossos
2021-01-24 06:35:39 +0000 UTCHum, in hexadecimal Not until after: 1F408-1F40D is 128008-128013 or possibly 12/80/08 - 12/80/13 ... no not dates. Does anyone have a word count for the story so far?
wanderer117
2021-01-24 06:34:51 +0000 UTCNice one with the unicode characters!
Draugluir
2021-01-24 06:31:36 +0000 UTCThank you!
Andrew
2021-01-24 06:30:38 +0000 UTCThe chapters drop at 7am here ๐
Draugluir
2021-01-24 06:29:43 +0000 UTCSo in the epub skill names are in Korean for me...... I'm guessing it's the font you chose? Edit: link showing issue, just the last page so spoilers potentially if you haven't finished it yet. https://imgur.com/a/14Ppfot
Tim Johnson
2021-01-24 06:28:07 +0000 UTCInsomnia gang
afgasd adgasd
2021-01-24 06:02:23 +0000 UTCWooo
Saltysaurus Nom
2021-01-24 06:01:14 +0000 UTC
