The Cleanser and the Miasmist couldn't really fight solo. Especially the Miasmist. DoT builds were kinda slow early and lacked control or defensive options. She'd have to raise one or two of her DoT Talents before she really took off. Luckily for her DoT Talents changed in a relatively unique way as they advanced in Phases. They decreased their casting time. She'd be able to start applying her basic spells and thus her marks much faster.

The Eruptor, Crusher, Arcanist, Treant, and myself had all done some solo work. The aforementioned to party members couldn't solo. The Shieldmaiden could technically solo but not particularly well. As such we moved on to interesting quads.

I picked out the Cleanser, Arcanist, and the Shieldmaiden to work with. We went up against our favorite tier 4 creatures. Yes, more Quartz Behemoths. 4 specifically.

Quartz Behemoth lvl 4*4 Health 700 ABS 40 Mana 350 MOV 5m/s Quartz Aura: -2s control Boulder Fist 100 dmg 2s Stun 1s Pounding Smash 200 dmg 3s Stun 70 mana 2s

These fine creatures were great because they had heavy control resistance which was the main issue with our party. They also had heavy absorbtion and high health. Finally their had a high damage 1 second strike time stun for 2 seconds. Mistakes were painful.

Chronomancer Arcanist Cleanser Shieldmaiden HP 78 Health 103 HP 78 HP 120 Mana 347/384 +9/s Mana 373/438 +10/s Mana 319/384 +9/s Mana 140/190 +4/s MOV 5m/s MOV 5m/s MOV 5m/s MOV 5m/s Haste 3s Invigorate 1s Invigorate 1s Invigorate 1s - Quicken 0s Mana Well 1s Mana Well 1s Invigorate 0s

The Shieldmaiden had relatively low mana and Invigorate only impacted 3 people. For obvious reasons it was used on the other 3 people. Mana Wells started pooling because we were going to be going hard on extra actions. Quicken being a perfect example. The Behemoths start 40m out. We could do more on the plains but it seemed unfair to the slow beasts somehow. We'd get 9 phases to do whatever we wanted as it was, no need to add 5 more by engaging at extreme range.

Chronomancer Arcanist Cleanser Shieldmaiden Domains And Buffs HP 78 Health 103 HP 78 HP 120 Mana Well *2 11s Mana 254/384 +9/s Mana 309/438 +10/s Mana 280/384 +9/s Mana 94/190 +4/s MOV 5m/s MOV 5m/s MOV 5m/s MOV 5m/s Haste 2s Invigorate 1s Invigorate 1s Haste 3s Invigorate 1s - Mana Well 1s Accelerate 0s Mana Well 0s Static Field 2s Mana Well 0s Ocean Currents 2s Invigorate 0s

With an extra action from Invigorate our supports moved quickly to deploy Domains while finishing Mana Wells. I accelerate the Arcanist so she'd get her Storm Clouds out faster. The Shieldmaiden cast her 2nd of likely 5 Invigorates.

Chronomancer Arcanist Cleanser Shieldmaiden Domains And Buffs HP 78 Health 103 HP 78 HP 120 Mana Well *2 10s | Ocean Currents Mana 232/384 +15/s Mana 274/438 +16/s Mana 295/384 +15/s Mana 54/190 +10/s Mana Well *1 11s | Static Field MOV 5m/s MOV 5m/s MOV 5m/s MOV 5m/s Storm Clouds 11s | Haste 1s Invigorate 1s Invigorate 1s Haste 2s Invigorate 1s Haste 3s - Mana Well 0s Accelerate 0s Static Field 0s Storm Clouds 0s Ocean Currents 0s Invigorate 0s

My Mana Well finished buffing our recovery rate yet again. Ocean Currents was also a mana boost. High Tide would come out next turn. Really wish we had Hydromancy for Refresh and even Infuse. I hasted the Cleanser to get High Tide done fast. Another Invigorate from the Maiden.

Chronomancer Arcanist Cleanser Shieldmaiden Buffs Domains HP 78 Health 103 HP 78 HP 120 Mana Well *2 9s Ocean Currents Mana 176/384 +21/s Mana 222/438 +22/s Mana 261/384 +21/s Mana 25/190 +16/s Mana Well *1 10s Static Field MOV 5m/s MOV 5m/s MOV 5m/s MOV 5m/s Storm Clouds 10s Haste 3s Invigorate 1s Suffuse 5s Pervade 5s Invigorate 1s Haste 1s Invigorate 1s Haste 2s - High Tide 11s Quicken 0s Stellar Radition 0s Suffuse 0s Pervade 0s High Tide 0s Revitalize 1s Invigorate 0s Stellar Radiation 11s

I cast Quicken on myself and then Stellar Radiation on the group. It was a rare buff that boosted both spell and strike damage and it lasted 10s. I was buffed by Suffuse and Pervade, mostly cause there was nothing else to do for the Arcanist. It happened to be heavily reduced in cost by our active Domains costing 40 instead of 55. The 4th Invigorate came through and it looked like when High Tide kicked in next phase the Shieldmaiden would recover exactly the mana she needed for a 5th cast. Revitalize would kick off the phase after that probably allowing a 6th.

The Behemoths managed to cross half the gap being 20m/40m away and unfortunately getting into perfect range for offensive spells to start dropping.

Chronomancer Arcanist Cleanser Shieldmaiden Buffs Domains HP 78 Health 103 HP 78 HP 120 Mana Well *2 8s Ocean Currents Mana 85/384 +25/s Mana 174/438 +26/s Mana 242/384 +25/s Mana 80/190 +20/s Mana Well *1 9s Static Field MOV 5m/s MOV 5m/s MOV 5m/s MOV 5m/s Storm Clouds 9s Haste 2s Invigorate 1s Suffuse 4s Pervade 4s Invigorate 1s Haste 0s Invigorate 1s Haste 1s - High Tide 10s Mini Nova 0s Mini Nova 1s Suffuse 0s Pervade 0s Revitalize 0s Revitalize 0s Invigorate 0s Stellar Radiation 10s

The Shieldmaiden hit 45 mana, exactly enough for Invigorate after the discount from being Life Aspected. Then she got another 40 mana from Revitalize. The Cleanser had Haste plus Invigorate thus leaving her 2 actions after one was used to finish Revitalize. The Quartz Behemoths were all 20m away, in range of nearly any spell. The Cleanser needed the Behemoths to travel 10m more forward before Heavy Seas would be effective. For that reason she spent her 2 actions on a second Revitalize, taking the Shieldmaiden to 80. Revitalize had a 27% cost discount meaning it transfered 40 mana for 44 mana. Not amazing considering it took 2 actions but helpful because mana batteries were so useful in combat logistics. I began the offensive this phase with a Mini Nova. I was dealing Mini Nova(100)+Stellar Radiation(15)+Static Field(5)+Storm Clouds(5)+Mana Manipulation(4)=129*Suffuse(1.2)=154.8=155 raw damage. That was modified by 40/2/2=10 absorbtion. 145 damage total. The mana cost was Base(80)*[(100-7+-10+-10=).73]=58.4=58 mana. Basically 2.5 damage per mana spent. Started a second Mini Nova as well. Finally the Arcanist had 3s of free action, soon to be 2 as Haste wore off. She cast Pervade and Suffuse on herself, 1s and 2s respectively, in order to prepare for casting Squal as control while dealing some decent damage. That cost 37 and 37 mana.

The Behemoths moved 5m closer. They were now 15m away. They now proceeded to take 30-40/2=10 from Static Field. They'd taken 155 total damage.

Chronomancer Arcanist Cleanser Shieldmaiden Buffs Domains HP 78 Health 103 HP 78 HP 120 Mana Well *2 7s Ocean Currents Mana 113/384 +25/s Mana 109/438 +26/s Mana 179/384 +25/s Mana 55/190 +20/s Mana Well *1 8s Static Field MOV 5m/s MOV 5m/s MOV 5m/s MOV 5m/s Storm Clouds 8s Haste 2s Invigorate 1s Suffuse 4s Pervade 4s Invigorate 1s Invigorate 1s Haste 3s - High Tide 9s Mini Nova 0s Accelerate 0s Stupefaction 0s Revitalize 0s Revitalize 1s Invigorate 0s Stellar Radiation 9s

Invigorate went off again. It would function now till the Cleanser had problems. So strong. The Cleanser spent her 3 actions to cast one and a half Revitalizes. Next turn she'd use Heavy Seas to start the control effort. I finished a second Mini Nova and cast Accelerate on the Cleanser. The enemy would be down 310 at the start of their turn. The Arcanist spent her two actions to cast Stupefaction on the center left Behemoth for lack of better options.

The Behemoths finally hit the magic distance. 10m.

Chronomancer Arcanist Cleanser Shieldmaiden Buffs Domains HP 78 Health 103 HP 78 HP 120 Mana Well *2 6s Ocean Currents Mana 85/384 +25/s Mana 57/438 +26/s Mana 160/384 +25/s Mana 30/190 +20/s Mana Well *1 7s Static Field MOV 5m/s MOV 5m/s MOV 5m/s MOV 5m/s Storm Clouds 7s Haste 1s Invigorate 1s Suffuse 4s Pervade 4s Invigorate 1s Haste 3s Invigorate 1s Haste 2s - High Tide 8s Accelerate 0s Mini Nova 1s Squall 0s Revitalize 0s Heavy Seas 0s Invigorate 0s Stellar Radiation 8s

The Shieldmaiden cast Invigorate yet again. She finally knows how I feel about Accelerate. The Cleanser finished a Revitalize and cast a full Heavy Seas. The Arcanist released her Squall. Combine with Heavy Seas they broke the control resistance of the Behemoths and added 3s of control. Squall also did Squall(20)+Mana Manipulation(4)+Sorcery(5)+Storm Clouds(15)+Static Field(10)+Stellar Radiation(10)=64*1.2=76.8=77-40/2/2=67 damage. The Behemoths had taken 145+145+10+10+67=377 damage. Slightly over half their life total. And now they were Rooted and Stunned for the next 3 of their phases. One for 5s actually. I Accelerated the Arcanist and started a Mini Nova. I had actually gotten the last 2 Revitalizes which was super helpful. Ironically Invigorate let me do stuff besides Haste people. Also helped that we didn't have 4 other party members for me to support.

Quartz Behemoth lvl 4 Quartz Behemoth lvl 4 Quartz Behemoth lvl 4 Quartz Behemoth lvl 4 Health 363/700 ABS 40 Health 363/700 ABS 40 Health 363/700 ABS 40 Health 363/700 ABS 40 Mana 350/350 Mana 350/350 Mana 350/350 Mana 350/350 MOV 5m/s MOV 5m/s MOV 5m/s MOV 5m/s Quartz Aura: -2s control Quartz Aura: -2s control Quartz Aura: -2s control Quartz Aura: -2s control Control: 2s Control: 4s Control: 2s Control: 2s

All the Behemoths took another 10 damage from Static Field and cleared 1s of their control.

Chronomancer Arcanist Cleanser Shieldmaiden Buffs Domains HP 78 Health 103 HP 78 HP 120 Mana Well *2 5s Ocean Currents Mana 52/384 +25/s Mana 83/438 +26/s Mana 97/384 +25/s Mana 5/190 +20/s Mana Well *1 6s Static Field MOV 5m/s MOV 5m/s MOV 5m/s MOV 5m/s Storm Clouds 6s Haste 0s Invigorate 1s Suffuse 4s Pervade 4s Invigorate 1s Haste 2s Invigorate 1s Haste 1s - High Tide 7s Mini Nova 0s Mini Nova 1s Squall 0s Revitalize 1s Heavy Seas 0s Invigorate 0s Stellar Radiation 7s

The Shieldmaiden was stuck with the same tedious action yet again. Almost makes you yearn to cast Absorb or Ground Wall. Or even Empower but most of our offensive buffs were long enough without it. The Arcanist deployed a Squall again to deal another 67 damage. The Cleanser cast another Heavy Seas and began a Revitalize. Every enemy was up to 6s of control but the center left one who was at 8s. I cast Mini Nova and finished the one from the previous turn. That was a whopping 290 damage. 300 if you counted the most recent Static Field. It turns out that since the enemy had 362 health and I dealt 290 and the Arcanist dealt 67 and they'd take 10 from Static Field they were all at negative 4. We had won. It wasn't even close. We could probably manage to defeat even an equal number of lvl 5 monsters at this point.

We considered having the other 4 party members try to do something. However the combination of the Eruptor, Miasmist, Treant, and Crusher was not an especially powerful one. The Treant and Crusher especially would suffer from mana troubles. They could probably get a certain emount of control out but they couldn't stall long enough for the Miasmist to really go off without Haste. For that reason we decided to head out and finish our journey to the Ducal Seat we wanted to base out of. We might be able to explore the shops tomorrow morning instead of the day after. As the Academy was relatively small and focused on Manasophy we'd likely be able to pick up some excellent gear tomorrow. Not quite what the Crusher and Arcanist had from their old life but maybe halfway between that and our current gear.

I was also pretty excited to push into level 15 of a major dungeon. I'd dearly love to improve Filth Magic. I wish I could have improved Star Magic but one key rule of Elder magic Aspects and their derivatives was that you needed a dungeon with the Elder Aspect itself, it wasn't enough to have every Aspect except that. Of course my ideal situation would be improving Chronomancy but there were no known Chronomancy Aspect mature dungeons within 2 kingdoms of ours. Maybe we'd pick up a rumor of something further out when we got to the big city.