Alice was having a hard time adjusting to the dungeon run. She was used to playing mostly solo quests and occasionally partying for group quests. Large scale team dungeons were certainly not her forte. Fortunately, playing an elementalist was somewhat straightforward. Let the tanks get aggro then force through damage from range. Her main decisions were mana management and which skills to use when. Where things got tricky was timing her ice burst. Ice burst would slow a monster and help the tanks stay alive. Using it when the enemy wasn’t doing anything dangerous was a common trap. In fact, it was precisely this mistake that led to Guildenstern and Venture falling on the last boss. Now that Righteous Destiny was raiding hell mode, such mistakes were unacceptable. The margin for error was falling and Alice was nervous about keeping up. Fortunately, she had learnt the enemy patterns so the specific mistake with the slow wouldn’t happen again.

Alice smiled as she equipped her new amulet. The level 20 silver amulet gave +80 to all stats, and reduced skill cooldowns by 5%. Both of these effects were powerful, and the 80 extra intelligence gave her more mana and more spell damage. Joining Righteous Destiny had been worth it so far, even if she had to abandon that quest she liked. Alice didn’t know how Corwin knew what the rewards of that quest were but she trusted him. She was impressed with how he guided the team in the fights so far as well.

Most of all she was impressed by his incredible damage output. It seemed like he must have appropriate level gold gear or better. Alice didn’t know what secret he had that enabled his gear to keep up with his insane levelling speed but she wasn’t about to ask. She stopped her wandering thoughts to focus on the task at hand. They had finally entered the dungeon.

Hell-mode was always a challenge, and after running normal and hard mode only once each it was even more difficult. Much of the team was undergeared. Most dangerously, the tanks didn’t have a level appropriate shield. This danger was exacerbated by the lack of resurrection on the team. In hell mode, the regular enemies were elites and special elites. Fortunately, even elites didn’t pose much of a challenge when faced with our strong heals and high damage output. Everything went smoothly until we fought the first boss.

The first boss was a magic-type so the main tank was The Silencer, and the off tank was Venture. Anti-mages could wear all armor types, although they normally wore cloth armor for its high magic defense. Unfortunately, The Silencer’s best gear was plate mail. This meant his magic defense was far below what it should be for hell mode. This showed whenever the boss used a special attack, he was able to reduce The Silencer’s HP by over half. When this happened Venture would step in and use skills to briefly take aggro. Venture was in even worse shape as he didn’t have the magic defense buff skills of an Antimage. A special skill would reduce his HP by 90%. As such, Venture could only take aggro briefly.

Near 80% health we had to do a timing attack, stopping our attacks and waiting for both tanks to be at full before triggering the health drop skill of the enemy. Fortunately, everyone cooperated well and the burst skill was timed perfectly. Alice used her slow to make it easier to step into the middle of the skill. The Silencer took the first 2 attacks going to 10% health and Venture took the last attack going to 60%. Corwin executed a Disruptive Blow to prevent any skill from going off while the summons healed The Silencer who was quickly back on the front lines. We fell into a familiar pattern and things were going quite well. Unfortunately, at 40% health disruptive blow failed. Corwin stepped in front of Venture and used a parry on the special skill, which kept things going fine. Alice had a sneaking suspicion that Corwin could actually tank these monsters on his own. She was glad he was letting the team develop in their primary roles though.

At 20% there was no issue and this boss’s ultimate skill triggered too slowly to survive the damage burst. Corwin was always the one who looted the corpse as his luck attribute would greatly affect the drops. Things went well as we triggered a lucky burst, which enabled the possibility of gold tier gear. Alice was the largest beneficiary, as a recipe dropped for “Ring of Ice”. This gold tier ring had good enough stats to let everyone equip two, but the special bonus was an increase of 50% damage for all frost skills. To a frost elementalist this was priceless, two rings would double her damage. The only downside to recipes was they’d have to clear the dungeon before they could use them. The other big beneficiary was The Bear. He got a level 20 silver tier shield, which was just what we needed for the next boss: a physical damage type.

We also got a first-time chest. In that chest was a silver-tier cloth armor recipe for a helmet, some magic crystals, and a silver-tier plate boots. The Bear got the boots further improving our primary tank. Corwin took the crystals, he had lots of GCP from crafting gear for the storehouse and never spending on gear. Alice got nothing from this chest but she wasn’t too worried, things would have to go seriously wrong for her to end up in the line of fire.

The second boss was a frost giant named Icebasher. He wielded a giant club that no one wanted to be on the receiving end of. Nonetheless, the bear bravely stepped up to face him and after securing aggro we began to deal damage. Alice kept her concentration on the fight and made several valuable contributions. One actually saved a tank from dying by putting an ice wall between him and the boss at an opportune moment. She thought that Corwin could have saved him as well, and was rather surprised he didn’t. Was he testing her? Alice banished such thoughts from her head and returned to focusing on the fight. Icebasher’s health down skill was a buff so the fight got progressively harder as it went on. Fortunately, with a strong shield the warrior was able to tank wonderfully. Venture had issues whenever he needed to step in, his lack of gear was being dramatically exposed. Alice managed to cover for him with ice wall and her slow. The fact that she was using her utility skills so well made her rather excited. Now if only she had a way to get her damage to keep up with Corwin’s. That seemed like a wild dream for now, maybe after she had the frost rings and some other good gear things would change. Alice chided herself for getting distracted, and focused once again. The boss had just hit 20% and reached its most buffed state. She needed to be on her game and used a well-timed ice wall to save Venture yet again. She used her slow as well, forcing the boss to move around the wall at a rather glacial pace. By the time the boss reached Venture, the bear was ready to step in.

The remainder of the fight was straightforward. The team got the boss down to 5% health and Alice participated in the frantic burst with the others. The burst came off just before the ultimate skill triggered so the team avoided a rather nasty AoE. Alice didn’t pay too much attention to the drops as there was nothing for her this time. There were several good equipment recipes however, and Corwin was definitely excited.

The first-clear chest after the boss was a different story. Corwin triggered a lucky burst, and received a gold tier cloth cuisse. The last boss was magical so the cloth armor users reluctantly let this go to The Silencer. Fortunately, there was also a silver-tier cloth cuisse recipe which helped reduce the pain of not getting the gold tier armor.

The Bear lent his shield to The Silencer and we were ready to begin. The final boss was a frost giant ice elementalist, Malthus. His spells were quite nasty, although fortunately most of them targeted the individual with aggro. He had a few AoE’s which were scary for the swordsmen but not so much for Alice. Alice smiled as they engaged, excited to fight.

The beginning of the fight went perfectly. In fact, even when Malthus hit 60% everything was fine. But at 40% a disastrous mistake happened. Alice missed with her ice wall, preventing it from blocking an attack on Venture who had stepped in to protect The Silencer. Venture died as a result. Alice was distraught and it affected her fighting greatly. She didn’t use her slow optimally and really struggled to recover. Fortunately, Corwin stepped in as an emergency tank and the team was able to stabilize.

When Malthus hit 40% he unleashed his health-down AoE and Corwin and The Silencer both took damage. Everyone else had backed away safely. Fortunately, the damage was not so great as to upset the tanking, as Corwin had an insanely high MDef. He stepped in for The Silencer while the summons worked their heals. Alice, for her part, had recovered from her malaise, and was starting to execute her skills with high precision.

At 20% another mistake occurred. Corwin took over as tank but Silencer didn’t back up out of the AoE range and the AoE killed him. This forced Corwin to become a primary tank and The Bear to step in as an emergency tank. Corwin was equal to the task, in fact it was remarkable to watch him parry and dodge all kinds of attack and use skills to negate magics. Alice was quite impressed. ‘I’ve definitely chosen the right guild’ she thought.

At 5%, Malthus started counting down his ultimate. Unfortunately with only 8 team members left, Alice and the others were unable to stop it from triggering. Ice Storm was a massive AoE that swept up the whole team. Alice had resistance and Corwin had his extreme MDef, but no one else survived. Fortunately, Malthus had little health left and they finished him off. Alice was relieved that dying in a dungeon only cost 10% of level XP, and couldn’t lower one’s level. The remainder of the team had been reduced to the minimum XP for level 20, but they wouldn’t have to go out and level again. Dying in the field had more serious consequences.

Alice felt a bit awed as they completed the dungeon, triggering a rather exciting slew of messages.

Congratulations to party Righteous Destiny for the first clear of Frostfang Dungeon in hell mode. Rewarding 1 dungeon pass, 80 guild reputation, and 400 guild experience.

Congratulations to party Righteous Destiny for the first clear of a hell difficulty team dungeon in Eternity’s Wake. Rewarding 400 guild reputation, and 2000 guild experience.

Congratulations to party Righteous Destiny for the first clear of a hell difficulty team dungeon on the Asterith continent. Rewarding 200 guild reputation, and 1000 guild experience.

Congratulations to guild Righteous Destiny for becoming the first guild to reach level 1. Rewarding 500 guild reputation.

Congratulations to guild Righteous Destiny for reaching status ‘Barely Recognized’.

The remaining boss and chest didn’t have any lucky triggers. Alice didn’t pay too much attention as Corwin pocketed two more recipes. Alice got some cloth gauntlets, silver tier. They left the dungeon with much excitement and hurried back to town. Alice reflected on the raids and was excited. It had been a while since she had learnt this much. Fighting in a regular team was going to be good for her. Of course, Alice still intended to spend most of her time solo, but team play would become a part of her game as well.

Corwin Swordborn

Spoiler : Level 20: 88% of level 21

Str: 3865 (base:25)

Agi: 3985 (base:125)

Con:3865 (base:25)

Int: 1177 (base:25)

Cha: 1177 (base:25)

Lck: 409 (base:25)

Cnc: 409 (base:25)

Sta: 409 (base: 25)

Qi: 409 (base: 20)

Soul: 409 (base:20)

Air Affinity: 409 (base:20)

Fire Affinity: 409 (base:20)

Water Affinity: 409 (base: 20)

Def: 12601

MDef: 9729

HP:80300/80300 (base: 1000)

MP:26540/26540(base: 1000)

Gear:

MW: Epic Tier Level 24 Longsword, +384Str +384Agi +384Con

Base Damage: 480-576, Def 576 MDef 480 Durability 690/768, Requirements: 768 Str

OW: Epic Tier Level 24 Shortsword +384Str, +384Agi, +384 Con

Base Damage 392-480, Def 480 MDef 392 Durability 696/768, Requirements: 768 Str

MA: Epic Tier Level 24 Plate, +384 Str, +384 Agi, +384 Con

1536Def,1536MDef, Durability 710/768, Requirements:768 Str

LA: Epic Tier Level 24 Plate Cuisse, +384Str, +384Agi, +384Con

1536Def, 1536MDef Durability: 716/768 Requirements: 768 Str

G: Epic Tier Level 24 Plate Gauntlets +384Str, +384 Agi, +384 Con

1536Def, 1536MDef, Durability 713/768 Requirements: 768 Str

B:Epic Tier Level 24 Plate Boots +384Str +394Agi(10 Gemstone) +384Con

1536 Def, 1536 MDef, Durability 711/768 Requirements: 768Str

H: Epic Tier Level 24 Helm, +384 Str, +394(10 Gemstone) Agi, +384 Con

1536 Def, 1536MDef Durability 709/768, Requirements: 768Str

RR: Epic Tier, Level 24 Ring of Hidden Attributes (+384 All base attributes, +384 All Hidden Attributes)

LR: Epic Tier, Level 24 Ring of Elements (+384 All base attributes,

Ignore 4.8 Levels, Ignore 4.8 Equip Levels

AM: Epic Tier, Level 24 Amulet (+384 All base attributes)

Skills:

Spatial Slash, Legacy, Tier 0 Level 0

Haste of the Warrior, Legacy, Tier 0 Level 0

Time Manipulation, Special, Tier 0, Level 9

Space Manipulation, Special, Tier 0, Level 9

Air Manipulation, Special, Tier 0, Level 9

Earth Manipulation, Special, Tier 0 Level 9

Fire Manipulation, Special, Tier 0, Level 8

Water Manipulation, Special, Tier 0, Level 8

Dragon Fist, Martial, Tier 0 Level 0

Qi Blade, Martial, Tier 0 Level 0

Demon Slayer, Rare, Tier 0 Level 0

Thunder Slash, Rare, Tier 0, Level 1

Wave Chop, Rare, Tier 0, Level 1

Wind Charge, Rare, Tier 0, Level 1

Disrupting Blow, Rare, Tier 0, Level 5

Double Slash, Uncommon, Tier 0, Level 2

Slash, Common, Tier 0, Level 2

Pierce, Common, Tier 0, Level 3

Parry, Common, Tier 0, Level 2

Techniques:

Rapid Blow

Vanishing Steps

Sword Light

Mana Drain

Health Drain

Stamina Drain

Strength Drain

Agility Drain

Endurance Drain

Flicker

Precision Dodge

Curses:

Curse of the Lust Demon, Days Remaining: 29

Bloodlust Malediction, Countdown: 5 days