Chapter 469

Much like the first wave, the second wave was chaotic, yet not overly problematic for the players. Part of the reason had to do with the upgraded wall and siege weapons, as well as the players being prepared a bit more for long range combat. The other reason, was the spread of mobs favored the players this time around. From the count James had managed to take during the combat, it seemed the split was roughly 70 percent painguins, and 30 percent Cyrus’s.

As predicted though, those Cyrus’s had been much more problematic than the Painguins had been, and the long range cannons they fired, which packed an extremely explosive punch, managed to break a part of the outer wall to the city, before the wave was done. That destruction rained debris and death upon the players in that area, and James noticed the casualty count had increased from the first wave. Still, the players survived, thanks in part to some of the higher leveled players really stepping up and handling the difficult mobs, and in part thanks simply to the upgraded siege tools being used in the battle.

At the end of the second Siege Wave, James, and all the players, received a whopping 2 siege tokens, and this time around, they got two minutes to prepare for the next wave, instead of one. That extra minute, meant players had a little more time to ready themselves for the coming wave, and also, to better work out how they wanted to repair and upgrade the town.

Some of the top players, kill wise, were unsurprisingly, also the top players in the game at the moment. Between SoulDemon’s group, Z’s group, Skar’s group, and Alex and Fel, the town had a respectful level of offensive and defensive skills and abilities. The parties were also well coordinated, and could zero in on small packs of mobs, and completely wipe them out with efficiency honed by slaughtering waves and waves of mobs.

Skar’s group, surprisingly, was extremely well suited for the siege event, James has noticed, as their DoTs specialist, Gno More, was having a field day with all of his plague related skills. A massive cloud of caustic red and sickly yellow had covered a fifth of the snowy battlefield by the time the second wave had ended, and James was more than a little envious at its efficiency. Though, he knew he was one to talk. Ifrit had, once again, burned an entire expanse, and then waded into the battlefield laughing and twirling about. Steve accompanied the Ifrit, and the two were almost comical in battle, given Steve’s taunts pulled all the mobs focus to him, while the literal, burning giant of death and destruction, was free to cut down whatever he chose to.

His Cyclonic Dervish class came with increased dodge chance as he moved as well, and as he’d showcased on the first wave, he could empower his skills even further with swirling winds. This meant bigger explosions, as well as literal firenado’s that seemed to follow in his wake, remaining for roughly 10 seconds after each foe he slayed. It was an impressive skill, and James was itching to really read into what the Djinn was capable of. After the siege event, he planned on getting Ifrit’s okay to do so. The proud AI in the summon, surely, wouldn’t protest. Especially considering the free reign James had given him these first two waves.

The third wave, James knew, was going to be different, and it was the first wave that was actually causing him apprehension as he thought about it. As it stood, the town’s walls had sheltered many of the players so far, and it had allowed the higher leveled defenders to take on the brunt of the battle. This next wave though, would introduce not only a third mob type to the selection, but also, the mini-boss chance. It was one thing, to have the mini-boss just be an empowered mob type. Even if it was a massively enhanced Cyrus, it wouldn’t be terrible to deal with. However, there was another option that James was worried would occur. Mainly because, the more he’d learned about Siege events from Steve, the more likely it seemed the developer would have totally coded it to do so. IF a floor had a mini-boss, that mini-boss would be what appeared on the third wave. And, while it wasn’t ‘official’, James’s fifth floor did have a mini boss. And it was one that could quickly turn the tide of battle.

For a split second, James tried to pull up his Dungeon Core menu, trying to refresh himself on what exactly this third wave could have in store for him. He knew mob wise, it was going to include the Pall Sheep. Those mobs, on their own, would help turn the tide for the wave. Even tankier than Cyrus’s were, the had improved pulse shields, and energy attacks of their own. The worst bit regarding them though, was their bleat of despair, and Four Horseman trait.

Bleat of Despair, if James recalled correctly, was a taunt that, if resisted, applied debuffs to the players. At level 75, the Pall Sheep’s Bleat of Despair had a range of 175 feet. That meant, once the fighting kicked off, and the closer it got to the walls, the more dangerous it would become for the players taking shelter. With 2,000 mobs on the battlefield, it would be hard to burn down the sheep whenever they appeared, especially with only a handful of players capable of actually damaging the tanky harbingers.

Then, of course, was Four Horseman. A trait that could either boost their own allied mob’s stats by ridiculous amounts, or drastically impair the adventurers’ and defenders in the siege event. If they were especially unlucky, the Plague Horseman Trait, could completely screw over the town. If history was anything to learn from, having the plague spread in a town full of people, was a very, very, very, bad thing.

Using logic, James sent a message to his party, as well as to the players he’d had interaction with. It was short and simple. Logically, he pointed out, if the first wave had just been Painguins, and the next wave had just been Cyrus’s, the third wave, would and could, have another new mob type. Playing on that logic, he pointed out the danger Pall Sheep’s could have, if they ‘were’ the next mob that joined in the battle. This meant, trying to organize healers, and spreading the word, to watch out for any debuffs that the players may get. These first two waves, after all, had been pretty easy from a healer standpoint, and judging by Rue’s increasing level of intoxication, he had no doubt the healers would likely be getting a little bit lax in their responsibilities during siege.

With the messages sent, James eyed his Siege Token count, which had grown to 13, and sighed. It was a gamble, but he resisted dumping them fully into his stats. The drop rate for the tokens, had improved, from 1 in 10, to 1 in 8, best he could tell. If he could hold onto the tokens, it was likely, after the third wave, he’d have enough for a get out of jail free card, relatively speaking. And that, as far as he could tell, was something he definitely wanted to secure. After all, he was holding out faith that the players of his dungeon could, and would, make it to the fifth wave. And when that happened, he wanted a little extra insurance, for what was to come.