Chapter 8.1

"What do you want to know about CoA?"

It was the next day after I promised to meet together with Clarissa. We are currently having a break from grinding mobs together. I also said I would teach her the basics, so here we are, in the middle of the forest. Just a little far off one of the grinding spots for new players so that we could converse in peace.

"Uhmm... I'm not really sure...."

Maybe that was too broad of a question, I haven't taught anyone CoA and I have no experience at all in teaching so I'm just grasping some straws here.

It also doesn't help that the game doesn't have tutorials except for how to use the basic functions. It encourages players to approach the trial and error tactic, which means you die more often than not in learning the ropes. It's incredibly harsh I know but the CoA team reasoned that players are more than likely to enjoy a challenging game that they need to explore to learn it themselves as opposed to a game that spoon-feeds them. It seems to be working out for them I suppose with them being the most popular VRMMO currently. Though there are countless beginner-friendly guides you can search on the net anyways so it helps if you despise this manner of approach of theirs.

I never read any of those tutorials so I have no basis for teaching newbies. Besides, It will surely shatter my pride to a billion pieces if I, a former champion of the Andartha's Cup, stoop as low as reading a beginner's guide.

Seems like I have no choice. I'll just tell her whatever comes to mind I guess. I'm a veteran after all so how hard could it be?

"Okay, let's start with stats, first off is uhh..... the HP bar you can see on the topmost left side of your vision, the green one. It goes down whenever you take a hit. If it goes down to zero... you umm..... die?" I tried.

Okay, I definitely don't know what I'm doing, I mean, everybody already knows that. Why am I even telling her such useless information?

"Oh, I see! So that is why it goes down whenever I'm hurt." She exclaimed as if she had a scientific revelation.

Seriously! Is this the first ever game you've played? I sighed... This is gonna take a while.

"Moving on, next is the mp bar. Skills cast by mages and weapon skills consume mana. 

If you want to be a mage, you need to excel in proper mana management so you don't run out of MP on crucial times when you need to cast a certain spell that could turn the tides of a battle. And even if you're not a mage, you need to properly manage your mana so you don't run out when you need to cast your weapon skill." I continued.

"Uh-huh."

Seems like she has a hard time grasping the concept, but it doesn't matter much, I'll just instruct her as she experiences it for herself. Experience is the best teacher after all.

"Below the mana bar is the stamina bar, it goes down if you perform laborious tasks such as running and doing combo attacks. Like mana, you have to properly manage it since if it is depleted, you'll be in a state of fatigue wherein you cannot move for a short time. Still with me."

"Y-yes"

"There are things that increase stamina consumption such as debuffs, weapon skills, acquiring a PVP orb, and many other things, but I won't get into much details of it for now."

She nodded.

"Okay let's move to the main stats. This will decide what role you specialize in depending on your stats distribution.

There are a total of 5 main attributes you can allocate your stat points into namely, Strength, Dexterity, Intelligence, Vitality, and Wisdom. You should know them by now if you open your stats window... You do know how to open it, right?

"Yes! I learned it from the kind man I met yesterday" she replied.

She must be talking about one of the NPCs who teaches the basics of basics in one of the side quests. I skipped that quest though because I already know most of what it wants to teach to newbie players.

"Okay, I'll explain every stat in detail so you would know what you want to specialize in."

"First is the Strength stat" I continued. "It is the basic requirement of heavy weapons and shields such as claymores, swords, and bucklers, among others. Increasing it lets you equip those weapons. The main feature of this stat is increasing physical damage by 5 multipliers per point in it and 2 critical modifiers per point. It also affects your weight by a very slight degree so you won't get blown away easily by the heavy hits you receive. Though weight is mostly affected by armor so if you want to be heavier, equipping heavy armor is your best bet. But let's get back on topic." I got sidetracked.

Next is Dexterity, most weapons that rely on grace and mastery instead of brute strength need the Dexterity stats for you to equip them. Some of the examples of this in the back of my mind are daggers, whips, claws, dual-bladed swords, katanas, and scimitars, among others. The main point of increasing dex is to increase your critical damage. Do you know what critical damage is?"

"Uhm, I'm not quite sure" she hesitated.

Thought so.

"Have you noticed when you hit the wolves and slimes earlier when we were grinding, they sometimes die instantly?"

"Ohh yes I was wondering about that!" Her mood suddenly shifted, as if a light bulb lit her mind.....how cute.

What you did there are critical hits. Every enemy has a critical point in them. For example, most humanoid monsters have their heads as critical points, so always aim for the head if you can. Some monsters are an exception though. For example, the slimes we fought earlier have blue orbs in their body, right? That is their critical point.

"I see" she pondered for a moment.

"Is that why you keep hitting the guy's head yesterday when you two fought?"

"Precisely, humans also have critical points. 2 points to be exact, the head and the back. The head gives a much higher damage multiplier but hitting the back of a player also counts as a critical hit, though not as high in damage compared to hitting their head. I'm not going to bore you with the exact numbers and calculations of the damage but that's the gist of it." I summarized.

Though it's more on the fact that I'm not really sure about the exact numbers. I just let the CoA community nerds do the calculations.

"Increasing dexterity also gives a large increase in critical damage and a little bonus in physical damage, an increase of 5 and 2 respectively. The opposite of strength's stat increase which is 2 and 5 respectively. So if your gameplay is doing precise attacks at the enemy's critical point, prioritizing dexterity would be the best thing to do. Though I don't recommend it since you're still fairly new to the game as it requires skill in landing critical blows." I added.

Moving on, we have the Intelligence stat. Intelligence increases your magic damage. Int stat is also a major requirement for you to equip staves and crystal orbs. Staves are what we have currently right? But do you know what a crystal orb is?"

She shook her head.

I opened my inventory. Then materialized an orb that shines dimly white. Materialize function can only be used outside dungeons and PVP scenarios so you cannot materialize a different weapon mid-fight in PVP. You also cannot use it in grinding combat scenarios when there is an enemy (a wolf for example) that is aggroed to you.

She looked at the crystal orb with awe. I can't blame her, it does have a good visual effect even though it is for early levels.

"This is a crystal orb, you could equip it to a staff if you have the required stats and mastery needed. Once equipped, you can cast the skills that the orb has." I equipped the orb to the slot my newbie staff has.

It fit perfectly in the circular end of the staff where to orb is meant to be placed.

"Now I can do this." I pointed the staff at her, and after channeling for a bit, "'Heal". I spoke softly.

A dim white light enveloped Clarissa. Healing her hp back to full.

"Huh! I feel refreshed!" She said with amazement.

Clarissa

Hp:100%

"This orb lets me use the skill heal, as long as I have the mana required for it. Orbs are categorized into different elements, for example, red lets you cast fire-based spells while blue lets you can ice-based ones, and so on. There are also dual orbs which is a combination of 2 elements, but that's not important for now."

"Can I cast a fireball if I have a red orb?" She said expectantly.

"Of course, it is its main function after all. Do you want to specialize in spellcasting?" I asked.

"Yeah! I saw a movie once about a strong mage with my brother. The mage looked so cool!" She said excitedly.....How adorable.

"I see....." I tried my best to not fawn over her.

"Then I suggest you allocate your stay points to intelligence then. I'll help you buy an orb later with our loot from grinding." I continued.

Mages generally don't put themselves in danger so it's better for new players like her. It's kind of a bad party setup since I'm going for a spell caste role myself but it doesn't matter that much since I could always act as a dodge tank for our party.

"Those three main stats are often called the Trinity stats since they are required to equip weapons. Most weapons require a mix of strength and dex but there are also exceptions. One example is a battle staff who needs mainly int with a bit of strength and dex."

"Lastly are the Vitality and Wisdom stat. Vitality increases your HP stat while Wisdom increases your MP stat, it is not as complex as the other 3 stats. I suggest that you increase your HP first though so you don't get 1 shot by mobs. Having higher hp makes it so that you could have more room for making mistakes since you don't die easily as much." I reasoned.

"Uh-huh."

Her focus seems to shift from me to some of the players passing by to grind mobs. Her focus is dwindling, it would be hard to continue giving her lessons. I wanted to teach her proficiencies next but I guess I'll save it for another time.

"Okay, that's it for now, want to go back to grinding," I suggested.

"Sure!" She said giddily.

She seems to enjoy killing mobs. Maybe it's because she finds it rewarding? I let her kill the wolves and slimes on her own so that she would improve naturally and only interject in crucial moments whenever she is surrounded or when she runs out of stamina due to having little experience in stamina management.

For me, grinding is like a chore since it doesn't pose even a bit of a challenge and I find NPC mobs quite frankly, very boring. Good thing I had made a party with her since it's quite enjoyable seeing her learn and enjoy the game or I'd die of boredom mindlessly grinding solo