Chapter 146. Caldera Gate
[ Class: High Necromancer
Attack Power: 583
Armor: 2,536
Life: 1439
--------------
Strength: 198
Intelligence: 252
Willpower: 273
Dexterity: 228 ]
While his Armor dropped a bit, it was insignificant compared to what he would gain in battle after stacking damage.
There were only three Legendary items left in his inventory. One was a necklace, one was a shield, and one was a wand.
[ Necklace of Retribution
Legendary Amulet
436 Item Power
-----------------
* +7.5% Resistance to All Elements
------------------
* +5.0% Bone Skill Damage
* +1.8% Damage Reduction
* +6.5% Slow Reduction
* +2.0% Cooldown Reduction
Legendary Aspect: Distant enemies have an 8% chance to be stunned for 2 seconds when they hit you or your minions. You deal 20% increased damage to Stunned enemies.]
[ Obsidian Blade of Reanimation
Legendary Sword
436 Item Power
-----------------
293 Damage per Second (+77 when compared to the currently equipped item)
* [214 - 320] Damage per Hit
* 1.10 Attacks per Second
* +6.0% Critical Strike Chance
------------------
* +11 to All Stats
* +21 Intelligence
* +3.5% Damage over Time
* +7.0% Damage to Stunned Enemies
Legendary Aspect: Your minions gain increased damage while alive up to 30% after 10 seconds. (Necromancer Only). ]
[ Coldbringer's Aegis
Legendary Shield
278 Item Power
-----------------
313 Armor (+313 when compared with the currently equipped item)
* 50% Blocked Damage Reduction
* 20% Block Chance
* + 80% Main Hand Weapon Damage
* + 56 Thorns
------------------
* +5 to All stats
* +14.5% Maximum Minion Life
* +3.5% Healing Received
* +3.0% Barrier Generation
Legendary Aspect: Every 8 seconds, your Skeleton Mages cast a blizzard that deals 360 Cold damage and continuously chills enemies for 8% over the duration of 6 seconds. (Necromancer only) ]
As the shield and necklace he previously found gathered dust in his inventory - albeit only for a couple of days - they stood as much better replacements to his currently equipped items for those slots.
Checking with Helen, she also agreed after they checked the differences together.
"First, after swapping the scythe with the sword, I gain +3 to all stats and a full 21 Intelligence extra. Not only that, but my damage increases for both me and my minions. So that's a no-brainer. The only problem is that I don't have much experience with the sword."
[You'll be fine. Leaving aside the fact that you no longer fight at the frontlines anymore since you have your minions, a sword is much easier to wield than a scythe. What about the other items?](Helen)
"The amulet I have now is a rare item that gives me +5% Shadow Damage over Time and +4% Total Armor. So, I'll lose a bit after swapping. But everything else is much better, including the damage reduction, as well as the Legendary Aspect, which guarantees an extra 20% increase to stunned enemies. Leaving aside Corpse Tendrils, even my Decrepify can stun. Added the Legendary Aspect on top of that; it's a must-have."
[And finally, the shield.](Helen)
"Mhm... I'll lose some damage after swapping it for the Focus, but it can't be helped. I'll also lose 11 points in Intelligence but gain +5 to All Attributes, 14.5% Maximum Minion Life, and not to mention that ridiculous Legendary Aspect that not only deals damage but also slows down enemies by chilling them. And I have plenty of passive skills that increase my damage against slowed and chilled enemies."
[So you gain +8 to All Attributes, +10 Intelligence, tons of other good stuff, and three amazingly good Legendary Aspects that work ridiculously well with your current skill build?](Helen)
"It scares me a bit..."
[Same here... It can only mean that the Sanctuary is preparing you for something ahead, where you'll need all that.](Helen)
"..."
Thinking for a moment, Michael grabbed Helen's hand and returned to Zivek, where he salvaged the scythe and the focus item.
He wanted to make sure he looked forward without having a safety net that would hold him back. Furthermore, those two items were low-leveled.
[Are you sure you did the right thing?](Helen)
"Mhm. After all, I needed those extra two Coiling Wards for my future upgrades. I could upgrade the sword and shield right now, but I'd rather not. With how fast I'm swapping items, I'll lack materials in the near future when I really need them."
Besides the Coiling Wards, he only got 3 Iron Chunks, 3 Silver Ores, and 2 Veiled Crystals, showing how low-leveled the items were.
His stats page also changed exponentially, leaving him at a loss for words.
[ Class: High Necromancer
Attack Power: 639
Armor: 2,760
Life: 1439
--------------
Strength: 206
Intelligence: 270
Willpower: 281
Dexterity: 236 ]
His Intelligence and Willpower were quickly approaching 300. And this was before Helen's dad could help him modify some of the options on his items.
Yes. That was the next goal before starting his Dungeon diving diet.
Demyan offered a premium price (heavily discounted) but only for one item. Michael decided on the helm since all other items had decent options, including the increased healing percentage.
Only the helm had a +15 Life points regeneration while not damaged recently, which he wanted to swap for a better option.
The cost was 20,467 gold coins, 2 Veiled Crystals, and 1 Angel Breath. The options he was able to choose between were +1 Rank to Decrepify and +7.0% Total Armor.
The choice was super easy since even if Decrepify was good, a 7% increase in Armor would bring him closer to 3,000 points total.
And surely enough, after enchanting the helm, his total Armor reached 2,953, while his gold reserves dropped to 167,242.
Waving goodbye to Demyan, Michael took stock of his remaining materials, and Elixirs prepared to start his 'assignment.'
2 Weak Precision Elixirs (Level 30)
1 Elixir of Demon Slaying (Level 36)
1 Elixir of Undead Slaying (Level 36)
2 Elixir of Fortitude (Level 36)
-18 Blightshade
-19 Lifesbane
-59 Gallowvine
-68 Biteberry
-26 Reddamine
-33 Howler Moss
-55 Grave Dust
-72 Demon Hearts
-82 Crushed Beast Bones
-15 Angelbreath
-114 Veiled Crystals
- 4 Coiling Wards
377 Iron Chunks
167 Rawhide
93 Silver Ores
60 Superior Leather
1 Crude Skull
1 Crude Amethyst
1 Crude Ruby
3 Ruby Fragments
160 Emerald Fragments
139 Diamond Fragments
146 Saphire Fragments
165 Topaz Fragments
177 Amethyst Fragments
111 Skull Fragments
His mouth twitched upon seeing the 3 Ruby Fragments, but at least now he was prepared to deal with whatever came his way.
Not only that, but the previously level-locked Elixirs were also available. 6 Elixirs meant six Dungeons he could clear and gain increased experience from.
Helen walked with him to the City Guards, where he paid another 3,000 gold coins and bought the very detailed intel about the three Dungeons he targeted today.
After spending half an hour scouring over the papers with Helen, he kissed her goodbye and took the Waypoint to Menestad. His first stop was Caldera Gate, the Dungeon surrounded by frozen bodies.
He didn't encounter any interference, as he had dealt with most of the monsters that stood in his way earlier yesterday. Sword and shield in hand, he advanced while surrounded by his minions.
"Let's confirm the type of monster from the intel is correct first, and then I'll drink an Elixir. Just in case..."
Surely enough, demons around 1.5 meters tall charged at his Golem frenziedly, being the Carvers the intel mentioned. The suicide squad made out of Lunatic Carvers also joined the fray as the Dungeon Quest was issued.
He hurried to drink an Elixir of Fortitude, which increased his Life points, as he planned to keep the Elixir of Demon Slaying for a different Dungeon.
[ Dungeon Quest issued - Caldera Gate
Objective: Destroy the Fallen Idols. ]
To Michael's surprise, he found the first Fallen Idol after walking only a couple of minutes in but was greeted by two Elites when he tried to destroy it.
The first one was a normal small fry with a Shocking Lance modifier, while the second was a pitiful Unique Elite... probably weaker than the normal one.
[ Mal'gushu Blightcall (Elite) - Level 42
*Summoner: Creates three summoning circles through which demonic creatures can be called upon every 3 minutes. ]
Combining Corpse Tendrils, drawing his enemies near the Fallen Idol, and then using Blood Mist to explode all the Corpses, Michael took care easily of the first one and gained two Rare item boxes.
As embarrassing as it was, by the time he found the second Fallen Idol, he didn't even get to see the names of the Elites, as he previously found a Conduit Shrine just a couple of meters back, and he zapped everything out of existence before he could have the Sanctuary identify the monsters.
The third Fallen Idol shrine was guarded by a pretty tall Carver, which gave Micahel a bit of a headache but which still fell just the same minutes later.
[ Kaze Mindbreaker the Helldriver (Elite) - Level 42
*Terrifying: Summons five spell circles on the ground. Targets affected by it would fall into 'Terrified' status. Targets inflicted with Terrifying would become 'Vulnerable' for three seconds. ]
With it dead, the Dungeon Quest updated as well.
[ Dungeon Quest update - Caldera Gate
Objective: Travel to the Stilled Tunnels. ]
Ten minutes and a Trap Room later, Michael found the previously mentioned Stilled Tunnels, where he had to massacre all the enemies within.
The first Unique Elite he found was Maliak, a Shaman Carver with a Frozen modifier. It paid its tributes by adding two extra Rare item boxes to Michael's ever-growing collection.
The unexpected, disgusting surprise came each time he wiped out a large group of monsters, as tons of undead and demons were summoned around him.
He had to fight while retreating, and more and more demons joined the fight. Unfortunately, each time he tried to get away, another wave of Carvers would join the fight, and killing them would draw more summons.
He saw the 'Warning! A horde is on its way to your location.' he felt like puking. He even walked into a room where an Event was triggered but had no idea what it was or how it ended.
All he knew was that some strange bone constructs would appear every now and then, only to be wrecked by the constant Corpse Explosion.
It has to be said that his minions pulled their weight, especially after getting buffed heavily by the Legendary Aspects of his new items.
Half an hour later, he somehow completed the Dungeon without being able to see what Aspect he got for his Codex of Power or what the Dungeon Quest was. He simply killed in a trance until there was nothing left to do except clear the loot.
"17 Rare items and 2 Legendary ones. A pair of pants and a sword. They are crappy compared to my current ones, but the Aspect of the pants is quite good. I can extract that when I get back to Kyovashad."
[Legendary Aspect: When hit while not Healthy, a magical bubble is summoned around you for 3.5 seconds. While standing inside the bubble, you are Immune to all forms of damage. It can only trigger once every 90 seconds.]
To say that the Aspect was overpowered was an understatement. He could only hope he could imprint it on a future item since his current ones were too good to swap.
After exiting the Caldera Gate Dungeon, he took notice of the time and was happy to realize he had cleared it in under an hour.
"Since I have enough time, let's return to Menestad and get rid of my Rare items. That way, if I find good stuff in the other two Dungeons, I won't leave anything behind."
After he opened all the Rare item boxes, he only kept one pair of boots to swap his current ones and salvage the rest.
He lost a level in Corpse Tendrils and 11 Intelligence by doing so, but it was an acceptable loss overall.
[ Lurking Striders
Rare Boots
448 Item Power
-----------------
224 Armor (+124 when compared to the currently equipped item)
* Evade grants +30% Movement Speed for 1 second.
------------------
* +8 to All Stats
* +1.2% Dodge Chance
* +5% Movement Speed ]
Looking at his experience showing 50,739/179,550 and his level increasing to 38, Michael bitterly smiled after remembering the ridiculous number of enemies he had to clear.
Truth be told, Caldera Gate seemed to be a pretty good Dungeon to farm experience.
Shaking his head to get rid of the idle thoughts, the Necromancer confirmed when Obrusz, the Blacksmith of Menestad, asked him to confirm he wants all Rare items salvaged.
After doing so, he gained an additional 13 Rawhides, 2 Superior Leather, 15 Iron Chunks, 4 Silver Ores, and 9 Veiled Crystals—a good haul after only one Dungeon. As for the Legendary items, he decided to keep them for a while longer.
Michael walked out of Menestad, embarrassed after seeing himself in a mirror. His items were a strange assortment of colors, with his chest piece being purple, the pants gray, the boots red, and a strangely Lord of the Rings elven-type helm on his head.
Feeling that his speed wasn't enough to get out of the city faster even after the new boots, Michael was headed for the second Dungeon of the day: the Nostrava Deepwood.