30
Name: Vindictus
Race: Human
Class: Ranger
Sub-class: Archer
Level: 10 EXP: 4500/4500
EXP Pot: 4220
Health: 279/279
Mana: 195/195
Strength 35 [Earring +10]
Vitality 34 [Earring +10]
Agility 36 [Earring +10, Bracers +1]
Dexterity 18 [Bracers +1]
Intelligence 32 [Headband +5]
Speed 29 [Boots +5]
Luck 30 [Ring +5]
Charisma 20 [ Headband +5]
Points available: 0
Skill Points: 1
[Lifestyle Skills - Harvester Skill – 6; Alchemy – 1; Smithing – 3; Leatherworking – 6]
[Class Skills - Eagle Eye – 1; Power Shot – Level 3; Boost Summon – 2; Ambidextrous – Max; Two weapon fighting – Max; Cross Cut – Level 5; Off Hand Block – Level 4; Off Hand Parry – Level 4]
[New Skills]
Vindictus led them to the point of the stairs where they could see in but not trigger an attack. This time it was a few steps higher and made it more difficult to see where he wanted the others to go. He checked the monster's stats.
[Mad Man – Hidden Boss
HP 3000/3000
MP 7500/7500
Skills: ???
Spells: Inferno Ring]
He spoke in barely above a whisper. "Brick when he gets to the wall over there you will charge out. Knocking you will go ahead and follow kinda close to him. Frigid you are going to run in and to the right and you will see an altar. Get behind the altar since it will block most of the crazy magic that he throws out. Wall Flower you are going to stop on this bottom step and I am going to put Ursi in front of the stairs. Move back and forth behind him to protect yourself from the AoE spells that he will use."
"That seems a little chickenish."
"It is not being a chicken it is being strategic. With your aura there is only a small space that will not get your buff. And you can see and heal everyone from here. Wall Flower, if you go down in this fight, we will be a team wipe. This guy is pretty tough and without you we do not make it."
"So, no pressure Wall Flower." Brick gave them a wink.
"Brick, I hate you so much right now. As soon as we are done here kicking you right in the dangly bits."
"Sorry, Wall Flower won't happen again." Vindictus realized that this was something that had happened before. "I am ready when you are."
"Listen this guy does not throw a lot of single player attack magic. Most of it will be AoE and pretty strong at that. But he also has lower hit points that the others. Our best bet is to charge in and crush him before he gets to many skills off. Also. when he hits berserk, he starts sending out fire rings every percent that he loses. But if we damage him fast enough, we should be better because he does not cast one until the other has hit the wall. Knocking stay close to Brick and when Mad Man hits the berserk line jump behind him. Also Brick that will be the best time to trigger your invulnerability."
"Sounds like a plan. Give the signal."
"Go." Brick charged into the room with Knocking Heads right on his tail. Vindictus waited until Frigid was into the room and running for the alter and then he summoned Ursi back out and ran towards the fight. He was moving so much faster than the others that he had to pause to make sure that Brick could pull the agro before he started attacking. Then the second Brick used his taunt skill Vindictus started going nuts and attacking it over and over, using his cross-cut skill as often as possible. His normal attacks were still doing almost two hundred damage. His cross-cut skill was doing almost four hundred.
The first fire spell tore through the room aimed at Knocking Heads and slammed into the altar in front of Frigid. The damage was a lot more than both of them expected but Wall Flower quickly went to work and healed both of them before the next attack came through. Hiding behind Ursi it made it hard to see Frigid's health so they had to watch the party bar to see who was being damaged. This was the most reliable method especially when there was not clean line of sight. Wall Flower stepped out so they could see Frigid and hit them with a low-level regeneration spell that she had only started using again during hell mode when normal healing was not enough to keep up with all of the damage that they were taking.
As the Mad Man got close to half his health Vindictus was taking over in terms of damage and he turned to focus on him and Brick did not have any extra skills to take the agro back from him. "Don't worry Brick just keep attacking. He is more intelligent than normal bosses and the agro is a lot harder to hold even with the skill. I will be fine."
The Mad Man was casting spells as fast as he could but since Vindictus had the agro and was on the back side of him none of the rest of them were in a lot of danger. But Wall Flower was working a lot harder to keep his health up. He seemed to have a lot more health than the others in the group. It got so bad that he had to drink a potion of healing over time to keep up with the damage. But this also made the rest of the team safe and he was more than willing to take the damage.
Vindictus kept moving back and forth trying to limit the Mad Man's focus as much as possible. But that did not prevent him from doing a lot of damage. Way faster than should have been possible they were closing in on the berserk line. "Frigid run over behind Ursi as well. We are moving way faster but I am worried about you once he hits the berserk mode."
Frigid did not question the order and sprinted back to the stairs behind Ursi. As soon as they were out of the danger area they started back in on their skills.
"Brick get ready to use your skill. Knocking break off and get behind Brick. Stay out of the line of fire. We might be able to finish him quickly and limit your exposure."
Knocking Heads stepped back behind Brick and saw as right before the health bar of Mad Man dropped, Brick's body started glowing gold. This meant that he was currently invulnerable to harm. The first inferno ring went off and Knocking still took a little damage as the flames wrapped around Brick, but it was not enough to put him in any danger. Knocking saw Wall Flower about to send a spell towards him and he held up a health potion and pointed towards Vindictus. Wall Flower diverted the spell and it hit Vindictus again since Brick was not taking any damage.
Vindictus saw the health hit the berserk line and then he activated his own berserk skill that he just got and started going crazy on the Mad Man. The Mad Man only got a second spell off out of the possible ten before he dropped the ground. The group all instantly dropped to the floor and rested.
"That was nice work everyone. That was a hell of a fight and a lot easier as part of a group then doing it by yourself, especially with a bow. The new style really ups the damage output."
Brick shook his head. "Not really sure how you did it when we had a fight like that in a group."
"I sprinted to the altar and hid behind it enough that he could not get a clear shot at me, mainly. Now to see what we got." Vindictus put his hand on the boss and harvested it. There was not a lot of equipment in this haul but there were a dozen different recipes and formulas as well as enough crafting materials to make enough stuff to equip a small guild. He was not sure he had ever seen this much lifestyle stuff with any one boss.
Brick looked at the stuff and smiled from ear to ear. "It looks like this stuff is all for you, boss. And honestly, I am glad since you have given us so much stuff during the dungeon. This should help you with your plans that you were after the materials for."
"Well, I am looking at a workshop and a guild and I have a smith on the books most the way already, so, I should be able to make the most out of this stuff. I am going to be doing part of it myself as well and I have yet to find an alchemist worth anything. But it is still early." He pulled four scrolls out of his inventory and handed each of them one.
"These are return scrolls. You tear the scroll and it will teleport you to the city center of the village that you are attached to. Once I hit the return option it will make the announcement and tell the world that we beat the hell mode. And the Wolf Guild is going to get pissed and rush to the start. As soon as you have control of your body from the teleport rip that scroll and head back to East Haven. Then all of you go to an inn and get a room and wait on word from me."
Wall Flower looked at Vindictus with concern. "What are you planning to do?"
"Well, given how upset the guild is going to be I need to have a discussion with them about how things are going to work here from now on and if necessary, take action. I am hoping that they will listen to reason but I doubt it. Once they attack me, I will have free reign and kill all of them that I can and then come back to the village."
"You are going to fight the entire guild."
"Only if they are looking to die. More than likely, I will have to kill a few of them to get my point across and then they will leave us alone. You guys ready?" He did not wait for an answer before he hit the button and sent them all back to the start of the dungeon.