Last Horizon: Live

by Daniel Schinhofen

  “You do know the last boss has six healers with him that are level ten? You think it's a good idea to go in with only half of you up to the right level?” One of the others asked.

  Chuckling, Dumadin looked at them, “We did it with four the first time. With eight of us it should still be fun.”

  The five players blinked and looked at him a little closer, “Wait, you’re part of the Bananas.”

  “Yeah. Good hunting guys, we've got a dungeon to clear. One last Hooray before the end.” Dumadin said with a grin and wink before he stepped backwards and into the portal.

  “What took so long?” Garthur asked as Dumadin appeared.

  “Was talking the group outside out of posting the fights online. We good to go?” Dumadin asked, to jump as Terets poked him from behind in the back of the neck.

  Laughing, Terets filled them in, “First room looks the same as before mostly. One goblin scavenger there, level seven but his name has a question mark on the end of it.”

  The group looked at each other, puzzled, before Dumadin shrugged, “Let's go see what the question is, shall we?”

  “For The Bananas!” Felton and G belted out in unison, causing the group to break up laughing as the two guys looked at each other blinking.

  “Jinx, you owe me a coke,” G got out first, causing chuckles amongst the others.

  “Okay, boys let us go forth and slay monsters,” Emilia said as Terets stealthed again and began to glide forward.

  “G, you take point. The first room was just this one goblin last time,” Dumadin said and took up the last spot in the group.

  G chuckled and jogged into the room, causing the goblin to turn and face the group. The entire group stopped dead and stared at the goblin scavenger as the name changed. Zombie goblin scavenger was what the mob was called once the question mark disappeared. It was also level ten, not seven.

  “A zombie?” Kittish said blinking in confusion as the goblin groaned and then shuffled at them. Its skin was grey-green and hanging in spots, as if the muscle behind the skin were decomposing.

  G met it as Terets unleashed a backstab on it, taking just over a quarter of its life with a single strike. G used Anger Howl to stop it from turning on the rogue as the others all fell in and attacked it. Its one attack at G barely hurt him as it was obliterated by the rest of the group.

  “That was anti-climactic,” G chuckled.

  Amythyst was frowning, “I think I should see if sis has anything to say about this.”

  “Yeah, not a bad idea,” Terets said. “If the dungeons change up after you have been through them though, that would be awesome as fuck.”

  The others agreed, dungeons that changed would be a welcome change from previous games. They checked the room as they waited for Amythyst to see if she could get a response. A few minutes later, a bright light filled the room and Jazzy appeared.

  “What are you saying?” Jazzy started off, then paused seeing two people she had not met before.

  “Sis, these two are Garthur and Gwennie. Two of the other members of the Bananas and yes, they already know.” Amythyst cut in before her sister could start in on her. “What I said was what happened. This goblin cave has undead in it.” She pointed at the body they hadn't looted yet.

  Jazzy looked at the corpse and frowned deeply, “That isn't right. You guys haven't cleared this on dungeon since launch yet, have you?” At their negative responses she growled and looked at the body again. “The instances are set to evolve after you have cleared them. To help keep things fresh and interesting they also gain in power each time.”

  Dumadin nodded, “Love the idea, but why is it doing it now?”

  “No fucking clue,” Jazzy cursed, then paused to take a deep breath. “Thank you for bringing this to my attention. I will look into it, and please stop making things so interesting for me.”

  Amythyst giggled and hugged her sister, “That's what little sisters do.”

  Jazzy rolled her eyes but hugged Amythyst back. “I’ll check in with Larry first. You all enjoy the upgraded dungeon in the meantime. If I get a clear answer, I will let you know.” A bright flash followed her words and when it was gone so was she.

  “So that answers part of the question. Shall we go on?” Amythyst asked, looking at the others.

  Dumadin laughed and nodded, gleefully “Yes, it means a whole new experience. I can't wait. If our scout will go take a peek, we can get ready to roll this bitch.” The others laughed and got their gear ready again as Terets took off in stealth to check the next room.

  “Okay, almost like last time. The room is the same. This time there are ten of the undead scavengers and two necrophytes. I would assume those two are casters. They don't look as skin sloughy.” Terets informed the group.

  “Okay, this tunnel is ten feet wide so me and G can hold it side by side,” Dumadin said, thinking over the options.

  “I’ll stealth into the room and get ready to take on the casters,” Terets added.

  Nodding, Dumadin chuckled, “Okay so here’s my plan. Emilia, Felton and Kittish will step in and to either side of the room with Terets stealthing in. Amythyst kicks us off with Fireball, which will drag the group of them to the hallway. Once they’ve engaged, you four in the room take out the casters. Kittish will be your healer. Once you have them down, come join in on the ones attacking us.”

  The group nodded and got into position. Once everyone was set Amythyst chuckled and began to cast Fireball. As the spell exploded and caught the ten undead, they started shuffling as fast as they could for the hallway. Dumadin and Garthur took up stances ready to hold the line against the horde.

  “Trade off Anger Howls on cooldown G you first, I'll drop mine four seconds in.” Dumadin said as the zombies got to them.

  G grunted and unleashed his Anger Howl pulling the aggro from the zombies to himself. Dumadin started counting out his four so he could taunt them off G.

  As the tanks held the line, the four in the room began their fight on the necrophytes. Terets started with a backstab to one of them, taking just over a quarter of its health bar with his attack from stealth. Emilia and Felton charged toward the other one as Kittish dropped Dark Night on the pair of casters, drawing aggro from the one Terets wasn't on.

  It started to cast at Kittish just as Emilia got there and landed Dirty Tricks to drop its hit chance and interrupt its spell. Felton didn't have any offensive abilities since he’d been focusing on crafting, so attacked as best he could.

  Kittish tossed Healing Pulse onto Terets, who vanished as the heal started ticking, causing the necrophyte to turn towards Kittish. As it began its cast, Terets backstabbed it again, dropping its life by another quarter.

  As the quartet fought the casters, the tanks swapped off aggro with the zombies. They were doing okay and were whittling down the first two zombies without much issue besides the healers eating through their aether.

  Terets chuckled as the necrophyte he was on dropped and helped the other two finish theirs off. Kittish made sure the group was topped off before she turned and began a Chain Lightning at the pack of Zombies trying to get at the tanks.

  “Half aether,” Gwennie called out as the zombies all got stunned due to Kittish's spell. “Oh a stun, nice.”

  “Here comes the cavalry G, good work.” Dumadin said as the first two zombies they had been fighting fell dead, allowing two more to get close enough to attack.

  “This is way more fun than any other MMORPG,” G laughed as he hit another zombie in the face.

  The trio of melee fighters closed the distance and began to gang up on one zombie at a time as Kittish cast another Chain Lightning. About a minute later the last of the zombies fell dead to cheers from the group.

  “Ding,” Emilia and Felton said in unison, to more cheers.

  “That was so much fun,” Garthur chuckled, “next.”

  “First, we clear the room and let our casters regen aether without resorting to potions.” Dumadin cautioned his friend as Terets
went around to loot the room.

  Terets returned with a dozen gold and the staves the casters had, “This is it.”

  “Still better than what we found the first time, minus the chest.” Kittish said as the group reformed and Terets went off to scout. “This is working out even better without the shield of broken.”

  “Let's see what the next room brings,” Amythyst giggled as they got to the start of the tunnel and paused, waiting for Terets to return.

  Terets came back shaking his head, “So the next room has four of the necrophytes and six Giant Undead Rat Abominations. The rats are big, dog sized, with green pustuled skin and massive teeth. There was also yellowish stuff dripping from their mouths.” Shuddering he looked at the others, “It’s pretty nasty looking.”

  Dumadin nodded and frowned, “Hmm, we won't be able to use the same tactic with four casters. Anyone have an idea?”

  Felton nodded, “Have G aggro the casters and we take them out first. You pick up the rats and hold them until we can get to you.”

  Dumadin winced thinking about it, “That's going to really suck for me. Guess that's what I get for being a tank, though. Amythyst, you’re my healer. Gwennie, you’re on G.”

  A soft chuckle went through the group at his words. “We will make it quick with the casters then. Last time all they got off spell wise was a DoT.” Kittish said and gave her lover a hug.

  Shaking his head Dumadin got to his feet, “Okay, let's do this guys.”

  Amythyst started it off by tossing her fireball into the rats and missing the casters. Dumadin hunkered down and waited to use Anger Howl as the others all charged into the room after the casters.

  A few minutes later the group was sprawled out on the floor panting. “We did it,” Dumadin said as he lay there.

  “Those DoT's stack up quick and they got each of us before we dropped them. My HoT barely kept us up. Who knew the DoTs could stack?” Kittish said as she sat up and looked as Terets began to gather loot.

  Felton grunted and sat up, “I'm just glad the pain setting is nerf bat level. If that DoT hurt as much as it should per health taken I would never leave town.”

  Gwennie agreed as she hugged Garthur, who was shaking his head. “It was still awesome even with the constant hits,” G said as he got to his feet and helped his wife up. “We took them out, our casters didn't need potions and no one used any of their jewelry yet.”

  The others were forced to agree as they got to their feet as Terets came over with the loot. Fifteen gold coins and a small chest. Terets pulled out his lockpicks and got the chest open to revel ten small gems. “Nice,” he said, handing the chest to Amythyst before stealthing up to go scout the next room.

  “How much are they going to be worth, you think?” Gwennie asked.

  “They look like common stones, say a double handful of gold maybe.” Kittish added thinking about the gems they’d sold in beta.

  Terets came back and sighed, “Next room has two undead goblin warriors at level twelve each, two of the necrophytes, four rats and one Goblin Necromancer at level thirteen.”

  Dumadin got to his feet shaking his head, “Oh fun. I’ll get the rats and warriors. G, you get the Necromancer and the two necrophytes. Kill the Necromancer first, I have a bad feeling about him. Once you drop him and the necrophytes come help.”

  The others nodded and got ready for another go around. A few minutes later the group got to their feet and set about looting the room. “So the necromancer can siphon life if he hits you, things to know,” Dumadin said.

  Terets grumbled, “That sucked man. I hate dying, really hate dying.”

  Amythyst hugged him, “Sorry, hun. No one expected that to happen or the fact it would crit you with its spell.”

  Once the loot was gathered they wound up with over twenty gold and a staff that increased DoT damage when wielded. “The staff might sell for a pretty penny,” Emilia said. “I talked to a player in Dalton who was specced to DoT things to death. Want me to see if he wants to buy it when we’re done?”

  The group agreed as none of them were likely to really use it. Terets went off to check the last room for them. Almost five minutes later he came back.

  “This is fucked guys. Thirty skeletons and a Goblin Necromantic Lord are in the last room. No idea what he can do, but the sheer number of lesser mobs is an issue,” Terets said.

  The group pondered for a bit each suggesting ideas as they tried to figure out a way to kill the boss. “I hate to say it, but I think the death run is the best idea.” Felton said, looking at Kittish and Amythyst.

  Dumadin sighed, “We can only hope that killing the fucker despawns the adds. Otherwise we all wipe and then we have to wait for Terets’ timer to fall off.”

  Terets shrugged, “I have to agree with Felton. The skeletons are level eight, way under the other things here. It is going to be a matter of pulling all of them away, though. It's going to take multiple AoE's to grab them all.”

  Kittish stood up and brushed her pants off, “Shall we do it and find out?”

  The others chuckled and got to their feet. “For the Bananas?” Amythyst asked hesitantly.

  “FOR THE BANANAS!” The others yelled before starting towards the hall to the last room.

  Amythyst and Kittish got into position to cover the room with their AoE's and looked at the others. When they were sure everyone was ready they cast Fireball and Dark Night and then ran for it. As soon as they entered the hallway, the skeletons who had turned towards them reset, clattering back to their places.

  “Fuck, there goes that plan.” Dumadin laughed as the group all gathered to discuss a new plan. “So besides going in guns blazing, anyone have any ideas?”

  “Terets needs to jump the boss right away to hopefully disrupt at least the first cast it tries. I say everyone drink up a stoneskin potion before we start to give us a little leeway. Use everything you can to get through this fight.” Felton added as he took a stoneskin potion off his bandoleer and looked at the others.

  “If Amythyst and Kittish start it off on the two sides of the door way, then you and Gee can grab the skeletons. Just go all out nuke and hope you hold out. Gwennie, you should sprint down the room to get heals onto Terets. Me and Emilia will go with her and join up with Terets on the boss.

  Dumadin nodded, “If the mass of AoE doesn't do it we will probably wipe. Ladies, all out nuke. Once you get your spells off, swap sides and do the same. That will give me and G three seconds of stun each until diminishing returns stops the stuns from landing for ten seconds. Start with me Kittish, Amythyst on G's side.”

  “What about transition phases?” G asked.

  Dumadin winced, “I hope he only has one but if he has more, we’ll just have to do our best.”

  The others nodded grimly and got their potions out and ready to drink. The two casters looked at the group and noted Terets all the way in the back near the boss. With deep breaths they cast their spells and all hell broke loose.

  As the first set of AoE's hit the skeletons they turned and ran at the respective casters, who stood their ground and cast again. The two tanks gripped their shields tight and waited to Anger Howl as the mob rushed them.

  As soon as the skeletons took off, Gwennie, Felton and Emilia began to sprint to the back of the room. Terets waited until the goblin began to cast before he used his necklace for a guaranteed critical and backstabbed it. A full 25% of the boss’s life dropped away to Terets’ surprise.

  When the boss hit 75% from the one hit it screamed and all the skeletons who were just about in range of the tanks stopped and began to run back towards the boss. Cussing, the casters switched groups and the two tanks sprinted for the middle of their group of skeletons and Anger Howled. The skeletons stopped and turned again to attack the taunters.

  Amythyst and Kittish did what they had been told and just nuked their respective groups, swapping off every three spells and watching as the life bar of the skeletons dropped rapidly. Just before they tapped out on A
ether the skeletons collapsed, thanks to the massive AoE firepower.

  Dumadin and G paused as their life bars each hung at around thirty percent. “Boss time,” Dumadin said and began to run to the back where the other fight was taking place.

  As the skeletons switched directions, Felton and Emilia got there and began to attack the boss with Terets. Terets backpedaled as the boss laid into him, reducing his life by 25%. “Good timing, guys,” he called out as Emilia landed her first attack.

  As soon as Emilia landed her hit Terets Vanished, causing the boss to spin to Emilia. Emilia used her jewelry to parry attacks. Terets appeared again as he backstabbed the boss once more, taking another chunk of life from it while Felton hacked away with his sword.

  Gwennie was concentrating on keeping heals on Terets and Emilia, who were taking heavy hits from the boss. Dumadin and G got there and jumped in, laughing as the fight seemed much easier than they had feared.