by Rick Scott
“Put on the ring!” she cries, fending off the flailing arms with her kunai.
I’ve got to make this quick.
I materialize the ring and slip it on, enduring the 50 HP hit to my Health bar. A green light washes over me.
Gilly casts Rejuvenate!
You are slowly regaining HP.
I wait a second to see just how much the spell helps and note it cuts the -50 loss to -30. Not bad. I recast Shadow Copy and am amazed to see a mere 4 second recast timer. Wow! This ring was definitely worth the trip to hell and back!
I check the monster’s HP bar and see it’s only at 95%; this despite Val Helena hacking at it constantly, Maxis doing the same and Rembrandt peppering it with a stream of bullets. Gilly casts Second Wind on the cyberpunker and a heal on Aiko when she messes up a dodge, losing her shadow and then taking a huge half Health bar hit!
“Hurry up!” Aiko screams in a panic.
Crap!
I rush forward and hit it with a Backstab of my own before yelling a War Cry.
“Face me!”
The “Shadow King” spins with an AOE attack that wipes my shadow. And then spins back to perform another one. Its clawed hand strikes me hard and bone numbing pain fills my body.
ARGH!
You take 753 damage!
Dang! That was a lot for one hit!
I wince in pain. I can’t afford to take another one like that.
I cast Shadow Copy and the spells goes off in less than a second, narrowly saving me from another AOE spin attack. I weave through a couple more normal swipes from its claws before getting my shadow up again.
This ring sure is a lifesaver, but it’s killing me too.
Gilly tops up my health with another heal and I focus to get some kind of rhythm going. The world slows as I force myself into the zone and forget about what it is I’m facing. It’s just another monster. It has a pattern like everything else. I just need to learn it.
I take a claw as I screw up a couple times, losing my shadow and recast it in between hits. Gilly is quick to respond, however and keeps me close to full. I slide and roll across the shale to avoid the long sweeps of its arms, which I realize to everyone else must look like swords. The “whip” one I especially need to be wary of. More than a few times, it’s pegged me because I dodged the initial attack, but then got hit when it extended.
I lose track of time.
It’s only when conditions changed that I note our progress. Wit hit the 70% mark on the bosses HP and a room wide message appears.
Shadow King readies Pulse Fire!
Aiko lets out a curse in what I think is Elven. She then locks eyes with me. “Reece! Pull it to the edge of the arena! Everyone to the opposite side!”
What!? We didn’t practice this! “What’s going on?”
“It’s about to do its AOE spam,” Aiko says. “Keep Shadow Copy up as much as you can. Gilly just keep him alive!”
Her words cause my heart to jump into my throat.
What the heck is about to happen?
I perform Retreat to gain some distance and lure the massive creature in my direction as the rest of the party runs the opposite way. When I reach the fence line it does the same AOE move again, sending out a wave of fire from its chest as it releases an ear shatter wail, but this time it goes off about once every other second!
HOLY CRAP!
I lost my shadow and freak out! I recast Shadow Copy as soon as I can, but the waves of AOE’s keep coming, hitting me like a freight train and singing my skin.
Shadow King uses Pulse Fire!
Your shadow absorbs the attack!
You take 618 damage!
You take 623 damage!
You take 621 damage!
My heart jumps when I see my HP bar chopped to a sliver and then stops completely when I see actual number.
43/1905 HP!!
Oh God…!
Shadow Copy slips off Cool-down and I recast it just in time before the next wave lands.
Your shadow absorbs the attack!
But then the poison kicks in.
You take -30 poison damage!
13/1905 HP!!
NOOO!!!!
Gilly casts Heal V!
You regain +1892 HP!
My knees go weak with relief as I’m topped up to full, but the slams keep coming.
“Gilly, keep healing!” I scream in panic. “Don’t stop!”
I recast Shadow Copy every moment I can and go from watching my damage to just how close I come to death before Gilly heals me up each time.
14/1905 HP!!
23/1905 HP!!
27/1905 HP!!
17/1905 HP!!
The attack finally stops and the beast turns away from me as if uninterested.
Holy crap! I can’t believe I survived that.
My heart is pounding like I just ran a marathon. I’m flooded with relief, but then panic hits when I fear the boss might be going for Gilly! I yell at it with a War Cry but it continues undeterred.
I call out to her. “Gilly!”
She casts another heal spell on me, topping me up. “I got you!”
Doh! She thought I was calling for another heal! And I did need one, but I fear she’s about to get hit now. But a second later I see I needn’t have worried. The Shadow King reaches the middle of the arena and stops before slowly rising into the air.
“The pillar phase!” Val Helena Screams. “Red first!”
I look for the pillar and see it’s across the arena. I dash for it and Charge Strike the rest of the way, shooting under the Shadow King. I see it’s now encased in a blue sphere with lighting arcing from each pillar; powering it with energy as indicated by a red bar that slowly fills underneath it.
It doesn’t take me long to figure out something bad is going to happen when that bar reaches full. I get to the pillar to see Val Helena and Maxis already slamming it, attacking with rabid ferocity. Rembrandt shoots it from afar and Gilly blasts it with Holy Fire. Aiko and I do our part as well, whittling it down with a flurry of small critical hits.
“How the heck did you survive that AOE without the ring?” I say to Aiko.
She cackles while slashing into the pillar. “I didn’t, remember?”
Man! This is crazy!
The Health bar on the pillar goes black and the crystal fades to a dark gray, the arc disappearing. Two left.
“Green!” Val Helena shouts.
We repeat the process, chopping it down just as fast.
“Blue!”
We down the final one and then Val screams again: “Everyone group up on Gilly. Rebuff!”
We follow her commands and refresh our buffs. I have to admit, it’s a comfort to have Val Helena calling the moves play by play. It reminds me that she’s been a guild leader for a long time and seeing her in true form is awe inspiring. Above us the blue shield surrounding the Shadow King shifts to red and begins to glow as the bar reaches full.
Shadow King readies Ultimate Demise
“Here it comes!” Val screams.
The sphere explodes and a wave a red-hot energy engulfs us.
Shadow King uses Ultimate Demise!
Your shadow absorbs the attack!
Aside from me and Aiko, our party’s hitpoints all go down by the same number, but the bars differ significantly. Gilly goes down by about three quarters, Rem and Maxis half and Val Helena’s barely moves at all.
“That wasn’t as bad as I thought it would be,” Maxis says.
“Because we destroyed all the pillars,” Val Helena says. “Thanks to you two. Damn you guys got high DPS.”
“All me, love.” Rembrandt cracks a grin while spinning his pistols.
“Let’s stay focused,” Aiko cuts in, readying her blades in a reverse grip. “The adds are about to spawn.”
Not a second later the Shadow King hits the arena floor and two smaller demons emerge from the ground in wisps of black smoke. Just as Aiko had said, they look like smaller version of the Shadow King, at least to me an
yway.
I still don’t know what the heck these other guys are seeing yet.
“I got them!” Maxis says charging forward.
“Let me take one!” Aiko shouts with a War Cry and pulls the second lesser demon towards her.
I nearly get caught up in watching them down the adds when I remember I still have a job to do. I Charge Strike the Shadow King at an angle, drawing its attention and then Retreat the opposite direction to make it chase me away from the rest of the group. I add a War Cry and make sure it’s set on me before slipping into the zone once again.
The adds are tough and I can see their HP bars dropping slowly as Aiko and Maxis work overtime tanking them. Val Helena coordinates their attacks and she targets Maxis’ one first along with Rembrandt. The three of them get it killed in about a minute and then switch to help Aiko, who has hers down to 80% by the time they join her. Gilly is working hard too, healing up Maxis as he takes damage through his blocks and counters.
I focus on keeping myself alive, timing the rapid swings of the Shadow King’s arms, while sneaking in hits here and there. I keep Shadow Copy up and blow Active Dodge every chance I get to give me a break from the mental strain.
I hear Val Helena yelling with an attack buff and then see her slam her massive axe into the Shadow King’s leg with a Power Attack. Maxis does the same and so does Rembrandt. The combined damage of the big hits is enough to drop the boss’s HP to 40%, but also spin it in their direction.
Oh crap!
I use a War Cry to turn it back, but it’s too late!
The Shadow King hits them with an AOE swipe, nearly killing Rembrandt!
“Reece!” Aiko shouts and uses a War Cry of her own.
The monster focuses on her, but her Shadow Copy is down. I hear Aiko scream with that same panicked cry that I heard when she took over tanking the Witch Spider. She’s coming undone!
“Gilly, heal us up!” Val Helena shouts. “Quick!”
“I am! I am!”
Gilly casts two frantic Great Heal spells and tops them off just before another lightning quick AOE lands.
My heart skips as I see both Aiko and Rembrandt go into the red.
I’ve got to regain hate! Fast!
I hide with a Charge Attack and then sling my kunai forward with a Backstab.
You backstab the Shadow King!
Critical hit!
You hit the Shadow King for 1345(672) damage!
It doesn’t turn. Still not enough!
“Reece!” Aiko cries hysterically. “Get it off!! Get it off me!”
“Come on!” I scream and launch into it with a flurry of attacks. “Turn!”
I land several more crits and finally the monster faces me with a mind-numbing wail.
Shadow King readies Pulse Fire!
“Everyone run!” Val Helena yells. “Get out of range!”
I barely have time to prepare when the attack goes off.
Shadow King uses Pulse Fire!
Your shadow absorbs the attack!
You take 605 damage!
You take 612 damage!
You take 624 damage!
ARGH!!!
The pain is excruciating, but I finally get a heal from Gilly.
“Reece!” she cries, sounding as if on the verge of tears. “I’m about to run out!”
Holy crap…!
My mind races for what I can do next. I need Gilly’s heals to stay alive!
I cast Decoy Shadow, alternating it between Shadow Copy.
The AOE hits and I crumple into nanodust and disappear, only to reappear a second later when the next wave hits, but I manage to cut the damage in half for nearly all the attacks until Gilly finally heals me or I get Shadow Copy up again. My heart is in my throat as I work the spells, Kanji runes swirling around me constantly.
WHAM!
Cast!
WHAM!
Cast!
My HP bar yoyo’s dangerous close to zero with each volley and my TP starts dipping dangerously close to empty as well. And then I hear the words I’ve been dreading.
“I’m out!” Gilly screams. “Reece!”
I keep casting my two spells and watch in terror as the attacks roll in.
Shadow King uses Pulse Fire!
Your shadow absorbs the attack!
You take 636 damage!
1269/1905 HP!
You cast Decoy shadow!
You take 322(644) damage!
947/1905 HP!!
You gain the effect of Shadow Cloak!
You take 634 damage!
313/1905 HP!!!
You are no longer invisible.
No….
I wince for the next hit, the one that will be my last!
But it doesn’t come. The Shadow King lumbers away from me, heading for the center of the arena again.
Thank God!!
I slump, weak with relief, but then feel actually weak as a wave a sickness courses through me.
You take -50 poison damage!
263/1905 HP
The poison! And the regen must have worn off too!
You take -50 poison damage!
213/1905 HP
“I got you!” Gilly yells.
Gilly uses Life Syphon!
Gilly loses 650 HP!
Gilly gains 1123 TP!
Her HP drops into the red and her TP bounces to full. She raises her bow and casts a Heal V that sooths my body and brings me back to full health. Geez that was close…
“Recover and move,” Val Helena yells. “Red!”
I snap out of my near death trauma and join the other as we go through the process again, downing the pillars as fast as we can. My nerves are frazzled and I notice that this time around there is no witty banter or compliments about DPS. We’re sweating and panting for breath, our Stamina bars in the red. I glance at the Boss’s HP and see it’s down to 30% now.
Almost there…
We down the last pillar and group up around Gilly again, refreshing our buffs as we wait for the room wide AOE to go off.
“A little shaky at the end there,” Val Helena says out of breath. “But we’re doing good. We just need to get though the adds phase and DPS it as hard as we can. We can win this!”
I’m all for that. I don’t know if I can handle another round of Pulses Fires again. And I’m not sure Gilly can either.
Shadow King readies Ultimate Demise.
“Here we go!” Val Helena cries and raises her Axe with a buff. “One last time!”
Shadow King uses Ultimate Demise!
The sphere explodes and Gilly heals us up immediately. I pull the boss with a War Cry and head to the side of the arena just as the adds spawn. Aiko lets out another curse and I get the sinking feeling that something has gone wrong.
“What happened?” I shout, ducking under a swing. But then I see what she’s cursing about. The adds have spawned, but there are three of them this time!
“Damn it!” Aiko shouts. “I forgot it gets harder each round!”
“I’ll take one!” Val Helena says and slams her axe into one of the mini demons as she buffs herself with a blue shield.
This doesn’t look good.
I focus on tanking the monstrous being before me, hopefully for the last time. If this battle only gets harder, we can’t afford to go another round. Gilly throws heals left and right, trying to keep both Maxis and Val Helena topped up as they take big chunks of damage from the adds. Rembrandt concentrates on the one Val Helena is fighting, since she seems to be taking the most damage.
It’s painfully slow to watch, even at a glance, but they finally kill it and move onto the one Maxis is tanking. I keep my focus, counting the attacks, timing each one and utilizing Shadow Copy whenever I can. I can’t screw up. Not take one hit. Gilly’s too busy healing the others to focus on me.
I need to Dodge Tank the crap out of this!
And then I see something that makes my heart sink.
Shadow King readies Pulse Fire!
“Crap!” Maxis shouts. “We weren’t fast enough! The last add is still alive!”
“Reece!” Gilly screams. “I’m nearly out again!”
This can’t happen. I can see the result unfolding in my mind already. The last Add is still up, Gilly’s TP is drained and we’re all in range of the AOE.
We’re all about to die!
“Everyone focus on the boss!” I cry. “Use your 24 hour moves!”
I cross my arms and activate my ultimate ability.
Reece uses Perfect Dodge!
Evade all attacks with unlimited Stamina and TP for the next 30 seconds.
This is it! “Gilly keep them alive!”
Shadow King uses Pulse Fire!
Reece dodges the attack!
Reece dodges the attack!
Reece dodges the attack!
Reece dodges the attack!
Reece dodges the attack!
“Go, go, go!” Val Helena screams. “Thirty seconds!”
Aiko use Perfect Dodge!
Val Helena uses Rampage!
Maxis uses 1000 Fists!
Rembrandt uses Ultimate Shot!
Rembrandt backflips out of AOE range and fires a huge burst of energy into the boss, dropping its health to 26%. I go all out, along with Aiko, attacking as rapidly as we can. The Add is still on her, but with Perfect Dodge she ignores it, invincible as I am. Val Helena chops the Shadow King with endless Power Attacks while Maxis uses his healing fists to keep himself alive while pounding the boss nonstop. Gilly spams heals on Val Helena to keep her in the green, but with Val Helena’s huge hitpoint pool, Gilly manages to keep pace despite the rapid AOEs.
The Shadow King’s Health bar steadily depletes.
20%
