Forge of Eternity: Alpha Testing, page 39
I pulled my feet under me and peeked over the edge, looking for the battle. Deacon was five or six feet away, directly between us and the massive boss monster as it menaced Goodwin. I was impressed that they managed to get its attention, I’m sure it would have tried picking off the stunned group first if there wasn’t a pressing reason to engage the active party members. The drake turned from Goodwin with an unexpected snakelike strike at Deacon. I expected to see him impaled on the beast’s shining fangs when two quick spells from Uri gave him an edge. The boss monster barely slowed from the debuff, and Deacon only just twisted out of the way.
Off-balance, Deacon swung out blind with his hammer, hoping to arrest his movement and deal some damage at the same time from the looks of it. The larger, spiked side of the warhammer connected with the drake’s lower jaw, shattering scales and breaking off a spine from its chin that was longer than my forearm. It roared in pain, rearing back onto its hind legs as multicolored light flashed out from under its scales. I knew from my combat log that my previous blast hadn’t connected, dissipated by the breath weapon counter-attack. Failing to think of anything else in the split second, I tried again. This time I turned away and ducked behind the earthen wall, squeezing my eyes shut.
I heard a pained hissing sound from the boss at the exact moment I expected to feel its breath weapon again. Phelyya groaned, standing unsteadily next to me against the wall as the green accents in her character pulsed and smoked. Seizing the opportunity, I aimed a Firebolt directly at the creature’s still open mouth. A Fire Blast would do more damage, but a Firebolt was faster and a little more accurate.
You critically attack Light Drake for 68 fire damage.
My attack scorched the roof of the boss’ mouth, the creature immediately began writhing its head back and forth in agony. The barrier I was leaning against for stability dissolved into the ground, throwing my follow-up attack wide. Good thing it seemed distracted, or falling prone out of cover after landing a critical would have probably rocketed me to the top of the aggro table. Not that it would have been too big of a deal, the melee fighters weren’t letting the beast’s inattention go to waste. With its limited defense, they made strikes against any vulnerability they could find.
The draconic boss reasserted control over itself after several costly seconds, settling into purely defensive tactics. Realizing the situation it was in, the drake adjusted again, deciding its best defense would be an overwhelming attack at the weakest opponent in melee range. The drake feinted another bite attack at Deacon, redirecting the momentum to rush at Uri. It caught him with a claw swipe to the chest that sent him into the wall fifty feet away, crossing through one of the active beams from the mirror light puzzle as he went.
Before anyone in the party could process what happened, the beast attempted a similar move against Goodwin. The monk was quick to react, rolling backward out of the way and receiving a glancing blow that still shaved a good third off his health. He immediately rushed in for a couple of opportunistic strikes of his own before the creature could reverse its momentum. Within a second, Deacon was reminding the beast to watch its sides as his hammer caved in scales on its flank, our tank regaining its full attention. Gavin gave Goodwin a casual pat on the back, delivering a healing spell that slowly began filling the monk’s health bar.
Seeing the boss busy, I looked around for Uri. His icon showed that he was technically alive, which meant if I dragged him over to Gavin he could get back in the fight. I found where he’d impacted, his body having flaked away a small chunk where the wall had been scored by one of the moving light beams. Take a few steps in his direction, I abruptly stopped as his body lifted off the ground. He was floating with his arms and legs forward with, odd blur effect causing him to shimmer. His body went through a number of contortions in place while his health bar crept back up to just above the halfway point.
Uri was dropped back on the ground, stumbling as he caught his footing, then he was sprinting back to his place in the battle. Not going to worry about that then, I can put my attention back where it was most useful. Deacon and Goodwin had gotten into a pretty comfortable back and forth rhythm with trading the drake’s attention. Good for them, frustrating for me since everyone was moving erratically. If I aimed for the head with anything big at this distance it would undoubtedly move before the attack struck. Aiming for the body was out since the Fire Blast would have collateral damage and Firebolts may still end up as “friendly Firebolts” if someone moved wrong.
I could either get closer to melee range, a risky idea, or get creative. I channeled a steady stream of ephemeral water spirits, directing them toward the enemy’s face. Most failed to deal damage, making me glad I hadn’t picked up water as my first element, but a few found their mark. The damage was minimal, the attacks were much more useful as distractions to create opportunity.
Between the opportunistic melee hits, ranged harassment, and Gavin’s well-timed healing spells, we were chipping away at the boss. The pace was glacial, only taking off small amounts of health every minute, but we could probably maintain it so long as we didn’t make any massive mistakes. And if Gavin kept his mana up. And if the boss didn’t have any other tricks. I ignored the intrusive pessimism. What we needed was something to pour out just a little more damage and build us a bit of a buffer in case we needed to switch things up. At that point, I noticed that Phelyya, having fully recovered, was slowly circling around the edge of the room in stealth while we kept the boss occupied. When the drake turned away from her completely, she broke stealth and began sprinting up the creature’s tail. At the midpoint of the creature’s body, she leaped up to drive her daggers into its neck.
The attack didn’t go exactly as planned, since only one blade managed to penetrate the scales. This worked to our advantage though, the awkward angle caused Phelyya to jerk violently against the blade that did catch. When the creature started trying to dislodge her, it caused more damage from the motion of the thrashing and the elf’s desperate attempts to sink the other blade for additional purchase. The creature’s health pool dropped over a hundred points between the initial attack, the subsequent stabbing attempts, and the widening of the dagger wound in its neck.
Roaring in pain, the drake’s health fell below the halfway point and the edges of each scale pulsed with the intensity of an arc welder. The beast froze in place, head back with jaws open toward the sky. Phelyya’s avatar made a sound of discomfort, dropping from the creature at the first flash of light, diving behind a mirror for cover as lightning-like arcs of power covered the boss. Everyone else followed her example, sprinting for cover, so I sent a small bead of fire toward the creature just before finding safety.
You attack Light Drake with Fire Blast for 90 fire damage.
The explosion from the Fire Blast rattled my teeth, the shockwave more intense than I’d expected. Both Deacon and Goodwin were caught in the blast, judging by the dip in their health bars. I snuck a peek at the battle from behind the mirror, careful not to touch the frame. Deacon was slowly getting to his feet, his armor smoking slightly and gray skin scorched black. The drake was still pulsing around the scales, the complete lack of bodily motion ominous and threatening.
Charging the boss, Deacon spun his body as he got within striking range, trying to pour every last bit of force into his hammer swing. The hammer connected with the creature’s front leg at the joint. A flash of retina-searing light pulsed from the point of impact and Deacon went sailing away into the wall to my left. His health fell to critical levels and he sat motionless where he landed. Gavin sprinted in his direction from somewhere off to the side, Goodwin limping behind him. The boss’ health bar started to slowly tick upward.
The light pulsing from the drake’s scales seemed to be slowing down and losing intensity. I assumed that when it stopped pulsing the drake would go back to regular attacks. Gavin’s mana was looking a little low, so I wasn’t sure how quickly he’d get Deacon back on his feet. The drake roaming about with our main tank down and healer occupied would almost certainly result in a party wipe. Thinking fast, I decided to test out a theory that seemed to drop into my mind, hoping for the best. Gritting my teeth, I sent off the weakest ranged attack I could guarantee would connect.
Luckily, I remembered to close my eyes, for all the good it did. The burst of light didn’t blind me quite as severely this time, though I swear the flash still left an afterimage in my vision. The wave of fire and force hit me a split second after the flash.
You strike Light Drake with Firebolt for 53 damage.
You take 106 damage from Light Drake’s reflection.
“That’s completely unfair!” I yelled, the pain causing my voice to take on a shrill quality. “Stupid boss only takes half damage but we get double damage? And it’s regenerating health?”
Every inch of exposed skin blistered instantly, a searing pain penetrating every part of my body that was facing the drake. Losing almost all my health in a single hit was a lot more traumatic than I thought it should be. On the other hand, I felt like I should be curled on the ground in a ball until the pain stopped. The fact that I was able to remain standing seemed cruel. Even standing was hard.
“Lady Amalie! Move!” Gavin yelled from somewhere off to my left, closer than I remember him. I forced my eyes open, the skin on my face feeling stretched and brittle. The boss was slowly turning its open jaws down toward me, scales pulsing with renewed intensity. I ducked back behind the mirror, ignoring the protests of my insulted skin and muscles as I pressed the heels of my hands into my eyes. The flash of light was still slightly visible despite my efforts, and I knew I’d just dodged what would have been a killing blow.
Taking a couple of deep breaths, I made an effort to push the pain away and think. New details were coming to light, and if we didn’t adapt to them we weren’t going to get through this fight. It took us too long to realize the drake also had a reflection aspect to it, that it wasn’t just the mirror puzzle. If we hit the drake now, it takes half damage but deals double damage to us. We can’t beat it in a battle of attrition with that sort of disadvantage. It doesn’t seem like it’s going to give us time to heal completely before going back to the standard battle phase either. I wonder if we can just poke it with low power attacks while we heal.
A pins and needles numbness spread over my body. While unpleasant, it was worlds better than the searing throb of the burns. I opened my eyes to see Gavin’s multicolored robes and ever-present smile.
“Lady Amalie, it pleases me to see you live,” he winked, “a sign of luck from my patron, no doubt. I need you for my plan.”
Deacon - Destruction
Getting caught in Amalie’s blast of fire was frustrating. The blinding light my hammer made when it hit the drake was unpleasant. The sudden concussive blast sending me flying was painful. My dangerously low 25 out of 252 HP was concerning. The fact that Gavin’s less than consistent healing was my only hope of rejoining the fight was demoralizing. I closed my eyes, willing my heads up display into visibility as I sat there and waited to die.
You strike Light Drake for 41 damage.
Light Drake’s reflection strikes you for 82 damage.
You take 21 terrain damage.
Stunned (Debuff) - You are unable to move. 10 seconds remaining…
Double damage reflected back at me? Anger burned in me at finding that out with the absolute strongest attack I could manage. Refusing to let the anger get the better of me, I focused on the bright side; at least it was clear what happened, even if I wasn’t sure how we could work around it yet. The fight started off on a bad foot, our squishier party members being incapacitated by the creature’s breath weapon. To be fair, I wasn’t prepared for it myself, but we all managed to recover. In fact, I thought we were doing well considering the size and speed of the boss. This thing felt way out of proportion for our level, which meant we were either not good enough at the game yet, or missing something in the mechanics of the fight.
You have been healed for 15 points of damage.
Stunned (Debuff) removed.
The minor numbing across my body let me know that Gavin had made his way over. The amount of healing I’d received was on par with slapping a Band-Aid on a broken leg. I opened my eyes to see the smiling cleric wink at me, extending a hand to help me up while Goodwin’s bald head bobbed into view over his shoulder. Waving off the hand I propped myself up with my hammer, looking up in time to see Amalie in the process of making a terrible mistake.
“Master Deacon, we should head for cover!” Gavin said, pulling me along as he sprinted toward the closest of the mirrors facing the drake. I followed, my stamina having recovered significantly while I was stunned. We weren’t fast enough, Amalie shot off one of her single target fire spells. The flash from the drake’s reflection washed over us harmlessly, save the small distortion it left in my vision. Odd that we didn’t get hurt by that when her other spell did so much damage. That was good, I only had, wait… when did I gain an additional 45 HP? I was up to 85 out of my current 252 maximum, which is still dangerous but much better than where I was. I checked over my log briefly to see if I’d missed another healing spell in my distraction.
You have been healed for 15 points of damage.
You have been healed for 12 points of damage.
You have been healed for 17 points of damage.
I laughed, silently thanking whatever in-game gods there were. I thought Gavin had just given me the bare minimum healing to get me going since he was low on mana, or maybe his god decided that spell would just be weak for no reason or whatever. Apparently, it was a heal-over-time effect. I didn’t see any active buffs so I assumed it expired. As I was looking for the buff, the spell healed me again. Oh, so I don’t know how long it’s active? That’s more like Gavin’s healing.
“Master Deacon, were you listening?” Gavin asked, pulling me back to the present as we crouched behind a mirror.
“Honestly? No,” I said, shaking my head.
“I know how to defeat the boss,” Gavin said, looking around the edge of the mirror. His eyes went wide and he yelled “Lady Amalie! Move!”
“Wait! How do we defeat this thing?” I asked, trying to get his attention again.
He stood up as another flash of light came from the boss. “When I give the signal push this mirror a quarter turn to the left.”
He sprinted off, and I looked over at Goodwin, letting the confusion show on my face. The monk wiped some blood off his face own and shrugged. “I don’t know what he’s thinking either. You going to be able to move that mirror?”
“Yeah,” I grunted, checking my health. “I’m at about 145 HP currently. The mirror only hit me for about 30 damage last time. I hope this 20% constitution debuff doesn’t drop me too low to just power through it again.”
I felt the stone grinding further away in the room in two different directions. Someone just hit one of the switches in front of a mirror. Looking around, I saw the one Amalie was near turning as she ran our direction. That mirror was one of the final ones that fed the statue before the boss animated. The one paired to it turned the beam away from the prism, cutting off all the mirrors down the line. Amalie fired off several of her kamikaze water balls just before reaching cover with us. A bright flash indicated at least one of them hit the boss. After another few seconds, I felt the ground shifting again further away.
Gavin Outbuffs: When the beam of light hits your mirror, do a quarter turn to the left and get yourself behind the closest barrier.
There was one mirror I could see facing the drake directly that would have guaranteed cover, and while it wasn’t exactly close it would have to work. I pointed it out to everyone, then looked back at the boss. The light pulsing from it began to fade just as Amalie pulled me back and fired off another beam of fire. She dropped down beside me, hands pressed tight over her eyes before the burst of light from the boss washed over us. Amalie took her hands off her face, looked over at the boss, and smiled.
“Looks like it’s going to work,” she said, pointing a thumb back at the boss. “Attacks reset the boss’s reflect phase, but we can’t really beat its regeneration and defense with normal attacks.”
“Good to know,” I nodded, “I don’t know how we’re using that to our advantage though.”
Amalie’s smile turned mischievous but she didn’t elaborate.
“All right, then. Keep your secrets,” I said, standing and stretching. The numbness of Gavin’s healing had faded away, leaving behind the aches of my injuries.
“Don’t think too hard. Just move the heavy thing and run, then enjoy the light show,” she said, keeping an eye on the boss. “After the light hits the mirror, I’ll hit the boss again before you push it. Once you turn the mirror we’re on a timer. Okay, beam is coming this way now.”
I rolled my eyes at the good-natured ribbing, still a bit annoyed I didn’t know what they were planning. Amalie shot off a few of her tiny elementals, covering her eyes again. As soon as the flash indicated they did their job, she and Goodwin started running for the next mirror. I positioned myself to move the mirror and shoved hard against the side. The jolt of electricity clenched all of my muscles immediately, a disturbing sensation, but I was quickly able to reassert control and shift the mirror into place.
Just before I completed the movement, I triggered the ability that only recently came off cooldown. An earthen barrier lifted itself out of the ground in a circle around me, covering the mirror. It wouldn’t hold forever, but the running start seemed important. I jumped the barrier and sprinted for cover, sliding into place beside Goodwin a few seconds later.
“So now there’s a light show?” I asked, raising my eyebrows skeptically at Amalie and looking around the edge of our mirror.
“Once your dirt wall finally fades, yeah, there’s a light show.”
“Oh, I can fix that,” I dismissed the wall with a thought. The light beam immediately bounced to several mirrors before striking home on the drake. Not wanting to get hit with anything, I ducked back to safety with the others as a resonant sound started to steadily rise in pitch. The light coming off the drake was cycling through the color spectrum, bathing the room in trippy over-saturated hues.
