Mage Tank

Chapter 181: Project: Unavoidable Harm

My first thought for Oblivion Orb was to exchange the crit trigger for a trigger that caused the orb to teleport forward a short distance when it contacted any sort of armor or mitigating ability. That would let it bypass a lot of defensive weaves and powers. To my delight, I could do that. However, it would increase the mana cost immensely. Apparently, the mana required to force the spell past all defensive structures was substantial. I needed to think smaller.

Grotto encouraged me to consider how I was using the orb. I put it on a hammer, then threw that hammer at something I wanted to destroy. Most people would either dodge that combo or block it. A moment of epiphany struck and I backed away from Oblivion Orb to look over Homing Weapon.

Homing Weapon was… fine. It was a bit expensive for what it did. It added range and damage to a thrown weapon attack, and the weapon returned afterward. It cost 10 stamina, and I knew from my experience with other techniques that the return on damage should be higher than what I was getting here.

Part of the stamina cost was from increasing the throwing range. I didn’t really need that anymore, since I got a huge boost to range from my first Blunt evolution, Hammer Throw. At higher levels, the bonus from Homing Weapon would result in a paltry 10% increase in throwing distance. Not worth it in my book.

Another reason it was expensive was that its requirements were too low for what it did. Apparently, if a spell offered more boom than it should for the related skill requirements, that increased its cost or added a cooldown.

I ran my ideas by Grotto, who approved and began muttering villainous soliloquies as I activated step 1 of Project: Unavoidable Harm.

I increased Homing Weapon’s requirements, dropped the range boost, and amended how Dimensional Magic modified its damage based on some advice from Grotto. Then, I added one final effect that took greater advantage of the skill’s core reason for existing.

Arlo’s Homing Weapon

Physical/Dimensional

Requirements: STR 20, INT 20, Blunt 20

Make a thrown weapon attack modified by Dimensional Magic in addition to the relevant weapon intrinsic. This attack seeks out its target and cannot be dodged. The thrown weapon returns to you afterward.

Now my hammers would pursue their targets with significantly more emphasis on the ‘Homing’ portion of Homing Weapon. Instead of a casual arc toward my enemy, it would be a heat-seeking missile of undodgeable doom. You literally could not run from it anymore.

Also, having the attack ‘modified’ by Dimensional Magic was better than adding flat damage based on my skill level, since it would add some variable damage on top. When pressed, my familiar did a little math and said it would average out to an extra 16.5 points of damage–increasing as the skill went up–which sounded good to me.

I moved on to step 2 of Project: Unavoidable Harm.

I went back to Oblivion Orb and reworked its trigger. I dropped the critical damage bonus, as much as it pained me, but added a more refined version of the armor-bypassing teleport. I couldn’t get the spell to avoid all defenses without a massive increase in cost, but I could get it to bypass a specific defense.

Arlo’s Oblivion Orb

Dimensional

5 mana

Requirements: INT 20, Dimensional Magic 20

Make an INT Planar attack against a target you can touch. This attack cannot be blocked.

Now I could throw a hammer that could not be dodged, tipped with a spell that would teleport through my enemy’s shield–or whatever else they blocked with–directly into their unguarded bodies.

It was simple, potent, and inescapable, just like my masculine musk of sandalwood and fresh-cut mahogany. What would my opponents do? I expected they would just have to smile and take it.

I took a break and listened to Grotto monologue about our inexorable conquest of the globe using the time-tested method of forcing our enemies to choose between the lesser of two harms. After a visit to the bathroom and a quick glass of water, I was ready to move to the next skill.

The big boy.

The bane of cooldown counters and healthy eardrums.

That’s right, it was time to make Explosion! not suck.

Not that it did suck. It was a pretty good spell overall, just with a narrow band of use cases. No, I wasn’t going to make it not suck. I was going to make it fucking broken.

Broken as in it would be really good. Mechanically it would be completely balanced from the standpoint of stat and skill requirements, damage, range, effects, etc.

Balanced in the way BORKEN ASS abilities are balanced!

Balanced like a quarterstaff made from a motherlovin’ mop!

Balanced like your no-life ex-roommate’s favorite MOBA character! Pre-patch!

Okay, it’d be good but not off-the-walls crazy. Anyway, I’ll get back to the discussion.

Explosion! was a simple spell on its surface: Charge it up, make a big-ass explosion. Under the hood, there was a lot going on. Free-form targeting, charge time, variable AoE size, multiple scaling damage types–Sonic, Kinetic, Spatial–a somatic component, the Deafened status, and a boost from chanting ominous phrases.

Looking at everything going on, it was no wonder the spell had a huge cooldown. The requirements were minuscule, needing only Dimensional Magic and Physical Magic slotted as intrinsics–no mandatory stats or levels needed.

Grotto and I took the spell apart, trying to discern what it would take to have the spell function the way it already did, but without a cooldown. We ended up with the following requirements: INT 70, Dimensional Magic 60, Physical Magic 55.

I did not meet those requirements.

I did have much higher stats and levels than the spell currently called for, but if all I did was alter the requirements to match my present capabilities that would cut the cooldown by about half. With my cooldown reduction evolution from Physical Magic, I’d have a version of the spell I could use every 25-ish minutes. That was a big difference from the current 47 minute cooldown, but not enough to get it where I wanted.

However, the variable cooldown from Reckless Shortcut could be used to my advantage. Right now, Explosion! triggered its cooldown regardless of how long I charged it. What I wanted to do was match Reckless Shortcut’s ability to cause a cooldown based on how hard I went with the spell. I also wanted to streamline the damage types and take some inspiration from the Spatial spells I’d seen Baltae using, weaving in some more effective forced movement.

It took hours, but Grotto and I eventually ended up with a spell I felt quite good about.

Explosion!+

Physical/Dimensional

Cost: 20 mana + 10 mana/second

Cooldown: Variable

Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit.

Requirements: INT 40, Dimensional Magic 30, Physical Magic 20

Create a big-ass explosion at a point you can perceive with a radius in feet equal to 20 plus your Physical Magic skill level. Make an INT Sonic attack against all entities within this area. Entities hit by this attack are Deafened for 1 minute and knocked prone.

You can focus to charge this spell prior to choosing a point to create the AoE. If you do, this spell’s radius increases by a number of feet equal to your Physical Magic skill level every 6 seconds and deals bonus Spatial damage equal to your INT every second it was charged. This spell may be charged for a maximum number of seconds equal to your Dimensional Magic skill level.

When charged for 3 seconds or more, entities hit by this attack are pulled to the center of this spell’s area.

Explosion!+ gains a 2 minute cooldown for every second it was charged, up to a maximum cooldown of 60 minutes.

This spell requires a somatic component: snapping your fingers.

Hidden Trait (Restriction): While charging this spell you may chant ominous, foreboding, or antagonistic phrases. If you do so, this spell creates an obvious visual effect that grows in intensity over time. Entities that hear your chanting and can perceive this visual effect must succeed on a WIS check opposed by your CHA or become Distracted by you until this spell resolves.

The reforged spell gave me two options. I could create a large-radius Sonic attack for 20 mana with no cooldown, or I could charge the spell to increase the blast size and add Spatial damage in exchange for a scaling cooldown. It was much more adaptable than the original.

While scattering my foes to the four winds with a mighty blast was fun, having them grouped up in one place was more efficient for the party. The initial pressure wave would knock people on their asses, but the Spatial damage would suck them back into the explosion’s center. Enemies would be prone, Deafened, and in a nice pile for Varrin to cut to pieces, Xim to blast with pillars of holy fire, Nuralie to drop gas bombs onto, and Etja to disintegrate into their component elements. I could even hop in with Gravity Anchor to keep them grouped up.

We’d also done some fine-tuning on how Intelligence, Dimensional Magic, and Physical Magic affected the spell, but more or less ended in the same place numerically. It was slightly weaker than the original for the moment, but that was only because my Physical Magic skill level was low. Eventually, it would be better than the original–with a faster-growing AoE size–but Physical Magic would need to be a priority for training.

I also swapped the restriction. Chanting originally added a small amount of extra damage, but given the total damage being dealt when I channeled the spell, it hadn’t been significant. Instead, it was now an easy way to Distract enemies and force them to ignore my allies, paying attention to me instead.

My Charisma was only a 10, but my Charisma evolution made the score twice as effective when trying to Distract, bringing it up to an effective 20. I also had the This is Bullshit! achievement, which made it easier to Distract higher-level enemies. In the right circumstances, Grotto expected that would give me an effective CHA of up to 30; plenty high enough to Distract most non-casters.

Next, I took a spin through Aura of Perseverance, rewiring it to be more useful for my build. The Shielding granted by the aura was based on Strength and Charisma. I was building into Strength, but not Charisma, so I swapped that out for Fortitude, making the skill more than twice as effective. I was surprised it was that easy of a change, but sometimes things just worked out. The System decided this made it an entirely different skill, though, so it got a proper name update.

Aura of Persistence

Physical

Cost: 20 stamina + 1 stamina per second

Cooldown: None

You create an aura around you with a radius in feet equal to your Physical Magic skill level. Allies within this aura gain Shielding equal to your STR + FOR when this skill is activated. While the ally remains within range, this Shielding regenerates at a rate equal to its maximum value over 6 seconds.

As our fevered session of skill forging neared its end, I took a fresh look at Gravity Anchor. The skill had been tailored to my needs when I crafted it, and I’d mainly been focused on keeping myself from getting knocked all over the battlefield while also locking my enemies down into one place. It was an effect that emanated from my body in an AoE, which made it very similar to certain other abilities I possessed. Abilities that benefited from various evolutions and passives I had recently acquired.

I poked at the skill a bit and found that it was pretty easy to add a specific keyword without having a huge impact on its function.

Gravity Anchor (Aura)

Dimensional

Cost: 10 stamina + 2 stamina/sec

You gain an aura with a radius in feet equal to half your Dimensional Magic skill level. Entities within this aura are pulled toward you a number of feet equal to your Dimensional Magic skill level every second.

While this aura is active you are Immobilized and immune to forced movement. Affected entities with STR lower than your INT are also Immobilized.

The ability description became a lot more concrete. I likely lost a little versatility, but I didn’t mind having a firmer grasp of the skill’s mechanics. A quick test showed I could still use it to throw hammers into orbit around myself, so that exploit worked as normal. The ability to exclude allies from the effect was no longer expressly stated, but I could use the Discretion mana shape to accomplish the same thing.

Since Gravity Anchor was now an aura, having it active gave me +5 to attack and defense. It also had its radius of 16 feet improved by another 21 feet, granted by my Level 20 Heavy Armor evolution. A 37-foot-radius ongoing pull and immobilize was pretty solid.

I took a breather and reviewed my repertoire.

Active Skills: (10/11)

Arlo’s Oblivion Orb

Explosion!+

Arlo’s Homing Weapon

Arlo’s Dimensional Summon

Reckless Shortcut

Gravity Anchor (Aura)

Dispel

Reverse Card (Aura)

Aura of Persistence

Arlo’s Life Warden

I had buffs to protect myself and my allies, countermagic to fuck over casters, skills for mobility and counter-mobility, a powerful summon, and three attack skills that were hard to avoid. I stroked my beard as I stared at the empty eleventh slot.

“What am I missing?” I said. I was half talking to myself and half posing the question to Grotto.

[Your last serious battle saw you being taken apart by a high-Speed Physical fighter wielding a massive bardiche.]

“Hmm. I’ve gained a decent amount of Speed and defense since then. I don’t think I’d have as much trouble with Roach if we had to go at it again.”

[Perhaps, but the answer to a fast melee fighter is not necessarily to match their strengths. You are gaining a fair amount of competency with armed combat, but your emphasis on spells will always see you lagging behind dedicated melee fighters.]

“So you think I should find a different counter? That’s part of what I was trying to accomplish with Gravity Anchor.”

[Gravity Anchor will prevent an enemy from fleeing, but it immobilizes melee fighters within striking distance. Explosion! may knock them down, but you would need to mana-shape the spell to keep from harming yourself. Plus, it is possible that skill might be on cooldown, even with our modifications. I believe you need a more dedicated skill that hinders movement and interferes with martial capabilities.]

“Right. Does that mean we’re diving back in to forge a new skill?”

[I do not believe that is necessary. Forging a new skill from scratch takes a great deal more time than the altering existing skills. No, I believe this will complement your current skill set quite nicely.]

Grotto waved a feeler, and the System offered me a new skill.

Elemental Barrier

Physical

Cost: 20 mana

Requirements: INT 20, Physical Magic 20

When you cast this spell, choose either the Cold, Fire, Lightning, or Sonic damage type.

A stationary spherical barrier of elemental force erupts in a radius around you equal to half your Physical Magic skill level in feet, warding against approach by hostile forces. When you create this barrier and every 6 seconds thereafter, make an INT Physical attack against all non-party entities that are touching or inside the barrier. The damage of this attack is the damage type chosen when you cast the spell.

Entities hit by this attack are pushed to the edge of the barrier. Additionally, if the damage type was Cold, entities hit by this attack are Slowed; if Fire, they are Ignited; if Lightning, they are Shocked; and if Sonic, they are Deafened and knocked prone.

So long as you focus, this effect remains active.

It took me a moment to digest the possibilities, but the skill really did look like it would mesh very well with my other skills. It was a stationary AoE, but in some ways that was a benefit. I could cast it on myself, or I could cast it on a stationary ally like Etja, helping to keep baddies from wandering too close.

I could cast Gravity Anchor and Shortcut into a group of enemies, pulling them all in close to me. Then I could blast them with Elemental Barrier to deal constant damage as I wailed on them with my hammers. They’d be Immobilized, Deafened, and constantly get knocked away, pulled back in, and thrown to the ground. That would definitely make it difficult to swing a sword. Or a giant bardiche.

Plus, if the knockdown wasn’t effective, I could swap to a different element. The skill gave me more options and greater control over melee combatants.

I slotted it as my eleventh skill and stood up from the ultra-thick woolen rug.

“You can just offer us skills now?”

[Since I am no longer bound by the System’s restrictions, yes.]

“Like, whenever you want? All willy-nilly?”

[Yes. As willy or as nilly as I so desire.]

“Oh, nice.” I stretched my arms toward the ceiling and my stomach rumbled. “Now, we have lunch! Then, we play around with all this new shit!”

[It is closer to breakfast time than lunch.]

“I thought it was midday when Pio’s group finished the Delve.”

[It was. You have been staring at your mana matrix for 14 hours.]

“Oh.” I shrugged. “Fuck it. Yara said this is my sovereign domain, so lunch can damn well be whenever I say it is. I’m having a turkey sandwich.”

I marched out of the meditation room and toward the kitchen, with Grotto close behind.