Ally pulls up a bunch of screens and begins by pointing out the basics.

‘So you should already know their team setup. For instance, Jim is a ranger archetype, though tending more towards the nature focused scout side of things from what I’ve seen. However, from that alone, people won’t be able to tell what exactly he provides in a fight so we need to go deeper.

‘There are three basic categories that will let you get a handle on a person. Well, technically four, but that fourth thing is whether the person is the group’s leader or not and you tend to just point out leaders. Anyway, the three things are range, role, and source.

‘I’m going to assume you have a basic understanding of things so when I tell you that Jim is a martial ranged dps, that should say a lot. Caveats galore, of course, and you can be more specific with things like what actually is their range instead of just melee, ranged, or leaving it off entirely if they cover both.

‘Of that, only the source bit should be confusing, though before I explain that, have you understood the others?’

Doyle nods his core, ‘Range is obvious enough and role is stuff like healer or tank. Also, I assume source is just the source of their power?’

Ally smiles, ‘Yes to that first part, though of course people fill multiple roles and we will just be stating the ones they’re actually decent at. Though this group does have a multi-threat with Zach. He gets to be both dps and crowd control. Zach won’t ever have a problem finding a group since proper cc is a godsend.

‘As for the source? It can be seen as what you said, but isn’t quite that. The group has martial and magic right now, but martial isn’t technically the actual source and really I should call them martial. Most likely they will end up with Qi as their source but they just haven’t gotten far enough yet. Technically mundane would be more accurate if not for the fact that you can go all the way to the top with it, which clearly isn’t simply a mundane thing.

‘There are people that without a single drop of mystical energy can use a human sized sword to cut suns in half. Some aren’t even super strong. Their skills are just so transcendent that it doesn’t matter. So yeah, out of respect for those types, it is referred to as martial. Though even the Barrais fall well short of a true martial artist.

‘Anyway, rapid fire. Jim is a martial ranged dps leader, Susan is a martial rogue, Doctor a magic healer, Zach a magic ranged dps/cc, Sammy a martial melee tank, and Jay a martial melee dps. I will note that Susan might switch into a more poison focused rogue variant soon enough if you provide her with enough sources of the stuff. Do you have questions or would you like to debate their roles?’

Doyle thinks about it for a moment, ‘They don’t have enough tanks.’

Ally smiles, ‘Yes, though in the parlance what they are missing is an off-tank. Someone to take control of any extra enemies that might pop up and aren’t the group’s main target. Jay and Zach can both help in a pinch, but a proper tank is preferred. Of course this isn’t the end all be all of things.

‘You don’t need an off-tank or even a tank at all. In fact, depending on what a team’s goal is, you don’t need any of the roles specifically. There are more than enough lone wander types in the multiverse. Those types tend to get the role of jack thrown at them being jack of all. Though the successful ones will tend to have a core competency. Most common being a dps jack.

‘Besides that, there is the fact that every truly successful adventurer will to some degree be experienced in every role. They’ll know basic first aid, have both a melee and ranged attack option, know the basics of traps, and so on. It is only when you get into armies and other such groups where you will find purists.’

On one of the screens, the two can see that the party has entered the sixth floor. Ally points at how Susan entered first. ‘Despite being a ranger and quite adept at scouting, Jim should never lead the group. Good thing they have Susan to do the scouting. Leading from the front is cool and all, but your team needs to see you for that to be effective. Now, since the floor is so open it won’t take long for them to meet up with something.’

This proves true enough as the delvers are soon faced with a herd of 12 cattle. Ally nods, ‘For a random selection it is pretty evenly mixed. Five regular cows, two dungeon cattle, three mad, and a couple longhorn. Sure, they’re missing out on the earthen cattle, but that happens.

‘Notice how Sammy is taking the lead? Don’t do that. Call back to that lack of off-tank, but in my opinion she should be bracketed by Jay and Susan instead of being out in front. Though let me restate, that is my opinion. Now let’s watch them go through a few fights.’

Four fights go by quickly enough before Ally talks up again. ‘You should have seen the reason behind my opinion. In three of the four fights, Sammy was pushed off balance when the cattle charged her. On top of that, I honestly believe it would have been all four of the fights if not for that first group lacking an earthen bull to lead it.

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‘To be fair to her, those things would count as siege engines with a few more stats added to their Strength and Constitution. Sure, just about anyone can manage that, but the earthen cattle are quite gifted at it. Though beyond that, you really need to figure out a way to use them to form a wall themselves. Cattle tend to be good at charging, at least with this system. Earthen cattle, however, have the heavy foot skill, which greatly increases the difficulty of moving them when they don’t want to.’

Doyle nods, ‘I can definitely see that once the skirmish line forms. Wherever the line ends up being, the earthen cattle wouldn’t be pushed back a single step. They wouldn’t always advance at that point, but retreat doesn’t exist in their vocabulary. A bit of a problem with that, though. When the rest of their herd retreats, they end up alone out front like Sammy was. Sure, they can stand firm, but that doesn’t do much good when Susan comes around the side and cuts their legs up.’

Ally shrugs, ‘A devastating line if enough got placed in one herd. Now though, Jim’s group is coming up on their first group of goats and I want to focus on these fights. The cattle are still difficult for them, of course, but unless they end up facing a herd made up of mostly earthen cattle, there isn’t much suspense. Not a bad thing, mind you, it is just that fights of attrition aren’t the most exciting or informative after a while.’

Over the next ten or so fights, there are only three groups of goats but Ally is more than satisfied with the results. ‘I will admit, comparing the cattle to the goats is a little unfair. The cows are heavily focused on Strength and Constitution and yet despite this, your goats have a higher Strength. This wouldn’t have been too big of a difference except for the fact that they’re also getting points into Agility.

‘Just the points gained from levels alone is about three times the Agility of your cattle. So while the cattle can stand their ground, the goats can take it. This is exactly why, and I didn’t want to keep harping on it, but here we are, they need an off-tank.

‘Unlike the cattle that charged straight at them, the goats are flanking them, especially when their herd has 15 or more in it. The upside for Jim’s team is that they only flank to one side or the other as the goats continue to stay as a group when possible. A good off-tank would be able to intercept those three to five goats and the back line would be all the more secure.

‘Right now Zach is playing the role by using wood and vine obstructions. Oh, and pay attention to his vine work. Ace is clearly trading notes with him so the next time we push Ace harder we will likely see wooden constructs popping up. Anyway, Zach’s wall and traps aren’t perfect.

‘Goats being goats and having all that Agility find it quite easy to go around or over the static ones. This requires Zach to use more active obstructions where the vines are actively grasping at the enemies. Spells like that take a lot more magic and concentration to pull off while leaving him open to a surprise attack. A proper off-tank would be able to both hold them off, while paying more attention to their surroundings.’

Ally was preparing to go into more detail when something a little more exciting happened on screen. The pack of six wind wolves had found Jim’s party. To start things don’t seem to be going badly, but Ally is grimacing. For good reason too, as the start was the only thing to go well. The six wolves folded like a house of cards.

Doyle shakes his core, ‘What was that? I know the wolves aren’t doing too hot on the stats front, but I don’t want to believe Jim and company have gotten that much stronger.’

Ally sighs, ‘You haven’t really been paying attention to the fourth floor. The wolves are still a decent challenge for most people. Jim’s team isn’t most people, though. Suffice it to say, you need that level and then you need to figure out a path that will help give a more overall boost to your monsters. Which, as far as my research is concerned, means getting started onto your next class path.

‘There isn’t really a good way to check, but most dungeons in this universe seem to gain stronger monsters after their third bump in strength. The first should, in theory, represent the 1st and 2nd class path. The second would then be while they are working on the 3rd class path and this leaves me to assume the third is the 4th class path.

‘As for why the wolves are folding so quickly? Well, every other group of monsters on this floor has at least four more monsters and they all have higher stats by a decent margin. Oh, and there goes the two dagger kobolds with their two wind wolves. Those, at least, were a minor threat instead of just a speed bump.

‘My advice is to combine the two groups so the wolves at least have the leader buff. Otherwise, your goats are just so much more cost effective it isn’t even silly. As it currently stands, a couple kobolds and eight wind wolves should be a decent threat for the floor if only because the wind wolves have magic.’

Doyle sighs, ‘Well, this floor doesn’t really have much else for them to fight. I might as well take a look over the rest of the floors and patch any gaping holes that have appeared since the last time I checked.’

Ally laughs, ‘It isn’t that bad. If anything, your wolf floor managed to hit the sweet spot where they were still quite a threat because of their teamwork.’

Doyle rolls his core to the side, ‘That is going to be the first floor I look over.’

Ally shrugs, ‘Well, whatever floats your boat. I’ll give you a ring when they get to the seventh floor as it should be exciting. The lesser shadow wolves have enough smarts and ability to make up for their stat line and it is the first the delvers will have seen your elder assassin vines.’

Doyle brightens up, ‘And the first time they get to experience spatial distortions. Sure, it is kept to a minimum, but it is still there.’

Ally smiles, ‘That’s the spirit. Now be quick about giving the other floors a once over. It shouldn’t take too long for Jim and friends to beat the sixth floor.’