Crap, it's getting dark again. How can I not find definite answers after wasting this much time on the forums? Whether it's interesting or not, the scrolling must end here. The lore and money exchange can wait, there are some rats to slaughter and tails to collect now.
If I fail the fed's mission, it will be irrelevant anyway.
Experience hunting comes first, and the harvest to help with my finances second. The rest is so far in the future that diving into them right now would be stupid. There's only ten minutes left, damn it. Well, the first house is already here, I walked this far without realizing it.
"Ah, traveler, did the Guild send you?" The villager looks at me with glassy eyes. Dude, it will be the second time I clear your house, you already forgot about me? Whatever, let's get going, those rats won't kill themselves.
It'd be nice to finish both locations before the midnight respawn, but with the current plan, it'll be close. Practicing with the dagger is all cool and Jazz but the sword will be my weapon of choice in future combat.
[You killed a Common Rat +5 Exp]
"Whoops." Well, there won't be any tails from that one. This blade has a different balance and much more heft. Aiming is difficult as even hitting these rodents with the flat of this weapon will kill them. No loot for me then.
Daggers can't measure up. While they have an advantage against small and weak enemies, they will be rare moving forward. They would never penetrate an enemy's defenses who have a plus-two armor and a Stone Skin spell.
[You killed a Common Rat +5 Exp]
"Damn it." The swing must be slower, and more gentle. Not slow enough that they could dodge, but I need more time to aim. Come on, Arnim, you can do this, even if it's a larger blade. Don't let the first obstacle get in your way.
The dagger's speed and precision make dealing with rats easy, but more than a skeleton would be an issue. Swords are slower, yet they have better reach and more damage potential. Picking the easy option now would hinder my long-term goals.
[You killed a Common Rat +5 Exp]
"Now we're talking." Finally one dropped a tail, though the swing was a bit off. It would have clipped the very tip of that appendix, thank God the system doesn't care about such details. Okay, who's next?
Despite the 'rusty' tag in the name, even my looted blade can do more damage than a dagger. Regular swords have a plus-six median with a d12 roll, and handle the same as my crappy one. It's a skill worth training already, and as rats are so small, they are perfect for target practice.
If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. Please report it.
[You killed a Common Rat +5 Exp]
"Fuck". Another missed tail. Okay, perfect is an overstatement. They're here though, my plan needs them, and hunting zombies is much more dangerous. Running into players out there would spell my doom. I can't measure up with them in skill.
No, it's not the skill, that comes after reaching the tenth level. It's more like familiarizing myself with the weapon. As the tutorial said, practice in CineMraft is worth more than stacking stats. I got the hang of cutting their tails with the dagger already so it's time to step up my game.
It would be nice not to waste them all though.
While a smaller weapon is fine against these critters with this d6 plus one damage, it will fall short later. Oh, that's right, it was another delay in my search, stumbling on those charts on the third-party site. I tried to find affordable sidearms with the best stats and the lowest price.
[You killed a Common Rat +5 Exp]
"Got you." It's easier to aim in the attic than in the basement. It might be the light, or my muscles racking up the experience and getting used to the heavier blade. If I cut off at least half of their tails, there won't be a reason to complain.
It was odd when weapon categories showed rolls instead of medians when sorting by damage. After diving into it, their system makes so much more sense. Some players prefer to look at the dice rolls, taken from tabletop RPGs.
They use those terms instead of this plus-something median thing as they are clearer. The letter 'd' in front only means dice and the number is how many faces it has. The dagger for example has an average damage of four, coming from a d6 plus one.
The least it will do on a successful strike is two damage and max seven, averaging to the four the system displays. Again, it's great against weak critters with low HP, but good luck piercing through armor. That's where swords come in.
The average blade does d12, which means they are more random and have a higher potential. Words like 'rusty' or 'chipped' hint at a lower-quality weapon. Thus my rusty sword from the zombies has a debuff and does d12 minus one on each strike.
"What the hell? I hit you, and in the right place too, how are you not dead?" Oh, this must be that. In rare unfortunate cases, that minus one means a zero-damage attack even if it was successful. Still, on average it only does one less than its regular counterpart. Okay, one more.
[You killed a Common Rat +5 Exp]
It's a Jack of all trades, doing fine in every situation, without excelling in anything. Some weapons specialize in piercing armor, doing blunt damage, or focusing on speed. They give specific bonuses while doing less harm by default.
And of course, there are spears and polearms, the queens of battlefields. The extra reach sounds nice, but they didn't leave a good impression on me after sparring with Tank. Too long, and they'd be in the way in tight spaces like this kitchen.
[You killed a Common Rat +5 Exp]
"Crap, only twelve per thirty-six." This is worse than expected, but there will be more chances to practice. And imagine how difficult it would be to poke rats with a spear. Good luck cutting off their tails with one. "On to the next house."
No, swords might be the best entry-level weapons of them all. Anything smaller might struggle against armor or strong enemies. Anything larger would be in the way, like when you try to conceal them or have a light jog like this one.
The only problem is how the Origin market overprices them.
"Ah, traveler, did the Guild send you?" Oh, I got here fast.
"Yeah, yeah. And I'll be back a few more times." Let's finish this one before the respawn too.