Standing in a narrow cave behind a shield is the best defensible position ever.
No overwhelming numbers will matter if they can't get around it.
Add some darkness, and the enemy won't find the weak spots either.
There's one simple issue with all this though, the one in this position is a monster.
Before getting used to the darkness, there's nothing to see but the sparks as our blades meet.
That's right, because this mob even has a sword and a helmet too, for good measure.
How is the avatar supposed to defeat such an opponent?
This whole situation looks impossible.
While the avatar kept the guard up they could only land hits as long as they had numbers.
Flangking and overwhelming worked well for the undead to tire the character out.
In a situation like this, they wouldn't stand a chance.
They can't maneuver inside the cave, which would be great if things were the opposite way.
With the shield gone, deflecting the enemy's strikes is hard already. So what can you do?
To try bashing his defenses until it breaks?
Recalling the combat system, the rusty sword would shatter before that guard does.
It has a plus-three Resistance which counts double against the enemy or the object it hits.
In this case, his shield.
The blade has a median of plus five and can deal anything from zero to eleven hitpoints.
Let's say the mob's guard has five Res like mine had. The shape is more or less the same, though this looks more beat up.
It shouldn't matter, it won't even scratch the shield if the weapon's roll is five or less.
Doing more than six would chip the blade instead.
If our guards had comparable stats, all attack rolls would have to be six exactly, fifty times in a row.
It's easy to conclude that swords aren't made to bash shields. Not to mention, his blade keeps mine busy already.
As an undead, he also won't get tired and lower his defenses.
He doesn't have to split his focus, defend his back, or worry about his safety.
So the one thing remaining is backing away towards the dungeon.
Wroddit mentioned them in an article, though the search looked for something else.
They are random-generated, so you can never return to the same one.
Unless the players form a party first, they will all end up in a different place.
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This means the zombies couldn't follow the avatar inside, which sounds nice. Except entering would be suicide.
They recommended a party of four to eight, between levels ten and twenty, and loads of potions to explore it.
The inventory holds exactly one, no main class, and no friends as a backup.
The monster that causes so much trouble would be the weakest someone might face inside a vault.
And yet this single mob in arms keeps pushing towards the entrance.
After getting the popup and reward for finding it, it appears on the minimap too.
It's ten more meters, and the distance is shrinking thanks to his relentless strikes.
How did I end up in this situation? The greed of trying to pick up every zombie crystal instead of focusing on the main task did it.
It would be a shame to restart after reaching the eighth level. Although there are still almost thirty thousand Exp left to gather.
And the mission rewards for the current tasks.
That Joe guy would be mad if his name turned red because of this failure.
And the undead keeps coming, his strikes are hard to block, and there is no time to try and bash his shield.
Fighting with two weapons in hand is worse than using one.
Let's put the dagger away and open the inventory to grab the food.
[Warning, you are about to enter the Cursed Dungeon of Origin. We recommend you visit this place later when you reach a higher level and form a party first. You won't be able to return to the surface before clearing the main Boss. Are you sure you enter? Yes/No.]
It takes less than a moment and things become weird.
A system message pops up while the avatar takes a bite to boost the HP regen speed.
There is no way to read it in these circumstances.
It's a question, with a selectable yes-no answer at the end, but what is it about?
Whatever it is, the answer is an obvious no, and after selecting it, all hell's let loose.
The game glitches out and tries to push the character away from where the message appeared.
It's one thing to ragdoll the body, the dozens of mobs squeezed into the cave are another.
The system is stronger and throws everyone out.
It's ugly, dropping the avatar right onto the rusty sword of that armed monster.
If it weren't for the bite from the food, that could have been deadly.
Now the HP bar has one lone little heart left, throbbing like crazy, and the pain washes over the entire body.
[You killed a Zombie +30 Exp.]
[You killed a Zombie +30 Exp.]
[You killed a Zombie +30 Exp.]
What the fuck is wrong? I'm the one who got almost killed, yet the same message keeps popping up, flooding the view.
Quick, take the potion before the undead recovers and swings his blade. It's in the third slot, so it's easy to reach.
The problem is that he moves too, and the moment the vial touches the character's lips, he knocks it out.
This is bad, that was the last one, and it splatters all over his face. Glancing at the corner where the status effects tend to appear, it's there regardless.
[Status effect: Healing Potion +5000% Regeneration Speed 0:02.]
Five thousand percent? And it only lasts two seconds, no wonder it was so easy to miss.
Wait, forget that, this means it worked.
It's the same as the food, whether you eat a bite or the whole meal, the game will start a timer with the increased regen.
The little hearts fill up on the health bar and won't shake as much anymore.
Nostrils filled with the smell of burning flesh, the mob who covers his face with the green potion is on fire.
So zombies and healing don't mix, good to know.
He drops his weapon and shield, trying to tear off his flesh to get rid of the burning sensation.
This is way more graphic than the rest of this game, but it doesn't matter. Grab the fucking loot before they do. I dive in and finish the fucker with a stab in the chest.
[You killed a Zombie Footman +50 Exp.]
So he was a special snowflake after all. The rest shouldn't cause issues now that I reversed the roles.
But where did they go? How many of those 'killed a zombie' messages popped up?!
The cave is almost empty, and the avatar didn't even do anything.
What happened? Did only a few follow the character down here from the beginning?
Did they go back up? Died? Teleported? Since there are no corpses in this game, it's impossible to tell if they disappeared, or weren't even there.