“Go forth, my perfect, abominable creations! Go and smash the invaders to smithereens! Fufufu! Hahaha!”
As the orc calls his minions to join the battle, The Mountain calmly observes his moves. Then, my second monster starts walking forward. Or should I say… it starts slithering towards the orc.
Yep, slithering, you didn’t hear it wrong.
But wasn’t it an Amalgam, made from humanoid units? And didn’t you say long ago that humanoid units always have two legs and arms?
Yes and yes. You’re right. It’s just that… there are some exceptions.
Similar to how the werebeasts can transform into their animal shapes so that they don’t lose their main appeal, which is transforming into animals – though the game recommends you do it as little as possible–, there are a few other units that break the rule.
Like the mermaids, tritons, and nagas from the Deep Seas faction.
But those from the Deep Seas faction don’t work any differently from the other humanoid units, the change only affects how they look.
So how does this work? It’s easy to understand.
When you control your Champion, you walk on two legs, only that they’re completely invisible and intangible, and the game creates a fake tail that follows all your movements. You don’t control the tail, it works autonomously.
The tail is also tangible and any attack that hits it makes you take damage. They say you feel the hit on your legs as if you were using a normal champion, but I haven’t tried it.
The game staff did it like this because, unlike the werebeasts, the players would be in the non-humanoid shape all the time and without any option to disable them. Any health problems would appear immediately and the Deep Seas faction would be unplayable.
There’s also an option to remove the tails and use normal legs too. You retain the scales, gills, and any other animal parts.
However, most players don’t like it because it breaks the immersion. When they play as a mermaid, they want to look like a mermaid and not like a normal human with fish parts.
I agree with them.
For now, this is something that has only been implemented for the Deep Seas because all their units are aquatic. And, you know, aquatic creatures don’t usually have humanoid shapes, much less human legs. There are players constantly asking for similar stuff for the centaurs and the like, but… it isn’t relevant right now.
Anyway!
As I was saying, the second hunter slithers on the ground. The Naga’s pure white tail twists and makes a unique sound as it scrapes the laboratory floor.
After creating The Mountain, I thought this: ‘Why don’t I base every security guard on a natural element? Wouldn’t it be quite funny if done well?’ So I decided to go with it.
Then, the next natural element that came to mind was a river. And what creature pairs with a river better than a snake?
Snakes and rivers have similar shapes and lots of snakes live near water.
More importantly, I had this Naga inside a stasis chamber… I didn’t know what to do with it, so… I might as well use it for something.
And what better chance than to use that Naga for my next awesome unit? Hahaha!
The next step was to think about what skills I wanted The River to have. If I had to choose one word to define a river it’d be unstoppable. Like any water mass, the most you can do is to divert it somewhere else. Also, it’ll eventually wear out whatever you put to stop its flow.
This is why I looked for units that give The River the perfect skills to make it unstoppable. For starters, it’s the Naga’s Venomous Bite.
Venomous Bite (Innate active skill) Cost: 130 EP Deal (10 + 1,5 * STR) physical damage to a single unit. For the next 5 seconds, that unit takes an extra (2 + 0,2 * CON) poison damage each second and is slowed by 30%.
Once bitten, there’s no getting away from it. This is why the usual approach when inside a Deep Seas dungeon is to kill any Naga first. Otherwise, with the reduced speed from being underwater added to the slowness, there’s no hope of evading the rest of the monster’s attacks.
Next, is the Stalker from the Dream Vestiges. This monster appears in your dreams and you can never get away from it. This is why it has the Unstoppable skill.
Unstoppable (Innate passive skill) You can’t be affected by slowing effects or effects that make you immobile.
And finally, the Elitist. The demon of Pride is the strongest unit from the first tier of demons of sin. The Pride skill is what makes The River truly unstoppable: it’ll eventually defeat any enemy as long as it’s alive.
It pairs perfectly with the Naga’s skill too.
Pride (Innate passive skill) The damage you deal is increased by 1% for each previous time you dealt damage to the same unit. This bonus resets after one minute from the last time that unit took damage from you.
Funny fact about The River: Nagas are amphibious, so they can move at the same speed in water and land.
To compensate, the game gives them a slower speed than most units. But since this is an Amalgam, this doesn’t matter. The speed will always be that of the unit with the highest one, but it’ll retain the amphibious trait.
This is perfect for The River. My dungeon is mostly land, but it also has a few areas with water. Fufufu! Hahaha!
This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience.
As for how it looks, it has a Naga’s pure white, snake tail, fangs, and tongue; the body and head are from the Elitist, which looks like a normal human with large ram horns on top of its head; and it has the disproportionately long and thin arms, with hands that look like claws, from the Stalker.
And with this, the set of my first two security guards is finished! Fufufu! Hahaha!
On one side, there’s The Mountain, the unmovable obstacle you can’t hope to overcome; and on the other, there’s The River, who you can’t hope to stop and will chase you until you die.
It’s perfect for the puny orc! He’ll have the pleasure of being the first one to feel their pain, and from both of them at the same time at that!
Fufufu! Hahaha!
As I laugh, the orc launches a phantasmal weapon of his axe. This time, it passes through The Mountain and hits The River on the back.
“Uaaaah! Dieeee! Huh, huh, huh! How do you like it?”
My two monsters look at him impassively. I’ll have to be the one to answer him.
“It’s fine you have a ranged attack, but… you’re outclassed in that department.” I calmly say. “Now it’s your time to avoid! Hahaha!”
Immediately after, The Mountain creates a large boulder on his hand and throws it at him. The boulder soars through the sky, obscuring everything below it.
“W-wha..? Everyone, avoid!”
The orc shouts just before it strikes. Thanks to him, his minions didn’t take any damage. But he wasn’t as lucky.
*Crash!*
The boulder hits him and smashes onto the ground, squashing him below. If this wasn’t a game, he would be orc porridge by now. Luckily for him, we’re indeed in a game. The ‘only’ thing that happens to him is that his HP bar is reduced by a chunk.
“Ugh…!” He groans. “There’s a stun too?”
“Oh, you’re quite the unlucky one, aren’t ya? Or is it that you enjoy it so much you always fall for all the status effects on purpose?”
“Shut up!” He roars in anger. I’d love to see his green face turn red in anger. It’s a shame it isn’t possible. “I’m not a masochist! I’m not as mentally ill as those guys!”
I wonder who is he talking about…
Oh, yeah. This was the Boulder Throw skill. As for what it does… well, here it is.
Boulder Throw (Active skill) Cost: 150 EP, 50 MP Create and throw a 1-meter radius boulder that deals (5 + 1,5 * STR) physical damage to every unit it hits. There’s a 20% chance to stun those units for 2 seconds.
This is a good skill to give to a melee unit when you want it to deal damage from a certain range. Its cost is high for how much damage it deals because it’s designed for melee users that don’t have any other ranged option.
But since all costs are reduced when The Mountain is rooted, who cares if it’s expensive? I certainly don’t!
Distracted by the boulder, the orc loses track of the other monster. He only notices its movement after he hears the dying noises of one of his goblins.
“Hyaaah…” The goblin is bitten to death.
“My brother…! Fuck!” The orc glares at me. “It’s always you! Why are you attacking my brothers instead of me!?”
“Me? It was you who ordered your minions to join the combat.”
“But it was because you turned this into a 2vs1 fight. It was you who forced me to do it!”
“Tsk, tsk, tsk!” I make sure to annoy him as much as possible with my tone and actions. “I only did because you told me I wasn’t playing fair, so I had to turn it into reality…” I shrug.
“Aaagh… I hate you so much…!”
“Oh, my! Thanks! I love you too.”
I can spend all day like this. But as we talk, The River is killing your other goblins, you know? You should pay more attention to the battle.
The orc finally realizes the danger his units are in and decides to change tactics.
“Do it now. I permit you to use it, so blast those monsters away!”
Following his orders, a robed goblin starts channeling a spell. The air around it trembles as a giant fire sphere condenses over its head. It starts shining. It’s almost like a second sun.
“...what’s that?” I start panicking. I’m safe thanks to the shield, but I can’t say the same for my monsters. “H-how can a mere goblin use such a strong spell? Shit, evade! Try your best to survi–”
*Booooom!*
The ball of fire explodes, blasting the robed goblin and the two closest orcs; and immediately killing the three.
“...”
“...”
We stay still, observing the corpses of the three greenskins.
“... I… huh… what was that?” I ask.
The orc player snaps out of his trance when he hears my voice. He then falls to his knees and starts pounding the ground.
“Nooooo! Why did it have to happen right now? It’s always at the worst possible moment… My goblin shaman…”
A goblin shaman… a goblin using magic… Ah! I think I know what happened! I’m sure it was the Goblin Magic skill!
Goblin Magic (Active skill) Cost: 30 MP The next skill you use that spends MP deals double the normal damage and ignores defense, but there’s a 50% chance that skill will target you instead of your original target.
The Savage Horde is well known for their aggressive melee style. Though it isn’t that they don’t have any ranged units. They do have some archers and mages.
The problem is that, to compensate for their lack of power, most of them have powerful abilities with negative side effects or high risk. Goblin Magic is one of those faction-exclusive skills.
Ladies and gentlemen, learn from him and be responsible!
Whatever you do, never rely on Goblin Magic to save you. It’s one of those skills that’s going to blow up in your face when you least expect it.
Like right now.
“Ahahahahaha!” I burst out laughing. “Is this how you usually play? You order your minions to blow themselves up, and then you blame me for everything? Hahahaha! And to think there was no need for me to do anything at all…”
He stands up and glares at me.
“No… I won’t fall for your taunting anymore.” Oww, what a shame… I wanted to play with him some more… “This is it. I’m getting serious now.”
He says he’s getting serious.
Is he trying to fool me? Me, of all people!? He’s such a bad liar… Get serious, he says. As if he wasn’t serious from the start of the fight!
“Hah, what are you going to do? Cry and beg for forgiveness? Did you expect me to beli– huh?”
His green skin starts turning red. His atmosphere changes. He feels different. Is this a skill unique to the Savage Horde? It’s the first time I’ve seen it.
The orc exhales. He then runs to The River and starts attacking. So fast!
The area around The River is now a steel tornado. His axe is moving so fast that it’s hard to properly see its shape.
“Is this all you’ve got? Huh, huh, huh! Now, you’ll die!”
The situation turns for the worse when The River strikes back, the orc’s HP falls below half, and its innate skill kicks in.
The steel barrage continues and my monster’s HP bar quickly falls. Ok, I’ll admit it… He might be a little bit stronger than I expected.
image [https://i.imgur.com/ZGSK4Pl.png]
“After a certain level, every player should have at least one of what I like to call ‘ultimate skills’. A last resort of sorts to use when in danger. They’re necessary for when you need one last push, or when fighting stronger enemies.
Powerful skills that can be used only one or two times can be an example, as well as self-destruct ones.
But at the same time, it’s hard to justify having more than one ultimate skill. Since their use is limited or their drawbacks are drastic, they can’t sustain your build by themselves. They’ll take valuable skill points away from more useful and reliable skills, and you won’t be able to explore dungeons properly.”
- Excerpt of an interview with a high-ranking DMA player.