I'm surprised to find land in front of us. I'm not certain how long its been since I've seen it. You'd think I would miss the sight more, but instead it sets my teeth on edge.
True to form, the place juts into the vortex reef like a giant... Penensula. There's something wrong about it though. The material it's made of isn't dirt, I don't think. It looks more like dirty oil made solid - reflective with a sort of rainbow sheen. Guess that's why named that.
"We don't have to go up there, do we?" I ask my companion.
"No, not unless you feel like dying to the wildlife for a change - the zone is level 85."
"Oh well, no thank you. But why did it get slapped down right here? What happens if someone wanders in there unknowing?"
"The usual - Tweak streamers go in, get owned instantly, post a big stink about it on social media, and give us free publicity."
"Seriously?"
"Technically no. I believe the official commit message was, 'for the luls'. The rest was just a happy coincidence."
She starts up the coast ahead of me as I chuckle. My laugh sounds nervous even to me, and I'm abruptly very glad we aren't going up to that dark glossy shore.
Following behind her, I go back to considering my talent options.
Tree: Apex Predator
Frenzy: When engaged in combat, deal more damage the longer combat continues. 5/10/15/20/25% per minute of combat.
Reave - Your strikes have a 10/20/30% chance to cause a bleed that deals your weapon damage over 10 seconds. Each time the damage stacks, it deals 20% more damage
I'm definitely not against the idea of being a raid boss, but the lower tier talents all seem to focus on drawn-out fights. I don't have any kind of armor yet though, so extended fights aren't exactly my strong suit at the moment.
"Hey, Erin - can talents be reset in this game?"
"Yes, you just have to scrape together the mother-of-pearl for it."
"Didn't you say that was freemium currency? How would I get that... here?" I gesture at the water around us.
"Money would be the fastest way, but you can also get it from pearl diving. It's a grind, but you can unlock everything without paying real money that way."
"Ah, benevolent slavemasters then," I say.
Tree: Scourge of the Seas
Flocking Behavior: You and all units in your party gain 3.3/6.6/10% movement speed when within 50 meters of you.
Slipstream: At will, you begin to emit a slipstream. All units inside this slipstream deal increased damage based on momentum.
Well, this one was pretty cool. I could already picture swimming with a pod of other merfolk, raiding the humans hard and fast. Just one problem - my pod was a bit small for this.
No, it was definitely going to be the third tree - the one that had popped up after I snagged that sonar upgrade. I send out a quick pulse around me at the thought. I really wish I hadn't - the stuff on those shores is even uglier than I'd expected. Even still, they're far enough away that I feel safe to look back at my talent tree.
Tree: Resonance Mastery
Sonic Weaponry: Turn your melee weapons into a blur of movement. Drains stamina while in use. Melee damage increases by 50%. Stamina usage 25/15/5 per second
Ventriloquist: Allows you to move the epicenter of your War Cry by 10/20 meters. Warcry damage increased by 15/30%
Vibro- arm blades are an easy sell, and the burst damage helps with my biggest weakness - fighting after my momentum is gone. Sinking one point in is the easiest choice I've made since dying.
The ventriloquist talent also looks promising, but with the harpoon mutation, I don't feel nearly as starved for ranged options. Remembering how I almost failed to kill that diver guy earlier due to running out of stamina, I sink the second point into Sonic Weaponry as well.- It looks like I'll need to invest 5 points total to get to the next tier, so I'll have them all soon enough.
The strange terrain falls away as my UI fades to the background. Erin looks at me and asks, "Ready to kill some stuff?"
That's when there's an explosion of sand on the ocean floor.
Erin looks nonchalant when he turns to her. "That's the sound of XP calling," she says.