The multiple-ranged skills and the use of his minions at the frontline... it all made sense now!
He was acting too cowardly!
"In the end, I used many skill points to ensure my safety, even if that decreased my general damage. Instead of using those 3 points on Blight, I could've almost maxed out Corpse Explosion or Blood Mist, both of which would've been better than another below-average damaging skill. Same thing with Bone Prison..."
[You're judging yourself too harshly. All the skills you picked up were needed at specific points. Also, you picked up most of them during scenarios where they were required, and they ended up saving your life.](Helen)
"That's also true, but I should've noticed earlier. Being cautious is good, but being cowardly isn't, especially during solo fights. If maxing out Blood Mist decreases its cooldown, I could use it much faster. Also, Corpse Explosion goes up by an extra 5% damage with each level, so it would ramp up to 70%. After being transformed into Darkness damage over time, it should be a total increase of at least 150% of my current damage..."
Michael was shaking his head, surprised that he hadn't noticed this earlier.
He was so focused on improving his minions that he didn't realize that their total damage wouldn't add up to a single Corpse Explosion that was maxed out even after their improvements.
In the end, all the decisions he made were to ensure his safety without considering the feasibility and efficiency of his build.
"So, let's do it like this. Since I'm Level 22, there are 22 Skill Points I automatically gained. On top of that, I added the extra 3 I got as rewards; that's 25 in total. Three will be spent on Reap and its enhancements, but there's no point in maxing it out, right?"
[Probably not. Even if you would, the damage increase wouldn't be noticeable, and you would lose four skill points in the process.](Helen)
"Fair enough. Then, we'll max out Hewed Flesh for its 12% chance of creating a Corpse when hitting an enemy. All other Skills in this Tier, we'll ignore."
Seeing her nod her head in a sagely manner, Michael snickered inwardly.
He was also curious about this new build he was going for.
"Then, it would be another six points spent on Corpse Explosion and Blood Mist, plus their enhancements. No need to max them out just yet."
[I agree. What next?](Helen)
"Well, we're at 12 out of 24, and including my Raise Skeletons, I have four skills. I still need Corpse Tendrils, and you said most Ultimates are active skills. That means a full house since the Ultimate is a must-have."
[Raise Skeletons must go.](Helen)
Hearing her words, Michael paused for a moment. He knew she was right since it made sense for him also, yet the idea of venturing solo in the Dungeons was a bit demoralizing.
Not having his beloved Pathfinder to explore ahead and trigger whatever traps existed... such a grim future, he couldn't bear to think about it.
"Okay. So that's Reap, Corpse Explosion, Blood Mist, Corpse Tendrils, and a possible Ultimate. There's still room for one more. Seems like you have something in mind, so out with it!"
[Decrepify and its enhancements. For the second enhancement, Abhorrent Decrepify.](Helen)
[ Decrepify
Curse | Corruption
-----------------
Essence cost: 10
Curse the target area. Enemies afflicted by Decrepify are Slowed by [40%] and deal [20%] less damage for 10 seconds. ]
[ Enhanced Decrepify
-----------------
Lucky hit: Enemies hit while afflicted with Decrepify have up to a 10% chance to be Stunned for 2 seconds. ]
[Abhorrent Decrepify
-----------------
Lucky hit: Enemies hit while afflicted with Decrepify have up to a 15% chance to reduce the Cooldown of your active Skills by 1 second. ]
A pondering look appeared on Michael's face while reading through the skill description and its enhancement options.
He could understand why Helen would suggest it. With Corpse Explosion turning into an area of effect, multiple enemies would be hit.
Added Decrepify on top of that, there's a high chance of randomly stunning and decreasing the cooldown of his other active skills.
[Against many enemies, if used correctly, not only would your skills be refreshed faster, but it's also a perfect crowd-control measure. Especially with the stun and damage reduction applied.](Helen)
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"So, the idea is to use Decrepify on an area with many monsters, dive in, and use Reap. That would create at least a Corpse on which I can use Corpse Tendrils and then detonate it using Corpse Explosion after the enemies have been pulled in. That would, in turn, generate more Corpses that I can explode, creating a virtuous cycle. The enemies affected for those 10 seconds by Decrepify could also lower my cooldowns, refreshing the time I can use Corpse Tendrils again. So, after the first Corpse exploded, I could retreat using Blood Mist and create three more Corpses that could be used if the enemies don't die during the first combo."
[That sounds absolutely disgusting and annoying to fight against. But also sounds like a solid strategy. The fact that you could combine it in the near future with your Ultimate and decrease the cooldown for it as well, sounds pretty amazing!](Helen)
Michael agreed and focused back on the Skill Tree.
The used-up skill points were now 15, and there were ten left to add.
"Next, 1 point in Grim Harvest and max out the Fuel by Death passive, adding up four more points to be used."
[It makes sense. You only have one Skill that actually uses Resources, which is barely using any, to be honest, and Reap also generates Resources each time it's used. Overall, investing more points into Grim Harvest doesn't make much sense. Fueled by Death, though, is a good choice to max out. After all, it directly increases the damage you deal with every Corpse used. And your build is created around using them up.](Helen)
"Yup. Then, there's Corpse Tendrils, and it's previously selected two enhancements. That leaves me with two unused skill points. Either using them on Blood Mist to reduce its cooldown or on Corpse Explosion to increase its damage is okay. But, I think it would be better to focus on the passive Skills instead."
[The Darkness ones?](Helen)
"Seems like we had the same idea. Yes, the Darkness ones. Instead of a small increase on either of those, selecting two new passive skills is much better. Also, I can open the next Tier at the next level up and select my Ultimate."
[ Reaper's Pursuit
-----------------
Damaging enemies with your Darkness Skills increases your Movement Speed by + [5%] for 3 seconds.]
[ Gloom
-----------------
When you damage enemies with Darkness Skills, they take x [2%] increased Shadow Damage from you and your Minions for 2 seconds, stacking up to 3 times. ]
[ Terror
-----------------
You deal x [3%] to enemies that are Slowed or Chilled and x [3%] increased damage to enemies that are Stunned, Immobilized, or Frozen.
These bonuses stack and apply to Shadow Damage dealt by your Minions. ]
[ Crippling Darkness
-----------------
Lucky Hit: Darkness Skills have up to a 15% chance to Stun enemies up to a [1] second. ]
[Judging by the way they are arranged, you need to select first Reaper's Pursuit and then either Gloom or Crippling Darkness. After you choose one or the other, you can also pick Terror.](Helen)
"Terror is amazingly good. Except for the first passive, the other three are incredibly good. Especially Terror with its stacking damage."
[Agreed.](Helen)
"Well, that does it. Let's go with that for now."
[Huh!?](Helen)
"I mean that I'll make the adjustments now. Let's see... it doesn't cost me much. 66 gold coins per skill point from the looks of it. So that's 1,584 to reset the Skill Tree entirely."
Helen turned speechless, watching Michael take action without hesitation.
If she was to be put in his place, such a decision... might take months. After all, one's life hangs on the balance when it comes to the skill build chosen.
When she decided to go from an offensive tank to a more passive role because of her Thorns build, it took over a year to make the change slowly, one piece of equipment at a time.
As for Skills.... she agonized the longest due to not knowing what the best option would be. Yet, this guy decided in less than four hours.
[Don't you think you rushed a bit? You could've thought about it a while longer...](Helen)
"Why? It's only 1,584 gold coins. I get that easily with a single Dungeon run. Furthermore, the build is not entirely different, as I already have most of the skills in my repertoire already. Now, I only need to pay more attention to the sequence in which I use them."
[I guess...](Helen)
"Simple is best. Instead of having another 3-4 skills that I can equip based on the circumstances, it is better for now to just use only six in all situations."
The Necromancer breathed in relief as if a stone had been removed from his shoulders.
In the end, being comfortable in a battle is more important than being able to think of 100 variations based on another 100 factors that might influence the course of it.
Between having ten skills that can apply to different situations and having only five that you can use in most cases, it is obvious which one is much better. It might sound lazy, but when things get complicated, people tend to overthink.
Overthinking can lead to one's early demise!
"There! Done!"
[What now? Do you want to try out the new build?](Helen)
"It's too late today. Furthermore, I want to compare the two builds. So, I plan to go tomorrow and clear the Lost Archives again."
[I see. That way, you can compare the damage. How about your equipment? Is it up to par? You will have to move a lot more and probably get hit more as well, now that you'll fight at the frontlines.](Helen)
"It's fine. I have some experience with that already, and I'll try to do it slowly this time without taking too many risks. After all, I only have one life."
[For now.](Helen)
"Huh!?"
[Each time you go from one tier to another in your Wanderer Class, you'll get an extra life. After each Class Awakening, of course.](Helen)
"???"
It wasn't just his expression this time around. It was as if his entire body was exuding confusion.
As a 'hardcore' character, he only had one life. Fantasy setting or not, getting multiple revives was a bit exaggerated.
"Please explain."
[In case you unfortunately die, instead of calling it extra life, it's more apt to say it's a revival opportunity.](Helen)
"Any restrictions that apply?"
[Not really. You'll be resurrected whenever you die at the Waypoint of the location you've designated as your home city. Until now, I only died once, and I still have my second and third revival opportunities.](Helen)
"You WHAT!?"
[Oh, right. I didn't mention it before, did I?](Helen)
"Why are you glossing over it as if it's not a big deal? You died, for fuck's sake! That's a pretty big event!"
Michael immediately burst into laughter, seeing how calmly Helen was treating the situation, and she immediately followed, seeing his amused expression.
In the end, food was served, and the couple ate and joked around for a while longer. However, when the Necromancer thought of the fact that he probably wouldn't get any 'extra lives,' he couldn't help but smile bitterly to himself.
Deciding to live his one life properly, Michael stared at the bruises on Helen's hands that had yet to heal.
Smiling, he got up and took her in a princess carry as he headed toward her room under the giggling whispers of the servants.
Helen immediately blushed upon seeing the servant girls glancing over with a knowing look and punched Michael's chest softly. She didn't say no, though.
To be fair, after they got to her room, Michael did his best to restrain himself and helped the pretty tigress with a full-body massage, hoping to relieve her tiredness and comfort her.
The fact that she was semi-naked turned into a deadly weapon, though, and halfway through the massage session, unspeakable moans erupted from the room, which they both forgot to soundproof.
When morning arrived the following day, Michael woke up and looked toward the sleeping beauty.
'Mhm. Who knew that a slightly less dressed Helen was more lethal than a fully undressed one? This woman's body is truly on another level!'
Shaking his head in defeat at the sinful life he's been leading ever since he arrived in Kyovashad, Michael decided to grab some food and head toward the Lost Archives.
That way, he can try out the new build and see what's lacking.
'If I don't die halfway...'