Chapter 202. More Changes and Upgrades.
Do you wish to continue the review of your class changes?
I was done with minions for now, at least until I got a chance to take them out for a test drive in the training center. It was time to move on.
The next feature of your class that we need to review is the changes to your spells and abilities. Some changes are substantial, but others remain similar to your previous class.
Class features, skills, core upgrades, and spell book.
Mana core upgrades:
1. Rift travel containment field.
2. Shielding, Stage 2. (10 mana).
Resistances:
1. Curse of Undeath, minor.
2. Toxins, minor.
3. Mental Intrusion, moderate.
4. Flame, moderate.
Skills:
1. Basic bludgeoning weapons skill.
2. Basic Unarmed Combat.
3. Light armor proficiency.
4. Basic Lockpick/Disarm Device.
5. Basic swordsmanship skill.
Abilities:
1. Linguistic adaptation interface.
2. Riposte.
3. Consumable planner. This ability is no longer compatible with your class and will now be an open ability slot. As compensation for its loss, you have been granted a class ability marker.
4. Lend Skills. This skill is not compatible with your new class and will now be an open ability slot. As compensation for the loss of this skill, 2 minion experience tokens have been added to your inventory.
5. Open.
Spell Book:
Cantrips.
1. Psionic Jolt. Mana cost 2.
2. Redirect. Mana cost 2.
Tier 0 spells:
1. Fail Weapons. Mana cost 4.
2. Empower Minion. This spell is no longer compatible with your class and as compensation for its loss, a minion experience token and a tier 1 spell scroll has been added to your inventory.
Tier 1 spells:
1. Duplicate. Mana cost 5. This spell has changed and now has a duration of 1-minute. There is also a 1-minute cooldown between uses of this spell and only 1 duplicate may be present at a time. As compensation for the reduced efficacy of this spell, you have been granted a Tier 2 spell scroll.
2. Health Bloom, mana cost 10.
Other class changes:
1. Gear cost. You are no longer bound by a gear cost but will have a limit to the number of consumable items you may equip to your loadout. The limit is equal to 1 per rank. You may currently equip 20 consumable items.
There were quite a few tweaks to my class. First off, my mana core shielding had automatically upgraded to stage two. I now had ten mana points that would be protected back on Earth and wouldn’t just bleed off when I pulled on my mana. My abilities had also been ravaged. Both Consumable Planner and Lend Skills were no longer compatible, and I had something called minion experience tokens and a class ability marker added to my inventory.
I wasn’t sure what the minion experience token would do. If it just gave a few points of experience, it wasn’t great, but if it was enough to bump a minion up a rank, that would go some way toward losing the Lend Skills ability.
My spells were also tweaked, with Empower Minion going away and Duplicate becoming much less effective. Again, I was given compensation, this time in the form of a couple of spell scrolls as well as another minion experience token.
The final big change was the fact that I was no longer bound by a gear cost. I was capped at one consumable per rank, but having a total of 20 wasn’t that bad, and was quite a bit more than I usually would equip anyway. After reviewing the changes, the system hit me with one final thing.
Many of your possessions are no longer as effective as they were for your old class. Some items have been altered directly, and for others, additional items have been added as compensation. The following changes have been made.
1. Apprentice Headband of the Summoner. With the number of your minions capped by one for every five Ranks, this item has lost much of its efficacy. An additional minion experience token has been added to your inventory.
2. Rodney’s Bag of Beasts. Your class no longer grants a +1 Rank to any summoned minions, so this item has lost efficacy. A minion ability token and a minion equipment token has been added to your inventory.
3. Consumable Figurines. Your class no longer grants +1 Rank to consumable figurines. Given the limited number of figurines currently in your possession, you have been granted 1 veteran consumable figurine.
4. You had previously been granted some equipment markers to exchange for gear in Somhagen. As much of that gear would have been used to enhance your prior minions, a new distribution of personal gear markers and minion equipment markers has been created.
5. A minion veterancy token has been added to your inventory to compensate for any additional inconvenience.
I wasn’t expecting the system to reimburse me for items that changed in effectiveness, so that was a pleasant surprise. To double check what had changed, I pulled up my entire inventory.
Gear and equipment:
Weapons and armor.
1. Simple dagger.
2. Simple mace.
3. Gnomish Warhammer of undead slaying.
4. Magic missile wand (12).
5. The Commander’s Armor.
6. The Commander’s Gladius.
7. The Commander’s Pilum.
8. Padded leather armor.
9. Dagger, Mind Render.
Misc equipment.
1. Fitzfazzle figurine.
2. Apprentice ring of the mind (+1 Mind).
3. Headband of the apprentice summoner.
4. Everburn torch.
5. Pack of holding.
6. Linked belt.
7. Rodney’s Bag of Beasts.
Consumables:
1. Notice of Cessation (3).
2. Potion of mirror image.
3. Elixir of life.
4. Salve of the flame mage.
5. Minor mana potions (1).
6. Minor healing potions (1).
7. Spell scroll, Tier 1 (1).
8. Spell scroll, Tier 2 (1).
9. Class ability scroll marker (3).
10. Personal equipment marker (2).
11. Minion experience token (4).
12. Minion ability token (1).
13. Minion equipment token (8).
14. Minion veterancy token (1).
Consumable Figurines:
If you come across this story on Amazon, it's taken without permission from the author. Report it.
1. Angry Mob, Tier 1, Rank 5.
2. Undying Minion (elite), Tier 1, Rank 5.
3. Unknown (veteran), Tier 2, Rank 0.
I had accumulated more than I thought once it was all listed together. Before I moved on, I had a few items I needed to use. First off were my spell scrolls. I had one for tier one and another for tier two. Starting with the tier one scroll I activated it, surprised to find that it was a bit different than normal.
Upgrade Spell. You may upgrade one of your cantrips or Tier 0 spells to a Tier 1 version of the spell. A random, class specific spell will take the place of the spell you have chosen to upgrade.
Which one should I pick? As it stood, my other tier zero spell, Empower Minion had been eliminated so I was left with only Fail Weapons at tier zero. I also had Psionic Jolt and Redirect for my cantrips. Redirect had never impressed me, but I’d gotten good use out of Psionic Jolt at the lower tiers, and Fail Weapons had great functionality back home. In the end, I had to go with Fail Weapons, as keeping someone from shooting me back home was a lifesaver.
Fail Weapons has been upgraded to Tier 1. At this tier, the effects of the spell manifest much more quickly, and it can overcome additional resistances. Mana cost is now 5 for this spell.
You have gained a new Tier 0 spell, Minor Barrier. This spell instantly creates a magical barrier around you or one of your minions. It will absorb 25% of the damage from the next successful attack or spell. Only 1 barrier may be active at a time, and the mana cost for this spell is 4.
The Fail Weapons upgrade was what I had expected, and its replacement, Minor Barrier, wasn’t a bad one either. Anything that improved my survivability was a welcome addition to my spell book. Next, I activated the tier two spell scroll to see what my first spell of that tier was going to be.
Choose 1 of the following spells to be added to your spell book.
1. Traitorous Impulse. This spell will temporarily change the allegiance of one enemy forcing it to fight for you. The duration of this spell is 20 seconds, and foes of higher intelligence may resist the spell entirely or have its duration reduced. The mana cost for this spell is 15 mana, and there is a 2-minute cooldown between uses.
2. Entangle. This spell causes magical tendrils to burst around you in a 15-foot radius, grasping foes and holding them in place. The duration of this spell is 5 seconds, and there is a 2-minute cooldown between casts. The mana cost for Entangle is 15 mana.
3. Vampiric Weapon. This spell allows your weapon strikes to steal health from your foe equal to half the damage dealt by your blow. This effect lasts for 10 seconds, and there is a 2-minute cooldown between casts. The mana cost for Vampiric Weapon is 15 mana.
All three were good, but thinking about my current strengths and weaknesses, I felt that having Entangle was the best option. It would serve a two-fold purpose, giving me some crowd control as well as an emergency escape button if I got into trouble. Standing and slugging it out in melee wasn’t my thing, reducing the importance of Vampiric Weapon. Traitorous impulse looked interesting, but I felt the crowd control of Entangle was a better fit.
You have gained the spell, Entangle.
There were still three class ability and two personal equipment markers, but I received a notice that I’d have to head to the Summoned Market to turn those in. I didn’t need to visit Somhagen to use my minion tokens. Starting with the veteran token, I received a system notice telling me I’d have to wait a bit before using it.
Minion Veterancy Token. Activate this token to promote a minion to veteran status. Your chosen minion must have hit the Rank increase cap before this item can be activated.
While I’d love to have a veteran now, I was fine with waiting for my minions to rank up. It might even be beneficial to hold onto it and use it on a higher tier minion in the future. It all depended on how rare these were and if I could find them in Somhagen or get them as rewards for a high summoning rating.
I couldn’t use the veterancy token now, but I had others I could use. Activating the experience token, the system started going crazy with prompts.
You have activated Minion Experience Tokens x4. Each token will grant 15 experience points to the selected minion. Selections are at random. The following minions have gained experience.
1. Mana Slayer Drone.
2. Glem, Glamb, and Glurk, goblin raiders.
3. Khurr, gnoll scout.
4. Elida Silverbarrow, halfling healer.
Sadly, nobody gained a rank from that, but several had gotten a good chunk of XP and Khurr was only five points away from rank one. I activated the Minion Ability Token next, and the system also randomized its results, but I was happy to see it was my most powerful minion that grabbed the prize.
Mana Slayer Drone has unlocked the ability, Spell Reflect.
Spell Reflect. This ability will reflect one harmful spell or magical effect back onto the caster. Spell Reflect can only trigger 1/hour, and more powerful spells can often resist the effects of Spell Reflect. If this ability is resisted, the Mana Slayer Drone will still reap some benefit, temporarily increasing its Nullify Magic ability.
It was a good match for the minion and the drone was well on its way to being a nightmare for any caster to face. Last up were the minion equipment tokens, and the system again randomized not only which minions received the gear, but also whether it was an armor or weapon upgrade.
You have activated Minion Equipment Tokens x8. Each token will increase the either the armor or weapon equipment Rank of the selected minion by 1.
1. Blieek, goblin spearman, weapon rank upgrade.
2. Glem, Glamb, and Glurk, goblin raiders, armor rank upgrade.
3. Glem, Glamb, and Glurk, goblin raiders, armor rank upgrade.
4. Mana Slayer Drone, armor rank upgrade.
5. Glem, Glamb, and Glurk, goblin raiders, weapon rank upgrade.
6. Elida Silverbarrow, halfling healer, armor rank upgrade.
7. Glem, Glamb, and Glurk, goblin raiders, weapon rank upgrade.
8. Mana Slayer Drone, armor rank upgrade.
It looked like the goblin raiders were the big winners of the random gear contest. Their weapons and armor were now rank two. The drone was up to rank two armor, and Elida’s was rank one. Last and least was my goblin spearman with a single rank upgrade to his weapons. Khurr blanked and was right where he started from. I pulled up each minion’s information, filtering to display just the changes.
Mana Slayer Drone.
Armor, Rank 2. At this rank, the Mana Slayer Drone’s armor consists of overlapping composite plates that are effective against all types of physical attacks and resistant to any elemental damage. In addition, the armor now has a simple self-repair feature that will activate when not in combat.
Glem, Glamb, and Glurk, goblin raiders.
Weapons, Rank 2. At this Rank, Glem is armed with a steel-tipped long spear with a minor magical enchantment to improve his chance to hit. Glamb has a heavy chopper blade in each hand and gains the ability to dual wield without penalty. Glurk’s bow is upgraded to a longbow, and he has an extra quiver of steel-tipped arrows.
Armor, Rank 2. Armor for all goblins is upgraded to well-made studded leather with matching boots, gloves, and helms.
Blieek, goblin spearman.
Weapons, Rank 1. At this Rank, Blieek’s spear has been upgraded to a straight, wooden shaft with a flint tip.
Elida Silverbarrow, halfling healer.
Armor, Rank 1. At this Rank, Elida’s healer’s robes feature sturdy leather reinforcements sewn into critical areas.
My minions had been given upgrades, and now the last thing on my list before it was time to test them out in the training center was the veteran consumable figurine. Like with my previous consumable figurines, this one changed as I held it for the first time. I had gotten a veteran version of my new tier two minion, the mana slayer. Nice, it would be a powerful addition to my consumables, and a good candidate to take back home with me.
Now, with all my housekeeping squared away, it was time to see how my new minions would perform.