[X] Make Nebula attack the Shade again. It's almost down, no reason to take chances.
-[X]Write in addition: But let's not be boring about it. Strike a pose like Jade with the finger of fate pointing towards the soon to be doomed monster. "Nebula! Remove this foul intruder from our presence, attack!"
[x] Make Nebula attack the Shade again. It's almost down, no reason to take chances.
The Shade only has three EP left and Nebula's last attack did three damage; if you attack again, you're sure it'll go down. You decide to just get it over with as quickly as possible and just tell Nebula to attack again. Your hand hovers just above the Attack button as Jade's earlier theatrics come to mind. You could… no. No, definitely not. You just tap on Attack in a perfectly normal kind of way.
Nebula circles around the Shade, dodging more shadow tendrils, and fires another beam of violet light. The beam vanishes into the nebulous black cloud - and the Shade makes an eerie hissing sound before dissipating into nothing. There's a little musical tone, your phone vibrates slightly, and your experience bar fills up a small but significant fraction.
You did it! You defeated the Shade. Your victory has you feeling pretty confident about things and you look around to see how the other five are doing as Nebula flies back over to you.
"Not so close!"
You look to Kaius first, only to realize he's talking to the red Astralist, from the group of teenagers. The two Astralists are harrassing the dogbot - you mean, the Canoid. The orange Canoid is not doing great; it's limping and on fire and it's almost down. Flamebringer Jordan is grinning like a kid in a candy store as he backs away from the robot, giving Kaius a thumbs up.
Looks like they're doing fine without any help, and Jordan's even getting some lessons in Astralists. Astralizing? You should think of verb forms for the classes later. With you taking care of the Shade, that's two enemies down. (Assuming the mages don't fuck up at the last minute. You feel like that's a reasonable assumption.)
The Elemental, on the other hand… Leafeon is gone. You assume it got KO'd and Jade had to desummon it, but you have no idea. Shadowninja is currently a person-sized blob of shadows and the green Martialist is now sporting a set of translucent white crystalline armor. Jade has ducked behind one of the nearby picnic benches.
The Elemental explodes in fire.
After a moment of panic, you realize that the flames fizzled out a good ways before they reached you and Nebula. Jade is still sitting on the ground behind the picnic bench, looking relieved. The two Martialists… not so much relieved. You can't tell how much damage they've taken, but the Elemental is still over half health.
Enemies Canoid
Level 13
EP: 3/20
Shade Defeated
Elemental
Level 11
EP: 11/20
You Annabelle Marie Jones
EP: 10/10
AP: 3/5
Nebula
EP: 7/10
AP: 1/3
The three - well, two, now - fighting the Elemental could probably use some help, and higher level enemies do get you more experience. On the other hand, you don't really want to find out what being Defeated does just yet, and that fire elemental looks like it hits hard… And the two Astralists are almost done with the Canoid, they'll be able to help with the Elemental in maybe thirty seconds, tops.
What's next?
[] [Action] Make Nebula attack the Elemental.
[] [Action] Send Nebula over to the Elemental and use Flare.
[] [Action] Try to figure out how to make Nebula use Mirage instead of Shine.
[] [Action] The rest are doing fine, honestly. Check why your phone vibrated.
[] [Action] Write-in
[] [Move] Stay where you are
[] [Move] Take cover with Jade
[] [Move] Write-in
Adhoc vote count started by InspectorCaracal on Apr 19, 2019 at 3:23 PM, finished with 3 posts and 3 votes.
[X] [Action] Send Nebula over to the Elemental and use Flare.
[X] [Action] Try to figure out how to make Nebula use Mirage instead of Shine.
-[X] [Action] Use is to misdirect the Elemental and buy the group fighting it enough time so that they get back up from the Astralists.
[X] [Action] Try to figure out how to make Nebula use Mirage instead of Shine.
-[X] [Action] Use is to misdirect the Elemental and buy the group fighting it enough time so that they get back up from the Astralists.
[X] [Action] Try to figure out how to make Nebula use Mirage instead of Shine.
-[X] [Action] Use is to misdirect the Elemental and buy the group fighting it enough time so that they get back up from the Astralists.
[X] [Action] Try to figure out how to make Nebula use Mirage instead of Shine.
-[X] [Action] Use is to misdirect the Elemental and buy the group fighting it enough time so that they get back up from the Astralists.
[X] [Move] Take cover with Jade
Given that we aren't actually in any physical danger, we might as well say hello to our fellow Spiritualist.
[X] [Action] Try to figure out how to make Nebula use Mirage instead of Shine.
-[X] [Action] Use is to misdirect the Elemental and buy the group fighting it enough time so that they get back up from the Astralists.
[X] [Move] Take cover with Jade
sure I'm for write-in tactics! Need more of that in SV in general.
Zaelix's plan is what I was thinking, so copy-pastry:
[X] [Action] Try to figure out how to make Nebula use Mirage instead of Shine.
-[X] [Action] Use is to misdirect the Elemental and buy the group fighting it enough time so that they get back up from the Astralists.
[X] [Move] Take cover with Jade
If we have any influence over the illusion that mirage causes, I'm thinking that making it think the Canoid Kaius is fighting is Nebula or maybe leafeon trying to attack it would be amusing. I wonder if the game lets you set up monsters to attack each other?
[X] [Action] Try to figure out how to make Nebula use Mirage instead of Shine.
-[X] [Action] Use is to misdirect the Elemental and buy the group fighting it enough time so that they get back up from the Astralists.
[X] [Move] Take cover with Jade
[X] [Action] Try to figure out how to make Nebula use Mirage instead of Shine.
-[X] [Action] Use is to misdirect the Elemental and buy the group fighting it enough time so that they get back up from the Astralists.
[X] [Move] Take cover with Jade
Color (Primary)
[] Red - A fist wreathed in flames
[] Orange - An arrow with swirled lines trailing off the feather
[] Green - A tree growing from a rock
[] Blue - A head in profile with small bubble-like circles within it
[] Violet - An eight pointed star with sparkles
[] Black - A black cat in shadow
[] White - A quartz-like crystal spar
"Both. Well," Kaius hedged, shifting uncomfortably in his seat, "I think. Most of the colors system is pretty deep under the surface, but I've figured out a few things. Each color has a different element and a different set of attributes that it's… good at, I guess? The elements I figured out so far are fire, air, earth, water, dark, light," he counts them off on his fingers. "And each one is stronger against and weaker to the usual opposite. Fire and water, dark and light. Violet, though…" He looks at you in curiosity. "I haven't figured it out yet."
"Great. I was hoping you could tell me that one," you say, jokingly. Mostly joking. You're not really joking at all, if you're being honest. "It's all transformation and illusion stuff so far."
"Interesting." He frowned in thought. "Anyway, the attributes are harder to pin down. Orange seems to have a lot of focus on speed and movement. Blue is mind, I think."
"Orange and Green are strong against each other," Kaius calls over to the other three, moving a hand in what looks like some kind of arcane gesture, but you realize after a moment must be him using the MRD interface. It looks much less stupid than you were afraid it would.
So, here's the information from above with my guesses added in:
Red- Fire and attack power. It's strong and weak against Blue.
Orange- Air, speed, and movement. It's strong and weak against Green.
Green- Earth and ? (Maybe toughness or stamina?). It's strong and weak against Orange.
Blue- Water and mind. It's strong and weak against Red.
Violet- Transformations and illusions. Maybe a focus on appearances, changeability, or versatility? It does not appear to be strong or weak against anything at the moment.
Black- Dark and ? (Maybe stealth?). It's strong and weak against White.
White- Light and ? (Maybe something to do with being noticed?). It's strong and weak against Black.
When it comes to White I'd say probably has bonuses to detection fitting the strong and weak against Black.
If White had bonuses to being noticed...It'd probably be something like 'the more eyes on me, the stronger I get!' with the idea that Whites want to group up in a massive party, while Blacks want to Solo.
Another angle might be that White's good at healing and sustain, so if a White survives a Black's stealth-attack they can quickly heal up and outlast the black...
But until we see them in action this is nothing but spitballing.
When it comes to White I'd say probably has bonuses to detection fitting the strong and weak against Black.
If White had bonuses to being noticed...It'd probably be something like 'the more eyes on me, the stronger I get!' with the idea that Whites want to group up in a massive party, while Blacks want to Solo.
Another angle might be that White's good at healing and sustain, so if a White survives a Black's stealth-attack they can quickly heal up and outlast the black...
But until we see them in action this is nothing but spitballing.
Yeah. "A quartz-like crystal spar" makes me think of brightness and standing out, but we haven't seen any White players yet. The Black ninja was covered in shadows, and the image is a "black cat in shadow", which is why I think it might be stealth.
Detection is a good theory. Crystal refracts light after all.
The image for Violet is an "eight pointed star with sparkles". The sparkles probably signify illusions, but I'm wondering if the eight pointed star is supposed to signify versatility.
[X] [Action] Try to figure out how to make Nebula use Mirage instead of Shine.
-[X] [Action] Use is to misdirect the Elemental and buy the group fighting it enough time so that they get back up from the Astralists.
[X] [Move] Take cover with Jade
Ooh a LitRPG Quest! Haven't seen many of these before. And it being ARG is pretty cool.
Been busy today but I'm aiming to get the next post up within the next hour or so!
And because I am delighted by walking in to a bunch of speculation and wish to encourage it, I would like to point your attention to the color of the one ability our heroine has seen the green Martialist use.
Adhoc vote count started by InspectorCaracal on Apr 20, 2019 at 7:17 PM, finished with 16 posts and 9 votes.
[X] [Action] Try to figure out how to make Nebula use Mirage instead of Shine.
-[X] [Action] Use is to misdirect the Elemental and buy the group fighting it enough time so that they get back up from the Astralists.
Been busy today but I'm aiming to get the next post up within the next hour or so!
And because I am delighted by walking in to a bunch of speculation and wish to encourage it, I would like to point your attention to the color of the one ability our heroine has seen the green Martialist use.
Been busy today but I'm aiming to get the next post up within the next hour or so!
And because I am delighted by walking in to a bunch of speculation and wish to encourage it, I would like to point your attention to the color of the one ability our heroine has seen the green Martialist use.
white crystal armor eh?
Yeah Green is the Tanking/Earth colour then.
Orange is Speed/Wind, which means I need to seriously re-think what I thought that Orange Astralist wields. (thought he was some sort of fire user with a bit of mind/water)
Blue is...The Mind I figure means either MP or something like that or Balanced/Water. Versatile reactions to Red's straightforward 'just do your thing really well and everything will be okay!'
To swing back around to the earlier duo, Orange and Green are opposites. Speed blitz the Tank/Outlast the Speedy guy's stamina and punish.
So the Black ninja covers himself with shadows while the White spell involves crystaline armor. I still think that Black has to do with Stealth, but maybe White is Constructs?
Or maybe Black is Stealth AND Bad Luck/Debuffs while White is Protection and Blessings/Buffs! Stealth alone seems too limiting, but a black cat often signifies Bad Luck. Armor is protection against physical attacks, and there is probably another White Spell for protection against energy attacks. We'll have to wait and see whether the Black-Debuffs & White-Buffs theory pans out.
[X] [Action] Try to figure out how to make Nebula use Mirage instead of Shine.
-[X] [Action] Use is to misdirect the Elemental and buy the group fighting it enough time so that they get back up from the Astralists.
[x] [Move] Take cover with Jade
Neither of the remaining enemies are paying the slightest bit of attention to you, so you feel safe enough to do some experimenting. So far, whenever you used Attack with Nebula, it used Shine - which makes sense, since Shine is its only attack ability. But there has to be some way to tell it to use a specific ability. You think.
With that decided, you head over to sit next to Jade: it seems like a safe enough place to hang out at the moment while you figure this out.
"Hey." You drop down onto the ground next to her, Nebula hovering next to your shoulder.
"Hi." Jade glances up above your head, then at your hands. "What're you doing?"
"Trying to figure out how to make Nebula use a specific skill," you explain absently as you bring up your Companion's stats. If you can get it to use Mirage, you can give the two Martialists an assist until the Astralists get there.
"Oh!" Jade sits up eagerly. "You just tap on their ability."
That's… exactly what you were about to try, but the confirmation is good, you guess. "How do you tell them where to do it?"
Jade shrugs. "No idea. Leafeon just goes for the nearest target."
It makes perfect sense, although it does change your understanding of what the Attack ability is for. You can use Attack and make your companion attack your target with whatever ability it picks, or you can use your companion's ability directly and it picks the target.
The problem: Mirage doesn't have a target at all. You're going to have to get Nebula closer to the fire elemental.
You look at your sprite. It looks back at you.
"Hey Nebula, go over to the red Elemental," you try.
It chimes back and stays put.
Well, you have full health and your companion's info open; no time like the present. Scrambling back to your feet, you run around the picnic bench and towards the Elemental, Nebula trailing you.
"Wait!" Jade's head pops up from behind the bench. "What are you going to do?"
"Try something!" you call back.
The two Martialists look over at you - okay, you assume Shadow is looking at you too, but you can't actually see his features at all - and you give them a thumbs up before tapping on Mirage.
Mirage (Ability) - Create an AoE environmental illusion to confuse your opponent.
Nebula vanishes in a cloud of violet sparkles, which rapidly spread out in a brief swirl of violet. The violet solidifies into whirling snow, with you - and the fire Elemental - at the center. You can barely see the two Martialists anymore.
The Elemental apparently can't, either, because it decides you're the best target and flings - spits? shoots? - a fireball at you. You lunge to the side and it grazes your back.
EP: -7
The Green Martialist suddenly charges out of the illusory snowstorm and, her foot glowing green, lands a roundhouse kick dead center in the flames.
Enemies Canoid Defeated
Elemental
Level 11
EP: 4/20
You Annabelle Marie Jones
EP: 3/10
AP: 3/5
Nebula
EP: 7/10
AP: 0/3
That Elemental did a lot of damage for a near miss…. You're not defeated yet, but it's getting close.
[] Run back to where you think Jade is.
[] Run past the Green Martialist to get her between you and the Elemental.
[] Try to punch the Elemental. You can fight too, can't you?
[] Write-in
[X] Run past the Green Martialist to get her between you and the Elemental.
-[X]If she protests just say " Hey nothing like a Boulder for cover right!?"
I'm guessing that Mirage is supposed to be used with Shield to distract the opponent from the rest of your party while protecting yourself. Or at least, I'm pretty sure we did something wrong here, and I'd like to figure it out before we try using Mirage again. I wonder if the Astralists can even see the Elemental to attack it now that they've finished off their opponent.
I'd like to just head back to Jade, but I'm afraid that the Elemental will send an attack after us. Running past the Green Martialist seems rude though. Hopefully, the Black Martialist will take it out. It's only got 4 EP left, and the Green Martialist's attack probably did 7 damage. Of course, she's also a higher level than the Black Martialist.
I think I'll wait to vote for after more discussion.
[X] Run back to where you think Jade is.
-[X] Write-in: Run in a zig-zag pattern to make you harder to hit.
I think that running away might not be as dangerous as I first thought. It depends on how exactly Mirage works. If it stays up or is centered on Annabelle, then it should be difficult for the Elemental to see her the farther away she gets. Running in a zig-zag pattern is still a good idea, especially if the illusion breaks when she gets far enough from the monster.
We could also try sending Nebula ahead and Swapping with her, but then she gets hit, and I'm not sure how far ahead she can get anyway.
I wonder if the players could see each other through the illusion if they were in a party. It just strikes me as strange that Annablle had trouble seeing the Martialists when it's her companion's illusion.
Since it's been brought up a couple of times, I do want to confirm that there is an easy way to bypass the effects of Mirage as a player. Our Heroine hasn't figured it out yet because she's never used Mirage before and it's been about five seconds since it took effect. Although that does mean the other three new players may not know how, either.
(Well, and she was busy being attacked for the first time, which is rather distracting when an attack is "a very realistic-looking fireball flying towards your actual face".)
Adhoc vote count started by InspectorCaracal on Apr 20, 2019 at 11:05 PM, finished with 6 posts and 4 votes.
[X] Run past the Green Martialist to get her between you and the Elemental.
-[X]If she protests just say " Hey nothing like a Boulder for cover right!?"
