Dreambattle: Update 55

[banelord]

Please don't let this die, everyone liked it.

[Cresent]

Please don't let this die, everyone liked it.

Agreeing with this. So much.

[Zerovirus]

Well, after some heavy internal debate that felt almost three months long, I finally make my decision.

My plans involve a lot of Gear Energy, so I buy four of those to make a total of seven. I spend two on imbuing the Accessory Protoform and five on upgrading my Initiate Robes.

COG PENDANT SYNTHESIZED
Upgrade Energy: 3

Item Skill: Repair Aura: Regenerates 1 point of lost armor per turn.

INTEGRATED ROBES SYNTHESIZED
+1 Defense
+1 Summonslot
Upgrade Energy: 9

Item Skill: Augmentation: You may augment yourself with 1 of your summons. That summon loses the ability to use its own skills, but you gain its armor points.

Then, I purchase another Protoform Summon and another set of Initiate Robes, which I immediately de-alchemize to snatch the two Gilded Energy out. I purchase a Shock Energy as well, and create a new summon with Shock and Fire Energy. Then, I create another summon with two Gilded Energies.

PLASMA FLARE SYNTHESIZED
Health: 5
Defense: 0
Agility: 2
Upgrade Energy: 3

Skills:
Rapid Pounce: Deals 4 damage. If the target was stunned, use Rapid Pounce again on another enemy in the same turn.
Incandescence: This summon deals 4x damage when it inflicts a Critical Hit.

AURUM HALO SYNTHESIZED
Health: 7
Defense: 1
Agility: 0
Upgrade Energy: 5

Skills:
Precise Laser: Deals 4 damage, pierces armor
Alchemical Conversion: Changes 1 Energy of any kind to 1 Fire, Water, Gale, or Shock Energy

Finally, I purchase the Glob Spit skill for myself. In total, I spent... a hundred pandorums on the Gear Energies and the Shock Energy, three hundred for the Initiate Robes and a new Protoform Summon, and sixty on the Glob Spit- so four hundred and sixty Pandorums spent. Pretty affordable!

So let's review what we made- the Cog Pendant gives us a pretty nice passive bonus that'll help reduce enemies that can damage our armor, but the more important thing is this Integrated Robes' effect- it lets us essentially sacrifice a Summon slot in exchange for gaining armor equal to the armor of the summon. I could definitely try and build a summon specifically for maximizing this effect or something later.

As for my new summons, it seems that my Plasma Flare synergizes well with the Steel Boltstriker's stunning effect. Maybe if I upgraded the Plasma Flare, its stun-combo would be even more potent.

Finally, the Gilded summon- this Aurum Halo- it seems like a pretty weird summon. I could see it going two different ways- one path leading down to a summon that hits past armor for hard and heavy damage as a glass cannon, or the other path as a sort of... passive fuel generator which might even let us use skills which cost energy for free. Definitely a weird summon with a lot of potential, even if it has a bit of a higher upgrade cost than other summons of its level. I guess that's Gilded Energy's thing- high upgrade costs, among other weird stuff.

I have five summons now- and only four slots. I'm going to have to pick one of my two summons to equip in the last slot. I'm also probably going to want to upgrade the summon I pick- no matter how you cut it, a first-level summon just won't be enough to take on the zones we're fighting in now.

Then again, Lynivera is still in the Library. I could go and take a look at how she's doing- especially since I'm not even sure she can actually read our alphabet.

So, now what?

INVENTORY:

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235 Pandorums

EQUIPMENT:


ENERGIES:


MISCELLANEOUS:


SUMMONS:

STATISTICS:

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Welcome back! It's been a hectic three months, but summer is here at last. Time to get back into the game! A heavy posting-style change in this update to encourage readability, and a small HUD change.

[llamamiah]

HELL YISS.
>Use the Plasma Flare for now.
>Purchase 1 Spark Energy.
>Upgrade Plasma Flare with 1 Spark, 1 Fire, and 1 Steel.

[Zerovirus]

HELL YISS.
>Use the Plasma Flare for now.
>Purchase 1 Spark Energy.
>Upgrade Plasma Flare with 1 Spark, 1 Fire, and 1 Steel.

PROTIP: Use the Aurum Halo's Alchemical Conversion ability to just buy Steel and turn that into Shock instead of buying Shock directly. This will save you about 5 Pandorums per energy!

[llamamiah]

Wait, we can use that when it's not summoned? OK, do that then.

[Soadreqm]

YES. HELL YES.

I've kind of completely forgotten how upgrading works. :P Uh... Put some fire and steel in the Plasma Flare and see what happens.

[-Benedict]

Plasma Flare should go for 2 Shock and 1 Gale to maximize its multi-hit stun synergy thing- and let's stick it in our slot for now. The Aurum Halo is cool, but we aren't likely to be doing much upgrading on-field and it's too delicate as a Lv1. Water, Steel, and Gilded should be our priority there- maximize its durability and enhance its weird powers. With that, we should also be able to use it with the Integrated Robes for fun times. The cog pendant... well, we don't have anything else, so let's go ahead and equip it.

After that, let's check in on Lynivera, get her ready, and move out to a new questing area. Take a look at the new choices unlocked, although I'm still thinking we should visit the Sky Ruins for extra Life energy- healsquid isn't much without it.

[starburst98]

i thought we were gonna get in the ship and blast off with her to see what's up.

[llamamiah]

>Wait wait wait before you do that stuff buy Leather Armor and De-Alchemize it. For Science.

[wolftamer9]

(Aww, now we can't take the plasma direction with the Metalpyre.)

Hmm, maybe when we get to Sky Ruin we can boost this pendant with 1 Metal, 1 Gear and 1 Life. And I agree with Benedict about the plasma flare, but maybe add a gear instead of a shock or gale to add some function to it. Also, it might be worthwhile to get a few MORE gears to upgrade Metalpyre later on. So all in all I'd say buy 4 or 5 gear for further use, and then get Lyn so we can go to Sky Ruin already!

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I just realized I forgot to mention this, but welcome back!

[OrangeAipom]

Let's not upgrade AURUM HALO. Its Alchemical Conversion ability might disappear if we do.

[Armok]

OMG yesss this is back!

We should consider getting lynivera better equipment as well, maybe she could even handle a summon now that she's a player?

[mysticCharlatan]

See if you can give Lynivera whatever summon you don't use.

[wolftamer9]

See if you can give Lynivera whatever summon you don't use.

You know, she'll probably find the Aurum Halo pretty fascinating anyway.

[Soadreqm]

Let's not upgrade AURUM HALO. Its Alchemical Conversion ability might disappear if we do.

It was made with Gilded stuff, so I guess alchemy is a Gilded thing, and using Gilded energy to upgrade it would make the alchemy powers more powerful. And it doesn't even have to be all Gilded all the time. We haven't put a Healing energy into Guardshell for a long time.

[Tam Lin]

I can see gilded receiving light, steel and more gilded.

[wolftamer9]

You know, whatever we do add to the Gilded should contribute to it looking as alien as possible. For that I would say Gale, Shock, Gear, Gilded (of course) and Crystal energies should be used most of the time.

[kickan]

WOOT THIS IS BACK

I started reading while it was on hiatus and now it's back and I get to contribute HOORAY!

Anyway, I also say to equip Plasma Flare in the last slot for right now. Assuming we'll still be able to use the Aurum Halo's energy-changing ability out of combat? That's pretty dang useful.

[ninjamaster1991]

Upgrade the Aurum Halo with 3 gear and 2 Gilded. The Gilded will prevent it from losing its energy change ability, while the Gear will (hopefully) replace Precise Beam with a second SWEET ability.

The reason I say gear is because I imagine the Aurum Halo as, eventually, a full 'support' class. Also, it *seems* that a mono-element summon usually gets 1 'major' ability and a minor, while a dual (or more) one will get 2 'semi-major' ones. Thus, imo, a dual summon is better than a mono. Also, Gilded + Gear would be cool.

Upgrade the Plasma thingy with 2 sparks (zappy is cool) and either a fire, a steel, or, if you can get some, a crystal... Just to see what it'd do.

Finally, for the layout, I'd suggest replacing the Guardshell with the Plasma Flare, and add the Halo thingy.
Also, +1 reader.

[Zerovirus]

Alright, Plasma Flare in the fourth slot it is. I think about trading out the Guardshell as well, but ultimately I decide to keep it in its place for now.

But to make Plasma Flare combat-ready, so it doesn't lag behind the rest of the team too much, I have to upgrade it. After thinking a bit, I compromise between the shock-shock-gale and shock-fire-metal plans to upgrade the Plasma Flare with shock-fire-gale. The best part is that since the Aurum Halo can already convert the cheaper Steel Energy into Shock and Gale, I don't even have to spend any Pandorums!

ETHER WOLF SYNTHESIZED
Health: 10
Defense: 0
Agility: 5
Upgrade Energy: 6

Skills:
Ether Fang: Deals 6 damage. If the target was stunned, inflict 6 damage to all enemies.
Incandescence: This summon deals 4x damage when it inflicts a Critical Hit.

Okay, that's a marked improvement. Agility is surprisingly high, but this can only be a good thing considering Incandescence- with 5 agility this means I can effectively make critical strikes one out of every twenty attacks.

In addition, Ether Fang combined with Electrocute would... well, 7 damage from the Electrocution plus 6 damage from the initial hit of the Ether Fang plus 6 more damage from the secondary mass-damage effect of Ether Fang makes a total of 19 damage to one enemy and 6 damage to all other enemies- a pretty potent combination, assuming that Electrocute's 50% chance of stunning actually goes off. And assuming the enemy doesn't have armor high enough to negate the brunt of the attacks.

Still, I'm feeling pretty good about this. The fact that the Ether Wolf totally looks badass is great too, right?

Since I managed to save all my Pandorums, I'm thinking about splurging into yet more Initiate Robes to get more Gilded Energy to get an upgrade for my Aurum Halo. Somehow, I feel like I've been buying a LOT of Initiate Robes recently.

All thoughts of further upgrading vanish, though, when Lynivera emerges from the library.

I see you've got some new clothes and new pets, Othello.

So, what's your investigation uncovered? Is there anything at all that I'd possibly be interested in?

...Your civilization is fascinating. Well, not really.

What's that supposed to mean?

Well, it doesn't really count as a... civilization by scholarly standards. I mean, you have organized society but not stratified society? And apparently your people never even went through the phase of a top-down pyramid society. You have the Guide system, with their uniform metal armor, but they're not even superior to you- they just know more about how the place works and give people tips. They, like everybody else, still go out and hunt for energies to upgrade. Where's your leadership? How does this place even run itself?

Lynivera's wearing a confused expression as she tries to rationalize what I consider the norm. It's slightly humorous.

...And just how do you subsist without food? It's like- all you ever do is go out and fight for energies to 'improve your stats', whatever societal context that has- what about fundamental needs, like food and shelter- your library doesn't have any documentation of society before the Dreambattle, just what seems to be a proto-religion about the First Engineer and the blessings of the Eternal Pandora, complete with an apocalyptic prophecy of eschaton.

You know, you're confusing me as well. I'm not even sure what half these things you're saying mean.

Exactly! You probably don't even have any idea what the distinction between religion and history is, based on my observation of how little anyone seems to care for history here. It's strange- your culture holds the signs of a pre-civilization structure. It's completely organic; everybody does their own thing and there's no central structure- and yet you live in a huge technological complex that can apparently perform wonders beyond even what my society could do!

She seems frustrated, like she's trying to put together the pieces of a puzzle that don't come together.

And through it all- still no explanation of what exactly Energy is! How does your world even stay upright around you if nobody seems to know anything about how anything works?!

Yeah, that thing I said about not knowing what you mean? Still true. In fact, more and more true.

Nothing adds up! It's like- you live in a walled world designed to keep you... active? Your society isn't even as developed as a hunter-gatherer society, there's no sharing or authority... Well, you at least do have an economy of sorts, I guess. I'll have to go take a look at that next.

What? I thought you were going to leave on your ship thingy, and that you might let me come as well.

Later. You have a massive trading network here, did you know that? The Player Market- or at least, it's supposed to be massive. Somehow, I don't get the feeling that most players are that interested in these places.

Oh, yeah. Delchire mentioned that to me when I arrived here. I never really bothered to go look, though.

Well, we're going to go look now. If it's not too inconvenient, I'd like to loan some money from you for the purposes of buying some of the items of the market and transporting them back to my home. I was hoping I could find a governmental authority that I could conduct diplomatic arrangements with or at least discuss possibilities of a cross-culture meetup in the future- but after it turned out that you have no government whatsoever-

I tune her out for a while.

...At least I figured out that those tubes were respawn chambers which key new members of your society into some large database of Players, and also do... mental preparation? I knew that the first time I visited the Nexus I couldn't read any of your text, but I can now. It's rather unsettling, to be frank.

Okay, okay, that's great. Let's talk about all this culture-shock later, alright? We're here.



...Huh. Big place, not that many people. Say, how does this market work again?

I think those groups are debating about partying up. Apparently, most of the market is automated. You manifest a menu with your mind, place inventory objects you want to sell, set a reasonable price, and wait for them to be sold. Or you can use what seems to be a search-engine to find parameters of equipment that you might want to buy, and then buy them.

I guess partying up isn't too popular then, just looking at this thin crowd.

It's kind of embarrassing when Lynivera knows more about how the Nexus works than I do now. Maybe that whole research thing wasn't such a pointless idea after all. I'll have to ask her about what she figured out later.

Your society seems to... frown? No, frown is too antagonistic. Your society seems to rather be completely disinterested in cooperation and unity. In any case, though...



Damn, there are a lot of parameters. Search by name, search by seller, search by price range, search by recent items, search by item type, search by energy-input ratios, search by combat stats...

Items flicker on and off the charts on the sides, as if the holographic screen wanted to take me through the whole inventory of items the market had to offer. I can't even begin to keep up- scrolling through any list would be impossible if only because there'd be too much stuff to choose from.

If I'm going to buy anything, I'm going to have to specify at least one of these parameters. Luckily, I suspect the Market has everything I could possibly want-

Ahem.

Oh, right. Lynivera is the one who wanted to shop, not me.

...How much money should I give her to buy with, anyways? While I'm at it, should I try to sell off some of my items?

INVENTORY:

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235 Pandorums

EQUIPMENT:


ENERGIES:


MISCELLANEOUS:


SUMMONS:

STATISTICS:

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Lynivera's shopping on her own, so you don't get direct command over her. What you DO get to do is make suggestions over her shoulder about what she should aim to find. And you could try to find some items of your own, if you spare enough money for yourself... though your finances ARE a bit constrained with both of you trying to buy stuff, now.

By the way, this might be a good time to decide what you're going to do after this extended upgrade session. Lynivera doesn't seem quite as anxious to get home as she did before; continuing your adventures in the Cinder Factory or exploring some of those new biomes downstairs are also options.

[ninjamaster1991]

Give her all except 100 of your Pandorums, both of your Protoforms, and suggest that she buy a Summon protoform and some energy.

Then, alchemize your weapons together, and sell whichever armor you aren't using.

Finally, see what other people are selling their amulets for.

[-Benedict]

Okay, whoa. This thing looks awesome, but Chainshock Storm is still preferable to Electrocute synergy for now- we'll need to dump some more energies in, pump it full of shock and fire to increase its offensive capabilities. Upgrading right now shouldn't cost much- with steel at 20, that's 120 pandorums to go, say, 3shock2fire1gale to go level three.

As for Lynivera, let's give her a cool hundred Pandorums to spend. None of this is going to be of much interest to us, since she plans to take it home for research, so... let's search by whatever will let her find Gilded stuff, that seems to be connected closely to Energy mechanics and things (which is her big WTF issue right now). Energy-input ratios, maybe? Or item type, whatever floats her boat.

And again, after this we've gotta make a trip to the Sky Ruins to unlock Life energy- our Guardshell's gonna be pretty useless until he can dish out some serious healing.

[Ouroboros]

Keep 60 pandorums for yourself, give her the rest as a loan, and the extra protoforms as gifts. Don't make any recommendations, just let her buy whatever she feels would be best. I do agree that we should mention that guilded energies seem to bend the rules somewhat though, that seems like something she might want to know.

Meanwhile, use the pandorums you've set aside to buy the cheapest energies you can find, then convert them using the Aurum Halo and sell them back at a profit. Make sure to tell Lynivera that your new summon can convert energies, since she might be able to make use of that ability as well. Keep converting energies like this until they stop selling.

[OrangeAipom]

Loans sound like a good idea. At some point this will pay off.