Baldur

"We're cutting it damn close." Baldur said with a glance at his energy gauge. Without the exact numbers available, and without spending too much time trying to read it versus the fight, Baldur couldn't tell, but it looked like he had just enough energy left to finish this fight. "We've got no room for errors anymore." Stepping into the frey, Baldur waited for his opening, and when Zandra fell back, the forlorn chief of the fish people watching her go, provided Baldur his opportunity to activate the <<San Ge>> katana sword art, slashing heavily into the boss. It's new mitigation definitely made things challenging, but now that they were wide open, and not sharing the bridge battleground with 3 other people, they had more room to work and get their attacks off faster. "Let's do this Beat!" ID#112635 BD: 4+3-1=6 (hit) San Ge: 24+3 (Sharpness) = 27x15=405 (raw) -125 (mit)=280 damage dealt

You'll find that a common opinion, but we all fell in love with the setting. Welcome!

Baldur, in the midst of his frustration at being blocked by the Chieftain and how much ground they had lost, was stunned to see a reversal of Hestia and Ruby's position. They would fall back and then try to rejoin fresh with Zandra. For whatever reason, they had seen what Baldur and his team had seen, and so he silently thanked them in his mind. This fight had been a trainwreck ever since the boss had revealed his huge mitigation buff, but they had not started out on good footing either. When had they stopped trying to work together on Field Boss'? Shield called out a buff to Baldur, and the Samurai ran back into close range with the Chieftain, entering <<San Ge>> in such a way that it carried him through the orb of light that would buff his damage before crashing into the fishstick's backside. This time, with Beat on the other, their dual sword arts dug into the creature, doing an incredible amount of damage considering the boss' current levels of mitigation. "If we can keep this up, then as soon as stun is off cooldown on the Shaman, we should execute the final gambit!" ID#112605 BD: 7+3+1(concentration)-1=10 (hit) 24 (base) + 3 (sharpness) = 27x15 = 405 (raw) - 125 (mit) = 280 DMG Dealt

Thread Rewards 58 Posts - 2 Complete Pages (2 SP, +800 Col) Shield - 2 SP - 160 Col Baldur - 2 SP - 160 Col Hestia - 2 SP - 160 Col Calrex - 2 SP - 160 Col Macradon - 2 SP - 160 Col Anemone - 0 SP (Not enough posts)

Baldur nodded along with Katagawa as she told her story, paying close attention to whom she had interacted with, and also to her feeling of the state of things. It was indicative of a larger issue that was going on. At one point in time, there was a regular trickle of players moving up to join the frontline, but it seemed that after the recent catastrophe that was the boss battle, those newcomers were instead backing out, not wishing to be a part of such a rag tag band of dysfunctional misfits. "I believe I met Black and Cosi after an event on the 11th floor. From what I hear, they both did very well, though I'm afraid I only know of them, not them personally. Though I have heard that after the very difficult special event, they have taken a bit of a hiatus. Not that I can blame them. When your life comes that close to the cusp, it can be a traumatic experience that you need to take some time to parse." As Baldur and Katagawa wandered back into the city, Baldur began to almost steer himself through the crowds with his katana, making sure that the saya did not bump into or trip anyone as they wove through the sea of people which was the town of beginnings. "Alright, let's turn this thing in and move on to the next part. Do you need to get anything before we head out?"

Baldur smiled to Neo, and gave her one of the only pieces of sign-language that he knew. "Thank you," he signed to her, and then completed the trade window. Quickly moving a few things around in his inventory, he made sure that the group heal items were easily accessible for use in battle. "I really appreciate the help! With this, I'll be able to help a lot of people out. Plus I'll just feel a lot more prepared." The wanna-be samurai gave the shopkeep a respectful bow, and then proceeded to turn and leave, his new raid consumables in tow. Now he just needed to get the other ones he'd require. Some from his own shop, and more from the alchemists. But at least he was getting there. He'd be ready for the next few fights.

"You've got a great point Shield." Baldur said, considering his words about the challenges presented by this floor. It was true that the skill curve had ramped up here. They had struggled, but Baldur wasn't entirely convinced that it wasn't due to their own interpersonal conflict and not the floor. The Tank did raise a good point, however. "I'm still pretty confident in the three of us being able to handle anything this floor throws at us, but with someone like Anemone on our team, if we can't work out standard battle tactics, we have the possibility of really becoming a professional team. With certain rotations and skill buff combos, there exists the potential to really show off what a well coordinated and organized group can do. This will only prove what we just discussed in the meeting about using quests and dungeons to train together, build trust, and use that cohesion to great effect. I'd really love it if we could get @Beat to throw together a few feasts for the floor boss as well, so that we can show how to efficiently coordinate group buffs for a fight." Baldur tapped his chin in thought. "I just had a thought to discuss with you @Shield about how to open up a fight. Do you normally <<Sharpen>> Beat before he launches his charge attack against the boss? I am assuming your normal first action is to howl. However, I have been built to be about as heavy as you can be while being light armor DPS, and I normally run with relatively high evasion. So what do you think about having your and Anemone's first actions be to <<sharpen>> Beat and I, and then you can howl on your second turn. That get's us closer to 100% uptime of <<sharpen>> AND it increases our alpha strike potential. It would really put us out front of all the other groups from the get-go, and chunk the boss for a huge fraction of its health at the start, when we're unharmed. With a bad boss, I could even use a safeguard the first time to test it out, and potentially migrate to a safeguard ring if the strategy works, or a damage ring if it doesn't."

Baldur jerked forward suddenly when Zandra began to speak about retiring. He didn't think she was serious about jumping off the tower, but they couldn't afford to lose her. "Oh no! Please don't retire! I think the whole place would fall apart without you!" When it finally sank in that she was teasing him about all of it, a bit of color creeped up into his face and he let out a breath he didn't realize he was holding. Slowly, a sheepish grin crept up onto his face. When Zandra began describing the 'trick' she learned, Baldur was a bit skeptical at first, but once he understand where she was going, he acquiesced. Swapping his normally robust tier 3 armor out for his vanity clothing that he normally reserved for safezone special events, Baldur settled onto the stone and began to follow along with Zandra's words... after adjusting the katana he still held at his side. It was -always- at his side. Closing his eyes, he took a few deep breaths and relaxed, letting his senses be fooled by the nerve gear. It was easier than he realized. Slowly he opened his eyes again, the steel gone from the steel blue eyes, and he just enjoyed the beautiful scenery of the first floor. He didn't often do that, and he felt like he did it more often than the other frontliners. Baldur smiled as the breeze slowly swept through his long hair. It was a very pleasant, relaxing feeling under the bright sun. "Good trick."

Baldur shook his head to Shield's inquiry. Shark? He had never heard of the name, or at least not in the way that Shield spoke it. Perhaps something close to it, but Baldur had never met anyone by that name, or anything close to it. Baldur had not been in the frontline as much as Calrex, and Hirru had made battles that Baldur had missed, but no one ever spoke of him at meetings, or as an influence to them as far as he could tell. "Sorry my friend, I have not heard of anyone by that name before. Have you checked the wall of life? The only shark I know is the one in the sand." The Samurai gave the tank a sideways look, "Though I thought you had already done that quest by now." A playful smile split the usually taciturn face. "Whatever the case, it's good to break things up a bit sometimes. We can always find ourselves a rut to get stuck in, and that kind of complacency can be dangerous."

Baldur pushed his way into the restaurant on the 7th floor. It was getting close to time for him to stock up on items for the frontlines, and he liked to buy them in bulk so that he didn't have to worry about stocking himself when it came time for the battle, and he could be in a position to help others out instead of needing to ask for favors instead. The restaurant itself was quite cozy, though it seemed like it had been very busy just before he had come in. There was an air about the place that spoke of a much needed rest after a long day of hard work. "Ohayo?" Baldur called out, looking for one of the members of staff. When the girl made her presence known, Baldur recognized her from helping out before at the previous floor boss fight. "Oh! Good to see you again! I was hoping you could help me gear up. I need a few things." Baldur, not putting together that the woman couldn't speak, began to write on the note pad. "I want 7 <<Tofu Bugers>> and 7 <<Spinach-Artichoke Dips>> and 7 <<Hummus Dips>>." He slid the notepad over to her, "And I would like to order 1 perfect Tier 3 Overhealth food as a special order. I'm gonna have to save up for more of those, but I would like to buy more of those from you in the future as well. But I think that makes my total come out to... 4,200 for the tofu, same for the Artichoke, same for the hummus, so... 12,600... plus the Overhealth I think is 5,400 which gives me a total of 18,000 Col." Baldur opened up the trade window to send her the money as soon as she confirmed the stock and the price. @Neopolitan

Baldur smiled when Katagawa said she had mostly been spending her time helping out the lower leveled players. It made his mind wander back to when he and Tyger had bumped into Lessa for the first time. He listened attentively to the young woman's words, and felt a pang of compassion when she felt like she wasted 2 years of her life making an effort to try and glitch the system. He had spent quite a bit of his own early time assuming someone else on the outside would come up with a fix. "That's very good of you. I was helped by someone similar to yourself when I was just starting out. The hard work you've been doing with helping players take their first steps can pay off in unexpected ways." Lessa had pointed a sword at Baldur, and had been high enough level should have ended both he and Tyger with a single swing of her sword. Hopefully Baldur's introduction to Katagawa, and her to other lower leveled players would be a bit less memorable in that way. "Our clearing rate is... uneven. Sometimes it's fast, sometimes it's slow. The more people we have on the front, the faster it goes though, especially when we have the essential roles filled. Tank and healer." He turned his face to her and smiled as they continued to walk back towards the Town of Beginnings. "Currently we're in a bit of a lull as the newest floor has proved challenging, and there are some roles that need to be worked out. Unfortunately, the main guilds of the past seem to be in a period of inactivity or rest and recovery. There can be a lot to being on the frontline, and unfortunately, burnout is common." The samurai blushed slightly, "Even I am guilty of that." He turned and started walking backwards so he could face the silver haired woman. "Have you met any of the frontliners, or worked with any of the guilds?" Then another thought occurred to Baldur, "Do you know of any other players like yourself who are pushing to try and join the Front?"

Floor 24 Panareze Afternoon Post Field Boss Immediately follows conference Baldur lead @Shield and @Anemone down from the restaurant they had been eating at, and had met with the other frontline tanks, and down to the arena floor. The arena was a thing of beauty. It wasn't as large as some of the others they had seen, but what it lacked in size, it made up for in character. Water, as was the theme of the floor, ringed the main combat platform. Tiers and tiers of stone bench seating rose up all around it, filled with the denizens of the floor and the occasional other player who was just now beginning to explore the floor and what it offered. Baldur had no idea what they were in store for, but with this party, they were ready. To his knowledge, no one had yet completed any of the quests on the 24th floor. "I sent a message to @Beat as well, asking him to meet us here. As soon as he joins us, I think we can start this quest. I saw it when I was scouting around for a place to have our meeting." Turning back to face Shield and Anemone as he stood next to an NPC who looked straight out of a gladiator movie, Baldur smiled at them both. "I'm sorry that I seem to be the odd man out, but I really don't know anything more about you than you're a healer, Anemone-chan. Do you have any of the skill mods that come along with first aid? It may be foolish of me, but I assume you at least have Field Medic for group heals. And uh... what weapon do you use?" Normally Baldur could tell, but he didn't see one on her. She was in a safe town, so she may not equip it, but she could also be dagger user. "Shield here is the best tank the frontline has available. We'll never have to worry about hate generation with him around. He's also a capable healer, which will be good in case you get low from AoE attacks. Beat, his counterpart, is the best damage in the frontline. I'm not quite as flashy, but I'm also in the top 5 damage dealers on the front. So with you on our team, we have a pretty solid party. I'm hoping, that by doing this quest together, we can get a feel for working with one another and be ready for any issue that might come up when it really matters. I don't know what we'll fight in this quest yet, but between Beat and I, I don't foresee it lasting very long."

Baldur blushed when he practically sidestepped into the young woman was he was maneuvering around the tables. Lost in his thoughts as always, he was not making a particularly graceful introduction, though when she introduced herself as the one they had been just talking about, his blush turned in a genuinely warm and excited smile. This was perhaps the healer who could help them with the party balance issue they needed to solve. Turning to face her fully, Baldur bowed slightly in apology. "Gomen, I was not watching where I was going either. But I am glad you were nearby and could come to meet us so quickly. As I'm sure Macradon-san has mentioned, we could really use a healer for the upcoming fight. That would let Hestia here" Baldur gestured to include the dark haired young woman who had tanked for him many times, "focus on tanking, and allow us to bring a third party of frontliners along with us. Unfortunately, one of our other main healers has stepped back for some personal time for a while." Baldur then turned slightly to gesture and introduce more people, "This is Shield-kun, and Calrex-kun, two of the frontline's other thanks." He smiled warmly, allowing her to get a word of greeting in, before he lead the conversation along further. "If you don't mind, I'd like to get a feel for partying up with you before we try to move straight into the frontlines. If you wouldn't mind, would you like to do a quest with Shield and I?" Baldur swiped his hand and pulled up the group interface, and sent her and shield an invite to his party. ((to be continued in Quest thread about to be posted, feel free to complete greetings then I'll close the thread))

(rolling)

Baldur smiled when Hirru moved without instruction and performed the perfect move. His sword art staggered the shaman, giving them an opening to finish off the Chieftain. Rushing forward, Baldur called out, "We got this Beat! Let's end this fight now! If it has any HP left after you and I are done with it, Ruby should be able to finish it off! We got this!" Confidently, Baldur strode towards the Chieftain a smile of victory on this face as he unleashed the <<San Ge>> sword art once more, prepared to cut the boss's current health in half, and let Beat finish the thing off just as they had done in the boss room on the floor below. But the Chieftain turned to face him, and it's cruel axe came up to parry the blows that Baldur was raining down on it. Frustrated but unable to move in the middle of a sword art, Baldur's blows rained down onto the axe as he shouted in frustration. ID#112531 BD: 1