[F11-OP] Making a rock solid plan <19th Boss Meeting Thread>

[Ariel - The Crowned Lion 0]

"You guys always like to rush things out... " came in a crystalline tone from the entrance of the meeting room after both doors swung wide open, with loud creak accompanying them. The figure that made such a rude entrance revealed a grin and invited herself in. She noticed a couple of fancy looking seats that were probably reserved for anybody else but her, so of course the blonde choose to go and make herself comfortable while most of the participants were standing up for some reason. A strange deja-vú sense took over her as she had the feeling that this happened in the past.

Before sitting down on the Vice Commander's seat, she picked up a bowl of greasy looking snacks from under @Calrex's nose with a wink and also a bottle of water, setting the bowl by her side, on the table, in front of the fanciest of seats. In mere seconds, as if lured by the smell, a white snowball hopped onto the seat next to her and started eating from the appetizers that Ariel picked. After seeing to her and her companion's needs, she waved with a smile at the eyes that she meet in her way and continued to talk in the same tone of voice: "I'm lucky my house is on this floor or else I wouldn't had the opportunity to take a proper shower after all that fighting." Maybe some wouldn't notice by the cheery tone of her voice but this gal was still a bit pissed about the fact that yet another last attack bonus item escaped her grasp. It was as if the Brigade was reborn... kind of funny considering that most of the Spectrum Coalition members were ex-brigadiers like her.

Eyeing the participants, her eyes widened when she spotted a very familiar wardrobe item, a cloak from a time she'd put past her. She suddenly stood up an drew closer to the black cloaked girl, waving directly at her. Before engaging in conversation with her, she turned around towards @Macradon: "Don't mind me, carry on with the _interesting_ info."

She'd next croak her neck in an attempt to peek under @Kasier's hood. "That's a nice cloak you got there, miss. I don't think we've had the pleasure before, the name's Ariel." despite being accustomed to seeing items she'd made being worn by people, she was excited to see that such a relatively old relic was being donned by someone she didn't knew yet. She reached for the fur edging to confirm that it was indeed a item of hers. These meeting were always the same ever since she started attending them, finding something to focus on would help pass the time a bit faster; or at least that was her belief. Today, the girl wearing a remnant of her past would be her focus point.

[Macradon 0]

With a light hearted smile, Macradon would close his eyes momentarily and open them back up, looking at @Calrex. "Yes, that sounds good. I'm sure that we could find some place where they would be able to join as well, but I wanted to host a meeting where newer people could get a taste of a boss meeting even though they weren't strong enough to join in. Of all the Player Killers I know, they all have ties to someone who aren't Orange, in this case it's you" he said with a smile. Looking just behind Calrex as he went off, he would notice more people coming. One peculiar person would arrive, one he did not recognize, but what he did recognize wasn't anything he was fond of at all.

The dreaded colors of the Azure Brigade, it was their cloak, but what was it doing here? Why was it here? Confused of the sudden reappearance of the Azure Brigade gave Macradon chills down his spine. "What is going on here?" he asked himself. He would shake his head lightly before trying to get a grip on the whole situation he was in. He was in no place to ask about the deceased, the disbanded, especially since he had no real ties to them, other than being good friends with Dom. Nothing special about that at all. He would let out a light sigh before walking over to his chair, just as the last person would join the meeting. "Fantastic, I think this will be enough people" he would think and finally go towards the Commander's chair since neither the Commander nor the Temporary Vice Commander had chosen to arrive.

On his way he would grab a glass, chuck some of it out, and a fork. "Oh hey, Ariel" he said as the two gently swept by each other. It seemed like he would be able to get some information out to the folks here today, and probably also their allies who're incapable of joining inside the walls of the towns. Macradon would take his glass and the fork and lightly tap the glass with the fork. Waves of sound radiating around the meeting hall from the glass's vibrations as the fork hit it would scatter around, hopefully connecting to everyone in the hall. "Greetings to you all, and please, take your seat and we'll commence the meeting" he would say and invite everyone to take a seat until there were no more chairs. He would personally take the Commander's chair as he hadn't arrived, and Ariel had seemingly taken the Vice Commander's chair for a second.

As the crowd would begin to settle, Macradon would whip out the notes he had taken from his scouting in the tower to the 20th floor. They had finally reached this far, nearly a fifth way of completing this game. He would clear his throat as he would begin to speak up. "As you probably know, the boss room on the 19th floor has been found. For those who do not know what lies upon the 19th floor, it's basically just like the 1st floor, but taken over by nature. The boss room that was found is alike the small fields of the 1st floor." he would say, initiating the meeting. "This boss room is a massive field with grass, some patches of tall grass and some without. What surrounds the battlefield is just like on the 19th floor itself. Old rubble, buildings that once stood but are no longer. The room is like a Tardis, inside the tower to the 20th floor, but still capable of having a huge field with mountains in the background" he would say, making a small joke in this way too formal meeting. 

"Wherever you're going to look, you'll find nothing but rubble, grass or mountains in the long distance" Macradon would say and take a second to breathe in "The only thing that really sticks out, literally, is a massive stone giant that just stands in the middle of the room. To give you an image of its sheer size, its head was poking up into the skies. Its whole body is made of stone and rocks, probably extremely tough, probably meaning high mitigation" he would say. "From what I could see, the head of the giant is its weak point, and its there we have to hit it it slay it. To get to the head we will have to smash its legs and other limbs that would hold its head out of our reach. It all looks like the typical tank and spank boss" he would say. "I was not sure if it was just standing there or if was actually moving, but it might be an extremely slow opponent" he would finish with the intel he had gotten.

[Hakai 0]

Hakai wandered into the guild hall, glancing around. She was impressed by the building, and even more so by the guilds reputation for being honorable. It was pretty obvious that she was late, what with Macrodon standing at the front and explaining the boss room already. She had been a bit preoccupied that morning, but she had managed to make her way here before the meeting was over at least. She stood in the back corner of the room, listening carefully as he stated something about a giant and lots of mitigation. She smirked to herself before pausing and thinking. It would be just like Kayaba to screw her over and have this giant boss be immune to damage over time effects. She leaned back against the wall and ran a hand through her hair, a bit stressed at the prospect of actually fighting a floor boss. It was a dangerous affair. After this meeting she planned to grind up until the fight though, just to ensure her own safety. One hundred skill points should do it.

[Itzal 0]

When Hirru mentioned that it would be important to get defensive armor rather than evasion Itzal considered this.  If an AoE attack was used by a player it typically effected all the monsters.  If his evasion would be useless then it would indeed be a good idea to get mitigation armor.  It would be a unique experience for him of course, but he might as well.  He nodded to @Hirru.  "Well it's good to hear that I can be of some use even though my damage is pitiful."  He heard Macrodon mention how more players should appear before he started the explaining.  He nodded to Macrodon to indicate that he got the message and turned to see a roll.  Not wanting to be disrespectful he took one and had a small bite.  He then noticed another player walk in, garbed head to toe in a cloak that seemed to be of a guild he had never seen before.  He watched the figure sit down at the table and made a mental note to talk to the player and ask what guild they were a part of.  He then another player came in after the interesting one and he noticed him as being the current master scout Takao.  Itzal wanted to be a master scout as well and while he had already grand mastered search and detect, he had yet to get night vision, tracking, and was also planning on working on other skills as well.  He already had gatherer and was working on lockpicking.  He also thought about going into stealth and was thinking about sticking to it.  Looking at all these front liners taking seats he was beginning to realize he would need to as well.  If he didn't it would separate him in multiple ways from them and he didn't want them.  When Macrodon told everyone to take their seat he hesitated before submitting.  He felt he didn't belong with any of the front liners just yet, so he took a seat closer to the edge near Beatbox and the cloaked figure.  He listened carefully as Macrodon gave the details of the boss and it's room his eyes closed.  Both the floor and the monsters, especially the boss itself, sounds extremely similar to a game I used to play:  Shadow of the colossus.  In the game the player had to problem solve with most of the colossi in order to find a way to climb the monster and discover it's specific weak point.  When the spot was discovered the player would stab it and therefore deal massive damage, and essentially the only way to make a difference and finish off the monster.  I wonder....  How similar will this boss be to that game?"  He thought for a second about sharing this thought of his but then decided he would probably end up ignored or even worse, mocked for such an idea.  Macrodon seemed intent on believing it was a simple tank and strike battle, but surely boss raids couldn't be that simple in the slightest?

@Kasier @Macradon

Edited November 9, 2016 by Itzal

[Opal 0]

"Something so massive is going to be capable of doing a lot of damage to a lot of people. So I am guessing it won't be just a tank and spank Boss Raid. Even if the Tanks get all the hate, the area of attack hits everyone in the party and if its massive then its gonna be clumsy and slow. So we might get a few extra turns in before it unleashes some kind of massive strike. Its a theory of course. Also for it being a stone type Raid Boss, I don't think bleed and poison attacks are gonna be very efficient. We might need pure and unrestrained damage to break through its mitigation." 

Opal had arrived late to the meeting, but she had gathered what was said at the time from the found of the Boss Room; Macradon. She wore a simple pair of garments, nothing battle ready. A simple pair of black slacks, a t-shirt and her silver hair up in a bun tied with a black lace. She stood there and didn't take a seat as the others had. She had nostalgic feelings about being here in the Guild Hall after so much has happened. With the death of Azide and her betrayal, Opal was an unknown force to be contended with. After showing up to the last raid meeting and mouthing off to the front liners, the woman took a step back in her direction and her ability to get under the skin of the players. 

And now with a few people here knowing what her true motives were, she could not help but feel self violated from giving them so much information. However, soon came the unlocking of the next few floors. She had to be sure to survive that if she wanted to break down the Laughing Coffin from the inside. Until then, she would just be subtle and help where she could without making it seem like she was just flip flopping on sides of morality. At least she could once again gain their trust. The activity she showed in the last boss raid, getting the final blow and releasing the item into Takao's hands. Sure, she could have used that weapon and she was also reamed for giving it away. The smack of Sensui's hand had still lingered on her cheek where she subconsciously rubbed it, thinking about the events just an hour before the meeting had started. 

The woman's gaze fell from everyone else as she leaned against the wall, she had said her thoughts, but now here's were placed elsewhere. Once again, she touched her cheek and thought of that man's abusive words and hand to her. She was dipping into a scenario where no one was going to trust her and she stressed over that.

[Itzal 0]

Itzal's head snapped to the doorway when he heard another voice.  When he saw who it was he kept himself from smiling and managed to keep up the impression that he had never seen her before.  This of course wasn't true in the slightest, and if he were acting normally he'd greet her warmly.  However he had made her a promise and he intended to keep it.  In fact he made her two that were meant for the meetings:  That he would pretend he didn't know her and not give her direct kindness, but also that if people started treating her badly he'd end it all without making it seem like he was protecting or aiding her.  This could easily be done actually, and the fact that he was new could give him an edge in that fact if things started getting heated or nasty in any manner.  Keeping the impression that he didn't know who this newcomer was he listened to her words and frowned.  If bleed didn't work, and the boss had more MIT than most bosses, then he calculated he would be utterly useless in sense of damage.  And since he had no MIT whatsoever he'd be useless as a tank.  What could he do then?  For what purpose could he be used for?  He supposed all damage was necessary but at what risk?  If the boss had massive damage, and if it chose to pull off an AoE with each strike, unless he was fully healed before each strike he would most certainly drop down to zero swiftly.  His gaze landed on Beatbox with concern.  He was an even lower level than Itzal was.  Did he realize exactly what he was stepping into?  Somehow Itzal felt that he would be of no use other than strategic advice for this battle.  However he felt that the strongest players here had more experience and advice to offer.  So he supposed he was only here to learn?  What else was there?

[Kasier 0]

Kasier was really starting to regret her decision of wearing the Azure Brigade cloak. She knew that it had caused quite a bit of emotional mixtures back in the days but the amount of suspicious looks that she had obtained immediately from entering the guild hall. The inside was grand, quite fitting for a powerful guild and the design was very nice, something that she might even consider as a member of a guild herself. Eventually, the Celestial Ascendants would have to buy a guild hall themselves. Knowing Itzal, he would probably want something timid and quiet but to her, a guild hall must show off the quality of the guild, and if she had the power to choose, she would go with something grand and majestic with numerous amounts of light to show the guild's majestic abilities. Sure, the players of this guild have yet to increase drastically in level but that would happen in due time.

Kasier watched as a blonde lady walked closer to her and croaked her head before introducing herself. She states that she didn't believe that they have met but Kasier knew otherwise. (Although it hasn't happened yet, this happens before this thread even though I have yet to post that specific post in her shop.) Kasier had bought a grand dress from her in order to go on a fancy date with Itzal. The time that she had to make the dress was not very extensive and hence, Kasier is very grateful for her speed and ability in creation. Kasier felt a touch on her cloak and ignored it, deciding that the sudden contact was nothing but an accident. At that time, Itzal decided to sit near her. What a coincidence. At least now I won't feel awkward here. I'm probably the lowest-leveled player here. She thought, grabbing onto her hood and pulling the hood off, deciding that it would be rude to speak without taking it off first. "I believe we have met before, Ariel the tailor. Although I don't blame you for not remembering my insignificant face. The name is Kasier, I had picked up a dress from your shop recently." She explained to @Ariel - The Crowned Lion.

Kasier wanted to join @Itzal but she knew that if she left the woman, it would be very rude of her. Hence, she would stay and perhaps engage her in a conversation. "So, uh..." Kasier began, trying to find something to say, "How have you been recently?" After that, Kasier looked at Itzal, trying to catch his eyes and when she does, she shall wave at him with a smile.

[Calrex 0]

As Ariel snuck by and grabbed some of the snacks the bluenette gave a small laugh to himself before turning back around, directing his attention over to Macradon as the young man began to speak. The boss they were dealing with this time certainly seemed to have been designed differently than the ones they had faced in the past. Leonidas, Limbo, and many others were ones that were massive mob battles with a single boss creature, while others played to the environment like Malethis. Roc was another one unique on its own, and from what he understood recently one of the most deadly. What made this golem different was three things: 1. The raid teams would have to strike at the limbs to bring the weak point into striking range, meaning they couldn't go all out from the get go. 2. It had extremely high mitigation, potentially higher than any other ones they had faced before. 3. It was supposedly slow moving, potentially meaning that more teams could attack before it had a chance to act.

Crossing his eyes to contemplate Calrex looked over to see Opal arrive and give her own input, giving her input. Compared to what had happened before, this was almost a 180 switch. However, the Ultramarine Knight did understand where she was coming from, and as a result he trusted that the woman would help the rest of the frontliners with progressing forward.

Continuing to think the boss began to remind him of a popular series of games that had come out in the past recent years, a series with the idea of hunting and slaying gigantic monster that was so popular a whole slew of companies made games that were based on that system. The idea of attack limbs in order to get a shot at the weakpoint was not exactly a new thing.

"We'll definitely need to adjust our usual strategy for this fight. On the surface it may be close to a tank and attack encounter, but the fact that we need to strike the limbs to bring the head into attack range will result in those turns being used to deal minimal damage. Even if the boss may move slower, those turns spent will mean we may have equal to less strikers capable of attacking before the creature is able to react. That being said, if it does specialize in area of effect attacks, we could stack those odds in our favor if we at least give the opening rotation of all teams a chance to focus entirely on dealing damage. Having Safeguards activated on everyone before going into the boss fight means each team can focus damage to the limbs, and the head if we get lucky. That being said, like Opal stated, high damage output overall may be necessary. High damaging area of effect and single target Sword Arts can quickly whittle down whatever individual stats the limbs have so that we gain access to the head faster. That being said, energy recovery items and skills may need to be called into usage this time around, because constantly spending out most powerful skills will run through our energy pools rather quickly."

[Beatbox 0]

Beatbox smiled as the meeting moved on and on, and more and more people we're speaking about the boss at hand, Beatbox coughed and said out "I'll have to agree on everyone on this one... would you suppose our teams focus on just one part of the boss at a time? I believe that would make sense in a way... the higher leveled and stronger players can take on its actual core while the others work on their arm's and such... at least, that makes sense to me... but hey, I'm new to these sorts of meetings... maybe its just me." he said with a smile and he leaned back in his chair and continued to listen to everyone else talk about the boss raid that was at hand. He looked around at the attendance of the meeting, and he saw that Kasier had appeared... and another female that he hadn't met before was also here... but something about her seemed rather... dark... he shook his head and plastered a smile on his face as he listened to the meeting that progressed.

[Hikoru 0]

"That's a very interesting boss well be fighting, glad that I can help in conquering it." Out came a voice from the shadows. Soon Hikoru emerged and materialized in the room, hoping to make his presence known. He gave a small cough and sat down next to Ariel, giving her a small smile and a laugh. He sat down, Green Cursor above his head and intertwined his fingers and sat at the table, looking straight at Macradon.

"I have to agree with Opal. This creature is made of stone, and Bleed and-or Venom, or possibly any Status change will probably not affect this boss. It's quite a dangerous foe indeed if it's as big as you say it is. Our best best would to try and strike the legs. I have no clue whether or not anyone here had fought a creature this big. It could be quite dangerous. I would highly recommend everyone grab a Safeguard potion." He said, putting in his two cents worth. He took a small breath and looked at Beatbox, Itzal and Kaiser, motioning towards them

"As some of you know, I am apart of a guild with these fine gentlemen, and this lady" He said with a small smile "And they have helped me immensely just recently, which is why I ask a favor from this group: Protect them with your lives, as you would anyone else here. They are with us to help, and I need everyone to help out. We don't have a good tank in our guild, not yet anyways, we are working on it as well as we can. But I would ask that they would be put with Calrex or whoever is tanking, either together or apart, and this is asked as not just a frontliner" He looked into the eyes of everyone he knew, @Calrex, @Ariel - The Crowned Lion, @Baldur, @Macradon, @Seul and @Hirru. "I'm asking as a friend, a husband, and a trainee." He said, remembering the previous guilds he had been apart of "Please protect them, they are the closest thing I have to family here, and without them, I would not be here to talk at all, or even be able to see this immense guild hall." He said, pointing to his green cursor.

[Seul 1]

Seul had stayed quiet for most of the meeting. Mainly because he didn't have anything really constructive to add to the conversation that hadn't already been said, but also to hear what everyone else had to say concerning their tactics. The fight seemed pretty straightforward though. Take out the limbs then go for the head. Easy. They all worked fine together in the previous fight so he wasn't too worried about the battle to come. 

...

Despite his aloof behaviour he was still moved by Hikoru's words and shot a thumbs up of approval his way in response. "I can't really speak for everyone else, but I'll do what I can to make sure they get out in one piece. While we're on the subject of party composition though, maybe we should come up with at least a general idea of who'll be partying up? Just so we don't need to scramble to do it right before the fight."

[Itzal 0]

Itzal heard both Calrex and Beatbox make a comment and was going to think about it for a moment when the cloaked figure took of their hood and....  Kasier.  It was Kasier.  He looked at her with shock at first but when she smiled and waved Itzal's expression first showed utter joy at seeing her, waved, and deep inside hoped she wouldn't join the boss fight.  In fact, he wondered if she didn't want him to join the fight either.  As the two shared their points, Itzal began writing a message in his menu under the table and sent it to Kasier, her menu also appearing under the table.

Quote

Itzal >> Kasier

I need to know two things:  Are you planning on joining the boss Raid, and do you think I'm ready to join this particular one?

With that he returned his focus to the meeting and that's when Hikoru emerged from the shadows.  He looked over to Hikoru with a grin.  "Don't tell me I have to use my search and detect skills everywhere I go."  He chuckled as Hikoru took his seat and after he finished talking Itzal was happy to hear that Hikoru saw them as his family.  And while he was glad they players were willing to protect them, he did hope this didn't make them seem like children.  He continued to contemplate whether or not he should actually join the boss raid.  He wanted to join so he could find the boss room afterwards, but then again he would need someone to travel with him so that he could actually get past all the monsters. 

@Kasier @Hikoru

[Hirru 0]

"It seems we're getting that much more lively around here."

The hunter would say in a low tone to Macradon.  When the actual meeting started, the hunter would station himself next to Macradon, but remained standing.  The hunter decided to leave most of the discussion to the others.  His mind was nearly fried from the short time since the last floor raid.  However, his mind would still try to piece everything together as they went along.  It seemed that this would be a solo boss, like the previous floor, but would have a high amount of mitigation, and that it would take a few rotations to get to its weak point.  There are assumptions that it won't be affected by status effects, which was plausible as the boss was a stone giant.

While talks continued, the prospect of protecting one another came up.  The exchange was a bit fuzzy to the hunter as he was keeping his eyes low to avoid the light.  However, the point of protecting everyone and building the teams was a problem that he wanted to get out.  With the current front lines, as it were, they were without the protection of tanks.  The hunter would straighten himself here to speak.

"In terms of teams, we'll have to evenly spread everyone this time around.  Unless there are mobs hidden within the tall grass, then there shouldn't be any problems with mixing varied roles together.  Tanks and healers for every team, if we can support it.  If we don't have enough healers, then we'll have one of each team stock up on healing crystals."

At this point, the hunter only knew Zandra as the designated healer of the front lines, but she was also an effective damage dealer.  He assumed that some of the newer members of may have some support roles other than scout that could be used, but he wouldn't know until he received their stats.

"Unfortunately, we have an issue with the teams in the tank category.  As of now, we have Calrex, Xion, and Commander Heathcliff who are our designated tanks.  However, Xion has been in his shop more lately, and hasn't come out since the floor raid.  I don't want to think it, but we probably won't be getting him out for some time."

He sighed heavily before continuing.

"With that, we only have the two tanks left.  Not enough for the three teams like last time, and even then we're still growing.  Soon, we'll need a fourth tank, and I don't want it to be a 'meat shield'.  Thank you, Takao, for what you did for team 3, but that is a last resort deal.  I don't want it to happen every single time."

The hunter would pause for a bit before continuing, just in case someone wanted to interject.

"If anything, I'll probably be training myself to take that role, so that we can have a secure amount of tanks, for a time.  That way we can protect everyone."

He would say with a grin.

"I'll need a shield and skill training, though."

Edited November 10, 2016 by Hirru

[Baldur 0]

Baldur had listened proudly to the goings on of the boss meeting. Never before had he attended one so well run a productive. It had seemed to the wanna be samurai that after the last meeting everyone had come together in a way that was truly befitting of frontliners. In fact, so proud was Baldur that he almost forgot to speak.

"It is good to see your new family show up to the raid meetings Hikoru." Baldur said with a smile and placed a hand on Itzal's shoulder. The progress the young man had made was nothing short of remarkable.

"Unfortunately Hirru is as perceptive as always. Barring Takao putting his life at risk simply due to his huge amount of HP, we're left with only two teams of six. Calrex and Commander Heathcliff being our only two tanks until we can get more trained."

Baldur sighed and gestured sadly.

"We're going to have to be picky with teams until we get our missing tanks back."

[Opal 0]

"As nightmarish as it seems, Baldur makes an obvious point. We lack tanks, but its not only tanks, but we also lack premium strength. With only two teams, we have twelve members. And we are forgetting this is floor nineteen, we are a floor below twenty which will eventually break the tier 2 standards. We need to keep this battle for heavy hitters and frontliners with high levels. It's admirable that our guests would like to participate, but we run the risk of their lives if we allow more to enter this battle. It will have to be balanced and reserved for those who can handle hits as well as dish them out. Glass cannons are not a good choice for this battle, an AoE hits and you might as well kiss your life goodbye." 

Opal took her foot off the wall and moved towards the central room brushing one of the many rogue strands of hair from her face from the loose bun on the top of her head, "We are making progress but we can't just push forward into this boss battle. Its the top echelon of tier two Boss Raids. High mitigation, high damage, possibly area of attacks where a Tank might not be enough. If we do a group of three, everyone and I mean everyone needs to have a full slot of the best healing crystals they can acquire for personal use and for team heals. I know we are so close to twenty, but perhaps we should take some time and build our supplies and come back with another meeting in another week or two. There is no last minute grinding, we can't simply rush to kill a boss because we are so close to hitting twenty. We could lose lives if we don't do this the smart way."   

[Takao 0]

Takao lifted his leg and rested the sole of his boot on the edge of the table, using it as leverage to rock his chair back and forth on the hind legs. He had taken a back-seat to the discussions that raged on, primarily the one regarding tanks. His involvement in the third team in the last raid was done for necessity. As much as he wanted to claim that it was the right thing to do and anybody would have done it, Takao had a more pessimistic outlook. The threshold of relevancy was once a joke among the community of Sword Art Online; an imaginary line that determined whether or not you were relevant to the reality of the game or not that meant literally nothing to some and the world to others. But that imaginary line was a very real thing, and a very dangerous thing as they progressed. As the vast majority placed their trust in the hands of a small few players to clear the game, major deaths left the frontlines at a stalemate. Losing key players was extremely detrimental to the progress as a whole, and Takao was numerically relevant enough that taking such a risk was rather foolish in the grand scheme of things.

As his thoughts raged on, Takao remained silent. His hands steepled under his chin while he listened, bobbing his head if only to sate his restless urges for movement. Nothing he had to say would add to the conversation, and the necessity for a leader to step up had long since been filled. He was merely a soldier for this war, a drone tunnel-visioned for the success of the hive. He trusted them to point him in a direction, and he trusted his gut to determine whether or not he would follow.

[Zandra 0]

As the founder of the boss room revealed the information he had got, the talking started to get a much more lively. Everyone wanted to make a point to what the boss would do to them. Like big AoE attacks, that would greatly reduce the use of tanks, and beeing immune to those dot damages that was available in the game. I glanced at Hakai, a girl Ive spotted and the current owner of the demonic item I got from a previous boss fight, it was probably the best condition weapon that existed. But at that time it didnt fit with my build so I had handed over it to one of my best friends, Manta Gaul. Now tohug, I would never see her again thanks to a red-head that wasnt here. They also mentioned high mitigation, that would be a huge disadvantage as well, if your attack isnt strong enough to bypass the mitigation, then you would be close to useless. This would rely be a though nut to crack.

Another thing that came up was, that they should all stack up on the best healing items they could get. I looked down at my hands. These hands was the best ones in whole Aincrad to make the potions and crystals that was needed. Another look around and some counting. If everyone would have one stack of mas healing and one personal, then a safeguard as well as the other buffs it would be. Oh my! in two teams of six each it would something like 180! perfect crystals. I suddenly felt dizzy and stumbled forth a few steps to the table, quickly pulling out a chair to sit down before I fell. I placed my elbos on the table with my forehead resting on my open palms. If I wouldnt complete it in time, that could turn out in me beeing resposible for tohers losing their lives, not only here, but in real as well. Or was this real? ''I...'' a quiet word slipped out thru my mouth. ''I...'' another quiet word. I gulped to clean my throat. Then a deep breath and I looked up, I was a frontliner, I couldnt make a bad expression to the rest. ''Im ready to agree with Opal. Not only because we shouldnt rush it. But if you all says you have to stack up on potions and crystals. Im the only alchemist around that is still active to the public as much as I know. It gonna take time to make such a huge amount of items. It also gonna take alot of materials, and Im almost out of materials.'' I paused to take a small breath before conttinung. ''Of course we need healing and safety items, not that Im saying, just that it will take time and Im to poor to do it if someones of you can donate materials to me. Dont wants to be greedy but thats the situation Im in at the moment.'' I looked around the room on all players present. There was several persons I hold dear. Others that I havent got to knew  good, just met briefly. Thou I still didnt want any single one of them to disapear into nothingness.

[Calrex 0]

The conversation was definitely continuing, but as many eager people, Calrex himself to a level included, wanted to get this next floor unlocked to keep their move going. However, such a move would prove to be more risk than benefit. The floor boss was something they would need to be cautious against, at the least to avoid losing any lives. With their lack of up to par tanks, that meant that teams would also be limited. Takao definitely had proven himself a sufficient defense as a "meat shield", something the Ultramarine Knight himself was familiar with, but the fact remained that HP was not a safe substitute for mitigation. At the same time, their damage output was also limited as a result. Even if they went in with only tanks and damage dealers, many players had optimized their damage by going the way of the "glass cannon," sacrificing defense and to some level evasion in order to top out their damage.

Adding to that was Zandra's point of turning out potions and other items necessary for the raids. The less popular professions like cooks, alchemists, and bards were in fact extremely important, however to the bluenette's knowledge there was only a few high rank alchemists still in operation. Rain was one he knew off hand, but few others that were at the same level as the young woman. Mari's Alchemic Contagion was also an option, but he had not heard news of the pink-haired dagger user for far too long to suspect she would be considered "active."

"At this point, it may be a best bet for us to bide our time for now to amass our forces rather than rushing into this. We can focus both in getting tanks and damage dealers working their way up to snuff, as well as giving time for the consumable-making professions ample time to amass supplies. Of course materials will always be an issue, so we may need to organize some material gathering runs to make sure there's enough to go around. As for damage I recently grandmastered Martial Arts, so with some damage boosting enhancements I can contribute a decent amount on solo targets, at least if my math hasn't gotten too rusty from being in here for so long, heh. The only issue would be that as a result I wouldn't be able to make use of a shield without using a turn to switch between offense and defense. I would think for now our main priority would be securing another tank, as that will allow us to safely support another party in the raid."

[Kasier 0]

Kasier smiled as she saw a private message appear in her mailbox. It was to be expected that Itzal would send her a message since there was no way that they can talk with their distance without bothering other players. The meeting was well underway at this point and the players seem to be complaining rather than actual discussion regarding tactics. It seemed that the front liners were in dire need of tanks at the moment but it appears that they were unaware of her intentions of becoming a tank once she has fully mastered the healing build that she was working on at the moment. It would only take two more skill points for Kasier to get the mod "field medic" and once she gets that, she will have fully mastered the healing build. However, she still had intentions of improving as a player. The next build that she would go for is the tank build, something that would be a lot harder to fully max out due to the amount of skills and mods that a tank can acquire. It would be a long-term process but it would be worth it, both for her as a player and for the front lines to obtain another tank who can take damage and prevent death. Still, that would be long into the future and not something for her to worry at the present time. Kasier read the message that she had gotten before sending one of her own.

Quote

 

Kasier >> Itzal

I'm going to skip this one, I don't think that I high-leveled enough to not risk death in this boss raid. Itzal, you are ready for anything that you want to be ready for. If you think you can succeed in not dying, do whatever your heart desires.

 

@Itzal

[Itzal 0]

As Itzal listened to the discussion he frowned and folded his hands, placing his elbows on the table for support as he thought very deeply.  What Opal said very much worried him.  If her words were true, neither he nor Beatbox should enter this boss battle, but should wait for the next one instead.  As he thought about this one of the front liners, reluctant though it seemed, agreed with Opal.  When she mentioned how she was low on materials Itzal knew he could provide them, and even go out and find much more she needed.  When Kasier replied he read the message carefully.  With Kasier not going the only reason he'd need to fight would be to keep Beatbox safe.  He opened his menu under the table again and sent a message to Beatbox first.

Quote

Itzal >> Beatbox

Beat, Opal makes a really good point, and even one of the front lineres agrees with her.  If they agree with Calrex to take their time, then we can wait for a tank or two to emerge.  Otherwise I beg of you not to enter this one.  Wait one last boss fight.

After he sent the message he looked up at the front liners, @Zandra in particular.  "I can provide you the materials you need.  My build is scout based, so while I may not be of any help whatsoever in this particular boss fight, I can provide you with as many materials as you require."  He opened his menu as he continued to speak to Zandra.  "I can send you forty materials now and then go out and collect anything else you need.  And I actually have a friend, the tank paladin of our guild, who's also a potion maker but nobody's come to his shop.  If you're willing to go to his shop I can provide him with materials as well to get you all the items you require."  And with the press of a button he sent Zandra the forty materials.  "If what she says" he said referring to Opal and not calling her by name, "is true then I don't think I can join this boss fight.  Not only am I a glass cannon, but my damage output is pitiful."

@Kasier @Beatbox @Opal

Edited November 10, 2016 by Itzal