As Reidar activated his Perk Tree, the interface flared to life. He looked at the branches and at the nodes he had already unlocked, and that represented his progression.
His gaze followed the lines to various grayed-out icons—nodes he had overlooked in his earlier levels.
Although he felt a brief flicker of frustration, questioning whether the key to defeating Silas lay within those discarded options, he dismissed the thought to focus on his immediate goal: identifying some functional perks that could help him defeat the man.
What Reidar needed were perks that would let him fight a single opponent using a coordinated army—even a smaller one.
He looked at the first option.
[Familiar Bond] Strengthens your summons, increasing their health and granting them a portion of your mana regeneration. (+5% attribute inheritance per point) Max Level: 10
<Silas is a… Well, I don't even know his fighting style that well… I would say he is a kind of mage. >
He was reliant on magic, and magic allowed him to hit quite hard. Reidar's summons were strong but were mostly low tier.
Luckily, he got some new skills in the past week, as his elemental summoning skills got to higher tiers, but he wasn't going to be able to share them since they were still at low proficiency, and even trying to bring them up yielded low results.
Sharing summoning skills was impossible too, since his other skills were all around 40% proficiency, though a lot of them allowed him to make monsters at low tiers.
But most of his summons had skills on their own, and while they could not summon more creatures, they could still use their skills to deal with Silas. Having better mana regeneration would make them stronger.
So, Reidar dumped ten points into it.
[Perk 'Familiar Bond' increased to 10/10.]
[Remaining Perk Points: 14]
The next choice he needed to consider was focused on enhancing his ability to engage and combat a single enemy target. Reidar already had the Pack Tactics perk, which gave a 15% damage bonus whenever his summoned creatures focused their attacks on the same target that he was actively targeting.
That had proven useful against single bosses in the past, but Reidar more often than not fought against multiple enemies at the same time.
While multiple summons dealt an increased 15% damage when they ganged up on a single enemy—albeit one that was part of a larger army—the effect wasn't that impressive against something out of a mob.
Regardless, with the new perks he had in mind, Reidar would be able to gain even more advantages against a single enemy. The kind of advantage that would turn a duel into an execution.
Silas was dangerous because he was fast, high-level, and good at magic. He had escaped Creamont and evaded the Aegis Phalanx, so he was smart and good at erasing his tracks too.
Reidar scrolled among the list of perks. The first thing he had to do was to make it harder for Silas to fight on the ground. He would likely be able to bypass the effect of this perk by flying, but that would consume mana.
[Crushing Presence] Enemies within 20 meters of at least 50 allied summons suffer from 'Crushing Dread,' reducing their movement and attack speed by 5% per point invested (up to 45%). Max Level: 9.
This was how Reidar was planning to counter a single enemy. Silas would be surrounded by his summons. Reidar would need to call out all of them to fight Silas. The creatures would activate this perk.
He selected it.
[Perk 'Crushing Presence' increased to 9/9.]
[Remaining Perk Points: 5]
He had five points left. Now, the most important perk had to be chosen, and Reidar already knew what to take. He didn't need area-of-effect spells—Silas was one man—he needed single-target aggression.
[Coordinated Assault] Your summons prioritize targets you attack, gaining a +3% bonus to their damage against that enemy per point. Max Level: 5.
This was the finisher. If Reidar attacked Silas while using Gaze of the Pariah and Emperor's Decree, each summon would simply shred him into pieces.
—[« Emperor's Decree »] —
Tier: 32
Proficiency: 0.0%
Type: Active
Casting: Instant
[ Description ]
A spell that forces the concept of "Victory" onto the caster's army.
[ Core Attributes ]
Mana Cost: 35,000
Cooldown: 1 Hour
Duration: 15 Minutes
Targets: All allies within 5 Kilometers
[ Effects ]
God-Slayer's Might: +200% Damage (Physical & Magical).
Fate-Weaver: Critical Hit chance set to minimum 50%.
Legion's Immortality: Fatal damage is negated, and the ally heals to 50% HP (Internal cooldown: 30s per ally).
Unstoppable March: Movement Speed +100%, flight capability granted to all ground units.
The Emperor's Tax: The Caster gains 1% of all damage dealt by allies as Mana.
[ Acquisition Data ]
Source: Evolved from "Warchief's Command" at 100% proficiency.
Requirements: Level 310.
—[<<END>>]—
—[« Gaze of the Pariah »] —
Tier: T32
Proficiency: 100.0%
Type: Active
Casting: Instant
[ Description ]
Applies a powerful arcane curse to up to 3 targets simultaneously within visual range, rotting their defenses from the inside out. This debuff dramatically increases all damage the target receives and reveals their vulnerabilities.
[ Core Attributes ]
Base Power: Targets' Physical Resistance is reduced by 45%, and Magical Resistance is reduced by 30% for the duration.
Damage Type: Arcane / Debuff
Mana Cost: 8000 Mana
[ Secondary Effects ]
Cooldown: 5 seconds
Duration: 60 seconds
Weak Point Detection: Reveals structural and magical weak points on marked targets, highlighting them in red for the caster and all party members. This allows for strikes on vulnerable areas.
Multi-Target: Can mark up to 3 targets simultaneously within visual range.
[ Acquisition Data ]
Source: Skill Evolution from [Mark of Frailty]
Requirements: [Mark of Frailty] at 100% proficiency
—[<<END>>]—
Coordinated Assault locked onto whatever Reidar himself attacked. Against Silas, there would be no distractions, no split targets—just one man.
[Perk 'Coordinated Assault' increased to 5/5.]
[Remaining Perk Points: 0]
Reidar closed the window and confirmed his choices. The plan seemed solid. But he had a problem: he couldn't use Skill Sharing in this fight. His most powerful ability was useless because none of his skills were strong enough yet—they all needed to be at 50% proficiency at least before he could share them. This meant the fight would come down to just him and the Archdeacon, nothing more.