Chapter 44: All-magic lineup
Translated by Addis of Exiled Rebels Scanlations
Editor: Karai
The guild dungeon originally offered demon point rewards, and Apple promised commissions and materials. Additionally, there was a bit of a grudge with the Temple of the Gods, so Su Mo thought it was worth a try. However, he had never been involved with guild dungeons, and the guides were somewhat one-sided. To improve speed, it was best to test the skills himself.
“Iâve never done a guild dungeon either,” said Yu Zhen. “Are you planning to take us through?”
Su Mo replied, “I just saw that the first week’s speed ranking not only gives generous rewards to the guild but also awards substantial points to participating players. Havenât you been grinding demon dungeons recently to earn points and exchange for equipment?”
Yu Zhen paused slightly, “Do you have a plan?”
Su Mo shook his head, “I need to try it out. Our guild can also open one. I’ll go in and test the skills over the next couple of days.”
The skill mechanism in [Pear Blossom Hollow] had become publicly transparent over the past few weeks. Finding the skill mechanism online wasnât difficult. Su Mo agreed to help Apple but wasnât in a rush to take a group for practice. Instead, he planned to test it in his own way. At the same time, he asked Apple for a list of [Fruit Platter] guild members. Apart from the four of them, the remaining 11 people needed to be selected.
Su Mo received the list at eight in the evening. He and UnchainedWanderer had just finished grinding for demon points and were resting in the main city, preparing to enter the dungeon. The list contained all the members of the [Fruit Platter] guild, prioritizing the top 200 ranked players within the guild. It was a comprehensive dataset covering various professions.
Apple said, “Our guild still has two teams competing for the leaderboard. The people crossed out on this list belong to those teams. We can choose from the remaining ones.”
“How do we select people?” ScarletFruit glanced over the list and said, “Many of the top fifty have been taken by the elite teams. There arenât many left for us.”
Fixed team players were prioritized, leaving only 170 out of the top 200 available for selection. The configuration options were quite limited. Since the guild dungeon required a 15-person team, they needed to consider the main tank, off-tank, and DPS, as well as high-end healers who could handle the pressure.
“Equipment is secondary; coordination is more important than gear,” Yu Zhen said after reviewing the main list. “The [Fruit Platter] guild members are skilled, with basic operational awareness. However, in Pear Blossom Hollowâs raids, coordination sometimes outweighs equipment.”
Su Mo was selecting members and asked Yu Zhen, “Are there any familiar faces here?”
Yu Zhen suggested, “No, focus on their overall dungeon ratings. PvE data is more critical.”
Su Mo turned his attention back to the list.
Gathering all the top-tier DPS for a maximum output team required excellent coordination, low error tolerance, and stability. One mistake could cost the entire team. Moreover, he couldnât stay with [Fruit Platter] long-term to help with guild dungeons. Helping [Fruit Platter] climb the ranks meant assisting them in forming a stable team that could consistently perform.
Thus, the team needed flexibility in roles, command pressure, and member coordination. [Fruit Platter] had an abundance of magic-based professions but lacked melee ones. Out of the top 200 players, nearly 130 were magic-based, with many healers. Melee professions were scarce.
For high output, high DPS melee professions were more effective than magic-based ones. However, the problem was their limited number of melee professions. Even the few they had were mostly taken by the other two elite teams, leaving limited options for them.
“The key to maximum output lies in DPS. High attack melee DPS are fragile, and there’s a high risk for the off-tank. After death, it wastes healing and combat resurrection cooldowns. Once a DPS makes a mistake, the overall output of the team will slow down, which is not worth it.”
“First, let’s talk about the basic team composition: one warrior, three healers, and the other eleven DPS⊔ Su Mo continued to look at the list, “two array masters, two Daoist priests, two mages, two magical swordsmen, one physical swordsman, one summoner, and one assassin.”
As soon as this list was read out, Apple remained silent for a long time.
This was an all-magic lineup! Except for the warrior, physical swordsman, and assassin, the rest were all magic-based professions. Up to now, there hadn’t been any team with an all-magic lineup on the guild dungeon speed ranking⊠Could they really make it work?
ClearWind said, “Looks a bit stimulating.”
ScarletFruit replied, “âŠBro, why do I feel like youâre picking professions from high to low? Is it that casual?”
“Didn’t you say there’s no one left?” Su Mo checked off behind the list. “Let’s just make do with this lineup. Our all-magic lineup is balanced enough, and it’ll be easier for you to adjust the personnel later.”
Apple asked, “Only one warrior? What if there’s off-tank or death?”
“I’ll cover the off-tank position. Later, you can find another warrior to be the off-tank. If there’s a summoner, even better⊠After I leave, you can call on FireworksAndLanterns for the top position,” Su Mo looked at Apple, “Oh, right, I want two clerics for healing.”
Apple was puzzled.
Wasn’t it said not to focus on maximum output? Now, they didn’t want a main healer but two off-healers, and they were only bringing one warrior as the tank? Wasn’t this the maximum output? Especially with an all-magic lineup, this was playing with fire, bro!
The voice channel within the management group of the Fruit Platter guild was lively. At this moment, two managers were arguing. As the deadline for the first week’s ranking drew closer, the gap in points on the overall ranking visibly narrowed. The arguing parties were from the management of [WhatAHugeWatermelon] and [StrawberryYogurt]. With only two days left until the ranking, the [Fruit Platter] guild was almost leading raids through [Pear Blossom Hollow] every day. However, despite trying various methods, their raid scores were still struggling to surpass the previous rank.
The top record on the leaderboard came from [Zenith Expanse], with a time of 01:03:14, followed closely by [Veiled Cloud Sanctuary] at 01:05:22. The top ten raid times were very close, almost all done by elite teams. The best raid time for [Fruit Platter] was 01:25:06, and the score for [Temple of the Gods] was 01:15:45. The nearly ten-minute difference was what they had managed to close in the past few days.
The guild dungeon operated with a team sprint approach, and the permitted number of participants was 15.
The arguing parties each led an elite team. In the final moments, they planned to gather the high-DPS players from both elite teams and make a sprint. However, they argued over command and raiding methods. One wanted to use a maximum output configuration, but seven out of ten attempts ended in failure. The other aimed for stability by bringing more healers, but the output might not be sufficient.
“I’ve inquired. The team configurations from Zenith Expanse are all top-notch. It’s highly likely they’re stacking maximum output,” said Watermelon. “I understand your preference for stability, but at this stage, what’s more important is to get through this week’s ranking. We can think of other ways later.”
StrawberryYogurt hesitated, “We all have limited energy. Your setup has a low success rate. If we follow you and still can’t make it, we might end up exhausted.”
Listening to the managers debating, one of them couldn’t help but ask, “What about Apple? Didn’t he say he found some reinforcements a few days ago? I haven’t seen him organizing any teams in the guild.”
“You mean Momo? I saw a few people join the guild a couple of days ago. These past few days, it seems Apple has been raiding with them.”
“Is it reliable? Time is running out.”
“I’m not sure. None of those people have raided guild dungeons before. I feel a bit uncertain about letting them lead.”
Just as they were discussing, Apple joined the voice channel and spoke up, “Watermelon, I need to borrow two people.”
Watermelon felt apprehensive, “What are you doing!? We’re already short-handed here, and you’re asking us for help?”
“Aren’t we about to start raiding?” Apple continued, “Just lend me an assassin. You guys have monopolized all the melee. Just lend me one assassin, and also lend me a mage from your team. Old Banana’s schedule doesn’t match up, so I’m short two people.”
Borrowing two people wasn’t too much⊠Watermelon said, “I’ll go help you with Strawberry. When’s the raid? Just make sure it doesn’t conflict with ours.”
Apple was delighted, “Don’t worry, there won’t be any conflict.”
Watermelon understood, “In the afternoon, then? It’s perfect, tomorrow’s Saturday⊔
“No, no,” Apple said, “Here’s the plan. We’re starting at 8:00 a.m.”
Watermelon was puzzled, “?”
Apple clarified, “Meet up at 7:00. Can you wake up at 6:30?”
Watermelon was speechless. I don’t even wake up this early for work!!
***
At 6:30 in the morning, the road north of Sunset City felt particularly desolate. Several players from the [Fruit Platter] guild sat on stone pillars in the city, yawning sleepily.
“Everyone’s up pretty early.”
“Did anyone even get any sleep? Is this 7:00 am gathering time serious?”
“It’s not bad. Apple said we could go offline after finishing and have lunch and a nap.”
“I was pulled into pushing the rankings last night. I only slept for two hours before the alarm woke me up.”
Su Mo was surprised when he logged in. Being in a large guild was different; the execution was much faster than in a pickup group.
The guild dungeon [Pear Blossom Hollow] was located north of Sunset City, in a nameless small mountain town that had been invaded by demons one day, enslaving the townsfolk and making life unbearable. The goal of this dungeon was to rescue the townspeople, defeat the boss, which essentially meant clearing monsters. The puzzle-solving aspect was not high; the main challenge lay in teamwork.
Accompanying Apple were two guild managers, StrawberryYogurt, who was a mage with decent stats, and WhatAHugeWatermelon, an assassin ranked fifth on the assassin leaderboard. When he joined the group, there were already eight people in the team, four of whom were new faces like Momo and others.
Upon learning the team composition, he felt that it was too chaotic. A summoner as the off-tank? Two clerics and one healer? Only two melee DPS?
It was a configuration that made his head spin, even though he was familiar with the dungeon mechanics. He didn’t know if there was a special purpose in leading such a team.
By 7:30, most of the team members had arrived. Watermelon looked at the changing configuration of the team once again as the team leader, Momo, made some adjustments. Currently, there were three squads.
Team 1: Warrior, physical swordsman, assassin, summoner, healer.
Team 2: Magical swordsman, Daoist priest, mage, array master, cleric.
Team 3: Magical swordsman, Daoist priest, mage, array master, cleric.
“Hello, everyone! How was your sleep today?” ClearWind efficiently organized Team 1 members. “We’re going to fight together from now on. I’m your captain, ClearWindIsHere.”
Watermelon was puzzled, “What’s the meaning of these groups?”
“This is great, isn’t it?” ClearWind said. “Look, the warrior, healer, and summoner are all in our team. With so many professions, we are the central team, the core team, you know?”
Their Team 1 was indeed a core team. The other teams were standard compositions of four magic users and one healer per team, while their Team 1 consisted of a main tank, an off-tank, and a main healer. Watermelon thought about it and felt that something was off. This team had all kinds of magic professions, average output, average healing, and even the tanking didn’t give him much confidence.
“Open the team voice chat. Communication is key,” Su Mo’s voice was clear. “Hello, everyone. I’m the team commander, summoner Momo. After the dungeon starts, follow your team leaders’ actions and positions. Team 1 is ClearWindIsHere, Team 2 is UnchainedWanderer, and Team 3 is ScarletFruit. Since it’s a speedrun dungeon, time is limited. After positioning, we’ll start pulling mobs directly.”
Inside the team channel, the summoner’s voice echoed as he made sure that each member had their potions and items ready before initiating the [Pear Blossom Hollow] dungeon. With a team of 15, they entered Pear Blossom Hollow and quickly arrived at its entrance.
Upon entering the dungeon, they would encounter the first boss, the gatekeeper of Pear Blossom Hollow, named Dashan.
Dashan was a physical monster, specializing in physical attacks with high HP and defense. After preliminary testing, he was found to have three skills: Roar, Earthquake, and Sacrifice. Roar randomly targeted a direction, causing a 10-second debuff on the affected player, reducing their attack, healing, and defense by 50%. Earthquake inflicted AoE damage, causing significant pressure on the healers.
The most troublesome skill was Sacrifice, which targeted a random player in the entire group. That player would bear the entire team’s damage for 5 seconds and explode upon death, dealing a hundred times the damage absorbed to nearby allies. The targeted player was guaranteed to die, and those caught in the explosion would also perish. This skill was particularly tricky as the targeted player wouldn’t know they were chosen until the three-second countdown to death, hence it was dubbed the “death bomb” skill.
While the skill mechanics of this dungeon weren’t difficult, the boss had high health and was annoying, making it one of the most time-consuming parts of the dungeon.
“[Fruit Platter] has initiated the guild dungeon [Pear Blossom Hollow], difficulty â â â â , with 15 members. Comprehensive evaluation of team members, dungeon level corrected to S-class, disabling level restrictions, health restrictions, allowing team dispels, team buffs⊠The first dungeon challenge is now underway, and the timer has started. Good luck, everyone.”
As they stepped into the attack range of the first boss, the dungeon timer began. The three team leaders swiftly ran over with clear objectives, and all members of the group took precise positions.
Just as they positioned themselves, the commander, Momo, issued the command to start the encounter. “Teams 2 and 3, array masters, shield up. Clerics, stack attribute buffs. Doaist priests, mages, and magical swordsmen, focus on full output. Others, focus on self-preservation.”
Su Mo’s voice was calm, “Team 1 healer, monitor the warrior’s health. Others, watch your positioning.”
Watermelon was puzzled. As a top assassin in dungeon burst damage, he enjoyed the array from the array master, the care from the healer, and the buff support from other professions. But here, he had no shield from the array master, no buffs from the cleric, and even the healer was focused on the warrior.
“Watermelon, be careful,” ClearWind said. “I’ll take the vanguard. Hide behind me, and I’ll protect you.”
The two teams on the boss’s flank enjoyed unique care and buff stacking, while Watermelon, watching from afar, couldn’t believe it. His output continued, but his confidence wavered as he silently moved behind ClearWindIsHere. Was this supposed to be a special team? This was clearly an orphaned team!!
Author’s note:
Apple: I found you an assassin with excellent situational awareness.
Momo: How skilled is he?
Apple: He’s fifth on the assassin leaderboard and is the leader of our guild’s top-ranking squad.
Momo suddenly realized and placed the assassin in Team 1.
Uhhhh~ another thrilling dungeon run~ can’t wait another chapter… Ugh~ my stomach hurts in anticipation~ đ€§
I get confused with factions, guilds etc, but I suppose it’s not that important really? I get who the ‘enemy’ is, which does matter đ Enjoying this.