[SP-F3] Size Means Nothing Against The Darkness <<search for the Hoya>> completed

[Domarus 0]

Domarus had heard about a quest on the third floor.  The item he would never had needed, but the sp was what he was after.  He would probably give the item to Keres and if she disliked it then he'd just leave it.  From what he heard the bosses should be a piece of cake as well.  No challenge at all, just grinding for experience.  As usual of course he thought to himself.  Domarus equipped his Hopebreaker set, covering himself head to toe in the intimidating black, red glowing armor, putting on the gauntlets, and placing his two handed battle ax on the sheath attached to his back.  The matriarch's stinger was in his inventory of course, but he would have absolutely no need of it.  He saw Keres walk up to him and decided to let her come along.  He had the ability to protect her easily, and she was very evasive.  Domarus closed his shop and went to the teleporter, warping to floor three and began to head towards the town gate.  Keres looked at Domarus as they walked.  As usual she wore the maid outfit she picked for herself.
     "So Domarus, which quest is this one?"  
     "Search for the Hoya.  The reward is a vanity item that I'll have no use for and the bosses are pathetic, but it's still experience to be gained.  Experience is what I need after all."  Domarus voice would sound metallic and deeper than usual whenever he wore the helmet.  Keres nodded and she continued to walk alongside Domarus.  She knew he'd win.  There wasn't anything on these low levels that could possibly stand in his way.

Edited February 22, 2017 by Domarus

[Domarus 0]

Rhozarth at on Domarus' shoulder piece while they walked, the flaming dragon wearing dark iron skeleton armor as usual.  The familiar's eyes pierced everything, searching far and wide for possible threat's or targets.  The familiar may not have been a searching familiar, but it was good at gauging enemies and possible allies.  Indeed, Domarus was pleased with his catch.  The creature was strong, and once Domarus maxed out it's skills, it would finally be worth it to Domarus.  Currently it would only give one damage, which was canceled out by Domarus' battle ax.  However once he maxed out his familiar and hit tier two, his familiar would give him six extra damage.  This would open his weapon to more options.  Domarus had considered getting status effects on his weapon but decided against it.  He wanted to give his sword accuracy, allowing him to hit his opponent every time.  This was because his normal attacks dealt far more damage than status attacks ever could.  That weapon would be a part of his Hopebreaker set.  It would be made up of the accuracy sword, mitigation armor, and thorns gauntlets with a unique enhancement, hopefully.  If not he'd just get an enhancement that would regenerate energy.  This in addition to meditation maxed out would give him energy to continue fighting.

[Domarus 0]

Skills.  Collecting the right skills in the right order was essential in SAO.  Domarus wanted to max out his damage first, that was his top priority.  Which was why he'd max out Rhozarth, and then get more ferocity mods.  However after that he'd work on heavy armor to get more mitigation and essentially reach the third rank to unlock a mod that increased his damage and health at the same time.  The increase in health wasn't much but it was still something.  Once that was obtained he needed to work on either charge, battle healing, and meditation.  He had thought about extended weight though.  One of his problems was that other players would take advantage of his weaknesses and exploit them.  However he had realized something.  If he had debuffs as well as healing items.  And if items were allowed.  He could have Mitigation, damage, debuffs, and healing items on him at all times.  If this were the case, even if he was assaulted by another player, or if he entered a duel, he had plenty of items required to overcome them.  So many people thought that winning a duel required all out skills stats and mods.  However you needed the brains to know where to invest your experience.  However Domarus needed to think about which skills he should go for first.  He was first and foremost a dps, so most likely he should start with charge, then meditation, then battle healing, extended weight last.

[Domarus 0]

Domarus also planned to have a second set of equipment.  A tanking set.  This way he could assist as a tank during boss raids.  However he'd only do that after he gained battle healing, which of course caused him to wonder if he should switch charge and battle healing.  He had thought about it and decided he would make his armor mitigation as usual, his weapon would have status on it, and his gauntlet would have healing enhancements, and hopefully a unique enhancement.  From what he heard however the enhancements were a pain to get.  There were two ways and from what he heard both were difficult.  Finally the two reached the town gate and Domarus made his way towards the forest.  As they moved through the trees Rhozarth adjusted himself, peering into the forest and making a low growl sound.  Domarus looked in the same direction and saw four pairs of eyes watching him.  He nodded to Keres who backed up a little and drew his huge battle ax.  As he did the figures charged forward, howling.  They were minotaurs however seeing as how they weren't huge and their horns smaller than expected, he suspected these were young ones.  That made no difference to Domarus.  The four monsters each had a short ax that they tried to swing at Domarus.  However it completely bounced off his armor.  With all of them near, he unleashed his new AoE attack, explode catapult, slashing at the first two, then the next, and finally crashing the butt of his weapon into the ground.  The damage was incredible, but not nearly what he would be dealing soon enough.  After maxing out his damage and charge, a successful attack with this could deal much more devastating damage.

Spoiler

ID#  77057  BD:  8  CD:  1  MD:  2  -Sword art used:  Explode Catapult-  x2x7 dmg, -28 energy

Domarus:  480/480  -  20/48
Minotaur#1:  72/240  -12x2x7=168 dmg-
Minotaur#2:  72/240  -12x2x7=168 dmg-
Minotaur#3:  72/240  -12x2x7=168 dmg-
Minotaur#4:  72/240  -12x2x7=168 dmg-

 

Edited February 10, 2017 by Domarus

[Domarus 0]

Keres watched from where she stood the awesome power Domarus had unleashed upon the monsters.  His damage was incredible and while it wasn't enough to kill the monsters, it had brought them down to red health in one stroke.  She knew that even if they hit him he'd be perfectly fine.  His mitigation would cut their damage down to nearly zero on this floor, and his thorns would deal good damage to them as well.  The monsters had no chance, it was only a matter of time.  Domarus on the other hand had watched his energy drop past halfway.  This changed his mind about the skills.  After maxing out charge, he'd work on maxing out meditation, unless the energy cost of his weapon dropped with an update he would surely need it.  His strongest sword art cost far more energy than his second strongest after all, which only cost twelve energy.  The minotaur's roared with rage after dropping into the red zone and charged Domarus.  He tried to counter with another attack but they dodged it.  The creatures were faster than he imagined.  Or was it because he wasn't fast?  Regardless, everything would change once he hit tier two.  It was only a matter of time.

Spoiler

ID#  77058  BD:  2  CD:  6  MD:  1  -Missed, -1 energy-

Domarus:  480/480  -  19/48
Minotaur#1:  72/240  
Minotaur#2:  72/240  
Minotaur#3:  72/240  
Minotaur#4:  72/240  

 

Edited February 10, 2017 by Domarus

[Domarus 0]

Domarus may have missed, but he was no fool.  And he did not give up.  The four minotaur's tried to flank him and strike from behind, but Domarus activated Ordinal Cleave, shattering each as they passed him with the attempt to damage him.  As he lashed at them they tried to dodge the attack and thus missed before being utterly destroyed by Domarus.  With the death of them all he was pleased to see he had received some loot.  All four had dropped enough col and materials to add up to four thousand eight hundred col and four materials.  Excellent Domarus thought.  He wished to gather as much col as possible, as well as gather materials to continue crafting in his shop.  He wished to become the Artisan everyone went to rather than other players.  Perhaps one or two players might want to get a tattoo as well.  Who knows he thought.  For the moment however he sheathed his weapon and Keres came over, looking very proud of him.  
     "Wonderfully done master!"  Domarus scoffed.  
     "What did you expect?"  Keres smirked and they turned to see the maze the forest created, the walls made up of impassible trees, bushes and thorns.  Without a second thought Domarus walked into the maze, Keres by his side.

Spoiler

ID#  77059  BD:  6  CD:  12  MD:  2  -Sword art used:  Ordinal Cleave-  x8x1  dmg, -16 energy

Domarus:  480/480  -  5/48  -+1 energy meditation-
Minotaur#1:  0/240  -12x8x1=96 dmg-
Minotaur#2:  0/240  -12x8x1=96 dmg-
Minotaur#3:  0/240  -12x8x1=96 dmg-
Minotaur#4:  0/240  -12x8x1=96 dmg-

Loot:  4,800 col & 4 T1 MAT

48%3=16  -16 Energy gained each non combat post-

 

Edited February 10, 2017 by Domarus

[Domarus 0]

The two made their way into the maze, Domarus making sure that Keres was right beside her.  Keres however was starting to get a little bored.  Normally this would mean she try to annoy Domarus, getting him angry enough to start beating her...  Her favorite pastime.  Keres loved pain.  She loved the feeling and the fear that came along with it.  It's why she begged Domarus to make her his servant in the first place.  She saw through his disguise and knew he wouldn't mind releasing his hate on her.  It was the perfect arrangement.  Keres loved pain and Domarus needed something to unleash his wrath onto.  It didn't happen nowadays since everything seemed to be going his way.  However there were multiple times it had happened.  In the beginning when Keres had been separated from him and he found her again, he gave her a vicious beating.  After Mossino vanished he released his anger out on her.  When Esther was captured he threw all his wrath on Keres.  However things had been going rather smoothly for a while now.  Keres would normally get easy strikes rather than the vicious thrashing she usually endured.  That was what happened when Domarus was in a good mood, or just didn't care.

Domarus' energy:  21/48

Edited February 11, 2017 by Domarus

[Domarus 0]

Domarus needed the experience from these quests in order to to get stronger.  He was so close to tier two and he needed that last push.  This quest would give him that extra mile.  All that was left was finishing it.  However to do that they needed to navigate their way through the maze.  Domarus refused to have Keres running off on her own on the chance that she might get herself killed or attacked.  And that was the last thing he'd let happen.  Domarus moved through the maze unhindered, crushing any thorns or anything of destructive proportions with his heavy boots for Keres to move over.  His ax was sheathed but he could pull it out in a flash.  His eyes were sharp, looking, daring for anything to step forward and attack.  He hoped he'd see the minotaur's soon but even if they didn't show up that was fine by him.  He was sure something would pop up.  Domarus turned a corner, and spotted nothing.  He figured he should send his familiar up front since it was not only an npc, but also was more defensive and with equal evasion as Keres.  Plus he truly had a gift when it came to spotting enemies.  Domarus paused as he spotted a material and picked it up.  It was rare that Domarus found a material...

ID#  77253  LD:  19  Material found

Domarus' energy:  37/48

Edited February 13, 2017 by Domarus

[Domarus 0]

Domarus tossed the material to Keres who caught it with a smile and stored it into her inventory.  Domarus hadn't been finding many materials, but instead had been getting most of his from monsters.  So long as he gained materials however, he could care less.  If he were to become the best artisan he'd need materials to actually craft.  That's why he needed to get better with combat.  And that's why he needed to replace his damage weapon with an accuracy weapon.  Once his familiar was at least rank two, he'd be dealing one extra damage at least at rank two.  With that he could get rid of Vindicem and get a stronger weapon with the accuracy enhancements.  He'd also need to replace the rest of his gear as well.  Then his familiar gave out a cry and hovered in place.  Domarus jogged a little to catch up with it and turned to see what his familiar spotted.  He saw the first of the two minotaur who glared at them with a rather short heath bar.  Bah he thought.  The random monsters were stronger than this boss.  He could one shot the beast easily.  Domarus drew his weapon and Keres backed up accordingly, Rhozarth landing on her shoulder in order to keep her safe.

Domarus' energy:  48/48

Boss:  45 health, 30 dmg

Edited February 13, 2017 by Domarus

[Domarus 0]

Domarus charged first, preparing to swing his two handed ax at the boss.  The minotaur snorted before leaping into the air just before he swung his ax, causing him to miss.  Domarus stopped and tried to follow the boss's movement through the air, ultimately failing and receiving a strike from the monster on his back.  However in the process the monster scraped against Domarus' thorned gauntlet's and roared with the pain.  Domarus turned around and blocked the monster's second strike with his weapon's long handle, holding off the attack relatively easily.  Keres watched from the sidelines and she knew Domarus would get rather angry with his misses.  Perhaps he'd get angry enough to strike her?  Only time would tell.  However even when Domarus beat her, he was careful to do so in a safe zone so that there was no way he'd get himself a red cursor.  His reputation was, after all, a very crucial part to his conquest.  There may be a time and day where he'd need to make his cursor red, whether for a quest or other means, so he needed the redemption quest to remain open for if he ever hit that point.  Using it over a stupid manner such as that was unacceptable.  Thus he would not allow it.

ID#  77257  BD:  2  CD:  2  MD:  7  -1 miss

Domarus:  477/480  47/48  -30-27=3-
Minotaur:  33/45  -12 thorns-

Edited February 13, 2017 by Domarus

[Domarus 0]

Domarus saw the minotaur getting all smug, and he knew the creature would try to get another hit on him despite the thorns.  So he would allow it to have one final attack.  He pushed off from the beast and immediately it charged, swinging it's ax with a mighty and frightening roar.  It would be frightening if Domarus didn't care.  Or if he believed he was in danger.  However in truth he actually wasn't.  When the blow landed Domarus blocked with his gauntlet, activating the thorns, before he charged his sword art and released it against the fool.  At this point Domarus was able to use his lowest sword art to conserve energy for another battle and destroyed the minotaur with whirlwind.  After the beast shattered into a million crystals, he moved on through he maze, not bothering to stop.  He wanted the experience if it was the last thing he did.  Keres could see it too.  However she saw that once again he was taking his anger out on the monsters.  She sighed as they moved on, Rhozarth once again taking the lead and she right behind Domarus.  This trip was so boring.  If only there was someone she could annoy...

ID#  77260  BD:  9  CD:  4  MD:  6  -whirlwind activated- 2x1  -2-

Domarus:  477/480  47/48  -30-27=3-
Minotaur:  0/45  -12 thorns+12x2=24=36 dmg-

Edited February 13, 2017 by Domarus

[Domarus 0]

Domarus moved on towards the next area, never stopping.  The minotaur was very large but not impressive in any other way.  This was in fact the most boring quest he had done.  Especially since the reward was nowhere near worth it.  At least, the item reward.  Experience was always worth it, but the item was completely useless.  No value whatsoever.  He most likely would discard it the moment he received it.  Items like from the sand shark quest were worth it to some extent.  At least it provided some use.  Twenty seven MIT.  Essentially it was a tier one mitigation potion that you could get from a quest.  Domarus however needed more than that.  And he especially needed to get col and materials.  He wasn't getting nearly enough.  As they moved through the maze his familiar gave out a cry and flew over to Domarus as a minotaur Domarus' size blasted through, and spotted him, obviously upset that he had killed one of the minotaur.  Domarus however, could not care.  He hefted the weapon in his hands and began to make his way over to the Minotaur.  The creature took a moment before it charged at him, it's battle ax in it's hand, roaring at him.  Twelve base damage.  That's what Domarus had right now.  Once he hit tier two and his familiar was increased at least one rank he'd have thirteen base damage.  At rank three it would be fifteen base damage.  Domarus wanted it badly and he would thus stop at nothing to get the experience.

[Domarus 0]

After the Minotaur reached Domarus, he tried to strike at him in a way that would knock him into one of the walls.  However the minotaur managed to hit Domarus.  The strike was an uppercut and sent Domarus back a few steps.  When he recomposed himself he saw three other minotaur's charge from behind it and strike as well, sending him back even further into a small clearing in the maze.  The three stuck at Domarus again but this time he blocked with his gauntlet, holding his ax with the other hand, and therefore letting them scrape against the thorns.  He had made a note that they dealt very little damage back to the monsters and he hoped for an update that would fix that issue pronto.  Domarus pushed them back by swinging his ax at them, forcing them to leap back to dodge the blow, then grabbed the weapon again with both hands, rolling his head left then right and got ready to destroy another group of monsters.  This was getting old but he did need the materials and col.  Might as well he thought.  He didn't have much else to do after all.

ID#  77356  BD:  4  CD:  4  MD:  8  -1 miss-

Domarus:  468/480  47/48  -30-27x4=12 dmg-
Minotaurx4:  228/240  -12 thorns damage-

Edited February 17, 2017 by Domarus

[Domarus 0]

The four Minotaur continued to relentlessly strike at Domarus, who continued to block with his weapon and gauntlets, taking yet another hit and dealing more thorns damage.  Domarus tried to retaliate but when he swung his weapon the minotaur's blocked it together with their own axes.  Rhozarth observed the fight since he did not yet possess enough strength to aid Domarus in the battle.  Keres and Porvós also watched from afar in safety.  Domarus thought about the skills again.  Rhozarth's ranks.  Ferocity mods.  Athletics mod.  Charge.  Then meditation or battle healing.  After that it was a matter of what else would assist Domarus.  Perhaps extra weight he thought again, seeing as how at that point he could stockpile on potions and debuffs and have the upper hand in a player battle.  Or a boss if he took one on his own.  Who knows?  Maybe dungeons might get easier and he could solo them.

 

ID#  77456  BD:  5  CD:  4  MD:  8  -1 miss-

Domarus:  456/480  46/48  -30-27x4=12 dmg-
Minotaurx4:  216/240  -12 thorns damage-

Edited February 17, 2017 by Domarus

[Domarus 0]

Domarus waited for the opportune moment.  He let the monsters continue to lash out at him, dealing more damage but still not nearly enough for him to care on any level.  After a while he saw one of the minotaur stumble only slightly, but it was enough.  He successfully blocked it's attack and pushed it back, causing it to stumble into the others.  After that Domarus released Exploding Catapult, unleashing his strongest sword art and dealing nearly their full health in damage, leaving but a shred of hp left for them.  After that he struck them all with a heavy blow, knocking the four back.  Domarus liked to savor his victories.  Regardless if they managed to get back up and hit him again he didn't care.  Not when they were this weak.  He wanted to savor destroying these creatures.  In all honesty he wished he could just one hit kill them already, but there you have it.  However once he reached tier two.  Once he maxed Rhozarth's ranks out.  Once he collected the rest of the mods.  His base damage would be nineteen, not counting buffs or charge.  That, combined with his sword art, would deal two hundred and sixty six damage without buffs or charge.

 

ID#  77468  BD:  9  CD:  1  MD:  6  -Sword art used:  Explode Catapult x2x7  -28-

Domarus:  456/480  18/48  -30-27x4=12 dmg-
Minotaurx4:  22/240  -12+1x2x7=182 dmg +12 thorns damage-

Edited February 17, 2017 by Domarus

[Domarus 0]

The four minotaurs were nearly finished off.  All it would take was one last strike and they'd be dealt with.  The Minotaurs charged recklessly in a final attempt to harm him.  However the fact that their health was in the red zone meant they were weakened.  Their charge was slower and they seemed to be breathing harder.  Domarus expected as much from these feeble creatures despite their massive strength.  In the end all that mattered were stats in this game.  It didn't matter how huge they were.  With that in mind this would end swiftly.  Domarus waited until the last minute.  Until the Minotaur was right on top of him, before activating his sword art, lashing out and utterly destroying him.  He continued the sword art as the other three came immediately after, destroying them as well.  After they all perished the loot menu appeared and showed that he gained four thousand eight hundred col, as well as four materials.  This of course was good.  He needed materials but he wished this process would be faster.

ID#  77476  BD:  9  CD:  1  LD:  13  MD:  3  -Sword art used:  Smash-  x2 -4

 

Domarus:  456/480  14/48  -30-27x4=12 dmg-
Minotaurx4:  22/240  -12+1x2=26 dmg-

4,800 col and 4 mat gained.

Edited February 20, 2017 by Domarus

[Domarus 0]

With those annoying interruptions out of the way all he needed to do was finish the quest by finding the entrance to the hoya and get the experience that would act as a reward.  He kept his weapon in hand as he knew there was still one other boss minotaur out there somewhere.  One strike would eliminate it of course, but he had to hit it to kill it.  Again why he would need an accuracy based weapon.  As he moved through the maze he heard Keres sigh with boredom.  Indeed, Domarus was also rather annoyed at the process.  However once he received the accuracy weapon as well as max out Rhozarth, combat shouldn't be hard at all for him.  Not only that but he needed to focus on other things as well.  He'd be busy for a while and this boring quest was just something to get out of the way.  Soon enough Aereth spotted the archway.  He walked over to it and descended the staircase.  When he reached the bottom he saw the pedestal where the hoya lay as well as the second minotaur waiting for him with it's own two handed war ax.  The creature roared at Domarus and began to charge.  That was fine by him.  Domarus was ready.

Edited February 20, 2017 by Domarus

[Domarus 0]

The minotaur as expected was faster than Domarus and when Domarus swung his own weapon at the puny boss it blocked the attack with equal strength, pushing down on Domarus while he in turn pushed upward, the two going back and forth with each other in an attempt to gain the upper hand.  The minotaur kicked at Domarus, knocking him back a little and then struck the armored player, dealing a measly five damage thanks to the hyper critical hit it had managed to land.  Domarus was annoyed that not even his thorns dealt damage to the creature but it would only be a matter of time.  His gauntlet's flashed as his health returned to their maximum potential.  The minotaur noticed this and straightened his posture, it's eyes narrowing at him.  It noticed Keres as well, hiding in the shadows with her flaming snake.  It would need to deal with the pitiful girl later.  Domarus noticed Rhozarth take position behind the minotaur.  Whether that move worked or not was up in the air.

ID#  77700  BD:  3  CD:  10  MD:  10

Domarus:  480/480  -30-27=3.  +9 regeneration-
Minotaur:  45/45

Edited February 20, 2017 by Domarus

[Domarus 0]

Domarus watched as the minotaur attempted to charge once again at Domarus, seeking to strike him yet again.  However Rhozarth chose that moment to strike, swooping down and raking it's claws down the creature's neck, causing it to roar and stumble.  As the pitiful boss fell, Domarus rushed forward to strike the monster.  The huge minotaur however seemed smarter than he expected as it swung it's own ax to deflect the blow of Domarus' strike.  The deflection separated the two combatants apart a good ways, Domarus closer to Keres and the Minotaur over by the hoya again.  The boss seemed annoyed that it was so easily foiled, but it did feel satisfaction of stopping the intruder from attacking it.  Somehow this player seemed strong and it knew that a hit from it would be deadly.  However it was programmed to protect the hoya at all cost.  Even it's own death.

ID#  77701  BD:  4  MD:  4

Domarus:  480/480  28/48  
Minotaur:  45/45

Edited February 20, 2017 by Domarus

[Domarus 0]

The minotaur tried to prepare another strike when Rhozarth came on it again, raking it's claws along the beast and causing it to roar with hatred and annoyance.  The beast let one hand go of it's ax and began to swing it's open palm at Rhozarth.  Despite wearing armor, Domarus' flaming familiar was rather agile in the air and easily evaded the blows, scraping at the monster in between dodges.  The boss was now somewhat distracted and Domarus took his chance.  He began to charge forward, the boss noticing this action and roared as it raised it's ax to harm Domarus.  Domarus didn't back down but instead charged and unleashed screw dimension upon the boss.  The two struck each other at the same time and the difference was enormous.  The minotaur dealt five points of damage with it's hypercritical, while Domarus dealt one hundred and eighty two.  The monster shattered instantly and Domarus sheathed his weapon.  With that over with it was time to end this quest.

ID#  77884  BD:  10  CD:  3  MD:  10

Domarus:  477/480  16/48  -30+2-27=5-
Minotaur:  0/45  -12+2x13=182

Edited February 22, 2017 by Domarus