[F22-PP] Floor 23 Boss Meeting

[Shield 0]

Shield stood. He was an even tempered individual, and of those gathered, he could safely say perhaps only one of them had truly seen him angry. However, if things continued they way they were, that was likely to change. Despite his impatience, his face remained impassive. He held up his hand for silence, waiting for a moment to continue. "I appreciate that we all have ideas. However, this is going in a lot of different directions. Few of us are addressing one another, and most of us are still trying to make gambles on tactics based on information that we simply don't have." He turned his eyes to Jonathan. "I think the idea of having off tanks in each party is important. We can address that in our final team drawing. We can compose a list of those who are tanky but not strictly tanks." He turned then to address Itzal. "Again, I think there are a number of good options for arrangements, but the biggest concern needs to be having a fully dedicated healer for each group, which I suppose puts me in the 'four team' camp, with Zandra, Hestia, Kasier, and Ruby covering a team each." He turned his eyes now to Hestia. "I appreciate your ambition. I think you'd make a fine tank. However, I fall with Jonathan in establishing potential off-tanks and putting you in that group. Having you available to heal at all times is high priority in my mind. We just don't know what we're up against.

"And this brings us back to the crux of it all," he continued, opening his stance to address all those who were gathered. "There are just too many question marks. We can't even say for sure how many enemies we'll be facing. We can't treat this like previous boss planning meetings, where we throw around theories and devise a plan for the most likely scenario." He knew that his delivery was direct, but he had never been this uneasy about a fight. It would not do to mince words. "This right here is organized chaos, but once we're on the field, we can't afford to be chaotic and have groups running in different directions on whims. We have to be malleable and able to adapt our entire strategy fully and completely at a moment's notice should the atmosphere on the battlefield dramatically change or should we encounter a scenario we had not accounted for. The best way we can be sure of that is to appoint someone as commander of the raid, at least for the purposes of directing the flow of combat. Macradon is by far the most qualified, from what I can tell. Teams can be arranged how we like, and we have a lot of good ideas, but I don't feel comfortable letting this topic drop until it's properly addressed."

With that, Shield sat, lacing his fingers in front of his face and leaning his mouth on his hands. He had noticed the newcomer enter, not to mention Hikoru leaving, but the coming and going was not something that could really be helped. There was too much at stake. In the mean time, with a wary eye on the stranger's crystal, he gave a slight incline of his head to acknowledge him. It was not the first orange crystal he had seen at a boss related gathering, nor would it be the last.

[Oikawa 1]

The door swung open moments later. A smaller framed lass, donning what he assumed to be heavy armor, stood in the entrance before greeting him and addressing formalities. With a slight nod he stepped through and waited for the man at the helm of the meeting to finish before giving in to her request. After hearing what he said, the blonde splashed together the gist of the meetings issue up until this point. Clearing his throat softly, he glanced around the room. A few faces stuck out like antiques in a modern museum. Two of them more prominent than the rest, however; many new faces settled into view, including that of the raid leader. Returning his nod, Oikawa strolled closer to the round table before introducing himself.

"As a few of you may know, I'm Oikawa, the Faint. For those unknown to me, the pleasure is mine." Crimson eyes locked onto those around one by one until he he settled on @Calrex. "Long time no see Ultramarine." Glancing to @Jomei and @Zandra as well, "it's been while since I've seen you two as well." He offered nods to @Baldur, @Teion, and even @Itzal. Turning to the raid leader, Oikawa stood at full height and addressed his concerns.

"While I'm by no means in a position to offer my own two cents, I have been a part of my fair share of boss raids. Going solely off what I've heard upon entering. There's potentially a case for a multiple boss kind of fight. Given what limited knowledge we have, taking the safe route of having a tank and healer per team only makes sense. That is something that shouldn't even be up for debate. The team compositions seems to be a small bit of trouble but nonetheless, if you all can come together, that should be the least of your worries. While agree Macradon has also seen his fair share of raids, maybe aside from Calrex being one of the most boss experienced player here, I think Baldur, should he be up to the task, makes a better candidate for Raid Leader, followed by Macradon in second command. While I've never seen Mac lead a raid or quest myself, I have worked closely with Baldur on several occasions and despite my front-line experience being longer than his own, much like Calrex, Baldur led the way most of the time. As for your predicament on how many teams to split into, why not have an initial plan that we'll execute, and if things change fall into either bigger teams with less rotations for a single enemy, or spread out into thinner teams for multiple bosses? Essentially it sounds like you want a four team rotation correct? Well use that as Plan A. Should the boss in fact be a single entity, you can sprinkle the fourth team throughout the first three teams and switch to a Tank/Healer/Off-Tank/DPS per team layout, a.k.a Plan B. Should the boss be more than the four teams can handle, trickle certain members from each team into a fifth team and focus on strictly having at least one Tank, whether Off or actual, and one healer per team and fill out with DPS since we should still have an abundance of damage based players. This would be Plan C. In my opinion this covers your knowns, unknowns and gives everyone a role should things go awry. The raid Leaders can dictate this as they seem fit, within reason, and as long as players know their role in each Plan, we should be able to get past this boss."

Oikawa looked around, hopefully his words weren't lost in translation. He had unloaded quite a bit and not knowing the nature of the people listening, he may have lost them the second the orange blip above him bobbed into their view. Stepping back, he glanced back to the helm of the round table.

"What do you think?" @Shield

Edited June 6, 2018 by Oikawa

[Calrex 0]

If he was being honest with himself, Calrex probably would have admitted that he had tuned out at a few points during the discussion. While he wholeheartedly agreed with everyone here that a well-thought out plan was necessary for the frontliners to have a chance at defeating the boss, he also had more than enough experiences to go off of that even the best-laid plans can be completely ruined, especially if they are laid out with such meticulous care that it would be like a stack of cards. As Baldur, Shield, Morg, and a handful of other people took their turns chipping in their two-bits as to what could/should be done he had noticed his attention cutting in and out, although not to the point of him starting to fall asleep standing up. Some of these were things the bluenette himself had been expressing and putting into practice for majority of the raids he participated in, and it was good that seemingly now there was actual traction on those cautionary words, such as having Safeguards and teleporation crystals a standard for every participant in the raid.

Being placed as a tank role was pretty much expected for him after so many battles, and he already figured that was going to be the case once again. Shield's prioritization of crafting item distribution was something that could serve to help keep everyone covered. With the teams and the decision between three or four, he personally thought four might be stretching the teams a bit thin, but with the potential number of bosses that they could be encountering this time around it was justified enough for him to not voice anything.

Interestingly enough, something that made him clearly stand up out of surprise, was seeing the doors open with a familiar face entering though. Seemingly as if he had been only away for a shorter period than it actually was, Oikawa made his entrance and also began contributing to the raid planning. As the young man's eyes scanned by him the bluenette merely gave a close eyed smirk and a nod while listening to the self-proclaimed Faint speak. While still not as long a running track record as Calrex or Macradon, as he stated, the Ultramarine Knight did know the ones he did participate in were rather harsh and intense. Oikawa was present for the Rohk fight, after all, and that was one of the first raids where lack of preparation resulted in two player deaths. In addition this was in spite of the fact that there were more unique skill wielder at that fight than current.

Returning back to putting his hands in his jacket pockets Calrex leaned back against the wall, turning to @Baldur, "I had no idea that Oikawa was back. Did he contact you at all prior to this?"

[Shield 0]

Shield shook his head slowly as Oikawa spoke. He was less impatient with the newcomer as he had missed the bulk of what had been hashed and rehashed, and he clearly was trying his best to restore order. When he had finished, Shield responded, walking through his thoughts. "I know you just got here, so just to catch you up, the idea of a point-person to call the shots in the fight was originally brought up by Baldur. He recommended we pick a tank, since even if things go south, a tank will be able to stick it out to direct combat until everyone who can get out gets out or until we win. He suggested Calrex, who turned down the appointment. Although Macradon is not himself a tank, he has the stats necessary to manage it and is also very experienced both in boss raids and leadership in his guild. That is why I recommend him for the spot."

The next portion of what he had to say was going to be a harder yet far more vital pill for those gathered to swallow. "It isn't that your suggestions for battle tactics are poorly thought out. On the contrary, if anything they are too thought out. In a perfect world, we would know exactly who is going to show up to the fight and have plenty of time to go over strategies and even run drills. The reality of the matter is that players will likely show up to the fight who weren't here for our prep, many who are present will forget the intricacies of what has been suggested, and issues with battlefield effects may throw wrenches into whatever contingencies we plan for. Most plans end up deteriorating the day of. It happened just in the last fight. We had planned to capitalize on bleed effects, and the boss ended up healing from bleed. Something just as devastating to our plans or worse may arise."

Again, Shield moved his dark, earnest eyes across the gathering, trying to engage people as much as possible. He had regained himself somewhat, his outer calm beginning to match more with what was on the inside. "We need simplicity and adaptability. A loose structure of parties based on common sense with a few slots to pepper in extra players, plus an intelligent, experienced player that we can point players to as a designated commander. Even those who were not present will be able to handle the ebb and flow since it will depend on active listening rather than pulling from a play book. As a smaller point," Shield went on, once again directly addressing @Oikawa, "we had previously come more or less to a consensus that focusing single targets would be best. That way, we can begin eliminating threats rather than keeping them all active for such a large portion of the battle. This is also why a shot caller would be advantageous. Since we can't know their exact abilities, we can have someone to make that decision on the fly as to which boss to take down first and how., and if splitting the raid's focus becomes necessary, we won't have to bicker on the spot."

[Hestia 0]

I look between the two men @Shield and @Oikawa. Rather surprised that a man like him would show up to this place. I grin ever so slightly knowing i would love to have a chance to talk to him out of this setting. However, that would be a different time now was the time to try and make sure nothing like a shouting match or fight could occur between the two men. If i may. I say after Shield speaks as i look between the two people that have plenty of more experience then myself. While what you both said has made sense why not try to do a mixture. Having the point person be a tank makes sense. To outlast and be able to direct the combat as much as possible which Macradon would have the experience to do. I say while moving my head back and forth between the two men. Then we can get onto battle tactics and i would say i am fine with Oikawa's method of being able to switch things out as things are needed. To have those multiple plans being able to be pulled out when needed. That is why we have the shot caller to be able to direct players to where they would need to go on the fly if plans need to get switched up. I say with a small nod towards Oikawa to give respect to the man for having formed something decent for a compromise from everything that he has heard from first stepping into the room. Then finally comes with what i agree with Shield on is targeting out one opponent at a time. With if each boss focuses on a role with some kind of ability. The healer should be taken out first as a common sense. A healer prolongs the fight much more then what is needed. If we can figure out which is the healer we can figure out which one to kill first. I say while looking around the guild hall to see if anybody else has anything to add.

[Oikawa 1]

As Oikawa finished, the lad in charge, took a moment to collect himself before responding. His detailed walk-through gave the blonde further insight into what had already transpired due to his tardiness, and explained the reasoning behind certain aspects of the plan. Upon the mention of Baldur being the one to incite the idea of the lead, Oikawa gave a soft smile, as it made sense that if he wasn't the one to lead, it was only right that he was the one to suggest it. Following along his sentiments, Oikawa finished listening to the man only to hear the soft voice of the woman who had opened the door for him. Her words seemed worried in sense. Rolling out as if she was trying to keep the peace between himself and the one who was now introduced as Shield. She echoed both their thoughts. She offered merging the ideas, something the blonde wasn't opposed to because more or less, between the three of them, they had all rehashed the same plan with multiple implication of what could go wrong due to the unknown factors of the boss. Nodding once more, as she closed echoing Shield's idea on target priorities, Oikawa simply offered a few more words before stepping back from hopefully what was the center of attention.

"Then it seems we have a rough skeleton of a plan. First, select a Raid Leader to call the shots. Second, create liquid team formations given we won't know who will show up until the day is upon us. Third, upon entering combat, asses the fight and decide our target priorities. And lastly, execute when given commands and win. While simplified, it does imply complications for each given step, but we'll take those in stride."

Looking around, he stepped back and awaited closing remarks. From his perspective, it would seem that aside from item priority, figuring out the teams would be the next important step.

"Shall we solidify our Raid Leader and draft teams that way we have a loose idea of who is where on Raid Day?"

 @Shield

[Baldur 0]

Baldur watched as Hikoru said his good byes. He was a self-inflicted loner. He seemed to choose the life, and hate it at the same time. He wasn't sure what had bothered the Master of Shadows enough to make him leave the meeting, but Baldur supposed he knew what his role was, regardless of what they decided upon at this meeting.

"Shield is right, we need to address the issues one at a time."

It was then that the door opened and a new raid member walked in.

A stress Baldur didn't even know he was holding onto left suddenly when he saw a certain blond enter the meeting room. Like Calrex, he was beyond surprised. It had been a while since he had seen Oikawa, one of the few Baldur would consider family here. He and Oikawa had been through life and death situations before, and he knew Oikawa would always have his back, just as Baldur would always have his.

Unlike Calrex, however, Baldur threw the meeting to the wind to walk around the room, squeezing between players to grip the young man in a big hug, clapping him on the back.

"It is good to see you, my old friend." He gave the man a friendly smile, then turned back to address the gathered raid.

"As everyone has said, we need our shot-caller. I would be honored to hold that position, but I will also support Macradon in that position as well." He looked around at the faces in the room, looking for anyone who seemed to be offering discent.

"Then assuming Macradon is willing, I think we can move on."

Baldur picked out each of the main tanks in the raid.

"While I appreciate that Macradon is willing and able to take the big hits for a party, the main tank must have Howl, and ideally, Focused howl. Especially in a fight where we may have multiple targets. We cannot gamble with the lives in a party, and any hit based threat gain does just that. Macradon will make a fantastic off tank, but unless he is willing to invest in Focused Howl, I don't feel he can Main Tank in this particular fight."

He glanced over at Jonathan once more. The man had not given him a sufficient answer.

"So then the tank options come down to Hestia, Calrex, and Shield as our main 3. We can only expand to 4 parties if Jonathan decides he wants to tank."

Baldur raised his eyebrows and inclined his head to the man, using his body language to try and get a response from him.

"Assuming he chooses to tank, we are short one healer. That party would need to bring extra healing items with them to help keep their tank alive. I do think think Hestia can keep herself up as long as the boss fight does not have a lot of AoE. However, if she is being her own healer, her party should be one that can take more hits, so she can focus on healing herself, rather than trying to keep other people alive. The DPS with lower hit points should go to the tank who will need the least amount of healing, which I believe would be Shield. He is always with Beat, which means his group could potentially have three tier 2 players with them.

"If Jonathan does not or is not prepared to tank, then we are left with 3, strong, solid teams. Not all DPS would be able to participate. We would have to go with the highest possible damage performers."

His steel blue eyes surveyed the room.

"Ultimate the people most at risk are the tanks, and they are also the ones taking responsibility for the lives in their care, so here's my simple question to @Hestia, @Shield, @Calrex, and @Morgenstern. Three teams, or four?"

[Hestia 0]

I nod my head at the rather simple, but what will probably be a effective enough plan to overcome the troubles that will be faced in the boss battle. I then glance towards Baldur as the man goes to speak and seems friendly enough with the killer Oikawa which if anything Baldur has shown. Probably means that Oikawa is a good enough person despite things i can try to guess about what kind of person he is based on general knowledge i have picked up about past events.  Personally i don't care who the shot caller is in the very end. I understand that we need one, but i don't know enough about either of you to give a reasonable opinion of who would be more qualified. I'll leave that to others to decide who would know more about who would be for the best. However, for the teams i do think as a group we can handle having four teams at this time. It should be a simple enough thing were nothing bad could go horribly wrong in theory. Although as i said our tier twos are the more vulnerable bunch so putting the more weaker ones with whichever group Zandra ends up in is what i believe is the right thing to do since she can heal the most damage. I say towards the samurai @Baldur

[Macradon 0]

A bunch of orange cursors appeared, staying and playing around with the meeting. It wasn’t that he was against them, they had their reasons to be the way they were, one way or the other. But the one orange cursor that did tick him off was when the Feint would appear. He had been gone for such a long time, but he has finally returned to the frontlines it seems. He must have some connections to even know the location of the boss meeting. The plan had come to this with a Plan A and a Plan B, both sounding pretty solid. Macradon would shrug  at the regards of AOE and single target attacks “Either way, if I just invest in Howl and Focused Howl, I should be able to juggle the Hate properly. Even if we were to face multiple enemies, I have decent AOE prowess to keep up the hate, as well as decent single target attacks if we were to face off against a single opponent at a time.”. Listening to the back and forth of who to take the roll of the Shot Caller, or Raid Leader, Macradon was appointed, by a few, suggesting that he should take the roll. Taking in a deep breath as he would think it over, he only had one thing to say and do that would keep him in his own tracks. “Aye, I’ll take the roll as the Shot Caller. I’ll need some Over Health potions, Mitigation potions and mass healing crystals. This way I’ll be able to hold the lines if anything were to happen.” he would say, addressing the issue at hand. “I’m not the best at strategizing teams, so I’ll let you make those while I listen. My battlefield experience should give me enough of an overview to plan on the get go and adjust accordingly.” he commented. His crimson eyes scanned the room for anyone who would be against this, but the people here probably just wanted to get the raid going instead of going back and forth about the same idea leading, possibly, no where. 

[Baldur 0]

Baldur raised his eyebrows when Macradon suddenly said that he would just take howl and focused howl. It was an impressive amount of skill points to invest at the drop of a hat, but Macradon had often proven selfless and to work in the best interest of the raid. It was one of the reasons Baldur greatly respected the Knights of Blood's raid leader.

"That is an impressive commitment for potentially just this fight, but if that's the case, then this changes everything. With you as a tank, Hestia can be a full time healer and off tank." He looked over to Hestia to make sure she was okay with this development.

"With that, we have four solid teams to build around, and a raid allowance for sixteen DPS, which is more than we have, but would allow everyone here to participate."

He glanced once more at the four now chosen tanks and healers.

"Now we just need to pair tanks with healers. Being that Macradon is the least tanky of the tanks, he should probably have one of the stronger healers. I am afraid that is not information I have, but Hestia has offered to care for the lower leveled players."

Baldur turned to look at @Calrex "Would you be willing to work with @Hestia and the tier 2 players?"

He turned to look at @Macradon "I think it would be best to pair you with @Zandra, and I think you would both work well together." His eyed moved over to Zandra, "Does that work for you as well?"

Then he turned to look at @Morgenstern "That leaves us with 2 healers, one which would need to work with you, and one another party. I am afraid I don't know either @Ruby or @Kasier very well, but I think @Itzal would like to be in your party, and I imagine he would want to keep Kasier with him. So that would pair Ruby with @Shield."

He turned to address the larger, older tank who Baldur felt a great deal of respect and peerage with. He met Shield's eyes to try and gain the Tank's true reactions to this.

"Does that work for you Shield? From there, assigning the DPS is relatively minor and can be done once everyone shows up at the raid itself or outside of this meeting."

Edited June 8, 2018 by Baldur

[Calrex 0]

It seemed the bluenette was brought into the conversation once again when Baldur directly addressed him and other full-time tank players as to their preference of team size. However, as he was spoken to again it was to ask if he was okay with protecting Hestia and the lower tiered players that would be participating in the fight. He thought about it for a moment, and it did make sense to pair the person capable of taking significant, or even the most, amounts of damage with the people that were the most at risk. Since his unique skill allowed him to absorb a lot of damage without needing to sacrifice skills or equipment to boost his mitigation, and with Hestia acting as off-tank/healer for their group it would mean she could keep an eye on their other team members' health bars should enough AOE attacks happen to come their way.

As for the strategy their were proposing, the bluenette figured as much that it would boil down to what was being tossed around. If one had to simplify their tactics to a level, it was a deconstruction, or even the reversing of roles for a raid. Normally they were up against a single opponent, or at best an opponent with dregs that served as distractions rather than threats. However, what they were planning for was basically the boss version of a raid team, comprised of the archetypes for most fantasy parties. It seemed that most of the strategists were on the idea that prioritizing and picking apart a dungeon party, that it would be the most efficient course of action. First, eliminate the member responsible for keeping the party alive, the healer. From there it came to prioritizing the one dealing the most damage, whether that be a single target high damager or a consistent multi-target attacker. With those two main threats gone all that remained was cleanup of the rest, which normally supplemented or served as secondaries for the rest of the party. One exception to this would be the tank, especially if they had the ability to intercept attacks intended for the higher priority targets.

He didn't really think back at this point, but it seemed that now the bluenette was doing so, at least to himself, "Of the five items, three seem clear, while two are more speculation. Shield for tank, scrolls for caster, potions for healer. Dice may be a variety of effects, but because it's dice that could mean that the effects are at random and not at the control of the AI. Crystal ball could mean prediction, but it could also mean responsiveness. However, this is about a Queen, which could mean more than just high fantasy party roles, and expanded to an actual governmental system. A shield may be a tank, but it could also serve to represent the military might, like a commanding general. Scrolls may be a caster, but it could also be a scribe or some form of intellectual representative, even an economist or accountant. Potions for healing could also mean chemical research and experimentation. Dice could mean a person that specializes in analyzing courses of action, someone trained to weigh the cause and effects of past events and assuming the best course of action, finding the patterns behind the chaos. The crystal ball in that case would symbolize, ironically, speculation or prediction of future events and preparing for them, someone that specializes in proactive measures instead of reactive ones."

Crossing his arms he continued further in his thoughts, "If that's the case then the roles in combat might be different. The supposed tank would also serve as the representative of combat prowess, meaning that they could serve as both attacker and defender. The caster would be a form of buff and debuff in order to supposedly equalize or balance things to their side, sort of like a pseudo performer. Healer would have an expanded role, one that might involve status-inducing effects like poison, bleed, and paralyze that would keep us pinned down and make us even more susceptible to attacks. The supposedly random dice user would be one that has an AI trained to make decisions based on what had happened in the previous turns of the battle, and in some ways be a supplement to the crystal ball...which would be the boss' form of shot-caller, that determines the other combatants actions..."

With that he let his thoughts leave where they lie. It may be something for him to be aware of, but not something that needed to really be brought up in this meeting. Instead he decided to put his trust in the people that have already spoken, since the meeting was already starting to go fairly long as it was now. Hikoru had already decided to make his exit, since being a DPS he already knew what he was going to have to do. The Ultramarine Knight at this point wouldn't be surprised is more of the people at the meeting already began to get antsy and take their leave.

Hearing Macradon's response to the samurai-themed player's thought he gave a small smirk. It seemed that the self-proclaimed Scarlet Templar must have enough skill points saved up to take Focused Howl if necessary. Calrex wasn't entirely sure about the entirety of Mac's skill allocation, but he had to take the guess that the knight had at least a single slot left for the base skill. It was one of the built-in limits of SAO that only really came to light at higher levels, the fact that there was a cap on the amount of skills you could have. Extra Skills so far seemed limitless, but regular abilities were restricted to nine, at least if he could recall correctly, prevent one from having everything under the sun with enough of a point pool. 

Looking over at @Baldur he gave a nod, while also turning to face Oikawa and gave another nod of greeting, "Anyone that's under my charge during the raid I'll do my best to keep safe, at least as long as we don't get stormed by AoE attacks. I'll make sure to have enough Safeguard potions on hand, just in case things get a bit hairy in there, but with Hestia we should be able to keep the lower tiered players within a safe health range."

[Shield 0]

Shield nodded to acknowledge andMacradon for his acceptance of the nomination as well as his willingness to invest in the skills necessary to fill the role. "That would be a valuable contribution. Thank you." He then turned and listened as Baldur outlined his proposal for the raid parties. Shield more or less had no objections, but there was a previous conversation in the back of his mind. It was one he had even had with Baldur.

There's a good way to do this and kill two birds with one stone. Beat and I need to get to know Zandra better. Get closer to figure out what kind of player she really is. See if she can be trusted despite of the company she sometimes keeps...

He waited until Baldur had finished his proposal before adding his two cents. "For the most part, I feel  it makes sense. I would make one change though." He pointed to himself and Beat and then to Baldur and Zandra. "If Beat and I are going to be separated from the Ascendants again, I would like the four of us to be teamed up together." He did not offer further explanation, but he did hold Baldur's gaze for a few moments before turning his eyes back to the meeting.

"I would like to ask if others have objections," he went on. "I know that the more talkative of us have ham-fisted our way into making some basic plans, and I know not everyone has had a chance to weigh in. If you have concerns, I do genuinely want to know." It was more than just a gesture of goodwill. It was difficult to pull people from speculation long enough to get players to commit to concrete plans. That extra push could sometimes come at the expense of steamrolling other people's contributions, whether knowingly or not. It was never his intent, but even the best intentions could come across wrong.

[Ruby 0]

Ruby simply put just had nothing else really to input on the matter, she simply was hear to show up and do her job, she simply had stayed seated and watch those talk amongst each other waiting for her to be placed somewhere, however after a moment she had spoken out and said "I feel as though we are taking... a bit too long in this meeting. Can we please figure out the order of which we all will be placed? I don't care where you put me, all I can really do is simple damage and heal." she had said what she needed to say and took her seat once again. She had took a deep breath as she had was a bit worried about this battle as she had almost died in the previous boss battle... however, hopefully things would turn out better this time around and hopefully she wont be so close to death as she had been before. And after a bit Baldur had stepped forward about her placement, Ruby had just said out with a smile "If that is were I am needed then I shall be there."

[Hestia 0]

I look over towards @Baldur with a serious look within my eyes as i look towards the man. I think i should be swapped with Zandra. I know you would like the idea of Macradon surviving for awhile via having the best healer. However, we need to look out for those who are tier twos among us by giving them the best healer possible so they don't die from any attacks. With that in mind i still suggest that Zandra be placed with Calrex and the tier two players to give them the greatest fighting chance while i team up with Macradon. With this we can secure the safety as many people as we can during this fight. Once the raid starts we can reconfigure if some people don't show up to go back towards our three group teams and such if that ends up being a need. I say towards the samurai with a determined look within my eyes not moving from my initial idea of placement for Zandra.

[Morgenstern 1]

While he listened to each and everyone of his comrades but ended up well... more confused than he originally started with. He was a visual learner and really just wanted to see the  teams on paper. He held up his hand and replied, "I am completely and utterly confused by this point. Just put me in a team deemed necessary. I am always prepared  for tanking, and while my damage is hardly sufficient I can still pack the average punch" A problem he intended to fix by getting the two handed straight sword. Afterwards, he wanted to get First Aid, which as a support apparently made him much more viable. Of course, none of his friends knew of where his skill points had one into. 

He chuckled to himself. Back at Floor 19, they were scrambling for tanks so much that they pulled up a level thirty tank into the frontlines. He would then act as Main Tank for an entire group against Tanos. Now, there were so many tank options that he was almost certain he would not be a tank this time around. He turned to @Baldur and replied, "I trust that you make the correct decision over the final matter. I will go and do as told as my faith is in you. You entrusted me  with a job on the frontlines when I was level thirty. I believe I can do something again, whatever it may be"

[Zandra 0]

All this time Zandra had stood in the corner and listened to what everyone have said. Her hood had covered her upper half of the face in shadows so the others haven’t seen her rolling eyes. This was a boss fight that was coming up and everyone was arguing about where to put everyone and such. Then Ruby spoke up and a smile grew on Zandras lips. ‘Someone that can actually point something important out. Hehe.’ Zandra mumbled. Then she opened her inventory and scrolled thru it until he found two unique items and equipped them in her hands. Then she walked up to the table beside Macradon.

Zandra cleared her throat to make her appearance known and get the other attention. ‘’I have listened to all you have said and have a few things I will let you know. If Macradon will be the shot caller and main tank of his group, I want to stay by his side. Because off more then one reason but one of them is that I can take the role of secondary tank if needed. Yes, I know you all think Im the support and blabla. But unless Im put with tier 2’s, we wont need healing every round.’’ Zandra paused when thinking how to point out her second opinion. ‘’And as Hestia says, the tier 2’s can be in bigger need of healing.’’ After saying that the berserk healer bent forward over the table and placed two items on the table. One amphibian-themed warhorn and a unicorn horn. ‘’This warhorn paralyze all enemies and together with safeguards, this will make the group immune to two rounds of damage. This unicorn horn can heal as much as a five ranked first aid heal if used on two players. The warhorn can be used once in a battle and the unicron horn twice. Also, I can make sure you have mass heal crystals as well if this isn’t enough.’’ I said while looking at those that have given their opinions so far.

‘’And Im willing to lend these items to the party that need it the most, probably the tier 2 party, because Im confident I will be enough to handle the support on my party thru my skills. So, this would make things easier for your planning since you have a secondary tank and healer in Macradons party. I wont give any opinions on the any other questions since there is plenty of those already and one more would just make this meeting went on a little longer then needed.’’ She finished, glanced at Ruby, crossed her arms and putted on a fake relaxed smile.

Edited June 18, 2018 by Zandra

[Itzal 0]

Eventually players had moved on from discussing what the bosses were to discussing who would be placed in which team.  this was a good thing since it would be impossible to determine the skills stats and abilities of all five bosses.  Just a waste of time to try and figure it out, best to be ready for anything and target whoever seems to be the supporter, and target whoever is next from that point onward.  They began listing people and he heard @Baldur mention how Itzal and Kasier would want to stick together.  His eyes widened a little and blushed slightly.  Why would he-  How did he know he wanted to be with Kasier?  He didn't give any visual hint to that, and no one knew they were engaged at all.  The only ones he planned to invite were a select few who wouldn't blab to others about the wedding.  He shook his head however and listened carefully as people filled in slots.  He nodded as he filled out the information before turning his panel around for everyone to see.  "Alright so we have our parties.  In that case let's try crafting everything we need before we start this boss battle.  Sound good?  Again if you need materials let me know ok?"

 

Spoiler

 

Party 1	Player 2	Player 3	Player 4
Tank:  Calrex	Tank:  Shield	Tank:  Morgenstern	Tank:  Macradon
Support:  Zandra	Support:  Ruby	Support:  Kasier	Support:  Hestia
DPS:  Pinball	DPS:  Beat	DPS:  Itzal	DPS:  Domarus
DPS:  Stryder	DPS:  Baldur	DPS:  Hikoru	DPS:  Aereth
DPS:  Hidden	DPS:  Hirru	DPS:  Telryna	DPS:  Teion
DPS:  Hydra	DPS:  Oikawa	DPS:  Jomei	DPS:

 

[Shield 0]

Shield gave a nod. Although he had hoped to get more time with Zandra to learn more about her as a player, it seemed that the tides were against him. He did not feel the need to push further, though this meant there were still matters to be settled after the boss fight was said and done. Or perhaps before. Itzal made brief mention of crafting, but from the tone of the meeting, most players were getting antsy to get out.

"It sounds like discussion of crafting is going to have to wait," he said, taking one last glace around at the many restless faces. "If you have needs, communicate them to the respective crafters ASAP. I will volunteer 50 tier three materials to whoever needs them. It will be first come, first served, so as soon as you know you have need, message me. Does anyone else have any pressing needs that need addressed?"

He took one last look around the room, adding on one final question. "Does anyone have strong feelings on when to mount our assault? We typically allow at least a week for crafting, but I might advise two given the current speed of the market."

[Hestia 0]

I look over towards @Zandra with a mixture between annoyance and anger as i look towards the berserk healer. Zandra i know you want to be with Macradon for whatever reason you could want for that. However, i still personally stand by the idea that you being put with Calrex and the other Tier two players are more important. It is a simple fact of the matter you heal more then either Ruby or i could no matter the situation. You have the enhancement gear thing that allowed you to out heal both Ruby and I last boss fight even though i focused on supporting the entire time. It was due to that enhancement of yours that hakai was allowed to live through that fight and just barely i think if my memory is serving me correctly. If i was put in her group she would've died because i couldn't heal as much as you could. With that in mind Zandra if you weren't put in that group with Calrex then that could be three potential frontliners gone. I say towards the berserk healer with a serious look in my eyes. I don't care for the items in question since you could just as easily use them to provide the maximum protection. I then look towards Mac for a moment before looking back around the table. Furthermore, Macradon is a higher level which mean that first aid will be more useful then if i tried to use it on a lower leveled person like tier twos. With this in mind along with Macradon's higher mitigation it is a obvious conclusion that my ability to use first aid would be better suited keeping the shot caller alive since it would be stronger in that regard since it would be healing more since first aid is based on total HP and a percent amount.

[Baldur 0]

Baldur could see where this was going. He could see where Shield and Hestia were coming form. It seemed everyone wanted Zandra to be in their group this time. He knew where Shield was coming from, and he knew where Hestia was coming from, and he knew where Zandra was coming from. Ultimately, however, one weighted more than the others in this situation, and a calm head had to prevail before things went sideways. He was, however, impressed by Jonathan's words. He hadn't realized he had made such an impact on the man. 

Looking over at Hestia with calm, sympathetic blue eyes, Baldur held up his hand plaintively to calm and reassure her.

"Ultimately, Hestia, we cannot convince someone to go where they don't want to go, or fill a role they don't want to fill. If Zandra wants to go with Macradon, then that is the best course of action." He left his hands up as he looked at the others, trying to get them to let him finish his thoughts.

"Shield, thank you for the donation of such a large amount of materials. Instead of that, why don't we use the materials to create a surplus of group heal crystals, and we will give these to the Tier 2 players. If they have crystals, then they can activate them to heal each other and supplement Hestia's own healing."

This time he turned his blue eyes to look directly at Hestia.

"I know you believe they are safer in Zandra's hands because of the numbers, but ultimately I think that you having much more passion about keeping them alive will be better suited to that party. I am sure that between you and Calrex, they will be in good hands. I trust my kouhei completely. You will both do a good job."

He glanced a Shield and then stood up.

"It seems this is the final breakdown:

Team 1 Tank and healer will be Calrex and Hestia, taking the Tier 2 DPS with them.
Team 2 Tank and healer will be Shield and Ruby
Team 3 Tank and healer will be Morgenstern and Kasier
Team 4 Tank and healer will be Macradon and Zandra, with Macradon also being shot caller."

He looked around the room, offing a sympathetic smile to Hestia, then a nod to Shield once again.

"Thank you all for coming. I would recommend starting the fight in 2 weeks to allow crafting and final gatherings."

---

((The American holiday 4th of July is coming up, and if we start the fight just before that, I fear many players may be traveling of not able to respond. I would recommend starting the 72 hour of signs up Sunday July 8th))

Edited June 19, 2018 by Baldur