[PP - F3] Making Headway -- F12 Boss Raid Meeting (PM for Invite)

[Takao 0]

A day had passed since the clearing team decimated the eleventh floor's boss and began pouring into the new floor. He'd found it to be rather underwhelming and generally unpleasant in terms of geography, given that he'd never been much of a fan of boggy biomes, but the opportunity to be one of the first to explore was too good to pass up. It had taken him a few hours to even find the labyrinth to begin with, and another hour after that to navigate his way through the corridors. But he'd finally found it, and was the first to do so, therefore the responsibility to gather the clearers fell onto his shoulders.

After returning from the twelfth floor, he took a bit of time to rest and process the information. Before night had fallen, he'd sent out a private message to the necessary people, namely the Commandants of the Azure Brigade. The following morning had been spent setting up his shop to receive an influx of front liners. The main area of the building that was usually a restaurant had been cleared out, and the smaller tables were replaced with one single large oval table placed in the center with several chairs around it. He'd arranged for the meeting to take place shortly, so he simply leaned against the counter and folded his arms. Emerald hued eyes cast a fleeting glance at his reptilian familiar, who sat perched on the counter beside him. "I hope you're able to behave yourself for at least an hour." he said, watching the monster out of the corner of his eye. It huffed out a plume of smoke amidst its breath in response.

- -

- Important -

• There is no set posting order. Feel free to post as often as you like, as long as you do not double post. •
• Not all attendees are guaranteed a spot in the boss fight. •
• Guilds are permitted a maximum of 2 representatives. •
• A maximum of 4 solo players are permitted to attend. •
• The location is accessible for player-killers. •
• PM me for confirmation before posting. •

 

Confirmed Attendees

Azure Brigade
Zelrius
Rebekah

Guardians of Aincrad
Ariel

Velvet Room
Lowenthal
Jomei

Crimson Blades
Mack

Solo ^(4/4)
Calrex
Teayre
Hirru
Reserved

Edited October 11, 2015 by Takao

[Calrex 0]

"Huh, guess I'm the first one here..."

Calrex entered into Takao's shop, Himawari Cafe, giving a wave to the fellow frontliner with a friendly smile. Immediately after the raid had completed he had gone with Teayre and Ariel to start scouting the area, but he had received notification that the fellow straight sword user had already found the boss room. Nonetheless, the three continued onward to try and gleam a little more information before deciding to call it a day.

Grabbing a seat at the oval table that had been set up he gave a small sigh, "Man things are already kicking into gear for the next floor raid. I guess that goes to show how long we've all been stuck on the first ten floor, heh. In any case, who else is supposed to be coming?"

[Ariel - The Crowned Lion 0]

'Seems like yesterday I was here in a rush, picking some supplies.. now this place holds the boss fight planning meeting.' she though as a certain blonde looked at the shop sign. The 11th boss fight had ended a very short while ago and they were already planning the next one, she liked this new pace. After missing out on the 10th because of senseless Azure pride and then not contributing to the 11th one due to overwhelming force of the first two groups that finished the Crusader in a flash. Lets say she wasn't in high spirits. That's why she rushed with Cal and T after the crusader fell but Takao managed to outpace them in some moment. She straighten her cloak, the same gray one she wore at the boss fight, the one depicting bluebird wings on the back. Again she would carry the banner of her guild even if she is to be the only active member.

Entering, she is surprised to find the place well prepared for the meeting, after her went Kimba which had been left out of the last fight. She instantly went near Takao's familiar and was puzzled. In any case she wanted to play with him. Letting out a smile Ariel Waved at the blue clad tank and the brunette. "Guess I'm still early, so... you were the one that got there first, congrats!"she said to Takao in a friendly tone, then she then took a seat at the oval table, leaving one empty chair between her and Cal, for Teayre to have when she arrives.

[Teayre 0]

Stepping into Takao’s shop Teayre sighed, she’d wanted to be the first to find the boss room but it seems she hadn’t had that luck. Takao had beaten her to it, waving at the man clad in green Teayre spots another familiar sight in the shop Calrex. The mugginess from the twelfth floor finally wearing off from her. Shaking her head Teayre made sure she had her main red outfit on that matched her hair. Smiling as the cloak flowed down around her and the golden hilt from the Oikawa Kanashiki peeked out from underneath it.

Moving around next to Calrex she whispers in his ear, “Guess who?” before kissing the boys cheek and promptly sitting in his lap. “I probably shouldn’t be sat here considering this is meant to be the boss fight meeting, however stuff images. I love this man and I’m going to show it.” Blushing Teayre looked at the blue haired boy in the eyes a sweet smile on her face. Looking up Teayre spots another familiar person it was Ariel waving at the girl. “Thanks for saving me the seat Ari, I’ll probably use it in a bit.” 

[Mack 0]

Mack had no need of announcing his presence. The moment the door to the cafe was pushed open a brown blur rumbled in, more a force of nature than a true familiar. Immediately, chocolate eyes locked onto the chosen target. The chicken monster that rode on Takao's shoulder. The animal clearly should taste of chicken. One look at it should have confirmed it, after all chicken's had wings and the lizard had wings. Mystery solved. With a bawling battle cry, Chewie tore off in the direction of Takao's familiar and tried to make it clear to Kimba that the lizard thing was really a chicken and that they should work together to catch it. And then eat it.

For his part, the creature's master entered at a more sedate pace in a swirl of crimson robes and a gleam of polished axe blade, his face obscured by the hood of his robes. After the laughably easy time that the frontliners had had in dealing with the Fallen Crusader Mack was not impressed with floor bosses. Appropriating a place at the table, he laced his fingers together and cracked his knuckles. "What's our mission this time? Rescue Gilligan from an army of fluffy puppy dogs," he asked in a low rumble, the disdain clear in his voice.

[Hirru 0]

The door was about to shut when a second character came through the door.  The green haired hunter walked through the threshold into the main dining area of what was supposed to be Takao's cafe, but it looked more like a serious meeting.  The only reasons that the hunter had entered the building was to get some items for his hunts, but noticed the burning hair of a Mack entering the building.  He needed to talk to him about setting up a meeting time, but this wasn't the time he expected.  Even though the actions of that guild were in question, the hunter was under the impression that no one else knew.

Heck, everyone was supposed to have gone to fight the floor boss not even a day ago.  Did they already defeat the boss, clear the floor, and gone on to find the next one?  That fast?!

Of course, it would be at that time that Hirru would get a message.  Opening it, he found that it was an invitation to the meeting.  Awkward..  He took a seat near Mack, though he knew roughly everyone here.

"It's a surprise to see that you guys have come back so soon.  The other floors haven't even gotten news that the next floor had been opened... You guys did win, right?"

[Rebekah 0]

As she walked into the meeting, she was a bit surprised that it was not held on either the 11th nor the 12th floor, but the third. It was just yesterday when the team had easily defeated the boss, and today, they were holding the meeting for the next raid already. It was her first time attending a boss raid meeting with other party leaders, but was surprised that Zelrius was not here yet. That was a quick boss fight, and Rebekah knew that it was not the time to be complacent for the next one. The girl was relieved to find out that she was not late for this meeting, after not receiving the correct location the first time. It was here where she looked around the room, the majority of the players were in fact stronger than her, but she had also been around the longest. Slowly but surely, it was easy to forget this blonde had attended the last three raids in a row, and had seen a lot of members come and go. Yet, there was a renewed sense of optimism, that this time they can make a quick and successful string of them together. After all, the 9th/10th raids were nearly disasters.

Realizing that nobody was speaking at the moment, the girl added, "I will be here representing Azure, along with Zelrius, whenever he get's here."

[Takao 0]

Takao wasn't given much time to himself before people started filing in. He hadn't expected anything less, given that he'd arranged for a time for the meeting. Calrex was the first to enter, and he was greeted with a warm smile, nod of his head, and wave of his hand. "Enough time for me to get leveled up enough to fight a boss, at least." he remarked as Calrex sat down. Takao moved to one of the chairs and leaned against the back while still standing, while his familiar remained laying supine atop the counter, idly picking at its shark-like teeth. Not long after Calrex did Ariel enter, and she was greeted in a similar manner; warm smile, nod, and wave. His hand raised to rub the back of his head as a cheeky smile grew on his face. "Thanks." he said, barely paying any attention to the familiar that trotted across the room to examine his familiar. The reptile's yellow eyes shifted aside to glance down at the fellow monster, but ultimately gave it no attention after a short moment of examination. It seemed eager to play, but the lazy dragon-like monster was much more interested in staying put right where it was.

Emerald hued eyes shifted to the door as it opened again. Another smile, nod, and wave was given to the newest arrival. Teayre approached Calrex and greeted him as well, and it only took a moment for him to realize that the other party that had been looking for the boss room at the same time as he was were present. His hand dropped down to his side and he resumed leaning on the chair. "So uh... Sorry about like... stealing you guys' thunder with the boss room. If I'd known you'd been looking for it too I would've laid off." he said, not seeming to mind her position on Calrex's lap. He wasn't exactly exhuming a professional appearance himself, given that he forewent his usual getup and was dressed in a set of common clothes that he typically relaxed in.

He wasn't given much time before the door swung open again, though a blur of brown fur was the first to enter this time around. It seemed deadset on approaching his familiar, who paid the bear even less attention than he had the lion cub. While the red-scaled monster hadn't much of an opinion on Ariel's familiar, it couldn't bring itself to loathe the bear monster any more than it already did. Mack entered behind the familiar, and was followed. They were greeted the same as the others, and slowly Takao rose up from his leaned position against the back of the chair.

A light chuckle escaped from his chest at Mack's comment. "I mean, it was just the eleventh floor's boss. We were way over-prepared for it, but that's not really a bad thing." he said. He could tell more than a few of the attendees from the last boss raid might've been a little disappointed that they hadn't been given the chance at a unique piece of equipment. He was in a similar position, being at the front of the assault meant he'd practically forfeited any chance of scoring the last hit, especially with the assault team they'd gathered. Takao shrugged slightly and shifted his attention to Hirru. "Yep, we won. In fact, we beat it before everybody even got a chance to get a hit in."

Rebekah entered shortly after, and was greeted warmly like the others were. "Alright then, we'll get started as soon as Zelrius is here. I invited Lowenthal and Azide too, and I think Lowe might bring Jomei with him, so they'll probably show up in the mean time."

[Azide 0]

There was no denying that progress had been quick in recent times. To already be preparing for a second raid upon completion of the first- that sort of relentless pace was nearly unheard of. Was this to be taken as a sign of things to come, or would the fire fade extinguish just as quickly as it had caught? It was hard to say, but the quick and timely discovery of the twelfth boss had certainly been a point of merit for the meeting's host. It didn't hurt that the young man had also managed to land a monstrous hit against the Forsaken Crusader- even under the limitations of the One-Handed Straight Sword. That sort of ingenuity and vigor was the future; there was no time to fall back on sluggish relics of the past.

As the doors to the Himawari Cafe swung open, the first thing he noticed was how most of the expected guests had already arrived. And not only that, but the air was not quite as uplifting as he imagined, considering their triumph just the other day. The mood seemed almost casual, as if their previous win had been nothing more than the literal act of taking out the trash.

With many of the seats already taken, Azide chose one of the remaining spots at near random, and folded his hands against the table. He nodded at the handful of players that had crossed his path in times past, but otherwise remained silent.

[Zelrius 0]

Zelrius mosied on into the room, his hydra skull covering his face still and the Commandant's cloak hood covering up over that.  This time, the cloak was covering the left side of his body instead of the right. This was mainly to reveal that he had a different sheath on then that of the Golden sheath that held the Twinfire sword. No, this one was the exact same sheath that the Forsaken Crusader had himself. The white and gold dirtied sheath and inside it sat the rusted blade with the cross etched on it.  He walked on into the room and was rather annoyed Takao was hosting it on the Third floor. How inconvenient to host it on a low floor like this. It would also appear that Azure was not hosting this one, at all. Back to representing only, which they hadn't technically ever done. Sure, Mari had hosted the meeting for floor 11, but Azure refused to even attend the meeting other than for Zelrius himself to say that they were backing out. Back when Azure was selfish and lazy. We're past that now The golden haired boy's thoughts reminded him of how the Azure Brigade used to be. Nonetheless, he stood on Rebekah's right side and only listened instead of speaking.

[Lowenthal 0]

Lowenthal made his way into the boss meeting room, his head hung low. He knew how considerably weak his only attack was on the previous boss, and was sure that without the aura Tristan would've done more damage. He rubbed his temple, only here to represent Velvet Room. Lowenthal took in a deep breath and let it out slowly. "Alright. What're up against? Some, monster of the Black Lagoon?" Lowenthal asked, Takao. The man who had discovered the boss room.

[Takao 0]

Takao clapped his hands together as the last of the players he'd been expecting filed into the building. "Alrighty, let's get this started!" he said in his usual chipper tone, trying to cut through the apparent somber air that had fallen over the room. The brunet remained standing as he spoke, not necessarily to assert any sort of authority as it was to keep the attention on him while he explained the information he'd gathered. "So, boss info first. The big guy is called the «God of the Swamp». It's a uh... winged Alligator, a big one. Both it and its wings are covered in scales, so that might mean it could have a bit of damage mitigation. Otherwise, I didn't notice any weapons, and the only definite stat that I was able to figure out was its health, which is about 480." He took a short pause to breath in before continuing.

"There were six minions in the room. No weapons on 'em, and they each had around 180 health. The boss was in a part of the forest that's completely flooded over with a bunch of hills. The exact geography doesn't matter too much as it doesn't differ from the rest of the floor too greatly, but there is one part to note. Parts of the ground looked to be like... extremely boggy or sticky, so I think it's likely we'll be taking a hit to mobility." With that, he concluded the introduction of what he knew, and placed his hands atop the back of the chair he stood behind. 

[Calrex 0]

Calrex's face immediately flushed red as he turned to see his fiancee, Teayre, promptly sit in his lap, "H-Hey Teayre. Glad you could make it."

Looking around he saw more and more familiar faces arrive, many from the previous raid. Addressing Takao's concern for his own scouting party he simply gave a smile and nod, "It's no worries, I'm just glad that we got the information so quickly. We still managed to gleam some information as well, but go ahead and share what you learned first. We're all working for the same goal here."

Nodding to his fellow players to acknowledge and greet them as they arrived he listened attentively as Takao shared what he learned about the boss, making note of the different environment and monster information the player mentioned, "Yeah, mobility is likely going to be an issue. With that amount of minions it's possible we're going to need two dreg teams compared to last time, with the rest focused on beating down on the boss. If it's winged and armored it's likely the boss might have a boost in both mitigation and evasion, so accuracy is going to be important."

Giving a small sigh he pondered which things could be currently missing from the equation, trying to compare it to the information that he, Teayre, and Ariel had found. 

[Ariel - The Crowned Lion 0]

As little time passed, Ariel recognized all of the players that entered the little salón of Takao's café. She nodded as a greeting and casually waved to almost all of them. The only exception to the people she knew was the brunette guy, clad in red that skipped the 'formal' greeting and introductions' and asked them about their last fight. She'd presume he was a lower level, one of the aspiring 'front liners' she kept hearing about. With a sigh she brushed her blonde hair backwards before replying: "Yes this is the 12th floor boss planning meeting. Since you weren't aware of that I can presume you're here as a solo players, usually guild leaders and the members that are in fight notify the rest of the guild via guild chat. Since Takao apparently let you attend, feel free to pitch in you thoughts.. as long as they are related to the topic."

She would usually be more welcoming but her mood wasn't that good, not after a certain golden boy entered the café, brandishing his new unique like a peacock. After Takao finished revealing his findings and Cal added his thoughts,the blonde took the lucky charm she had as a weapon attachment and began spinning it as she spoke:

" 'God of the swamp'.... first we get a 'sea lord' in the river that is something like Nessie on electricity and now this?" she couldn't help but to let out a short chuckle. "So if mobility is bad I'd say people that depend on evasion are in a bit of trouble. As the last time, tanks will have to take the heat off them. That is if we get a change to hit the thing." with the last comment, she stole a glance from the AB representatives before continuing: "I agree with Cal on the two dreg teams, but they shouldn't be dreg exclusive. We can have each team take 3 dregs and the boss as well while the tanks take build up the hate." she ended the spinning gesture alongside her proposition then remembering something important she added.

"Its stupid to mention but these mobs bite.... the boss is recognized as 'Alpha Male', testimony being the scars it bears all over its body, the majority being on its face. Maybe that's its weakness.... I don't know if that helps much but it should be worth mentioning."

As she let go of the Feline Eyes lucky charm it coiled back to the base of the black leather sheath. Her mind trailed to another question that she failed to ask: 'Can't we just have mixed teams at this point?'

Edited October 12, 2015 by Ariel - The Crowned Lion

[Rebekah 0]

The girl was listening to everything that was been spoken, about 480 health, and another 6 monsters that they could see. Who knows if there was more, but mobility was going to be a problem for this upcoming raid. It was unconfirmed what the substance on the ground was, although the hills and the sticky stuff on the ground will cause a lot of trouble for someone such as her. After all, Rebekah had relied a lot on her accuracy and evasion to get out of sticky situations. Already, Calrex and Ariel have given their opinions and facts, and now it was time to devise a game plan for the boss.

"On a side note, more balanced teams might be better in this case. At this moment, we simply do not have enough tanks, and many of us glass cannons are going to be in trouble the moment our accuracy and evasion advantage is gone. The sticky ground may also affect our ability to assist other groups immediately, or rotate players if any group begins to struggle," the girl spoke.

It goes without saying, that she was not expecting a short battle such as last time. Furthermore, she was still waiting to hear Zelrius' opinion about the matter, as he had not spoken a single word at all yet.

Edited October 12, 2015 by Rebekah

[Lowenthal 0]

Lowenthal spoke up. "I agree with Rebekah. Two teams should suffice. That is unless, the dregs have a respawn timer like the last two boss fights had." Lowenthal wasn't in the floor 10 boss fight, but he had heard enough from Mari when she had talked about it. "And I know of two tanks that are decent enough to take the damage a boss like that can dish out, and we have plenty of supports rising up now. And another thing, since the last boss fight happened so quickly, no one used any of the potions they bought from Piera, so I'm sure that everyone here is still stocked up from that." Lowenthal added, he turned to Ariel. "And if this, 'Swamp-God' has a ton of scars on it's face. That's probably either it's main way of attacking, or defending. Either way, I think avoiding it would be best." Lowenthal said, giving his own two cents worth.

[Hirru 0]

As it would seem, the hunter was in their neighborhood now.  While trying to be friendly, it looked like he had ticked off one or more of the group.  It was in his best interests to keep a level head, and give as much feed back as possible.  Though inexperienced with floor bosses, the information given was making quite a few alarms ring out.  First of all was the amount of health that not only the boss had, but the minions had too.  No wonder the floor bosses sounded incredibly hard!  Though, if that was true, then everyone in this room.. No, it sounded like only a few were able to land a hit on the boss yesterday.

Either way, what got to him the most was the description.  A huge, winged alligator, with scales over everything.  Not only would you assume that it had damage mitigation.., but those wings.  There was something wrong with that description that he didn't like.  Looking towards the group, he opened his mouth to speak.

"Pardon, I'm Hirru of the solo players."

He started out with a quick introduction before catching a quick breath to continue.

"I'm assuming everyone is also thinking the same thing about the boss.  Its wings play a large part in this equation too.  Can it fly with its bulk, or can they be used as something else?  I'm assuming that losing some of our mobility, due to the bog, may play a factor in that.  Especially if, it can use AOE attacks."

Sitting with both of his arms pressed against the table while interlacing his fingers, he continued to think on some of the more pressing matters.

"About the dregs, I would like to say that everything right now sounds like it will work.  Though, I can't say much in the way of experience for those tactics.  Simple four player teams with a leader, tank, DPS, and DPS/Support sound like the most appropriate options for teams going against three to four enemies."

Unfortunately, that was where his knowledge stopped.  He had never faced a field boss before, and could only use the tactics from his memories added to the small bits of info that he could pry out of anyone that knew about the last few floor boss battles.  Having said his due, he righted himself on his chair, and awaited any answers or assumptions to follow.

[Azide 0]

On one hand, he found himself deeply intrigued by Takao's description of the boss: a scaly reptilian which had taken to the skies, flanked by six underlings of an indeterminate appearance. At the most superficial level, Azide couldn't help but wonder how a winged alligator would even achieve lift off- with their underbellies constantly riding so low, it would take nothing short of a miracle for its wings to beat with thrashing against the ground. Furthermore, a gator's underbelly was the only part of the creature that was normally not armored; hovering mid-air and leaving the softer tissue open to the elements sounded like evolution gone wrong. But ultimately, he would have to drop all of his transgressions, owing to the fact that he himself regularly conversed with a snake, while another man in the room regularly wore a hydra skull as a helmet.

On the other hand, what he'd been hearing up until this point had consisted mostly of suggestions relating to the issue of teams- a puzzling concern, to say the least. Had none of them been paying attention at the previous raid? His elbow propped against the table, his head resting atop a curled hand, Azide spoke. "Before anybody else decides to hop aboard the team train, I'd like to point out that our encounter with the Crusader did not revolve around teams nearly as much as it did around order." Chestnut eyes swept the room, making contact with all that had looked to acknowledge his words. 

"If you'll recall, our tanks have always been tanking for the clearing party as a whole, not for any specific team. So I'd like to suggest that we place our two strongest tanks in the initial group, in order to draw the fire of both the boss and its dregs right from the start. Any others with tanking abilities should be positioned somewhere further down the line, in order to generate hate, should our primary mitigators fall beneath a certain health threshold." Azide paused to lift his head, then weaved together the fingers of each hand before resting his jaw on the resulting bridge. "Any players intending on using stun should be separated by approximately three groups, in order to compensate for the period of post-stun immunity. And ideally, we should place one to act directly after our tanks in the initial strike."

This time, Azide drew his gaze to Takao. "As long as our tanks do their job properly, nobody will have to hesitate on drawing the ire of surviving dregs or otherwise." He had not forgotten the curious moment in which the green-eyed youth had opted to target the solely Crusader himself, rather than making use of his weapon's multi-hitting capabilities. In hindsight, the mix up certainly made sense when factoring in the inaction of a certain other player.

[Takao 0]

Information, suggestions, and general discussion erupted amongst the attendees of the meeting. Something was biting in the back of his head, a topic he wanted to bring up for discussion, but it just wasn't the time yet. All of their words were heard by him, though he stayed mostly silent to process the influx of information that was thrown onto the table. Calrex suggested two teams to be dedicated to the boss's minions, an idea to which Takao nodded in both acknowledgement and agreement. The monsters were going to be undoubtedly stronger than the last, which meant that diminishing their numbers and therefore dampening the total amount of damage output they had would be a vital part of their success.

Ariel's glance toward Rebekah and Zelrius hadn't gone unnoticed by him, yet he remained quiet still, and nodded again in silent agreement. Rebekah spoke up next, followed by Lowenthal, and then by Hirru. They presented information as well, all of which he took into account as the gears in his brain turned and slowly worked on a plan of action. His gaze then fell to Azide, who brought up a valid point regarding the teams. "I think that was a matter of poor leadership caused by confusion. We didn't know what we were getting into and our plan didn't account for unexpected variables, like the minions respawning. Teams are important for keeping a battlefield organized. It's also easier to address a group of people as such, rather than calling out individual names. But you're right, it was more like a queue for landing hits than it was a group effort. We can learn from how things happened last time and tailor our plan better this time around." His gaze met Azide's as his last statement rolled out, and he nodded solemnly in agreement.

"So... There's another matter I wanted to bring up." said Takao. He took a moment to pause and inhale a breath before continuing. "As it stands currently, the best equipment in the game is in the hands of a select few people." he continued, and set his gaze onto Zelrius. "You and Tristan are kitted out better than anybody else, so you both are most likely to receive the additional rewards from the boss. This is fair, you both play your roles well, however..." Another pause followed, but his gaze didn't waver. "That doesn't benefit the clearing force as a whole. You two can't take on every boss by yourselves, and so far, I can't think of any unique equipment that isn't either in the hands of a member of the Azure Brigade, or in Mari's possession. The matter that I wanted to bring up was a suggestion.. or a question, I guess. If either yourself or Tristan receive a unique drop from the boss, would you be willing to hand it down to the person who did the second best in that particular field?"

[Calrex 0]

Calrex listened attentively as the players surrounding him gave their input onto the tactics of the battle. Ariel, Lowenthal, and Rebekah all voiced their thoughts that instead of having dedicated teams for the dregs and boss the raid group should have a mixture of each duty, to which he pondered the idea, "Hm...there's six minions, all with 180 HP from what Takao said. Depending on how much damage they can mitigate it's possible that we could have a tank, DPS, and dreg controller in each of the teams. Counting a few of us here there are more than enough strong area of effect users to keep the dregs under control while the other half of the teams can focus on the boss."

His train of thought was broken when Azide and Takao both seemed to address, to some level, the elephant in the room that had formed from the last raid: The order of the fight and the fact that the Azure Brigade now possessed majority of the unique weapons currently in SAO, with the only exception, to his knowledge, being Mari. In the last fight, it seemed that things had gone a little out of order from the original plan, likely because after Zelrius did a colossal amount of damage to the Forsaken Crusader everyone seemed to switch to the idea of taking it out as fast as possible to end the fight. If they had stuck to the plan the fight could have been more dragged out, which could have put players at risk. Especially with the effect the incense had on the room, which negated all bonuses to their attacks in terms of accuracy, something they had not expected or taken into account.

Giving a few seconds to gather his thoughts as Takao finished his request to Zelrius, Calrex decided to speak again, "Generally the unique items that the bosses drop is awarded to the people that contributed the most to the battle in terms of dealing and absorbing damage, as well as any special rewards for particular duties. This would make sense for the lower floors, but if we're going to make sure we all make it out of here we'll need to bring up the strength of the raid teams as a whole. My guess is that pretty much everyone here has hit the current cap in terms of player-made item enhancements, so we can't get any stronger unless we invest in the respective skills or make use of unique gear."

To him, it didn't strongly matter what response the blonde decided to go with. Calrex himself had been hard at work getting himself stronger. Now, at least to his knowledge, he had the highest level of all the current players in SAO, meaning that he could fight for longer and to some level take a lot of hits. At the moment, gaining a unique item was not on the top of his list of priorities.

Looking back over at Takao he decided to give Zelrius some time to think by bringing the conversation back on the boss, "Takao, for the dregs were you able to find out if they had any mitigation as well? If not then it's possible we could have a mixture of boss and dreg players in each group. The most enemies anyone can hit with a area of effect Sword Art is four, so if we were to split that among two fighters it is possible to strike all six of the dregs, while hitting the boss twice."