[The Primeval Apocalypse] - Chapter Five (collaboration with u/hydrael)

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The Primeval Apocalypse by Robert Keene and Alex Raizman

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Dinner was uneventful. The combination of berries, vegetables, and greens that the raid team had gathered meant that no one went hungry tonight, stretching the salted meat we had a little bit farther. We were overdue for another big hunt to replenish our stockpile of meats, and with the raid’s success, people were talking about starting the task tomorrow.

I didn’t force my way into any of the conversations. They knew my strengths and would find me if they needed my help.

Once the meal was done, I retired to my makeshift home. I had one of the shoddier-looking leather tents, but I was happier with the choice. The cloth tents looked nicer, and the wooden lean-tos looked a bit more permanent. But neither kept out the elements quite like a big square of tanned skin.

The interior was equally simple, with just a large rectangle of cloth with forest debris stuffed beneath it for a mattress. I also had a leather bag to the side where I kept the scant possessions I had that I didn’t keep on my person.

Some folks still buried their possessions, or otherwise hid them. But there wasn't a reason for it, other than sheer paranoia.

If you couldn’t trust the people you were living with in the aftermath of the system integration, you had bigger problems. Most of them involving an impending death.

The cloth bed was pinned to the ground at the four corners with stakes to keep it firmly in place, but it still made a rustling shifting sound when I flopped down onto it. Almost on instinct, my hand went to the left side, where a handful of dried leaves had been forced out by my impact with it, tucking them back under. The results were lumpy, but it had served well enough for me. I’d never been a picky sleeper.

There were only two more hours of daylight left before the forest went completely dark. Without anything else to spend my time on, and safely ensconced in my ramshackle home, I turned my attention to the system, and my new Choose A Subclass ability.

Activating it brought up options. Dozens of them.

All else faded away.

With the time now to spend on them, I started from the top and worked my way down. It seemed like the top three were the most boring options, but that just meant that they would have power in their simplicity. They were worth the attention.

Subclass: Warrior
Warrior is primarily a Tank subclass, though it retains the offensive powers of Marauder. Its power comes from an amplified health pool and defensive stats, turning every battle into a battle of attrition, with resources to spare. It retains the same class skills as Marauder.
*[*Abilities at level 5]
Durable III (Passive): Your max HP is increased by 30%.
Howl (30 second cooldown): Enemies within 10 yards deal 30% reduced damage when attacking targets other than you for the next 30 seconds.
Shielded (Passive): Double your chance to block. Blocking can now reduce nonphysical damage.
Weapon’s Master (Passive): Half of your Block skill is applied even without a shield equipped. When failing a crafting check related to making or modifying a weapon by 10 or less, reroll and take the new result.

Subclass: Berserker
Berserker is primarily a DPS subclass, though it retains the defensive powers of Marauder. Its focus on unceasing offense is reliant upon buff abilities, creating a powerful ebb and flow to combat and rewarding good resource management. It retains the same class skills as Marauder.
*[*Abilities at level 5]
Fierce III (Passive): Deal 30% more damage with melee attacks.
Unstoppable Force (120 second cooldown, 2 charges): Increase your weapon skills by 50% for 45 seconds. This increase ignores your current skill cap. This ability stacks with itself additively.
Blood Red (Passive): Deal X% increased physical damage, where X is your current percentage of health below your maximum.
Aggressor (300 second cooldown): Increases your movement skill ratings by 100% for 60 seconds. When using Climb, Swim, Brachiate, or Ride, or using Athletics or Acrobatics to traverse nonstandard terrain during this effect, your movement speed is not reduced.

Subclass: Marauder +
Marauder is a tank/DPS hybrid basic class adept at both surviving the thick of combat and dishing out damage. Versatile, yet focused, its class skills include nearly all weapons and armor, but only a smattering of non-combat skills.
*[*Abilities at level 5]
Durable II (Passive): Your max HP is increased by 20%.
Fierce II (Passive): Deal 20% more damage with melee weapons.
Fury (Passive): When one of your attacks misses, or when you take damage, you gain a stack of Fury for 6 seconds, and refresh the duration on all current stacks of Fury. Each stack of Fury increases your attack speed by 3%. Fury may stack up to 5 times.
Unending (300 second cooldown): Increase the duration of all active buffs by 50% of their maximum duration. This ability cooldown is reduced by 50% when used while you are below 50% health.
Master of None (120 second cooldown): When activated, you may choose any Cross-Class skill in which your rating is 4 or higher. For the next 90 seconds, double skill rating in that skill, and treat it as a class skill.

These were certainly interesting options, especially considering how they might grow with achievements. In particular, Marauder + was an attractive choice, as I suspected the Achievement modifiers that could be gained to Fury could increase the max stacks, making it a monstrous ability to combine with generous use of Maul and Bloodbath.

But for offensive potential, I couldn’t beat Berserker. Combined with the achievement boosts I had to Last Stand, I could wring tremendous power out of Blood Red by riding a dangerous line in combat. There was no doubt in my mind that doing so would lead to a snowballing pile of achievement buffs, increasing my Last Stand potency even more, while giving unknown boosts to Blood Red.

It might compound into enough power to win a straight fight with the Mandrill queen. Or even the alpha.

For long-term plans, though, Warrior was probably the best option, as significantly increasing my staying power against the Mandrills would make me much more useful to what I was currently doing, even though the Howl ability wouldn’t do anything while I was alone. The real prize would be if my team needed a dedicated tank for some task or other, where all of those abilities would shine.

I might even be able to install myself as a central team member instead of being relegated to the fringes as I was now.

Ultimately, none of them expanded my options. I would simply be doing the same things I was now, but marginally better. It was no different than any of my past level-ups. While I wasn’t upset about my knee-jerk initial class choice to become a Marauder, I certainly had some weaknesses for my current tasks that I badly wanted to shore up.

In the end, Warrior was simply the best choice of these options. It simply offered the best supplements to my existing strategies, with the bonus HP, block chance, and the potential to slot in as a proper tank if the need arose. I made a mental note of it and moved on to the next group of subclasses.

Subclass: Warlord
Warlord is a DPS/Healer hybrid subclass, focusing on keeping allies in the fight by bolstering their spirits—and HP pools—while dishing out damage at the same time. Its class skills are slightly altered from Marauder, trading some of the more selfish skills in favor of additional team support options.
*[*Abilities at level 5]
Fierce II (Passive): Deal 20% more damage with melee attacks.
Bolster (30 second cooldown): Restore health to a target within 30 feet. Health restored is based on your INT and CON.
Absorb (Passive): Whenever you deal damage to an enemy with a melee weapon, reduce the cooldown of your Bolster ability by 1 second.
Shared Spirit (Passive): Whenever you are healed by one of your own abilities, another target ally within 30 feet is restored by 50% of the healing done to you.
Wayfinder (60 second cooldown): For the next 30 seconds, automatically succeed on all Intuit North skill checks. This will produce a perfect mental map of all terrain within 300 yards in addition to all checks made.

Subclass: Hero
Hero is a Tank/Healer hybrid subclass with a focus on keeping the team in the fight as long as possible by raising their spirits, restoring their hit points by bolstering their morale. Its class skills are slightly altered from Marauder, trading some of the more selfish skills in favor of additional team support options.
*[*Abilities at level 5]
Durable II (Passive): Your max HP is increased by 20%.
Bolster (30 second cooldown): Restore health to a target within 30 feet. Health restored is based on your INT and CON.
Rallying Presence (Passive): All allies (including you) within 30 feet restore 5 hit points per second so long as you are on your feet.
Stalwart Stance (Active, Toggle): Increase your Defense ratings by 25% while active, but reduce your movement speed by 10% as well.
Disciple of the Land (Passive): Whenever you fail a Harvesting, Excavation, Logging, Skinning, or Butchering check by 10 or less, reroll that check and take the new result. Whenever you succeed on a Harvesting, Excavation, Logging, Skinning, or Butchering check by 25 or more, double the resulting rewards.

The idea of adding healing abilities to my kit was attractive for a lot of reasons. I liked helping people, obviously, but the Bolster ability didn’t forbid me from using it on myself.

Without the exact numbers, these abilities might do as much for my longevity as Warrior would. Not to mention that it covered the same potential needs of the team. Healers were in high demand, perhaps even more so than tanks. It seemed to me that a hybrid healer shouldn’t be as potent as a pure healing class, but Warlord’s Absorb ability combined with my dual-wielding fighting style, could do tremendous things.

Hero looked like the best of both worlds, though. It didn’t have the pure defensive power of Warrior with its passive defenses, but it came close, with a more modest HP increase, and Stalwart Stance on top of the healing potential. Rallying Presence would also entirely eliminate the need for out-of-combat healing resources, conserving things like potions for more immediate emergencies.

Thus far, Warrior and Hero were the frontrunners. There were a few more to check, but it was a tight race between them.

Subclass: Beastmaster
Beastmaster is a DPS/Support hybrid subclass that amplifies ally capabilities with a variety of buffs and debuffs. Instead of originating from the Beastmaster, most of these debuffs come from charming and training pets to use their abilities. It loses many of the more civilized class skills from Marauder in favor of those that enhance its wilderness survival and make it a more effective scout.
*[*Abilities at level 5]
Fierce II (Passive): Deal 20% more damage with melee attacks.
Charming (600 second cooldown): Pacify a single target for 120 seconds. While Pacified, valid targets can be added to your Stable by befriending them before the duration ends. Enemies already engaged in combat can resist the Pacify by making an opposed WIS check against you.
Wild Empathy (Passive): Enables understanding and conveying simple meanings between you and beings you share no language with, including beasts with no language.
Teamwork (Passive): When a pet or master uses an activated buff ability that affects only themself, the buff applies to the other as well, and 50% of its effect will be applied to all allies within 30 feet.
Beast Hunter (Passive): All of your senses grow sharper. Increase Detection radius by 100%. Can be activated to increase Detection Radius by an additional 100%, but only after remaining stationary for 5 seconds. Movement breaks this effect.

Subclass: Barbarian
Barbarian is a Tank/Support hybrid subclass that bolsters allies' abilities using shouts and war cries. Its power comes from contributing tremendous damage by proxy through its allies’ buffs while filling the tank role. Barbarian loses many of the more civilized class skills from Marauder in favor of those that enhance its wilderness survival and make it a more effective leader.
*[*Abilities at level 5]
Durable II (Passive): Your max HP is increased by 20%.
Warcry (60 second cooldown, 2 charges): Shout. Increase weapon skills for all allies in 30 feet by 25% for 20 seconds. This increase ignores skill caps by level. This ability stacks with itself additively.
Warning (60 second cooldown, 2 charges): Shout. Increases Armor, Block, Dodge, and Parry skills for all allies in 30 feet by 25% for 20 seconds. This increase ignores skill caps by level. This ability stacks with itself additively.
Deep Resonance (Passive): Using the second charge of a Shout ability applies a 10% movement speed slow to all enemies in 30 feet for 30 seconds.
Lung Capacity (Passive): You can hold your breath for twice as long. Whenever you fail any skill check related to endurance by 10 or less, reroll and take the new result. This does not apply to ability checks.

Both options were attractive for the same reason: the skills they offered. Altering my skill loadout to make me a more powerful scout for the team was what I needed most. The only other way I could have hoped to improve my Stealth skill would be the Marauder + ability Master of None, which would only work for a short time. But enhancing my “wilderness survival” abilities would surely give me Stealth as a permanent class skill, making me much better at sneaking around the Mandrill’s patrols and guards

From the pattern I’d been following, I started to measure Warrior, Hero, and Barbarian against one another.

Barbarian was by far the worst tank, but was the most attractive for what it offered in skills and support. Warcry in particular was only a slightly weaker version of the pure DPS cooldown of Berserker’s Unstoppable Force, but applied to an entire group. I could make James’s dream of conquering the Mandrill’s farms into a reality almost single-handedly, turning our massed forces into juggernauts.

But I found myself circling back to Beastmaster.

As attractive as it was to add tanking abilities to my repertoire, a part of me didn’t want to rock the boat. Unlike Marauder +, Berserker, or even Warrior and Hero, Beastmaster or Berserker wouldn’t just make me better at what I could already do, they would make me better at what I was trying to do. And between the two, Beastmaster catered to my needs more directly. Beast Hunter’s expanded detection radius would make me much more efficient when making my approach on the Mandrill camp. Wild Empathy would let me decode Mandrill communication to try and help us keep aware of their plans. Not to mention the added power of Teamwork potentially applying stuff like Enrage, Second Wind, and maybe even Last Stand to all my friends, even before the potential versatility that a tamed pet might offer.

It came down to a simple question: did I want to risk losing what I could do for the town right now in order to fill a role that they might not need me to fill, or should I become strictly the best at what they needed me for right now?

When I put it that way, there was only one choice.

I selected the Beastmaster Subclass.