Dungeon of Knowledge

Chapter 297: The Branching Paths of the Druid

Mato“It’s ready for you, Mato,” Ali said, gesturing grandly at the humming edifice of stone flooding the grove with softly shifting green and gold illumination.

Mato took a deep breath, wiped his palms on his thighs, and glanced about. His friends were all here, smiling at him expectantly. Lira stood quietly nearby, her face serene as always.

he thought, but he kept his nerves to himself and reached out his hand, placing his palm on the cool stone surface, and closed his eyes.

The gathering process made his nerves prickle and his muscles tremble like standing in the middle of a Lightning Nova, but it didn’t last long before the shrine notifications sprang into his mind with glowing green text gilded in gold.

he thought, calling them up immediately. Nerves or not, there was no reason to hesitate.

Aggression

Traits: Draconic, Strength, Melee, Critical Damage, Flying

Path Length: 6

Reachable Nodes:

+25% to Critical Damage. Cost: 1

Quality: Rare

Path – Trait

Balance

Traits: Endurance, Wisdom, Strength, Physical, Melee, Defense, Healing.

Path Length: 8

Reachable Nodes:

+10% spell power to Healing skills. Cost: 1

+10% melee attack damage. Cost: 1

+10% to amount blocked. Cost: 1

Quality: Rare

Path – Attribute

Pacifism

Traits: Wisdom, Healing, Plant.

Path Length: 9

Reachable Nodes:

+25% spell power to Healing skills. Cost: 1

Quality: Rare

Path – Trait

Mato had been dreading his evolution; he hated doing number calculations and the feeling that he might not have chosen the best option. He didn’t particularly enjoy feeling stupid either. But these evolution paths seemed to speak to him directly.

He glanced over at Lirasia, meeting her soft hazel eyes for a moment. He had never been a pacifist, and he wasn’t about to become one, even though she was. The offered Ent Form would no doubt be incredibly powerful, but it wouldn’t support the role he had found on the team. No, that was not his path to tread.

On the other hand, there had been a time when he would have instantly chosen the path of Aggression, reveling in the ability to become a dragon whenever he wanted. Who knew how powerful a dragon form would be come? But he had abandoned the path of damage at all costs along with his old Primal Rage skill, and instead grown to respect that nature required balance in all things, just as Lira had taught him. Besides, he enjoyed being both a bear and a tree.

he twisted his lips as he considered that wrinkle. It looked like a very compelling choice, but one perhaps for someone else. Call him old-fashioned, but he did prefer to have his feet firmly planted on the ground.

Noticing the expectant gaze of his friends, he shared his path choices.

“Holy shit, you get to be a dragon!” Calen exclaimed.

“Or an Ent!” Malika said. “Can you imagine his oak tree uprooting itself and strolling about?”

“How are you even going to choose?” Ali asked.

“I think the young druid has already made his choice,” Lira said.

“I think so,” Mato nodded. His was undoubtedly the path of Balance, and he was extremely grateful to Lira for suggesting he take Azryet as his deity as a counterbalance to her pacifism – without that, he likely wouldn’t have been offered this path. This path seemed to offer him the best tanking options.

Keeping an eye on the reachable nodes for updates, he decided to spread his selections as much as possible to broaden his base.

After spending his third point, the nodes updated, showing him a new choice. “Hey, Calen,” he said, sharing the new option along with the same set of three that were still available. “Fifty strength for one point is good, isn’t it?”

“Oh, yes! That’s a lot for your build.”

“Thanks,” he said, and chose that option, disappointed to see that it was a one-time thing.

For his final point, the nodes reached a new breakpoint, offering him the ability to choose a boost to his endurance.

He sucked in a deep breath and cracked his knuckles, before centering himself deliberately to try calm the yammering of his heart. He read on.

Lirasian Sage

Traits: Vitality, Nature.

Path Length: 6

Reachable Nodes:

+10% spell power to Nature skills. Cost: 1

Quality: Rare

Path – Keystone

Bark Sage

Traits: Endurance, Nature.

Path Length: 7

Reachable Nodes:

+10% to amount blocked. Cost: 1

Quality: Uncommon

Path – Keystone

Thorn Sage

Traits: Strength, Nature.

Path Length: 9

Reachable Nodes:

+10% of blocked Physical damage is reflected to the attacker. Cost: 1

Quality: Uncommon

Path – Keystone

Instinctual Tank

Traits: Endurance, Defense, Nature, Perception

Path Length: 5

Reachable Nodes:

+10% to armor. Cost: 1

+10 to endurance. Cost: 1

Quality: Uncommon

Path – Keystone

Battle Healer

Traits: Wisdom, Healing, Nature.

Path Length: 5

Reachable Nodes:

+10% spell power to Healing skills. Cost: 1

Quality: Uncommon

Path – Keystone

Bestial Rampage

Traits: Strength, Attack, Critical Damage, Nature.

Path Length: 4

Reachable Nodes:

+10% to melee damage. Cost: 1

+25% to critical damage. Cost: 1

Quality: Uncommon

Path – Keystone

“Whoa, six new paths,” Mato said, eyeing the sudden burst of notifications warily before sharing them.

“Six keystones!” Ali exclaimed.

“Looks like two sets,” Calen said. “I suspect they might be exclusive.”

“What do you guys think?” Mato asked, a little worried about making an incorrect choice.

“Which ones do you like the most?” Malika asked.

“I think the tank one mostly,” he answered, surveying the list carefully. “The healer one looks like it might be good, too. I’m not sure what the sages do, exactly, but the Lirasian sage is about vitality, so that seems important. If I can only get one, I’ll take that one.”

“It’s obviously influenced by Lira,” Ali said, gesturing to the ancient dryad beside her.

“Yes, dear, I think he figured that out,” Lira smiled.

“It’s only got vitality and nature traits,” Calen said, “Both are important for your build. That, and the Bark Sage might be very good. The only problem is some of them might be eliminated when you choose, so pick the one you want to lose the least.”

Mato glanced at the ancient dryad, his mentor, but she smiled encouragingly at him and said, “I believe it will suit you.”

“Tank first, then,” he said, but he really hoped the other options didn’t vanish. “I can choose ten percent armor boost or ten endurance. Why would I need a path for ten endurance when I can just buy attributes directly?”

“Maybe the path leads somewhere different if you take it as path nodes?” Calen suggested.

Mato nodded thoughtfully, but in the end, he was certain he would benefit far more from the armor improvements.

After spending two points to buy armor, Mato reached a new node.

Reachable Nodes:

+10% to armor. Cost: 1

+10 to endurance. Cost: 1

Last Stand gains Receptive Restoration. (Last Stand improves healing received) Cost: 3

“Oh, this is the troll berserker’s Last Stand, isn’t it?” Mato asked, his eyes immediately seeking out Ali.

“Looks like it!”

Mato immediately spent the three Authority to get it. Last Stand was the ability he had used time and again to pull their team out of the fire, any boosts to make it more effective were worth it.

When Mato checked the nodes he could reach, he found that all of them had been removed except for the armor bonus, and that had increased substantially, so he took that next.

For his final node in the path, the thirty percent armor boost was still reachable for one Authority, but a keystone upgrade had been added.

Reachable Nodes:

+30% to armor. Cost: 1

Survival Instinct gains Instinctual Defender. Cost: 2

While the thirty percent armor boost was a steal for only one Authority, the upgrade for Survival Instinct was far better. Especially if he considered the fights when he needed to tank in his Tree Form.

To his relief, all the other paths remained, and so he picked his second favorite – based entirely on its connection to Lira, who had been a steadfast mentor and inspiration for him. It felt right to honor her in this way.

Two points in, Mato found his first path divergence.

Reachable Nodes:

+20% spell power to Nature skills. Cost: 1

+1 Vitality per class level above 100. Cost: 1

Mato thought. Vitality was one of his most critical attributes. Gaining an additional point every time he leveled would pay out dividends in every battle.

Disappointingly, he couldn’t choose it again, his node options reverting to nature-affinity spell power – which still wasn’t half bad.

When he reached his last node, his options changed again.

Reachable Nodes:

+30% spell power to Nature skills. Cost: 1

+1 Vitality per class level above 100. Cost: 1

Rampant Growth gains Lirasian Sage. Cost: 3

“I can choose vitality again or something called a Lirasian Sage. It seems to be a summon?” Mato inspected the text a second time, but no more details were forthcoming. That was the problem with this evolution. Too often, he felt as if they were searching blindly, playing some kind of cosmic lottery with hard-won skills and abilities.

“Oh, my,” Lira breathed. “You have done well, haven’t you?”

“What do you mean?” Mato asked as all his friends stared curiously at her. “Do you know what this is?”

“I had hoped… when I saw your path. I believe you will not regret choosing the Sage,” Lira said, smiling her most mysterious smile, yet he also read there a degree of hope that, frankly, amazed and concerned him. Was it truly this important? If so, the decision was easy.

“Good enough for me,” Mato said. Lira had never once led him astray.

He had no idea what a Lirasian Sage actually was, but somehow it had advanced his Rampant Growth skill, granting some kind of summoned minion, which was nothing like what he had expected. He moved on, deciding to check it later.

“Ok, Battle Healer next,” he announced.

For his second node, the path offered an increased amount of healing power for the same cost.

Not questioning his good fortune, he spent the point.

Mato paused as his path began to diverge and shared his new choice with his friends.

Reachable Nodes:

+35% spell power to Healing skills. Cost: 1

Brutal Restoration gains Natural Blast Cost: 3

“Natural Blast looks good,” Mato said. “But thirty-five percent to your healing seems strong, too. Do you guys think it’s worth it?”

“That’s a very good skill,” Malika said. “It distinguishes friend from foe.”

“I’m not a dexterity build, I don’t crit much,” Mato said, wrinkling his brow. This was the number-crunching nightmare he had dreaded.

“Hey, before you make your decision,” Calen said. “I was chatting with Devan at the Challenge Arena earlier, and she was saying that Azryet’s Favor and Azryet’s Wrath both count as critical strikes delivered with her dagger. They’re spell criticals, so they don’t deliver melee physical critical damage, they just affect the spell damage – but they affect all spell damage.”

“Uh… what?” Mato asked. He was getting a cramp between his eyebrows just trying to follow what Calen was getting at.

“Whenever you get your Patron’s blessing, it should trigger that Natural Blast skill, and increase any additional magical damage you get, like the light damage from my motes,” Calen said.

“You sure?” Mato asked. If that were the case, then this new ability would trigger often enough to be very useful.

“Absolutely, we tested it extensively.”

“How did you even test that?” Ali asked.

“I bought a cheap dagger from Weldin that had a critical damage proc. It went off every time she got the blessing,” Calen said.

“Alright, pack the brains away before we all get jealous,” she teased, nodding to indicate her approval.

“Don’t you strength-builds sometimes land Crushing Blows, too?” Malika asked.

“Yup,” Mato said, “Wait, do those count too?”

“Oh, yes! An excellent point, Malika!” Calen said, pointing a finger at her dramatically. “That should definitely do the trick.”

“Ok, getting this one then,” Mato said, grinning at his friends. “You all can thank me in advance for the overwhelming healing in the future! Look out, Malika, I’m after your job.”

“Bring it on, fluffy bear!” she said, putting up her fists.

Mato grinned at her as he accepted his skill improvement; his first direct healing spell, and then glanced over the updated reachable nodes available for his last path step.

Reachable Nodes:

+50% spell power to Healing skills. Cost: 1

Battle Trance gains Retributive Heal Cost: 3

Arboreal Sanctuary gains Breeze of Restoration (Mana: Your Sanctuary aura heals your allies over time. Channeled.) Cost: 3

“Another difficult choice,” Mato said, sharing the options.

“This path is strong,” Calen said, furrowing his brow as he studied the choices.

“Fifty percent to healing, wow,” Malika said.

“I still think one of the skill upgrades is better,” Ali said. “More options in battle.”

“I agree,” Mato said, eyeing his two keystone choices. “But which one? I like the Retributive Heal the best, but should I be taking the healing aura because it will help all Ali’s minions?”

“That would be strong, but your Sanctuary is pretty small in Bear Form – it should mainly help with the melee-range fighters,” Ali said.

“It’s channeled, so that means it’s likely mana intensive,” Calen observed.

“It would be very strong in Tree Form,” Malika said, “but I think Retributive Heal is the better choice.”

“How come?” Mato asked. He had his own gut feelings, but Malika understood tanking and melee combat better than most and her reasoning was solid.

“With Ali bringing shamans, we don’t struggle with any lack of healing,” she said. “Your mana would be making the shamans and my job easier, but nothing we can’t handle without it. I think you should save your mana for the abilities that make you tougher as a tank. You get hit a ton, so that Battle Trance upgrade will allow you to use your blast heal for free every five seconds. That should save a ton of mana for increasing your magical damage, stealing damage from others, and deploying your roots for battlefield control. Those are unique skills you bring to the fight that are much harder to duplicate.”

“Sounds like you think that would be the best for the team?” Mato asked.

“Yup.”

“I agree, too,” Calen said. “Don’t forget the other side of the coin, that it damages enemies too, so it should help with area tanking.”

“Same,” Ali said. “I can always bring another shaman, and soon I should have my Acolytes leveled up.”

“Ok,” Mato said, letting the grin spread across his lips. It was nice to know his friends valued his unique contributions. He glanced appreciatively at his friends before he chose the ability, grateful to have them able to back up his gut preferences from the numbers perspective.

Mato shared the paths as they came up.

Elemental Shapeshifter

Traits: Shapeshift, Wisdom, Nature, Void, Holy

Path Length: 4

Reachable Nodes:

+1 wisdom per class level above 100. Cost: 1

+35% spell power to all skills while Shapeshifted. Cost: 1

Quality: Unique

Path – Class

Adaptable Shapeshifter

Traits: Shapeshift, Strength, Vitality, Knowledge, Nature.

Path Length: 4

Reachable Nodes:

Unlock the Adaptable Shapeshifter skill Cost: 4

Quality: Rare

Path – Class

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