Heroic Skill!

A boss five levels higher has a 25% scaling effect, meaning the boss's attacks on Morning Wind deal 25% more damage, while Morning Wind's attacks against the boss deal 25% less. This reduction also applies to control skills, but since the boss is immune to control effects, skills like Shockwave, Intercept, and Intimidating Shout are rendered useless.

—2292 (blocked 512 points of damage)

The spear was thrown again. Seeing that evasion was impossible, Morning Wind could only use his shield to block. He hoped to parry the attack and avoid damage altogether, but the boss's skill was clearly designed to be unparryable, only allowing partial blocking. As the boss prepared to throw another spear, Morning Wind immediately activated Last Stand, increasing his health by 30%. Only with this could he keep holding out; otherwise, he would have fallen.

—1822 (blocked 675 points of damage)

Falling Sunset cast a healing spell on Morning Wind, but his health barely recovered. If not for his skill activation, he wouldn't have survived this round. This time, Morning Wind blocked without being pushed back and charged forward quickly. If the boss managed to increase the distance, Morning Wind feared he'd be kited to death.

Protect!

Intercept!

Shadow Behind acted as a springboard. Morning Wind used Protect to approach him, then immediately Intercepted, closing in on the boss. Without hesitation, he switched his shield for his single-handed sword, broke through the boss’s defenses with Colossus Smash, then unleashed Bloodthirst and Whirlwind.

—2133

—923

This free Whirlwind landed two critical hits. Morning Wind followed up with two Furious Slashes, the main attack also critting, so he kept up the onslaught. The sustained assault left the Phantom Spearman no chance to retaliate. Morning Wind's burst of speed lasted longer this time; he needed to stall until Falling Sunset arrived, or he wouldn't be able to hold out.

Fortunately, Falling Sunset understood Morning Wind’s intentions and followed him as he charged in. After Morning Wind’s burst, she arrived and quickly healed him to full. Shadow Behind and Eternal Song assisted with their attacks, but their damage output was weak and barely scratched the boss.

Suddenly, the Phantom Spearman created three phantoms. These phantoms ignored aggro and attacked the other three players directly. The boss’s aggro-less attacks were the most likely to wipe the party. Though the phantoms had reduced damage, other classes could barely withstand their assault. Now the team's overall skill would be tested.

Shadow Behind immediately activated Vanish; before the phantoms entered combat, he stunned one with a Sap, controlling it. Unlike the boss, phantoms could be controlled and had low resistance. Shadow Behind then Shadowstepped to another phantom, quickly attacking to intercept it. Eternal Song cast Polymorph to control the third phantom, then moved toward Shadow Behind.

Shadow Behind positioned the phantom with its back to Eternal Song and Falling Sunset. Eternal Song cast Frost Ring to freeze it, while Shadow Behind circled behind the phantom to attack, avoiding its thrown attacks. The pros reacted swiftly; had they been with Monk’s group, they’d likely have been wiped before reacting.

Morning Wind, dealing with the boss alone, couldn’t worry about the phantoms—he left them to his teammates. Facing the Phantom Spearman solo was even more troublesome!

Clang...

With a swipe of his sword, Morning Wind shattered the boss’s illusion. Without hesitation, he backflipped away, and a spear pierced through where he'd just been. Had he been a moment slower, he might have been killed instantly. The skill Heroic Leap usually moves forward, but Morning Wind leapt backward—a highly technical move. If he failed, the skill would fizzle and he'd remain in place.

After landing forty yards away, Morning Wind charged back, denying the boss a second spear throw. If he allowed the Phantom Spearman to gain distance, he’d be left with only a sliver of health, followed by another multi-spear volley. Morning Wind had barely survived such an assault earlier and now refused to let the boss create distance.

The Phantom Spearman’s melee prowess was impressive, but lacked powerful skills. For Morning Wind, it wasn’t much pressure. His real concern was the boss escaping and kiting him to death.

Phantom!

When the boss hit Morning Wind, there was a chance a phantom would spawn, attacking alongside the boss. Phantoms took extra damage and had low health; Morning Wind shattered one with a Furious Slash, then continued his assault on the boss.

The greatest danger in this boss fight was a phantom appearing sixty yards behind the players, hurling spears, and aggro-less phantom attacks. Using Heroic Leap to dodge the boss’s spear throws, then charging in to break through the boss's ultimate, made things manageable. As for aggro-less phantoms, Shadow Behind and Eternal Song could handle them.

Once Morning Wind killed the Phantom Spearman, the party helped finish off the Steelback Boarmen, clearing the first boss. With both bosses defeated, Morning Wind couldn’t help but sigh—raiding with professional players was so much easier. Compared to running dungeons with Monk’s group, the difference was stark.

[Phantom Parallel]: Hero skill. Any of your attacks have a 7% chance to create a phantom. The phantom shares your stats, deals 30% of your damage, takes 200% damage, and up to seven phantoms can be active. (Requirements: Rogue, Hunter)

[Steel Back]: Hero skill. Reduces 30% of damage taken from behind and 15% from the sides. (Warrior, Paladin)

Two legendary skill books dropped, both hero skills. In his previous gaming days, Morning Wind had only ever owned one hero skill; he hadn’t expected to encounter hero skills so quickly now, starting on equal footing with others. Hero skills, like orange skill books, were unique, and far more powerful than regular skills. Each player could learn up to four hero skills.

Hero skill books had a very low drop rate—usually not obtainable on a first kill. Morning Wind was amazed that the first boss dropped two hero skill books this time. It was a stroke of incredible luck.

“Phantom Parallel to Shadow Behind, Steel Back to Morning Wind.” Eternal Song had never seen a hero skill before, but didn’t keep them for herself, distributing them according to class requirements. In the Dust Squad, Shadow Behind was a main member, and gear and items were prioritized for him. It was normal that the Jumper didn’t get a skill book, and besides, this one suited rogues best.

Steel Back? This skill didn’t seem especially lethal, but it was perfect against rogues. Rogues preferred to attack from behind or the sides, but if they faced Morning Wind, their damage would be drastically reduced. If they had to go head-to-head with him, it would be tragic for them.

Morning Wind couldn’t rely on Steel Back to tank bosses with his back, since a 30% damage reduction wasn’t high enough—there was no block, parry, or dodge, so he’d be at a disadvantage. But he could use it against spellcasting bosses; if a boss cast spells, Morning Wind could turn around to tank, gaining a 30% reduction, and with the Night Bat Cloak’s 20% immunity, it would stack to 50%, which was excellent.

“Didn’t expect to get a hero skill!” Shadow Behind was thrilled. With powerful gear and multi-tasking ability, he’d have a huge advantage in the arena. This skill book was a rare treasure; if auctioned, it would fetch a sky-high price.

Shadow Behind knew full well that if Morning Wind hadn’t tanked the Phantom Spearman and unleashed such powerful burst damage, he wouldn’t have gotten this skill book. Now he understood the value of a top-tier tank. Though Morning Wind’s technique wasn’t fully polished, it surpassed most pros. He also noticed Morning Wind had received another hero skill book, but he seemed completely unfazed.

On hero difficulty, trash mobs consisted of five elites grouped together, making clearing them troublesome. Yet for professional players, it presented little challenge. They cleared their way to the stone fortress gate, where a Spear Troll Guardian boss mounted atop a colossal mammoth awaited. Beside him were two squads of elite minions, making this fight much tougher.

“How do we fight?” Shadow Behind felt the difficulty rise. The boss alone was manageable, but with two squads of minions, aggro would chain. To deal with both the boss and the minions, their damage output had to be fast, or the tank couldn’t survive.

“Ice Mage freezes one squad of elites, we focus fire the other. Then we kill the second group. Ignore the boss for now,” Morning Wind said, seeing it was impossible to pull the minions separately.

“Ignore the boss? Is that safe?” Eternal Song felt Morning Wind’s plan was risky; tanking the boss while killing minions was tough. Plus, her Frost Ring’s freeze duration was short and could be resisted. Could Morning Wind burst down a wave of minions in time?

“If you have a better idea, let’s hear it,” Morning Wind replied, unable to think of another method. He resorted to the simplest way to clear the minions. If there were alternatives, he’d try them, but there weren’t.

Faced with Morning Wind’s question, the four couldn’t come up with another plan. Normally, they’d control one squad, focus fire the other, clear the minions, then take down the boss. The biggest issue was whether the tank could hold a squad and the boss at the start, requiring rapid damage output.

If they were level 30, there’d be no worry; but now, at level 25 and unfamiliar with the boss, it would be tough to survive. The second boss on normal difficulty was just a troll warrior, but on hero difficulty, it was completely different, with no information available.

God Mode!