Marty,

I apologize that you feel we have broken your mana blades skill. Rest assured that we are trying to find a proper balance in the game, and several new skills are showing unintended consequences across the board. The developers are willing to offer this as a compromise.

Mana blades shall be available for mass excavation of rock, as that seemed to be the initial use for them. Certain types of high level rock shall require higher level of mana blades to excavate at full capacity. Example: At beginner level, mana blades remove obsidian rock at 30% efficiency. At intermediate, obsidian will be removed at 50% efficiency. Ore veins are unable to be excavated with mana blades. The rationale for this is the presence of metals interferes with your mana blades. Mana excavation can be used to mine ore veins, but at a drastically increased cost dependent on the ore and skill level. The mana that is required to give golems life also gives them protection from mana blades. They will take damage as if the mana blades were a physical attack. Mana excavation on golems will act like a hybrid physical and magic attack, with several factors determining damage received.

Please let us know if these changes seem fair, and if you see anything we are missing in our changes. As of now, it will be two weeks before we can implement another patch, and these changes will be instituted then.

Thanks,

Emily

A message from Emily when I returned was nice. It seems that the developers were willing to meet me halfway on most of the issues with my mana blades, and I finally will get some utility from them back. Now, what to do with the rest of my day?

“Hey there Khaliss, got a second?” I asked as I walked in to the barracks and saw Khaliss studying several kobolds working on spear forms.

“It’s too late to learn the spear Angus.” He replied.

“Funny. No, I’m here to turn in the mycofiend quest.”

“Oh?” He asked, voice rising. “What did you think of your first variant monster?”

“The bastard flinging water? Took me by surprise the first time, but round two went to yours truly.” I said with a smile.

“Not bad then, not bad at all. We might make a warrior out of you yet. So, let’s see what we need for rewards. Fifteen gold and a bit of equipment, yes? Here you go, a definite upgrade to your ratty chest piece. You should probably get your equipment repaired, it might save your life someday.”

What he handed me was a leather chest piece similar to what I had on, but the coloring was splotchy greys and browns instead of one single color.

Misdirecting chest armor

This leather armor has been colored to better blend in with underground areas.

Armor: 45

Durability: 150/150

Effect 1: 10% less likely to be detected while immobile in underground terrain.

“Thanks Khaliss, this is going to help a lot.” I said, happy to get an upgrade to my current equipment. He merely waved over his shoulder at me, back to inspecting his students practice spear forms.

Switching out my equipment, I headed off to the second level. Wandering around, there wasn’t really anything I had to get done today. Tomorrow I could pick up my new wire trap from Dharkiss, and I didn’t have any new alchemy ingredients so visiting Djarleen would be pointless. Before I knew it, my feet had taken me around to that almost hidden hallway leading to the off limits area. Smiling, I activated sneak and crouched at the entrance to the cavern. Seeing nobody around, I made my way over to the Cliffside walkway I had seen the last time I was there.

The number of handholds made the climb rather easy, but I still kept crouched down to avoid any eyes accidentally spotting me. I followed the path forward, slowing down when I saw a stream flowing over the path and falling into a pool below. It was only a few inches deep, but the path stopped on the other side. Looking down into the cavern, I saw what had to be the next generation of kobolds working to gain skills with a few adult overseers.

Turning back to the stream, I followed it back into a tunnel. Picking my way through the rocks while bent over in a tunnel half my height was annoying beyond belief, especially as I would bump against the ceiling every so often. After about a hundred yards, the tunnel opened into an amazing cavern. Most of the floor was covered in water midway up my shin, but I could see a few deeper areas that seemed to have their own flow in the deeper channels. There were a scattering of kobolds spearfishing in these channels, and this was the first place I had seen a variety of plant life instead of fungus. There were grasses scattered around, with congregations of moss in the shallow areas that lacked high water flow. Walking around, I came upon a plant that was incredibly reminiscent of a cattail. I almost walked by it before my brain kicked me, and reminded me that cattails looked amazing when they went to seed, the fluffy white structures carrying the seeds away on the wind.

Looking closer, there were subtle differences. It still had a long stalk, putting it at just over five feet tall. The top had a black cylinder instead of brown, and the exposed stalk tip at the top looked slightly barbed. As I cocked my head in confusion, the plant bent and fired the tip straight at my stomach. I grunted as the air was knocked out of me, the missile sticking out of my stomach. Drawing my weapon, I gave a slash with the scythe that nearly cut straight through the stalk. As it was flopping around from the lack of support, I saw the black portion start to swell and a few more spear tips appear.

Scrambling backwards was just enough to get me out of the danger zone, but I still took a two more spears. I pulled them out before making sure to finish cutting the plant in half, and identifying the remains.

Spearflinger plant

This plant will fire a spear towards any animal unlucky enough to enter its range, and gain needed nutrients from the spilled blood. When damaged, it will explode in an attempt to take its attacker to the grave with it.

Note to self: treat the Underdark like Australia. Everything is trying to kill you. Nearing the middle of the cavern, the shallows dropped off into a deep pool. At the edge of my darkvision, I could barely see a waterfall dropping down from the ceiling. Not wanting to see what lurked in the deeper water, I headed back to the shallows and started following a channel that didn’t have any kobolds. Flashes of silver gave away the presence of fish, but I had no pole or spear to go fishing with. Wait, I’ve made spears before. Using mana blade, I drove it down into some rock to start cutting, but stopped midway through. The blade had no effect on the water, at all. Pulling it back, I swirled it back and forth and saw it didn’t even generate a current like a sword would passing through. Looking back at the fish, I rethought my entire fishing problem.

First, I crouched and held still, letting the fish start to ignore my presence. I made a mana blade similar in size and shape to a jai alai sling, keeping my hand and wrist above the water. Once I had a fish lined up, a flick of my wrist and swing of the arm to add a little more power, and all of a sudden there was a fish flying through the air. I tried to catch it and failed miserably, the lucky fish swimming away in a hurry. This gave birth to my newest game: Flying fishing.

The rules were simple. I have to say, “Pull!” before flinging a fish in the air. On its way down, I get one swing with a mana blade to decapitate it. If I do, then I get to keep it. If I miss, the fish gets to swim away and I look for another channel. The limit is five fish per channel, after that I had to move to a new one. It was oddly relaxing, as there was no pressure. So what if I missed? There were plenty of fish around. It also felt good to get one over on the devs and find another use for my mana blades. Once I hit about thirty fish my game was starting to get boring, and I as I hit what I was going to call my last fish I got an interesting notification.

New ability acquired!

Your weapon is linked to your own growth, and is eligible to obtain a new bonus every ten levels. Recent actions have unlocked your first bonus. For decapitating ten enemies with one blow, without missing you have unlocked the following:

Executioner

+10% increased chance for decapitation when striking the neck of an enemy.

Increased decapitation chance? I will definitely take that! Happy and refreshed, I headed back to the city. It was getting late enough that I just headed into the inn.

“Good afternoon Alnoss, how are things around here?”

“Well, I thought you were staying away for a few days Angus! I guess you just couldn’t resist me, could ya?”

“Not at all, I even come with a few presents.”

“Hmph. And just what kind of present do you think I would enjoy?” She asked with a smirk.

“Well, I happen to have 30 silver trouts, beheaded and gutted. Do you think we could do something with them?”

“Do you have the heads?”

“Of course I do. Heads make the best stock.”

“At least you know that much. Too late for dinner tonight, but I can make a nice soup for tomorrow if you want.”

“Sounds delightful. What have we got tonight?”

“Roast boar sandwiches.”

“Can I have extra boar? It sounds delicious.”

“Sure thing, be right back.” She came back with a sandwich that was just crying out to be devoured by the carnivore in me. A full inch and a half of pulled pork on a six inch round sandwich, it just melted in my mouth. Then some sort of spicy bbq sauce hit, and I couldn’t help but moan around that first bite. “Yep, that’s the general reaction to it. I’ll let you enjoy it.” She said with a smile, and headed off to tend her other customers as I relaxed in my heavenly sandwich. I headed up for bed, and did a double check of my calendar when I realized tomorrow was already day 5 for my immersion week. Hopefully I can take out those goblins before logging out. “Damnit” I swore to myself, “I forgot to ask Khaliss where those goblins were hiding at.” Shrugging at my forgetfulness, I tossed and turned a bit before eventually falling asleep.

* * * * * * * * * * * * *

I rolled out of bed in the morning and ate a quick breakfast of porridge before heading out. My first stop of the day was with Dharkiss. “Hey there Dharkiss, everything well with the forge?”

“Mornin’ Angus. Forge is runnin’ hot, just like I like it. In fact, we just managed to finish your new specialty weapon, wanna check it out?” He asked with a grin.

“You know damn well I do!” I chuckled, and stared at the masterpiece him and his apprentice managed to make. The blades woven into it didn’t lend to coiling it, so he had made a sort of rack for it with two crossed bars. Each blade on it was eight inches long, with a serrated point every inch. Rather than taper the blade like a dagger would, each one was like they had sharpened a billet that had been flattened. I tried pushing a flat portion of the blade off center, and watched as the wire rotated with the blade. The welds holding them to the wire were perfect, and I happily identified it.

Serrated wire trap

This trap is designed to slow an enemy while causing as much damage as possible. The blades have been designed to puncture and cause bleeding, and the thick wire will be able to absorb a large amount of force without snapping.

Damage: 25-50

Bleeding damage: 30 damage over 10 seconds, Stackable x5

Durability: 500/500

“Dharkiss, you and your apprentice have done a wonderful job. I can’t wait to try this thing out.”

“Glad you like it. I even got a blueprint for it so I can make it again in the future.”

“Wonderful. Will it still take a few days to make?”

“Yeah, most likely. So let us know when and we will be more than happy to make you another. And don’t forget to tell us how it worked out.”

“Will do. In fact, I’m going to head out and test it as soon as I find the goblins.”

“Hah, perfect. Until next time.” With a wave I headed out the door and down into the Underdark.

* * * * * * * * * * * * *

I hate the Underdark. Having a map is nice, but it only really works in two dimensions. The Underdark tunnels are three dimensions, and twist back upon themselves regularly. I’m still leaving trail markers, without those I’ld be hopelessly lost. I don’t care how easily you can find north, you would still get lost in these twisting tunnels. I hadn’t even found any decent monsters to fight for the last few hours. Blast, another crossroads. As I walked up, I heard a faint tapping coming from one direction. Eh, something must be doing it, as it isn’t rhythmic. Sneaking down the left hall, I was off in search of what could be a tapping.

Thank all the gods of the Underdark, it’s a damn goblin! The miner goblin was tapping away at an ore vein, glancing around nervously every so often. Lowering my crossbow before I took a hidden shot, I wanted two things. First, what the heck could make a goblin nervous in an empty hall? And maybe I can follow him back to his camp after all this and stop having to hunt.

Suddenly a gigantic worm with armor plating on the front silently lurched from a side tunnel and ate the goblin and a large chunk of what it was trying to mine in one massive gulp! The blurb I got from identify was terrifying.

Juvenile tunneling worm lvl 35

These giant worms are terrifying and nigh indestructible. They can grow to up to 100 feet long, and the front is an armored slab created from the rocks and metals they inadvertently eat. Drawn to rhythmic vibrations, many a mine has been forced to shut down due to an infestation.

Oh, that’s why he was nervous. Poor bastard probably knew they were nearby. Slowly sneaking away, I decided to start looking down a different tunnel. Perhaps I would be back to take on these worms someday, but that isn’t for today.