I immediately selected Elida; a healer was going to be important on this summoning. For my second minion, I decided to go with the goblins. The drone was strong, but from the chaos around me, I figured this was an actual battle, and numbers might be more important than individual power. As far as my final selection was concerned, curiosity won out, and I chose the Chixtani Infestor, whatever that was.
Elida appeared next to me, and a moment later, the three goblins showed up. They looked quite a bit different from the tier one, rank seven versions I had last seen. System information appeared to describe the changes that had been made to the goblins, and I gave it a quick read.
Glem, Glamb, and Glurk, goblin kill team. Tier 3, Rank 1.
Individual Classes. Your minions have developed individual classes to augment their abilities.
- Glem: This minion has received the class Flickering Skewer. This class enhances Glem’s normal combat abilities and has a signature ability, Flickering Skewer, that allows him to teleport toward a target at a distance of up to 25 feet per tier. Once Glem reappears near a target, his next attack has a 25% bonus to hit, a 25% damage bonus, and an additional 10% chance to deliver a critical hit.
In addition to the damage bonus on the next hit, Glem receives a 15% defensive bonus for the next 10 seconds after activating Flickering Skewer. This ability has a 2-minute cooldown.
- Glamb: This minion has received the class Blood Berserker. This class enhances Glamb’s normal combat abilities and has the signature ability, Blood Berserker. This ability grants Glamb an additional 15% bonus to hit, 15% attack speed, 15% chance for each strike to inflict the bleeding status effect, and a 15% life steal effect.
The Blood Berserker ability lasts for 10 seconds and has a 2-minute cooldown between uses.
- Glurk: This minion has received the class Longbow Summoner. This class enhances Glurk’s normal combat abilities and grants him the signature ability, Longbow Summoner. This passive ability grants a 10% chance for each successful ranged attack to summon a goblin minion near the target. Glurk’s minions remain for up to one minute, are equipped with simple weapons and armor, and are summoned at half Glurk’s Tier and Rank.
Equipment/Abilities/Spells.
- Armor. The armor for all three goblins includes enchanted chainmail that is as strong as plate armor, and lighter than leather. In addition, the armor boosts all stats by 1 and grants limited resistance to elemental attacks.
Glem is also equipped with an enchanted shield that grants a 10% chance to deflect ranged attacks and spells.
- Weapons. Glem is armed with an enchanted long spear that has a 10% chance to land a second instant strike on a successful hit. The spear also ignores 10% of all armor a foe may be wearing. His weapon also allows Glem to add a fire, frost, electrical, or nature damage enhancement to each attack. A masterwork dagger is sheathed on his belt as a backup weapon.
Glamb is equipped with a matching pair of enchanted meat cleavers. These cleavers grant a 10% bonus to hit, a 10% chance to inflict the bleeding status effect, and a 5% chance to land a critical blow. As a backup weapon, Glamb is also equipped with a masterwork dagger.
Glurk wields a composite longbow that is enchanted to increase accuracy, range, and damage by 10%. The bow is paired with a Quiver of Endless Arrows, that not only provides a constant supply of ammunition, but also enhances Glurk’s attack speed by 5%. As a backup weapon, Glurk is also equipped with a masterwork dagger.
Abilities:
- Horde Tactics. As long as at least one other goblin is in sight on the battlefield, each goblin receives a 15% bonus to attack and defense.
The new classes for each goblin gave them all a solid boost in power. In addition, their gear and original Horde Tactics had improved. Now, their ability would work with any goblinoid, not just those with the specific Horde Tactics ability. With Glurk’s bow summoning the occasional goblin, they should have that bonus active most of the time.
My goblins weren’t as powerful individually as the drone or Elida, but as a team, they were just as formidable. For my last choice, the Chixtani Infestor, I was shocked to see a small spider-like creature appear next to me. It looked like Melody, and a system prompt appeared along with the creature.
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The Chixtani Infestor is a parasitic arachnid that melds with its host, taking over total control of the host’s actions. When infesting a host, the Chixtani can access all skills and abilities the host possesses, though the host’s stats will be reduced by 10% as the Chixtani draws on its host’s lifeforce to sustain its own.
While controlling a hostile host, the Chixtani Infestor will face occasional challenges to its hold over the host. Should a host be killed, the Chixtani Infestor faces mental backlash that inflicts heavy damage and weakens its chances of infesting a new host for several hours.
“May I accompany you or one of your minions into battle? I will seek the nearest enemy as my host, but I don’t have the speed to close with the foe easily. I’m sorry, but my presence in a friendly host will reduce their stats, health, and mana, by 10% for five minutes after I leave them,” the small spider said.
Having the spider on me was a no-go, but I could see the advantage of getting it into battle quickly. I had it attached to Glem, and while I didn’t like him being drained of some of his strength, Glem’s teleport ability would allow the Chixtani to close in on a host quickly.
“Is that all or do you have more minions coming?” the old man who was my summoner asked.
“This is it, what do you need us to do?” I asked as another fireball exploded nearby. Before replying, the old man raised up on one knee and began banging out shots with an honest to goodness M16 at distant targets. I was no expert at this point, but I had a solid grasp on modern weapons from my time training with the military. By the way this guy handled the weapon, I could tell that he knew what he was doing. How he was able to keep the weapon functioning in a mana-rich environment was a mystery.
“Our artillery cover is starting now, and I need you to support the advance to the bridge there. If we can take the bridge, the system will weaken the shield around the keep. These naga are on our side, so watch your fire,” the old man said, pointing toward several other figures crouching behind the ruined wall. They were similar to the snake-like humanoids I’d seen working in the Somhagen arena several times. I peeked over the ruined wall we were using as cover in order to get an idea of our situation.
About 200 yards away was a wide, rapidly flowing river, with a fortified bridge spanning it. The bridge had a stone tower on either end, and I could make out several figures scurrying around nearby. I was shocked to see it looked like a combined force of gnomes and a few larger ogre-sized humanoids were defending the bridge against our assault.
On the other side of the river, a short distance from the bridge, a small keep stood. A glowing blue shield encompassed the keep, though it seemed to occasionally flicker like it was running out of mana or something. It was from inside the keep that the fireballs were being hurled toward us.
The distinct whump of a mortar firing behind me caught my attention. I wasn’t sure what I had been expecting in this summoning, but an old soldier, leading naga who had mortar support wasn’t it. The naga working the mortars moved like a well-oiled team. There were two mortars in the pit and between the pair, they were sending out a round every second toward the bridge.
“Move, before the mortars are silenced, the old man shouted. All around us, more of the naga appeared and charged forward. I waved my team ahead as well, and kept my shield in one hand, and my javelin in the other as we advanced. Deadly mortar bomb explosions carpeted the near side of the bridge, and more than a few of the enemy were cut down by the blasts.
Even more important than the casualties our mortars were causing was the thick smoke screen that some of the rounds were starting to form. Magical attacks flew from the growing cloud of smoke, mainly a combination of lightning and small flame blasts. The incoming attacks were fired blindly, but even firing blind, we were taking casualties as more than one naga fell during the charge. Before we had closed half the distance to the bridge, the mortar fire shifted to the far side of the bridge, but only a few rounds hit before the weapons went silent.
“Damn, they were faster with their Fail Weapons spells than usual,” the old man said. He had positioned himself next to me and was using hand signals to convey orders to the attacking naga.
“How’s your weapon still operating?” I asked.
“Part of my class abilities, I’m sorry to say. Having my naga equipped with proper firepower would be a godsend,” the old man said. A few seconds later, we hit the smoke screen and my vision of anything was obscured. It only took me a few steps before I was out of the smoke, which was now starting to dissipate.
Ahead of me, my goblins were surging forward, right on the heels of the naga. Well, I supposed that since the naga didn’t have feet, it was more like right on the coils of them. Their lower body was like a big snake, and only their upper torso was humanoid. It made them fast over this relatively level ground.
The gnomes holding the bridge ran to meet our charge, and a half dozen of the larger ogres were supporting their counterattack. I saw Glem blink from view, only to appear near one of the ogres, which he refrained from attacking and instead targeted a nearby gnome. I waited for the ogre to crush my negligent goblin with the crude club the monster wielded. Instead, the ogre crouched over and clutched his head. A moment later, the ogre stood and smashed another ogre that was coming to his aid.
I must have been getting my first view of a Chixtani Infestor at work. There was no time for spectating, though, as several of the gnomes zeroed in on me and the old man at my side.