Chapter 23: The Surprisingly Compatible [ Jade Tide Wrist Guard ]
Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation
As he read through the messages sent by Xu Ruoxuan, Su Chen subconsciously nodded his head slightly.
This was because the first message sent by Xu Ruoxuan was a piece of news that Su Chen was unaware of.
[ Xu Ruoxuan (level 30) : Let's not talk about the Mage's magic hat for now. After all, it simply does not exist below the orange rank. ]
Upon reading this, Su Chen started to recall all the information he had read about [ Ark ].
Back when he was researching the optimal gear for each of [ Ark ]'s available classes, he realized that most Mage setups did not involve using the magic hat.
Heck, even those that had the magic hat slot occupied were those who had equipped the hoods that had come with their robes. However, this issue did not pertain only to the Mage class, as helmets seemed to be a rarity on other classes as well.
Su Chen theorized that the reason that this piece of information was not widely known was due to the player base being quite new at the time. After all, they had no way to obtain high rank equipment back then, and thus, they had no way of realizing this information.
After all, even now, two months after the launch of the game, the character with the highest level in the Hualong Server was only level 50+.
Most players were between the levels of 20 and 40.
Su Chen continued browsing Xu Ruoxuan's wares.
[ Xu Ruoxuan (level 30) : Okay, here's the first list. If you're in a hurry to become stronger, these level 10 equipment would do the trick. ]
[ You mentioned that you wanted a "Wrist Guard", "Robe" and "Armor", and you also expressed that you wanted a better "Staff". Well then, here you go, all four of these equipment are green rank. ]
The first item was an [
[ Silver Bear Armor: Elemental Power +10, HP: +70, Defense: +120, Stamina: +50; Additional effect: Reduces physical damage taken by 2%. ]
The second item was a green rank level 10 staff.
[ Storm Staff: Elemental Attack: +50, MP: +30, Stamina: +10; Additional effect: Every time a skill is unleashed, an additional 50 damage will be dealt. Cooldown time: 1 minute. ]
The third item was a green rank level 10 [ Wrist Guard ].
[ Blue Cloud Bangle: Elemental Power: +20, HP: +30, Defense: +25, Stamina: +5. Additional effect: Every time a skill is used, the casting time of the main class skill will be reduced by 5% . ]
The last item was a level 10 green rank [ Robe ].
[ Philo's Robe: Elemental Power: +80, HP: +80, Defense: +20, Stamina: +10. Additional effect: None ]
Su Chen looked at the descriptions that had appeared in his field of vision. Upon noticing that all the equipment were indeed green rank, he nodded his head slightly in approval.
It was a pity that the robe did not carry any additional effects, however.
[ Xu Ruoxuan (level 30) : Su Chen, here comes the second set of equipment. Since you're already level 13, I've selected gears of level 15 for this particular set. Remember, all three pieces of equipment are level 15 and green rank. I won't be repeating myself after this. ]
[ I've left out the armor this time since you already have the level 15 Bloodwolf Armor. ]
[ Thunder Staff: Elemental Power +100, MP +50, HP: +20, Stamina: +20 ]
[ Additional effect: Each skill cast will be imbued with the Lightning element, There is a 2% chance that the opponents will be stunned for 3 seconds upon being hit. ]
[ Jade Tide Wrist Guard: Elemental Power +50, MP +20, HP + 50, Defense +40, Stamina +10. ]
[ Additional effect: Will be bound to a selected skill. Upon reusing that skill, the skill will gain a 10 damage increase on each skill cast. The effect lasts for 3 minutes, and the cooldown time is 4 hours. ]
[ Crimson Moon Robe: Elemental Power +150, HP +10, Defense +50, Stamina +10. ]
[ Additional effect: Unlocks "Rising Tide" skill. Upon taking damage from a skill, 10% of the damage received will be converted to Elemental Power. Effect last for 10 minutes. Cooldown time is 1 hour ]
The moment Su Chen saw the Jade Tide Wrist Guard, his eyes immediately lit up.
He was particularly interested in the wrist guard's additional effects.
After all, it was highly compatible with his [ Fireball ]!
He was likely the only Mage who could use it properly since for usual level 13 Mages who had four class skills, the combined casting time and cooldown time of each skill would add up to around 8 seconds.
As such, their normal behavior during combat was to rotate between the four skills to reduce the downtime between their attacks. As such, in a usual rotation of skills, there would be a 20-ish second window before the skill would be used again.
As such, they could only make use of the effect 9 times during a normal battle, since its effects would only last for 3 minutes, and they could at most use it thrice in a minute in a proper rotation.
The damage increase from the first repeat cast would result in a +10 increase.
The damage increase from the second repeat cast would result in a +20 increase.
The damage increase from the third repeat cast would result in a +30 increase.
The damage increase from the fourth...
By these calculations, regular Mages would at most gain a 90 damage increase against their opponents via the effect.
This was a rather negligible amount of damage, even for regular players who did not have a transmigration system to back them up.
However, things were different for Su Chen.
As a starter skill, [ Fireball ] had a shorter downtime compared to the other class skills.
Previously, Suchen's [ Fireball ]'s had a 5 second downtime without any help of the system and equipment. However, after receiving upgrades, its downtime had been reduced to 2.5 seconds.
That meant that Su Chen could cast it 24 times in a minute!
Su Chen could rack up to 720 points of additional damage within three minutes!
Had Su Chen worn those wrist guards during his fight against Xiao Feng, Xiao Feng would never have stood a chance against him.
That was because the combined damage of [ Fireball ] and the wrist guards' effects would allow Su Chen to deal 1,400+ damage within a single hit! Xiao Feng would definitely not be able to endure such a beating.
Although the wrist guards would seem like a regular piece of equipment to most, to Su Chen, it was considered to be an epic-tier enhancement.
Should he come across orange rank gear with the same effects in the future, Su Chen would become unstoppable.
[ Xu Ruoxuan (level 30) : The first set of level 10 green rank equipment would cost you a total of 55,000 Gold Coins. An additional 25,000 Gold Coins would be required. ]
[ The second set of level 15 green rank equipment would cost you a total of 60,000 Gold Coins. An additional 30,000 Gold Coins would be required. ]
[ However, you can take your time to choose. I'm in no hurry. Feel free to contact me once you've made your mind. ]
While Su Chen was marveling at the wrist guard's effects, Xu Ruoxuan messaged Su Chen the price of the equipment.
Upon returning to his senses and noticing the price that Xu Ruoxuan had charged him, he was a little surprised.
He actually knew the market's prices quite well. Going by usual standards, the first set of level 10 green rank equipment should have gone for 65,000 Gold Coins.
On the other hand, the second set should have gone for 70,000 Gold Coins.
Xu Ruoxuan had silently marked down the prices of each set by 10,000 Gold Coins. Su Chen doubted that she would make much of a profit via such an act, and he even had a hunch that she was selling the items to him at cost price.
What a sincere person.
After pondering for a moment, and after taking another look at the Gold Coins in his storage bracelet, he then answered her.
[ I'll take both sets. Let's conduct the trade via the friend menu. Accounting for the sale of my Warrior Equipment, I'll pay you the remaining 85,000 Gold Coins. ]
[ In addition, while I do not intend on joining any organization as of this moment, once the guild system goes online, I'll keep [ Dragon Slayers ] under consideration as one of the guilds to join. ]
Su Chen's in-game balance was 100,000 Gold Coins. He could easily afford such an expenditure.
He was currently level 13, and thus, he was unable to equip the level 15 equipment just yet. As such, he needed to rely on the level 10 set to receive a temporary power boost.
Once he reached level 15, he would then sell the level 10 equipment. At most, he would only lose 1,000 Gold Coins due to a decrease in the durability of the equipment.
Ding Dong.
Xu Ruoxuan immediately replied:
[ Really? That's great! If you're willing to join us once we set up our guild, I'll happily lend you the level 10 set instead. After all, you level quickly anyway. ]
Su Chen pondered on the offer for a moment before responding.
[ Alright, I'll pay you 34,000 Gold Coins in that case. Consider the 4,000 Gold Coins as maintenance fee for the decline of the equipment's durability. ]
After a short exchange, Su Chen completed the transaction with Xu Ruoxuan and received a total of seven pieces of green rank equipment!
With that, Su Chen now had six of his equipment slots filled with green rank equipment! With the exception of an orange rank helmet slot, he was now fully geared!
His stats instantly reached a brand new height.
Suddenly, Su Chen recalled the requirements of his [ Heavenly Craftsman ] subclass. He needed new forging blueprints and a large amount of materials so that he could increase his enchantment success rate. As such, he decided to ask Xu Ruoxuan whether she had any blueprints and materials to spare.
Then, as he waited for a reply, he inspected changes in his attributes closely with slight anticipation. He wanted to see how much his attributes had increased after being enhanced by his new equipment.
-- Gift
received