The Nettle Tea Chronicles

Cassandra

It didn't take too long for the party to collectively go over the new available quests. And, unfortunately, none of them were exactly attractive offers at the minute.

Outside of the hunting quest that [Scathach] offered, which a few of the party seemed mildly interested in, the rest were far less interesting. Or at least didn't offer enticing rewards yet. It seemed like there was a system to have the community fix up the city based on quest completion numbers, but that still only left the quests as something to be done mindlessly later, when they were bored, and probably not together.

Well, maybe she and Zoe would go through them together while doing something else.

After the group ran around and confirmed the contents of the various quests, everyone reconvened near the functional center of the city, which consisted of some shops and other amenities for players. It was also crowded, as the main location that featured in the raids.

"So, that leaves us with less than half an hour tonight. Did we need to do anything else?" Aleister asked. "Or can I go get my PJs and get into bed?"

"Isn't it still too early for bed?" Mellody chuckled.

"Also, we needed to discuss what our plans were for the PvP event." Zoe said. "I suppose we obviously have our roles because I assume everyone is playing on their main, but what Paths and Dedications is everyone planning on playing?"

"Do people not just PvP on their main class?" Bisky asked.

"I don't." Zoe returned instantly.

"Neither do I." Cass added.

"Me either." Firo said.

"Alright, point taken." Bisky said.

"And besides, didn't someone mention you use a totally different spec and loadout for PvP, Bisky? That's the kinda stuff I'm talking about." Zoe said.

"I'm in agreement." Cass said. "This is a team event. We need to know what everyone is planning to play so we can try to find and exploit any potential combos. And try to minimize too much overlap."

"Right. I usually run my Arrow as a trap-focused spec. Since this is ranked, I'll probably use Keeper instead of Seeker as well, and play a bit more of a support role." Bisky said.

"Bisky and I used to duo sometimes, and I played my Tyrant with her Keeper. They combo together really well." Caoimhe said.

"Oh really? You duo'd without a healer?" Cass asked. She had played some duos with Zoe earlier on in the game's lifetime, and realized pretty quickly that a DPS and a healer seemed to be the meta pairing. From what she had understood, having a healer was meta for the obvious reason of wanting some sustain, while the second player being a DPS became meta because they were able to take out the enemy healer quicker than a tank could.

Tanks only had so many ways to defend their teammate in PvP at first, which meant they ended up third-class citizens in duos because they couldn't really play to their role.

At least, that's how it was when the game first launched. It took a few months for the first real PvP update, which reworked things pretty significantly for a lot of classes. It gave certain PvP-only effects to skills to better balance things, and tanks went from a low-tier pick to in contention again.

For tanks, it all came from a simple effect - if you used a [Provoke] skill against a player, it reduced that player's damage by 70% against anyone that wasn't the tank. It was a huge shift in the PvP meta, but by then Cass and Zoe had stopped playing duos because the matches weren't that interesting. They much preferred bigger team battles.

"We did." Caoimhe said, which brought Cass' line of thought back around to the conversation. "Keeper gets a few solid healing abilities. Nothing in the realm of what's needed to be a healer for a raid or anything, but it was enough to carry two DPS through most PvP fights, as long as we played well."

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"That's really neat, actually." Firo said.

"I'm not going to say it worked well." Bisky chuckled. "Our matches were very feast or famine. If my baby heals weren't enough, we were wiped out immediately. When we won, it was almost always in a landslide and we barely needed my healing at all."

"Hey, there were some close matches here and there. I definitely remember one match that we won because your regen ticked at just the right second."

"Yes, I remember that one match too. That one singular time that my healing made a real difference." Bisky said dryly.

"Anyway, let's get back on topic. That means we'll have a Seeker with traps, debuffs, and minor healing plus a Tyrant that excels on hindered enemies?" Zoe asked.

"Yup."

"Yeah."

"I plan to play my Athame." Zoe said, taking her turn. "I play it a little weird, with a highly mobile build focused on delivering Hexes with Permeate. I guess you'd class me as a harasser?"

"She's a big ol pain in the ass." Firo said.

"Can confirm." Cass agreed. "I don't know if Athame offers any real combos with other classes, but we'll be able to all take advantage of Nyx disabling the enemy backline and her Hexes."

"Do we need to make a dive core for you to function?" Fiona asked. "Or can you get in and out safely on your own?"

"It depends on the enemy comp, usually." Zoe said. "If they don't have a lot of on demand CC, or if it's mostly skill shots, I'll be fine."

"Fiona brings up a good point though," Cass said. "We need to consider our broad strategy. Mellody, are you going with Muse?"

"Not necessarily." Mellody said. "I actually prefer Mystic in PvP. It opens up a lot of options."

Cass nodded to herself. "It does. If we don't have to all stay together, we're not locked into a dive or deathball strat."

"Who do we have for engage?" Firo asked.

"Me, probably." Fiona said. "I play Tower instead of Aegis for PvP, since counters don't work as well against groups of enemy players. And Tower gets a lot of great abilities to engage on."

"I can go Ebon or Ravager, depending on what we need." Aleister added. "If we're lacking engage, I'll bring Zerker."

"That should work. I usually play Rune, so while I'll have some ability to poke, most of my damage will require us getting in." Firo explained. "Having a Tower and a Zerker works great for me."

"It sounds like we're leaning toward a pseudo dive comp then?" Cass said, then added, "Oh, I run Ward or Blight, by the way, so I should be fine with whatever, but I definitely can work with a dive comp."

"So, just to summarize, we're going to tentatively have Athame, Keeper, Tyrant, Tower, Zerker, Rune, Mystic, and Ward." Zoe said.

"Seems like it."

"That definitely screams dive to me." Bisky chuckled.

"Do you have any way to dive with us on Keeper?" Firo asked.

"I do." Bisky said, sounding unusually sly. "I have a specific piece of equipment for playing PvP that gives me a blink. And since the event is ignoring gear stats except for Invested Effects, I'm golden there."

Caoimhe chuckled. "You know, I would never have guessed our group would end up favoring a dive comp."

"Really? I feel like our plan being 'get in there and smash their face in' seems pretty on brand for us." Fiona said.

"You know, that's fair." Caoimhe allowed. "Our normal group comp is very standard though."

"It is, isn't it?" Mellody said. "One melee striker, one rogue, two ranged strikers, a healer, a support, and two tanks."

"Very normal, yeah." Aliester agreed. "In contrast our PvP group is kinda all over the place."

"In similar terms to what Mello used, we have, what, a melee striker, two speed type fighters, a trap user, a damage support, area control, and two heavy fighters?" Firo said.

"Sounds about right." Cass shrugged. "To be fair, though, PvP groups are always a little funky."

"True. The classic fantasy party doesn't function as well in a fight like that because everyone is too generalized." Firo said.

"Pick a thing or two and be the best at them is basically how every meta is formed, yeah." Fiona said. "Which honestly kinda sucks because it takes so many options away."

"You say that like we aren't planning to have like half off-meta picks in our group." Cass laughed.

"Oh, jeez, you're right. Athame, Rune, Ward and Keeper are all low tier Dedications, aren't they?" Mellody chuckled.

"I don't trust tier lists in this game." Firo said. "With the way skills can be altered and stuff, I somehow doubt that tier lists actually get everything right for Mag Mell. They probably only consider the normal specs."

"Probably."

"That's fair." Mellody agreed. "We still are going to end up with a weird-ass group."

"Says the one bringing Mystic." Aleister said snidely.

"Hey, Mystic is top-tier for PvP." Mellody shot back.

"Yes, but with the lowest play percentage by a huge margin, if I recall?" Aleister returned again.

"To be fair, that's because most people can't stand doing zero damage themselves." Mellody said, the shrug obvious in his voice. "Despite the fact the Mystic's party buffs are insane."

"I've seen them in PvP before. When they're good, their team rules the entire battlefield." Zoe said.

"But when they suck, they get absolutely stomped." Fiona said. "It's a good thing Mello isn't bad, huh?"

"Aw, thanks Fiona." Mellody chuckled.

"No problem. You just make sure you don't prove me wrong, yeah?"

"What a buncha weirdos." Caoimhe said.

"As if you aren't included." Bisky shot back.

"Never said that, did I?" Caoimhe chuckled.

Cass smiled to herself as she listened to her friends bicker and carry on. They had, admittedly, discussed the most pressing matters, and from here just needed to work out any potential combos between their chosen [Dedications].

For her [Ward], she knew that actual 'combos' would be lacking. [Hallow], as a [Path], and its two [Dedications], [Ward] and [Blight] were almost entirely focused on the massive Area of Effect spells that made up the most of their tool kit. While the effects that the various [Consecrated Ground] spells that she would have access to were certainly very useful in a huge array of situations, they were usually not the type of effects that'd lend to nasty combos, like extended stuns or roots.

She'd also have to consider which of the [Dedications] to bring. While she generally preferred [Ward] and the more buff-focused loadout it offered because she generally had better control over the ground her party controlled, if they were going to be building the group as a dive comp, the giant area debuffs that [Blight] focused on might be the better option.

Cass had been thinking it over while half-listening to her friends as they had moved on to discussing what sorts of skill alterations and [Invested Effects] they would be likely to use when she heard the chime of a [Whisper]. The private, in-game message came from Zoe, of course, and she smiled.

{Nyx} > : What's got you so quiet, hm?

> {Nyx} : Thinking about the merits of Ward vs Blight. And what about you, hm?

{Nyx} > : Brainstorming escape plans for when tomorrow inevitably goes up in flames.

> {Nyx} : Zoe, you haven't exactly told me a ton about your family, sure, but you've said literally nothing that has me worried about meeting them.

{Nyx} > : I'm sure they will play nice and be mostly pleasant.

{Nyx} > : What I'm *worried* about is that they're going to be all over you, Cass. Like buzzing flies around a carcass.

> {Nyx} : Thank you *so much* for that lovely image.

{Nyx} > : Sorry.

{Nyx} > : Unrelated, how awesome is it to have friends?

> {Nyx} : ?

{Nyx} > : I mean, this is the first time I've been in a real group like this, prepping for a big event. It's really great.

> {Nyx} : This is your first time in a gaming group like this?

{Nyx} > : Ya. I've joined guilds or whatever before, but none have actually felt like a friend group before.

{Nyx} > : Between that, and you…

Cass took a moment to stare at the last couple messages with a warm smile on her face. She knew that she had two potential routes to take here. She could be sweet and just send an "Aww…" as a reply, or…

Well, she knew what she needed to do.

"Hey guys," she said, interrupting the discussion, "Nyx is sending me sappy whispers, talking about how happy she is to have friends like y'all."

"Wha - you little - !"

Cass could barely even hear Zoe's annoyed shouting over the emphatic outpouring of teasing from the group as she made a mental note to make sure if she ever told Zoe she felt exactly the same way, it'd have to be at some point where she couldn't tell anyone.