Gameplay Details

This chapter is purely for reference purposes. If you come across a Viren's Refuge game reference you don't recognize or remember from earlier chapters, you can come here and check it out!

Also, a few people had questions about the math I use for stats and such, so I included my simplest formulas in the section on Base Stats.

If there's something else you'd like to see in this Auxiliary Chapter, let me know, and I'll add it! I'll update it as the story continues.

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[ RACES OF VIREN'S REFUGE ]

Norse – Valkyrie – (Choosers of the Fallen)

Warriors in Odin's Ragnanival army who choose who deserves a hero's death in battle and then carry each warrior's soul to Valhalla

Racial Perks: high base strength; non-restricted berserk skill; eventual flight ability; increased attack speed with bladed weapons

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Celtic – Pu`ca – (Shapeshifter Spirit)

Trickster spirit fae who helps or hinders humans; harbinger of both good and bad fortunes, depending on the situation

Racial Perks: high base intelligence; shapeshift into horned cat, goat-demon, and dire wolf; each shift comes with specialized stats and abilities, and each shift can acquire shift-specific upgradeable skills

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Chinese – Draegkyn – (Dragon Kin)

Humans granted the power of nature dragons, in accordance to Chinese dragon lore

Racial Perks: high base intelligence; swimming racial skill; attack buff in water fights & on boats; increased damage with water magic

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Greek – Meliae – (Ash Dryads)

Nymphs of the mountain ash tree, born of Gaia (the Earth) and the blood of castrated Ouranos (the Sky)

Racial Perks: high base vitality; since the World Tree is ash, passive race skill draws power from World Tree to regen HP at a faster rate; increased stealth in forests; increased potions-making success rate; increased chance for crit (critical) hit when using wooden bow

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Egyptian – Anubis Death Warrior – (God of the Afterlife's Mortal Forces)

Warriors granted powers by Anubis, God of the Afterlife, Guard of the Underworld

Racial Perks: high base strength; high base defense; increased damage to dead/undead enemies; increased chance for crit hit with any weapon; high heat resistance

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Japanese – D'Raven – (Karasu Tengu)

Karasu = Crow/Raven; Tengu = half-bird, half-man yokai (spirit/demon) that acts as a trickster minor god who lives in mountain forests; most strange or mysterious events can be attributed to them, and they enjoy luring humans with music or by appearing as will-o'-the-wisps. Later tengu are more powerful and darker; they are skilled with swords, martial arts, and magic and often use their powers to sway Buddhist priests away from Enlightenment

Racial Perks: high base agility; eventual flight ability; increased stealth in shadows; can create will-o'-the-wisp lights to confuse/distract enemies; when skill proficiency rate hits 95% with any blade or martial arts attack skill, deals double damage

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Mayan – Camazotz – (Death Bat)

Cave-dwelling Mesoamerican Bat-Man hybrid Vampire

Racial Perks – high base agility; eventual bat shapeshift ability; base Search skill (echolocation); base Life Steal skill (when activated, will steal HP from any attacker who lands a hit)

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Inuit – Angakoq Shaman – (Spiritual Leader)

Intellectual and spiritual leader with powers of divination, healing, and other various abilities granted by a spirit guide/animal spirit familiar

Racial Perks: high base intelligence; high cold resistance; eventual ice bear shapeshift ability; at 90% skill proficiency, healing skills work more effectively (replenish more HP than base skill allows)

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Hindu – Rakshasa – (Man-Eater)

lit. trans: "Help Me!" (words Brahma yelled when being eaten alive by Rakshasa after he created them) Demons who feeds on human flesh, banished to earth because of their insatiable bloodlust; in-game they look like horned tiger-faced demons with fangs

Racial Perks: high base strength; high base defense; deal extra damage when fighting humans (Man-Eater Bonus); bloodlust berserk state skill

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Variable - Human

"As the mortal protector of the Realms, humans are a highly adaptable, highly intelligent race that uses numbers and tactics to outwit stronger forces. Though short-lived, they burn bright and fast, accomplishing as much—or more—in one fleeting lifespan than many immortals undertake in an eternity."

Racial Perks: high base vitality; granted 2x EXP for all non-human kills; +5% base skill proficiency with weapons; unlimited human potential means not class-locked, can change classes at Level 80; group defense buff applied any time 6+ humans form a party or team (Zerg Bonus)

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[ RANKING SYSTEM FOR EQUIPMENT/WEAPONS ]

RANKING SYSTEM for Equipment/Gear

Tier:

Black (Trash)

Red (Common)

Yellow (Decent)

White (Excellent)

Blue (Rare, can be Unique)

Nova (Epic, Legendary, Mythic) – can also be Replica

Equipment tiers are color-coded to align with the game's "celestial universe" theme: Black, Red, Yellow, White, Blue. The name of the item glows the same color as its tier.

Black equipment is trash. Might as well toss it into a black hole for all the good it will do you.

Red equipment is weak and common, like Red Dwarfs (the dimmest, coldest stars), and can be obtained from low-level monsters and quests.

Yellow Tier equipment drops in dungeons and mid-level quests completed with a B-Rank success rating, and like our Yellow Sun, is good enough for survival, though not overly exciting.

White equipment is excellent and can be obtained from bosses and difficult quests completed with an A-Rank success rating.

Blue equipment is powerful and rare, like Blue Giants (the brightest, hottest stars), and can only be obtained from Nightmare Mode dungeons, high-level field bosses, and quests completed with an S-Rank success rating.

Nova equipment is ranked Epic, Legendary, and Mythic. (With Replica versions of each.)

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Health measured in HP - Blue Bar

Stamina measured in SP - Green Bar

Enemy HP - Red Bar

(No mana; magic uses stamina just as any other physical skill does.)

Stamina is a complicated beast in Viren's Refuge.

Sprinting consumes SP, while Agi and equipment determines how rapid the rate of consumption. Jogging, walking, and standing replenish SP at different rates, so there's an art to alternating movement speeds to run most efficiently without depleting your SP and entering a Weakened state.

Combat also consumes stamina. Melee skills use more SP than non-magic ranged attacks, and magic skills generally consume the most SP, just like magic consumes mana in other MMOs. The stamina burn during combat isn't unreasonably fast, though; by Level 10, if you're decently efficient, an average player can fight for 5-10 minutes without needing an SP recovery item or spell.

What's really cool (for expert players, anyway) is that combat skill proficiency and accurate combo delivery greatly influence SP consumption.

Essentially, fighting well allows a player to also fight longer.

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[ BASE STATS WINDOW ]

Name: --

Race: --

Class: --

Subclass: --

Title: --

Level: 1 EXP: 0/100

HP: (50) (10 points per level)

SP: (20) (10 points per 5 levels)

Attributes:

Strength: (HP Bonus = STR x 3)

Agility: (SP Bonus = AGI x 1)

Intelligence: (SP Bonus = INT x 1)

Vitality: (HP Bonus = VIT x 10)

Hidden Attributes:

Fortitude:

Luck:

Charisma:

Perception:

Mythic Hero Ranking: ???

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EXP Required to Reach Next Level:

EXP LVL

100 1

200 2

500 3

1000 4

2000 5

5000 6

10000 7

20000 8

50000 9

100000 10

200000 11

500000 12

1000000 13

2000000 14

5000000 15

7500000 16

10000000 17

20000000 18

50000000 19

75000000 20

100000000 21