Chapter 126: Crafts!

Chapter 126: Crafts!

One might wonder why our party valued the Training Expo so much. The short answer is that it was going to save us a hell of a lot of time. The long answer is:

Arlo’s Treatise on Why Varrin Goes Bananas for Intrinsic Skill Levels

Delvers have access to three types of skills: actives, passives, and intrinsics. I like to think of the relationship between these three as that of a murderous jazz trio.

Actives are the essential skills that let you do things like cast spells or use techniques. A Delver is limited to 10 total, and there are few (painful) ways known to swap them around. These represent the flashy lead instrument in a Delver’s arsenal. The sexy tenor saxophone played by a mysterious man wearing sunglasses in a dark and smoky club. They need the shades ‘cause they’re in the spotlight. Summoning Shog, Oblivion Orb, and Dispel are three fine examples.

Passive skills are powerful buffs that always exist in the background. There are only 4, and if there is a way to change them, no one talks about it openly. A good passive will help to determine the entire approach a Delver takes to their build. They’re the bedrock, the bass guitar played by a nondescript person in the shadows. Easily forgotten, but sorely missed when they’re absent. My aura is a passive.

Intrinsic skills are the percussion, the drums, a technical player with impeccable timing who lays down the tempo for everyone else. While the crowd’s attention is focused on the lead, an amazing lead cannot overcome a bad percussionist. A solid percussionist, however, can elevate an entire group of mediocre musicians. Blunt, Shields, and Dimensional Magic are three of my main intrinsics. They are the easiest of the three categories to swap out, but doing so costs all of the skill’s progression and starts you back at level 1 with the new skill.

Most intrinsic skills have passive effects that scale as the skill levels, such as the escalating physical defense granted by Heavy Armor. Intrinsic skills also determine the power of some aspect of most active skills. Dimensional Magic has just as much of an impact on the damage of my Oblivion Orb as my Intelligence. But the most satisfying part of intrinsics is the evolutions.

There are five break points for evolutions, which are the same as the break points for stats: levels 10, 20, 40, 70, and 100. Evolutions might significantly boost a Delver’s build efficacy, offer the chance to take powerful actives, or even grant new abilities that don’t count against the active skill cap. While attribute evolutions affect general aspects of a Delver’s potency, intrinsic evolutions are laser-focused and more powerful for the specific competency they are evolving. Strength is great for swinging a hammer, but Blunt is usually better.

Because of their significant impact on potency, most Delvers have strict goals for their intrinsic growth before they are willing to tackle the next level of Delves. Training intrinsic skills takes time, however, and is thus the main bottleneck for most Delvers trying to advance through Delver levels. This goal is generally defined by a Delver’s total number of intrinsic skill levels.

For Coppers... it’s honestly not that big of a deal because Copper is trash and boring to talk about. Silvers generally want to gain 3 levels in total intrinsics between each Delve, which translates to 12 skill levels per Delver level. This will place Silvers at 90 total intrinsic skill levels by the time they’re done with 30 Silver Delves, which is typically when they drop down a difficulty to Copper.

Golds aim for 7 levels in total intrinsics between each Delve, which is 14 skill levels per Delver level. That gives them 210 total skill levels by the time they’re done with 30 Gold Delves before they drop down to Silver. When I fought Yaretzi, he was level 17, full Gold, which is more gold Delves than the typical progression. Assuming that he followed a standard skill formula, he would have had 238 total intrinsic skill levels at minimum.

Platinums are rare enough not to have a common standard, but Varrin’s push is for us to gain 20 levels in total intrinsics per Delver level. This is, of course, something at which we have failed gloriously, given our manic pace through the lower levels. Our training stats allowed us to make up for the lack of robust intrinsics, but it’s a deficit that has caught up with us some.

So, to be a well-rounded and healthy level 10 Platinum–according to Varrin–I needed to have 200 total intrinsic skill levels. One way to accomplish that would be to have all 10 intrinsic slots filled, with an average skill level of 20. This formula starts to break down once total intrinsics gets close to 400 since getting skills above 40 takes a lot more effort focused on specific accomplishments. But, If we were to take it all the way through Platinum, we’d have 600 skill levels after 30 Delves.

I had 8 intrinsic skills and 135 total intrinsic levels. That put me in a good place for level 6, though I’d had a deficit before my training with Khigra, the fight with Yaretzi and the Littan military, and my encounter with whatever the shit was in that portal. Probably the Dread Star–the jerk responsible for my dictated Luck evolution–if I had to take a guess.

An average Delver could generally get 1 intrinsic skill level per month. The lower levels heavily weight that figure since getting intrinsic skills to level 10 is pretty quick, and then there’s a significant slow-down between each evolution. Regardless, at an ‘average’ pace it’d take me 5-and-a-half years to bridge the gap between 135 and 200. Ain’t nobody got time for that.

Most Delvers were nobles with important noble duties like collecting taxes, attending balls, and spending their money. They also do some governing, but that’s more of a side gig. This means that most Delvers were not working on their skills full-time. Intrinsic skill growth was also gated by the limited availability of scarce resources, monopolization of competent trainers by the wealthiest families, and the general hoarding of knowledge by, well, everyone. Even an expert hired to help a Delver skill up won’t divulge their most sensitive secrets, and no amount of money can buy you a crafting material that no one has.

Inside the Training Expo, our party suffered from none of these limitations.

The Smithing zone consisted of a small library, a smithy, and a mana-weaving studio. The library contained texts that would guide a Delver from their first level in Smithing, with comprehensive manuals and treatises up to level 40. There were some books that spoke to advanced techniques above that level range, but leveling after 40 was heavily impacted by the individual. There wasn’t much ‘standard’ advice, just examples of what had been accomplished by others in the past.

The smithy was a comprehensive forge and workshop. Notably, it contained a mana-powered furnace–an emerald chip provided practically unlimited fuel–and more ingots of various metals than I could hope to use in the time I had. These included mundane iron and steel, Madrin, dark iron, various precious metals, and something I’d never seen before. The manuals referred to the metal as verdantum, and it had inherent self-repairing and poison-resistant properties. There was even some frozen steel and a small, inverted forge to work it, which was covered in a perpetual layer of frost and emitted a glistening vapor.

The mana-weaving studio was a blessed addition to the space that I was excited to find. Mana-weaving was an important component of most crafts, although it was not mandatory. Most crafters chose to incorporate at least some weaving, but others often specialized in manipulating the base materials, which were then handed off to those who focused on weaves. Mana-weaving was the part of Smithing that I was most interested in, and I’d even gotten a head start on it by memorizing a book gifted to me by Umi-Doo.

While I was looking through this treasure trove of resources like it was my birthday and I was turning an age young enough that people still cared, Grotto discovered what may have been the most important addition. There was a metallic orb covered in runes set into an alcove of the workshop that looked much like a Delve Core. When Grotto poked it with a bit of mana, the runes lit up and it floated into the air to greet us. While it wasn’t a fully-fledged murder ball like my familiar, it had a complete internal library of interactive experts to guide my progress. These could be projected like straight-up sci-fi holograms to demonstrate the more physical aspects of the craft and give me appropriately disappointed glares when I sucked at something. I decided to name the core Smith.

I had unlimited materials, a wealth of available knowledge, a menagerie of experts to teach me, and no external demands on my time. Aside from the looming death clock.

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I also had the +100% progression bonus to crafting from my human racial boon.

Extension. With 1 second of concentration, the chain can magically lengthen ;) itself up to twice its normal length, or shorten :( itself to half its length. The maximum length is doubled :D and the minimum length is halved :((( for each evolution you have in Smithing other than this one.Resilience. The maximum weight the chain can support is doubled for each evolution you have in Smithing.Animation. You can issue commands to the chain, which it will perform. The chain gains a movement speed equal to your Smithing skill in feet per second and can fly, though at least one link of the chain must be touching the ground for it to move. If it takes an action that requires an attribute or skill (such as unarmed ‘grappling’) it uses the attributes and skill levels of its commander. It cannot make attacks or contests. With 3 seconds of concentration, you can relinquish command of the chain to another individual; if you do–which we bet you will–you may no longer issue commands to the chain unless they relinquish command back to you.

Verdantum Bascinet of the Soul

Requirements: 10 STR, 10 CHA

Armor Rating: Medium-high

Effects: Spiritual DR +20, +2% Poison Resistance, Self-repair

Verdantum Cuirass of the Redoubt

Requirements: 10 STR, 10 STR

Armor Rating: Medium-high

Effects: Physical DR +20, +4% Poison Resistance, Self-repair

Verdantum Gauntlets of the Catapult

Requirements: 10 STR, 10 AGI

Armor Rating: Medium-high

Effects: +20 thrown weapon damage, +1% Poison Resistance, Self-repair

Verdantum Leg Harness of the Traveler

Requirements: 10 STR, 10 WIS

Armor Rating: Medium-high

Effects: -20% to teleportation mana cost and cooldown, +2% Poison Resistance, Self-repair

Verdantum Sabatons of the Quickfoot

Requirements: 10 STR, 10 AGI

Armor Rating: Medium-high

Effects: +20% movement speed, +1% Poison Resistance, Self-repair

After sequestering myself in the smithy for three weeks, I finished the set with a day to spare. The armor was naturally a forest-green hue, and I decided to leave it as-is. I used my extra time to attach a series of small loops to secure my feather boa and was happy with how the violet and fuchsia mingled with the green. It was like I’d become a beautiful flower, emerging at the end of a miserable, steely winter.

I’d also opted for a closed-face helm which hid some of my glory, but protecting the money-maker took precedence. I made a mental note to acquire a colorful feather plume to attach to the top. Something to match my boa would really bring the whole set together. My vest, unfortunately, had to be worn beneath the armor. The cuirass was too bulky for it to fit on top.

Finally, after a good night’s sleep and a hearty breakfast where the party went over our gains, we prepared ourselves to enter the portal.

Powerleveling is what we had for lunch.