Divine-Grade Shield (2)
“That must be the bastard! Damn, it's badass!”
“Check out the size of that shield. Gotta be a defense-specialized type, right?”
Chuk Bol noona gasped in admiration at the sight, but Hyunjung voiced his concerns.
“Chuk Bol noona, it's a Titan no matter how you slice it. You think we can really take it down with just us?”
“Chuk Gul, you gonna whine again? We've cleared dungeons once or twice, haven't we? It's a six-man instance, sure, one short, but we've got the top dealer in Taeyeon on our side! Dungeons are made for players to conquer in the end!”
“Yeah, like Chuk Bol said—no dungeon's truly impossible. But with no room for retries, we gotta nail it first try. No mistakes. Anyway, Chuk Gul, you kick things off. Let's scout its attack patterns and damage output first.”
“Got it! Everyone fall back to the entrance! Me and Chuk Bing hyung will probe it solo!”
'Probe'—Taeyeon raid slang for pulling aggro on a new boss to gather intel before resetting.
Unlike field bosses, instance bosses hunkered down in the final boss room and rarely left. Step out of the room, and you'd trigger a full 'reset': aggro dropped, HP/MP restored, skill cooldowns refreshed.
Players exploited this for first tries or wipes—pull aggro intentionally, reset to revive the near-dead. As long as you avoided a party wipe, it was standard procedure.
Time was tight, so Hyunjung charged the Titan right after his callout. The statue-still Titan's eyes flared red, black aura erupting from its body. Engulfed in darkness, it shifted stance and bellowed.
“You tiresome Heavenly minions! You've crawled all the way here to disturb my rest!”
It felt less like a piloted machine and more like a living entity roaring defiance.
Boom! It stomped forward, slamming its warhammer into the ground. Hyunjung dodged with ease, but the boss favored overhead smashes over swings.
Even the ever-playful Hyunjung clamped his mouth shut, laser-focused, reading motions and evading precisely.
'Not bad, kid? Guess being Saint's main tank wasn't just connections.'
Looked simple, but flawlessly dodging a fresh mob? Not everyone could pull it off. Classic Hyunjung—bickering aside, his movement control was elite, as I'd always acknowledged.
“Basic attacks are single-target focused, not multi-hit! Chuk Bing hyung! Gonna tank a hit for damage check—heal me up!”
“Yeah! Resetting anyway, no buffs! Light of Regeneration! Heal!”
Boom! Chuk Bing hyung cast the 10-second HoT Light of Regeneration, and Hyunjung raised his shield to block a plunging hammer strike head-on.
Incoming predicted heals! But even combined, his HP barely budged.
“Gah! This thing hits like a truck! No way heals keep up solo!”
Chuk Bing hyung frantically chained Greater Heal. Healer skill trees were priest/paladin exclusives. Maximizing output via cooldown rotation while maintaining distance for aggro control—that separated the pros.
And Chuk Bing nailed it, dancing at heal range's edge, weaving in and out flawlessly.
They held steady... until trouble hit.
“Shield Attack!”
As HP dipped, the Titan whipped its massive shield in a skill, stunning Hyunjung cold. Motion-locked, he ate full-force basics—HP plummeted despite ongoing heals.
“Heavenly Shield!”
At 10% HP, Hyunjung snapped free and invul'd just in time. Aggro bounced to Chuk Bing hyung amid the invul; we bolted for the entrance.
“Idiot! Just die and go near-death! Wasting long-CD invul mid-probe?!”
“Oh shit, right!”
Chuk Bol noona chewed him out as the last invulled Hyunjung tumbled out. The Titan paused at the threshold, glared, then reset—stomping back to position.
“Big frame makes basics dodgeable on read, but that stun's long-reach swing? Untouchable. Tank or melee DPS has to eat it. Timing's guesswork on first probe.”
“One heal can't outpace stun damage. And Chuk Gul's our tankiest.”
“Yeah... No wonder Taeseong rankers failed. Didn't even see late phases, but this is nasty.”
Level gap plus Titan specs—simple patterns, but damage made it brutal.
“Shields from me and Dro during stun? Our shield levels are high—should split some damage.”
Chuk Bol's solid idea. But two shields mitigated, didn't buy enough heal time. A stun or two? Fine. More? Hyunjung dies before half HP.
“Change of plans. Can't stable-tank without our sole tank. No conservative raid with unknown phases.”
“What's your take, Dro?”
“I'll tank to half HP. Then burst it down, near-deaths be damned. Speedkill's our shot.”
“Dro, you tanking? No heals for you.”
“Crunching numbers—should work. Time's short; trust me and go all-out!”
The probe clicked. Even here, I gripped the wheel!
“Shield Attack!”
Raid resumed with Hyunjung up front. Full-party DPS sped the stun timing.
“Shield!”
“Greater Heal!”
Our shields let Hyunjung weather it better; I flanked rear for backstabs.
True to 'possessed by evil spirit,' classified demon—my Demon Sword bonus applied. Weak Point Capture passive plus party buffs synergized into monstrous damage.
Aggro had to flip. My burst outdamaged ten melee dealers; it ditched Hyunjung for me.
Shield Attack? Mana Shield no-stuns me. But endless basics? Dodging killed my DPS.
So, mid-dodge, I unleashed the ace.
“Ferari, summon!”
Kieeeek! My fire drake burst from the magic circle. 20m ceiling? No issue.
I mounted up, but unlike usual, no flight—instead, plastered to the Titan's face, slashing away.
While mounted, incoming damage is shared with the dragon.
Dragon Rider perk: Damage Sharing. Niche, but godsend for me.
Toggle off Mana Shield mounted? Instant heal eligibility. Ferari's phys def rivaled high-levels, HP 140k—quad knight rankers. Mounted? 150k. With heals? Tankable ages.
“Shield Attack!”
“Kieeeeek!”
Stun hit; stuck together, we ate it. But Chuk Bol's shield, Chuk Bing and Hyunjung's heals kept us afloat.
“This holds to ten stuns pre-recall! Go full burst DPS!”
Early, we'd eased DPS for Hyunjung aggro. Now? I was live—unleash hell. No Taeyeon player out-DPSed me committed.
Clang! Kakclang, clang! Sword, arrows, spells hammered metal, my Demon Sword's ring among them atop Ferari.
Like gryphon riders sniping aerial, I could melee mounted if close enough. Titan wasn't random-aggro—our duo-tank synergy melted HP.
Half HP breached—attacks quickened, new skill incoming. Phase two.
“Impressive, Heavenly minions! Now I'll test your pathetic faith!”
“Chaos Battlefield!”
Titan magic? Infamous multi-CC Chaos—vast range dwarfed player versions. Party-wide confusion; we halted, auto-basicing nearest allies.
“What the—? Titan casting chaos?!”
“Six-man with AoE chaos? Illusion made for this?”
Bodies betrayed us, minds clear—groans echoed. Insane difficulty.
Tankiness, top-tier damage... stuns and chaos? Not current-gen clearable. Il Do Yang Dan crew? Months out.
But harder the raid, sweeter the prize! Titan loot dangled—we claimed first kill.
And to me? Totally doable.
'Guess my build's unconventional.'
Boss Chaos? My absurd magic def resisted—solo immune!
Your pet Ferari (Red Drake)'s HP is fully depleted. Summon forcibly released.
Ferari's HP zeroed sans heals—poof. If confused like others, my low HP? Instant near-death.
Resisted, I Mana Shielded off pre-recall, rebuffed, and yelled.
“Full burst to kill now! Buffs on me!”