He growled, then kept swinging as Titus and Thorne joined the fight. Neither had any charge yet so they came in with a flurry of hammer strikes. Thorne needed to connect with her hits to build charge while Titus needed to block attacks. Moran backpedaled, facing all three of them at once.
Thorne lashed out with a downward hammer strike, then quickly followed with a rising blow. Moran ducked around the first then leaned back on his heels to let the second slip right past his chin. As he did, he landed a hammer strike on Thorne’s shoulder, then another in her ribs. Her health flashed down to eighty-five percent.
Titus took advantage of the moment to attack from the side. Moran spun and caught his hammer strike on his shield, absorbing the blow. There was a window for Moran to counterattack but he held back instead. Titus swung again but his attack found only Moran’s shield once more.
“He’s trying to charge-starve us,” Kaiden shouted as he realized what was up. Why else would he dodge Thorne’s attacks then block Titus’, but not hit him back? “He’s playing to our classes’ weaknesses.”
“Play to this,” Zelda snarled. A light bloomed at the corner of Kaiden’s vision then an Improved Burst Arrow flashed toward Moran. He caught it on his shield.
“Focus on getting into Sniper Mode,” Kaiden called to Zelda. “Then hit him with a Paralyzing Shot or something. We need to slow him down!” But Zelda was already firing another ability.
Ability: Improved Scatter Shot
Blasts detonate on impact, causing a small explosion that deals an additional 10% damage and blinds the target for 3 seconds.
Moran shot straight into the air, so high he almost hit the ceiling, and the flurry of lasers passed well below him. He raised his hammer, and as Kaiden watched, it stretched, growing to the size of a power warden’s sledge.
Ability: Earth Shatter
You channel charge into your legs and leap into the air. Upon landing, a shockwave bursts out from around you. Opponents within 10 feet of you are knocked down.
Moran and his newly massive hammer came back down like a one-man earthquake. The ground exploded around him and Kaiden saw Titus go down before he himself was bowled over by the attack.
“That was a power warden attack,” Kaiden called, struggling back to his feet. “He’s a modified power warden, like I thought. Look at his hammer.”
Moran made a go for Zelda but Thorne cut him off and set her feet.
“Gonna have to go through me, Slaen.”
“With pleasure, Ava.”
Ability: Improved Chained Fury
Your combat prowess allows you to chain attacks together. For the next 5 seconds, each attack deals an additional 20% damage for every successful attack before it.
Moran lashed out with a series of hammer strikes, each stronger than the last.
“Where is he getting all of this charge?” Titus shouted.
“Improved Aggressive Mindset, probably,” Kaiden said back. “Power warden ability. He gains charge for each successful hit.”
“But not this much charge,” Thorne grunted, dodging and ducking his assault. “Screw this.” She leaned in, letting the attacks land on her armor so she could strike back. Moran disengaged at the movement, though, sidestepping away and rushing toward Zelda who was now in Sniper Mode and charging an Inferno Shot.
“Not so fast,” Titus snarled. His Energy Grip whipped forward and caught Moran around the ankle. A good yank and he was dragged back. Kaiden sprinted over, hammer at the ready. Titus raised his hammer as well to tear in to Moran.
Ability: Heroic Leap
You direct charge into your legs and hammer. Your next jump will carry you 20 feet and if you attack as you land it will deal area-of-effect damage equal to 200% base damage.
Moran flew up before either could land a strike. He landed and slammed his hammer into the ground. Damage washed out over Kaiden. His health fell to seventy-seven percent. Titus took damage too and his health bar flashed, then stabilized at eighty-five percent.
“Jeez. For a power warden, he’s fast as an enhanced warden,” Kaiden said. “We need to get some stuns or a slow on him.”
“I have a better idea,” Zelda said.
Ability: Inferno Shot
You fire an explosive, superheated blast that ignores 50% of the target’s armor. Deals 3x base damage to all targets in range (allies included). Takes 7 seconds to charge (must be stationary).
Kaiden rolled away as the attack exploded against Moran in an blast of superheated plasma. Stifling heat washed across the room and Kaiden’s eyes burned at the blinding light. Nonetheless, he felt himself smile.
Let’s see how you stand up to that, huh?
The light faded to reveal Moran was standing still and his health was untouched – still at one hundred percent.
What?!
A faintly glowing bubble surrounded Moran. Cracks were shot through its surface, and not a moment later it shattered and fell away.
“That was an Intangible Defense bubble,” Kaiden said. “An enhanced warden ability.”
“Okay…” Thorne said, cautiously approaching. “So, he has power warden abilities and enhanced warden abilities?”
“Well, that was a good shot,” Moran said, turning to face Zelda. “It might’ve tickled even if it’d hit me.”
“Gah!” Thorne cried as she charged in. Moran smiled.
Ability: Shield Bash
The warden strikes out with their shield, dealing no damage but stunning the target for 2 seconds.
Moran slammed his shield into Thorne and her body went rigid as the stun took effect. Zelda fired an Improved Burst Arrow from Sniper Mode but Moran was already in motion again. Except there wasn’t one Moran; there were three.
“Improved Blur!” Kaiden shouted as he recognized the ability. “How many abilities does this guy have?”
Zelda’s attack had been aimed at the center-most Moran but as it phased through him it became apparent that was one of the body doubles.
The three Morans lashed out at Thorne, bashing great chunks of her health away with each hit. Only one of them was actually doing damage but through Improved Blur it was impossible to tell which it was. The stun wore off with Thorne’s health
