He backpedaled, blocking the attacks he could but unable to stop them all. His own health took something of a beating, dropping down to eighty-four percent, but for every attack Slamwich threw at him, Improved Volt Field zapped her back for fifty percent of Titus’ base damage. He wasn’t a DPS class, so that wasn’t much, but it was something.
“And it’s a merciless onslaught from Slam to kick things off!” the announcer said, a bit of excitement creeping into his voice now that the fight was on. “Titus is on the back foot already.”
“Is he, though?” Kaiden asked quietly. “He’s defending, but that’s what’s his class does best. And he’s been getting damage in without even attacking.” Titus was down to eighty-four percent health, lower than his opponent’s ninety percent, but he hadn’t even attacked yet.
“It’s a strategic start,” Thorne said with a nod. “He’s using his opponent’s attacks to hit her back while he builds charge.”
Even as Thorne spoke, Titus retaliated, leading with a Shield Slam – which dealt area-of-effect damage and briefly stunned Slamwich – then following with a Shield of Rage. His shield burned brightly then shot out a burst of energy that caught his stunned opponent dead in the chest for one hundred and fifty percent base damage.
The stun wore off and Slamwich restarted her attack.
Ability: Melt
A powerful strike that bypasses armor and shields.
The blade of her axe lit up, glowing a fierce red. Several globs of what looked to be molten metal trailed behind it as she swung at Titus with a rising strike. He blocked with his shield, but the axe passed through it as if it wasn’t there and cut directly into his health bar.
“Ooh, that looked like it hurt!” the announced shouted.
“What was that?” Zelda cried out as Titus’ health flashed and dropped by a good ten percent. Down to seventy-four percent now.
“Melt bypasses armor and shields,” Kaiden said, cringing as he relayed what his visor had told him.
Improved Volt Field had thrown back some of the damage, but Slam was still at eighty-three percent while Titus was down to seventy-four. Spurred on by the success of Melt, Slamwich pushed her attack, following with several more basic swings of her axe.
Titus blocked them and his shield began to flicker – too full of charge, Kaiden knew. It was near to overloading and turning off. Titus seemed to recognize it as well. He popped off another quick Shield of Rage and then a Hammer Smash.
Ability: Hammer Smash
The warden pounds the ground with their hammer, dealing base damage to enemies in a 5-foot radius.
Area-of-effect damage was fairly insignificant against a single attacker, but if Titus didn’t want his shield to overload he needed to keep using abilities and burning off excess charge. Slam’s health dropped to seventy-nine percent, but that was still a good bit above Titus’.
She’s not even trying to block his attacks, Kaiden realized. She thinks she can hit hard enough to just out-DPS him. And she might be right.
The fight had been moving around the arena, mostly backwards as Titus had given ground under Slam’s assault. The combatants were right up on the edge now, and as Titus swung his hammer around for an attack, it clipped the invisible wall encircling the arena. The thing flared to life in a spray of sparks and an arc of electricity lashed out. Titus shook violently for a moment as it zapped him and his health dropped another four percent.
“The wall’s electrified!” Kaiden said, hearing the dread in his voice. “That’s not good.”
Slam seemed to think otherwise. Her axe began to light up a fiery red again, except this time, the heart of the weapon was glowing, not just the blade.
Ability: Concussive Strike
A forceful strike that travels along the ground for a short distance, dealing direct and knockback damage to any enemy in its path.
“Enjoy the wall, warden boy,” Slam taunted, then drove her axe into the ground. The attack exploded forward, energy shooting in a blazing trail toward Titus. However, without Kaiden’s visor Titus had no way of knowing the details of the incoming attack. He leaned into it.
His health bar flashed as Concussive Strike bashed into him, but he wasn’t knocked back.
“Loving this new passive,” Titus said, looking up at his opponent.
“What’s this?” the announcer asked, seemingly puzzled. A few audience members leaned forward, their interest growing.
Slam also seemed confused by the ineffectiveness of her attack. She didn’t get to think on it long, however, as Titus lunged forward.
Ability: Shield Slam
The warden slams their shield into the ground, stunning enemies in a 5ft radius for 2 seconds.
Titus jammed his shield into the ground in front of her and a blast emanated outward. It swept over Slam, dealing no damage, but locking her in place with its stun effect.
“My turn,” Titus said. He took the chance to circle around behind her before popping his next ability.
Ability: Improved Shield Charge
Rooted in place thanks to Shield Slam, Slamwich had no chance to dodge as energy surged around Titus’ legs and he burst forward. Her health drained to seventy-three percent as Titus charged into her back, but the initial damage was the least of her worries. Titus kept her on the front of his shield as he continued the charge – forcing her face-first into the wall he’d just accidentally touched moments before. It sparked to life again as Titus drove her straight into it with an audible boom.
“That’s gonna hurt!” the announcer shouted, and the Maximus guild members in the audience jeered, apparently not happy with the development. Slam cried out, electricity flowing through her. The wall drained her health by the second, dealing far more damage than Titus could. Tank classes weren’t built for that, after all. Nonetheless, Titus had filled up his charge bar from tanking the onslaught earlier and was far from done.
“Rule number one of fighting a warden,” Titus said. “Try not to
