76 Dark Knight, the Early Game Bully (1/2)

The first game of the ”selection match” began but, unfortunately, Gregory didn't get to collect much data on Roi's Dark Knight. He reviewed the info he dumped into Classmancer Analyst but there wasn't anything that stood out. Maybe there were some good statistics buried deeper in the report, but there was no time to dig them up.

In some games, Roi stomped the other team and went 10/0, while in other games he didn't achieve anything of note. Extreme highs and lows, pretty standard distribution for unreliable trash like Dark Knight. This edgy boi was always either hella oppressive or a useless nobody.

[Whatever. I'll figure it out on the go.] Gregory played enough Dark Knight in his earlier days, so he knew the gist of it. There was no way he'd lose to some cheap noob stomper class. Gregory was stronger than that, dammit!

Following the standard game opening, Gregory headed to the Wraith Camp together with Gilbert. While Gregory aggro'd the wraiths and took their attacks in the face, Gilbert blasted them away with Eldritch Blast.

[Man, this feels like slavery.] Gregory made a face. As a Support player, he was kinda used to being a meat shield for others. However, Gregory wasn't Gilbert's Support. Heck, he wasn't a Support at all this game, he was a Solo Laner, dang it. Gregory was supposed to be his own boss.

Of course, Gregory understood this was an efficient opening. Minions just spawned and hadn't reached the lane yet, so players had a short window of time to farm in the jungle. Gregory actually supported the idea of farming as much as possible to gain an advantage. Over-grinding for the win! That's how he beat bosses in every RPG.

Nevertheless, this opening has been irking Gregory this entire week. It's like the Solo Laner was slaving away for the Mid Laner without getting anything in return. Gregory and Gilbert shared the exp from the camp, but according to the meta the blue buff had to go to Gilbert. Gregory wasn't gonna get shit.

Yeah, yeah, Mid was the most important lane. Yeah, mages needed CD and MP5 more than bruisers. Yada yada yada. Bleh.

[I'm the one tanking this shit, so at least gimme something in return.] Gregory grumped. It's just one of these things he had to accept as part of being a Solo Laner. No matter how many times he followed this routine, it never became any easier to digest.

Like, his fam Knight could also use some CD and MP5, ya know? After all, Gregory gonna go toe-to-toe with Roi, a starter from the first string. Shit ain't gonna be easy. Of course, Gregory was gonna trash that edgy boi, but he wouldn't mind getting some buffs to make the job easier.

”Hey,” Gregory started. ”Gil, my man. You don't mind if I take the buff, right?”

”Excuse me?” Gilbert raised an eyebrow as if Gregory just said something in Chinese.

”C'mon, man. You're already a starter and you're paired against July. It should be a walk in the park for ya, right?”

”Yes, it should be easy enough.”

”Right? Right?”

”As long as I have the blue buff, of course.”

”Kek, bastard.” Gregory sneered. His hopes and dreams were shot down as soon as they formed. Welp, at least he tried.

They finished the Wraith Camp and Gilbert claimed the blue buff. Gregory was tempted to steal it just to spite but decided against it. Poking Gilbert for lulz was one thing, but getting on Howard's bad side was more trouble than this buff was worth.

[Meh, whatever. Who even needs a buff against DK.] Gregory parted ways with Gilbert and headed to Solo Lane.

Along the way, he passed by the Wolf Camp. It was tucked away right beside the lane, inviting Gregory to farm it. Alas, he couldn't do it because he spent all his cash on Iron Boots and HP Potions for surviving Dark Knight's onslaught. As a result, he didn't have enough damage to efficiently clear these wolves.

Of course, Gregory COULD clear the camp if he really wanted. He wasn't some weakling who'd get pwned by scrubby wolves. However, dealing with them would take too long without any power items in his build, so in the meantime, he'd miss on farm from the lane.

What a waste. Gilbert usually built power and went straight for the Wolf Camp without thinking twice, but here he had to respect Dark Knight's early-game damage. That shit was scary when you didn't build any defense, so the Iron Boots and HP Potions were necessary for Gregory to avoid getting instantly cucked.

Soon after Gregory reached the lane, Roi appeared too. And, somehow, that mofo was already at Lv.2.

[Shit, he did the wolves.] Gregory clicked his tongue. He also could have been at Lv.2 right now if he cleared the wolves. Shit. The game just started and he was already out-leveled.

[He finished the camp hella fast too.] Gregory knotted his brows. Roi built Samurai Tabi, the most offensive shoes in term of raw power. Combined with Dark Knight's naturally high damage, it's not surprising Roi cleared two camps in the time it took Gregory to clear one.

[Dammit, just you wait. I'll get the advantage back before you realize!] First, Gregory will farm up while keeping himself alive. Eventually, he'll outlast Roi's Dark Knight on the lane and will get an opportunity to push ahead. After all, Dark Knight was a suicidal edgy boi.

”Oh shi-” A dark wave sliced through Gregory! The black slash passed through all the minions on the frontline and then hit Gregory too, deleting 20% of his HP! Aggressive ahoy!

So, it began. This was the overpowered attack which hit like a truck was the Dark Knight's spam skill: Dark Blast. Just a few hits from that shit and Gregory will be a goner. He immediately spent two HP potions to compensate for the damage. They will slowly, but surely, restore all the HP he lost.

”Respect his Dark Blast,” Howard lectured. ”You're hanging too close around the minions. Roi won't hesitate to aim at you instead of the bowmen if you give him the chance.”

”Yeah, I kinda realized already,” Gregory grunted. Dark Blast was a great wave clear, on par with the stuff mage usually had. The black slash traveled through the air in a line and dealt a shit ton of damage. Basically, it was everything one could ask from a wave clearing ability. One hit from that bad boy was enough to bring an entire minion wave to the brink of death, at least in the early game.

But, back there, Roi opted for hitting Gregory instead. He fired Dark Blast through the swordsmen on the frontline and then the attack flew toward Gregory instead aiming at the bowmen. Needless to say, Gregory didn't expect this level of aggressiveness right from the get-go.

[This guy doesn't get the true fun of DK.] Gregory shook his head. Wiping out the enemy's entire minion wave and leaving them alone against a gang, THAT'S where the real fun was at. Not killing the bowmen was such a wasted opportunity.

Well, whatever. This warning shot made it clear Roi won't always prioritize clearing minions first. So, Gregory will have to be a little more careful about his positioning.

[Just you wait. I'll make your life hell.] Gregory smirked. Once he hit Lv.2, he spent 1 SP on Honorable Duel. This gonna be topkek.

As the next minion wave was about to arrive, Gregory advanced on his own. He reached the enemy minions first and taunted the swordsmen with Honorable Duel, then turned around and ran away. Kek, take that!

Gregory led the enemy minions away and broke their usual formation. In response, Gregory's minions responded to the new enemy positions and broke their formation as well. As a result, the whole lane became a mess! The minions were scattered around like a bunch of unruly brats.

[How about that? Salty?] Gregory smirked. Dark Blast was a hax OP skill no doubt, but it traveled in a straight line. It must have been designed to hit an entire minion wave because these idiots always conveniently lined up in one column, just asking to be shot.

But, what happens when the minions are forced to break formation? Boy, that's where the fun began. With the minions scattered around, Dark Blast couldn't possibly hit all of them in one shot. This was the topkek counter to Dark Knight's bullshit!

[He must be hella mad.] Gregory amused himself with the image of Roi's annoyed expression. Gregory had played enough Dark Knight to know these situations felt like shit. There's nothing more annoying than stupid minions not lining up to be slaughtered like proper sheep. That always killed half the fun of playing Dark Knight-

”Again!?” Another Dark Blast smacked Gregory! What the actual fuck!? Roi didn't even wait for the minions to slow down! Dude had no chill.

[That shithead is out for blood. Damn, son.] Gregory tapped his foot. This was some clown fiesta Dark Knight gameplay. Roi didn't give a single fuck about the minions and fired straight at Gregory.

Was that some sort of special playstyle Roi developed? Or, maybe that's how Dark Knight was played on higher levels of play? Honestly, Gregory had no damn idea. He ditched that trash tier class ages ago, so he didn't bother researching it much. High tier classes were the only thing that mattered in this game.

[Okay, this is starting to get a little annoying.] Gregory has already spent all his potions and was still hanging at 70% HP. These Dark Blasts raped his HP bar.

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But hey, Roi was even worse off. The guy only had 50% HP because Gregory's minions retaliated against him every time he hit Gregory. These little mofos took revenge for their beloved boss! So touching, kek.

But, the main reason Roi had low HP was due to Dark Blast. On top of costing MP, it also cost 5% of the user's HP, not exactly fun. With great power comes great responsibility, kek.

Between aggro-ing Gregory's minions and spending HP on Dark Blasts, Roi was quickly burning himself out. Not to mention, the Dark Blasts didn't even hit Gregory's entire minion wave, which gave a Gregory a huge lane advantage. His minions had enhanced defense thanks to Chivalry, his passive, so when Roi chose to not wipe them out in one fell swoop - Gregory's remaining forces were stronger than Roi's. Ez lane advantage.

[Good, good. At this rate, that scrub gonna burn himself out.] Gregory smirked. Despite the few hiccups earlier, things were proceeding smoothly. With every Dark Blast which Roi fired, it was actually Gregory who was getting closer to winning the lane.

[But still, I wanna taunt these minions. How do I go about it without getting rekt?] Gregory pondered. Advancing to the frontline was dangerous because he might eat another Dark Blast to the face.

Nevertheless, he really wanted to pull this off somehow. Scattered minions were like the most annoying thing ever for a Dark Knight. That shit triggered Gregory all the time back when he played Dark Knight, so Roi should feel the same salt!