Chapter 103 - Caves of Lukriag - 2 (1/2)

Shadow took the lead and any goblins he could notice in the dark, he would usually wait till the others came a bit forward and once the goblin comes out to attack, it would be stunned by him with the use of cheap shot and killed by their combined efforts.

[Dark Goblins] (Common Monster)

Level 10;

HP: 3500/3500;

These goblins were small with a height of about 3 feet and held small knives, which they used to make surprise attacks. They were also pitch black in color and if not for their eyes, one would find it very hard to make notice of them in the dark. This was the reason that the dungeon was hard as once the goblins failed to make a decent ambush on the player, it was quite easy to take them down.

Due to the enhanced stealth effect of the mask of shadows, he didn't have to fear much from any goblins which hid in those smaller holes and those which were missed by him would usually land a few hits on the tank but due to the support of the three mages, it wouldn't be much of an issue for Bitter Beast. In short, Bitter Beast was the bait for the goblins as he held the torch and the spirit wolf summon served as his guard.

Balthazar made this strategy to deal with most isolated and small group attacks of goblins based on a similar strategy which was well known in his previous life when he joined the game. That strategy required one tank, two mages and two assassins at the front and made assassins quite popular at the start of the game due to the requirement.

In this way, they went through the tunnel for about 10 minutes without much issue or damage. They got a few equipment from the goblins during this time, but they weren't that good compared to their loot from the fort. Shadow also made sure to pickpocket the goblins once he used cheap shot. It was a habit of his that he found to be of good use.

Though their travel through the tunnel was easy, he knew that the previous goblins they encountered were all scouts and small scout teams and that the elite monsters would soon make their entrance. If such a simple strategy could be used to clear through an entire dungeon, the dungeon would easily provide equipment and also the game would lose its appeal.

They soon came in an area where there were no smaller holes in the walls of the tunnel. This clearly showed that there wouldn't be any ambushes in the area, but it just signified that the harder part would start now. As the team noticed this change in the tunnel, sounds of clamor could be heard from the depths of the tunnel.

In a few seconds, a mob of goblins running towards them could be heard by them all. Shadow being ahead of the rest was the first to identify them. There were about 15 goblins being led by 3 goblin mages. These goblin mages were behind the horde of the other goblins and were either healers or warlocks. One couldn't determine whether these were healers or warlocks by appearance alone.

[Dark Goblin Mages] (Elite Monsters)

Level 11;

HP: 4500/4500;

As soon as Shadow saw them, he suggested Bitter Beast to tank them for a few seconds and hold aggro of the goblins as he wanted to test the goblin mages. Shadow knew that if he didn't kill the healers, the damage they suffered would be substantial. So, he at the very least needed a path to reach them. Usually, a bit of time and bombardment from the mages would give enough time for a player to get near the goblin mages, but it required a good effort from them and some potions.

Merlin and Grenadier had decent firepower against the mob and were quite useful against the horde. But Mob who was a summoner didn't have many quick offensive spells except spirit bolt and spirit blast. The spirit bolt caused damage while confusing enemies and the spirit blast was something like chaos wave and caused mass hallucination for a couple of seconds.

All the other spells of the summoner class were summons which take time to cast. This made summoner a very hard class to play with at the beginning of the game. Later, methods to call forth summons quickly came to be known which made it quite powerful, but these methods required a few rare materials and lot of preparation.

Shadow never intended to reach the goblin mages in that manner, so he decided to use a couple of firecrackers at the horde to stun them. Goblins especially dark goblins lived in dark and damp places and a firecracker was a good way to blind the goblins and goblin mages.

They were bound to meet other groups of goblins in the dungeon and they didn't want to waste too many potions and killing the healers was very important for that. If he got rid of the healers, the horde of the goblins get much more easier to get rid of, else even goblins that were hit in the neck and crippled could suddenly ambush a player when he thought that it would bleed to death.

The tough part was to identify the goblin mages which served as healers. This could only be done my attacking them and observe the goblin mages' actions to determine which were the healers. So, it was necessary for them to fight without attacking the mages for some time at the very least. Luckily, with the other goblins nearby them, the players had a lot of cover to hide from the goblin mages' attacks. Apart from that they had another advantage which was that they were equipped with crossbows and any attack of the non-healing mages, which are warlocks take some time to cast and any player who saw the animation could shoot at it to disrupt it. This would allow them to quickly tag the healers among the goblin mages.