"...So this is the characteristic of the Rogue class, huh?"
Annan murmured as he flipped through Four-Dark Tiles’ character attributes backstage.
The characteristic of the Swordsman class is obviously a skill system that revolves around different types of "Guardsman Swordsmanship," which can be changed at any time—as soon as the Swordsmanship switches, all other skills linked to that Swordsmanship can be replaced with others.
Just like "Guardsman Swordsmanship" or "Military Swordsmanship." This is equivalent to giving them the ability to reset points... or rather, the opportunity to "switch talents."
And the characteristic of the Hunter class is the professional ability to take other people’s "Curse Binding" and store it away, like equipment, ready to be exchanged at any time.
As for the unique trait of the Rogue class, it’s the double skill points.
Whether it’s a Swordsman or a Hunter, each job level only provides one skill point. But with each level, a Rogue gets two skill points.
This ensures that the skills of the Rogue class can easily reach crucial levels of four or seven.
And from the backstage, Annan could see even clearer.
The skills of the Rogue class are quite numerous...
In terms of quantity, they are second only to a Wizard’s spell list and even more numerous than a Swordsman’s skills.
Matching Lin Er’er quite well, so the "Stealth," "Item," and "Assassination" skill sets he got directly when creating the character—which even if all the subsequent possible skills were included, would still account for less than two-thirds of the Rogue class.
It’s clear to see that there are also many directions for a Rogue to advance.
There are a few skills shown on Annan’s side that are quite suitable for Lin Er’er.
"...This point allocation is quite interesting."
Annan contemplated thoughtfully.
This player knows how to play the game.
Running into an inexperienced thief, they would undoubtedly focus on maxing out backstabbing... When in doubt, just add more damage output.
Knowing to prioritize Stealth and Dexterity shows at least some tabletop RPG experience, aware that the main responsibilities are disarming traps and scouting, not necessarily assassinating anyone.
Moreover, not everyone can obtain Dexterity.
Actually, the only essential skill for Rogues is "Stealth."
As for acquiring any other skill, it’s all luck... or rather, talent-dependent.
The point distribution by Four-Dark Tiles is basically optimal. The only way to improve it would be to shift that lone level of backstab to Dexterity.
If Dexterity is raised to level five, one can create simple traps on their own—it’s creating them, not just "setting" them.
This is actually quite a significant leap... definitely better than the backstab skill.
However, what Four-Dark Tiles didn’t know was... the special effect of the backstab skill at level four could actually be of some use.
[Backstab LV4: When attacking from an enemy’s blind spot, it’s possible to more accurately find and hit the enemy’s weak point. At the current level, one second of observation is required for use.]
[At LV4: An enemy whose weak point has been exposed can still be vaguely located within three seconds of leaving the line of sight.]
In other words, the reason Four-Dark Tiles got the backstab skill wasn’t actually for "assassinations," but for "tracking."
Overall, his talent still leans towards setting traps.
"...He’s probably a Teemo or Joker player," Annan guessed after a brief consideration and arranged two powerful skills for Four-Dark Tiles to get at levels seven and ten, respectively:
These were [Flash Poisoning] and [Hidden Traps].
The former would grant Four-Dark Tiles a simple superpower—allowing him to touch poison with his hands and have it all adhere to a particular surface instead of his own hands. This would enable Four-Dark Tiles to quickly apply poison to weapons, throwing knives, or traps.
If the latter is maxed out, his traps could also inherit his own Stealth level.
—Since you want to play a trap-thief, then I’ll tailor a set of skills for you specifically.
The situation with Defu was somewhat troubling for Annan.
He couldn’t figure out exactly who she was.
Every human player’s initial attributes start at thirty points. It’s just that Annan by default allocated five points to all attributes for everyone, so they wouldn’t be too lopsided—ten points in agility is already the most extreme distribution possible at the start.
But to Annan’s surprise,
Her "Constitution" attribute in real life was actually more than five points...
The energy consumed in creating her body was also lower than that for creating a normal character. That’s why Annan slightly increased the attributes of her pet as compensation.
...But sister, with your natural talent for ranged Hunting, why would you play a Beastmaster Hunter?
Annan even had his doubts.
He was unsure whether Defu really wanted to take the path of animal companions... or if she simply looked down on the initial shooting skills she was given.
Given Defu’s talents, she would acquire the skill "Boundless Vigor" at level seven, and "Wild Heart" at level ten.
The former, even at level one, allows her to recover stamina at twice the speed; the latter enables her to intuitively lock onto targets in the wild. Both skills are neither particularly strong nor weak.
It would be such a waste for this player.
Annan pondered briefly and decided to replace one of her abilities with a more robust skill for now.
He swapped out her level seven skill for "Tracker".
Essentially, it’s a souped-up version of Wild Heart—allowing her to see the movement trajectory of enemies she has injured.
The quality of this batch of four players was extremely high.
Aside from not knowing what skills to assign to that Priest, Annan had surreptitiously manipulated the situation and provided the other three with upgraded abilities.
—Yes, coincidentally, all these players were of "new professions".
Annan planned to turn these players into icons.
To make them the "leaders" for players in their respective professional fields.
As long as they don’t diverge from their styles... it would set a direction for other players to follow.
...They probably wouldn’t go off track so easily.
Still, Annan had his doubts.
"Let’s go with that."
Annan sighed and focused on the planning backend.
The remaining three players were rather obedient—or rather, cautious.
After creating their characters, they chose to exit the game to consult their "seniors" for some strategies and common knowledge.
—Of course, that would be pointless.
Since Annan positioned them as "elite players" and there happened to be plenty of time before the next dungeon arrived, he took the opportunity.
Annan went ahead and tailored a set of beginner quests for each of them.
...The only trouble was with the player Four Concealed Tiles.
How could you not ask and just dive right into the game?
Why are you as impulsive as Yi Yi?
I haven’t even started designing your beginner quest!
Annan contemplated for a moment, his mind whirring, planning to repurpose the beginner quest he set for the girl half in death, with some changes for him to use.
"Hmm, the slums will do.
"You wake up from a stupor... um, since you’re a male, there would be no bed. So you awaken in a pile of hay, finding yourself in agony. Your gear has been stolen, but thankfully they spared your life. First, you need to follow the trail to find your equipment..."
As for the Underground Gang that "robbed lone travelers", it existed within Roth Fort.
—Since they had robbed so many, they probably wouldn’t remember whether they had robbed Four Concealed Tiles or not.
Just as well, it could also have these four players help Annan clean out Roth Fort’s Underground Gang.
Many of them had ties to Viscount Roth Fort, and it was likely that some of them were connected to the Rottenhusk Church. They’d be suitable to serve as a lead-in.
Meanwhile, Annan had already hidden five sets of equipment in various places.
They consisted of a sword and shield, a short bow and a dagger, a rifled gun, a dagger short sword with poison, and a spiked mace. These could meet the diverse needs of players.
"Let’s give you the number four set then. Dagger short sword with poison... tsk, I should’ve kept a trap. Never mind, I’ll give it to him in the next quest."
Annan muttered, re-planning the mission’s lead trail for him: "Just don’t die on me, youngster.
"According to the setup, you need to see me first... only then can I grant you the power of resurrection."
Perhaps it’s a bit challenging for Four Concealed Tiles, who likely leveled up in the trap thief style...
This is punishment for a gaming addict!
Making you skip meals... and forcing me to work overtime in the middle of the night!
As for the robbers on the other end...
—Someone will come for revenge, and that’s the retribution for your past misdeeds!
What, you don’t recognize him? No problem, he doesn’t know you guys either...
Everyone gets a punishment, everyone gets punished.jpg