Avalon Rebirth Read Online Free PDF Page B

Taji had a strong defense, but the armor would slow him down, and his magic was purely passive in nature.
    “Sounds good. I'll take lead?”
    “Go ahead,” Darin nodded.
    At least he knew that much. When grouped together a tank was best positioned in front of the group, since they could take damage and deal with any threats that appeared. Even if they suffered hits they had enough health and armor to absorb it without much trouble, allowing the rest of their party to organize their own attack. Now, to see how much he knew about the combat aspects of Avalon Online.
    They had only traveled a short distance when Darin heard a growl, followed by a loud clacking noise. It was definitely larger than any of the skeletons they had faced before, probably an elite. From the sound of things there was only one, but that could change quickly.
    “Ready for it?”
    “Yeah.”
    “Go with Stone Skin to make sure that it can't get your health down very quickly,” he instructed, just as the skeleton walked into view.
    It stood over them both, probably about eight feet tall, wearing rusty armor and carrying a massive club in its hands. It had reach, almost as much as Darin's halberd, and it wasn't going to just crumble into dust like the smaller hordes of grunts.
    “Stone skin, then Challenge Call to make sure it focuses on me?”
    “Right.”
    Darin started to cast a destruction spell on his weapon, lightning strike, hoping to do some extra damage when it hit. The halberd blade crackled with electric energy, enough to stun most living creatures. It wouldn't affect the undead, but using Fire Blast meant he'd be caught in its area of effect.
    The skeleton growled at them and swung its club down at Taji, who braced his shield with both hands. The impact drove him to his knees, but he kept his footing. Moreover, he didn't suffer much damage from the attack.
    And that gave Darin a good opening. He charged in from the left, swinging his weapon in a wide arc with the back spike first. The point smashed into the creature, cutting through its armor and sending a jolt of electricity through it. The skeleton stumbled back for a moment, hurt.
    Taji suddenly sprang forward out of his stance, swinging his sword and bashing with his shield. The monster's armor deflected the blade, but the blow from the shield sent it stumbling back again. More importantly, he drew its attention and forced it into a crouch, lowering the skeletons head to a reachable distance.
    That was perfect for him. Darin moved forward and made a leap at the skeleton, bringing the halberd blade down in a two-handed overhead swing. The creature's head smashed apart with a sickening crunch, and a second later the rest of its body crumbled into dust. The remnants of the armor clattered to the cobblestones, and then the city around them went deathly quiet.
    “Nice kill,” Taji commented.
    “Yeah. Good work from you as well,” Darin said. “I notice that you got aggressive.”
    He made a face. “Yeah, I guess that's my thing. A lot of people don't like it since they think I should be just soaking up the damage...”
    “Then what's the point of you even carrying a weapon?” Darin asked. “There's more than one way to be a tank. Your method is an interesting one, actually. You force it to fight you and don't allow it to move its attention elsewhere. That might not be that important against NPCs, but against other players that could be big.”
    “I've tried it before. But my teammates didn't like it so much. I wasn't playing my role in the team. Attacking is for the damager.”
    Darin nodded. That was part of the problem at the lower ranks. The basic configuration of a tank, a damager, an archer and a supporter was something good to start with, but it wasn't the only way to compete. There were other ways to go about building a team, and even when choosing roles, it was better to have a bit of versatility. He had often fought as a supporter, but had a limited ability to shift to