Cruel Pit was the introductory dungeon to the Chilly Wetlands. Its design was different from the other dungeons within the Chilly Wetlands. The dungeon itself was themed after Gothic horror. The entire dungeon was filled with an eerie atmosphere, and players who enter it for the first time were likely to be affected by the psychological induction of fear and ended up underperforming.
That was one of the reasons why a dungeon that was not exactly hard bogged down the progress of millions of Fate players for quite a while.
Ye Ci could remember herself being scared senseless when she first entered this dungeon. The only solution offered by the forums at the current stage was to watch more horror films to build up the resistance to the horror themed dungeon. It was useless. One would never be able to relate to the horror when one was watching a film as they were not directly experiencing it. The only way to overcome such fear was to visit the dungeon more often. After experiencing the dungeon for at most ten times, the fear of seeing skeletons with bits of meat hanging loosely off them will start to fade.
And what was the second key to clearing this dungeon one might ask? It was of course.... Damage output.... And.... Puzzle solving.
The damage output required was an issue for a lot of players. In Ye Ci's knowledge, an average player must possess at least 150 GS to clear the dungeon. Even with someone like her around, the average GS of the party members must reach 130. Without reaching this condition, their attacks might not even be able to penetrate the BOSS's defense.
Although Timely Rain and Phoenix Claw in her party did not have more than 100 GS, Little Icy Cold Hands and Icy Cold Little Hands had 140 GS. As long as she moved faster, her party could clear the dungeon easily.
As for the puzzle....
Ye Ci looked up into the sky, it all depended on luck.
For example, the puzzle currently faced by the party was one that tested the dexterity of one's thoughts.
The door leading to the first BOSS was in a small square patio. Four chairs were set at each corner of the room, and when the puzzle was activated, only one player of the party could try to solve it, while the four other party members had to sit on the chairs.
One mistake could possibly end the lives of the other four members.
Ye Ci made a slight mistake, and Little Icy Cold Hands was impaled by a spike that suddenly rose off the ground. He was left with only the slightest amount of HP. He was scared shitless and yelled, "Gongzi, you must be careful, be careful! Luckily it was me who got impaled, if it was the others, they would've died!"
"Ah, it was a mistake, it won't happen the next time." Ye Ci nodded and chuckled.
"You're taking revenge on me!" Icy Cold Little Hands cried.
Something clicked, and the door opened.
Ye Ci straightened up and walked towards the door. The four asked with uncertainty, "It's done?"
"Of course."
The four immediately jumped off the chairs and rushed into the first BOSS's room after offering different sorts of prayers.
The first and second Bosses were defeated easily. After being in the scary dungeon for three hours, the group was finally used to the atmosphere. Eventually, they reached the door leading to the third and final Boss.
The third Boss of Cruel Pit was the Head Warden Tito.
Cruel Pit was crowned as the milestone of the humanization of the A.I. It was not because of the difficulty of the dungeon. It was due to the fact that the final Boss of this dungeon, Tito, was the first high intelligence Boss that players encountered in the game.
A conventional Boss was designed to follow several programs, but Tito used his own wits to bring out the maximum potential of his skills. This was the hardest factor in the entire dungeon, and part of the reason why many players were bogged down in this dungeon. They could not figure out a pattern to Tito's attacks.
"...... Timely Rain have you learned Exhaust?"
Exhaust was the only Debuff skill that a Warlock possessed. Exhaust reduces the target's attack damage by 30% for 8 seconds. Despite that, it had a 20 seconds cool down. It was one of the life-saving skills.
"I did," Timely Rain nodded. He did not dare to continue... He'd never used the skill before.
"Ok, Tito will have a skill called Anger. When you see the skill channeling, use Exhaust on him."
"Got it." Timely Rain learned a lot about positioning after partying with Ye Ci. He'd even mastered skills that he normally would not use and had got used to the casting timing. It could be said that he had benefitted a lot.
He only had the mindset of exploration when he first entered the dungeon. He was thoroughly impressed by this Huntress. He couldn't help but imagine that they could clear this dungeon under her guidance.
"Phoenix Claw, have you learned Weaken?" Ye Ci asked because most beginners did not have many coins with them and were forced to selectively learn skills. They sometimes would overlook skills that were crucial in dungeons and PVP.
"Let me see, I could've sworn that I learned it," Phoenix Claw's face was red with embarrassment. He finally found Weaken in his skills panel, "Yes, I've learned it."
"When Timely Rain's Exhaust duration is finished, cast Weaken immediately. Weaken has a low cool down, you can keep using it. But you must take care not to use it when Exhaust is still in effect, they will cancel each other out. It will greatly increase the pressure for the MT and the Healer." With the exception of Phoenix Claw, all the members of the party were fast learners. Despite being a slow learner, Phoenix Claw was a good follower, he followed every instruction to the letter.
"I understand."
"Gongzi, they're not going to attack the BOSS?" Little Icy Cold Hands asked, he noticed that Ye Ci only instructed the two to use Debuff on the BOSS, but did not mention a word about them attacking.
Ye Ci shook her head, "This BOSS has a high GS requirement. Players that are not level 15 can't even damage the BOSS without 180 GS. It would just be a waste their mana. It's better if they spend all of their mana on Debuffs. At least they would be able to keep some of the pressure off you."
The four of them were afraid, seeing as only Little Cold icy Hands had reached level 15. The others were not even level 15 yet. They began to sweat profusely.
"Gongzi, if that's the case, can we clear this dungeon?" Timely Rain's confidence was slightly shaken.
Ye Ci could understand his thoughts. She looked at Timely Rain and affirmed, "In a dungeon, it's either the BOSS or us, there's nothing to be afraid of. Even if we die ten times, we'll only lose half a level worth of experience. With some work, we can get those back within a week. What? Can't bear the loss?"
With Ye Ci's words, and seeing that nobody else had the intention to leave, Timely Rain kept quiet and forced himself to stay.
Phoenix Claw said, "You're a guy, act like one! Are you going or nah? The treasure chest is waiting for us, don't be a pussy!"
Timely Rain was a shy person, with the words of Phoenix Claw, he was too embarrassed to leave. He gritted his teeth, "Let's go!"
At the next moment, the battle started immediately.
Icy Cold Little Hands, Timely Rain and Phoenix Claw stood together, distancing themselves in a straight line 20 m away from Little Icy Cold Hands. Ye Ci stood between them, acting as a barrier.
All they needed to do at the beginning of the fight was to stand still and dish out damage, nothing else was really needed. Five minutes later, Tito grabbed the hem of Little Icy Cold hands angrily, intending to throw him aside. If it's not for Little Icy Cold Hand's reaction speed, he would've been thrown away.
Tito shouted in a loud voice, "Damned ants, you've pissed me off!"
Ye Ci was shocked, in her countless visit to the dungeon, she'd never seen Tito combining the skills of Anger and Ignite together. She shouted, "You three, move in the same direction as I do after Exhaust is cast, don't stay in the area of his attack."
Timely Rain immediately cast Exhaust. Just as Ye Ci's voice died down, flames burst out of Tito's mouth in a fan shape. Players within the affected area suffered sustained and serious burn damage.
The three mage classed players were immediately put into a state of disarray. Noticing that Little Icy Cold Hands was nearly dead, Ye Ci drank a bottle of Rage potion and took the aggro of the BOSS away from him with a few critical hits. She released Ol' Three to the front line as a meat shield.
"The four of you hurry up and recover your health with potions and bandages. We'll do it again!" Ye Ci said and began kiting Tito in the small room.
In Fate, the combat state would not be removed unless the entire party left the area or was annihilated. It was not worth to die just like that, and Ye Ci refused the exit the dungeon, leaving behind a BOSS that only had 37% of its health left. She immediately instructed the members of her party to recover themselves.
The four of them were gasping for air by that time. The three mage classed players were especially ashamed of their performance. The used the best consumables they had.
After healing up, Little Cold Icy Hands charged up to Tito and took over the Aggro with the help of Phoenix Claw. Ye Ci immediately returned Ol' Three to the pet storage and went back to her position.
By that time, they were used to Tito's tricks. They dodged his Ignite with ease.
There were occasions where time passes real quick, and there were also occasions where time was slow. Half an hour was normally not a long period of time, but in the party's situation, it felt like 10,000 years. Tito's hit points finally hit 1% and Ye Ci immediately reminded her party members, "Be careful, he will now randomly release an ultimate skill!"
At that moment, Tito began to channel the skill Mutual Destruction!
Ye Ci was shocked, nobody had the skill that could cancel other skills at this point. If this ultimate skill was successfully released, it would deal 999,999 points of damage, annihilating everything in the area! She chugged down another bottle of Rage potion.
"Please don't let me die now, come on, lemme have a critical hit! Armor break!" Ye Ci shouted, and cast Rapid Fire, at the same time, a Weaken debuff appeared on Tito.
Critical hit! Armor break! -3749!!