Chapter 22 - Objecting to the Fountain of Knowledge
“No way…”
Clutching my smartphone, I dove into the sea of the internet and let out a sigh I’d already repeated countless times.
Seriously, I’ve lost track of how many times I’ve said it. A veritable festival of “You’ve got to be kidding me,” a carnival of disbelief… Was the [Arcadia] I’d been playing a completely different game from the one everyone else was?
“Now that’s just unbelievable…”
I was initially put off by the sheer number of pages on what seemed to be the biggest strategy wiki, so I decided to limit my searches to the bare minimum I needed for now… but it’s no good. The “no ways” just won’t stop. Unbelievable.
First, my most pressing question: the [Tsarkalv of the White Throne]. Turns out—get this—while it has been discovered, its strategy is still unknown. The information section for this raid boss was filled with question marks.
Seriously? It’s been three years, and there’s a discovered boss that’s still undefeated?
Apparently, a raid party of over a hundred players, including that Sword Queen girl, challenged it and got instantly wiped out… I don’t even feel like speculating. There’s too little information, so I’ll pass until I’m in the mood.
Next up, the most important thing to look up in any MMO—the various character build and development paths… Yeah, my brain is having a hard time processing this one…
Should I try summarizing the key points in three simple lines?
1. Don’t go full AGI! You’ll regret it and die!
2. Lightly-armored warriors are for pros! Normal players, wear armor or you’ll die!
3. The All-Weapon Aptitude is the worst of the worst! Just die!
“Is this a personal attack?”
My avatar has stepped on every single landmine with almost artistic precision. Have you no shame?
And yet, there’s a part of me that isn’t convinced by the dozens of articles I read to reach that conclusion. It’s just… so many things clash with my own understanding of the game…
“Most of all, there’s no way the All-Weapon Aptitude tree is garbage.”
After logging out, I’d been glued to my phone for nearly two hours. In that time, I’d managed to shed my ignorance and get a decent grasp on the various mechanics of [Arcadia].
I could even make a rough self-assessment by comparing my current in-game status to the vast amount of information recorded by my predecessors. The problem, however, is that my self-assessed value is far too low.
First, the core of any character build in [Arcadia] is the aptitude skill. For me, that would be All-Weapon Aptitude, but apparently, if you acquire multiple aptitudes, you can only have one of them active at a time.
In other words, even if I learned both One-Handed Sword Aptitude and Two-Handed Sword Aptitude, I couldn't use them simultaneously. I’d have to choose which one to apply and toggle it on or off.
Furthermore, after acquiring an aptitude, you learn skills that align with its nature, all arranged in a tree format with the aptitude skill as its core. The conclusion is that you can only use skills from the currently active tree.
Based on that premise, the bewilderingly diverse aptitude trees have all been rated… and while All-Weapon Aptitude isn't the absolute worst, its rating is so low it’s faster to count from the bottom.
There are several reasons given. First, as I suspected, its damage multipliers and other bonuses are inevitably inferior to specialized aptitude trees. Okay, that makes sense. Next.
Second, it seems you basically can't learn any attack skills. In other words, it’s an underprivileged build with almost no special moves. Even I had to choke back a “You serious?” at that.
Yeah, okay, that’s rough. I get it. Next.
Third, the skill considered the core of the tree, Quick Change, is such garbage it’s practically unusable—and stop right there.
“No, that’s not right.”
Absolutely not. Forget everything else; that skill is a flawless, god-tier gift. You should be calling it Master Quick Change.
They say: the activation lag is so bad it’s useless.
They say: the mental imaging requirement is so high that activation is unstable.
They say: it’s faster to switch manually than to struggle with activating the skill.
“What parallel universe are they living in?”
What are these veterans talking about…? I was only confused the very first time I got it. After that, it’s worked like an extension of my own limbs.
I don’t think the thought-based controls are as difficult as they say, either. All you have to do is quickly picture the appearance or name of the equipment you want to summon and activate it. Once you get used to it, it doesn’t even take a full second.
Is it an individual difference…? No, even so… hmm.
In my opinion, the All-Weapon Aptitude tree—or rather, the skill Quick Change—is an amazing skill that’s one step away from being completely broken.
It allows for instantaneous weapon changes during combat, enabling you to adapt to any situation on the fly. As long as you solve issues like inventory capacity, it has the potential for both offense and defense.
Plus, there’s the weight negation the instant you switch weapons, and that brief grace period where the summoned weapon is fixed in mid-air until you grasp it… That last-ditch aerial jump I used to dodge White's attack was made possible by exploiting the latter property.
It’s packed with so many traits that seem perfect for exploitation, yet it’s been branded a garbage skill with a barrage of low ratings… I don’t get it.
I’ll admit it’s a niche skill. Even I’ve ended up with a playstyle unbecoming of a beginner—a glass-cannon, high-mobility fighter running on 90% instinct… and no, that wasn’t my intention. I’m actually having fun with the pinball-like tactics I’m developing, but if I’m being honest, I’d at least like to wear some armor.
I’m still running around in what is essentially plain underwear. When I walk through town, I get a whole lot of “what’s with that guy” stares, you know?
“But still… yeah…”
According to the wiki, acquiring a specific aptitude skill isn't that difficult. So the idea of switching to a specialized skill tree now, based on the veterans' advice, has crossed my mind….
“But after just two days, this build just feels… right.”
My three boss victories so far, the time I narrowly saved myself after falling off a cliff, and that moment I dodged the White bastard’s attack to land a counter—I can confidently say that all of it was only possible because of my current build.
I don’t care what popular opinion says; the power I’ve cultivated in my avatar has already earned my complete trust.
“…Well, it’s worth a try.”
Gathering intel from wikis isn’t just about reading, understanding, and being done with it. In this modern age where it’s easy to exchange opinions with countless people, you lose out if you don’t speak up yourself.
“I think there was a user-only page for [Arcadia]…”
This is it. I’ll just enter my Arcadia unit ID and password on the login page… and,
“Oh, it shows my name and avatar ID.”
So it’s not anonymous. That’s unusual for this kind of service… but I guess there are various reasons for that, given it’s the only VR content out there.
A quick look at the recent forum threads shows everyone being frank but also quite polite in their interactions.
Even though it’s a virtual space where you wear an avatar, communication in Arcadia happens face-to-face. It seems things like etiquette and manners towards others are taken pretty seriously… Ah, found the questions board. This should be the place.
Careful not to write a messy post, and remembering to mention that I’m a beginner, I wrote out my various questions. Once I was done, I gave it a quick read-through from top to bottom… Yeah, this looks about right.
“Annnnd post. Now then.”
That’s enough of a break. I ate dinner alone and let my mother know my plans. I got a brutally cold stare, especially since I've been diving into the game all day, but I’m hoping she’ll forgive me for at least another week or so.
“For now, I guess I’ll quickly finish up the muscly old man’s quest… Drive On.”
Muttering a monologue—a habit that’s been growing over the past two days—I lay down in the unit and called out the startup phrase for the third time today.