The "curse" specialization is a Warlock subclass focused entirely on debilitating the enemy, capable of reducing a target's overall power by a staggering 20% or even 30%. A fully developed Dark Warlock is a terrifying opponent. This specialization is further divided into two main builds.
First is the Pure Dark Warlock. This is an extrely rare path. While their curses are more potent, last longer, and are incredibly difficult to Dispel, the build is limited by two major factors. Firstly, it requires an exceptionally rare skill, Curse Mastery.
Without it, a Pure Curse build has no real advantage. Secondly, it has zero solo viability. Lacking any significant damage-dealing abilities, these Warlocks are entirely dependent on teams or guilds to survive, similar to a Priest. However, unlike Priests, who are considered essential, Dark Warlocks are often seen as a luxury.
The second, more common build is the Summoning Dark Warlock. This is the mainstream path for the specialization. Players sacrifice so of their curse-related skill points to invest in the summoning tree. A Warlock's standard summons are notoriously powerful, often able to defeat sa-level players in a direct confrontation. This build can tank, deal damage, and level up quickly even when solo. Its main drawback is a reduced effectiveness against bosses.
Regardless of the build, a Dark Warlock is one of the most frustrating classes to face in PvP. A never-ending debate on the forums rages regarding the ideal kill order in a team fight: kill the Priest first, or kill the Dark Warlock?
And within Crimson Bloom, they had top-tier players of both builds.
This tactical advantage was on full display in the serpent-filled cavern. Snakes were known for their lightning-fast attacks and minimal wind-up animations. But under the barrage of curses, they were sluggish and clumsy. Their attack patterns beca laughably obvious, allowing Lila to easily parry and block with Dragonbane.
At first, Lila fought conservatively, holding the frontline and cutting down the snakes that ca to her. But after a few monts, she realized the swarms contained no boss-level monsters, and not even many elites. She decided it was ti to unleash her full power.
She initiated with Earthshatter, crashing into the center of the snake pack and stunning everything within a five-yard radius. This imdiately triggered the Seismic Slam effect from her Inferno Striders, slowing all enemies in a 20-yard radius by 25% and granting her a 150% damage bonus on her next attack.
She then spun around and used Bladebound, rging with her sword and rocketing back through the pack to her original position.
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Landing back where she started, she triggered Seismic Slam a second ti, slowing the afflicted snakes by another 25%. Without pausing, she turned and unleashed Dragon Slash. Three blades of pure energy scythed through the enemy ranks.
-159,755 (Hit by all three blades)
-116,420 (Hit by two blades)
-55,678 (Hit by one blade)
As the skill completed, she teleported to the position of the central blade, triggering Seismic Slam for a third ti and stacking the slow to a crippling 75%. Finally, she activated the main skill of her Inferno Striders, Blazing Charge, instantly returning to her original starting point.
It was a devastating four-part mobility combo: two moves in, two moves out. The snakes caught directly in her path were already dead. Those on the periphery were left with critical health, and Lila finished them off with a few quick swings.
Her ten-person team was flooded with over a hundred kill notifications each.
System: You have slain [Obsidian Charger]. You gain 80,000 EXP.
System: You have slain [Shard-Spitter Cobra]. You gain 80,000 EXP.
System: You have slain [Venom-Weaver]. You gain 100,000 EXP.
In the span of a single minute, they had each earned over nine million experience points. And that was just one of many swarms.
Most of the girls on the team had never partied with Lila before. They had never seen anything like it. Nearly ten million EXP in sixty seconds? It was the kind of thing you didn't even dare to dream about.
"That was insane!"
"That one minute was worth half an hour of my usual grinding!"
"This is amazing!"
Of all of them, only Starbloom seed unfazed. She had grouped with Lila several tis and knew just how ferocious her damage output could be. Just a few days ago, they had cleared a Hidden Realm together.
Starbloom possessed a unique summoning skill: Summon Undead Hakkar. The skillbook had originally dropped from the elite mob Hakkar in the Van Tassel Hidden Realm, and Kael had given it to her.
Recently, the guild had acquired two more passes for the instance, and Lila had made sure to bring Starbloom along. In the final chest, they had found an upgrade scroll for the summon.
As a result, Starbloom's undead pet was now cha-Hakkar. The chanical monstrosity had an ability called Enter Cockpit, which allowed Starbloom to rge with the machine, piloting it from within and greatly enhancing her own skills.
Combined with her innate Soul Link ability, which shared her stats with her summon, she had beco a one-woman army, capable of taking on teams of three or even five players by herself.
Now, piloting cha-Hakkar, she was efficiently cleaning up the few snakes that survived Lila's onslaught. Seeing the other girls standing around slack-jawed, she quickly took command.
"Girls, snap out of it! Keep your skills active!" she called out. "Why is the damage dropping? Where's Curse Link? I need more targets linked!"
[Curse Link]: Connects 5 units. When one linked unit takes damage, the other 4 take 20% of that damage.
"Use your confusion skills! The ranged mobs are hitting the Guild Leader! Who's on loot duty? Are we just leaving all these materials on the ground?"
Under Starbloom's sharp direction, the team snapped back into combat readiness. They fell into formation behind Lila, becoming an efficient killing machine that steadily pushed forward.
After slaughtering more than three thousand snakes, everyone on the team had leveled up. So went from 32 to 33, others from 33 to 34. Lila herself hit level 35.
Finally, they reached the innermost chamber of the cavern. The sight that greeted them was a writhing, hissing carpet of enemies, a dense swarm of countless snakes and rats.
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