Chapter 496 – Twinked Gear
For ordinary players, excluding the powerful skills from Sub Legendary and Legendary-grade equipment, the most sought after properties were attack power, magic power, lifesteal, skill levels, and level requirement reduction.
One could imagine how enticing a piece of Level 50 equipment with its level requirement reduced by 10 would be to a Level 40 player. This was a full two tiers of gear higher! Killing equal level mobs and levelling would become a piece of cake.
However, for a Level 50 player, a piece of Level 50 equipment with its level requirement reduced by 10 had no meaning.
So, for the players at the very top, it was difficult for them to find a use for the level requirement reduction property. For example, at the current stage of the game, there were only a handful of decent Level 65 equipment for sale in the marketplace. As for Level 70 equipment, other than some White and Bronze-grade gear, there was nothing. So, with it being next to impossible to obtain quality Level 70 equipment, most players were better off grinding dungeons for a full set of Level 65 Dark Gold-grade equipment.
Only the players catching up from behind could truly make use of twinked gear. The top experts generally had no use for level requirement reduction gems. As such, the marketplace had quite a few of them.
But unlike other players, Nie Yan was in possession of a large pile of Level 100+ equipment. Similar to Level 50, Level 100 also represented a major milestone. The stats of Level 100 White-grade equipment were equivalent to that of Level 90 Gold-grade equipment. Before Level 100, weapons with more than 1,000 attack were almost nonexistent. Even Zennarde’s Sword only had a little over 800 attack. However, after Level 100, weapons with more than 1,000 attack power could be found everywhere. The difference was clear as day.
If not for Nie Yan opening all those chests, obtaining such a large amount of Level 100+ equipment would’ve been impossible.
Nie Yan had great expectations of socketing these pieces of Level 100 Dark Gold-grade equipment with level requirement reduction gems. A Level 90 player in such gear could easily crush any equal level player.
It was extremely difficult for Level 60–70 players to obtain Level 100 equipment at this stage of the game. They were absolutely no match for Level 100 monsters. Even Level 90 players would have to form teams to take on Level 100 monsters. Not to mention the drop rate for Level 100+ equipment was pitifully low. For example, in the previous timeline, players would be over the moon if a single piece of Level 100 equipment dropped in a week’s worth of grinding. Treasure hunting for good equipment in the wilderness wasn’t all that either. Each map only contained a couple dozen chest spawns. With players camping them day and night, there weren’t nearly enough to go around. Only when exploring a map for the first time were there ample Gold and Dark Gold-grade chests. Those who were late to the party, would be lucky to find even a single ordinary chest.
Before long, batch after batch of level requirement reduction gems were sent Nie Yan’s way.
Nie Yan gathered everything together. Most of the level requirement reduction gems in his bag reduced the level requirement by five or less. He only had 20 gems that reduced level requirement by more than five. These gems were found by him in Level 100+ maps. All the gems collected by the players of Asskickers United only reduced level requirement by a maximum of five.
As for gems that reduced level requirement by 10, those were extremely rare. Nie Yan had only obtained three so far. Gems that reduced level requirement by more than 10 were basically impossible to find. Perhaps only Sub Legendary or Legendary-grade gems would contain such an overpowered property.
Nie Yan brought four bags worth of gems, along with more than 50 pieces of Level 100 equipment to Master Jewelcrafter Paget’s workshop.
After exchanging some small talk with Paget, Nie Yan got down to business.
Level 100 Dark Gold-grade equipment could be socketed with five gems at most, with no more than three being of the same type. That was to say, Nie Yan could only socket a maximum of three level requirement reduction gems into a single piece of equipment.
Nie Yan rummaged through his bag and took out a Level 100 Gold-grade greatshield.
The Dark Gold-grade Greatshield & Chain boasted more than 2,100 defense, with a block rate of 41%. It was much better than Bladelight’s Sub Legendary-grade greatshield. Level 100 Dark Gold-grade equipment was far superior to any Sub Legendary-grade equipment under Level 100. This was an ironclad law of Conviction.
Nie Yan picked out the three best level requirement reduction gems from the pile. One reduced the level requirement by 10 while the other two reduced level requirement by 9. After handing over the shield and gems, Paget got to work.
About 10 minutes later, Paget finished socketing the Greatshield & Chain. The three gems sparkled brilliantly on the front of the shield.
The Level 100 Greatshield & Chain could be equipped at Level 72. With over 2,100 defense and a block rate of 41%, it was absolutely monstrous at this stage of the game! Bladelight could tank Level 80–90 Elites and Lords with ease when equipped with this shield. Even Level 100 Elites might not be a problem.
「Hey, take a look at this. Tell me what you think.」Nie Yan sent over a screenshot of the Level 100 Greatshield & Chain to Bladelight.
「Where did you get this shield? Those stats are amazing!」Bladelight reckoned this shield was even better than Level 80–90 Sub Legendary-grade equipment. Its defense and block rate were astonishing.
「This is a Level 100 Greatshield & Chain. I socketed it with three level requirement reduction gems,」Nie Yan explained with a smile.
「Oh, no wonder why the defense and block rate are so high!」Bladelight said. This shield was a piece of Level 100 Dark Gold-grade equipment with amazing stats. With the level requirement reduced by 28, allowing it to be equipped at Level 72, it was practically without rival! This shield was already quite valuable to begin with, and the three gems socketed into it weren’t cheap either. At this stage of the game, this shield was priceless. Many players would be reaching Level 72 soon. Although it would devalue over time, right now it was absolutely a rare and useful shield.
Nie Yan’s purpose for creating this equipment wasn’t to sell it for some ludicrous price but to outfit Asskickers United’s top elites!
Bladelight was the most suitable candidate to equip this Greatshield & Chain!
Besides the Greatshield & Chain, Nie Yan picked out a Dark Gold-grade Priest staff with Heal +800, and paid Paget to socket it.
Before long, Nie Yan used up most of the gems. Almost all the Level 100 and Level 105 equipment were socketed with level requirement reduction gems, then stored into his bag.
A Level 100 shield that could be equipped at Level 72, a Level 100 Priest staff that could be equipped at Level 73, a Level 100 chain vest that could be equipped at Level 75…
Nie Yan made a total of 20 pieces of twinked gear that could be equipped between Level 70–90. Fighter equipment numbered the most, with Priest equipment coming in second. There was also a lot of equipment for the other classes.
It took hours for Nie Yan to finish hand-picking out all the gear. Although it left him mentally drained, it was well worth it. Once Asskickers United’s elites put on this gear, they could farm Level 100+ dungeons with ease, pumping out more such gear for everyone else in the guild to equip.
With this equipment, Asskickers United’s elite team would definitely stand far above all others.
Nie Yan creating this equipment was kept a secret. Only the members of Asskickers United’s elite team were aware. Bladelight and the others were excited beyond belief. At level 70–80, they could wear Level 100 Dark Gold-grade equipment to run dungeons!
A Fighter’s defense, Priest’s healing, Mage’s damage, Paladin’s blessing, Berserker’s killing power, and so on, all of this made up a team’s strength. Adding their excellent coordination into the mix, and they could breeze through any dungeon. Equipment wasn’t absolute. However, if your equipment didn’t meet a dungeon’s requirements, it wouldn’t matter how skilled you were. If your equipment was far above a dungeon’s requirements, and you were decently skilled, clearing it would be a walk in the park.
Level 100 equipment that could be equipped at around Level 90 was the most numerous. Any piece of Level 100 equipment when socketed with a few ordinary level requirement reduction gems could be equippable at Level 90. This equipment would be used to help Asskickers United’s second rate teams to smoothly break through the Level 100 watershed.
After settling everything, Nie Yan finally heaved a massive sigh. It would still be a while before players got to Level 70. During that time, he and Tang Yao could find more gear and gems to use. However, the efficiency would be drastically reduced. His memory was limited, after all.
Nie Yan planned on using his memories to create as big of a head start as he could. Everything after that would be up to skill.
The battle between him and Soaring Angel was only just beginning!
Nie Yan allowed the people Guo Huai dispatched to bring this equipment back and distribute it to the elite members of the guild. Afterwards, he headed to his personal storage and withdrew a large amount of Death Wave Scrolls and Magic Bombs. He planned to find a place for a power leveling session.
After reaching Level 80, Nie Yan would finally be able to use the Javelin Launcher.
Nie Yan was going to level up like crazy!
Not being able to become a Shadow Dancer in the previous timeline was one of Nie Yan’s regrets. There was an intrinsic difference between a Great Thief and Shadow Dancer. After advancing to a Shadow Dancer, your freedom in combat would advance another step. This was a new realm altogether. Without the title of Shadow Dancer, reaching the absolute peak among Thieves would forever be a distant dream. At best you could gaze enviously at the backs of these people from afar.
Every regret from his previous life would be made up in this one! Nie Yan would be the first Shadow Dancer this time around!
