Chapter 93: Prime Construct
Coop left the fort behind. Instead of waiting for the slow-moving boss to trek across the island and challenge the defenders while flattening the fort, he would meet it in the field directly. It wasn’t like the fort’s walls would do anything to protect them. The giant Construct was large enough to step across the moat and on top of the outer walls as if they were nothing more than a small ledge. Coop reasoned that it would be best to fight this monster in the open, where he could maximize his mobility and minimize collateral damage.
After he threw his spear, letting it fly halfway across the island, he steadied his nerves. Coop tended to just go with the flow and put his head down to take things as they came, but that didn’t stop him from getting anxious. Instead of letting his unease grip him, he looked at the positives. The big monster must be worth big experience, and surely, it was the last challenge they would have to deal with before they went back to hanging out on the beach and casually grinding easy monsters. The thoughts of gaining experience and tropical relaxation was enough to motivate Coop to do nearly anything, including attempting to solo a titan.
As he mistjumped into the monochromatic version of the world, he noted that the boss was essentially frozen while everything else moved in slow motion, it certainly didn’t invest in Agility. Though the boss was huge, Coop would have the speed advantage. Hopefully, his speed would make up for the fact that the boss had such an extreme size advantage.
A second mistjump put him within a hundred yards of the creature, which had only managed half a step onto the shore of the island since Coop left the fort. He stopped and prepared with an activation of Fog of War.
He let the skill establish a thin layer in every direction, coating the southern half of Rock Key, just hoping to use the mists to help enhance his reactions and improve the precision of his attacks. The thin fog would gradually dissipate without further input in the ocean breeze and midday sun, but at least it would magnify Presence of Mind and give him an advantage for the duration of the fight. He inspected the creature’s aura while the fog grew.
[Siege Boss: Prime Construct (Level 75)]
[Alpha XIV (Intelligence)]
[Manifestation of the Primal Constructs]
“Perfect.” Coop mumbled as if he was disgruntled, but a significant part of him undeniably meant it. The part that had him hungry for more progress, however he could get it.
If they had to fight another boss, he preferred for it to be a Siege Boss. He’d do whatever was necessary to collect a trophy from defeating it. Having an opportunity to complete the optional objective for the next settlement upgrade was a convenience he was genuinely happy to receive. The previous reward had been absolutely worth it, granting them the phantoms, and this way he wouldn’t be hunting bosses around the world until he found one with the appropriate title.
Compared to his first meeting with a Field Boss, he was positively overprepared. He had nearly 20 levels on this boss, but when he fought his first Field Boss they were practically even. Plus, defeating that first Field Boss had given him the Dauntless title, which doubled his damage against bosses, pushing his readiness for this one even further. This particular boss had Intelligence as its primary stat, which was another advantage for Coop, since Revenant was, at the most fundamental level, a magic tank.
Coop considered that another title would be up for grabs with this Siege Boss. This wave might even have them competing with all of the other remaining settlements in a race to defeat the boss first. He wasn’t sure if this final wave was guaranteed or if it had been the culmination of the previous waves building up to a grand finale. Ghost Reef could also have been singled out by the challenge assessment. The last two waves were suspicious in that respect, confronting them with actual Primal Constructs rather than their monsters. Either way, there was only one path forward, and it was through defeating his first Siege Boss.