Azure: Gunner

The fastest way to Level Identify is to use it while fighting monsters. The safest way to Level Identify is to spam it on every person you meet. Don’t bother wasting your mana on Identifying every rock, bush, or grain of sand you see – that’s fucking stupid.

Contested Identifies, when you’re trying to pierce through some bullshit public profile – you know, like that asshole who is always claiming he’s Tier 3 when he’s really Level 23 – those uses of Identify will Level it up much faster than trying to cast it on every brick in a wall. Plus, you’re less likely to end up hating yourself out of boredom.

- Delver’s Guild Handbook, Section 8.1 – “Making Identify suck less”

I took my time, enjoying every bite of the juicy burger. I wasn’t sure what kind of meat it was, but it was far better than whatever Hazel bought. Probably trihorn. By the time I was savoring the last of my fries, everyone else was done eating.

Mason and Hassan were just finishing the last of their large mugs of beer. Vale and Block had practically inhaled theirs. I was happy with water – beer was disgusting. I’d snuck a sip of it one day while helping clean the saloon, and I didn’t understand why anyone wanted to drink the bitter stuff. Mason finished his beer and stood up, pushing back his stool.

“Hassan, take Az over to the store and get her kitted out. Usual basics. Az, you got any goodbyes you need to say or stuff you need to get?”

I hesitated briefly. “Not really, I said goodbye to the kids this morning when Hazel threw me out.”

Everyone looked at me with surprise, so I quickly explained. “She’s uh, not a big fan of the Guild I guess. Wanted me to stay with her…”

I could tell that Mason realized there was more to the story, but he didn’t pry, just raised an eyebrow before moving on.

“In that case, let’s hit the road. Vale, gather up the other recruits and settle the account. I’ll check in with the Guard, see if there’s anything interesting going on out there. Oh, and Hassan – help her get her public profile set up.”

Mason and Vale were already out the door as I looked over at the tall Archer. He looked at me and sighed.

“Let’s get the profile out of the way first. You know what it is?”

“Something to do with Identify,” I shrugged. He rolled his eyes.

“That’s really it? What do they teach you kids out here?”

“Honestly, I only really paid attention when we were training. And before this,” I gestured at my scar, “I lived on a farm.”

It was the truth, even if I didn’t remember much about it. It’s not like I had some mysterious history or anything. People around here had known my parents, but I guess they mostly kept to themselves and only came into town when needed. I saw Hassan’s expression change slightly and smiled on the inside. Guilt trip activated!

“Fine, here’s the short version. When you use Identify, it tries to show you everything about your target’s Status. Naturally, they rarely want you to see everything, especially their Stats and Skills. It comes down to something like a contest.

“Your Identify Level, Perception, Acuity, etc, against their defenses. Barrier and Control help resist Identify, and there are also Classes that get Skills to counter it. The main thing to remember is that the further your profile is from reality, the easier it is to see through. Here, use Identify on me.”