Chapter 221
Now, let's think about status attributes—though it's a bit late to bring it up.
A bulky, sagging body. A massive figure that lumbers forward with sluggish, slovenly steps.
The troll slowly advances toward us, the intruders of the dungeon.
"Let’s avoid area spells and take it down with Shock Bolts while maintaining distance." "Understood."
There’s still some distance left, but Lady Esmeralda deliberately walks forward at a leisurely pace. Normally, having a mage take point would be a poor move.
"The rest of us will keep watch. If any other creatures approach, delay them—make sure we don’t get overwhelmed by multiple enemies at once."
But against a troll, this approach is viable. Lady Esmeralda’s current appearance is far from that of a dignified witch.
Her armor is entirely reinforced with materials from swamp dragons, so it’s only natural. Clad in scale armor with a mantle draped over her shoulders, her hair adorned with an ornament crafted from swamp dragon claws and elemental spirit stones (earth, water, fire, wind) to amplify her magical power, she looks more like a female knight than a witch.
Her equipment includes a small backup wand at her waist and a mithril staff in both hands, embedded with spirit stones of earth, water, fire, wind, light, and lightning. Perhaps "magic knight" would be a more fitting title.
The way she confidently raises her staff toward the troll only reinforces that impression.
"Shock Bolt!!"
A bolt of lightning erupts from the tip of her staff. Not a long, arrow-like projectile, but a short, crossbow-bolt-shaped streak of electricity that instantly closes the distance and strikes the troll’s body, discharging violently upon impact.
"Gya!?"
The troll staggers as pain courses through its body.
"Shock Bolt!!"
Lightning-based attacks often inflict paralysis. However, the likelihood of this effect diminishes if the enemy has high magical resistance.
In short, higher magic stats mean higher resistance to magic-based skills.
Naturally, high magic resistance reduces damage from spells and other magical skills.
But what happens when the enemy leans heavily into physical stats?
"It can’t even get close." "Amazing! Just by casting spells, Lady Esmeralda can take down such a huge monster!"
The answer is simple: it’s devastatingly effective. Not because the damage is amplified, but because enemies with physical-oriented stats inherently take more damage from magical attacks.
This is purely due to their low resistance to magic-based attacks, meaning less damage reduction and thus higher overall damage.
The troll tries repeatedly to advance, but Lady Esmeralda doesn’t budge an inch, relentlessly firing Shock Bolts.
"Haaah… It’s done."
With that, the troll is defeated.
The strength of a magic-focused build lies in the ability to spam skills. Unlike someone like Nel, who has a stamina-focused build and must carefully manage skill usage to avoid running out of energy, Lady Esmeralda’s magic-oriented stats allow her to waste a few shots without issue.
"We still have a safe margin of distance, but judging by the damage output, we can handle up to three at a time." "Indeed. Even if Shock Bolt can stop their movement, there’s a limit to how quickly I can fire consecutively."
However, the downside is that physical abilities pale in comparison to stamina-focused builds.
"Against fast-moving wolf-types, we’d have to kite while firing and ensure enough time to cast area spells." "So we’d need to learn how to maneuver?" "Solo maneuvering is essential for emergencies."
Both stamina-focused and magic-focused builds have their pros and cons.
"I wish I could move as swiftly as Nel." "You can move decently, but matching Nel’s speed would be impossible with your stat distribution."
The biggest advantage of a stamina-focused build is the dramatic boost to physical abilities—running faster, hitting harder, and overall enhanced athleticism.
It’s a straightforward stat distribution that directly contributes to combat effectiveness.
One might think, Then wouldn’t full stamina be the strongest? But it’s not that simple. While full stamina maximizes physical prowess, it comes at a cost: the inability to use active skills.
Skills require magic power—even physical-based skills like Neck Chopper or Heart Strike need MP to function.
"There’s also the option of splitting stats evenly, like Ingrid, but that makes skill management harder and reduces the mage’s greatest advantage: high magical damage."
Moreover, high-tier skills become unusable. Even with maximized physical damage, a brute-force build has a hard cap on firepower. No matter how much you optimize equipment and stats, the damage output still falls short of what skills can achieve.
Additionally, while physical defense may be high, resistance to special attacks remains a critical weakness.
A purely physical build can only excel in physical offense and defense. Equipment can compensate somewhat, but enemies with mixed physical and special attacks are common.
"The conclusion? Any playstyle can work. It’s about aligning your ideals with reality, understanding your strengths and weaknesses, and optimizing accordingly. Mastery lies in leveraging strengths and mitigating weaknesses."
But does that mean magic-focused builds are superior? Not quite—they have their own flaws.
A magic-oriented stat distribution excels where physical builds falter. If physical builds turn normal attacks into monstrous strikes, magic builds do the same for skills.
Skills can produce absurd, borderline unfair effects. My Heart Strike is a prime example.
No matter how tough the enemy’s body, no matter how reinforced their armor, this skill bypasses all defenses to strike the heart directly. An attack with instant-kill potential.
That’s the kind of absurdity magic can unleash.
With high magic stats, you can deal devastating damage or even wipe out entire areas with natural disaster-level spells.
"In my case, I must accept my lack of physical prowess and focus on how to best utilize my high magic stats, right?" "Exactly. This time, we’re up against a physically oriented monster, so it’s easy. But against enemies with decent magic resistance, it becomes much harder to take them down quickly."
The trade-off, however, is that the caster’s physical abilities remain lackluster. Even at max level and class, the difference between Nel’s and Lady Esmeralda’s physical capabilities is night and day.
"Another weakness of magic builds is fast-moving enemies. No matter what, maintaining distance is crucial. Enemies willing to take some damage to close the gap are a nightmare." "True. This enemy was slow, allowing repeated attacks, but… hey, Liberta, something just occurred to me." "What is it?"
Among FBO players, there’s a recurring debate. Assuming equal player skill, who would win in a fight: a strength-focused build or a magic-focused build?
This debate resurfaces every time new skills or weapons are introduced, becoming something of a tradition.
"Despite being stamina-focused, that troll was slow, right? If it were a person, they’d be evenly enhanced—stronger, faster, tougher. So why do monsters have such disparities?" "There are a few theories. One is that it’s a form of individuality—golem-types and wolf-types have different builds, so it’d be unnatural for them to have the same stats. Heavy, sturdy golems are slow, while small, agile wolves are fast. Their physical traits shape their stats."
The debate often spirals into minutiae—skill composition, equipment, terrain—until the conditions themselves determine the outcome.
Trying to balance the disadvantages only leads to the conclusion that either side could win. Strength builds have their strengths, magic builds have theirs, and balanced builds have their own unique advantages.
Among top-tier players, most lean heavily into either stamina or magic, with very few opting for balanced stats.
The strongest pure-strength player I know is a guy who calls himself the reincarnation of Miyamoto Musashi—stats at a ridiculous 9:1 ratio, playing as a muscle-bound samurai dual-wielder named Miyamoto. On the flip side, the most extreme magic build belongs to a player named Neet, with a 1:19 stat ratio, who wears a T-shirt that says If I’m working, I’ve already lost.
Even at these extremes, they’ve crafted incredibly powerful characters, proving how deep stat optimization can go. I prefer a more balanced approach for versatility, but watching these two duel makes the whole debate seem pointless.
"I see. So trolls are slow because of their weight? Are there other theories?" "A hypothesis—monsters might have even more finely divided stats." "Finely divided?" "Yes. For example, stamina might be split into strength, speed, and durability, with the displayed stamina stat being an average. High strength might come at the cost of lower speed, or high durability might offset sluggishness." "Like how some enchantments boost strength at the cost of defense?" "Exactly. There’s also the fact that giantkin and beastkin are stronger than other races at the same stat level, which supports the idea."
What’s truly strongest depends on the player. Even with the same growth conditions, it’s the mastery of non-stat elements that makes the difference.
As I answer Lady Esmeralda’s question, the rumbling of approaching footsteps echoes once more.
"We can discuss whose research this is later. For now, let’s focus on clearing the dungeon." "Agreed. That’s the priority."
For now, all that matters is one fact: this dungeon is easy prey for Lady Esmeralda.