Part-Time BOSS

PTB Ch.11 – Battle Strategy: “Sea of Monsters”

Although the dungeon imposes various restrictions on the BOSS, there are also many benefits for them.

The first benefit is the enhancement and adjustment of their attributes and skills. The system adjusts the values of the BOSS in the dungeon based on the number of people in the party, which usually increases their power.

Murphy’s bosses aren’t particularly strong by themselves – the strongest priest is only at the first level of disaster, and the weakest ogre mage is only at the third level of skeleton.

However, when they become a group boss with 40 people, their attributes are boosted to their maximum, and their health points are increased several times over.

Secondly, as a group boss, they can use “battle strategies” during the boss battle to gain additional advantages. Normal bosses have only 1 strategy point, while the final boss has 3 strategy points.

The ability of the BOSS itself and the choice of strategy can make the BOSS battle more unpredictable and controllable.

Murphy began to study the battle strategy for the upcoming fight.

The system generates various strategies for each boss based on their identity, experience, and current environment. As the final boss, Morpheus had over a dozen strategies to choose from.

Battle Strategy 1: Summon Monster Minions.

He could summon monster minions to assist with battle. There were several options to choose from:

Legion of Black Whelplings: An army of 35-45 black whelps with the ability to use fireball skills.Dragon Guards: A team of eight elite dragon guards with the ability to use charge and cleave.Dragon Priests: A support team of four elite dragon priests with the ability to release bloodlust, healing, and dragon’s breath.Black Dragon Air Raiders: An air support squad consisting of four black drakes with the ability to shoot explosive fireballs from the air to attack enemies.

Battle Strategy 2: Phase Transition.

He could enter a specific form during the boss battle.

Behemoth of War: In this form, Morpheus could only use hand-to-hand combat skills and dragon talent skills. Armor would increase by 50%, physical damage would increase by 50%, and ordinary attacks would have a crushing effect.Flame Dragon: In this form, Morpheus could only use dragon breath to fight and couldn’t use melee skills or dragon language magic. Dragon breath power would increase by 50%, and it would have a splash effect.Ruler of Dragons: In this form, all friendly units around Morpheus would receive a 30% attribute boost and would gain scene skills like Summon Dragon Guardians, Summon Black Young Dragons, and Summon Black Young Dragons (scene skills can only be used in the current scene).

Battle Strategy 3: Field Transformation.

During the boss battle, alter the current battlefield and utilize the changes to gain a tactical advantage.

Mountain Collapse: Strike the dome of the cave with full force, causing rocks to continuously fall from the top of the cave and deal 1-999 points of physical damage to enemies in the scene. Lasts for 30 seconds.Lava Eruption: Strike the ground to activate hidden lava flames, causing the ground to intermittently spew lava fire pillars and deal 500 points of fire damage to hit enemies. Lasts for 60 seconds.Secret Passage: Open the secret passage leading to other areas of the dungeon and periodically receive support from monsters in each area for 180 seconds.

Battle Strategy 4: Special Tactics.

Strategies that require certain conditions to be met before they can be executed.

Death Fury: This tactic can only be used when the HP drops below 30%, and the fear of death awakens the savage dragon instincts within. You will fight the enemy uncontrollably in the most primitive and brutal way possible, increasing all your damage by 50%. The cooldown time for normal skills is reduced by 50%, mana cost for all skills is removed, and you become immune to taunts.Summon Allies: This tactic can be used when your HP is below 50%, and there are multiple enemy heroes present on the battlefield. You can summon a powerful ally (Hildeshanks) to join you in the fight.Dragon Knight Contract (Dragon-Specific Tactic): This tactic is only available when the health value drops below 30%, and the target is a hero. You can present a Dragon Knight Contract to the opponent. Upon completing the contract, the opponent will become your mount, and the BOSS battle will end immediately.Summon Princess Catherine (Story Campaign Tactic): The effects of this tactic are unknown, but using it may trigger a plot twist in the story.

Murphy entered a state of deep contemplation as he reviewed the combat strategy system. He had spent countless hours studying different combinations of strategies to use against various enemies.

One particular set of tactics, which he dubbed “Sea of Monsters,” gave him the most confidence.

The “Sea of Monsters” tactics consisted of the following components: “Ruler of Dragons,” “Legion of Black Whelplings,” and “Field Transformation: Secret Passage”.

Although the black whelps were not particularly strong in combat, they were long-range units. Forty black whelps could unleash a barrage of fireballs that could decimate any adventurer within seconds.

The secret passage would spawn a new wave of small monsters every ten seconds, a wave of elite monsters every 30 seconds, and a wave of monster bosses every 90 seconds.

Combined with the summoning ability from Ruler of Dragons, it was possible to present a massive army of monsters for up to three minutes. Additionally, the Black Dragon Lord’s aura could enhance the attributes of these monsters significantly, making them even more challenging to defeat. If the enemy team was slow in clearing these monsters, they would quickly become overwhelmed by the relentless tide of monsters.

This set of tactics was incredibly effective against ordinary adventurer teams. However, Murphy was unsure how capable the adventurer team they were facing was when it came to clearing monsters.

Murphy refrained from making any choices for now and continued to observe the enemy team’s movements.

Finally, the adventurer team reached the dragon fire square, the location of the first BOSS, where the Dragon Warlord Borax awaited them.

[System prompt: The Dragon Warlord Borax has activated the “Many Against Many” combat strategy.]

This strategy involved adding a significant number of small and elite monsters to the boss battle, effectively creating a “cluster boss.” The trade-off was that the boss’s HP would be reduced by 30%.

This strategy was ideal for Borax since it was primarily a commanding boss with limited combat ability. The HP reduction didn’t matter much, but the addition of eight elite monsters, four bosses, two lieutenants, and dozens of mobs made it seem like a much larger force.

As the adventurers stepped into the dragon fire hall, Borax, the Dragon Warlord, greeted them with a wave of his battle flag.

“Intruders, how dare you invade the territory of Lord Morpheus! This is unforgivable!” Borax bellowed. “Soldiers of the Black Dragon Legion, come to me! Kill them all!”

At the sound of his voice, the dragon warriors, guards, looters, and wizards sprang into action, charging forward with the precision of a well-trained army.

But the adventurer team stood firm, maintaining their battle formation. Only Midnight Dharma God smiled slightly, flicked his cloak, and stepped forward boldly. As the black dragon army rushed towards him, he raised his staff high.

“In the name of the Mother Goddess of the Earth, I call upon the power of Thrathaine, spirit of the earth. Elements of earth, heed my call!” exclaimed the mage as he slammed his staff hard into the ground.

An earthquake shook the earth as an invisible force spread out from the point of impact, causing the ground to crack and heave.

Seizing the opportunity, Midnight Dharma God lifted his staff once more.

“In the name of the evil god of fire, I summon the power of Ragnaros, spirit of fire. Elements of fire, heed my call!” he cried out, waving his staff vigorously.

A Fire Storm erupted, causing the air to become dry and hot. A vortex of flames appeared in the center of the dragon army, spreading and rotating with a deafening sound of whistling wind and scorching air. The vortex grew larger and larger, gradually turning into a flame storm that covered an area of more than fifty meters. The violent flames engulfed all the dragonmen in its path.