Chương 99: Class Evolution

Meno selected Daxolon in the emergency vote, submitted it, and closed the window. There was no timer, which probably meant the AI would wait until enough level forty-plus players voted before committing. Or maybe Solar was staring at the results in a virtual panic room, pretending this had been the plan. Either way, Meno was still stranded under a green-leaved tree on Naraltan.

"Don't copy me," Meno said.

"Vote for whatever you want. I am stuck here anyway." already copied missclicked Rimvolen Dax gang Fractera dig fridge voters rise democracy lag"Okay," Meno said.

"Since I can't even gain XP until I select an evolution, we are checking the options right now." evolution class funeral read it 7 million witnesses Swing Master trial Meno opened the class evolution prompt in front of more than seven million people and immediately dreaded everything about it.

"Line by line," he said.

"Wall of text alert. Put on sunglasses." [Class Evolution Available] [Current Class: Swing Master] [Level 60 Evolution Options Generated] [Option 1. Swing Master Eternal] Awarded due to tendency of high-precision execution, extreme risk taking, and extreme average DPS. Meno read the first line and leaned back against the tree.

"I guess that's a compliment. Eternal sounds good." The next lines appeared. Dual-wielding is disabled. Two-handed weapons and shields cannot be equipped.

"Instant fail. Good start." no dual wield no axe rip shield tech dead option eternal pain Base maximum Attack Speed is set to 1 attack per second with all weapon types before modifiers. Attack Speed and Action Speed bonuses can increase this value. Compound Swing no longer increases damage. Instead, each Chain adds ten additional hits to each successful weapon attack. Additional hits never grant Chain or trigger additional hits. Meno punched the air.

"One? Seriously? One attack per second with one-hander base damage?" He stared at the line like it might apologize.

"That is two-handed mace speed. New Chain gives ten extra attacks instead of ten percent damage per stack, which is basically one hundred stacks of old Chain per stack. Panic Pump already gave me that instantly." Successful weapon attacks grant 1 Chain. Chain is capped at 9. Chain upkeep window is 2 seconds. 9 cap one stack what is this AI nerf hammer Eternal swing but slow"Nine cap with one stack per attack, down from two." Meno rubbed his forehead.

"Upkeep seems the same. I guess it ramps faster because each Chain is worth one hundred old stacks, but I am attacking in slow motion, which makes dodging and every timing window harder." Then the deletion list appeared. [Hundredfold Cleave] Removed. [Unbound Chain] Removed. [Panic Pump] Removed. [Break Surplus] Removed. [Chain Madness] Removed. [Self-Control] Removed. NOOOOO CHAIN MADNESS DEAD AI WON build deleted rank one funeral deserved"That is all my abilities." He scrolled up and down once.

"This is evolution backwards. Return to caveman and touching grass." [Swing Master Eternal: New Abilities and Passives] [Cleave Eternal] Spend 3 Chain. Your next weapon attack or weapon-based ability hits all hostile targets in long range. If it misses or your Chain breaks before it lands, you die.

"You die. The tooltip actually says you die." lmao just don't miss skill issue instant death build take it"It is good, I guess. Long range is strong." Meno narrowed his eyes.

"But the instant-death part feels like a reasonable complaint." Meno started pacing around the tree.

"It is not a projectile like Hundredfold Cleave used to be, which already makes it ten times worse. Maybe it works with Chain Cannon because of the wording, but spending a third of max Chain to use it is gross." [Size Eternal] While Chain is at maximum value, Chain that would be gained instead increases weapon size by 100% for 2 seconds. This effect does not stack. size eternal SIZE call—message deleted big weapon BIG BIG BIG Meno no"Nice," Meno said.

"The weapon grows mid-combat. Definitely weird." Chat kept going.

"Stop spamming nonsense about the name, or I will turn off chat for everyone. This is a sponsor-friendly stream with zero sponsors." [Break Eternal] When Chain breaks, your next weapon attack becomes a long-range projectile. If this projectile hits a hostile target, restore 3 Chain. If it misses, you die. Gain [Break], allowing you to intentionally break Chain at any time. Meno stared at the death line again.

"Another one that tries to kill me." He looked up through the green leaves at the silent black clouds.

"What happened to the HP bar? This is basically a one-HP evolution using my health bar as decoration while clowning around with one attack per second." [Madness Eternal] Activate to remove Chain's maximum value. If Chain breaks during Madness Eternal, you die. Madness Eternal can only be canceled while Chain is a multiple of 9. If canceled while Chain is above 9, Chain is reduced to 9. Madness Eternal ends when combat ends. Meno let out a relieved breath.

"Scaling is not dead after all." He kept reading.

"It just deletes you if you make one mistake. Every ability is infected with you die." just don't die math class build 9 times table Eternal gamer test rip bagelmonster"It also makes me do the nine times table during combat, just to know if I can cancel it." Meno shook his head." Chain Madness died for this?" He opened his skills and found only empty slots waiting ahead.

"If none of the evolutions keeps the ten-attacks-per-second two-hander setup, I am going to be pissed. Chain Torpedo does not work like this either. Maybe I should have picked it." [Pump Eternal] Spend 3 Chain. Your next successful weapon attack deals double damage. If the attack misses or Chain breaks before the attack lands, you die. Pump Eternal cannot be used during Madness Eternal.

"Straightforward," Meno said.

"I do not like that it does not work during Madness Eternal, which means you cannot use it against anything big while scaling uncapped." He counted on his fingers.

"If you use it at cap, best case is six Chain on the attack, doubled. That is basically a twelve-hundred-old-Chain attack. Also it kills you if you fail, because of course it does." math genius calculator arc Chad save us take death build"Chadculator," Meno said, "I hope you are here. We will need you." [Guild] Chadculator: yes… [Control Eternal] Gain one shield slot. Spend 3 Chain to instantly equip the slotted shield in your offhand. The shield can block weapon attacks, projectiles, and spells.

The shield unequips after one successful block or when combat ends.

"Costs way too much," Meno said.

"That is burning three hundred old stacks for one block. I hate it." block hater shield saved you remember monk punch one block good bad take"Shield saved me because I had no Chain anyway. Very different." The final Eternal line unfolded. [Chain Cannon] > [Cannon Eternal] Evolved. Costs 3 Chain. No longer has a cooldown. During Madness Eternal, Cannon Eternal does not deal increased weapon damage. All other Chain Cannon effects are unchanged.

"Not sure if this is a buff." Eternal good no cooldown railgun spam take it madness cannon"Three Chain is three hits with two-handed mace speed. I would rather have the cooldown." He pointed at the damage line.

"And the one-thousand-percent baked-in multiplier is lost if I go uncapped Chain mode. It probably would have been too much, but still. Outside Madness Eternal, it works the same except the cost." He closed the Eternal panel halfway, then opened it again to confirm it remained terrible.

"I think this is much worse than it looks. Losing Chain Madness alone is losing more than half my damage. Yes, it ramps fast, but you have to execute perfectly or you die." Meno tapped his boot against the glowing ground.

"The slow attack speed is also a huge offensive evasion nerf. People do not consider that enough. You do zero damage if you hesitate, it's full commit." Meno opened the second option. [Option 2. Swing Master Infernal] Awarded due to the tendency of being unstable and breaking all systems beyond reason. fair accurate AI knows unstable confirmed system breaker"No, it is not fair," Meno said.

"I am totally stable. The AI is unstable for designing broken stuff." Dual-wielding is disabled. Daggers and shields cannot be equipped. Compound Swing is replaced with Chain Detonation. Chain grants no inherent damage bonus. While below maximum Chain, weapon attacks against hostile targets deal no damage and grant 3 Chain. Additional hits do not grant Chain. Chain is capped at 66. Chain upkeep window is 3 seconds. Meno read the whole thing, then read it again.

"Is this a prank?" zero damage 66 cap Infernal clown no daggers reroll healer"Zero damage per hit? Deletes dual-wield and daggers. Massive Chain-per-second nerf." He paced a few steps under the tree.

"It caps Chain at sixty-six and removes the ten-percent damage scaling, but gives three Chain per hit and a three-second upkeep window. Three Chain per hit is at least good." Meno sighed.

"Let's see the detonation. If this keeps up, I might have to reroll healer." healer Meno no Morfoos arc retire [Chain Detonation] When you attack a hostile target at maximum Chain, Chain detonates, dealing weapon damage to hostile targets in short range with 45, 900% increased damage. Chain breaks after the detonation. Chain Detonation does not benefit from effects that grant additional hits. Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings. Meno started laughing.

"What is this?" He kept laughing for a second, because the number looked illegal and useless at the same time.

"Four hundred sixty times total hit on the next attack after sixty-six Chain, and it is a short-range AOE. Then Chain breaks and I start again. That seems limited." one shot king 460x take infernal boom build PvP nightmare"Probably much worse than it looks," Meno said.

"It also does not work with Pursuit double hits. Eternal did not either. I just got this helmet, and the AI already half-killed it. This is clearly revenge." He ran the math roughly in his head.

"With my sword, that is around nine Chain per second. A little over seven seconds to cap and detonate. The damage window is strong, but longer fights can troll you. If you build everything into one big hit and the boss heals, shields, phases, or moves, you are back to doing zero DPS." The deletion list arrived again. [Hundredfold Cleave] Removed. [Unbound Chain] Removed. [Panic Pump] Removed. [Break Surplus] Removed. [Chain Madness] Removed. [Self-Control] Removed.

"Same deletion ritual," Meno said.

"The AI really hated my build with passion." He closed his eyes for a second.

"I guess these ability combinations cannot exist together. Bit harsh." [Swing Master Infernal: New Abilities and Passives] [Cleave Infernal] Spend 33 Chain. Your next weapon attack or weapon-based ability applies Infernal Mark to all hostile targets in medium range other than your main target. The next time you hit a hostile target at maximum Chain, each Infernal Mark on any other target detonates on its marked target as a Chain Detonation. Infernal Mark has no duration and is removed when combat ends.

"Interesting," Meno said.

"Eternal was long range. This is medium range AOE that does nothing immediately, only applies Infernal Mark. Then when I detonate, marked targets detonate too." He glanced at chat, which was already saying terrible things.

"If detonations overlap, that is where the juice is. It does not boost single target because it ignores the main target, but it also does not say marks cannot stack. If they can stack, that gets sweet." already exploiting marks stack? AOE nuke AI sweating take it coward [Pull Infernal] After a Chain Detonation, the target erupts in chains, pulling hostile targets with Infernal Mark in medium range to its location. Chain Detonations caused by Infernal Mark do not trigger Pull Infernal.

"This is good for explosion overlap," Meno said.

"Also annoying if you do not want to drag adds into you." He turned the idea around.

"Infernal seems more complicated than Eternal, but probably ten times smoother once learned. Three attacks per second feels ten times better than one." take Eternal Infernal boom Eternal prison PvP salt think harder [Pump Infernal] Activate to gain 66 Chain. Chain Detonation cannot occur until you spend at least 66 Chain or your Chain breaks. Cooldown: 10 seconds.

"Ten-second pump button." He liked and disliked it immediately.

"Probably good, but it turns off the only way you deal damage, so you need to spend that sixty-six immediately. Maybe two stacks of Infernal Mark. If you have an add, you can probably abuse it by marking the main target, then detonating on the add, because Cleave Infernal ignores your main target." slight oversight thinking noises AI regret boom puzzle Chad where [Break Infernal] When Chain breaks, gain 100% increased Action Speed for 1 second. Gain [Break], allowing you to intentionally break Chain at any time.

Meno smiled for the first time in several minutes.

"My favorite thing so far. Best for real world use." speed addict real world use he said real world go outside build break sprint"Especially on this evolution, where Chain breaks constantly at max stacks. This is both defense and offense and fun." Meno tried to imagine what that much Action Speed would feel like.

"I can also trigger it whenever I want as an emergency dodge, as long as I sacrifice my stack. In actual use, this is probably the most broken thing so far. Too bad the evolution does zero damage outside detonations." [Madness Infernal] Spend 66 Chain to store 1 Detonation. Each stored Detonation increases the damage of all stored Detonations by 20%. Use [Release] to erupt in medium range, releasing all stored Detonations with a 0. 1-second delay between each Detonation.

Each released Detonation deals weapon damage with 22, 950% increased damage. Using [Release] breaks Chain. Stored Detonations vanish when combat ends or upon death. insane stack bombs raid wipe take it hidden broken boom bank"Okay," Meno said.

"This is the scaling I was hoping for." He traced the text with his finger.

"You store detonations instead of doing damage. Each is only half a normal detonation, but each stored one increases all stored detonations by twenty percent. From the sixth stored detonation onward, it becomes a damage buff, but while stacking, you do nothing." He considered the delay.

"The delayed explosion lines up with Pull Infernal. I wonder if each explosion triggers pull or only the first. You could probably wipe an entire raid if you store enough detonations." Meno looked at Pump Infernal again.

"Also lines up with Pump every ten seconds for a free charge. That is not nothing." [Control Infernal] Swapping weapons in combat no longer has a penalty. NO WAY weapon swap huge mace swap take infernal"Now this changes everything," Meno said. Even chat knew that one mattered.

"The use is obvious. Swap to a two-handed mace for the detonation, then swap back to a one-handed sword to stack Chain, since this version bans daggers." He nodded reluctantly.

"That alone makes it competitive with Eternal. I do not know the math yet, but Eternal has so many 'you die if you blink' modifiers that it is borderline unplayable." [Chain Cannon] > [Cannon Infernal] Evolved. Applies Infernal Mark. Cannot cause Chain Detonation. Cooldown removed. All other Chain Cannon effects are unchanged.

"Not a big fan." free mark no cooldown long range setup good infernal cannon"It disables damage scaling on Chain Cannon and turns it into a long-range Infernal Marker. Not bad, but it needs combos." He checked the weapon-swap line again.

"At least Control Infernal allows a bigger cannon weapon. I would need a Legendary III two-hander, though." Meno glanced up at the green leaves overhead.

"No cooldown, no cost, flexible use. The damage is underwhelming, but Infernal still looks good compared to the Eternal tilt simulator, especially if you enjoy watching a full HP bar vanish in one hit. Doing zero damage outside those windows is awkward." He smiled a little.

"Good option to make PvP players lose their minds. Eternal looks terrible for PvP." Meno opened the third option. [Option 3: Swing Master Imperial] Awarded due to Rank 1 ladder status. RANK 1 CLASS exclusive? BrineSaint mad emperor build unfair ladder reward"That is a thing? Emperor build?" He looked at the prompt again.

"Yeah, BrineSaint won't like this." [Swing Master Imperial] Dual-wielding disabled. Shields cannot be equipped. Meno sighed.

"The AI definitely decided dual-wielding on Swing Master was illegal." Hits do not grant Chain. Gain Imperium. While a hostile target is within melee range, gain 25 Chain per second. Chain increases all damage dealt by 10% per Chain. Chain remains uncapped due to Unbound Chain. Chain upkeep window is 3 seconds. If you do not gain Chain from Imperium within this window, Chain breaks. Meno stopped.

"This is the closest to original mechanics by far." He read it again slowly.

"Chain does the same thing and remains uncapped. But hits do not grant Chain. You have to hug the target in melee range to gain twenty-five Chain per second." hug build melee prison uncapped still two hander Imperium"This probably favors two-handed weapons, because attack speed does not matter for Chain generation. Upkeep is three seconds, same as Infernal. Eternal got extra griefed by staying at two." Solar's love letter arrived next. [Hundredfold Cleave] Removed. [Panic Pump] Removed. [Break Surplus] Removed.

[Chain Madness] Removed. [Self-Control] Removed. Chain Madness gone PACK IT UP universe balanced ITS OVER finally 10 aps dead devs won Meno's anger flared.

"Really? On this one too?" He paced away from the tree, then came back because he did not trust Naraltan weather.

"Why did you give me those skills in the first place? No matter what I pick, Chain Madness is gone. The ten-attacks-per-second two-hander dream is dead." He sucked in one tight breath through his teeth.

"Yes, it was totally broken. But come on." [Swing Master Imperial: New Abilities and Passives] [Cleave Imperial] Spend 100 Chain to erupt in a shockwave that deals damage to hostile targets in long range. Damage is based on your weapon and your current Chain. Cleave Imperial does not refresh Chain upkeep. Cooldown: 1s. actually good? shockwave spam long range 100 cost imperial cleave"Long-range shockwave is good," Meno said.

"It does not even need a swing, and the cooldown is only one second." He pointed at the cost.

"One hundred Chain hurts. Also no upkeep refresh, so the only way to keep Chain alive is staying in melee range and not being away for longer than three seconds." [Command Imperial] Spend 125 Chain. For 1 second, Imperium range increases from melee range to long range.

"This is the 'oh, I messed up' button," Meno said.

"Or the mage blinked away and my Chain is about to drop button." He counted the cost.

"One hundred twenty-five cost, but you gain back twenty-five in that second if something is in long range. Long range is huge. Still a massive DPS loss if pressed, but good to preserve a giant stack." He nodded once.

"This version lives at melee range or long range. No middle." [Break Imperial] When Chain breaks, Chain cannot fall below 100. This does not prevent Chain from being spent. Outside combat, Chain refills to 100 over 10 seconds. great baseline 100 PvP opener stealth breaker free stacks"Okay, I like this." Meno's mood improved despite himself.

"You can still hit zero if you spend Chain, but otherwise Chain cannot fall below one hundred. Outside combat, it refills too. You can always open with a shockwave if you want." He looked into the distance.

"Unless rogues have something that preserves stealth after taking damage, that is pretty big for PvP." [Dominion Imperial] While Chain is 1, 000 or higher, gain 50% increased Movement Speed. Meno fist pumped.

"Yes." speed addict he loves it 1k stacks tho broken not dps"Wrong," Meno said.

"Movement Speed IS DPS. I love Movement Speed. One thousand stacks is a lot, but once it turns on, you are blasting. It is the best defensive stat. Blocking is for people who got caught." dps brain shield better tank hate do not speak"With speed, you can avoid damage and get into position to deal it. Hiding behind a shield is like watching a movie with your eyes closed." what that makes no sense classic PBG never speak movie tank"It makes perfect sense."

[Control Imperial] Spend 100 Chain to purge all debuffs and status effects. Control Imperial can be used while affected by status effects. While affected by a disabling status effect, Imperium range increases to long range and grants 50 Chain per second.

"Actually huge." emperor vibes status punish stun me please anti rogue Sleepless 2"Now this evolution has proper emperor vibes. This is better than Sleepless Grip in some cases." He lifted his gloved hand.

"It doubles Chain generation while you are stunned, can be used while disabled, and purges all debuffs. One hundred Chain is a lot, but that is four seconds of normal Imperium. Two seconds if disabled." Meno's mouth twitched.

"Probably better to ask rogues to keep you controlled for more stacks instead of purging, if your HP allows." rogues volunteer Nix no control farm toxic PvP ruined [Chain Cannon] > [Cannon Imperial] Evolved. Costs 100 Chain. No longer has a cooldown. Disables Imperium during Swing.

"Usable." He studied the cost.

"Unfortunately, it eats the minimum one hundred Chain I generate outside combat, so no bonus immediately. No cooldown is fine, since I would have it available most of the time." He tapped the last line.

"No Chain from Imperium during the swing, but you usually do not use Chain Cannon in melee range. Maybe." Meno closed the full evolution window and compared the three options side by side.

"Imperial is the most balanced option. It is clearly intended for two-handed weapons, and I do not have any." dont pick for gear future gear rank one class Imperial take Infernal hidden"Obviously I am not picking based only on current gear," Meno said.

"Imperial still works with a one-hander. It is just not optimal. Same for Infernal, since I need a big stick for detonations. Eternal does not care, because every weapon feels bad." He looked at the removed Chain Madness line still burned into his head.

"I am still not happy about my abilities getting refunded as store credit." Meno looked at chat.

"Which one do you guys like?" ETERNAL INFERNAL IMPERIAL ETERNAL HATERS WIN BOOM BUILD EMPEROR Meno waited while chat became a flood too fast to read properly. Still, all three options rose in messy waves. Eternal had extra support from haters, which made it useless as advice. Infernal had the explosion lobby. Imperial had people who liked the rank-one branding, plus a few dangerous souls who had actually read the control tools.

"So," Meno said.

"Chad. Any progress?" [Guild] Chadculator: shut up and let me work"Okay." Meno sat under the green-leaved tree. For once, he did not rush. The decision was too important. A bad class evolution could brick him forever, and the AI had replaced his whole kit with shiny blades wrapped in hidden costs. All three options looked powerful. All three also looked worse than his old perfect setup in long fights, and long fights were where the truly broken things lived. Potential mattered more than flair.

Utility mattered, but less. Math was the one thing skill could not fully overcome. If the numbers were not there, he could play perfectly all day and still lose to someone whose class simply scaled harder. It felt unfair. He had picked available options. He had practiced them until they worked. He had built the class from level one through repetition, failure, bad gear, stupid movement, and painful lessons.

Now the AI was redesigning him under the polite label of evolution because his build had become too visible to nerf directly. Maybe that was the point. If Solar slapped a nerf on PrayerBeadGod, every streamer would start accusing every other build of deserving the same. The atmosphere would rot fast. Class evolution looked cleaner. It turned the nerf into a milestone and handed him new toys so chat could argue about options instead of calling it a deletion. Chadculator finally posted.

[Guild] Chadculator: Okay so bad news. Infernal and Imperial come in around 35% less DPS than your previous perfect combo setup with Chain Madness on a 10 minute fight. This is with Infernal using Madness Infernal and storing detonations. I did not include any potentially broken interactions, only Pump Infernal into Detonation stacking every 10 sec, which is the obvious move. Meno read without moving.

[Guild] Chadculator: Eternal with Madness Eternal is closer to old DPS, still a bit less, with much harder execution. Eternal is about 30% ahead of Infernal and Imperial. Infernal comes second but very close to Imperial. nerfed 35% less Eternal best old build dead AI killed him [Guild] Chadculator: First impression only. Straightforward rotation that makes sense on paper, not full analysis.

Also if we consider your legendary helmet double strike effect, Imperial might be first place, since that does nothing for Infernal and maybe adds an extra hit to each Chain for Eternal, so 10 becomes 11 extra etc. Based on your current gear probably Imperial first, Eternal second with no room for mistakes and dying to your own abilities, Infernal last but with most hidden potential probably. Meno read the full message three times. He had enjoyed his build.

It had been ugly, stupid, and earned through repeated motion until the system finally gave him tools that fit. Panic Pump into Chain Madness. Break Surplus saves. Self-Control shield. Hundredfold Cleave. Unbound Chain. The pieces had clicked together through pain, not generosity. Now they were gone. The new toys were shiny, but they felt like replacement gifts handed over after someone broke the thing he actually cared about. Eternal might have the highest ceiling, and he hated almost everything about it.

Imperial worked best with his current gear, which was fine, except it pushed him toward two-handers and proximity control. Infernal looked fun and toxic, except it spent most of the fight doing no damage while hoping the stored bombs were enough. The AI had got him good. Two slower options. One zero-DPS setup. Going from ten attacks per second with Chain Madness to one attack per second with Eternal was not an evolution. It was the system taking his engine out and handing him a stick.

Eternal prison Imperial bait Infernal troll nerfed god rank one tax pick now Meno closed the evolution window without selecting.

"Okay," he said.

"I do not know what to do." PICK coward no rush sleep on it Eternal Imperial"So I am not rushing this. I am logging out and eating, because I am starving and there is zero food at home." He checked Oxy's stream. Offline. Probably asleep at last. Turning off his own stream with this many viewers felt like throwing money off a cliff. He could not do it. There had to be some way to keep the audience warm without sitting there hungry, exhausted, and stranded under a Naraltan tree. Meno opened guild chat.

"Chadculator, you want to stream? I will host you." [Guild] Chadculator: You have too many viewers. I have never streamed before.

"Doesn't matter," Meno said.

"Turn it on. I will restream you while I am gone so you can educate people. My audience needs it." rude teach us math Chad stream spreadsheet raid we are smart no we aren't [Guild] Chadculator: … ok Meno waited through five full minutes of Chadculator finding the right buttons. A rough stream window finally appeared, showing Chadculator's character in Westmarket. He looked short, tattooed, mohawked, and already annoyed enough to survive Meno's chat better than most professionals.

Meno switched the broadcast to restream Chadculator.

"Behave," Meno said.

"He bites." He logged out, and the X7 opened around him. His apartment returned with stale air, dark windows, and the unpleasant reminder that a rank-one player could still have no food. His body felt heavy when he climbed out, a delayed payment for the long day, the Ultra capsule, the raid, the dragon, Naraltan, and the class window that had quietly ruined his mood. In the bathroom mirror, he looked pale and messy. Then he saw the dried blood under one nostril. Not good.