220: Rogue Ladder Tactics

Chapter 220: Rogue Ladder Tactics

After removing the Blessing, he intermittently discarded 3 Shops and 3 Recoveries.

The remaining options were 8 Battles.

Each major stage consisted of these 15 items.

The Shop sold either equipment cards or action cards, which needed to be purchased with Moon Coins.

However, Shi Li didn't buy anything.

As for Recovery, it was useless for the Withering Dragon.

Because it refreshed to full health every turn anyway.

Battle would award a certain amount of experience points and Moon Coins based on the monster's level.

With the help of the Risk Protocol, the Withering Dragon received more experience points and Moon Coins than usual.

“No one knows how many layers the Full Moon Ladder has, but every three major stages, you encounter a competitor.”

“That means I Still have two major stages to strengthen myself.”

“But the premise is Still to resist spending.”

Shi Li knew that he wasn't the only one who would do this; he believed others would as well.

However, if no money was spent, as the enemies in the later stages became stronger, it would become increasingly difficult to fight.

At this point, the previously obtained Risk Protocol came into play.

The 30% extra experience points allowed the Withering Dragon to level up faster.

Although other characters would gain 5 maximum health points per level, it was useless for the Withering Dragon.

Wither Immortality - Characteristic: The Withering Dragon's maximum health is fixed at 50 points, and its health is reset every turn. Its maximum health was already locked by its Characteristic.

However, the good news was that it wasn't completely locked.

In Ladder mode, the Withering Dragon could increase its Characteristic's maximum by 10 points every 10 levels.

By the time it cleared the third major stage, its level had already reached LV20, and its Characteristic's fixed maximum increased from 50 to 70 points.

In addition, although he didn't spend money, some rewards would Still appear when the character leveled up.

Rewards came in many forms, such as equipment card slots, initial action points per turn, equipment cards, and action cards.

Shi Li relied on this to enhance the current Withering Dragon.

The Withering Dragon had a drawback: a large proportion of its inherent traits were Deathrattle traits.

These traits were ineffective in the Ladder but were converted to some extent.

They turned into different action cards.

Wither Bomb: When the Withering Dragon's energy is fully Charged, the enemy gains 5 Wither effects. Old Death, New Life: When the Withering Dragon's hand reaches 5 cards, it gains 10 Charge.

Especially the Wither Bomb trait, its power was actually quite formidable.

Shi Li could repeatedly meet the conditions for using this action card by continuously spending and Charging energy.

However, there was a small problem: the Wither System was relatively difficult to Charge here.

Because there were only two targets on the field, oneself and the enemy.

Either one retreating meant the battle ended, making it impossible to trigger Charge.

So, under the Ladder's balance mechanism, its Charging method changed to gaining 10 Charge whenever both sides on the field collectively lost 30 health points.

Of course, action cards were not Shi Li's main collection target.

His main focus was on collecting various equipment cards that came with the Ladder.

For example, this time he collected several good equipment cards.

Armor - Equipment: Each attack damage received -3

Shield - Equipment: Gain 10 stackable, non-decaying Shield at the start of battle

Shield Talisman - Equipment: Gain 3 Shield every turn

These were all life-saving equipment.

With their enhancement, it was impossible for enemies to instantly kill the Withering Dragon with 60 health in one turn.

Then, during the second and third major stages, he received two more Blessings.

Moonlight Thief: Gain 1 additional card selected upon leveling up. Cloud's Protection: Any damage dealt to you by the enemy -1.

“Next, it's time for the PVP segment.”

Watching the Moonlight Ladder gradually extend into a platform, Shi Li felt a little anticipation.

He wondered what kind of opponent he would be matched with.

As the platform formed, a ray of light shone on the opposite side, forming a vague figure.

He couldn't see the opponent's appearance clearly, nor could he even tell if it was male or female.

To be honest, he was a bit unsure.

Because he hadn't spent any of his Moon Coins so far, in terms of strength, he definitely couldn't compare to an opponent at the same stage.

Unless the opponent was like him, not spending anything from beginning to end.

But that was unlikely, because if one didn't spend, they probably wouldn't have reached this stage.

After all, not everyone had a mechanism like the Withering Dragon.

At this moment, the opponent clearly saw Shi Li, but remained silent.

Both characters appeared at the same time.

Shi Li thus saw the opponent's character.

Moonlight Wizard

Listen to the Wind, 150/150, 0/60, LV20

Equivalent Knowledge - Characteristic: Moonlight Wizard gains 10 Healing for every 10 energy consumed.

This was also a unique character with a Characteristic, and it possessed strong self-Healing ability.

From the name, this might be a character obtained through the Ladder.

During the first clear, there was a small chance of obtaining a character.

Characters could also be used as battle chess pieces later, but Shi Li did not encounter this low probability drop.

Then, both sides rolled dice to determine the first and second turn order.

Shi Li was lucky and got the first turn.

However, in his first turn, he didn't have much to do.

He looked at the initial 3 cards in his hand.

Protect - 1: Gain 5 Shield this turn, lasting until the start of next turn. Attack ☆ ☆: Deal 5 damage. Attack ☆ ☆ ☆: Deal 7 damage. This was an action card with 1 action point and no energy cost.

Each character's initial base action points were 1 per turn.

Through random upgrade options or Blessings, the corresponding points could be increased.

Shi Li had encountered this, but the Withering Dragon's playstyle didn't rely much on action points, so he didn't choose it.

Keeping the cards was useless, so he played them all at once.

After one turn, the Withering Dragon dealt 12 damage and gained 5 Shield.

“Wither?”

It wasn't until his own turn began that the opponent showed a puzzled expression; it was a man's voice.

To be honest, he had never heard of this system.

And refreshing 60 health every turn, that was somewhat abnormal, wasn't it—

However, he wasn't in a hurry and looked at his 3 cards.

So he chose to remain Still, skipping his current turn.

“Then I won't be polite.”

Seeing the opponent's action, Shi Li continued to play the Attack ☆ card drawn this turn, dealing 3 damage.

The remaining two cards were temporarily saved.

In the second turn, the opponent Still didn't play any cards.

“Hm?”

But Shi Li immediately noticed something amiss.

Because normally, the maximum hand size was 4 cards.

If it exceeded this number, cards would need to be discarded.

However, after the opponent's turn ended, he Still held 5 cards.

“Great Collector?”

He immediately understood the reason.

“Did you realize it?”

Hearing this, the man smiled.

This was a positive BUFF from the Blessings.

Great Collector: Before dealing damage to the enemy, you can store a maximum of 8 cards in your hand.

“My deck has a total of 61 cards, and the 8 highest burst cards combined can deal nearly 50 damage.”

“As soon as I gather these 8 cards, I can instantly kill you.”

“Gathering 8 cards, plus the 2 cards drawn each turn, and additional card-drawing action cards, my maximum hand size can reach over 10 cards at once.”

“Even if you have Shields and Damage Reduction, this output is enough to instantly kill you.”

“What's more, I also have Dispel, which can effectively counter your Shields.”

“You must have had a very comfortable time playing through the stages with this character, never having to worry about replenishing health.”

“But you underestimate competitors too much.”

In a blink of an eye, Shi Li's turn ended again, and it was the opponent's turn.

“The Great Collector Blessing won't be broken as long as no damage is dealt.”

“If I use a skill on myself, it won't affect its existence.”

Saying that, the man played 1 generic action card on himself.

Chain Draw - 1: Consume 10 energy, randomly draw 2 cards from the deck.

This was equivalent to spending 1 action point, 10 energy, and 1 card to gain 2 cards.

Then, under the effect of Equivalent Knowledge, the Moonlight Wizard recovered 10 health points.

The damage Shi Li dealt in the previous 3 turns was directly nullified by more than half.

“Your output methods are weak, while my character possesses powerful Recovery ability.”

“Moreover, Great Collector is very compatible with the Listening Wind System; as long as I don't play action cards, it's equivalent to Still, which can recover 10 energy.”

“So, if I want to, I can maintain full health every turn.”

“You simply can't kill me.”

“As soon as I gather my deck, I can instantly kill you.”

The man further stated.

“Is that so.”

Hearing him say that, Shi Li casually played 1 action card.

Wither Magic - 1: Consume 10 energy, inflict 10 Wither effect on the target. “What?!”

The man's expression instantly froze.

He didn't have Purification in his hand!

In Ladder mode, Purification was an extremely rare effect.

Unless the character itself carried it, the Ladder would not provide it at all.

More critically, he hadn't anticipated an effect like Wither!

“My output capability isn't strong, but your Recovery methods aren't very useful against me either, huh.”

Saying that, Shi Li played a second card.

Withering Initial - 0: Use after playing 1 skill card this turn, causing the target to take 10 Wither damage every turn.

“There's more?!”

With this back and forth, the Moonlight Wizard directly lost 20 maximum health points.

Coupled with the Withering Dragon's basic attack, its health loss reached 30 points.

“Let's see if you gather your hand first, or if I deplete your health first.”

Shi Li's words indicated that he was not actually worried.

Because he wouldn't foolishly watch the opponent gather the required deck.

In his deck, there were also action cards that could discard the opponent's cards or steal them.

If used properly, the opponent would never be able to gather their deck before their card library ran out.

The Withering Dragon's playstyle relied on its infinite health to wear down the opponent.

If they couldn't kill it in one turn, they would just wait to be worn down.

It was known as a rogue tactic in the Ladder.

The result was exactly as he expected; the opponent was defeated without causing any substantial threat to the Withering Dragon in this battle.

The opponent had 150 maximum health, and the Withering Dragon could reduce the opponent's health by 20 points every 2 turns on average.

Theoretically, in 7 turns, the opponent's maximum health would be 10/10.

In 7 turns, with 2 cards drawn per turn as a base, and under his interference, the man was simply unable to assemble the desired deck combination.

Moreover, during this process, the Withering Dragon continuously performed basic attacks, so it didn't even need as many as 7 turns.

The entire process seemed plain and unadorned.

Whoosh!

Before the opponent could even utter a harsh word, he directly transformed into light and disappeared.

“Cleared the stage.”

Seeing this scene, Shi Li finally breathed a sigh of relief.

Eliminated 1 competitor, you will receive 1 valuable trading opportunity.

His expression brightened; this was what he had been waiting for.

Shi Li had obtained a very precious piece of information from Leo, reportedly discovered personally by the leader of the Scarlet Flame Group.

That was, in Full Moon mode, the first PVP victory would grant a unique special trade for the entire run.

If this trade was not seized properly, subsequent PVP victories would no longer offer such an opportunity.

Before him now were 3 random Blessing options.

Attack Master - 350 Moon Coins: All your Attacks will deal an additional 5 damage. This would be a huge boost for characters following a frequent Attack route.

After all, an Attack ☆ ☆ only dealt 5 damage.

The Momentum System should benefit the most.

Efficiency is King - 400 Moon Coins: For every 1 action point you spend, you gain 15 Healing and 15 Charge.

This Blessing was somewhat similar to the Moonlight Wizard's Characteristic, but a more advanced version.

Its most valuable aspect was the 15 Charge.

With this Blessing, no matter which card system, it was equivalent to gaining a continuous and stable source of energy.

But these were not what Shi Li wanted.

What he wanted was the third, non-random Blessing.

Non-random meant it was an option that would definitely appear upon the first PVP victory.

Moonlight Partner - 489 Moon Coins: You can choose 1 new character to temporarily fuse with your existing character. The price of this Moonlight Partner was very special.

It would be all the Moon Coins the player acquired from the first major stage to the third major stage.

The more acquired, the more expensive; the less acquired, the cheaper.

But as long as there was any spending, even 1 Moon Coin, during the climb, this Blessing could not be bought.

“Purchase.”

Shi Li had no doubt in his heart; he already had a fixed answer.

A.