The Great Thief

The effects of the Skull Filled with Resentment only lasted for five seconds, and the timer could not stack with multiple hits. However, as soon as it timed out, players could immediately throw another one to inflict a new debuff.

Most of the skulls thrown wouldn’t have an effect.

However, the system would notify the player that the skull had not been used and it would return to their inventory.

Lu Li chose five players to focus on throwing and everyone transferred their skulls to them.

The five players chosen all played Tank classes with high HP and Defense. They were also being focus-healed by Holy Paladins so that they wouldn’t be instantly killed by the Boss. In the event that they did die, a group of Druids would be there to Resurrect them immediately.

Skulls of Resentment were the key to success and Lu Li would not allow any accidents or mishaps.

”We need everyone to divide into four groups on four sides and surround the Bosses. Focus monsters that can summon totems first and take our their totems as quickly as possible. Nominate eight players out of the Hunter group, pair up and take one of the four sides. Your job is to focus on these totems. If they cause us any trouble then you can decide your own punishment,” Lu Li said bluntly.

They were in the Wild where players lost levels and EXP from dying. A group wipe could be detrimental to a guild’s growth and chemistry, as well as their loyalty to the guild leader.

Long ago, Orgrim Doomhammer tried to persuade the Forest Trolls to join the Horde in order to help them defeat the High Elves and assist them in rebuilding Amani Empire.

The leader of the Forest Trolls, Zul’jin, initially refused this enticing offering. He completed an extraordinary task by uniting all the Forest Trolls and proved himself worthy to be in command.

The Forest Trolls were still determined to defeat the high elves, but he was skeptical about the Horde’s true intentions.

Not long after, he was captured by humans and rescued by the Horde, which led him to join forces with them in the Second War. Zul’jin led his most capable warriors and assisted them in battle.

Although Doomhammer did not keep his promises in the end, the Forest Trolls did not come out this alliance without benefitting at all.

During this time, the Orc Shamans taught some Forest Trolls how to control the power of the elements. This was how the Troll Shaman class was created.

These Vilebranch Trolls of Jintha’Alor were the troops that had followed Zul’jin, joined forces with the Horde and subsequently learnt Shaman magic.

Not only were these Shamans proficient in the summoning techniques that they had been taught, but they had even created their own spells and totems. These totems could cause all sorts of crowd-control effects, such as Hex, Stun, Bind and Fear.

Eliminating these Shamans would be their primary focus in taking over Jintha’Alor.

Once the Shamans were killed off, the rest of the mobs would be nothing but walking EXP for them.

As for the four Boss Troll Elders, if there was only a single team, it would be almost impossible for them to defeat them. This was because their aggro was chained together and they all attacked at the same time.

If one of them was Taunted, the other three would also be aggroed and would charge towards their enemy with the surrounding Elites.

That would be a total of several hundred monsters.

”On my signal, each side must pull the Boss closest towards them. It’s important that we all aggro at the same time. Other Main Tanks, keep your eyes out for any monsters that try to attack your backline,” Lu Li instructed. Then, after seeing that everyone had gotten into position, he signaled for the battle to commence.

The gongs began banging loudly all throughout the altar.

Vile Priestess Hex raised her staff and began casting her spells over the whole city. The newly-spawned Troll monsters became enranged and stampeded towards them.

They advanced in a fast, but orderly manner, much like the armies of the ancient Troll warriors.

The members of Ruling Swords occupied each sides of altar and prepared to defend against the thousands of Trolls. Each side was formed by a team of 100 players that would take turns coming in and out of battle to heal and repair their equipment.

There were a few things that separated a guild member from a casual player.

Firstly, Elite members received a salary for their work, as well as an incentive for extra rewards and bonuses. Casual members could also participate in these guild quests or activities to earn gold and equipment.

Additionally, they had a hierarchy of commanders that were in charge of groups of 5, groups of 10, groups of 100 and groups of 1,000. While a commander was responsible for their own group, Lu Li’s authority would ultimately overrule them.

Lastly, there was the team atmosphere.

Humans were like sheep – when everyone followed orders, they would instinctively follow along without thinking.

Those who acted based on their own accord were punished.

The Elite team prepared to fight the four Bosses.

Lu Li signaled the Main Tanks and they all Taunted at the same time. However, the Tanks on the East and South side were slow by a beat, which created some chaos and confusion. Fortunately, the two Main tanks Taunted again to re-apply aggro and the situation was resolved.

Since they were attempting to take over a city, there were bound to be problems and obstacles that they would encounter.

The most important thing was whether the Main Tank could juggle aggro with the other tanks in order to reduce the damage taken. No matter how much Defense a Tank had, they could never survive being swarmed by hundreds of monsters at once. This was why Lu Li had decided to implement secondary Tanks that would take over if anything happened to the main ones.

This sort of large-scale messy boss fights tested the capabilities of the main commander. The calls needed to be simple, clear and logical, otherwise, the whole team would be wiped.

If they encountered any mishaps, the commander had to remain calm instead of yelling at his teammates for their mistakes. The more a leader yelled and was frustrated, the more easily the members would become nervous and panic.

”Hunters on the North side, how come you’re not hitting the totems? Are you guys dead? You guys will lose a point for this. Can the other Hunters go and help them?” Lu Li asked.

Taking away one point from them was not be much of a punishment, but it definitely made them feel ashamed.

Throughout all of this, the commander also had to take notice of what color the spells that came out of Vile Priestess Hex’s staff were.

She started with red, which would enrage the monsters in Jintha’Alor. Then they would turn gold, which gave the monsters increased Critical Strike. This was the best stage for the tanks to activate their defensives. Blue meant Defense, while Black gave the monsters the ability to Curse their targets.

The commanders just needed to remind their teammates, and the other members would all be familiar with what to do.

After ten or so minutes, the four Lv50 Bosses were killed by Ruling Sword. In reality, each of them had more than 100,000 HP. If it weren’t for the sheer number of members that were participating, this fight would have dragged on for much longer.