The Mad Rat’s Lab

 

“Let’s start with the terror of the botanical garden, the possibly strongest monster I’ll ever put in this area! Hahaha!”

I evilly rub my hands as I laugh. How do you rub your hands evilly? You just need to make sure you look slightly crazy when doing so, with a grin on your face and unique laughter. This is how you do it.

The reason I’m starting with the strongest monster I’ve planned, other than the Beexies and Mimeoraptors is easy: it’s easier to capture three bodies, even if they are from stronger monsters than it is to capture tens, or even hundreds, of weaker ones.

Hundreds!? Isn’t that crazy!?

Well… yes. But I’ve done that before, though it was for critters and not normal monsters.

So, thanks to it being one single, powerful monster, I’ll use three bodies, which I captured not long ago. Yep, you’re right. It’s tree bodies. I’m going to create a Chimera instead of a Basic Chimera.

Other than the Pixies and Clowns, which I had a personal vendetta against and had ‘personal reasons’ to go into dungeons to find them, so I took advantage of this to capture them; and the Velociraptors, which I captured while exploring the dungeons of the new Lost World faction… This time, I only had to go capture the Giant Octopuses and the three monsters I’ll soon introduce.

“An easy and short work is always appreciated. This might be the first time I didn’t have to spend too much time to create so many monsters. Aaah, life is great!”

I always complain about how much time it takes to create any monster, but this time it didn’t feel like a chore. I had to spend the same amount of time as usual, but I didn’t feel like I was forcing myself.

“Maybe this is how you’re supposed to play the faction? To go where you please, capture whatever you can, and make do with what you got…?” I stroke my nonexistent beard in thought. “Naaah, that can’t be.”

I shake my head to deny it. I can’t afford to accept I’ve been playing this faction wrong this whole time, so I won’t.

“So, as I was saying, it’s time to create a Chimera! My first Chimera!” I’ve created units that use three bodies already, but this will be the first one where I use non-humanoid units.

In the Template menu, I create a new one and select Chimera. It’s always exciting to do something new.

“Unlocking the Chimeras was the hardest part this time… So many resources! Now my (cp) bank is empty and I’ve got no other basic resources…” I shiver at the lack of digits in the cp section.

Did you notice I left the Mimeoraptors at level 2? That was in part because I don’t know what skills to give them yet, I want to see them in action first. But the actual reason is this one: I’ve got no cp to upgrade them. If I did, I wouldn’t have enough to create the pseudo-boss monster.

And I’d rather die than have to wait!

‘So why did you raise the Beexies’ levels to level 7 then? Why didn’t you spend the cp so that they were both in similar levels?’ My conscience emerges at the worst moment, as always.

S-shut up! I… I didn’t think it at that time, ok!? I… just went with the flow.

‘Aha… tell me more…’

I said shut up!

“Alright, alright… Let’s calm down everyone…”

‘Never!’

I said shut up!

“Ugh…! This is giving me a headache…” I decide to ignore everything happening inside my head and proceed with the monster creation. Obviously, I’m making everything up. It isn’t like I’m hearing voices and imagining things.

Obviously. I say it twice to make it clear.

I start selecting the three units I’m going to use. For this monster, I handpicked the most awesome combination I could think of while sticking to the rules I set for myself when it comes to the monsters that will appear inside the botanical garden: that they can hide in plain sight, and if possible, a plant-based theme or appearance.

To solve the plant theme, I’m going to use the Giant Flytrap, one of the plant monsters available to the Sylvans, as well as some other factions, I believe.

The Giant Flytrap, as I’m sure you can imagine given its name, is a two-meter-tall Venus Flytrap. Its ‘mouths’ are equally big, so big that can fit a whole rabbit, cat, or anything of a similar size.

They aren’t limited to flies anymore, hahaha.

The reason I’m using the Giant Flytrap is obviously because thanks to it, it’ll be easy for me to camouflage the monster in plain sight if I use it as the base. But it’s even more important their innate skill: Carnivorous Plant.

You can say that Carnivorous Plant is the innate, upgraded version of the common Engulf, the skill I gave to the Tunnel Mimics.

But unlike that one, Carnivorous Plant has its unique flavor. It works as a self-healing tool while rendering the monster incapable of doing anything else than digesting the food it captured. Like a real carnivorous plant, if you ask me.

The only caveat to this amazing skill is that it requires the enemy to be small, small enough to fit inside the mouth of the flytrap. Well, this and that the monster can’t do anything meanwhile…

You’ll see how I’m going to solve the two later.

Before I introduce the second unit, let me ask you a question: what’s the weakness often seen in plant monsters?

“Tick, tock, the time is running!”

Yes! Yes, you’re right! It’s the fire damage! In most games, plants are weak to fire damage.

It isn’t like in DMA they’re weak to fire damage, as they take the same damage as any other monster. But unlike some units from certain factions, there isn’t a single plant monster that has an innate skill to resist it. So most players assume fire attacks will work against them.

But what if… what if I gave my pseudo-boss plant monster resistance to fire? In particular, what if I give it the strongest innate skill against fire damage? You’re right, I’m talking about Fire Elemental.

“Behold! The mighty Fire Salamander!” I shout, pointing at the 3D model in front of me. “One of the most common monsters in any fantasy world when it comes to fire elementals!”

As much as I love how badass the Fire Salamander looks, with its eye-catching crimson and black scales drawing a pattern in its enormous body, covered entirely with fire, I chose it for another reason. Of all the fire elementals available to me, I chose it because of its stats.

If I want to create a pseudo-boss monster, I must use units with high stats. But the Giant Flytrap isn’t that strong, it only costs 210 cp. So I’ll compensate with the Fire Salamander’s 850 cp stats. With such a high cp cost, its base stats will be close to those of my other bosses after they receive the boss’ buff.

When I was planning this monster, after I decided on the first two, the third one became clear to me. But if I introduce it to you right now, you won’t understand because you’re missing one tiny bit of information.

After unlocking the Chimeras, I discovered I could research and unlock a new skill exclusive to the Flesh Monstrosities. A skill called Fused Monstrosity, which I quickly unlocked.

This is, by far, the weirdest skill I’ve seen in my whole DMA gaming career. Which isn’t long by any means, but it doesn’t make this skill any less weird.

I’ll try to explain the best I can because the skill’s description isn’t enough by itself.

 For starters, this is the first skill I’ve seen that has a variable skill point cost. It costs one sp (skill point) for each body used to create the monster, and can only be assigned in the Template screen before the final monster is created. This means that, since I’m using three monsters, the skill will cost a whopping 3 sp.

To put you in perspective, 3 sp is the bonus you receive when you create a Champion or Boss. In those cases, the 3 sp is usually enough to push you to a new height, making the difference between ‘strong’ units and ‘superior’ units. This means having 3 sp less has equally severe consequences, only that this time they’re negative.

Then, for each unit used, you can assign a unique AI – I’m not going to do it because it’ll take too long – and each of them will have their own HP bar, as well as their EP and MP.

It’s like having three units for the price of one! Like the supermarket offers! Amazing, don’t you agree!?

Except those units grow weaker when you defeat one, and they must always move together, making them extremely vulnerable to AoE skills. Plus the extra sp expenditure… Furthermore, this skill can only be used on units that already have the option of having multiple heads or similar features. So no humanoid units like the Hybrid or Amalgam.

As for what happens when one of the units dies, it depends on what you choose. What I’ll do, for example, is make it fall off.

But regardless of how many drawbacks it has, I want to use Fused Monstrosity anyway!

“Three units, fused in a single body. Three units… three heads… one body…”

I’m sure you know where I’m going. Don’t you immediately think of a Hydra? But if I use a venus flytrap and a salamander as the base, there’s a trait that I’m missing.

Where are the scales? And fangs…? ...where’s the reptile?

As much as people tend to confuse them, salamanders aren’t reptiles. They’re amphibians. They don’t have scales, nor do they use fangs.

Real Hydras are way too expensive for me to use right now, so I had to use something else. Something with fangs, scales, and a long neck… Something like a…

As I’ve said before, there was a creature that immediately came to mind: a snake. To be more precise, a Giant Snake.

Don’t you agree with me? Isn’t a snake what you first thought of?

The Giant Snake has the same skill as the Nagas: Venomous Bite. It might be one of the most common innate skills, but a poison attack with an added slow effect isn’t anything to scoff at. What’s more important, the Giant Snake will give me the fangs, scales, and long necks I was missing.

“Alright! Let’s do this!” I rub my hands together in excitement. “Let’s create this beauty!”

I first focus on the three heads. I use the flytrap’s mouths as the base, keeping the green exterior and red interior. I turn each of the ‘teeth’ of the flytrap’s mouth into an actual snake fang, dripping a greenish substance from the tip.

Is it poison or is it drool? You’ll never know. After all, I don’t know and I’m the creator, hahaha! It doesn’t matter anyway because it’s only aesthetic.

Finally, on top of each mouth, I add two intimidating snake eyes. They glow orange, which is the Fire Salamander’s eye color.

I then connect each head to the main body with a thin stem-like neck covered by scales. For the main body, I use the salamander’s, but I cover it completely in scales and change its pattern and colors. Instead of black, I use the same green used in the heads. As for the pattern, I make it look like crimson flowers blooming in the middle of the forest. It’s all thanks to the salamander’s vibrant red, so intense that feels like it’s glowing by itself.

I keep the AI simple. The three heads will have the same AI: wait for an enemy to come close. If possible, surprise it by eating it whole. Otherwise, move closer and coordinate the attacks to whittle it down. If one of the heads manages to eat an enemy whole, the others will cover and protect it until it fully heals.

“Aaah, my beauty is ready to be created! My custom hydra!” I wipe the tears falling from my dry eyes. “I’m so happy…!”

I won’t bother you with too much skill explanation. First, I’ll show you the full stat screen of my monster. I baptized it as the Hydra Mantrap, you’ll understand why soon.

As you can see, the Hydra Mantrap has not one, not two, but four innate skills, the fourth of which comes from being a Chimera. Hahaha! I’m sure you’re envious.

I’ll quickly go over the skills now.

First of all, the most important one: Enlarge. With it, the Hydra Mantrap can now eat other units of up to two and a half meters tall. It’s all thanks to the Fire Salamander’s original size, with a height of up to three meters. This made even bigger with Enlarge, has made the heads big enough to eat humans. This is why I called it ‘Mantrap’.

Isolation increases the damage when there are no allies nearby, perfect for ambushes. And talking about ambushes, there’s Burrow.

Do you know what’s worse than a monster eating you whole? The same, but when you don’t see it coming. With Burrow, the Hydra Mantrap can disappear into the ground, but I set it so only the heads do so. The body, with its vibrant flower patterns, will work as bait for the invaders.

“And when they least expect it… Bam! The ground will split and they’ll be eaten whole! Fufufu! Hahaha!”

I don’t think Poison Cloud needs an explanation. On the other hand, Eruption…

Eruption is one of those high-risk high-reward skills. Since you can’t control the meteors, they may fall in such a way that you deal no damage at all. Or even worse, hit yourself or your allies with all of them.

‘But can’t you just cast it far away, when there are no allied units nearby’, you ask?

Well… sure. You can cast it when there are no allied units nearby. But you’ll always be inside the affected area because the range is extremely short. No luck for you this time, hahaha.

The Hydra Mantrap, on the other hand, doesn’t care at all if it hits itself with the meteors. Because the damage will be halved thanks to the Fire Elemental skill. As long as the invaders take more damage than the Hydra does, it’s fine.

“That’s all folks! This is all for today!” And for a few days to come at least. “See you the next time I want to create something crazy! Fufufu! Hahaha!”

Right before I close the game, after saving the dungeon changes, I check the currently ongoing dungeon invasions. There, I see a familiar name. But this time, instead of coming alone, he came with some friends.

I stop, take a look at the clock, and start moving to the ‘control room’.

“Ummm… where did I leave my virtual popcorn again?”

 

“You’re asking why high-ranking players don’t use weak monsters in their matches, right? It isn’t that they don’t use them at all, but it’s a matter of efficiency. When it comes to PvP matches, learning how to efficiently use your cp budget is one of the most important skills.

The problem with weak monsters is that their level-ups cost as much as any other monster. Higher stats mean better use of those same skills, so if the cost to level them up is the same, wasting cp budget on weak monsters is a waste of potential. This is why it’s weird to see weak monsters in high-level PvP.”

- Excerpt of an interview with a high-ranking DMA player.