Ryan strode through the bustling crowd, making his way to a secluded spot he'd picked out. In the Windrest Plains, near the derelict cart, a scattered wreckage of a wagon spanned dozens of yards. Here, a few Level 3 Frenzied Wolf Cubs roamed in small packs.
Frenzied Wolf Cub
Level: 3
Health: 142
Type: Beast
Targeting a Frenzied Wolf Cub, its detailed stats quickly appeared before him:
The Frenzied Wolf Cub's armor was a hidden attribute, something Ryan couldn't precisely discern, but it hardly mattered. His Paladin's abilities dealt magical damage, rendering armor irrelevant. At most, his basic attacks would just hit for slightly less.
Fist of Light: Deals 120% weapon damage as holy damage. Requires mana, grants 1 Holy Power. 5-second cooldown.
This was the reward Ryan had just received from the Retribution's Path quest, one of two abilities available to newcomers at Level 1.
A novice weapon's attack speed was 3.8, meaning a basic attack could only be performed every 3.8 seconds. The Level 1 ability, Fist of Light, had a 5-second cooldown. This implied that within 5 seconds, Ryan could hit a Frenzied Wolf Cub with at most two basic attacks and two ability attacks. A third basic attack would land at 7.6 seconds, and a third ability attack at 10 seconds.
Ryan made a quick estimation. Distant memories told him he wouldn't last 10 seconds under the Frenzied Wolf Cub's assault; he could, at most, withstand three of its attacks.
Creatures like Beasts, Dragons, and Constructs typically had an attack speed hovering around 2 seconds. Since the Frenzied Wolf Cub was a Beast, it would land a basic attack on Ryan every two seconds.
If Ryan remembered correctly, Level 1 characters would take roughly 30 to 50 points of damage from a Frenzied Wolf Cub's attacks, depending on their armor. His current armor would likely reduce that to just over 30 physical damage. With his 80 Health Points, a third attack would surely see him fall.
Of course, Ryan hadn't come here to die needlessly. He had full confidence in his plan to level up here.
Acquiring the Weapon Oil was an unexpected boon. Even without it, Ryan could still level up here, though at a slightly slower pace.
Most creatures below Level 10 were slower than players. Only after reaching Level 10 and entering new zones would some creatures match a player's speed. In the later stages, however, creatures would be significantly faster.
Leveraging this rule, Ryan could slowly wear down the Level 3 Frenzied Wolf Cubs. He'd just need to land a basic attack and an ability attack the moment he engaged, then sprint out of its attack range, run for a few seconds to lose the creature, and then heal with Radiant Light.
Repeating this every 5 seconds, he could dispatch a Frenzied Wolf Cub in just 20 seconds.
But now, with the Weapon Oil, Ryan wouldn't have to endure such a tedious routine.
Using the Weapon Oil from his satchel, Ryan gripped his longsword, ready to begin the hunt.
-62
-85
The weapon, now coated with Weapon Oil, instantly felled the Frenzied Wolf Cub with a single basic attack and ability strike the moment it connected. Ryan was overjoyed. The kill had been so swift, the cub hadn't even had a chance to retaliate.
The 62 was a white damage number, while the 85 was the damage dealt by Ryan's Fist of Light ability. Doing some quick mental math, Ryan realized the Frenzied Wolf Cub's armor was indeed quite high, reducing his basic attack damage by about 8 points.
The area around the derelict cart wasn't large, only dozens of yards across. Yet, it was teeming with seven or eight Frenzied Wolf Cubs, and a grin spread across Ryan's face.
Five seconds was ample time for Ryan to move to the next creature after felling one Frenzied Wolf Cub. He didn't rush his attacks, waiting each time for his Fist of Light ability to come off cooldown, then combining it with a basic attack to instantly dispatch the cub.
Soon, the Frenzied Wolf Cubs around the derelict cart were mostly cleared out. But just as Ryan felled the last one, four new Frenzied Wolf Cubs suddenly spawned around him.
Ryan couldn't help but laugh. Just as he remembered, it was an anomaly zone!
An anomaly zone in Kingdom Forge was a special feature. In these areas, creatures maintained a consistent population; no matter how fast you killed them, you could never fully clear them out.
A mage once conducted an experiment, and the video of it remained pinned in the strategy section of the forums. The experiment's location? Right here, at the derelict cart.
Using a maximum-range Blizzard, the mage enveloped the entire derelict cart. The area-of-effect attack, striking every second, instantly killed all the Frenzied Wolf Cubs within. Yet, as soon as one cub fell, several new ones immediately reappeared nearby.
By the time the minute-long ability duration ended, the derelict cart was carpeted with glowing corpses, a sight that drew gasps of awe.
Even so, after the ability concluded, four Frenzied Wolf Cubs were still roaming the derelict cart, a fact that never failed to make those aware of anomaly zones marvel.
It was from that very video that Ryan had learned about the derelict cart.
Each Frenzied Wolf Cub granted Ryan 30 experience points, and his kill speed here was exceptionally swift. He could fell around nine cubs per minute. Were it not for unforeseen circumstances like misses, Ryan could achieve a maximum speed of twelve kills per minute.
Soon, an hour passed. The Weapon Oil on Ryan's longsword vanished after he felled another Frenzied Wolf Cub. He paused, looking up at the shimmering creature corpses scattered across the ground, and let out a whoop of delight, diving in to loot them.
In Kingdom Forge, fallen creatures didn't automatically drop their loot; players had to manually extract it from the corpses. This system made 'loot stealing' virtually impossible; only by securing the right to loot before a creature was felled could one claim its treasures.
In that hour, Ryan had gained a total of 16,500 experience points, having felled 550 Frenzied Wolf Cubs!
Now, the scattered corpses held a bountiful haul, waiting for him to claim!