They might say it's Level 5, but the discrepancy among the levels is truly terrifying. Just the divinity alone is outrageous, not to mention the skill effects.
As he spoke, Chen Mo looked at the BOSS's skills.
He first examined the two passive auras of the BOSS.
[The Primitive Aura·The Golden Passive]: Return all units within a range of one kilometer to their original state, making all equipment attribute bonuses ineffectual.
Ridiculous!
Originally, Chen Mo had thought that if someone could wear a full suit of top-grade equipment for the challenge, it would substantially lessen the difficulty.
But after seeing this aura effect, Chen Mo was speechless.
Useless!
If you wore top-grade equipment, at most some of the equipment's characteristics and skills could be effective, but all the attributes provided by the equipment would be wiped out.
Trying to suppress an SSS-level trial BOSS with substantial attribute bonuses from a full set of top-grade equipment seemed out of the question.
Moreover, this was a passive aura, not a divinity effect. It couldn't be erased through a mission. This meant that when dealing with the BOSS, one must endure the effect of this aura, unless one could launch an attack from a kilometer away.
Fortunately, it simply eradicated the equipment attribute bonuses; the Equipment Special Effects weren't eliminated.
Clearly, the heavenly path's rule did leave some room for survival.
While it controlled the difficulty, it didn't make winning impossible. Otherwise, setting up such a test difficulty would be purely decorative.
Chen Mo continued to look at the second passive effect.
[The Fear Aura·The Golden Passive]: Constantly spreading the power of fear, enough to cause horror in all living creatures. Within its one-kilometer radius, all attack and defense attributes of units are halved.
What a disgusting aura, reducing both attack and defense by half! Fortunately, I summon Skeleton Monsters, which aren't affected by these debuffs. Plus, the attributes of Skeleton Monsters are tied to my Wisdom and Spirit attribute values, which has nothing to do with my attack and defense. Reducing my attack and defense doesn't matter to me.
Skeleton Monsters belong to the category of ethereal units. Ethereal units possess some hidden characteristics, such as immunity to most abnormal control effects like poisoning, bleeding, silence, and blindness.
However, they cannot resist tangible control effects like entangling bindings, knockback, and stun. They are also immune to most mind control effects, such as charm and mental manipulation.
Similarly, they cannot resist tangible puppeteer-like manipulations.
Originally, this Aura of Fear was an exceedingly strong debuff aura.
But for Chen Mo, who could summon ethereal units, it was merely a slight reduction in his own output capacity; it didn't impact anything else.
Moreover, Chen Mo hadn't regarded his own output as a serious matter.
He only needed to hit the BOSS with Energy Bullets to trigger his Occupational Talent. Everything else could be left to the Skeleton Monsters.
Overall, the BOSS's two god-grade passives were incredibly potent, but their impact on Chen Mo could be considered minimal.
He currently only had one weapon. Although the weapon provided quite a few attribute points, it didn't matter even if they were wiped out by The Primitive Aura. What he needed most were the two special effects that came with the weapon.
Especially the Shared Fate effect.
This effect was the primary guarantee for his success!
As a god-grade BOSS, it indeed has no weak points. Whether it's divinity or passive skills, they are all incredibly powerful. I wonder how strong its three key active skills will be?
Chen Mo opened up the BOSS's three active skills.
[Heaven Shaking Divine Might·The Golden Active]: Consume 9,999 Energy, charge for 3 seconds, and unleash your divine might, creating a terrifying divine might shockwave that surges outwards. Inflicts true damage equal to ten times your attack power to all units within a hundred-meter radius. If a critical hit is triggered, the damage is increased tenfold again! Cooldown: 30 seconds.
Ten times true damage is already enough to one-shot someone. For it to increase tenfold again on a critical hit... they're really overestimating the challenger's toughness.
Chen Mo felt that for his frail constitution, even a single hit of true damage from the BOSS would be devastating, let alone ten times that.
[Shakable God Fist·The Golden Active]: Consume 9,999 Energy, instant cast. Slam a fist infused with Divine Power into the ground, knocking back all enemies within a ten-meter radius and inflicting a 3-second stun.
After the fist hits the ground, it triggers a series of ten earthquake waves within a hundred-meter radius. Each earthquake wave inflicts a 1-second stun and reduces the enemy's movement speed by 50%.
If a target is hit by ten consecutive earthquake waves, the affected unit will directly lose 50% of their maximum life value and enter a 10-second stun. Cooldown: 1 minute.
This skill doesn't seem to have much damage output at first glance, but its control effects are very strong, and it's an instant cast. I'll have to be extra cautious with this one.
The previous skill, the one that required charging, at least offered a chance to dodge in advance. But this instant-cast type is quite annoying.
Typically, it's impossible to dodge an instant-cast skill on the first encounter. To evade an instant-cast skill, you need to know the opponent's wind-up animation beforehand. Only by recognizing this animation can you get that crucial second, or fraction of a second, to react and dodge.
The BOSS's first two active skills—one with potent damage and the other with potent control—were both formidable. Moreover, the control skill also had a damaging effect. If struck by ten consecutive earthquake waves, it would deduct 50% of maximum life value, not current life value.
If your Health was below half and you were hit by this instant-cast skill, it essentially meant certain death.
After all, judging by the continuous control effects described in the skill description, if you didn't dodge immediately, it would likely be very difficult to escape the range of the earthquake waves.
Just these two skills alone are a handful.
Chen Mo looked at the BOSS's last active skill.
[Pseudo-God's Rampage·The Golden Active]: Can only be used when your own Health is below 10%. After activating this skill, all damage you sustain increases tenfold, the effective range of all your active skills is doubled, and they no longer consume Energy and have no Cooldown. This effect continues until you deactivate the skill.
Good heavens, what kind of overpowered active skill is this?
Initially, Chen Mo had thought the BOSS's first two skills were already outrageous enough. Unexpectedly, its last skill was even more absurd!
Chen Mo knew that the heavenly path's rule regarding skill Cooldown reduction was very strict. From what he knew, even the strongest professionals, those considered top-tier existences, could at most achieve a 50% Cooldown reduction.
And yet, this BOSS's skill could completely eliminate Cooldowns.
Doesn't this mean it can bombard indiscriminately? Even if it takes ten times more damage during this period, you probably won't even get a chance to hit it. How are you supposed to fight that?
Truly worthy of being the core BOSS of an SSS-level trial. It's simply doing whatever it pleases!
Since he had already entered, Chen Mo certainly wouldn't back out. The thirty chances for success were right in front of him, proving that while the BOSS looked terrifying, as long as the correct strategy to defeat it was found, it was possible to pass!