The gentleman player was the type with plenty of combat experience, and he had a very good balance in his item loadout. Items like the Five-Line Staff suited his Ability, but it wasn't his only combat item. His melee and ranged weapons were roughly equal in number, while his defensive items—such as items for guarding against attacks and weapons—numbered more than three times his Attack Artifacts. Defensive items usually created barriers or used other means to increase the distance between allies and enemies, which could also defend against Abilities to some extent. Perhaps because he had only undergone a second bodily Evolution, half of his defensive items were meant to counter Ability attacks, including three A-class items.
Items specially designed to defend against Abilities... He must have suffered some serious losses because of them.
Xu Huo had yet to encounter any particularly powerful Abilities. Of course, that might have been because the Players he'd met weren't especially high-level. The gentleman player was one such exception, but even his Ability attacks could be defended against, especially at close range. Naturally, the main reason was that his Ability wasn't lethal enough to immediately threaten a Player's life.
Abilities could only serve as an auxiliary tool, and improving them depended on luck when clearing dungeons. Whether a main Ability could continue to evolve, and what effects its derivative Abilities might have, were entirely unpredictable. Since luck mattered more than effort, most Players naturally preferred controllable items and devices. That was simply how Players survived.
Xu Huo included. He rarely used his Ability in combat, relying more on items and devices.
But rarely didn't mean never. Perhaps he should consider how to defend against Abilities in actual combat. After all, he couldn't just increase the distance whenever he encountered an enemy.
At this thought,