The Primal Hunter

Chapter 940: Level 290 Hunter Skill Selection Chapter 940: Level 290 Hunter Skill Selection

Most of the time, Jake felt like skill selections only really had one, maybe two, valid options. Other times, none of the skills were any good, such as Jake’s last skill selection for his class where he had gone back to pick Penetrating Arrow. Sure, the skill he had gained was great, but he had only chosen it because nothing better had been offered.

However… this time around, Jake didn’t find himself with a list like usual. He didn’t instantly see three options he wanted to write off. Instead, he saw a list of five pretty fucking awesome skills, all of high rarity and all with their own great aspects.

To set the stage, the very first skill offered was ancient rarity and looked incredibly useful.

[Disruptive Arrow of Arcane Shadows (Ancient)] – With a single arrow, cover the skies in arcane shadows as you fade into nothingness. Allows the hunter to shoot an arrow infused with arcane shadow energy, creating a large cloud of arcane shadows upon destruction. This arcane shadow cloud will obscure all senses, allowing none inside to look out or those outside to look in. Due to the disruptive nature of the arrow, many forms of magic are weakened or entirely nullified within. This effect is primarily focused on disrupting detection skills. The level of obscuration created by the shadow cloud is based on the disparity between your Perception and the targets. For a short period after shooting the arrow, the hunter can more easily activate any stealth skill as long as the target fully loses sight of him. Adds a bonus to the effects of Perception, Intelligence, Wisdom, and Agility when using Disruptive Arrow of Arcane Shadows.

So, to summarize… it was an arrow that messed with magic, messed with people’s Perception, and allowed Jake to more easily enter stealth, all while scaling incredibly well with Perception. The only downside was that the Cloud of Arcane Shadows, as the skill called it, couldn’t be looked inside easily… which was entirely counteracted by Jake’s insane Perception.

Even if it wasn’t, Hunter’s Mark would still allow him to locate people. Oh yeah, and if that also failed, he had his damn Sphere of Perception. Hell, he could even see the skill being used to enhance his melee fighting style. Imagine it, a cloud of shadows with Jake stalking around within, striking from out of nowhere repeatedly. It sure gave Umbra vibes from the duel in the Colosseum of Mortals.

Then there was the awesome effect of allowing him to more easily enter stealth after using it. This skill was effectively what Jake had done against the Prima Guardian, except far more effectively. If he had this skill, then chances are he could have charged his Arcane Powershot for longer and killed the Guardian with his final Protean Arrow alone.

The benefits if he used this skill alongside Eternal Shadow were also easy to imagine… he could maybe enter his Unseen Hunter state several times throughout a fight. Sure, it would have the highest chance of working the first time around, but compared to now, he could see a world where it could work multiple times.

No matter what, he would have to take inspiration from this skill for some free-form magic. Maybe he could even design a Protean Arrow with these effects? Honestly, if this was the skill Jake had to pick, he would have been all fine and dandy. It was great… but the next skill looked at least as good. If for nothing else but its rarity, better.

Because, already at his second choice, he was offered a legendary skill, which truly boded well for the three final ones. Not to say this wouldn’t be the one, as he really liked what he saw.

[Stealth Attack of the Unseen Arcane Hunter (Legendary)] - The strongest blow is one unseen before it’s too late. Massively increase the power of the first attack made on an otherwise unaware foe, and any damage bonuses from Perception-scaling skills are significantly increased for a short duration after landing a successful Stealth Attack. If this attack is used in conjunction with Unseen Arcane Hunter, the attack will benefit from the effects of your stealth skill and be hidden from your foe’s spectrum of Perception. Even if your Stealth attack is noticed before it lands, it retains all effects as long as it was made while unseen. Adds a stat bonus to the effects of Stealth Attack of the Unseen Arcane Hunter dependent on the nature of the attack. This effect is further improved by the level of Unseen Arcane Hunter.

WARNING: This skill is unlocked by and will serve as an upgrade to your existing Superior Stealth Attack, resulting in the loss of the skill.

Stealth Attack was one of those skills Jake constantly reminded himself he had to remember to upgrade, but kept forgetting about actually upgrading. Much of the groundwork was definitely already laid, and this skill was built partly on top of that.

Jake’s goal had always been to integrate it with Unseen Arcane Hunter somehow… and this was pretty much it. Exactly what he had been imagining and wanted. It would make his opening attack when he struck from stealth far more powerful than before and even allow him to deal bonus damage with all his bow-related skills – seeing as they all scaled with Perception – for a short time after hitting an arrow.

be able to notice his arrow before it was too late. Trying

this one if he didn’t end up picking it. It was a bit different from the one prior in one huge way, though: it was a skill upgrade. A skill upgrade meant he would lose a skill slot… but this was one of those situations where the upgrade was so massive it was worth considering. He would go from a rare to

Arrow of Arcane Shadows… the combination would be insane. Alas, he would have to pick only one

should call

as you seek to consume any who dare enter the striking distance of your fangs. Allows the hunter to passively channel cursed energy from the mythical artifact Eternal Hunger into every strike made with melee weapons, allowing you to benefit from all its on-hit effects. Every strike made using this effect will help feed the artifact, growing the power of the Sin Curse. Significantly increases the offensive effects of the Sin Curse of Hunger. Increases

Should Eternal Hunger be lost, this skill will mutate or

get more skills related to the mythical weapon he had created. Especially seeing as how it had been tied even more deeply to him with the integration of Sim-Jake. The Sin Curse was now totally a

lot more than just be a durable and sharp weapon he liked to stab people with – something he had been exploring with his alchemy a bit. He had just never really explored any of the things he could make it do when it came to combat. Part of it was because Jake didn’t want to force himself too far down a Path where he focused on curses over stuff like his arcane affinity, and part of it was that Jake had a hard

any other melee weapon - essentially into another Eternal Hunger. Seeing as it used the word Fangs, there was perhaps even some synergy going on with Fangs of Man and Fangs of the Malefic Viper. It

story is not meant to be on Amazon;

dealing with cursed stuff was dangerous, and he didn’t have any plans of losing Eternal Hunger.

and would instantly make Jake quite a bit stronger. There wasn’t much to learn from it he didn’t already know, but it was probably still worth keeping what it did in mind when exploring opportunities to use Eternal Hunger in the future. As with the two prior skills, if Jake was forced to pick this, he would have

be unhappy about getting a legendary skill that just made something you already did strictly better? Well… maybe you would if

Edge (Legendary)] – Hunting is a lonely endeavor, yet one best enjoyed alone, as there is only the hunter and his prey. As a Lone Hunter, you prefer the solitude found in a good hunt, and you specialize in facing your prey alone. Allows the hunter to gain certain benefits when hunting alone, but will have no effect if you work alongside others. Significantly increases all bonuses granted by your Big Game Hunter skill when hunting alone. When Lone Hunter of Horizon’s Edge is active, all stealth-related skills are more effective. When hunting alone,

exclusive and cannot be taken alongside

directly related to his class Jake had

Edge was clearly one well-suited to who he was. Reading it carefully, it did become clear pretty quickly that, on its own, the skill didn’t really do anything. The only real benefit it gave on its lonesome was the increased experience gained when hunting

Hunt, all stealth skills, and from the looks of it, especially Big Game Hunter, would be strictly improved if he had this skill. Of course,

with a massive downside if he was fighting with others, but from the looks of it, the only downside was that the skill wouldn’t do anything. That was… massive. While it was true Jake did hunt solo a lot, he also teamed up with others here and there. This Prima Guardian fight and much of Nevermore was proof of that. So to have a skill that would make him weaker when fighting with others would

in-depth, he decided that doing it in conjunction with the last one was probably better. Because the warning of the skill also served as the

join your Hunting Party. Allows allies part of your Hunting Party to benefit from all effects of your Mark of the Horizon-Chasing Arcane Hunter. Any damage your Hunting Party does helps build your Hunting Momentum from Relentless Hunt of the Avaricious Arcane Hunter.

and cannot be taken

Jake the king of soloing, this skill made him everyone’s favorite party member. Reading through the skill, the benefits were pretty damn good. Giving everyone a lesser version of Big Game Hunter meant they would just be straight-up stronger when facing opponents above their level while also providing them the passive presence

able to accumulate as much Hunting Momentum when he had to take hits during fights. However, with this skill, he could just outsource building his momentum to his party members.

of all the extra damage it would add to everyone’s damage but because of an