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.

his arrow before it was too late. Trying

to take heavy inspiration from 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

combination would be insane. Alas, he would have to pick only one – assuming he even picked any of them. Because the next option was

should call it

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 restorative powers of the Sin Curse of Hunger. Every strike made with Eternal Hunger or

Should Eternal Hunger be lost, this

had created. Especially seeing as how it had been tied even more deeply to him with the integration of Sim-Jake. The Sin Curse

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

this skill wasn’t really doing anything “new” per-se. It was effectively just a damage and energy-steal effect getting added to Jake’s melee fighting style while allowing Eternal Hunger to absorb more energy and thus also upgrade itself faster. He did like that he could make his Voidblade – or 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 did suck that the skill didn’t work with ranged

is not meant to be on Amazon;

warnings on the skill, either. He knew that dealing with cursed stuff was dangerous, and he didn’t have any plans of losing Eternal Hunger. If he

probably still worth keeping what it did in mind when exploring opportunities to use Eternal Hunger

legendary skill that just made something you already did strictly better? Well… maybe you would if it meant passing up another legendary skill that made other

– 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, Hunting

and cannot be taken alongside Huntmaster

related to his class Jake had been

carefully, it did become clear pretty quickly that, on its own, the skill didn’t

the looks of it, especially Big Game Hunter, would be strictly improved if he had this skill. Of course, it would only

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

in conjunction with the last one was probably better. Because the warning of the skill also served as the prelude to the final skill offered…

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. When facing higher-level foes, all members of your Hunting Party benefit from a lesser version of your

exclusive and cannot be taken

were pretty damn good. Giving everyone

biggest risk with Relentless Hunt had always been that he wouldn’t be 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

greatest part of this skill was allowing others to benefit from Hunter’s Mark. Not just because of all the extra damage it would add to everyone’s damage but because of an aspect of the skill he was certain would make him a top-rated party