Classmancers - A MOBA Esport Story - Part 3

Vol.18 Ch.24: A Chance to Strike Apprentece Down!

Instead of recalling, Nia followed Yuel's bizarre instructions and headed to Top once again. However, this time, no enemy wards could possibly expose her.

"Enter Top from our side of the lane." Such were the alien robot's instructions. It was an unconventional order, but one that made Nia feel that much better about this madness of a plan.

They have no idea I'm here, hehe. Nia entered Top Lane through the jungle entrance that lay between Top Turret and Top Golem.

And now, I wait. Nia hid behind the jungle wall.

Despite how dangerous the upcoming play was going to be, the situation got her a little giddy. She was like a ninja sneaking around, searching for the right opportunity to strike.

Too bad I'm not actually playing Ninja. It can pull off plays like this way better.

Ninja's Izuna Drop was a devastating attack that deleted tons of HP in one fell swoop. So, with Ninja, all Nia had to do was successfully sneak up on the enemy ONCE, and from there it was GG.

On the other hand, Drow's plan of attack was a bit more complicated. Its Cursed Dagger was also pretty strong as a surprise attack, but it didn't deliver a lot of damage in one hit. Instead, it prepared the stage for follow-up attacks. So, Nia would actually have to stay around and keep attacking her victim in order to reap the benefits of this setup. This wasn't exactly an ideal arrangement for her when she only had 40% HP.

Oh well. Nia shrugged. As Yuel said, this Orc already dropped to 80%. If I stun him with my ult and then Ben follows up on that, we can kill this scary guy. Probably.

Even though Nia's earlier gank attempt failed miserably, it wasn't entirely without merit. Though she didn't get the chance to deal any damage to the Orc, her dear twin sister put in some work.

When Apprentece was chasing Nia into the jungle, he ran past Nia's doppelganger. It was the phantasm that Nia abandoned there when she entered stealth. Even after Nia left, the clone continued faithfully waiting there, believing that one day her dear sister would return.

I'm such a terrible sister, though. Nia thought. I only came back there because I was in trouble.

In the heat of that stressful situation, with nobody to turn to, Nia only had her phantom sister to rely on. And so, when she ran away, her legs naturally carried her back toward the phantasm.

Apprentece followed her all the way, so the phantasm assaulted the guy with ethereal arrows. That was probably one of the reasons the monster gave up on his chase so early.

If not for my sister, I might've been dead by now. Scary. I shouldn't have abandoned her like this!

With that said, Nia was about to do it yet again. Sorry, sis! But, this is for the greater good, I promise! Seriously though, this feels like such an awkward design sometimes...

Phantasm summoned a phantom clone that attacked enemies, but it was also the skill that enabled Nia to enter stealth. So, on paper, it sounded like a strong skill that did two great things at once. But in practice, it was almost impossible to utilize both aspects at the same time.

If Nia wanted to deliver an unexpected gank, she had to enter stealth early and leave her sister in the middle of nowhere. On the other hand, when Nia wanted to take advantage of the phantasm's firepower in a fight, she'd have to give up on stealth attack the enemy alongside her sister.

This combination of random things is only great for escaping, basically. Nia concluded.

On top of providing stealth and summoning a stationary clone, activating Phantasm also made the Drow dash backward. That made it a great escape tool, especially in combination with the other two utilities of the skill.