He studied each tree. The Fighter perks would make him more effective with weapons and increase his resilience in close quarters. Given that he still relied on his improvised spear for melee combat, those improvements could save his life.
The Mage perks offered even more appealing options like reduced mana costs for his skills, faster casting times, and increased damage output. With his First Killer Title, getting skills wouldn't prove too hard if he really wanted to, so focusing on this tree would not be a bad idea.
While this didn't mean he would only get mage-related skills, for now he had them.
The survival perks were more subtle but potentially crucial, such as better food and water efficiency, resistance to environmental hazards, and enhanced healing rates.
In a world where basic resources might be scarce, those advantages could be the difference between life and death.
(A.N.: There are too many perks for all of them to be put in the chapter. I will explain them whenever they appear or Reidar has to choose between some of them.)
There were many intriguing perks on all the trees, but Reidar was interested in the mage and survivor trees, as they gave him the most immediate benefits out of all of them.
He didn't even consider the crafting tree because sharpening a metal bar was one thing, but creating something by smelting ingots was another. He didn't even know if crafting worked like that.
For all he knew, it could have been something entirely related to magic.
Plus, with his Trait, going into the mage route seemed the best thing to do, at least for now.
As for the Survivor tree, it was straightforward. It basically increased his chances to survive, which also included getting better loot.
—[«Survivor Tree»]—
…
…
…
Intuitive Navigation
You've got a natural sense of direction. Expands the range and detail of your mini-map by +6% per point.
Social Grace
Smooth talker. Get 5% better prices when trading with Vendors for each point invested.
Nutrient Absorption
Waste not, want not. Food and water buffs last longer and hit harder—+6% effectiveness and duration per point.
Pathfinder
Every step is calculated. Reduces stamina cost of sprinting, climbing, and traversal actions by +4% per point.
…
…
…
—[«MageTree»]—
…
…
…
Arcane Potency
Your spells strike with heightened force. Increases the base power and damage of all Active skills by +4% per point.
Mana Font
Your well of power runs deep. Boosts your maximum Mana pool by +4% per point.
Focused Mind
Clear thought brings control. Reduces the mana cost of all skills by +5% per point.
Rapid Learning
You're a fast learner in the arcane arts. Increases skill proficiency gain by +5% per point.
Mana Regeneration
The flow of magic is constant. Enhances base mana regeneration by +4% per point.
Lingering Effects
Your magic leaves a lasting mark. Status effects applied by your skills last longer by +5% per point.
Arcane Resilience
Your Mana shields you. +6% of your maximum Mana is added to armor.
Arcane Leech
Magic feeds itself. A portion of skill damage is returned to you as mana—+5% of damage.
…
…
…
—[«END»]—
Those were the perks he was interested in right now.
Reidar considered his current situation and plans. He had magical abilities but low proficiency with them. He had summoning capabilities but limited mana to maintain them. He was powerful compared to individual monsters but vulnerable to overwhelming numbers.
Reidar looked over the perk choices, thinking about what suited him best right now. His situation was pretty different from most people's to begin with. While they would still be fighting their first monsters, he had already taken down thousands.
Of course, all of that was thanks to the gas station; otherwise, there would be no way for him to make the same feats he did.
His first killer title came only because he had been lucky enough to wake up earlier than the others. Last, his trait was innate but was again just a tremendous stroke of luck.
So, what Reidar had to do was to try to get less dependent on luck. One might say that luck was part of someone's skill set, but the problem was that it was too volatile, too chaotic, and until he got more information, or at least some more points to spare in F.L.I.P., he didn't want to play with it.
But Reidar didn't actually need more power; he needed more mana. That was why he considered this option but wanted to take something more mana oriented.
At this point, his best skill was the one to summon the Rift-Sprites. Not taking advantage of it would be stupid. The problem was that it was mana demanding.
The Mana Font perk offered a different approach. His six hundred mana pool felt adequate now, but he had learned the hard way that magic combat was resource intensive.
Mana Font would allow him to invest six points, meaning he would get to 24% maximum mana, which only scaled the more he increased his A.C.U.M.E.N. with six points would give him 144 additional mana points—enough for six more summons or hundreds of elemental spells.
Focused Mind appealed to his practical nature. It allowed a maximum of 5 perk points to be invested, which meant a 25% reduction in all skill mana cost and left one perk point available for something else.
Combined with his actual regeneration rate, he could keep up combat effectiveness for extended periods.
The only problem was that it only worked on skills, and given he didn't have very mana intensive skills at the moment but only a trait, it seemed like a waste.
Rapid Learning made him pause. His proficiencies were high compared to the others, but they were still low in the general situation. Additional learning speed might be good, especially when that would allow him to share skills.
The problem was that he saw how much the increase in proficiency learning was. It wasn't fast, quite the opposite, and he had the hunch that even taking this perk, his speed wouldn't improve much.