Miranda loved the new additions. It still followed the standard kill enemies to get gold and experience which made the avatar more powerful, but there was more choices than just what ability to level up or what item to buy.
As she leveled up her account she would be able to unlock bonus trees, classes, and amulets. The level cap for the original Champions Arena was eighteen following the tried and true design of its predecessors. Reborn built upon the old model by including a bonus tree. The tree had five branches, each with two mutually exclusive options. Choosing one locked the other. At certain levels branches of the tree would unlock and avatars could later choose a bonus from that branch instead of leveling up an ability.
There were also the new Amulets. Each avatar would equip one amulet chosen before the battle which could not changed. These amulets had powerful, potentially game breaking effects.
All in all it was a blast for her being able to look all the potential new things she could do but she worried that the learning curve was a little too steep. She could easily figure out and learn everything quickly because she played the original Champions Arena, but a lot of, probably most, people didn't seriously play video games or were familiar with mobas.
As scrolled through the classes she could unlock, she paused on one and a bittersweet smile crossed her face. The mouse shook slightly as it hovered over the name Gambler. Miranda's in-game name Fleeting Chance was a reference to her favorite hero, the Gambler. The gambler was the most outrageous and esoteric class from Champions Arena. It also drew her a lot of hate for playing a class most players considered to be useless and a waste of a teammate. After a moment's hesitation she decisively clicked.
The class Miranda chose to unlock first was not gambler, but Ninja. Ninja was her goto second main, a class she was familiar and could perform well on. Truthfully she could do decently with any class from a hero in Champions Arena, but Ninja was her second favorite.
Shuriken Toss. The only ranged attack of the Ninja arsenal. Miranda watched with satisfaction as the projectile soared through the air and hit the enemy Knight causing him to stop dead in the middle of his charge. The skill did no damage and stopped him only for a moment, but just that one moment was enough for her to stab forwards with her short sword securing the kill on the nearest enemy minion. Reaping her reward of gold and experience she stepped backwards allowing her own minions to come between her and the enemy avatar.
But the Knight didn't stop. To her surprise, the Knight walked through the wave and bashed her with his shield stunning her before hitting her with his sword. As one the minions turned and attacked him back dealing far more damage to the Knight than the Knight did to the Ninja.
Miranda watched with bemusement as she just stood there and the Knight kept attacking her. He died while she still had more than one third health. She didn't attack him back, after all that would cause his minions to attack her. For a second she had forgotten that she was playing with new players.
[You have slain TheGreatestThereEverWas (Knight)]
She burst out laughing. What a username. It was just too funny. The rest of the game was just as easy. Miranda was getting more experience and gold than the enemy avatars. Experience meant more levels and bonuses, gold meant more items. Eventually she was so much more powerful than the enemy team that she just killed them all solo and her team pushed to win the game.
By the end of the first week she had still not lost, but the people she was playing against were getting better. With her gargantuan win streak she had already unlocked a large portion of what was available in the game. Far more than Kelly at any rate who originally struggled but started to get good, well, better at any rate after a few tips from Miranda. Sometimes she would watch Miranda play instead of playing like she was supposed to but the teacher didn't really mind.
"Wait, why are you using that bonus tree?"
"What?" The question caught Miranda completely off guard. Her Ninja spasmed on the screen before activating Falling Leaves to abruptly teleport a short distance away into invisibility, leaves falling where she had been standing moments before. After a second a barrage of attacks and skills bombarded the spot where she had been standing previously.
"Oops sorry." Kelly put her hand over her mouth. Miranda just smiled wryly, retreating to the safety of the Pillar.
"Sorry, what were you asking?"
"Your bonus tree. It's split mobility / cooldown reduction but the guide says to use damage / stealth."
"What guide?"
"The Breakdown."
Miranda was familiar with the site. It displayed the most popular build along with the most successful build. But she was surprised Kelly new about it.
"When did you start reading The Breakdown?"
"First day of class. I want to know everything."
Miranda turned back to her screen. "It's right for the most part. But somethings just don't work for some people, y'know? I use these bonus trees because they're best for the playstyle I use."
"And the playstyle you use is different?"
"The Ninja is normally played as an assassin. You go in, you kill the enemy carry, you leave, and then you wait for your cooldowns to come up to do that all over again. But I don't play that way. I like to go in, do a small amount of damage, leave, and then repeat immediately."
"But isn't the Ninja supposed to be an assassin?"
"It is," Miranda nodded affirmation. "I just like to play it as a dps carry. I do more damage overall, just not all at once."
"I see."