According to Heroic Epic's game mechanics, all players begin with a Tier 1 branch Barracks at their initial spawn location.
While there are thousands of types of Tier 1 branches, they are all fairly mediocre with no special abilities.
As a result, every player starts with a very balanced beginning. The soldiers they command only differ in the distribution of their stats, with no significant combat power differences.
However, Tier 2 branches begin to introduce distinct features and skills.
For example, Knight Retainers come with the "Knight" attribute.
The effect of the Knight attribute is straightforward: the higher the loyalty, the more additional stats the unit gains.
For other soldiers, when their loyalty and morale are maxed, their attributes increase by 1.4 times. But for Knight units, this multiplier is 1.6 times!
Additionally, when all Knight-type units reach full loyalty, they will activate a special skill. The skill for Knight Retainers is called Unripe Fruits.
The effect of this skill is that Knight Retainers can accumulate training points by killing enemies. Once the training points reach the required amount, the unit will automatically upgrade to a Tier 3 Knight branch!
This means that...
"Thanks to the effect of Transcendent Evolution, which ensures full loyalty from the start, I can train a batch of Tier 2 branch soldiers right away. I'll have them grind monsters, level up, and they'll automatically promote to Tier 3 Knights, unlocking their full loyalty bonus and skills!"
"Oh my god!!"
Foster trembled in excitement. His start was beyond a dream opening. It was as if the heavens themselves were aligning to help him.
Knight Retainers themselves aren't a particularly strong branch. They are one of the weaker Tier 2 soldiers. Foster remembered that in his past life, many players had cursed this branch for being a scam.
Taking a group of Knight Retainers to fight monsters, other players could easily defeat the same monsters, but the Knights just couldn't handle it.
Even though maxing loyalty for Knight units granted additional stat bonuses and unlocked skills, their loyalty was much harder to increase compared to other units.
And unlike other units, whose stats would drop below 60 loyalty, Knights' loyalty would start decreasing when their loyalty dropped below 80!
In the early stages of the game, players often needed soldiers that could immediately contribute to combat. As a result, Knight-type soldiers were generally despised.
However, in the mid to late game, when players had more time to focus on raising loyalty, higher-tier knight soldiers (Tier 5, Tier 6) gradually became favored.
While their loyalty took a long time to raise, once maxed, Knight branches had an extremely low loyalty drop rate, and sometimes they wouldn't lose loyalty at all.
Add to that their extra stats and the additional skill they gained, and their combat power was terrifying!
But Foster's case was different. Even though the game had just started, he had already eliminated the major drawbacks of Knight-type branches!
With full loyalty, Knight Retainers would have the highest combat power among Tier 2 branches.
Foster's early game was going to be incredibly smooth.
"At this rate, I might even be able to head out and start farming bosses soon!"
Foster thought to himself, still stunned by the red Talent he drew and the Knight Retainers he now commanded. His initial plan for progressing in the game now seemed too conservative.
He quickly checked the stats for the Knight Farm in front of him.
Knight Farm
Tier: 2
Daily Recruit Limit: 20 units
Recruit Cost: 10 Gold Coins/unit (Newbie Barracks, fixed recruit cost, maximum discount recruit times: 100).
Branch: Knight Retainers
Upgrade Requirement: Newbie Building, cannot be upgraded.
Special: Newbie Building, can be relocated once for free.
"Damn! I almost forgot that Newbie Barracks come with a fixed recruit cost benefit."
Foster couldn't stop smiling.
Not only did he have a Second-Order Barracks, but he could recruit Knight Retainers at a base cost of just 10 Gold Coins each. This was an absolute steal!
At this point, Foster thought for a moment and then opened his character panel.
Player: Foster
Level: 1
Attributes: Strength 1 | Constitution 1 | Agility 1 | Spirit 1
Skills: None
Talent: All Things United [Transcendent Evolution]
Items: The Banner of Exploration
The panel showed the usual stats for a level 1 player. As for the item, The Banner of Exploration, it was used to mark the player's territory.
Foster didn't hesitate for long. He knew that near his spawn point, there was a water source and nearby forests—an ideal location for gathering food and water quickly and for building a base.
After some thought, he walked around the Knight Farm, taking 70 steps to the left and 60 steps forward, before planting The Banner of Exploration into the ground.
In reality, the placement of the core points for the territory didn't matter that much, but after carefully measuring with his feet, Foster had already mentally mapped out the basic layout for his future base.
He planned to use the Knight Farm and Lord's Palace as the foundations, taking advantage of the terrain to build a nearly impenetrable fortress. His earlier thoughts had been about how to arrange key buildings, such as the Arrow Towers and other defensive structures.
The art of planning a territory's buildings was an essential skill for establishing an early advantage. The destruction of the Lord's Palace meant the fall of the territory. Other buildings, if destroyed, could be rebuilt for a cost.
By smartly positioning and linking buildings together, one could still destroy more enemies even with limited troops, sacrificing other structures if necessary.
As an experienced player, Foster quickly mapped out his future building arrangement.
Once he placed The Banner of Exploration, a bright light flashed, and in front of him appeared a small house, about the size of several dozen square meters. This was the so-called Lord's Palace.
It had no special functions, other than serving as a place for Foster to rest and sleep.
Foster quickly rushed to the Knight Farm and used up the day's 20-recruit limit.
Players received 1000 Gold Coins as a newbie bonus, which was meant to cover the cost of up to 100 discounted recruit opportunities.
After confirming his action, a series of crisp, metallic sounds echoed.
200 Gold Coins were deducted from Foster's bag, and in front of the Knight Farm, a glowing progress bar appeared. It would take about five minutes to train one Knight Retainer.
Taking advantage of the wait, Foster quickly navigated through the menu to log out.
He rushed out of the room, went downstairs to the hotel lobby, grabbed some self-service food, quickly filled his stomach, and then rushed to the bathroom to take care of his personal hygiene.
Then, he logged back in.
When Foster returned to the grassy plain, exactly 100 minutes had passed quietly.
He rushed to the Knight Farm, quickly selected to claim his trained branch.
Swish! Swish!
With a flash of light, twenty figures materialized behind him.
At the same time, several messages and screens appeared before Foster's eyes.
[Congratulations, you have successfully recruited 20 Knight Retainers.]
[You are the first player to recruit soldiers!]
[You are the first player to recruit second-tier soldiers!]
[Would you like to share?]
[Sharing now gives you a chance to enter the Heroic Epic lottery, with the chance to win a $10,000 bonus!]
"I'll share nothing!"
Foster grumbled, irritated, and ignored the pop-up ad. He quickly focused on other information.
One of the notifications was—
[Permanent Event: Conquest and Slaughter]
[Description: Adventurers who successfully establish a territory, do you know that this world is filled with turmoil and chaos? Every territory represents a precious peace, which means countless homeless wanderers will attempt to take everything you have.]
[Event Details: Players who have successfully established a territory will periodically face invading forces. Depending on how many waves of enemies you can withstand and the strength of the monsters, you will receive different rewards.]
[The enemy strength you are facing now: Rookie.]
Another event popped up—
[Limited-Time Event: The Rising Star of the Earth]
[Description: Earth players who have just joined the world of Heroic Epic, you have one month to strengthen your territory, and then there will be a competition. Based on the results of the competition, we will award generous rewards to the Earth player with the highest potential.]
[Event Start Countdown: 30 days]
"Just as expected, nothing has changed."
Foster nodded slightly.
He was familiar with both events. The first one, Conquest and Slaughter, was something every player had to deal with, as invaders constantly attacked their territories.
The second event, The Rising Star of the Earth, Foster had never participated in during his previous life, but he had an idea of the format. Players would choose a certain number of soldiers and enter a PvP arena to compete in duels. The more victories they secured, the better the rewards.
Additionally, if a player ranked very high, there would be extra challenges, though Foster wasn't sure about the specifics of those challenges.
Meanwhile, Foster noticed dark purple smoke rising around his territory, signaling the imminent arrival of enemies!
Conquest and Slaughter was about to begin!