Chapter 941: Absolutely No Problem
Lin Xue: “???”
No wonder all the weapons had roughly the same clear times earlier—this was the setup all along!
Lin Xue was baffled: “That’s not right, it wasn’t like this when we played!”
“That’s not my problem. If you’re bad at the controls, don’t blame me.” Chen Mo spread his hands. “Look, the standard clear time for an average player is like this. Naturally, some people are worse and take longer.”
“…No way!” Lin Xue realized she’d almost been fooled by Chen Mo. “Look at the Longsword’s damage numbers! Turn on the damage display!”
Chen Mo: “The Longsword’s damage numbers are low, I know that. So what?”
“You admitted it yourself! The Longsword’s damage numbers are low! Doesn’t that prove the Longsword is weak?” Lin Xue asked.
Chen Mo chuckled: “First of all, damage numbers don’t fully represent the actual damage dealt to a monster. Some parts start with low damage numbers, but once you trigger special effects like armor break or tail sever, the damage skyrockets. So judging actual damage by numbers alone is very unreasonable. It’s better to carefully observe the monster’s wounded parts and hit reactions.”
“Second, a weapon as elegant as the Longsword can’t be played with a conventional style. You have to master the Foresight Slash and the Helm Breaker, and you need to maintain your spirit gauge. I designed two big moves for you, but you don’t use them properly, and then you complain the weapon’s damage is low?”
“Uh…” Lin Xue hadn’t expected Chen Mo to be so brazen. “But your Foresight Slash and Helm Breaker are really hard to use! The Foresight Slash either misses the attack or sends me straight to the cart, and the Helm Breaker—the monster runs away just as I jump up! What’s up with that?”
“Ah, well… that’s something you can practice. Who’s a master right from the start, right?” Chen Mo explained. “Look, *Monster Hunter* has fourteen weapons, each with its own characteristics. Some are for beginners, some for experts. A weapon as elegant as the Longsword is like Yasuo or Zed in *League of Legends*—only experts can truly shine with it. When *League* players go 1/10, they don’t complain that Yasuo is weak, do they?”
Lin Xue was speechless. After a moment, she said, “But there’s another issue. Why does the Longsword have a penalty mechanic? This ‘Spirit Slash’—why does it lose a gauge level if I miss?”
Chen Mo coughed dryly: “That’s not entirely accurate. To be precise, you lose a gauge level as long as you swing, whether you hit or not.”
Lin Xue was shocked: “Then what the hell?!”
Chen Mo spread his hands: “Ah, that’s just how the weapon works. Think about it—isn’t that scientific and reasonable? Don’t you need to use some energy to unleash a big move?”
Lin Xue: “But no other weapon has that!”
Chen Mo explained: “It’s different. Other weapons don’t have the Foresight Slash, right? For the Longsword, maintaining the red gauge is a key factor in distinguishing player skill. If the Helm Breaker hits, it not only deals massive damage but also adds a gauge level. Or you can use the Foresight Slash to raise the gauge. Even if you lose it, you can get it back quickly.”
Lin Xue facepalmed: “What the hell is ‘quickly get it back’?! Those two skills are ridiculously hard to land, okay?”
Chen Mo spread his hands: “Well… your bad controls are your problem, not mine.”
Lin Xue: “…”
Chen Mo explained: “For beginners, we’ve prepared plenty of easy-to-use weapons, like Dual Blades, Light Bowgun, or Gunlance. If you’re struggling, feel free to switch weapons.”
Lin Xue protested: “No way! The Longsword looks cool!”
Chen Mo rolled his eyes: “You know it’s cool. If it were also easy, strong, and cool, would anyone play other weapons?”
Lin Xue: “…You make a good point, but I still want to hit you! What do I do?”
Chen Mo coughed twice: “Alright, let’s finish going through the main weapons first.”
Before long, Li Jingsi had finished demonstrating all the weapons except the Hunting Horn and came out of the game pod.
Chen Mo asked: “Alright, let’s ask our average player representative. What do you think of the weapon balance?”
Li Jingsi: “It’s perfect. Look, all weapons take about the same time to beat the Diablos, around ten minutes.”
Chen Mo asked again: “And what about the difficulty of the weapons?”
Li Jingsi: “There are some simpler weapons and some harder ones. The simple ones are safer but slower; the hard ones are faster but require practice. Overall, the design is very reasonable. Most players should be able to pick their favorite from the fourteen weapons.”
Chen Mo nodded happily and said to Lin Xue: “See? The average player representative has clear eyes.”
Lin Xue was speechless and shot Chen Mo a disdainful look.
You clearly hired an official shill!
What the hell is an “average player representative”? Handicapped players refuse to be represented!
But Lin Xue glanced at the chat, and it seemed the wind had already been successfully redirected…
“Wow, that girl is so pretty, please give me your contact info!”
“That girl is so skilled! I feel like the Longsword is really powerful; I’m just too bad to use it!”
“Yeah, I’ve realized that a lot of the unpopular weapons I ignored before are also strong. I was wrong to blame Chen Mo!”
“This Diablos looks so easy to beat. I’m going to try the Slice Ammo cult right now!”
Lin Xue was dumbfounded. How easily swayed are your stances?!
Just because a pretty girl played the Longsword well, you think you can get that strong too? Who gave you the courage? That guy from Ningxia?!
Suddenly, Lin Xue spotted a chat message she really appreciated!
“Why does *Monster Hunter* have so many skills that interrupt teammates’ damage? Please explain!”
Lin Xue asked: “Hey, I see a chat message here that asks a great question. Why are there so many skills that interrupt teammates’ damage? For example, the Light Bowgun’s mines, Slice Ammo, and the Gunlance—they all seem to hit teammates!”
Chen Mo explained: “It’s like this. You know our physics engine is very realistic, right?”
Lin Xue nodded: “Yeah, so?”
Chen Mo: “Think about it. In the real world, if a teammate pokes you with a Light Bowgun, wouldn’t your damage be interrupted?”
Lin Xue: “…So you deliberately made it this way to show off the realistic weapon engine?”
Chen Mo said confidently: “Of course. Actually, the Pangu system, to simulate a realistic physics engine, has friendly fire enabled by default. If everyone’s unhappy, we could consider turning friendly fire on, so interrupting teammates wouldn’t seem strange. Qian Kun, make a note. Next version…”
Lin Xue quickly stopped Chen Mo: “No, no! Let’s talk this out! I’m telling you, if you change it like that, players will really send you hate mail!”
Chen Mo smiled and said: “So you see, we’ve already gone out of our way for the players by turning off friendly fire. And you’re still not satisfied?”