Dark Age Of Camelot: Culling the Herd

I apologize for missing last week's column. I would tell you why, but honestly, why subject myself to public mockery?

For the last several weeks, I have had the spotlight on the villain. I decided to put a personal spin on this theme and create an Infiltrator. Having never really played a close-up melee class in Realm combat before, I thought I might give it a whirl to see how I managed. I already knew that I stink in player versus player combat. At the worst, I would stink at playing an Infiltrator, but I would have some fun.

However, I wanted to do well. So I tried to recall every time an Infiltrator had perforated my arteries or stabbed my back. I watched others play them, attempting to learn the technique. I listened as my husband patiently pointed out how to keep on the move, how to find a straggler and how to maneuver in the third person view.

I ran kill tasks and hunted in whatever groups would have me until finally, the day of my debut onto the fields of Abermenai came. I hung the amulet around my neck with no small amount of excitement. The mages made their slow, stately way down the passages of Castle Sauvage and then there I stood, in the Albion portal keep.

My hands shook. I took a deep breath and a drink of Pepsi. The others who had ported in with me cast their spells and ran out the gates, but I stood still. What in the world am I doing here? I'm horrible in combat against other people. This is why I play a Cleric. What do I think I'm doing? What if they see me? What if I die horribly, over and over again? I asked myself.

And I answered myself, Self, you actually got the kill shot in on someone with your Cleric. Quit stalling. You can do this. Look at your specializations. Your Stealth is at maximum. Overcapped, even, with the armor you made yourself. You have good equipment and a good template. Believe in yourself. Believe in the Infiltrator, for she will see you through. Let her take over. They will not see you until it is too late. Believe in your Stealth. Believe in your Stealth.

I ran it through my head like a litany as I checked my gear. Did you put your necklace back on? Yes. Did you poison your blades? Yes, venom on the first and snare on the offhand. Did you bring plenty of extra poison? Yes, I have a whole stack of each. Did you poison your third blade? Yes. Then it's time to go.

Taking another deep breath, I hit the Stealth hotkey and left the keep.

The chat group reported action at the Midgard bridge, so I tip-toed that direction. Remembering somehow that I stab from behind, I moved around the edge and sure enough, there in front of me stood a group of Trolls and Norsemen, all facing across the bridge to the center keep. Pick someone who isn't close to anyone else, came my husband's words in my memory.

I found a Healer who had positioned himself a bit to the side. Palms sweating, I inched closer. He started casting a healing spell, by the look of the blue lights. Do or die. I hit the Backstab II button.

And then I ran away, screaming and banging on my Stealth key.

It took me a good five seconds to remember that my autoattack was still on. If the rest of the Albion forces had not attacked them at that moment, they likely would have chased and taken me down easily, but I got lucky. Finally safely hidden, I stood in the trees, breathing hard and staring at the full health meter of the Healer still in my target. Where had I gone wrong?

I ran the checklist again. Necklace. Poison. Stealthed. Correct attack style. By some divine inspiration, I looked at my bank of hotkeys and noticed Thigh Cut sitting underneath Backstab II. Gee. You have a chain style off BS2. Maybe you should use it?

Can you hear the angels singing? I sure could. I had found my answer. I should...attack twice! Yes! Surely, with the target stunned and wounded, a second blow should either finish him, or allow the poison to! Other Infiltrators attack twice! In the back of my head, I could hear the character laughing at me, asking me if I was ready yet for her to take over. No. I would do this myself.

Re-poisoning my blades, I set out again to where they said the forces of Hibernia were now massing. Necklace. Poison. Stealthed. Use Backstab II, then Thigh Cut. That's Key 4 followed by Key 5. Sneaking around, I found an Elf wearing robes and a pointed hat at the back of his party.

A caster! Those make great targets! Feeling a little more confident now after my little epiphany, I crept up behind him. He started casting. "Haha!" I yelled at my monitor, smacking the number 4 and then hitting number 5 right after.

The caster died in one blow. I don't know who was more surprised: him or me.

I stood there like an idiot for a moment, waiting for that important second blow to fire before I realized that I'd killed him. At this point, I remembered to turn tail and flee. Another moment later, I turned off autoattack and continued beating on the Stealth button.

Again, I stood in the trees. I had all the moves, but I felt that somehow, something was still missing. Attitude, said the Infiltrator in my head. You can have your necklace on, your blades envenomed and your styles just right, but without the attitude and mindset to use them, you are nothing.

Closing my eyes, I imagined her. A youth raised to be a killer. A woman whose life depends on assessing a weakness and exploiting it. An assassin who is not afraid of blood. A shadow who knows she can get in, do her work and get out again. The wolf in the fold, the shark in the waters.

When I opened my eyes, I knew the next battle would go differently. I returned to the Midgard bridge, slipping behind the forces silently and removing a healer in two expert blows before sliding back into invisibility again. "Nice shot!" my husband said from over my shoulder.

Sometimes, the player gets in the way. Every now and again you need to let the character itself take over. Not only is it more fun to imagine being the soft-footed thief in the night, but once in a while, the character knows better than you do.