Chapter 504

Chapter 504. How They View Ranker Users.

Meanwhile, as Icarus was planning to upgrade the base to level 10 and splurge on resources, something unexpected was brewing in a corner of the gallery. Analysis posts about rankers started popping up out of nowhere.

Of course, such posts often appeared under the guise of “gossip,” so users didn’t pay much attention at first. But timing is everything, right?

With all the recent events and incidents—like the 4th-anniversary event, Icarus becoming the Earth Federation leader (??), and the collapse of Humanity’s rebel forces—now over, users finally had time to focus on these posts.

—

**Title:** Forget gossip, let’s be honest, don’t we all just wanna know the real deal about rankers? Agree?

**Author:** ㅇㅇ

**Content:** [Nodding toad GIF]

Yeah, I agree.

**Comments:**

– [LOLOLOL]

– [It’s obviously gossip, but I agree]

– [Got nothing better to do anyway]

—

Bored users saw this as the perfect chance to kill time by diving into this unexpected topic. If the ranker users—aka the “wristband users”—had seen this, they would’ve shut it down immediately. But alas, at that very moment, all the wristband users were busy, leaving the gallery unmoderated.

In this brief moment of peace, users happily indulged in their playful gossip—err, ranker evaluations.

—

Anyway, the alpha and omega of such discussions was, of course, the classic “VS battles.” With no wristband users around, users planned to pit rankers against each other. But as they tried to organize these battles using collective intelligence, they hit a snag.

—

**Title:** Yo, trying to do VS battles with rankers is such a pain in the ass.

**Author:** ㅇㅇ

**Content:** [Tournament bracket image]

No matter what, Raksha just steamrolls everyone. That crazy dude is on another level.

**Comments:**

– [Well, if we’re talking pure skill, he’s undeniably #1]

– [In terms of skill, Raksha >>>>> everyone else]

– [This ain’t easy]

—

That’s right. In a 1v1 battle, Raksha’s insane tactical skills would obliterate everyone else. Of course, people then wanted to see battles for 2nd or 3rd place, but even that was complicated due to the rankers’ vastly different specialties.

—

**Title:** Yo, the rankers’ specialties are way too different.

**Author:** ㅇㅇ

**Content:** [Image of Antares’ Gryphon-class battleships ambushing Mona Lisa’s Anomalocaris carrier fleet]

And since they’ve built their fleets around their specialties, the battle outcomes vary wildly depending on the map and situation.

**Comments:**

– [So what?]

– [If you shrink the map, mobility-focused rankers get wrecked, and ranged/support rankers get wiped before they can do anything.]

– [But if you enlarge the map, tanky or close-combat rankers get destroyed.]

– [Can’t we just make the map medium-sized?]

– [Then the results still vary depending on the map situation. It’s a mess.]

– [Oh, I see.]

—

So, users decided to take advantage of the wristband users’ absence and started collecting data on the rankers using collective intelligence and big data. Sure, later on, all 10 rankers would mass-block and delete posts under the pretext of “unauthorized personal data collection,” but for now, no one cared about such trivialities.

The users’ obsession with rankers went full throttle, and the result?

—

**Title:** [Spoiler] Here’s a comprehensive summary of the rankers’ tendencies, traits, and specialties. (556,119)

—

In that brief window when the wristband users were all away, a ridiculously detailed post about the rankers finally surfaced. And the content went something like this:

—

**Title:** Rankers’ tendencies, traits, and specialties summarized.

**Author:** ㅇㅇ

**Content:** [Astral Lagrange logo]

Keep in mind this is based on my and other users’ personal perspectives, so it might differ from reality.

1. **Antares**

Specializes in frontal battles using battleships and large ships.

There is.

In terms of skill, they’re on par with pure solo players like Laura or Indypatible, just below Raksha.

But even though it looks like a hexagon, they have a more thorough style when it comes to clan command.

And honestly, once the command level goes beyond a certain point, without help from clan executives, it starts to look a bit shaky.

It might seem like Antares is ruling like a dictator, but in reality, there are almost hundreds of executives under them who collectively exercise their intelligence, and Antares seems to just play the role of a figurehead.

Oh, the detailed tendencies and characteristics are as follows:

…(omitted)…

It’s roughly like this!

—

2. Raksha

A thorough 1v1 infighter user.

Their command ability is the worst among the top rankers (personally, I think this is a bit unfair, but honestly, the user clans or alliances Raksha has led have all collapsed spectacularly).

They’re purely a skill-based user, so regardless of personality or command ability, their skill is overwhelmingly number one.

And besides skill, the details are:

…(omitted)…

This much?

—

3. Icarus

Number one in politics (they themselves think it’s unfair).

They’re evaluated as a master of politics after creating a neutral zone by uniting three factions.

They’re the ones who mess with the top rankers vs. play.

Their ships are all ridiculously unique, so their strategies and tactics are super diverse.

Weird battles keep popping up, making the results a mess lol.

But if it’s a match with only the same ships, their actual skill is probably in the lower-middle ranks.

They’re just high-ranked because they create variables and strategically mess with others.

And there’s more:

…(omitted)…

Yep.

—

4. Arcadia

Number two in politics and a master of mobile warfare.

Unlike Antares or Raksha, they have a weird balance between command ability and combat power.

But there’s a rumor that outside of mobile warfare, they’re worse than regular users in fleet battles.

They’re a one-trick pony in fleet mobile warfare, so in clan battles, they leave the actual command to other executives.

Their tendencies are also explained:

…(omitted)…

Like this.

—

5. Betelgeuse

This guy is seriously the smartest among the top rankers.

They get a lot of hate, but the fact that they’ve been leading the problematic Loki Clan says it all.

Their fleet battle skills are at least decent, no matter what.

What they’re best at is command, so the bigger the scale, the stronger they get, exponentially, alongside Antares.

1v1 is kinda meh.

Just know that commander-type users are usually in the lower ranks outside their expertise.

…(omitted)…

And I mentioned various characteristics.

—

6. Laura

Arcadia’s 2nd Division, similar tendencies, good at mobile warfare.

Surprisingly, their skill is just below Raksha.

But zero command ability, literally no different from their solo player days.

They know this too, so in large-scale battles, they listen to Arcadia or Justice Clan executives.

…(omitted)…

I even found out their measurements.

—

7. Indypatible

Lower skill than Laura, but higher in politics and command.

Back in the Central Zone days, they were the number one in politics, not Icarus.

Even now, they’re doing mercenary agent work for Humanity, leveraging connections from their solo ranker days.

Their tendency is kinda like maneuvering defense between the front and rear lines.

They’re just average at everything, making them one of the most similar to regular users.

…(omitted)…

Yep.

—

8. Menaldu

Similar but different from Indypatible.

Personally, it feels like they took 10% off Laura and Indypatible’s specialties and combined them.

But their tendencies are also kinda like that, a mix of both.

…(omitted)…

Anyway, they’re the most annoying to deal with as a regular user.

—

9. Königs

A veteran in politics.

The rest is unclear, not because they’re bad, but because they often act as a negotiator or consultant not just for their own clan but for others too.

They rarely clash with other rankers, so there’s not much data.

…(omitted)…

But I managed to piece this much together, admit it?

—

10. Mona Lisa

They’re known as a one-trick pony with ships, but their actual skill is worthy of a top 10 ranker.

Some disagree, but when you actually face them, seeing Anomalocaris and other large carriers teleporting in and messing you up is just…

Seriously makes you want to throw your command console.

But the reason they’re considered weaker than other rankers is:

Their fleet composition is too carrier-focused = pure DPS, so they can’t handle close combat against other users lol.

…(omitted)…

This was exhausting to write, bye.

—

Comments:

– [How did you even find out their measurements?]

– [This is crossing into obsession territory;;]

– [WTF the scroll never ends, came to check comments first]

– [What kind of psycho is this guy?]

– [Are you a private investigator or something?]

– [There’s something, something about this]

—

And so, an excessively detailed yet subtly informative post unfolded.

Users forgot about their vs. play and decided to report the poster for stalking to the absent moderators.

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