Kai's upgrade

» Name Of Character: Jian "Kai" Yijun
» Link To Character: https://www.platinumhearts.net/t18064-jian-kai-yijun-2-4

» Why: I am going to list a lot of the threads he has been in to explain both the potential seen in him by others and the struggles he fought against to reach his current performance level.

https://www.platinumhearts.net/t18312-tales-of-djibouti-robooty-in-africa
Going back quite far, one of Kai's first encounters with a 0 tier enemy was against Moroi in Africa. During this fight, cut short by Andy who stopped posting, Kai managed to impress and hit the far stronger opponent multiple times. Acknowledged by Moroi and Andy alike, this was the first real time Kai managed to hold his own against a considerably more powerful foe. He utilized his arrows and fire to create inventive diversions and distractions against Moroi and damaged one of his machines. (3 tier vs 0 tier)

https://www.platinumhearts.net/t18969-potential-master-average-human-meets-the-jade-dragongerald-kai
In this thread Kai fought someone weaker than himself, but displayed an aptitude with intelligent fighting and the ability to both dodge and shrug off attacks from an opponent.

https://www.platinumhearts.net/t18792-it-s-like-a-dang-comic-book
Cut short by Natalia leaving the site (in fact the last post in the thread was Natalia's most recent post on Platinum Hearts), this battle was another one where Kai was at the clear disadvantage. His foe Michael possessed powerful regenerative and close combat abilities, yet Kai pushed through and repeatedly injured the man to his bones. For much of the fight Kai displayed his capabilities with various weapons and hand to hand technique, showcasing his strengths even when he doesn't use his signature Jade Flames.

https://www.platinumhearts.net/t18361-oahu-a-hawaiian-vacation
In this Event, the noteworthy accomplishment was taking on and defeating a 1 tier demonic Shadow Fall Knightslave. By utilizing his Ranger Stance to it's utmost potential, he intelligently attacked the Knightslave with his fire arrows while also repeatedly using the terrain and surrounding buildings to his advantage. Knowing he likely wouldn't win in a duel of power, Kai repeatedly aimed shots at the NPC from the shadows while also sending it crashing into stone pillars. He ended the fight by leaping off a building and using the momentum of his fall to send fire directly into the chest of the fallen Knightslave.

https://www.platinumhearts.net/t18325-extinguishing-hope-chaya-nation-invasion-ruvik-inami-ask-to-join
This thread is the biggest reason why I believe Kai has earned the following upgrades. In this Event he fought against overwhelming odds over and over again, first taking on powerful Hollow NPCs and then the Demon Queen Inami herself. In between fighting hordes of crazed demons, Kai took on and defeated one of Ruvik's strongest 1 tier Hollow NPC monsters. By rapidly swapping between various Stances, Kai was able to overwhelm and destroy the beast. After that fight for his life, he moved on to combating Inami. Over the course of the following 2v1 battle involving himself, Nizhuan, and Inami, Kai launched volley after volley of crossbow bolts at the Demon Queen and then ended up switching to his Youxia Stance. By coating himself in fire and taking advantage of Youxia's increased defense and damage reflection ability, he was able to tank both powerful attacks from Inami and send back attacks of his own using her own strength.

Despite fighting against both incredible body-covering pain and continuous waves of Reiatsu and energy from his foe, Kai, using willpower alone, pushed through and was able to get off multiple emotion-fueled attacks stronger than any he'd ever unleashed before. The first, a Jade Dragon's Roar, fried Inami's black string defense and even burn her directly. Next, he launched a large fire attack meant to distract her so Nizhuan's attack could damage her. His following, and final, attack consisted of infusing all his remaining power, fire, and emotions into a single flame arrow. This attack struck true, causing this quote in Shizuo's following post to happen:

"It was a complicated thing, the fact that the worst wound she had probably ever been dealt, was from a being that for all intents, and purposes could be considered an ant in her eyes. However, that was what made it so impressive."

His arrow basically tore her in half and caused catastrophic burn damage. While having come across strong foes in the past, this was the first time he dealt significant (even fatal) damage to a 0 tier (and a 0-2 at that). While he would not have succeeded without Nizhuan, I believe the results of his efforts in that Event thread more than argue why he should be given the following upgrades. (2-4 Kai vs 1 tier Hollow, many NPCs, and 0-2 Demon Queen)

» Upgrading:
Pain Endurance from Adept to Advanced. Through multiple extreme situations he pushed through and endured pain that would put other people out of commission. It is described at multiple points he still fought despite pain that dulled his senses and made him feel as if he were dying.

Martial Skill from Advanced to Elite. Aside from his fire, Kai's main way of fighting involves switching between his Stances, all of which use different weapons. This means he has a long track record of being able to swap between sword fighting, pole arm fighting, and bow n arrow fighting on a dime. Intelligent use of his weapons (particularly his Bow) has allowed him to take on considerably stronger enemies (Moroi, Knightslave, Ruvik's Hollow, Inami) without missing a step. Being the one person to impress Moroi in the Djibouti Event due to firing arrows rapidly with pinpoint precision against prime targets points to this fact.

Tier upgrade (multiple). I believe Kai has proven he's far surpassed 2-4++. All that has been said for his skill upgrades can also be used to explain why he deserves this as well.

Change List:

Jade Dragon's Fire: As Kai's flames have gotten stronger they have also adapted new passive and unique traits that increase their effectiveness and power. Individuals struck by his green fire are Burned, increasing the damage taken from following fire attacks by 5% for the next two posts. Burned can stack three times, and new stacks extend the debuff like this: At 1 Stack he has 3 posts, and 2 he has 2 posts, and at 3 he has 1 post. Once three stacks have been placed on the same target, any following hit of fire while they are active will cause said target to become Scorched. Instead of going up by 5% at a time, Scorched is an immediate increase from 15% to 25% and reduces regenerative abilities by 20% (due to burning away tissue) for two following posts (cannot be extended). Once this debuff drops off Kai may begin reapplying Burned to his opponent after 3 posts have passed. Along with this, upon being Scorched the target will be momentarily enveloped in his flames regardless if they are on them at the time. This fire benefits from the 25% damage increase.

[NEW!]Incineration Arrow: Against Inami Asthavon Kai figured out a way to increase the piercing and destructive power of an individual arrow without just creating a larger explosion. This process involves imbuing and coating a Ranger Stance arrow with an incredible amount of fire, increasing the projectile's temperature to a level allowing it to burn through objects he could not normally pierce. Along with this, the fire is not wild and the clear silhouette of the arrow remains visible (though it appears charred). This creates a weapon far faster and more powerful than his Gunner Stance's Hyper Piercing ability. Against the Demon Queen Inami, Kai was able to destroy her middle section entirely and cause catastrophic burns across her remaining body. While she had taken damage prior, Incineration Arrow was able to defeat Inami and put her out of commission. Due to the energy cost of this technique, he can only use it once or twice in a thread depending on his emotional state. Along with this, Incineration Arrow is quite telegraphed and if the target is faster than it they can usually dodge without worry of being caught up in an explosion like his other arrows. Kai believes this ultimate offensive ability can severely harm individuals significantly stronger than himself, and as such he only uses it in the most extreme cases.

NEW STANCE

Rank 3 Stances:

[list]Dragoon Stance: Historically, dragoons were mounted sword and spear-using cavalry. Named for the french "dragon", a handgun blunderbuss capable of tearing large holes through their victims, these warriors have evolved over time to become armoured military units. All of these facts are represented by Kai's Dragoon Stance. In this form his Armour of the Reborn King changes drastically, as well as the shape of his Erphtal pole arm, as seen here:

Spoiler:

. Erphtal has changed from a guandao to a spear-type weapon with serrated edges, an ornate emerald gem below the blade's base, and a wider stabbing blade on the opposite end. His armour has shifted so much of the billowy fabric has been replaced by hard leader and metal plates, streamlining the garb for combat, as well as the newly placed dragon-shaped helmet with flowing white hair on his head. Overall his new armour and weapon are far fiercer than his lower Stances or regular Erphtal, openly and outwardly displaying the difference between them and Dragoon Stance.

Being a Rank 3 Stance, Dragoon is far more dangerous than the lower Ranked ones. Unlike Youxia and Gunner which combine two of his Rank 1's, this can be considered the perfect fusion of all three (Bastion, Ranger, and Assault). For this reason, even among his higher Stances, Dragoon is by far his most versatile. Physically, Kai sees large buffs to his speed, strength, and durability simultaneously (equivalent to 50% of a boost in rank). This surpasses Youxia and Gunner which only increase two of the three at a time, and doesn't lower any to do so (also unlike the previous Stances). Next, Dragoon retains the defensive abilities of Youxia as well. As for what's new, the lance this Stance uses possesses incredible piercing power (above Gunner's bolts) and can fire dangerous energy blasts infused with his Jade Dragon's Flames at enemies in rapid succession. These beams can travel for dozens of meters and occur quite quickly, making them difficult to dodge if used one after another. Along with this, Erphtal possesses another ability unique to Dragoon: The tip rotates and twists the physical force Kai uses, causing it to possess a drill-like effect when used to stab or lunge. On top of everything else, Kai's fire is also more all-around powerful when used during his Dragoon Stance. The downsides to such a powerful transformation are increased energy consumption, physical exhaustion, and due to using his Armour of the Reborn King, possible significant drawbacks if not used properly (the armour will increase in weight drastically if he doesn't fight to the best of his ability and if he is going against his heroism).

» Extra: Removed the Willpower upgrade, took out the continuous pain from Jade Dragon's Fire (and the pain increase from the stacks) and lowered the maximum damage from 35% to 25% (and specified Scorched occurs after the 3rd hit, not on it). Clarified the boost in skills for Dragoon.