Anna
24-11-05, 04:40 AM
Legend
I will be using the folllowing words in the guide with the presumption that you know what I mean.
STR build - majority of player's stat points are put into STR
INT build - majority of player's statpoints are put into INT
all STR - all of player's stat points are put into STR
all INT - all of player's stat points are put into INT
2:1 - player's stat points are put approx. twice as much in STR than INT
1:2 - player's stat points are put approx. twice as much in INT than STR
1:1 - player's stat points are put approx. equally into STR and INT (aka Balance build)
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Sword - One handed magical weapon
Blade - One handed physical weapon (previously known as Dagger)
Spear - Two handed magical weapon
Glaive - Two handed physical weapon (preiouvsly known as Big Sword)
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Weapon skills - skills in one of three weapon skill trees (Swordmanship, Spearmanship, Bowmanship)
Force skills - skills in one of four force skill trees (Cold, Lightening, Fire, Heal)
Mastery Level - level of a certain skill tree, i.e. Cold Mastery lvl 12
SP - when I say SP I always mean Skill Points, not Stat Points. I will call Stat Points .. Stat Points
Builds: Basics
For obvious reasons, Blade and Glaive users usually do STR builds.
Sword and Spear users do INT builds.
Bows can go both ways.
You can also do a 1:1 build.. more on that below.
STR builds:
Your main damage skills will be your Weapon skills.
You will have a harder time levelling than INT builds.
In my opinion, STR builds should put close to all their stat points into STR.
The 2:1 build is not recommended.
Benefits for adding to your INT aren't worth the stuff you'll be losing for not putting it in STR.
When learning Force skills, particularly the first row ones that add damage to your weapon, it is usually best to keep them at lvl1 or 2, not higher, for better MP efficiency.
INT builds:
Your main damage skills will be your Force skills.
You will level fast, but will find it hard to beat the high HP of STR builds in PVP later on.
'All INT' and 1:2 builds are both viable choices. 'All INT' build will do more damage but 1:2 build has more survivability.
Balance (1:1) builds:
Balancing INT and STR is not impossible, but unless you spend a lot of time farming SP the build will be difficult to do well. The benefit of concentrating on STR or INT is that STR builds can concentrate their SP on Weapon skills and INT builds can concentratet their SP on Force skills. As a Balance build you will have to put as much SP as you can into both in order to make the best of both worlds.
Stat Points: Basics
When a player levels, s/he is given 5 stat points.
2 of those stat points are automatically allocated for you, 1 to STR and 1 to INT.
3 remaining need to be allocated by the player.
A stat point to STR will add HP, Physical Attack, Physical Defense
A stat point to INT will add MP, Magical Attack, Magical Defense
Skill Points (SP) and Skills: Basics
Skill points are earned along with XP when hunting mobs. (Read the SP farming section at the end for more on this).
The biggest mistake new players make is to spend all their SP as soon as they can, learning skills and masteries that they really shouldn't be learning. Be stingy with your SP use. They may seem easy to come by now but you'll be shorter and shorter of them as you level.
There are some skills that most builds can choose to learn without regrets. Some of these skills may be in skill trees that you might not choose to specialize in, that's ok. They don't cost too much SP to learn so if the skill seems like it would benefit your build, go for it.
Weapon Skills Useful for Multiple Builds
Bowmanship: Mastery lvl10: Mind Concentration
This is a passive skill that increases accuracy. In SRO accuracy also means crit rate, so this skill is useful for all STR builds. Not recommended for INT builds.
Spearmanship: Mastery lvl10: Cheolsam Force
Passive skill that increases HP
Force Skills Useful for Multiple Builds
Cold Force: Mastery lvl5: Ice River Force
Even if you don't choose to level your Cold mastery, this low level skill is good to have. Adds damage and slows down the enemy. Don't bother levelling it past lvl1 if you're a STR build, the increase in MP cost isn't worth it.
Cold Force: Mastery lvl10: Cold Armor
Passive skill. Adds Pdef.
Lightning Force: Mastery lvl10: Heaven's Force
Passive skill. Increases Evasion.
Lightning Force: Mastery lvl12: Grass Walk - Flow
Increases movement speed
Fire Force: Mastery lvl10: Flame Devil
Passive skill. Increases Pattack.. but by very little. Up to you if you think it's worth it. Not recomended for INT builds.
Fire Force: Mastery lvl12: Flame Body Wisdom
Another Pattack increase skill. Not recommended for INT builds.
Heal (Force Power): Mastery lvl10: Force Increasing
Passive skill increases MP.
Guides to Common Builds
Blade - STR Build
Stat points: All STR
Skill Trees:
> Swordmanship: Concentrate on Chain Sword Attack series, Blade Force series and the Shield Protection passive. Hidden Blade and Killing Heaven series aren't really used in PvE but good to have for PvP. Shield Technique is very good for defensive players.
> Force Skills: I suggest Cold or Fire. Cold for defensive builds and Fire for offensive.
Cold: Cold Force series, Frost Nova series, and Cold Armor passive.
Fire: Fire Force series, Flame Body series and Flame Devil passive.
Sword - INT Build
Stat points: All INT or 1:2
Skill Trees:
> Swordmanship: Concentrate on Chain Sword series and Shield Protection passive. A little bit of Hidden Blade and Killing Heaven also suggested.
> Force Skills: For PvP go Cold + Lightning. For PvE go Fire + Lightning.
Lightning: Wind Walk series, Lion Shout series, Heaven's Force passive
Cold: Cold Force series, Frost Guard series, Cold Armor passive, maybe one Frost Nova and Snow Storm series
Fire: Fire Force series, Fire Protection series and Flame Wave series
Glaive - STR Build
Stat points: All STR
Skill Trees:
> Spearmanship: Concentrate on Soul Departs series, Chain Spear series, Cheolsam HP passive. Flying Dragon series just to Flying Dragon-Fly lvl1. Ghost Spear series optional. Fanning Spear optional for those that do a lot of AoE hunting.
> Force Skills: Fire and Cold both have their advantages.
Fire: Fire Force series, Flame Body series and Flame Devil passive
Cold: Cold Force series, Frost Nova series, and Cold Armor passive
Also spend some SP on Lightning and Heal for their passives. Both are learned at mastery lvl10.
Spear - INT Build
Stat points: All INT recommended since Spearmanship gives HP bonus passive. 1:2 ok too.
Skill Trees:
> Spearmanship: Cheolsam passive, Chain Spear is good to learn.
> Force Skills: Lightning highly suggested. Thunder Force series, Wind Walk series, Lion Shout series, Thunderbolt series, Heaven's Force passive.
Bow - STR Build
Stat points: All STR
Skill Trees:
> Bowmanship: Concentrate on Anti Devil series, Arrow Combo series, White hawk and Blue Hawk, Break Heaven series, Mind concentration passive.
> Force Skills: Cold highly suggested. Cold force series, Frost Guard and Cold Armor. lvl1 Frost Nova-Wind can save your ass in bad situations.
Skill Point (SP) Farming
SRO skill system is such that SP is nearly as important as XP in developing your character. As you level higher in the game, if you do not slow down XP to farm SP, you will find that your skill masteries aren't able to keep up with your character's levels.
This comes down to a matter of choice.
You don't HAVE to farm SP at lower levels.
You will be farming SP at some point, however, to be able to level all the masteries and skills you want.
If you farm SP at low levels, it means you will have enough SP to learn most of the skills you want at every step of the way.
If you wait til your char is max level to farm SP, it means your char will be sort of gimp all the way there, but you will get there faster.
The rule of thumb in farming SP is this:
Greater the difference between character level and mastery level (up until a difference of 9), greater your SP gain in relation to XP.
(Note the following:
1. The highest amount of SP per XP you can get maxes out at a char. lvl / mastery lvl difference of 9
2. The lvl difference applies to which ever is the highest mastery level of all the skill trees. If your Swordmanship is lvl9 and Fire is lvl10, your highest mastery level is 10. )
For example, lets say you're a Blade user. If your character level is 18 and your Swordmanship mastery level is 18, you will get much more XP than SP per mob. On the other hand, if your character level is 18 but your Swordmanship mastery level is 9, you will get much more SP than XP per mob.
I will be using the folllowing words in the guide with the presumption that you know what I mean.
STR build - majority of player's stat points are put into STR
INT build - majority of player's statpoints are put into INT
all STR - all of player's stat points are put into STR
all INT - all of player's stat points are put into INT
2:1 - player's stat points are put approx. twice as much in STR than INT
1:2 - player's stat points are put approx. twice as much in INT than STR
1:1 - player's stat points are put approx. equally into STR and INT (aka Balance build)
---
Sword - One handed magical weapon
Blade - One handed physical weapon (previously known as Dagger)
Spear - Two handed magical weapon
Glaive - Two handed physical weapon (preiouvsly known as Big Sword)
---
Weapon skills - skills in one of three weapon skill trees (Swordmanship, Spearmanship, Bowmanship)
Force skills - skills in one of four force skill trees (Cold, Lightening, Fire, Heal)
Mastery Level - level of a certain skill tree, i.e. Cold Mastery lvl 12
SP - when I say SP I always mean Skill Points, not Stat Points. I will call Stat Points .. Stat Points
Builds: Basics
For obvious reasons, Blade and Glaive users usually do STR builds.
Sword and Spear users do INT builds.
Bows can go both ways.
You can also do a 1:1 build.. more on that below.
STR builds:
Your main damage skills will be your Weapon skills.
You will have a harder time levelling than INT builds.
In my opinion, STR builds should put close to all their stat points into STR.
The 2:1 build is not recommended.
Benefits for adding to your INT aren't worth the stuff you'll be losing for not putting it in STR.
When learning Force skills, particularly the first row ones that add damage to your weapon, it is usually best to keep them at lvl1 or 2, not higher, for better MP efficiency.
INT builds:
Your main damage skills will be your Force skills.
You will level fast, but will find it hard to beat the high HP of STR builds in PVP later on.
'All INT' and 1:2 builds are both viable choices. 'All INT' build will do more damage but 1:2 build has more survivability.
Balance (1:1) builds:
Balancing INT and STR is not impossible, but unless you spend a lot of time farming SP the build will be difficult to do well. The benefit of concentrating on STR or INT is that STR builds can concentrate their SP on Weapon skills and INT builds can concentratet their SP on Force skills. As a Balance build you will have to put as much SP as you can into both in order to make the best of both worlds.
Stat Points: Basics
When a player levels, s/he is given 5 stat points.
2 of those stat points are automatically allocated for you, 1 to STR and 1 to INT.
3 remaining need to be allocated by the player.
A stat point to STR will add HP, Physical Attack, Physical Defense
A stat point to INT will add MP, Magical Attack, Magical Defense
Skill Points (SP) and Skills: Basics
Skill points are earned along with XP when hunting mobs. (Read the SP farming section at the end for more on this).
The biggest mistake new players make is to spend all their SP as soon as they can, learning skills and masteries that they really shouldn't be learning. Be stingy with your SP use. They may seem easy to come by now but you'll be shorter and shorter of them as you level.
There are some skills that most builds can choose to learn without regrets. Some of these skills may be in skill trees that you might not choose to specialize in, that's ok. They don't cost too much SP to learn so if the skill seems like it would benefit your build, go for it.
Weapon Skills Useful for Multiple Builds
Bowmanship: Mastery lvl10: Mind Concentration
This is a passive skill that increases accuracy. In SRO accuracy also means crit rate, so this skill is useful for all STR builds. Not recommended for INT builds.
Spearmanship: Mastery lvl10: Cheolsam Force
Passive skill that increases HP
Force Skills Useful for Multiple Builds
Cold Force: Mastery lvl5: Ice River Force
Even if you don't choose to level your Cold mastery, this low level skill is good to have. Adds damage and slows down the enemy. Don't bother levelling it past lvl1 if you're a STR build, the increase in MP cost isn't worth it.
Cold Force: Mastery lvl10: Cold Armor
Passive skill. Adds Pdef.
Lightning Force: Mastery lvl10: Heaven's Force
Passive skill. Increases Evasion.
Lightning Force: Mastery lvl12: Grass Walk - Flow
Increases movement speed
Fire Force: Mastery lvl10: Flame Devil
Passive skill. Increases Pattack.. but by very little. Up to you if you think it's worth it. Not recomended for INT builds.
Fire Force: Mastery lvl12: Flame Body Wisdom
Another Pattack increase skill. Not recommended for INT builds.
Heal (Force Power): Mastery lvl10: Force Increasing
Passive skill increases MP.
Guides to Common Builds
Blade - STR Build
Stat points: All STR
Skill Trees:
> Swordmanship: Concentrate on Chain Sword Attack series, Blade Force series and the Shield Protection passive. Hidden Blade and Killing Heaven series aren't really used in PvE but good to have for PvP. Shield Technique is very good for defensive players.
> Force Skills: I suggest Cold or Fire. Cold for defensive builds and Fire for offensive.
Cold: Cold Force series, Frost Nova series, and Cold Armor passive.
Fire: Fire Force series, Flame Body series and Flame Devil passive.
Sword - INT Build
Stat points: All INT or 1:2
Skill Trees:
> Swordmanship: Concentrate on Chain Sword series and Shield Protection passive. A little bit of Hidden Blade and Killing Heaven also suggested.
> Force Skills: For PvP go Cold + Lightning. For PvE go Fire + Lightning.
Lightning: Wind Walk series, Lion Shout series, Heaven's Force passive
Cold: Cold Force series, Frost Guard series, Cold Armor passive, maybe one Frost Nova and Snow Storm series
Fire: Fire Force series, Fire Protection series and Flame Wave series
Glaive - STR Build
Stat points: All STR
Skill Trees:
> Spearmanship: Concentrate on Soul Departs series, Chain Spear series, Cheolsam HP passive. Flying Dragon series just to Flying Dragon-Fly lvl1. Ghost Spear series optional. Fanning Spear optional for those that do a lot of AoE hunting.
> Force Skills: Fire and Cold both have their advantages.
Fire: Fire Force series, Flame Body series and Flame Devil passive
Cold: Cold Force series, Frost Nova series, and Cold Armor passive
Also spend some SP on Lightning and Heal for their passives. Both are learned at mastery lvl10.
Spear - INT Build
Stat points: All INT recommended since Spearmanship gives HP bonus passive. 1:2 ok too.
Skill Trees:
> Spearmanship: Cheolsam passive, Chain Spear is good to learn.
> Force Skills: Lightning highly suggested. Thunder Force series, Wind Walk series, Lion Shout series, Thunderbolt series, Heaven's Force passive.
Bow - STR Build
Stat points: All STR
Skill Trees:
> Bowmanship: Concentrate on Anti Devil series, Arrow Combo series, White hawk and Blue Hawk, Break Heaven series, Mind concentration passive.
> Force Skills: Cold highly suggested. Cold force series, Frost Guard and Cold Armor. lvl1 Frost Nova-Wind can save your ass in bad situations.
Skill Point (SP) Farming
SRO skill system is such that SP is nearly as important as XP in developing your character. As you level higher in the game, if you do not slow down XP to farm SP, you will find that your skill masteries aren't able to keep up with your character's levels.
This comes down to a matter of choice.
You don't HAVE to farm SP at lower levels.
You will be farming SP at some point, however, to be able to level all the masteries and skills you want.
If you farm SP at low levels, it means you will have enough SP to learn most of the skills you want at every step of the way.
If you wait til your char is max level to farm SP, it means your char will be sort of gimp all the way there, but you will get there faster.
The rule of thumb in farming SP is this:
Greater the difference between character level and mastery level (up until a difference of 9), greater your SP gain in relation to XP.
(Note the following:
1. The highest amount of SP per XP you can get maxes out at a char. lvl / mastery lvl difference of 9
2. The lvl difference applies to which ever is the highest mastery level of all the skill trees. If your Swordmanship is lvl9 and Fire is lvl10, your highest mastery level is 10. )
For example, lets say you're a Blade user. If your character level is 18 and your Swordmanship mastery level is 18, you will get much more XP than SP per mob. On the other hand, if your character level is 18 but your Swordmanship mastery level is 9, you will get much more SP than XP per mob.