Rman0099

What Can this Guide Do For You?

• Help you with the basics of Tales of Pirates.
  
• Help you find ways to level your character effectively.
  
• Lay the groundwork to create an effective character.
  

Part 1:  How to be a good little newbie

A lot of new players are unfamiliar with TOP and require some help at one point or another.  There are a few small things that you can do that will go a long way so that other players, even the high level ones, will respect you and want to help you.

• Don't spam local begging for money.  Spamming and begging for 5K or some other amount will only annoy others causing them to remember you as "the little spammer."
  
• Don't spam party/friend/mentor requests to people.  Open up with a friendly PM and talk to them.  Talking to someone or just asking them if its ok to party goes a LONG way.
  
• Don't beg for plvls.  Again, begging just annoys people and will cause them to ignore you/report you to Live Support.
  
• If you do have questions, would like help, or to have assistance leveling, a PM starting with "Hello" or "Hello, can I ask you a question?" will go far in getting assistance.
  

Part 2:  Getting Started

Right after you start and have picked a server you are faced with your first major decision.  You have to pick a "race."  Why is this critical? By choosing your character "race" you set yourself a path of what class you can later become.  Certain races on have access to certain classes.  Below you will find a brief description of races and what classes are available.  Later I will explain the differences between classes.

Races

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Lance:  Mr Spunky

He's the standard male character in the game.  Choosing Lance opens up the chance to become a Sharpshooter, Crusader, or Voyager.

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Carcise:  Mr Chubby

Cacise is unfortunatly a one choice character.  He has no other options besiders becoming a Champion.  He is also the only race that has that ability.

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Phyllis:  Wondergirl

Phyllis is the female version of Lance, except she has a few extra classes at her disposal.  If you choose Phyllis you have the oppurtunity to become a Seal Master, Sharpshooter, Voyager, or a Cleric.  There are plans to allow Phyllis to become a Crusader, but the quest has not been implemented yet.

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Ami:  Pure Evil -.-

Ami is basically the incarnation of evil.  Shes "cute"....just evil.  That being said, an ami is a smaller version of Phyllis.  She has access to Seal Master, Cleric, and Voyager.  Ami is the basic "magic only" race of Tales of Pirates.

Classes

Classes are basically the "job" path that you choose in Tales of Pirates.  They dictate the weapons, armor, and skills you will be able to access while playing.  Choosing a class will also dictate the placement of your stat points as you level up since there are optimal "builds" and essiental stats for certain classes.

Once your character reaches level 10 you will be able to apply for you first class.  A list and description of them are below:

Explorer

If you want to become a Voyager you choose explorer.  Explorers begin by learning some magical skills and boat skills.  They excel on sea and can deal good damage for a low level character.  It uses daggers as a weapon.

Herbalist

This is the intermediate class for both Clerics and Seal Masters.  This class opens up magical abilities for female character to heal, buff, and attack.  Herbalists use staves as weapons.

Hunter

Hunters are later allowed to transition into Sharpshooters.  They use bows and learn bow related skills.  Unfortunately, Sharpshooters use guns and the early bow techniques cannot be used with a gun equipped.  Players wishing to use guns as Sharpshooter would be wise to aviod leveling up their bow skills too much since they are later not used.  Bow Sharpshooters are a different story.  For more information see the character discussion section.

Swordsman

Swordsman are the intermediate class for both Crusaders and Champions.  They use swords and the possibility to equip shields as well.  Players are advised to learn only the necessary skills as swordsman.  The skills they learn later as Crusaders and Champions are FAR more important.  Poor skill placement as swordsman can hamper their advancement in the seconary class.

To become any of these initial classes you must complete a promotion exam.  For a guide on that quest on how to advance, see the First Class Promotion Guide.  

After you reach level 40, players are allowed to choose their secondary class.

Cleric

Clerics are a magic based class.  They end up as a support class and do not learn any further offensive skills.  They do learn some very important support skills as well as the invaluable Energy Sheild (which allows them to tank massive amounts of damage).

Champion

Champions wield large 2-handed swords and are designed to tank TONS of damage.  Their most important skills increase their HP and Defense by leaps and bounds.  They excel in their ability to take damage as well as dish out plenty back if built correctly.

Crusaders

Crusaders are quick and powerful fighters with the ability to dual wield 1-handed swords.  Their skills are meant to keep them quick and deal out large amounts of damage.  Unfortunatly, they are by far the most expensive class.

Seal Master

From herbalists Seal Masters do not learn any additional offensive skills.  Where they do become invaluable is that they learn seals to disable, slow down, and cripple their targets.  They have the ability to heal, deal damage, and prevent the enemy from attacking.  They get the tri-fecta and, in my opinion, are invaluable in bossing situations.

Sharpshooter

Sharpshooters are a class built upon dealing damage with the ability to seal.  They can be invaluable for their seals while still being able to output high amounts of damage.  On the other hand, they tend to have lower HP and defense.  So beware, they are a back row fighter but a good one at that with great support skills.

Voyager

Voyagers continue to excel at sea and learn a second powerful magical attack.  With the low cooldown times of their offensive skills, they are able to deal damage in quick succession.  Unfortunately, their most powerful attack draws a lot of aggro and they must rely upon corals to cast their skills.

To become any of these secondary classes you must complete another promotion exam.  For a guide on that quest on how to advance, see the Second Class Promotion Guide.  

What Are Stat and Skill Points?

To this point there has been a lot of discussion of stat and skill points.  Here is a small section that will discuss what they are.

Stat Points

Stat points are the numbers that determine the abilities of your character (HP, DEF, Damage, etc).  You can see below and example of a low level caharcter.

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Here is a breakdown of what each stat is and what they can do for you:

• HP:  The hitpoints your character has.  The more hitpoints, the more damage they will be able to take.
  
• SP:  The special points of your character.  It is consumed when your characer uses skills.  The more SP, the more skills they will be able to cast.
  
• STR:  This is the strength stat.  It effect the min/max damage of melee classes (Crusader and Champion).
  
• CON:  This is the defensive stat in TOP.  Increasing CON increases your character's HP and DEF
  
• ACC:  This is the accuracy stat.  Points in ACC will increase hitrate (the chance to land attacks).  For Sharpshooters this is the stat that actually increases their min/max attack.
  
• AGI:  This is the agility stat.  It increases both the speed in which your character attacks (ASPD) as well as their dodge.
  
• SPR:  This is the magical stat.  It determines the amount of damage magical attacks will deal as well as increase the characters SP.
  
• PR: Stands for Physical Resistance.  It is an independent stat that is increased by the armor equipped and certain gems.  It works by reducing a percentage of the damage you take.  A PR of 30 will reduce all damage taken by 30%.
  

Below are the stats of a mid-level/mid-teir crusader and how thier stats have effected the damage/HP/DEF/etc.

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Skill Points

There are two different types of skill points.  Skill points and life skill points.  What's the difference?  Skill points are gained as you level up and are used to learn skills related to your class and increase their level.  

Life skill points are accumulated by completed the story quests in Tales of Pirates after enough "life experience" is gained.  Life skill points allows you to learn skills such as wood cutting, mining, cooking, etc.  It is not only beneficial to do the life quests to earn life skill points, but also for the experience, money, and item rewards for completing certain quests.

For more information on skills and life skills I refer you to the following guides in our guide index.

Game Guide Index

Guide to Skills v2

Story Quests Guide Part 1  

Life Skills: Intro  

Life Skills: Stall  

Life Skills:  Fishing

Life Skills:  Salvage  

Life Skills:  Woodcutting  

Life Skills:  Mining  

New Fairy Skills

[ Last edited by Rman0099 at 8-28-2009 14:26 ]

Rman0099

Part 3:  How Do I Level Up?

"Leveling up" occurs in Tales of Pirates like all other RPG's.  You gain EXP by killing monsters.  This in turn translates to a certain percentage of the next level.  When you reach 100%, your character will level up.  All characters recieve 1 stat point to allocate for each level gained.  When characters reach level 10, they begin gaining 1 stat point and 1 skill point per level.  When you reach a level that is a multiple of 10 (10, 20, 30, 40, etc), you get 5 stat points to assign.  Once your character reaches level 60, it then begins gaining 1 additional stat point per level and 6 stat points at the 10s.  So at level 60, 70, 80, 90, 100 you will get 6 stat points to assign.  The game currently has a level cap in place at level 100 (though it is rumored that it will increase to 120).  Characters also begin gaining an additional skill point starting at level 65 for every 5 levels they gain.  So at all levels that are multiples of 5 (65, 70, 75, 80, etc) they now gain 2 skill points.

In the current Tales of Pirates there are 2 ways to go about leveling up.  One is grind it out.  Find the proper locations for your current level, kill mobs, and learn the strengths and weaknesses of your class\build.  The second way is to go at the easy way (getting plvls, joining a club, run hex).  Both methods will be described below.

Section A:  Grinding Your Way to Gold

Levels 1 - 6

The first 6 levels are REALLY easy and should only take about 15 min.  First talk to the noob guide and you get to lvl 2 automatically.  After that accept the intro quest and tour the city.  Next, accept the series of quests from the noob guide that takes you to the physician.  Along the way you will have to kill squiddies for ink and mushrooms for fungus.  While there just kill a couple extra of each to get a lvl each time.  Then by the time you drop off the antidote to the secretary you will be levl 6.

Levels 7 - 9:    Level 8 - Cuddly Lamb (2057,2638) (Ascaron)
Levels 9 - 12:   Level 10 - Piglet (1950,2563)  (Ascaron)
Levels 12 - 15:  Level 12 - Bear Cub (1905,2853) (Ascaron) or
                            Level 13 - Oyster (1817,2472) (Ascaron)
Levels 15 - 20:  Level 17 - Angelic Panda (1655,2563) (Ascaron)
Levels 20 - 22:  Level 19 - Killer Shroom (1595,2689) (Ascaron)
Levels 22 - 25:  Level 21 - Owlie (1384,3065) (Ascaron) or
                            Level 23 - Air Porky (1414,2896) (Ascaron)
Levels 25 - 28:  Level 25 - Meadow Deer (1503,2698) (Ascaron)
Levels 28 - 32:  Level 27 - Rookie Boxeroo (1076,2931) (Ascaron) and
                            Level 29 - Mad Boar (910,2971) (Ascaron)
Levels 32 - 35:  Level 31 - Grassland Elk (1360,2683) (Ascaron) and
                            Level 32 - White Owlie (1360,2683) (Ascaron)
Levels 35 - 38:  Level 35 - Miner Mole (Abandon Mine 1) (Ascaron)
Levels 38 - 40:  Level 38 - Ninja Mole (Abadon Mine 2)
Levels 40 - 42:  Level 38 - Ferocious Scropion (2352,578) (Deep Blue)
Levels 42 - 45:  Level 40 - Skeletal Warrior (2270,493)  (Deep Blue)
Levels 45 - 48:  Level 44 - Cumbersome Yeti (2748, 565) (Deep Blue)
Levels 48 - 50:  Level 45 - Pumpkin Knight (622,3364) (Ascaron)
Levels 50 - 52:  Level 48 - Treant (828,1923) (Ascaron)
Levels 52 - 55:  Level 50 - Werewolf Archer (2680,795) (Deep Blue)
Levels 55 - 58:  Level 52 - Elite Skeletal Warrior (2597, 831) (Deep Blue)
Levels 58 - 60:  Level 55 - Lizardman (2587,900) (Ascaron)
Levels 60 - 62:  Level 58 - Forest Hunter (881,1051) - (1000,1679) (Ascaron)
Levels 62 - 65:  Level 60 - Lizard Warrior (382,2726) (Ascaron)

A few notes on this leveling guide.  The guide takes a conservative approach to leveling.  You often fight monsters slightly below your level in an attempt to create effective leveling.  The ability to tank damage decently, kill quickly, and minimize the amount of time resting\healing.  If at any time you feel you are not gaining exp fast enough, feel free to progress to the next step or visit the official Tales of Pirates Monster Database.  There you can check for land or sea monsters at the level you want and find their location.

Section B: Levelling the Easy Way

• Find a mentor.  Mentors will be willing to level you up for reputation.  With a mentor, when you hit level 41 you recieve 300 rep and money.
  
• Join a pirate club.  By joining a club they will level you up and you can earn rewards for reaching levels 45\55\65.
  
• Run the hexathon.  The hex gives a series of 6 quests that give large amounts of exp, making it extremely easy to level.  These events are held at certain times on Saturdays and Sundays.
  

[ Last edited by Rman0099 at 8-28-2009 20:08 ]

Rman0099

Part 4:  How Do I Build My Character?

The first thing to know is that each class is different.  Each class also has multiple "builds."  There are multiple ways for you to create that class, and you must choose a way that suits you.  Below, this guide will try to give a basic overview to what you can expect from classes, builds, and give links to more descriptive guides that can help you.

Remember, builds don't just start when you reach your first or second class.  Mistakes made early with your stat build can make you pay later down the road and wishing for resets or rebirth for a second chance.  Take the time to map out your plan for your character ahead of time and put the stats and skill points in the best places from level 1.

Newbie to Swordsman to Crusader  (Lance and soon to be Phyllis)

There are a few approaches to building a crusader.  Some people believe in concentrating on STR and CON while using gems to increase their AGI.  Others believe in building up a base AGI then maxing STR once they have reached 210 ASPD.  The "slasher" is the most popular build.  This basically entails  increasing AGI until the bas hits 55 and then switching to full STR until its maxed.  All potential crusaders should focus on the following skill build:

Concentration -------> Level 2
Sword Mastery -------> Level 3
Illusion Slash ------> Level 4
Berserk -------------> Level 5
Illusion Slash ------> Level 10
Dual Sword Mastery --> Level 10
Blood Frenzy --------> Level 5
Shadow Slash --------> Level 1
Deftness ------------> Level 3
Stealth -------------> Level 1
Blood Frenzy --------> Level 10

This gives you all your skills and a perfect setup by level 50.  Why do we max dual sword mastery first? This is because the "off-hand sword" initally is on 20% effective.  By maxing dual sword mastery, you now can get the full 100% benefit out of having a second sword equipped.  

What does that mean?

If you tried to equip 2 swords.  Both offered +100 max dmg.  The first sword would give you +100 while the second would only give you +20 if you did not max dual sword mastery.

Thats all for the basic principles of a crusader.  For more information check the Crusader\Swordsman Guide Index or check out the Dummies Guide to Crusader Builds.

Newbie to Swordsman to Champion (Carcise)

There are mostly 2 basic philosophies to raising a champion.  One is basically tank first, damage later.  The second is slasher champ.  Both deal with a relatively similar skill set but the stat builds vary greatly.  Later I will include links to more detailed guides for each.  Until then, enjoy this basic overview.

Option 1:  The Tankey-Tank!

Basically this guy really just focuses on taking in massive amounts of damage.  He has high HP, DEF, and PR.  Basically you will want to pump all of your skill points into CON early on until it is maxed.  Once its been maxed there are 2 things you can do.  

• Pump full STR and rely on wind gems to boost AGI to the 140 ASPD mark (with berserk)
  
• Pump AGI until you get a base close to 140, use wind gems to supplement, and then pump full STR.
  

Either option is fully your call.  Personally, with the abundance of the new cracked stat gems and the potential for new chipped series (+4), I would favor pumping full STR and relying on gems to boost my AGI up.

As for your kill build.  You will want to follow the progression detailed below:

Concentration ------->  Level 2
Sword Mastery ------->  Level 3
Illusion Slash ------>  Level 4
Berserk ------------->  Level 1
Break Armor --------->  Level 4
Tiger Roar ---------->  Level 5
Great Sword Mastery ->  Level 3
Blood Bull ---------->  Level 5
Primal Rage --------->  Level 1
Strengthen ---------->  Level 3
Mighty Strike ------->  Level 2
Howl ---------------->  Level 1
Blood Bull ---------->  Level 10

At this point you have learned all of your important skills.  You can then progress however you want.  This is the FASTEST way to get all of your Champion skills.  Is this the only way?  Nope.  You can advance in whatever order you want.  Some notes to for champs:

• At 140 ASPD(and eventually 210) Illusion Slash will be your primary damage skill.  So this might be the skill to max after blood bull.
  
• Primal Rage MIGHT have the potential to do higher damage than Illusion Slash, but it misses A LOT.  Its not advisable to rely upon that for damage.
  
• Howl will not do as much damage as Illusion Slash and its area does not increase with its level.  So leaving this to level after more important skills might be a good idea.
  
• AGI and dodge are good for tanks.  If you wanted to be a full melee tank maxed CON and high AGI for dodge is the way to go.
  
• SPR on champs is not bad for them to have, though it should not be a concentration.  Higher SPR reduces magical damage and aids in tanking damage from Clerics, Seal Masters, Voyagers, Magic Towers in SW/GW, etc.
  

Option 2:  The Slasher Champ

This guy will NOT be about high HP or tanking anything.  He will be about taking advantage of Bloodbull (possibly, but we'll get to that) and primarily be about dishing out damage with illusion slash.

Onto his stat build.  This guy will want to concentrate on STR and AGI.  He will bascially operate like a crusader.....just fatter.  Champs have a few shortcomings compared to crusaders in this area though.

• Their ASPD per AGI progression is lower than crusdaers.  So it takes more AGI to hit the 140/210 break points than it does for Crusaders.
  
• Their swords don't add ASPD (aside from the lvl 35 chest equips).
  
• If you decide to go with dual lvl Swords of Crimson Flame, the offhand sword is only 20% effective (chubbies don't have Dual Sword Mastery) and Blood Bull is no longer effective (this requires a great sword).
  

But, given these shortcomings and a lot of gemming, champs can be as deadly if not more deadly than a crusader given the assistance of blood bull.

As for the Skill Build, follow the skill tree below:

Concentration ------->  Level 2
Sword Mastery ------->  Level 3
Illusion Slash ------>  Level 4
Berserk ------------->  Level 1
Illusion Slash ------>  Level 10
Berserk ------------->  Level 5
Break Armor --------->  Level 4
Tiger Roar ---------->  Level 5
Great Sword Mastery ->  Level 3
Blood Bull ---------->  Level 10
Great Sword Mastery ->  Level 10
Primal Rage --------->  Level 1
Strengthen ---------->  Level 3
Mighty Strike ------->  Level 2
Howl ---------------->  Level 1

This is kinda just a suggestion.  Remember, this guy will want to concentrate on damage and speed to max illusion slash damage.  Taking advantage of the additional ASPD bonues from berserk is advisable.  Illusion Slash is maxed early because its your damage dealer, then we do blood bull early so that you can get a little extra HP and some extra DEF as well since you are lacking in CON.  Feel free to mix and match the order in which you add the skills in order to suite your needs.

Well, thats all I have for you with champs free to visit the following resources:

Champion Guide Index
Champ Guide
Slasher Champ Guide

[ Last edited by Rman0099 at 8-28-2009 14:03 ]

Rman0099

Newbie to Explorer to Voyager  (Lance, Phyllis, or Ami)

I want to start off by saying that voyagers get a bad rap in Tales of Pirates now days.  A lot of people ignore voyagers and don't want to bring them to bossing areas.  But I disagree.  Voyagers may not have seals but they are a GREAT supplementary damage class.  A Lightning Bolt/Conch Ray combo can deal decent damage especially when done by a higher level pure SPR voyager.

Voyager stat builds.....Well there are 3 theories to this.  

1.)  Full CON followed by SPR.
2.)  Full SPR followed by CON.
3.)  Hybrid SPR/CON
4.)  Sea Voyager (not the best suited for land and solo leveling)

You are free to do whatever your fancy is.  Personally I like a class that can do a little damage so I lean more to a 3:1 or 2:1 SPR:CON style hybrid with gems to supplement CON and SPR.  I tend towards a CON pet though because I like the additional HP and DEF that comes with it.  But the basic premise is if you enjoy to output more damage pump more SPR.  If you like survivability, then pump more CON.  

Onto the skill builds now.  I will concentrate on the basic setup for a land voyager.  Later I will include links to more detailed guides and one for a sea voyager.  Take the time to puruse them for a better idea of how you want to approach your character.

Diligence ------------> Level 1
Lightning Bolt -------> Level 2
Diligence ------------> Level 2
Current --------------> Level 1
Tornado --------------> Level 5
Algea Entanglement ---> Level 1
Conch Armor ----------> Level 5
Lightning Bolt -------> Level 8
Conch Ray ------------> Level 1
Lightning Curtain ----> Level 1

From here it would branch.  You can now take the time to max skills like Lightning Bolt and Conch Ray if you want to concentrate on land or you could begin to add skills like Tail Wind (etc) if you want a sea background as well.  The option is yours.  Review some of the following guides for more information:

Voyager Guide Index
Land and Sea Voyager Guide  (Great Guide!!!)
CON Voy and Rebirth Guide   (Great Guide!!!)

Newbie to Hunter to Sharpshooter (Lance or Phyllis)

Sharpshooters are one of those classes like crusaders that really have 3 useful stat points which kind of leaves it up to discussion as to what really is the best stat build for them.  Well, the best build for them is the build that is the funnest for YOU to use.  Not what someone else says, what would make you have fun as a SS?  Below we can go over 3 different schools of SS:

School 1:  The Deadeye

This guy is a Pure ACC.  He just cares about maxing damage and upping his or her hitrate.  The good thing about this guy is that the damage will be high and the hits will mostly land.  The bad is that it will have a LOW ASPD and LOW HP/DEF.

This build often supplements its equipment with wind gems to give it more ASPD as well as collosus gems to make up for deficiencies in HP and DEF.

School 2:  The CON-man

Well, its what it sounds like.  Go full CON.  This concentration is all about surviving.  It will have higher HP and DEF than the other builds but will have low damage/hitrate as well as low ASPD.  This will make it difficult to level solo.  You might say "geeze, this guy misses, doesn't hurt anyone, and it attacks slow as butt!  WHAT GOOD IS HE ANYWAY!!"  Well the good is that it can tank a bit, possibly even a crusader slash with some decent equips.  It also is a good sealer (with the proper skill build).  So it makes this build rather valuable while bossing since it won't die easily and can seal.  Plus its a SS so it has a high move speed and can run away quickly when in danger.

School 3:  The Mixed Bag

This is kinda people who want a bit of everything.  Hes kinda a jack of all trades, but master of none.  Popular mixes are ACC/AGI or ACC/CON.  Personally I lean towards a 2:1 CON:ACC mix with just enough AGI to keep the build around 80 ASPD.  Adding the new cracked/broken gems (Collo/Striking/Wind) can really help aid this build make up for losses quickly and cheaply.

The skill builds on SS can have some variation.  The only hitch comes in when people decide to be a bow SS instead of a gun SS.  Whats the difference?  Well the bow people never learn any gun skills (until maybe later on after their bow skills are maxed) and they don't get to use the valuable seals that SS possess (unless they decide to learn them later and switch weapons depending on situation).  Bow SS do enjoy some VERY damaging skills such as dual shot and meteor shower.  The only problem is that good bows are hard to come by at mid teir levels (from 40 to 75).  Once they hit 75 they are free to use a good twilight or Death bow.  Below are some basic quick skill builds for each:

Standard SS:

Range Mastery ------>  Level 3
Dual Shot ---------->  Level 2
Frozen Arrow ------->  Level 5
Range Mastery ------>  Level 10
Cripple ------------>  Level 5
Enfeeble ----------->  Level 5
Headshot ----------->  Level 1
Firegun Mastery ---->  Level 5
Magma Bullet ------->  Level 1
Cripple ------------>  Level 10
Enfeeble ----------->  Level 10
Firegun Mastery ---->  Level 10

I like to max the seals quickly then go back.  You can add other skills like windwalk and rousing early on or at any point instead of maxing the suggested skills.  I find Windwalk and Rousing secondary to the purposes of my SS.  But do what is best for you.

Bow SS:

Range Mastery ------>  Level 3
Dual Shot ---------->  Level 2
Frozen Arrow ------->  Level 5
Meteor Shower ------>  Level 1
Dual Shot ---------->  Level 4
Venom Arrow -------->  Level 1
Dual Shot ---------->  Level 10

From there max as necessary and feel free to add Windwalk and Rousing.  If you want to pick up a cheap gun and learn some seals at some point it may be to your benefit.  All is up to you.  Below are some more detailed links that may help you out:

Sharpshooter Guide Index
Piccolo's Pure ACC SS Guide
Bow SS Guide

[ Last edited by Rman0099 at 8-28-2009 14:02 ]

Rman0099

Newbie to Herbalist to Sealmaster (Phyllis or Ami)

Now I have to get this out in the open.  Seal Masters are by far the most under appreciated class in the entire game.  Recently people have been down on Seal Masters and often opting to like Clerics instead.  Sure clerics may have Energy Shield for tankability, but what can they do to stop YOU from getting pounded.  Nothing.  They can heal and thats about it.  But a SM can heal AND they can add in thier seals to stop monsters from attacking you.  This buys you time to melee or just flat out escape.  In my opinion, Seal Masters are the most important class for bossing over all others for their ability to both prevent boss attacks as well as heal.

~gets down from soap box~ Now onto the guide.....

A Seal Master basically has 2 options.  Are they support or are they battle?  This decision sets the tone for both the stat and skill build.  If you decide to be a total support SM, then you will most likely want to be full CON.  A full support Seal Master is most important to be alive so they actually can support.  Adding SPR just takes away from CON and survivability.  But be warned, by going full CON it will be difficult to level up.

Pure SPR on the otherhand can make it a bit difficult to survive.  These SMs will live off their seals and try to compensate with a lot of BD Hearts and collossus gems.

A hybrid may be the most effective route, but you won't really achieve the full potential of the other side until later.

When it comes to skill builds, there is one major question all SM have to ask themselves....to rev or not to rev?  That is the question.  Learning Revive early on can be beneficial for a Seal Master.  Early on skill points are easy to come by and levels come quickly.  But if you save it till after maxing seals, you may find yourself wishing you had.  But be warned he path for adding Revive is as follows:

Heal -----> Level 3
Harden ---> Level 3
Recover --> Level 4
Revival --> Level 1

Thats 11 stat points.  You will probably want to get at least level 1 in Heal anyway, but the extra 10 skill points to attain revive is a deterrant for most Seal Masters.  Its not very attractive to delay maxing your very important seals for 10 levels.

There really is a basic beginning for all Seal Masters and their skills.  Once the base is set, you can deviate from there on wether you want to be support or not and that affects what you max and learn.

Basic Skill Build

Heal -------------->  Level 1
Spiritual Bolt ---->  Level 1
Vigor ------------->  Level 8
Spiritual Bolt ---->  Level 10
Divine Grace ------>  Level 2
True Sight -------->  Level 3
Cursed Fire ------->  Level 4
Shadow Insignia --->  Level 3
Seal of Elder ----->  Level 1
Abyss Mire -------->  Level 1

At this point the support SM should alternate until Shadow Insignia and Seal of Elder is maxed.  Then move to Abyss Mire.  From there its about how much of a support SM you want to be.  Full support then learns all the buffs and attempts to max them along with adding and maxing abyss mire.  Don't forget, you can add in there the ability to max revival.  If you are more of a support, you can defer from maxing spiritual bolt.  You can then save those extra 9 skill points and allocate them in other places.

The more attack Seal Masters will definately want to max Spiritual bolt where I put it.  They will want to level and be able to defend themselves, so its a must.  The hard core battle SM, will usually not learn buffs until their seals are maxed and will forego Rev entirely.

Here are a few good links:

Seal Master Guide Index
Aggressive Seal Master's Guide
Witches Brew Guide

Newbie to Herbalist to Cleric (Phyllis or Ami)

Clerics have it easy.  There is only one way to start off.  MAX SPR.  Simply put.  No if ands or buts about it.  Why do you do it?  Two words:  Energy Sheild.  At its max level each point of SP absorbs 3 damage.  So your SP acts like HP but even better because its 3 times as effective.  Once SPR is maxed then they move onto CON because HP is a nice fall back if their SP runs out after a big attack.  Clerics also usually back up their SPR with some collossus gems for good measure.

The skill build is rather simple.  The approach is basically see how quickly you can get to Energy Shield and forget the rest!  Clerics are usually the ones to learn Revival, so doing that early may be helpful.

Basic Skill Build

Heal -------------->  Level 1
Spiritual Bolt ---->  Level 1
Vigor ------------->  Level 8
Spiritual Bolt ---->  Level 10
Divine Grace ------>  Level 2
True Sight -------->  Level 2
Tornado Whirl ----->  Level 3
Energy Shield ----->  Level 10
Vigor ------------->  Level 10

I will leave it here for you to decide how you branch out.  You can add in Revive, move onto learn other buffs, add in Angelic Shield, or even add Healing Spring.  How you do it is up to you.  You can even follow the path of adding revive early as an herbalist.  However you proceed is up to you, but this is the basic way to get ES the fastest.  Divine grace might not be a bad idea to learn either for those who are more battle oriented.  It increases the recovery rate of SP.  So if you start running low because you have been tanking, it should help out your poor fairy and recover your SP faster.  Also, vigor adds SP for every level.  For only 2 more skill points you can get yourself a little extra "life."

Here are a few good links:

Cleric Guide Index
Battle Cleric and Support Guide
Witches Brew Guide

[ Last edited by Rman0099 at 8-28-2009 20:11 ]

Rman0099

Part 5:  Some Ways to Make Money

This section will give you a few quick ways to make a few bucks.  They are not the most lucrative, but can get you cash.  At the end I will also list a few guides that are already out there for you to continue to research.

New Sheepskin Scrolls

One way is to farm New Sheepskin Scrolls (NSS).  There are a variety of monsters that drop these.  For a full list of what monsters drop NSS, take a look at THIS and decide which ones you want to go after.  Now there are 2 ways to earn money from NSS.  

1.)  Sell NSS for 18K to 25K gold in game.  These are usually fair prices and they will go fast.
2.)  Head to treasure gold and double click the NSS.  It will give you a treasure map and a set of coordinates.  Go to those coords and double click the treasure map again.  You will dig up.....something.  It could be an item, money, a trap, or a monster.  Some items include Goddess Favors (they take you to heaven which is important for Rebirth) or unique gems like Rage Gems and Collossus Gems.

For a more detailed guide on how to use your NSS, take a look here.

Farm and Sell Items for the Hexathon

Every week tons and tons of people try to run the hex and level up like crazy.  During the week, they may be too busy to farm the necessary items for the quest.  Those items include:  wood, iron ore, and sashimi.  You can then set up a stall around the area of the hexathon and watch your money roll in.  For fair market prices, refer to your channels section of the forum or other stalls in game.  To get Wood, Iron Ore, and Sashimi you will need the life skills woodcutting, mining, and fishing (which requires a net on your boat).

Wood:  Pine Tree
1497/2947 - 1860/3165 (Ascaron)
830/1035 - 1027/2033 (Ascaron)
885/1982 - 918/2012 (Ascaron)
1814/2934 - 1832/2971 (Ascaron)
1498/3384 - 1523/3428 (Magical Ocean)
416/938 - 701/1085 (Treasure Gulf)
1926/533 - 1972/567 (Deep Blue)

Iron Ore:  Iron Ore
1134/322 - 1224/401 (Deep Blue)

Sashimi:  Fish Swarm
686/681 - 3260/3831 (Ascaron)
658/2624 - 673/2648 (Magical Ocean)
1696/1115 - 1728/1141 (Deep Blue)
Fish Swarm (Bountiful)
2120/686 - 3637/3332 (Ascaron)
1538/3890 - 1575/3908 (Magical Ocean)
349/854 - 776/1235  (Treasure Gulf)

Farm Gems From Maze

Farming gems from mazes can be rather lucrative for you.  Refining gems are always popular and with the addition of the cracked and broken unique gems to Forsaken City and Dark Swamp, this can be more lucrative than ever.  But be warned, in mazes things can be VERY competetive.  There are guilds who take this VERY seriously and defend this turf to the death.  All mazes are player kill areas and be aware that you can and will be attacked by other maze goers.  See below for more information on mazes.

Basic Maze Information

Forsaken City

Dark Swamp

Demonic World

Other Ways to Make Money

I invite you to read the following guides:

El's Guide to Staying Rich and Getting Richer  

Richie Rich's guide to be Rich  

How to get rich or die trying!

Part 6:  Closing Remarks

This guide is meant to give you a few basics to the game.  It should give you an introduction into building your character and understanding a few of the more basic aspects of the game.  I hope all of you take the time to review the Game Guide Index we have for information on more specific topics.

eklips94

Huuuge wall of text, gonna be hard for the newbies to read it all, but overall, great info, good job on your work.

naruto1245

wooot! 2nd!! cool guide!

Phantomyc

Only one mistake you have done:

Quote:

Once your character reaches level 65, it then begins gaining 2 stat points per level and 6 stat points at the 10s.

You start to earn 2 stats points after level 60(you earn 6 stat points at lv60,too).
And,from lv65,you earn 1 bonus skill point for every 5 levels,at 65 2 skill points,at 70 2 skill points,at 75,at 80,85...

abmaiden

lol.... tank and slasher champion's skill are all wrong