Originally Posted by Anchors  A magic crit only deals 1.1x normal damage, not 1.5x, so the increase in damage from better crit rate (which caps really early anyway and is dependent on both LK and AC) is even smaller. x_x
Each LK counts for 0.9% in magic hitrates, as I hear it, but even a 1414 will hit 100% in PvM with any spell wearing just a staff and pet that have good LK on it. :3 PvP is another story with all the mages with 300+ LK running around nowadays, but, until a mage is very high level, base LK isn't going to help as much as gear LK anyway.
Good call on the DA point. Base DA almost doesn't even matter after 50 or 65 anyway when you can just put on a DA ult knife weapon for 15+ DA with whatever other DA gear you can get your hands on (DA-comped craft/custom hat for instance).
Regarding the charm stat and HP gear... It almost doesn't matter how much charm you have - unless you add some serious HP with bonus stat points, you'll have to eventually wear HP gear regardless to avoid getting OHKOed (or KOed by mobs at least) by something. What really makes the difference after about 100-120 or so is your base HV (which doesn't get bonuses from even myshop gear until around 100?), which saves you a lot of damage from high-AP monsters such as Lakis or Bugbears. (Of course, once you have stun for your EA anyway, it's not like anything can even get close 83 barring getting spawned on, lag, etc.)
Aside from that, though, nice guide so far! There's only one small suggestion I might make, though, for the water/lightning/dark build - hellfire and wicked flame. Dual DOT (WF, tesla) with movement-stopping stun/glacier might be fun against high-HP/-resist monsters/opponents/whatever. |
Heh, did I write 1.5x? I'll fix that in my update (once I get past the utterly annoying indents) >.>. 15k EA is certainly not 1.5x of a 13k EA on red sallys >.<.
When I wrote the rumors section, I was accounting for low-level mages, not medium-leveled ones. When you're just starting off as a second job character, Arrow Rush certainly will not hit at a 100% chance (unless if you get myshop), and won't do so until the sheep is at level 100+. Also, my percentage estimate for LK crit probability are just estimates based on a few tests that I've done, since I don't know the exact numbers.
Regarding Charm and HP gear: Eventually, yes. However, from experience playing on my 1441 dragon and from doing bugbears to level 107 without myshop, I can say that a 1432 sheep without HP or myshop gear can survive perfectly well (given a bit of player skill) until she exits bugbears, while a 1441 starts to die significantly at tritches and oops without it. Certainly, I would be an idiot to go to Tap1 or ID3 without any HP or HV gear, but I refer mainly to lower levels. At that high of a level, the LK and HP difference become moot anyway with massive improvements in equipment capabilities (and myshop).
Admittedly, though, I've never found that significant of a use for hellfire. I mean, the DoT is nice, although Tesla's DoT is typically higher. Magic resist mobs are downed very easily by shard+electro (pierces magic resist). Certainly, it helps against mages in PvP, although usually not enough to warrant getting it over, say, drip or dark barrier
. I did leave the skills after tesla pretty open, since both hellfire and gravity crush are valid choices for sheepies, with seal recovery possibly actually hitting an opponent given electro's stun.
Thanks for the comments though (and thanks for reminding me about the comps, Laki ^^). I'll be sure to fix/add them in the next revision (and remove the indents. Those are horribly glitched, adds random paragraph breaks everywhere, and makes editing the guide hellish).