Rose's Detailed Water/Lightning/AR Sheep Guide

[Rose]

Rose's Water/Lightning/Arrow Rush Guide (v0.7)

This is a very in-detail guide to wind/water sheeps. I realize that I might have included significantly more information than I need to, but I do believe in the spirit of explaining why you should not get XXXX rather than just stating it in traditional military fashion. As such, if you’re just looking for a skill build, skip to section V. If you’re truly wishing to learn about the build/the game as well, read on. I’ll try not to bore you :3.




TABLE OF CONTENTS

I. Introduction
II. Overview of Trickster’s Stats
III. Stat Builds and Rumors about Them
IV. Overview of Sheep Skills
V. Recommend Skill Trees
VI. Leveling Guide (unfinished)
VII. Quests and You (unfinished)
VIII. A Sheep’s Guide to PvP (unfinished)

I. Introduction (Post-Revo? Is that a new boy band?)

This guide is intended for new players (and advanced players seeking to build a new character) planning on becoming a water/lightning sheep.

So what is a water/lightning sheep? Well, if you look at a sheep’s description in the character creation screen, you'll notice that they are described as "for advanced players seeking elemental magic." Now, there are five different "elemental magic" in Trickster - thunder, fire, earth, wind, and water - and unfortunately, no sheep is allowed to possess all five of these elements. Thus, every sheep must choose a combination of two elements adjacent to each other, as portrayed on the following chart (stolen from MT Wiki):

Each elemental combination has its own advantages and disadvantages. For example, a wind/earth sheep excels at mobbing and killing multiple targets, and a water/wind sheep is designed for fast killing with a versatile single-target element in water. Our elements, water and lightning, allows us to excel at accuracy and be balanced in the fields of AoE, single-target, and disabling ability. Water and Lightning also costs the least amount of TM to master, thus allowing you to save valuable TM points for later skills.

So what is Revo, and what is the difference between guides designed for post-revo and guides that are not? Well, Trickster Online has, within the past few months, undergone many changes, the most prominent of which is the Revolution patch. This patch effectively moved many monsters around, altered the stats of many monsters, changed quests, and added a myriad of other changes to the game, which makes certain sections of older guides inaccurate. This especially applies to most of MT's guides, which are written in the pre-revo period.

If you are intimidated by this giant wall of text, don't worry. I have tried my best to make the actual guide very concise and organized, so just skip the introduction and begin your journey into the wonderful world of sheepies ^^.

II. An Overview of Trickster's Stats (More charm for an obese sheep):

There are four main categories of stats in Trickster: Power, Magic, Sense, and Charm, each split into three different substats. They are:

Power (Physical Stats):
AP: Increases physical attack power. Most sheep don't melee, so this is not useful for you.
AC: Increases physical attack accuracy. For mages, it increases critical attack probability and damage for some wind spells. Since you're not a wind mage, this skill is also not useful for you.
DX: Increases physical attack speed. Again, sheep don't melee, so this is not useful for you.

Magic (Magic-Related Stats):
MP: Determines how much MP you have, which affects how many spells you can cast before you have to rest. MP regen is fixed, so while this stat is nice, it is not 100% necessary. Increases the damage of Tesla Field (lightning skill) slightly.
MA: This determines how much damage your magic does. This is your primary stat, and to ease your leveling, you should put as many points into this stat as possible.
MD: This decreases magic damage. Nice, but not needed, since a lot of equipment comes with it.

Sense (Weight, Detection, and Luck):
WT: This affects how many items you can carry. Obviously, this is an important stat, although it's not the most important thing in the world.
DA: Determines how often you can detect whether an item is on the ground before drilling, thus saving you time and drill life. It's not worth it to increase this stat.
LK: Determines magic accuracy, critical rate, and blocking rate. This is also very important for you, since you have to hit an enemy to damage it. Only a certain amount is really needed, though, before you can hit every regular monster in the game.

Charm (Defensive Stats):
HP: If you run out of this, you die. Pretty simple, and obviously pretty important.
DP: Reduces physical damage. It's pretty nice, but the amount of damage it actually reduces is scaled down, so it's not terribly important for a mage.
HV: The all-important PvP stat. It's pretty nice even for normal monster killing, since it makes monsters miss and thus visibly reduces the amount of damage that you take. Less damage = less cures = less pots = efficiency. Not that needed if you don't PvP, though.

III. Stat Builds and Those Oh So Terrible Rumors (1441? It's not even over nine thousand!):

Before we proceed, I should explain the notation that Trickster Online players often use to denote their builds. Usually, these builds are denoted by a four digit number, with each digit representing power, magic, sense, and charm, in that respective order.

What does this mean? Well, let's explain this with a few examples. Someone with a 1441 build will have 10% Power, 40% Magic, 40% Sense, and 10% Charm, giving that person better damage and accuracy at the cost of defense. Conversely, someone with a 1423 build will have 10% Power, 40% Magic, 20% Sense, and 30% Charm, sacrificing accuracy for defensive power.

As a sheep, you're forced to have a 40% in Magic. Since all of the power stats are useless to sheepies, we must choose from the following builds:

1441: This is an extreme build, recommended for more experienced players and those seeking a challenge. It's oriented towards having as much accuracy as possible at the cost of defense. It also has the most weight, which is arguably very important in your early training career. This build is very difficult to level in the early stages, although later on, when you obtain equipment that increases HP, it becomes considerably easier.

1432: A more balanced build, and one that I would recommend for beginners. This build has enough HP to survive the early stages (double the HP of a 1441 build), and although it sacrifices a bit of accuracy and carrying capacity in the beginning, the accuracy can eventually be made up with equipment that you will find later on.

1423: A more balanced build, oriented towards defense. This build will be slightly less accurate than a 1432 build, although the difference in accuracy is usually negligible and only slightly apparent after level 50. On the other hand, it offers the sheep a considerable boost in defensive power and double the hit points. This build is also very beginner friendly, though eventually, the myriad of available equipment will more than balance the less LK from this build. Your weight will also suffer a bit more, although you should still have enough to carry a decent number of items without becoming overweight.

1414: Geared entirely towards defense. Your accuracy will be lower, although it's not that much different than a 1432 build at lower levels, when mana arrow is your primary attack spell. You will, of course, miss about 15% more once you get to low-mid levels, but once again, that deficiency in accuracy will quickly be resolved at mid levels. Also, your weight will suffer and you won't be able to carry much, which is very difficult to remedy even with end-game equipment.

So what should you choose? Well, that much is up to you. However, because there are quite a few (inaccurate) rumors and half-rumors floating around about some of these builds, I shall address a few of them so that you don’t have to click that dreaded “search” button. If you don’t understand some of these terms yet, don’t worry. I’ll explain as I go along:

Rumor: If you get Arrow Rush/fire spells, you must use a 1441 build to be able to hit anything with it.
Fact: At level 100, choosing a 1441 build over a 1432 build will give you 6 more LK. This will make Arrow Rush, the most inaccurate of a sheep’s skills, hit about 4% more than a 1432 build. Yes, you will notice a slightly more considerable difference if you compare a 1441 build to a 1414 build, but my point still holds. Going 1441 does not benefit arrow rush’s accuracy by that much.

Rumor: 1441 makes you do significantly more damage.
Fact: The LK increase granted by a 1441 gives you a very slim (less than 3%) chance to hit a LK critical at around level 100, which will boost your damage by 50%. Thus, overall, the damage increase that a 1441 build affords you is less than 1.5%, and even this is not consistent enough to matter much in the short run. After you hit higher levels, better equipment will pretty much guarantee that you hit the cap for LK critical chance, making the “more damage” argument pretty much moot. Of course, you do hit more with a 1441 build, although, as I’ve stated before, the increased accuracy is not significant enough to make a considerable difference.

Rumor: 1441 makes you drill much better than a 1432/1423 build.
Fact: When you drill, you will sometimes get an icon above your head telling you that “an item is in this spot” or “there’s no items here.” Having more DA increases the chance that these notifications will appear by 1% per point of DA, which saves you drilling time and drill life in the long run. Of course, you won’t have a higher chance to find items, but the notifications do make a difference. It’s just too bad that 1441 only gives you 6 more DA than a 1432 build and 12 more DA than a 1432 build, so the time that you save is minimal until you get to higher levels (at which time you’ll be able to max out your detection ratio at 100%/90 DA with better gear).

Rumor: 1414 can’t hit anything.
Fact: Mana arrow, your primary skill during your beginner mage career, is one of the most accurate skills in the game. This means that you can hit most monsters that are around your level with great ease. Once you get arrow rush, you will notice a pretty big difference (12% less chance to hit is significant), although you’ll still be able to hit pretty effectively with accurate spells like water and wind, provided that you have a bit of LK from your equipment.

Rumor: 1441 is the only way to go for mages, because it makes leveling much easier in the beginning.
Fact: 1441 and 1432 are virtually identical in the beginning, barring a small increase in accuracy and critical chance for the 1441 build and a pretty significant survivability increase for the 1432 build. However, a 1441 build will need HP equipment once they start leveling in high-damage aggressive maps, while a 1432 build can survive and level up decently with no equips other than LK and MA. Of course, at middle levels, obtaining decent HP equipment is actually rather simple, though it still doesn’t discount the fact that a 1432 build can replace those HP equips with LK and level just as well. The same argument applies to 1423 and 1414 builds.

Still can’t decide which build to choose? Well, personally, I would recommend a 1432 build. The build will prevent you from being one-shotted by every mob in the game without equipment, although it leaves enough of a challenge and teaches the player invaluable hit-and-run tactics. However, each of these four builds is versatile in its own way, so in the end, it doesn't really matter which build you choose. Equipment will even them out anyway.

What about bonus points? Well, since you’re a beginning player, every single bonus point that you obtain should be put into MA to aid you in your leveling. Eventually, as you consider going into PvP and GvG (guild vs. guild), you may choose to modify this scheme, but for now, put them all into MA. The damage helps considerably at your level.

IV: A Brief Introduction to Your Skills (I cast magic missile into the darkness):

First Job Skills
Mana Arrow (TM01: Costs 1 TM to learn, 2 TM to master):
Ah, yes, the most basic magic skill. This causes a giant white arrow to fly out, circle in the air for a moment, and hit the enemy for decent damage. Even though the damage won't pop up until the arrow hits the enemy (which could take up to five seconds), rest assured that the damage is applied immediately, and if a enemy is supposed to die from the arrow and the arrow moved about in the air for 2 minutes, he/she will not move attack you during this delay.
Should you get this? Of course! It's one of your basic attacks, and is an important prerequisite for arrow rush, which is a very powerful attack spell. However, when you get it, level it to level 4 and leave it there until you are ready to get Arrow Rush, since the damage vs. mana cost ratio becomes drastically worse as you place more points into this skill.

Cure (TM10: Costs 1 TM to learn, 2 TM to master):
Hey, look, you can heal yourself! At the beginning, cure seems like an entirely useless skill. After all, in the beginning, you can hit-and-run most enemies with ease and thus take no damage whatsoever. However, this quickly changes once you start entering aggressive maps, and boy, is this skill important.
Unlike your other spells, the skill is almost instant. All you have to do is click it, click on yourself, and 30% of your maximum HP instantly comes back to you. It also has a negligible cool down, thus making this spell a lifesaver at mid levels.
Mastering it early isn't necessary, although you should get it to level 10 as soon as you get the chance. Even if the spell isn't as useful in the beginning due to low MP, it is a prerequisite for Bottle of Mana, which is a prerequisite for Mist of Mana, which is one of the most important spells in any mage's arsenal. Cure's efficiency increases when it's mastered, so considering doing this whenever you have extra TM points to spare.

Invincible Casting (TM10: Costs 5 TM to learn):
So askth the beginning trickster, "why do I need invincible casting if I have low charm anyway? If I get hit, shouldn't I focus on running away?"
So sayth the experienced trickster, "if you do that, you will never be able to cast a single spell."
Why is this true? Well, because at intermediate levels and above, it is inevitable that you will get hit, especially while using mobbing skills like lightning. Invincible Casting, in short, makes your magic spells not break when you are attacked, which allows you to retaliate by killing the monster in question or stunning it and running as quickly as you can in the opposite direction.
This applies even if you are a 1441 sheep. Sure, you have lower defense and HP, but trickster spells are very different from RO's sluggish 15 second monstrosities. The slowest practical spell that a water/lightning sheep has (mana arrow) takes 1.5 seconds to cast, which means that by the time the monster in question can ready itself for a second hit, your spell would have already finished casting, and the monster in question would be slowly fading away while sprawled on the floor.
In short, this skill is a wonderful life-saver, and only costs 5 TM points to learn. I would highly recommend learning it for your sheepie.

Aura of Mana (TM20: Costs 1 TM to learn, 2 TM to master):
Many people consider this a TM dump, and certainly, they speak with good reason. Aura of Mana increases the mana regeneration rate of you and your nearby party members, which is, of course, very nice. However, at the beginning levels, you'll be hard-pressed for TM points to place into your skills, and should be more inclined to obtain more important attack spells such as Arrow Rush or Electro Attack. At later levels, when you will actually have enough points to freely spend in this skill, you will have the financial ability to use potions instead of lying down to regenerate MP, thus making this skill not very useful.
It certainly doesn't hurt to invest a point into this skill for the doubled regeneration rates should you ever find yourself in desperate need for it. Otherwise, just skip this skill and use the free skill point for more important spells.

Bottle of Mana (TM20: Costs 2 TM to learn, 2 TM to master):
Unlike Aura of Mana, Bottle only increases your maximum MP. The thought of it is nice, of course, although trickster is the only game with a fixed MP regeneration rate, and potions recover fixed amounts of MP. Thus, having more MP doesn't actually increase your efficiency as a mage, thus making this skill not worth the skill points that was invested into it.
However, one level of this is required for Mist of Mana, which IS important. Hence, I would recommend spending two TM points to get this skill to level 1 and leave it to rot in your skill list.

Rust (TM20: Costs 1 TM to learn, 2 TM to master):
Rust is great. It has an extremely short cast and reduces attack power, which pretty much renders the physical attacks of its target useless. However, as good as it might be, it is only really useful against bosses and sometimes in PvP, so you might want to delaying learning this skill until you've at least learned your primary elemental attacks.

Mana Web (Costs 1 TM to learn, 2 TM to master):
Mana Web is much worse than Rust. It has a short cast and reduces attack speed, which, unfortunately, doesn't do much for bosses whose damage have already been neutralized by Rust, and it’s a waste of MP to cast this on regular monsters. I would not recommend learning this skill for either PvE or PvP purposes unless if you have extra TM to burn.

Mana Ring (TM20: Costs 2 TM to learn, 2 TM to master):
Mana Ring is your second attack spell. When cast, three rings fly out and hit the target, doing much less damage than mana arrow as long as the mage in question has decent amounts of MA. In addition, it has very low splash damage, which will often trigger unwanted mobs, and costs more MP than mana arrow, so what exactly is the point of using mana ring?
The answer is simple. With a clocked casting delay of only 0.3 second. mana ring is by far the fastest spell that a mage can obtain, and is very useful for tagging monsters to prevent KS. Its damage leaves quite a bit to be desired, however, and because of your TM constraints as a sheep, it may be a wiser idea to skip mana ring until you absolutely need it.

Mana Storm (TM35: Costs 2 TM to learn, 2 TM to master):
Mana Storm is an area of effect spell. When cast, spinning magic circles appear beneath enemies, and after a while, small typhoons pop up from these circles to deal damage. Also, while the typhoon is slowly appearing on the screen, your target becomes frozen until the conclusion of the spell, whether it hits or misses. It's the first AoE spell that mages get, although its damage is only slightly more than mana ring - which is to say, not as good as mana arrow.
As a Water/Lightning sheep, you do not need mana storm for any of your spells. However, you DO need mana arrow for some of the newer second-job skills, so it is wise to not take this skill until much later, when you have the points to spare.

Mist of Mana (TM40: Costs 4 TM to learn, 3 TM to master):
This skill is a buff that creates a pretty blue aura around your character and increases your magic attack power by 45%. That's right, your magic attack power, which undoubtedly makes this one of the most important spells for a mage. In addition, even though the actual effect of mist is only a 45% increase in MA, this will often double or even triple your damage while fighting monsters with good magic defense. Get this skill and master it. You will need it no matter what kind of sheep you are.

Mana Shield (TM45: Costs 2 TM to learn, 2 TM to master):
Mana Shield gives you a pretty ring of orbs and runes that rotates around your character and makes your sheep look a bit more fat. Unfortunately, thanks to the Magic Defense that your magic stats grants you, Magic does very little damage, and monsters will rarely actually cast magical spells. Once you enter PvP, of course, this spell becomes very useful, but it’s not a very good idea to invest in it that early on in the game, especially since you’re a sheep and thus will not have any skills that require mana shield at a prerequisite – at least not for another 145 TM levels.

Arrow Rush (TM50: Costs 4 TM to learn, 3 TM to master):
Arrow Rush is god. It’s a passive skill that modifies mana arrow (which means that you can’t cast mana arrow after learning this), and it splits your arrow into multiple less-damaging arrows that converge toward one enemy, doing lots of damage.
The only downside of this skill is that it’s less accurate than mana arrow, although at higher levels, when you have enough LK to hit all enemies at a 100% rate, this skill will outdamage almost anything and everything that you have and obliterate enemies in an endless hail of white spikes. Pretty good for a first job skill.

Mana Ring Booster (TM50: Costs 3 TM to learn, 3 TM to master):
Not much else to say about this skill. It boosts mana ring’s damage by a small bit, although it doesn’t change the animation, cast time, effects, or MP usage of the skill. Pretty decent if you use mana ring, although if you don’t, this skill is useless.

Second Job Skills (Lightning, Water, and Related Spells):
Bolster Ballad (TM40: Costs 3 TM to learn, 3 TM to master):
Grr, just looking at Hinder Snare and comparing it to this skill makes me furious.
Really, though, the skill is pretty nice. It’ll decrease the MP cost of your spells (and the skills used by party members) by about 10% at mastery, and gives you a pretty white mislcal circle that surrounds you and DOESN’T make you look fatter, unlike mana shield. However, casting this skill costs 210 MP by itself, and the MP that it saves doesn’t really help you that much, especially at later levels (when you actually have spells that consume tons of MP). Thus, it’s really only useful if you already have all the other skills that you need, and want a place to spend your extra TM points.

Seal of Thunder (TM55: Costs 0 TM to learn):
This does nothing, but is a prerequisite to every single lightning spell that you can learn. If you’re pursuing a water/lightning sheep sheep (which you probably are, since you’re reading this guide), then get this.

Seal of Water (TM55: Costs 0 TM to learn):
This does nothing, but is a prerequisite to every single water spell that you can learn. If you’re pursuing a water/lightning sheep (which you probably are, since you’re reading this guide), then get this.

Drip Bomb (TM55: Costs 2 TM to learn, 2 TM to master):
Drip bomb is the most basic water-elemental skill, and works exactly like Mana Arrow with a decreased cast delay. When you cast it, a small splash of water will strike your target, and he/she will take a bit more damage than if he/she was hit by mana arrow. Not that significant, but like Mana Arrow, this is a very solid PvM skill. I definitely would recommend getting it.

Electro Attack (TM55: Costs 2 TM to learn, 2 TM to master):
This is the first place where being a sheep really pays off. Electro attack is an area of effect spell that does less damage than drip bomb, but certainly more than mana storm. When you cast this, a lightning ball launches at the enemy that you’re trying to hit and bounces to more targets, damaging all of them. Master this as quickly as you can – it will seriously boost your leveling speed, even if you don’t have electroshock just yet.

Water Web (TM85: Costs 2 TM to learn):
Water Web is just like Mana Web. It slows down the target’s attack speed, although unlike mana web, it’s an automatic add-on to drip bomb, which means that you’re doing damage and slowing an opponent at the same time. Quite useful in PvP and boss hunts, although the slowed attack is admittedly not as effective in PvM situations. Still, it’s only 2 TM, and if you can spare that much, it doesn’t hurt to get this skill.

Electroshock (TM90: Costs 2 TM to learn):
Electroshock is gr9. It makes electro attack stun all of its targets in place so that you can hit them with another electro attack and not worry about retaliation. Note that stunned targets can still attack you if you get too close, and that electroshock makes a very disquieting drum sound when it takes effect. Very nice add-on nonetheless, and certainly a bargain for only 2 TM points.

Water Shield (TM100: Costs 2 TM to learn, 3 TM to master):
Water Shield decreases water elemental damage, which means that you’ll take less damage from buffalos with water compounded blades and tidal slash. Unfortunately, it also costs 14 TMs to fully learn, which is a pretty significant sacrifice to defend against one skill from a physical class that can use other skills to get around the resistance. I would only get this if you have the TM points to spare, and even then, I would get bolster ballad first. Ballad looks prettier.

Thunder Shield (TM100: Costs 2 TM to learn, 3 TM to master):
No one – I repeat, no one - will use a electric weapon in PvP. No monsters in this game have lightning skills that you actually have to worry about. Hence, this skill is very useless unless if you’re that desparate to see lightning crackling from a strange object floating above your head.

Shard of the Glacier (TM125: Costs 3 TM to learn, 3 TM to master):
Woot! Shard of the Glacier is a new skill given by a recent patch, and it’s seriously great. It’s actual damage multiplier is lower than drip bomb, although it factors your LK into your damage, which oftentimes makes the skill do more damage than drip bomb. In addition, it freezes enemies in place for three seconds, and while frozen, their resistance to electric attacks decrease by an entire 2.5 times, so you can destroy those magic resist monsters with ease now. Go and kill some Guard Ians with this .

Tesla Field (TM145: Costs 3 TM to learn, 3 TM to master):
Woot again! Tesla field is an AoE spell that requires a ridiculously high level to learn, although when cast on a monster, it creates a field of electric sparks that remains on the ground until the original target dies (or until X amount of time passes) and does a fair amount of damage every second or so. Yes, an AoE damage over time spell. Cast it on a magic resist target like (Great Coolem C’s), lead lots of magic weak mobs into it, and watch the pwn. It’s a very nice spell and highly recommended for lightning sheeps.

Third Job Skills (Pure: Water and Lightning):
Delayed until Rossy stops being lazy D:.

Third Job Skills (Hybrid: Dark):
Delayed until Rossy stops being lazy D:.

Third Job Skills (Hybrid: Light):
Delayed until Rossy stops being lazy D:.

V: Recommended Skill Trees for Water/Lightning Sheep (Think like me, or you’re a toad):

It’s hard to start an open-ended game and instinctively know exactly how to build your character. Even if you’ve player other MMORPGs before, each one has such a drastically different system for damage and defense that players are often left to wonder exactly what each skill does, and whether the skills that “sounds” useful on paper will actually benefit them in the long run. With that, a simple description of the skills will rarely suffice, and oftentimes, players need a lot more to know how to best start their characters.

I should know – I’m one of these people.

Either way, the skill trees that I’m giving are recommended ones for beginning players. It’s in no way the “only” way to build a sheep, so feel free to modify them to suit your tastes.

Water/Lightning/Arrow Rush Soul Master (PvM)
Start: Magical Souls
TM 1-4: Mana Arrow (to level 4)
TM 5-9: Save points
TM 10: Invincible Casting, Cure (to level 1)
TM 11-19: Cure (to level 10)
TM 20: Save Points
TM 21: Bottle of Mana (to level 1)
TM 22-39: Save Points
TM 40: Mist of Mana (to level 10)
TM 41-49: Save Points
TM 50: Mana Arrow (to level 10), Arrow Rush (to level 7)
TM 51-53: Arrow Rush (to level 10)
TM 54-56: Arrow Rush (Master), Seal of Water, Seal of Thunder
TM 57-59: Mist of Mana (Master)
TM 60-61: Mana Arrow (Master)
TM 62-72: Electro Attack (to level 10)
TM 73-74: Electro Attack (Master)
TM 75-85: Drip Bomb (to level 10)
TM 86-87: Drip Bomb (Master)
TM 88-89: Save Points
TM 90: Electro Shock
TM 91-119: Save Points
TM 120: Shard of the Glacier (Master), Staff of Thunder (Master)
TM 121-133: Aqua Bomb (to level 10)
TM 134-136: Aqua bomb (Master)
TM 137-138: Cure (Master)
TM 139-144: Save Points
TM 145-150: Tesla Field (to level 10)
TM 151-153: Tesla Field (Master)
TM 154-163: Rust (to level 10)
TM 164-165: Rust (Master)
TM 166-176: Mana Shield (to level 10)
TM 177-178: Mana Shield (Master)

Water/Lightning/Arrow Rush Dark Witch (PvM/PvP)
Start: Magical Souls
TM 1-4: Mana Arrow (to level 4)
TM 5-9: Save points
TM 10: Invincible Casting, Cure (to level 1)
TM 11-19: Cure (to level 10)
TM 20: Save Points
TM 21: Bottle of Mana (to level 1)
TM 22-39: Save Points
TM 40: Mist of Mana (to level 10)
TM 41-49: Save Points
TM 50: Mana Arrow (to level 10), Arrow Rush (to level 7)
TM 51-53: Arrow Rush (to level 10)
TM 54-56: Arrow Rush (Master), Seal of Water, Seal of Thunder
TM 57-59: Mist of Mana (Master)
TM 60-61: Mana Arrow (Master)
TM 62: Rust (to level 1)
TM 63-73: Electro Attack (to level 10)
TM 74-75: Electro Attack (Master)
TM 76-86: Drip Bomb (to level 10)
TM 87-88: Drip Bomb (Master)
TM 89-90: Electro Shock
TM 91-99: Rust (to level 10)
TM 100-105: Mana Shield (to level 5)
TM 106-119: Save Points
TM 120: Shard of the Glacier (Master), Dark Pact
TM 121-122: Cure (Master)
TM 123-127: Mana Shield (to level 10)
TM 128-129: Mana Shield (Master)
TM 130-144: Save Points
TM 145: Dark Lance (Master)
TM 146: Rust (Master)
TM 147-150: Tesla Field (to level 4)
TM 151-164: Save Points
TM 165: Dark Barrier (Master)
TM 166-171: Tesla Field (to level 10)
TM 173: Tesla Field (Master)
TM 174-178: Hinder Snare

VI: A Banal and Excessively Expository Leveling Guide:
Rossy is slow D:. This part should be done pretty soon.


VI: A Banal and Excessively Expository Leveling Guide:
Lazy Rossy is lazy. This part should be done pretty soon.


VII: A Sheep’s Guide to Player vs. Player:
Rossy is a failsheep D:. This part should be done pretty soon.

[kristinie]

Wow, nice guide ^^

I think this is the first guide that has info on a Water/Electric/Dark sheep hybrid. Grats!~

[lunalest]

*claps* I want a water/electric sheep now ! ^___^ This is very well done, many guides lack the depth that this one has. I had a lot of trouble finding a good guide when I first stated because a lot of guides *assumed* that you knew what the acronyms and skills were.

This guide is great for beginners and pros. *hands over a rating of 5*

[Ildanach]

Nice guide Rosa, can't wait till it finished.

While I'm on at it, I want to point out some minor mistakes.

First, at the second section, it should be "stats" instead of "skills"

Second, at the same section as well, you might want to add that DA affect compounding success chance up to 40% and LK affect mature compounding.

Third, at the fourth section, you might want to give extra spaces between each line, it looks rather clogged up.

Anyway, it still a nice guide, finish it ASAP slowpoke!

[Anchors]

Originally Posted by Rose

Rumor: If you get Arrow Rush/fire spells, you must use a 1441 build to be able to hit anything with it.
Fact: At level 100, choosing a 1441 build over a 1432 build will give you 6 more LK. This will make Arrow Rush, the most inaccurate of a sheep’s skills, hit about 4% more than a 1432 build. Yes, you will notice a slightly more considerable difference if you compare a 1441 build to a 1414 build, but my point still holds. Going 1441 does not benefit arrow rush’s accuracy by that much.

Rumor: 1441 makes you do significantly more damage.
Fact: The LK increase granted by a 1441 gives you a very slim (less than 3%) chance to hit a LK critical at around level 100, which will boost your damage by 50%. Thus, overall, the damage increase that a 1441 build affords you is less than 1.5%, and even this is not consistent enough to matter much in the short run. After you hit higher levels, better equipment will pretty much guarantee that you hit the cap for LK critical chance, making the “more damage” argument pretty much moot. Of course, you do hit more with a 1441 build, although, as I’ve stated before, the increased accuracy is not significant enough to make a considerable difference.

Rumor: 1441 makes you drill much better than a 1432/1423 build.
Fact: When you drill, you will sometimes get an icon above your head telling you that “an item is in this spot” or “there’s no items here.” Having more DA increases the chance that these notifications will appear by 1% per point of DA, which saves you drilling time and drill life in the long run. Of course, you won’t have a higher chance to find items, but the notifications do make a difference. It’s just too bad that 1441 only gives you 6 more DA than a 1432 build and 12 more DA than a 1432 build, so the time that you save is minimal until you get to higher levels (at which time you’ll be able to max out your detection ratio at 100%/90 DA with better gear).

Rumor: 1414 can’t hit anything.
Fact: Mana arrow, your primary skill during your beginner mage career, is one of the most accurate skills in the game. This means that you can hit most monsters that are around your level with great ease. Once you get arrow rush, you will notice a pretty big difference (12% less chance to hit is significant), although you’ll still be able to hit pretty effectively with accurate spells like water and wind, provided that you have a bit of LK from your equipment.

Rumor: 1441 is the only way to go for mages, because it makes leveling much easier in the beginning.
Fact: 1441 and 1432 are virtually identical in the beginning, barring a small increase in accuracy and critical chance for the 1441 build and a pretty significant survivability increase for the 1432 build. However, a 1441 build will need HP equipment once they start leveling in high-damage aggressive maps, while a 1432 build can survive and level up decently with no equips other than LK and MA. Of course, at middle levels, obtaining decent HP equipment is actually rather simple, though it still doesn’t discount the fact that a 1432 build can replace those HP equips with LK and level just as well. The same argument applies to 1423 and 1414 builds.

I'd like to know where you're getting your numbers from regarding critical chance, but I thought you should know:

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.

[Rose]

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).

[Eski]

You might wanna mention that Telsa Field will stack up to 3 times if you somehow manage to cast it on 3 monsters standing side by side =P Though... Most things would die at that point >.>

Very very nice guide though ^^ I look forward to when this is finished.

[kristinie]

Originally Posted by Rose

Electroshock is gr9. It makes electro attack stun all of its targets in place so that you can hit them with another electro attack and not worry about retaliation. Note that stunned targets can still attack you if you get too close, and that electroshock makes a very disquieting drum sound when it takes effect. Very nice add-on nonetheless, and certainly a bargain for only 2 TM points.

You mean gr8, right? ;3

Originally Posted by Rose

Water/Lightning/Arrow Rush Dark Witch (PvM/PvP)
TM 91-99: Rust (to level 10)
TM 100-105: Mana Shield (to level 5)
TM 106-119: Save Points
TM 120: Shard of the Glacier (Master), Dark Pact

Shard of the Glacier's tm level requirement to learn it is 125.

[Jovi the Insane]

I just got mana shield cuz I wanted to. ._.

Now I don't want it. D:

[mousy]

Really nice guide =D since the Revolution patched if only you could also add a training section for it ^^