Comprehensive Gunner Lion Guide (Builds, Leveling, Equipment, Skills)

[Laggy]

In celebration of finally hitting the 100 level benchmark, I decided to sit down and write a guide for lions. Why? Because honestly, information out there is WAY too jumbled for my liking. I found myself wishing over and over while I was leveling that there was one guide I could run back to and find out all the information I needed to get an idea on what to do. So why not write one?

No guide is without its credits, though, and there are a few threads in particular I found extremely helpful. I've felt obligated to list them here; may anyone make good use of them, too.

Lion 1st job skill guide by Sasuto
Lion 2nd job skill guide by Sasuto
Quest Guide by Sambo
TM Quest Guide by citrustang

Comments and feedback is always appreciated.

LAGGY'S COMPREHENSIVE GUNNER LION GUIDE
1. The Lion Class: Why and Why Not
2. Lion Stat Builds
3. Leveling Guide 1-100 (skill and equipment progress included)
4. Skill Analysis
5. Job Change to Inventor
6. Equipment Checklist (listed in third post on first page)

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I. The Lion Class: Why and Why Not



So you want to be a lion.

Lion classes are quite literally the glass cannons of Trickster's classes. They are fast, ranged, and highly damaging, a combination of factors that leads them to being one of the most devastating classes lategame. With so much killing potential, the ease of leveling them when they have all of their artillery out is not to be underestimated. Even traditionally damage-heavy classes like dragons fall short of a lion of equal stature, unable to match up with their rapidity of their damage skills and their mobility, letting them kite far more effectively without the worries of things like cast time. Additionally, as a Sense type character, they are skilled at drilling and the extra weight capacity is something that's really underappreciated.

But for these many benefits there are, of course, drawbacks to go along with it. First off, lions are hell to start. I really mean this; there's probably not another class who has a slower earlygame than lion, who are deprived in both stats AND skills for the first forty levels or so in comparison to everyone else. You see legions of lions being made and running around in Desert Beach, but far less than you'd think actually make it to the upper level tiers. If you lack a good amount of patience, a lion is not for you. Secondly, the 'glass' part of 'glass cannon' is quite highly emphasized. Lions are probably the worst class overall in terms of taking hits, due to their inability to use shields. Though their nature lets them bypass this to some degree by avoiding getting hit in the first place, no matter how skilled you are you ARE going to take blows here and there.

So in sum, we have, as pros:
- Excellent damage output
- Ranged attacker
- Good at drilling
- Viable in areas much higher level than them

Cons:
- Durability woes
- Slow as hell start
- Lack of good support skills

Sounds like a lone wolf class? It kinda is, the way you'll be outdamaging everyone but of rather limited use in the front lines. As a lion, your job will be pretty much damage and damage alone, which somewhat deprives of their use in support and party roles. But when facing the likes of bosses or any poor sap who happens to be gun-weak, damage is sometimes exactly what you need.

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II. Lion Stat Builds

Trickster splits its stats up into four components: Power, Magic, Sense, and Charm. These are then divided into three substats each. I've listed them all out here and what use it is to you, as a lion.

Important stats are bolded. Try to find equipment that raises these stats.

(Power)
AP - Attack power. Useless as guns do not use this stat to determine their damage. Guns have a listed AP, and that is all the AP you are going to get. Period.
AC - Accuracy. This isn't accuracy for guns, but damage. By far the most important of a lion's stats and should be the priority over everything else.
DX - Attack speed. Useless as guns do not rely on this stat and have their own reload gauge.
(Magic)
MP - MP. Fun but not very useful aside from having enough to use a skill (Gun Booster's 300 MP cost at mastery level takes note here). Doesn't matter what your MP is, you're still be using the same number of MP pots.
MA - Magic attack. Utterly useless.
MD - Magic defense. Pretty irrelevant given how 99% of monsters will hurt you through the DP stat (though later on it matters more) but still plain not worth your time.
(Sense)
WGT - Weight capacity. Being assured a 4 in this stat, you will be able to carry things. This is nifty, but hardly gamebreaking.
DA - Detect ability or perception. Affects digging bonuses and powers Stone Strike/Gunstock, as well as critical damage. There are some theoretically viable builds that can center around DA on a lion, but if you're a beginner don't bother going for them. Foxes use DA, you stick to your AC-based guns.
LK - Luck. Normally affects critical rate but for lions (guns), affects gun accuracy. Affects block rate as well. Also affects compounding success as a side bonus, and the stat that fuels Fortune Hit, a 2nd job skill. Your second most important stat, after AC.
(Charm)
HP - Lose these and you die. Important for ANYONE.
DP - Take less damage when meanies thwack you on the head. Important for ANYONE.
HV - Dodge things. Good for anyone but especially important on Charms. This replaces DP as the defensive stat at higher levels.

In sum: Power fuels the lion's most important stat (AC) but two useless ones as well. Magic is totally negligible. Sense is locked as your primary stat. Charm powers your durability, which is probably the most important thing right after your killing ability.


First off, for lions, your bonus points go into AC. Period. Regardless of your build (unless you're doing pure LK and going the Fortune Hit route, in which case I applaud you and wish you the best of luck for that's ninety TM levels of hell), your points go into AC. It fuels lion damage; for defensive builds you need every bit of help you can get as lions are a very damage-oriented class, and for offensive builds you want the extra edge to emphasize the strategy of killing your enemies as quickly as possible. The only other remotely likely stat you might want to put points into in is LK (for gun accuracy), but really, you never should, unless you absolutely know what you're doing.

Lions follow four standard stat builds, listed below. Remember that the order of the stats is Power/Magic/Sense/Charm (so 1144 is 10% Power, 10% Magic, 40% Sense, and 40% Charm).

SHORT VERSION: Go 1144 or 2143, if you're not sure about what stat build to follow. 3142 and 4141 require some especially advanced play to work successfully. I myself am a 2143 Lion and have not regretted it one bit, but all of the builds have their merits.

1144 - Nowadays, this seems to be by far the most prevalent build. Lions don't take hits well; in fact, they are easily the worst of all classes for durability, deprived of the ability to use a shield. At earlier levels, this is a large chunk of DP gone, and at later levels this means the loss of the most viable source of +HP compounding. The 1144 build makes up for this by emphasizing the most in the lion's fallbacks, sacrificing everything else for three stats (HP, DP, HV) that are all useful for survival. The drawback is that your damage stat, AC, will have horribly slow normal growth, but this is circumvented more or less by putting all of your bonus points into it, a given on most (gunner) lion builds. Since AP and DX are both useless to a lion, you get the most bang for your buck. This build, however, is by far the hardest one to deal with early on, as with a 1 in power you won't be hitting anything better than a mage and unlike them you don't get any early offensive skills worth a damn except for Stone Strike (which, accuracy issues aside, doesn't work off of the stat you're putting your bonus points in). Patience is required.

2143 - This build is a reasonable compromise for those who want a little more punch in their shots, sacrificing a little bit of durability in return for better natural growth of their AC - twice as much, in fact. There's the argument that you're still giving up more than you're getting, but a 3 in Charm is still solid enough to avoid being oneshotted by pretty much anything you should be fighting, and you're never going to be on the frontlines anyway; so, why not? The boost to AC is often enough of a difference to go from 2HKOing (two hit KOing) to 1HKOing a monster, or from 3 to 2, and as we all know killing a monster as fast and efficiently as possible equates to less time spent, less potions used, and less potential damage taken. As a nice perk, it does make the earlygame a little less painful than that of the 1144.

3142 - This used to be the most common build for Lions, with the idea in mind that the class is built to dish out damage, not take it. And in certain respects this is absolutely true. Lions are the closest you can get to the concept of a 'glass cannon' in Trickster (mages? pffft, they get shields and Cure), and so why not go all out and try to deal as much pain as you can? Problem is, survival woes are THAT much of an issue when leveling, especially when you aren't partied. 2 Charm is where things start getting iffy, and where you can be easily taken down in the middle of attacking if you're not careful. Mobs will eat you for breakfast, and you can forget about taking any hits from bosses, as well. Tales lament those of lions who went this build and find out that high level baddies thrash them in far too short a time; however, that isn't to say it's impossible. Thankfully, you still have enough durability to avoid being killed before you so much fire your gun if you're at reasonable leveling spots, and it DOES make your earlygame a hell of a lot easier, something that turns a lot of people off of lions. But watch out, later on.

4141 - A truly extreme build, these lions are the daredevils who sacrifice everything for ending the fight with a single well aimed shot. By following the principle of "if it dies before it moves, it can't hurt me", these lions emphasize the tactics of kiting and oneshotting things. With a ridiculous AC growth you'll be easily outdamaging pretty much any other class in the game, even mages, and god help things that happen to be gunweak. However, you pay for this dearly: getting one-shotted even at moderate levels is not out of the question, and later on pretty much ANYTHING is going to waste your entire HP score with a single crit. You can forget about the idea of soloing bosses, as well. The build can be very effective if you plan to run exclusively in partyplay (and by partyplay I don't mean jump into any 2.5x Royal, I mean have friends out there next to you to tank so that you don't get pasted across the floor) and thus wipe out everything without fear of retribution, but otherwise, every hit is going to be paid for in blood. But hey, at least the earlygame'll be a joke! Sorta. If you keep spamming those HP pots...


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III. Leveling Guide 1-100

These generally assume you are playing a new character and don't expect any outside help. As for any class, having a friend to help you out or fund you is a great aid to leveling early on, especially for lions, who suffer the most drawbacks in their early leveling.

DISCLAIMER: I hate drilling. I've learned to tolerate it, but it's just not fun to me. As such this leveling guide is biased to not require much drilling at all if possible. This means it may not be the most efficient way to do something. If you like drilling, by all means, investigate the many quests in the link listed at the top of this guide to see what's worthwhile for you.


Levels 1-10: Do the tutorial; you'll need the equipment to get through the hell that is the lion earlygame. It should also give you a free boost up to Level 4, which marks you only one level away from most of the early quests. Head to the Desert Beach Monster Guild and do all the available quests that you can possibly do (leave the Grumpy Octopus one off for a while, as they're level 12) to score respectable EXP rewards and some much-needed early equipment. Lions live and die on their TM level, as well, so prioritize Love Hunter Robin's TM quests and make sure you never miss a level bracket on them. Check the quest guides at the top of this guide to view the exact levels; they'll be used for reference repeatedly. Continue completing quests, and do the available drill quests if you like, but I personally hate early drilling, although it's a respectable source of EXP and TM EXP if you're patient. Don't forget to head over to Blooming Cora (accessible via Rosemary near the skill card selling NPCs at the bottom of Desert Beach) to check out the quests there too.

Get into the habit of partying now. Partying is good. Very good. How can you say no to 2x and 2.5x experience rates? Leveling is a slow grind without this bonus, so do all you can to get others leveling with you. Use the Bulletin for partying diligently - not enough people use it.

A good early quest candidate for EXP that doesn't require drilling is Christopher J.'s Angler's Request (located at Gate of Desert Beach, he requests 20 Earthworms dropped by Golden Moles, repeatable 25 times for 1500 EXP a run).

If you have a (relatively) higher level friend who is capable of killing bad anemones, there is a quest you can abuse early on for some very fast results. Assuming you have a couple of levels in Stone Strike, warp over to Gate of Ghost Blue and talk to Hunter Master there. Initiate the quest and head to Seabed Field4 (northeast of Aquarius, use the bunny maid to warp in) with a friend partied and have your pal smite the bad anemones after you land a solid hit with Stone Strike on it. To receive quest credit you must make the first hit, connect and do more than 0 damage, and keep the enemy focused (keep attacking it, and make sure the green triangle icon is centered on it). Your friend can then blow away the bad anemone at his or her leisure. 2 kills every run, resulting in a whopping 19000 EXP each time, repeatable 5 times.

Skills: Learn Stone Strike and level it up to LV5. This will be your primary attack ability for quite a while. Yes, the accuracy sucks, we know, but it's all you got.

Equipment: Since Stone Strike is your primary means of damage early on, you will want equipment that boosts DA. Get a Disabled Person's Pouch ASAP by doing either of Hunter Master's quests at Desert Beach or Blooming Cora (they both ask you to go after mutant monsters, and the one at Blooming Cora is slightly easier). These quests also give you Wooden equipment (sword, helm, shield), all of which you need for Level 10, so do these quests as soon as you are reasonably able to do so.


Levels 10-20: You should still be hanging out at Desert Beach and finishing the quests at your leisure. If you are comfortable with drilling, there are plenty of quests to do - the three-quest cycle involving empty buckets is a particularly good one, as one finish can result in more successful quest runs (starts at Skipper Min in Desert Beach, Empty Buckets are brought to the bunny maid in the well and filled buckets are brought to the guy in the bath house). Otherwise, continue pounding away at the Monster Guild quests, finishing all of them at both the beach and Blooming Cora, but especially Robin's.

Skills: Gun Carrier is accessible at TM LV 15, which you should hit sometime during this interval (enjoy it while you can, your TM level isn't going to stick with your base level for very long). You have a choice now: you can make the switch immediately, but without Invincible Reload using a gun is going to SUCK. Your damage will increase, yes, but the fact that you will lose your reload gauge everytime an enemy attack - even if it misses and does 0 damage - makes using a gun a pain in the ass and a huge clickfest. It's up to you - remember that you're losing a shield as well, and ammo early on is very expensive, costing 10 galder a shot. I recommend not switching unless you are funded.

Equipment: Purchase a Baby Penguin and a Lucky Amulet at Level 10 - they're not great, as LK doesn't have that much use right now, but better than nothing and you need to fill up those slots. More importantly, purchase a Mini Stomach Band for a nice DP boost, and a Wooden Helmet if you don't already have one. These can all be found at the Desert Beach store. Since you're still relying on Stone Strike to kill things, try to get a Bronze Sword off of Fanta Fish (or Sharp, that's even better). You can grab a Sensible Bronze Sword from Pineapples for even more DA if you can kill them efficiently. If you went for a gun already, Gun Type 1 is buyable at the store.


Levels 20-30: Level 20 is the point where you say farewell to Desert Beach and start moving on to other locales. Ghost Blue is the most logical place to go next, with a whole new set of Monster Guild quests for you to do. If you haven't done the bad anemone quest I listed above, then by all means, do it now. Robin's quest this time around is a bit hard and will probably want to be put off until you're using a gun with Invincible Reload, though... in Aquarius. Screw Aquarius. Head down to Southwest Forest from Megalopolis and talk to Robin THERE to do a quick quest involving Popos (who are located in Southeast Forest). This should, hopefully, give a good enough TM boost to get you closer or at Invincible Reload. (Don't forget to do Robin's Cora quest at Aquarius before LV 30, either, once you have a gun out.)

Once you DO have a gun though, Armor Squirts (Seabed Field4, just northeast of Aquarius) are great shooting targets; as are Torpedo Fish later (another map northeast of Seabed Field4). Party and kill at will. Sell Black Gunpowder to the NPC at the Gate of Ghost Blue for some serious cash, too - cash you'll need to supply your continually hungry ammo fund. With fresh loot from the corpses of dead Popeyed Anemones, you can also go do that quest in Blooming Cora that requests Sea Anemone Juice. It's not much EXP at this point, but hey, it's something, and it requires no drilling.

For those who don't hate drilling as much as I do, you've got a lot to do in Ghost Blue, but none of the quest prizes really stand out for lions, sadly (they're much better for mages, who especially want that Ruby Ring).

If you are funded/have a higher level char/have friends who are willing to spoil you, you can jump instantly from Level 25 to 35 with the Weepy Nora's Sad Request quest, of course. For reference, 125 Nora Sprayers are required. Given the leveling rate of lions early on, if this is at all feasible do it.

Skills: Invincible Reload! Yes?! Very yes. Available at TM 25, it's when you can finally ditch from using that pathetic, inaccurate, good-for-nothing Stone Strike (I'm not bitter. Really >_>) and go from what you were MEANT to do: shooting things. In the face. Gun damage is a nice boost as your bonus points in AC FINALLY matter now and you'll be able to kill pretty competently. You'll still lag behind others for damage, but at least you don't royally suck at doing damage anymore and it doesn't cost any MP, unlike the likes of Mana Arrow/Ring or Geldar Toss.

Equipment: Swap to a Novice Shield and an Impact Vest at level 20 (both storebought). Unfortunately, the level 20 DA weapons (Knives) are a little out of your reach as far as killing the monsters that drop them, but vendors around Desert Beach and Ghost Blue often sell them, so purchase one at a reasonable price if possible. Sensible Knife is the best you can find. If you have been diligent about TM quests and drilling and already have Invincible Reload, then by all means get a gun! Gun Type 2 is the best for you (LV 25) for a while, so invest in that. When you have the money and time, compound AC onto it (using Eye Drops, dropped conveniently by your local Popeyed Anemones). Alternatively, a Shrewd Wooden Gun (LV 20) would work as well. If you have made the switch to guns then try to find Contact Lens on sale, or if you're really brave go drill in the Pyramid and get it yourself via the quest (Pharaoh Boy offers it on Beach Field1, the map with Cannon Shells and Sand Demons).


Levels 30-40: Well, you should be getting used to gunning things down now. Unfortunately lions have their gun skills so spread apart that likely you're spending most of time shooting in melee range, where you should not be. Such is life. Rest assured, the pain will not last -too- much longer.

You should be having plenty of fun gunning down Coras and Torpedo Fish (or you were a lazy bastard and got sprayed), but now it's time to move on to better locales. First off, you should have Gun Booster by now. If you don't (and probably you don't), then there is a very fast way to acquire the TM levels to do. Head over to Phantom School (for those who don't know, warp to Gate of Oops Wharf, and head up two maps. Try not to get clubbed to death by the red dudes on the way) and bring a healthy supply of pots. At the school's entrance is... what's this, Robin? Yes, Robin is here, and this particular Robin gives some of the sexiest TM quests available. You should come here the very instant you hit level 30. The quest involves killing Ghost Books, which are... gun-weak. How convenient. It should be no problem if you come prepared, and stick in 1F Hallway for safety. With 190000 TM EXP a run this is not something to be missed out.

If for some reason after that quest you still don't have Gun Booster, Robin also offers a new quest at Southwest Forest (Forest Wasps), which you should do. You want Gun Booster that badly. Even if you already have it, do them anyway; Quick Reload is just around the corner and with your new damage output you should be able to finish these quests with ease. Once it's required, master it immediately (see below on where).

After the TM quest business is taken care of, head over to Path of Oops Wharf, a map west of Southwest Forest. This map is home to many things that are just begging to be shot at, particularly its gunweak Sea Tigers. Turtles, being aggro, can be annoying and thus you should not discriminate in shooting them either. Leave the Gomas alone unless you feel particularly brave, though, they're more trouble than they're worth at this point. Remember. To. PARTY!!

Skills: You know how you only had Stone Strike leveled up to 5? This is why. Gun Booster, available at TM LV30, changes you from 'incompetent ammo-wasting shieldless loser' to 'holy crap my damage does more than most people's MP-heavy attacks'. Learn it and jack it up to LV10 immediately (...if you have enough MP to use it. CHECK BEFORE THIS, MAKE SURE YOU HAVE THE MINIMUM MP TO USE THE GUN BOOSTER LEVEL YOU HAVE!!), and use it with extreme prejudice. Your top priority after doing so is mastering it. The required item is Blue Feather (14 of them, dropped by Nephthys in Pyramid Dungeon2). How much damage does Gun Booster give? Well, mastered, it's a +20 AC boost, and each point of AC adds 20 damage to your attack. 400 extra damage? I believe that speaks for itself.

Equipment: Assuming you went with the Gun Type2, you have a bit of an equipment break now as far as weapons go. The Gun Type3 is more or less identical to the GunType2 compounded (again, remember, 1 AC = 20 damage) so if you haven't done so, go get some Eye Drops and compound AC on the slot. Headgear... not terribly important, but go hunt something down if you've got nothing better to do - an Iron Cap off Forest Wasps (which you should be killing anyway for the Southwest Forest TM quest) is the best right now. Shields -- oh wait you don't use shields. A Body Charm would also suit you nicely. This is a quest prize from the shaman NPC in Phantom School 1F Hallway, and requires a little bit of work to do if you can't bum off Dead Tree Quill Pens from someone (9 of that and Dead Tree Pens required to complete all 3 runs, dropped by Marie Toys and Maro Toys. Hunt Maro Toys in the 1F Toilet). Both are gunweak, though they kinda hurt when they get in range to do the pen-stabbing thing, so a little work is required. The Body Charm is also not guaranteed, but the odds are decent enough to try. If you manage to get one, use those Turtle Shells you've been getting from Ironclad Turtles (which you've been killing at Path of Oops Wharf... right?) to compound DP onto it.


Levels 40-50: Getting oh so close to the actual good parts of being a lion. Worry not, it will come soon enough, now that you can actually fire that gun with some degree of competence. Path to Oops Wharf parties are by far your best bet till you run dry on killing things there (remember, move on when the monsters' level is equal to or lower than your own). It should still do nicely till the mid 40s.

Alternatively, if for some reason you're not fond of Path to Oops Wharf, head back down to Aquarius and check out Robin's new quest (Pirate Ghosts) for more respectable TM exp. TM exp you want 'cause Quick Reload is looming, and the fun -really- starts there. You should do this anyway if partying is slow, sometime, because those pirates are gun-weak to boot. Warp out of Aquarius to the Gate of Ghost Blue and head east to find the map that has them (Siremaids are also gun-weak if you want to just plain kill things, but watch out for the Mermen). Don't wait too long, as Siremaids are L41 and Pirate Ghosts are L48, and thus the effort becomes more wasted at higher levels when you don't yield as much exp for your work.

Robin also offers yet another quest on Southwest Forest again, the mantis being the skeet targets for you today. Knock that out if you happen to be in the region; it's easy and it paves the TM road more.

Drill lovers rejoice: you have lots to do should you have the patience to do so! Despite my vast inclination against drilling, there is honestly a lot of viable prizes open to you now, enough to start using the new L40 drills you have available to attain. These quests are virtually all in Phantom School. Toilette Mara's quest (4 Red Tissue, 1 Blue Book a run for 5 repeats) and Elliot's quest (5 Study Notes a run for 5 repeats) are ones of key interest, especially the latter. Check equipment section for more detail, but they give respectable EXP in their own right. All of these items are drillable in 1F Hallway and its rooms... don't wander into 1-3 or 1-4, though. Or do so and find out why you shouldn't.

As you coast near the precious Level 50, the mark of job change for some of you funded louts, switch over to blasting Ghost Books (who happen to be conveniently near you and you should be very familiar with them now). Parties in 1F Hallway are sometimes iffy but not too hard to achieve. If you find yourself missing them too much or prefer a change of pace, head over to Gate of Caballa Relics. In town, Hunter Yuri offers a quest to murder some poor avians. These Leaf Birds can be found northwest of the Gate of Caballa Relics, where... just waiting for you... are gunweak Mandragoras as well! This map is awesome and not used NEARLY enough, so you may be hard pressed to find people here; but if you do they will stay (great map for mages as well).

Skills: TM LV40 houses Quick Reload, the last essential lion skill you will ever need as a quintessential gunner... till job change. But presumably that's still some way off, so we can pretend this is the Holy Grail and all that. Being able to reload (and shoot) while moving is an absolute -marvel- after all of these levels of pain and endurance, and you will find yourself very hyped up as your lion runs back and forth blasting things to bit and feeling understandably badass. This skill is essentially going to be your leveling technique from now on, so cherish it. After this, start hoarding your points in preparation for Power Shot.

Equipment: Hoo boy. Lots to do here. First task to do at level 40 should be to run over and purchase a Steel Healthband at a shop to replace your now outdated Impact Vest. If you're willing to drill a lot, there is a belt that is even better - the famed Duo Doctor, doubles as the misery of many compounders everywhere. This belt is a quest prize from the aforementioned Toilette Mara's quest, which... here's the kicker... isn't guaranteed, like many of the Phantom School quests. Unfortunately the odds aren't even very good in this case (you have three shots, each of them 1/3) considering the effort to dig up the items. But if you don't mind boring holes in classrooms, hey, go for it. While you're also there, turning in Study Notes will also possibly yield Acceptance Trunks - an excellent item to have. Your beloved gun... Classic is available at level 40, and at this point you do want the damage upgrade. Problem: all the drilling places for it suck, except for one. That one place is Phantom School 1F. Yes, you have a LOT of reason to drill here, tis why I actually recommend it, for once. Both Shrewd Classic Guns and Craft Classic Guns can be found there, the former being far superior, but do with what you get. Alternatively, you can always hope to find one on sale for a reasonable price at vendors if you go market hunting. The last possible item of note that would be cool is a Necklace Watch, but unfortunately that one's hell to attain, a prize in the Poppuri Whistle quest. Poppuri Dungeon drilling blows, let's get this out right now; likely cave into purchasing this or put it off until later.


Levels 50-60: Yay. Yay.

This is the beginning of lion awesomeness. Job change is not far off and you can now -move- and -shoot- at the same time. Utterly incomprehensible, I know.

50 is a turning point for that map of easy-to-find parties, Path to Phantom School. Get used to this map's layout, for you'll be killing things here for a long, long while. The quest in question is available at Megalopolis Monster Guild, where Yuri gives you a quest to kill 40 Gallis (the red ones) in 40 minutes. Hop there, hop back to Gate of Oops Wharf, and start gunning - Gallis are gunweak, how coincidental. If you want, you can shoot Hallis out of boredom, but being both L54 and gun-protected, as well as non-aggressive, make them not nearly as preferable. The EXP rewards for this is absolutely spectacular, and the ease at which you can find or form parties makes the map just as remarkable. This quest can literally drive you all the way up to 60 (and does, for many classes), so be prepared to spend some time here.

The quest rewards really push this spot as a leveling area beyond everything else, but there are alternatives if you wish to pursue them. Phantom School is still open, and you should be able to kite Marie Toys easily enough now if for some reason you prefer grinding there instead. Relics Field1 is also an option, southeast of Gate of Caballa Relics and full of gunweak enemies, but again, the lack of a quest and/or party availability are points against both of these spots as compared to Path to Phantom School.

In the meantime you've got another TM quest to hit up with the Love(ly) Hunter Robin, which you should do with extreme prejudice. Your goal right now is to prepare for and make the job advancement to Inventor and have enough TM levels banked to instantly learn and max out Power Shot (TM LV55). With that in mind, head over to Phantom School once again and wipe out the Maro Toys in 1F Toilet to clear that quest out of the way.

For funded people, Card Girl's quest at Gate of Black Swamp (two Arachne and Swamp Shark Cards a run for 25 repeats, very commonly sold on the market in bulk) will run you straight from L50 to L55, if you've got the cash or reserves to do so.

Additionally, if for some reason you really want to get Inventor that quickly, you can either buy the relevant job change items (listed in a below section of this guide) or go drill them yourselves in Rose Garden. With, likely, Blue Drills. Words cannot express how much of a pain in the ass this is (I did it, I know, and it was dumb) ... BUT... the option is there, especially if you did something deviant like learn Basic Detection and want to make the jump ASAP.

Skills: Finish Quick Reload if you haven't. Otherwise your goal is so very clear: Power Shot. In all likelihood you won't have the TM levels to reach it yet off the bat when you first strike the LV50 barrier, but hold onto your TM points for now and be ready to do so.

Equipment: You should be in gear with accessories now (Acceptance Trunks for sure at least, if you got unlucky and failed to find one then try to find one in the market). The level 50 gun is the Gun Type4, which is a decent upgrade but not totally necessary - one of those 'buy it if you see it on sale, otherwise skip' options, as attaining them yourself is rather difficult for your level. If you were fortunate enough to get a Shrewd Classic, that will tide you over till 60. Headgear is now viable again, however, with the advent of Craft magical hats being available - Craft Felt Hood in particular the one you want (drillable in Phantom School 1F Hallway - kinda a hint to drill there, isn't it? - and also any Relics Field map). If you're eager to start your boss hunting, Master Mong on Coral Field7 drops the Master Felt Hood as well, and with Quick Reload he's now well within your killing ability. If you bother getting one of these, be sure to take the time to compound DP on it, as well, although the L50 DP compound item is agonizing to get and you may want to settle for Turtle Shells instead. Your belt is set as well (Steel Healthband or Duo Doctor, still), so that covers all that's up for the moment, your main task being to finish what item fetching you didn't do the last level bracket.


Levels 60-70: It's job change time. If you've hit 60 and haven't made the job advancement yet, now is the absolute best time to do so. Incidentally, your target TM level is 52 before job change.

Drop leveling and go acquire the newly available Diamond Drills at any shop that holds them and head over to Rose Garden (northeast of Megalopolis), a zone that will greet you with Level 100+ enemies. Don't worry, they're actually not that bad in terms of killing you, although you probably won't be tangling with any of them in combat (and Dancer Michels are non-aggro, as a relief). Here you will drill... and drill... and drill... and drill. Oh, and did I mention that you will drill? With thirty-two fairly rare items to acquire, you will need to get very familiar with the layout of the map. There's no need to press further than Rose Garden1, but it will take a considerable chunk of time; friends and some wise market watching help the process along. Incidentally, if you into other people drilling there for their job change items as well of different classes (you'll run into plenty of dragons there, for example, looking for Eagle Feather Pens) trading items is both viable and to mutual benefit.

Job change? Good? Mastered Power Shot? Excellent. (Check the Skills section on the details for that) Now it's time to pay a visit to Carbigal, arguably the most active city after Megalopolis. In here you will be given a quest at the local Monster Guild (again, by our everpersistent Hunter Yuri) to hunt.. snails. Yes. Electric snails. No, I don't know, either. Apparently these snails are L92, though, what the heck. But anyway, said snails can be found just east of the Gate of Black Swamp, another very popular party hotspot, whereupon you should weasel your way into one whenever possible.

The map is unfortunately populated by the super-annoying Super Golden Moles, which you'll be dodging left and right and getting ample practice with the kiting technique. But with Power Shot at your disposal, snails will fall like fodder (they're slow and really suck at actually hitting you) and the EXP will come at a remarkably fast pace, both from the overly generous quest rewards and being in Royal/Special parties on the map itself. It is literally enough, again, to jump you all the way up to L70 alone.

If you need a change of pace, an inferior but still viable quest is available again in Azteca that involves hunting Mimics (and later, Aposis) at the Monster Guild, both of which are pretty pathetic to you at this point, especially if you have Power Shot. If dodging moles isn't to your taste and sit-click-watch-things-die-in-one-shot is more preferable, if at a slower exp rate, than this is for you.

Skills: Once you have your shiny Inventor ass, if you were smart and listened to me, you'll be at exactly TM LV55. That means that you get Power Shot at Level 10 off the bat. Where to use this lovely new skill, you ask? That'll be Seabed Field5! Ah, you say! To Ghost Blue and to walk out decimating those puny beings that thought they could hurt me thirty levels back! How delightful! ...except not.

The monster you're hunting for are Gentle Stings, which drop what you need (Glossy Leathers, 18 of them) and are on a map accessible only at the very end of Abyss Dungeon, past some fairly strong monsters, and they themselves pack a whallop. Getting there is a journey in itself. You'll need a Crystal Coupon, which is compounded by Compounder Nate and requires Crystal (drillable in any lowbie Desert Beach or Ghost Blue map) and a 5 galder coupon (ditto) as well as Paper (again ditto, though storebought so don't worry about it). You'll also need a Nora Key Card (bought in store) and a Nora Doll (go Power Shot some random loser Joes or Mummies on the way to the NPC).

Once in Norah's Sewage, head to the mid-west side of the map - it's a rocky outcropping - and talk to the Weepy Nora on the southmost ledge. Once you're warped in, head straight north and ignore Salamanders, proceeding your way through Abyss Dungeon. Don't take a warp back out to Aquarius by accident... and on the way you may want to shoot Flat Salamanders for their Thick Belly Skins, it's good stuff. Check the wiki for exact maps and locations, as the place is somewhat confusing. Once on Seabed Field5, start hunting the Gentle Stings at your leisure, although do NOT, repeat, do NOT make the mistake of thinking you can point blank shoot them. Because, really, you can't. And if you feel the need to test my words, remember that it's a long walk back. <_< Bring enough pots for a while here until you have the leathers you need. Try not to get eaten by the Leviathans on the right side of the map, either.

With your prize in hand, go master Power Shot and take a moment to congratulate yourself. You have just reached the point where lions begin to truly shine, and it should be well appreciated. This skill will be your primary attack for far too many levels to count and beyond, so begin getting used to it.

Equipment: Vat? Equipment? Well, you've got hat upgrades... and gun upgrades... and that's it, really. Your target hat is a Craft Beret, and your target gun is a Power or Master Renaissance Gun. The Power can be found easily enough because they're dropped by, guess what, Electric Snails (man, don't you love how convenient this is sometimes?) and should be refined to +2 or +3 for maximum usage. Both the Craft Beret and the Master Renaissance Gun are found in one place: Tut's chamber. Since you've got Diamond Drills now, AND a very powerful skill to whomp bosses with, Tut farming is an attractive option, netting you lots of things to sell for cash, boss seals, and pulling some awesome equipment off of killing Tut himself (both the Master Renaissance and the Master Metal Guns, L60 and L70 respectively, drop from him and both can last a LONG time if you get a good load). The Beret is drilled in his chamber, along with all sorts of neat stuff, so definitely consider dumping some hours here to get your gear. It's profitable, relaxing and easy to do when you're not blowing away snails. The Craft Beret should be compounded with Thick Belly Skins (Flat Salamanders as mentioned above, kinda hard to find but worth it).

Oh yeah, and that silly Sign of Creation too, it's pretty good. This should be slapped along with your Acceptance Trunks and compounded with Tree Sap (dropped by Tritches, found in Phantom School 1-3 and 1-4) for AC. As the Sign is a one-time item, though, you may want to invest some extra time looking for a nice public compounder (ask NICELY) to do the deed for you to yield best results. This is true for all equipment henceforth.


Levels 70-80: WRYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY

70-80's a bit of a longer haul. But worry not, for rewards await for those patient enough to work for them.

The electric snails quest should be long in the dust by now, which means you're likely finishing yourself up on the Aposis quest. Mimics are still cute skeet targets, but since you vastly outlevel them now this'll likely result in a bit of a slower pace as far as exp goes... fortunately, Relics Field4 is a rather easy place to tag into a party. In all likelihood, you should finish the full 25 iterations of the Aposis quest as well (it'll go very fast, considering that you should be oneshotting them with ease).

Also, go up to Phantom School again and sign up with Robin to blast some Tritches into dust for TM exp. Then move on, for the rest of the 70-80 range, to a grind.

Where, you ask? There are plenty of options; for those who don't want to worry about the hassle of finding a party and prefer hightailing it solo, Swamp Field1's rather ideal. Chameleon Frogs, their lesser tadpole brethren and the everpresent snails are all fairly slow, all gun neutral, and all die quite easily to a well aimed shot or two. This is a low risk map, but unfortunately due to chameleons not being the most popular of enemies to fight with other classes (phys. protect, light weak... LIGHT DRAGON HYPE IS A GO?!) you're not going to find much partywork here. No sir, the parties are all clustered on two other maps, Swamp Field2 and Field6.

Swamp Field2 is the epitome of a grind map. The map is huge, the spawn equally intense to match up for it. It's a map that screams to have Shooting Spree on (which you'll get.. soon... maybe? Right?), but alas, that will have to wait. For now settle for joining in one of the umpteen billion parties that are ALWAYS here (I've never seen this map empty. Ever. Not even on Ruby) and grinding to your heart's content. The one stickler is that Swamp Sharks are gun-protected... unfortunate, but hardly a game-stopper, as even that doesn't change the fact that the ridiculous monster count on this map gives you a flow of exp faster than pretty much anywhere else imaginable. Watch out, though, things do sting when a mob of angry spiders and alligators get on your sorry furry ass (crit spam can wear you down from full to death amazingly quickly), so come here with an ample amount of supplies.

Field6 offers a nice alternative, minus frogs and sharks in lieu of masses of arachnes, although another (and also gun-protected -_-) monster, Mud Bigfoots, are the balancing factor to this, and unlike Swamp Sharks they're kinda a pain to deal with. Parties are also somewhat more scarce here, with royals being virtually nonexistant as mages avoid this map like the plague, and specials generally falling along the female side more than male (most male chars are dragons and thus find themselves slaughtering things at Field2). Still, if you want a breather or a change of pace, you can try your luck here. God knows a lot of people spend way too much time committing mass genocide on Field2 that sometimes different scenery is a good thing to have.

That's it, though, there's no real trick. Work your way up to 80, where a wealth of new quests will await you.

Skills: Here's the cutoff point where you decide to get Shooting Spree or Lucky Seven. If the former, then you're going to bank TM points for a while until TM70 rolls around so you can learn your fun happy joy joy mob control ASAP... oh, and you might as well shoot Frozen Corpses in advance, they drop the cards that you need to master it. Find them in Phantom School 2-3 and try not to get mobbed too much (watch out for their Mana Arrows too, they sting). If the latter, then... well, you're actually going to need even MORE TM points. Stone Strike has to be leveled to 10, you need to learn Armor Destructor as well (but leave it at L1), and then finally can you start pumping Lucky Seven (which, again... 4 TM points to learn, 3 to master)... you can probably tell rather easily which one I feel is better, but to each their own. Those eggs from Standing Salamanders are used to master it as well (I hope you picked up some on the way to Gentle Stings); if you don't remember, they're located in Norah's Sewage/Abyss Dungeon.

Regardless of whatever path you choose, you'll be (or should) get the other skill after that, and then your TM levels will be ignored all the way till TM115 for the as-yet-of unreleased Quick/Double Shot.

Equipment: Mmmm equipment. Well, 80 is the cutoff point for Tut farming, bud, so you better get that in while you can, and get a shiny Master Metal to boot. As said before, acquiring a good load and 2-slotter will last you till 90-100 (Stainless is a Skull drop, and he's a wee bit out of your killing ability alone unless you're very, very lucky despite being gun-weak). The worst case, of course, you can turn to the market and look for firearms in that direction.

You can also yank a hunting cap somewhere, but headgear honestly isn't that much of a factor for lions (I used a beret till the 90s), so I'm going to neglect mentioning them henceforth.

Much more importantly, Rhythm Earrings are now available. The ultimate gunner accessory, these babies are a reward from Pianist Chris's quest in the Music Room in Phantom School. It's located past the Annex... and the things in there are WALKING INSTRUMENTS OF DEATH, don't try to even provoke them - especially Dazes x_x. You may need a buddy or two to play decoy/fodder in order to walk to Chris successfully. Of course, don't even bother going into the room 'till you've found what you need... and those would be Metronomes. 15 of them (3 a run), drilled in the main Annex hall. Needless to say, this isn't an easy task when you have those gun-protected Keepers running around and smacking you upside the face for horrific amounts of pain (at least Leader Toys are "lol"). You'll need help or a healthy wallet to finish the quest, but it's well worth it. With AC+6 and LK+6 as stats and the ability to compound even more AC (scream in joy if you get 12 or 13 total on your Colored Paper, dropped from aforementioned Chameleon Frogs), they're the most popular gunner lion accessory for a reason.

Levels 80-90: Swamp2 is still the place to be, oh yes it is. It and Swamp6 will remain prime grinding spots for... well... an effing long time. Fortunately, 80 is also the point where a bunch of incredibly sexy quests become available to you, which you should tackle right away.

First off, there is the Tango quest. This is an amusing and potent item quest which can jump you five levels or so if taken straight from 80. The first thing to note is that the items required are drilled at Teichichi Volcano, a map with 150m depth. This means Gao Drills are required. Gao Drills can be bought at an NPC on Tapasco Field4 for a piddling 4k each... but that involves running through the most dangerous fields of the game. CAN YOU DO IT? You better believe it. :> Get to work, soldier. Buy a good amount (5-6 at least) to haul back, since those trips aren't very friendly and you should make the best of it.

With these drills in hand, note that the quest NPC is located inside a cabin on Teichichi Field2 - to reach Teichichi, head to the Northwest Forest from Megalopolis (using the NW exit, obviously) and keep heading north. Along the way you may stumble onto Path to Snow Hill - if you have a Chaos Drill on hand (yes, you have 'em - you're 80 now! 120m depth hurrah!) then you should take the time to go up there, haul arse up to Snow Field1 and start drillin'. Your objective: a Red Nose. Never mind that I hate drilling, these items are fairly essential and easy enough to get, though the map can be a pain to drill on at times. What the Red Nose does is let you warp freely from Megalopolis and Snow Field1 via the Rudolph NPC at the map's entrance; it doesn't consume the item, so it's infinite, and saves you a walk from Megalopolis everytime you find yourself wanting snow or volcano. (Also, get two Red Noses if you're the type who likes to invest in the future - transportation to any Snow Field map beyond Field1 requires 2.)

That said (and polishing off the Snow Kids quest from Love Hunter Robin at Gate to Snow Hill), head over back to Teichichi.... well-stocked and ready to drill~~~!

Yes. Drill. Drill on these maps with their L200+ mobs walking around and probably owning you in a good one-two sucker punch combo. (Hell, Lakis can probably OHKO you with a single crit). It's a risky business, but what's life without risk, eh? What you need: Serpentine and Spinel, 25 of each. Make no mistake, this'll take a while, though the effort is well worth it. For the lazy and rich, you may of course always turn to the market to purchase these ores, since they're pretty commonly on sale from the regular Teichichi drillers. They also weigh a @#%^@ing ton, so bring weight equipment if you can spare it. Also, there's no need to deviate from Field1; all of the fields are equally drillable and the monsters only get more ridiculous the deeper you press in. Plus Field1 is the closest gate to the map (and thus the respawn point).

Once you've gotten your hands on the necessary items, the last 25 the quest demands are Sulfur Stones, dropped from Kilimanjaros. You should be scavenging these easily enough from the army of dragons that are ALWAYS hounding this map, Hellfiring those poor kilis to bits (to say nothing of the Lakis that get Dark Lanced or Arrow Rushed)... but, fortunately, if you're short, or don't like to pick up others' leftovers, Kilimanjaros themselves are very gun-weak. They have massive HP, being high level mobs, but are easily within your killing range. Smite them as necessary to get the sulfurs.

Once you're loaded down on these rocks, go up to Field2 and find the Tango Cabin. Now make no mistake, this cat is weird. WEIRD. He wants to make an immortal brew.

For his 'masters', he says. Who are old and senile.

And he's a talking cat.

He's also apparently made of MONEY, as you find yourself being loaded down with 20x Galder Coupon prizes every other turn-in.

>_>

<_<

But whatever, it's exp, massive exp at that, as all of your work is paid off. Escape from Teichichi with a PPD or just walking back, fresh new levels in tow. That, fortunately, was the toughest 80 quest you'll have to do. The other are all monster hunt quests, which you can do at your leisure for great rewards. They are, as follows:

At Carbigal: Myconids from Love Hunter Robin (located in Swamp Dungeon 1 and 2). TM exp quest.
At Carbigal: Mingos from Master Hunter (located in Swamp Field3, north of the Gate). Exp quest.
At Carbigal: Cobra Flowers from Assistant Hunter (located in Swamp Dungeon2). Exp quest.
At Phantom School Annex: Leader Toys from Love Hunter Robin (located in Phantom School Annex F2). TM exp quest.
At Snow Hill: Snow Kids from Love Hunter Robin (located in Snow Field1). TM exp quest.
At Vampire Castle: Kerberos from Love Hunter Robin (located in Vamp Dungeon1). TM exp quest. Warning: Kerberos are gun-protected and this quest is massively difficult at this point. You may want to hold off on it.

There is also, for those less inclined to grind at the swamp maps, a 25-iteration exp quest at the Megalopolis Monster Guild from Yuri, this time hunting Dancer Isabelles at Rose Garden1. I recommend heading there if for some reason you can't find a decent party... the map's layout is hell, but you can blast everything there to bits with little trouble (nothing's gun-protected). This applies well onwards to level 100, since the above quests will likely skyrocket you to or near 90 with little trouble.

Skills: See 70-80. Nothing's changed. If you've mastered Spree or Lucky Seven by now, start working on the other.

Equipment: Equipment! Well, 80's the point for new shields... too bad you don't use shields. I suppose buying one of the many Craft or Custom Turbans on the market wouldn't be a bad idea, though, as they're far more common than hunting caps. If you have a Master Metal, you're already set (and I hope you did, since Tut's no longer available to you). You can upgrade to a Mst, Stainless if you have the cash, but don't bother camping Skull himself unless you have over 4000+ HP to survive the worst of his attacks. Fortunately, he IS gunweak, so actually taking him down is little issue if you can survive him. Definitely have Rhythm Earrings by now.


Levels 90-100: (to be completed)


A quick summary of the levels to follow:
100-110: Swamp Shark quest. Continue grinding in Swamp2 or 6 once finished. Machinery room is still good now and all the way till the 160s, so assume it's always a hotspot.
110-120: Monkya quest. Again, Swamp2/6 is the way to go.
120-130: Swamp6 and Arachnes quest. Mr. Freaks quest - gets you all the way to 130, well worth it.
130-180: Mud Bigfoot quest, then a long haul at Snow Field 3 (Polar Bears) or Tech 1 (Kilimanjaros).
180+: Just about anywhere you can find a party. Tech1 may still be good till 200. Tech4 is popular, and you can you still blow Yetis and Iciclers up at SF3. Tapasco fields may become popular in the future for gunners, esp. 2 and 3.

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IV. Skill Analysis

I am not going to bother listing all of the indepth skill descriptions and costs and such that have already been poured over in detail on a million other threads. Other people before me have researched diligently to dig these up; you can find links to such threads at the top of this guide. Rather, I'll give a brief overview of each skill, what it does, its worth to you and some common skill builds you can follow.


Stone Strike (TM LV1) - The first skill you will learn and basically your only MP sink for a while until you get guns. It is a melee power attack. Stone Strike damage is based off of DA, so get equipment that boosts it. You should never raise this above Level 10 (and only then because it's a prerequisite for Armor Destructor and Lucky Seven), and early on not even above 5 until you have your more important gun skills mastered.

Invincible Drill (TM LV1) - You keep drilling even if you get hit...! Yeah, even at its dirt-cheap cost, it's not worth it. Half of the time the guy hitting you is someone you don't want to keep hitting you anyway, so it can even get you killed. Unless you have a weird brand of drilling style, ignore this.

Sixth Sense (TM LV1) - Raises your DA. Guns don't care about DA. Skip it; it's certainly not worth it just for the drilling boost or the crit damage increase.

Heavy Carrier (TM LV10) - You have a 4 in Sense, do you really need more carrying capacity? When you're starved for TM points as is? Unless this is some pure drilling lion you're making, never take this.

Gun Carrier (TM LV15) - Lets you use guns. Feel special, only lions and foxes can use them! (And foxes have like... no reason to, ever...) Obviously learn it when you want to start using a gun.

Shuriken Master (TM L15) - Lets you use throwing weapons. This is basically built for foxes, as they actually get the 2nd job skills to make this more useful. Gunner lions already have throwing weapons, they're called bullets. Don't get it.

Sticky Foot (TM LV20) - Lowers the HV of the target. Generally kinda useless on most gunner lions, this is usuable if you're interested in PVP or really want some more gun damage on bosses you hunt (as HV is the equivalent of gun defense) but... skip otherwise.

Invincible Reload (TM LV25) - Lets you be able to take hits from enemies and not lose your reload gauge. An absolute must-have, gunning is ridiculous and a click-fest without it. Most people don't even bother with guns until they can learn this.

Gun Booster (TM LV30) - This skill is, without a doubt, your target as a lion early on and the one that makes a -big- change in making your life easier. When mastered, it provides a +20 AC boost (remember, each point of AC is 20 damage for a gun, so that's 400 damage). Not only does this pretty much almost double your current damage when you get it, it multiplies on further with things like Power Shot. Don't forget to make sure you have enough MP to use it before learning it! Mastery Item: Blue Feathers x14, dropped by Nephthys in Pyramid Dungeon2

Basic Detection (TM LV35) - Don't get me wrong, this skill is awesome. It makes drilling not suck and the hype you sometimes hear about it is well justified - it literally does tell you where to dig. But... lions are in running (next to mages) for a class that craves TM points more than anything else, so do you really want to burn 10+ points to make your drilling life easier? Tough question, but whatever you decide definitely don't get it before Power Shot. If you drill a lot it may be worthwhile to you, otherwise... consider carefully.

Armor Destructor (TM L40) - One level into it and that's it. Why? It's near utterly useless, as DP lowering doesn't affect gun damage, or even the damage of DA-based attacks like Stone Strike and Fortune Hit. You've got no reason to take this aside from the mandatory level to unlock Lucky Seven. If you're big on being a support lion in PVP, I guess it might see use...

Quick Reload (TM LV40) - You know how that reload gauge doesn't fill up when you move? Yeah, at TM 40 that will no longer plague you. Like Invincible Reload, it is a must have, as it allows for much more effective hit and run and kiting tactics. Note that gun skills later on don't even use the reload gauge though, so you can, for example, Power Shot + normal shot, then back off immediately to reload.

Lucky Seven (TM LV50) - Ah yes, Lucky Seven. By the time you hit TM LV50 you'll know sorely just how often your gun misses. Lucky Seven remedies that with its excellent percentage-based LK boost, a +45% boost when mastered. However, be cautioned that you will most likely want to wait off on investing the heavy number of TM points into this skill until you master Power Shot (and Shooting Spree too, possibly). Given that it costs 16 TM points just to learn the first level of Lucky Seven (10 for Stone Strike, 2 for Armor Destructor, 4 for learning), you're losing points that could be used to immediately master Power Shot. Up to you, if you prefer not missing with your normal shot more than anything else, or like to compound a lot, go for it. Mastery Item: Salamander Eggs x9, dropped by Standing Salamander in Norah's Sewage Pipe/Abyss Dungeon

Compound Master (TM LV70) - Raises the success rate of compounding items. It's in heavy debate whether this skill even affects item compounding (the skill description tends to lead to a bonus towards item creation, i.e. using the compounding NPCs in stores to make items like Crystal Coupons). Also, at TM LV70 and being a pretty big TM sink, it's definitely not worth the time for most gunner lions; leave this to the compounder fox builds or pure LK lions.


(Inventor 2nd Job Skills)

Butt Plate (TM LV40) - Basically a Stone Strike that works for guns. Given that it is based mainly on DA, most gunner lions have no use for this (and if you are based on DA, why the heck are you using a gun anyway? Go with Stone Strike and get a shield to go with it. Better yet play a fox). Theoretically is supposed to conserve ammo but.. c'mon, who worries about that.

Power Shot (TM LV55) - This is the skill that makes lions such a force to be reckoned with in 2nd job. Fast execution, massive range, speedy cooldown, attached with a reasonable MP cost and superhigh damage off of one of the game's best attacking types (yep, guns)... what more can you ask for? Basically you'll be spamming this to level the moment you get it, using your normal shot only to finish off things close to death. Learn it and master it ASAP, it's as important as Gun Booster was when you were a wee lil' Engineer. Mastery Item: Glossy Leather x18, dropped by Gentle Stings in Seabed Field5

Shooting Spree (TM LV70) - The lion's only AoE skill to date, the biggest drawback of this otherwise sweet skill is that it's centered on you. In other words, you, the fragile lion class, are going to provoke an entire mob into rampaging onto your ass when you use this with little room to run... unless of course they all die from it. Otherwise, excellent damage - not that far from Power Shot to be honest! - although it does cost more than twice as much MP. Can be useful in a very urgent situation where you need a monster to die right away and can't wait for the cooldown on Power Shot too, although that's not very efficient. Grab it depending on your playstyle; if you prefer sniping all day then go after Lucky Seven first, or even other skills to your liking, but it's not a bad one to have around. If you do learn it, master it immediately, as it kinda sucks early on (only hits 2-4 targets as opposed to the 5 mastered). Mastery Item: Frozen Corpse Card x8, dropped by Frozen Corpses in Phantom School 2-3

Pistol Whip (TM 90) - A melee skill independent of guns (although it can be used with them), Pistol Whip, sometimes better known as Fortune Hit, is an odd attack. First off, it's physical like Stone Strike or Butt Plate, so it'll be hitting a different defense. Secondly, the damage is based partially off of the enemy's max HP (IOWs, it does more to an enemy with more HP.... an exact percentage, in fact) and off your LK stat. Pure LK lion builds pursue their struggling leveling in order to reach this skill, which is extremely potent and one of the most damaging one-shot skills in the game. A few things hold it back, though - first off, although you have a 4 in Sense, without having pumped points into LK and/or having a large amount of LK equipment, your damage with this is obviously not going to be optimal. Secondly, 6s cooldown. 6s cooldown blows. Doesn't help that it has a pretty long wind-up on the animation, too. And then there's the simple fact that you, as a gunner lion, should really not be getting into point-blank range to hit things, since that completely defeats the point of using a gun in the first place. On the other hand, Pistol Whip's mechanics make it a viable skill to use even on gunners for boss hunting - because the damage is based largely off of HP, and bosses have tremendous amounts of it (albeit split across several HP bars), even a relatively low LK won't hold you back from pounding pretty hard. Additionally, many of the bosses that happen to be gun-resistant (Tenter and Mad Ray, for example) are physical-weak, which means with Pistol Whip you'll stand a chance at getting your dents into them. Not what I would call a recommended skill to learn, but it's definitely an option.


NOTE: I am aware that there are skills that have information available and are not quite yet released to eTO. I will address these on a later note.

Standard Gunner Skill Build
Stone Strike (LV5)
Gun Carrier
Invincible Reload
Quick Reload
Power Shot (Mastered)
Shooting Spree (Mastered) [optional]
Stone Strike (LV10)
Armor Destructor (LV1)
Lucky Seven (Mastered)
<filler spot> [Pistol Whip, Dark Sight... etc. be sure to have 16 TM points free before TM115]
Quick/Double Shot (Mastered)

A common debate is whether one should invest in Lucky Seven before Power Shot. From my experience, the damage boost you get from Power Shot vastly outweighs any accuracy boost from Lucky Seven; furthermore, after acquiring Power Shot you won't be attacking normally with your gun nearly as much as you used to, and Power Shot itself is inherantly pretty accurate. Don't expect to miss with it on anything that isn't fifty levels or higher than you. With all that said, Lucky Seven feels like a much lower priority to me.

On the other hand, Shooting Spree's desirability varies from person to person. It's an excellent AoE skill, and the only one lions get as far as I know, but it does have the issues of high MP cost and being centered on the user - an open invitation for mobs to rampage on your fragile ass. If you see potential use for it in your playstyle, go for it before Lucky Seven.


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V. Job Change to Inventor

A lion, like any other class, can make the job change to second class from Engineer to Inventor at base LV50/TM LV40. You need the following items to job change:

2 Petroleum (drilled in Ghost Blue fields)
2 Natural Gas (drilled in Ghost Blue fields)
16 Pocket Watches (drilled in Rose Garden)
16 One-Eyed Glasses (drliled in Rose Garden)

Understandably, these items are a pain in the ass to require, like many of the job change items. They're all usually on sale, but the market frankly rips people off on these - yet at the same time Lion 2nd job is so utterly important that it's often tempting, if you have the cash. If you're going to bite down and try to acquire these yourself (which I recommend, at the time of writing, especially for new players) then consider the following:

- Don't jump the gun on these. Yes, you can jobchange at 50/40, but there's no POINT to unless you like the Ky Kiske ripoff outfit -that- much. (On that note, they need to fix that hair color reversion bug -_-) Lion 2nd job is needed for one thing: Power Shot. Power Shot is TM LV55. You do acquire 12 million TM EXP on job change (and 1 million regular EXP), but make sure that's enough to hit you at or very near TM LV55 before going crazy about finding the items. Otherwise, endure and keep leveling as an Engineer until then.

- Petroleum and Natural Gas are very rare, but in a pretty easy place to drill. That one's just a matter of patience and - yes - luck. If you have or have friends with Basic Detection it'll go somewhat faster, or you can break down and buy these off of vendors in Aquarius. Since you only need four total in this group, it's not that much of a money sink.

- On the other hand, the sheer quantity of Pocket Watches and One-Eyed Glasses require make these not so practical on the budget. You'll need to drill in Rose Garden. Rose Garden is a level 80+ area. It is not friendly to stray wandering lions who walk in and get smacked over the head by the dolls and statues. The depth there is also 80m, which means that you are not drilling there with any storebought drills except the Diamond and Chaos, the former which isn't available until Level 60. Unless you have buddies, too many rare drills to waste, or are VERY patient and can use Blue Drills, wait till said LV60 benchmark to drill at Rose Garden. It makes that much of a difference, trust me. And as stated above, you may want to level to this anyway to assure instant access to Power Shot when you job change.


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VI. Equipment Checklist

This is just a checklist of items that a Lion should potentially be interested in as he levels up. I figured that it deserved its own section so people could use it for quick reference.

EDIT: Due to an image cap on posts, this has been listed further down on the thread, on the first page.


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Closing Words

I know that the above guide has a ton of text to process, but hey, it's what I wished I had when I was going through it. I wrote this guide for others who wanted something this detailed as well. :P

Many thanks to the friends who helped me on Trickster and thus built the foundation for much of what I've learned, and written down in paper here. Special thanks to Jeremy (JunDaigon, JeffOfWinters) and Reako (Reuben) for helping me out early on as a lion. I owe you guys a lot.

Also would like to dedicate this guide to the guild I'm in (and run), OMGWTFBBQ, full of crazy wackos who make playing on this game a worthwhile endeavor. (Shameless plug, we're always looking for new and equally literate-loving people to join the ranks)

Finally, a hearty thanks to the entire eTO community as a whole for making this MMO one of the most friendly yet I've seen.

[paulzkung]

Just one question. When you do job change, does your TM level start over? Example you change to 2nd job at LV50/ TM LV40 would it be a Inventor LV50 / TM LV 40 or Inventor LV50/ TM LV 1?

And from you guide, its say, at TM LV50 and TM LV70 of Engineer, you will be able to get new skills. Does it mean if you decided to change to Inventor before that LV stated, you will not going to get these skills? SO CONFUSING!

OR does it mean, when you are an Engineer at TM LV40, then you change to Inventor ( assume your TM LV dont start over ) , right after you are Inventor you will be able to learn skill Butt Plate? And when you keep continue playing when your TM LV reach TM LV70 you will be able to learn all the skills above that you had listed? Both from Engineer and Inventor?

Please, explain to me please!!! I beg you! Im so confuse! Would be great if you can do it clear! Thanks in advance! Peace

[Laggy]

VI. Equipment Checklist

I assume you start with graduation equipment. The rest... well, here it goes.

Disclaimer: I skip hats past level 40, reason being that they're not really that important for lions and the pattern is always the same - find the magical hat, compound with DP (or LK, or HV on phys. hats at later levels). Besides, most of them are bought on the market anyway.

Most of this information was pilfered from the MyTrickster wiki; credit goes where it's deserved.

LV1 Disabled Person's Pouch (350 WT, 1 DA) - quest prize in Hunter Master's quests at Desert Beach and Blooming Cora
[comments: no reason not to slap one on when you're still using Stone Strike. Do the quests when you can kill Bad Furies or Grumpy Octopus; they give wooden equipment too, below]

LV10 Bronze Sword (12 AP, 1 DA) - dropped by Fanta Fish, Pineapple, drilled in Desert Beach (All Fields), Coral Beach (Field 1-3, 5-6)
[comments: when you're still Stone Striking, knives are the way to go. The Sensible version is dropped by Pineapples as well]

LV10 Wooden Helmet (15 HP, 9 DP) - storebought
[comments: ye olde DP booster. No reason not to wear one]

LV10 Wooden Buckler (12 DP) - storebought
[comments: see above]

LV10 Mini Stomach Band (20 DP) - storebought
[comments: ditto. This one isn't a quest prize, so buy it]

LV10 Contact Lens (2 AC, 2 HV, 1 slot) - quest prize in Pharaoh Boy - Pharaoh Boy's Request
[comments: excellent accessory to have when you start using guns. Requires some drilling in Pyramid Dungeon. Compound AC using Eye Drops]

LV20 Shrewd Wooden Gun (42 AP, 1 AC, 1 slot) - dropped by Oran G, drilled in Ghost Blue (Fields 1-4, Dungeon 1), Path to Desert Beach, Path to Ghost Blue, Pyramid Dungeon (Dungeons 1, 3, 5)
[comments: you may want to hold off on this in leu of Gun Type2, but otherwise, drilling in Ghost Blue is your best bet. Compound LK with Acorn Nuts]

LV20 Impact Vest (40 DP) - storebought
[comments: the upgrade to your Mini Stomach Band, pretty much]

LV25 Gun Type2 (50 AP, 1 slot) - dropped by Forest Wasp, Goma, Gold G, Mushumushu
[comments: Forest Wasps are easy to find and kill, and this gun will last you until the Classic at L40, so be sure to get one and compound AC on it using Eye Drops]

LV30 Basic Cap (45 HP, 26 DP) - dropped by Forest Wasp, Queen Mummy, drilled in Ghost Blue (Field 2, Dungeon 1), Path to Ghost Blue, Path to Desert Beach, Megalopolis (Southeast Forest, Southwest Forest), Pyramid Dungeon (Dungeons 1, 3, 5)
[comments: what a coincidence, these drop from Forest Wasps too. And even more, the Clever version is dropped by them as well. Yeah, go murderize them when you're 25 on that TM quest]

LV30 Body Charm (300 HP, 18 DP, 1 slot) - quest prize in Shaman Jia - Evil Spirit of School
[comments: nice accessory to wear to replace your DPP now that you have a gun. Compound DP with Turtle Shells]

LV40 Shrewd Classic Gun (83 AP, 2 AC, 1 slot) - drilled in Blooming Cora (Field 7), Norah's Sewage, Phantom School (1F Silent Hallway, 1F Toilet, 1-1, 1-2)
[comments: try the Phantom School locales; compound LK with Acorn Nuts or Four-Leaf Clovers]

LV40 Iron Cap (60 HP, 35 DP) - dropped by Pirate Ghost, Moss Moth, drilled in Poppuri Dungeon (Dungeons 1-5), Path to Oops Wharf, Oops Wharf (Fields 1-4), Pyramid Dungeon (Dungeons 2, 6)
[comments: doing the Pirate Ghost TM quest from Robin in Aquarius is a convenient excuse to find this. Pirate Ghosts drop the Clever version as well]

LV40 Steel Health Band (80 DP) - storebought
[comments: the poor man's Duo Doctor, or if you got shafted on the quest]

LV40 Duo Doctor (39 MD, 1 LK, 50 DP, 1 slot) - quest prize in Toilette Mara - Searching For Tissues
[comments: the best belt available right now. Compound DP onto it using Turtle Shells]

LV40 Necklace Watch (4 AC, 2 LK, 4 HV, 1 slot) - quest prize in Poppuri - Poppuri Request
[comments: hard to get, but worthwhile. Compound LK with Four-Leaf Clovers]

LV42 Acceptance Trunks (5 AC, 5 MA) - quest prize in Elliot - Runner-Up Elliot Searching for Genealogy
[comments: solid gunner accessory for a long time until L70. Compound LK with Four-Leaf Clovers]

LV50 Gun Type4 (100 AP, 1 slot) - dropped by Tritch, Aposis, Chim, drilled in Phantom School (2F Hallway, 2-1, 2-2, 2-3, 2-4)
[comments: pretty much buyable only, compound AC onto it using Tree Sap]

LV60 Power Renaissance Gun (163 AP) - dropped by Electric Snails
[comments: easy to get, refine it for maximum mileage]

LV60 Master Renaissance Gun (138~178 AP, 2~3 AC, 1~2 slots) - dropped by Tutankhamen
[comments: excellent gun, but Tut drops the Master Metal as well and you may want to angle for that instead. Compound AC with Tree Sap]

LV60 Sign of Creation (4 AC, 5 DA, 4 LK, 1 slot) - obtained at job change
[comments: well duh. Compound with Tree Sap for AC]

LV70 Master Metal Gun (161~201 AP, 3~5 AC, 1~3 slots) - dropped by Tutankhamen
[comments: can last with you for a LONG time if you get a good load, at least 2 slots. Compound AC with Colored Paper]

LV70 Rhythm Earrings (6 AC, 6 LK, 1 slot) - quest prize in Pianist Chris - Rhythm-deaf Chris’s Request for Rhythm Correction
[comments: the ultimate gunner lion accessory. Get these ASAP and hope for a good compound, use Colored Paper for AC]

LV90 Master Titan Gun (206~257 AP, 4~6 AC, 1~2 slots) - dropped by Tenter Lion
[comments: obviously market-bought only. Choose between this or the Military Gun depending on cash and market availability. Compound AC with Golden Trunks]

LV100 Master Military Gun (229~308 AP, 3~7 AC, 1~3 slots) - dropped by Tenter Lion
[comments: same as Master Titan Gun pretty much. Compound AC with Golden Trunks]

Pets (all storebought except Fairy Angel Red)
LV10 - Baby Penguin (4 LK) - The only pet you can get, unless you're lucky enough to have an Ice Cone lying around.
LV20 - Baby Fox (2 DA, 4 LK, 120 WGT) - Stone Strike damage.
LV20 - Baby Rabbit (4 AP, 2 AC, -1 DX) - Switch from a fox to this when you get a gun.
LV50 - Chuck-E (28 AP, 4 AC) - You'll be sticking to this guy for a long time.
LV100 - Fairy Angel Red (45 AP, 5 AC, -2 DX, 120 HP, 36 DP, 5 HV) - Until you get this. Acquirable in Rosemary's Doll Collection quest, but probably just as easily bought on the market.

[Senike]

Copy Cat D;
But Oh well ._.