Long-Term LK Fox Build

Almekia · 23 Feb 2007

So you want to make a LK-based Fox that'll be making excellent compounds in the shortest time possible? Well, this guide may not be for you. This is most definitely not for "alt" foxes. This is for LK Fox mains who don't want to wait for Myshop or use the item to reset skills. Leveling a LK fox isn't as difficult as you would think.

Note: I tabbed this, so by typing # (number).(number) in the browser's "Find" feature you can jump to the areas you want.

Of course, credit where credit is due... Elly is the one who recommended this build to me. So... theory to him/her, practice to me. :P

Contents
#1.0 The Build (Short and sweet)
#1.1 Bonus Points
#1.2 Skill Points
#2.0 Build Explanations
#2.1 Bonus Points
#2.1.1 Why?
#2.1.2 Why not?
#2.2 Skill Points
#2.2.1 Why?
#2.2.2 Why not?
#3.0 Alternate Builds
#3.1 Driller-Focused Build
#3.2 Minimal Drilling
#4.0 Levelling Guide
#5.0 Equipment

#1.0 The Build
The build itself was taken from a suggestion by Elly (thus, credit to him/her for the idea) though I actually have the build myself and have tested it.

#1.1 Stat Build

1144 (All LK)
2143 (All LK)

#1.2 Skill Points:
(0-12)Stone Strike (Master)
(13-38)Sixth Sense (Master) //You will have to alternate these as Sixth Sense will go beyond
(13-38)Shuriken Master (Master) // your maximum MP if you aren't careful.
(39-43)Gun Holder (Passive)
(44-48)Invincible Reload (Passive)
(49-63)Gun Booster (Master)
(64-65)Armor Destroyer (Lvl 1)
(66-81)Lucky 7 (Master)
(82-96)Detonator (Master)
(97-111)Lucky Day (Master)
(112-124)Compound Mastery (Master)
(125-134)Sticky Foot (10)
(135-145)Armor Destroyer (10)
(146-161)Gloomy Mist (Master)

#2.0 Build Explanations
I'm sure at this point you have a lot of questions and you have probably dropped your jaw at seeing some of the skills and levels. Fear not, there is a method to the madness.

#2.1 Bonus Points

#2.1.1 Why?

1144 (All LK)* recommended
Pros: More HP, HV, and DP saves a lot on potion chugging. You will more often than not be soloing enemies of a significantly higher level than you, and you will often find them 2-3 hitting you. If you had 2 or 3 charm, it would most likely be 1-2 hits.
Cons: Not as much Accuracy. A total of (67 at level 200.)

3142 (All LK)
Pros: Accuracy increased. (84 at level 200)
Cons: Less HP, HV, DP. A lot less. Your grinding areas might be altered if you're having a hard time taking the hits and don't have good equipment.

#2.1.2 Why not?

2143 (All LK)

2143 has only 6 more AC at level 200 than 1144 does. The difference is minimal (only 30% of what Gun Booster does.) Not worth the loss in HP/DP/HV

#2.1 Skill Points

#2.2.1 Why?

Shuriken Master AND SS- Both Shuriken Master and Stone Strike have approximately the same cool-down, which just happens to be about as long as each spell takes to cast. To graphically show this...

t |0   1   2   3   
-------------------
SS|oo~~oo~~oo~~
SM|  oo~~oo~~oo

Where oo represents the time it's casting, and ~~ indicates the cool-down time. (t isn't necessarily in seconds. But they do line up like that.)

Gun Booster- By the time you get enough TM to be at Gun Booster, your Shurikens will start to miss a bit, and your SS will be missing enough for you to want to break something. While it's a total of 25 skill points (10 for prereqs, 15 for GB) it is most definitely worth it.

+20 AC is the equivalent of 87 levels of AC. If you're 1144 that's 384 levels to equal the amount of added base (before items.)

#2.2.2 Why not?

Item Detection/Basic Detection- There are two reasons why I left this out. One reason is that it's actually optimal that you have 2 foxes. A driller, and a compounder for maximum income. The second reason is that adding it in would push back Lucky Seven, Lucky Day, and Compound Mastery. If you do want either of these abilities in your build (see Additional Builds) be warned that you will have to wait even longer before you get Master Compounder.

Luck Abilities/Compound Mastery Earlier- This is probably the biggest gripe people have about this build and I'll admit, I had it at first too. I wanted to compound! L7, LD, and Compound Mastery had priority in my first build. However, in another thread this was said, and I believe it helps understand the logic.

Winfy:

Pure DA 201 level's LK = 50 + 18 (hat) + 4 (pearl shield) + 1 (duo) + 16 (two accessories) + 5 (pet) + 23 (staff) = 117 (before buffs)

Pure LK 121's LK = 60 + 13 (hat) + 4 (pearl shield) + 1 (duo) + 16 (two accessories) + 5(pet) + 15 (staff) = 114 (before buffs)

Pure LK 151's LK = 75 + 15 (hat) + 4 (pearl shield) + 1 (duo) + 16 (two accessories) + 5 (pet) + 20 (staff) = 136 (before buffs)

Basically, the point of this is that compounding ability is greatly affected by your level (Mainly your equipment.) Consider Compound Mastery & Lucky Day as the skills where you are hitting the brake on your levelling. If you hit the break too early, you will be crawling in levels and therefore your Maturing ability will improve much slower (Due to slower levelling.) If you can hold off, which I don't blame you if you can't, I'd suggest pushing CM back even further.

Also, Compound Mastery, among LK Foxes, is sometimes seen as a bugged ability. They see little to no improvement after they get CM. Some actually swear they do WORSE. The improvement (if any) in this ability doesn't make as noticeable of a difference as the combat abilities that come before it.

Sticky Foot Earlier- I've read that Sticky Foot is actually better than Gun Booster at around the level 100 range. I questioned this as well myself... as it would save points. It doesn't, though.

*Sticky Foot is not a buff, it is a targeted ability. Therefore, not only does it have a casting time, it can also miss AND it draws the attention of the enemy.
*You could try kiting but more often than not that leads to you running into more enemies and isn't very effective in most rooms.

However, eventually you will need Sticky Foot for Mist. At this point I'm sure your accuracy between GB and SF will be incredibly high and therefore makes the 3142, and maybe even the 2143 build's extra accuracy obsolete.

#3.0 Alternate Builds

#3.1 Driller-focused
(0-12)Stone Strike (Master)
(13-38)Sixth Sense (Master)
(13-38)Shuriken Master (Master)
(39-43)Gun Holder (Passive)
(44-48)Invincible Reload (Passive)
(49-63)Gun Booster (Master)
(64)Invincible Driller (Passive)
(65-80) Item Detection (Master)
(81-82)Armor Destroyer (Lvl 1)
(83-98)Lucky 7 (Master)
(99-113)Detonator (Master)
(114-128)Lucky Day (Master)
(129-141)Compound Mastery (Master)
(142-151)Sticky Foot (10)
(152-162)Armor Destroyer (10)
(163-178)Gloomy Mist (Master)

#3.2 Minimal Drilling
(0-12)Stone Strike (Master)
(13-38)Sixth Sense (Master)
(13-38)Shuriken Master (Master)
(39-43)Gun Holder (Passive)
(44-48)Invincible Reload (Passive)
(49-63)Gun Booster (Master)
(64)Invincible Driller (Passive)
(65-68) Item Detection (Lvl 1)
(69-70)Armor Destroyer (Lvl 1)
(71-86)Lucky 7 (Master)
(87-101)Detonator (Master)
(102-116)Lucky Day (Master)
(117-129)Compound Mastery (Master)
(130-139)Sticky Foot (10)
(140-150)Armor Destroyer (10)
(151-166)Gloomy Mist (Master)

#4.0 Levelling Guide
Coming soon...

#5.0 Equipment Guide
Coming soon...

Crestfallen · 23 Feb 2007

Wao!! This is an excellent guide! 8D Cept i dont have the patients to level up a LK fox =x

great job great job! 2 thumbs up!~

Yoda415 · 27 Feb 2007

I can't wait til the lvling guide and equip guide to come out.. i'm trying to make a LK fox right now.. and this guide looks the most appealing :-p

Almekia · 28 Feb 2007

Been busy with exams and the like. I do know that there are many leveling guides out there you could use. Brief overcap though..

1-16/17 ~ Desert Beach
17-25 ~ Seabed 4 (Anenomes)
26-40 ~ Southeast Forest (Popos and Yamus)
41-48 ~ Path to Oops Wharf
49-60 ~ Path to Phantom School (Galis. Monster quest in Mega)
61-75 ~ Path to Black Swamp (Electric Snails + MQ)

Be sure to get all TM quests 5 times as TM will be a lot slower than your Exp with this build. The areas mentioned above aren't too hard to get Royal Parties on Pearl.

Also, note, Gender Parties are ALWAYS a better idea than Royal. They're easier to maintain, give the same exp, and if one person leaves you're not stuck with 1.4x trying to find another. But sometimes beggars can't be choosers.

I'm working on the leveling guide being more in-depth, but this is the best I can do with the small amount of time I have today.

Yoda415 · 28 Feb 2007

Thank You, i'd be happy to start... if the servers weren't going up for maintence and i got school tmr.. haha.. i'll be starting it soon enough.. hopefully get it going too :) thanks a bunch

Almekia · 1 Mar 2007

I added a build. Just a though I had while in class. ^^ It's great because by that time you will be about or above level 80 (Chaos Drill) which is the point where Basic Detect becomes less useful. Even though it's only 1, it has a ratio of 3.0*DA. By 80 you should have at least 90 DA with your gear on. That's 270 Depth right there.

Sorry the slowness on the guide. I've hardly had time to sleep as it is. ^^

Yoda415 · 1 Mar 2007

Originally Posted by Almekia

I added a build. Just a though I had while in class. ^^ It's great because by that time you will be about or above level 80 (Chaos Drill) which is the point where Basic Detect becomes less useful. Even though it's only 1, it has a ratio of 3.0*DA. By 80 you should have at least 90 DA with your gear on. That's 270 Depth right there.

Sorry the slowness on the guide. I've hardly had time to sleep as it is. ^^

o.O wow. you've got this figured out! loL

and don't be sorry.. i doubt that there's many people that are willing to take the time to make a guide themselves (myself included..), so you have nothing to be sorry for.. :-p.. another thing is.. i don't think any1 have the patiences to level up a LK fox.. even though it's not that hard.. if you think aobut it.. :-O

raisinbun · 1 Mar 2007

The thing with Item Detection lv1 is that the chance of getting "Fail to discern" is rather high >_> which is not so easy to bear with.

Robin · 1 Mar 2007

Same build I'm following for now. Might get fearbag as well but I'm not sure about that yet. Oh, I don't have CM though since it only affects refining and not maturing. 99% of the people do not seem to know this.

Summer · 1 Mar 2007

Originally Posted by Robin

Oh, I don't have CM though since it only affects refining and not maturing. 99% of the people do not seem to know this.

Nice guide btw making lk fox soon and wow i never knew cm only effects refining thanks for the info

raisinbun · 2 Mar 2007

Originally Posted by Robin

Same build I'm following for now. Might get fearbag as well but I'm not sure about that yet. Oh, I don't have CM though since it only affects refining and not maturing. 99% of the people do not seem to know this.

Any evidence? >_> Too shocking to be true...

Almekia · 4 Mar 2007

I personally do not suggest the Minimal-Driller guide, it's simply an idea if you want to vary it a bit.

I'd like to add a bit of clarification, though, that this build is tried and tested by myself. It may be odd (Getting L7 and LD so late) however I have fought side-by-side with various LK Foxes and I kill significantly faster than they do.

I don't even kill slower than DA foxes most of the time! :O Here's how.

I've found that most DA foxes go SS, no SM (because they want drill abilities) In comparison to those... here's a bit of math to show how much DA they'd need in order to do the same damage as 1 SS and 1 SM.

Assuming Master SS, 6S, and SM.
DA= Base DA
DAI= DA from items

LK Fox

SS Damage
((DA+DAI)*1.45+1)*46=  66.7DA + 66.7DAI + 46

SM Damage
((DA+DAI)*1.45+2)*32=  46.4DA + 46.4DAI + 64

Total Damage=  113.1DA + 113.1DAI + 110

DA Fox

SS Damage
((2DA+DAI)*1.45+1)*46=  133.4DA + 66.7DAI + 46


LK Fox - DA fox
 -20.3DA + 46.4DAI + 64

While all this may seem trivial to you if you followed the math. "Well of course two abilities are better than one." The important thing is that it's less dependant on DA as it is items. I'll add numbers to put things into perspective.

My DA as a LK fox:20
My Gear DA:40


Total Damage=  113.1DA + 113.1DAI + 110
  = 2262 + 4524 + 110 = 6896 Total Damage


Assuming SS only...

66.7DA + 66.7DAI + 46

66.7DA+ 2668 + 46=6896 ~~ 62 Base DA   Which is about level 120.

This isn't factoring in hit rate (increased using gun booster) or crit rate (through luck.) BECAUSE you are skipping drilling abilities and getting these things, you can do and will do more damage than a "Traditional" DA fox with both Item Detect and Basic Detect.

Also: The time it takes for you to cast SS and SM is about the same as SS plus cooldown. So really, the actually usage isn't slowed down much at all. Once you get good with it, you can even SM while running to lower damage taken.

I'd like to see this build used for a DA fox, though. That would be sickening. (Doing the math, 2262 more damage than I do. Would less crits compensate for the damage? Not sure. Would be fun to test it.)

Cid · 4 Mar 2007

Well I've been following your guide for a week now and your absolutely right about ditching the driller abilites.
I have luck fox who uses sm and ss and kills everything like it was nothing o.o
lvl 64 in 6 days ftw
thanks for the guide

raisinbun · 4 Mar 2007

Almekia, why did you compare SS+SM+GB Pure LK fox with Pure DA driller fox? >_> It is a kinda unfair comparison IMO. They are two completely different skill sets aimed for two very different purposes. If you want to compare, don't hesistate; many DA foxes have both SS+SM >_>

But then the best way for LK foxes to level quickly is having both skills... I don't dispute that. GB, however, is a bit harsh on TM pt consumption, and I don't recommend getting it. Jent would tell you, and I would now agree, that the accuracy of SS isn't really that bad. You do miss out some SS, but with SM to back up, you will keep dishing damage to the monster. At least up till lv83 and hitting some lv150 monsters, I don't find SS missing that badly. SS+SM combo ftw =)

Almekia · 5 Mar 2007

I realize it is an "unfair" comparison, but I have found many guides that simply state that SM is useless. I have many people coming up to me saying "make my fox not suck" and sure enough, none of them have SM. Having both BD and Item Detect puts a fox 29 points back,thus most skip SM.

And while Gun Booster may not be incredibly effective at lower levels, this information was taken from Phae, who is 170~180 ish. Eventually you will be missing a lot more, and you will have to wait 25 TM levels before you get gun booster.

Really, L7 LD and CM hardly help your combat abilities either. Sure, you can crit more but typically a SM/SS kills an enemy outright. Even if I crit on the SM I still need to SS it. So I really don't see how crit helps. However, if I SM, and my SS misses, more often than not the second SM isn't enough to kill it. Thus DOUBLING the time it takes to kill a single enemy for each SS miss.

I notice a significant loss in hit rate once my GB wears out. You may say it's not a lot, but once you hit ~95% of the time, you'll know why it is worth the 25 points. If you haven't try it, take some time to give it a shot on an alt. I have yet to see someone with GB say it doesn't help much. It helps a lot.

Edit: And the point of the comparison wasn't to say "LK FOXES > YOU" but rather that levelling a luck fox isn't as hard as people make it out to be. If planned properly, it can be easier to level than a standard driller fox. I'm simply basing it off what seems to be the eTO staple-- or all these guides that say "Don't get 6th Sense or SM."

raisinbun · 5 Mar 2007

Well, I have taken some time to try that, and it's after that I have made my conclusion >_>. If you are interested, look at two of my old threads... this and that.

I agree that GB helps considerably in SS's accuracy, but not large enough for me to spend 25 points in it early on. If GB is more useful at higher levels, then I would prefer deferring the acquirement of GB later on.

The problem you mentioned about being unable to kill monsters with 2 SMs, the way I am working around it is by hitting those that you can kill with 2 SMs. That way no energy would be wasted... though of coz you have to lose out a bit because you won't take advantage of the higher dmg of SS, but I find this an efficient way of training. >_>

And on the eTO staple, wtf is that? >_> SS+SM ftw XD

Robin · 6 Mar 2007

The only proof I have for this is in one of ur own guides raisin. Remember the 2 foxes who both compounded the same and the one w.o CM got better results? That says enough IMO. I might not be able to proof it to you, but you also can't proof that it DOES have effect while compounding.