New fox player with tons of questions.

[NeoBaphomet]

So yeah, I new to fox as I am new to trickster. After finally finding a name that can be used, I made my fox!

I made a 1144(finally know what it means after reading the guides 4 cats) and is currently at lv 5 and havn't invested in any stats yet.

After reading some post here I got really confused on what I should do with my fox.

My plannings:
1. Invest in DA only.
2. Master Stone Strike and Sixth Sense (to increase Stone Strike's dmg)
3. Master Basic Detection to drill 4 items!! ^-^ and get Item Detecion.
4. Get Landmine, it looks like it can deal a lot of dmg.
5. Compound, mature or whatever boosts equipments.
6. Make money.
7. Get Pouch of Pain.

My questions:
1. Are my plannings stupid?
2. Can I invest in DA and LK? Will that make me a good driller/compounder or whatever things boosts equipments?
3. If I do as in Q2, will I be able to lvl fast?
4. Should I get Armor destructor and Sticky Icky?
5. Will I survive PvM?
6. I hear if u have 90+ DA, you will be very good at drilling, is that true?
7. I hear luk helps u dodge cits., make magic miss you, make rate of success higher when compounding until a certain point, is that true?
8. What will adding in DA do to my fox at later levels? Dmg? Compound? Maturing compound? Any effects?
9. Should I master Basic Detection and Item Detection?

Thats all, for now until more questions pops up in my head.

Thx in advance for all the hlp! Please try to answer all my questions, since I really need some answers to the questions.

[Anchors]

1144 survives PvM just fine.

Your plans sound pretty similar to some of the really old builds. I'd recommend staying with DA, also getting/mastering shuriken master (it makes a big difference to have two attack skills) + L7 (+ Aura of LK at some point, doesn't have to be right away), dropping basic detection (if you really must have a drilling skill, might as well go with item detection which can detect past 100m or 110m or whatever BD's max was), and perhaps not getting PoP...

Compounding isn't really a reliable way to make money, but you should be able to make some at least decent DA gear you can use through it. I'd stick with DA for compounding, though - LK doesn't seem to help much - or it doesn't help after a point, anyway.

Sticky icky's efficacy depends on LK. If you only need an HV debuff, I'd suggest just mastering sticky foot, and if you need a LK debuff later on (eg for PvP), then get 10 armor destruct and master sticky icky later on.

[NeoBaphomet]

[quote=Anchors;579223]1144 survives PvM just fine.

Originally Posted by Anchors

Your plans sound pretty similar to some of the really old builds. I'd recommend staying with DA, also getting/mastering shuriken master (it makes a big difference to have two attack skills) + L7 (+ Aura of LK at some point, doesn't have to be right away), dropping basic detection (if you really must have a drilling skill, might as well go with item detection which can detect past 100m or 110m or whatever BD's max was), and perhaps not getting PoP...

So yeah, as I was asking, can I put 2 point into da and luk per level?(1:1 on da and luk) and be a good driller/compounder or whatever things boosts equipments

Originally Posted by Anchors

Compounding isn't really a reliable way to make money, but you should be able to make some at least decent DA gear you can use through it. I'd stick with DA for compounding, though - LK doesn't seem to help much - or it doesn't help after a point, anyway.

I want to compound for equipment for my cat, if I could make money with it sometimes then that'd be nice too.

Originally Posted by Anchors

Sticky icky's efficacy depends on LK. If you only need an HV debuff, I'd suggest just mastering sticky foot, and if you need a LK debuff later on (eg for PvP), then get 10 armor destruct and master sticky icky later on.

would if be better if I go straight for 10 armor destruct and master sticky icky?

[Anchors]

You need 10 sticky foot for sticky icky anyway, but sticky foot's accuracy increases significantly (like rust and many other debuffs) once mastered. If you want the debuff(s) as early as you can get them, it's your call, but, chances are, it won't speed up your leveling much.

When you compound, just make sure you get "sufficient" LK and as much DA as you can garner.

You could do the 2:2 split - however, it might be a better idea to put full DA on even levels and full LK on odd levels. A half-level of a stat is useless, but a full stat level isn't always useless... Plus, you'd end up with even distribution of DA/LK anyway. I personally don't like splitting stat distributions unless I really have to, though... and, in a fox's case where LK makes no difference to your damage outside of crit chance until TM 90 anyway, I'd suggest just going DA for like a hundred levels and then start adding LK for the next 100 (or however many) if you really want to split your points.

[RegalStar]

If you're going pure, you might as well just get DA because landmine is not something you spam, and SS and SM are still your main levelling tools. Plus, Explosive Mastery or whatever it's called is based more off DA than LK.

If you're going hybrid... well, you should be going AC IMO if you're going to use a gun, but then again, I could never figure out how sense hybrid will work, so I'm not fit to speak on that subject.

[riyokku]

Hybrid foxes are probably going for lucky strike, but landmine's usually the better skill ._.

I heard that on later levels DA foxes do less damage. Not sure about explosives expert or whatnot.

And in this case, I think he meant hybrid as in stat distribution, not in jobs.

Landmine's not really a skill that needs to be spammed anyways, because whatever it hits usually kills. You have to have awfully high HP/DP/HV/LK/whatever to survive it. ._.

As for the questions, I've never really played as a fox, but I'll try to answer from what I've heard
(1. Are my plannings stupid?)
No, not at all, although I've heard that pure DA foxes eventually do less damage than pure lk foxes. With the advanced landmine skill out though, this might be different

One thing though is landmine. Although LK and DA contribute equally to damage, there are two lk buffs available to 2nd job foxes (or 3rd job hybrid lions) and only one DA buff. This is the reason why people prefer to go on lk for landmine, since there will be more damage for landmine because of more buffs. Going pure DA will still increase the damage for landmine, but going pure LK will increase it's damage more since you'll have more lk buffs available.

Then Explosives Expert came out, which is like an in-your-face to lk foxes ._.

(2. Can I invest in DA and LK? Will that make me a good driller/compounder or whatever things boosts equipments?)
At DA 90, you'll never drill unless you actually find an item, which means that if there is no item where you're drilling, chances are your character will detect it right off the bat. Going hybrid on DA/LK will slow down the process of getting to DA 90. Still, with a 4 in sense, you will generally be a good driller (though less DA means less success =/)

(3. If I do as in Q2, will I be able to lvl fast?)
From what I heard, leveling is painfully slow for pure LK builds (especially lk lions, but it seems like pure lk foxes are exactly the same). Considering this question, however, you WILL be increasing your DA which means more SS/SM damage. It's just that you will be slowing it down a slight bit by going part LK as well. You probably will have decent to normal leveling, but will be doing slightly less damage until you get to landmine

(4. Should I get Armor destructor and Sticky Icky?)
Um, I dunno bout this one. I'm a gunner and I use armor destructor...for no reason since gun defense is based on HV. Sticky Icky should help you hit the target more, but I'm not entirely sure if it's a great skill (kind of mixed on this one)

Armor destructor is a good bossing skill (especially if you're a gunner and someone is helping you tank). In my opinion, sticky icky is slightly better for lions (less HV = more gun damage), but meh, I'm no good around this topic since I can't even get sticky icky yet.

(5. Will I survive PvM?)
As long as you have at least a 3 in charm, chances are you will survive PvM 80-90% of the time. Trust me, as a gunner (who can't use a shield), I have a 3 in charm, and survivability works, well, like a charm for most of the time (unless I go against high level mobs). Considering that you will most likely have a shield as well, that will increase your survivability by an awful lot...means you won't die much except maybe in PVP against enemies way higher leveled than you are ._.

(6. I hear if u have 90+ DA, you will be very good at drilling, is that true?)
Hmm...I think it probably is. I'm a lion at DA 30-ish, and my drilling isn't too bad. Much of the time I can detect where there is no item, and I've been able to find a lot of items as well. Heck, read the drilling guide, it should help you a bit.

(7. I hear luk helps u dodge cits., make magic miss you, make rate of success higher when compounding until a certain point, is that true?)
The first part is true. LK not only helps you dodge magic, but even makes gun skills miss ._.

As for the comping part...rofl, I can here EVERYONE complaining about it -_-
As far as I've seen, greater lk = crap comping skills. It's pretty much been decided that the LK stat has little to nothing to due with compounding, and it's really based on real-life luck ._.

Otherwise we'd all have the godly comps that we want now -_-

[NegaRutabaga]

I second Professor Anchors suggestion of Shuriken Mastery. It gives you an accurate ranged attack that is also based on DA. A 1144 DA fox without Shuriken is......basically like a Power-type spamming 1 skill forever and can not melee. That would be one sad Power-type.....

I've actually tried the Stone Strike + Gun Booster skill build (which excludes Shuriken Mastery).....and I was not satisfied with my killing speed. Although my Stone Strike rarely missed, I had to wait out the 2 second cooldown time before I could attack again. And that actually slowed down my monster killing noticeably.

Using Shuriken Mastery + Stone Strike is much faster. You tag a monster with Shuriken, it comes to you....and BAM with Stone Strike. Plus having a ranged attack is always an advantage. There are some monsters who are just too strong to fight up close, especially bosses. Shuriken allows you to kite them without close combat.

There's also dealing with competition for monster spawn. There's quite a few other players in higher levels that can target a monster much faster than a fox only using Stone Strike. Shuriken Mastery however is accurate and very fast, so you can hit monsters before other players " steal " them away from you.

And IMO you do not really have to choose between Shuriken and Gun Booster. I actually suggest every 1144 DA fox to get both, especially if you ever plan to PvP/GvG. All you do is leave out or wait longer for a couple skills a DA build does not really need......like Aura of Luck (lol).

But both skills are still optional. If you don't want them, then don't get them.

[NeoBaphomet]

Hm . . . pure DA it is. . .
So should I master Basic Detection and Item Detection?

[RegalStar]

Hmm. I don't know about item detector, but I say basic detection is not really worth mastering, since all the good items are deeper than what you can detect with basic detection. Item Detector might be handy if you drill in Techichi or something...

[Anchors]

If and only if you mean only to drill on that character.

I'd suggest leaving both out (at least until much, much later), because there are plenty of skills available to you early on that help you level to take up your TM points until aura (70), landmine (90), sticky icky (105), and/or PoP (115). If you do find yourself with spare points, I'd still suggest you get something else unless you really like drilling - and, if you do, pick the skill you'll find more useful. (For instance, if you do all your drilling in 110m or shallower areas, just get BD - less points, no failure at mastery, much faster. If you drill in techi a lot, BD will be useless there - you'll have to take on ID.)

[NeoBaphomet]

I though Item Dtector need Basic Detection lv 10 and Sixth Sense lv10?

[KuyaBob]

Same here. My fox already reached lvl10 basic detection, I don't know if i should reset this or not...

[NegaRutabaga]

Originally Posted by NeoBaphomet

I though Item Dtector need Basic Detection lv 10 and Sixth Sense lv10?

Actually Item Detector requires lv 10 Sixth Sense and Invincible Drill.



But then you gotta ask yourself " do I really want to be stuck with Invincible Drill....? "

[riyokku]

Invincible Drill is just one TM point rofl, not too big of a deal.

And it's useful in places with aggressive monsters that can't deal damage to you. Seriously. I can drill without stupid golden moles breaking through my concentration *breakthrough*

Then again it's more useful for high-leveled foxes with high luck and DA who love drilling =/

[Anchors]

Invincible drill is also nice for lower level custom gear - berets and soft hats were what I was after - in maps such as the phantom school school rooms.

[NeoBaphomet]

So . . . I mastered Stone Strike and now I hav a major problem, IT MISS A LOT!!!!

Btw, I was wondering is Shuriken Master more accurate then Stone Strike? And does it use something?(what it uses,like lion's guns uses bullet.)

[omegasweetz]

Originally Posted by NeoBaphomet

So . . . I mastered Stone Strike and now I hav a major problem, IT MISS A LOT!!!!

Btw, I was wondering is Shuriken Master more accurate then Stone Strike? And does it use something?(what it uses,like lion's guns uses bullet.)

Shuriken master is a LOT more accurate than stone strike.. actually, i have never seen shuriken mastery miss any monster.

shuriken uses throwing items like needles, marbles, discs, depending on level..
it is a great skill to have..

regarding basic versus item detect.. if you are crazy about drilling i suggest item detect because it detects really deep places.. except mermaid dungeon which is detect-proof.. or glitched.

[Gotenks]

hmmm .. should i really get basic detection? LOL