This guide is not updated further, and new version of it was made. Please follow this link.
I know there are a lot of guides, guide lists and the like, but there are few questions that are asked repeatedily and are not in any guide I know of (because for most players, they seem so basic that they didn't think a guide would be needed probably). If I will stop feeling lazy, I will add more things.
If someone want to help and give more information (or correct the errors), I will update it. Feel free to suggest things to add, even if they seem to be idiotic. Somehow, I think...well, this better I won't finish.
Table of Content:
Chapter 1, Characters Characteristics:
Mode of Play
Races/Classess
Suggested (classic) NM build
Suggested Lapis and Weapon Stats (from most to least important, classic build)
Common HM builds
Elements
Chapter 2, Quests
Chapter 3, Characters Roles/Basic Strategies:
Basic Roles
Basic Strategies/Tips
General Strategies
Chapter 4, Items/Gear:
Armor Groups/Weapon Groups
Gear Types
Mounts
Lapis
Disposable Items
Warehouse
Chapter 5, Item Mall:
In-Game Item Mall
Nostrums (aka. NOS)
"Tools"
Main Site Item Mall
Chapter 6, PvP and Bless:
Chapter 7, Capital City and Economy:
Exceptional Warriors Manager
Black Market
Opening a Shop
Arena
Chapter 1, Characters Characteristics:
Mode of Play:
In Shayia there are four modes of play, each with it's own characteristics.
Easy Mode (EM):
Stat points/lvl: 5
Skill points/lvl: 3
The weakest characters. They have no access to the best skills or items, and can't join (or create) a guild. Easy mode characters get exp twice as fast as normal mode, but can level only to 30lvl after which, they are pretty useless. This is tutorial mode, to show someone as much of the game as possible in short time. Anyway, it's advised to not use EM to play, ever. Leveling it have no purpose, as they are too weak and can't unlock anything.
Easy mode thanks to the fast exp can be used as a scrapp character simply to check the stats effects, builds or get low level quest items.
Normal Mode (NM):
Stat points/lvl: 5
Skill points/lvl: 3
One of two modes available from beginning. It have access to special skills tab, which hold the most powerful skills. It's leveling rates are normal, and it can use more items than easy mode. Maximum level is 60. After obtaining 40 level, account is flagged as one with unlocked hard mode (on the server you did reach it only). It's advised for everyone to always start with NM character.
Hard Mode (HM):
Stat points/lvl: 7
Skill points/lvl: 4
Locked mode. It's unlocked after leveling NM character to lvl40. Maximum level is 60. HM characters have additional skills, additional quests, and can use some of the gear that is not accessible to NM. They need around 4 times as much exp to next level as NM characters. This mode is hard, only due to very slow levels. If you can play only rarely, you may think they are simply too hard to level, so this mode is not really casual player friendly. I advise though at least giving it a shot for some time. After obtaining 40 level, UM is unlocked for the account.
Ultimate Mode (UM):
Stat points/lvl: 9
Skill points/lvl: 5
Locked mode. It's unlocked after leveling HM character to lvl40. Maximum level is 60. UM characters have even more skills (with a lvl60 skill of huge power), I suppose additional quests, and can use every piece of gear in game. They need around 4 times as much exp to next level as NM characters, but as they are almost double as strong (and have far easier start), it doesn't take so much time, and is actually easier to level than HM. This mode have one catch though. After death, you have 3min counter for resurrection, like on every other mode, but on this one, you must either use AP (Aeria Points) item or be resurrected by a priest with lvl2 resurrection (which is obtained at 31 level), or it will be deleted. Death during duels does not risk deletion. There is no reward obtained after getting any level of UM. It's the highest mode.
Note: When you unlock one of the modes on a server, you don't need the character you used for that. That matters when you want to use that characters slot again or simply want to change faction, which forces you to delete all your characters. In such situation, you still keep the unlocked mode.
Note 2: Each server must have modes unlocked separatly. That means that unlocking Hard Mode on Lailah doesn't allow you to make Hard Mode characters on Teos or Etain, unless you unlock it on those servers as well.
Races/Classess:
Aliance of Light, Races:
Human- Humans are the typical "knights". They have both, the highest melee damager and the tank of the light side. To spice it up a bit, they were given healer, quite making humans the "templars" of Shaiya. Generally human classess are party classess. All of them have their role in parties. Fighters deal AoE (Area of Effect) damage, defenders take all the beating from others (usually mages and priests) to them (and withstands it usually) while priests buff and heal the tank, so he can deal even more beating.
Elfs- Elfs are fast dying, but also fast killing classess. They are terror on the battlefield. From the mage, wiping out whole hoards (if first tanked, that is) at once, through fast-hitting rangers to far-shooting archers. Except for mage though, elves are loners in PvE (Player VS Environement), but all are fearsome enemies on the PvP (Player VS Player) battlegrounds (called borderlands).
Union of Fury, Races:
Deatheaters- Those are the narrow, near-mindless brutes. All their classess are pretty straigthforward, and all are physically exceptional. They have no magic class, nor are they agile enough to have assassins. They have both melee and range offense (warrior and hunter respectively) and the tank of fury (guardian). Unlike humans, deatheaters have one of the highly soloing class, and unlike humans, they are vail-dependable for healer.
Vail- The casters of fury, with addition of assassins as the only physical class. They have the lowest defense, but are essential for long-surviving parties thanks to their healer and the best AoE damage dealers. All those classess are harder to use due to low defense and mechanical problems (spell interruption or skill chains).
Classess:
UoF - AoL
Warrior = Fighter
Guardian = Defender
Oracle = Priest
Assassin = Ranger
Pagan = Mage
Hunter = Archer
Every class have one bonus stat point, which each level is added to that classess base stat. Those are as follows
Fighter/Warrior ---> Str
Defender/Guardian ---> Rec
Priest/Oracle ---> Wis
Ranger/Assassin ---> Dex
Mage/Pagan ---> Int
Archer/Hunter ---> Luc
Further, not wanting to write both factions classess, I will use their basic "job". That's attacker (fighter/warrior), tank (defender/guardian), healer (priest/oracle), nuker (mage/pagan), killer (ranger/assassin) and range attacker (archer/hunter).
The basic characteristics are as follows:
Attacker: Strong on the offense, medium on defense. Very narrow minded (all non-buffs are damage skills, usually weapon specific). Easy to play with appropriate build, and can make good duo with priest. HM and UM fighters have good while NM fighters have small AoE potential.
Tank: Very bad on offence, the best on defense. Very party centered character. Have almost only debuffs, some with added damage potential. Is supposed to take groups of mobs on himself to allow other characters freely and safely AoE them to death.
Healer: Either very bad or very good on offense. Bad on defense (good magical resistance). The only character who can heal. Mostly very party oriented. Have the best buffs in the game. Have the second best AoE potential (unless built for being the healer).
Nuker: Have the highest damage in the game, but as those are spells, they need some planning and time to cast. Very low on defense. Narrow (all non-buff skills are damaging or damaging with debuff). Highest AoE potential in game.
Killer: Have the fastest attack in game, but the lowest base damage of all the physically oriented classess. Good evasion, great accurancy and universal, with debuffs. Solo character that have very hard time finding parties. Hard to play due to chain limitation on skills. Absolutely no AoE potential.
Ranged Attacker: High damage and quite low defense. Only character with non-spell long-range attacks. Have debuffs and damage skills. Is soloing class, and have hard time finding parties. Is, along with ranger, very hard to play, at least at the beginnings. Not advised for NM.
Each of those classess is build around a specific theme. Granted that, they have usually very limited builds that can draw their full potential. As modes go up, more builds become useful. Below are advised builds for NM and advised status bonuses from weapons and lapis (on which I will talk later).
Suggested (classic) NM build:
Attacker: 3str and 2dex or 2str, 1rec and 2dex.
Tank: 5rec
Healer: 5wis or 3wis and 2 int
Killer: 3str and 2dex
Nuker: 5int or 4int and 1wis or 3int and 2wis
Ranged Attacker: 4luc and 1dex or 3luc and 2dex (those are common builds, but have a VERY long time to be of worth. Safer 3str/2dex.)
Suggested Lapis and Weapon Stats (from most to least important, classic build):
Attacker: Craft (str), Shrewd (dex) and Safe (rec) lapis. Bonus str, dex and rec.
Tank: Safe (rec) lapis. Bonus rec.
Healer: Mental (MP), Wisdom (wis), Mystic (int) lapis. Bonus wis and int.
Killer: Shrewd (dex) and Craft (str) lapis. Bonus dex, str and luc.
Nuker: Mystic (int), Mental (MP) and Wise (wis) lapis. Bonus int and wis.
Ranged Attacker: Fortune (luc) and Shrewd (dex) lapis. Bonus luc, dex and str. (Exchange luc for str if you go the less irritating road, see above.)
It's not advised to stray from those too far on NM.
Some builds that I think are common and working on HM:
Common HM builds:
Attacker: 5str and 2dex or 4str, 1rec and 2dex or 3str, 2rec and 2dex.
Tank: 7rec
Healer: 7wis or 5wis and 2 rec
Killer: 5str and 2dex or 4str and 3dex or 2str, 2dex and 3luc or 3str, 2dex and 2luc
Nuker: 7int or 5int and 2wis or 4int and 3rec
Ranged Attacker: 7luc or 6luc and 1dex or 5luc and 2dex
Elements:
There are four elements in this game. Fire, water, earth and wind. Each element have one weakness and one strong point. Every mob that is of any of those elements is target of that element. It seems that all mobs attacks (unless magic) are non-elemental though. Players are non-elemental targets, and their attacks are non-elemental. There are lapis to change that state (chapter 4).
Fire attacks deal 50% more damage to wind targets, 25% more to non-elemental targets, 50% less to water targets and normal damage to fire and earth targets.
Fire is dealt 50% more damage by water attacks, 25% less damage from non-elemental attacks, 50% less damage from wind attacks and normal damage from fire and earth attacks.
Water attacks deal 50% more damage to fire targets, 25% more to non-elemental targets, 50% less to to earth targets and normal damage to water and wind targets.
Water is dealt 50% more damage by earth attacks, 25% less damage from non-elemental attacks, 50% less damage from fire attacks and normal damage from water and wind attacks.
Earth attacks deal 50% more damage to water targets, 25% more to non-elemental targets, 50% less to wind targets and normal damage to earth and fire targets.
Earth is dealt 50% more damage by wind attacks, 25% less damage from non-elemental attacks, 50% less from water attacks and normal damage from fire and earth attacks.
Wind attacks deal 50% more damage to earth targets, 25% more to non-elemental targets, 50% less to fire targets and normal damage to wind and water targets.
Wind is dealt 50% more damage by fire attacks, 25% less damage from non-elemental attacks, 50% less from earth attacks and normal damage from water and wind attacks.
Non-elemental attacks deal 25% less damage to elemental targets and normal damage to non-elemental targets.
Non-elemental is dealt 25% more damage by elemental attacks and normal damage from non-elemental attacks.
Chapter 2, Quests:
Credit for helping to rewrite this chapter goes to Anadyne.
1) There are not many quests in this game. There are a lot of them, till around 18 level, after that being only a couple, averaging 2/level. When you have no quests, the only thing you can do is...GRIND, aka. repeatedly kill mobs in a spot for exp.
2) AoL and UoF gain quests at various rates. It seems that UoF get's 2 levels at each level, while AoL have "dead" levels where there are no quests, while on other levels, they have 3 or 4 quests to do.
3) If at any map you have no quests for two levels straigth, then you should change map.
4) This game is translated very badly, and some quests are incorrectly named/logged etc. I play only on AoL, so would like someone to help with UoF quests that does bring a lot of trouble.
Typos:
Starving Bears quest is supposed to be Starving Boars. Wherever there is a Bear word, exchange it with a Boar. Otherwise, this quest is fine.
For
Suspicious Plan quest you have to kill Orc Spirit. It's a unique mob, so is lil stronger than a typical mob of it's level, but can be easily soloed (he is blue at the time of quest). He is south from Maitreyan Dungeon, on the top edge of forest. If you still have trouble finding him, stand near to the first Nepenthes going from Mait and look around. He is close. If you STILL have trouble, then near to that Nepenthes push "~" a couple of times until it targets the Orc, and then simply use skill or Auto-Attack to be brougth to him.
For the quest saying about getting a rarely dropped
Glowing Feather from Harpy Magician, you must kill Harpy Illusionists instead.
Locations:
Lupers is on the west side of the bridge that is near the tower at which you got the quest. DON'T EVER say "Lupers" in trade chat. Honestly, there are so many people that ask about him, that it's tragic.
Dolama and
Delano are east of Keolloseu. One is on the island, while the other is on the beach near some rocks.
Kaznil can be soloed at 18, and sometimes even at 17 level. He is straigth south from Keolloseu, right in front of the mountain. He looks like a big Ogre Chief.
Cloron Goblins are west of Cloron, in between two rivers.
Isprit is east of Cloron on the other hand.
Dread Quests (Light):
If you are HM and want to get dread gloves, you need to finish all quests given by Creath Question. DO NOT cancel them. To do so, you may also finish one quest given by a lady under a tree, near the crossroad south of Fedion.
There are four dread quests (respectively, 25, 26, 27 and 28lvl).
- First one, for gloves, is obtained by getting item named Poemas Mandolin from Juliah Dillun. You must finished Creath's Question quests to activate the quest.
- Second items quest, for boots, is obtained from Sealakel Fighters, and is named Monkey Skull.
- For pants, third quest, you must get Empty Trunk from Orc Robbers.
- Fourth quest is initiated from item called Lens Bow, dropped by Priest Dempnun.
Repeatable Favor Quest:
These quests give a mini-nos (item that boosts two stats for 10min). All these are for the map 2 repeatable quests, though there are higher level quests at map 3 and map 1 (for items from Desert/Jungle). They never give any experience or gold.
Thin Meats are dropped by animals, like Wolves or Bears. The reward is mini-nos boosting str and rec by 3.
Witchs Essence is obtained from Harpies and Leopardless. Reward in mini-nos boosting int and wis by 3.
Broken Cores are from caster mobs, like the Sealakel Shamans/Priests. Whether you want it or not, you will have lot's of them after trying to get Spirit Cores the old, hard (farming) way. The reward is mini-nos boosting dex and luc by 3.
Things to Keep:
Spirit Cores are dropped the most by caster mobs, like Sealakel Shamans/Priests or Willesue Monkey Trainers. Generally though, people get them either from Sealakels on Maelstorm Coast or from Goblins south of it.
30 of them are needed for lvl29 helmet quest, and another 30 for lvl43 epic quest.
Mare Cores are dropped often by Golems in Elaste Valley and by Goblins east of portal at map 3. They are used at lvl36 for helmet quest (again 30 of them).
Adamas stones can be obtained from Sealakels at map 3 (where I advise leveling since they become yellow).
Magic Leather can be obtained from a couple of mobs, but are dropped the most from Karis Wolves. Just remember that D-Water is PvP map, so all items you don't want to lose put into warehouse, and don't go there with lot's of exp to lose.
Rillain can be bought from Liquid Medicine Merchant in Keolloseu for around 250 000 gold in total.
Gold Abels are obtained from mobs around starting towns.
All these items are used for lvl43 epic quest (40 Adamas Stones total, 20 Magic Leathers, 99 Rillain's and 90 Gold Abels).
Fury seem to need 10 gold powders in place of 20 Adamas Stones, but I don't know where to get these.
Mind you that locations are from lights perspective. Most likely there are equivalents on fury, though.
Chapter 3, Characters Roles/Basic Strategies:
One thing will always be true for all discussions about roles and strategies. They are personal opinions. All that I'll write about in here is from my point of view. Some may agree, some may not, thus it's important for you to take your time in NM to build your own opinions and strategies, fitting you. Those are just guideliness to start with, or...food for though, if you so will.
This chapter uses the basic roles classess fit. That said, these instead of meaning a specific class, show a specific role that more than one class can fill, with correct build. For all these roles, take their names representative as the best example.
Keep in mind that of these, only "Tank", "Nuker" and "Healer" are used. "Attacker", "Killer" and "Ranged Attackers" are not needed in parties, so no one looks for them. There was no reason for making them then, thus it's possible you'll only see them here. That said, I seen them as important enough to mention them.
Basic Roles:
Attacker: Aggressive role that attacks in melee multiple targets as often as possible. This role can't be filled except by fighters/warriors and defenders/guardians, which are the only classess with melee AoE attacks.
Tank: He is to gather couple of mobs using whatever means he deems necessary, They aren't counted on for damage, so it's better for them to NOT attack, just focus on keeping aggro. This job is very well filled also by fighters/warriors and mages/pagans which keep aggro while at the same time deal worthwile damage. A priest/oracle can also fill this role, with some success but they lack spammable AoE attack.
Healer: This role can be filled only by priest/oracle. They are not to attack at all, but keep everyone healed and clean of debuffs.
Killer: Another aggressive role that though, unlike attacker, focuses on as quickly killing single target, with skills that enhance damage if possible. That said, they must possess some way to defend themselves. All classess may fill this role, but archers/hunters and casters have near to none skills to help in it, therefore they are not worthwile killers.
Nuker: Magical version of attackers, spamming AoE attacks. Can be filled by mage/pagan and priest/oracle only.
Ranged Attacker: Killer's ranged version. Attacks mobs one by one, until kills them. The major difference is that they usually have lesser need for defence or evasion, prefering to not getting into opponents range at all. Mages/pagans and priests/oracles can fulfill this role. That said, they have limited single-target attacks.
Basic Strategies/Tips:
Solo:
First strategy is for the specialised class (the one best fit, by the developers opinion). Further I'll mention others as well.
Fighter and Warrior:
As Killer: Rising Crush > Deadly Strike (If dual/spear, if 2-hander skip) > Double Damage > normal attacks, repeat.
This saves resources. In no way this is the fastest killing "chain", but allows to kill more mobs without rest, which I found more effective, myself. Most use though:
Rising Crush > Deadly Strike (If dual/spear, if 2-hander skip) > Windspin > Double Damage > normal attacks, repeat.
Don't ever use Enhanced Windspin or Wild Wild Dance agains't only one mob.
If that mob hit's hard though, I found effective using Ground Shock as the first move in a battle. Watch out though. It seems to never hit the mob if while running to it, you use it "on the run" before going through target, as if he was out of range. That said, either stop before using it, attack normally (or with Rising Crash) or go right through him first and then use it. Prolly just effect of lag, not all may see.
As Attacker: This should look around (after gathering mobs)...
Ground Shock > Wild Wild Dance > Wind Spin > Enhanced Wind Spin > , attack till the first skill recharges, repeat.
I obviously don't suggest this for NM's.
Also, if you lack only a bit to kill all the mobs after whole chain, you may try using Ground Shock after Wild Wild Dance. It will give you a bit of damage more, but you'll sustain more as well.
Defender and Guardian:
As Killer: Panic > Curse Raid > Heavy Swat > Attack. Possibly use other debuffs, if they won't hit other mobs as well (or if you're willing to change the role ya fit mid-fight).
As Attacker: This class is not very effective for attacker builds in NM. First, it have too little stat points to successfully attack many and survive. Second, it'll end with little skills.
In HM, there are few ways to keep it.
Before getting the proper AoE skills, you can use Heavy Swat on multiple targets one by the other, using Ground Boom, then choosing one and debuffing it (using Panic) and keep attacking it until it's dead, Heavy Swat ends on others, or Ground Boom is no longer on recharge.
After you get all the AoE skills, the chain would best look something like this:
Panic on all mobs you want to take (in long range to reduce damage to you, will increase all damage to them) > Ground Boom (increases survival rate + cheap AoE damage) > Darkness Blow (to remove all physical attacks + AoE damage) > Arachne Range or Silence Blow (Depending on enemies) > Any other AoE that are not on recharge. Rinse and repeat until mobs die, or you will lack SP/MP. There is no way of saving either with battle-tanks in AoE attacks.
If you have bless, and lack pots, SP and MP, it's better to not do anything and wait for them to refill, instead of using normal attacks.
Priest and Oracle:
As Ranged Attacker: From maximum possible range use Ice Ball to slow the opponent down, then start spamming Magic Spot. When opponent get's closer, if you have Ice Ball lvl1 just run around casting Magic Spot, or healing yourself. If you have at least lvl2, shortly before it get's to you, use it again, move quite some range, use it again, spam Magic Spot, rinse and repeat.
Now, why the difference? Slow effect of lvl1 is too short for you to run distance large enough to explain the casting time. 3 seconds is just the casting of the both (right before move, and right after it), so you technically end at the same range to your opponent whether or not you cast it.
With lvl2 you have bonus 2sec, which allow you to gain some distance. Lvl3 gives you 4 such seconds.
Alternatively, if the opponent is weak, you can just cast Ice Ball first and then spam Magic Spot not worrying about opponent closing in.
As Killer: Don't, Really. As killer just attack with normal hits and heal when necessery or use Health Assistant , possibly hypnotising opponent to heal and recharge Instant Heal. Evolution also increases physical damage and hit rate.
As Nuker: Impossible until lvl21 when you first get spammable AoE. There's not much choice either. It's casting time is too large to successfully solo with a nuker. Fastest spammable AoE spell priest/oracle have (Elemental Shock) is at lvl28 and still is hard to use.
Ranger and Assassin
Ranger/Assassin can successfully fill only a role of a killer.
These two classess are chain-dependant. As they use many debuffs, strategy changes from mob to mob. Levels of Fatal Hit and Stun Crush also change the strategy. Let's assume now that you have lvl2 Fatal Hit and lvl1 Stun Crash.
If mob have no immunities, but is strong physically:
Fatal Hit ---> Halt Kick ---> Stun Crash ---> Tetanus ---> Normal Attack or Aggravation ---> Halt Kick ---> Stun Crash ---> Fatal Hit, repeat.
If mob is immune to Stun Crash and is strong, don't fight him. Stun Crash is very important for survival in such battles, as it's hard to survive long with low defense, even with quite high evasion. Such mobs are too risky to be worth it.
Weak mob with no immunities:
Fatal Hit ---> Halt Kick ---> Stun Crash ---> Tetanus ---> Aggravation ---> Normal attacks all the way.
Depending on your strength, honestly, you may skip the whole Halt Kick/Stun Crash, and just use Tetanus. It saves SP, and on HM I use up SP before my HP falls, just using this one skill on yellows.
After falling low on HP/SP, for resting, you don't have (unlike other classess) look for a safe spot, as you have one everywhere. Before sitting, cast Stealth that will last long enough for you to fully heal and get into a good position to continue grinding (dropping stealth while sitting will make you instantly stand).
Never use Venom Strike or Gruesome Attack on normal field mobs, unless you fight with them for a long time. They have so low HP, that normal attacks are faster dealing with them, while both skills use quite a bit of SP.
Mage and Pagan:
As Ranged Attacker:
At low level (below 20) - If mobs are far from each other, from max rangeuse one of the spammable AoE earth spells to stop their moving (giving you technically a free hit) > Sustain Doom (lvl19) > One or two Magic Missiles (Or Storm's if nothing other will be hit) > Ensnare Roots (stopping them on the way) > Magic Missile (or Storm again...) until they get close to you > Sonic Bolt (when they already are attacking you). I do not advice using Fireball, personally.
The largest mistake I see from newer players at low levels, is casting Sonic Bolt at long range as opening move. Some of you may ask "But why. It's got good damage." Yes, it does. "But it's instant. I don't lose anything!" It doesn't have cast time, that's right. "So why!" Because it have recharge. At this levels, not even NM will be killing a green or yellow mob 30 seconds, so you have only one cast of it in battle. It's almost sure on the other hand that the mob will reach you. Isn't it better to cast non-instant spells when they won't stop you from casting it, and finishing the mob with attack that they won't stop through interruption? For me, it personally saved lot's of HP when something got bad.
At 20+ - If mobs are far from each other, from max range use one of the spammable AoE earth spells to stop their moving (giving you technically a free hit) > Sonic Bolt > Sustain Doom > Hellfire (if you're high enough) > Ensnare Roots (stopping them on the way) > Magic Missile until they get close to you (or you may try to get in Hellfire, Storm/Meteor Rain or Lightning instead of one of them). Recast Sustain Doom if needed.
Now, why is it at the beginning?! Magic Missile is instant cast since 20, so that part doesn't matter. Sonic Bolt is dealing more damage, and it's better to deal as much damage as possible, maybe killing them before they get to you.
Also, generally Storm or Lightning are the only AoE spells that are worthwile, unless agains't fire mobs, which best skip alltogether.
If you are low on defense, start every battle at max range using earth spell to pause mob giving you a bit of time. After that, use spells with opposite element. When mob is close to you, you can either use Magic Missile, or the instantly casted wind spells. Never use them before mob is in melee to you, as it's a waste of them.
If you are high on defense, players usually drag a bunch of mobs, uses Fire Bush and while kiting, casts spells with low casting times.
If mobs are close to you, and they attack all at once, you can cast every spell with cast time not longer than 1sec without interruption. You can do this by starting to push the spell at the moment the mobs attack you. To make all mobs attack at once, after gathering them, move a bit so that they have to go after you. That should work.
As Nuker:
Pretty advanced style of play, I'd say, to self-tank with a mage. You must kite the mobs. Fire Thorns will aid as small, but free damage. Other than that, all you should do is use AoE wind magic, while outside the range of mobs, far enough for Storm to end being casted. Don't use fire, as it's far more risky (although used well, Fire Bush helps a lot). Don't use earth. It's simply (or nearly) impossible (all AoE earth spells take too much time, so you have to go so far that some mobs may simply run).
Don't stay in place hoping that spell will go through. Many spellcasters die because of this.
Archer and Hunter:
Ranged Attacker: Always try to start the battle at max range (unless you're sure shorter one will bring no issues whatsoever, which is a case at high levels).
Piercing Shot > Rapid Shot > Attack (Either normal to save MP/SP or a skill to speed up the killing) > Slow (If you have it ready) > Attack till end. Normal mobs won't survive until any of the skills will be ready again, unless at low levels when missing is not uncommon.
As Killer: You're archer/hunter for a reason. If something forces you into using sword...don't fight that. You have only Sleepers Ban in melee, so if you really want to, just attack...
Party:
I will not talk about any role that is ineffective in party, thus I'll wholly skip the "killer" and "ranged attacker" one for all but ranger/assassin which have no access to any other. Archer/hunter have few AoE skills, thus they'll get a mix.
Remember though. Those are the BASIC guidelines. There's no such guide that'll be better than experience and cooperation within the party.
Fighter and Warrior:
Fighter/warrior in party usually take role of attacker, along with the chain written above. This class is really straight-forward, so the only thing that may matter is whether you need to intercept a mob running loose, or not.
If you are main (or only) damage dealer and there is a tank, leave the mob that runs wild to the tank. If you are more of a support in the damage department, or are self-tank (like in duos with healer) your priority should depend on the skills of the tank. If he's doing his job well, he'll regain the aggro, most likely before the mob get's to casters. If he's not as skillful, or didn't notice one running stray, you need to take care of the mobs that go after the weaker casters.
Defender and Guardian:
There are fine guides on the advanced tanking techniques for tanks. You can find them
here and
here.
As Tank: Gather all the mobs you need, and wait in a spot for a moment (you may use Curse Raid) for mobs to gather. When they do, move a step or two back if they aren't all tightly together. After they are as close to each other as possible, run in between them and Taunt. Remember that the spot you Taunt at should always be the same. After that use Curse Raid two times (it will fail for some surely the first time) and cast other debuffs as needed (like Darkness Blow and Silence Blow). This is the most basic, and is not so much a strategy as simply spamming AoE. There is a thing called kiting though, which is very important for strong mobs. Kiting means staying on the move after Taunt, which forces mobs to walk here and there behind you, wasting time they would attack in. If mobs don't have AoE attacks, and the room is free, you can do large circles, stopping only rarely for using debuffs to keep the aggro. In this case, mages may be in the middle of the circle to always have mobs in range. If mobs have AoE, KEEP THEM AWAY from other party members. Running in line back and forth is less effective than in circles, but allows mages to be at the max range all the time, making it safe for them, while still giving a bit of kiting advantages. Stop Blow is used to stop the mobs while tank goes out of their range safely for the time.
As Attacker: It's most likely impossible for a Battle-Tank to outdamage either fighter/warrior or any offensively built caster during normal grinding. That said, your role would be to support the main tank (if there is one) or just act like while soloing (if you're self-tank as well).
Unlike fighter/warrior, you have both the skills and defense to draw mobs that run stray onto yourself (and probably even if the main tank dies, to keep all the mobs until they are finished). If a mob runs, use stop blow if you have it, to give time to the main tank for recovering aggro.
If the bunch is mixed (some caster mobs), and you have a tank, your duo can really make mobs worthless. When the tank uses Darkness Blow, you may use Silence Blow, blocking all the mobs from attacking in one go, and keeping them so when you change the order. At lvl55 with both Silence Blow and Darkness Blow at lvl3, this really shines.
Priest and Oracle:
As Healer: The most basic strategy is to always keep tank in as high healt as you can. To do so, you should cast healing (or healing prayer at higher levels) whenever the tank get's some more serious damage. When he is close to dying even with normal heals (which may be the case when mobs deal more damage than you heal) use instant healing. Whenever you see a debuff that deals continuous damage, if your tank can stand for a bit agains't the mobs without healing, dispell it at the first opportunity. One of them is practically like a bunch of yellows or orange mobs to a defender in itself.
When you see that mob comes after you, don't panic unless he actually starts hitting you. It's tanks job to take it off from you. If he doesn't see it, other party members should take note of that, and at worst, even mage should take the mob from you. You MUST heal as much as possible, as long as your tank does get any more serious damage. If he doesn't, why are you even there?
If you can't cast the heal because the mobs hit's you, move a bit and cast Heal, basically kiting the mob. Don't EVER use Healing Prayer while under attack. Don't EVER use Recovery on yourself. Even if you have a choice of Recovery and potion, use potion. If you have a choice of Recovery or dying...flee. There's no way you could cast a spell but you couldn't flee. On the other note, if you flee and the mob leaves you alone, you may return and probably will have to use Recovery on the tank.
Don't spam healing like mad, unless you don't have anything better to do. When mobs are yellow to tank, usually you can afford to waste mana in that way, but agains't orange/red mobs (depending on your heals and tanks defense, aka. on modes and builds), you must get the most of every point you have. Also, use dagger, not staff. That means faster heals through less casting time in-between spells.
When tank gathers mobs, if bless is high, try to not use heals at all.
Never start of with Instant Heal or Recovery (HM and UM skill for great heal). It may be tempting, esp. with the second one, but if you do use them at wrong time (the first heal of battle for example), you won't have them for emergency. If you need to use them at the start of battle, then you shouldn't even try to take so many of those mobs in the first place unless your nukers/attackers are taking the mobs in first few seconds. The best time to use Recovery is when tank is at around 50-70%. If he dies fast, then it's higher end of that. If he dies not much faster than you heal, then keep it until around half. I use Instant Heal when tank is at around 20-25% whatever the mobs, when Recovery is recharging.
If for some reason your attack will be slowed, dispel it whatever the cost. Your attack being slowed, means that you heal slower as well, which would be like making the mobs stronger. Even with strong mobs, you will be better off with wasting the time for Dispel than healing while slowed. If you will need to use Instant Heal or Recovery if you have it right AFTER the dispell.
As Tank: Unfortunately, I actually never even saw a tanking priest in the process. My best guess is simply using Stamina Leakage/Magic Missile/Magic Spot to gather the mobs while generating some aggro and Hail Storm'ing them when they get close. That's the only instant-cast AoE aggro-generating skill priests/oracles have.
As Nuker: First of, make sure that the party chooses the right mobs for the job. Never even try to fight earth mobs if there is any single other element mob out there. Mages love earth, but Battle-Priests right the opposite.
Second, you have pretty much no AoE potential till you get Blizzard at lvl21. Remember that over the course it will be your main means of dealing damage that you can use safely at all mobs.
Third, Elemental Storm will deal lesser damage than Blizzard on all but earth mobs, until you give it element, when it's larger base will outdamage the latter. That said, it's cast time is shorter, so with battle taking long enough, it may outdamage water spells on non-fire mobs eventually.
Fourth, Frozen Ice deals the largest AoE damage of all the spells a priest have. It's not without serious flaws though. You have to be close to the tank to use it, which means you'll be within any AoE skills mobs have. This greatly limits it's usefulness. Also, it's long cast time means that the stronger the mobs, the less worthwile it becomes. Not only it'll eat your MP faster but the quickly casted Elemental Storm and Blizzard Storm will outdamage it eventually (the sooner the more damage you have from stats in comparison to spells base). Two Elemental Storms with added element will deal far more damage far quicker than Frozen Ice will be able to ever hope, because at slightly slower rate (additional weapon recharge) you'll deal damage equal to 2X (base magic attack + Elemental Shock base) compared to 1X (base magic attack + Frozen Ice base). There's a gain to it though. It stops mobs from moving, which with cooperation from the battle-priest and defender may help the latter in surviving.
Regardless of the spell you'll spam to deal damage, always cast Hail Storm as first spell. It's lack of casting time will always boost the damage per second you deal.
Mage and Pagan:
As Nuker: Depends on the mobs you fight. If you are fighting earth mobs, use only wind. If you are fighting wind mobs use only fire (+ wind instant-casts). If you are fighting water mobs...you must check what will be more effective. Long cast time of earth spells but with bonus damage and stunning/pausing, or fast cast of Storm. It may vary at different levels, with different builds. Regardless of the mob you kill, if you have the MP to do so, always start the battle with your instant-cast AoE wind spells. Unless on fire mobs, it's a very fast, and very large damage to start with. On fire mobs, those are more of a MP waste though. For fire mobs, use Meteor Storm.
As nuker, NEVER use Aura of Thorns! Absolutely NEVER!
As Tank: Here, ALWAYS use Aura of Thorns. Why the difference?! Aura of Thorns generates enormous aggro. Not only that, but it's cheap, free and always active. Also one that damages the mobs. What drawback is there?! None, really. It works on every single mob in game, unlike taunt, you don't have to stop to use skill on the non-aggressive mobs, no one will start casting spells before you cast "Taunt", and even the damage is fixed. You don't need to cast it in battle either. What that have to do?! It doesn't stop bless from healing you.
Fire Bush is a very good skill for tanking mages as well. Why?! It's another source of good damage. It also deals fixed damage which is important for no-int (or low-int) spellcaster. Obviously, it won't deal anything serious, but it will keep generating even more aggro. Use it after getting the "attention" of all the mobs you want to tank, but before they get to you.
When the mobs get close to you, use Lightning and Turbulence. More damage, and more aggro?! Why not?! Unlike nuker, don't worry about mobs element. Ideally the mob should be earth for these (or at least shouldn't be fire), but they are more for generating aggro than damage, which is a nice bonus though.
When they are on recharge, what to do?! Nothing. All that will most likely keep the aggro for far more than needed, and if you have bless, standing still will heal your HP and MP.
So...exactly why Defenders/Guardians are better tanks?! They are neither better, nor worse. They are different.
Mages/pagans can survive far less than Defender/Guardian ever could. Less HP, no bonus rec, no shield, lesser armors defense, only one defensive skill. On the other hand, not even dedicated defender/guardian will take aggro off a dedicated mage/pagan tank, esp. aggro from a debuff-immune mobs like bossess.
Ranger and Assassin:
There are only two ways ranger/assassin can be useful currently. First is guarding the casters, which is especially important for mobs that love running lose. Unlike fighter/warrior your job is less of killing them off, more of giving time to the tank.
Fatal Hit > Halt Kick > Stun Crash > Single Hit > Fantom Assault
This chain will give you maximum stun time, and prevent caster mobs from using the spells later on.
Second is lessening a bit the damage done to tank by silencing and stunning the mobs. You may use ~ to choose a new target instead of mouse, which will simplify this. You can also use backspace to cycle between two mobs.
For melee parties, the strategy doesn't change. Two rangers may cooperate, for one to use stun chain, and for the other to use attack chain, but that's the extent of change worth the note.
For party with archer/hunter, it's possible for it to attack a far off mob dealing some damage to it, and when it's near dead, the ranger/assassin finishes the mob off, while archer/hunter starts attacking next one. This will allow melee character to stay in place without having to run after the mob losing time and attacks. This works for all melee/ranged attack combinations.
Archer and Hunter:
Technically, the only real worth noted is in party with melee characters, or other ranged attackers. Note the above ranger/assassin strategy for parties with melee. Other than that, fight exactly as you would solo.
In other parties though, you take the role of some extra damage. Remember that as you aren't going to spam AoE skills, your priority will ALWAYS be to kill the mobs that go wild on casters. To be as much helpful as you can, you need all four AoE skills this class have. There are few issues here though. First, half of them is for bows, while other half is for crossbows/javelins. Each weapon have one skill with 20sec recharge and one with 600sec recharge. That's not a lot of AoE, and to really use them, you need to lapis at least two weapons of different types. As far as this is viable, probably no party will really care about it.
Also, it seems that crits generate more aggro (which is only a probability). This means that party may not want you to attack the mobs other than your AoE attacks, or mobs running loose.
General Strategies:
In party, try to grind on yellow or orange field mobs, or on yellow dungeon mobs. Green mobs give too low exp compared to yellows, while red mobs (or oranges in dungeons) have so much damage bonus, and take so much less damage that it's usually not worth the effort.
Solo, if you're NM, never attack orange field mobs or yellow dungeon mobs. If you're HM, try to grind only on yellows, with rare oranges (non-elemental oranges takes rougly the same damage as elemental yellow mobs).
Never grind on blue field mobs, whatever your mode. Probably you shouldn't attack blue dungeon ones either. They have serious penalty to exp given, while they are NOT so much weaker.
Remember that even though ranger can kill much stronger mobs with less risk than other classess (although only if both Tetanus and Stun Crash works on them, and Gruesome Attack and Venom Strike helps too), that's not worth the time spend to do so. Never try grinding on red mobs.
Try not to grind on mobs with continuous damage attacks, like orcs with Double Strike or Spiders with Venom, whatever class you are. Those skills always take at least 15% of your max HP, going up to even 40% from the skeletons generals in Ankykuls room for example. All mobs have their unique skills. For example, all highly armoured orcs have Pain Excruciator. Learn those skills and avoid those that have something that is too dangerous. With levels, the skills may be stronger (like whether two or three attacks from Pain Excruciator), and some mobs from map 1 get a new skill at higher levels. This doesn't include bossess, which may differ from their normal counterparts.
Never grind on bossess. They give only slightly more exp, but are far stronger.
Watch out for bless. Unless it is full (flashing and going down) don't try mobs that you can't kill usually. Bless can go away right after you start fighting, and if that mob with no bless is too dangerous, you will risk dying. It's better to wipe out safer mobs faster and with less rest.
Watch out for opponents element. If you have a choice of fighting elemental mob and non-elemental one, choose the non-elemental one. They always are dealt more damage. This is not true only if you can use element which is stronger than mobs.
Chapter 4, Items/Gear:
Armor Groups/Weapon Groups:
There are three major armor groups for each side, each usable by two classess.
Armor:
Heavy Armor: Usable by tanks and attackers. This armor have the highest defense and life bonus, but low resistance bonus and no mana bonus.
Medium Armor: Usable by killer and ranged attacker. This armor have both defense and resistance that is the average of those of both other types. For example if heavy armor of one level have 16defense and 4 resistance, and robes have 4 defense and 16 resistance, medium armor have around 10 defense and resistance. This have also mediocre bonus to HP, MP and SP.
Robes: Usable by nuker and healer. This armor is the opposite of heavy armor, in that it's defense is low and resistance is high. It have low HP, high MP and no SP boost.
AoL and UoF have all their own armor.
Weapons:
Each weapon except for dagger and staff have exactly one class with mastery in it. I will say which class have it by saying that weapon is such and such classess weapon.
1-handers- Tanks weapon. Normal attack speed, mediocre damage. Often bonuses are to str and dex. Can be used by tanks, ranged attackers and attackers. Those weapons are swords on light side, axes on fury side.
2-handers- Attackers weapon. A bit slow attack speed, high damage. Usually have high dex bonus, and low str or luc bonus. Can be used only by attackers. Those weapons are swords on light side, axes on fury side.
Duals- Attackers weapon. Normal speed, mediocre damage. Usually have str and rec or dex bonus. Can be used only by attackers. Those weapons are dual swords on light side, dual axes on fury side.
Longshaft- Attackers weapon. Very slow attack speed, very high damage. Often bonuses are to str and luc. Can be used only by attackers. Those weapons are spears on light side, sickles on fury side.
One Handed Heavy- Tanks weapon. Normal attack speed, high damage. Usually have dex and str bonuses. Can be used only by tanks. Those weapons are hammers on light side, but I don't know what on fury side.
Two Handed Heavy- Tanks weapon. Slow attack speed, highest damage (along with thrown weapons). Usually have rec and wis bonuses. Can be used only by tanks. Those weapons are various looking, large things on both sides.
Bows- Ranged attackers weapon. Normal attack speed, mediocre damage. Usually have luc, dex and str bonuses. Can be used only by ranged attackers. Those weapons are always bows.
Thrown- Ranged attackers weapon. Slow attack speed, highest damage damage (along with two handed heavy, have lower average damage),. Usually have luc bonuses. Can be used only by ranged attackers. Those weapons are crossbows on light side, and javelins on fury side.
Daggers- No mastery. Fast attack speed, low damage. Usually have str, luc and dex bonuses. Can be used by all casters and killers. Both sides uses the same daggers.
Staffs- No mastery. Fast attack speed, mediocre damage. Usually have int and wis bonuses. Can be used by all casters. Both sides have their unique staffs.
Rogue- Killers weapon. A bit fast attack speed. Low damage. There are two rogue weapons. Claws and reverse swords. Claws usually have rec and str bonuses, while reverse swords usually have dex and luc bonuses. Both sides uses the same rogue weapons.
Gear Types:
Normal- Those are found from field mobs or in shops. They have no slots for lapis and no bonus stats. They can be used by all characters of appropriate class and level.
Noble- Those are found in low level dungeon. They have +1 bonus if armor, +6 if weapon and one slot for lapis. They can be used by all characters of appropriate class and level.
Worship- Those are found in low level dungeon. They have +2 bonus if armor, +12 if weapon and two slots for lapis. They can be used by all characters of appropriate class and level.
Heroic- Those are found in medium to high level dungeons and from low level dungeons bossess. They have +3 bonus if armor, +18 if weapon and three slots for lapis. They can be used by all characters of appropriate class and level.
Dread- Those are found from high level bossess and highest level dungeons. They have +5 bonus if armor, +24 if weapon and four slots for lapis. They can be used by all characters of appropriate class and level.
Legend- Those are found from highest level boss and in new PvP maps. They have +6 bonus if armor, +30 if weapon and five slots for lapis. They can be only used by HM and UM mode characters of appropriate class and level. They glow.
Goddess- They are dropped only by the strongest bossess with around 60 level. They have +7 bonus if armor, +36 if weapon and six slots for lapis. They can be used only by UM mode characters of appropriate class and level. They glow.
Drop Limited- They are dropped at various situations, mostly from boss and from map 4 mobs. They have various status bonus, number of slots and class requirements. They glow.
Epic/Quest- They are given by quests. There is 25 level epic for each class, 35 level non-epic dual for fighter and 35 level one handed heavy for defender and level 45 elemental epic weapon. They have no slots but large stat bonuses and some have faster attack speed. Level 45 epic have no stat bonus (except the healers one), but are elemental weapons (fire for fury and water for light). All lvl 45 epic except for rogue ones (that's a cheat...) have faster attack speed. They glow.
Mounts:
Mounts are separate for each mode. They are gear that upon click casts a spell after which your character is mounted. If you are mounted, you can't use any skill and you can't attack. If you are hit by any attack, you are instantly dismounted. Missess does not dismount you, but skills that does no miss (even if they can fail) does always. You can't use mounts in dungeons, black market and arena. Normal mounts (those bought in apulune) can't be dropped or traded by any means, but can be sold to NPC and stored in warehouse to trade between characters on the same account.
NM mounts: They can be used by all modes. They can be used from 40 level, have very fast movement speed and have no additional spot for passenger. Normal version costs 11mil in apulune. There is one rare version.
HM mounts: They can be used by HM and UM. They can be used from 50 level, have extremally fast movement speed and have additional spot for passenger. Normal version costs 75mil in apulune. There are two rare versions.
UM mounts: They can be used only by UM. They can be used from 58 level. They are extremally fast and have additional spot for passenger. There are no normal versions. There is one uber version.
Christmas Reindeer: Usable by all modes from lvl28, have very fast movement speed and no spot for passenger, as far as I know. Limited in quantity, as was dropped only by a mob that is no longer in-game (was only for limited time).
Lapis:
Lapis are gems that can be added to items with slots. They grant their bonuses to those items. Lapises have item requirements. Not every lapis can be added to every type of gear. They can be linked into those items at blacksmith. You do not need linking hammers to link lapis to gear.
There are few types of lapis.
Stat Lapis- Those are common lapis with levels from lvl1+. Lvl1-5 don't break gear on failure, while lvl6+ always breaks gear on failure.
Dual Lapis- Those are new but already quite common lapis. They have are named like the common ones, and always give +9 to stat appropriate to the name, and have one of four secondary bonuses. They have linking chance of lvl4 lapis, don't break items.
Accessory Lapis- Those give +7 to one stat, and +6 to second one. They always break item upon failure and have very poor chance of linking.
Elemental Lapis- They are either for weapons or for armors. They add element to that item and have good chance of linking with no chance of breaking item. They are very rare (there's only one boss that drops them, always one for armor and one for weapon, respawning each 12h) and costly.
AP Lapis: Have two stats, +6 (I think) to each, never break items and have 50% chance of linking. They are bought with AP.
Special lvl6 lapis- They have special skills (like a chance of inducing sleep on attack). They can be obtained from a high level and mode non-repeatable quest or Cloron/Fantasma Dragon.
Special Lapis- There are various lapis that are obtained (at least currently) only through events. They have various effects, linking rates and break chances. They vary from sonic (granting higher speed, 1% chance to link and always break upon failure), through perfect (+X to all stats, depending on level, +7 for lvl3, don't break gear and I heard have 50% link chance) to flash (boosts attack speed by one, but that's all I know).
Disposable Items:
There are various types of disposable items. Some are made for crafting, some are one-time use healing items.
Potions:
They come as Mini-potions, Potions, Grain Potions and special potions. They heal 33%, 50% and 75% respectively. Those % are counted without adding any bonuses (from gear and buffs).
There are few types of potions-
Health- They heal HP instantly by the amount depending on their size.
Mana- They heal MP instantly by the amount depending on their size.
Stamina- They heal SP instantly by the amount depending on their size.
Super- They heal HP/SP/MP instantly by the amount depending on their size.
Those potions (or their description) is bugged. They heal fixed amount.
Super heals all three by one amount, which seems to be higher than any amount healed by the same size potions of other types.
Status Healing- There are two types. Common which heal one debuff (max stack of five) and strong that heals a couple of debuffs at once (max stack of three). Venom potion cures more poisons than the one that removes multiple debuffs with poison as well.
Arkain- Special potion which heals fully all HP/SP/MP. It have no level restriction and can't be bought, but is given from quest and some events that was recently.
Special Potions- They are obtained either from events or from takng altars and heal by a fixed amount.
Scrolls:
Each scroll heals one, specific debuff. All (I know of) can be bougth.
Craft Items:
All of them except for a few that are used for quests have no use currently, as there is no crafting implemented in this game yet. They are sold to NPC'.
Quest Items:
There is a thread for the items used for quests, so only a link here (click anywhere on this text).
Warehouse:
Every account have one warehouse shared by all characters on that account. Each warehouse have three "free" tabs, and three locked tabs that can be temporarily unlocked by AP items. Each tab have 40 slots for items, for a total of 120 free slots and 120 locked slots.
You can't put gold in warehouse, or anywhere else for that matter.
Taking items out of warehouse costs money. It's supposed to be 5% of that items value, but that amount is bugged. It always take minimal amounts, which is more closer to 0.5%. Funny is that it works fine for lapis.
