Elsword Online PvE Party Guide by baod

Here are few basic things every elsword player should know. Especially point number one. In fact you can stop reading when you reach point two.

1. Do not use knock down attacks

This is the action tab on the skill window. Do you see the attacks with “Down” on them? These are the attacks to AVOID LIKE A PLAGUE(Unless the mob cannot be knocked down). Using those attacks is the classic sign of a newbie, and is most annoying thing about playing with new players.

Why it is bad to knock monsters down?

In the earlier dungeons, there is no damage penalty for knocking the monsters down(Thank god). However, as you progress in the game, monsters take far less damage when knocked down. In Belder for example, mobs only take 30% of the normal damage when knocked down (an attack that should do 1000 damage would only do 300 damage). Knocking mobs down makes the dungeon run that much longer.

Same attacks (jump z) same monster, different damage

Area               KD Damage Penalty                Damage taken when KDed            
Ruben            0%                                          100%
Elder              -20%                                       80%
Bethma          -20~40%                                 60~80%
Peita              -40~50%                                 50~60%
Altera             -30~50%                                 50~70%
Belder            -70~75%                                 25~30%
PVP                -100%                                      0%

KD Damage penalty depends on the monster, so there are exceptions. I surely missed a few as I didn’t test every single monster. Like ghost magician in 2-1(shadow forest) have -70%  penalty.

Excavators, driller, wally no 8 are examples of -40% penalty mobs in Bethma.

Besides the damage penalty, many mobs in the later dungeons have uninterruptible wakeup attacks. Even without a special wakeup attack, some mobs have annoying attacks/properties that can be used right after they get up.

Also, KDed mobs cannot be pushed (with most attacks anyways). This can be annoying when you are trying to gather the mobs together.

When it is okay to use knock down attacks?

-Using a special active with knockdown property is fine. Even if a monster or two survives it, the raw damage from the special active should offsets the damage penalty that follows it (Unless its a really bad special active, which I don’t recommend using).
-Feel free to use knock down attacks when the enemy is in a super armor state (Red outline). Also, some monsters cannot be knocked down, period. Stationary objects/mobs and flying mobs are a good example of this.
-Using a knockdown attack to kill the mob is fine, for obvious reason.
-Using a knockdown attack to interrupt annoying moves is also fine, like stopping a health/mana eater from running away.-Using a knockdown attack in the very early stages is technically fine, but I do recommend using this opportunity to learn how to fight without doing so.

So what do I normally use in dungeons?

You can pretty much string together any non-KD attacks. Something as simple as zzz (wait) then repeat is sufficient. (zz for aisha, as zzz knocks down). Feel free to get creative. Launching monsters up is discouraged when another party member is attacking the same mob, as it’ll probably make their attacks miss. You normally get better combo options as you job change since you’ll get new attacks, and old ones may lose the KD property.

Here are some combo ideas. Just remember the basic ones.
http://elswordhq.com/kr/User_Created_Combos

I’ll list some here. You don’t have to use these at all.

Elsword:
zzz>>^z (Repeat) (>>^ is dash jump) This is also Eve and Raven’s basic combo.

Rena:
zzz Siege mode (then cancel siege mode) (Repeat). You can hold forward to cancel the siege mode, or manually cancel it if prefer.
xx(wait) (repeat): Arrow spam.

Aisha:
zz < > (Repeat). (< > is back then forward) Pushes the mob at a good speed.

Note that even without using the knockdown attacks, mobs can fall on the ground. This is because each monster (and players too) have a hidden knockdown meter which is filled when receiving normal attacks. With enough attacks, they will be knocked down automatically. This is only natural, so don’t worry about it. You could of course pick attacks that have a low KD rate, but I am not gonna into details about that.

You should especially avoid knocking mobs down when your teammates are fighting that mob. Which brings me to my next point.

2. Try to avoid interrupting your teammates

Avoid actions that would cause their attacks to miss(or do less damage), basically. Knocking mobs down, launching them up, etc. Skills like double slash (Sword knight’s skill) do high damage, but takes a long time to finish. The second part of the attack can easily be rendered useless by his teammates.

I’m not telling you to spam MP pots as much as possible. I’m merely saying that you should keep them on your item slots in case you need them. MP pot is especially useful for attack combinations that uses more than your max mp. Magic/str buff -> mp pot -> 300 mp attack is a popular boss killer for many classes, as most classes don’t have 400 max mp. The cost of MP pots becomes less significant later on, and using them often for speed runs is not a bad idea, really.

4. Try to collect the monsters, when possible.

Needless to say, a crowd of monsters die faster when you can attack multiple of them at the same time. Try to group them when favorable, but don’t bother if they are too far apart.

5. Take the right path

If your teammate asks to follow a particular path for a quest, don’t go the other way. Path choice doesn’t always involve breaking the door. 3x-3 (Very Hard) is a noteworthy example of this. Some classes need mini-boss kills for the 2nd job quest, and everyone needs it for the epic quest. Problem is, if anyone enters the “next area entrance” in the donut shaped section of the stage, the door to mini-boss becomes closed permanently.

6. Basic manners, etc

Not leeching, yielding recovery items to people that needs it, etc. As if semi-AFKing leechers aren’t enough, some people choose to leech in tougher dungeons instead of growing some basic dodging skills. Great way to anger your party.