Castle Age PvP Quick Guide

Castle Age PvP Quick Guide by avsquare

PREFACE

The intention of this guide is to discuss the various builds for different styles of PvP. I will talk about the pros and cons of the various PvP builds and it’s functionality to assist those who are lost in finding their preferred build. Various mathematical ratios and their implications will be discussed here.

It is also hoped to assist the newbies who don’t know how they hell they die on the battlefield to understand PvP better, and hopefully by reading this guide they will not make more of those “WHY?!” thread that has been answered a googolplex times. (ATTN NEWBIES: Go check at the bottom of this guide, I have a FAQ. If your question is listed then you should very well read this guide).

CONTENTS

• Chapter 1 – Assumptions
• Chapter 2 – The Battle Strength Index
• Chapter 3 – The Stat Ratios
• Chapter 4 – Easy Skill Points Farming
• Chapter 5 – The Most Common PvP Questions/FAQ
• Chapter 6 – Conclusions & Further Reading

CHAPTER 1 – ASSUMPTIONS

• It is assumed that you have GOOD knowledge on the mechanics of PvP. If you don’t, either read other guides first or check out my FAQ at the last, later.
• To facilitate easy mathematical comparisons, the different builds are assumed on the ground of 1,000 total stat points in attack & defense.
• It is assumed that both parties in comparison discussions have the exact gears and army composition.
• The comparison of BSI is supposed to be used for comparison of near level peers. Extreme level differences beyond the gauntlet may not be fully applicable, due to the sheer amount of stat point difference. Using your BSI to estimate your strength against players who are much over-leveled than you would thus not be effective.
• Win and Defeat mentioned in this guide are mutual. It refers to both offensive and defensive battles. (ie. wining offensively and defensively)
• The ratios used are assumed to be in the order of Attack : Defense.

CHAPTER 2 – THE BATTLE STRENGTH INDEX

The BSI, is a moderated indicator of your battle strength based on your current level. The formula for this index “(attack + defense)/level” is widely used and accepted to evaluate one’s PvP power based on his/her level, and used to compare him/her with their close level peers to see how they fair in the battlefield.

For yourself to be considered a build majored for PvP, I would say you would need a BSI of 5.0. To me, it’s a fair number to be considered ready for PvP action and subsequently, improving on it. Anything below that, you are just food to those who are PvP oriented, as simple as that.

Now, let me discuss this indicator, and what the numbers mean.

• The Beginner – 5.00 to 5.49: Welcome to the PvP scene. This is where you begin. At 5.0, you are just a mediocre PvP player, so do not expect much. At this ratio, you are only strong enough to fend off players whose BSI are generaly below 4.5 to around 5.5, depending his attack:defense ratio. These group of people are generally monster hunters who just started PvP or taking PvP as “part-time job”. Your preys are generally from monster hunters to players with a BSI under 6.0 with negligible defense, depending on your build’s ratios.

• The Intermediate – 5.50 to 5.99: You are of intermediate strength. What you are able to attack and defend from are dependent on your build’s rations again. However, you should be able to do well against about 50% of your peers. What you cannot handle is those who’s BSI are 6.0 and above, they are the “full-time” PvP players

• The Serious – 6.00 to 6.99: You are of superior strength in PvP. A good majority of your peers should not be your match in most circumstances, which depends on your build’s ratio. Of course, I would assume that at this stage you know what you are doing and what you want from PvP. I assume that you know who to hunt, who are your competitors and who are the top dogs around your range. You are able to stand and fight on your own with ease.

• The Hardcore – 7.00 and above: You are basically a monster within your peers. Not much people should be able to defeat you. You are ready to have a shot at hitting beyond your level range, and you should do so, because the higher you go, the more tasty food you find, although the dangers get higher. HOWEVER, you are clearly limiting your ability to slay monsters and gather loots compared to the lower BSI builds. It’s the major trade-off for such massive PvP strength.

From time to time, you should use the above Index to evaluate your strength against the general strength of your peers. The BSI is a very relative index and you need not follow it to the T to be a top notch PvP player. You can easily adjust your BSI to your needs and your surroundings. For example, at a very high level of 600+, you need not have even 5.0 to win against most players. Being at the top levels means you can fairly weaken your BSI and invest your SPs on other aspects instead. Why? For a level 600, having a BSI of 3.33 is rather powerful enough. That could well mean 1,000 attack and 1,000 defense which is a challenge to most CA players.

Venture it out and see what lies in front of you, and decide what BSI you should go for.

CHAPTER 3 – THE STAT RATIOS

Now, you’ve heard all the stuffs about the BSI, and now you wonder, what kind of ratio build you should go for? Now, I’ll discuss the various build for your consideration. I will move from the extreme offense to the extreme defense.

• The Destroyer – ALL Attack, 1 Defense: Yes you know it. You are the ultimate destroyer, you crush almost anything in your path. The only one within your peers who could stop you is “The Wall (pure defense)”. However, it is not your concern at wall because Walls are rare in nature, I’ll tell you why later on. Lots of foods lies around, so, move on if you hit a wall. You deal massive damage on monsters too, compared to your peer. But defensively, you are going to suck big time. Even if you are a “Destroyer” with a hardcore 7.0 BSI, in defenses your defense score is amounted to 4.9x your level. You can take it as good as a 4.9 BSI in defense. Any “The Beginner” of this “Destroyer” build will crush you biscuits, and they love it. Everyone loves it, BTW. As such, this build is clearly not viable in the long run; at high ranks it’s difficult to get good BP per fight, and if you continue to be a “Destroyer” you are going to lose more than you gain.

• The Aggressor – 5 : 1.5: This build is for those who wish to be aggressive, and at the same time, being able to defend well against the weak to mediocre attacks. Why? Let’s take the ratio and use the numbers as factors to your level. That means, you have 5x level Attack, and 1.5x level Defense. Offensively, you have 6.05x level attack score, and defensively, you have 5x level in defense score. It’s pretty good I’d say.

• The Offensive – 2 : 1: This build is for those who plan to be offensive but at the same time, being balanced. Why so? At 2 : 1, during the offensive you are have a total attack score of equating to 90% of your total attack + defense stats, and during the defensive, a defensive score of equating to 80% of your total attack + defensive stats. Fairly balanced, I’d say.

• The Balanced – 1 : 1: This build is basic enough. One to one, the perfectly balanced ratio. It’s basically the jack of all trades, master of none. You don’t shine particularly in either department. The good thing is you can do fairly well against most players except the mid-extreme to extreme ratio builds.

• The Defensive – 1 : 2: It’s just the vice-versa of “The Offensive”, with the downside of weakening your powers in the monster hunting department.

• The Paladin – 1.5 : 5: It’s the vice-versa of “The Aggressor”, which a significant downside of your powers in the general monster hunting department. However, you are valued in 2 monster battles: Serpents and the Orc Horde for fortifications.

• The Wall – 1 Attack : ALL Defense: The vice-versa of “The Destroyer”. Just that you do horrendously poor against non-fortification monster battles. You sucked absolutely at them except for the Serpents and the Orc Horde, which you will be greatly welcomed and loved.

Now that you read about the builds and it’s strengths and weaknesses, we shall look at how it fairs against each other:

It has come clear that the offensive builds are the ones being initiative, and the defenders passive players. Both has it’s pros and cons on PvP, but on multiple aspects on CA, defenders tends to lose out on the monster battle department, resulting in lesser ability to get the alchemy gears faster, and in larger quantity.

Also, assumed that the comparison above is based on 1,000 total stats in attack and defense, you will realize that pure defenders lose out totally on the offensive, which limits their ability to retaliate players of similar level or total attack + defense stat. This is the reason why offensive builds are preferred over defensive builds by the general CA community, and the fact that after reaching the gauntlet, you are susceptible to all attacks makes the “Wall” build and the “Paladin” build fairly unattractive, resulting in most players picking on an offensive or balanced build.

CHAPTER 4: EASY SKILL POINTS FARMING

Ok, now you may wonder, how the hell do I get all the SPs to build a high BSI build, and at the same time, not compromising my stam/energy department? Easy! Farm the easiest SPs! I’ll tell you how, and where, step by step.

I will assume you are a total beginner and start from there.

You will start you character by heavily pumping all your SPs to energy, and only energy. Pump it to either 84 or 120, depending if you ever plan to pray to Ambrossia. Either way it’s fine. Gears doesn’t mean anything much more than stats if your stats are really powerful. Stat means the most, everything else are just bonuses.

The next thing you should note is that you always start with Azeron, not only for the SP, but guess what? To unlock the first demi-quest! Why waste the god damn time for 2 days on other Demi-Powers, when Azeron do the job immediately? Yes he gives you the immediate 200 demi points to unlock his first quest, and let me tell you, advancement for demi-quests are much faster than normal quests. Complete it and get your good 12SP.

You should continue praying to Azeron and meanwhile, complete your Azeron demi-quests and master the whole of Land of Fire. Land of Fire gives you 61SPs in total.

After completing Land of Fire, you should go ahead and rush Land of Earth to the boss quest for the Holy Avenger. Now, I’m going to tell you that Land of Earth is not all that free. The first 2 quests and sub-quests are easy stuff, you can complete them while doing it at the same time with the 4th-5th Azeron demi-quest. And I recommend you to stop at the 5th demi quest for Azeron, because it gets real tough to advance after that.

So with that said, what you should do? If you have yet to complete Azeron, it’s okay. Divert your love a little, give Malekus and Corvintheus some, and unlock their 600 demi point quests, for a total of 24SPs! Depending on whether you wish to pray to Ambrossia/Aurora or not, and whether you farm monsters or not, the 600 point quest for both the ladies are also available to you to quest, for another whooping 24SPs.

FYI, After completing Azeron’s Path, I have his quest mastered till the 5th tier, with all other powers unlocked until the 2nd tier (600 points), and mostly mastered.

After Azeron’s Path, where you go depends. If you stopped at 84 energy at the start, your primary focus is on Ambrossia. Unlock her to the 1,300 point tier, and move on to unlock the 1,300 for Malekus and Corvintheus. If you are not picky on Aurora, you can unlock hers too if you wish. After doing so, focus on completing the demi paths depending where’s your focus. If you stopped at 84, focus on Ambrossia all the way. If you started off with 120 gear or decides to stop somewhere in between and use Elizabeth or Aria, then it’s fine, spread your love in between Malekus and Corvintheus to unlock both’s 2,000 point quest, and focus on either one of them, depending on your build.

Remember, demi-quests come first before anything on Land of Earth. Demi-quests are faster and easier. Don’t believe? The 2nd last quest of Azeron, at a requirement of 15 energy per click, gives you more XP than the 20energy/15xp quest on Land of Fire, and it gives a higher % increase! Azeron’s goes at 4% per click while Shino’s goes at 2.5% average. It sucks to be honest. That’s why I say, go for the demi-quests. And as much as it sucks to master, you can very well choose to advance to Land of Mist just for the Lightning Storm, and return to master the Land of Earth.

So you wonder how many easy SPs are there to farm in total using this guide’s tips:

Path 1: 84 Energy at start, Ambrossia praying after Azeron:

Land of Fire: 61
Land of Earth: 61
Demi Quests, Azeron (up to the 5th tier): 60
Demi Quests, Ambrossia (up to the 5th tier): 60
Demi Quests, Malekus (up to the 3rd tier): 36
Demi Quests, Corvintheus (up to the 3rd tier): 36
Demi Quests, Aurora (up to the 2nd tier, no praying at all): 24

Total: 338

Path 2: between 85-120 Energy at start, prays to Malekus/Corvintheus as focus, and Ambrossia at times to unlock quests and gain energy stat:

Land of Fire: 61
Land of Earth: 61
Demi Quests, Azeron (up to the 5th tier): 60
Demi Quests, Ambrossia (up to the 4th tier): 48
Demi Quests, Malekus (up to the 4th tier if your focus is Corvintheus, 5th if Malekus): 48 OR 60
Demi Quests, Corvintheus (up to the 4th tier if your focus is Malekus, 5th if Corvintheus): 48 OR 60
Demi Quests, Aurora (up to the 2nd tier, no praying at all): 24

Total: 362

Path 3: 120 Energy start, Focus on Malekus/Corvintheus after Azeron:

Land of Fire: 61
Land of Earth: 61
Demi Quests, Azeron (up to the 5th tier): 60
Demi Quests, Ambrossia (up to the 2nd tier): 24
Demi Quests, Malekus (up to the 4th tier if your focus is Corvintheus, 5th if Malekus): 48 OR 60
Demi Quests, Corvintheus (up to the 4th tier if your focus is Malekus, 5th if Corvintheus): 48 OR 60
Demi Quests, Aurora (up to the 2nd tier, no praying at all): 24

Total: 338

You can see that either ways gives you a fast and easy 338 SPs to apply. Path 2 is gives the most SP but it’s going to slow you down by about 2 weeks to do so, but I think it’s fine if you plan to play long term.

So what is 338SPs? That means, you can have a minimum of 120 energy and 120 stamina, without dropping your BSI below 5.0! It’s really that EASY, my friends. To be real honest, I’ll leak a little secret, I haven’t even mastered the 338SPs and I’m already sitting on 120 energy and 120 Stam, and my BSI is certainly over 6.0.

Let’s don’t forget about achievements. For battle achievements, yield 10SPs for doing 100 invasions and 100 duel wins. What you should go next? I highly suggest getting a 501 army. You need not to have 501 VK or whatever, just invade the poor guys with pathetic army. Easiest wins ever, easiest BP ever. Get your 5,000 invasion done first, for the 15SPs! In total, you yield 25SPs and 40 FPs by just invading those with small army. Easy as ABC.

Monsters? Hydra and Dragon are your best friends. Get yourself a Dragon Helm on the way, and the Hydra heads, the Hellkite Minion and Hellslayer Knights as unit. I don’t really care what you do, get at least 10 kills for both for 10SPs

See how easy all these SPs are? A strong and versatile hybrid isn’t that all difficult, it depends on your mastery of resource allocation, and patience.

CHAPTER 5: THE MOST COMMON PVP QUESTIONS/FAQ

Qn 1) WHY DO I ALWAYS LOSE?
– Use this guide as your lesson. Do you have a sucky BSI? Are you losing to a build that is effective against yours? (check the build ratio comparison chart for this)

Qn 2) HOW DO I GET ATTACKED BY SOMEONE OF XXX HIGHER LEVEL THAN ME?
– Technically reaching level 80, you can get hit by ANYONE. The semi-protection mechanism by not listing your keep to those level 120 and above, until you’ve reached level 120 yourself, is not foolproof. Anyone who has bookmarked your link can whoop you as high from level 1,000 as long as you are level 80 and above.

Qn 3) I NEED STAT ADVISE!
– Read this guide and formulate one for yourself! The theory is all the same so just apply it.

Qn 4) HOW DO I LOSE WHEN I HAVE SUPERIOR GEAR/MORE ARMY THAN HIM/HER?
– It’s most likely that your stats are inferior. However, it’s may not be always the case, due to the fact that we have a dual battle platform; the duel and the invasion. To learn more about it, read the “further readings” at the end of the guide.

Qn 5) HE/SHE IS A CHEATER! HE ALWAYS ATTACKS ME AND HE’S DEAD!
– It’s called hiding, or he’s already being chained to death by someone else. Either hide yourself, or get stronger.

CHAPTER 6: CONCLUSIONS

I hope that from the above discussion in this guide, you get a fair idea of the differences in the different builds and it helps you to decide what kinds of stat build you wish to have for your CA Character. Of course, whether to be a Dueler or Invader is another whole story, we’ve got 3 separate guides on that, and I’ll direct you to them on “Further Readings”.

Again, all the above information are just the theories and tips. Ultimately, it’s up to you to expertly apply them depending on your needs and situation. For example, it might not be necessary to rush for a 7.0 or even 8.0 BSI build during the early levels, because you are likely to compromise your energy and stamina stat just for that. Always plan ahead and think about what you want in the long run. Building on energy and stam with a weak BSI build just to level, gain more SPs, do more quests, acquire the loots, then build on your BSI can be just as good as building a hardcore PvP character early. At times you may choose to weaken a little just to catch up with level, at times it’s good to give up on the focus on PvP and do monsters a little.

It’s all up to you to apply the theories and techniques. There are a lot of arguments and debates on this matter itself so I will not touch on them, and basically it’s personal preference.

With this, I thank you for reading and I hope you’ve enjoyed it. Below are the further readings on Duels and Invasions if you are not yet familiar with them: