Adventure Quest Ranger Ultimate Guide

Adventure Quest Ranger Ultimate Guide by Syr Frostbite

The powerful Mages cast their spells, so devastating that the mighty titans themselves cower in fear. The fearless Warriors slash through their enemies, carving out a brutal trail of blood in their wake. But it is the mysterious and stealthy Rangers that perhaps foster the most fear, create scars so deeply embedded in the psyche that, even though time heals most wounds, mental trauma shall remain, forever echoing, a constant remembrance that even the most tranquil of peace is merely transient. If you wish to become one of the potent few that follow the path of the Ranger or you wish to learn the art of writing a cheesy yet approaching-poetic prose as you stomp your enemy into the ground, then your future awaits.

[URG001]
To get to a specific section, simply use CTRL + F. In the screen that pops up, put in the following codes for the desired section. To return to this index, enter URG000.

[URG001] : Index

[URG002] : Stat Evaluation

[URG003] : Stat Formula

[URG004] : Stat Set-Up

• [URG201] : Pure Ranger
• [URG202] : Beastmaster Ranger
• [URG203] : Lucky Beastmaster Ranger
• [URG204] : Tank Ranger
• [URG205] : Survivalist Ranger
• [URG206] : High Endurance Pure Ranger
• [URG207] : (Mystical) Annihilator Ranger

[URG005] : Weapons

• [URG301] : Fire
• [URG302] : Water
• [URG303] : Ice
• [URG304] : Earth
• [URG305] : Wind
• [URG306] : Energy
• [URG307] : Light
• [URG308] : Darkness

[URG006] : Armors

• [URG401] : Class Armors
• [URG402] : No-Drop Equipment
• [URG403] : Armor Set-Ups

[URG007] : Shields

[URG008] : Chieftain’s IronThorn

[URG009] : Spells

[URG010] : Pets

• [URG501] : Non-Beastmaster Pets
• [URG502] : Beastmaster Pets

[URG011] : Miscellaneous Items

[URG012] : End Notes and Helpful links

[URG013] : Credits

[URG014] : Change Log

[URG002]

Strength One of the most important stats on offense, STR comprises of the majority of stat damage to ranged weapons. Most Rangers will want plenty of this unless using a specialized build such as the Lucky Beastmaster Ranger and the Survivalist Ranger.

Dexterity A stat that wears many hats, DEX works its magic in many fields including serving as the secondary ingredient for stat damage when using ranged weapons, blocking, and BTH to your weapons. DEX is the cornerstone stat of Rangers because, while it does not provide a majority of the damage as STR does, it does provide the accuracy necessary to wield that power to its fullest degree.

Intelligence Not really a stat Rangers should concern themselves with, INT is more suited for Mages with their magic weapons and offensive spells. In certain builds, INT can serve as one of the “dump” stats for those final 30 or 80 stat points, depending on whether you trained END, to keep a guest out longer or provide extra MP for a healing spell.

Charisma CHA raises pet damage, BTH, and attack rate. Since STR, DEX, and LUK are all important stats for a Ranger, adding CHA to the mix is a big decision to make.

Endurance Having a fair amount of END is important for survivability. With that said, it is important to not go overboard. Normally, I would recommend going for 50-100 or so points of this. No point in going past 100 and lasting a long time if you cannot do enough damage to win a battle, right? Especially as a Ranger, as I stated before, high amounts of END/CHA are a big decision, as they detract from the pool of other stats.

Luck LUK is similar to DEX in that it wears many different hats. Being the more offensive-oriented of the two, LUK in large quantities enhances damage output via Lucky Strikes. Being able to turn the tide of a battle, LUK also helps you to go first in battle, block more, deal more accurate blows, and find bigger treasure chests. Since most builds tend to avoid insane amounts of END, having large quantities of LUK is useful in going first in battle and avoiding a turn of damage, especially against glass cannons.

In the town of BattleOn where you first start your Adventure, you will encounter a cheerful little Moglin, Twilly. Simply speak with him, and ask to Visit the Stat Trainers. Upon visiting these Trainers, you will find four options. The Combat Practice Trainer can help you test out new gear, but he won’t train your stats. You want to talk to the other 3. You can only train your stats up to 200 each and there is a limit on how many you can use up in total, which is five times your level, so train them wisely. You may be thinking, “How much do I have to pay to train my stats?” Here is a little chart that outlines the costs to train every stat ranging from 5 to 200. If you don’t want to look at the picture, the formula is 0.8*(I^2) = TG, where I is equal to your initial stat and TG stands for total gold.

Combat Practice:
This trainer is simply a Drakel Sword Master that can be used to test out and compare items. He gives you no gold and no money for beating him, but he can be useful for testing out strategies on.

Sir Lanceler:
As opposed to the other two stat trainers, Sir Lanceler is a more generalized trainer, capable of training all of your stats up to 75.

Neberon the Mage:
Neberon can train INT, CHA, and LUK. You will probably see him mostly for LUK training, unless you went the beastmaster route. Unlike Sir Lanceler, Neberon can train your stats up to 200 points in each category.

Grimweld the Warrior:
Grimweld, in contrast to Neberon, specializes in STR, DEX, and END. As a Ranger, you will be seeing a lot of him.

Sir Pwnsalot:
Did you accidentally trained something that you did not want too? Perhaps you want a different build than you intended originally. Well, too bad. That is no problem for the Untrainer! Simply find him in the Nowhere Quest. You first must die, and you will see Death. There will be an Hourglass next to him. Click on it, and you will be at the Nowhere quest. Search around in Death’s Domain and jump into the Purple Portals until you find Sir Pwnsalot. If you are a Guardian and you’ve seen him once before, you can then access him from the Guardian Tower. Check the link provided for more information.

Tip: Heres a Tip for those untraining a large amount of stats. You have to be level 70+ to use this method. First Visit Captain Rhubarb! and do the Find the Dweller quest. At the end pick the “Extreme Mode Boss Fight!” option and get the Nerf Set from Rayfish by lowering his hp to 50%. Just fight Pwnsalot with the Nerf set and you will be done in no time. If you want it to go slightly faster, pick up the Mana Regen spell and cast it every turn to trade your HP for MP.

[URG003]

Stat Damage Bonus (Per 100% Stat Damage)

Melee: STR/8 + LUK/20
Ranged: STR/10 + DEX/40 + LUK/20
Pets & Guests: CHA/15

Stat Bonus to Hit (BTH)

Melee: [STR/16 + DEX/16 + LUK/20]
Ranged: [DEX/8 + LUK/20]
Pets & Guests: [CHA/15 + CHA/20]

Blocking Ability

Blocking Bonus from Stats:: [DEX/10 + LUK/20]

HP & MP Formula

L = Level, E = Endurance, I = Intellect

HP=[5L + 0.05LE + E + 100]
MP=[5L + 0.05LI + I + 100]

Visit Kaelin’s Master List of Game Formula for these and other helpful formulas.

[URG004]
Now that you are properly introduced and know some facts about the many Ranger builds, here are the stat set-ups that I recommend. Since this particular guide is going to cover Rangers only, those are the builds that shall be included. Now, the following builds are just suggestions about what I think a Ranger would look like blending performance and economic situation. These are just recommended builds and you can change, modify or build however you wish to satisfy your own ends or to lower training cost until high levels.

[URG201]

Lv 25 = STR ~ 50 | DEX ~ 50 | INT ~ 0 | END ~ 25 | CHA ~ 0 | LUK ~ 0
Lv 50 = STR ~ 105 | DEX ~ 105 | INT ~ 0 | END ~ 40 | CHA ~ 0 | LUK ~ 0
LV 75 = STR ~ 165 | DEX ~ 160 | INT ~ 0 | END ~ 50 | CHA ~ 0 | LUK ~ 0
Lv 100 = STR ~ 200 | DEX ~ 200 | INT ~ 0 | END ~ 50 | CHA ~ 0 | LUK ~ 50
Lv 130 = STR ~ 200 | DEX ~ 200 | INT ~ 0 | END ~ 50 | CHA ~ 0 | LUK ~ 200
Lv 136 = STR ~ 200 | DEX ~ 200 | INT ~ 0 | END ~ 80 | CHA ~ 0 | LUK ~ 200

Pros: More focused stat training means maximizing damage sooner.

Cons: High costs for stats early on. Specialization of STR and DEX sooner means you will be taking an extra turn of damage early on than builds with LUK.

Stat Distribution & Other Notes: You sacrifice LUK early on to maximize STR and DEX. The extra END early on can make up for the lack of initiative rolls in your favor due to the lack of LUK as well as help ease the strain on your funds, helping offset the high stat costs a tad. Later on, the lack of initiative can be masked by Whispering Raiment since 50 END will no longer be sufficient in blanketing an extra turn of damage from the glass cannons such as the Gogg family. Once LUK is fully developed, you will be able to go first in almost any situation when starting off in Whispering Raiment and deal powerful blows with your mastery of damage, which only becomes compounded when a lucky strike occurs.

[URG202]

Lv 25 = STR ~ 45 | DEX ~ 20 | INT ~ 0 | END ~ 25 | CHA ~ 35 | LUK ~ 0
Lv 50 = STR ~ 90 | DEX ~ 50 | INT ~ 0 | END ~ 30 | CHA ~ 80 | LUK ~ 0
LV 75 = STR ~ 125 | DEX ~ 75 | INT ~ 0 | END ~ 50 | CHA ~ 125 | LUK ~ 0
Lv 100 = STR ~ 190 | DEX ~ 100 | INT ~ 0 | END ~ 50 | CHA ~ 160 | LUK ~ 0
Lv 130 = STR ~ 200 | DEX ~ 200 | INT ~ 0 | END ~ 50 | CHA ~ 200 | LUK ~ 0
Lv 136 = STR ~ 200 | DEX ~ 200 | INT ~ 0 | END ~ 80 | CHA ~ 200 | LUK ~ 0

Pros: Training three stats as opposed to two means a easier time with gold early on. An extra source of reliable damage is added in via pets and guests now that you have the CHA to use them to full effect, giving your opponent multiple offensive looks. Later on, you become an offensive beast.

Cons: Although damage should be heightened later on, while training, lack of focus means less reliability against the more defensive foes as individual performance is sacrificed. Probably more suited for later levels than early on as stats become useful in large quantities, so benefits might not be felt immediately.

Stat Distribution & Other Notes: Here, you train three main stats but focus on two while the other lags behind. STR should help with weapon damage while CHA slowly but surely adds up, boosting pet reliability. The lagging DEX helps your other stats advance quicker, but the benefits of DEX are not felt until later on. With lower DEX while training and no LUK at all, defense will be harder to come by as will accuracy. You will probably be going second in battle most of the time until you can grab Whispering Raiment.

[URG203]

Lv 25 = STR ~ 0 | DEX ~ 25 | INT ~ 0 | END ~ 25 | CHA ~ 50 | LUK ~ 25
Lv 50 = STR ~ 0 | DEX ~ 75 | INT ~ 0 | END ~ 50 | CHA ~ 75 | LUK ~ 50
LV 75 = STR ~ 0 | DEX ~ 115 | INT ~ 0| END ~ 50 | CHA ~ 135 | LUK ~ 75
Lv 100 = STR ~ 0 | DEX ~ 150 | INT ~ 0 | END ~ 50 | CHA ~ 200 | LUK ~ 100
Lv 130 = STR ~ 0 | DEX ~ 200 | INT ~ 0 | END ~ 50 | CHA ~ 200 | LUK ~ 200
Lv 136 = STR ~ 0 | DEX ~ 200 | INT ~ 0 | END ~ 80 | CHA ~ 200 | LUK ~ 200

Pros: The luxury of having both DEX and LUK early on as opposing to focusing on only one until later means more initiative bonus, going first more and more as LUK heightens. Accuracy and blocking will be easier to come by as will offensive assistance from pets and guests.

Cons: Lack of STR means your own damage will not be very impressive. Offense will be hard to come by, so you will have to rely on suffocating your enemy with solid defense. A focus on defense at the cost of offense does not translate well when trying to farm nor at lower to mid levels in general since, in those early stages, there are rarely any enemies that justify such stifling defense.

Stat Distribution & Other Notes: Focus on DEX and CHA is one possible route. In any case, you should have DEX and LUK trained up and not too far from each other. A reversal of the amounts of DEX and LUK trained is possible, sacrificing a bit of defense in favor of more powerful lucky strikes in an endeavor to compensate for lack of reliable offense. Another variant is to go the annihilator route and use INT as your dump stat rather than END.

[URG204]

Lv 25 = STR ~ 60 | DEX ~ 40 | INT ~ 0 | END ~ 25 | CHA ~ 0 | LUK ~ 0
Lv 50 = STR ~ 120 | DEX ~ 80 | INT ~ 0 | END ~ 50 | CHA ~ 0 | LUK ~ 0
LV 75 = STR ~ 175 | DEX ~ 125 | INT ~ 0 | END ~ 75 | CHA ~ 0 | LUK ~ 0
Lv 100 = STR ~ 200 | DEX ~ 200 | INT ~ 0 | END ~ 100 | CHA ~ 0 | LUK ~ 0
Lv 130 = STR ~ 200 | DEX ~ 200 | INT ~ 0 | END ~ 200 | CHA ~ 0 | LUK ~ 50
Lv 136 = STR ~ 200 | DEX ~ 200 | INT ~ 0 | END ~ 200 | CHA ~ 0 | LUK ~ 80

Pros: A boatload of HP makes it easy to simply out-tank your opponent, wearing them down as your offensive capabilities are still lethal enough to go in for the killing blow. In addition, copious amounts of HP compensates for having to go second in a sizable majority of battles.

Cons: Such high amounts of END are superfluous as you can already defeat a sizable majority of opponents with far lower END. This superfluous END is better used elsewhere.

Stat Distribution & Other Notes: Liberal amounts of STR and DEX throughout detracts from the notion that Tank builds cannot compete on offense, although this becomes increasingly true as you progress in the game. Early on, you will look like a regular Pure Ranger, so being able to deal raw damage should not be a surprise. Later on, the shifted focus towards training END is offset by maximized STR and DEX while you are getting your first taste of lucky strikes and initiative bonus.

[URG205]

Lv 25 = STR ~ 0 | DEX ~ 60 | INT ~ 0 | END ~ 25 | CHA ~ 0 | LUK ~ 40
Lv 50 = STR ~ 0 | DEX ~ 120 | INT ~ 0 | END ~ 50 | CHA ~ 0 | LUK ~ 80
LV 75 = STR ~ 50 | DEX ~ 150 | INT ~ 0 | END ~ 50 | CHA ~ 0 | LUK ~ 125
Lv 100 = STR ~ 50 | DEX ~ 200 | INT ~ 0 | END ~ 100 | CHA ~ 0 | LUK ~ 150
Lv 130 = STR ~ 50 | DEX ~ 200 | INT ~ 0 | END ~ 200 | CHA ~ 0 | LUK ~ 200
Lv 136 = STR ~ 80 | DEX ~ 200 | INT ~ 0 | END ~ 200 | CHA ~ 0 | LUK ~ 200

Pros: Perhaps the most defensive build out there, the Survivalist allows you to go first in a sizable majority of battles, counter more hits from your opponent, and out-last your opponent. Defensive suffocation at its best, it is doubtful that, with the right equipment and strategy, you will ever be caught off guard. Even if you are, you have the defensive tools to deal with nearly any situation.

Cons: Pure defense comes at a great cost to your offensive capabilities. Although 80 STR will ensure that you are not completely oblivious to dealing damage and 200 LUK translates to powerful lucky strikes, your offense will be inconsistent and unpredictable to your detriment. Leveling might prove more difficult as defeating enemies will take longer.

Stat Distribution & Other Notes: Early on, you are focusing on DEX and LUK while END is far from that of a Tank. This works towards building up your defenses while you deal the occasional lucky strike. It is not until later on that you incorporate the Tanking aspect of your build as stifling defense and tanking early on is just superfluous. You also get a taste of power once your reach your mid-levels, although that taste does not evolve into anything more.

[URG206]

Lv 25 = STR ~ 50 | DEX ~ 50 | INT ~ 0 | END ~ 25 | CHA ~ 0 | LUK ~ 0
Lv 50 = STR ~ 105 | DEX ~ 105 | INT ~ 0 | END ~ 40 | CHA ~ 0 | LUK ~ 0
LV 75 = STR ~ 165 | DEX ~ 135 | INT ~ 0 | END ~ 75 | CHA ~ 0 | LUK ~ 0
Lv 100 = STR ~ 200 | DEX ~ 200 | INT ~ 0 | END ~ 100 | CHA ~ 0 | LUK ~ 0
Lv 130 = STR ~ 200 | DEX ~ 200 | INT ~ 0 | END ~ 100 | CHA ~ 0 | LUK ~ 150
Lv 136 = STR ~ 200 | DEX ~ 200 | INT ~ 0 | END ~ 100 | CHA ~ 0 | LUK ~ 180

Pros: A cross between a Pure build and a Tank build, END is at a point where the increased amount is beneficial, but does not go overboard to the degree that a Tank does. This High Endurance is mostly geared towards the training levels as, end-game, your END is not too much different than regular builds. END training does not get in the way of STR training as your damage is maximized as soon as possible. Able to compensate for lack of LUK going towards initiative rolls via increased END.

Cons: Blocking and accuracy both take a hit via DEX early on.

Stat Distribution & Other Notes: Stat training focuses on damage via STR very early on, so not too different from the Pure Ranger in that sense. Less DEX is compensated by higher END, so survivability is not hampered by less DEX with this build. Focused stat training on a singular stat means higher stat costs early on as gold is already hard to come by, so this can be rectified by moving a few points of STR into DEX. This means being able to deal high amounts of damage while simultaneously increasing block rate and BTH, having for a slightly more defensive build than the stat plan dictates above.

[URG207]

Lv 25 = STR ~ 65 | DEX ~ 60 | INT ~ 0 | END ~ 0 | CHA ~ 0 | LUK ~ 0
Lv 50 = STR ~ 125 | DEX ~ 125 | INT ~ 0 | END ~ 0 | CHA ~ 0 | LUK ~ 0
LV 75 = STR ~ 200 | DEX ~ 175 | INT ~ 0 | END ~ 0 | CHA ~ 0 | LUK ~ 0
Lv 100 = STR ~ 200 | DEX ~ 200 | INT ~ 0 | END ~ 0 | CHA ~ 0 | LUK ~ 100
Lv 130 = STR ~ 200 | DEX ~ 200 | INT ~ 0/50 | END ~ 50/0 | CHA ~ 0 | LUK ~ 200
Lv 136 = STR ~ 200 | DEX ~ 200 | INT ~ 0/80 | END ~ 80/0 | CHA ~ 0 | LUK ~ 200

Pros: Plenty of offense to go around.

Cons: Not very durable until very high levels. Until LUK is at a high quantity, taking that extra turn of damage hurts.

Stat Distribution & Other Notes: You will be focused on training your two main stats, STR and DEX, early on, maximizing them as quickly as possible. You can add a hit of END around your mid levels since monster strength increases there, but you generally won’t look at training END until you run out of options. An alternative if you want to stay true to the annihilator is to dump those final points into INT for the benefit of survivability via healing spells or just more offense via MP summons.

Although a majority of weapons carried should be ranged, it doesn’t hurt to use an odd melee weapon once in a while, assuming your stats justify its usage. Now, you might not want to blindly follow every single weapon recommendation early on, given your general lack of funds. I tried to make recommendations of weapons that were both sustainable and affordable, although, in some cases, the expensive weapon was the only option. Carry 3-4 weapons early on and start adding more as you ascend in level is what I would do.

Of course, your no-drop weapon should alter the approach you will take in filling up your weapons arsenal. Adventurers are stuck with earth, so if you can free up a weapon via a misc item or something similar that comes with a temporary weapon or just grab a temporary weapon yourself to cover all eight elements effectively, do so. Guardians have an easier time since you can elementize your no-drop weapon. Hardcore fans of 100% special weapons will not find too much help in that regard, but at least it’s something.

Fire[URG301]

Progression (Non 100% Special): FireBlade (0) -> Qiang of Exploding (25) or Crimson Ebil Scythe (25)(G) -> Fairy Floss Lance (45) -> Fairy Floss Spear (75) -> Candy Floss Spear (90) -> Cotton Candy Spear (120)

Low to Mid Levels – L0-80
FireBlade is good enough to start you off. At L25, Adventurers may upgrade to Qiang of Exploding while Guardians have a better option with Crimson Ebil Scythe. In any case, Fairy FLoss Lance is available to all players at L45. All of these options are fairly cheap until Fairy Floss Spear at L75. Unfortunately, there aren’t too many viable alternatives at this stage.

High to Top Levels – L81+
Nothing too unfamiliar at this point since the Candy Spear series is the most viable route to take. At L90, upgrade to Candy Floss Spear and finish it off at L120 with Cotton Candy Spear.

Progression (100% Special): FireBlade (0) -> Fire Crossbow (12) -> Liquid Fire (30) -> Helslinger (45) (Optional) -> Salvation Bow (56) -> Warsmith Dagger (76)

Low to Mid-Levels (L0-80)
Start off with Fire Crossbow at L12. A very strong weapon at this point, Liquid Fire comes next at L30. One weapon of consideration would be Helslinger at L45. It has more base damage than Liquid Fire before it, but not much else. Definitely an improvement, if you are low on gold, just forgo this upgrade. In any case, Salvation Bow is the weapon of choice at L56 and it can be found in the Quest for the Salvation Weapons. as there are copious salvation weapons, be sure to pick the right one. Finally, Warsmith Dagger is a clear upgrade at L76, boasting enough power to function as your final fire weapon.

High to Top-Levels (L81+)
Unfortunately, there is a clear shortage of high level ranged weapons for fire. There might be one or two, but trading in Warsmith Dagger for those would be lateral moves at best. Invest your hard-earned gold elsewhere.

An interesting series of 100% proc rate weapons for those Rangers lacking in STR is the Gunblade series, consisting of the Riot/ Sawed-Off/ Shot Gunblades, and the Boomstick. These weapons get no stat bonuses to damage from STR or DEX (they can still hit for lucky strikes); however, they still get stat BTH and are very powerful. All of the variants are formidable weapons, though a few of them are Z-Token items. If you are one of those Rangers without STR, definitely take a serious look at these weapons.

Water[URG302]

Progression (Non 100% Special): Kelp Scythe (30) -> Angling Rod (60) -> Mesopelagic Quindent (75) -> Prizewinner’s Rod (98) or Guardian Abyssal Quindent (100) -> Hadal Quindent (125)

Low to Mid Levels – L0-80
You start off with Kelp Scythe at L30, which is a cheap and effective option at this point. That should last you quite a few levels as you can upgrade once you reach L60 for Angling Rod. Not exactly cheap, so if you are one of those people who level insanely fast, you might want to conserve and choose to jump directly to Mesopelagic Quindent at L75 instead. At that stage, it is certainly a possibility. Also consider that if you have a solid enough ice weapon, that can cover for both water and ice, bridging the gap from Kelp Scythe to the Quindent.

High to Top Levels – L81+
Once you are nearing triple digits, Guardians have an option of either Prizewinner’s Rod or Guardian Abyssal Quindent. Adventuers, of course, only have the former available to them. Suffice to say, both are viable options that should last you until Hadal Quindent at L125. Really, the non-100% path for water is so much more viable than the 100% path given the lack of versatility and power in the 100% route, especially at the top.

Progression (100% Special): Hollow’s Weather Remote (10) -> Hollow’s Weather Remote (50) -> Soda Popper (95)

Low to Mid Levels – L0-80
Unfortunately, you don’t have too many options here for the 100% special path. Hollow’s Weather Remote should be got at L10, but upgrade that for the L50 variant. The remote covers four elements, is cheap, and has legendary BTH, so you might be seeing it more than once in this guide.

High to Top Levels – L81+
Finally, at L95, the highest tier Soda Popper is up for grabs and that is it. Tough luck.

Ice[URG303]

Progression (Non 100% Special): Frigid Spire (10) -> Capable Silari Bardiche (38) -> Guardian Frigid Spire (60) -> Master Silari Bardiche (88) -> Exalted Absolix Polearm (103) -> Guardian Frigid Spire (120)

Low to Mid Levels – L0-80
Water and ice are generally interchangeable to a larger degree, so, early on, keep that in mind if you lack funds. Frigid Spire is a good pick-up at L10, unless you want to blaze through to Capable Silari Bardiche at L38. From there, Guardians have Guardian Frigid Spire L60 as an option. Adventurers are not so lucky.

High to Top Levels – L81+
Available to both parties is Master Silari Bardiche at L88, which should suffice until Exalted Absolix Polearm at L103. That is the final ice weapon for our Adventurer friends while Guardians upgrade to the L120 variant in the Frigid Spire series.

Progression (100% Special): Frostbow (20) -> Frozen Dinner (45) -> Frozen Dinner (65) -> Lavistria’s Bow (T) or Necropolis Tongue (80) -> Guardian Frozen Dinner (105) -> Frozen Dinner (125)

Low to Mid Levels – L0-80
Frostbow at L20 is a good place to start off. It is a cheap option with decent accuracy with 5 BTH. Moving on, you will be seeing a lot of the Frozen Dinner series with the L45 variant followed by the L65 version. At L80, you have two options. Adventuers should definitely look to grab the temporary Lavistria’s Bow while Guardians can either do that or purchase Necropolis Tongue. Lavistria’s Bow is a 100% special weapon, so it should be a solid choice for replacing your no-drop weapon, especially for those of you who absolutely want to stay away from your no-drop and its lack of a 100% special rate.

High to Top Levels – L81+
In either case, Guardians continue with the Frozen Dinner series at L105 while Adventurers have to wait until L125 for an upgrade if they feel Lavistria’s Bow is no longer cutting it.

Earth[URG304]

Progression (Non 100% Special): Witch Blade (20) -> Geoto Mace (38) -> Sharp Luntet (75) (Optional) -> Centaurion Glaive (82) -> Razor Luntet (95) (Optional) -> Centaurian Glaive (102) -> Virulent Chimeran Spear (120) or Centaurion Guardian Glaive (122)

Low to Mid Levels – L0-80
Witch Blade at L20 is a solid option with exceptional accuracy at this stage. At L38, however, you will want to upgrade to Geoto Mace. You will have to leave your current clan, but the good news is you can leave Geoto if you want after you have purchased the weapon. After that comes along dry-spell as you will have to wait until at least L75 for a better ranged earth weapon in the form of Sharp Luntet. The Luntet series will require you to purchase a Portal to Trescol for 1500 Z-Tokens and have a house, the cheapest one for 250 Z-Tokens. On a brighter note, if you go the Luntet route and don’t plan on grabbing the L95 version to bridge the gap to L102, you can sell the portal back within 24 hours for a 90% refund.

High to Top Levels – L81+
Whether or not you picked up Sharp Luntet or not, Centaurion Glaive at L82 is a great buy that can last you until the L102 version. If you have the L95 Luntet, as mentioned before, feel free to skip the L102 Centaurion Glaive if you are short on funds. Adventurers will find themselves with Virulent Chimeran Spear at L120 as their final earth weapon while Guardians should skip said Spear and go for Centaurion Guardian Glaive at L122 instead.

Progression (100% Special): Nighthunter Bow (30) -> Beast Trainer’s Whip (50) -> Guardian Nightstalker Crossbow (70) -> Nightstalker Great Crossbow (90)

Low to Mid Levels – L0-80
You will be seeing a lot of the Nightstalker series as there are few other viable alternatives. Nighthunter Bow at L30 can get you off to a great start with its versatility. Were-Mode is generally the best mode, although this weapon can triple as a wind, earth, and light damage source if need be by activating the other modes. Coming back to the Nightstalker series later on, move on with Beast Trainer’s Whip at L50, which lasts until L70 when we revisit the Nightstalker series in the form of Guardian Nightstalker Crossbow. Adventurers, unfortunately, do not have any viable options, and are left with Beast Trainer’s Whip.

High to Top Levels – L81+
Both parties will be glad once they reach L90, for the final upgrade for this element is available, again a part of the Nightstalker series. Nightstalker Great Crossbow will finish off earth weapons, which is great until you start reaching those higher levels. Then, you might not be as pleased.

Wind[URG305]

Progression (Non 100% Special): Aerodu Sword (38) -> Slithering Longbow (80) -> Pavana (85) -> Tonbo-giri (105)

Low to Mid Levels – L0-80
Aerodu Sword makes an excellent wind weapon. Like Geoto Mace, this weapon is clan specific in the sense that you must join the clan before being able to access the shop. Again, you can leave the clan after purchasing the weapon. Surprisingly strong, Aerodu Sword can last you your entire low and mid levels, finally being upgraded at L80 for Slithering Longbow. Aerodu Sword does have a stronger special, though, albeit a less frequent one than that of Slithering Longbow. In a desperate financial pinch, Aerodu Sword is still sufficient until you can amass the funds for an upgrade.

High to Top Levels – L81+
You can choose to forgo the upgrade to Slithering Longbow in favor of amassing enough gold for Pavana at L85. If it will take you a while to afford Pavana, feel free to grab Slithering Longbow as you wait, provided you really want to get rid of Aerodu Sword. Now, at first glance, spending 400k on a weapon at this stage may seen ridiculous, but Pavana has an effective power level of L105. It is available at L85, so the price-tag is higher to compensate. There are cheaper options up-front, but once you upgrade to Tonbo-giri at L105, you will find that purchasing Pavana actually saves you the most gold due to Pavana having a90% sell-back rate. In this sense, you can grab a weapon at L95 for 150k and lose about 75k in the sell-back or grab Pavana now at 400k and lose 40k once you upgrade it to Tonbo-giri, which is the highest level permutation of Pavana, possessing a PLevel of 120. Both these weapons have a rare chance of performing Keen Strike, an incredibly powerful special attack. Boasting extreme accuracy, Pavana and Tonbo-giri make excellent choices as wind weapons with a higher chance of Keen Strike as a full set bonus (FSB).

Progression (100% Special): Beast Trainer’s Whip (25) -> Novel of the Winds (35) -> Warsmith Dagger (55) or Guardian Novel of the Winds (55) -> Novel of the Winds (75) -> Novel of the Winds (95) -> Novel of the Winds (115) -> Guardian Novel of the Winds (135)

Low to Mid Levels – L0-80
At L25, Beast Trainer’s Whip is a solid start, unless you want to skip directly to the first of many Novel of the Winds at L35. In any case, Warsmith Dagger becomes available at L55 for Adventurers while Guardians should go for Guardian Novel of the Winds instead. Stat damage really brings Novel ahead of Warsmith. Both parties should continue with Nove of the Winds at L75.

High to Top Levels – L81+
The status quo remains essentially constant from here on out, continuing with Novel of the Winds at L95, once again at L115, and a final time for Guardians at L135. Adventuers, of course, end up with the L115 variant.

For Adventurers who have the Z-Tokens, Novel of the Winds Z (128) is a good buy. It has the same power level as the Guardian Novel of the Winds (135) and is a clear upgrade over Novel of the Winds (115).

Energy[URG306]

Progression (Non 100% Special): Kayda Blade (14) or Wit (25) -> Ion Cannon (40) -> Ramleon Polearm (62) (Optional) -> Ramleon Polearm (82) -> Ramleon Polearm (102) or Mjollnir (105) -> Ramleon Polearm (122)

Low to Mid Levels – L0-80
Guardians should quest for Kayda Blade as soon as they hit L14, as that is an excellent weapon. Adventurers will have to wait until L25 for Wit, which is not as strong as Kayda Blade, but still gets the job done. In either case, Ion Cannon becomes available at L40 as has a 50% special rate. It is potent enough to last you all the way until the Ramelon Polearm series starting with the L82 variant. You can grab the L62 version in between if you want since Ion Cannon does again have that 50% special rate, but chances are you are strapped for gold, so it’s more of a luxury, really.

High to Top Levels – L81+
At this stage, you have two upgrades possible. You can continue with the Ramleon Polearm series at L102 or go with Mjollnir at L105. The Ramleon Polearm has an inaccurate lean on the regular attack with an accurate lean on the special, which happens to be wind instead of energy, while Mjollnir is overloaded with BTH. BTH aside, there really isn’t much of a use for Mjollnir as it is on old standards and is thus noticeably weaker. Mjollnir costs quite a large sum at 700k, but has a 90% sellback. In this sense, you would actually lose less if you bought the more expensive Mjollnir and decided to sell it than if you bought the more powerful but less expensive Polearm and sold it. In either case, both are trumped by the L122 Ramleon Polearm. Same argument can be made as for the L102 version, but this version should beat Mjollnir no question.

Progression (100% Special): Hollow’s Weather Remote (10) -> Ion Cannon (40) -> Keen Hoopdy-Hoop (75) -> Salvation Bow (92) -> Lhazor (103) -> Nerfadon Electrobolt (112) -> Guardian Lhazor (123)

Low to Mid Levels – L0-80
For those builds without STR such as the Lucky BeastMaster Ranger or the Survivalist Ranger, the Lhazor Series and the Nerfadon Electrobolt Series are both recommended ahead of suggested energy weapons once you have trained a fair amount of DEX. At low levels, you probably will not have enough DEX over STR to make these two series of weapons worth while, so probably around your mid-levels is when you should start using them. Keep in mind that the Lhazor progression deals fire damage 20% of the time. Fire and energy don’t conflict a lot, so this should not be too much of an issue.

Start off with the versatile Hollow’s Weather Remote at L10. This weapon can perform quad-duty as it covers four elements excellently. Ion Cannon again comes up at L40 and, although it is not a 100% special weapon, it is close enough at 50% special. Its power cannot be denied, but at L75, you will want to trade it in for Keen Hoopdy-Hoop. As I mentioned previously, those builds without STR should start skipping after Ion Cannon, so they will not use Keen Hoopy-Hoop.

High to Top Levels – L81+
Salvation Bow at L92 is one of the final upgrades when it comes to 100% energy weapons for STR builds. As long as you have a solid amount of DEX, trade in Salvation Bow for Lhazor (103) and upgrade accordingly to Nerfadon Electrobolt (112). Guardians can perform the final upgrade to Guardian Lhazor at L123 where DEX should not be an issue. Beast Rangers should be more careful at around Lhazor (103), unless they’ve added more DEX then the stat plan in this guide recommends.

Light[URG307]

Progression (Non 100% Special): Hybee Spear (15) -> Slithering Longbow (30) (Optional) -> Hybee Spear (60) -> Baronial Lance (70) -> Majestic Lance (90) -> Lambent Fairche Solais (98) (Optional) -> Royal Lance (110) -> Guardian Lustrous Fairche Solais (128) or Sovereign Lance (130)

Low to Mid Levels – L0-80
Ideally, you will run into a Hybee Scout and pick up Hybee Spear at L15 and L60. The Hybee series boasts enough force to last you your entire low and mid levels. Unfortunately, if you reach L30 and have not yet met a Hybee Scout and do not want to wait, grab Slithering Longbow as a temporary solution. Note that Hybee Spear L15 is still stronger than Slithering. By the time you reach L60, you should have at least met one Hybee Scout, so grab the L60 Hybee Spear when you can. Once you reach L70, you can trade in that Hybee Spear for Baronial Lance. The Lance is not exactly cheap, but considering it should suffice until L90, I’d say it is worth the price tag. It boasts lower random but higher base damage than Hybee Spear and the special of Lance really pushes it past the Spear.

High to Top Levels – L81+
Finally, at L90, Majestic Lance becomes available to you. Nothing too different from Baronial Lance. At L98, Lambent Fairche Solais is a slight upgrade, but you will want it mostly for its trigger against the undead. That’s where it really pulls ahead of Majestic Lance. Royal Lance is the obvious upgrade at L110 followed by a choice of two weapons at L128 and L130. Guardian Lustrous Fairche Solais is the preferred option, so Guardians should grab that. It has an effective power level of PL131 while Adventurers pick up Sovereign Lance at L130.

Progression (100% Special): Nighttracker Bow (10) -> Holy Blaze Bow (40) -> Flashlight (75) -> Flashlight (95) -> Flashlight (115) -> Guardian Flashlight (135)

Low to Mid Levels – L0-80
Nighttracker Bow at L10 is as good a place to start as anywhere due to its versatility. Covering earth, wind, and light depending on which mode you have activated, this can act as your only weapon at this point if need be. At L40, move on to Holy Blaze Bow from the Paladin Class Shop. Strong enough on its own, it comes with a powerful trigger against the undead, really making this a bargain purchase. That should last you for the rest of the low levels while Flashlight (75) picks up where Holy Blaze Bow leaves off excellent stat bonus and very solid base damage.

High to Top Levels – L81+
From here on out, the chain of future light weapons will be dominated by the Flashlight series. In light of this, upgrading accordingly at L95, L115, and a final time for Guardians at L135.

Darkness[URG308]

Progression (Non 100% Special): Darkhammer (0) -> Razor Fan (30) -> Ghastly Ebil Scythe (50) (Optional) -> Silent Razor Fan (65) or Ghoulish Ebil Scythe (70) (Optional) -> Fatal Razor Fan (85) or Calvarian Ebil Scythe (90) -> Guardian Goblin Spear (100) -> Goblin Spear (120)

Low to Mid Levels – L0-80
Believe it or not, the L0 Darkhammer is actually a rather strong weapon, boasting higher damage than other weapons in the level range. Of course, it has -5 BTH, so it is not the most accurate weapon in the world. At L30, upgrade to Razor Fan. You can either choose to keep that and upgrade directly to Silent Razor Fan at L65 or, for those of you who have a boatload of gold for some odd reason, go for the Ebil Scythe series at L50 and L70. These weapons are better in the sense that they can heal you a bit when you deal damage via the special ability, but are infinitely more expensive. Ghoulish Ebil Scythe is also an offensive upgrade over Silent Razor Fan in addition to the healing, but, at this point, the Razor Fan series should suffice.

High to Top Levels – L81+
Similarly, you have a choice of Fatal Razor Fan at L85 or Calvarian Ebil Scythe at L90. At this point, I’d go for Calvarian since you’re at that level where the price tag on it is warranted. Fatal Razor Fan is a cheap alternative at only 18k more than anything else. Guardians Goblin Spear is an upgrade to both previous weapons at L100 while Adventurers and Guardians both can access the final Goblin Spear at L120.

Progression (100% Special): Ninja Stars (12) -> Sharpened VampSpear (38) -> Darkbow (60) -> Ninja Stars (78)

Low to Mid Levels – L0-80
Like many elements, you will be using mostly one series of ranged weapons. In this particular case, Ninja Stars is the clear choice at L12 with a slight chance of paralyzing your opponent on the special attack. At L38, make sure you are a Vampire and purchase the Sharpened VampSpear. You can revert back to whichever sub-race you had before if you desire since you won’t be visiting the Vampire Sub-Race Shop again. At L60, Ninja Stars (56) was tempting, but I gave the edge to Darkbow (60) instead since the 20% chance of five hits pushed it over the top in average damage. Finally, at L78, upgrade to Ninja Stars for the last time.

High to Top Levels – L81+
Unfortunately, there are no high level options here.

Class Armors can prove beneficial even when you pass the levels that they were meant to be useful for. Even at high levels, their are a few notable class abilities which prove very benecicial. Each class is unique and special in its own way. There are 3 tiers, the first which is designed for levels 0 to 40, Tier 2 which is designed for levels 40 to 70, and Tier 3 which is designed for levels 70 to 90. Even though there are “level ranges” for them, some will still have some utility well past those levels.

Tier 1 Armors are your foundation classes, as many further classes require levels in one or more of these classes in order to commence training. Most of these class abilities are only useful at low levels or maybe mid levels in the case of Mage; albeit, the new Wizard renders Mage obsolete as should be the case. There is, however, one transcendent ability existing in Rogue, Summon Partner.

Fighter: Fighter Armor
This is a decent class at lower levels. This class has various damage boosting skills including the final skill which doubles the offensive power of an attack, but it is Guardian only. Do train it since other classes require you to have a certain Fighter level.

Mage: Mage Robes
Now here’s a class meant for Mages, not Rangers. One of the most versitile and useful skills that Mage Robes has is the Elemental Sphere ability which is great at lower levels. It’s quite a strong attack and doesn’t cost too much Mana. It lets you choose between 8 elemental spells to cast. This is practical at low levels for the above-mentioned Elemental Sphere abilitu, but not at higher levels.

Rogue: Rogue Outfit
There are a few skills that boost your attack and that’s nice early on. It is a useful ranged converter at low levels, but I doubt you will find a use for ranged conversion this early in the game. At higher levels, this armor is very useful for the Summon Partner ability to summon a Black Cat. This Black Cat as a unique ability: For each monster attack there is a chance of being jinxed for a penalty to the BtH equal to your rogue level, if you’re in Rogue/Ninja armors this penalty is increased by an additional half your rogue class level (“Strongly Jinxed!”). With your Rogue level maxed, monsters would have a BTH reduction of 10%, which is the equivalent of +10 blocking. This ability is useful even at the level cap, 136. At high levels, non-beastmasters should fine this more useful due to the influx of damage-dealing guests later on.

Scholar: Explorer’s Outfit
This armor, if you choose to purchase it, will not last you very long. There is one ability that is useful: Zard Prism. In the very beginning of the Game, when you’re below Lv.30 or so, you won’t really need a strong attack, so Scholar’s attack is more than acceptable. You can just use Zard Prism to change your weapons element. Now, that means all you need is one good weapon and you’re good to go for quite some time. Once you have grown tired of this ability and notice it is not doing the job, sell it.

Tier 2 contains the most number of classes. Each class has an assortment of interesting skills, but each class also has one or two of those unique abilities that will prove very useful even at higher levels. They are made to last until Lv.70, but quite a few of them have uses up until and well past Lv.100.

Beastmaster: Feral Garb, Primal Garb
The main skill for this armor is the summoning of guests. They are incredibly strong and attack quite a lot independently of your Charisma, but are still more oriented for Beast-Warriors/Rangers. For all builds, regardless of CHA, the Beast Mastery ability is key since the attack rate even at 0 CHA is 90% or so. It allows one of summon dual-guests. Guardians can unlock all 8 elelments, while Adventurers are limited. It is an awesome offensive ability, and very versitile. For those with high CHA, the guests will be even stronger due to each guests dual-attack requiring high CHA to perform. And while there are newer, more powerful guests, these guests currently come at no SP nor MP cost per turn.

Berserker: Berserker Hides
In order to train as a Berserker, you will need at least 5 in Fighter. This class appeals more to Warriors and Rangers than to Mages, much like Fighter. As your HP decreases, the offense of this armor increases. Some skills are a bit inaccurate, but the damage they do make up for it. Personally, I would skip this since I don’t like the prospect of being in a weak defensive armor with low HP, but do train it. It can prove to be a decent armor in certain situations.

Dracomancer: Dracomancer Armor
This is a mediocre armor, but its usefulness is appropriate for a Tier 2 armor. The Lv.4 Skill, Dragon Wings, provides really good wind damage. In fact, it is the best wind spell/ability you will see for a long time. The other skill is, unfortunately, Guardian only, which is the Lv.8 skill: Great Dragon. It costs a lot of MP and there’s a chance of not even working, but it’ll be your access to Harm damage which is really important when fighting those monsters who have all their resistances set really low. Once you reach level 70, however, you can train Assassin instead and have even more practical sources of Harm and at level 2, so both Guardians and Adventurers alike can use it, so Great Dragon is limited in terms of use to lower level Guardians. The Lv.10 ability, Half-Dragon Transformation, deals good damage, but costs too much MP for what it’s worth.

Dragonslayer: DragonSlayer, Elite Dragonslayer, Golden Dragonslayer, Golden Dragonslayer Eclipse
This armor is mainly used to combat dragons, as the name suggests. It has several fun abilities for you to play around with. However, picking this up as an adventurer is definitely not advisable. The skills which are extremely popular as well as deadly include Cripple Dragon!, lowering the monster’s STR and DEX, therefore lowering its accuracy and blocking capabilities (NOTE: This skill works on dragons as well as regular monsters), Daze Dragon and Dragon’s Blood which stack with Dragon Strike (the level 1 ability), as well as the final ability, Dragonheart Strike. After this class was swept, Dragon Slayer became far more useful an armor. Elite Dragon Slayer is better suited to combat regular dragons whereas the Golden Dragonslayers are more armed against Undead/Were variants of dragons.

Knight: Knight Armor
This is basically a stronger version of Fighter Class. It’s a nice armor once you’ve entered the beginning level for it. Mace Stun can lower your enemies Blocking, making it easier for you to hit them. Cavalry Charge and Arrow Assault can also do some nice damage.

Martial Artist: White Gi
This class is one of the largest classes yet, containing four divergent schools of thought that each possess unique abilities. The drawback of these Gi’s is that the abilities consume a whole lot of SP, so it is prudent that, when using a Gi, that you have a firm plan of attack in place, as you might not get a second chance. The good news is that you need not train all five schools, as your level in one school carries over to the others. With this in mind, let’s examine the usefulness of each school in relations to Rangers:

• Ancient Spirit Gi is the only armor Rangers need not worry about as it is more Mage-oriented.

• Serpent Fang Gi is a good defensive armor which is the DEX based armor. It has good defenses, and abilities which boost its defenses even further. It has a few poison and counterattack skills, which combined with the good defense, makes it great to tank in since you can heal up and still do some damage.
• Mountain Cudgel Gi is a powerhouse with low accuracy, much like a Troll. The usefulness of this school is situational at best, boasting strategic skills as Dazing and Stunning.
• Swift Talon Gi resembles a Gogg, which is essentially a glass-cannon which favors quick and powerful attacks at the detriment of defense. This armor’s effect allows it to gain addition BTH if you trained the Martial Artist Class, which is this class. Those builds with DEX and LUK should have the easiest time in using this class as they have the necessary defensive stats to compensate for Swift Talon’s defensive short-comings.

Ninja: Shinobo Shozoku
This revamped class offers several useful abilities which costs SP. Smoke Bomb decreases your foe’s BTH for 4 turns; Dragon Double can counter-attack your foe if he misses, and this raises your defense modifiers by 5 each during that turn. This class also has the passive Merciless ability, which has a chance to strengthen some of your skills, which can be quite deadly if used correctly with some luck. Sacred Duality is an attack which allows you to attack with 2 of the 8 elements, which is very versatile. The passive Ninja Evasion ability boosts your defensive modifier according to your foe’s attack, and caps at 3. The Vampire’s Bite skill can paralyze your opponent for 1 turn, and finally, the Ninja death Strike ability is an interesting one indeed. Alone, it is rather weak, but combined with the passive Merciless ability, this attack creates great synergy. Overall, an excellent class for mid-levels.

Pirate: Swashbuckler’s Raiment, Sea Scourge
This class is not known for its defenses, but the Swash Defense ability can add a maximum of 5 melee defense, depending on your class level. The Jolly Rotten Roger ability is a three-hit attack, and if at least one hit connects, it can make your foe Afraid for 4 rounds (25% chance). The Cannon Fodder ability deals great fire ranged damage, and the SeaLeg Swagger toggle ability boosts your ranged defense by 6. Grog ‘n Flog ability can Burn your foe, or leave him bleeding, via flogging. The level 9 Plunder can steal 1 HP and 1 MP potion from your enemy, and finally, the level 10 Davey Jones’ Locker can Entangle your foe. Overall, this class is designed to hurt your foe with status conditions.

Vampire Slayer: Vampire Slayer, NightHunter Vampire Slayer
This class is for fighting Vampires, Werewolfs, and the Undead. It’s the least useful Class Armor as of now. Most skills do little more than a normal attack and you’re better off with some other class armor. There is also one skill that doesn’t even do anything.

Wizard: Wizard Robes
The revamped Wizard class is obviously most useful for Mages; however, it is not without use for Rangers, too. Now, as a Ranger, I recommend picking up Generalist’s Robe as opposed to the elemental Specialist’s Robes. As you can expect, it boasts decent magic defense at 42 along with all-around resistances at 80% each, so it is not a defensive bastion by any means. The level 3 Summon Elemental ability will call a guest of the element of your choosing, chosen by clicking on an element on the elemental wheel at the top. These guests consume a bit of MP each turn, but are very manageable for Guardians via the level 8 Dharana ability. Dharana in Generalist’s Robe takes 22 SP and, in turn, replenishes 257 MP. Adventurers will miss out on this greatly, but Guardians will love Dharana as it will allow them to regenerate MP to heal themselves or to sustain their MP guests. This ability makes the new MP guests from spells far more feasible.

Tier 3 Armors are intended for players level 70 through 90, although these classes have uses far beyond that and may be trained way earlier than 70 in the case of Necromancer and Paladin. You must be, however, level 70 in order to start your Assassin training.

Necromancer –> Necromancer Cloak, Obsidian Cloak
This class is derived from training Mages classes, but is also useful for Warriors and Rangers. The Lv.1 Undead Giant Skill does over 5 times your weapons damage for just 30 MP, incredibly good for Adventurers, and Guardians since you could basically Undead Giant your way through most monsters, if not all monsters until you start facing thougher monsters at higher levels. Guardians have another useful skill, Undead Mutant, which multiplied your weapons damage by 10. The only drawback that those 2 skill have is that they don’t take stat bonuses. This means that they will average the same damage damage with level 50 stats as they do with level 130 stats. Still, that’s a lot of damage going around.

Paladin –> Holy Armor, Golden Holy Armor
The Lv.1 Skill, Bless Weapon has very high BTH which is used to combat those hard to hit monsters which will be more apparent in the future. Daimyo is a nice little Paladin Doggy that deals high damage and heals you each turn. Lay on Hands and Resurrection can heal you and the Lv.7 and 9 Skills can do lots of damage.

Assassin –> Whispering Raiment
Assassin is one of the most popular classes released due to not only the satisfaction of having completed such difficult and arduous class training and the superb storyline, but also because of all of the amazing abilities. First off is Dual Wield, which can be devastating when your class level is maxed, effectively providing you with bonus damage with a cheap SP Cost. Yajuu Dageki allows you to free up your void spell since it deals Harm damage. It can be deadly when coupled with Dual Wield, although it is successful only 40% of the time. Death From Above requires charging up bolts, but it’s incredibly powerful, particularly the Rain of Disaster which can inflict Prismatic Burn to the opponent.

Zetsubou Dageki, which can also deal Harm damage, is more reliable than Yajuu Dageki; however, it makes quite a chunk of SP to use, maybe not always connect, and takes three rounds to be effected once it does connect. The Finishing Blow has four abilities, and they’re all fun to use; however, you’ll find the most use in Stalwart Solitude and Assassin’s Creed. Stalwart Solitude is a buffed up Dragon’s Double, providing an amazing counterattack. Assassin’s Creed is usually used for a gamble or a quick and easy kill. It’s success rate is pretty low, depending on the monster, but it’s a good skill for quick farming.

With the update to the default equipment, a host of possibilities have opened up. While there are numerous default armors and a shield with each set, I will touch on all of the default equipment that Rangers should consider or are stuck with in the case of Adventurers. Keep in mind that, once you align your default armor to an element, the entire set becomes that singular element. Unfortunately, this means that you cannot mix and match elements by having an armor of one element and a weapon of a different element. You can also have, let’s say, Armor of Awe and UltraGuardian Shield or vice versa, so if you switch to the UltraGuardian series and swap your armor back for Armor of Awe, you keep your UltraGuardian Shield, allowing you to mix and match in this regard.

quote:

Dark

             Water      Earth

          Ice                 Fire

              Wind      Energy

                  Light

• Good: This is the way your armor is elementized. If you picked Fire, Fire is your “Good”.
• Ally: These are the two elements that are closest to your elementization on the element wheel. For example, if you picked Fire, your Allies are Energy and Earth.
• Neutral: These are the elements that are two spaces away from your elementization. For Fire, they’d be Light and Darkness.
• Poor: These are the two elements that are closest to your “Opposite” resistance. For Fire, they’d be Water and Wind.
• Opposite: This is the element opposite your elementization on the element wheel. For Fire, that would be Ice.

The Armors of Awe are mid-defensive armors whose resistances are reliant on the elemental wheel, offering best resistance depending on the elementization of your armor coupled with lesser but still excellent resistances on two neighboring elements. The effectiveness of these armors and shields increase as one levels up, capping at L150. This particular armor series, AoA, has a 90% regular two-hit attack with a 10% chance of a more powerful three-hit attack. The UltraGuardian armor series is similar save for the 80:20 ratio as opposed to AoA’s 90:10 ratio on offense along with the fact that the latter series is mid-offensive instead of mid-defensive.

Weapons

• Short Sword
  • The default weapon given to Adventurers if they choose Rogue, an earth-based melee weapon with high base and lower random damage. Like all default Adventurer equipment, power level is YourLevel -20 with a minimum of 0.

   

• Spear
  • Similar to Short Sword, but this is more focused on random damage with low base damage. This is temporary, but it is ranged instead of melee. I’d stick with Short Sword, since the extra random of Spear is not enough to compensate for the lower base damage.

   

• Dagger of Awe
  • Slightly more accurate than the Blade, the Dagger is a base-heavy melee weapon.

   

• Spear of Awe
  • Possessing the same accuracy as the Dagger, the Spear is a random-heavy ranged weapon.

Armors

• Leather Armor
  • This is the Adventurer no-drop armor for Rangers, complete with a full set bonus when using ranged equipment. Not particularly impressive in relation to equipment at a similar level range, it is a standard armor without any offensive nor defensive leans. The attacks on this are slightly more accurate, but less powerful to compensate. If you want to be thrifty, at least it scales with you. As a full set bonus, your damage is increased by 7%.

   

• Guardian Leathers
  • Essentially a rich man’s Leather Armor, Guardian Leathers works almost the same. The attacks are slightly more accurate with less damage to compensate, the full set bonus increases damage by 10% instead of 7%, and, similar to other Guardian armor of the same tier, it has a 65%, 25%, and 10% chance of increasingly damaging attacks as number of hits increase.

   

• Mighty Armor of Awe
  • Mighty is suited for those who want more steady healing, as healing is provided each turn. For those without high DEX and LUK, I’d choose Mighty over Deft for reasons outlined below in the Deft description.

   

• Deft Armor of Awe
  • Deft heals in larger quantities than Mighty, but only heals upon a successful blocked hit. In light of this, Deft is preferred for builds with high DEX and LUK as to increase the chance of blicking, namely Pure builds.

   

• Mighty UltraGuardian
  • The attack for Mighty follows the 80:20 ratio and, if one is wielding a melee weapon, the second attack deals even more damage as the mastercraft ability.

   

• Deft UltraGuardian
  • Deft has a slightly more accurate attack, albeit a slightly weaker one to compensate. Lacking the offensive mastercraft ability of Mighty, Deft has a chance to paralyze the opponent if at least one hit on the second attack connects and one is using a ranged weapon. As a ranger, those who choose to go with the UltraGuardian series should pick up Deft.

Shields

• Adventurer Shield
  • Probably more useful early on in the game than at higher levels, Adventurer Shield has an effective power level of YourLevel – 20 with a minimum of 0. More impressive in terms of resistances than defensive modifiers, it can act as your multi-elemental shield at mid levels. Since it takes up a slot, you can bite the bullet and use this instead of the recommended Gyrate Shield at L65, if you fill up your inventory and have no other room. Boasting decent resistances that, overall, surpass even Gyrate, it’s passable until you move on towards the big guns.

   

• Guardian Shield
  • You can either choose to keep a flat Guardian Shield with no elemental alignment or choose to elementize your shield. The flat Guardian Shield is similar to Adventurer Shield in that it has solid all-around resistances but unimpressive defensive modifiers. In this sense, if need be, this can act as your Gyrate Shield for those mid levels. Further on, you will definitely want to move on to either Shield of Awe or UltraGuardian Shield, but if you haven’t done so yet, an elementized Guardian Shield isn’t too bad, either. Which ever element you attune to will receive massive coverage. Guardian Shield is not mastercrafted like the big two are, so it doesn’t have a special ability.

   

• Shield of Awe
  • Both SoA and UGS have the same elemental resistances dependant on the elemental wheel and defensive modifiers, so we then examine the mastercraft ability of each. If the monster’s last attack hits, then during the next turn you get +4 to all Combat Defences for one turn for the SoA. It’s a decent ability if you are short on the stats or equipment to raise your defensive modifiers. Also keep in mind the full set bonus.

   

• UltraGuardian Shield
  • Again, with similar defenses, I actually prefer UGS’ mastercraft ability. If you dodged your opponent’s last attack, then you recover a bit of SP. Similar to Deft AoA, dodging is increased with high DEX and LUK, so Pure builds might prefer UGS. Keep in mind that you can mix and match, owning the AoA and the UGS. You won’t get the full set bonus, but if you are one who enjoys using SP via abilities or guests, pick up UGS.

Alignment Analysis

Since default equipment is so versatile, I will not account for these pieces of equipment in the armor set-up section of the guide. Feel free to elementize to which ever element best suits your needs.

Personally, I recommend a wind alignment. Sure, we have Boreal out there, not to mention Stiltwalker. But, if you missed out on Horsefly, there are plenty of reasons to choose wind. First off, other then the now-rare Horsefly, there are no wind armors on current standards. For all the good Boreal and Stiltwalker will do for you, both of those cannot muster enough offense to keep up with the post-Chimeran armors, which is where current standards start. Wind monsters are threatening enough that elite wind resistance combined with solid and steady offense is justified. Ice and darkness are covered by Nemesis, light by Solaris and a lesser extent Chimeran, earth by Chimeran, fire by Nova, and water and energy by the Asgardian family or if you still have Block Armor. There are not enough powerful water monsters to warrant a water elementization and energy can be improved upon by two solid misc. items. By process of elimination, wind is probably the best choice at the moment.

If not wind, fire is the other element I can justify choosing. While Nova covers two elements in fire and earth with excellence, its inconsistency on the offensive-end leaves a lot to be desired. Again, between Nova and Asgardian or Valhallan, I think Nova is the lesser of the two evils, but if Nova is that much of a pain, feel free to choose fire while Chimeran covers earth.

Aside form your selection of class armors and your default armor, it is always prudent for any player to carry around a few general armors that do not cost any SP or MP to use save for built-in abilities in a few of the armors. These should be your multi-purpose armors that you can rely on and can be very general or specialized in function. Below, I will outline which armors I recommend that are not only practical but financially responsible, especially early on. At higher levels, shilling out gold more several armors becomes more feasible considering the turnover rate is not as quick as in early levels. I will format the recommendations based on key levels where there are significant replacements available to you.

Low Levels – Up to L50

The first important armor you should grab is Aerodu armor. Aerodu boasts a strong offense coupled with 10 BTH, which is excellent early on from both a damage-dealing perspective and a reliability point of view due to its accuracy. Next on our list is Werepyre Form for Guardians and Nightbane’s Form for our Adventurer friends. Both should be sufficient to trump Aerodu, although Nightbane’s Form has several abilities that are fully unlocked via Guardianship. Still, it is the best option for Adventurers. Keep in mind that Werepyre Form needs the Werepyre sub-race to be most effective, just in case you want to cure yourself. Either of these options can last you until level 50 when Luminous Solaris Plate comes into play for those with the extra gold. This armor is a full-offensive armor that specializes in light resistance with trailing fire resistance and boasts comprehensive all-around defense modifiers. It also possesses a powerful Solar Call ability for Guardians whose first hit of two converts to range. Suffice to say, this ability makes Solaris even more of an offensive powerhouse than it already is.

In terms of class armors, you have several options. Shinobi Shozoku, the Ninja class armor, has several helpful abilities that are outlined in the class armors section of this guide. More on point, the regular attack of Ninja is actually stronger than that of even Drakel Disguise before level 70, which is when Drakel Disguise receives its final power boost. Dragon Slayer is a class that will be useful for a long time. Against regular, non-dragon/drakel monsters, it lags behind; however, against dragon-kind, it just has so many ways of sending dragons running off that it should prove very beneficial. Elite versions of the armor are available at level 45.

Still in the realm of class armors, players will want to choose at least one of the following three armors depending on what kind of guests they want to use in battle and, in the case of Wizard, its MP regeneration ability for Guardians. Rogue provides a defensive guest, Beastmaster provides free guests, and Wizard summons MP-consuming guests. In later levels, you might want one of these three in and the other two in storage.

• Rogue: Rogue Outfit should prove very useful for those of you who are not beastmasters due to the level 5 Call partner ability. This ability summons a Black Cat as your guest in battle. Basically, if your Rogue class is 10, it reduces your opponent’s BTH by 10, which is essentially +10 blocking in all of your defensive modifiers: melee, ranged, and magic. This armor is for those who want a defensive guest.

• Beastmaster: For those who want an offensive guest but don’t want to pay MP, go with Feral Garb and, for Guardians, upgrade to Primal garb at level 40. This Beastmaster class has several unique abilities, most notable being the level 4 and 9 abilities. The former is for Adventurers and allows you to summon one guest of your choice. The level 9 skill allows you to summon two guests at once among any of the eight elements.
• Wizard: Finally, the revamped Wizard class opens up the Generalist’s Robe that are good for all builds, but more specifically for those who do not mind using MP guests. I know that most Rangers will not have the MP to use MP guests, but Generalist’s Robe has a level 8 ability that will consume 22 of your SP in exchange for 257 MP. The SP you lose in so insignificant that you can essentially heal loop with your MP to maintain MP guests, though our Adventurer friends will miss out on this. At higher levels, you might want to buy MP guests in spells instead since they are stronger, but the MP regeneration ability will always come in handy to Guardians for heal looping for your healing spells.

For those of you who use 100% special ranged weapons, the aforementioned offensive armors will not be as useful to you as if you were using regular weapons. They are still helpful, but you should think about grabbing a defensive armor to attack behind since, when using weapons with a 100% Proc rate, an armor’s offensive stats are not taken into consideration. The premier defensive option at the moment would be Protector Armor (40). This armor uses your opponent’s strengths, element and attack modifier, and sort of adapts your armor to be resistant to those strengths. The downside of this is that Protector Armor suffers an innate weakness to water, earth, and especially ice. You can either grab this version of Protector Armor for 12k or wait until level 55+ for Pyrite Plate, which costs 75k, but sells for 67.5k, so once you outlive it’s usefulness, your net loss in only 7.5k. The latter option, Pyrite Plate, is a bit more ambitious, but its defenses get better as you level with its final defensive boost coming at level 60 and Pyrite is strong against every element, unlike Protector.

By Level 50: