Dragon Nest Sorceress and Elementalist Guide

Dragon Nest Sorceress and Elementalist Guide by Jestr

This guide was made to help those that wish to pursue the path of the Elementalist class.
It is my hope that with this guide, such people can better understand what the class is, and why it is that way.

This guide will have limited information above the level 40 cap until we advance past it, so please bear with me.

This guide will also contain touches of personality and bad humor.

For those looking for a Force User’s Guide, Click here: Dragon Nest Force User Skills Build

Introduction

This guide will cover the Sorceress, Elementalist, Pyromancer, and Ice Witch classes.
If you wish to become a Mystic, I’m afraid this guide will be of limited use to you.

What is the Elementalist

The Elementalist fills a very interesting niche in Dragon Nest.
Elementalists are spellcasters that have a very limited range on most of their attacks, and are most effective on the front lines. Their Fire attacks can burn enemies, damaging them more over time, and their Ice attacks can slow enemies or freeze them in place. They have better damage mitigation than Mystics, but are also put in more danger.
I would suggest the Elementalist class to anyone who wants to:

• Be an “in your face” spellcaster.
• Have decent control over your enemies, freezing and slowing them.
• Play a character with decent mobility and considerable damage (especially Fire).
• Have powers relating to Fire and/or Ice in any way.

Be fairly warned, however, that becoming an Elementalist has it’s downsides as well.

• Elementalists are quite brittle. Your main source of defense will be your Fire and Ice Shields, which become available at level 26, and even with them, you must be very cautious and have good character control.
• The Sorceress has a high learning curve. New players might find the Sorceress lack-luster compared to other classes, especially when you could make a Paladin or Mercenary and destroy opponents right away. The Sorceress takes skill to use properly, in return yielding considerable mobility, damage, and control.
• Despite being a class “meant” for PvP, Elementalists have difficulty taking the lead in 1v1 matches unless the player is very skilled.

All of this can be softened by getting to know the class, and how it works in different environments. Practicing is the best way to get ahead in this game.

Tools of the Trade

In Dragon Nest all characters use a large variety of equipment they can obtain and use.
Some of it is specific to your Base Class, sometimes it’s for everyone.
These can be split into 4 general categories, with a number of different types in each.

Weapons: The Sorceress has a unique weapon set-up.
Most classes have a choice of 3 Main Weapons and 1 Sub-Weapon. The Sorceress has 1 Main Weapon (the Staff) and a choice of 3 Sub-Weapons (the Grimoire, Orb, and Doll).
The Sub-Weapon has no effect on your basic attack (left-click), but your standard right-click changes instead.

The Orb has the highest attack and critical stats, making it excellent for aggressive players. It’s special attack spins the orb around the Sorceress.
The Doll has a higher MP bonus, allowing you to use spells more. It’s special attack summons a creature to lunge forward.
The Grimoire (fancy for “book”) has a balance, it grants Intellect. Intellect (or Int) increases both your damage and mana pool, but not as much as the others. It’s special attack is a slap.

Both Sub-Classes can use any of the Sub-Weapons with the same efficacy.

Armor: Upper, Lower, Head, Gloves, and Shoes. These tend to give defense stats, and generally increase your survivability.
Accessories: Earrings, Necklace, 2 Rings. These give a variety of little bonuses. They also cannot “break” unlike Weapons and Armor.
Vanity: All of the above, plus more. Vanity items (also called Avatar, Costume, or Cash items) are special items received from the Dragon Vault (this game’s Premium/Cash Shop) and special events. They take up separate slots to your normal equipment and change the look of your character. Some even give stat bonuses. Vanity Items also lack durability, and cannot be broken.

In addition, certain pieces you’ll want to look out for include Fire Attack or Ice Attack. These increase the damage all spells of that element deal.

Fire or Ice?

It’s perfectly fine, as well as recommended, to get skills from both sides of the skill tree.
However, it’s highly recommended you choose a side to specialize in, especially as an Elementalist.

Each Base Class divides into two “sub-classes” at level 15.
Each Sub-Class then divides into two “Tertiary Classes” at level 45.
The Elementalist (a sub-class) can become either a Pyromancer or an Ice Witch.
Both have all the traits of the normal Elementalist, but are a bit more specialized.

Pyromancers are for those that like raw damage. They have additional abilities and spells that emphasize killing their targets quickly, as well as damaging more targets at once.

Ice Witches are more about utility and survival. They have skills that allow them to stay alive longer, as well as control more effectively.

Obviously, it’s very helpful to decide early on, so you can set up a structured build.
However, don’t feel bad if you can’t make up your mind.
Play the game, see how each of the roles feel, and then decide. You’re given a skill reset for a reason (and if you’ve blown that, there’s more in the Dragon Vault).

Mad Skills (Part 1): Basics of SP

So, you still want to make an Elementalist?
Fantastic. Go create your character, grab some friends (or make some, these forums are friendly), and play!
The game is very good at easing you into the game, and even has a tutorial in case you’re still shakey.
(Sorceress’ may talk to Cynthia for the tutorial.)

However, one of the more confusing aspects of Dragon Nest is the SP system. Is it bad? Not at all. I’ll try to explain it here.

As you level up, you gain SP. SP is used to learn and upgrade skills.
If you’re new, feel free to mess around. You should be getting an SP reset after you advance, so if you mess up, you can start over without “starting over”.

Warning: Math!

Each character starts with 0 SP.
Each level, you gain 10 SP. (Except for lvl 40, where you get 20)
Thus, at level 40, you’ll have 400 SP to use.

Each skill costs an amount of SP to learn, and some can be upgraded.
Skills that require hotkeys to function (blue) tend to require more SP than those that are linked to specific actions (yellow).
For example, the Elementalist spell “Inferno” requires 10 SP to learn, and 4 SP to upgrade per rank.
On the other hand, the Elementalist’s “Flame Spark” requires 8 SP to learn, and 3 SP to upgrade.
Inferno is used by pressing a key 1-0, Flame Spark is activated when you left-click while using Blink.

In addition, once you advance your job, you’ll be limited by the amount of SP you can put into either job.
Before job advancement, the maximum is equal to 10 times your level, effectively making it 10 points above the maximum you could actually put in.
After job advancement, things get complicated.
First, note that all jobs will have an equal amount of maximum SP.
Second, the amount of maximum SP increases by 6 each level, except for multiples of 4, where it increases by 7.
To clarify, at levels 17, 18, and 19, you can put up to 6 of your 10 points into either Sorceress or Elementalist skills.
At level 20, it increases by 7, meaning you can allocate 25 more points every 4 levels.

Is your head spinning yet? Just use this: mmosite Skill Simulator.

Enter the level cap you wish to plan for and go to town.

But there are so many shiny skills! Which should I choose?

The skills you choose are entirely up to you. Of course, certain skills are better, and there certainly is a “perfect build” that someone will devise. But the game is quite lenient. Get creative! Build around your own style of play.

Still, what kind of guide would I be if I didn’t explain the skills?

Mad Skills (Part 2): Sorceress
This section will cover skills you can obtain as a Sorceress, regardless of sub-class.
I will recommend how I would handle the skill, but feel free to do your own thing.
I am not an expert, just a member trying to share his knowledge.

Fire Burst
Unlocked at: Character Creation
SP to Upgrade: 3
Flame Blast is the Sorceress’ most basic spell. It sends a spinning blast of fire forward, quickly hitting multiple times. However, it sinks into the ground quickly and disables your movement for a short time. Only get it to 5 to unlock Fireball. It won’t be as useful later on.

Wheeling Staff
Unlocked at: Character Creation
SP to Upgrade: 3
Wheeling Staff is a bad skill for the Sorceress, as it deals physical damage. Use it at the beginning if at all, but leave this at 1.

Stiletto Dance
Unlocked at: Character Creation
A free skill, which is always nice. If you right-click while targeting a downed enemy, the Sorceress will crush them with her high heels. It does decent damage early on, but it’s more of a hassle later on.

Witch Slap
Unlocked at: Character Creation
Another free skill. This is your standard right-click attack. See the “Tools of the Trade” section for more about how this works.

Glacial Spike
Unlocked at: Lv. 3
SP to Learn/Upgrade: 8/3
You’re first new skill, and what a skill it is! It deals good damage, has a short cooldown, it can freeze, and has little movement delay. This skill will take you places, kid.
Regardless of your specialization, get this as high as you can.

Blink
Unlocked at: Character Creation
SP to Upgrade: 2
An incredibly useful skill. If you double-tap a directional key (WASD) or press Shift while holding one, you’ll quickly teleport a few feet away. This has a 6 second cooldown at rank 1, which is a lot longer than one might expect. Rank it up to decrease the cooldown. This is a MUST max skill.

Air Strike
Unlocked at: Lv. 4
SP to Learn: 6
I have no personal experience with this skill, but I’ve heard it’s good for PvP.
It knocks the opponent down if it connects.

Toxic Spray
Unlocked at: Lv. 5
SP to Learn/Upgrade: 8/3
Muahaha! Poison! The ultimate Sorceress spell! Seriously, this shreds the opposition. It deals constant damage, poisons enemies as an after-effect, and holds them in place if hit directly. Max this, highest priority of your Sorceress attacks.

Rising Blast
Unlocked at: Lv. 5
SP to Learn: 6
Ever get knocked down by an enemy? It’s annoying, especially since they can start swarming you, and the characters are extremely slow at getting up. Luckily, you can get up immediately and attack by left-clicking with this skill. I recommend it.

Knee Jerk
Unlocked at: Lv. 6
SP to Learn: 6
Another Physical attack. If you right-click while targeting a stunned enemy, you’ll send them into the air, but you can just as easily stand back and blast them. Pass.

Void Blast
Unlock at: Lv. 9
SP to Learn/Upgrade: 8/3
A solid AoE attack skill. It’s range is fixed, so you’ll always know where it’ll land with enough practice. If you want more firepower, rank 1. If you’d rather have Shock Wave, I’d pass.

Charged Missile
Unlock at: Lv. 8
SP to Learn/Upgrade: 6/2
This skill changes your standard attack. Instead of spamming blasts when you hold the mouse button, you’ll charge up for one big shot. It’s based completely on preference. Try it out if you want, though I only suggest rank 1 max.

Power Blink
Unlock at: Lv. 19 (Rank 2 Blink required)
SP to Learn/Upgrade: 6/2
Just like Blink, but it only works when you get hit. The two have seperate cooldowns as well (although Power Blink has a much longer one), so you can use both independently. Max this.

Shock Wave
Unlock at: Lv. 12
SP to Learn/Upgrade: 8/3
The Sorceress blasts enemies away in all directions. This deals decent damage, but it really clears enemies away at close range and destroys a hefty amount of super armor.
I would recommend you pick this up.

Aerial Evasion
Unlock at: Lv. 16
SP to Learn/Upgrade: 6/2
This skill keeps you from being completely helpless after being flung into the air, which happens more often then you think. Press the Jump key while being launched to recover your balance. The cooldown is hefty, though, so time your recovery so that you don’t get knocked right back up.

Health Bolster / Mental Fortitude
Unlock at: Lv. 20
SP to Learn/Upgrade: 5/1
These skills raise your HP and MP, respectively, by a percent. Very good considering they only use 1 SP per rank after learning them. Put spare points here.

Attuned Mind
Unlock at: Lv. 30 (Rank 2 Mental Fortitude required)
SP to Learn/Upgrade: 5/1
If you have the prereq and spare SP, go ahead. It increases MP regen, good for running Nests.

Mana Flow
Unlock at: Lv. 35
SP to Learn: 0
It’s a free skill, get it. It’s a 20 second buff that decreases the MP cost of skills for you and your party.

Mad Skills (Part 3): Elementalist

This is it, what you’ve all been waiting for! The Elementalist skills! Same format as last time, however, I won’t be giving specific recommendations.
If you’re lazy, this is a good build to start from.

Fireball
Unlock at: Lv. 15 (Rank 5 Fire Burst required)
SP to Learn/Upgrade: 10/4
Wow, getting expensive, aren’t they? Fireball is an incredibly powerful skill, dealing over 500% damage at rank 1! The catch? You have to stand still for 3 seconds for it to fully charge, or it’ll be much less impressive. For Pyromancers: You’ll need rank 11 by lv. 47 for Fireball EX.

Flame Spark
Unlocks at: Lv. 15
SP to Learn/Upgrade: 8/3
This a very nice skill to have, and better yet, upgrade. It’s damage growth is great! You use this by Blinking, then left-clicking.

Icy Gust
Unlocks at: Lv. 15
SP to Learn/Upgrade: 8/3
By Blinking and right-clicking, you’ll sprinkle ice in an arc in front of you. Not much for damage, but it’s useful for Ice users. Ice Resist -20%. (I’ll explain this more in the Ice Witch section.)

Icy Shards
Unlocks at: Lv. 15 (Rank 5 Glacial Spike required)
SP to Learn/Upgrad: 10/4
I liked “Freezing Sword” better, but it’s the same skill. This skill shoots blades of ice from the ground directly in front of you, launching enemies a bit. It’s a nice skill, but requires you to be very close. Ice Resist -20%. Rank 11 required for Icy Shards EX.

Inferno
Unlocks at: Lv. 17 (Rank 1 Fireball required)
SP to Learn/Upgrade: 10/4
Requires you to stand still like Fireball, but this spell shoots fire in a constant stream!
Another great damaging skill.

Ice Cold Field
Unlocks at: Lv. 17 (Rank 1 Icy Shards required)
SP to Learn/Upgrade: 10/4
Very similar to Void Blast in that it affects a fixed area in front of you. This skill also slows enemy movement speed. Ice Resist -33%.

Fire Wall
Unlocks at: Lv. 23 (Rank 3 Inferno required)
SP to Learn/Upgrade: 10/4
Another launching skill, this one erupts fire around you to launch enemies.

Phoenix Strike
Unlocks at: Lv. 19
SP to Learn/Upgrade: 10/4
This is like the Elementalist’s shotgun. Use this at point blank and it’s going to hurt. It’s also another fast fire skill, and travels a long way, along with having a high chance of burning with each hit.

Glacial Freeze
Unlocks at: Lv. 19
SP to Learn/Upgrade: 10/4
100% freeze rate on most mobs. This is a very good skill to have, although it’s another too-close-for-comfort skill. This has a very short range, even for Elementalists, but the pay-off is great. Any foe that gets hit is at your mercy.

Frozen Spikes
Unlocks at: Lv. 23
SP to Learn/Upgrade: 10/4
A very nice skill to have. This is sort of like Toxic Spray meets Ice Cold Field, without the slowing. It can even be used to trap enemies in PvP. Ice Resist -20%.

Fire Shield / Ice Shield
Unlocks at: Lv. 26 (Rank 2 Fire Wall/Frozen Spikes required)
SP to Learn/Upgrade: 8/3
Two buffs that reduces damage taken and have a side effect (burning or freezing) on enemies that attack you? Yes please!

Ignite / Shatter
Unlocks at: Lv. 32 (Rank 4 Fire Bird/Glacial Freeze required)
SP to Learn/Upgrade: 10/4
Two more similar skills. Ignite deals additional damage to burnt targets in range, while Shatter does the same to frozen targets. These cancel the effects they require, so Ignite actually puts out the enemy, should they still live.

Hot Rod
Unlocks at: Lv. 32
SP to Learn/Upgrade: 10/4
The puns never end, do they? Regardless, this skill is so awesome, even Ice Witches get it! It causes the Elementalist to ride her staff like a broom, spewing fire in her wake, and cackling all the way. It sounds weird, but it deals a great amount of damage while increasing the Elementalist’s mobility considerably.

Chilling Mist
Unlocks at: Lv. 32
A decent sized AoE that acts as a slowing zone. Lasts 10 seconds. Ice Resist -10%.

So what about those last two skills? Those are the “ultimate” skills. You may only pick up one, even if you fulfill the requirements for both. Pick and use which one you want carefully.

Pyromancers should choose Volcanic Vortex. It’s a powerful attack that requires you to stand still, but gives you super armor and damage reduction. It’s cast a distance away from you, and hits multiple times, ending in a painful DoT.

Ice Witches in turn get Blizzard. It’s a powerful AoE attack centered on the caster, but provides no damage reduction if you get attacked.

The ultimate for your Tertiary Class is required for all current skills except Fireball EX or Icy Shards EX.

Pyromancer

The Pyromancer has an affinity for baking her enemies alive.
However, with such great power, comes great squishiness.
Most of her spells leave her vulnerable while casting, or require taking risks to maximize damage (like Phoenix Strike).
As such, she is better prepared for PvE.

The following are your exclusive skills:

Burning Hand
Unlocked at: Lv. 45 (Rank 1 Volcanic Vortex required)
SP to Learn/Upgrade: 10/4
Burning Hand is a passive skill that randomly adds damage onto Fire attacks against burned targets.
Leveling the skill decreases it’s cooldown and increases the rate it activates.

Fireball EX
Unlocked at: Lv. 47 (Rank 11 Fireball required)
SP to Learn: 15
EX skills are special skills that transform your normal skills. By obtaining Fireball EX, your Fireball will become even more powerful when fully charged, or can fire 3 fireballs that spread in a fan shape by right-clicking.

Rolling Lava
Unlocked at: Lv. 50 (Rank 1 Burning Hand required)
SP to Learn/Upgrade: 15/5
The Pyromancer summons a ball of lava to roll over her foes. This skill deals incredible damage for having a 47 second cooldown.

Ice Witch

The Ice Witch sacrifices some of her counterparts power for more utility and survivability.
Her spells allow her to keep moving while her foes slow from the cold.
Just know that it’s going to take more time and MP to take down enemies.
Ice Witches lean more toward PvP.

The following are your exclusive skills:

Ice Barrier
Unlocked at: Lv. 45 (Rank 1 Blizzard required)
SP to Learn/Upgrade: 15/5
Ice Barrier is another shielding skill, but it absorbs ALL damage, up to a certain point.
The “melting point” of Ice Barrier is proportional to your Magic Attack.
After it takes too much damage or after a certain amount of time, the barrier will shatter,
freezing surrounding enemies.

Icy Shards EX
Unlocked at: Lv. 47 (Rank 11 Icy Shards required)
SP to Learn: 15
EX skills are special skills that transform your normal skills. By obtaining Icy Shards EX, the Icy Shards spell will get a massive increase in size, and damage will increase a bit.

Ice Spear
Unlocked at: Lv. 50 (Rank 1 Ice Barrier required)
SP to Learn/Upgrade: 15/4
Summons a ball that fires icicles around. The damage is negligible, but the attacks are fast, have a decent chance to freeze, and allow you to fight independently.

Understanding Elemental Damage

Each enemy has their own resistance to each element. The higher the resistance, the lower the damage they take. They can also be vulnerable to elements, shown with a negative “resistance”.
The damage forumla (courtesy of Chaos from the mmosite forums) appears to be:

Effective Dmg = (Dmg)*(1-elemental resistance%)

So, an enemy with 10% resistance would take 10% less damage.
For example, Fireball, dealing 20K damage normally, used on an enemy with 10% fire resistance:

(20k)*(1-(0.1)) = (20k)*(0.9)= 18K

In addition, certain Ice-based attacks have -X% Ice Resist in their descriptions. This makes it so that enemies will take additional damage from additional Ice-based attacks.
Using one attack with an Ice Resistance modifier will replace the last, as of the newest version.
For example:
Using Shatter after Icy Shards, assuming Shatter normally does 20k damage, on an enemy without innate resistance:

(20k)*(1-(-0.20)) = (20k)*(1.2) = 24K

In other words, chaining Ice spells will result in more damage.

Credits

To give credit where credit is due.
This guide would not be in it’s current state if not for the following people:

Impression, who allowed me to experience the game before it was open in North America, and made an awesome, very neat guide layout I don’t think I could have gone without.
Queue, for putting up with my self-doubt and pushing me to make this guide.
Gilliam, for being a worthy adversary and friend.
All the users of these forums that have helped me out in my insane drive for information.
And you, the reader, for taking your time to actually read through my mad ramblings.