La Tale Minstrel PvP Guide

La Tale Minstrel PvP Guide by Tivona

Intro

The most effective support class in the game, this class is not without offensive capabilities. Using the power of music and water magic, this class can hold its own well in pvp when in capable hands and is not to be underestimated.

Skill Guide

Skills – Guitar

Fortissimo:

Range: medium-large (AoE)
Speed: fast
Knockback: special (holds in place when on ground, faceplants those in the air)
Damage: high
Number of hits: 6
Number of targets: 5
Dispersion coefficient: null (damage will not be affected by number of targets)
Cooldown: Fixed 90 seconds in pvp (cannot be changed through skill-level/parasensory)

The player bursts into a fast guitar solo, dealing damage to all those around him and one player-space above as well. Last hit does double damage.

Care must be taken when using this skill, as it can be easily countered out of, or if the opponent jumps, they will simply faceplant, only taking the one hit of damage.

Evil Sound:

Range: medium-lage (AoE)
Speed: fast
Knockback: high
Damage: medium
Number of hits: 1-17 (can be stopped at any time)
Number of targets: 6
Dispersion coefficient: 3
Cooldown: 5 seconds

Your music hits all targets around you at almost twice a second, dealing medium damage

The deadly trap of the minstrel. If you can pin someone against a corner with this, it can be very difficult to escape for all but those with the best ping. This skill can also deal damage effectively across entire groups in pvp, proving good for mob control.

Megadeath:

Range: short (directional)
Speed: medium-fast
Knockback: high
Damage: very high
Number of hits: 1
Number of targets: 6
Dispersion coefficient: 5
Cooldown: null

Fires a burst of lightning from the player’s guitar, dealing very high damage to any target directly in front of him. Uses 100 AP.

A noticeable startup delay and very limited range make this best used after a sleep/stun/wakeup.

Performance of Rest:

Range: medium-large (AoE)
Speed: medium
Knockback: sleep (duration: skill level * 2 seconds)
Damage: n/a
Number of hits: 1
Number of targets: 5
Dispersion coefficient: n/a
Cooldown: 30 seconds

The player’s melody puts all those within range to sleep, canceling all skills and rendering them helpless for a short time.

This is an immensely effective skill when used properly. The momentary delay before the sleep sets in requires careful usage though. Something to note is that this works on everyone 100% of the time, even when under the effects of invulnerability skills. This can be used to temporarily incapacitate those players, preventing them from taking full advantage of their invulnerability.

Skills – Water Magic

Bubble Bubble I & II:

Range: short (directional)
Speed: medium-fast
Knockback: medium, high
Damage: medium
Number of hits: 1, 2
Number of targets: 3, 4
Dispersion coefficient: 3
Cooldown: 2, 4 seconds

Attacks your opponent with bubbles. Pretty straightforward. Version two gets a second hit which is slightly delayed after the animation.”

This skill makes for a great finisher or escape tactic, as the delayed second hit from Bubble II will prevent them from instantly attacking you again. I can’t really recommend Bubble I, as water’s very short cooldowns negate the need for it, and you likely won’t have keymap space.

Ice Fear I & II:

Range: short (directional), medium (AoE)
Speed: fast
Knockback: high
Damage: medium
Number of hits: 2
Number of targets: 3, 4
Dispersion coefficient: 2.7
Cooldown: 3.5, 5.5 seconds

Ice stalagmites appear from the ground, dealing damage to those in front of you. Version two adds more range and makes it an AoE skill.

Fast animation with solid base damage, this will often be a go-to in many situations. Its height also makes it great for attacking from platforms below.

Ice Storm I & II:

Range: medium-large AoE
Speed: slow
Knockback: auto (freeze/hold)
Damage: medium-high
Number of hits: 1
Number of targets: 6, 9
Dispersion coefficient: 3, 4
Cooldown: 5, 7.5 seconds

A storm of ice envelops those in range, freezing them in place a moment, then dealing a solid hit.

A skill you will likely rarely find a use for outside of large ffa/team matches. Slow startup cripples it, and in additon, while opponents are under the ice storm effect, no other hits can connect to them, which can be problematic if you’re fighting with a team. Can be used after a sleep effectively.

Hailstone I & II:

Range: medium-high (directional), high (AoE)
Speed: medium-fast
Knockback: very high
Damage: high
Number of hits: 2
Number of targets: 5, 6
Dispersion coefficient: 2.9, 3
Cooldown: 6.5, 10.5 seconds

Attacks your enemy with a shower of ice.

Version two is the highest range skill in the minstrel’s arsenal and will be a go-to for the aggressive types. Also of note is the immense vertical range, making it a preferable skill for canceling enemy JAS’s.

Gear Guide

Gear – Armor

For armor, the number one choice is TAID, particularly the Vintor sets, combined with (m) boots. Also acceptable is Epic Magic, and well enchanted Xtatic.

– Top/Bottom/Helmet: If TAID, focus on getting stamina and/or max hp as high as possible. Luck is also preferred but should be held as a secondary stat. Normally enchanted sets should be dual-stat stam/luck.

– Gloves: Magic critical damage. All else is secondary.

– Boots: Speed is the primary stat. If you can get TAID with 40-60 speed on them, wunderbar, otherwise (m) boots with high speed (55+ preferred) are a great choice. If you’re rolling epic magic or xtatic, those boots can be used as well to maintain set-effects.

Gear – Weapon

Optimally, your guitar should be a 40/40 or higher javawalk +9. The reason for this is the added water intensity. A reasonably high upgraded valkyrie is a second choice, though is obviously not the easiest thing to come by either. The easiest and third best route is a simple npc guitar with high min/max enchants. Why not one of the other specials? At the moment none of them increase your offensive capabilities enough to make them worth the effort. For example, the difference between a 40/40 corala and a 40/40 npc guitar would be virtually undertectable. A coli guitar can be used in a pinch, since the only difference between a coli and npc in pvp is the additional 5% accuracy given by the npc guitars.

Gear – Accessories

Glasses: TAID or Capt Bong’s Glasses with magic accuracy enchant

Earring: Hell Earring, as upgraded as possible, with stamina enchant

Stocking: TAID or Hell Stocking, depending on if you need/want the TAID set effect you would get (depending on how many other taid pieces you have equipped).

Ring: Guild Ring or Jane Ring with high stamina and/or luck

Elemental stone: Any non-coli, non-Ballong water elemental stone with 30/30+ min and max water damage (40/40+ preferred). Coli can be used at +8 (with similar stats as npc) or at +9 (superior stats to npc). Why not ballong gem? Ballong gems are severely nerfed in pvp and will reduce your damage significantly.

Bindi: TAID bindi is preferred over all. Red Bindi (accessory craft) is a secondary option.

Cloak: Water Elemental +5 or Rabana +4

Gear – Pet/Title

The top three pets are:

Husky: 60 absolute damage and 22% crit damage

Brownie: TMRD and 200 max hp/sp

Wisp: TMRD (slightly less than brownie) and small min/max damage boost

As for titles the best choices are:

LaTale Wise One: 500 max hp, 20% movement speed, 25% ladder speed – only acquirable through ignate title coupon

Super Spawn Buster: 10% movement speed, 7% back damage – was only acquirable through a past event but can also be gained through ignate title coupon

Webfoot Octopus Salad: 400 max hp (party aura), 5% max damage – only obtainable by books dropped from webfoot mobs, 1/10000 success rate

Lucky Striker: 4% crit rate, 6% max damage – Ladeck spam books (1/10000) or ignate title

Lucky Learner: 3% crit rate, 3% max damage – Ladeck spam books (1/1000) or ignate title

Purchase God: 4% crit rate, 4% accuracy, 15% crit damage activation – spam books (1/10000) or ignate title

Purchase King: 3% crit rate, 3% accuracy – spam books (1/1000) or ignate title
Night Owl: 13% movement speed – quest acquired from Levi after completing the Pandora scenario