C9 Illusionist PvP and PvE Skill Build Guide

C9 Illusionist PvP and PvE Skill Build Guide by kimsteparu

All the skills will be written in the following format :
Skill Name   l     Priority  l     Points Invested
lDescription l
Rating l

ACTIONS

Elec Swing        Very High     l   Max Elec

Swing is a commonly overlooked skill that most people refer to as useless.  Most people go, HEY mages just spam from afar, they dont need this skill. Too bad, you are dead wrong. Illusionist is a class you must be patient with. Elec Swing is not only useful for combo linking, it can also break enemy guard. I would strongly recommend taking this skill if you decide to PvP.
Rating :  9.5/ 10

Phantom Wall     Medium     1

Phantom  Wall is what it sounds like. It produces a mini barrier that will block a certain amount of attacks. As you increase it, the amount of HP it has and its size will grow accordingly. This skill is worthless, but it does have one special use. It is useful in blocking some far range moves . It can also be used as a combo link if you time it correctly with phantom punch. When knocking someone up into the air in pvp and using phantom wall at the correct timing, the foe will be knocked back up for a second or so.
Rating :9/ 10

Ice Spear          Medium         1 OR Max

Ice Spear is a move where it hits you 3 times with water damage with explosion bonus water damage on 4th. The size and damage is increased when leveling the skill up.  I would honestly NOT take this skill at all. This is a skill you can use for people getting too close, but it has horrible casting time. Elec Swing can do what ice spear does + it can combo. Ice Spear Cast time gives it bad timing and casting time. Not to mention, The 3rd continent is full of mobs that resist water. I would pass this skill completely.
Rating 3/10

Fireball              Very High        Max
Fireball is probably a gift from heaven. It has a base damage + a BASE bun AoE damage. Meaning, even if you have 100% fire resistance, you will still take the BASE burn damage. Oh, lets also not ignore the fact that it can charge up to 3 levels and you can take your time sniping the enemy with it. It has an explosion size that is ENORMOUS and will continue to grow  as you level it up. This skill requires you to anticipate as enemies wont stay still in pvp and go ” PLEASE HIT ME. ” The catch about fireball is that you dont have to necessarily hit the foe in order to do damage. As long as you fire it off and the explosion touches the foe, it counts as a hit AND he will also receive the burn DoT.  This skill also serves as a downing move, meaning you can hit players when they are on the ground. Awesome? Yes I love this skill too guys <3. It will require some training to hit the foes, but when it does, that will hurt.
Rating 11/10

Lightning Bolt     Medium           0 OR MaxLightning Bolt is like a fireball except it does NOT have the DoT burn. I believe it gives an air damage AoE but it is harder use this skill mainly because of its cast time.  Yeah that sucks. The trade off is that it has bigger AoE size. I would take this skill if you can distance yourself from foes really well. This skill requires a casting time that is 2x that of fireball so yeah….  :(

Dark Emotion    Very High      1 or MAX
Dark Emotion is a nifty skill. I say nifty mainly because of its usage and its low damage base. It is mainly used for its SUPER ARMOR effect. Super Armor refers to complete immunity to attacks when using this skill. How is this skill important? Maybe you guys have seen those awesome combos on youtube and go, OH NO THERE IS NO WAY TO STOP THIS COMBO. Guess what? there is a way. Sure, assassin and BMs can spam their combos, but in between their combos, there will always be a slight delay. Thats the chance to use Dark Emotion as it will knock them off balance and ruin their combo. This skill can also be used as a pickup effect, meaning it will pick enemies right off the ground.

Rating 10/10

Illusion Flame   High      Max
One of illusionists few downing skill. This can be coupled with illusion flasher for more damage. Hit enemies on the ground for extra damage. In PvP, that extra damage can either save you or screw you over. This is an important skill mainly because of its low CD and ease to use.

Rating 9/10

Soul Chaser   Very High   Max
I love how idiots get hit with this. This is a very very funky skill. From my past experience, I would like to show you how to use this skill well. Most people just use it for the LOLBOWLZ and watch it chase people thinking it will hit. There are two ways to counter this skill. Either run for it, or simply press guard. Guard will render this skill useless, and running to a certain distance will make the soul stop chasing you.

The way to counter people guarding soul chase is simply to use phantom punch when they are guarding. This requires patience and good timing. When they run, simply predict where they are moving next and use fireball to hit them. If you can time both correctly, youll get a free bonus hit.

Note that your cursor MUST be on the enemy for this to work DUHHHH. It doesnt work if you place you face the opposite end of the enemy and hope the soul will just turn around and hit the enemy.

Rating 11/10

Mana Protect  Medium   1
It is what it is. Almost every mage in the game has it. It basically shaves some damage off and you lose MP instead. The bad thing is that it loses 50% of this original effect in PvP. Increasing it further will decrease the damage done, but it will also eat MP away faster. Honestly, I dont know if this is a life saver skill or a devil skill. I would put one just to negate some damage I guess.

Rating 6/10

Phantom Cry Medium    0 OR 1

This is a really weird skill. While it stuns enemies nearby, the range is so pathetic its not worth mentioning. I would get 1 on it if you can get the timing correctly, but don’t push your luck with this skill.

Rating 5/ 10

Phantom Upper Very High 1 OR NA

This is your most used pickup move. You MUST need at least one on this skill. Higher level gives it higher flying height, meaning you can use more skills for comboing.

Rating 10/10

Phantom Bind  Very Low   0

Worse Skill ever. Huge Cast Time. Can be easily evaded. When foes evade it, theyll just use far range skills to counter. Can be cancelled. Low damage input. Dont even bother ROFL.

Rating – 1 / 10
Phantom Ascent  Very High  Max

Your best single targeting move. Time it correctly and it will shave 1/3 or your opponents HP. This basically sends an invisible skill knocking players upward and it will continue to damage players until the blade touches the ground. I’ve never really counted but I think this skill receives a 20-30 hit counter at max. When used on HUGE bosses, this shaves a CHUNK of hp away.

You’ll thank me for this skill later. Note that this skill requires a skill stone if I remember correctly.

Rating 10/10

Phantom Blade  Low   5

Just get it for prereq for phantom excalibur. useless blade. spins slow and cant do jack besides unlocking another skill for you.

Rating 2/10

Phantom Scrape  Medium  1 OR Max

This is an improved version of phantom blade and Excalibur i guess. Basically, when you use this skill, your mouse cursor along with a circle beneath it will appear. You can choose a place and thats the place the blade will appear. After appearing, the blade will continually  move for a constant speed ( faster than blade but slower than Excalibur ) until it is gone or your explode it.

This skill is mainly used to stun people within illusion wind distance and get a free combo in. I would just invest one point in it. You are free to max it out for more damage if you think you can hit people with this move. I find this harder than fireball but up to you *shrugs*

Rating 8/10

Phantom Crash  Very High Max

You need one on it to explode your stuff :) DERPP

Rating 10/10

Alluring Illusion.  Very High  1 OR MAX

Another gift from the goddess.

Well well well. 319% damage from one attack + explosion damage.

Ok lets ignore the base damage first and discuss the usage it comes with it.

This skill is most hated by melee people because :
-Can’t guard it.
-It literally forces people to attack that first before attacking you. Trust me, getting hit by even a LV 1 will take of AT LEAST 1/4 of your foes hp. Maxing it will leave your opponents with 50% of their hp gone at least.
– It his a DoT marker. Basically, as long as players are in the range of this piggie <3, then they will get a DoT of 1 HP. Now lets go back a bit. *** PLAYERS IN RANGE *** ( includes invis people too. ) Sins wont be able to cloak because you can tell where they are.
-Free shield. You can honestly just hide behind this pig and just spam your skill as well. If people get too close, detonate it and watch their hp fall.

I would recommend maxing this, but lv 1 is also fine if you want to invest into other skills.

Rating 11/10

Soul Vulcan Very High  Max

Another fireball move cept this has no DoT and has better range. This is mainly used when people are downed ( lying on the floor) Because they are downed,  you dont really have to aim at anything. This can also be used far range if you are good with predicting moves O.O

This skill can also be used to counter air elementalist when they go in air and spam their moves ;x

I would add at least 1 if you want but you should def max it in pvp.

Rating 10/10

Soul Aura High 1

Just one is enough. This skill renders all attack useless when inside a barrier. You will notice the barrier. It is green and covers a pretty large surface area. This skill lasts for a huge second. Inside this aura, players will not be able to hit you when theyre inside or outside. All shockwave and projectile attacks will just be deflected.

** YOU MUST BE INSIDE THE SOUL AURA FOR IT TO TAKE AFFECT **

Rating 9/ 10

Phantom Excalibur High  1 OR Max

Fast moving phantom blade with more damage. I would get one on it for stun but you can also max for more damage. Up to you if you want to have other skillls :P
This move is a lot easier to use because its swift and gives decent damage.

Rating 10/ 10

Phantom Tornado  High  1 OR Max

This skill is more of an PvE skill but you can use it for PvP too if you get lucky. Basically just generates a huge tornado that sucks in everything and deals damage till the tornado subsides.

Has a long cast time and most experienced players can see it coming and will attempt to stop you. Dont get neglected though. If this skill catches players, they will be unable to move until the tornado stops, giving you free attacks :)

Maxing it increases the damage overall and suction powers. I would put one on it just for the suction powers.

Rating 9/ 10

Commands

Mana Piece   Medium   1 or 5
This moves serves the same purpose as the phantom wall. Easy combo link and keeps enemy up in the air for about a second. Can be chained into virtually every combo so it is quite useful.
Recommended to get 5 for air mana piece

Rating 9/ 10

Evasive  Dash   Very High 1

Roll to teleport. I think this is very self explanatory. You want to dodge an attack that is undodgeable? Teleport through it. Want to travel a long distance and appear in front of a person to start a combo? This is your move. If you don’t get it, have fun getting screwed in PvP.

Rating 10/10

Dash Attack  Medium 1

Combo Linker. Dash to attack. Kinda self explanatory. This move isn’t really that OH WOW. However, it is EXTREMELY important to add one point on this skill for very very very important reasons.

Rating 7/ 10

Mana Shot  Medium 1 or MAX

This skill does ridiculous damage. However, it requires charging to increase its size. This skill is mainly used as a PICKUP skill. Much like illusion flame, except illusion flame is more reliable and give off better damage.

Rating 9/ 10

Mana Cipher  Very High  5

This skill is what players call a “grab skill”.

This requires precise timing and knowledge of all your skills. I would recommend PvPing against the PvP arena dummies to master this.

This skill basically grabs players that are within range and squeezes them. This skill is very important because it prevents players from escaping in case a combo fails. It can be chained into virtually any moves that do not knock players far away.

The main reason you have to get 5 points on this is due to Phantom Hand, another grabbing move.

Rating 10/10

Rushing Bite   Low     None OR 1

This skill gives a tiny bit of dodge frame and allows player to strike back. I would recommend 1 if you are good with these things. I have found no use for this whatsoever with combo linking so I suppose it is just used for a maneuver move.

Rating 2/ 10

Ground Vein  Low   None OR 1

Downing attack. Illusionists lack downing attack so this might be a good move if you want extra damage. It is a physical attack so dont expect it to do much.

Rating 4/ 10

Chain Edge  Very High   1 or 10

The most famed grab skill for illusionist and one of the rarest grab moves as well. This skill requires VERY VERY VERY VERY VERY extreme practice so don’t be upset if you can’t master it in one day. Unlike assassins whip, this skill has a very short range so it is very hard to use it.  Getting it to lv 10 will increase the range up by 2m, which is quite useful.

This skill is a necessity for PvP illusionist, as it is a major chain linker.

Rating 10/10

Spin Smash  ????    ????

I honestly have never used this skill before unless its to activate vera crasher. I got this skill just for vera crasher and have never experimented with this skill. It is

Pass

Rating ?? / ??

Vera Crasher   High   1

Picks up enemy and downs enemy. A major combo linker. Need one on it for surezzzz

Rating 9/ 10

Air Mana Piece  Medium   1

Depending on what you added on Mana Piece. If you added 5 points on it, you can unlock this skill. This skill is basically mana piece while jumping. I believe this is more versatile and easier to use than the original one. This comes in handy when you want to get one last hit in for sure.

Rating 8 / 10

Illusion Wind  Very High Max

Your free teleport. I believe only illusionist have this free teleport. Get it and use it efficiently to close distance / dodge attacks.

Phantom Bolt    High  1

Sends out an illusion blade that moves slightly faster than the phantom blade. 1 for stun. Explodes the same way by using crash.

Rating 8 / 10

Illusion Flasher   High    1 OR Max

This depends on your preference. I would get at least 1 point because this is a downing move and it does have a bonus damage. After using Illusion Flame, illusions flasher can be activated for extra damage.

Rating 9 / 10

Illusions Decoy 1    Very High

This basically just sets a LV 1 alluring illusion on the ground. Players must think  ” oh its lv 1  big deal ” I should remind you a lv 1 does 319% magical damage already and most players will be caught off guard by this. The explosion range is the same as a LV 1 alluring illusion as well.

Rating 10 / 10

Phantom Punch  Very High Max

Here comes illusionists most famed skill : phantom punch. This skill was probably a gift from heaven to replace the lack of combos illusionist has. Phantom Punch increases its size and damage as you level it up.

This skill is used by tumbling and pressing the hit button. It sends out a ghostly punch that moves in a straight line.

The good thing about this move?

– PickUp
-Long Travel distance + Huge Size
-When it hits someone, it picks them up and continues to deal damage until they fall off.
-When used near an edge, you can get a free win by pushing them off.
-Can be used in a 360 Degree manner.  ( By dashing and turning your camera around efficiently, you can hit enemies behind you in case they try to flank.

If you don’t get this move, i feel sorry for you.

Rating 11 / 10

Phantom Hand  Very High  1 OR Max

This skill is very weird. While it does have a nice initial damage + final damage, it is quite hard to use and quite hard to chain into combos. Phantom Upper has to be a certain level in order to chain it with this move. Ideally, this move is most commonly used with phantom upper to get the most out of it.

It is also notable that it can stop Guardians charge moves and lock them into phantom hand.

I would recommend at least 1 for this skill.

Rating 10 / 10

Passive

Max HP Increase   Very High  Max
More hp = longer time to live. does this make sense to people? :)

Rating 10 / 10

Max MP Increase   Very High   ???

I put a question mark there mainly because I’m not sure what people want with this. The whole point of this is to have more MP and rest assured, Mana Protect eats away your MP like crazy.

I would honestly max it out but its up to you.

Rating 10 / 10

Critical Increase   High   1 OR MAX

If you have spare points, dump it here. More critical = more damage amirite or am i right? ^_^

Rating 10 / 10

Fast Casting     Very High   MAX

Decrease Cast Time? Are you stupid? No question max this derp.

Rating 10 / 10

Mentalisim I        Very High    Max

More MP +  MP REGEN. MAX MAX MAX MAX

Rating 10 / 10

Mentalisim II     Very High    Max

Same as Mentalisim I

Rating 10 / 10

Focus     Medium   1 OR MAX

Decrease MP Cost by 1% isn’t going to do much. INT up is a bonus though. Not as good as the other two but put some if you have points.

Rating 6 / 10

Furious Storm   Medium   1 OR MAX

Helpful in PvP. I dont use phantom tornado much in PvP since most people dont fall for it. Hence, I have this skill on 0. But again, its up to player preference. If you think you can get phantom tornado to work, then by all means, this skill is helpful.

Increase suction power as you level it up.

Rating 7 / 10

Soul Vulcan Flash   Very High   1 OR MAX

Adds another soul vulcan. Gives off better explosion range. While Vulcan is mainly used as a downing skill, it can also be used to snipe from far away for free damage so this explosion buff does help it a bit.

Rating 10 / 10