Ragnarok Online Maestro WoE Guide

Ragnarok Online Maestro WoE (War of Emperium) Guide by Hyperballad

1. INTRODUCTION

Hello fellow performer!
I am writing this guide for those who would like to step up their Maestro play. A WoE Maestro plays somewhat differently than in PvM. The good news is that you have a lot more options to toy with. The bad news is that it is not easy, in a lot of funny ways.

When I say it is not easy I don’t mean it requires excessive player skill in order to do it, but instead you will find that your success is often dependant on others, not just yourself. There are dimensions to Performer play that bring the class more flavour. Also more frustration.

But I digress – you already have your reasons for playing or not playing this class.
First, let me analyse some aspects that are crucial to the WoE Maestro. Unlike most classes, the impact a Maestro has in WoE is not only tied to his actual performance in it, but also to “outside” factors. You should work on these as they are as important as your gear, stat points and skills.

A ) Your and your guildmates’ knowledge on Performers

This is a general one that applies to all areas of play. It’s no secret that Performers are a bit of an unattractive support class. Because of this a surprising amount of people don’t know what our skills do. I have heard many assumptions, but a recent example from high TI was “Do that song that makes Eremes tele”. This is also the downside of having one good skill that benefits most damage dealers (Magic Strings) and not being able to apply different buffs at the same time. Maestros have fourteen 2nd class song skills, but most of the time it will be “keep Strings up and stfu”. If you have the patience, try to encourage your guild to educate themselves on how Performers work. Not only will it make you work better as a team but they might even find uses for you that you haven’t thought about.

B ) Your Wanderer partner and other Performers in the guild

Some players might prefer solo play because it leaves out the variable of depending on others. That is completely fine, thought as a fact you will not be able to reach your full potential.

Working with a Wanderer is HARD. Unlike other experiences you might have had in RO, if you want to be a good duo in WoE you have to work on your timing, positioning, strategies, skill use, etc. (see next point, “Vent”). First and foremost it depends on each Maestro and Wanderer duo which Ensembles to get. This is one of those frustrating moments. If one of the two does not have points in an Ensemble it cannot be cast (unlike a Chorus). This is only the first reason why you should grab those Dance Shoes[1] and go find your Cinderella asap. A well versed Performer duo that know how to work one with the other is amazing to see, wrecks in WoE and is after all an achievement for you as a Performer player.

The second thing is the number of ACTIVE Performers during WoE. This boils down to whether your guild places any value in Performers. It is important because like the Wanderer part above it affects your skill build. If your precast looks like you and a dual-cliented Dancer in Eden gears you should probably not bother getting anything other than Classical Pluck. The more (active) Performers are available, the more options you have.

C ) Vent

Yes this is a given for all WoE guilds. Though, if the above conditions are met it allows top level Maestro play. You are able to coordinate with the Wanderer and get precious input from people in the party. How many times have you heard someone go “I have Sinking Melody debuff on me, remove it please”? Yeah… See point A and make your guild search “Group A Song” and “Group B Song” on irowiki.org.

D ) Soul Linker

A Soul Linker main is even more unheard of than a Maestro main, so this leaves you dual-clienting one. Oh and you should. In fact, it is ESSENTIAL to have access to Bard and Dancer Spirits for the movement speed, extra skills and the perk of your own Strings working on you.

What this Introduction is trying to stress is that not only you, but everyone in your guild should learn how to make use of a Maestro. I agree with those who say Performers get the short end of the stick when it comes to skills and gear, but I also say there is unused potential simply because for some reason people decided to ignore it.

2. SKILLS

2.1 How do they actually work?

Before we take a look at the skills from a WoE perspective, we need to know what they do.
We don’t do that by reading the effect descriptions in the game BECAUSE THEY ARE WRONG.

http://irowiki.org/wiki/Maestro

It will only take a few minutes of your time.
Most of the Maestro skill descriptions in-game are misleading or just plain untrue.
From now on the guide will assume you know the true effects of Maestro skills.

Here is a compiled list of differences for your convenience:

VOICE LESSONS
In game: “If skill level reaches above 5, …”
Should be: 5 or above

REVERBERATION
In game: “…a maximum of 3 Reverberations can be set…”
There is no limit to the Reverbs you can place.

METALLIC SOUND
In game: “..more damage to enemies affected by Deep Sleep”
Also normal Sleep.

SONG OF DESPAIR
In game: “immobilize all enemies within a 3×3 area”
Only immobilizes 1 enemy.

CIRCLE OF NATURE
Does not say it’s usable on PvP maps only.

HARMONIZE
In game: “Equalize bonus stats. E.g. they become X”
What the skill does is it decreases your and target’s stats by 10 / 15 / 20 / 25 / 30 (Lv1~Lv5)

GLOOMY SHYNESS
In game: “Triple the damage of ..”
Does not triple but increase by 15% / 25% / 35% / 45% / 50% (Lv1~Lv5)
+ Has a chance of reducing movement speed, dismounting Swordman class mounts and applying a damage amplification debuff
+ Also buffs Hundred Spears

SATURDAY NIGHT FEVER
In game: “Cannot be used in PvP/WoE”
The other way around: only usable in PvP and WoE

SINKING MELODY
In game: “Increases Matk and decreases Atk..”
What it does is it has a chance of reducing enemy INT and draining their SP over time

WARCRY FROM BEYOND
In game: “Increases Atk and decreases Matk..”
Instead has a chance of reducing enemies’ HP while increasing their STR and CRIT

2.2 Glossary

Here is a glossary of the terms used in the guide:

Ensemble: Your 2nd class songs that require two performers of the opposite sex, e.g. Acoustic Rhythm, Battle Theme, Classical Pluck, Down Tempo, Harmonic Lick, Lullaby, Mental Sensing, Power Cord and Sheltering Bliss.

Chorus: Your 3rd class songs that require at least two performers of any sex, e.g. Great Echo, Lerad’s Dew, Song of Mana, Dances with Wargs, Saturday Night Fever, Sinking Melody, Warcry from Beyong, Destruction Song and Infinite Humming.

Flashing songs: The technique of quickly turning a Song on and off by equipping a dagger instead of using Amp.

Pre-buffing: Flashing all your Bard songs in quick succession. Usually done on as many party members / allies just before entering the Emp room.

Group A Songs: The first group of 3rd class songs where only one can be active at a time. Applying a different song will overwrite the previous. Swing Dance, Lover Symphony, Moonlight Serenade, Windmill Rush, Echo Song and Harmonize. In the future, Frigg’s Song will also be in this group.

Group B Songs: The second group of 3rd class songs where only one can be active at a time. Applying a different song will overwrite the previous. Siren’s Voice, Circling Nature, Gloomy Shyness, Song of Mana, Dances with Wargs, Saturday Night Fever, Lerad’s Dew, Sinking Melody, Warcry from Beyond and Infinite Humming.

Linked song: A 2nd class song from the opposite sex you have access to via a Soul Linker’s Bard and Dancer Spirits. For Maestros, they are Focus Ballet, Slow Grace, Lady Luck and Gypsy’s Kiss.

2.3 Song, Ensemble and Chorus

When casting a Song (Strings, Lutie, Riff, Tablature):
– Remember songs from the same class (Bard and Bard or Dancer and Dancer) cannot be in effect on the same cells
– Conflicting cells will turn into Unchained Serenade or sometimes when that doesn’t happen, the song activated last will simply do nothing on those cells
– Songs by performers of different genders do work on the same cells, i.e. Magic Strings + Gypsy’s Kiss
– The effect of Songs will linger for 20 seconds after they are deactivated / walked out of

When casting an Ensemble:
– Both performers must have at least 1 point in the skill
– The resulting Ensemble will be the Maestro’s skill level + Wanderer’s skill level divided by 2 and rounded down (the wiki is wrong on how this works)
This means that even though you are the one casting [Lv.5 Battle Theme] but your partner only has [Lv.2 Battle Theme], the result will be a [Lv.3 Battle Theme].

When casting a Chorus:
– The sex of the other Performer(s) does not matter
– Other Performers don’t need to have any skill points in whatever you are casting
– If successful, whatever is casted will be the level of the skill you have used, i.e. not tied to what level of the skill other Performers have
– The more Performers in your party, the better the effects (capped at 7 Performers) – does not apply to Saturday Night Fever
– Group B Songs cancel each other

2.4 What not to use

Like I’ve been saying, skill builds of Maestros vary a lot. Therefore I cannot give you a skill build that is set in stone because you and only you know your situation and role within your guild. If you can’t consistently get ahold of a Wanderer for WoE, most Ensembles and Choruses may not be worth it. Instead I will try to present the positive and negative sides of each skill so that you can understand whether it is good for you. Then it’s down to you and the Wanderer to have a talk.

There are however skills that you should not use in WoE.
Skills other than these are available for your evaluation. Some of them may have a use that is situational at best, but will still provide some results – unlike these baddies:

Pang Voice
Sing-target debuff with a casting delay and chance of failing. If it succeeds it applies Confusion to the target, which can be cured with a Green Potion. You have a dozen other skills you should be casting before feeling like you have to resort to this one.

Arrow Vulcan
Gets reduced damage twice in WoE (once for being a skill and once for being ranged) and has an ENORMOUS unreduceable sprite delay. Makes you a sitting duck.

Reverberation, Dominion Impulse, Metallic Sound, Great Echo
Stay away from these. Reverberation, like your other damaging skills does too little damage. Metallic Sound would be THE offensive skill for a magic Maestro if we had Sound Amplifiers and better mAtk instruments, but we don’t. Great Echo is pretty much an AoE Arrow Vulcan (see above).

Deep Sleep Lullaby
Since the balance patch, this skill is broken. As in not working kind of broken. The chance of success is low and the duration minimal.

Marionette Control and Improvised Song
No reason to use it.

Sheltering Bliss and Death Valley
Unusable in WoE.

Mental Sensing, Power Cord and Infinite Humming
Irrelevant for WoE.

Amp
Do not use it. If you want to cancel or flash your song, hotkey a dagger.

Hermode’s Rod
The debuff is too harsh for what it does. If you have good communication with your guildies you can find situational uses for it but is is NOT GOOD for rushing into the Emp room.

2.5 Skill analysis

2.5.1 Archer

 Arrow Shower
– Very situational use for applying status effects
– Use it when enemies are clustered together
– Will not make you flinch like Severe Rainstorm but has unreduceable 1 sec delay
– Hits hidden enemies

 Double Strafe
– Its only use is to interrupt Urgent Recall due to its long range

2.5.2 Bard

 Encore
– Recasts the last used song or Ensemble at half SP cost. Make sure you remember what it was

 Impressive Riff
– Riff Lv.10 with Lv.10 Music Lessons adds +25% ASPD
– Every 10 AGI adds +1% ASPD
– Doesn’t stack with Adrenaline Rush
– Doesn’t work on bow users
– Recommended Lv.10 because Link will then give you Slow Grace
– Flash it on your allies when breaking Emp
– Flash it onto allies that use skills with ASPD-based delay

 Magic Strings
– Max it
– With Lv.10 Strings, Lv.10 Music Lessons and 150 INT skill delay is reduced by 100%
– As with other Bard songs, flash it for a moment. DO NOT KEEP IT UP. Like in PvM, it works on everyone, even enemies. “Oops the enemy RK walked into my Strings” = party wipe

 Melody Strike
– The best way to kill after you get Death Card off, as you don’t need to change weapons (you will most likely be wearing an instrument most of the time)
– Delay is ASPD-based
– This would be an awesome skill for stunning with a +10 Harp of Nepenthes if only 99% of the people in WoE weren’t immune to Stun. Go find that 1%?

 Music Lessons
– Max it
– The skill increases your walking speed while having a song up
– Most importantly, it boosts your Bard songs’ effects

 Perfect Tablature
– Not so sexy in WoE
– Very marginal use to help an ally or self (if Linked) against ctrl-click enemies with the Flee and Perfect Dodge bonus, but usually not worth it

 Song of Lutie
– Lv.10 Lutie with Lv.10 Music Lessons gives +35% HP, further boosted by 1% HP per 10 VIT
– Useful for pre-buffing team before entering Emp room

 Unbarring Octave
– Screen-wide 40% chance to Freeze
– Works on your party but not allies outside of party
– Due to the massive delay its best to use in Strings
– Best to use when number of party members < number of enemies
– Best to use if there are enemies far from you and your party because if they get frozen it will not get immeadiately broken

 Unchained Serenade
– Allows mysterious sorcery [This was fixed on kRO Sakray in April 2013]
– Right now you can cast Unchained Serenade while you have a song already up. When Serenade is over, you can cast another song on top of the one you are already doing. Yes, this breaks the rule of “no two Bard songs on the same area”

Suggestions
– “The Emp is ours” ~ Impressive Riff + Slow Grace
– “Precasting Tranny” ~ Magic Strings + Gypsy’s Kiss
– “RK’s wet dream” ~ Magic Strings + Song of Lutie

It’s not as good as it sounds. Most of the time you have much better things to do because setting this up requires time. But most of all, it works in a strage way: If you set two songs up on top of people (= they are in the AoE from the beginning) they will get both the effects, but NONE of them will work for people who walk into the songs after you set them up. Only do this during precast and if people understand how it works.

 Slow Grace
– Awesome AoE debuff you can keep up for a while since it only works on enemies
– Lv.10 Slow Grace will reduce enemies’ ASPD by 30% and walking speed by 20%, which are further decreased by 1% for each 10 DEX and AGI respectively
– Not as strong as a Wanderer’s Slow Grance since you don’t have Dance Lessons ( Lv.10 Dance lessons reduce an additional 10% ASPD and 5% movement speed )
– Helps survivability because enemies will not be able to catch up to you when walking
– Removes movement speed and ASPD buffs
– Use on enemies breaking the Emp
– Removes Increase Agility

 Gypsy’s Kiss
– Use it if you are not part of the CP team and there is already a Stringer

Ensembles

 Acoustic Rhythm
– Increases resistance to Earth, Water, Earth and Wind elements and status effects

 Battle Theme
– Increases Atk and Def

 Classical Pluck
– The skill every WoE Performer must have
– Disables skill use for everyone in the AoE

 Down Tempo
– Sets Def to 0

 Harmonic Lick
– Provides armor piercing ATK buff

 Lullaby
– Has a chance of Sleeping enemies in the AoE

2.5.3 Minstrel

 Longing for Freedom
– Usually Lv.1 is enough unless you are running some sort of ASPD build
– The Ensemble will be canceled if you move out of its AoE
– While “free”, you cannot cast other 2nd class songs
– You CAN cast skills if you Longing out of Classical Pluck
– This can be used in two ways in a precast: if used by the stronger of the two Performers he or she is then free to be a buffer / debuffer. If used by the weaker Performer, they can move as far away as possible from the enemy’s range

 Tarot Card of Fate
– Nuts in Strings
– Works through Pneuma
– Can be cast with any weapon or no weapon at all
– Memorize the cards. That way when you can quickly poke your target when you get a Death Card off
– Your debuff of choice against enemy Performers as they can remove the rest of your debuffs

2.5.4 Maestro

 Voice Lessons
– Max it
– At Lv.5 and higher allows you to use 3rd class skills while using songs
– Your only way of regaining SP while having a song up (more relevant for PvM)

 Harmonize
– Your best and most reliable single-target debuff
– Max it. At Lv.5 the effect is -30 to all stats
– It always works on you as well. The correct use is Harmonize then Windmill Rush or Echo Song immediately after
– Can be used outside the castle

 Windmill Rush
– Useful if you find yourself surrounded by physical-class party members
– Use it to overwrite an enemy Maestro’s Harmonize

 Echo Song
– Overall useful, especially in a precast
– Use it to overwrite an enemy Maestro’s Harmonize

 Circling Nature
– The effect is bad!
– It is very useful!
– CN deserves a skill point because it is your only way of removing enemy Performers’ debuffs at 100% chance when you have no other ally Performer around
– Use it to remove Siren’s Voice, Gloomy Shyness, Saturday Night Fever, Sinking Melody and Warcry from Beyond from you and your party members

 Despair Song
– Place a sound wave on the griund that will snare enemies and allies, but not party members
– Consumes 1 Throat Lozenge
– Works on hidden enemies
– Useful on speed potters, recallers and Mado Mechanics

 Siren’s Voice
– (Lv.5) Has a chance of charming in a 13×13 area
– Success depends on Skill level, Voice Lessons level and Job level
– Works on everyone. They will display a heart emoticon for the skill’s duration
– It will end if those affeted receive damage
– Enemies affected will be unable to target you, but non-targeted AoE stuff will still work on you
– This is your only AoE skill that can remove Group B Songs on enemies when you are solo
– Don’t use it after DDW
– Priority skill if you are on your own

 Gloomy Shyness
– Buffs Clashing Spiral, Brandish Spear, Hundred Spears, Rapid Smite, Shield Boomerang and Shield Press
– 100% chance to reduce ASPD and Flee on non-RK/RG classes
– Lv.1 will remove about 5 ASPD while Lv.5 roughly 10 ASPD
– Skill level% chance to dismount, reduce movement speed by half and apply a damage amplification debuff

 Severe Rainstorm
– 11×11 AoE skill that hits 12 times
– Use it if you want to position lag or apply statuses
– Every hit on each enemy will make you flinch, meaning it’s practically impossible to move

Choruses

 Dances with Wargs
– Your Chorus buff of choice
– Increases ATK, ASPD, Warg Skill damage (only barely since the balance patch) and decreases fixed casting time
(- If there are 5 Performers in your party, this is a 19×19 Sacrament at Lv.5) ~Wasn’t able to test if DWW stacks with Sacrament
– Achtung! Removable by other Group B Songs. YOUR OWN TOO (= don’t do Siren’s Voice after Wargs)

 Song of Mana
– Not too helpful in WoE since people carry recovery items and DWW exists

 Lerad’s Dew
– +1000 HP at Lv.5 is very “meh”
– Each Performer after the second will add +300 HP to the buff (max possible is +2500 HP)

 Saturday Night Fever
– Very hard to pull off successfully
– Although there is no visual indicator for the debuff (like the glow from Song of Mana, Sinking Melody, etc.) you can tell if the skill worked if the animation (Succubi) appear. This is the opposite of other Chorus debuffs, where the skill animation will always go off but there is a chance the enemy is not affected
– Drains HP, SP, lowers Def and Flee, increases Atk and disables item use
– When the effect ends, either normally or prematurely by overwriting it with an other Group B Song, all those who were affected will be forced to sit
– If 7 or more people are affected, they will receive random damage
– People like to refer to the debuff as “frenzy”, but unlike the LK skill it does not increase ASPD or disable skill and chat use
– Unlike what the balance patch notes / wiki say, you get the cooldown whether SNF worked or not

 Warcry from Beyond
– (Lv.5) -20% HP AoE debuff
– Affected enemies also receive [Skill level x number of Performers in party] +STR and CRIT
– Affected enemies will have a blue glow on them
– More Performers increase the success chance (max 65%) and HP reduction (max 40%)
– Very good against RKs

 Sinking Melody
– (Lv.5) 10 INT reduction and 10% SP drain / sec AoE debuff
– Affected enemies will have a purple glow on them
– More Performers will increase INT reduction (Skill level x number of Performers), SP drain (max 20% / sec) and success rate (max 65%)

Destruction Song

I have not had the chance to test this skill, so I’ll make assumptions based on the wiki entry.

– (Lv.5) 15×15 skill that removes the effects of 2nd and 3rd class Performer abilities (Ensembles too? Party / allies too?)
– Success chance depends on Skill level and Voice Lessons level
– Those affected will take (Skill Level x 1000) + (Voice Lesson Skill Level x Caster’s INT) damage and be stunned at 100% chance
– More Performers increase success chance and damage

3. ON THE BATTLEFIELD

Alright, so you’re set to go. Remember that when warping on WoE maps, Soul Link will be removed so you have to bring the Linker with you and link yourself outside the castle. Flash Strings on yourself before entering. Remember that you will have the effect for 20 seconds and always refresh it! It’s really cheap but if you want you can Harmonize enemies outside castles.

As soon as you’re inside, activate Slow Grace and Siren’s Voice. If you can get away from the damage, spam Unbarring Octave. If you’re against a Sura, try Despair Song and Siren’s Voice, then switch to a Vellum Arbalest. The SP drain will not break SV, nor will Tarot (except Chariot, Devil and Tower). Only try to freeze people when you have Strings effect because Unbarring will put a stupidly long global delay on all of your skills. All of this coupled with Despair Song should give you a good chance of outrunning enemy guilds if you’re outnumbered. If you have guildies around fighting, stick around and flash your songs on them while debuffing enemies. Harmonize RKs on sight. If you can get Warcry from Beyond off as well, that’s -50% HP for them. Remember to do Circling Nature after Siren’s Voice and Saturday Night Fever. RGs that use Shield Spell Lv.3 will freeze faster than other classes. You can safely put all your debuffs on a frozen target for further humiliation.

When the enemy group has a Performer remember that they can remove ALL your debuffs. Focus on flashing songs, freezing, trapping people and draining SP. String Tarot the Performer. The opposite is also true for you: if they use Harmonize, use Windmill Rush or Echo Song. If they do Siren’s Voice, Warcry, Sinking, SNF or Gloomy, use Circling nature or a buff Chorus. Choruses have a long delay, so wait for them to use theirs first then remove it asap.

If you are doing a timed rush into the Emp room with your guild remember to prebuff. You can’t prebuff with Ensembles because the effect is lost as soon as people walk out of it. When you’re in the Emp room, spam that Octave. Their precast will make sure your allies’ freeze gets broken immediately. Remember that if they are inside Warmer they will be immune to freeze. Slow Grace when you pass enemies. If you are confident that you can leave your (de)buffing duties, equip and unequip a Violy carded accessory and put on your Berserk Guitar. The effect of Violy Card will stay on you, making you autocast Unbarring Octave while hitting the Emp at 193 ASPD. This is also a good tactic if you are breaking alone.

If you are defending, your role will depend on what the precast needs you to do. Classical Pluck > Strings > Lullaby / Down Tempo. If one of them is already up, move to the next. Siren’s Voice will also work on hidden enemies, making them do a heart animation. Global taunt! If someone is hitting your Emp, reduce their ASPD with Slow Grace, Harmonize and Gloomy Shyness.

As you might have noticed, targeting in WoE as a Maestro SUCKS. All of your single-target debuffs work on your party / guildmates and Despair Song activates on allies. It’s sometimes hard to get your debuff on that single guy that is getting pummelled by 3 of your party members. Zoom in and practice.

4. EQUIPMENT

Since Maestros cannot do any considerable damage in WoE you pretty much have to focus on one thing: (AH-AH-AH-AH) staying alive!

Not counting MvP cards here. If you have one you probably know what to do with it.

HEAD upper
Demi-human resistance headgear: Cat Ear Beret / Red Pom Band / Feather Beret / Abysmal Knight Helm

HEAD middle
Stat increasing: Black Devil’s Mask (+2 all stats) / Takius Blindfold (+2 INT) / Robo Eye (+1 DEX) / Sigrun’s Wings (+1 DEX)
Status resistance: Stunner Shades (+10% stun and freeze resist)
Element resistance: 3D Glasses (+5% neutral damage resist)
Slotted middle headgear

HEAD lower
Demi-human resistance: Handkerchief in Mouth (+3%)
Defense: Angry Snarl (+6 Def)
Stat increasing: Well-Chewed Pencil (+2 DEX) / Four Leaf Clover (+3 LUK)
HP: Umbala Spirit (+1%)

 Leaf Cat if using fire armor, Carat, Kathryne Keyron or Dolomedes (not yet in iRO) if hat is +9, Arc Angeling if base LUK 77, Maya Purple, Elder Willow / Isilla

ARMOR
Lucius’s Fierce Armor of Volcano[1]: The only thing aside from Pasana Card that will reduce Dragon Breath damage [this was fixed on kRO in April 2013]

WoE Suits[1]: At +9 they give really nice resistances with the rest of the set

 Pasana, Marc, Angeling, Frus, Ghostring

WEAPON
Harp of Nepenthes[2]: Can get INT enchantments in Malangdo
Tanos Violin: +10 INT and VIT (not yet in iRO)
Berserk Guitar: Unreduceable 193 ASPD for Emp breaking and interrupting people’s casting. Can also get Malango enchants
Combat Knife: +10% Demi-human resistance
any dagger

 Golem, Drops, Fabre

SHIELD
Valkyrja’s Shield[1]: +20% Fire and Water resistance, high Def and 5 mDef

 Thara Frog and nothing else

GARMENT
Nidhoggur’s Shadow Garb[1]: +7% resistance to all elements, increased SP
WoE Manteau[1]: For use with the rest of the set

 Raydric, Noxious

FOOTGEAR
WoE Boots[1]: For use with the rest of the set
Variant Shoes: +20% HP and SP

 Footgear refine rate [0~4] Gold Acidus, [5~8] Green Ferus / Matyr, [9+] Firelock Soldier

ACCESSORIES
Black Rosary[1]: Best mDef gear you can wear
Cursed Hand[1]: If you want to hit more often and apply Fatal Wound when poking with Berserk Guitar
Cat Hand Glove[1]: Quest item you can get easily, same HP boost as Waterdrop Brooch plus bonus to other stats
Glorious Ring: For elemental damage reduction and ASPD
Waterdrop Brooch[1]: Use over Cat Hand if you want the Water resistance
Vesper Core 01 / 04: 01 for INT and SP, 04 for DEX

 Kafra Blossom, Alligator, Horong, Smokie, Errende Ebecee, Spore, Zerom
If you really like meleeing with Berserk Guitar try: Hell Poodle / Ragged Zombie, Violy, Wickebine Tres (these work best in a Cursed Hand)

5. STATS

Status effects resistances amounts are true if you and the one applying them are the same base level.
It will be assumed you are both 150.

STR 1 ~ 30
– For carrying capacity, althought if you can afford Gym Passes that’s better.
– Decreases the duration effect of Vacuum Extreme

AGI 80+
– Provides Masquerade resistance
– Increases Glow Grace movement speed penalty, Impressive Riff ASPD buff and Perfect Tablature Flee bonus (all in increments of 10)
– Makes Vellum Arbalest not as slow

VIT at least 100
– Every 1 VIT is +1% HP and +2% HP healing item effectiveness
– At 100 VIT you are immune to Stun, Poison and Silence
– Increases Song of Lutie max HP bonus and HP recovery (in increments of 10)
– Howling resistance (0.2% x VIT)

INT 100+
– Every 1 INT is +1% SP and +1% SP healing item effectiveness
– Increases Gypsy’s Kiss max SP bonus and SP cost reduction, Magic Strings cast delay reduction (both in increments on 10). At 150 INT, your Strings will provide 100% skill delay reduction

DEX 100+
– Reduces variable cast time
– Increases Magic Strings cast time reduction (in increments of 10)
– Helps resist Divest

LUK 30+
– Increases Perfect Tablature perfect dodge bonus (in increments of 10)
– Helps against status effects and Coma
– Howling resistance (0.2% x LUK)

With 100 hard mDef you are immune to Freeze and Stone Curse.

6. APPENDIX

Performer skill animations and sounds!