Dragon Nest CN Joining Wild DDN Parties Guide

Dragon Nest CN Joining Wild DDN Parties Guide by sieg_freedom

Disclaimer: This guide is meant for consideration by Freedom members only, pertaining to the greatest chances of being able to enter and clear DDN in wild parties on our server (to the extent of my knowledge/experience). Whatever is mentioned here should have no relevance for players on any other servers, unless YOU choose to consider it.
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This guide is actually extremely hard to write, as ALL parties (that I have gone in so far) nowadays use more advanced strategies throughout the entire raid. In many ways, a wild party requires much more from a player than a fixed party, especially with regards to the varying levels of DPS that you will encounter. This makes life hard in particular for the Force User – knowing when to give Time Acceleration based on your party’s DPS is crucial, NOT all party leaders are competent, you have to learn to judge what is best for the party as well.

To listen to how the chinese words are pronounced, I suggest going to www.nciku.com

Keywords
– 加速 (Time Acceleration)
– 叠冰 （Ice Stack)
– 嗑药 (Drink potion, generally referring to recovering HP. Invulnerability only for 2 cases mainly – Flower Meteor (most likely we won’t see it) and to remove the burn status at Flame Prison)
– 爆发 (Spirit Boost) (There’s a prefix to 爆发 that is very important – 给爆发 means to give, 不给爆发 means NOT to give)
– 砸地 (Stomp)
– 毒墙 (Poison Wall – Scorpion)
– 跳台 (Platforming – Flower)
– 三连爆 (Flame Geyser) Some also call out the sequence instead (内外内, 外内外)
– 风眼 (Tornado – Manticore) Take note they often call for people to go back to their positions with 回位 or 站位 instead of calling the attack
– 输出 (DPS)
– 诅咒 (Curse – Golem)

Keep in mind that ALL parties expect people to be experienced with DDN at this point in time. The community here is rather small, it won’t be a surprised if someone happens to get blacklisted for being a newbie to DDN. Doing memorial / DDN Practice is highly suggested before attempting to clear DDN. I will help of course if I am available, those who have run with me should know ^^

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Gear requirements:

60S+8/9 armors, 60A+9/10 weapons on average for support classes are fine. Their main concern is always your SURVIVABILITY. DPS classes, good luck… (As a sidenote, my Elestra, who is still at 60, is clearing DDN Normal in full DPS-oriented 60A gear without deaths, the point being if people come to trust you, you can get by with lesser)

If you have 70A armor you should be safe for the most part.

Class selection:

There hasn’t been much change from 60 cap, the favoured classes are pretty much the same, with the major difference being that dancers are very much welcome now. Some teams give up on the bowmaster, others the engineer for the DPS slot. There is also an increase in the acceptance of mercs for many parties. (As GoldRabbit pointed out though, there are very few who call for one) With the critical cap being quite high, Battle Howl is a pretty welcome addition for many people. Crusaders and inquisitors are also making their way into line-ups, though those are still towards the rare side. I have still yet to see any Screamers, Moonlords, Alchemists, and Seleana so far.

Assassin being a DPS class should be facing stiff competition, but there will also be people looking forward to testing Assassin’s impact in DDN. It is likely that there will be a chance for decently geared assassins to get in for people to guage their rough impact on DPS (the DPS parser will be on, so don’t slack off…)

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Stage 1 – Flying Ship 

Everyone should know what to do here by now, it’s really hard to die anyway, the Tornado by the Death Knight should never even occur now. You can just go to whichever pillar you want, there’s usually sufficient DPS to kill all the lizards even if there are only 2 people hitting away. I once soloed all 4 lizards as Tempest ^^ (The rest were using Dance 2 to hit away at Snake Queen)

Whether the Dance 2 strategy is used or not depends on the party leader. As Elestra you will have to be alert. If you hear Dance 2, DO NOT engage the lizards, go ice stack the Snake Queen. Someone else will take care of th lizards.

Force User’s Time Acceleration – usually given when Snake Queen is at 2X if the party has sufficient DPS. Usually TA will last until the Death Knight is killed (within seconds after spawning). The main reason why TA is given earlier than some people might expect is the cooldown issue for speed runs. Either listen to the party leader’s commands or use your own judgement.

At the moment there are 2 popular routes that people attempt the bosses in:

A: Flower -> Manti -> Scorpion -> Worm -> Golem
B: Scorpion -> Worm -> Flower -> Manti -> Golem

B is the most popular from my experience, a very common DDN HC route as well. A is for very speed focused teams. (An anti-clockwise route basically)

I will mainly touch on skill timings and the flow of the battle, mechanics wise please refer to the Freedom guide.

Stage 2 – Scorpion

If you hear 给雷暴, this usually means that they will use Detonate for Poison Wall. Some priests cannot Detonate precisely with Spirit Boost, so listen carefully for if they want Spirit Boost. 不给爆发 means not to give Spirit Boost for Poison Wall.

The scorpion has a 90% chance of charging at the party right after it emerges, so don’t hurry to move over to it’s location. The charge is a very high priority move, it will use it even if it walks to your party, so do not commit to moves that take too long, it might shift it’s location, causing you to miss.

With the current DPS levels, it is very possible to not see Poison Wall at all. There are some very important points to take note of for this battle.

– Time Acceleration is often given at 3X. The goal is to push the Scorpion from 3X to very low HP values of 2X, then finish it in 1 wave after it emerges without seeing Poison Wall / Poison Spin EX at all. This is also important for Time Acceleration cooldown (in order to 1 wave Sandworm)

– Spirit Boost timing I use, start of battle once, and once just BEFORE the Scorpion emerges at 3X. Make sure you can evade the stomp… This is to allow everyone to catch up to the Scorpion and DPS a bit (basically so that everyone can gather quickly enough for Time Acceleration). When the Scorpion digs underground, DO NOT STOP DPS-ing, it still takes damage for some time! Avoid the use of any skill that can shatter the flowers of course. If the Gladiator is geared enough (usually they are), the battle will be over soon enough, right after the 1X emergence stomp.

Stage 3 – Sand Worm

Where it used to be the Paladin’s stage to shine, the star of the show are the sorcs now. A good Elestra makes this stage a joke, i.e. the ability to one wave sandworm.

(I give Spirit Boost at the start, it will cd in time. Some acrobats don’t though)

One gravity ball can as good as break down a wall on it’s own, so take note of if your teammates are using one for the particular wall you are breaking down. If not, use it. When the 60 seconds start, the FIRST SUCTION occurs at 52s. I recommend to stand at a position/angle that will not allowed you to be pulled backwards. This is where Time Acceleration cooldown comes into play. If it is ready, just begin the stage. If you notice that your party only kicked 4/5 barrels and is leaving one alone while doing nothing, don’t try to act smart and kick it in. They will wait till around 10-15s to kick it. (Waiting for Time Acceleration to cooldown).

Typically, we gather at the 2 o’clock position, and buff. When the Sandworm knocks it’s head against the ground, I give Spirit Boost. Not sure of Dancer’s timing, but Dance 2 will be initated before the stomp as well. Time Acceleration can be given at the same timing or after the stomp. Break the Sandworm’s SA in one shot, and deplete it’s HP. What happens here is that the SA bar appears again. Do not stop DPS-ing and continue hitting away, the moment this SA bar is gone, there is NO PROTECTION against further damage (there is a minute chance a third SA bar appears, but it is relatively rare from my experience), you can 1 wave the Sandworm with sufficient DPS. Take note that Blizzard timing is very important here, Blizzard has to last for the second SA bar. A noob Elestra will easily screw up the one wave with bad usage of Blizzard (if the team has sufficient DPS this can be remedied.. but doing your job properly is important)

IF sandpit hell occurs, once your assigned pillar is done / not assigned, move to the 8 o’clock position. This is where the Sandworm’s head will emerge from when Sandpit Hell is done, take good use of the opportunity to start chipping away at it. Guardian please Guardian Force to prevent people from getting knocked back. Spirit Boost here if available (to push the SA bar faster).

Examples of Sandworm 1 Wave

DDN Normal

DDN HC

Stage 4 – Flower

Good old flower. DO NOT EVER give Spirit Boost at the start of the battle, or you seriously might end up on the blacklist of many people forever. I give Spirit Boost at different timings depending on the DPS of the party. With extremely high DPS I give SB right after the first round of platforming. If not, I wait for the 3X->2X AoE attack where you have to hide behind it’s back. This is also the timing that Time Acceleration is used (with nearly no exceptions, unless there have been casualties/extremely low DPS. If so, Time Acceleration is given at the same attack, but used for 1 waving the flower from the last bit of 2X to 0)

This is the simplest boss fight of all, with the greatest chance of casualties as well. Without Guardian Force and sufficient experience in the nest, focus on dodging Flame Geyser above all else. focus on DPS only for the Time Acceleration window. Remember that this stage has the most instant-kill mechanics, despite it’s simplicity, caution is still advised. It is nearly impossible to see Meteor nowadays, just settle it with an invulnerability pot if it ever occurs (or do it normally if you have the confidence)

60 Cap Version

Glad to see that there seems to be more interest from people who are into joining wild DDN parties in Freedom now. Hope this rough guide will be of use to those who are keen on doing so. In the guild, I probably have the most experience in wild parties, will be glad to share what I know.

A friendly reminder – If you are keen on getting far into DDN at all, wild parties are not the way to do so. DDN is not GDN, the mechanics do not allow for a 1 wave push. So why join them? Firstly, you get to meet more friends who might invite you to join their fixed parties. Secondly, it will allow you to face the nest at it’s highest difficulty level, giving you the “full” experience of the nest ^^. Lastly, it gives you an avenue to train for more experience, but I recommend doing the DDN Memorial for that now.

Pre-Requisites:
– YY
– The ability to understand commands for certain classes, especially for force users, priests, and paladins.

Helpful:
– The ability to understand/communicate in chinese.
– The courtesy to learn what to do before you end up wasting other people’s tickets

Suggested Resource

www.nciku.com

You can listen to the pronunciation of chinese words at that website, which can help you understand what they are asking of you. If there is enough interest to make the effort worthwhile, I will consider publishing a list of the keywords to learn.

Please do not whine about class discrimination and gear requirements. Things are what they are, whining doesn’t solve the issue.

1. Gear

The quintessential first impression in Dragon Nest. One trick to altering that is to make good use of your introduction,which is something I won’t be covering here. If you have good gear, all is fine, but what can you do if you don’t? The best thing you can do is to SHOW that you have placed thought into gearing.

Typical requirements –
Set Armor (+9/10)
Weapons (+10)
Good accessories, 60A plates, unless using 60B with FD.

That is more or less the baseline required to enter DDN wild parties. Here’s how you can tilt the odds in your favor –

Give up on high enhancement levels for at least sleeves and shoes, and if necessary, the head gear as well. Get a high enhanced non-set 60A torso (+11 and above). Make sure all your pots have VIT + HP (Armor, Neck, Earring). Suffix VIT for torso and bottom. Get the technique accessories which will benefit the party, even if they are not those with optimal stats that you are waiting for.

Get a title with good stats that requires a certain amount of effort, some choices are:
– Dark Knight (Dark Lair title, one of the best available in the game)
– GDN HC Speed Clear title (At least you have cleared raids before)
– DDN Memorial titles (I suggest trying for the 5 minutes Part 1 title, will require a good and coordinated party)

Your gear has a lot to do with your class, so these are general recommendations. Also, please do not ask why they kick DPS characters even with the above gear – the DPS requirement in CDN is really high for some parties. I can only say that if you want to play a DPS character, prepare to gear really high end or risk getting kicked. One trick you can use is to have 2 sets of accessories to change your stats around with to report different values ^^

2. Class

Reply to an Artillery player on class, highly suggested to read before making assumptions

I know chaos has a write-up on class role in DDN. It is impractical though to assume that class discrimination does not exist. The demand for some classes is much higher than that of others, while some classes do not really stand a chance, getting kicked on sight. The below is the general overview of class selection for DDN in wild parties right now

Priest – Saint preferred, inquisitor needs to have good gear to get in generally. Be ready to report your mdmg value. An average party brings 2 priests, a saint + inquis or 2 saints line-up. Any party that brings 1 priest is either over-confident or experienced.

Paladin – Guardian preferred. Bringing a crusader generally means having to bring a merc. With crusaders not really doing good DPS in DDN generally, guardians have the advantage at the moment, freeing up one slot.

Mercenary – Generally kicked now. Their level of usefulness can be debated upon on, but the following is something I’ve seen plenty of times – a merc joins, and presumes to stay. The moment someone wants a reshuffle in the line-up, or someone wants to bring a DPS, bye bye merc.

Swordmasters – At the same gear level, gladiators are taken over moonlords. The general trend is to pick gladiator regardless. This is not completely unjustified, as most dps in DDN are physical, it is easier to focus on boosting only one type of dmg.

Force User – One of the most in-demand classes. Smashers taken over majesty by far, but compared to many other less favored third job classes, majesty actually has an okay chance of staying in the party.

Elemental Lords – Elestra is preferred over Seleana by far Please take note that without spirit boost and time acceleration, Elestra has very low efficiency in DDN.

Acrobats – Both have an easy time getting in. One of the most in-demand classes for DDN, especially for fixed parties. Generally I would recommend a tempest, but windwalker probably has highest burst damage potential due to showtime. It will depend a lot on gear / party composition. Their impact on the party is one of the largest.

Bow Masters – Generally, Artillery is preferred. It is my belief that in a party, especially one made to boost physical DPS, Sniper is an awesome pick as well. I have seen snipers getting in without much issue as well.

Engineers – Both get in fine, SS taken over GM in general at same gear level. GM is still a good pick regardless.

Alchemists – They don’t get in, unless they happen to be friends with some key figures in the party. Even a max FD adept with 50L weapons and 40L brilliant rings gets kicked often.

Screamers – Never seen one that didn’t get kicked instantly.

Dancers – The only ones I have seen in wild parties are max FD dancers, taking up a DPS slot. In a fixed party, I would actually say they are worth considering. In a wild party, I wouldn’t take them generally as well. (Reasoning)

Recommended classes for people who are less geared:
Saint, Guardian, Smasher, Elestra, Tempest

The above classes are pretty much more in-demand, and require less gear. On the other hand, there is a reason why they are in demand… if you have to ask why, you are not ready for DDN ^^ The above pretty much form the core of a fixed party, with the remaining 3 slots taken up by DPS classes (generally gladiator + 1 engineer + 1 bowmaster)

3. Team Selection

As much as one might dislike getting kicked for gear, checking out gear is also one of the few methods to determine if the party is any good, when in a team of strangers. Look for people geared for survivability and party-oriented technique accessories. Check out the titles as well, especially the DDN 门将泰克 title, it means that they have at least been with parties that cleared all 4 of the stages after the Flying Ship. For beginners, do not go for parties that go to either manticore (狮子) or flower (花/口水花). Scorpion (蝎子) is the easiest to fight for wild parties, even if it takes the longest. The most crucial aspect of team selection is actually the leader / commander, but if you don’t know Chinese, it won’t make much of a difference. ^^ You can generally tell how experienced he/she is by the people/classes that are accepted into the party.

4. General Strategy

Finally, the important bit after getting into a party!

Stage 1: Flying Ship

How corners are generally divided – At the list of party members, the arrangement is
1  5
2  6
3  7
4  8

The 4 corners are divided into:

Top Left 1,2
Bottom Left 3,4
Top Right 5,6
Bottom Right, 7,8

Zoom in the mini map and make sure you know where to go when the lizard spawns. For the battle flow, refer to theFreedom Guide. There are 2 strategies that are used for the death knight:

1. Low DPS

Avoid the first tornado, Time Acceleration, kill the death knight.

2. High DPS

Death knight at 1X HP, before/when lizards spawn – Time Acceleration, one wave the death knight, and skip the tornado.

Force User will have to learn which strategy the leader is choosing. Always type 1 when TA cooldown is over if you can’t communicate in chinese. If you hear 加速好了没？ (use nciku) and Time Acceleration cooldown is not done yet, type 0.

Stage 2: Scorpion

Key points: Flower kicking at end of HP Bar

If you don’t know how to do it, please don’t do it. They will decide on who to do it before they enter. If you are confident of doing it, just do a follow-up at the correct timing.

Skills that remain on the field, including summons are to be avoided. They include the likes of ice sphere, sufi dancer etc. Please watch the hp bar and stop using those skills when the flowers are going to be triggered. Do not take any risk of the flower breaking apart just for a bit more DPS.

Gathering – Move towards the entrance immediately when flowers are triggered, then follow the F3 signal of the person kicking the flower. General direction is clockwise (south to north, west to east). There are parties that do not follow this convention though, so do not blindly follow this! This just happens to be the standard most wild parties use.

(Will update more if required, hope this is useful for people who want to join DDN wild parties)

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Let me know if there are any class specific posts/guides for DDN content, will link as required to help more people locate these resources ^^

Further considerations for DDN

Been getting some questions / feedback / opinion about line-up related / damage issues. I will just gloss over some of the more important points to consider here.

1. Saint vs Inquisitor

Well, I shouldn’t have any need to mention the EX differences. The biggest deal breaker is Holy Shield. Before the Dragon, other than Stage 1 Death Knight’s typhoon, the case for Holy Shield is quite standard. (It can save people from the typhoon, but that skill is easy to dodge anyway) The most important point of consideration to me is at Dragon Stage 1 – Eye of Life. There will be one point in time where there is only one Eye of Life left, and the whole party has to be gathered there. It is POSSIBLE for the dragon to turn extremely fast, (or if the tank enters the Eye of Life radius before the rest of the party does), and the Dragon swipes people while they are running towards the Eye of Life. Most DPS will die in 1-2 hits (especially if un-buffed while taking down Eye of Life). Holy Shield is extremely useful here from my experience. That is not to say an inquisitor should never be taken, just that Holy Shield can make a huge difference to the stability of the run.

2. Elemental Resistance

The related multipliers are *(1+elemental attack %)*(1-elemental resistance %) in the formula for total damage output. So yes, regardless of FD and critical and what not, 50% elemental resistance cuts your potential damage output by half if it is not reduced. Your FD and critical values have nothing to do with it. In a A*B*C = D relationship, sneaking a *0.5 to any of A, B or C will yield D*0.5 as well. More than damage though, we should be concerned with the ice stacking issue due to elemental resistance. (Elemental DPS is just too sad in there, true story)

3. Damage Calculation

I have been “shown” some damage calculations based on very erroneous assumptions, mainly due to a misunderstanding in the debuff and FD multipliers. Take note that the most “absolute” increase to damage is in the skill itself, be it from EX or technique accessories. It is a gain that can NEVER be diluted. To give a demonstration of what I mean –

skill * FD * debuff

(skill% + tail damage) * (1+FD%+plate%+buff%) * (1+debuff%)

In the case of an EX (let’s say Eagle Dive EX for example, it has an easy comparison vs Binding Shot EX’s debuff)

(skill% + tail damage)*(1.3 from EX) * (1+FD%+plate%+buff%) * (1+debuff%) is ONLY equal to an Eagle Dive with Binding Shot EX’s debuff under one condition – the only debuff is Binding Shot EX, giving a 1.3 multiplier to the whole damage equation. Let’s take for example that Hemo was given, the debuff % before Binding Shot EX is 50%. Let total skill damage be A, let FD multiplier be 1 (0% FD, no damage plate, no FD buff)

Eagle Dive EX
A*1.3*1*1.5 = 1.95A

Eagle Dive with Binding Shot EX debuff
A*1*(1.5+0.3) = 1.8A

Assuming that the debuff cap is hit before Binding Shot EX (Hemo + Bulls Eye + Armor Break), it would become

Eagle Dive EX
A*1.3*1*2 = 2.6A

Eagle Dive with Binding Shot EX debuff
A*1*2 =2A (i.e. 0 impact from Binding Shot EX debuff)

What does this mean? The moment you hit the debuff cap, the potential gain from any further debuff is gone. For the FD multiplier, please refer to this post, Part 3, FD Calculation on how plates affect the FD multiplier.

So please, the understanding of the mechanics for the calculation of damage is important, it is a HUGE error to assume that plates, debuffs, – elemental resistance should be tagged onto the skill as an absolute multiplier. TheyARE NOT. Only the EX and technique accessories are ABSOLUTE, UNCHANGING modifiers to skill damage, the rest are separate multipliers on their own and should be treated as such when doing full damage comparisons. (Most of the time, these comparisons are only fully accurate when considering solo numbers, but we are talking about a raid here ^^ This applies to other multipliers including +%pdmg/mdmg as well. As long as you have above 0% FD, any plate gain starts to get diluted)

4. Hitting the debuff cap

As long as you take either gladiator or moonlord, Hemo’s 45-50% is a huge contribution to the debuff cap. In most teams, the debuff cap is hit with

Hemo (45-50%)
Bulls Eye (25-30%)
The remaining for physical is filled by paladin’s Armor Break and magical by force user’s Mirror.

In a full physical team without a Bowmaster, add in Tempest’s Binding Shot EX for the debuff cap. In a magic based team (if for whatever reason someone might want to make one), it is close to inconceivable to leave out Artillery.

The most permanent debuff is Bulls Eye, and is the most worthy of a technique accessory. In cases where all other debuffs are not in effect (cool down, or waiting for Time Acceleration burst), it is a flat 4% increase to the team’s DPS output. (1.3/1.25=1.04) In the occasion where it contributes to hitting the debuff cap, it will still be worth a 2.56% increase. It’s permanent nature makes it the best choice bar none for a debuff technique accessory. as compared to Hemo. (it is not bad to pick up Hemo+1, but if taking a Bowmaster along, the Hemo+1 and Bulls Eye+1 combination will be wasting potential increased damage from debuffs, especially if the SM can do more damage with FD accessories) For Artillery, do refer to my Artillery guide for accessory comparisons.

5. Guardian vs Crusader

I have done DDN with Crusaders. Honestly, when everyone is skilled enough to do the nest without making critical errors, Crusader is okay to take, there is no difference to a team whose members decide to dodge everything. Done it with my friends plenty of times. The main reason for Guardian is stability issues, especially for Flower. Especially in the exploration phase, getting hit by the Flower usually = sent flying to platform = instant death. Guardian Force preventing the knockback allows people to get used to the rhythm of the boss and learn to dodge, instead of seeing a party wipe within seconds (and not learning much).

6. Elestra vs Seleana

Please, I will leave this to common sense.

7. Smasher vs Majesty

Most sorcs will not contribute a huge % of the team’s DPS output, the choice between force users is quite open. The main reason to take Smasher is the unrelenting pursuit of the highest DPS potential possible, which Majesty sadly has no chance against. The overall impact on the party should be small, but there will still be a difference.

8. Tempest vs Windwalker

Refer to Point 3. I would suggest taking a look at my guide, Trivia, Part 2. Tempests hold the slight advantage as the default pick (absolute advantage for physical parties without Bulls Eye), but in a team with a Bowmaster, the difference will be negligible as an acrobat, with Windwalker holding higher potential damage output and utility purposes. As long as the debuff cap can be reached without Binding Shot EX, the choice between the acrobats will not matter much.

So please, I don’t hope to get referred to erroneous calculations any more ^^.

The choice of party members for a fixed party is entirely up to the people playing, there is no reason to pursue any form of so called “optimal setup” unless people are generally dissatisfied with the performance of the party. For wild parties, and in a guide, choices have to be made to increase the odds of success. In actual fact, these choices largely have no meaning, given that most wild parties won’t get to clear DDN (for a few months anyway). Just have fun AND figure out how to make progress.