Dragon Nest CN Smasher Build Guide
Dragon Nest CN Smasher Build Guide by chaose5
Here is my latest build at lvl60, mainly for PVE only, with casual PVP.
As compared to my previous build, i have lesser Sp in dark skills and more Sp in non-elemental skills. The main reason for this is because ALL Desert Dragon Nest bosses have 40-50% elemental resist. The DPS of dark skills are significantly lower in DDN. Therefore, SP investment in non-elemental skills generally gives higher return of DPS.
Visit my Youtube channel for some video of smasher PVE gameplay.
http://www.youtube.com/user/chaose5/videos?view=0
Take note that in my latest build which is purely for DDN, i have unlearned Shockwave and learn Gravity Ascension instead. The build below is for more general purpose (nest & ladder pvp to reach 1800 point).
In case you are wonder why i didn’t max certain skills but leave it at lvl6 or 11 , i shall show a few examples graphs for DPS (damage/casting time) inc per level vs skill level for a few skills (ignore the dmg value since i haven’t changed the stats)
Definition of variable:
Skill Coefficient = the coefficient which relates the maximum/realistic total damage induced by a skill on a single target with respect to its written/board value.
DPS = damage/ casting time
DPS Increase / Level = ( DPS at lvl N+1 ) – (DPS at lvl N)
DPS / SP = DPS / total SP cost
Take note that, i have only considered DPS in the form of damage/casting time. One could consider another aspect of DPS, which is DPS/cooldown too for the whole analysis.
I favors damage/casting in this analysis since T4 update reduces the CD for most skills and FU no longer has problem chaining skills non-stop.
Glacial spike:
(casting time 0.9s, skill coefficient = 2)
Force Explosion:
(casting time 1.23s, skill coefficient = 1)
Gravity Ball (EX):
(casting time = 1.2sec, skill coeffcient = 1 (before lvl6) or 1.4 (after lvl6, cuz of EX)
Notice that sharp increase of damage (peaks) at lv6, 11 and 16.
Most skill damage growth for T4 (with a few exceptions) follows this pattern. I will attach the excel file for all skill growth curve. You may download and optimize the build according to your liking based on these curves.
I have assumed that m.att= 20000, and dark/ice attack % = 8% in the analysis.
http://www.mediafire.com/view/?wqsi4bkfw527bsh
In the excel sheet, i have also listed the DPS/SP calculation to show the SP economy of skills.
The logic of using DPS/SP is that, we are only given a limited amount of SP. DPS/SP tells us, which skills would give us highest DPS return on our SP investment.
Take note that, i have removed laser cutter from the overall chart on purpose, since it will make other skills looks like midgets in the graph. Dark laser cutter has extremely high value of DPS/SP.
Feel free to test this analysis out in other classes and it might help you to maximize the dps of your build.
Below are some justification and rationale for certain choices made in my build:
===============
Sorceress
Glacial Spike lv16: Optimum DPS at lvl16. 21% chance per hit to freeze target. Since it will hits 3 times for a normal-sized target, you will have ~51% of chance to freeze it. 50% dmg increase for freeze status (4 sec duration) is very nice indeed especially if you do not have elestra in a 4-man party sometimes. However, in DDN, due to the 50% ice resist of bosses, the ice layer doesn’t last very long.
Poison Cloud lv6: Poison curve peaks at lv6 (due to the additional cloud), lv9 and lv11. The dmg is bad in DDN due to the elemental resist, but i choose to get it to lv6 so that i can use it in PVP. Take note that the damage is cut to 50% after hitting the enemy 10 times.
Force Explosion Lv6: Nice range, and fast casting time. I typically use it after releasing linear ray Ex without charging. The CD for these 2 skills are exactly the same. It is a perfect dmg supplement for linear ray ex.
Shockwave lv 0/1: Use to push back enemies. Left at lvl1 because i am not using it as a dps skill. Good for pushing dogs in prof k (hell). However, this is useless in DDN. If your build is focused on DDN and you don’t do PVP at all, i strongly recommend unlearning this skill and put the 3 SP into Gravity Ascension. Reason is given below.
Max MP Passive Lv1: Despite the high Mp consumption of Arcane, if you manage to get your max MP to the range of 200k or so, you will almost never run out of MP, provided that you max your MP regen passive. No need to get beyond lvl1 unless your max MP is low.
MP Regen Passive Lv4: This is a must max for T4, since MP consumption is a serious issue in ladder and in tough nest.
Other passive and action skills are pretty standard. I didn’t max the power blink due to SP limitation.
===============
Force User
Gravity Ball lv1: I remove it from my main skill slots and only use it for superarmor breaking purpose.
Triple Orb lv11: Peaks at lvl6 and 11. I left it at lvl11 becase of the slow DPS growth at higher level. It is still a very powerful skill if the target is big enough to be hit by all 3 balls. So i deserve a +20% dmg inc plate. Despite the elemental resist in DDN, triple orb is a power DPS skill especially if the boss is stationary, such as dragon, golem and flower.
Blackhole lv1: Just passing-by to learn Summon Comet. Unfortunately, it only grows big at lv6 and i don’t have enough sp for it. It is still as weak as ever.
Summon Comet lv6: Actually, i was hesitating to unlearn this skill totally snice it will save me alot of SP by not learning black hole as well. However, the high SA break of the comet is still very useful in DDN dragon battle to free your party members from sand bind. I have removed the +20% dmg plate due to the diminishing return in DDN.
Gravity Ascension Lv 1/0: The skill is learnt for the sole purpose to disabling manticore in Desert Dragon final boss phase 15x ~10x. The berserk manticore has very high attack and need to be disable for approximately 30sec. Gravity ascension contribute to about 6-7sec of absolute disabling effect , on top of timestop. The remaining duration can be covered with slow, wax, freeze or bind relic easily or a second timestop (if you are buffed with spirit boost)
Teleport lv4: Instead of using a crest to reduce its cd (as i did in my majesty previously), i decide to put it at lvl4 since i have plenty of SP left. The effect is equivalent to a CD reduction crest.
Time Stop lv2: 8sec stop at lv2 is good enough for general PVE, since it doesn’t work on big nest bosses anyway. The only scenario where timestop is useful: Dragon Battle HP x15 to HPx10, where 2 mini bosses are summoned to the field. Time stop is good to disable the berserk manticore (which has very high dmg due to berserk status) while the other party members can focus on reducing the Hp of the scorpion. Normally, at this phase, i will switch in a Timestop + 1 skill ring to increase the timestop duration to 10sec. I still require a secondary disabler such as elestra or loli to help me disable the manticore though. If you max time stop and + 1 skill ring, you can disable the manti alone, without any help.
Counter Time Stop lv1: This skill is very good in PVP, but not very useful in PVE (though i do use it sometimes to recover quickly from paralyzed status when my power blink in CD).
Time Acceleration lv3: Max as usual. T4 and lv60 cap extend the max duration to 15sec, which is sweet. This skills is one of the main reason force user is highly popular in 8 man nest, especially hardcore mode (time attack).
Force Wave lv1: In PVE, it’s used as a dmg supplement for triple orb after blinking away. In PVP, force wave + normal attack = knockdown.
Slow Area lv1: The slow effect is constant at 60%. The newly added dmg is negligible, but better than nothing.
Linear Ray (EX) lv16: Lv6 is the prerequisite for learning the EX. The EX version allows you to cancel the skill anytime with blink while you are charging it. Also, the casting time is significantly reduced (from 1.9sec to 1.4sec) even if you want to cast it right away without charging. Charging it to max increase the dmg by 50% and the range by 2m, though i seldom do so. FYI, 1st, 2nd and 3rd changing of linear ray ex requires ~1.4, ~2.3sec and ~2.9 sec respectively.
I maxed this skill here and giv it a +20% dmg plate as well. The short CD makes it the most spammable non-elemental dps skill. Normally instead of charging it up, i will just release it right away and supplement the dmg with a quick force explosion instead.
Force Shield lv1: The duration is 20sec with 21sec cd, but it is still a passive. The shield will only have the chance to trigger (not 100% still) when your superarmor is broken. Also, take note that the hit which triggers the shield, does not get reduced by the dmg reduction effect of the shield. This diminishes the useful of the shield in critical scenario. However, when it triggers, it does helps you to regain your position instead of falling down (still too random to rely on it)
Nine-tailed Laser (EX) lv11: It peaks at lv6 and lv11. The DPS is actually very good, if you can get full hits. Once you have learnt the EX version, it is much easier to get full or near-full damage out of this skill since the explosion AOE is significantly improved. You can use this skill, as if it is Force Explosion, making the all the laser beam land and explode around a distant spot. +20% dmg plate to it.
Force Mirror (EX) lv4 (+1 skill acc): Increase magical damage by 30% for 21sec. Why 21sec when the duration on the skill desc only says 12sec. This is because in T4, the debuff which is applied on the target last 11sec. The last wave of debuff from the mirror is at 10th sec + 11sec extra debuff duration. It’s a good skill which increases the overall dps of you and your party. I equip a tech necklace + 1 to this skill to increase the damage by 5% more. There are a total of 6 waves: the 1st and last wave deal 2 hits x 130% dmg while the 4 waves in between deal 130% dmg each. The DPS of mirror EX is better than 9 tail laser EX. The EX version also reduces the casting time slightly by 0.1sec (1.43 sec -> 1.33 sec).
Spectrum Shower lv6: It peaks at lvl6. Despite the long casting time, the dps is actually not bad. However, i find that in nest, you seldom have the luxury to cast this in boss battle since you will be busy evading. In DDN, there are limited DPS windows where you can fit this skill in. However, this might be changed when the Spectrum Shower EX is released in the coming lv70 cap. The reduced cast time might boost the overall versatility of the skill.
Eraser lv2: The damage is improved significantly in T4. The 75% damage reduction protection shield while channeling is another good reason to learn it. This skill can be cancelled anytime by blinking away. However, the superarmor break and AOE are weak as compared to Meteor Shower.
===============
Smasher
Arcane lv2: After T4, this buff is a permanent buff, with 180sec duration. It gives 16%
mag attack increase, with the cost of mp consumption become 32% higher. It will often make you run out of MP easily if your Max MP and MP regen is not high enough. Keep a spare Vigor staff to help your MP regen in case your MP is dry in the middle of dungeon, although this rarely happens if your max hp and regen are high enough.
Laser Cutter Lv4: The tradermark skill of smasher. The undisputed best DPS skill for a force user.
Linear Ray EX: See above
9 Tail Laser EX: See above
Mirror EX: See Above
===============
Skill Slot Arrangement
Page 1
Page 2
Empty slots: Potion, buff potion etc.
===============
Heraldry/Crest Choice
Laser Cutter +20%
9 Tail Laser Damage + 20%
Triple Orb Damage +20%
Linear Ray + 20%
These 4 skills are my most commonly used DPS skills.
===============
Gear Choice
Helm: 60A Honorable Tribe (Int)
Armor: 60A Honorable Tribe (Life)
Glove: 60A Honorable Tribe (Life)
Pants: 60A Honorable Tribe (Life)
Boots: 50L Tyrant Dragon
Spare Gear
Armor: 60S Hero (Vit)
Pants: 60S Hero (Vit)
Staff: 60A Honorable Tribe (Tent)
Doll: 50L Tyrant Dragon
I focus on survibility over DPS as usual. Hence life armor is the my choice instead of Intel suffix armor. While some may argue that intel suffix armor give % ele defence when trigger and also being very defensive, i have to disagree on that.
The longest CD of intel suffix armor is ~2minute and since in T4, suffix trigger is no longer affected by time accel, the chances of intel suffix being triggered at the RIGHT moment and save you, is like successfully making +10 without using jelly at first try. Most of the time, you will find that intel suffix armor trigger at the wrong time and wasted the effect. The advantage of getting intel suffix armor is that you will have a higher Max MP and mag attack.
I pick life over vit suffix for shirt/pant is due to its general usefulness in most nest/dungeon: ability to heal. However, i have prepared 60S shirt/pants especially for dragon battle, and the suffix which i put on them are Vit suffix instead. The reason is because the dragon frequently induces a debuff which prevents you from healing (especially after 9.25x HP). This renders Life suffix useless there. Vit suffix provides you with slightly higher phy def (~600 more) and HP (~20k more) over Life suffix.
Tent suffix staff provides mag def reduction debuff, which is extremely helpful in 8-man nest against bosses with high mag def, particularly, Dragon itself.
I use a doll instead of the usual orb is because…… the game only drop a Doll for me so far. Actually using a doll is not a bad idea in DDN since its right-click attack can be used to push the barrrel in worm stage (orb can’t do that, while book is slower in pushing). It is easier to +12 50L weapon and S or A weapon. The 2 parts of 50L gives about 300+ vit too.
===============
Accessories
Ring
Ring 1: 60S Knight Ring (with max crit)
Ring 2: 60A Crit Ring / 60S Cruel Ring (with crit,int,vit)
Spare Ring: 60A Sage Ring (with Hp pot); 60A Crit Ring (with Hp Pot); Timestop +1 Ring
Crit Ring gives very high damage return per cost. It is cheap and easy to get. However, take note that crit cap is at 89%. If you party a merc and/or an archer, your crit stats might hit the crit cap. in that case, swap one of the crit ring with a 60A magical/60S cruel ring instead.
In case you are wondering, 60S knight ring has many types of opt; the one i am wearing is the one with max crit rate + vit + agi which make it better than 60A crit ring (with minor drop in vitality). The DPS rings are potted with 5.8% m.att.
Why no skill/technique ring?
I don’t think they are worth crafting due to the randomness of crafting outcome. The + 1 skill level doesn’t really add much to the overall dmg output for my build, unless it is moving your skill level to the lv 6,11,16,21 peak.
If you ever want to get a skill ring, go for the one with the highest crit, since it is about the only ring which can beat crit ring in terms of DPS. If you want to increase survibility and has a deeper pocket, you can consider 50L GD Ring too.
For those who have limited budget and want to increase your HP, i do recommend pottiong 3.25% of HP in sage ring or crit ring. I use those ring only for the Desert Dragon final boss. I have also made a Timestop + 1 ring only for Hp x15 ~10 of the dragon to disable the manticore longer.
Necklace
* Skill/Technique Necklace – Force Mirror + 1
* Health Necklace
This is a must get for all force user: +5% magical dmg from getting another level in force mirror. The best defensive stats is the one with highest vit + 4 elemental defence, while the best offensive stats is the one with highest intel. I am wearing the one with Max HP+Int, which i would consider a middle point between the aforementioned 2 extreme stats.
Earring
* 60A Health Earring
* 60S Int Earing
* 60A Agi Earring
For maximum survibility (especially in dragon nest), health earring is the best choice. For normal nesting, use a more offensive earring such as Int earring or agi earring (if your crit is not yet maxed). Again, i don’t think it is necessary to get skill earring since the stats is inferior to normal earring.
For more info on skill DPS ranking and skill coefficient for force user at T4, refer to :
Appendix:
This was my majesty build, if anyone is interested in it.
Majesty Build
Heraldry/Crest Choice
Teleport CD -20%
Gravity Ball Damage + 20%
Triple Orb Damage +20%
Summon Comet + 20%
Recent Comments