Wakfu Fire Iop Guide

Wakfu Fire Iop Guide by kakenshu

Introduction to Iop

Welcome to the World of Twelve, how tough are you? Have you ever headbutted someone in the face so hard their eyeballs hit the back of their inner skull, then rebounded with so much force that their eyeballs punched you in the face? Hopefully not. That sounds ridiculous.

Anyway, all you need to start is two fists, a crazy hairdo, and a big enough ego to feed at least seventy velociraptors; then punch those velociraptors to death and eat them for sustenance. You should also understand this and have at least one song involving fire stuck in your head at all times. I recommend “Ring of Fire” by Johnny Cash. Anything to do with hell or pyromania is also good, as long as you sing it obnoxiously loud for everyone to hear and have second thoughts about that Sacrier they could have invited instead of you.

Okay, so I made my Iop now. Spoon feed me what to do.

Why are you waiting for me? Iops are warriors of action! Get off my lap and behead some innocent creatures! Unlock those spells! Punch those bunnies!

I feel lost.

Alright, alright. I guess since I have to hold your hand I may as well explain the basics. Show you the ropes; or swords, I should say. If you already know how to play Wakfu you can skip this part like a real Iop, or you can sit with the rest of the babies and drink milky from your little bottle with happy stickers on it. Still here? Alright, so you have a few characteristics you need to know for the rest of forever:

/ AP- Action points. You know, in combat, you usually do stuff to attack? Nothing in life is free and neither is murder, but this is your allowance. Every turn your AP is replenished but not all your attacks exclusively require this characteristic. Your natural amount is six meaning you can only use up to 6 AP per turn, but with things like equipment and characteristic points you can get more before the thought clogs up your head.

/ MP- Movement points. The battlefield is like a giant game board with squares everywhere. Want to move to the square adjacent to you? Pay up 1 MP. Want to use a spell that requires MP? Pay up. Same as AP, MP is replenished every turn and you can get more with equipment and buying more with your characteristic points obtained from leveling up, but unlike AP your base amount is three. That means no lollygagging around the map. Not that you should be messing around, you should be face to face with the enemy bashing heads!

/ WP- Wakfu points. Unlike AP and MP, WP does not replenish at the end of your turn; in fact, you can only get more when you start a completely new battle. Savor these points. Some of your most powerful abilities need it like a Sacrier needs to be slapped in the morning before breakfast. You will defaultly start with six and there are currently no means of modifying that base value.

– Range. This is where you cast spells. Different spells have different ranges. Some spells have areas of effect, others not so much, but if you want to hit something be sure that wherever you aim has a red square under your target. If you try to target something which is blocked by a wall or object, the spaces will appear as an eye with a diagonal slash through it instead of a highlighted blue space; these targets are out of your line of sight and may not be targeted.

Initiative- The characteristic which determines the battle order. Actually, the battle order is determined by the averaged total initiative on either side of the battle. Say you go into a battle alone against two enemies. You have 100 initiative, one of the enemies has 150 initiative, and the other enemy has 0 initiative. Does the enemy with 150 initiative, since they have the most, go first? Nope, their initiative gets averaged with the rest of their team and then they compare it to your side. On your side the average initiative is 100, but on their side the average is only 75, which means you go first. Directly after your turn in the cycle is whoever has the most initiative on their side, in this scenario that would be the one with 150 initiative. If you had an ally whose initiative did not cause your side to have a lower average than what the enemy average is then they would go third, then after them it would keep alternating between your side and the enemy until everyone has their first turn so the cycle can continue until everyone on one side is dead and rotting. Remember when you join a team that if you have little to no initiative you will be bringing the rest of your team down in the turn cycle, unless someone has a ridiculous amount of initiative from equipment and spending hundreds of characteristic points on it.

Dodge & Lock- These two are opposite sides of the same coin. While two opposing characters are standing adjacent to each other, usually you next to an enemy, if either tries to move away that means they are trying to dodge. You can only attempt to dodge during your own turn. On the other hand, lock prevents enemies from running away. If you have high dodge and an enemy has low lock you have a higher success rate to move away from them, but if an enemy has low dodge and you have high lock the enemy is less likely to be successful. If something attempts to dodge but fails their turn automatically ends and the battle continues. Since you are primarily a close combat character you will usually prefer having high lock over high dodge since it helps stop enemies from running out of your attack range and throwing projectiles at you, and instead keeps them within range of your attacks while skipping their own turn so they miss that chance to hurt you. Every point of either characteristic improves your success rate by 0.5% chance. From what I have noticed by having the opposite characteristic from what you want, in our case we want high lock but might have some dodge, the unwanted characteristic will reduce the efficiency of the one you want to have a higher success rate. That means if you want to have a higher chance to lock an enemy but your equipment and/or characteristics give dodge, the dodge will fight your own lock and the enemy has a higher chance to dodge because of your dodge being obnoxious. The same applies to wanting a higher dodge rate but having unwanted lock floating around.

I understand the basics. Would you stop making fun of me now?

Whether you graduated from diapers to big boy pants or were born with a sword in hand, welcome to the flesh sizzling spells you will use.

Thunderbolt

• 3
• 1
• inflicts Scalded
  • Scalded state: stackable state, each level inflicts 1 more fire damage, only damages when triggered by Flaming state; stacks up to lv300

• lv0:

• 3 damage
• lv1 Scalded
• lv100:
  • 44 damage
  • lv20 Scalded

This is the first spell you automatically start with. It costs 3 AP, meaning you can use it twice per turn as soon as you start. You see that eyeball icon? That shows the range, or how far away from yourself you can use it. Zero means you aim at yourself, but that usually means giving yourself buffs or damaging in an area of effect and not punching yourself in the face. You might be stupid but no one is that stupid- right? The range for Thunderbolt is one, meaning you use it on something directly next to you. Punch them right in the chest.

Scalded is a state which inflicts even more damage, but it has to be “activated”. How do you do that? Say you Thunderbolt a target twice, using your 6AP for your turn and end it. The enemy has its turn but Scalded did nothing. Why? It was supposed to burn it, right? Yes, and no; to activate Scalding, the enemy who you beat the burns into also has to be next to something under the effects of “Flaming” state. How do you do that? Well, since you would already be next to them, you could do it yourself. Alternatively if you have a friendly Enutrof with their Drheller helping you out or a fire Sacrier they can bring the Flaming, you bring a lot of Scalding, and your enemies burn to ashes. In fact, before the enemy has their turn, you and your fiery friends can continue to throw more wood on the fire for even more damage. Sounds like a jolly good time. Scalding damage occurs at the beginning of the turn of the afflicted for damage before they can even do anything, so be sure to make them regret not bringing an Eniripsa to wave their frilly paint brush on their owies and boo-boos.

Judgement

• 41
• 1
• may inflict Blindness
• damages in an area of effect (three spaces in a line):

• lv0:
  • 4 damage
  • 1% chance to inflict Blindness
• lv100:
  • 70 damage
  • 20% chance to inflict Blindness

This spell not only costs AP, but MP as well! What sort of trickery is this? No tricks, just triumphs; over the smoldering pile which used to be your enemies. It still has only one range, but unlike Thunderbolt will hit more spaces than just the one in front of you. Have you ever fought something that had its buddy hiding behind it? Not anymore. Judgement hits the enemy in front of you, the space behind them and the space behind that! And if you feel particularly bold, the enemies will receive the Blindness state which inflicts -20 range. Sounds amazing, right? Try not to get your hopes up, that range penalty only applies to spells which have modifiable range. What does that mean? Nothing to you, but for some classes everything; like Cra. Are you a Cra? No. So shut up and play with matches.

Super Iop Punch

• 5
• 2-3, linear
• 30% chance to inflict Explosion in an area of effect:
• moves the Iop 2 spaces closer

• lv0:
  • 5 damage
  • 30% chance to inflict lv0 Explosion
• lv100:
  • 75 damage
  • 30% chance to inflict lv100 Explosion

Sometimes enemies are too cowardly to look at you straight in the face. Other times their strategy is to throw things at you and hope you go away out of frustration or to put some bandages on your bruised face. Are you going to give up? Go back to mommy and hear a bedtime story? No, you fling yourself at that enemy and punch them so hard they explode! Unlike the two previous spells, Super Iop Punch can be used at a range; not a modifiable range, but now you can target things further away from yourself. Technically with Judgement the area of effect can attack from a distance, but with Punch you get in their personal space instead of standing a few steps away, too shy to ask that pretty Cra for a kiss. Wait a minute, shy? What kind of Iop are you? Get in there and show her how serious you are. Show her the burning passion of your affection. Punch has linear range which means you can only cast it in a line from your current position, no weird diagonal shenanigans, and it has a chance to inflict Explosion which is just extra damage; but unlike Scalding, Explosion occurs immediately. Right now. Right after you leap through the air and smack them, boom. If no boom, then no boom will happen. No boom for you.

Celestial Sword

• 3
• 0
• area of effect:
• the Iop receives “Flaming” state

• lv0:
  • 3 damage
  • lv1 Flaming
• lv100:
  • 36 damage
  • lv1 Flaming

If you can find a group of enemies brave enough to fight you face to face, all four of them surrounding you, be cautious of your own condition; death is not your goal. What do you do? Jump in the air and summon the flaming swords of Iop to slash your enemies! What was that? Flaming? Yeah, Celestial Sword inflicts Flaming on yourself. No, Flaming does not hurt yourself. It has absolutely no effects by itself. What was that again? Thunderbolt? Now you get it. Celestial brings the thunder, Thunderbolt brings the lightning, and the whole world burns; or at least the enemy in front of you. Unlike the four previous spells, this one is cast directly on yourself. Does that mean you hurt yourself? No, dummy, it damages in an area of effect around you; all four spaces adjacent to yourself. Now you can fulfill your dream of punching people in all directions without becoming an abomination of science.

Wrath

• 61
• 0
• area of effect:
• 66% chance to inflict Explosion

• lv0:
  • 8 damage
  • 66% chance to inflict lv0 Explosion
• lv100:
  • 90 damage
  • 66% chance to inflict lv100 Explosion

Finally, something deserving of your degree. See that circular area of effect? Unlike Celestial, Wrath damages all spaces which are within two spaces of yourself; not a perfect circle, but it comes close enough. Are you questioning it? Of course not, you can blast everything around you! Now, unlike the other four fire spells, Wrath uses WP which you know is precious. If you run out of WP you will not be able to use this spell. That means if you only have one target near you, do something less wasteful; unless that particular enemy is the last one anyway, in which case do whatever it takes to smash your boot on their head. Wrath has a higher chance to inflict Explosion than Super Iop Punch but in a much larger area. Do you like fiery explosions? So do we, so we put some fiery explosions into your fiery explosions so you can commit homicide while burning down the homes of those you kill. Kill two birds with one fist. Not that you would be able to reach those birds, so settle for killing twelve Boowolves with one Wrath.

Alright, now I know how to give people hot feet. Anything else I need to know?

You still have to know your specialties and air spells.

Jabs

• 2
• 1

• lv0:
  • 2 damage
• lv100:
  • 32 damage

Since you are burning all the AP and MP you have to deal as much damage as possible, there will be times where you only have a few points leftover since you failed to plan ahead. Instead of wasting time worrying about it, throw a few quick punches with Jabs for only 2AP.

Flurry

• 1
• 1

• the Iop receives lv1 Aerial (+10% air damage for your next air attack)
  • on critical hit, lv2 Aerial (+15% air damage for your next air attack)

• lv0:
  • 1 damage
  • lv1 Aerial to the caster
• lv100:
  • 14 damage
  • lv1 Aerial to the caster

Similar to Jabs, Flurry is for those extra little scraps of points you have leftover; but unlike Jabs, gives you a state which increases the damage for the next air attack you use. If you only have 1AP left is it worth using? Sure. If you still have >2AP should you use it multiple times? No, with 3AP you could Thunderbolt or Celestial for more damage.

Intimidation

• 3
• 1
• pushes the target 2 spaces

• lv0:
  • 3 damage
• lv100:
  • 37 damage

Before any of the big boys get puffed up, you will not be using this spell as a source of damage. You use it to push stuff around. Is a Blibli punting your Enutrof buddy around? Punt them back! Not just for revenge, but it gives the Enutrof the chance to get out of close range and in a better position to attack while you keep the dumb piggy busy. Intimidation can also be used to push your melee oriented allies into the fray without spending MP, your range oriented allies away from melee enemies to also skip spending MP, and move enemies away from your allies making them spend more MP to chase them. You can also get between the enemy and your ranged allies, then beat the enemy into submission with your allies throw stuff.

Gutting Gust

• 1
• 1
• up to 2 uses per target per turn

• lv0:
  • 1 damage
• lv100:
  • 20 damage

While standing up close and personal with a big burly boss, you are probably not using those few extra MP you have laying around. Are you letting those go to waste? Of course not, so throw in a couple Gusts to squeeze as much damage out of your turn as you can. Unlike your mighty fire arsenal, Gust only costs MP and absolutely no AP which makes it a convenient use for points you were going to throw away anyway. With its limit of two uses per target per turn you can use this spell to shell out MP and proc Authority before using bigger attacks which will benefit from the damage bonus. If you have more than one enemy adjacent to you and MP to spare you can use this spell on more than one target per turn, but if you plan on using Judgement be sure to ration your MP before wasting it all on this weaker spell and completely disabling yourself from using a much more powerful spell.

Uppercut

• 1
• 1
• one use per target per turn

• lv0:
  • 1 damage
• lv100:
  • 31 damage

You know how Wrath uses WP? In a little while I will explain spell rotations, but basically if you choose not to use Wrath you can instead use Uppercut. If you want to Wrath then avoiding Uppercut is fine. You could also use both Wrath and Uppercut but will burn all your WP very quickly.

Enough with tiny air spells, I just want to hit stuff!

I can see the passion burning in you, but we still have specialties to cover. Unlike elemental spells, specialties only level up when you manually rank them. Every time you level you get five “specialty points” which can be used to rank active and passive specialties. Actives are actively used in battle like your elemental spells while passives are passive abilities. Self explanatory. Not that you needed that explanation. Though both types of specialties are defaultly level zero, they have different leveling patterns.

Active specialties only require five specialty points to level up until they get to lv3, when they start requiring ten specialty points. So with an active specialty at lv0, to get it to lv1 you need to level up once and spend the specialty points you gained from leveling on that specialty. Then you do the same for lv2 and lv3 for the same specialty, so far having leveled three times to get enough points. Now that the active specialty is lv3 it wants ten points to become lv4, so you get that fourth and fifth level up to rank it to lv4. Both lv5 and lv6 also require ten points, so you get the sixth to ninth levels and the specialty is now lv6. But wait, to go from lv6 to lv7 requires fifteen points! And so do lv8 and lv9! In total you would have leveled eighteen times to get one active specialty from lv0 to lv9. You better be using that specialty pretty often to have worked so hard to rank it.

Passive specialties also only need five specialty points per rank, but unlike actives will not become more costly in higher ranks and reach their maximum at lv20. That means you need twenty levels worth of points to max out one passive. This explanation sure was short.

Active Specialties

Jump

• lv0, unranked:
  • 4  1
  • 1-2
  • +2 Power
• lv9, max rank:
  • 2  1
  • 1-2
  • +20 Power

Yes, this costs WP to use, but it teleports you to the target space. That means you can move around without spending MP for better positioning, but whether the WP cost works with your other spells is up to your rotation. But wait, what does  mean? All the other ranges are , so what does the red eye mean? No line of sight restriction. You can target through walls, enemies, allies; with Jump it means you can teleport through a wall or directly to the back of a target. What does Power do? Why, my little Iop, I am glad you asked; but you have to wait a while first. All will be explained soon enough. For now all you need to know about Jump is the amazing positioning ability it offers.

Defensive Stance

• lv0:
  • 3
  • 0
  • +5 Block
  • ends your turn
• lv9:
  • 2
  • 0
  • +50 Block
  • ends your turn

This specialty can be great or unnecessary depending on what you want out of a specialty. Basically, Defensive Stance can be used in place of air spells to give yourself the chance to reduce damage taken instead of dealing a minuscule bit of damage. It also ends your turn upon use so make sure to use it when you were about to end it yourself anyway. When is it useful? When you need a little defense. Block is a characteristic where every one point gives you +1% chance to reduce damage taken by 30%, turning that 1,000 damage world of hurt into a 700 damage country of cuts and bruises. When you max this sucker out you have +50 Block which means a 50% chance to reduce a huge chunk of damage taken. All you have to do is put an arm up and brace for impact!

Flatten

• at lv0:
  • 4  2
  • 1
  • headbutts the target (and gets close to them)
  • 1% chance Stun for the target
  • 4% chance Stun for the Iop
• at lv9:
  • 4  1
  • 1-5 , linear
  • headbutts the target
  • 10% chance Stun for the target
  • 7% chance Stun for the Iop

This is one specialty you are not likely to ever use or need. Stun is a state which makes the afflicted skip their turn, but if you become Stunned yourself your turn will automatically end; but if the enemy is Stunned it means you and your allies get a free turn to beat them down. Sounds great, right? Of course it does. But why do you care when Stun is what earth does? Are you an earth Iop?

Bravery Standard

• at lv0:
  • 4
  • 0
  • lv1 Bravery Standard Glyph (+5% damage for allies in the glyph)
  • lv1 Preparation for the Iop on their next turn
  • ends your turn
  • stabilizes the Iop
• at lv9:
  • 3
  • 0
  • lv10 Bravery Standard Glyph (+50% damage for allies in the glyph)
  • lv50 Preparation for the Iop on their next turn
  • ends your turn
  • stabilizes the Iop

I like this specialty. First of all, it creates a glyph with the same area of effect as Wrath which gives all your allies nearby a damage bonus. Free damage buff for them, you only had to give up one Thunderbolt or Celestial to give it to them. It also stabilizes you, preventing anything from moving you from where you stand. No pushing, pulling, teleporting; you are going to block enemy line of sight for allies standing behind you while giving them a damage bonus and your enemy will not like it. But wait, you get more one gift: Preparation. Preparation is a damage bonus which applies to the next attack you use which inflicts damage. Every level of Preparation is +1% damage for your next attack so lv50 is +50% damage. When you first pulled out the flag you gave your allies +50% damage for their whole turn, but when your next turn rolls around you get +50% damage for a big Wrath all over the faces of your enemies. If you like to hang back with your ranged buddies against ranged enemies who would constantly flee out of your range, at least you can help your team by blocking enemy line of sight and giving your allies damage buffs. Be a team player. Pull a flag out of your back pocket.

Increase

• at lv0:
  • 1
  • 0
  • +2% damage
  • triggers Power, for every 5 levels:
    • +1% chance to inflict Stun
• at lv9:
  • 1
  • 0
  • +25% damage
  • triggers Power, for every 2 levels:
    • +1% chance to inflict Stun

Since you are fire this specialty does little for you, especially if you use Wrath or Uppercut. If you want to get into using Stun you would rank this but otherwise you can leave it off your plans of attack. This specialty “triggers” Power, which will be explained very soon, which means it removes the bonus in exchange for a bonus to your chance to inflict Stun for the current turn. The bonus used to stick around until you used it but since the February rebalance it only lasts for the turn you get it.

One last thing before getting into passives. When it comes to Bravery Standard and Defensive stance people usually only use one or neither, very rarely both. Both are useful in different situations but are often used for the same thing: ending your turn with something that helps you until your next turn rolls around.

Passive Specialties

Virility

• +1% max health per level
  • +20% max health at max level

Every Iop loves this specialty. Can you say free health? I just did, so you should be able to.

Compulsion

• +2% damage per level
  • +40% damage at max level

You know how Virility is health? Compulsion is damage. You like damage. I like damage. We all like damage, so how about we get some ice cream?

Authority

• 2% chance to proc per level
  • turns the target to face you
  • +lv1 Power per level
  • up to 3 procs per turn
• 0.5% chance to be applauded per level

This passive is more complicated than the previous two in that its usefulness is exponential. At lv20 this passive has a 40% chance to get +20 Power, up to three procs per turn, and a 10% chance to be applauded. What does Power do? Power is a stackable state meaning you can keep getting more and more levels of it which maxes out at lv100, each level being +1% damage. As long as you get at least one level of this state per turn the bonus will stay on you, but if you go a whole turn without gaining any levels of the state all levels you have will be removed and you have to start over. That would suck. When this passive does proc at max rank you get +20% damage worth of Power and it turns the target to face you, meaning trying to get backstab damage is redundant. By the same token your allies can easily get backstab attacks since the target is facing you instead of your allies. This passive can only proc up to three times per turn making the maximum Power per turn sixty. Regardless of what element you rank this passive is amazingly useful for damage, especially since fire and earth can use air spells to get a few extra hits in for a better chance to proc, but remember to get Power every turn or the whole thing falls off.

Show Off

• lv1 Preparation when an ally crits per level
  • lv20 Preparation when an ally crits at max level
• lv2 Preparation when an ally kills something per level
  • lv40 Preparation when an ally kills something at max level

Talk about a fall from grace. Before the February revamp this passive used to give Power when an ally crits or kills, but since Preparation does not stack this passive has become near useless before comparing it to the other passives. Not only is this passive exclusively usable while you have allies, but those allies have to be doing all the fighting for you to get anything! Until this passive gets buffed, which hopefully will happen sooner than later, there are many far better things to rank over this. If Preparation stacked up to 100 like Power, even if it still only buffs one attack, that would be usable.

Locking Pro

• +2 lock per level
  • +40 lock at max level
• 5% chance to inflict “Iop-Bound” to the space adjacent to the Iop which they are also facing towards
  • 100% chance to inflict Iop-Bound at max level
  • Iop-Bound: stabilizes the target, becomes immune to Iop-Bound next turn

This passive is situationally useful. It gives some lock which is always welcome for melee classes, but the description for Iop-Bound is misleading. It says the afflicted becomes stabilized but what it actually does is prevent the afflicted from teleporting. They can still dodge roll, they can still push you away so the target space for this passive is no longer on them, they can move away from you; the only thing Iop-Bound does is prevent the space where you are facing, the one space adjacent to you, any enemy on that space from teleporting. Stabilization is complete immobility: no moving, no jumping, no dodge rolling, absolutely no means of moving from the space where they are stabilized whatsoever. It could be a bug but I remember a couple months ago seeing the revamp document and it said the new Locking Pro would only prevent teleportation so this might be intentional. If you plan to fight other players often this passive is amazing, but otherwise this passive has very limited usefulness.

I understand how specialties work. I also understand my fire and air spells. My Iop is around level 5-10 and I have all the fire, air, and support spells unlocked. What happens now?

Now…we practice arson.

But in all seriousness, I have two fire Iop builds to offer: area of effect and single target. The area of effect build primarily uses Judgement and Wrath while the single target build primarily uses Thunderbolt. The latter is significantly more efficient with a friendly Enutrof or fire Sacrier so be sure to kidnap someone you know and lock them in your basement with nothing but a computer and a couple feeding dishes. And a bucket. Maybe a bed if you feel merciful. One last thing before we get into the builds, for equipment I will be using this so you can see the equipment and its bonuses rather than me throwing names all over the room and you scrambling to piece them together, only to be too confused and frustrated to want to continue.

For your characteristic points you have a few options. For levels 29 and under you can spend them however you like, but as soon as you hit 30 you will receive a free respec which will allow you to refund all characteristic points and spell experience so you can reallocate it however you want. Remember, you only get five characteristic points per level. These are the rates in which you can spend characteristic points and what the characteristic offers:

intelligence

• costs 3 characteristic points each
• 1 intelligence = +0.5% fire damage and +0.5% fire resist
• ideal for straightforward damage

critical hit

• costs 15 characteristic points each
• 1 critical hit = +1% chance to score a critical hit
  • a critical hit causes your spell damage to multiply by 1.5, meaning you hit harder; but remember critical hits will not always occur
• ideal if you already have a high critical hit rate or are using spells which inflict larger amounts of a status upon critically hitting (which Thunderbolt does), also ideal if you use more attacks per turn as each attack has its own chance to critically hit and hitting more often means a higher chance to critically hit

lock

• costs 2 characteristic points each
• 1 lock = +0.5% chance to lock an enemy
  • locking occurs when an enemy is adjacent to you and attempts to move away by simply walking to a different space; upon successful lock the enemy will be able to move away from you, but if they are locked then their turn will automatically end
• ideal against enemies who like to be distant to attack since it forces them to risk losing their turn to escape from you

• costs 100 characteristic points for the first, 150 for the second (you may not buy more than two MP with characteristic points)
• 1 MP = you may use one more MP per turn whether to move or attack
• ideal if you like to use Judgement, Gust, or have to run around a lot

• costs 150 characteristic points for the first, 250 for the second (same rule as MP, you may not buy more than two AP with characteristic points)
• 1AP = you may use one more AP per turn to use spells
• ideal if you want to do more actions per turn (which should be everyone)

Here are some plans for your characteristic points:

• generic; Judgement+Wrath, Thunderbolt+Thunderbolt+Judgement
  • 1 AP (lv31)
  • 1 MP (lv51)
  • intelligence or critical hit (lv52 and beyond)
• lock-king (bad pun)
  • 1AP (lv31)
  • at least 200 lock (at least lv51)
  • intelligence (starting at whatever level you stopped ranking lock and beyond)
• extra mobility
  • 1 AP
  • 2 MP
  • intelligence or critical hit
• triple Thunderbolt, double Thunderbolt + Celestial
  • 1MP or 2MP (lv21 or lv51)
  • intelligence or critical hit
    • with intelligence you can spend all characteristic points gained for the rest of your Iop life on it
    • with critical hits you can only spend up to 66 levels worth of points to get the maximum amount of critical hits from characteristics

Ideally you should buy 1AP as soon as possible, but what you can do is put everything into intelligence from start to lv29 then when you get the free respec at lv30 get to lv31, do the respec, then buy 1AP immediately. You might not use the 7AP you would have on every turn in early levels but later on you would save yourself the pain of getting enough levels to buy it after having spent all prior points on other characteristics.

During each stage you can technically do the challenges in whichever nation you join as long as your character level is at least within the range shown when you open your map in that area. If you are lv20 and you try to do the challenges in lv50-60 you will not receive the quest nor receive credit for completing it, not that you can see what it tells you to do; if there are challenge enemies with the green circle beneath them you can still fight them for combat experience. Challenges have time cycles which can be predicted and scheduled but there are three basic types of challenge: collect, kill, and hordes. Collect is basically selecting one of many challenge objects and selecting an action on them which gives you credit for yelling at it or whatever animation it does. No fighting is involved with collect challenges, the only difficulty is finding them and competing with everyone else in the area who may be doing the same since the challenge objects are not instantized. If you collect one when someone else was running up to it they do not have their own version of it on their screen. Kill challenges are very straightforward, especially for us Iops: kill challenge enemies. They spawn in groups of one, two, and four. Get a buddy or two to take on the groups of four to get the challenge done faster while netting some combat experience.

Be wary of quest experience. Your spells only level from combat. The occasional respec will refund the lost spell experience, but unless you plan to toil and labor for the items you need to get a respec without waiting for a freebie from a balance update or buying respec scrolls from the premium store complete quests sparingly. Before you get the free lv30 respec you can do quests as much as you want, but be warned for beyond that point.

Level 1-10

Fresh out of Incarnam, this little Iop is ready to bash skulls and forget names. At this very early stage you can literally wear anything since you are going to get real equipment in the next phase, but if you are on a crusade to thoroughly experience the life of Iop plug this code into the previous link:

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A little wisdom, some resists, some damage; nothing particularly satisfying, but better than naked and nothing. If you have a few dollars to spare and would rather use a weapon that levels with you as opposed to constantly getting new weapons, buy some Ogrines and grab a Makabra weapon. Makabra items, while you have them equipped, gain experience based on your battle experience. It does not steal experience from you. Its experience gain is merely based on yours. When any Makabra weapon gets to lv100, which will happen eventually, among its bonuses is 1AP which will help you later.

For your spells you can save both characteristic and specialty points if you like, but if you want to spend those points immediately I would recommend putting your characteristic points into intelligence.

You can stick around Astrub for a while or choose a nation to become a citizen of. Be warned that once you choose a nation you may not change your citizenship unless all those suggestions on being able to do so get through some day. The area of effect build has the advantage if you decide to go to a nation already since you would be able to the multiple low level enemies you would be fighting.

Area of effect build

For your specialties go for Compulsion. It gives you the damage you want without worrying about maintaining Power, though you will get that passive later down the road. As for your spell rotation go with either of these:

Gust + Gust + Wrath

Gust + Gust + Jabs + Judgement

The two Gusts can be used anywhere in the order for now. Use one, the other, or both as you please.

Single target build

For your specialties grab Authority. With your spell rotation you get at least four attacks per turn so you may as well start getting used to Power so by the time you get level 20 you have a fierce passive backing yourself up. As for your spell rotations:

Gust + Gust + Celestial + Thunderbolt

Gust + Gust + Thunderbolt + Thunderbolt

Unlike the area of effect build, using Gust first does matter now that you have Authority. You may start your turn with normal damage rates, but if a Gust or two gives you Power than your fire attacks will hit harder.

Level 11-20

After an hour or two you are now used to using your elemental spells. Good job. At the end of this phase you should have one passive maxed out. As for equipment you have a choice depending on whether you like using 6AP. If you want to stick to using 6AP per turn, use this equipment setup:

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But if you want to try 7AP:

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This level range will either be a continuation of 1-10 but if you use the setup which gives you 1AP you can now use this spell rotation:

Gust + Gust + Thunderbolt + Judgement

May as well rank up all your fire spells since every five spell levels of an element gives you +2% damage and +1% resists, or +0.4% damage and +0.2% resist every one spell level for that element. You could always do it later when there is more experience gushing around but for now your main spells should be your focus. What good does a few percentages of damage bonus do if your base damage is still stupidly low?

If you have been saving all of your characteristic points, at lv21 you can buy 1 MP to have a base 4 MP.

At this point you should be out of Astrub and in a nation. Each nation has a beginner area with Piwis and Bow Meows in decently sized groups for the area of effect builds but you can also go to the Gobball and Tofu areas for single target builds. If you team up with one or two others around your level range you can try the Piwi dungeon.

Level 21-30

Depending on your leveling rate and whether you have people powerleveling, you are somewhere between a couple hours to a couple days since you started. Still wet behind the ears but dry on the cheeks. There are multiple equipment setups to choose from but if you want to keep 7AP stick to Gobball set but you can replace the other items which are not part of the set.

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The second is more difficult to get but offers a helpful status.

At this point you can either continue to do dungeons around your level with other players, or if you would rather roam solo go to the level 20-30 area of whichever nation you choose. Doing dungeons with friends gets you more experience faster but you will need to collect keys from lower level enemies but the bosses and shiny equipment are more than enough of incentives.

Area of effect build

Now that you have Compulsion maxed out, start ranking Jump. You could rank this later but if you rank it now you can use it in the imminent future.

Single target build

With Authority completed you have a couple options. If you want to get even more damage start ranking Compulsion. You could rank Jump instead but since you are mainly using single target spells you would be mainly using it to get some quick Power or chase an enemy, but you could use Super Iop Punch instead to hurt while moving.

If you have been saving all of your characteristic points, at lv31 you can buy 1 AP to have a base 7 AP and if you use the Gobball set you will have 8 AP which means you can do Judgement twice in one turn. Gobball has less stats other than the 1 AP compared to the other sets right now, but in the near future the Judgement users will have their spotlight. During this level stage you can also get 1AP with this ring which gives 1AP -1MP -100 health; a steep cost but it may be worth it as a replacement for your Gobball set to gain that eighth AP so you can finally step up your equipment and get more damage bonuses.

Level 31-40

From here on out I am not going to give builder setups, just the main equipment set; for the rest of your equipment slots you can figure those out on your own. Be a big kid and use the toilet on your own. Did you wash your hands? Then go back and do it.

For the critical builds you get an amazing treat, the Cloudy Tofu set which gives plenty of critical hits, critical hit damage, and 1MP. For those who want both fire and air damage you have the Royal Tofu set which gives fire and air damage and 1MP. If you feel as tired of all these dodge sets as I do you could get the Chafer set, but mind the full set effect; heals become hurts. If you can afford the health loss, want 1AP, and have both weapon slots free you could use this sword if you can afford it. I would recommend against using it since you can get 1AP more easily soon enough, but the choice is yours regardless.

If you bought 1MP at lv21 and use one of the sets which gives 1MP you will now have 5MP in total.

Where you level should be clear enough. If you have not found anyone to team up with you may as well collect keys, but if you are still stuck on soloing you could do what I did until level 50: fight the normal enemies walking around in the plains of Amakna. Puddlies, those wierd scarecrows, Cracklers; it was pretty slow but entertaining. You could also go to the wilderness where the weird fluffy Gobballs run around, some with red eyes, but you should still take a friend or two in there since some of the groups are huge.

Area of effect build

With the respec at lv31 you can unrank Compulsion and use those points instead for Authority since you would be able to instantly max it out, but expect to rank it up later anyway. Before the end of this phase Jump should be maxed, at which point get started with Authority. Your spell rotation is about to change from spamming Wrath or only being able to do one Judgement per turn if it you have not already made the transition.

Single target build

Wrap up Compulsion at lv41.

Level 41-50

You look a little better built. Sturdier, burlier; but you still have a ways to go.

You can finally get 8 without huge sacrifices or wearing those whitey tighties you outgrew a while ago with the Golden Scara set. For your epaulettes and boots use the two from either the Brakmar Riktus set or Drheller set. The Brakmar Riktus boots give 1MP so if you did not already have at least 4MP you should by now. There are other equipment setups you could use in this level range but if you want the most AP and MP you may as well get used to it.

At this point Defensive Stance becomes usable since its costs is only 2AP at max rank, not that you will be in this level range forever or even long enough to max out the specialty unless you ranked it in an earlier stage.

For leveling areas you are likely still doing the same dungeons: Gobball, Tofu, the ~lv30 nation exclusive dungeon; maybe even Celestial Gobball if you have a tough group.

Area of effect build

Congratulations, you can now do two Judgements in a single turn or Jump+Wrath. This is going to be your bread, butter, and cigarette lighter for quite a while. If you max out Defensive Stance you could also do Wrath then Defensive Stance in the same turn to blast everything around you then take reduced damage. For your specialties you should be about half done ranking Authority, but with the respec a couple stages ago you could have taken the points out of Compulsion and put them into Authority instead in which case rank Virility now. Alternatively you can start ranking Bravery Standard but since its usefulness during this stage is limited you can save that for later.

Single target build

You should have Authority and Compulsion done at the start of this stage. Your next specialty is Virility so you live longer in the fray and you have high enough base health to get a worthwhile health bonus from it. If you use Golden Scara set and bought 1AP with characteristics earlier you can now do two 3AP attacks (Thunderbolt and Celestial) then Defensive Stance if you want to rank it instead of Virility, which is not a guaranteed means of survival but possible.

Level 51-60

I bet your old pajamas shredded to pieces when you squeezed into them last night with all those muscles. That means you are almost war worthy. Why do you have pajamas? What are you, a fancy noble? Do you wear a monocle and top hat during the day while walking your purebred pet whose name means something in another language that you otherwise have no competence with?

For equipment Golden Scara is still the golden child among equipment if you want AP and MP. Save that sweat and backbreaking effort for the next stage where prices skyrocket and rewards scale accordingly. If you have had too much trouble getting the Golden Scara set but still want 1AP you could try to get this amulet which is similar to this ring seen earlier but you keep a huge chunk of health even if you still lose 1MP.

If you go back to lower level dungeons (Gobball, Tofu) you will notice how much easier it is now compared to a couple stages ago. If your character grew up alongside other characters the dungeon that once took all six of you now only takes two or three. You could continue to level here or do higher level dungeons with the same full group like the Celestial Gobball and Tofu dungeons. For certain nations there are also the Crackler, Shark, Moskito, Mollusky, Treechnid; there are plenty of dungeons around the World of Twelve to explore and conquer, not to mention all the equipment sets just waiting to make you more powerful.

Area of effect build

Now that you have 8AP and Jump is maxed out, as well as a couple passives, by the end of this stage you should have Virility/Authority done and are wrapping up Authority/Compulsion. Ideally you should have Jump done by now but for the two passives you can max out by the end of this stage choose two of these three: Compulsion, Authority, and Virility. Remember that between Compulsion and Authority you have a consistent damage bonus and something which potentially offers more than double the damage but you have to earn it during battle. Virility is a great source of health so if you choose to cut that one for now it will be your next goal.

Single target build

You should have Authority, Virility, and either Compulsion or Defensive Stance done by the end of this stage. Hit hard in a concentrated area while being able to take a few hits back. Hopefully you bought 1AP with characteristics already since the next phase will be revolutionary.

Level 61-70

By the ashes under my fingernails, this is where things get interesting.

Remember that old Golden Scara set? Forget that stupid pile of bug exoskeleton, now you can have 9AP and 5MP without making huge sacrifices. For the double Judgement Iops you can still use 8AP by not using a 1AP amulet while your set gives 1AP, but if you have 9AP you have more room to do different combinations and have some fluff in case something is taking your AP during battle.

For sets which give 1AP but have let you use any amulet we have Imperator, Stone Cold, Duke Whellington, and Infernal sets. Of those only Imperator gives initiative and it gives plenty of it but the other four give significantly more health. To get 9AP after wearing one of those sets you can use a Dragolyre or Conchus as a temporary 1AP amulet. If you use Infernal you can also use its counterpart, Divine Tofu, which fills most of the remaining equipment slots and gives 1AP; this combination gives significant generic damage, resists, spell levels, wisdom, critical hits, health, and block but absolutely no initiative. Of these sets I highly recommend Imperator for its lock, initiative, and less items in the set so you can pick whatever you want to fill the rest of the open slots. You can even use parts from the other sets. Imperator may also be easier to obtain than the others whether you run the Moskito dungeon, which only exists on Bonta, and lacks the massive health the other sets offer. If you have Virility by now you should be fine though.

If you are fine with 8AP for now you can instead use Ebony Scara set or any of the five previously mentioned sets without a 1AP amulet. It gives fire damage, air damage, lock, dodge, block, and some generic resists; but absolutely no health or initiative. The set is cheap for good reason.

Since you can have 9AP without cutting your own fingers off, here are a few combos you can do:

Gust + Gust + Celestial/Thunderbolt + Wrath

Super Iop Punch + Gust + Gust + Judgement

Jump + Gust + Gust + Thunderbolt/Celestial + Judgement

Wild Gobballs are a respectable leveling option by yourself or with one or two friends around your level. You can also continue doing dungeons, especially the ones where those 1AP equipment sets drop from, then when you have your set sell the extra equipment for profit. If you found an Enutrof friend by now getting that loot will be significantly easier. Have you made any friends yet? Try showering more than once a month. The Sadida kingdom has challenges and higher level enemies you could fight, may as well head over and punch some Boowolves.

Area of effect build

If you ranked Bravery Standard and use a 9AP setup you can now Wrath+Bravery. Remember to use those Gusts, but not at the beginning of your turn when you used the flag in your previous turn. You want to use that Preparation for your big attack. If you prefer Judgement over Wrath you can still do double Judgements with 9AP, but staying with 8AP for now is fine. At this point for your specialties you should have Jump and Authority maxed out as well as one of the following: Compulsion, Virility, or Bravery Standard. Your next specialty will be one of those three anyway. With 9AP you can also do Celestial + Wrath to hit enemies surrounding you and Super Iop Punch + Judgement to move and attack with a little range.

Single target build

Authority and Virility have been done for a while now. If your third specialty was Compulsion your next goal will be Jump or Defensive Stance. If you are still at only 6AP go in the corner. If you are at 9AP then congratulations, you can now triple Thunderbolt or double Thunderbolt + Celestial! If you made friends with an Enutrof with a high ranked Drheller their pet can trigger Scalding on your target, meaning you can focus on Thunderbolt to stack up all kinds of damage. Not just any kind, the kind that kills things, which is always the best kind. A friendly fire Sacrier is also fine, hopefully they have Attraction ranked so they can pull a distant enemy close for both of you to beat down. Can you imagine a gang of five Iops using this build with a fire Sacrier? Or just six fire Iops where all but one does triple Thunderbolt, the last doing double Thunderbolt + Celestial? It would be a little complicated to work that in against a single target, but if the one triggering the whole meltdown is adjacent to two different enemies while two or three Iops are punching each enemy, that would stack up a lot of damage.

Level 71-80

Feeling proud about yourself? Flexing in front of the jealous Srams and Rogues? If you have not found friends to accompany into battle yet, do that now. Why are you still standing here making that face at me? Get out there already! You should have done that ages ago.

For the 9AP builds you have a couple options but you can technically continue to use sets from the previous stage. If you were running the Crackler dungeon in the previous stage you may have obtained bits and pieces of the Magmacrak set. If you want extra levels for all spells, including specialties, get the Hoodfella set. If you have particularly powerful allies or deep pockets get the Dark Hurl set which gives high fire damage, health, critical damage, and initiative. For the 8AP builds you also have a couple options, though one will still require you to find a 1AP amulet. Lunar set gives air resists, air spell levels, initiative and lock; perfect for double Judgement builds whether you use Gusts or not. If you skipped buying 1MP with characteristics you can try the Monk set which gives 1MP for its full set effect as well as the boots giving 1MP; if you bought the 1MP you will have 6MP from using this set. Do you need 6MP or already have 5MP but still want to use the 8AP setup? Then go ahead. What am I, your nanny? If you went to the Sadida kingdom as mentioned in the previous stage you should have collected at least a few keys to run the Lunar dungeon.

Area of effect build

If it was not your third specialty, start ranking Bravery standard. If your third specialty was Bravery Standard, start ranking Virility. Compulsion can be saved for the next stage or delayed further. For your spells remember that Celestial Sword is an area of effect attack which can be used with Wrath in a 9AP build while surrounded by enemies, but whether using it over a ranked Bravery Standard is questionable.

Single target build

Triple Thunderbolt with an ally who brings Flaming will deal great damage. If for whatever reason you have 8AP still and are using Jump + double Thunderbolt or double Thunderbolt + Defensive Stance, try 9AP for a little while to see how it compares. There may be the occasional situation where punching twice then using either specialty contributes more to the battle, but generally you want to hit harder while you have the turn and an enemy nearby.

Level 81+, 100

You still here? Why? You traveled across the land, searching far and wide, for enemies to fight and Authority to build the Power inside of yourself. You conquered dungeons as a child and grew up with a sword in one hand. With every level you have climbed higher, each rung of the ladder bearing a more powerful equipment set and higher spell levels. Take that thumb out of your mouth.

Now that you are lv100 you can use a weapon which gives 1AP, combined with an equipment set which gives 1AP, an amulet for 1AP, and finally having bought 1AP with characteristics you now have 10AP. Here are some combos you can do with that:

• Jump + Gust + Gust + Judgement + Judgement
• Jump + Gust + Gust + Wrath + Defensive Stance
• Jump + Super Iop Punch + Gust + Gust + Bravery Standard
• Gust + Gust + Judgement + Wrath
• Gust + Gust + Judgement + Judgement + Defensive Stance
• Gust + Gust + Thunderbolt/Celestial + Judgement + Bravery Standard
• Gust + Gust + Thunderbolt/Celestial + Thunderbolt + Judgement
• Super Iop Punch + Gust + Gust + Thunderbolt/Celestial + Defensive Stance

Or if you prefer 9AP:

• Gust + Gust + Thunderbolt/Celestial + Thunderbolt + Thunderbolt
• Gust + Gust + Thunderbolt/Celestial + Wrath
• Super Iop Punch + Gust + Gust + Judgement
• Gust + Gust + Wrath + Bravery Standard