I am behaving as I did so long ago when massive changes take place in the game. Back then, I would start a new trial seven day account to learn how to build a character properly (this was before the ability to reset skills and stats so if you messed up, you were done for) but now I have a few storage newbies I can assign skills and test the changes before I tackle how to rebuild my higher level characters.
I know many players are at or near the maximum level, so the challenges to rebuild these characters are different. This post is more about the way my muse is evolving from the beginning which might be helpful to players who don't have maximum level characters and a smaller skill point pool to work with.
She's set for solo play, so I am testing the survivability of a muse against monsters. Currently, she's level 35 from a day and half of poking around the lower maps up to Breezy Hills.
Stats
I opted to put lots of points into Intelligence (135), and go with Dexterity (45) as my secondary stat. Raw AP is more important when soloing, as I will be whacking things with my wand more than any other attack. I have a decent Charm stat (80) from Style Sunglasses (Charm 50 bold stat and the bold Accuracy 25 helps too) and two 'Polished' Jewelry which each add 5 more points.
Skills
For the moment, as I'm not relying on skills for most of the combat too much, I haven't taken any MP conserving or recovering skills yet. In the Common tab I have Spirit of the Magi (2) just to help when I do use a skill attack. In the Offensive tab, so far I have Mana Bolt (2) and Ice Bolt (2). This combination seems to be pretty effective -- the Mana Bolt not only does damage, but reduces the target's Resistance to magic (as in my other skill attack) so that the Ice Bolt not only slows the movement speed of the monster down, but does a decent amount of damage as well. I'm not sure, but I think it might also help my Phantom Swords do more damage with each hit.
In the Supportive tab, I've taken Summon Training (2) and Summon Phantom Sword (2), Sleep (2) and Wallop Charm/Chant, Precision Charm/Chant, Blessed Body Charm/Chant, Blessed Mind Charm/Chant and Resilience Charm/Chant all at level (1). It's interesting to note that when I buff myself with the Chant (party) versions, my Phantom Swords are automatically buffed, too.
For those who are quick at math, you'll realize I have 5 skill points still unused. Once I play around in the new area (El Verloon Desert) and have an idea what is going to be most helpful, I'll figure out where to put them. Maybe I'll take the second level of some buffs, or beef my Phantom Swords up a few levels, or perhaps I'll opt for a new damage skill.
You may notice that I've taken no healing at this point. Cure (1) would give me only 67 HP with a two second cooldown and an MP cost of 16. At this point, I'm better off snacking on even a lowly Apple. When I get to an area where the monster damage outpaces the healing from food to a scary degree, I'll revisit taking Healing skills.
I have had to change play tactics a bit with the new skills and this build, but, I'm able to solo a Pomic King. I know that a Soldier or Hawker can probably do that quicker, or at an earlier level, but the fact that I can encourages me about the new skill system. Tactics, how I play the game, matters now. Here's what I do.
Summon two Phantom Swords, apply buffs. Target the Pomic King and let off as many Mana Bolts and Ice Bolts as I can before he comes near and starts to pound on me. When I've taken enough damage, hit him with Sleep (2). He immediately loses interest in me, and I stop all attacks, but -- and this is critical -- my Phantom Swords keep attacking. If I use my two skills (Mana and Ice Bolt) when the Pomic King is finished with his nap, about half the time he targets me again, but the other half of the time he targets one of the swords. I can stay at a safe distance and pound him with my skills while he ignores me.
Eventually, he's going to kill the sword. I summon a new one, and usually don't bother with buffing it, as it takes too long and that's direct damage I'm not dealing. He's going to kill the second sword. When that happens, he targets me. I can run away, if needed, because he's slowed from my Ice Bolt, or, if the gauge has recharged, I can hit him with Sleep again and start a new cycle. Once in a while, I can't target him (the game tells me 'Invalid target') but I've already reported it. I'm sure it's some sort of glitch, because my other skill attacks are behaving normally. It might take several of these battle segments to bring the King down, but they work. For healing, I'm just using food when needed. Sleep, in this case, is like running away until the monster no longer follows and returning to start attacking again.
I hope this helps if anyone who has a lower level Muse has been discouraged trying to find a solo combat build that works. I'm finding it fascinating to discover new tactics with how skills work together and look forward to seeing if this works up to level 50 and beyond.
