16 replies to this topic

[ChaosEsper]

Hello,

Im thinking of starting a Maestro (archer >> bard >> High Arch >> Minstrel >> Maestro)
and was wondering if anyone could give me some tips for leveling one as i have not made an archer class since before trans classes, or point to towards a general guide.

Mostly looking for info on Stats >> Skills >> Equips (is it worth going job 50 First Class??)

Thanks for your Input!

[Theoretical]

It is definitely worth going job 50 non trans and trans. Arrow Shower is a lot more powerful that it used to be. On the flip side, Arrow Vulcan isn't what it used to be, same power but dreadfully slow and full of delay >>. The ability to Mob kill is needed for leveling in the Renewal atmosphere. For equips, Id use Ulles Cap and Odins Blessing for sure.If you can try to get an odins with +dex. Well chewed pencil is a great headgear for more +dex. On the flip side, I like to be a support Maestro with maximum survivability, for that a Goibnes Set is the BEST! Goibnes set includes :
Goibnes Helm
Goibnes armor
Goibnes Spaulders - give the long range reduction by 10%
Goibnes Greaves
They give some great reductions from elements, ranged damage, lots of +vit and hp/sp modifiers.
Set Bonus : Vit +5, Max Hp +15%, Max Sp +5%, Def +5, Mdef+15, +10% Resistance to Earth/Wind/Fire/WAter.

Also, for stats With Severe Rainstorm as a Maestro having max Dex really isnt needed. Maxing dex is almost a waste of points unless your really into Max Damage. Also, not maxing dex gives you a chance to pump some more INT to gain some SP...maestro skills are MAJORLY SP INTENSIVE. Let me go ahead and explain my lvl 101/7 Maestro build which Im very happy with for solo, and team leveling.
Ive got A good amount of AGI/VIT/INT then ive got a greater amount of dex.
THESE ARE TOTAL NOT BASE STATS
80agi
88vit
57int
110dex

With these stats, I do great damage with Severe lvl 5 using the properly carded weapon. Great weapons to have are the bows that give a +25% damage boost with the proper arrow. ex Earth Bow.
I dont suggest learning Reverb, Dominion, Metalic Sound, or Great Echo, high cost low return skills. Not high damage, they depend on MATK which Maestros cannot currently get much of. I hear most of the support skills fail. I havent had a chance to test them myself. Hope you find my build useful.

[ChaosEsper]

Thanks for the input,

i've started it already and went bard at job 42 O_O (got bored) will go 50 in trans... im at about 74/39 now and trying to find places to level and what not... not to sure how i'm going to go about this. also my plan is to be a support character i have a main for dmg based character so i decided to do something different.

Edited by ChaosEsper, 31 October 2010 - 09:11 PM.

[ChaosEsper]

Just wondering is leveling a minstral much better than a Bard?

im currently 88/50 bard and still using a bow and just DSing and auto shotting everything i see (respecced to a decent dex / agi build for auto attack and flee...)

i do plan on going support come maestro so ill probably be more like 100 dex / high int/vit/agi for SP and surv..

[Theoretical]

Well. Sometimes its nice to have Arrow vulcan to do enough damage to 1 shot something. But as a maestro, I no longer have arrow vulcan. DS leveling is faster in most all cases.

[ChaosEsper]

i still have yet to use a sing bard skill, they just dont seems useful in the current system where im forced to solo level. Guess ill be Dsing for ... along time..

[StStephen]

Once you hit the 90's as either a bard or minstral you might be able to get into magma parties or some other similar action. With how slow some of the cast times are now people can use a stringer more than ever! If you were in a good party it would probably be faster than soloing and certainly less supply intensive. I haven't levelled any chars under 99 since renewal hit so I would defer to other people about where to go for that.

Once you're a maestro its cake. You can solo magma or any other mobby map you'd like, and party really well in juperos (or solo there if you have the gear and don't mind burning a lot of supplies). For maestro I have 99 INT, 99 DEX and 6x VIT. I like the build a lot. Just be sure not to skimp on the INT unless you want to burn a ton of sp supplies. Severe rainstorm takes 120 sp a pop! It isn't hard to get a party on a maestro either, especially if you have gloomy shyness. The only problem is that you have so much cool stuff you can do that its hard to decide what to do.

Don't worry that you haven't used your magic strings yet. You will later I promise. I just don't think there are a lot of parties with share under the 90's going on.

[ChaosEsper]

thanks for the input. ive been holding off leveling my 88 bard atm, but i think im going to push for minstral soon (if i can manage to level) i forget what i was leveling on atm roweens?

and i planned on an int/dex/vit build for minstral/maestro i only went agi as a bard since i was soloing and couldn't really do much without it (getting hit and potting like mad )

[StStephen]

The agi is a good idea as bard, it also helps increase how fast you can double strafe.

Roweens look pretty good. You can switch to hillwinds around 90 or so, I've heard a lot of guildies talk about levelling there. Earth arrows are fairly easy to get so with double strafe you shouldn't have a problem there.

I know getting up to maestro is going to be a bit of a grind but it is a really fun job and you'll find you're quite popular with a lot of other characters too because of how much better you can make them one way or the other. Plus you finally get a kickass AOE skill. I've got quite a few 3rd job chars, but so far this is my favorite to play, especially in a party.

Edited by StStephen, 08 November 2010 - 12:33 PM.

[ChaosEsper]

Well thats good to hear, i have been leveling my sinx lately (base 96..) and have been getting bored of the ctrl-click,,, repeat x 3942394923. i've been hearing alot of complaints about the sin class atm lately and thats the reason i decided to build a eventual maestro. I guess i need to invest in some gear for him as well. currently have some basic +stat equips.. mocking muff... +6 gakkung O_o.. and nimble clips. but im sure i can work up some money. suppose i should look into getting a guild for my characters for some connections to friendly people.

[StStephen]

Having a guild is very helpful for most people. It can take awhile to find one that fits your personality and goals in the game. In general its very helpful if you have an internet headset so you can voice chat since many guilds mainly do things on vent. Which server are you on?

When you switch over to vit instead of agi an immune garment would be very useful, although I know they aren't cheap. This is also just a good investment in general since you can use it on many different characters. You can pick up some carded footgear fairly cheap if you get some of the older footgear, like shoes or boots and don't worry about it being over +4. Fledged shoes or boots would nice, and shouldn't completely break the bank. The elemental bows that give a buff to damage when using elemental arrows are a relatively affordable way to have a decent set of bows (gust bow, frozen bow and so on). Your accessories are good for now. For body armor something with a pupa card in it would be good for now. Later on (like when you hit 9x minstral and beyond) you'll probably want pecopeco card armor. I would prioritize upgrading your bows first though, this is going to have the greatest effect on your levelling speed.

[ChaosEsper]

im on ymir, and have a headset as i used to / casually play wow.

I have +4 fledged boots on my sin so i can switch those over, i still have a pirate dagger/well chewed pencil in my bank so thats what ive been using.

bows i noticed i have a burning bow (dmg seems low but good against fire weak monsters)
going to have to get a 2nd nimble clip as my 2nd access is actually muscle O_o
currently im using a +5 odin's blessing with a roda frog card
kitsune mask. so im not to bad off i dont think.

thanks for all your suggestions and comments aswell.

[StStephen]

Yeah you'll mainly be using the elemental bows on maps that have a lot of monsters weak to a specific element. On mixed maps something that is generally high in attack is better.

The armor sounds fine for now. A wormtail card accessory might be a nice option for now (gives +2 dex). Or if you're having SP problems an earring (+2 INT) might be nice. Sounds like you're pretty well set. Its really just going to be a matter of grinding it out unless you can find a party that needs you as a stringer.

[ChaosEsper]

yea, hunting roweens is pretty slow as my damage is not high at all. went up to the hillwind map but they hit me quite often, and was discourage by seeing a giant party leveling with a bard/dance combo exp boosting them, which i can never get...

[StStephen]

I've only ever been in maybe half a dozen mental sensing parties in my RO career. They aren't easy to arrange. My experience has been that we could easily find the bards for it, but getting a dancer is the problem since most guilds have a lot more guys than gals. The other thing about mental sensing is having to stay in one place, which doesn't work well on most maps.

I've been meaning to come onto this topic and post about my experience using an orc archer bow with severe rainstorm. It was insanely cool. I was easily able to kill everything in juperos in one severe rainstorm and keep up with the insane spawn down there right now. You should start hoarding anything that makes steel arrows now as well as either try hunting or start saving for an orc archer bow. Its easy to get 3k a hit in severe rainstorm with no elemental matchup at all and no god items or anything extreme. Einbroch 2 is a good place to get stuff to make steel arrows, plus just plain awesome loot in general.

[Raghu]

A doubt about ARROW VULCAN and SR.

Are They affected my the archer card SET? (Merman, Anolian, Alligator, Cruiser, Dragon Tail)
(they say increase dmg of long range physical atk by 20%)

also do archer skeleton card increase AV and SR dmg?

[iCandy]

A doubt about ARROW VULCAN and SR.

Are They affected my the archer card SET? (Merman, Anolian, Alligator, Cruiser, Dragon Tail)
(they say increase dmg of long range physical atk by 20%)

also do archer skeleton card increase AV and SR dmg?

yes they do