17 replies to this topic

[EvilLoynis]

I wanted to make a thread like this just so that anyone just starting up might easily see what character they should make if they are just coming to the game. Anyone who has been playing for a while just think back to what your first character was and perhaps give some fond memories or regrets about your choice.

Also anyone just beginning should book mark the iROWiki site as it is SOooooo helpful for those of you getting started. Has info on basic builds, skills and job change quests.

I am just going to list some quick pro's & Con's for each starting class.


Mage - Basic Int/Dex build. Normal evolution would be Wizard for this build. I would recomend this for a begginer or 1st character.

- Starts easy enough with stats. 9 Int, 9 Dex, 9 Luk, 1 Str/Agi/Vit
- Stat progression is straight forward with Int at least going to around 70 before you need to look at Dex.
- No real gear needed for early - mid levels (other than rod/wand/arc wand for Int and Matk bonus)
- Straight forward skills.

- Low variety for leveling spots
- Low mid challenges early on really. (either to hard or to easy only)
- Skill variety (to many, which should I get?, how high?)


Archer - Dex/Agi is base of almost all builds. Starters usually go for Hunter instead of Dancer/Bard.

- Starting Stats, 9 Dex,Agi,Int 1 Str,Vit,Luk
- Lowest number of Skills makes skill build easy (only 50)
- Easily takes advantage of element weaknesses without the need for Endower.

- Low HP makes survivability early on tough.
- Balancing weather to go for dex or agi sometimes tough to balance. (I usually just max Dex first and use Double Strafe to kill)


Thief - Stat Builds vary depending if you go for Assassin or Rogue, but skills are the same. Most stat builds start out similar though so no need to decide right away. Also recomended as a starting character.

- Starting Stats, 9 Str,Agi,Dex 1 Vit,Int,Luk (weather going Assassin or Rogue)
- Second lowest number of skills only 51 easy build
- Extra possibility for Loot with the Steal Skill to make $$$
- Fast attack speeds and attack skills make killing easier


- Low Variety of builds
- Money needed for Equipment near the mid point (lvl 50 or so) (weapons)
- No element attacks. (other than poison with Envenom)


Acolyte - Aco -> Priest Build (monks only for experienced players)

- Starting stats like Mage, 9 Int/Dex/Luk 1 Agi,Vit,Str
- VERY useful Heal and Teleport/Warp Skills exclusive to this class*
- VERY useful Buffs to help both you and allies. Bless +1-10 str/dex/int, Increase Agility +1-10. Save lots of money on healing items.
- Holy property magic attacks. 1 of the only classes that get these.*
- No need for a lot of $$$ for early equips as healing will lower the need.
- Always welcome in parties.


- Hard to solo lvl after the first bit.
- No real offensive magic early on. (Healing can be used to damage Undead guys only)

* = yes some of these skills can be used by Crusader but takes a long time for them to get access to them.



NOT RECOMMENDED FOR STARTER CHARACTERS BELOW


Swordman - Sounds easy but is pretty hard to use effectively. To many different builds. 2 main theories on builds are based on either Agility (avoiding hits) or Vit (high Def and HP) NOT FOR BEGGINERS

- Highest HP of all characters.
- Any build usually starts with at least 9 Str/Dex
- Any build is High Damage output
- Recovers HP pretty fast with the HP recovery skill.


- VERY VERY VERY Equipment dependent all through the game.
- Needs a LOT OF $$$$$
- Needs to rest frequently after fights to recover HP and SP.
- To level "effectively" really needs a party. Almost mandatory past lvl 35ish




Merchant - This is only to help you Sell&Buy loots&items for your other characters. Blacksmith & Alchemist are the upgraded version but NOT FOR BEGGINERS. Not even going to bother listing pro's and con's here.

***Edit*** For beginners it is good to make a Merchant just to either buy your potions/wings equips cheaper, sell your loots for a bit more $$$ and to vend drops. However DO NOT lvl your merchant beyond lvl 39. This is so that you can easily skill reset in Prontera via the hypnotist just North of the center of town. This way you can easily do either of the 3 things. I have 2 merchants on alt accts to do this for me. 1 is lvl 37 other is like 34 and that's all i really need.

Edited by EvilLoynis, 10 September 2010 - 01:40 AM.

[evileye]

Hey, thanks for the post. I learnt several things...

Gonna go with my plan of making a mage. I think I'll post in the Mage section asking help on stat build and skill builds. But, will make sure no one else has asked the same question before me...

Nice post. Useful for newbies.

[HansLowell]

remind that no matter what class you take you must work on gameplay and learn the effects of skills to get those class full potential. The more thing you learn the more your going to be faster.

My First Million.
At beginning no matter what is the class, learning how to do fast zeny at beginning is a way to start the game, Getting loots at OD2 is a pretty fast way to make starting zeny.

Starting Gears.
Finding whats kind of gear is really cheap and that can help you a lot on the beginning, I love Stapo Card, Smokie Card, Undershirt, Pantie, whatever.

Learning how to use mercenary.
every class in the game can do the run/hit tactics on monster Mage and Archer dont really need merc in order to do this though. Upon starting merc def value and hp is really high compared to any class, there is many advantage using them even for mobbing.

Mage.
Vertical Firewall mobbing is incredible XP and zeny. But it take sometime to learn for beginners, and might need PecoPeco Hairband or Agi up.
I recomend doing this at Veins south on sidewinders, Wood goblin in moscovia, Poison Spores, Argiope and Mantis, or if you have a guild you can even try Prontera Guild dungeon.

Acolyte.
making one as an alt always make you spend less time waiting for hp. Their buff can help a lot, and the most biggest thing is offensive blessings that can reduce undead and demon int/dex by 50%, so you can flee those monster A LOT more easily.

Merchant.
You actually need one, just to vend stuff.

[D111]

I wanted to make a thread like this just so that anyone just starting up might easily see what character they should make if they are just coming to the game. Anyone who has been playing for a while just think back to what your first character was and perhaps give some fond memories or regrets about your choice.

Also anyone just beginning should book mark the iROWiki site as it is SOooooo helpful for those of you getting started. Has info on basic builds, skills and job change quests.

I am just going to list some quick pro's & Con's for each starting class.


Mage - Basic Int/Dex build. Normal evolution would be Wizard for this build.

- Starts easy enough with stats. 9 Int, 9 Dex, 9 Luk, 1 Str/Agi/Vit
- Stat progression is straight forward with Int at least going to around 70 before you need to look at Dex.
- No real gear needed for early - mid levels (other than rod/wand/arc wand for Int and Matk bonus)
- Straight forward skills.

- Low variety for leveling spots
- Low mid challenges early on really. (either to hard or to easy only)
- Skill variety (to many, which should I get?, how high?)


Archer - Dex/Agi is base of almost all builds. Starters usually go for Hunter instead of Dancer/Bard.

- Starting Stats, 9 Dex,Agi,Int 1 Str,Vit,Luk
- Lowest number of Skills makes skill build easy (only 50)
- Easily takes advantage of element weaknesses without the need for Endower.

- Low HP makes survivability early on tough.
- Balancing weather to go for dex or agi sometimes tough to balance. (I usually just max Dex first)


Thief - Stat Builds vary depending if you go for Assassin or Rogue, but skills are the same. Most stat builds start out similar though so no need to decide right away.

- Starting Stats, 9 Str,Agi,Dex 1 Vit,Int,Luk (weather going Assassin or Rogue)
- Second lowest number of skills only 51 easy build
- Extra possibility for Loot with the Steal Skill to make $$$
- Fast attack speeds and attack skills make killing easier


- Low Variety of builds
- Money needed for Equipment near the mid point (lvl 50 or so) (weapons)
- No element attacks. (other than poison with Envenom)


Acolyte - Aco -> Priest Build (monks only for experienced players)

- Starting stats like Mage, 9 Int/Dex/Luk 1 Agi,Vit,Str
- VERY useful Heal and Teleport/Warp Skills exclusive to this class*
- VERY useful Buffs to help both you and allies. Bless +1-10 str/dex/int, Increase Agility +1-10. Save lots of money on healing items.
- Holy property magic attacks. 1 of the only classes that get these.*
- No need for a lot of $$$ for early equips as healing will lower the need.
- Always welcome in parties.


- Hard to solo lvl after the first bit.
- No real offensive magic early on. (Healing can be used to damage Undead guys only)

* = yes some of these skills can be used by Crusader but takes a long time for them to get access to them.



NOT RECOMMENDED FOR STARTER CHARACTERS BELOW


Swordman - Sounds easy but is pretty hard to use effectively. To many different builds. 2 main theories on builds are based on either Agility (avoiding hits) or Vit (high Def and HP) NOT FOR BEGGINERS

- Highest HP of all characters.
- Any build usually starts with at least 9 Str/Dex
- Any build is High Damage output


- VERY VERY VERY Equipment dependent all through the game.
- Needs a LOT OF $$$$$
- Needs to rest frequently after fights to recover HP and SP.




Merchant - This is only to help you Sell&Buy loots&items for your other characters. Blacksmith & Alchemist are the upgraded version but NOT FOR BEGGINERS. Not even going to bother listing pro's and con's here.

+1 very nice post...

[EvilLoynis]

remind that no matter what class you take you must work on gameplay and learn the effects of skills to get those class full potential. The more thing you learn the more your going to be faster.

My First Million.
At beginning no matter what is the class, learning how to do fast zeny at beginning is a way to start the game, Getting loots at OD2 is a pretty fast way to make starting zeny.

Starting Gears.
Finding whats kind of gear is really cheap and that can help you a lot on the beginning, I love Stapo Card, Smokie Card, Undershirt, Pantie, whatever.

Learning how to use mercenary.
every class in the game can do the run/hit tactics on monster Mage and Archer dont really need merc in order to do this though. Upon starting merc def value and hp is really high compared to any class, there is many advantage using them even for mobbing.

Mage.
Vertical Firewall mobbing is incredible XP and zeny. But it take sometime to learn for beginners, and might need PecoPeco Hairband or Agi up.
I recomend doing this at Veins south on sidewinders, Wood goblin in moscovia, Poison Spores, Argiope and Mantis, or if you have a guild you can even try Prontera Guild dungeon.

Acolyte.
making one as an alt always make you spend less time waiting for hp. Their buff can help a lot, and the most biggest thing is offensive blessings that can reduce undead and demon int/dex by 50%, so you can flee those monster A LOT more easily.

Merchant.
You actually need one, just to vend stuff.

Just a note for people who don't know all the abreviations.

OD2 = Orc Dungeon 2

This is a good place because a lot of Alchemists lvl up their little pets (Homunculus) here but since it is a lower lvl place they leave their guys there and go afk. Thus none of the loot is picked up. Another good place they do this and you can pick up loot is 2 maps south of Payon (Archer town) with all the Wolves.


Also updated top post regarding Merchants.

[ganLOL]

orc dungeon 2 eh? i might hang around there, and hope to get my first million.

[Mwrip]

For the vend slave, I wouldn't worry about the 39 thing. You'll want Vend, DC, and that's pretty much it. OC is a completely obsolete skill with the current level of zeny inflation.

[EvilLoynis]

For the vend slave, I wouldn't worry about the 39 thing. You'll want Vend, DC, and that's pretty much it. OC is a completely obsolete skill with the current level of zeny inflation.

Well I do still like it anyway for some loots that are worth money but aren't needed for any quests/mixings. Like when I hunt HillWinds with my Sin/Monk/Hunter, They drop Feathers and Talons and these are each worth like 400z. So with OC I make about 500 each, i know it's not much but every little bit helps.


My current cast of Characters.

85 - Wizard, (He was my first)
77 - Assasin,
75 - Priestes,
70 - Monk,
71 - Hunter
61 - Sage, (Endow Slave)
56 - Crusader

None of them have reached trans because a lot of times I get tired lvling one and do another for a bit. Really going to try to focus on my Wiz, Sin, and Monk though now though.

Edited by EvilLoynis, 02 October 2010 - 03:45 AM.

[Ceer]

+1!

[sumofishy]

l@l@l@l@

[antikv]

i disagree..to me it seems that mage is the hardest job for beginner.. true mages are power houses that deals immense damage at a lower lvl...but physical defensive wise weak as hell,,,,i remenber yesterday for a whole hour i kept dying at geographers coz where ever i went there is always this stupid archer casting arrow repell pushing the geographers on me which ulitmatly killed me....

[CatMuto]

i disagree..to me it seems that mage is the hardest job for beginner.. true mages are power houses that deals immense damage at a lower lvl...but physical defensive wise weak as hell,,,,i remenber yesterday for a whole hour i kept dying at geographers coz where ever i went there is always this stupid archer casting arrow repell pushing the geographers on me which ulitmatly killed me....

I agree with that.
Not to mention it's hard to even get started post-Job Change. You have no magic to use, a cheap weapon (unless you managed to score a Mighty Staff or so) that barely hurts the monster and even then it takes a while to get enough Job points to give yourself a decent attack-magic supply.

C-A

[EvilLoynis]

i disagree..to me it seems that mage is the hardest job for beginner.. true mages are power houses that deals immense damage at a lower lvl...but physical defensive wise weak as hell,,,,i remenber yesterday for a whole hour i kept dying at geographers coz where ever i went there is always this stupid archer casting arrow repell pushing the geographers on me which ulitmatly killed me....

Ok now you have to realize that since Geographers are Immobile that they had to give them some decent stats and damage to make up for the fact that they can be just raped by Mages and Archers so easily. Not to mention the fact that they are lvl 56 creatures so really what can you expect?! Do you really want them to be such pushovers?! Compare them to other creatures that are around that lvl and you won't be that surprised.

Here is a list of 30 monsters that are between lvls 54-58 for you to compare.

Also the fact is you can pretty easily lvl to the point of Job change on monsters that are non-cast sensers pretty easily with almost Fire Bolt alone. Or with FBolt&FWall almost exclusivly.

These are good guys you can just use Fire bolts on alone. In rough order of difficulty.

Mandragora
Muka
Flora
Porcellos
Hodes (For the repeatables exp quests)
Les
Leaf Cats (Great JExp lousy Base exp)
Wooden Goblin
Geographers

*** These are all earth type monsters, So fire atks do at least 150% damage, who are either Passive&Non-Cast sensers or Immobile.***

With FWall you can also do these (list not complete)

Sandman
Sleepers

***Earth monsters as well. Aggro but pretty slow so easy to FWall (as long as you have Lvl 10 FWall) and then FBolt.***

I agree with that.
Not to mention it's hard to even get started post-Job Change. You have no magic to use, a cheap weapon (unless you managed to score a Mighty Staff or so) that barely hurts the monster and even then it takes a while to get enough Job points to give yourself a decent attack-magic supply.

C-A

Ok there is 1 thing I think you are overlooking.

First off you should stay in the training grounds until you get to Job lvl 10 This is quite easy to do since you have 300+ Novice red potions (350 or 400 if you everything right). Just talk to the guy in the training field and tell him you want a real challenge and he will send you to a map with Spores on it. You will only need to kill like 10 of these guys to finish up so you can then go become a mage. You can probally put just 1 point into dex here so it's an even 10, but then you will just want INT.

Second for really any OFFENSIVE maage type of char (there are some stupid builds that do not cast spells offensivly but were not talking about those losers...lol) your Starting stats should be at least 9 Int and 9 Dex. Those going Mage-Wiz route will usually also get 8 Luk instead of Agility for better Perfect Dodge. If going Mage-Sage and making a Hindsight Build you would get 9 Agility and leave luk at 1.

Third AND MOST IMPORTANT. Ounce you become a Mage Talk to the NEW MAGE TRAINER girl, her name is Mana, that is standing just outside the mage guild door. You can get like quite a few free job lvls and some free base exp as well from her. This makes Mage easily the quickest out of the gate start character to me.
*ooh you have to hunt pupa's wow they don't hit back.

You can follow this guide here but when you get sent to Morroc in step 5 save their and lvl up some on the muka before going any further really. Although you should be lvl 17/11 before trying to hunt muka I would say. That would give you 29 base int plus the 2 from the Wand. This is enough to kill muka with 1 lvl 10 FBolt at avg damage. Even if not just make sure you have a lvl 1 or 2 FBolt also hotkeyed and cast that right away. they are slow.


Guys if you need any help further with this just give me a PM here or a whisper in game. Character to whisper would probably be BWoman as she is usually vending if I am on. I have quite a few chars that could tank a couple guys early on for you to give you a hand.


EDIT: Also I am not sure what people really defind GRINDING as. The Dictionary definitions I found that apply are the following:

1. Informal . to work or study laboriously (often fol. by away ): He was grinding away at his algebra.

2. laborious, usually uninteresting work: Copying all the footnotes was a grind.

However I tend to view level grinding as a time when you are spending long spaces of time with very little to show for it. For example would be ounce your say Lvl 15 trying to actually kill Drops or Porings to lvl on. Basically to me grinding is when you kill a monster for less than 1% of either Job or Base, though as long as 1% is met for something I am ok (Leaf Cats). Swordies, Thiefs, Acolytes and Merchants are pretty much constant Grinders in this game. Whereas Mages and Archer can usually avoid this due to the fact of dealing High Damage from a Distance quickly or all at ounce.

Please really if someone disagrees with my last statement let me know. I have lots of chars as I have shown and I know I have had the easiest time lvling the Mages and Archers.

Edited by EvilLoynis, 28 August 2010 - 08:13 PM.

[EvilLoynis]

Bump, anybody have or want me to add anything here under pro's and con's???

[ABK1986]

I think Taekwon Kid is the best/easiest starter character All you do is kick crap! Kick kick kick kick!

[EvilLoynis]

I think Taekwon Kid is the best/easiest starter character All you do is kick crap! Kick kick kick kick!

Ok I did think of adding this to the list I have up however the fact that they peak early on then stall is the problem I have with them.

Really all of the expanded classes have the same major problem. They cannot trans and renewal seems to be ignoring them. I think that these 2 downsides outweigh the good of these chars.

[ABK1986]

Yea but you can have 9 characters per account... So who really cares? I really don't care enough about renewal to stop playing my expanded class characters. Yea, they get ignored, but they'll get attention eventually.

[DokiDoki]

gonna start playing this game until DO comes out ><
anyways gonna go for thief