*this will probably be moved to aco subforums
first of all, w/out GTB, celias are literally demons (they are demi-human though thankfully, can utilize CEB, cranial immune, hanky);
they're also the ones you can never get board counts on (solo TC/FC shura) due to being ghost-3
anyways, the key w/ bio4 is to be able to actually land 1-shots with FC (which basically minimizes your damage intake per mob) - which would be pretty hard w/out tao;
though w/out tao, still possible to do upwards to 300k (FC), maybe 400~500k (manual combo) with the best mHP/ATK gears you could get, consumables (inc HP large, STR/VIT foods, takoyaki - note celia dispell does take away the tako ATK bonus, in addition to taking away your endow/converter), and the right endow vs the right target;
TC damage scales up directly with base levels (and indirectly since your mHP also increases with level) - however, FC may not kill randels (478k HP) even at higher levels w/out tao (unless you manual combo and/or decide to target them directly with cursed water) - randels are dangerous once they get reflect up (even if you don't target them directly, they still reflect TC's aoe damage to you) - sometimes they may have reflect up already due to being attacked before - if you decide to target them directly, stun them first as they will definitely cast reflect otherwise;
realistically, at early levels (150~160), the best you could kill might be just the performers, gertie, and chen; (flamel has 317k - might take foods to reach this early on)
manual combo would be too risky in such a place (especially since you will have about half the mHP of soloers who use tao);
it will also cost you a lot more on supplies due to manual TC's 30%HP and 15%SP consumption (which is really a lot considering the amount of time you will grind/hunt) - and/or you will have to zen+PA more often; also, windmill before TC/FC to reduce damage intake (and save on pots) - note you will need to be higher base levels in order to stun randels (for a short time) too;
switch to a phen accessory whenever you zen or windmill; you can still default damage accessories if too lazy to switch, but windmill may get interrupted and you'll have to tele/wing-cast zen/PA to not attract mobs (similar to portal casting) as you tele around the map to look for ideal mobs (w/out a GTB, ideal would be no celias on screen since they will freeze/dispell/kill you - dispell is the reason you have to carry converters (mainly earth for trentini/alphoccio; water for flamel - these are really the only ones you would have to target ideally)
to monitor if you still have a converter on, cast bless (4 min duration) as you use one - when the bless bar has half left (ie. 1 min left), then you need to reuse/recast - you'll also know when you got dispelled if bless is gone (in case you missed the celia doing it in action);
keeping up inc-AGI is not necessary as champs will spam dec-AGI on you (and you got snap to move around anyways)
also, if there's only 1 celia (or a few bunched up within 5x5 area) you can snap to windmill/stun the celia(s) and safely deal with the mob;
though it still possible to take out a mob with 2 or 3 active celias on screen, that can be too risky w/out a tao (ie. high enough HP pool to survive the next 4 seconds; 2-3 if you spam flywing as you FC);
hotkey converters in case you stunned a nice mob and some celia just happened to dispell (note you need to use the converter before you cast FC, as you can't use items for the first 2 seconds it activates)
anyways, +9~ cranial immune shield would be good as celias are the ones who deal substantial damage (thunderstorm, etc);
as for targets, the performers are the easiest, though both can knock you around with pulse strike and ruin your targeting;
trentini and flamel use AGI-up rather often, making them bad targets once they do (your TC will essentially miss);
when picking out a target among a mob, best to do it in a way that you got the cursor hovered on it and just ignore the others stacking on it (if you move you cursor away and back, the ones which stacked in may override that original target); best way to do it is to position yourself preemptively - as soon as you tele on a screen and decide the mobs are ideal, snap near an ideal target (2 cells max adjacent, 1 cell max diagonal - otherwise you will be forced to walk closer to it and risk a hitlock) cast windmill to stun those nearby, hover cursor on target, wait for the rest of the mobs on screen to walk to you (just as soon as they come within TC's 5x5 aoe - don't wait too long that they start attacking you though), then finally cast FC;
take note, there are a few minibosses around (ie: "stalker gertie", instead of just the regular "gertie") - might be surprised if a chen's supposedly tankable fist actually kills you when it fact it was a from a champion chen;
don't forget FCP slave for gertie/flamel (you will basically do 10-min runs)
+12 stamina CEB (damage and reducs)
+12 stamina turkey (may deal more damage early on depending on setup, but risky since no reducs);
BDM[0] (all stats+2); dark pinguicula BDM; hockey mask
hanky in mouth (reducs); p.dagger/gangster scarf do help increase damage (just a bit - generally not noticeable)
glorious suit for damage (bryn if you have access); otherwise, unfrozen wind (yeah, celias);
HBP+e.variant should be inferior to GFSS+tempboots damage-wise;
for the VIT GFSS: wakwak (strictly for FC/TC damage); giant whisper (is more flexible - also nice for GoH as an end-game pure damage garment)
VIT boots (120 VIT) does give you more HP (survivability), but STR boots (120 STR) gives better damage (even better if you use CEB in addition to your KvM mace) - however, if you set your sights on only certain targets (ie. disregard flamels and randels early on), if your damage is enough to kill the rest with just the VIT boots, then stick with that for the meantime and slightly reduce possible deaths;
gold scaraba RWC rings (ATK+3% enchants would be best for FC if you have wakwak and STR boots, though FS3s are also ok) would maximize damage (after megs); bako tattoos and aco-MoHs would be next - now similar to above, glorious rings can be a nice default if you choose to ignore higher HP mobs (at least until you are high level enough to also one shot them with pure damage gears) to boost survivability (mainly vs celia's magic spam) for the meantime
edit: also, you'll most likely have no AGI in the beginning (due to having spent most on STR/VIT) - so your manual combo TC will be painfully slow (ASPD potions will get dispelled) - which is why i suggest FC instead of manual TC;
(note: 80-90 base DEX is enough to hit targets (unless they casted AGI-up);
if you tele on a spot with celia(s), you can just try to kite mobs away from them and FC safely (easier if the celias are already near the screen edge);
also forgot to mention, a flamel carded nid garb is a nice default garment so your slims heal up way more (and for additional ele reduc as you kite mobs around) - only switch to GFSS as you FC for damage (gear switching is allowed during FC activation)
Edited by ka10, 03 October 2015 - 12:28 PM.
