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[Nagaame]

A (not so) quick Ranger Reference for the 185 Patch Wind Hawk Writeup

Last updated: March 5, 2024

 

Introduction

So this all started out with me wanting to joke around and write an overly researched and in-depth answer to a simple question on the forums, but then it ended up being a pretty good guide for the level 185 patch, so I wanted to make a more fleshed-out guide. And then I started working on a guide and ended up at over 30 pages so I'm doing a bit more abridged version here. My 71-page long ramblings can be found in this google doc: https://docs.google....s_kG2jTnzcx_Eg/ 

 

Table of Contents

• Arrow Storm
• Focused Arrow Strike
• Aimed Bolt
• Hawk Rush
• Crescive Bolt
• Gale Storm
• Hybridization
• Wind Hawk Notes
• Utility Options
• Cheaper Alternatives
• Niche Picks
• Leveling
• Tips & Tricks

 

Rangers are incredibly strong DPS classes, with great self-buffs to further augment their damage potential. Right now there are about 5 main Ranger Builds: Arrow Storm, Focused Arrow Strike, Aimed Bolt, Hawk Rush, and Crescive Bolt. Due to very strong equipment options and buffs, the first three options are generally the most popular and successful, with Hawk Rush falling a bit by the wayside.

 

Spoiler Terminology/Acronyms

• FCT - Fixed Cast Time. Cast time only reducible with equips. Notably, Arrow Storm has a 0.3s FCT, Focused Arrow Strike has a 0.5s FCT, Aimed Bolt has a 1s FCT, and Crescive Bolt has a 1s FCT. The self-buffs also have a sizable FCT.
• VCT - Variable Cast Time. This is reduced by stats and by equips, and ends up following a slightly complicated formula. The tl;dr is you want 2*DEX + INT >= 530, since equip-based VCT is a bit awkward to fit in for Rangers outside of a few exceptions.
• ACD - After-Cast Delay. Time after a skill when you can't use any skills at all, but can still walk around and autoattack. Notably, Arrow Storm has no delay, Focused Arrow Strike has 0.5s, Aimed Bolt has 2s, and Crescive Bolt has 0.5s. This term will get used both for this time period, as well as equipment effects that reduce it.
• CD - Cooldown. Time after a skill when you can't use that skill again, but can still use other skills and walk around and autoattack. The term CDR might get thrown around which means Cooldown Reduction. Notable CDs are: Arrow Storm has a 3.2s CD, Focused Arrow Strike has 0.15s, Aimed Bolt has 1s, and Crescive Bolt has no CD. No Limits has 300s CD.
• ASPD - Attack Speed. Determines how fast you attack: hits/second = 50 / (200-ASPD). With enough ACD and CD reduction, this becomes the main limiting factor regarding how fast you can spam a skill. If you want a demonstration of this, make a low AGI Swordsman and try spamming Bash as fast as you can.
• FAS - Focused Arrow Strike. Also referred to as "Sharp Shooting" in some equipment. Almost always referred to using this acronym.
• Arrow Storm (AS), Aimed Bolt (AB), Fear Breeze (FB), Crescive Bolt (CB) and No Limits (NL) will very occasionally be referred to by acronym but not as frequently as FAS.
• OCP - Overseas Care Package. Lootbox that contains very strong equipment options, frequently from jRO. Most of the gear listed here ultimately comes from these or the Kachua's Secret Key gacha, as they end up outclassing most options in the game.
• There are also tons of equip acronyms, like PDM, MCT, PWM, EDA... I'll try to mention them as I bring them up. Enchants also have common acronyms, like EA, FS, SoL, etc.

 

About Builds and Equipment

Equip descriptions throw around a lot of terms like "+20% damage to all races" and "+10% damage to all size enemies" and it's not immediately obvious that the distinctions are meaningful. The iROWiki page about attack is fairly intimidating, but the general idea is that there are a bunch of different attack multipliers that stack multiplicatively, so you want to diversify. As a major simplification of an example, if you have a 100 damage attack, adding a 20% damage multiplier to all races will bring you to 120 damage. If you subsequently need to choose between another 20% to all races or 20% to all sizes, you should choose the size multiplier, because the resulting calculation becomes 100 (base) * 1.2 (race) * 1.2 (size) = 144 damage as opposed to 100 (base) * 1.4 (race) = 140 damage.

Spoiler Damage multipliers

• Race Multiplier

• Size Multiplier

• Element Multiplier (also called Attribute Multiplier or Property Multiplier) - This is distinct from elemental weakness multiplier and is generally listed as "Increases physical damage on Earth property targets by 20%" or "all property monsters."

• Class Multiplier (Normal, Boss, Guardian) - This is sometimes listed as ATK% on iRO descriptions, which isn't quite accurate for calculations. In descriptions, I'll try to differentiate which ones are which but I'm not 100% sure I'll get all of them right.

• P.ATK - 4th class mechanic. Behaves similarly to the other above multipliers.

• ATK% - This is actually calculated separately from the other multipliers and added on, so it's slightly less important. Always worse than an equal value in another multiplier.

• Ranged Multiplier - This actually gets added on near the end of the calculation, so it has a bigger effect than most of the other multipliers due to the weird attack formula.

• Bow Damage Multiplier - Just to clarify, on iRO this is equivalent to ranged damage multiplier. Unsure if it's different for other servers since the phrasing does seem to be distinct on kRO descriptions as well.

• Crit Damage Multiplier (For FAS/Hawk Rush/Crescive Bolt)

• C.RATE - 4th class mechanic. Adds to the innate 140% crit multipliers (i.e. 10 C.RATE means 140% + 10% = 150% crit multiplier)

• Skill Damage Multiplier (For everything but autoattacks)

​

 

 

Important to note is that No Limits gives a 350% ranged multiplier bonus, which is why people suggest not to invest too heavily into ranged multipliers for Rangers. To put it into perspective: with just No Limits active, a 100 damage attack becomes a 450 damage attack. Getting an additional 50% ranged multiplier would turn it into a 500 damage attack whereas getting just a 15% race multiplier would be about 517 damage. It's very much worth considering including No Limits in your calculations, since there's pretty much no downside to using it and there are a few ways to eliminate downtime through cooldown reduction, such as Wolf Officer Hat and Prism Ranger Scarf.

 

The general goal of every build is to:

1. Get cast time down to something manageable
2. Reduce or eliminate CD and ACD
3. Get a way to eliminate No Limits downtime
4. Stack up on flat damage and damage multipliers, and optionally crit rate
5. Add a bit of HP/SP leech (optional)

Common Gear

There are a decent number of high-tier items that all builds can make use of. Instead of going into detail about them for each section, I'm just going to list them all here. In each build section, I'll be mentioning gear more unique to that build, as well as repeating some of the items listed here for emphasis as being particularly strong/recommended options. With a few noteworthy exceptions, I'll try to cap the cost of each item to about 1b. 

Spoiler Gear

Upper Headgear

• Wolf Officer Hat [1] - One of those cool mistranslated OCP items. Gives 30% ACD, 15% ASPD (this is incorrectly translated as ACD), 3 DEX per upgrade to help VCT, 25% attribute multiplier, and reduces No Limits CD by 150s for effectively 100% uptime. The only thing this lacks is FCT reduction but it checks just about every other box. Uses up a lot of skill points for maximum value.

• Circlet of Time(Ranger) [1] - Also refered to as Temporal Circlet. Account-bound headgear from Old Glast Heim Challenge Mode. Gives 15 ATK per 2 refine, 5% crit multiplier per 3 refine, 5% range multiplier per 4 refine, 20% skill multipliers for Aimed Bolt and Arrow Storm per 3 refine, and 1s Arrow Storm CDR. Amazing for Aimed Bolt but is also somewhat viable for the other builds. Can be enchanted with Temporal Jewels for ATK, crit multiplier, ranged multiplier, ASPD, etc. (See AGI, DEX, LUK, and STR). Most importantly, these can get the Bio5 Headgear Enchants for ATK multiplier, ranged multiplier, crit multiplier, or FCT reduction, making this pretty much strictly better than Old Camo Bunny Hood outside of the accessory set bonuses.

• General Helm/Ruff Officer/Fancy Feather Hat [1] - Decent options for FCT reduction that also give ATK, ASPD, and various multipliers (General Helm is apparently mistranslated and gives ASPD, not ACD). These are listed in order of price. +15 is way too expensive for most builds to plan for, so try to build around +13 or +14 instead. Which of the three is most useful depends on the build.

• Biolab Virgo Diadem [1] - Also referred to as Celestial Jewel Crown. 20 ATK per 2 refine, 10% ASPD, 15% ranged multiplier, and 10% size multiplier. Set bonus with EDDA Biolabs weapons for huge skill multipliers (10% per upgrade level of the bow), and gives enough Arrow Storm CDR with Falken Blitz to become viable. It's one of the better of the 12 options from a 0.19% Kachua item, so who knows if this will ever be affordable. I'm only listing this because it's best in slot or close to it for the Ranger builds.

Middle Headgear

• Little Garden - Gives 180 ATK and 35% crit multiplier but requires 125 base LUK. Mainly benefits FAS/Autoattack but other builds can fit it in if they're running high LUK for PDM/Vassalage/JRing.

• Seraphim Coronet - AKA Sera or Sera Coro. Highest source of raw ATK in this slot (250 ATK), but requires fitting 120 base INT into your build. Thankfully, most Ranger stat builds are fairly flexible, so this isn't too outrageous of an investment. The combo with Seraphim Feather gives very little value for Rangers except to undo the VCT increase from the Coronet, and that becomes fairly negligible at higher levels.

• Diabolus Wing [1] - AKA D.Wing. Gives +10 all stats, which helps VCT, and comes with a slot. Main value is the pairing with a high upgrade Diabolus Boots, but the boots slot has fierce competition.

• New Wave Sunglasses + Ghost Fire - New Wave Sunglasses gives 10% ACD, and the slotted version gives 5% ACD. When combined with Ghost Fire, gives pretty hefty bonuses based on 4th class attributes. Notably, 7% race multiplier for every 18 POW, 60 ATK for every 18 STA, 4% ATK for every 18 CON, and 7% crit multiplier and -.05s FCT for every 18 CRT. The Ghost Fire alone also gives 5% ACD and -0.1s FCT.

Lower Headgear

• Tyrant of Earth/Old Camouflage Scarf - Gives 1% size multiplier for every 10 levels, meaning 10% by the time you can equip it all the way up to 25% for now.

• Dreaming Red Sheep - Gives 15% ACD, 15% size multiplier, and 60s No Limits CDR, making this a very strong option for just about every build.

• Moon God Lapel - Whoooo I did it. I petitioned for an item and it happened. +3 ASPD and 13% ranged multiplier. Comboed with Moonflower Bow, gives additional 10% ranged multiplier. At +11, it gives an additional 20% size multiplier. At +12, gives 30% Gale Storm multiplier and 1.5s CDR. At +13, gives 0.2s FCT and 1% Gale Storm multiplier per 3 levels up to 240. Unless you need the ASPD or FCT, pretty much worse than Tyrant. It does, however, make Gale Storm a viable build.

Headgear Cards

• Purple Ferus - 3% ATK, with bonus 1% for every 4 refines. -5% max HP/SP, though.

• Dolomedes - +2 DEX and additional 1 DEX per 3 upgrades. Decent source of DEX.

Armor

• Assault Suit [1] - One of the strongest armor options available, and one of the only Ranger-specific armor pieces. Gives 150 ATK, 30 DEX, 70% (!) Race multiplier, and some other things like HP/SP and ASPD. Also gives perfect hit, which helps the non-crit builds. Pour one out for the Arrow Storm/Aimed Bolt mains who were hoping for an unnerfed version of the original jRO item, but it's still plenty strong.

• Illusion Armor Type A [1] - One of the best general-use options with 2 ATK Modules, giving 10% ATK and 240 flat ATK at +9. Global Delay module is the best 3rd mod choice, giving 15% ACD at +9, but it's very expensive and there are other, cheaper sources of ACD. It's worth keeping the last mod open for when prices eventually drop, though, since the Sharpshooter mod is really bad (7% ranged multiplier). One of the only non-cash shop options that's still end-game viable.

• Automatic Armor Type A [1] - Pretty much strictly better than Illusion Armor Type A, but it's new so it'll be a bit pricier to get the right modules. Good modules to aim for are ATK, Critical Force, Post-skill Delay, Breeze Shooting, and Aimed Storm. Which combination is the best depends on the rest of your equips. Ranged Force is probably always worse than ATK, but can potentially be more affordable than the other choices. Sharpshooter is never good (Angle Shot gives a better ranged multiplier, but Rangers don't really need ranged multiplier).

• Abyss/Samael/Icefall/Nature Dress - AKA 4Dresses. These are some of the best options against their respective attributes/races, giving max 40% multipliers against two races and two attributes each, but they only really excel for those purposes. They don't have slots but do have innate elemental attributes.

Armor Cards

• Porcellio - +25 ATK.

• Polluted Raydric - 5% ATK, additional 5% when comboed with Raydric Card.

• Restless Dead - +20 ATK. Makes armor and weapon indestructible, which is mostly helpful in Bio5 and Nogg3, and occasionally in Ami2.

• Elemental Armor Cards (Pasana/Sandman/Dokebi/Swordfish/Bathory/Evil Druid/Angeling) - Evil Druid giving immunity to Poison/Shadow damage and Freeze/Stone Curse is really useful. The other elements are situationally valuable depending on the area, and worth throwing onto mid-tier gear and just having around.

Weapon

Build-specific

Weapon Cards

• White Knight - AKA WK. +15 ATK and 20% size multiplier to Medium/Large monsters, which make up the vast majority of relevant monsters.

• Polluted Wander Man - AKA PWM. 30% size multiplier to Medium/Large monsters. Effectively a strict upgrade to White Knight.

• ^newChaotic Ghostring - +20 ATK and 25% size multiplier to Small/Large monsters. Set bonus with Ghostring for 10% ATK.

• Abysmal Knight - AKA AK. 25% boss damage multiplier.

• Brutal Murderer - +15 ATK and 15% size multiplier to Medium monsters. Additional 25% multiplier at level 200 for a total of 40%, making it the best anti-Medium card right now. The existence of Large (and Small to a lesser degree) monsters makes this a bit less appealing than a PWM card.

• Gan Ceann - Large version of Brutal Murderer card. Less value because fewer monsters are Large.

• Lord Sakray - +20 ATK, 30% race multiplier against Demon and Undead.

Garment

• Prism Ranger Scarf - Gives 10% ACD, 30% ranged multiplier, and -180s No Limits CD. This choice is carried pretty heavily by the NL CDR but man does that do a lot of carrying. Also provides 75% elemental resistance when paired with matching elemental arrows (ex: Fire Arrows give 75% Fire resistance), but will generally require Endows/Converters to override the element as most sources of elemental damage come from monsters that resist that element.

• Erymanthian Skin [1] - Gives +30 DEX, 15% ASPD (3% ACD is a mistake and is actually ASPD, I think), 20% ranged multiplier, and 20% size multiplier. Gives 100% resistance to fire property. Also comes with a slot.

• Temporal Str Manteau [1] - 10 ATK and 1% ATK per 2 refines and additional 7% ATK at +7. 5% size multiplier per 4 refines. Great source of ATK and modifiers. Can be enchanted with up to 15% ACD.

Garment Cards

• Ancient Wootan Shooter - For every 10 DEX, increases ranged multiplier and ASPD by 1%. At 120 DEX gives 40 ATK. Best non-crit-based option.

• Empathizer - 10% ranged multiplier, but -25% SP. Combo with Dame of Sentinel for additional 15% ranged multiplier per 40 DEX.

• Raydric - 20% Neutral resist, which includes autoattacks. Combos with Polluted Raydric Card for additional 10% resist.

Shoes

• Sniping Shoes - Gives a massive 40% ACD on top of +10 all stats, 15% size multiplier, 10% ranged multiplier, and 25% crit multiplier. Also eliminates weapon size penalty, but bow size multipliers are pretty good so it's not essential (only affects large enemies which is a 25% penalty to the weapon attack only). Requires a lot of skill points to get all the bonuses.

• Great Hero's Boots [1] - Gives a bunch of small things but most notably 0.7s FCT and 5% ACD. Gives 10 DEX and 7% ATK with Awakened Royal Bow/Awakened Scarlet Dragon Bow. One of the best options for eliminating FCT in this slot.

• Temporal Dex Boots/Temporal Dex Boots [1] - Gives 0.5s FCT, 3 DEX per 3 upgrades, and 5% ranged multiplier. Can be enchanted with EA, ASPD, or FS depending on the rest of your build. For the special enchant, Hawkeye is the best for damage but Speed of Light and Lucky Day can have situational utility and give good set bonuses with Temporal Ring. All but Runaway Magic also have useful set bonuses with the King Schmidt's Insignia special enchants. Note that HE and SoL can drain SP quickly. The slotted versions of all Temporal Boots are always strictly superior, but significantly more expensive due to how hard it is to get the right enchant.

• Illusion Leg Type A [1] - One of the cool iRO items where they forgot to put anything meaningful in the description. Presumably gives 5% ranged multiplier and combos with Illusion Armor Type A for 5% ATK, Illusion Engine Wing Type A for 10% crit multiplier, and Illusion Engine Wing Type B for 5% ranged multiplier. Fixed Casting is probably the most useful mod for the 0.7s FCT, and then Shooter or Fatal Flash are okay too. Automatic Leg doesn't really provide enough value to be worth the upgrade.

• Diabolus Boots [1] - Gives +20 ATK for each upgrade level when paired with Diabolus Wing, and a whole lot of HP. Hard to compete with Sniping Shoes + Little Garden/Sera but at least it doesn't have a restrictive base stat requirement.

Shoe Cards

• Vicious Cookie - 1% ATK with additional 1% for every 2 refine levels. Max HP -2% and additional -2% for every 2 refine levels, so it makes you very glass cannon-y.

• Odorico - 5% ranged multiplier, 3% ASPD.

• Blut Hase - 5% ranged multiplier, 3% ATK.

• White Porcellio - 20 ATK, with bonus ATK if comboed with normal Porcellio.

Accessories

• Perverse Demon Mask [1] - AKA PDM. Left slot only. Great source of stats and defense pierce, but requires fairly dedicated stat builds. Really rewards allocating points into VIT, LUK, and (to a lesser degree) INT for DEX, def pierce, and ACD respectively:

  • 1% ACD for every 18 base INT

  • 15% def pierce for every 18 base LUK

  • +3 DEX for every 18 base VIT

• Emerald Ring [1] - 100 ATK, 10 DEX, VIT, and AGI. Great source of ATK and DEX. It's supposed to be for Severe Rainstorm performers, but Rangers can make great use of it. Requires maxing Double Strafe for maximum value (not like you have too much choice there anyway).

• Temporal Ring [1] - Gives +50 ATK but the main draw is the set bonuses with Temporal Boot enchants. Notable bonuses are HE giving +40 DEX, SoL giving 30% ACD, and LD giving 30% crit multiplier.

• King Schmidt's Insignia (Str) [1] - 10% ATK. Also see Luk, Agi, and Dex for 7% crit multiplier, 5% ASPD, and 7% range multiplier respectively. Suit + Manteau set bonus isn't particularly great. Can get FS7, Sharp5, EA5, or Fatal3 enchants, and a special enchant to pair with Temporal Boots:

  • Rigid pairs with Muscle Fool for 10% ACD

  • White Cloud pairs with Lucky Day for 2 flat ASPD

  • Strong pairs with Bear's Power for 25% size multiplier

  • Celestial Bow pairs with Hawkeye for 10% ATK

  • Flash pairs with Speed of Light for 30% crit multiplier

• Memento Mori [1] - 10% ACD, 10% size multiplier, and +10 all stats.

• Ring of Jupiter [1] - AKA J.Ring/JupRing/RoJ. Has different effects depending on left slot or right slot, but the left effects are only survivability. In the right slot gives +15 ATK for every 10 base LUK and a 15% boss multiplier at 125 LUK. Even non-crit builds can fit this in because of how many strong equip options value high LUK. Also gives level 5 Blessing, so it's nice to have regardless for utility.

• ^newRing of Venus [1] - Similar to J.Ring, has different effects depending on left or right slot. In the right slot gives 1% ranged multiplier per 10 base DEX and 70% FCT at 125 DEX. In the left slot it gives 1% class multiplier per 10 base AGI and 25% ACD and increased movement speed at 125 AGI.

• Blacksmith's Gloves [1] - Gives 50% defense pierce, which is a nice alternative to PDM. Also gives 10% ACD which is huge, and gives a 5% boss multiplier.

• Illegal Chip [1] - 10% ASPD and 15% ATK (class multiplier?). Really strong option if you're looking for ASPD.

Accessory Cards

• Gold Scaraba - AKA GS. +20 ATK, -1% HP.

• Phen - Uninterruptable Cast. 25% VCT penalty which will only really get in your way if you use Sound Amplifiers and are expecting instacast.

• Giant Caput/Dolorian - Gives multipliers against Formless/Demon enemies. 5% normally with 20% past level 200, which is exceptional in this slot against those races.

• Cursed Raydric + Cursed Raydric Archer - Individually, give 5% Demon and Undead race multipliers. As a set, adds another 5% for 10% total against Demon and Undead.

• Cowraiders Class 2 - 4% ATK, set combo with Cowraiders Class 1 for additional 3% ATK (idk if you're allowed to just run 2 of these lmao).

• Cowraiders Class 1 - +7 AGI, +7 Hit, only worth it for the combo with Cowraiders Class 2.

• Faceworm + Faceworm Dark - AKA FWD for Facework Dark. Set that gives 6% ACD, 3% ASPD, and +1 AGI/DEX/VIT/INT.

• ^newChaotic Acolyte - 4% ACD. Left Accessory card.

Shadow Equipment

• Shadow Transcendental Time Set - 70% def pierce, 3 flat ASPD, 7% ASPD, 15 ATK, 7% crit multiplier. Character bound booster character shadow set. Every build makes great use of this (FAS and autoattack love the crit multiplier and ASPD, AS and AB love the def pierce so they don't need much LUK for PDM).

• Reload Shadow Set - Gives up to 15% ACD if all 3 are at +9.

• Penetration Shadow Sets - Def pierce option. The Earring/Pendant give up to 10% each, and gives 100% def pierce with a matching shadow weapon. Requires having a lot of Shadow Weapons for every race (each weapon covers 2 races) but gives full defense pierce which is very convenient.

• Blitz Shadow Set - Each gives at least 1 ASPD, and each set pair also can give another ASPD. Every build but AS heavily values ASPD.

• Physical Power Shadow Weapon / Shield - These give +1 POW per 2 refine rate, and a bunch of P.ATK with high upgrades and in a set. A +20 set will give 10 POW and 15 P.ATK.

• Focusing Shadow Pendant/Earring - Each gives 3% ATK, and 2 P.ATK at +10. Both combined give 2% ATK, 2 P.ATK, and 10% property multiplier at combined +18. They also combo with Concentration Shadow Weapon/Shield for additional 3% ATK, 3 CON, and 3 P.ATK.

Costume

• Minor Casting Stone (Garment) - AKA MCT. Gives 0.3s FCT, which every build can make use of, even if just for speeding up self-buffs. Very useful and shareable across builds and characters.
• Casting Stone (Garment) - AKA FCT. -0.5s FCT. Looks like they're stabilizing at under 1b now.
• ASPD Stone Upper/Garment/Dual - ASPD +1 enchant in Upper costume, Garment, and Garment 2nd slot respectively.
• Ranger/Sniper Stones - I'll bring these up individually for each build, but I wanted to mention them before the other class costume stones.
• Maestro Wanderer Stone (Garment) + Minstrel/Gypsy Stone(Lower) - Reduces FCT by 0.5s. The set bonuses with the Middle and Upper Wanderer/Maestro Stones are also pretty good

Pets

iRO wiki pets page >

• Aliot - 5% ASPD, 12 HIT

• Baeksojin - 3% ACD, 5% ASPD

• Cat o' Nine Tails - +5 crit rate, +5 hit, 1% chance to recover 400 HP per second for 5 seconds when attacking (the description says short-ranged, but it worked for long-ranged too)

• Choco - +9 crit rate, 3% ranged multiplier

• High Orc - +25 ATK

• Hodremlin - 9% crit multiplier, 2 DEX, 2 HIT

• Incubus - 2% chance to absorb 1% damage as SP

• Leaf Lunatic - +5 crit rate, +5 ATK, 6% formless race multiplier

• Little Isis - 4% class multiplier

• Moonlight Flower - +6 crit rate, +6 HIT, 3% chance to recover 500 HP and 20 SP per second for 5 seconds when attacking

• Succubus - 1% chance to absorb 5% damage as HP

• Yao Jun - 1% chance to absorb 1% damage as SP

​

 

Common Skills

Gonna use the irowiki skill simulator to conserve space. It's a bit old, but not outdated enough to matter.

 

Core skills: https://skillsim.iro...AsOlfqA4b2NqxwY

Nothing should really come at a surprise here.

• No Limits is core for every build
• Trap Mastery offers an amazing value point, giving +220 SP at level 1
• FAS is good to max regardless of end build since it's such a good early leveling skill and Sniper skill points are cheap
• Warg Ride and Camouflage are great for utility. Level 3 Camouflage lets you walk freely, but level 5 is probably preferred (and will help give OCP bonuses anyway)
• Bomb Cluster + Detonator is an interesting option since the damage pierces through the 1-damage flag. You can throw leftover WH points into them

From here, you're free to invest in skills as your skill build and OCP gears demand. Rangers end up with a ton of extra points, so you pretty much can't go wrong. Here's an example of what I'm running as a FAS Ranger: http://irowiki.org/~...2N1bsqBcAakcHcY

 

Note that you'll want to get level 1 Steel Crow and level 3 Trap Research for Wind Hawk prerequisites 

 

Arrow Storm

Arrow Storm is a skill with a 9x9 AoE, 0.3s FCT, 2s VCT, and 3.2s CD. With Fear Breeze active, it has a 2,700% attack modifier that scales with base level. Each cast consumes 5 equipped arrows.

 

Arrow Storm is a build that has really fallen off in recent years. Although it's popular in early leveling for its large damage multiplier and huge AoE, the huge 3.2s cooldown is a crippling restriction that's incredibly difficult to overcome. While it's possible to level by spending that 3.2s CD grouping up mobs and one-shotting them, this build hits a huge wall with MVPs and anywhere else where enemies are too tanky to reliably one-shot. It's technically possible to get all the way to 250 like this with the right equips and buffs, but it's much easier to simply lower the cooldown to the point where casting multiple Arrow Storms is viable.

This is why the centerpiece of an Arrow Storm-centric build is the set bonus of a Virtual Bow-OS and an Ignis Cap Type K, which reduces the CD by 2.5s. This is the only significant source of Arrow Storm CD until the pricey and level 170-locked upgrade to Biolab Virgo Diadem and Falken Shooter. Even with this upgrade, the build really falls off heavily compared to the other options, and has become a rather unpopular build as of late.

The last piece of the build is a Garment, as it's the only other slot that offers CDR for AS. After the 2.5s reduction from Ignis K, AS is left with a 0.7s CD, which is still a bit on the high side, so you'll want the additional CDR from a Prism Ranger Scarf or an Erymanthian Skin, which give 0.2s and 0.3s CDR respectively. These numbers may seem small, but a .5s CD is 1.4x the DPS of a .7s CD, and there aren't many other options in this slot anyway.

 

Pros

• Very large AoE.

• Great base damage multiplier for an AoE skill.

• No ACD, and high enough minimum cooldown for ASPD to not be a significant limiting factor (175-180 will suffice).

• Low FCT is fairly easy to address.

• Executionally lighter due to slower spam rate.

Cons

• Equipment options are somewhat limited because upper headgear and bow are slightly locked.

• HIT-based, so can miss on high FLEE targets.

• Falls off quickly compared to other skill-based builds. Might even have worse single-target DPS than autohawk.

• Bow and headgear are heavily locked, so this build misses out on a lot of new upgrades.

Spoiler Gear

Upper Headgear

• Ignis Cap Type K [1] - As mentioned earlier, best in slot by far and the only thing holding an Arrow Storm-only build together. On top of the CDR, gives +20 ATK for every 2 refines, 15% ranged multiplier, 15% Small/Medium size multiplier, and 0.2s FCT.

• Biolab Virgo Diadem [1] - This is the only other headgear option, and is a significant upgrade with a Falken Shooter. The set most notably gives a combined 2.5s CDR for Arrow Storm, tied with Ignis Type K and Virtual Bow, and gives a 10% skill multiplier per upgrade of the weapon. 20 ATK per 2 refines, 15% ranged multiplier, and 10% size multiplier are also nice. Very good but very expensive.

• Temporal Circlet (Ranger) [1] - 20% skill multiplier per 3 refines, 15 ATK per 2 refines, 5% ranged multplier per 4 refines, and 1s AS CDR. When combined with a Superbia String and an Erymanthian, gets AS CD down to 0.9s, which is still quite high, but nearly acceptable for leveling. Master Archer or Mettle are probably best for damage, but Magic Essence is also a strong option if sharing this with an Aimed Bolt build. Str or Dex Temporal Jewels are the best options.

Middle Headgear

• Seraphim Coronet - This is one of the most preferred options for Arrow Storm since the build doesn't really need AGI or LUK so the INT investment is fine. The 250 ATK is the highest damage in this slot.

• Diabolus Wing [1] - Also a strong option for the +10 all stats, slot, and the Diabolus Boots combo.

Lower Headgear

• Ghost Fire - Gets rid of the last 0.1s FCT from Arrow Storm. The set bonus with New Wave Glasses is probably better than the other options once you hit Wind Hawk, but not strictly necessary.
• Tyrant of Earth - 1% size multiplier per 10 levels. Only other notable option here
• Dreaming Red Sheep - 15% size multiplier and ACD. The ACD isn't necessary for this build, so the only reason to take this over Tyrant is with a Falken Shooter and Ranger (U) + (G) costume set for permanent No Limits. It's probably cheaper/better to just buy a Wolf Officer and swap it in when refreshing NL though.

Headgear Cards

• Purple Ferus - 3% ATK, 1% per 4 refines. Not many headgear card options.

Armor

• Assault Suit [1] - 70% race multiplier, 150 ATK, 30 DEX, 50% perfect hit. Best in slot. No question.

• Illusion Armor Type A [1] - With 2x ATK mods, it's a fairly solid armor choice until you can pick up an Assault Suit. Upgrading to an Automatic Armor isn't really worth the price.

Armor Cards

• Polluted Raydric - 5% ATK

• Porcellio - 25 ATK

Weapon

• Virtual Bow-OS [2] - 200 weapon ATK. As mentioned before, this is really the only bow option for this build. It's a fairly strong option, though, giving a 50% Arrow Storm skill multiplier at +11. Gives 3% ATK and 7% ranged multiplier, with an additional 7% every 2 refines with the cap set bonus. Has 2 enchant options for multipliers, although the more generous reroll option is fairly expensive.

• Falken Shooter [2] - 210 weapon ATK. 25% AS multiplier, 10% range multiplier, 0.7s AS CDR, and 4 ATK per upgrade. Cecil's memory gives 15s NL CDR and 2% AS SP cost reduction per 3 upgrades, which is pretty hilariously useless. As a standalone bow, Falken Shooter is honestly pretty bad, and not really worth mentioning. With Biolab Virgo Diadem, hoever, it becomes the best in slot, giving enough CDR to be viable and a 10% skill multiplier bonus for each upgrade level.

• Superbia String [2] - 220 weapon ATK. It's slightly better than Virtual Bow, but without the headgear combo. Gives -1s Arrow Storm CDR, which is somewhat acceptable for leveling with a Temporal Circlet, but not really good enough as an endgame option. Listing as an option for if Racing Cap (Ranger) comes out. Gives 35% AS multiplier, 12 ATK per 3 upgrades, and can have some enchants for additional multipliers against specific properties/races.

Weapon Cards

• Polluted Wander Man - 30% Large/Medium multiplier. Still the best for damage

• ^newChaotic Ghostring - +20 ATK and 25% Small/Large multiplier. Only notable if leveling in a place with small mobs, and no medium ones.

• Powerful Archer Skeleton - Very rare card that gives a fairly mediocre (12%) ranged multiplier, but is part of the 17.2 card set.

Garment

• Prism Ranger Scarf - Gives 0.2s CDR for Arrow Storm, bringing it down to 0.5s CD. Also reduces No Limits CD significantly. Also gives 30% ranged multiplier and 10% AS multiplier.

• Erymanthian Skin [1] - Gives 0.3s CDR for Arrow Storm, bringing it down to 0.4s CD. Gives 30 DEX, 20% ranged multiplier, and 20% size multiplier, on top of having a slot, making it an incredibly strong option boosting Arrow Storm damage.

Garment Cards

• Ancient Wootan Shooter - 1% ranged multiplier per 10 DEX and 40 ATK at 120 DEX. Probably the best option for this build.

• Raydric - 20% neutral/autoattack resist. For the Polluted Raydric combo, giving an additional 5% ATK and 10% resist.

 

Shoes

• Sniping Shoes - +10 all stats, 15% size multiplier, and eliminates weapon size penalty, making it an overall solid choice. There aren't too many other options in this slot.

• Temporal Dex Boots [1] - -0.5s FCT, 5% ranged multiplier, and 3 DEX per 3 upgrades. EA+HE enchants preferred, since the others don't really offer much (FS can situationally be better than EA). Shaves off that last 0.1s FCT from Arrow Storm and then some. Great source of DEX with Temporal Ring. Main value over Sniping Shoes is the slot for the 17.2 card combo.

• Diabolus Boots [1] - Gives 20 ATK per upgrade when paired with Diabolus Wing, and a whole lot of HP. These have fallen out of favor recently, but the extra slots and flexibility with stats make this situationally more convenient than running something like Sera+Sniping Shoes instead.

Shoe Cards

• Papila Cae - 2 DEX, 10% max HP/SP. On its own, not very useful, but part of the 17.2 card set.

Accessories

• King Schmidt's Insignia (Str) [1] - 10% ATK. This build doesn't need ASPD, ACD, or crit, so all that's really left is just stacking damage modifiers. Since Temporal Dex Boots are some of the only relevant slotted shoes options for the 17.2 set, Insignia ends up pairing nicely with it. Bear's Power + Strong is the best set bonus, but Hawkeye + Celestial Bow is also nice for the HE procs.

• Emerald Ring [1] - +10 DEX/AGI/VIT, 100 ATK. Not too much flat ATK in Ranger builds due to stacking other multipliers, so Emerald Ring is nice.

• Memento Mori [1] - Nothing wrong with +10 all stats and 10% size multiplier. Nice choice if hybridizing with Aimed Bolt

• Perverse Demon Mask [1] - Great source of def pierce and raw stats. Since stats are so flexible in this build, it's fairly easy to allocate a decent amount to LUK.

Accessory Cards

• Sharp Magic - 10% AS multiplier and part of the 17.2 card set.

Card Sets

• 17.2 (Powerful Archer Skeleton + Papila Cae + Sharp Magic) - Gives a 20% AS skill multiplier, with an additional 5% for every 2 upgrades of the weapon.

Shadow Equipment

• Arrow Shadow Set - The only shadow set that directly benefits Arrow Storm. Shield gives up to 10% ranged multiplier, armor gives up to 25% AS multiplier, and the set gives up to 30% additional AS multiplier. With a Ranger Shadow Weapon gives up to 60% def pierce.

Costume

• Ranger Stone (Garment) - 10% AS multiplier

• Ranger Stone (Middle) - Really only valuable for the 15% AS mult bonus with the Garment stone

• Sniper Stone (Upper) - Gives a bit of flat ATK (2 per level of Steel Crow). Mostly valuable for the 15% AS mult bonus with Ranger Garment

• Ranger Stone (Upper) - Set bonus with Ranger Garment for 45s No Limits CDR

• Minor Casting Stone - 0.3s FCT. If you really can't stand that 0.1s FCT but don't want to run Temp Dex Boots/Ghost Fire. Picking this over Ranger (G) loses out on up to 35% Arrow Storm skill multiplier, but frees up a lot of equips, making it a difficult choice.

Stats

This build pretty much only benefits from DEX, although other stats can add a bit of utility or equip boosts. The general idea is to get 100-125 DEX then put points into whatever you need to hit equipment bonus checkpoints.

DEX - 100-125. You can't really go wrong with just defaulting to 120 for this.

INT - 80-120. 100 total gives blind and silence immunity, which is nice. You don't need to go much higher unless you have a Sera or need the VCT.

VIT - 80-100. 100 total gives stun immunity and helps with survivability.

AGI - 1-90. Largely unused stat for this build. Investing a bit for FLEE is okay but the ASPD doesn't matter that much.

LUK - 1/54/90/108 - Not a very useful stat unless you have a PDM, in which case you should get 54/90/108 for 45/75/90 def pierce respectively. Getting to 126 isn't really worth the extra 10% pierce for this build.

STR - 20+. Mostly for weight capacity and hitting a breakpoint with LUK for Vassalage or Mob.

POW - 100

CRT - 0, 72 if running Ghost Fire to eliminate FCT

CON - 97, or whatever's left

 

Focused Arrow Strike

FAS is a skill with a 5x5 AoE, 0.5s FCT, 0.5s VCT, 0.15 CD, and 0.5s ACD. FAS has a base 1,800% attack modifier that scales with base level and is one of the few skills that can crit, having an innate +50 crit rate. Each cast consumes one equipped arrow. The cooldown might be iRO specific and is irreducible by any means.

 

FAS is currently the strongest leveling build for Rangers and one of the strongest builds in the entire game. The low FCT and ACD are fairly easily addressed, and the low-ish attack modifier is easily remedied by the fact that it crits. Having another multiplier is great for improving DPS, and crit multipliers are plentiful and cheap nowadays. The primary goals of the build are to get 0.4-0.5s FCT, 70% ACD, a moderate amount of DEX, a decent amount of crit rate, and a good chunk of ASPD (like 190+) before dedicating everything else to damage.

 

Pros

• Lots of flexibility in gear choice.

• FAS crits, which means you don't need to worry about HIT.

• Low barrier of entry for getting started: FCT is easily managed, and cast delay and VCT are low at base.

• Most arrow efficient build.

• No bow restriction, although a few bow options really stand apart from the rest.

• Lots of physical DPS options synergize with high LUK, like Little Garden, PDM, JRing, and Galensis Card.

Cons

• Small AoE and shorter range than other builds. The range difference is surprisingly noticeable since the other builds allow you to target most enemies while outside of their sight range.

• Need to include a substantial amount of CRIT into build, which can be awkward when starting out.

• Iffy targeting means you need a direct walkable path to your target and can't directly target enemies on top of you.

• Requires a lot of clicking or a macro to reach DPS potential, and is somewhat dependent on server ping.

• Too much flexibility makes it a bit tricky to get started settling on a build. Requires many non-trivial calculations. 

Spoiler Gear

Costume

• Sniper Stone (Middle) - Normally I'd list costumes much later in the equipment list but this one is kind of a huge deal. -0.5s FCT for FAS. This single-handedly addresses the FCT aspect of FAS which greatly frees up the rest of the build. It's not a must-have because there are plenty of other great FCT sources, but it's definitely a strong pickup with very little competition in the slot. Note that the FCT reduction is just for FAS so buffs like No Limits will be a bit slow.

Upper Headgear

• Wolf Officer Hat [1] - 30% ACD, 15% ASPD, 25% property multiplier, 3 DEX per upgrade, and 150s NL CDR. Amazing gear choice here and really hard to top. It's really funny that this gives Arrow Storm multiplier since every other effect just screams FAS.

• Old Camouflage Bunny Hood [1] - Account Bound, so you'll have to craft one of these yourself. Really offers very little on its own, but comes with a few special enchant options, with the optimal choice varying between builds. Acute is usually going to be the best for damage, generally outclassing both Mettle and Master Archer, but situationally Magic Essence can be used to eliminate FCT. Main selling point of this headgear is the combo with ODR/Record of Archer, which is the only real reason why it outclasses Temporal Circlet (Ranger).

• Temporal Circlet (Ranger) [1] - As a standalone headgear, it edges out Old Camo Bunny Hood slightly by providing better damage multipliers and better enchants (Bio5 enchant and Temporal Jewel). 15 ATK per 2 refine, 5% crit multiplier per 3 refine, and 5% ranged multiplier per 4 refine. Temporal Jewel (LUK) and Acute will generally be best for FAS.

• Celestial Jewel Crown [1] - Best in slot when comboed with Sharp Star, but well outside of a viable price range. When comboed, gives 10% FAS multiplier per upgrade of Sharp Star, as well as a bonus flat 20% crit multiplier. Standalone, gives 20 ATK per 2 refine, 10% ASPD, 15% ranged multiplier, and 10% size multiplier.

• General Helm/Ruff Officer/Fancy Feather Hat [1] - These are a bit of a hard sell in this slot, but are a good mix of FCT, ASPD, and damage. All 3 give 15 ATK per 2 refine, 5% ATK, 1 flat ASPD, and .1s FCT reduction per upgrade above 10. +14-15 if this is your only source of FCT reduction, +12 if running other FCT equips. Listed in order of value for FAS.

Middle/Lower Headgear

• Little Garden - Gives 180 ATK and 35% crit damage multiplier making it one of the strongest options in slot.

• Gambler's Seal + Heart Card in Mouth - AKA Gambler Set. Cheaper alternative to Little Garden that takes up two slots. Gives 43% crit multiplier, 30 crit, 24 ATK, and 4 flat ASPD at a typical build of 120 DEX + 120 LUK, on top of a few other minor perks. Stays competitive with Little Garden until you pick up a high tier Lower Headgear, and an amazing source of ASPD. The splash damage isn't useful since it gets like no bonuses or buffs.

• Ghost Fire Set - Strictly better than the Mob Set for 4th classes. Set gives you 15% ACD, and a typical build will give 35% race multiplier, 35% crit multiplier, and -0.35s FCT.

• Mob Set - Very competitive option giving 6% class multiplier, 5 crit, and 10% crit multiplier for every 80 base STR + LUK, with 160 being a reasonable value to hit. Main benefits are that it comes with a headgear slot and that Mob Scarf prices tanked because it was one of the "trash" items in a recent OCP.

• Dreaming Red Sheep - 15% size multiplier and ACD. Both the size multiplier and the ACD are hugely valuable.

• Tyrant of Earth/Old Camouflage Scarf - Highest damage multiplier in this slot at up to 25% size multiplier. Cheaper than Dreaming Red Sheep and better if you can find ACD elsewhere (Sniping Shoes + Wolf Officer already hits the necessary ACD for the build).

Headgear Cards

• Purple Ferus - 3% ATK, additional 1% per 4 upgrades. Still probably the best option in this slot

 

Armor

• Assault Suit [1] - Yup, it's best in slot for this build too. 70% race multiplier, 150 ATK, 30 DEX, 10% ASPD.

• Illusion Armor Type A [1] - 2x ATK mods and Post-Skill Delay gives a bunch of ATK (240 flat and 10% at +9) and 15% ACD.

• Sniping Suit [1] - Gives 23% ACD and bonus crit, making it one of the best options for ACD in this slot. Hilariously cheap. This slot is probably better suited for damage options, though.

Armor Cards

• Angry Nine Tail - 10% crit multiplier and 5 crit rate, with a bonus 10 crit rate if the armor is +10 or higher.

Weapon

• ^newPoenitentia Nervus [2] - 250 weapon ATK. Weapon level 5. Gives 10% ATK and ranged multiplier, 1 P.Atk at Grade C, and 1 CON at Grade B. Huge amount of ATK at Grade A makes it better than all but Sharp Star + Biolab Virgo Diadem.

• Awakened Royal Bow [2] - 205 weapon ATK. Very well rounded and overall strong option, providing good ATK, 10% crit multiplier, 10% ASPD, 27% ranged multiplier, 10% ACD, and 20% FAS skill multiplier on top of 2 card slots as a level 4 weapon. It's currently very hard to top this bow.

• Sharp Star [2] - 150 weapon ATK. +5 crit, 1% crit multiplier per refine, 10% FAS multiplier, and 7% ranged multiplier. With Cecil's Memory gives an additional 5% crit multiplier and 7% FAS multiplier per 3 refines (20% and 28% respectively at +12). Can be enchanted with EA3, FS6, Sharp3, or Fatal3. Even with perfect enchants, it generally loses out to Awakened Royal Bow. Requires a Biolab Virgo Diadem to really shine, but if you can get one it becomes best in slot.

Weapon Cards

• Polluted Wander Man - 30% Medium/Large size multiplier. This is still your most preferred card, with WK being an acceptable lower-tier replacement.

• ^newChaotic Ghostring - +20 ATK and 25% Small/Large multiplier. Only notable if leveling in a place with small mobs, and no medium ones.

• Aunoe - Bonus 20% crit multiplier, which is really good, but since there are lots of good crit multiplier sources this drops in value a bit.

• Ancient Wootan Fighter - 10% crit multiplier and 5 crit rate, although crit rate isn't particularly in demand most of the time.

Garment

• Yoichi's Muffler [1] - Gives up to 143% FAS multiplier at level 249, which would be busted and core for this build if it weren't for the other garment options also being busted. Also gives 11% ASPD and a decent amount of survivability. At the moment, it's currently the best FAS garment by far, and has subsequently priced outside of the 1b range.

• Arabian Manteau [1] - Gives 65 crit rate and 110% crit multiplier at +11.

• Temporal Agi Manteau [1] - Gives 10 ATK and 3% crit multiplierper 2 refine, 5% size multiplier per 4 refine, 7% ATK, and 30% Brute/Demon def pierce. Str gives 1% ATK per 2 refine instead of 3%, making Agi the better option for FAS. Can be enchanted with crit multiplier or up to 15% ACD. Dex and Luk are similar options but Agi is best for FAS.

• Prism Ranger Scarf - The 10% ACD from this is great. The NL CDR isn't vital for this build because Wolf Officer is so viable, but eliminating the CD altogether is nice. Also gives 30% ranged multiplier.

Garment Cards

• Galensis - Current best option for crit multiplier in this slot, but only at 125 LUK. 30% Crit Multiplier and 24 crit rate is pretty hard to beat at the moment.

• Petal - Very good option for this slot. Supplanted by Galensis, but still a respectable option, especially if you haven't hit 125 LUK yet.

• Ancient Stone Shooter - 1% crit multiplier and ASPD for every 10 LUK, with a bonus 5% crit multiplier at 120 LUK. Gives lower crit multipliers than the above 2 options, but also gives ASPD.

Shoes

• Sniping Shoes - Probably best in slot if you don't need your shoes to provide FCT. 40% ACD, 10 all stats, 25% crit multiplier, 15% size multiplier, 10% ranged multiplier, eliminates size penalty.

• Pegasus Shoes [1] - 40% ACD and some survivability. Only notable for being a high ACD option with a slot, but the only shoes cards that could tip the balance against Sniping Shoes are MVP cards.

• Great Hero's Boots [1] - 0.7s FCT, 5% ACD, 5% ATK. Very strong FCT option, and strong slotted boots option, especially with an Awakened Royal Bow for 10 DEX and 7% ATK. Only loses situationally to Temp Dex + Ring.

• Temporal Dex Boots [1] - 0.5s FCT, 5% ranged multiplier, 3 DEX per 3 refine. Decent FCT option. Can outperform other options when the special enchants proc, and has situational utility with Temporal Ring (SoL and LD being the most notable).

• Temporal Luk Boots [1] - 30% crit multiplier, additional 2% crit multiplier per 3 refine. Very situational Temporal Boots that give crit multiplier instead of FCT. Only really worth mentioning for the special enchants and Temporal Ring set bonus.

Shoes Cards

• Geffen Gang - 5% ASPD and 3% crit multiplier.

• Geffen Thug - 3% ASPD and 5% crit multiplier.

• Vicious Cookie - 1% ATK with additional 1% for every 2 refine.

Accessories

• Ring of Jupiter [1] - On the right slot gives 15 ATK per 10 base LUK (180 ATK at 120 LUK), which synergizes really well with this build. At 125 LUK also gives a 15% boss damage multiplier. Also lets you use level 5 Blessing, which is nice. On the left slot it just gives tankiness so not worth mentioning here too much.

• Perverse Demon Mask [1] - Left slot only that gives a bunch of stats and 15% def pierce for each 18 LUK. Notable breakpoints are 108 and 126 LUK for 90% and 105% pierce respectively, which synergizes really well with a bunch of other gear.

• Ring of Silver Claw [1] - +50 crit rate, 10% class multiplier, and 1% crit multiplier for every 5 levels (up to 50% crit multiplier), making it a really good FAS option.

• Emerald Ring [1] - 10 DEX/AGI/VIT and 100 ATK. Mainly for lower LUK builds that can't use J.Ring or don't run PDM.

• Old Detachments Ring [1] - AKA ODR. Gives +70 crit rate and +70 crit multiplier when comboed with Old Camouflage Bunny Hood. Not much better than Ring of Silver Claw at higher levels.

• Temporal Ring [1] - 50 ATK. The SoL (30% ACD), HE (40 DEX), and LD (40 LUK, 30% crit multiplier) combos are fairly decent and make this one of the stronger options if you're running Temp Boots.

• King Schmidt's Insignia [1] - Str/Agi/Luk are probably best for FAS giving 10% ATK, 5% ASPD, and 7% crit multiplier respectively. Makes all Temporal Boot enchants but Runaway Magic viable, depending on the rest of the build. SoL is probably best for 30% crit multiplier alongside the Temporal Ring 30% ACD.

• Illusion Booster [1] - 5% ATK and a handful of enchant options. With Fatal/ASPD/EA5 mods, this ends up being not strictly outclassed by any one accessory, but just barely. Replacing EA with Drain Life or Drain Soul can also provide good utility on top of the damage boost.

• Memento Mori [1] - Can't go wrong with 10% ACD, 10% size multiplier, and +10 all stats

• ^newRing of Venus [1] - AGI style is probably preferable here for the 12% class multiplier and 25% ACD, and leaves the right slot open for Jupiter. Not too crucial for this build given that ACD and FCT are so manageable for FAS already.

Accessory Cards

• Void Mimic - 15% crit multiplier. Combo with Treasure Mimic for additional 15% crit multiplier, although Treasure Mimic loses to Galensis unless also running Ancient Mimic. Best crit multiplier in slot even solo.

• Ominous Heater - 3 crit rate and 5% crit multiplier. Largely worse than Void Mimic

• ^newChaotic Acolyte - 4% ACD.

Shadow Equipment

• Shadow Transcendental Time Set - 3 ASPD, 7% ASPD, 7% crit multiplier, 15 ATK, 70% def pierce. ASPD and crit multiplier are pretty much unrivaled, and the def pierce frees you up a bit from PDM or needing super high LUK.

• Shooting Shadow Set - Offers various perks for FAS (up to 10% ranged, 15% FAS, and 15% crit multiplier. Up to 15% SP consumption reduction) and up to 60% def pierce when comboed with Ranger Shadow Shield.

• Reload Shadow Set - Additional ACD option if it's necessary, giving up to 15% ACD

• Blitz Shadow Set - Great source of ASPD, with each set giving 3 flat ASPD. The shield gives a small amount of crit rate, and the Weapon and Armor give ACD.

Other Costumes

None of these are quite as impactful as Sniper Mid, so I'm putting them in a later section

• Critical Stone (Garment) - 20% crit multiplier. Combos with Critical Stone (Upper) + (Lower) for a bit more multiplier.

• Ranger Stone (Upper) + Ranger Stone II (Garment) - Gives 15% FAS multiplier, and the upper stone gives 5% ACD. Either Ranger Stone (Lower) or Sniper Stone II (Lower) will work as your last costume, depending on if you want 15% size multiplier or 45s No Limits CDR respectively.

Stats

The stat build is heavily affected by what gear you plan on running, so it's hard to give good guidelines here. Even though this is a crit-based build, LUK isn't actually that important since FAS has the +50 bonus crit rate and there are so many good equipment options to boost crit rate and multiplier. Still, running high LUK opens up more choices for crit multiplier so it's generally a safe choice to invest in.

DEX: 120 for Temporal Dex Boots and for damage + VCT. Hard to justify going much higher or lower.

LUK: >=108 if running just PDM. 120 if running Gambler Set, 125 if running Little Garden or Ring of Jupiter, 126 if running those + PDM. If running none of those, just whatever you have left.

VIT: 80-100 for survivability and stun immunity. Also synergizes with PDM for DEX.

AGI: 70-110, for ASPD. 120 if running Imperial Set.

INT: 50-90 to round out VCT. 120 if running Sera.

STR: 20-50. For weight capacity and to get STR + LUK to a threshold for Mob Set or Vassalage.

POW: 100

CRT: 97, unless trying to hybridize with other builds, in which case some CON is okay

 

Aimed Bolt

Aimed Bolt is a single target skill with 1s FCT, 2s VCT, 1s CD, and 2s ACD. The skill description is strangely unclear but with Fear Breeze active it does 5 hits with each hit doing 1,150% ATK for a total of 7,750% ATK before base level multiplier. Each cast consumes 3 equipped arrows. This skill has gone through a number of changes in the past few balance patches which has made it very hard to keep track of for many people.

 

This is the highest single-target DPS build for Rangers, but suffers from an outrageous barrier to entry. On top of the 1s CD restricting the build to only a handful of bows, Aimed Bolt also has a 1s FCT and 2s ACD. Since this build needs 93% ACD to reach maximum output, and most ACD options compete for slots with FCT options (Sniping Shoes, Wolf Officer), it's incredibly hard to get this build up and running.

The best way to secure 1s FCT and still have slots left over for ACD is through costume enchants. Casting Stone is the most straightforward choice for .5s FCT, but MCT can be more affordable for .3s FCT and leaves the option of MCT (Dual) for an additional .4s FCT. I'm also personally a fan of Maestro/Wanderer (Garment) and Minstrel/Gypsy (Lower) for .5s FCT. From there, it's a matter of securing the last bit of FCT, picking one of the five viable bows, and loading up on ACD and damage.

 

Pros

• Highest single-target DPS build.

• Cast animation looks cool.

• Stat and skill build are lenient, which allows for hybridization with a better leveling build if you can afford two equip sets.

• The necessary FCT reduction makes self-buffs much faster, too.

Cons

• Requires a lot of FCT and ACD, and very few bow options (with one being a strict upgrade of the other).

• Very hard to level with just this build since it's all single target.

• Requires fast clicking or a macro to reach max potential.

• Very arrow-intensive.

• Relies on HIT, so can miss high flee targets.

• Equip build can be rough to put together, since the best options for FCT and ACD are on upper headgear and shoes and are mutually exclusive. Will probably require a Costume Garment enchant.

• Fairly SP-intensive. On top of that, since it's single target it makes SP-leech procs less likely than with the AoE skills.

Spoiler Gear

Upper Headgear

• Wolf Officer Hat [1] - 30% ACD, 15% ASPD, 25% property multiplier, 3 DEX per upgrade, and 150s NL CDR. Almost one of the best options in this slot from the ACD alone. Main downside is that upper headgear is one of the few slots that has FCT reduction and the 1s FCT is one of the main hurdles of this build.

• Temporal Circlet (Ranger) [1] - 15 ATK per 2 refine, 20% skill multiplier per 3 refine, 5% ranged multiplier per 4 refine. Huge amount of skill multiplier, and a great source of FCT reduction through Magic Essence. It's probably better to get ME5 on this than to try to find FCT elsewhere and get Mettle/Master Archer.

• Biolab Virgo Diadem [1] - 20 ATK, 10% ASPD, 15% ranged multiplier, 10% size multiplier. Best option for raw damage when paired with Aiming Bow for a 10% skill multiplier per weapon upgrade on top of 10% more ranged multiplier, but you really want FCT or ACD in this slot. Fairly luxury option because it forces the rest of the build into luxury options in order to secure enough FCT and ACD.

• Fancy Feather Hat/Ruff Officer/General Helm [1] - Notable for .1s FCT per upgrade past 10. Also gives 15 ATK per 2 refine, 1 ASPD, 5% ATK, and 12% ranged multiplier/30 ATK + 3% ranged multiplier/10% ASPD respectively. A +13 one of these with a Great Hero's Boots solves your FCT issue, but you may have trouble with ACD.

Middle Headgear

• Victory Wing Ear/Victory Wing Ear [1] - 10 ATK and 8%/4%(? iRO description says 8% for slotted, but other versions say 4%) ACD. Some of the best ACD in this slot. Can be enchanted with up to 6% more ACD.
• New Wave Sunglasses - 10% ACD. Great source of ACD pushed out of the affordability range due to the Ghost Fire set bonus.
• Heavenly Order - Gives 2% ACD per 18 AGI, and 15 ATK per 18 LUK. Great option for ACD in this slot because AGI is commonly built.
• Baron's Evil Eye - 5% ACD.

Lower Headgear

• Dreaming Red Sheep - 15% ACD and size multiplier. Very hard to beat this option.

• Tyrant of Earth - Up to 25% size multiplier. Best option if ACD is already secured elsewhere.

• Sacred Lapel - Just gives 15% ACD, but at like 1/40th of the price of Dreaming Red Sheep.

Headgear Cards

• Purple Ferus - 3% ATK, 1% per 4 refine.

Armor

• Assault Suit [1] - 70% race multiplier, 150 ATK, 30 DEX, 10% ASPD, +50 Perfect Hit. Still best option for just about every Ranger build.

• Illusion Armor Type A [1] - 2x ATK mods and Post-Skill Delay gives a bunch of ATK (240 flat at 10% at +9) and 15% ACD.

• Whiteknight Armor [1] - I have no idea if this gives 20% ACD or 25% ACD. Gives permanent Endure effect, which is a bit mediocre here since you want to generally be avoiding situations where Endure would help in the first place.

• Sniping Suit [1] - Gives 23% ACD, which competes with Whiteknight for a fraction of the price.

Armor Cards

• Polluted Raydric - 5% ATK

• Porcellio - 25 ATK

Weapon

All these weapons reduce Aimed Bolt's cooldown by 1s, making them the only viable options for this build.

• ^newPoenitentia Nervus [2] - 250 weapon ATK. Weapon level 5. Gives 30% skill multiplier with an additional 3% per 2 refine, 10% ATK and ranged multiplier, 1 P.Atk at Grade C, and 1 CON at Grade B. Even ungraded, this thing is a beast for the ATK alone and outperforms all other bows. Lack of ACD on this is tragic, though.

• Aiming Bow [2] - 210 weapon ATK. 5% ACD, with an additional 1% ACD per refine, and 45% skill multiplier. 7% additional skill multiplier and 2% SP consumption reduction per 3 refine if enchanted with Cecil's Memory. Can be very expensive to get the right enchant, but isn't much better than Awakened Scarlet Dragon Bow without it.

• Awakened Scarlet Dragon Bow [2] - 200 weapon ATK. 4% ACD per 3 refine, +15 ATK per 2 refine, 10% ranged and size multipliers, and 35% skill multiplier. Very strong option and strictly better than the unawakened version.

• Guardian Knight Archer Bow [2] - 190 weapon ATK. +4 ATK per refine, 25% skill multiplier, 12% ACD, 15% ranged multiplier, and 20% Angel/Undead race multipliers. Not really better than Awakened Scarlet Dragon Bow, and honestly not even that much better than the unawakened version. Only potential niche is against Angel/Undead race mobs.

Weapon Cards

• Polluted Wander Man - 30% large/medium size multipliers.
• ^newChaotic Ghostring - +20 ATK and 25% Small/Large multiplier. Only notable if leveling in a place with small mobs, and no medium ones.

Garment

• Temporal Str Manteau [1] - 10 ATK and 1% ATK per 2 refine, 5% size multiplier per 4 refine, 7% ATK, and 30% Brute/Demon def pierce. Can be enchanted with up to 15% ACD. Agi is an acceptable option, but is better for FAS. Dex is honestly not very good even with the Dex Boots combo.

• Magic Barrier Cloth [1] - Up to 20% ASPD and ACD, and 50 ATK. Best ACD in this slot, but a bit lacking in the damage department.

• Prism Ranger Scarf - 10% ACD, 30% ranged multiplier, and 180s NL CDR. Still a great option in this slot for ACD and No Limits CDR.

• Yoichi's Muffler [1] - Gives up to a 13% skill multiplier for Aimed Bolt, which is honestly pretty low. Also gives 11% ASPD and some tankiness, but in general this is probably better for FAS.

Garment Cards

• Ancient Wootan Shooter - 1% ranged multiplier per 10 DEX and 40 ATK at 120 DEX.

• Raydric - For the 5% ATK Polluted Raydric combo.

Shoes

• Sniping Shoes - 40% ACD, 10 all stats, 15% size multiplier, 10% ranged multiplier, eliminates size penalty. Great ACD option if you don't need FCT reduction in this slot.

• Great Hero's Boots [1] - Reduces FCT by 0.7s and gives 5% ACD, on top of 5% ATK and some HP/SP. Combos with Awakened Scarlet Leather Bow for 10 DEX and 7% ATK, making this one of the best options for this slot.

• Temporal Dex Boots [1] - With SoL as the special enchant and a Temporal Ring, you can get 30% ACD, but you only get 0.5s FCT so you'll need to invest more in FCT in your build.

• Illusion Leg A [1] - Another option for 0.7s FCT. Almost strictly outclassed by Great Hero's Boots unless running an Illusion Armor and Engine Wing.

Shoes Cards

• Vicious Cookie - 1% ATK with additional 1% for every 2 refine.

Accessories

• Ring of Ceyneian [1] - Way too expensive of an option for me to normally list it, but this ring seems largely designed around Aimed Bolt. Gives up to 25% skill multiplier, 10% size multiplier, 20% ACD, 15% boss multiplier, 45s No Limits CDR, and 15% Perfect Hit. Nothing else even comes close to providing this much value in the slot, although the cost-efficiency may leave a bit to be desired.

• ^newRing of Venus [1] - Both styles will work decently. DEX gives 12% ranged multiplier and 70% FCT, and AGI gives 12% class multiplier and 25% ACD. ACD is probably better, but the FCT is nice if you only have a little bit of FCT reduction.

• Perverse Demon Mask [1] - It's really hard to go wrong with a PDM for the raw DEX, def pierce, and ACD.

• Memento Mori [1] - 10% ACD, +10 all stats, and 10% size multiplier. Any source of ACD is valuable for this build and this goes above and beyond with all the other bonuses.

• Temporal Ring [1] - 50 ATK. This is only really noteworthy for this build if you go for SoL Temporal Dex Boots for 30% ACD, since no other Shoes + Accessory combo provides both FCT and this much ACD.

Accessory Cards

• Faceworm + Faceworm Dark - 6% ACD, 3% ASPD, and +1 AGI/DEX/VIT/INT. Not too many strong options for this slot, so the ACD from this combo is particularly enticing.

• ^newChaotic Acolyte - 4% ACD, but left slot only.

Shadow Equipment

• Aimed Shadow Set - Up to 10% ranged multiplier, 45% skill multiplier, 9% size multiplier, and 60% def pierce. Best option for an Aimed Bolt build.

• Shadow Transcendental Time Set - 3 flat ASPD, 7% ASPD, and 70% def pierce. Still a very strong option for the ASPD and def pierce.

• Reload Shadow Set - At risk of sounding like a broken record, this build is hungry for ACD and doesn't have too many opportunities to get it, so the Reload Shadow Set becomes more enticing here than for any other build for up to 15% ACD.

Costume

• Ranger Stone II (Garment) - Gives 15% Aimed Bolt multiplier. Set bonuses with Sniper Stone II (Upper) and Ranger Stone (Middle) for 15% more Aimed Bolt multiplier each.

• Ranger Stone (Upper) - 5% ACD.

• Minor Casting Stone - 0.3s FCT. I almost want to list this as core for the build given how difficult getting the 1s FCT reduction is otherwise. It's gotten a bit easier with some Mid/Lower Headgear and Armor options that give some FCT reduction now, but MCT is still probably the easiest.

• Casting Stone (Garment) - Significantly more expensive than MCT, but it's much easier to find .5s more FCT than it is to find .7s more.

Stats

The main things here are DEX for cast time/damage and AGI for ASPD. INT is also a high priority for cast time and SP, and can also be valuable for certain equips (Sera/PDM). After that, it's just VIT for survivability.

DEX: 100-120. You pretty much can't go wrong with getting a lot of DEX. 

AGI: 90-120. There aren't too many strong ASPD options from equips so you'll probably want to invest in some AGI to get your ASPD up to a decent number. 120 probably isn't necessary unless running Imperial set.

INT: 50-120. This depends a lot on your equips. You really just need enough to get a fast cast time and possibly for the larger SP pool, but might need more for a Sera/PDM.

VIT: 80-100. Just enough for stun resistance, and maybe for the PDM threshold.

STR: 1-50. Since this build is arrow-intensive you might need more weight capacity.

LUK: 1-126. Largely unnecessary in this build unless running specialized equipment (PDM/Little Garden/etc).

POW: 100

CON: 97, unless investing in CRT for Ghost Fire

Edited by Nagaame, 07 March 2024 - 06:00 PM.

[Nagaame]

Hawk Rush

Hawk Rush is a single target skill with no cast time or delay, and a 0.15s cooldown. The skill has a 500% ATK modifier that scales with base level and CON, and can crit. Hawk Rush has a 1% chance of proccing per autoattack for every 3 CON, and that chance doubles if Nature Friendly is maxed, requiring 150 CON for a 100% proc rate.

The addition of Hawk Rush has really changed the autoattack build by finally providing an autocast skill that scales with No Limits. Autoattack is no longer just a "for fun" build and even has Arrow Storm beat when it comes to single-target DPS. That said, there's very little distinction between an Autohawk build and a build that just spams Hawk Rush, and the latter can generate far better and more stable DPS. Autoattacks just don't deal enough damage, even with Fear Breeze and Warg Strike. This section will mainly focus on Hawk Rush as a standalone skill, but it'll function virtually identically as an Autohawk build, just with less DPS and fewer inputs.

 

Pros

• Easy to execute and reach maximum damage potential.

• Gear buildup is easy since there's no cast time, cooldown, or ACD to worry about.

• Low reliance on SP except for self-buffing. Can switch from manual Hawk Rushing to Autohawking easily.

• No input required while attacking, allowing you to dual-client if desired.

• Autoattack range is actually larger than your own sight range, meaning it's actually possible to autoattack off-screen enemies in very specific situations (weird combination of movement + lag).

• Can "hitlock" targets, preventing them from moving into melee range.

• Largely crit-based.

• Goes from 500% to 1,000% to 2,500% ATK multiplier in the next 2 patches.

• You can pretty much swap out your boots with a +9 Noblesse Attack Boots to make a functioning FAS build with comparable DPS.

Cons

• No AoE.

• Build doesn't become relevant until 4th class, and getting to 4th class pretty much requires you to have an effective 3rd class build already.

• Warg and Hawk are forced neutral property unless you have a Mild Wind equip.

• Very arrow-intensive and RNG-dependent when autoattacking.

• HP leech is a bit less effective due to smaller damage instances.

• You can pretty much swap out your boots with a +9 Noblesse Attack Boots to make a functioning FAS build with comparable DPS. A Sniper (Mid) will pretty much make a flat-out better FAS build.

Spoiler Gear

Upper Headgear

• Altair Hat [1] - +3 CON with an additional +1 CON per refine, 40% class multiplier, and 1% skill multiplier per 10 levels. One of the only equip options for CON and Hawk Rush multipliers. Since ACD and FCT don't matter for this build, the raw damage from this item fits well.

• Old Camouflage Bunny Hood [1] - Largely for Acute and ODR combo. The Warg Strike multiplier is nice, but Warg Strike isn't a huge part of your DPS anyway

• Temporal Circlet (Ranger) [1] - 15 ATK per 2 refine, 5% crit multiplier per 3 refine, and 5% ranged multiplier per 4 refine. Slightly better Old Camo, but loses out on the ODR set bonus.

• Wolf Officer [1] - 25% property multiplier, 3 DEX per refine, 15% ASPD, and 150s NL CDR. Not too many property multiplier options, so this is a very strong pick.

Middle Headgear

• Little Garden - 180 ATK and 35% crit multiplier. One of the best options in slot. You may need to consider ASPD in your other slots, though.

• Gambler Set - Gives 43% crit multiplier, 30 crit, 24 ATK, and 4 flat ASPD for a typical stat build. Worse for damage than Little Garden, but the ASPD is huge. The splash damage is negligible because it doesn't get multipliers.

• Mob Set - 6% class multiplier, 5 crit rate, and 10% crit multiplier for every 80 combined STR + LUK. 5% ASPD for every 80 combined AGI + VIT. Main value over other options comes from the slot.

• Imperial Set - 180 ATK, 17% ASPD, and 2 flat ASPD. Due to the 120 AGI requirement, running this will probably handle most of the ASPD you'll need.

Lower Headgear

• Tyrant of Earth - 1% size multiplier per 10 levels. Best DPS option

Headgear Cards

• Purple Ferus - 3% ATK, 1% ATK per 4 refine.

Armor

• Assault Suit [1] - 70% race multiplier, 150 ATK, 30 DEX, 10% ASPD. Uncontested best in slot.

• Illusion Armor Type A [1] - 2x ATK mods and Post-Skill Delay gives a bunch of ATK (240 flat at 10% at +9. Solid choice until you get an Assault Suit.

Armor Cards

• Angry Nine Tail - 10% crit multiplier, 5 crit rate. Additional 10 crit at +10.

Weapon

• ^newPoenitentia Nervus [2] - 250 weapon ATK. Weapon level 5. Gives 10% ATK and ranged multiplier, 1 P.Atk at Grade C, and 1 CON at Grade B. Ridiculously high ATK makes it hard to beat.

• Awakened Royal Bow [2] - 205 weapon ATK. +15 ATK per 2 refine, 10% ASPD, 27% ranged multiplier, 10% crit multiplier. Very strong option and also great for pivoting in and out of a FAS build.

• Bolt Shooter [2] - 210 weapon ATK. 10% ATK, +60 ATK, and a chance to proc 20% size multiplier for 10s when attacking. Lots of damage instances give lots of chances to proc the 20% size multiplier bonus.

• Illusion Hunter Bow [2] - 165 weapon ATK. +1 crit rate per refine, 10% ASPD, 15% crit multiplier, and 30% Insect/Brute race multiplier. Standard crit-based build option vs Insect/Brute mobs. The lack of ACD requirement makes the Illusion Boots combo more viable over Sniping Shoes, giving 10% ATK, 2 ASPD, 10% crit multiplier, and a chance to gain +100 ATK, 15% crit multiplier, and 50% Insect/Brute race multiplier when attacking.

Weapon Cards

• Polluted Wander Man - 30% medium/large size multiplier.

• ^newChaotic Ghostring - +20 ATK and 25% Small/Large multiplier. Only notable if leveling in a place with small mobs, and no medium ones.

• Resentful Soldier - 20% ranged multiplier. In addition to the ranged multiplier also gives a 3% chance to autocast Double Strafe, which can be a funny combo with Archer Shadow Earring.

Garment

• Arabian Manteau [1] - +65 crit rate and 110% crit multiplier. Excellent source of crit rate and multiplier.

• Temporal Agi Manteau [1] - +10 ATK and 3% crit multiplier per 2 refine, 5% size multiplier per 4 refine, 7% ATK, and 30% Brute/Demon def pierce. The multiplier spread here makes it better than DEX and LUK, although LUK can provide some ASPD. STR is a bit worse and also more expensive. Can be enchanted with multiple strong options.

Garment Cards

• Cenere - 2% ASPD for every 10 base AGI. This is one of the only builds that strongly makes use of it.

• Sinister Dwelling Obsidian - 1% ASPD for every 10 base AGI and 1 flat ASPD at 120 AGI. Pretty much a better Cenere, but you don't really need too much more assistance with ASPD if you're at 120 AGI.

• Galensis - 24% crit rate and 30% crit multiplier.

• Ancient Stone Shooter - 1% crit multiplier and ASPD per 10 LUK, and additional 5% crit multiplier at 120 LUK.

Shoes

• Temporal Luk Boots [1] - 30% crit multiplier with an additional 2% crit multiplier per 3 refine. Can choose EA/ASPD/FS for the enchant. Lucky Day is great for Autowarg procs, but Warg Strike has really fallen off.

• Temporal Agi Boots [1] - 1 flat ASPD with an additional 3% ASPD per 3 refine. Similar to the Luk Boots if you need more ASPD.

• Booster Shoes - Counterintuitively, not equipment based on the booster event. Gives 2 flat ASPD, 10% ranged multiplier, and 20% crit multiplier for 125 AGI, DEX, and LUK respectively at +8, and double that at +12. Requires a huge stat investment.

• Sniping Shoes - 25% Crit, 15% Size, and 10% Range multipliers, on top of size penalty negation.

Shoes Cards

• Geffen Thug - 3% ASPD and 5% crit multiplier.

• Geffen Gang - 5% ASPD and 3% crit multiplier.

Accessories

• Ring of Silver Claw [1] - 50% Crit rate, 1% crit multiplier per 5 levels, and 10% class multiplier. Practically uncontested best in slot at 250.

• Old Detachments Ring [1] - For the +70 crit rate and multiplier combo with Old Camouflage Bunny Hood.

• King Schmidt's Insignia [1] - Str, Luk, or Agi are probably the way to go here for 10% ATK, 7% crit multiplier, or 5% ASPD. Really only suggested if combing with Temporal Boots.

• Temporal Ring [1] - 50 ATK. For the 30% crit multiplier combo with Lucky Day.

• Ring of Jupiter [1] - 15 ATK per 10 LUK (180 at 120 LUK) and 15% boss multiplier.

• Perverse Demon Mask [1] - Mainly for the 15% def pierce per 18 LUK.

• Illegal Chip [1] - 10% ASPD and 15% class multiplier.

• Illusion/Automatic Booster [1] - 5% ATK. Fatal/ASPD/EA mods make it competitive in slot, although not great.

Accessory Cards

• Void Mimic - 15% crit multiplier. Combo with Treasure Mimic for additional 15% crit multiplier, although Treasure Mimic loses to Galensis unless also running Ancient Mimic. Best crit multiplier in slot even solo.

• Ominous Heater - Provides +3 crit rate and 5% crit multiplier. Largely worse than Void Mimic.

• Owl Baron - Autocast Lex Aeterna. Minor combo with Owl Duke to autocast Lightning Bolt. A bit of a "for fun" option.

• Owl Duke - Autocast Impositio Manus level 3, which admittedly isn't that great.

Shadow Equipment

• Shadow Transcendental Time Set - 3 ASPD, 7% ASPD, 7% crit multiplier, 15 ATK, 70% def pierce. ASPD and crit multiplier are pretty much unrivaled, and the def pierce frees you up a bit from PDM or needing super high LUK.

• Blitz Shadow Set - Great source of ASPD, with each set giving 3 flat ASPD. The shield gives a small amount of crit rate, and the Weapon and Armor give ACD.

Costumes

• Costume Tarnished Lamp - Gives +10 LUK, and can be enchanted.

• Lex Aeterna Stone (Middle) - 1% Chance to autocast Lex Aeterna when autoattacking

• Critical Stone (Garment) - 20% crit multiplier. Combos with Critical Stone (Upper) + (Lower) for a bit more multiplier.

Stats

AGI is huge for ASPD. LUK is nice for Autowarg chance and for most equip bonuses. DEX is still valuable for damage and VIT/STR still offer minor utility. INT is generally not valuable.

AGI: 90-120 for ASPD. It's nice to have 193 ASPD when autoattacking, but this can be supplied in good part by your equips.

LUK: 100-126. At least 100 will give 100% autowarg chance when Lucky Day procs. You don't really need more unless it's to hit equip thresholds.

DEX: 90-120. This is the only other stat that really matters for DPS, so feel free to pour a bunch of points into this.

VIT: 80-100 for some survivability and stun resistance.

STR: 30-70. This build uses up a ton of arrows so you may need a lot of weight capacity. Thankfully you have the stat points to spare.

INT: 1-60. Fairly useless for this build but it's cheap to invest in and self-buffs are costly.

POW: 100

CON: 97

 

Crescive Bolt

Crescive Bolt is a single-target skill with 1s FCT, 0.8s VCT, 0.15s CD, and 0.5s ACD. It has a 3,000% ATK multiplier that scales with base level and CON, and can crit. Using Crescive Bolt consecutively without moving increases the damage up to a 1.3x damage multiplier. When the Calamity Gale buff is active, Crescive Bolt does 20% more damage, and an additional 50% on Brute/Fish race monsters.

 

Crescive Bolt is effectively a FAS with a 1s FCT, a higher damage multiplier, and fewer equips that provide skill multiplier bonuses. At the moment, Crescive Bolt, Aimed Bolt, and FAS are neck and neck for highest single-target DPS, with CB potentially edging out the win with max stacks and Calamity Gale active. This build struggles with the same 1s FCT as Aimed Bolt, but doesn't have to worry as deeply about ACD and can instead focus on crit multipliers. Crescive Bolt doesn't have the same innate +50 crit rate as FAS, so you'll want a fair bit of crit. 70% ACD is still all that's necessary, same as FAS.

 

Pros:

• One of the highest DPS builds.

• Crits.

• High FCT reduction allows for faster self-buffs.

• Synergizes perfectly with FAS to clear mobs.

• Not bow-locked.

• Straightforward transition from FAS or Aimed Bolt build.

• Will only get better with patches.

Cons:

• 1s FCT is a tough barrier of entry.

• Very few skill-specific gear bonuses.

• SP-intensive build.

• Single-target makes for rough leveling if not using FAS.

• Requires fast clicking or macro to reach max DPS output.

• Calamity Gale only has a maximum 20% uptime at the moment.

• Pitiful range.

Spoiler Gear

Upper Headgear

• Temporal Circlet (Ranger) [1] - 15 ATK per 2 refine, 5% crit multiplier per 3 refine, 5% ranged multiplier per 4 refine. With ME5, becomes a very strong option for .5s FCT. Acute is another option, but at that point it's not too much better than an Invincible Crest Hat or Wolf Officer. Temporal Jewel (Luk) is probably the best, but Str or Dex can also be good if splitting this with an Aimed Bolt build.

• General Helm/Ruff Officer/Fancy Feather Hat [1] - 0.1s FCT per refine above 10, 15 ATK per 2 refines, 5% ATK, 1 ASPD, and some multipliers depending on which one you get. More FCT options. Very competitive with Temporal Circlet at +15, but it's really hard to get one refined that high.

• Invincible Crest Hat [1] - 10 CON and an additional +1 CON per refine, 40% class multiplier, and 1% skill multiplier per 10 levels. Probably the strongest option for damage in this slot, but loses out on FCT.

• Wolf Officer [1] - 30% ACD, 25% attribute multiplier, 15% ASPD, 3 DEX per refine, and 150s NL CDR. Great source of ACD and damage, but no FCT.

Middle Headgear

• Little Garden - 180 ATK and 35% crit multiplier. Very hard to beat this for crit builds

• New Wave Sunglasses + Ghost Fire - 15% ACD, 0.1s FCT, 7% race multiplier per 18 POW, 4% ATK per 18 CON, and 7% crit multiplier and additional 0.05s FCT per 18 CRT. CON is generally better than CRT for Crescive Bolt, but 72 CRT for a total of .3s FCT is a very strong option.

Lower Headgear

• Tyrant of Earth - 1% size multiplier per 10 levels. Very strong option, and this build doesn't need all that much ACD.

• Dreaming Red Sheep - 15% size multiplier and ACD. If you do need ACD, though, this is definitely the best choice.

Headgear Cards

• Purple Ferus - 3% ATK, additional 1% ATK per 4 refine.

Armor

• Assault Suit [1] - 70% size multiplier, 150 ATK, 30 DEX, 10% ASPD. Best in slot.

• Illusion Armor Type A [1] - 2x ATK mods and Post-Skill Delay gives a bunch of ATK (240 flat and 10% at +9) and 15% ACD.

Armor Cards

• Angry Nine Tail - 5 crit rate and 10% crit multiplier. Additional 10 crit at +10.

Weapon

• ^newPoenitentia Nervus [2] - 250 weapon ATK. Weapon level 5. Best Crescive Bolt weapon by far, giving 10% ATK and ranged multiplier, 10% skill multiplier with an additional 25% up to Grade B, and 1 P.Atk and 1 CON and grades C and B respectively. This thing is a beast just from the ATK alone, and the other bonuses are just icing on the cake.

• Awakened Royal Bow [2] - 205 weapon ATK. +15 ATK per 2 refine, 10% ATK, 27% ranged multiplier, 10% crit multiplier, and 10% ACD. Currently very hard to beat this option.

Weapon Cards

• Polluted Wander Man - 30% medium/large size multiplier.

• ^newChaotic Ghostring - +20 ATK and 25% Small/Large multiplier. Only notable if leveling in a place with small mobs, and no medium ones.

Garment

• Arabian Manteau [1] - 65 crit rate and 110% crit multiplier. Best option for crit multipliers.

• Temporal Agi Manteau [1] - 10 ATK and 3% crit multiplier per 2 refine, 5% size multiplier per 4 refine, 7% ATK, and 30% Brute/Demon def pierce. Slightly worse option for damage multipliers, but can be enchanted with 15% ACD if necessary for the build. Str Manteau is a bit worse and a bit more expensive. Luk/Dex are also worse, but generally cheaper.

Garment Cards

• Galensis - 24 crit rate and 30% crit multiplier.

• Ancient Stone Shooter - 1% crit multiplier and ASPD per 10 LUK, additional 5% crit multiplier at 120 LUK.

Shoes

• Sniping Shoes - 40% ACD, 25% crit multiplier, +10 all stats, 15% size multiplier, 10% ranged multiplier, and removes weapon size penalty. One of the best options if not going for FCT in this slot.

• Great Hero's Boots [1] - 0.7s FCT, 5% ACD, and 5% ATK. The FCT really eases things up for the build. Has a small combo with Awakened Royal Bow for 10 DEX and 7% ATK.

• Temporal Dex Boots [1] - 0.5s FCT, 5% ranged multiplier, 3 DEX per 3 refine. EA/FS enchants for damage, or ASPD if needed. Hawkeye is probably the best special enchant standalone, but LD, SoL, and Bear's Power all have a place with accessory combos.

Shoes Cards

• Geffen Gang - 5% ASPD and 3% crit multiplier.

• Geffen Thug - 3% ASPD and 5% crit multiplier.

 

Accessories

• Ring of Silver Claw [1] - +50 crit rate, 10% class multiplier, and 1% crit multiplier per 5 levels. Frequently a best in slot option for crit builds

• ^newRing of Venus [1] - Either DEX or AGI for 70% FCT or 25% ACD respectively.

• Ring of Jupiter [1] - 180 ATK and 15% boss multiplier. Great source of raw ATK.

• Perverse Demon Mask [1] - Synergizes great with high LUK builds for def pierce.

• King Schmidt's Insignia [1] - If running Temporal Dex Boots for the special enchant combo. SoL is probably best for the 30% crit multiplier.

• Temporal Ring [1] - 50 ATK. If running Temporal Dex Boots for the special enchant combo. SoL is probably best for the 30% ACD.

• Memento Mori [1] - 10% ACD, +10 all stats, 10% size multiplier. If ACD is still needed

Accessory Cards

• Void Mimic - 15% crit multiplier. Combo with Treasure Mimic for additional 15% crit multiplier, although Treasure Mimic loses to Galensis unless also running Ancient Mimic. Best crit multiplier in slot even solo.

• Ominous Heater - +3 crit rate, 5% crit multiplier. Largely worse than Void Mimic.

• ^newChaotic Acolyte - 4% ACD.

Shadow Equipment

• Shadow Transcendental Time Set - 3 ASPD, 7% ASPD, 7% crit multiplier, 15 ATK, 70% def pierce. Pretty hard to top this for a crit build.

• Reload Shadow Set - Additional ACD option if it's necessary, giving up to 15% ACD

• Blitz Shadow Set - Great source of ASPD, with each set giving 3 flat ASPD. The shield gives a small amount of crit rate, and the Weapon and Armor give ACD.

Costumes

• Minor Casting Stone - .3s FCT, which requires fairly specific options to round out the 1s.

• Casting Stone (Garment) - .5s FCT. The remaining .5s is fairly easy to secure across the build.

• Wanderer/Maestro Stone (Garment) + Gypsy/Minstrel Stone (L) - Still one of my favorite choices for .5s FCT in the costume slot.

• Ranger Stone (Upper) - 5% more ACD.

Stats

Pretty much identical to FAS. CON will generally be better than CRT unless running Ghost Fire for the FCT.

DEX: 100-125, as per usual

LUK: 90-126, for equip bonuses. The extra crit rate also helps

AGI: 90-110, for ASPD

VIT: 80-100, for a bit of survivability and stun resistance

INT: 50+, for SP and cast time. CB is SP-intensive

STR: 30+, just for weight. WH weight limit is fairly high, so this isn't too important

POW: 100. No reason not to max this since each trait always costs 1 point

CRT: 0 or 72, if running Ghost Fire. CON is just better for the skill formula

CON: 97 or whatever's left. Second best option for damage.

STA/WIS: A bit if you want a bit of survivability. Dying is always an option.

 

Gale Storm

Gale Storm is a skill with an 11x11 AoE, 0.5s FCT, 0.5s ACD, and 2s CD. It has a 2,500% ATK multiplier that scales with base level and CON. When the Calamity Gale buff is active, Gale Storm can crit.

 

At base, Gale Storm is just a worse version of Arrow Storm. It has a lower multiplier, higher FCT, fewer specialized equips, and the 2s cooldown effectively invalidates the skill's efficacy. All this changes with a Moonflower Bow and Moon God Lapel. Which adds up to 110% skill multiplier, and a 1.5s CDR to bring the cooldown to a reasonable 0.5s. With those two, Gale Storm becomes a strong competitor to Arrow Storm that overtakes it with Calamity Gale active or with a few skill balance patches. If you gambled properly and picked up a Moonflower when they were cheap and useless, then this is a build that's strongly worth considering.

 

I actually wrote the forum post that probably inspired this item, so there's a pretty good chance that I'm the reason this build exists at all. I'm also probably the reason why we got this build instead of a more general-purpose lower headgear that all build could utilize well, so oops sorry for that. Still, it's an exciting new build and all the other builds want Poenitentia Nervus anyway. I also think this might be the only source of GS CDR in the entire game across all servers, so look forward to those skill balance patches (patch 2 will eliminate the CD entirely with this and up the multiplier to 9,500%).

 

Pros

• Huge AoE

• Best way to build up AP for Calamity Gale

• Very strong with Calamity Gale up, 

• Great leveling build

• Will get even better with a few balance patches

Cons

• Bow + Lower Headgear locked, and likely will be for a very long time.

• Bow is a 0.34% OCP drop and is kinda bad due to low ATK, multipliers, and 1 card slot.

• FCT/ACD easily managed, CD high enough that ASPD/ping don't really become limiting factors

• Swapping between crit and non-crit gears during Calamity Gale downtime is awkward

• Low single-target DPS. Possibly the worst other than traps (Virtual Bow Arrow Storm might be a bit worse)

• Mediocre without Calamity Gale

Spoiler Gear

Upper Headgear

• Invincible Crest Hat [1] - +3 CON with additional +1 CON per refine, 40% class multiplier, and 1% skill multiplier per 10 levels, up to 25%. This build barely needs anything, so the raw damage from this fits in perfectly

• Wolf Officer Hat [1] - Only really gives the 25% property multiplier, +3 DEX per refine, and NL CDR for this build. There aren't too many strong options for this build in this slot, so Wolf Officer is a safe default when pivoting from another build. Also gives 20% damage reduction from bosses, which stacks with the 50% from the Moonflower Bow for a ton of survivability (although Wind Hawks are still squishy).

• Circlet of Time(Ranger) [1] - +15 ATK per 2 refine, 5% crit multiplier per 3 refine, and 5% ranged multiplier per 4 refine. Just another damage option. Acute5 for when Calamity Gale is up, Master Archer or Mettle otherwise.

Middle Headgear

• Little Garden - Up to 180 ATK and 35% crit multiplier. High ATK and the crit bonus helps for when Calamity Gale is up

• Seraphim Coronet - Up to 250 ATK. Highest ATK in this slot, especially since the locked lower headgear slot prevents any mid+low combos.

Lower Headgear

• Moon God Lapel - Only choice. Full combo gives 23% ranged multiplier, 20% size multiplier, 1.5s CDR, 0.2s FCT, and up to 110% skill multiplier.

Headgear Cards

• Purple Ferus - 3% ATK, additional 1% ATK per 4 refine.

Armor

• Assault Suit [1] - 70% size multiplier, 150 ATK, 30 DEX, 10% ASPD. Best in slot.

• Illusion Armor Type A [1] - 2x ATK mods gives a bunch of ATK (240 flat and 10% at +9. Budget option that can transfer across characters well.

Armor Cards

• Angry Nine Tail - 5 crit rate and 10% crit multiplier. Additional 10 crit at +10.

Weapon

• Moonflower Bow [1] - Only choice. 8% size multiplier per refine, and -50% damage from bosses, making this amazing for survivability. 

Weapon Cards

• Polluted Wander Man - 30% Medium/Large size multiplier. Moonflower Bow gives so much size multiplier that this isn't as valuable, but ther's still very little competition in the slot

• Chaotic Ghostring - +20 ATK and 25% Small/Large multiplier. Only notable if leveling in a place with small mobs, and no medium ones.

• Abysmal Knight - 25% boss class multiplier. I feel like this should get a special mention because the 50% damage reduction from bosses is such a big aspect of the bow.

Garment

• Arabian Manteau [1] - +65 crit rate and 110% crit multiplier. Probably best in slot when Calamity Gale is up.

• Temporal Str Manteau [1] - 10 ATK and 1% ATK per 2 refines and additional 7% ATK at +7. 5% size multiplier per 4 refines. Great source of ATK and modifiers, especially when Calamity Gale is down.

Garment Card

• Galensis - 24 crit rate and 30% crit multiplier.

• Ancient Stone Shooter - 1% crit multiplier and ASPD per 10 LUK, additional 5% crit multiplier at 120 LUK.

• Ancient Wootan Shooter - 1% ranged multiplier per 10 DEX and 40 ATK at 120 DEX.

Shoes

• Sniping Shoes - 40% ACD, 25% crit multiplier, +10 all stats, 15% size multiplier, 10% ranged multiplier, and removes weapon size penalty. These are pretty much always a safe choice.

• Temporal Dex Boots [1] - 0.5s FCT, 5% ranged multiplier, 3 DEX per 3 refine. EA/FS enchants. Hawkeye is probably the best special enchant standalone, but LD, SoL, and Bear's Power all have a place with accessory combos.

Shoes Cards

• Geffen Gang - 5% ASPD and 3% crit multiplier.

• Geffen Thug - 3% ASPD and 5% crit multiplier.

• Vicious Cookie - 1% ATK with additional 1% for every 2 refine.

Accessories

• Ring of Silver Claw [1] - +50 crit rate, 10% class multiplier, and 1% crit multiplier per 5 levels. Best crit accessory.

• Ring of Jupiter [1] - 180 ATK and 15% boss multiplier. Great source of raw ATK.

• Perverse Demon Mask [1] - Mostly for def pierce and stats.

• King Schmidt's Insignia [1] - If running Temporal Dex Boots for the special enchant combo.

• Temporal Ring [1] - 50 ATK. If running Temporal Dex Boots for the special enchant combo.

• Emerald Ring [1] - 10 DEX/AGI/VIT and 100 ATK.

Accessory Cards

• Void Mimic - 15% crit multiplier. Combo with Treasure Mimic for additional 15% crit multiplier, although Treasure Mimic loses to Galensis unless also running Ancient Mimic. Best crit multiplier in slot even solo. Not really worth going for a non-crit card except maybe Dolorian.

• Ominous Heater - +3 crit rate, 5% crit multiplier. Largely worse than Void Mimic.

Shadow Equipment

• Shadow Transcendental Time Set - 3 ASPD, 7% ASPD, 7% crit multiplier, 15 ATK, 70% def pierce. No other meaningful options, really

Costume

• Minor Casting Stone - .3s FCT. Finish off the last bit of FCT for GS

• Casting Stone (Garment) - .5s FCT. All the FCT and then some. Makes Calamity Gale faster too.

Stats

Nothing special to note here. CON is better than CRT.

DEX: 100-125, as per usual

LUK: 90-126, for equip bonuses. The extra crit rate also helps

AGI: 90-110, for ASPD

VIT: 80-100, for a bit of survivability and stun resistance

INT: 50+, for SP and cast time. CB is SP-intensive

STR: 30+, just for weight. WH weight limit is fairly high, so this isn't too important

POW: 100. No reason not to max this since each trait always costs 1 point

CON: 97 or whatever's left. Second best option for damage.

STA/WIS: A bit if you want a bit of survivability. Dying is always an option.

 

Trapper Build

According to iROWiki, Rotten Garden Knife gives a 4% Bomb Cluster multiplier per base level, for a total of 1,000% multiplier at level 250. Since it's melee damage, it's still worse than all Bow options due to No Limits and on top of that is really awkward to cast. My FAS does 100x the damage of my Bomb Cluster, so it's hard to see Bomb Cluster as being competitive even with fully dedicated gear. The main value is to easily kill mobs that normally only take 1 damage.

 

Hybridization

In general, Rangers have the flexibility in skills/stats to run 2 or 3 of these builds with proper equip swaps. For example, in an Instance you could run an Arrow Storm build for clearing mobs and switch to Aimed Bolt or autoattacks for dealing with the MVP. It can be awkward to have to carry so much different gear, and your DPS might end up a bit worse than dedicating all your resources into a single build, but it can be a good option when building up some gear or pivoting between builds.

 

Wind Hawk Builds

At the moment, the current iteration of Wind Hawk builds offers very little incentive to use them over current existing Ranger skills. The skills just aren't strong enough at base, and there aren't enough equips to boost them yet. You also have hilariously few options for skill point distribution.

Gale Storm

2,500% ATK multiplier, 0.5s FCT, 0.5s ACD, and 2s CD. At the moment it's pretty much just a strictly worse version of Arrow Storm and is only really useful for building AP. Becomes viable with Calamity Gale active, and the current 11x11 AOE is huge. Somewhat viable with the Moonflower combo, but is only being good for 60 seconds every 5 minutes is rather rough.

Patch Progression:

• 4th class balance patch 1: Increases influence of CON in formula
• 4th class balance patch 2: 2s -> 1.5s CD. 2,500% -> 9,500% ATK.
• 4th class balance patch 3: 1.5s -> 1.2s CD. 9,500% -> 10,000% ATK. 11x11 -> 9x9 AOE. Increases influence of CON in formula

Crescive Bolt

3,000% ATK multiplier, 1s FCT, 0.5s ACD, 0.15s CD, and has crit modifiers. It can be the highest single-target DPS skill with Calamity Gale active, but it's not so much better than Aimed Bolt or FAS that I think it's really worth a huge pivot into.

Patch Progression:

• 4th class balance patch 1: Nothing
• 4th class balance patch 2: 0.5s -> 0.3s ACD. 3,000% -> 3,400% ATK. 100 -> 65 SP
• 4th class balance patch 3: 0.15s -> 0.35s CD, 0.3s -> 0.7s ACD, 3,400% -> 9,400% ATK

Hawk Rush

500% ATK multiplier, no cast time or delay, 0.15s CD, and has crit modifiers. The autoproc chance is based on CON rather than LUK, so it's harder to ensure consistent procs. As a standalone skill, it's like a worse FAS/Crescive Bolt, although the 0 cast time/delay give it a slight niche. The problem is that it's already so easy to mitigate cast time/delay, so it's pretty hard to take this skill seriously. The one major use I have found for it, however, is to make use of its forced neutral property in Bio5, letting me avoid having to switch off Silvers against Margaretha/Randel. Does not get affected by Steel Crow.

Patch Progression

4th class balance patch 1: 500% ATK -> 1,000% ATK

4th class balance patch 2: 1,000% ATK -> 2,500% ATK

4th class balance patch 3: Nothing

 

Calamity Gale

Costs 200 AP and activates No Limits level 5 for 180s and Calamty Gale for 60s. The Calamity Gale buff is really strong, but the incredibly low uptime makes it not too great to plan around. Currently the main value is just to be another provider of No Limits, as alternating between this and No Limtis lets you maintain 100% uptime with no CDR. Getting up to 200 AP is a bit rough, though.

Patch Progression:

• 4th class balance patch 1: Nothing
• 4th class balance patch 2: Nothing
• 4th class balance patch 3: No Limits becomes undispellable. 60s -> 180s Duration. 300s -> 180s CD.

Everything Else

• Traps are probably useless except maybe as a funny way to build AP.
• Hawk skills aren't great, but giving access to Hunter Falcon skills again with a Warg out is nice. I like having Detect and autoblitz vs 1-damagers.
• Wind Sign is not a good way of getting AP because it'll require an average of 500 autoattacks to get 200 AP.
• Autohawk is largely an improvement for Autowarg builds, actually making it slightly viable.
• Weight Limit is improved by 1000, which is very nice.

Traits

• POW is the best, since the P.ATK multiplier is an entirely new multiplier, and the status ATK boost is really big too. Very little reason not to go 100 in this.

• CON/CRT are a bit of a mixed bag. They're the next best choices for damage, but aren't quite as effective. A more focused DPS build should invest heavily in these, but it's perfectly reasonable to sacrifice some of these for WIS/STA for survivability. CON > CRT for every build except FAS (Even Crescive Bolt prefers CON), unless running Ghost Fire for the FCT.

• WIS/STA for MRES/RES are the next best in my opinion. They effectively act as equip MDEF/DEF. WIS takes priority for me since equip MDEF options are so hard to come by, unless you're running Ghost Fire and want the ATK from STA.

Utility

The following are some gears that are nice to have on hand for buffs/utility but aren't necessarily good for hitting things.

Spoiler Gear

• City Map/Kirin Horn - Increase Agi level 3/6 respectively. City Map is gotten from Honor Tokens from 16.1 quests.

• Royal Guard Shield - Shield Spell level 1 for some healing, although it requires you to reequip both your bow and your arrows after each use, which is annoying. Gotten from Honor Tokens from 16.1 quests.

• Ring of Jupiter - Level 5 Blessing. Also good source of attack on LUK-based builds

• Wolf Officer Hat - At +9 reduces the cooldown of No Limits from 300s to 150s, and NL has 150s duration so you get effectively 100% uptime. Good equip in general, but not necessarily the best in slot for all builds.

• Toy Syringe/Flamel Emure Card - Increases healing rate of condensed potions

• Heroic Backpack - AKA HBP. Lets you use Greed. It's a decent mid-tier Garment anyway although Rangers can run into some slight issues with weight management

• Marine Sphere Card/Fairy Leaf Powder/Illusion Military Boots/Magnum Break Amistr Bag - Magnum Break gives a 10 second buff that adds 20% fire property damage to all attacks, but it's really awkward to maintain

• Costume Goggles/Crown/Boys Cap - Instead of investing a moderate amount of funds into better equips to move to an area that gives more experience, just buy a Costume Goggles for 30% more exp in the same area

• Into The Abyss - Funny option if you're good with Fire Walls, although verticalling isn't really necessary nowadays

• Archangel Ring [1] - Even with a Holy Skogul Card, it ends up being worse than Memento Mori for damage (but with a bit more survivability). Shield Spell level 2 gives SP regen, and lets you use Shield Spell level 1 as well for HP regen, making it a great swap-in for sustain.

 

Sustain

The following are some gears that leech HP/SP on hit or give HP/SP on kill, which is super great for leveling and also just providing pseudo-tankiness.

Spoiler Gear

• Catherina Von Blood - AKA CVB. Upper Headgear - +500 HP +50 SP when killing a monster. Great choice at early levels but the flat values can start to fall off a bit later. Costs 5000 HP and 500 SP to unequip which makes swapping headgear a bit awkward.

• Rideword Hat - Upper Headgear. At +9 gives a 5% chance for 16% damage leech for HP and a 1% for 8% for SP.

• Vanargand Helm - Upper Headgear - The description is super weird for this but I think at +9 it's ultimately 6% chance for 8% damage for HP, and 2% chance for 4% damage for SP. Also worth noting is the set bonus with Fenrir Chain for a decent amount of ACD.

• Autumn Headband - Upper Headgear - Gives a 4% change for 1% damage for SP, which is a very high chance. Also elimnates Arrow Storm VCT, which makes this a great headgear choice for early leveling.

• Cursed Book - I think this is strictly worse than Rideword Hat but might not be disabled when wearing Evil Dragon Armor?

• Tengu Scroll - 3% Chance for 5% damage for HP. There aren't too many good lower headgear choices, so this is a really strong option to consider. The full Tengu set isn't really worth it

• Evil Dragon Armor - AKA EDA. Armor - At +10 gives a 6% chance for 6% damage for HP and 5% chance for 5% damage for SP. The proc rates are very high which makes this a very strong choice, but wearing it disables Rideword Hat, Vanargand Helm, and Nidhoggur's Shadow Garb

• Thanatos Bow - Weapon - 5% chance for 5% damage for HP and 1% chance for 5% damage for SP. No set maluses so you can use this with any other leeching gear for some fairly good sustain. Also has fairly respectable attack and can be enchanted making it a fairly strong early leveling gear option.

• Hunter Fly Card - Card (Weapon) - 3% chance for 15% damage for HP. Very strong leech option, but unfortunately takes up a weapon card slot

• Skin of Ladon - Garment - At +9 gives 20 SP when killing a monster. Also gives a lot of ATK and Hit based on base AGI and VIT, making this a fairly respectable all-around option.

• Nidhoggur's Shadow Garb - Garment - 1% chance for 1% damage for SP. Also gives a bit of flat SP depending on base level and upgrade level which almost makes up for the tiny proc chance. Also of note is that it combos with Fancy Feather Hat for increased Arrow Storm damage, which is a nice bonus.

• Modification Module (Drain Life/Soul) - Enchants for Illusion Boosters (R/L respectively). 2% chance for 2% damage for HP and 1% chance for 1% damage for SP. Also come in Automatic variants for 17.2

• Malicious Shadow Set - Shadow (Armor/Shield/Shoes) - 4% chance of restoring 4-10% damage for HP. Great option due to low competition in these slots, but hard to come by

• HP Absorption Stone - Costume (Upper/Garment) - 1% chance for 3%/1% damage for HP for Upper/Garment costume respectively

• SP Absorption Stone - Costume (Upper/Garment) - 1% chance for 1% damage for SP.

• Succubus Pet - 2% chance for 5% damage for HP. Also combos with CVB for +500 HP and +20 SP regen every 5 seconds (doubles regen at Loyal intimacy)

• Incubus Pet - 2% chance for 1% damage for SP

• Yao Jun Pet - 1% chance for 1% damage for SP at Cordial or Loyal intimacy

 

Cheaper Alternatives

Spoiler Gear

Equip Sets

• Morrigane's Set - Cheap set to increase crit rate and gives a bit of damage. One of the only sets that can help Hunter/Sniper leveling and is worth considering picking up.

• White Wing Set - Huge boost to Arrow Storm damage which really helps early Ranger leveling given how cheap it is.

• Noblesse/Imperial/Grace Sets - Equip sets that give slight buffs to FAS or Aimed Bolt for doing the 16.1/16.2/17.1 questlines. The Noblesse set is available at level 100 which makes it a strong early-game option. The Armor, Garment, and Shoes are decent enough to be used standalone in early-game builds.

Upper Headgear

• Autumn Headband [1] - Eliminates Arrow Storm VCT and gives a good chance for SP leech. Great leveling gear for AS and even a viable leech option for FAS and AB.

• Illusion Passion Hairband [1] - No clue why they renamed the Hot-blooded Headband but Illusion HBH is one of the stronger non-OCP options, giving multipliers against Water/Wind/Earth/Neutral property and Small/Large size. Getting a good enchant is really hard and probably not worth going too hard for.

Middle/Lower Headgear

• Heavenly Order - For every 18 base stats, gives miscellaneous bonuses. Notable are 2% ACD for every 18 AGI, 2% ASPD for every 18 base DEX, and 15 ATK for every 18 base LUK. Very cheap option that gives great mileage.

• Demon's Familiar [1] - +10 All stats. Combos with any 17.2 weapon for +200 ATK. Currently, no 17.2 weapons are particularly good, but Superbia String has a chance of becoming relevant eventually.

• Little Abyss Dragon - +1 ATK for every 2 base levels

• Consecrate Fides Aureola - 15% size multiplier. Good until 150 when it gets outclassed by Tyrant

• Imperial Glory - Reduces ACD by 3% for every 50 base AGI + VIT, and gives a bit of DEF/MDEF. Mainly for consideration for FAS/Aimed Bolt, but also helps deal with Wind Walker's 2s cast delay. Only benefit over Lapel is a bit of DEF/MDEF.

Armor

• White Wing Suit [1] - In addition to the full White Wing set, the suit offers a few multipliers that can be valuable standalone. Also a decent option for FAS with Gray Wing Boots.

• Noblesse/Imperial/Grace Sharp/Aim Suit [1] - In addition to their respective sets, these offer an accessible source of raw ATK.

• Sniping Suit [1] - Great early option for FAS to increase spammability and give some crit. Aimed Bolt can also make use of the ACD.

• Lunar Eclipse Armor [1] - 1% ACD per refine rate, and 50%/70% FCT reduction at +7/+9 respectively. Also 15% HP/SP. Decent mid-tier option that's fairly cheap since it's a junk drop from a very loaded OCP.

• Orleans's Gown [1] - Cheap option for uninterruptable cast.

• Geffen Magic Robe [1] - Strictly better Orlean's Gown for third class.

Weapon

• Hunter Bow - With Hunting Arrow combo gives a huge boost to damage. Strong option until permanent No Limits gets unlocked. Unfortunately disallows use of elemental arrows, but this can be alleviated with Elemental Converters. Getting a slotted version isn't really worth it.

• Elven Bow [1] - Strictly an upgrade to Hunter Bow, but with Elven Arrows instead.

• Crimson Bow [2] - Very strong source of ATK if you can get one that's at least +10. +15 is great, but +11 to +13 is still viable for a while and will be decently cheaper.

• Thanatos Bow - Gives good base damage and leech, and it's fairly cheap to farm. Rerolling enchants is fairly affordable.

• Big Crossbow [2] - AKA BXB. Can have 2 enchants for stats or EA but it's hard to get good ones. Gives a decent Arrow Storm multiplier, but really bumps up the SP cost.

• Royal Bow [2]/Scarlet Dragon Leather Bow [2] - Ancient Hero weapons for Arrow Storm and Aimed Bolt. Can get to +9 easily with an Ancient Heros Weapon 9Up Box. Don't invest too much into cards/enchants/upgrades for these since you'll probably want to awaken them.

Weapon Cards

• Generic Race/Element Multiplier (Hydra/Goblin/Caramel/Pecopeco Egg/Strouf/Pom Spider/Flora/Scorpion/Ground Petite/Butoijo/Vadon/Drainliar/Mandragora/Kaho/Orc Skeleton/Santa Poring/Anacondaq/Mao Guai) - Generally fairly cheap but effective options to increase damage in specific areas.

• Desert Wolf/Skeleton Worker/Minorous - Give a 15% size multiplier to a single size class.

• Andre/Hillslion - Gives +20/+25 ATK.

• Soldier Skeleton - +9 Crit.

Garment

• Noblesse/Imperial/Grace Attack Manteau [1] - At +9 gives a 5% class multiplier

• Prism Ranger Scarf - Fairly cheap (it was when I started writing this; it's been getting more expensive), but it's good enough to be an end-game garment option just for the No Limits cooldown. Even if you aren't planning for it in your final build, it's worth picking up for early leveling.

Garment Cards

• Green Maiden - Source of LUK and CRIT for high upgrades. You can put this on your Noblesse/Imperial/Grace Manteau for some easy CRIT

Shoes

• Gray Wing Boots - Mid-tier option for a boost to FAS damage

• Noblesse/Imperial/Grace Attack Boots [1] - Extremely high value shoes option, granting an easy way to get FCT reduction. The Noblesse boots are available at level 100.

• Temporal Dex Boots - Very cheap option for FCT and DEX. Still acceptable even without any enchants.

Shoes Cards

• ^newChaotic Baphomet Junior - +1 Crit per 15 AGI. Set bonus with Bapho Jr. Card for 15% crit multiplier, but Bapho Jr. is in the Garment slot and competes with Petal/Galensis.

Accessories

• Luminous Blue Stone [1] - Decent option for crit-based builds but getting something with a Sharp enchant for the combo can be tricky (White Wing Suit is an okay choice)

• Fairy Leaf Powder [1] - Pretty good option for ACD and ranged damage, but needs a low level EA enchant for the full set combo (White Wing Suit is an okay choice)

• Paradise Lost [1] - 10% Size Multiplier and 10% ASPD. Fairly rare item and not that great. I think it's pretty much strictly worse than an Illegal Chip

Accessory Cards

• Bloody Butterfly - 30% VCT penalty for uninterruptable cast. Strictly worse than Phen since Fire Wall bonus multiplier isn't useful.

Niche Picks

Some equips aren't particularly strong enough to recommend in the above sections, nor are they particularly cheap enough to suggest them as cheaper buildups. If you happen to have one of these, they can still be fit into a build, but for the most part they aren't worth going out of your way to get. Hand-me-downs from other class alts will also be in this section. Note that in rare situations, some of these options may even outperform the more standard options.

Spoiler Gear

 

Upper Headgear

• Faith of Yggdrasil [1] - 20% ACD, +3 all stats, and 40% size multiplier. Not much better than Wolf Officer even with the Majesty of Yggdrasil set bonus.

• Legacy of Wise One [1] - 20% ACD and 30% race multiplier, and a decent amount of survivability. It's like a slightly worse, tankier version of Wolf Officer.

• Black Feather - At +10 gives 100% def pierce. There are a handful of class-specific gears like this (this one is an SC hat), but this one also gives +10 DEX and 50 SP gain on kill.

Middle/Lower Headgear

• Sunglasses [1] + Mob Scarf - AKA Mob Set. 6% class multiplier, 5 crit rate, and 10% crit multiplier for every 80 combined STR + LUK. 5% ASPD for every 80 combined AGI + VIT. The set bonus works with unslotted Sunglasses as well, but the slot can be very handy.

• Imperial Feather + Royal Guard Necklace - AKA Imperial Set. 180 ATK, 17% ASPD, and 2 flat ASPD. Requires 120 base AGI. The ATK comes from the set bonus, so you can't just run an unpaired Feather. Not too many builds need this much AGI/ASPD.

• Guardian Helm [1] - 10% size multiplier and immunity to curse are pretty decent (high LUK gives curse immunity anyway). Set bonuses with King Schmidt's Suit and Manteau are decent (+10 all stats, and the suit bonus gives frozen immunity), but the suit and manteau aren't that great options in those slots. Main value is from Str, Luk, Agi, and Dex Insignia bonuses, which are fairly decent, giving +5 all stats and 10% ATK/10% crit multiplier/10% ASPD/10% ranged multiplier respectively.

• Vassalage Necklace - Gives 4% size multiplier and +5 perfect hit for every 50 base STR + LUK. Even if you can only make it to 50 total, it's a very strong option if the slot is available and you aren't opting for utility instead. Also gives some perfect hit if you need it.

• Sacred Lapel - 15% ACD. It's an AB equip, but it's some of the best ACD in this slot and it's a junk OCP item so there are tons floating around for cheap.

• Arbitrator Shawl - 10% ATK and 5% ACD. Not really "cheap" but a pretty good hand-me-down if you have a Royal Guard with a Platinum Arbitrator.

• Brazil Twin Ribbon/Rebel Pocket Watch/Fluffy Lovely Fox- These are for other classes but give 10% size multiplier to everyone. Some of these are cheap and some are decent hand-me-downs if you have an alt of the associated class.

• Ear of Spirit - +1 POW for every combined 15 VIT and STR. Mostly a physical-based item, so it's more of a hand-me-down option than an actual cheap alternative.

• Flying Galapago - This item is apparently mistranslated and gives 20% crit multiplier rather than crit rate for Archers when comboed with a Cendrawasih card, which is better. The Blitz Beat bonuses aren't very meaningful since the move does such little damage in the first place (the damage is purely stat-based and is unaffected by modifiers so it'll be doing under 10k damage while you're doing over 1m).

• ^newLoyal Servant of Demon God Morocc - +5 P.ATK, and set bonuses with Level 3 Darklord Essences. Notable are Concentration3 for 20% ranged multiplier (but 15% damage taken from all races), Speed3 for 10% ACD (but -20% HP), and Luck3 for 20% crit multiplier (but 10% increased ACD). The negatives make this a hard sell for a lower headgear slot. Set bonuses with Demon God's Apostle Shnaim and Ahat for 15% race and size multipliers respectively, and Despair God Morocc for 40% race multiplier and 50% HP.

Headgear Cards

• Fury Hero - 2% ATK.

• Dark Pinguicula - +10 ATK.

• Engkanto - 30% property multiplier against Poison enemies and pierces 30% def on Plant race. A decent number of enemies are Poison, Faceworm Nest being a very notable example, and this makes slotted mid headgear options very strong.

• Cendrawasih - 2 INT. Only notable for the Flying Galapago combo.

Armor

• Soutane of Agility/Dexterity/Luck/Strength [1] - These give a lot of their respective stats, 10% ASPD, Angel/Demon race multipliers, ATK/crit/ranged multipliers, and can get some fairly strong unique enchants (Dex, for example, gives -.3s FCT). The set bonuses they provide unfortunately eat into the precious Garment/Shoes slots. Acceptable niche option against Angel/Demon race (i.e. Odin4/Nif2)

• Red/Green/Purple/Silver Dragon Plate [1] - +12 of one base stat, 7% Dragon race multiplier, some medium/large size multiplier, and ATK%/ranged multiplier/ASPD/crit multiplier respectively. Somewhat niche armor options. The enchants are pretty lackluster, but the upgrade bonuses are a bit nice. At +11 they give -.2s FCT, which is rare in the armor slot. Not too many places with exclusively Dragon monsters, or any high level Dragons at all, which really limits the value of these.

• King Schmidt's Suit [1] - 10% size multiplier vs Medium/Large, and 10% Fire/Shadow multiplier. Can be enchanted with an element and some raw stats. Not too great on its own, but can be okay if already running the Manteau and/or Insignia.

• Anti Conjurer Suit [1] - At +13 this gives 190 ATK, 19% ASPD, and 10% range multiplier. The cost of getting it to +13 is better spent on something like an Illusion Armor Type A, though. At lower refines, it's an acceptable option and still affordable. Set bonus with some Geffen Night Arena garments. The enchants aren't that great.

Armor Cards

• Rotten Wood - 10% insect race multiplier.

• Dame of Sentinel - +1 Dex for every 18 base VIT. This might seem a bit underwhelming right now, but eventually we'll get a Thanatos Tower update that gives a set bonus card.

Garment

• Skin of Ladon [1] - Most notably gives +15 ATK for every base 20 AGI + VIT, which are pretty nice stats to get anyway. Also restores 20 SP per kill.

• King Schmidt's Manteau [1] - Gives 2% Fire/Shadow multiplier per 3 refine, and 15% Dragon/Formless multiplier. Main value comes from the enchants, giving 3x FS6, EA5, Sharp4, or Fatal3, making it slightly better than Fallen Angel Wings but a lot harder to enchant. Has a few set bonuses with the other King Schmidt equips, which can be nice.

• Fallen Angel Wings [1] - Up to 26% ranged multiplier or 32% crit multiplier. The main value of this item is that you can equip it immediately at level 1 and it offers a lot of crossover for other classes as a cheap alternative.

• Ravage Magic Manteau [1] - Gives 2% ASPD per 3 refine and 12% ranged multiplier, with a set bonus with Anti Conjurer Suit for 50 ATK, and 5% ranged multiplier/10% ASPD if the suit is +11. The enchants aren't that great.

• Illusion Engine Wing Type A/B [1] - A version gives 50 ATK when comboed with Illusion Armor Type A, and B version gives 10% ACD when comboed with Illusion Armor Type A. Speed/Critical enchants are the most useful, but Above All can add some survivability. Mostly notable for FAS, but Aimed Bolt and Autowarg/Autohawk can get a bit of value.

• Automatic Engine Wing Type A/B [1] - Slight upgrade to the Illusion Engine Wings. Only notable new module is Powerful, which is a fairly middling +5% ranged multiplier.

• Convertible Physical Wing [1]/Convertible Critical Wing [1] - 5 ATK per 2 refine, 3% size multiplier per 3 refine, 7% ASPD, 10% ranged multiplier. Physical gives 1% ATK per 2 refine and Critical gives 2 crit rate per refine. Combos with Victory Wing Ear [1] for 15% ACD and 7% ATK/crit multiplier.

• Magic Barrier Cloth [1] - Gives up to 20% ASPD and ACD and 50 ATK. Has minor set bonus with Anti Conjurer Suit for 25% HP and 50 MDEF, but that's not really a strong enough reason to pick that up. This is the best source source of ACD in this slot, but somewhat lacking in damage.

Garment Cards

• Rockridge Cramp - 3 ATK and 1% ASPD per 10 STR. Funny option for a bit of ATK and ASPD. Mostly an option if sharing a Garment with a STR-based alt.

• Treasure Mimic - +5 crit rate. Gives 2% crit multiplier per garment refine with Ancient Mimic, and eventually combos with Void Mimic.

• Menblatt - 1% ranged multiplier per 10 DEX. Strictly worse than Ancient Wootan Shooter, and overall pretty terrible cost-efficiency because Rangers don't get much value from ranged multiplier.

Shoes

• Automatic Leg Type A [1] - Pretty much a strictly better version of the Illusion Leg. The FCT mod removes 0.8s, and the legendary enchants are a bit better too, but they don't really offset the price difference.

• Pegasus Shoes [1] - 40% ACD and some survivability. Enables use of Teleport level 2, which is some fun utility. Only reason to pick this over Sniping Shoes is for the slot, and shoes cards aren't generally that crucial.

• Unknown DEX Boots [1] - Airship Crash instance reward. Gives +15 ATK per 2 refine, 7% ASPD, -0.5s FCT at +13(!), and a chance of proccing +175-225 DEX with each hit. At +13, they're like Temp DEX Boots [1] with ASPD and Hawkeye, but subsequently loses out on the accessory combos from Temporal Ring and King Schmidt's Insignias. Given that those accessories are the main reason to run Temp DEX Boots in the first place, these don't really have a strong niche, even with the +90 ATK and Eroded Necklace combo. The other boots aren't that great either, since raw basic stats aren't particularly valuable.

• Mythical Moonlight Paw [1] - Only value here is the 0.3s FCT that goes up to 1s FCT at +13 Grade A. Pretty much everything else is for magic damage, so this is an acceptable hand-me-down from a magic character.

• ^newAuthority Sandals - 50% def pierce and up to +30 all stats. Pretty hard sell over most other shoes options.

• ^newStylish Silent Shoes [1] - Up to 30% attribute multiplier and enables Greed. Attribute multiplier is pretty rare, which makes this very appealing, but still faces tough competition in this slot.

Accessories

• Verus Core [1] - Gives 20% Perfect Hit, 10% ASPD, and 5% attribute multiplier.

• Sound Amplifier [1] - Reduces VCT by 50%, so getting 2 of these eliminates VCT. Unfortunately these are a bit expensive so by the time you can afford them you won't really need them.

• Imperial Glove [1] - Uninterruptible cast option. Also gives 5% class multiplier. Accessory card options aren't great, so by the time you can afford this it isn't much better than an Illusion Booster with a Phen Card.

• Force Condenser [1] - Can be enchanted to up to a total of 16% ATK, which makes it 1% better than Illegal Chip in pretty much that aspect only. All in all, not that great.

• Automatic Booster [1] - 5% ATK. Minor upgrade to Illusion Booster. The drain modules are slightly better, and really the only reason to justify the cost of this accessory over another OCP choice. All-Force is another new module that effectively only gives 5% ranged multiplier.

• Brilliant Light Accessories [1] - Memories of Thanatos rewards. Relevant necklaces give between 7 and 10% ATK and relevant rings give between 7 and 10% ATK and 7% ASPD. When paired, they give 5% ACD, 0.2s FCT, and 15% Angel/Demon race multipliers. If just using the accessories, Aquamarine, Ruby, or Zircon are the way to go for the higher ATK. They can further be comboed with a Soutane and Clergy's Manteau/Boots (Odin4 gear) for 5% ACD, 0.2s FCT, and 20% Angel/Demon multiplier. Amethyst = DEX, Aquamarine = LUK, Ruby = STR, Zircon = AGI. Can be enchanted for up to 35% Angel/Demon race multiplier and 10% ATK or crit multiplier. TL;DR these are very specific anti-Angel/Demon equips. Consider getting at least one.

• Sinful Accessories [1] - These are pretty much the same as Brilliant Light accessories, except against Angels/Dragons instead of Angels/Demons, and combo with the Abyss4 gear instead. The accessories also give 0.3s FCT instead of 0.2s. The downside is there are waaaaaay more relevant Demons than Dragons. Amethyst = Purple Plate = DEX, Emerald = Green Plate = AGI, Opal = Silver Plate = LUK, Ruby = Red Plate = STR.

• Eroded Necklace [1] - 10% HP/SP and 10 MDEF. With Unknown Stat Boots, gives +10 all stats and 10% ACD, with additional 10% HP/SP with +10 shoes, +100 ATK at +11, and +3 all talents at +12. Probably a bit better than a Memento Mori with +12 boots, but definitely a hard sell over Sniping Shoes. Adds a whole lot of survivability, though.

Accessory Cards

• Bone Ferus + Bone Acidus - Individually, give 5% Brute and Dragon race multiplierse. As a set, adds another 5% for 10% total against Brute and Demon. These races aren't nearly as common as Demon/Undead, making them significantly less valuable than the Cursed Raydric combo.

• Kafra Blossom - AKA KBC. 10% Elemental resist to Fire, Water, Wind, Earth, Holy, and Shadow.

Shadow Equipment

• Ranger Shadow Set - All this really gives is +10 all stats and some minor damage multipliers (3% size, 3% race). Gives 50% def pierce on normal monsters, but unfortunately that doesn't affect Bosses which is a bit of a big deal. Aimed Bolt is the only build that gets a bit of value out of any actual equip effect, and it's not amazing enough to justify the price most of the time.

• Creative Shadow Weapon / Shield - These give +1 CRT per 2 refine rate, and a bunch of C.RATE with high upgrades and in a set. A +20 set will give 10 CRT and 15 C.RATE. Pretty sure it's just about always worse than the Physical set

Costume

• ASPD Stone Upper/Garment/Dual - ASPD +1 enchant in Upper costume, Garment, and Garment 2nd slot respectively.

Edited by Nagaame, 07 March 2024 - 06:02 PM.

[Nagaame]

Leveling

I'm gonna be listing most of my preferred leveling locations. I try to balance exp efficiency with farming a few drops to help get some spending money, and will list what item drops are good to look out for. These are just some rough guidelines and some locations can be skipped entirely.

I strongly suggest creating a Merchant on a secondary account to sell some of the loot you pick up. A viable strategy is to spam Double Strafe on the Archer/Hunter, then sit and recover SP and level up the Merchant while recovering. It's somewhat important since you need 1,285,000z to trans.

I've been going through this myself without any assistance from my main accounts, and I've managed to get to the 150 range without too many issues.

 

This is the abridged version that'll just list the mobs, locations, and valuable drops. There's a better description of each spot in the big doc. Feel free to stay at some locations longer and skip other locations. Don't forget that Beginner's Fly Wings are cheap and 0 weight, so they're super great to use before you hit 3rd class.

 

1-10

Criatura Academy

10-21

prt_fild00 for Roda Frogs. Grab the bounty board in Geffen

Valuable Drops: Sticky Webfoot

21-26

mjolnir_06 for Poison Spores.

Valuable Drops: Poison Spores, Karvodailnirol

26

Open a Silver Arrow Quiver and do the Eden equipment quest

26-32

anthell01 via Dungeon Teleporter. Kill Ant Eggs and Arrow Shower the ant mobs with Fire Arrows

32-40

mjolnir_10 for Argos.

Valuable Drops: Cobweb

40-58

pay_fild10 for Greatest Generals. Do the Eden equipment quest at 50.

Valuable Drops: Authoritative Badge

58-81

yuno_fild12/11/01 for Geographers. Grab the bounty board in Al de Baran. Do the Eden equipment quest at 70.

Valuable Drops: Maneater Root, Maneater Blossom

81-90

ve_fild07 for Stapos. Grab the bounty board in Veins. Droseras open up at 86 and Muscipular at 90

Valuable Drops: Maneater Root, Maneater Blossom, Drosera Tentacle, Mandragora Flowerpot

yuno_fild04 for Harpies: Very fast but fairly hard for Arrow Shower leveling. Buy Stone Arrows and carry Green Potions.

90-99

gl_church/gl_chyard for Wraiths/Evil Druids/Dark Priests. Grab the bounty board in Geffen.

Valuable Drops: Fabric

 

Before Trans: Grab 2-5 Level 6 Spearman Mercenaries in Pront to powerlevel through early levels. Bind Brandish Spear to a hotkey and run around spamming that. Also ideally grab 5 Eden Merit Badges and get a 1 week rental Beelzebub Wing (buy a Giant Faceworm Snake Skin if you need to)

 

1-13

pay_dun00 for everything, since you'll need to be in the area to become a High Archer

13-29

anthell01 again

29-58

gef_fild10 for Orcs.

58-81

Geographers again, but this time with FAS. At 70, grab 2 Magical Stones and do the Overlook Water Dungeon Quests. The card reward will repay it and jump start your economy

Valuable Cards: Marine Sphere, Marc, Swordfish, Phen

81-88

ra_fild12 for Roweens. Grab the bounty board in Rachel. Walk your dogs around and use FAS

88-99

ra_fild01 for Desert Wolves.

Valuable Drops: Blood of Wolf, Holy Property Crimson Dagger

 

100

Do 16.1 and grab at least a +9 Noblesse Attack Boots, ideally a complete Sharp/Aim set. Buy an Autumn Headband using the Overlook reward money

Once you have both of these, do Mid TI and don't turn in the final reward once you hit 125 to stay there as long as possible.

 

If Mid TI is bad:

100-109

Still Desert Wolves

109-113

ra_san01 (Rachel Sanctuary) for Vanberk/Isilla

113-119

man_fild03 for everything. Try to get a Prism Ranger/Wolf Officer to get permanent No Limits

119-124

dic_dun01 (Scaraba Hall) for Scarabas. Do the Eden equipment quest to get the Insect damage boost if necessary.

125

16.2 and possibly 17.1 and 17.2. At this point you should be doing a decent number of dailies, like 16.1/16.2/17.1/17.2, Ghost Palace, and seasonal event quests.

125-140

dic_dun02 for more Scarabas. Also a great time to do the Weekend Instance if available (select 140~159)

140-150

15.1/15.2, and still Scarabas. Optionally lasa_dun02/03

150-175

c_tower3_ (Nightmare Clock Tower) for Big Bell or tur_d03_i (Illusion of Turtle) for Ominous Permeters/Soliders. Definitely need No Limits at this point if not running fairly good gear

175-185

mag_dun03 (Nogg 3) for everything or gl_cas01_ (Abyss Glast Heim) for everything. Glast gives better drops but has sparser, tankier mobs. Nogg likes to destroy weapons and armor.

180-187

ein_dun03 (Einbech Dungeon 3). One of the few new places to level.

Valuable Drops: Redium, Odium, Rindium, Purdium, Whidium, Dynite

187-192

odin_past (Odin's Temple 4). Opens at 180, but need to be 187 to get full exp from Skoguls/Frus. Everything is Holy and drops Runes of Darkness for easy arrow crafting.

192-200

abyss_04 (Abyss Lake 4). Last new place from the level 200 update. Quite a bit more annoying than Odin 4 IMO

200-215

nif_dun01 (Niflheim Dungeon 1). New leveling map for the 4th class update. Super great map due to Holy weakness and high mob density. Can even stay to 230.

sp_rudus4 (Rudus 4). Worse than Nif1 in every way IMO except for the only way that matters: this map doesn't crash nearly as much as Nif1 does at the moment. Annoying to reach, long access quests, and worse mob distribution.

215-230

amicitia1 (Amicitia 1). One map south of Einbroch near the bottom. Much sparser mob distribution and different element mobs, so it's not that much better than Nif1

230-240

amicitia2 (Amicitia 2). Kind of the only option for this range. Roughly same annoyances as Amicitia 1.

240-250

nif_dun02 (Niflheim Dungeon 2). You'll want to look out for a party at this point. There's generally one on the adventurer agency board. Leveling gets incredibly slow at this point (6% an hour is considered fast at 249).

 

About Partying

As you get to the end of the level range, you're likely to see people recruiting solo killers for parties. This is a bit of a departure from the more traditional party of running tanks, supports, and DPS all walking together, and is more about taking advantage of the experience share feature.

When Even Share is enabled, it increases experience gained by 20% per party member, and divides it evenly among the party. This means that in a party of 2 if you're normally getting 10,000 exp per hour, this becomes 12,000 exp divided between the two for 6,000 exp per hour each. If the other person in the party averages a mere 7,000 exp per hour, that becomes 8,400 exp divided between the two for 4,200 exp per hour. In total, that will be 10,200 exp per hour, which is more efficient than the solo leveling.

In less technical terms, what this means is that partying with someone who's only 70% as efficient as you will still be better than going solo, and conversely that you shouldn't feel bad about partying with someone who you're only 70% as efficient as. As you get more people in the party, the exp keeps getting better.

 

The TL;DR is that if you're leveling in a spot, check the Adventurer Agency to see if there's a party recruiting in your spot, or consider starting up a party yourself if you can. There's almost no downside.

 

Tips & Tricks

• There's a quiver merchant on the top floor of Eden who notably sells quivers of Fire Arrows, Silver Arrows, Elven Arrows, and Hunter Arrows.

• There's an arrow merchant in most weapon shops that sells all the elemental arrows now.

• Some arrows are still convenient to craft, such as:

  • Silver Arrows: Zargon, which drops from many Shadow/Undead monsters.

  • Fire Arrows: Burning Heart/Live Coal/Matchstick are great for weight efficiency.

  • Arrow of Shadow: Rune of the Darkness. Great in Odin4

• There's a dungeon teleporter to the left on the first floor of Eden who can teleport you to Payon Caves, the field outside Orc Dungeon, Glast Heim, Ice Dungeon, Rachel Sanctuary, Scaraba Hall (Kamidal Tunnel), Lasagna Dungeon (Dragon's Nest), and Abyss Lake

• You can exchange 2 Magical Stones for a 3-day Mini VIP. Notable among the perks are 10 Token of Siegfrieds with 24 hour refresh cooldown (you can only hold 10 max), free +7 all stats food buffs for 30 min, easy teleporation to all towns, and access to extended storage.

• Giant Faceworm Snake Skins (GFSS) can be exchanged for 5 Eden Merit Badges (EMBs) and 5 EMBs can be exchanged for a one week rental Beelzebub Wing, which is an infinite use Fly Wing. Use one of these when you're leveling in Mid TI trust me it's worth it. 8 EMBs can be exchanged for 1 Magical Stone. Please don't try to take advantage of any discrepancy between GFSS vending prices and Magical Stone vending prices because it's how I make my money and I can't handle any more competition (they also sell fairly slowly).

• While level 99 and under, you can reset skills for free with the Mesmerist in Pront or Izlude. Depending on your level, stat resets can be gotten for 1-12 Magical Stones in Payon. There's also a free use Mesmerist in Eden that resets both skills and stats once per character (this reset gets very infrequently refreshed). This Mesmerist can be used infinitely for Booster Chars during the Booster Event (which is all the time).

• Making another account is free. Make a Merchant. If you're feeling adventurous you can also make an Aco to warp you to places. If you can hide them somewhere safe, consider even making a Bard + Dancer duo for Mental Sensing.

• The eggs in Criatura academy are a great way to test out your DPS. You can set a 10s timer, spam your skills, and look at your arrow count to see how many skills you cast.

• Most decent money-making options are going to feel tedious. This is not a coincidence. These options are valuable precisely because more wealthy players don't want to deal with the tedium.

• One of your best money-making options is to keep making new characters and doing daily Instances and quests like the Overlook Water Dungeon Quests.

• Make gratuitous use of Camouflage in Instances. It allows you to bypass a lot of annoying spawn triggers (be sure to cancel it for the mandatory triggers, though). Save No Limits for the boss that's normally at the end. This will let you solo Instances way earlier and more undergeared compared to most classes.

• You can view other people's equipment by right clicking on them and selecting the "Check Equipment Info" option, although it requires the other person to enable letting their equips be viewable. It's a great way to see what some people are using as potential alternatives to what's been listed in this doc.

 

 

Edited by Nagaame, 21 January 2024 - 10:01 PM.

[addomeme]

As someone who has been out of the game for years, this is a nice read, TY!

[280160130102953517]

Great description. Thanks a lot!

[280160130102953517]

What about Erymanthian Skin [1]  for build Focused Arrow Strike ?

[Nagaame]

Erymanthian is a strong garment, but I wouldn't suggest it as my first choice for a FAS-centric build. The DPS boost it provides is significantly weaker than what you get from a Yoichi's or an Arabian. The added survivability is nice, especially in areas with lots of Fire damage, so it does fill a somewhat specific niche at least. The DEX bonus is pretty good too, although Wolf Officer also covers that aspect really well.

 

All in all, it feels like a more situational equip choice for rather specific builds or against rather specific enemies.

[280160130102953517]

Erymanthian is a strong garment, but I wouldn't suggest it as my first choice for a FAS-centric build. The DPS boost it provides is significantly weaker than what you get from a Yoichi's or an Arabian. The added survivability is nice, especially in areas with lots of Fire damage, so it does fill a somewhat specific niche at least. The DEX bonus is pretty good too, although Wolf Officer also covers that aspect really well.

 

All in all, it feels like a more situational equip choice for rather specific builds or against rather specific enemies.

 

Thanks for your reply. I chose this outfit because it provides significant fire protection, which helps solo killing ifrits. Not to say that this is cheap, since the price for +9 reaches 500kk. Unfortunately I can't find Yoichi's on the market.

[FishDeity]

A slight correct on item info:

Memento Mori's hidden bonus is only all stat +10, there's no additional size +30%. I've personally tested this.

As for regarding the confusion on class atk % and type 2 atk %, I'm think all the items u mentioned (except for Mob Scarf set which does gives class atk %) actually have type 2 atk % instead (albeit i didnt get to test these). These are the items i found that i think should be type 2 atk %:

- Fury Hero Card

- Polluted Raydric Card and its set bonus

- Illlusion Leg Type A and Illusion Armor Type A set bonus

- Vicious Cookie Card

- Blut Hase Card

- Cowraider Class 2 and its set bonus

- Great Hero's Boots and its set bonus

[Nagaame]

Thanks for taking the time to fact-check me, especially for the Memento Mori. I'll double check the class multiplier listings; I think at some point I started autopiloting and forgot to actually confirm the multiplier types, since divine-pride clearly parsed them as type 2 rather than class

[Pepyakalol]

What do you think about enchants for Arrow Storm build Ranger Stone (Garment) + Sniper Stone (upper) + Sniper Stone (lower)? Costs around 600mil, gives 20% Arrow Storm dmg, Is it worth it?

[Nagaame]

I don't think the costume stones are particularly high priority. With a +11 Virtual Bow, you already have +50% Arrow Storm damage, so the additional +20% is just a 13% increase to your overall damage at best (150% vs 170%). And then you also have to consider that enchanting a costume only has a 50% success rate and you need to get an enchantable costume as well (and the only options are either ugly or expensive, which adds to the cost). That said, they're arguably some of the best options in slot (assuming you don't want MCT or HP/SP leech) so it's fine to go for them if you have nothing left to buy.

[Nagaame]

Did a quick update for the 17.2/Level 200 update. I'm not nearly as confident in the 185+ content yet since I haven't really gotten that far yet.

[clizie]

is there any trapper build latest available.. i would like to try some trapper for fun

[Nagaame]

I don't think trapper builds have updated in years due to a severe lack of love on top of being less viable than the other builds. The only relatively new things have been Rotten Garden Knife and some 17.2 stuff (Sharp Magic Card + Automatic Mod (Cluster)).

[Hohoho56]

Thank you for such a comprehensively updated guide, covering all grounds. It's extremely useful for new, returning players alike and probably even useful to some veterans too. 

[Nagaame]

Doing some preliminary editing work for the 4th job update. I'll do more in-depth stuff once I've gotten a chance to explore what we end up getting on iRO, but the main thing to keep in mind is that Steel Hawk level 1 and Trap Research level 3 are necessary for Wind Hawk skills. Unless we end up getting the final versions of the skills, the Ranger builds are gonna still be the more relevant builds for a while due to how weak they start out and how strong OCP items are.

[Hohoho56]

It seems that in kRO most 4th job players are still using 3rd job skills. Saw a few videos of Ranger still using FAS and probably the builds and items are still going to stay relevant?

In the primary goal of FAS build I see that you did not mention the 193 ASPD, so I'm assuming it's achievable with like 90 Agi and other EQs, without the use of Gambler Set and Shadow Transcendental Time Set?

Edited by Hohoho56, 17 August 2023 - 10:03 PM.

[Nagaame]

It seems that in kRO most 4th job players are still using 3rd job skills. Saw a few videos of Ranger still using FAS and probably the builds and items are still going to stay relevant?

In the primary goal of FAS build I see that you did not mention the 193 ASPD, so I'm assuming it's achievable with like 90 Agi and other EQs, without the use of Gambler Set and Shadow Transcendental Time Set?

 

Yeah in the beginning, the balance theory behind 4th job skills was to supplement and support existing builds, but then that gets scrapped pretty quickly, and skill damage multipliers shoot up from like 4,000 to 14,000 and cooldowns shrink a ton. The final version of Crescive Bolt will end up being very competitive with FAS and Aimed Bolt, IMO.

 

As for 193 ASPD, it is somewhat achievable with the right consumables and equips even without the high ASPD from Gambler/Booster Shadow. 190-192 are still probably fine ASPDs, though (in one test I even achieved higher casts per second with 192 ASPD than with 193). I'll make a more explicit mention of ASPD though, since I will admit I probably should've done a better job of mentioning it and I seem to have forgotten when I originally did the writeup.

[Hohoho56]

If it's as what you said, then it is probably not in my best interest to acquire FAS gears at the moment, since I'm already pretty heavily invested into AS gears. And wait for 4th job to come out.

If I'm not mistaken some 4th job skills require SP to cast whereas the others require both SP and AP to cast. That is the reason they are not being spam-able as main attack skills like AS / FAS / Aimed Bolt, unless they start introducing future OCPs to sustain AP and whatnots. Not sure about what are the costs of Crescive Bolt and Calamity Gale though.

Edited by Hohoho56, 18 August 2023 - 09:23 PM.

[Nagaame]

Yeah, fortunately for Wind Hawks, the only relevant skill that uses AP is Calamity Gale, which is just the self-buff. Some FAS equips, like Arabian Manteau and Ring of Jupiter, will probably stay relevant imo, but things like Yoichi's might lose relevancy when Crescive Bolt gets buffed

[Nagaame]

Played a bit of Wind Hawk and my current observations are:

Gale Storm: I think it's 0.5s FCT, 0.5s ACD, 2s CD, 2,500% ATK multiplier. At the moment it loses significantly to Arrow Storm due to having a worse multiplier, significantly longer minimum CD, and way fewer gears with skill multipliers. When Calamity Gale is up, it gets slightly competitive due to its crit, but in general it's only really good for building AP at the moment.

Crescive Bolt: I think it's 1s FCT, 0.5s ACD, 0.15s CD, and a 3,000% ATK multiplier. I'd pretty much describe it as an Aimed Bolt that crits. It can outperform Aimed Bolt or FAS if you don't rely on skill-specific equips like Sniper Cos Mid or Yoichi. I don't think it's so much better than AB/FAS that you should swap to it quite yet. It can also build a bit of AP.

Wind Sign: This is a really rough way to build up AP. On average it'll require 500 autoattacks to build up 200 AP, which is an incredibly long detour to spend farming.

 

Hawk Mastery: I can confirm that the Hawk lets you use Hunter Falcon skills. The main values are Detect and autoblitzing 1-damagers.

Calamity Gale: Actually a pretty big deal, and really the only skill worth mentioning. In addition to making Gale Storm/Crescive Bolt viable, it also lets you get away with not using any No Limits CDR. You can alternate between No Limits and Calamity Gale and you should end up with no downtime since each one should cover the other's cooldown. The only issue is being able to build up 200 AP within 6 minutes because the current AP building skills aren't all that great.

Traps: Spamming these might actually be the best way to build up AP lmao

Talents: Pow for damage, Sta/Wis for a bit of tankiness, Crt for crit boost if running a crit build, Con for skill mutlipliers. The Con multipliers are pretty low at the moment and the skills themselves aren't too useful to begin with, so it's probably not worth investing in it at the moment. Since Pow and Crt always cost 1, and there aren't many other options for P.ATK or C.RATE, it's pretty much always better to invest in Pow right now:
1000 damage attack = 1400 damage crit. Add 10 P.ATK and that pretty much becomes 1540 damage, whereas 10 C.RATE would just be 1500. Think of it as if you already have a 40% class multiplier and want to invest in either 10% size multiplier or 10% more class multiplier, not to mention the additional status attack from Pow.
RES/MRES are pretty much just another layer of equip (hard) def/mdef. I might have a slight preferance towards MRES since equip mdef is so hard to come by

Also, the skills also use quite a bit more SP, which is pretty annoying

Best part of job change: 1000 higher weight limit

 

I'll do a more proper update once I'm allowed into Nifflheim again lmao, but the tl;dr is pretty much just to stick with your existing Ranger builds for now.

Edited by Nagaame, 09 September 2023 - 09:39 AM.

[Nagaame]

Made some more in-depth updates because certain map servers are down so I can't access my chars anymore. I hit 230 so I think I've seen most of what this class has to offer at the moment.

[VModIceCreamCake]

Made some more in-depth updates because certain map servers are down so I can't access my chars anymore. I hit 230 so I think I've seen most of what this class has to offer at the moment.

 

Congrats on 230 and I'm sure I speak for everyone when we say we appreciate the new info!

 

You might want to rename the topic too at this point. Sounds a bit out of date with the 185 title.
 

[Nagaame]

Updated with new OCP/Kachua info. Also the Crack of Dimension event reminded me to add a pets section.