11 replies to this topic

[trljason]

I'm finding leveling as a Royal Guard somewhat frustrating.

Currently I'm a 100/8 RG, I've got 5 points in to Reflect Damage and 2 unspent points.

I'm having a hard time getting the hang of leveling with Reflect Damage. Sometimes I get a really good rhythm going and then sometimes I just flat out suck and lose all my SP and have to re-kaahi myself frequently and just get discouraged from leveling. It just doesn't seem as hyped of a build as other people make it out to be.

What are some tips to make RD leveling more successful for me?

I use level 7 Kaahi. I see people talking about using lower levels though. Would it be better to use level 4 or 5 maybe?

My base stats are 50 str, 99 vit, 68 int and 50 dex.

When I RD level I wear the following gears:

Miner's Rideword Hat
no middle headgear
Well-Chewed Pencil
no body armor
Moonlight Dagger
Guard of Retaliation
Immune Midhoggur's Shadow Garb
Variant Shoes
Teleport Clip
no second accessory

The reason I don't wear a middle headgear is for the lack of anything good to wear in that slot. Is there anything I could/should wear there?

The reason I don't wear body armor is cuz I figure the less defense I have the more damage I take so the better. Is there a particular carded armor I could wear to make things better?

Is wearing the Immune Nid a bad idea? I have it for the SP. I do have an Immune Valk too. Would the Valk be better?

I have RoR and RoFL but I don't know if I should wear them or not. I dislike having my skills constantly locked in paw cuz of the autocasts from RoR and RoFL. I level in Juperos and get blinded a lot so I like to be able to Cure myself. Also since I use a Teleport Clip instead of Fly Wings I need to be able to cast Teleport in case a mob is too small so my SP doesn't get sucked.

I keep seeing everyone praise this method of leveling so much but I just seem to be having such poor luck with it.

I'd like to also mention that I have my girlfriend playing RO with me and she has an Arch Bishop. Currently I've always just leeched her and have her sit in a safe spot and return to her when I need buffs but we'd like more co-operative gameplay. She gets bored sitting around and I'd personally enjoy more active leveling anyways.

I'd definitely take suggestions for a more offensive/active build that involves us actually running around together and killing stuff. I keep reading that RD leveling is vastly superior/faster than any other build but is this really true?

How much faster is RD leveling compared to more offensive Royal Guard builds?

We don't care about WoE or PvP. We just wanna get to 150 already so any tips or suggestions for builds related to PvP or WoE aren't needed. I just want the best/quickest PvM build.

Edited by trljason, 14 April 2011 - 08:35 PM.

[Renaldoo]

You're definitely going to want to tone down that Kaahi. Level 7 sucks up 35 SP per heal-- Meaning you have to have atleast 12 targets you're reflecting on in order to maintain SP. With those equips you're probably getting hit for around 400-500 from the Venatus, yeah? You don't need to heal 1400 each hit. I use Kaahi level 4-- uses up a lot less SP and heals 800 each hit, which is about 200 over the damage I take.

You know when you're about done with a mob, and there's a couple venatus and a dimik left grinding away your SP, and you think "Screw this!" *teleport*, hoping to find another batch of 10+ venatus? With Kaahi 4 you can feasibly maintain SP when there's only a few on you-- and when you've got like 10 or 20 on you, your SP skyrockets.

Also, ditch the immune. I use a stygian (kasa card)-- most importantly, I take more damage and thus reflect more damage, and also fireball/firebolt casts very frequently. Nearly constantly. I would suggest for your second accessory a gazeti clip (clip of hail.) Add cold bolt to the mix, and you can watch a stream of blue and orange bolts flying into your mob, along with all the numbers flying. Even if it doesn't add much damage, it's awfully pretty.

That's about the basics. I might suggest using an armor with a disguise card in it (mute target at high chance if 77+ Vit), since the (lack of) an immune will boost your incoming damage significantly. If you need even more of a boost, I might suggest an alice shield. Valk mant/retaliation don't make a significant difference, I don't think, because it only reflects back to the individual attacker, instead of to all enemies in the area.

RoFL/RoR help a lot, but also severely hamper your ability to collect a mob. Since reflect kills very fast anyway, I would suggest against it, solely for the fact that you don't get stopped to cast Gloria Domini every time a venatu hits you, and also GFist can mess your SP up bad, if it happens at the wrong time.

As for the "wanting to play together" aspect-- Now that the turn-ins are out, you can go reflect at Medusas. They do little enough damage that she can likely keep you alive just with heals, so you don't have to keep running back for Kaahi-- but still significant enough damage to reflect effectively. The triple spawn makes it really nice for reflecting, though in comparison to double EXP at Juperos, it's not the most amazing exp.

Hope this helps! Any other questions, feel free to PM me. I'm not an expert in the field, but it's a character build I'm actively working on, so I can share things I learn along the way.

*EDIT*
Thinking again on Medusa turn-ins: You had shared EXP at Juperos, so the turn-in should be nice in that you'd both receive 100% EXP without dividing it up.

Edited by Renaldoo, 14 April 2011 - 09:18 PM.

[trljason]

Ended up leaving Juperos and went to Magma 2, toned down Kaahi from 7 to 4 and ditched the immune. Things are going MUCH much better now. I got a Rabbit Magic Hat and a Gazeti Clip but no Kasa Muff, couldn't find a Kasa card for sale. I still wear RoFL but not RoR so there's no risk of gfist going off and I ditched the teleport clip and use flywings now. But you are right, RD is more than enough alone to kill mobs so I'll probably ditch RoFL, stop using fly wings and start using my tele clip again to save trips back to town to restock them.

Anyways, I have 4 unspent skill points now and I'm not really sure what to do with them. Any suggestions?

[EvilLoynis]

Hey guys I have a bit of a question/suggestion regarding cards being used.


When Reflect leveling could you possibly leave off the Kahi if you were to use say a Loli Ruri Card &/or Enchanted Peach Tree Card? Loil gives you a 5% chance to cast Heal when you are hit and the EPT card gives 2% when YOU hit them plus if you have Heal maxed it's always going to be a lvl 10 heal.

Added to that you could use the Gazzi and Kasa cards with a Elemental Sword for a really cool stream of bolts.

Also if you used just one of the rings, Ring of Resonance or of Flame Lord you could improve the damage being dealt out.


I just wondered if this might not be a alternative and maybe funner way to lvl as opposed to Kahii + Moonie dagger. I just hate to have to run back for buffs other than say a weapon endow, since kaahi only lasts like 6 min.

[trljason]

I don't think the frequency of EPT and LR healing you are high enough even with Reflect Damage hitting everything around you compared to a 100% guaranteed chance from Kaahi. Sometimes even with Kaahi I come close to dying. It is rare and it only happens when I get a REALLY huge mob but still - sometimes you can't avoid overmobbing and sometimes you want to on purpose.

I'd also like to point that that as far as I know/can read, only EPT card casts level 10 heal on you if it's maxed. LR card doesn't say that if your heal is maxed it will cast max level heal.

However, maybe the frequency of EPT and LR healing you is high enough that you could even further tone down the level of kaahi, but not completely stop using it.

As far as bolt-autocasting goes though, you guys both forgot to mention the Magic Rabbit Hat It casts fire, ice, and lightning bolt and is a decent headgear to wear since there isn't really any other worthwhile top headgear to wear while RD leveling. This way you can continue wearing a moonie dagger instead of a fireblend or ice falchion and still get lots of bolts auto-casting.

Edited by trljason, 15 April 2011 - 09:51 AM.

[Renaldoo]

Loli Ruri casts level 3 heal regardless of level of heal learned. It's not very effective for this idea.

I do main a priest, and as such I have a priest set and a Rejuvinating Shield of Naga. I have heal 10 on my RG, with high int, as it's an entirely support build, and with the harpy event I have been able to (With an immune) survive off these two in mobbing harpies to help guildies level.

Things to note: This is only effective when you take very little damage from the monsters. Anything over 150 damage per hit will not be self-sustaining. I have tried this out at Juperos, and with small mobs, it rarely heals at all. With large mobs, and more reflect targets, it heals quite often, but nearly enough to counteract 25 venatus hitting you for 600 each (No reduction shield, since that card's taken up by EPT.)

I should also point out that I can't level off harpies, and get 0 EXP from them for this event, and if not for the event harpies would be terrible EXP. I have tried this at Medusas as well, and found similar results to the venatus. If I have less than 10 medusas, I'd better just teleport away because they'll drain my HP too fast. If I find a mob of 20+, I can run into them and heal will trigger enough that I can supplement it liberally with white potions to stay alive. That is, the heals plus 5-7 Persia slims will get me through that mob. That's also counting the ROFL/ROR equipped, and the associated physical attacks from bowling bash, meteor strike, etc. For the little bit of time it takes to get kaahi, and as much of a pain as it is to run back and get it again, it takes away all those limitations which I feel a bigger hindrance.

In short:
Loli Ruri- No. Bad idea. Besides the level 3 heal, it's when you get* hit that it triggers. If you're in a mob of 15 monsters, you're getting hit 1/15th as often as you're dealing hits.
EPT- Low-hitting, high-number mobs, if geared with enough damage mitigation gears to keep the hits under 100 damage. Otherwise unfeasible for soloing. However, in Jason's situation, where he's looking for ways to incorporate team-effort with his girlfriend, it's very feasible to handle otherwise unfeasible places with the supplementary heals.

P.S.
If using an EPT, don't ever take off the RoR if you have it equipped. If you have two gears that autocast the same skill, and take one off, it removes the effect from both, until you unequip and re-equip.

Edited by Renaldoo, 15 April 2011 - 10:22 AM.

[Anko]

While moonie and kahii are the essential ingredients, i like my rideword hat too much to ditch it.

I use immune valk to reflect more but also could switch it off once the mob is gathered. I would not ditch it entirely as it helps when mobbing.

ROFL is amazing but the thing is to switch it on once mob is gathered and you can switch it off when you are done of if you need to tele. Obv fwings are common sense for emergencies. ROFL is also great for filling your sp. RoR i would not use at all.

For armor i would suggest an ares armor if you have one for more hp.

I use a spare card so i get some drops as the 2 dex from the pencil doesn't do much.

I also wear ifrit ears to reduce fire ball damage just because i had a pair and fireball damage can actually kill me when i have enough chasing me.

I got heal 10 to heal myself so i would not need to bring a priest slave with me.

Defensive gears - good to have some but will need to switch them off when reflecting - too many and it becomes laborious; at least for me.

[trljason]

While moonie and kahii are the essential ingredients, i like my rideword hat too much to ditch it.

I use immune valk to reflect more but also could switch it off once the mob is gathered. I would not ditch it entirely as it helps when mobbing.

ROFL is amazing but the thing is to switch it on once mob is gathered and you can switch it off when you are done of if you need to tele. Obv fwings are common sense for emergencies. ROFL is also great for filling your sp. RoR i would not use at all.

For armor i would suggest an ares armor if you have one for more hp.

I use a spare card so i get some drops as the 2 dex from the pencil doesn't do much.

I also wear ifrit ears to reduce fire ball damage just because i had a pair and fireball damage can actually kill me when i have enough chasing me.

I got heal 10 to heal myself so i would not need to bring a priest slave with me.

Defensive gears - good to have some but will need to switch them off when reflecting - too many and it becomes laborious; at least for me.

I've found a good setup now.

The gears stay the same from location to location, all that changes is the level of Kaahi I use.

In Magma I use Kaahi 4 and in JuperosI use Kaahi 5.

Gears:

Triple Poring Hat (to autoloot everything that drops)

Evil Snake Lord Sunnies (for curse immunity)

Spare Card (for the extra Blank Cards for $$$)

-no body armor- (At first I tried using an Ares Full Plate but I find that it's actually a pretty stupid idea. The bigger your HP pool, the more times Kaahi has to go off to top you off. The sooner you are topped off the sooner Kaahi stops healing you meaning your SP bar fills up quicker from your Moonie Dagger.)

Moonlight Dagger (for obvious reasons)

Guard of Retaliation (to make RoFL proc more)

Uncarded Valk Mant (to make RoFL proc more) (Wearing an Immune = less incoming damage = less reflect damage = bad idea)

Variant Shoes (for a bigger SP pool)

Ring of Flame Lord (makes mobs die WAY faster than just using Reflect Damage alone or bolt-autocasting gears)

Teleport Clip (to save trips/time to restock Fly Wings)

I don't switch gears, ever. I'm always wearing the gears listed.

My HP/SP pool with this setup is 22k HP/1.3k SP

I'm not exactly sure how you are dying to Fireball nor am I sure how you can't make big mobs without an Immune. I pull massive mobs (like when the screen is littered with monsters after an area hasn't been touched for a while) and I'll SOMETIMES redline but usually just hit half HP. I NEVER die though. I never have SP issues either so wearing a Rideword Hat seems like a waste of a headgear slot. Triple Poring hat brings in major cash and helps to pick up all your Blank Cards. I can't imagine how much time you waste picking out Blank Cards from massive piles of loot after you've killed a mob.

After a session in Magma 2 my Triple Poring hat auto-looted the following:

1 Nightmare Terror Card
3 Sky Deleter Cards
97 Blank Cards
5 slotted Rosaries
1 Infiltrator
3 mil Zeny worth of ETC loot (scales, tails, horse shoes, etc)
2 mil worth of Flame Hearts that I sold to people with their B> shops

I get this stuff EVERY session in Magma 2 with the exception of monster cards and the Infiltrator.

Wearing a Triple Poring Hat is dumb in Juperos though cuz Venatus have an extremely low drop rate for practically all of their loot. It's better to just wear a RWH in Juperos if you are wearing a RoFL but in Magma 2 a Triple Poring Hat is definitely the better way to go.

Edited by trljason, 22 April 2011 - 03:17 PM.

[Anko]

I'm not exactly sure how you are dying to Fireball nor am I sure how you can't make big mobs without an Immune. I pull massive mobs (like when the screen is littered with monsters after an area hasn't been touched for a while) and I'll SOMETIMES redline but usually just hit half HP. I NEVER die though. I never have SP issues either so wearing a Rideword Hat seems like a waste of a headgear slot. Triple Poring hat brings in major cash and helps to pick up all your Blank Cards. I can't imagine how much time you waste picking out Blank Cards from massive piles of loot after you've killed a mob.

Try mobbing 40-50 dragons in AL and watch the fireball rape you, especially if you wear a bryn instead of a firearmor.

I kinda never pick up my own loot tbh as i am on auto-pilot mode and then realise there was an elu right after i wing.

[trljason]

Try mobbing 40-50 dragons in AL and watch the fireball rape you, especially if you wear a bryn instead of a firearmor.

I kinda never pick up my own loot tbh as i am on auto-pilot mode and then realise there was an elu right after i wing.

Lmao I'm so sorry. I totally thought you were talking about Magma 2 when you mentioned Fireball. I had no idea you could reflect level all the way as far as AL3 too. Anyways, I assume you're high level so I have a couple questions. Do you purely Reflect Damage in AL3 or do you also use Overbrand? What's the next place to level at after Magma 2 besides Juperos 1? After trying the 2 out I have to say I hate Juperos. So it's safe to say I wont be going there once Magma 2 get's slow. Magma 2 just always seems to wield better mobs. I want to invest in a good spear for Overbrand. The iRO wiki page for Royal Guards says the 3 best spears for Overbrand are Brocca, Long Horn, and Battle Hook.

What's your experience with all 3 if you have tried them all? Which one is the best of the 3? Does the armor ignoring feature of Brocca compensate for its much lower attack than Long Horn and Battle Hook? Brocca is the most expensive on the Ymir market so I assume it's the better of the 3.

Edited by trljason, 25 April 2011 - 09:35 AM.

[Anko]

Lmao I'm so sorry. I totally thought you were talking about Magma 2 when you mentioned Fireball. I had no idea you could reflect level all the way as far as AL3 too. Anyways, I assume you're high level so I have a couple questions. Do you purely Reflect Damage in AL3 or do you also use Overbrand? What's the next place to level at after Magma 2 besides Juperos 1? After trying the 2 out I have to say I hate Juperos. So it's safe to say I wont be going there once Magma 2 get's slow. Magma 2 just always seems to wield better mobs. I want to invest in a good spear for Overbrand. The iRO wiki page for Royal Guards says the 3 best spears for Overbrand are Brocca, Long Horn, and Battle Hook.

What's your experience with all 3 if you have tried them all? Which one is the best of the 3? Does the armor ignoring feature of Brocca compensate for its much lower attack than Long Horn and Battle Hook? Brocca is the most expensive on the Ymir market so I assume it's the better of the 3.

I actually never tried magma. I just go straight to juperos and then to AL3 on most characters.

You can reflect all the way to 150. It is likely faster but more consumable intensive to use OB. I just used it to finish off stragglers at the end of a mob but honestly i just teled away most of the time and let someone else finish them as i was lazy to add a weapon and shield switch to my accessory and shoe switch after every mob.

Given my use of OB i just used what i had which was a gae bolg and that seemed to work fine but there is probably better stuff out there. I did hear some ppl use hunting spear with AS card but that might have been due to the fact they already had that for their RK.

[mocca]

Hi guys, my RG is at 119/24 now, but I dont know what stats i should have at this level for shield reflect leveling.

So my question is, at my lvl what stats should my RG have for this type of lvling?