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An Introductory Guide to ROSE (By Margay)


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#1 KingArthur

KingArthur

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Posted 23 July 2010 - 07:27 PM

An Introductory Guide to ROSE
For New Players

To get this guide rolling, I want to take the discussion of character creation in a direction most people won't. I'm not going to tell you about the most uber stats, or which class is the best. The truth is that ROSE is fairly well balanced as is with some minor exceptions.

The "best" class and the "best" build do exist. They are whichever class and build suits your playstyle. So to begin, I want to discuss something far more important than how to get +AP gear and where to find the Guardian Trees. I want to talk about how to have fun in ROSE.

ROSE is a game that has a vast number of ways to enjoy yourself as a player. But if you don't know what kind of a player you are, then you can easily get lost. So I've compiled a brief list of general player "types" that I've found. No one belongs exclusively to any one type. Most people are a combintion of several. But knowing what "type" of things you enjoy doing may help you to pick the best class and build so that you can indulge in the things you enjoy, while avoiding the things you may not.

The Player Types:

The Explorer

The Explorer likes to find new things. Whether it's new armor and weapons or just seeing every zone and mob, the explorer tends to constantly be looking for something different.



The Tactician

A Tactician is a person that sees the gamespace (in this case, the world of ROSE) as a mystery. The mechanic enjoys figuring out what each statistic does or looking for patterns in the way enemies behave. Tacticians are usually involved with testing the limits and finding new strategies for dealing with difficult situations.



The Collector

A Collector is the type of person that wants to have it all. A collector will sometimes hold on to old gear because it made their character look a certain way. This type of player will sometimes spend a lot of time shopping around the various cities in the game for that cool looking outfit or the perfect cart wheels. Most people aren't pure collectors, but everyone has a little collector in them. A true collector will often wear armor or use weapons that aren't as effective simply because they like the way they look.



The Killer

Killers are the people who live for the thrill of the fight. Whether it's PvP (Player versus Player) or PvE (Player versus Environment; aka: Carebear), the Killer's greatest thrill is overcoming an enemy. Everyone who plays the game has some degree of Killer in them. Everyone enjoys winning the battle. There's nothing wrong with enjoying combat in ROSE, but you should be aware that, indulging this character type too much can lead to griefing (aka "harrassment").



The Socializer

A Socializer type enjoys chatting with others, discussing the things they have in common, and feeling like part of a community. Most players in MMOGs (Massively MultiPlayer Games) have some degree of Socializer in them. That's why we play these games instead of playing a single-player game. The Socializer has a negative aspect, though, which is...



The Griefer

"Griefing" is the act of harrassing another player. Following them around taunting, stealing hits on their mobs, and generally making an ass of oneself. Griefers are kinda like schoolyard bullies, who get a kick out of watching others discomfort. In the MMOG community, Griefers are considered with the same amount of distaste as in real life. They're regarded as jerks by the majority of people. Sadly, a number of griefers actually enjoy the anger they cause. They feel it makes them more powerful. My policy is to either ignore a griefer by going to another area or channel, or to report them for harrassment in some cases.



The Role-Player

The Role-Player enjoys thinking about themself as their character. They enjoy speaking like their character would speak, and doing things their character would do. This is a far more common type of play than most people realize, and I think we all do it to some extent as well. Sometimes role-playing adds a different type of fun to the game. When I first encountered the Clowns in the Forest of Wisdom, I found myself making comments like, "Hi Clowns! I wub you clowns! I want to hug you wiff mah sword!" Yes, I'm a geek. But I also had more fun fighting those clowns than at any other time in the game. And, as an added benefit, the people around me were in stitches from laughter. :mellow:


What kind of a player are you? I think all of us has some aspects of these things in us, and ROSE lets us choose our own way of playing. For me, I'd set up my "Player Build" like this:

Explorer: 8
Tactician: 8
Collector: 5
Killer: 5
Socializer: 4
Griefer: 2
Role-Player: 5

So, I know that I want to pick a class and find friends that will let me Explore and challenge me with new situations that I have to solve. It would be nice to have some cool gear and look the way I imagine my character looking (I love shopping with extra cash), and I'd enjoy being in the front of a battle (maybe even PvP). I'm not too concerned with talking to others, and going out of my way to be a jerk isn't in my plans.

Now that I know what I want from the game, I can look back and say, "Is this fun?" Ifthe answer is no, then I know it's time to change what I'm doing. The point of playing ROSE is to have fun. There are many, many ways to enjoy this game, I've only listed the ones I can think of. Figure out what YOU think is fun, and start there. :P

That being said, allow me to get to the heart of this guide...

Starting Out!
What you need to know to keep things flowing...

First, when you set foot on Visitor's Island, take a few minutes to get used to the interface. The Fairy and Tooltips do a good job of explaining most things, but I'm going to take a moment to tell you what I find most important to learn as quickly as possible.

1. Hotkeys. Setting up your Skill Bar and getting used to using skills from the F1 - F8 keys is very important. It will save you time and effort, and once you get into the game, time is the difference between winning a battle or losing. I set up my Skill Bar so that my most common skills are on F4 and F5, so that I can rest my finger between them. The skills I use the least are on F1 and F8. Other skills are in between. You don't have to do it this way, of course. I find it's just easier for me to remember and get to the skills I need this way.

2. Chatting. Learning your way around the Chat Window will be pretty important later when you want to communicate with others. From the ALL button, you can use all of the different chat commands by preceding them with a symbol. For instance "#You guys are cool" will send the message "You guys are cool" to only your party members. By selecting an individual button, all chat commands will automatically be preceded by the proper symbol, and the chat window will only display those types of chat messages to you. Very helpful when you have a party in the middle of a large group so that you only see what your friends are saying. :glomp:

3. The Character Window. I spend a lot of time paying attention to this window. In combat, you'll find yourself "babysitting" your mana and health bars so that you know exactly when to eat or drink or take a break from the battle.

Everything else you can learn from the tutorials. These are the just the things I find myself most using.


What the different character statistic mean:

Every character has the same statistics. As you gain levels you can add points to each to improve your abilities in different ways. The statistics are:

Strength: Strength is your muscle power. It affects how much damage you do with melee weapon like axes and swords. It also changes how much you can carry, your physical defense, and your hit points. Soldiers, Knights, and Champions rely on Strength.

Dexterity: Dexterity is your balance, your aim, and your ability to make controlled movements. It affects your ability to hit things with bows and guns, move quickly, and your ability to dodge attacks. Dexterity is the key attribute for Hawkers, Raiders, and Scouts.

Intelligence: Intelligence is your ability to comprehend complex ideas. It controls your Magic Points and helps your magical weapons (such as wands) deal more damage. Intelligence is an important attribute for Muses, Clerics, and Mages.

Concentration: Concentration reflects your ability to focus, and notice details. It affects your ability to hit in combat, and your ability to successfully craft items. Concentration is most important for Dealers, Artisans, and Bourgeois.

Sense: Sense is your intuition. It affects your ability to critically hit enemies, and improves the quality of items you craft. Depending upon the way your character works, this statistic can be very important (such as for an Artisan). Most characters don't develop sense very much, but it can be useful for the right character type.

Charm (Charisma): This statistic is one of the most confused statistics in ROSE. I call it Charisma, because it reflects your leadership. In my experience, Charisma:

1. Increases a monster's hostility toward you. A high cha rating will result in you being attacked more often than others with lower Charm scores.
2. Improves the rate, quality, and number of items that drop from monsters you defeat.
3. Improves the rewards you receive from quests, such as money and experience.
4. (Controversial) Increases the experience points for a party as based on the party leader's charm.
5. (Controversial) Increases the difficulty rating of monsters for the purpose of figuring out experience and drop rates. (it doesn't increase the ACTUAL difficulty - the monster is the same, but a character with a higher charm will receive a small amount more experience and slightly better drops from them)

It is important to note, that the actual effect Charm/Charisma has is not completely tested. While I wouldn't suggest investing all of your points in Charm, I wouldn't laugh at you for increasing it if you think it helps. Mileage may vary.


Visitor Strategy:

There are a lot of ways to deal with the beginning of the game. For me, getting to my first job is important, so I tend to rush through the early levels. If you want to get your first job quickly, and have enough money and supplies to get by for a little while, here's what I do:

1. Kill your first mini-jelly bean, then talk to Arua's Fairy. Follow every single chat option you're given. Every time you choose a new option, you will get a small xp reward, and she also will give you Attribute Points, clothes, and food. Within 5 minutes, you are level 2 and will have a quest to kill Mini Jelly Beans.

2. To begin with, I put every point I get into either Strength or Con (mostly Strength). This allows me to kill things much more quickly. However, currently you are allowed to reset your statistics for free before level 15. If that changes, you will want to be more careful about how you spend your points.

3. As soon as you complete the mini-jelly bean quest, talk to Arua's Fairy again and get your second quest, mini-choropies. After that, get the third quest (Mini-Choropies with a timer). After that, you can either follow option A, or jump to step 4.

A. Royal Jelly Beans. On the Island there are Royal Jelly Beans which you can kill quickly for some decent experience points and a Royal Jelly drop. The Royal Jellies are worth a fair amount of money in the real world, so you might consider stockpiling some of these while they are easy to get.

4. Talk to Arua's Fairy and insist that you be sent to the Adventure Plains. From here you can get three quests from the Village Chief to collect Jelly Bean Hides, Spools of Thread, and Flanae Petals. Also, talk to Myad (the old fisherman) who will give you free food if you ask. Then talk to the Guide for some quick experience points.

5. Now run out and start killing jellies and mini-choropies. Don't bother buying new equipment as it will be junk in a few minutes anyway. Just equip whatever drops. At the most, buy a bamboo spear, which will help you kill things more quickly.

6. Every time you gain a level, talk to Myad and he will give you more food. He will keep this up until level 9, and you will end up receiving (literally) hundreds of tasty morsels from him.

7. Do every tutorial quest as they come. The are (in order):

a. Kill Choropies - You'll find the most choropies in the central part of the southern half of the map. Don't bother with Mother Choropies, and steer clear of any Spotted Choropies you see.

b. Kill Flanae - If you follow the southern ridge around toward the center of the zone you wil find a clearing next to a bridge where three flanae live. By the time you kill the last one, the first one will have respawned, and you can simply kill them all very quickly.

c. Kill Pumpkins - Pumpkins live in the Luxom Towers area to the North. The easiest way to find hordes of them is to take the western entrance and simply kill them on your way to Zant. I occasionally get good items from them as well, so I sometimes take the time to kill more than the 10 the quest requires.

8. BEFORE YOU DO THE PUMPKIN QUEST - You can kill three birds with one stone. Here's how:

a. Talk to Seyon in the Village and agree to deliver his price list to Ulysses in Zant.

b. Talk to the Village Elder and agree to take his package to his superior in Zant. (getting the idea here?)

c. Zant is just North of Luxom Towers. On your way there, kill the pumpkins, then deliver the package. Next, deliver the price list to Ulysses and agree to take one back to Seyon. Also, talk to Lena for a quick experience reward. Now run back to Adventure Plains, give Seyon his pricelist (and agree to take another one to Ulysses), give the letter to the Elder, and talk to the priest. You're either level 10 or 11 now.

9. Run back to Zant to get your first job quest.

10. Talk to Cornell to find out about your first job. After the job quest (AND BEFORE LEVEL 15) you may want to reset your stats and reinvest the points you spent to better suit your new job.

Note: The Seyon-Ulysses pricelist quest is a very convenient way to gain a lot of extra experience early. Before you hit level 20, you'll be making constant trips between Zant and the Adventure Plains (about 14 if you ONLY follow the quests). All in all, that adds up to about 3 - 4 levels you can gain JUST FROM THE PRICELIST QUEST. =)

If you've done everything I've discussed thus far, you should be level 10 - 12 in about 30 minutes to an hour, with between 10,000 and 20,000 Zulees (assuming you've sold everything except what you wanted to wear or eat*)

*IMPORTANT: Do not sell IRON THREADS or BLUE ITEMS. It is very common for these to drop at low levels. IRON THREAD sells for between 1100 and 1500 Zulees to Dealers (it's used to make Fairy Wings), and BLUE ITEMS are rare items that have special stats and may sell for far more to an interested player. (Depending on what the item is, you may want to keep it for yourself). There are players (unfortunately) who will try to convince you to give up these items for less than they are worth, so shop around before taking any offers if you are new to the game. If you aren't sure if you are getting a fair price, don't sell. Better safe than sorry.


So now that I can get my first job, what do I want to be?

This is a very common question, and it's entirely up to you. Each of the different jobs has different strengths and weaknesses, and different skills and abilities. So, let's take a second to review them.

Soldiers (aka- Tanks) are the front line fighters. They excel in physical combat and can go toe to toe with the toughest monsters (mobs) in the game. Their skills revolve around being able to hit hard and take damage, as well as around being able to protect party members from injury. For a new player, this is often the easiest job to learn, while still offering a lot of room for experimentation for more experienced players. The common trend for this job is toward either Knight (Defensive Warrior) and Champion (Offensive Warrior). Alternative "builds" include the Speed Demon (High Attack Speed and Criticals) and the Bladespinner (Higher MP, with heavy combat skills).

Hawkers are a very popular class, and act as the speed and scouts of a group. They move fast and are good at avoiding and evading danger. They have a high dex to allow them to dodge when surrounded on all sides, and sometimes improve their strength to use hand held weapons such as Katars. Hawkers are best for players that enjoy "skill spamming" (using a variety of skills to damage and confuse the enemy). A Hawker will later become either a Scout (Ranged Combat Expert) or a Raider (High Speed Martial Artist). Hawkers generally can avoid being hit, but when they get hit, it tends to hurt. Still, a well-played Hawker can avoid the high repair and food costs of a Soldier.

Muses are the magic users of ROSE. They are the healers and the nukers ("nuking" is a reference to a powerful magic spell that does direct damage). While a muse can be made to stand alone, a muse is often most at home with a group, providing support to others and being ready to deliver the finishing blows with magical ferocity. While a muse has a great deal of power at range, up close they are vulnerable. Eventually, a Muse can become a Cleric (Defensive Healer) or a Mage (Offensive Spell Caster). An alternatives to the basic theme is the BowMuse (high dex with healing and support spells).

Dealers are the traders, the crafters, and the long range arsenal of the game. Dealers can craft items to sell, hire mercenaries to provide assistance, and can even learn to improve the type of items that drop from mobs and get discounts from the NPC stores. Unlike other classes, Dealers use guns and launchers to deal damage from a safe distance. However, with their low hit points and defense, they can often be heard screaming the battle cry "Not the face!" Dealers can be somewhat difficult to advance without a party, but the rewards are well worth the trouble, as they often end up becoming the wealthiest characters in the game, due to their ability to craft rare and unique items such as gems, carts, and wings. The dealer wil eventually advance to become either an Artisan (which focuses on crafting rare items) or a Bourgeois (which focuses on combat).


Once you've decided on your class, it's a good idea to come up with a character "build" you'd like to pursue. A character build is basic theme for how your character will develop as he gets stronger. Ask yourself what kind of character you want to play? Will your soldier be a reckless attacker with high strength and little defense? Will your muse be the person responsible for keeping everyone healthy and alive, or would you prefer to go solo? Don't worry yourself to sleep at night, of course. There is no "Best Build." The best build is the one that you enjoy.

Ideas on Builds:

1. Don't be afraid to play with new ideas. Some of the neatest characters can come out of left field, such as the BowMuse and the Speed Demon. In the latter case, a new player decided she wanted a soldier that moved like a Hawker, and she made it work. Now lots of people want to do the same thing. =D

2. Listen to the advice of others who are playing characters like yours. Sometimes, people might have tried what you are trying to do. Listen to what they have to say. It might save you a lot of trouble in the future.

3. Don't listen to an expert. This seems like it contradicts the last statement, but it doesn't. Some people will tell you that you're making a mistake without having ever tried what you're trying to do. Experience is the great teacher, not rules. There is no reason that you can't make a Muse with high Sense, or a Soldier with high Intelligence. The character might not be everything you wanted it to be, but if you're having fun, then who cares?

4. Consider Risk versus Reward. Every time you spend a point to raise an ability, you're passing up the chance to raise a different ability. So, ask yourself what you're gaining. At higher levels, this gets harder to judge. My Dealer is sometimes faced with having to decide whether or not to raise Concentration from 88 to 89 or Dex from 20 to 28, for the same amount of Stat Points. Each person has to evaluate the risk and the reward for themselves, but you should at least be aware of the consequences before investing lightly.

Well, that's it for now. I'll try to keep this guide updated in the future to include any changes in the game, or suggestions from other players. Feel free to discuss and debate anything in this guide, but please, respect each others' rights to their opinion.

Cheers!
-M

Additional Notes:

1. When you get your first job, Cornell will assign two skills to you and give you two additional skill books. Look closely at the skills you receive and the books you receive. You may choose to reset your skills for 1000z in order to take skills more suited to you. (It begins getting much more expensive to do this later on)

2. Currently, you are allowed to reset your stats prior to level 15 for free, and after level 15 for a very steep price. If they remove this ability, I will change this guide to reflect the new system.

3. New Players are advised to check out the Player shops in Zant to find out the value of certain items. This will allow you to avoid being scammed, while also helping you discover new ways of making money. (WITHOUT SCAMMING OTHERS) Education is your friend.

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#2 kikioniki

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Posted 13 August 2010 - 05:33 PM

Well done ;) I haven't played ROSE in 2 years and this helped me remember ALOT! Thanks
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