77 replies to this topic

[Breeg]

So it seems most people are quite lost with the old monster spawns, difficult leveling and lack of zeny. I figured I'd try to think of a few things to help everyone out. Maybe we'll see less of these "QQ exp 2 slow plz maek 10 rates gm plz???" threads in the future too.


Training Grounds

There's a bug(or a feature) that causes most training grounds monsters give 1 base and job exp. You will never hit job 10 killing Porings, Drops, Fabres, Condors, Roda Frogs, Willows and Thief Bugs. However, Spores give VERY high exp and you will only need to kill a few of them to hit job 10. It costs you more novice potions, but it's very fast too. Find a party for exp taps and faster kills.
However, even with the bugged exp, some monsters are worth killing. Willows frequently drop Resins, Roda Frogs drop Spawns, and Condors drop Oranges, Yellow Gemstones and Bow[4]s. All of these can be sold for a reasonable price. I would especially suggest killing Condors for a while. Oranges go for 150z each and drop at a 6% rate, and if you're lucky you may also get a Bow[4] that goes for 500z!
If you chose to level on the more challenging levels of training grounds(which you should because Spores don't spawn on level 1), you will notice the NPC that should warp you to the personality test in fact makes you disconnect from the server. You will have to return to level 1, the NPC there works.


Getting Started

So, you have left training grounds and are hopefully job level 10. If not, you should find Spores in the nearby fields(you are hopefully in Payon or Alberta, otherwise you're gonna have to use a kafra warp ticket). There are a few simple things you can do to boost your damage and leveling speed. This applies to all classes:

Hunt weak monsters with good item drops(listed below) for some zeny. This may take a while but should improve your leveling speed in the near future. Once you've collected 3~5k zeny, buy the strongest level1 weapon for your class and upgrade it to +7. The weapons cost around 2.5k-3k, Phracons cost 200z each and upgrading a total of 350z. A +7 level1 weapon will outdamage any +0 level2 weapon. Similarly, a +6 level2 weapon will outdamage +0 level3 weapons. Don't waste your zeny on level 3 weapons unless you have Oridecons or Enriched Oridecons to upgrade them!

There are also the rental weapons, so if you decided to get one of those, you shouldn't waste zeny and time on the low level weapons.

With your newly obtained +7 weapon, you should do a decent amount of damage per hit even with lower Str/Dex. This is important for acolytes who have not found a party or are planning to solo; You should make a +7 Mace(or get a Rental Wrench) and hit monsters with it. Save the heals for yourself. This will GREATLY boost your exp/hour rate. Instead of using 5 heals(and sitting down for SP at least as many times) to kill a Zombie, you will need one or two heals for yourself. If you have a bit of Vit or Agi, you may even be able to kill multiple monsters before healing yourself.


How to make zeny for potions?

You may already have noticed that the novice potions you were given in training grounds are character bound, so you can't get more of them for free. Leveling without potions is fairly difficult, and sitting down to recover HP is very slow. You should instead find a map where one or more monsters drop valuable items at a decent rate. I would suggest the following:

Condor drops Orange(150z), Bow[4] and Yellow Gemstone.
Baby Desert Wolf drops Orange and Phracon
Hornet drops Wind Of Verdure(500z), Honey and Main Gauche[4].
Pecopeco drops Orange
Black Mushroom drops Crystal Blue and Mushroom/Poison Spores
Red Mushroom drops Red Blood and Mushroom/Poison Spores
Muka drops Guisarme(6500z without overcharge)
Blue Plant drops Blue Herb(2 Blue Herbs+Empty Bottle->Blue Potion)
Spore drops Strawberry(100z)
Skeleton drops Skel Bone and Skull Ring
Zombie drops Opal
Wolf drops Strawberry
Yoyo drops Strawberry
Orc Lady drops Cyfar. Especially mages should have an easy time killing these with Firewall.
Myst Case drops Piece of Cake(1500z) and Pearl(3000z). These are easy for mages and archers, but other classes should stay away from them until higher levels.


Where should I level?

http://rode-r.doddle.../worldmap_ep5/#

These seem to be the correct spawns for the server. Many huge maps suffer from low spawn rates, but you should still be getting decent exp if you're killing the right things.

Level 10~20

Spore
Skeleton
Baby Desert Wolf
Zombie
Farmiliar
Poporing
Snake
Mandragora(mages and archers)
Flora(mages and archers, bow thief)

Level 20~40

Poporing
Zombie
Spore
Wolf
Muka
Yoyo
Poison Spore
Orc Warrior
Orc Lady(especially mages and archers)
Eggyra(requires elemental attacks)
Argiope(mages)
Flora(mages and archers)
Myst Case(mages and archers)

Level 40~50

Wolf
Muka
Yoyo
Poison Spore
Orc Warrior
Orc Lady(mages, archers, thieves)
Bigfoot
Eggyra(requires elemental attacks)
Hode(mage, archer, thief)
Argiope(mages)
Myst Case(mages and archers)
Clock(mages)
Alarm(mages)


You should choose monsters you can kill with ease. Don't waste dozens of potions for a single high exp kill. If 100 meats last you an hour of leveling, you should actually earn zeny if you pick up all the loot. If you use 100 potions to kill 5 monsters, you're not likely to break even. There is no quick way to hit 2nd class(unless you're an archer or a mage) so you are best off killing easy monsters for average exp.

Edited by Breeg, 30 June 2012 - 10:55 PM.

[Naruk]

+1 topic

[pelites]

+1 topic²

[Senkasa]

In additon for Acolytes: /ns (Noshift) to heal bomb zombies.
/nc (Noctrl) in general for auto-attack.

[Samias]

Great training grounds info. With the bugs/server settings, it can be really frustrating to start if you don't know what the heck is wrong with what you're doing.

I'm also going to add hornets as a possible target for novices if they leave the training grounds early. They drop wind of verdure at an okay rate, which vend for 500z. They spawn on the rocker map two west of Prontera along with the rockers in a small-but-not-too-rare amount.

[Breeg]

Great training grounds info. With the bugs/server settings, it can be really frustrating to start if you don't know what the heck is wrong with what you're doing.

I'm also going to add hornets as a possible target for novices if they leave the training grounds early. They drop wind of verdure at an okay rate, which vend for 500z. They spawn on the rocker map two west of Prontera along with the rockers in a small-but-not-too-rare amount.

Yep I did my first level in TG killing the 1 exp stuff and it took literally an hour to go from level 7 to 8. I did it mostly for the loot though, made my first 10k zeny before even doing the thief jobchange quest

Good point, hornets are definitely worth killing. They also drop Honey and Main Gauche[4]!

Edited by Breeg, 30 June 2012 - 09:54 PM.

[Breeg]

In additon for Acolytes: /ns (Noshift) to heal bomb zombies.
/nc (Noctrl) in general for auto-attack.

Oh yeah, that reminds me I have to edit the first post a little.

[DeadlySinner]

Add Orc Warrior/Orc Lady to 20-40. About 3-6% even at around 35+

[Breeg]

Add Orc Warrior/Orc Lady to 20-40. About 3-6% even at around 35+

Good point! Orc Ladies are rather strong and require quite some flee, but they're good exp and loot if you can dish out enough damage not to get hit.

[CCSkyfish]

The annoying this is that Mukas are just astronomically better than nearly everything else in that exp range. They're incredibly weak for how much base exp they give (though they don't give much job exp, unfortunately). I've been here as a Swordsman from 23 or so to 37, and I can't find a better location. I want to move, since I spend more time wandering the map looking for them than actually killing them, so my exp/hour is going down heavily.

The problem for me is that everything else is just way harder. Looking at http://db.irowiki.or...ader=10#results (sorting monsters by base exp), the monsters that seem easy is basically wolves (which are too damn crowded anyway). As an Agi Swordsman, I don't have the Flee to dodge more difficult monsters, but I don't have the defense to just pot my way through the damage. Does anyone have recommendations for places to level?

[Senkasa]

For mages; VERYICAL Firewalls if you're using FW to attract mobs and cast bolts onto them.

Specifically useful for clock tower and argos in floras map.

[Krispin]

So where do muka spawn?
Normally it would be the map with the dragonfly two maps south of morroc, but there isn't a single one to be seen there.

[Breeg]

The annoying this is that Mukas are just astronomically better than nearly everything else in that exp range. They're incredibly weak for how much base exp they give (though they don't give much job exp, unfortunately). I've been here as a Swordsman from 23 or so to 37, and I can't find a better location. I want to move, since I spend more time wandering the map looking for them than actually killing them, so my exp/hour is going down heavily.

The problem for me is that everything else is just way harder. Looking at http://db.irowiki.or...ader=10#results (sorting monsters by base exp), the monsters that seem easy is basically wolves (which are too damn crowded anyway). As an Agi Swordsman, I don't have the Flee to dodge more difficult monsters, but I don't have the defense to just pot my way through the damage. Does anyone have recommendations for places to level?

This is one of the reasons I thought I'd make this thread. The reason why Wolves, Mukas, Spores, Orc Warriors and Yoyos are superior exp is that their stats were boosted with the 11.1(I think that was rachel?) update. They don't hit hard, they have low hp but give multiple times the exp of other mobs on the same maps.

We unfortunately don't have any better options between Muka/Wolf/Yoyo/Orcs and...whatever comes next, Orc Dungeon 2, Toy Factory 2 etc. I would suggest just staying in one place until you can fight stronger mobs. Bybalan Island 2 is worth checking out since it's full of Vadons and Thara Frogs. Plenty of good cards to be found there!

[Breeg]

So where do muka spawn?
Normally it would be the map with the dragonfly two maps south of morroc, but there isn't a single one to be seen there.

There should be two maps with 35 of them. One of them is 2x east of Morroc. There are also Baby Desert Wolves and Condors, which makes it a great place to gain exp and zeny

[Bahamut2]

Fix: Phracon is 200z each

One question, upgrading to +7 gives additional +14 ATK, why it is better than a level 2 weapon? LVL2 weapon gives more attack.
Ballte Axe = 80 ATK, Hammer = 120 ATK
+7 Battle Axe = 80 + 14 ATK

[Samias]

Also, better mention that there are a number of NPCs around the world who will trade cheap items for potions. In the merchant's guild in Alberta in one of the side rooms is the guy who exchanges 2 herbs + 1 empty bottle for one potion of the appropriate colour. In Prontera, there is an NPC called Vendor from Milk Ranch who will trade 1 empty bottle + 15z for one milk. In Aldebaran, you can trade 1 worm peeling/7 feather of birds/10 jellopy for one red potion. In Payon is an NPC who, after being given a meat, will trade empty bottles + apples/carrots/grapes/bananas for the corresponding juice. Grape juice in particular is a pretty nice bargain SP restorative. A lot of these NPCs get neglected in a server with lots of money, but they can save you costs when funds are particularly tight. You can also get 3 red potions, 1 orange potion, and 1 milk for free for signing up for the culverts dungeon in Prontera. It's a one-time deal but free is free!

[Smolderbil]

Fix: Phracon is 200z each

One question, upgrading to +7 gives additional +14 ATK, why it is better than a level 2 weapon? LVL2 weapon gives more attack.
Ballte Axe = 80 ATK, Hammer = 120 ATK
+7 Battle Axe = 80 + 14 ATK

This is where Race/Size/Element cards come in.

Edit: Oops, I missed reading the part about this in the OP. But you should get what I mean.

Edited by Smolderbil, 30 June 2012 - 11:02 PM.

[Breeg]

Fix: Phracon is 200z each

One question, upgrading to +7 gives additional +14 ATK, why it is better than a level 2 weapon? LVL2 weapon gives more attack.
Ballte Axe = 80 ATK, Hammer = 120 ATK
+7 Battle Axe = 80 + 14 ATK

Oh, thanks for pointing that out. My bad!

I believe the reason is that upgrades work differently in the formula. The upgrade atk boost seems to ignore def or something, I can't remember tbh.

[Heart]

Oh, thanks for pointing that out. My bad!

I believe the reason is that upgrades work differently in the formula. The upgrade atk boost seems to ignore def or something, I can't remember tbh.

over upgrades above safe make it better wid boosts but till safe nope
higher lvl is better, rentals are a win tho

[Breeg]

over upgrades above safe make it better wid boosts but till safe nope
higher lvl is better, rentals are a win tho

I ran a quick test in a character simulator. A level 20/15 merchant with 20 Str and 15 Dex vs Ambernite

+7 Battle Axe average damage 54
+0 Hammer average damage 54

The difference is the Hammer has higher max atk, but lower minimum atk. The Hammer will be better once it's +6, but it's also a lot more expensive then. This seems to be the case with all/most weapons and classes. But as said, the rental items are infinitely superior.

[Heart]

I ran a quick test in a character simulator. A level 20/15 merchant with 20 Str and 15 Dex vs Ambernite

+7 Battle Axe average damage 54
+0 Hammer average damage 54

The difference is the Hammer has higher max atk, but lower minimum atk. The Hammer will be better once it's +6, but it's also a lot more expensive then. This seems to be the case with all/most weapons and classes. But as said, the rental items are infinitely superior.

u mean my combat moonlight knife?
which works both as ck AND moonlight dagger?
yes lol its oped

[Breeg]

u mean my combat moonlight knife?
which works both as ck AND moonlight dagger?
yes lol its oped

Yeah lol. Rental Rudra is broken beyond repair. It's pretty much equal to a +5 Orc Archer Bow except you can use any arrows with it. Oh well

[HayrohsLegacy]

Rental daggers made my swordsman have unlimited sp to spam Bash...

[Kiryu]

I wuld recommend doiung the training quest outside first job guilds... got me 5K but forgot that i always need two green potions with me... plus a lot of elvels and a free armor

[Channa]

Rockers are very good job xp as well is you leave the training grounds before job 10.
Here i was grinding away at porings and lunatics and willows. And realizing i can kill thief bugs that gave me like 5% base but on job.
It took a little bit of work and pots but about 10 rockers for me my last job.

Also... People are actually partying on this server, Go find them. For level 10 to about 30 you can do payon Dung 1 and 2


There are also specific training quest guides for each class as well. Take advantage of those. Not only do you get xp, but i know the aco class get to pick a weapon.
The walkthroughs can be found in irowiki.

Edited by Channa, 01 July 2012 - 03:28 AM.