9 replies to this topic

[Hesufo]

I'm starting my second character, which I originally envisioned just to be a merchant for discount/overcharge and vending, but in order to make use of the 2nd Magic Stone I'll have to buy, I thought about his future.

I wanted to make him a blacksmith all right, but then I looked up the possible builds and they differ a lot. So I'm kinda stumped right now.

- I know that a Pure Forger is much better for making profit - however, leveling is a pain in the rear and I really don't want to go through that. But I might if I really have to.
- Then we have the Battlesmith: this would work like a charm since I get all the basic zeny-making merchant skills but I miss out on weapon forging which seems to be really popular. Plus, my main is a Knight so gameplay would be a tad repetitive.

So I saw the third build on the iRO wiki, which is the Battle Forger. Here is the sample stat build:
Basic Battle Forger Build (lv99)

• STR:74+6 (73+7 with Hilt Binding )
• AGI:50+2
• DEX:88+12
• INT:16+2
• VIT:25+6
• LUK:33+2
• Leftover of 1 stat point

I'd like some advice on this: is it a good build? I read in the same wiki that the margin of difference between, say, a Pure Forger and a Battle Forger, becomes pretty small as you reach the higher numbers on stats, and the high stat point cost of those mean that a pure forger quickly becomes a pain to level up in the later stages: basically, this build has the best of both worlds but may still be considered "mediocre" in comparison to the two main builds.

Thoughts? I'd love me some feedback because I'm pretty new to blacksmiths, to tell the truth.

Thanks in advance.

[HealingPalms]

Well when they say minimal it all depends on what your thinking of making, is it to become ranked or just to make personal items? I mean on lvl1 weapons there wont be much difference its more the higher ones and if your using crumbs. And then it's about gears if you go battle your need forging gears and battle gears which at this stage sometimes isnt easy to obtain them all. In short sometimes being pure forge will mean a few less fails which adds up to lots of zeny/items lost in breaking stuff

[Hesufo]

Hmm. That's an interesting viewpoint.

I've seen level 1 weapons have been pretty popular in merchant stores - I guess I wouldn't miss on much if I focus on forging those.

I'm not looking to become ranked~ it's mostly to make something useful out of my Merchant class, without having it be much of a hassle (leveling wise).

Edited by Hesufo, 04 August 2012 - 01:34 PM.

[MrBudd]

If you plan on PLAYING the character. Do it. Pure forgers are not very playable characters. Almost all need to get leeched, so unless you have someone ot leech you, I'd highly suggest going battle forge (pretty sure I'm alone on this though).

Personally, I prefer the battle forger over the pure forger only cause I'm old school and like to actually play my characters. The forge rates aren't that far off if you look at the bigger picture, but some people seem to think a 5% difference in success rate is huge. I ranked my battle forger pre-renewal on Valk and still hold a top 3 position on there as a battle forge so it is possible to get ranked.

While you probably won't make as much money as a battle forger taking forge requests and may require about 5-10% more in terms of cost when it comes down to forging, it's still quite profitable.

[Hesufo]

Thanks a lot for the insight. As for the leveling process, what stats should I pump first? The final build is pretty crazy so I'm a bit lost on this. I put 10 points into STR, AGI, VIT and DEX already.

[TheSquishy]

Might I suggest on your battle forger to consider switching your dex and luck.

I used to play my battle forger as a crit build and it was awesome.

[Morlord]

Might I suggest on your battle forger to consider switching your dex and luck.

I used to play my battle forger as a crit build and it was awesome.

How was the crit rate?
I mean, it's not like Axes double it like Katars do D:

Also 33 dex wouldn't provide too much "hit", most attacks would miss on higher level monster then, right?

[TheSquishy]

You get +12 dex at job 50 so you only functionally need 38 dex.
But luck can be nice with crit and pdodge boost since having the extra dex doesn't benefit you much in leveling.

[Morinav]

You get +12 dex at job 50 so you only functionally need 38 dex.
But luck can be nice with crit and pdodge boost since having the extra dex doesn't benefit you much in leveling.

Pretty much this. You're not getting much out of the super high dex, but at least getting semi-frequent crits will do a lot more for your damage. Plus p. dodge is pretty sweet.

Don't forget that weaponry research increases your hit by a big chunk. I only have 25 base dex (for now) on my battlesmith and I don't have problems hitting things.

[Morlord]

That's certainly great to know :D
Having a crit battle forger build will be so awesome :DDD