Been awhile since I was last on Mabi (installer problems) but the new story arc is a good way to fill your hunting list! Most of the events take place in Cor and revolve around the titular shapeshifter Shamala. All the quests give you LOADS of room giving you lots of opportunity to use your ranged skills. I also recommend a snake pet as it helps quite a bit on the teleporting bosses.
Black Panther Panties (seriously)
After beating up some silly green birds you will be sent to hunt a black panther roaming around Cor, twice! Ofcourse this means fighting a lot of other stuff as well but it should be nothing new. Don't forget to windmill the lycan and use your highest damage skill against ghosts before they get to fireball you. The panther itself is not as devilish as the one in the stage dungeon (which was removed due to it being ludicrously hard), however on your second foray you fight the black panther king who, apart from being high def/prot can and will teleport. I recommend using your pet snake to poison it, then trans/demi up to finish it off safely, WMing when it jumps behind you.
Spirit Hunt
Shamala will assist you on the next bit where you fight possessed critters but really, you should let her do the fighting. Again you have loads of room to lure and kill which is especially important for the multi-aggro salamanders. Given you have a god-mode assistant you shouldn't really have any problems here unless you position yourself badly or eat a few ghost fireballs. A grim reaper waits for you at the end, and he's still as lol-worthy as the first time you faced him.
Snakeland
If you don't have a decent ranged wep you'd better bring a lot of pots on this one as you'll be facing many waves of poisonous snakes and a giant python at the end. It has IR (don't open with a smash) and Final Hit so either WM it to death or FH it first in demi/trans mode. Shamala will arrive halfway through to "assist", though she can mess up your combos.
King of the Jungle
Cool, you become a big deadly cat! You won't have time to enjoy it though, get familiar with your skills quick as there is literally an army of hobgoblins (plus their giant bear pets) to tear through before they kill the defenseless girl. It's an RP mission though so you don't really lose anything if you fail. Afterwards you have to go hunt lions/lionesses at the Cenae Meadows which is good practice if you haven't fought them yet.
Demonic Attacks
The "nightmare" phase begins here and starts with you assisting Waboka in fighting off demons which come in a variety of forms. All of them have no passive defenses though, and again you can make use of the vast space to snipe (or lance) everything. In addition Waboka goes for your target so if you hang back and take pot shots, he can do most of the wet work. Your main road blocks will be the trolls (unlikely), hollow knights (they have AR too), Arachne (who can summon burgundy multi-aggro spiders) and a Demilich who likes teleporting and casting high level chain lightining (the mini-liches are one hit trash mobs though). I recommend demi/trans especially for the last two.
Invasion of Cor
The demons are coming in force into the village now, but you have a lot of aid from the high level villagers. Indeed you can probably AFK in a safe spot and let them win this for you but I don't think they'll do it in time. Just pick your targets and let be the meat shields. Don't trans for the first two headlesses, you'll probably want it for the six Arguses or Demilich. Also, don't stand beside volatile zombies when they die (kaboom) and don't freak out too much about the ifrit at the end - the villagers will help you keep him stunned/knocked down. Also gold mask ghosts = snakes.
After all that comes the mysterious man who you must defeat solo. He summons monsters but doesn't himself attack, move or get knocked down. Simplest method for me was to hang back on a hill and magnum shot him with my ego bow, well out of the aggro range of his protectors.
Why do we need to save Shamala?
Seriously, you RP as her now and are technically on god-mode. Just follow the blue flowers and try learn the behaviour of the monsters for when you fight them as yourself.
Training Millia
After meeting this new NPC you have to help train her. First round is pretty straight forward (hope you remember how to fight skeletons and there's an ogre at the end), second round is trickier with the giant headlesses at the start and then the bone drakes and bone dragon at the end. Millia isn't as competent/useful in combat but she won't die. She will screw your combos though. The bone drakes/dragon move quick and teleport so range isn't that useful. I suggest demi/trans for them while you learn their AI. Alternatively they are super weak to snake poison (no idea why) so you can pet revolve them if you want as long as there is a snake in your stable.
Boar Hunting
LOL. Everything here has the AI of a pig (counter + defense only) until you reach the Sacrificial Pig (grendel) which has bear AI if the sound doesn't give it away. Just fight well and you won't need to use any tricks or transformations here.
Stupid Tribesmen
Somehow after helping all the Corians they think -you- are the bad guy. Oh well, kill them all - they behave for the most part like their demon counterparts with archers doing double aggro. Getting out of the town center is a good first move. Kusina has decent range with her bow but can still be outgunned. Tupai and Ruwai are a dangerous combo of stun-lock + summons so make sure you annihilate them (probably trans here) and quickly follow up by hunting down Kousai who has strong magic (FH works well). Waboka faces you last and alone and despite him having FH shouldn't be much of a challenge.
Escape from the deep dark Cave
Yeah I don't know WTF is going on. Just escape from the Solea caves. Despite being "enclosed" you still have tons of room (and time) to use range/pet revolve. Time your entry to be able to trans twice for easy mode since it's a long mission, otherwise slow and steady is the key. Bone drakes and another bone dragon await after the first false wall so snake em. Afterwards are more trash mobs until you get to the one hit light banshees and then the named banshee Elizabeth. She likes to teleport and fireball which is a stupid combo because you can windmill her out of her casting. FH works better, and as usual Demi/Trans to end the fight quicker.
Showing posts with label Cor. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Cor. Show all posts
Tuesday, 11 June 2013
Wednesday, 1 August 2012
Generation 10 Tips - A Demigod is Born
Welcome to my quick guide for Generation 10! I am assuming you have read through the previous classes at this point which means you already have a good grasp of the majority of the enemies here. You've already survived G9 so you won't find G10 so bad. After the last quest line, the shadow forces are in withdrawal (I assume), but those pesky alchemists are still up to no good. Here are the spots I think may give you grief.
Survivor Rescue (solo)
Welcome to Shadow Tara! Ironically the first things you see will be some of the strongest bastards in this story arc. Those shadow ghosts are highly dangerous and for now it would be wiser to flank and avoid them to reach your destination. You will however need to fight some bone soldiers who are pretty much exactly like their shadow counterparts, so nothing new here.
Lezarro's Book (solo or with royal alch)
Standard fare of killing stuff in orb sections, just stick to the main roads. If you are having problems finding the orbs bring along some arat berries to radar them out until you get used to where they spawn. The boss room features zombie soldiers, who basically are just like the Tir Na Nog zombies. I hope you've been practicing your windmill - if not this could be a difficult fight and you may want to look for a royal alch to help you out. Or better yet, just practice windmill?
Lileas' Honey (solo)
Just want to point out your main target here are the honeycomb trees, not the bad dudes. You don't have to kill any of them.
Jousting Practice
The last bit of a large collection quest has you joust against an NPC in the arena. This is a pretty fun mini-game and it is worth paying the small amount of gold to get used to it even after you've completed this quest. You'll need at least a mid-level proficiency in it (reading NPCs) later on.
It's come a long way huh? :P
Cubic collection (fastest solo)
Getting you exploration up should be easy by now if you've been doing the Cor circuit. When it's time to get the cubic stuff just load up on passes before heading out. Fastest collection is by only doing the first 2-3 rooms, wiping out mimics, then leave and repeat until your collection book is complete.
Third Wheel in Maiz (as Arenren solo then as Voight and Isla - you need a friend)
If you haven't yet gone to get your Final Hit quest (humans) then there's a high chance you've not been in the Maiz Praire ruins before, and you are in for some tough opposition. When doing the 2 player version, Voight will be doing most of the fighting but Isla -MUST- still cover him. Use magic to buy him time to windmill or counter the multi-aggro mobs.
Slates
They behave like goblins but have very high protection (no passive defense though) and even higher damage. Using defense will probably still result in serious injury so windmill, counter, and smash if the opportunity presents itself.
Skeleton Ghost
Generally all ghosts in Mabi are bad news, at least this type has no passive defense. They do dual aggro quick and do very good damage in both melee and magic. Final hit may result in your death if two of them are on you, so you are better off luring one to a free corner and dealing with it the usual windmill, counter way. Be ready to take action if it charges up magic though as it will almost always move in for a melee swipe right after. They can also windmill.
Return to Longa (fastest with party)
Just variations of the critters you fought on your last run through here, the only thing new is the boss at the end - a familiar named alchemist. He tends to just behave like any other alchemist though, with the extra ability of healing to full if he yells "I am immortal!". Makes you wonder why he doesn't just keep doing it. Anyway, if you are solo just turn on trans and wipe the floor with him - get ready for the usual wind/water blast combo. If you have a group, just keep him on the floor so he can't do anything with smash-mill.
Fomor Mata (solo)
The fights to the arena should be nothing new for you, but when you get there your jousting skills will be put to the test against a fomor commander. Fail the joust and you fail the mission. Hope you've been practicing! Win the joust and then you have to beat him on foot. He is pretty much the same as the named commander in the previous story arc only in black armor instead of gold. Look out for his golems and his life drain and remember you can use the entire city to maneuver around if need be. Don't open with a smash as he has instinctive reaction. Poison may be useful against him if you or better yet, a pet has it.
Couracle's Heart Again, because you forgot to pick it up last time (bring full party)
Basically you'll be fighting a zillion baddies you've already fought before - just all at once. To this end bringing a full party is recommended. In the final area you'll be joined by NPCs from Tailltean who once again must survive the encounter. Don't worry, it's not as bad as the "Last Battle" in the previous story arc. Those shadow ghosts you avoided in the first mission will be here again, and this time you'll need to fight them. They have thunder (perhaps your first baddie with adv. magic) which can easily kill anyone and heavy stander so make sure they don't get to cast by standard gang smash-mill. One skilled person can disable the ghost long enough for his buddies to kill the rest then help out. Alternatively 2 should be able to take out a ghost directly by keeping it on its ass.
The only thing in your way is yourself (solo or with royal alch)
Before entering the shadow realm prep a cylinder in one weapon slot and your primary weapon in the other. Also prepare a hotkey for "life drain" even if it is at novice rank and move all your current life drain crystals to the top left of your inventory if you have any. The finale takes place in a very familiar place and has two stages. Your enemy will be using alchemy skills that you can use evasion to dodge plus demi god abilities which are evadable by just running around. Any damage you do to it will hurt you by 50% - but this is not a bad thing. Punch its face once (cylinder equipped) to injure yourself then evade like crazy. After it does the "area" attack (as opposed to the light spear attack) it will taunt you so use the music box to make it go crazy temporarily. As soon as this happens hit your life drain hot key and drain the bastard (if you brought a royal alch this is his job). To proceed to the next stage the life drain must restore you to full health, so you cannot be too injured (unless your life drain skill is unusually high) and not be on full health to start with. If you run out of dark life drain crystals or he kills you, you may as well restart the mission and save any nao stones you were planning on using for stage two.
Second stage has him summon some buddies but now you have the demigod power. Don't be hasty as it doesn't make you invulnerable! Your regen will be much higher now and you should be able to outrun all your enemies, but having HP and Mana pots in reserve is a good idea (you should know to be using mana shield by now). If you followed each story arc then the best thing to do now is stand in a clear side of the circle and call for a dragon strike on those bastards then work on slaying the main guy. He will resummon all his pals if you kill all of them, so if possible leave one or two far away so you can deal with the main baddie in peace. You can then go berserk using your new abilites on your foe to destroy it quicker. Ho ho ho, now you have demi-god mode. :)
Survivor Rescue (solo)
Welcome to Shadow Tara! Ironically the first things you see will be some of the strongest bastards in this story arc. Those shadow ghosts are highly dangerous and for now it would be wiser to flank and avoid them to reach your destination. You will however need to fight some bone soldiers who are pretty much exactly like their shadow counterparts, so nothing new here.
Lezarro's Book (solo or with royal alch)
Standard fare of killing stuff in orb sections, just stick to the main roads. If you are having problems finding the orbs bring along some arat berries to radar them out until you get used to where they spawn. The boss room features zombie soldiers, who basically are just like the Tir Na Nog zombies. I hope you've been practicing your windmill - if not this could be a difficult fight and you may want to look for a royal alch to help you out. Or better yet, just practice windmill?
Lileas' Honey (solo)
Just want to point out your main target here are the honeycomb trees, not the bad dudes. You don't have to kill any of them.
Jousting Practice
The last bit of a large collection quest has you joust against an NPC in the arena. This is a pretty fun mini-game and it is worth paying the small amount of gold to get used to it even after you've completed this quest. You'll need at least a mid-level proficiency in it (reading NPCs) later on.
It's come a long way huh? :P
Cubic collection (fastest solo)
Getting you exploration up should be easy by now if you've been doing the Cor circuit. When it's time to get the cubic stuff just load up on passes before heading out. Fastest collection is by only doing the first 2-3 rooms, wiping out mimics, then leave and repeat until your collection book is complete.
Third Wheel in Maiz (as Arenren solo then as Voight and Isla - you need a friend)
If you haven't yet gone to get your Final Hit quest (humans) then there's a high chance you've not been in the Maiz Praire ruins before, and you are in for some tough opposition. When doing the 2 player version, Voight will be doing most of the fighting but Isla -MUST- still cover him. Use magic to buy him time to windmill or counter the multi-aggro mobs.
Slates
They behave like goblins but have very high protection (no passive defense though) and even higher damage. Using defense will probably still result in serious injury so windmill, counter, and smash if the opportunity presents itself.
Skeleton Ghost
Generally all ghosts in Mabi are bad news, at least this type has no passive defense. They do dual aggro quick and do very good damage in both melee and magic. Final hit may result in your death if two of them are on you, so you are better off luring one to a free corner and dealing with it the usual windmill, counter way. Be ready to take action if it charges up magic though as it will almost always move in for a melee swipe right after. They can also windmill.
Return to Longa (fastest with party)
Just variations of the critters you fought on your last run through here, the only thing new is the boss at the end - a familiar named alchemist. He tends to just behave like any other alchemist though, with the extra ability of healing to full if he yells "I am immortal!". Makes you wonder why he doesn't just keep doing it. Anyway, if you are solo just turn on trans and wipe the floor with him - get ready for the usual wind/water blast combo. If you have a group, just keep him on the floor so he can't do anything with smash-mill.
Fomor Mata (solo)
The fights to the arena should be nothing new for you, but when you get there your jousting skills will be put to the test against a fomor commander. Fail the joust and you fail the mission. Hope you've been practicing! Win the joust and then you have to beat him on foot. He is pretty much the same as the named commander in the previous story arc only in black armor instead of gold. Look out for his golems and his life drain and remember you can use the entire city to maneuver around if need be. Don't open with a smash as he has instinctive reaction. Poison may be useful against him if you or better yet, a pet has it.
Couracle's Heart Again, because you forgot to pick it up last time (bring full party)
Basically you'll be fighting a zillion baddies you've already fought before - just all at once. To this end bringing a full party is recommended. In the final area you'll be joined by NPCs from Tailltean who once again must survive the encounter. Don't worry, it's not as bad as the "Last Battle" in the previous story arc. Those shadow ghosts you avoided in the first mission will be here again, and this time you'll need to fight them. They have thunder (perhaps your first baddie with adv. magic) which can easily kill anyone and heavy stander so make sure they don't get to cast by standard gang smash-mill. One skilled person can disable the ghost long enough for his buddies to kill the rest then help out. Alternatively 2 should be able to take out a ghost directly by keeping it on its ass.
The only thing in your way is yourself (solo or with royal alch)
Before entering the shadow realm prep a cylinder in one weapon slot and your primary weapon in the other. Also prepare a hotkey for "life drain" even if it is at novice rank and move all your current life drain crystals to the top left of your inventory if you have any. The finale takes place in a very familiar place and has two stages. Your enemy will be using alchemy skills that you can use evasion to dodge plus demi god abilities which are evadable by just running around. Any damage you do to it will hurt you by 50% - but this is not a bad thing. Punch its face once (cylinder equipped) to injure yourself then evade like crazy. After it does the "area" attack (as opposed to the light spear attack) it will taunt you so use the music box to make it go crazy temporarily. As soon as this happens hit your life drain hot key and drain the bastard (if you brought a royal alch this is his job). To proceed to the next stage the life drain must restore you to full health, so you cannot be too injured (unless your life drain skill is unusually high) and not be on full health to start with. If you run out of dark life drain crystals or he kills you, you may as well restart the mission and save any nao stones you were planning on using for stage two.
Second stage has him summon some buddies but now you have the demigod power. Don't be hasty as it doesn't make you invulnerable! Your regen will be much higher now and you should be able to outrun all your enemies, but having HP and Mana pots in reserve is a good idea (you should know to be using mana shield by now). If you followed each story arc then the best thing to do now is stand in a clear side of the circle and call for a dragon strike on those bastards then work on slaying the main guy. He will resummon all his pals if you kill all of them, so if possible leave one or two far away so you can deal with the main baddie in peace. You can then go berserk using your new abilites on your foe to destroy it quicker. Ho ho ho, now you have demi-god mode. :)
Friday, 27 July 2012
Generation 8 Tips - The Unfair Dragon
After that let down of an ending in Generation 7, you'll probably want to get right into this and you will shortly be introduced to the volcanic region of Zardine. Lots of new stuff up here but I'm just going to focus first on the story-arc specific problem spots:
Par Ruins Unicorn (fastest solo)
Before trying this dungeon you should do yourself a favour and raise your taming to rank A or better. You'll be needing it in a few spots in the future, and it will save you some time later on. Par will not be as bad as your last visit here in G7 and there shouldn't be anything in here that you need help with. If you are getting beaten by wicked penguins or ice worms then you are doing something wrong. The boss room contains a single cute unicorn that you must tame. If you kill it, you will need to run the dungeon again.
Hella Longa (as Kelpie)
You will be missing the otter from G7 at this point. Kelpie has crap gear and even worse skills. Expect to spend a few hours in what is perhaps the most annoying RP quest in the game thus far. In rooms where the desert ghosts go "invisible" try sketch them to level as an alternate method to "heal". Also use up whatever AP he can scrounge to help end this nightmare sooner.
Renes Taming
This is where previous taming ranking will come in handy. You'll need to tame yourself some Anteaters and Boars in the Renes region and in case things go awry, both use "pig" AI and only know Counter and Defense (the boars have low heavy stander though). Reaching the boars at Pera can be scary but is pretty straight forward. If running, don't stop for anything and try steer clear of any black leopards, balrogs or big dragons (you'll get to fight one later :P) in the way. If flying, keep low and away from the wyverns in this region as they can and will attack you, making you crash to the ground. Mark the mana tunnels in that region to facilitate faster transport later on.
Baby Balloon (fastest solo, more fun with friends)
You'll also need to collect some "stars" from wyvern hunting and to do that you need to go ballooning. This can be a really fun exercise for a group and I suggest bringing at least one other person with you on your first trip and each carry a flint or two (fuel) with a large balloon. Once you get used to the balloon controls and how to refuel, position your craft near the outskirts of a wyvern cluster. The best way to bring down wyverns are with magnum shot, bolt magic (depending on wyvern type) or ballista (in that order) as the wyvern tries to do its fly-by breath attack. You don't need to collect all the stars in one go, but you should get them all without leaving the area or handing them in to Kelpie for a reward. Ballooning is another quick exploration exp collection method, but it depends on how much you like ballooning and how good you are at ranged combat.
Fossil Cleaning
While fossils drop from most of the critters in Zardine, the fastest way to get one is to grab a pick axe and head to the sulphur pits. Dig one up from the rocks, preferably the ones that don't look like golems! You'll get poisoned while digging in the area (and if you've smelled sulfur before then you know why) but you shouldn't be too worried about it. Once you have a fossil get out of the fumes then "use" it to start the cleaning mini-game - you just have to remove all the dirt outside the fossil picture. Artists used to using a mouse will find this really easy. Fastest way to get the result you need is to first outline the shape (how close to the line is up to you, if you are a novice stay a bit far). Afterwards, switch to the largest brush in the top right corner and get rid of anything from your outline to the border of the minigame. Just with that you've already removed like 60-80% of the dirt. With your remaining time, switch to the smallest brush and try get as close to the lines as possible, without going over them. If you are exceptionally good at it, this method will also trump the Cor circuit for exploration gain as there is no idiot named Voight who will screw up half your stuff. :P
Bad Dragon (bring a team)
You can bring up to eight people with you to face the final boss of this arc. Try bring at least six. This bad boy is nothing like the dragon in Generation 3, and almost all his attacks will make you go deadly or die. It is recommended you go in with a high % of level exp (99% ideal) so that you can use it to respawn within his cave. At -100% you will not be able to respawn via that method anymore and will either need to wait for a feather res or use up a Nao stone (to get ressed Nao :P). You cannot attack this guy when he flies up so this is the time to get onto a fast mount and run as it is the signal that he is about to use one of two unfair orbital strikes.
Meteor swarm features big rocks falling and exploding all over the place, but his lightning storm is more dangerous and lasts longer - safer to wait for the bastard to land and let the effect wear off before rushing him again. When he is on the ground, he may use his flame breath which kills anything in a cone in front of him so circle wide around if you find yourself there. He also has a tail swipe which kills anyone in a wide arc in-front of him as well as a charging move that goes in a straight line forward. Expect to die a bit and bring plenty of feathers. You can regain EXP by sacrificing your pets to the dragon's attacks then ressing them. Also you do double damage if you manage to attack the beast's throat, but if you're doing that then you are likely standing where -all- his attacks can hit you back. Just keep at him and eventually he will die, earning you a powerful ability that you can use in the future.
You can also try the Renes Egg-Guarding game (which doesn't make much sense) but since I've not done it properly yet, I'll have to write about it some other time. ^_^
Par Ruins Unicorn (fastest solo)
Before trying this dungeon you should do yourself a favour and raise your taming to rank A or better. You'll be needing it in a few spots in the future, and it will save you some time later on. Par will not be as bad as your last visit here in G7 and there shouldn't be anything in here that you need help with. If you are getting beaten by wicked penguins or ice worms then you are doing something wrong. The boss room contains a single cute unicorn that you must tame. If you kill it, you will need to run the dungeon again.
Hella Longa (as Kelpie)
You will be missing the otter from G7 at this point. Kelpie has crap gear and even worse skills. Expect to spend a few hours in what is perhaps the most annoying RP quest in the game thus far. In rooms where the desert ghosts go "invisible" try sketch them to level as an alternate method to "heal". Also use up whatever AP he can scrounge to help end this nightmare sooner.
Renes Taming
This is where previous taming ranking will come in handy. You'll need to tame yourself some Anteaters and Boars in the Renes region and in case things go awry, both use "pig" AI and only know Counter and Defense (the boars have low heavy stander though). Reaching the boars at Pera can be scary but is pretty straight forward. If running, don't stop for anything and try steer clear of any black leopards, balrogs or big dragons (you'll get to fight one later :P) in the way. If flying, keep low and away from the wyverns in this region as they can and will attack you, making you crash to the ground. Mark the mana tunnels in that region to facilitate faster transport later on.
Baby Balloon (fastest solo, more fun with friends)
You'll also need to collect some "stars" from wyvern hunting and to do that you need to go ballooning. This can be a really fun exercise for a group and I suggest bringing at least one other person with you on your first trip and each carry a flint or two (fuel) with a large balloon. Once you get used to the balloon controls and how to refuel, position your craft near the outskirts of a wyvern cluster. The best way to bring down wyverns are with magnum shot, bolt magic (depending on wyvern type) or ballista (in that order) as the wyvern tries to do its fly-by breath attack. You don't need to collect all the stars in one go, but you should get them all without leaving the area or handing them in to Kelpie for a reward. Ballooning is another quick exploration exp collection method, but it depends on how much you like ballooning and how good you are at ranged combat.
Fossil Cleaning
While fossils drop from most of the critters in Zardine, the fastest way to get one is to grab a pick axe and head to the sulphur pits. Dig one up from the rocks, preferably the ones that don't look like golems! You'll get poisoned while digging in the area (and if you've smelled sulfur before then you know why) but you shouldn't be too worried about it. Once you have a fossil get out of the fumes then "use" it to start the cleaning mini-game - you just have to remove all the dirt outside the fossil picture. Artists used to using a mouse will find this really easy. Fastest way to get the result you need is to first outline the shape (how close to the line is up to you, if you are a novice stay a bit far). Afterwards, switch to the largest brush in the top right corner and get rid of anything from your outline to the border of the minigame. Just with that you've already removed like 60-80% of the dirt. With your remaining time, switch to the smallest brush and try get as close to the lines as possible, without going over them. If you are exceptionally good at it, this method will also trump the Cor circuit for exploration gain as there is no idiot named Voight who will screw up half your stuff. :P
*Dun Dun DUUUUUUUUUN!*
Bad Dragon (bring a team)
You can bring up to eight people with you to face the final boss of this arc. Try bring at least six. This bad boy is nothing like the dragon in Generation 3, and almost all his attacks will make you go deadly or die. It is recommended you go in with a high % of level exp (99% ideal) so that you can use it to respawn within his cave. At -100% you will not be able to respawn via that method anymore and will either need to wait for a feather res or use up a Nao stone (to get ressed Nao :P). You cannot attack this guy when he flies up so this is the time to get onto a fast mount and run as it is the signal that he is about to use one of two unfair orbital strikes.
Meteor swarm features big rocks falling and exploding all over the place, but his lightning storm is more dangerous and lasts longer - safer to wait for the bastard to land and let the effect wear off before rushing him again. When he is on the ground, he may use his flame breath which kills anything in a cone in front of him so circle wide around if you find yourself there. He also has a tail swipe which kills anyone in a wide arc in-front of him as well as a charging move that goes in a straight line forward. Expect to die a bit and bring plenty of feathers. You can regain EXP by sacrificing your pets to the dragon's attacks then ressing them. Also you do double damage if you manage to attack the beast's throat, but if you're doing that then you are likely standing where -all- his attacks can hit you back. Just keep at him and eventually he will die, earning you a powerful ability that you can use in the future.
You can also try the Renes Egg-Guarding game (which doesn't make much sense) but since I've not done it properly yet, I'll have to write about it some other time. ^_^
Thursday, 26 July 2012
Generation 7 Tips - Can I be a mongoose?
No but you can be an otter! There is no "story" for Generation 4-6 (they were just new areas - Rano, Physis and Connous) and there is no proper "quest" that starts this generation off (its also a new area - Couracle); in-fact you can skip it, but I've always thought skipping stuff is just giving yourself less game content and is generally a stupid thing to do. Here's the quick run through of the problem parts, and as usual, you can find the rest of my classes in the binding post:
Those Effing Fragments
You'll need to get yourself to Couracle in Iria and mark the mana tunnels at Cor and the one nearest Pantay swamp (still kinda far). Remember that if you have no flying mount you can just ride the hippos across the river. Once at the swamp you'll need to use L-rods to excavate chests and bring back fragments (2x2 preferred) to Voight. You are after an ancient sun, snow and lightning fragment and if you have been doing basic exploration AP harvesting then you know how to do this, and that Voight is going to fail on around 30% of your retrieved stuff. Be prepared to spend a lot of time in the swamp hunting for these. Also you will probably run into these during your prolonged stay there:
Giant dragonfly
Like spiders, these only know defense but can multi aggro if you are silly enough to wander into them. They also have low HP making them easy kills, but they are easy enough to avoid.
Hippos
Only found on the Western part of the swamp, these ones have "pig" AI and know defense and counter. They also have heavy stander due to being fat so be careful with normal attacks if you end up fighting one. Usually they'll leave you alone anyway, just don't provoke them.
Swamp Cobra
Has your standard snake AI (with smash) but is possibly the first critter you've encountered that has poison. Poison in mabi is very bad in that it does a percentage damage based on how many HP the victim still has. It won't kill you but it will get you to 1 HP pretty quick. For this reason if you have to fight these, kill them fast and don't let them bite you!
Gator
Aggressive sharp-toothed lizards that like hiding in the swampy water. They aggro pretty quick, enjoy smashing, and do high levels of damage. Of all the swamp critters, these are the ones you will probably end up fighting most during this section. They will easily outrun you so fight well and bring bandages to recover from any injury (black) damage they do.
Hobgoblins
Can pop out in pairs when you find chests. If they are exorcists then you can probably try take em out. Just treat them as goblins with magic, nothing really special. However if head hobgoblins appear I suggest you run. They have high levels of stander, high hp, fast multi aggro and do lots of damage making killing them before they and chestdespawn a bit of a challenge. Fortunately they only run as fast as you (human speed) so it should be easy, and probably less time consuming, to escape.
Row, Row, Row your Boat
Once you have all three you'll need to visit the temples at the bottom of Erkey falls. The only way to get there with out help is by rafting, so make your way up to the La Terra Highlands with 10 pieces of firewood and you can talk to the native up there to build your raft. Bringing sufficient pots to stay alive is also a good idea as you will be attacked by hobgoblins on your trip down river. If you have it, you can use advanced magic or high rank crash shot to blow away the opposition on the banks as you pass but otherwise just transform and make sure to steer the raft to the RIGHT at the junction or you'll have to do it again. Once you've made the turn, steer left to avoid docking (unless you want to get off at the hobgoblin village but you may lose your raft) and fall down the waterfall. The cutscenes here lag sometimes so just be patient and wait them out. Once down there it should be safe enough to do what you need to do. If the giant alligator is awake, it may be best to avoid it for now. :P
As a side note, Rafting is another way to gain exploration exp and is quicker (but obviously more dangerous) than doing the Cor circuit if you can kill lots of hobgoblins during each run.
Longa Otter - (as Ruwai)
The highlight of this story arc, Ruwai is pretty kickass for an otter. Use more of his normal attacks instead of smash as he can chain a long set of them and you should get past all the scum of this desert dungeon in no time.
Mirror Mirror (need a giant)
If you aren't a giant, you're going to need one to help you get through the Par Dungeon part of this arc. While there are "ice" or "snow" variants of things you should be familiar with, there are a few new enemies as well:
Shrieker
Floating ice heads that behave like wisps, though they favor ice bolt. Remember how to kill a wisp? Same thing here.
Bandersnatch
Almost the same as zombies, except on the lower floors they can sprint at you and do pretty good damage. They have low HPs though which makes a giant's stomp the ideal way to neutralize them. Windmill works too, but the most widely accepted method is firebolt revolver to keep them at bay.
Wendigo
Treat is as a fit ogre that has higher defense against ranged and magic. The wendigo must die a specific death for the mirror witch to appear - it must be slain by a giant wielding an ice pole, and ice poles (if you don't have one) only drop when the wendigo uses stomp. Your main problem will be keeping this creep alive for your giant to bash as by this point, you will probably be able to dust him in short order if you aren't careful. To be safe, let your giant buddy solo him.
Mirror witch
She has many dangerous powers and broad array of defenses but she can't use any of them if she's pinned on the floor. Safest way to fight her is seriously to gang smash/windmill her. That may sound kinky but you'd better do it or it is you that will be raped. :P
Longa Hide and Seek - (as Atrata)
The anti-climactic final dungeon - Atrata has no hope in fighting anything in here so just get used to using the "hide" action that is available to all elves as you hit those orbs. Remember it drains mana so drink up when you are running low.
Those Effing Fragments
You'll need to get yourself to Couracle in Iria and mark the mana tunnels at Cor and the one nearest Pantay swamp (still kinda far). Remember that if you have no flying mount you can just ride the hippos across the river. Once at the swamp you'll need to use L-rods to excavate chests and bring back fragments (2x2 preferred) to Voight. You are after an ancient sun, snow and lightning fragment and if you have been doing basic exploration AP harvesting then you know how to do this, and that Voight is going to fail on around 30% of your retrieved stuff. Be prepared to spend a lot of time in the swamp hunting for these. Also you will probably run into these during your prolonged stay there:
Giant dragonfly
Like spiders, these only know defense but can multi aggro if you are silly enough to wander into them. They also have low HP making them easy kills, but they are easy enough to avoid.
Hippos
Only found on the Western part of the swamp, these ones have "pig" AI and know defense and counter. They also have heavy stander due to being fat so be careful with normal attacks if you end up fighting one. Usually they'll leave you alone anyway, just don't provoke them.
Swamp Cobra
Has your standard snake AI (with smash) but is possibly the first critter you've encountered that has poison. Poison in mabi is very bad in that it does a percentage damage based on how many HP the victim still has. It won't kill you but it will get you to 1 HP pretty quick. For this reason if you have to fight these, kill them fast and don't let them bite you!
Gator
Aggressive sharp-toothed lizards that like hiding in the swampy water. They aggro pretty quick, enjoy smashing, and do high levels of damage. Of all the swamp critters, these are the ones you will probably end up fighting most during this section. They will easily outrun you so fight well and bring bandages to recover from any injury (black) damage they do.
Hobgoblins
Can pop out in pairs when you find chests. If they are exorcists then you can probably try take em out. Just treat them as goblins with magic, nothing really special. However if head hobgoblins appear I suggest you run. They have high levels of stander, high hp, fast multi aggro and do lots of damage making killing them before they and chestdespawn a bit of a challenge. Fortunately they only run as fast as you (human speed) so it should be easy, and probably less time consuming, to escape.
Row, Row, Row your Boat
Once you have all three you'll need to visit the temples at the bottom of Erkey falls. The only way to get there with out help is by rafting, so make your way up to the La Terra Highlands with 10 pieces of firewood and you can talk to the native up there to build your raft. Bringing sufficient pots to stay alive is also a good idea as you will be attacked by hobgoblins on your trip down river. If you have it, you can use advanced magic or high rank crash shot to blow away the opposition on the banks as you pass but otherwise just transform and make sure to steer the raft to the RIGHT at the junction or you'll have to do it again. Once you've made the turn, steer left to avoid docking (unless you want to get off at the hobgoblin village but you may lose your raft) and fall down the waterfall. The cutscenes here lag sometimes so just be patient and wait them out. Once down there it should be safe enough to do what you need to do. If the giant alligator is awake, it may be best to avoid it for now. :P
As a side note, Rafting is another way to gain exploration exp and is quicker (but obviously more dangerous) than doing the Cor circuit if you can kill lots of hobgoblins during each run.
Longa Otter - (as Ruwai)
The highlight of this story arc, Ruwai is pretty kickass for an otter. Use more of his normal attacks instead of smash as he can chain a long set of them and you should get past all the scum of this desert dungeon in no time.
Mirror Mirror (need a giant)
If you aren't a giant, you're going to need one to help you get through the Par Dungeon part of this arc. While there are "ice" or "snow" variants of things you should be familiar with, there are a few new enemies as well:
Shrieker
Floating ice heads that behave like wisps, though they favor ice bolt. Remember how to kill a wisp? Same thing here.
Bandersnatch
Almost the same as zombies, except on the lower floors they can sprint at you and do pretty good damage. They have low HPs though which makes a giant's stomp the ideal way to neutralize them. Windmill works too, but the most widely accepted method is firebolt revolver to keep them at bay.
Wendigo
Treat is as a fit ogre that has higher defense against ranged and magic. The wendigo must die a specific death for the mirror witch to appear - it must be slain by a giant wielding an ice pole, and ice poles (if you don't have one) only drop when the wendigo uses stomp. Your main problem will be keeping this creep alive for your giant to bash as by this point, you will probably be able to dust him in short order if you aren't careful. To be safe, let your giant buddy solo him.
Mirror witch
She has many dangerous powers and broad array of defenses but she can't use any of them if she's pinned on the floor. Safest way to fight her is seriously to gang smash/windmill her. That may sound kinky but you'd better do it or it is you that will be raped. :P
Don't be fooled by her hotness, she's as cold as ice.
Longa Hide and Seek - (as Atrata)
The anti-climactic final dungeon - Atrata has no hope in fighting anything in here so just get used to using the "hide" action that is available to all elves as you hit those orbs. Remember it drains mana so drink up when you are running low.
Sunday, 15 July 2012
Fastest way to gain AP
My fifth Mabinogi lesson! To find what other classes are available please see the binding post. :)
Ability Points are the most prized numbers you need and will almost always be short of. You spend them to rank up skills and if you want everything at Rank 1 you will literally need thousands of them; and more with each new skill introduced into the game. There are four ways to earn AP:
Quests
Some quests give AP on completion. Of note are the Generation 1 quests give 70 odd all up so if given a choice do NOT skip it. Furthermore all quests give Gold and exp so they are usually all worth doing! Maybe not so much the timed daily ones like harvest wheat or gather eggs though.
Leveling Up
Each level you gain gives you 1 AP. As you level up this begins to slow down as more and more exp is required to level. For a newbie, your fastest EXP gain outside of quests will come from one of two places. First one is shadow Missions - Which one becomes a time vs effort decision on your part as "Defeat the Shadow Warrior" is not particularly fast to complete. If you are solo and are confident in windmill you may want to try the Tara shadow mission - "Their Method" to chop up zombies instead. Alternatively if you can handle them, the black mongeese (especially angry ones) at the human mark at Rano in Iria provide one of the best risk vs exp reward outside a dungeon. They can be tough customers though so I hope you've practiced up against those wolves from my last post before trying to fight them. Faster still is if you get someone to train you (probably on black mongeese again) by letting you into their party and giving all the exp to finish. They knock em down, you finish. Need to be very good friends or very persuasive for this to happen though.
Each week there is also a banquet at the Tara Castle that just spits out EXP for as long as you are inside the hall (for 1 hour). It's easy gain if you are going to be AFK but later on you will be able to make much more than it gives if you are actively killing stuff. Ideally, you should try aim to reach level 40-50 before having to rebirth.
Exploration
Each exploration level you gain gives you 1 AP. It is just as good as normal leveling up. The safest way for a beginner to level these up is to venture to Cor (or get a lift there) and do the circuit around the village. You will need an L-Rod and space in your pack to dig up some artifacts. Generally they spawn in "lines" everywhere so if you find 2 you can probably find a few more. This also means if you find one you should circle it and listen for beeps. Eventually you'll know where all the spots are by memory anyway if you do it very often. Be warned that the Giant Millipede does pose a threat to low level characters, and if he spawns DO NOT use smash on it.
Keep an eye on your exploration level too because there are some levels where you -MUST- do an exploration cap quest. Your exploration level will cease to advance and all excess exploration experience will be lost until you complete it! It's a good idea to get these out of the way as each character only needs to do them once. The maximum exploration level you can reach is 25 and you should aim to reach somewhere between 15-20 per rebirth.
Aging and Rebirth
Every week you gain some AP based on your age. The younger you are, the more AP you gain. However, unless you are planning on paying real money for character cards to rebirth, you will only be able to use the free rebirth given when your characters reaches an age of 20. If you started at age 17 thats three weeks before you can rebirth again. Why is rebirthing good? Because it resets your level and exploration level back to 1, making it easy to gain again, while keeping your already accumulated AP. If you can reach the ideal levels (or better) above within three weeks then you probably should be rebirthing to age 17. Otherwise adjust it accordingly to maximize your age/rebirth cycle.
Ability Points are the most prized numbers you need and will almost always be short of. You spend them to rank up skills and if you want everything at Rank 1 you will literally need thousands of them; and more with each new skill introduced into the game. There are four ways to earn AP:
Quests
Some quests give AP on completion. Of note are the Generation 1 quests give 70 odd all up so if given a choice do NOT skip it. Furthermore all quests give Gold and exp so they are usually all worth doing! Maybe not so much the timed daily ones like harvest wheat or gather eggs though.
Leveling Up
Each level you gain gives you 1 AP. As you level up this begins to slow down as more and more exp is required to level. For a newbie, your fastest EXP gain outside of quests will come from one of two places. First one is shadow Missions - Which one becomes a time vs effort decision on your part as "Defeat the Shadow Warrior" is not particularly fast to complete. If you are solo and are confident in windmill you may want to try the Tara shadow mission - "Their Method" to chop up zombies instead. Alternatively if you can handle them, the black mongeese (especially angry ones) at the human mark at Rano in Iria provide one of the best risk vs exp reward outside a dungeon. They can be tough customers though so I hope you've practiced up against those wolves from my last post before trying to fight them. Faster still is if you get someone to train you (probably on black mongeese again) by letting you into their party and giving all the exp to finish. They knock em down, you finish. Need to be very good friends or very persuasive for this to happen though.
Each week there is also a banquet at the Tara Castle that just spits out EXP for as long as you are inside the hall (for 1 hour). It's easy gain if you are going to be AFK but later on you will be able to make much more than it gives if you are actively killing stuff. Ideally, you should try aim to reach level 40-50 before having to rebirth.
Exploration
Each exploration level you gain gives you 1 AP. It is just as good as normal leveling up. The safest way for a beginner to level these up is to venture to Cor (or get a lift there) and do the circuit around the village. You will need an L-Rod and space in your pack to dig up some artifacts. Generally they spawn in "lines" everywhere so if you find 2 you can probably find a few more. This also means if you find one you should circle it and listen for beeps. Eventually you'll know where all the spots are by memory anyway if you do it very often. Be warned that the Giant Millipede does pose a threat to low level characters, and if he spawns DO NOT use smash on it.
Keep an eye on your exploration level too because there are some levels where you -MUST- do an exploration cap quest. Your exploration level will cease to advance and all excess exploration experience will be lost until you complete it! It's a good idea to get these out of the way as each character only needs to do them once. The maximum exploration level you can reach is 25 and you should aim to reach somewhere between 15-20 per rebirth.
Colombus got a lot of AP from it.
Aging and Rebirth
Every week you gain some AP based on your age. The younger you are, the more AP you gain. However, unless you are planning on paying real money for character cards to rebirth, you will only be able to use the free rebirth given when your characters reaches an age of 20. If you started at age 17 thats three weeks before you can rebirth again. Why is rebirthing good? Because it resets your level and exploration level back to 1, making it easy to gain again, while keeping your already accumulated AP. If you can reach the ideal levels (or better) above within three weeks then you probably should be rebirthing to age 17. Otherwise adjust it accordingly to maximize your age/rebirth cycle.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)