Generation 9 Tips (Part One) - Where the Fomors Hide

Now we begin the next major arc of the story and the introduction of alchemy! I am assuming that if you're still here that you've gone through at least some of my previous Mabinogi Classes. As usual I'm only covering the parts that may give you grief and boars and wolves should no longer be on that list! :P

Hero of Mag Tuireadh (solo as Fallon)
I think you actually fail the mission if any of your allied soldiers die (maybe not but it's good practice for later), which means you need to get moving quick and assist the dudes taking the most damage. Fallon is not bad in melee but he won't be as tough as your main character if you've done all the previous Generations so fight well and drink potions as needed. The black warrior boss behaves a lot like the Dark Lord with his teleportation antics and is the biggest threat to your buddies since he will be changing aggro a bit. Like the Dark Lord he can't do shit if he's on his ass so smash or WM that idiot and don't worry too much if you fail a few times, it's just an RP mission anyway.

Medal of Renkinjutsu! (fastest solo as Leymore)
Another RP this time as a mid level alchemist (alas not as either of the Elric brothers), and serves more as an introduction to alchemy skills if you haven't used them yourself yet. Like bolt magic you can load up to 5 units of whatever into your cylinder before firing it. Wind blast shoves things away, water kills em. Between those two plus standard counter you should be able to make short work of everything here. While this is technically the first quest that will be "scaled" based on your total level, have fun with it and try things out as you lose nothing really if you fail the mission.

Too easy if they were in it. :P

Supply Run (fastest solo)
I don't know why you have to hit a whole bunch of orbs while "delivering" stuff, but this serves as an introduction for your actual character to the denizens of the shadow realm (if you didn't just jump in here for the heck of it earlier). The last orb near the gate has around 2.5 times more spawn than the rest but you have all the room to back up to snipe and lure if they give you any issues. If you've never seen them before - here's a quick run down.

Grumbils
Basically just more colorful yet low-damage gremlins. They only spawn with other grumbils and given that you would have fought worse by now, should not be an issue.

Shadow Archer
Should be high on your priority target list as their ranged attack and magnum can do decent injury damage. They also dual aggro so you need to take em down fast. This shouldn't be a problem if you can get up to them as the only move they have at close quarters is defense. Once in melee they're pretty much screwed.

Shadow Lancer
After the archers you want to kill these guys next as they too dual aggro. They like to run around a lot like skelies though, giving you lots of time to counter or better yet, windmill.

Shadow Fighters
Dim-witted single aggro brutes that can pack a wallop. Basically treat them as goblins with large HP. They also hold defense up for a long time and tend to advance on you at the same time, giving you ample opportunity to smash their faces when they do.

Deliverance of Ice Mines (solo w/ Jenna NPC)
You'll have Jenna backing you up now and you must keep her and yourself alive as waves of shadow fighters and lancers assault from the small, nearby pathway. You have a minute or two to deploy those mines you were given which should help stem the tide. Enemy forces are bringing no ranged assistance, so feel free to annihilate the idiots how best you see fit. Don't worry too much about Jenna, she can usually handle stragglers - just make sure to stop or at least severely injure the bulk of the enemy as she can get overrun.

Rundal Temple Rumble (solo)
A small fun adventure in Rundal, where instead of skelies you get hooded cultists. While they have low passive defenses, they only single aggro, have pretty low HP, and run as slowly as human characters. The ones with shields are immune to ranged, but other than that you should be able to mop the floor with these guys.

Font Fighting - Corrupt Alchemist (solo w/ Jenna NPC)
Technically part of the NEXT generation (G10), this becomes available to you now so I'll just go through it quickly. Around 1/3rd in, Jenna will join and help you out with multi-aggro. At this point see to your own enemies first before helping her out as she can take a few hits. You can also patch her up in between fights. "New" baddies introduced are:

Bone Fighter/Lancer/Archer
Unlike your standard skeletons (which are actually more dangerous), these ones behave exactly like their "shadow" counterparts and should be treated as such. Bone coloration signifies their strength with gold (ironically) being the strongest and bronze the weakest.

Shadow Wizard Chick
Enjoys fire bolt and having nice hair-dos. Quite dangerous and should be high on your priority list of targets beside archers. Their punch does decent damage but it is preferable to their magic. They have a nasty habit of chain firebolting people to death. Smash or windmill them early to avoid this.

The Titluar Corrupt Alchemist
Fighting any alchemist sucks because you're going to be thrown around like a rag doll, set on fire (uncommon), hit by painful water balloons (often) and even frozen (corrupted ones only). They pack decent melee damage too and are again high on the list of "dudes to kill first". Fortunately they only know defense up close so get to them early and finish them quick. You'll be thankful to have Jenna with you for this run to interrupt his skills in this mission, but when you're on your own later I hope you either have a good charge, dodge or mana shield rank with multiple alchs gunning for you.

Shadow Walker (solo)
The main objective here is to find some psychadelic berries, consume them, and talk to some dude who only appears when you are high. Seriously. You'll want to hit trees to get red or purple berries, and they are often guarded by red spiders and skeleton wolves. They'll be stronger than the types you are used to, but more HP/damage does not mean smarter. If you are silly enough to rush in there and get surprised by multi-aggro then I think you've earned a butt whooping. :P

Generation 1 Tips (Part Two) - Everybody loves Dougal

Second part of my Generation 1 tips! You can find the first part here.

Fiodh (fastest with help)
Again, new creatures that could be troublesome for a newbie show up here - once you get to mid-level they shouldn't be a problem though. Fiodh is also a really big dungeon (more like a sprawling ruin) so it may take awhile to clear if going through solo. If you are trying that, then be sure to bring the same gear as from Ciar earlier as you'll probably need it.

Jackals and Bears
I hope you can recall your beginner battle class training sessions. Jackals behave just like wolves. :P

Snakes
Know counter and defense but tend to drop defense quickly so don't try smash them when they have it up. Normal attacks will be just fine since most have low HP but they can bite hard (especially white ones) if they catch you. Fortunately none of them in this arc are poisonous... those will come in later. :P

Werewolves
Can be very problematic for low level characters as their claws do injury (black) damage and they have heavy stander. This means there's a chance they will auto-defend any non-knockback melee attack. Simplest way around this is to stick to smash, windmill and counter. I'd suggest shooting them from far but they usually appear in locked rooms so you'll need to learn how to handle them up close.Later on  you'll be one hit killing them, but for now it's probably best to bring two stacks of bandages along.

Gorgons
Basically armored cows. Again, avoid normal attacks as they too have heavy stander and just like the werewolves they tend to spawn in locked rooms. Expect to spam your heal potions a bit the first time you meet them, and don't use smash as your opening attack. Alternatively if you want to practice fighting them, head to Iria and travel North of Qilla until you find the young short-horned gnus. They have similar AI but are just less aggressive (gnus never attack first).

Rabbie-Albey (fastest to solo as Mari)
Nice looking scary dungeon you'll get to visit in person later on. For now the fastest way through is to use an ultra speed potion and arrow revolver everything until the dark lord shows up. Once he does I recommend magnum shot to prevent him from teleporting. Like everything else that teleports, he can "bug" out and become a non-targetable statue. If this happens you'll have no choice but to change channel and go back to get another set of glasses from Tarlach to do this dungeon again.

Barri Crossing  (fastest with help)
The only thing that maybe new here for you are imps. These little fellas pack quite a punch if they zap you, but they are paper mages. One combo should be enough to kill them. If not, use defense quickly or alternatively use magic on them yourself. They are more a lesson in kill sequencing (start with isolated ones) rather than combat skill.

Tir Na Nog
Welcome to Australia! Erm I mean, Tir na Nog. Sorry, easy to mistake with all these dingoes (again wolf ai) running about. There are only two other things lurking out here.

Map of Tir Na Nog! :P

Zombie
The graveyard here hosts a large number of zombies who are pretty much immune to ranged and magic attacks, plus they have heavy stander! The safest way to deal with these slow moving scum is to windmill, and this was originally the best place to train it. These days you can travel to Tara and do the Their Method mission for more accessible zombies though. Also, if you are quick, you can open with a smash if they haven't noticed you yet. Anyway, you will need to kill one of these scum to bind your soul here (ie. enable respawn), otherwise death with no one nearby to res here or in the nearby Albey dungeon will lead you back to Bangor. Where is your goddess now ey? :P

Giant Worm
Dangerous, heavy stander and heavy hitter. Best avoided if you are low level, and like the dingoes - you never actually have to fight these ones. They behave like snakes.

Albey Green Gem (safest with help)
The first of three runs you'll need to do through Albey for Generation 1. There are no statues to revive at here so bringing backup is a good idea. Also note that if you didn't complete the soul binding quest of killing a zombie, your respawn point will be Bangor. There are also a number of new opponents waiting for you here:

Ratmen
Think of them as talkative and tricky goblins. Their windmill can do some decent damage but otherwise, just fight correctly and they'll die quick.

Gargoyles
The bane of Albey dungeon. They can easily one hit kill low-mid level players and have the same AI as gremlins (annoying). They will probably survive a standard combo or smash too if you haven't got your skills up yet, and enjoy throwing an ice bolt to stun/negate their prey's defense before attacking up close. The "heavy" version also boasts heavy stander and more HP. Shoot them from far when you are given the opportunity, but they will also spawn in enclosed rooms with you which means you and your team simply have to fight well. You'll need to get used to them as they'll show up in the next two dungeons in this story arc too.

Albey Black Orb (safest with help)
A more dangerous run through Albey as gargoyles are going to be more plentiful. Two "new" opponents you'll be facing here are:

Armored Skeletons
They're just like normal skelies except that they now have heavy stander. Avoid normal attacks if possible and remember to focus on the one "!!" aggroed on you as they only aggro one at a time. A mix of windmill, counter, magic and ranged attacks are all good ways to beat them.

Ghost Armor
You've fought them before as Mores and Mari, but now you may not have powerful magic or a strong bow. It is still advisable to shoot them from far but if you are going in close be careful of their lightning bolts and DO NOT open with smash as they have high intuition. Just attack them normally and put up defense to catch their magic or sword if they are still alive.

Albey Goddess Final (safest with help)
Five floors and no respawn points. Better also bring some firewood and a bow if this is your first time in here. A few more "new" enemies to contend with here if you haven't been done the beginner hunting quests. Don't worry, all your old friends from the spiderlings to the heavy gargoyles will also make an appearance.

Hellhound
Often found as the boss of Math dungeon, you'll be locked in with two of them and for a change it is better to be up close and personal with these instead of "middle distance" which they will dominate with their magic. Just treat them as big wolves that happen to have firebolt. :P It takes some time for them to load firebolt so pounce the minute they do.

Lycanthrope
A variation of the old werewolf, you're only going to run into one of these and the best way to beat him is to just spam windmill, as any other skill could level him up and restore his life to full.

Dark Lord
Ideally fight him after taking out his body guards. He can still teleport but if he does that ususally means he is using a normal attack making him open against counter and windmill. Hopefully you've picked up the Goddess pass to "save" your progress just incase your team dies to him or the final boss.

Glas
This giant, four-armed gold eating monster can shoot lasers from its mouth, summon gargoyles and has a really quick regeneration rate. There are three ways to beat him - first, bring a high level friend to seriously just one hit KO him. Second, setup a camp fire at the door and use burning arrows on him (does injury damage which he cannot regen), or the classic way which is to kill his summoned gargoyles until one drops a "seal scroll". Pick it up, burn it on a camp fire to gain 60 second invulnerability and 100% injury dealing rate and beat him up. All methods are equally fun. Again, don't worry too much if you die - as long as you keep picking up the Goddess pass you get to redo this and the dark lord fight over and over until you win. :)

Goddess Enchant
Hopefully you have a fully upgraded and fully repaired, favourite weapon by now as you have only 6 hours after receiving the reward to use it.