Little guide on how to grind your characters

[Krungle]

Completely shameless bump.
Why isn't this stickied?

[blood-raven]

Lol 21K views

I hope people got some help from this thread

[VeterKh]

how grind your chars to 60 lvl without XIM...


Why isn't this stickied?

[Krungle]

Originally Posted by VeterKh

how grind your chars to 60 lvl without XIM...


Why isn't this stickied?

Oh, nm...

But (I<3 (l) ) If you buy exp scrolls it just makes it go faster. Still great advice.

[Lebeau]

I mostly agreed with the rest of blood-raven's post here, but beg to differ on certain points or would amend the following statements made...

Originally Posted by blood-raven

Archers:

-Also stay clear of evasion buffs, they don't work properly.

Warriors:

-I think slash is the best tree to grind (with south cross).

Barbarians:

-For barbarians it's important to skill damage buffs first (berserker, overwhelming stength, thirst for blood, acurate swings (for slash) etc.

Mages:

-Forget about arcane devotion (the cast sped buff) and you can skill ambitious sacrifice on 2 because you need a lot less mana.

Conjurers:

-The most easy way to grind is when you have enough buffs, for example: fox wits, bear strenght etc (mainly in the enchantments tree) and heals (in the heal tree, obvious).

-Summon tree: skip imps and also zombies, not worth it.

-FOR ALL CONJURERS, EVEN WARJURES.
ALWAYS have resurrection on 1!

Warlocks

-The easiest way to grind warlocks is similar to grinding a conj. All tough you don't have heals, giving mana, buffs and later aura's will get you your xp.

1. Archers actually SHOULD use evasive tactics & acrobat (or at least skill them in case u get ganked in warzone while grinding). Mana returns while resting alot quicker than health does, so lose less, rest less, grind more...

2. I recommend maxing out the Arrow Mastery tree; using buffed norms (mostly as recommended & starting from max. range) to kill, but opening the engagement with a mob using serp bite, ethe arro, arca stri, (or using brea apar from LB tree as well) or finishing off with igni scor is ftw especially versus chal mobs. Also, it allows u to skill a high lvl of rech arro & wint stro as well. Btw tho, using rech arro isn't really a viable working option til around 45+/- (it's costs are generally just too high; use a heavy hitting slow bow if you do tho).

3. Use whatever tree that goes with the best weapon u have onhand & can use atm. Best = fastest & highest overall damage bonus(es) ... (due to damage rings' additional bonuses, faster IS better: the more often u hit, the more DPS/Damage Per Second). IF you have conj support, then fine be a sc junkie if u like, but if not, this spell will use alot of mana for minimal return (the animation sequence delay makes sc take almost as long as 2 norms, so what have you actually gained really?). Better to save your mana for kick, rage of the earth (once u can skill the tree this high without loss of other tree options) & your buffs as well (weapon buff like accurate swings, frenzy, caution, thirst for blood, berserker). It's a good idea to skill your attribute passives too (at least 1 usually, but more if leftover points have no home): leth anat & vers, with athl optional. Won't hurt to skill a 1 in whatever damage resist passive u get from your weapon of choice tree & skill mart defe as high as tree lvl allows as well to reduce the mob's damage & # of crit's on u either.

4. On Conj or Lock [& armed with a staff with high damage bonus(es)], once u are 33rd, an SM build is indeed far more productive overall for grinding, but those many buffs/spells in the casting cycle (summ gole or the ranged summons, fire magn, ice magn, ligh magn, ener barr, forc armo, ambi sacr, meta cont, arca acce) all take time to cast, so ALWAYS skill arca devo as well to speed this process up. Remember to skill the comb magi passive too btw.

5. ANYone who tells u the easiest & best way for a mage to get most xp quickest is by supporting is probably looking for support & not being truthful really, knowingly or not. Even if u follow the directions blood-raven gives, not all mobs will always give xp & the supported killer will always get the lion's share of it (or often all) at times. Only support others because they need the help (knights most of all & hunters too due to low damage) & because u want to & feel like it. IF u can manage to keep EVERYone in a grind-party double buffed/aura-ed, u will make good xp, but otherwise, Don't ... Get ... Conned ...

6.For conjs below 33 using a cast build, mostly using norms to kill but opening an engagement with a mob using summons like imps & zombies, along with other openers, like pric ivy, beet swar, arca miss, mana burn or finishing off with blaze is also ftw especially versus chal mobs. Switch to SM at 33 tho or perhaps before, at 29th, or even earlier, at 21st IF u have an truly asskickin' SM stick.

7. IF this meant have resu 1 skilled even in your grinding build, I won't argue at all, is good idea. BUT, if this advice was meant to advocate NEVER skilling resu above a 1, then ignore it. Bad idea. In any build u intend to go to war with, skill resu 5 or just don't even bother.

-Lastly, I REALLY can't overemphasize the importance of wearing armor as close to your own level & with the best possible physical resists (versus slash, pierce & blunt) as is possible, REGARDLESS of whether it is unenchanted, special, magical, epic, etc. U take less damage per hit, u rest less, grind more, thus getting more xp over time, period.

Originally Posted by Nils_Dacke

Grinding in a well-disciplined party can be almost fun, but above all: it is efficient.

True 'Dat! (well for all but barbs maybe, who seem to work best alone or with a single barb buddy ... or does having a pet support conj count as a party?).

Originally Posted by Donatoo

...very nice guide Bloodraven.
I'm sure it's useful to new players.

Word!

[Pnarpa]

Originally Posted by Lebeau

1. Archers actually SHOULD use evasive tactics & acrobat (or at least skill them in case u get ganked in warzone while grinding). Mana returns while resting alot quicker than health does, so lose less, rest less, grind more...

He meant those buffs that add evade chance (Dodge, Cat reflexes).

[blood-raven]

Originally Posted by Lebeau

I mostly agreed with the rest of blood-raven's post here, but beg to differ on certain points or would amend the following statements made...

1. Archers actually SHOULD use evasive tactics & acrobat (or at least skill them in case u get ganked in warzone while grinding). Mana returns while resting alot quicker than health does, so lose less, rest less, grind more...

As pnarp said, i meant buffs that increase evade chance

2. I recommend maxing out the Arrow Mastery tree; using buffed norms (mostly as recommended & starting from max. range) to kill, but opening the engagement with a mob using serp bite, ethe arro, arca stri, (or using brea apar from LB tree as well) or finishing off with igni scor is ftw especially versus chal mobs. Also, it allows u to skill a high lvl of rech arro & wint stro as well. Btw tho, using rech arro isn't really a viable working option til around 45+/- (it's costs are generally just too high; use a heavy hitting slow bow if you do tho).

[COLOR="rgb(139, 0, 0)"]Serpent bite is good, ethereal is ok but arcana strike is no no, way to much mana cost.[/COLOR]

3. Use whatever tree that goes with the best weapon u have onhand & can use atm. Best = fastest & highest overall damage bonus(es) ... (due to damage rings' additional bonuses, faster IS better: the more often u hit, the more DPS/Damage Per Second). IF you have conj support, then fine be a sc junkie if u like, but if not, this spell will use alot of mana for minimal return (the animation sequence delay makes sc take almost as long as 2 norms, so what have you actually gained really?). Better to save your mana for kick, rage of the earth (once u can skill the tree this high without loss of other tree options) & your buffs as well (weapon buff like accurate swings, frenzy, caution, thirst for blood, berserker). It's a good idea to skill your attribute passives too (at least 1 usually, but more if leftover points have no home): leth anat & vers, with athl optional. Won't hurt to skill a 1 in whatever damage resist passive u get from your weapon of choice tree & skill mart defe as high as tree lvl allows as well to reduce the mob's damage & # of crit's on u either.

You're jumping to warriors here, well i did say that spears and hammers are also good for grinding.
But i have to correct you, if you use a fast weapon as a barb you often have to do 3 hits/mob which mean you take more damage which means more resting time and if you grind on golems for example, more chance they do that annoying stun spell

4. On Conj or Lock [& armed with a staff with high damage bonus(es)], once u are 33rd, an SM build is indeed far more productive overall for grinding, but those many buffs/spells in the casting cycle (summ gole or the ranged summons, fire magn, ice magn, ligh magn, ener barr, forc armo, ambi sacr, meta cont, arca acce) all take time to cast, so ALWAYS skill arca devo as well to speed this process up. Remember to skill the comb magi passive too btw.

Idk if devotion is necessary with an sm setup, the cast time of the buffs arent that high and it feels like a waist of points, especially for lower levels.
And i think ranged summons are better then golems alltough you need to cast em more often (use demon and lich to cover the cooldowns of each spell)

5. ANYone who tells u the easiest & best way for a mage to get most xp quickest is by supporting is probably looking for support & not being truthful really, knowingly or not. Even if u follow the directions blood-raven gives, not all mobs will always give xp & the supported killer will always get the lion's share of it (or often all) at times. Only support others because they need the help (knights most of all & hunters too due to low damage) & because u want to & feel like it. IF u can manage to keep EVERYone in a grind-party double buffed/aura-ed, u will make good xp, but otherwise, Don't ... Get ... Conned ...

For a knight, support grinding in a group is the fastest way to grind, idk for higher levels but deffinatly in lower levels, when you can skill heroic and deflecting + the other support spells you can level up like mad, the problem is there are hardly any grind groups anymore so in the meantime you can use those letter tasks, if you have a horse or grinding alone if not.
For mages, (talking about conjus now cause obviously warlocks don't often support) you might get more xp from grinding alone but i always kept it going longer when in group so in the long run i think i got more xp from supporting.
Ofcourse it's how you prefer

6.For conjs below 33 using a cast build, mostly using norms to kill but opening an engagement with a mob using summons like imps & zombies, along with other openers, like pric ivy, beet swar, arca miss, mana burn or finishing off with blaze is also ftw especially versus chal mobs. Switch to SM at 33 tho or perhaps before, at 29th, or even earlier, at 21st IF u have an truly asskickin' SM stick.

Nothing to say here

7. IF this meant have resu 1 skilled even in your grinding build, I won't argue at all, is good idea. BUT, if this advice was meant to advocate NEVER skilling resu above a 1, then ignore it. Bad idea. In any build u intend to go to war with, skill resu 5 or just don't even bother.

True, resurrect 1 is goodnuff for grinding

-Lastly, I REALLY can't overemphasize the importance of wearing armor as close to your own level & with the best possible physical resists (versus slash, pierce & blunt) as is possible, REGARDLESS of whether it is unenchanted, special, magical, epic, etc. U take less damage per hit, u rest less, grind more, thus getting more xp over time, period.

]Nothing to comment

Answers in green

[Krungle]

Note: I use the term 'mana siphon' for the spell that takes mana from a target at a % and gives it to you.

I recently made a Mage on another server to learn the Inner of another realm. Anyway, I immediately /reset_powers, put 2 points in Magic Missile and two points in Energy Barrier. My next two points went into staff speed. Cast sequence is Energy Barrier, Staff speed, missile, autoattack until mob is dead; missile second mob, if health remains above initial % damage from Missile by the time it refreshes, second missile; rest; repeat. Staff speed wears off at the beginning of second mob engagement and barrier is typically down before second mob dies, this is why a second missile comes in handy (on second mob), especially on Yellows. For staffwork always choose the fastest staff with the biggest bonus damage, stay away from slow-speed staves. A Med speed staff with a +20 damage vs a fast speed staff with a +12 damage, take the Med speed staff, but if you find a fast staff with +18 damage, that is probably a 10+ level staff.

Later on (around L26) a Conjurer (not sure about locks yet) Should have both pets (demon & Lich), mana siphon, and health to mana exchange, one nuke (I still use missile), energy barrier, summon's passive buff, and Prickling Ivy kept on max; Heal self should be on +2 or 3. Every time mana siphon refreshes, hit it. Mana siphon works best on Monsters (as opposed to animals); a trick with the siphon is if you get low on mana, siphon a leader mob and run like heck. But at L26 a Warju should be able to grind literally non-stop, never having to rest, with this setup. Even if pulls go bad it only takes a few mobs before you have recovered fully, again no need to rest ever. I typically only use Prickling Ivy on Yellows and 'Ooops!' pulls or adds; I nuke once per mob (sometimes two for a yellow), staff it down to two or three summon's hits then move on to my next target, keeping the old mob targeted until I see it is dead then retarget on new mob. Recast Summons right before the old one times out (some timing is needed) not just because you are in between mobs but during fights, too. Rebuffing/health to mana exchange/heal self should be done when ever needed but not at a time that delays a resummon; target switching should not be delayed to do the former, rebuff/mana maintain as needed but keep killing and ALWAYS have a summons up.

Although Staff speed is critically helpful at very low levels, once you start getting mana control spells (self-heal/vampirism, health to mana exchange, mana siphon) then staff speed is not as critical and can be used for only higher level mobs. Once a Warju gets the second summons staff speed can be deskilled in favor of points into other areas.

[71175]

Originally Posted by Krungle

Note: I use the term 'mana siphon' for the spell that takes mana from a target at a % and gives it to you.

I recently made a Mage on another server to learn the Inner of another realm. Anyway, I immediately /reset_powers, put 2 points in Magic Missile and two points in Energy Barrier. My next two points went into staff speed. Cast sequence is Energy Barrier, Staff speed, missile, autoattack until mob is dead; missile second mob, if health remains above initial % damage from Missile by the time it refreshes, second missile; rest; repeat. Staff speed wears off at the beginning of second mob engagement and barrier is typically down before second mob dies, this is why a second missile comes in handy (on second mob), especially on Yellows. For staffwork always choose the fastest staff with the biggest bonus damage, stay away from slow-speed staves. A Med speed staff with a +20 damage vs a fast speed staff with a +12 damage, take the Med speed staff, but if you find a fast staff with +18 damage, that is probably a 10+ level staff.

Later on (around L26) a Conjurer (not sure about locks yet) Should have both pets (demon & Lich), mana siphon, and health to mana exchange, one nuke (I still use missile), energy barrier, summon's passive buff, and Prickling Ivy kept on max; Heal self should be on +2 or 3. Every time mana siphon refreshes, hit it. Mana siphon works best on Monsters (as opposed to animals); a trick with the siphon is if you get low on mana, siphon a leader mob and run like heck. But at L26 a Warju should be able to grind literally non-stop, never having to rest, with this setup. Even if pulls go bad it only takes a few mobs before you have recovered fully, again no need to rest ever. I typically only use Prickling Ivy on Yellows and 'Ooops!' pulls or adds; I nuke once per mob (sometimes two for a yellow), staff it down to two or three summon's hits then move on to my next target, keeping the old mob targeted until I see it is dead then retarget on new mob. Recast Summons right before the old one times out (some timing is needed) not just because you are in between mobs but during fights, too. Rebuffing/health to mana exchange/heal self should be done when ever needed but not at a time that delays a resummon; target switching should not be delayed to do the former, rebuff/mana maintain as needed but keep killing and ALWAYS have a summons up.

Although Staff speed is critically helpful at very low levels, once you start getting mana control spells (self-heal/vampirism, health to mana exchange, mana siphon) then staff speed is not as critical and can be used for only higher level mobs. Once a Warju gets the second summons staff speed can be deskilled in favor of points into other areas.

Ehm... you use energy borrow in grinding O.o? Just in case: it is 35% of mana drain on lvl5, and mobs have quite LOW mana pool.

[Tamui]

Originally Posted by 71175

Ehm... you use energy borrow in grinding O.o? Just in case: it is 35% of mana drain on lvl5, and mobs have quite LOW mana pool.

Mana borrow on a leader and run