Pastry's guide to the Full support Ringmaster

[pastry_]

Hello I’m Pastry of mushpoie. I’m currently level 98-M and was an FSRM until 101. I’ve enjoyed my time as an FS so much, and think I may have at least something to offer new assists wanting to become an FS, that I’ve decided to make a guide on being full support.

First off I’m aware there may be other guides on the topic however I’m hoping I can offer something different in mine and the current guide in the useul links section has not been updated in almost a year. I’m also aware that I am not a high level master or a hero but I think I’ve learnt a lot about the life of a full support and I’d like to share that knowledge with people, I already get asked RM questions so I think it’s time to make the guide I always wanted to make C: So enjoy.

And here is a list of Abreviations. If you find one you aren't familiar with please look it up in here.
http://flyff-wiki.gpotato.com/index.php/Acronyms



Navigation

Main- Introduction, builds and navigation.
Armor List of Ringmaster and assist sets, customising your armor.
Sticks List of sticks, customising a stick.
Jewellery List of jewellery and what jewellery to wear.
Pets List of pets and their bonuses, what pets to use.
Skills, tips and other nuances. Explanation of assist and ringmaster skills, Hotkeys, Tips to improve FS'ing.
Misc. things. Finding a partner, Gianting, places of importance, partner ettiquite, Life after FS'ing
Q&A, Updates and thanks.



What is an FS RM?

An FS?
An FS, or full support, is an assist that lives to serve. You’ll spend most of you’re life following your partner, healing and buffing so they’re able to kill. If fighting is more your thing, this may be where you decide to stop reading. Simply put it’s called full support for a reason.

First off, why choose to become and FS RM?
Just because you are not fighting, doesn’t mean it’s not fun. I’m one of the people who really enjoy supporting; it can be relaxing and highly enjoyable. FS’s don’t necessarily leave excitement free lives however. As an FS you will be a highly desirable partner and will almost constantly be levelling in places where the monsters are a good 25-29 levels above yourself., and until you can get into nice comfy Azria, you will need to be on guard. Aggroes are in every spawn outside of Azria and, depending on your build, can kill you in 1-2 hits.

Full support is a very sociable life as well. Many of my longer partners have become friends I still talk to today and I’m very glad to have met them. You meet many people, because you are a desirable partner. Some people with an FS can fight up to 10 or 11 levels above themselves on a 1v1 build and some AOE’rs can match that with good equips or two FS’s. I know my Psy was able to take mushpoies at level 70 and they are 9 levels above it. At the risk of sounding highly corny, full supports are key to unlocking the power of the other classes.


So let us begin on how to build one.

Oh and first off I strongly suggest you follow these links if you are very new to the game, they will help you get to level 15 at which you can become an assist.

1-15 as a vagrant viewtopic.php?f=2&t=2655738
assist job change http://flyff-wiki.gpotato.com/index.php ... _Job_Quest


Builds. Intelligence is Key; think smart.

The major stat for an FS is Intelligence or INT as I will now abbreviate it. INT affects your buff timers and for standard buffs like heap up and cannon ball, adds about 20 seconds per 10 INT.


This said then the most common build for a beginning FS is to go full INT

The true Full Support.

STR:15
STA:15
INT: XXX
DEX: 15

This will give you the best buff times of all the builds but the least defence and HP.
For your time as an assist, that’s completely fine. The reason being is you will be using armor appropriate to your level so your defence will be reasonable enough however without good equips I’d recommend adding STA to this build IF you know you will not be able to go to Azria. Although with the flood of 1 days Azria has become much more available. I will explain why adding STA is pretty essential in the key places section.


The Survivalist.

STR:15
STA: 30-45
INT: XXX
DEX: 15

This build will give you a bit more hp and defence. The reason for this is that a dead FS is a useless FS. I would not recommend this to beginning assists, I had 45 base STA at about 9X because I felt my equipment gave enough INT to justify it, and because I would soon be leaving Azria. However in the early levels stick to full INT or use the CW build.

The Clockworks RM.

STR:15
STA: 40-70 ( the STA here is adjustable depending on your equipment)
INT: XXX
DEX: 15

This build will allow you to partner other classes, usually blades and billposters, to defeat the level 80 supergiant clock works.
http://flyff-wiki.gpotato.com/index.php/Clockworks_War
That link will tell you more about Clockworks. This build will not usually reach it’s full potential till about level 90. With good equips it’s possible at 80 however without a Gstick and a good set you likely won’t have enough HP, that’s not to say it cannot be done however. This class is the moneymaking RM class. You will be able to find yourself high level partners and together fight Clockworks, you’ll have an hour to finish him off and during that time the fighting will be intense. Who said full support was dull hey?

For the CW RM as well Block is better than defence as CW hits hard even with high defence especially in rage. If you + your set highly, use rimyth/remingster at later levels or are lucky enough to have Speedos it will help greatly. +2 speedos aren't as outrageously expensive as the +3 ones however naturally +1's are cheapest. If you can afford them it will help but the 105 set combined with high +'age and cats should suffice if you're unable to get them. And remember to make sure you have max cats reflex on. Plugs may be better at lower levels to reduce damage in rage and the damage of crits. I am not 100% on whether CW ignores defence or whether its just the difference your defence makes is in context of your level. i will investigate further.

EDIT i've been told that the CW assist build is 40-60 stam so if you are comfortable with this then by all means, however at the lower levels im not sure it would give you enough hp i know with 45 Sta at level 8x i didn't have enough. But i guess with highly upgraded stuff you could, like i said with good equips the sta is variable.

EDIT again this build is the most troublesome, i have lowered the bracket to 40-70 stam.

Edit one last time. I would still advocate you pick the higher bracket of this build for stam especially at lower levels or if you do not have hp boosting equipment. Some people will be doing money precisely so they can afford fancy pierced gear and so i do not think having a higher amount of stam is a bad thing for this.

I'd just like to add that after you finish your time as an FS (if you decide to) an AOE RM can CW effectively with a Blade or BP. I did CW with m3th0dm4n who usually only has sky on her AOE RM with him and we killed CW in 8minutes, heres where buying Refresher holds won't be too costly as one or two can get you through CW rather than 6.

The DeVizzleFs RM /PvP/ Non-restat.

STR:15
STA: XXX
INT: 160
DEX:15

This was a build a friend told me he used (you can probably guess who from the build name lol) but from what he told me it works well enough at a lot of things to warrant adding it C: Basically its a build that will not reach its full potential till the higher levels but it allows you the most survivability outside full it. By capping the INT at 160 and using an LGS with int rings he was able to have 12-13minute buffs which is ample time, a decent heal power and high hp and defence. It would be an ideal build for someone who knows they will be doing a lot of pvp, out of azria training CW farming and Red Meteo farming (partnered of course). Especially when paired with a Navil/neclus set or a HP pierced set this build will give you the freedom to do the stand and heal rain trick almost anywhere. In the very high levels with a rimyth/remingster and defence/sta boosting equips it's perfectly possible that you could aoe using this build hence why i added non restat to the title however i'd definitely add that they be above average equips. I believe your int boost from your equipment must be at least decent to get the higher buff timers on this build (still waiting to ask how much his equips added) however the DeVizzleFs build can potentially be one of the most flexible builds around.




The WRONG build.

STR: Anything above 15
STA: See listed values.
INT: XXX
DEX: Anything above 15

I CANNOT STRESS THIS ENOUGH. Do not put points in STR or DEX and do not add too much STA.STR is useless as it adds nothing to your hp, mp , def or INT. DEX is useless for the same reason as well as an RM's blockrate is not high enough for dex to give a significant amount of block.
If you want to add to your block either Buy speedos (not reccomended) or cast Cat's reflex on yourself, both of which i will cover later. As for too much STA you are only cutting in to your INT here and while it may seem like a good idea for a CW RM, i'd like to point out this. At early levels you will be with someone dealing lowish damage (in context of CW's health) and you will likely be Heal Raining for the entire time. HR takes up over 100 mp even with the wedge set, and if you're not heal raining you'll be using Holycross which although it only uses 24 mp your mp recovery rate will be 0 as you are targetting a monster. So either you cut into your CW earnings and buy Refresher Holds or just stick to the build.
However the INT will help outside of CW as well, and if you get to CW and find you are too low even with all that STA, when you go back to level your partner will rather you had the INT.

[pastry_]

Armor. what you wearing ;]

Your armor is important. The better it is, the more points you can put in INT which means longer timers. Like any other Class the different armor bonuses are suited for different builds and i'll explain here which are better used and which are best avoided.

Up until level 45 i reccomend using the NPC blues. The reason being is that as an FS you'll be levelling so quickly that you won't have the armor very long before you switch and upgrade to the next one.

If you do happen to have the Green sets, by all means use them.

Sardine/ Curus set at level 15 gives

1/4 no effect
2/4 Def +15 Dex +3
3/4 Def+33 Dex +3 FP +10% MP +10%
4/4 Def +33 Dex +3 FP +10% MP +10% Attack speed +10%

For a newly fledged assist this is actually a very nice set to have because of the defence and the mp increase however as said earlier it won't be used too long.
It does however mean that from 15-20 until you have some more buffs you can 1v1 with a knuck and pangs buffs to level up if you can't find a partner.

Talin/Sayram at level 30 gives

1/4 no effect
2/4 Def+19 Int +5
3/4 Def+ 47 Int +5 FP consumption-15% MP consumption -15%
4/4 Def+ 47 Int +5 FP consumption-15% MP consumption -15% Crit Rate +10%

again a nice set to have because of Int and this time the MP usage reduction. This would be the better of the first two to get as you will use it for longer.

Wedge/flury level 45 set gives

1/4 no effect
2/4 Def +19 int +7
3/4 Def +38 Int +7 FP consumption-20% MP consumption -20%
4/4 Def +38 Int +7 Fp Consumption -20% MP consumption -20% decreased casting time time 30%

The grandaddy of the assist sets and RM sets. This set completely outclasses all other sets in the full support. Even the magnificent Revenio at 120 lacks the mp reduction of this set.
While it does not have the Defence HP or Mp bonus of the higher sets. It does have the Int bonus and the Mp reduction which will help significantly when you get Holycross and Heal rain.
It also has the best decreased casting time of the sets, only equalled by the level 120 set. I used this right up until i went AOE and it is your best friend, if you buy one set your entire time as an FS this is the one to get.

An added note on this is that you may see people shouting that they are an AOE whatevermajig and they're looking for an RM with Wedge/flury. So not having this set may restrict your choice of partners however i aoe'd on my psy with someone without flury and did fine. The best you can do is to get a DoMM awaken and try and get by on that.

Rashadain/Yuandain level 50 CW armor gives

Helmet:Resistances: Electric+8%, Fire+8%, Water+16%
Boots: Resistances: Electric+7%, Fire+7%, Water+14%
Gauntlet: Resistances: Electric+9%, Fire+9%, Water+18%
Suit: Resistances: Electric+10%, Fire+10%, Water+20%

To Male characters
Helmet:MP+60
Boots:HP+100
Gauntlet:HP+100
Suit:MP+60

To female characters
Helmet:Atk+35
Boots:Def+45
Gauntlet:Def+35
Suit:Atk+65

The defence on this is fantastic and the male bonuses are somewhat helpful to FS assists. It is expesnive however and for the money to buy the entire set you could most likely get a wedge/flury set. Also other than defence it offers no advantage to female FS assists.

Shurand/Shuran the level 60 set gives

1/4 no effect
2/4 Def +19
3/4 Def+45 Int +8
4/4 Def +45 Int + 8 HP 15%

The last of the assist sets and the best substitute for wedge/flury among them. The 15% hp boost will be useful in dealing with aggroes and at around 60-65 if you don't go to Azria your partners will likely level in the pinky room, the third worst place for an FS.

RM sets

So we have covered the assist armor section but what about after 60? well if you were able to afford the level 45 set, keep it and any money you would use to buy new sets, use to upgrade it.
If you have the level 60 set, still keep it for now but work on getting the level 45.

Pact/Paxt the level 75 set gives

1/4 No effect
2/4 Def +20
3/4 Def +47 MP+15%
4/4 Def +47 MP+15% Int+10

The most useful of the sets until the 105 one. The MP boost is lovely and comes just 5 levels after you get heal rain, one of the most mp intensive skills. The Int is also good however i hate to sound like a broken record, but level 45 set is still better.
This set would be the best for anyone going CW'ing at 80 however as the MP and Def is nice other wise it is best left for aoers.

Shupon/Shrian the level 90 set gives

1/4 No effect
2/4 Def+20
3/4 Def+47 Int +7
4/4 Def+47 Int +7 MP consumption-20%

Another CW/AOE set, the MP consumption is good as is the int however most of the RM sets are, because of lack of a better phrase, poor mans wedge. They each offer one of the Wedge/flury's bonus and usually not as good.

Navil/Neclus the purple 105 set gives.

1/4 No effect
2/4 Def +21
3/4 Def +48 HP+15%
4/4 Def+48 HP+15% decreased casting time time +20%

The next best set for an FS save Revenio. This is a wise investment for anyone continuing on the FS path past 105 as you will no longer have the option of Azria.
It gives a portion of decreased casting time which makes it viable for AOE partners. It also Adds HP and has much higher defence than the wedge/flury.


Rimyth/Remingster The yellow 105 set gives

1/4 no effect
2/4 Def +10%
3/4 Def +10% Ranged block +10% melee block +10%
4/4 Def +15% Ranged block +15% melee block +15% HP +15%

This set gives epic bonuses but sadly not so epic for Full support. The HP and defence may be nice for withstanding aggroes however the decreased casting time time of the Navil/Neclus is better as it means faster buffs and faster healing for AOE partners. If you plan to go aoe, then this is the set for you. It is also the best CW set for survival as it Gives HP Def and block however at 100 i was able to CW in a +3 wedge so its not neccessary.

Revenio the bloody set gives

1/4 no effect
2/4 no effect
3/4 no effect
4/4 Hp 20% Def 22% decreased casting time +30% Int +10

The second best FS set however without reducts you will only be able to use it at 120 by which time you won't need the defence or hp it offers for FS'ing
It is extremely hard to get as it is only available through red chips however it is the best substitute for wedge/flury and if you choose to do the master quest and go back to 60-M, then if you have this set use it.
The HP and Def will make you a very sturdy RM PvM even on a full int build.

Ok so we have covered our armor but thats only the base armor. To really unlock the full potential we'll need to look at what you can do with the armor.

Customization. It's not what you wear but how you wear it.


The most basic of customising is general upgrading with sunstones, however after your set reaches +3 remember to use scrolls of Sprotect to avoid losing it. It can however give the best upgrading bonuses for an FS especially when paired with the awesome level 45 or 120 set.

Armor can be upgraded to +10 and that naturally gives the best bonuses. The bonuses higher armor gives are as follows.

Code: Select all

Upgrade  Accuracy       Block      HP     MP     Stats
3            +5%          +3%     +0%     +3%      +0
4            +10%         +3%     +0%     +4%      +0
5            +10%         +3%     +5%     +5%      +1
6            +20%         +6%     +5%     +6%      +1
7            +20%         +6%     +5%     +7%      +1
8            +30%         +10%    +10%    +8%      +2
9            +30%         +10%    +10%    +9%      +2
10           +45%         +15%    +20%    +10%     +3

Taken from the official flyff wiki. Credits to Ryuuzaki_ for table code thanks

To an FS all the bonuses are useful except accuracy. This can be used to make a low level suit like wedge/flury more aggro friendly in the higher levels.
But it's not the only way to survive.

For further general upgrading info view this page http://flyff-wiki.gpotato.com/index.php/Upgrading


Piercings

To pierce a suit you will need a suit (obviously) and a moonstone. I strongly reccomend using a scroll of Gprotect as it will prevent you losing the armor if the piercing fails.

You are able to get 4 slots after piercing and in these you can place cards.

Cards add 2% 3% 4% or 7% of the following bonuses and the higher the % the more expensive.

Volcano cards add HP these are the most useful to a full int or low sta build as they can give you the hp boost you need to take a hit from an aggro and with a +10 set and 4 7% volcano cards you'll have almost 50% extra hp. and with a gstick and the level 60 set you can get up to 78% more hp. (although wedge/flury is better)

Earthquake Cards add Defence, These are the secon best for survival as the defence gain is minimal for some sets as 7% of a low number doesn't make for much of an increase.

Ocean cards add MP These are best for CW RM's who may well have enough hp without hp piercings although i'd still reccomend volcanoes for all builds.

Vacuum cards add FP. Avoid them. 'nuff said.

Lightning cards add Attack. Again, do not use them.


For more information on piercing view this page http://flyff-wiki.gpotato.com/index.php/Piercing

Element upgrading. Its super effective!

The last stage of suit upgrading are element cards. the come in 5 varieties
flame, desert, cyclone, generator and river.

When you are levelling check the little element symbol that appears by the monsters name. Then look at this. The Arrow indicates which element should be used against which.

->->->->->

The arrows indicate what element beats what. EG lightning beat water. It can be useful to upgrade your suit with the element the monsters are weak to so if you do get attack by an aggro it will do less damage and if you element with the same element as the monster the damage is reduced less but there is a chance to take 0 damage. I reccomend the stronger element for the same reason as plugs over speedos (explained later) for the times when you don't get lucky, it could be a disaster.
I would not reccomend upgrading with cards past +3, simply because you will need to use spros to avoid losing the item and you will need to change elements each time you move to a different monster.

Element cards cost 100,000 to remove from a suit and can be removed at upgrade specialist bobochan in flarine. This cannot fail.

Awakening Your armor. Yawwwwn.

Armor can be awakened at Jewel manage peach in Flarine and almost all stats are possible (minus block, mp consumption armor bonuses.)

Int
Decreased casting time
Sta
speed
Hp
Def

These are all useful and since the different parts give different bonuses try to aim for the most beneficial. Decreased casting time is more useful than int once you have a lot of int. so it's up for you to gauge that. i'd say once your equips give you more than 200 int go for some nice DCT things. The good thing about the piercings system is that water cards give int AND decreased casting time

For the Helm Sta and Int are the ones to go for.

For the suit again Int and Sta as well as decreased casting time.

For gaunts go decreased casting time.

For boots go for run speed and Hp. Defense doesn't add enough if your partner is killing things 2x levels higher than you.

You should also however be VERY careful when you awaken. Negative awakens are possible and with the max for stats being 28 3 times you could get a -84 int suit which would be disastrous if absolutely unheard of lol. That said you could get a +84 int suit so it's a gamble you shouldn't take if you can't afford to replace or revert your gear.

[pastry_]

Your stick. There may be many others like it but this one is yours.

The stick is your next best friend. Without it you cannot cast buffs or heal and so you'll be pretty useless.
I will cover the 8 main sticks in this as they provide the best bonuses. I'll also cover awakened sticks.

Awakened NPC sticks compared to unique sticks



The int awakened Npc sticks can be very helpful especially at the lower levels. They add power to your heal and timer to your buffs and are worth using however the use of a stick is based on the situation and it would be unwise to decide something like this.

"Int Awakened low level sticks are better than any stick until LG stick at 105."

I am not saying this is absolutely wrong and certainly if you are levelling in Azria it may be best to use whatever stick you have with the most int.

However the Roritoren Stick and the Hstick are both helpful when using Holycross and for Heal rain.


The Angel and Guardian stick are EXTREMELY useful levelling outside of Azria. That includes the tower, normal spawns, the desert and if you are just out of Azria to Giant. While you may still prefer your 20+ int plim stick. There is no black and white on the subject and certainly if you have a G or Astick you should not pawn them off to get a good int awakened Stick. The Rori as well is also not neccessarily better than the G or Astick or even the H stick. Once you have your wedge set, the rori will reduce the cost of HC by 2 mp and Heal Rain by 10 mp which is minimul and if you have a Hstick i'd use its effect is much greater. And as for the extra int of rori, in Azria it may be best to go for all the int you can. But outside of Azria 1 int is not worth sacrificing 15% or 10% hp.

I'd also like to add that in the higher levels when you have a large amount of Int a DoMM awakened stick can generally be more preferable to an int stick as the amount int adds to your heal is decent, but being able to get 2-3 more heals in per aoe for example is more beneficial.

Stick or Roritoren
Available at level 45
More popular than i thought it seems. It gives 5 int and 10% MP cost Reduction. Most useful if you can't afford a wedge/flury set however once you have that i'd save for another stick. This is more suited to BP's who have low Mp and as far as i know more of them use it. If you pair this stick with the wedge/flury set it can be good for HC and HR at the early levels however it's usefullness drops as you level up.

With a stick or roritoren and wedge/flury set HC will cost 21 mp and Heal rain will cost 119.

The Guardian Stick.
Available at level 60
This stick grants you Int+3 and HP15%. This is an excellent stick and many choose to use it until the legendary golden stick or further. This is a good stick for a full int build as well and if you are full int and have this stick i would advocate this over an int awakened blue as you can just add the int you'd gain from the stick to your base int.
This stick is also fantastic for the Pinky room, tower, desert and volkane which will be explained later. If you plan to support in siege then this is the best stick thanks to the hp modifier.


Historic stick.
It's not great. Available at 75 with Int +2 and MP 20% is nothing special at this point as you will likely have enough mp not to need it. Some people like it for Holycross and although using the rori and the wedge can give a similar effect however the Hstick is better if you have the wedge /flury. It is also good for Heal rain and coincidently comes 5 levels after you can access heal rain however as it has no direct effect on your buff times, heal power or cast speed its generally avoided. It does make you more mp efficient than a rori +wedge/flury user however.

If you have it use it but it's advisable to save for another one.

Angel stick.

A lovely Stick Int +4 and HP +10%, slightly less hp than the Gstick but more Int. A good choice for 90 +

Legendary Golden Stick
The highest Int Bonus of 20 is available to you at 105 however thats all it has im afraid. While it is the Second best FS stick it is still hopelessly outclassed by other legendary golden weapons such as the Axe.
Still worth getting and can be used if you decided to change to AOE.

Bloody Stick
Available at level 120 for a hefty price, This stick adds 15 Int 20% Decreased casting time and MP 20%.
If you stay FS after 110 and have a lot of money, getting this and a reduct A will allow you to use whatever set you want. If paired with the navil/neclus
You'll have a good Int Bonus 40% Decreased casting time and enough MP to make the mp consumption reduction of the wedge/flury redundant. Put simply this stick allows you a lot more freedom in your armor.

Vampire Stick
Available through completing the Shaduwar dungeon, this stick offers +20 Int +20% DCT and +20% MP. It drops as an ultimate weapon if you're planning to aoe this is a good stick however for fs'ing it is not much of an advancement from the bloody stick as it simply has an additional +5 int. Not worth the trouble to acquire for an FS RM. Class locked to Ringmasters and soul linked upon being equipped..

Ancient Stick
Available through completing the Cursed Shaduwar dungeon this stick boasts an impressive +28 Int +28% DCT and +20% MP making it the top stick for a full support RM. It is however only available to masters limiting it's usefullness slightly, but is a great support stick for the various PvM sieges, dungeons, master fs'ing and giant hunting. This stick also drops as an Ultimate stick and will have the highest attack power of all sticks. Class locked to Ringmasters and soul linked upon being equipped..

Upgrading your stick.

Like armor Sticks can be upgraded to +10 it however adds nothing but attack power. The attack power of a Stick DOES affect heal power as far as i know, however it is marginal and a High Int awakening is much more favourable on a lower stick than just a highly +'d stick.

Sticks can also be upgraded into Ultimate sticks which drasticallly up the attack rate and from +5 Ultimate sticks allow for Jewel socketing. Only the 60+ green/unique sticks can be converted to ultimate weapons.

The Sockets add bonuses and the following are possible.

HP Attack Defence bloodsucking PVP Damage Str Sta Dex and Int

I will not go into too much detail about ultimate weapons as they are expensive and unneccesary for an FS however if you are lucky enough to have one the positive stats would be

Int
Hp
Sta
Defence

in that order.


Elementing Your Stick.


I am gonna put in a my own opinion here. Elemented Sticks look cheap and tacky ._. Elementing your stick is absolutely not worth it AOE or not. For an FS it adds no bonus and for AOE it reduces the power of merkaba hanzelrusha, the RM AOE skill.

However If you do choose to upgrade them it is the same as upgrading with element cards on a suit however on weapons it adds an element Glow, the only half nice one being lightning. C:


Awakenings for Sticks.

Heres the other major boost for your sticks. While almost all stats are possible with an awaken (minus block lifesteal and any consumption effects of armor)
Only a few are important.

Int (until 200 then DCT takes priority)
Decreased casting time
Running speed
sta
HP
Def

In that order those are the best ones. A High int awakened low stick can be better than one of even the rare ones, especially the H stick anyway.
Decreased casting time is especially nice if you have an aoe partners, at one point my DCT was about 49% with my Decreased casting time bunny which meant i had a very fast buff and heal speed almost that of someone with full bloody equips.
Running Speed is nice to have but has less of an impact, however it can save your life more than Sta and hp would as if you are fast you can get away from a persuing Aggro. It also means you can keep past with any partners who have speed upping equips.
Sta Hp and Def are three of the same, they just up your survivability, Sta is more favourable as it ups both HP and Defence.

Piercing Your Stick.

Sticks can be pierced in the same way a suit can, with moons and gpros. They can be pierced to have an impressive 10 slots however and they use different cards.

The cards they Use Come in A, B C and D rank and they add different amounts of the bonuses.

Water Cards add

A 7 Int 2% DoMM
B 4Int 1% Domm
C 3 Int 1% DoMM
D 2Int

The best card, i would advise you pierce with Water B's as they are the best value for money however if you have money for Water A's by all means use them.

Wind Cards add

A 7% run speed 2% attack speed
B 4% run speed 1% attack speed
C 3% run speed 1% attack speed
D 2% run speed.

The second best in my opinion for the same reason listed in awakenings. It can be good to be speedy.

Land cards add

A 7 sta
B 4 sta
C 3 Sta
D 2 Sta

The last useful card for an FS adds Stam for Hp and def however the Wind and Water are better.

Fire cards add Strength and crit damage and Lightning cards and Dexterity and Crit rate. Don't use them C:

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Jewellery. Is an RM's best friend.

Your jewellery can really make a difference to what armour you choose to use and what weapon too.
Jewellery can be upgraded like other equipment however it uses moonstones and can be +'d to 20. Apros prevent the loss of jewellery.


The Jewellery that you will be wanting is as follows.

Rings.

Int Rings

These are the main pieces you'll want, from +0 they add 1 int and +20 they add 40int. Any + is good as every Int helps. Definitely the best ring choice.

Stam Rings

An alternative for these is Stam rings if you find yourself low on hp. again they add 1 sta at +0 and 40 sta at +20 however because of how much int is possible in the rings i'd rather have +20 ints than +20 Stams'


Earrings.

Plug earrings.

These are fantastic. +44 defence at +0 and +310 defence at +20 They can bolster the defence you lose if you decide to stick with the level 45 set.

Speedo's

These count as earrings and provide 3% block at +1 and 10% at +3. They cannot be upgraded higher and are extremely expensive in comparison to plugs.
They are also less useful to an FS as even with two Speedo's +3 a highly upgraded set and cats reflex, theres still a chance you won't block it, and an unblocked hit, will hit hard. Add to that the price of them they are less practical than say the more affordable plug+9's.

Necklaces.

Gore Necklace.

The best Necklace to use for an FS. at +0 it adds 82 hp and +20 it adds 1018 hp which can be a huge boost to an RM's HP.
HP% modifiers affect these. If you have an Astick and you equip a +20 gore necklace you will not get 1018 hp but 1119 hp.

Mental necklace.

An alternative to gore. At +0 it adds a meager 57 mp and at +20 227 mp. These are expensive at the high +'s because of their effect on the Billposter skill Asalraalaikum. Their benefit to an FS is minimul anyway. Use a gore C:

Jewellery Not to be used.

Peison Necklace, Adds Fp.

Demol earrings. Adds attack.

Vigor Rings. adds Strength.

Arek Rings. adds Dexterity.

None of these are any use to an FS RM.

There are other rings such as the shubrin ring that add a point to each stat. Their benefit is minimal as you can't add much more than +3 to each stat i believe and have the points will be in unneccesary stats anyway.

Other Accessories.

Cash shop gear.

Clothes and capes bought from the Cash shop can add to your stats either through already built in stats or blessings of the goddess's which add stats to these premium items.

Glasses. These come in a variety and the most useful would be the ones that add HP and MP like Red fashion glasses.

Cloaks. The best ones would either be the Olympic flag cloaks. (10% run speed 100hp) or The cloak of Wisdom(adds 8 int, 2 int for cloak of low wisdom) and the Cloak of Accord (4 int 4 stam, 1 int 1 stam for cloak of low accord.)

CS Clothes. These clothes can add stats in two ways. They can be exceptionally rare and have + on them which ups the defence, or they can be statted.

They can also be blessed using a blessing of the goddess. These adds the same stats as awakenings, however they give much less of a bonus.
Blessings cannot be negative however. So once again go for Int Decreascasting time, Sta and speed. Speed and DCT are the best ones here since the max blessing for those is 5% whilst for int and sta its only 7 points.

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Pets.

Yes pets are also available to boost your stats! They can be levelled up to S rank with pet feed and each level up they can get a bonus.

a perfect 1/3/5/7/9 pet can up one of your stats by 75.

Old Fox. This one is the best for an FS it will up your int by 75 at max level.

Babari Lion. This one will up your stam by 75 at max level and is less recomended.

Unicorn. This one will up your HP however as HP isn't a base stat it doesn't add 75 HP but an impressive 6825 HP with max levels.

Griffin. This one adds to your defence and is the least favourable. At max level it adds 300 Defence.

Pets not to use.


Rabbit. Adds Dex by up to 75.

Tiger. Adds Str by up to 75.

Dragon. Adds Attack by up to 375

I would Reccomend either the Unicorn or the Fox strongest out of the pets. The reason the fox helps your heal and timers and the unicorn gives way more hp than the lion. Even though the lion and Griffin give defence it can only take so much off your damage.

Pets Hp decreases constantly so remember to feed them.

Pets can also be awakened in the same way a weapon or suit can. Once again the best bonuses are

Int ( up to 200 then DCT outperforms)
Decreased casting time
Sta
hp
Speed.

[pastry_]

Skills, tips and other nuances.


Ok so you have your build and all your equips. Now its time to allocate those skill points.

So lets have a look at what you have to choose from!



Here's the skills an fs will have at their disposal hilighted and not covered in red.
First off i'd like to say you should absolutely not put ANY points in the lower bar of assist skills that i've scribbled out or the vagrant skills. Secondly all of your skills require a stick to cast other than the vagrant skills and the bottom line of assist skills.

Skills

Assist Skills


Heal. A Staple skill. At max level it adds 555hp and an additional 3x your int per use.

When you become an assist put this to level 10.

Patience. Adds 255 Hp when maxed.

Put it to level 4 then do not add any more points.

Quickstep. Adds 30% run speed when maxed.

Put this to level 3.

Mental Sign. Adds 20 Int when maxed. You will be using this a lot on yourself as it will extend your timers. Make sure to cast on yourself before buffing your partner, twice if necessary for getting the higher timer.

Put this to level 4.

Heap Up. Adds 40 sta when maxed.

Max as soon as you can. Everyone needs this.

Haste. adds 25% attack speed when maxed.

Max this straight away too.

Resurrection. Brings the target back to life.

Put it to level 4.

Beef up. adds 20 Str when maxed.

Max as soon as you can.

Cannonball Adds 20 Dex when maxed.

Cats Reflex. Adds 12% melee block when maxed.

Accuracy. Adds 20% Hit rate when maxed.

Circle healing. Restores health to party members nearby.

Put to level 4 and leave it there.

Prevention. Restores Hp fully when your health gets below 10% at level 18-20. Has a 3 minute cooldown at maxed level as of version 14.

Put it to level 4.

Ringmaster Skills

Protect Adds 50 Defence when maxed.

Max as soon as you can.

Holycross. Gives a chance to Inflict double damage on target for brief moment. It dispels once you hit the target and inflict damage. This does not include 0's and misses.

Max as soon as you can.

Gvur Tialla. Removes bleeding, stun, Darkness/Blind and poison from target. It also removes the DoT of the mages fire geyser spell, the Red meteonykers fire DoT and the glitch in the arena that prevents someone using skills. Any debuff that makes your Hp Blue or the target Hp blue, this will remove.

Max only when SF Protect and GT are maxed.

Holyguard. Raises magic defence by 55 when maxed.

Put it to level 4 and leave it there.

Spirit Fortune. Adds 140 damage to attacks of target when maxed.

Max as soon as you can.

Heal Rain Restores 550 hp + and additional 6x your int value to all party members in the area of effect.

Geburah Tipreth. Adds 25% attack speed and 150 damage of attacks to all party members in area of effect.

Max as soon as you can.

Merkaba Hanzelrusha. Area of effect skill that hits 5 times.

Max when other skills are maxed.



Ok so there are your skills now lets talk about the Order of maxing them. Please note: I have not included every level. There are level gaps between the points i've listed here in which you can add the points that would be needed to get the skill to where it is at the next point. As long as you keep the next point in mind then this should work alright.

level 15
Put heal to level 10

70 points remaining.

level 18

Mental sign to level 4

Patience to level 4

remaining points 58

level 20

Quick step to level 3

Max heap up

ressurection level 1

Remaining points 14

level 25

haste to level 14

remaining points 1

level 30

max haste

remaining points 4

level 35

beef up to level 4

Accuracy to level 5

remaining points 1

level 44

max accuracy

heal level 11

remaining points 0


level 49

max heal

cats reflex level 1


remaining points 0

level 51

cats reflex level 4

cannonball level 1 (keep adding points in until 60)


level 60 (after ringmaster job change)

Max cannonball

Max beef up.

ressurection level 4

Circle healing level 4

prevention level 4

cats reflex 17 or quick step level 16 additional note: in the lower levels block will only be truly useful for aoe blades and rangers if you know for sure you'll not be partnering one of them you can max quick step instead. Please also note that in order to max spirit fortune at level 65 you'll need to keep quickstep one level lower should you choose to put points in that as you'll still need level 4 cats reflex whilst you'd only need level 3 quick step.

holycross level 1

gvur tialla level 3


level 65

max spirit fortune

cats reflex level 18 or quickstep level 17

level 67

max cats reflex or qs

remaining points 5

• for 1v1 partner preference
  level 71
  
  protect level 3
  
  holyguard level 4
  
  remaining points 4
  
  level 75
  
  Geburah tipreth level 8 (max at 77)
  
  Then put points in Mental Sign, heal rain and then protect.
  
  remaining points 4
  
  
• for aoe partner preference
  
  level 70
  
  Heal rain level 8 (max at 72)
  
  level 78
  
  max mental sign
  
  level 84
  
  Holyguard level 4
  
  level 86
  
  Max geburah tipreth
  
  Then max protect

After this point it becomes your preference.

First things i'd do after having the rm skills maxed. (excluding holyguard and merkaba hanzelrusha, leave holyguard at level 4 and don't put points in merkaba)

Max your assist buffs, mental sign and quickstep. you'll have enough points to have those maxed in the 9x's. Then there are a few things you can do.

Max ress if if you're going to be continuing fs'ing for a while.

Circle healing,

If you plan to go aoe then get prevention to 18 and then put points in merkaba so you won't need to reskill. For merkcrack once you have those two maxed put straight punch to level 4, then stonehand to level 4, then max burst crack. After burstcrack is maxed put stonehand to level 19 or maxed. ( max stonehand just has a longer duration than level 19 no added effect)


Hotkeys! Wear oven mitts.


Now we're going to put the skills in their places so here is my set up when i was an FS.



Heal, the most used skill is at one then Heal rain next to it for easy switching when an AOE'r starts to kill.

Then you have SF and GT next because they'll need to be rebuffed the most.

Tip and Nuance #1 Ok now heres why the buffs are in this order. It's to make the absolute most of your Timers. Haste and Quickstep have the longest timers, Hastes being the longest, so they go first.
Heap up then follows. Reason being is that Heap up has the longest cast motion of the regular buffs (I think in the current version this may not actually be the case), only slightly however it's still longer. Then come your other normal buffs leading into your actionslot with protect finishing it off.

I'd also recommend putting whatever keys you have on your top row of buffs on your lower rows too as that way if you accidentally press 2 whilst going for F2 heal rain will still be assigned to F2 and no time will be wated.

Alternative 1

You can place the buffs that would be in the actionslot in the left keys and then actionslot 2-3 heals. If you do this put the actionslot hotkey in f1 and use that to heal.

Alternative 2
for Aoer's put heal rain in the action slot and the actionslot hotkey in f2. That way you can use regular heal as they gather and then when they start to kill you can switch to an actionslotted HR.

Alternative 3
You could also put the buffs you cast on yourself in the action slot, mental first then heap qs protect and cats. I myself wouldn't recommend this however as when buffing i find its easier to just press f4,5,6,7,8,9 and then click C to use the last few in the actionslot. This is no longer an option with the self buffs in there as not everyone needs mental.

Some people like to make use of the other rows of hotkeys. I personally find that whatever you cannot fit on the first row or the actionslot fits nicely on the left keys especially in the case of mental sign as it lowers the chance you'll accidentally give it to someone who does not want it.

The second reason I'm not a fan of this is that for the inexperienced assist, switching between the bars can be a nuisance during leveling and that if you accidentally press one of the number keys during leveling you might kill your partner and you if you don't notice. Naturally however your buff bar should be what works for you and other people have all kinds of layouts that they find work best for them, as is the case with any class. If you don't find that my layout works for you, and indeed it may not, theres nothing stopping you from finding your own layout, mine is simply for maximizing timers of buffs and overall buff time.

NOTE:You cannot buff over a a higher level buff. If your Quickstep is level 10 and someone has level 11 Quickstep active for example you will not be able to buff them.

The same goes at lower levels where your buffs will usually be lower, you will not be able to buff over the pang buffs if your buffs are not higher than level 7.


Tip #2 Use your timers as an early warning. Protect has a few minutes shorter a casting time than the other buffs and so when it starts to flash, you know its soon time to rebuff.

Tip #3 This is my favourite one. Combat stance can affect your heal and buff time and your HC and HR time. Allow me to show you.



I have just used Holycross and immediately after its done the sticks back end is at that point.

And look where it has to go down to to get back to the RM Combat pose.

Thats the tip for HC'ing and heal rain'ing, the end pose of both of them is just off of the non combat stance and so if you stay in non combat mode you'll HC and HR faster.


There it is again with Heal rain, theres the end position and the non combat stance.


Now for heal and regular buffing.


There is Heal and regular buffs end pose, it is exactly the Combat pose of the RM. If you are standing in the non combat pose after EVERY heal the foot has to move out as the leg straightens and the stick end must move up at the back. Valueble time especially if you are healing an AOEr by being in the non combat pose you might lose a few heals per aoe which could mean death.

Edit: This little technique when paired with actionslot heal or heal rain can make for an incredible heal speed. With an activation and a full slot of heal rains a high level can restore Thousands in a matter of seconds.

So to recap, if you are using your regular buffs or spam healing, Stick to the combat pose.

If you are using Heal Rain or Holycross. Use the non combat pose.

Also now we've looked at that i'd like to make a quick not about the left keys that aren't hotkeys.
On there you should have the Combat stance trigger from the O menu now as well as some food and refreshers and thats where mental sign should be for when you buff yourself.

Tip #4 A minor one that was mentioned earlier is that Attack Rate affects the power of heal but only slightly C: as far as i know.

Tip #5
This is to show the faste way to rebuff yourself without losing follow. Reason being is if you lose QS mid gather when your partner starts to kill you will be far behind so you won't have enough time to gt sf and switch to combat pose for Heal rain C: Also its really annoying to re auto follow while someones trying to gather.



This is how i do it. Obviously me and sarah arn't levelling however i needed to be in party to show how its done. It's very simple just keep that one of the party windows open at all times when levelling. Then you can just click your name on the menu, it will target you but you'll still be following. Then when you've buffed yourself reclick your partners name and now you're following them again.

Tip #6 If you happen to find yourself in a situation when you're running for your life, using an Azria ticket is an excellent way to get out of it. I would not use this method if you know it will leave your partner in trouble however when a 1v1'r DC's or an aggro attacks you while they're killing something 1v1 they should be fine killing it without your heal.

Tip #7
This is the best know of tips i guess. But if an aggro attacks you the best thing to do, is turntail and run then when you are far enough from the aggro get on your board. It will then go away.

You can also run in circles however theres a lot of risks to that. You can get position lag and get hit anyway. You may also attract the attention of another aggro.

Heal rain is also an option but again it is a big risk as you may be critted and killed anyway .

And your partner, if a blade, merc, knight, ele or psy has the ability to root the monster however do not rely on or expect this to happen. They may not have it on their keys in which case you are dead. The run and board is still a staple in escape.

They should understand your need to run as Ryu said however not all will and if its an aoe partner and you are aggroed HR and spamming food is an option to avoid the "what MENGZ?! WHY'D YOU RUN?!!" Some partners may be fun with you running however as if you have run and managed to survive, even if they die it will save you both having to re journey to the spawn as you'll be able to ress them there and then.

Also while running use the Food you should have in your left bar, sometimes pills may be good to have to however if you get hit by them again or you attract another aggro the heal may save you. DO NOT however stop to heal if you have low hp.


Tip #8 As im sure i mentioned somewhere earlier that attack has a slight effect on heal power but int is more preferable well here is why.

Heal and Heal rain both have a base Heal value of 550hp

For ever 1 int you have heal adds an additional 3hp

For every 1 int you have heal rain adds and additional 6hp

This is something else you should use in conjunction with the action slotted heal techniques. At 100 my Int was 300 with my Int Gear so each Heal rain was healing 2350. Multiply that by 5 in the action slot and i was able to heal 11750 hp in about 2-3 seconds. Incredible for partnering AOE'rs if you stick to the right combat pose and have an activation, alternativly 2-3 can be put in the action slot so you can use it without worrying about the actionslot overheating.



Tip #9 When entering a dungeon like the forbidden tower or the volkane it should be noted that there may be Aggroes immediatly where you enter. One way around this is obviously for your partner to go in first. Or if you are meeting them further in the G or Astick can help prevent you being killed if you run once you notice the aggro is on you.

What if my partner has an RM?



Fairly often people with higher level RM's will have them logged in on another computer when training lower characters or sometimes their higher characters. The best thing to do is to see what they'll be using them for. Some may have them for the maxed buffs in which case your responsibility is heal and sometimes SF/GT and to top up in case a buff runs out at that they don't notice. Some have them for Healing, these are usually aoers. In this case i'd advise you to level just as you would a normal partner, buff them yourself as they'll usually have a weight on their heal key and having to buff on the other computer disrupts levelling. Also heal them as an AOE'r with 2 RM's healing can take significantly more mobs so that may also be why they have the RM there.

The last of the most likely reasons is that they want you to HC. This is actually very considerate of them as balancing HC, buffing and healing can be very tricky. In this case just HC and GT them as thats all their RM won't be able to do.

Once again this is flexible as some with their own RM may still want you to do other stuff. And its best to ask what they would like you to do that their RM will not be doing.

[size=150] Which Buffs for Which class?

Ok now obviously not EVERY class wants the same buffs and as an fs it would be wise to know who to give what to. Also do not buff any class with patience or holyguard unless specifically asked.

Blades
After 75 Blades have 5 self buffs and so they can't have all the buffs without sacrificing their own. The buffs they need are.

Heap up
Quickstep
Haste
Beef up
Accuracy
Cats Reflex
Cannonball
Spirit fortune
Geburah Tiphreth

Protect as well however a Master blade may not want this is with their extra mastery they may not have room. With a master it's best to ask which they don't want. If they are Aoe however they'll probably want protect, still best to ask. Cannonball is very important to blades for crit rate and block. Blades get 1 block per 3 dex so max cannon will give them 6% block.

For Yoyo Jesters

Heap up
Quickstep
Haste
Beef up
Accuracy
Cats Reflex
Cannonball
Spirit fortune
Geburah Tiphreth
Protect

For Bow Jesters

Heap up
Quickstep
Haste
Beef up
Accuracy
Cats Reflex
Cannonball
Spirit fortune
Geburah Tiphreth
Protect

BJ's usually just have the standard buffs however it should be noted that a BJ is likely to ask you to HC more than any class because they rarely get hit and their damage is poor compared to other 1v1'rs.

Ranger

Heap up
Quickstep
Haste
Beef up
Accuracy
Cats Reflex
Cannonball
Spirit fortune
Geburah Tiphreth
Protect
Mental Sign

Rangers WILL almost always want mental sign. Reason being all their skills use Mp however most usually have a bitterly poor amount without mp awakes or a mental necklace. The Int also increases the damage over time of Flame Arrow.

Psykeepers

Heap up
Quickstep
Haste
Accuracy
Cats Reflex
Cannonball
Spirit fortune
Geburah Tiphreth
Protect
Mental sign.

These will also like Mental sign as they are a magic class, they do not need Beef up however. Contrary to belief psykeepers DO need haste if they are aoe, more so than any other AOE class for the simple reason their base attack speed is horrible.

Elementors

Heap up
Quickstep
Haste
Cats Reflex
Cannonball
Spirit fortune
Geburah Tiphreth
Protect
Mental Sign

Another who needs Mental but no beef up usually unless they want the extra slight damage while gathering, if they want it they'll probably ask same for accuracy as far as i can tel while gathering myself, once you attack even if its a miss they'll chase you some might insist on it but neither are actually need it.

Hit and Run elementor

Heap up
Cats reflex
Quick step (Max)
Mental sign
Spirit fortune
Geburah Tipreth
Protect in some cases.

I have added a seperate one for these as Hit and run elementors vary greatly. Some may only use windfield and thus only use the wind mastery, some however like to switch between their spells and so will use all the masteries. It's best to just do the basics and add any more they'd like.

Aoe Ringmaster

Heap up
Quickstep
Haste
Beef up
Accuracy
Cats Reflex
Cannonball
Spirit fortune
Geburah Tiphreth
Protect
Mental sign

One of the few classes that may ask for Patience to raise their prevention limit. However since few RM's max patience they will likely just have it maxed themselves.

Billposters/1v1Ringmaster's

Heap up
Quickstep
Haste
Beef up
Accuracy
Cats Reflex
Cannonball
Spirit fortune
Geburah Tiphreth
Protect
mental Sign

The 1v1 BP is common and the 1v1 RM a rarity. The key to both of them is usually stonehand and so they will want mental sign to raise the timer on it. AOE BP's use the same buffs as far as i know, even if they are not Int AOE they'll still want Mental Sign for stonehand and prevention.

Knight AOE

Heap up
Quickstep
Haste
Beef up
Cats Reflex
Spirit fortune
Geburah Tiphreth
Protect

Knights have a lot of self buffs and since they use one of them right at the start of the aoe it could knock off something important. The least important for it to knock off would be haste so use that first as stated earlier. The knights i've levelled with have asked for no cannon or accuracy so thats what i've put here, Some may have different tastes though.

Knight 1V1

Heap up
Quickstep
Haste
Beef up
Accuracy
Cats Reflex
Cannonball
Spirit fortune
Geburah Tiphreth
Protect

Another fairly rare build, they are basically the same as blades in that some may ask for no protect in place of their self buffs,


Action Slot For classes be ready to change your actionslot depending on which class you are levelling with and what they would like. If someone like a blade or a Bj wants HC its best to actionslot it. Likewise an AOE would probably prefer you to have actionslotted heal or heal rain.

If this is the case simpley put the buffs you have in the actionslot in the side bit left of the hotkeys for when you need to rebuff C:

[pastry_]

Finding a Partner.

Kudos to you! You are an FS, you know what to wear, what skills to use and a whole bunch of stuff. You're ready to roll! But what do you do about getting a partner? Surely a full support needs a partner rather than to go off clubbing aibatts with his stick? True. Here are a few tips on gettings partners.

Full supports... fighting?

Ok so here you won't have many buffs if any. It's perfectly possible with the Pang buffs to kill bangs and this is what a friend of mine did. If you do this until 20 at which point you can get heap it might be useful. I certainly wouldn't try any higher. Then you will be of significant use to a partner and they won't see you as a leech but as a partner.

Approaching partners

Another way is to approach someone levelling and ask politely what their level is and if they would like to level. Do not do this to people who clearly already have an fs or partner. Nothing is more annoying than having someone come up and say "Plvl Pls" Repeatedly. Just be polite and use the full word please. That way there is a chance they'll add you for levelling in the future.

Shouting

If you are lucky enough to have a Full shout or a friend who does and is willing to shout for you it may be the best way. You can also use the normal shout in towns however do not spam all in bulk spread your 5 shouts a minute over the minute. A good shout would be

" Level (your level here ) FS looking for partner level (14-19 levels above your level here ) /say me please and thanks. "

Then if someone wants to level with you, you will get a private message box appear in the bottom right of the screen.

You may alo see other people asking for an RM or FS in shouts and if you are in the level range they are looking for you should type into the chat bar

/say (there name here) Hello i'm a level (you level here) FS would you like to level?

then click enter and wait for a response.

Shouting is not possible until level 20.

Private shops

Another option is to set up a private shop in the appropriate town nearest to where you'll be levelling. EG if you are 15-20 i'd recommend you set up in flaris. 21-50 in saintmorning and 51+ in darkon OR flaris because of Azria.

Then just put lvl (your level) Fs L/F (short for looking for) lvl (whatever level) add me

eg lvl 51 FS L/F 65-70 add me

Permanent Partners

Exactly what they say on the tin. Having a permanent partner as an FS can benefit you greatly. Basically you add them to your list (provided they'd like to be perms) Then you'll both have a partner ready for you whenever you level.

It can save you time.
It can make you money (perm partners are usually a lot more likely to share their drops)
It can give you peace of mind. A permanent partner you've had for a while will usually be a much more relaxing partner. They'll also be less likely to bite your head off if you were to say, accidentally give them the wrong buff.

bottom line is if you get yourself a reliable permanent partner you could be set.

As of v13 you can now get married in flyff. This can be useful for permanant partners as it has a nifty list of bonuses.

here is an explanation of the system: viewtopic.php?f=806&t=2680635&p=16927669&sid=1fd31fa954214219ad5acae143f9e1a3#p16927669

The main ones are the exp and drop rate bonuses. It takes considerable time to level the couple system that higher and is only advisable for true permanant partners.


Places of importances. Location location location.

As an FS there will be a few significant levelling spots that you'll want to take extra care in. I'd like to add that for the meantime i will NOT be adding a where to level guide to there is too much of a variation. As an FS you will pretty much be going where your partner says and since different people prefer different spots or can level higher/ lower than others the guide wouldn't be much help as it would be hard to give any specific guidelines to where you should level. In light of this i will give you a list of significant places that you may level in during your time as an FS.


The bangs



Bangs in flaris, SM and for the level 30 and 60 red bang troupe quest all have aoe melee attacks similar to CW. This isn't much of a bother since they will only be a 5 levels above you at most however it is something to watch out for nonetheless.

Venel guardian



The Venel guardian is something you must defeat in order to become an RM. On an FS build this can be difficult however and i'd reccomend getting plugs for defence, a knuckle and a shield. Also if you have an RM friends that would be willing to help heal and buff you that would help. Remember to bring some food.

My personal favourite, the Dekane mines!

The Dekane mines of Darkon 1,2 are the first place that pose SERIOUS danger to you as an FS.
people only really go here to hunt Pink Roaches, or Pinkies as they're known but getting to them is seldom easy. You will be start getting partners here about level 60-65 and you'll level here for a little while. It's not a place to hurry away from. The pinkies give almost double the experience of their equivalent outside the mines, antiqueries.

You must make your way through the Keakoon and Blue roach room both of which have a high amount of aggroes.



Having your partner tank is usually the best way to go however its not wise for them to try to tank many. Look for the opening and go go go!



when in the pinky room you'll notice a lot of eggs. Don't press them. They'll release pinky roach lavas and you don't want that. It's best just to stand either where i am standing or in the entrance section. I was like an aggro magnet when i levelled here and i've yet to meet anyone who was any different xD

Azria


Azria is FANtastic. There are no aggroes, 1.2x exp and vast spawns. If you know you will have access to Azria then full int is absolutely fine. You could be levelling here as an fs right up into the 10x's. You'll make a fair deal of money if your partner picks up their enya too as each drops over a 1000 penya usually. If your partner shares drops you'll be earning a fair bit too as azria has an increased drop rate as well. The perfect place for an FS.

However no where is without it's down side. Azria mobs hit slightly harder than mobs on traditional spots, however less than tower mobs. So if your partner D/C's or their Azria ticket runs out, get ready to run or use the Azria ticket tip.

Shumamma tunnel.

The Shu spawn is a bit of a double edged sword. There is only 1 aggro in it (2 counting the giant) and the amount of mobs is pretty decent.

The only downside is that if you are unfortunate enough to attract the attention of the aggro the normal run and board escape won't work. No matter how hard you flap your arms. You cannot fly here.

Kerns and other Industrial spawns.

The spawns around the Guardiane alter all have a very industrial feel. They are also very, VERY Frustrating. The kerns gave me and my partner the most trouble. There is a slight problem with the flooring at small Kerns.

The floor has many gaps at the small kerns. I levelled here with a YJ, the WORST partner for this bit as the knockbacks on her Yoyo's meant the kerns, and ourselves were regularly falling through the floor. She was a Very good YJ though. The captain Kerns spawn is better though if widely spaced. The other really bad spawn is gongury's.

The Darkon 3 Desert.

The Darkon desert is home to some of the most densely populated spawns outside of azria and the tower complete with aggroes and some of the most sinister looking monsters in the game.


Why so serious?

The monsters here all have what is know as rage which means that once their health is reduced enough some of them can hit up to 7 or 8 times the damage they'd normally hit which can be hell for an RM. If an aggro attacks you here. DO NOT use the heal rain technique. It may work at first however as your partner kills it he will put it into rage and theres a good chance it will kill you.


The volkane dungeon.

Scary stuff. This is an option for levelling once your partners out grow azria. It is a dangerous place home to meteonykers and Cyclops X and the Super giant red meteonyker.

All the monsters are aggro in here, they are also elementless and so the damage cannot be reduced with cards. The Cyclopx X's also have max quickstep so you won't be outrunning them. Good luck C:

The top of the tower. Captain Asuras.

The Captain Asuras are the final tower creature, they are wind and like the Cyclops X have max Quickstep. They hit hard but with a fire suit you can shave a bit of the damage off.

Theres one entrance to the spawn that is narrow too. There are always two aggroes in there and its best to go around rather than through this way. If you're levelling with a 1v1 leveller and they say its ok. It might be wise to stand on a statue to avoid the aggroes. Unlike volkane not all the mobs are Aggro.
EDIT: It is not always safe at this point on the statue and getting onto the head is more advisable.

I'd also like to add that even in the lower sections of the Forbidden tower you should be on your guard. The monsters here hit harder than traditional levelling spots and Azria. I cam here to fs a friends AOE BP and she was stunned to see that harpies hit her 500-600 normal damage compared to the 150-250 she took from the mobs outside of the tower at the same level. I would advocate the use of a G or Astick here if you have one although its not essential.

Gianting and money making

There are a few main ways to make money as an Fs RM.

Giant hunting
gianting, GH'ing, Giant hunting etc is the main way to make serious money. They are the only monsters that drop the unique 60 + weapons and the higher level ones go for millions. If you get a giant partner who splits drops you are set.

The Giant Glaphan (107) is a popular one as it drops Legendary golden Weapons.

Clockworks

As explained earlier clockworks hunting is a way for an RM to make some serious money. By making a guild with your partner you will be able to challenge Clockworks and if you are able to defeat him you will get a whole host of rare items. Getting a permanant partner can be one of the best moneymaking ways at an RM's disposal.

Red Meteonyker

Far in the back of the volkane is the Super Giant Red meteonyker. It has 100million Hp almost 40 million more than CW and is the final giant in the game. An FS will have to be particularly skilled if they come with a partner to fight this. However it offer the greatest rewards. It is the only giant in the game to drop level 120 bloody weapons. Cyclops X's drop them too but the chances is excruciatingly low.

What to do here?

Well with the red meteo there are a few things to watch out for.


There are a few strategies when dealing with the red meteonyker.

Firstly there is the old fashioned gianting strategy. Your partner kills you heal.



In this case however i reccomend a few things.

Firstly, an aoe RM will actually have the advantage here believe it or not. To stand under the meteo who's attacks are aoe takes considerable health, the only downside will be low heal power so that's the first thing. Get as much hp and int as possible. At this point if you are at the stage you are working just for money i'd advise spending money on a good fox, some good int rings, and good piercings for your stick as the more int and DCT the better here. If you are partnering a blade with bloodsuck in their weapon they probably won't need heal in which case you can stand back then come closer to rebuff and gvur the stun when neccessary.

You should also wear the rimyth which is understandably expensive, but the block is so useful here. blocking a few extra hits can mean the difference between beating the meteo and having to fly all the way back from darkon for round two.

And on that note.. RESURRECTION SCROLLS! The red meteo's one hit moves mean if you use this method, you will die. Nothing will be more annoying to your partner if you have to fly all the way back to the volkane to find your red meteonyker has been stolen. Blessings would also help however if you have the Ress scrolls they are not needed.

Next method i will add is the long range method, watch this space.

1) The 120 and 118 mobs that are in the mety room with him. In rage a cyclops can 10k crit easy.

2) Flamethrower hits multiple times and rimyth/remingster set and speedos really help here. much better to block this attack.

3) he can inflict status effects, stun should always be gvur'd off as itis a long lasting stun and the burning effect can be gvur'd too as its a nuisance and lasts a while.

4) The big one. He has an instant killing aoe move. If you are with an experienced meteo farmer they'll know when it's coming. You should be on the far left of the meteo room for this or your partner and you will need ress scrolls.

What to wear?

DCT is good. You'll be standing away from meteo for this so you'll need to run in, buff your partner and run out. If you get a Bstick during your time here it will be perfect to use with the 105 rimyth/remingster set. That's the best set to use with it as it has block which could save your neck. The hp and defence boost is also nice.

Your standard jewellery should be fine here. If you want to bring plugs for the journey in that could help you. However like CW Block is better here so speedo's if you have are a plus.

No matter what equips you have. Tanking the red meteo pre 120 is 99% impossible i'm afraid.

Rewards

The red meteo drops standard Giant drops (blue weaps, green and blue armour etc)

He/she also drops +18 rings. Bloody weapons and Bloody riding clouds as far as I am aware.

The most expensive of these, the Bknuck and stick Can go for billions of penya so if you get yourself a good meteo partner, you could be set.

I apologise for this section it needs work :>

mercenary work
No i don't mean that class that uses swords and axes. I mean being recruited by other players to heal them or their plvlers. There are a lot of people willing to pay for an FS's services, i'm not a fan of this my self but it can be good money.

Split drops ?
As you level your partner may decide to split his drops with you. If he does then yay C: thats money right there. If he has a Pickup pet from the cash shop you will receive HALF the penya it picks up. Simply levelling can be very good for money.


Attitudes. Treat others as you wish to be treated

As the title suggests you should definitely treat your partner how you'd like to be treated. Here is a little bit of info on attitudes however.


Ok so the other player in that pic is actually a friend of mine and is very nice to her RM's however some are not. As an RM im afraid there may be times when you have to deal with rude partners so heres a few tips on Ettiquette.

Angry partners

Some people are just generally quick tempered and will scream profanity even at the smaller things that are out of your control such as someone else moving in on your spawn. With these i'd generally advise remaining calm and a speak only when spoken to attitude to avoid irritating them further. Of course if they get too aggressive I would say something. It is never nice to be around that much anger.

what MENGZ WHY YOU MENTAL ME!/WHY I DIE!

Yes heres something that alot of RM's will come across in their time as an FS. First off is giving the wrong buff to someone ie. mental to a blade. This really depends on your partner, some will tell you it is fine and until mental wears off i'd say not to use either SF or GT so you don't take away from their self buffs. They may decide also not to use empower weapon or one of their buffs. Some will be incredibly hostile and i've even seen people shouting how noob an RM is because they gave them the wrong buff over full shout. These people are not worth your time. Unless you have been repeatedly mentaling, HG'ing and patience'ing them there is absolutely no reason for them to do this even if i was 99.99% I would leave someone as petty as this.

The second one is about Death. If your partner dies they may be quick to blame you just as above. If it is an AOEr they should understand as long as they see you were using Heal rain or Heal. If it was a 1v1'r they may again be more annoyed so be on your guard with people levelling particularly high above their levels, 10+ as some peopels defence is so low they can be 1 hit critted in which case its not your fault. For the Average 1v1 though you are responsible for healing them although you can probably ask them to food while you rebuff.

I'm a tool, i''m a tool. Tool, tool, tool

WRONG you are not a tool like a pet or a weapon. RM's are players to and deserve the same respect as any other player. This said your partner may work you particularly hard eg HCing Sf gt heal and buff. However their is a limit to what you can do. With a BJ HC'ing is advisable not only for them but for you as BJ's damage is pretty low in the higher levels. With someone like a blade however you may only be able to get one HC in per kill which isn't really worth it. Pointing this out to your partner politely may mean they will ask you just to buff and heal instead. When HC'ing i'd reccomend asking their partner to food as it becomes pretty difficult to get the balance right.

Attitude towards your partner

Be polite! While they are no better than you they are certainly no worse. Just because you being there allows them to kill higher it does not mean they owe you anything. You get Exp which is all levelling is for, as well as half their penya so you cannot demand their drops too.

I always tried to be polite and friendly as an RM and this became sort of a motto for me.

"A good FS makes you want to level."

And i stand by that today. I levelled with someone earlier and i shall give her name, AHelpingHand. It was a pleasure to level with her. She kept me fully buffed and was healing and she listened to what i said. She was also a V6 RM so all her buffs and other skills were maxed out. But if you are a good FS your partner will probably level for longer which will benefit you both.

This comment is something that i also feel strongly about however there are limits. It is not ok for you to get all mad over 1 or 2 deaths ESPECIALLY not at the lower levels. When you die, sure you lose exp but your partner will lose more so try be considerate to that. Of course if you are dieing repeatedly then of course it would be time to say something or even get a new partner but even in the 90's the exp i lost from a death was usually recovered in a couple AOE's or in a little while of killing.

When you gotta go, you gotta go.

Ok so i saw a thread about saying goodbye to your pleveler and i thought it would be worth mentioning. Here are a few ways you can leave them.

Firstly theres the good old "Thankyou so much for levelling me add me if you want to level again ^^"

Pure and simple and best used in conjunction with the others.

EDIT: BRB if anyone sees this i just gotta go do something so i'll add this for now and come back in a few lol.

I think i had another point for these it has just slipped my mind, sorry i'll start writing things down ^^; watch this space.


Life after FS'ing
As you get higher life as an FS gets harder and your experience dwindles. At level 100 i was getting about .4% per an AOE RM's AOE which is an impressive amount of mobs. Many at this level decide to Go AOE. I originally wanted to remain an FS until 120 for the sheer love of it however i was strongly advised to go AOE and although the pressure isn't nice i'm glad i did. [size=85]

The other option for AOE RM's

Merk crack is the other way for RM's to go aoe. Here is a guide on the Merkcrack RM by kira_

viewtopic.php?f=3&t=2624701

That is basically everything you need to know if you want to become a MerkCrack AOE RM.


Thanks for reading C:

[pastry_]

I have thoroughly enjoyed making this guide and i'd like to thank anyone who has read it.

I need your help though! Some things may be missing and i'd love for any extra info you think i should add i want to make the guide the best it can be.

Update

Someone Pm'd me to say my guide was made of Win and i was very happy thankyou ^^

The guide was rated awful for the first time. awww D: It isn't THAT bad is it?

Sections stll to come

Mars mines and ivilis dungeon

PvP - Arena and Guildwars.

Recently updated!

red meteo.

more info. on the hotkeys section.

How to get a partner.

Attitudes towards your partner and their attitude towards you.

What if my partner has their own RM with them?

The awakened npc stick.

Alternatives for your hotkeys.



Int Vs Decreasing of Magic motion awakenings.

Certainly in the early levels Int is mor important and highly awakened Int stick will be better than highly awakened DoMM stick. I personally prefer DoMM however at lower levels with the bonus from the level 45 set you'll be fine for DoMM. Once you get higher and have a much larger amount of int the DoMM becomes more useful especially since any AOE partners you have willbe taking huge spawns in Azria. If you feel your heal is slow i'd reccomend trying to get your hands on some DoMM awakened equipment and remeber the combat vs non combat pose in the Tips sections.

Piercing with Water cards is my final answer to that though xD satisfies both if they are Water B or higher.

Awakened DoMM and Action slot healing

Well i just tested my healing with my wedge suit, my rimyth gaunt and my lgs which is 16% awakened DoMM and then with a regular stick and without those. And there was definitely a difference. because even in actionslot the full cast motion of the stick being raised and twisted has to be done. I'm not sure if there is a limit to this as in once your DoMM gets so high you can't action slot any faster. When i am able to get a bloody i will test it.


Attack rate of a stick and Heal.

Ok so me and Avi decided to test this as many of you seem to have serious doubts of it.

As i am aoe my base int rate is a low 48 without my lgs so it made collecting the data easier.

I tested it with Heal Rain which has a base heal of 555 +6 x my int of 48 =843 per heal rain.

It also meant i could be attack targetting so my hp rate did not recovery.

I first tested it with a plim stick and got a heal rain of 846.

Then with a Shinewing and got 846-847 as i tested both sticks several times.

In light of this i am going to conclude two things

#1 your heal gains a slight boost just from having a stick.

& This second one i am still not 100% i will test with a much more powerful stick to get a more accurate result.

#2 that the Attack rate of a stick DOES have some effect on it but like i said its very marginal. If anyone has an ultimate stick and would like to test it compared to a plim stick. Please do. However remember to subtract the int value of the stick multiplied by 6 from the end amount of heal.

I also believe that the attack range of the stick may have an effect on heal now. which would explain the 846 -847 variation and it may be the case that the top end of the shinewings attack pushed it over the attack limit for adding to heals power. However in any case equipping a stick certainly ups your heal by a few points.

I'll add to this more when i am able to collect more results. I shall try it with a Forlas Stick when i can find one. And again with a Shait stick at 110. Also if im able to get the heal result of an Ultimate stick.

Thankyou i hope this has helped.



I was told this guide would be better with a swimming pool with chickens in it. So here you go C:

Tue Mar 17, 2009 10:42 am

The guide got added to stickies! Thankyou to everyone who read this and voted you made it possible ^^ and thanks for Ryu for adding it.

[pastry_]

Nice guide but...


Awakened stick > Any other stick up until lgstick (But even then, unless you can afford reversions to get an awake on the lgstick, the awakened stick may be better if it has over +20int awake)

In my opinion, pre-lgstick:

Awakened stick > rori > guardian/angels > historic

Unless you're CWing or pvping, in which case it would be Guardian/angels>Awakened stick > Rori > Historic

Oh and heal in the action slot helps my AoE chars tank around 5-10 more mobs, so yeah i'd reccomend that..

[pastry_]

AHHHH BUH >:(

i hit 4 instead of 5 -.-

nice guide i think it should help out quite a few ppl ^^

and that whole combats stance thing iv never notice :O
good spotting there :3

though imo dmmt>int awkns =/

and that thing about attack rate i highly doubt but i might be wrong there

*edit: agrees with whats stated above too ^^ (though i find rori highly overrated if u allready have flury/wedge =/)

and id say allways be able to alter ur action slot like for 1v1 partners 2-3x HC is rly a great help (unless ur with a mage and ur dmmt far exeds his )

[pastry_]

Ok thanks i'll add the actionslot heal in the skills section ^^

[pastry_]

AHHHH BUH >:(

i hit 4 instead of 5 -.-

nice guide i think it should help out quite a few ppl ^^

and that whole combats stance thing iv never notice :O
good spotting there :3

though imo dmmt>int awkns =/

and that thing about attack rate i highly doubt but i might be wrong there

Thanks very much i hope so too. The Stance thing was something i noticed a while back and i was quite surprised by the difference it makes actually.

I will add that i am not 100% certain on the attack rate either. I asked sabby AGES back and she said it does affect it but not many people know about it. And thanks for voting C:

[drjerkyll]

o yeah last thing

u forgot to add Heal rain among the RM skills...
not a good skill to forget

and there is a lesser typo in ur skill lvling guide
u need lvl 4 mental to gett heap

and last but not least wind and water C adds 1% of the corrosponding benefits too..

this is all i can find for now ill come look agaon tomorrow or somethin when iv sleept propperly :3

[pastry_]

o yeah last thing

u forgot to add Heal rain among the RM skills...
not a good skill to forget

o-o Oh yeah xD thanks again

[pastry_]

Double post ^^;

Thanks so far for the comments and the finds. I wrote this all during the night so there have been a lot of typos and things missed. I already had Dev take a look and he spotted a few things so thanks for any other of your finds. I shall add the last section later today i need a few screenshots for it first and i can't get on flyff right now.

[_kira]

I like. A few small things that made me raise an eyebrow, such as accuracy for Elementors.

Looks good though. :]

[pastry_]

I like. A few small things that made me raise an eyebrow, such as accuracy for Elementors.

Looks good though. :]

Oh thankyou your own guide is by far the best on here. And yes i shall fix that. If you don't mind i'd like to link to your guide in the options for if you restat to aoe?

[_kira]

Sure, if you'd like. :]

[pastry_]

Ok the last page on gianting and such is up, Thanks very much to anyone who has the stamina to read this xD i know it's long sorry i just love the class and have a lot to say about them C:

It was a labour of love but i hope i've shed a little light on the class.

[abhishekh]

Awakened stick > any other stick before lgstick


Some say DMMT is better, but I've heard that added awakened DMMT on the stick stuffs up your action slot heals

Can anyone confirm that?

[pastry_]

Awakened stick > any other stick before lgstick


Some say DMMT is better, but I've heard that added awakened DMMT on the stick stuffs up your action slot heals

Can anyone confirm that?

I can, see the last post.

[_ChriSter]

It's a little bit to long and I didn't read all.

For the sticks, Rori is still a pretty good Stick and way better then Historic. You should change that one in my opinion.

For the CW build, that was 40-60 STA, not more.

Seems nice though, I'll look at everything another time .

[pastry_]

It's a little bit to long and I didn't read all.

For the sticks, Rori is still a pretty good Stick and way better then Historic. You should change that one in my opinion.

For the CW build, that was 40-60 STA, not more.

Seems nice though, I'll look at everything another time .

Thanks i've added the Rori since thats gotten a couple mentions. And as for the CW build i think that since 40 is an extreme low i'll change the margins to 40-80 as people with worse gear will need the stam to CW early as some might start try CW at 80 if they get a blade partner, many of whom start to Cw as soon as they can reduct their LGA's, but thanks very much for your comments C:

[_ChriSter]

I so like my Rori although I don't use it anymore (high enough for LG and Bloody). It was an pretty awesome stick, but now you've got so much features (awakenings, piercings) that it got a little bit lost.

The 40 STA should be enough with a +16 or higher % HP on your suit. With 60 STA you can have +12% or more HP on your suit to CW. This is from own experience I was higher though, around lvl 90-ish.

[pastry_]

I so like my Rori although I don't use it anymore (high enough for LG and Bloody). It was an pretty awesome stick, but now you've got so much features (awakenings, piercings) that it got a little bit lost.

The 40 STA should be enough with a +16 or higher % HP on your suit. With 60 STA you can have +12% or more HP on your suit to CW. This is from own experience I was higher though, around lvl 90-ish.

hmm yeah i guess it really does depend on the equips.

It is a shame for the rori, i still have mine but now its possible for a level 15 stick to completely outclass some of the highers even the lgs can lose out to a highly awakened int wise. Which is why i think its one of the weapons that needs another bonus.
Like the Hstick if that had the roris mp consumption it would be a better stick.