In imitation from the Blader Guide made by
cuchulainn, this is a Guide that aims to provide insight on the Int based Hybrid KnockDown Nuker build. By no means do I intend to copycat his work, the structure of this guide however is based upon his and that has helped me ease the work on this feature. I hope that people keep in mind that his is a guide(!) based on my current character and that by no means I wish to force players to follow the exact same path for the build discussed in this guide! You just do what YOU think is right and fun for the game!
I’ve read so many threads where players were complaining about their build, they were ranting that an INT hybrid build sucked big time and that it’s just better to start all over and develop a PURE based build.. People should know that developing a char in SRO means investing huge amounts of time and patience of course, so just stick with it because in the end it’s worth ALL the effort!
Date of Post: 26-07-2006
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Character
An INT based Hybrid KnockDown Nuker build is comprised of a char that utilizes the sword and shield and has a magical balance of +82% or steady at 90%. The build has what many consider the perfect balance, it can deal heavy damage through the sword but also take and block hits at the same time holding the shield. The knockdown and stab is the most annoying physical based attack skill ever, it immobilizes the enemy and renders its attacks useless.
My character is currently level 52 and has four masteries at 45, where all the skills used are maxed at that level.
Above shows the statistics of my char as well as the hot bars for comparison.
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Equipment
Shield
Every shield user out there knows that their char lives and dies with this piece of equipment, it provides the char with a big boost in both physical and magical defence but also if you can get your hands on a shield with a high blocking ratio you can even evade hits (and crits)! You MUST be picky on your shield of choice, it’s better to have a shield with a block ratio of 15 or higher then a shield that is +3 and has a block ratio for say 10!
I’m currently using a 52+5 shield with a block ratio of 15, the durability is been increased by 100% and also has critical 100%.
Sword
The sword might have a lower magical damage output then its Heuksal counterpart, but it still packs quite a punch. Always try get your hands on a +3 or higher sword that has a critical of 7 or above (preferably!), as a knockdown nuker it never hurts to knock down the enemy or even stab it with a few extra criticals.
I’m currently using a 52+3 sword with a critical value of 8, the attack rating has been increased by 100% and also has +5INT, +2str and other bunch of blues I can’t remember at the moment.
Defence Tools
Armour ~ Recommended
Most INT based chars use Armour as their main Defence Tool, it would be the choice for grinding/levelling as more then 90% of the monsters in SRO are physical attack based (so yes it provides the best physical defence!). In PVP it provides the best defence when dealing with STR glaivers and bladers but when fighting the same build expect the damage count to be a lot higher. Compared to the pure STR builds your char will have of course a lot less HP, so using Armour to grind your way towards level cap could prove to be a smart thing to do.
Garment ~ Optional
To many Garment is the most cool looking piece of Defence Tool a player can get their hands on, it grants the char with +20% speed increase and also reduces the MP pot usage with the same amount. When fighting the same build as your own you’ll have a better magical defence to counter his nukes, but when dealing with STR based builds it will be quite the opposite… Most nukers wear Garment for the speed increase but first and foremost to reduce the MP pot usage, the shield (combined with frost guard and cold passive) provides them with enough defence to absorb the physical based attacks (but the damage count is still something to worry about, so it’s your choice what to wear).
Protector ~ Editors Choice!
The best Defence Tool out there if you’d ask me, it provides the char with medium physical and magical defence and combined with frost guard series + passive and fire protection series even better! No more need to get your hands on a additional set of armor and garment. Protector also increases the walk speed by +10% and reduces the MP pot usage by the same amount. The Defence Tool of Protector is your Editors Choice.
Accessory
Rings, Earring, Necklace,
Accessory provides the char with better means to absorb physical and magical damage. Always try to buy accessory with good stats, and if possible the type of blue that adds status reduction (freeze immunity etc).
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Mastery of Weapon Technique
Bicheon Swordmanship
Hidden Blade Series
Also known as the KnockDown series, very usefull when you’re battling giants where Heuksal based players are trying to steal the kill. After the knockdown only Bicheon based chars are able to attack, yes that is exclusively use right there! The best defence is offence, you can knockdown your target and its unable to do anything then just lay on the ground and watch it get stabbed multiple times. Your char is able to deal heavy damage and at the same time have some sort of defence as the hits taken from the target are at a low.
Killing Heaven Blade Series
The attack that follows up a knockdown, where the char has the exclusive use to stab the target. Like the KnockDown series try to max all three books, when the target is knocked down and you’re experiencing no lag at all then it’s possible to stab your target with all three books.
Shield Protection Series
The shield passive that increases the blocking ratio by a fixed percentage, the higher the better so to increase the probability of a blocked attack it’s recommended to keep this skill up to date.
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Mastery of Force Technique
Cold
Frost Guard Series
A skill that boosts physical defence. While the third book looks cool when buffed, at level 60 this skill (combined with the passive) provides the char with a whopping +84 physical defence points! That alone is a pretty darn good reason to add Cold .
Frost Nova Series
A skill that has the ability to slow down your target by frostbiting or freezing it. It’s of great use during PVP, where if you’re able to freeze your target you can render its attack utterly useless! The second book is able to frostbite/freeze up to five nearby enemies. My advice is to keep both book 1 and 2 at the first level, unless you’re planning to sp grind like crazy and want to max it to obtain book 3.
Snow Storm Series
The magical damage output of this skill at book1 is so low that you should only add it to obtain the second book at level 50 which is decent when it comes to its AEO (area of damage). The second book could be used as an alternative nuke that is able to attack five targets in front of the player simultaneously.
Cold Armor Series
The passive that permanently increases the physical defence, at level 60 combined with the Frost Guard Series it adds a whopping +84 defence. For that reason alone its worth to add the Cold mastery, because in the long run those +84 points will be more then a +10% increase in physical defence.
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Lightning
Piercing Force Series
The most important buff for an INT based char as it increases the magical damage output by a fixed percentage. At level 34 it increases the magical damage by 10% and at level 48 by 15%, you could add the fourth book for the +16% increase but to gain only 1% for so much required SP is just not cutting it for me.
Wind Walk Series
The skill that increases the walk speed of your char and with the use of the second book is also able to teleport short distances. The latter is great for a quick getaway from your target or to catch up on it, it teleports your char in the direction your mouse is pointing. When used properly it speeds up the grinding process significantly.
Lion Shout Series
Pure magic attack that has roughly the same magical damage output as a normal imbued sword combo. The shout lion attack is commonly used as a fast magical attack to finish targets with low HP, or it’s used in between nukes when those skills are still in their cool down stage. Another great thing about this skill is its AOE (area of damage),as you’re able to attack 3 close enemies at the same time and there’s
no reduced splash damage!
Concentration Series
The concentration series increases the parry ratio which in turn increases the probability your char will take minimum damage. There are many that do not believe the extra parry increases the probability of minimum damage taken and therefore only add the first level of book 1 and invest SP elsewhere, to choice to develop this skill further is of course yours to make!
Thunderbolt Force Series
The lightning nuke at book 2 packs quite a powerful punch just like it’s Fire counterpart. Unlike the Flame Wave Series you will have to max out the first book to get to the second book of this skill, but doing so will provide your char with a main and a sub nuke where both can deal heavy magical damage. Be aware that this nuke could aggro mobs as its splash damage might damage them while it wasn’t your intention!
Heaven's Force Series
The passive that permanently increases the parry ratio and therefore increases the probability your char will take minimum damage from your target.
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Fire
Fire Force Series
The Fire imbue is the strongest of all Force Mastery Techniques and the Burn Effect does significant damage over time to your target (DOT) which is a plus compared to the other imbues. While you may not slow your target down like the Ice imbue, the extra damage by the Burn Effect speeds up the grinding process and increases your overall damage as well.
Fire Shield Series
This skill reduces the status effect by a fixed percentage. Combined with the reduce status effect blue that can be found on Accessory, you can eventually become immune to certain status effects such as freezing. Using the Fire Shield Buff also enables your char to use lower end pills during PVP and PVE which might save some gold in the long run.
Flame Body Series
Burn your body and increase the physical damage dealt by a fixed percentage, combined with the Flame Devil Force the physical damage will increase by a stunning 13 percent. As a Knockdown Nuker the extra physical damage will always come in handy!
Fire Protection Series
At first glance one might think that adding this skill isn’t worth the while, as the increase of magical defence points doesn’t even come close to it’s Cold counterpart. By wearing protector any increase of defence, whether physical or magical, is worth investing SP in. Like the Frost Guard Series the real significant increase in defence comes at level 60, as you’ll gain +70 magical defence points. Besides wouldn’t it look cool on your char to have both the third book of Cold and Fire protection?
Flame Wave Series
The requirements to add the second and third book of the Flame Wave Series are luckily at a low, you’ll just need the first level of book one and two and have your char at level 43 and 56 respectively! I would advice players to keep the flame wave of the first book at level 1 and instead level up its lightning counterpart and use that skill from level 30 till 43 as your primary nuke. After level 43 you should try to keep second book of the Flame Wave Series up to par with your chars’ level to maximise its magical damage output. The third book could easily be compared with the second book of the Snow Storm Series but only stronger, as it can be used as an alternative nuke that is able to attack five targets in front of the player simultaneously.
Flame Devil Force Series
The passive that permanently increases the physical damage output by a fixed percentage. Combined with the Flame Body Series you’re able to deal +13% more physical damage, which is a great plus when knocking down the target and then stab them multiple times afterwards.
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If requested by popular demand i'll try to update this guide as often as I can, i've currently set the goal to farm the SP necessary to upgrade all 4 masteries to 50 and have all skills maxed at that level as well. After that i'm aiming for Fire at 61 and all skills in that skilltree maxed, then go straight to current levelcap!