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 Post subject: [GUIDE] A complete guide to partying
PostPosted: Tue Mar 12, 2013 12:27 pm 
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Have you ever wondered how some people party with low lvl chars at high lvl mobs without dieing?
Image
Yacha party (lvl 70 mobs) with a full 5x - 6x party

In this guide is explained how you can easely do that!
I will also explain a few tips and tricks from partying which you probably didn't know yet.


Content:
1. Partying
1.1 Party setup
1.2 Your build in a party
1.2.1 Cleric
1.2.2 Warrior
1.2.3 Wizard
1.2.4 Bard
1.2.5 Warlock
1.2.6 Rogue
1.2.7 Chinese
2. Tips and Tricks



1. Partying


1.1 Party setup

There are different setups you can use to have a successfull party. However, after many years of partying and trying out these different setups, we have come to the conclusion that the following setup is the easiest to have a good party:

- 1 warrior
- 1 aggro str cleric
- 3 damage dealers
- 2 bards
- 1 lurer

Whereas the 3 damage dealers can either be 3 wizards, or 2 wizards and 1 lock. Chinese are generally not accepted as damage dealers, as they have an overall lower damage output than wizards and less AoE (Area of Effect attacks, that damage multiple monsters at once). Rogues are never accepted as damage dealers, since they have no AoE attacks at all.

The lurer can be one of the following builds:
- Warrior
- Rogue
- Chinese
More information specific for luring with these builds can be found below in 1.2.


There are other good party setups, such as 2 tanking warriors, but this will not be discussed in this guide.


1.1 Your build in a party

What should you do in a party and what is expected from you?


1.2.1 Cleric

The cleric should always give the following buffs to his party members:
- Use (Holy) Recovery Division all the time. Don't forget to refresh it.
- Cleric defense (phy and mag) for all party members, including himself
- STR and INT for the damage dealers (wizard or lock)
If you have any STR buffs left (normally you should have 1 left), give it to the warrior or the lurer. Whoever you think needs it most.
If you have any INT buffs left (also 1 left normally), give it to one of the bards. This should be the battle bard (more info on this in the bard section) or the main bard that gives you MP.

After 30 minutes your def, str and int buffs will start to run out. To avoid having all the party members fall without buffs at the same time, use the following tactic: Cancel the buffs of each person 1 by 1 and rebuff them 5 minutes already before the buffs will end. You can do this while continueing to heal, you should not stop healing while rebuffing.
Example: Cancel int & str from wiz1 -> rebuff him with str & int -> cancel int & str from wiz2 -> rebuff him -> next person... while using heals inbetween each step.

The STR cleric
In this setup, the cleric should be a full STR cleric at a decent lvl to be able to tank the monsters. If you are partying at Chasers (85-87), lvl 76+ is acceptable as long as you are 0 gap and have gear of your lvl.

The STR cleric is the tank in this setup, and should try to draw as much aggro as possible so all mobs attack him. How do you do this? With spamming as many group heals as possible! Use Group Healing, Healing Division, Group Healing Breath, Healing Favor and (Holy) Group Recovery. With all these skills you can endlessly spam group heals without stopping.
If you are 80+, use Healing Orbit as well every time you can.

Do not stop spamming these heals, even if your party doesn't need any heals. You are spamming these to get aggro from mobs, not to necessarily heal your party.

The INT or Hybrid cleric
If you are not full STR, it will be harder for you to tank. However, if you are not too low lvl and with decent gear, it should be no problem. Just do as described in the STR cleric section.
If you are 10+ lvls lower than the mobs and do not think you can be tank, the other party members will need to take aggro. If the wizards are high lvl enough and have good gear, they may be able to tank as long as you occasionally heal them and use Healing Cycle. Otherwhise the warrior will need to take all aggro and tank.

Keep in mind that the cleric is the core of the party. If you are not a good cleric, consider asking someone else to be cleric and you can take a different role in the party.


1.2.2 Warrior

In a party, please always use 1H + Shield. It is a pain in the ass to see warriors in a party with 2H or Axes. They die easely, do no damage and only bother the party with knock-backs.

Warrior buffs
As a warrior in the party, your buffs are TOP PRIORITY at all times! A party with a warrior that doesn't give buffs simply will not function.
Make sure you give the following buffs to your party members:
- Pain Quota to Cleric
- Physical and Magical Fences to Wizards
- Pain Quota to the remaining Wizard or Warlock
- If there is a Battle Bard (see 1.2.4), give him Protect
- Otherwhise Protect to Wizards

Image

If there are 2 warriors in your party, you can give all the wizards (and lock) both Pain Quota and Fences.
If there is no other warrior in the party, you will need to split buffs in the way I have mentioned above. Pain Quota is always better than Fences, so give Pain Quota to the weakest members. The Cleric always gets Pain Quota unless specifically asked not to.
The aggro (STR) cleric should not get Fences, otherwhise you will die from the fence damage. It is better to spread his damage over the party more evenly.

Once you are ready with buffs (asking the party a confirmation "Does anyone else need buffs?" never hurts), you can start to lure. Make sure the cleric is also ready and has started healing.

Whenever you can, use Screens (Physical, Morale and Ultimate) on the cleric or the weakest member that needs it most. Do not use Ultimate Screen together with the other Screens. Either split them (for example Cleric gets Phy and Morale Screen, and wizard gets Ultimate Screen) or wait until the other Screen has ended before you give a new one.

Luring
To lure, you will be mainly using Taunting Target, Howling Shout and Sprint Assault. Use these skills to aggro as many mobs as possible in your area (you can run a bit away from the party to get mobs, but make sure you are not so far away that your buffs cancel) and run back to the party. After a few group heals, the mobs should run to the cleric and you will be able to go and lure again.

A problem that sometimes happens here, is that the warrior has way too much aggro, and the mobs simply will not go to the cleric. To avoid this, keep your Taunting Target and Howling Shout at lvl 1. This way you can still attracts mobs, but the aggro will not be so high and the mobs will easely move to the cleric.

Avoiding a party wipe
Whenever someone dies, rebuff them as soon as possible. Even if this means you need to stop your lure halfway. Buffs are always top priority!
Always keep an eye on the cleric HP. If you see that the cleric is struggling, give him Screens. If your screens are on cooldown, use Howling Shout and Taunting Target to help the cleric with tanking.
If really necessary, you can use Shield Trash / Shield Crush to knock-back mobs from the cleric. However, you should avoid this most of the times because it will bring aggro to the wizards instead and they might die. This is only for extreme situations because it is not that bad if a wizard dies, compared to when the warrior or cleric dies (if warrior and cleric die the wizards will die anyways).

If someone dies, you should NOT revive them. As always, keeping your warrior buffs active is top priority. Switching to cleric rod means your party members will lose the warrior buffs, and they will die instantly, even if it is only for 1 second without buffs.
In the very rare case that you are the only one with cleric sub alive, you can switch and res the cleric. However, you should always use either Screens or Bless when you switch, and switch back to warrior as soon as possible to give warrior buffs again.


1.2.3 Wizard

Before you start to attack mobs, make sure of the following:
- You have cleric phy and mag defense
- You have INT and STR buffs
- You have Pain Quote or Fences
If you are lacking one of the following buffs, ask the cleric or warrior to give you these. If you are lvl 90 and have good gear, STR and warrior buffs are not always needed, especially if another party member needs those buffs more.
- Once you have cleric and warrior buffs, use Life Turnover. Don't be afraid to die. Even if you die once or twice, the double damage is worth it. If you keep dieing all the time, someone in the party isn't doing their job right.

Image

As wizard, you will be the main damage dealer in the party. You should use the skills with most damage and most AoE (Area of Effect, skills that can hit multiple mobs at once). The following skills are used best at parties:
- Meteor
- Earth Quake
- Blizzard
- Ground Rave (only use this if you are confident that you can tank some mobs)
- Chain Lightning (use this if you rather keep a distance from the mobs)

If you use these skills from top to bottom (using either Ground Rave or Chain Lightning, not both) you can make a perfect cycle without needing to stop inbetween.

Use Earth Fence every time you can, it is 30-40% Phy def increase. With 3 wizards you can use it almost constantly!

Which mobs to target
Always try to target party mobs or a party champion instead of normal mobs. They will take more damage.
In the case of a Party Giant (PTG), you should focus on targetting small party mobs, not the party giant. Why? So lurers can continue to lure without fearing an overlure. You should continue killing as many small mobs as possible, the PTG will die from AoE. Killing more small mobs during a ptg will increase your zerk, and you need it!
You should only target the PTG while you are in zerk yourself.

Sub-builds
If you are cleric as sub, don't be afraid to switch and throw in a Bless every time you can. You have nothing to lose. Just don't forget to turn Life Turnover on again when you switch back to Staff.
If you are bard as sub, use Noise to protect yourself from random mob spawns. In the case that the lurer or warrior is lacking speed, and the bards are not reacting, you can switch quickly to give them speed.

No lures?
If there are no lures for a few seconds and there are no mobs for you to kill, please don't run away from the party and kill mobs by your own. The other party members won't support you there, and it's really annoying if the lurer comes back with a lot of mobs and all wizards are somewhere else killing 1 single mob.
If you are waiting inbetween lures, pick up elixers and STR/INT tabs. Everyone needs those!


1.2.4 Bard

Tambour and dances
If you are bard, you should always use Tambour. If you are with 2 bards, you can use 2 tambours and 1 dance.
If you are the only bard, you should use Guard Tambour. This is the most important tambour. If there are 2 bards, you should use Guard Tambour, Dancing of Wizardry (or Magic if you are low lvl) and Hit March / Clout March.
If your party lacks defense, and the mobs also do magical damage, you should use Mana Tambour instead of Hit March.

Mana
If you are a lvl 90 bard, this will be easy. Simply use Mana Orbit all the time.
If you are not lvl 90 yet, this will be more exciting! Make sure your Mana Cycle (MC) skill is on max level, and use it to give your party mp. Make sure to mc yourself first, then the cleric, and then the wizards. The warrior and lurer will not need mp.
If you are working with a STR cleric, make sure he has MC on him 24/7. He should not be without MC a single second, so make sure to refresh the MC before it runs out. Even if he has full MP, you should keep in mind that 1 group heal takes 2/3rd of his entire MP and he will be without MP as soon as he tries to use heals.
If you are with 2 bards under lvl 90, you can easely split tasks. For example: 1 bard MCs the cleric and himself, and the other bard MCs all the wizards.
Remember, the bard is one of the most important assets of a party and the party cannot function without you giving them MP. It is your most important job.

Battle Bard
1 bard can easely take care of MCing the entire party. This is even easier when one of the bards is lvl 90 and can use Orbit. So the second bard has time to do something else, for example attacking and doing damage. This is what we call a Battle Bard. If you wish to battle bard, ask the Cleric to give you an INT buff (str should not be needed) and the Warrior for a Protect buff.
Now you might be wondering, if 1 bard can MC the entire party, why not get another wiz instead of 2nd bard? Well actually, having a 2nd bard will give you a bigger damage output than having an extra wiz. Here are some calculations for you:
Let's say that each wizard does standard 100% damage.
3 wizards = 300% dmg
2 bards = dance = 40% dmg increase for every wiz => total 420% dmg
If one of those bards is battle bard = approx 40-50% dmg extra => total 460-470% dmg
Now if you would choose to get 4 wizards and only 1 bard, this would only result into 400% dmg due to lack of dance.

Image
Battle Barding at PEGs (lvl 64-66 mobs) on lvl 53

Pickup pet
Another job that bards often need to do, is being pickup pet. Currently, the Petfilter tool is not working correctly in parties. The pets only pick up "your own drops", which means if you did the most damage to the mob. However, not all damage dealers in the party always have pets so a lot of elixers usually stay on the ground.
As explained above, 1 bard can easely take care of giving the entire party MP, and the bards often have time left where they do nothing. If you are not confident enough to go Battle Bard (too low lvl, STR bard instead of INT, bad gear, etc), you should pick up elixers and STR/INT/Luck/Stamina tabs.
Being pickup pet is also important to the party, as elixers and stones/tabs are the biggest income for you and your party members.


1.2.5 Warlock

Use DoTs on party mobs, 1 DoT per mob. No need to use DoTs on normal mobs, you can AoE them. Prioritize DoTs that give Bleed and Slow, those are the best to use.
Debuffs only go to party giants.
If there is a str cleric setup, use Shadow Armor and stay next to the cleric so it can constantly hit all mobs around the cleric. Use Scream Mask on the cleric and one of the wizards.
Cast the AoE Vampire Kiss spell whenever it's available.
Use Stun, Blood Trap and Sleep to save wizards from mobs.

More info to be added for lock.


1.2.6 Rogue

Luring
The rogue is a born lurer. Your only job in a party will be to lure. You are not damage dealer, and you will not use daggers in a party, only xbow.
Before you start, make sure the party is ready (all should be at spot, fully buffed and wizards have started killing mobs) and that you have the following buffs:
- Speed
- Cleric defense (phy and mag)
Str buff is useful for you but not necessary. If you think you will need it, you can ask the cleric for it.
- Make sure you do NOT have a warrior buff called "Protect" on you. This buff will weaken your lures greatly, so cancel it (right click) and tell the warrior he should not use that buff on the lurer.

You will use crossbow with Fast Shot and Rapid Shot. Other skills are not needed and you should not use them (some skills, such as knock-back, will only be bad for the party).
Shoot all mobs that you can see within your map range, and wait until they go to the cleric (they should go to the cleric as soon as he uses a group heal). Then run further away from the party (not TOO far) and shoot all mobs you can find with Fast Shot and Rapid Shot. You will notice that if you shoot 1 mob in a group, the whole group will come to you. You can use this to your advantage.
After you have some mobs running behind you, run back to the cleric and wait for him to take the aggro. After that, run away again and continue luring. You should not need to wait inbetween lures unless the party tells you to.

Image
Rogue luring at Penon party

Keep an eye on the party chat and your party members. If someone says "stop lure", "overlure" or if you see that your party members are dieing, stop luring and return to the party as soon as possible.

Every time you can, use Poison Trap near the cleric. It will damage monsters automatically and will help your party gain faster zerk.

Cleric sub-build
A cleric sub-build is very useful while luring:
- You can use bless every 2.45 minutes when you are close to the party.
- If you are luring far away from the cleric, you can quickly switch and heal yourself if needed. Healing yourself can also serve to increase aggro. If you notice that mobs start walking because you are getting too far away, you can use a fast Recovery on yourself to have them start moving fast again.
- When someone dies, you can help the cleric by ressing them, so the cleric does not need to move from his spot or stop healing.- If you have finished your lure and are running back to the party, you can equip shield to increase your defense.
- If your party lacks damage, and you need to wait inbetween lurings because otherwhise the party will die from overlure, you can help the cleric by healing a bit inbetween your lures. Alternatively you can switch to daggers and help deal some damage while you wait. Do remember that luring is still your main job and do not get carried away on daggers or healing.


1.2.7 Chinese

Chinese players should be lurer in parties. Use the lightning shouts, spear throw or single archer shots (no skill used). I will add more info here soon. Look at rogue section if u want more info about luring in general.



2. Tips and Tricks


- While in a good party, you should always use zerk as soon as you get it, even if you are a bard, cleric or lurer. If you save your zerk, the rest of your party will get slower zerk. If you use your zerk always right away, your party members will get faster zerk too.


- You can click the "Zoom out" button on the mini-map twice to get maximum viewrange. Clicking more than 2 times has no effect because monsters will not show up in a higher range.


- Cannot use dance even though the other bard has Tambour? It's a bug that happens sometimes. Right click the tambour buff in your buff list so it will "Refresh" the buff on you, and you will be able to dance with no problems.


Image
B4 party 99 mobs with a lvl 80-90 party

_________________
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Servers I play(ed) at: Venice, Venus, tSro, kSro, Silkroad Relevations, jSro
IGNs: Heavens_Love, White_Chick, Dark_Ashelin, Hard2Own, Water, SnowCake, DarkAshelin


Last edited by Dark Ashelin on Fri Mar 15, 2013 11:21 am, edited 1 time in total.

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