Silkroad Online Forums

I've read many posts before coming to make my own, addressing the questions I haven't seen answered anywhere else. From what I've seen, this is the most helpful SRO forum there is, and I hope that will be mirrored here.

My questions are pretty specific, as they are the key points im missing after sifting through the rest of the posts:

At the same level, killing the same mobs with the same nuke & force lvls, with equal gear (e.i. both have the same respective weps), could a S/S nuker 1 hit the same mobs a spear nuker can?

At higher levels(64+ is high for me), do even spear nukers 1 hit the mobs they train on? Do S/S have the power to do that much dmg do the same mobs as well?

In PvP at higher levels, is STR required for spear nukers to survive? Is STR required for S/S nukers to survive? (vs anything) If it is, would S/S nukers need less of it?

If STR is required for one and not the other, or less for S/S, would this even up the gap between their DMG on monsters (in regards to the 1st 2 questions)

Does the extra +5 STR and INT (is 5 the most you can add? idk its the most i've seen) make up for the lack of dmg?

Thanks in advance for all the insight.

IMO, i would use s/s because you can survive longer than using a spear. When a spear nuker gets mobbed, he will have less chance to survive because they dont have the extra defense shield gives. What i really like about s/s is that you can block. Of course spear does more damage, but not by a lot though. I think that s/s nukers can one hit mobs also,but im not so sure about that.

If your s/s, stick with pure int and pimp out your gear and youll be fine. If your using spear, i would stick with hybrid int to have extra hp to survive.

If you want to last long in pvp, use the mana shield and that should help a lot. Use amor while pvping and try to pimp out your gear as much as possible. Hope this helped.

Block will save your @$$

technically, you should always try to kill mobs that you can 1 nuke and 1 shout with. Spear have the advantage to hunt 1 or 2 higher lvl mobs because of higher damage, but once they are swamped, they are usually in big trouble, unless they know what to do.

s/s can survive better imo, its worth it to sacrifice some damage for survivability

hybrids are good too, they have more hp, depending on what you like

personaly I think if you wanna nuke you should go s/s since you have block wich allow you to avoid kd/kb/stun as u try to place a nuke in pvp. Spear should go high str hybrid and go more melee and shouldnt try to place a nuke in a melee fight.

high int spear are just dumb imho

If I do go spear, I'd definately do some kind of hybrid. What I'm unclear on though is that if I do go hybrid, would I be doing the same DMG with spear nukes as a hybrid s/s with lower str nukes?

Also, are spear or sword skills better in PvP? And should s/s nuker use sword skills at all in pvp?

hum I havent really played on spear on high lvl but for what i know spear should be able to have decent nuke since it's a 2 hand weapon, but you are vulnerable to attack so it's harder to place a nuke if the target is facing you.

sword skill for me right now (70 pure int) are used in dangerous fight, when I know the opponent can kill me in a few hit, i keep kd stab most of the time and try to place a nuke from itme to time, chain is used to inflict status wich will allow you to hit harder, so basicly chain/kd/stab until opponent die or get the right status then, keep kd/stab or phantom and nuke


but s/s is more fragile, if you dont block enough you go back to hotan, spear got k/b and stun wich allow them to repot and you can nuke a stunned/kb opponent oyu also have dull wich slow the opponent allowing you to nuke him or repot

lightning chain ftw and 15k nuke their azz to hell

gonna get mine in 6 lvl <_< stupid gap will kill me one day -_-

Nyaghis is level 80 hybrid int spear.

I am as well.

I love my spear and don't think I'd have it any other way

I can nuke a level 80 str glaiver for 7-9K (depending on gear, if they have SUN its less then 7k lol) and I have a 9 gap.

The weapon skills are very important for an INT player, so never forget those

but it pvp, wouldnt it be smart if your s/s and you open up mana shield, ironwall, fire wall and keep nuking til hes dead? Youll get major defense + crazy damage

agreed with above poster on blocking.. full int will survive more with shield especially with hi BR 17+.. dont tank any giant if u r full int with spear and no hp passive sumore.. u can tank but u need to set ur autopot to .5 sec or vigor for backup..

just my 2 cent..

SWORD AND SHELD OWNS

As far as PvP goes, can anyone shed some light on the benefits of the ability to stun, and knockback - which are as I see it, aside from the greater dmg and hp, the benefits of spear in pvp - to those of being able to block, and KD with sword?

I'm particularly interested in the direct comparison between whether the time advantage of being able to pull a nuke or two off during the stun/knockback is better, equal, or worse than the dmg you get from a single KD/Stab combo (not the chain)

Also, do s/s nukers use their chain in PvP as Spear nukers use theirs?

when someone gets stunned the spear can usually get a nuke and mars in for quick damage. KD sword does hurt but its not as quick compared to a the nuke and mars which come almost at the same time. S/S and spear nukers very rarely if ever use chains. s/s nukers use them for finishing moves sometimes but i have never seen a spear nuker use a chain is pvp. Basically it all comes down to what you want out of your nuker.

i like spears because you get faster kills and if you max cold then it kind of counts for the s/s

But S/S also has cold, so your still missing the shield

I think the difference comes down to a few things:

HP passive vs block rate and extra defense
extra damage vs extra INT/STR on shield
spear skills vs sword skills

The HP passive adds up quite nicely towards the higher levels (over 2K at level 80). If you are fighting one hard hitting opponent, that comes in handy quite nicely. If you are fighting multiple opponents however, the BR of the shield is what saves you, and the reduced damage from having extra defense is quite nice as well.

The spear does deal more damage (about 2K at high level nukes), and the extra INT/STR you can put on the shield will compensate for a part of that, but not for all. In general, if a spear can just 1 hit nuke it, you will need a nuke+shout for the sword. If the spear needs 1 nuke+shout, the sword user will need to 2 nuke it. This however does not mean the sword nuker will level slower. With the right equipment, the sword nuker can afford to pull in more enemies at the same time, and as such make better use of his/her nuke splash damage.

As for skills: both KD and stun are highly irritating, but the KD skill has a higher chance of success. On the other hand: use that KD skill in a shared party on party mobs, and you will be kicked out of the party quite quickly. The lightning chain and ironwall shield skills however are the things that make my favor tip directly towards the sword use.

Just a few ideas:

- I think a heavy int hybrid spear or even a pure int can tank a little bit with the new snow shield. When mobbed, use AoE nukes and ghost spear.

- Pure int / heavy int hybrid spear is cannon fodder for bows and xbows

- Pimping both sword and shield requires more alchemy. And thus eats up more resources.

- Leveling with spear nuker is a little bit faster. You should train on mobs you can 1hit (or 1hit + shout). Spear can 1hit mobs 1-2 level higher --> more exp per kill.

Above statements are not facts. Only my opinions.

Great contrast. Blader KS on a party giant is the worst. The general consensus seems to be that if I want more defense and less power, to go with sword, and visa versa for spear.

There are three things that I'm still unsure about however.

From this and other posts, I always hear people saying basically 'yea s/s is weak, but if you have good gear it isn't too bad'. Would a spear nuker then be much better with similar gear? I plan to cover myself in blues as if i wore tight black clothes and played drums, and my impression is that blues benefit s/s more due to all the posts, is this true?

Also, at lower levels there aren't too many skills available, and so often what i do for party giants I solo is rather than using shout, which leaves too little cooldown to make optimal use of another skill, I use a strong heuksal skill. Is lack of magic based skills a problem at higher lvls for any nuker? Even if it isn't, do high lvl spears still use their heuksal skill tree for long fights?

Lastly H31grind said that neither build uses their chain skills in PvP, but you seem to disagree.. I know that blade chains have status effects, but damage-wise, which is better? Also, the same poster was vague about how KD stacks up against stun & knockback. From what I understand, KD + stab will do more damage than stun + nuke + mars, but in a longer time frame. Is this true?

For my words I was considering the gear to be equal. It has more to do with comparing yourself to other builds rather than sword vs spear, and keeping yourself alive in battle. Any INT build will need some massive STR and HP additions to their gear to stay alive, while STR builds are less depending on that.



Considering the amount of nukes available to you, and add to that the lion shouts I do not see how lack of magic skills would be an issue. I can cast 2 lightning nukes in continuous succession without any skills in between. Nuke and lightning chain however need at least a lion shout in between to bridge the cool down time for lightning chain, and I seem to remember a similar problem with lightning nuke combined with the 2nd and 3rd fire book.



It fully depends on your weapon and the defense of your opponent. A simple example (which bears no resemblance to actual numbers):

Nuke: 4000 damage, defense 1000 = 3000 damage dealt
Chain: 6*1500 damage, defense 1000 = 3000 damage dealt
Nuke: 4000 damage, defense 1200 = 2800 damage dealt
Chain: 6*1500 damage, defense 1200 = 1800 damage dealt
Nuke: 4000 damage, defense 800 = 3200 damage dealt
Chain: 6*1500 damage, defense 800 = 4200 damage dealt

If this way of calculation is correct (and I think it is), then the more defense your opponent has, the more important it is to use the big damage dealers rather than the quick ones. I have noticed this at level 52, where against a penon my chain did far more damage than my nuke, but against a yeti (yes, I had good equipment), my nuke outdamaged my chain by far.

As for PvP: I did not use chains there either until lightning chain came along. The difference in nuke damage AFTER you put on division (and bleed to a lesser extend) is enormous, so that is the basic goal these days: get division on your opponent, and THEN blast him to pieces.

What kind of damage difference is there with delusion on? Also, can it be pilled away, and how long does it last?

Also with your balance (which is what i'm going to aim for), how much HP do you have?

These, I guess, are the final pieces of information before I choose my skillset.

Spear has fan storm, but of course ironwall is far more useful for int character since it adds physical defense.

About lightning chain: Heuksal has chain skills too, but how does the damage compare with bicheon chains?

I can't remember PvP damage, but division takes my nuke damage on a niya general from 8-11K to 12-16K, so we are talking quite a difference here. I am not 100% sure, but I believe the new expensive pills with the huge cooldown time can be used to pill it off, but I know of few people even having them.

My magical balance, with all equipment having +4 or +5 INT is 108% (naked is 90%). My HP at lvl 78 with all equipment having +4 or +5 STR, and +400 HP on head, chest, and legs, is around 9.4K (from the top of my head). Keep in mind that I use a GDF and a PGT as well (my wings only have the 5% damage and 1% defense blue so far).

I know of few nukers with heuksal chains, so I do not know how the damage compares (the lightning chain deals more damage than my nuke, but takes a bit longer to execute as well), but it is the bleed, impotent, and especially division effect that make the lightning chain so incredibly effective.

Is it only lightning chain with status effects?

That and the last book of the smash series, but I'm not a big fan of smash, and 18% chance of bleed does not make my blood flow faster either. The last heuksal chain now gives the dull effect.

And so I guess it's Spear for me until 7x =p

That, or 8x when i'm delvling fire anyway =.=

Thanks for all your help and suggestions everyone, it was exactly what i had hoped for.

hows about this.. open up mana shield, fire wall then ironwall. Switch fast to spear to nuke instead of keeping s/s and nuke cause you already have a lot of defense by those three skills and by switching to spear gives you extra damage.

I would rather keep fire in future caps because of the fire wall which prevents you from :
-prevent xbow from knocking you back and knocking you down
-prevent warriors from knocking you back and down
-prevent bladers from knocking you down...for a while
-absorb first nuke of wizard and nuker allowing you to have the upper hand.

Im not so sure about this, but i have heard this from a lot of ppl. So i think fire would be useful for future caps. Even though fire doesnt have good buffs, its still worth getting.

For pvp id say a s/s nuker would do better, you have castle shield(soooo good vs str builds) and you also have KD its so useful Spear nukers have stun,knockback and that thing thats like castle shield except it raises mag def..personaly id rather s/s nukers. But thats my person prefferance

Thats a lie unless you have a sun spear.