Post by Mujuuryoku on Mar 25, 2014 6:50:08 GMT
Since it is maintenance time again, it means I can whip up a class guide for those aspiring Soul Eaters out there.
A word of caution though; this is not for the faint of heart.
I will not touch on the Dark Summoner tree aside from the two evasive skills: Phantom Rage; which enables you to have more air time due to claw-whipping over the ground, and Blitz Claw, which provides you with an invincibility frame while back-flipping - which makes it connect with the former skill.
Whilst Dark Summoners enjoy decreased CD in some hard-hitting skills upon reaching the Lv. 6 and 11 marks, the Soul Eaters bask in the glory of increasing the duration of their painful Damage over Time (DOT) mechanic in the form of Curse Stacking. Cursing an enemy cripples them with a debuff which damages them every 2 seconds if they make an aggressive move - attacking and using skills. Every tick of damage is 100% of your MATK, which is somewhere between your mystical damage range. Moreover, it is not affected by Dark Attack percentage nor the enemy's MDEF (which affects the damage rating of your skills upon casting), and it stacks up to three times - and that translates to 300% MATK damage per tick every two seconds. In theory; a successful maxed stack can boast 1500% MATK per 10 seconds, assuming that your target is aggressive, which happens almost all the time.
Drooling now? Wait. It is also good to take note that every instance of Curse deals a 5% elemental resistance debuff to the target. A triple stack is like having an 15% Intellect suffix debuff on your enemy (a +10 old weapon can only deal 13.75% elemental resist debuff); this proves helpful to your resident Elestra and other elemental classes, like... Assassins, Clerics, Academics, Saleanas and Majesties...
Damage dealing aside, Soul Eaters have another trick up their sleeves (or underneath the boob support of their chori) - they can maim their opponents from dealing Critical Damage, all while reducing their Critical Resist and boosting the party's ability to deal Criticals easily. Also, it has a cooldown way lower than an Archer's Wise of Owl, albeit a little watered-down.
Pretty hefty support for an underdog class, eh? If you're ready to bite your leash, then read on.
HP Mastery maxed. Who won't? Added tankiness is love.
Mental Mastery and Mind Conquer left at Lv. 1 each. Kinda stupid, but hey, Soul Eaters are INT-based, which means they have higher max mana - and they do not have shields to toggle which burns a percentage of their max mana. Do take note that a Soul Eater's MP consumption is based from your BASE MANA, which translates to your max mana when you do not have any amplifications from INT, INT%, additional MP from upgraded equipment and added MP% from your potentials/jades. Besides, once the Bringer comes in, mana burn will be a thing of the past. You spam away, girl.
If you still need that MP recovery, drop Despair Needle to 6, then pump the remaining SP to Mind Conquer, then that 1 SP can go back to Despair Needle or get Spinning Kick.
Despair Needle pumped to Lv. 11 for those scary, taller-than-thou spikes and higher damage. This is favored because you have your Summon Puppet. Stationary targets are highly vulnerable to this Kali-version of Poison Missile minus the hit cap. Yes, it deals damage slowly, but its effect duration is relatively lower than your Puppet so it's still good to pump. Besides, it can be used for crowd control too. ^^
Maxed Phantom Guard. Increased super armor makes everyone happy. However, hard-hitting skills may consume your mana (as well as your party members') so be careful when casting it. On the bright side, the damage reduction is good, and mana consumption reduces by 60% while under this buff. At this time, it's a semi-permanent buff so enjoy it on top of your resident Sorc's Mana Flow.
Spirit of Genie taken. Class Skill. Perfect for bursting. Get it.
Okay, wait. No Negative Ghost? What the hell?
Chill. Negative Ghost is a great panic button in case you get mobbed. The targets lose the will to fight (aka becomes non-aggressive even when attacked) for a certain duration. At Lv. 1, it's 4 seconds. However, those 4 seconds would mean a loss of 600% MATK damage dealt by maxed Curse. Imagine if it is pumped to the peak levels. Good emergency skill, but it does not favor the author's play style.
A word of caution though; this is not for the faint of heart.
I will not touch on the Dark Summoner tree aside from the two evasive skills: Phantom Rage; which enables you to have more air time due to claw-whipping over the ground, and Blitz Claw, which provides you with an invincibility frame while back-flipping - which makes it connect with the former skill.
Whilst Dark Summoners enjoy decreased CD in some hard-hitting skills upon reaching the Lv. 6 and 11 marks, the Soul Eaters bask in the glory of increasing the duration of their painful Damage over Time (DOT) mechanic in the form of Curse Stacking. Cursing an enemy cripples them with a debuff which damages them every 2 seconds if they make an aggressive move - attacking and using skills. Every tick of damage is 100% of your MATK, which is somewhere between your mystical damage range. Moreover, it is not affected by Dark Attack percentage nor the enemy's MDEF (which affects the damage rating of your skills upon casting), and it stacks up to three times - and that translates to 300% MATK damage per tick every two seconds. In theory; a successful maxed stack can boast 1500% MATK per 10 seconds, assuming that your target is aggressive, which happens almost all the time.
Drooling now? Wait. It is also good to take note that every instance of Curse deals a 5% elemental resistance debuff to the target. A triple stack is like having an 15% Intellect suffix debuff on your enemy (a +10 old weapon can only deal 13.75% elemental resist debuff); this proves helpful to your resident Elestra and other elemental classes, like... Assassins, Clerics, Academics, Saleanas and Majesties...
Damage dealing aside, Soul Eaters have another trick up their sleeves (or underneath the boob support of their chori) - they can maim their opponents from dealing Critical Damage, all while reducing their Critical Resist and boosting the party's ability to deal Criticals easily. Also, it has a cooldown way lower than an Archer's Wise of Owl, albeit a little watered-down.
Pretty hefty support for an underdog class, eh? If you're ready to bite your leash, then read on.
Kali Tree
All evasives and maneuver skills (Turning Step, Dummy Ghost, Aerial Evasion, Slave Hand, and Ghost Kick) maxed except Spinning Kick to make a Hell Butterfly in the field. As a Soul Eater, you need to get hit as less as possible while maintaining your Curse Stack. Dummy Ghost connects with your evasion skills in the Screamer Tree so better have it available when you need it. Ghost Kick forces you to drop to the ground; pretty useful when battling the Fel Guardian too since he has his huge flytrap when he claps his hands, erm, arms in the air.
HP Mastery maxed. Who won't? Added tankiness is love.
Mental Mastery and Mind Conquer left at Lv. 1 each. Kinda stupid, but hey, Soul Eaters are INT-based, which means they have higher max mana - and they do not have shields to toggle which burns a percentage of their max mana. Do take note that a Soul Eater's MP consumption is based from your BASE MANA, which translates to your max mana when you do not have any amplifications from INT, INT%, additional MP from upgraded equipment and added MP% from your potentials/jades. Besides, once the Bringer comes in, mana burn will be a thing of the past. You spam away, girl.
If you still need that MP recovery, drop Despair Needle to 6, then pump the remaining SP to Mind Conquer, then that 1 SP can go back to Despair Needle or get Spinning Kick.
Despair Needle pumped to Lv. 11 for those scary, taller-than-thou spikes and higher damage. This is favored because you have your Summon Puppet. Stationary targets are highly vulnerable to this Kali-version of Poison Missile minus the hit cap. Yes, it deals damage slowly, but its effect duration is relatively lower than your Puppet so it's still good to pump. Besides, it can be used for crowd control too. ^^
Maxed Phantom Guard. Increased super armor makes everyone happy. However, hard-hitting skills may consume your mana (as well as your party members') so be careful when casting it. On the bright side, the damage reduction is good, and mana consumption reduces by 60% while under this buff. At this time, it's a semi-permanent buff so enjoy it on top of your resident Sorc's Mana Flow.
Spirit of Genie taken. Class Skill. Perfect for bursting. Get it.
Okay, wait. No Negative Ghost? What the hell?
Chill. Negative Ghost is a great panic button in case you get mobbed. The targets lose the will to fight (aka becomes non-aggressive even when attacked) for a certain duration. At Lv. 1, it's 4 seconds. However, those 4 seconds would mean a loss of 600% MATK damage dealt by maxed Curse. Imagine if it is pumped to the peak levels. Good emergency skill, but it does not favor the author's play style.
Screamer Tree
As said earlier, the DS tree only has Phantom Rage and Blitz Claw for evasions. These are left at the minimum level just to put it to good use.
Stigma of Curse at Lv. 11 for two additional marking talismans. If you are fine with Lv. 6 for an additional flying curse, the author is not. Since there are skills boosted in damage coefficient with an increased number of branded targets, having three bursts of voodoo marks will be beneficial. It takes practice though; the initial casting always hurts a lot, so aim it at the most tanky target, then spread the next to to others (since each additional burst will only be 20% of board damage). Marking three monsters (or people) will increase the coefficients of Spirit Paper, Soul Gate, and Soul Scream by 1 every branded target - you do the math.
Summon Puppet maxed for 22% additional damage for 15 seconds. It has a cooldown of 30 seconds, so it's good for repetitive DPS burst scenarios. Furthermore, if there are three branded targets, all of them will be linked to the Puppet. Pretty neat, huh? And be reminded that you don't need to hit the Puppet to deal that additional oomph; the debuff is on for 15 seconds, so just party. The Puppet is just a summoned hitbox which allows other classes to deal DPS while being far from the target - nice to have during deadly situations or if the enemy is flying in the air (like Madam Claudia in the Madman's Laboratory).
There are some cases where the duration of the Puppet is 'Reduced' like in Nests, but fret not; only the hitbox (Punching Bag aka Puppet) disappears, but the debuff duration still is capped to 15 seconds. This has been tested several times by different people so I believe this will be common knowledge by now.
Oh, did I forget that the doll makes anyone susceptible to Gravity Controller and Umbra? And hey, it can cause a 10-second Curse to anyone within the 5m radius from the Puppet after it appears. ^^
Spirit Paper pumped to 16 for increased Curse duration and damage. Mediocre 92% plus tail damage, eh? It's per bird. Land four, then multiply it by four. Got 3 branded targets? Add 3 more birds. That's seven now. That's theoretical, assuming that it happens every time. It takes practice to pull this off so hang in there girl.
Cling Snake at 16 for that Saleana-inspired Phoenix Storm imbued with Delay and Dark. It works best when shotgunned at point-blank range, preferably in front of the Puppet. ^^
Soul Gate maxed at 15. I recommend a skill accessory for this. Shoots out a barrage of souls from a, well, gate. Pretty self-explanatory. The number of spirits coming out increases by 1 every branded target, giving a massive oomph of damage if there are three monsters under Stigma, and it provides Curse too.
Trivia time!
A hidden mechanic of Spirit Paper and Soul Gate is their Tracking effect. Once there is a Branded target, the additional bird will try to fly to that mark, while the Soul Gate will face the direction where the Branded target is. Also, if there is a Puppet in the field, all Birds you aim at it will surely land on it, and the Gate will always face the direction of the Puppet first. Abuse this to your advantage.
Beast Spirit maxed at 13 for more damage and increased Curse duration. Pretty hard to aim compared to the EX version. It has high SA-breaking capabilities so you can use it to chomp those pillars or other destructibles down. Do a Turning Step after summoning a Puppet before casting this to land full hits.
Dragon's Soul maxed for increased ouchiness. Better have a Puppet and Grudge Formation set up, Curse the target and apply all major debuffs before using it since it wreaks havoc. It has good SA and damage reduction while channeling so you can abuse it as well. The Delay effect makes it harder for targets to slip out of its AoE. ^.^
Grudge Formation maxed for that luscious 25% ATK/MATK increase, Dark damage reduction, and -100% SA breaking capability for the monster inside the cursed area. Great to use in burst situations in conjunction with your Puppet and helps negate pushbacks (like DDN Flower and Manticore), thus allowing you to continue casting skills.
Increase Soul maxed for additional 13%+989 MATK which leeches your HP by 315 every two seconds. Pretty nice considering the low HP consumption. Sweet.
Now: Spirit Twinge or Soul Scream? I went for Soul Scream since it works like Edged Fan of Assassins. I usually shotgun some of my skills, so I'm better off having this. At level 1, it blasts 8 talismans with Delay effect at 40%+19 MATK damage per talisman. Big targets can be hit by 6-8 of it as long as you are close enough. That's 320% theoretically, assuming you get full hits. Branded targets add 1 additional talisman each, so it can go up to 440% MATK damage. However, I only use it for the emergency slow bomb before Dummy Ghost-ing away from harm. For a meager skill, it deals good damage when used properly.
Stigma of Curse at Lv. 11 for two additional marking talismans. If you are fine with Lv. 6 for an additional flying curse, the author is not. Since there are skills boosted in damage coefficient with an increased number of branded targets, having three bursts of voodoo marks will be beneficial. It takes practice though; the initial casting always hurts a lot, so aim it at the most tanky target, then spread the next to to others (since each additional burst will only be 20% of board damage). Marking three monsters (or people) will increase the coefficients of Spirit Paper, Soul Gate, and Soul Scream by 1 every branded target - you do the math.
Summon Puppet maxed for 22% additional damage for 15 seconds. It has a cooldown of 30 seconds, so it's good for repetitive DPS burst scenarios. Furthermore, if there are three branded targets, all of them will be linked to the Puppet. Pretty neat, huh? And be reminded that you don't need to hit the Puppet to deal that additional oomph; the debuff is on for 15 seconds, so just party. The Puppet is just a summoned hitbox which allows other classes to deal DPS while being far from the target - nice to have during deadly situations or if the enemy is flying in the air (like Madam Claudia in the Madman's Laboratory).
There are some cases where the duration of the Puppet is 'Reduced' like in Nests, but fret not; only the hitbox (Punching Bag aka Puppet) disappears, but the debuff duration still is capped to 15 seconds. This has been tested several times by different people so I believe this will be common knowledge by now.
Oh, did I forget that the doll makes anyone susceptible to Gravity Controller and Umbra? And hey, it can cause a 10-second Curse to anyone within the 5m radius from the Puppet after it appears. ^^
Spirit Paper pumped to 16 for increased Curse duration and damage. Mediocre 92% plus tail damage, eh? It's per bird. Land four, then multiply it by four. Got 3 branded targets? Add 3 more birds. That's seven now. That's theoretical, assuming that it happens every time. It takes practice to pull this off so hang in there girl.
Cling Snake at 16 for that Saleana-inspired Phoenix Storm imbued with Delay and Dark. It works best when shotgunned at point-blank range, preferably in front of the Puppet. ^^
Soul Gate maxed at 15. I recommend a skill accessory for this. Shoots out a barrage of souls from a, well, gate. Pretty self-explanatory. The number of spirits coming out increases by 1 every branded target, giving a massive oomph of damage if there are three monsters under Stigma, and it provides Curse too.
Trivia time!
A hidden mechanic of Spirit Paper and Soul Gate is their Tracking effect. Once there is a Branded target, the additional bird will try to fly to that mark, while the Soul Gate will face the direction where the Branded target is. Also, if there is a Puppet in the field, all Birds you aim at it will surely land on it, and the Gate will always face the direction of the Puppet first. Abuse this to your advantage.
Beast Spirit maxed at 13 for more damage and increased Curse duration. Pretty hard to aim compared to the EX version. It has high SA-breaking capabilities so you can use it to chomp those pillars or other destructibles down. Do a Turning Step after summoning a Puppet before casting this to land full hits.
Dragon's Soul maxed for increased ouchiness. Better have a Puppet and Grudge Formation set up, Curse the target and apply all major debuffs before using it since it wreaks havoc. It has good SA and damage reduction while channeling so you can abuse it as well. The Delay effect makes it harder for targets to slip out of its AoE. ^.^
Grudge Formation maxed for that luscious 25% ATK/MATK increase, Dark damage reduction, and -100% SA breaking capability for the monster inside the cursed area. Great to use in burst situations in conjunction with your Puppet and helps negate pushbacks (like DDN Flower and Manticore), thus allowing you to continue casting skills.
Increase Soul maxed for additional 13%+989 MATK which leeches your HP by 315 every two seconds. Pretty nice considering the low HP consumption. Sweet.
Now: Spirit Twinge or Soul Scream? I went for Soul Scream since it works like Edged Fan of Assassins. I usually shotgun some of my skills, so I'm better off having this. At level 1, it blasts 8 talismans with Delay effect at 40%+19 MATK damage per talisman. Big targets can be hit by 6-8 of it as long as you are close enough. That's 320% theoretically, assuming you get full hits. Branded targets add 1 additional talisman each, so it can go up to 440% MATK damage. However, I only use it for the emergency slow bomb before Dummy Ghost-ing away from harm. For a meager skill, it deals good damage when used properly.
Soul Eater Tree
Spectre of Pain left at Lv. 6 due to SP constraint; a good skill to spam due to its low CD. You can spam it every chance you get for that double-damage third hit. It's piercing, so as long as the spirit glides through the mob, they're good as Spectre'd. The Spectre counter expires after 15 seconds upon contact so better throw another one as soon as the cooldown refreshes.
Your crowning moment of burst mode skill Spirit Scream maxed at Lv. 5 for that Wise of Owl - Kali debuff version, with a lower CD. It summons a wailing banshee that reduces the Crit Resist of mobs, making them more vulnerable to critical hits, and enhances the critical chance of people attacking the debuffed target. Furthermore, the afflicted monsters will lose the ability to deal critical damage. Also, it's AoE is much like a Tempest's Binding Shot EX, just a tad smaller. The wide range makes it easier to scream and send your enemies to oblivion. ^^
All skill EX are taken: Spirit Paper EX for two more birds, Cling Snake EX for an additional snake, more damage and Restraining capability, Soul Gate EX for painful damage and explosion bursts, and Beast Spirit EX for Kagebunshin wolves with the ease to connect to a freshly-summoned puppet due to its lesser frontal jump but increased horizontal range due to the V-formation.
So... What's with the 65 passive? It's Pain, which causes you to deal 10% additional, non-elemental damage to a Cursed target. Since most of your Cursing skills have wide AoE, thus can afflict an entire mob, this is a nice plus. It's like having Raid buff from Assassins without the Critical Hit prerequisite.
Now the skill guide is done! Yay!
Gearing up your Soul Eater is like gearing up a Sorceress. You may refer here. The only difference? You need to maximize Magical Attack like Smashers since MATK alone can boost all your skills and Curse damage. You can boost Dark Atk too, however, this will only affect the damage dealt by your skills upon casting. Whatever you choose, it's fine.
In the light of the Jade system, it's possible for you to craft a VIT jade with INT in the future. Stack on INT and VIT Jades for your armors, INT and Magician jades for your weapons, VIT/INT jades for earrings and necklace, and Magician jades for rings. If you can get L-grade rings with MATK and Dark Atk, then the better.
Skill Jades for armors can be 20% PDEF increase or 10% PDEF and MDEF increase; mix and match them as needed, though the former is more recommended since stacking INT means higher MDEF. Weapon Skill Jades are up to you; Crit Resist reduction, MDEF reduction, Dark Elem resist reduction, or even Slow... Your call actually.
Staple plates include Magician, Intellect, Health, Life Vitality, Iron Wall, Tent, Wind, and Fatal. You can swap Tent with Ultimate if you feel you have too much MDEF. Going FD-type? That's cool too, but be reminded that Curse damage is unaffected by FD.
Skill plates are up to you if you want to go support or support-DPS. Party-support and Raid-whore plates include Genie buff duration and Grudge Formation CD reduction. DPSer plates include Spirit Paper, Cling Snake, Soul Gate and Beast Spirit increased damage heraldries while Saboteur "I'm-the-Debuff-Queen" plates include Spirit Paper, Soul Gate and Spirit Scream increased debuff duration as well as Summon Puppet CD reduction. Mix and match these to your advantage.
Talismans are like the staple heraldries; just swap the talismans into offensive mode.
Skill accessories are optional, but you can opt to get Summon Puppet, Spirit Scream and the highly-recommended Soul Gate +1. If there is one for Increase Soul, that'd pretty cool too.
Now, get your boobies up and be a bitch... I mean witch. ^^
_________________
Sono mi ni kizare! (This shall be engraved upon thy very soul!) - Lenneth, Valkyrie Profile
Your crowning moment of burst mode skill Spirit Scream maxed at Lv. 5 for that Wise of Owl - Kali debuff version, with a lower CD. It summons a wailing banshee that reduces the Crit Resist of mobs, making them more vulnerable to critical hits, and enhances the critical chance of people attacking the debuffed target. Furthermore, the afflicted monsters will lose the ability to deal critical damage. Also, it's AoE is much like a Tempest's Binding Shot EX, just a tad smaller. The wide range makes it easier to scream and send your enemies to oblivion. ^^
All skill EX are taken: Spirit Paper EX for two more birds, Cling Snake EX for an additional snake, more damage and Restraining capability, Soul Gate EX for painful damage and explosion bursts, and Beast Spirit EX for Kagebunshin wolves with the ease to connect to a freshly-summoned puppet due to its lesser frontal jump but increased horizontal range due to the V-formation.
So... What's with the 65 passive? It's Pain, which causes you to deal 10% additional, non-elemental damage to a Cursed target. Since most of your Cursing skills have wide AoE, thus can afflict an entire mob, this is a nice plus. It's like having Raid buff from Assassins without the Critical Hit prerequisite.
Now the skill guide is done! Yay!
Gearing up your Soul Eater is like gearing up a Sorceress. You may refer here. The only difference? You need to maximize Magical Attack like Smashers since MATK alone can boost all your skills and Curse damage. You can boost Dark Atk too, however, this will only affect the damage dealt by your skills upon casting. Whatever you choose, it's fine.
In the light of the Jade system, it's possible for you to craft a VIT jade with INT in the future. Stack on INT and VIT Jades for your armors, INT and Magician jades for your weapons, VIT/INT jades for earrings and necklace, and Magician jades for rings. If you can get L-grade rings with MATK and Dark Atk, then the better.
Skill Jades for armors can be 20% PDEF increase or 10% PDEF and MDEF increase; mix and match them as needed, though the former is more recommended since stacking INT means higher MDEF. Weapon Skill Jades are up to you; Crit Resist reduction, MDEF reduction, Dark Elem resist reduction, or even Slow... Your call actually.
Staple plates include Magician, Intellect, Health, Life Vitality, Iron Wall, Tent, Wind, and Fatal. You can swap Tent with Ultimate if you feel you have too much MDEF. Going FD-type? That's cool too, but be reminded that Curse damage is unaffected by FD.
Skill plates are up to you if you want to go support or support-DPS. Party-support and Raid-whore plates include Genie buff duration and Grudge Formation CD reduction. DPSer plates include Spirit Paper, Cling Snake, Soul Gate and Beast Spirit increased damage heraldries while Saboteur "I'm-the-Debuff-Queen" plates include Spirit Paper, Soul Gate and Spirit Scream increased debuff duration as well as Summon Puppet CD reduction. Mix and match these to your advantage.
Talismans are like the staple heraldries; just swap the talismans into offensive mode.
Skill accessories are optional, but you can opt to get Summon Puppet, Spirit Scream and the highly-recommended Soul Gate +1. If there is one for Increase Soul, that'd pretty cool too.
Now, get your boobies up and be a bitch... I mean witch. ^^
_________________
Sono mi ni kizare! (This shall be engraved upon thy very soul!) - Lenneth, Valkyrie Profile
