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Zerg's Guide to Building - GR2 Edition - InsainArcaneBirdbrain - 09-02-2021

Before we begin:  This guide is being written in the assumption that you have cleared the tutorial and have read at least the beginner stuff in the wiki. If you haven't, please do so now. Secondly, the info I'm going to list and explain here is the most up to date to the current version of the game (V2.50). If the wiki or possibly in-game tips state something different than what I say here, then take my word for it over that for much of that stuff hasn't been updated in forever. The last thing I want to make clear is that my building advice IS ABSOLUTELY SUBJECTIVE. I consider myself well experienced in regards to building, but everyone has their own opinions on what should be prioritized or whatnot. I just wish to offer a rough outline for what I try to aim for when building my own sets for those who have absolutely no idea what they are doing. With that out of the way...


Heyo, this is Zerg. Some of you might know me as In-Sain on Discord, or as one of your resident Event Runners. I'm making this extensive post today in order to help ease people into the largest barrier of entry to a new player. Yes...   I am indeed referring to building and stats! While Fern made an amazing guide on this stuff a while back, it's unfortunately vastly outdated and doesn't cover a couple of points that I like to teach new players in regards to the topic at hand. For this reason, I took it upon myself to bestow much of the knowledge I have on it into a guide post. Now for how this will be set up, I plan on doing posts over time that will cover various topics in regards to building when I get a chance in my busy schedule. 

For today's class, we're gonna keep things simple and review the core game mechanics, yaaaaaaaaay!.

...

Yeah ok, I admit that it's not super exciting, but it doesn't make it any less important for what I'll cover later. So without further ado, let's get into mechanics.

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STATS
WHAT THE HECK DO ALL THESE FUNNY WORDS MEAN
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To start things off, let's review what your stats do.
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Variable/Derived Stats (These get modified by core stats and other sources)
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Hit Points (HP): If this hits 0, you die/become incapacitated. It's probably in your best interest to avoid that. You get 1 HP for free on any invested core stat point.

Focus Points (FP): Used as the universal skill/magic resource in the game. Most skills and spells will utilize fp in varying degrees, and a lack of it will prevent the usage of said abilities. 

Encumbrance (Encum): This is represented in the stat menu with the little chest icon. Most non-donationc/rafting/key items will weight 1 unit. Be sure that you keep that weight under your encumbrance, or you gonna regret it when you got to lug your sorry self slowly back to the nearest pawn shop.

Battle Weight (BW): Displayed right below encumbrance. While unequiped weapons/gear weigh 1 unit in your bag, they have their own weight value for when they are worn. If you go over your max BW, you'll lose hit/eva/movement/momentum in battle which scales with how far above you are. Needless to say, you always want to keep within your capacity here.

Elemental Attack: In the stat menu are values for various elements. There's one for Fire/Ice/Wind/Earth/Dark/Water/Light/Lightning/Acid/Sound, and there is a core stat associated with each one. These values are utilized for attacks of said elements.

Elemental Resistance: Located to the right of Ele-Atk as a %. This is gained largely from equipment or racial traits, but SAN also provides a small amount as well. If you take an attack with a 25% resistance to it or higher, then you trigger RESIST! which will usually reduce the attacker's momentum by 1. The opposite is also true however, and taking an attack with a -25% res will cause WEAK!, granting the attacker 1 momentum instead. 

Hit: Used to calculate chance to hit with most attacks. Mostly raised via stats and weapon upgrades.

Evade (Eva): Used to calculate chance to avoid an attack. Hit vs Eva is a flat check between the attacker and defender. (Ex: An 210 hit attacker vs 130 eva defender would have a 80% chance to hit). This gets a bit more complicated with the recent evasion rework (GR2), but more on that later.

Critical Chance (Crit): The percent odds of a basic attack action becoming a critical hit. Successful criticals will increase the attack's damage by the Crit Dmg mod, and if it's the first time a specific weapon crit during a turn, the critter get refunded 1 momentum. 

Critical Evade (Crit Eva): Similar to how Eva works for Hit, Crit Eva gives a flat reduction to the attacker's crit.

Critical Damage (Crit Dmg): The damage amount that a basic attack is modded by on a Crit (200% Crit mod would make the attack do 2x the normal damage for example).

Initiative (Ini): Used to determine initial turn order. The turn order goes from highest to lowest Ini, however the game has a system in place to alternate which team is going. That means even if one team has only people who are 50+ Ini vs a team of sub 10 Ini, the turn order would cause the fastest person on the slower team to move 2nd.

Physical Defense (Phys Def): The amount of damage reduced by a % for physical damage. Note that any skills/passives/etc that increase this such as Black Knight's 10% Phys Dmg reduction are multiplicative with Phys Def.

Magical Defense (Mag Def): The same as above, but for magic damage.

Status Inflict (Stat Inf): If you see anything refer to a chance or a luck-based chance for a status/effect, then this is the value used. Just like Hit, it's the flat % chance that the effect occurs.

Status Resistance (Stat Res): Same as Eva, but for status inflicts.

Flanking (Flank): If you attack someone from the sides/behind, you gain an increased chance to hit based on this value. You gain 33% of the value from the sides in hit and 66% from behind. If there is an ally next to that enemy, then the bonuses become 66% and 100% respectively. 

Skill Pool (SP): Determines how many skills you can equip. Humans get two more of these from their racial, and Destiny will grant 5 more (More on that later.)

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Core Stats (These are what you put stat points into)
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Strength (STR): Grants +1 Fire Atk and +1 BW/Encum per scaled point (Will get to what scaled means in a bit). You also gain 3hp per base and invested STR, but not on bonus STR (Also more on the difference later). This is the primary weapon scaling stat for Swords/Axes/Lances/Bows/Fists.

Will (WIL): Grants +5 FP per scaled point, +1 skill slot per 10 scaled, and +1 to all Ele-Atk per 4 scaled. This is the primary weapon scaling stat for Tomes and Gem Staves.

Skill (SKI): Grants +1 Ice Atk, 2 Hit, and 0.5 Crit per scaled point, and +1 skill slot per 5 scaled points.

Celerity (CEL): Grants +1 Wind Atk and +2 Eva per scaled point. Also grants 1 Ini per unscaled base and invested Cel, but not bonus.

Defense (DEF): Grants +1 Earth Atk per scaled point, and 0.9% Phys Def per scaled point.

Resistance (RES): Grants +1 Dark Atk per scaled point, and 0.9% Mag Def per scaled point.

Vitality (VIT): Grants +1 Water Atk and Encum per scaled point, and 10 HP per scaled point. 

Faith (FAI): Grants +1 Light Atk and Crit Eva per scaled point, and +3 FP per scaled point.

Luck (LUC): Grants +1 Lightning Atk, Crit, Crit Eva, and % item drop rate per scaled point.

Guile (GUI): Grants +1 Acid Atk, Flank, and % Crit Dmg per scaled point, and +1 skill slot per 5 scaled. This is the Primary scaling stat for Guns and Daggers.

Sanctity (SAN): Grants +1 Sound Atk and +2 HP/FP per scaled point, and grants 1% Fire/Ice/Wind/Earth/Dark/Water/Light/Lightning Res per 6 scaled points. It also usually affects racial traits on most non-human races in some way.

Aptitude (APT): Grants +1% increased EXP gain per scaled point, and +1 Bonus point in every other stat every 6 scaled points. (Please don't skip this stat, and build at least 36.)


Phew-  pretty simple, yeah? With that out of the way, my next post will cover important game concepts that will also be important for considering what to build later on.

RE: Zerg's Guide to Building - GR2 Edition - InsainArcaneBirdbrain - 09-03-2021

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Important Game Concepts
Dramatic Acrobatics through Systematic Mathematics
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Alright, so as you may have discovered thus far, there's a ton of stats and variables at play in SL2. How they interact however is just as important, and I'll be going over the key ones now.


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Types of Stats and Stat Limitations
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Base: Also known as your racial base. You remember the numbers displayed back when you were choosing a race in Professor Pink's room? These are the stats associated with the race of your choosing. They are important as they play into at what point stats begin softcapping on your character. Through Legend Extending (LE), you can spend Inks on getting +1 added to your racial bases, and this can be done exactly once per stat for every stat excluding Apt. Other than Inks though, there is no way to increase your racial bases.

Softcap: Each and every stat reaches a point where each invested point begins suffering from diminishing returns, which is known as softcap. The way to calculate a softcap for a stat is to use the formula (40 + Base Stat = Stat Softcap). An Imperial Human who has 4 base in every stat would softcap at 44 in every stat for example. While the diminishing returns start off small, with the first three points past softcap only providing .9 investment rather than the normal 1 per point, which is why we differentiate the displayed stat with a...

Scaled Stat: The stat menu by default displays total stats, which account for (Base + Invested + Bonus), but if you click on the little man above Fire Atk, the game will switch to displaying scaled stats. Scaled refers to actual total of stat after softcap diminishing returns are applied. Most things which use stats as a variable will use scaled stats if it isn't explicitly stated to be base.

Invested Stat: These are the stats you allocate manually, and you get 4 per level up to a total of 240 points at lv60.

Bonus Stat: Stats derived from any source outside Base and Invested stats. These include but are not limited to-
  • Mage enchant core stat mods
  • Weapon/Armor core stat mods
  • Skill/Status based stat buffs
  • Class Passive Stat Buffs (The ones you invest skill points into)
  • Passive Class Buffs (The passive stats you gain from the MC, listed on wiki class pages)
An important thing to note which I see A LOT of new players make a mistake on is that bonus stats DO NOT count toward reaching stat requirement thresholds for Traits. Only Base + Invested count for those! If you hover over a stat, the leftmost number is the racial base while the rightmost is invested points. Ink base stat is applied to the right side here for whatever reason as a heads up. These two numbers when added together needs to match the req of the trait, and for Cel specifically, also tells you your exact Ini.

Hardcap: Hardcap refers to the hard investment limit of a stat, and is not actually really directly related to softcap. The base + invested stat amount cannot go above 80 (again, refer to the above hover trick to determine this). Bonus stats do not actually contribute towards hardcap. With how hard stats would scale at this point, how would this even matter you might ask? Well, there's exactly one situation with a trait called "Luminary Element" which will remove the universal 1 Ele Atk per 4 Will in exchange of granting +1 Ele Atk of a chosen Starsign element per Unscaled Will. It's not uncommon for a Luminary build to push Will to hardcap in order to maximize the Element Attack gain (Even though the scaled stat will end up around 65).

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Weapon Scaling & Attack Scaling
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If you examine the stat page of a weapon, you will notice at the bottom that several tags are assigned to the weapon alongside % values next to stats. This represents weapon scaling, or rather, what stats the weapon utilizes to calculate weapon power. The way these are determined, one must understand that each weapon type has a base scaling which starts at 100%. This base stat is GUI for Guns/Bows, WIL for tomes/Gem Staves, and STR for every other weapon type. The other tags take away from the main stat, and gives it to another. Flamelit for example takes away 30% scaling from the main stat, but adds 40% to STR scaling. It's in your best interest to select a weapon that not only matches skill requirements for your class, but also have a scaling that matches well into what you are investing stats into. 

The total power derived from the stat scaling, weapon base stats, and possible other weapon power mods results in a value listed in both the stat screen and bottom of the weapon known as Scaled Weapon Attack (Often referred to as SWA). SWA is the value used when determining basic attack damage and the scaled damage factor in non-basic attack skills. (A 150% weapon scaling attack performed with 120 SWA would have a base damage value of 180 damage as an  example)

Elemental attack is quite similar, in which you increase the damage of the skill by the Elemental Atk scaled by the listed value. Magic is special in this case as it will list an Ele Atk alongside (a usually) 100% SWAswa mod. In order to utilize the spell SWA mod however, the weapon used to perform the spell must either be a tome, have the "spelledge" trait, or (only with nature/lightning magic) a metal weapon made of conduiz.

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The Evade Factor
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Now it's time to go over the most recent major overhaul the system's gone through. Remember how I mentioned before that Hit and Eva were just flat checks against each other? Well, sorry to break it to you, but I lied. Only a little bit though.

 In the current version of the game, every attack that rolls a hit check actually rolls twice sometimes. Depending on what passes/fails, one of several things happen. They are as follows-

First Hit checks pass: The attack lands normally, and does full damage.

First Hit check fails, but the other succeeds: The attack triggers Glancing, which will negate most additional and on-hit effects, and reduce the total damage of the attack by 60%. Glancing also negates momentum gain from landing a critical.

Both checks fail: The attack completely misses, and no damage/effects are dealt.

Since most attacks in this game require a hit check now, building enough Hit in order to reliably get decent hit on evasive foes is important. Another important aspect one must consider is the Hit/Eva buff cap.

While Hit and Eva gained from stats, the base stats of gear (does not include bonuses listed in the text, only the numbers at top), and flanking do not cap, every other source does at +50. If I were to activate Disengage (+30 Eva buff) and Swaying (+40 Eva buff) together, I wouldn't have +70 Eva as it would be capped at +50.

The important thing to note here however is that only the final result is capped, so if the enemy applied a lv30 glowing (-30 Eva debuff) on top of the aforementioned buffs, I'd be at +40 Eva. (30+40-30=40)
 
  
Still with me? Now that I got all of the important wordy stuff out of the way, my next post shall begin to cover the actual application of these concepts.


RE: Zerg's Guide to Building - GR2 Edition - InsainArcaneBirdbrain - 09-04-2021

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Stat Building 101
"It's about time"
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Now it's time for what most of you here are looking for, "where do I even get started on making my own build"? Well, the first order of business is to grab Miller's wonderful stat calculator located here:

https://neus-projects.net/forums/showthread.php?tid=6498&pid=43576#pid43576

[Image: unknown.png]

With that in hand, let's start on the calculator UI. If you've been paying attention thus far, most of what's listed in the calc here should be pretty self explanatory. Just in case though, I'm going to shamelessly steal Fern's explanation-

Quote:
  • Race: You pick what race you're building for here. Once you select a Race, the calculator will automatically apply its racial stat bases to the screen.


  • Class: This is where you choose your character's Main Class. Each Main Class has a stat bonus to specific areas, so when you select one, it'll change your stats.


  • Monoclassing: Check this if you're using your Main Class as your Sub Class too. Monoclassing doubles the stat bonuses of your Main Class in addition to having other special gimmicks, which you can find through the game's skills in the Class Board.


  • Custom Modifiers: Here you put any stat modifiers you feel are relevant to your build.


  • Base Modifiers: With this, you can increase base stats manually, for whenever you may need it.


  • ElemATK: This allows to manually add Elemental ATK. Each element is tied to a stat. In the calculator, they're lined up with their respective stats for convenience. Every 4 points of Scaled WIL add +1 Elemental ATK across the board. Keep in mind that only Scaled Stats increase Elemental ATK, except for Luminary Element's case which will be explained shortly.


  • ElemRES: Your elemental resistance to that element. It reduces the damage you take from that element. Negative numbers mean that you're weaker to it... for example, if I had -25% Fire resistance, that means I get 25% Fire weakness.


  • Starsign: The blue square with the white circle at the top left. Starsign is a talent that you can find in-game by opening the Talent Screen and clicking the Occult section, then Astrology. It increases both your Elemental ATK and its respective stat, and becomes doubled during specific months. In the calculator, you can hover over the Starsigns to see what they affect.

  • Luminary Element: Only check this if you plan on using the Luminary Element trait that you can get in-game. This makes it so Scaled WIL no longer increases your Elemental ATK, and instead makes it so it's determined by your Modded WIL. The element that ends up scaling with your Modded WIL is determined by your Starsign (for example, if I have the Mars starsign and 70 Modded WIL, my Fire ATK becomes 70.)


  • Legend Aspects: The symbols at the top right. They increase their respective Base Stat and softcap for Diminishing Returns by 1. You can hover over them to see which stat they affect. Legend Aspects are attained through the use of Legend Inks, which you need the Legend Journal for. You can attain the journal at the top of the Nameless Shrine by talking with the NPC Asha when you're Level 60. This part of the menu is irrelevant to you if you don't plan on having a Legend Journal.


  • Dragon King Pieces: There are equipment pieces in the game part of a set called Dragon King. Only increase this if you plan on using them - they increase your STR and its softcap.


  • Essence: Only mess with this if you're playing a Vampire. This sets the amount of Essence you have. See Sanguine Crest's description in the game's racial skills for more details.


  • Rising Game: There's an innate used by Ghost, a Duelist class promotion that increases specific stats the more HP you lose. The amount of stats it affects depends on its rank level, which you can choose here. Caps at 5. NOTE THAT THIS SETS YOUR RISING GAME RANK, NOT IN-BATTLE LEVEL!


  • HP%: Sets the amount of HP the character is currently at. Useful for Rising Game calculations!


  • Total HP%: Changes the max HP your character supposedly has.


  • Custom HP: Sets HP mods. Some skills or equipment give you flat bonus HP. This is useful for that.


  • Custom MP: See above, but instead it's MP. Or FP, as known in-game.


  • Giant Gene: There's an enchant in-game called Giant Gene, which increases your max HP by 10% and your Torso's Weight by 50%. Tick this if you plan on using that.


  • Endurance: There's a passive in-game from the Hexer Class, promotion of Mage, that increases your max HP by 10%. Check the box if you plan on using it.


  • Weapon Calculations: This is for checking your weapon stats! I believe the menu it opens is pretty self-explanatory. Just set the weapon's scalings, stats, critical modifier and so on - the calculator will tell you how much hit, critical and damage you should roughly have.


  • Reduction: Opens a menu for damage reduction calculations. I highly advise to not tamper with this until you're more experienced with the game, because it can be confusing.


  • Traits: Opens a menu for traits that can affect your stats. As of this day, only the History traits can boost your Base Stats.


  • Stamps: Opens a menu for stamps that affect your stats, elemental resists and other things. You get stamps by doing Quests in-game, normally. STAT STAMPS ARE MODDED STATS, THEY DO NOT QUALIFY AS BASE STATS!


  • Print: This is for printing your stat point investment. I suggest saving it when you're done making your build so you can open it in Notepad! When you click it, it'll open a new menu that details the amount of points you put into each stat. Custom Modifiers are put next to the stat points invested in brackets. This menu also includes whether you accounted for Giant Gene, Main Class, Legend Aspects, Starsign, History... etc!
    Tips:
    • If you hold Shift and click the + or - buttons when spending points, it lets you multi-spend or multi-subtract! The same can be done in the SL2 Calculator.

    • Curious about how a Racial Skill works? You can go to the ASAGO banks in-game and check out their Race Board by clicking on it! Obviously it won't let you race swap, but it'll let you see details on other races. This is very helpful specially when it comes to making basic builds.

    • Aptitude gives you a +1 to all stats except itself per every 6 scaled, and increases your EXP gains by a %. Normally this is pretty wise to include in most builds you do, because it makes it much easier to afford stats on top of make you gain more EXP.
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What stats should I build?
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This is a question I see and get a lot from newer folk. Now, I'm not covering class choice and optimal stat setups here, that will be a later section of the guide. What I'm going to go over now is determining what stats your chosen class combo or desired setup will want. The first order of business will be figuring out what weapons you have access to for your class setup.

https://sl2.fandom.com/wiki/Item_List_(tabled)

The selected main class (MC) determines what weapons you can equip by default. Most weapon skills in the game require specific weapon types to be used, so make sure you plan this out ahead of time. If you want to equip a weapon to use subclass skills which can't be equipped by the MC (Ex: A spear weapon on a Ghost/BK), be sure to grab the appropriate "adaptation" talent.


Once you find a weapon that you want to build for, look at the stat scalings it provides. The stats listed here will need to be built in order to avoid hitting things like a wet noodle.

Once that's done, you should also consider if you want to build for evasion, or as a tank. The main difference here is that evade is a bit less stat demanding, only requiring CEL, but it ends up being a risky all or nothing DR. Tanking is a safer and more consistent form of DR, but you have to invest a lot more stat points into it as you'll need high DEF and RES. Some classes also more naturally lean into one of these defensive types, and others can easily do either.
To list a few examples:
  • Rogue has an evade bias. (Southern Wind, Dodger, Quick Rise)
  • Black Knight has a tank bias. (Indomitable, Board Shaker, Checkmate)
  • Ghost can easily play into either evade or tank. (Wraithguard, Pain Tolerance, Painproof)
This isn't to say a Rogue can't tank, or a Black Knight can't dodge, but these cases are rarer as the tools and passives they wield synergize more with a certain playstyle.


Regardless of what you play, every build (except in special circumstances) MUST build both SKI and VIT. Not building SKI means you'll never hit anyone ever, and not building VIT means you'll get gibbed in just one or two attacks.


Luck is a bit of an odd stat in that it's mandatory for basic attack builds that wish to crit, but not much help for anything else. Basic builds almost always want this, but skill focused builds can safely skip it.


Depending on how hard you plan on leaning on skill/spell usage, you'll likely need a stat that builds fp. In general, basic attack builds don't need to worry about this too much, but one that doesn't should plan on having at least moderate investment in either (or multiple of) WIL, FAI, or SAN (If a race that can make use of it).


One last stat to consider is SAN, as many races have racial skills that utilize this stat as a scaling factor. If you are looking to use these, be sure to build SAN in addition to your other stats.


Now, total up how many stats (ignoring APT) that you are building. The number of stats built will help you determine the optimal APT amount, as well as if your build is going to work at all to a degree.
  • 5/6 stats: Build 36 APT.
  • 5/6 stats, but either WIL or GUI is one point away from netting a skill slot: Build 42/43 APT (Depending which one nets you the all stat threshold).
  • 7 stats: Build Build 49/50 APT (Depending which one nets you the all stat threshold).
  • 8 stats: Same as above, but you might want to consider a different weapon or stat setup as building this many tends to hurt your overall performance unless you really know what you are doing.
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Example Walkthrough
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In order to make the process more clear for those of you who got lost in the sea of text, I'll walk you through an example setup using the steps outlined above. I'll be doing a very simple Chataran Ghost/BK setup this time. 

After looking though the weapons, the Red Argus catches my fancy as it allows me to use my ghost axe skills and my BK spear skills while still allowing me to run a shield. This weapon is 100% STR scaling, so I have to make sure to build it.

Because Ghost/BK mesh together so well in terms of being incredibly durable, I'll play into it with a defensive build with DEF/RES.

My plan is to largely skip basics in favor of skills such as Thousand Stab (BK skill that's good at stacking Ghost's Claret Call), Cut Down, and Reaper Scythe (Skills that take advantage of Claret). Because of this, I can safely skip LUC and GUI.

In order to provide the FP I need to operate, I'll build FAI as it provides hit (Via blessed weapon enchant) and crit eva (Which combined with BK's passive crit eva will give basic attackers a headache). Will is also an option here as it provides more FP per point, but I don't have much need the the Ele Atk.

Because I'm using a human race, they have no need for SAN, so I'll be skipping it.

In total, this means the stats I plan on putting points into will be: STR/SKI/DEF/RES/VIT/FAI.
[Image: unknown.png]

Because WIL and GUI would not gain me a skill slot at 42 APT, I'll keep it at 36 as I'm building six stats.

See? That wasn't so bad now, was it? Next time, I'll get more into the actual benchmarks for what each stat should reach.

Edit: Ok, I lied, that'll get covered a tad later. I felt that covering classes first was the more sensible approach.

RE: Zerg's Guide to Building - GR2 Edition - InsainArcaneBirdbrain - 09-19-2021

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Concepts and Viability
"Guide Part 4: Talis is Unbreakable (Yes, really)"
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Tackling another question I've been getting a lot of late, "Is X/X viable?". There is actually a way to kinda figure this out on your own, but before I cover that, please keep in mind that as a new player, don't be afraid to try things out. 

SL2 is a roleplaying game before all else after all. 

In terms of pve, most anything regardless of how unoptimized it is can generally get by just fine. While this bar is much higher for builds meant for winning pvp, this is not the primary focus of the game. I consider a "good" build one that matches the character's ic the best, while being enjoyable for the player to play. For that reason, I won't be covering what is "meta" and such in this guide, as it shouldn't be a focus for any new player (or anyone really for that matter). Instead, I'll be focusing on how to push your own unique ideas as far as they can in a way that you can properly enjoy what rp the game has to offer while being able to have a comfortable time when mechanic combat gets involved.

With that, let's get to creating your character's build.

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"What classes should I play/What does X class work with?"
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The first thing one should figure out is what method of attack they want to lean into. The two main categories attacks fall under are skill based attacks (Often referred to as "Specials" or "Autohits"), and basic attacks. Basic attacks mainly utilize the base attack action, and are used in any skill that states "preform a basic attack on target" or something along those lines. Skill based attacks are skills that have a %SWA or %Element scalings tied to them. 

-Basic Attacks-
Pros:
  • Basic attacks can critical hit, boosting damage by your Crit DMG mod.
  • The first crit with each unique weapon per round generate 1 momentum. This means with the help of certain skills or careful weapon management, you can manage more than two 3m attacks/actions per turn.
  • Many weapons, class effects, and buffs have effects tied to a "on-hit" or "on-crit" conditional. These apply only to basic attacks, and not to Specials.
  • If you have GUI built, you can get a fairly large damage amp on your basic attacks.
Cons:
  • Basic attacks not only rely on hitting, but they also have to pass a crit check to get many of their benefits.
  • Glancing denies the momentum gain from critical hits, sometimes leaving you in a bad spot.
  • Often reliant on passive skills such as Fleur or Twin Dance in order to help make the most of the momentum gain. Not using these skills forces a basic attacker to use two weapons, which both must be crit with before granting the desirable 3rd 3m action.
  • Enemies with high Crit Eva can be a headache to deal with.
  • More stat intensive as LUC becomes a mandatory stat to build.
-Specials-

Pros:
  • They are not reliant on passing a crit check, making them "safer" than basic attacking.
  • The % scaling on the skills means that having a high SWA or Ele Atk will result in strong hits without being too hard on your stats.
  • Many Specials have additional effects, AoE, and range that basic attacks don't always have.
  • There are a few specials which "ignore evasion", meaning they never miss, making them the natural counter to dodgy foes.
Cons:
  • Relying on Specials for your damage will drain FP reserves quickly. Be sure to build one or more FP stats in order to accommodate.
  • Even though they are "safer" than basic attacks, they are less rewarding in the fact they cannot crit, nor activate on-hit effects. This also means that you won't get the momentum gains that basic attackers get, limiting your actions a bit more.
  • Glancing will end up denying many of your inflicts and additional effects. 
  • While there are a couple basic attack skills which boost hit chance, there isn't all that much for Specials.

The reason you should keep these points in mind when choosing a class combo is due to how some classes work better with one style or another. While this next list should help give a better idea which classes lean into what, as well as helping one figure out what might mesh, do not take this list as concrete fact. SL2 has a pretty flexible system, and some of my favorite builds involve using things in a non-obvious or unorthodox fashion. (MC will refer to the class in the main class slot, and [] will detail notable things they provide.)


High Basic Attack Synergy: 
  • MC Duelist Promos (Ghost/Firebird/Kensei) [Fleur allows for triple action with one weapon, Poise grants crit, Sidecut/Silcut are decent mobile basics]                     
  • MC Rogue Promos (Engineer/Void Assassin/Spellthief) [Twin Dance to gain both weapon's crit momentum in one attack, Throwing Daggers allows for ranged dagger basics.]
  • Archer Promos (Ranger/Arbalest/Magic Gunner) [Ranged oriented basic attackers]
  • MC Bonder [Install and Fight as One provide many stats and boosts desirable for basic attacking. Pinball Strike and Warp Strike are amazing basic attack skills for their flexibility.]

High Special Synergy
  • Tactician [Strong utility spells, Orders, Enemy Evaluation, Analyze Weakness]
  • Demon Hunter [Allows for free usage of Soldier/Reaver Stance skills with any weapon. Cobra allows for cheap movement.]
  • MC Evoker [Strongest overall invocation caster. Charge Mind allows for massive burst damage potential.]
  • Rune Magician [Runes can deal devastating blows if left unchecked.]
  • Cleric Promos (Lantern Bearer/Priest/Aquamancer) [Many support and utility spells, and many passive effects. Rather immobile on its own.]
  • Verglas [Strong attacks that tend to have high hit from scaling Ice Atk, and also has many attacks which can become evasion ignoring.]
  • Boxer [All or nothing class that has to stick to it's own kit, but can deal rather ridiculous damage at high Schwarz Sturm.]
  • Grand Summoner [The best FP regen of any class.]


Flexible (As in, are often used on both basic attack and special setups.)
  • Black Knight [Strong specials AND basic attacks in its kit, along with many great passives]
  • Evoker [Auto-enchant can enable many skills to gain elemental impact effects without utilizing a badge accessory, and blink remains one of the best movement options in the game.]
  • Hexer [Same as above, but grants increased HP, and the possibility of boosting crit chance against those inflicted with curses.]
  • Ghost [Fairly decent special skills, which scale up in damage/potency with Claret Call. Makes you fairly bulky with Wraithguard if MC]
  • Firebird [On top of many strong high-hit basic attack skills, they also boast 3 specials which ignore evasion.]
  • Monk [Has flexible tools that can fit in with just about any setup.]
  • Shapeshifter [Has innate support for both styles between crit boosts, and momentum cost reduction on Yokuai skills.]
  • Bonder [Provides FP regen like all summoner classes. Fight as One can still be utilized as a sub, and offers a substantial boost to hit, crit, and evade if the conditions are met.

On top of this, most classes benefit more from main class than subclass, as they gain access to "main class only" skills/passives. Out of all of them however, there are some classes that REALLY benefit from that main class slot more than others. I'll list some of the most notable MC skills below:

Duelist Promos: Fleur, Eviter, One-on-One.
--Ghost: Wraithguard

Rogue Promos: Throwing Daggers, Twin Dance, Quick Slide.

Evoker: High Speed Divine Words, Absorb Power, Tattoo Refresh

Rune Magician: Swift Rune Crafting

Lantern Bearer: Eternal Flame (Not technically a MC only, but it's highly inefficient without the MC effect.)

Martial Artist: Combination Strike, Weathered Body

Summoner: Install
--Shapeshifter: Install ( I want to point out that out of all the classes in the game, Shapeshifter is the one that wants MC the most due to almost all its mechanics revolving around Install. I really really recommend against subbing Shapeshifter.)

----------------------------
Destiny
----------------------------

Simply put, don't destiny as a new player. Just...  don't.

Alright, fine, I'll elaborate. Destiny is a mechanic which you can enable when you make a new character, or as an Ink reward. What it does is lock you into a single chosen base class, and its promotions. In exchange of being severely limited class choice-wise, your classes cap at lv50 instead of lv35 (Which gets reduced to 35 again if you undestiny, so don't even try it). You also gain 5 more skill slots to equip skills. This can be helpful for a multitude of reasons if you know exactly what you are doing. I have seen waaaaaay too many new players make the mistake of locking themselves into Destiny without knowing the consequences, and getting it undone is a hassle and a half. As new players, take the time to experience the system and try out things without artificially limiting yourself. If later down the road after you tried a few things out, and find a pair of classes from the same base class to your liking, you can always Destiny later with an Ink.



That's all I'll be covering this time, but it should allow you to more easily determine on your own if X/X class is good or not. Generally speaking, as long as the classes supplement your overall gameplan, whether it's between weapon type scaling, basic attack support, or other things, it'll probably work out fine. Don't be afraid to experiment and innovate!

For those of you who are still left with concerns on whether their idea will work out or not, the test server is always open to try things out. For more info, check out Kunai's very informative post regarding its functions and tools:  
https://neus-projects.net/forums/showthread.php?tid=8436