Critique my final skills/equips build

I'm hoping for some critiques on my final skills/equipment build, I'm sure I'm making some rookie mistakes. I'm uncertain in particular about my shield, and whether defense skills are worth it under "battle skills". I'd also like to get the protection and aegis spells but I don't currently have enough skill points. Thanks for your time!

http://coryn.club/stat_calculator.php?code=73755e1a2a15ca945
http://coryn.club/skill_simulator.php?code=73755e1133d83ab3b

 

Both links are clean xd

 

With the shield you're using, I don't see too much point on investing guard skills
Force+Magical Shield only add 1k hp and negligible def/mdef amounts. Same for any skill in fighter tree.
IMO, you're focusing too much on def/mdef, but after some point, the amount of reduction you get from them is too low compared to amount of sp you're investing. Def/MDef reduction works as follow:

 

Weird, links work for me and they're set to public. I just resaved everything and generated new links. Maybe you need a coryn account?

So you would recommend only going to 1250 def/mdef? I was using the shield skills more for HP/MP because I have unused skill points and I wanted to waste less crystas getting to 2000MP and focus them on MATK.

Edit: my bad, shield skills don't add MP. Just the 1000 HP then.

What would you recommend getting rid of and investing in?

 

works for me. don't hit the reset button

in situations where Finale cannot be cast, you have no other "high quality" abilities besides first aid.
overall, this build can work if you can use it skillfully, but others may quickly judge you as a leecher if you fail to do so.
it's an "all or nothing" build, but i see you did some things to optimize performance.

Advanced Guard is only half as effective when used with shields, because the Guard Power of Heavy Armor is overwritten by the Shield's Guard Power.
(this may change with the release of the new guard/evasion system in february)
Shukuchi is handicapped by Power Wave. and i don't see any benefit for you either.
and with that, there is no need for Bushido either, as it's effect is minimal for your situation.
sadly, Dodge Up increases the flee stat by only +10. this is not enough to make up the malus from Heavy Armor, and without AGI this stat is not relevant for you at all.
Concentrate has no effect on Finale, because it is a placed skill.

that makes 31 skill points that could be used elsewhere. Protection and Aegis need 20.

your stat points look ok, about the equipment i don't know. i never used playercrafts because i don't like them.

 

If you just want protection/aegis, get rid of defense line on fighter tree. In this case, you still will have 15 extra point, so I recommend getting lv 10 brave smite.
You definitely don't need the extra 5 points on concentrate, leave it on lv5.
First aid lv10 definitely not a need as well.
Oh, and you can't put york and tuscog on same item lol
Since your build is kinda expensive, you should consider getting lv10 magic mastery stargem. This and points you may have left allow you get something useful such pdef, stone skin, etc.

He is relying on it to get 2k mp

 

how about MagiAdd I?

 

It's up to him. He could even use Magiadd III and get rid of 15 points of mp boost, but this is personal choice.
I particulary don't like it bc magiads have low stack values.

 

I've been using something close to this build so far, I'm at level 182 and I only use finale. I've been using it on Venena Ultimate and it's been working decently. I generally can deal about a third of the damage when rank comes in.

So should I just get rid of the armor skills?

I've been trying to use shukuchi to travel quickly between monsters, and it kind of works sometimes. Having trouble using it well. Either too far away, or I lock onto the wrong monster (Venena Balls)

Bushido is for MP/HP and Backstep, which I use at the end of my finale combo to hopefully Dodge attacks that are happening as I'm casting finale. Works 50/50.

So get rid of Dodge and concentrate.

 

I like having first aid, I try to revive my team members as quickly as possible.

Whoops wasn't paying attention to York and tuscog.

Is P Def really that great? It seems you have to hit it right as you get hit, and 9 times out of 10 I get hit while trying to cast finale. So I can't use p def then. What's stone skin?

 

I don't like relying on items.

 

Wizard skill, it reduces damage up to a fixed amount

 

Force field/magic shield also adds 10% physical&magic resist, which is worth it. Aegis and
protection should be prioritized more though

Remove the dodge and guarf skills, get brave aura, aegis and protection. Recovery is also good to have for ailments such as fear and mana explosion. Stone skin is good and all but its uses up quite a lot of skill points. I domt recommend getting it before the others. Its non-redundant and doesnt give you a whole lot of protection either as it calculates the damage before the resistances is applied, its better to get p. Def instead for versatility even if it doesn't protect you on finale cast

 

You have typical finale build
I'd prefer adding some magic pierc to build for
example
-New xtal %5 matk %20 pierc on wep
-Avatar stats
-Iron empress to this build would hit harder

And i use mp food for max mp so it's alright to be at 1,5-1,6k mp (food is 580mp mostly I've 5 friends who have mp food)

And about skills, i use both shield and md+resonance
-shield build for harder bosses and for tankyness
-md one isss for more finale with resonance

Edit: Open spellburst for crit finale xD it hits sometimes for me and it feels great to to see yellow dmg finalee
Don't need to be open aegis or protection xD go for resonance

 

to cast Stone Skin you need to summon the familiar first.
this costs 300mp. while the familiar is there, your maxMP increases by 200 and your matk by character_level/4. (additional magic is irrelevant for you, with heavy armor and shield your aspd is below normal).
you could remove mononofu in favour of wizard.

Stone Skin provides a 60s barrier that reduces damage by 2500+(2*VIT) once.
the barrier weakens as you take damage and breaks after taking 2500+(2*VIT) damage or when the timer runs out.

 

Is P. Defense particularly useful? From what I've seen you have to use the skill at the time the attack would hit. If I'm in the middle of casting or charging, which I am 95% of the time, I can't use it right?
Edit: you did say it can't be used during finale

 

While you can use backstep to dodge aoes, some bosses might have barrage of them, its convenient to be able to withstand some of the hit. Some bosses also have specific aoe pattern that will target you ignoring the tank as the aggro holder, and then there are also bosses that have aoe that targets based on range. Pyxtica and volgagon are the example. You'd want a long range lurer that has some safety measure. Mages are pretty much the only class that could use shield while being a legit damage dealer

 

I've redone my skills and equipment, how's it looking now?
http://coryn.club/stat_calculator.php?code=73755e1a2a15ca945
http://coryn.club/skill_simulator.php?code=73755e1133d83ab3b

Edit: is CSPD's tapering off point at 1000? And DEF/MDEFs tapering off point at 1250?

I'm wondering if there's a better alternative to the Shampy shield I'm using. I do like the +1500HP though.

I'm also wondering whether sneak attack, decoy shot or magic burst are worth investing in?

Would there be a shield that would be worth using guard skills with? What would the benefit be?

Does concentrate affect any useful mage skills? I was thinking of getting burst. Or just leave it at 5?

You're talking about Brave Aura? It will just increase my damage? And since mages don't require accuracy, no downside?

How much difference will magic pierce really make? I don't want to give up my +1500HP from Evil Shadow, or my +700 MaxMP from Mom Fluck. I can't get the HP back, and if I lose MP I'll have to make it up somewhere else in the build. I want to be at 2000MP without food/buffs, etc.

Yeah, I think I will be getting Spellburst. Is there anyway to increase crit chance from magic? Edit: looks like the actual chance of crit magic is abysmal. Seems like a waste to 10 SP.

 

Javelin, Blast, Impact, Burst, Holy Light, Lightning, Ether Flare, Element Slash, Punish Ray

Heavy Armor Mastery adds 10% Guard Rate, which is good for shields with high Guard Power but low Rate.
Light Armor Mastery and Advanced Evasion add 10% Evasion Rate each, which works with shields that have no Guard stats at all. (like Phalanx Shield)
both are niche, though. in most cases shields are best used with normal armor.

Spellburst applies 1/4 of your total critical rate and critical damage to magic attacks.
the Weaken ailment adds another 1/2, but the only skill that inflicts Weaken is Element Slash, which requires sub weapon MD to use and relies on accuracy to hit.
also, if the sub MD doesn't have the advantageous element, the success rate of inflicting Weaken will be just 10%.
and like Armor Break, Weaken lasts only 5 seconds, which is not enough to use with Finale.

 

Depends on bosses mdef, for example if boss have 500 mdef - %20 pierc= 400 def that equals to 100 matk
Higher mdef better for pierc ofc (average 300 def for normal, 600 for hard, 1200 for nm, 1800 for ulti i think xd)

Also About hp i like to get foods xd
Like 3800hp, 580mp, 22 int, 22 crit, 18 ampr etc.
Mage has 1/4 of total crit rate so if you don't have any crit item it has %6,25 chance to crit (idk how much it affects but it deals something betwee!n %10-20 more dmg) + crit food gives me over %10 change i see yellow numbers every fight