Super detailed 1h swordsman guide with important/useful infos(27/oct/2015)

Before i move on to talk about "untouchable", we will first know evasion and dodge both works differently but give similar result. That is to avoid attacks. At this point of the game.. i really dont recommend you to give up stats and move them into AGI. Because current patch is still at "early stage", once u reaches "mid-stage" u will have more than enough skill points to focus on a 2nd trait. I think you should not be bothered with evasion/dodge at the moment but focus on firepower and maybe semi tank. A "untouchable concept" is just a unreliable tank who keep losing aggro.

I had, at some point, tried some evasion equipment. I only dodge/evade 10%-15% of the time. Right now, without those xtals and gears (specifically storm dagger and wolf garb) i still dodge 10% of the time. meaning to say such stats can never be fully developed till later stage of the game(unless you want to lose all offensive capability, which is a no-no for dps swordsman). Right now this game still moving forward very very very slowly. i advise you to try another route. Untouchable concept can be achieved once they unlock more features.

Refining the armour or additional gears doesn't boost your equipment evade or dodge stats. Only damage reduction from what i heard so far. But u know what? i still get same damage. lol. So yeah, not going to refine those gears ever again.

 

Hi i had confirmed the refine maths.
It is my formula. After getting 2 identical sword. 67 base attack, Main attack on stats is 758. Without any xtal that boost attack%. My base was 758. I tested from +1-4.
At +3, the maths is (67+3)x1.0896 = 76.272 . Attack increased by 9.272(as compared to weapon attack) . Stats shown, 767.
At +4, the maths is (67+4)x1.1621 = 82.5091. Attack increased by 15.5091(as compared to weapon attack). stats shown 773.

Also managed to figure the true maths of +10. Till level cap is higher, i will not try to make +11 or 12.

 

That is a lot of important info on evasion and dodge you have there I'm not aware of. Thanks a lot!

I think I'll go dps semi-tank route for now. Will equip shield for more defence and hp. Maybe get shield bash to stun bosses as well for better breaking.

 

@Impact
I'd like to share my experience after I've set my stat distributions between STR and DEX and setting my build to DPS semi-tank (with shield).

Level: 54 | Stat Points: 158 | HP: 2116 | MP: 754
Gears (no xtals attached):
Weapon: BD Sword, boss drop [+500 ASPD, +500 CSPD]
Sub-weapon: Shell Shield [+24% Guard Rate, +12% Guard Power
Armor: FW Garb, Heavy remodeled [+200 ASPD, +4 Dodge, + 4 Crit Rate]
Additional Gear: Crystal Earrings [+300 MaxMP]
Special Gear: Dex Talisman II [+300 MaxMP, +4 Dex]

Skills:
Blade: Hard Hit 10 | Astute 10 | Trigger Slash 10
Shield: Shield Mastery 5 | Force Shield 10
Survival: Safe Rest 5 | HP Boost 10
Magic: MP Recharge 1

I tested the 2 sets of stat distributions by fighting (solo) Forestia and Golden Skeleton, 1 time for each set of stat distribution.
Set auto-item to Revita III, activated at 50% HP.

=====================================================================================================

For 100 STR, 60 DEX:
Forestia:
Total failure. Hits missed most of the time even using the combos [Hard Hit > Astute > Trigger Slash] and [Astute > Hard Hit > Trigger Slash].
Cannot even break or neutralise its AOE and got KO'ed. Since hits missed most of the time, I couldn't even regenerate Attack MP.

Golden Skele:
Slight difficulty in soloing GS with moderate rate of misses, a little too often for my liking. Used 4-5 Revita IIIs.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

For 1 STR, 159 DEX:
Forestia:
Moderate difficulty in soloing Forestia. Able to connect normal hits very often and breaking combo [Hard Hit > Astute > Trigger Slash] works 100%. Used 8 Revita IIIs.

Golden Skele:
Also had slight difficulty in soloing GS, but a lot less misses. Guarding procs quite often. Also used 4-5 Revita IIIs.

=====================================================================================================

Although this is a 1-time test for each set of stat distribution, the overall experience gives me a feel that I'd prefer full Dex. This is due to the higher accuracy given by higher Dex, even though damage outburst is lower than with 100 STR. As the above test has preliminarily shown, having higher damage outburst with low accuracy doesn't work so well. Hits must connect for high damage (& crit) dealing ability to be effective.

Suggestion:
Try 80, 100 and 120 Dex for higher accuracy. We have to consider more bosses in future may also have high evasion capabilities.
Alternatively, boost accuracy rate with Accuracy Potion (Accuracy+10 for 30min).

 

At full dex. I missed 30% on forestia in overall experience. That boss can only fight with critical build. Ur base have to be 50% critical rate. The critical stats of yours is not high enough. I tried 43%. Also missed non stop.

As a full str. I solo forestia under 90sec. Because I have 50% base critical. I don't miss the moment I landed my astute.

That 2 boss alone can't be determined 60dex is failing. Because forestia is too broken. Try flare volg or warmonger. As a personal recommendation I know accuracy is preferred but still I choose my build to be like that. Coz I can boost critical.
It is recommended full dex for forestia. For golden ske. Any build is fine. I seen before pure str and atk build soloed it easily despite misses.

From what I had calculate, ur critical rate is only 31%. That is actually incredible low to solo against forestia.

 

@Impact
That means Forestia and other high evasion capability bosses can only be fought optimally with magic-based builds because magic cannot miss (I think), or with critical builds (Brawlers, Dex/Crit 1H, Str/Crit 2H)

So now the question is: How are we as dps 1H going to tank, hold aggro and connect hits when we miss a lot?

 

Sadly. Yes. 31% critical from your 100str 60dex won't cut out to fight forestia. Critical don't miss. Magic don't miss.

And also, high evade like flare volg is fine. Even if flare volg evade, ur buff is still triggered. Missing is the worst. I can solo forestia using only 62 accuracy and 50% base critical. So I'm quite sure soloing it with higher critical is not a issue, if not.. Go for accuracy. Forestia is just broken that why the drop sucks.

Another option is to change your equipment and get critical xtal. Like mauze and boss gob is fantastic. If u go for fluffy tail, custom sword with crit, and get around 2 mauze or boss gob xtal. U will hit 50%.

 

Update: I've just learnt Shield Bash level 1. Shield Bash works and stuns Forestia for 3-5 seconds. So, stun Forestia before starting hits.

 

Previously I changed from 2h pure str with around 30% critical to 1h dex just for forestia. I realised it really not smart to do that for one boss. Worst of all I wasn't sure how the stats works. With my statistics, i have no problem killing it everything under 2min or 3min. Just go critical. U will still miss. But won't miss much.

 

@Islandi because u had mentioned of the difficulty. I Will write a part 4 guide. Titled: terrible bosses and strategies against them. Thanks. I will input some of the crazier maths in it as well.

 

@Impact Your Part 4 guide will really help a lot. Having the perfect stat distribution and best gears doesn't mean anyone can play effectively and enjoy the game.
Learning to identify patterns, strengths & weaknesses and applying the correct strategies against various types of mobs and bosses will go a long way in mastering this build.

 

To hold aggro, connect hits, tank, dps. It all came into 1 conclusion. It is to damage the boss, literally. Can you share what skills u used in your combo? Are you able to make critical rate higher? What i didn't mentioned in my build is that im able to cover my weakness of lower accuracy compared to full dex (you need 200 accuracy to hit forestia more constantly). I will re edit my build in a more precise way so people could understand. Let me know the answer i asked.

Even without using pots i can last against forestia around 5min with 1600hp. Ur build have more hp than mine. With rev3, shouldn't be dying. But not hitting is a issue and getting so much damage is also an issue.

I will do my build and solo forestia with a video after i am done with TFL event.

 

From what I've shared earlier in my post on testing the 2 stat distribution builds, I used the same 2 combos:
1. Hard Hit > Astute > Trigger Slash
2. Astute > Hard Hit > Trigger Slash

The critical damage observed is higher for the 100 STR, 60 Dex build than the 159 Dex build at Char level 54. For critical rate, I can't really say because the 100 STR build misses too much for me to observe and make fair comparison.

As for the reasons why I die with the STR/Dex build, these are:
1. Too many misses (even with combos), unable to damage the boss. Hence it's a battle with only me taking damage
2. Unable to regenerate MP and use combos because:
(a) unable to hit, so cannot activate AMPR and
(b) no time to use MP Recharge (8 seconds cast time) as Forestia and 2 rutins are always attacking me
3. Have not mastered the attack patterns of Forestia, so besides avoiding & breaking its AOE with combos, I'm basically taking damage from its normal attacks or other skill attacks which do not show the red carpets.
4. Forestia has a Stop skill in case nobody notice. I can still attack but cannot run from that fixed spot. Forestia uses its high damage attacks when I'm Stopped.

I'd say reason #3 is the highest contributing factor since you're able to successfully solo Forestia while I KO'ed.

After learning Shield Bash, it became easier because it break AOEs, stunning increases hit rate (it cannot evade) and there is also the 3-5 seconds of literal attacks spamming opportunity window. This also gives me 3-5 seconds of normal attacks to regenerate MP.

Shield Bash level 1 don't give 100% hit chance but from my experience, the hit rate is good. I didn't do any statistical data collection, so I can't give any specifics.

I suggest adding Shield Bash into the current combos to increase hit rate or manually use it before normal/skill attacks for high evasion mobs & bosses.
Shield Bash (Manual) + [Astute > Hard Hit > Trigger Slash] combo + normal attacks (to recover MP via AMPR)
or
[Shield Bash > Astute > Hard Hit > Trigger Slash] combo + normal attacks (to recover MP via AMPR)

 

i have tried out similar build, most bosses are fine, forestia has one of the craziest evade and dodge, even with a super high hitrate, the miss doesnt come out that much but the evades still do procs often.

and also, crit doesnt miss, adding more crit chance and crit rate in equips helps alot, with str/dex build, crit will do more damage and thus kinda balance out.

optimal stats for best burst crit will be at 110 str, rest dex.

melee attacks will miss a little but not alot, i give it at most 4 misses out of 10 hits(evades not counted), and since crit procs, attacks will land more too. With mp recovery xtal, landing even a few hits can regen mp pretty fast too.

these are all tested 20 times in Forestia, at lv 65, 186 stats.

 

Actually, Just get a Bow Thimble . +30 accuracy. 200mp. if said you're using Boss gob xtal, swap to mauze xtal(for the mp diff between Dex talisman II vs Bow Thimble). 120 STR is still do-able. Even 130 str is fine. With 130 str, 55 dex and a bow thimble u will have 151 accuracy (remove 4% if u have mauze xtal and it will still be 144 accuracy).

 

i have 160+ hitrate.

but having bow thimble for just only a handful of monster who have crazy evade and dodge is not actually needed(but of cos one can switch between dex ring II with bow thimble, but you will need 2 eerie xtal to be effective for mana regen, which cost more). i prefer to go on a more offensive option since my hitrate is high enough atm.

likewise, having crafted sword with crit chance %(if crit chance % is too expensive, crit rate works too, albeit alot lower crit procs) helps alot more than a little hitrate!

 

Is there a base accuracy (@ 1 Dex)?
Based on your Math in Part 2,
55 Dex = 55*1.36 Accuracy = 74.8 Accuracy (75 when rounded up)

Did I miss some information you mentioned somewhere?

 

Going bow thimble is really unnecessary if you couldn't deck out the critical rate.

you didn't miss it. I am just doing rough calculations with 1 DEX = 1 Accuracy. Check on your character and tell me about your hitrate. I'm using @Kimesato maths over there. But from my poor memory, it should be right.

 

@Impact My Hitrate is 119 @ char lv 55 with 60 Dex, 102 Str

Update: Tried soloing mini boss Big Coryn (lv 60) in Douce Hamlet map as well. Hits missed most of the time. Another high evasion (mini) boss.

 

To achieve 1000aspd -
It's only War Hat + Gskele Xtal 300speed + Speed Pot 500 + Light Remodel Gear - with quick slash 5 skill for other 200.

So remove feather Cape - pointless
Remove wolf garb pointless
And get yourself more crit rate from Armour and wep and war hat - you will need it because astute buff is only 25% buff to crit stats - rather than 50% from 2h ( that's the reason for 200mp btw )

The reason to be 1h is for the use of shield ( stun ) - and extra evasion and accuracy, that's y full,DEX.