Upon playing around with a few melees I've settled on becoming a Shillien Knight. I'm nearing 20 and I have a few questions about gear, weapons and skills.
When I first started this game someone dropped a nice pile of adena at my feet (thanks again!!) and my mate made a donation as well, so at this point, cost isn't an issue.
What D grade armor should I be looking at? I understand I shouldn't worry about tats and the like at this point. That's more for 40+, correct?
What weapon should I be looking at ? Stick with a two hander or go with a shield and sword?
I've avoided blade and arrow related skills and took everything else, as I start on my path with Pallus Knight, what skills should I avoid? I usually solo, but I'm open for teaming, so I'm looking for a well rounded build.
"Well, you're a Tank. Ultimately, you'll looking at a Shield/Sword setup."
I am going to have to disagree... YOU my friend are not a tank. Every Pallus Knight and BD guide you will read that is worth its weight in piss should tell you that.
Heres what I did, and what I was instructed to do... it worked very well for me.
Level 1-20 - As soon as I could I bought the best bow I could afford and a support dagger/sword. For this time your BOW will be your primary, not the sword. Now that you have bought your weapons, invest the rest of what you have in armor, you can upgrade as you go. Do not buy a shield. You are on the way to being a blade dancer, your speed and evasion are your greatest strengths, and a shield will take away some of this advantage. Now focus on saving as much money as you can for your d grade equiptment.
As soon as you become D grade forget the bow and single sword. You will likely never see a single sword again, and not another bow until you hit 52+. Take the money you have saved and buy a pair of D grade duals, personally I went with some +10 107's :-), but I also had the money to spare thanks to a generous clan. Buy brig armor, brig helm, and then the boots and gloves if you wish. Also get set up with all the best jewels. All of these things will make grinding alot easier, ESPECIALLY the duals.
Now if the weight of the brig is bothering you, many say that mithril is what BD's should really wear, so feel free to sell the heavy and go light.
Now to adress the tanking statement. Due to your frail physique and low hp you are ideally not a tank. You have great p attack and great speed, these are your strong points. Unless you have a great healer/regen and you trust them with your toons life. Yes you have aggression, but you also may not have the strength to hold their attention long enough.
Your focus should be as a support member, especially when you reac BladeDancer. your dances SUPPORT the party, you don't necessarily lead them.
Use your speed, dont hinder your evasion with an unnec. sword. And get some nice duals and dont look back my man!
p.s. I have tanked with my pallus knight before, its just not easy!
For this time your BOW will be your primary, not the sword.
Bows have lower DPS than daggers on classes that do not have masteries for them - at this level it is excessively easy to maintain HP with potions, so there's no need whatsoever for a bow unless you're roleplaying.
Take the money you have saved and buy a pair of D grade duals
Except duals are a horrible choice for every class 20-40.
Due to your frail physique and low hp you are ideally not a tank.
Max HP do not have anything to do with a character's ability to tank - deciding factors are hate skills (check), armour masteries (check), shield masteries (check) and after that the DPS if an SE/WC is around.
Yes, post 40 a bladedancer, when tanking, will obviously do so with duals - but that's just about the only inkling of truth in your post here.
Please, if you don't know what you're talking about, don't give advice. A generous clan should have given you some sound advice instead of millions in gear.
Maybe not masteries but they do have power shot which is a very strong and effective attack.
"Except duals are a horrible choice for every class 20-40." = Opinion
It is my understanding that it has been generally accepted that duals are an effective weapon that seems to make grinding a bit quicker as well. That statement you made was one of pure opinion. Not to mention you get sting for it (check)
As I said, yes you CAN tank... but no your primary role is not that of a tank. There are FAR better tanks than a Pallus knight or bladedancer, and uless asked, I wouldnt offer myself as a tank.
and at level 1-20 I found leveling much easier with a good bow sword combo and healing potions. I was easily hunting mobs well over3-5 levels above me.
So as I said it WORKED FOR ME, may not for you though. But I really do not see any need for a personal attack Maline, after all it is just a game mate ;-) and in the end both of our posts are mainly opinion.
Maybe not masteries but they do have power shot which is a very strong and effective attack.
"Except duals are a horrible choice for every class 20-40." = Opinion
It is my understanding that it has been generally accepted that duals are an effective weapon that seems to make grinding a bit quicker as well. That statement you made was one of pure opinion. Not to mention you get sting for it (check)
As I said, yes you CAN tank... but no your primary role is not that of a tank. There are FAR better tanks than a Pallus knight or bladedancer, and uless asked, I wouldnt offer myself as a tank.
and at level 1-20 I found leveling much easier with a good bow sword combo and healing potions. I was easily hunting mobs well over3-5 levels above me.
So as I said it WORKED FOR ME, may not for you though. But I really do not see any need for a personal attack Maline, after all it is just a game mate ;-) and in the end both of our posts are mainly opinion.
So what are you, if you're not a dd and you're not a tank?
Because trust me, compared to the damage output of an AW, you're not a dd either.
My Bladedancer (Pallus Knight yesterday lol) used a +8 ELS/brig set with brig shield. Did great. She had much faster attack speed than with my +6 107's. About the same patk.
Power shot eats MP, and skills are not worth bothering with pre-20 - not if you have a decent weapons. A zweihaender, swordbreaker or even falchion are simply a superior choice for fast levelling.
No, the dual thing is a fact - they are inferior to Claymores on every single count. They have lower PAtk, they lose shots on whiffs, and they do not work with your masteries. You get sting with other weapons too - and it's generally not worth the chance of missing a crit to waste MP on a skill.
There is no better 20-40 tank than a palus knight (they all do the job just fine, with EKs lagging ever-so-slightly behind due to low STR), and there are few better VR tanks than a BD - although of course, VR tanking isn't always applicable.
Hunting mobs above your level doesn't always or even usually make you level faster.
Number one: You are a Pallus Knight. That is a tank class, pure and simple, even if you are going to be a bladedancer in the end. If anyone tells you that you are a shoddy tank, then tell them to go stick it where the sun don't shine, because it's a lie.
Number two: While a bow might be nice for 1-20, it definitely does no good after level 20. 20-40 you will want to take advantage of the skills you have available: Sword/Blunt Mastery, and Shield Mastery. A sword in this case is going to be much better than a blunt. A good set to use is the Brig set if you can afford it. Another good set, which I happen to prefer is the Clan Oath Armor. Excellent PDef, and only a slight decrease in HP overall. You will need as separate shield for the Oath Set, and I suggest a Kite Shield if you go that route.
Number Three: You are going to be a Shillien Knight. Concentrate on skills that will compliment that class, as well as gear. SK is a great tank, both in PvE and in PvP.In fact, after about level 66 an SK is the preferred tank in most settings, the only exception being a TK. They do tremendous amounts of damage, and have hate skills which will keep the rest of your party safe from harm. A good healer is going to be important for your higher levels, as SK does suffer from the least amount of HP. In normal grinding situations, this is not usually a problem, especialy if you have an SE with VR3 or VR4.
I have played my SK into A Grade. In tight quarters, they are exceptional. In open land they do suffer at the hands of ranged toons if you don't close the distance quick enough. SK, bu nature, has the most offensive capability of any tank class, and is a good sound choice for a player looking for a mix of Tanking and DDing.
My suggestion: I used a Brig set and +8 ELS/Brig Shield from 20 to 40. As well as FP set and +5 SLS/Focus for 40-52. This type of setup will hold you all the way to BGrade, at which point you need to make a decision whether to go for an offensive or defensive build for your SK.
If you are able to get highly over-enchanted d grade duals, they could be a bit better than a not so highly enchanted ELS. The difference being the patk for duals is going to be equal with about two enchants less (+6 107's = +8 ELS). you do suffer a bit of attack speed differential, as the ELS hits a bit harder and has a bit better critical rate.
If you have any further questions, be it about equipment, or placces to level efficiently with and without a buffer nearby, please send me a forum email.
yes, duals are terrible pre-40.
go either with 2-handed sword (if you wanna use more healing pots, but killing faster) or use a 1-handed sword/shield if you wanna do safe-play. you will still kill pretty fast, and you will be able to tank raids and stuff.
cheapest armor you can get is oath armor, you can obtain it if you join a clan-academy (they will most likely sponsor you with it)
I am going to have to disagree... YOU my friend are not a tank. Every Pallus Knight and BD guide you will read that is worth its weight in piss should tell you that.
ROFL. WOW.
I guess it's just some Cruel Irony that when NCSoft came up with a name like: Shillien Knight, that they actually meant to stand by the whole "Tank" Concept of the whole KNIGHT thing.
So I guess your official Classification maybe the Shillien Knight, but in reality you're really are a Very Gimped Half-Dagger and Very Gimped Half-nuker. Go Go NcSoft.
How dare you trying to screw with my Head you NCSOFT!!! ><