I'm playing a DE Mystic, currently lvl15. I'm using the staff I got from the Adventurer's Guild, but I'm wondering if I chose well. I see wands and books used by other players, but I don't understand the difference between the weapons and what I should be using.
Which weapons are best for a low level mystic? Can I trade in my staff for one of the others instead?
You should be able to exchange your staff for a better one, but how much better depends on how much Adena you have. It may also take several exchanges to get the top no-grade one, if you have enough Adena, of course.
If you are going the nuker route when you get to level 20, don't overspend on ng equipment. You want something better than the wand you started out with. But you will spend much more time from 20 - 40 than you do from 15 - 20. SOL (Staff Of Life) seems generally considered the best D grade wand. But, even for D grade, only pop for top gear if you can afford it (or if you are part of a clan that helps members with gear).
If you are going the nuker route when you get to level 20, don't overspend on ng equipment. You want something better than the wand you started out with. But you will spend much more time from 20 - 40 than you do from 15 - 20. SOL (Staff Of Life) seems generally considered the best D grade wand. But, even for D grade, only pop for top gear if you can afford it (or if you are part of a clan that helps members with gear).
Yes, do not waste your adena. Find a clan with an academy that you can join. There is a clan quest you can take for some very good armor/LA/robes for D grade. They will most likely be willing to help you because they will get Clan points for you graduating from their academy. This will also give you access to other members to party with, other academy members as well. As time goes by you may find that they are people that you would like to stay with and they may feel the same about you. When you graduate you would then be invited into the main clan and you are on your way.
Also to the point of your question:
"i don't understand the weapons and the differences..."
Take a few minutes on this site's library and examine the weapons and their statistics.
A weapon has two stats...the physical 'power' it adds to the player and the magic 'power' it adds.
Higher is better (and more expensive).
A two handed mage staff is a great weapon (no grade) for a sub-20 de mystic. It's around 320,000 adena though!!! (yikes).
And when you try to resell it to another player you'll actually have to take a loss on it.
From 1-20 the actual weapon makes less difference than you think!
A 'lower' weapon that is less capable will definately kill slower--so leveling 1-20 will take you longer. You may even have to kill green monsters instead of white or yellow or red ones!
I would argue that from 1-20 that is not necessarily a 'bad' thing, though.
You get thousands of newbie spirit shots now and newbie buffs that last an hour and pots that drop from mobs--I think you can level with just about any of the no grade weapons.
Learn to check weapon stats. they will be your friend :)
You should be able to exchange your staff for a better one, but how much better depends on how much Adena you have. It may also take several exchanges to get the top no-grade one, if you have enough Adena, of course.
If I recall correctly, the Adventure Gear, can only be exchanged/upgraded by Adventure NPC's, not the regular Weapon guy in Noob towns. And there's not a single Adventure NPC around, maybe when Interlude comes out they'll bring them back for another 2 weeks or so. Could be wrong though.
You should be able to exchange your staff for a better one, but how much better depends on how much Adena you have. It may also take several exchanges to get the top no-grade one, if you have enough Adena, of course.
If I recall correctly, the Adventure Gear, can only be exchanged/upgraded by Adventure NPC's, not the regular Weapon guy in Noob towns. And there's not a single Adventure NPC around, maybe when Interlude comes out they'll bring them back for another 2 weeks or so. Could be wrong though.
No. The 'Adventure' NPC was completely seperate from this. The OP is referring to the 'newbie exchange' option that only works for NG equipment. As of the current update at least this option is now available to *all chars* in the level range. (Used to be far more restricted.) Just walk up to a normal weapon/armor shop and choose the 'exchange' option.
The 'Adventure' NPC and the D grade weapons he 'loaned' out were a C5 release 'special event'. This NPC is long gone now....BUT current Interlude (Korean) notes indicate that he may be returning in a slightly different form availabel to everyone. (Something about being able to 'buy time' with expendable higher level weapons...gg NC, slap a bandaid on the broken craft/drop/spoil problems instead of FIXING THEM!)
Ah! So that cool Adventurer's staff I have is no longer commonly available. Lucky I got it when I did then!
My main confusion was about whether I should go for a staff, a wand/mace, or a book type weapon once I've outgrown my staff.
As an RPer I like the look of the wands and books, but I don't know if I'd be hamstringing myself by taking a weapon other then staff.
I understand the P and M attack numbers, but from what it looked like, the wands do less damage but are quicker. Is it a good trade-off? I don't know anything about the books. Am I even able to use those?
Ah! So that cool Adventurer's staff I have is no longer commonly available. Lucky I got it when I did then!
My main confusion was about whether I should go for a staff, a wand/mace, or a book type weapon once I've outgrown my staff.
As an RPer I like the look of the wands and books, but I don't know if I'd be hamstringing myself by taking a weapon other then staff.
I understand the P and M attack numbers, but from what it looked like, the wands do less damage but are quicker. Is it a good trade-off? I don't know anything about the books. Am I even able to use those?
Thanks!
In terms you can understand...
SA & Matk > Everthing else.
And since Matk is equal across crystal value, your left with SA and whatever other attack modifiers the weapon gives. BUT! All those attack modifiers are 'melee' oriented! And taking the one that gives 'good' patk bonuses is silly considering your a fricking mage, all your left with is the 'pdef' bonuses. And the only real pdef bonus is being able to carry a shield.
To sum up:
2H staff= +minor acc (Normal Atk)
1H Mystic blunt = +minor acc & Able to wear a shield (Fast atk)
1H Mystic Sword = Able to wear a shield (Fast atk)
Note again that using a staff in no way affects your 1) Cast Speed or 2)Matk. At best it slows down your physical atk speed (when you may need it most!) and saves you a few weight points for shots. The acc bonus for blunt is almost worthless, since the mobs your most likely to be 'nuking' will likely laugh at your 'accuracy' with or without, and your likely to be dead anyway if you don't have enough MP to kill the mobs.
If a staff gave any noticable 'mage' oriented bonuses, you'd see people using them...but since NCkr seems blind to actual game 'balance' most people go for the weapons that have better stats for them instead.
OH! And before I forget, books are fast atk w/out any acc modifiers. But since they stop in mid C grade they are pretty well forgetable. (Not very good to trade w/mammon either due to odd crystal counts.)