The Battle Manual

[Frozenfire]

I think it's about high time we get something new on these boards, and with Valkyrie oot 'n' aboot, more people are going to be looking at the forum, and more new people are going to be joining RO. And that means that new people will be looking at the forum, and for these reasons, I propose the creation of The Battle Manual.

The purpose of this thread is to help people know what to do in different battle scenarios. About your role in a party, how to tank, how to support, what to do when you're soloing, how many monsters are attacking you, etc. Obviously, everybody's going to have their different preferred strategies, but we'll try to fit everyone's in, here on the first post.

After someone posts a strategy, the other posters of the thread are encouraged to (civilly, plz) debate about how useful said strategy is. If the common consensus is that it's not a good idea, it'll be taken off the first post, but I'd really like to avoid that as much as possible and give as much leeway as we can to different ideas.

I'll try to post a few to get it started and give you a sense of what we're looking for.

For Acolytes, concerning SP Use
The biggest useless SP waste is using an overlevelled Heal. If your level 6 Heal heals 750 HP, and you're partying with a 300 HP Mage, don't use your level 6 Heal! 450 HP of that Heal will be completely wasted. Either hotkey a lower level Heal (which is ideal; remember, you can change your hotkeys as much as you want. So if you know that you're going to be partying with low HP characters, hotkey your low level Heals), or scroll the mouse wheel down to select a lower level. Another nice topic to touch on would be the ability to hotkey different levels of the same skill. Heal 1 and Heal 2 can be hotkeyed to F1 and F2 at the same time.

Another SP waste is using Heals too frequently. If your teammate has 1000 HP, and you're being attacked by monsters that do 100 HP of damage a hit, that teammate has about 10 hits until he's dead. You can usually cast a heal in-between monster attacks, unless the monster has an incredibly high ASPD, in which case it might take two attacks for you to cast a heal.

Spoiler

The higher the level of Heal you use, the more SP-efficient it will be, but only if you use every HP recovered in the Heal.

With these two facts in mind, the most SP-efficient timing of healing is when your teammate has little enough HP left to allow you to cast a level 10 Heal and not heal him back to max HP.

As that is a very dangerous way to play, you have to keep an eye out for how the rhythm of the battle is going. You have to have a feel for how much longer your teammate has until he dies. And once you've figured out how to do that, you should wait long enough for him to almost die, and then cast as high a level of Heal as you can without healing him to Max HP, or going as little over Max HP as you can.

Let's go back to our previous example. Your party member has 1000 HP, and the monster is attacking for 100 HP every attack. Your level 7 Heal heals for 600, and your level 8 Heal heals for 900. The most SP-efficient timing for you to heal is to wait until he has 100 HP (or, 1 attack left until he's dead), and then heal him with a level 8, bringing him back to 1000. That's a little too risky, however, so it's better to wait until he's at 300 or 400 HP and then heal him with a level 7, healing him back to 900 or 1000.

Some things to look out for:

• Enemy skills. Know the enemy you're facing, and if he has any "DO MOAR DAMAGE NOW" skills. Peco Pecos, for example, can use Sonic Blow. In this scenario, you want to keep your party member's HP high enough that they can survive that skill.
• Enemy patterns. Using Peco Pecos as an example again; they are assist monsters. What this means is that if another Peco Peco sees a Peco Peco attacking you, the first one will come to attack you as well. Know this, because you have to know how low you can go on your SP before you have to rest. More on this later.
• Enemy spawns. If an aggro spawns on your map, keep an eye out for him, because you're going to have to be able to take care of your party if one of them comes around unexpectedly (like if he spawns in the middle of your camp).

For Full-Support Acolytes, concerning your role in the party
As an FS Aco, your first and foremost role in the party is to keep your party alive, no matter what. The reasons for this are twofold. First, because your party mates do not have as zeny-efficient a way of keeping themselves alive as you do; and Second, because as soon as they die, those enemies are coming for you. As thus, it is your responsibility to know the HP of your teammates, to know the enemies that are going to be spawning on the map you're in, and to manage your SP pool well enough to know when to call for a rest when you need it.

For Full-Support Acolytes, concerning what to do when you're attacked
Inevitably, a rogue aggro is going to come after you while your party is fighting other monsters. The most important thing to remember when this happens is to not panic. Your first instinct will probably to run circles around your Tank, trying to get him to attack the monster while avoiding the monster's attacks as much as you can. This is the absolute worst thing you can do in this scenario. While you're running, you're probably still going to be hit, you have a high chance of pulling other aggros, and the tank isn't going to be able to attack a monster that's running after you!

The proper way to handle the situation is to just stay in place and continue your duties as healer. Call for help to let your party know that you're being attacked, and then simply heal yourself just as you would heal your teammates. Don't forget to heal your teammates as well, though. =P Your tank will probably hear your call and then come over and make the monster change targets to him, and then go back to attacking the one he was before; the situation will then have been rectified. There is an exception, however, as outlined by TheSeventeenthAngel:

Posted by TheSeventeenthAngel
For Tanks, concerning your role in the party
well, you're tanks. You should try to get each monster's attention. Although you have to know your limitation as well; don't try to mob five Matyrs when you don't have enough HP, quality gears, or reserve potions. An Acolyte's Heal has a delay.
If an aggro monster is attacking your support, it may be more efficient to use a skill to get that monster's attention away from your support, such as Provoke for Swordsman classes or Stone Throw for Thieves.

Posted by bhl88
Know your teammates skills:

• G- emstone (RBY) or C for Catalyst - Ninja Catalyst
• E- xperience (either I'm talking about experience with the skill [Vertical Fire Wall] or the experience points you need to cast Redemptio [as most people in Valkyrie don't get it]. 1.0% exp is needed to cast Redemptio without losses, any higher and you lose some exp [until 1.0% of course]. If base is 0.0 and job has exp, the skill will fail] (Vertical Fire .
• R- ange of skill (all party skills are probably 20x20). Won't work on the entire map.
• M- oney (make sure to have enough money to Throw Zenny away).

Posted by bhl88
For unnatural builds:

1.) Know the strengths and weaknesses of your build.

2.) Use the knight and assassin in your party as your standard.
Ex: battle sage vs super strong monster.
Knight: unable to tank
Assassin: unable to dodge
Sage: May die in 2 hits or so.

Knight: unable to tank.
Assassin: 50-50 dodge.
Sage: has a chance of defeating the monster.

3.) Whatever you can't defeat; use your partial skills. (Don't try to be the hero)

Say that you are a battle wizard (has battle skills and magic skills). If you are unable to dodge the monster, you should use your AoEs instead. If you have battle-support skills but are unable to hold the monster, let the knight/assassin/blacksmith handle the monster while you support.

So that's kind of the gist of it. Like I said, post new strategies, discuss ones that have been posted before, and don't get offended if someone doesn't like your idea; as long as there are thought-out, proofed explanations, it'll make everyone a better RO player.

[bhl88]

For unnatural builds:

1.) Know the strengths and weaknesses of your build.

2.) Use the knight and assassin in your party as your standard.
Ex: battle sage vs super strong monster.
Knight: unable to tank
Assassin: unable to dodge
Sage: May die in 2 hits or so.

Knight: unable to tank.
Assassin: 50-50 dodge.
Sage: has a chance of defeating the monster.

3.) Whatever you can't defeat; use your partial skills. (Don't try to be the hero)

Say that you are a battle wizard (has battle skills and magic skills). Unable to dodge, so use the AoEs instead. If battle-support skills but unable to hold the monster, let the knight/assassin/blacksmith handle the monster while you support.

[TheSeventeenthAngel]

For Full-Support Acolytes, concerning what to do when you're attacked
The proper way to handle the situation is to just stay in place and continue your duties as healer. Call for help to let your party know that you're being attacked, and then simply heal yourself just as you would heal your teammates. Don't forget to heal your teammates as well, though. =P Your tank will probably hear your call and then come over and make the monster change targets to him, and then go back to attacking the one he was before; the situation will then have been rectified.

Depends IMO
If you have enough walking speed (and most acos do, with Agi Up) and the monster on your tail is agro, I usually walk through the tank. With enough space between you and the monster when you actually walk through the tank, the agro monster should switch targets.
If the monster is a fast walker and attacker, a mimic for instance, yep, stay put and heal yourself accordingly

For Tanks concerning role in the party
well, you're tanks. You should try to get each monster's attention. Although you have to know your limitation as well, don't try to mob five Matyrs when you don't have enough HP, quality gears, or reserve potions. An Acolyte's Heal has a delay.
If an aggro monster is attacking your support, it may be more efficient to use a skill to get that monster's attention away from your support, such as Provoke for Swordsman classes or Stone Throw for Thieves.

[Frozenfire]

You're right, 17th. I did leave that part out.

Both your posts have been integrated into the first; I did make some edits, just to make it a little easier to read. If I do that and end up losing the point of anybody's post, make sure you tell me.

[bhl88]

Know your teammates skills:


G- emstone (RBY) or C for Catalyst - Ninja Catalyst
E- xperience (either I'm talking about experience with the skill [Vertical Fire Wall] or the experience points you need to cast Redemptio [as most people in Valkyrie don't get it]. 1.0% exp is needed to cast Redemptio without losses, any higher and you lose some exp [until 1.0% of course]. If base is 0.0 and job has exp, the skill will fail] (Vertical Fire .
R- ange of skill (all party skills are probably 20x20). Won't work on the entire map.
M- oney (make sure to have enough money to Throw Zenny away).