Grand Master - Path to Destruction
The Creator of this guide is Gochickku
I have completely revamped this guide to a much better path as I have learned a lot since I initially posted my original guide and I have completely restarted my character going a new, better path. Two different paths are provided below with a description as to what either path offers:
Now on with the guide!!!
Race - HumanYou always want to go Human if you are considering this path. Why? You are needing to go a job that requires you to be Human to take. Elves are no good for mage classes as you will miss out on being able to go Necromancer, Inquirer or Monk as these are Human jobs.
Most Recommended Path - Mage>Wizard>>Priest>>>Inquirer>>>>Grandmaster**This path will provide you with a greater chance to Critical Hit at GM but will have a slower casting time for skills.
Alternative Path - Mage>Wizard>>Monk>>>Bishop>>>>Grandmaster**This path will provide you with a faster casting time for skills but will have a lower chance to Critical Hit at GM.
Either path is up to you depending on what appeals to you most. I have chosen the first path for my own character as there are armor sets, weapons that can provide you with a faster casting time to assist you with the lower rank of Shrewd Spell however not so many items that can assist with your chance to Critical Hit. Therefore, the first path was my preffered path because of this.
Note: Both of these paths will have you solo'ing 1v1 til you reach Grandmaster at lvl 105. Meaning, you will not be AOE'ing until lvl 105. HOWEVER, the 1v1 skills are fairly spammable and incredibly powerful, therefore.. you should have limited issues solo'ing until 105. You will be either 1 or 2 hitting monsters all the way to lvl 105. I am currently lvl 71 Priest and 2 hit Ogre's or 1 hit if I hit critical. So don't fret.
Stats - FULL INTYou always want to put all your stat points into Intelligence for both of these paths.
Skills for Mage>Wizard>>Priest>>>Inquirer>>>>Grandmaster path
Mage - Lvl 1-20
Fireball - MAX (lvl 5) - Attack
Holy Strike - MAX (lvl 5) - Attack
Intelligence - MAX (lvl 1) - Buff
Wisdom - MAX (lvl 1) - Buff
Spell Barrier - MAX (lvl 5) - Passive
About this job: Fireball and Holy Strike will be your main attack skills. They are both fairly fast casting and have a short cooldown time. Alternating between the two skills will help you kill faster. Intelligence and Wisdom are both buffs you can either cast on yourself or on others. Intelligence buff will raise your magic attack whereas Wisdom will raise your MP. Spell Barrier is a passive skill, meaning.. you don't need to cast it once you have put points on it. It is automatically activated. Spell Barrier will assist in your chance to hit a monster with a critical as when your skill is resisted by a monster, it lowers the dmg by half. So, I always recommend getting Spell Barrier.
Wizard - Lvl 20-40
Fireball - Continue to MAX (lvl 10) - Attack
Bloodstream - MAX (lvl 10) - Skill
Intelligence - Continue to MAX (lvl 2) - Buff
Wizardry - MAX (lvl 2) - Buff (self only)
Spell Barrier - Continue to MAX (lvl 10) - Passive
Spell Craft - MAX (lvl 5) - Passive
About this job: Your primary attacks of using Fireball and Holy Strike will still be the same. Bloodstream is a skill that will refresh your MP with a little bit of comprising of your HP. This skill is essential to have. You will never need to buy MP pots again. Intelligence will increase 1 lvl giving you extra Mattk. Wizardry is a self buff only that will increase your Mattk. Spell Barrier will lvl to 10. Spell Craft is another passive (meaning you don't have to activate it) that will increase your Mattk.
Priest - Lvl 40-75
Healing Spells - it can be argued which heal spell is the best to get and is pretty much up to you. You can either MAX Fast Heal (1v1 a fast casting heal), Great Heal (1v1 not as fast healing but heals a great deal) or Group Heal (heals everyone in your party). I personally like Group Heal simply for raids or PvP.. it's a lot easier to heal everyone in my party at once. Again, totally up to you which Heal you want to Max.
Holy Strike - MAX (lvl 10 - this will turn into Divine Sword) - Attack
Divine Sword - MAX (lvl 5) - Attack
Wisdom - Continue to MAX (lvl 4) - Buff
Mind Barrier - MAX (lvl 3) - Buff
Bless Mind - MAX (lvl 3) - Buff
Bless Heart - MAX (lvl 4) - Buff
Holy Barrier - MAX (lvl 2) - Skill
Bless Wind - MAX (lvl 2) - Buff
Shield - MAX (lvl 3) - Buff
Beholder - MAX (lvl 3) - Skill
Shrewd Spell - MAX (lvl 1) - Buff
Enhanced HP - Optional
Enhanced MP - Optional
About this job: Fireball will not be used as much as a Priest but will still be occasionally used as a "back-up" to finish off a monster. Holy Strike once maxed will turn into Divine Sword which will become your primary attack skill. In this job, you will gain many buffs that will assist you in leveling as well as help out those in your party. Mind Barrier will add magic defense, Bless Mind will add MP recovery, Bless Heart will add HP recovery, Bless Wind will add movement speed, Shrewd Spell will increase your casting time (very important at GM), Shield will add physical defense. Holy Barrier skill will make you completely invincible for a few seconds (very useful). Beholder, when cast, will make any of those pesty rogue's using stealth visible to you so you can go in for the kill. ;] Enchanced HP and Enchanced MP are completely optional. You will have extra SP left after the essential skills, so if you are having HP or MP issues.. you can always throw some extra points into these two optional skills since you'll be reskilling at Inquirer lvl 75 anyway.
Inquirer - Lvl 75-105
Note: RESKILL - Included in your lvl 75 level up box
You're going to want to use the reskill in your lvl 75 level up box once you job change to Inquirer.
Below are a list of the skills in which you will invest in after you reskill.
Holy Uppercut - MAX (lvl 20) - Attack
Holy Justice - MAX (lvl 20) - Attack
Holy Swing - MAX - Attack <-- EDITED INTO BUILD 1/4/10
Intelligence - MAX (lvl 5) - Buff
Wisdom - MAX (lvl 5) - Buff
Fortunate Magic - MAX (lvl 3) - Buff
Wizardry - MAX (lvl 4) - Passive
Spell Craft - MAX (lvl 10) - Passive
Witchcraft - MAX (lvl 3) - Passive
Concentration - MAX (lvl 2) - Buff
Twinkle Magic - MAX (lvl 5) - Buff
Bless Vital - MAX (lvl 6) - Buff
Enhanced HP - MAX (lvl 20) - Passive
Vital Control - MAX (lvl 10) - Passive
Armor Link - MAX (lvl 6) - Buff
Light Armor Expertise - MAX (lvl 15) - Passive (optional if you can find INT light armor)
Tranquility - MAX (lvl 5) - De-Buff
Cripple - MAX (lvl 5) - De-Buff
Bloodstream - MAX (lvl 10) - Skill
Spell Barrier - MAX (lvl 10) - Passive
Buffs left over from Priest are optional if you have SP left over
About this job: Holy Uppercut, Holy Swing and Holy Justice will be your new primary attack skills. Holy Uppercut and Holy Swing are fast casting with fast cooldown so alternating between these two skills while killing is your best bet. Holy Justice is a fast casting but has a slightly slower cooldown thus can't be spammed as option.. however it is stronger than Holy Uppercut and Holy Swing thus I recommend it. Intelligence and Wisdom are the same as before and are essential to have on any mage job. Fortunate Magic and Twinkle Magic both increase your chance to Critical Hit. Wizardry, Spell Craft, Witchcraft and Concentration all increase your Magic Attack. Bless Vital and Enhanced HP will both increase your maximum HP while Vital Control and Enchanced HP will both increase your HP regen. Armor Link increases your defense and Light Armor Expertise will allow you to wear Light Armor which will again, increase your defense. Tranquility and Cripple are both AOE de-buffs which come in handy when approached by aggro mobs so you can "sleep" or "imobilize" them while you kill them off 1 by 1 otherwise, you'll get mobbed and your squishiness won't save you!
Grand Master - Lvl 105-145
Tornado Uppercut - MAX (lvl 20) - AOE Attack
Greater Thunder - MAX (lvl 20) - AOE Attack
Death Chill - MAX (lvl 20) - AOE Attack
Meteor - MAX (lvl 25) - AOE Attack
Intelligence - Continue to MAX (lvl
- Buff
Spell Barrier - Continue to MAX (lvl 15) - Passive
Wizardry - Continue to MAX (lvl
- Passive
Spell Craft - Continue to MAX (lvl 20) - Passive
Staff Training - MAX (lvl 20) - Passive
Boost Spell - MAX (lvl 5) - Buff (Self only)
Shrewd Spell - MAX (lvl 1) - Buff
Buffs left over from Priest are optional if you have SP left over
About this job: Your primary attack skills will be Tornado Uppercut, Greater Thunder, Death Chill and Meteor; all of which are AOE skills. The casting time (CT)/cool down (CD) for these AOE's are as follows: Tornado Uppercut - CT = 8.7s / CD = 13.1s • Greater Thunder - (lvls 1-10) CT = 7.1s - (lvls 11-20) CT = 9.3s / CD = 15.1s but decreases as the skill levels down to 10.9s once maxed • Death Chill - (lvls 1-10) CT = 4.6s / CD = 6.5s - (lvls 11-20) CT = 5.9s / CD = 5.5s • Meteor - CT starts out at 3.5s but increases as the skill levels to 7.9s / CD starts out at 12.5 but decreases as the skill levels to 8.1s. **Due to the slow casting speeds of these AOE's, this is when Shrewd Spell will come in handy. Also obtaining any Armors or Weapons that decrease casting speed is also a good idea. Intelligence, Wizardry, Spell Craft, Staff Training and Boost Spell will all increase your magic attack. Spell Barrier, again.. will assist in helping your skills to hit for full strength.
Here is a link to an awesome site with breakdowns on each individual skill for each mage job. It is a very useful tool that may help you in skilling your character effectively:
Mage Skill Tree