Pretty good guide, needs work. I didn't' read it yet.
A Wind Breaker guide ~by KoClSienZ
Okay let’s start off with a brief introduction . I’ve recently played and basically completed a Wind Breaker in terms of level and job quests . My objective of writing this guide is to share my build as a Wind Breaker and justify it . Do note that this guide is not newbie friendly as I expect a reader of this guide to at least know the basics of MapleStory (eg . How to find quest NPCs , How do I train efficiently etcetc. ) This guide is meant to be as concise as possible to ease players to just tab out of Maple and quickly refer to .
Without further ado , let us begin with the creation of your Wind Breaker aka Wind Archer in gMS .
Before lvl 10 ,for skills , I would say get anything you’re happy with . Personally I went for Three Snails and Recovery . Reason being that Three Snails now does not require snail shells and nimble feet doesn’t benefit a wind breaker at all as Thrust gives you maximum movement speed anyway .
After you reach lvl 10 follow Ninetails instructions and finally talk to your Job Instructor . You’re finally a Wind Breaker . Here is summarized AP build and SP build :
AP : Basically DEX all the way , until you need to pump STR . Eg. You want to use a Metus as your end game weapon , which requires 95 STR . Assuming you don’t have equips that add STR , you start pumping your AP into STR from lvl 74 , which will result in you getting 95 STR at lvl 90 .
Justification :Spoiler!
Skill Build ( 1st job ) :
Lvl 10 ~ Storm Sprite lvl 1
Lvl 11 ~ Eye of the Amazon lvl 3
Lvl 12 ~ Eye of the Amazon lvl 6
Lvl 13 ~ Eye of the Amazon lvl 8 , Double Shot lvl 1
Lvl 14 ~ 20 Max Double Shot
Lvl 21 ~ 27 Max Critical Shot , lvl 2 Storm Sprite
Lvl 28 ~ 30 All into Storm Sprite .
Justification :Spoiler!
Skill build ( 2nd job ) :
Lvl 30 ~ 37 Max Storm Break , Bow Mastery lvl 2
Lvl 38 ~ 43 Bow Mastery lvl 19 , Wind Walk lvl 1
Lvl 44 ~ 46 Max Wind Walk
Lvl 47 ~ 48 Bow Booster lvl 6
Lvl 49 ~ 55 Max Thrust , Soul Arrow lvl 1
Lvl 56 ~ 70 To be honest , this phase is completely flexible , but here’s what I ended up with :
Maxed Eye of the Amazon , Maxed Double Shot , Maxed Critical Shot , Maxed Storm Sprite ( it wasn’t maxed yet at 1st job ) , Maxed Storm Break , Maxed Bow Mastery , Maxed Wind Walk , Maxed Thrust , Maxed Booster , Maxed Soul Arrow , lvl 1 Final Attack and the rest I put in Focus .
Justification :Spoiler!
Skill build ( 3rd job ) :
Lvl 70 ~ Albatross lvl 1
Lvl 71 ~ 7x , Basically , lvl up Wind Pierce aka Magnum Shot ( the skill that shoots out a big arrow that hits 6 targets in a straight line ) until you have enough damage to 1 hit ko any monster you’re training on . This is very subjective to training spot and equipment . After that max Albatross .
It gets very flexible from this point . But remember to save up SP from lvl 94 onwards so that the moment you get Storm Arrow aka Hurricane at lvl 100 and Bow Expert at lvl 110 you can max them both immediately after obtaining them . No matter how you assign your 3rd job SP you should end up with this :
Maxed Albatross , Maxed Wind Shot , Maxed Wind Pierce , Maxed Storm Arrow , Maxed Bow Expert , Maxed Strafe and Maxed Puppet with the remaining points going into Arrow Rain .
Justification :Spoiler!
Lvling Walkthrough :
Lvl 1 ~ 10 Do quests at Erev
Lvl 10 ~ 13-ish Do Ninetail’s quest + NLC Mayors welcome quiz ( 300 EXP per correct answer )
Lvl 14 ~ 30 , Mix of Ninetail’s quest , 99 Mushroom quests ( Green , Horned and Zombie ) and KPQ , Wedding Photos quest (20k exp ) and Lith Harbour family quests ( more than 20k if completed )
Lvl 30 ~ 45 MCPQ .
Lvl 45 ~ 64 Truckers / Roids
Lvl 64 ~ 72 Muddy Banks 1 , mp3
Lvl 72 ~ 78 mp3
Lvl 78 ~ 120 , Personally what I did was log in my friends bishop account and spam myself , so here are some spamming spots if anybody is interested in leeching :
Lvl 78 ~ 85 Sky Nest 2
Lvl 85 ~ 105 Ulu Estate 2
Lvl 105 ~ 108 Along the Ulu City
Lvl 108 ~ 120 Revived Memory
Note : Since the new EXP formula was introduced leeching is now horrendously slow. I would only opt for it whenever I get a cheap Bishop and when I'm in situations where I am forced to be afk.
For those who want to grind , I would recommend sniping maps such as Jr Newties . Help from Bow masters / Marksmen appreciated if you guys could suggest some sniping maps to expand this area of the guide .
Current suggested locations for grinders :
Lvl 78~90 Vikerolas
Lvl 90~100 Himes with party
Lvl 100~120 Jr Newties
Suggested training spots by fellow forumites :
New Section : Things to get for your Wind Archer ~You should add Hill of SandStorms in Ariant for levels 20-30. It's really pretty good exp.
Okay, so this is assuming you have the funding. If you don't have the funds, I would recommend that you do some quests to get some scrolls and / or do some Merchanting, as Lvling a completely unfunded Wind Archer can be a serious pain. A good lvl of Bless of Fairy buff is useful too.
In terms of Priority :
Glove > 10 DEX Bathrobe > ZHelm > Pink Cape > Good Maple Gandiva > Final Bow > Luxury items
For attackers , Gloves are always given the most priority. Reason being a good glove will be your companion throughout the time you play your character. Only get Attack gloves for Wind Archers. DEX gloves are just pointless as although it is the main stat that affects your damage, a perfectly scrolled DEX glove still loses out miserably to a wa 8 glove.
10 DEX Bathrobe. The cheapest item almost every DEXless SIN / Warrior / Brawler and every Archer gets at lvl 20. Costs 35k each for the scroll in Kerning Swamp, while the bathrobe costs like 30k .
ZHelm , it's importance is interchangable with the Pink Cape but I'd say the massive stats and defence boost of the ZHelm would help more given that the Wind Archer has to play like a Warrior at 2nd job without the HP of a Warrior. Plus the STR which comes with it will help in planning your STR Cap.
Pink Cape. For Archer classes, WA is always your primary concern. So this cape is highly recommended. If you can't afford a godly Chaosed one, just get an average wa 2 PC and scroll it with DEX / STR.
Maple Gandiva, if you have been following this guide in terms of lvling your AP, this bow would be your bow until you hit the lvl requirement of your final bow. Eg. if your final bow is a Metus then you'll be using your Gandiva til lvl 90, so be sure to get a good one that will last. Personally I'm still using a Maple Gandiva Bow at lvl 120 as I'm Pure DEX, but low STR always beats Pure DEX in terms of damage as WA means a lot more to Archers than DEX.
Final Bow, that is if you aren't Pure DEX. Most people I've seen go for the Nisrock or Metus, using Horntail necks and Scarlion Helms and Belts as their sources of STR. I discourage from people getting the Reverse Bow, as I feel it isn't worth investing too much in a character that can bearly survive a Zakum run at lvl 120 wearing normal atk gear.
Finally, luxury items . For people who have chosen to equip their Wind Archer nicely despite my previous advice that KOCs aren't worth investing in. Stuff like MoNs , Egged HT necks and Reverse Sets all under this category. For people who can't afford these things don't worry. I lvled my Wind Archer to lvl 120 in less than a week and my most expensive equipment at that time was my ZHelm, which is an underaverage one.
That’s all for now .All comments are welcome , no flaming please .Thx .
Note : I'm currently having trouble producing screenshots. Sorry.
Last edited by SienZ1991; 16th December 2009 at 03:20 AM.
SienZPaladin , lv 172 Paladin ~
~ KoClSienZ , lv 120 Wind Breaker
SienZGenesis , lv 200 Bishop ~
~ SienZUltimus , lv 49 Assassin
Lvling record personal best : lvl 1~69 under 24 hrs
I <3 Pooky !
Pretty good guide, needs work. I didn't' read it yet.
No worries , your comments are appreciated .
The Metus scenario was an example to show how you should plan your STR cap . I never said you couldn't use reverse weapons . If you wanna use them by all means spend more lvls towards the end pumpiing STR .Not when Reverse Weapons are out. You want those as your end game weapon because they kick so much ass
I have mentioned why I chose a level of Sprite early on in my skill build justification , and I stand by it . Focus to me is really useless as Wind breakers almost never have accuracy issues and monsters usually won't be able to touch you anyway so the avoidability is useless in solo training . In bossing parties as I have mentioned , it does not stack with bless .Sprite is the most worthless summon that has touched the game of Maplestory. Get Focus, remaining points in Storm works.
IMO , there's even no point in having stable damage but no attack skill to use . Read my justifications . Storm Break lvl 1 only targets 3 monsters if I'm not mistaken it could be only 1 target too with a very low knockback percentage and damage % , making it very useless . Trust me , every windbreaker I've met who can kick ass at MCPQ at lvl 40 all maxed Storm Break 1st , while the ones who went with Mastery 1st continus to struggle between a crappy Storm Break and a stable but useless Double Shot .No point in having Storm Break if it's too unstable. It's only for 7 levels, with MCPQ, Mastery first is a must. 1 Storm Break in the beginning is ok too. I also disagree with Final Attack, because you can control whether you want it to activate or not, and also because if you do, there's no point in mastering Strafe in 3rd Job, so you can max Arrow Rain which is a better skill IMO. Soul Arrow can be left at a lower level.
I know that mobbing > single target , the problem is that Storm Break is a way better mobbing skill compared to Arrow Rain . While Strafe makes killing the Black Witch a lot easier . And trust me , Arrow Rain is only needed for luring , nothing more . I apologise for being too vague as the truth is once you reach that level every skill you up depends on your equips and training spots .Too vague. No directions whatsoever. Just because you die too easily at the Black Witch does not mean you sacrifice one of the best non-Albatross moves for training. Maxing Arrow Rain is more useful than Strafe, because as everyone knows, mobbing > single target
Lastly , thanks for reading and commenting .
SienZPaladin , lv 172 Paladin ~
~ KoClSienZ , lv 120 Wind Breaker
SienZGenesis , lv 200 Bishop ~
~ SienZUltimus , lv 49 Assassin
Lvling record personal best : lvl 1~69 under 24 hrs
I <3 Pooky !
Yea , I'm currently trying to get screenshots to show their effect .
But here's a rough description :
Wind Sprite , summons a ball like thing that follows you around like DrK's beholder , attacks monsters near to you automatically .
Storm break , 160% damage to 6 targets with 100% chance to knockback when maxed , animation is you swing your bow and a small tornado of wind spins foward . Something similar to warriors slashblast only it has a guaranteed knockback .
Wind Walk , upon activation your character gains invulnerablility to physical attacks , kinda like dark sight . You will still be damaged by magic attacks . WW is broken automatically by attacking , and the attack will have increased 30% damage , which is why you should always cast WW before you storm break , or any other attack . Note : You cannot pot under this state so not advisable for bossing .
Albatross , similar to Buccaneers transformation . You get 140 movement speed and 120 jump , and the two skills Wind Shot and Wind Pierce become available . Lasts 2 minutes when maxed with 3 minutes cooldown .
Wind Shot , Shoots 3 arrows at a single target with 350% damage per arrow . There's a screenshot on this skill at the "Flaunt your secksi damage thread" .
Wind Pierce , Launches a huge arrow that damages 6 targets in a straight line , deals 450% damage when maxed .
I think I should have covered up all of the new skills , except for FA which is now an active buff .
Thanks for reading , hope my above descriptions helped you understand a little bit . ^^
SienZPaladin , lv 172 Paladin ~
~ KoClSienZ , lv 120 Wind Breaker
SienZGenesis , lv 200 Bishop ~
~ SienZUltimus , lv 49 Assassin
Lvling record personal best : lvl 1~69 under 24 hrs
I <3 Pooky !
More suggestions:
You might want to make more specific skill descriptions like Elitemage asked for in the guide, and also some pics would make this guide better.
Another piece of advice:
To get that extra damage of Wind Walk without having to continously press two buttons is to put it on a MACRO.
For example, one macro can contain Wind Walk then Wind Shot, or whatever. This helps the DPS.
Spoiler!
Like I said , it was just an example , and i did mention that it's assuming you don't have any equips that provide STR . Personally I feel not a lot of STR is needed , as the reverse set gives quite a lot and you have other equips such ZHelm , HT neck etc . And to be honest KoCs don't have a future in terms of bossing and other stuff . Like my wind breaker for example , the most I can go is Zakum . HT is impossible . So I don't think it's worth investing in a reverse set .It's not all that hard to get extra STR by scrolling your stuff, like your overalls. You could mention more about that in your guide.
It is possible they tweaked it slightly when it came to MapleSEA , or maybe you guys can't break out of the conventional "Mastery first" law . I'm pretty sure Storm Break 1st helps more . Like you said before , mobbing > single target .Orly? That's odd, because in KMS, nearly every WindBreaker goes Mastery first. Odd.
It doesn't have a cooldown , but it has a slight delay . Casting wind walk immediately after storm break eliminates the delay and allows you to recast . Arrow Rain is not very good even though you can attack the back . What you do with Storm Break is basically like sweeping the floor .Yeah, but Storm Break only attacks monsters in the front, correct? And it has a slight cooldown too. Personally, I think that Arrow Rain is a lot more useful, but then again, it's all in the preferences.
You start off at the left most side of a lane , and Storm Break >>>> . When you get the hang of it you'll see it's like a combination of Slash Blast and Dragon Pulse . It also keeps you moving rather than Rain which needs you to have a good snipe spot with good spawn . With Storm Break you accumulate all monsters in a lane to one corner which is better .
SienZPaladin , lv 172 Paladin ~
~ KoClSienZ , lv 120 Wind Breaker
SienZGenesis , lv 200 Bishop ~
~ SienZUltimus , lv 49 Assassin
Lvling record personal best : lvl 1~69 under 24 hrs
I <3 Pooky !
I really like your build for 1st and 2nd job, and I will most likely be doing something similar. I'm not totally sure about 3rd job though...I think at that point Ill have to wait and see what my training options are. I think I may do 1 albatross then arrow rain before one of those albatross skills.
Thanks man . Good luck on your Wind Archer .
SienZPaladin , lv 172 Paladin ~
~ KoClSienZ , lv 120 Wind Breaker
SienZGenesis , lv 200 Bishop ~
~ SienZUltimus , lv 49 Assassin
Lvling record personal best : lvl 1~69 under 24 hrs
I <3 Pooky !