Strategy for Tough Levels

I was planning ahead, and it is not the first time I encounter levels where 1-hitting is impossible, not even with Death Dealer and high level CA. The Lao Xan Merchant Guard need even conservatively 18117 damage to 1-hit, and the maximum I can gather is 18048. 18117 is simply Armor + HP for that creature.

So as usual, I consider the option of staying back. The previous level requires CA 75. That has an efficiency of 1.48, which is worse than using the Potion of Fatality. That assumes that you can 1-hit when wither activates, as well as having enough defense not to get hit when wither did not activate. There's also another assumption that CA is not needed in this setup. If such a setup is possible, the efficiency would be 1.3.

I could not find a combination that has enough defense without the use of CA. The best I came up with was a setup that require CA 25. That adds a 1.0625 multiplier and the efficiency becomes 1.38. This is still better than staying back with CA 75.

That's when I thought about another possibility. What about simply going full damage, and use the shield imp 30% of the time. What's the efficiency of that? It turns out not to be such a good idea. Each imp used is about 8.3 stam. That means 30% of the time, you will not only be double hitting, but also use an imp block. That means the efficiency is 1.46. It is still slightly better than staying back with CA 75, but not as good as a defensive setup with CA25.

So why am I documenting this? Even though it is not the best setup for level 548, this is a viable strategy. If a level is so tough as to require CA 50 with wither in defensive mode, then this setup is no worse. Also, if you can get Imps at below stam cost, that will make this setup more efficient. That can be due to players selling imps below stam cost, or having a friend use Buff Master to buff the Imps.

Below table assumes 16x doubler.
It does not account for Shield Strike, Deathwish and Critical Hits. Please see updated table in my blog on Shield Strike.

Efficiency	Setup
1.00	1-hit
1.06	CA-25
1.13	CA-50
1.19	CA-75
1.25	CA-100
1.25	Back-level (1-hit)
1.30	Wither 350 + Defense
1.31	CA-125
1.33	Back-level (CA-25)
1.38	CA-150
1.38	Wither 350 + CA25 + Defense
1.41	Back-level (CA-50)
1.44	CA-175
1.46	Wither 350 + Imp
1.46	Wither 350 + CA50 + Defense
1.48	Back-level (CA-75)
1.54	Wither 350 + CA75 + Defense
1.56	Back-level (CA-100)
1.64	Back-level (CA-125)
1.72	Back-level (CA-150)
1.80	Back-level (CA-175)
2.00	2-hit

Dark Realm and Vision

The Secret Kingdom (Thicket), the level 523 Realm introduces something new to the game. That realm is a dark realm. What does it mean by a dark ream?

On the world screen, we can typically see a 5x5 grid showing us the areas around us. However, in a dark realm, you can only see the square you are standing on.

Vision is a level 500 skill. It is listed under the defensive tree. The official description :

Lights up dark realms. More skill points allow more vision on the 'Map' screen. (Vision radius increases every 50 levels.

However, the description is not clear on what is the 'initial' vision?
What if there is only 1 point in the skill? Does the vision radius increase?
Here's the deal :
Level 1-49 : Only 1x1 grid is shown.
Level 50-99 : 3x3 grid is shown.
Level 100+ : 5x5 grid is shown.

So, the first question, is level 1-49 even useful?
On undocumented aspect of a dark realm is that your attack is halved.
With vision, that penalty is removed.

What about level 150? Are there any advantage?
With level 150+, you can view 7x7 on the realm map.
It does not affect the world map.
Since most player use fallen sword guide or the wiki for their maps, I'd say level 100 is probably sufficient for most.

In fact, level 1 is probably enough, just to remove the half attack penalty, and any higher levels is more for convenience.

Path of the Dread Mist

Yes, I am upset at the surprises I have today, but there were no information on them. So I thought I should document it, so others can learn from my mistake instead of having everyone make the same.

After so many levels, especially a tough level 533, I was looking forward to a rare Undead level 534. I looked at Mowglik's map and found that there are 2 level 534 realms with 2 different level 534 creatures. The Lower Beach has Glaucus Pirate which required a CA 50 to 1-hit. The Path of the Dread Mist is where I want to go, since the Loom of Shadow is an undead and will be an easy 1-hit without CA. And that's where things go wrong. I went through the Gloomy Vale, but could not enter the Path of the Dread Mist. To do so, I must complete the quest Gate to the Darkness, and for that I need a Shroud Key which I must make from a recipe from another quest, which requires me to reach the top of a lighthouse and that requires that I complete yet more quests before I can proceed up the lighthouse. So it's all a big mess, and I'll lay out the dependencies below in a clearer fashion.

To enter 'Path of the Dread Mist' : Require completion of quest 'Gate to the Darkness'.
To complete 'Gate to the Darkness' : Require a Shroud Key.
To get the Shroud Key : Require Shroud Key Recipe, Strange Mans Rune, Shroud Icon, Fishermans Heart.
To get Shroud Key Recipe and Fishermans Heart : Complete quest 'Marked by the Hag'.
To complete 'Marked by the Hag' : You will need quest 'Clash of Magics' (level 495) {to enter LightHouse Middle} and quest 'A Potent Brew' (level 503/510) {to enter Light House Upper}.
To get Shroud Icon : Complete quest 'Kidnapped Citizen' (level 529).
To get Strange Mans Rune : Complete quest 'A Potent Brew' {which you need to enter Light House Upper}

Summary ::
You should check that you have completed the following quests before beginning your hunt for level 534 ::
Clash of Magics (level 495)
A Potent Brew (level 503/510)
Kidnapped Citizen (level 529)
Marked by the Hag (level 533)
Gate to the Darkness (level 534)

There might have been more dependencies that I missed because I have already completed them and was not alerted to the requirements. If you encounter them, let me know and I will share it with everyone on this blog.

Light Foot

I have been asked this many times, and have done the calculation many times. Now that we actually have players who are level 700 and can have this buff, I thought I should add it to my blog.
Also, it has been 3 months since I wrote and I must acknowledge that I feel a little guilty for not writing after getting so many positive feedback.

Light Foot is a level 700 skill. It requires 15 stamina, and the official description is :

0.05% chance to use no stamina while moving on the world map.

I believe the description is wrong, and that it is actually :

0.05% per point chance to use no stamina while moving on the world map.

Since it is level 700, we can presume that the buff will be a level 175 when used.

So, is that buff worth it?
Let's compute the breakeven.
At level 175, there is a 8.75% chance to use no stamina.
That means, even 11.43 step you take, you should save one stamina on average.
Since the buff takes 15 stamina, the breakeven point is 171.43 steps.

At a regular realm for level 500, and using 16x doubler, an average hunt should take about 60 moves at least. If you go back to defend your guild's relic, this buff at stam cost is almost definitely going to be worth it.

A potion version is also available.
The Potion of Lesser Light Foot is a level 25 buff and cost about 2 fsp in AH.
Being more expensive than the stam cost for the level 175 buff, I will definitely suggest not getting the potion.
Also, at level 25, it is only a 1.25% chance to use no stamina.
That translates to 1 stamina saved in 80 steps.
At the cost of 2 fsp, you'd have to take 400 steps for break even.
Otherwise, you're better off using those 2 fsps to buy 50 stam.

Buy stam or buy xp

If you have fsps and want to use it to power level. Should you buy stamina or buy experience?

The 2 upgrades that I am comparing are :

+25 Current Stamina (cost 1 fsp)
+1% Experience towards next level (cost 2 fsp)

Some players frown upon the second option, but I think it is fair game. There are reasons why you will not buy experience, such as buying experience will not add to your guild experience. It will also not get you any creature drops, if there are any that you wanted. Setting those aside, is it better to buy stamina to kill creatures or to buy experience?

So at level 431, I took 10 samples of average creature xp. I got it as 32567 (halving when librarian activates). Assuming you hunt like me with 16x doubler, level 175 Adept Learner and Level 225 Librarian, the librarian should activate 22.5% of the time, giving an average of 39637 xp per creature attacked. Assuming 2% misses and 50/6 stam used for shield imps when you miss, the average stam per attack comes to 16.4867. That means, for each fsp, you can buy 25 stam and gain 60105 xp. 2 fsps can buy 1% xp, and at level 431, that is 55599 xp. So it is definitely better to buy stamina than to buy 1% xp, at least at level 431.

Even with CA 100, 2 fsps of stamina an still buy 96362 xp, significantly more than buying xp. Even if creature xp does not increase (and it does), that is more than 1% for level 567. Added with the the advantage of getting gold and possibly item drops, and xp contribution to guild, one should clearly buy stamina instead of xp. There are some instances where it may make sense to buy xp. One such possibility would be where that 1 % gain means you don't need a higher buffs to kill a tough level, or perhaps that 1 % puts you over a level so that you don't have to walk to a far realm. But those upgrades should be used sparingly, and buying stamina is almost always a better option.

Arterial Strike

Arterial Strike is a skill in the offense tree. It is a level 500 skill, and has dependency on Spectral Knight, which in turn has dependency on Shatter Armor. However, until Shatter Armor and Spectral Knight which reduces or eliminates opponent's armor, Arterial Strike is more like Adept Learner or Librarian and gives extra xp for killing creatures. The skill uses 20 stamina, and has a base duration of 60 minutes. Here's the official description :

Gain additional 0.1% xp per point for every additional round of combat. (Note that this does not activate if conserve activated)

So, if you have been following my blogs, you will know I am a big proponent of 1-hitting. Note the word 'additional' in the description. That means you do not get any extra xp if you 1-hit. So what use is it if you are 1-hitting?

Well, even if you are 1-hitting, you will miss, at least 2% of the time. And that was why we need the shield imp. Each time you use an imp, you get 17.5% more xp (than you would in a single attack). So assuming you are using the 16x doubler, and no CA, then that 17.5% translates to 2.8 stam in xp. Since the buff uses 20 stam, the break even will be 20/2.8 = 7.14. If you use CA, then you can reach the breakeven even sooner. Refer to the chart below for the breakevens. Note the breakeven number 7.14 is not limited to imp blocks, but should include dodges, shockwave, or any other incidences that may require you to go 2 combat rounds.

Doubler and CA	Breakeven
16x Doubler with no CA	7.14
16x Doubler with CA25	6.72
16x Doubler with CA50	6.35
16x Doubler with CA75	6.02
16x Doubler with CA100	5.71
16x Doubler with CA125	5.44
16x Doubler with CA150	5.19
16x Doubler with CA175	4.97
11x Doubler with no CA	10.39
11x Doubler with CA36	9.52
11x Doubler with CA72	8.79
11x Doubler with CA109	8.16
11x Doubler with CA145	7.62
11x Doubler with CA175	7.14

Does that mean AS is better when you use 16x doubler, or when you use CA? Actually, that's a little misleading. A hunting session is not defined by a fixed number of hits (and therefore the ratio of misses), but typically defined by the stam used. When you use 16x doubler or a higher CA, you will be killing fewer creatures. Assuming you are 1-hitting smoothly, and misses only 2% of the time, then the breakeven is about a 6000 stam hunt. That said, if you are encountering tough creatures, with nullify, dodge, first strike, and the 2-hit rates are higher than 2%, then it might even be worth getting it for a shorter hunt.

Octo-Spine Set

So today, my guildmate andypearce exclaimed on guild chat that we needed a 2nd Octo-Spine set.
He just realized that the Octo-Spine set is still the best set at level 563. Up to today, everyone was using the Brides set. So I thought the change might be due to the upgraded Potion of Greater Enchant Weapon which provides a level 1500 Enchant Weapon buff. At that level, the weapon statistics is multiplied by 2.5. I then looked at my older blog entry on 1-hit setups, and noticed that the best setup, even at level 400, was not the Argus set (which has no weapon), but the Octo-Spine set. Just how good is that set?

Level 400 (Argus set vs Octo-Spine set)
Using the Argus set, the other items will be : Sphynx Helmet, Sword of Ursa, Octo-Spine Shield, Ring of Arzmil. The total damage will be 6937, with 1243 attack. Using the Octo-Spine set, the other items will be : Crushing Fist Gauntlets, Sphynx Helmet, Dazmorr Amulet, Sword of Ursa, Argus Armor, Ring of Arzmil, Argus Boots. The total damage will be 6978, with only 812 attack. Trading 41 damage for more than 400 attack appears to be good, but perhaps unnecessary, especially with Keen Edge buff and Potion of Black Death. Many players also choose to use the Crushing Fist Ring over the Ring of Arzmil, myself included. This is trading 8 damage for 260 attack. This comparison is regardless of the EW potion, since the weapon used is the same. At level 408, that weapon can be upgraded to the Double Axe of Demrhyle. At level 420, the weapon can be further upgraded to the Master of Magic Spear, giving a final damage of 7153.

Level 440 (Argus set vs Octo-Spine set, rematch)
The same 2 sets, but at this level, new boots with more damage becomes available : Sthenos Slither Boots. The boots offer more attack and damage than the Argus Boots. So using the Octo-Spine set now will give a total damage of 7188, with 977 attack. The attack-damage tradeoffs now become trading of 76 damage for 266 attack. At level, it'll probably be much more compelling to use the Octo-Spine set.

Level 470 (Hunters Edge upgrade)
Both Argus and Octo-Spine sets do not include a ring. The ring was to be either the Ring of Arzmil, or the Crushing Fist Ring as mentioned earlier on. At this level, Hunters Edge becomes available and has better attack and damage than both rings. The Octo-Spine set now gives a total damage of 7232, with 1375 attack.

Level 484 (Brides set vs Octo-Spine set)
This was the main comparison that prompted me to write this entry. At level 484, the Brides set, introduced as a Halloween event last year, has very attractive stats. This set will be used with : Crushing Fist Gauntlets, Sphynx Helmet, Dazmorr Amulet, Hunters Edge, Sthenos Slither Boots, Rune of Roh. It'll have a total damage of 7408, and attack of 1971. The Octo-set also gets an upgrade on the armor, using the Brides Crackling gown, and will have damage of 7302, with 1647 attack.
Here's where it gets interesting. The armor is the same, so enchant armor gives the same bonus. But the weapon is different. Using the Potion of Truth (EW 1000), the Brides set will have 8204 damage with 2349 attack. The Octo-Spine set will have 8292 damage with 1647 attack. The damage-attack trade off is trading 88 damage for 702 attack. With the new Potion of Greater Enchant Weapon (EW 1500), Brides set will have 8602 damage and 2538 attack, while Octo-Spine set will have 8787 damage and 1647 attack.
So if you have enough attack, the Octo-Spine set (from level 350), is still the best set!

Level 540 (Rune of the Minion)
There might be upgrades between 484 and 539, but not for the items that differentiate the 2 sets. The Rune of the Minion provides an upgrade to the Brides set, but not the Octo-Spine set. At this level, if using only the Potion of Truth (EW 1000), the Brides set will have 2 damage more than the Octo-Spine set. But using the Potion of Greater Enchant Weapon (EW 1500), the Octo-Spine set still gives 95 damage more than the Brides set.

Further Upgrades that matter
At level 560, the Octo-Spine set gets an armor upgrade with Armor of Shonia. This armor, though having a higher damage, has a lower attack. At level 563, the Armor of Kithdor adds almost 200 damage more, skewing in favor of the Octo-Spine set even more. At 581, the Rune of Cralze comes into play, but not enough to skew the 200 damage added by the armor. At 594, the Blade of Panethor further enhances the Octo-Spine set. And the ultimate armor damage comes at level 600 with Aging Adventurer Breastplate. At level 609, the Rune of Howbale adds another 11 damage to the Brides set, but that hardly does anything.

Conclusion
So it seems that the Octo-Spine, a level 350 set, is the ultimate set! Well, that might be jumping to conclusion. As new content comes in to play, I am sure there will be new sets that will be better. In fact, the level 600 Adventurer set might just be that, but I don't have all the stats of that set to compare.