User:Bage/Guides/Force Shielder

Table of Contents 1. What is a sFS? 2. Leveling Up 3. PvE/PvP Pros/Cons 4. Skills 5. Combos 6. Gear 7. Stats 8. Battle Modes 9. 1v1 Class Tactics 10. Legality? === === ===

'  1. What is a sFS?  ' sFS stands for Sword Force Shielder, or what Force Shielders were intended to be. Not satisfied with the sFS, many CABAL EU/KR players decided to try something new, a magic using FS that takes advantage of the high defense, ability to use armor, and our main buff, Crushing Blade. Thus, mFS, Magic Force Shielder, was born, and there are now three kinds of FS.


 * sFS - Sword Force Shielder
 * mFS - Magic Force Shielder
 * Hybrid - Hybrid Shielder

Obviously, sFS revolves around using sword skills for attacking (Shield Break, Shield Splinter, Shield Explosion, etc etc) while mFS uses magic skills (Cannons and Lances primarily)

Hybrid Shielders use both magic and sword skills, although most only use one sword skill, Shield Splinter. Hybrids can pretty much be described as a mFS that pumped DEX and decides to include Shield Splinter in their combo, with Shield Break as a finisher.

sFS pump STR to increase overall attack and defense, while mFS pump either DEX or INT to increase magic at the cost of defense/attack. Hybrid Shielders generally pump DEX to get a decent amount of the three primary stats. '
 * Note: Even if you are a sFS/mFS, you will have to eventually max the other rank out, for stat boosts. 

2. Leveling up' 

1-65: Do all your quests, there should be enough to last you until 65, and at this point you're gonna need to grind after you finish your quests because of quest shortage.

65-75: Quests, go kill Hounds in Fort Ruina, or if you can handle them, Mechzards. At this point, I suggest you start skill grinding.  75-85: Quest again, start doing Lake in Dusk. The Orcs at the start have high HP, huge hit boxes, and great exp (I got around 250k~ at 75 with one skill) They'll probably respawn once you reach the boss of the dungeon, so die and go back to kill them for more.  85-115: At this point you can either choose to quest to 98 and finish them all, or do Ruina Station. By now you should be at least Transcender swords, and hopefully at least Master magic. Doing Ruina Station with 3-4 people that are somewhat decent nets you a lot of EXP per run - I leveled about 4 times on my first run duoing it with a 12x who was leeching from me as well &lt;&lt;

The main reason why Ruina Station is great EXP is because of the statues at the Invader Mecha Bear, which is the boss after the Invader Excavator. Each statue spawns about 3 Invader Mechbuffalo + which have high HP and good EXP value per skill, and the statues themselves have short respawn time and there are about 20~ statues total in the room. Easy to mob up and kill, though it'll be hard to tank them all by yourself unless you're double Transcender.  115-125: You can choose to do Ruina Station from 115-125 or you can do LS2. Lure the Harpy Warriors away from the Bloody Ogres, and there should be 2 spawns with 2 ogres each, it's decent EXP but from my experience, I'd say RS is better. Finish up your quests and choose your nation as well, there's only 20~ after 85 and they give a good amount of alz and exp. At this point, you should start skill grinding to double Transcender.  125-145: Mutant Forest, duo or solo if you can at the Brannies and Ectoleaf spot. Great EXP, good spawn, and you get a few SoD/FT cards as well, and a chance for slotted jewelry/Forcium amp.

145-170: Most people just do Lobatums now, they're in MF past the Lumberjacks. Huge AoE so unless you have decent defense (950+) it'll be somewhat hard to take on 3 or more at once. If you die a lot, then Brannies/Ectoleaves would be better because you shouldn't die there@140.

An alternative leveling spot is in PF, right after the 2nd portal. Gather the mobs together, go to the next corner and do the same, then go back. '

3. PvE/PvP Pros/Cons'

 PvE

 Pros


 * Ability to take minimal damage due to high defense


 * Ability to easily solo because of high defense.

 Cons
 * Skills aren't monotonous.


 * Lowest HP of all melee classes.


 * Stun skill only lasts 5 seconds, is a magic based skill.


 * Stun lock is not consistent


 * Shield Splinter is the weakest base GM/Completer skill.


 * Mediocre damage - most likely the lowest.

PvP

Pros


 * Burst damage, you're able to take out 1.2k+ HP in one shot half the time.


 * With high enough defense, able to take a lot less damage.


 * AoD and SS makes you almost immortal, and with MB, you're able to do a lot more damage, with no cons if AoD is on.


 * Somewhat important for NW, serving as a distraction and being able to camp spawn points easily, while also giving SS out.

Cons


 * Skills are slow, and thus, skills have low DPS.


 * Lowest HP of the melee classes.


 * Weak base hits.

''     ' 4. Skills (Endgame) '
 * Victory for a sFS uses luck a lot more than any other class

Sword


 * Force Stab 20
 * Rising Shot 20
 * Soaring Shot 20

 Magic
 * Impact Stab 20
 * Force Kick 9/20 (9 PvE, 20 PvP)
 * Dash 9
 * Earth Divide 20 (Ranged K/D only)
 * Shield Charge 20
 * Fade Step 9
 * Round Cut 20
 * Storm Crush 20
 * Shield Ray 18/20
 * Shield Explosion 19/20
 * Shield Break 9
 * Shield Splinter 9/12/15/18

Max out all your buffs ASAP.


 * Regeneration 4
 * Heal 20
 * Crushing Blade 20
 * Shield Harden 20
 * Resist Intension 20
 * Mortal Bane 20
 * Shadow Shield 20
 * Art of Defense 20
 * Blade of Judgment 9/12/15
 * *Fire Lance 20
 * *Flame Cannon 20
 * *Terra Lance 20
 * *Stone Cannon 20
 * *Crystal Cannon 20
 * **Freezing Arrow 9


 * These are for when you're rooted and need a long ranged combo. Don't get them if you don't want to, they aren't necessary.


 * For luring mobs

 Upgrades


 * Vitality Mastery 10
 * Offensive Sense 8
 * Defensive Sense 8
 * Impact Control 3
 * Damage Absorb 3
 * Sixth Sense 3

5. Combos

Low Rank - Generally, keep your skills at level 9 for these skill ranks.

Sword Style  Novice - Impact Stab -&gt; Flash Draw -&gt; Shield Shock -&gt; Magic Arrow

Apprentice - Impact Stab -&gt; Flash Draw -&gt; Slash Break -&gt; Power Slash

Regular - Impact Stab -&gt; Rising Shot -&gt; Slash Break -&gt; Power Slash

Expert - Earth Divide -&gt; Shield Charge -&gt; Guillotine -&gt; Rising Shot

A. Expert - Earth Divide -&gt; Shield Charge -&gt; Guillotine -&gt; Round Cut

Master - Shield Ray -&gt; Earth Divide -&gt; Guillotine -&gt; Round Cut

A. Master - Shield Ray -&gt; Shield Explosion -&gt; Earth Divide

G. Master - Shield Break -&gt; Shield Ray -&gt; Shield Explosion -&gt; Round Cut

Completer -&gt; Shield Splinter -&gt; Shield Break -&gt; Shield Splinter -&gt; Shield Explosion  Transcender - Look below.

 PvE

BoJ -&gt; SS -&gt; {Round Cut} -&gt; SB

Round Cut if you're low on HP and need to leech some - it'll still work with the stun combo and you'll still only get hit once. Otherwise, go straight to Shield Break. Combo works up to 18 SS, 15 BoJ.  Stun lock

BoJ -&gt; SS -&gt; SR -&gt; SB

BoJ - Excellent

Shield Splinter - Excellent

Shield Ray - Good, past 2nd bar.

SB - Excellent.

You need half the distance between the 2nd line and the end of the combo bar at Shield Ray for this combo to work. At 6-11 combo, you will only need 1/4th, and at 11+, you don't need to change anything, it's auto stun-lock 90% of the time.  Boss

SS 9 -&gt; SB -&gt; SS 9 -&gt; SE 20

SS 18 -&gt; SB -&gt; SE 19

SS 15 -&gt; SB -&gt; SS 15 -&gt; SE 20 -&gt; SR 20

SS 15 -&gt; SB -&gt; SS 15 -&gt; SE 20 -&gt; [SB -&gt; SS 15 -&gt; SE 20]

 PvP

SS 9 -&gt; SB -&gt; SS 9 -&gt; SE 20

SS 9 -&gt; SE 20 -&gt; SS 9 -&gt; SB

SR 18 -&gt; SS 9 -&gt; SR 18

SS 18 -&gt; SB -&gt; SE 19

SS 15 -&gt; SB -&gt; SS 15 -&gt; SE 20 -&gt; SR 20

SS 15 -&gt; SB -&gt; SS 15 -&gt; SE 20 -&gt; [SB -&gt; SS 15 -&gt; SE 20]

Add Impact Stab/Force Stab/Soaring Shot/Shield Ray/Shield Charge/Force Kick anywhere you like if you need to weaken the other player a bit to finish him with your next GM/Completer. Storm Crush 20 is also a good finisher. As for which combo is the best, that's up to you. The level of SS pretty much changes your entire combo. I used to use SS 18, but now I use SS 15 for versatility.

 6. Gear

Up until level 82~ use whatever gear you have access to - the higher +, the better. RoL +1 is easily acquired (Giant/Huge Spiders, GD) and is pretty much a staple for sFS unless you have access to RoL +2.

For skill grinding, get Adept Aramid/Shadowsteel with +3 skill exp, +4 preferred. Bluestin/Titanium level Adept costs too much more and generally is useless.

Generally, a sFS needs to focus on sword amp and critical damage. With double RoL +1 we already have 49% critical rate - unless you use an Amulet of Pain +3/+7 you shouldn't bother with getting 5% rate enchant.

On weapons, generally double slotted Osmium is equal to triple slotted Titanium of Deathblow unless the Titanium is perfect craft 16% damage.

Generally, Red Osmium 2sl -&gt; Osmium 2sl = Titanium 3sl DB. Forcium with Critical Damage, you lose a bit of critical damage but you gain a lot of base. With my Forcium Blade 10% DMG, I only lose out on 40 damage or so with a Shield Splinter critical, but my base is a lot higher because of the extra attack from it being Forcium. A Forcium Blade 7% sword amp does more critical and base damage than an Osmium 2sl. The best endgame weapon for sFS would be Red Osmium Blade of Deathblow with 7% rate and 40% DMG when extended.

As for armor, I'd recommend Osmium for it's enchants, for PvP. Shineguard/Forcium is only useful for PvE. Shineguard/Forcium amp on boots/suit/gloves however, may be superior to Osmium.

On helmets, you mainly want 2sl with 20% critical damage. Deathblow with critical DMG is great. 7% amp from craft is better, however, the best would be Deathblow with 7% amp in one slot, 24% damage in the other 2 slots. Forcium amp is useless on helmets.

On boots, get 2sl and put HP on them if you're poor, if you're rich, buy boots with 7% sword amp, if you're somewhat in between, buy boots of Will. Boots of Will are still used by some players instead of amp boots. I use Boots of Will as well. 300 HP is superior to 7% amp. On boots, Forcium amp can be useful, but as with other amp boots, you'd miss out on HP.

On gloves, 7% amp is best. Max craft Destruction with attack is fine as well (20 attack is equal to around 5% amp. Forcium Amp is truly the best here.

On suits, try to get one with 7% amp and 50 HP, it's a common drop off Berserk Faello. Crafted 5% Sword amp with 100 HP is a good choice too, 50 HP&gt;2% amp IMO. 7% amp from craft and 100 HP in slots is the best. Second best would be Forcium Suit with amp, since 100 HP is worth more than 40-50 defense.

Alternatively, for all your armor, you can choose to go Blue Forcium. +6 it and your base defense will be extremely high, making it hard for any class to deal sufficient damage to you.

For rings, you can't go wrong with double RoL +1, however, if you're a risk taker you can always use double Critical Ring +2. RoL +2 and Critical Ring +2 is what I'd use if I had them. If a pair of RoF +10 exists, they'd be great as well because of their high defense, attack, and 10% critical damage. I'd prefer RoF +10 over a Critical Ring +2, but a RoF +10 is just too rare.

For earrings, Vital +2 with HP in slot are the best, otherwise, use Force Regeneration +4. Vampiric +4 is pretty much the same but also great for PvE. The difference is small, don't bother getting both if you don't have the money. Guard is alright, though I wouldn't use it myself - 80 HP &gt; 20 defense unless you're using Blue Forcium set and want to make your defense even higher.

For amulets, Amulet of Battler or Amulet of Pain are your only choices for PvP. AoB, get as high as you can, AoP, get at least +4 for the 5% critical damage, if you want more critical rate, get a +3 and get a critical enchant on a piece of equipment you're wearing. +6/+7 are the best AoPs, however, good luck finding them. I prefer Amulet of Battler over Amulet of Pain due to the fact that 150 HP can save me, while 5%-10% critical damage won't make much of a difference in whether you finish them or not. Vampiric Amulets are the best for PvE.

EoF is a must, EoG only for PvE, and that is if it makes a huge difference in damage in the first place. HP Boards are the best, unless you can find a dropped board. RW3 is right up there, but 30 defense doesn't make any difference at all.

For bracelets, BoF +4 is best. BoF +2 with amp in slot is rumored to be better (2% more amp) but you give out on around 4% minimum damage and 6 attack. BoF +2 with amp in slot is only for the people who are too lazy to grind to HR8.

 '7. Stats

' Generally, up to level 60, follow your growth. Put spare points into STR. Past that, if you plan on using full Osmium Armor, the minimum is 278/223/167 for full +6. If you plan to use Forcium, you need about 260 INT to wear full Forcium Armorsuit +5. The same applies for Blades. Crystals will require you to raise your DEX a bit so you'll lose out on a bit of attack (+5 requires 200) and if you don't already have 260 INT, you'll need that as well. Once you decide on your INT and DEX cap, start maxing out your STR.

'8. Battle Modes

 BM1 - Counter Attacker'

Small attack boost, decent defense boost. Small chance of enemies hitting themselves for a decent amount of damage when they attack you. Extremely useful in Nation War, when many people attack you at once. Many FS who have been bugged with permanent BM1 in NW have gained more than 400+ points on top of their own points from the counter attack function alone. You get this at level 30.

BM2 - Shield Master  Can't use Shield Splinter, Shield Explosion, or Shield Ray. Only Shield Break and BoJ are usable of all our core skills. Normal Attack is a shield swing, does moderate damage with high knock back/knock down chance, 3 hit chain. Shield Storm is weak, with a somewhat fast cast time and knock down, generally useless.

You get this at level 50.

Tip: The first swing is the fastest and has higher DPS than doing the full 3 swing combo. Target the enemy, swing, target yourself with a click to your character, then target the enemy again. The next swing will be the same as the first.

Aura Mode 

Adds low attack and defense, yet adds critical rate and DMG. You may use this over BM1 if the situation favors it, as Aura takes only 2 seconds to cast and is able to make you do more damage in general. Take off a RoL and put a RoF +8 or Critical Ring +1/+2 while in Aura Mode.

At 20, you get one aura out of 6, depending on what options you click.

'9. 1v1 Class Tactics  Before you read this, remember this. PvP is about luck, gear, combos, and the ability to predict correctly. This is what I think, as the best sFS of Mercury when I played.

Force Archer' -

Because of their low defense and HP, generally you'll be able to finish them in one cycle. Splinter-&gt;Force Kick for the start of the combo. If Shield Splinter gets a critical, they should be at half HP. At this point, use Impact Stab/Force Stab/Shield Charge/Shield Ray to weaken them for your GM. If you think their next shot is gonna kill you, use GM and hope their HP is low enough, or hope that it crits.

If they use their GM skill which has a mini fade step in it, use Shield Charge to get back in their face. If they fade/dash, re-target and counter with your own fading if you can. If they use Art of Sniping, move out their range. You can either go in their range for a bit to make them enable combo, then fade out so their combo is on cool-down, then rush them with a Force Kick or a dash combo'd into a Shield Charge. A decent FA will retarget you however, so it's generally better to just start your combo at the same time they do, with a FK as the first.

Generally, if they bother fading it's an easy win if you know how to retarget, as Fade is an easy to counter move if you're experienced.

 Force Blader -

Force Kick -&gt; Shield Splinter them, and hope they use their Completer skill first - other wise you'll have to use Shield Explosion or Shield Ray because they're teleporting all over you and you have to walk, so use a ranged skill to stay still. If you move towards them, it you lose more and more time. In the worst situation, their Completer will pretty much be a free skill, where you can not do anything to prevent 1.2k damage being done to you on a critical.

If they decide to fully debuff you (MF, Execrate, ETC) turn on AoD as soon as you're out of MF and they should be running by now. (Note: These times, it's good to have MP helmets, MP boots, and MP suit. Put on your MP set and AoD, then take it off once AoD runs out, or if they decide to attack you in AoD, leave it on and hit them back.) Once MF runs out along with Execration, start your combo, in the middle of it, cancel AoD (Remember to put on your normal gear) and head towards them with a dash combo'd into a Shield Charge or a Force Kick. You'll have the time advantage here as they can't predict when you will turn AoD off and go for them. If it's in war channel/PK, pot up your HP, and follow the above.

 Blader -

Their Completer skill is similar to FBs, except with a smaller radius in general. Remember to be ready to use a ranged skill in case it goes away from you, instead of towards you. Field of Fear won't change much so I wouldn't worry about it, it just gives you time to get one skill off at the cost of a low amount of defense. Bladers have a bit lower defense, higher attack, and a bit more HP than us, so it might take you 2 cycles to bring them down if you aren't lucky. Impact Stab/Force Stab/Shield Charge/Shield Ray to soften them up for your finisher (Storm Crush or GM/Completer) if you need to, or if you're about to die.

Countering AoF and Intense blade is easy, as you have AoD. If they cast it before the duel, lag your AoD a bit at the start, then when you think they're going to hit their first skill, hit AoD. Their first skill will lock them in combo for a few seconds, enough for you do get 1 or 2 hits in before they run, and you don't get damaged either. Some BL may still try to attack you, since AoF pierces through AoD, in that case, just attack them back. They give themselves a huge disadvantage if they attack you as you have the upper hand in defense and offense in this situation when compared to them.

 Wizard -

Same as FA, since WI is basically a FA with slower skills, more power, less HP/defense. This also means you have to use your finisher a lot sooner on a WI than a FA, and hope to hell you get a critical.

Their Transcender is a mass-HP regen and an amp buff, similar to Intense Blade. Wizards will try to kite you from long range when you're in AoD, so you'll have to use your magic skills+shield ray, since the wizard is most likely too far from you. Their regen will take some of the damage you do with your magic off, but most likely you will do more DPS than them in this situation still. Should they run, surprise them with a FK. After the initial FK, if you don't get them down with the next skill, they will blink/fade away 99% of the time in this situation, so prepare to retarget if needed.

 Warrior -

Their skills have a high chance to cancel your combo, so if that happens, fade away. It's just a straight DPS duel here, nothing to watch out for. The average WA doesn't use any of the filler skills, so their skills are sure to be slow - use this to your advantage. Because they don't use fillers, you can predict their movements easier.

If they decide to use Cats Recovery+Bears Vitality, prepare to use AoD. At the start of the duel, lag the AoD a bit so they can get their combo started - once they do there will be a delay in them running from you, enough delay for you to knock them down, and if you can't, they'll get away with no damage due to Cats Recovery.

 Force Shielder -

Whoever predicts better, has better gear, level, combo, and luck, wins. No set strategy.

'''Dueling Techniques + Tips

1.) Pre Combo '''When requested/requesting, target a nearby monster. After 0, the word 'Start' pops up, but you can't combo on players til it goes away. When the word 'Start' pops up then, hit combo on the monster, then switch to the player. Once you can attack, the combo bar will already be at the first line, enough for you to get a head-start.

Not very honorable, people tend to not like people who do this. Also, all it takes is one fade to mess you up majorly. Because you don't have time to re-target since your combo meter is at the first line already, you won't be able to combo for a while, guaranteeing your loss.

Bannable, but who cares? No one said you can't be a jackass in PvP.  2.) Mortal Bane Cancel Used with Pre Combo mainly.

Before the duel, turn on Mortal Bane. Follow the steps for Pre-Combo normally, and as soon as you hit Shield Splinter, right click Mortal Bane before they get their hit in. With this, you can crit for much higher, at no loss. Also, not very honorable. I mainly use it as a PC counter, and against PC, you don't need to Pre Combo.

You can use this without Pre Comboing, however you'll need to hit right on Bad and cancel it right after to avoid getting hit for massive damage.

3.) Fade Combo Fade stepping in a combo, not liked much because it's not common among high levels, but it's the top level of PvPing. There are 4 steps. 1. Combo start 2. Activate short range skill - you begin walking. 3. Hit Fade Step 4. This is where you need a bit of timing. In order to proceed your combo after fade step, you need to time the exact moment to press Shield Splinter, or whatever skill you want to attack with. Just spamming the skill won't work, it's better to time it.'''

4.) Fade -&gt; Dash Combo The same as Fade Combo, with a dash added in to help them lose target. At step 4, use a 0-1 range skill, as you begin walking, dash in the opposite direction you were just walking, then hit Force Kick. 30% of CABAL can't retarget fade alone, below 5% can target Fade+Dash, and none that I know can re-target a Fade+Dash+Force Kick, then resume your combo. This will take up 2 combo hits, but 9 is more than enough in a duel. You need to execute this fast for it to be somewhat effective.

5.) Combo Level '''Every time you hit combo, you get Bad, Good, or Excellent. This doesn't change the critical rate, or critical damage, instead it increases the amp. Bad is 0%, Good is around 10%, Excellent is around 30%. This amp doesn't apply to criticals, however, so the effectiveness is cut in half. You can either choose to shave a few miliseconds off by hitting at the first line, or do just a bit more damage on non critical hits by hitting Excellent.

6.) Mid PvP Gear Swap

Simple, but effective. You change gears according to the duel. At the beginning of duels, equip HP will suit and boots. Titanium 2sl extended is the best. Compared to amp suit and amp boots, you have around 600 more HP with a good set.

Once the duel starts and the enemy gets the first hit in, switch your suit and boots to your amp suit and boots. This allows the HP equipment to give you HP to take the first blow, then you switch to amp equipment for more power. Once your take HP equipment off, you retain original HP, but your max goes down, and since you were hit for 600 or so at the start, that doesn't matter. Granted, you lose 14% amp on Shield Splinter, but, the 600 extra HP is worth it.

For Mana Freeze, I tend to keep MP gear. I use Osmium Armorhelmet of Will, 140 MP, Osmium Battleboots of Will, 140 MP with 50 MP in slot (Random level 1 enchant), and Osmium Batttlesuit of Will, 140 MP craft.

Once they Mana Freeze you, you put on your MP gear and turn on AoD. You then take it off if they aren't near you, and wait til Mana Freeze is gone and you have enough MP. The MP gear basically negates the effects of Mana Freeze against a FB, without sacrificing attack or an upgrade slot. You say this is pointless, since you can use AoD before the duel starts, however, the FB will obviously notice and just run. After a FB MF, they tend to execrate+hard luck, then go in. Right after they Hard Luck, you put on your MP gear, AoD, and you surprise them since while you were casting AoD, they were starting up their combo. You get 1 or 2 hits in, at no HP cost, while if you use AoD before the duel starts, it's worthless.

7.) Moving while starting Combo After you hit combo, click the map once, and hold it, move the mouse around to direct the character while in combo mode. Useful for closing the distance between ranged classes at the start of a duel, instead of using Force Kick, which can be saved for use against FA GM.