Essay:Reflect Damage Guide
Reflect Damage, combined with a Moonlight Dagger and Kaahi, is an efficient method for leveling Royal Guards by simply mobbing.
The Concept
Royal Guards possess the skill Reflect Damage, which cause splash damage to a wide area around them, simply by taking damage themselves. While this alone is an effective leveling tool, it's difficult to use without other skills, as the damage taken is difficult and expensive to heal.
The solution to this is using Kaahi, automatically healing upon every incoming attack. This, however, consumes SP rapidly, moving the problem to the SP bar. This is where the Moonlight Dagger comes in: since every attack on every individual monster is considered a normal attack, the dagger's +3 SP recovery per attack kicks in, allowing rapid SP recovery.
Combine all of these, and a mobbing machine is born.
What You Need
Of course, you will need a Royal Guard with Reflect Damage. The skill level doesn't matter too much; lower levels will simply take longer to kill mobs.
For support, you will also need a source of Kaahi. This can be done by marrying a Soul Linker to the Royal Guard, or by using two Soul Linkers and having one apply Soul Linker Spirit to the other. The level of Kaahi required depends on many factors, so level 7 is recommended.
The only piece of gear that is absolutely necessary is a:
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Moonlight Dagger |
Other gear to help make this process more efficient include:
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Valkyrian Manteau [1] |
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High Orc Card |
(adding reflect damage)
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Strong Shield [1] |
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Alice Card |
(increasing damage, also consider EXP Shoes to further increase damage)
A love for mobbing also helps a lot.
Getting Started
To start hunting, simply position the Soul Linkers at any point on the map, cast a middle level Kaahi (before calibrating), cast Reflect Damage, and start mobbing. The best maps to do this on are maps with large mobs, as the number of monsters that receive reflected damage determine your capability to kill them. This includes Juperos Dungeon and Abyss Lake Dungeon.
- Determining a Kaahi level: Kaahi heals a set amount, for a certain amount of SP. To calibrate a suitable level of Kaahi, simply find out the maximum amount of damage a normal attack from a monster does, and take the level that heals at least that much. I recommend taking the next level above that, however, since monsters may possess more damaging skills or attacks.
While mobbing, keep a close eye on your HP/SP bar. It's a myth that hunting like this requires no pots; always carry some for additional emergencies. At this point, it's important to learn of the various states of reflect-mobbing. (Please note that these terms are just used in the context of this essay, and may not be understood elsewhere. The concept, however, remains.)
States of Mobbing
- The SP-loss state is when your SP steadily goes down while mobbing. This means that the mob is not large enough for moonlight dagger to work well. More monsters exponentially increase the SP regain, and the current mob is too small to support it. When in this state, hit endure and find more mobs, or teleport.
- Inversely, the SP-gain state is when your SP steadily increases. This generally means that the mob is the correct size. Once your SP is full, you will go into the Loaded state. You can attempt to make a larger mob, but beware of the Over Limit state, explained below.
- When your SP is full and your HP starts jumping up and down, this is the Loaded state. This is the best state to be in, meaning that you just need to hold your position until the mob dies.
- However, mobbing to large can cause your HP to start jumping too low. I call this the Over Limit state, and it's caused by having too many consecutive deadly attacks, faster than Kaahi can heal. Kaahi has a small delay before healing, and taking too much damage can cause the Royal Guard to die, even with nearly full SP.
How it Works
Once you're used to seeing how your SP interacts with the mobs you carry, simply attempt to maintain the Loaded state as much as possible.
If you hit an Over Limit state, you can choose to Teleport if your HP is getting dangerously low. You may also opt to slowly use potions or other HP-healing items, giving room for Kaahi to heal.
Another thing to take into account is never to let SP go below 25% or so. A sudden mob may overtake Kaahi in an unexpected way, causing excessive healing and hitting 0 SP. This will cause Reflect Damage to cancel.
Speeding Things Up
Using items that increase the damage you take will increase the amount of reflected damage. A variety of equipment and cards allow this to happen. Just make sure to recalibrate the level of Kaahi to fit this.
Another way to speed this up is by using Autocast equipment and cards. These will additionally cause more damage and allow you to kill faster. Just make sure that the autocasted skills don't cause the monsters to scatter or, for example, stun, as that reduces the amount of damage you take.
Troubleshooting & FAQ
Q: What stats should I get to do this?
A: VIT and INT help by increasing max HP (preventing Over Loaded death) and max SP (preventing SP from hitting 0), but otherwise no special stats are required.
Q: I die a lot, running out of both HP and SP!
A: This usually means the mobs are not big enough, and the SP regain is insufficient. Mob larger.
Q: I die, but I still have SP!
A: This is a case of Over Loading, see the "States" section above. Try mobbing less.
Q: Is there any way to increase the SP regain?
A: If you're not using one already, another piece of reflecting gear (such as a High Orc carded shield) will add to the amount of SP you regain from every mob. Earth Deleter Card and Rideword Hat also work.
Q: How do I tell when to go get Kaahi again?
A: Kaahi lasts 350 seconds, while Reflect Damage lasts 300. My rule of thumb is to begin heading back towards the Soul Linker(s) when Kaahi's timer shows up on the screen. If damage suddenly drops, and SP starts going low, this is probably because Reflect Damage ran out; quickly re-engage it before SP hits 0. At this point, it's a matter of seconds, so head for a new Kaahi as soon as possible.