[Draft] The Way of the Bandit

Table of Contents
Section 1. Introduction
Section 2. Strength or luck? (Work in progress, help appreciated)
Section 3. What is this “dex” stat you speak of? (Work in progress, help appreciated)
Section 4. AP Builds (Work in progress, help appreciated)
Section 5. The Actual Skill Builds – Always open to suggestions, edits, and new builds
5.1 Rogue
5.2 Bandit
5.3 Chief Bandit
5.4 Shadower
Section 6. Blood Building, by DustBunny
Section 7. Conclusion and External Links

1. Introduction

I was browsing da interwebz for some good CB builds when I realized that I was mostly making mine up as I went along. This is when I realized that there weren’t any less than two years old. I think it’s more due to this quote that Rick (RDal) said in IRC.
[10:18] <Rick> What are you making a guide for?
[10:18] <Rayquaza2233> Chief Bandits.
[10:18] <Rick> Even I can make a guide for it
[10:18] <Rick> "Don't do it"

2. Strength or luck?

Probably the longest standing debate in bandit history. Should they go strength or luck?

Pros

Strength

- (comparatively more) stable damage.
- Khanjars (7 attack) and Dragon Khanjars (15 attack) are strength shields.

Luck

- They have the potential to hit for more damage.
- They can wear their armours at the minimum levels. (Thanks Stereo)

Cons

Strength

- Harder to find good strength daggers compared to well scrolled luck daggers (not that it’s easy to find luck daggers, it’s just that strength daggers are even harder to find)
- They can’t wear their armours at their minimum levels.
<Stereo> str + dex + luk requirement > total AP gained

Luck

- Equivalents to (Dragon) Khanjars hard (and expensive) to find.

3. What is this “dex” stat you speak of?

Dex is a bandit’s (strength or luck) secondary stat. Some choose to forgo this stat, preferring to be “dexless” and using maple weapons. Others merely cap their dex at different amounts. From the information that I’ve gathered, 80 is a good amount of base (amount without equips) dex. However, I personally have 115 base dex, and I know people with 150 base dex. The lower your base dex is, the more you will rely on armour either scrolled for dex, giving dex naturally, or forged to have dex with the Maker skill to equip higher leveled weapons.

4. AP Builds

Strength

Open to suggestions. xd

Luck

The cookie cutter build is 2 dex, 3 luck until you hit level 40. Once you hit level 40, you’ll have 80 dex. This is when you decide when you’re capping. You can cap at 80, but if not, 4 luck, 1 dex until you hit the amount you want to cap at.

5. Skill builds

5.1 Rogue

Generic Bandit Build

The generic one that most people use.

 Spoiler

Level 10 – 1 Double Stab (1)
Level 11 – 3 Double Stab (4)
Level 12 – 3 Double Stab (7)
Level 13 – 3 Double Stab (10)
Level 14 – 3 Double Stab (13)
Level 15 – 3 Double Stab (16)
Level 16 – 3 Double Stab (19)
Level 17 – 1 Double Stab (20, maxed), 2 Nimble Body (2)
Level 18 – 3 Nimble Body (5)
Level 19 – 3 Nimble Body (8)
Level 20 – 3 Nimble Body (11)
Level 21 – 3 Nimble Body (14)
Level 22 – 3 Nimble Body (17)
Level 23 – 3 Nimble Body (20, maxed)
Level 24 – 3 Disorder (3)
Level 25 – 3 Dark Sight (3)
Level 26 – 3 Dark Sight (6)
Level 27 – 3 Dark Sight (9)
Level 28 – 3 Dark Sight (12)
Level 29 – 3 Dark Sight (15)
Level 30 – 3 Dark Sight (18)

Max double stab right away for maximum damage, nimble body for accuracy and avoidability, then get 3 disorder as a prerequisite for dark sight, which is very, very useful.

Alternate build #1 – The Sindit

This is the build I used. I was going to be a sin, but last second decided to be a bandit.

 Spoiler

Level 10 – 1 Lucky Seven (1)
Level 11 – 3 Nimble Body (3)
Level 12 – 3 Keen Eyes (3)
Level 13 – 3 Keen Eyes (6)
Level 14 – 2 Keen Eyes (8, maxed), 1 Lucky Seven (2)
Level 15 – 3 Lucky Seven (5)
Level 16 – 3 Lucky Seven (8)
Level 17 – 3 Lucky Seven (11)
Level 18 – 3 Lucky Seven (14)
Level 19 – 3 Lucky Seven (17)
Level 20 – 3 Lucky Seven (20, maxed)
Level 21 – 3 Nimble Body (6)
Level 22 – 3 Nimble Body (9)
Level 23 – 3 Nimble Body (12)
Level 24 – 3 Nimble Body (15)
Level 25 – 3 Nimble Body (18)
Level 26 – 2 Nimble Body (20, maxed), 1 Disorder (1)
Level 27 – 2 Disorder (3), 1 Dark Sight (1)
Level 28 – 3 Dark Sight (4)
Level 29 – 3 Dark Sight (7)
Level 30 – 3 Dark Sight (10)

It’s just a basic pre-assassin build, nothing special here.

5.2 The Bandit

My Bandit Build

 Spoiler

Level 30 - Mastery (1)
Level 31 - 3 Savage Blow (3)
Level 32 - 3 Savage Blow (6)
Level 33 - 3 Savage Blow (9)
Level 34 - 3 Savage Blow (12)
Level 35 - 3 Savage Blow (15)
Level 36 - 3 Savage Blow (18)
Level 37 - 3 Savage Blow (21)
Level 38 - 3 Mastery (4)
Level 39 - 3 Mastery (7)
Level 40 - 3 Mastery (10)
Level 41 - 3 Mastery (13)
Level 42 - 3 Mastery (16)
Level 43 - 3 Mastery (19)
Level 44 - 3 Savage Blow (24)
Level 45 - 3 Savage Blow (27)
Level 46 - 3 Savage Blow (30, maxed)
Level 47 - 3 Booster (3)
Level 48 - 3 Booster (6)
Level 49 - 3 Booster (9)
Level 50 - 3 Booster (12)
Level 51 - 3 Haste (3)
Level 52 - 3 Haste (6)
Level 53 - 3 Haste (9)
Level 54 - 3 Haste (12)
Level 55 - 3 Haste (15)
Level 56 - 3 Haste (18)
Level 57 - 2 Haste (20, maxed), 1 Booster (13)
Level 58 - 3 Booster (16)
Level 59 - 3 Booster (19)
Level 60 - 1 Booster (20, maxed), 2 Dark Sight (20, maxed)
Level 61 - 3 Endure (3)
Level 62 - 3 Endure (6)
Level 63 - 3 Endure (9)
Level 64 - 3 Endure (12)
Level 65 - 3 Endure (15)
Level 66 - 3 Endure (18)
Level 67 - 2 Endure (20, maxed), 1 Steal (1) / 1 Disorder (4)
Level 68 - 3 Steal (4) / 3 Disorder (7)
Level 69 - 3 Steal (7) / 3 Disorder (10)
Level 70 - 3 Steal (10) / 3 Disorder (13)

I maxed endure over steal because steal is completely useless. I’d even recommend Disorder over it for bombing gobies. If assaulter doesn’t stun (if you’re busting the houses with assaulter), use disorder to make it stop attacking you. Endure lets you heal 23 MP instead of 3, which adds up over time. I went for 12 booster because it lasts longer, I hated one minute booster.

Alternate Build #1 – Sindit edition 1

 Spoiler

Level 30 - Mastery (1)
Level 31 - 3 Savage Blow (3)
Level 32 - 3 Savage Blow (6)
Level 33 - 3 Savage Blow (9)
Level 34 - 3 Savage Blow (12)
Level 35 - 3 Savage Blow (15)
Level 36 - 3 Savage Blow (18)
Level 37 - 3 Savage Blow (21)
Level 38 - 3 Mastery (4)
Level 39 - 3 Mastery (7)
Level 40 - 3 Mastery (10)
Level 41 - 3 Mastery (13)
Level 42 - 3 Mastery (16)
Level 43 - 3 Mastery (19)
Level 44 - 3 Savage Blow (24)
Level 45 - 3 Savage Blow (27)
Level 46 - 3 Savage Blow (30)
Level 47 - 3 Booster (3)
Level 48 - 3 Booster (6)
Level 49 - 3 Haste (3)
Level 50 - 3 Haste (6)
Level 51 - 3 Haste (9)
Level 52 - 3 Haste (12)
Level 53 - 3 Haste (15)
Level 54 - 3 Haste (18)
Level 55 - 2 Haste (20), 1 Booster (7)
Level 56 - 3 Booster (10)
Level 57 - 3 Booster (13)
Level 58 - 3 Booster (16)
Level 59 - 3 Booster (19)
Level 60 - 1 Booster (20), 2 Dark Sight (12)
Level 61 - 3 Dark Sight (15)
Level 62 - 3 Dark Sight (18)
Level 63 - 2 Dark Sight (20), 1 Endure (1)
Level 64 - 3 Endure (4)
Level 65 - 3 Endure (7)
Level 66 - 3 Endure 10)
Level 67 - 3 Endure (13)
Level 68 - 3 Endure (16)
Level 69 - 3 Endure (19)
Level 70 - 1 Endure (20) 1 Steal (1)

Same as above, but it’s just tailored for sindits that only have 10 DS instead of 18.

Alternate build #2 – Sindits by FantaTwist

 Spoiler

Level 30 - Mastery (1)
Level 31 - 3 Savage Blow (3)
Level 32 - 3 Savage Blow (6)
Level 33 - 3 Savage Blow (9)
Level 34 - 3 Savage Blow (12)
Level 35 - 3 Savage Blow (15)
Level 36 - 3 Savage Blow (18)
Level 37 - 3 Mastery (4)
Level 38 - 1 Mastery (5), 2 Booster
Level 39 - 3 Savage Blow (21)
Level 40 - 3 Savage Blow (24)
Level 41 - 3 Savage Blow (27)
Level 42 - 3 Savage Blow (30)
Level 43 - 3 Mastery (8)
Level 44 - 3 Mastery (11)
Level 45 - 3 Mastery (14)
Level 46 - 3 Mastery (17)
Level 47 - 3 Mastery (20)
Level 48 - 3 Haste (3)
Level 49 - 3 Haste (6)
Level 50 - 3 Haste (9)
Level 51 - 3 Haste (12)
Level 52 - 3 Haste (15)
Level 53 - 3 Haste (18)
Level 54 - 2 Haste (20), 1 Booster (3)
Level 55 - 3 Booster (6)
Level 56 - 3 Booster (9)
Level 57 - 3 Booster (12)
Level 58 - 3 Booster (15)
Level 59 - 3 Booster (18)
Level 60 - 3 Booster (20), 1 Dark sight (11)
Level 61 - 3 Dark sight (14)
Level 62 - 3 Dark sight (17)
Level 63 - 3 Dark sight (20)
Level 64 -
Level 65 -
Level 66 -
Level 67 -
Level 68 -
Level 69 -
Level 70 -
21 skill points remainder

I left the rest up to you because In my own opinion i think the rest of the skills are pointless, so what i've did is tackled out the important skills for you and left the rest on your own decision.

Kabanaw's bandit build

 Spoiler

30:1 mastery
31-6: 3 mastery (19)
37+38: 3 booster(6)
I found that a stable, faster double stab was more effective than level 24 SB.
39-48: 3 SB (max)
49-54: 3 haste (18)
55: 2 haste (max), 1 booster (7)
56-59: 3 booster (19)
60: 1 booster(max), 1 mastery (20), 1 dark sight (it was left at 18, so 19 now)
61: 1 dark sight(max) 2 endure (2)
62-67:3 endure(max)
68-70: 3 steal (9)

In the end: max booster, max mastery, max haste, max savage blow, max endure, max dark site, and 9 steal

This is a build for faster, more stable damage first.

5.3 Chief Bandits

This is probably the murkiest part of a bandit’s life in terms of builds. There are two set attacks, and then you can do whatever.

BoT first, assaulter first is dumb

 Spoiler

Level 70 – 1 Assaulter
Level 71 – 3 Chakra (3)
Level 72 – 1 Meso Guard (1), 2 Band of Thieves (2)
Level 73 – 3 Band of Thieves (5)
Level 74 – 3 Band of Thieves (8)
Level 75 – 3 Band of Thieves (11)
Level 76 – 3 Band of Thieves (14)
Level 77 – 3 Band of Thieves (17)
Level 78 – 3 Band of Thieves (20)
Level 79 – 3 Band of Thieves (23)
Level 80 – 3 Band of Thieves (26)
Level 81 – 3 Band of Thieves (29)
Level 82 – 1 Band of Thieves (30, maxed), 2 Meso Explosion (2)
Level 83 – 1 Meso Explosion (3), 1 Pickpocket (1), 1 Assaulter (2)
Level 84 – 3 Assaulter (5)
Level 85 – 3 Assaulter (8)
Level 86 – 3 Assaulter (11)
Level 87 – 3 Assaulter (14)
Level 88 – 3 Assaulter (17)
Level 89 – 3 Assaulter (20)
Level 90 – 3 Assaulter (23)
Level 91 – 3 Assaulter (26)
Level 92 – 3 Assaulter (29)
Level 93 – 1 Assaulter (30, maxed), 2 Meso Guard (3)
Level 94 – 3 Meso Guard (6)
Level 95 – 3 Meso Guard (9)
Level 96 – 3 Meso Guard (12)
Level 97 – 3 Meso Guard (15)
Level 98 – 3 Meso Guard (18)
Level 99 – 2 Meso Guard (20, maxed), 1 Meso Explosion (4)
Level 101 – 3 Meso Explosion (7)
Level 102 – 3 Meso Explosion (10)
Level 103 – 3 Meso Explosion (13)
Level 104 – 3 Meso Explosion (16)
Level 105 – 3 Meso Explosion (19)
Level 106 – 3 Meso Explosion (22)
Level 107 – 3 Meso Explosion (25)
Level 108 – 3 Meso Explosion (28)
Level 109 – 2 Meso Explosion (30, maxed), 1 Pickpocket (2)
Level 110 – 3 Pickpocket (5)
Level 111 – 3 Pickpocket (8)
Level 112 – 3 Pickpocket (11)
Level 113 – 3 Pickpocket (14)
Level 114 – 3 Pickpocket (17)
Level 115 – 3 Pickpocket (20, maxed)
Level 116 – 3 Chakra (6)
Level 117 – 3 Chakra (9)
Level 118 – 3 Chakra (12)
Level 119 – 3 Chakra (15)
Level 120 – 3 Chakra (18)

I chose Pickpocket at 83 in preparation for Typhons, PP is very useful there. You can max chakra instead of PP, I just thought PP would be more useful at himes.

If anyone else has any other builds, I’ll add those.

5.4 Shadowers

Cactuar’s Bossing Build
Before reading, please note that he made this build a long, long time ago. There may be some tweaks needed to it.
Okay, the idea behind this is to have the ability to solo most high-level bosses (that aren't Zakum or Horntail). The basic idea is to put into powerhouse moves such as Assassinate and Keen Dagger in order to, well, solo bosses.

 Spoiler

Level 120:
1 Fake
1 Smoke Bomb
1 Boomerang Step/Keen Dagger

The reason behind this is, no matter how you look at it, Fake is a useful skill. +11% natural misses is well worth the first point after your advancement, if you ask me. Plus, no other skill is decent with 1 point into it besides Smoke Bomb. The 1 into smoke bomb is for setting up a second ME after the first one (for Papu) or your initial ME (for Pianus). 33 seconds of god mode is more then enough to charge a decent assassinate later down the line. The 1 KD/BS is for taking out bombs at either Papu or Pianus (those things are pesky) and avoiding attacks. It also can be used to hit Papu from afar.


Level 121/122 - 131/132
3 Assassinate (until Maxed)

Assassinate is probably the most useful boss move we have in our arsenal (next to ME, for obvious reasons). Once maxed, it can do high damage fairly quickly. Plus the assaulter-like attack at the end is controllable. So you can Assassinate Papu (or Pianus) and then get away (or towards) them. It is best used in combination with a Smoke bomb + ME combo when possible. Once this is maxed, you can begin attempting Papu (not Pianus).

Level 132/133 - 142/143
3 Boomerang Step/Keen Dagger (until maxed)
2 Fake

Ah, my second favourite move. This will be highly useful for KBing Papu when maxed (you should be able to with 500% damage and being level 141). Use it to take out the pesky bombs as always, and dodge attacks. This, when maxed, will probably replace Assassinate as the main damage dealer for bosses (since it's more practical). Once you have both of these skills maxed, Papu should be fairly easy* to take down. Pianus would be a bit more trouble.

NOTE: You may switch the order of Assassinate and BS/KD if you wish. Depending on if you want to Dark Sight for ME a lot, or just do an out-right onslaught.

* - Definition of easy may differ.

Level 143/144 - 152/153
3 Fake (until Maxed)

An additional 40% misses is helpful in boss fights. Especially considering it can help/save your life if your smoke bomb ends before you're ready for it to. This will also protect against those, you guessed it, pesky bombs. This mainly is for cutting down the cost of killing the bosses.

Level 153/154 - 160/161
3 Maple Hero (until maxed)
1 Smoke Bomb

+10% to all your stats? What's not to like? The boost in damage will help out in the boss fights. Not much else to say about this.

Level 161/162 - 171/172
3 Smoke Bomb (until Maxed)
2 Showdown

When maxed it lasts for 60 seconds, and has an even wider range of invincibility. This helps with setting up ME or if you're in a tight spot. Show down might be used if you want the additional EXP + Drops, but shouldn't really be used until it's maxed.

Level 172/173 - 182/183
3 Showdown (until maxed)

You could just tag one of these babies on to the last form of Papu (or pianus if it works when it has low HP) before killing it. Bam! Instant +40% Drop rate and EXP. Not too shabby.

Level 183/184 - 200

These points can go into whatever. None of the other moves are useful for soloing bosses. You could put points into Poison for regular training, or into ambush.

The Solo Shadower (I made this one, so edits are probably mandated here)

 Spoiler

Level 120 – 1 Venom (1), 1 Fake (1), 1 Boomerang Step (1)
Level 121 – 3 Boomerang Step (4)
Level 122 – 3 Boomerang Step (7)
Level 123 – 3 Boomerang Step (10)
Level 124 – 3 Boomerang Step (13)
Level 125 – 3 Boomerang Step (16)
Level 126 – 3 Boomerang Step (19)
Level 127 – 3 Boomerang Step (22)
Level 128 – 3 Boomerang Step (25)
Level 129 – 3 Boomerang Step (28)
Level 130 – 2 Boomerang Step (30, maxed), 1 Fake (2)
Level 131 – 3 Fake (5)
Level 132 – 3 Fake (8)
Level 133 – 3 Fake (11)
Level 134 – 3 Fake (14)
Level 135 – 3 Fake (17)
Level 136 – 3 Fake (20)
Level 137 – 3 Fake (23)
Level 138 – 3 Fake (26)
Level 139 – 3 Fake (29)
Level 140 – 1 Fake (30, maxed), 2 Maple Warrior (2)
Level 141 – 3 Maple Warrior (5)
Level 142 – 3 Maple Warrior (8)
Level 143 – 3 Maple Warrior (11)
Level 144 – 3 Maple Warrior (14)
Level 145 – 3 Maple Warrior (17)
Level 146 – 3 Maple Warrior (20)
Level 147 – 3 Assassinate (3)
Level 148 – 3 Assassinate (6)
Level 149 – 3 Assassinate (9)
Level 150 – 3 Assassinate (12)
Level 151 – 3 Assassinate (15)
Level 152 – 3 Assassinate (18)
Level 153 – 2 Assassinate (20), 1 Venom (2)
Level 154 – 3 Smokescreen (3)
Level 155 – 3 Smokescreen (6)
Level 156 – 3 Smokescreen (9)
Level 157 – 3 Smokescreen (12)
Level 158 – 3 Smokescreen (15)
Level 159 – 3 Smokescreen (18)
Level 160 – 3 Smokescreen (21)
Level 161 – 3 Smokescreen (24)
Level 162 – 3 Smokescreen (27)
Level 163 – 3 Smokescreen (30, maxed)
Level 164 – 3 Venom (5)
Level 165 – 3 Venom (8)
Level 166 – 3 Venom (11)
Level 167 – 3 Venom (14)
Level 168 – 3 Venom (17)
Level 169 – 3 Venom (20)
Level 170 – 3 Venom (23)
Level 171 – 3 Venom (26)
Level 172 – 3 Venom (29)
Level 173 – 1 Venom, (30, maxed), 2 Assassinate (22)
Level 174 – 3 Assassinate (25)
Level 175 – 3 Assassinate (28)
Level 176 – 2 Assassinate (30, maxed)
Level 177 – 3 Maple Warrior (23)
Level 178 – 3 Maple Warrior (26)
Level 179 – 3 Maple Warrior (29)
Level 180 – 1 Maple Warrior (30, maxed)
Level 181 – 1 Awakening, 2 into whatever
Level 182 and on – Whatever

DustBunny's Shadower Build

 Spoiler

120 - 2 boom step, venom, smoke bomb, assassinate, or fake
121-131- Max Bs
132-142- Get 10 fake 10 venom 10 assassinate, I reccomend venom being last and fake being first.
143-153- Max assassinate, put 10 points into venom
154-164- Finish fake, put 10 points into venom
165-171- Maple warrior
171-

Again, other builds would be nice, and you’ll get credit.

6. Blood building, by DustBunny
I believe 1 sp=20 hp, for thiefs in general (if not then im mistakingly using the hermit formula). With this concept 50 points will add, 1k hp putting a shadowers base hp at 4k, which with meso guard is the same hp as an unwashed DrK (with hb would be around 13k hp) That will, by what I read would allow you to sustain any hit from any monster in the game besides pink bean (then again I'm calculating a level 120, rather than 170 which would probably have a 10k base hp with no wash, 11k base if he/she did), at what cost? 10att. That's it, and a lot people will argue that 10att for a shadower especially is a HUGE loss considering every shadower and their mother try to squeeze out as much attack as possible.

However let's take this into consideration, a shadower without a 10att wg would lose (I believe) 300 off their max range, about 100 off their min range. This would turn a boom step from 50k, to about 47k, 3k less damage I believe is nothing compared to 4k base hp, with meso guard making it 8, then hyper body raising it it 13k hp.

Ugh all this doubling is confusing myself lol. Hyper body on a 4k hp washed shadower would be 6.4k base, which doubled would be 12.8k because of meso guard. My unwashed drk at 120 didn't have that much, and this is clean, lets factor in a mon or ht pendent(whatever the def of the ht pendent is nearly equilavent to the hp added from the mon) is about 300, so the shad would break 13k easy. This adds efficiency as well, considering chakra can act as a pot rather than, lets say a barb elixer? Considering that 1k damage would litterally make us able to tank just as much as any warrior.

So for the cost of 10att, 300 max range, you can tank like a warrior, with the speed of a shad, killer combo much?

7. Conclusion and External Links
So, this is it. Any tips, additions, builds, whatever, I’ll add them on here and credit you.

Meso Explosion Bonus explained, by Xaille
Meso Explosion damage curve, by Xaille
The Venom Equation, by JoeTang
The Thief's "Where to train?" guide, by Daimean

Pickpocket is a useless skill in terms of nearly any situation when training. It's a show off skill at best and chakra benefits you more in the long run when shadowers wise up and start blood building (without washing because it's just not worth it for a shadower).

I also want to confront your shadower build's. They are 'decent' but there are really 3 main builds that most follow for fastest exp rate:

120-121: 2 boom step, venom, smoke bomb, assassinate, and fake.

I say this because its best to get a variety of skills early so you can at least abuse venom even if a second, fake is self explanatory, smokescreen is useful period, and assassinate is good "start" attacker.

After this you branch out to either:

Max bs as soon as possible
or
Venom/fake/bs to level 10 because the passive skills help make BS more efficent and stronger

Lastly is an experimental build some shadowers I know have been trying where they do, 10 bs, 3 venom 5 fake and as much as taunt as possible. The problem however is you're VERY reliant on venom to make up the difference of your level 10 bs vs a level 20 bs.

Pretty much most shadowers go venom/fake instead of assassinate for more efficient training, while those who go 20 assassinate love to boss and want that quick damage. However in my personal opinion its better to go the training route because then you can get both quicker than going the assasinate build which would be a grueling training exp.

Another factor is training, will they stay at himes or go newt/skele early? That's really dependent on how many monsters your bs hits, honestly bot suffices at himes because it hits 6, while newties there are meh 4 per plat, it be best to get boom step to at least 3 target hitter before even attempting to leafre.

For training I really encourage you putting twin peaks for a bombing location as soon as you have meso guard (which I believe you should max before assaulter considering assaulter uses are dwindled to nearly nothing, 1 should suffice) because in two weeks on 2x you could get from 90-120 from a source of mine. It costs as much as leeching but much more worth it in my opinion.

Hope I helped.

Sorry this is just a build guide, lol anyway take those factors for yourself then for your future shadowerhood

Couple of things:
For STR bandits I consider STR and DEX to both be secondary stats.

I prefer to max Dark Sight in first job because moving around in Dark Sight at full speed is awesome. You can leave Nimble at 18 and come back for it later.

In 2nd job I prefer Mastery first, simply because a SB that still hits 2 digit numbers is just sad. Double Stab KBs whatever you're attacking and works pretty well. Also saves MP, if that's your thing (actually pretty good in CPQ).

And instead of getting lolsteal and more than 3 Disorder, I'd do: max Nimble Body (2 points), max Keen Eyes (8), and finish off Mastery just cause. Keen Eyes can be helpful for PQs where you might need range (GPQ, for example). Last point goes into Steal or Lucky Seven, just for luls.

Just throwing this out there as suggestions for what Bandits can do.

Couple of things:
For STR bandits I consider STR and DEX to both be secondary stats.

I prefer to max Dark Sight in first job because moving around in Dark Sight at full speed is awesome. You can leave Nimble at 18 and come back for it later.

In 2nd job I prefer Mastery first, simply because a SB that still hits 2 digit numbers is just sad. Double Stab KBs whatever you're attacking and works pretty well. Also saves MP, if that's your thing (actually pretty good in CPQ).

And instead of getting lolsteal and more than 3 Disorder, I'd do: max Nimble Body (2 points), max Keen Eyes (8), and finish off Mastery just cause. Keen Eyes can be helpful for PQs where you might need range (GPQ, for example). Last point goes into Steal or Lucky Seven, just for luls.

Just throwing this out there as suggestions for what Bandits can do.

It's smarter to leave mastery at 5-8 then begin adding to SB. Also instead of steal and endure, max L7/range because a sin dit is much more useful in all pq's than a dit.

Lastly NB doesnt have to be maxed at all.

It's smarter to leave mastery at 5-8 then begin adding to SB. Also instead of steal and endure, max L7/range because a sin dit is much more useful in all pq's than a dit.

Lastly NB doesnt have to be maxed at all.

What do you need L7 for? Only the range is useful. I'd rather have 20 passive MP recovery.

Pickpocket is a useless skill in terms of nearly any situation when training. It's a show off skill at best and chakra benefits you more in the long run when shadowers wise up and start blood building (without washing because it's just not worth it for a shadower).

Do explain more, blood building sounds like a useful section for this guide.

I also want to confront your shadower build's. They are 'decent' but there are really 3 main builds that most follow for fastest exp rate:

120-121: 2 boom step, venom, smoke bomb, assassinate, and fake.

I say this because its best to get a variety of skills early so you can at least abuse venom even if a second, fake is self explanatory, smokescreen is useful period, and assassinate is good "start" attacker.

After this you branch out to either:

Max bs as soon as possible
or
Venom/fake/bs to level 10 because the passive skills help make BS more efficent and stronger

Lastly is an experimental build some shadowers I know have been trying where they do, 10 bs, 3 venom 5 fake and as much as taunt as possible. The problem however is you're VERY reliant on venom to make up the difference of your level 10 bs vs a level 20 bs.

Pretty much most shadowers go venom/fake instead of assassinate for more efficient training, while those who go 20 assassinate love to boss and want that quick damage. However in my personal opinion its better to go the training route because then you can get both quicker than going the assasinate build which would be a grueling training exp.

Another factor is training, will they stay at himes or go newt/skele early? That's really dependent on how many monsters your bs hits, honestly bot suffices at himes because it hits 6, while newties there are meh 4 per plat, it be best to get boom step to at least 3 target hitter before even attempting to leafre.

For training I really encourage you putting twin peaks for a bombing location as soon as you have meso guard (which I believe you should max before assaulter considering assaulter uses are dwindled to nearly nothing, 1 should suffice) because in two weeks on 2x you could get from 90-120 from a source of mine. It costs as much as leeching but much more worth it in my opinion.

Hope I helped.

Sorry this is just a build guide, lol anyway take those factors for yourself then for your future shadowerhood

I'll look at this more thoroughly when I'm not on vacation.

I believe 1 sp=20 hp, for thiefs in general (if not then im mistakingly using the hermit formula). With this concept 50 points will add, 1k hp putting a shadowers base hp at 4k, which with meso guard is the same hp as an unwashed DrK (with hb would be around 13k hp) That will, by what I read would allow you to sustain any hit from any monster in the game besides pink bean (then again I'm calculating a level 120, rather than 170 which would probably have a 10k base hp with no wash, 11k base if he/she did), at what cost? 10att. That's it, and a lot people will argue that 10att for a shadower especially is a HUGE loss considering every shadower and their mother try to squeeze out as much attack as possible.

However let's take this into consideration, a shadower without a 10att wg would lose (I believe) 300 off their max range, about 100 off their min range. This would turn a boom step from 50k, to about 47k, 3k less damage I believe is nothing compared to 4k base hp, with meso guard making it 8, then hyper body raising it it 13k hp.

Ugh all this doubling is confusing myself lol. Hyper body on a 4k hp washed shadower would be 6.4k base, which doubled would be 12.8k because of meso guard. My unwashed drk at 120 didn't have that much, and this is clean, lets factor in a mon or ht pendent(whatever the def of the ht pendent is nearly equilavent to the hp added from the mon) is about 300, so the shad would break 13k easy. This adds efficiency as well, considering chakra can act as a pot rather than, lets say a barb elixer? Considering that 1k damage would litterally make us able to tank just as much as any warrior.

So for the cost of 10att, 300 max range, you can tank like a warrior, with the speed of a shad, killer combo much?

What do you need L7 for? Only the range is useful. I'd rather have 20 passive MP recovery.

And almost every pq needs a 'ranged' class. 20 mp passive is crap considering, being a bandit/shad you shouldn't be stopping to do anything but chakra.

20/1800 MP will not sustain a 'non-potting' mp recovery, therefore I find personally find that L7 will be more helpful in your lower levels considering you can subsitute to not only the boss slaughter-er but the l7 when dexlessdialup dc's you dont have to restart your Pq.

Guess it comes down to personal preference of whether you're a grinder or a pqer, however with the s rank medal +3 stats all around I would assume you'd be pqing

Sorry for double post >_> I'm used to some notice telling me "can't double post".

You should just max out Dark Sight on all of the first job builds. Level 20 Dark Sight can be used with Haste. Nimble Body isn't extremely important, and you can max it out later, anyways.

Also, you have seriously got to bold the section titles.

The cookie cutter build is 3 dex, 2 luck until you hit level 40. Once you hit level 40, you’ll have 80 dex. This is when you decide when you’re capping. You can cap at 80, but if not, 4 luck, 1 dex until you hit the amount you want to cap at.

3 DEX per level would result in 120 DEX at 40, not 80.

Formatting and aforementioned typo corrected, I probably won't do anything in terms of content until after I get back from vacation.

I realize this is a double post, but I'd like to announce that I have returned to this guide, and have updated the bandit build I made (not used) to not increase booster to 12 right away, just to 6. I added DustBunny's blood building section as well.

Looking at the Shadower build section...where is Taunt? Sure I wouldn't want to max it before BS or Fake, but it's a pretty handy skill. It is common for most Shadowers to raise it before they max Venom and Smokescreen.

Also, just wanted to note that in the Dojo, the passive 21 MP you recover thanks to Endure can be used for Chakra, as long as it's level 20 or below. Pretty handy for 1/1s.

Looking at the Shadower build section...where is Taunt? Sure I wouldn't want to max it before BS or Fake, but it's a pretty handy skill. [SIZE="4"]It is common for most Shadowers to raise it before they max Venom[/SIZE] and Smokescreen.

I strongly disagree. While this may have been logical in the past, Time Temple's release has changed this by introducing Oblivion Guardians. It was discouraged to max Venom before simply because most Shadowers could already 2HKO Skelegons with BStep by 160; there was no point adding to Venom, seeing how they'd still 2HKO anyway. Guardians have 50k~60k more HP in comparison to Skelegons, and decent Shadowers don't 2HKO them for another 15~20 levels (And that's with Venom).

As for maxing Taunt over Smokescreen, it depends primarily on whether or not you plan on training past level 180.

I strongly disagree. While this may have been logical in the past, Time Temple's release has changed this by introducing Oblivion Guardians. It was discouraged to max Venom before simply because most Shadowers could already 2HKO Skelegons with BStep by 160; there was no point adding to Venom, seeing how they'd still 2HKO anyway. Guardians have 50k~60k more HP in comparison to Skelegons, and decent Shadowers don't 2HKO them for another 15~20 levels (And that's with Venom).

As for maxing Taunt over Smokescreen, it depends primarily on whether or not you plan on training past level 180.

I was mostly pointing out that there's no points to Taunt in his build.

I have no experience with Time Temple though, so I guess I shouldn't be assuming that there should be any Taunt at all. However, I was under the impression that Shadowers would use Taunt at Guardians in addition to Skelegons, as long as it didn't hurt their killing speed too much.

I was mostly pointing out that there's no points to Taunt in his build.

I have no experience with Time Temple though, so I guess I shouldn't be assuming that there should be any Taunt at all. However, I was under the impression that Shadowers would use Taunt at Guardians in addition to Skelegons, as long as it didn't hurt their killing speed too much.

Even Nightlords, who never use taunt at skeles, can and should use taunt in the temple, so I imagine its even easier for Shadowers, and if it slows you down a tiny tad, so what, it'll give u 40% more exp and droprate.

Alright,

2 boom step, venom, smoke bomb, assassinate, and fake

For the first 2 levels this is the best starter build.

Max bs as soon as possible
or
Venom/fake/bs to level 10 because the passive skills help make BS more efficent and stronger

Lastly is an experimental build some shadowers I know have been trying where they do, 10 bs, 3 venom 5 fake and as much as taunt as possible. The problem however is you're VERY reliant on venom to make up the difference of your level 10 bs vs a level 20 bs.

121-131- Max Bs
132-142- Get 10 fake 10 venom 10 assassinate, I reccomend venom being last and fake being first.
143-153- Max assassinate, put 10 points into venom
154-164- Finish fake, put 10 points into venom
165-171- Maple warrior
171-

Max whatever you want. I still agree with bloodwashing though however if you want you can also just wait till black firday and buy 20 ap resets for 20$, it's inexpencive and would be better than blood washing. If you dont have the patience, just sac 50 points, that'll be enough to tank nearly any boss.

This was my build for my bandit:
30:1 mastery
31-6: 3 mastery (19)
37+38: 3 booster(6)
I found that a stable, faster double stab was more effective than level 24 SB.
39-48: 3 SB (max)
49-54: 3 haste (18)
55: 2 haste (max), 1 booster (7)
56-59: 3 booster (19)
60: 1 booster(max), 1 mastery (20), 1 dark sight (it was left at 18, so 19 now)
61: 1 dark sight(max) 2 endure (2)
62-67:3 endure(max)
68-70: 3 steal (9)

In the end: max booster, max mastery, max haste, max savage blow, max endure, max dark site, and 9 steal

This is a build for faster, more stable damage first.

Added Kabanaw's build, added DustBunny's shadower build, and spoilered the rogue builds.

It should be noted that my build was created before SB started at 4 hits.

There is no reason to get level 20 mastery in 2nd job right?

There is no reason to get level 20 mastery in 2nd job right?

Nope, it only adds like +1 accuracy anyways.