Endgame Wrote:I'm interested in trying out Dragon Nest. What would be a DN South Perry equivalent site for reading up on skill builds, class differences (There's two paths for each advancement from what I can tell.), and such?
Yeah, for the most part, we'd have to explain everything ourselves. The more organized English DN communities died out earlier in the year. As in, the sites are completely gone.
On top of that, there was a major skill revamp recently known as T4, and there's no english skill simulator for that. (DN's updating rate is rather mixed. We tend to get updates such as skill tweaks within 2-3 months of them being made in the Korean version, even if they weren't made with our current level cap in mind. Hell, just about all of the content we got in our latest patch was made with 50 cap in mind, while we are still at the level 40 cap.)
These are the classes. I'll explain the basic class, but if you want to hear more about the second and third specialization classes, ask. I've played every class but two (Paladin and Swordsman) up to Level 40.
Be aware that there is a gender lock. This game treats the various classes as actual characters, rather than something generic.
- Male: Cleric and Warrior
- Female: Archer, Sorceress, and Tinkerer
---
Archer: Archers as a whole have low HP, but more skills that grant them invincibility frames than any other class. They have great single-target DPS, with a naturally high critical hit rate. Their standard 'wake-up' skill (get up when grounded) also grants the longest invincibility frames of all the classes.
- Sharpshooter (ranged Longbow/Crossbow) -> Sniper (physical) or Artillery (magical)
- Acrobat (melee Shortbow) -> Tempest (raw damage) or Wind Walker (mobility)
Cleric: Clerics have the highest HP and defenses in the game (in a game where defense actually matters), but they lack a 'Power Tumble' skill to help them escape knockdown -> ground combos once they are forced into one, but they have the ability to block attacks at the cost of interrupting whatever they're doing. Their DPS is also typically the lowest of all classes, but they are the most reliable healers and tankers.
- Paladin (balanced Mace/Flail) -> Crusader (magical DPS) or Guadian (physical tanking)
- Priest (magic Wand) -> Inquisitor (lightning DPS) or Saint (relic/buff support)
Sorceress: Sorceresses are great crowd-clearers, and offer amazing offensive support through inflicting a wide variety of status effects (in a game where status effects and debuffs work on almost everything in the game, along with effects stacking with each other). Their HP and defenses are comparable to that of Archers, but have far higher MP. They have three different off-hand weapons (Grimoire, Orb, Puppet), but they don't affect anything other than their left-click attack.
- Elementalist (fire/ice magic) -> Saleana/Pyromancer (Fire DPS) or Elestra/Ice Witch (Ice crowd control)
- Mystic (dark gravity/laser magic) -> Majesty/Chaos Mage (Dark crowd control) or Smasher/War Mage (neutral DPS/support)
Warriors: Warriors have the second highest HP and defenses in the game, but the lowest MP. They are the most mobile class in the game, with the ability to dash across the battlefield at double speed (although they can only use a few attacks while dashing). They have the easiest time interrupting enemy attacks, and they have several support debuffs and buffs as well. Like Clerics though, they lack a 'power tumble' skill, but their skills have naturally high Super Armor (not being interrupted while attacking).
- Swordsman (greatsword) -> Gladiator (physical close combat) or Moon Lord/Lunar Knight (magical AoE)
- Mercenary (axe/hammer) -> Barbarian (multi-hit DPS/debuff) or Destroyer (single-hit interruption/buff)
Academic/Tinkerer: Tinkerers are a newer class, and a bit of an odd one. They are the only female class without a 'Power Tumble' skill, but their basic evasion skill gives them further distance compared to the others. Their HP and defenses are comparable to that of a Sorceress. Offensively, they're sort of a jack of all trades with a ton of summons (if Engineer) or massive AoEs (if Alchemist) thrown in the mix, along with several skills to trip up opponents.
- Engineer (physical Cannon) -> Shooting Star (direct cannon skills) or Gear Master (robotic summoner)
- Alchemist (magical Bubble Blaster) -> Adept (fire/ice DPS) or Physician (dark/light support)
Be aware that the Tinkerer's story assumes that you've played one of the other four characters up to the end of the Level 40 main quests. Her story can spoil what happens to the others towards their Level 38-40 main quest as early as around level 25. If you're the type of person that cares about the story, the Tinkerer should not be your first character.
(I wouldn't advise having the Tinkerer as your first character regardless. Their fighting style and skill design is nothing like the other classes, and they can die very, very easily.)
---
Second specialization can be accessed at Level 15, and the decision is permanent. Third specialization is accessed at Level 45, and the decision can be changed through the use of an NX job change scroll, but second specialization content isn't available in our version yet, since our current level cap is 40.
Leveling is very, very fast in this game, so don't feel as if you only have to pick one. Questing gives the most EXP in this game. Quest when you can, because questing is now far faster than straight-up dungeon grinding, and the writing in this game is something amazing anyways.
(I made a Priest in the East servers about 5 days ago, and he's already Level 39... I only have to dungeon like 2-3 times in order to level up now, compared to pre-patch 6-9+ times.)