what useless skill should i max next?

I am a level 115 pure spear DK. about 11 levels ago, i finished maxing all my important skills, and started maxing spear fury, because i was told its less useless than the other skills. now i have fury in level 30 with 2 spare sp, and i dont know what skill should i max next. i can either max sacrifice, power crush, iron body, or iron will. my skills are as following:

1st job:
hp regeneration max
max hp increase max
endure max
iron body 6
power strike max
slash blast max

2nd job:
spear mastery max
spear final attack max
iron will 3
HB max
spear booster max

3rd job:
spear crusher max
dragon roar max
dragon blood max
sacrifice 3
dragon fury 30
elemental resistance max

2 spare sp

untill level 120 i will have 17 free sp.

and i would also like to ask, what is the most recommended skill build for Dark knights? i am not really sure about what skills should i max first as a dark knight.

Wow, I went what the hell when I looked at the skills you maxed.

Iron Body is totally useless. Pure waste of SPs.
Power crash is as useless.
Endure was maxed? Lol.
Iron Will was supposed to be maxed. o_o
Sacrifice was supposed to be maxed.
No ER? It is essential for higher level training spots.

This is my PADK's build, but it is the same basics than a Spear's.
3rd job:
> Max Dragon Fury
> Max Sacrifice
> Max Dragon Blood.
> Max Dragon Roar
> Max Pole Arm Crusher
> Rest to Elemental Resistance.

For a SpearDK, It'd mainly be:
> Max Spear Crusher
> Max Roar
> Max DB
> 1 into Dragon Fury
> Max Sacrifice or max Fury
> Max Sacrifice or Fury [depending on previous choice]
> Rest to ER.

Who said Spear Dragon Dury was useless? It is essential for mobbing. =/

They have Spear Fury maxed, not PA Fury. It is specifically mentioned in the post that they maxed it because it wasn't useless. The character is pure-Spear, not hybrid or PA. The builds are not the same.

Spear DrKs don't need Sacrifice except as a Berserk-activater. I vote ER, because you're going to be getting hit a lot.

Also, yeah what? Endure is maxed?

They have Spear Fury maxed, not PA Fury. It is specifically mentioned in the post that they maxed it because it wasn't useless. The character is pure-Spear, not hybrid or PA. The builds are not the same.

Spear DrKs don't need Sacrifice except as a Berserk-activater. I vote ER, because you're going to be getting hit a lot.

Also, yeah what? Endure is maxed?

Was I talking about Hybrid? :f6: -Checks again, nope.

I was only comparing that PADKs' and SDKs' builds are similiar. The only thing that changes is the order of the builds and the weapon skills. But my point was to show her that she messed up many of her skills. She would normally have Sacrifice maxed.

But yeah I agree. So put everything into ER. Sacrifice is horrible at low levels.

yeah, finish w/ 19 er. take a point out of spear fury to max it if you want to get rid of some nx.

the reason for the maxed 1st job skills is because you had spare points in 2nd job right? 18 spare sp and nothing to use it on?

did you forget to list a skill or 2? you have 298/348 sp listed.

ER if you don't have it (You've spent 20 3rd job points somewhere...)

Otherwise Power Crash. It's not useless. It definitely beats Sacrifice or Iron Will. Horntail's tail, when it Powers up, boosts damage nearly 5k. Being able to cancel that is far from useless (though, I think Dispel works on it too... but give Priests a break ). Granted it's not good for training, but neither is Sacrifice, except as a tool to get you into Berserk, which doesn't need it maxed.



I dunno if it helps, but my PA DK's 3rd job build was along those lines:
30 Roar
30 PA Fury
30 PA Crusher
30 Sacrifice
20 ER
11 Power Crash
(forgive if I've forgotten)
Without Sacrifice, you'd get Blood and maxed Power Crash instead.

Pure spear dks don't need sac at all. Maybe a few points just so they can put points into roar, but that's it since it would only be used in 4th job to help get into zerk mode if they overpot. Spear crusher is a much stronger attack and doesn't drain hp, so why would they need max sac? o.O You could argue for kb, but that really shouldn't be a problem by the time you hit 4th job.

I'd say use the remaining points on ER. It's still not very useful considering the fact that none of the decent training mobs atm for dark knights do elemental damage, but some bosses do elemental damage so it's not entirely a waste. Power crash would only be useful in bossing, but in major bosses there would usually be a bishop dispelling, so why waste time casting power crash? Unlike power crash, there is no alternative to replacing ER, so you might as well get it.

Pure spear dks don't need sac at all. Maybe a few points just so they can put points into roar, but that's it since it would only be used in 4th job to help get into zerk mode if they overpot. Spear crusher is a much stronger attack and doesn't drain hp, so why would they need max sac? o.O You could argue for kb, but that really shouldn't be a problem by the time you hit 4th job.

I'd say use the remaining points on ER. It's still not very useful considering the fact that none of the decent training mobs atm for dark knights do elemental damage, but some bosses do elemental damage so it's not entirely a waste. Power crash would only be useful in bossing, but in major bosses there would usually be a bishop dispelling, so why waste time casting power crash? Unlike power crash, there is no alternative to replacing ER, so you might as well get it.

One could max or not max Sacrifice for the following reasons (applies to all DKs):

-Berserk activation w/o Roar
-Sacrifice over Fury if they choose to want Sacrifice..

Even though Crusher does better as a SDK, period. Fury fails miserably for a Spear DK. Just like how Polearm fails at Crusher.. But for Polearms, Crusher is almost equivalent to maxed Sac per target. >_> Sac still > it though.

oh pomegranate, i knew i forgot something in the 3rd job skills. i already have ER maxed...

and about the first job skills, they were really messed up, but i fixed it a bit. in lower levels (3x-4x) you could really notice that my max hp is very low, because i maxed hp increase very late (around level 30). now its really unnoticable, because it was only like 300 hp.

the thing is, i made my spearman in the times when warriors used to have 20 luk, so my skill build was considered ok.

EDIT: added a poll.

1 into power crash. the rest are ... still useless. just 1 for the sake of having it. iron body / will will be replaced by beholders buff. in fact, ill just vote power crash.

(My thoughts on each skill are placed into individual spoilers to shorten the post length.)

Sacrifice

 Spoiler

Contrary to popular belief, Sacrifice is not good for Berserk activation while training. Its damage is inconsistent (and therefore its HP reduction). What Sacrifice ends up is aggravating the monster while doing variable damage.

Activating Berserk with Sacrifice with full HP: My Berserk HP is 4.9k (unwashed). My HP is currently full. I can Sacrifice a Skelosaurus a few times to get my HP down to Berserk level. However, in the process, the Skelosaurus has buffed itself (it buffs itself and surrounding monsters before attacking unless it has its own buff already) and has begun to beam at me. At this point I've done an inconsistent amount of damage to it that will allow me to 1~2hko it with Berserked Crusher.

Activating Berserk with Sacrfice with partial HP: Same scenario, but I now have 1/2 my full HP. A single Sacrifice brings me just under Berserk HP (yay), but it aggravates the Skelosaurus and it beams me. Now I still need to Crusher it 3 times, meaning I get beamed twice as opposed to the normal single beam. I would rather just run into the monster to lower my HP. What's worse is that Sacrifice is inconsistent, so it may bring down your HP too much, forcing you to pot.

Activating Berserk without Sacrifice: My Berserk HP is 4.9k (unwashed). My HP is currently full. I Crusher a Skelosaurus, it become aggravated, buffs itself, and begins to beam me. It beams me 2~3 times before it dies, bringing me down to or barely above Berserk HP (in which case I would simply touch another).

Though, I'm not saying Sacrifice is completely useless. It can be used to KB bosses, although Rush does the same thing at a greater consistency. It can be used as Berserk activation, although this, I've found to be only good for bosses that 1/1.

Sacrifice being an effective Berserk activator: I'm at a Left Pianus. It 1/1's me. I use a Ginseng Root to 40% HP, greater than my Berserk20 threshold. I sacrifice it once, and boom, I'm back in Berserk.

But that's my two cents.

Iron Body & Iron Will

 Spoiler

Iron Body's +40 W.Def is negligible when training, as it's damage reduction will be very little. It is also nullified each time you get Rage or Bless, making you rebuff it. It also is replaced by the Hex of the Beholder (80 W.Def and M.Def at Lv20; 100 at Lv25). The same applies for Iron Will's +20 W.Def and M.Def. I only use that skill because I only have to hit that key every 5 minutes. The only noticeable use for Iron Body and Iron Will is to reduce small amounts of damage (like 20) to 1.

Power Crash

 Spoiler

Power Crash... I've never actually found a use for it (and therefore left it at Level 1), although Stereo brings up a point about HT's tail. I suppose that's the one use we have for that skill at this point (even if Dispel = Power Crash + Armor Crash + Magic Crash + Party AllCure with a much larger range).

What I would do is put 1 into PA Crusher, 1 into PA Fury so you can play with PoleArms a bit more (since you can already Sacrifice, Roar, and Rush with them), 1 into Power Crash for the animation, and allocate the other 14 SP into whatever you feel like you'll use most. If anything, you can use the 17 SP to max Iron Will to buff your friends.

As for 4th job Skill Build, there are a lot of factors that go into it like your HP, if you party or solo, what equips and base DEX you have, and whether or not you have access to Berserk 30. The skills you want to max (or get as close to max as possible) are [in no specific order] Beholder (the summon), Berserk, Power Stance, and Maple Warrior, with 1 point in Rush. The rest aren't [as] useful and can wait until after.

Apologies for the overly-extended post. Hope it helps in some way.

Edit: Spear Fury is not useless. Spear Fury acts as a 4th Crusher hit (it does a tad less than a Crusher hit would), but is faster and has greater range. It's also useful as a luring skill (for faster mobs like Dreamy Ghosts) and a weak mob killer with its speed and range (good for quests that require you to kill and/or collect some drop from weak monsters).

 Spoiler

(My thoughts on each skill are placed into individual spoilers to shorten the post length.)

Sacrifice

 Spoiler

Contrary to popular belief, Sacrifice is not good for Berserk activation while training. Its damage is inconsistent (and therefore its HP reduction). What Sacrifice ends up is aggravating the monster while doing variable damage.

Activating Berserk with Sacrifice with full HP: My Berserk HP is 4.9k (unwashed). My HP is currently full. I can Sacrifice a Skelosaurus a few times to get my HP down to Berserk level. However, in the process, the Skelosaurus has buffed itself (it buffs itself and surrounding monsters before attacking unless it has its own buff already) and has begun to beam at me. At this point I've done an inconsistent amount of damage to it that will allow me to 1~2hko it with Berserked Crusher.

Activating Berserk with Sacrfice with partial HP: Same scenario, but I now have 1/2 my full HP. A single Sacrifice brings me just under Berserk HP (yay), but it aggravates the Skelosaurus and it beams me. Now I still need to Crusher it 3 times, meaning I get beamed twice as opposed to the normal single beam. I would rather just run into the monster to lower my HP. What's worse is that Sacrifice is inconsistent, so it may bring down your HP too much, forcing you to pot.

Activating Berserk without Sacrifice: My Berserk HP is 4.9k (unwashed). My HP is currently full. I Crusher a Skelosaurus, it become aggravated, buffs itself, and begins to beam me. It beams me 2~3 times before it dies, bringing me down to or barely above Berserk HP (in which case I would simply touch another).

Though, I'm not saying Sacrifice is completely useless. It can be used to KB bosses, although Rush does the same thing at a greater consistency. It can be used as Berserk activation, although this, I've found to be only good for bosses that 1/1.

Sacrifice being an effective Berserk activator: I'm at a Left Pianus. It 1/1's me. I use a Ginseng Root to 40% HP, greater than my Berserk20 threshold. I sacrifice it once, and boom, I'm back in Berserk.

But that's my two cents.

Iron Body & Iron Will

 Spoiler

Iron Body's +40 W.Def is negligible when training, as it's damage reduction will be very little. It is also nullified each time you get Rage or Bless, making you rebuff it. It also is replaced by the Hex of the Beholder (80 W.Def and M.Def at Lv20; 100 at Lv25). The same applies for Iron Will's +20 W.Def and M.Def. I only use that skill because I only have to hit that key every 5 minutes. The only noticeable use for Iron Body and Iron Will is to reduce small amounts of damage (like 20) to 1.

Power Crash

 Spoiler

Power Crash... I've never actually found a use for it (and therefore left it at Level 1), although Stereo brings up a point about HT's tail. I suppose that's the one use we have for that skill at this point (even if Dispel = Power Crash + Armor Crash + Magic Crash + Party AllCure with a much larger range).

What I would do is put 1 into PA Crusher, 1 into PA Fury so you can play with PoleArms a bit more (since you can already Sacrifice, Roar, and Rush with them), 1 into Power Crash for the animation, and allocate the other 14 SP into whatever you feel like you'll use most. If anything, you can use the 17 SP to max Iron Will to buff your friends.

As for 4th job Skill Build, there are a lot of factors that go into it like your HP, if you party or solo, what equips and base DEX you have, and whether or not you have access to Berserk 30. The skills you want to max (or get as close to max as possible) are [in no specific order] Beholder (the summon), Berserk, Power Stance, and Maple Warrior, with 1 point in Rush. The rest aren't [as] useful and can wait until after.

Apologies for the overly-extended post. Hope it helps in some way.

Edit: Spear Fury is not useless. Spear Fury acts as a 4th Crusher hit (it does a tad less than a Crusher hit would), but is faster and has greater range. It's also useful as a luring skill (for faster mobs like Dreamy Ghosts) and a weak mob killer with its speed and range (good for quests that require you to kill and/or collect some drop from weak monsters).

thanks, that cleared up some stuff. but about 4th job, isnt beholder's aura and hex important too?

Sacrifice

 Spoiler

Contrary to popular belief, Sacrifice is not good for Berserk activation while training. Its damage is inconsistent (and therefore its HP reduction). What Sacrifice ends up is aggravating the monster while doing variable damage.

Activating Berserk with Sacrifice with full HP: My Berserk HP is 4.9k (unwashed). My HP is currently full. I can Sacrifice a Skelosaurus a few times to get my HP down to Berserk level. However, in the process, the Skelosaurus has buffed itself (it buffs itself and surrounding monsters before attacking unless it has its own buff already) and has begun to beam at me. At this point I've done an inconsistent amount of damage to it that will allow me to 1~2hko it with Berserked Crusher.

Activating Berserk with Sacrfice with partial HP: Same scenario, but I now have 1/2 my full HP. A single Sacrifice brings me just under Berserk HP (yay), but it aggravates the Skelosaurus and it beams me. Now I still need to Crusher it 3 times, meaning I get beamed twice as opposed to the normal single beam. I would rather just run into the monster to lower my HP. What's worse is that Sacrifice is inconsistent, so it may bring down your HP too much, forcing you to pot.

Activating Berserk without Sacrifice: My Berserk HP is 4.9k (unwashed). My HP is currently full. I Crusher a Skelosaurus, it become aggravated, buffs itself, and begins to beam me. It beams me 2~3 times before it dies, bringing me down to or barely above Berserk HP (in which case I would simply touch another).

Though, I'm not saying Sacrifice is completely useless. It can be used to KB bosses, although Rush does the same thing at a greater consistency. It can be used as Berserk activation, although this, I've found to be only good for bosses that 1/1.

Sacrifice being an effective Berserk activator: I'm at a Left Pianus. It 1/1's me. I use a Ginseng Root to 40% HP, greater than my Berserk20 threshold. I sacrifice it once, and boom, I'm back in Berserk.

But that's my two cents.

who said you have to be attacking a monster while using sac?
i would think its primary use would be as an alternative to roaring and aggroing a full screen.

who said you have to be attacking a monster while using sac?
i would think its primary use would be as an alternative to roaring and aggroing a full screen.

Sacrifice takes away a percent of the damage you do, if you don't hit a monster it doesn't cost you hp, so you have to attack something.

i maxed sacrifice when i got to this point on my dark knight, only because at that time 4th job had just hit KMS and i needed it to knockback pap into the corner with a party of level 11xs xd

i'd go with sac though, the rest are pomegranate really.

Aura of the Beholder's nice, but I can live without it. Aura sometimes actually messes with your potting. I sometimes pot and Aura would coincidentally activate at the same time and I'd end up being above the Berserk threshold. The healing itself is nice to have though.

I don't have any points in Hex of the Beholder as of now, but by inference the usefulness of this skill isn't too great. I'd rather have the 15% damage reduction from Achilles than the 80 W.Def and M.Def, 20 Acc, and 40 Avoid at Lv20 (I don't plan to get the attack pot killer). You'd have to wait 40 years for me to level 20-30 times before I can tell you anything from experience about that skill though.

i maxed sacrifice when i got to this point on my dark knight, only because at that time 4th job had just hit KMS and i needed it to knockback pap into the corner with a party of level 11xs xd

i'd go with sac though, the rest are pomegranate really.

you can just use rush for that o.o

and as a berserk activater, sacrifice is better in a lower level, since it take more % of hp =\

wow, i never thought i would ever get to this state, not having anything to do with sp :f6:

i put 1 point to power crush for fun. 16 to go.

Seems like just everything I wanted to say was already pointed out, if you want, read here in regards to builds:

Kasuhitomi/Ebikyo's Guide to the 3 types of Dragon Knights

One more thing I forgot to mention, Hex overrides Blood, too lazy to check if you have Blood. If you have Blood maxed or at 19 pts, don't bother getting Hex, really. Waste of points to have one skill that does more than the previous, if you're not going to use the previous. If you get Blood, don't get Hex. If you get Hex, ditch your plan to get Blood if you want to make good use of your 4th job SPs.

Power Crash has very .... limited uses, and I doubt you'll even use it. >_> I'd always prefer Sacrifice to Crash, but every DK thinks differently. I was a PADK, if you wanted to know.

what im wondering is, if sacrifice is used as a berserk activator, wouldnt it be better for it to be low leveled? the higher sacrifice is the lower the hp it takes.

what im wondering is, if sacrifice is used as a berserk activator, wouldnt it be better for it to be low leveled? the higher sacrifice is the lower the hp it takes.

If the main purpose of you using Sac IS ONLY to do that, then yes. But if you intend on doing high-tier 5-digits damage with it too, this includes before reaching your Berserk limit, then it is better to be half-maxed or maxed.

Why? Higher levelled-Sac = less HP reduction, less likelihood to die trying to 'serk. But that's just what I think.

Imagine a situation where you're at 100% HP, use a couple Sacs where you are doing 20% per Sac vs a situation where you're doing 30-35% HP reduction with Sac.