Leveling as a Scout

[Grizantir]

Sorry if this question has been addressed before, but I was wondering if anyone could clarify with a post-modern answer. I'm currently a level 58 Scout and I am just not sure where to train and how to effectively train. I read up on guides that said training should be done on monsters where only one ankle blow is required and that's what I've been doing. I'm just not sure if I am actually training effectively and where exactly I should train. What type of exp I should be getting and what kind of hits I should be doing.


I also apologize if this is in the wrong section, I'm still fairly new. Thank you.

[opensunflowers]

It is in the wrong section, the proper one would be the Archer class forum. But that's okay. ;) [I'm sure someone will move it there, anyways!]

If you're looking for like, 1% a kill, I think you are going to be sadly disappointed. Exp starts to suck after like, 55. (even more so after like, 96, then even MORE after like, 140...etc., etc.)

At 58 you can try maps around Eir. Generally, you can either tackle a few monsters (red/pink names) for a bigger chunk of exp per kill, or lots of monsters (white/graying names) for a lot of little chunks of exp. Mostly it's whatever you think is a good rate, is a good rate.

My level 66 scout tackles Loren Valley, where monsters require one ankle bind (sometimes a second for the last two hits) and I get about .2 exp per kill.

I strongly suggest if you have the means to, buy the Horror Mask from the cash shop. Or the Red Attack Bell. Also, go to the hot springs and hatch some eggs! (Amazing attack boost for 30 minutes!) With those two, you'll hit a lot harder and level quicker. And if you can't buy sparkcash, there are a ton of ways to earn free sparkcash. :3

I'm sure someone who has a main as an Archer can help you in a bit more detail than I. xD

But I hope it helped. At least a little. D:

[SirNivekOne]

As long as the monsters don't run away and are grey/white to you, you should be doing okay on exp. I think the damage range should be 300 to 400 for each of your attacks. And you should be able to fit in about 6 to 7 shots before ankle bind wears off? And exp... maybe .07 per kill? I'm not sure, but I think you would be training at North/East Eir, right?

Personally, I kill where it takes two ankle binds. That way, I can hunt for my next gears =D. Although it increases your chance of death DX. And places with one ankle bind are faster exp anyway. Though, those are hard to find when you are low level cause most of the time, your damage isn't high enough and the monsters start running away before you can kill them with only one ankle bind... -_-;

[Grizantir]

Thanks for the answer. Also, perhaps their are some quests I can do for exp? So far the ones I've done are the Mine quest with the polluted souls, Marians ring quest, and the bone quest. Are their any others that give major exp? Also the last two only gave me about 20% total. Interesting, I always thought Archers leveled faster than other classes because they can tackle red monsters sooner. I guess it's not the case, huh?

[himoses]

Do you use Toasty Eggs, level 3 mount, attack skill pet, attack pearls, and SC blue towel ATK +30 buffs? Toasty Eggs, a mount, and SC towel will net you pretty nice damage even with a ap 4 bow. You might want to consider doing some ice maps. Those 2/4 maps are pretty nice. Rud is pretty tame at level 58, but still a place to get decent experience. My lvl 66 scout gets about .07 a kill in Rud unboosted. You should get close to twice that.

As for quests, you are pretty much stuck with the repeatable bone quest until you reach 65. Then you have the alternate component quest, but that takes like 20 or 30 fairy powders (I forget) and a meridian r. The experience is decent and you used to get a xen stone when you completed it. Next, you have a few Cobalt cave quests (not sure which work and which are still broken like delivery of first aid), sea peoples quest (73) and library quests (80+). The cobalt, alternate component, and sea peoples quest give pretty good experience. I remember getting at least 25% or more unboosted for each quest. Too bad boost does not affect quests any more.

[wardomic]

At lvl 65 there is a quest that i hear gives pretty good exp(have never done it myself) but is expensive and said to be not worth it because it requires Fairy Powder which is also used for the pet quest.

At lvl 70 there's Expedition of Cobalt Caves which involves getting 50 Fragments of Eroded souls, 40 Pieces of Eroded Souls, and 30 Eroded souls which isn't worth it if you farm it yourself of course but if you buy the items from other people it's really fast exp. Same goes with Another Ordeal which requires 30 Image Stone Pieces, 30 Spirit Stone Pieces, and 20 Soul Stones.

At lvl 71 there's a quest that involves going to a guard located on the 2nd floor of cobalt caves 3 times(starts down there) and would be best to have a high level escort.

At lvl 73 There's the Sea Pages quest which gives about 30% at that level, again easiest to buy the stuff

That pretty much covers the quests until you get to the library at lvl 80 where theres another one that requires a high level escort, followed by the daily ubook quest which stay good all the way until lvl 100 in my opinion.

Until you get to these quest levels It would be best to continue grinding using whatever tips people give you and doing the bone quest every other day if you can afford it. That quest stays good until about lvl 70ish

[comp4ssion]

Oh, it's definitely true that Archers level faster than other classes and can handle red mobs much sooner. Of all the classes I've operated in the level 5x range (which is all of them), Scout was the fastest leveler. Here are a few things I recommend for getting the most out of your Scout grinding time:

1. Get the VERY best bow you can afford. Scouts below level 71 don't need good armor because they can't AOE, so save the money that you would spend on armor and invest it in a good bow instead. The damage difference between a +1/4AP bow that you buy on the cheap and a +5/6AP bow that you have to shell out for is worth every penny, at least in my opinion.

2. Take an Acolyte with you. Even at level 41, the extra 12 Defense and 5 Attack the Acolyte provides you with, as well as the money that you would otherwise spend on HP pots, are well worth the EXP offset. As an aside, the EXP offset is actually smaller if your Acolyte attacks the mob too. (If your acolyte has a decent Magic stat or is close to you in level, their attacks will also slow down the mob even more than Ankle alone. VERY helpful.) Many older healers (mine included) got a great many levels teaming up with SARs, and a great many old-school Rangers got their levels by endless grinds in close-ranged, hard maps with a healer along for backup.

3. With a good bow and maybe an assistant, feel free to push the envelope with those red mobs. Try not to exceed two binds per kill, as leveling becomes more dangerous in direct proportion with how long it takes to kill.

Here is a short list of places to train. The levels you see below and their correspondence to the maps listed are suggestions based on the PRESENCE of a good bow, and the ABSENCE of an attack bell, horror mask, or decent mount. If you have a horror mask or level 2+ mount, you'll want to go down a line; if you have both, you can probably go down two lines.

Just starting out (mid level 4x): Cyoren/Shaio/Belteranin Forest/immediately north and south of Candyvault
High 4x-low 5x: West Eir (Bailey/Hooters); their mirror maps near Chanthery Gorge (Elwood et.al)
Mid 5x-around 60: East Candyvault, first maps north and east of Eir/Pharaday/Lifeline area
Low-mid 6x: Titanus/Skitchy/Proteron/Vanderoll/Marque Basin/Scorging Plains/Rudwork Path
High 6x-low 7x: North Jot, up to about Buisiness Plains/Loren/Kramer
Mid-high 7x: Between Ivolgue and Edine/Goofball and Edine
80-84: Edine/Blackmail; Chanthery Gorge/Acidbath Valley (mind the ranged hitters!)
85-90: Phildevilt Plateau, Lost Wedge Valley (Investment in Attack wings highly recommended)
91-95: Turmeit Desert, Sherwood (very few healers track there these days, so stock up on pots)

I think after level 96, you'll have a good understanding of your class and how to train it. I also feel it's worth mentioning that between levels 80 and 96, the option of serving as a binder in library parties is available to you and may help you learn proper binding techniques if you see yourself partying as a binder in higher level AOE parties.

[Grizantir]

Right now if I use all the buffs, etc I can hit around 750-820 damage with Wind Blow. I don't have any attack pearls or any mounts, but I do use the benefits of free SC from surveys to assist me. My bow is fairly decent also. Right now at Rudwork I can kill everything in 5-6 Wind Blows, granting me about .35% per kill. Where can I find Ivologue and Edine? I'd like to try the 7x areas you mentioned.

[comp4ssion]

Ivolgue is two maps past Loren Valley, which you can find a short jaunt east of the Trisects. Keep going in the same direction 3 maps past Ivolgue and you'll find Edine.

Ivolgue, Empion, and Morpheus Forests, as well as their mirror maps (Goofball, Presenal, and Daniella Plains) are 3/4 maps, and as such, are very popular spots for the lower mid-level AOErs. Mind the respawns, and try moving if you find yourself repeatedly aggroed under those circumstances.

Monster Defense is actually effective against Wind Blow's damage, so against much stronger mobs than you're used to, don't be surprised to see your damage decrease substantially. If you're not above level 61, I personally don't recommend going any farther than Kramer/Ivolgue/Presenal/Goofball because your damage might not be high enough to kite safely even with a beefed up attack score.

[Grizantir]

Thanks for the advice guys. I'm level 59 now and I'm finding that Chantery Gorge is the best exp. I get about .95% per kill here and although it takes 2 ankle binds it seems to be fantastic. Also the 6 AP gears are like a jackpot for me :)

[opensunflowers]

Ivolgue is two maps past Loren Valley, which you can find a short jaunt east of the Trisects. Keep going in the same direction 3 maps past Ivolgue and you'll find Edine.

Ivolgue, Empion, and Morpheus Forests, as well as their mirror maps (Goofball, Presenal, and Daniella Plains) are 3/4 maps, and as such, are very popular spots for the lower mid-level AOErs. Mind the respawns, and try moving if you find yourself repeatedly aggroed under those circumstances.

Monster Defense is actually effective against Wind Blow's damage, so against much stronger mobs than you're used to, don't be surprised to see your damage decrease substantially. If you're not above level 61, I personally don't recommend going any farther than Kramer/Ivolgue/Presenal/Goofball because your damage might not be high enough to kite safely even with a beefed up attack score.

Pfft, Comp, who walks through Loren these days to get to Edine? Just warp to Hot Springs, silly. ;)

[comp4ssion]

Cool, good to hear. If that map isn't too insane for you, you can probably move to Phil as early as level 71. If you think the 6AP gears in Chant are good, you'll love what you loot in Phil. ;D

Edit: And Taney, I do. Cause I'm a glutton for supersadomasochisticexpialidocious in-game punishment.

Although seriously, when I developed this mental list, the Midori Spa transporter hadn't been implemented yet.

[tazsbigtoy]

My mid seventies scout plays in Chant if he's solo. I don't usually do much with the ice maps unless I have a healer as the ice balls are very annoying and, with the exception of Edine, the Chant experience per kill is much better. I find chant to usually be less agro unless there are multiple aoe parties in it too. My gear is good and with a red bow he does mid 400's on damage. It usually takes 2 binds to kill. Add a toasty egg or attack candy to that and he can kill in one bind. I have a level 9 skill critical pet also, so my crits are good. I am still looking for a level 80 6ap helm, so will probably haunt Chant and Edine until I find one. With a 100% boost he gets about a percent every 5 kills though, so hard to beat that without really uping the risk factor. Wish my sin or templar could level at that rate.

[violator2k5]

who ever told you go to where you can kill in 1 bind is wrong, at lvl 56 i was doing loren and beyond every now and then while spending some time in eir also.

you should go where you feel comfortable and can kill fastish so you make a decent amount of exp per hour.

a little warning, using mounts as a scout is bugged a little especially when you move around a lot instead of standing in 1 spot killing. you'll notice a little drag when you run

[Grizantir]

who ever told you go to where you can kill in 1 bind is wrong, at lvl 56 i was doing loren and beyond every now and then while spending some time in eir also.

you should go where you feel comfortable and can kill fastish so you make a decent amount of exp per hour.

a little warning, using mounts as a scout is bugged a little especially when you move around a lot instead of standing in 1 spot killing. you'll notice a little drag when you run


I notice a drag without a mount as well. In fact, it's quite annoying sometimes since the monsters can hit me even though it seems I am a distance away.

[comp4ssion]

I notice a drag without a mount as well. In fact, it's quite annoying sometimes since the monsters can hit me even though it seems I am a distance away.

To address this drag issue: This seems to have come into more noticeable effect at around the same time that monster free roaming got glitched. Most of the community collectively hypothesizes that it's simply a timing error in client/server communication, and it has affected me on my Scout as well, both mounted and unmounted.

When this unpleasant drag effect comes into play, here are a few tips to work around it.

-Notice the location of your pets, particularly if they are standing still. This is the server's interpretation of your actual position; if the mob is still a few steps away from your pet, it's OK to keep shooting; if not, bind your enemy, wait about one to two seconds, and then continue on your shooting spree.

-The range of your attacks is determined by the server's interpretation of your position, which means that if your pet is several steps out in front of you and your opponent is several steps away from it, your ranged attacks will still reach despite the fact that you appear too far away on your screen.

-During certain periods of skill spamming (such as double kiting, for example), the client/server timing error occasionally seems to try to rectify itself, which results in what appears to be your character running towards your opponent despite the fact that you are trying to get your character to run in the opposite direction. Keep running and kiting until the battle is over, then stop to rest for a few moments if possible.

-If the drag effect is too intense or persistent, it can sometimes be temporarily alleviated ("temporarily" meaning anything from a few minutes to the rest of your playing session) by either a brief return to the character selection screen or a complete relog.

[Grizantir]

who ever told you go to where you can kill in 1 bind is wrong, at lvl 56 i was doing loren and beyond every now and then while spending some time in eir also.

you should go where you feel comfortable and can kill fastish so you make a decent amount of exp per hour.

a little warning, using mounts as a scout is bugged a little especially when you move around a lot instead of standing in 1 spot killing. you'll notice a little drag when you run

To address this drag issue: This seems to have come into more noticeable effect at around the same time that monster free roaming got glitched. Most of the community collectively hypothesizes that it's simply a timing error in client/server communication, and it has affected me on my Scout as well, both mounted and unmounted.

When this unpleasant drag effect comes into play, here are a few tips to work around it.

-Notice the location of your pets, particularly if they are standing still. This is the server's interpretation of your actual position; if the mob is still a few steps away from your pet, it's OK to keep shooting; if not, bind your enemy, wait about one to two seconds, and then continue on your shooting spree.

-The range of your attacks is determined by the server's interpretation of your position, which means that if your pet is several steps out in front of you and your opponent is several steps away from it, your ranged attacks will still reach despite the fact that you appear too far away on your screen.

-During certain periods of skill spamming (such as double kiting, for example), the client/server timing error occasionally seems to try to rectify itself, which results in what appears to be your character running towards your opponent despite the fact that you are trying to get your character to run in the opposite direction. Keep running and kiting until the battle is over, then stop to rest for a few moments if possible.

-If the drag effect is too intense or persistent, it can sometimes be temporarily alleviated ("temporarily" meaning anything from a few minutes to the rest of your playing session) by either a brief return to the character selection screen or a complete relog.



I see, thank you. Hopefully this can get addressed sometime. Thanks for all the input guys. Next step is to save up for pearls/wings/mounts :)

[comp4ssion]

I would prioritize:

Attack wings are the least expensive of the three, but aren't equippable until level 85. If you can afford an attack mount sooner with enough funds to spare for attack wings by level 85, I would opt for the mount first. If you're not too sure, or if you're loath to farming, or if making money is difficult for you, then maybe go with the wings first, as the difference in speed between mounted killing and unmounted killing really begins to diminish after Archer level. Either way, save the pearls for last, since good ones carry simply ridiculous price tags.

[Grizantir]

I would prioritize:

Attack wings are the least expensive of the three, but aren't equippable until level 85. If you can afford an attack mount sooner with enough funds to spare for attack wings by level 85, I would opt for the mount first. If you're not too sure, or if you're loath to farming, or if making money is difficult for you, then maybe go with the wings first, as the difference in speed between mounted killing and unmounted killing really begins to diminish after Archer level. Either way, save the pearls for last, since good ones carry simply ridiculous price tags.


Fair enough, I'll start saving my Xens. Level 85 seems to be a month or more off and that's IF I can get more SC from surveys since this game is just unbearable without the bells and books, but yeah.

[kaorume]

sup!! :D
i was leveling with my scout and someone told me to raise agi instead of men or pow ... my question is what should i rise first and why?
have a great day ^^

[comp4ssion]

Raiase POW first, because Scouts are designed to be able to carry a good amount of Potions. Without enough POW early on, you'll just have to re-pot constantly like a Rogue. After you have enough WT to keep yourself stocked in potions for at least half an hour of non-stop grinding, you can start investing in AGI for extra Dodge and a few extra criticals.