Mark
2011-04-26, 02:10 AM
http://i1220.photobucket.com/albums/dd445/ExorcistEnlightenment/Beginner%20Guide/Banner.png
Because I am THIS bored.
Nah. Boredom isn't the real reason I wrote this. The main reason is because starting a new MMO can be intimidating. All those NPCs, weird buttons on your UI, skill trees, where is a fresh face in Arad to begin? Hopefully this little guide can help lighten the load on your first time online and make your transition to a DFO pro a lot smoother.
-Table of Contents-
I. Menus
a. Settings
b. Hotkeys
c. Chat
d. Map of Arad
---
II. Important NPCs
a. Grandis
b. Loton
c. Kiri
d. Roger
e. Seria
---
III. Channels, Dungeons, Towers and Blitz Points
a. Blitz Points
b. Towers/Altars
c. Channels
d. Dungeons
---
IV. Miscellaneous Tips
V. How to make DOSH
------------
I. Menus
Okay, so you've picked your class, read the introductory comic (or not) and have now landed on the first map of the game. Get accustomed to the controls, slay the Goblins, etc. Easy stuff. When you rescue Seria, she will bring you back to her room and reward you. Now you can really begin.
Before you go Dungeon Fighting, I suggest taking a look at the menus and set up things to your preference.
http://i1220.photobucket.com/albums/dd445/ExorcistEnlightenment/Beginner%20Guide/Menu1.png
On the bottom of your UI you'll see these five blue buttons. Click on them to bring up various menus to use at your leisure. (Or press the hotkeys once you've set them) Something to note on this menu is Professions.
When you hit level 20 you can take up a Profession. A job within your job. Once you complete the quest and become your desired Profession you can put all those items NPCs gave you from gifting to use.
Now we get to the fun stuff. Customizing your settings and hotkeys to your preference.
http://i1220.photobucket.com/albums/dd445/ExorcistEnlightenment/Beginner%20Guide/menu.jpg
Clicking on Settings will bring up this menu.
Mode - Toggle how you will view DFO on your computer.
Enable V-Synch - Improves frame rate, but may cause image tearing.
Skill Effects - If your computer sucks like mine keep it on Low. If you want to see all the pretty effects, put it on High.
Shadow Effect - It is what it is. Toggle the shadow effects on or off.
Class Advancement Avatar - Toggle the class change cosmetics.
Skill Cut-Scene - When you Awaken or party with high level people they might pull out their strongest skills which will add a little graphic briefly on your screen. If it annoys you, turn it off.
Aura Effects - Turns the aura avatar feature on or off.
Party Effect Opacity - Lowering this slider will make skills used by party members invisible to you. Highly useful if you party with those darned Summoners.
SE/BGM/Environment - Moving these bars back and forth will allow you a chance to gain more gold and rare items in dungeons.
Nah. They're options to lower or raise the Music or Sound Effects. Jeez.
Play Mode - Allows you to easily select if you want to see what everyone has to say, or play in complete solitude.
Refuse Chat/Party/PvP/Mentor/GuildTrade Requests - Simple enough. Make it so you don't get spammed to death by desperate people looking to bug you with whatever.
Signature Rotation - Name is kinda misleading. What this really does is allow you to toggle between your Guild name/PvP Rank or Title graphic above your IGN. If you have it on it'll cycle through both at set intervals, or you can turn it off to keep it set to one. When it's turned off you can set a hotkey to change it whenever you wish.
Dungeon Status - When you're in a dungeon you'll see a Rank and Combo counter on the right side of your screen. This allows you to turn it on or off.
http://i1220.photobucket.com/albums/dd445/ExorcistEnlightenment/Beginner%20Guide/Hotkeys.jpg
Clicking on Hotkeys will allow you to edit quite a lot of DFO's key commands. I suggest you go through 'em all to be able to play as comfortably as you can.[/spoiler]
http://i1220.photobucket.com/albums/dd445/ExorcistEnlightenment/Beginner%20Guide/Chat.jpg
On the top left of your screen is your text box. This is where all of your chatting, dungeon info, etc. will go. You can click on the various tabs to disable what you don't want to see. It can get quite spammy in dungeons with every option enabled.
Due to recent changes in the Rebirth patch, you can now have all chat options on a seperate window if you play in windowed mode.[/spoiler]
Map of Arad
Pressing your map key (default is N) in town will bring up a map of the Arad continent.
Here you can search Quests, Dungeons, NPCs, and see where your party members are by using the drop down menus located up top. Pressing your map key in dungeons will allow you to see where the Boss is located.
---
II. Important NPCs
Arad has many NPCs. Some are more important to you than others. Which means you'll be visiting these NPCs quite a bit.
http://i1220.photobucket.com/albums/dd445/ExorcistEnlightenment/Beginner%20Guide/37.png
Grandis is the first important NPC you'll see after you leave Elvenguard. When you get to Sky Tower dungeons you will be able to start a Quest line having to deal with Hell Mode. Hell Mode is fun little side thing to do in dungeons. It can randomly appear while you're partying with friends, or you can force a Hell Mode by using a Demon Stone Grandis gave you. However, you can only force a Hell after you have completed the Quest from Grandis for that particular area.
Why should you face Hell?
http://i1220.photobucket.com/albums/dd445/ExorcistEnlightenment/Beginner%20Guide/Hell.jpg
When you defeat a Hell Party they may drop various Demon Eyes. You can trade them in to Grandis for higher ranked Demon Eyes. Radiant Demon Eyes are used to buy Epic weapons, gear, or you can trade them in for more Demon scrolls. Epic gear is a lot more powerful than most of the gear you will come across, and as such won't be easy to get. When you get to higher level dungeons (45+) you will be able to obtain Epics from the Hell party you have defeated. But keep in mind they only drop Epics on the Insane difficulty which rarely shows up if you get a random Hell. But it's a 50% chance to get Insane mode for a forced Hell.
http://i1220.photobucket.com/albums/dd445/ExorcistEnlightenment/Beginner%20Guide/12.png
Loton is the second one you'll see when you first get to Hendon Myre. He has a service where you can disassemble (grind up) weapons and armor for cube fragments. Keep in mind that not all weapons and armor should be sent to the grinder.
http://i1220.photobucket.com/albums/dd445/ExorcistEnlightenment/Beginner%20Guide/Weapons.png
Weapons and armor you find in dungeons or pots will come in various colors.
White isn't worth grinding. They don't give colored cube fragments and should just be NPC'd for gold.
Blue gear is what you'll be grinding the most and will be giving you a lot of cube fragments. Both clear and colored.
Purple gear is rarer than White and Blue and gives low grade elemental crystals instead of colored cube fragments.
Legacy only comes from pots you find in dungeons or buy from certain NPCs, but otherwise act just like Purple gear.
Pink weapons are the rarest of them all. Grinding up Pinks will yield high grade elemental crystals.
I suggest selling Purple, Legacy, and Pink gear to other players instead of grinding them. They can be worth some money. Or use them if you want. Be careful though, they become untradeable as soon as you equip them.
There are other types of weapons and armor I didn't mention but you won't be seeing those for a while.
http://i1220.photobucket.com/albums/dd445/ExorcistEnlightenment/Beginner%20Guide/grinder.png
Simply drag and drop your selected item into the grinder and press 'OK'. After a short animation it'll spit up cube fragments for you. You'll be needing A LOT of these in your journey through Arad so make sure you do this as often as you can.
Sometimes while grinding up gear you'll get a critical return or a "jackpot". Which means you will receive a high amount of colored cube fragments/crystals. Higher level gear means a bigger jackpot.
http://i1220.photobucket.com/albums/dd445/ExorcistEnlightenment/Beginner%20Guide/14.png
Ugh. Kiri. Biggest scam artist of all the NPCs. She has a service where you can upgrade your weapons and armor to increase their attack and defense respectively. The catch is it costs gold to do this. Sometimes a lot of gold...
I recommend you don't try this until you're near level cap. It can get depressing.
But if you're feeling bold drag and drop your weapon or armor of choice (victim) into the Reinforcer and press 'OK'. After a short animation you will see if you succeeded or failed the reinforcement. When you succeed for the first time it'll show a +1 next to the item's name and you'll now have piercing attack (if a weapon) or boosted defense (if armor). As you go through reinforcements, the number will get higher. The higher your reinforcement, the more likely you are to start failing. When you fail before +7 it will drop down to a previous reinforcement.
White and Blue gear start breaking after +7.
Purple, Pink, Epic, and Chronicle gear have a chance to drop 3 reinforcement levels if you fail between +7 and +10. They will start to break after +10.
This is purely a gamble of course. No risk no reward. The higher your reinforcement, the stronger your gear becomes. As you probably would have guessed, anything after +7 won't be easy to obtain.
http://i1220.photobucket.com/albums/dd445/ExorcistEnlightenment/Beginner%20Guide/25.png
Roger can be found in West Coast near the Sky Tower dungeons. He's a pretty cool guy and will help you with any kind of material forging you'll need.
You'll mainly be using him to create big cubes from your cube fragments. But he can also create finer materials from various monster drops.
http://i1220.photobucket.com/albums/dd445/ExorcistEnlightenment/Beginner%20Guide/1.png
Last but not least, there is Seria. The girl you rescued from the horrible Goblins. She sells potions to use in dungeons for a pretty cheap price, and deals with a lot of event quests.
You can also buy potions from Linus, Loton, and Lorianne, but Seria is more convenient because she can be found in nearly every area of Arad by entering her room.
---
III. Channels, Dungeons, Towers and Blitz Points
Blitz Points - When you start a new character or begin DFO each day at 6am PST you will be given 400 Blitz Points (BP) to use in dungeons. The little blue bar above your menu buttons is your Blitz Points. Each time you enter a room in a dungeon your BP depletes by 1 point. When you run out of BP you enter 'BLITZ OFF' and become a plague on society. You'll no longer get ANY drops from dungeons. This affects your party as well.
Towers/Altars - These can be located in the Valley of Fallen Souls on your map. You are given 5 Invitations to enter a Tower each day, and it resets at 6am PST like BP. Towers don't use up BP. There are two towers and altars in our version currently, with more on the way.
Tower of Illusion (15 Floors) - Easier of the two. Can be soloed during your lower to mid levels.
Tower of Death (45 Floors) - As it's name implies, you could possibly die. A lot. This tower is very difficult to solo to completion at lower and mid levels.
Altar of Inifinity - This is the first of the two altars that you will be able to enter. When you enter AoI you'll have to clear 15 waves of enemies to get your reward. At the end every 5 waves you'll have to face the room's boss before you can move on. When you finish all 15 waves and defeat Agares you'll be awarded a 'Reaper Blood' which will come in handy.
Altar of Ascension - Hands down the toughest dungeon in the Valley of Fallen Souls. You won't get to do this place until you reach level 65, and you can only enter 3 times a day. You have to survive 7 rounds of really tough enemies to come out on top in this place. There is an easy and a hard path. Taking the easy path is pretty much a no go, since some of the enemies are harder than the hard path. Just go all hard and learn their gimmicks If you can defeat Anodron you might be rewarded with a Bind Sphere which can be sold for good money or used to get random equipment.
Channels - As you level up and progress through Arad's continent you'll want to change your channel to match the area you're in. Not only does this give you extra EXP, but it also helps you find parties. Since you're probably just beginning, you'll want to stay in the Grand Flores channel, and change to the Sky Tower channel when you get there.
Dungeons - Finally, we have the main course of DFO. Dungeons are where you'll be spending a lot of your play time. Each dungeon in the game has 4 difficulties to choose from once you've unlocked them. The higher the difficulty you clear a dungeon on, the more EXP you will receive.
Normal Road (EXP: 100%) - The default difficulty when you reach a new dungeon and the easiest. Monsters have low HP and below average AI.
Experts Road (EXP: 140%) - A small step up from Normal. Monsters gain more HP, attack and have slight evasion and AI increase. Unlocking this from Normal Road is too easy.
Masters Road (EXP: 180%) - This is where you'll start to feel the pain. As expected, monster HP, attack, evasion, and AI is boosted even higher. You need a B rank or above from Experts Road to unlock this difficulty.
Kings Road (EXP: 220%) - Lastly we have Kings. I hope you brought some potions. Monster HP, attack, evasion, and AI is at an all time high. To unlock Kings Road you need an S rank or above from Masters Road.
So you're probably wondering how to keep your rank above an S so you can unlock Kings Road. Each time you strike a monster twice, a combo counter will pop up on the right side of your screen. As long as you hit a monster more than once you'll keep up a high rank. However, if you have a habit of striking a monster once and dropping your combo, your combo rate and rank will suffer.
-It's easier to get S ranks with less people. Maybe it's me but I noticed the rankings were influenced by the performance or lack thereof of party members. So if you wanna get Kings it's best to try and solo Masters and whack everything twice before they die. -Aesop.
You'll also notice some monsters in the dungeon seem to glow. These special monsters are Champion or Mutant monsters. They usually gain some special God tier buff to help them out. Killing these monsters will add a treasure to your reward cards and sometimes drop Ryan Cokes which you'll need to upgrade your weapons. The higher the dungeon difficulty, the more likely you are to find Mutant monsters.
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IV. Miscellaneous Tips
-When you level up you will gain Skill Points (SP). These can be used to purchase skills from your job instructor.
-Going to a dungeon? Grab every quest you can that applies to that dungeon. You can only hold up to 10 quests at a time, so stack them wisely. This helps you level more efficiently. Don't forget your Epic Quests as well.
-Loot everything that drops in a dungeon. Since you're just starting out you'll need all the potions, and money you can get.
-Get into the habit of repairing your gear. If you let your durability run out and your weapon or armor breaks, you will lose all the benefits from that certain piece of equipment. After each dungeon Delilah will appear to repair your gear and buy your worthless items from you. If you forget to use her, there are NPCs in town that can repair as well.
-When you reach level 20 you'll be able to advance to your sub class. When you complete the advancement, you will gain a free SP reset. Which means before level 20 you can put SP anywhere you want. After you advance however you'll want to plan your skill build better. Consult this planner (http://arad.ofli.es/) to help you out unless you want to buy a skill reset from the Cash shop.
-Epic quests will give you QP. You can use these to purchase permanent stat boosts for your character.
-Be friends with the Auction House. The Auction House is probably one of the most useful features to be added to DFO so far. When using the Auction House you can search for, buy, and sell anything and everything except for Quest items, Epic and Chronicle gear. This includes avatars, weapons, armor, pets, materials, potions etc. (You'll need a Merchant's Kit to sell NX related items.)
-Mail has an expiration time of 15 days except for Auction House related items. -Aesop.
-A handy storage tip is to make multiple alts and forward specific items to them and/or invest in upgrading your safe once with NX. -Aesop & Felix
In DFO, the "\" key is glitched and doesn't register at all. It's funky. If you use it while typing, it creates a void that throws everything off (but it still appears normal). Throw it in between letters of what would normally be censored to bypass the filter catching it. Like so:
You naughty! -> turns into -> You @#&%!
You nau\ghty! -> appears as -> You naughty! -Felix
This is especially useful for certain combinations of words that aren't swears, but would be censored anyway.
eg. "I wish it didn't break."
-Pay attention to your armor mastery. If you're playing a Mage you should not be wearing Plate armor. Check the general tab in your skills window to see what armor you should be wearing. -Dave
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V. How to make DOSH
Yeah, so...you're just starting out. You're poor as dirt. You probably will always be poor as dirt unless you take some initiative and get yourself into the market. This section is to help you make some sweet money without spending NX or relying on the RNG. Most of these steps can be done as soon as you start the game, but it helps to be higher leveled. But be careful, this may take a fair bit of GRINDING. Oh wait, you're playing an MMO; shut up and deal with it.
So yeah...believe it or not, the secret to being wealthy in DFO (or any MMO for that matter) has been yelled at you since you started. Don't believe me? Check out this suave son of a bhttp://www.lol.com/lol.jpgitch:
http://i1220.photobucket.com/albums/dd445/ExorcistEnlightenment/Beginner%20Guide/1_17.png
"YOU HAVE TO SPEND MONEY TO MAKE MONEY!"
Yeah. Deep stuff. So with that in mind, having a fair bit of capital on hand helps. But isn't necessary until you get to that point.
STEP 1: I'm sure you've found Lost Treasures in a dungeon before. They require a Skeleton Key to open them and get their goodies.
"But Mark! Skeleton Keys are an NX item!"
OR ARE THEY? Remember Altar of Infinity? Yeah. Reaper Bloods. Every Friday at around 8PM EST if you've done AoI, you'll get mail that has an Agares Minion inside. You can summon him inside dungeons and trade in 3 Reaper Bloods for 1 Skeleton Key box. Inside the box there is a chance to get 1-3 Skeleton Key Fragments. Bet you can guess where I'm going with this? That's right. Farm those fragments and save up a nice collection to use on Lost Treasures.
"But Mark! Lost Treasures are RNG!"
SAVE THE KEYS. I know it might not seem like a good deal. But every once in a while Nexon will put something in these treasures that are worth farming AoI for. As long as you don't be a dummy and open your treasures when there's nothing worth getting, you'll get a hefty payout. Some mega money makers they've released in the past are: Elemental Tears, various monster cards, Premium Golden Candles, Askah/Leah Eggs, and Equipment Protection Tickets. I once pulled 200mil in about 30 Treasures. Makes it worth ignoring the RNG aspect to me.
STEP 2: So this is where having capital helps. Don't feel like farming keys? Then pay attention to the prices on the special items that come out of Lost Treasures. All you have to do is watch and wait. Buy some of the items when they're at their lowest point during the event and then hold them. For a long time. As long as you feel comfortable with. Eventually when the items are removed from the Treasures, they will increase in price. Ratria Tears, at their lowest point were about 4mil. Now they're up to 60mil. Buying low and selling high. COMMON SENSE.
STEP 3: This is basically like step 2, except you're searching the Auction House for general goof ups, mispriced items, bargains, etc. This takes a lot of time, but if you know what to search for, you might get lucky. Every item has an AAP. (Average Auctioned Price) You can use this to your advantage to get really good deals from people who don't know what they're doing. For instance: "Siev's Masterpiece - Proof of Concept" currently has an AAP of about 2mil But is worth WAY more than that. You probably won't find a Siev for the AAP because it drops at higher leveled areas where people aren't morons. (Maybe.) But other items may yield better results. I'm not giving any away, so do your own research.
STEP 4: ???
STEP 5: PROFIT. Really, that's it. These may not be the fastest methods of making money, but at least you'll be guaranteed wealth as long as you invest some time in the market. Sure you might find a pink item in a dungeon once in a while, but that's hardly reliable. These steps are fool proof plans for being a snobby rich bastard.
---
Well, that's all I can think of for now. I tried to include stuff in this guide that wasn't so obvious at first glance. Feel free to post suggestions and what not.
Last updated: 6/1/12
Because I am THIS bored.
Nah. Boredom isn't the real reason I wrote this. The main reason is because starting a new MMO can be intimidating. All those NPCs, weird buttons on your UI, skill trees, where is a fresh face in Arad to begin? Hopefully this little guide can help lighten the load on your first time online and make your transition to a DFO pro a lot smoother.
-Table of Contents-
I. Menus
a. Settings
b. Hotkeys
c. Chat
d. Map of Arad
---
II. Important NPCs
a. Grandis
b. Loton
c. Kiri
d. Roger
e. Seria
---
III. Channels, Dungeons, Towers and Blitz Points
a. Blitz Points
b. Towers/Altars
c. Channels
d. Dungeons
---
IV. Miscellaneous Tips
V. How to make DOSH
------------
I. Menus
Okay, so you've picked your class, read the introductory comic (or not) and have now landed on the first map of the game. Get accustomed to the controls, slay the Goblins, etc. Easy stuff. When you rescue Seria, she will bring you back to her room and reward you. Now you can really begin.
Before you go Dungeon Fighting, I suggest taking a look at the menus and set up things to your preference.
http://i1220.photobucket.com/albums/dd445/ExorcistEnlightenment/Beginner%20Guide/Menu1.png
On the bottom of your UI you'll see these five blue buttons. Click on them to bring up various menus to use at your leisure. (Or press the hotkeys once you've set them) Something to note on this menu is Professions.
When you hit level 20 you can take up a Profession. A job within your job. Once you complete the quest and become your desired Profession you can put all those items NPCs gave you from gifting to use.
Now we get to the fun stuff. Customizing your settings and hotkeys to your preference.
http://i1220.photobucket.com/albums/dd445/ExorcistEnlightenment/Beginner%20Guide/menu.jpg
Clicking on Settings will bring up this menu.
Mode - Toggle how you will view DFO on your computer.
Enable V-Synch - Improves frame rate, but may cause image tearing.
Skill Effects - If your computer sucks like mine keep it on Low. If you want to see all the pretty effects, put it on High.
Shadow Effect - It is what it is. Toggle the shadow effects on or off.
Class Advancement Avatar - Toggle the class change cosmetics.
Skill Cut-Scene - When you Awaken or party with high level people they might pull out their strongest skills which will add a little graphic briefly on your screen. If it annoys you, turn it off.
Aura Effects - Turns the aura avatar feature on or off.
Party Effect Opacity - Lowering this slider will make skills used by party members invisible to you. Highly useful if you party with those darned Summoners.
SE/BGM/Environment - Moving these bars back and forth will allow you a chance to gain more gold and rare items in dungeons.
Nah. They're options to lower or raise the Music or Sound Effects. Jeez.
Play Mode - Allows you to easily select if you want to see what everyone has to say, or play in complete solitude.
Refuse Chat/Party/PvP/Mentor/GuildTrade Requests - Simple enough. Make it so you don't get spammed to death by desperate people looking to bug you with whatever.
Signature Rotation - Name is kinda misleading. What this really does is allow you to toggle between your Guild name/PvP Rank or Title graphic above your IGN. If you have it on it'll cycle through both at set intervals, or you can turn it off to keep it set to one. When it's turned off you can set a hotkey to change it whenever you wish.
Dungeon Status - When you're in a dungeon you'll see a Rank and Combo counter on the right side of your screen. This allows you to turn it on or off.
http://i1220.photobucket.com/albums/dd445/ExorcistEnlightenment/Beginner%20Guide/Hotkeys.jpg
Clicking on Hotkeys will allow you to edit quite a lot of DFO's key commands. I suggest you go through 'em all to be able to play as comfortably as you can.[/spoiler]
http://i1220.photobucket.com/albums/dd445/ExorcistEnlightenment/Beginner%20Guide/Chat.jpg
On the top left of your screen is your text box. This is where all of your chatting, dungeon info, etc. will go. You can click on the various tabs to disable what you don't want to see. It can get quite spammy in dungeons with every option enabled.
Due to recent changes in the Rebirth patch, you can now have all chat options on a seperate window if you play in windowed mode.[/spoiler]
Map of Arad
Pressing your map key (default is N) in town will bring up a map of the Arad continent.
Here you can search Quests, Dungeons, NPCs, and see where your party members are by using the drop down menus located up top. Pressing your map key in dungeons will allow you to see where the Boss is located.
---
II. Important NPCs
Arad has many NPCs. Some are more important to you than others. Which means you'll be visiting these NPCs quite a bit.
http://i1220.photobucket.com/albums/dd445/ExorcistEnlightenment/Beginner%20Guide/37.png
Grandis is the first important NPC you'll see after you leave Elvenguard. When you get to Sky Tower dungeons you will be able to start a Quest line having to deal with Hell Mode. Hell Mode is fun little side thing to do in dungeons. It can randomly appear while you're partying with friends, or you can force a Hell Mode by using a Demon Stone Grandis gave you. However, you can only force a Hell after you have completed the Quest from Grandis for that particular area.
Why should you face Hell?
http://i1220.photobucket.com/albums/dd445/ExorcistEnlightenment/Beginner%20Guide/Hell.jpg
When you defeat a Hell Party they may drop various Demon Eyes. You can trade them in to Grandis for higher ranked Demon Eyes. Radiant Demon Eyes are used to buy Epic weapons, gear, or you can trade them in for more Demon scrolls. Epic gear is a lot more powerful than most of the gear you will come across, and as such won't be easy to get. When you get to higher level dungeons (45+) you will be able to obtain Epics from the Hell party you have defeated. But keep in mind they only drop Epics on the Insane difficulty which rarely shows up if you get a random Hell. But it's a 50% chance to get Insane mode for a forced Hell.
http://i1220.photobucket.com/albums/dd445/ExorcistEnlightenment/Beginner%20Guide/12.png
Loton is the second one you'll see when you first get to Hendon Myre. He has a service where you can disassemble (grind up) weapons and armor for cube fragments. Keep in mind that not all weapons and armor should be sent to the grinder.
http://i1220.photobucket.com/albums/dd445/ExorcistEnlightenment/Beginner%20Guide/Weapons.png
Weapons and armor you find in dungeons or pots will come in various colors.
White isn't worth grinding. They don't give colored cube fragments and should just be NPC'd for gold.
Blue gear is what you'll be grinding the most and will be giving you a lot of cube fragments. Both clear and colored.
Purple gear is rarer than White and Blue and gives low grade elemental crystals instead of colored cube fragments.
Legacy only comes from pots you find in dungeons or buy from certain NPCs, but otherwise act just like Purple gear.
Pink weapons are the rarest of them all. Grinding up Pinks will yield high grade elemental crystals.
I suggest selling Purple, Legacy, and Pink gear to other players instead of grinding them. They can be worth some money. Or use them if you want. Be careful though, they become untradeable as soon as you equip them.
There are other types of weapons and armor I didn't mention but you won't be seeing those for a while.
http://i1220.photobucket.com/albums/dd445/ExorcistEnlightenment/Beginner%20Guide/grinder.png
Simply drag and drop your selected item into the grinder and press 'OK'. After a short animation it'll spit up cube fragments for you. You'll be needing A LOT of these in your journey through Arad so make sure you do this as often as you can.
Sometimes while grinding up gear you'll get a critical return or a "jackpot". Which means you will receive a high amount of colored cube fragments/crystals. Higher level gear means a bigger jackpot.
http://i1220.photobucket.com/albums/dd445/ExorcistEnlightenment/Beginner%20Guide/14.png
Ugh. Kiri. Biggest scam artist of all the NPCs. She has a service where you can upgrade your weapons and armor to increase their attack and defense respectively. The catch is it costs gold to do this. Sometimes a lot of gold...
I recommend you don't try this until you're near level cap. It can get depressing.
But if you're feeling bold drag and drop your weapon or armor of choice (victim) into the Reinforcer and press 'OK'. After a short animation you will see if you succeeded or failed the reinforcement. When you succeed for the first time it'll show a +1 next to the item's name and you'll now have piercing attack (if a weapon) or boosted defense (if armor). As you go through reinforcements, the number will get higher. The higher your reinforcement, the more likely you are to start failing. When you fail before +7 it will drop down to a previous reinforcement.
White and Blue gear start breaking after +7.
Purple, Pink, Epic, and Chronicle gear have a chance to drop 3 reinforcement levels if you fail between +7 and +10. They will start to break after +10.
This is purely a gamble of course. No risk no reward. The higher your reinforcement, the stronger your gear becomes. As you probably would have guessed, anything after +7 won't be easy to obtain.
http://i1220.photobucket.com/albums/dd445/ExorcistEnlightenment/Beginner%20Guide/25.png
Roger can be found in West Coast near the Sky Tower dungeons. He's a pretty cool guy and will help you with any kind of material forging you'll need.
You'll mainly be using him to create big cubes from your cube fragments. But he can also create finer materials from various monster drops.
http://i1220.photobucket.com/albums/dd445/ExorcistEnlightenment/Beginner%20Guide/1.png
Last but not least, there is Seria. The girl you rescued from the horrible Goblins. She sells potions to use in dungeons for a pretty cheap price, and deals with a lot of event quests.
You can also buy potions from Linus, Loton, and Lorianne, but Seria is more convenient because she can be found in nearly every area of Arad by entering her room.
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III. Channels, Dungeons, Towers and Blitz Points
Blitz Points - When you start a new character or begin DFO each day at 6am PST you will be given 400 Blitz Points (BP) to use in dungeons. The little blue bar above your menu buttons is your Blitz Points. Each time you enter a room in a dungeon your BP depletes by 1 point. When you run out of BP you enter 'BLITZ OFF' and become a plague on society. You'll no longer get ANY drops from dungeons. This affects your party as well.
Towers/Altars - These can be located in the Valley of Fallen Souls on your map. You are given 5 Invitations to enter a Tower each day, and it resets at 6am PST like BP. Towers don't use up BP. There are two towers and altars in our version currently, with more on the way.
Tower of Illusion (15 Floors) - Easier of the two. Can be soloed during your lower to mid levels.
Tower of Death (45 Floors) - As it's name implies, you could possibly die. A lot. This tower is very difficult to solo to completion at lower and mid levels.
Altar of Inifinity - This is the first of the two altars that you will be able to enter. When you enter AoI you'll have to clear 15 waves of enemies to get your reward. At the end every 5 waves you'll have to face the room's boss before you can move on. When you finish all 15 waves and defeat Agares you'll be awarded a 'Reaper Blood' which will come in handy.
Altar of Ascension - Hands down the toughest dungeon in the Valley of Fallen Souls. You won't get to do this place until you reach level 65, and you can only enter 3 times a day. You have to survive 7 rounds of really tough enemies to come out on top in this place. There is an easy and a hard path. Taking the easy path is pretty much a no go, since some of the enemies are harder than the hard path. Just go all hard and learn their gimmicks If you can defeat Anodron you might be rewarded with a Bind Sphere which can be sold for good money or used to get random equipment.
Channels - As you level up and progress through Arad's continent you'll want to change your channel to match the area you're in. Not only does this give you extra EXP, but it also helps you find parties. Since you're probably just beginning, you'll want to stay in the Grand Flores channel, and change to the Sky Tower channel when you get there.
Dungeons - Finally, we have the main course of DFO. Dungeons are where you'll be spending a lot of your play time. Each dungeon in the game has 4 difficulties to choose from once you've unlocked them. The higher the difficulty you clear a dungeon on, the more EXP you will receive.
Normal Road (EXP: 100%) - The default difficulty when you reach a new dungeon and the easiest. Monsters have low HP and below average AI.
Experts Road (EXP: 140%) - A small step up from Normal. Monsters gain more HP, attack and have slight evasion and AI increase. Unlocking this from Normal Road is too easy.
Masters Road (EXP: 180%) - This is where you'll start to feel the pain. As expected, monster HP, attack, evasion, and AI is boosted even higher. You need a B rank or above from Experts Road to unlock this difficulty.
Kings Road (EXP: 220%) - Lastly we have Kings. I hope you brought some potions. Monster HP, attack, evasion, and AI is at an all time high. To unlock Kings Road you need an S rank or above from Masters Road.
So you're probably wondering how to keep your rank above an S so you can unlock Kings Road. Each time you strike a monster twice, a combo counter will pop up on the right side of your screen. As long as you hit a monster more than once you'll keep up a high rank. However, if you have a habit of striking a monster once and dropping your combo, your combo rate and rank will suffer.
-It's easier to get S ranks with less people. Maybe it's me but I noticed the rankings were influenced by the performance or lack thereof of party members. So if you wanna get Kings it's best to try and solo Masters and whack everything twice before they die. -Aesop.
You'll also notice some monsters in the dungeon seem to glow. These special monsters are Champion or Mutant monsters. They usually gain some special God tier buff to help them out. Killing these monsters will add a treasure to your reward cards and sometimes drop Ryan Cokes which you'll need to upgrade your weapons. The higher the dungeon difficulty, the more likely you are to find Mutant monsters.
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IV. Miscellaneous Tips
-When you level up you will gain Skill Points (SP). These can be used to purchase skills from your job instructor.
-Going to a dungeon? Grab every quest you can that applies to that dungeon. You can only hold up to 10 quests at a time, so stack them wisely. This helps you level more efficiently. Don't forget your Epic Quests as well.
-Loot everything that drops in a dungeon. Since you're just starting out you'll need all the potions, and money you can get.
-Get into the habit of repairing your gear. If you let your durability run out and your weapon or armor breaks, you will lose all the benefits from that certain piece of equipment. After each dungeon Delilah will appear to repair your gear and buy your worthless items from you. If you forget to use her, there are NPCs in town that can repair as well.
-When you reach level 20 you'll be able to advance to your sub class. When you complete the advancement, you will gain a free SP reset. Which means before level 20 you can put SP anywhere you want. After you advance however you'll want to plan your skill build better. Consult this planner (http://arad.ofli.es/) to help you out unless you want to buy a skill reset from the Cash shop.
-Epic quests will give you QP. You can use these to purchase permanent stat boosts for your character.
-Be friends with the Auction House. The Auction House is probably one of the most useful features to be added to DFO so far. When using the Auction House you can search for, buy, and sell anything and everything except for Quest items, Epic and Chronicle gear. This includes avatars, weapons, armor, pets, materials, potions etc. (You'll need a Merchant's Kit to sell NX related items.)
-Mail has an expiration time of 15 days except for Auction House related items. -Aesop.
-A handy storage tip is to make multiple alts and forward specific items to them and/or invest in upgrading your safe once with NX. -Aesop & Felix
In DFO, the "\" key is glitched and doesn't register at all. It's funky. If you use it while typing, it creates a void that throws everything off (but it still appears normal). Throw it in between letters of what would normally be censored to bypass the filter catching it. Like so:
You naughty! -> turns into -> You @#&%!
You nau\ghty! -> appears as -> You naughty! -Felix
This is especially useful for certain combinations of words that aren't swears, but would be censored anyway.
eg. "I wish it didn't break."
-Pay attention to your armor mastery. If you're playing a Mage you should not be wearing Plate armor. Check the general tab in your skills window to see what armor you should be wearing. -Dave
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V. How to make DOSH
Yeah, so...you're just starting out. You're poor as dirt. You probably will always be poor as dirt unless you take some initiative and get yourself into the market. This section is to help you make some sweet money without spending NX or relying on the RNG. Most of these steps can be done as soon as you start the game, but it helps to be higher leveled. But be careful, this may take a fair bit of GRINDING. Oh wait, you're playing an MMO; shut up and deal with it.
So yeah...believe it or not, the secret to being wealthy in DFO (or any MMO for that matter) has been yelled at you since you started. Don't believe me? Check out this suave son of a bhttp://www.lol.com/lol.jpgitch:
http://i1220.photobucket.com/albums/dd445/ExorcistEnlightenment/Beginner%20Guide/1_17.png
"YOU HAVE TO SPEND MONEY TO MAKE MONEY!"
Yeah. Deep stuff. So with that in mind, having a fair bit of capital on hand helps. But isn't necessary until you get to that point.
STEP 1: I'm sure you've found Lost Treasures in a dungeon before. They require a Skeleton Key to open them and get their goodies.
"But Mark! Skeleton Keys are an NX item!"
OR ARE THEY? Remember Altar of Infinity? Yeah. Reaper Bloods. Every Friday at around 8PM EST if you've done AoI, you'll get mail that has an Agares Minion inside. You can summon him inside dungeons and trade in 3 Reaper Bloods for 1 Skeleton Key box. Inside the box there is a chance to get 1-3 Skeleton Key Fragments. Bet you can guess where I'm going with this? That's right. Farm those fragments and save up a nice collection to use on Lost Treasures.
"But Mark! Lost Treasures are RNG!"
SAVE THE KEYS. I know it might not seem like a good deal. But every once in a while Nexon will put something in these treasures that are worth farming AoI for. As long as you don't be a dummy and open your treasures when there's nothing worth getting, you'll get a hefty payout. Some mega money makers they've released in the past are: Elemental Tears, various monster cards, Premium Golden Candles, Askah/Leah Eggs, and Equipment Protection Tickets. I once pulled 200mil in about 30 Treasures. Makes it worth ignoring the RNG aspect to me.
STEP 2: So this is where having capital helps. Don't feel like farming keys? Then pay attention to the prices on the special items that come out of Lost Treasures. All you have to do is watch and wait. Buy some of the items when they're at their lowest point during the event and then hold them. For a long time. As long as you feel comfortable with. Eventually when the items are removed from the Treasures, they will increase in price. Ratria Tears, at their lowest point were about 4mil. Now they're up to 60mil. Buying low and selling high. COMMON SENSE.
STEP 3: This is basically like step 2, except you're searching the Auction House for general goof ups, mispriced items, bargains, etc. This takes a lot of time, but if you know what to search for, you might get lucky. Every item has an AAP. (Average Auctioned Price) You can use this to your advantage to get really good deals from people who don't know what they're doing. For instance: "Siev's Masterpiece - Proof of Concept" currently has an AAP of about 2mil But is worth WAY more than that. You probably won't find a Siev for the AAP because it drops at higher leveled areas where people aren't morons. (Maybe.) But other items may yield better results. I'm not giving any away, so do your own research.
STEP 4: ???
STEP 5: PROFIT. Really, that's it. These may not be the fastest methods of making money, but at least you'll be guaranteed wealth as long as you invest some time in the market. Sure you might find a pink item in a dungeon once in a while, but that's hardly reliable. These steps are fool proof plans for being a snobby rich bastard.
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Well, that's all I can think of for now. I tried to include stuff in this guide that wasn't so obvious at first glance. Feel free to post suggestions and what not.
Last updated: 6/1/12