Takebacker's Ultimate Brawler Guide

[Link]

If I don't manage to get to level 163 before the Big Bang, what should my build be at level 161? I was thinking about it and this is what I came up with :

Current Build
Maple Hero - 3
Dragon Strike - 30
Rapid Fist - 30
Energy Orb - 1
Super Transform - 19
Demolition - 30
Snatch - 1
Wind Booster - 11
Time Leap - 1
Hero's Will - 0

-----------------------------------------------

Planned Build
Maple Hero - 0
Counter Attack - 10
Dragon Strike - 30
Rapid Fist - 30
Energy Orb - 0
Super Transform - 20
Demolition - 30
Snatch - 0
Wind Booster - 5
Time Leap - 1
Hero's Will - 0

Or should I distribute it differently?

[Manu]

If I don't manage to get to level 163 before the Big Bang, what should my build be at level 161? I was thinking about it and this is what I came up with :

Current Build
Maple Hero - 3
Dragon Strike - 30
Rapid Fist - 30
Energy Orb - 1
Super Transform - 19
Demolition - 30
Snatch - 1
Wind Booster - 11
Time Leap - 1
Hero's Will - 0

-----------------------------------------------

Planned Build
Maple Hero - 0
Counter Attack - 10
Dragon Strike - 30
Rapid Fist - 30
Energy Orb - 0
Super Transform - 20
Demolition - 30
Snatch - 0
Wind Booster - 5
Time Leap - 1
Hero's Will - 0

Or should I distribute it differently?

That looks like the best option to me.
hmm I'm 145 now so I have 88 SP... let's see
30 DS
1 barrage
1 SI
1 time leap
leaves me 55 SP for attacking skills, thinking either 20 ST 30 demo and 5 counter attack or 6 barrage? or should I max barrage, 1 ST rest demo?
Demo seems so much better now and 20 seconds without it looks good to me.

[Link]

Steve, you should add Infighting Mastery to the build.

For my entire build at level 161 after the SP reset, this is what I will have :

Spoiler

1st job

Quick Motion - 20
Straight - 20
Moon Kick - 20
Double Fire - 1

Remaining SP : 0
_____________________________

2nd Job

Knuckle Mastery - 20
Critical Punch - 10
Max HP Increase - 10
Back Elbow - 20
Double Upper - 20
Screw Punch - 20
MP Recovery - 10
Knuckle Booster - 20
Oak Barrel - 10

Remaining SP : 0 (+19 SP from 3rd job)
_____________________________

3rd Job

Stun Mastery - 20
Energy Charge - 20
Infighting Mastery - 10
Energy Blast - 20
Energy Drain - 20
Transform - 20
Shockwave - 2
Lucky Dice - 20

Remaining SP : 0
_____________________________

4th job (at 161)

Maple Hero - 0
Counter Attack - 10
Dragon Strike - 30
Rapid Fist - 30
Energy Orb - 0
Super Transform - 20
Demolition - 30
Snatch - 0
Wind Booster - 5
Time Leap - 1
Hero's Will - 0

Remaining SP : 0

I think I might change that and put some of those Shockwave points into Double Upper. It seems to be bit better, in my opinion. I want to wait to see if Shockwave is actually any good now, though.

[Schrono]

You have 131 sp in 2nd job Shikage.

[Link]

You have 131 sp in 2nd job Shikage.

Oh. Woops. lmao

Let me do some fixing......

Okay... So................ 1 Double Upper, or trade Shockwave points for Double Upper? :S I don't know what to do now. Double Upper is my main finishing move if a mob has only a tiny bit of HP left, as Maple stands before the Big Bang. But, I'm not sure if it's worth it to take points out of Shockwave for it.

Nevermind... I'm retarded. I SHOULD take points from Shockwave and add it to Double Upper. Shockwave is pointless with Dragon Strike.

[LegendGospel]

Just a thought... couldn't you borrow some Barrage points for a while to add them to S.Transform? You know, to have Demo 95% of the time earlier... making you not even need Barrage that much.

[Link]

Just a thought... couldn't you borrow some Barrage points for a while to add them to S.Transform? You know, to have Demo 95% of the time earlier... making you not even need Barrage that much.

It's definitely a possible alternate build. I mean, you only really need level 1 Barrage for training (since it'll probably only be used as a finisher, depending on where you train), so you can max Super Transform and Demolition sooner, but your single target DPS outside of Transform will suffer a bit. Not that it'd be too much, really.

[LegendGospel]

Yup, current GMS Barrage is overkill on most training scenarios, I guess the new Barrage isn't that much different...

With maxed S.Transform that would be only 20 seconds you have to depend on Barrage. On training you can rely on DS much more, and on bosses you still need to Barrage>DS during these 20 seconds, since it's my understanding that they removed Barrage's spam. So DS should help a bit there, too.

But, for a level 160+ Viper who is getting a skill reset... there's really little reason to max Barrage if you can use these points in S.Trasnform, or even Maple Warrior, which will be way more beneficial if you solo.

It's gonna feel weird being transformed 90% of the time, I must admit. You could even use regular Transform and never see your character sprite again on maple, lulz.

[Worthyness]

Does speed infusion retain it's +2 speed characteristic at level 11? How much of an importance is it to have in the big bang patch? assuming i don't level much more, i'll have:

max DS, max counter attack, 1 TL, 1 S. trans for the mobility, 1(+) SI depending how important it is, and the rest in barrage. (level 139 atm)

[OrangeGuy]

After playing around with SP resets, I have to say, Lucky Dice is the most useful skill any pirate will ever have. Getting it early isn't a mistake at all.

[Manu]

I was looking at your 2nd job build, and I think there might be other ways to do it, since max HP increase is now %, you can add it whenever you want, so it's not so important right at the start, also, I heard or read somewhere that for best damage on training, BSB>CSB, how true is that? cause if it is, a more viable build could be around:

30: +1 Corkscrew
31: +1 backspin +2 mastery
32: +3 mastery
33: +3 booster
34: +3 booster (6)
35-37: Critical Punch
38: +1 Critical Punch (MAX), +2 Knuckle Mastery
39-42: Knuckle Mastery
43: +1 Mastery (MAX)
44-49: Backspin
50: +1 Backspin (max) +2 HP increase
51-53: Hp increase
51-55: Corkscrew
then HP recovery, barrel and extras in double upper, but that's more or less the idea that I think I'm doing for my brawler in KMS, ideas, opinions, help? o.o

[Arroz]

I was looking at your 2nd job build, and I think there might be other ways to do it, since max HP increase is now %, you can add it whenever you want, so it's not so important right at the start, also, I heard or read somewhere that for best damage on training, BSB>CSB, how true is that? cause if it is, a more viable build could be around:

30: +1 Corkscrew
31: +1 backspin +2 mastery
32: +3 mastery
33: +3 booster
34: +3 booster (6)
35-37: Critical Punch
38: +1 Critical Punch (MAX), +2 Knuckle Mastery
39-42: Knuckle Mastery
43: +1 Mastery (MAX)
44-49: Backspin
50: +1 Backspin (max) +2 HP increase
51-53: Hp increase
51-55: Corkscrew
then HP recovery, barrel and extras in double upper, but that's more or less the idea that I think I'm doing for my brawler in KMS, ideas, opinions, help? o.o

i was under he impression that double upper didn't suck anymore and was spammable

[JoeTang]

i was under he impression that double upper didn't suck anymore and was spammable

It doesn't suck after Infighting Mastery is maxed in Third Job.

[Manu]

i was under he impression that double upper didn't suck anymore and was spammable

It's probably not useless but not that useful either, so I'd do what ShiKage said and dump the Shockwave points into it.

[LegendGospel]

That sounds like a plan.

Getting Shockwave in third job = Getting a kinda good mobbing skill, but it's not necessary having Blast and other stuff. Gets completely obsolete in 4th job.
Getting DU in third job = Getting a good bossing and single target skill so you don't just spam Flash Fist. Still useful at 4th job training if you have a stray monster wandering around. Stun with DU, then Barrage.

Personally, I loved Marauder bossing at Dojo. Maybe won't so much without invincibility frames, even as a Bucc. But anyway, can anyone confirm if spamming max DU at 3rd job is better damage than spamming max Drain?

[Takebacker]

Updated Post Big Bang version. Go ahead and find flaws.

[Arrg]

Updated Post Big Bang version. Go ahead and find flaws.

I say that hp and critical are far from priority, simply because you can max the hp skill last and still have the same hp as if you maxed it first, but those first 4 levels won't be as hellish.
I would reccommend 1 elbow at 30, max mastery, 6 booster then max elbow, followed by booster, hp, screw punch, oak, mp.

Then in 3rd, it's pretty much fine, it's much more open to personalization, but why is infighting mastery maxed last? You get so much more damage for elbow and screw punch, making your non-energy time much more powerful. I'd max infighting mastery first, along with stun mastery, just so Ariant/C-2/other flat maps in 8x-10x work out well. Spamming elbow is very very nice.

4th is fine, again, open to interpretation. However, I get MANY complaints about SI being too short when partying, so if you wanna throw 1 extra point into SI just to make it even with HS, then that is encouraged.
The whole 'free points' should go into SI.

I have an entirely different 1st build suggestion for anyone past 4th that is gonna use the SP reset given: Max dash, leave ssk or flash fist at 11. It's nice for anyone too cheap to buy a mount, and if you use that whole 'accidental activation' bullpomegranate argument, then you need to go kill yourself.

[Takebacker]

I say that hp and critical are far from priority, simply because you can max the hp skill last and still have the same hp as if you maxed it first, but those first 4 levels won't be as hellish.
I would reccommend 1 elbow at 30, max mastery, 6 booster then max elbow, followed by booster, hp, screw punch, oak, mp.

I only put them there because 2nd job is a joke. Mushroom castle makes things much easier, so it doesn't matter what you do.

Then in 3rd, it's pretty much fine, it's much more open to personalization, but why is infighting mastery maxed last? You get so much more damage for elbow and screw punch, making your non-energy time much more powerful. I'd max infighting mastery first, along with stun mastery, just so Ariant/C-2/other flat maps in 8x-10x work out well. Spamming elbow is very very nice.

There's a clear response to this in the build explanation.

I can't say planning for ariant/C-2 training is wise when we don't know what will happen to GMS exclusives. If nothing is changed, WRs will be the best training spot for 6x-100. Spamming BSB is nice, but the damage is already high enough to kill as you go along the map. CSB...the damage boost is nice, i think other skills are more worth the points though.

4th is fine, again, open to interpretation. However, I get MANY complaints about SI being too short when partying, so if you wanna throw 1 extra point into SI just to make it even with HS, then that is encouraged.
The whole 'free points' should go into SI.

W'tf? 110 seconds isn't that bad a timer for level 1. Rebuffing isn't that big a deal, really.

I have an entirely different 1st build suggestion for anyone past 4th that is gonna use the SP reset given: Max dash, leave ssk or flash fist at 11. It's nice for anyone too cheap to buy a mount, and if you use that whole 'accidental activation' bullpomegranate argument, then you need to go kill yourself.

I don't even need to use the accidental activation as an excuse anymore. You have 40 spd/20 jump from ST 90% of the time and normal transform for the other 10%. Getting dash for speed/jump is even more useless now, especially with guild skills giving the same bonus as dash with no activation.

[Arrg]

I only put them there because 2nd job is a joke. Mushroom castle makes things much easier, so it doesn't matter what you do.

Yeah, but if you want it to be FASTEST, then you'll do what I reccommended, 30-50 in a few hours rather than a few days is better. Yeah, it's easy now with mush castle, but if you grind normally at ksquare it's WAY faster than mush castle quests.
Or if you feel like CPQing (the absolute fastest 30-40, in like an hour) then having more elbow is your smartest choice.

There's a clear response to this in the build explanation.

I can't say planning for ariant/C-2 training is wise when we don't know what will happen to GMS exclusives. If nothing is changed, WRs will be the best training spot for 6x-100. Spamming BSB is nice, but the damage is already high enough to kill as you go along the map. CSB...the damage boost is nice, i think other skills are more worth the points though.

Why kill at normal speed when you can in almost half the hits? And how do transform and drain fall into 'worth more points' than more damage?

W'tf? 110 seconds isn't that bad a timer for level 1. Rebuffing isn't that big a deal, really.

It's really annoying when it disappears and you don't realize. It's more of a party-benefit rather than just for yourself.

I don't even need to use the accidental activation as an excuse anymore. You have 40 spd/20 jump from ST 90% of the time and normal transform for the other 10%. Getting dash for speed/jump is even more useless now, especially with guild skills giving the same bonus as dash with no activation.

Yeah, but there's still a 20-30 second gap from using STF and TF back to back (for the 30+levels that you don't have max STF.), in which times you don't really want to be going at normal speeds. It's more aimed at anyone at or past 3rd, because you have a lot of speed issues there. I know I said 4th but it works really well in 3rd.

I'm not criticizing you to be a d'ick, I'm just saying your build isn't universal for the crazy-grinders. All of my reccommendations pertain to optimum leveling speed.

[Takebacker]

Yeah, but if you want it to be FASTEST, then you'll do what I reccommended, 30-50 in a few hours rather than a few days is better. Yeah, it's easy now with mush castle, but if you grind normally at ksquare it's WAY faster than mush castle quests.
Or if you feel like CPQing (the absolute fastest 30-40, in like an hour) then having more elbow is your smartest choice.

Taking a few days to get from 30-50 is kind of ridiculous. Even in KMST under normal rates it took me 3 hours to do that and i used this build, so i don't know what you're talking about...

Also, obviously training at ksquare is faster than mush castle. They're targeted for two different level ranges...

Why kill at normal speed when you can in almost half the hits?

That's hardly a good response to a whole paragraph of reasons...

Why would i want to kill in half the hits with skills that, even with AI, are still not as strong as blast. Blast is what you'll kill with, so naturally blast takes priority. Once blast and charge are out of the way you'll mostly kill with that and BSB/CSB won't make THAT much difference.

It's really annoying when it disappears and you don't realize. It's more of a party-benefit rather than just for yourself.

I agree, since that seldom happens to me even with level 11, but putting more than 1 SP into it is enough. Free points are what they're supposed to be, and the only reason i'd pick orb is because i think it's better to have a whole new attack to play with at end game rather than getting more time on one out of the 2 or 3 buffs we have. Like you said though, open to interpretation. Debating over such a low key issue isn't a big deal because most likely no one is going to follow a 4th job build point for point.

Yeah, but there's still a 20-30 second gap from using STF and TF back to back, in which times you don't really want to be going at normal speeds. It's more aimed at anyone past 3rd, because you have a lot of speed issues there. I know I said 4th but it works really well in 3rd.

In 3rd i'd have to agree but if the map you're in is really packed, you can pretty much rely on just CSB+blast to get around. What you said before was specifically for 4th jobbers though, which is why it wasn't a good idea at all to me.

I'm not criticizing you to be a d'ick, I'm just saying your build isn't universal for the crazy-grinders. All of my reccommendations pertain to optimum leveling speed.

If i asked for criticism i wouldn't think anyone criticizing me is being a d'ick so long as they're actually adding input. I value your input more than pretty much anyone else, too.