Party leveling: party roles, monster behavior and off-party

The most important thing in a party fight is that everyone performs their own role precisely and interacts correctly with the others. This article combines several "leveling theory" guides: party roles (both tied to classes and class-independent), tips for each role, monster behavior and off-party leveling. Tanking tactics are covered in detail in separate articles: tanks by class and advanced tanking and raids; fighting players is covered in PvP and party-vs-party combat.

Core roles

Three roles are usually distinguished that depend on class - tank, support and DD (damage dealer) - plus several roles that hardly depend on class: debuffer, puller, DoTer and others.

Tank

The tank takes most of the hits: it draws monsters to itself and keeps them from harming the rest of the party. The tank usually enters combat first or takes monsters over from the puller. Most often it is the character with the highest defense who can hold monsters on itself, but not necessarily. The tank often also pulls monsters, works as the hater and the leader, and partly as a DD, a debuffer and the group saver.

The tank classes are Dark Avenger, Paladin, Temple Knight and Shillien Knight. Two skill lines make them tanks:

• Drawing monsters' attention:
  • Hate - increases one monster's desire to attack you specifically. Mostly needed in critical situations when a monster switches to a support or DD. Sometimes one cast is enough, sometimes not.
  • Hate Aura - works the same way, but on all monsters within range. Use it very carefully: besides the monsters you want, it may also catch nearby ones.
• Raising defense:
  • Heavy Armor Mastery - raises defense in heavy armor. A tank needs it, but it is not decisive - other classes have it too.
  • Shield Mastery - raises the chance to block with a shield; on a successful block the shield's P. Def is added to the character's total P. Def.
  • Ultimate Defense - adds a huge amount of physical and magical defense but roots the character. Lasts 30 seconds.
  • Other skills that raise magic defense and defense against various monster types (Magic Resistance, Holy Armor, etc.).

The main tank is usually chosen by physical defense. It is a very responsible role: the main tank watches all monsters in the battle area, picks which one the party is killing at the moment, and keeps an eye on the state of the other members. As a rule, the main tank also leads the party.

• When picking targets, think one step ahead so there are no pauses between monsters: while finishing one monster, already select the next.
• Take single monsters rather than aggroing several at once. If many monsters attack, do not spread your attacks - kill them one by one.

The other tanks in the party are secondary tanks. They hit the chosen monster and back up the main tank. In some situations (for example, the main tank is low on HP and the healer is out of mana) a secondary tank - or the best-protected of them - temporarily takes over the main tank's role. No freelancing: everything is agreed with the leader.

Puller

The puller supplies the party with monsters: pulls them properly, in small batches, but in sufficient numbers so the party does not stand idle. The puller lures targets out of a crowd one at a time. Any class with a ranged attack can do this.

• Act carefully so as not to gather a "train". If you do, run away from other groups of monsters and run in circles so the party can "derail" this unplanned train. If you are a tank, you can stand and fight - your comrades will beat the monsters off you and heal you.

Damage dealer (DD)

The DD deals damage to monsters - generally the more, the better. Sometimes the DD also works as a mass controller or sleeper. DDs are usually divided into daggers, archers, nukers (battle mages) and polearm users. DD classes include Treasure Hunter, Plains Walker, Abyss Walker, Tyrant, Gladiator, Warlord, Hawkeye, Silver Ranger, Phantom Ranger, Sorcerer, Spellsinger, Spellhowler and others. Their job is to kill the monster the tank has chosen.

• Do not attack a monster first - wait for the tank to pull its aggro.
• If several monsters attack, do not spread your attacks: only a dead monster deals no damage.

Supports: healer and buffer

Supports are Bishop, Prophet, Elven Elder, Shillien Elder, Warcryer, Overlord, as well as the hybrid Blade Dancer and Swordsinger. Buffers and healers are usually distinguished: the former put buffs on the party, the latter restore health and mana.

The healer restores the party's health in time. This is the second, and sometimes the first, leader: the lives of everyone depend on the healer. The main skills are Heal and its variants (Battle Heal, Group Heal) and Resurrection. The healer often combines the role with others - buffer, debuffer, mass controller, recharger, DD. During "routine" monster killing only the main tank needs healing; in an emergency the healer has to heal everyone quickly.

• Use Heal carefully: healing raises monsters' desire to attack you. Usually it is the healer who calls a rest break when one is needed.
• If the party has only one healer, it is better not to join the fight but to sit and recover mana.
• Do not overheal "just in case" - it wastes mana.

The buffer covers teammates with buffs, strengthening them for their roles. Usually that means attack and defense, but some buffs help healing, mass control or earning money.

• Buff yourself first: that way you will be the first to notice when the buffs are running out.
• Stop fighting while buffing and rebuffing: buffs draw monster aggro very well. In C1, Swordsinger songs and Blade Dancer dances, as well as Warcryer and Overlord buffs, draw more aggro than Hate Aura.
• Never give every member every buff you have. Many buffs useful to one class are useless to another: for example, Concentration is very useful for mages but useless for fighters, and Holy Weapon should only be used against undead (zombies, skeletons and the like).
• Back up the healer - you can heal too.

Mass controller and recharger

The mass controller controls monsters with spells and special abilities, sparing the party from large numbers of actively attacking monsters. Sleep, Root, Stun, Paralyze, Veil and others help with this. The role is most often combined with healer or DD.

The recharger restores mana in time to those who limit the party's leveling speed. This cuts downtime and lowers the risk of losing control of the situation.

Special roles

Role	What it does
Leader	Sets the overall direction: where to go, how to level, when to rest, when to run. By default it is whoever created the party, but sometimes it is the clan leader, a more experienced player or simply someone with time to make decisions.
Subtank/Hater	In a way also a mass controller: helps the tank by luring monsters away from other, usually more vulnerable players.
Evasion tank	A specific type of tank that does not soak hits but dodges them.
Subbuffer	You can call everyone who casts buffs a buffer, but sometimes it is worth distinguishing who carries the main buffing load and who helps. Songs and dances can also count as sub-buffs when it matters whether the party has a regular buffer.
Subhealer	Adapts to the main healer and only helps, for example with group healing through Chant of Life or Group Heal. Healers often alternate between being first and second.
Debuffer	Puts debuffs on monsters: lowers resistance to certain magic, physical attack or defense. Any party member with debuffs and enough mana can do this.
DoTer	Uses DoT (Damage over Time) - skills that deal damage over a period of time (for example, poison).
Group saver	Stays alert and saves the party in a critical situation: quickly takes everyone to safety, temporarily neutralizes the monsters, or leads the monsters away and leaves them there.
Spoiler, seeder, crystal leveler	Increases the party's loot with the Dwarven Spoil skill, Manor seeds or by leveling a soul crystal. Handles the monster before and after the kill. The crystal leveler usually doubles as a DD and finisher.
Finisher	Finishes the monster with a special attack or spell that allows overhit - killing it this way gives the party more experience.

Debuffing and DoTing are usually secondary roles: do not forget your main role and spend mana carefully. Also remember that DoTs draw a fair amount of aggro to you.

Tips for the whole party

• Before hunting, make clear what your role is, who the main tank is and so on. Not knowing your place can badly let the whole party down.
• Stay as compact as possible.
• Follow the leader without picking up aggressive monsters on the way.
• Never start an attack yourself unless you are the lead tank or the puller.
• Do not run away from the party.
• Do not chatter, and pay close attention to what your teammates say - especially the leader, the lead tank and the supports.
• Protect the supports even at the cost of your own life. There is a firm belief that a party lives exactly as long as its healer: a skilled healer can restore the whole party, while without one the losses are irreparable.

Monster behavior

The most important aspects of monster behavior to keep in mind when choosing where to hunt.

• Aggro (aggressive monster). On seeing a player it runs to kill them or attacks some other way (for example, with a spell). Aggressiveness is usually determined by monster type: there has never been a case where half of a narrow monster type was aggressive and the other half was not. A non-aggressive monster ignores a player until that player gets onto its hate list; from then on the monster is aggressive toward that (and only that) player. Aggression can be bypassed with certain spells and skills.
• Aggro radius. The distance at which an aggressive monster starts reacting to a player. Usually small - around 300-400 game units: less than bow range, but more than the range of some attack spells and certainly more than melee range.
• Social. A monster's tendency to help its comrades. Each monster has a list of monster types it helps: most often monsters of its own race or group, but there are other variants. Social relations are not transitive and generally not mutual: if A helps B and B helps C, it does not follow that A will help C. If you have not checked in advance, assume the monsters will help each other.
• Group. A property of a group of monsters: groups of a leader and minions are common. Group monsters are usually social with each other, and minions follow the leader; in most groups the minions are not aggressive, only social, while the leader is aggressive. Raid bosses are not aggressive, although most have a similar passive group of minions social with them. Some people say "group" meaning monsters with halved HP, but the two notions are better kept apart.
• 1/2 HP. Most common among group monsters on open plains: both their health and their experience are half the normal values for their level. Such monsters are meant for parties or solo players with area damage. In general they are inefficient for ordinary players and parties, since their defense is higher than that of normal-HP monsters.
• x2-x8 HP. The monster has more HP than standard monsters of its level. Parties usually get better experience from such monsters, and they most often populate "dungeons" of all kinds: the party switches targets less often, so a larger share of time is spent actually killing.
• Archers, mages, healers, buffers. Monsters can do all of this too. Archers (and monsters throwing darts, knives, etc.) attack from range and harder; mages put debuffs on players during or instead of attacking; healers heal monsters social with them; buffers buff themselves or other monsters. Archers and mages are especially hated: an archer's skill or critical hit, or a mage's critically landed spell, can take a huge chunk of a player's HP at once and cause a sudden death.
• Area stun. Some monsters have a special attack that stuns all nearby players. Together with paralysis it is one of the most dangerous debuffs, all the more so if the healer gets stunned along with the tank. The radius is usually small.
• Undead, Vulnerable to... Undead are susceptible to many special spells, from paralysis to the healers' dedicated nuke, and take 20-40% more damage from sacred attacks. Golems take more damage from blunt weapons, insects from attacks under the Detect Insect Weakness buff, water-vulnerable monsters 30% more damage from water spells, and so on.
• Resist. Many monsters have increased resistance to magic, arrows, daggers and so on. For example, a party of archers going after golems is less efficient than the same party hunting ordinary animals (all else being equal).
• Quest mob. Such a monster always has a special label above it. Whoever kills it gets no experience and no normal drop - it exists only for quests, and the lack of experience is deliberate so that players doing the quest are not disturbed. Quest monsters can still be aggressive.
• NPC. Not meant to be killed: double-clicking opens a dialogue. You can attack them (with a forced attack), but they are very strong and there is little point.
• Guard. Guards stand around towns or patrol various areas and attack any red (PK) player nearby. Like all NPCs, they are dangerous even for high-level players.

Off-party leveling

What if a clanmate needs to gain as much experience as possible in as little time as possible? Give them off-party leveling. (Putting them on "trains" is not considered.)

Off-party means leveling outside a party: the character being leveled kills monsters alone while someone supports them with heals and buffs. All experience goes to the leveled character; the supporter gets nothing - a sacrifice made out of friendship or for payment. Monsters should be chosen so that the pair does not have to sit at all, or only minimally (unless resting is justified by higher efficiency compared with non-stop). Four classes run off-party most effectively: Prophet, Bishop, Elven Elder and Shillien Elder. Below we consider a pair of characters, as the easiest to assemble and the most common setup.

Who is leveled	Best supporter	Why
Tanks (knights of all kinds) and other armored melee fighters (Dwarves, partly Raider and Destroyer)	Prophet	The Prophet's buffs turn a warrior into a killing machine. In addition, Dryad Root (leveled after 40), cast before the warrior attacks, turns the monster's anger on the Prophet, so the warrior can hit it unpunished for a while - saving mana on healing, which is weakest on the Prophet of the four classes. A Bishop, on the other hand, heals best of all but lacks buffs, so the warrior kills more slowly.
Dagger DDs	Shillien Elder	Maximum damage, minimum armor. The SE has all of the Prophet's damage buffs except Haste and Berserker Spirit: Might, Death Whisper (critical power), Focus (critical chance), Guidance. It restores the mana spent on skills, slows enemies with Wind Shackle and heals with Greater Heal from level 48. The Prophet is only slightly behind, making up for it with Haste and Berserker Spirit. Both can use the Dryad Root trick, which matters a lot given the high damage rate.
Archers	Shillien Elder	Dryad Root and mana restoration - archers spend mana even on plain shots. The Prophet is out of the picture: no Recharge means no non-stop.
Gladiator, Monk/Tyrant	Prophet (for a Tyrant, better a Shillien Elder)	The Prophet with Haste, Regeneration and, if desired, Dryad Root (less relevant here). A Gladiator is very sturdy, so the Prophet's weak healing does not matter. A Monk/Tyrant is harder: light armor and a ton of HP that takes ages to restore 301 at a time. An Elder helps here, preferably the dark one: Wind Shackle, dark buffs and Greater Heal - weak, but stronger than the Prophet's Heal.
Mages	Shillien Elder	Every mage's favorite spell, even more than Wind Walk, is Empower. Add Dryad Root on the target monster and mana transfer. The SE is unrivaled.
Swordsinger, Blade Dancer	Prophet	A full set of buffs, and supports have few combat skills, so there is no need to restore mana. Other classes are fine too, but the Prophet is exactly what is needed.
Prophet	Bishop	Two halves of one whole: the Prophet buffs itself and goes into melee, the Bishop restores its health whenever it wavers.
Shillien Elder	Elven Elder or Prophet	"Once you become an SE, you are unpleasantly surprised to find you have nothing to fight with." Wind Shackle and dark buffs help, but light armor is not heavy armor. The EE's light buffs complement the dark ones, Sleep gives crowd control, and the EE can feed mana and heal. The Prophet is also good: the SE can heal itself and cast Wind Shackle itself, and Haste never hurts.
Elven Elder	Prophet or Shillien Elder	With a Prophet - like the previous case, only the other way around. With an SE there are more options: a staff, Empower, fighting undead with Might of Heaven, and Recharge. Faster, but most likely not non-stop: MoH casts very quickly and the recharger's mana is not infinite. When it runs out, you can take dual swords and fight in melee.
Bishop	Prophet or Shillien Elder	Either Prophet buffs and self-healing in melee (without weapon mastery skills - so-so), or the native staff, Empower and Root on undead enemies. A Bishop's Might of Heaven is stronger than an EE's, since humans have higher M. Atk than elves. Most likely not non-stop, but the efficiency per unit of time is higher.

Authors of the original articles: Adver Doiren, Chibi Kitty Tomoyo