Spellsinger: Player Guide

A few facts from the humble life of a Spellsinger

"...Shilen breathed the spirit of water into the first form that was created. Thus the race of Elves came to be..." This race produced one of the strongest mages of the world - the Spellsinger, whom the goddess granted power over the element of water. Below is a breakdown of the class's stats, skills, gear, leveling spots and tactics.

Base stats

Stat	Affects	Value
STR	P.Atk and carrying capacity	21
CON	HP and carrying capacity	25
WIT	casting speed (M.Aspd)	23
INT	M.Atk	37
MEN	MP and M.Def	40
Load	carrying weight	62,000

WIT. The Spellsinger is rightly considered the best damage dealer (DD) in the game thanks to lightning-fast casting of combat spells: it deals the most damage over a fixed period of time. That is exactly what WIT governs, and the Spellsinger's WIT is the highest of all mages.
INT. A kind of payback for the speed: per spell, the Spellsinger deals less damage than the other combat mages.
MEN. Here the Spellsinger is ahead of everyone except Orcs. At low levels the advantage is small, but as the quality of jewelry grows, M.Def increases many times over.

Profession quests

The Spellsinger profession quest consists of three parts done in sequence at levels 35, 37 and 39. Stock up on patience, a decent amount of adena and Scrolls of Escape.

Key skills

Combat

Skill	Description
Hydro Blast	the standard ranged water spell; considered the most beautiful combat spell of all combat mages
Aura Flare	a very powerful close-range spell; non-elemental, so there is practically no defense against it
Solar Flare	the strongest ranged spell, hits harder than Hydro Blast; if the damage is 3 times the opponent's HP, it gives a bonus to experience and CP
Frost Wall	a close-range spell with a large area; useful when a small group of monsters slightly below your level attacks you
Aqua Splash	an area spell with a very long range
Aura Symphony	huge non-elemental damage if 2 seeds of any magic have been successfully placed on the character
Blizzard	huge water damage if 2 water seeds are placed; also slows the target. At the level where it is learned, Hydro Blast has 100 power and Blizzard 350
Elemental Symphony	huge mixed-element damage if wind and fire seeds are placed; power 500

Debuffs

Skill	Description
Sleep	puts the opponent to sleep; together with fast casting it is the Spellsinger's specialty
Curse: Weakness	lowers the opponent's physical attack; Elves have the lowest P.Def, so this may save your life one day
Surrender To Water	lowers the target's resistance to water magic; a deadly combo with Hydro Blast
Sleeping Cloud	the area version of Sleep
Cancel	removes all good and bad effects from the target: it can decide a fight by stripping enemy buffs, or save a fellow mage from Silence

Buffs

Skill	Description
Resist Aqua	raises the target's resistance to water magic - useful against other Spellsingers
Freezing Skin	reflects part of the damage back to the attacker; does not work against arrows and magic
Mana Regeneration	speeds up MP recovery, requires Spirit Ore; self only
Seed of Water	places a water seed; required for Blizzard and Elemental Symphony

Mixed

Skill	Description
Frost Bolt	deals damage and slows the opponent; truly useful once leveled
Ice Dagger	throws an icicle that causes bleeding - like poison but with physical damage
Freezing Shackle	wraps the opponent in an icy cocoon that deals damage over time, like a very strong poison

Passive

Skill	Description
Clear Mind	speeds up MP recovery while the character walks or stands. Level it right after the attack skills: the Spellsinger has no way to transfer MP and has to sit and wait
Fast Spell Casting	speeds up casting - the key skill of the class; at level 3 the Spellsinger's casting speed becomes the highest in the game

How to use the skills

Hydro Blast is your main weapon against monsters and players "until the end of time"; attacks usually start with it. With Blessed Spiritshots it casts twice as fast and hits harder. Before attacking a boss with a huge HP pool, cast Surrender To Water: for two minutes the debuff increases Hydro Blast damage depending on the caster's level.
Aura Flare - fast cast and considerable power, no elemental defense. Used when the enemy has reached you alive.
Solar Flare - light magic, stronger even than Hydro Blast; usually used to finish off the opponent in one hit.
Blizzard and Elemental Symphony need preparation. Blizzard requires 2 water seeds, and after each use the seeds must be placed again. Elemental Symphony requires water, wind and fire seeds, and also needs recasting after use.
Sleep and Sleeping Cloud put monsters to sleep while hunting - for example, in a pinch when your HP is low and the monster is still alive. In the arena (Coliseum) they always come first, so you can then debuff the sleeping opponent.
Surrender To Water takes a long time to cast, so it is used mostly in the arena and against bosses and mini-bosses rather than ordinary monsters.
Buffs. A Spellsinger as a buffer is like a Tyrant as a ballerina. Still, always keep yourself buffed: sudden PvP or a monster attack can happen at any moment.
Ice Dagger - low damage and a short bleed make it of little use for hunting; it is used on bosses and in arena PvP. Its only advantage is a near-instant cast.
Frost Bolt - similar to Ice Dagger, but it slows fast monsters; thanks to a fast cast and -30% target speed it is very useful in PvP.

Gear and leveling

After the second profession: up to level 52

You have outgrown D-grade but don't have much money yet - head to the Luxor shop. The Spellsinger is about huge casting speed with moderate hitting power, so start with the Karmian set (Karmian Tunic, Karmian Stockings, Karmian Gloves): +5% P.Def and +15% casting speed. For the weapon, pick one:

Demon's Fangs (M.Atk 61) from the regular Giran shop plus a shield in the off hand. You can comfortably level with it up to 52: before that Blessed Spiritshots simply don't pay off, and leveling with regular Spiritshots is, in the author's opinion, too unstable.
A top D-grade two-handed staff - bought from players or crafted; similar to Demon's Fangs, but without a shield.

Spellbooks can't always be bought - you often have to farm them. Oddly enough, Spellsinger books drop from exactly those monsters that have higher water resistance than others of their level. Take a tank (preferably a Shillien Knight) and a healer with Empower into your party. Farm the attack books first - with the new spells the rest will be easier to get.

Levels	Where	Monsters
up to 42	Sea of Spores	Dire Wyrm (slow - just what you need)
up to 42 (alternative)	the pit near the Ivory Tower	Enchanted Iron Golem, Enchanted Stone Golem (decent drop)
42-45	around Aden	Vanor Silenos, Weird Drake
45-48	around Aden	Silenos as their levels grow
45-50 (alternative)	The Cemetery	Hatar Ratman Thief, Hatar Ratman Boss, Hatar Hanishee
50-52	The Cemetery	Deprive, Taik Orc Supply, Taik Orc Seeker

From level 52

Weapon: at least a Sage's Staff or its one-handed equivalents, and ideally a top C-grade weapon - Deadman's Staff, Demon's Staff or Ghoul's Staff (one- or two-handed, it doesn't matter). If you're in a clan, ask your clanmates for help.
Armor: it's time for B-grade, but it is hard to make. If money and time allow, go for the Avadon set: +15% casting speed and +5.25% P.Def. Many think Blue Wolf is better for a Spellsinger, but it adds only slightly more casting speed than Avadon, is harder to assemble and lowers INT even more. That said, you can run around in Karmian up to level 60.

Levels	Where	Monsters
52-55	deeper in The Cemetery	Farcran (lots of experience), Grave Guard, Taik Orc Supply Leader
55-60	the courtyard of Giant's Cave (the ruins themselves are too early)	Yintzu, Hamrut, Kranrot
60-65	The Forbidden Gateway	Crimson Drake, Kadios, Trives, Falibati, Doom Knight
65+	Lair of Antharas or deeper into Giant's Cave	monsters of your level where it is safe to sit and rest

Monsters of The Forbidden Gateway worth knowing:

Crimson Drake - ordinary dragons, no special threat, slow.
Kadios - more dangerous than anything you have met before: they have the "mage's bane", Silence. If they manage to cast it before you kill them, you can order a coffin. Fast.
Trives - nothing special, cast Root. Medium speed.
Falibati - not as dangerous as Kadios, but they cast Sleep - not deadly, but unpleasant.
Doom Knight - ordinary monsters; the trouble is that they roam mixed with Falibati and Trives.

At level 65 it's time to replace the C-grade staff and craft a B-grade one. It's hard: you'll need friends, clanmates and serious resources, but it will pay off within weeks.

A-grade sets

From level 61 you can wear A-grade - the hardest set to assemble. All magic sets add casting speed, but a Spellsinger should look at two:

Dark Crystal Robe Set (+2 WIT, -2 MEN): +8% P.Def, +15% M.Aspd, +7 movement speed, slightly lowers the chance of a cast being interrupted when hit, +50% resistance to paralysis. In the author's opinion, the dream of every Spellsinger: +15% casting speed and +2 WIT. The downside is the lower MEN, which governs MP and magic resistance.
Tallum Robe Set (+2 WIT, -2 INT): +8% M.Def, +15% M.Aspd, +80% poison resistance, -80% chance of bleeding. The second most suitable set, but it lowers INT, and the Spellsinger doesn't hit very hard as it is - think twice before wearing it.

All of this is the solo leveling path: long and hard, but worth it. In PvP you'll have no equal, in mass PvP you'll shine, and at any siege you'll make a real contribution.

Party play

Party play suits the Spellsinger: as a damage dealer it kills the monster held by the tank, so its life is usually not in danger. But there are pitfalls:

It's best to have a Shillien Elder in the party - you really need Empower.
Dealing the most damage, you risk pulling the monster onto yourself - that's how the game works. It's fine if the monster isn't much stronger than you; again, it's better to have a healer.
In a small party you need a buffer first of all - a Shillien Elder, Prophet or Bishop - who doubles as the healer. The best tanks are a Temple Knight, Shillien Knight or Dark Avenger.
Sleep helps a lot in a party; don't forget Heal either - thanks to your casting speed you can sometimes save a party member. Frost Bolt will help you escape from a mob.

PvP

The Spellsinger's tactics are basically the same against any opponent: do everything precisely, in a coordinated way and quickly, but without fuss. Aura Flare is your trump card: if the opponent is close, just hit them with it - almost nobody deals that much damage per unit of time.

Against a Spellhowler or Sorcerer. For the arena, set up your shortcut bar in advance: Sleep and the Cancel and Surrender To Water debuffs. Always buff yourself before the fight. Start with Sleep - thanks to your casting speed you'll land it before your opponent. Then Cancel right away, and in the same second Sleep again. After that your hands are free: put on every debuff you can while keeping the opponent asleep, and move to the attack with the "sleep - hit - sleep - hit" pattern (this is not a bug or a cheat). If the opponent gets close, hit them with Aura Flare at once. If you already have Seed of Water, place two seeds on yourself before the fight so that your first attack is Blizzard. Against tanks the approach is the same and even simpler: tanks have to fight in melee, which in many cases plays into your hands.

Against a Silver Ranger or Phantom Ranger. This is harder: bows hit very hard, although they fire slowly. Use the same "sleep - hit" pattern, but heal yourself in time so that forgetfulness doesn't cost you your life.

Mass PvP. Until level 58 the Spellsinger has no strong area attacks, so don't waste effort on weak area spells - focus on a single target: the enemy healer, tank, mage or archer. In the author's opinion, it's best to take out archers or mages first, as the enemy's success rests on them, then the tanks: alone you can't handle more than two or three, and by picking them off one by one you free up your allies. The Spellsinger's role in mass PvP is support: while others draw the enemy's attention, you quietly shoot down opponents one after another.

Tactics against monsters

Monsters without Sleep, Root or Shock

Normal speed. No debuffs needed. The standard pace against a monster 3-5 levels above you is two Hydro Blasts with Blessed Spiritshots and two without. This way your costs pay off and turn a profit.
Fast monsters. Two hits with Blessed Spiritshots, and when the monster reaches you - Aura Flare: contact magic is noticeably weaker than ranged, so one hit with a shot and one finishing hit without.

In both cases, after two Hydro Blasts with Blessed Spiritshots you can finish the monster off with one Solar Flare with a shot.

Monsters with Silence, Root, Sleep and Shock

Silence (for example, Kadios). If it lands, run - the farther, the better. When hunting such monsters, stock up on Haste Potions or bring a buffer with Wind Walk 2; otherwise you'll have to hope for random help.
Root is not as dangerous. If you have enough MP and HP and haven't gone after monsters 10-15 levels above you, your chances of survival are almost certain.
Sleep is nastier than Root but, unlike Silence, not deadly. The monster will reach you anyway and wake you with its first hit. Put it to sleep in return, run to a safe distance, heal and continue the fight the usual way.
Shock (paralysis) is the second threat after Silence and can cost you your life 8 times out of 10 depending on how prepared you are. But only melee monsters cast shock, and they have to reach you first. Before hunting, buff yourself fully (Concentration, Freezing Skin, Shield) and never start a fight with incomplete MP and HP - such carelessness costs your life 90% of the time. If shock does land, don't panic: while the monster was running, you've surely taken about 60% of its HP. When the shock wears off, hit it twice with Aura Flare with Blessed Spiritshots. If you don't have enough MP, immediately put the monster to sleep and run far away to sit and rest.

Lord of Plain, Barif, Pytan and many others roam in groups dominated by melee monsters. It's best to stay away from aggressive social monsters altogether, but if you do aggro them:

No mass sleep yet. Things look bad (unless the monsters are much weaker than you). You're lucky if you have a Haste Potion in your bag and the monster isn't fast. And if you've managed to aggro Barif, it's time to think not about potions but about the afterlife.
You have Sleeping Cloud. Use it right away! After the sleep, take out the boss first - it's usually the strongest in the group - then the archers and the like. To be safe, put the rest to sleep again and take them out in any order.

Original article author: danatello