*** I. Chakra Allocation *** Base (Character Creation) Muscle = 15 Heart = 15 -> You can allocate differently, this is the ideal balance start chakra especially for total beginner and no twink gear. Per Level-up Option 1 (5 points allocation) Muscle = 3 Heart = 2 (8 points allocation) Muscle = 5 Heart = 3 -> Basic Banar Chakra Allocation - off-tank Banar build. -> Gear refinements is more flexible and dependent on your preference as the per level chakra allocation provides good damage and decent survivability. -> Ideal build for new players. Option 2 (5 points allocation) Muscle = 4 Heart = 1 (8 points allocation) Muscle = 5 or 6 Heart = 3 or 2 -> Offensive Banar Chakra Allocation - Nuke Banar build. -> Gear refinement is most likely going to be Heart chakra heavy as this will compensate for the chakra allocation. -> Expensive for leveling as you will need to use more pots and likely some decent gear to feel comfortable as compared to option 1. -> Great for PVP but experience is needed as you cannot tank hits - need to play with strategy and not rush head-on. -> Absurd for boss hunts, damage output will be insane and since you have party members - you will not be doing any tanking. *** II. Skill Allocation *** Note 1: Skills that will not be mentioned means I did not use it personally for I do not think its useful at the moment. Note 2: Some skills are listed as Special Mention, cause I did not use those but might be useful for others depending on playstyle. (A) Attack Skills 1. Baluka - Max - Increases Physical Attack. 2. Amada Cass - Max, Level-up this skill every time available. - Bread and butter skill. - Damage multiplier is good per level-up. - Will also be part of Banar Combo Skills therefore this should be max. 3. Gatana - Level 1 only, just for pre-requisite. - knockback might sound nice but as a melee this is counter intuitive. - has its uses but not worth leveling-up. 4. Bizai (Banar Skill) - Max, Level-up this skill every time available. - Banar Combo skill with high damage output 5. Baluka Mantra - Level 1 only, just for pre-requisite - skill that miss even if the description says NEVER MISS xD (could have been good if it actually never misses) 6. Stam - Level 1 only (IMHO) - single target stun skill, very useful for stun-locking enemies that you cannot fast kill - Why level 1 only? increasing its level does not increase stun duration or % success chance, damage increase is not good aswell. 7. Bukampaa - Level 1 at early stages of the character, I kept mine at lv 1 for now. - AoE stun with decent damage and fast cast time (you can even do animation cancel to dish out damage faster). - Some says that this skill can also be chained, however I find the timing very hard to get thus I did not bother xD. - again leveling up this skill does not increase the stun duration or the % success chance, up to you if you want to level this up. 8. Roca Trio (Prajas, Dara or Tomara) - Max - pick-one base on the weapon type of your choice. I personally use spear so it was Tomara Roca for me. 9. Frahasta Roca - Max, Level-up this skill every time available. - Increase damage for two-hand weapons, which you should be using. 10. Nauti - I personally did NOT level this skill early, but has its uses for sure. - this skill stops the movement of a target but it can still attack, so for melee leveling its not as useful (unless your escaping) - for a change leveling this skill improves its duration. - Cool skill for sure, has its uses for party play and Kruma, but for early solo leveling this is not a priority. - maybe get level 1 of this skill then just upgrade it once you have spare skill points. 11. Prabeja (Special Mention) - I personally did NOT level this skill or used it. - I just thought of mentioning this because of the high ignore defense chance (though damage per level is not that high) - might be more useful if can be used from afar, but yeah just mentioned it for the ignore defense mod, up to you. 12. Baruna Force (Special Mention) - I personally did NOT level this skill - increases your accuracy, True that Banar skill misses ALOT - but id rather invest on AS refine on equips rather than spending skill points - Note that all skill points will be reset on 2nd Change job, thus you can learn this early on then don't once 2nd Job skill reset hits (B) Defense Skills 1. Tanutra - Max (personal opinion) - gives flat defense per level, some says its not that good but I find it useful. - you can opt to not learn this skill and allocate the points elsewhere, up to you. - for new players, this is a must to level as it will provide you the necessary defenses to have a smooth leveling. 2. Savitri Force - Level 1 at early stages of the character for pre-requisite, but is a promising skill to max-out later on. - more of a Kruma or PVP skill IMHO 3. Samate - Max, Level-up this skill every time available. - Absorbs damage, great for leveling. 25% at level 5 then add another absorb damage from a rare equipment set. - unfortunately this is a spell for Banar and not a passive skill (which is only for Satya) (C) Support Skills 1. Kundalina Lising - Max, Level-up this skill every time available. - Great skill, will save you alot of pots - nuf said. 2. Akate - Level 1 at early stages of the character, I kept mine at lv 1 for now. - element resist, really good but no points to spend here early on. - Maybe if you choose not to learn Tanutra then you can spend the points here. 3. Arorakin - Max, Level-up this skill every time available. - increases your damage but depletes health ALOT on lower levels. - honestly I don't use it that much at early levels because of the drain HP, on later levels and better equips + Mayat it will be more bearable. - you can choose to not learn this for now and spend the points elsewhere, but I sometimes use this when fighting elite mobs for example. 4. Tarka - Level 1 for pre-requisite - since you are building heart chakra, you have good amounts of TP - then on later leveling, there are gears that provides TP regen like Great Bear Belt, Datu Weapon or Necklace with Kanda which makes TP usage more manageable. 5. Mayat - I played with this pre-2nd Change Job, then after skill reset I just re-learned it on later levels when I had the spare skill points. - this converts TP to HP at double the value, can be considered quick heal especially once you have some TP regen gears. - on early levels, pots will do - therefore you can put this skill on-hold until later. 6. Frosana and Frosana Batia (Special Mention) - as a solo player for now I did not learn this. But I can see its uses when it comes to party leveling, Lurer at Yakkus? *** III. Equipments and Upgrades *** (A) Which weapon type to choose? Most recent update: Two-Hand Swords and Axes applies CLEAVE damage to NORMAL attacks. (This cleave does not apply to skills) (A.1) Sword -> Fastest aspd of all 3 weapons however has the weakest damage. -> Affected by Cleave update however would you really consider normal attacks on Banar? -> Also most unpopular of the 3 choices, therefore if you chose this you might encounter problems with upgrading your weapons on later levels. Very rare to see on market. (A.2) Axe -> The middle point of all 3 weapon choices, has a faster speed and lower damage than Spears while having slower speed but higher damage than Sword. -> Affected by Cleave update aswell - but since its slower than Swords, then its likely less viable for normal attacks. -> For normal weapons, also has an additional weapon mod of % chance to increase damage by %. -> Although you will find High level Banars using Axe, you might still encounter problems during leveling stage when it comes to weapon upgrades. -> Personal Opinion: Coolest design of all 3 weapon types, especially for higher level weapons. (A.3) Spears -> Highest raw damage but has the slowest speed. -> Not part of the Cleave update. -> For normal weapons, has an additional weapon mod of % chance to % ignore defense. -> Weapon progression during leveling will be easier as Spears are the most popular of all 3 weapons and alot in the market. In Summary: RECOMMENDATION: USE SPEARS FOR LEVELING (and maybe end game aswell) -> Base on what I was able to check in the market, at the same weapon level, Spear is 11% stronger than an Axe and 26% stronger than Sword. While Axe is about 16% stronger than Sword. -> Cleave was updated for Sword and Axe to improve popularity of these 2 weapon type however currently it did not shift the meta. -> Spear would likely be the ideal weapon choice for the moment, due to its availability and raw damage. Also since you will be using Skills, the slow aspd downside of Spears is somehow disregarded. -> Unless your planning to refine the weapons by yourself, leveling with Spears will be more accessible and cheaper. Especially when weapon damage is very important to kill monsters fast since you are melee. -> Disclaimer: I haven't played with Axes enough to determine which mod is better between the "% chance to increase damage by %" and "% chance to % ignore defense", there might be a world where the Axe mod is way better. (B) Which Accessories to use? (B.1) Amulet -> Kirika - Budget option and gives tons of life (I always choose Kirika over NotB) -> Ruckaku of Warrior - Mid option, more damage oriented than Kirika but more pricey aswell (especially since Kirika is technically free) -> Necklace of the Dark - Best option in my opinion, gives Muscle + Heart + Flat HP and Resist. Most expensive of the choices and with different Tiers from III to I (I being the best and most expensive) (B.2) Earrings -> Normal Muscle or Heart Earrings drop from Monster - Most budget option, atleast until you get the free Earring of Militia from Quest. -> Earring of Militia - Mid option, provides Muscle + Heart + Accuracy. You get 1 free from quest while the other 1 you can buy from other players. This EoM will be enough until very late game. -> Gate Keepers II or I - Best option in my opinion, same with EoM - this gives Muscle + Heart + Flat HP and Accuracy. Only ideal to get GK II or higher, if you can't afford GK II then better stick with EoM. GK III is not a big boost as compared to EoM and far more expensive (like twice the market price) (B.3) Bracelets -> Normal Muscle or Heart Bracelet drop from Monster - Most budget option, especially since you do not get any good bracelet for free from Quest. -> Desert Lord Bracelet - Only option in my opinion, Gives Muscle + Heart + Flat HP and Accuracy (you can see the pattern now right). Unfortunately this bracelet is not cheap even at Tier III and then there are no other options as other rare bracelets gives Chakra which are not optimal for us. Early on just go with Normal Bracelet from monsters, refine it with donuts 5x which is 100% success rate when full pots and your good to go. (B.4) Rings -> Normal Muscle or Heart Rings drop from Monster - Most budget option, you can use Ring of the Brave free from the quest but i'd rather sell it and use the rups elsewhere. -> Ring of Rama Naga / Kimnara Version - Mid to Late option (might even be the best option for Banar) gives Muscle + Heart + HP + TP + Resist (awesome right) - very cheap for what it provides. You can get one from quest but its very late in the game. Just grind and buy it from other players. -> Ring of the Dead - Best option in my opinion (if you can afford it), gives Muscle + Heart + HP + Accuracy. This ring also has different Tiers from III to I - However this ring is really pricey even at Tier III - way pricier even compared to DLB. Therefore I recommend to just continue using Ring of Rama since its on par with RotD III - and only buy RotD II if you got lots of rupiah and got nothing to spend them with. -> Kathana Ring - Best option if you have it as this is a limited time exclusive item given to players during Kathana Anniversary. Can be upgraded from IV to I however can only be used on a specific level (45, 60, 75 and 90 depending on its Tier). This ring gives ALL charkra, Increase Damage %, Flat HP and Accuracy at later tiers. If you have this then use it and don't forget to upgrade it at Mandara NPC to unlock its full potential. (B.5) Belt -> Chabi of Holy Army - Budget option as it is free from quest. Use donuts 5x on it if you want as you are stuck with this belt for a while. -> Roha Chabi of Life - Mid option at level 40+ rare belt and gives flat HP and HP regen. You can skip this if you want as it is not needed though the extra HP and HP regen might come in handy at this stage of leveling. -> Belt of Great Bear - another Mid option at level 69 rare belt and gives flat HP, HP regen, flat TP and TP regen (can be best budget option for leveling). This belt is great for its price as the TP regen is fairly important for leveling. You will find yourself spamming skills and TP regen is a must to avoid constant TP pots spam. -> Halloween (Kathana) Belt - Best LATE game option if you have it as this is another event item. This belt gives +15 to all Chakra and +10 to a Chakra of choice (likely you will choose Heart version of this belt). This belt will be great if you have solved your TP regen problems as the chakra it provides is absurd. (B.6) Charms - I forgot the actual names of these charms thus I will be referring to them by what they provide. -> Charm with HP +200 - good option if you prefer more HP. I think this can be crafted normally but there are alot being sold by players. Can be refined with donuts aswell if you choose to do so. -> Charm with 2% increase damage - good option if you prefer more damage. I think this can be crafted normally but there are alot being sold by players. Can be refined with donuts aswell if you choose to do so. -> Event Charm (Heart Version) - Best option if you have it as this charm gives +20 Heart Chakra and 10% Absorb damage. The absorb damage stacks with our Samate which makes us more tanky. Also this can be refined with donuts, if you have one of this charm then investing on it to get max refine is best. Note: there is also a Muscle version of this Charm but I personally prefer the Heart one and in my opinion the best one. (C) Armor and Weapons Progression Note 1: This section is highly dependent on your personal rupiah and if you have twink gears, I will consider you as a normal new player for below section. Also for weapons, I will consider that you have followed above recommendation of using SPEARS over the other 2 weapon type. Note 2: Pick-up all the Dipa Illa, Illa and Azis you will come across. These are used for refines. Better refines = Better weapon damage + cool looking weapon glow :D Note 3: Below progression ENDS at Emperor Tomb (ET), as I assume by that point you will have good knowledge of the game and do NOT need guides anymore. (C.1) Weapon -> Use Vartan's Sword until level 10 since the earliest level for spears is at level 10 (or level 20). -> from level 10 onwards just keep on upgrading you weapons base on the highest weapon level being sold from NPC. -> Level 40+ weapons are not sold in NPC, therefore you need to buy from Players or get it as a drop from monsters you kill. -> Once at level 40, I suggest buying a Rare Spear Trijika of Destruction and upgrade it using the refine materials under Note 2. You can upgrade it upto +4 without any risk - upgrade can still fail but you will just loose rupiah and not the weapon itself. You really want to ugrade this weapon as you can use it for couple of levels and skip the next normal weapons upgrade. -> At this point continue grinding, if you see a CHEAP and good lv 52 normal spear with +6 or up refine being sold by players. You can consider upgrading from your Rare Spear (skip any weapon upgrade below lv 52 - you can even push to level 58 Spear if you can persevere) -> KEEP IN MIND, that a +6 lv52 weapon has ALMOST the same damage as a +4 lv58 weapon. Therefore you can skip one weapon tier unless you got a +6 lv58 weapon aswell (then you can skip the lv62 weapon - got the point right?) -> For Dhatu weapons, SKIP lv68 Dhatu Spear (Jaktima) and GO DIRECTLY to lv74 Dhatu Spear (Khatu). Better just get a normal +7 to +9 Jaktima as this is enough for Kubasang farming which will take you from lv68 to lv74 in no time. -> Once you got your Dhatu Khatu (ideally +9 or higher) your good to go for ET leveling. (C.2) Armor -> Just continue using NPC armors and upgrade them as you level. NPC sells until lv 38 armor set. After that all sets are from monster drops (apart from the craftable ones, more on this later on) -> Buy armors from players if you are not lucky enough to get them yourself. Those usually sells for cheap and won't break your bank. -> Upgrading of armors will be based on your own judgment. This will depend on where you grind monsters. There are monsters that hits hard and fast which means you need to upgrade your armor (ideally to +4) on that leveling phase. While there are monsters that are too easy to kill that armor upgrade is not as needed. -> Starting lv40+ you will encounter craftable rare armor sets, better skip all of those rare armor sets until you reach level 64. -> At level 64, go invest on a decent Bahamut Grapa set as you can use this until level 80 (or higher depending on how you perform in ET). (C.3) Grinding Spots Note 1: this is purely my opinion and with the assumption of you having Autohunt. Although these spots can be farmed manually, it will just take longer as AH brings convinience over anything else. Note 2: you might see some level overlaps on which monsters to grind, that is provided incase you got tired of the current area, wants to move-on and you feel confident with your character. Note 3: always continue following the quest line, this will give you some good items and rupiah for starting. Also it will give you a rough idea on where you need to grind for level and if your character is strong enough to do so. -> Level 1-20+ = After completing Mandara quest line, If you want to grind a fair amount you can reach until level 25+ at Land of Mara. You might even get lucky and drop Varman Grapa Armor Parts which sell for ~2m per piece. -> Level 20-30+ = Grind at Ulkamuka Satvans, there is a spot before going to the Mahomet Castle which is a good spot for AH leveling. -> Level 30-40+ = Grind at Ananga and Ananga Dvanta, there is a spot at holy army barracks that has alot of these monsters good for AH leveling however the spots might be crowded. The Rare Trijika Spear can be dropped by these monsters, you might get lucky. Also at this point you might start finding Azis - DO NOT USE these for upgrades, instead sell it to players for quick rupiah. -> Level 35-45+ = Grind at Aggana (Witches) or Kaulitara, these spots are REALLY CROWDED. You just need to push thru this leveling stage, AH will help alot as you can just AFK grind. You will level here until your 2nd change job. You can even farm Kaulitara upto level 50+ if you want to as Shambala have frequent x2 Prana events. -> Level 45-55+ = Alternately you can grind at (1) Zaku and Zaku Gosu pr (2) Kyoin and Mangriang both of which is just outside Jina town. You might find it harder to level grind here as the players you will find here are likely 2nd job changed aswell and has better gears. If you find it slow then go back to Kaulitaras. -> Level 45-55+ = Another alternate option is to level at Shambala Dungeon level 1, you can find and join parties at Zarku and Ghoroyagi. Feel free to try out any of the alternative leveling spots mentioned for this leveling stage and choose which one you feel comfortable and efficient the most. -> Level 50-60+ = Grind at Sinkiu and Sinkiu Gosu, you can portal directly from Jina to this leveling spot. Sinkiu Gosu hits hard and fast though so be careful (especially those elite mobs, those are too much for us right now). Grind here and farm levels and rupiah. Pickup item drops and sell them to NPC to generate bank. Pots do sell aswell if you can get a couple of bundles. Buy some upgrades especially to your weapon and when your done you can go to the next leveling spot. Great to have AH at this point as this leveling location is pretty boring, there are alot of players and not so high monster spawns. -> Level 50-60+ = Alternately you can start grinding at Pamir plains, either the Bans or the Sobariungs. Nothing much to say as this is still boring place, to much field space leading to alot of running for a turtle speed Banar. I personally just stayed at Sinkiu or Sinkiu Gosu with AH. -> Level 60-78 = Grind at Kubasang in Pamir plains - great place to grind both levels and rupiah. Find a party or a spot if you want to solo level. The monster spawn is really good for Kubasang in-which even with many players you can still grind good level. Also Kubasang drops a ton of items that are sellable to NPC, focus on weapon drops as those sell for more. Lastly, keep an eye out for the RARE accessory STRONG KAMBU which drops from Kubasang. Since alot of players here have AH, there is a chance you will see one laying on the ground ready to be looted. This sells for a couple of million to players which gives you good bank. -> Farther than this you just go to ET.