this is long overdue but whatever
Basic PvE High Priest stuff! yayBeing a Priest is hard work. Fun if you enjoy being the kind of person who keeps everyone alive, but note that here on Hats there's a shortage on the number of priests online at the same time. Naturally, in such a case, you want to adopt a build that's tough enough to tank shit but also good enough to provide support to the group. When you begin the game and become an Acolyte, your options for levelling aren't THAT limited, but the real fun starts when you transcend and become High Priest. Hopefully this quickly done write-up will induct newer players into becoming more adept at supporting larger teams on dungeon raids.
STAGE 1: ACOLYTEAs an acolyte, your best weapon for killing enemies, well, Undead property enemies, that is, is to utilize "Healbombing." What is Healbombing? It's SHIFT-Clicking the skill Heal on an Undead property monster. It deals damage equal to 50% of how much you would normally heal yourself for. So for instance, if your Lv10 Heal heals for about 2200, it would deal 1100 to an Undead Property monster. As an Acolyte, your main status spread will probably be one of the following:
Basic FS stat spreadsI > D > V
I > V > D
I > V = D
Turn Undead spreadI > D > L
I > D = L
I > L > D (don't do this unless you hate yourself)
The best one is probably the second one. As an Acolyte doing the levelling up, you want to be able to take lots of hits so you can heal yourself while you're getting hurt. Getting lots of INT, as MUCH INT as you can, is a priority, so your Heal does maximum damage and you have a large SP pool to work with. Acolytes don't get Increase Spiritual Power until attaining priesthood, mind, so be wary of that! Around 5x, you will only have about 300~400 SP and that's barely enough for 10 Lv10 Heals.
Note, I put there "Turn Undead" build. This will be discussed in the Priest section. Just do note that if you plan on doing this "Turn Undead" build, don't stack too much LUK, you get GLORIA to amplify that anyway.
Decent levelling spots:
Low level stage: Payon Dungeon 1 (Skeletons/Zombies) and 2 (Skeleton Warriors/Skeleton Archers)
Mid to High level stage: Amatsu Dungeon 1 (Firelock Soldiers.
Use Pneuma on yourself to negate their attacks)
Please, for the love of God, gain Job Level 50. Not only will you have some skill points left over if you get only the necessary FS skills, but you will also have an easier time doing the Priest job change quest, as some parts are omitted if you do it at JLvl 50.
STAGE 2: PRIESTAs a Priest, this is where most of your supporting skill aside from BLESSING and INCREASE AGILITY come in. Since you won't have Assumptio until High Priest, your main defensive buff is "KYRIE ELEISON." You will also be able to learn MAGNIFICAT, which is one of the most important support skill due to it increasing the entire party's regeneration rate. In a party, be sure to keep applying your buffs regularly. Most newer players click on the party member's sprite to apply buffs, but
you can actually click their name in the party window to automatically do so, as to not get ruined by position lag. This way, you'll always ensure that you can buff your team and then the rest of the team have no excuse to get angry at you if they do something stupid and get themselves killed.
Earlier, the skill "TURN UNDEAD" was mentioned. This build is strictly for levelling purposes, as to get to 99/70 Priest ASAP and get transcend status. "TURN UNDEAD" has a chance based on your INT and LUK as well as the target's current life, for a maximum of 70% chance, of success to instantly kill an Undead property monster. Using TU on the Anubis on in_sphinx4, is often considered as one of the easiest and fastest ways to level a character. Those who do not have the benefit of having TU or do not employ a TU build can try this using Resurrection Lv4 on the Anubis, however, this expends 1 Blue Gemstone without a headgear of Gemstone (Mistress card).
If you plan on doing a TU Priest for levelling, be sure to skill up Gloria to Lv5, this increases your LUK by a whopping 30, albeit for a very short time, but it's definitely enough to give you a high chance to succeed. Note, also, TU has a cast time and delay, so get some DEX on the side.
STAGE 3: TRANSCENDENCEOnce you complete the transcend quest and become High Novice/High Acolyte, repeat the levelling process as you did as a normal Acolyte. This will take much longer than usual, since transcendent classes require approximately 3 times more experience than vanilla classes. However, the build up is very worth it. Here's where the final build comes in, where you gain 100 bonus stat points, 25% bonus SP and HP, and 20 additional job levels as a High Priest.
99/70 High Priest Skill Build -->
Here99/70 High Priest Stat Build (factoring HP gear build below)
STR 1 +9
AGI 3+8
VIT 93+13
INT 88+13
DEX 58+9
LUK 1+2
EquipmentWEAPON :: Staff of Recovery
+10 (this is key)
Headgear (Up) :: +9 Tiara[1] --> Choose: Marduk card or Mistress card
You can opt for a Maiden Hat instead which boosts MATK and Heal potency rather than give +1 INT. It also has one slotHeadgear (Mid) :: Choose: Red Glasses or Robo Eye
Headgear (Low) :: Whatever you want
Armor :: +9 Odin's Blessing[1] --> Card it with the appropriate Property cards (Dokebi/Sandman/Bathory/ED/Swordfish/Pasana)
Shield :: +9 Valkyrja's Shield[1] --> Card it with the appropriate Resistance cards. If you're fighting MVPs or Boss-class monsters, Choose: Alice card or the MVP's Race card
Garment :: +9 Wool Scarf[1] --> Raydric card
Shoes :: +9 Tidal Shoes[1] --> Antique Firelock card
Accessory 1 :: Necklace[1] --> Spore card
Accessory 2 :: Necklace[1] --> Spore card
Alternatively, you can go for Earring[1] + Spore Card or some other card of your choice, for some extra INT. Or, you may also opt to do +9 Orlean's Server[1] and Orlean's Glove combo for some faster cast time. Whichever you choose, you need to get your items up to +9 or even better, +10. This gives you a really high defense, well over 50, and with Assumptio, it's highly unlikely you will be killed that easily.
If you want some more figures:
HP - 13146
SP - 2216
DEF - 52 armor defense
MDEF - 14
HIT - 166
Flee - 110
PD - 1.3
Crit - 1.9
MATK - 341~576
HP Regen - 90
SP Regen - 39 base, excluding ISP
Playing HPWhen playing as HiPri, you want to keep everyone alive mostly. Don't stop applying Assumptio, Magnificat, Increase AGI, and Blessing. These four buffs are the most important. Quite frankly, the other buffs are secondary and situational. For instance, you can cast Impositio Manus on your DPSers if you really HAVE to, and in a place like Nameless Abbey, you need to keep spamming Aspersio on your melee attackers so they get bonus damage against Undead monsters. Don't forget to cast your buffs
through the Party Window (ALT+Z). Furthermore, the Party Window is a great way to keep track of who's dying and who isn't, because health bar outside of it can be quite confusing and hinders vision of the battle. Note that earlier, I emphasized high defenses so you can tank.
YOU ARE NOT THE ONE TANKING, if you have to tank for the party, something is seriously wrong with your party composition and you should consider looking for an LK or a Pally to do the tanking instead. Your ridiculous defenses is for you to survive party wipes and cast Lv4 Resurrection on everyone else when they are dead!!! The HP is one of the most important people in the party and must be alive at all costs, even if the HP himself or herself has to be the one to keep themselves alive!!!
I repeat!
HP must always be alive! So having a good defense is a good way of ensuring that you'll survive long enough to revive and rejuvenate everyone else.
Last wordHigh Priest is quite a job, really. I've had lots of experience in the role, and I'm sure a bunch of others have. This is mostly just an induction for newbies, as you gain more experience you will be able to do things in your own manner and deviate, and devise your own ways to support the team. Just don't do anything outlandish and/or stupid and you'll be fine.
I hope this was informative!
