Silkroad Online Forums

I have read for days here at SRF before deciding on building a pure INT (I still am thinking about a 2:1 INT hybrid, but for now Im staying pure). I have read VERY convincing posts as to why I should go Spear/Glaive or why I should be Sword/Shield. But therein lies the problem. I have heard some very good arguments for both.

Sword / Shield
- Potential for blocking is absolutely necessary due to low HP
- High mastery of the passive will allow for blocking often
- Knockdowns are extremely useful in later levels

Spear
- Supposedly, I will get a magic damage bonus with this weapon in later levels
- The passive is necessary for HP

So for once and all... which do you choose as a Pure INT nuker (fire / light), and why?

Edit: Removed Glaive (and BTW, it is Glaive, not Glavie... Silly koreans)

ok...why are u posting spear/glavie??? spear is not the same as glavie...spear is for int...glavie for str.

ok if u want to build a nuker...do not put any str point...my first char was 2 to 1 int nuker...i got to 36 and i'll tell u ...even with sos sword+2 ..nuke is not good enuff...do not mix!

as for which weapon to use...refer to the sticky by fly..
spear for monster..sword for pvp...so u can use both...but remember..don't lvl these past 20...there is no point..as when u reach 30...u will only be using ur nukes...
if u want to make it easier for urself ..sp wise...jus stick with sword...because when/if u reach high lvl..and u want to pvp...u will use sword.

ok..as for ur arguements for sword vs shield

sword---
.yes blocking helps...but u can't rely on this....get a shield with atleast 15 block...
the passive..u won't lvl this past 20..so the hi lvl passive only applies to bladers..
yes..get knockdown.....don't need the stab afterward...if they get too close..knockdown...and retreat a bit...then nuke again....


spear--
no mag defence from using this weapon..dunno where u hear that..
fire skill has a mag def buff
hp bonus...again...u won't lvl this pass 20...so the extra hp u get from lvl 2 of this passive ain't shiet...

and lastly...go fire main...light support
read the sticky by fly..durr

First, thank you for the reply. Second, Of course I read the sticky before posting this. While Fly's guide is a great OVERVIEW for basic builds, it does not get into details explaining WHY weapons choices were made or why he only raises their mastery to 20. Which is exactly what I did not understand (and asked for). The guide is good, but not the end-all be-all you present it to be.

I like the knockdown, retreat idea. In the past, the spear passive was said to be necessary for an INT user. But you are saying that it is not worth it? I realize that it it only gives a static bonus to HP, so that might be its downfall.

I said magic "bonus", and it was based on comments that if you were an INT, you should carry a spear for some reason. Just wanting some clarification. So, you are saying that a spear will enhance my magic damage?

Wont I need to raise the sword past level 20 in order to increase my knockdown chances? (actually, I think it says a 50% chance for all books...)

i think u guys are missing the topic poster's questions.

Theres a difference between USING the actual weapons and getting the WEAPON SKILLS

I'm becoming a pure int guy and i dont know whether i should use my skil points on any weapon skills at all...and if i do, i dont know which one to choose

That is exactly my dilemma, ape. Thank you.

There are two parts to this, but the one that I must make a real choice on is which weapon SKILLS to choose. Beyond that, I realize that a spear and sword will be the actual weapon choice, but that depends on my situation and/or my mastery decisions.

Fly states that you only need lvl 20 on each weapon, but I was hoping for an idea of why.

Things to consider:
* Passives for each weapon choice (cheolsam force sounds like it would be necessary... I am looking for experienced players to tell us if that is correct or not).
* Bonus for weapon choice (e.g., additional magic damage, etc)
* Actual weapon use in combat. There will be times when I need to use the weapon as opposed to simply relying on nukes.

It is easy to read about the skills and say "ooohh that is cool" or "ugh, that sounds useless". But it takes actual experience to be able to tell which skill trees are most effective/efficient for the INT Fire/Light build

what i dont understand tho is ur sig.....if u were full int why did u choose bow as one of ur weapons..its rather spear or sword/shield that is good for full int.

** Updated Sig

LoL! I forgot that I even saved that sig. I am going full INT, but the weapons are still up in the air. Bow is just MUCH easier to farm with, lol! I do not plan on putting mastery into bow at all. I realize that the logical choices fall in Sword or Spear.

Currently, I am at an 8-9 level gap for SP, soon to drop to a 4 level gap before I go nuts... this far, my only masteries are in Fire and Lightning.

I like the 50% chance knockdown that I get at lvl19 for Sword

what does knockdown do?

it does exactly what the name says, knocks down opponent 50% of the time

knocking them down as in stunning them for some time?

there is another bicheon skill that allows you to stab them when you knock them down. they cant move when they're down

hehe, consequently -- i have the same confusion. i currently have my weapon mastery into spear only (lvl 25 i believe). i probably won't lvl that up anymore. may delevel to lvl 20 for bicheon skill up to 20 also. it seems more favorable for PvP with the low health status though spear does do more damage...

meh, maybe it all just comes down to preference.

sorry i wrote so much and forgot where i was going..u want to know which skills to get until u reach 30...ok ok
i understand what ur saying...he doesn't go into every detail..
why only go to 20?...
since u are full int..ur magical dmg is high...and u attack everytime with ur imbue...so that equals u killing mobs faster than str user....therefore u don't need a bunch of weapon skills as a str user does.
at most u will need 2 for sword 2 for spear
chain and knockdown for sword...ghost and that stunning one...sorry dunno what it's called..for spear

the spear passive ..unless u lvl it up very high..which u won't...will not be effective...late game......so u are good with jus getting up to 20 for the early stages..u can't waste so much sp just to lvl up one passive in a mastery...so really there is no point going so far with that...u will need ur sp later on...remember part of this game is how good u are at being efficient with ur skill points...oh ya btw..don't upgrade ur force skills anymore..it will be too hard to maintain 3 force masteries...unless u are playing 24/7 literally

sorry..i read wrong.....but still..no magic bonus dmg for spear...
spear has high magical damage compare to glavie...glavie has high physical dmg
sword and spear are magical based weapons..
blade and glavie are physical based weapons..

yes 50% all lvls...

okay the reasoning behind fly's 2 weapon masteries:

fly says to use both sword and spear...

you use the spear to grind things you can kill in one or two hits, but if it takes anymore hits than that.... you will end up taking hits yourself... which isnt good because you are full int (low hp)...

so if you cant kill it in two hits or less... you use the sword and shield... for the best defense (good for a int user)...

i would suggest going hybrid 2:1 int... just for the fact that you need the hp... ofcourse your nuke would be weaker than a full int... but youd be able to take more damage...

and your nuke would be stronger if you used a spear anyways... because of the damage and because of the magical renforcement...

stay with flys guide if your going full int but...

if you go with 2:1 you can stick with spear (no sword skills)... the extra HP you get from the passive skill in spear would really help you out...
mind you... this is one of the strongest builds in the game... IMO

NO NO NO! No STR, go full INT. Damage difference is small now, but will be large when you reach higher levels. As for weapons, you already seem to have a good idea about the advantages and disadvantages, choose whichever you like more, or choose both! Weapon masterys dont need to be leveled at all IMO, it just makes it a lil easier till you get your nukes at level 30. You wont be using weapon skills (other than knockdown) once you get your nukes, so if you do plan to learn a weapon mastery, like most people say, just learn up to level 20 at most, no point going over that.

Some things to remember when choosing level 20 Sword or Spear:
200 HP bonus from spear is very useful at early levels, but becomes less useful as you reach higher levels. More HP is always nice to have as an INT though.

2% Block Rate passive from sword will help you throughout the game if you plan on sticking with sword. More BR is always good to have.

The level 19 knockdown is 50% chance of knockdown on level 19 or lower. When you try it on higher level targets, the chance of knockdown is lower than 50%. Though chance is lower than 50%, it can always be a life saver if it does land.

what I am doing with my pure int character, is I'm leveling pacheon to 30 as i go (just kinda second thought) and heuksal is at twenty... no sword skills (yet)... the pacheon gives me more attack rating with the bird buff(i'm not going to explain what any of these terms mean, the information is in the forum) and better range for my nukes. When I get to a higher level where most of my time is spent pvping I'll just delevel with cursed hearts if i decide i don't want one or the other, it's no big deal... and really... i kind of doubt that keeping heuksal could be more important than the pacheon... cuz damage and range is more important than a tiny bit more hp, when hp is my weakness... i'd rather focus on my strength...

anyway... just make your character and have fun, but DO NOT put points into anything but INT... because you want all the magic damage you can get, that's your strength, not hp, don't focus on your weakness ...

BTW, I considered going cold fire lit for the cold shields, but it was a waste of sp, don't bother, i'm in the process of deleveling that. if you're getting hit you're pretty much dead with or without the cold shields i'm afraid... so really i think the best thing is to just go fire/lightning... and pacheon helps i find... more than having a sword mastery i don't even use... because it means weaker nukes... how much will you pvp before you're a high enough level to easily afford the sp toward sword mastery, probably not that much... so don't even worry about it.

here comes a thought from someone who never had a full int char

before 30, with no nukes your main skill seems to be your imbue. maybe that small light nuke
weapon skills all add only phy dmg wich is pretty useless for you
so if i had to chose some weapon skills for my full int char, i would chose some wich will deliver quick blows to the enemy. hitting it more often with my powerful imbue.
*is browsing throug skills now*
Illusion chain looks nice for this (mastery lv7)
Soul cut blade - imbue, and make it a "nuke" i think it has a longer range then Shock lion shout, so it could be possible to use them both (mastery lv14)

for spears, the first chain comes at lv24. Chain spear-Tiger

you only need lv1 of these weapon skills, cos upgrading them wont add any magic dmg to them

walking around in my high 30s being a pure int myself seems so weak. all these tankers with massive HP just creating a massacre is nuts. i start to question my build being a spear/fire/light user. sword/shield do less dmg with the nuke and depending on blocks just isn't convincing me to change to bicheon.

meh, maybe i just have to wait it out in the long run.

Excellent advice from everyone. Thank you very much for your informed opinions. I have a much better idea of what I want as a result.

I like the pacheon buff idea... Never considered it, as I thought the increase would only benefit STR characters. After reading it, it does seem to give a bonus for the attack rating which would apply to nukes. Is there a noticeable difference in your range with it? I am not yet able to use nukes (other than the pansy lions shout... which actually does an awesome job of making mobs aggro on me without me having to walk my silly ass over to them). Cannot wait to use my nukes for the first time (even though I am afraid they will be underwhelming at first...)

im a pure int and i find sword shield a better combination than spear in both pvp and pvm
using spear in pvm pretty much doubles the amount of dmg taken from monsters compared to using a shield and the dmg is onli about 20% higher than sword which 1 shout is equipvalent to

in pvp pure int sword shield full armor can tank a pure str blader same lvl 1vs1 but a spear user cannot

this is how i see pvp 1vs1 same lvl same equip which some may disagree but i find this mostly correct

sword shield pure int = spear pure int
sword shield pure int > pure str blade
sword shield pure int < pure str glaive
spear pure int = pure str glaive
spear pure int < pure str blade

Hello

I'm pure int too, lvl 42 and I use sword/shield.
The first reason is that the block is great. And the shield helps you have a better def.
Second reason is that I love swords ^^
And you will not make really lower damages than a spear user.

About skills, my sword mastery is lvl 31 currently. The skills I use are : billow chain, blood chain (lvl 1 for both) and sometimes Snake sword dance or knockdown hit.
Chains with maxed imbues do really good damages. Using sword skills helps you level too, before getting your nukes.
And even after, it can still be used.


Sword passive increases block rate. Wonderful ! But I don't know if I will go beyond lvl31, the SP cost is huge.

About lion shout : it's a very useful spell. It is the fastest spell that damages enemies. If you cast nuke and lion shout just after, they will often hit your target at the same time. Don't forget to imbue before and you will make very good damages in 1 second.
And Lion shout is the best way to kill these stupid chakjis that are all on your camel's ass

I will definitely try sword / shield. I am farming at lvl19 (4 gap, working to a 6 lvl gap) mastery in Spear, Fire, and Light. I can afford to go to 19 on sword/shield as well to test it out.

I am one-hitting white/black tigers AND Chakjis with a regular ole white Malicious Snake Spear (lvl 21) Imbued and Soul Speared. This rocks considering I am pure INT. I actually tank mobs my own level better than I thought, but I would like to try the shield.

I will be keeping an eye open for a good shield/sword... I finally made my first million, but I want to keep saving for lvl 30+ armor/weapons as I am leveling fast even while farming.