Superstarstrike
September 13th, 2016, 05:45 PM
(Long guide ahead. You've been warned.)
With the release of harder content such as Northern Turtle and Southern Vermilion lairs and a lot of other things in the end-game being more worthwhile doing (such as the Firework Map), it is more important than ever to have top-notch gear. But where do we even begin? What does it take to have amazing armor and weapons?
blood, sweat, tears, and complaints obviously
Let's start off with modding.
Modding System
"MODDING SUCKS YOUR ENTIRE GOLD SUPPLY AWAY UNTIL YOU START SEEING BLOOD WHICH IS COMING FROM YOUR EYES." - BA Forum Modding Guide
This used to be considered an optional system. However, with rebirthing, harder content (that needs to be done), and overall with how it's more accessible to mod, it's becoming less and less of an option. You could get away without modding on your way 70, but the difference in being able to DPS well in some raids and/or tank efficiently will show.
What is Modding?
It is a system that allows players to gain additional attributes on their armors, weapons, and costumes. When equipment is upgraded, it is technically replacing your base equipment with something of a higher level, but with a random modding attribute gained. Once mod attributes have been gained, you can then power up this mod up to level 20. What do the levels represent? They are percent (%) values in most cases. For element defense, MP recovery, and HP recovery, they are flat numbers. For example, a physical attack mod that is 15/20 would be +15% attack. A MP recovery mod at 20/20 would be a flat +20 MP recovery.
With weapons and armor, you can gain three types of mods indicated by color. Green for uncommon, blue for rare, and purple/orange for legendary. The difference between uncommon, rare, and legendary is what materials you will need for them. Legendary stats will take the longest amount of time with the materials it will require. With costumes, stats are just added as you mod.
Just upgrading your armor and weapons for mods alone will add more to its existing base stats. Sometimes, a new base stat can be added. Here's a comparison example:
Legendary Banshee Bangle vs Banshee Bangle
https://i.gyazo.com/2449f72559fd2c924ba7d39ad6069879.png
Notice the 12 base magic attack it gains. Notice the huge difference in durability. The red numbers are coming from onyxes (magic accuracy), double gold stat bonus (accuracy and magic accuracy), and the actual mod stats (magic attack %, damage reduction III, and damage reduction I; you cannot see the damage reduction in this image). Dancer's Costume would gain base magic evasion. I could make a list of everything that has notable changes, but that would take ages and would be better off in its own thread.
How to Mod?
Go to the skills menu (Ctrl + X), go to Everyday Skills, and click the third row icon that says Upgrade.
http://i.imgur.com/ukfnRjq.png
Pick your weapon or armor that is clean, uncommon, or rare.
http://i.imgur.com/KaUXINZ.png
Gather the necessary items, which are typically Agates (if armor)/Tigersyes (if weapon), a collection material, a monster drop, and an upgrade scroll. With armor, you'll also need another armor piece. PLEASE MAKE SURE TO USE AN INSURANCE SCROLL UNLESS YOU WANT TO THROW A TEMPER TANTRUM.
http://i.imgur.com/j8KZQPB.png
Pray that you don't get a terrible stat. Do note that your armor will become higher leveled when you do this (so if you want a legendary Savage set for example, you need to upgrade either the Breastbone or Hedgehog set). HLA armor and weapons stay the same level.
Once you have upgraded all the way to legendary, proceed to power up your mod(s). Go back to Everyday Skills. From this point onwards this process is the same for costumes, but you use Premium Silk instead of Equipment Mod Scrolls.
http://i.imgur.com/e4SpHi6.png
You will first need an Equipment Mod Scroll. Remember, these come in different colors! There's green, blue, and orange. Make sure you remember this and get the right type of scroll if you're trying to power a specific mod (green for uncommon, blue for rare, orange for legendary).
http://i.imgur.com/IwU9u78.png
I hate this wand...
Gather any materials it requires you to obtain. Don't forget Mod Insurance Scrolls; you still have the risk of losing your equipment and throwing a temper tantrum.
http://i.imgur.com/XMgFau4.png
Repeat until you have reached 20/20.
WARNING: REMEMBER TO UPGRADE A CLEAN PIECE OF EQUIPMENT. THE REASON FOR THIS IS BECAUSE ADDING MODS REPLACES THE OLD EQUIPMENT WITH SOMETHING STRONGER, MEANING THAT YOUR GOLD STAT BONUSES AND ONYX WILL BE LOST. PLEASE BE CAREFUL AND SAVE YOUR ONYXES AND USE GOLD TRANSFER SCROLLS IF NECESSARY. ONCE YOU HAVE FULLY UPGRADED YOUR EQUIPMENT, YOU CAN POWER IT UP WITH NO WORRY.
You might want to know what stats you can mod. Here you go! (http://domo.wikia.com/wiki/Equipment_modification#Stat_Table) You also can check that materials you'll need for costumes on the same page too.
Tips?
Always, always keep gems you find. Make some mules to hold these.
Keep all tier 5 and above materials you get from dice chests.
Use the Gem Trader (http://domo.wikia.com/wiki/Gem_Trader).
Save your Fireworks for the Firework Map. Get a team of people (or more) to do it with you. The amount of gems you can get from there will be worthwhile, either if you plan to use them or sell them.
For leveling and rebirthing, upgrade a level 40 armor set to 50. This should last you for a long time. If you want to be really hardcore for raids, upgrade level 60 armor or HLA armor (good luck with that :troll:).
Modding alone will not save you, unfortunately. First off, they are disabled in the Arena. Secondly, if you don't have all the defensive mods in the world, you can and will still be squishy. Finally, you will be missing the ever-so-important double gold bonuses. So let's go over THAT now!
You might notice a stunning lack of step-by-step images from now on. My apologies. To be fair, step-by-step images aren't as necessary for the remaining sections of this guide...
Double Golding
Want your weapon to have some sparkle like the pros? Want to stop dying in two hits from Northern Turtle Legionaries? Want the name of your equipment to be gold? Well too bad, you need all three of these things!
What is Double Golding?
Golding is the act of enchanting the stat bonus of your armor or weapon to the point of it having a gold color. What's so special about the gold color, you ask? Other than reaching the stat bonus cap, you also get another bonus with that gold number, which can vary depending on what you're using.
How to Double Gold?
You will need to use Green/Blue/Orange upgrade books, which you can obtain from the item mall. There are also advanced books from the item mall that you can use for a higher success rate and expensive tomes for a guaranteed success rate. I do not advise using the tickets in-game unless you're dealing with green stats; they are too expensive and have too low of a success rate (or too high of a risk) to be worth it. Most of the process can be skipped by obtaining your equipment somewhere that's NOT an NPC store. NPCs will not have a green/blue stat bonus. This is all the more reason people advise not to use NPC'd armor/weapons. In other words, get your gear from alchemy, drops, or from upgrading via mod system (you will have maxed blue stats). The stat bonus progress goes like this: None > Green > Blue > Orange > Gold
Green books will only work on equipment without a stat bonus or with a green number. Blue books will only work on blue numbers. Orange books will only work on orange numbers. Once you have hit an orange number, you might see words like this: "Peak: 0/10". This is to indicate how many more successful enchantments you must make before that stat becomes gold. Weapons must have 10 successful enchants, while an armor piece only requires 5. Once you have reached 6/10 for your weapon, consider using advanced books and a tome for 9/10. As for armor, you're more likely to get away without using advanced books or a tome, but it doesn't hurt to be too safe.
This process is daunting, as it is expensive and there is that creeping chance of failure. But like all great things in life, it must be worked towards.
Should I Prioritize On Specific Stats?
Yes. For weapons, you don't even have to gold both stats most of the time. Here's a sample of what you should be focusing on for weapons:
Syringe - Physical Attack for stronger heals
Bow - Magic Attack for stronger physical skill damage (I know it's odd)
Wand - Magic Attack for stronger magical skill damage
Musical Instrument - Physical Attack for stronger Transfusion Tune pretty much
Saber - Physical Attack for stronger auto attacks
How Badly Does It Matter For Armor?
Here's how it works for armor: each piece will provide an additional stat upon being golded. A glove with a golded magic defense stat will gain 10 magic accuracy. Trousers with a golded physical defense stat will gain 10% extra physical defense. HOWEVER, the bigger benefits don't start kicking in unless you gold BOTH stats on multiple pieces. Let's go back to my Legendary Banshee Bangle:
https://i.gyazo.com/8fc4876a410ea2181e296c76d262188e.png
With three double golded pieces, you get an additional +10% HP and +10% MP. With four pieces, +20% HP and +20% MP. With five pieces, a bonus! What bonus does YOUR armor get?
Heavy Armor - Less damage taken from physical skills
Light Armor - Extra damage dealt with physical skills
Robes - Extra damage dealt with magical skills
Dancer's Costume - Less damage taken from magical skills
Clothing - Additional attack speed
So with this, what armor do you need? Should be pretty obvious, but I'll tell you anyway!
Skill Spam = Light Armor
Magic DPS = Robes
Attack Speed = Clothing; can mix Clothing and Dancer's Costume (this is one of the few--if not only--situations where mixing armor end-game is acceptable)
Support & Tank = Dancer's Costume or Heavy Armor
For an entire list of everything related to gold bonuses you can stalk the wiki (http://domo.wikia.com/wiki/Stat_bonus).
MORTAL REMINDER: Do this AFTER upgrading for mods! If you do it before then, you might as well stick with it until you upgrade another clean piece of equipment. Sure Gold Transfer Charms are a thing but still...
Onyxes? What Are They?
And of course, where would we be without the power of Onyxes? In case you don't know or aren't aware enough, Onyxes are stones that you can insert into your equipment to make it even better. There's a wide variety of them. Most of them can only fit into certain parts though! I'll provide a list of onyxes for specific equipment later.
How to Insert Onyxes?
Get an armor or weapon mallet/drill. Mallets can be bought from the Slotmaker in Eversun City, located near the Ironmonger. Drills are from the item mall, but they have a higher chance of succeeding and allow you to insert slot 3 and 4.
Now hit Ctrl+X once again and go to the Onyx menu. Select your armor or weapon. You will then use the appropriate mallet/drill. This can fail; you may have to make slot attempts multiple times. You will notice that you can only create a certain number of slots, depending on what mallet or drill you are using. If you see something that says "Location to produce empty weapon slots" and then something like 1, 1~2, 1~3, or 1~4, that's the number of slots your mallet/drill can produce. If it says 1, you can only create slot 1. If it says 1~2, you can create up to slot 2, and so on. Finally, just put your Onyx in your slotted weapon/armor and you're good to go!
The slot number is very important. If your Onyx says Slot 2, that means your Onyx can only be put in slot #2. It cannot be put in slot 1, 3 or 4. Similarly, a Slot 1 Onyx cannot be put in any other slot but slot 1.
What Onyxes Should I Use?
Whichever will optimize your job, role, or situation better. Skill Spam or Attack Speed? Get some Onyxes of Fraternity. Hate Northern Turtle Legionaries? Get Hexa and Snake Onyxes. Want Regeneration 11 to be even better? Get Onyxes of Loyalty. Trying to hit 200 Fire Defense? Get as many Onyxes of Moon for Fire Defense as possible. Do some research. Let's look at the Legendary Banshee Bangle one more time, but full view so you can see the onyxes:
https://i.gyazo.com/a74e5729862bf9fde3d855bf6bfd97f5.png
Here's the list of Onyxes for each piece of equipment.
Weapon (http://domo.wikia.com/wiki/Category:Weapon_Onyxes)
Trousers (http://domo.wikia.com/wiki/Category:Trouser_Onyxes)
Body (http://domo.wikia.com/wiki/Category:Body_Onyxes)
Hand (http://domo.wikia.com/wiki/Category:Hand_Onyxes)
Shoe (http://domo.wikia.com/wiki/Category:Shoe_Onyxes)
Head (http://domo.wikia.com/wiki/Category:Head_Onyxes)
Shield (http://domo.wikia.com/wiki/Category:Shield_Onyxes)
Closing
Well, if you wanted to be the best [s]like no one ever was, this is how you do it. Is money an issue? Too bad! This isn't a money-making guide! But it is an understandable issue. Try not to rush everything at once. However, don't expect to reach some of your higher-end goals without at least knowing these things. You can only go so far with that level 10 Light Armor set of yours. If you wanna get up there, you gotta do it one step at a time. If any this has helped you, I'm glad.
With the release of harder content such as Northern Turtle and Southern Vermilion lairs and a lot of other things in the end-game being more worthwhile doing (such as the Firework Map), it is more important than ever to have top-notch gear. But where do we even begin? What does it take to have amazing armor and weapons?
blood, sweat, tears, and complaints obviously
Let's start off with modding.
Modding System
"MODDING SUCKS YOUR ENTIRE GOLD SUPPLY AWAY UNTIL YOU START SEEING BLOOD WHICH IS COMING FROM YOUR EYES." - BA Forum Modding Guide
This used to be considered an optional system. However, with rebirthing, harder content (that needs to be done), and overall with how it's more accessible to mod, it's becoming less and less of an option. You could get away without modding on your way 70, but the difference in being able to DPS well in some raids and/or tank efficiently will show.
What is Modding?
It is a system that allows players to gain additional attributes on their armors, weapons, and costumes. When equipment is upgraded, it is technically replacing your base equipment with something of a higher level, but with a random modding attribute gained. Once mod attributes have been gained, you can then power up this mod up to level 20. What do the levels represent? They are percent (%) values in most cases. For element defense, MP recovery, and HP recovery, they are flat numbers. For example, a physical attack mod that is 15/20 would be +15% attack. A MP recovery mod at 20/20 would be a flat +20 MP recovery.
With weapons and armor, you can gain three types of mods indicated by color. Green for uncommon, blue for rare, and purple/orange for legendary. The difference between uncommon, rare, and legendary is what materials you will need for them. Legendary stats will take the longest amount of time with the materials it will require. With costumes, stats are just added as you mod.
Just upgrading your armor and weapons for mods alone will add more to its existing base stats. Sometimes, a new base stat can be added. Here's a comparison example:
Legendary Banshee Bangle vs Banshee Bangle
https://i.gyazo.com/2449f72559fd2c924ba7d39ad6069879.png
Notice the 12 base magic attack it gains. Notice the huge difference in durability. The red numbers are coming from onyxes (magic accuracy), double gold stat bonus (accuracy and magic accuracy), and the actual mod stats (magic attack %, damage reduction III, and damage reduction I; you cannot see the damage reduction in this image). Dancer's Costume would gain base magic evasion. I could make a list of everything that has notable changes, but that would take ages and would be better off in its own thread.
How to Mod?
Go to the skills menu (Ctrl + X), go to Everyday Skills, and click the third row icon that says Upgrade.
http://i.imgur.com/ukfnRjq.png
Pick your weapon or armor that is clean, uncommon, or rare.
http://i.imgur.com/KaUXINZ.png
Gather the necessary items, which are typically Agates (if armor)/Tigersyes (if weapon), a collection material, a monster drop, and an upgrade scroll. With armor, you'll also need another armor piece. PLEASE MAKE SURE TO USE AN INSURANCE SCROLL UNLESS YOU WANT TO THROW A TEMPER TANTRUM.
http://i.imgur.com/j8KZQPB.png
Pray that you don't get a terrible stat. Do note that your armor will become higher leveled when you do this (so if you want a legendary Savage set for example, you need to upgrade either the Breastbone or Hedgehog set). HLA armor and weapons stay the same level.
Once you have upgraded all the way to legendary, proceed to power up your mod(s). Go back to Everyday Skills. From this point onwards this process is the same for costumes, but you use Premium Silk instead of Equipment Mod Scrolls.
http://i.imgur.com/e4SpHi6.png
You will first need an Equipment Mod Scroll. Remember, these come in different colors! There's green, blue, and orange. Make sure you remember this and get the right type of scroll if you're trying to power a specific mod (green for uncommon, blue for rare, orange for legendary).
http://i.imgur.com/IwU9u78.png
I hate this wand...
Gather any materials it requires you to obtain. Don't forget Mod Insurance Scrolls; you still have the risk of losing your equipment and throwing a temper tantrum.
http://i.imgur.com/XMgFau4.png
Repeat until you have reached 20/20.
WARNING: REMEMBER TO UPGRADE A CLEAN PIECE OF EQUIPMENT. THE REASON FOR THIS IS BECAUSE ADDING MODS REPLACES THE OLD EQUIPMENT WITH SOMETHING STRONGER, MEANING THAT YOUR GOLD STAT BONUSES AND ONYX WILL BE LOST. PLEASE BE CAREFUL AND SAVE YOUR ONYXES AND USE GOLD TRANSFER SCROLLS IF NECESSARY. ONCE YOU HAVE FULLY UPGRADED YOUR EQUIPMENT, YOU CAN POWER IT UP WITH NO WORRY.
You might want to know what stats you can mod. Here you go! (http://domo.wikia.com/wiki/Equipment_modification#Stat_Table) You also can check that materials you'll need for costumes on the same page too.
Tips?
Always, always keep gems you find. Make some mules to hold these.
Keep all tier 5 and above materials you get from dice chests.
Use the Gem Trader (http://domo.wikia.com/wiki/Gem_Trader).
Save your Fireworks for the Firework Map. Get a team of people (or more) to do it with you. The amount of gems you can get from there will be worthwhile, either if you plan to use them or sell them.
For leveling and rebirthing, upgrade a level 40 armor set to 50. This should last you for a long time. If you want to be really hardcore for raids, upgrade level 60 armor or HLA armor (good luck with that :troll:).
Modding alone will not save you, unfortunately. First off, they are disabled in the Arena. Secondly, if you don't have all the defensive mods in the world, you can and will still be squishy. Finally, you will be missing the ever-so-important double gold bonuses. So let's go over THAT now!
You might notice a stunning lack of step-by-step images from now on. My apologies. To be fair, step-by-step images aren't as necessary for the remaining sections of this guide...
Double Golding
Want your weapon to have some sparkle like the pros? Want to stop dying in two hits from Northern Turtle Legionaries? Want the name of your equipment to be gold? Well too bad, you need all three of these things!
What is Double Golding?
Golding is the act of enchanting the stat bonus of your armor or weapon to the point of it having a gold color. What's so special about the gold color, you ask? Other than reaching the stat bonus cap, you also get another bonus with that gold number, which can vary depending on what you're using.
How to Double Gold?
You will need to use Green/Blue/Orange upgrade books, which you can obtain from the item mall. There are also advanced books from the item mall that you can use for a higher success rate and expensive tomes for a guaranteed success rate. I do not advise using the tickets in-game unless you're dealing with green stats; they are too expensive and have too low of a success rate (or too high of a risk) to be worth it. Most of the process can be skipped by obtaining your equipment somewhere that's NOT an NPC store. NPCs will not have a green/blue stat bonus. This is all the more reason people advise not to use NPC'd armor/weapons. In other words, get your gear from alchemy, drops, or from upgrading via mod system (you will have maxed blue stats). The stat bonus progress goes like this: None > Green > Blue > Orange > Gold
Green books will only work on equipment without a stat bonus or with a green number. Blue books will only work on blue numbers. Orange books will only work on orange numbers. Once you have hit an orange number, you might see words like this: "Peak: 0/10". This is to indicate how many more successful enchantments you must make before that stat becomes gold. Weapons must have 10 successful enchants, while an armor piece only requires 5. Once you have reached 6/10 for your weapon, consider using advanced books and a tome for 9/10. As for armor, you're more likely to get away without using advanced books or a tome, but it doesn't hurt to be too safe.
This process is daunting, as it is expensive and there is that creeping chance of failure. But like all great things in life, it must be worked towards.
Should I Prioritize On Specific Stats?
Yes. For weapons, you don't even have to gold both stats most of the time. Here's a sample of what you should be focusing on for weapons:
Syringe - Physical Attack for stronger heals
Bow - Magic Attack for stronger physical skill damage (I know it's odd)
Wand - Magic Attack for stronger magical skill damage
Musical Instrument - Physical Attack for stronger Transfusion Tune pretty much
Saber - Physical Attack for stronger auto attacks
How Badly Does It Matter For Armor?
Here's how it works for armor: each piece will provide an additional stat upon being golded. A glove with a golded magic defense stat will gain 10 magic accuracy. Trousers with a golded physical defense stat will gain 10% extra physical defense. HOWEVER, the bigger benefits don't start kicking in unless you gold BOTH stats on multiple pieces. Let's go back to my Legendary Banshee Bangle:
https://i.gyazo.com/8fc4876a410ea2181e296c76d262188e.png
With three double golded pieces, you get an additional +10% HP and +10% MP. With four pieces, +20% HP and +20% MP. With five pieces, a bonus! What bonus does YOUR armor get?
Heavy Armor - Less damage taken from physical skills
Light Armor - Extra damage dealt with physical skills
Robes - Extra damage dealt with magical skills
Dancer's Costume - Less damage taken from magical skills
Clothing - Additional attack speed
So with this, what armor do you need? Should be pretty obvious, but I'll tell you anyway!
Skill Spam = Light Armor
Magic DPS = Robes
Attack Speed = Clothing; can mix Clothing and Dancer's Costume (this is one of the few--if not only--situations where mixing armor end-game is acceptable)
Support & Tank = Dancer's Costume or Heavy Armor
For an entire list of everything related to gold bonuses you can stalk the wiki (http://domo.wikia.com/wiki/Stat_bonus).
MORTAL REMINDER: Do this AFTER upgrading for mods! If you do it before then, you might as well stick with it until you upgrade another clean piece of equipment. Sure Gold Transfer Charms are a thing but still...
Onyxes? What Are They?
And of course, where would we be without the power of Onyxes? In case you don't know or aren't aware enough, Onyxes are stones that you can insert into your equipment to make it even better. There's a wide variety of them. Most of them can only fit into certain parts though! I'll provide a list of onyxes for specific equipment later.
How to Insert Onyxes?
Get an armor or weapon mallet/drill. Mallets can be bought from the Slotmaker in Eversun City, located near the Ironmonger. Drills are from the item mall, but they have a higher chance of succeeding and allow you to insert slot 3 and 4.
Now hit Ctrl+X once again and go to the Onyx menu. Select your armor or weapon. You will then use the appropriate mallet/drill. This can fail; you may have to make slot attempts multiple times. You will notice that you can only create a certain number of slots, depending on what mallet or drill you are using. If you see something that says "Location to produce empty weapon slots" and then something like 1, 1~2, 1~3, or 1~4, that's the number of slots your mallet/drill can produce. If it says 1, you can only create slot 1. If it says 1~2, you can create up to slot 2, and so on. Finally, just put your Onyx in your slotted weapon/armor and you're good to go!
The slot number is very important. If your Onyx says Slot 2, that means your Onyx can only be put in slot #2. It cannot be put in slot 1, 3 or 4. Similarly, a Slot 1 Onyx cannot be put in any other slot but slot 1.
What Onyxes Should I Use?
Whichever will optimize your job, role, or situation better. Skill Spam or Attack Speed? Get some Onyxes of Fraternity. Hate Northern Turtle Legionaries? Get Hexa and Snake Onyxes. Want Regeneration 11 to be even better? Get Onyxes of Loyalty. Trying to hit 200 Fire Defense? Get as many Onyxes of Moon for Fire Defense as possible. Do some research. Let's look at the Legendary Banshee Bangle one more time, but full view so you can see the onyxes:
https://i.gyazo.com/a74e5729862bf9fde3d855bf6bfd97f5.png
Here's the list of Onyxes for each piece of equipment.
Weapon (http://domo.wikia.com/wiki/Category:Weapon_Onyxes)
Trousers (http://domo.wikia.com/wiki/Category:Trouser_Onyxes)
Body (http://domo.wikia.com/wiki/Category:Body_Onyxes)
Hand (http://domo.wikia.com/wiki/Category:Hand_Onyxes)
Shoe (http://domo.wikia.com/wiki/Category:Shoe_Onyxes)
Head (http://domo.wikia.com/wiki/Category:Head_Onyxes)
Shield (http://domo.wikia.com/wiki/Category:Shield_Onyxes)
Closing
Well, if you wanted to be the best [s]like no one ever was, this is how you do it. Is money an issue? Too bad! This isn't a money-making guide! But it is an understandable issue. Try not to rush everything at once. However, don't expect to reach some of your higher-end goals without at least knowing these things. You can only go so far with that level 10 Light Armor set of yours. If you wanna get up there, you gotta do it one step at a time. If any this has helped you, I'm glad.