5. RolesIn this chapter we will talk about each squad members role.
Wizard: Main Goal - Keep Dragons Breath. Since Wiz stand at the front line they take a lot of damage (if Barbs/BMs are inexperienced). At the first boss wizards and some other squad members go to open chests in the first rooms. Sometimes they have to do it at the second boss too. At the second boss wizards can stay with the cleric to tank the boss. In all other cases Wiz is pure DD.
Archer: Main Goal - Barrage of Arrows and Sharp Tooth Arrow on bosses(if needed). At the second boss Archer stays with Cleric to tank and do damage. Same as Wiz - pure DD.
Clerics: Main Goal - Regeneration Aura (blue bubble). BB should be started before mobs reach Holy Eye. Cleric will solo tank first boss, heal and purify DDs at second boss, and purify the tank at other bosses. May cast def/mdef debuffs on bosses.
BM: Use Heaven's Flame, mass stun/agro taking them from DDs and saving their asses (that's why BMs need tons of HP). At 1-2 waves (if Barb went to do quests) BM should push mobs into the AoE using sword or polearm skills. Squad leader is usually BM, Barb, or Veno(rare case). In the bonus squad BM has to be the leader to get the reward. You can pass the lead after getting the reward though. As a squad leader BM will set Auras so give all beans to him/her. At the last boss BM does melee damage with Barb. Also if the squad isn't the bonus squad BMs help archer to start AoE.
Barb: Do most of the work (as always ). Common duty for barbs - to do the quests. Quests can be done after the second wave of Stage 1. Expert tank does 5 quests in Stage 1 and comes back when the boss is about to die. Right after the bosses death barb goes to finish remaining quests and from the middle of Stage 2 works with the squad. Main goal - mass agro and tanking dozens of mobs (pot/apoth required!). Barb tanks some bosses. Goal 2 - Push mobs inside AoE using Slam. Both tasks are very difficult and require constant attention, thus no chances to go AFK. Often Barbs are squad leaders.
Veno: A lot of work at the beginning. Usually Veno goes to the far (4th) room to open chests while having the pet kill mobs there. At Stage 2 Veno clears the third room and helps the squad clear room one (at the boss). After that Veno stays with the squad casting Parasitic Nova and Befudding Mist(carefull as range is minimal). Veno's do not tank bosses even with Herc becuase it's a very unreliable method. Veno's can use pets to help kill bosses with skills turned off to avoid stealing agro. Veno also uses Amplify Damage and Pdef debuff. At the last boss it is recommended that the veno has Herc. If the Veno doesn't have Herc the squads damage might not be enough to kill the boss (Hercs Bramble hood helps lower level squad a lot).
6. PositioningYou will start next to the NPC that gives the main quest - Messenger:Metal.
The leader should accept the quest. Then the five Aura NPCs will appear.
Another NPC, named Crisium:Jofeng will appear next to these five, this NPC gives the beans to the bonus squad. The big NPC up on the hill - Harpy Wraith is the one you have to protect.
Behind the Harpy Wraith there is a portal that leads to the non-battle area of the instance. There are rooms with chests, some mobs, and quest NPCs here. There are also two forges in the non-battle area where you can craft Tomes, buy pots (max lvl 60), and repair equipment. To return to the battle area you talk to one of the pillars beside the respawn point. One pillar takes you out of Gods Rebirth and one takes you to the battle area(attention! you have to choose the proper level range 70-85). Remember town portal and Teleport incensce will take you to the respawn point in the non-battle area. Those who have their graphics set on high will see a pillar of light at the entrance to the valley.
This is where Auras will be set and where your squad will fight (and probably die *evil grin*). Wider view of the valley
We will use the bonus squad for the example for this guide. The picture below shows one of the possible dispositions:
This is just one of many variants but it was tested and approved as a working one. As you can see Wiz stands right inside the pillar. On the edge of his AoE stands the cleric (in this particular picture cleric stands one step closer to wiz than he should... maybe he was drunk ), Archer stands behind the cleric, Bm stands at the same spot as Wiz, Barb at the left (or right) side, and Veno is just wandering behind the Archer or making bbq or whatever she wants so all squad members are inside cleric's BB range and mobs rush right into the Wiz/Archer AoE. Barb takes care of those that don't want to go into the AoE by using slam to push them. Wiz, Archer, and BM set Holy Eye as target about 80% of the time. Wizard and Archer start their AoE on the Eye. If it's Archer, Archer squad then everyone moves a bit forward. Cleric stands between archers. Cleric and Archers stand closer together than in the previous disposition. Barb and BM should be careful to stay in Auras/Cleric range.
7. StagesNow a few words about each stage. The description won't be too detaild because your own experience is the best guide.
Stage 1
Before you start make sure everyone has two sparks and all buffs. Now activate the quest and get your bonus beans. The squad leader will set the first Aura. Usually MP regen is first but if your squad is rather weak and you don't care much about your MP charm you can set Attack Aura (increases magic attack of the cleric and hence efficiency of his/her BB). Tip: to set an Aura the squad leader talks to the NPC, gets the quest, and then talks to the NPC again.
All squad members except the Veno will go to the light pillar and take their positions. The Holy Eye deals 1 damage from time to time (you can see it on the picture above) which allows you to target it. The first squad member that gets it targeted lets the squad know so that Archer and Wizard can assist target the Eye and start their AoE. If your squad isn't the bonus squad you don't get the Eye. If this is the case Archer can start his Barrage on BM (to do so kick the BM out of squad and reinvite once AoE is started). Cleric starts the bubble. BM builds chi attacking the Eye and uses AoE skills on mobs when they come. Keep an eye on the DDs and help them by using AoE stun and agro skills.
At this time the Veno will go through the portal to the farthest (4th) room in non-battle area to open chests and kill mobs. If you don't have a Veno it could be BM, Barb, or the third DD (depends on the spare squad member you have). First mobs arrive. They are weak at the beginning and use only physical attacks. Barb (or another squad member appointed to do quests) stays with the second wave of mobs is eliminated. After the second wave the Quester goes to do his job and only four members stay to kill mobs. Again, if your squad is weak, the Quester can stay with the squad and do quests while the others kill bosses but this way will take much more time to finish with quests, chests, mobs, beans (for a few Stages maybe).
The first quest NPC is right next to the spawn point. He will give a quest a few seconds after the second wave mobs (trees) are killed. Other quest NPCs are further by the road. There is one tricky moment in getting to them, jumping on small islets to get past the abyss. It only seems hard at the beginning and video shows how to do it . After you talk to the last quest NPC use town portal or teleport incense to get to the spawn point. Talk to the first NPC to finish the quest and take the next one. Run again. You can watch the full quest run on this video.
During Stage 1[/color] (including time to kill the boss) Quester should be able to finish five quests (pro's can do six ). In that time the Veno should have cleaned the fourth room.
The people killing mobs shouldn't have any trouble until the fifth wave. This wave may be tough for beginners because the mobs are fire element, hence much less damage from the wizard. If the cleric or archer steals agro the wizard should cancel Dragon's Breath and use Black Ice Dragon (or at least Hailstorm if its lvl is high enough). As the last monster dies all members except the cleric should run through the portal to open chests in the second room (near the abyss).
When the boss - Element Summoner appears on the map you have to watch the time because you only have 15 minutes to kill the bosses in Gods Rebirth. If you go over 15 minutes the mission is failed.
The cleric alone tanks the boss. Heal yourself and try to attack. Rare stuns from the boss shouldn't be a problem. Stay at Aura's range to keep your charm from ticking. Common sequence is heal, heal, attack, attack, repeat. The squad has 11-13 minutes to open chests and kill mobs. In that time the cleric should take off about 20-65% of the bosses HP. If the cleric needs help the Veno can help right after finishing with the fourth room. Herc can easily tank this boss at lvl 71.
When the 11-13 minutes are up call all squad members to the battle zone. You don't get EXP if you're not there when the boss dies. Full squad can finish the boss in 1-1.5 minutes. Rebuff when the boss is dead.
After the bosses death you will see six chests (one for each squad member), a mob named ---XXX--- > //God"s Bestowal// (haven't seen him yet, so will update name later), and one more chest behind it. Everyone goes to open their chests dropping beans on the ground while digging. The squad leader picks up the beans and goes to kill the God"s Bestowal (though anyone can kill it) and opens the last chest with beans. Now the squad leader sets Auras. Second level MP, first level chi, second level attack (or first level attack and first level defense). All other members run to the pillar and take their spots. After setting Auras the squad leader (if it's not a Barb(quester)) goes to the pillar too.
Edited bonus mob name
Stage 2Veno now goes to collect chests in the third room. Barb goes to finish the last three quests. Only four members stay to kill mobs again. Tactics are the same but mobs are stronger now and magic attacks come more often. From time to time the BM has to move mobs inside the AoE. Another Fire wave might bring trouble but BM can use his/her AoE more often now thanks to the chi Aura. As the last fire mob dies fall back, the boss is coming Flashing Thunder. Often this is the last boss for inexperienced squads. Turn on your timers.
This time the cleric and archer will stay at the boss. If the archer is 80+ it's enough. If not it's good to have the wizard there but only if cleric has purify at 7+. DDs should keep the boss at max range while the cleric heals and purifies them from max range to avoid AoE damage. This boss has nasty debuffs that increase metal damage. The problem is that these debuffs stack making the damage go insanely high. Common tactics for the cleric here are: purify, iron heart, iron heart, repeat on second DD. Do this for about 10 minutes. When the bosses HP gets down to 5% or so one of the DDs should go through the portal to help with chests and mobs (don't take the boss with you! ). The other DD keeps tanking. When you're done with chests everyone goes to the battle and DDs finish the boss.
Once again you will get chests and a mob. Squad leader takes the beans and sets Auras. Defense if it isn't set yet, Attack, and HP regen. Don't raise MP regen past level two. Raise Chi Aura last because skills cooldown slower than the time needed to get enough chi to use them. Rebuff again.
Stage 3By now you should have finished all quests, chests, and mobs (non-battle area). If so you can forget about the portal behind you except for the cases when you have to leave or repair equipment. If you still have something to do in the non-battle area the Veno goes to finish it (spare squad member in non-bonus squad).
Mobs should be easy now considering the barb works with the team now. Easy kills just don't forget to push mobs inside the AoE. Fire wave is quite easy too. Standard tactics for the thrid boss Life Defector. Barb tanks and cleric heals. This boss has some a spell for mass buff removal. Rebuff isn't necessary. Just give the Barb the defense buff. This boss also uses Bramble which means BM shouldn't use Heaven's Flame. Veno shouldn't use pets, only normal attacks, Amplify Damage, and Purge to remove Bramble. When the boss dies open chests and rebuff. Raise Attack Aura's level and if you have enough beans start to raise HP regen Aura. You can leave Defense at level one or raise it to level three there's not a big differance. All squad stays together so you won't need timer untill the last boss.
Stage 4By now even the slowest squads should have finished all quests, chests, and mobs so the Veno stays with the squad and helps kill mobs, level 7+ Parasitic Nova works good). Mobs aren't too hard just keep in mind that each Stage brings tougher ones. You already have higher level Aura's so - easy.
Fourth boss Earthquaker has AoE sleep and defense debuff. Veno can use pets on this boss with a little risk as all squad members could fall asleep. One of the easiest bosses.
Stage 5Now you have to pay more attention to the battle. Some mobs have Bramble (Cracking Lightning for example) so BM shouldn't use Heaven's Flame and other AoE skills. The fourth wave will bring horsemen. A tricky thing is that it's really hard to get them out of peaceful stance, in which mobs restore their HP. Hard to know if it's a bug or was intended to be that way. Veno with a pet can take care of them until the boss comes. If you're lucky horsemen will agro the cleric or wizard and will stand in AoE until death. Another effective way to agro the horsemen is a normal melee attack, doesn't matter which class but preferably one with higher accuracy, standing in front of the horse but not too close or it will just run away. After someone agroes a horseman the others use assist target and kill it. It was noted, but not confirmed, that horsemen agroed wizards more often if AoE was set right in the pillar. Maybe it was just coincidence.
Starting in this Stage you will see Aqua Wraiths which have the mana drain ability. Archers should pay attention to their MP to avoid the AoE being cancelled. Use MP pots if needed.
Fifth boss Aqua Source looks quite peaceful but can sometimes kill DD using it's physical and magical defensive debuffs. It doesn't have any special abilities. Barb tanks while cleric heals and purifies when needed. If you haven't killed all the horsemen yet do it now while killing the boss because they can be trouble during the next Stage. If someone needs repairs go to the forges. After bosses death rebuff. Max Attack Aura, raise HP regen, and raise Defense Aura (at least one level of Defense Aura is required).
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