TrainingI'm on Broa server, so my notes on the relative popularity of a map will change from server to server, potentially effecting training speed. When I say valueable drops, I'm not listing scrolls since so many monsters have scrolls and all of them are worth something. Check www.basilmarket.com for approximate values. I will list things that might be worth your time to sell to a player, which generally means you get well above NPC price.
Also know that I was almost level 57 when Ludibrium came out, so I can only speculate on Ludi training before then. If people could leave feedback on how training with Ludi monsters of a lower level than Platoon Chronos are, I'd appreciate it.
Level: 10-17
Monster: Slimes
Notes: The
Southern Forest 1 has a high spawn, but that's usually due to the large amount of people there. Other spots include The slime floor of Henesys Hunting Grounds 1, the Tree that Rose 1 and 2, or Henesys Hunting Grounds 2 if you want to mix in orange shrooms and snails. You still won't need many HP pots since slimes do very little damage once you get some armor. If you train near Henesys you can hop back to town to sit on a bench.
Level: 17-22
Monster: Pig, Ribbon Pig
Notes: The ever so popular
Pig Beach is the location of choice. The top right platform is best for saving pots since mobs take longer to build up, but if you've got some mesos to spare, the bottom of the Beach can rack up the experience very quickly. You may encounter an occasion Iron Hog, so be careful and keep your HP above 70 at all times. (They're sneaky little bastards) You will encounter lots of KSers, so if you've got a short fuse, try the Rainforest East of Henesys. Lower spawn rate, but fewer people to mess with.
Level: 22-25/27
Monster: Green Shrooms, a few slimes
Notes: I've always loved
The Forest Up North 6, almost always deserted, and loaded with platforms
to jump and attack from. The spawn may not be as good as say, Henesys Hunting Grounds 1, but you get the whole map to yourself and its difficult to get overwhelmed.
Level: 25/27-31
Monster: Party Quest, consists of Ligators, Jr. Neckis (lowered avoidability)
Curse Eyes, and big old King Slime.
Notes: The Party Quest! If you've never done it before, try and tag along with a friend or some nice, helpful folks to get the hang of it. If that's not an option,
Hidden Street has how-to info as well. Since PQs are constantly busy, its often best to wait until after 1am EST to get the maximum benefit from this leveling since it can involve lots of sitting and waiting. Bandits are not the most spectacular party members for this, and its almost always a money drain, so don't start until lvl27 unless you have an extra 200k or 300k mesos. Most classes flat out suck before lvl25. On a note for your own safety, BE WARY OF SCAMMERS AND VENDORS! They often roam from channel buying scrolls, with either well below average offers, or they'll say "you offer" hoping to get an unknowledgable person. Do your homework, check Basil and/or the FM once in a while to keep an idea of scroll prices.
Level: 25/27-30 Alternative/When PQing is really busy (In other words, most of the time for Scania and Bera)
Monster: Horned Shrooms, with or without Green Shrooms.
Notes: The opening part of Ant Tunnel 1 and the assortment of trees north and south of Ellinia are best, but all will be relatively busy. By now you may want to start using Double Stab more often to speed up training and keep mobs to a minimum. If you'd like to train around Ellinia, check hidden-street.net to make sure you aren't about to walk into a tree full of Cold Eyes or Curse Eyes.
From here on out, the training options expand significantly. Just keep one thing in mind: One-hit kills. Savage Blow uses a hefty amount of MP, and one-hit kills provide the greatest return on mesos, since you're less likely to get hit if the monster dies on contact, and weaker monsters are just that less painful. The exception to this is about 38-43, since SB still sucks but things you can one-hit with Double Stab suck as well. When you can one-hit monsters will change depending on your equipment, so you may be able to move up monsters sooner or later than me.
Many more monsters are available to fight, but since many were not released when I was at that level, I can only speculate. If you don't like a certain monster, find one with similar HP, find a good map with high spawn, and presto! I'll give notes on where I trained, but other monsters are up to you to figure out.
Level: 31-40
Monster: Boars, Dark Axe Stumps
Notes: One of my personal favorites, don't ask why. West Rocky Mountain 4 and Land of Wild Boar 2 are good maps for the lower 30s, definitely head for Land of Wild Boar 1 if you can stand a few more people. Once Mastery is pretty good, you'll have pretty consistent one-hit KOs. Boars do start getting slow in your upper 30s, but there are alternatives.
Alternatives: Past Ant Tunnel 1 where there are more Zombie Shrooms than Horned Shrooms. Later in your 30s, Evil Eyes are a good choice. I had issues enjoying them though and stuck with the slower boars from 38ish-40. If Aqua Road comes out soon there will be several other Boar/Evil Eye equivalents.
Level: 40-45/46
Monster: Fire Boar, Dark Axe Stump
Notes: Any one of the Burning Zone maps work well, depending on your Lupin tolerance. When/if you can 2 hit Fire Boars with Double Stab before lvl40, feel free to come here if you don't mind a bit of pain. Once Savage Blows hits 6 times at level 43, you should have a relatively consistent one-hit kill.
Alternatives: If money is something you need, nothing better than Drum Bunnies. They have phenomenal drops for their level. I spent a few levels fighting them with my F/P Wizard and found that Floor 57 of Eos tower had a nice spawn. The Propellies may hurt a bit but there are rarely more than a few on the map at a time. Another popular option seem to be the assorted Teddies and Ratz in Ludi. Pretty much anything with 900-1000 HP works well.
Level: 45/46-50
Monster: Jr. Lioner, Jr. Grupin, Curse Eyes
Notes: The only difference between the Jr. Lioners and Jr. Grupins are the drops. Pick whichever you prefer really. High spawn, good money drops, and the exchange Quest. You'll love the Exchange Quest. 500exp per 100 solid horns plus an assortment of pots, nearest town scrolls, and processed wood. Once you have booster you should be able to keep up with the mobs well enough that the Exchange will provide all your HP pots. If Jr. Kitties begin to bore you, give Curse Eyes a shot. The Forest Up North 9 map was were I hunted them. The meso amounts are indeed crap, but I got more equipment drops with Curse Eyes than Jr. Kitties.
Alternatives: Jr. Wraiths, I can't remember why I didn't like them, but you might want to give them a shot. An Eos Tower floor with all Dirty Ratz looks like a good alternative to Curse Eyes. Better meso amounts, but the drops aren't phenomenal. But then again, Curse Eyes don't have very good drops either. With the release of the Maple Wagner, monsters with more HP might be options. Jr. Pepes, Panda Teddies and what-not.
Level: 43(?)-51
Monster: Ludibrium PQ
Notes: I've never done a Ludi PQ on any character, let alone a bandit. I can only assume 6 hit SB would be really, really useful.
Level: 50-55
Monster: Zombie Lupins (Zupins)
Notes: You will probably need to start using Warrior Pills to keep a more consistent one-hit. If you don't have a Wagner you probably won't have 100% one-hit kills until lvl52 or 53, but the training is still good before that.
The Tree Dungeon in Monkey Forest 2 tends to have fewer clerics, but you may still need to go to the Monkey Swamp to get a map to yourself.
Alternatives: For money, Chronos have some awesome drops. Barnards and Tick-Tocks might be alright if you can one-hit them. If you can one-hit
Cold Eyes, Drake's Meal Table is an option. I only stayed there for a maybe 20% and left due to pot guzzling, but a friend of mine (Malchia) spent 6 levels there and told me the drops cover costs.
Level: 56-60Monster: Jr. Yetis, Platoon Chronos
Notes: I got to admit, this was my greatest of training hells. Percent per hour can dip below 10 even when you shut up and grind. It continues like this unless you head to Coolies at 60, so you'll have to adjust to it. Platoons didn't work out for me, since I wasn't getting a very consistent one-hit kill (easily remedied by a decent Wagner) and every Magician on Broa was looking for an Esther Shield. Sharing a map with flaky spawn and lots of moving between platforms is a pain in the a**. It's still a hot spot for shield hunters, so it may take some hunting for an open map. I ended up 2 hitting Jr Yetis, which worked out well. Watch Out for Icy Path 1 is best, but its getting busier and busier I've noticed, but sharing a map here isn't nearly as annoying. The Jr. Yetis do transform once in a while, but I found the big Yetis a welcome challenge and a good change of pace.
Alternatives: I did a decent bit of wandering around during this time. One spot that amused me was 3-hitting Dark Stone Gollems. The weaker Curse Eyes and Lupins helped cover costs, but the space between platforms and the mediocre amount of DSGs on the map made it pretty slow. A good change of pace, but I found Jr. Yetis to be faster. Drake's Meal Table is still an option, and the weaker monsters in Omega as well. I'm not sure if you could go beyong Barnards and Mateons, but with good equips Plateons and Zeta Grays might be doable.
Levels 60-70 may not allow for much 1-hit kill training if you don't have good equipment, as was my case. However, the monsters begin dropping enough mesos that the cost of SB is easily covered, and profit can be made as long as you don't get hit every time.
Level: 60-70
Monster: Coolie Zombies, Grupins
Notes: I'm not a Coolie fan. I hate them. Don't listen to the folks who say everyone should go to Coolies. I spent from around 60 to 63 or 64 at Coolies, and hated it. The scenery made me want to burn things then take a nap, and it was incredibly difficult to break even. Mobs often made it so jumping over the Coolie you'd attacked not very wise, leaving the option of taking 200+ damage from a magic attack, or landing in and eventually pissing off more than one Coolie. Backjumping won't save you much either. If you're utterly loaded and have no money problems and have nothing to save for, enjoy the Coolies and embrace them. However, your wallet will be stuck in a rut and since most people like to get the best gear possible, you'll need money. I ended up at Grupins instead. Slower training obviously, and similar problems with mob dangers and magic attacks, but the drops here are actually worth something. The surroundings didn't reek of boredom like Coolies did for me, so I stuck it out with Grupins to 70. I had much help from the doubles of May though.
ninja Alternatives: If you have a nice Fin, and maybe even an attack glove with it, you can go to town on highly lucrative 1-hit kill monsters. Master Chronos, Mecateons in Boswell Field 6, Regular and Dark Block Golems with Rombot, and more possibilities on the way with Aqua Road. I'd say Ultra Grays, but its hard to set up a good route around the map, and Mecateons have better overall drops and better spawn. Master Chronos also have funky map layouts, and are often busy with clerics. Then there's Torties and Clangs in Hot Sands. I can rave on and on about Hot Sands, which I will, in the next set of levels. With Aqua Road, Sparkers and Freezers would be feasible.
Level: 70-80 Since level 70, I've been hopping between a few places. When to move up monsters depends heavily on your equipment and attack range, so you'll definitely have to do some of your own damn decision making.
lol Monster: Torties, Clangs, Grupins/Big Cats, Lunar/Luster Pixies, Coolie Zombies, Jr. Yetis, DMT, channel surfing Wild Cargo's Area
Notes: Most of my time has been at Hot Sands since that's 100% 1-hit kills.
I love it there, but it got horrifyingly slow around level 74 or so. The trick is to work around Hot Sands in a counter-clockwise circle, using assaulter and the teleports to completey skip over the ropes when going up. You could go clock-wise, but the platforms on the left are too tall to Assaulter on to, and I like picking off Torties. My wallet has had a joygasmic explosion of happiness after a few levels here. If you have a pet, you should have little problem getting the usual training speed from this, probably 10-12%. (That's my speed without looting) But I have no pet, and if I loot everything as it drops, it can dip as low as 6% an hour. Fear not. The trick is in how you loot. If I'm not talking, I can do 2 circles without looting, then loot everything as I make a third circle with maybe only one or two things disappearing at the end. This brings the experience up to a reasonable 7.5-8%/hour for me. Obviously you should pick up pots and equips as they drop, but yeah. Hot Sands for the win in my book.
Alternatives: An amusing option for me is to channel surf at Wild Cargo's Area. I'm not sure how well this would work on Scania or Bera, but most of Broa's channel are usually empty. I can only assume the same for Windia and Khaini. Cargos spawn slow, so you clear out a channel then move to the next. Backjumping will save you some pretty heavy bump damage, so be on your toes. My friend Malchia has been enjoying Luster Pixies way down in the last Cloud Park. I didn't time the experience, but it felt pretty slow and I was maybe only 1-hitting 50% of the time. The drops are kinda meh, but the DC and gold are nice, and the chance at 60% Cape INT scrolls in the exchange is hard to beat. I'll probably head back once I can one-hit more often and have better BoT. I'm looking to move up to Jr. Yetis in a level or so. I currently 1-hit maybe 80-90% of the time, and even now the experience is pretty good. Just move up the chain as you can one-hit monsters. If can 1-hit Big Cats consistently before 80, I'll go there. Same with Coolies.
Now at lvl77, and I'm doing decent amounts of one-hits on big cats, and BoT more than covers ones that don't die in one. Stairway to the Sky 1 has the best spawn and a good layout. I've been finding a good number of hackers there though. If you need money still, going with straight up Grupins is best.
Coolies are an increasingly good option. If I don't pay much mind to how often I get hit covering the map is fast and entertaining. I don't one-hit too much, so lots of variety gets thrown in with BoT and Assaulter.
Level 78, and back to drop hunting at Dark Yetis and Dark Pepes now at Sharp Cliff 2. Normal training got boring again. Chief prizes here the Asianic Bow from Dark Yetis/Transformed Dark Jetis and Omega Spear supposedly from Dark Pepes. If for some reason you still suck at back-jumping, this place will probably eat your HP pots.
Level: 80-85
Monster: Coolies. Boring, but good money. You should have no problem pounding out one hit kills. Same problem as Hot Sands if you lack a pet though. Lots to be looted.
Monster: Mixed Golems over at the Forest of Golems. These guys are good from whenever you start 2 hitting them in your 60s, but really take off with 18 BoT. Better than coolies in my opinion.
Alternatives: Whatever amused you in the late 70s. Staying to the red platforms and sniping vikings too. See the guide below.
Level: 85 and beyond
Monsters: This is where deep Ludi and Aqua Dungeon really open up. once you've got ~20 assaulter, 18 BoT, 1 ME, and a comfortable level of MG, you're set for most locations.
Vikings: This about sums it up Definitely my favorite training. A bit cheaper than most of the other options, although still a loss of money. I enjoy it there, I feel like an acrobat, since there's actually an element of skill to dodging around. Plus the chance of ilbis is pretty tasty, but don't get your hopes up. I got some at lvl86, and 11 on/off levels since, and none to follow up.
Dual Pirates: Fun mobbing, but I'd say MDTs are a better solo option. The good thing here though is Dual parties. Most of the world-specific forums on SW.net have a thread to sign up and you can see the format there. I'd recommend this for late 80s and up, since the mobs can grow on you very quickly, and that causes you to lose track of MG, which has killed me before in DPs.
MDTs: These are a bit more difficult since Nexon switched the part of the projectile that hits you to elimante the old left block glitch. You can't time the jump over the projectile the same as with vikings, so you're usually better off getting messy with assaulter. The crane-like figure with the ladder hanging from it on the 3 bottom platforms allow you to SB the MDTs without getting hit, or you can slide down a little and get most of your BoT uses to hit. (If you use a Dragon's Tail, they should all hit if you're down enough, I seem to not connect some of the slices with the Varkit now). For the bottom, lure and ME them like with Vikings, or have fun with mobbing once you have lvl24 or max BoT. 4 targets doesn't really cut it.
Gobies: The mother of all training. also, the biggest hole in your wallet of all training. You can really come here from any time you have 1MG and 1ME in your 70s, but then you'd have no choice but to explode 15-18k mesos per house. The experience is beyond crazy at 7x, but I strongly recommend against it, since it'll blow a phenomenal hole in your wallet. I prefer dropping enough mesos to bomb the gobies, which is anywhere from 2.5k to ~6k depending on your level of ME, and how many bags you like to drop. If I wanted to be really cheap, I could drop 250ish mesos x 12, but I like to save a little time on set-up and drop 5 or 6 1k bags. Once the mesos are down, start assaultering. Stun usually keeps the house shut out for most of the time, but most houses will super defense up once. When that happens, just move to another house, lay your mesos, and repeat, then move back to the original house when the new one powers up or dies. Hopping around between buffed houses saves a good chunk of time. for the actual blowing up part on the gobies, after the house explodes, there's about a half-second pause before all the gobies appear. wait a moment, and as soon as you can see them, blast 'em. Another advantage to not coming here until you have good assaulter, is that you can actually clean up the bone fish.
Risell Squids: Another relatively painful option, but it is a good HP:Exp ratio. I end up duo-ing here with an I/L or F/P friend of mine, and while it doesn't beat a full DP or similar party, it's faster than whatever soloing I can get. Full squid parties are another option, although I've never been in one.
Once you get the tricks down on sniping spots, and safe places to attack from, you can work pretty much any map in Ludi. I've had some fun going around Gigantic Vikings and Phantom Watches, although it's incredilby costly, and about the same speed as my normal spots. It's fun though, and I imagine you'll end up wanting a change of pace for an hour or two every once in a while.
At lvl97, I currently lose 5-7mil per level at my assorted training. (I hop between spots, but mainly stick with vikings). How to cover the difference? A good drop or two will usually do the trick, but if that never happens for you, spend a day or two in each level riding the Orbis boat back and forth killing Crimson Rogs. Scrolls drop more regularly than other bosses, and are a pretty good sourse of income for relatively little spent on pots. I usually use 15-30 unagi and 5-10 ice cream pops per encounter, depending on lag and my spazziness
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