Pirate A Buccaneer's Field Guide (2021 Update+Pink Bean)

Changelog:

Spoiler

• 3/30/2022: Cleaned up outdated text, Added more details on washing
  
• 7/25/2021: Minor text edits and addition of PB info
  
• 10/30/2020: Implemented Gear Section
• 11/04/2020: Added Personal Keyboard and Barrelneer (see second post)

Class Overview

The Buccaneer is probably best described as a middle ground between the warrior and the shadower. We pull a few tricks from both and mash them into one skillset. We have a Rush+Assaulter effect in Corkscrew Blow, a Stance effect in the Energy Charge, and a Dark Sight effect in Oak Barrel. We also have a passable avoidability score to dodge attacks with, and both midrange and close-range attack/attack combinations.

Here's my keyboard layout in case you were curious:

*With Barrage on Control, MW on J, and TL on ;. (I keep regular attack close for B A R R E L S). It is a good idea to have your attacks on keys that you can press along with the jump key, especially Dragon Strike, Demolition, and Snatch.

The skill macros I currently use: [Plan to put an image here when I stop being lazy]

• Time Leap (with skill shout)
• Barrage+Oak Barrel
• Maple Warrior+Oak Barrel
• Energy Drain+Energy Orb

Notable Traits

• Moderate HP means that a casual player can get by with minimal washing. However, I highly encourage washing to a reasonably high level to not be dependent on Hyper Body for most content. Everyone wishes they had more HP at their character’s endgame, and its no different here.
  
• Not a “one-attack” class. This makes for either satisfying or overwhelming gameplay (I keep practically all my attacks from 1st-4th job on my keyboard and USE them)
  
• High damage scaling with respect to levels, gear, and player ability. We have lots of tools at our disposal with a variety of skills to tackle any situation, decently high avoidability, stance, and iframes. To get the most out of this class means making use of all of these.
  
• Support party skills in Speed Infusion, Oak Barrel, and Time Leap. Some party compositions want SI just as much, if not more than Sharp Eyes, and a Time Leap in pocket is a gamechanger if things go wrong in a boss fight.
  
• Good All-purpose character. While not the best in any role, we can operate within any pillar of Legends gameplay to reasonable success.
  
• IFRAMES are nice but aren't invincibility. To go “100% iframe” usually means sacrificing a ton of damage. The best uses for our iframes are to reduce repositioning time by getting hit less or dodging attacks with additional effects to keep our output consistent.
  
• Low-end potion consumption for both HP and MP. The combination of avoidability, iframes, MP Recovery, and Energy Drain allows us to train or boss with little or no HP/MP potion consumption, depending on level of HP.

Gear

Spoiler

When building your gear, you can consider two sets to swap between: offensive and defensive (Offensive->MoN+DEX Shoe and Defense->HTP+Avoid Shoe). A good recommendation would be to orient the rest of your gear around being able to swap between these sets and still reach the required DEX for your weapon (likely 110-120 in the endgame). The offensive set will maximize dummy dpm, but you'll take more damage more often and may need to reposition more. This makes wearing a defensive set more helpful in areas such as Horntail. Personally I wear HTP and avoid snowshoe full time, but that's because I like traction too much (and can't be bothered to chaos a mon).

Why does he keep talking about traction?

Spoiler

Snowshoes (and soon other shoes with the teased shoe spike scrolls) provide a few benefits and drawbacks over non-traction snowshoes. The well-known effects are that you do not slide on the snow in El Nath, as well as halving the knockback distance of "super kb" effects. Traction also changes how the character moves in all other maps too. Normally characters do not initially move at their maximum movement speed, instead having to take a moment to "accelerate". This effect is most noticeable while turning around. With snowshoes however, you are always at maximum speed.

The implication of this lies in jump casting. Without traction, a character must first get a "running start" in order to jump cast the maximum distance (going about half as far jump casting from rest). With traction, a jump cast will go just as far at rest or with a running start. You are always considered to have a running start, providing significantly more reliable positioning when jump casting.

There are some drawbacks to traction, however. With traction, it is completely impossible to do a fadeaway jump cast (basically a backwards jump cast), as you cannot carry backwards momentum. Pressing the opposite arrow key while on the ground will not only turn the character, but also make them take a step in that direction. I believe many notice "something" different when they first wear snowshoe, likely noticing this effect. If you want to turn direction without actually moving in that direction, the arrow key must be tapped in the air. It can take some adjusting, but I do believe with how often the buccaneer jump casts, snowshoe is worth using.

A quick overview of a few stats that are valuable and worth building around: Attack, STR, DEX (up to required levels), Jump, Avoidability, Accuracy.

• Jump is useful to improve mobility of jumpcasts, and max jump is a requirement for some of the HT wing/head corkscrew tech jumps. This stat will easily max out with a MoN+DEX shoe, although you will have to build around this stat for the HTP+Avoid Shoe set (when you arguably need it the most in HT). If you can get to max jump clean, I would recommend it, although that will likely entail scrolling a Pet Equip for Jump on the HTP set. 30% Pet Jump does not exist in this server, so it can be a pain to scroll beyond like 12-14 Jump.
• Avoidability is huge for the Buccaneer. Compared to warriors, our higher avoid will let us dodge attacks. We will want to build this up wherever it fits and doesn’t compete with other stats to improve our consistency. While we don't have thief-level avoid or warrior level stance, what we do have combines together and makes us very difficult to get knocked back. Our revamped Avoid formula means we don't need to stack DEX gear for avoid and it will scale with level.
• Accuracy is a stat we will need to hit the bosses we intend to fight, just like warriors. However, compared to warriors, we have a higher scaling of ACC from DEX (1 DEX = 0.9 ACC). We also have a requirement to build ~110 DEX for gears, and are given an extra 20 ACC from Bullet Time in 1st job. Just by having enough DEX to equip a Dragon Slash Claw, you can expect to have ~139 Accuracy (Bullet Time + Mastery + ACC from 110 DEX) before considering Accuracy gained from equips/buffs. Helmet and MoN will give an extra ~35 raw Accuracy combined and another ~7 from the LUK you'll have for wearing them and 4 base, for a total of 181 Accuracy from Helmet and MoN (HTP will give higher ACC than MoN due to the extra DEX and LUK, making it even less of an issue).
  
  We will require ~202 Accuracy to 100% hit everything relevant to us, with CWK thief and PB being at the top of this list. Bless, Accuracy potion, or an extra piece of gear with some Accuracy bridges this gap nicely if you find you find yourself needing a slight boost (sad mask, etc), especially earlier in your career. This means that we are not necessarily required to scroll/use accuracy gear, except for niche situations such as 7f Gold Giants, or The Boss (which you likely wont want to fight anyways).

Helmet:

Spoiler

Zakum Helmet/Scarlion Helmet scrolled for DEX. Either type of Scarlion Helmet works here, and you might find yourself alternating between them as you get better scrolled versions of the other. Go with whatever gives the higher total STR+DEX, although STR will technically be better once you have enough DEX.

Face Accessory:

Spoiler

Barring event items such as Strawberry Icecream Bar, a face accessory scrolled for DEX (comes with avoid) will be the go-to item in this slot. You get your pick of which bonus stat to pick up here, but some options are: 8 speed (smiling mask), 6 jump (crying mask), or 11 accuracy (sad mask). If you don’t need any of those, you can always pick up 2 extra avoid (angry mask/branch nose/rat mouth). My personal recommendations would be either a jump mask, avoid mask or an Acc mask, depending on what you need most. Jump mask makes it even easier to guarantee max jump with HTP+Avoid shoe, while Acc mask can bridge the ACC gap, and can be used in a high accuracy grinding set for 7f gold giants.

Eye Accessory:

Spoiler

Your non-event options here are either Specs or Raccoon Masks. Raccoon Masks will have higher accuracy and can be scrolled to solve our accuracy issues if you do not want a Sad Mask. Specs will have a higher damage output, with an even higher potential once you can chaos them. I recommend picking up a decently scrolled Racc mask early on; you never know when you’ll need it. Just don’t break your bank over this, as you’ll want to switch to Specs as soon as you can.

Earring:

Spoiler

Just about any earring scrolled for DEX will work here. There is some flexibility in which earrings to scroll for some bonus rider stats, however the choices are limited. Options include a couple extra Accuracy from Shield Earrings, HP from Sword Earrings, MP from Leaf Earrings/Black Emerald Earrings, HP+MP from Fallen Leaf Earrings, DEX from Gold Emerald Earrings, or all stat from Event/PQ earrings. Or you can ignore these benefits and use a low-level earring to sell easier. Blueprint™ endgame would be a pair of Timeless Earing or Element Pierce chaosed for STR+DEX.

Cape:

Spoiler

Options here are pink capes or Blackfist Cloak. If you need the HP and don’t mind chaosing an untradeable item, the option is there. I do recommend looking towards a Pac/Pgc, simply due to being able to resell/trade old capes as you upgrade.

Overall:

Spoiler

The overall slot is useful, as it can be scrolled for DEX and/or STR. Use this slot to make sure you have enough DEX to wear your gears, and any excess can be scrolled for STR. Red Belly Duke or White Marquini are great options, with Duke having an extra point of STR, and Marquini requiring 10 less DEX to wear (this is only relevant if overall is scrolled for really high DEX). If you are capable of wearing at least one other piece of timeless armor (glove, overall, shoe), the higher DEX requirement for timeless can pay for itself with its extra stats. Special shoutout to Timeless Burgunt gaining ~10 avoid from levels (and can range from 5-15).

Pendant:

Spoiler

This slot will be the lynchpin for the rest of your gear. Use a MoN (chaosed to high att) for highest range, or an HTP for highest avoid/w.def. HTP comes with higher DEX than MoN, so make sure you plan the rest of your gear accordingly if you want to swap between the sets and not overdex. The extra DEX from HTP can allow other gear such as overall or shoes to be scrolled for a higher STR or avoid respectively.

Weapon:

Spoiler

Personally, I don’t recommend an endgame weapon lower than Dragon Slash Claw. Compared to the King Cent, it is 4 attack higher and requires only 10 more DEX, a threshold we can still easily meet. Due to its availability, you can use a King Cent early into your career, but plan to upgrade to a Dragon Slash or higher when you get a chance. If you happen to get lucky, a timeless equinox or a flairgrave knuckle are both decent options.

Gloves:

Spoiler

Attack glove. You'll most likely use a bwg/ym, but if you plan to invest in other pieces of timeless gear (such as overall/weapon), you can use the DEX on one piece to meet the DEX requirement for the other and vice versa (gear stat requirements add the total of all stat+equips, excluding itself). This will let you wear both without needing to overdex as hard. You can expect minor boost in stats/avoid if you pair gloves+overall, but timeless gear is untradeable once leveled, making it harder to upgrade compared to a bwg/ym.

Shoes:

Spoiler

Outside of event shoes, you can make use of either a Black Duke Barkin Shoe, Blue Pageant, Timeless shoe (especially if paired with other timeless gear), facestomper or Snowshoe scrolled for dex or avoid. DPM-wise, facestomper will beat all if you have the funds to afford it. Otherwise, in terms of total stats the Duke and Pageant are the same, but the Duke will win out in the end if you find yourself with extra DEX. The Snowshoe is an excellent choice for avoid shoe, as it comes with extra slots and traction to slip less, accelerate instantly, and have more controlled jump casting. Feel free to switch between them as you see fit. I personally am far too used to snowshoe to wear anything else, but if shoe spike scrolls are realistically attainable, I will switch to timeless shoe (likely one DEX and one avoid scrolled). Obviously switch to a stomper if available.

Ring(s):

Spoiler

Tier 10 + Ellin Ring or any other event rings as they become available.

AP Build

Spoiler

We require 20 base DEX to take our job advancement and additional DEX from gears or base stat to wear relevant weapons/armors (Required DEX = Level). These values are:

• 100 DEX for Red Belly Duke/Black Duke Barkin Shoes
• 100 DEX for King Cent
• 110 DEX for Dragon Slash Claw
• 115 DEX for Speargrave/Flairgrave (Knuckle)
• 120 DEX for Reverse/Timeless Equinox

In the end, there shouldn’t be huge issues with getting enough DEX from gear, so plan to end with 20 base DEX (the minimum for pirate). If you need to add a bit of base DEX to make ends meet before getting some gears such as a high DEX helm, try to raise to no higher than 40 base DEX. There is little reason to want more DEX than is required to wear your gears, so just dump the rest into STR (or INT if you are washing).

SP Build

Spoiler

Over all 4 jobs, the Buccaneer class only has 2 “dead” skills that are not worth maxing: Double Shot and Shockwave. That said, an early point in double shot at the start of 1st job can be handy for heavy washing characters as guns will outperform knuckles on a full INT character (as 20 base DEX is required to advance), though this falls off quickly and becomes little more than a “vanity skill”.

We have enough SP to max everything else during the first 3 jobs, so any choice you make in 1st-3rd job is temporary. This means that for the most part you can pick the skills you want, when you want them. Once we hit 4th job, there are a few build paths we can take depending on what your priorities are as a player. Compared to similar guides, I propose a few different build paths which can output more damage or even provide max Time Leap utility faster, all while allowing us to experience the class’s kit as a whole from a much earlier level (no more waiting until level 150 to transform). Ultimately, Buccaneer builds are extremely flexible, so if you decide you would like a different skill or option earlier than I recommend, that is generally acceptable.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
First Job: Pirate

Spoiler

There is only one choice that needs to be made during 1st job, and that will be to decide between maxing Flash Fist or Dash during 1st job. Don’t think too hard about this, you will have enough spare SP to go back for the other one during 2nd or 3rd job. Personally, I used the Dash build during my first job for the added mobility, as flash fist was not my main source of damage.

• Flash fist will give slightly higher 1v1 damage (210% at level 10 vs. 270% at level 20), though 1v1 is mainly used for fishing off lone monsters or in PQ bosses. Most of your time will be better spent mobbing.
• Dash is a very handy mobility tool, giving you a “passive-active” 30 speed and 10 jump whenever you need to call upon it. Lately, I prefer to keep my speed lower than max so I can maneuver more precisely and activate dash if I need to close some distance. You can get a mount eventually for longer distances, so your base speed won’t be a huge issue. The downside to dash is that the “double tap to activate” can be a new and annoying feature to unfamiliar users. Take an all or nothing approach on Dash, as it’ll be more of a hindrance at level 1 than a benefit if its not maxed.
• Pick up Sommersault Kick as soon as you can, as that will be your main mobbing tool until 4th job, and more points will give more damage and hit more enemies. If you find yourself needing more accuracy or more speed though, there is nothing wrong with some early points in Bullet Time and Dash respectively. Sommersault Kick actually works with ANY weapon, so if you are willing to sacrifice your ability to Flash Fist for a while, you can equip another weapon type such as a Frozen Tuna, Pumpkin Spear, or Fish Spear to kick harder or more accurate. Note that you’ll be putting the knuckles back on in 2nd job, as most other skills will require their use.

First Job Build Paths:

Spoiler: Dash Build

• 1 Double Shot (Skip if not washing)
• 1 Flash Fist+20 Sommersault Kick
• 10 Dash
• 20 Bullet Time
• Remaining Points into Flash Fist

End:
Bullet Time: 20/20 (MAX)
Flash Fist: 10~11/20
Sommersault Kick: 20/20 (MAX)
Double Shot: 0~1/20
Dash: 10/10 (MAX)
​

Spoiler: Flash Fist Build

• 1 Double Shot (Skip if not washing)
• 1 Flash Fist+20 Sommersault Kick
• 20 Bullet Time
• Max Flash Fist+1 Double Shot if you didnt earlier

End:
Bullet Time: 20/20 (MAX)
Flash Fist: 20/20 (MAX)
Sommersault Kick: 20/20 (MAX)
Double Shot: 1/20
Dash: 0/10
​

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Second Job: Brawler

Spoiler

The very first skill you have to get in 2nd job is Improve MaxHP. We get 3 cool new attack options in this job, but hold off on them for a couple more levels, as we want all the HP we can get. We’re presented with another choice on which skill to not max in this job. These options are: MP Recovery, Oak Barrel, and the skill you didn’t max in 1st job. Once again, not to worry, all of these can be maxed at the end of 3rd job, so pick the one that will give you the most utility until then.

• MP Recovery is probably the most likely candidate to get skipped until the end of 3rd job. Its an AMAZING skill that can eventually reduce or even eliminate your MP pot usage entirely outside of boss 1/1 and mana burns. It scales with your HP (base HP technically), so the more you wash and higher level you get, the more potent this skill becomes. With 30k clean HP I can use this skill to convert 3,000 HP into 3,000 MP every 25 seconds, and can honster, energy drain, or have a bishop heal 3,000 HP for MUCH cheaper than using a potion for 3,000 MP. You may not plan to wash to such an extent, but I promise it will still be a skill worth having, just maybe not during 2nd job.
  
• Oak Barrel is just a better Dark Sight. You can walk through mobs like in Dark Sight (I’m looking at you LPQ), but still have the ability to heal and loot items while in the barrel. The drawbacks to Oak Barrel over Dark Sight are that your speed is always 100 regardless of gear/haste, and it doesn’t last as long. Note that the in-game description is outdated for this skill. The “failure chance” and cooldown were both removed, finally making this skill relevant. The duration has increased to be 100 seconds at max level, long enough to do what you need to do. This skill was buffed well into my 4th job career, and honestly, I don’t know how I got by without it. Put at least 1 point in this early so you can substitute for thieves in LPQ and for general usage, but it is another skill that does not need to be maxed right away if you would rather go back for Flash Fist or Dash first.
• I choose to raise Booster to ~level 11 before maxing Mastery because speed just feels better. Level 11 Booster has a decent duration so you wont have to spam it *too* often. You can also get used to the attack timings earlier as you wont get another attack speed boost until Buccaneer’s Speed Infusion. If you need more mastery and accuracy earlier though, go for it!

One last note for now: I know some people have asked about not maxing one of our 2nd job attacks to max other skills, under the pretense of it “getting replaced” in future jobs. This is NOT TRUE in the slightest. Other than the previously mentioned Double Shot and Memewave(tm), literally every attack we gain from 1st-4th job has use and is worth keeping around (yes, even Flash Fist will be useful). If you MUST take out of one of the 2nd job skills, I believe leaving Oak Barrel at 1 would be the least impactful, as it only scales up in duration. Although compared to the remaining options, the Oak Barrel duration is nice to afk with. (Unless you are willing to sacrifice both Dash and max Oak Barrel for Max Double Shot memes in LPQ, I guess...?)

Second Job Build Path:

Spoiler

• 10 Improve MaxHP
• 1 Knuckler Mastery, 1 Corkscrew Blow, 1 Backspin Blow
• 1 Double Uppercut, 1 Oak Barrel
• 4 Knuckler Mastery
• 11 Knuckler Booster
• Max Knuckler Mastery
• Max Double Uppercut, Backspin Blow, Corkscrew Blow, Booster in any order you wish
• Max Oak Barrel, MP Recovery, Flash Fist, Dash (Pick One)

End:
Improve MaxHP: 10/10 (MAX)
Knuckler Mastery: 20/20 (MAX)
Knuckler Booster: 20/20 (MAX)
Backspin Blow: 20/20 (MAX)
Double Uppercut: 20/20 (MAX)
Corkscrew Blow: 20/20 (MAX)
MP Recovery: 0/10 OR 10/10
Oak Barrel: 10/10 OR 1/10
(Dash/Flash Fist: Same as 1st job or now MAX)
​

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Third Job: Marauder

Spoiler

We didn’t have any 30 point skills in 2nd job, but now we’ll pay for that with a FORTY point skill. Its going to be paramount to our entire 3rd job, so we had best get working on maxing that. As far as skills go there isn’t much to say, we’ll cap out on “useful” skills fairly early, so we have plenty of time at the end to max Transformation (the third job one isn't very useful, but we have to have it maxed to unlock SUPER TRANSFORMATION). The spare points from dumping Memewave additionally lets us go back and max literally everything else we had to pick between in the first 2 jobs.

• Energy Charge should be maxed ASAP. It’s a 40 point skill, so it’ll take a while to do so, but as it levels, it’ll last longer, charge faster, and give more stance (yeah, we unlock our stance in 3rd job, so make sure you flaunt it to warrior buddies before they get theirs in 4th). We want to be able to put this up as often as we can, because our other 3rd job skills require the energy bar to be filled to be used and they are worth using. If the bar is not filled, we’re effectively no different than our 2nd job counterparts. Note that the bar will charge per enemy hit not per line, so kicking 6 mobs will charge you up 6 times more than double uppercutting one.
• Energy Blast will be our mobbing attack of choice when charged. Only hits 4 compared to Kick’s 6 but hits them much harder. We’ll want this as early as we can afford it.
• Energy Drain is actually surprisingly decent. In terms of 1v1 it’ll be the best we have until 4th job, and even in 4th job it’ll still be a very strong combo option with the future Barrage. No need to max this right away, but it presents a good finisher option and provides some additional healing while training. Energy Drain is as fast as flash fist, but stronger, attacks at range, and also heals. Nice.

Once everything else is maxed, we’ll turn our attention to Transform and our past job skills. Make sure you max everything except Double Shot and Shockwave (you can afford vanity points in each), as we will literally have no spare SP during 4th job, all the way until level 200.

Third Job Build Path:

Spoiler

• 1 Energy Charge
• 39(!) Energy Charge + 30 Energy Blast (Your pick on order; Energy Blast to hit harder, Energy Charge to charge faster and blast longer)
  
• 20 Stun Mastery/Energy Drain (your choice on order; Drain for 1v1 and healing, Stun for grinding with backspin/double uppercut)
• Max everything remaining between Transformation/MP Recovery/Oak Barrel/Flash Fist/Dash in whatever order you'd like
  
• Vanity points into Memewave/Double Shot

End:
Stun Mastery: 20/20 (MAX)
Energy Blast: 30/30 (MAX)
Energy Drain: 20/20 (MAX)
Transformation: 20/20 (MAX)
Shockwave: 2/30
Energy Charge: 40/40 (MAX)
(All other 1st-3rd job skills: MAX)
​

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Fourth Job: Buccaneer

Spoiler

Compared to 3rd job, 4th Job is a massive payoff, and it’s pretty immediate too. Make room on your keyboard for the rest of your attacks, but don’t completely remove any of your old ones just yet, we’ll still make use of each of them. The first thing to note is that while all of our new attacks are fancy, and we definitely want ALL of them, we have to deal with the issue of needy warriors, corsairs, and marksmen. They’ll KNOW if you don’t have 11 Speed Infusion, so do everyone a favor and get that as soon as you can. That said, there isn’t a huge issue with delaying level 11 SI by a level to get a point in your attacks. After all, we DID have to suffer through 50 levels of what can only be called “2nd job+”. Our attack speed caps out with just a single point in SI, so the remaining points are only for other classes with speed(6) or slower weapons. If you are rushing to 11 SI, you can get it as early as level 123 and still have 1 extra point available at 120 to pick up EITHER level 1 Dragon Strike or level 1 Barrage (imo Dragon Strike if you must pick between them).

There are a ton of building options you can do during 4th job, so I’ll do my best to introduce the skills and lay out a few recommended paths, depending on the content you see yourself doing more. Since we will make use of literally all our attacks, we have to decide when and where to prioritize skills. The biggest piece of advice I can give when creating a build, is that we do NOT have the SP to max both Barrage and Dragon Strike before maxing Demolition and Super Transformation.

• Dragon Strike is our main mobbing tool now. We have (finally) dethroned Sommersault kick as our default mobbing tool that can be used in an uncharged, untransformed state. Depending on what you plan to do during 4th job, you’ll either max it early or not for a long while.
• Barrage is our go-to untransformed 1v1 option. You’ll pair this move with one a variety of chain options (more details on this later), but there really isn’t a definitive move to pair with this. Some options to pair a Barrage with are: Dragon Strike, 2xEnergy Drain, Energy Orb, Double Uppercut, or even 2xFlash Fist, with other options if you utilize the Barrel-Cancel(tm). I outline these options later. Older guides have suggested that Barrage pretty much always be chained with Dragon Strike, but due to buffs in Barrage damage and speed, that is no longer necessarily the case. We’ll choose to either max this fairly early on or hold off on this for a long while.
• Demolition is our main damage dealing attack. We want to max this asap. It can only be used in the super transformed state, but its damage is the best we’ve got. It might be slow, but between I-frames, 8 damage lines, and pure… demolition, this move is a 2-second cutscene worth watching.
• Snatch is the second attack available in the super transformed state, this one with a focus on mobbing. In general, if we plan to mob, Dragon Strike is more reliable due to not requiring transformation, so I would suggest picking that one up before this, but snatch is spammable, making it a stronger option once we can afford to max it.
  
• Super Transformation allows us to use the two attacks above for 2 minutes in addition to all of our other skills. Both Super Transform skills are good (unlike regular transform), so we prioritize them while transformed. We will likely be holding the Demolition button for 2 straight minutes, so I affectionately term this skill “Night Lord Mode”. Now you too can go watch anime, hit the gym, take a 2-minute nap, or whatever it is that NLs do in boss fights. More points in this reduce the cooldown, so we want to max this immediately after demolition in any build path.
• Time Leap is an EXTREMELY valuable asset to any bossing party. Securing your place in an AFK Zak run, doubling up on transformations and smokescreens, or saving scuffed boss runs from the brink of despair, Time Leap is a powerful skill to provide to a squad. It has full effect right out of the gate at level 1, with more points reducing the cooldown (It drops from 49 minutes at level 1 down to 20 minutes when maxed). Put 1 point in this by CWK level, but if you are doing a lot of party bossing, maxing this as early as you can is nice, and potentially even worth delaying some of your own damage skills for. I underestimated its effectiveness, and if I remade my char, I’d max it significantly earlier, even before some of my damage skills.
• Energy Orb is poor man’s Chain Lightning. It can only be used in a charged, untransformed state, but its faster than Dragon Strike, and does more damage than dragon strike… to the first enemy hit. For each additional monster the orb “arcs” to, the damage gets HALVED and this skill very quickly becomes absolute garbage for mobbing. All that said, in a 1v1 situation, it’s our highest damage-dealing combo piece to pair with Barrage, so we’ll take it, albeit not as a first pick.

We should not delay Demolition to pick up both Barrage and Dragon Strike early, so we’ll have to sacrifice one (or even both) of them to get to a higher damage output or party utility at the levels that matter. Take a moment to think about what you would like your Buccaneer to do before HT levels. If you see yourself doing lots of grinding, training, or card hunting during your 12x-15x, max Dragon Strike after 11 SI, and leave Barrage at level 1 to max much later. You’ll create a more “balanced” build, sacrificing a bit of 1v1 bossing compared to a heavier bossing build, but you’ll be able to grind and help out with CWK cleave unhindered from the gate (Bucc CWK cleave is pretty sad though, so its mostly to be closer to the warriors you'll be SIing anyways...). If you don’t see yourself grinding much during your 12x (perhaps leeching to 135 or mostly early bossing such as Rav, Pap, or even BF if you have HP or no fear of death), then I would suggest maxing Demolition and Super Transform after 11 SI. You could max Barrage before Demolition, but it’ll only give a higher 1v1 damage output until about level 140 (the level ST would max in a demo first variant), and stagnate your damage growth until you manage to get about level 20 Demolition where it would just break even (the numbers vary slightly with barrel-cancelling in barrage's favor, but demo/ST is still the better first choice imo). The demo-first build has the added flexibility of choosing to pivot into maxing Barrage or Dragon Strike next, or getting TL even earlier. Max Time Leap saves more time reducing wait between AFK Zak runs than any damage you would put out at these levels by putting those points elsewhere.

~I personally used an early DS build. If I remade however, I would probably do an early demo variant into early TL.

Fourth Job Build Paths:

Spoiler: Early Dragon Strike

• 1 Speed Infusion, 1 Dragon Strike, 1 Barrage
• 10 Speed Infusion (11 si)
  
• 1 Time Leap
• Max Dragon Strike
• 1 Super Transformation, 30 Demolition
• Max Super Transformation
• Max Time Leap (reserve 1 point for Hero's Will before HT)
• Max Barrage
• 3 Speed Infusion* (14 si)
  
• Max Snatch/Orb/19MW (any order, but listed in my order of preference)
• Max Speed Infusion
• 3 Hero's Will (4 will)

Spoiler: Early Demolition

• 1 Speed Infusion, 1 Dragon Strike, 1 Barrage
• 10 Speed Infusion (11 si)
  
• 1 Time Leap
• 1 Super Transformation, 30 Demolition
• Max Super Transformation
• Max Time Leap, Barrage, and Dragon Strike** (reserve 1 point for Hero's Will before HT)
• 3 Speed Infusion* (14 si)
  
• Max Snatch/Orb/19MW (any order, but listed in my order of preference)
• Max Speed Infusion
• 3 Hero's Will (4 will)

**This build will have a higher 1v1 damage output per transform cycle as soon as you max ST at 140, at which point you can choose between continuing to increase 1v1 damage (Barrage), gaining the ability to train decently well (Dragon Strike), or reducing the cooldown of Time Leap. Max time leap will reduce waiting time between Zak runs, allow multiple Time Leaps during boss fights, or just get more uses of Super Transform during solo bosses. I’d recommend picking up Time Leap either first or second from this list, depending on if you want it maxed at 150 or 161. Either option will allow you to provide max or near max TL early into your HT career, while TL first especially will make Zak that much more reliable.

4th Job SP FAQ:

Spoiler

“Why should I not max Barrage and Dragon Strike first?”

Simply put, Demolition will be the source of most of our damage. Maxing Barrage and Dragon Strike before Super Transform will be more consistent and have a higher damage output in the very early levels, but depending on the build path, you will see returns in demolition as early as level 140 (bossing/demo route) or 150 (grinding/ds route), with a power spike as soon as Super Transformation is maxed. This has the additional benefit of allowing us to make the choice between even more self-damage or maxing time leap (older builds do not max Time Leap until level 170, which is much more valuable skill than barrage damage boost imo).
If you do not plan to make good use of Dragon Strike's mobbing, it can be replaced with other options in 1v1 bossing with virtually no damage difference. Barrage->Double Uppercut has similar damage as Barrage->Dragon Strike with a faster charge time, albeit with slightly less reach. Barrage->2xDrain and Barrage->Orb while charged will be stronger still. Barrel-cancelling even allows for a Barrel->Flash Fist->Double Uppercut to perform similar to Dragon Strike, and eventually Barrel->Drain->Orb will outperform. This makes Dragon Strike suboptimal in situations where its mobbing ability or large reach are not required.

“So when can I actually start using Demolition?”

In terms of dummy DPM, the points where Demolition will equal damage from our barrage combos will be approximately Level 8 Demo = Level 1 Barrage, and Level 20 Demo = Level 30 Barrage. It is generally worthwhile to transform if Demolition is higher than its equivalent Barrage level in dummy situations (YMMV). Maxing Super Transformation immediately after Demolition will let you experience the class to its fullest from a much earlier level, while actually providing more damage per “transform cycle” than older builds.

“Why do you suggest the skill order Snatch->Energy Orb->Maple Warrior?”

For either path, this branch does not happen until level 170. At this level, if you are doing party play mostly (grinding duo, boss raiding, etc.) somebody in your party will likely have Maple Warrior 19. The other two skills provide some decent utility to us, so if you can put up with not having Maple Warrior yourself, the SP won’t be totally wasted on Snatch and Energy Orb. On the other hand, if you are doing lots of solo content, Maple Warrior bumps up a bit higher in priority. I personally didn’t put my first point into Maple Warrior until level 191.

I prefer Snatch first over Energy Orb as it provides a mobbing option while transformed. In 3-target cleave or higher it provides better damage than even Demolition, useful for areas like CWK and Zak arms. It also provides a really fast method of charging while transformed, and is actually a pretty strong grinding option due to stunning (and thus critting via Stun Mastery) normal mobs. NTPQ has never been easier.

Energy Orb is hands-down our strongest 1v1 option to pair with Barrage and should be used almost anytime it’s available. It’s so strong, that chaining a weaker but faster charging combo of 2 (or more) Flash Fists after Barrage is compensated by the extra time spent using Energy Orb and can provide a net increase in damage. This damage gain isn’t significant, but it is there, and can also provide better control of iframes, by allowing you to time your Barrages to dodge attacks on demand. For reference, 1 Double Uppercut = 2 Flash Fists = 2 Energy Drains in terms of speed, but Flash Fist has 20% less skill dmg per line (290% per Uppercut line vs 270% per Flash Fist line). Remember that faster charge is good for not just damage, but stance as well.

Buccaneer Fighting Style

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Jumpcasting

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The number one “technique” I would suggest learning is jump casting. This technique is performed by pressing the jump and the desired skill keys simultaneously. This can be difficult depending on your keyboard layout. The difficulty of this technique is dependent on where the jump and skill keys are located, so it may take some time to figure out. The benefit to this is the ability to jump and attack with skills that can normally only be used while grounded. Many of our attacks are slow (DS, Barrage, and Snatch each take in the order of about a second give or take, while Demolition takes about 2 seconds), so there is a vast benefit to maneuvering into position while constantly attacking. This can be performed with any skill from any class that can't be used in the air, but the following are the Buccaneer skills that can only be used while grounded (and thus can be jump cast):

• Dragon Strike
• Demolition
• Snatch
• Barrage
• Backspin Blow
• Memewave

Except for Shockwave and probably Backspin Blow, you should make sure these skills are on buttons that you feel comfortable jump casting with. I have listed them in the order I find myself using them during jump casts, although your milage may vary.

Chaining 101

Spoiler

”Combos” are considered an integral part of the Buccaneer gameplay. If this sounds complex, don’t worry, this is 2D Mushroom Game™ not Street Fighter. In general, the rule is “you can’t use the same attack twice in a row”. Not all of our attacks follow this rule, but those are either our transform skills (which restrict use of other skills anyways) or filler skills between our bigger impact attacks that we can fit once or twice between heavier attacks.

Here is the list of our “spammable” attacks, over all 4 jobs:

• Flash Fist
• Sommersault Kick
• Energy Drain
• Energy Blast
• Memewave
• Demolition
• Snatch
• Energy Orb

The remaining attacks will effectively have a slight cooldown before it can be used again, and we fill that time with some other attack. Note that all of the transform skills and all of the energy skills are considered “spammable”, so we only have to chain attacks after using our untransformed/uncharged skills (Barrage, Dragon Strike, Double Uppercut, Corkscrew/Backspin Blow).

After using Barrage, simply chain one a wide variety of options, from the list below. Other options exist, but these are my favorites:

• Barrage->Dragon Strike (hits 6 mobs with large range, useful for charging fast with other mobs around)
• Barrage->Double Uppercut (faster than Dragon Strike, providing a faster 1v1 charge rate and slightly more iframes for the same damage output as DS)
• Barrage->Drain->Drain (Energy Drain cast twice. Stronger than both the above listed options, with free healing to boot. “Pot-saving mode”)
• Barrage->Energy Orb (you likely won’t have this until high level, but this is even stronger than Double Drain)
• Barrage->Flash Fist->Flash Fist (A slight drop in damage from double uppercut, but fast 1v1 charge rate and more control of Barrage iframe dodging make this a competitive option especially after unlocking Energy Orb)
• Barrage->Corkscrew Blow(uncharged)/Backspin Blow (rush monsters, get iframes, and stun in the case of Backspin)

(Note: See Barrelneer post for Barrel-Cancelled chains)

After using a Dragon Strike, here are a few options to chain between casts:

• Energy Blast (fast hit to 4 mobs, perfect for CWKPQ)
• Corkscrew Blow(uncharged)/Backspin Blow (gather up some mobs, or stun and line up a devastating critical hit)
• Sommersault Kick (usually not a common one, but can use in the air for repositioning and snagging some extra hits to gain charge quickly)

There are other combinations of moves that can be used depending on the situation, but these are the ones most readily used.

Climbing with Corkscrew Blow

Spoiler

Corkscrew blow is more than just a rush! Although you must be on the ground to *start* charging, releasing this move at the peak of a jump has an added benefit of launching up onto higher platforms. Similar to the Chief Bandit’s Assaulter, both can reach areas slightly higher than normal jumping and can allow access to some normally out of reach areas. It is handy (or sometimes required) to have a max jump stat to maximize the areas we can reach with this move.

Washing

Spoiler

When I started playing on this server, there was a common thought that the Buccaneer does not need to wash. I would argue that this was not true then and is definitely not true now. The truth is that we are sometimes required to play just as close as the warriors/shads (if not closer), but are given a mid-tier HP pool with no form of direct damage reduction. We may have iframes and a decent level of avoidability to get hit less frequently than our melee bretheren, but all that is meaningless if we are killed in a single hit.

First, some approximate HP milestones for high-end bossing (Varies a bit by defense, but I believe these numbers serve as a good upper limit at low defense. Please correct me if I'm wrong):

• ~10k HP to touch Zak body w/o Hyper Body
• ~12k HP to touch Bigfoot w/o Hyper Body
• ~14k HP to tank Vergamot’s 3rd body attacks w/o Hyper Body
• ~14.5k HP to touch buffed HT leg w/o Hyper Body
• ~15k to tank Toad magic attacks w/o Hyper Body
  
• I forget the value for HT heads, but its somewhere like 20k for midhead? Less for the side heads
  
• ~19k-20k to tank Toad touch and Nameless claw w/o Hyper Body
• ~24k for Pink Bean touch

Next, a rough formula for the base HP of an unwashed Buccaneer (post ImproveHP at 33): HP = (52*LVL) - 574 [using formula from Nise's Washing Formula Compilation].

What does this mean? An ungeared, unwashed Buccaneer should expect to have only ~6.5k hp at 135 (nowhere near enough to tank even Zak), ~7.7k hp at 160 (HT Level), and ~9.8k hp at level 200. The following are relevant washing values for the Buccaneer:

• HP Gained Per Level (Avg.) = 54
• HP Gained Per Fresh Wash (Avg.) = 38
• MP Lost Per Wash = 16
• MP Gained Per MP Wash = floor(BASE_INT/10) – 2

If you looked at the above values and still arent sure what HP to aim for, I believe there to be a few very important milestones to aim for by 200.

• HP Plan 1 (16k HP): This is probably the bare minimum HP you will need in order to do all content currently. This level of HP will allow you to safely take a touch hit from Pink Bean with Hyper Body. You will definitely always need Hyper Body for Pink Bean, and will be likely to die in Nameless and Toad without Hyper Body as well. In addition to wrestling with the bean, you must pay particular attention to your buff bar and hope your DK remembers to constantly buff you, or you are likely to die- it happens more often than you think. I mean it when I say it is a bare minimum threshold, and many endgame buccs are remaking for the 25k-30k options.

• HP Plan 2 (25k HP): Kind of an odd value here, and you can probably reach this milestone closer to 24k, but I err on the side of caution to not get whacked by a high damage roll on low defense (MoN's lack of weapon defense is quite noticeable). The entire point of this HP threshold is to no longer require Hyper Body for Pink Bean. If the thought of living "buff to buff" scared you, this is the threshold for you. This has the added benefit of making party composition/reorginization easier too. Some bean squads are capable of forming HB independent parties for if when there is not enough Hyper Body to go around. You'll be safe if your DK disconnects or sleeps in as well. Worth mentioning here as well, your MP recovery becomes even more potent; by this point you should be able to operate with 0 MP potions (excluding 1/1 or mana drains).

• HP Plan 3 (30k HP): 30k doesn't do considerably more for you than 25k in terms of taking hits, but it's also a fairly close jump to cap out your HP pool. The usual arguments of washing apply: having a nice round HP number, more efficient potions, and larger MP recoveries. It can theoretically save you in a few niche situations, such as taking a 2nd hit from Verga3 while sedded, but by this point the biggest threat to your survival is 1/1 anyways. I have 30k, and I like it.

To that end, I have put together some *very* rough outlines to attain the above HP values. Use these as a baseline for your own calculations, but note that these plans take some (at times fairly large) assumptions to show that anybody can reach these thresholds. In fact, these are likely to generate MORE than the listed HP/MP, allowing you to either reduce base INT, number of MP washes (if any), or remove all of the base INT at an earlier level. Let these serve more as an "upper bound" of cost.

Spoiler: Washing Outlines

*Important Details:

• Assumes 1400 HP from equips (1000 T10 book, 100 ellin ring, 300 from pet equips). Not including MoN/BFC to allow greater gear diversity.
• Does not include natural excess MP on level without INT. A small amount, but it's free MP regardless.
• Does NOT include ANY INT gears at all. This means that these numbers are for naked characters, likely to be untrue in practice (an average zhelm gives 15 INT by itself). I've got a good reason for this one though; it demonstrates that even new unfunded players are capable of washing to any level- its an NX bottleneck, NOT an INT gear bottleneck. Additionally, as the HP goal gets larger (plans 2 and 3), the MP contribution from gear gets quickly outscaled by MP washing gains.
• Does not start including MP contributions on level-up until the base INT is reached (generally in the 50-60 range). This, yet again, means that actual MP generated is likely to be far better than what I listed. This one's just me being lazy, though, and I might make a tighter approximation another day.
• All plans keep base INT until 155. That's start of HT level, and a point where you will have many but not all skills online. Truthfully, we need all the power we can get there, so I aim to be ready to remove INT by that point. You dont have to keep it until 155 yourself, but be prepared to recover that MP from somewhere (a couple more MP washes or INT gears, perhaps).
• Assumes Maple Warrior 20. Snag it from the FM, but things wont fall apart if you forget it.

Tl;dr- I estimated high. That's a good thing as it means you can get away with a bit less NX or a bit less base INT at a later level if you choose.

Plan 1: 16k HP

Spoiler

* Clean, unwashed HP @ 200 = 9,826 HP
* HP equips = 1,400 HP
* Total unwashed HP @ 200 = 11,226 HP

* HP deficit to 16k = 4,774 HP
* Fresh HP washes required = 126 washes
* MP required for washes = 2,016 MP

* (Using 150 base INT from levels 50-155)
* Total INT on level w/ mw = 165 INT
* MP gain per MP wash = 13 MP
* MP gained from levels = 1,680 MP

* Remaining MP needed from MP washes = 336 MP
* MP washes needed = 26 washes

Total Resets Needed:
Fresh HP Washes: 126 resets
MP Washes: 26 resets
INT resets: 146 resets

Total Resets: 298 resets (~924k NX)

*Extra notes: Using 150 base INT will provide the cheapest overall NX cost with given constraints. However with the extra MP not factored in, even 100 base can get the job done pretty well. If you go above 150, consider aiming for a higher threshold.

Plan B: 25k HP

Spoiler

* Clean, unwashed HP @ 200 = 9,826 HP
* HP equips = 1,400 HP
* Total unwashed HP @ 200 = 11,226 HP

* HP deficit to 25k = 13,774 HP
* Fresh HP washes required = 363 washes
* MP required for washes = 5,800 MP

* (Using 200 base INT from levels 52-155)
* Total INT on level w/ mw = 220 INT
* MP gain per MP wash = 18 MP
* MP gained from levels = 2,266 MP

* Remaining MP needed from MP washes = 3,534 MP
* MP washes needed = 196 washes

Total Resets Needed:
Fresh HP Washes: 363 resets
MP Washes: 196 resets
INT resets: 196 resets

Total Resets: 756 resets (~2.3m NX)

* Extra notes: Minor savings at higher base, but not enough to warrant playing with more base. I suggest to plan for no less than 200 base unless you have super amazing INT equips.

Plan 3: 30k HP

Spoiler

* Clean, unwashed HP @ 200 = 9,826 HP
* HP equips = 1,400 HP
* Total unwashed HP @ 200 = 11,226 HP

* HP deficit to 30k = 18,774 HP
* Fresh HP washes required = 494 washes
* MP required for washes = 7,904 MP

* (Using 300 base INT from levels 65-155)
* Total INT on level w/ mw = 330 INT
* MP gain per MP wash = 28 MP
* MP gained from levels = 2,970 MP

* Remaining MP needed from MP washes = 4,934 MP
* MP washes needed = 176 washes

Total Resets Needed:
Fresh HP Washes: 494 resets
MP Washes: 176 resets
INT resets: 296 resets

Total Resets: 966 resets (~3m NX)

* Extra Notes: Don't expect to be able to save as much as the first 2 milestones. Most of the MP gains come from MP washing by this point, so good gear isnt really a big deal. If you have NX to spare you can lower base and do more MP washes to play with less base INT. Just make sure you have enough fresh washes to do both HP and MP washes. You will likely have to do some low level HP washes while raising INT to fit them all in.

To calculate your washing costs yourself:

1. Calculate how much more HP you wish to have at a certain level than base+HP equips.
2. Divide by the HP gain for fresh wash (38 avg) to get number of required washes.
3. Multiply by MP cost per wash (16) to get amount of MP required to do the HP washing.
4. Subtract MP gained from leveling with base INT, MW, and INT equips.
   
5. Remaining MP must be generated through MP washing.

Bossing

Spoiler: Just PB in here for now

More Coming Soon.

Pink Bean

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Getting Started:

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I’ve been running Pink Bean on my bucc pretty much since it’s been released, and I’ll use this to outline my usual attack patterns and positions and fight philosophy. Pink Bean runs live and die with the buccs. This is what I do on my runs so specifics might differ a bit for you. As always, coordinate with your squad before you run.

Requirements:

Spoiler

You will need to have maxed Time Leap, and at least 1 point in Snatch and Hero’s Will (I’d say max Hero’s Will, but we won’t have the SP to do so even at 200). Additionally, you will need enough HP to survive PB touch damage of ~24k. This value may vary slightly if you have more or less W.Def, especially if wearing MoN over HTP. You can expect to have Hyper Body to reach this threshold, though I will say it is definitely helpful to wash to this value if you are close; you can still operate even if your DK dies or dcs, or be ressed wherever without having to move the bean off your body. The bare minimum HP would be about 15k-16k before HB; any less and you won’t be able to perform the expected duties and additionally suffer a massive damage loss.

Gear Preferences:

Spoiler

I don’t go anywhere without my HTP and avoid snowshoe, and this fight is certainly no different. There are plenty of large damage hits and horrendously long stuns in this fight which lets avoid shine.

Statues:

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Phase 1: (Solomon)

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Nothing special to note here; use Super Transform and go to town on Solomon. Just spam Demo and hope to not get stunned. If you have a bishop and/or shad in your party they’ll likely cast Holy Shield or Smokescreen here, making this phase a breeze.

Phase 2: (Rex)

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“How many times do we have to teach you this lesson old man?” Take down Solomon again since we’re already here. Once he goes down the 2nd time, everyone will move to the right side and finish off Rex. If you happen to still be transformed, be careful walking under Solomon or Rex; you will take touch damage due to our larger transformed hitbox. Don’t forget that Rex can dispel. While it won’t be lethal to us, your party members might get dispelled (even if you don’t), so recast SI if needed. Once Rex goes down, we’ll have the entire squad move back to the left to pay Solomon another visit.

Phase 3: (Hugin)

Spoiler

We’ll start this phase on the left side, where there are now 2 targets; Solomon and Hugin (or lovingly dubbed “Left Bird”). Be careful dealing with Left Bird, he’ll often cast a Damage Reflect (DR) from one of 3 categories: MagicDR, WeaponDR, and DoubleDR (both weapon and magic). Pay attention to the chest when fighting here, as when the insignia on its chest lights up it is casting a DR. We won’t stay on the left side this entire phase, as ranged players appear unable to play the game if they can’t dummy DPM. Once Solomon goes down we’ll move to the right side with the other buccs, shads, and warriors and beat up on Rex in the meantime.

Before Solomon dies and we are forced to leave though, there is nothing stopping us from putting a dent into Left Bird. If there is a sizeable portion of melee DPM in the squad, hitting Left Bird at the start of stage 3 becomes even more important than hitting Solomon. If Rex dies before before Left Bird (which can happen in a melee heavy squad), the entire cleave parties drop to 0 dpm, so the range-disadvantaged classes want to dish out as much damage to the Left Bird as possible while we can. In these squads it might even be worth the DPM loss from Barraging the bird, as Dragon Strike has enough reach to hit Solomon and Left Bird if Barraging Solomon. Make sure the ranged parties get to the right side and the cleaves to the left before this stage finishes and the dreaded Right Bird spawns.

Stage 4: (Munin)

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Now Munin (locally known as Right Bird) has arrived, splitting the map in two. If anybody gets within the aggro range of Right Bird from either side, it will cast potentially run-killing mass seduces that last for 30 seconds, so nobody is able to cross sides for a while. AVOID GETTING INTO ITS RANGE AT ALL COSTS. If you get seduced, you should use Hero’s Will immediately.

On the left side, you can’t pass the bottom-left most rope. This means that Barraging the Left Bird is no longer possible. Similar logic as in Stage 3 applies here; damage on the Left Bird when possible is higher priority than damage on Solomon. Even though Solomon is known to throw out annoying stuns, the Left Bird’s DR can stop the entire cleave squad from fighting for 2/3 of the time. The Bird DRs aren’t as big of an issue if Solomon is still alive to keep damage up. Our priority should be to Demo the Left Bird while able (Picture of positioning coming soon™, but stand slightly to the right of Solomon so Demo will target Left Bird instead), and Demoing/Barraging Solomon while Left Bird is in DR or while Super Transform is down. Once Solomon is killed, our best untransformed option is to Dragon Strike or Drain/Orb the bird from behind the rope.

You’ll likely be on the left side for Stages 4 and 5, but if you happen to find yourself on the right half, you are pretty much only able hit the Right Bird with Dragon Strike. Demo *might* reach, but the positioning is super tight and very risky; I wouldn’t use it.

The ranged parties will likely finish the right half first. Hopefully a good amount of damage has been done to the Left Bird by this point. Once the ranged parties arrive, our best option is to Dragon Strike from afar. Not even Demolition will reach far enough.

Stage 5: (Ariel)

Spoiler

The last stage starts exactly like Stage 4, but now Ariel is here to provide added stuns. The tactics from Stage 4 still apply here. Ariel’s falling rocks stun for quite a while, so dodge them whenever possible. The main difference between Stages 4 and 5 is that Ariel can be attacked once the ranged parties defeat the Right Bird. Seduces are no longer an issue, and ranged is off attacking Ariel, so we are free to get into close range with the bird. While untransformed, Barrage Left Bird from the 2nd highest platform (picture coming soon™ but it’s right next to the bird’s head) and Dragon Strike can reach both Left Bird and Ariel. When the bird DRs, feel free to go up top and attack Ariel, but Barrage is unable to reach her if you aren’t transformed. Energy Orb/Drain do reach if you are charged, otherwise our only option is to Dragon Strike. You can charge up a bit faster if you use an uncharged corkscrew during Dragon Strike delays, but it’s a minor boost, if that.

Coordinate with the other bucc(s) in your squad when this stage is almost over to make sure at least one of you has a transform available to snatch the Pink Bean upon completion of the statues phase.

Body:

Spoiler

Here’s where it gets serious. As soon as the bean spawns in the center of the map, somebody must be available to immediately snatch/magnet, before it decides to aggro onto somebody else. The general goals of the bucc are as follows:

• Keep the bean aggro’d onto you
• Keep the bean facing right
• Keep the bean positioned as far to the right as you and you squad deem safe

The tools available to us to do this are Snatch and Barrage (Corkscrew and Backspin are more dangerous than they’re worth honestly). Snatch and Barrage both are invaluable tools for maintaining aggro and controlling positioning. Pink Bean has a 140k KB value; this means that it takes a hit of 140k or higher to push the bean back and get it to aggro onto you. Few attacks in the game can reach that value due to its resistance, so we are left to rushing/pulling attacks and Barrage, which can all ignore KB thresholds and move the bean.

We are unable to be transformed all the time, so individually our snatch is not always available. Make sure you coordinate with your other bucc(s) and stagger your transform with another bucc by at least a minute, to guarantee at least one of you is transformed (and thus has snatch) at any given time.

Aggro in Legends (and specifically Pink Bean) is janky, and I’m not even sure I fully understand it. That said, here are a few rules I follow that seem to help maximize chances of success. I’m not sure how much truth there is to some of these, but it is what I’ve observed. Let me know if this lines up for you.

1. If any monster is currently being KBed, it cannot be affected by another KB.

2. If Pink Bean has recently aggro’d onto another player, it is unlikely to drop that aggro for a few seconds (feels like 3-5 seconds). This one is a big deal if we let it aggro to a player on the left side; whether from it wandering too long and aggroing onto a left player, a player gets the aggro by hitting a KB value and moves left (usually max nates, snipes, other barrages, and maybe even summons somehow), or the classic “Pink Bean just feels like it”. Tl;dr here, if you don’t get the aggro back immediately, don’t expect it back for a few seconds.

3. If Pink Bean was recently KBed by a player, they likely take the aggro (with an exception below), and other players’ attacks attempting to move it are likely to fail (minus magnet it seems because it ignores all that I guess?). If I successfully move the bean with snatch or barrage, I feel very confident that consecutive attacks will work as well. If another bucc snatches the bean, I find that I am usually unable to KB with barrage for a couple seconds, which is handy from a DPM standpoint. An important takeaway here is that moves that can KB bean might steal the aggro and possibly prevent snatching for a few seconds. If Barrage is pushing the bean far away, it is best to stop barraging for a moment as snatches are very unlikely to work.

4. If Pink Bean is in the middle of an attack, it seems unlikely for aggro to shift even after a KB effect. This is especially noticeable when bean attacks the left side. Even a successful snatch or barrage does not seem to stop him from attacking left side again. I’m not sure if its just superstition, but I tend to hesitate a moment before my snatches and aim for a breakpoint between its attacks. It does feel like there are good “windows of opportunity” to KB and take aggro between attacks, but that could also just be the natural aggro timer resetting(?)

5. Occasionally the Pink Bean will simply wander away, walking to the left or the right without attacking. Don’t fear right away if it is facing left, as it is deaggro’d and the first KB effect is guaranteed to KB the bean and claim aggro. Don’t wait too long in this situation though, as after a few seconds it’ll auto-aggro to some other player. Don’t expect to be able to get aggro back for a few seconds if that happens, and the squad might have to deal with left facing attacks for a little bit.

6. If you haven’t attacked Pink Bean at all for a bit, it tends to suddenly find a new aggro target, potentially on the left side. This feels relevant during the DRs, as this is the time the fewest attacks are used. I find I have more control over the bean if I occasionally barrage or snatch the bean during the DRs to “refresh” an aggro timer or something, I don’t know. Be careful snatching during DR specifically though as it can be poorly timed to where the bean touches you/attacks you the same time you take a DR hit, killing yourself in the process (It happens).

Dealing With Disaster:

Spoiler

If the bean never faces left and nobody ever dies, it’s a smooth run and little else needs to be done. But when Pink Bean attacks left (and sometimes it feels like it just does no matter how careful you are), there is a risk of getting stunned by the genesis attack or seduced by the music note attack or both. Demolition and Barrage iframes can help us dodge these attacks while we look for an opening to reclaim aggro. If a seduce is cast and we aren’t hit by it, the best thing we can do is attempt to get the bean to stand under the little platform and hopefully facing right again as soon as possible. This maximizes chances of squad survival as seduced players will jump on the platform, dodging body hits.

When people die, we might have to use our Time Leap to recharge resurrections for the bishops. With 30 people in a crowded boss fight, death is pretty much inevitable. What will separate the good from the bad is how smooth the res process goes. Our role in that is to make sure the time leap is used smoothly, and successfully without holding up the bishops from getting back to their parties. I always do my time leaps from the bottom right corner so that my bishops know exactly where to be. Its hard to see individual players even with the minimap, and I have missed Time Leaps on bishops that ran away from the corner before. Additionally, make sure you time it so you do not cast it at the same time as an attack from Pink Bean. If you get 1/1d at the same time you cast a skill, it will go on cooldown without activating. It’s a precise timing, but it can happen (and has). You don’t want to jeopardize the run by whiffing a Time Leap.

Extra notes:

Spoiler

An advanced tech, but I have had success with “pulling” the bean with barrage. It’s a bit difficult and requires some practice, as well as the use of Barrel Cancelling for its mobility, but it lets me position and do barrage damage simultaneously without it facing left. I note it here just in case you find yourself as a solo-bucc w/o magnet due to DCs. Hopefully that situation never arises, but its something to keep in the back of your head.

To pull it off, simply position yourself inside the bean (as close as you can get to the “right half” of the bean), turn around to face right, and then do a Barrel-Cancelled Barrage. If done correct, you’ll push him to the right, but also be standing to the right of bean so it won’t face left. A normal Barrage will leave you immobile for too long to properly reposition, so I do not suggest attempting this without the Barrel. With it, I can even “Ping-Pong” the bean back-and-forth by myself and maintain aggro longer.

 

I'll use this section for new tech and/or other personal discoveries, especially ones that could change build decisions.

The Barrelneer: (Warning: cursed knowledge, read at your own discretion)

Spoiler

The Barrelneer, using a few extra rhythmically-timed inputs, can actually enhance the speed of some of our Barrages and mw buffs. We'll do this by chaining an Oak Barrel to our Barrage/mw and regain mobility earlier than if the skill was performed normally. The full extent of its usefulness might not yet even be fully explored, but I will outline what I know here.

Warnings (READ THIS FIRST YOU GOONS) [Likely fixed with anniv patch; will delete]

Spoiler

If you use this technique against an enemy with an area dispel (i.e. one that does not require an attack to hit to dispel), such as Papulatus, Pianus-R, or Horntail, you can lock yourself in the barrel if it is dispelled in the middle of a barrel activation. The server will think it properly dispelled the barrel, but on your end you will be stuck in the barrel unable to attack or buff. Currently the only known ways to *fix* this are to change maps or die and be ressed, either through your bishop or a lucky GM intervention. Use this tech with caution, if you lock yourself GMs ARE NOT REQUIRED TO LET YOU OUT OF THE BARREL. Unless bug gets fixed it is better to not use it in these situations if you are not prepared to die.

Setting Up:

Spoiler

We can actually activate an Oak barrel at any point of our attack animations. We additionally regain mobility as soon as the animation of barrel finishes, rather than the attack we were previously using. Due to the time requirement of having to watch the barrel animation, this tech is mostly useful for Barrage and Maple Warrior.

Simply create two macros: one for Barrage+Barrel (I'll denote this as simply "Barrel" in Chains) and a second for Maple Warrior+Barrel (Barrel Warrior). Additionally, make sure your regular attack key is at an easy to access spot.

Doing the Barrel Roll:

Spoiler

To perform a Barrel Cancel, use one of your new macros, and notice that the Barrage or MW will activate along with an Oak Barrel. As soon as the Oak Barrel *lands* on your character, press the regular attack button once to break the barrel. If done right, you'll be able to move/attack earlier than if the previous animation fully played out. Note that your character does not need to actually perform a regular attack, so if you see your character using a regular attack, you held the key too long. With a little bit of practice, it'll feel quite natural (it felt jank to me at first too).

Barrel Combos

Spoiler

If performed properly, I believe a Barrel-Cancelled Barrage saves ~20 frames from the Barrage cast time (Thanks CervezaSanta). This gives you a larger period of time to act during the delay between Barrages. Note that you only sped up the cast time of Barrage; the delay is unaffected. The general best move to pair with this is Dragon Strike (termed Barrel+DS). Previously, other combos were able to keep up or surpass the power of Dragon Strike because Dragon Strike used to be too slow, and the delay for a normal Barrage would end in the middle of a DS (basically, less time spent in Barrage). This is no longer the case with Barrel+DS. In fact, the delay actually fits in very smoothly to create a rhythmic sequence when you get passed its initial jankiness.

Although Barrel+DS will almost always be a viable option, other chains are just as strong if not stronger in the situations you can use them. I list some Barrel combos below:

• Barrel+DS: Significantly stronger than Barrage+DS, with extra mobility and iframes, to boot.
  
• Barrel+Orb: Orb is slightly stronger on single target than DS, so it naturally will outperform here. It is actually *too* fast now, so there is a bit of delay between Barrages, but not quite enough to fit in an extra drain without delaying the next Barrage (and delaying iframe).
• Barrel+Drain+Orb: This chain currently has the highest single target output that I am aware of, but the following Barrage will be slightly delayed than if you used Barrel+Orb. I find myself getting hit sometimes because of this. Ideally blend this and Barrel+Orb to control when you have the iframes to actively dodge more attacks. (Requires Energy)
  
• Barrel+Flash Fist+Double Uppercut: This is the uncharged equivalent to Barrel+Drain+Orb, with a similar delaying of the next Barrage's cast. It will slightly outperform Barrel+DS in 1v1 situations where both FF and DU can reach the target, and will even charge faster.
  
• Barrel+Triple Flash Fist: The new delay allows ~2.5 Flash Fists to fit between Barrages, as opposed to the previous 2 without cancelling. It is technically slightly weaker than Barrel+DS on dummy, but not by much, after factoring in the benefit of unlocking charged chains sooner. In situations where charge is even more beneficial, this could be a valuable chain to have.
  
• Barrel+Triple Drain: Same cast time as Triple Flash Fist, but slightly stronger and gives passive healing. Useful if you don't yet have Energy Orb and want to incorporate Drain into chains for sustainability.

As always, pick the chain that makes the most sense for the situation. Dragon Strike is always a safe option though, simply due to its enormous range. And of course, these chains assume all skills used are maxed. Your results may vary if you are still leveling skills, leading to some being better than others. Try them out and see what clicks.

Dragon Strike+Oak Barrel??

Spoiler

One of the macros I have is Dragon Strike+Oak Barrel. Occasionally, I'll make use of this macro, however it is pretty meme-y. By attaching an Oak Barrel to Barrage, we are able to "speed it up" to the cast time of an Oak Barrel. Oak Barrel is largely unaffected by Booster/Speed Infusion (it might be, but it doesnt seem by much), allowing us to use Barrel combos just as fast regardless of speed tier... if the skill we chained to it were also speed independent. Dragon Strike+Barrel sees little effectiveness at our usual max speed due to not actually saving us any time. If we made a second macro and Chained Barrage->Barrel->Dragon Strike->Barrel, we can have a similar damage output regardless of speed tier! Why would we ever need that? Other than professing your love for wooden products, Barrel-Cancelled Barrage still gives iframes for its usual cast time. So by removing Booster/Speed Infusion, we make Barrage "slower" for the purpose of having a longer iframe period. There arent too many situations where this is vastly beneficial as it stilll isnt 100% iframe, but it can allow our iframe to sync up with enemy attacks and dodge more attacks (anego comes to mind).

It's not a deal-breaker to simply skip this, but I leave it here because I find it interesting and worth exploring more.

The Brawl-slinger Build (Meme thought experiment)

Spoiler

Have you ever wanted to have access to both Flash Fist AND Double Shot for swag/event item farming? How about completely substituting for an Assassin in LPQ? Well then here's a meme skill build for you! The opportunity cost for this is decently high unless we later gain the ability to SP reset skill points to lower jobs, as we'll sacrifice Dash entirely and only have level 1 Oak Barrel until level 200. Compared to the usual 1st-3rd job skill build, we'll siphon 10 points from Dash and 9 points from Oak Barrel, which, combined with the 1 vanity point we already place in Double Shot allows us to max Double Shot without sacrificing damage in 4th!

Some interesting notes: you can still use Flash Fist while holding a gun (and energy drain too). This might become less useful as you will no longer be able to cap speed with Speed Infusion on a gun anymore, if you use Booster/Speed Infusion in your event farming.

The Build

Spoiler

1st Job: Follow the Flash Fist Build, but leave Flash Fist at 1/20 and instead Max Double Shot. This will allow you to still make the Brawler Job Advancement (Flash Fist is required for it), and have maximum reach on Double Shot to function as a "range" character for the purposes of places such as LPQ albeit using a skill that uses our secondary stat. Also wave goodbye to Dash, we won't be coming back for it.

End of 1st Job:
Bullet Time: 20/20 (MAX)
Flash Fist: 1/20
Sommersault Kick: 20/20 (MAX)
Double Shot: 20/20 (MAX)
Dash: 0/10
​

2nd Job: Follow build as usual, however the extra choices we have during 2nd is which skill we would like to leave at 11/20 instead of maxing; Flash Fist or Booster. We'll still have the points to max them both during 3rd job, so go with whichever is more likely to benefit you now. Leave Oak Barrel at 1, it won't be going much higher until level 200 when we can SP reset out of Improve MaxHP.

End of 2nd Job:
Improve MaxHP: 10/10 (MAX)
Knuckler Mastery: 20/20 (MAX)
Knuckler Booster: 11/20 OR 20/20
Backspin Blow: 20/20 (MAX)
Double Uppercut: 20/20 (MAX)
Corkscrew Blow: 20/20 (MAX)
MP Recovery: 0/10
Oak Barrel: 1/10
(Flash Fist: 20/20 OR 11/20)​

3rd Job: Use those spare points from Memewave to go back and fix up the rest of our skills. After the "required" 3rd job SP, we have 21 SP to spare. 10 for MP recovery, 9 for Booster or Flash Fist which wasn't maxed in 2nd Job, and 2 to split between Shockwave and Oak Barrel (1 Shockwave for vanity and 1 in barrel for a couple more seconds of duration? The choice really doesnt matter).

End:
Stun Mastery: 20/20 (MAX)
Energy Blast: 30/30 (MAX)
Energy Drain: 20/20 (MAX)
Transformation: 20/20 (MAX)
Shockwave: 1/30
Energy Charge: 40/40 (MAX)
(Flash Fist, Booster, MP Recovery: MAX)
(Oak Barrel: 2/10)​

4th Job: As normal, but once you hit level 200, the points in Improve MaxHP are able to be removed. Normally, we have no way to put them anywhere as all of our other 2nd job skills are maxed so SP reset is impossible. With this arrangement, we're able to take those points out and put them back into Oak Barrel.

 

10/30: Added gear section.

Current To-do list:
-Purchase Boss DLC (early 4th job bossing, late 4th job bossing)
-Add a few images for visual effect
-Add a few images/gif for corkscrews
-By request add image of personal keyboard layout

 

The world isnt ready for that. It's too easy to glitch yourself and have to pester gms if not experienced

Soon(tm)

 

I try to lay out the overall process to calculate for whatever goal you wish, as that varies by the user. If you plan to MP wash, I wouldnt suggest doing it with low base int, but it also shouldnt be required if casual washing. If you can afford to do that amount of MP washing, you should consider raising base int to a higher level. It's actually cheaper and more efficient to do so.

 

Pretty much yeah. If you MP wash, you want to do it with the most base int you plan to have. For example If you MP wash with 60 base, when may later have 160, the earlier MP washes will receive less than you could have. You have to do fresh HP washes too, so do those in the meantime until the point you plan to HP wash.

Tl;dr: HP or MP wash as many points as you can. MP wash is better with higher base, HP wash is good whenever.

 

If you going to 120-160 base int, dont mp wash until you hit that int. Do some HP washes until int gets high enough. You'll have to decide how much is enough. You'll be able to play the character just fine, but everyone always wishes they had more

 

We dont talk about mw30... That said, I think taking the excess points out of si and will are the way to go. You can get to mw29 with will 1 and si13.

 

Was hesitant to post this, but seems the tech is getting out there anyways. I have posted what I know about the Barrelneer in the second post. Please be careful if you use it, as there is a glitch associated with it that requires you to die and get ressed if it happens. And yes I know, bossing infos soon(tm).

Barrel mains rise up!