Thief Krythan's Night Lord | Guide to Thirty Thousand Hit Points

I want to emphasize a point here.

There's two key number to look at in regards to how much NX this will take.

There's the total amount of NX to complete this project. In the original post that's 7.7m NX.

However you do not need that much NX to start the project.

The most important number for how much NX this will take is how much NX is required to finish MP Washing and Reset Base INT.

Because that's the amount that's time sensitive, and once you've done those steps, you have a totally playable, boss-able Night Lord.

In the original post that's 2,922,000 NX (1.7m + 1.22m)

What's this mean? You only need about 2m to 3m NX to start this project. That's the amount that it'll take to do the "hard part", and the only cost that's time sensitive. The ~4.8m NX to Stale HP Wash can be done at any time once you have enough MP. You'll be playing and enjoying the character, so it's something that can be worried about in the future, and done as you slowly acquire the NX on your road to level 200.

So when you're choosing between different paths to make your Night Lord, I highly recommend using this "upfront cost" as the primary measurement of NX when comparing different costs.

 

tods Welcome to the server! I'm so glad to hear!

I'll run the numbers for you, since I'm curious about how much that plan would cost.

However, my honest feedback is that I would seriously consider the HP Challenges! It's very very hard to wash a ranged character as your first character. Mainly due to the NX required, but it can also be a very long (and not very fun grind) to level up a character with this much base INT without having the ability to self-leech or the mesos to buy leech.

It's certainly possible. We know a few people that have done it. But, a more common alternative is making a different character first, for example a Bishop, or an SE Mule (Bowman) that will help your future NL reach it's full potential, while also making it much faster and smoother getting started in the game... while buying some time for you to save up the NX and Mesos for your NL.

 

Q: Does a Night Lord have to MP Wash?

A: Yes.

Let's show an example of creating a Night Lord without MP Washing.

For the sake of example, we'll make a character with 400 Base INT, and 100 Equip INT. At level 150, we'll have created about 5,700 MP above the minimum. Using this MP, we can do ~475 Fresh HP Washes (~1.5m NX), and reach a total of 12,300 HP. Compare this to the HP Challenges which will provide 12,000 HP with a fraction of the effort (and none of the NX cost).

 

tods - One option to consider is to aim for 18,750. Why that number? That's the minimum HP you need to get 30k with Hyper Body. I've actually included this as a second tab in the original spreadsheet. However, I'm not sure I would recommend that. Let me explain...

Tip: In Google Docs, click “File” > “Make a copy”. This allows you to run the projection with different variables such as Target Level, Base INT, Target HP/MP and get an approximate sense as to how these different variables impact the character.

In the below screenshot, I've included two examples for the sake of comparison. One example of a build going for 30k and one example of a build going for 18,750. I want to call this out, because I think it's important. While the "total" NX cost is very different between the two builds, what you should really be focusing on is the upfront cost. That's the NX cost before you're able to finish MP Washing, Reset Base INT, and generally start playing the character. The rest of the Stale HP Washing can happen slowly over time as you're naturally enjoying the game.

I don't generally recommend 18,750 HP, because the two builds are actually a lot closer in regards to their cost than you would think (or wish for them) to be.

I've highlighted the different "upfront costs" in row 15. I've written more about this idea in this comment above.

TL;DR: If you're just looking at the upfront cost, the difference between 18,750 and 30k is 1.1m NX.

 

As always, feel free to message here (on the forums) or on Discord!

 

April 14th, 2024 - Updated the original post to include more insight and information about the HP Challenges, an alternative to washing. Also minor cleanup and terminology improvements for consistency.

 

May 28th, 2024 - Made a minor update to the "18,570" tab of the attached spreadsheet. While I generally don't recommend aiming for 18,750 HP vs. 30k HP, seeing as the upfront cost is only the difference of 2m vs 3m NX, the question comes up a lot in conversations so I like to have the resources to support it. I'd previously realized there was a minor error in the "18,570" tab. Previously, the "18,750" tab of the spreadsheet had suggested starting MP Washing a few levels after Base INT had been reached. Since there's no good reason to do that, the spreadsheet has been updated to reflect the starting level of MP Washing to match the level at which you reach your Base INT target.

 

That's correct! INT Equip(s) and Maple Warrior will (very slightly) decrease NX cost.

The more MP we gain from leveling up with INT equip(s), the less MP we need to create with MP washes. The fewer MP washes we need to do, the less NX we spend.

Let's take a look at an example:

Here's two almost identical plans. The only difference is how much INT Equip. we're accounting for.

• In plan #1, with 0 INT Equip, we need to level to 151 in order to have the AP to do enough MP Washes to reach our goals.
• In plan #2, with an avg. of 100 INT Equip, we need to level to 146 in order to reach our goals. This saves ~80k NX worth of MP Washes.

This is an extreme example, as it's very unlikely any character will have 0 INT (Zakum Helm, Event, etc), and 100 INT is a considerable amount, but I wanted to show the contrast between the two.

But there's an even bigger benefit to INT equips..

Even more so than the ~80k NX saved, is the 207m mesos it costs to leech from 146 to 151. So that's the biggest difference when evaluating the benefit of INT equips in my opinion, isn't as much the NX saved, but rather the number of levels you need to leech.




But then, how do I reduce the NX cost of this plan?

This isn't the question you asked... but I think it's worth adding. Even more so than investing in INT Equip(s), the most effective way to reduce the NX cost of this plan is to a.) decrease your planned Target MP from 5k to the Minimum, and b.) carry your Base INT for more levels.

You can imagine, carrying your Base INT to level 160+ does wonders in creating extra MP, and does quite a bit more than just INT Equip(s) in how much NX it can take off the requirements. The only downside, is that now you'd be leeching to a higher and higher level. So it's a sliding scale between NX cost and meso/time leech cost.

 

July 19th, 2024 - The most recent July 2024 Balance Changes introduced a new item called Ephenia's Ring that's relevant to this guide. The Ellin Savior's Ring can now be upgraded from +100 HP/MP to the Ephenia's Ring with a maximum of +250 HP/MP. As this is a new source of HP/MP from equip(s), I'll need to go back through the original guide and attached spreadsheet to reflect this gain.

 

You absolutely can. You've already touched on the primary factors:

Let's take a look at some of the ways that you can reduce the NX required.

1. Account for HP/MP that you'll naturally gain from ~150 to 200.

2. Plan to go down to Minimum MP at the end.

3. Don't early MP Wash. Only start MP Washing when you've reached your Base INT target.

4. Account for additional sources of INT, such as Maple Warrior 20, more INT equip(s), and/or wearing INT equip(s) when you level up at levels ~150 to 200.

5. Add in Fresh HP Washes. For example, before you start MP Washing (10 to ~82), and after you finish MP Washing (~150 to 200), whenever you're not using your Fresh AP for MP Washing, you can use your Fresh AP for HP Washing. Both Fresh HP Washes, and Stale HP Washes cost -12 MP, but on average, a Fresh HP wash gives +2 more HP. The primary reason I don't recommend this in the original post is that it front-loads some more of the NX cost.

6. Increase the level at which your reset Base INT. Benefit from more levels of MP Gain thanks to your Base INT.

7. Depending on the above factors, you may have a different optimal Base INT, possibly lowering it to save some NX.

You just have to be VERY CAREFUL when taking this path, as you need to be 100% certain you can reach your HP goals before you reset your Base INT. There'd be nothing worse than ending up with a 29.2k Night Lord after a few years of voting because you didn't create enough MP.

Feel free to message me, I'm working on an updated spreadsheet that will better account for some of these factors.