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New Milletian seeking advice

salty_breadsalty_bread
Mabinogi Rep: 200
Posts: 2
Member
in General Chat
tl;dr version
-I'm new
-I wanna be a merchant using commerce (what's the best place to start here?)
-Want a good combination of combat skills to defend against bandits and also tend to be a lone wolf
-Thoughts/advice on being a giant adventurer with transformation mastery, battle alchemy/transmutation, and lance combat?
-Thoughts/advice on being an elf elementalist monk with martial artis, magic, and transformation mastery?


For all others full post below:

Hello folks, I've seen Mabinogi around and read up on the game and discussions and the like and I'm thinking on giving it a try. I have two character concept ideas I was tossing around based on my very limited understanding of the talent and life skill system (I do enjoy crafting, but I love being a merchant most) and was looking for some advice on this.

First and foremost I want to use commerce because I love trading and being a merchant (I've been looking for other games to be a trader/merchant where you have to transport goods - I used to play Archeage but the premium sub and cash shop woes got me down), and since I know you have to train this just like any other talent, I was wondering what the best way to go about this might be.

But also, since I tend to be a lone wolf (not always by choice, but /shrug), I know I'll need combat skills to defend myself from npcs and bandits (plus I do like exploring, and combat will enable this). My two concepts are this:

Giant adventurer with a combination of transformation mastery, lance combat, and transmutation and/or battle alchemy skills. I don't know if I can draw from transformation mastery after training it enough and getting enough transformations as a main form of combat, or if this is mostly fluff to supplement some other combat roles? The description wasn't very clear to me. What are some thoughts/advice on this? And where might be the best place to start?

The second concept was an Elf elementalist monk using a combination of martial arts, magic, and transformation mastery. Same question about transformation applies as above, but I also heard elves are not ideal for melee combat as they receive penalties to strength (although it seems that martial arts based on the wiki does not add to strength? is this not a main damage stat for martial arts?). Thoughts/advice? Where is a good place to start if going with this character?

Thanks in advance for any tips on where to start, and for reading!

Comments

  • GretaGreta
    Mabinogi Rep: 51,805
    Posts: 6,975
    Member
    Choose Giant and concentrate in close combat skills because that's what they are best at. If you really like commercing then do that. But just gonna warn you that it's a pretty dead content.
  • RheyRhey
    Mabinogi Rep: 10,175
    Posts: 1,499
    Member
    Uh...

    Commerce doesn't really need combat. Just avoid everything and Ur good. If ur invested enuf grab a speed set and just zoom past the spawns b4 they even register.
  • DraechDraech
    Mabinogi Rep: 4,390
    Posts: 355
    Member
    Unfortunately, Transformation Mastery is no longer a skill that is viable in battle. Once transformed, you get a tiny bonus to your stats based on your collected transformations, yet you are restricted to a few moves only.

    Commerce is a great activity, and I'm sure that you can easily find others to commerce with. However, keep in mind that you will encounter stronger enemies when transporting more valuable commerce goods, so be prepared.

    For your giant concept, it works well (with the exception of Transformation Mastery, as stated above). You get a good balance of ranged and melee, with lots of defense since giants can wield a shield with their lance.

    As for the elf, the idea is good (and how I play on one of my characters), however be aware that Martial Arts is a heavily outdated talent. As such, one skill becomes useless rather quickly (Respite) and the farther you get in the game, the less combos you'll be able to chain since most end-game enemies have Advanced Heavy Stander (a skill that "defends" from melee attacks upon a hit, and allows for an immediate counterattack). As for Magic, it's a great talent for elves, and I'd recommend replacing Martial Arts for the newer Chain Slash talent, which doesn't rely on Strength.

    Also, welcome to Mabi, and if you want to get some new friends easily, edit your post with your IGN and server of choice so others can add you.
  • SebastianSebastian
    Mabinogi Rep: 6,870
    Posts: 445
    Member
    edited January 22, 2019
    First and foremost, welcome to Mabi, secondly, here's my two cents:
    Greta wrote: »
    Choose Giant and concentrate in close combat skills because that's what they are best at. If you really like commercing then do that. But just gonna warn you that it's a pretty dead content.

    As well as excessively bugged to the point of being mostly unplayable if you also branch into Bandit Hunting. However, if you do still end up doing commerce, I would highly recommend accumulating a high amount of Letters of Guarantee which will boost your profit. Also, if you level up enough, you shouldn't have too much of an issue with dealing with bandits if you have trouble avoiding them, as they scale with your commerce level. All talents should be equally capable of dealing with them.
    ...but I also heard elves are not ideal for melee combat as they receive penalties to strength (although it seems that martial arts based on the wiki does not add to strength? is this not a main damage stat for martial arts?)

    Martial Arts strength is driven primarily by your Will stat. I highly recommend not going Martial Artist as your beginner talent. The skills are obtained through a questline that you're better off doing once you've already trained up another Talent. And I wouldn't worry about Elves being lacking in terms of strength later down the line if you plan on playing long-term to begin with. There may be a common gag about Elves being weak but they're just as good at holding their own as others after a certain point.
    I don't know if I can draw from transformation mastery after training it enough and getting enough transformations as a main form of combat

    If you mean fighting as transformed creatures, I wouldn't really recommend that. Most transformations restrict usage of certain skills. Plus it's more of a novelty thing that happens to give stats. Newer transformations also seem to be solely from Gacha, but there's still some cool ones you can earn.

  • IyasenuIyasenu
    Mabinogi Rep: 24,265
    Posts: 2,887
    Member
    I have to parrot Transformation Mastery being more of a novelty than anything.

    While transformed you're restricted to:
    1) Dreamcatcher-type weapons. These aren't powerful weapons, though at least they're stronger than bare hands.
    2) Certain skills. At BEST you have access to Smash, Defense, Counterattack, Windmill and Rest. Certain transformations disallow even some of these skills, or even all skills, or even attacking at all! (though that last case is mostly for certain boss transformations)

    Some transformations are interesting, though.
    Certain transformations affect the size of your hitbox, which affects the area of attack of the Windmill skill. You can attack really far with transformations like Chandelier Spider or Giant Gold Spider. Though those are higher-ranked transformations. (rank 4 and 3 respectively)
    Windmill's a nice area melee attack. Just watch out if you use this with knuckles, as knuckles severely reduce the radius of attack for Windmill.
    Though you mentioned Commerce. You could just constantly windmill around your commerce goods, knocking back any would-be theft attempts.
    It might take a while to actually kill the stronger bandits, since commerce comes with a 50% damage penalty, but at least your goods would be safe.

    Also, if you actually want to fight with Transformation Mastery, I'd recommend using a Shield and Heavy Armor with your Dreamcatcher.
    With Shield Mastery and Heavy Armor Mastery, you can become VERY sturdy. I wouldn't be surprised if even the toughest bandits would deal 1 damage with each of their attacks to you.
  • salty_breadsalty_bread
    Mabinogi Rep: 200
    Posts: 2
    Member
    Awesome, well thank you for your advice so far! I also found the discord server (username salt there) and was revising some of my ideas. I'm now thinking a giant battlemage might be for me, using some form of martial combat plus magic (as opposed to alchemy, but maybe I'll just do both with different equipment sets if I end up playing a while!)

    Thank you again for all the info! Now just to pick a server and make my giant...
  • SoraiteSoraite
    Mabinogi Rep: 1,680
    Posts: 38
    Member
    edited January 22, 2019
    I'd like to clarify more about the Talent System for Mabinogi.
    It is not permanent, nor is there really a 'wrong' build because in the end, you will find yourself ranking everything.
    The talent system is there to help player's gain double training exp for the talent's skill set. So if you have a 'Close Combat' Talent currently, all your skills listed under the talent skill set will have a 2x exp for every training requirement needed (thus making it easier to rank up skills). It also helps with gaining base stats benefiting for the Talent. More details on our wiki page, it's VERY useful so i recommend you check it out whenever you have ANY questions on the game: https://wiki.mabinogiworld.com/view/Talent

    If you really wish to start out with merchant, i would recommend ranking it alongside another COMBAT related talent (such as close combat, archery, or magic. These are beginner-level talents that are good to start with. The other talents require more&multiple stats to actually do damage). This game likes to label itself as a fantasy game where you can do whatever you want, and that's true. It's just difficult to actually do all the content (shadow missions, raids, even generation quest story lines) if you decide to just do life skill or support talents like Merchant or Bard.

    If you have anymore questions please don't hesitate to ask!
  • HelsaHelsa
    Mabinogi Rep: 23,380
    Posts: 5,763
    Member
    Visit Duncan often.

    IIRC fighter skill quests gives you 3k ducats somewhere along the line, that let's you buy a handcart right away. Fighter skills work pretty good against banditos. Using lullaby on them to start helps a lot\ as well.

    In general I tell folks to get the basic bolts, the basic close combat skills, even rank F of these go a long way as long as you have learned your combos. I would caveat though that the defend skill does need to be a little bit better than F against strong hitting monsters. With a core of that I'd say build up construct alchemy. Construct alchemy is slow and boring but in any situation no matter where you are in your characters development, if you face a tough situation, it will see you through. Also, build up bard and make that your first GM. After that, who cares, do whatever.
  • RaykaRayka
    Mabinogi Rep: 1,575
    Posts: 132
    Member
    Helsa wrote: »
    Visit Duncan often.

    IIRC fighter skill quests gives you 3k ducats somewhere along the line, that let's you buy a handcart right away. Fighter skills work pretty good against banditos. Using lullaby on them to start helps a lot\ as well.

    In general I tell folks to get the basic bolts, the basic close combat skills, even rank F of these go a long way as long as you have learned your combos. I would caveat though that the defend skill does need to be a little bit better than F against strong hitting monsters. With a core of that I'd say build up construct alchemy. Construct alchemy is slow and boring but in any situation no matter where you are in your characters development, if you face a tough situation, it will see you through. Also, build up bard and make that your first GM. After that, who cares, do whatever.
    your hint is kinda vague is better if you just say the skill from that talent instead of whole talent which will confuse the newbies

    as for begginer no matter what you picking the Basic of Meele is a MUST to have which is Smash, Defense, Counterattack and Windmill, Assault Slash is just a cherry on the cake, oh right the basic Bolts Magic are needed too which are Ice Bolt,Lighting Bolt and Fire Bolt, they will help you to do long ranged attack with any weapon at same time they can help you to chain up combo skill too

    Merchant or Commerce is more like a different way to earn Golds and ExP where the fighing is less involved as long you avoid them,the only bad parts is because of botting in past currently the price scaling(change in price while doing commerce) is kinda dead, some town have goods that is permanent in loss price in any towns unless you use Special Enchants that grant discount, so in long run it become very dull and boring
  • KensamaofmariKensamaofmari
    Mabinogi Rep: 34,745
    Posts: 7,909
    Member
    Rhey wrote: »
    Uh...

    Commerce doesn't really need combat. Just avoid everything and Ur good. If ur invested enuf grab a speed set and just zoom past the spawns b4 they even register.

    And still they spawn.
  • JulieJulie
    Mabinogi Rep: 4,030
    Posts: 341
    Member
    Giant for Thicc Thighs and Swole Muscles

    Human for the cool kids club

    Elf for being a fragile dress up doll
    Kensamaofmari