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Starting Class/Talents?!?

BaByDoLLBaByDoLL
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in General Chat
Hello!
So I was told by a friend that as an Elf I should pick Archer because the magical classes/talents are way too expensive to level as - especially from the beginning of joining Mabinogi.
So my question is, is that true? And if so, is the Ninja or Martial Arts classes/talents better? I really dislike archer classes in MMOs, I find them boring and they're always the newb-friendly class.
I'm hoping they're not the only viable class for a newbie with no money on this game, and would appreciate any help! <3

Comments

  • NamiriNamiri
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    edited June 14, 2017
    Well your friend isn't wrong. Magic is difficult to Rank up because it costs a crap ton of AP. That and until you do the quests to unlock stuff like Intermediate or Advanced Magics you're basically just limited to nothing but Bolt Magic. Though Bolt Magic isn't too overly effective without a Chaincast Wand of the same element as the Bolt spell you're using. So yes in that regard Ranged would perhaps be a bit more accessible as a newbie Elf just starting off.

    As for Ninja it seems fun enough at first. But then you just hit a skill training grind from hell. Because for god knows what reason the people running the game thought it would be a good idea to make Ninja and Dual Gun skills ultra grindy. Martial Arts on the other hand is incredibly easy to train up. Though of the 3 playable races Elves are the weakest when it comes to Martial Arts sadly.

    In any case, if we're talking "newb-friendly" classes the two that fit that description in Mabinogi are Close Combat and Martial Arts. Though sadly those two are also the combat types Elves are worst at. Also, I certainly wouldn't say Archer is as newb-friendly as those two. That and because Mabinogi's combat is quite different from your typical run-of-the-mill MMORPG you might find the Archer experience in Mabinogi to be quite different compared to what you've experienced in other MMORPGs. So it might be worth giving it a shot first to see what you think of it.
  • RheyRhey
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    edited June 14, 2017
    BaByDoLL wrote: »
    Hello!
    So I was told by a friend that as an Elf I should pick Archer because the magical classes/talents are way too expensive to level as - especially from the beginning of joining Mabinogi.
    So my question is, is that true? And if so, is the Ninja or Martial Arts classes/talents better? I really dislike archer classes in MMOs, I find them boring and they're always the newb-friendly class.
    I'm hoping they're not the only viable class for a newbie with no money on this game, and would appreciate any help! <3

    Are u on mari? I'll hook U up with cc wands. Int stat is the easiest to stack. so Magic is very high payout in dmg very early from just fire-bolting alone. And as an elf u can hide longer with the bigger mp pool.
  • BaByDoLLBaByDoLL
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    Would I be severely disadvantage as a Martial Arts elf? Or is the disadvantage minimal?
    Thanks!! <3

    And yeah I agree that Ninja seems super fun in the tutorial area, but sadly i read an article just now that scared me off from Ninja. It said "95% of the people that picked this as a starting talent and then stuck with it have uninstalled their game." - EEK!
  • RheyRhey
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    edited June 14, 2017
    BaByDoLL wrote: »
    Would I be severely disadvantage as a Martial Arts elf? Or is the disadvantage minimal?
    Thanks!! <3

    And yeah I agree that Ninja seems super fun in the tutorial area, but sadly i read an article just now that scared me off from Ninja. It said "95% of the people that picked this as a starting talent and then stuck with it have uninstalled their game." - EEK!

    Yes. Cuz it's waaaay 2 1v1 focus. U need alt talents to supplement it like magic or Close combat.
  • BaByDoLLBaByDoLL
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    Namiri wrote: »
    Well your friend isn't wrong. Magic is difficult to Rank up because it costs a crap ton of AP. That and until you do the quests to unlock stuff like Intermediate or Advanced Magics you're basically just limited to nothing but Bolt Magic. Though Bolt Magic isn't too overly effective without a Chaincast Wand of the same element as the Bolt spell you're using. So yes in that regard Ranged would perhaps be a bit more accessible as a newbie Elf just starting off.

    As for Ninja it seems fun enough at first. But then you just hit a skill training grind from hell. Because for god knows what reason the people running the game thought it would be a good idea to make Ninja and Dual Gun skills ultra grindy. Martial Arts on the other hand is incredibly easy to train up. Though of the 3 playable races Elves are the weakest when it comes to Martial Arts sadly.

    In any case, if we're talking "newb-friendly" classes the two that fit that description in Mabinogi are Close Combat and Martial Arts. Though sadly those two are also the combat types Elves are worst at. Also, I certainly wouldn't say Archer is as newb-friendly as those two. That and because Mabinogi's combat is quite different from your typical run-of-the-mill MMORPG you might find the Archer experience in Mabinogi to be quite different compared to what you've experienced in other MMORPGs. So it might be worth giving it a shot first to see what you think of it.


    Oh damn, I didn't see your reply the first time i responded!!
    I actually just got on!
    So is your suggestion, for an elf, to stick with Magic even thought it's harder to level up?
  • IyasenuIyasenu
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    As a side note, if you want to try "mage"ing fairly cheaply, you should use one of your accounts other character cards to have make a character who DOES choose Mage as their starting talent.

    The reason being, whatever talent you choose to start with, you'll receive a special "Beginner's" version of a weapon related to that talent from the Chief of Tir Chonnail.
    They're comparable to their normal counterparts, with the biggest difference being they all have a repair cost of 1 Gold per durability.
    (Gunner and Ninja are exceptions, for some reason)

    Starting as a Mage will get you a Beginner's Ice Wand.
    Seeing as wands normally have repair costs in the thousands per point, having a wand, even if it's only one element (ice) that repairs for 1 Gold, can be helpful as a fledgling mage!
    BaByDoLL
  • BaByDoLLBaByDoLL
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    edited June 14, 2017
    Iyasenu wrote: »
    As a side note, if you want to try "mage"ing fairly cheaply, you should use one of your accounts other character cards to have make a character who DOES choose Mage as their starting talent.

    The reason being, whatever talent you choose to start with, you'll receive a special "Beginner's" version of a weapon related to that talent from the Chief of Tir Chonnail.
    They're comparable to their normal counterparts, with the biggest difference being they all have a repair cost of 1 Gold per durability.
    (Gunner and Ninja are exceptions, for some reason)

    Starting as a Mage will get you a Beginner's Ice Wand.
    Seeing as wands normally have repair costs in the thousands per point, having a wand, even if it's only one element (ice) that repairs for 1 Gold, can be helpful as a fledgling mage!

    Thanks for those tips!!
    What about Music? That's a class/talent i forgot to ask about.........it seems interesting, but I really am afraid of picking something that would be bad for an elf or not viable! haha
  • TwelieTwelie
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    BaByDoLL wrote: »
    Iyasenu wrote: »
    As a side note, if you want to try "mage"ing fairly cheaply, you should use one of your accounts other character cards to have make a character who DOES choose Mage as their starting talent.

    The reason being, whatever talent you choose to start with, you'll receive a special "Beginner's" version of a weapon related to that talent from the Chief of Tir Chonnail.
    They're comparable to their normal counterparts, with the biggest difference being they all have a repair cost of 1 Gold per durability.
    (Gunner and Ninja are exceptions, for some reason)

    Starting as a Mage will get you a Beginner's Ice Wand.
    Seeing as wands normally have repair costs in the thousands per point, having a wand, even if it's only one element (ice) that repairs for 1 Gold, can be helpful as a fledgling mage!

    Thanks for those tips!!
    What about Music? That's a class/talent i forgot to ask about.........it seems interesting, but I really am afraid of picking something that would be bad for an elf or not viable! haha

    Buffs are always viable. I'm an elf mage/bard. It's good to have if you want mp recharge or faster cast time, but you should build your main combat class first.
  • LeineiLeinei
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    edited June 14, 2017
    Make sure to get Refining and Windmill out of the way, as they get difficult as you level. Refining is just turning ore into ingots and plates and can be gotten by talking to Elen in Bangor with the Skills keyword. Not sure if you still need failures to rank, but I always recommend that one because +10 Dexterity. Also, Windmill is a combat power related skill meaning the stronger you get, the stronger the monsters in relation to your own CP rank you have to kill. You get that Windmill skill from the Fighting Lessons.
  • JJJJ
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    edited June 14, 2017
    Keep in mind that you can change your talent every 6 days. And while you're under total level 1000 you can change it every day. Furthermore you can use skills even if they're not part of your active talent - it just trains a bit slower. Just try them all out. It's a game, have fun!!
  • badnewsbarrettbadnewsbarrett
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    My main character is a human, though for a while I was leveling my side characters - an elf - at the same time. I chose Magic to start with on my elf but honestly, I think your best bet would be to go with Archer.

    On my human, I mainly use Ninja, however I only use one skill - Kunai Storm - and my Close Combat skills. The rest of my Ninja skills are super low ranked, because I don't enjoy using them. It is true the closer you get to Rank 1, the more grindy Ninja becomes. So you can do what I do if you want to use Ninja - that way it should work on Elves - but you do need to level the other skills eventually if you want the Ninja master title. I don't care about getting the title, so them not being ranked doesn't bother me lol.

    I agree with what was said above though, you can use your other character cards to try out different talents at the same time. I'd suggest making at least one human and one giant as well, that way you have all the races in case you ever want to use them. Also you can rebirth every day under level 1000 and change talents, as was also said above.

    In terms of grinding skills, one thing you should check out is Adventure Seals. There's one Seal Merchant in Belvast, and one in Dunbarton. You do certain quests (see here for which ones) and every Sunday you can trade them in for Skill Training Seals to rank skills. It only helps a little bit, but if you get into the habit of doing it, it really can help you rank them up. I do it for certain skills, when I get bored of grinding.
  • NamiriNamiri
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    edited June 14, 2017
    BaByDoLL wrote: »
    And yeah I agree that Ninja seems super fun in the tutorial area, but sadly i read an article just now that scared me off from Ninja. It said "95% of the people that picked this as a starting talent and then stuck with it have uninstalled their game." - EEK!

    I found the article you're referring to on reddit and while 95% is indeed an exaggeration Ninja is most certainly an unreasonable grindfest. So I can easily see how a lot of newbies who start with it would be turned off from the game. Given it would surely sour their experience by making them think that all the skills in the game are that absurdly grindy.
    BaByDoLL wrote: »
    So is your suggestion, for an elf, to stick with Magic even thought it's harder to level up?

    Well ultimately in the end regardless of whatever you pick to start with as an Elf (or any race for that matter) there will be ups and downs associated with each. But yes Magic could be worthwhile, especially if you can manage to find someone who can help hook you up with some chaincast wands and MP potions. In the end Magic has a rather slow and expensive start but really pays off greatly later on if you stick with it.
    BaByDoLL wrote: »
    What about Music? That's a class/talent i forgot to ask about.........it seems interesting, but I really am afraid of picking something that would be bad for an elf or not viable! haha

    Music is equally viable for all races. But the problem with that talent is that aside from the Discord skill it's literally nothing but buff skills and a single skill that can put enemies to sleep. So you wouldn't have anything for actually dealing damage and killing enemies basically.
  • OrkaneOrkane
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    edited June 14, 2017
    Rhey wrote: »
    Yes. Cuz it's waaaay 2 1v1 focus. U need alt talents to supplement it like magic or Close combat.

    Are you confusing ninja with fighter? Ninja's not all that 1v1 focused. It is however something I wouldn't recommend using alone.
    I'd imagine the real reason why so many people quit is because training ninja skills is grindy and shows off the worst aspects of Mabi's skill system.

    As for recommendations for a new player, I'd say magic is one of the best ways to go. The skills cost a lot of AP, but many of them are also among the easiest skills to train in the game. It's a relatively complete skill set by itself i.e. it provides enough skill variety to deal with most situations and doesn't require much in terms of stats from external sources for it to function reasonably well.

    Other talents that I'd say work well for new players are alchemy and regular melee. Like magic, they're both relatively self-sufficient and beginner friendly. Just be aware that elves are worse at melee so that might be off-putting if you're set on being an elf and alchemy doesn't scale all that well later on in the game but they'd still both have use as subordinate skill sets.

    The main reason why I recommend these three are because I think they're probably the talents that do the best job of emphasising what's unique about mabi's combat system. Archery does this too, but unfortunately not always for the right reasons.

    At the end of the day, you can reset your skills any time before hitting level 1000 and you can change your talent once per day up to that point too (and once every 6 days afterwords) so it's not exactly a final decision whatever you go with.
  • NamiriNamiri
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    edited June 14, 2017
    Orkane wrote: »
    Rhey wrote: »
    Yes. Cuz it's waaaay 2 1v1 focus. U need alt talents to supplement it like magic or Close combat.

    Are you confusing ninja with fighter? Ninja's not all that 1v1 focused. It is however something I wouldn't recommend using alone.

    Actually I think you misunderstood what they meant. Since the part Rhey quoted from BaByDoLL also included a question regarding Martial Arts. So I'm pretty sure they were referring to the part about Martial Arts and not the part about Ninja below it.
  • SiodhanSiodhan
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    edited June 14, 2017
    Well, not to debunk that magic takes a lot of AP..since -- really, it does. HOWEVER, that is only if you want to max all of the skills magic involves. Incidentally, if we're going that route, to completely min-max magic (aside from equipment), you will require basically half or more of all skills in the game. So..don't sweat the details, for now. Remember, this is an MMORPG, you can work towards any goal over time.

    Now, coming back to the original premise that it takes a ridiculous amount of AP- not strictly true. In fact, mage was one of the talents I started out with back in the day and it was already possible then. By now we have a myriad of additional ways to gain AP even on a daily basis, so..you won't actually be finding yourself at a lack of ap until you try to max it all.

    If we want to go the most boring route possible, since a vast amount of your damage is derived from the actual skill ranks without any actual stats involved yet, for low level it is more than enough to rank:
    Firebolt, Bolt Mastery, Fire Mastery, Magic Mastery and most importantly, Magic Weapon Mastery. Make sure to have a magic weapon equipped. For the cheapest thing possible, without having a 4 chaincast firewand at hand, take a trinity staff that drops relatively frequently from "Ancient"-titled mobs and you can get a 3 level charge on the staff that will make any spells of the same element in succession more damaging. If you can't find one, just ask around if someone will give you one. Dirt is probably more expensive than a trinity staff at this point.

    Anyway, haven't run the maths because I'm too lazy to look at the wiki page sfor all of them, but I'm sure you can somehow make do for all of these with roughly 1k AP.
    Aside from the fact that newbies can reach level 1000 very quickly and have enough to begin with, there's some starter ap (I think? if not anymore, that's okay, you won't need it), you get AP from gen1 very easily, saga 1 and 2 (if you don't mind playing generations that have nearly nothing to do with each other out of order) give you another 400 or so, the baltane squires added with generation 20 (which are not entirely involved in the storyline of g20, so it's kinda sorta spoiler free?) have a limited amount of one-time missions that give you AP, aging up gives AP, levelling gives AP; exploration levels give AP, daily shadow missions give AP, some events give you AP, ranking up talents gives you ap (especially the first few ranks of almost all life talents can be gotten by just ranking up a very cheap and easy-to-rank skill called production mastery), etcetc. I can't even count all of the ways to get free ap at this point. You can probably get a good 1-1,5k ap just by doing random junk in the game nearly effortlessly.

    So...if you like magic and you can deal with using the same spells for a short while before moving on to the rest..you REALLY do not have to care about the AP problem. Go for it.
  • AlukinaAlukina
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    Welcome to Grindinogi. Happy to have you with us.

    My suggestion would be to train anything CP based (CP = Combat Power / It goes up as you level)
    The skill will say something like "Defeat a boss level enemy"

    If you hold off on those kinds of skills then it will be hard to find enemies that fit the criteria later on. So it's best to attend to them when everything is stronger compared to you.

    Personally for a starter class I would pick magic because as others stated it has great damage output despite AP cost and it's relatively easier to train. But you're going to find that the more diverse your skill pool is, the better off you'll be. Your play style is up to you, but instead of investing all your AP into magic at once, maybe branch out a little to give yourself more fighting balance.

    Also I would NOT suggest investing AP into life skills until you do all your fighting related skills because having things such as harvest song from the music tab and general fighting capabilities makes it much easier to do those.

    Lastly, there is an wiki dedicated to this game. I would highly recommend using it as you play because it will give you information on pretty much anything you need to know.

    http://wiki.mabinogiworld.com/view/Wiki_Home

    tl;dr - Mabinogi is a game that requires a bit of research/reading to understand. My best advice is to go through the wiki and read/view what skills do before making any decisions. You're not locked into a class, so find out what works best for you individually.
  • NamiriNamiri
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    edited June 14, 2017
    Siodhan wrote: »
    Dirt is probably more expensive than a trinity staff at this point.

    Yeah, but that's because that thing is such a piece of garbage that one would have a hard time giving one away let alone selling it for any amount of gold. If anything it would be nicer if they could find someone to give them a Hermit Staff. Those aren't too hard to make and don't require you to charge them up to be able to use Intermediate Magic skills. Though since they surely won't even need to worry about Int Magic for a long time they're probably just better off using a chaincast wand when starting off.
  • SiodhanSiodhan
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    Aye. I was thinking of things to work towards. I usually NPC trinity staves, so I can definitely see how it'd be hard to find any on the market, but a hermit staff doesn't have the upside of elemental charges, so as much as that's a better near-endgame option, you're right to say that a cc fire wand would just be straight up better for this set-up. Of course, you could also replace firebolt with lightning bolt and fire mastery with lightning mastery for even more single-charge damage, but cc firebolt is the most optimal for solo play, especially against overpowered bosses early game.
  • NamiriNamiri
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    Siodhan wrote: »
    Aye. I was thinking of things to work towards. I usually NPC trinity staves, so I can definitely see how it'd be hard to find any on the market, but a hermit staff doesn't have the upside of elemental charges, so as much as that's a better near-endgame option, you're right to say that a cc fire wand would just be straight up better for this set-up. Of course, you could also replace firebolt with lightning bolt and fire mastery with lightning mastery for even more single-charge damage, but cc firebolt is the most optimal for solo play, especially against overpowered bosses early game.

    Well charging a staff does nothing but boosting the damage of the bolt spell that corresponds with the element you've charged the staff with anyways. So if one is looking to just use only bolts then a CC Wand is a much better choice. Staves aren't even worth worrying about until you have all the Intermediate Magic skills unlocked and get into things like Advanced Magic. But at that point one would want a Staff that doesn't need to be charged first in order to be able to use Intermediate Magics quicker and easier.
  • SiodhanSiodhan
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    Yes, but the whole point was not having a cc wand or the money to back it up. If they've got one, great.