Soul Master 101
 

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A new update calls for a new guide. I will mostly be going in depth about each of the elemental combinations, pros/cons, as well as writing a general path for TM spending. Although the majority of it will be those three, I will comment briefly on equipments and bossing tips etc. I will try to include as much personal experience as possible, hopefully making it easier for some of the newer players who're looking to try out the Soul Master class for the first time. Although I can't promise that bias will be void in this guide. I will try to be straightforward as possible, so that I won't confuse any of you. Also, even though most of this guide will encompass PvE, I will include some vague aspects of PvP. Here goes!

So you're interested in creating a Soul Master? Well you've come to the right place! Soul Masters are the pure paths of the sheep class and mainly specialize in Area of Effect skills. They're the masters of the elements and upon job change, they get improved versions of the bard elemental skills. Why play as a Soul Master? They have access to many great skills that allow you to completely wreck things in game with ease. Nonetheless, they are an excellent PvE class, regardless of elemental path.

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First I'll define some of the stats that are included in each color type if you're new to the game.

-Power(Red boxing glove): It is broken down into 3 stats within. They include: Attack Power(AP), Accuracy(AC) and Dexterity(DX). None of these stats are important to this class except for AC, which is used to determining the accuracy & damage of blessings. You don't want to increase this number at all, it's a waste, so keep it at one.

-Magic(Blue cane): This also is broken down into 3 stats within. They include: Mana points(MP), Magic Attack(MA) and Magic Defense(MD). All of these stats are very important to the magic class in general. You can't change the 4 in magic so this should be your highest stat in your build naturally.

-Sense(Purple eye): Also in 3 categories. They include: Weight(WT), Detection Ability(DA) and Luck(LK). All of these stats are universally important to all characters in Trickster. As a magic class however, you don't need the DA for damage, but you do want a high number in sense for good weight(to carry things) and luck(so that your attacks don't miss).

-Charm(Orange heart): 3 categories. They include: Hit points(HP), Defense(DP) and Hit Evasion(HV). This stat is also very important in determining your character's survivability in the game. The higher number you put in this stat, the more base weight and luck you are giving up.
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This build completely gives up weight and luck for the total huge gain in base HP and other defensive stats. If you choose this build, you will have BIG weight problems 99% of the time. It is not recommended for the inexperienced or poor that can't afford a Myshop pouch. Not even putting your bonus points during level up in weight will be enough. Only choose this build if you know what you are doing or super dirt poor and can handle your game play being interrupted every so often because you need to sell things and restock pots multiple times. This is a very rare and uncommon build. I definitely do not recommend this build for pure PvE, unless you have the equipments and Myshop to make up for the loss in weight and luck. You can go pure MA, HP or LK in this build. Once again, this is for experienced users who have access to heavy Myshop for luck and weight equipments.

Pros:

• Highest base HP, HV & DP than all the other builds.
• You get very good HP, HV and can tank quite a bit.

Cons:

• Terrible weight and base LK.
• I wouldn't recommend this build even if you are a non MS user.

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A.

First off, the popular Fire/Elec route. This is now a favored and highly possible endgame build compared to the past, where it wasn't as popular.

Pros:

• Arguably the best grinder at popular training sites(Snow mine, Kerbs).
• A very effective PvP build, so if you want to PvP on the side, going this path will be the best investment.
• Good bosser.
• Fire is considered the strongest element out of the 5.
• Has powerful single target fire skills, balanced out with AoE electric skills.
• A great magical party supporter for other fire users in your party.
• High single target damage.
• Some boosted AoE skills.

Cons:

• Doesn't do so well outside of popular training sites due to high fire/elec resistant mobs near late game.
• Semi mediocre at taking out multiple mobs with Raion's Space.
• Does average on higher CT boss floors. Better than wind/water and fire/earth for the most part.

My rating: I give it an overall 8, this is a very good path that I recommend. If you think that the pros seal the deal for you, then the more you should choose this route. Even though they perform poorly outside of the traditional grinding spots, they also excel in fiesta, but other element paths will do it better. Otherwise, this is not a starter friendly decision for you free players.

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B.

Next up, Water/Elec. A very deadly and highly effective build.

Pros:

• Arguably the best boss hunter out of all the combinations. You will be OHKO'ing most things. Also does very well in higher CT boss floors.
• Also a very effective PvP build.
• Very good at clearing multiple mobs with Undine's Garden.
• A very balanced path, water as a your main single target element and electric for killing multiple targets.
• Highest single target damage output out of all 5 elements.
• Boosted AoE skills.
• A great magical party supporter for other electric users in your party.
• Even though most mobs late game resist electricity, Undine's Garden and Shard of the Glacier will take care of that problem, be it multiple or single.
• Very starter friendly. Good for those who don't spend on the game and/or just playing Soul Master as their first main character.

Cons:

• Doesn't do well at all in popular training sites.

My rating: I give it an overall 9, this is a very good path that I also recommend. If you think that the pros seal the deal for you, then the more you should choose this route. In addition, this is a very starter friendly path to go if you're a free player and don't spend MS on the game. Honestly, there's barely anything wrong with this path and once again, definitely recommend.

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C.

Next up, Water/Wind. The notorious wind element comes into play here. I have personally played with this build until 400. So here's my take on it-

Pros:

• Arguably the most balanced elements in PvE. You are provided with the water element specializing in single target damage and wind is your main leveling skill.
• VERY quick cool downs. Close to non-existent, if I may say.
• Wind ties with fire/elec as a very popular training element, due to its short cool downs.
• Good bosser.
• A great magical party supporter for other water users in your party.
• Even though some mobs late game resist water, Sylph's Playground and your water skills will take care of that problem. Other than that, nothing resists wind or water early and mid game in normal PvE. This doesn't include bosses or Chaos Tower Bosses.
• Hardly anything will touch you because you can get rid of them FAST.
• High single target damage.
• Good bosser, naturally all SM's are ^_~.
• This combination has the MOST RELAXING blessing sounds. I'm seriously saying this. Coming from a Light Shield perspective, this is a godsend. When you have your wind and water blessings on sometimes, you'll feel instantly relaxed and calmer. LOL.

Cons:

• Does semi-well at popular training spots. It's a good half and half split. You will do well anywhere, it's just that fire/elec will outclass you at certain maps.
• Has trouble clearing multiple mobs efficiently, because their space only boosts water, not wind. And water is only a single target element. It is unsure whether it will get an AoE in the future.
• Can't PvP well. Your water skills are useful, but not damaging enough. Wind will just get you killed fast because it's mostly close-ranged based.
• Can't CT well at the higher last floors.
• Unboosted AoE skills.

My rating: I give it an overall 7, this is a very good path that I also recommend for those who like to traditional grind a lot. If you think that the pros seal the deal for you, then the more you should choose this route. In addition, I give it a 7 because Chaos Tower was introduced. Up until then, I had been very successful with this combination. NEVER had a problem. The lack of a multiple target space boost didn't hurt me much at all, even though at times I wished for it. I say Chaos Tower gave it a lower score because the higher floor bosses' annoying summons will MURDER me, since Whirlwind isn't boosted. And you'll mostly be spamming all of your water skills to kill them quick, hardly any wind blades or raging storms. The final floors can get very frustrating with water/wind so I changed elements. Once again, this a very balanced build, not too many cons.

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D.

Now my personal favorite, Wind/Earth! I absolutely LOVE this combination and here's why-

Pros:

• Arguably the PvE QUEEN, you have access to MANY AoE's.
• Simply the best & fastest when it comes to clearing multiple mobs easily.
• Fastest and highest multiple target damage out of all the 5 elements.
• A great magical party supporter for other wind users in your party.
• Hardly anything resists wind/earth at end game. A plus.
• Can literally take up a full map in seconds and keep it going.
• Second fastest CT bosser, right under water/elec.
• Good bosser outside of CT.
• Fiesta is your Palace.

Cons:

• Does semi-well at popular training spots. But maps like fiesta make up for it, by A LOT.
• Has little to none 1 vs 1 target skills due to wind & earth specializing in multiple targets, only a few single target skills are available.
• Can't PvP well at all. Bad build.
• Mediocre at party mine quests.
• Too many skills to juggle and not enough skill slots Dx

My rating: I give it an overall 9, this is a very good path that I also recommend. If you think that the pros seal the deal for you, then the more you should choose this route. This route is just awesome for traditional grinders. Even though it lacks single target skills, you'll mostly be depending on Arrow Rush, Wind blade & Raging, which isn't too bad. Once again, highly recommend for the AoE lovers.

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E.

The forgotten path, Fire/Earth. You'll hardly see anyone using it, and when you do, they're not doing it right! Pretty unpopular and the rarest out of all the paths, BUT it is VERY FUN and damaging if done right. These are not your average elements that you'd lump together since they don't compliment each other at all if you're not pure. Now that we've got Salamander's Territory, we can pretty much make these two elements connect and shine.

Pros:

• Cleaving Terra has a HUGE target number. The best gathering skill in the game and the best offensive skill in your arsenal if you can manage to OHKO with it.
• Game play is really unique. You're basically a child of fire/elec and wind/earth. Powerful fire moves, as well as strong earth skills. Yes I said strong. Salamander's Territory makes your Cleaving even godlier.
• Does the second best at popular training spots, with fire/elec taking number 1 spot.
• A great magical party supporter for other earth users in your party.
• Barely anything resists Earth in the whole game.
• Also does VERY WELL at clearing multiple targets because of your Salamander's Territory.
• Fiesta is also your Palace.
• Can PvP to an extent because of fire. Your earth skills are used mostly for utility since spaces are broken in PvP.

Cons:

• Does semi-well at CT bossing and bossing in general due to lack of attacking earth skills and high cool downs. Unfortunately this combination is the worst bosser out of all the others. The earth skill tree is really underdeveloped/broken and needs some heavy revamp and love from the developers.
• Lacks a decent single target earth skill. Summon Boulder is utter garbage, but it still gets the job done.
• This route has a plethora of LONG cool downs.
• Mediocre at party mine quests.

My rating: I give it an overall 6 because the cons are pretty much catching up with the pros. However, this route is recommended for experienced and highly funded players to make it WORK. Even though I said that this combination has long cool downs, you'll HARDLY even notice they are on cool down because you have a lot of skills to juggle, just like wind/earth. You wouldn't even notice a big difference by the time your main AoE's, Cleaving and Earthquake are done and ready to use again. I find this build super fun to play with, Earthquake is an AMAZING skill. The jump in upgrade damage from Cleaving is huge and pretty noticeable. Second strongest AoE out of all the 5 elements, with Staff of Thunder taking 1st place. Once again, I recommend this combination to seasoned and well funded players who want to try something new, unique and fun. Or if you just want to be unique and don't care, then try it!
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If I were to rate the elemental paths regarding their damage, ease and speed in general PvE then:

1st: Wind/Earth
2nd: Fire/Elec
3rd: Fire/Earth
4th: Water/Elec
5th: Water/Wind

This is done with all the same eqs, close level range, and only in general PvE. This isn't based on the mines/traditional training areas, I'm sure no one wants to live in a mine or a creepy castle until 400. There are MUCH better options for grinding spots due to the recent major updates.

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The monsters in Trickster Online have different elemental resists. Soul Masters take advantage of those resists/vulnerabilities to maximize their damage. This area will focus on skills descriptions that aren't very clear in the ggFTW wiki or if I see that they need more description added to them, as well as briefly go into the elemental combinations again, since I've already pretty much gave you a general overview in Recommendations. You can look at all of the bard skills here and all of the soul master skills here.

Important notes about the elemental seals to beginners.
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In the order of water, electric, fire, earth and wind.

• It's a passive skill, you can't cast/use/level/master it.
• You can only learn two different elements as a Soul Master.
• Each elemental seal allows for the learning of respectable skills in that element tree only.
• Water cannot be paired with fire or earth.
• Electric cannot be paired with wind or earth.
• Fire cannot be paired with water or wind.
• Earth cannot be paired with electric or water.
• Wind cannot be paired with fire or electric.

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Note: All Soul Masters should have only one mastered space specifically debuffing the correct element. The other spaces can be skipped completely. Only get the others if you feel like you party a lot with friends of that element. Below are what spaces each elemental combination need to master: Wind/Water: Sylph's Playground Fire/Earth: Salamander's Territory Fire/Electric: Raion's Space Wind/Earth: Gnome's Domain Water/Electric: Undine's Garden

We'll start off with Fire and Electric again. Balanced path, it gives you a nice amount of 1 vs 1 skills as well as good damaging AoE skills. Below are some fire skills I want to expand on:


http://asset.103.ggftw.net/wiki/to-w...hing_Earth.jpg Scorching Earth:
An ongoing stationary AoE that you place anywhere on the floor. Has a chance to fail now. Learn and master this skill ASAP. It's the bread and butter of going Fire/Elec.

http://wiki.mymmogames.net/to-w/imag...s_Blessing.jpg Salamander's Blessing:
Passive buff that you can cast when fire shield is up and turns your shield into a reflective attack. Not elemental % based. Is affected by space boosts/enemy resist and will reflect damage even if it's a miss or block. Same description applies to all the other blessings, just different elemental properties.

http://wiki.mymmogames.net/to-w/imag..._Territory.jpg Salamander's Territory:
Sound: Similar to ghostly whisper's impact hit on monsters, on repeat.
Space skill in the fire tree that reduces earth resistance. You can place it anywhere on the ground. The effect of the debuff stretches to about half to a full inch outside of the circle. This is a must get and master for fire/earth users. It will allow you to boss and train better. There's is absolutely no reason for fire/elec to get this skill, skip it completely. The look of it when casted is THE PRETTIEST & COOLEST space out of all of them. Has a large and special ring of fire surrounding the space, a perk none of the other spaces have.

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Some electric skills I want to expand on:

http://wiki.mymmogames.net/to-w/imag...esla_Field.jpg Tesla Field:
An okay stationary damage over time AoE skill. It stays on the selected target and wears out when they die. It is optional for fire/elec users, the damage isn't too great. Can be a good training skill if you can somehow get the original target to leave the area it's placed on. It is a must get for water/elec users.

http://wiki.mymmogames.net/to-w/imag...of_Thunder.jpg Staff of Thunder:
The strongest AoE for pure sheeps. Officially the most flashiest skill in the game and a favorite for many in terms of use, damage and aesthetics. Learn and master it ASAP regardless of water or fire/elec. Has a huge range, hits 5 targets and doesn't stun.

http://wiki.mymmogames.net/to-w/imag...%27s_Space.jpg Raion's Space:
Sound: Like thunder shield.
A space skill from the electric tree. Lowers enemy's fire resistance and you can place it anywhere on the ground. The effect of the debuff stretches to about half to a full inch outside of the circle. Fire/elec users learn and master it ASAP. This skill will allow you to boss hunt, SERIOUSLY. Water/elec users can skip this completely. Ugliest space in my opinion.

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Some water skills that I want to expand on:

http://wiki.mymmogames.net/to-w/imag..._Drip_Bomb.jpg Drip Bomb:
Basic single target water skill. It is a must learn and master for water/wind users. Water/elec users can leave it at 10 to unlock Aqua Bomb. This skill becomes very useful when you get the water web passive.

http://asset.103.ggftw.net/wiki/to-w.../Water_Web.jpg Water Web:
A passive debuff that connects mana web and drip bomb together. So, whenever you use drip bomb now, it'll lower the enemy's DX as well. Get it regardless of wind or water/elec when you start to boss hunt. With the addition of crazy broken mobs with super fast attack speeds lately, this will prevent you from getting chain-critted/mauled to death. Aqua bomb doesn't receive the slow add-on.

http://asset.103.ggftw.net/wiki/to-w...y_Shackles.jpg Icy Shackles:
A protective single target skill that stun locks the target's position and disables their casting of any skills/attacks. The target under frozen state is invincible and will not receive any damage, if they receive damage, it will miss, regardless of your LK or AC. However, you can inflict status effects on the target when they are frozen(i.e. stun etc.). Wind/water should get this skill if they feel that they need 1 more water attack to help rotate their drip/shard and aqua bomb cool downs. Water/elec should get this skill if they plan to PvP. You can stop your enemy in their tracks and annoy the crap out of them if you're smart.

http://wiki.mymmogames.net/to-w/imag...27s_Garden.jpg Undine's Garden:
Sound: Same as Sylph's Playground.
A space skill in the water tree that debuff's enemy's electric resistance. You can place it anywhere on the ground. The effect of the debuff stretches to about half to a full inch outside of the circle. Water/elec users learn and master it ASAP, it will give you more damage, upping you to OHKO levels. Water/wind users pass on this skill, unless you party with water users often. If not, skip it completely. Looks average in my opinion.

Water and electric, the deadliest combination out of all the 5 total pairs.

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Some wind skills I want to expand on:

http://asset.103.ggftw.net/wiki/to-w...Playground.jpg Sylph's Playground:
Sound: Similar to the sound of activation when Tornado blast is casted, just on repeat.
A space skill in the wind tree that debuffs enemy's water resistance. The effect of the debuff stretches to about half to a full inch outside of the circle. Water/wind get this skill ASAP, it will allow you to boss. Water/elec can skip this. The second prettiest space in my opinion.

http://asset.103.ggftw.net/wiki/to-w...ging_Storm.jpg Raging Storm:
THIS SKILL. This skill has been misinterpreted and judged way too harshly in the past and still. I'll clear up the confusion on this skill and describe its REAL utility.

Basically a down-graded version of Wind Blade, only hits 3 targets max and has AC in its damage formula, more or less the same radius, making it considerably weaker for a supposedly upgraded wind elemental skill. Many wind users who aren't pure judge this skill as utter garbage, BUT it's NOT. If you've never fully played wind/[insert other element here] SM until late game, they have no idea what they're talking about and its awesome supporting use.
This is what you basically call a "finisher" skill now because of its lower damage compared to wind blade, but near identical cool down time, making it quite easy to rotate over and over again. You can't expect it to work the same as wind blade because it is totally different, damage and all. Nonetheless, raging storm is a finisher/supportive skill that you use immediately after if wind blade can't OHKO. If you can OHKO with wind blade then you will hardly use this skill as a wind/water, but it's still nice to carry on the wb>rs>wb spam rotation. However if you are wind/earth, you'll be abusing the living day out of this skill with the infinite loop of wind blade > raging storm > wind blade > repeat because it is the reason that wind/earth's damage is second to water/elec.

Wind/water, a very balanced path with just the right amount of 1 vs 1 skills and AoEs. These two elements will take you far.

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Some earth skills I want to expand on:

http://asset.103.ggftw.net/wiki/to-w...27s_Domain.jpg Gnome's Domain:
Sound: A slow drumbeat or a faint heart beat.
A space skill in the earth tree that debuffs enemy's wind resistance. The effect of the debuff stretches to about half to a full inch outside of the circle. Wind/earth need to get this skill in order to boss and be even better at PvE. Fire/earth can skip this. Third prettiest space in my opinion.

http://asset.103.ggftw.net/wiki/to-w...Deadly_Fen.jpg Deadly Fen:
This skill is not damage over time, the only thing that stays over time is the slow effect. If mobs walk out of the brown gush, they go back to normal walking speeds.

http://asset.103.ggftw.net/wiki/to-w...on_Boulder.jpg Summon Boulder:
A small AoE skill that splits its damage if nearby monsters are close enough(about 1cm) to the original target, like mana ring. Most of the time, it'll be a 1 vs 1 skill, but if there are closely crunched mobs together, it'll take on a small AoE splash effect.

http://asset.103.ggftw.net/wiki/to-w...lism_Cloud.jpg Botulism Cloud:
A skill much like mana web, which increases DX. If you have mana web and want this skill to stack with it, you need to cast botulism first. If you do it the other way around, it'll remove the mana web's debuff. It's also said to reduce gun defense, but I'm not sure. Overall useless skill that doesn't do any damage, skip it completely if you have earth.

Fire/earth is very unique and fun. It can be very powerful if you're heavily funded and experienced with mages. It can outdo wind/water if done right.

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TM skill order for Fire & Electric:

• Magical Soul
• Mana Arrow level 5
• Invincible Casting
• Max Mana Arrow
• Cure level 10
• Bottle of Mana 1
• Max Mist of Mana
• Max Arrow Rush
• Max Electro Attack
• Max Scorching Earth
• Electro Shock
• Master Cure
• Mana Ring 10
• Incinerate 10
• Max Staff of Thunder
• Max Raion's Space
• Whirlwind Blaze 10
• Max Dragon Storm
• Max Phoenix Rising
• Tesla Field 10
• Max Rust
• Mana Shield 10
• Fire Shield 5
• Thunder Shield 5
• Salamander's Blessing 10
• Raion's Blessing 10
• Thunderbolt 10

TM skill order for Fire & Earth:

• Magical Soul
• Mana Arrow level 5
• Invincible Casting
• Max Mana Arrow
• Cure level 10
• Bottle of Mana 1
• Max Mist of Mana
• Max Arrow Rush
• Max Cleaving Terra
• Max Scorching Earth
• Master Cure
• Mana Ring 10
• Max Summon Boulder
• Max Earthquake
• Max Salamander's Territory
• Whirlwind Blaze 10
• Dragon Storm 10
• Max Phoenix Rising
• Incinerate 10
• Max Rust
• Max Deadly Fen
• Mana Shield 10
• Fire Shield 5
• Earth Shield 5
• Salamander's Blessing 10
• Gnome's Blessing 10

TM skill order for Wind & Earth:

• Magical Soul
• Mana Arrow level 5
• Invincible Casting
• Mana Arrow 10
• Cure level 10
• Bottle of Mana 1
• Max Mist of Mana
• Max Wind Blade
• Max Arrow Rush
• Max Mana Arrow
• Master Cure
• Mana Storm 10
• Whirlwind 10
• Max Gnome's Domain
• Max Whirlwind
• Max Raging Storm
• Mana Ring 10
• Cleaving Terra 10
• Max Earthquake
• Max Razor Gale
• Max Tornado Blast
• Max Rust
• Mana Shield 10
• Wind Shield 5
• Earth Shield 5
• Sylph's Blessing 10
• Gnome's Blessing 10

TM skill order for Wind & Water:

• Magical Soul
• Mana Arrow level 5
• Invincible Casting
• Mana Arrow 10
• Cure level 10
• Bottle of Mana 1
• Max Mist of Mana
• Max Wind Blade
• Max Arrow Rush
• Max Mana Arrow
• Master Cure
• Master Drip Bomb
• Mana Storm 10
• Whirlwind 10
• Max Raging Storm
• Max Sylph's Playground
• Max Aqua Bomb
• Max Shard of the Glacier
• Max Whirlwind
• Max Tornado Blast
• Max Rust
• Mana Web 10
• Water Web
• Mana Shield 10
• Wind Shield 5
• Water Shield 5
• Sylph's Blessing 10
• Undine's Blessing 10
• Max Icy Shackles

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Mkay, so I'll cover both Myshop and in game equips that you should aim for, depending on builds also. But before that, I just want to let you know that Myshop and in game equipments are literally two different things, even if they go in the same slots. The stats are completely 180 if you took one of each and compared side by side. Having access to Myshop or "Myhax" will literally allow you to jump the TO social ladder in a blink of an eye.

A.= Hats & Helmets slot.

• You should only be using hats, as they're the only ones that can be comped for MA. For MS users, try to aim for the highest level or highest base statted hat available on sale.
• You can also look out for unusual MS hats that appear once in a blue moon that give a combination of HV with MA or AC & LK. You need all these stats as a SM.
• For the poorer, unfunded and non paying users, I recommend you to make/find yourself a 3-4s Powerful or Requiem hat, level appropriate of course, comped with MA. You can't comp LK on in game hats, only helms, but that can't comp for MA =.= You have to choose one, or get both for swapping when you need it.
• If you're seriously just flat broke and dying everywhere, skip the MA hat and go for a helmet. Comp LK on it and try to refine it when possible for the DP boost. ;0;

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B.= Sprint slot.

This slot is used to equip an accessory that that allows you to walk faster in game. There are free and paid sprints.

• A kitty sprint is the only known perma sprint in eTO. Lots of people go after it. It is unclear if SGI will bring Jen boxes back, but when they do, this is your best PvM sprint.
• Myshop users get to choose from an array of sprints that are faster than the kitty sprint/offer alternative stats. Get the highest level magic sprint available and comp for MA.
• Free users: continue to use the sprints available in gift-boxes. Don't bother with comping as they expire quick. Run speed isn't all that important, but it can literally shave off an hour of your play time every day and it adds up. Also, walking faster = more exp when training.

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C.= Shield slot.

Choice of shields purely depend on the situation and your access to funding once again. You WILL NEED two shields at one point, one comped with LK and the other with HP, refined with DP for swapping.

• All of the best HP and defense shields come from in game. Not only MS users use them, but free players as well.
• Regardless if you pay or not, aim for the highest leveled and best statted Altiverse shield. Or, you can opt for a level appropriate powerful shield with 3+ slots. Currently Altiverse shields outshine other in game shields in terms of stats, crunching all 3 MD,DP & base HP in one shield.
• Powerful shields have a much higher DP potential base and you can temper it, but it doesn't have MD or base HP. :py06:
• You can also choose from boss shields. A guaranteed 4 slots is nice. Not too different from an Altiverse, just doesn't provide base HP.
• Only MS users have access to the best LK shields available in the whole game. Yes, in game shields can comp for LK too, but there is no base LK, making it pale in comparison. Keep an eye out for the highest level MS shields that offer HV & LK or AC & LK together on them.
• For free players, your only access to a LK shield is a well comped, high level altiverse, boss or powerful shield.

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D. & J.= Accessories slot.

In the accessories slots, you are allowed to equip two. But, there are certain rules like:
-They can be the same level if they have completely different names. (Ex: Boss ring 240 and Random ring 240.)
-They can't be of the same level if they share the same identical name. (Ex: You can't equip two Random ring 240's.)
-They can be the same name if they have different level brackets. (Ex: Dragon ring 30 and Dragon ring 190.)

• Myshop users, keep an eye out for the highest level accessories that gives high base HP, LK, MA and AC. It'll even be better if all of them were crunched into one. Just make sure they have base HP on them as some of them have good MA, LK and AC but no HP.
• With the introduction of CT, decent MA compoundable accessories are finally available! Before CT, boss accessories didn't have the option and were currently the best accessories for free players. Look for good Altiverse accessories available for your level with high base MA, LK, HP, AC and HV. You should prioritize MA + HP first.
• You only need a minimum of 15k HP for normal PvE. You need 20-25k for outside bossing and 35k+ for CT. So, if you find that you lack HP, comp HP on your accessories, if not, both of them can be MA or a combination of either one. I usually have two MA ones on and when I need more HP for situational use, I swap them out.
• You will never need to comp LK on your accessories if you are a MS user, unless you have an extreme build with bad base LK or a free player. All you need is 300 LK to hit every mob in general PvE and 400 LK to hit all bosses in the game. Find your balance and go from there. =D
• For free players, buy GM certificates and exchange them with GM Eni (an NPC, not a real life moving GM) for those pretty decent accessories available for your level. Their stats aren't too bad for only 2s. Temper for more base if needed. Same with the above, compound with whatever stat out of MA, HP, & LK depending on your needs.

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E.= Drill slot.

I consider it an equipment, since drilling is pretty much everywhere in game. The types of drills you use will literally affect your game play sometimes. There are two different types of drills: Myshop and in game. Myshop drills have REALLY good life, fast drill speeds and special perks, while in game drills are the opposite and sometimes give less TM/EXP when drilling.

When choosing a drill to use you should know that Myshop drills are simply the best. Only a few in game drills can rival Myshop drills in speed, but not durability and special perks.

Myshop drill features:

• Fast drill speeds.
• Very high life spans.
• Offers enormous depth advantages.
• Sometimes when drilling, they come with designs, instead of the traditional ugly grass and dirt when excavating.
• Different drills have specific perks (Ex: Speed drills offer the FASTEST drill time in the whole game or Crazy drill offers the quickest rage meter fill up etc.).
• Gives more TM/EXP when drilling.
• Can be used universally on any terrain without the penalties of soil type.
• Lasts VERY long in crazy drill mode. Some Myshop drills will allow you to get a little over 1 minute, so that's very awesome!
• Hardly weighs anything, allowing you to carry lots of them!

In game drill features:

• Slow and sluggy.
• Have terrain penalties if you are using the wrong type of drill in the wrong place.
• Very short crazy drill duration, usually 10 to 20 seconds.
• Low drill life.
• Doesn't give as much TM/EXP.
• No real special perks.
• Weighs a ton more.

All in all, try to use Myshop drills as much as possible. DON'T EVER BUY THEM! You should only be getting them by events and no where else. It's such a waste of money to buy them. If you do happen to run out, which is rare, stick to the correct area specific drills for your level and depth you are using it at. Other than those points, you shouldn't get crazy drilling on a magic character, its uses are very limited and it wastes precious drill life if you can't see where you are drilling at x.x

Also: This is a REALLY AWESOME guide on depth and terrain tutorial I stumbled upon when I first started and drilling was like "&^$%^*$ WAT" to me LOL. Hope it helps you :3

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F.= Cape slot.

All of the highest base stat capes are only available through Myshop unfortunately. However, there are some decent alternatives for the free players.

Myshop users:

• Look for high base MA, HP and LK capes for your correct level. If they have AC or HV on them with the 3 other stats, then it's even better! However, you should prioritize MA, HP and LK first. Comp whichever of the 3 stats depending on your situational needs.

Free users:

• Currently the highest base stats cloak available for you is the Trickster Cloak, from completing Episode 6. Although it's only 2 slots, it's the best you got! Aim for this. It's not trade-able though, so you can't buy it off of others.
• Keep a lookout for each Poppuri Event. Sometimes the capes they give are really good stats too. When the event is finished, you can exchange your poppuri tickets for previous event cloaks/equipments too!
• Upon 2nd job change you also receive a free cloak, but it's timed. After it wears off you should try to aim for a Poppuri cloak and buy it off of other players or wait for a new Poppuri event to arrive.

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G.= Face wear slot.

Once again, like cloaks, the best face wear/masks for magics also come from Myshop =(

Myshop Users:

• Buy the highest level correct mask for your SM; it should have MA and LK on it. Very rarely will they have masks with MA, HP & LK altogether on them, so if you can't get one with those three, just stick with one that has MA and LK on it for the most part. Compound whichever stat depending on your situational needs. Currently the best one for us is the Vindicator's Visage. Usually SGI re-releases the Corvid boxes near Halloween or for special occasions, so aim for that!

Free users:

• Currently, the best mask available for you is the Blood red eye-patch from the Karan set. Although it doesn't have MA on it, you can comp LK on it. The AC will help your blessings a bit too. Must get if you can't access anything else.
• Other than that, you can stick with your free golden sleeping mask/don giuvanni's glasses x.x Some stats is better than none :py20:

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H.= Headgear slot.

Repeating from the previous, all of the best head gear are available through Myshop only. Very rarely will there be decent alternatives, and there were some.

• Aim for the best headgear on sale whenever they are released with MA, HP and LK. Unfortunately HP cannot be compounded on MA headgear, so you have to go with pure MA or LK depending on what you need most. This may change in the future, so pay attention!
• For free players, there are only 2 releases of free headgear and it's the "I<3D" balloon & Soccer rally towels 60 + 180. The rally towels are trade-able and the speech balloons aren't.
• Or you can save up some money and buy one that is currently in Myshop from another player.

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I.= Pet slot.

In game pets that rival some Myshop pets are actually on the rise. From what I've seen, SGI offers some pretty nice events that allow you to get them. So without further ado, here are some of the pets you should aim for:

Myshop users:

• There are all kinds of varieties of MA pets you can get, but most of them aren't the best. For normal PvE'ers, just buy the highest statted pet for your level that has MA, HP & LK. Slot it with MA or HP depending on how you're doing.
• I personally recommend you nab a Corvid 220. It is THE pet to aim for on a SM. It has everything you can ask for in one pet, MA, LK, HP, HV, AC. Just AWESOME. Anyways, with the recent releases of 2nd job pets, they are also a very good option to switch to because of higher base stats, but the difference isn't THAT big. So, corvid wins hands down.

Free users:

• There are some good pets, many of which are from holiday or special events. Some of them include: Fairy mite, Golden Iceboy t1-4, Icarius(powerful, shrewd etc.), elephant crystal t1-3, and all of the poppuri pets. Just nab any of them from players, the trade-able ones, but don't slot them! It's not worth the money. Also, some of them aren't trade-able and are account bound, so just make sure you participate in events that give out free pets!
• Some areas in TO also give pets as rewards or when you are digging, so you can also go for those too.

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K.= Weapon slot.

The best weapon for mages in general come from in game only. Only a select few of the Myshop ones can be really good.

• Try to get a powerful staff of your correct level, refined as high as possible. Powerful weapons are currently THE end game staff most people get. Definitely save up your galders for one, and compound LK on it, MP is useless and you already have enough from just natural growth and equipment.
• Another alternative is the Altiverse weapons. They have a higher refining rate than powerfuls, but their max base MA is a bit lower. However they come with luck and can compound for elements, so it evens out. Same thing applies to here too, aim for a high MA staff refined as high as you can. LK doesn't matter as much, but high base MA should be your first priority.
• Requiems and ultimates. They also serve as a decent alternative if you haven't reached CT yet or don't have the funds to afford a powerful staff.
• Boss weapons are also a viable option, but they can't be refined for MA. I don't recommend you using one because it's just really bad. Bad for re-selling when you don't need it and bad for your MA.

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L.= Innerwear slot.

Unfortunately, some of the best inner-wear comes only from spending Myshop. BUT, there is hope for the free players!

• Myshop users, if 1st job character boxes ever get re-released for one more time, this is your chance to nab a really nice permanent vest. Aim for the Dragon Vest 190, it can be compounded for HP, something that most magic inner wear don't have! Amelie inner wear 210 and the current Wind Corset is also a good choice, but they don't have HP on it. So, the dragon vest is the best we have, get it!
• Aim for the highest level statted/slotted vest that has MA combined with either HP, LK, or AC. It doesn't have to have all of those stats on it, but it would be preferred. Your compounds depend on your situational needs and NEVER AC please D:

For free players:

• Same first point as the MS users.
• With the recent SGI screw-up on the egg shop, you can now have access to a really decent MS inner wear that's trade-able! It's called a Koala T-shirt, for level 160 and you should buy one off of other players if you have the money. This will last you until your late 300's. You should comp MA or HP on it, depending on your needs. LK is also possible.
• For pre-160, aim for a golden mole vest comped with HP, 2nd anniversary vest comped with MA or a poppuri waistcoat comped with HP.
• For 160 and over, buy some GM certificates from players and go to mega shop, carbigal shop or mega skill shrine and wherever else, to exchange for those decent inner wear available at GM Eni. Even though they are only 2s, they have really good stats for in game equipment. Temper for more base stats when you have the right Chaos feathers.

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Other etc. items I didn't mention:

The tail and ears! I remember when I first started playing TO I saw animal ears and tails with stats. I thought to myself, "Omg, how do I get those? Are they like super rare or something?! I want some Dx" Turns out, you can get them, without deleting your character over and over again, hoping to generate statted ears and tail LOL.

You know those weird map pieces you drill up? The red ones? Yes, those. You turn those in to Driller Marky at the correct area that those maps belong to and he will give you the full map. Once you dig up the spot, you will be sent to a black market area. The NPCs there sell statted ears, tail and other etc. items some classes use. This is also the place you can forge Powerful weapons.
The ears and tail lasts for 15 days and give you a nice chunk of stats for around 1m for both pieces. Pretty good investment. So aim for those when you have the money! They also sell timed weight pouches here too that stack with the duckling keychain. So if you're running a 1414 build or any build with low sense, here is the place to find weight accessories!

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Water/Electric:

You should have no problems with Count and bosses below him only with Shard of the Glacier. However Tenter lion and up is where it will get tricky. You can actually use shard on Tenter even when he's in green bar and below. How? Well, bosses usually have a skill called "resistance change" that buffs up their elemental resistances every time a color of their HP bar is taken off. This can be countered if you start out with a high damage move(Shard + Thunderbolt) and then quickly use shard again. Also, having your guardian use skunk pouch on Tenter will stop him from using the resistance change skill.

Post Tenter bosses will have crazy high resists, all you need to do is get Undine's Garden. It'll get rid of Queen Odinea's heavy resist to electric skills at her critical bars of HP, allowing you to kill her super fast. As for Soki, well, he's already weak to magic in the first place, so you can kill him fast with or without your space skill either way.

In CT, the floor bosses have very high neutral magic resist. So you shouldn't be using AR at all. Undine's Garden + Shard will guarantee easy victories. All you need is 400 luck to hit everything in the game and you're set for your bossing life.
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Fire/Electric:

Bossing gets increasingly difficult when you don't have Raion's Space. Getting the space should be first priority as it will allow you to boss. As long as you have 1 attacking fire skill and Raion's Space, you are guaranteed an easier time versus having access to multiple fire skills and no space. Everything should be pretty straightforward, use space skill, set down DoT's and blast away with fire skills. Electro and Staff are only used when summons get numerous. Other than that, your main focus should be using your boosted fire skills on the boss.

Same thing applies in CT, you need a minimum of 400 luck to hit everything in the game. Pretty much the same game play as water/wind bossing, except your ongoing fire DoT skill is boosted, so summons won't be a problem at all. Straight forward, nothing too complicated.
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Fire/Earth:

Once again, this is the worst bossing combination out of all the 5 pairs even with their correct space skill, due to lack of useful attacking earth skills with reasonable cool downs. However, you can kill most bosses with ease that some of the other magic classes can't! You should focus on landing your DoT fire moves first and then proceed to using Salamander's Territory and earth skills. You can use incinerate and dragon storm to fill in the rotation if none of your earth skills are available from cool down. Other than scorching earth and phoenix rising spam, your main source of damage comes from all of your boosted earth skills.

Also the same thing with CT, you need a minimum of 400 luck to hit everything in the game. Refrain from using neutral magic at all costs, the damage is terrible. You should always have scorching earth on to clear the bosses' summons. You shouldn't spam incinerate or dragon storm when any of your earth skills are ready, every second wasted is a potential chance that can get you killed and loss in damage. Not to mention, Salamander and Earthquake is your highest damaging combo that you DO want to keep up at all times. Once you've learned all the perks to bossing and PvE on your fire/earth SM, there's nothing that you won't be able to kill easily.
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Wind/Earth:

Bossing with this combination is super easy and quick. With your Gnome's Domain, the bulk of your damage will come from wind skill spamming. You will never use your earth skills to boss. Needless to say, because of really low cool downs, your damage output is second to water/elec if you were both sharing the same EQs.

Bossing is pretty straightforward. In CT, all you need is you 400 luck, place down Gnome and blast away with wind skills. I usually repeat with this combination: Gnome > Whirlwind > Tornado Blast > Razor Gale > Wind Blade > Raging Storm > Wind Blade > Repeat Razor through Raging Storm > Recast Gnome + Whirlwind + Tornado Blast when it permits. Everything literally dies in less than 35 seconds. You can't go wrong with bossing on a wind character. Whoever says bossing on wind/earth SM is terrible, they have no idea what they are talking about.
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Wind/Water:

A unique route on its own. This combination pretty much gives up the ability to kill multiple mobs efficiently by specializing in strong 1 vs 1 skill spam. Wind and water alone cannot do much, so get your Sylph's Playground! It'll allow you to plow through bosses in seconds because of boosted single target water skills.

Same requirements needed in CT as mentioned above, but this path has a really hard time in the last 2 floors. From experience, the lack of a boosted whirlwind that could allow you to potentially OHKO multiple mobs fast enough is what makes it so difficult at these floors. Most of the time, you will be occupied with aqua/drip bomb and shard spam. This leaves no time for you to spam wind blade or raging storm to clear out summons. That's why you MUST have whirlwind up at all times. It'll help you not worry about the summons problem, but not completely. Overall, it shines at different areas in the game. It just doesn't do so well with our current end game content areas.

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If I had to rate the bossing efficiency of all the elemental pairs depending on speed, damage and ease then:

1st- Water/Elec
2nd- Wind/Earth
3rd- Fire/Elec
4th- Fire/Earth
5th- Wind/Water

And of course, these are determined by using all the same eqs, more or less the same levels.

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Quester's route:

• You should be doing ALL of your hunting and drilling quests you get from level 1-400. This includes monster guild requests and Episode chapters, bonus too. If you finish ALL of the areas, you shouldn't need to grind until 250-ish to 300. Then from 315-ish to 400.
• You should also attend your level appropriate fiesta twice a day, the experience you get adds up dramatically. 10 minutes for a near level if you are under-leveled, is pretty crazy and easy. Must do, no questions asked.
• After the abyss, you pretty much have to grind all of your levels, but you can still semi-quest! They are called shadow dailies, which unlock after you get a guardian. Here are the places I used to go quest at, all the way until 400 on my Soul Master. Those places I have in the spoiler have the best spawn and drop rates. As for the shadow monster quests, they're pretty straight forward so I won't explain those.
• Also, you have Chaos Tower dailies and floor specific monster quests you can utilize as you are climbing. Do them! Free boxes and a chance at an Altiverse equipment is pretty fair.

Traditional grinder route:

Quote:

Please refer to the first post of this guide for further details! Special thanks to Josh for the information supplied below too =D

• From 1 to 60 it's just questing.
• Tower of Chaos Floor 1-12 @ level 60 to 140
• 1st Closed Lot of Jade Steel @ level 140 to 226
• Vamp Castle Boss Room 1 - Lower Gate @ level ??? to 216 (depends if you have enough DP/Enough HP/whatever or not)
• 1st Closed Lot of Precious Jewel @ level 190 to 321
• Gold Beetle (All Mines except Desert and Techi) @ level 215 to 261
• You can also incorporate shadow dailies and fiesta anywhere you find appropriate.

Note: After 321, you're stuck with either the higher floors at Tower of Chaos, the 2nd Closed Lot of Silent Lava or Abyss and any shadow maps you find that works well for you.

Player leveling:

WHAT?! I don't approve of this method at ALL. So don't ask for places where you can get plvl'ed at. I will ignore you if you do. :py18: Save your money and buy quest items instead :py21:

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1. So, I'm random element/random element, what guardian should I get for my build?
Your choice of guardian depends on your preference and elements. So take at a look at my guardian guide and search for your elements in the SM branch.

2. What is more important, HP or DP? What should I stack that's better?
L1

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Thank you for taking your precious time to read my guide and bearing with my great walls of China! I hope all this information will prove useful to all of you who are interested in the Soul Master class. This guide is not set in stone, you can change my builds as much as you want to fit your preferences and situational tastes. You don't have to follow exactly what I wrote on here, but it's best if you do if you're a new player to all of TO. I've literally played all of the elements together so none of the information I have on here is misinformation/disinformation.

If you don't agree with certain aspects or certain sections of my guide, that's fine. Everyone has different opinions. If you do troll in my thread and start criticizing my advice in a nasty way, I will request for those posts to be deleted and ignore you/add you to my ignore list.

I tried the best to my ability to write from a balanced point of view. That is, I included all the free, new and experienced players. I don't like it when I start a game and everything is just hard to understand :py06:

This is my first ever character type guide, so it'd be super appreciated if you have suggestions for me! Any positive criticism is welcomed to make this guide better =D
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Now for the usual rules of guide distributing:

• Please don't plagiarize my guide and claim it as your own.
• Please don't sell my guide for money.
• If you want to use this guide for other purposes not written down, please PM me beforehand!
• Please don't steal my graphics and edit/claim them as your own. If you do, I will track you down!

Special thanks to:

• The TO ggFTW wiki. I linked the majority of my images from there.
• To all the nice people who gave me really nice comments during the writing of this guide :3

Once again, thank you for reading and I hope you find this information helpful!
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Thread patch notes:
6/2/12: Finished guide and fixed the nagivation, woops
6/3/12: Fixed a ton of spelling and grammatical errors.
6/4/12: Fixed some more spelling and grammar errors.
6/6/12: Added a video to the videos section.
6/8/12: Added a tm training note in training section.
7/20/12: Changed water/elec TM build.

Thank you so much Josh! /edits in & +repped!


Thank you very much and I'm glad it help you =) Yes! Wind and earth is a very effective combo.

Love this guide. There are few magic guides that cover EVERY element combo. Most of them just cover certain jobs and elements. And I've heard wind/earth is really bad, and if I do choose that path I'd regret it. This guide makes me think twice about other people's opinions. I already know it an AMAZING grinding combo. Thanks for the EXTREMELY helpful guide. I'll plus rep when I 'spread some reputation' around. As well as your other post where I still can't plus rep q____q.

This is a great guide I spent reading at work to pass time lol. It's neater and more detailed than my own work. :py54:

I look forward to seeing your video section for this guide and what kind of tricks you use with your soulie~

Thank you so much for writing this amazing guide! Shiki's guide is helpful too but it is outdated so this one is a great replacement :)

I learned so much about Wind/Earth SMs. I never knew they could be that good. I used to have a Wind/Earth SM but I switched her to Water/Electric because I wanted an easier time bossing :/
I'm currently working on a new SM though and I'm glad I haven't chosen any elements yet :) I was originally gonna go Fire/Elec but since I already have 2 other sheeps that are Fire/Elec. and my Wind/Earth Witch is frozen, it's time to try out Wind/Earth SM (cuz Earthquake's range looks freakin awesome :3)