The First Kai Guide!

Introduction
Hello. This is a guide created for an archer, Kai, and this guide is originally created by me, Jlee3195. If you see any errors, something that needs to be changed or the guide is missing something, please help by fixing or improving this guide. I hope you find this guide helpful. Please do not change the settings of this guide or make a huge changes to this guide without permission, or the edit WILL be undone.

Warning: Some people may not like this guide.



Kai
Kai is an archer who can shoot from long range. He is a strong and talented character who takes a lot of focus and ability. Kai can knock a boss off of its feet with his arrows.

Kai's primary weapon is a bow, which has two modes. There is a short bow mode, which fires quick but close-ranged arrows; and a long bow mode, which travels farther but needs to be charged first. Kai's smash attack depends solely on which mode the bow is in. Unlike the other heroes, the majority of his offensive skills use SP, and thus has the bar available much sooner than other characters and has faster SP recovery.

While he can shoot arrows quickly and in long range, he suffers from having hard time shooting small and fast enemies. He also has a special dodging skill that lets him zip across the enemies' attack; while doing this he is totally invulnerable and can dodge anything if it's timed right.

Combat Skills
Headshot

A skill that increases the damage when you shoot an enemy in the head (longbow only). It is useful, but if you have poor aiming skill, I don't recommend ranking this. When you are getting better with your aiming skill, rank it up to Rank E, and slowly rank it up when THERE IS NOTHING IMPORTANT (skills) to invest in.

Active: Arrow Storm

An awesome attack skill that gives lots damage and huge AoE. However, you have to get close enough to the enemy to use it. Also it is not wise to use if the enemy is really fast because this attack is pretty slow. You should rank this to at least Rank E and it will last until you reach level 30.

Active: Chain Link

When you can learn it, rank it to rank E first, because this ability can lock your enemies' movement (by shooting first shot on wall/ground/enemy, second shot on enemy/wall/ground) This ability is seemingly useless at Rank E, but it can buy you some time to heal yourself while the boss is locked by this skill. Same as "Headshot", when there is nothing more important, you can rank it up. At later ranks, it deals AoE damage if you time it right. Rank D and above: Link bosses to objects to do damage. (boss's get hit by objects) Rank A: Link bosses to normal monsters. (boss's and normal monsters collide, normal monsters explode)

Combat Mastery

This is a must rank skill because it increases your normal attack damage and you'll most likely be attacking enemies with your normal attacks like Staffs Evie. Save your AP to max this quickly.

Critical Hit

Well, it's a skill that every physical attack characters should love. It increases the chance of giving Critical Hits and increases the damage when activated. I recommend ranking this when it's possible for you.

Defense Mastery

Well, for this one it's really your choice if you want to rank it or not. Kai is basically built to attack enemies at safe distances so getting hit by the enemies would be a 2/5 chance, but if you somehow get hit a lot by the enemies rank this to at least D. -Not Recommended-

Active: Dodge Grapple

An AWESOME dodging skill that let's you dodge almost EVERY incoming attacks. Even the ones that are almost impossible to dodge like Colru's AoE and Elchulus's carpet-bomb (or what ever you call it), but like every dodging skill you have to time it right. Every time you rank this skill up, you have to be a higher level to rank it up again, so save your AP for this skill and rank it when you reach the prerequisite level.

Active: Eagle Eye Assault

It can shoot multiple targets at the same time, and if it's a boss it locks-on all of its weak points and shoots them. This would be the one of the top combat skill you should rank. However, before Rank A, you cannot lock on a boss on his/its/her body part, as there is only one "Aiming point". You have to be level 52 to unlock Rank A.

Gale Kick

This kick is powerful but it must be used wisely. The recovery time is very slow and it's quite likely you'll use it when the enemy is stunned or frozen by Evie's Ice Blast or Ice Spear. This skill really depends on your preferences. It is therefore recommended to keep it at Rank E for the best performance, and rank it higher if necessary.

Hunter's Eye

This skill highlights the boss's weak points and inflicts more damage when shot at. The higher the rank, the higher the chances of seeing its weak points. Get this to at least Rank E and rank it higher when you can. It is only usable with longbows and the point is rather difficult to hit; however, if you get a correct hit the boss will flinch, giving some advantages if it's trying to do commence an attack. (Note: flinching a boss will cause them to terminate their incoming attacks.)

Huntsman Barrage

It's basically just a skill that shoots a few more arrows than a normal attack. You need to charge it first before releasing so it's slower, but also stronger. Keeping it at Rank E is enough, this skill is pretty underused when target is not knocked down. It also gets bonus damage from Combat Mastery.

Magnum

Another top combat skill you should rank. It charges a powerful arrow and releases it making enemies run for their lives. It has longer range and one fully charged shot could hit multiple mobs until it disappears. The major drawback of this skill is the "Charging process is too long" ; it will be under used if you are mainly soloing. You may rank it up, but it's not recommended to rank it up very high, because at Level 52, Eagle Eye Assault will replace almost every use of this skill. It is important to note, however, that Magnum does not have a cooldown; merely a charge time. If Eagle Eye Assault is on cooldown and Lionotus, or another large boss goes off a cliff, don't be afraid to let this mega-shot fly.

Prey Drive

This skill lets you climb on top of a boss and shoots powerful blow on their head. Sadly, this only works if the boss is big enough to hold a body, so it won't work on (spoiler) Keaghan, Succubus, and other small bosses. This skill becomes more useful as your level increases. However, as mentioned before, not all the bosses can be "Prey Driven",and if you wish to rank it up, keep it maximum of Rank C before level 45. When you see the opportunities of using this skill at later levels, rank it up to B or higher.

Active: Ricochet Shot

This skill lets the arrow bounce off another enemy every time it hits one or, if used on a boss, will bounce "inside" it giving off several hits. The higher the rank the more enemies it bounces off of. This is a great combat skill, but it's useless at low rank. Rank it to E early, but leave it there until your core skills are finished. The arrow's movement is slightly gimmicky, and sometimes will not bounce to other enemies. It is, however, an effective way of destroying several enemies at once.

Smash Mastery

Well obviously this is must rank skill since it increases your smash attack damage. So save your AP and rank this as quickly as possible. Note: Longbow shots are only considered smashes when you time the shot correctly; when the critical sound plays and the flash of light appears at the front of your bow, release the arrow. This attack is a smash. (Side-note: You can easily activate the longbow smash if you release as soon as when you hear the critical sound.)

Stone Skin

This is just like Defense Mastery, rank this if you want to.

Twister Kick

Just like Gale Kick, use it wisely and keep it at Rank E.

Training Skills
Meditation

This is pretty much useless actually. It does give extra AP, but you have to wait one hour just to get ONE AP. So you should only rank this if you play only on weekends or rarely.

Strength Mastery

Strength increase your attack, so ranking this is be important. However, the cost of AP to max is over five thousand, so I recommend ranking this to ar Rank A first then max it out after you are done ranking with other skills. As with all other stat-enhancing skills, you suffer from diminishing returns the longer you rank it.

Intelligence Mastery

Well this is basically useless for Kai, only beneficial for this it reduces the time for Meditation. If you want to reduce the time of Meditation than rank it, if you don't do not spend any AP on it, actually don't even train the skill.

Agility Mastery

Agility increases the stamina recovery plus the defense. So if you want to have more stamina recovery or/and defense, rank this to Rank A first than max it later after you are done ranking other skills. *It is unproven if the AGI does increase the damage of the Kai's attack.

Willpower Mastery

Willpower increases the chance of inflicting Critical Hits and it increases Critical Resist and Standing Endurance, but to increase Critical % it requires LOTS of Willpower so only maxing this skill would give you good Critical %. Rank this to at least C and max it later.

Restoration Skills
Standing Endurance

Standing Endurance decrease the chance of being knocked down and decreases the time "being" knocked down. At rank 9 you can immediately get back up by press [Space] or [A]. I recommend ranking this to rank 9 and max it later.

Campfire

Campfire is useful during raids, and maxing it would decrease the time of getting it and gives better status buff. If you like making camp I recommend ranking this, but if you don't don't bother. It's extremely cheap to max, so if you need an AP dump for the moment, campfire is a good choice.

Life Flare

Life Flare decreases the chance of getting killed from a big hit and higher the rank the more it decreases. It doesn't need lot of AP to max it so do it when you can. Willpower increases this skill's effectiveness.

HP Potion Proficiency It's nice to get extra HP recovery from this skill, but you have to time it right really well. The higher the rank the more HP bonus recovery you get. Note: Hold the HP potion button until the red balls (they appear around your midsection and drift upwards) reach your character's head. Release the button at that moment and you should get the benefit.

Health Mastery Kai doesn't need lot of HP since he'll be attacking at safe distance. So I say to rank this to at least Rank E or C.

Battle Respiration

I think for people who enjoy solo and or short bow, this is a great skill. At rank C, it allows Kai to spam his normal attacks constantly. This means you will be able to charge your SP bar much easier without the fear of running out of stamina. (Note: Only short bows will not consume stamina. Longbows do not apply at rank C)

Stamina Mastery

Isn't having more stamina a good thing? Well of course it is! Having more stamina means doing more attacking and less staggering! However, maxing this doesn't give you lots of stamina, but decent couple (18). Save your AP to max this.

Equipment Skills
Cloth Armor Proficiency Cloth armor would be pretty much useless to Kai, so don't spend AP on it too much.

Light Armor Proficiency If you want to wear a combo armor with Raider's or wear a full Apocryphal Set or Everlasting Dragon Set, save your AP for this.

Heavy Armor Proficiency Some lvl 60 armor is mixed with Heavy Armor, so save your AP and rank it to Rank 9.

Plate Armor Proficiency Sick armors like Apocryphal Set, Everlasting Dragon Set, and Deathwind Set requires Plate Armor Proficiency, so save your AP to max it.

Secondary Weapon Mastery This skill is just waste to spend AP on it. It requires TONS of AP just to max it to Rank C, and some battles that requires Sticky Bombs will be provided (e.g. Ahglan the Golem) and you do not have to get this to Rank C to use it.

Weight Endurance Most of the Heavy Armors and Plate Armors would be heavy so ranking this is important and it doesn't need lots of AP to max it.



Armors
* I did not put all the sets because of the two following reasons: it may be either uncommon or useless. But If I did miss some armor that is useful, feel free to add it to this guide.

Crimson Rage Set Required Level: 8 - 10

It's your first full sets of armor, its has a decent stat for low level armor it's increases HP and have good amount of defense. You can unlock this when complete Decisive Battle, and crafting this is easy.

Kobold Winter Suit Set Required Level: 16 - 20

This armor has more defense and critical resist than Crimson Rage Set, but the other stats are lower. The Crimson Rage has more strength, which means it gives you more attack than Kobold Winter Suite Set. And is also gives more HP, which will balance it out for the less defense, so just skip this armor and continue on.

Northern Pike Set Required Level: 16 - 22

An upgraded version of Kobold Winter Suite Set, has more defense but less strength. The upside is that is has more AG, and AGI increases the damage of Kai's smash attack, increases stamina recovery, and increases defense. If you prefer reducing bit of attack for those getting this will recommended, but most people just stick with Crimson Rage Set.

Sharpshooter Leather Armor Set Required Level: 22

This armor is pretty decent for Kai and it's also free from completing story, Hakam's Test. If you like to save money and skip Savage Leather Armor Set, keep this armor.

Savage Leather Armor Set Required Level: 20 - 24

An awesome armor that outruns all those previous armors. It has large amount of strength and decent amount of AGI and Willpower, and with the full set (including the ring) in gives a total of 205 HP. This armor will last you til you reach level 30.

Blood Prince Set Required Level: 26 - 32

What can I say? This is an awesome armor for level 30. The stats outruns all those lower levels and has way more defense, plus it looks awesome! However, things are getting harder to craft once you get to higher level, that would be the downside of this set. But still, this armor will last til you reach level 40.

Elite Commander Set Required Level: 31

Well, this armor is free, but Blood Prince Set is still better. The only stat that this armor has more would be Willpower, and the rest just sucks. I recommend skipping this and keep Blood Prince.

Heavier Red Tyrant Set Required Level: 36

An supergraded version of Savage Leather Set, it even looks just like it! To craft this you first need White Tyrant Set. The only difference between those two armor is that this armor has more defense, has Willpower instead of AGI, and it's heavier (it's in the name duh :P). If you prefer having AGI than Willpower than keep the White Tyrant Set, or you can just still stick with Blood Prince.

Erg River Set Required Level: 38

Don't you just LOVE free armor? Especially when it has decent stats? This armor has stats pretty close to Spider Lord, but requires 5 Prairie Erg Crystal - the rarest erg crystal. So if you like breaking objects, or can afford them, then getting this is a good idea.

Spider Lord Set Required Level: 38 - 40

Your first "AWESOME" plate armor (the "first" plate armor would be Light Plate Set)! The stats out runs Blood Prince Set in exchange for the Willpower. And if you keep this armor you'll get a special surprise!

Laghodessa Slayer Set Required Level: 44

Here's the special surprise! This is an better and upgraded version of Spider Lord Set. And you need the Spider Lord Set to craft this set. This armor will help you til you reach level 52.

Royal Cadet Heavy Armor Set Required Level: 52

A sweet set of armor that has better than Laghodessa Slayer Set in the cost of AGI. You will need to farm some Renos Ore which is rare object, but not too rare. This armor will last til you get Naturewalker Set.

Naturewalker Set Required Level: 56

This is a sweet, awesome armor that will last you til you pass level 60. It has over 3,000 def and it has bonus Attacks! However, to craft this you need TONS of ingredients and most of them are rare and expensive. But this armor is pretty sweet and last til you for a long time.

Queen's Glory Set Required Level: 58

This armor isn't as good as you think it is. It does have higher AGI and STR than Naturewalker, but it has lower defense and doesn't have an attack bonus. It is recommended to skip this armor and stick with Naturewalker Set.

Swift Set Required Level: 60

Your very first level 60 armor! It has higher stats than Naturewalker and has more defense. However, lot of people don't wear the entire Swift set. Instead they wear a combo of Black Hammer Tunic, Helm, and Pants with Swift Gloves and Boots because it gives more DEF and STR, and Swift Helm and Gloves + Ingkells Tunic, Boots, and Pants gives way more STR but less defense.

Black Hammer Set Required Level: 60

An upgraded version of Swift Set, and people treat this armor just like Swift Set. They do not wear full set and instead they wear it as combo set. Here's the two combos people wear:
 * For Strength: Swift Gloves, Boots + Black Hammer Tunic, Helm, Pants
 * For Defense: Black Hammer Tunic, Helm, Pants + Ingkells Boots, Gloves

Royal Knight Set Required Level: 60

This set has higher defense than Swift (but lower than Black Hammer) and it has stamina bonus, but this lacks critical resist. If you wear the combo set of Swift + Black Hammer or Black Hammer + Ingkells, the stats will beat this armor making it useless (except the stamina of course). This armor is not recommended if you prefer stats over extra STA.

Chiulin Set Required Level: 60

This armor is similar to Royal Knight but has higher defense and critical resist. But like what I said above, wearing the combo set would be better.

Ingkells Set Required Level: 60

This armor is fairly mediocre except for the crit resist. This armor can be used for the Black Hammer or Swift combo.

Raider's Set Required Level: 60

A sexy looking armor that gives TONS of strength in the cost of defense (I know, lots of defense). If you prefer having bit defense, you can always wear this as a combo.

Deathwind Set Required Level: 60

Another sexy looking armor that has bit less STR than Raider's but has many more other stats! Most people would prefer this as it has more defense and has STR close to Raider's. However, to craft this you need not just 2 but 7 (yes 7) rare materials; so crafting this would be a difficult task.

Apocryphal Set Required Level: 70

Well, I'm speechless. This armor is THE best armor that no one could never have! It outruns every single armor in the game so far, and has DEF of over 4,000, and has more way STR than Raider's! Sadly, the 2 major ingredients you need to craft are quite rare and fairly expensive.

Everlasting Dragon Set Required Level: 70

This armor is similar to Apocryphal Set, but has fewer stats in exchange for more defense. The ingredients you need to craft this armor are less rare than Apocryphal, so crafting this would be easier. If you prefer having more defense in the cost of reducing the other stats, then this armor may be your choice.

Weapons
* I did not put all the weapons because of the two following reasons: it may be either uncommon or useless. But If I did miss some weapon that is useful, feel free to add it to this guide.

Renewed Friendship Bow Required Level: 8

Like I said on the armors, who doesn't love free stuff? This weapon is completely free, and you only need to finish the story Friendship Sword. This bow will last you til you get Crimson Rage Bow.

Crimson Rage Bow Required Level: 10

A bow that doesn't just match with Crimson Rage Set, but has decent attack AND defense! Yes, this weapon gives 145 defense and you don't need any set bonus to get it. The down side of this weapon is that it requires two Eternity Erg Crystal, a semi-rare erg. You will need this weapon to finish the story Fate of Kirstie's Nemesis.

Red Metal Bow Required Level: 16

This is obviously better than Crimson Rage Bow, but does not give defense. However, it has higher attack and is much easier to craft.

Gilded Spire Required Level: 30

A big upgrade in level and in damage to the Red Metal Bow. Also when you keep this weapon till you reach level 42, you will get a special surprise.

Black Scar Bow Required Level: 35

This weapon is pretty descent compared to Gilded Spire, it has additional 240 attack than Gilded Spire and it is easier to craft. I personally skipped this one and waited till I get Royal Gilded Spire, but if you wish to get higher stats, this is your weapon of choice.

Royal Gilded Spire Required Level: 39

Here's the special surprise I was talking about! This weapon is an upgraded version of Gilded Spire, and you must have that bow in order to craft this one. This weapon is totally better than Black Scar Bow, but needs 3 rare materials so it would be harder to craft than Black Scar. This weapon will last til you get Broken Horn Bow.

Nightmare Bow Required Level: 44

Well this definitely has higher attack than Royal Gilded Spire, but only a little. It also reduces Critical % by 16! So you only have 15 Critical %, this also need lots of expensive materials. This weapon is not really worth getting it, so just stick with Royal Gilded Spire and move on to the next one.

Ewynsoch Bow Required Level: 48

This bow has better attack than Nightmare Bow and Royal Gilded Spire, and pretty easy to craft. If you want this weapon then craft it, if you don't then don't.

Broken Horn Bow Required Level: 50

Well this weapon is pretty much worth to get, the materials are cheap and it has way more attack than Ewynsoch Bow.

Ivory Bow Required Level: 54

An awesome bow that is DEFINITELY worth getting. This bow has higher stats than Broken Horn Bow or Ewynsoch Bow. However, this weapon need lots of expensive material, so that's the downside. But still, this weapon will last till you reach level 59.

Prompush Bow Required Level: 59

This weapon suites pretty well for level 60 beginners, and I know it's level 59 weapon but the the stats are pretty much a level 60 weapon stats. This weapon is pretty easy to craft, and less expensive than rest of the level 60 weapons.

Black Hammer Bow Required Level: 60

This weapon has the highest attack in episode 6 weapons, but the ingredients are expensive and rare and this weapon is the second lowest critical % level 60 weapon. So if you prefer wasting money and reducing critical % for a higher attack than this is you're weapon.

Braid Tassel Bow Required Level: 60

This weapon has bit lower attack than Black Hammer Bow, but it has higher Critical %, Strength, and Agility. This weapon is also needs cheaper ingredients than Black Hammer Bow. This weapon is pretty decent and worth getting it.

Chiulin Bow Required Level: 60

This weapon is a SPEED BOMB! It has +9 speed, has higher Critical %, and higher attack! However, Bloody Thorn is major pain to farm, this drops from a mob and level 60 mobs has EXTREMELY low rate of dropping items. Still, this weapon is pretty awesome.

Dreamwalker Bow Required Level: 60

Well this weapon has low attack, but it can make it up for having rest of stats pretty high up! The major downside of this weapon is that the key ingredient to craft this is extremely rare and expensive, so you have to be pretty lucky or rich to craft this weapon.

Raider's Bow Required Level: 60

This weapon has really attack and needs expensive ingredient, but it can make it up for having the highest critical % in list of bows! This weapon is not really much worth getting it, but if you prefer having high critical % in the cost of reducing attack than this is your weapon.

Teten Bow Required Level: 60

This weapon is really common since it has evenly decent stats has has higher attack than any other level 60 bows. But this weapon needs ingredients from a pretty hard battles and it's bit rare.

Thunderclap Required Level: 70

This weapon is THE BOMB! It has the highest attack EVAH! The super, major downside is that the key ingredient is EXTREMELY rare and its the most expensive ingredient in the game! But if you ever get lucky and get this drop, craft this weapon and '''BE. THE. BOSS.'''

Elchulus Required Level: 70

This weapon has bit lower attack but makes it up by having higher critical % and speed. The ingredient is also really expensive but cheaper than Elchulus's Teardrop, it's like a mini Thunderclap.

Thunderclap vs. Elchulus
It seems there's an issue on which of this weapon is superior than other. In my opinion I like Thunderclap better than Elchulus, but the truth is, no weapon is superior than other; it really depends on the player's point-of-view. For example, if you prefer reducing your attack so you can gain more speed and critical %, Elchulus is the best weapon for you, but some people like having higher attack than speed or/and critical %, so Thunderclap is best for them. So some people might have different opinion than others, and they think differently about what weapon is the best.

Therefore, which weapon you think is more superior really depends on your point-of-view and people might disagree with your opinion, and so, there is no "best" or "superior" weapon on Vindictus.

This also counts for armors.

Some Advice, Tips, and Things about Kai

 * Kai doesn't have infinite range, so try to get close enough without getting near where all the action is.
 * There's a special speed glitch that lets you shoot short bow arrows way faster. You press F5, Forward, Normal Attack in the corresponding order, but you have to time it right.
 * There is a similar glitch for shooting long bow faster. Drain all your stamina, hold down sprint and a movement key, then spam your attack button as fast as you can. Compared to the short bow glitch, this one is more situational and makes you more vulnerable if the boss happens to target you while your stamina is so low.
 * When you place the grapple (i.e. Active: Dodge Grapple) on the ground, don't stay close to it while attacking enemies. You want the grapple to be far from the action, somewhere you can dodge to safely. But if you start attacking enemies while next to it, they will may continue aiming their attacks while you dodge around them, which may result in you getting hit in spite of the short invuln period You'll just be wasting your energy pressing buttons.
 * Don't take too long aiming or you'll be a goner.
 * Prey Drive can only be used one Kai at a time. Which means if another Kai is faster on the button, you can't use the skill until the next time the boss is stunned.
 * Using Active: Eagle Eye Assault and/or Magnum is the best method for getting break offs. The Long Bow perfect shot (when charging and it makes that critical noise) works well too.
 * Kai also has a normal dodge move similar to a Lann's Slip Dash, which does grant invuln frames.
 * You can skip trans cutscene by turning your bow into shortbow mode right when you are about to trans.
 * SP gains will be significantly reduced in the 24-man raids. This makes Ricochet, Arrow Storm and Dual link not worth using very much. However, Kai gets greatly reduced SP consumption on his Gale Kick, Twister Kick, Hunstman Barrage and Magnum. As long as you keep consistent damage on the boss, you should be able to use these skills very frequently. How much SP you need to activate them hasn't changed, just how much SP they use.