User:Ampersand/Sandbox



Long Hammers
Long Hammers can begin to be used as early as level 24. Acquiring the Long Hammer Mastery skill book is required to equip Long Hammers.

Acquiring the Long Hammer Mastery Skill Book
The skill book can be obtained via storyline: skill: Long Hammer Mastery. In short, you need to have completed the battle Hell Beyond the Door, and then turn in the broken wand to Reilly. Afterwards, you speak with Marrec who asks you to obtain the title "Long Hammer Bearer" by defeating 30 enemies with objects.

''note: The quest itself may say you need to throw objects, or imply you need to be able to pick up objects of a certain weight, but this is NOT true. Any object may be used. The only requirement is that the final blow needs to be with an object.''

General Differences between Long Hammers and Swords

 * Long Hammers sacrifice some versatility for more damage.
 * Long Hammers have separate smash attacks than swords, which are more powerful.
 * Hammer Smashes have an Area of Effect (AoE) radius.
 * Hammer smashes can be chained quickly without the Heavy Cancel Technique. The recovery time after a Hammer smash is less, thus Heavy Cancel is not necessary.
 * Some Hammer smashes gain additional attack elements at rank F (for instance, Butterfly Swing can be used repeatedly and Stigma Hammer can be charged), but do not gain anymore additional smashes passed rank 9 at this point in time.
 * Normal Long Hammer swings have a chance to land critical hits.
 * Generally speaking, Long Hammers cost more resources to craft.
 * New Long Hammers can be crafted on average every 4 levels beginning at level 24.

Skills Unnecessary to Long Hammers
The following skills do not in any way effect Long Hammers. If you're 100% positive that you do not wish to use Longswords after level 24, investing AP heavily into these skills is highly unrecommended.
 * Unnecessary Skills
 * Amaranth Kick
 * Blossom Blow
 * Ivy Sweep
 * Longsword Mastery *

''*important: it should be noted that while this skill only affects swords, you need this skill at Rank D to learn Long Hammer Mastery

Individual Hammer Smashes
Honey Bee Sting Grand Slam Calla Orchid Strike Butterfly Swing Stigma Hammer
 * A weak smash that isn't even too useful for finishing weak enemies.
 * A powerful upward swing that will knock most enemies flat on their backs. This smash can be used to inflict damage quickly when needed.
 * A downward swing that packs a good punch. Powerful for the stamina and time required to perform.
 * A powerful large radius roundhouse swing that sends enemies flying in all directions. Excellent smash to use when surrounded.
 * A devastating downward hammer swing that inflicts severe damage. Great when Fiona needs to lay down the hurt.

Hammer Smash Combo Demonstration 

Skill Planning
Long Hammer Fiona (hereafter referred to as "Hammiona") is still Fiona, and that core game play style does not change for her. Hammiona's path only really begins to differ at level 24 when Fiona can actually acquire the Long Hammer Mastery skill book.

Three-Layer Skill Priority Method
this section is in-part taken from Fiona Skill Guide. In short, AP allocation can logically follow this general priority list:
 * 1) Investing AP in skills that unlock subsequent skills as they become useful.
 * 2) Investing AP in skills that benefit your character's general game play style.
 * 3) Investing AP in weapon-specific skills and other non-core skills.

First Priority: Prerequisite Skills
''Paraphrased in part from Fiona Skill Guide
 * Guard (level 1) +150 AP                      unlocks Heavy Stander (level 8) and Counterattack (level 20)
 * Shield Mastery (level 1) +1080 AP            unlocks Large Shield Mastery (level 42)
 * Longsword Mastery (level 10) +120 AP         unlocks Long Hammer Mastery (level 24)
 * Heavy Armor Proficiency (level 10) +120 AP   unlocks Plate Armor Proficiency (level 30)
 * Strength Mastery (level 14) +260 AP          unlocks Weight Mastery (level 34)
 * Combat Mastery (level 18) +120 AP            unlocks Smash Mastery (level 22)
 * (optional) Smash Mastery (level 22) +160 AP  unlocks Blossom Blow (level 30)
 * Willpower Mastery (level 22) +160 AP         unlocks Life Flare (level 22)
 * Long Hammer Mastery (level 24) +240 AP       unlocks Butterfly Swing (level 24) and Stigma Hammer (level 24)
 * Combat Respiration (level 26) +570 AP        unlocks Stamina Mastery (level 38)

Second Priority: Fiona Core Game Play
These skills are going to be crucially valuable to both Fiona weapon game play styles.

Counterattack

 * This is a crucial Fiona skill that she will use more and more often as she progresses. Counterattack has a high stun rate, so ranking this skill quickly will both increase its effectiveness and lower the durability loss of your shield. Rank to 6 as quickly as possible

Guard

 * Another important skill, but not immediately as important as Counterattack or Heavy Stander. As Fiona nears level 30 however, AP should be invested in getting this skill to rank A. Rank 9 unlocks an ability called "swift guard" that lets Fiona use higher tier combos quickly after a {{perfect guard]]. Guarding is not as durability consuming as using Heavy Stander, and since you can save durability loss completely by using perfect guard, you could generally leave this skill at rank 9.

Rank 9 "swift guard" Demonstration

Heavy Stander

 * Getting this skill to rank A quickly is important because it will deflect 100% of the damage Fiona blocks when she’s in the Heavy Stander stance. Subsequent ranks decrease durability loss, which is higher than using normal guard.

Shield Mastery

 * This skill increases the overall durability of Fiona’s shield. This in turn will increase the effectiveness of all her shield related skills like Counterattack, Guard, and Heavy Stander. As Fiona approaches level 42, Shield Mastery needs to be rank 9 or higher to learn Large Shield Mastery. Slightly lower in priority than Counterattack, but higher than Guard and Heavy Stander.

Third Priority Skills: On Hammer's Wings
What will be done in this section is skill explanations as they apply to Long Hammers. They don't differ greatly from swords at times, but they do differ somewhat. The first thing most noticeable about Long Hammers is that individual Hammer smashes do not gain additional attacks past rank F. It might be a sword Fiona's priority to rank individual smashes upon approaching level 30, but Hammiona is allowed to take different approaches.

Campfire

 * This skill should be pushed to rank A as soon as Counterattack is ranked. Campfire gives everyone around it a 10 minute buff for sitting near a lit campfire for 10 seconds. The buff boosts her attack, and more importantly for Fiona, she get a buff that increases her armor's toughness every few seconds. This means more power, and less broken armor.

Combat Mastery

 * Increases the damage Fiona’s normal attacks inflict. This is a skill that is more viable for Hammiona since her normal attacks can land critical hits. Overall, Smash Mastery and Critical Hit will help improve your damage more-so than this skill.

Combat Respiration

 * This is an important and inexpensive skill: it recovers stamina faster. This should be ranked quickly to A.

Critical Hit

 * This skill should be ranked to E upon learning it. Critical Hit will increase the damage and knockdowns of Fiona’s smashes when it's activated. Smash Mastery is a higher priority, generally.

Large Shield Mastery

 * This skill is lets Fiona equip Large Shields. You cannot Counterattack with Large Shields, but a Large Shield gives Fiona the ability to block enemy smashes without getting knocked backward. Large Shields are not a progression from Small Shields, they simply have a different application. They are very useful for fighting large bosses that can use consecutive smash attacks.


 * ~Unavailable in Vindictus NA~

Long Hammer Mastery

 * Upon reaching level 24, Hammiona might want to take a small AP detour and invest in getting this skill to rank C as soon as possible. After rank C, rank this skill as you need it to equip Long Hammers.
 * Rank E needed to learn Butterfly Swing
 * Rank C needed to learn Stigma Hammer

Long Hammer: Butterfly Swing

 * Upon learning this skill at rank F, Hammiona unlocks the ability to repeatedly use this smash until all of her stamina is consumed. The first swing is very powerful and it has a 360 degree radius. Subsequent swings have the same radius, but they do not have the same power. Rank this skill to rank E upon learning it, and then continue after Smash Mastery is capped.

Long Hammer: Stigma Hammer

 * Hammiona's most devastating smash. Upon learning this skill at rank F, she gains the ability to charge this smash and release a more tremendous amount of power. There are 3 levels of the charge, and each charge takes about a second to power up. Time consuming, but it can be used in a very interesting variety of ways that require some out-of-the-box thinking. Rank this skill when Smash Mastery is capped.

Smash Mastery

 * This skill is the most important for Hammiona's offensive capabilities. Since she isn't obligated to rank her individual smashes first like sword Fiona, logically, this skill makes much more sense to be ranked first. It's also safe to rank this skill even before level 24, assuming that there's no more important place to allot AP.

Standing Endurance

 * This skill isn't as useful in earlier stages of the game as it is later on. That being said, it isn't a real high priority at first. It becomes substantially more useful at rank 9 because Fiona will be able to sacrifice some stamina to immediately roll off the ground if she should get completely knocked down. This skill could easily save lives later on when the bosses attack more furiously.

SP Skills
These skills become unlockable later, the first being at level 36. SP skills have an SP bar that controls how often they can be used inside a battle. Each SP skill consumes a different amount of SP. Upon learning a SP skill, Fiona gets 4 SP bars. SP bars start off empty at the beginning of a battle and needs to be filled up before any SP skills can be used. SP bars can be filled slowly over time, or by attacking monsters, by being attacked, by using guard or heavy stander, and also by using counterattack which seems to fill her SP bar the quickest.

SP: Shield Bash

 * One of the more useful SP skills. Shield Bash has a high knockdown rate and only uses 1 SP bar. Used in tandem with Counterattack, it becomes even more potent. Get this skill as soon as possible and rank it to max as AP allows.
 * ~Unavailable in Vindictus NA~

SP: Shield Repair

 * Useful to have in emergencies. Fiona by all means should do what she can to prevent her shield from breaking, but if it should happen and there's no other means of repair, this is an excellent option. At rank A, Fiona can cancel the shield repair early it will still restore her shield 100%, so it's much faster and safer than an armor repair kit or trying to find a campfire anvil. On the other hand, if a campfire is easily available, it would be wise to conserve your SP.

Check that off the list of things I was cnufosed about.

SP: Shield Charge

 * This SP skill is somewhat far-off since it can be learned at level 52. This skill lets you ram opponents with great force from a distance. Its SP consumption is higher than Shield Bash, but it has great knockdown chance.
 * ~Unavailable in Vindictus NA~

Low Priority Skills
These skills are low on the priority rung. AP should be invested into these skills when there's literally no place better to put it, or if you find you absolutely need them. That isn't to say these skills are useless, however there just much more useful skills than the ones listed here.

Equipment Mastery Skills

 * This is Cloth Armor Proficiency, Light Armor Proficiency, Heavy Armor Proficiency, and Plate Armor Proficiency summed up in one section. Fiona should really only concern herself with Heavy Armor Mastery and Plate Armor Mastery (Heavy armor first, Plate armor later). Rank these skills as it becomes necessary: they'll let Fiona wear higher level equipment and also reduce the weight of equipped armor, plus add a DEF bonus to said armors.


 * Fiona does not NEED to rank Cloth Armor at all. f you choose to rank Cloth Armor so you can wear the ~sexy~ clothing, that'll be considered a purely aesthetic choice on Fiona's part.

''note: it would be best to keep in mind which armors you would like to use in the future so you can plan these skills accordingly. Visit Equipment Sets for details on crafting, level requirements, and how many stones armor sets weigh. For a recommendation of Fiona armors, visit Fiona Skills Guide.

Weight Endurance

 * Fiona gets this skill at level 34. It increases the maximum number of stones she can carry. Rank this skill to E upon learning it, and afterward she should rank it whenever her armor set starts getting too heavy to wear. In some sense, ranking this skill is more efficient in some cases than ranking individual armor proficiency skills. Ranking Heavy Armor or Plate Armor skills would only decrease the weight of those individual types of armors, and only by 10 stones each rank. On the other hand, Weight Endurance won't unlock higher level armors, and it doesn't have additional benefits like DEF boosts.

Strength Mastery

 * This is probably the most important of the stat-mastery skills for Fiona. It will increase her ATT by a small amount (about 336 ATT) and allow her to pick up and carry heavier objects longer.

Agility Mastery

 * AGI adds to Fiona’s defense, stamina restoration, and recovery time. Not a useless thing to have by any means, but there's a lot of more useful skills than this.

Willpower Mastery

 * WIL increases Fiona’s chance to land critical hits. It does not, however, increase the damage done by a critical. Rank to D if the player wishes to unlock Life Flare.

Intelligence Mastery

 * For Fiona, this skill is next to useless in physical application. It only decreases the time in between receiving bonus AP.

Stamina Mastery

 * Having more stamina is always useful, but unfortunately this skill only adds about 18 at rank A, and that is is an AP-costly 18 stamina. Get this skill to F for the small bonus and leave it alone until there's literally no other more useful skills.

Health Mastery

 * Same story here as Stamina Mastery. Get it to rank F, leave it alone.

Life Flare

 * This skill keeps Fiona alive after taking a hit that would otherwise have incapacitated her. Sounds neat, but upon further consideration this skill is only going to be of any use to Fiona when she almost get killed, which she'll want to definitely avoid. This skill is really costly in the AP department, and after all the AP you spend to get it to rank 6, Fiona only get to survive 3.5/10 hits that would knock her out. Certainly not something she'd want to have to rely to heavily on.

Defense Mastery

 * Increases Fiona’s base defense. At first this seems like a natural skill to rank as Fiona, but ideally you'll want to block all attacks with your shield if possible. Very low priority skill.

Stone Skin

 * Increases Fiona’s defense if her armor shatters. Fiona has superb shield abilities, she ideally shouldn't be breaking armor too often. This isn't a very necessary skill in light of that.

Meditation

 * This skill decreases the timer for receiving bonus AP. There's much debate over whether this skill is worth the AP you invest into it. By some calculations, it'd take about a whole year for the AP investment into this skill to begin paying off.

HP Potion Proficiency

 * Increases the effect of HP potions when consumed. Very low priority skill.
 * ~Unavailable in Vindictus NA~

Secondary Weapon Mastery

 * Allows the character to use secondary weapons more effectively, and also higher quality secondary weapons: Light of Plara, Fine Spears, and fine mini bombs. Rank this skill if it is felt to be needed.
 * ~Currently unavailable in Vindictus NA~



Transformations
Transformation skills allow Fiona to temporarily increase her abilities by transforming into either a Paladin or a Dark Knight. Both transforms require 4 SP bars to use and 10 AP points. Transformations last 120 seconds (2 minutes). After the transformation ends, all of the armor currently equipped, except shields, will be shatter.

Paladin Transformation

 * Allows the user to transform into a Paladin.

It is difficult at this point in time to comment on transformations because they are currently not available in Vindictus NA.

Dark Knight Transformation

 * Allows the user to transform into a Dark Knight. See [Paladin Transformation].

It is difficult at this point in time to comment on transformations because they are currently not available in Vindictus NA.

''note: In theory, Dark Knight seems the most enticing for Hammiona. You get increased attack speed among other things, and that would certainly benefit Hammiona.''