Lineage II/Combat

= Introduction =

In Lineage II, combat is your primary occupation. You find the monsters in this world, and you fight them; you find other PCs in the world, and you can fight them. This section deals with how to fight them.

As some of these are more in the nature of guides, this page serves as a hub to link to the sub-articles. Please feel free to add to these, as we would like to share the experiences of players of the game.

= Articles =

The Mechanics of Hate
Main Article

An important but very subtle concept in Lineage II is the idea that mobs work on Hate. Yes, the mobs actually do hate you, the PC.

However, Hate, for the lack of a better term, is a critical decision-making factor for the mob AI, and as such we need to understand it in order to be more efficient in our hunting. The full article is here, for your perusal.

Soloing in a Party World
In Lineage II, the emphasis is on finding parties to hunt together. But it's not always possible to do so, and you often would end up hunting alone. Here is a collection of articles to help gamers maximize their solo hunts:


 * 1) Solo Play Guide

Guide to Grouping
This guide will focus on how to play different classes in a large group, typically versus high HP dungeon mobs in a non aoe style, although some of the principals apply to field mobs too and possibly even to pvp. I'll cover the basics of the standard roles within a group, what a typical group needs and then go on to more detail about each class.

Main Assist (MA)
Most groups assign someone to be the MA for the rest of the DD's to assist, so that everyone hits the same mob. Its best if this character is a heavy armour user or tank as they usually hit mobs first and therefore always take the first few hits from the mob. If there is no heavy armour user then, a light armour user with vamp rage can be almost as effective. The MA must make sure they switch to a new target just before the current mob dies, so that everyone can quickly start attacking the next mob. A good MA will always target mobs that are not slept or rooted first, and when all the mobs are slept they should try to take a mob that is about to wake up, although this requires them to watch the order the CC is done in, not always easy with multiple mobs. The MA is usually put at the bottom of the group list to allow easy assisting.

Buffer
The primary role of buffers is to keep your group buffed at all times. You should aim to rebuff before the old buffs run out, so that the group can go non stop. In C4, there is a new feature in which you can see how many minutes of your buff left by moving the cursor over the buff icon beside your name. This makes you can call for a buff in time before it actually runs out. Skills like Bless of the Body and Bless of the Soul are highly suggested to rebuff before the previous one runs out. Rest if you need to for mana, if mana is not a problem, then you can hit mobs or do assistant healer and crowd control roles. In case of helping doing damage, it is not suggested to use bow as your weapon, since bow consumes mana every shot you make.

Healer
The primary role of a healer is to keep the group alive. Heal anyone who needs it, but try not to overheal people as that wastes mana and might cause Hate from the attacked monster that it will turn to attack you. Many mages have the ability to drain HP back and many melee can vamp HP back. I usually heal people that are below about 60% HP. Use group heal if 3 or more people are hurt. Be wary of running out of mana, if you run out when the group still has a lot of agro then people can start dying, so warn your group if you are low.

Damage Dealer (DD)
The main purpose of damage dealers to to provide the bulk of the damage needed to kill the mobs. Melee DD's should assist the MA as soon as possible. Archers should wait a couple of hits before assiting to try and prevent them getting agro, mages should wait slightly longer before assisting. From time to time, the damage caused by DD might overrun the Hate aura by tankers, so it is suggested that you stop hitting the monster for it turns to the tankers, or killing it at once. This will help save the healer's mana.

Crowd Control (CC)
The main purpose of crowd control is to keep extra mobs out of the fight, so only one mob is being fought by the group at once. This can be with sleep, root or occasionally para. Sleep is the most effective way to do this. Usually, the crowd controlling job is done by wizard classes (sleep, sleeping crowd) or healer/buffer (dryad root).

Support classes
There are two support classes in L2, the Bladedancer and Swordsinger. They do dances and songs that provide 2 minute buffs for the group, greatly increasing their offensive and defensive power. These classes are important for high level PvP and fast PvE. Besides providing useful buffs, they can help deal damage or even be the second tank (singing or dancing buffs create a high level of Hate each time, this will draw nearby monsters to attack them.)

Puller
Sometimes it is effective to have one person pull mobs towards the group rather than having the group run after mobs. This person should aim to bring mobs to the group but not give them too many that means the crowd controller has to do an excessive amount of work. Two or three mobs at a time works best. However, for a group of skilled players, it is possible to lure a large number of monsters, gather them in a close group and kill them at once by area-damage skills. (A well-equipped tanker lures a number of monsters to the appointed place, then uses the hate skill a few time to gather monsters into a small group around him. The wizards, usually Spell Singer and Sorceress, will cast the sleeping crowd skill to put the whole group of monster to sleep, then the healer will quickly heal the tank, leaving the job to wizards to kill all the monsters by skill that attacks monster by area, like Frost Wall, Aqua Splash for instance. In another way, the one who lures the monster can be fast-running classes like Silver Ranger, Plain Walker or Sword Singer. If skilled, the lurer can lead the monsters to the appointed place without getting hit at all. There, a tanker will wait and cast Hate aura to gather all monsters around him.)

Typical Groups
A typical group will have a healer and a buffer. A bladedancer is also considered very important for high level groups. The rest of the group can be filled out with DD's of whatever mix is desired. Swordsinger is also very useful for increasing the parties damage. A tank is not essential in L2, but can help a bit, particularly if you are hunting hard mobs for your level. The MA, crowd control and puller roles can be handled by whoever is suited best out of the group.

Class specifics
Treasure Hunter. A typical DD, should assist the MA and use daggers special for extra damage when mana allows. Should attack monsters from the back because the critical rate will increase. Can perform MA role with vamp rage.

Abyss Walker. A typical DD, should assist the MA. Should use mana primarily for hexing mobs rather than dagger specials. attack monsters from the back because the critical rate will increase. Can perform MA role with vamp rage.

Plains Walker. A typical DD, should assist the MA and use daggers special for extra damage when mana allows. attack monsters from the back because the critical rate will increase. Can perform MA role with vamp rage.

Hawk Eye. A typical DD, should let the MA hit the mob two or three times before assisting to try and prevent agro onto the archer straight away. Don't use skills, u need the mana for your bow. If you run out of mana, hit with a secondary weapon (preferably dagger) or if you have no secondary weapon then sit to regain mana.

Phantom Ranger. A typical DD, should let the MA hit the mob two or three times before assisting to try and prevent agro onto the archer straight away. Don't use skills, u need the mana for your bow. If you run out of mana, hit with a secondary weapon (preferably dagger) or if you have no secondary weapon then sit to regain mana. If you are not using mana fast from shooting your bow, then can hex the occasional mob.

Silver Ranger. A typical DD, should let the MA hit the mob two or three times before assisting to try and prevent agro onto the archer straight away. Don't use skills, u need the mana for your bow. If you run out of mana, hit with a secondary weapon (preferably dagger) or if you have no secondary weapon then sit to regain mana.

Tyrant. A typical DD, should assist the MA. Should charge up force between mobs and use damage specials when mana allows. Can perform MA role with vamp rage. Use one of the totems to increase your damage if you are not getting agro, or use one of the tanking totems if you are getting too much agro and draining the healers mana.

Destroyer. A typical DD, should assist the MA. Can perform the MA role well, should use guts and other self buffs when available, as well as damage skills.

Gladiator. A typical DD, should assist the MA. Should charge up force between mobs and use damage specials when mana allows. Can perform the MA role well.

Warlord. A typical DD, should assist the MA. Can perform the MA role well, should use focus attack unless the group has no crowd control or is deliberately aoeing. Use self buffs when appropriate.

Bounty Hunter. A typical DD, should assist the MA and can be the MA by using the spoil skill. Should spoil as many mobs as possible. When there're many monsters nearby, should use spoil festival to save mana. When low on mana, only spoil mobs that give the best spoils.

Warsmith. A typical DD, should assist the MA. Can perform the MA role well. Should use stun when mobs cast spells. Bring lots of shots with you and arrows too if your group uses them, as your group will really appreciate it if they don't have to go back to town every few hours to restock.

Blade Dancer. Can be DD or MA, but their key function is to provide dances for the group. In a primarily physical damage based group use fury, fire along with warrior or vamp dances depending upon the healers MP use. In a mixed group, drop warrior for mystic. In an all mage group then conc and mystic. If sws is in the same group then usual method is to coordinate 2 dances, 2 songs, 1 dance.

Sword Singer. Can be DD or MA, but their key function is to provide songs for the group. Most groups use hunter and earth, but warding can be useful too if you are hunting lots of caster mobs. If bd is in the same group then usual method is to coordinate 2 dances, 2 songs, 1 dance.

Temple Knight. Works well as MA. If u try to hate every mob then u will run out of mana first, try to get the inital agro by hitting first and then just let the agro shift. Use hate to keep mobs off someone who really can't take any damage, but let the crowd control person do their job. If there are a lot of mobs on the group then use aoe hate.

Shillen Knight. Works well as MA. If u try to hate every mob then u will run out of mana fast, try to get the inital agro by hitting first and then just let the agro shift. Use hate to keep mobs off someone who really can't take any damage, but let the crowd control person do their job. If there are a lot of mobs on the group then use aoe hate.

Paladin. Works well as MA. If u try to hate every mob then u will run out of mana first, try to get the inital agro by hitting first and then just let the agro shift. Use hate to keep mobs off someone who really can't take any damage, but let the crowd control person do their job. If there are a lot of mobs on the group then use aoe hate. Use stun when mobs cast spells.

Dark Avenger. Works well as MA. If u try to hate every mob then u will run out of mana first, try to get the inital agro by hitting first and then just let the agro shift. Use hate to keep mobs off someone who really can't take any damage, but let the crowd control person do their job. If there are a lot of mobs on the group then use aoe hate. Use stun when mobs cast spells.

Overlord. Good for crowd control with both single target sleep and aoe root. Can do average melee damage, assistant healing and buffing. Use soul cry or drains if full MP. Use stun when mobs cast spells.

Warcryer. Good buffer. Can perform back up crowd control too. Average melee damage and assistant healing. Use soul cry or drains if full MP. Use stun when mobs cast spells.

Prophet. Great buffer. Can perform crowd control and assistant healing. A basic problem for PP is that he often runs out of mana after buffing a big group of players. Sit and wait for your mana patiently for you have to rebuff every 20 minutes. If mana is full, you can have some fun by help do damage on monsters. Bow is highly not suggested, since it consumes mana every shot you make.

Shillen Elder. Good healer. Can provide buffs if no prophet or WC, and has empower, thus makes it an ideal companion for mystic classes. Can provide crowd control. If mana is not a problem, then recharge other players that need mana.

Elven Elder. Good healer. Has some useful defensive buffs. Can perform crowd control. If mana is not a problem, then recharge other players that need mana.

Bishop. Good healer. Can perform crowd control. Use % heal on high HP classes.

Spell Singer. Can be DD or CC. If DD, let the MA and melee in the group kill about 20% (less if mostly mage DD's) of the mobs HP before nuking to prevent getting agro. Finish the monster with Solar Flare to get extra experience when possible. Do CC if there is no healer or other non-DD class that can CC.

Sorcerer. Can be DD or CC. If DD, let the MA and melee in the group kill about 20% (less if mostly mage DD's) of the mobs HP before nuking to prevent getting agro. Do CC if there is no healer or other non-DD class that can CC. Use your low lvl body to mind a little to help with mana.

Necromancer. Can be DD or CC. If DD, let the MA and melee in the group kill about 20% (less if mostly mage DD's) of the mobs HP before nuking to prevent getting agro. Do CC if there is no healer or other non-DD class that can CC. Use your body to mind to help with mana, but try to keep above 50% HP so u can survive if u get agro. Use drain to regain HP.

Spell Howler. Can be DD or CC. If DD, let the MA and melee in the group kill about 20% (less if mostly mage DD's) of the mobs HP before nuking to prevent getting agro. Do CC if there is no healer or other non-DD class that can CC. Use your body to mind to help with mana, but try to keep above 50% HP so u can survive if u get agro. Use drain to regain HP. When being in a skilled group, you can use body to mind to have a low level of HP then use the Curse Death Link skill to get extra damage.

Warlock. Can perform DD role, or provide melee buffs depending upon the group needs.

Elemental Summoner. Can perform DD role, or provide mage buffs depending upon the group needs.

Phantom Summoner. Typical DD with his summon.

= To Do = Tactics for hunting, why hunt, partying vs solo. Please feel free to expand.

Tactics for Hunting
Small Team for gathering materials - the party consists of a Bounty Hunter, a Shillien Elder, a Spell Singer, Sorceror or Spellhowler. This is a tip to collect materials and adena efficiently used by me for a long time. The key is having a Bounty Hunter, who should be well-equipped in heavy armor to take damage as a tank (should use shield too). The weapon can be relatively simple since he will leave the job to the nuker. Shillien Elder is recommended since he has Empower, the ideal skill for any mystic. Plus, he also has good offensive buffs like Death Whisper, Focus, and Guidance, and a good healing skill like Greater Heal. Recharge is also useful for both Bounty Hunter and nukers. The last one is any nuker class, the one who does the damage and does the crowd controlling job when needed. Actually any DD class can take this job, but nukers is the most effective class due to their high damage ability and crowd controlling skills. The hunting can go on for hours until the Shillien Elder runs out of mana (will rest more often if the nuker is Spell Singer, for she doesn't have the body to mind skill). Moreover, this hunting is proved to cost very little. Bounty Hunter doesn't have to use soulshot all the time, but use it only when the monster attacks the nuker or the healer. Nuker class also doesn't have to use blessspirit/spiritshot since she doesn't have to finish the monster as quick as possible (having BH acting as a tank.) Shillien Elder, however, is suggested to heal with shot to maximize the healing ability. He can decrease the cost by using a non-grade weapon. This kind of party can go almost everywhere until level 60+. However, it is not suggested for monsters that have HP 3 times or more more than the normal HP rate (most monsters in Enchanted Valley), and monsters with stun skill (Doom Knight) for it will turn to attack the nuker often, making the healer's mana runs out faster, as well as the small space with tense monsters (rooms in Tower of Insolence).