Lineage II/Dark Mystic

Dark Mystic is the basic magic user class of the darkelves.

Skills
Format: Name (Max. Level) - Description (Level[+Updates]/Next Level ...)

Active

 * Battle Heal (3) - Heals faster but at greater mp cost than Heal. (14+3)
 * Cure Poison (1) - Cures poison. (7)
 * Curse: Poison (1) - Poisons target (7)
 * Group Heal (3) - Heals all members of the current party. (14+3)
 * Heal (6) - Heals the target. (7+3/14+3)
 * Ice Bolt (4) - Freezing attack with a slow effect on target. (7+2/14+2)
 * Might (1) - Increases P.atk of target. (7)
 * Self Heal (1) - Heals caster. (1)
 * Shield (1) - Increases P.def of target. (7)
 * Vampiric Touch (2) - Ranged attack which absorbs hp of target. (14+2)
 * Wind Shackle (1) - Lowers Atk.speed of target. (14)
 * Wind Strike (5) - Wind attack on target. (1/7+2/14+2)

Passive

 * Anti Magic (4) - Increases M.Def. (7+2/14+2)
 * Armor Mastery (3) - Increases P.Def. (7/14+2)
 * Weapon Mastery (2) - Increases P.Atk and M.Atk. (7/14)

Equipment
All mystics will want to get the devotion robe set for a speedup of their spellcasting. This set is relatively cheap (about 40k) and can be bought in all starting towns. The set bonus (15% to casting speed) is so good, that there is hardly anything better until c-grade. Other than that, lowlevel mystics need hardly any clothing, as they should never be hit by opponents.

The best no-grade weapons for mystics are Crucifix of Blessing, Voodoo Doll, or Mage Staff. The first two are onehanded and can be combined with a shield. They can be bought in Gludio, Giran and Aden for about a quarter million.

Playstyle
Lowlevel mystics (except orcs) are always played as offensive spellcasters with hit and run. The spellcasters speaks his spell, then runs away until the spell is recharged, at which point the spell is cast again.

With Level 7, one should first maximise Wind Strike, then Ice Bolt. The later should be used first, as it has less damage, but can slow the mobs down, simplifying the run away part of hit and run. Other spells are hardly ever needed until level 20, even if Heal won't hurt to have.

Don't forget to get the buffs from the newbie guide. Especially the first one at level 8, Wind Walk, will be another huge help to the hit and run tactics, while Acumen and Empower will later make the spells faster and stronger.

Detailed leveling plan
This was originally placed into the Spellhowler description. As it was the wrong place, I move it here. Its more than only a bit overdetailed and links external sources, but maybe its a help to you.

Intro
This guide will explain the best places to level and what quests to do to get you started on your way. This guide will also explain what spells do what. And monster statistics of what you should hunt at certain levels. This guide stops at level 14. Why? Because you get new spells at level 14. Will I write a guide for after level 14 dark elf mages? If I get enough feedback requesting a guide for it.. Did I proof read this guide? Not with the amount of time and energy I really should've

Skills

 * Windstrike - Levels 1-3 definitely worth getting to level 3 before going after other spells
 * Weapon Mastery - Passive skill that will increase the damage your weapon and spells do. Get this skill second.
 * Armor Mastery - Passive skill that will increase your defense. Get this skill third.
 * Ice Bolt - Levels 1 and 2. Fast cast medium damage spell. Get these skills fourth.
 * Heal - Levels 1-3. High HP heal, allows you to heal yourself as well as other people. Get these skills fifth.

Get these skills in any order after you've gotten the ones above...
 * Curse: Poison - Allows you to poison a creature for reoccuring damage... fails frequently...
 * Might - Temporarily increases attack power. Intensity 1.
 * Shield - Temporarily increases defense. Effect 1.
 * Cure Poison - Cures poison.
 * Anti-Magic - Levels 1 and 2. Magic resistance increases.

Um, Progression ?
So lets start off where you start off as a Dark Elf mage.. your currently in the Temple of Shilen. You will want to complete the tutorial quest even if you do know how to play because it will give you a World Map. But first.. you must learn how to use your QuickTab bar and your spell... right now you only have two spells, Windstrike and Self Heal.

Click Alt+K to open up your skill tab, active shows you what your able to cast whenever its clicked in the quicktab bar, and passive skills are always running in the background for ya. Drag the active spells to your Quicktab bar in the positions that are easy to hit when your in the heat of battle so if you drag windstrike to the first slot, hitting F1 will activate that spell and if you drag Self heal to slot 2 of the quicktab bar F2 will activate self heal. remember you must have a target before casting windstrike.

If you get stuck on the first quest.. all you have to do is kill 4 or so Keltirs until you have collected 4 quest item fangs.. head back to the NPC that gave you the quest, should showup on your radar, then simply talk to that NPC who will give you Blood of Mitraell, head over to Mitraell who is no more than a 20 or so feet away towards the center of the area, he will give you the world map.

Once you have completed that quest head back outside and kill some Keltirs till you get to level 2, should only be a few kills. You are prolly killing keltirs in 1 windstrike but once you start fighting harder creatures your going to need to cast more than 1 windstrike. dont forget your casting can be interupted by being hit while casting.

Quote: There are 2 Dark Elf Quests that you can do at levels 2 and 3, they will get you offtrack from quick leveling so I'm not gonna cover them as part of the guide, but I will link you to walkthroughs of these quests
 * Lvl. 2 :: Reward 500exp, 250a :: Dark Elven Village http://lin.warcry.com/index.php/content/db_php/questd.php?id=166
 * Lvl. 3 :: Reward 450a :: Dark Elven Village http://lin.warcry.com/index.php/content/db_php/questd.php?id=168

http://www.t0ad.com/suprnova/mps_map2.jpg <-- URL to map..

sing the map levels 1-6 should be spent in the LIGHT Blue area fighting the creatures listed below.. as you progress in levels you should do quests for your level that way you earn some extra experience, get a better grasp on the game and make some Adena (the money used in Lineage 2)


 * Young Brown Keltir :: Lvl. 1 :: HP 65 :: Exp. Awarded 29
 * Keltir :: Lvl. 1 :: HP 63 :: Exp. Awarded 29
 * Brown Keltir :: Lvl. 2 :: HP 78 :: Exp. Awarded 58

At level 3 there are two quests you SHOULD take, you will be rewarded with experience while making experience completing the quest.. Head over to Sentry Nelsya on the East side of the Dark Elven village, I took the liberty of adding a small red dot on the map where she is located. Once you've gotten the Quest from her only kill Ashen Wolves and Brown Keltirs until you have 13 Dark Bezoars (quest items). Once you have 13 Dark Bezoars you should return to Sentry Nelsya and that will complete the quest. You will be awarded with a lesser healing potion and 1900 experience points. The second quest which you should do at the same time is the 'Keen Claws' Quest. Inside the Dark Elven Village go to the weaponshop (southwest of the center). Talk to Trader Paint and accept the quest. While doing the Dark Bezoars quest killing Ashen Wolves will also reward you with wolf claws. You will most likely finish the Dark Bezoars quest first.. Don't worry when you start killing Goblins in future levels they will also reward you with Wolf Claws in a higher quantity. Once you reach 50+ wolves claws head back over to Trader Paint and you will be rewarded with more items and more Adena depending on how many wolves claws you brought back.

Quote: Quick Tip: When fighting creatures/monsters that require more than one Windstrike cast from a distance and when your done casting run away from the creature until your able to re-cast... rinse and repeat until the creature/monster is dead

It's not the smartest idea to attack things higher than your own level.


 * Elder Brown Keltir :: Lvl. 3 :: HP 99 :: Exp. Awarded 88
 * Ashen Wolf :: Lvl. 4 ::HP 111 :: Exp. Awarded 117

Don't go after goblins till your level 7. Goblins can be found in the Lime Green area of the map


 * Goblin :: Lvl. 5 :: HP 130 :: Exp. Awarded 147

Theres good news though! At level 7 your not stuck at fighting only goblins.. in the limegreen area.. you can head over to pink area and fight Imps and Goblins down there. Since Imps are fairly slow creatures if your good at dodging enemies while casting Windstrike from a distance then you should do this. But before you go out the western exit of the Dark Elven village talk to Sentry Krpion (located right before the cave exit of the western side of the Dark Elven Village) and get the Imp Shackles quest from him, he will pay you 5a for every Imp shackle you bring back to him. Imps usually drop 1 Imp shackles quest item every time you slay one of them. So its a better idea to head to the Pink area even though it is usually camped.. Imp Ribes are just slightly tougher than normal Imps.. be careful they will attack in groups if they see another getting attacked.


 * Imp :: Lvl. 6 :: HP 152 :: Exp. Awarded 176
 * Imp Ribe :: Lvl. 7 :: HP 171 :: Exp. Awarded 205

when fighting something that requires more than 1 windstrike there is a small downtime before you can cast again, look at the quicktab bar until you see the shaded clockwise symbol over your spell. it will flash and make a noise when its ready to be used again.

At level 9 you should be ready to kill those Forest Walking Fungus monsters that you've been seeing around the pink and purple areas of the map.. But first you may want to pick up this repeatable Quest that you will probably complete 3 times before you go onto the next area... So go ahead and head back over to the Dark Elven village and talk to Trader Vollodos in the magic shop (located directly opposite of the weapon shop). He will tell you to collect 10 Fungus Sacs from either Forest Walking Fungus or Blood Fungus monsters.. Return to Vollodos everytime you've collected 10 Fungus Sacs.. remember that your able to repeat the quest. At first you will go after Forest Walking Fungus until you are able to fight Blood Fungus... but thats not till your level 10....11...


 * Forest Walking Fungus :: Lvl.9 :: HP 226 :: Exp. Awarded 254

(if at level 10 you feel your not getting enough experience you can move on to the dark blue area)

once your level 11 head over the dark blue area on the map there you will find orcs and the Blood Fungus that I mentioned earlier. It's much more dangerous here.. the safest spot to retreat to is the road.. so keep that in mind... It would be wise to take the quest for the orcs as well as continuing the Fungus Sacs. The Orc Subjugation quest is given out by Sentry Kayleen who is just outside the western dark elven village entrance. She will give you 5a for every Orc Amulet you collect and 15a for every necklace you collect from the orcs you kill. You can return at anytime to turn in the quest items and collect your money.


 * Blood Fungus :: Lvl.12 :: HP 314 :: Exp. Awarded 352
 * Orc Fighter Leader :: Lvl.12:: HP 314 :: Exp. Awarded 352 (aggressive)
 * Balor Orc Fighter Sub-Leader :: Lvl.11:: HP 292 :: Exp. Awarded 323

once you hit level 12 you can run down the hill past the many towers in the blue area and head over to the red area which is the swamps. Down there you should stay around the Outskirts (edges) of the swamp and you shouldnt run too far into it because there are Dark Horrors who will attack you on sight. The bats are slow and are easy kills, but they will team up with other bats if they see you fighting another bat, same applies to zombies. zombies will only cast one spell on you and walk around slowly tauntingly so keep your distance with them and use the same enemy dodging and casting from far away as mentioned in the first quicktip. Dark horrors arent as slow.. and they hit hard and fast so be careful!


 * Festering Bat :: Lvl.13 :: HP 338 :: Exp. Awarded 381
 * Marsh Zombie :: Lvl.13 :: HP 338 :: Exp. Awarded 381
 * Redeye Bat :: Lvl.15 :: HP 389 :: Exp. Awarded 441 (aggressive)
 * Lesser Dark Horror :: Lvl.15 :: HP 402 :: Exp. Awarded 441 (aggressive)

Its always a good idea to carry a few potions around when fighting these guys because you can always get ambushed by an Orc Fighter Leader and be overwhelmed by trying to dodge multiple enemies at the same time. Also one thing that was very hard for me to learn and accept was that "its okay to not pick up the adena that dropped when your fighting more than 1 creature at a time, it may be the difference between life and death" and also its always okay to run! the swamps should take you to level 14 easily... i hope you've found this guide useful.