Silkroad Online/Gameplay

Gaining experience
Similar to most MMORPGs, characters increase their skills and levels by gaining experience points through combat or quests. In combat, the amount of points gained is determined by the difficulty of monster killed. For points gained through quests, the amount of points is proportional to its difficulty. Characters also gain "Job experience points" by successfully completing objectives for a profession, such as a merchant completing a trade run or a hunter killing a thief.

Points are divided into four types; Experience Points (XP), Skill Points (SP), Job Experience points, and Stat points. Experience points are used to increase the character's level, Skill Points are used to raise masteries and skills, and Job Experience points allows the character to level up their Job level, which in future updates will provide bonuses. In addition, the higher the job level, the more damage will be dealt to both player and Non-player character (NPC) enemies of the profession (such as hunter attacking thief).

After leveling up their regular character level, the character receives five Stat points, of which one is automatically applied to Strength and one is applied to Intelligence. The other three points are added at the discretion of the player, and can be distributed between Strength and Intelligence. Strength leads to bulkier yet physically stronger characters, while Intelligence improves the character's abilities with magic and supernatural skills.

There are two leveling methods which are used within the game of Silk Road, first of which is "XP Leveling," which is when a player gains experience faster than skill points. The other is known as "SP Leveling" which is when a player grinds specifically for the purpose of gaining SP at a faster rate than XP.

Berserker
Often referred to as "super" or "zerk," berserker mode is a special mode of enhanced speed and attack power. In addition to the four main points (XP, SP, Job Experience, and Stat) gained by killing monsters, a character can also obtain berserker points. However, these points accumulate at a much slower pace, as you do not receive them for each kill. Once a character gains five berserker points (as indicated by the pink dots in the upper left corner around the character's picture) the character has the choice to enable the berserker mode when the character chooses by pressing tab, which is the default activator key. This mode lasts for about a minute, until the berserker points run out (which can be seen by the pink dots in the upper corner disappearing once again). Berserker mode is useful for killing a large or difficult monster faster, killing larger amounts of monsters in a shorter amount of time, fighting a player to kill him faster, or simply to escape or travel someplace else at a faster speed.

Jobs
Players can pick a job at level 20 in the game: a merchant, a hunter or a thief. Merchants buy goods for normal price in a city and attempt to bring them to another city, where they can be sold for higher prices, thus making profits. Thieves attempt to rob the merchant and steal the goods so that they can sell it to the black market. Merchants may hire player hunters to protect themselves from thieves. Characters can switch freely between jobs and are not locked into any role, however, switching between opposite jobs will result in a loss of some job experience.

Stars represent the value of the goods a merchant carries, with one star being the lowest value and five stars being the highest. NPC thieves are generated to attack all merchants; the higher the value of the goods, the more thieves that are generated. When a merchant's transport is killed, the items it is carrying will be scattered on the ground. Item trading Players can set up stalls to sell and advertise their items they may have found from killing monsters, trading, or buying. The seller determines the price at which to sell each item, although it is possible for buyers to communicate within the stall window. As NPCs sell a limited selection of items, stalls are a popular way to acquire high level or unusual items, such as those with seals, which are special attributes or stats added to the weapon or the clothing.

Guilds
At level 20, players can create guilds, which allows its members to chat with each other and participate in guild wars. Guilds can also "level up" with guild points. Guild points are obtained when the members of guild kill monsters and receive Skill Points (1 Skill Point is equal to 1 Guild point). Guild members do not lose their own SP in this fashion. However, members of the guild can donate their Skill Points to the Guild as Guild Points by pushing a heart shaped button next to the 'total guild points display.' These guild members will lose their own SP in this fashion. With money and Guild Points, guilds can grow, allowing access to more options like forming alliances (unions), gaining a guild storage, and being able to attract more members. Guilds can also gain a guild emblem and the ability to buy mercenaries to fight for the guild in a guild war or a job war. The current maximum guild level is 5.

Alchemy
Alchemy is made up of items that increase the performances of your items. Press "Y" and a small window will appear with directions.


 * Weapon Elixir - increase the weapon's Physical attack, Magic attack and the other statistics. They are also sold for higher prices than the other elixirs.
 * Accessory Elixir - Enhances the performance of accessories.
 * Shield Elixir - Upgrades shields for defense.

There is a chance the alchemy may fail. Using lucky powder, which can be purchased at an accessory store, reduces alchemy's chance of failure. If alchemy fails, it will reset enchantment level to 0. There is also a chance the weapon may break or lose the ability to be repaired.

Certain bonuses on items may also help with alchemy. Lucky increases the chance of a successful alchemy. Immortal prevents an item from breaking if the alchemy fails. Astral, which can be purchased in the item mall, will prevent an item with enchantment level 4 or more from dropping to enchantment level 0 if alchemy fails, so long as Immortal is present in equal quantity on the item.

There is also a system to increase stats on equipment. This system works by having the user first gather parts of defeated monsters, which can then be turned into base elements with the aide of Void Rondo potions sold at any accessory store. These base elements can then be joined together with a tablet to create a magical stone, which increases specific statistics. Tablets also have levels, and may only be used on equipment of the same Degree as the tablet's level.

Masteries and Skills
In Silkroad Online, skills are divided between weapon and elemental masteries. Within each mastery, there are many series of skills that can be learnt.

Chinese Weapon Masteries

 * Bicheon (Swordmanship) gives special skills for sword and blade, and increases blocking ratio.
 * Heuksal (Spearmanship) gives skills for spears and glaives, and increases health.
 * Pacheon (Bowmanship) gives skills for bows, and increases hit ratio.

Chinese Elements Masteries

 * Fire: Increases damage and has a chance to burn the target, increases the characters physical attack power, and defence from certain attacks.
 * Lightning: Has a chance to decrease the enemy's parry ratio, increases the characters moving speed and parry ratio.
 * Cold: Increases damage and defense, as well as adding a chance to freeze or frostbite the enemy.
 * Force: Skills include healing, resurrection, and removing abnormal (adverse) status effects.