Ragnarok Online/Swordsman

The Swordsman is the master of melee, having the skills to receive minimal damage and restore HP while dishing out lots of damage. The preferred weapon of choice is, obviously, a sword (one-handed or two-handed). Swordmen can also use spears; however, it is recommended for them to wait until they reach their second job before using spears. Upon reaching Job Lv 40, a Swordsman can become a Knight, using spears or two-handed swords for a more offensive approach, or a Crusader, the more defensive path that uses shields or two-handed spears effectively.

Stats

Stat Advice

Strength	Being as the Swordsman is based around melee combat, Strength is a necessity for most types of Swordsmen.
Agility	For many Swordsmen, Agility is their secondary or even primary stat. The faster a character is, the less they will be hit, and thus the less damage they will sustain. Agility also increases the attack speed of the character, so they will be able to do more damage in a shorter period of time. However, this may come at the cost of inability to sustain damage when the character fails to dodge an oncoming attack. A character may be pure Agility (thus not giving any additional points to Vitality) or be balanced, either weighted or even.
Vitality	For many Swordsmen, Vitality is their secondary or even primary stat. The greater Vitality one possesses, the greater maximum HP and ability to sustain damage they have. This endurance however, may come at the cost of speed and dodge abilities. A character may be pure Vitality (thus not giving any additional points to Agility) or be balanced, either weighted or even.
Intelligence	The benefits of a high Intelligence are not many for Swordsmen, though it may be worthwhile to increase this stat significantly if they plan on building a Crusader (or Paladin) reliant on the Holy magic of those classes.
Dexterity	Dexterity is an stat that Swordsmen need, though not to the extent of Strength, Agility or Vitality. Dexterity naturally increases their HIT rate and thus a higher Dexterity will increase your total damage output.
Luck	Luck, like Intelligence, is a stat that Swordsmen can safely ignore. In some builds, Luck may be a necessity, but it is absent in most.

Job Stat Bonuses

Level	Strength	Agility	Vitality	Intelligence	Dexterity	Luck
1	+0	+0	+0	+0	+0	+0
2 ~ 5	+1	+0	+0	+0	+0	+0
6 ~ 9	+1	+0	+1	+0	+0	+0
10 ~ 13	+1	+0	+1	+0	+1	+0
14 ~ 17	+2	+0	+1	+0	+1	+0
18 ~ 21	+2	+0	+2	+0	+1	+0
22 ~ 25	+2	+0	+2	+0	+2	+0
26 ~ 29	+2	+0	+2	+0	+2	+1
30 ~ 32	+2	+1	+2	+0	+2	+1
33 ~ 35	+3	+1	+2	+0	+2	+1
36 ~ 37	+3	+1	+2	+0	+3	+1
38 ~ 39	+3	+1	+3	+0	+3	+1
40 ~ 41	+4	+1	+3	+0	+3	+1
42 ~ 43	+4	+1	+4	+0	+3	+1
44 ~ 45	+4	+1	+4	+0	+3	+2
46	+4	+2	+4	+0	+3	+2
47 ~ 48	+5	+2	+4	+0	+3	+2
49	+6	+2	+4	+0	+3	+2
50	+7	+2	+4	+0	+3	+2

Skills

Active Skills

Bash

Level	ATK	Accuracy	SP Consumption
1	130%	105%	8
2	160%	110%	8
3	190%	115%	8
4	220%	120%	8
5	250%	125%	8
6	280%	130%	15
7	310%	135%	15
8	340%	140%	15
9	370%	145%	15
10	400%	150%	15

• Active
• Requirements: (Swordsman) None
• Mastered at Level 10

This skill is usable with any weapon (including bare fists) and strikes a selected target within your weapon range. This skill, in addition to doing additional damage, contains a bonus to your HIT rate and may also stun the target if the Fatal Blow skill has been learned. Damage dealt, HIT rate bonus, and stun chance increase with skill level. SP consumption is 8 for levels 1-5 and 15 for 6-10. If you plan to rely on Bash, it would be wise to not use Bash 6, 7 or 8 as the Additional Damage per SP ratio is less than it was at Bash 5. Bash 9's efficiency however is equal to that of Bash 5 and Bash 10 is the most efficient.

Endure

Level	Duration	MDEF Bonus	SP Consumption
1	10 sec.	+1	10
2	13 sec.	+2	10
3	16 sec.	+3	10
4	19 sec.	+4	10
5	22 sec.	+5	10
6	25 sec.	+6	10
7	28 sec.	+7	10
8	31 sec.	+8	10
9	34 sec.	+9	10
10	37 sec.	+10	10

• Active
• Requirements: (Swordsman) Provoke Lv 5
• Mastered at Level 10

This skill cancels the flinching that occurs when you're hit by an attack for a limited period of time. The duration increases with skill level, and there is also a +X MDEF bonus, where X is equal to the skill level. This skill is useful for running away from mobs or for gathering them. Note that during War of Emperium (guild wars), the flinch-cancelling effect is disabled.

Magnum Break

Level	ATK	Accuracy	HP Consumption	SP Consumption
1	120%	110%	20	30
2	140%	120%	20	30
3	160%	130%	19	30
4	180%	140%	19	30
5	200%	150%	18	30
6	220%	160%	18	30
7	240%	170%	17	30
8	260%	180%	17	30
9	280%	190%	16	30
10	300%	200%	16	30

• Active
• Requirements: (Swordsman) Bash Lv 5
• Mastered at Level 10

This skill consumes 30 SP and some HP as well to cause a Fire property explosion outwards from you. You do not select a target for this skill. Damage dealt increases with skill level while HP consumed decreases. Your weapon is also endowed with a 20% Fire property bonus for ten seconds after skill use.

Provoke

Level	Duration	Enemy ATK	Enemy DEF	Success Chance	SP Consumption
1	30 sec.	105%	90%	53%	4
2	30 sec.	108%	85%	56%	5
3	30 sec.	111%	80%	59%	6
4	30 sec.	114%	75%	62%	7
5	30 sec.	117%	70%	65%	8
6	30 sec.	120%	65%	68%	9
7	30 sec.	123%	60%	71%	10
8	30 sec.	126%	55%	74%	11
9	30 sec.	129%	50%	77%	12
10	30 sec.	132%	45%	80%	13

• Active
• Requirements: (Swordsman) None
• Mastered at Level 10

This skill, which lasts for 30 seconds, taunts the selected target into attacking you. The selected target's ATK is increased and its DEF is decreased during the skill duration (DEF decrease is greater than ATK increase). Success chance, ATK increase, DEF decrease, and SP consumption increase with skill level. Boss and Undead monsters cannot be targeted by this skill. The main use for this skill is to "tank" lower-level characters by attracting the wrath of a monster and having the lower-level character kill it.

Passive Skills

Berserk

Level	ATK	DEF
1	132%	45%

• Passive
• Requirements: (Swordsman) Job Lv 30
• Quest Skill

When your current HP is reduced to less than 25% of your maximum HP, your character will automatically enter a state identical to if Provoke Level 10 were used on your character. Your ATK will increase by 32%, but your DEF will decrease by 55%. This status lasts until your current HP rises above 25% of your maximum HP or it is nullified by some other means, such as a skill or an item.

Acquiring this skill requires completing a special quest, which is described in detail on the Quests: Berserk page.

Fatal Blow

Bash Level	Stun Chance
6	5%
7	10%
8	15%
9	20%
10	25%

• Passive
• Requirements: (Swordsman) Job Lv 30
• Quest Skill

This skill adds the additional effect of potentially stunning an enemy when you use Bash Levels 6 and up. The higher level of Bash used, the higher the stun chance.

Acquiring this skill requires completing a special quest, which is described in detail on the Quests: Fatal Blow page.

HP Recovery While Moving

Level	HP Recovery Rate while Moving
1	25%

• Passive
• Requirements: (Swordsman) Job Lv 36
• Quest Skill

This skill allows you to recover HP while you are moving rather than only when you are standing still. The HP recovery rate is 25% of what your character would naturally recover while standing still.

Acquiring this skill requires completing a special quest, which is described in detail on the Quests: HP Recovery While Moving page.

Increase HP Recovery

Level	Base Recovery	Additional Recovery (% of Max HP)	Potion Effectiveness
1	5	0.2%	110%
2	10	0.4%	120%
3	15	0.6%	130%
4	20	0.8%	140%
5	25	1.0%	150%
6	30	1.2%	160%
7	35	1.4%	170%
8	40	1.6%	180%
9	45	1.8%	190%
10	50	2.0%	200%

• Passive
• Requirements: (Swordsman) None
• Mastered at Level 10
• Formula: HP Recovery = Base Recovery + (Maximum HP * Additional Recovery)

This skill allows you to recover HP whenever you stand (or sit) still for ten consecutive seconds. The effectiveness of HP recovery items, such as potions, also increases by 10% per skill level. In a nutshell, it gives Swordmen a strong edge in melee combat due to increased abilityto heal from what would otherwise be debilitating damage.

Sword Mastery

Level	ATK Bonus
1	+4
2	+8
3	+12
4	+16
5	+20
6	+24
7	+28
8	+32
9	+36
10	+40

• Passive
• Requirements: (Swordsman) None
• Mastered at Level 10

This skill increases the damage you deal when equipped with a One-Handed Sword by +4 per skill level.

Two-Handed Sword Mastery

Level	ATK Bonus
1	+4
2	+8
3	+12
4	+16
5	+20
6	+24
7	+28
8	+32
9	+36
10	+40

• Passive
• Requirements: (Swordsman) Sword Mastery Lv 1
• Mastered at Level 10

This skill increases the damage you deal when equipped with a Two-Handed Sword by +4 per skill level.

Skill Builds

As one of the jobs that has a follow-up, the Swordsman skill build will often be dependent on what type of Knight or Crusader the Swordsman will be. In the case of Swordmen, the weapon of choice also matters a lot. Knights typically use Spears (Vitality types) or Two-Handed Swords (Agility types), while Crusaders use Swords (VIT) or Two-Handed Spears (AGI). Of those weapons, Swordmen have the Mastery skills for Swords and Two-Handed Swords. Since using one-handed swords will allow the usage of shields as well, unless a Swordsman plans on becoming a Two-Handed Sword Knight, he/she should master Sword Mastery. There can be hybrid skill builds which have points invested in both Mastery skills, but often they will not be at max skill level.

One-Handed Sword Skill Build

• Sword Mastery (L10)
• Increase HP Recovery (L10)
• Bash (L10)
• Provoke (L5)
• Endure (L1)

3~13 Skill Points Left

These are the minimum skills and skill levels; as you can see, it only uses up 36 out of at least 39 skill points. Make sure when learning skills as a Swordsman that you learn all the necessary prerequisite skills for skills you want to get as a Knight or Crusader; for example, if you want to get Counter Attack (Knight), you need Two-Handed Sword Mastery (L1).

Two-Handed Sword Skill Build

• Sword Mastery (L1)
• Two-Handed Sword Mastery (L10)
• Increase HP Recovery (L10)
• Bash (L10)
• Provoke (L5)
• Endure (L1)

2~12 Skill Points Left

Suggestions for further skills: if you want to get Bowling Bash (Knight), you need Magnum Break (L3).

Quests

Job Change Quest

To change from a Novice to a Swordsman, you must go to the west building in Izlude and talk to the NPC at the front desk, then you must talk to the NPC at the left. He will teleport you to another room. Talk to the NPC at the front and you will get teleported to a cave like place. There, you must balance on bridges and walk across in ten minutes. If you fall you get teleported to a place where there are agrod monsters. You can get back but you will lose time. Then, at the final portal. You will see an NPC talk to her and you will get teleported back. Then, Talk to the first NPC and you'll become a swordsman/woman.