[Guide]Spirit Master

Eeorbej Sat Jun 01, 2013 7:16 am

Now as I'm sure that most of you know... I am an x-retail player and my class of choice is the spiritmaster! (Yaaaay~!)

Due to recent fixes to the class I've decided that I am going to write up a rather great guide that I hope with the next coming weeks will become more and more relevant to all the players of gamez-aion!

First off I think I should start by explaining what the class is, because many people have differing opinions... I will tell you to just jump off a bridge <kindly > if you think otherwise. I'm just joking.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Please hit control + the F key to bring up the search bar on your internet screen. Beside each topic within this table of contents there will be a particular code (Example: (AA01) ) just put into your search bar "AA01" and then you can skip right to that section for your convenience.

1: (AA00)What is a spiritmaster exactly?!

(AA01)-Buffer
(AA02)-Buff annihilator
(AA03)-Tank
(AA04)-Distraction (think -> pet)
(AA05)-Crowd Control
(AA06)-Disabiling
(AA07)-Debuffer
(AA08)-Healer/Dispeler

2: (AB00)Gear/Manastone/Godstone/Pet/Consumables Suggestions.

3: (AH00)Spirit Explinations, Uses and Suggestions

4: (AC00)PVP group thoughts/suggestions.

5: (AD00)PVP solo thoughts/suggestions.

6: (AG00)Essential Spiritmaster Tips! <Check it Out!>

7: (AF00)Things That Need To Be Fixed

8: (AZ00) Tips On How To Start A Battle/Fear Chaining.

9: (AY00) Stigma system

9: (AE00)Conclusion/Interesting facts.

10: (AX00) FAQ section.

I'll just put the new spiritmaster class tag right down here
Enjoy!

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What is a spiritmaster exactly?!
(AA00)

When I think of the Spiritmaster class I tend to almost try and relate it towards the FFXIII character Vanille... she is a character which provides pretty good buffs to the party, great magical damage and decent physical damage behind her, good tanking skills, can provide aid to the party, yet she has some of the most substancially powerful saboteur abilities within the game. Her summon, Hecatonchier, however provides only moderate backup support to her and is more situational at best.

Similarily to Vanille, the Spiritmaster class is a giant mixture of buffing, magic damage, physical damage, party support and is a lethal saboteur.

While people have differing opinions on this, I can tell you from first-hand experiance that... no, the spiritmaster class is hardly a pet class. To think it is is just smacking yourself in the face with a hammer- don't do it!

Honestly, the best way to think of the pet is as a constant DoT effect with a few interactive commands (Which I will try and get into later on).

The spiritmaster class is, truthfully, not the best soloing class... if you enjoy solo pvp you have many ways to do things but if you are searching for an effective solo class I would have to suggest you to a ranger (which is stealthy) or a gladiator (which is all around effective). You are primarily a party-utility, and I am going to be honest... as you'll see below the spiritmaster class is probably one of the single most effective utilities you could add onto a party!

The spiritmaster is a very "round" character, most people don't truly appretiate its full capabilities for what they are. Spiritmasters are a:
-Buffer
-Buff annihilator
-Tank
-Distraction (think -> pet)
-Crowd Control
-Disabiling
-Debuffer
-Healer/Dispeler (Interestingly enough, the spiritmaster is the ONLY other class to cleric that can dispel a debuff!)

Shockingly, none of those things I stated are a lie. A well-versed spiritmaster will know each of these things and be able to utilize them effectively to provide very fruitful support to their team!

Buffs

So... Aegis... what were you smoking when you said this!?

(AA01)
Click here to view the full image.

Image: Wheeeeeeeeeeee its like an atomic fart!

I'm afraid, I am not smoking anything... I am just a little naturally-high (ahaha... stfu -.- ).

Spiritmasters bring brutally wonderful buffs to the team which are as potent as a chanters buffs, while being probably some of the biggest PITA to learn how to use properly.

Now let's go over them in general!

Blessing of Oblivion, now chanters... I know how much you love to wear that victory mantra that adds on roughly 30 attack to your stats... I hate to admit it but our blessing of oblivion (which is semi-spammable) adds on over 60! Over double the damage! So eat that mofos! (Also the damage applies to all types of damage output... not just attack!).

Spirit Wall of Protection, Tl;dr: learn this and profit... don't learn it and you may as well suck a big fat orange.

This is the most versitile skill avaliable... having 6 different effects depending upon what spirit you use. This skill is a make-or-break skill in most situations... granting a select bonus to all members of the party!

The effect differs for each spirit, so for now I will go over them all very sparsely!

Water: Raises maccuracy and mresistance. While the maccuracy is roughly 100 increase and mresistance I think is 240 with the new waterspirit (can't recall the # off the top of my head)... these numbers are INVALUBLE to your team and can make the difference in a fight! Need more maccuracy/mresistance? Pop the water spiritout and then use this skill and your party profits.

Wind: Honestly, accuracy and evasion aren't useful... I cannot truthfully appretiate this skill at this point of time... so I won't mislead you all to think this is great. If you need it in a situation... then that is marvelous! Otherwise... ehh... no!

Fire: VERY benificial! Chanters often boast about having their Word Of Inspiration, which is very good... but our spiritwall of protection is just like their WoI and raises all attack points of the party by 16%! (I think? Its been too long). Tl;dr: have a melee character in your party? They will looooveee this~

Earth: Probably the single most useful of the abilities... while the heal is... pitiful (won't deny that), the party dispel that it offers is AMAZING. Spiritmaster is the only other class than cleric that can offer a dispel of any kind.. it being a party dispel is just awesome as well. I cannot even count how many times this ability has saved my ass or my parties ass... it is just downright AWESOME. Use it and profit! If you don't then you are missing out!

Tempest: tl;dr is combine wind + water effects.

Magma: tl;dr is combine fire + earth (MINUS DISPEL EFFECT).

Cloaking Word, only assasins and rangers can hide... right? Right!? Only chanters can buff a party, right? Only clerics can dispel, right?

So sorry rangers and assasins but spiritmasters got the ability to use Hide as well! When timed well this 30-second ability which can only me summated to "Jackassery" is utterly critical... and is devastating. Helps parties not only escape but also when used offensively this ability causes incredible strategic value... just make sure your party knows to dispel it by right-clicking the buff!

Click here to view the full image.

Image: Stealthed Spiritmaster using Cloaking Word I! "See, I can be a ninja too!"

Alongside these buffs you get pet buffs, but they are self explanitory and I don't believe they work here for anything other than raising mboost (which pets maccuracy is bugged soo... it doesn't really matter).

So, spiritmasters are an integral buffing asset to any party... with diverse buffs they can use to benifit the party in many ways... and even can provide healing and dispel! Asset!

Buff Annihilation

... THAT SM IS HACKING!

(AA02)

Words cannot express just how awesome the spiritmaster class is for their ability to strip buffs off of someone. The spiritmaster class is the single class that can do this... and I hate to admit it, but I am going to delve into details!

Ignite Aether: Removes 3 buffs from the target! Want to have someone wreathe in irritation cause you just shreded off their 10min (or even 1 hour dp buff... owch!) buff? This is the skill for you! Instant cast as well! SHORT cd too!

Magic implosion: Removes 3 buffs from the target!While I personally don't care at all for the DoT or damage... instant cast and rips off 3 buffs... being chased by someone? Just toss this at their face. Pretty much same as ignite aether... but oh so useful. SHORT cd too!

Now we also get a good DP skill that tears off buffs... but I don't find it particularily useful in all situations. I honestly really don't care for it other than that super rare situation you are fighting a really well buffed party.

Dispel I only has so much use... rarely use it at all. Its good if you find yourself

These abilities... I think are pretty self explanitory... take the buffs off a templar and u have a gimped gladiator, rip off a rangers attack buffs and their attack is douched down to nothing, etc. Very potent and a major side-turner in PvP.

Interesting fact about buff removal: You're pots, scrolls, food, everything... I can rip that off too.

Click here to view the full image.

Image: Ignite Aether Screenshot... who could have known blowing away a persons chances at beating you could be so much fun!

Tank

... AEGIS STOP HACKING! U SHOULD HAVE DIED TWO MINUTES AGO!

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Mmhmm... how many people here think that a templar is the best tank in game?

I will happily go toe-to-toe in a debate with you over the spiritmaster being a -signifigantly- better tank.

"Yoouz be crazy Aegis... muthaf****a be on smack like u be sayin sm be a bufa"

*cough* I already proved sm is a buffer... now I am going to mind-nyerk you all and prove to you that a spiritmaster... ain't a nice thing to fight. Infact.. you may want to wet yourself after reading some of the facts I will post below.

Earth Spirit IV <55> HP (unbuffed) = 19k <roughly>

Now in a decent raid group I would DEMAND that my earth spirit and myself are buffed with chanter buffs. +25% hp on 19k. So for all people calculating that... 19,000 x 1.25. Yep, not too shabby of a number.

Now, I do apologize... (not really, I reveled in it on retail and still revel in it) but I need to explain this to you:

Spirit Substitution, the spirit (whatever it may be) takes all damage for the spiritmaster. So... earth spirit which has over 20k hp... mmm your hp is MINE BIATCH! Oh, and this lasts 2.5minutes and has a cooldown of 10 minutes... yep, we can keep this baby up 1/4th of our entire gameplay time. Likelyhood is that if you meet up with me in PvP I'll have this baby ready to tank your ass.

Wet yourself yet? No? Fine! I'll make u QQ on Gamez-Aion-Forums till you suffer from dehydration!

Spirit Recovery: Instantly heals your spirit for 100% of its HP. 20k earth spirit hp + 20k earth spirit hp? = 40k each spirit HP.

NO! You said you didn't cry. So let me PLEASE continue, sir.

Healing Spirit: Instantly heals your spirit for 100% of its HP and removes any debuff on it.
20k earth spirit hp + 20k + 20k = 60k.

Now if you included the fact chanter buffs raise its hp by 25%... its closer to 24k hp earth spirit + 24k + 24k.. you do the math.

Ohhoooo you thought that was it? No, sire, I have to prove my point here... and I plan to make sure you are as well educated on my class as I am ahaha.

Stone skin, that annoying shield sorcs/spiritmasters have... spiritmasters atually have a higher level stoneskin that blocks more damage then sorcerers. Sorry to say, but + tanking onto us. Also if a spiritmaster is well seasoned with their class they will almost definately have another stone skin ready to pop in PvP (IE: me). So 2 stoneskins. Yay! But that isn't our best defence, obviously.

Spirit Preserve, Instant 3k stone skin. Doesn't break cooldown on stone skin (and it is NOT meant too either, for all people who may whine about it. It ain't like your bestial fury/other junk rangers). So an added 3k hp... wabbaaaa bang!

Healing spirit thingy skill, I can't remember the name of it now ._. but basically we can give up 1k of our hp on our spiritmaster to give like 2.5x what we gave to our spirit... very effecient system... mm!

Now add in that we have multiple abilities to shut you down, the fact we are a class that can kite and we have 3 abilities to steal your HP ontop of that... ooh and the fact that the pet interferes with tab targetting (will talk about that in the distraction section)... I'd say you poor templar bastards we already humiliate by ripping your buffs off... we sort of own you in tanking too.

But... I mean you have aggro abilities... don't feel too bad... I mean they are just 100% useless in pvp...

Distraction

FING SM DOUCHEBAG

(AA04)

Spirits are great! Also with pets now we can have two fluttering annoying things follow us

I don't know how else to say this but tab targetting is usually hilarious because most people end up at least initially targetting the pet... which you may think this isn't too bad of a deal... but when you consider I can almost instant-cast bodyroot/sigil of silence on you... or I can litterally instant fear you... that half a second it takes you to realise your locked onto my spirit?

You're dead, period.

Also in a party of many people, I find in more group orriented pvp people try and go for exact targets... which is truthful.. (or are you one of those people who locks onto the templar at first and just tries to wail on them... mmmhm... )... the spirit and pet are a giant irritation cause if you try and tab target you have another thing to sort through and the pet itself clings to the spiritmaster making them a bit of a pita to click when they are microscopic.

Is this a true game mechanic? No. Is this truthful and have an effect on PvP... you be damn right!

Also... I will end on the note that a spiritmaster in group PvP can also send in their earth-spirit with the templar to cause hell to breakloose on the opponents side.. it may sound silly but psychologically it unnerves the other team... and it costs you zip all! Great tradeoff.

Also if you want to get into the nitty-gritty... summoning servants also can be used as a tab-target distraction!

Crowd Control

That ahole just slept me...

Click here to view the full image.

Image: Mmmm.... sleepieh!

(AA05)

I cannot express in words how annoying being slept can be, when I am slept I am at the mercy of their team breaking me from it or a cleric (or sm) breaking me from it using their dispels. It is a bad situation to be in, and against a well-versed team it is lethal. Sleep the cleric of my team, sleep me in the team and then go after the weakest classes first and take them out then systematically go up.

This is a strenght that was primarilly meant for sorcerers, and just recently introduced to the spiritmaster class through path 2.0.

Hand of Torpor, While many spiritmasters -CONSTANTLY- ***** about its short duration.. I hate to admit it but this sleep spell regardless of duration.. taking out a member of the other party for 6 seconds? That is pretty much equivalent to me taking a giant shart on your face. Use this sleep wisely to remove someone from pvp.... brutally effective.

Spirit Hypnosis, Words cannot really describe this abilities usefulness either... while Armor Spirit (which adds 1k maccuracy onto the spirit... making them highly accurate) is not adding maccuracy onto pets... this spell if you had it is a sure-fire anti-M.R. cleric death cannon. This ability will effectively remove a cleric from the party... or anyone else you choose to hit with this. Downfall is? Your pet goes away, but you honestly should N O T need your pet to achieve your role... leave damage to the dps classes, you are a support character and taking out a player of the other team is pretty much like you defeated them. It's brutally importaint in party PvP.

Root, I see sorcerers and spiritmasters that don't use this and it annoys me. It is a long-duration CC which immobolizes a target. It's instant cast and while it is absolutely ineffective on a ranger or sorcerer or spiritmaster or cleric... it is devastating to a chanter/templar/gladiator/assasin. Use it, I am sick of seeing people forgetting this. It's also great because its instant cast and you can use it when running away from someone. THIS IS CROWD CONTROL!

Disabiling

FEAR SUCKS, NERF IT NOW!1!1"!!!1!

(AA06)

Probably the brightest and most symbolic aspect of the spiritmaster is their ability to disable players of the other team. This is definately the single most potent support that a class can offer to a party... the immediate removal of one or more members of a party, the equivalent of reducing their numbers or simply making them all lose control for time. This is the true meaning of the spiritmaster class, despite its completeness and power in many different ways.

Click here to view the original image of 800x248px and 38KB.

Image: Hmm... something seems out of place... I just can't quite put my finger on it...

Sigil of Silence, Did you think I'd start with fear? No! Fear is just a steryotypical ability people seem to obsess over... it isn't the best disable we have. Anyhow...less than a second casting time... utterly revokes the targets ability to cast any spell. Pure and utter awesome.

Body Root, Removes the ability to use any melee skill. CAN STACK WITH BLIND. (More on that when I discuss godstones) This is a very fast casting spell which mutilates the opponents ability to use skills... lethal and very effective.

Fear I, the first fear a spiritmaster gets. This ability is the cornerstone of any spiritmasters battles.. solo or group wise. Shut down a player for a fair amount of time... it is utterly devastating.

Fear Shriek, the most powerful AoE in the game. 1 minute cooldown, hits multiple people at once and disables them all for a LONG duration of time. This is the single skill that can utterly make or break a group vs group battle... if you charge into the enemy ranks (remember, you -ARE- a tank afterall!) and get this off... your party will just decimate them. The absolute height of party-****ing and group-orgy is this ability. I hate to say it but fear don't brake baby... fear shriek is plain awesome. Actually no... words cannot describe this abilities greatness... so we will leave it at that.

Curse of Fire/Water, Honestly I don't give a damn about the elemental resistance decrease... I don't... but the fact this is INSTANT cast and yet another disabiling ability... beautiful! Use this ability to take control of a fight immeidately and then pretty much defecate ontop of your opponent.. sheer awesomeness.

Remove shock Instant-Fear, I'll skip naming it because I am pretty sure if I said "Flames of Anguish" people would ask me WTF it is.

Click here to view the full image.

Image: You know what they say... If you can't be loved be feared! XD

Tl;dr version: Stun me you little soab and I'll instant fear you and take control of the sitaution. Think twice

Shockingly enough these may not seem like many but sigil of silence/bodyroot have cooldowns of 20 seconds. Fear I has 30 second CD and fearshriek has a cd of 1 minute... Removeshock Instant-Fear also has a CD of 3 minutes... the longest being instant fear at 5 minutes. When used properly these skills can easily destroy any opposition. A weapon is only as powerful as it is used, and our disable array is no exception to this rule.

Debuffer

You just went over fear.. what other debuffs does the sm have? I thought it was a Fear-Bot...

(AA07)

If you said that in your mind... I won't sugar coat it... you are one dumb m.f. and this section will show you just how agonizingly stupid saying that was.

Shackle of Vulnerability, What doesn't this thing do(damage)? Decreases atk speed, casting speed is havled, decreases all elemental resistances... oh wow... I remember when I first got this ability and exlaimed at how much higher my damage was or my parties damage... a sorcerer using flame spray (retail) did like 2k more damage lmao. Basically this is great for messing up someones cast time and attack speed signifigantly here. It's a major cock-blocker.

Root of Enervation, "Aegis, this stupid skill doesn't even work... it doesn't root them". I face palmed... it DECREASES ATTACK SPEED. Very good and a smart choice if you want to play the lethal part of debuffing a person to hell. If you don't use this then you are seriously a bit arrogant.

Chain of Earth, Instant cast slow which then leads into a knockback? Umm... I have stunlocked people before with this and its pretty dang nice. If you don't use this in a solo PvP situation then you aren't even thinking- at all!

Blade of Earth, I can name at most one occasion I've seen a spiritmaster use this on me, on this server... In Party play there is NOTHING more annoying than being slowed. Slowing the entire party? REALLY helps give you a strategic benifit!

-Their party moves slower!

As simple as that may sound that allows your party to either run away faster or catch up to them faster... its very useful and probably the single most unused debuff we have, which is upsetting!

Wing Root, 5minutes + flying time and this ability rips off flight time in % values.. you add it up. Major MAJOR pita. Razz

Withering Gloom, Decreases targets HP by 1.5k... considering some opponents who purposefully stack HP to benifit through this... this is pretty devastating against the right guy.

Infernal Blight, decreased defence, elemental defences AND magic resist? Considering how as a spiritmaster you should have the highest magic accuracy of your party this ability is a blessing JUST for reducing mresistance of a target... the defence lowered by 1k is phenomenal and in terms of elemental defences...

Stack this + shackle of vulnerability.. and you will jizz at the damage!

Clearly spiritmasters are far more then just a fear-cannon. This section showed you we are also an effective nuisance that you will want to find irl and rip apart... DON'T KEEL ME SIR PLS!!!!

Healing and Dispelling

... marvelous!

(AA08)

As I said before we can heal and dispel the party... through use of the Earth spirit we can use their Spirit Wall of Protection "buff" ability to dispel the entire party and heal them by a little bit of HP.

I am sorry, but in the many abilities I have listed... the dispel ability here when used properly is just phenomenal!!!

If your cleric is slept? POP THIS ABILITY! If its feared? POP IT! Also if your party does not have a cleric (which happens... we have more chanters than clerics on this server afterall >_>!) this will be a very handy ability!

Time it well, use it wisely and you'll find yourself doing great!

Gear/Manastone/Godstone/Pet Suggestions.

(AB00)

Gear:

Armors:! I honestly would say that anyone in anuhart gear has lost their marbles. Get at WORST level 30 PvP gear. It is a very reliable set. After that I'd suggest EAT set, ABG is pretty much the same (you get a bit more magic boost for a little less hps).

Weapon:

BOOK!!!!! I seriously regret getting my +15 orb now that spiritmaster is going to be my main class.

You are as effective as how well you hit... we are a very effective class but we are going to need a lot of maccuracy in order to deal with the many adverse players we may fight that stack M.R.

In particular I would suggest books such as ABG Tome or EAT tome or Princess Crown book, even Migrant/Fenrirs tomes are good. For armsfusion I personally would suggest trying to get +castspeed and + ATTACK SPEED onto the single weapon. There are MANY options avaliable to you if you choose to go this route to fuse... in particular I'd say go with the one that provides the most HP as your goal is to not only debuff them and hit them... but to survive as long as possible as well.

I will add that for the gloves I can really REALLY only emphasize how importaint it WILL BE to get +8% cast speed gloves... get it through either the ABG set (or just get the gloves at least!) or through masatarius set... it is very much worth it!

Godstone:

I am honestly going to be blunt, as a caster class we don't hit people that many times.. making tiny proc godstones useless at best.

My suggestion in a server swamped by gladiators, rangers and assasins and templars (and even chanters) would be to go with a 10% blind godstone <Bollvigs Love>. This effect (as I mentioned earlier in this guide) can actually STACK alongside our very useful Bodyroot spell.. that way we won't have conflicts... which are very likely to occur with Sigil of Silence and a silence godstone.

So 1 out of every 10 hits we do we will blind a target? I'll take that! Also as a very very very biased person towards dehibilitating a target I can say this godstone actually fulfills my inner fetish to cover all bases to drive a person up the wall (tehe <?>)

Manastones:

This may come as a surprise to you... but if you stack magicboost as a spiritmaster I think you are honestly better suited for the Sorcerer class... not spiritmaster.

So... please kill that intent from your mind now if you want to be a successful spiritmaster.

HP:
Probably the most staple spiritmaster stone to stack... speaking if you have full EAT/ABG gear and fused a EAT/ABG weapon with let's say tahabata for an example... you have 41 manastone slots.

Let's say you get full HP +95 stones so 95 x 41 = 3895 HP. Which is definately a great boost to anyones HP
(Especially when you throw in chanter-buffs to the mix Razz

)

Magic Accuracy:
This is a stone I suggest to ANYONE planning to play a spiritmaster... I am not joking when I say that either! If you wish to succeed with this class your #1 priority is having those spells land... otherwise it doesnt matter how long you live for on the field.. you are utterly useless! Speaking with same example as above you get 41 manastone slots x 14 Magic Accuracy stones = 574 Maccuracy... speaking if you had a good sturdy tome you'd get 1.5k maccuracy so that would = roughly 2k maccuracy... basically blowing a hole through any mresisting stacker players you may encounter. Even if they had 2.3k mresistance your 2k maccuracy makes it so they have 30% chance to resist at best... if I am to be most honest that is quite in your favour.

Magic Resistance:
I don't nessacarily want to suggest this as the main reason that M.R. is viable to players is either because they get buffs to raise their M.R. (templar, sorcerer) or their set bonus gives them excessive M.R. (Chain set) and they continue it on from there with manastoning out in M.R. Spiritmasters, however, get neither of those benifits... making it so that M.R. stacking would only be partially viable... maybe at most being able to get around 1.8k mresistance. Also considering armsfusion it is not all that uncommon for a sorcerer/spiritmaster/even a cleric to get very high maccuracy now... Overall not the best idea, but if you
can use it then all the power to you.

Pets

I'd suggest any radar pet, honestly being a cloth wearer (despite being a wonder-tank as I described above) you are squishy and susceptable to being taken down by an assasin or ranger. Extracaution and warning will never hurt.

Consumables

Food/drink- As said above, I suggest focusing on getting a good +Maccuracy food and perhaps some to raise manaregain or HP regain.

Scrolls- Greater Awakening/Greater Speed scrolls.. no less or you will seriously suffer! +9% casting time is a truly big deal.

Potions- Keep both Abyssal Health Potions and the best recovery serums you can get. They make a major difference when taking damage.

Multiple sets/Gear suggestions

Here I’ll delve deeper into the aspect of Spiritmaster gears.

By now you should easily understand that as a spiritmaster the two most important things to us are to make a spell land successfully, and survivability in order to get the most out of us.

This section will touch in as much depth as a guide will allow me to, in order to explain how to best gear yourself to deal with the appropriate PvP situation.

First off, we need a solid Magic Accuracy Set.
This should take priority over all else! The goal of this set is to balance out the rewards of stacking maccuracy while also granting us flexibility with some HP compliments.
I'd aim for an absolute minimum magic accuracy of 1.8, but some players have up to 2.3k mresist! So you may want to consider stacking more magic accuracy in order to counter that.

Remember the formula for maccuracy vs m resist goes

Their magic resistance - your magic accuracy
10
= their percentage chance to resist your magic spells.

So 2,300 - 1,800 = 500 / 10 = 50

So they'd have 50% chance to resist your spells.

But if you aren't too much into stacking maccuracy, stack HP. But make sure to have a really comforatable maccuracy value before you do that!

Now despite what many people would call the “most effective” armsfusion being a Mastarius Tome + an ABG tome underneath… I disagree completely.

Why? Because Mastarius is only slightly better (a few minor points) than ABG tome. While this may sound a bit baffling at first, the next point will make it very clear.

Click here to view the full image.

Please notice that the Tahabata tome possesses the great magical accuracy than the mastarius tome, as well as the rest of its stats are relatively similar to the mastarius tome. Also, considering how it does not cost 2k credits… tahabata tome is clearly the most easy to access. While many people may criticize me for using “normal” gear, I rebuttle to say “Why are you paying money for something subpar?”. If you wish to juice the maximum effect of magic accuracy from your character than tahabata tome should be an obvious choice for anyone to armsfuse with their ABG tome (+pvp attack).
Now this will bring up the point of “Why Abg/tahabta rather than tahabta/tahabata” Because while that maccuracy makes a big deal, the +pvp damage you’ll get off is an even bigger deal in my mind, and easily worth the trade off of a few sparce magic accuracys for. (Compare the tomes and notice it really isn’t that many that you are losing).

Secondly, we will need a Magic Resistance Set.
This set isn’t as valuble as the first, clearly, but this can make a large impact in battles of survivability… especially against casters who do not share similar knowledge to you. Remember, despite Aion being a “fast paced action mmo”, strategy plays a critical role in its overall outcome.

“But Aegis you said stacking M.R. is dumb!!!1” For the most part, and if it is your primary set… I really do say you are a moron. Yes, do not misunderstand that XD.

BUT! This set, situationally, is absolutely abhorrent for most targets. It also goes without saying that not every Joe-Blow will be backing around 2.1k+ magic resistance… and this set is a nice kick to their face letting them know you are Srs Buizness.
Anyhow onto the explination!
Click here to view the full image.

From this image it becomes apparent that the “deadliest M.R. stacking class” in the game, the chanter/cleric.. are clearly dwarfed by their cloth wearing counterparts. In essence, we get significantly higher M.R. than they do with the Mastarius set. (Approximately 50. Which IS a big deal!)

So if you are considering a M.R. set consider investing into as mastarius cloth set. It, from the numbers alone, clearly possesses the greatest value.

“Thirdly… a Hp set? Aegis… what are your thoughts on this?”
Actually, I come from the land where I don’t know whether X play is using M.R. or magic boost or HP. I am sadly, though working on it, not a mind reader –YET!
So in terms of an HP set, I will be honest. The likelyhood that it would be beneficial is slim, as the best protection you can get (in my opinion) is through the successful landing of your disabling skills and debuffs. Set #1 should be able to provide enough M.A. and HP at the same time to allow you to feel flexible and successful at the same time. A pure HP set can be nice against players who don’t stack M.R., but then again I’d say just stick with the M.R. set to avoid their attacks!
So Hp set? No… I don’t suggest a full hp set. Sorry guys…

Originally Posted by elshagan
As a mainly HP stacker I'd say it's very useful against 3h glads in other words Glads who can 3 hit you with Cleave Chain.

While I have sacrificed a bit of Ma I still find that I still have enough to make use of our Mres Debuff... That n I could always buff my Ma with food lol. So yeah atm I'm running around with these while unbuffed...
10k Hp
1.7k Ma
2k Mb

Spirit Explinations, Uses and Suggestions

Not you're ordinary kind of drink...

(AH00)

Spiritmasters, despite being completely rounded off in about every other direction, are best known as the "pet class" of Aion. Being given a series of 5 pets (Tempest/Magma being the Elyos/Asmodian racial <respectively>) the spiritmaster has strange and unique ways of responding to a given situation that are completely unique from one to the next. Here I will explain in as much depth as I can, and as they deserve... what the spirits do and how to best think of them.

- First off, we have many abilities that we are given in order to interact with the pets. Whether it be Enmity Swap (which is useless btw) or Spirit Disturbance.. these abilities are varied and your uses of them are altered dependant upon what pet you use at a given time.

I would also like to be able to elaborate on what pets are... basically how I think of them is being a "living DoT effect". While many people who played spiritmaster just wanted a pet class/summoner class... I hate to break it to you but pets honestly are just another DoT which can do a few fancy things.

Water Spirit:
Probably the single most useless spirit in the game, it is slow, weak (hp, defence, and attack wise...) but it IS ranged. Useful if you are trying to have your pet at a range otherwise this is utterly useless.

This pet, when you use Spirit Wall Of Protection however makes a big benifit to your parties (and your own) magic accuracy and magic resistance... so essentially this pet is very useful if you are fighting a magic archetype battle! (Otherwise it is 100% USELESS)

Interesting fact: It used to be that the waterspirit was the only viable pet for the spiritmaster class to PvP with as spirits could NOT fly before Christmas of last year! Woah... talk about lame? Yeah... it was!

Overall I rate this spirit 1 sad and lonely tear-drop and wet-kleenex out of five.

Wind Spirit:
Fastest pet with probably the best damage of them all, essentially the only pet that can keep up with you in PvP (but in flight PvP not even this one can keep up...).

Overall this pet is my major suggestion for spiritmasters that solo, it is fast and can catch up to enemy players and it has a wonderful ability to stunlock a player using Spirit Disturbance... this is awesome when combined with Chains of Earth to lock a target down... essentially it is a really nasty wakeup call for a player to get charged at and stunned by this at the start of a fight... completely allowing you to take control of the situation.

Overall I rate this pet 5 feathered dogs out of 5.

Earth Spirit:
Maxed out on this server it has approximately 19k HP... and if you are a little OCD out of min-maxing stats (which hey... it is importaint!) then you'll want chanter buffs raising this beauties HP past 24k!

Image: Earth Spirits HP Is over 9,000! Woah! It is 23,999! Wait, two HP less? Oh well...

In terms of spirit substitution, our main ability that more or less embodes the utter nastyness of being able to take a consecutive 80k damage... BADASS PLEZ this is the ONLY spirit I would ever consider doing it with. Water/wind have pitiful hp and fire doesnt have the highest HP possible... essentially in a fight you're going to want the most HP if you are going to use spirit sub... if you think you need to use spirit sub then 13k HP isn't going to do the trick... period. Max or nothing.

Earth Spirit also has the beautiful benifit of being the single spirit that allows us to cure our entire party of status aliments as well as give them a little bit of a heal.

Overall I give this spirit 5 broccoliheads out of 5.

FireSpirit: Essentially I think this pet is o.k. but it has less attack and speed then the wind spirit as well as no stun... it is useless to me unless I am in a party and spamming Spirit Wall of Protection.

Overall I rate this outside of a party at best a 2/5 pee'd on candles.

However.. during party play I'd give it a 4/5 pee'd on candles since you actually -could- use spirit sub with it and it has good attack... but meh... it's really only convenient for the buffs.

Now Summoning Alacrity is an ability that allows us to instant cast summon/switch spirits... I often found myself using it to switch between spirits to maximize my overall output of buffs/adjust to the situation at hand. <Note though that this ability does not work at all right now, so we'll have to hang tight and hope Alente will make it work soon =) >

Tempest/Magma:
Now I will gently delve into the 2k DP Racial summons. They both share a 1 hour cooldown and their stats appear to be pretty much the same as eachothers on this server. They both share the highest attack power of all.

Essentially Magma is meant to be Earth + Fire and Tempest is meant to be Wind + Water.

HOWEVER!! I will make you aware the the Magma spirit does NOT have higher HP than the Earth Spirit for spirit substitution! Magma and tempest actually both have around 2k less HP! You've been prewarned.

Personally I'd find myself using these if I was really getting competative / wanted to show off. Other than that these spirits are good... but not exceptional and considering their 1 hour cooldown I wouldn't particularily develop a deep deep relationship with using them actively.

PVP group thoughts/suggestions.

(AC00)

I find naturally in a party situation that I am drawn to use the Earth Spirit the most out of them all just for the simple fact of Spirit Substitution... then you add on the dispel and you honestly cannot dispute that the Earth Spirit is a very handy tool indeed. While I do admit that after siprit substitution is blown, or if I do not figure that the opposing party will be a challenge.. I will use firespirit for its overall +attack % buff for the party. I actually prefer to use firespirit over windspirit in party just for that reason.

#1: Keep buffs up at all times. They last a while so it is generally safe to throw them up before confronting a target.

#2: Your focus should be to disable as many people as you can and then trickle down to debuffing them and ripping off buffs... My favourite is to ensure that you have key damage dealers like gladiators body rooted/rooted and then sorcerers covered with sigil of silence or feared and try and distribute from there.

If you are with a good party try and make sure that the melee players directly go for the cleric... chanter is honestly quite irrelevent in comparison. If you have gladiators/rangers/templars... they best be wailing on that cleric. Otherwise your party is fail. Another good trick I used to do (socket Magic accuracy) was use waterspirit buff to raise my own maccuracy and then make sure I CCED the cleric. Also, using Armor Spirit to boost the spirits maccuracy and then using Spirit Hypnosis was another great method of getting rid of the utterly pesky cleric.

I honestly can't say that in a real fight you should do anything but put all your energies into disabling and debuffing and overall being a utter hindrance... after sending your spirit in (whatever it is) you should honestly stick to it. You can do damage, yes, but the role and utility you bring is what YOU ALONE can bring. As I said earlier.. leave the damage dealing to the dps classes!

Solo PvP suggestions.

(AD00)

Try and chain lock them down and widdle down their HP. Not too difficult to understand or think of... strip off their buffs, reduce their defences and keep them disabled and unable to do anything, make sure to keep them slowed and take them down.

In solo pvp my preferred spirit is Windspirit, consideirng how you can stunlock a player using chains of earth combo + this for quite a fair duration.. it is mucho nice!

Thats about all I have to say on that... solo pvp should be self explanitory... use the abilities you have to their most optimal condition.

General Spiritmaster Tips!

So, you want to play like a pro?

(AG00)
Words left me speechless when I began my journies as a retail Spiritmaster. I found many things to be counter-intuitive and almost a hastle. In this section I'll give you a few tips that I personally use quite often and I think it will help you manage your time as a spiritmaster much more effectively!

#1: Ensure that you have your spirits attack command set to a key. (Personally I have my key set to "," (Comma key) from my time in RFonline)

Make sure that this key is #1 easy to access... in PvP you'll want to make sure that you have complete control over your pet at all times... and clicking that pet toolbar is an utter joke. I found it foolish and lame.

I will suggest this to you as your key commands.

, = Send Spirit to Attack Target

. = Recall Spirit To Come Back To Your Location

' = Rest / Order Spirit To Stay At Current Location
Click here to view the full image.

Image: Key Mapping -> Spirit Commands and then from there assign whatever keys you feel most comforatable with.

Trust me... doing this will make pet control infinately easier. And used wisely placing your pets location will prove very profitable! (You can keep your pet within a spot and keep away from it... If you need an analogy think of setting bait for a person to find... this + stealth = major lols btw!

#2: Flick these options ON.

-Ensure you have "Show Targets Target" clicked ON. This will make a considerable difference in your life.

-Make sure that you have "Show Distance To Target" on, this will make a considerable difference in your life knowing how far you are/how close they are to you.

-Make sure you have all bars avaliable... keep all consumables and buffs and situational things to the side bars and keep all active skills down on the main bars.

Click here to view the full image.

Image: My Skill bars... notice where I put the floating bars? I personally find that the most convenient... but to each their own.

*Also its optional... but if you have an alarm pet at least have some sound going on in the background, while I admit I am guilty of not always following what I am saying this time... it does truly make a fair difference in your life when your Golden Nyanco has a seizure!

Things That Need to Be Fixed.

(AF00)

These skills won't work as of the day I last edited this post. Don't try and use them! They will not work.

1.) Spirit buffs (armor spirit, spirit armor of light/darkness) <- slightly working now

2.) SPIRIT SUBSTITUTION, it is bugged and will make you immortal. I have heard and been confirmed that so long as your pet is out and alive during the skill it will be fine to use this skill... but make sure that you left click it and select remove buff IMMEDIATELY after the pet dies (Though I advise BEFORE it dies!)! Otherwise you are risking the chance of having your character being jailed.

Originally Posted by Deadlychants
I can't stress enough that you're going to get caught without a spirit up if your mindset is to remove it after your pet dies.

I second this opinion actually, and I think that if you are going to use spirit substitution at all that you ensure that you remove it just prior to the pets death.

3.) Spirit Wall Of Protection.

4.)Summoning Alacrity.

At the time of my last edit Alente is in the process of making the summoned servants work. So just hang tight and be patient.

Tips On How To Take Down A Target

As if this wasn’t long enough before, right?

(AZ00)

As a spiritmaster you have the wonderful benefit of suffering from casting times. Fret not! We are far from a sorcerer

With the proper gear and consumables one can easily halve the time!
Weapon = 20%
Gloves = 8%
Greater Awakening scroll = 9%
Title = 2%
Summer-Loving Inquin Candy = 3%

Make sure to review the consumables section if you need anymore information =]

Now here is where I break it to most people, who really wouldn’t know otherwise…. I almost NEVER start off with fear. I honestly find fear to be a very “clunky” spell. Especially against fast targets. So here I will tell you how to properly handle a fight, as well as what skills to make use of best.

First of all, Windspirit is the best spirit for PvP.

Why? Spirit Disturbance with a cast time of 0.8seconds (0.4 with gear/consumables) = a STUN! This stun is brutally effective in giving you a hold on the current PvP situation!

So I’ll be kind and rather than bore you with giant paragraphs I will split this up for you…

How to appropriately start a fight:
As I said, fear is not the right way. Neither is BodyRoot. And while many of you may be eager to instant-fear that “intimidating red-named asshat”, that is such a waste of a good move (5min cooldown time)!

So how to start it off?
#1: My personal favourite, and most easily the most effective way is by using Spirit Disturbance I (WIND SPIRIT). This skill casts off quickly and is a rather long-duration stun. I find that this easily allows me to take control over the situation and follow it up with a barrage of assaults.

Remember, as a spiritmaster if we get control over the situation… we pretty much have won!

-Chain Of Earth is another brutally effective way to dispose of a target. Not only does this chain-skill (our only one btw) provide an instant-slow effect onto the target… but it also knocks them back! While I almost always start out with Spirit Disturbance, I like to go from
Spirit Disturance (WINDSPIRIT)-> Erosion -> Chain of Earth -> Bodyroot/ continue from there.

In the end that just gave you control over the situation, prolly irritated the piss out of whoever you were fighting and you threw a DoT onto them.

-BE CAREFUL!- Gladiators and templars have Unwavering Devotion skill which will make them immune to this! As I said this works in most situations (cause most people don’t realize we can stun-lock a target, lol nubs ;D ), but as always there is a situation and a time for EVERY skill we have!

#2: Dealing with pesky gladiators/templars.
Two ways to deal with them really…
i.) In this situation you are fighting a Melee character that you can’t open up with a stun on. Here it is useful to make use of Magic Implosion/Ignite Aether (both instant cast, so you can kite them in the mean time) and rip that buff off of them and then continue the assault!
ii.) Remember that root? That basic spell you got at level 1? Oh come on, you removed that from your skill bars? Bad ! D: In this situation you have the advantage as you can kite and have that distance on them, where they don’t have that luxury. This allows you to root them and then follow in with bodyroot/ignite aether / magic implosion or stunlock them… it is all up to your own disgression in this situation!

#3: Rangers, sorcerers, and other annoying things.
I personally would normally deal with these classes by method #1 and stunlocking them. But, some situations warrant the use of Spirit Hypnosis (1sec casting time) which puts the enemy to sleep for a LONG time… more than long enough to survive that rangers sleep arrow and then debuff the shit out of them as they are asleep

(By debuff the shit out of them, you can use:
- Root of Enervation
-Shackle of Vulnerability
…and all those other debuffs and fun things that don’t do damage freely while they are asleep.!)

Then you can oh-so-kindly wake them up by fearing them and then ripping them apart. Hey, I said don’t start a battle with fear… that doesn’t mean that I am one of those cry babies that say “no don’t use fear its noob!” No, as soon as gladiators stop using their instant self heals (especially in deity) I will stop using my classes skills. Fear is just ineffective most of the time as its long casting time can barely warrant its effective use… this section is dedicated to showing you proper ways to start a match .

#4: The “awe **** it” method.
Instant fear, make their skin crawl… enuff said.

#5: Ever teleported to a region and seen a party of campers that just look so delish? No… only me? Hey! I can’t help I get hungry, just like anyone else, too! *nom*
It is honestly hilarious to use fear shriek and then pop a jelly and then cursecloud them (make sure you get that cleric Doted up so they die before fear shriek is gone.. no dispelz for u sir).

And so there… now you know how to properly start a battle!

Here is some feedback information that I think will be very relevant for many of us :3

Originally Posted by Deadlychants
Also, I'd like to add that a nice way that has worked for me when I get ambushed, or blind sided I start off with Root, then get some distance, chain earth, erosion, the spirit stun, and usually pop a fear then and there. You can usually finish it off there with that advantage. Debuff when necessary.

Fear chaining:
Now I taught you the basics of starting a battle… it is very intensely important that I teach you how to maximize results of holding control over a situation.
Likewise learning the tools yourself will provide way better knowledge to this than I could ever mash out on a keyboard but I’ll try my best to make things clear.

---Imagine in a battle---
So we started the fight with a windspirit stun and then used erosion and then followed up with chain of earth stun and then used body root… this may be good for now but in the odd case that they have more than 1k HP we will need to make better use of our time.
But before that you need to learn:

Bread-And-Butter attacks!
-Infernal Pain: the most glorious DoT in this game. Have I mentioned I love it yet in this guide? Well, it rocks! 1.5 sec cast time which is zipped down to 0.75 sec cast time with proper gear and consumables… it is just marvelous to use.
-Cyclone of Wrath: While not as good as Infernal Pain, I know that my Cyclone of Wrath ticks for approximately 1k heath a tick! That is big owchie ;p
-Erosion: Staple DoT, instant cast and we can cast it on the fly… if you do not make use of this you have brain damage
-Magic Implosion/Ignite Aether: Aside from stripping off buffs, the more buffs it rips off the bigger the damage the target feels… I have killed so many rangers and chanters will buff-zilla on them by doing this.
Instant 6k damage we can pop while kiting? I’ll take that, bro.

What you have probably realized is… that spiritmasters don’t really have dependency upon cast times…… What I mean by that is that rarely a spiritmaster will find themselves locked down in a single position; almost all spiritmaster techniques can be cast while on the fly. Being a caster class it is ironic that we have the most flexibility in the game when it comes to kiting… rather nice actually! =]
The only skills that take a while to cast are our Fears/CC skills, everything else is pretty much fast!

So NOW we can dealve into fear chaining with the basics down. Numbers may be off but you’ll get the jist of things ;p.
Spirit Disturbance (WIND SPIRIT) 2 second duration -> 18 second cooldown.
Body root/sigil of silence: 6 second ish duration -> 20 second cooldown.
Chain of Earth combo (KNOCKBACK), 2 second duration -> 30 second cooldown.
Spirit Hypnosis, 15 second duration -> 30 second cooldown.
Fear I, 6 second duration -> 30 second cooldown
Root I, 10 second duration ish -> 1 minute cooldown.
Fear Shriek , 13 second duration -> 1 minute cooldown
Instant fear, 6 second duration -> 5 minute cooldown
Anti-Stun-Lock Fear, 5 second duration -> 3 minute cooldown.
Hand of Torpor, 5 second duration -> 1 minute cooldown.

That being said I think its easy for one to figure that our most easy to chain effects are going to be the low cooldown ones, spirit disturbance, bodyroot/sigil of silence, chain of earth and fear… in terms of locking someone down. I find it very easy to just rotate between these skills and go from starting out by stunning them and then bodyrooting them and then fearing then stunning again and then fear shriek and then body root and then fearing and then bodyrooting and so on and so forth. Just go down the list like a cascade and that will maximize control results!

Stigmas

(AY00)

Stigmas

With the new stigmas rolling in I figure its about time I added in this sadly long-overdue section to my guide.

Before you automatically jump to “oh no! I hate the stigma system!” I’ll tell you first hand that it is definitely a great benefit to the spirit master class, so rejoice!
With a little bit of personal choice and choosing your priorities you can easily make your spirit master suit your personal preference for play style!
Without further adieu… here comes the guide!
First of all use this link and the stigma planner here in order to familiarize yourself with the stigma system… it is shockingly quite easy! Get the prerequisite skills for the advanced skills and you can prosper!

As a spirit master there are three primary routes you can go:

#1: CC Role (Primarily considered the “staple” PvP route.)
#2: Pet Role (The role which prioritizes pet use.)
#3: The Party Route (Become a great benefit to the party and act as a utility!)

If you’ve read through this guide, which I hope you have, these roles should all be very familiar to you and so I won’t delve too deep into the details… sorry! But if you missed a part or aren’t understanding something the guide should definitely have an answer for you!

Before I get started there are a few stigmas I’d personally suggest ANY (absolutely any) build has:
-Fear Shriek
-Bodyroot/Sigil of Silence
-Ignite Aether
As these are CORE PvP stigmas! Without them you will have great difficulty playing!

#1: The CC role.

This role usually contains the stigmas that you’ll see in my preference here:

Click here to view the full image.

#2: Pet Role.

I can’t really support going this route on this server with the current bugs, but just check out the skills and I’m sure you can understand how to do things best your own way

#3: Party Role.

Click here to view the full image.

Aside from that I’m not too sure what else I can say on all of this… try and learn the skills and understand what they each offer and in the end you’ll prosper

Conclusion

(AE00)

Spiritmasters are a versitile class with strengths arranged across the board. Despite that, they have many very bizzare skills at their disposal such as being able to stealth an entire party, teleport another player to their location, disable a player and tear off buffs. Oh... and them being the most powerful tank in the game is a pretty bizzare feat in itself!

This class overall is at its maximum potential when grouped up, allowing them to focus on disabiling the opponents and increasing the overall power of their allies through buffs and distracting their opponents.

The spiritmaster class is a wonderful addition to any truly hardcore party and when placed in the hands of a capable and well-versed player is truly phenomenal.

Interesting facts:

Despite what you have heard, the spiritmaster is probably the single most strange-ass class in Aion.

-Mage that can stealth? Weird!

-It has a pet... just that alone is unique!

-It can buff? Wutt...

But what I mean is there are some key interesting things about the class many people don't take for granted!

#1: This is a mage, but it is a PHYSICAL mage...!

Bet most people didn't know one of my initial resons for going spiritmaster on retail was this! The spiritmaster provides damage in more than just one way whereas the other classes are pretty much limited to their niche (eg: gladiator is melee, sorcerer is magic)!

The spirit deals melee damages, summoned servants deal melee damage as well as summon cyclone is a physical burst damage! Pretty cool, huh? Also with Armor Spirit boosting spirits magic accuracy by 1k damage... this makes the spiritmasters pets abilities "physical" in a sense too!

#2: Vampires! Auughghhhhhh (no, not the twilight ones! *beats off Edward Cullen with a garlic*)

Spiritmasters actually have THREE health absorption abilities! Pretty insane when you consider that this class is already the best tank in game... interesting Razz

#3: Spiritmasters can have two pets out at once... jelarz? Mmhm !

Actually they can have three out Razz

#1: Their spirit.
#2: Their pet.
#3: Multi-firing Cannon.

Awesome!! 3 is a crowd afterall... we are just that epic

FAQ
Questions I have come across that may be relevant to you all
(AX00)

2.)
Originally Posted by marvelboy
how do i get Tempest spirit?

The tempest spirit is an elyos only spirit that they get at level 50. The other spirit, for the asmodians, is the Magma spirit gained at level 50 as well.

They share most of the key features of having overall great stats, yet have some differences in aesthetics and a few gameplay mechanics (the most importaint one in my opinion being the fact that Spirit Disturbance I for the Tempest spirit stuns, where the magma spirit does not stun.

Hope this answers your question!

Thats all... hope that this guide shows some people how neat and diverse this class is and it may perhaps even spark some initiative to help fix some of the bugs to it. The spiritmaster class is probably the single most difficult class in Aion to master, yet it is definately the most rewarding and fun one!

--Eeorbej