Thoughts on classes and elements
i wrote this guide about six months ago, when i was one of the leading players in the server. since then, it's been lost in the forums, but i noticed that new players lacked a guide on classes and elements. all of this analysis applies as much now as it did then. i've quit the game for a while now, but i hope this helps.
Let me say first that "there is no best element/class" is a common response, and it is not true at all. If it were, why is it that nobody plays classes such as water sin, and wood priest? While I agree that "best" differs from person to person, there are some combinations of class and element that rise above the rest. Here, I will explain why. A summary of the elements and bonuses--
Metal: +Attack, same for all classes
Fire: +Attack speed/+Move speed, same for all classes
Water: +MP/+MP recovery, wiz>priest>sin>pally
Wood: +HP/+HP recovery, pally>sin>priest>wiz
Earth: +Defense, same for all classes
Notice that some elements give more bonuses to certain classes than to others (I will call these differential elements). One thing to note here is that fire actually gives wiz>sin>pally>priest because +15% attack speed is equivalent to +15% damage, except higher mp usage. Since wiz does most damage and priest does least (without spirits), fire favors wiz more than it does priest. Now about classes--
Paladin: The role of a pally is to tank. As such, wood is the best choice for major element. Although earth would also improve tanking ability, it is not a differential element as wood is, meaning that the bonus to each class is the same. Moreover, since pallys have the highest defense, each point of HP is worth more, making wood an even more differential choice (earth minor will improve this even more). The recommended major of paladins is WOOD, with a minor in EARTH. However, there is something to be said about metal, since its wide array of stun skills are good for soloing.
Assassin: The assassin is an all-around character. Almost any element will work for an assassin, depending on personal preference. Contrary to popular belief, assassin is not the best for solo play (paladin is). The main role of the assassin in teams is controlling mobs by giving them status effects. This can greatly help the tank. Furthermore, metal and fire assassins are decent damage dealers also, with DPS (damage per second) comparable to wizards that are not fire or metal elemental. A wood or earth assassin, however, is not a mediocre replacement for a paladin. The recommended element for assassins is METAL, since metal has more disabling status effects than any other element. The minor that accompanies metal is FIRE. However, any element would do well with an assassin.
Wizard: Wizards have the highest DPS in the game. In teams, their job is simply to throw as much damage as possible at the mob, as well as using the few status effects they have. Therefore, I will rule out wood and water, since they do not add to damage and have no particularly good skills (and, through testing, have been shown to be bad). Earth is a very popular choice for minor, but is lacking as a major. Although good in PVP against paladins because of their close range skills, petrifaction, their trademark skill, is no good in PVP as it drags the duel out by giving both parties time to cool their pots. Against mobs, it is useful only as an emergency measure, which is hardly worth the less damage done. This leaves fire and metal, and here are several reasons to choose fire/metal over metal/fire--1. fire is differential in favor of wizards, while metal gives the same bonuses for all classes; 2. flickerflame is a more useful skill than soulshatter (no doubt about it); 3. there is an overabundance of metal elemental players in the game, and fire takes advantage of this fact through the restriction cycle; and 4. extra movement speed is the most useful for wizards, who often have to run from or through mobs. The recommended major element for wizard is FIRE, and minoring in METAL enhances this choice.
Priest: The job of the priest is to heal and buff, as it is in every other MMORPG. The priest is the most useless to solo with. Even though it is true that they are the second highest damaging ingame with spirits summoned, spirits become obsolete at high levels because they are extremely fragile and do too much to outdamage, drawing aggro. One thing I noticed while playing priest is that buffs, even fully upgraded, add very little, so I will disregard them. The summons are also fairly similar. As a priest, I had to hold back on heals and use MP potions as soon as they cooled down, so certainly the best choice for priest is WATER. As a minor, fire and metal are useless since priests hardly attack in teams. Between earth and wood, EARTH is better because wood is differential and not in favor of priests. Earth/water priest also has its merits, however, since the paoxiao summon has extraordinary defense compared to the other summons and can be used as a substitute for paladin. In team play, paoxiao can tank two or three other mobs while the team concentrates on just one.
These observations are not just theory. I played lvl55 earth priest, lvl41 metal assassin, and lvl57 fire wizard. As a fire wizard, I've never lost a match (3 duels) to any other wizard, including to SuperD, VVIZ, DaGuiZi, and Barakah, who are all higher lvl than me. Sabsy, who I team with extensively, plays a lvl60 wood paladin, and he can beat almost all other paladins (except some metal ones with tricky stuns), as well as tank two, sometimes three, mobs in teamquest.
Happy gaming!
