ebi
Posts: 24 Joined: 03-31-25
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*"Know the enemy and know yourself; in a hundred battles you will never be in peril." — Sun Tzu*
Greetings, Milletians!
This guide compiles various niche mechanics and underlying systems regarding combat in Mabi.
To be clear, this is not a guide on "how to play better," but rather a set of guidelines covering "useful mechanics to know in order to optimize your combat." (Because optimal play constantly shifts depending on the situation, attempting to cover every scenario would be impossible.)
Understanding these mechanics will allow you to handle combat far more effectively. If you have any questions about this guide, please feel free to DM me on Discord at ebi, and I will answer to the best of my ability.
**Spoiler & Content Warning:**
This article is intended for hardcore players and inherently contains significant mechanics spoilers. Because it delves deeply into skill interactions and game systems—and occasionally notes specific combat strategies—it may diminish the joy of "deciphering mechanics on your own" or "devising your own strategies." Please continue reading only if you accept this.
Additionally, basic topics (such as descriptions found in in-game skill tooltips, standard techniques like n+1 hit combos, aiming speed scaling, etc.) will not be covered here.
Lastly, please note that the information provided here strays far from common or everyday gameplay knowledge.
Reading this guide should not be used as a basis to judge, lecture, or hold expectations over other players who may not be aware of these mechanics. (except for section "## 4-2. The Risk of Repeated OTG Hits (Wake-Up Cancel)", which covers a mechanic that could unintentionally lead to trolling if misunderstood.)
This guide is a work in progress and will be permanently incomplete. It will be updated whenever new findings are made.
Acknowledgements:
Special thanks to Piggybread and Maplestory for their valuable insights, verification assistance, and countless discussions that helped refine this guide.
ebi
Posts: 24 Joined: 03-31-25
Last post: 6 days
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# 1. Post-Attack Recovery and On-Hit Damage Reactions
Most attacks inflict one of three damage reactions on enemies: Stagger, Knockback, or Knockdown. At the same time, attacking triggers a post-attack recovery on yourself.
The duration of both recovery and enemy damage reactions varies depending on the weapon or skill used.
- Weapon-based attacks (most Melee and Archery skills, with some exceptions) depend on weapon performance/stats.
- Non-weapon attacks (Magic, Alchemy, Demigod) have skill-specific fixed durations and do not depend on weapon stats.
# 2. Weapon Attack Mechanics
Post-attack recovery and the enemy's damage reaction duration scale with Attack Speed, hit count, and weapon type.
## 2-1. Post-Attack Recovery Note on "Post-Attack Recovery": Defined here as "The waiting window during which a skill can be loaded, but another attack cannot be executed yet."
## 2-2. Normal Attacks (Stagger)
When dealing Stagger with normal attacks, faster Attack Speed shortens your recovery. Weapon hit count has no effect on this recovery. (Unlike Post-Attack Recovery, this specific recovery restricts you entirely, preventing you from even loading a skill during the window.)
- Very Slow (1000ms) > Slow (800ms) > Normal (600ms) > Fast (520ms) > Very Fast (450ms)
## 2-3. Normal Attacks (Knockback / Knockdown)
When dealing Knockback or Knockdown with normal attacks, Post-Attack Recovery duration changes based on the weapon type:
- 1H Blunt (3000ms) > 2H Sword (2400ms) > 1H Sword = Wand = 1H Axe (1800ms) > Knuckles (800ms)
1H Blunts have the longest recovery, while Knuckles have the shortest. Unless landing just 5 hits with knuckles, weapons with a duration of less than 2500ms incur a 2500ms Post-Attack Recovery after attacking.
(Note: For skills that are active skills but have passive activation conditions—such as Defense or Counterattack—activation is possible once the skill has finished loading, even during the Post-Attack Recovery period.)
## 2-4. Dual Wielding
Your effective Attack Speed when dual wielding is the average of both equipped weapons.
## 2-5. Skill Attacks
For skill attacks, Post-Attack Recovery duration varies by skill and does not depend on weapon stats.
Additionally, some skills restrict which skills can be loaded during their recovery window.
ebi
Posts: 24 Joined: 03-31-25
Last post: 6 days
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# 3. Damage Reaction Duration (Enemy Hit-stun)
The duration of the damage reaction (Hit-stun) inflicted on enemies scales with Attack Speed and hit count. This applies equally across Stagger, Knockback, and Knockdown.
As a general rule, higher hit counts and faster attack speeds result in shorter damage reactions. Hit count has a significantly stronger influence than Attack Speed.
When an enemy is brought into a Deadly state or defeated, their damage reaction is automatically overridden and treated as a Knockdown, even if the attack normally inflicts only Stagger or Knockback. (Note: In cases where an enemy is defeated, if it simultaneously triggers the the Wake-Up Cancel mentioned below, a Knockback may occur instead.)
- Longest: Very Slow 2-Hit
- Shortest: Fast 3-Hit
- Comparison: Fast 2-Hit provides a longer damage reaction than Very Slow 3-Hit. (Note: If the enemy's passive defense triggers, the duration of the damage reaction is reduced.)
## 3-1. Damage Reaction Order by Weapon Stats
- Very Slow 2-Hit (3000ms) > Slow 2-Hit (2800ms) > Normal 2-Hit (2600ms) > Fast 2-Hit (2400ms) > Very Slow 3-Hit = Slow 3-Hit (2200ms) > Normal 3-Hit (2000ms) > Fast 3-Hit (1800ms)
- Knockback / Knockdown Modifier: Adds approximately +200ms of extra duration to the values above.
## 3-2. Dual Wielding Hit Count & Hit-stun Mechanics
As mentioned, dual-wielding Attack Speed is averaged. Total hit counts vary based on weapon combinations:
- Fast 3-Hit + Slow 2-Hit = 5 Hits
- Normal 3-Hit + Slow 2-Hit = 5 Hits
- Slow 3-Hit + Slow 2-Hit = 6 Hits
- Slow 2-Hit + Fast 3-Hit = 6 Hits
- Slow 2-Hit + Normal 3-Hit = 6 Hits
- Slow 2-Hit + Slow 3-Hit = 6 Hits
- Dual 3-Hit Weapons (Any combo) = 6 Hits
- Dual 2-Hit Weapons (Any combo, including Normal/Fast 2-Hit) = 4 Hits (Note: Combinations are listed as Right Hand + Left Hand)
## 3-3. Dual Wield Hit-stun Duration
The actual Hit-stun duration inflicted during dual wielding is calculated using half the total hit count.
(e.g., If dual-wielding War Swords, from the moment the 1st hit connects internally, the enemy is locked for 2600ms before they can act.) Exception: When a normal attack triggers a Knockback/Knockdown while dual-wielding, the enemy Hit-stun defaults to a short duration of roughly 1800ms (equivalent to a Fast 3-Hit weapon), regardless of weapon performance.
## 3-4. Skill Attacks & Bows
- Skills: Unless specified otherwise (such as Charge and Magnum Shot), damage reaction duration for skills is calculated using the same system. (e.g., Using Smash with a Slow 2-Hit weapon keeps an enemy knocked down longer than using Smash with a Fast 3-Hit weapon.)
- Bows: Although hit counts are not displayed in the UI, bows have hidden internal hit counts. High-tier bows (e.g., Ebon, HLB, Wing Bow, etc) are generally 2-Hit, while standard NPC-bought bows (e.g., Leather Long Bow, etc) are generally 3-Hit.
## 3-5. Non-Weapon Attack Mechanics
- Basic Spells & Alchemy: Standard bolt magic (e.g., Firebolt, Icebolt, Lightningbolt) and basic Alchemy skills like Life Drain generally function similarly to the "Normal 3-Hit" reaction duration described above.
- Exceptions: Intermediate magic, Shock, Water Cannon, and certain Demi-skills inflict unique, specialized damage reactions (covered in a later section).
## 3-6. Passive Defense Mechanics
- Ping (Automatic Defense) Overview: Heavy Stander triggers a Ping with a specific chance at all skill levels. Natural Shield and Mana Deflector trigger a Ping with 100% certainty at Level 2 or higher.
- When a Ping occurs, all flinch Hit-stun is completely negated. For Knockback and Knockdown, the enemy's recovery speed from the damage reaction is significantly accelerated.
- Upon a Ping triggering, the enemy AI recognizes that it has successfully blocked the attack. While it typically counters immediately with a normal attack, certain enemy AIs may load a skill instead.
- Because the enemy's damage reaction duration changes depending on whether a Ping triggers, you must observe the outcome and adjust your combo timing accordingly.
- Like player skills, internal definitions exist from Rank F to Rank 1, and depending on that rank, the Ping trigger rate, damage reduction rate, and Down Count increase suppression rate change.
- Heavy Stander: Broadly categorized into 3 levels:
- Level 1: Low chance to trigger Ping, negating Hit-stun. Does not reduce damage taken.
- Level 2: Moderate chance to trigger Ping, negating Hit-stun. Reduces damage taken by a set amount (up to 60%), regardless of whether Ping triggers.
- Level 3: High chance to trigger Ping, negating Hit-stun. Reduces all damage taken to 1, regardless of whether Ping triggers.
- Natural Shield & Mana Deflector: Broadly categorized into 3 levels:
- Level 1: Reduces Down Count buildup, meaning enemies may not be knocked down even when hit with the standard required hit count. Does not provide Ping triggers or damage reduction.
- Level 2: Always triggers Ping against corresponding attack types. Higher skill levels increase damage reduction (up to 70%).
- Level 3: Always triggers Ping against corresponding attack types. Reduces all damage taken to 1.
ebi
Posts: 24 Joined: 03-31-25
Last post: 6 days
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# 4. Mechanics of Knockback and Knockdown
To knock back or knock down an enemy, you must meet one of the following conditions:
1. Max out the enemy's Down Count.
2. Use a skill that inherently triggers a Knockdown.
## 4-1. Follow-Up Attacks (OTG Hits) during Knockback / Knockdown
When an enemy is knocked back or knocked down, landing an attack that builds Down Count before they recover will launch them vertically into the air, resetting them into a Knockdown state once more. (Note: Landing an OTG hit with certain skills, such as Support Shot, Flame Burst, or Shock, will not trigger a second Knockdown, but will still trigger the Wake-Up Cancel described below.)
- Landing an OTG hit overrides the enemy's current damage reaction if it triggers a Knockdown, but will not override it if a Knockdown is not triggered.
- The duration of the enemy's damage reaction from an OTG hit is determined entirely by the specific skill/attack used to hit them.
## 4-2. The Risk of Repeated OTG Hits (Wake-Up Cancel)
If you execute a second consecutive OTG hit on an enemy while they are still in that knocked-down state:
1. The enemy takes no damage reaction (Hit-stun is ignored).
2. Their current damage reaction is instantly cancelled.
3. The enemy immediately stands up and begins their next action without delay.
WARNING:This mechanic synergizes heavily with the enemy AI system (in a way that is extremely disadvantageous to players). It is no exaggeration to say that almost all accidental party wipes or unexpected deaths during combat are caused by triggering this Wake-Up Cancel.
ebi
Posts: 24 Joined: 03-31-25
Last post: 6 days
Last view: 2 hours
# 5. Detailed Skill Mechanics Please do not rely solely on the information in this section.
The information regarding G13S2 is outdated, and some data is currently inaccessible. The content also includes details based on independent verification.
Please note that there may be omissions regarding specifications unique to MabiPro.
Skills currently missing from the list and newly discovered facts will be added successively as verification is completed.
---
## 5-1. Melee Combat Skills
5-1-1. Smash
- I-frames Window: Invincibility frames (I-frames) are granted to the target from the exact moment Smash connects (the instant the enemy enters their damage-taking animation) until they reach a full knockdown state. When an enemy enters an I-frames, various sustained skills are immediately cancelled (like Shadow Spirit, Thunder, etc).
- Party Synergy: When playing with party members using skills like Flame Burst, Thunder, or Crash Shot, timing your Smash carefully around these I-frames will significantly optimize the party's overall DPS.
- Aggro Dropping on Defeat: If this attack kills the target, their aggro is dropped the instant the attack connects. Be aware that this significantly reduces the safety window before another enemy can aggro onto you.
- Post-Attack Recovery Exception: Executing Smash triggers a unique post-attack recovery if you attempt to load Smash again immediately afterward. Loading a different skill instead allows you to begin queuing/loading much faster.
- Skill Priority & Nullification: Smash can be interrupted by an enemy's normal attack or triggered by an enemy's Instinctive Reaction. However, if executed while the enemy is currently in a damage reaction state (unable to act), this vulnerability is negated. - Combo Application: Utilizing this mechanic enables a 2-player infinite combo loop: `Player A Smash` -> `Player A Icebolt` -> `Player B Smash` -> `Player B Icebolt` -> `Player A Smash...`
(Note: This combo is impossible if the enemy possesses Mana Deflector).
5-1-2. Counterattack
- I-frames Window: Invincibility frames (I-frames) are granted to the target from the exact moment Counterattack connects (the instant the enemy enters their attack animation) until they reach a full knockdown state. - Party Synergy: When playing with party members using skills like Flame Burst, Thunder, or Crash Shot, timing your Counterattack carefully around these I-frames will significantly optimize the party's overall DPS.
- Aggro Dropping on Defeat: If this attack kills the target, their aggro is dropped the instant the attack connects. Be aware that this significantly reduces the safety window before another enemy can aggro onto you.
- Post-Attack Recovery Exception: Executing Counterattack triggers a unique post-attack recovery if you attempt to load Counterattack again immediately after it connects. Loading a different skill instead allows you to begin queuing/loading much faster.
- AI Exploitation: Due to how enemy AI functions (covered in detail later), an enemy that suffers a stagger reaction will almost always immediately counter with a normal attack. Therefore, staggering an enemy first with a skill like Bolt Magic allows you to land Counterattacks much more efficiently. (Note: This does not apply if a Critical Hit occurs from the Bolt Magic.)
5-1-3. Windmill
- Wound / I-frames: Does not inflict Wound. Unlike Smash or Counterattack, Windmill does not grant I-frames to the enemy. - Synergy: You can attack enemies hit by Thunder using Windmill without causing a DPS loss (i.e., without cancelling additional lightning strikes). For targets targets by Crash Shot's AOE, positioning your Windmill to knockback mobs into the other player's skill ranges significantly boosts overall party's DPS.
- Buffer / Pre-loading Trick: Once Windmill is fully loaded, click and hold outside its skill range (where the cursor shows an `X`), then drag the cursor into the skill range. Windmill will execute instantaneously the moment an enemy steps into range.
- Player Invincibility & Skill Load Restrictions: After triggering Windmill, your character gains I-frames from the moment the animation starts until you regain freedom of movement.
- During these active I-frames immediately following Windmill, you cannot begin loading skills like Windmill or Counterattack.
- However, most other Combat skills, the certain Alchemy skills, Healing/Magic Shield, any Phoenix Feathers, First Aid, and certain Intermediate Magic can be loaded during these post-Windmill I-frames.
- AI Reset: When Windmill successfully connects with an enemy (and is not blocked by Defense), it completely resets the enemy's AI routine, cancels any skill they are currently loading, and forces them to restart their AI logic from the initial aggro state.
If multiple enemies are currently aggroed on you, and you hit them simultaneously using Windmill, the AI routine reset will only affect one of them. (Note: This is Windmill's most critical mechanic. While generally advantageous to players, it can occasionally work against you depending on the situation.)
- Aggro Mechanics: When hitting multiple enemies, the system internally treats the visually first-hit target as the primary target. If you have not reached the maximum aggro limit for that mob type, that specific target will immediately aggro onto you.
- When hitting specific mob types like Spiders or Fomor Commanders, Windmill triggers Soft Aggro (indicated by a single red exclamation mark `!`, putting them on alert toward your character).
- Aggro Mechanics on Death: If you kill an aggroed enemy using Windmill, the game internally continues to count that enemy as "1 active aggroed enemy" until their corpse completely despawns. This duration is not extended even if the Finish Rule is "Anyone in Party". - Limit & Example: This corpse-aggro retention is capped at a maximum of 1 enemy. For instance, against enemies with an aggro cap of 2 (such as Shadow Lancers), even if you defeat both active Shadow Lancers with Windmill, you may still draw aggro from 1 additional Shadow Lancer while their corpses remain on the field.
- Critical Hit Mechanics: Critical hits bypass the reduction from the enemy's Protection, though the actual damage dealt is still mitigated by Protection.
5-1-4. Charge
- Durability & Proficiency: Does not consume weapon durability or accumulate weapon proficiency; instead, these effects are applied to your equipped shield.
- On-Hit Effect: Landing Charge resets the enemy's Down Count to 0 and inflicts a unique, long-duration knockback that prevents skill loading during its window, regardless of weapon stats.
- Knockback Priority: Unlike other non-knockdown skills, triggering a Critical Hit with Charge will not knock down the target—it consistently deals a knockback instead. (Note: If the target is in a stagger state, Charge applies this knockback behavior. If the enemy is already knocked back or knocked down, Charge acts as an OTG hit.)
- Wake-Up Cancel Immunity: Attacking an enemy knocked back by Charge will not trigger a Wake-Up Cancel.
- Skill Interactivity: Its attack priority functions similarly to normal attacks: it is blocked by Defense and Heavy Stander, triggers enemy Counterattacks, but wins against Smash. - Exception: Charge will not trigger an enemy's Windmill if they have it loaded. (In PvP, because Charge registers movement matching your visual position, a well-timed Windmill can beat Charge.)
- Recovery Integration: Charge can be loaded during the post-attack recovery of Normal Attacks, Windmill, Smash, Counterattack, and all three Bolt spells. - Combo Application: Loading Charge immediately after staggering an enemy with Icebolt or Lightningbolt allows you to safely inflict a knockback state while the target is locked in stagger.
5-1-5. Assault Slash
- Properties: Does not inflict Wound, does not consume weapon durability, is not affected by Support Shot, and does not accumulate weapon proficiency. However, if your weapon is coated with a Poison Potion, it can still inflict poison on enemies without consuming/removing the poison effect from the weapon.
- Activation Window: Becomes usable the instant an enemy internally enters a knockdown state.
- I-frames & Teleport: Grants I-frames to your character while leaping toward the target. Internally, your character's coordinates instantly warp in front of the enemy.
- Usage Conditions: Although activated by a knockdown, Assault Slash cannot be used if the enemy has already taken OTG hits. The enemy's actual state at the exact moment Assault Slash connects does not matter. It is also independent of your own state, meaning you can execute Assault Slash even while suffering a damage reaction yourself.
- Follow-up Timing: Executing Assault Slash slightly late relative to an enemy's knockdown re-inflicts a knockdown/knockback state, allowing you to follow up with skills like Smash or Windmill. However, unlike Charge, the enemy is still capable of loading skills during this window, meaning they may load Counterattack. (Note: Following up with Smash may be impossible if your weapon's damage reaction duration is too short.)
- Damage Registration: Unlike Smash or Counterattack, the attack is officially registered only when the damage numbers visually appear on screen.
5-1-6. Stomp
- Aggro Mechanics: Unless blocked by Defense, this attack does not put enemies into an active aggro state. However, catching specific enemies (such as Spiders or Fomor Commanders) in the attack triggers Soft Aggro (indicated by a single red exclamation mark `!`, putting them on alert). In practice, due to range constraints, you will almost always draw aggro from other enemies.
- Attribute: This attack can be blocked or defended by the enemy's Natural Shield.
## 5-2. Ranged Combat Skills
All ranged skills can be loaded during Windmill's post-activation I-frames; however, note that there is a slight time lag before actual aiming/targeting can begin.
5-2-1. Ranged Attack
- Elven Point-Blank Lock: For Elves, as long as the enemy does not possess Natural Shield, you can endlessly lock them down by pinning them against a wall while firing at point-blank range. (Note: Although a Wake-Up Cancel occurs internally, the second shot immediately re-inflicts a knockback/knockdown state, effectively allowing you to ignore the Wake-Up Cancel.)
5-2-2. Arrow Revolver
- Aiming Speed: Determined by your Ranged Attack rank.
- First Shot Bonus: At Rank 5 or higher, an initial aiming bonus is applied to the 1st shot only. Specifically, aiming starts at 50% for Rank 1.
- Damage Profile: Shots 1 through 4 deal roughly equivalent damage to a standard Ranged Attack, but the 5th shot deals higher damage, bringing the total combined damage at Rank 1 to approximately 600%. (Note: This is a custom setting for Mabipro and differs from the rates on the live servers)
- Quick-Fire Risk: Easy to trigger 4-2 OTG Wake-Up Cancel if shooting very quickly and not waiting for knocked down mobs to get up.
- Stat Scaling: Post-attack recovery scales with the equipped bow's Attack Speed, while the enemy's damage reaction duration scales with the bow's internal hit count.
5-2-3. Magnum Shot
- Aiming Speed: Fixed at 62.5% of a Rank F Ranged Attack speed, independent of any skill ranks.
- Splash Mechanics: Splash damage always occurs to the South regardless of your relative position to the enemy. It covers a 180-degree arc with a radius of 350 at Rank 1. (Note: due to having splash, be careful not to knockdown mobs being targeted by Flame Burst or other AoE skills)
- Dan / Qualification: Reaching Dan 1 reduces the load time for Humans to 500ms, matching Elf load times.
- Knockdown Duration: Inflicts a fixed approximately 3000 ms knockdown duration on the target, regardless of the bow's stat. (Tips: As long as the enemy does not possess Natural Shield, you can endlessly lock them down by pinning them against a wall while firing at point-blank range. It is possible to trigger Wake-Up Cancels if the Magnum Shots are shot too fast, time them well.)
5-2-4. Crash Shot
- Aiming Speed: Fixed at 62.5% of a Rank F Ranged Attack speed, independent of any skill ranks.
- Durability & Proficiency: Consumes 1 hit worth of weapon durability and gains 1 hit worth of proficiency both upon initial impact and upon explosion. In total, using Crash Shot consumes 2 hits of durability and grants 2 hits of proficiency. This consumption is strictly fixed at 2 hits, regardless of how many enemies are caught in the blast. - Weapon Swap Trick: If you swap weapons after landing the initial impact but before the explosion triggers, the explosion will consume durability from your newly swapped weapon, preventing further durability loss on your bow.
- Impact Mechanics:
- Initial impact damage is fixed at 100% (equal to a standard Ranged Attack), regardless of Crash Shot rank.
- Initial impact does not increase the enemy's Down Count. Unless triggering deadly on hit or finishing dead mobs, then the mob gets knocked back before exploding and fragmenting.
- If the impact is blocked by Defense, the enemy will not display a blocking animation; however, Defense triggers internally, preventing them from being staggered.
- If the initial impact results in an OTG hit, no additional knockdown occurs on impact; however, the subsequent explosion and fragments will trigger an additional knockdown.
- Explosion & Fragment Mechanics:
- Critical Hit rate for the explosion and fragments is not reduced/mitigated by the enemy's Protection. However, the actual damage dealt by a critical hit is still reduced by the enemy's Protection.
- Explosion damage equals 150% × (number of fragments generated), dealing up to 900% damage at Rank 1.
- The damage reaction duration from the explosion and fragments does not depend on weapon's stat and is identical to Bolt Magic.
- The explosion and fragments ignore Defense, dealing full damage.
- Normally, the blast is not treated as a AOE attack and will not trigger soft aggro (e.g., on Spiders); however, if the mob server has been running continuously for a long time, it may rarely trigger soft aggro.
- Campfire Synergy: Campfire bonuses normally apply only to the initial impact damage, not to the explosion or fragments. However, if you load Ranged Attack or Magnum Shot and ignite your arrow at a Campfire during the window between initial impact and explosion, the Campfire bonus will apply to the explosion and fragment damage as well.
- Rubber-banding: When this skill lands multiple hits, the player's internal movement stops the moment a hit is registered; consequently, if a hit occurs while you are moving, rubber-banding will happen.
- Damage Calculation: Explosion and fragment damage scales off the initial impact damage (excluding Campfire bonuses). Swapping weapons after firing will not alter the damage.
- Exception: Only Special Upgrade effects from the newly swapped weapon are applied. (Note: This exception was patched as a bug on live servers, so it may also be patched on MabiPro.)
- Party Play Synergy (Crash Shot Stun Loop): In party play, two or more players can alternate firing Crash Shot to deliver massive area-of-effect damage while keeping a large group of enemies permanently locked down.
- Execution: Player A fires Crash Shot. Approximately 500–800ms after Player A's fragment explosion occurs, Player B fires Crash Shot. Player A then follows up with another Crash Shot 500–800ms after Player B's explosion. Repeating this alternating sequence creates a continuous hit-stun loop that prevents enemies from acting.
5-2-5. Support Shot
- Aiming Speed: Determined by your Ranged Attack rank.
- Down Count: Does not affect or increase the enemy's Down Count.
- Damage Profile: Skill damage itself is fixed at 80% of a standard Ranged Attack, regardless of rank.
- Melee Damage Boost Duration: The melee damage bonus applied to the target lasts approximately 3 seconds.
- OTG Behavior & Wake-Up Cancel: If Support Shot lands as an OTG hit, it does not trigger an additional knockdown. Furthermore, if it hits an enemy that has already been struck by a follow-up hit, it will not override the enemy's damage reaction duration and will trigger a Wake-Up Cancel instead.
5-2-6. Mirage Missile
- Aiming Speed: Determined by your Ranged Attack rank.
- Campfire Restriction: Does not receive bonuses from Campfires.
- DoT potency: Affected by the enemy's defense and protection.
5-2-7. Final Shot
- Aiming Speed & Load Time Buffs: While active, aiming speed is significantly boosted and Archery skill loading times are reduced. At Rank 1, aiming speed is approximately 250% faster, and skill loading times are reduced by roughly half.
- Ranged Damage Reaction Immunity: While active, all damage reactions from bow/ranged attacks (including Knockdowns) are completely negated, though you still take full damage.
- Melee & Magic Flinch Immunity: While active, Flinch/Stagger from melee and magic attacks is negated (though Down Count still accumulates normally). However, Knockback and Knockdown from these sources are NOT negated, and you take full damage.
- Exception: Knockbacks and Knockdowns from Water Cannon and Wind Blast are completely negated (though Down Count still accumulates normally).
- Skill Cancellation Condition: If you are placed into a Knockback or Knockdown state while the skill is active, Final Shot will immediately end/cancel.
- Archery Skill Lockout (Cannot Cancel Loaded Skills): Once an Archery skill is loaded while Final Shot is active, it CANNOT be canceled. Attempting to perform a cancel action—whether by pressing the Esc key or loading another skill to overwrite it—will cancel Final Shot itself instead.
- Action Restrictions: While active, you cannot use non-Archery skills (including Transformations and Demigod), consume potions, or swap weapons.
- Exception: Toggling Mana Shield and Meditation ON/OFF is allowed.
ebi
Posts: 24 Joined: 03-31-25
Last post: 6 days
Last view: 2 hours
# 6. Magic Skills
Unlike physical attacks, magic damage variance is determined by a stat called "Magic Balance" rather than standard Balance. Magic Balance increases with higher base spell constants, Int, and Magic Mastery ranks, capped at a maximum of 100% (yielding a maximum damage occurrence frequency of 50%).
While stats and enchants increase or decrease damage, Magic Balance, and Critical Hit rate, weapon stats (such as a wand's base Critical rate or Balance) do not affect magic performance.
Damage enchants are not reflected at 100% value; instead, they are scaled down by skill-specific coefficients (resulting in a smaller effect than their stated numerical value). As an exception, Hailstorm receives no benefit from damage enchants at all.
Casting speed is fixed for each skill and rank. It does not scale with stats, with exceptions for Casting Speed Potions and weapon upgrades.
6-1. Ice bolt
- Damage Reaction: Inflicts a Damage Reaction Duration equivalent to a "Normal 3-Hit" weapon.
- Multiple Charges: Casting multiple charges provides no damage multiplier bonus.
6-2. Lightning bolt
- Damage Reaction: Inflicts a Damage Reaction Duration equivalent to a "Normal 3-Hit" weapon.
- AOE & Aggro Mechanics: When cast with multiple charges, it causes AOE damage based on the charge count. Catching specific enemies (such as Spiders or Fomor Commanders) in this AOE triggers Soft Aggro (indicated by a single red exclamation mark `!`, putting them on alert toward your character). (Note: If hitting less mobs than the charges can splash on, the initial target gets knocked back (eg. hitting 2 mobs with 3 charges).)
- Multiple Charges: Casting multiple charges provides no damage multiplier bonus.
- Party Stacking: If nearby party members have Lightningbolt cast with visible lightning orbs active, their charge count adds to your AOE count. For example, firing a 1-charge shot next to a party member holding 5 charges will hit the primary target + 5 surrounding enemies. This does not consume the party member's charges.
- Critical Hit Mechanics: If a Critical Hit occurs on the primary target, all AOE hits are guaranteed to be Critical Hits. The Critical Hit rate is calculated using the primary target's Protection; surrounding enemies' Protection does not affect the Critical Hit chance.
6-3. Fire bolt
- Damage Reaction: Inflicts a Damage Reaction Duration equivalent to a "Normal 3-Hit" weapon.
- Hit Registration & Knockdown Duration: The skill hit registration occurs the moment the target enters range and an action is executed against them (the instant the charged flames expand around your character). Because the knockdown duration is calculated from this exact moment of hit registration, it feels exceptionally short.
- Damage Multiplier: Up to 4 charges, damage simply scales linearly charges x damage. However, at a full 5 charges, a unique 6.5x damage multiplier is applied instead of 5x.
6-4. Thunder
- Target Count: Increases with skill rank on the 1st charge. At Rank 1, it hits up to 4 targets.
- Charge Scaling: Stacking additional charges increases both the number of additional lightning strikes and the maximum number of targets caught. The damage of the initial hit and final knockdown strike, as well as the AOE radius, do not change with charge count.
- Target Limit Formula: The total number of strikeable targets is fixed at ((Base targets by Rank) + (Charges - 1) x 2). At Rank 1 with 5 charges, it can strike up to 12 enemies simultaneously.
- AOE Range: The AOE radius centers on the primary target and measures approximately 500 (equivalent to Rank 1 Windmill). This radius does not scale with rank.
- Delay: Increasing skill rank or stacking multiple charges extends the delay window before additional strikes land.
- Invincible Enemies: Additional lightning strikes will not trigger against enemies in an invincible state.
- Initial Hit-stun & Interactions: Landing the initial hit inflicts a unique Hit-stun state that prevents almost all actions (loading skills, moving, weapon swapping, etc.), with the sole exception of Magic Shield skills. - Damage Reaction Overwrite: Knockbacks or knockdowns from other attacks will overwrite the target's Damage Reaction Duration. While this cancels the special Hit-stun state, the remaining lightning strikes will still occur.
- Interruption Exceptions: The special Hit-stun state does not trigger if Mana Deflector or armor ping effects occur, if the enemy is in Defense stance, or if they are hit while under Lightning Shield.
- Restrictions: Thunder also disables pet mounting and weapon switching until an action is done by the player (i.e., hitting something). so to do Thunder + Crash Shot combo with guard + bow, the player will need to normal attack or something before they can switch to a bow. - Also, if you load a skill without moving after using Thunder, you will be unable to activate that skill. If you move before loading it, however, you can activate it without issue.
- Rubber-banding: When this skill lands multiple hits, the player's internal movement stops the moment a hit is registered; consequently, if a hit occurs while you are moving, rubber-banding will happen.
- Critical Hit Mechanics: Critical hits bypass the reduction from the enemy's Protection, though the actual damage dealt is still mitigated by Protection.
- Windmill Synergy: This skill cannot normally be cast during Windmill's I-frames, but can be cast during Windmill's I-frames only when the skill can be used via the "enabled" effect granted by equipment.
6-5. Ice Spear
- Explosion & Freezing: Triggers an explosion that deals damage approximately 5000ms after hitting the target. Until the explosion occurs, enemies without Mana Deflector (or those with low-rank Mana Deflector that do not trigger ping against magic, but slowly build up the down count) enter a "Frozen" state and are immune to all skills except Flame Burst. - Party Play Warning: This is the most crucial consideration when using Icespear in party play. No matter how powerful your magic gear is, the total damage you can inflict with Ice Spear over the 5-second I-frame window will rarely exceed the party's combined DPS.
- Flame Burst Interaction: As an exception, Flame Burst can be used against enemies in a "Frozen" state to clear their disabled action state, including I-frames. However, they will still perform normal combat actions and subsequently trigger the timed Ice Spear explosion as usual.
- Initial AOE Range: The initial attack area traces the path of a circle with a rank-dependent radius moving along the straight line from you to the target. At Rank 1, this radius is 350 (0.7x Rank 1 Windmill, Mabipro's custom value).
- Exceptions to I-frames: If Mana Deflector or armor ping triggers, if fired against a shielded enemy's Defense, or if it hits an enemy under Ice Shield, a "Frozen" state will not occur, but the timed explosion will still go off.
- Propagation on Defeat: If the target is defeated, the explosion propagates to surrounding enemies at half the power of the hit skill. This propagation radius scales with Icespear's rank, reaching approximately 700 at Rank 1 (1.4x Rank 1 Windmill, Mabipro's custom value). This propagation chains continuously until enemies within range survive the hit.
- Rubber-banding: When this skill lands multiple hits, the player's internal movement stops the moment a hit is registered; consequently, if a hit occurs while you are moving, rubber-banding will happen.
- Damage Multiplier: Up to 4 charges, damage simply scales linearly charges x damage. However, at a full 5 charges, a unique 6.5x damage multiplier is applied instead of 5x.
- Critical Hit Mechanics: Critical hits bypass the reduction from the enemy's Protection, though the actual damage dealt is still mitigated by Protection.
- Windmill Synergy: This skill cannot normally be cast during Windmill's I-frames, but can be cast during Windmill's I-frames only when the skill can be used via the "enabled" effect granted by equipment.
6-6. Fireball
- AOE Range: The explosion radius is 800 (1.6x Rank 1 Windmill) centered on the designated target coordinates. Because the landing spot does not track moving enemies, fast-moving targets can sometimes run out of the radius.
- Critical Hit Mechanics: Critical hits bypass the reduction from the enemy's Protection, though the actual damage dealt is still mitigated by Protection.
- Windmill Synergy: This skill cannot normally be cast during Windmill's I-frames, but can be cast during Windmill's I-frames only when the skill can be used via the "enabled" effect granted by equipment.
6-7. Blaze
- Activation Failure: If attempted to use on invincible mobs (such as those during Smash or Windmill I-frames) or if the target is too far or position desynced, the skill will fail and cancel.
- Critical Hit Mechanics: Critical hits bypass the reduction from the enemy's Protection, though the actual damage dealt is still mitigated by Protection.
- Windmill Synergy: This skill can be cast during Windmill's I-frames.
- WARNING: When Ice Spear is used to set up Blaze and there is a Flame Burst nearby, the frozen mob can retaliate through the frozen status and interrupt your skill usage.
6-8. Hailstorm
- AOE Range: AOE radius increases with the number of charges, reaching approximately 200 at Rank 1 (0.4x Rank 1 Windmill).
- Damage Multiplier: Up to 4 charges, damage simply scales linearly charges x damage. However, at a full 5 charges, a unique 6.5x damage multiplier is applied instead of 5x.
- Critical Hit Mechanics: Critical hit rate is not exempt from the enemy's Protection reduction.
6-9. Healing
- Defense Bonus: The Defense buff is fixed at 4x charges, independent of rank or stats. As an exception, it grants a Defense increase of 5 only when 1 charge remains.
- Windmill Synergy: This skill can be cast during Windmill's I-frames.
6-10. The Four Magic Shields
- Overlapping Effects: Standing in an area where two or more shields overlap allows you to receive their stacked effects concurrently.
- Windmill Synergy: These skills can be cast during Windmill's I-frames.
6-11. Party Healing & Restoration
- Windmill Synergy: These skills can be cast during Windmill's I-frames.
6-12. Fusion Bolt
- Elemental Properties: Inherits properties based on the combined bolt elements (e.g., Icebolt multi-target casting, Firebolt damage multipliers, and Lightningbolt chaining).
- Casting Speed & Ping Impact: Total cast time depends on the individual cast speed of each bolt as inputted. Higher ping/latency may introduce a delay before the second bolt can be queued/inputted.
- Wand Requirement: The element of the first casted bolt must match the elemental type of your equipped wand (e.g., starting a fusion with Firebolt requires a Fire Wand, while starting with Icebolt requires an Ice Wand). Choosing the optimal wand comes down to personal preference.
- MabiPro Custom Changes: On MabiPro, damage has been buffed to +45% at Rank 1. Additionally, many fusion lock scenarios have been fixed (with one exception noted below).
- CRITICAL WARNING (Fusion Lock Glitch): Under moderate to high ping/latency, buffering the second bolt cast so that it triggers right as the first bolt finishes casting WILL result in a Fusion Lock. Once locked, your character cannot act until you Change Channel or Relog.
ebi
Posts: 24 Joined: 03-31-25
Last post: 6 days
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# 7. Alchemy Skills
Damage enchants are not reflected at 100% value; instead, they are scaled down by skill-specific coefficients (resulting in a smaller effect than their stated numerical value).
Enchants that boost specific elemental alchemy damage are reflected accurately according to their stated values, and their effect is multiplied by the number of charges.
Because damage enchants are calculated only once even when multi-charging, their overall value is generally low—though having them is still better than nothing.
For cylinders, only the Critical Hit rate stat affects alchemy skills, while the cylinder's Attack power, Balance, hit count, and attack speed affect Melee combat skills exclusively.
Critical Hit rate and Balance are influenced by your stats and enchants.
7-1. Water Cannon
- Distance & Damage Scaling: Damage is significantly boosted when used at close range. While the exact distance decay brackets are unknown, damage drops off drastically at longer ranges—dealing only around 15% of the skill's base damage near its maximum range. Note that bonus damage from enchantments and Mastery skills is not affected by distance decay.
- Distance & Down Count Scaling (Knockback Mechanics):
- Point-blank hits accumulate the maximum down count in a single strike.
- As the distance increases, the number of hits required to trigger a knockback also increases (exact distance brackets are currently unknown). Consequently, damage reaction durations scale accordingly with the required hit counts.
- At full 5 charges, Water Cannon guarantees a knockback regardless of distance.
- Below 5 charges, the charge count itself does not increase down count accumulation (i.e., 1-charge and 4-charge attacks require the same hit count to knock back from the same distance).
- Minor Position Desync: Water Cannon hits can cause minor position desync if the target is moving, because the enemy is stunned upon the skill's usage rather than when the projectile visually connects
- Damage Multiplier: Up to 4 charges, damage simply scales linearly charges x damage. However, at a full 5 charges, a unique 6.5x damage multiplier is applied instead of 5x.
- Elemental Defense: Affected by Ice Shield.
7-2. Wind Blast
- Knockdown Priority: Ignored Defense and inflicts a knockdown.
- Elemental Defense: Affected by Lightning Shield.
- Cooldown/Spam Warning: Repeated use displays the message "might be too much for cylinder to handle," but switching cylinders does not bypass or prevent the cooldown.
7-3. Flame Burst
- Aggro Mechanics: Unless blocked by Defense, this attack does not put enemies into an active aggro state. However, catching specific enemies (such as Spiders or Fomor Commanders) in the attack triggers Soft Aggro (indicated by a single red exclamation mark `!`, putting them on alert). In practice, due to range constraints, you will almost always draw aggro from other enemies.
- Action Restriction & Cancellation: You cannot move or load skills during the animation, but you can interrupt and cancel the attack by pressing the Esc key (the skill cancel key).
- Ice Spear Interaction: As an exception, Flame Burst can be used against enemies in a "Frozen" state to clear their disabled action state, including I-frames. However, they will still perform normal combat actions and subsequently trigger the timed Ice Spear explosion as usual.
- Critical Hit Mechanics: Critical hits bypass the reduction from the enemy's Protection, though the actual damage dealt is still mitigated by Protection.
7-4. Sand Burst
- Blind Mechanics: Success rate is determined solely by skill rank and the enemy's Combat Power (CP). Your own stats, equipment, and skill ranks have no effect.
- Blinker Interaction: Can be used when a Blinker floats into the air; successfully inflicting blind will knock it down.
- Elemental Defense: Affected by Natural Shield.
7-5. Life Drain
- Over-Time Damage: Damage over time does not scale with equipment or stats, depending solely on the skill rank. At maximum Rank 1, it deals 900 dmg / 1500 ms (absorption recovers half of the damage dealt, though this ratio is slightly lower at lower ranks). Critical hits do not occur on this DOT damage.
- Additional Damage: Affected by Life Drain skill rank, enchants, stats, and Alchemy Mastery (including elemental masteries).
- Defense/Protection Bypass: All damage originating from Life Drain completely ignores the enemy's Defense and Protection.
- Windmill Synergy: This skill can be loaded during Windmill's I-frames.
7-6. Shock
- Damage Reaction Duration: Inflicts a 1000ms Hit-stun at Rank 2 and below, and 1500ms at Rank 1.
- Interruption Exceptions: The flinch/Hit-stun will not trigger if Mana Deflector or armor ping occurs, if the enemy is in Defense stance, or if they are hit while on Lightning Shield.
- Discharge Cycles: The discharge cycle begins 600ms after skill activation and discharges every 1000ms. An enemy that has been hit by a discharge gains resistance specifically against discharges for 2000ms.
- Aggro Mechanics: When hitting multiple enemies, the system treats the visually first-hit target as the primary target. If you have not reached the aggro limit for that mob type, that target will aggro onto you.
- Soft Aggro: Catching specific enemies like Spiders or Fomor Commanders triggers Soft Aggro (indicated by a single red exclamation mark `!`).
- AI Reset: Triggers an AI reset effect on 1 randomly selected enemy out of all targets hit during a single discharge cycle. You cannot control which enemy is selected.
- Non-Reacting Enemies: Using this on enemies with no damage reaction (such as Doppelgangers) makes them look like they are flinching, but this is purely visual, and they may actually still be moving.
- OTG Behavior: Landing as an OTG hit does not trigger an additional knockdown. If it hits an enemy already caught in follow-up attacks, it will not overwrite their damage reaction duration.
- Rubber-banding: When this skill lands multiple hits, the player's internal movement stops the moment a hit is registered; consequently, if a hit occurs while you are moving, rubber-banding will happen.
- Damage Scaling: Damage is influenced solely by skill rank and Alchemy Mastery (including elemental masteries).
- Critical Hit Mechanics: Critical hits bypass the reduction from the enemy's Protection, though the actual damage dealt is still mitigated by Protection.
- Windmill Synergy: This skill can be loaded during Windmill's I-frames.
ebi
Posts: 24 Joined: 03-31-25
Last post: 6 days
Last view: 2 hours
# 8. Demigod Skills
8-1. Awakening of Light
- Knockback Duration: The knockback and knockdown inflicted upon activation are exceptionally long, lasting until the post-attack recovery of the activation animation fully completes.
- Windmill Synergy: This skill can be loaded during Windmill's I-frames.
8-2. Fury of Light
- Aggro Mechanics: Unless blocked by Defense, this attack does not put enemies into an active aggro state. Catching specific enemies like Spiders or Fomor Commanders triggers Soft Aggro (single red exclamation mark `!`).
- Defense: Blocked by Mana Deflector.
- Critical Hit Mechanics: Critical hits bypass the reduction from the enemy's Protection, though the actual damage dealt is still mitigated by Protection.
- Windmill Synergy: This skill can be loaded during Windmill's I-frames.
8-3. Shadow Spirit
- Spirit consumption: 50 Spirit is consumed for each hit landed on a target. The maximum Spirit capacity at Rank 1 is 1,800 (meaning the effect can be maintained for a total of 36 hits without needing to gather more Spirit). When the skill is activated, the amount of Spirit sent to the target enemy is equal to your current total Spirit holdings. If the enemy is defeated before all the sent Spirit is consumed, the remaining Spirit is not used up but is instead retrieved. Consequently, after activating the skill, you cannot send additional Spirit until either the enemy is defeated while some of the sent Spirit remains, or you retrieve Spirit again during the skill's duration.
- Targeting: When used on yourself, the skill is automatically applied to all surrounding enemies.
- Defense/Protection Bypass: All damage generated completely ignores the enemy's Defense and Protection.
- Passive Defense: Not affected by Passive Defense.
- Cancellation: The skill is immediately cancelled if the enemy enters an I-frame state.
- Spirit Collection: When gathering more spirit on dead bodies, cancelling skill after targeting corpse will skip animation but still count for gathering spirit.
- Scaling: Damage increases slightly based on the sum of the user's skill ranks.
ebi
Posts: 24 Joined: 03-31-25
Last post: 6 days
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# 9. Enemy AI Mechanics
Monsters act in accordance with their respective AI behavior patterns.
In addition to the skills they use, timing, and movement, various factors are involved, such as the time required to trigger aggro and whether they can enter a soft aggro state.
The maximum number of enemies that can aggro onto you simultaneously is unrelated to enemy AI and is set individually for each monster type.
Since it is impossible to cover every single variation, this section focuses primarily on AI types that players are likely to encounter frequently.
## 9-1. Baseline Rules & Assumptions
For convenience, behaviors that function mostly the same—despite minor differences—are grouped together.
Landing certain actions will reset an enemy's AI routine.
- An enemy hit by Windmill (unless blocked by Defense) will have its AI routine reset; however, this will not reset the AI routines of all targets within range.
- An enemy targeted by Shock's discharge will have its AI routine reset; however, this will not reset the AI routines of all targets within range.
- When a Critical Hit occurs from an attack that generates any form of aggro, the enemy's AI routine may be reset.
(The exact conditions remain unclear, as critical hits sometimes reset the routine and sometimes do not.)
- If an enemy's aggro state is reset, its AI routine is reset, and its aggro is cleared.
- Across all AI types, performing any action on an enemy can potentially shift aggro even when an AI reset does not occur, barring specific conditions. This chance is determined by a probability unique to each AI, and the timing of its occurrence varies.
In the following sections, the term "Skill Reload" refers to the following phenomenon: "If an enemy takes an attack without a Critical Hit during the window between loading a skill and completing its preparation, the enemy will re-load the same skill and immediately execute a normal attack with that skill loaded, skipping any observational behavior (attempting to execute the loaded skill against the target)."
In the following sections, the term "Skill Attack" encompasses all of the following: "Normal attacks, skill attacks, non-damaging skills like Defense, and passive skills including Passive Defenses and Instinctive Reaction."
## 9-2. Type 1 - Standard Shadow Mission Monsters Applies to: Tailteann Melee Fomors, Alchemists, standard Goblins, standard Skeletons, etc.
These enemies do not attack immediately upon aggroing. Instead, they always move away from the aggroed target, run a set distance, and then load/use a skill. This means landing a Windmill forces the target to re-enter its observational phase, making it an extremely effective survival strategy when taking multiple aggros.
When already hostile toward someone, an enemy in a standby state (not attempting to use a skill against its aggro target) that takes an attack from a non-aggroed player will shift its aggro to the player who dealt a knockdown or knockback after its next skill execution or after a certain duration. If hit by a stagger-only attack, it immediately counters with a normal attack toward the attacker while having a moderate chance to shift its aggro to that player.
When already hostile toward someone, regardless of the situation, taking a stagger attack (without knockback/knockdown) from any player causes the enemy to execute a Skill Attack against the player who dealt the stagger. This state persists until the Skill Attack actually executes or a significant amount of time passes. This state cannot be cancelled by attacks that deal knockback or knockdown. You can exploit this behavior: for example, if you hit an active Shadow Warrior with Icebolt and then use Play Dead, you can continuously hit the enemy with knockback/knockdown-only attacks(exclude Windmill) for a while . If the enemy is initially unaggroed, hitting it twice with Icebolt creates a situation where it is staggered post-aggro, yielding the same result.
When an enemy triggers a Skill Reload, it will not leave this skill standby state until the loaded skill is actually executed or it takes a stagger attack. For example, if an active Shadow Warrior triggers a Skill Reload, you can observe its behavior for a moment. If it does not dash toward you, it enters a state where it holds Defense or Counterattack without cancelling them. Since these are passive/reactive skills, the enemy remains targeted on you but effectively cannot attack, allowing you to ignore 1 active aggro slot as long as you do not hit it.
## 9-3. Type 2 - Highly Aggressive Monsters Applies to: Tara Skeleton Fomors, Shadow Wizards, Troll-type monsters, Black Ship Rats, etc.
These enemies may attack immediately upon aggroing, though they may also circle around observationally or load skills.
When already hostile toward someone, regardless of the situation, taking a stagger attack (without knockback/knockdown) from any player causes the enemy to execute a Skill Attack against the player who dealt the stagger. This state persists until the Skill Attack actually executes or a short duration passes. Since this state is cleared by any subsequent attack, the Play Dead strategy used against Type 1 will not work.
When an enemy triggers a Skill Reload, it induces a situation nearly identical to Type 1; however, it may cancel the loaded skill after a short duration.
## 9-4. Type 3-1 - Archer-Type Monsters Applies to: Standard bow-using monsters (excluding [Skeleton] Shadow Archers)
While rare for them to attack immediately upon aggroing, they will use Ranged Attack or Magnum Shot within a short timeframe.
Once knocked down, they swap weapons and switch to melee attack mode.
Certain Goblin Archers (such as those inhabiting Courcle) behave slightly differently and may take actions including melee attacks immediately upon aggroing.
When an enemy triggers a Skill Reload, it induces a situation nearly identical to Type 1; however, it may cancel the loaded skill after a short duration.
## 9-5. Type 3-2 - Dedicated Archer-Type Monsters Applies to: (Skeleton) Shadow Archers
They immediately use Ranged Attack or Magnum Shot upon aggroing, after which they either circle around observationally or continue using Archery skills repeatedly.
They do not use Defense unless attacked.
They do not possess Combat Mastery internally and are completely incapable of executing melee attacks. (This means that summoning a pet and having it continuously normal attack them completely seals all of their actions. Additionally, because they internally have a fixed arrow count of around 100, they will cease taking action once all arrows are exhausted.)
Minor AI routine variations exist depending on the mission in which they appear. While their default aggro limit is 2, a tiny fraction of missions feature variants with an aggro limit of 1.
The most dangerous variants are those appearing in missions like BfT, which possess wide vision, trigger aggro at ultra-high speed, and have a high probability of executing an immediate attack right after aggroing.
## 9-6. Type 4 - Soft-Aggro Monsters Applies to: Insects such as Spiders, Lagodessas, Spider Wasps; Sahagins, Fomor Commanders, and certain other monsters.
They may attack immediately upon aggroing, though at a lower frequency than Type 2.
When already hostile toward someone, regardless of the situation, taking a stagger attack (without knockback/knockdown) from any player causes the enemy to execute a Skill Attack against the player who dealt the stagger. This state persists until the Skill Attack actually executes or a short duration passes. Since this state is cleared by any subsequent attack, the Play Dead strategy used against Type 1 will not work.
When an enemy triggers a Skill Reload, it induces a situation nearly identical to Type 1. If there are no incoming attacks from surrounding players, this state is maintained for a relatively long time, though it may be cancelled by soft-aggro-related behaviors described below (with minor differences depending on the monster).
### Understanding Soft Aggro
Strictly speaking, there are 2 patterns of Soft Aggro:
1. Active Soft Aggro: The enemy voluntarily enters an alert state.
2. Passive Soft Aggro: Triggered by landing specific actions.
Passive Soft Aggro occurs when landing specific attacks on unaggroed monsters.
Actions like Flame Burst, Shock, Windmill, and splash damage from various attacks generally fall under this category. (Detailed in the skill section.)
Monsters in this state generally do not take hostile actions, but instead begin stalking and alerting around your position.
Monsters in this state will not attack you unless you directly land an action that draws direct aggro.
Active Soft Aggro is a phenomenon that non-hostile monsters may trigger toward the nearest player who is already hostile with the maximum number of aggroed monsters.
In this scenario, if the number of monsters currently in Hard Aggro or Soft Aggro decreases, monsters in Active Soft Aggro will transition into Hard Aggro toward you.
The number of enemies that can enter Active Soft Aggro is fixed per monster type, but under normal circumstances, at least 1 enemy will enter this state when conditions are met.
Both types of Soft Aggro count toward the monster's actual active aggro limit. (For example, if you inflict Passive Soft Aggro on 2 Sulfur Spiders—which have an aggro cap of 2—an additional Spider will enter Active Soft Aggro, creating a situation where the remaining enemies will not target you at all.)
### Precautions for Soft Aggro in Party Play
Monsters in a soft aggro state are relatively safe for the player they are targeting, but they can be somewhat dangerous as they may transition into a hard aggro state toward other players at very high speed.
If another player's hard aggro has not reached the maximum aggro limit and they are within the aggro detection range of a soft aggro monster, it can trigger a hard aggro state toward that other player with incredible speed.
It is generally best not to get too close to players who mainly use Flame Burst or players holding multiple monsters with Windmill.
## 9-7. Extra - Monsters without all Damage Reactions Applies to: Doppelgangers, Basilisks, Dullahans, etc.
While this is not a MECE classification within the context of AI specifications, they are listed here because their lack of Damage Reactions leads to unique behaviors.
In this context, "Without all Damage Reactions" means possessing the ability—often referred to as "Advanced Heavy Stander"—whereby the enemy does not flinch, suffer knockback, or get knocked down upon taking any attack (except when dying or entering a deadly).
Because they lack Damage Reactions, taking any attack causes a flaw where—unless the conditions for that skill to resolve are met—they cannot execute the skill yet cannot cancel it either. Furthermore, they will attempt to immediately execute a normal attack against the attacker.
Exploiting this: if a monster loads a skill and you hit them with an attack that does not clear that loaded skill, they will attempt to execute a normal attack without clearing their loaded skill state.
For example, if they load Defense, attacking solely with Smash / Firebolt / Magnum Shot, or if they load Counterattack, attacking solely with Firebolt / Magnum Shot will trap them in a deadlock: "The AI routine cannot progress further until a normal attack executes, but because a skill is already loaded, normal attacks cannot trigger, and because the conditions for the loaded skill are not met, the skill cannot execute either."
Note that monsters of this type shift aggro relatively easily, so successfully locking them does not guarantee complete safety. (However, since most of these are boss-type monsters, it is easy to delegate them to a single player who understands this mechanic for the safest resolution.)
While Basilisks and Dullahans can be "locked" using this method, Doppelgangers possess only Alchemy skills, making them virtually impossible to lock.
Also, since this is merely a characteristic derived from passive skills and resetting the AI routine via Windmill remains entirely effective, having a sufficient number of members allows you to keep neutralizing them by continuously spamming Windmill to repeatedly reset their AI routine. With well-timed coordination, this can be achieved even with around 4 players (including pets), but in practice, having fewer than 6 players will likely result in a high probability of accidents occurring.