Overlord guide

As an Overlord, you are a master of seals and clan buffs. The bad news? Seals and clan buffs take a lot of MP and SP. Change into robes if you aren't wearing them already; with buffs that cost 257+ MP — yet can buff an entire clan of 40 people if they stand near you! — you will need that extra robe boost.

If you're hunting alone, use the party buffs, as they use much less MP then the clan buffs. SImilarly, if you are hunting in a party that is primarily clan, still use the party buffs. Even if you have more then one party of clan members on a hunt, it costs less MP for you to switch parties and do the party buffs twice. Basically, just use the clan buffs when you need speed or you have more then two parties worth of clan members.

The higher you get, the more you will start to notice the difference between clan and party buffs. If you are primarily a buff/melee Overlord (that is, you don't use your MP on much else) you might want to consider using clan buffs on partied clan members, or even when you are soloing.

Your seals and a lot of your primary DoT spells affect more then one monster, so you might want to find other area attackers to hunt with (for example, Wizard types and polearm users).

Dreaming Spirit and DoT spells are still your best bet for soloing; when grouped, consider taking the line of buffer and debuffer; your seals are great for debuffing enemies!

Seal of Silence stops monsters from using magic. This is a good example of "know thy enemy." If you know your enemy uses spells, this skill is very helpful in keeping that magic off you. On the other hand, using this skill on an enemy who has no spells is like beating a dead horse.

Seal of Winter reduces attack speed of surrounding monsters by 10%. Whether soloing or grouping, you will definitely notice a 10% decrease in the attack speed of a foe.

When the going gets tough, the tough get going; unluckily for Orcs, you can't go anywhere fast enough for it to matter. Thus, when you find yourself in a fight too hard for you, use Fear and Dreaming Spirit like there's no tomorrow. Then get going!

HP/MP by Level: same as Warcryer (next page).

Seals are problematic, however, when fighting monsters. In order to make them effective, several monsters need to all be very close to you, which probably means they are all beating on you — not a good thing. To make matters worse, the seal spells have a very high miss rate, and often simply do nothing. While in large-scale player vs. player battles these spells can often be a great boon, they are usually a waste of time away from major battlefields.

Soloing or Grouping. You're going to get better experience if you group up. It's a fact of life for everyone by the time they are in their twenties. But the Shaman is also one of the better solo classes in the game. Able to take both roles well — either contributing to groups with good damage, heal over times, and buffs, or putting those skills to solo play — the Shaman is a versatile class that is a good pick for someone who likes options. Soloing is generally a far better way to earn coin than grouping, so use it to stay in good gear.

Adena Quests. By the time you leave Orcland and head to the mainland for the first time, you should be in outstanding equipment. Orcland has some of the best repeatable adena quests in the game, and many players head back there during their 20s to continue farming those quests for coin. There are also some mainland adena quests that you can repeat over and over — look for those, because staying in the best equipment possibly is crucial to success.