LINEAGE II · PRIMA GUIDE · 2004
PvE hunting and efficiency
Learn how the guide approaches solo hunting, enemy selection and kiting, with creature-name colors explained alongside the advice.
Player vs. environment
Get your weapon of choice first — then worry about armor!
Mana Points and Hit Points are fully regenerated each time you gain a new level. You can afford to drop way low, if you know you can survive — you'll be fully restored as soon as the combat is over.
Before you go on a hunt, it's helpful to know what mobs will aggressively attack, which ones will help those of their own kind, and which ones will just stand by while you whack its twin several feet away.
If you're in rugged terrain and about to attack a mob that you know might get help, take a quick look around trees, boulders and other obstacles. On occasion, a second enemy is inconveniently hidden and will attack once you hit the exposed one.
Always try to keep your Hit Points and Mana Points evenly balanced. That gives you the best chance at survivability. Low on HP? Use an attack skill that requires MP. Low on MP? Rely on your physical attack.
Don't quaff potions before combat. Several HoT (heal-over-time) potions apply a large boost up front, then restore HP slowly for the duration of the potion. If you're already at full health, you'll lose some of its effectiveness. Try waiting until you're between 50% and 70% of full health.
Bandages stop bleeding effects, and Antidotes stop poisoning effects. (But they have to be powerful enough for the wound you're trying to negate.)
If you fall below 25% or so of your HP, start running away. Point and click somewhere far off into the horizon, and click your mouse thumbwheel to check your rear view every once in a while. Running is a better option than standing there and dying. Plus, if other players see you running, they'll often help you out by hitting whatever's chasing you.
Conversely, if you see someone running away, you should always ask if he needs help first. If someone is kiting (running away to regenerate HP or MP), he may get upset if you attack his kill.
When it's time to flee for your life, try this trick. Find a sharp corner in the architecture or the landscape and "scrape off" the mob(s) chasing you. In many cases, the enemy won't follow you down a side corridor or around the bend of a hill.
Some monsters start running back to their camps when they hit 50% health — for instance, Tureks and Mahums do this. You may have to chase down your kills to finish them off. But be aware that they might be running for protection; try not to chase one right into a nest of red mobs.
Critters always seem to want to fight from equal footing. If you attack from a set of stairs or a platform, your enemy will usually try to find a way to climb up before attacking. Obviously, this can give you a great advantage when you're fighting something tough.
You may notice some weapons have both a soulshot and spiritshot rating. Fighters can use soulshots before striking, to apply extra physical damage. Casters can use spiritshots and then cast spells while wielding that weapon to get a magical attack boost. Before you use that weapon, click the appropriate shot type.
Kiting
Learn it, use it, live it. Here's a quick tutorial: using a bow (or attack spell) shoot at your target once. Before the arrow even makes contact, turn tail and run a few steps (the chances of you missing are slim to none at this point). Now stop and fire another arrow. Rinse and repeat until your target is dead. Because of your speed you can effectively out run almost anything from Levels 1 — 20, with a few exceptions such as spiders.
Just because you can attack something doesn't mean you should. Take some time to figure out your fighting efficiency. If you hit 10 times to kill creature X and get 500 XP, then you're really only getting about 50 XP per hit. But, if you can kill another creature with three swift blows and get 270 XP for it, you're earning 90 XP per kill.
Similarly, if you kite (attack, run away to regain HP or MP, then attack again), your fighting efficiency over time might be reduced.
Don't attack similar critters that are standing within ten or so paces of one another, or they'll probably help each other. (One solution: find a buddy on the fighting field and coordinate your attacks so that each of you draws the attention of one monster.) It's easy to attack something without realizing its buddy is standing behind a boulder or tree.
Since combat is automatic, you can rotate your view while you fight. This can be a good way to get an early fix on your next target (especially in the "get 50 of item X" quests).
If you have Mortal Blow, Powerstrike, Iron Punch, or another skilled attack, hit with it first. You should always make your hardest, most powerful hit first — while you're not being hit as you wind up for your blow.
Power Shot (bow attack) does not consume arrows; none of the special bow attacks use arrows.
If you're an archer, consider getting a dagger along with your bow. Start with a Powershot from your bow. Then, use hotkeys to quickly switch to your dagger as the creature rushes to attack you. The advantage is that you'll get in a major blow and a couple of arrows before it reaches you. The disadvantage is that even though you can deliver a bunch of damage this way, Powershot sucks up MP (which archers need for normal attacks).
Even if you're not an archer by trade, a standard bow in your arsenal helps you pull a critter to your group or simply gives you extra time to deal damage from afar before you strike with your main melee weapon. Many players camp an area this way.
If you're using arrows and a bow, you don't have to wait for your arrow to land. Fire, then run. Archers have an inherent ability to kite since they're already able to strike from a distance.
Using a shield hurts your ability to evade a hit from an enemy. If your class wears light armor, consider just dropping the shield — light armor is all about not being hit! Spend your time dodging and attacking.
Make sure you attack what's appropriate for your level. Your XP will be low if you hunt something that's too easy, and you'll get slaughtered if you take on too much.
In general, you can accumulate more XP by fighting blue and green mobs than white ones. You don't get quite as much per kill, or quite as much adena, but you don't have to rest as often.
Group for exp, solo for cash: Even once you've reached grouping levels, you'll still need to take time to farm cash alone
Money is important: Don't gain exp (without cash) too fast and let your equipment fall far behind, or you're in big trouble.
Killing lower-level monsters is better exp: You kill greens faster with less downtime than whites solo, so you actually get the best exp over time by picking on high greens.
Creature name colours
| Colour | Level difference |
|---|---|
| Red | 9 or more levels above you |
| Light Red | 6 to 8 levels above you |
| Yellow | 3 to 5 levels above you |
| White | +/-2 levels (above or below you) |
| Green | 3 to 5 levels below you |
| Light Blue | 6 to 8 levels below you |
| Blue | 9 or more levels below you |
Source counting discrepancies: page 3 describes fifty-nine classes and page 7 says there are 32 choices at Level 40. The comparison chart actually lists 31 third professions,18 second professions and 9 first professions, totaling 58. All printed statements and listed records are retained with this flag.
Source page-reference error: the contents on page 4 point to page 345 for Dark Fighter skills. The actual Dark Fighter skill table starts on page 348. Navigation uses the verified table location; the printed contents reference is preserved here.
Source page-reference error: the printed table of contents on page 5 points to page 247 for recipe ingredients; the actual recipe-ingredients section starts on page 274. The printed reference is preserved here; navigation should use the actual section.
Source arithmetic label error: page 12 calls the result of 270 XP divided by 3 hits "90 XP per kill". That calculation gives 90 XP per hit; the total per kill in the example is 270 XP. The printed wording is preserved with this note.
Conflicting source descriptions: page 24 says WIT influences Casting Speed, while page 26 prints its formula as 166.5 × [DEX bonus]. The guide does not reconcile these statements. Both printed statements are preserved; this website does not infer a corrected formula.
Conflicting source ranks: the Level 15 recommendations continued on page 33 print Weapon Mastery 2, while the Human Fighter skill table on page 286 lists Weapon Mastery 3 at Level 15 and Weapon Mastery 2 at Level 10. The printed advice and table values are preserved with this distinction.
Page 93 calls Orc Mystics the Mystics with the lowest DEX. The printed base-stat boxes give Orc Mystic DEX 24 (page 104), Human Mystic 21 (page 44), Dark Mystic 23 (page 86), and Elven Mystic 24 (page 66). The prose and values are preserved with this inconsistency noted.
Printed quest-reference difference: the Antharas’ Lair advice on page200 says “Audience with the Green Dragon”; the walkthrough heading on page156 says “Audience with the Land Dragon” and the index on page145 says “Audience w. the Land Dragon”. Each printed name is retained.
Printed spelling difference: the helping-monster list on page200 uses “Pytan/Pytan Knight”, while the aggressive-monster list uses “Ptyan”. These spellings are retained without silently treating them as an identical record.
The printed guide lists Mechanic Golem (4) at Level 57 and Mechanic Golem (5) at Level 51. These values are preserved exactly; the unusual rank/level ordering is a source inconsistency, not a correction made by this website.
The printed guide lists Viper Cubic (2) with M.Atk 544 and poison power 5, followed by Viper Cubic (1) with M.Atk 791 and poison power 6. The original labels and values are preserved; their reversed ordering is flagged rather than silently corrected.