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| Written by PyrePyre on April 17 2007
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So like, I have a... marked dislike for Florina beach and everything I've read regarding training via lightning. Not that I don't think mob attacks are fun/useful but I just have more fun harassing/dodging/tele-freezing firedrakes than I have teleporting and using lightning. Or maybe it's just that I really love freeze.
At any rate, I'm basically maxing every skill but lightning, and what this means is that I'm currently maxing Teleport and Slow.
Hee, yeah, maxing Slow to the complete and utter horror of almost everyone I've met, mainly because I heard that Thunder Spear is really freaking slow and Composition is not much better (even with Booster). Also, because I haven't heard of people using it strategically yet and I want to try.
[edit: there is one guide that recommends maxing slow, but during 3rd job link the path I'm taking essentially makes TunderSpear, which I'm leaning towards getting over Comp, more bearable without Booster]
My general impression is that most people are aiming for the bigger numbers, but that isn't a smart way to play mages I think, because mages aren't designed to hit big numbers, those are thiefs and warriors.
What I can see just from the numbers between slow and freeze is that while freeze is maxed out at 2 seconds, slow lasts for 40 seconds...And one of the things with freeze is that once it wears off the monster is aggro'ed and targets you.
Which is perfectly fine if you're committed to killing the monster.
Except, oh wait, Thunder Spear and Comp are really freaking slow.
Trying stuff out at fire drakes, I can cast maybe two Cold Beams on another drake before the freeze wears off on the first one (behind me), and from what I've heard, even with Booster Thunder Spear and Comp are slower than Cold Beam. Now, Ice Strike may have a longer freeze than Cold Beam, but it doesn't say, and Ice Strike hits more targets so the end result might or might not matter if I have Slow at hand.
*However*, Slow gives me more options for different ways to approach monsters. And I really hate Lightning training grounds. ^_^
We'll see how this goes. Maybe I'll regret it. XD If so, it's easy enough to get SP resets.
[edit: Also, getting seal at lvl 104, maxed seal at lvl114.]
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Ahh, you told me your plan before, and if I remember correctly I cringed at the thought of you maxing slow ><. But then again, it's all in good fun and up to you whether you want to experiment. Just keep in mind that with max seal and ice strike slow will become obsolete later on. And your argument about freeze lasting 2 seconds (actually lasts about 5 when consistantly attacking, more if left alone), and the 40 second slow time, consider that with cold beam or ice strike you are also adding decent damage into the equation. Either way good luck, I won't try and pressure you into following the norm again ^^
04/17/07
PyrePyre
Guilds: Art of War
^_^ well the thing with ice strike is that you're aggro'ing the up to 6 monsters that you hit with it, which means they're gonna start attacking if you don't contantly freeze it, and the thing with max Seal is that I'll not be able to max it until after maxing Booster/TS/Amp. With Slow, I can wander around the ice-strong monsters when I get bored more safely. I realize that maxed Slow will become obsolete later on, but it's kinda like how now I barely use Magic Claw anymore...it was still really useful up to about a 1/3rd of the way into 2nd job (lvl 45ish) because Cold Beam and Med weren't maxed yet and Magic Claw still gave more damage.
Seal will be started at around lvl 104 and maxed at lvl 114...which is about 40 lvls of being annoyed I don't have Seal. ^_^ So I'll be using Slow to help delay the ranged attack response so that I have more time to TS and then re-freeze.
But actually, thank you for the discussion. I really don't mind disagreement and it helps me clarify for myself my instinct to max Slow. =D
Bands: Nickleback, Postal Service, and Kaskade
04/17/07
Marginal
Guilds: Art of War
RKAddict from sw:
Slow is pretty useful if you ask me. It doesn't boost my training speed significantly but it does at times.
Anyways, before I get on to its usefulness during training, I'll list some non-training perspectives:
-Bosses
-Unfreezable monsters
-Mobs before Ice Strike is available (with Thunderbolt)
-Unfreezable mobs
But as for training, these are two things I've experienced so far:
-At Death Teddies, in case someone else is in the map and they start to slide; to stop them from sliding as far away
-Gobies/Bonefish, using on the Bonefish in order to get it out of your way and start breaking a Goby House instead
-To ThunderSpear something away without it getting too close to you (haven't experienced this yet, but it's something obvious enough)
I used to play an I/L mage and the thought of maxing slow made me cringe too for the reasons Andrew stated above. Also, Comp freezes the monsters too so if you take them 1 on 1 there shouldnt be much of a problem. Only benefit I can see from maxing slow is that you may be able to train at monsters that don't freeze. Problem with that is that most of them shoot really fast projectiles too >.>
04/17/07
PyrePyre
Guilds: Art of War
stealjenny said: " Also, Comp freezes the monsters too so if you take them 1 on 1 there shouldnt be much of a problem. "
o.o does that happen alot tho? 'Cause even at drakes, stuff will randomly hit you or there'll be three in front of you...and gobies and bone fish are *fast*. I haven't seen the map layout but if you concentrate on one wouldn't you get randomly hit by other stuff? (esp in aqua road where you can't teleport in 'mid-air'.
In particular I'm going to be combining max slow (40s) with freeze (2s-ish) so that there's enough time for me to use the higher powered Comp or TS more than once before I have to refreeze. Why this helps is that I notice that the slow essentially makes the freeze last longer, 'cause the monsters have to react to the hit, then turn to attack, then attack.
This combo attack may or may not be worthwhile depending on the total casting speed for all the different attacks. But who knows since no one seems to have tried? ^_^
Only benefit I can see from maxing slow is that you may be able to train at monsters that don't freeze. Problem with that is that most of them shoot really fast projectiles too >.>
^_^ Well, that's provided that I'm getting Slow completely for training and provided that the monsters that I'm training (or hunting for quests) on isn't surrounded by monsters who are freeze resistant. I'm getting Slow also because it'll be easier to explore all maps ('cause the monsters aren't compelled to hit you if you Slow them), and in situations like Tauromacis, which are surrounded by Cold Eyes. 
Bands: Nickleback, Postal Service, and Kaskade
Well, its your choice. I have maxed slow myself (Im F/P mage  ) and it helps me a lot with training, and so forth. 
But I DO know that most I/L mages only leave 1 on slow though. But you'll be one of those few I/L mages out there that have maxed slow ^_^
04/18/07
PyrePyre
Guilds: Art of War
heh, yay for uniqueness! ^_^
Bands: Nickleback, Postal Service, and Kaskade
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