Fire Strike first or Curtain first? x.x

In my opinion here, I think that Curtain would probably be better exp, but Strike would certainly not be slow. I clocked about 28% per hour at Typhons at level 90 on my I/L, using Thunderbolt (Ice Strike does 1 damage). Keep in mind I missed them, didn't have maxed amp (nor the newer, more powerful amp), and was using a 60 base attack spell. Blaze Wizards should get close to 50% per hour there.

I think that the build that would level the fastest would be 30 Strike > 28 Curtain > 20 Seal > 20 Amp. That way, you'd have max Strike by 80, when Curtain wouldn't be too helpful, and 28 Curtain by 90, when it starts to become awesome exp.

I did some calculations on the damage I would be doing if I went Fire Strike first. This is lukless with an Ele Wand 2.

70 (Pillar): 3416-4655 to Fire-weak, 2278-3103 to neutral (MP3)
75 (Strike): 4375-6886 to Fire-weak (Blue Kents) -13% level penalty
80 (Strike): 6735-9079 to Fire-weak (Blue Kents) -8% level penalty
87 (Strike): 9473-12682 to Fire-weak (Blue Kents) -1% level penalty

So I'd be 5hkoing Kents at level 80 or so and consistently 4hkoing in mid-8x. I'd also pretty much be stuck at Kents until mid-9x. With some improvement of gear I may be able to 3hko pretty often in the last few levels there. Does that seem better than Curtain? It would definitely be faster for the first 10 levels but I dunno about later on. What about Strike for a strong mob skill early -> Curtain so you're set up for late 8x? With the extra INT Blaze Wizards have they may be able to mist higher level monsters earlier.

My equips are pretty low-end since I don't play a mage, but I don't think gear should make too big of a difference. It may take an Ele Wand 1 to make this build work.

IIRC, there's no level penalty for damage for magic attacks. The level penalty only goes for magic accuracy.

I did some calculations on the damage I would be doing if I went Fire Strike first. This is lukless with an Ele Wand 2.

70 (Pillar): 3416-4655 to Fire-weak, 2278-3103 to neutral (MP3)
75 (Strike): 4375-6886 to Fire-weak (Blue Kents) -13% level penalty
80 (Strike): 6735-9079 to Fire-weak (Blue Kents) -8% level penalty
87 (Strike): 9473-12682 to Fire-weak (Blue Kents) -1% level penalty

So I'd be 5hkoing Kents at level 80 or so and consistently 4hkoing in mid-8x. I'd also pretty much be stuck at Kents until mid-9x. With some improvement of gear I may be able to 3hko pretty often in the last few levels there. Does that seem better than Curtain? It would definitely be faster for the first 10 levels but I dunno about later on. What about Strike for a strong mob skill early -> Curtain so you're set up for late 8x? With the extra INT Blaze Wizards have they may be able to mist higher level monsters earlier.

My equips are pretty low-end since I don't play a mage, but I don't think gear should make too big of a difference. It may take an Ele Wand 1 to make this build work.

12% (proportionally) isn't going to make or break a build. 1 extra Strike won't slow you down THAT much in training. Anyways, that's amazingly godly, when you think about it. 9-12k? I wasn't hitting that much on my Marauder using blast, and I didn't have that much range, or 100% active energy (obviously). I'm guessing 30-35%/hr if we lose the E-X-Plosion event. We can also use Elders as an alternative in late 8x. Awesome money and we should easily avoid being hit (slow may not even be needed there). Plus that's good experience as well. This build looks good enough for me.

12% (proportionally) isn't going to make or break a build. 1 extra Strike won't slow you down THAT much in training. Anyways, that's amazingly godly, when you think about it. 9-12k? I wasn't hitting that much on my Marauder using blast, and I didn't have that much range, or 100% active energy (obviously). I'm guessing 30-35%/hr if we lose the E-X-Plosion event. We can also use Elders as an alternative in late 8x. Awesome money and we should easily avoid being hit (slow may not even be needed there). Plus that's good experience as well. This build looks good enough for me.

I know it's amazing, but I'm wondering if it's enough to beat Curtain.

I know it's amazing, but I'm wondering if it's enough to beat Curtain.

I'm guessing it'd beat Curtain, at least until late 8x. So that 30 Strike > 28 Curtain build is looking pretty good. By the way, did you incorporate amp into those calculations?

I know it's amazing, but I'm wondering if it's enough to beat Curtain.

Now that i think about it, seal + slow + ele reset at CGs is getting godlier and godlier.

Now that i think about it, seal + slow + ele reset at CGs is getting godlier and godlier.

20 seal after max amp RETURNS.

Some people here are just assuming Curtain is better then Strike. Well, explosion was already plausible at level 8x for F/P Mage in a good party at dual ghost pirates. Let's add a few thinks shall we? Faster casting speed, apparantly as fast as Fire Demon. 69 extra INT, and the Blessing of the Sprite (easily 20+ matk). A working elemental wand (which wasn't available back in the days of DGP parties). Maxed Strike, Amp and Booster at level 87, instead of 94 with Explosion. New fire weak mobs.

I'm certainly going to take Fire Strike, and I'm going with zero (0) curtain. I have already misted a F/P Mage from 71 to 125, I don't feel the need to do that again. And I am certain this built will work.

Well, one luxury that F/P mages didn't have was the ability to poison Himes. Now Blaze's have the ability. I clocked in at 200% in 45 minutes at Himes on 2x at level 80. Though, the only way to use Gears effectively at Himes was to triple channel, because you'd teleport through the map too fast.

strategy train go fire curtain/flame gear otherwise go fire strike.

I think fire strike first may be better than curtain first, especially if you have an elemental wand, for the same reason fire arrow first is better than poison brace first: because you don't have enough accuracy to hit the high-exp monsters efficiently (relatively-speaking). Fire strike is beastly with its 140 base and fire element, I could see it absolutely tearing through duals, blue kents, etc. in low 3rd job. For standard F/Ps, mist is generally used at squids, wolf spiders, and places that give similar exp, but fire strike is so powerful that it can destroy mobs of duals/blue kents/whatever in like 3 hits, which are some of the highest exp monsters you can consistently hit anyways, and killing in 3 hits is faster than cycling curtain. For standard F/Ps, only until around the mid-90s can you start misting relatively high exp monsters in upper leafre due to precious accuracy problems. If you go fire strike first, you'll have strike and amp maxed around 87, so you can get curtain to 28 around 96, a good level to start those high-exp monster you'll want to go for, accuracy-wise. Saving points for 100 isn't an issue because ifrit isn't really that essential a skill, just a couple points in for the timer, and it's good to go for curtain cleanup.

If we get curtain burn accuracy in the patch though (somewhat likely if nexon copypastes recent kMS skill data) fire strike wins for sure.

when you say elemental wand, does that include wand 2?

For people concerned about Fire Strike and Blue Kents' hilly terrain, don't be. Fire Strike does not work on a "range" variable like Magic Claw but on a defined area like Fire Pillar. A hilly terrain will not affect the effectiveness of Strike. If anything, it will help Strike because it will increase the density of the mob.

Code:

Fire Pillar
skill.12101006.level.20.lt.x    -200
skill.12101006.level.20.lt.y    -110
skill.12101006.level.20.rb.x    200
skill.12101006.level.20.rb.y    40

Code:

Fire Strike
skill.12111006.level.30.lt.x    -400
skill.12111006.level.30.lt.y    -60
skill.12111006.level.30.rb.x    0
skill.12111006.level.30.rb.y    0

For people concerned about Fire Strike and Blue Kents' hilly terrain, don't be. Fire Strike does not work on a "range" variable like Magic Claw but on a defined area like Fire Pillar. A hilly terrain will not affect the effectiveness of Strike. If anything, it will help Strike because it will increase the density of the mob.

Code:

Fire Pillar
skill.12101006.level.20.lt.x    -200
skill.12101006.level.20.lt.y    -110
skill.12101006.level.20.rb.x    200
skill.12101006.level.20.rb.y    40

Code:

Fire Strike
skill.12111006.level.30.lt.x    -400
skill.12111006.level.30.lt.y    -60
skill.12111006.level.30.rb.x    0
skill.12111006.level.30.rb.y    0

The vertical range isn't very large. You can't hit Blue Kents if they're on the top of a hill and you're on the bottom. This isn't much of a problem, though - if they're slowed it's very easy to line them up so that you're both on a hill. <3 the massive range of Strike

How long is Strike's range? Also does an Elemental wand affect curtain? And if I had an elemental wand 2 would it be worth it to go strike first?

How long is Strike's range? Also does an Elemental wand affect curtain? And if I had an elemental wand 2 would it be worth it to go strike first?

Strike's range is the same as an Assassin's Lucky 7. It is almost identical to the Corsair skill Battleship Torpedo. Ele Wand doesn't affect Gear damage. I'm going Gear first but Strike isn't a bad build at all.

But does the elemental wand make strike better than curtain(or gear if thats what GMS calls it)? I just want to know so i pick the most effective build.

You can't just throw some numbers and compare them. Both builds are solid, they have fast training spots, and they both spend a good deal of money in exchange for faster training.

An eWand2 would boost your damage with strike by 10%, that's it. No more numbers can be used.

But does the elemental wand make strike better than curtain(or gear if thats what GMS calls it)? I just want to know so i pick the most effective build.

It's not going to be faster right now, probably not even if we get an accuracy Gear. It just gives you more solo power, really. Getting over 70%/hr at Elders with Gear at level 77 is nice enough for me. I have like... a 50% hit rate with Strike? Whatever, it's fun and pretty fast.