Whisperwalk's Definitive Guide to Rhinos

[whisperwalk]

Whisperwalk's Definitive Guide to Rhinos

Sturdy and peaceful; rhinos have a hard time killing anything in Alterra. So I present to you the definitive guide for making a rhino that won't suck.

Table of contents
1. Why play a rhino?
2. Stats and Equipment
3. Endgame Builds
4. Skill guide
5. The journey

Why play a rhino?
A rhino is what you get when you combine the supportive powers of a Mage with the tankiness of a Bear. You heal the sick, revive the dead, and walk through the fires of hell receiving barely a scratch. You have ridiculous layers of defence: more than 50% dodge; high armor; two different heals. Even when totally surrounded, the rhino has a pushback AoE to open an escape route. You can still die, but rest assured that rhinos have some of the best defences in the game.

All this comes at the price of horribly low damage. So you won't be soloing many dungeons (except for fun). Bosses will moan as they (very slowly) fall to your toothless attack, while you neutralize every single move in their arsenal. For maximum humiliation, you will kill the boss while his minions watch, helpless to protect their leader. They will do every single thing in their power to stop you. But they just can't get through.

So if you're the type of player that likes this sort of thing, you might want a rhino.

Stats and Equipment

Every levelup gives you 5 points to spend, which goes into STR, DEX, or INT. But a common mistake new players make is to assume those points matter very much. So let me dispel your illusions:

DODGE: To get just 1% more dodge, you need 40 STR, 80 DEX, or 200 INT. So if you go full strength, it will still take at least 8 levels.
HIT: To get just 1% more hit, you need 6 DEX or 10 INT. But you will easily pass 100% hitrate with the Vital Force skill.
CRIT:To get just 1% more crit, you need 33.3 STR, 30 DEX, or 50 INT.
DAMAGE: To get just 1 more damage, you need 50 STR, 6.6 DEX, or 12.5 INT.
HP: To get just 1 more hp, you need 2 STR. Be aware that real threats will easily deal a few hundred damage.

Therefore, your stats come from items rather than points. You can junk any pretend guides that advocate 100% STR, 75% STR/25% DEX, 50% STR/50% DEX, or even 100% DEX, because all these vague percentages will do bupkis to your real power. The only rule you should follow is this: you must have enough stats to wear the items you need.

ITEM SLOTS: You have 5 slots, which are HEADPIECE, CHESTPIECE, WEAPON, SHIELD, and RING
STR ITEMS: In general, STR items have high armor rating and give DODGE + something else. It is highly recommended to wear STR items with both DODGE + CRIT, because CRIT raises your damage. STR items should be chosen for your headpiece, chest, one handed melee weapon, and shield.
DEX ITEMS: In general, DEX items have low armor rating and give HIT, CRIT + something else. Because you need DODGE as a tank, the only DEX item recommended wearing is a ranged weapon.
INT ITEMS: In general, INT items are exactly like DEX items except weaker. So the only INT item you should wear is the Fine Crystal Ring of Life.

Translating these into actual numbers, you need 157 STR, 157 DEX, and 37 INT. The minimum level to attain this is at lvl 70; after that, you can do whatever you wish with the remaining points. 157 is the pre-requisite for the highest level pinks from Blacksmoke Mountain. Due to the flexibility, you can don any combination of STR and DEX gears, as below.

Endgame Builds
If you begin with the end in mind, you'll know what you are working towards. Obviously, items before lvl 75 will be weaker than this. You will still do fine by always prioritizing Dodge, Crit, M/s, and Armor. And for damage get the highest one-handed weapon you can buy.

The Fine Crystal Ring of Life may seem off, but 3 M/s is godly especially for lower levels. You can heal hp quite easily the next challenge is to regenerate mana. For a rhino, 10-15 M/s means you never have to buy mana pots. And with the Restore skill, you will never need hp pots either. In the later levels, you might want to swap it out for other rings; beware this will cost Platinum (real money).

Total Defence Mode
- Savage Dragon Master Helmet (42 Str, 7% Dodge, 5% Crit, 9 Health, 6 H/s, 5 M/s, 22 Damage, 67 Armor)
- Savage Dragon Master Armor (42 Str, 7% Dodge, 5% Crit, 9 Health, 6 H/s, 5 M/s, 22 Damage, 90 Armor)
- Savage Dragon Master Buckler (42 Str, 7% Dodge, 5% Crit, 9 Health, 6 H/s, 5 M/s, 22 Damage, 79 Armor)
- Savage Dragon Master Scythe (234-254 Damage, 0.9 Speed, 42 Str, 7% Dodge, 5% Crit, 9 Health, 6 H/s, 5 M/s, 19 Armor)
- Fine Crystal Ring of Life (1 H/s, 3 M/s, 2 Damage)
Summary: 168 STR, 28% Dodge, 20% Crit, 255 Armor, 36 Health, 25 H/s, 23 M/s, 36 Health

Kiting Mode
- Savage Dragon Master Helmet (42 Str, 7% Dodge, 5% Crit, 9 Health, 6 H/s, 5 M/s, 22 Damage, 67 Armor)
- Savage Dragon Master Armor (42 Str, 7% Dodge, 5% Crit, 9 Health, 6 H/s, 5 M/s, 22 Damage, 90 Armor)
- Swift Dragon Master Recurve Bow (233-288 Damage, 0.9 Speed, 42 Dex, 12% Hit, 9% Crit, 4 H/s, 3 Mana, 5 M/s, 12 Armor)
- Fine Crystal Ring of Life (1 H/s, 3 M/s, 2 Damage)
Summary: 84 STR, 42 DEX, 14% Dodge, 19% Crit, 169 Armor, 18 Health, 16 H/s, 16 M/s, 18 Health

Nuclear Offence Mode
- Swift Dragon Master Helmet (42 Dex, 12% Hit, 9% Crit, 4 H/s, 3 Mana, 5 M/s, 28 Damage, 60 Armor)
- Swift Dragon Master Armor (42 Dex, 12% Hit, 9% Crit, 4 H/s, 3 Mana, 5 M/s, 28 Damage, 81 Armor)
- Swift Dragon Master Recurve Bow (233-288 Damage, 0.9 Speed, 42 Dex, 12% Hit, 9% Crit, 4 H/s, 3 Mana, 5 M/s, 12 Armor)
- Fine Crystal Ring of Life (1 H/s, 3 M/s, 2 Damage)
Summary: 126 DEX, 27% Crit, 153 Armor, 13 H/s, 18 M/s

Skill Guide
Damage Skills
The rhino has very low damage but neglecting these skills will make them even lower. So you must get these:

2 Charge: It closes the gap, deals some damage, and is Part A of a combo.
9 Redemption: Deals damage which heals you. If Charge was casted earlier, Redemption deals double damage.
9 Holy Tempest: 7m area of effect, knocks back enemies, 60% chance of reducing enemy hitrate by 30% for 3 seconds.
9 Rhino Might: Because rhinos are not mighty, Rhino Might deals crappy damage. However, at the highest level it has 100% stunrate for 3 seconds which is essential for endgame maps.

Support Skills
You should support the rest of your party. Max these skills.

9 Restore: Heals entire party and +health/sec for entire party
9 Vital Force: Increases damage for entire party, increases your own crit and hitrate
9 Guardian: Dispels enemy nasties, increases your dodge and armor. Some players look down on this skill but trust me you need the 10% dodge. Dodge is better than armor because it lets u evade an attack that can kill u in one hit.

These skills are optional because they don't get much better with additional skill points. So you can dump your extra points on them.

9 Revive: Resurrects dead party members.
1 Summon: Taunts monsters so that they attack you. Adding skill ranks does almost nothing so best to leave it at 1.

Ignore this skill:

0 Divine Aura: Because you're not a god, and mana regen with cooldown is worthless compared to the Fine Crystal Ring of Life. One ring to rule them all.

Defence skills

9 Brute Force: The skill description says it replaces Vital Force but actually it doesn't. Therefore you should take this for the 10% extra dodge (the 5 armor is just for show).
0 Stone Skin : A lot of players love this, but the cooldown is long, the armor is worthless (because you have too much armor and enemies can always deal some minimum damage), and the buff is short. You couldn't rely on Stoneskin if your life depended on it.

The Journey
Questing

Questing is the main part of Pocket Legends. Since the rhino is a team player (a good way of saying we suck solo) it is vital to join and host parties. Birds and foxes are good friends because you can keep them alive and they can kill bosses. Bears are bad because they are another set of stone walls. Mages are OK but bosses tend to take longer.

Most quests in Pocket Legends follows the formula: kill X monsters to get Y items. Then receive item Z as reward. So it's pretty straightforward.

Bossing

Due to your overflowing armors and ridiculous dodging, bosses might find you difficult to kill. So they will usually ignore you and go for the birdie's neck. Your counter is to spam Summon and buy time for the birds. Of course, there are some melee bosses that the birds can kite. For those types, you should let the bird kite (why let the enemy do any damage at all?), while you pummel it in melee range. The boss will ignore you while chasing the bird.

There are some bosses with a one-hit-kill skill: Magnetic Golem, Gurghox, Shadow Witch, Auntie Emma etc. When you're with a noob party, a single wipe can murder everyone, leaving the whole crew to walk the long distance all over again. As a smart rhino you should not allow this. Stay outside the room (after all, how much damage can you contribute), wait for someone to die. Only then do you walk in to revive. Then get the hell out. You only return when the boss about to die - and you do this so you can get the exp, loot, and credits for the kill. I call this the Rhino Ambulance Service.

Player Vs Player

A rhino can pvp as long as no one runs away from you. Be aware that these are humans so they will run, unlike the silly AI monsters that haplessly stand there for 5 minutes (while you kill them). Mages are the easiest targets because they don't really do single target; these will fall after 5 minutes. Bears are even chance because you can heal and they cannot. Birds are very very difficult - they will absolutely murder you. The only problem with all these people is they will run, so you won't get a single kill.

While pvp-ing with a teammate, the rhino is no good because your 'friend' will take credit for all your kills. Even if they only landed the last hit and u did all the work. So if anyone is on your side, leave. With friends like these, who needs enemies?

In the endgame the Rhino is no good for PVP. Other classes start to score outrageous 1-second kills while the rhino is still slow. In fact I found the place infested with birds birds birds and only a few mages/bears. Birds are too good in the endgame; they can easily pwn anyone wearing crap equipment, while other classes have to work hard to score a kill. Because skills are not really balanced they give birds way too much dodge, damage, and debuffs.

Capture the Flag

Rhinos are said to be kings of CTF due to their overgrown dodge stat and revive skill. CTF is just like rugby, except that the players kill each other. So, the job is to grab the flag and run. And that's all there is to it.

[whisperwalk]

Armoring Considerations

As you can guess, this is not a bird thread. Therefore rhinos look at defensive topics such as staying alive. Armor is found on your headpiece, chestpiece, shield, weapon, and ring. The sum of this (plus a little bit more from base stats) gives you your armor rating.

Armor Rating = 5 + (STR / 18.75) + (DEX/ 36.67) + Item_Armors

Your armor subtracts enemy damage by that exact amount. For example, if the enemy deals 200 damage, but you have 50 armor, you only receive 150 damage. This is a strictly linear relationship but there is a cap. All enemy monsters deal a minimum amount of damage. Having too much armor is a waste (hence StoneSkin is overrated).

Total Defence

Total defence is the tanking setup for maximum dodge % + armors. The value of armor vs dodge follows three mathematical laws:

1. Extra armor is useless after the maximum armor cap (see next section)
2. If your total armor is less than 100, then 1 armor > 1 dodge
3. If your total armor is more than 100, then 1 dodge > 1 armor
4. If there are enemies that can kill you in one hit, then dodge always > armor.

Therefore, the path to tankiness is to reach the maximum armor cap. This varies by area so we will consult the next section. After that, you'd want as much dodge as possible. Achieving this will bring you total defence. One additional consideration - you'll want between 10-15 M/s (mana regeneration per second) to avoid wasting money on mana pots. Finally, it is nice to get some crit from your gear.

If max armor is not achievable, then rules 2 and 3 will be used to prioritize between dodge and armor.

Twinking represents the best possible build for each area / level. We will look at items, stat points, and skill points. Continuity will also be taken into account, so that you can levelup from one best build to another best build. We will neglect prices because these things fluctuate according to market conditions.

It is possible to diverge from my recommendations, if you have good reason for doing so. For example, you could sacrifice some armor to deal more damage. This post assumes that your goal is total defense, which is the main strength of a rhino. If you don't like it, you might want to play a bird instead, or maybe just look at my next post. It calculates the damage you can do.

Maximum Armor before Minimum Damage Kicks In, by Area
Forest Haven (Lvl 1-10)

[Mob] Rogue Knight Melee: 28 Armor
[Boss] Brom Dandy: 29 Armor
[Special]Skull Knight Swordsman can debuff armor
[Special]Barbrax the Demon can sometimes pierce armor for massive damage

Dark Forest (Lvl 10-15)

[Mob] Rogue Knight Swordsman: 37 Armor
[Boss] King of Bling and King of Hearts: 47 Armor
[Special]Skull Knight 1H-Swordsman, Rogue Knight Melee, and Rogue Knight Swordsman can debuff armor
[Special]Barbrax the Demon can sometimes pierce armor for massive damage

Balefort Castle (Lvl 15-20)

[Mob] Rock Golem: 57 Armor
[Boss] King of Hearts: 55 Armor
[Special]Skull Knight 1H-Swordsman, Rogue Knight Melee, and Rogue Knight Swordsman can debuff armor
[Special]Goblin Warchief and Spirit of Fire can debuff armor
[Special]Goblin King can summon 5 waves of 3 suicide bombers

Fathom Crypt (Lvl 20-25)

[Mob] Skeleton Swordsman w/ Shield: 57 Armor
[Boss] King of Pain: 66 Armor
[Special]Captain Bones can sometimes pierce armor for massive damage

Sand Cave (Lvl 20-25)

[Mob] n/a
[Boss] n/a

Lost Expedition (Lvl 25-30)

[Mob] Blue Beast: 74 Armor
[Boss] Ernesto the Yeti: 84 Armor
[Special]White Knight 1H-Swordsman and White Knight Melee can debuff armor
[Special]White Archer can sometimes damage you with knockback attack

Frozen Nightmares ELITE (Lvl 25-30)

[Mob] Blue Beast: 196 Armor
[Boss] n/a
[Special]Most mobs require only 136 Armor

Ancient Swamp (Lvl 30-35)

[Mob] McCroc Melee w/ Hooch: 86 Armor
[Boss] Beaux Beaux and Fabio the Fireblaster : 84 Armor
[Special]McCroc Spear w/ Shield, Scalefield Croc Spear w/ Shield, and McCroc Melee w/ Hooch can debuff armor
[Special]Pappy Scalefield can do up to triple non-critical damage
[Special]Ma' McCroc can spawn highly damaging bombs in the room

Return of Skeller Krunch (Lvl 30-35)

[Mob] Rogue Knight Swordsman: 37 Armor
[Boss] King of Bling and King of Hearts: 47 Armor
[Special]Skull Knight 1H-Swordsman can debuff armor
[Special]Barbrax the Demon can sometimes pierce armor for massive damage

Alien Oasis 1 (Lvl 35-40)

[Mob] Black Marauder Spear w/ Shield: 92 Armor
[Boss] Anubis: 99 Armor
[Special]Black Marauder Spear w/ Shield can debuff armor

Alien Oasis 2 (Lvl 40-45)

[Mob] Blue Alien Swordsman: 112 Armor
[Boss] Anubis: 104 Armor
[Special]Black Marauder Spear w/ Shield can debuff armor
[Special]Mummy Melee can reduce your armor

Alien Oasis 3 (Lvl 45-50)

[Mob] Alien Berserker: 148 Armor
[Boss] n/a

Shadow Cave ELITE (Lvl 50)

[Mob] n/a
[Boss] n/a

[/INDENT]

Balefort Sewers (Lvl 50-55)

[Mob] Goblin with Spear and Shield: 107
[Boss] n/a

Nuri's Hallows (Lvl 55-60)

[Mob] n/a
[Boss] n/a

Mount Fang (Lvl 60-66)

[Mob] n/a
[Boss] n/a

Isle of Humania (Lvl 65-71)

[Mob] n/a
[Boss] n/a

Blacksmoke Mountain (Lvl 70-76)

[Mob] n/a
[Boss] n/a

Dodgy Ring of Valiant Glory

Although I mentioned the Fine Crystal Ring of Life, it turns out there is something even better. After you finish the game. The Black Ring of Valiant Glory is awarded to players who have reached the level cap. And there is a long, circuitous quest involved.



The most important stat on this ring is the 67 health. There is no other item that gives such a massive boost. Secondly the 5% dodge. Dodge is the most important stat as a tank, and, this ring enables u to reach the maximum of 68% Dodge:

Base Dodge: 1.575 Dodge
226 Base Str: 5.65 Dodge
157 Base Dex: 3.925 Dodge
Savage Dragon Master Set: 28 Dodge
168 Str from Set: 4.2 Dodge
Guardian Skill: 10 Dodge
Brute Force Skill: 10 Dodge
Ring of Valiant Glory: 5 Dodge
TOTAL: 68.35 Dodge

I'm not sure if there are ways to go even higher, but this is what I have calculated so far. Oh, and you will have 305 armor.

[whisperwalk]

Going on the Offence

This part discusses the rhino's attacking capabilities.

Forgetting something? Remember to bring these

In the beginning, nothing beats the Punctually Forgotten Bow, which just needs 32 dex for ridiculous range and damage. You can of course opt for traditional melee, but no one hits hard enough at the low levels to require a tank.



At level 11 the Tentatively Forgotten Bow becomes available, with 35 dex required, and so on. These bows are good till level 30, when it is outclassed by the extremely cheap Frozen Longsword of the Bear, with Req: Lvl 30 and 94 Str; 137-172 damage, two handed, 5 str, 2 crit, 2 H/s, 1 armor. Conveniently, the need for strength comes just before your first elite dungeon, the Frozen Nightmares.

You'll need 68 dex for the Lvl 22 Cleverly Forgotten Bow and then quickly transition to 94 str for melee. After that, mobs hit for harder and harder, so it's time to do your proper tank job and equip one-handers with shield.

Immortal aliens

It was in Alien Oasis 3 when I first felt under-equipped. The problem was Alien Snipers, which shoot high while taking forever to die. Alien Sniper has two friends known as the Alien Lorekeeper (tank) and Alien Berserker (also tank, but high damage). Not only this, but 3 out of 5 boss Aliens are overpowered: Crush the keeper can pin u against a wall (forever), Gurghox will one-shot entire parties, and Galactic Overlord is invincible with Shield (and can AoE every second). I confess that during these levels I was a rhino ambulance which is still pretty useful because I had to revive often.

So I had a Limbchopper of Destiny (Req: Lvl 45, 100 Str; 105-125 damage, 0.9 speed, 8 str, 2 dodge, 4 hit, 2 crit, 2 H/s, 2 M/s, 3 Armor) and a shield. For damage I would recommend Plasma Axe of the Rift or Gurgox Hammer of the Rift.



Glyph Maces: The Return of Damage

Tanking responsibilities mean that rhinos will never two-hand again for many levels. Shields are also improving at each cap, your character will feel naked without it. They give dodge, crit, M/s, and tons of armor.

Once at Nuri's you should definitely get Strongman's Glyph Mace, or if you cannot afford it, the cheaper Glyph Mace of the Big Top. The ultra rare Demonic Glyph Mace is a crafted (and marginally improved) Strongman mace. There will be some scammers that try to tell you a Taming Club of the Big Top is "good for dps", but you should never listen to them. Monster armor at these levels are high enough to make quick weapons look like toys. You need slow but hard-hitting weapons to get skills such as Redemption and Holy Tempest through.

Strongman's Glyph Mace: Required Lvl 56 and 128 Str; 190-265 damage, 1.4 speed, 20 Str, 5 dodge, 5 H/s, 5 M/s, 9 armor. There are slightly improved copies at Lvl 58 and 60. (The Lvl 56 one is the most expensive because lower levels, and therefore more players, can wield.)



Skipping Humania and going Straight to Blacksmoke

Both Mount Fang and Humania don't give much, because both promote two-handers which are dead-on-arrival. Mobs in Mount Fang can zerg rush even a tank, while single yetis in Humania are known to wipe entire parties. To say nothing about Mount Fang bosses, which are the strongest in the entire game. You need your shield.

This means that your next and final melee weapon is Beastly Dragonscale Scythe, which can be crafted into Savage Dragon Master Scythe. For two hands I do not recommend melee at all, because dragons must be taken down from range. You should instead raise to 157 dex, to steal the bird's Flying Dragonscale Recurve Bow.



How Important is Crit?

Crit is a chance of dealing double damage. You'll of course want as much crit as possible, but mathematically speaking what does crit actually do?

You'll have to bear with me for some algebra. Suppose your Damage = D. When you crit, you deal twice as much, Crit = 2D.

Scenario 1: 0% Crit
D' = D (no chance of dealing double damage)

Scenario 2: 25% Crit
D' = (0.75 * D) + (0.25 * 2D)
D' = 1.25D

Scenario 3: 50% Crit
D' = (0.5 * D) + (0.5 * 2D)
D' = 1.5

Scenario 3: 75% Crit
D' = (0.25 * D) + (0.75 * 2D)
D' = 1.75D

Scenario 4: 100% Crit
D' = 2D (always deal double damage)

So Crit raises overall damage by the exact percentage of the Crit. If you have 25% crit, you will deal 25% more, and if 50%, you will deal 50% more. So this provides a simple way of comparing weapons. More crit is not always better, you have to multiply it with your (total) damage.

Damage vs DPS

I equipped two weapons, both Lvl 60, and these are my resultant character stats:

Glyph Mace of the Big Top: Damage 272-347, Speed 1.3 DPS 221
Reptilian Dagger of Obedience: Damage 180-183, Speed 0.4, DPS 454

On the surface, the dagger is twice the damage of the mace. To confirm this, bring a low-armor monster such as a LE blue troll. How long does it take to kill?

Glyph Mace: 16 seconds
Reptilian Dagger: 8 seconds

Matches predictions exactly. Now try high armor monster, the Humanian mini-yeti.

Glyph Mace: 15 seconds
Reptilian Dagger: 19 seconds

This proves that DPS is negated by armor at higher levels. The high speed daggers are only better in two circumstances, which are:

1) Low level farming
2) Elixir / Daily Blessing buffs

For everything else, the ultra slow mace is better.

Screw that, I still want dps

There you go.



Molten set gives the highest dps: crit rates superior to flying dragonscale, easy to assemble (non-pink). The downside is total disregard for armor and dodge. It can still work because of elixirs and daily blessings. Just let your bear tank for you while u move in like a sneaky rogue.

Note: You can avoid the problems of dagger's low base damage by equipping the molten set with Beastly Dragonscale Scythe.

How Important is Damage as a Tank?

If you ask me, damage is not important at all. I completed all the difficult maps at low levels being a healer/reviver/tank; piggybacking off the damage of other classes. I hit 100 while they pull out 1000's. This is the role of a rhino/paladin: we are supporters so that other characters can shine better.

With that said, you want enough damage to mop the lone straggler missed by other players. It's not a difficult job, so standard weapons will do. The rule of thumb is to find the most damaging one-handed melee; I mean base damage and not dps. And of course it is possible to build the rhino differently, perhaps with pure DEX or with pure INT. Those builds would be a serious compromise of dodge and armor; I think they only work at the lower levels.

Now, we can go the other extreme of full STR. Not recommended, because there are situations that can only be negotiated by bow. Also, when you are Lvl 76 and want to farm a lower lvl map (for whatever reason), it would be nice to drop all the STR armors and wear fully equipped DEX gear. Dex gives higher crit and higher base damage. There is no way those Plasma Pyramid aliens can harm you anyway.

The only noticeable benefit of full STR is 75-ish more health; you should be fine without it. Defence in Pocket Legends is actually dodge (to evade one hit kills), armor (to counter mob zerging), and stun. Let the bears have a big health pool; we are fine with blocking.

[whisperwalk]

Levelup Cheat Sheet

Lvl 2 +1 Charge (1)
Lvl 3
Lvl 4
Lvl 5
Lvl 6 +4 Restore (4)
Lvl 7 +1 Redemption (1)
Lvl 8 +1 Redemption (2)
Lvl 9 +1 Redemption (3)
Lvl 10 +1 Summon (1)
Lvl 11
Lvl 12
Lvl 13
Lvl 14
Lvl 15
Lvl 16 +6 Vital Force (6)
Lvl 17
Lvl 18 +2 Holy Tempest (2)
Lvl 19 +1 Holy Tempest (3)
Lvl 20 +1 Holy Tempest (4)
Lvl 21 +1 Holy Tempest (5)
Lvl 22 +1 Revive (1)
Lvl 23 +1 Holy Tempest (6)
Lvl 24 +1 Restore (5)
Lvl 25 +1 Restore (6)
Lvl 26 +1 Redemption (4)
Lvl 27 +1 Redemption (5)
Lvl 28 +1 Redemption (6)
Lvl 29 +1 Guardian (1)
Lvl 30 +1 Guardian (2)
Lvl 31 +1 Guardian (3)
Lvl 32 +1 Guardian (4)
Lvl 33 +1 Guardian (5)
Lvl 34 +1 Guardian (6)
Lvl 35 +1 Rhino Might (1)
Lvl 36 +1 Rhino Might (2)
Lvl 37 +1 Rhino Might (3)
Lvl 38 +1 Rhino Might (4)
Lvl 39 +1 Rhino Might (5)
Lvl 40 +1 Rhino Might (6)
Lvl 41 +1 Revive (2)
Lvl 42 +1 Revive (3)
Lvl 43 +1 Revive (4)
Lvl 44 +1 Revive (5)
Lvl 45 +1 Revive (6)
Lvl 46 +1 Brute Force / Stoneskin (1)
Lvl 47 +1 Brute Force / Stoneskin (2)
Lvl 48 +1 Brute Force / Stoneskin (3)
Lvl 49 +1 Brute Force / Stoneskin (4)
Lvl 50 +1 Brute Force / Stoneskin (5)
Lvl 51 +1 Brute Force / Stoneskin (6)
Lvl 52
Lvl 53
Lvl 54
Lvl 55
Lvl 56
Lvl 57
Lvl 58
Lvl 59
Lvl 60
Lvl 61
Lvl 62
Lvl 63
Lvl 64
Lvl 65
Lvl 66 +3 Restore (9), +3 Redemption (9), +3 Vital Force (9) ,+3 Holy Tempest (9), +3 Rhino Might (9)
Lvl 67 +1 Guardian (7)
Lvl 68 +1 Guardian (8)
Lvl 69 +1 Guardian (9)
Lvl 70 +1 Stoneskin/Brute Force (7)
Lvl 71 +1 Stoneskin/Brute Force (8)
Lvl 72 +1 Stoneskin/Brute Force (9)
Lvl 73 +1 Revive (7)
Lvl 74 +1 Revive (8)
Lvl 75 +1 Revive (9)
Lvl 76 +1 Charge (2)

Because Stoneskin and Brute Force are both weak skills, it is also possible to get Lvl 9 Charge, Lvl 1 Stoneskin, and Lvl 1 Brute Force. This represents a "pure offensive" build. I am using it at the moment.

The "pure defensive" build is Lvl 9 Stoneskin, Lvl 9 Brute Force, Lvl 1 Charge, and Lvl 1 Redemption. The "CTF" build is Lvl 9 Stoneskin, Lvl 0 Brute Force, and rest of points in Redemption.

Stat Build

1) CTF Rhino
+5 STR whenever you level up. No concern for other stats
Wear Acrobat's Fine Iron Band / elite ring
Pros: Highest HP pool
Cons: Low hitrate, low damage

2) Ring & String rhino
+37 int, +dex until 73% hitrate, everything else into STR
Wear Fine Crystal Ring of Life
Pros: High HP with 100% hitrate
Cons: Low damage

3) Sneaky rhino (My build)
+37 int, then 50:50 split between STR and DEX
Wear Fine Crystal Ring of Life
Wear Forgotten Bow and str armor

At endgame, re-spec all 37 int to STR and DEX
Wear Acrobat's Fine Iron Band / elite ring
Wear Molten set when mobbing (don't be a tank be a rogue)
Wear Savage set when bossing (bosses hit hard)

Pros: Versatile
Cons: Cannot CTF

[Prack]

WOW awesome guide. The only question I have is since we have the extra points why not do 67 INT and Fine Crystal Ring of Life? 1 h/s 3 m/s and 4 dps vs 2.

[Extreme]

Awesome guide!

[whisperwalk]

WOW awesome guide. The only question I have is since we have the extra points why not do 67 INT and Fine Crystal Ring of Life? 1 h/s 3 m/s and 4 dps vs 2.

The 67 int ring is fine if you're willing to wait 6 more levels. Both have 3 M/s so they work equally well.

[Xpistofepos]

Levelup Cheat Sheet

What happened to the info in this post?

[Extreme]

^ he gonna post later

[whisperwalk]

^ he gonna post later

Yap I need some time away from my day job.

[Prack]

The 67 int ring is fine if you're willing to wait 6 more levels. Both have 3 M/s so they work equally well.

I'm already level 55 I'm just talking from an end game perspective.

[whisperwalk]

Recently I re-speced to 1 Charge, 9 Rhino Might, and 0 Stoneskin just to deal with Humanian Yetis. To my surprise, it made quite a difference. At level 9 Rhino Might has a 100% stun rate and 7m AoE, almost as good as Holy Tempest. The damage sucks, of course, which is why I initially dismissed the skill. But 3 seconds of stun keep your fragile bird/enchantress friends alive, allowing them to do their proper job.

With a second bear/rhino in the party, Rhino Might has a perma-stun effect. Suddenly, a map like Lost Villas becomes accessible to non-elixired parties.

I might have to reevaluate the usefulness of this skill.

[Prack]

9 points is a lot for a 3 second stun. But yeah I see your point and have wondered if it would be worth it at cap level.

[whisperwalk]

I'm already level 55 I'm just talking from an end game perspective.

In the endgame the Black/Gold Ring of Valiant Glory beats everything else. 3 Str, 3 Dex, 3 Int, 5 Dodge, 5 Hit, 2 Crit, 67 health, 1 H/s, 10 Mana, 1M/s, 10 Damage, 20 Armor. Impossible to top that.

Extremely difficult to forge this ring, of course. But once you do, you'll want to re-spec the int back into str / dex.

[vle_hoang]

Nice guide but a little question, why 9 revive and 0 stoneskin? Isnt it better that u put 1 revive and 8 in stoneskin? Even it have a short duration, but it gives u 50? armor instead of rev at fews metters more? Its like having another buckler for a short duration.

[whisperwalk]

Nice guide but a little question, why 9 revive and 0 stoneskin? Isnt it better that u put 1 revive and 8 in stoneskin? Even it have a short duration, but it gives u 50? armor instead of rev at fews metters more? Its like having another buckler for a short duration.

Because I've never, ever, missed the 48 armor from StoneSkin. Mobs are either dealing the minimum damage, or bosses are dealing too much damage. And yet I revive all the time and being out of range is just sad.

StoneSkin is only active 35% of the time, which means that you cannot base your playstyle around it. This is more damaging than it seems: if you're sufficiently defended for the 65% of the time that StoneSkin is offline, then you do not need StoneSkin at all. Overall, I would consider StoneSkin a crippled skill. Also, if STS ever "fixes" the two force buffs to prevent them from stacking, then this would absolutely cripple the already weak rhino. The rhino atm should be buffed, not nerfed.

[vle_hoang]

Because I've never, ever, missed the 48 armor from StoneSkin. Mobs are either dealing the minimum damage, or bosses are dealing too much damage. And yet I revive all the time and being out of range is just sad.

StoneSkin is only active 35% of the time, which means that you cannot base your playstyle around it. This is more damaging than it seems: if you're sufficiently defended for the 65% of the time that StoneSkin is offline, then you do not need StoneSkin at all. Overall, I would consider StoneSkin a crippled skill. Also, if STS ever "fixes" the two force buffs to prevent them from stacking, then this would absolutely cripple the already weak rhino. The rhino atm should be buffed, not nerfed.

48 Armors with x3 Combo is 144 armors, when u farm at feast, 144 Armors will save u from being OHKO from Lofus and Vlod.

[OverkillED]

Amazing, detailed, and thorough guide on the paladin class! Bravo!

[Zerious]

the minimum damage section also opened my eyes to how i build my bear for pve. GREAT help there, I commend your work and thank you for your post

[whisperwalk]

Str/int Rhino

I have sucessfully confirmed that 2 int = 1 skill damage for the spell Holy Tempest (Lvl 9). This clears one of my biggest 'road not taken' mysteries.

Presently equipping Lvl75 Beastly Dragonscale Sword, my Holy Tempest deals 368-427 damage. A rhino with 160 int would have 448-507, or +20%; a rhino with 160 dex would have 392-451, or +6%. These numbers are for Holy Tempest only. Int adds much less moolah for Rhino Might, Charge, and Restore.

Because rhinos only have two AoE skills (one good, one sucky), adding int is not recommended. By the way, mages have three AoE skills, which are all good.

Str Rhino

I re-specced to a STR Rhino because I was getting tired of dps (prior to this, a dagger rhino build proved too fragile for PvE). So now I have 331 base STR, 45 base Dex, 4 base Int, 100% hitrate naked, and 635 HP fully clothed.

This build (similar to CosmicXGhost's super-CTF rhino) was quite fun to play because i can walk to the middle of a mob, chat, and ignore the mobs. Since I don't care too much for CTF, I deployed a "zero attack" layout:

1 Charge
1 Redemption
1 Summon
9 Restore
9 Revive
9 Stoneskin
9 Guardian
9 Vital Force
9 Brute Force
9 Holy Tempest

Yes, both combo pieces at 1 pt.

Surprisingly, this build is capable of PVP! I have outdated humania equips and limited PVP experience but was able to kill a few birds and one rushing fox. (I finally met a fox in PVP. It tried to rush me, so I instantly killed it.) I definitely should try PVP again once I have the full Savage set, Cap ring, and Lvl 9 Redemption. The strategy for killing birds is actually quite straightforward although getting the timing right is hard:

1. Buff and run away (IMPORTANT!).
2. As they charge forward, u suddenly run forward, Charge, then Rhino Might.
3. Wait 3 seconds then Holy Tempest.
4. Wait 3 seconds then Rhino Might.
5. If you are lucky the bird will be locked in perma-stun. At this point u cherry tap it to death.
6. If the bird tries anything, u cast Heal, or Guardian.
7. If the bird knocks u back to an sliver of your life, u cast Heal, and laugh evilly.
8. Sometimes u will die instantly to a crit. Just say GF and respawn.

The following routine is used against bears. Bears are a very difficult opponent:

1. As they beckon, you let it pull u in. Just before it finishes the combo, you cast Rhino Might to stun it.
2. At this point, the Bear will cast Stomp. Your response is heal.
3. Hit the bear with normal skills. Run away whenever u think high dmg moves are coming.
4. Use Guardian if the bear stuns u.
5. After some time, the bear's buffs run out. This is the time for perma-stun (Rhino Might + Holy Tempest).
6. Kill the bear after 2 minutes.

I havent found anything that works against Mages. They heal AND have 100% crit. Gf rhino.

PVP is not my intention for Rhino; otherwise I wouldn't use a "zero attack" formation. I actually built it this way for bossing and farming Lost Valley. It is inspired by Spain's "no strikers" football strategy.

Dagger Rhino

Dagger Rhino is possible due to the Molten set (purple) giving 56% crit at the expense of low armor and no dodge. This build is fun, but I get tired of dying randomly.

I used two variations, a pure Molten set, as well as a hybrid Molten set. The pure Molten is just asking to be murdered. The Hybrid has reasonable armor but very low dodge:

Str Helm
Blackened Shard of the Dragon
Molten armor
Str Shield

This build has high DPS (600!) but requires elixirs to really bring on the pain. As I have mentioned, high speed weapons are mitigated by armor. But purchase a Trasher Pwnage, and you will literally rain death while having max armor. I am not a plat user (all my plat is from free offers), so I had to discontinue the build. But I never had to worry about having no Break Armor skill since a bird was always in the party.