[SIZE="6"]Thunder Rafting[/SIZE]
This guide is for those who want to try out rafting but don't know what to do or where to start.
There are two main skills used in rafting. Thunder and Crash shot. You can also use beginner magic (icebolt, lighningbolt, firebolt), ranged attack, or demigod, but none of those are practical for real rafting.
This guide is about thunder.
[FONT="Arial"][SIZE="5"]The rafting experience[/SIZE][/FONT]
If you've never rafted before, then read this. Rafting is a "mini game" in which you raft down a river collecting stars, passing 2 stop points where you can exchange the stars you earned for rewards.
While rafting, hobgoblins (mages, archers, and warriors) will attack the raft from either side of the river. To earn stars, you must kill them. One kill = one star. If more than one person is on board, the stars are split between all the party members. So in a party with 3 people, 1 kill = 1/3 star. Because of this, I generally prefer to raft alone.
By the way, hobgoblin warriors jump onto your raft to attack you, while the others attack you from land with range or magic. So be sure to have decent melee skills if you want to counter the hobgoblins, otherwise bring a teammate to ward them off while you continue killing them with your thunder.
The three stop points are crucial if you want to exchange your stars for rewards. You may skip them if you failed to earn enough stars for the reward you want. You can also use the stop points to take items out of your pets, since you cannot use pets on the raft.
Here's a general guide to the locations of hobgoblins as you travel down the river:
Start
Right
Left
[SIZE="1"]Fork - Turn left. Don't go right, that will lead you down a waterfall (although no steering is necessary to take the left path. you have to actually steer right in order to go down the waterfall)[/SIZE]
Right
Right
First stop
Left
Right
Second stop
Both
Both
Both
End
When you have reached the end of the raft, exchange your stars. Then get back on the raft and wait. When the raft disappears, you will be taken with it and teleport back to starting raft area.
[Image: http://i.imgur.com/qvc4B.jpg]
[FONT="Arial"][SIZE="5"]Using Thunder[/SIZE][/FONT]
Thunder costs the same amount of MP no matter what rank you are, therefore you must always keep a decent supply of MP potions.
Buy some mana herbs or MP pots from someone to get started if you don't have any. Rafting should keep you supplied with mana potions.
Your thunder should be at least rank B. At rank B, load time decreases to 5 seconds and hits 2 enemies per charge rather than 1. This makes it optimal for rafting.
At rank 9, the load time further decreases. And at rank 6, thunder receives a further boost and an even faster load time decrease.
[Image: http://i.imgur.com/dhvlD.png]
Don't charge thunder 5 times while waiting for the mob. That's a rookie mistake. It wastes MP and isn't necessary. You can expect all monsters (except for the warriors) to die in one hit from thunder.
Another rookie mistake is moving too close to the monsters. Don't do that. Keep close enough to hit them but far enough to not get hit. Thunder has a huge range.
[FONT="Arial"][SIZE="5"]Collecting Stars[/SIZE][/FONT]
Remember, while rafting, one kill = one star. If more than one person is on board, the stars are split between all the party members. So in a party with 3 people, 1 kill = 1/3 star. Because of this, I generally prefer to raft alone.
It is equally important to not collect too many stars. A beginner's mistake is to overkill and get more stars than they need.
Look at this chart:
[Image: http://i.imgur.com/eVWgF.png]
The bolded items are rewards that are guaranteed for that amount of stars. So, optimally, 28-30 stars = guaranteed 10 mana herbs. This is great, just don't go over 30 stars.
I usually kill to get 28 stars, then ride the rest of the way to the stop to exchange them for rewards. Because I have 28 and not 30, if a hobgoblin warrior or two jump on board, I'll have enough leeway to kill it without going over 30. Though nowadays, I just play dead as soon as I get enough stars and wait until I reach a stoppoint.
If you can't reach 28-30 stars, aim for atleast 19 stars. That way, you'll still get 5 MP 50 potions.
19 stars = 3 big stars, 4 little stars.
28 stars = 5 big stars, 3 little stars.
With the mana herbs, use them in potion making to create MP 100 potions. If you can't, find someone who will do it for you.
By the way, ch4... join / make a production party. This will increase your success rate. If it is under 50%, don't bother. Make MP 50s with them instead.
With r9 thunder and 125 int, I can get at least 2 stacks of mana herbs and 2 tipping suits (46k shop value) per run, while only using 4-6 MP 100 potions (1-2 if I trans).
References:
http://wiki.mabinogiworld.com/index.php?title=Rafting