[WIP] Beginner Alchemist Guide

• Tropa wrote on 2014-03-27 19:53
  Due to this being a frequently asked question, I've decided to write up a short, simplified guide on what to rank for beginner alchemists. Keep in mind alchemy isn't the best class to start in, but who is gonna stop you? In this guide I'll list what to rank in a order.
  
  This guide will be a Work In Progress for awhile, keep that in mind.
  
  

  Additional ways of Obtaining AP(Generational quests and daily AP coupons.
  Generation 1: 74
  Generation 3: 40
  Generation 13: 40
  Generation 15: 40
  Generation 17: 50
  Generation 18: 200
  Daily AP Coupons: 3
  Daily Saga AP Coupons: 2.5

  
  
  

  Alchemy is based off three stats, Being Health, Mana and Stamina
  Flameburst
  Lifedrain
  Watercannon
  Shock
  Hydra Transmutation
  Heat Buster
  Sandburst
  Windblast
  Frozenblast

  
  
  
  
  

  - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

  
  
  
  What to Rank(In Order)
  
  

  [Image: http://wiki.mabinogiworld.com/images/c/ca/Water_Cannon.png]

  - Primary Focus
  

  [Image: http://wiki.mabinogiworld.com/view/Water_Cannon]

  is first on the list for obvious reasons, It's fast, It's long ranged and it's reliable. Focus on this skill first.
  
  

  [Image: http://wiki.mabinogiworld.com/images/b/b7/Chain_Cylinder.png]

  - Secondary Focus
  Chain Cylinder Should be ranked whenever available.
  
  

  [Image: http://wiki.mabinogiworld.com/images/9/9b/Critical_Hit.png]

  - Secondary Focus
  Critical Hit should be ranked whenever available, just like Chain Cylinder.
  
  

  [Image: http://wiki.mabinogiworld.com/images/4/41/Water_Alchemy.png]

  - Secondary Focus - If you have Elemental Wave
  I recommend getting this up for the Water Attribute Marble, when filled at 50%, it'll grant the user with 150 MP(rank 1 Water Alchemy), The mastery itself barely does anything for Watercannon damage wise, however.
  
  

  [Image: http://wiki.mabinogiworld.com/images/7/79/Flame_Burst.png]

  - Primary Focus
  Flameburst should be ranked after Watercannon, this will be your main form of AoE, main reason I didn't recommend Flameburst first cause it's easily interruptible and it has short range.
  
  

  [Image: http://wiki.mabinogiworld.com/images/b/b9/Guard_Cylinder_Mastery.png]

  - Secondary Focus
  Guard Cylinder Mastery Should be your secondary Focus once you've finished Chain Cylinder.
  
  

  [Image: http://wiki.mabinogiworld.com/images/6/67/Fire_Alchemy.png]

  - Secondary Focus - If you have Elemental Wave
  I recommend getting this up for the Fire Attribute Marble, when filled at 50%, it'll grant the user with 150 HP(rank 1 Fire Alchemy), The mastery itself barely does anything for Flameburst damage wise, however.
  
  

  [Image: http://wiki.mabinogiworld.com/images/7/74/Shield_Mastery.png]

  - Secondary Focus
  Shield Mastery should be ranked along side Guard Cylinder Mastery, it's cheap on AP and grants nice defensive stats.
  - I recommend using the Master of Shields master title until you get a title that gives HP, MP, Stamina or Alchemic damage.
  
  

  [Image: http://wiki.mabinogiworld.com/images/4/47/Heavy_Armor_Mastery.png]

  - Secondary Focus(Optional)
  I recommend Heavy Armor Mastery cause alchemy is one of the few classes that isn't effected by Dexterity at all, so Wearing Heavy armor gives you no penalties what so ever, I recommend wearing heavy armor until you have a Cressida or Flamerider Set.
  
  

  [Image: http://wiki.mabinogiworld.com/images/8/80/Hydra_Transmutation.png]

  - Primary Focus
  Hydra Transmutation is gonna be your first AP sink, but it'll be worth it, it lowers your enemy's Magic Defense and Magic Protection as well as another form of AoE damage for faster room/wave clearings.
  
  

  [Image: http://wiki.mabinogiworld.com/images/7/7e/Song.png]

  &

  [Image: http://wiki.mabinogiworld.com/images/9/9a/Lullaby.png]

  - Primary Focus
  I'm recommending Song and Lullaby mainly cause lullaby is one of the best mob control skills, it has good synergy with Hydra Transmutation and Rank 5 Song for using Lullaby without the need of an instrument.
  
  

  [Image: http://wiki.mabinogiworld.com/images/7/76/Herbalism.png]

  &

  [Image: http://wiki.mabinogiworld.com/images/b/ba/Potion_Making.png]

  - Primary Focus
  I'm recommending Potion Making and Herbalism skills for two reasons, first reason is cause I find it important that you can make your own potions(Late-game you don't wanna be stuck using 30s, trust me.) and the second reason is cause the Apothecary talent is very cheap and easy Mana for Watercannon.
  
  

  [Image: http://wiki.mabinogiworld.com/images/2/2f/Magic_Mastery.png]

  &

  [Image: http://wiki.mabinogiworld.com/images/3/37/Combat_Mastery.png]

  &

  [Image: http://wiki.mabinogiworld.com/images/b/b5/Production_Mastery.png]

  - Primary Focus
  After the Apothecary skills, rank Magic, Combat and Production Masteries for the cheap MP, HP and Stamina.
  
  

  [Image: http://wiki.mabinogiworld.com/images/2/23/Sand_Burst.png]

  - Primary Focus
  Sandburst is very useful for mob control, especially since it can be loaded instantly.
  
  

  [Image: http://wiki.mabinogiworld.com/images/3/3d/Clay_Alchemy.png]

  - Secondary Focus
  Clay Alchemy should be ranked along Sandburst, it'll increase Blind duration as well as Hydra Transmutation Damage.
  
  

  [Image: http://wiki.mabinogiworld.com/images/1/15/Wind_Blast.png]

  - Primary Focus
  Windblast is next on the list, its a nice defensive skill, loads instantly and a little more reliable then sandburst.
  
  

  [Image: http://wiki.mabinogiworld.com/images/2/26/Life_Drain.png]

  - Primary Focus
  Life Drain is a must-have to have at rank 1, It's one of the skills that makes alchemists tanky and have high survivability.
  
  
  

  - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

  
  
  
  At this point, It's mostly up to you what you think is best to rank according to your tastes in terms of Alchemy skills... I defiantly recommend ranking Elemental wave and Golden Time after you have decent ranks in Heat Buster, Shock and Frozenblast.
  
  Rain Casting is a important part of Battle Alchemy, it's useful for Watercannon and Solo'ing since it nullifies monsters aggro that spawn under it.
  
  I didn't mention Barrier Spikes mostly cause how fast-paced mabinogi has become, your better off ranking Song and Lullaby instead. Barrier Spikes is still useful for things like filling up your attribute marbles or taking on boss monsters that posses Mana-Deflector.
  
  Summon Golem is a skill I wouldn't prioritize, it's current usefulness isn't very high.
• Deoxis wrote on 2014-03-27 21:04
  Thanks for the guide :D i need more mana !! and im done :O oh ye wich title is the best to wear?
• Tropa wrote on 2014-03-27 21:50

  Quote from Deoxis;1210536:

  Thanks for the guide :D i need more mana !! and im done :O oh ye wich title is the best to wear?

  
  
  Early Game
  Toxicologist, or just anything that adds HP, MP or Stamina really.
  
  Late Game
  Alchemy Master, Golden Time Master, the Royal Alchemist or Hydra Transmutation master
• Minatou wrote on 2014-03-27 22:10
  Thanks bud! Wasn't sure on the whole battle alchemy priorities.
• WOWOWOWAOW wrote on 2014-03-28 01:41
  I kinda want alchemy to be my side hoe, so do skills like life drain, shock and hydra need considerable stats to be useful? I've got 500+ of each stat.
• Tropa wrote on 2014-03-28 01:45

  Quote from WOWOWOWAOW;1210632:

  I kinda want alchemy to be my side hoe, so do skills like life drain, shock and hydra need considerable stats to be useful? I've got 500+ of each stat.

  
  
  Nope, Though having high stamina with hydra is helpful, thankfully stamina is the highest scaling stat in the game.
• Deoxis wrote on 2014-03-28 13:20
  How many cost to be master battle alchemist ? Of apothocary?
• Daccat wrote on 2014-03-30 18:49
  Why isn't alchemy the best class to start in? What is the best to start with and why?
• Dartan wrote on 2014-03-30 18:56

  Quote from Daccat;1211196:

  Why isn't alchemy the best class to start in? What is the best to start with and why?

  
  You should start with Close Combat (Warrior)
  Then get your basic skills up (Windmill, Combat Mastery, Cricital Hit...)
• Rydian wrote on 2014-04-01 16:48

  Quote from Daccat;1211196:

  Why isn't alchemy the best class to start in? What is the best to start with and why?

  Damage for most skills is based on three things.
  
  1 - The skill itself (higher ranks do more damage).
  2 - Your stats.
  3 - Your equipment.
  
  Starting out, you won't have great equipment, so the skill and stats is where most of your growth will come from. Some combat types, like melee, magic, fighter, and ranged give their own needed base stats in good amounts. Melee skills can give lots of STR, ranged skills give Dex, magic gives Int out the butthole, and fighter skills give Will. Alchemy on the other hand benefits most from large HP/MP/Stam pools instead of STR and such.
  
  http://wiki.mabinogiworld.com/view/Stats_and_Skills
  Alchemy gives lots of MP and Stamina, but comparatively little HP, and many of the skills (especially control skills) can be tough to raise, often needing very specific requirements (water cannon under a cloud, etc.) and you need to do generations 9-12 to even GET a number of alchemy skills unless you start the character out for the very first time as an alch (rebirthing does not give you new skills outside of Ace talents).
  
  (As a side note, this is partially why gunslinger is terrible for newbies as it uses STR/INT for damage, for the skills give little to no STR/Int, you have to get it from elsewhere.)
  
  For new characters, I suggest one of the skillsets that gives it's own required base stats in a decent amount without much purposeful training, something full of requirements that will be trained naturally as you use the skills without much thought because when making a new character you usually have other things to concentrate on rather than doing a very specific dance every 5 minutes just to rank a skill up every single rank. Older players with new characters will generally know which skillset they want to start out with that will give them a good foundation for what they plan to go into later anyways.
  
  For new players I generally suggest melee or fighter as they lack durability/arrow issues of ranged and they lack the high cost of magic (wand/staff repair has no cheap options, even 92% is expensive as hell for a newbie, and let's not get into MP potions). Fighter seems to grow easier and faster while normal melee depends a lot on STR which tends to only come in the higher ranks of skills and will thus be slower to get to start.
• couponfork wrote on 2014-05-15 14:39
  What would you suggest as far as equipment (armor, boots, helmet, etc.) goes for a beginner alchemist?
• Tropa wrote on 2014-05-15 17:24

  Quote from couponfork;1220343:

  What would you suggest as far as equipment (armor, boots, helmet, etc.) goes for a beginner alchemist?

  
  
  Anything really, a "Stiff" enchanted tailcap or Knob beret and a cheap 6/2 armor.