[WIP] Basic Trickster Guide

[Loveless]

Since it's maintenance night and there's nothing to do I'll compile some of the data I have gathered thus far on the class. This will be a work in progress as I level the class. Please take note that I do not have a main to fund the character so I may/will be slow in progress.

Class Summary
Taken from Outspark, Trickster class info.

Due to their incredible speed and agility, the Trickster is an expert at dealing damage in a short amount of time. They are trained assassins, taught to detect any weaknesses and use them to their advantage. With every slash of a claw or strike of a blade, the Trickster acquires a soul -- living essence used to unleash forceful attacks, powerful enough to bring even the toughest opponent to their knees.

Tricksters can equip either Claws or Dual Swords. They can only wear armor specific to their class and level. Main attributes are Strength (for damage) and Dexterity (increases the ability to evade attacks). To increase your SP (spirit points), ability to use more skills and chance for critical hits, try adding some points to Spirit.

For your skill empowers (under skills button "K" key), focus on decreasing the cooldown time of your important skill such as Claw Swipe and Lacerate. As you grow stronger, then focus on increasing the damage output of your soul consumption skills like Razor Claw and Claw Lunge.

Quick Points
Advantages

• Fast attack rate
• High critical rate
• High evasion
• Number of DoT (single-target) skills
• Unique soul capture system

Disadvantages
But of course there are some downsides to the class as well.

• Low (and I mean low) defense and HP
• No ranged attacks
• No AoE (may change in the future but for now none)
  
• Souls are only generated by skill and is renewed with each mob
  • Though the finishers are pretty strong so it may balance out

Stat Points
I assume that most of you are quite familiar with how stats work in Fiesta Online. Some of the recommended builds I have seen floating around are the following:

Full DEX
They have a naturally high evasion so it makes sense to fully utilize their best assets. But do keep in mind that your damage will be lacking so you may want to consider Dual Swords instead of the Claws and enhancing your weapon.

Full STR
They have a really fast attack rate and with full STR you can be sure that each hit hurts. You will want to invest in DEX/END gears to make up for lost defensive stats and aim as well as enhancing your gears.

25 SPR / 33 or 50 DEX / Full STR
Then there is, of course, the well rounded build for any class; the DEX bonus goes down after 33 (for Aim) and 50 (for Evasion) points invested so we stop there and STR free-stat ignores defense so that is always a plus. The 25 SPR will increase your naturally high Critical Rate and allow for a larger SP pool as well. It is a recommended stat for anyone who are not heavy CS users or just simply love those purple numbers and breaking glass SFX.

END based Builds
This is a no. While you may think that due to their low HP and defense that they would benefit from END -- they do not have a shield to fully benefit from the free-stat. Get the END from your gears and/or enhance your armour. But if you still feel this is the way to go then 50 END rest STR will be the path.

Equipment
Which weapon you choose is up to you really (doesn't really matter until you have to split paths at the last job change). If you plan on going for a evasion route you may consider the latter, Dual Swords for attack damage. Your DEX stat will make up for the lower Aim (compared to Claws). And in contrast you may opt for the Claws if you with to go the full STR build. As with any class, try both out and see which you prefer.

Claws
Low damage
High critical rate
High aim
Faster attack rate (1.6s)

Dual Swords
High damage
Lower critical rate
Lower aim
Slower attack rate (1.8s)

NOTE: The attack rate shown is the combined speed of both hands. If the Trickster was to only hit with one hand the speed would be, for the Claws, 0.8s per hit. So when you think of it that way the Dual Swords is 0.9s per hit making the speed difference minimal.

Soul Capture System
One of the unique features of the Trickster is their ability to collect souls from their enemies. These souls are then used to execute powerful finishing moves. The souls collected are shown on the target and they will disappear when you consume them for your skills or kill the monster/player.

Here's the breakdown on the damage multiplier.
1 Soul: 100%
2 Souls: 140%
3 Souls: 180%
4 Souls: 220%
5 Souls: 260%
6 Souls: 300%
7 Souls: 350%

Skills
In order to collect these souls you will need to use skills that generate them such as Lacerate and Claw Swipe. These skills have a fairly long cooldown when compared to how fast you auto-attack. So your focus will be lowering their cooldowns so that you can generate more orbs to use your finishing skills.

Claw Swipe
Move swiftly and scratch your enemy. Obtain a soul.
Weapon: Claws
Recommended: Reduce cooldown
Optional: N/A

Lacerate
Jump high and give a lethal scratch to your enemy. Obtain a soul.
Weapon: Claws or Dual Swords
Recommended: Reduce cooldown
Optional: N/A

Razor Claw
Channel the energy of collected souls to unleash a powerful combo.
Requires one or more souls.
Weapon: Claws
Recommended: Increase damage
Optional: Reduce cooldown

Claw Lunge
Slash with your claws and infect your enemy with deadly poison.
Requires one or more souls.
Weapon: Claws or Dual Swords
Recommended: Increase damage
Optional: Reduce cooldown

Enfeeblement
Chance to decrease movement and/or infect decay damage every second for 10s.
Weapon: Claws or Dual Swords
Recommended: Reduce cooldown
Optional: Increase damage

Intimidation
Threaten your target by brandishing a weapon. Obtain a soul.
Weapon: Dual Swords
Recommended: Reduce cooldown
Optional: N/A

Nimble Defense
Increase your evasion when defending against AoE attacks. Self-buff.
Weapon: Claws or Dual Swords
Recommended: N/A
Optional: N/A

[Loveless]

Version Update
List of changes made to the guide in order of latest changes.

7 April 2011
Revised information on 'balance' build.
2 April 2011
Added skill information up to level 20.
31 March 2011
Guide created. Added information on basic class information and overview.

[Helion]

Thanks for the intro to the class, definitely good info. If I can find you, I will throw some gold your way to help your progress, since I doubt I will play my Trickster much until my archer hits 100 in a few months.

[Krowley]

I thought you get 2 Soul consuming finishers.
One is regular, while another one deals poison damage.

[Loveless]

If you read carefully I was referring to Dual Swords. If you use Claws you have two finishers. At level 20 you only have one if you choose Dual Swords.

EDIT: Of course being a lowbie I'm not able to go to Uruga to check out their higher level skills so there may be more soul capture and/or finisher skills.

[DEATH_FROM_ABOVE]

Thx for the info

[AddisonH]

Thanks for the great info
It's just what I needed.. didn't really know which weapon to go for but now I know I'm sticking to the claws for my Pure STR.
Trickster FTW!

[Loveless]

Rather surprised this thread has 600+ views already.

After playing for a bit more I have to say that if you plan on Dual Swords it may be a better idea to stick with Claws until 35 when you get your second finisher for the swords. Max CD on Lacerate then save up. Or you can, of course, switch weapons but that seems like a hassle.

I personally stay Dual Swords and have maxed CD on both soul capture skills. Slap on a Def, Vit, and Evasion scroll and you're good to solo. The biggest draw back is SP consumption so stock up before leaving town.

[Bernard20]

Right now I am doing 25spr 50dex fullstr and it's kinda tough. Without a buff I will die in about 5 or so hits against monsters my level (17). I would be wary of doing a pure str build as it will be near impossible to solo at later levels. As of now, it's almost a given that tricksters need lots and lots of potions so having the potion making skill would be ideal. I'm not quite sure how well this class will work in a party as it does not have the defense to tank nor to handle AOE attacks if someone else tanks. Seems to me like it is just a melee archer.

[Loveless]

Well, yeah, it is rather tough but I found that after I did the job change things weren't as bad.

I was actually able to tank Mara and Marlone in the KQ albeit I used up a lot of potions but it wasn't impossible. At one point I didn't even have a Cleric buff.

I'd say join an academy that always has the guild buff going to help you. 5% may not seem like a lot but it will help.