Newbie Guide: The Guides to Leadership

Parties - Observations of a midbie
Written by Endy

Just because equipment (eq) and experience (xp) parties are quite different, I have divided this article into those two separate sections.

1.1 Forming an xp party
1.2 Leading an xp party
2.1 Forming an eq party
2.2 Leading an eq party
2.3 Practical eq

1.1
Forming an xp party
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This is something anyone can do. You don't have to be a protter or tank, in order to create a party. General rule is, though that you yourself contribute something to the xp making. Heals, damage, protection spells for example.

Forming a party is fairly simple: ask around, either directly or on the channels. If you are a newbie you will have a better chance of finding fellow xp-hungry partyers via the newbie channel.

The size of the party and the level/guilds of the party members pretty much dictate how big monsters you can and can not kill. Without proper healing and/or protection you are limited to monsters your tank can handle without them. Medium xp monsters require either or both, big monsters both. Charging into battle with the unknown can and propably will get you and your party killed.

Protection is usually provided by abjurers, or paladins. Abjurers have an arsenal of protections against all possible damage types in the game, and can cast vulnerabilities on monsters to speed up your killing. They also have some limited healing ability, so they are good for xp monsters of all sizes. Paladins have their armour of god, which provides protection against evil-aligned monsters plus some healing ability as well. Paladins are also divided into three subguilds, hospitalar being the one focused on protections. The power of the armour of god varies inside these guilds.

Note: if you party with a paladin, you cannot have a warlock in your party, and vice versa.

For damage, any guild goes. Monks are good stunners, fighters, rangers, samurais do good and most caster guilds do awesome damage, though they have to regen their spell points once in a while. If you plan on going for the biggest monsters, or just want some extra protection, grab a healer too. A bard can boost the statistics of everyone in your party, they are very useful as well.

1.2
Leading an xp party
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The tank is the leader. In most cases the tank forms the party. He commands everyone, tells them when to jump and how high. He is also mostly responsible for the rate (xp per minute), since he is the one recruiting the members. If the rate is low, he is usually the one who gets the blame.

Tank handles party movement. If it takes a lot of time moving from a monster to the next, the rate will suffer. This is why the tank needs knowledge of monsters and areas that fit the current party (often referred to as "runs"). If rate goes too low, people might leave your party to solo. If you see party members idling and doing nothing, you should propably get rid of them or at least try to get them to do something.

Mind what your party members are saying. If someone needs a break, take one. Be patient with your members, some might be trying out some new guild they have just reincarnated to and are not familiar with it.

Tanking xp is quite fast to learn and isn't hard at all. You need some basic skills like parry/dodge, and a shield. If you have these or at least some of, you can tank. Just do it, and you will learn as you go.

2.1
Forming EQ parties
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Eq parties require a lot more than forming an xp party. You need at least a tank (usually fighter or ranger), protter (abjurer, paladin) and a healer. In an eq party damage is usually done by casters; mages, sorcerers, druids or psionicists. A bard in an eq party is also a common sight. Cleric is also a must, since you will be dying a lot. Just to be on the safe side, keep the cleric out of the party and out of the battle. In case your party wipes completely, which is quite common, and there are no unidle clerics to save you, your party is over.

An eq party is very hard to make on the fly. It is easier to make one with proper planning. Recruit members to your party first, and when you have the required people willing to join, settle some time that fits everyone and get together. You need to plan ahead what monsters you are going to do at a given day, and need to know where they are and how to get to them. Most eq monsters are behind puzzles and traps, so just knowing "it's somewhere that way" isn't
nearly enough. Don't try too big ones, start with the smallest and then go up slowly. Trying to kill Lucifer on the first go is literally impossible.

Eq takes time. It can take hours and hours to take down one single monster, so
make sure your party members have enough time and plan accordingly. Just when that big juicy monster is close to death and your tank or protter has to leave, the party is over and everyone will be pissed off.

Knowledge of the monsters themselves is important. Just directions to the monsters isn't necessarily enough. Most things, such as required damage and protection types, can be found out when you get there, but some monsters have special features that can prove unbeatable to your party. Also mind that your protter need to have protection against the specific damage type your eq monster does, otherwise it'll be impossible to keep your tank alive even with the best healers.

Ok, I killed the monster. Now what ?

Do more. If you have 8 members in your party, you need 8 pieces of eq for dicing. You can plan to make some specific eq and then dice them later when they have all been made, but everyone wants something from the party. Dicing itself is fairly simple; have everyone in your party and have the party leader throw "party dice". The one with the highest dice picks first, the one with the next highest second, etc.

2.2
Leading an eq party
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As in xp parties, the tank is the commander. He can discuss strategies with the healer and protter, but everyone else are just damage-makers and will do exactly what the tank says and when. The tank handles the movement, decides what monsters to do, takes the party in and out of the battle.

Since you are the leader, all the planning and recruiting is up to you for the most part. You decide on members and monsters. You are responsible for the partys' success. If you fail to bring down a monster, you have tried a too hard one and your planning hasn't been good enough. If you do too easy monsters with a good party, people will whine. It's hard to find a good balance between monsters and the "quality" of the party, but this is something you can only learn by just doing it.

Learn from your failures. Memorize things you learn well. You can't be a know-it-all on the first, second or even 10th attempt. Even the mightiest fall. But without trying, you will never become one of them.

2.3
Practical eq
------------

Try with small first, then go up. Learn as you go. If you fail to bring down a monster it can be due to several factors: your tank lacks resistances, your protections are not strong enough, your healer can't heal efficiently enough or your are simply not doing enough damage

Have the cleric stay out. If your cleric dies, and you die, the party is over.

Bards can boost all statistics, heal and give awesome bonuses to your skills and spells with their songs. A bard is almost a must.

Make sure you put the eq in a trader bag or chest it immediately when the monster is dead; there are thieves about !

Make sure everyone involved in the making of the eq get something. Throw extra dices for those that have left the party earlier and pick something something for them. They will remember this.

Take hitters in your party for damage if you are missing a caster. "Hitter eq" is considered a no-no by most, but it works, just not quite as efficiently as with casters.

Try to learn as much as possible before you start. Know your guild, your skills and spells. Study resistances, damage preferences, and the other guilds' skills and spells. Ask around, it's free !