Engelens MA Guide

[Nethelus]

First off I would just say, this is a great guide. Very good work. I wanted to point out another back armor that I didn't see in your list. The Robust Backpack. Compared to the Aura Mangifier, it adds an extra 100 to all ACs except Chemical which is 200 points lower than the magnifier. You also get 200 less nano with the Robust Backpack, but gain 400 hp instead. You also lose the 19 points in MA skill, but you also get 40 points more in the damage modifier. Only problem with this armor is that it's very rare and extremely expensive. Just thought I'd add that little bit

[Engelen]

Thank you so much, hehe I should add it, I never thought about it, but I should of course add it. I`ll have to find a way to squeeze it in, since I actually CAPPED the word limit on the posts so I had to short them

[______________Nalika]

you should include the gloves that drop off the curator in totw, i didn't see them, and they're better than the other ones IMO because the requirements are easier to buff.

[Engelen]

I`ll most likely have to add a new post to add all the new stuff to the guide, gonna start working on it soon I hope, if I can collect enough info for it. Keep the info coming

[_____________Eidolus]

This item might also be of use:

Original Mentor's Straw Hat

Adds 5 to Dimach, so maybe you can squeeze into a higher MA special.

It can be bought from Zoftig Blimp in Hope, for an exorbitant proce (325k, I think).

[Engelen]

MA Skill, AR, Special Attacks and Perks
Thanks to always helpful Britt9081, I'm proud to present you with a easy way to learn how to calculate the damage on your fists!

Martial Arts Items

That link shows you the AODB interpolation of the 'weapon' fist users wield, ie. our fists. For MAs, Shades, or everyone you find one that either says, MAx, SHx, or Genx respectively. Then you look at the number in the parantheses, to simplify, Ill
show the MA table here.

Item Name.................................QL
Martial Arts Item MA1 (1)..............1
Martial Arts Item MA2 (200)...........100
Martial Arts Item MA3 (1000)..........500
Martial Arts Item MA4 (1001)..........1
Martial Arts Item MA5 (2000)..........500
Martial Arts Item MA6 (2001)..........1
Martial Arts Item MA7 (3000)..........500

Ok, so you are a MA, you have 96 MA skill, and you want to know your fist template damage. You look at that list above. This is how you use it:
The number in paratheses (xxx) is MA skill. Your MA skill of 95 is greater then 1, but less then 200. So your item is MA1.

To determine the QL of your MA1 item you divide your MA skill by 2. 96/2= 48. Your fist weapon is a QL48 MA1 item.

Likewise for Shades. All other professions use the GEN1, GEN2, and GEN3 weapons.

If you want to see if you calculated it right, you can check it by using AODB`s Martial Artist Tool. Try learning by using the above system, and then checking with AODB, and it should soon be easy to understand


Using other weapons

When it comes to weapons, We do got other alternatives, but our fists are still our best weapon. Good info about using other weapons can be found at Chronitas Martial Artist Compendium Here

When we use bare fists, Our Attackrating is 100% Based on our Martial Arts skill.
When you equip a Weapon, you have to look at the requirements on the weapon. If it says 67% Martial Arts and 33% 1 Hand Blunt, then the AR is split between your current skills in both areas, thus it will be lower. Therefor, using a weapon that has split requirement will lower your Attack Rating.

Secondly, most MA weapons have a certain "MA for combined Attack" and a number behind it. That number is the Martial Arts skill needed to get a second attackbar, using your fists, but lowered by the new AR.

If you use 2 weapons and they have the "MA for combined Attack", then you will only get one extra attackbar, so the max attackbars you can have is 3. In that case, the two first attacks will base its damage upon the rules of the weapon equipped, and the third attack will be based upon fists, but lowered by the new and lower AR. You do get more attacks per minute by using weapons+MA fists, but the AR is lowered, and I think that Crit Chance is lowered when using a secondary Weapon like 1 Hand Blunt/Piercing.

Here's an example of how to calculate split AR when using weapons.

How your AR is split:
As you know, the AR on a Parry Stick is split between 67% MA skill and 33% 1HB skill. Many has asked how this works and how it affects the final AR, and thus I`d like to show you a easy calculation.

-Total AR with 1 Parry Stick equipped is 1155.

-MA skill is 1342
-1HB skill is 778

Then, calculate how much 67% of 1342 is by: 1342*67/100 you get 899.14
Then, calculate how much 33% of 778 is by: 778*33/100 you get 256.74

Finally, add 899.14+256.74 and you`ll get 1155.88

If you do choose to use weapons, there are several choices, here are some of them. These RK weapons aren't all that good anymore, but they are sometimes still used by some MAs, preferably those without expansions.

Parry Stick
Somewhat slow. They can be dualwielded, and if you got enough Martial Arts Skill you get an extra Fist Attack. However, A QL200 Parry stick adds 100 points to your Evade Close Combat and Parry, and if you dual wield two, you get 200 Points! Parry sticks can be rolled and found in missions.

Hazangerine Claw
Another choice is the Claws. Much faster, but with lesser damage and mods than the Sticks, they are more suited towards quick combat. The good thing about them, is that you can fight full def and hit quite a lot faster than with the Parry Sticks. Claws can be rolled and found on Martial Artist Mobs.

Torturing Tool
A weapon to consider against mobs with high AC, like Hecklers. It may not look like much, but its really not all that bad, with a nice Crit modifier, excellent speed and a high Max Beneficial Skill. Found on Morgan Le Faye in Camelot.

Special Attacks
I would like to refer to Chronita`s MA Compendium for detailed information about Special Attacks. All Special Attacks lock the needed skill for a certain time, to prevent them from being spammed which would literally cause you to be god. Imagine someone spamming Flower of Life on himself. With the right setup, you can use a few different attacks without colliding. Learn how each attack work, and see if they matches your style.

Angel of Night (AOL)
A Special Attack with main focus of crippling the opponent temporarily
-Lowers the Init, Agility and Sense of the Target
-AOE for a Set Amount of Damage, based on QL of the Attack.(Thanks Khailea!)

Ape Fist of Khalum
Decent Special, with 50% Chance of stunning the Target. Found in TToW.
Book 1: Cultists
Book 2: Cultists Deep inside
Book 3: Acolyte Dominic(Contributed by Flungshui!)
Book 4: Acolyte Amber(Contributed by Flungshui!)
Book 5: Exarch Li-Po

Attack of the Snake
The Basic MA Special Attack. Low Lock time, Low Damage.
-Hits Target for a Set Amount of Damage, based on QL of the Attack.

Bird of Prey (BoP)
A Common Low level damage special
-Hits the Target for a Set Amount of Damage, based on QL of the Attack.

Blessed with Thunder (BwT)
Most MA`s main special attack, used for dealing damage
-Hits Target for a Set Amount of Damage, based on QL of the Attack.
-Hits Target with a DOT that hit 6 times over 10 Seconds, Damage based on the QL of the Attack.

Bright, Blue, Cloudless Sky
A Great Special Attack to lower the Target`s initative with quite a lot.
-Stuns the Target, Duration: 4.32 seconds (Contributed by Xied!)
-Lowers the Target`s Initative, Amount of Varies with QL
-Hits Target fir a Set Amount of Damage, based on QL of the Attack.

Flower of Life (FOL)
The ever popular Flower of Life. Mainly used for its large Self Heal, but it also lowers the Fighting Target`s Runspeed and Add All Def.
-Large Self Heal, Amount based on QL
-Lowers Runspeed and Add All Def on Fighting Target

Karmic Fist
Great to use if you want to stun the target, as it has a 50% chance of stunning. You can find this in Inner Sanctum by gathering the books that drop and give to the NPC.
-Hits Target with 820 Points of Melee Damage
-50% Chance of Stunning Target for 2 Seconds

Following Drop Stats contributed by Britt9081!
Books 1 and 2 Lootable on first floor.
Books 1 thru 4 lootable on 2nd floor.
Books 5 and 6 Lootable from 3rd floor.

Shen
The lesser used Big Brother to Blessed With Thunder. For a Finishing or Alpha Strike it can be quite good though thanks to the many effects.
-Hits Target with Set Amount, Damage based on QL
-Hits Target with DOT and Nano DOT
-Lowers the Init and Run Speed of the Target
-100% Chance of Stunning the Target for 4 Seconds

Tree of Enlightenment
A Fantastic Low-Mid level Special with a instant 290 Team Heal. Very, Very Popular. Don`t leave The Temple Without it!

I've received a lot of contributions for the books, so much that I'm gathering the contributions here instead of the list:

Thanks to Rimax, Kiwu, Flungshui, Guitargirl, Dbum, Kostka and Katrien for contributing Information!

Book 1: Cultists(Atrox in First Room)
Book 2: Malikai the Faithful/Oran The Faithful
Book 3: Reverend Dashell/Acolyte Felid/Acolyte Verona
Book 4: Acolyte Betany/Acolyte Opal/Reverend Saxx/Reverend Dashell/Acolyte Verona/Acolyte Seleen/Acolyte Kalen/Reverend Oluay
Book 5: Acolyte Bryant/Acolyte Seleen/Acolyte Verona
Book 6: Exarch Gevarain/Acolyte Seleen

Upon a Wave of Summer
One of the best MA Special Attacks. Reduces Snares and Roots with a lot, boosts Nano Resist and several other effects. ALL MA`s should know this one.
-Reduces Snare/Root. If the Reduction Time is Greater than the Duration Time, it Breaks it.(That happens about 90% of the Time)
-Increases your Nano Resist and Run Speed
-Lowers the Targets Run Speed
-Chance to Stun the Target, Duration up to 4.32 Seconds

Perks
When it comes to Perks, we have 3 unique Perk Lines, and we have 4 Group Perks. What I feel is kinda sad, is that one of our Unique Perk lines are only good for PvP, the other one needs reworking but hasnt been fixed yet, and the third one could be changed a bit.

Primary Perks
-Spiritual Master
-150 to Martial Arts
-200 to Dimach
-150 to Riposte.
10 Perk Points.
Recommended Strongly, and every MA should max this line.

Disharmony
-Will give you a lifetap chance with each attack
-Adds 220 to All Damage
10 Perk Points.
If you are a dedicated PvM player and wants the max damage possible, max this line. Beware, it will give you some problems in PvP because of the game mechanics behind the lifetap. It can make PvP against Damage Shield Professions very nasty.
Tenerium adds that a good point with Disharmony is that it is more effective when you gain more attacks per minute, like when you are using a weapon. Thanks for reminding me about that

Unstunnable
-25% Root Resist
-100% Calm/Stun Resist.
4 Perk Points. Definitely Recommended for PvP, but it's also a very nice PvM perk, because it does completely remove any chance for being stunned, which helps greatly against some bosses and enemies actually.

Group Perks
Acrobat
-190 to all three evades
-30 to Multi Range/Melee
-30 to Agility
4 Perk Points.
Every MA Must have this. Max it before anything else. Two awesome specials that stack gives you a temporary 1000 points to Evades.

Brawler
-200 to Brawl
-50 to add all Damage.
6 Perk Points.
Some good Specials that specializes in stunning the target. Recommended if you are looking for more damage and stun.

Careful in Battle
-300 to Add All Def
-80 to Critical Resistance
10 Perk Points.
Nice Defensive Perk Line, with a very good special. The better choice in PvP than Disharmony.

Spatial Displacement
-45% Resistance to Snares
-45% Resistance to Roots
10 Perk Points.
VERY nice in PvP, especially combined with "Unstunnable". Too bad we gotta use 10 Points on it.

General Perks
Kung-Fu Master
-50 to Martial Arts
5 Perk Points.
Got two great specials, and 50 Martial Arts for 5 Perk Points. It can be recommended.

Alien Perks
Xuyun
-1000 to Max Health
-60 toBrawl
-60 to All Evades
10 AP Points
Quite possibly the best perk line in AI. Great mods and awesome Specials. Moonmist increases MA skill, Red Dawn does great healing with only 60 Second Recharge and Red Dusk decreases the opponents Initiatives(Think of it like the MA`s version of UBT)

Ranger
-200 to Bow
-101 to Bow Special Attack
10 Points
Bow Users only, but a very nice option for those who prefer to use Bow as a part of their arsenal. Some decent Direct Damage Perk Specials that comes in handy. Overall a good line, but only useful for Bow using MA`s.

Champion of Light Infantry
-100 to 1HB
-100 to 1HE
-100 to Piercing
-100 to Martial Arts
10 Points
A Quite good line, especially if you are using weapons like Parry Sticks or Claws.

Opportunist
-110 to Parry
-110 to Dimach
-110 to Riposte
6 Points
Not a very useful line, due to Parry and Riposte.

[_______________joshi]

I started AO last week and this guide helped me immensely Thanks for the great work Engelen.

[_________________Jen]

Some things I'd like to comment on/add:

1. I'd disagree about stating that nanopool is important. Would you believe on my current level 175 MA I didn't even put IP in to it till title 5? (In fact, it was the last several levels that I put IP in to it-and maxed it.) MA heals do not take a lot of nano, it's just evade/crit buffs that do. And keeping on top of a token board makes it irrelevent. By basically skipping out on nanopool, you save a nice bunch of IP for your other skills since for some strange reason, IP expenditure is a much more difficult thing as you BEGIN leveling, and gets easier as you go up. (Starts to change of course once you start SKing.)

2. You've listed every attribute as 'important'. Keep in mind that IP is very scarce at low levels, and that to truely help a 'new' player (the type that is probably going to follow the guide), you're going to have to make the tough choice of only allowing for a few 'important' skills so the poor newbie can actually raise them. (Just try to imagine some poor new player seeing all this info about 'important' skills and stressing out because he/she can't raise most of them due to not enough IP.) In the case of attributes, I'd say stam/agil for the best balance of IP expenditure and relative skill effectiveness. As important as we like to think intelligence is...it's a fact that MPs have bred like rabbits and have mostly negated any need to twink out your nanoskills to the fullest.

3. The common idea has been to tell new players to max their evades. Maxed evades are definitely better then non-maxed evades...right? Ok, we very rarely actually look at the bigger picture though. For various reasons, a player's effectiveness verse the mobs they kill changes depending on their level range. It starts off low. Maxing out your evades will have a very noticeable effect because there just isn't a huge difference in qls between you and your mob opponent. But by the time a player approaches title 4...the difference in their level and their mob opponent's ql is HUGE. (ie: level 80 people doing ql 170+ missions). Maxing out your evades does very little to prevent from being hit during the 'IP crunch time' while raising them by 60% goes a long ways towards preventing you from being chain crit. By the time the ql gap between player and mob begins to close back up again...the player starts to actually get a lot of IP they can use...to then max out their evades. Again...I can not stress how silly the game mechanic is set up concerning IP expenditure. It is the new player (ie: lower level) who has the biggest problems, and every way of shaving IP from skills due to very little actual effect helps. Ah, but you say what about acrobat perk and perhaps cib? Most MA I believe use a scope, so while we all like to talk about how great it is to have such a fast fist weapon, the truth is very few MAs at lower to mid levels deviate far from ful ag. :/ And at that point, even acrobat/cib does very little.

4. Armor. Instead of posting OP Elite, I'd suggest replacing it with regular OP. There is very little difference in AC (not enough to really be that noticeable), except for one huge glaring problem with Elite. Elite has basically no chem ac. Anyone who has ever played a real healing roll during missions knows the joy of having someone wearing elite while pulling aggro verse MPs. I can't think of one reason to wear elite over normal OP except for its looks.

I don't see Corona in your list of armors. Granted, you have to camp for it (smugglers) but, in my opinion, it's far better then any of those 'regular' armors and all that tradeskill armor that every player wears these days till they get their azure/sentinels/otaf. And the camping...well, it's not THAT bad. (I can't even remember the last time I saw someone wear it actually.) Omni carb is similar...but again, I do not feel there is any real need for nano points and would take the hp over it any day. Besides, even today, corona hood is still the best looking head armor to date. :/ Unless you're clan and can wear a goat helm. :/ (What I would do to be able to wear one and be omni. )

And CAS is useless. It's usually priced higher then Omni carb, and it sucks. I've never understood why people think it is any good, and have chalked it up to the same reason you see everyone wear OP elite instead of normal OP. Looks. I would never perpetuate this myth by telling a newbie that CAS has got good mods. :/

5. Bows. Since, as you said yourself, nothing really outdoes our fists for damage, perhaps you could make it clear that bows are more used for their specials then as an actual weapon. And the pow bow is great for that (and missing, while replaced with what is basically a waste of time in my opinion :/ sl bows). Perhaps explain the concept of how you put the bow in your hotbar and equip it to AS, then unequip it immediatly, thereby giving yourself a very easy way of gaining and maintaining aggro as you xp.

And while we like to talk about things like robust backpack and aura magnifier, we may as well pitch in with notum tanks as well. They add to evades and brawl. For Omni, at least, there is usually two choices for back armor. Notum tank or OTAF tank. Notum all the way. Even if OTAF tank is a lot sexier looking. :/

6. One thing about MA attacks that some newbies may not realize is that if it is resisted, you can just spam them to hell and back till it lands, thereby making the resist factor more of an irritant then anything else. (Vaguely remembers a long time ago not realizing this for the longest time and thinking how useless they were because of my nubiness.)

7. MA items. Don't forget rat's eye goggles. :/ I use them as my night vision goggles actually. :/ But who knows, you may need that 8 sense one day! Before you hit SLs and start to xp mostly off hecklers, I'd say even an 8% vision enhancer is better then a river sprite. Won't even make a comparison with any llts over 8% to it. Though I'd also say there is absolutely no reason to use an ltts below 9% either no matter where you are xping. Also, I see a lot of MAs using alvin/dodge pads. Assuming they can't get their hands on gocs, I'd throw in VTEs in your items section. Between the small damage mod, and the big boost to psychic which adds to your MA skill...I find it a far better choice then those silly pads. In fact, while I use 2 gocs, I'm of a very mixed mind on what is better. It is very hard to see the difference the addalloff and 2% crit does...while it is very easy to see the difference on every crit you do with the 2 vtes in. And of course the HP is nice too. :/

Bleh. It's really late, and I'm sorry if this post was long. But you wanted feedback, and it seemed you didn't get much. And fix that typo in the beginning of your post under Creation. "choose a profession with high Agility, and preferably Strength and Psychic very close. " breed, not profession. It's been bugging me ever since you posted it.

Heh, good guide. I hope I didn't come off as overly negative. ;p

[Engelen]

Wow wow wow. Thats a LOT (I do wish to thank you for an great analyzis of my guide, and pointing out things that are objectable. I`ll go over my guide and your post a few times to see if there is something I can change for the better, although most will be left as it is as long as it isnt "faulty" )

1: I actually disagree when you say Nanopool is not important. "Outliving" an opponent is one of the key tactics. Full def with all the evades you can do, and critting as much as you can to make up for the lack of speed, is a great way to wear out any mob in PvM. Thats the key thing, the sole reason I play MA. I survive, when everyone else fall. Nanopool is important, so that we can stay alive during those long fights. I found it extremly helpful when fighting mobs stronger than I normally could handle, as I would resort to the Tank option, and rely on Evades, defense and healing to eventually win. Of course, its not what I say you must max at lower levels, but still, it has a great use if you can use that tactic.

2: I didnt mean they should max everyone of them in the guide, I listed them up to explain what they did, so that they get a basic overview over what they should increase(What drips off into what)

3: The general rule, is that you cannot stress enough the fact, that evades are important. Very important. Its also of course important to plan your IP when its scarce, and make sacrifices based upon your situation. So, I agree with you, while on the other side, I stay true to "Max Evades", as long as you can be selective and plan your IP.

4: True enough. But, considering how weak Fire and Cold AC is on the Omni-Pol, and lots of low players you`ll meet in PvP during those levels use Frost Scythe, I`d take the Elite. And it looks better

Corona, is not a very good armor anymore, comparing its low AC and horrible drop-rate to its nice Health Mod. Its not worth it anymore imo when there are lots of other nice armors with much higher AC and mods. Omni Carbonum has a Max Health on 700, Max Nano 650, NCU 56 and Nano Init 56. Far superior with better AC and best of all, everyone can get it without too much trouble and camping.

5: Hotswapping bows, I wont go into that field, there is already a great guide on this board by Etherael, which got it all covered

6: True. I should add that to my last section as soon as I can sit down and work on it

7: About Items, I wont point out what to use in the guide, I only present options for the players. I have used both Pads, VTE`s, GOC`s and all kinds of things on Shoulderpads, and everyone of them has their own ups and downs.

The typo is fixed, but unfortunately too late to be edited out from the guide when its up at AO Vault

I`m really sorry that I`vent been able to reply yet, have been away from AO except for some fast visits to the forum for a while, but I`m back now to watch over ye fellas

[Engelen]

In addition, I`ve spent the last week rewriting and making the guide better, and its now posted as a downloadable text document at my second favorite website, www.gamefaqs.com

(I`m using my old nick Lsnake there)

http://www.gamefaqs.com/computer/doswin/game/30473.html

I hope its okay that I included some links to some of your guys guides(Hotswapping bows...Tier 1...Chronita`s page..). If its not, I`ll edit it away.

[_______________Oldom]

thanks muchly, first time playing in...... what, 6 months? this guide is suuuuuure helping!

Calphawe the 7th level MA n00b

[Engelen]

I`m really glad I was a help for you, that makes me feel the guide is working

[Engelen]

For those who are interested, added a lot of info now. Two Implant Setups, redid the whole fourth part of the guide, and did a couple of changes to the general setup to the guide.

The Fourth part is found on this page, starting with Gadgets and Stuff Part 2. I will get detailed information about the new MA stuff found in the Crypt of Home too, as soon as I have checked it myself.

Stay tuned for more and thanks for all the nice comments!

[Anderral]

Heya I don;t know if you remember me, Im Fixi a Level 92 doc, you and a fixer friend helped me kill the big robot to get the item needed for my pads I was about level 36 at the time hehe.

Anyway I havn't played the game for like ageeees for reasons to do with school etc. Anyway Im back now (with a friend too, rl that is) So just to say hiya :P!

Anyway Im thinking of making a new char, however....i cant dedide what to make LOL.

My choices are between Agent and Martial Artist atm, but I just can't decide lol.

Your guide is really useful anyhows so I wouldnt have much problems if i started a new MA.

ANyway just to say Hi and thanks again for helping me get my Omni Pads, they looked cool, too bad i cant switch them to my new char when i makie it. Anyway nice to see that you are still playing after all this time lol.

Regards Fixii
(soon to make a new char called Fixi lol)

[Anderral]

Did i use the word anyway enough lol!!??

Anyway. See you some other time lol.

[Engelen]

I remember you Fixii, we killed Trash King for you

Just send me a tell ingame if you need something(Except Credits because I`m a bit low on that atm ). But Advice, Information, Help and stuff, I`ll be glad to help.

Good to see you back! Oh, I`m planning to play this game til one of two things happen.

A: My Net goes away forever
B: AO is shut down

And I am pretty sure none of those will ever happen

[Anderral]

Im glad you remember me, you seem ed very nice person in game
And I dont need credits hehe :P But Ill probably ask for help one day again for trash king lol.

Makes me upset that I won't have pads on my new char.

Oh btw, what is your opinion on Agents?

I still cant decided whether to be agent or MA.. and now im thinking MP lol :P

Anyhows thanks for replying so soon and remembering me

Regards, Fixi.

[Engelen]

My first character was an Agent. "Lsnake" I got him to 171 before I deleted him(Its just not my type) and created Engelen instead. So, you can say that I`m decently experienced with them, but its not exactly my favorite profession, because that would be Martial Artists!

If I`d suggest a new profession, I would of course recommend MA to everyone. Yeah, we got a few faults which shouldnt be there, and things that needs fixing, but to be honest, we are the best there is. Period.

I love this profession so much.

[Anderral]

Okidoke, I read a few things on Agent Forums also and dont really think they are too good in higher levels.... sooo:

Ill decide between MA and MP when the servers come up lol.

At least if I choose MP ill get those Wing things lol, which is nice

And Ill look super cool in all the summoned Shield thingies lol!!

Hmm if you got the time have you ever played MP ?

Regards
Wixi "Fixi" Poo.

[Engelen]

Aspects of being a Martial Artist
From being a pure damage dealer, to a tank, to a support class, I'll try to talk a little bit about each role and how to do well in them. MA's are so versatile and have many good uses in a team that it is quite important to learn to be proficent in those roles whenever the need arises.

The Tank
As a Tank, the MA rely on evades to survive, and crits to maintain aggro. More than anything, a tanking MA needs more vades and crit than most other roles. You should also have high Max Health.

If you have been pointed out as a tank in a team, you should do as much alpha damage as possible in right away in order to get and secure aggro. You need to explain non tanking professions to hold high damage Alphas(like Aimed and Full Auto) until you get in a few crits, since those will instantly tear the aggro away from you and onto the other player, and as a MA, it can be painful getting the aggro back once lost if you're unlucky with the crits.

When you get the aggro, depending on the mob, you must adjust the aggrobar. If it's a tough mob, full def will most likely be required. That's when the combination of Evades and Crits will be important. Since you will get a lower attack speed, you
must rely on your crits to make up for the lost attackspeed. Full Def and High Evades are absolutely a necessity for surviving and tanking well, and as a result of that your speed will often suffer. So use specials and aim for as much crit as possible.

Flurry of Blows will be one of your best friends for tanking. It increases your critical chance alot(Higher QL increases it with 20%!), and is useful for both keeping and maintaining Aggro, and taking it.

(Cont. by Kahina, had to be shortened due to word limit) Eternal Enmity can also be useful for adding extra taunt, especially for starting the fights with is. If you don't have to heal, you can spam it alongside the temporary damagebuff to ensure maximum aggro. It can help to adjust the aggbar to 1/1 so that you hit as fast as possible.

Aubrek adds "Wanted to recommend using jealousy augmented agression enhancers for tanking and add control, as it makes those two jobs much easier and in the second case allows you to switch to main target quicker."


The Damagedealer
The most expensive role, since it will cost you tons of credits(or take you ages) to get all the equipment you need to boost your damage to comparable amounts with I.E Shades. If you don't have to worry about tanking, and you are free to do as much damage as possible, there are several ways to keep your damage up.

First of all, adjust your aggdef bar so that you are at 1/1. Equip Crit Adding, Add All Damage/Off and Martial Arts boosting equipment, use Flurry of Blows, get CI/CM so that you can use the highest damage buff. On High AC mobs, equip a Blades of Boltar/Torture Tool to get more attacks per minute, which in the end will assure you doing more damage. Be active, use specials and make sure you use the best possible damage type against the mob.

The Supporter
Your task a Supporter is often to make sure the team got what they need. Use Nanostims on the Enforcer/Doc/Tank, heal team, fear or keep adds off weaker players, and so on. A Supporter task is not as demanding equipment-wise compared to Tank and Damagedealer, but it does require you to have good knowledge about teamwork and how to best deal in the situations that occur. You will most likely become a supporter if the team got a good tank, since then you will be split between Supporting and damage dealing.

Supporting is, no matter what Damagedumps tell, very important. It's important to stay awake at all time, watch the health of your team mates and be ready to deal with any eventual adds. A good supporter should be less concerned about damage and more about the team mates. Having someone set on the job as a Supporter makes teams work better, and more safer, since the supporter most of the times will go take that extra heckler that just popped and hold it until the primary tank can take it.

Make sure the rules are set before teaming, since doing such stunts without skills, healing or preparation can do more damage than use.

The Add Controller
This is a very small, but often important role. Not to be confused with Crowd Controller. MA's tend to excel at this role because of our tanking ability and the nature of the role itself. Usually, this occurs during raids and teams when the mobs and adds are of a considerate threat against the team mates, or even against the primary tank if they gang up.

The puller/tank pulls the mob, starts fighting, but during the fight the team gets adds. Very often, if the primary tank is very busy with the boss/primary target, and the team does not have mezzing, it can be handy if you are able to take and hold the add on you, to prevent it from attacking weaker/lower players in team, or making the damage on the tank exceed the amount he can take. This requires two things. It must be clarified in the beginning of the fight that you are on adds, so that the rest of the team does not attack it, and you must also be sure that you can handle the add without requing much more additional healing(since most of the healing will be focused on tank, especially during CH healing orders).

When that is said, Add Controller when it works can be a very, very good way to make sure the team survives even a tough add, and if you know for sure you can take on the adds alone, and having it clarified with the rest of the team that it will be your secondary task(after attacking primary target and healing tank).

When you're Add Controller, you're less expected to do maximum damage, and more to keep adds under control. Of course, this will be impossible if the amount of adds gets out of hand, but 2-3 Adds is doable with juggling damage and keeping yourself alive with full def, acrobat and as much selfhealing as possible. Once you get the add on yourself, and if the tank does not mongo, you can swap back to the primary fighting target and help kill it as soon as possible while the add is attacking you(and hopefully most of the time missing due to you being full def with Acrobat Specials running).


6. Walkthrough
Here's a small walkthrough to see how you are doing through the levels. This is not a twink guide

1: Choose your Breed:
-First time you play MA? Choose Opifex, Solitus or Atrox. Nanomage is not recommended.

2: Title Level 1(Level 1-14):
This is the low level stage, easy, fast and not very demanding. Take it easy, get used to how to play a Martial Artist.

Checkpoints
-Get used to distance and range, How far/close you can fight.
-Get used to Attack/Recharge Speed.
-Get used to using the MA attack in the Inventory: Jab of the Snake.
-Start to Focus early on important skills so that you can avoid big IP holes later on.
-Try to put in either selfmade or premade QL20-30 implants at level 10. You should soon be able to selfcast Expertise Nanos which will help you.

Perks (Recommended in bold):
Level 10:
Spiritual Master

3: Title Level 2(Level 15-49):
Very much happens these levels. Subway, Temple, Fun and fast XP hunting in SL, Implants, Armor, Nanos and so on.

Checkpoints
-Start increasing your 4 Primary Nano skills so that you can cast Subconscious Guidance(Crit), Elusive Target(Evade), Healing Touch(Heal), Team Healing Touch(Heal), Corrosive Fists(Fist Buff) and so on. These are primary Nanos which you MUST be able to cast, the sooner the better.
-When you pass level 20, try to get a good team into the Temple of Three Winds. Get at least:
1:Three of Enlighenment and if you want; Ape Fist of Khalum
2:A Nice Robe: Exarch Robe is the best, or Guardian Tank Armor
3:Rockcrusher Gloves or Fist of Orion
4:Guardian Circuit Board
5: Other Temple Items
-Somewhere in Title Level 2, you should focus on getting selfmade implants. QL75 implants should be decently equippable for most at least around Level 30. Try to ALWAYS keep your implants higher than your level.
-Get a nice Armor set. Carbonum is nice. Omni-Pol also does the trick at lower levels, while Flowers/Omni-Pol/CAS

is more preferred when closing 40-50.

Perks:
Level 20:
Save
Spiritual Master(if you didnt at level 10)

Level 30:
Acrobat 1

Level 40:
Spiritual Master 2
Careful in Battle 1(It starts at 40, if you like it, continue to increase it after Acrobat and Spiritual Master)

4: Title Level 3(Level 50-99):
Starts very sweet, lots of IP the first 10-15 levels, but then it starts getting tough. The levels between 80-99 is by many called the hardest in the game, because you are sucked dry on IP and motivation is hard to find there.

Checkpoints
-If you havent, clean the temple before 60. Now is a good time to camp for GTA, Dark Memories and other snacks.
-If you can, try to cast both Vulnerability Seeker, Fleet Foot, Fists of the Maelstrom/Fists of the Polar Star, Greater Healing Touch and Greater Team Healing Touch.
-You should have your QL125 Implants in somewhere on this Title Level.
-Upgrade your Armor. AC starts to mean something now. You can even start thinking about low Tier 1.
-Evades, Evades, Evades. Do not fall behind on Evades.

Perks:
Level 50:
Kung Fu Master

Level 60:
Acrobat 2

Level 70:
Spiritual Master 3

Level 80:
Save it
Use it on a perk you want

Level 90:
Save it
Use it on a perk you want

5: Title Level 4(Level 100-149):
Martial Artists starts to grow more powerful now, and you'll get most of your end game nanos now.

Checkpoints
-Now is the perfect time to go for Tier 1! If you havent, check Tubarolean`s Tier 1 guide for how to make it.
-On this Title Level, you should cast Reduce Inertia, Last Minute Adjustments, Fists of Sorrowful Toad/Fists of Lightning Crane, Greater Team Restore Essence and Enlightened Aura of Healing. With twinking and symbiants you can cast our two major buffs: Universal Vulnerability Compendium and Four Fists of Kali.
-Get your QL200 Implants/Symbiants in. By the time around 120+, you should be able to get them in.
-Get a nice backarmor, Ancient Container, Gamboling Master`s Wear or any of the MA suits are all good options.

Perks:
Level 100:
Acrobat 3

Level 110:
Spiritual Master 3

Level 120:
Save
Use it on a perk you want

Level 130:
Spiritual Master 5

Level 140:
Acrobat 4

6: Title Level 5(Level 150-189):
The First 15 levels or so are awesome. At 175 you can start getting Azure Armor too. Luckily, Title Level 5 is short, because all the good stuff comes at Title Level 6 I do not suggest ONLY doing hecklers, but doing missions too, to get tokens and experience from all kinds of gameplay.

Checkpoints
-You should now cast ALL your Nanos, except for Mat Meta/Mat Crea Nanolines.
-You should get at least 400+ tokens this far.
-Start maxing out skills you have left behind.
-You should be using QL160 Tier 1 Armor, but as soon as you hit 175, you could consider raiding for Azure. QL200 CAS/Carbonum/Servants of Eight and Predator are good choices too.
-Not much else to say here, once you get this high, you know the drill.

Perks:
Level 150:
Kung-Fu Master 3

Level 160:
Save
Use it on a perk you want

Level 170:
Save
Use it on a perk you want

Level 180:
Spiritual Master 6

7: Title Level 6 (Level 190-200):
Once you hit Title Level 6, you can equip most of the fat stuff in the game, Armed Forces/Sentinels Armor,

Heavy Notum Tanks, and so on. Very fun
TONS of IP now, use it to max those important skills, but make sure you save what you can for 200-205.

By now, you should get the hang of Perks, and you can decide how you want to continue, because the perks really kick into

effect from now on. If you want Disharmony, you really have to max it to get a good effect, and a Maxed Careful in Battle is

much better than a half one, so spend some time deciding which you want.

Checkpoints
-Again, if there is any nanos you dont have or cant cast, fix that now. You can even consider Mat Crea and Mat Meta Nanolines now.
-You should really spend a little time raiding for Azure/Armed Forces/Sentinels, it will boost HP and stats and comes very handy.
-Try to get hold of a few Yutto NCU`s(It will help you a lot)

Perks:
Level 190:
Save
Use it on a perk you want

Perks:
Level 200:
Kung-Fu Master 4

8: Title Level 6 (Level 200-204):
Wow. 25 points into green skills, 20 into blue, 15 into dark blue. This, is where the difference comes. 1 single Shadowlevel represents 5 normal levels. I hope you saved IP, because its gonna get tight. I would strongly recommend increasing Martial Arts, Body Dev, Agility, Strength, Evades and some other skills you consider very, very important. From 205 and beyond IP is getting much better.

You get 1 Perk Point Per level, Hurray! Now is the excellent time to use the saved up Perk Points too, while maxing out the Spiritual Master and Kung-Fu Line.

Perks:
Level 201:
Spiritual Master 7

Level 202:
Save
Use it on a perk you want

Level 203:
Spiritual Master 8
Kung-Fu Master 5

Level 204:
Save
Use it on a perk you want

9: Title Level 7 (Level 205-220):
Tons of IP per level, but remember that the cost for each skill scales with it. From here on, the choices of perks thin out, you will be maxing out your perks and normally making a few but complete lines(Like Maxed Spiritual Master, Acrobat, Disharmony and Kung Fu Master).