Introduction to Ragnarok Online

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Logo

Ragnarok Online (RO) is a MMORPG based on the Manhwa "Ragnarok" by Lee Myung-jin. It is set in a fictional universe of Midgard, where human adventurers travel the world, fight against monsters, and battle each other in wars between guilds called War of Emperium (WoE). Many themes within the game are based on Norse mythology.

This game allows players to choose from 18 different branches of job classes, each with unique skills and capabilities, as well as differing roles in Player versus Monster (PvM) and Player versus Player (PvP) environments. Players can explore a vast world with over 20 towns, over 50 dungeons, with numerous field maps in between, to encounter various monsters, participate in NPC-given quests, and experience the lore of Midgard.

If you are already familiar with Ragnarok Online, but is new to Renewal, check out our Introduction to Renewal page. If you're familiar with both, but is new to our server, check out our Introduction to Shining Moon RO page.

Getting Started

Installation

The Shining Moon installer can be downloaded from the Shining Moon homepage. Click on the downloads tab, and select one of the mirrors and start the download.

When the download has finished, run the installer. It is recommended that you disable your antivirus during installation to ensure a successful setup.

Accounts and Registration

In Shining Moon, registering an account can be done on the homepage. You are required to choose a username and a password, and to include your email address and date of birth. Make sure to remember these because they act as a special password for character deletion. You are also required to choose a gender, which will be the assigned gender of your account. In Shining Moon, you are able to choose your character's gender during character creation.

When you submit the form, you will be able to play the game by logging in through the game client.

Character Creation

When you launch the client you are to write your registered account ID and Password.

Click on the plus sign (+) to create a new character. You will then be able to select one of the two races. Keep in mind that Dorams are currently in Beta stage.

When you've selected the race, you can then name your character, choose their gender, and modify their hairstyle and hair color. The character gender is mostly cosmetic, and offers no difference in gameplay, except for the case of Bards, Dancers, Kagerou, and Oborou. Hairstyle and hair color can be changed in-game at any time by talking to the Stylist NPC.

Character

Every character that you play in Ragnarok Online has several aspects that you can modify, by ways of leveling up, quests, or items. These include your character's Job Classes, Stats, Skills, and Equipments. These aspects define how you play your character, and how your character can perform, within the game world.

Job Classes

In Ragnarok online, there is a total of 18 different Job branches, and a total of 63 different jobs. Each job differs from others by having different sets of skills, being able to wear different kinds of weapons and equipments, and holding different roles when working in a party.

Turning from one job to a higher job requires quests, which differs from one job to another. Most of these job-change quests involve tests of skill or knowledge.
In Shining Moon, changing jobs can be done instantly by speaking to the Job Master in the Main Office

Novice

Every new human character that are created begin as Novices. They are the most basic class, and do not have any special capabilities.

First Job Classes

When a Novice reaches job level 10, they will be able to turn into a first job class. The original first jobs consist of Swordsman, Acolyte, Mage, Archer, Thief, and Merchant.

• Swordsmen are strong warriors which serve the kingdom of Rune Midgard. They are both strong and tough, capable of dealing large amounts of damage while enduring damage dealt by enemies.
• Acolytes are healers, capable of aiding teammates by recovering their HP and providing boosts to their attack power, agility, or defense. They are also exorcists, strong against undead enemies.
• Magicians are intellects who use the elements of nature to their advantage. Despite needing time to cast their spells, they can deal massive amounts of damage using elemental advantage against their enemies.
• Archers are masters of long-range combat, using Bows and arrows to strike swiftly from a distance. Using elemental arrows, they can overpower enemies while staying out of the enemies' ranges.
• Thieves are stealthy combatants, capable of hiding and using poison to kill their enemies. They specialise in rapid, successive hits and dodging enemy attacks, as well as literally stealing items from their enemies.
• Merchants are specialists in zeny. They are able to buy items at a discount and overcharge them to NPCs. Their carts allow them to carry much more items compared to other classes, and they can open vending shops to sell items they've collected in their adventure.

Upon reaching job level 40, a first job character can turn into one of the second job classes. However, it is recommended to get the max job level of 50 before changing jobs.

More information on Job levels are explained in the Leveling and Experience Section below.

Second Job Classes

Each of the 6 first job classes have 2 choices of second job class.

• Swordsmen can turn into a Knight or a Crusader.
  • Knights specialise in powerful offense and counter-attack. They are able to fight while riding a mount, and move faster than other classes.
    The Knight's third job, Rune Knight, gain access to mystical Rune items, which can boost both their offensive, defensive, and supportive capabilities. Their special Dragon mount also gives them unique skills to use in combat.
  • Crusaders specialise in defense and support, while still packing a real punch. Like the knight, they can fight while riding a mount.
    The Crusader's third job, Royal Guard, is a master of the spear and the shield. They have significantly powerful offensive skills, excellent defensive capabilities, as well as a unique supportive role, especially in PvP environments
• Acolytes can turn into a Priest or a Monk.
  • Priests are the invaluable support class, having access to healing, buffs, and even resurrection. They also have strong exorcism skills which counter undead and demons.
    The Priest's third job, Arch Bishop, take their supportive role in to the next level with party-wide healing, buffs, and curing skills.
  • Monks are formidable fighters, summoning special spirit spheres, using combos, and dealing massive amounts of damage through their ultimate skill, Asura Strike.
    The Monk's third job, Sura, is a master of close-range combat, capable of unleashing huge amounts of damage in a rapid succession.
• Mages can turn into a Wizard or a Sage
  • Wizards specialise in offensive magic in an area of effect (AoE). They are able to deal elemental damage to a number of enemies at once in a large casting area.
    The Wizard's third job, Warlock, is a master of elemental magic, having access to more powerful spells in larger AoEs, as well as the ability to store spells to be released in quick successions using Spellbooks.
  • Sages take a more supportive role with their magic, capable of endowing others' weapons with an element, as well as countering enemy's skills and magic.
    The Sage's third job, Sorcerer, is able to summon an elemental companion to amplify both their offensive and supportive capabilities
• Archers can turn into a Hunter, a Bard, or a Dancer.
  • Hunters specialise in long-range combat. Using traps, they are able to stop enemies in their tracks to make them an easy target, or harass them and keep them at bay. Their Falcon companion aids them in dealing damage, revealing hidden enemies, and breaking enemy traps.
    The Hunter's third job, Ranger, gains even more powerful offensive abilities using the bow and arrow. They also get a Warg companion which can be used as a mount or to attack enemies.
  • Bards and Dancers are a more supportive class, having access to special songs and ensembles which can aid the party in battle, while still able to use arrows offensively.
    The Bard and Dancer's third jobs, Maestro and Wanderer, have more songs, choruses, as well as access to unique voice skills which can be used offensively and supportively.
• Thieves can turn into an Assassin or a Rogue
  • Assassins specialise in stealth and poison, to deal critical hits in an instant and disappear into the shadows.
    The Assassin's third job, Guillotine Cross, are able to brew unique, devastating poisons to use against their enemies, while also having advanced stealth skills to avoid getting a single hit.
  • Rogues specialise in debuffs against enemy players. Their unique strip skills allow them to remove equipment from enemies, significantly disrupting their abilities.
    The Rogue's third job, Shadow Chaser, is a master of debuffs. Using unique Masquerade and Graffiti skills, they can debilitate enemy players and disable them almost completely.
• Merchants can turn into a Blacksmith or an Alchemist
  • Blacksmith specialise in weaponry, capable of crafting weapons as well as maximising the potential of their party members' weapons.
    The Blacksmith's third job, Mechanic, can specialise in using the axe in combat, or can pilot a robotic Mado Gear, which gives them new, powerful skills which can cover offense, defense, and support at the same time.
  • Alchemists specialise in brewing potions, acids, bombs, and plants, to be used supportively and offensively.
    The Alchemist's third job, Geneticist, gain new recipes to create deadly plants and bombs, as well as stronger potions. They also have an upgraded cart which can shoot cannonballs, and are able to cook foods that substantially boosts the consumer's abilities.

Extended Classes

The extended classes are classes implemented in a later update as an addition to the original six. These include the Taekwon Kid, Ninja, Gunslinger, and Super Novice.

• Taekwon Kids relies on using the art of Taekwon Do to defeat their enemies. They are unable to wield weapons, but are immensely powerful, capable of enchanting themselves with any element to gain advantage against their enemies. At job level 40, they can turn into a Star Gladiator or a Soul Linker
  • Star Gladiators are attuned to the elements of the universe. Aligning themselves with the cycles of the Sun, Moon, and Stars, the universe bestows them with incredible strength in battle. However, their powers diminish when the Sun, Moon, and Stars are not in alignment.
  • Soul Linkers relinquish martial arts in favour of learning spirituality. They are able to connect others with powerful souls of the past, blessing people with incomparable power. They are also able to wield their spirituality as a weapon against monsters, or as a tool to protect their spouses or children.
• Ninjas are elusive warriors, capable of using both physical and magical power against their enemies. Their unique ninjutsu allows them to be untouchable by enemies, making them a powerful class. At level 99, they can turn into a Kagerou or an Oborou
  • Kagerou and Oborou are ninjas who have broken the limit. They learned new, more powerful physical skills to destroy their foes, and ways to cast their magic in quick succession, all while remaining untouchable. Their skills in illusion allows them to disorient their enemies, monsters and players alike.
• Gunslingers are long range combatants, using gunpowder technology to strike from afar, or in desperate times, up close. Their weapons are more finicky compared to the archer's bow, but are capable of wreaking greater havoc to enemies. At level 99, they can turn into a Rebel
  • Rebels are masters of firearms, capable of pushing their weapons to the limit, allowing them to overwhelm enemies with their quick, successive, and powerful attacks. Their powerful offensive skills can easily destroy single enemies in one hit.
• Super Novices are jacks-of-all-trade, capable of learning most of the original first classes' skills. By doing a special call to their guardian angel, they can attain great blessings that allow them to be an invaluable ally. Players can only turn into a Super Novice after reaching Base level 50 as a Novice.
  • Upon reaching Level 99, they can do a quest to become an Extended Super Novice, which gives them access to several second job skills.

Doram

Unlike the humans, Dorams start out as a Summoner, and does not change into any other job. Summoners are capable of learning three different kinds of skills: Physical offense, Magical offense, and Support. By mastering one of the three branches, they acquire great power which allows them to reach greater potential with the skills they have picked.

Stats

Stats are the variables that define a character's performance in game. They can be increased by spending Status points, which are gained whenever the character's Base level goes up. Each of these stats affect the character's substats, which directly affects how the character performs.

• Strength (STR) affects the character's melee Attack power (ATK) and Weight Limit. More points in STR allows them to deal more damage with melee attacks and carry more items in their inventory.
• Agility (AGI) affects the character's Dodge Rate (FLEE) and Attack Speed (ASPD). More points in AGI gives them a higher chance of dodging enemy attacks automatically, and allows them to attack in a quicker succession.
• Vitality (VIT) affects the character's Health Points (HP) and Defense rate (DEF). More points in VIT gives the character a larger HP pool and reduces damage taken from enemy physical attacks.
• Intelligence (INT) affects the character's Magical Attack power (MATK), Magical Defense rate (MDEF), Spiritual Points (SP), and Cast Time. More points in INT makes the character do more damage with spells, take less damage from enemy magic, and have a bigger SP pool for casting skills. It also allows them to take less time casting their spells. More details about Cast Time are explained in the Cast and Delay section below.
• Dexterity (DEX) affects the character's Accuracy rate (HIT), ranged Attack power (ATK), Cast time, and slightly affects their Attack Speed (ASPD). More points in DEX reduces the chances of missing an enemy with attacks, allows Ranged attacks to deal more damage, reduces time when casting spells, and allows quicker attacks.
  A general rule of thumb is to have at least 60 DEX at Base level 60, and at least 80 at Base level 120. More details about Cast Time are explained in the Cast and Delay section below.
• Luck (LUK) affects the character's Critical rate (CRIT), and slightly affects ATK, MATK, and HIT. Having more LUK allows the character to land more Critical Hits, which deal 40% more damage and cannot miss.

A more in-depth explanation of these stats as well as substats can be found on the Introduction to Renewal page.

In Shining Moon RO, Stats and Skills can be reset with a small cost by talking to the Reset Girl NPC in the Main Office.

Skills

Skills can be learned by spending Skill Points, which are gained whenever the character's Job level goes up. All skills can be classified as either Passive or Active.

Passive Skills

Passive skills are skills which do not need to be activated to take effect. These skills usually provide certain bonuses that are applied once the skill is learned. An example of these skills are the Mastery skills (e.g. Swordsman's Sword Mastery or Priest's Mace Mastery) which adds bonus ATK when wielding a certain kind of weapon.

It is important to note that while these skills seem trivial at first glance, they can be important in maximising a character's potential in relation to its job class' role.

Active Skills

Active skills are skills that needs to be activated to take effect. Activating a skill is done by double clicking on the skill icon on the skill window, or by placing the skill on the Hotbar and pressing the corresponding keyboard key.

Active skills may be Targeted or Non-targeted.

• Targeted skills, as the name implies, require the player to select a target for the character to cast the skill. Most offensive skills are targeted, namely an Archer's Double Strafe, and a Thief's Envenom.
  Targeted skills can further be divided to unit-targeted and ground-targeted. Unit-targeted skills require the player to target a monster or a player, while ground-targeted skills are cast on the ground. Some examples of ground-targeted skills are Acolyte's Pneuma and Mage's Thunderstorm.
• Non-targeted skills do not need a target, and are activated on button or key press. These skills are often self or party-targeted by default. Some examples of these are Merchant's Loud Exclamation and Acolyte's Angelus.

In Shining Moon, stats and skills can be reset with a small cost by talking to the Reset Girl NPC in the Main Office.

Equipment

The Equipment system in Ragnarok online includes 7 different types of equipment, which occupies different slots on the character's equipment window.

• Headgear occupy the first three slots of the equipment window, labeled head, and may either occupy the upper, middle, or lower slot. Some headgear can also occupy two or three slots at once. These are the only equipment that are visible at all times, and often have unique appearances.
• Armour occupy the body slot, and often have a decent amount of DEF.
• Weapons often occupy the Right Hand Slot, and are differentiated by types, including daggers, swords, maces, staves, books, bows, etc. Assassins and Kagerou/Oborou can wield an additional weapon on their Left Hand Slot. These are visible when the character is in their battle stance.
• Shields occupy the Left Hand Slot, and often have a significant amount of DEF, while reducing the wearer's ASPD. These are also visible during battle stance.
• Garments and Shoes occupy the Robe and Shoes slots. Most of these add an extra amount of DEF, while also having certain bonuses.
• Accessories occupy the last 2 slots, and rarely provide any DEF bonus, but often provide stats or other bonuses.

Every piece of equipment found in the game has several aspects, including ATK/DEF value, required Level, required Job, Extra Effects, and Slots. It is important to carefully check if your character can wear the item before deciding to buy, sell, or trade a piece of equipment.

Slots are an important part of equipment. They are shown as blank white rectangles on a small window below the item description. Some items have no slots, while other items can have up to 4 slots. Slotted items are often named with a number in brackets in their name, e.g. Knife[4].

When an item has slots, a Card can be socketed into the item, adding a prefix/suffix to the item's name, and providing additional effect when the item is worn by the character. Almost all monsters have a card associated to them, and all of them are very rare. However, despite the rarity, some cards are not very useful, and are purely collectible.

Gameplay

Basic Controls

Ragnarok Online's gameplay revolves mostly on a point-and-click system. As such, the mouse is an essential tool for playing the game.

Many of the basic actions are done by using the Left Click. This includes walking, attacking, casting a skill, starting dialogue with NPCs, and picking up items on the ground.
Ctrl + Left Click makes your character attack a target continuously. The command /noctrl or /nc allows you to default the regular click to allow continuous attack.
Shift + Left Click allows you to cast skills normally locked to enemy targets or ally targets only, for example, when casting Acolyte's Heal to an Undead enemy. The command /noshift or /ns allows you to be able to cast enemy and ally locked skills to any target without pressing shift.

The Right Click is used to rotate the camera angle on the X axis, and open certain options when clicked on a player.
Ctrl + Right Click allows you to zoom in and out as well as rotate the X axis.
Shift + Right Click rotates the camera on the Y Axis.
Ctrl + Shift + Right Click allows zooming and rotation on both X and Y axes.

The Scroll Wheel is used to zoom in and out. It also can be used to change the level of a skill that is to be casted, for example, before clicking the target after activating Mage's Fire Bolt, scrolling up and down changes the level of the skill displayed on the cursor.

Many other actions are done with the Keyboard. However all of the keybindings are customisable through the options menu. These keyboard actions include the usage of the Hotbar to cast skills, use items and put on equipment; opening user interface windows; and using chat macros.

Leveling and Experience

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Basic Info Window (Alt+V)

See also: Leveling Guide

Every new character in Ragnarok Online starts out at Base Level 1 and Job Level 1 (often written as Level 1/1), which can be viewed in the Basic Info Window. It is one of a player's main objective to gain levels through earning Experience Points(EXP).

The game has 2 different kinds of EXP that a character can get: Base Experience Points (BEXP or just EXP), and Job Experience Points (JEXP). Every monster has differing amounts of Base and Job EXP, and both are rewarded to the character when the monster is killed.

In Shining Moon RO, you can easily check a monster's EXP and JEXP value by using the @monsterinfo(@mi) Player Command. Otherwise, you can check an online database such as Divine Pride to find these information.

Base Level

Base levels (or just Levels) are the main measurement of a character's growth.

Each time your character gains a Base Level, they will earn the following:

• A number of Status Points, which you can spend to increase your Stats.
• A permanent increase in your MaxHP and MaxSP.
• A permanent increase in various substats such as ATK, MATK, HIT, FLEE, DEF, and MDEF.
• Access to stronger equipment, if you've met the level requirement stated on the item description.

The maximum attainable Base Level is 175. However, there are certain requirements to reach this level.

• Novices, First Jobs, Second Jobs, Extended First Jobs, and the Taekwon branch can only reach as high as Base Level 99. At that point, they cannot reach higher levels, and will show a visible aura. This level is colloquially known as "aura" or "first aura"
  • Second Jobs at this level are able to Rebirth or advance into Third Jobs.
  • Gunslingers and Ninjas at this levels can advance into their respective Second Jobs.
  • Star Gladiators and Soul Linkers does not have a job advancement past this point yet, and are therefore capped at this level.
• Third Jobs, Rebels, Kagerou/Oboros, and Dorams are able to reach Base level 175. This is the maximum level cap, at which point they will no longer gain more levels, and show a different aura.

The visibility of auras can be toggled with the in-game command /aura.

Job Level

Job levels are tied to your current job class. Each time your character advances to the next job class, your job level will be reset to 1.

Each time your character gains a Job Level, they will earn One Skill Point, which can be spent to learn new Skills. They will also earn Job Bonuses, which adds a value up to +13 to certain stats. These bonuses are unique to each class, and disappears when you advance to a different class.

• Novices can reach a maximum of Job level 10, and earns 9 Skill Points which can only be spent on Basic Skill.
• First Jobs and Taekwon Kids can reach a maximum of Job Level 50, and earns of 49 Skill Points on this stage.
• Second Jobs, including Star Gladiators and Soul Linkers, also have a maximum job level of 50, and earns 49 Skill Points. (98 in total, counting their First Jobs).
• Ninjas, and Gunslingers can reach a maximum of Job Level 70, and earns 69 Skill Points.
• Transcendent Second Jobs (i.e. post Rebirth) can also reach a maximum of Job Level 70, earning 69 Skill Points. (118 in total, counting their First Jobs)
• Super Novices can reach a maximum of Job Level 99, earning 98 Skill Points. After becoming an Extended Super Novice, their Job Level is reset, and they can reach Job level 50, earning 49 more Skill Points. (148 in total)
• Third Jobs, Kagerou/Oboro, and Rebels can reach a maximum of Job Level 60, earning 59 Skill Points. (Non-reborn Third jobs will have 157 in total, Reborn Third Jobs will have 177 in total, Kagerou/Oboro and Rebels will have 128 in total)
• Doram Summoners can reach a maximum of Job Level 50, earning 49 Skill Points

EXP Sharing

In the game, EXP is rewarded to players based on how much damage each player dealt to the monster. When two or more people attack the same monster, the EXP is split according to how much damage each player dealt on the monster, with an extra percentage given to the first attacker of the monster.

Kill Stealing or KSing is the act of killing a monster that is currently being engaged by another player. This is a punishable offence.
The Player Command @NoKS protects you from being KS'ed by another player and records the offender's name. It is recommended to activate this command as a protection, as well as convenience for reporting a KSer.

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Party Window (Alt+Z) and Setup

In the case of Parties, there is an option to have an Even Share of EXP. In such case, the EXP is split evenly among all the party members, regardless of who actually did the damage. For example, in a party of two, a Swordman kills an Orc, while an Acolyte keeps the Swordman alive. The Acolyte still gets half of the EXP, without actually dealing any damage.

In addition, with every extra party member, a 20% bonus is added to the total EXP shared by all members, e.g., 120% total EXP in a 2-person party, 140% total EXP in a 3-person party, and so on.

Rebirth

Rebirth or Transcendence is a process of turning a level 99/50 second job into a level 1/1 High Novice.

While tedious, this process gives several invaluable advantages, which include:

• Additional Status Points, which means higher Stats.
• A permanent 25% increase of MaxHP and MaxSP
• Access to "Transcendent Only" equipment
• Transcendent Second Job skills

Transcendent First Jobs (also called High First Jobs) are no different from their non-transcendent counterparts, aside from a minor difference in outfit colour. However, Transcendent Second Jobs have a different name than their non-transcendent counterparts, and have access to new Transcendent Skills.

• Knights become Lord Knights, and gain more self-buffs to amplify their damage, as well as a powerful attack skill, Spiral Pierce.
• Crusaders become Paladins, and gains Gospel, a powerful area buff/debuff, as well as powerful offensive skills.
• Priests become High Priests, and learns Assumptio, a very important defensive support spell, and several other new spells.
• Monks become Champions, gain a way to summon multiple spirits at once, and learn new, powerful combo skills.
• Wizards become High Wizards, and gain a way to drain dead enemy's soul and amplify their magical power.
• Sages become Professors, and learn ways to transform HP into SP, transfer SP with party members, and shorten their cast time, among other useful skills.
• Hunters become Snipers, and gain new buffs to increase damage and movement speed, as well as two new powerful offensive skills.
• Bards and Dancers become Minstrels and Gypsies, learning a new ensemble, a way to lend their stats to others, and gain tarot card skills.
• Assassins become Assassin Crosses, and learn to brew a deadly poison and use it to greatly boost their damage.
• Rogues become Stalkers, and gain a new stealth skill and a way to fully strip another character's equipment in one cast.
• Blacksmiths become Whitesmiths, and learn to refine weaponry and learns Cart Termination, which can cause massive damage to an enemy.
• Alchemists become Creators, and gains a skill that combines Acid and Bombs to deal massive damage in an instant.

Monsters

This section will be added soon! In the meantime, iROwiki's article on Monsters can give a vague explanation about them.

NPCs

In the world of RO, there are two kinds of NPCs: Dialogue NPCs and Shop NPCs.

• Dialogue NPCs can be anything from a utility NPC (such as Kafra Services, Cool Event Corp., or Cat Hand Agents), quest NPC, or even a miscellaneous town resident with no apparent purpose. Most NPCs who exist in the game are of this kind.
• Shop NPCs are a special kind of NPC which sells items and buys yours. All Shop NPCs buy items at a same price (Such prices are often called "NPC price", for example, all shop NPCs buy Red Potions for 25 Zeny). They often have the words Dealer, Vendor, or Seller, e.g. Tool Dealer.

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  Dialogue NPC

• IntroNPC2.jpg

  Shop NPC

• IntroNPC3.jpg

  Shop Interface

Game Mechanics

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Status Window of a Level 175 Character

Ragnarok Online has a rather intricate game mechanic based on numbers and calculations. Most advanced players delve into understanding these mechanics to maximise their character's potential. Below is a brief introduction of the core mechanics of the game.

Offense and Defense

A character's Offensive power is based on ATK and/or MATK, which is shown on the Status Window. The number on the left side is called StatusATK and StatusMATK, and is derived from your stats; the number on the right side is called EquipmentATK and EquipmentMATK, and is derived from your weapons, equipment, and skills. A character's regular attacks are based directly on the numbers displayed on the Status Window, using a certain calculation.

Many kinds of equipment give special damage bonuses that do not appear in the actual ATK/MATK numbers. These bonuses include:

• Race Bonuses, which give a boost against certain monster Races, for example Hydra Card and Pinguicula Card.
• Elemental Bonuses, which give a boost against certain monster Elements, for example Kaho Card and Mandragora Card.
• Size Bonuses, which give a boost depending on a monster's size, for example Skeleton Worker Card and White Knight Card
• ATK and MATK Percentage Bonuses, such as Skull Cap[1] and Pendant of Maelstrom[1]
• Other bonuses, such as Ranged Damage bonuses (e.g. Ship Captain's Hat[1] and Archer Skeleton Card).

In the case of Skills, each of them have their own damage calculation. Most early skills have a basic calculation, for example, a Swordsman's Bash deals 400% ATK at level 10, a Mage's Frost Diver deals 200% MATK at level 10. As the character reach higher jobs, however, the skills will hav a more intricate calculation, adding more ways to increase its damage than just by increasing ATK/MATK. For example, a Royal Guard's Cannon Spear does 250% + (STR x 5%) ATK at level 5, which means having more STR helps a lot to increase the skill's damage further.
Some items give direct damage bonuses to certain skills, examples being Imperial Spear[1] for Royal Guard's Banishing Point and Cannon Spear, and Shrine Maiden Hat[1] for Priest's Magnus Exorcismus.

As for Defense, it is based on the DEF and MDEF values, depending on what kind of attack the character receives. As with ATK/MATK, the number on the left is called SoftDEF and SoftMDEF, derived from your stats, and the number on the right is called HardDEF and HardMDEF, derived from your equipment and skills.

The Defense calculation in RO is somewhat complicated, but to put it simply, HardDEF and HardMDEF reduces damage by a percentage, and SoftDEF and SoftMDEF reduces damage by a flat amount. Additionally, the effect of HardDEF/MDEF is reduced exponentially as the numbers go up; i.e., the higher it is, the less each additional number affects the total damage reduction.
For example, A character with 150 + 400 DEF has 150 SoftDEF and 400 HardDEF. When taking a damage of 1000, the HardDEF reduces it by about 40%, and the SoftDEF reduces it further by 150. The resulting damage that the character takes is 450.

Certain items improve a character's defensive capability by giving Damage Reductions(also known as Resistances). There are several kinds of Reductions, which include:

• Attack Property Reductions, which reduce damage based on the attack's element. This kind of reduction, particularly Neutral property reductions, are the most commonly used, due to the fact that monsters rarely use elemental attacks besides Neutral. Examples of items with these reductions include Raydric Card, Immune Shield[1], and the Gray Equipment Set from Ghost Palace.
• Racial Reductions, which reduces damage from certain monster elements, for example Thara Frog Card and Khalitzburg Card.
• Monster Element Reductions, which reduce damage from certain monster elements, for example Tatacho Card and Cornus Card.
• Size Reductions, which reduces damage from certain monster sizes, for example Ogretooth Card and Hodremlin Card.
• Other Reductions, such as Ranged Damage Reductions (e.g. Horn Card, Goibne's Spaulders, Crusader's Defender)

Attack Speed

A character's Attack Speed is labeled as ASPD on the Status Window. It is derived from the character's stats, mostly AGI and DEX, and is modified by the weapons and shield that the character has equipped. Every class has a different ASPD modifier for different weapons. For example, a Merchant gets -12 penalty from wielding daggers, but a Thief only gets -8. The application of this mechanic is calculated as 50 / 200 - ASPD hits per second. In Shining Moon RO, the maximum attainable ASPD is 193, which is 7.14 hits per second.

More information can be found in the Attack Speed page.

Accuracy, Dodging, and Critical Attacks

A character's Accuracy rate is labeled as HIT, which is derived from the character's stats, and may be further increased via certain equipment which add HIT value or percentages. When your character lands a hit, a white damage number is shown, and when a monster lands a hit on your character, a red damage number is shown.
The actual Hit rate is calculated as [80 + AttackerHit - DefenderFlee]%.

A character's Dodge rate is based on FLEE, which is also derived from stats and is increased by certain equipment which adds FLEE value. When your character dodges a monster's attack, a white "miss" message will appear over the attacker's head. When someone dodges your character's attack, a red "miss" message will appear over your character's head.
The character's dodge rate is calculated as [100 − (AttackerHit − DefenderFlee)]%. However, it is important to note that when dealing with more than 2 monsters, FLEE is reduced by 10% per additional monster; i.e. When crowded by 5 monsters, your applicable FLEE is only 70%.

Perfect Dodge is a special stat shown as the right side number on the FLEE stat. It is derived mostly from a character's LUK stat, and can also be increased with equipment which adds Perfect Dodge. When a character performs a perfect dodge, the attacker will have a "miss" message, and your character will make a "Lucky" speech bubble for a split second.
The Perfect dodge number is treated as an absolute percentage, which means, achieving 100 perfect dodge will allow your character to dodge all incoming attacks.

Critical Attacks are attacks which cannot miss and deal 40% more damage than a regular attack. It is shown as CRIT on the Status window, derived mostly from LUK, and can be increased with certain equipment which adds Critical Rate. When a character performs a Critical hit, the damage number is shown on a brown spiky bubble with yellow text.
Critical rate is also treated as an absolute percentage, which means, achieving 100 CRIT will allow your character to land a critical hit at all times in ideal situations.
Additionally, Critical Damage can be increased by certain equipment which adds Critical Damage percentage.

Cast and Delay

The Cast and Delay mechanics are two of the most defining feature of the game.

File:IntroCast.jpg

Cast Bar

Cast Time is the time needed for a character to execute a skill. It is shown as a bar above the character head which fills up with green. When it is completely filled, the cast finishes and the skill is executed. Every skill has a different amount of cast time, some has no cast time (i.e. an instant skill), and others have long ones (such as a Wizard's Storm Gust and a Priest's Magnus Exorcismus). For many players, reducing cast time is absolutely essential, because during the casting process, a character cannot move, attack, or use other skills. Additionally, if a character is attacked during the process, the cast will be interrupted, and the skill must be re-cast.

Cast time is divided into two: Fixed Cast time and Variable Cast Time.

• Fixed Cast Time, as the name implies, cannot be reduced by normal means. It is only reduced by very specific skills and equipment, such as an Arch Bishop's Sacrament and a Temporal Boots of Dexterity.
• Variable Cast Time can be reduced by increasing INT and DEX.
  This part of the cast time can be completely eliminated when the sum of INT + (2 x DEX) = 530.

Instant Cast is the phenomenon when both Fixed and Variable Cast Time has been completely eliminated through stats, skills, buffs, or the combination thereof, resulting in a character being able to cast skills instantly, despite normally needing a few seconds to cast it.

File:IntroCDelay.jpg

Cast Delay

Delay is the time applied after casting a skill where a character is unable to cast more skills. During this time, the character can still move, use items, and attack normally.

There are two kinds of Delay: Cast Delay and Cooldown.

• Cast Delay (also known as Global Delay or Global Cooldown) is a delay that is applied to all skills, resulting in a dark overlay over all the skills on the hotbar. This delay can be reduced by equipment such as Expert Ring or a Bard's skill Poem of Bragi.
• Cooldown (also known as Hard Cooldown) is a delay that is applied to a single skill, resulting in a dark overlay over that specific skill on the hotbar. This delay cannot be reduced by normal means, and as such, the skills that has these cannot be spammed by default.

See Also

• Introduction to Renewal
• Introduction to Shining Moon RO
• Server Information

{{#seo: |keywords=ragnarok,online,ro,guide,newbie,beginner,new,player,tips,tutorial,basic,begin }} <metadesc>This guide will give you all you need to know about Ragnarok Online as a completely new player!</metadesc>