Predator Guide

Average Predator build.

This guide is for someone starting out as a Predator in Elona+. Starting out as a Predator is tough, as you get no items, but you will get through it, even though it is possibly one of the weakest classes in the game. This class is very melee oriented, but you can also work well with bows/crossbows, as long as you roll a decent PER in the beginning.

0. Character building

When building your character any character is viable for use, as all have Martial Arts. Golem could be useful as they have Riding early on so you can get some extra speed. Dwarf is another good option, however, in the end you no matter what race you are you can still survive, some are just harder than others (ex. Fairy) Then pick Predator as you class. It is recommended to pick Tactics as your "notable skill", since it is important for unarmed.

When rolling for Attributes, aim for the highest you can get in STR (it seems to be 15) and then lock it. After that, max the DEX stat, then lock it. Next max your CON stat and try to get all the other stats at least at 6+.

About what the build will look like.

For feats, pick Dodge, Agile, and Knockout. Dodge and Agile are relative to the Predator class, while Knockout can be useful since the DEX stat is maxed. However, Kokou is just as good as Knockout, so you can get Knockout later on (level 5). Kokou is a great skill for speed, as it gives you a 20% speed boost if you are without any pets.

1. Beginning

1. Since predator is a melee oriented class, skipping the tutorial is viable. You can do the Red blossom route if you don't mind dying and nuke your house. Then collect the items that were dropped, you can sell almost all of them but you can Should keep Lomias's Bow, as it is a good bow for the early game (but only as a predator.)

2. I would recommend going straight to Vernis and getting the Little Girl. (blah blah slots, skills, etc.) You're going to need a ally to back you up, as you only do a small amount of melee damage in the beginning.

3. Start dungeon crawling for every item you can, then identify it at the wizard's shop and sell it. Try to find Claws (using claws still trains Tactics, but adds extra damage to hits, so they are the best until you get Tonfas!) and Robes, or Armored Cloaks. Also look for any equipment that can boost STR/DEX stats. Focus on PV over DV at first.

4. In Vernis you can simply do side quests for Sp, items, and gold. After that go to Yowyn to learn Gardening (I suggest you wait until the first payday then use the 1 of the skill tickets for this), that will train your STR and CON.

Skills

In the beginning, you are going to want to train some specific skills first.

• Tactics (STR) - This skill is immensely important, as it determines the effectiveness of melee attacks, so it is very important to train in the beginning.
• Martial Arts (STR) - This skill determines how much damage you can do with claws, tonfas, or shields. Every 5 levels will give +1 to the damage die and the flat bonus increases every 8 levels. So you will start with ~ 2d10+1.
• Medium Armor (CON) - I won't tell you what type of armor to wear, but medium is possibly the best for Predators early on, but after awhile your health will be high enough to just wear Light Amor (DEX) so you may want to train that too.
• Stealth & Eye of Mind (PER) - These go hand in hand when it comes to playing Predator, even though you start out will a low PER, it is recommended to strengthen that stat with items that give bonuses. Being able to sneak attack enemies and crit them is important when you are focused on melee combat, as if a fight drags out for too long, you will probably end up being mobbed by nearby enemies.
• Gardening (LER) - You're going to need herbs for attributes at some point, so getting this early on is important.
• Cooking (LER) - Cooking food is important as it instantly makes it lighter, and it keeps if from rotting for longer. Get this one early on too, so you can explore dungeons for longer. Note that Anatomy (LER) is also important for Cooking as it makes killed enemies drop their corpses more often.
• Weight Lifting (STR)- This skill is important, as having a high weight lifting skill can mitigate Burden status effects, which in turn keeps you from getting speed penalties. It also opens the possibility of using Medium armor instead of sticking with just Light armor.
• Literacy (LER) - worth delving into just a bit, so you can read books that will train other skills, or learn some new spells.
• Casting (MAG) - Just do it. Even if your MAG stat ends up being 1, it can reduce casting failure so much that you can still use some spells, like Heal Light, which may end up saving you.

These are the ones that should be prioritized, but all skills should be trained at some point. Except for weapons skills, you only really need to train Throwing/Bow/Crossbow (specialize in one early on the hybridize later). Shield is useful if you are planning on using two shields in combat.

Gods

Best to worse:

Lulwy = Opatos > Mani > Yacatect > Kumiromi > Ehehkatl > Jure > Itzpalt

Lulwy is the best because you gain PER and speed bonuses, and Bow & Crossbow bonuses later on. Lulwy's Trick can be invaluable in some situations, mostly against enemies that have <> around their names ( normally early on when you encounter these types in Puppy Cave, its best to just run away.) Also if you come across any ballistas and have weight to spare in your inventory, take it and sacrifice it, there's nothing else to do with it except sell it.

Opatos is equal to Lulwy, since Opatos is a god made for melee users. He gives STR, CON, Weight Lifting bonuses. And Opatos' Shell is useful since it is a passive skill that reduces all damage by 10%. If you get the Mining Skill you can just mine here and there to get ores, since your character has high STR & CON stats.

The rest of the gods are worth worshipping later on for the pets and Gifts they give. Although some gifts should just be given to a pet, like the Gaia Hammer, as you will have little to no use for it.

Lulwy favor farming

This method is a simple and easy way to gain a large amount of arrows and bows to sacrifice to Lulwy.

1. First enter any dungeon (Puppy cave is optimal for this method) and then gather a large amount of enemy bones, crappy scrolls and corpses (if the corpses are heavy, save them for sacrifice.)
2. Find a adventurer in Palmia or Vernis (any town is okay really) that has a bow and arrow equipped. Ask to trade with them (the "are you interested in trade?" option) and then trade the bones, scrolls and/or corpses for the arrow/bow.
3. Ask to trade again and the arrow/bow will appear again, this time in a new form (all dependent on RNG of course), and trade bones/scrolls/corpses for the arrow/bow again.
4. repeat step 2 until you have no more bones or junk scrolls, or the item is too rare for you to trade for it.
5. Go to the Truce Ground or Palmia and sacrifice all these stockpiled items to Lulwy, and then watch your favor quickly increase.

Guilds

Guilds are important, but least important.

Go for Thieves Guild since it lowers blackmarket costs and will give you access to the Fence, where you can sell stolen goods and items. Also you can learn Pickpocket and Disarm Trap which are helpful in dungeons. Also the Guild trainer is important as they can train your PER so if its low you can give it a boost.

The Fighters Guild is second best, mainly just use it for hunting things down and killing them, more or less just for fun. The Fighters Guild's Guild Trainer can teach you Marksman, so if you decide to use laser guns or a machine gun as your range, it is good to get this skill from them.

Pets

Main article: Recommended_pets

• Bells - very useful early on, due to their high speed they can be useful with a machine gun.
• Fire Dragon Child - Same class as you, but is a effective tank, and can take and deal a lot of damage, plus it has a high Life so it will survive. Good cloak and rings, maybe a Neck item too and its good to go.
• Knight (chess piece) - this is another good tank, that can use ranged weapons, and if you can't take it as a pet, try hunting them down for the <Nightmare> (1/300 carry chance), which is a great Throwing weapon.
• Little Girl (or any human pet) - The best starter choice, since it has the most slots. They are Warrior class too, so that can balance out your party a little. (Other pets that aren't the starter pet can be different classes, its recommended to maybe get a Warmage, as they can use Magic while the Little Girl and your Character can't.)

Equipment

Equipment is random, but aim for equipment that will boost Speed, Martial Arts, Strength, also look out for items with the Time Stop proc.

Current equipment (note that this is level 33)

List of recommended Equipment:

Melee

• Claws - These tools can be equipped in both hands and do not count as weapons, giving a boost to the flat bonus of the Unarmed damage die (if its 2d17+3 and you equip a claw with +2, it becomes 2d17+5). Since they give damage boost and do not count as weapons, they are the second best item for a Predator. NOTE: If you ever see any high quality claws with great damage dice, do NOT pass it up, as you may never find it again. Make sure to harden them to at least +3
• Tonfas - If you can get enough Small Medals (at least 50), aim for the Tonfa that you can get from Miral, the <Shield Tonfa> (you want 2, or you can mix it with another Tonfa), as it nullifies & decreases physical damage taken, and gives a damage bonus of 20. However if you want to kill someone for a Tonfa, go for <Fron> the tour planner, who has a life of 30, making them a somewhat easy fight (don't underestimate them however), she has the <Sonic Tonfa> which is somewhat better than the <Shield Tonfa>, as it is good for piercing attacks, and gives a higher Martial Arts bonus, and the Hit/Damage Bonus is better.
• Shields - Interestingly enough, you can use two Small Shields (or larger) at the same time, and it will train Shield instead or Dual wield, but it won't rain the Dual Wield skill, so it is immensely useful to have the PV and DV bonus while not hindering the Martial Arts skill gain.
• <Shield of Thorn> - This Precious item is worth trying to get, since it reacts to melee attackers, and Predators are built for melee, it is perfect. It can deal cut damage to (#####+ rating!), so it can cause enemies to bleed, it also has a damage bonus modifier of 14!
• <Sealed Shield> - another shield that is worth getting later, mainly from breeding <Grief Shields> in a ranch. Has a DV/PV of -20/80, so it is a good PV booster, and it can reduce & nullify physical damage, so it can be paired with the Shield Tonfa for greater effect.

Ranged

As your DEX stat will end up being high, its worth it to start using a bow or crossbow in the beginning. These weapons will be the thing that will save you life when there's a summoner or a group of enemies.

• <Wind Bow> - The third level reward from Lulwy of Wind, and is a decent bow to use, however it speeds up the progression of ether disease. But it invokes a ##### rating of Speed, so it is possibly worthwhile to have equipped.

Armor

Try to keep your PV high. Aim for Light armor class, since speed is important, and penalties can be deadly. Armored cloaks and other light equipment that is Miracle is worth it. Medium is second best, but it can be good when there are heavy hitting enemies in the dungeon you are delving into.

• <Twin Edge> - this necklace is a very useful piece of equipment for the Predator class, as it gives you the ability to hit an enemy multiple times in one turn. It increases the chance of extra melee attack. [#####+] (600) Combining this with some good Claws and high speed makes you a real killing machine.

Special Actions

• Most of these SAs are gained from using certain skills in combat. however they can be really useful for taking down strong opponents, or a group.
• Super Armor, and Continuous Attacks are both useful after you complete the Main Quest. The first one is gained from having a 35+ in the Heavy Armor skill, while the second can be bought from Leold for 100 AP.
• Super Armor is a wide skill (it reduces max phys damage taken by 75%, only applies to allies and self with Heavy Armor equipped) , but it means you need to use heavy armor, while this is viable, it is not recommended early on in the game. After reaching at least level 25 you can switch to heavier armor, since your HP/MP will be somewhat higher. (HP around 200 and MP around 15-20)
• Kokou feat - this is a useful feat for when you are playing solo, it gives a 20% speed multiplier.

Magic

• Self buffs like hero, contingency, speed, gem, holy veil, holy shield, regeneration, and attribute shield are extremely useful.
• Learn some spells from books, or learn them from random wizard dreams. If you have summon monsters, it can be risky, but also a good way to gain a lot of XP for casting & martial arts/armor.

Miscellaneous

Dungeons

• It is best to bring at least one pet with you whenever you go into a dungeon around your level, as even though a Predator can deal a significant amount of melee damage, it is vulnerable to Imps, and Nymphs. To put it simply, magic is your worst nightmare as a Predator. However, building resistances can be super useful for negating types of magic.
• Trying to find better equipment in dungeons can be hard for a Predator, while you will eventually find suitable armor and equipment, you will not often find Claws. Finding shields can be hard too, and most of the time they are useless. Tonfas do not randomly spawn in dungeons.
• Look for potions of speed and have some on hand for emergencies. Potions of Resistance will grant attribute shields, blessed potions of restore body/restore spirit give a 10% boost to respective stats, lasts for a year or until you die.

Inventory

• Do not carry a ton of items. This is crucial since the Burden status effect gives a 10% speed penalty, and Burdened! gives 30%. Being Tired (10%) and VERY Tired (10%) is also something to avoid. if you have Burdened! and VERY Tired at the same time you receive a 60% speed penalty.
• All items that you don't need should be stored in a storage house or in the Thief's Hideout in Vernis, or Your Home. Where there is a static map, there is storage.

Quests

• You can do almost all available to you, except for Cooking quests, which can be a little bit harder. Party Time! quests can easily be solved by training your faith skill a bit, and then just Preaching over and over at a party. This also will net you a huge amount of money.

Mid-Game

Mid-game predators can deal a ridiculous amount of melee damage and can tank heavy blows with even light armor on. At level 43 with two claws with +3, a 70 in tactics and a 60 in martial arts you can deal around 2d24 +24 x5.#, which simply means you can do at least 24 damage every hit, and on top of that you roll 2 d24's to add to that damage, then it will be multiplied. The maximum damage that can be done with that melee combat roll is 360. That's enough to eliminate almost any low level monster in one blow.