Gameplay Mechanics
The Player Moveset
Players use two buttons to initiate attacks, Z is used to refer to weapon inputs, and X for magic inputs. Movesets change between types of weapons. Holding an input will charge an attack, which will deplete gauge for either the weapon or ring upon release. Weapons have up to 5 charged attacks. The basic moveset available to players is:
z(zzz) - Basic combo, pressing multiple times will queue up hits.
x(xx) - Basic magic attack, pressing multiple times will queue up hits. Magic's default attack is limited to 3 hits.
xz (or zxz) - Special attack type 1. Depending on what type of weapon you are using, the type of attack changes.
xxz (or zxxz) - Special attack type 2. Depending on what type of weapon you are using, the type of attack changes.
z(z..)x(x..) - Pressing magic during a basic combo will perform basic magic attacks.
Z1~Z5 - Charge attack 1~5 of the weapon. Holding the button until the desired charge attack will perform that skill. If you are in an attack motion the skill will be queued but only one attack may be queued at a time.
X1~X5 - Charge attack 1~5 of the ring.
C - Action button, direction + C to dodge (has invulnerability). Dodge cancels are also possible, to recover from attacks sooner. When holding a potion, stand still and hold C to bring up the potion cursor, z or x to use the potion.
V - Jump
(aerial) z(zz) - aerial basic attack, up to 3 hits
(aerial) x(xx) - aerial magic attack
(aerial) xz - Aerial special attack. Knocks the enemy away.
(aerial) xxz - Aerial special attack 2. Rapidly thrusts the weapon forward a few times. Front down.
Aerial charge moves are also available, to a certain extent. For example, with a pure fire ring, no matter what level the attack is charged to, the same attack will come out. Generally air magic charge attacks are specific to their element, and have their own gauge costs regardless of which attack slot they're in. Aerial weapon charge attacks are determined by their normal charge attacks, but are not necessarily the same attack. It is quite common to have multiple aerial charge attacks perform the same move, and they should not be treated differently depending on how high it was charged. A few charge attacks, both weapon and magic, have their own aerial counterparts.
Weapon Swapping and Class Skills
You are able to equip up to two weapons and two rings per character. In-game, you may swap between the two sets (one if only one is equipped) by pressing X+Z. Your class skills are used much the same way. By holding X+Z until both sides are charged to a certain level, and releasing both simultaneously, you will execute the class skill equipped in that slot. Up to five class skills can be equipped, and likewise you must charge X+Z to that level in order to use it.
Charging Attacks
As long as the respective buttons are held, both weapon and magic can be charged regardless of current behavior. Pressing Z four times quickly and then holding will cause your character to perform his basic melee combo as your weapon gauge charges. Likewise, if holding X while pressing Z you can charge your magic gauge while beginning your combo. Using one attack until the other is ready can make comboing much easier.
Types of Attacks
The general flow of a combo is ground into air, smash if available, air juggle once again into a finisher. Understanding your attacks is essential to comboing well. Hit types fall into one of several categories:
Front down - Causes the enemy to slowly fall down. Once completely downed cannot be hit any further.
Back down - Causes the enemy to suddenly lose balance. Humanoid types will spin around before falling. During this time, if a front down attack is used, the type of down will change to front down. If another back down attack is used, they will once again start spinning, but using it again will cause them to fall over. Non-humanoid types will become slightly airborne, and cannot be juggled if they hit the ground first.
Stagger - Will only down an enemy if used repeatedly. Provides very little hitstun.
Lift - Hits an enemy into the air. Once airborne, consecutive attacks will decrease how much they are able to be juggled, until the point they fall suddenly. As long as this point was not reached, they will bounce once upon landing, providing additional time to hit them before they are 'grounded'. If they land again without another lift-type attack hitting them, while one or two more attacks may connect, they will remain on the ground, and soon recover.
Smash - Hits an enemy into the ground. Can pick up an enemy off of the ground that has once fallen, as long as they are still able to be hit (lying on the ground, but not fully down). They will rebound into the air, and any lift proration from before the smash will be reset, allowing you to juggle the enemy once more. This reset only works once per combo.
Knockback - Blows an enemy away, making them spin as they fly through the air. Moves that knockback are known as finishers. You cannot continue your combo once you blow them away, although you may get a few more hits in before they are downed. Finishing moves always do more damage corresponding to the # of hits in the current combo (regardless of whether you did the combo, dependent on square root of combo hits). If a blown away enemy hits another enemy, they will take damage as if they received the finishing blow as well. If a different player attacks an enemy that was knocked away, they can combo and use their own finisher to throw it to yet another person. As long as someone that has already used a finisher does not attack the enemy, this can continue between all players, though it is quite difficult to pull off. If you do attack the enemy you knocked away, they will fall suddenly.
Dirty Finisher - Hit the enemy while they are down. Only available on certain class skills such as warrior and sorcerer. Will whiff if the target is not fully downed. Like finishers, power is dependent on current combo hits.
Players that understand these mechanics usually have developed combos to make the most of them. This is why in cooperative play it is disruptive if you attack other players' enemies. It is much more efficient to wait for their finisher and attempt to pick up the enemy from there if it is a strong enemy that may not die in one combo.
Additional Controls
Character Sheet
Pressing F9 will access your current character's statistics. Bonuses to the six stats, elements, race damage bonuses, and element resistances are displayed. At the top it displays character name and class, active level(reflects current level cap) and experience(during a mission current exp is displayed as 0 for whatever reason), HP/MP, attack power, magic attack power, physical defense and magic defense, and corresponding critical rates. At the bottom is your current money on hand.
Chat Log
Pressing F11 will access the chat log.
Player Confirmation
Holding F12 while in game will display the current players in-game. Player IDs are displayed to the left of their character, in case you need to /kick or /jump and cannot type their name.
Camera Control
Pressing Page up or Page down will adjust camera height. Pressing camera left+right will position it behind your character.
Combat Advice
Spawn Locations
Be wary of where new enemies will spawn once existing ones are defeated. If you are fighting within range of new enemies you may attract more attention than you can handle, or get hit by a large enemy that shatters the ground when they spot you.
Elementals
There's a good chance you got wiped out the first time you saw one of these. Possessing powerful magic and SS class physical defense, they may be impossible to defeat, depending on your character. They will randomly 'flee' and disappear after attacked, but if not they will relentlessly cast magic on players. If every other enemy is defeated, they will disappear. This is why if there is someone capable of defeating the elemental, it is best to leave at least one enemy unaggroed. If the enemy is alerted, keeping him away from the one fighting the elemental without killing him is a difficult task. This is because of the hate system.
Hate
Hate governs which player an enemy targets. Damaging an enemy will increase its hate level towards yourself. Likewise, causing damage to any enemy will increase all active enemies' hate towards yourself. This causes multiple enemies to gang up on the player causing the most trouble for them. This is also the reason enemies may run off if they get the first hits on you. If this happens, it is courtesy to use /bell to alert them that enemies may be coming from behind (Usually only done when players take separate routes).
The bell
Using /bell you may ring a bell. This serves to alert other players. If not in battle it is usually to gather up for a buff or potion. During battle it may serve to tell other players to watch their back. Though it is difficult to tell immediately why someone uses it, it is best to take a look at your situation, your teammates' situation, and your surroundings, if only for a brief moment. Of course it is difficult to type /bell during combat, so most people have it hotkeyed.
Hotkeys
By using /f1~/f8 and then a command, you can designate F1~F8 to that command. If your text has spaces, quotes may be necessary. Example: /f8 /ping
Calls and Roars
Exclusive to high class and boss class monsters, they have the ability to alert every other enemy on the map to your presence. When you approach garm initially, his roar + earth shatter has this property, although his normal earth shatter does not. When a high or boss class produces a cursor underneath his or herself, and then let's out an expanding shockwave through the air, this will call every other enemy to attack his current target.
Divine Punishment (天罰)
When you find combat difficult you may think to retreat to upper ground. Since the enemies can't jump they won't be able to reach you, right? Against medium class and higher, they will retaliate with this. Producing a cursor underneath themself, an inescapable bolt of lightning will strike the player, causing significant damage and 100% dizzy. The 'offended' monster will also gain temporary invulnerability, and possibly regenerate health until the player comes to level ground. This tends to happen even if the enemy, too is on high ground, so it's best to move back to normal playing field, even if the enemy is dizzied on high ground.
Weak Points
Large bosses usually have their hitboxes broken down into segments. The head is a common weakpoint. If you feel the bosses aren't taking enough damage despite your character being properly outfitted, you may need to revise your strategy. Giants have their weakpoint on their upper body, so when they dizzy and kneel down you can dish out decent damage. Using moves that stun may prove beneficial against them. Additionally you may want to look up their physical vs magic defense. Your character may be at a disadvantage.
Additional Tips
Materials
You receive materials from the missions, but not money. While it may become necessary to sell something to get money, usable materials should be prioritized. Storebought equipment is next to useless. There is very little reason to purchase anything from the shop, as crafted equipment will have better titles. Once you have a stock of materials and can give your equipment enough bonuses for your character to be near their status boost maximums in at least whatever governs your damage output, you can attempt higher difficulties for more experience without the stages being frustrating.
Vouchers
Certain missions have a chance to give vouchers (勲章). Rank2~11 vouchers are all presented on the rank up missions. These vouchers are able to be traded at the hunter's guild for armor with 30% to a stat and +3, making their equipment level a multiple of 5 (cotton armor is Lv2 +3, etc). These can be immensely helpful for new players who are short on money, and need every material they can get. Trading the vouchers for armor and selling can supply you with the money you need to upgrade your equipment, without sacrificing valuable materials. The vouchers themselves are worth 1 beru, and do not provide any equipment point gains. Rank1 vouchers, are received from a special mission. You must talk to the NPC (Graag) in the hunter's guild that provides the voucher trade-ins in order to receive this mission. R1 vouchers differ from the rest in that they can be traded for copper weaponry and rings, in addition to level 1 armor. R1 voucher weaponry is recommended as a starting point to crafting, as they start with a str/dex+25% title. This can save you some materials, as they will start with 20 points in str/dex. Likewise, rings from R1 vouchers start with int/con+25% and +30% to their own element.
Chests
Red - contains a material, contents depend on mission rank.
Blue - contains equipment.
Green - only unlockable by characters who have thief as their first class. Contents are the same as mission reward white boxes.
Yellow - rarely found on 果て無き探求 and some other missions. Much like a blue chest but contains unique and rarely gray equipment.
Equipment Palettes
When equipping items, there are two buttons below that may be of interest. The first is to outfit yourself according to a defined equipment palette. The second will save your current loadout to an equipment palette. They may be named as you like.
Experience and Multi-classing
In rolo, classes gain experience instead of characters themselves. What this means is that upon gaining your second class, it must be raised from level one. You may switch between all unlocked classes freely, however if you have more than one of the same tier, not all may be available. Only one of each class tier can be active at a time, and only classes available from those tiers can be active as well.
Active Classes
Your current class is displayed by your picture. However, other classes you have unlocked will be displayed in parenthesis to the right. While these are not gaining experience, they are considered active. Each active class will raise your statistics' upper bound by 10% (prorated if current class' level > respective active class). You may use class skills of your active classes, though at a slightly incrased MP cost. Additionally, you may receive up to half of the status boosts provided by each active class (again prorated if current class is higher level).
Novices
Kuara and Ires do not have their first class decided. Novices(NOV) are able to become any first class, except for soldier. Speaking to an NPC in the Hunter's Guild allows you to change any novice's first class, even after it has once been decided. However, changing their first class will erase any progress made. Until they have a first class selected, they will be unselectable in the bar and unable to go on any missions.
Enchanting
Whether playing an enchanter, having one in the party, or using elemental weapons, it's a good idea to understand the damage calculation that can be quite different when using enchanted weaponry. Consult the enchanting page for more information.
