In-Depth New Player Gearing Guide 2021

LoLoBooty

Information in this guide is outdated but left for historical purposes. See this guide for the latest:
https://forums.vindictus.nexon.net/discussion/18952/in-depth-new-player-gearing-guide-2022
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PART 1

Basics for new players

CHARACTER PROGRESSION

1. Join a guild with guild perks: extra boss core, reduced repair/enhance costs, and AP bonus guild skills.
2. While leveling, it’s important to manage your AP because you will need a lot later. The general priority for spending AP is Character Growth Goal skills, then Critical Hit and Smash Mastery to max, then most used character skills to Rank A.
3. Stock up on AP. To get even more AP, you can:
   • Buy three AP 100 Capsules a day with Guild Seals.
   • Buy an Ancient Bloody Shade from the marketplace if it’s affordable.
   • Do Royal Army Raids (RAR) which drop AP Capsules
   • Buy the Secret Boxes from the Strange Traveler.
4. Get to level 100 via Story Progression Mode. The "Main Stream" stories is what's important. Sub-Stories can be ignored.
5. Buying gear is unimportant until Part 2 of this guide. Progressing in the main story will provide you with the gear needed from levels 1 - 100.

LEVEL 95 | 100 FREE GEAR
Complete these steps to start gearing for raids.

1. While progressing through the story you will get "Episode Reward Boxes". Open these but save the enhancement mats, triumph medals, and seals of bravery for the below steps.
2. Upon reaching levels 90 and 95 immediately receive the Character Growth Goals rewards (click Event icon on bottom left >> Character Growth Goals). Each contains a box called (Lv90 | Lv95) Support Destiny Box. When opening the box it will give you two options: Choose option 1 - Equipment Support Box with +12 armors and weapon. Open and equip them immediately.
3. Additionally the level 95 Character Growth Goals will include an accessories box. Choose option 1 which will include a Lv95 Shield | Focus | Totem (depending on which character you are). Open and equip them immediately.
4. Upon reaching level 100 immediately receive the Character Growth Goals rewards (click Event icon on bottom left >> Character Growth Goals). It contains a box called Lv100 Support Destiny Box. When opening the box it will give you two options: Choose option 1 - Equipment Support Box with +12 Lv100 armors and weapon. Open and equip them immediately.
5. Additionally the level 100 Character Growth Goals will include an accessories box. Choose option 1 which will include Lv100 +16 earring, +16 belt, and +15 rings. Open and equip them immediately.
   
   EXPLANATION OF VINDICTUS STATS by LegendarmaTV
   
   MORE CHARACTER PROGRESSION
   Upgrades at No Gold Cost
   
   TITLES
   • Titles are one of the best source of stats for new players. A list of titles for new players can be found here.
   • Doing Ein Lacher will unlock most of the titles in the list above. Farming Season 2, Season 3, and Royal Army battles for AP will unlock a chunk of titles as well. The titles unlocked by defeating Keaghan and Muir are worth going out of the way for. The remaining titles can be unlocked over time.
   
   REDEEMERS
   • Redeemer battles (Sea of Reflection - Neamhain, Dark Side of the Moon - Balor, Tempering the Sword - Brigid, Tree of Life - Laura) are a type of 8 player raid which are more challenging.
   • Redeemer battles are part of the main story but can be skipped to continue the main story.
   • However, at minimum plan on clearing Neamhain | Balor four times each and Brigid | Laura once. Clearing Neamhain | Balor (4 each) gives a permanent stat bonus of ATT | M.ATT +2000, Critical Rate +8, Max HP +2000, ATT Surplus +600. Clearing Brigid | Laura (once each) gives a permanent stat bonus of ATT | M.ATT +1000, Critical Rate +2.
   • From the Depart Window (G) choose Redeemers under Battles. Note the best time to find/create a Redeemers boat is on Mondays (weekly cap reset) or weekends (Friday - Saturday).
     
     Spoiler

     • There are progression bars, one for each Redeemer.
     • You gain 25% progression per Neamhain battle, 25% per Balor, 2% per Brigid, and 1% per Laura. Each Redeemer boss is normally capped at 4 runs a week (it is possible to obtain Redeemers specific departure licenses).
     • These progression rates are doubled for Neamhain, Balor, and Brigid if you already have another character with 100 clears of said battle.
     • Neamhain is unlocked after the Ceara Interlude story (which can be skipped). Balor is unlocked shortly after Rupacitus. Brigid is unlocked after Brilliant Lugh. Laura is unlocked after Epona.
     • It is recommended that you begin doing Redeemers as soon as possible because progression cannot be accelerated. Don’t worry about dying or not contributing at first. In Redeemers, that’s part of the learning process.
     • Check Legend Arma's Redeemers Guides.
   
   ARTIFACTS
   • Artifacts are accessories that provide powerful effects on usage.
     Spoiler

     • Werewolf Paw increases Attack Speed by 20% for [20/30] seconds, with a cooldown of 120 seconds.
     • Cat Statue restores 250 SP, with a cooldown of [90/70] seconds.
     • Succubus Fang restores [10%/13%] of your Attack as HP for 20 seconds, with a cooldown of 180s.
     • While they do not provide stats, Artifacts have a medium to significant impact on gameplay depending on your character.
     • Make sure to research which Artifact your character uses. One method is to view the info of top-ranked players.
     • Artifacts cost 100 to 300 Triumph Medals, which are obtained in many possible ways:
       Spoiler

       1. Trading Wins in PVP Arena (resets on Saturday).
       2. Siege Match (20 Seals win, 16 loss) on Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Saturdays
       3. Season 3 Episode Reward Boxes (5 per episode reward box).
       4. Guild Seal Exchange Shop (3 per day).
       5. Guild House Vending Machine (0-9 every 24 hours).
       6. Alban Festival Box (20 per week).
       7. Seal Destiny Box (10 per box from Weekly Missions or clear Lv5 of Reverent Tower).
       8. Secret Boxes (Low chance).
       9. Incinerating worthless items individually via Flovian (Low chance).
       10. Daily Mission Ticket Exchange Shop (Not recommended).
     • Those who desire an Artifact should start working early, given the weekly medal cap (70) and the amount of Triumph Medals needed.
     • Available to purchase in the Supply Depot: "Seal of Honor 2x Potion Box". This 7 day potion awards double seals earned from PVP Arena | Siege Match and ignores the weekly medal cap allowing you to earn up to 140 per week.
       
   
   EIN LACHER
   • Obtaining all Ein Lacher achievements permanently adds +5 BAL, +3 Critical Rate, and small amounts of ATT.
   
   PARTHOLON VANGUARD
   • After your first character reaches within 5 levels of the max level any additional character reaching that same threshold (up to 10 characters total) will give all characters on the account a stat boost to Stamina, ATT/M.ATT, .DEF, CRITICAL RATE, and ATT Surplus. Each stat gets further boosted with each additional character.
   
   CREDITS
   
   Spoiler

   Mad props to Florrick for everything math-related and more in the 2019 guide.
   Credits to Rumble for providing lots of info for the 2019 guide.
   Credits to Venerator and Zubine for editing the 2019 guide.
   Mad props to Submersed for the initial 2019 guide.
   LegendArma for the video explaining stats.

LoLoBooty

PART 2

Gearing for Raids

RAIDS - STAT REQUIREMENTS


RAID STATS FOR ENTRY
There is 6 key stats to join raids:

1. ATT / M.ATT
   Primarily determined by the weapon level (100 - 110) and enhancement level (+0 > +15) and enchant scrolls.
   Spoiler

   • Astera weapons have a base ATT of 18142. Milletian weapons have a base ATT of 21204.
   • +2000 ATT from 1% Redeemer Progression (+500 from each).
   • +370 ATT from each star of weapon quality, up to 5 stars for a total of +1110.
   • Average +500 ATT | M.ATT from two Copper Bracelets slotted with 2 (Diamond | Sapphire) Fine gems.
   • Varying (+145 to +465) ATT from armor scrolls.
   • +230 ATT from totem scroll: Truth Enchant Scroll.
   • Varying amounts of ATT from titles from the New Player Title Farming List.
   • Small amounts of ATT from the STR/INT after changing armor levels.
   • Small amounts of ATT from enhancing accessories.
   • Small amounts of ATT depending how many extra stars of armor or accessory quality.
   • +250-500 ATT from a complete outfit.
   • +2000 ATT will be locked behind 50% > 100% Redeemer Progressions of Neamhain, Balor, Brigid, and Laura.
   • +1000 ATT from Partholon Vanguard. Increases by 100 per near-max level character up to 10 characters.
   • Completing Ein Lacher achievements will permanently reward ATT, BAL, and Critical Rate bonuses.
2. DEF (Defense)
   Primarily determined by the armor and totem/shield/focus level (100 - 110) and enchant scrolls.
   Spoiler

   • Astera armor has a base DEF of 2244 (per piece), Milletian armor has a base DEF of 2547 (per piece), Adri armor has a base DEF of 2998 (per piece). A complete upgrade from Astera to Milletian adds 1515 base defense. A complete upgrade from Milletian to Ardri adds 2255 base defense.
   • The set bonus (total armor + weapon pieces per level) varies. Astera 6 piece bonus: DEF +430. Milletian 6 piece bonus: DEF +480, BAL +6. Adri 6 piece bonus: DEF +530, BAL +6.
   • Varying DEF from armor scrolls +120 DEF to +300
   • +800 DEF from totem scroll: Raging Enchant Scroll.
   • +500 DEF from totem scroll: Sealed Enchant Scroll.
3. Critical Rate
   Primarily determined by the weapon level (100 - 110) and (weapon | armor) enchant scrolls.
   Spoiler

   CRITICAL

   • Astera weapons have a base Critical Rate of 78, Milletian weapons have a base Critical Rate of 87, and Ardri weapons have a base Critical Rate of 100. With higher level gear reaching the BAL stat becomes harder while reaching the Critical Rate stat becomes easier.
   • +28% Critical Rate from having Rank 3 Critical Rate skill.
   • +4 Critical Rate from 1% Redeemer Progression (+1 from each).
   • +2 to +14 (BAL | Critical Rate) from Weapon, Belts, Brooch, Earring, Rings (2), and Totem infusions.
   • +6 Critical Rate from Rank 6 armor enchants.
   • +1 Critical Rate from Subdued Enchant Scroll.
   • +1 Critical Rate from totem scroll: Raging Enchant Scroll.
   • +1 or +2 Critical Rate from infusing a necklace. While obtaining +1 is automatic with the seal shop stones a +2 is rare.
   • +1 Critical Rate from Partholon Vanguard (Requires 5 alts within 5 levels of level cap).
   • +9 Critical Rate will be locked behind 50% > 100% Redeemer Progressions of Neamhain, Balor, and Brigid.
   • Completing Ein Lacher achievements will permanently reward ATT, BAL, and Critical Rate bonuses.
4. BAL (Balance)
   Primarily determined by the weapon level (100 - 110) and (weapon | armor) enchant scrolls.
   Spoiler

   • Astera weapons have a base BAL of 55, and Milletian | Ardri weapons have a base BAL of 46. With higher level gear reaching the BAL stat becomes harder while reaching the Critical Rate stat becomes easier.
   • The set bonus (total armor pieces per level) for Milletian or Ardri 6 piece bonus: adds +6 BAL total (Each piece adds +1 BAL).
   • +2 to +14 (BAL | Critical Rate) from Weapon, Belts, Brooch, Earring, Rings (2), and Totem infusions.
   • A premium outfitter adds +2 BAL
   • Completing Ein Lacher achievements will permanently reward ATT, BAL, and Critical Rate bonuses.
5. ADD DMG (Additional DMG)
   Primarily determined by the enhancement level (+0 > +15) of your weapon and armor. The universal stat requirement is 4000 AD which is achieved by having a +12 Weapon (2500 ADD) and 5 +12 Armor pieces (1500 ADD).
6. Counter (Counterforce)
   Primarily determined by the accessory level (85 - 110) and enhancement level (+0 > +20). Accessories that can be enhanced are rings, belts, and earrings. See more in LoLoBooty's Counterforce guide.
   • Accessories up to Lv100 can be enhanced without fail up to +18.
   
   TEMPORARY WAYS TO INCREASE STATS. Many effects stack.
   1. Premium Soap Buff [+1000 ATT | +1000 DEF] or Fine Soap Buff [+700 ATT | +700 DEF]
   2. Kitty's Encouragement Potion (1 raid duration) -- Warm Welcome box [+500 ATT | +30 Counter]
   3. VIP capsule (2 day duration) -- Ernmass's AP shop [+190 ATT and potentially +1 Critical Rate because of +100 WIL bonus]
   4. Crimson Blade Epaulet (7 day duration) -- Ernmass's AP shop [+500 ATT | 500 DEF]
   5. AP Shop Renewal Necklace (7 day duration) -- Ernmass's AP shop [+300 ATT | 300 DEF]
   6. Mood Missions - Complete a mood mission to get a random 2 hour buff including (ATT +200 or BAL +2)
   7. Use Fortune Cookies from the Exchange Shop to get a random 24 hour buff including ATT +100 | +500 or BAL +1 | +2 or Critical Rate +1 | +2 or DEF +100 | +500)
   8. Obtain a daily fortune from the Daily Fortune Vending Machine (inside the guild house) to get a random 24 hour buff including ATT +100 | +500 or BAL +1 | +2 or Critical Rate +1 | +2 or DEF +100 | +500)
   
   TIER 1 RAIDS GEARING
   Level 100 Season 3 Raids (Surprise Attack, Devil's Tower, Red Stigma, Grave of Madness, Brilliant Lugh, Eweca's Nightmare, Dungeon Laboratory, Remembrance)
   ~ 33,600 ATT, 17,000 DEF, 165 CRITICAL RATE, 80 BAL, 4000 ADD, 129 Counter
   1. Upon equipping the Level 100 gear in Part 1 you should be ready to run these raids.
   2. If you blew up/trashed the free gear. Prerequisite: Level 100, then click on the "Backup Equipment" button. Don't do this before reaching level 100 or you will receive Level 90 gear. "Backup Equipment" resets every 90 days.
   3. Increase your DEF by leveling up AP skills "Defense Mastery", Agility Mastery", and finally "Armor Mastery".
   4. Increase your Critical Rate by leveling up AP skills "Critical Mastery" to max then "Willpower Mastery" until you reach 2000 WIL. Every 133 points of WIL (up to 2000) increases your Critical Rate by 1.
      Spoiler

      
   5. For the +12 Astera weapon you can buy a +13 Restorative Enhancement Rune (Lv. 100 Weapon) with seals from the Exchange Shop. Runes also exist for armor, however, upgrading Astera armor is not recommended (it is necessary to replace Astera armor later on).
   6. Clear Redeemers raids Sea of Reflection (Neamhain) and Dark Side of the Moon (Balor) four times each to obtain +8 CRITICAL RATE and +2000 ATT.
   
   TIER 2 RAIDS GEARING
   Season 4 Level 105 Raids (Battle of Rocheste, Clan of Darkness, Spearhead of Paradise Lost, Under the Pale Moon, Ladaton Bridge)
   ~ 38,300 ATT, 20,300 DEF, 195 CRITICAL RATE, 84 BAL, 4000 ADD, 150 Counter
   1. Tier 2 is +4700 ATT, DEF +3300, +30 CRITICAL RATE, +4 BAL, and +21 Counter.
   2. At this tier you will need to start upgrading your free gear.
   3. An upgrade to totem | shield | focus is important to closing the DEF gap. It's worth saving for a higher tier totem | shield | focus because you will invest in scrolls and infusions later. There is 3 options to choose: The cheapest option is "The Book of Succession" (+1000 DEF). One tier up is "The Book of the Milletian" (+210 ATT, +1850 DEF). The highest tier is "The Book of Ardri" (+610 ATT, +2250 DEF, +2 Critical Rate). Consider buying pre-enchanted and infused.
   4. Clear 1 Brigid Redeemers for +500 ATT and +1 CRITICAL RATE.
   5. Clear 1 Laura Redeemers for +500 ATT and +1 CRITICAL RATE.
   6. Add ~+500 ATT/M.ATT and ~+500 DEF by replacing the free bracelets with Copper Bracelets that are either Diamond | Emerald (STR-based chars) or Sapphire | Emerald (INT-based chars). Then buy "Fine Bracelet" gems to slot them.
   7. Buy a Blue Kitty Brooch and Infuse with (blue) Element Stone until you get a +2 Critical Rate infusion for a total of +3 CRITICAL RATE
   8. Infuse belt, earring, and rings with Critical Rate +1 Element Stones which can be purchased with 200 Guild Seals from the Exchange Shop for a total of +4 CRITICAL RATE.
   9. Accessory enhance belt, earrings, and rings to +18 for a total of +110 ATT and +30 Counter.
   10. With a premium soap buff [+1000 ATT | +1000 DEF] or fine soap buff [+700 ATT | +700 DEF] and kitty potion [+500 ATT | +30 Counter] your ATT, DEF, and Counter requirements should be met.
   11. With the above steps complete - If your CRITICAL RATE or BAL is still too low and you are not ready to upgrade your weapon/armor you swap scrolls on your Astera gear to boost certain stats. The goal here is to do the cheapest option(s) possible since this won't help you past this tier of raids.
       1. Replace weapon suffix Judgment with Spirited for +2 CRITICAL RATE, +1 BAL, and -190 ATT.
       2. Replace weapon prefix Righteous with either Immoral (+6 CRITICAL RATE, -2 BAL, -210 ATT) or Chaotic (+7 CRITICAL RATE, -2 BAL, -90 ATT).
       3. Replace head/pants suffix Expeditionary with Capture (+2 CRITICAL RATE each piece | +4 CRITICAL RATE total).
       4. Replace head/leg prefix Memorable with Heartless (+1 BAL each piece | +2 BAL total)
       5. Replace hand/foot suffix Echoing with Soul (+1 BAL each piece | +2 BAL total)
       6. Replace chest armor prefix Temporal with Infinite (+1 CRITICAL RATE)
       7. Replace belt prefix Petite with Subdued (+1 CRITICAL RATE).
   
   TIER 3 RAIDS GEARING
   Season 4 Level 110 Raids (Royal Castle Dungeon, Royal Castle Topaz Hall) & Special Raids
   39,800 ATT, 22,300 DEF, 205 CRITICAL RATE, 87 BAL, 4000 ADD, 160 Counter
   1. Tier 3 is +1500 ATT, DEF +2000, +10 CRITICAL RATE, +3 BAL, and +10 Counter.
   2. At this tier you will need to start upgrading your free weapon and armor.
   3. A Milletian weapon, when compared to Astera, has +3075 ATT, +9 Critical Rate, -9 BAL.
   4. An Ardri weapon, when compared to Milletian, has + ATT, +13 Critical Rate.
   5. Milletian and Ardri armor supports r5 scrolls while Astera does not. The full weapon + 5 piece armor (Ardri | Millerian | mixed) has a set bonus of +6 BAL.
   6. Consider pre-enhanced +12 armor pieces on the MP to avoid enhancement woes.
   7. When enhancing yourself:
      1. From +0 > +8 you can enhance without runes. From +6 > +8 the enhance might reset but the only cost is more enhancement stones.
      2. From +8 > +10 use enhancement runes. Without runes anything that fails here is permanently destroyed and cannot be restored.
      3. For +10 > +11 use a premium enhancement rune. They can be purchased from the guild seal shop or from the marketplace.
      4. For +11 > +12 (Armor only) use a premium armor enhancement rune (if possible). The main source of these is events rewards.
      5. After that, your enhancement is no longer protected and may fail. Purchase Gobhniu's Stone from the Seal Shop and use in place of enhancement stones. If your enhancement does fail you can use a process called reforge to get the item back.
   8. Start with the cheaper pieces: tunic, feet, and arm. Enchant with the same scrolls used on the old Astera armor until you can afford enchant upgrades mentioned in Tier 2 raids point #11.
   9. Enhance/reforge your weapon | armors up to +15.

LoLoBooty

PART 3

Capping Raids

CONTRIBUTING
You might have noticed yourself doing low damage in level 105+ raids. That’s because we’ve prioritized meeting the requirements. Now we’re going to focus on dealing damage.

ADDITIONAL DMG

1. The most important stat for doing higher damage against bosses is "Additional DMG". It is increased by higher enhanced weapons and armor.
2. For example: A +12 Lv90 Dullahan weapon will do more damage than a +10 Lv100 Astera weapon. So plan your weapon/armor upgrades so that enhancement level is comparable.
3. Reforge your weapon and armor to +15.
   • Now is the best time to start using Goibhniu's Enhancement Stone.
   • They can be purchased from the Seal Shop for 90 seals.

SKILL AWAKENINGS

1. Skill Awakenings are considered a cost efficient increase to damage.
2. For most skills you'll want to go with 8-10% Damage Awakening.

QUALITY

1. Raise the quality of your weapon to 3 stars (or higher) with Quality Coupons. Quality Coupons can be obtained from the Daily Mission Ticket Exchange Shop or from events.
2. A 2* > 3* quality increases ATT and other secondary stats by 15%.

SPEED

1. Speed is a low priority because stat-wise it is the least cost efficient for damage. However, it has a noticeable impact on gameplay. For characters such as Scythe Evie, gameplay may feel frustrating with insufficient speed. Here are some suggestions:
2. Go into practice mode and learn the attack patterns of the boss.
3. Reforge your weapon up to +15
4. Get the Werewolf Paw artifact.
5. Replace the prefix on your accessories with Significant or Meaningful. Make sure to maintain raid stats for the QB requirements.
6. Other sources of speed are possible (e.g. FAST Enchant Scroll) because they sacrifice important stats to meet boat requirements.
7. Sources of speed are Significant, Fast, Well-balanced, Calm, Dash, Righteous, Valor, Bloodlust, Meaningful, Raging, Sealed, and Conviction Enchant Scrolls.
8. Make sure to have enough Critical and Balance to offset any losses from these scrolls.
9. Sources of speed are the Red Moon Brooch, Book of Succession | Milletian | Ardri gear.
10. If you’re a Crossgun Kai player, be aware of his speed tiers [0/13/38/71/125].

BRACELET UPGRADES

1. Replace your free bracelets with copper bracelets.
   • If you’re an STR character, replace both bracelets with Diamond/Emeralds. Slot both bracelets with full fine or superior gems.
   • If you’re an INT character, replace both bracelets with Sapphire/Emeralds. Slot both bracelets with full fine or superior gems.
2. Silver bracelets are not a recommended upgrade path. Since copper bracelets can slot superior gems the only difference is an additional slot for rubies (additional hit points).
3. Gold bracelets, while expensive, allow slotting exquisite gems.

INFUSION
Accessories can use the Critical Rate +1 and Balance (BAL) +1 Element Stones from the Exchange Shop.

1. +2 or +3 BAL | Critical Rate from Weapon, Belts, Brooch, Earring, Rings (2), Necklace, and Totem infusions.
2. While obtaining +1 is automatic with the seal shop stones a +2 can take 20-50 stones per accessory. A +3 infusion is rare.