Table of Contents
I. Introduction
II. Why Soul Linker? [Pros and Cons]
III. Important Skills
IV. Stat and Equipment Builds
V. Consumables
VI. Playing as a Soul Linker
VII. Tips and Tricks
I. Introduction
Hi, I'm Raiko, and I currently main Soul Linker on my character Meta Four. I've been playing bRO intermittently since 2008, so I've seen enough to at least have a clue of how to get around this server. I'm a theorycrafting junkie on most if not all of the games I play, so I'm pretty used to crunching numbers and dissecting meta's to come up with new and fun builds. I made this guide mostly out of boredom, but in almost equal part my own curiosity of the Soul Linker class, which I feel is underused and underrated.
Disclaimer: As I am terribly unskilled at anything format-related, this guide will remain text-based, until I come around to adding nice stickers and graphics.
II. Why (Magic) Soul Linker?
Pros:
1. Esma damage is nuts.
2. You have a wide range of element control with Warm Wind.
3. The self-buffs (Kaupe, Kaite) are very underrated. They're spammable Kyrie's and magic reflects, for free.
4. In WoE and BG, people often overlook the power boost some Spirit Links give to players.
5. Did I mention Esma damage is nuts?
Cons:
1. You have close to no counter-play against Magic Rod and a Maya Card.
2. Not AoE.
3. Generally linear playstyle, can be anticipated easily.
4. A bit EQ-dependent.
5. No self-sustain. (#BringBackKaizel)
III. Important Skills
[Refer to the iRO and bRO wiki's for the technical description of the skills. I will only highlight why they are important in combat. https://irowiki.org/wiki/Soul_Linker https://wiki.blackout-ro.net/Skills]
1. Estun - Use this to prep your Esma. That's literally it.
2. Esma - Hoo boy, this skill does a shitload of damage. Outclasses any other single-target magic spell by far. This will be your bread and butter for hurting people. Use this right after Estun, or it will not proc. Think of spamming the two skills like you would spam DSC and FO as a Champion.
3. Eswoo - This shuts down enemies with no effective gap closers by massively lowering their movement speed. Also it makes them tiny and a little less threatening. Just be careful not to cast it on a target already slowed; it will stun you for around 19 years.
4. Warm Wind - Changes the element of your Esma and basic attacks. This means you have 7 different "bolts". Have multiple levels of this skill in your BM to change mid-fight.
5. High Jump - Use for mobility. Keep it at lv2 or 3 so you don't jump into the heavens.
6. Running - I don't really use it, but it's also a mobility option. Gotta go fast.
7. Break Fall - Gives a chance to evade attacks. I don't always keep it on, since the fall can lock your character in the animation, and you'd need to cloak or walk to be able to spam skills again. I mostly keep it on for WoE.
8. Kaupe - 100% chance to evade 1 attack. Yes, even Asura's. Keep it on at all times.
9. Kaite - Reflects any magic damage twice. Yes, ANY magic damage. Have at it.
10. Spirits - a run down of all the actually useful ones:
a. Alchemist Spirit - Makes Potion Pitcher OP. Allows usage of Twilight Alchemy. Yknow, that thing for the slim pots.
b. Star Gladiator Spirit - I'M FLYIIIIIIIIIIING
c. Assassin Spirit - Makes Sonic Blow deal entire health bars' worth of damage. I'm not kidding.
d. Crusader Spirit - Increases HP. Reduces Defender's slow. And inflicts Critical Wounds with Shield Charge. Bet you didn't know that one.
e. Bard and Dancer Spirit - Songs affect the caster. Also you can play more songs. Nice.
f. Blacksmith Spirit - Buffs Cart Termination. How? Trade secret.
g. Soul Linker Spirit - YOU get a Kaupe/Kaite, YOU get a Kaupe/Kaite, EEEVERYBODY GETS A KAUPE/KAITE
h. Rogue Spirit - vroom vroom vroom
i. Hunter Spirit - Buffs DS damage. I still want to see Beast Strafing though.
j. Priest Spirit - "Holy %#!@ that hurt."
IV. Stat and Equipment Builds
1. Full MATK/DPS Linker
STR 100
AGI [rest of the points]
VIT 100 total
INT 450
DEX 200 total
LUK 300 total
Headgears: xRabbit, xBDH -- x3D -- xSage
Cards: High Wizard Card, Evil Snake Lord Card, Isilla Card
Armor: Valkyrja's Armor, Warlock's Battle Robe (BG)
Cards: Tao Gunka Card, Ghostring Card, Angeling Card, Elemental Armor Cards
Weapon: +10 Bazerald, Survivor's Rod - INT, Warlock's Magic Wand (BG), +10 Rod [4]
Cards: Ant Larva Card (if it helps bump your INT bonus to a multiple of 5
Shield: Valkyrja's Shield
Cards: Thara Frog Card, Golden Thiefbug Card, Horn Card
Garment: Valkyrja's Manteau, Proxy Skin Fragment, Commander's Manteau (BG)
Cards: Assassin Cross Card, Noxious Card, Deviling Card, Raydric Card
Shoes: Valkyrja's Shoes, Combat Boots (BG)
Cards: Fallen Bishop Hibram Card, Green Ferus Card, Moonlight Flower Card
Accessory: Earring, The Sign
Cards: Alligator Card, Errende Ebeccee Card, Horong Card, Marine Sphere Card
[Comments]
Use this build primarily for WoE, when you have a Devo. This is obviously glass cannon, so you're gonna have to avoid the frontlines, too. In PvP and BG, you can run this when you're confident you can take out the enemy faster that they can kill you, i.e. if they don't have redux or reflect gears on.
2. Redux Linker
STR 100
AGI [rest of the points]
VIT 100 total
INT 450
DEX 200 total
LUK 300 total
Headgears: xBand, xBDH -- x3D, xMed -- xRetri, xDevi, xAngeling
Cards: Bacsojin Card, Maya Purple Card
Armor: Valkyrja's Armor, Warlock's Battle Robe (BG)
Cards: Tao Gunka Card, Ghostring Card, Angeling Card, Elemental Armor Cards
Weapon: +10 Combat Knife
Shield: Valkyrja's Shield
Cards: Thara Frog Card, Golden Thiefbug Card, Horn Card
Garment: Valkyrja's Manteau, Proxy Skin Fragment, Commander's Manteau (BG)
Cards: Assassin Cross Card, Noxious Card, Deviling Card, Raydric Card
Shoes: Valkyrja's Shoes, Combat Boots (BG)
Cards: Green Ferus Card, Moonlight Flower Card
Accessory: Rosary, The Sign
Cards: Alligator Card, Errende Ebeccee Card, Horong Card, Marine Sphere Card
[Comments]
I've only run this build a few times, and let me tell you, it's annoying as hell. The innate buffs of a Soul Linker coupled with the redux gears and healing make you a pain to deal with. All the while, Esma still dishes out a lot of damage, just by its sheer MATK ratios. You can run this when you're against a beefy opponent, or one who can also heal. You can also run this build if you want to take a supportive role in WoE/BG.
c. High VIT Linker
STR 25
AGI 190
VIT 350
INT 450
DEX 200 total
LUK 300
Headgears: xSide, xRabbit, xBDH -- x3D -- xSage, xDevi, xAngeling
Cards: High Wizard Card, Evil Snake Lord Card, Isilla Card
Armor: Valkyrja's Armor, Warlock's Battle Robe (BG)
Cards: Tao Gunka Card, Ghostring Card, Angeling Card, Elemental Armor Cards
Weapon: +10 Grimtooth, Survivor's Rod - INT, Warlock's Magic Wand (BG)
Shield: Valkyrja's Shield
Cards: Thara Frog Card, Golden Thiefbug Card, Horn Card
Garment: Valkyrja's Manteau, Proxy Skin Fragment, Commander's Manteau (BG)
Cards: Assassin Cross Card, Noxious Card, Deviling Card, Raydric Card
Shoes: Valkyrja's Shoes, Combat Boots (BG)
Cards: Fallen Bishop Hibram Card, Green Ferus Card, Moonlight Flower Card
Accessory: Earring, The Sign
Cards: Alligator Card, Errende Ebeccee Card, Horong Card, Marine Sphere Card
[Comments]
This is the build I'm currently running. This is the closest you'll get to countering Maya Card users. You'll have a big enough HP pool to tank some of your reflected Esma's, in hopes that the other guy dies sooner. Yeah, that's all we can do about it, unfortunately. Magic linkers need a buff.
V. Consumables
1. Assumptio Scrolls * - You'll only want to use this in scenarios where you don't need to cast Kaite, i.e. no magic enemies. This is because the two don't stack.
2. Fire Wall Scrolls - For cloakers.
3. Earth Spike Scrolls - For hiders.
4. Speed Potions / Authoritative Badge - vroom vroom vroom
5. Box of Panting - Yeah, you'll be burning SP, too.
VI. Playing as a Linker
As some of you might have already surmised, the playstyle is fairly linear: Spam. Esma. And, yknow, link people on the side.
The rest of this section will assume you've drilled the above into your head.
In PvP, you're extremely predictable. What you can vary would be the elements of your Esma, but not much else. In general, you'd want to focus on surviving dishing out the DPS. Be mindful of Wall of Fog, either yours or the enemy's. Use High Jump to reposition often. If they wear GTB, just spam right through it. If they wear Maya, pray. And believe in the Heart of the Cards.
In BG/WoE, you want to ensure everyone's linked before the fight begins. That's the first priority. After doing that, you can help range off the enemies, but always stay in the middle of the stack as much as possible. Esma range is fairly long, so abuse it. The only time you should walk out of the stack is if you're fairly sure you can WoF to keep yourself alive when they turn to focus you, AND if you're trying to pick off a priority target, i.e. Snipers and Gunslingers. Otherwise, just help kill the frontline. You're doing damage, I promise.
VII. Tips and Tricks
I don't see enough people abusing these. You're welcome.
1. When you have Kaite cast on yourself, the enemy can't tell if you're cloaked or not. Hella easy to fish out moonwalkers with it in WoE and BG.
2. You can flinch-spam Kaite, so when against a magic user, have them land one skill first, then spam Kaite til they bolt themselves to death.
3. Cloaking in between Kaupe casts makes the delay ever so slower. Use it to live against Asura spammers, unless you opt to switch to your Deviling garment, which is also fine.
4. Eswoo works on zerging breakers in WoE. Be mindful.
5. Kaizel works in BG. I don't know why, but it does.
--
And that's it for my guide! I promise to refurbish this when I find the means (people) to improve on the graphics. But for now, I hope this wall of text could be of some help to players new and old.
Happy Linking!
I. Introduction
II. Why Soul Linker? [Pros and Cons]
III. Important Skills
IV. Stat and Equipment Builds
V. Consumables
VI. Playing as a Soul Linker
VII. Tips and Tricks
I. Introduction
Hi, I'm Raiko, and I currently main Soul Linker on my character Meta Four. I've been playing bRO intermittently since 2008, so I've seen enough to at least have a clue of how to get around this server. I'm a theorycrafting junkie on most if not all of the games I play, so I'm pretty used to crunching numbers and dissecting meta's to come up with new and fun builds. I made this guide mostly out of boredom, but in almost equal part my own curiosity of the Soul Linker class, which I feel is underused and underrated.
Disclaimer: As I am terribly unskilled at anything format-related, this guide will remain text-based, until I come around to adding nice stickers and graphics.
II. Why (Magic) Soul Linker?
Pros:
1. Esma damage is nuts.
2. You have a wide range of element control with Warm Wind.
3. The self-buffs (Kaupe, Kaite) are very underrated. They're spammable Kyrie's and magic reflects, for free.
4. In WoE and BG, people often overlook the power boost some Spirit Links give to players.
5. Did I mention Esma damage is nuts?
Cons:
1. You have close to no counter-play against Magic Rod and a Maya Card.
2. Not AoE.
3. Generally linear playstyle, can be anticipated easily.
4. A bit EQ-dependent.
5. No self-sustain. (#BringBackKaizel)
III. Important Skills
[Refer to the iRO and bRO wiki's for the technical description of the skills. I will only highlight why they are important in combat. https://irowiki.org/wiki/Soul_Linker https://wiki.blackout-ro.net/Skills]
1. Estun - Use this to prep your Esma. That's literally it.
2. Esma - Hoo boy, this skill does a shitload of damage. Outclasses any other single-target magic spell by far. This will be your bread and butter for hurting people. Use this right after Estun, or it will not proc. Think of spamming the two skills like you would spam DSC and FO as a Champion.
3. Eswoo - This shuts down enemies with no effective gap closers by massively lowering their movement speed. Also it makes them tiny and a little less threatening. Just be careful not to cast it on a target already slowed; it will stun you for around 19 years.
4. Warm Wind - Changes the element of your Esma and basic attacks. This means you have 7 different "bolts". Have multiple levels of this skill in your BM to change mid-fight.
5. High Jump - Use for mobility. Keep it at lv2 or 3 so you don't jump into the heavens.
6. Running - I don't really use it, but it's also a mobility option. Gotta go fast.
7. Break Fall - Gives a chance to evade attacks. I don't always keep it on, since the fall can lock your character in the animation, and you'd need to cloak or walk to be able to spam skills again. I mostly keep it on for WoE.
8. Kaupe - 100% chance to evade 1 attack. Yes, even Asura's. Keep it on at all times.
9. Kaite - Reflects any magic damage twice. Yes, ANY magic damage. Have at it.
10. Spirits - a run down of all the actually useful ones:
a. Alchemist Spirit - Makes Potion Pitcher OP. Allows usage of Twilight Alchemy. Yknow, that thing for the slim pots.
b. Star Gladiator Spirit - I'M FLYIIIIIIIIIIING
c. Assassin Spirit - Makes Sonic Blow deal entire health bars' worth of damage. I'm not kidding.
d. Crusader Spirit - Increases HP. Reduces Defender's slow. And inflicts Critical Wounds with Shield Charge. Bet you didn't know that one.
e. Bard and Dancer Spirit - Songs affect the caster. Also you can play more songs. Nice.
f. Blacksmith Spirit - Buffs Cart Termination. How? Trade secret.
g. Soul Linker Spirit - YOU get a Kaupe/Kaite, YOU get a Kaupe/Kaite, EEEVERYBODY GETS A KAUPE/KAITE
h. Rogue Spirit - vroom vroom vroom
i. Hunter Spirit - Buffs DS damage. I still want to see Beast Strafing though.
j. Priest Spirit - "Holy %#!@ that hurt."
IV. Stat and Equipment Builds
1. Full MATK/DPS Linker
STR 100
AGI [rest of the points]
VIT 100 total
INT 450
DEX 200 total
LUK 300 total
Headgears: xRabbit, xBDH -- x3D -- xSage
Cards: High Wizard Card, Evil Snake Lord Card, Isilla Card
Armor: Valkyrja's Armor, Warlock's Battle Robe (BG)
Cards: Tao Gunka Card, Ghostring Card, Angeling Card, Elemental Armor Cards
Weapon: +10 Bazerald, Survivor's Rod - INT, Warlock's Magic Wand (BG), +10 Rod [4]
Cards: Ant Larva Card (if it helps bump your INT bonus to a multiple of 5
Shield: Valkyrja's Shield
Cards: Thara Frog Card, Golden Thiefbug Card, Horn Card
Garment: Valkyrja's Manteau, Proxy Skin Fragment, Commander's Manteau (BG)
Cards: Assassin Cross Card, Noxious Card, Deviling Card, Raydric Card
Shoes: Valkyrja's Shoes, Combat Boots (BG)
Cards: Fallen Bishop Hibram Card, Green Ferus Card, Moonlight Flower Card
Accessory: Earring, The Sign
Cards: Alligator Card, Errende Ebeccee Card, Horong Card, Marine Sphere Card
[Comments]
Use this build primarily for WoE, when you have a Devo. This is obviously glass cannon, so you're gonna have to avoid the frontlines, too. In PvP and BG, you can run this when you're confident you can take out the enemy faster that they can kill you, i.e. if they don't have redux or reflect gears on.
2. Redux Linker
STR 100
AGI [rest of the points]
VIT 100 total
INT 450
DEX 200 total
LUK 300 total
Headgears: xBand, xBDH -- x3D, xMed -- xRetri, xDevi, xAngeling
Cards: Bacsojin Card, Maya Purple Card
Armor: Valkyrja's Armor, Warlock's Battle Robe (BG)
Cards: Tao Gunka Card, Ghostring Card, Angeling Card, Elemental Armor Cards
Weapon: +10 Combat Knife
Shield: Valkyrja's Shield
Cards: Thara Frog Card, Golden Thiefbug Card, Horn Card
Garment: Valkyrja's Manteau, Proxy Skin Fragment, Commander's Manteau (BG)
Cards: Assassin Cross Card, Noxious Card, Deviling Card, Raydric Card
Shoes: Valkyrja's Shoes, Combat Boots (BG)
Cards: Green Ferus Card, Moonlight Flower Card
Accessory: Rosary, The Sign
Cards: Alligator Card, Errende Ebeccee Card, Horong Card, Marine Sphere Card
[Comments]
I've only run this build a few times, and let me tell you, it's annoying as hell. The innate buffs of a Soul Linker coupled with the redux gears and healing make you a pain to deal with. All the while, Esma still dishes out a lot of damage, just by its sheer MATK ratios. You can run this when you're against a beefy opponent, or one who can also heal. You can also run this build if you want to take a supportive role in WoE/BG.
c. High VIT Linker
STR 25
AGI 190
VIT 350
INT 450
DEX 200 total
LUK 300
Headgears: xSide, xRabbit, xBDH -- x3D -- xSage, xDevi, xAngeling
Cards: High Wizard Card, Evil Snake Lord Card, Isilla Card
Armor: Valkyrja's Armor, Warlock's Battle Robe (BG)
Cards: Tao Gunka Card, Ghostring Card, Angeling Card, Elemental Armor Cards
Weapon: +10 Grimtooth, Survivor's Rod - INT, Warlock's Magic Wand (BG)
Shield: Valkyrja's Shield
Cards: Thara Frog Card, Golden Thiefbug Card, Horn Card
Garment: Valkyrja's Manteau, Proxy Skin Fragment, Commander's Manteau (BG)
Cards: Assassin Cross Card, Noxious Card, Deviling Card, Raydric Card
Shoes: Valkyrja's Shoes, Combat Boots (BG)
Cards: Fallen Bishop Hibram Card, Green Ferus Card, Moonlight Flower Card
Accessory: Earring, The Sign
Cards: Alligator Card, Errende Ebeccee Card, Horong Card, Marine Sphere Card
[Comments]
This is the build I'm currently running. This is the closest you'll get to countering Maya Card users. You'll have a big enough HP pool to tank some of your reflected Esma's, in hopes that the other guy dies sooner. Yeah, that's all we can do about it, unfortunately. Magic linkers need a buff.
V. Consumables
1. Assumptio Scrolls * - You'll only want to use this in scenarios where you don't need to cast Kaite, i.e. no magic enemies. This is because the two don't stack.
2. Fire Wall Scrolls - For cloakers.
3. Earth Spike Scrolls - For hiders.
4. Speed Potions / Authoritative Badge - vroom vroom vroom
5. Box of Panting - Yeah, you'll be burning SP, too.
VI. Playing as a Linker
As some of you might have already surmised, the playstyle is fairly linear: Spam. Esma. And, yknow, link people on the side.
The rest of this section will assume you've drilled the above into your head.
In PvP, you're extremely predictable. What you can vary would be the elements of your Esma, but not much else. In general, you'd want to focus on surviving dishing out the DPS. Be mindful of Wall of Fog, either yours or the enemy's. Use High Jump to reposition often. If they wear GTB, just spam right through it. If they wear Maya, pray. And believe in the Heart of the Cards.
In BG/WoE, you want to ensure everyone's linked before the fight begins. That's the first priority. After doing that, you can help range off the enemies, but always stay in the middle of the stack as much as possible. Esma range is fairly long, so abuse it. The only time you should walk out of the stack is if you're fairly sure you can WoF to keep yourself alive when they turn to focus you, AND if you're trying to pick off a priority target, i.e. Snipers and Gunslingers. Otherwise, just help kill the frontline. You're doing damage, I promise.
VII. Tips and Tricks
I don't see enough people abusing these. You're welcome.
1. When you have Kaite cast on yourself, the enemy can't tell if you're cloaked or not. Hella easy to fish out moonwalkers with it in WoE and BG.
2. You can flinch-spam Kaite, so when against a magic user, have them land one skill first, then spam Kaite til they bolt themselves to death.
3. Cloaking in between Kaupe casts makes the delay ever so slower. Use it to live against Asura spammers, unless you opt to switch to your Deviling garment, which is also fine.
4. Eswoo works on zerging breakers in WoE. Be mindful.
5. Kaizel works in BG. I don't know why, but it does.
--
And that's it for my guide! I promise to refurbish this when I find the means (people) to improve on the graphics. But for now, I hope this wall of text could be of some help to players new and old.
Happy Linking!
Last edited:
