Lime: Holy Knight & Saint setup

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Opening Note:
Fresh players will not be getting Skill Tree resets anymore and thus it becomes imperative early on to figure out what is really necessary and what is optional. And thus I will point out the steps taken to get there.

Note that in order to follow an optimal build, sacrifices may be necessary to provide points for later job changes. They may include forgoing power up-augments to any skill; to the complete neglect of certain options due to their needlessness.

Please remember that in the end, this is my opinion for an optimal dungeon character and is in no way an absolute build for perfection. The builds I recommend are based on what I have found useful thus far and eliminated the unnecessary options.

WARNING: THE ENTIRE BOTTOM HALF OF THIS PAGE MAY BE COLORFUL, BUT IT'S FULL OF WORDS ONLY. YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED!

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Skill Tree dilemma:
Before I begin, I need to stress one very problematic issue for new players whom are using Lime. As we know, Lime is already very weak in physical combat, and it doesn't help that upgrades are only few and far in between (and it certainly does not help that upgrades are between 4,8 and even 12 levels apart!) I need to stress this because new players will not get event-resets from here on, and this means if they don't intend to cash a full SP reset, they will be unable to reset their messed up late/end game trees until they acquire one from events for free.

Assuming the player will go for only essentials and forgo the short-term gains.

Pros
  • Allows the player to acquire both - optimal MP regen and final skill, Holy Smash.
  • Scenario 1: Obtain Nemesis and MP Regen Lv1 by Lv64
  • Scenario 2: Obtain MP Regen Lv2 but delays Nemesis till Lv70
  • Level required to reach this tree plan is Lv82.
Cons
  • Cannot have Assistance Aura to support Lime in mid-game. Doing so forgoes the 2nd MP regen passive and leaves you with a useless 38 extra points.
  • 38 points can be placed into various Auras, but Lime can only activate one aura at a time. Rendering this a moot idea.
As a result, this is what your optimized skill tree for Lime would look like if you follow this plan.

Shared:

Holy Knight - Actives:

Saint - Actives:

Saint - Aura:


Holy Knight - Aura:

Got the idea? Let's begin with the details.
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First off, it is quite straight-forward as Holy Knight. You get to Lv20, start working on your Saint job change and this is what your basic skill tree should look like.

For the sake of reducing confusion, I will omit anything that has 0 SP, usually the aura options etc. Because those are free and won't cause any headaches to the distribution of points.

Point Distribution:
  • Increased Combo Attack Speed (6)
  • Smash Up (6)
  • Dash Jump (6)
  • Whirlwind (6)
  • Increased Stats (8)
Sustained Dash is the very last augment you will select to complete this tree path by the way. It has lowest priority because you can perform basic stepping instead of relying on that slow dash.

Points used: 32/40
Points to spare: 8


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You begin this section from Lv20 with 8 points to spare. Let us continue.

Lv19 - Whirlwind: Extra Spins (0)
Lv22 - Whirlwind: Reduced MP (0)
Lv24 - Self-Attack Aura (6)
Points used: 38/48

From here, your combo will speed up, but every other aspect is still slow. You'll just need to reinforce the habit of aura activation on each stage transition.

Lv25 - Whirlwind: Jump (0)
Lv28 - Attain MP From Start Lv1 (8)
Lv28 - Increased MP Recovery Lv1 (8) (Holy Knight)
Points used: 54/56

Hurray, more MP to play around with. Moving on-

Lv32 - Self-Attack Aura Effect Lv1 (2)
Points used: 56/64

From here, the fighting will be less cumbersome with the new combo system in place. You'll just need to reinforce the habit of aura activation on each stage transition.

Lv36 - Critical Rate Up Lv1 (8)
Points used: 64/72

Critical Increase! Yes! ヽ(゜▽、゜)ノ  

Lv40 - Tornado (8)
Points used: 72/80

Lime's first technique, Tornado is primarily useful for drawing enemies in with it's attack and flushing them out later with Power Strike.

Lv44 - Oracle (8)
Lv44 - Self-Attack Aura Effect Lv2 (2)
Points used: 82/88

Oracle becomes Lime's first range skill, which is useful for stacking some damage if you hit enemies at point blank range with it too.

Things get a little better. Lime's dash attack can now help you to stack your enemies by slamming them to the walls and killing them with her punishing skills. Note that by now, Whirlwind cannot be used completely anymore.

Lv52 - Self-Attack Aura Effect Lv 3 (2)
Points used: 84/104

Finally after all that difficult physical combat, Lime is finally able to stun her enemies with her jump attack. This makes it very much easier to set up your combos and reduce the chance of counterattacks in normal combat.

Lv56 - Attain MP From Start Lv2 (8)
Points used: 92/112

By now, the 2nd MP regen upgrade is available, but your points will not suffice to get there from the 1st upgrade - which requires 32 points in total to reach it, and you only have 20 here.

Lv60 - Berserker (8)
Points used: 100/120

The next supporting skill to your physical combat. The many uses of Berserker can be referred back to Lime's guide.

Lv63 - Berserker: Super Armor (0)
Lv64 - Nemesis (6)
Points used: 108/128

Game on! From here, Lime's dungeon clear times will improve with the use of Nemesis aiding her. It's decently wide range and damage stacking power will make short work of a lot of enemies, and even put the hurt on bosses more than Demolish Hammer can.

At this point, Demolish Hammer can really be relegated to uselessness.

Lv66 - Berserker: Duration (0)
Lv69 - Berserker: Increase Attack (0)
Lv72 - Crush (8)
Points used: 116/144

Right here, you get all your Berserker upgrades and the Saint Aura tab is cleared out. By Lv70, you will get enough SP to go straight for MP Regen 2, but this will delay your progress on the Saint's Actives by 2 levels on each upgrade.

*It doesn't matter too much actually, because Nemesis will be your sole skill weapon in destroying a lot of things. It doesn't help that Holy Smash is at Lv80 after all. Which will be too late-game to be of any use.

I personally, would divert my points to get MP Regen Lv2 quickly at Lv70 and delay getting Crush, Critical Lv2 and Holy Smash.

Lv76 - Critical Rate Up Lv2 (8)
Points used: 124/152

More criticals! Table flipping damage! ┻┻︵ヽ(`Д´)ノ︵┻┻

Lv80 - Holy Smash (8)
Points used: 132/160

And there you have it. Holy Smash is in your hands! I'm not sure how powerful it is since I'm nowhere near 80. But the path is not complete.

Reduced Grab Damage (8)
Momentary Enhancement (8)
Reduced Counterattack Cooldown Lv1 (8)
Lv82 - MP Regen Lv2 (8)
Points used: 164/164

Annnnnd a whole bunch of useless upgrades to reach MP Regen Lv2, but there's really no where else to put points into, since Auras are already restricted in combat.

Lv85 - Sustained Dash (6)
Points used: 170/170

Going back to the shared tree, this is probably the best place to use the remaining 6 points. Or you can select another aura but without additional properties to it, unfortunately enough.

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Holy Knight vs Saint:

Holy Knight:
Your role is generally a support/defensive one. The auras provided for her are mostly for teamplay support because they provide a reach via expanded radius rather than focusing on Lime alone. Due to their properties in lending strength to an entire team, the buffs percentages provided are minimal.

Bear in mind this tree alone makes Lime very difficult to play in dungeons as enemies become progressively dangerous and the general lack of attack speed & hitstun can prove detrimental for players trying to play Lime with nothing short of a team.

If you were to reverse my recommendations, then you will end up with Bless 2 as your final upgrade with Attain MP from Start Lv2 on the Saint's tree. This tree merely provides defensive measures with Super & Hyper Armor, and conditional HP recovery. Your combat skills will still be restricted to the default 5 and those from the Holy Knight's actives tab.


Saint:
Your role is completely offensive and self-reliant, with the only support factor coming from the skill Glory. Saint's auras only provide for Lime herself and takes on the battlefield under her own resources, and without reliance on a team to be able to hold her own ground.

A Saint-focused Lime has the advantage in dungeons with the aid of mainly her Self-Attack Aura or a choice of the other 2 as well, which are fully obtainable if you completely omit all 5 options from the Holy Knight Active tab. Regardless, the additional skills acquired in Saint's tree will allow her to be a viable solo force on the battlefield.

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Summary:

Coming back to Saint's recommended build, unlike AP characters like Dio, Zero and Ley, Lime does not have the luxury of learning new skills via job change and is forced to level up high to acquire some of her better skills. Let's take a look at the list of usable skills for a Saint-

Tier 1:


Power Strike
Single hit, high damage, knock back hit. This skill is good if you generally rely on higher critical rate than critical damage.

Justice
A multi-hit melee combo with many more hits than Power Strike and has a better affinity with critical rate than damage. The total damage dealt is also pretty good by default.

Oracle
Another contender for 1 MP skills, Oracle is good for stacking some damage with range and spread and added benefit.


Tier 2:


Glory
The only support skill that Saint has. Can be used to replenish a fair amount of HP at regular intervals and provide accelerated healing.

Blast Hammer
A push back skill with good linear range and decent damage. It's effectiveness is however limited to most regular enemies and is poor against grounded enemies and almost all bosses, as it's dragging mechanic fails to work on them.

Nemesis
Easily the best replacement for Demolish Hammer and to-be-overused skill. Nemesis is extremely effective due to it's high damage output and the ability to stack damage. It's MP cost also means players with their 4th MP bars unlocked can unleash this skill twice in a row and possibly kill off 6 enemies or more in a sitting.


Tier 3:

Demolish Hammer
Useful only until mid-game. The less than impressive damage and AoE makes this skill damnable for using 3 MP bars. Demolish Hammer is quickly relegated once Nemesis is acquired.


Holy Smash
It's late game attainment makes this skill less useful towards the end, while it is without a doubt effective in causing area-wide havoc. Holy Smash is partially useful when Nemesis begins to lose it's strength against a single target, especially bosses, and trades it's place for Holy Smash which deals very much higher damage irregardless of the AoE benefits.

And a look at the Damage charts


Skill Setup: Full Offensive
  • A Tier-1 skill of your choosing, be it Power Strike, Justice or Oracle.
  • Nemesis, your compulsory and core skill.
  • Holy Smash; if not preferred, simply switch out with another Tier 1 skill.
  • Berserker, for it's powerful damage increase and conjunctive use with pet attacks.
  • Any technique, be it Momentary Enhancement, Tornado or Crush.
The Full Offensive style disregards the use of Glory and relies on the player's supply of HP potions. Since Lime's auras can be triggered via the "C" command, she gets one free slot for whatever the player chooses to replace it with. No doubt, a self-reliant Lime should and must carry the Self-Attack Aura, to be able to go toe-to-toe with her enemies. This also makes Berserker extra effective when in need of that 27% ~ 33% extra damage boost, to either initiate a fight or to finish off stragglers that survive after waves of Nemesis.

Redemption is not carried because it is still more supportive than offensive in nature, and when situations call for it, her techniques and Tier 1 skills will be able to avoid potential deathblows or parry them for a while.

Note: Although Glory is not essential, a player may simply swap Holy Smash or the technique out. Nemesis itself is sufficient to do the job of killing for Lime.
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2 comments:

  1. Why not learning team support aura? That is one of the most broken skills in GC, it basically allowed you to spam Nemesis, a Tier 2 skill with only Tier 1 cost. It just surprised me that you did not learn that.

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    Replies
    1. I actually rely on my physical combat more than trying to spam Nemesis. That's my way of playing and hence that choice.

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