Mari: Rune Caster

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GC Eternity: Rune Caster
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GC Season V: Rune Caster
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Mari is a unique weapon user with various class changes that force her to undergo very drastic changes in play style, while retaining certain elements from predecessor classes as she progresses. As Rune Caster, Mari wields nothing but a simple book, a Grimoire, which she uses for short ranged melee and magic casting.

Also unique to Mari is a technique system that creates weapon constructs that aid her separately in combat and follows through to her advanced classes as different devices. To put it simply, Mari is not one to engage in direct combat all the time, as she lacks solid attacking power nor the mobility to do so (she cannot run by the way) Thus a lot of it relies on technique when you use her. It's tricky, but at the same time, fun and rewarding to play.

With the introduction of her Skill Tree for the first time, Mari now undergoes major control changes to her alternate techniques and is applied across the board to her other jobs. With combat flexibility and new skills to boot, players can look forward to her being a true and even more powerful Rune Caster.

Dodge:

• Type: Teleport
• Mari often leaves herself vulnerable during attack combos, and since by default she has no evasive measures, she is often at risk of taking too much damage if she is landlocked while attacking. Again like most melee characters, it gives her a measure of safety to have Dodge available.
• Luckily, Rune Caster combos are short and sweet with short freeze times. She will still need that handy Dodge though, as it allows her to stay focused even longer for ground battles.

Inherent Techniques:

• Dash Jump (→→↑)
• Initiates a high and fast boosted jump into the air.
• Has a slight delay before the take-off occurs, as compared to Geas' version

• Dash Attack (→→ + ←Z)
• Fires a small mana blast to the back as she dashes. Does not consume MP like the Polaris' version.
• Not sure if it was newly implemented or that I simply forgot this exists.

• Mana Shield: (XX + ↑)
• Activates a 10 second shield that depletes MP for each hit taken rather than draining your HP. This ability is usable by all of Mari's classes.

Notes:

• Mari can dash away to cancel her stance mode.
• Mari has a special jump where she can leap back onto the platform after a drop-down dash off a platform by pressing "up" again. (Performed as →→↓↑) This move can be done by all 4 classes. 
• By using Dodge in the middle of her rocket jump, Mari can extend her jump height to almost 5 platforms vertically. Great for tactical traversing of jump stages or terrain but requires accurate timing to perform the launch.

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Skill Tree Setup: 

Combo Attack: Combo Attack Lv2
This version grants Mari more range and a speedier attack combo with better stuns and slightly increased damage in total. For the players who are tired with her lack of range, this is a good pick.

Critical: Critical Lv2
The whirlwind attack not only deals more damage but launches enemies into the air slightly, allowing Mari more breathing space when attacking.

Jump Attack: Jump Attack Lv2
With different movement mechanics, the damage dealt is slightly higher as well but adds a recoiling motion to it when used. It can be a little unwieldy for a while.

Special Skill: Summon W.D.W
Mari's new W.D.W summon command uses the (C + ↑) trigger. Not only is the cast time significantly shortened (from 4 seconds to 1 second!), but it is an across-the-board change to Gunslinger and Polaris as well.

Note that this Skill Tree augment only affects Rune Caster; Her Gunslinger and Polaris can summon their own W.D.W's even if this option is turned off.

Special Skill: Super Rocket Jump
Allows Mari as Rune Caster to deliver a downward strike of 3 rockets towards the ground from high altitude. The only problem is the dismal accuracy and distance required to actually land a hit. This is due to the long distance required to get into the air and delay of firing because she continues to move forward. This skill is essentially better for PvP against enemies rushing against you in a hurry than trying to accurately bombard monsters in a dungeon.

Special Skill: Protection Lv2
This version of Protection has a powerful offensive effect as well as defensive (stuns). It does not actually block monsters but rapidly cycle them with stuns when they are in the trap's AoE. Because of its large activation and effect range, it is easily triggered even before the enemy can run up to you.

And on a very interesting note. It shares a property of Ley's Grey Zone - It triggers Hellspears at a fast rate and Protection can be accumulated (You can only summon out one Protection trap at a time, but upon activation the vortex of energy remains there, and can hence be stacked for a while with multiple use) And as such, this can become a very nasty technique with a full HS stat count.

Special Skill: Cannon I Lv2
This version fires out 9 shots forwards before vanishing and has piercing shots to go with.

Special Skill: Cannon II Lv2
This version fires out a shot upwards that disperses into a trio of bombs, unlike the Lv1 version. The bomblets upon dispersal can only hit enemies on the same platform, and will not fall to lower platforms even if there is a gap where they explode.

Note: The description that says "Summon Time will be increased" actually means longer duration of use - Allowing it to fire 9 shots instead of 6. Also, monsters cannot destroy the cannons, so that description is also only applicable to PvP.

Special Skill: Arcane Mode
Of interest is Mari's new Arcane Mode, which provides Mari an alternate attack system to the standard melee. There are 3 control commands besides the initial (XX) command, which brings up a drone that casts an offensive forcefield around her first, before accepting any command by the player, or not at all. When Arcane Mode is activated, there is a long window before the (XX) command dissipates, allowing Mari to drag out her command input if need be.

• Arcane Star
• A drone orbits 5 times around Mari in a star formation, causing light hits and knock up with each pass. The speed of attack renders enemies unable to react once they are struck. With some strategic use, it can be mid-chained with a powerful Buster skill.

• Arcane Burst
• Places a drone in mid-air which carries an electrical charge around it. Although it has a small activation radius, the explosion deals burst damage and knock back to the impacted enemy. Take note that Mari leaps back upon using this technique.

• Arcane Falls
• A form of homing strike from the air. Arcane Falls when activated will track up to 3 enemies within a forward 180° radius. Once tracked, a vertically falling drone will each descend on their last tracked positions and cause a small energy explosion. Due to having individual instances of attack, it can be stacked and is effective when used against 2-3 targets bunched together.
• It is however, unable to track targets that are more than 3 platforms away on the vertical axis, or are behind Mari.

Given the descriptions of their functions, it can be realized that Arcane Mode has absurd utility potential, being able to cripple enemy formations and even stop attack stacks by them.

Cooldown: Reduced Counterattack Cooldown
Decreases counterattack cooldown from 9 seconds to 6 seconds.

Mana Shield: Enhanced Mana Shield
Reduces the amount of MP drained when taking hits.

Jump: Enhanced Rocket Jump
During a rocket jump, holding or pressing up at the peak of her jump will allow Mari to bounce up once for extra climbing height.

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W.D.W (Wing Drive Weapon) System
Mari's trademark technique, the W.D.W boosts her attack prowess significantly and changes her into a melee capable attacker, for a limited time anyway. The Rune Caster version has 4 fin funnels supporting Mari. They engage in sweeping and thrusting attacks mainly. Although effective, the main attack has a long recovery time. Some care should be taken when expecting counter attacks

There are some details to take note about the W.D.W system. But I will reiterate them in each class as some details may be different.

• Rune Caster & Gunslinger uses the same fin funnel-type W.D.W, so they will switch attacking styles according to which class you are using.
• However, this system is not shared with the Polaris & Geas classes, as they do not use the fin funnel system. If switching classes anyway, the fin funnels will simply idle behind Mari when using Polaris and Geas.
• Likewise, the Kormet Robot, which is used only by Polaris, will simply idle behind Mari if classes have been switched.

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Skill Setup:

Tier 1:

Buster

• Type: One-Shot, Impact
• Range: Short
• Damage: Burst
• Animation: Short
• Mari opens up the Grimoire and releases an explosive magical blast from it. The blast impact will send enemies flying.
• Due to its quick cast time, it is possible to double attack an enemy in mid air for aerial damage when it has been walled against. The base damage has been greatly reduced compared to Lv2

Buster Lv2

• Type: Impact
• Range: Short
• Damage: Burst
• Animation: Short
• Mari opens up the Grimoire and releases a double explosive blast from it. The blast impact will send enemies flying.
• The difference with the original Buster is in the double-phase explosion. Its long animation effectively removes it of its tactical use but delivers heavier damage than the original.
• The first explosion deals the heaviest amount of damage with the second being significantly reduced.
• Fun fact: If you noticed, this version of Buster uses the original Klara Libri colors (full blue shades) instead of your own Grimoire design.

Laser Beam

• Type: Pierce
• Range: Short
• Damage: Burst
• Animation: Short
• When this skill is used, Mari will have an arrow-key interface below her to determine which direction this skill will strike.
• Effectively, you only need to press either ↑↓ (vertical firing) or →← (horizontal firing) as it only strikes in two directions.
• This skill has a fairly good strike radius, that by standing near to an enemy target, it can take damage from both beams, despite one beam traveling in the opposite direction.

Break Down

• Type: Impact
• Range: Short
• Damage: Burst
• Animation: Short
• Mari tosses a small magic-condensed projectile which explodes with high burst damage.
• Given its short range, it will either explode on contact or at a short distance.
• Its small projectile body also makes it easy to miss-aim.

Tier 2:

Shock Field

• Type: Splash
• Range: Mid
• Damage: Multi
• Animation: Short
• Mari tosses out a device that opens into an electric generator. The generator arcs with electricity once and then self destructs for additional damage if enemies are in contact.

Electronic Field Lv2

• Type: Splash
• Range: Mid
• Damage: Multi
• Animation: Short
• Like Shock Field, Mari tosses out a capsule that deploys into a different generator that creates a disruptive field that stuns enemies, hindering their movement and dealing damage with it.
• Its main difference from Shock Field is in the secondary effect of hindering enemy movement.

Homing Missile

• Type: Lock-On
• Range: Long
• Damage: Burst
• Animation: Short
• Mari drops a capsule on the ground which she steps on to deploy a launcher pad that fires relatively high-speed energy shots towards a target.
• The shots only track the last location of the enemy, and does not possess true homing nor trajectory-changing properties.
• Fires a total of 22 shots and can be effectively used to passively attack enemies while on the run or those that are annoyingly out of reach.

Core Break

• Type: AoE: Small
• Range:  Short
• Damage: Multi
• Animation: Short
• The Grimoire hovers above Mari and fires a single beam around her.
• The beam first deals a hit of damage and then deals extra damage to enemies that touch the initially fired beam.
• Deals significantly high damage on the secondary damage bursts. It makes a good clearance skill for enemies crowding around her.

Tier 3:

Eraser Lv2

• Type: Splash
• Range: Vertical, Long
• Damage: Multi
• Animation: Long
• Mari deploys 2 robot constructs on both sides with a beam cannon above her. The constructs quickly sweeps across the field with a laser beam.
• The construct moves very fast, and although it can drag enemies along, it is a little unreliable for dealing concentrated damage. It is also ineffective against boss class targets with a small body.
• It is able to hit enemies up to 2 platforms high.
• Has a buggy hitbox (not sure if intended), but it does not deal any more damage once it slows to a halt. So it will only deal most of the damage on the mobile phase instead.

Destroyer

• Type: Splash
• Range: Mid
• Damage: Multi
• Animation: Long
• Mari's drones launch a rapid and explosive assault a short distance ahead of her and builds up an energy sphere which explodes once the drones end their assault.
• Destroyer is Mari's fix for a concentrated Lv3 attack skill, as compared to the others.

Nuclear Launcher

• Type: Lock-On, AoE: Large, Splash
• Range: Long
• Damage: Multi - Burst
• Animation: Long
• Mari deploys a nuclear bomb which gives you 2 seconds to pinpoint your drop point before it locks-on and descends to the location in a massive fiery explosion.
• It deals up to 4 hits in massive damage, enough to rival or even exceed the most powerful burst skills like ArchRanger's Big Shot and Rin's Final Flash of Light.
• The damage is enough to OHKO any boss with sufficient critical stat power.
• The animated laser pointer/tracker is purely cosmetic and has no role in the skill process. Of most importance is the blue reticle used to aim the bomb, which starts off at Mari's own position.
• The bomb, from start to finish of the animation process, takes 6 seconds to fall at its final location. Luring and prediction of enemy movement is a critical tactic when deciding to use this skill.

Tier 4:

Dangerous Test

• Type: Self
• Range: Nil
• Damage: Nil
• Animation: Short
• For 20 seconds, Dangerous Test allows Mari to use a different turret construct.
• The turrets fire a triple spread that lasts for 12 seconds of firing. The shots have a somewhat narrow spread and fly in straight trajectories. Up to 4 of these can be summoned and the oldest one disappears beyond the 4th summon.
• Mari's W.D.W system gets 30 seconds of use time instead of 20 seconds.
• Switching weapons will cancel the Dangerous Test buff immediately.

Final Judgement

• Type: Linear
• Range: Linear
• Damage: Multi
• Animation: Long
• Mari focuses her W.D.Ws into an array and fires off an initial laser blast, which quickly escalates into a torrential burst of lasers from the array.
• The beam deals immense linear damage and has full horizontal range to go with.
• This skill can only be obtained via Extreme Skill key, currently. There are no other options to unlock it.

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