Since that sucked... Here we go!
What's a Spirit Weapon?
It's a normal weapon, which has been imbued with a spirit. At the beginning they may even be a bit worse than a regular weapon, but with care and massive money, they can grow more powerful than anything else in the game.
Ok... so what's an "ego" everyone talks about?
Same thing. "Ego" is the Korean translation. Or it's listed as "ego" in the data files. Or something. Don't worry, Ego and Spirit Weapon mean the same thing.
How does got egos?
Fairly easily, actually. You need a weapon with 100 proficiency, no upgrades, and nearly all of its durability. Edern and holy water will be your friend. Once obtained, you'll need a spirit, which you find in gem form. These can be retrieved through Bangor's Barri dungeon (special pass from that old item shop guy) or bought from other players - don't buy them from other players. Finding a new spirit is incredibly easy. It just might take a few runs to get the right weapon type and gender you want. Then it's a few Elemental Removers, which are like 30,000g total, and talk to that bear man. Pretty easy, at least yo get them.
How do they grow?
This is the tricky part. Your spirit weapon grows by consuming equipment and gems. Pretty much anything you can equip, and some things you can't, can be fed to an ego. Found old boots in a dungeon, toss them to your ego! Buuuut it's not quite that simple. Different items give different stat boosts depending on the ego weapon type and the ego gender. A bow spirit won't gain the same stats as a sword spirit, and a male bow spirit won't gain the same stats as a female bow spirit. So finding the ideal items for your specific weapon can be a little tricky. Added to this, they only eat when hungry, and they only grow hungry when they're used in combat or when they sit in your hand for a while. Being AFK and gathering ego hunger is very reliable, especially if you time it.
So gems?
Gems. Gems are your friend. Normal items will give the ego like 16 points in one stat, but a gem will give like 80. Stat growth is based on item value, normally, so expensive items give better growth, except gems follow a different rule, based on gem size instead of direct value. Diamonds are best, but some are obviously better than others for certain weapons. Whichever gem it is that improves Strength on a sword is obviously highly valuable, as strength relates directly to damage. Meanwhile, whatever gem gives Will to a bow is nice, as that increases the wound rate.
My shiny ego is damaged, how do I fix it? D:
This is important, even for people who don't want a spirit weapon. To repair an ego, you take a similar item and sacrifice it. For instance, I'm using a Leather Long Bow, so to repair my ego, I'd need a second Leather Long Bow, and I'd do a special repair on it, consuming the sacrificial item and repairing durability. The higher my ego's durability, the more durability is recovered. For instance, at 18 max dura, it might repair 12 dura to the ego, but at 14 max dura, it might repair 15 dura. So investing in durability can pay off.
But there's a catch! It can fail. If you fail an ego repair, the max dura of your ego goes down! Normally you have some sort of 75% chance to repair. But the higher the sacrificial weapon's proficiency, the higher the repair chance. At 100 prof, you get 100% successful repair. Some people may argue that it's 99%. Don't believe them. It used to be so, but patches have come out that make it 100%, so rest easy. Full ego repair is possible.
This is why it's important to non-ego-users. 100 prof weapons sell pretty nicely as ego repair material, and "Spirit Liqueur" does as well, which is used to repair them. The cinch here is that the liqueur requires White Herbs, normally extremely rare, but they've available from the Clover Gnu pet rarely as well. White herbs and Spirit Liqueur sell pretty steep, and 100 prof weapons as well. Popular weapons include Gladius, Leather Long Bow, Wing Bow, Dragon Fang, Claymores, and Daggers - Daggers? Why yes. They get fantastic critical rate and a spirit dagger gets good damage as well. Final Hit with an ego dagger is terrifying.
Neat, so what type to get?
Swords, Two-Handed Swords, Blunts, Bows, Wands... and Cylinders, maybe. Cylinders may be the next patch, but I think they're live. "Blunts" includes axes. The basic things to consider for your ego are what you specialize in, and what you want to do infrequently. Ego weapons aren't everyday weapons, they're expensive as sin to upkeep, and trying to do a dungeon with one requires you to have gems on-hand to feed the ego during the dungeon - an ego grows hungry as you use it, and a hungry ego is drastically less powerful! So in that regard, plan for low-move, high-power attacks. Smash, Windmill, Magnum, etc. The general rule is that the weapon enhances its stats. So a high-powered Gladius would do well as a Smash Spam Ego because its high damage will go higher, but its balance won't raise all that much. Meanwhile a dagger will get boosts to critical and balance, but not as much to strength. In trying to "get your money's worth" many players go two-handed, as this gives a significant buff to smash, windmill range, and damage overall.
But keep in mind that you'll need several of this weapon. When I was using a Ring Bow, I had to destroy my ego and get a new one - Ring Bows are rare and expensive, and I couldn't afford to 100 prof one for a sacrifice. Store-bought weapons are generally best because they're easier to repair, though exotic weapons can achieve higher end results.
For Archers and Mages, pay close attention! Bows get higher range as they level up. An ego Wing Bow is the furthest range weapon available in the game, able to shoot clear across the Tir town square. Similarly, a shortbow can get longbow range and still maintain its high speed and wound rate. But wands get neutered - when you level up your ego it begins to automatically chaincast, but chaincasting wands can't use intermediate magic. If you go with an ego wand, it won't get the benefit of ego-casting ice spear, which is extremely demotivating. However, an ego combat wand can have... strange potential. It doesn't cast magic as well as other wands, but it gets a buff to that one smashing move, and an ego wand can do some real damage if utilized right! Not to mention, an ego fire wand can get absurd damage with r1 Firebolt.
Sweet, I just got this awesome black and red-
Let me stop you there and say "forget it". When your ego levels up, it begins to glow. The glow will pretty much ruin any color on the weapon. People can't tell if it's silver or blood red, because it will have a bright blue glow effect. Unless you're using a large weapon. Most two-handed weapons, and pretty much all Giant weapons, will still show their color because of how long the blade is. But most times you're better off selling those unique-color weapons for cash.
So is that all they do?
Perhaps the most interesting thing about spirit weapons is their awakening move. After a certain level up, your ego will be able to "awaken". That is, a very powerful special move. You gain charges by attacking with the spirit weapon, and then you're able to unleash it. Spirit bows are able to let loose a hail of arrows, while spirit swords are able to give a powerful slash that will reach to the other end of a dungeon room. And for a brief moment, you can see your spirit floating in the air above you - very brief, it's artfully done. It's a very powerful move though, and it comes pretty much for free, providing a good way to blast through an annoying room and deal with some zombies or golden mask ghosts.
Alright, it's kinda cool...
It's very cool. And it's virtually free to begin. Ego weapons will store in your "special" inventory, so they don't even use up bag space! You can make one, and if you don't use it, it'll just sit there patiently. It's worth investing a bit of time in, as fully leveled ego weapons can rip through... well, pretty much anything! You can also level them fairly cheaply, especially at the fishing boat, or a homestead in the desert - both of these fishing spots have a high chance of giving you damaged items, including some rare bone marine armor. Feeding fished items to your ego is very reliable and very cheap. Not to mention that it goes well with equipment crafters, such as blacksmiths, tailors, or carpenters. Got 20 daggers you made for blacksmithing exp? Feed them to your sword! This is also a great way to feed specific items. High-level crafting unlocks some expensive items, great for ego food.
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Topic: Mabinogi-On Steam! Close combat revamp! (Read 379856 times)