Wildstar leveling guides:

1. Killerguides Wildstar Leveling Guide
2. *Not released yet*

1. Killerguides Wildstar Leveling Guide

Rating: ★★★★★ 

As an acclaimed publisher of game guides Killerguides simply refuses to disappoint time and time again. Their authors are some of the most knowledgeable gamers you will ever meet, and the amount of time and dedication put into the Wildstar guide makes it obvious they know what they’re talking about. Having spent a lot of time in Wildstar’s beta myself I’m not ashamed to admit I still have plenty to learn about the game, and this guide is definitely the best way to do so.

Killerguide includes a top-notch, most detailed 1-50 leveling guide you can ask for. It’s very thorough giving you optimized questing paths and secretive leveling techniques which only a few privileged players were aware of — until now. With this leveling guide even a casual player can reach the level cap in a week, and even amass quite the wealth in the process. Leveling guide includes special methods of fast leveling for both Dominion and Exile faction players, so be sure to take advantage of this thorough walkthrough.

As usual Killerguides continues to be at the top of the gaming guides food chain because they offer so much more than your usual guide. Also included are other strategy guides for Wildstar which will ensure you have a formidable character you are happy with, and to set you on that path are detailed chapters about crafting, PvP, equipment, class builds, spell rotations, dungeon walkthroughs, Elder content walkthroughs and more. It’s definitely a must-read if you’re trying to stay competitive and relevant in Wildstar Online so make sure you don’t skip these chapters.

• Download Killerguides Wildstar Leveling Guide

I had the chance to get an early preview of 2 other guides but they haven’t been released to the public yet. Once (and if) they are I’ll be sure to add them to the list, though in all honesty it’s highly unlikely any of them has even a chance to compete with the amount of useful information provided in Killerguides guide.

The Elder Scrolls Online allows players to adventure and quest across the entire continent of Tamriel 1000 years before the events of The Elder Scrolls V (Skyrim), which includes the provinces of Cyrodiil and Skyrim. It features three playable factions and four classes: Dragonknight, Sorcerer, Nightblade and Templar. Don’t be fooled by the relatively small number of classes available though as ESO gives you the ability to customize your class greatly. Guilds from previous Elder Scrolls titles will also be present, including Fighters, Mages, Thieves and the mysterious and deadly Dark Brotherhood.

Due to ESO’s extreme popularity there will be a lot of questions about the game from players who didn’t get the chance to participate in beta testing, and the competition will be as fierce as ever. Having a detailed leveling or strategy guide will be immensely helpful for new players who don’t want to fall behind in the game, so take a look at what’s available and our short guide reviews below.

1. Killerguides ESO Leveling Guide

Rating: ★★★★★ 

Killerguides is a well-known guide publisher who brought together some of the most famous names in Elder Scrolls Online to combine their knowledge and effort to write an efficient and rewarding full leveling guide for the game. If there’s anything you’re struggling with in ESO chances are this guide will give you all the answers.

It includes the following information:

• Optimized leveling guide to help you reach level cap in under a week. Provides full quest details with maps and waypoints, marked locations and NPC hubs to make sure you never waste any time going from quest to quest.
• Quest rewards breakdown will also help you gain experience and items faster and more efficiently by telling you which quests are quickly done and have substantially better rewards.
• Also includes strong and proven class builds to help you level up faster, or dominate other players in PvP combat.
• Skill rotations chapter will additionally further ensure you maximize your damage output at any stage of the game.
• Crafting is also covered in a comprehensive way to ensure you not only have the best equipment available for your level but also make quite a lot of gold by reselling crafted equipment to others.
• Making gold is a valuable resource as well and will provide you with all the steps necessary to gain wealth in Elder Scrolls Online. Top farming and grinding spots are revealed and you will be amazed by the amount of gold you can obtain in a short time.

And that’s just the tip of the iceberg. This strategy guide is not even fully published yet and more and more awesome content is being added on a weekly basis. It’s already the most comprehensive resource for The Elder Scrolls Online leveling with a ton of other tips and strategies included as well. The guide is so far only available for preorder and due to extreme demand already you may want to order your copy as early as possible: chances are it may not be available for very long. The forums are already buzzing with players complaining how the author is revealing the top leveling and gold secrets and everyone is trying to take advantage of them before they get nerfed. I highly recommend you check the guide out and see for yourself how incredibly helpful it is.

• Download Killerguides Elder Scrolls Online Leveling Guide

So far Killerguides is the only guide available for ESO. If you know of any other ones be sure to post in the comment below or contact me directly for a review.

It should be noted that once you choose a class you can’t change it later on, so pick according to your personal preference and gameplay style. Try to determine whether you want to primarily dish out damage or provide support in the form of healing or crowd control. Also worth knowing is that abilities you get for crafting are referenced as “disciplines” and are separate from the profession (class) system.

GW2 professions are split into 3 main categories: Soldiers, Adventurers and Scholars. Soldiers include Guardian and Warrior and use heavy armor, Adventurers are Engineer, Ranger and Thief all of which use medium armor, and Scholars are Elementalist, Mesmer and Necromancer, who use light armor. Below is a list of 8 different professions in Guild Wars 2 along with their short descriptions so you can hopefully make the right choice.

Guardian

Guardians specialize in protective and defensive magic and wear heavy armor. They are able to use three virtues as their special ability, which provide a passive benefit to them:

1. Virtue of Courage gives you Aegis to block against an attack
2. Virtue of Justice enables your attacks to cause extra burning damage on targets
3. Virtue of Resolve provides you with health regeneration

These virtues may also be activated to give a temporary beneficial effect to nearby allies as well as guardians themselves. While Guardian does have a lower health pool than Warrior profession, they compensate this with their higher health regeneration.

Attribute specific to Guardian is Willpower, which decreases the recharge of virtues and is increased by trait line Virtues. Guardians also have several different special types of skills:

• Chains – three skills that share a single skill slot, which are executed in sequence on a single target.
• Shouts – these instantly buff allies or de-buff enemies when used.
• Spirit Weapons – summon ephemeral weapons to fight alongside the guardian. Spirit weapons cannot be attacked by enemies and can be commanded to inflict a powerful attack before disappearing.
• Symbols – these ground-targeted skills inflict damage to enemies or deliver a benefit to allies. Symbols persist for a few seconds and then dissipate.
• Wards – a marked area on the ground that stops enemies from passing through while allowing allies to move freely.

The guardian has five general trait lines: Zeal, Radiance, Valor, Honor and Virtues. They are used to improve some of your abilities.

As for crafting, there are several disciplines that can create useful items: weaponsmith, huntsman, artificer, armorsmith, jeweler and chef.

Warrior

Warriors are the second Soldier profession, and they rely on their brute force, speed and heavy armor to survive in combat. They have several offensive and defensive auras for both their allies and opponents. Their unique mechanic is Adrenaline, which is built up with attacking and can be spent on powerful burst attacks. Both Adrenaline and skills that consume it have three different levels making them more and more powerful. The burst skills you have depend on which weapon set you use, and Warriors have the largest selection available to them (19 different weapon sets and 2 underwater).

Warriors have three specific skill types:

• Physical – used to control foes and for movement
• Banners – banners are placed on the ground and are used to buff your allies; they can also be moved
• Stance – you gain a specific bonus when you change stances

They also have 5 different trait lines to choose from, and they are Strength, Arms, Defense, Tactics, and Discipline. Crafting disciplines useful to Warriors include weaponsmithing, huntsman, armorsmith, jeweler and chef.

Engineer

Engineers rely on their mechanical prowess to gain an edge in battle. They deploy turrets, throw elixirs and grenades, and have some other devices as well. Engineer specific mechanic is the “Tool Belt”, which appears above your skill bar and grants each of your equipped utility and healing skill an extra skill.  For example if you have the Grenade Kit then the tool belt also allows Grenade Barrage, and with the med kit it adds a Bandage Self ability. Engineer’s unique attribute is Ingenuity which affects how fast your skills recharge.

Special skill types for Engineers are the following:

• Weapon kits – these are a type of utility skill that replaces the currently equipped weapon (and their skills) with a new weapon. There are three weapon kits available: the Flamethrower, the Elixir Gun, and the Tool Kit.
• Device kits — these are a type of utility skill that replaces the currently equipped weapon (and their skills) with more specialized skills. There are three different device kits in total: the Bomb Kit, the Grenade Kit, and the Med Kit.
• Turrets – deploy immobile allied devices that help defend and control an area. The amount of active turrets is limited by the amount of turret skills equipped, though only one turret of each type can be active at the same time. Turrets can be packed up and moved to different locations by interacting with it, and triggered to self-destruct by using the skill again. Each turret also grants a Tool belt skill to improve the turret’s effectiveness; For example, the Rifle Turret’s tool belt skill is Automatic Fire.
• Elixirs – these are a type of skill, which induces a random effect upon its use. These random effects are dependent upon the skill used as the skill determines the pool of possible effects. Tool belt skills are always a modified version of the corresponding elixir, that can be thrown to affect allies as well.

Available trait lines are Explosives, Firearms, Inventions, Alchemy, and Tools, and useful crafting disciplines include weaponsmith, huntsman, leatherworker, jeweler and chef.

Thief

Thieves are of course skilled in stealth and surprise attacks, and are able to burst their targets and hide before they are able to fight back. Thieves can also steal environmental weapons from their enemies, making sure the fight goes in their favor, and they can also set up various traps. Their unique attribute is cunning, which decreases the recharge time of stealing.

The thief basically has no cooldown on his abilities, however the skills he uses spend Initiative: it allows you to quickly chain attacks but you can’t use them for a longer time afterwards. Thief’s special skills are the following:

• Dual wield skills – Available only to the thief profession, these weapon skills are determined by the combination of main-hand and off-hand weapons equipped.
• Shadow stepping – Certain skills allow the thief to disappear from one location and then instantly appear at a different location by traveling through the shadows.
• Stealth – Thieves have access to multiple skills which make them invisible to enemy players and ignore aggro. While in stealth the thief is not targetable, but can still be damaged by AoEs/Ground-targeted skills, and attacking will break the deception.
• Stealth skills – While in stealth, the first weapon skill of the thief’s skill bar is replaced by a special skill only usable while stealthed.
• Traps – Placed at a thief’s current location, they trigger and cause an effect whenever an enemy steps onto one.
• Venoms – apply a creature’s venom to your weapon to inflict conditions with attacks.

Their traits are Deadly Arts, Critical Strikes, Shadow Arts, Acrobatics, and Trickery. Crafting skills that benefit the Thief are huntsman, jeweler, leatherworker, weaponsmith and chef.

Ranger

Rangers are of course skills with using a bow and are best when attacking enemies from a safe distance. They can also use pets to keep their enemies at bay. Ranger’s unique attribute Empathy increases the attributes of their pets.

Ranger’s special skill types are:

• Chains – Up to three skills that share a single skill slot, which are executed in sequence on a single target.
• Survival – Utility skills that enhance survival or offensive abilities.
• Spirits – Summon a nature spirit that influences the area around it.
• Traps – Utility skills that can be placed at a ranger’s current location. When an enemy enters a trap, it is triggered.

Their trait lines include:

• Wilderness Survival – increases Toughness and Condition damage
• Marksmanship – increases Power and Condition duration
• Skirmishing – increases Precision and critical hit damage
• Nature Magic – increases vitality and boon duration
• Beast Mastery – increases healing and pet attributes

Crafting disciplines that are useful for Rangers are weaponsmith, leatherworker, huntsman, jeweler and chef.

Elementalist

Elementalist profession harnesses the power of four basic elements: Fire, Water, Earth and Air. Depending on which weapon set they have equipped and the elemental attunement they choose the weapon skills on their action bar change, allowing for many different combinations depending on the situation. Attunement skills can be changed in combat, however weapon sets can not. Elementalists unique attribute is Intelligence, and they wear light armor.

Skill types that are available to Elementalist profession are the following:

• Arcane – spells use non-elemental magical energy which cast instantly.
• Auras – working similar to boons.
• Cantrips – involve tricks, sorcery and charms, which all cast instantly and break stun.
• Conjures – Summon useful items and potent weapons that the elementalist and other allies can use.
• Glyphs – Utility skills which enhance or modify the natural power of the elementalist. This also includes the addition of summoning elementals based on the elementalist’s current attunement.

Elementalist traits are Fire Magic, Air Magic, Earth Magic, Water Magic and Arcana. Crafting disciplines useful to them are weaponsmith, artificing, tailoring, jewellery and chef.

Mesmer

Mesmers are the masters of illusions and crowd control. Since they wear light armor they rely on their illusions and clones to confuse their opponents while they slowly wear them down. Illusions can also be shattered, enabling them to deal secondary effects such as confusion. Mesmer unique attribute is Guile, which decreases the recharge rate of your shatter skills: Mind Wrack (does damage to nearby foes), Cry of Frustration (applies confusion to nearby foes), Diversion (dazes the target), and Distortion (causes caster to evade attacks).

Special skill types for Mesmers are:

• Illusions – Physical representations of the caster. Most require a target, and are dispelled by being attacked. Up to three illusions can be maintained. There are two types of illusions:
  • Clones – Have the caster’s appearance, main-hand weapon, and name. Clones are attributed with low health, low damage and will use the slot 1 skill associated with the caster’s weapon.
  • Phantasms – Have the caster’s appearance with a purple glow, but take up the name of the skill (e.g. Illusionary Duelist) instead of the caster’s name. They have their own weapons that range in different appearances and behaviors. Phantasms are attributed with higher health and higher damage than clones.
• Mantras – Consist of two skills, similar to sequence skills. The first skill, which has a long cast time (around 3 seconds), is replaced by the second skill which has no cast time and can be cast during channeled spells. Multiple mantras can be prepared.

Mesmer trait lines are Domination, Dueling, Chaos, Inspiration, and Illusions. Crafting skills you might want to go for are weaponsmith, huntsman, artificer, tailor, jeweler and chef.

Necromancer

Necromancers channel blood energy, rend the souls of their enemies and summon the dead to do their bidding. They use a special resource called “life force” which is gathered every time a creature dies in their vicinity or alternatively by using particular abilities. Life Force is used to power up Death Shroud, which is Necromancer’s special form where they are immune to knockdowns and have access to new skills and traits, particularly those that buff and heal their allies.

Necromancers wear light armor, and their unique attribute is Hunger which increases their Life Force resource pool. The profession-specific skills are:

• Marks – These are ground-targeted spells that produce a variety of effects for allies and foes. A mark is placed at a location and will trigger after a foe stands on it.
• Minions – The necromancer summons undead minions to attack foes and do his bidding. Every minion-summoning spell has an associated secondary spell that appears after the minion has been summoned. This secondary spell changes the abilities of a minion, or destroys it for the necromancer’s benefit.
• Wells – Wells are persistent spells that allow a necromancer to control the area around him. Created at the necromancer’s location, wells affect targets within the skill’s range.

The five trait lines available to Necromancer profession are Spite, Curses, Death Magic, Blood Magic and Soul Reaping. Crafting disciplines useful for this profession are weaponsmithing, huntsman, artificer, tailor, jeweler and chef.

I do hope this beginners Guild Wars 2 classes guide helped you understand the basic mechanics and gameplay for each profession. If you’d like to read more detailed information about professions that include skills and abilities, trait line builds, combat tips and more I recommend the following resources:

• Guild Wars 2 Official Website
• Guild Wars 2 Wiki

Everyone has their own style of play though, so this guide will provide you with a beginners breakdown of all classes in TERA than what you can usually find:, their basic gameplay style, an example of a few abilities and their base stats. Hopefully this guide will help you pick the right one. Before we get to it though, there are two things you should know:

1. Every class has a damage and weapon damage rating. There’s no difference between physical and magical damage making damage resistance items obsolete. Instead, you can build resistances to critical hits, stuns, knockdowns and similar forms of crowd control.
2. All classes except the Priest and Mystic have a “Backstep” skill, which is the main dodge skill.

That being said, there are 4 class archetypes in TERA:

• Tanking: Lancer, Warrior
• Melee DPS: Berserker, Slayer
• Ranged DPS: Archer, Sorcerer
• Support: Mystic, Priest

Tanking Classes

Lancer

Lancers are the primary tanks in TERA, though as with primary tanks in most games, they are far and few between. They wield a large shield and lance, wear heavy armor, and have the second highest HP pool out of all eight classes. Their damage rating is the third lowest (Priest and Mystic having the lowest damage rating), but this is off-set by their survivability. And of course, they have an AoE taunt.

Lancers are not only sturdy, but one of their skills blocks 100% of all damage taken from the front and, partially, the sides. In general, DPS classes will attempt to skirt around behind the Lancer, but a good Lancer can simply re-position his or her shield block. Lancers also have a self-heal, which obviously can be a life saver.

This class also has an excellent technique for getting away (or catching up), which is their forward-charging dash. This skill seems to have a high knock-down rate when it hits, but it is also worth mentioning that this skill causes the Lancer to run faster than mounted players as well. So if someone mounts up to try and get away, the Lancer can chase them down and knock them off their horse. Alternatively, they can use it to get away, or to catch up to ranged classes.

Base Class Stats

Vitality Stats

• HP: 689
• MP: 100/100
• MP Regen Rate: +5 per second in and out of combat.

Basic Stats

• Damage: 49
• Defense: 29
• Movement Speed: 105 in combat
• Critical Hit: 50

Resistance Stats

• Critical Hit: 80
• Root/Hold: 55
• Poison/Disease: 40
• Addiction: 25
• Confusion: 40

Equipment Stats

• Weapon Damage: 10
• Armor: 33

Basic Attack Info

• Direction: Forward
• Range: 5M
• Target-Type: Line
• Attack Speed: 0.5
• MP Change: +5 per attack.

Abilities

Glyphs

Starting at level 20, glyphs can be applied to customize your lancer’s skills in a variety of ways. Here are some samples:

• Energetic Charging Lunge: Speeds the cooldown of your Charging Lunge.
• Energetic Second Wind: Reduces the skill’s cooldown, so you can recover more quickly.
• Lingering Debilitate: Your enemies are weakened by Debilitate even longer.
• Longshot Leash: Increases the range of your Leash skill.
• Threatening Challenging Shout: Your Challenging Shout draws even more enemy attention.
• Threatening Combo Attack: Your basic attack draws even more aggro.
• Threating Shield Counter: Add insult to injury, and generate more aggro with your Shield Counter skill.

Warrior

Warrior is the second and last tank in TERA. Warrior’s wield duel swords, wear light armor, and have the highest HP pool and movement speed out of all eight classes. Furthermore, Warrior attacks are an arc – meaning they are not purely single-target characters. If you and your buddy are in the path of the swinging swords, you will both get hit, instead of just one of you. Warrior’s damage rating is higher than a Lancer, making them third lowest; they are positioned between Sorcerer (lower) and Slayer (higher) on the damage rating.

Warriors are classified as the evasion tanks of TERA. They have fewer taunt options than a Lancer, but their higher DPS, as well as an AoE stun, make them a viable option as a tank. Warriors are a similar play style to rogues and assassins in other MMO’s, but lack the stealth feature. Stealth is a skill that the TERA developers did not want to add to the game for any of the classes, as it is too game-breaking in PvP.

Warriors have a great technique for getting away or catching up to someone, although I personally do not believe it is as good as a Lancer’s. Warrior’s dodge is a great way to get away or chase someone; the simple flaw with this is the animation is different for each race. While a Castanic Female Warrior’s dodge is a fancy leap (which can leap over attacks), other races must suffice with a roll or somersault. Because of this, the majority of Warriors are generally Female Castanics; the smaller hitbox of the female Castanic also plays a role in this, as Warriors are a tank that shouldn’t be getting hit by what they are fighting.

Base Class Stats

Vitality Stats

• HP: 903
• MP: 100/100
• MP Regen Rate: +5 per second in and out of combat.

Basic Stats

• Damage: 66
• Defense: 24
• Movement Speed: 120
• Critical Hit: 50

Resistance Stats

• Critical Hit: 80
• Root/Hold: 55
• Poison/Disease: 40
• Addiction: 25
• Confusion: 40

Equipment Stats

• Weapon Damage: 11
• Armor: 17

Basic Attack Info

• Direction: Forward
• Range: 2M
• Target-Type: Arc
• Attack Speed: 0.4
• MP Change: +5 per attack.

Abilities

Glyphs

Starting at level 20, glyphs can be applied to customize your warrior’s skills in a variety of ways. Here are some samples:

• Energetic Death From Above: Your skill cools down faster.
• Grounded Defensive Stance: The stance now raises your endurance as well.
• Lucky Battle Cry: Boosts your Battle Cry’s chance of stunning.
• Threatening Battle Cry: Your Battle Cry generates extra aggro.
• Threatening Torrent of Blows: Your Torrent of Blows generates extra aggro.
• Binding Torrent of Blows: Your Torrent of Blows may immobilize those it hits.
• Persistent Evasive Roll: Your Evasive Roll gains a chance to refresh immediately upon use.

Melee DPS Classes

Berserker

Berserker is the first Melee DPS class I will cover. Berserker’s wield giant axes, wear heavy armor and have the highest weapon damage rating; tied with an Archer. Their damage rating is second only to Archer. Their crit rate is highest; tied with Slayers. Berserkers for some time were mistaken as a third possible tank, due to the fact that they also wear plate armor. This however is certainly not the case, although if pressed a Berserker can tank, it is not a viable options. Berserkers are meant to attack from behind along with the other DPS classes. Despite their heavy armor, they can be blown up pretty quickly whether it’s by a monster or by another player.

Berserkers are the slowest Melee DPS class, with an attack speed of 0.7 which is matched only by Sorcerer. Despite this slow attack speed, Berserkers can crank out a great deal of damage, with their high damage and weapon damage ratings. Their range is only a short three meters, but this is offset by the splash damage effect of their skills, and the spin of their charge-up technique.

Berserkers have become notorious for their ability to one-shot almost every other class, which obviously appeals greatly to many players. Berserkers are quite possibly one of very few classes that can give a Lancer a difficult time, seeing as their heavy armor mitigates much of a Lancer’s already poor DPS, as well as their ability to hit extremely hard.

The splash damage of a Berserker is slightly less than the damage dealt by a full-on hit, but is still absolutely devastating if it crits. As an Archer I personally fought against a Berserker in a 5v5 fight, and was one-shot by the splash damage of a Berserker. This damage hit me for 16,000 which is four thousand HP over what my health would have been if I were at full health. Those who were in the direct path of his hit and were also crit were hit for nearly 20,000 if not higher depending on their armor type.

Base Class Stats

Vitality Stats

• HP: 650
• MP: 0/100
• MP Regen Rate: +10 per second while in combat, -20 per second while out of combat.

Basic Stats

• Damage: 78
• Defense: 26
• Movement Speed: 105
• Critical Hit: 75

Resistance Stats

• Critical Hit: 40
• Root/Hold: 20
• Poison/Disease: 35
• Addiction: 20
• Confusion: 15

Equipment Stats

• Weapon Damage: 14
• Armor: 33

Basic Attack Info

• Direction: Forward
• Range: 3M
• Target-Type: Varies
• Attack Speed: 0.7
• MP Change: +10 per attack.

Abilities

Glyphs

Starting at level 20, glyphs can be applied to customize your berserker’s skills in a variety of ways. Here are some samples:

• Balancing Tenacity: Greatly boosts your resistance to knockdowns and immobility.
• Carving Combo Attack: Your Combo Attack has greater odds of scoring a critical hit.
• Empowered Vampiric Blow: Boost the damage of your Vampiric Blow.
• Energetic Tenacity: Your Tenacity skill cools down faster.
• Fleetfooted Fiery Rage: You both move and attack faster.
• Hastened Cyclone: Your Cyclone skill charges up faster.
• Mindsparked Axe Block: When you block, you regain some mana.
• Slick Thunder Strike: While charging your Thunder Strike, you can move at your normal speed.
• Spirited Combo Attack: Your combos generate even more mana.
• Swift Flatten: Your Flatten attack lands faster.

Slayer

Slayers are the second and last Melee DPS class of TERA. Slayer’s wield giant swords, wear light armor, and have the third highest damage rating. They are tied for highest critical hit rate with Berserkers. They also have the second-highest weapon damage rating! Slayers were also for some time thought to be a viable option for tanking in TERA, but lack of a proper taunt means they must out-damage the rest of their group while also attempting to dodge the majority of incoming attacks. Due to the complexity of tanking as a Slayer, and their squishiness, they are not a viable option as a tank. As with Berserker and the Ranged DPS classes, they are meant to flank their enemies and attack from behind or the sides where they will hopefully not be hit.

Slayer’s are in the mid-range of attack speed, a 0.6 which they are tied with Priest and Mystic for. While they are rather squishy if caught, they have greater mobility than a Berserker. With self-buffs for run speed, coupled with a ranged sword strike; they are a worthy opponent for the Ranged DPS classes, in some cases considered the counter class for Archers and Sorcerers.

Slayer’s damage out-put is slightly lower than that of a Berserker, but their faster attack speed, ranged attack, and movement speed buffs more than make up for it. While a great majority of Berserkers can be kited in circles, Slayers are extremely difficult to outrange, seeing as their ranged attack has a range of fourteen meters; this is only one meter less than the range of a Archer or Sorcerer’s base attacks, and four meters longer than the range of a Priest or Mystic.

Slayers are said to be the closest to an Assassin or Rogue as you will get. Despite their lack of dual wield, their feel, damage, and the way they play are more similar to an Assassin than any other class.

Class Base Stats

Vitality Stats

• HP: 648
• MP: 0/100
• MP Regen Rate: +10 per second while in combat, -20 per second while out of combat.

Basic Stats

• Damage: 71
• Defense: 21
• Movement Speed: 110
• Critical Hit: 75

Resistance Stats

• Critical Hit: 40
• Root/Hold: 20
• Poison/Disease: 35
• Addiction: 20
• Confusion: 15

Equipment Stats

• Weapon Damage: 13
• Armor: 17

Basic Attack Info

• Direction: Forward
• Range: 3M
• Target-Type: Arc
• Attack Speed: 0.6
• MP Change: +10 per attack.

Abilities

Glyphs

Starting at level 20, glyphs can be applied to customize your slayer’s skills in a variety of ways. Here are some samples:

• Brilliant Leaping Strike: Your Leaping Strike costs less to use.
• Empowered Knockdown Strike: Your Knockdown Strike does extra damage.
• Energetic Tenacity: Reduces the cooldown of your Tenacity skill.
• Fleetfooted Evasive Roll: Gain a chance of raising your movement speed whenever you use Evasive Roll.
• Grounded Triumphant Shout: Fortifies your endurance.
• Lingering Startling Kick: Enemies hit by Startling Kick stay stunned longer.
• Persistent Evasive Roll: Your Evasive Roll gains a chance to refresh immediately upon use.
• Powerlinked Knockdown Strike: Substantially increases the damage of your Whirlwind skill when used after Knockdown Strike.
• Restorative Overhand Strike: Recover some health whenever you use Overhand Strike.
• Spirited Triumphant Shout: Your Triumphant Shout regenerates more mana than usual.

Ranged DPS Classes

Archer

Archers are what I like to call the snipers of TERA. Their play style is very reminiscent of snipers, seeing as in PvP and boss fights they tend to snipe the primary target with their charge up shots; Penetrating Arrow and Radiant Arrow. As is typical of Archer classes, Archers wield a bow, and wear light armor. But here is where Archers differ from the norm; they do not require ammo. Archers in TERA have unlimited ammunition, which is explained by the developers as the arrows technically being “magic”. Due to this, bows are classified as magical weapons when it comes to crafting.

Archers have the highest damage rating, weapon damage rating, and range (fifteen meters), but have the second lowest HP pool of all eight classes. Despite their low HP pool, they are not quite as fragile as other ranged/support classes due to the fact they wear light armor, and not cloth. Their use of light armor, as well as their dodge skills increases their survivability greatly; but as always in TERA it is up to the player to make proper use of these defenses.

It is worth mentioning that the 15 meter range applies only to their base attack (left click by default). Skills such as Penetrating Arrow have a range of 17-19 meters, and can have their range increased by Glyphs. At maximum, Penetrating Arrow’s range can be increased to roughly 21 meters with Glyphs. That being said, the farther away you are the less damage you deal.

Archers are a single-target DPS class, although they do have a minor Lock-On AoE. In later levels they will have one or two more AoE options, but the majority of their skills are single-target. That being said, their initial charge up skill that they acquire (Penetrating Arrow) can damage multiple targets if they are bunched closely together or are stacked on top of each other. Thus the “Penetrating” in the skill name. Penetrating Arrow is the first of two charge up skills that Archer gets, the second being Radiant Arrow, which is nearly identical but is purely single-target unlike its predecessor. Due to being purely single-target, Radiant Arrow is capable of putting out even more damage than Penetrating Arrow, but its range is slightly shorter as well to compensate.

As in other MMO’s, Archers in TERA have a variety of Traps. Originally, there were four different trap skills available to Archer. However, with the incredible strength of Poison Arrow on their side already, Archer’s poison trap was removed. The first trap an Archer gets is called Cobweb Trap. As you might imagine, this trap is an AoE snare. The second trap that an Archer acquires is called Incendiary Trap. This trap is pretty simple; it does AoE damage, and that’s about it. Our third and last trap, is Concussion Trap; quite possibly my favorite. Concussion Trap is an AoE stun, and with the use of glyphs, the duration of the stun can be increased by 40%.

Archers are a very mobile class due to their ranged nature. Albeit squishy, their ability to kite, dodge, and their high DPS makes them a force to be reckoned with on the battlefield. An Archer’s role both in PvE and PvP are to focus the main target; generally whatever the tank is occupying. Due to their single-target nature, they are very useful for quickly blowing up a single target. Coupled with their debuff (Mark of Velik) which causes the Archer to deal 10% more damage to the marked target, and Sniper’s Eye which increases strength by 50, and adds an additional 25% damage in PvP (though decreases attack speed by 30%) they can increase their damage against the main target by a significant amount.

If there is a Lancer in the Archer’s group, the Lancer can use one of his skills to further decrease the target’s defense. This lethal combination can result in the Archer critical hitting PvP targets for all of their HP. Warrior also has a similar skill known as Combative Strike, which is acquired at LV6.

And of course with Close Quarters (melee-range AoE stun), Backstep (dodge), and Breakaway Bolt (dodge with damage), Archers have a wonderful slew of abilities they can use to outrange or escape their foes.

Class Base Stats

Vitality Stats

• HP: 598
• MP: 50/50
• MP Regen Rate: +5 per second in and out of combat.

Basic Stats

• Damage: 81
• Defense: 27
• Movement Speed: 110
• Critical Hit: 25

Resistance Stats

• Critical Hit: 30
• Root/Hold: 20
• Poison/Disease: 35
• Addiction: 20
• Confusion: 15

Equipment Stats

• Weapon Damage: 14
• Armor: 17

Basic Attack Info

• Direction: Forward
• Range: 15M
• Target-Type: Single Target
• Attack Speed: 0.5
• MP Change: -4 per attack.

Abilities

Glyphs

Starting at level 20, glyphs can be applied to customize your archer’s skills in a variety of ways. Here are some samples:

• Slick Penetrating Arrow: You can charge your Penetrating Arrow skill and still move at full speed.
• Energetic Breakaway Bolt: Your Breakaway Bolt skill’s cooldown time decreases.
• Lingering Poison Arrow: Increases the duration of your Poison Arrow skill tremendously.
• Persistent Close Quarters: When you use Close Quarters, there’s a chance it will have no cooldown time.
• Spirited Rapid Fire: If you hit your target with Rapid Fire, there’s a chance your mana regeneration will increase.
• Fleetfooted Breakaway Bolt: When you use Breakaway Bolt, there’s a good chance it boosts your movement speed.
• Blazing Final Salvo: If you chain to it from Final Salvo, your Penetrating Arrow skill will charge a lot faster.
• Empowered Incendiary Trap: Your Incendiary Trap does more damage.
• Lingering Slow Trap: Your Slow Trap impedes affected targets a lot longer.
• Piercing Arrow: Your basic Arrow skill has a chance of doing double damage each hit.

Sorcerer

Sorcerer is the AoE Ranged DPS class of TERA. Although they do have a wide variety of single-target spells, many of their skills are AoE or splash damage, and as such their damage and weapon damage ratings are slightly lower. In fact, a Sorcerer’s base damage rating is only fourth highest (behind Archer, Berserker, and Slayer in that order), and their weapon damage is higher only than a Warrior and a Lancer. Their range however, is fifteen meters.

Sorcerers, surprisingly, have a higher HP pool than Archers, but this is countered by the fact they wear cloth armor. Sorcerers are incredibly squishy, making it imperative that they dodge, outrange, and when necessary; run away. This class is extremely kite-based, and as such they have not only a snare available to them, but also an AoE sleep. This sleep is easy to dodge however, but can be extremely useful in team fights. 1v1 the AoE isn’t as useful, though some people are stupid and can’t dodge.

Despite the fire and ice elements shown in Sorcerer skills, there once again is only one type of damage: Damage. Because of this, there is no need to match certain elements vs. certain enemies. While you would think using a skill like Fireblast against a lava monster would be a bad idea… there is no penalty for using such skills against monsters. There are no elemental attacks or resistances!

Sorcerers start off fairly weak in PvP at the lower levels, but as they get higher in level they become more and more dangerous. Sorcerer only has one truly offensive charge up skill, which is known as Arcane Pulse (formerly named Blastball). While this skill can do a great amount of damage, it is very slow moving and easy to dodge. Because of how easy it is to dodge, it is usually released early in order to catch enemy targets by surprised; still doing a decent amount of damage when released early. Especially since this skill will hit all targets within a twenty-one meter line.

Sorcerer has of course Backstep, as do nearly all classes, but they also have a skill known as Glacial Retreat. Glacial Retreat is similar to an Archer’s Breakaway Bolt, but on top of doing damage, it has a 70% AoE snare as an added effect. This helps greatly with outranging both melee classes and other ranged classes on the battlefield.

Sorcerer also has two traps at its disposal; Painful Trap, which simply does damage, and Lightning Trap, which is an AoE Paralyze.

Base Class Stats

Vitality Stats

• HP: 582
• MP: 200/200
• MP Regen Rate: +10 per second in and out of combat.

Basic Stats

• Damage: 64
• Defense: 12
• Movement Speed: 110
• Critical Hit: 25

Resistance Stats

• Critical Hit: 30
• Root/Hold: 20
• Poison/Disease: 35
• Addiction: 20
• Confusion: 15

Equipment Stats

• Weapon Damage: 12
• Armor: 10

Basic Attack Info

• Direction: Forward
• Range: 15M
• Target-Type: Single Target
• Attack Speed: 0.7
• MP Change: -1 per attack.

Abilities

Glyphs

Starting at level 20, glyphs can be applied to customize your sorcerer’s skills in a variety of ways. Here are some samples:

• Persistent Magma Bomb: Gain a chance for Magma Bomb’s cooldown to refresh as soon as you cast it.
• Longshot Fireball: Increases the range of your Fireball spell.
• Spirited Mana Infusion: Your Mana Infusion replenishes more of your mana.
• Numbing Ice Needle: Your Ice Needle skill slows its targets even more than normal.
• Multiplicative Time Gyre: Capture even more targets in your Time Gyre skill.
• Lingering Ice Needle: When your Ice Needle skill slows a target, the chill lasts even longer.
• Lingering Glacial Retreat: Your Glacial Retreat skill slows your opponents down even longer.
• Numbing Painblast: Adds a chance that your Painblast skill may slow the movement speed of those it hits.
• Shared Fireblast: If your Fireblast skill hits more than one target, it does bonus damage.
• Hastened Fireblast: Cast your powerful Fireblast spell faster.

Support Classes

Mystic

Mystics are a strange support class; sporting pets, debuffs, heals, and buffs. I consider them to be a sort of hybrid, although in Korean release they have managed to often take the role of main healer in some groups. This is strange seeing as they only have two or three skills that heal. Mystics use Wands, and wear cloth armor. They have the lowest HP pool, lowest damage (tied with Priest), lowest Critical Hit (tied with Priest), lowest weapon damage (also tied with Priest). Their squishiness of course is offset by the fact they can heal themselves, and their teleport skill.

Mystics are a strange class, in a way they are a jack of all trades, but for the most part their skills are unique to themselves. Mystics have four different pets, known as Thralls. The first Thrall they acquire is the Thrall of Protection, which is a tank pet. The cooldown on the Thrall of Protection is ten minutes, and it lasts for ten minutes unless of course it dies. The Thrall of Protection generates quite a bit of threat, and can knock down the enemy it is fighting. The second is Thrall of Vengeance. This spirit of Lightning is a moderate DPS thrall, with a twenty-two second cooldown.

After this, comes the Thrall of Life. This cute little fairy has the same skills as a Priest as far as heals go; including AoE Heal and AoE Dispel. Meaning, this little fairy can not only heal you, but can also heal your team mates. That being said, it only stays for twelve seconds, and is on a thirty-five second cooldown. Lastly, is Thrall of Obliteration. This thrall will attack once and disappear, which may seem odd for its ten minute cooldown, but one would assume it does a good amount of damage.

Besides the lovely Thralls, another thing Mystics love about themselves (and everyone else hates), is their escape technique; Teleport Jaunt. This skill has a ten second cooldown, and teleports the Mystic fourteen meters away in the camera direction. Already an annoying skill, Mystics can acquire a Glyph which has a 25% chance to reset the cooldown on Teleport Jaunt after being used. Personally, when fighting a Mystic; the Mystic’s cooldown reset three times in a row and it is next to impossible to guess which direction they are teleporting in.

Also at the disposal of a Mystic, are snares, poisons, debuffs, buffs, Summon Group, Resurrect, and the ability to bestow Vow of Rebirth on allies; which means once the ally dies, they can resurrect automatically.

I spoke a little of one of Mystics “heals”; Thrall of Life. Another option they have for healing is acquired at LV1, and is called Arun’s Vitae. Tis skill is on a 5 second cooldown, and they simply drop red orbs on the ground which allies can pick up to heal themselves. In later levels, they also acquire Arun’s Tear, which is the same concept; except is blue and restores mana.

Base Class Stats

Vitality Stats

• HP: 580
• MP: 200/200
• MP Regen Rate: +10 per second in and out of combat.

Basic Stats

• Damage: 32
• Defense: 14
• Movement Speed: 110
• Critical Hit: 20

Resistance Stats

• Critical Hit: 25
• Root/Hold: 70
• Poison/Disease: 90
• Addiction: 70
• Confusion: 90

Equipment Stats

• Weapon Damage: 7
• Armor: 10

Basic Attack Info

• Direction: Forward
• Range: 10M
• Target-Type: Single Target
• Attack Speed: 0.6
• MP Change: -3 per attack.

Abilities

Glyphs

Starting at level 20, glyphs can be applied to customize your mystic’s skills in a variety of ways. Here are some samples:

• Brilliant Sonorous Dreams: Sonorous Dreams costs less mana to cast.
• Empowered Sharan Bolt: Your Sharan Bolt does more damage.
• Energetic Metamorphic Smite: Speeds up the cooldown of your Metamorphic Smite.
• Fortified Thrall of Protection: Strengthens the armor of your Thrall of Protection pet.
• Hastened Mana Infusion: Mana infusion restores your mana more quickly.
• Influential Metamorphic Smite: You can chain-cast Metamorphic Blast for less mana.
• Lingering Volley of Curses: Your curse hangs on your enemies even longer.
• Multiplicative Arun’s Cleansing: Increases the number of targets so you can help more of your friends.
• Persistent Teleport Jaunt: Adds a chance to refresh the cooldown of Teleport Jaunt when you cast it.
• Trebling Corruption Ring: Hugely increases your resistance to knockdown and immobility.

Priest

Priest is the main healer in TERA. They have the lowest HP pool, lowest damage (tied with Mystic), lowest Critical Hit (tied with Mystic), lowest weapon damage (also tied with Mystic), wield Staffs, and wear cloth armor. Their squishiness of course is offset by the fact they can heal themselves (and of course, others).

Surprisingly, Priests are capable of DPSing as well as healing, although it is advised that unless you are a very skilled Priest you only stick to healing. Priests also have an ability which I personally find pretty broken; Ishara’s Lullaby. Ishara’s Lullaby, quite simply, is a Lock-On sleep. With a cooldown of only thirty-five seconds, this is more than enough time for Priest to use it in order to interrupt an enemy’s charge up skill, heal themselves, then begin damaging their enemy again. Priest DPS is a combination of ranged (ten meter) and melee-range skills.

Priest has six different heals currently at its disposal. However, only one of these skills is a self-heal. All other heals (except for HoT’s) do not affect the caster. Priest’s self-heal, which is the first heal they acquire, is called Heal Thyself. From here, you get Sanctuary of Regeneration, which creates a circle on the ground in front of you that regenerates the HP of your allies who are on or in the circle. After this, they acquire Focus Heal, which is a lock-on heal for up to two targets (and you cannot lock-on to yourself). And then, you get Regeneration Circle, which also (obviously) creates a circle on the ground; this one however is a HoT. After this comes Healing Circle, which is a small circle on the ground before you, but is a massive heal for those you manage to hit with it; although it is perilous to use it, so you must time it correctly. And finally, there is Blessing of Balder, which is another (weaker) HoT.

Also in Priest’s arsenal of group-friendly skills, are a group summon skill, and a teleport that takes yourself and your group members to the nearest Campfire. As well as these useful teleports, Priest has a non-combat movement speed buff, a strength buff, an endurance (defense) buff, and a buff that increases resistances to harmful effects for your whole group! And of course there is Resurrect, a damage-absorbing shield, and a skill to make knocked-down group members rise to their feet again.

As I said at the beginning of this extremely long article, Priests do not have Backstep. This was replaced by their self-heal. That being said, Priests do have an escape known as Fiery Escape. This is very similar to Sorcerer’s Glacial Retreat; right down to the 70% snare.

A skilled Priest can keep their entire group alive and maintain a good amount of DPS in PvE scenarios. This does of course also rely on your team’s ability to dodge and stay out of AoE skills. If your team is dumb and gets hit by every skill the mob uses, you may want to consider yelling at them or sticking to just healing.

Base Class Stats

Vitality Stats

• HP: 527
• MP: 250/250
• MP Regen Rate: +10 per second in and out of combat.

Basic Stats

• Damage: 32
• Defense: 13
• Movement Speed: 110
• Critical Hit: 20

Resistance Stats

• Critical Hit: 25
• Root/Hold: 70
• Poison/Disease: 90
• Addiction: 70
• Confusion: 90

Equipment Stats

• Weapon Damage: 7
• Armor: 10

Basic Attack Info

• Direction: Forward
• Range: 10M
• Target-Type: Single Target
• Attack Speed: 0.6
• MP Change: -3 per attack.

Abilities

Glyphs

Starting at level 20, glyphs can be applied to customize your priest’s skills in a variety of ways. Here are some samples:

• Boosted Zenobia’s Gift: Reduces the casting time of your Zenobia’s Gift spell.
• Brilliant Resurrect: It costs you less mana to resurrect your fallen friends.
• Energetic Arise: Reduces the cooldown time of your Arise skill.
• Lingering Regeneration Circle: Your Regeneration Circle skill’s health-restoring effects last longer.
• Longshot Focus Heal: You can reach your allies from further away with your Focused Heal skill.
• Multiplicative Focus Heal: Your Focused Heal skill can touch more allies at once.
• Numbing Final Reprisal: Your Final Reprisal gains a chance to slow your target’s movement.
• Powerlinked Triple Nemesis: Greatly increases the damage of your Metamorphic Blast skill if you use it after casting Triple Nemesis.
• Restorative Healing Circle: Improves the healing power of your Healing Circle skill.
• Spirited Mana Infusion: Increases the mana recovery of your Mana Infusion skill.

I hope this guide helps you make the right class choice. If you have any questions or any information to add, you’re welcome to post in the comments below.

Obviously, after so many years in development the creators of the game made many improvements to D3 to make it stand out. New unique classes are introduced, skill system is revamped, each class can have hundreds of different spell combinations, sockets work differently than before, but most importantly players can sell items for real money, making sure everyone will take this game very seriously.

If you really want to get ahead of other players in Diablo 3 a quality strategy guide will get you further than you thought possible. By getting a quality guide to help you understand the game better, level up faster and know where to get the best equipment and most gold you’ll be able to stay ahead of the competition and perhaps even make some money doing so.

Believe it or not I actually found 16 different Diablo 3 strategy guides, which is more than I’ve found for any other game, including MMORPGs. That alone should tell you that the demand for help in D3 is massive. I doubt I’ll be able to do a very thorough review of each and every guide, but I’ll try to list the better ones here regardless.

 1. Killerguides Diablo 3 Strategy Guide

Rating: ★★★★★ 

Over 40 different games covered in several hundred guides tells you that Killerguides are very experienced and serious when it comes to strategy guides. Their writers are expert gamers who play through these games over and over again and know so many insider tips and tricks that most players never will.

Killerguides D3 strategy guide includes a guide on classes, telling you every little detail about each one, as well as different strategies for fighting groups of monsters, bosses, and of course other players. There are very detailed recommended builds for every class that will tell you how to get the most damage in every situation. Equipment guides are also very helpful as they can also give you an advantage by knowing which stats you should aim for. The gold guide included helps you figure out how to farm more of it extremely quickly, especially since some of the spots they mention also yield other valuables that can easily be sold on the auction house.

To conclude, Killerguides published yet another excellent strategy guide and I highly suggest you give it a try.

Download: Killerguides D3 Strategy Guide

2. Natalya’s Diablo 3 Mastery Guide

Rating: ★★★★★ 

Natalya’s Diablo 3 guide is pretty well written and detailed. It includes most of the stuff you’d find in Killerguide: guides on classes, equipment, spells and skill sets, runes, boss strategies, walkthroughs and leveling guides for all acts, Pve & PvP builds, gold making, and a couple of other chapters. They go into great detail explaining things, yet all of it is very easy to understand regardless of your previous experience with Diablo series.

Of course the guide also features free updates, which seem to be coming frequently, with new strategies being added often. Natalya’s guide is just as good as Killerguides and for a change it’s hard to decide which one is better: it’s just a matter of personal preference, so it’s up to you which one to get.

Download: Natalya’s Diablo 3 Mastery Guide

More guides will be reviewed shortly.

With so many dedicated fans it’s no wonder many are searching for quality guides online. While previous CoD titles didn’t really have any, the sheer popularity of this game has created a strong demand for detailed and helpful strategy guides to help players learn the game faster and better. With ever sequel more and more features are being added and the game is becoming more complex, so read on to find out exactly how these strategy guides can help you get better.

Reviews:

1. Kosh’s Modern Warfare 3 Strategy Guide
2. BradyGames’ Modern Warfare 3 Guide

1. Kosh’s Modern Warfare 3 Strategy Guide

Rating: ★★★★★ 

Kosh is an extremely experienced gamer that has some amazing record-breaking scores in most games. He’s the author of some other highly successful guides for quite a few games, including the top-rated guide for BF3: Relik. His years of experience and highly skilled play translates into very helpful strategy guides, and Kosh’s MW3 Strategy Guide is certainly no exception.

This is THE one Modern Warfare 3 guide you simply must read if you’re even thinking of attempting any sort of online play. The competition there is fierce and if you want to level up fast and unlock all weapons, perks and attachments it will help immensely with each of those aspects. This MW3 strategy guide goes a lot further though and teaches you every single detail about all available weapons and their attachments. You’ll never again be confused as to which one you should use. It’ll also tell you all about various game modes, and teach you how to effectively counter your opponents.

The other amazing part of Kosh’s MW3 guide is that is contains a detailed and efficient maps guide which will show you the best locations to get kills and killstreaks without much trouble. Each available Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 map is covered and this kind of information I wasn’t able to find anywhere else.

Of course while there are a ton of advanced tactics and strategies in this MW3 strategy guide there are also plenty of tips aimed at beginners at this game, so you’ll find a lot of basic stuff that will help you in case this is your first time with Call of Duty. Additionally, there’s a step by step singleplayer campaign guide, just in case you ever get stuck.

Kosh is also the only author that provides video guides as well. In short, this is a very detailed and extremely beneficial guide that really will help you get better at this game in more ways than one. Highly recommended.

2. BradyGames’ Modern Warfare 3 Guide

Rating: ★★★☆☆ 

As a publisher of official game strategy guides, BradyGames is undoubtedly experienced with guides. However, that hardly means these guides are nearly as useful as others. This strategy guide is 350 pages long, but most of the content in it can be easily found on other websites online.

If you’re a complete beginner to Call of Duty I suppose BradyGames MW3 Strategy Guide could prove useful, as it does have references to a lot of stuff in game like weapons, attachments and perks. However, none of that info goes into too much detail and won’t give you much if an advantage. There are some tactics covered, but nothing you won’t figure out on your own after a few weeks.

Basically, if you want a paperback guide this is your only options, but you would do a lot better with Kosh’s MW3 guide.

Conclusion

While BradyGames is a relatively useful guide for beginners, it’s what you would expect from an official strategy guide. Kosh really knows this game a lot better than most players you will ever encounter in Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 and his extensive knowledge and experience definitely makes for a much better guide. Despite being unofficial, it’s miles ahead and my top recommendation.

Download Kosh Guide Now

In many ways, Rift is similar to World of Warcraft, as well as other games. For example, many of the mechanics are similar to WoW, but with the addition of something which is similar to Warhammer Online’s public quests system, and more. Basically, another MMORPG game, but this one will not be released unfinished and with hundreds of annoying bugs. The developers are making sure of it, and while it’s still early to tell, Rift might very well be a worthy competition to WoW.

Leveling in Rift works pretty much as in other MMORPG games. It’s nothing innovative and groundbreaking: the same old process of doing quests, killing X amount of monsters and grinding. You can however speed up the process a great deal by following a quality leveling guide, which is exactly what this page is about. I’ll be reviewing ALL Rift leveling and strategy guides and help you figure out which one is the best.

Currently, there’s quite a lot of different leveling guides available for Rift, some of them good and some even bad. Make sure to read the reviews below carefully before you purchase one.

1. Killerguides Rift Strategy Guide (review) – rated 5/5
2. Xerxes Rift Mastery Guide (review)  – rated 4/5
3. KFGuides Rift Leveling Guide (review) – rated 3/5
4. Rift Blueprint Guide (review) – rated 2/5
5. Rift Domination Guide (review) – rated 2/5
6. Fero’s Rift Strategy Guide (review) – rated 2/5
7. MMO Guide Mart’s Leveling Guide (review) – rated 2/5
8. Kalmar’s Rift Guardian Leveling Guide (review) – rated 1/5
9. Catari’s Rift Defiant Leveling Guide (review) – rated 1/5

1. Killerguides Rift Strategy Guide

Rating: ★★★★★ 

A very, very frequent mention on this site, Killerguides was once again the first to publish a guide for Rift. It received several updates since then and overall is extremely detailed and helpful and definitely my top recommendation.

It includes battle strategies, equipment breakdown, solo and group tactics, raiding techniques and guide, as well as a leveling guide. However, most of the stuff in Killerguides Rift Strategy Guide is just beginner information, unless you get all 5 Rift guides by Killerguides. The guides specific to callings, namely Rogue, Cleric, Mage and Warrior have more advanced and useful information, however they do come at a higher price than most other guides (although you do get a large discount if you purchase them all).

Overall Killerguides deserves a 5/5 rating, however it would be much nicer to have all the info packed in one single guide rather than have five different ones. Nevertheless it’s chock full of great contents that will help both new and veteran players get a better grasp of the game and I highly suggest you check it out.

2. Xerxes Rift Mastery Guide

Rating: ★★★★☆ 

Xerxes guide is my second favorite guide for a number of reasons. First of all the leveling guide is the most detailed one and includes an impressive amount of screenshots and maps to guide you through quests. Some other guides (although not all) have maps and screenshots but it’s not nearly as much as in Xerxes.

Xerxes Mastery Guide also has really insider stuff about callings and souls. Some guides just post the beginner stuff inside with a few additions, but Xerxes clearly has a lot of experience playing all classes and his recommendations on equipment, stats, soul builds, soul pairings etc. are invaluable. This really is the professional, expert advice you will want to read.

This guide also includes a ton of additional bonuses, all of which are really useful: dungeons, professions, PvP, puzzles, platinum making, the list goes on. Overall Xerxes guide no doubt stands out from the competition and you won’t regret if you get it.

Note: Xerxes guide is no longer available!

3. KFGuides Rift Leveling Guide

Rating: ★★★☆☆ 

KFGuides is in fact a very decent leveling guide. It includes maps and screenshots and the quest info is nicely outlined and easy to follow. The only issue is that it’s only for the Defiant faction.

Another bad thing is that KFGuides Rift Leveling Guide doesn’t have any additional bonuses to make it a worthwhile purchase. The few guides they do have can be viewed for free anyway, and aren’t really that useful (mostly dungeons and puzzles).

4. Rift Blueprint

Rating: ★★☆☆☆ 

Rift Blueprint has enough content to make it a decent guide but not enough for me to recommend it over any of the guides above. Simply put the content and guides aren’t as detailed and useful. It does have a ton of beginner guides but it simply doesn’t cut it: these tips won’t help you stand out from other players too much.

The leveling guide inside is not even a leveling guide but rather a few notes about quests and doing rifts. The most useful part is the comprehensive dungeons guide giving you boss strategies and locations, but the same can be found in Xerxes guide, therefore there’s no reason why you would want to download Rift Blueprint.

5. Rift Domination Guide

Rating: ★★☆☆☆ 

Similar to Blueprint and Fero’s guide, Rift Domination doesn’t really have anything useful which would make me recommend it to anyone. Beginner guides won’t do much good to anyone, and the lack of any other useful content makes me not want to even write a more detailed review.

I do have to give at least some credit to Rift Domination guide though, as there are far worse guides (see below), but unfortunately I can’t recommend it. It won’t help you dominate.

6. Fero’s Rift Strategy Guide

Rating: ★★☆☆☆ 

Fero’s guide is almost identical in quality as Rift Bluprint. It doesn’t have any secrets or all that many useful tips and strategies. Again, beginner guides, the same dungeons guide as you can find elsewhere, and a few tips and notes that won’t really do you much good.

I recommend you skip Fero’s guide.

7. MMO Guide Mart’s Rift Leveling Guide

Rating: ★★☆☆☆ 

MMO Guide Mart is a new website which will apparently publish guides for MMORPGs. However, their very first guide is the one for Rift, and it’s extremely lacking.

MMOGuideMart’s Rift Leveling Guide is an incomplete leveling guide, with only a few beginner guides as bonuses. The only good thing about it is that it’s cheap and has a nicely designed cover, but that’s really no reason to download it.

8. Kalmar’s Rift Guardian Leveling Guide

Rating: ★☆☆☆☆ 

Kalmar’s guide does have step-by-step quest guides which I can’t say for all other guides, but the guide is currently incomplete despite being advertised that it is. The only thing Kalmar provides is a 1-19 leveling guide for the Guardian faction, and even that isn’t that well done.

Personally I much prefer to have Xerxes guide which has a ton of really useful bonuses, and a more detailed and complete leveling guide — for both factions.

9. Catari’s Rift Defiant Leveling Guide

Rating: ★☆☆☆☆ 

Other than KFGuides this is the only Defiant faction specific leveling guide, and it ain’t a good one either. Incomplete, with absolutely no bonuses whatsoever.

If you didn’t notice yet, Catari’s guide comes from the same author as Kalmar’s guide, and as such suffers from the same issues. Skip it.

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Summary

Xerxes guide is hands down the winner here. Massive amounts of useful content, and the most detailed leveling guide. Best buy, highest rating, top recommendation, etc. Download Xerxes, you will love it.