What are "Fighter Classes"?

This refers to the group of classes of warrior, berserker and ranger.

Fighters are melee, and characterised by their three defences. A fighter is the best suited in the group to boldly tank the dangers the others in his party will face. They depend upon physical force (from weapons) to defeat the enemy. A fighter class has no spells, and no way to use magic besides potions. This gives them problems with mobility. The skill "bash" (and its variants) is what gives fighters the right to call themselves the Kings of melee.

What are "Rogue Classes"?

This refers to the group of classes of thief, ninja and monk.

Rogues are melee, and characterised by their two defences, one being mildly enhanced due to counterbalance. Should there be no fighter in the group, it is the rogue who will be the next most likely to take the blows. Rogues have little magic ability, but their ability to recite scrolls ensures they are light on their feet. They are known to use stealth rather than a direct approach.

What are "Cleric Classes"?

This refers to the group of classes of druid, shaman and healer.

Clerics are a mix of melee/magic, and characterized by their two defences, one being mildly penalized. Clerics are the group's healers, often making them the most important member of a group. They can hold their own at the front of a battle, but are best in a support role where they don't burn all their energy on curing so quickly. Clerics also have helpful defensive spells (e.g. sanctuary) for their group. They are hardy enough to take a few trips from rogues, but they should keep their protective shell up to protect against the bash ability of fighter guilds.

From the mid-levels and onwards, clerics hold an unsurpassable potential for curing, their way of battle one of regeneration - tiring out their enemies health. Cleric on cleric battles can go on for quite a while.

What are "Mage Classes"?

This refers to the group of classes of invoker, necromancer and illusionist.

Mages rely almost completely on magic, and characterized by their single defence. They are the group's heavy artillery, being able to launch a large variation of spells at enemies that cannot be defended against. Mages also have defensive spells to support a group, but this is not not as pronounced as those of the clerics. Because a mage has such low defences, he loses health very quickly, and will likely be killed if he lets his protective spells drop and gets pinned in place by skills like bash and trip.

A mage's true power is realised in later levels, where his spells become strong and varied enough to overwhelm his opponent into dropping a lot of damage for save vs spell to avoid getting slaughtered.

What are "Hybrid Classes"?

This refers to the group of classes of bards, paladin, and dark-knight.

A hybrid is a class which carries similarities to several of the other guilds, but not enough of either to belong to either category. For example, a dark-knight learns enough weapons to compete with even a warrior's selection, and casts afflictive spells strong enough to rival even an invoker. He can thus be thought of as a "warrior-mage".

Hybrid classes excel in overall versatility, and its for this reason that type of class carries the greatest exp cost in the game. However, it should be noted that this versatility comes with a price of becoming less effective in those fields than their full-blooded counterparts - a "jack of all trades, master of none".

What is Exp Cost?

Characters must attain experience points to reach a new level. As each new level is achieved, the amount of experience required to level again will grow by 20% of the base experience to level (1500 experience points for a level 1 human warrior). The EXP COST is added to the base experience.

Example:
Human warrior (0 exp cost):
Level 1 = 1500 to level
Level 2 = 1500 + 20% of 1500 = 1800 to level
Level 3 = 1800 + 20% of 1500 = 2100 to level

Human paladin (350 exp cost):
Level 1 = 1500 to level
Level 2 = 1500 + 20% of (1500 + 350) = 1870 to level
Level 3 = 1870 + 20% of (1500 + 350) = 2240

Because the PK RANGE is affected by the relative experience points each player has, a large exp cost effectively pits you against players with extra levels on you. This is a natural way of keeping the numbers down of stronger races and classes, and giving them a longer and more perilous road to level 50 in return for the extra ability that they have there. Compounded exp cost combinations such as elf paladins (500 for elf and 350 for paladin) are particularly difficult to take all the way to the pinnacle rank.