Basic Guide to Mabinogi

Introduction

Mabinogi is an interesting game. Been out for two or three years. And it just keeps getting updated, very recently G11 the Sword of the Gods which I still have yet to start due to wanting to train my newly created Alchemist.

In here, I will try to explain all the things that Mabinogi is like, every mechanic, every minigame, and every skill. First I will start with the basic stuff, for the newbies, and then I will start with the advance stuff, for people who've got the basics down, such as Dee & maybe Pain if he ever decides to jump on again. Now then, how about we start with the locations of towns and their significance?

Towns/Cities

Tir Chonaill

The newb town (for Humans), everyone knows this, everyone barely comes back here after Chapter 1. This place is where new players come to learn the basic skills, how to fight, and other small mechanics. The town is fully equipped with everything that other cities either have or don't have. This place is easily traversed because you can obviously see where you can go, and where you can't go. Comes equipped with two dungeons, one perfect for newbies, the other perfect for newbies who are done with an easy dungeon. They grow wheat and barley.

Dugald Aisle

Despite not being a town, this is still a place worth mentioning. This is the path that leads down from the mountains and towards the city Dunbarton or the city Taillteann. You'll only find enemies and a single NPC here, but very recently players have started to appear here again to learn a new skill, Carpentry. There really isn't anything else worth mentioning other than the fact that to the east of the Logging Camp is a residental area where players (who have upgraded to Premium) can purchase houses where they can either put things up for sale, or make a little place for you to live.

Dunbarton

The city where all the business happens. Players not wanting to buy a house usually end up putting a stand here to sell their useless stuff. Dunbarton comes equipped with everything Tir Chonaill had, except for a place to fish and a Windmill to grind grain, but for a good reason, since they grow potatoes instead. They also have two dungeons, one that is slightly a stronger version of the harder Tir Choinall dungeon, the other is considered easier but with stronger mobs.

Gairech and Bangor

Gairech is the path that leads to Bangor or Sen Meg Plateau. Gairech houses one dungeon and a single NPC where you get PQs from. There are several different types of enemies here and there but that's about it.

Bangor is the mining town where you smelt ore and and smith equipment and buy the best (non-smith or race exclusive) equipment. The dungeon here is basically the same as the one in Tir Chonaill except for the the ability to mine ores. Bangor lacks several things that the other towns have, however. No farm, no lost-and-found, no magic shop, etc.

Sen Meg & Emain Macha

Sen Meg is the path from Gairech to Emain Macha. Bears are all over the place but not on the main path so it's relatively safe to traverse. The two NPCs that appear there are randomly spawned but sell unique clothing and repair the equipment that have magical properties. To the south is another residential area. To the west is Emain Macha. This place houses the HARDEST dungeon in the game. Not recommended for people not in a party of 8. Nor is it recommended for people in a party of 8.

Emain Macha is big. Bigger than Dunbarton. You will literally find no monsters worth your time here. The dungeon located here is moderately hard, better than most dungeons you'll find for training. The other dungeon is also the 2nd hardest dungeon in the game. They grow corn here and the city is atop a lake so there are a variety of fish to catch.

Taillteann & Tara

The two cities of Chapter 3. They both have the same stuff but Tara has more. Taillteann houses the Steam Ovens and Dry Ovens that are used for Alchemy crystal creation and other Alchemy skills. Shadow Missions are done by selecting them from the board and going to the respective Alter. They both grow corn and potatoes. Tara has two parts to it, the city itself, and the castle. Access to the castle is restricted until you complete G9. Tara has three different forms of mini games you can play; Jousting, Fashion Contest, and Wine Making.

Basic Skills

There are many skills in Mabinogi, much of which depends from player to player on how they play. Such as for me, I feel most comfortable playing the warrior archetype but also capable of using basic magic. I also tend to player archers and very recently, alchemists.

Here’s the basic knowledge about how to use skills. Each skill has to be loaded, not before you attack and enemy or vice versa, but rather in advance or after knocking an enemy away. The time of the skill loading varies, depending on the skill, rank, and race. You can only use the skill after the bubble stops increasing and decreasing in size, though some skills avert this rule.

Skills are given ranks, starting with F and continuing all the way to 1. Some skills are currently capped at Rank 6 or lower. To rank a skill you need to train the skill. Training can vary, from simply attacking an enemy to attacking an enemy above your level to being hit by an enemy with the skill. Though that only applies to combat skills. After successfully training the skill to 100% or more, you will now need a certain amount of AP. AP is gain from leveling, doing certain quests, or simply by aging every Saturday. The amount of AP needed could either stay the same for a few ranks or will constantly increase per rank, though in some rare cases will decrease.

You can obtain skills in a variety of ways. Simply talking to an NPC about the ‘Skill’ keyword might give you a skill. Others have obtain by finishing a quest. You can also read some books to obtain a skill (mainly magic). A rare few can just downright be given to you by equipping a weapon or putting a item in your inventory. Most skills, however, require you to be good at a few others before you can actually obtain them.

Skills are divided into four different categories- Combat, Life, Magic, and Alchemy.

Combat skills are all the skills used to fight. Skills range from passive (Combat Mastery, Critical Hit) to active (Smash, Windmill) to being downright useless other than to get the small stat boost (Support Shot). Combat skills increase in power as they are ranked, providing stat boosts and more damage but in turn give you more CP (more on that later).

Life skills are all the skills used outside of combat. Just like combat, they range from passive (Production Mastery, Herbalism) to active (First Aid, Cooking) to just being a single button press for doing nothing but not too useless (Resting). Most characters specialize in some sort of crafting skill that provides boosts to their main stat. As these skills are ranked, they become more efficient or open up new possibilities, as well as providing stat boosts.

Magic skills are all the skills that use mana and are used as an alternative ranged skill. Passive (Magic Mastery), active (Icebolt, Healing), the other one from life (Meditation, Mana Shield). Basic magic is strong at higher ranks but people just prefer to use normal Combat Skills rather than magic. However, Advance Magic is sought out by hundreds of players simply because they are powerful and will often deal more damage than a good sword at higher ranks.

Alchemy is a new skill category. Passive (Alchemy Mastery, Mana Crystallization), active (Water Cannon, Wind Blast), awesome (Golem Summong, Spark Shock). Alchemy has become a fighting style that people aren’t often seen using. Nevertheless, if you happen to see a high ranking Alchemist or a Royal Alchemist, you can be sure that these guys will deal more damage than you. Maybe.

I will not list off the skills and their purposes. Rather, I will redirect you to this little site. It's much more informative of the skills than anything I can explain.

Stores/Locations in Cities

Each city/town have some sort of store. I will now begin to explain their roles in the game.

General Shop
This store sells basic stuff. Money bags, inventory bags (to those who are premium), glasses, tailoring/blacksmithing manuals, fishing rods, fishing bait, and sometimes cooking items. Nothing else needs to be said here actually. Some stores repair broken items used for Life Skills.

Malcolm in Tir Chonaill
Walter in Dunbarton
Gilmore in Bangor
Gaven in Emain Macha
Effie in Quilla
Granites in Filia
Zedar in Vales
Kelpie in Zardine
Pierrick in Taillteann
Ilsa in Tara

Blacksmith/Weapon Shop
These places sell weapons and armor as well as ammunition for bows and crossbows. Stores in Uladh will often sell equipment aimed for Humans. Giants and Elves will find better luck for equipment by looking at the equipment sold by Giants or Elves, respectively. These places are also the only places you can repair your equipment. Price for repairing will vary, depending on the weapon, repair rate, and any enchants that increase repair cost for said item. The possible percentages and where are:

90% Ferghus-in-Tir Chonaill (Never repair there!), Elen-in-Bangor (Maybe. She's easier to forgive, being a kid an all.)
93% Colm-in-Tara
94% Karpfen-in-Taillteann
95% Any-place-that's-specifically-called-a-Weapon-Shop-that-isn't-in-Tara, Weapons-Supplier-in-Tara
96% Andras-in-Taillteann
97% Granat-in-Taillteann
98% Edern-in-Bangor

Color of equipment changes daily, every 12:00am ingame. They can also be modified to be stronger.

Lost-And-Found
You died, you dropped your item, and you revived in town. Now what? Go to the place where you can retrieve lost items, that's what! Lost items are stored here forever until you take them out. A max of 20 can be stored at one time and any newer items will destroy an older item. They cost some gold to retrieve, however, and rarely you would rather choose to destroy the item rather than take it back, but mainly if it's an accessory. You will often need to talk to an NPC to access the Lost-and-Found.

Duncan in Tir Chonaill
Eavan in Dunbarton
Gaven in Emain Macha
Andras in Taillteann
Ethna in Quilla
Castanea in Filia
Krug in Vales
Voight in Cor

Church
Churches do have a shop option, but often this is only used to buy gifts. The real flare of a Church is to work part-time there to obtain Holy Water, which is good stuff. Holy Water, when used, will bless an item, which increases the time it takes to wear down a weapon or equipment, increase repair rate, and prevent item loss upon death. Note however, if a repair fails or if you die, the blessing on an item will be gone, meaning you need to bless them again. More often than not, however, people mainly work here to get a stack of 10 Holy Water to sell for about 12k.

Endelyon in Tir Chonaill
Kristell in Dunbarton
Comgan in Bangor
James in Emain Macha
Heulfryn in Quilla
Castanea in Filia
Kirine in Vales
Belita in Zardine
Collen in Taillteann
Pencast in Tara

Bank
You store your money and unwanted items and equipment here. For a fee, you can even have an item transferred from another city to the one you're in. Of course, distance of the two banks will increase of decrease the time needed, such as only a few seconds from Tir Chonaill to Dunbarton can be 11 minutes from Quilla to Taillteann. You'll have full access to the bank at first, but eventually you'll lose the right half of the bank space after any character in the account reaches a total level of 30. Make sure not to store anything of important in there. Every city has one. Every city.

Clothing Shop
You buy clothes, hats, gloves, shoes and fancy clothes here. Often the best clothes are the most expensive but that really varies from player to player. If a town doesn't have a clothing shop, it might be part of the General Shop.You can have your clothing repaired here too. 94% in Tir Chonaill, 98% anywhere else. Like equipment, they change color daily and can be modified.

Grocery Store/Restaurant
If you're hungry, you can buy some food here, whether it be unprepared food or cooked food. Food will affect how you look, such as eating plenty of meat will make your upper body larger, whereas eating berries will decrease weight, upper and lower bodies. After eating a certain amount of food, you gain a small stat boost that stays until you rebirth.

Now cooked foods on the other hand or different. Eating these will provide a large but temporary status boost. How good the food is (the amount of stars) will affect how great the boost will be. Like normal foods they will affect your appearance.

Bookstore
Bookstores sell books that are pretty useless other than to provide flavor text. Some books come with seals, however, which if you read in detail and succeed in understanding, will raise your INT by 1. Note that each seal book can be read in detail once and not a single more. There are actually only two bookstores in the game, one in the Inn in Tir Chonaill, the other in Dunbarton.

Magic Shop
The Magic Shop can also be called the Magic School in two places. Here, you can buy Wings of Goddesses, Phoenix Feathers, Magic Powder, Wands, Elemental Removers, and Spell books. There are four different types of spell books, each with two different wands and an extra Combat Wand that doesn't have an element:

Icebolt- Ice Wand, Crown Ice Wand
Firebolt- Fire Wand, Phoenix Fire Wand
Lightningbolt- Lightning Wand, Crystal Lightning Wand
Healing- Healing Wand, Tikka Wood Healing Wand

The first wand is the one most prefered by players, as these can be modified to Chain Cast, excluding Healing Wands. Wands are also used in Advance Magic casting, as you need the Wand of the correct element to cast Advance Magic. Wands are also used in the hidden skill Magic Fusion. These places are often the only places you can repair Wands, but for a substantially high fee.

Healer House
If you're hurt, you can spend 90 gold to heal here. If a pet is hurt, spend 180. You can buy HP and Stamina Potions, Phoenix Feathers, Pet Revival Kits, and Bandages. Pet Revival Kits are used to revive their masters when they are killed. Nobody uses them. Ever. Healer Houses are everywhere except in Bangor where Comgan sells the stuff, but can't heal anyone.

Combat

Combat is a large part of Mabinogi, but not large enough to be the only thing to do. However, combat is one of the only ways to gain AP to advance skills. Combat is fairly complexed, as depending on the AI the enemy can range to being fairly stupid to being smarter than you. You need to react fast, and be able to easily tell what skill they're going to use.

Fighting styles are different, depending on how you play:

Humans
Dual Wielding (Swords): One of the most preferred fighting styles for human players. This doubles the amount of damage you deal, or rather quadruple the amount, but what you have in offense you will lack in defense, as you have no shield to offer extras bonuses to defense. Charge and the full power of Defense will be gone with this style of fighting but you have the full power of Final Hit.

Sword/Blunt and Shield: Another favorite. With this, you deal fairly decent damage and have the benefits of a shield. Charge is accessible to you meaning arrows aren't as annoying. However, Final Hit will constantly knock the enemy back, so don't use it (the skill).

Two Handed: Big Swords are always a favorite of somebody. When properly modified, these weapons will often become stronger than dual wielding when using the Smash skill. What you lack, however, is the DPS offered by Dual Wielding and the defense bonus of using a Shield.

Bow and Arrow: It's good. Humans have access to the skill Arrow Revolver which allows them to shoot 5 arrows consecutively, with increased aiming speed. However, Elves are much better at this than Humans but I'll talk about that later. Humans out aims the Elves in speed. Humans are limited to 100 arrows at once, so it makes it very difficult to have any room for loot in the inventory unless you spend 10NX for 1000 arrows.

Elves
Bow and Arrow: Their main fighting style. Elves can shoot arrows while running, while on land mounts, and have slightly higher accuracy (84% on running targets, 92 on walking, opposed to Humans 80:90). They also shoot two arrows at once, making them able to deal more damage than Humans. The only drawback is the lack of Arrow Revolver and slower aiming speed.

Sword/Blunt and Shield: For the time they need to get up close and personal. They deal noticeably lower damage than other races when using melee skills and often find themselves outclassed by the other races. Other than that, same deal as Humans.

Wizard: Elves have higher INT than the other races, making their magic attacks strong. Really, that's it. Humans can also be this, albeit slightly weaker. Giants outright suck with magic.

Alchemist: Elves are fast. They are often Wizards before becoming Alchemists however, that doesn't stop them from being Alchemists right off the bat. Any race can be Alchemists but the Elves' speed makes them highly preferred.

Giants
Dual Wielding (Blunts): Giants can dual wield blunts. They also hit hard. One of the most preferred fighting styles. Basically, same as the Humans except they can use Charge without a shield. They also lack the ability to use Wind Guard.

Sword/Blunt and Shield: Giants make perfect tanks. Having a shield only increases that. Having a shield also allows them to effectively use Wind Guard, which increases Defense and Protection but you can move or use potions and other skills. Taunt paired with Wind Guard can make you take hits while other kill the enemies. And since Giants can wield Human two-handed swords with one hand, they have a good weapon with the bonus of a shield.

Knuckles: Rarely used but they are powerful DPS weapons. You lack a shield but that doesn't matter. Same deal as dual wielding.

Two Handed: Giant two handed weapons are blunts. They have a wide attack range and are powerful. Other than that, same deal as Humans.

Rebirth

Rebirth is a mechanic that is good. Upon reaching age 20 (or after buying another Character Card), you can rebirth. Rebirth resets your levels, stats and age, but you get to keep AP and skills as well as equipment and friends. This is optional, but it's much better than having to undergo heavy amounts of level grinding to achieve the end effect as someone who normally uses the rebirth function. If one uses a character card to rebirth, they can also change their appearance.

Transformation

Each race has one. These skills will transform the player into a powerful fighting force, restoring health, mana, and stamina as well as filling you up. They also boost stats greatly, making them awesome and very preferred. To train these skills you simply need to level up. Afterwards, you can either distribute Skill EXP to other skills of the transformation or save and advance the transformation skill itself. Upon reaching a certain rank in the Transformation skill, the appearance will change.

Any drawbacks? The only thing is that it can be used one per in-game day. That's it.

Paladins
Paladin is obtained at the end of G2. Humans use this. You become the legendary Knight of Light in shining white armor. Stats that are increased are usually involving upping the DPS of the player. Awesome.

Paladin is the basic appearance. You'll stay as this until reaching Rank B, in which case you'll become a White Knight. Upon reaching Rank 5, you will become a Holy Knight. Finally in Rank 1, you become a Champion. Champions very much look feminine. They have black wings which don't do anything.

Dark Knight
Dark Knight is obtained after completing the extra quest after finishing G3. Humans use this but will abandon the Paladin transformation. Forever. Good news is that the skill ranks are transferred over. Dark Knights are fallen Paladins. Upon transformation, you have three different dice rolls. Which stat gets what kind of boosts depends on this skill. Dark Knights are the preferred character for those who do a little of everything. They have a skill that controls monsters.

Dark Knight is the basic appearance. Black Knight at Rank B, which look like a medieval knight. Chaos Knight at Rank 5, which look like samurai. Infra Black in Rank 1. They look like the Venom symbiote.

Falcon
Falcon is obtained after a lengthy quest for Elves. They emphasize the Elves' archery and magic as well as increase the Elves' survivability greatly. They have a skill that involves shooting either an Ice Arrow, a Fireball, or a bolt of Lightning at the enemy which deal have AoE.

Falcon is the basic appearance, garbed in red cloth and blindfolded. Falcon Justice is Rank B, where they ditch the red clothes for a black hood and black pants. They are shirtless. Feathers cover the torso however. Rank 5 gives Falcon Wave, which removes the hood and adds a mask over the mouth. They are now not blindfolded and have glowing eyes. Rank 1 is Falcon Sage and now they are naked, except with feathers decorating the body. Pretty.

Savage Beast
Savage Beats is obtained after a lengthy quest for Giants. They increase the durability of a Giant and it's killing power, as well as making them smarter for better magic usage. They have a skill that requires a two handed weapon for full power which involves sending a shock wave at the enemy targeted, running through anything in the way.

Savage Beast is the basic appearance, naked and covered in brown fur while having red hair. Beast Slugger at Rank B, which replaces brown and red for gray. They also have war paint on the face. Rank 5, Iron Beast, has them tie up the hair and add even more war paint to face. They have red eyes. Finally, Beast Lord at Rank 1. They look like Yetis and are still naked.

Demigod

Demigod is too awesome to use. Demigod is obtained at the end of G10 and continues to gain powers in G11 and G12. Using the skill, Awakening of Light, the player is shrouded in an aura of white light, providing wings just to show that he has reached the power of Gods. However, that does not make it replaceable for normal transformation skills, as this does not provide status boosts, rather healing and speed boosts.

Classes

Currently not available, classes are estimated to arrive in G13. But I still feel like I should give them a mention.

Classes are actually specializations. Upon picking a class, training will become easier for skills for that class and you receive slightly more stat points per level and upon rebirth, you get two extra 10 stats. You can select a class upon character creation or rebirth. Choose a class, they have no downside.

Knights
Knights specialize in melee skills. Training for Smash, Windmill, Counterattack, Defense, Critical Hit, Combat Mastery, and Final Hit will be cut in half. Knights also gain an extra .5 Strength per level up. Upon creation/rebirth, Knights get an extra 10 Strength and 10 HP.

Wizards
Wizards specialize in magic skills. Training for all magic skills are cut in half. Wizards gain an extra .5 Int per level up. Upon creation/rebirth they gain an extra 10 Int and 10 MP.

Rangers
Rangers specialize in range skills. Training for Ranged Attack, Magnum Shot, and Crash Shot is cut in half. Rangers gain an extra .5 Dex per level up. Upon creation/rebirth they gain an extra 10 Dex and 10 Stamina.

Alchemists
Alchemists specialize in alchemy. Training for all skills are cut in half. They get an extra .5 Stamina per level up. Upon creation/rebirth they get an extra 10 MP and 10 Stamina.

Mainstream

Mainstream is the storyline for the game. Hidden behind all this bright colors and cute game is a dark story that effectively makes one not look at this game as they did the first time they've played it. Mainstream offers rewards to players, often in a form of a Title or Enchant. I'll list them quickly.

G1 'Saved the Goddess' title and 'Goddess' enchant scroll.
G2 Paladin transformation.
G3 'Savior of Erinn' title, 'Obsidian' enchant scroll, and quest to become Dark Knight.
G7 Nothing. Skip it.
G8 'Dragon Knight' title
G9 'Shadow Hero' title, 'Alchemist' enchant scroll, and Dragon Summoning (requires completion of G8)
G10 Demigod transformation.
G11 'Shadow of Spirit' Demigod skill, Brionac two-handed sword, and 'Caliburn' enchant scroll
G12 'Eclipse of Wings' & 'Rage of Wings' Demigod skills, others unknown.

Note that G1-G3 can only be done by Humans, though Elves and Giants can help.

This concludes a basic guide to Mabinogi.