Halp a newbie?

[Athane]

Title pretty much says it. I'm fairly new to Silkroad, but I've been playing MMO's for most of my gaming. Silkroad confuses me simply because it offers too much choice.

I made a fire glavie first off, my absolute first character on silkroad. Got her to 13, then moved over to pacific. I watched on that character, people running around with bows in garments doing insane amounts of damage I couldn't possibly match without wasting my MP pool (I do use pots like you should, but i'm about efficiency, not speed). I could one shot things pretty much, but it meant I had to continually use both HP and MP pots.

So, seeing the raw power of the bow, I tried it myself. Everything I expected it to be. 1 hit kill critical opening attacks, the ability to kill something before it gets even vaguely close to you, and the efficiency of a 2:1 str hybrid. I ventured a little up into the cold tree because it seemed like the plausible choice, but I quickly withdrew after seeing the buffs and skills mainly augmented physical damage. I shouldn't be taking it - I should be dealing it. I pretty much like my bow character, though I don't have a damn clue where it should go. Lightning, fire, force even? The Pacheon masteries are pretty easy to guess. I got this bow character to 13 yet again.

Becoming frustrated, I decided to try yet another new character - a blader, an ice one to be exact. Seeing as blade users are natural tanks, I figured cold would be a good choice. Wrong. I do little enough damage as is, like I said before, I'd rather be dealing damage than taking it, or at least dealing more than I'm taking. Which I do, but only by small amounts. I ventured up the lightning tree as I saw it pretty much augmented a key skill - parry ratio. The more I blocked, the less potions I'd have to use. I got this character to 8.

So I ask you, in short, what should I do? Should I continue leveling the bowman? The blader? What build should I use, and which is better in PvP?

[Nave47]

Cold will be useless when you reach a higher level. but I would suggest 1-30 bow, before you change to your main weap.

[Ivanhaus]

If you want to do a lot of damage build a nuker. pure INT either a sword/shield for more defense or a spear for the most damage. BUT, this build is very fragile and can die easily. a pure STR/Sword/Shield can tank almost anything but doesn't deal a lot of damage. the 2 most popular builds are a pure STR/GLAVIE or a pure INT/NUKER (either S/S or SPEAR). As for bow the most popular and tested build is a pure STR archer. there is a post in here on a 70/70 hybrid bow build but there is insufficent evidence of how it will perform. I think it deserves looking into but I don't have the time to start a new character. I currently have a pure INT nuker and my wife has a pure STR archer. we both love our guys and have fun playing them.I guess just pick a weapon that looks like fun and try it. they all have there strenghs and weaknesses.if you have any questions on skills just ask, either I or someone else will be happy to help .