So, you're fresh out of the 2x levels and you're ready to kick some serious ass eh? Well you can't just run out and start doing so, because you'll get rocked. Follow this guide, and you should have no problems.
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PRE-EMPTIVE WARNING: THIS GUIDE IS BASED ON PURE-STR BUILDS (GLAVIE, MAINLY). INT/HYBRID BUILDS MAY HAVE DIFFERED RESULTS.
Level 30-31
As soon as you break in to the 30's, your main objective needs to be to grind/quest your way to 32 ASAP! Your 5th degree weapon and hand-piece is awaiting! If you want to just grind and not do any quests, I highly suggest buying a decent amount of medium HP pots and some MP pots and grinding on Blood Flowers or Yeowas. Both are relatively easy to kill (although Yeowas will be red to you), and yield lots of EXP. I can't help you much here, but all you need to do is use common sense until you're at 32.
Level 32
At this level, I officially consider most people no longer "noobs". I suggest you look for your new weapon ASAP. If you can afford it, SOS/SOM is very much so worth the cost at this point. It will help tremendously with your grinding and helps a lot in PvP. Try to get something with at least Crit 8 and a couple of plus's on it (remember, you can always do that yourself if you're an alchemy-inclined person).
Now, assuming you've found your weapon/wristpiece, it's time to prepare to grind. Buy lots of medium HP pots and a decent amount of MP pots (depending on your build and equipment, pot ratios may vary). Keep in mind you will be using a lot of skills, and you'll probably lose a decent amount of health. Set your autopot fairly high (As a pure str glavier, I set mine to 75%HP/30%MP to be safe). This will ensure that if you get horded by three or four mobs, you can make it out alive.
At 32, you should continue to grind on either Red Yeowas or Black Robbers. My personal preference is to always grind on something red to me, but not too strong to where I can't take more than two on at once. I suggest finding a nice spot a bit south of the Oasis. At level 32, grinding comes pretty easy. You can level easily in a few hours if you keep at it. An SOx weapon really comes in handy here because you can deliver more damage to mobs higher than you. I suggest always grinding with a friend higher level than you, preferably one that has res. Why? Well, because you'll probably die once or twice grinding. It's almost guaranteed.
Keep on grinding until you hit the next level. This is where the fun can begin (assuming you have a decent SOx weapon. If not, you'll want to wait until 34).
Level 33
Woohoo! You've officially grinded one level. At this point, you get the Blood Flower ancient elf quest. I personally like to do this quest one time (500K exp is worth the wait the first time), because you can still get a good 1K exp off of Blood Flowers, which means you're almost guaranteed to level during the quest, or right at the end. If you somehow manage to do this quest and don't level, read on.
(Keep in mind you shouldn't read this if you don't have an SOx weapon, or a weapon with very nice stats.)
At 33, Red-Eyed Ghosts are very red to you (They're 41, for God's sake!). You're probably thinking they'll pound you like no tomorrow. Well, they probably will, too, depending on your equipment. At 33, given you have a good SOx weapon, you can grind on Red-Eyed Ghosts if you are very careful and set your HP pots very high. I'll cover more on Red-Eyed Ghost grinding in the level 34 chapter.
Level 34
So, assuming you've done the Flower Quest, now you get to do the fun stuff (again, assuming you don't have a crap weapon...never buy NPC weps). Red-Eyed Ghosts will still be red to you, but they'll be easier to kill now, and grindable.
Again, before going to the Dead Ravine to grind, I suggest buying a lot of HP/MP pots and setting them fairly high to compensate for the damage you'll take. Depending on your equip, Red-Eyed Ghosts can deal 1K damage to a lv 34 if they crit.
Now, this is where you'll see my bias towards pure-str glavies. I haven't built a blade character or a nuker and grinded them like I do my glavie characters, so you're on your own there.
You'll notice I have my skills highlighted. I'm going to point out the most useful in grinding R-E Ghosts.
Ghost Spear - Probably the most versatile of all of your skills. The Ghost-Spear move does high damage, is relatively quick, and can deal damage to enemies standing close by that aren't targeted. I highly suggest you have this skill and use it constantly.
Chain-Spear - Some people question the abilities of this skill, but I like it. While it's not really a necessity, it's pretty nice to have when you need a finisher that won't use up a lot of MP.
Soul-Spear - This is the power skill you're going to want. It does very high damage, but goes somewhat slow and doesn't deal splash damage. This move is very useful as an opening-hit. If you have an SOx weapon, this skill is your best friend.
Flying Dragon Throw - I don't suggest you go and learn this just to grind, but it definitely comes in handy for drawing one mob away from a crowd so you don't end up getting horded and dying. It deals a fairly good amount of damage and has a long range. This is my personal choice for an opening attack when it is practical to use.
Buffs - Buffs are overlooked by a lot of people. If you have them, USE THEM! When you're fighting something nearly 8 levels above you, they really do make a difference.
Wolf - If you have a wolf, it can get very frustrating when you go to hit a mob and your wolf attracts 3 more. If you get this problem a lot (very often when using Flying-Dragon Throw), put your wolf on defensive mode so it won't attack when you do. Otherwise, they are very useful to have around in case you need to distract a mob so you don't get horded.
Personally, of the skills I listed, I believe that as long as you have Ghost-Spear or Soul-Spear (or both), you're in good shape. Ghost-Spear is the best choice if you have to pick one, though. I personally like using them during zerk because you can just alternate back and forth (when one cooldown timer resets, the other one is just beginning, so it's a constant cycle of asswhoopin').
Now, you may be wondering what you can hit on these mobs....
Damage - As you can see here, my chain-spear hits about 476 on the final blow. Now, your results could differ drastically because my glavie is a 32+5 SOS with 14 crit, so I can hit pretty hard on ghosts.
ZOMGZ THEY'RE RED! - At level 34, Ghosts will be red, but with my "decent" full 4D garm set (except for my 5D wristlet and 5D boots), they hit about 300-400 on me. If you're pure-str, this shouldn't be too much of a problem.
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This guide is a work in progress, so questions/suggestions/comments welcome.
