In Search for the Kryptonite

Being a player of different games (CCGs, RPGs, video games, etc.), I am always in search for the “metagame”. What is a metagame? Metagame, by a gamer’s definition, is the strategic analysis of a build, in hopes of creating something that could counter, resist or adapt to the punishment of the other common builds that dominate the current environment in a certain area. It’s like using a kryptonite sword in a coliseum full of Supermans. By probability, it has the highest winning percentage if analyzed correctly, for each other build used by the other teams will more likely be the anticipated nemesis or a hybrid of the original build. However, it is not a walk in the park, for finding the right metagame requires thorough analysis of what the current environment is. And knowledge of the right tools to oppose the majority are key elements to victory.

With a million pesos at stake, teams and guilds vying for the top spot of the Ragnarok Philippine Championships are giving their best to come up with the best 9-player-team-build. Last year’s Ragnarok World Championship in Seoul, Korea was surprisingly dominated by Taiwan’s pure-trapper hunters. At present, the birth of the Juno job classes in today’s RPC2005 definitely adds spice and variance to the playing field.

Faster than a speeding bullet

The RPC Visayas and Mindanao legs were dominated by one super 2-2 job—the team with the better Monk bagged the win in most cases. Monks by nature have the most powerful attack in the game in its artillery. A single Extremity Fist/ Asura Strike could return anyone to his/her last saved point. The Monk of Visayas Champion KissBone showed the power of effectively using Body Relocation and Asura Strike combinations by entering and leaving their opponent’s territory with blinding speed, purging one key opponent every time. Mindanao Champion’s Team X-Site on the other hand is faithful with its record of killing 4-6 opponents in the first four minutes of every match and even managed to bring down two key characters within a span of less than 10 seconds!

What constitutes a good RPC Asura Monk? The damage of Extremity Fist is a combination of ATK (attack) and MATK (magic attack), therefore, the three vital stats to focus on are Strength, Intelligence and Dexterity. A high priority should be given to Dexterity for a number of reasons:

1) Accuracy rate against high flee characters;

2) Good synergy with Body Relocation skill or the ‘Snap’ skill to travel from one point to another in lightning speed, and most importantly; and

3) It reduces the cast time for a level 5 Extremity Fist up to a whooping 0.5 seconds!

Automatic choices for equipments are Double Bloody Boned Chain/Double Bloody Double Boned Mace, Hard (Pupa) Armor, a Cranial (Thara frog card) Buckler and Soul Enchanted (Sohee) Shoes for additional boost in Asura damage. If you elect a more tough monk in terms of endurance, I recommend using Pupa for additional hit points. This compensates for the lack in the monk’s defensive stats. Higher SP is okay if you are planning to kill higher HP characters like Vit Knights and Assassins and you can achieve this by using Rhoda Frog and Verit Cards. However, it is recommended to bring down the characters with lower HPs first like the Wizard, Sage and your Monk counterpart, so a very high damage is not really that necessary.

Stats and skills are not the only factors that make an impressive Monk. Like any other game or sport, familiarization with the task is proportional to its effectiveness. Veteran Monk users can utilize their character’s skills like piano keys (your PC’s function keys), and even with eyes locked on to their monitors, their fingers are in rhythm with death’s sweet tune against their adversaries.

Timing is everything; as a poorly decided execution of an extremity fist could spell the whole battle’s outcome. With stats focused on attack properties, the RPC Monk leaves little room for for defensive attributes like Agility and Vitality. This is where his teammates come in to the equation and more than compensate for this slight disadvantage.

Next week, I will be discussing the key characters that would complete the effectiveness of an RPC Monk. With his skills and proper support at his side, every Monk can claim that he came from the planet Krypton and deserves to be called “Super”…

To be continued.

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