Orpheus's FS Cardinal Guide / Content

Welcome!

Hello everyone, and welcome to my Full Support Cardinal Guide! - Last edited: August 8, 2026

Whether you're creating your very first support character or looking to optimize your performance in endgame content, this guide aims to help you get the most out of the Cardinal class. In this guide, I'll cover the entire progression of a Full Support Cardinal, from the early game all the way to endgame. You'll find recommendations for stats, skills, equipment, consumables, gameplay tips, and strategies for various types of content. I'll also include videos and practical examples throughout the guide to demonstrate positioning, rotations, and how to handle different encounters.

What does a Cardinal do?

The Cardinal is one of the most impactful classes in Ragnarok Online. While it doesn't deal massive amounts of damage, it enables everyone else in the party to perform at their best. A skilled Cardinal keeps the party alive, maintains essential buffs, removes dangerous debuffs, resurrects fallen allies, and can often be the deciding factor between a successful run and a party wipe. Supporting isn't just about healing it's about awareness, timing, and decision-making. Knowing when to refresh buffs, when to save your resources, where to position yourself, and how to react under pressure are what separate an average support from an exceptional one!

Note: Full Support does not necessarily mean being the Lurer/Pathfinder. While a Full Support Cardinal can perform these roles when needed, your primary responsibility is supporting the party through buffs, healing, resurrection, and utility. Whether you take on the Lurer/Pathfinder role depends on the party composition and the situation.

I hope this guide helps both new and experienced players understand the class better and become the kind of support every party is happy to have. Happy reading, and enjoy your journey as a Cardinal!

Disclaimer: Please keep in mind that this guide reflects my own experience and opinions, and should not be taken as the absolute or only correct way to play a Full Support Cardinal. Ragnarok Online offers many viable approaches depending on your party composition, and personal playstyle. I strongly encourage you to do your own research, experiment with different builds and strategies, and find what works best for you. If you have suggestions, discover a better way to handle a particular situation, or simply want to discuss the class, feel free to reach out to me! - [MuhStaff] Orpheus on discord - I'm always open to learning new things and improving this guide alongside the community.

Cast Time & Skill Fluidity

One of the biggest strengths of a Full Support Cardinal is how fluid the class can feel. Unlike damage-focused classes that prioritize offensive stats, a support Cardinal benefits greatly from reducing cast times and delays, allowing you to react instantly to your party's needs. These are the four stats I recommend prioritizing when optimizing your gameplay.

Variable Cast Time (VCT)

Variable Cast Time determines the portion of a skill's cast time that can be reduced through stats and equipment. During the early and mid game, I highly recommend reaching 100% VCT through your stats. It's much easier to achieve while gearing up, and it allows you to use equipment slots for other useful bonuses. The formula for reaching instant Variable Cast Time through stats is:

• (DEX × 2) + INT = 530

Once you reach the end game, however, I personally prefer obtaining 100% VCT through gear instead. Endgame equipment provides many sources of VCT Reduction, making it much easier to cap without relying on your stats. This also gives you more flexibility in your stat distribution, allowing you to invest more heavily into AGI and making it significantly easier to stack Attack Speed (ASPD). Both approaches are perfectly viable, but I recommend transitioning from stat-based VCT to gear-based VCT once your equipment allows it.

Fixed Cast Time (FCT)

Unlike Variable Cast Time, Fixed Cast Time cannot be reduced through stats and must instead be lowered through equipment, buffs, or skill effects. Your primary goal should be reaching 2 seconds of Fixed Cast Time Reduction, as this provides instant cast for virtually every important Cardinal skill, with one exception:

• Competentia (AP Skill), which requires *4 seconds* of Fixed Cast Time Reduction to become instant.

That said, *1.5 seconds* of Fixed Cast Time Reduction is already extremely effective. The only commonly used support skills that will still retain some Fixed Cast Time are:

• Reparatio 2 seconds
• Renovatio 2 seconds
• Epiclesis 2 seconds

Because of this, 1.5 seconds is already enough for comfortable gameplay, while 2 seconds should be considered the ideal target for most endgame builds.

Attack Speed (ASPD)

Attack Speed plays a major role in how smooth Cardinal feels to play. ASPD reduces your character's animation delay after casting skills. Once you've reached enough VCT / FCT Reduction, the animations become one of the main things limiting how quickly you can cast your next skill. This is one of the reasons I prefer obtaining VCT through gear in the late game, it frees up stat points that can be invested into AGI, making it much easier to reach high ASPD. Higher ASPD means smoother healing, faster buff rotations, and overall more responsive gameplay. Currently Max ASPD is 193

After Cast Delay (ACD)

After Cast Delay is one of the most valuable stats for a Full Support Cardinal. Many of your strongest support skills have little or no cooldown, but are instead limited by their After Cast Delay. Reducing ACD allows you to cast heals, buffs, and utility skills much more frequently. Reducing ACD lets you cast it much more rapidly. If your goal is to maximize support efficiency, you should aim for approximately 96% After Cast Delay Reduction (If you have very high ping you might need between 96%-98%), which allows skills like Lex Aeterna to be spammed nearly as fast as the game's mechanics allow: 7.14 per second. Once your Cast Times are optimized and your ASPD is high enough, investing in ACD is what truly makes the class feel incredibly fast and responsive.

Note: While After Cast Delay Reduction (ACD) is one of the most impactful stats for a Full Support Cardinal, it is also typically the most difficult to obtain in large amounts. Because of this, I recommend focusing on Variable Cast Time (VCT), Fixed Cast Time (FCT), and Attack Speed (ASPD) first. Once you've reached your desired thresholds for those three, you can begin optimizing your gear for ACD. Building your character in this order will make progression much smoother and prevent you from sacrificing essential stats too early.

Skill Cast Speed Calculator

If you're curious about how quickly you can cast a particular skill with your current build, or want to see how changes to your VCT, FCT, ACD, and ASPD affect your rotation, I highly recommend using the MuhRO Skill Cast Speed Calculator. It allows you to simulate your current setup and calculates the maximum achievable casts per second for every skill, making it an incredibly useful tool when optimizing your equipment or comparing different builds.

You can access it here: https://tools.muhro.eu/skillcalc/

I personally use this tool whenever I'm testing new gear combinations or trying to determine whether it's worth sacrificing one stat for another. It's a great way to verify that your build is performing exactly as you expect before investing in expensive upgrades.

Stats

One of the greatest strengths of a Full Support Cardinal is how flexible the class is. There isn't a single "correct" stat distribution, your build should reflect your goals, available equipment, and the content you primarily play. Rather than providing an exact stat build, I'll explain what each stat offers and how I personally prioritize them.

Base Stats

With the increased level cap, the maximum value for each base stat is 130, allowing much more flexibility than pre-Renewal Mechanics.

STR

STR is generally a low-priority stat for Full Support Cardinals. Each point provides:

• +30 Weight Limit

While it doesn't directly improve your support capabilities, the additional carrying capacity is useful for bringing extra consumables, for example: Concentrated Blue Syrup Potion (1100004), Yggdrasil Berry (607), and loot during long party farming sessions or extended instance runs.

AGI

AGI becomes increasingly valuable as your build progresses. Each point provides:

• +1 FLEE
• Increased ASPD
• Every 5 AGI grants +1 Soft DEF

The primary reason to invest in AGI is Attack Speed (ASPD). Higher ASPD reduces skill animation delay, allowing your healing, buffs, and utility skills to feel significantly smoother once your Cast Time and After Cast Delay have already been optimized.

VIT

VIT is one of the most important defensive stats for a Cardinal. Each point provides:

• +1% Max HP
• +2% HP Healing Item effectiveness
• +1% resistance to several status effects
• Every 2 VIT grants +1 Soft DEF
• Every 5 VIT grants +1 Soft MDEF and +1 HP Recovery Rate

Higher HP greatly improves your survivability and synergizes extremely well with **Mediale Votum**, whose healing scales with the target's maximum HP.

INT

INT is one of your core stats. Each point provides:

• +1% Max SP
• +1% SP Healing Item effectiveness
• Reduced Variable Cast Time
• Every 2 INT grants +1 Soft MDEF
• Every 6 INT grants +1 SP Recovery Rate

INT is essential for reducing Variable Cast Time during the early and mid game while also increasing your SP pool and sustain.

DEX

DEX is another core stat for Cardinals. Each point provides:

• Reduced Variable Cast Time
• Increased ASPD
• Every 5 DEX grants +1 Soft MDEF

During the early and mid game, you'll likely invest heavily into DEX to achieve instant Variable Cast Time through stats. Once your endgame equipment provides enough VCT Reduction, you can reduce your DEX and invest those points elsewhere. (Most importantly on AGI)

LUK

LUK is generally a low-priority stat for a Full Support Cardinal at the start, but it becomes a valuable quality-of-life investment once your core build is complete. Each point provides:

• Resistance to several status effects (Most Important)
• Every 5 LUK grants +1 FLEE and +1% Anti-Critical Rate
• Every 10 LUK grants +1 Perfect Dodge

One of the biggest benefits of LUK is that reaching 100 LUK grants a significant amount of resistance and in some cases immunity to various status ailments, making it a great defensive option That said, I only recommend investing into LUK after you've already reached comfortable amounts of Variable Cast Time Reduction (VCT), Fixed Cast Time Reduction (FCT), and Attack Speed (ASPD). Those three stats have a much greater impact on your performance as a Full Support Cardinal, while LUK serves as an excellent luxury stat once your core requirements have been met.

(Some endgame content, such as Demon God (Hard) (No wiki page for it yet) and Tower of Trials, bypass LUK-based status resistance. For these, you'll need status immunity cards or Immunity Shadow Gear. I'll cover the recommended setups for these instances later in the guide.)

Hard Defense / Soft Defense

Hard Def / Hard MDef

Renewal separates defense into two different systems. Hard DEF / Hard MDEF Hard DEF and Hard MDEF reduce incoming damage by a percentage. Unlike older versions of Ragnarok, these values no longer cap at 100 and instead have diminishing returns. The more you have, the less effective each additional point becomes. For example, 200 HardDEF gives about 25% damage reduction, and 400 HardDEF gives about 40% damage reduction. As for MDEF, 20 HardMDEF gives about 15% damage reduction, and 40 HardMDEF gives about 25% damage reduction.

Soft DEF / Soft MDEF

Soft DEF and Soft MDEF reduce damage by a flat amount after Hard DEF/MDEF calculations. These primarily come from:

• **VIT → Soft DEF**
• **INT → Soft MDEF**
• Smaller bonuses from AGI and DEX

For Cardinals, both defensive systems are valuable since your primary objective is staying alive to support your party.

Traits

Once you reach Level 200, you'll begin earning Trait Points instead of additional Base Stat points. Unlike Base Stats, every Trait Point always costs exactly one point to invest.

STA (Stamina)

STA increases Physical Resistance (RES). Each point provides:

• +1 RES

Every 3 STA provides an additional:

• +5 RES

RES is an additional layer of defense that reduces incoming physical damage by a percentage before your DEF is applied.
The more RES you have, the less physical damage you'll take. Think of it as an extra defensive multiplier that works alongside your normal DEF.
(Damage after RES = Damage × [(2000 + RES) ÷ (2000 + RES × 5)])

Note: Similar to Hard DEF, RES has diminishing returns. The more RES you stack, the less effective each additional point becomes.

WIS (Wisdom)

WIS increases Magic Resistance (MRES).

Each point provides:

• +1 MRES

Every 3 WIS provides an additional:

• +5 MRES

MRES works exactly like RES, but for magic damage.
It reduces incoming magical damage by a percentage before your MDEF is applied, making it one of the best ways to survive powerful magical attacks.
(Damage after MRES = Damage × [(2000 + MRES) ÷ (2000 + MRES × 5)])

Note: Similar to Hard MDEF, MRES has diminishing returns. The more MRES you stack, the less effective each additional point becomes.

CON (Concentration)

CON provides utility Each point grants:

+2 FLEE

The additional FLEE can be useful in certain situations, but CON is generally a lower priority compared to WIS, STA, and CRT for a Full Support Cardinal.

CRT (Creative)

CRT increases **Heal Plus (H.PLUS)**. Each point provides:

• +1 H.PLUS

Every point of H.PLUS increases your final healing after all other healing modifiers have been applied.

CRT should generally be invested in only after you've maximized both WIS and STA. Once you've reached a comfortable level of survivability, CRT becomes an excellent way to further improve your support capabilities by increasing Heal Plus (H.Plus). Keep in mind that from the 4st Class skills Dilectio Heal is the only one affected by H.PLUS ( Mediale Votum is Not affected)

Recommended Trait Priority

For most Full Support Cardinals, I recommend prioritizing Traits in the following order:

• STA – Physical Resistance (110)
• WIS – Magic Resistance (110)
• CRT – Heal Plus (72)

(I usually prefer to get STA first as it gives you alot of Max HP with the Nebula Equipment.) - As always, feel free to adjust these priorities based on your equipment, party composition, and the type of content you enjoy the most.

Research Note: A friend of mine, Fuka, suggested an alternative Trait distribution of 110 STA / 110 WIS / 72 CON instead of investing the remaining points into CRT. The additional CON provides extra FLEE, which may offer better overall survivability in certain situations. However, I haven't done much testing to confidently say whether this setup outperforms 72 CRT. For now, I still recommend the CRT route, but this is definitely something I'd like to research further and may update in the future as more testing is done.

Gear Progression

Note: I do not recommend making a Full Support Cardinal as your very first character. While the class is incredibly valuable in party content, it has very limited solo farming capabilities and can struggle to generate Zeny or farm its own equipment. (If you're starting fresh, I personally recommend creating a Ninja or a Rune Knight first as those have great solo capabilities)

As with most support classes, your gear progression will depend on your budget, available content, and personal priorities. Throughout this section, I'll showcase the different stages of my own progression, and discuss possible alternatives whenever applicable. Each stage will also includes an Alt + A screenshot so you can easily compare the final stats and understand what milestones you should be aiming for.

Early Game

This setup is intended for players who are just beginning their journey as a Full Support Cardinal.

Early Game

Slot	Item	Notes
Upper	+9 to +10 Illusion Goibne's Helm [1] (19366)	Using Bungisngis Card (4582).
Middle	Cor Core Booster (410091) or Cor Core Booster [1] (410092)	Using the Slotted Version if you have Rigid Sky Deleter Card (27351) .
Lower		At this point is not very recommend to get any lower equipment.
Armor	+9 to +11 Illusion Sprint Mail [1] (450182) +9 to +10 Illusion Goibne's Armor [1] (15348)	I Highly recommend the Goibne Armor as it combos with the other Goibne equip, as well as using the Ominous Solider Card (27114)
Weapon	Illusion Long Mace [2] (16063) or Paradise Archbishop Mace (590029)	Illusion Long mace can be enchanted with MHP, ASPD and ACD using Fantasy Resonance Stone of Illusion (100003) and Fantasy Resonance Stone at Dawn (100004), Make sure to check Here what stone to use. Talking about cards you can use 2x Heart Hunter Sanare Card (27308) Since its cheaper, if you want to make the bigger leap early on you can get 2x Dancing Marionette Card (31021) as you will probably use those until the end game.
Shield	+10 Illusion Silver Guard [1] (460018)	I recommend using Elite Rgan Guardian Card (300465) and enchanting it with 2x Rune of Vitality Lv2 (29010) as it can be used until the End Game with easy, if you are curious on how to enchant make sure to check: Here
Garment	+9 to +10 Illusion Goibne's Spaulders [1] (20923)	You can use Ancient Stalactic Golem Card (27292) as it will be one of your main choices for the end game.
Shoe	+9 to +11 Illusion Sprint Shoes [1] (470066) +7 to +10 Illusion Goibne's Greaves [1] (22192)	I Highly recommend the Goibne Shoes as it combos with the other Goibne equip, for cards you can use both Papila Cae Card (300095)/ Papila Card (300091) (depending on which one is cheaper on the market)
Accessory (Right)	Safety Pendant R [1] (32248) Illusion Sprint Ring [1] (490120)	Both Safety Pendant and Epaulet are more affordable nowadays and i recommend going for them if you make the Goibne armor, for cards Broken Omega Cleaner Card (300077) or Broken Beta Guards Card (300076)
Accessory (Left)	Safety Epaulet B [1] (32251) Illusion Sprint Glove [1] (490121)	Both Safety Pendant and Epaulet are more affordable nowadays and i recommend going for them if you make the Goibne armor, for cards Broken Omega Cleaner Card (300077) or Broken Beta Guards Card (300076)

Notes: For the Illusion Goibne equipment you can use Luanda Refinement Box (100421) dropped by monsters in Illusion of Luanda, for the Sprint Equipment Twins Refinement Box (100699) dropped by monsters in Illusion of Twins

Shadow Gear: During the early game, I highly recommend using the Advanced Paradise Shadow Set. It's inexpensive, easily obtainable, and provides solid overall bonuses that will comfortably carry you through the early stages of your progression until you're ready to invest in stronger Shadow Gear. While progressing through your gear upgrades, be sure to save up your Fashion Points. Once you reach the mid game, you'll be able to exchange them for Costume Enchant Boxes, giving you the opportunity to roll for powerful costume enchants that can provide a significant boost to your build.

Mid Game

-

The equipment in this section is intended to bridge the gap between early and endgame builds. Rather than chasing expensive Best-in-Slot items, prioritize upgrades that provide the greatest overall improvement for their cost. This will allow you to comfortably participate in most party content while working toward your final endgame setup. By this stage, you can comfortably choose 100% Variable Cast Time through stats or 100% Variable Cast Time through gear. Both approaches are perfectly viable! the stat route is generally easier and more budget-friendly, while the gear route offers greater flexibility by freeing up stat points that can be invested into AGI for higher ASPD. Choose whichever best suits your current equipment and progression.

Mid Game

Slot	Item	Notes
Upper	+10 to +12 Old Mitra [1] (18972) +10 to +12 Temporal Circlet (Archbishop) [1] (19480) +11 Drooping Thanatos's Dolor-LT [1] (400465)	Old Mitra can be acquired at: Bio 5. Enchanted with Adamantine Lv1 (29101) or higher, DEX+5 (4724) or VIT+5 (4744) Temporal Circlet can be acquired at OGHC Enchanted with Adamantine Lv1 (29101) or higher, Temporal Jewel (VIT) Lv 3 (29680) or Temporal Jewel (AGI) Lv 3 (29677) and VIT+4 (4743) Thanatos headgear can be crafted through item reform. Sacrifices a more tankier status for higher ACD Reduction. Enchanted with Adamantine Lv3 (29103) For cards you can either keep Bungisngis Card (4582) from the early game, upgraded it to Melted Poring Card (300174) or Yortus Bishop Card (300528) as well as use Icewind Egg Card (300456) for further ACD Reduction or Katrinn Card (4366) for VCT Reduction
Middle	Victory Wing Ears [1] (400002) Cor Core Booster [1] (410092)	Victory Wing Ears can be enchanted Here both using either Rigid Sky Deleter Card (27351) from the early game or upgrading it to Melted Poring Card (300174), Another powerful choice for further ACD Reduction is Isaac Wigner Card (27396) as well.
Lower	Vicious Mind Aura (19439)	Vicious Mind Aura can be obtained at: Bioresearch Laboratory. The Vicious Mind Aura (19439) combos with the Fallen Warrior Manteau [1] (20749).
Armor	+10 to +12 VIT Soutane [1] (15399)	Vit Soutane can be obtained from: Odin's Past. Enchanted with VIT Blessing (310078), MaxHP+5% (4900) or VIT+8 (4747), MaxHP+5% (4900) or VIT+8 (4747) For cards if your armor is +10 / +11 use Ominous Solider Card (27114), if you have a +12 armor use Two Eyes Dollocaris (300376)
Weapon	+11 Rubber Hammer [2] (16099)	You can get the Rubber Hammer at: Einbech. As well as enchant it! Einbech Enchants. the best enchant would be 10% VCT and Heal effectiveness 7% ~ 25%. (While there is a chance to get 20% VCT, from my tests it's EXTREMELY RARE and shouldn't be a must) For cards 2x Dancing Marionette Card (31021), if you can't afford it yet you can still keep the 2x Heart Hunter Sanare Card (27308) from the early game, however it's highly suggested that you do upgrade it when possible. (If you are still struggling with a little bit of VCT Senior Papila Cae Card (300096) is also an option for the midgame)
Shield	+11 or +12 Illusion Silver Guard [1] (460018) +10 [D] Glacier Guard [1] (460040)	For the Illusion Silver Guard you can enchant it with 2x Rune of Vitality Lv2 (29010). if you still haven't done it already. For glacier its up to you what enchant to get at Slot 2 and 3. Glacier Flower Meow Power (Guardian) (312094) for Slot 1. For cards if your shield is +10 / +11 use Elite Rgan Guardian Card (300465) if you have a +12 shield, you have the possibility to use Renovated Upper Rgan (300379) as well, check both cards and choose which one suits your playstyle better.
Garment	+10 Fallen Warrior Manteau [1] (20749) +9 to +11 Snow Flower Manteau [1] (480159)	You can check how to get the FWM Here. The Fallen Warrior Manteau [1] (20749) needs to be the slotted version for better efficiency. Snow Flower Manteau can be obtained through Episode 19 enchanted with Slot 1: Ice Flower Spell (Above All) (311110), Slot 2: Ice Flower Spell (Caster) (311107) or Ice Flower Spell (Speed) (311106) Slot 3: Ice Flower Spell (VIT) (311096) or Ice Flower Spell (Defense) (311098) or Ice Flower Spell (Magic Defense) (311099) For cards you can use Ancient Stalactic Golem Card (27292)
Shoe	+11 Hero Boots-LT [1] (470094) 9 to +11 Snow Flower Shoes [1] (470116)	You can check how to get the Hero Boots Here Enchant with Vigor of Warlord (310912), Spell Lv4 (4812), VIT+5 (4744) or INT+5 (4714) Snow Flower Shoes can be obtained through Episode 19. Enchanted with Ice Magic Stone (Fixed Casting) (1000736). Your choice for Slot 4. Slot 2 can be ignored. for cards you can use both Papila Cae Card (300095)/ Papila Card (300091) (depending on which one is cheaper on the market)
Accessory (Right)	Safety Pendant R [1] (32248)/ Safety Pendant B [1] (32249)	You can choose any depending on your needs, The Pendant R for a higher ASPD or The pendant B for a Higher VCT through gear. for cards Broken Omega Cleaner Card (300077), Broken Beta Guards Card (300076) or combo Lobelia Card (300652) / Tulip Card (300649)
Accessory (Left)	Hero's Badge [1] (490163) Safety Epaulet B [1] (32251)	You can check how to get the Hero's Badge Here. To be paired with Hero Boots-LT [1] (470094). as well as enchanted with: Vitality (310918), Spell Lv4 (4812), VIT+5 (4744) or INT+5 (4714). Safety Epaulet B paired with both Safety Pendant R [1] (32248) or Safety Pendant B [1] (32249) for cards Broken Omega Cleaner Card (300077), Broken Beta Guards Card (300076) or combo Lobelia Card (300652) / Tulip Card (300649)

Shadow Gear & Costume Enchant Stones: At this stage, the Advanced Paradise Shadow Set is still perfectly viable and can comfortably carry you through most midgame content. However, you should begin working towards your costume enchants. A great setup is Archbishop Stone (Top) (1000857), Archbishop Stone (Mid) (1000858), and Archbishop Stone (Low) (1000859), paired with Cast Stone (Garment) (25067) with an ASPD Stone (Dual) (1000520), Stamina Wisdom Stone (Dual) (1001172) or Reload Stone (Dual) (1000675), the Minor Casting Stone (Garment) (25170) + Minor Casting Stone (Dual) (1000521) combo. or the Variable Casting Stone (Garment) (25306) + Variable Casting Time Stone (Dual) (1000522) combo. These enchants provide excellent utility and will serve as a solid foundation.

For pet you can use Aliza Egg (9120) however these are an extra as the other equipment share a higher importance at this point. (remember that you will be changing it in the end game)

End Game

At this point, your build should have all of its core milestones completed. I highly recommend transitioning to 100% Variable Cast Time through gear at this stage, as it frees up a significant number of stat points that can be invested into AGI for higher ASPD. Endgame equipment provides enough VCT Reduction that this becomes both practical and, in my opinion, the optimal approach. Your remaining goals should be to maintain enough Fixed Cast Time Reduction, reach comfortable ASPD, and heavily invest into After Cast Delay Reduction (ACD) to make your gameplay as smooth and responsive as possible. The equipment featured in this section represents what I consider to be an optimized endgame setup for a Full Support Cardinal. While some pieces are Best-in-Slot, remember that there are often multiple viable alternatives depending on your budget, your party's needs, and the content you're tackling.

Note: This section does not include MVP Cards. Since they are a significant investment and can drastically change a build, I'll be covering them separately later in this guide explaining what each card does.

End Game (WIP)

Slot	Item	Notes
Upper
Middle
Lower
Armor
Weapon
Shield
Garment
Shoe
Accessory (Right)
Accessory (Left)

Mvp Cards

MVP Cards can significantly enhance a Full Support Cardinal, but they're also some of the most expensive and specialized upgrades in the game. In this section, I'll recommend the MVP Cards that I believe provide the most value, explaining what each one does. Whether you're looking for more survivability, utility, or overall cast speed, these recommendations should help you decide which cards are worth investing in.

• [MVP] Mistress Card (4132) Top / Mid (Nullifies Gemstone requirement of certain skills, increase SP Consumption by 25%)
• Sealed Kiel Card (4480) Top / Mid (Decreases After Cast Delay by 15%, If refine level +15 decreases After Cast Delay by additional 5%)
• [MVP] Kiel Card (4403) Top / Mid (Decreases After Cast Delay by 30%)
• [MVP] Nightmare Piamette Card (300560) Top / Mid (Reduces After Cast Delay by 25%, increases SP consumption of skills by 10%.

if refine rate is 10 or higher, reduces variable casting time by 15%.)

• [MVP] Orc Hero Card (4143) Top / Mid (Immunity to Stun)
• Sealed Tao Gunka Card (4493) Armor (MaxHP +50%, Def and MDEF -50%, If refine level +15 MaxHP +25%)
• [MVP] Tao Gunka Card (4302) Armor (MaxHP +100%, Def and MDEF -50%)
• [MVP] Bijou Card (4636) Shield (Immunity to Frozen)
• [MVP] Golden Thief Bug Card (4128) Shield (Nullifies magical and supportive spells that target the user)
• [MVP] Ancient Wootan Defender Card (27298) Shield (Reduces damage taken from boss monsters by 50%, if refine = 10 or higher)
• [MVP] Venom Chimera Card (27150) Shoes (MaxHP +1000, MaxSP +200, If refine level +12 MaxHP +15%, MaxSP +15%)
• [MVP] Glutto Card (300667) Shoes (MaxHP +25%, MaxSP -25%)
• [MVP] Archbishop Magaleta Card (4675) Garment (When equipped by ArchBishop/Cardinal MaxHP +10%, Base Level atleast 175 = All basic stats +10, If refine level 10 or higher = All basic stats +10)
• [MVP] Dark Guardian Kades Card (4580) Garment (Reduces damage taken from Water, Earth, Fire, Wind, Shadow, and Undead property attacks by 50%. Increases damage taken from Holy and Ghost property attacks by 100%.)
• [MVP] Beelzebub Card (4145) Accessory (Reduces the variable casting time of skills by 30%)

Note: After testing both [MVP] Venom Chimera Card (27150) and [MVP] Glutto Card (300667), I found that the performance difference between the two is surprisingly small. Although Glutto offers a higher percentage HP bonus, the large amount of flat HP provided by Venom Chimera closes the gap considerably in practice. Because of this, I generally recommend Venom Chimera Card, as it delivers very similar results while typically being much more affordable than Glutto, making it the better value for most players.

Skills

In this section, I'll cover every important skill for a Full Support Cardinal, explaining what each one does, and its strengths. While some skills are used in nearly every situation, others shine only in specific encounters, so understanding when to use them is just as important as knowing what they do.

Important

• Teleport / Your bread-and-butter mobility skill. Whether you're searching for monsters, repositioning for Convenio, or escaping dangerous situations, Teleport is something you'll use constantly.
• Angelus / Provides additional DEF to your party and some Flat HP, increasing their overall survivability. lasts 300 sec (+50% Def, +500 Flat HP)
• Resurrection / One of the defining skills of every support class. Reviving fallen party members quickly can often be the difference between recovering a run and wiping. (Consumes 1 Blue Gemstone (717) and revives the target with 80% HP)
• Assumptio / Increases Target's Soft Def and received Healing amount, lasts 100 sec (+250 Soft Def, +10% Received Healing)
• Lex Aeterna / One of the strongest offensive support skills in the game. It causes the target's next instance of damage to deal double damage, making it incredibly valuable against MVPs.
• Impositio Manus / Increases ATK and MATK of yourself and nearby party members, lasts 120 sec (+25 Flat ATK/MATK)
• Redemptio / Sacrifices yourself to resurrect every nearby party member restoring 50% of their max HP. (leaves you with 1 HP) (beware that this skill has a high SP cost)
• Renovatio / Recover percentage of HP to self and all party members on screen every 5 seconds, lasts 180 seconds (8% of max HP)
• Offertorium / Increases your Heal power but increases SP cost (Heal Power x2.5, SP Cost 300%, also removes Status Effects from the target and can be checked Here)
• Vituperatum / Similar to Lex, Doubles the damage of the next incoming attack on enemies in an aoe area (5x5 Cells, Consumes 1 Blue Gemstone (717))
• Clementia / Cast Blessing on the caster and any party members within its range, lasts 240 sec (aoe 15x15 Cells, STR/INT/DEX +10, Hit +20) (it also removes Curse)
• Cantocandidus / Cast Increase Agility on the caster and any party members within its range, lasts 240 sec (aoe 15x15, AGI +12, ASPD +10%)
• Praefatio / Provides you and your party with protective barriers that absorb incoming damage. (Has 30% maxHP of the target, blocks 16 Hits)
• Lauda Agnus / Removes harmful status and increases maxHP% on all party members (MaxHP +10%, Removes Freezing, Stone Curse, Frozen, Crystallization, Blind and Burning) (this effect only lasts 60 seconds so keep a sharp eye to refresh)
• Lauda Ramus / Removes harmful status and increases critical damage on all party members (Critical Damage +20%, Removes Silence, Sleep, Deep Sleep, Stun and Mandragora Howling) (this effect only lasts 60 seconds so keep a sharp eye to refresh)
• Clearance / Removes all buffs, debuffs and curse of party members and monsters
• Dilectio Heal / Your primary ability to recover HP of targeted party members including yourserlf on an aoe (7x7 Cells, Recovery Amplification +40%) (also recovers 1 AP)
• Mediale Votum / Applies a healing-over-time effect to targeted party members that scales with maxHP and recovers in an aoe area, lasts 120 sec
• Reparatio / Fully restores the target's HP (There is a cooldown of 10 seconds on max level)
• Competentia / Recovers HP/SP and increases P.ATK and S.MATK of the caster and nearby targets, lasts 300 seconds and costs 140 ap on max level (Recovers 100% HP/SP, P.ATK/M.ATK +50) (The best way to recover AP is to spam either Benedictum or Religio)
• Presens Acies / Increases the critical damage rate (C. Rate) of the targeted party member, lasts 240 sec (C.Rate +10)
• Argutus Telum / Grants the Ability to ignore physical resistance (Res) to the targeted party member, lasts 240 sec (ignore 25% res) (all ignore res effect are capped at a maximum of 50% accumulative)
• Argutus Vita / Grants the Ability to ignore magical resistance (MRes) to the targeted party member, lasts 240 sec (ignore 25% mres) (all ignore mres effect are capped at a maximum of 50% accumulative)
• Benedictum / gives POW, CRT and CON to the target, lasts 240 sec (POW/CRT/CON +10, Recovers 2 AP every cast)
• Religio / gives SPL, WIS and STA to the target, lasts 240 sec (SPL/WIS/STA +10, Recovers 2 AP every cast)

Situational

• Ruwach / Summon a holy spirit that will detect hidden characters in an aoe area, lasts 10 sec each (5x5 cells)
• Warp Portal / Creates a warp portal that will teleport those who enter it to another area (Can teleport up to 8 people, cannot be used on LP, Consumes 1 Blue Gemstone (717)) (you can use /memo to save a destination as well as doing this quest to increas max memo slots
• Pneuma / Create a barrier in 3x3 cells around the targeted cell that for 10 seconds will protect anyone inside it from long range physical attacks (it can protect monsters as well so be careful)
• Safety Wall / Creates a magic barrier on a targeted spot that will block certain numbers of physical melee attacks and damage (Has 3000 durability, Blocks 11 Hits, Consumes 1 Blue Gemstone (717))
• Gloria / Adds LUK to the caster and party members for the duration of the skill, lasts 30 seconds (It can be used to get 100 Critical rate for some classes and can be used to increase the % of creating consumables with biolo)
• Suffragium / Reduces the VCT of yourself and nearby party members for 60 seconds (VCT -15%, This skill is situational as most 4th class will already have 100% VCT, however if you still need VCT this skill can help alot)
• Aspersio / Endows the targeted player's weapon with the Holy element for the skill duration, lasts 20 minutes (Consumes 1 Holy Water (523)
• Coluceo Heal / The 3rd class variant of the Dilectio Heal (15x15 aoe, only worth using it if you are Third class still)
• Highness Heal / The 3rd class variont of the Reparatio (Only worth using it if you are Third class still)
• Epiclesis / Summons the Tree of Life that rises any KO'ed characters within 5x5 cell range of the tree, while increasing MaxHP and recovering HP and SP every 3 seconds (MaxHP +25%, Recovers 5% HP and 4% SP, Consumes 1 Ancilla (12333) and 1 Holy Water (523))
• Convenio / Recalls all party members in the same map to caster's position (This Skill cannot be used on maps where teleport skill is disabled, cant be used on LP and Safety wall, Requires the Cardinal to be party leader for it to work)
• Sacrament / reduces target's fixed casting time, lasts 180 sec (Fixed Casting Time -50%)
• Expiatio / Allows party members to ignore a portion of an enemy's physical and magical defense, lasts 270 sec (ignore 25% Defense, Situational because most people already have 100% penetration, Do not cast this skill on Thana users as it will mess their dmg)

Important: Be careful when using @hideplayer. It causes your AoE buffs to stop affecting other players. Make sure to disable it whenever you need to apply or refresh party-wide buffs.

Skill Tree

Skill Bar Example

Rune Tablet Recommendations

Rune Tablets are an important part of optimizing your Full Support Cardinal, providing additional bonuses that can greatly improve your performance. Unlike equipment, Rune Tablets allow you to fine-tune your build according to your personal needs. Depending on your current setup, you may prioritize survivability, or improving your skill rotation through better cast speed. In this section, I'll cover the Rune Tablets that I personally recommend. Keep in mind that there is no single "perfect" Rune Tablet setup. Your choices should be adjusted depending on your current gear, stats, and the content you are preparing for. (If you are curious about what are Rune Tablets you can check Here)

Consumables & Utility

• [Bound] Token of Siegfried (6316) Revives youself.
• [Bound] Kafra Card (23177) Can open the storage at some maps / instances without the need to be close to a kafra.
• Kafra Storage Bell (23648) Can open the storage at some maps / instances without the need to be close to a kafra. (lasts for 30 days)
• Halter Lead (12622) Summons a creature to ride on.
• Medium Life Potion (14535) Recovers 7% of MaxHp every 4 seconds.
• Small Mana Potion (23203) Recovers 5% of MaxSP every 5 seconds.
• Brilliant Protection Scroll (23204) Def +500, MDef +200.
• Almighty (12883) All basic stats +10.
• Limited Power Booster (14766) Flee +30, ASPD +1, Decreases SP Consumption by 5%, Decreases Fixed Casting Time by 30%.
• Infinity Drink (23475) MaxHP and MaxSP +5%, Casting cannot be interupted.
• Red Booster (12796) Increases Attack Speed by 5%, Decreases Variable by 5%, Decreases MaxHP and MaxSP by 10%.
• Enhanced ASPD Potion (12684) Increase Movement speed and Gives you +10 AGI.
• Mental Potion (14600) MaxSP +10%, Decreases SP Consumption by 10%.
• The One Potion (50035) A sum of all the above ^.
• Trans Candy Red (11592) MaxHP+ 20%.
• Holy Armor Scroll (14540) Enchants your armor with the Holy element for 30 min.
• Repair Weapon Scroll (14587) Repairs a broken weapon.
• Guyak Pudding (12710) Increase the movement speed to it maximum cap.
• Concentrated Golden Syrup Potion (1100005) Recovers 2750HP. (It also scales with your MaxHP so it can heal much more)
• Concentrated Blue Syrup Potion (1100004) Recovers 360HP. (It also scales with your MaxSP so it can recover much more)
• Yggdrasil Berry (607) Restores HP and SP by 100%, has a cooldown of 4 seconds.
• Green Potion (506) Removes the harmful effects: Poison, Silence, Blind, Confuse, Hallucination.
• Concentration Potion (645) Increase Attack Speed by 10%.
• Blue Gemstone (717) Is used on the following skills: Resurrection, Vituperatum, Warp Portal and Safety Wall
• Ancilla (12333) Restores 15% SP on use, Increase Healing skills by 15% and Increase SP Regen by 30% for 60 seconds. (is also used on Epiclesis)
• Holy Water (523) Is used on the following skills: Epiclesis and Aspersio

Note: Be sure to check the duration / cost of each consumable, and choose the one that best fits your playstyle, and the content you'll be running.

Tower of Trials Solo Cardinal

As the party's primary support, your job is to keep everyone alive while ensuring buffs are maintained throughout the run. This means survivability and status immunity are far more important than squeezing out a few extra stats.

Immunities

For a comfortable run, I highly recommend becoming immune to the following status effects:

• Frozen / Marc Card (4105) or [MVP] Bijou Card (4636)
• Confusion / Giearth Card (4087)
• Stun / +9 Neutral Shadow Weapon II (24358) or [MVP] Orc Hero Card (4143)
• Sleep / +9 Insomniac Shadow Shoes II (24353) or Nightmare Terror Egg (9054) at Cordial/Loyal
• Stone Curse / +9 Plasterus Shadow Armor II (24352)
• Silence / +9 Peerless Shadow Armor II (24354)
• Knockback / Maximum Mammoth Shadow Earring (24681) and Maximum Mammoth Shadow Pendant (24682)

Confusion immunity is optional as you can easily remove it with Green Potion (506), but it's a nice quality-of-life improvement since the status can be quite annoying.
Important: To receive the status immunity effects from the recommended Shadow Gear, you'll also need to equip a +9 Stability Shadow Shield (24090). Without it, the immunity effects will not activate.
Note: Plasterus Shadow Armor II (24352) is only recommended for floors featuring Phreeoni, as it provides Stone Curse Immunity for that encounter. Since its usefulness is very situational, I recommend keeping it as a swap piece and equipping it only when you know you'll be fighting a Phreeoni floor.
Note: Maximum Mammoth Shadow Earring (24681) and Maximum Mammoth Shadow Pendant (24682) are extremely useful on floors with Baby Garm and is highly recommended, I'd consider it a must-have if you want to make those floors significantly easier.

Status Requirements

Before entering Tower of Trials, you should make sure your build has comfortable values for:

• 100% Variable Cast Time Reduction
• At least 2 seconds of Fixed Cast Time Reduction
• Good Attack Speed
• As much After Cast Delay Reduction as possible

For most situations, 100% VCT and 2 seconds of FCT are sufficient for your standard support rotation. However, I highly recommend having around 3 seconds of FCT available through gear swaps whenever possible. This makes floors featuring Mandragora's Howling much less frustrating.
A great source of FCT is:

• +11 Helm of Faith (Archbishop) [1] (400189) Enchanted with Magic Essence Lv3 (29073)
• +10 Spell Caster Shadow Earring (24749)
• +10 Spell Caster Shadow Pendant (24750)
• Minor Casting Stone (29154)
• Minor Casting Stone (Dual) (310658)
• Sacrament

ACD & ASPD While they are not as important as VCT and FCT, having around 96% ACD and 193 ASPD makes a noticeable difference in how smooth the class feels, especially when frequently casting Lex Aeterna.
However, depending on your status immunity setup, reaching high amounts of ACD can be difficult, as some Shadow Gear choices may limit your available ACD sources. In these cases, obtaining a Sealed Kiel Card (4480) or [MVP] Kiel Card (4403) becomes one of the most effective ways to reach higher ACD values without sacrificing your necessary immunities.

Recommended Consumables

I recommend bringing:

• Concentrated Golden Syrup Potion (1100005)
• Concentrated Blue Syrup Potion (1100004)
• Blue Gemstone (717) (unless using [MVP] Mistress Card (4132))
• Green Potion (506)
• Yggdrasil Berry (607)
• The One Potion (50035) (or its individual components)
• Holy Armor Scroll (14540) (For Errend)
• Holy Water (523)

Tip: I highly recommend having your DPS players bring Peony Mommy (12813) whenever possible. As it can remove Crystallization from the Cardinal, allowing you to continue supporting the party instead of being locked out of your skills during critical moments.
Adjust the quantities as you please.
Note: In Tower of Trials (ToT), movement speed is fixed, so there is no need to use Guyak Pudding (12710) for movement speed.

General Gameplay

Your primary responsibilities are very straight forward:

• Keep party buffs active.
• Remove status ailments immediately with Lauda Agnus and Lauda Ramus
• Farm AP with either Benedictum or Religio
• Resurrect fallen teammates as quickly as possible with Resurrection, and in case of a possible party wipe Redemptio as it revives everyone on your screen.
• Use Lex Aeterna and Vituperatum whenever your support duties are under control.

Remember that your first priority is always keeping the party alive. Damage buffs should only come after everyone's buffs and survivability have been taken care of. Using the Party Window instead of clicking characters directly can make healing and resurrection much more consistent, especially during chaotic fights.

Party UI Example

Positioning

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-

Note: The first position is specifically recommended for floors with Mimic or Mandragora. Outside of those floors, this positioning is generally unnecessary and you should follow the other positioning guidelines depending on the situation.
Important: These positions are only meant to serve as general references and examples. They are not strict rules that must always be followed. Be ready to adapt your positioning based on the situation, party composition, mechanics, and what is happening during the fight. Being in a different position does not automatically mean you are playing incorrectly.

Single Target Buffs

Apply depending on the player's role.

Melee / Ranged DPS:

• Argutus Telum
• Presens Acies
• Benedictum

Magic DPS:

• Argutus Vita
• Religio

Tank:

• Assumptio
• Religio
• Sacrament (if needed)
• Mediale Votum whenever appropriate

Situational / all

• Sacrament (An Important buff for Mandragora Floors as it helps with Mandragora's Howling)

As you may have noticed, I prefer keeping Melee and Ranged party members close together in my Party UI. This is because both roles buff rotation end with Benedictum, making it much easier to maintain a consistent and efficient skill rotation without wasting time searching for targets.
Tip: If your support duties are under control and you have some extra time, consider using Sacrament on the AM (Arch Mage). This can be especially helpful for Climax, as it has a 4-second Fixed Cast Time

Special Floors

At the start of each floor a new trial is chosen at random.

Trial	Effect
Normality	No additional effect
Life	Portal to the next floor is open. Monsters are stronger
Death	Portal to the next floor is open. Monsters are stronger. On Death, you will be unable to use skills until you reach the next floor. (or leave the instance)
Close Combat	Monsters have 50% reduced hp, and only take damage from melee attacks
Distant Onslaught	Monsters have 50% reduced hp, 20% increased damage, and only take damage from ranged attacks
Spell Casting	Monsters have 50% reduced hp, 20% increased damage, and only take damage from magic attacks
Armageddon	Giant Meteors will fall in a random location. Every Player standing on it will die! Be wary while advancing fowards sometimes you can't see the red AoE.

Mvp's & Clearance

Some MVPs require you to use Clearance during the fight due to specific mechanics or buffs they receive. Knowing when to use Clearance is important, as using it at the wrong time can remove useful effects or waste valuable casting time.
Some MVPs that require Clearance are:

• Atroce
• Beelzebub
• Orc Lord
• Maya
• Evil Snake Lord

Important: When using Clearance on MVPs, you can use @hideplayer to make targeting the MVP easier without accidentally selecting party members. Keep in mind that Clearance is classified as a buff skill, so you need to Shift-click the MVP (Binding @hideplayer to Alt + M can make it significantly easier to acess)
Note: I am still gaining experience with the exact mechanics behind Clearance usage on certain MVPs. As I learn more about the visual cues, timings, and tips that can make these encounters easier, I will continue updating this section with any useful information I find. (If you have any further Mvps that i need to include / tips feel free to reach out at the discord)

Work in Progress

The Endgame Gear, Demon God (Hard), PVU (Poring Village Unreal), And RDW sections are still under development. More updates will be added to the guide as I gain more experience, receive additional feedback and most importantly.. have time to write it all :D

Special Thanks

A huge thanks to Icecold, IceFeather, Chandra, Fuka, Biel, Heppu, Aour and Hurt Locker for helping review this guide, pointing out mistakes, providing recommendations, and sharing valuable insights. Your feedback helped improve the quality and accuracy of this guide, and I really appreciate the time and effort.