Choi's Magic and Support Cardinal Guide
Introduction
The main purpose of this guide is to provide information on the gear progression for Magic Damage and Full Support Cardinal Builds. For Magic builds, this guide should be read in tandem with Choi's Guide To Magic which provides more general information about magic classes. However, as the gear and concepts are similar across different builds, this guide should also be helpful for other magic builds. Please feel free to reach out to me (IGN: Choi or Tokki) for any questions or feedback!
Also, I wanted to say thank you to everyone who has helped me, as I learned and continue to learn Cardi!
Notes
Cardinal is one of the most popular Support Builds with very useful supportive abilities and powerful heals. However, it also has strong magic builds and can be used for solo play and farming. It also has a physical build, but I won't be covering that.
This build will have two full sections for Support and Magic. Expand the sections below for more information!
| Full Support | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Full SupportNotesCardinal is one of the most popular support builds in the game, as it provides a plethora of supportive buffs and has strong heals. Additionally, due to Due to it being full support, Cardinal focuses more heavily on stats and bonuses that other classes might not focus as much on. Cardinal is also a pretty flexible build, so you can adjust your build according to what works best for you! Whether you want to be the tankiest cardinal on the server, buff your friends 10 times per second, or have the strongest heal you can have, it's totally up to you. However, here is how I, personally, prioritize my stats:
Relevant Skills
There are other useful abilities, but these are the ones that I use the most often. In general, playing Cardinal may feel like playing the piano with all the keys you will press! Stats and TraitsGenerally, Stats should be based on what best suits you. As such, I won't provide my exact Stat distribution, as you should update yours accordingly. Instead, I'll provide my priority and the benefits of each Stat:
Traits are additional stats that provide bonuses for fourth classes. Traits are bit more straightforward:
Gear ProgressionMadame Celery's Guide to MuhRO has a very useful section for Gear Progression and Useful Cards, so please check that out! The information I will provide for Gear Progression will be more specific to Full Support Cardinal. It may be tempting starting out to want to rush your end-game gear. However, I do not recommend doing this and instead recommend improving your gear gradually, so you can farm more effectively. Phase EdenAt Level 100, you can talk with Labraham and Louis at @go Eden to get your Advanced Paradise Gear. These gears will require Phase OneMoving forward, your main priority is to see where you can reduce your fixed cast time, and your second priority will be increasing your tankiness. At Level 150, you can start using
Phase TwoPhase Two is a very serviceable and budget-friendly build, and this is the build that I would recommend for players who are just making an alt cardi. With Phase Two, you should be very comfortable with joining public parties to support. Phase ThreeYou should feel overall pretty good with your build after Phase Two. However, there are a lot of ways you can improve your gear greatly. After Phase Three you should feel comfortable tanking the hardest MvPs and dungeons. MiscShadow GearFor more information on Magic Shadow Gear, please check out the Shadow Gear section on the Guide to Magic. Some great options for mixed Blue Shadow Gear are:
Costume Stones and Pets
Cute Pets: CardsYou can find a list of cards to use in my Guide to Magic. Depending on which element you are planning on using with
|
Mediale Votum scaling off the target's HP, Cardinal can work very effectively as a tank. However, as solo farming is the main activity people do and party play is limited, you will have difficulty gearing or leveling, so I don't recommend this as your first class unless you are playing with a group of friends or a guild.
Clementia and the stats you can afford not indexing into damage, I opt for VCT reduction through Stats rather than gear. This means you will want reduction by getting your ((Dex x 2) + INT) = 530.
Resurrection has 0 cooldown but 3s After Cast Delay. As such, After Cast Delay Reduction is a stat that I index very highly into.
Dilectio Heal: Mediale requires your team members to be next to you. Dilectio Heal provides a powerful targeted heal in a 7x7 area around the target.
Highness Heal: An incredibly strong single target heal. By default, it has a long 3s cooldown. However, with 
Lex Aeterna: A Targeted debuff that makes the target take double the damage.
Vituperatum: Gives 
Cantocandidus: Provides Increase Agi effect to your whole party. At Max skill level, Cantocandidus provides 19 AGI.
Coluceo Heal: Provides Kyrie Eleison effect to your whole party. At Max skill level, Praefatio blocks 16 hits.
Religio: Gives SPL/WIS/STA to a target.
Benedictum: Gives POW/CRT/CON to a target.
Competentia: Restores HP and SP in an AOE and provides a huge 50 P.ATK and S.ATK buff.
Argutus Vita: Provides a buff to the target that allows them to ignore 25% MRES.
Argutus Telum: Provides a buff to the target that allows them to ignore 25% RES.
Presens Acies: Provides a buff to the target that gives 10 C.Rate.
Offertorium: Self Buff that increases your Healing Power.
Lauda Agnus: Recovers Freezing, Stone Curse, Dark Curse, Frozen, Crystallization, and Burning status effects of all party members and gives a Max HP buff. However, it should be noted that status effects are much rarer in fourth classes.
Lauda Ramus: Recovers Silence, Sleep, Stun Curse, Howling, and Deep Sleep status effects of all party members and gives a critical damage buff. However, it should be noted that status effects are much rarer in fourth classes.
Mild Wind, the cards that you use may be different. However, the focus of the cards below are for a neutral element focus.
| Magic | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
MagicNotesRelevant SkillsTalisman:
EXO:
General:
Supportive:
Generally, if I am playing by myself, Fairy Soul, Talisman of Magician, Talisman of Protection, and Talisman of Five Elements are the main buffs that I provide to myself. If I have the available skill points for Soul of Heaven and Earth, then I will cast that on myself as well. Leveling is a bit difficult for Soul Reaper before reaching Soul Ascetic due to the Soul requirements on skills. As such, I recommend leveling with either
Stats and TraitsGenerally, Stats should be based on what best suits you. As such, I won't provide my exact Stat distribution, as you should update yours accordingly. Instead, I'll provide my priority and the benefits of each Stat:
Traits are additional stats that provide bonuses for fourth classes. Traits are bit more straightforward:
Gear ProgressionMadame Celery's Guide to MuhRO has a very useful section for Gear Progression and Useful Cards, so please check that out! The information I will provide for Gear Progression will be more specific to Magic Damage Classes, particularly EXO and Talisman Soul Ascetics. As you read through, you can look at the Magic Gear Progression Table on my Guide to Magic. This table will have links that will guide you to the relevant pages. It may be tempting starting out to want to rush your end-game gear. However, I do not recommend doing this and instead recommend improving your gear gradually, so you can farm more effectively. Phase EdenAt Level 100, you can talk with Labraham and Louis at @go Eden to get your Advanced Paradise Gear. These gears will require Phase OneMoving forward, your main priority is to see where you can reduce your fixed cast time, and your second priority will be increasing your damage output (for now). At Level 150, you can start using
Zeny Tip: Illusion of Underwater 2 and Illusion of Labyrinth are great places to farm zeny starting out, and you'll be able to get Phase Two1.5s Fixed Cast Reduction is what you need. If you haven't already, your focus will be on getting The Brilliant/ Sinful Sapphire Accessory Pairs give a good amount of damage and provide .2s and .3s FCT reduction respectively. With the Between the The Vesper Headgear is time-gated, requiring mysterious ores from a 24hr cooldown instance. You can try to farm these if you would like or buy these from a vendor. In terms of Priority:
Zeny Tip: Thanatos 11 and 12 are great places to farm at this point and in general, and you'll be able to farm the materials for your accessories. Phase ThreeYou can sit pretty comfortably on the Phase Two gears for a while. The best spots to upgrade are probably the Garment and Shoes if you're still on Grace. Now would be a good time to start farming your Shadow gear as well! Dim Glacier Weapons are a great place to start dipping your toes into the painful world of item grading! Luckily, the To craft the
Zeny Tip: You should be able to farm comfortably at Clock Tower Basement and Niflheim 2 now, and they'll provide a lot of great end-game material as well. As mentioned, now would be a great time to work on your shadow gear, as both those maps provide Phase FourWe're almost at End Game. Time to make some of the tougher gears. You can skip to Phase Five if you think you can comfortably get the Equipment from Constellation Tower (Hard), Alice Twisted Madness (Hard) and Depth 1 and 2. For Talisman Builds, the Time Dimension Combo will be the biggest upgrade for the build, and you will be dropping Vesper Helm for the TD Crown. However, Depth 2 is a very difficult map, so you won't be able to farm there until Phase 5. That being said, feel free to Grade and upgrade your Vesper Helm or keep it at +9 or +12 or continue to use the Survival Circlet-LT until you can get to the TD Combo. For EXO Builds, you will continue to use the Vesper Helm, so you will want to Grade and Enhance it. Phase FiveAKA the final phase. Phase Five revolves around the gear you get from Constellation Tower, Alice Twisted Madness, and Biosphere Depths and Depths 2. The Enchants on the Stellar Spell Seal provide a large boost in VCT reduction that you'll need after losing the Convertible Magical Wing and Wolf Robe. I don't recommend switching out of the Convertible Magical Wing until you get the Stellar Spell Seal fully enchanted and upgraded. The The Items from Alice Twisted Madness can provide S.Matk and Magic Damage with Element or provide a lot of VCT Reduction. You should get enchants according to the amount of VCT reduction you need for your build. For pure damage,
MiscShadow GearFor more information on Magic Shadow Gear, please check out the Shadow Gear section on the Guide to Magic. Some great options for mixed Blue Shadow Gear are:
Costume Stones and Pets
Cute Pets: CardsYou can find a list of cards to use in my Guide to Magic. Depending on which element you are planning on using with
|
Talisman of Black Tortoise: Your main ability while leveling. It provides good damage and a large 11x11 ground targeted AOE.
Talisman of White Tiger: Has a huge 15x15 AOE around the caster but provides significantly less damage than Black Tortoise. However, it is super useful for farming and once you get your Time Dimension Combo, every time you cast White Tiger, you will auto-cast Black Tortoise.
Circle of Directions and Elementals: A powerful ability but its main benefit is that it activates the Blessing of the Four Directions which provides a very significant buff to all of your Talisman Skills. To activate it, you cast Blue Dragon -> White Tiger -> Red Phoenix -> Black Tortoise -> Circle of Direction and Elementals. It's confusing at first, but you'll quickly get the hang of it!
Talisman of Red Phoenix and 
Talisman of Blue Dragon: While not powerful on their own, the combo becomes very powerful for single targets with the Time Dimension combo that auto-casts Red Phoenix when Blue Dragon is cast.
Exorcism of Malicious Soul: Your main skill in the EXO build. It is very powerful and has a large 13x13 AOE around the caster.
Soul Gathering: Allows the user to collect souls while 
Soul Collect is active. Everytime you use EXO, you will have to cast Soul Gathering, so your combo will be Soul Gathering -> EXO -> Soul Gathering -> EXO, and so on.
Totem of Tutelary: A really useful supportive skill that provides HP and SP in an AOE. However, it also provides a huge buff to EXO when the user is under the Totem of Tutelary effect.
Leap: A movement ability that allows you to leap a decent distance and over terrain.
Tumbling: A self buff that provides a 20% chance of blocking long ranged abilities.
Kaite: Provides a buff that resurrects you when you die. But surely you won't ever die if you follow my guide right?
Kaahi: Provides a buff that trades some of your SP to gain HP whenever you are hit.
Kaute: On the other hand, trades some of your HP to gain SP.
Talisman of Soul Stealing: A damaging ability that also restores some of your SP.
Curse of Wicked Soul: Curses a target making it take increased damage from Shadow element.
Fairy Soul: Provides MATK and VCT% reduction
Talisman of Magician: Provides S.MATK
Talisman of Five Elements: Provides an increase in damage against water, wind, earth, fire, and neutral element
Soul of Heaven and Earth: A party buff that provides a large buff in damage and recovers AP
Talisman of Protection: Provides HP recovery every 3 seconds
Talisman of Warrior: Provides P.ATK
Falcon Soul: Provides ATK and HIT
Golem Soul: Provides DEF and MDEF
Shadow Soul: Provides Critical and ASPD
Soul Unity: A party buff that provides HP recovery every 3 seconds
Espa and 
Eswhoo or 
Curse Explosion and 
Decrease Agility debuff effect.
