Thunder and Rain HN Luxury Sub-Guide by Sophie/Joan
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Introduction
<page under construction (last update 10 Dec 2025)>
Hello I'm Sophie/Joan (Guide Start Date: 10/Dec/2025). You would often see me playing in D1/D2/LoF/ToT/Mjol/Bio_Temple with my Hyper Novice char R.ClickToRename261960 or with characters of other jobs. Feel free to hit me up to join my #LFG calls.
This guide is merely what I do on my magic build HN centered around wind elemental 
Jupitel Thunderstorm and water elemental 
Jack Frost Nova but is not optimized (dm me on discord/In-game if you can improve upon it). Making this character have been on my mind for a long time after I got my 
C. God of Thunder (60410) (check it out guys it is very cool). HN are inherently very flexible internally within its build itself. There's different requirements and priorities with depending on the task and challenge and the team composition (e.g. you can go full glasscannon when there is devo in a ToT party and you can go tankier HN build when you are going solo HoL or Poring Village hard in contrast). However the flexibility also comes with inherent disadvantage of the build namely the low HP base, and the shape of the skill tree of which left a lot to be desired (as there's less degree of freedom in the skill tree compared to other classes such as WH and DK which leave many skill points even after you grabbed the vital skills), so I would advice you readers to familiarize yourself with the skill tree min-maxxing and spectrum of niche builds of the HN class.
Scope/For Whom this guide is Intended for
End game luxury of nice to have and fun to do things for those players who have reached end game and have collected most if not all BiS gears or their equivalent or those who skips TDRC and trying around classes after getting their highly refined Yorscalp Headgears. This guide is not intended to be a stand-alone and more of complimentary for other more comprehensive HN guides such as Rakugaki's PvM Hyper Novice (for returning players, y'all can refer to this guide as the continuation of the old meta of Psoron's Magic Hyper Novice Guide). This guide is very subjective and intuitive as I do not provide exact numbers and optimization, but for that case you can find me to test out or experiment with any gears/luxuries that are listed/mentioned within this guide, unless I specifically stated to not have them. In this guide you are assumed to have already worn BiS (Best in Slot) equipment or incomplete BiS (enchanting in progress).
End game optimization problem is that for some people, some gear/enchant/MVP setups suit them better as it touches the specifics of their playing styles, HN build, and consumables consumption patterns (e.g. with 
[MVP] Dark Guardian Kades Card (4580) you will want to use 
Novice Shield [1] (2113) ) and all the elemental proof potions, while making 
[MVP] Golden Thief Bug Card (4128) redundant most of the time while freeing up the precious shield card slot. So we will not assume a narrow-minded stance on this issue and would tolerate a bit lesser or bigger DPS in defining the BiS towards itemization choices, and whatnots and that the BiS designation probably should also consider other aspects beside damage on HN case and as long as things work well (shout out to get the DPS envy immunity people!).
General Overview
Stats&Traits
You will rotate Jupitel Thunderstorm (1.8s CD), Jack Frost Nova (3s CD), and 
Ground Gravitation (5s CD) lets define it as rotational skill and it is the utmost of importance on this build, while 
Napalm Vulcan Strike is a skill spammable by itself and function as some sort of side arms (could be useful to clear weak targets on some farming spots and also act as AA attack types agains plants types).
The actual distribution of stats and traits is more loosely defined (this is not a starter player's guide) but we aim to fulfill these Objectives (by priority):
- Instant Cast (hurt others faster than they can hurt you and also you don't want to be hurt because of the small HP pool)
- <Only For Farming otherwise this can be skipped> One Hit (OH) damage capability.
- <Only For Bossing otherwise this can be skipped> Damage Flow: ASPD (only for 184 for Napalm Vulcan Strike not a concern for the rotational skills), acd% at 40% for Napalm Vulcan Strike and also is not really needed for the rotational skills.
- Survivability, HP pool, damage resistance in general, and/or evasion (HN varies in their modes of survivability which somehow makes the more tankier builds, both HP tank and high resistance tank, and some niche builds like evasion build viable to a degree)
- Curse immunity
- Non-priority niches (carry weight, ASPD, skill rotation spammability)
Stats
- STR - 0-90; Carry weight but you already have inc. weigh skill and can add even more with gym vouchers.
- AGI - 80-130; Allocate some to reach 184 ASPD in case you want to also spam Napalm Vulcan Strike without resetting stats (to farm on certain spots like nif2) otherwise just put minimum amount to be spammy in general. HN in general have ASPD problem but it doesn't really matter as the skill cooldowns are huge as well (all rotational skills are above 1 sec cooldown).
- VIT - 84-130; Put just enough for stun immunity minimum. Can put minimum amount when in a party with devo. Put more when going solo or in a unreliable pub party as HN have small base HP.
- INT - 100-120; SP pool (HN have a little problem on this aspect but not as severe as SA).
- DEX - 0; Not really needed because you want the instant cast to come purely through items.
- LUK - 84-100; For Curse Immunity.
Example (My stats for general play in D1/D2/casual harder maps with pub or solo, fully glasscannon):
- STR - 90
- AGI - 115
- VIT - 120
- INT - 120
- DEX - 2
- LUK - 84
Traits
- SPL - 90-110; Magic Damage
- CON - 90-110; Magic Damage
- WIS/STA - 72-112 total; Evasion/survivability
Core Skills
Buff
Improve Concentration: More Agi is nice
True Sight: Additional Critical Rate
Wind Walk: MS and FLEE rate
Calamity Gale / 
Unlimit: Makes Gale Storm crit (Calamity Gale only) and adds an additional 350% ranged% damage (both)
Magnum Break (optional, from 
Marine Sphere Card (4084) ): 20% fire-elemental bonus damage outside of all other sources. It simply hits above its weight after you have exhausted every other damage% modifier source
Active Skills
Swap Equip: You will want to swap into CB build when Calaminity Gale/Unlimit is not active to recover AP.
Camouflage: Survivability.
Warg Rider: MS and Survivability.
Detect: Useful on some maps like D2.
Crescive Bolt: Your secondary hard hitting skill in case the enemy gets too close and a way to recover AP while still hitting hard.
Gale Storm: Your hard hitter, but is useless without Calamity Gale/Unlimit active.
Gears and Min-Max Technicalities: Calamity Gale Build
About Physical Damage Modifiers for Gale WH Build
The general aim of the min-maxing process (as of Date: 28/Aug/2025) is to equalize these damage modifiers while maximizing their overall multiplicative result. You should be aware of diminishing returns as you adds up a single damage modifier. The contextual reason of the importance on this matter is because of the aforementioned One Hit (OH) Objective, that we want each hit of our Gale Storm damage to be as high as possible (to be clear it is the single instance of the damage, not the DPS).
Listed from most precious to least worthy, type @bs in game to see yours:
- Class%: Hardest and most expensive to get, generally speaking. You will have 30%-85%. Main Sources:
[MVP] Encroached Tan Card (300533) , 
[MVP] Realized Amdarais Card (4602) combo, 
[MVP] Violent Coelacanth Card (4529) , 
[MVP] Snow Angel Card (300473) , Demigod Set, HoL accesories and enchantments, Abysmal Knight Pet. - Enemy_Element%: Rare modifier mostly seen on more modern iterations of items (post 2016), but is less expensive than Class%. You will have around 40%-130%. Main Sources:
[MVP] Boitata Card (27126) -like MVP cards on body slot, Maximum Mammoth Shadow gears, HoL garment 2nd slot enchant, Varmundt Boots 2nd slot enchant, Dimensions/Time Gap Weapons 3rd slot enchant, Jitterbug combo and proc. - Skill%: Quite hard to get as the source is only from TDRC and Dimensions/Time Gap Weapons for Gale Storm skill and is already mandatory. You will have 35%-95%.
- Enemy_Race%: Not very rare but getting the right ones could be costly. You will easily have 70%-200%. Main Sources: [MVP] Boitata Card (27126) -like MVP cards on body slot, HoL accessories and enchantments, various equipment.
- Enemy_Size%: Easy to get and cheap. You will have 45%-170%. Main Sources: Cards on Weapon slots, TDRC, Shadow Gears.
- Res_Ignore%: Only relevant source for now is the Fatal Master Shadow Gears for 20%. The effect is only roughly 5-10% pure damage increase, though it is nice, because it is outside all other modifier calculations.
- Critical%: and other critical related modifier like C.RATE: You will have around 300-550% critical% and 80-140 C.RATE. Main Sources: various for Critical%, Shadow Gear Enchantments for C.RATE
- Other non-critical related modifiers like POW, P.ATK. Main Sources: Shadow Gear enchantments, Varmundt boots/garment 3rd slot enchantments, [MVP] Encroached Tan Card (300533)
- Range%:: We already have a lot thanks to Calamity Gale/Unlimit, so adding on this is generally redundant. You will have above 350%, around 450-550% or above.
Trivia:
- ATK%: this is useless tier damage modifier and should just be ignored for physical build (different case with MATK% of the magical build) unless someone can prove me wrong. Also was tested but not thorough (and I already yeeted the 10% ATK% gambler's seal I'm so sorry)
Gears
Recommended gears (as of Date: 28/Aug/2025):
| Type | Item | Card | Enchants and Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Upper | +12 to +15 [A]  Time Dimensions Rune Crown (Wind Hawk) [1] (400539)
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| Middle |  Gambler's Seal [1] (410233)
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| Lower |  Ace of Diamonds in Mouth (Ranged Physical) (420220) (BiS) and/or  Ace of Clovers in Mouth (Defense) (420269) (Experimental)
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| Armor | +12 to +15 [A]  Nebula Suit of Creative [1] (450172)
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| Weapon | +12 to +15 [A]  Time Gap Wind Bow [2] (700108) and/or +12 to +15 [A]  Dimensions Wind Crossbow [2] (700093)
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| Garment | +12 to +15 [A]  Circulation of Life Winter [1] (480352)
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| Shoes | +12 [A]  Glade Rune Boots [1] (470174) and/or +12 [A]  Ice Rune Boots [1] (470175) and/or +12 [A]  Dim Glacier Boots [1] (470197) (Experimental)
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| Accessory (Right) |  Creative Signet of Star [1] (490135)
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| Accessory (Left) |  Signet of Circulation Winter [1] (490486)
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- Pets:
Abysmal Knight Egg (9132) or 
Mistress Egg (9193) - Shadow Gears:
- Double Maximum Mammoth combo: very strong if not BiS, theoritically explained by the 12% gain in Enemy_Element% modifier. Only wear double with
[MVP] Thanatos Card (4399) otherwise just wear one pair. - Needing full penetration/infinity otherwise wear [MVP] Thanatos Card (4399) for 100% def pierce and
Infinity Shadow Weapon (24386) or 
Infinity Shadow Shield (24733) or Mistress Egg (9193) for ignore weapon size - Otherwise double +10/+10 Bow/Fatal/Sword Master Shadow Gears is not bad, however it will lock you into using Mistress Egg (9193) . There's also possibility of using one set of +10 Bow/Fatal/Sword Master Shadow Gears and
[MVP] Ancient Tao Gunka Card (27294) (Experimental) and then the rest of the shadow gear will be a pair of Maximum Mammoth - With [MVP] Thanatos Card (4399) use +10/+7 Bow/Fatal/Sword Master Shadow Gears instead so the 50% def pierce won't trigger
- Double Maximum Mammoth combo: very strong if not BiS, theoritically explained by the 12% gain in Enemy_Element% modifier. Only wear double with
- Currently not-haves list on this part:
[MVP] Ultra Limacina Card (300377) , [MVP] Boitata Card (27126) ,
[MVP] Gloom Under Night Card (4408) ,
[MVP] Jewgoliant Card (300007) ,
[MVP] Bone Detardeurus Card (300021) ,
[MVP] Gaia Pol Card (300445) ,
[MVP] Broken Thanatos Card (300280)
Gears and Min-Max Technicalities: Crescive Bolt Build (Added by Popular Demand)
Stats&Traits
The actual distribution of stats and traits is more loosely defined (this is not a starter player's guide) but we aim to fulfill these Objectives (by priority):
- Instant Cast (Damage Flow)
- Critical Magic number: I think it is 217 (as of 10 Dec 2025)
- Survivability, HP pool to survive boss mechanism (put it on lowest on priority if you have devo on the team)
- Damage Flow: acd% at around 50% (could be a little less if ur laggy like me, I am standing at 48% just fine), ASPD 183 (or more)
- Non-priority niches (carry weight, Curse immunity)
Stats
Example (My stats when wearing 
[MVP] Yortus Arbiter Card (300530) while ignoring the potential 10 critical bonus at 120 luk):
- STR - 90
- AGI - 90
- VIT - 90
- INT - 113
- DEX - 122
- LUK - 89
other variation stats (adjusting my luk to 120 for the bonus critical, pending because I haven't actually needed to do this to pass the critical magic number):
- STR -
- AGI -
- VIT -
- INT -
- DEX -
- LUK - 120
Traits
- POW - 90-110; Damage (non-crit related)
- CRT - 90-110; Damage (crit related)
- CON - 72; Little more damage and evasion/survivability, otherwise can be put into WIS or STA (so far no content needs it though)
- WIS - as needed (more important at bossing in contrast to Gale build's OH farming)
- STA - as needed (more important at bossing in contrast to Gale build's OH farming)
About Physical Damage Modifiers for Crescive Bolt Build
The general aim of the min-maxing process (as of Date: 10/Dec/2025) is to equalize these damage modifiers while maximizing their overall multiplicative result. You should be aware of diminishing returns as you adds up a single damage modifier. The contextual discussion of this part will rely heavily on Calamity Gale Build part as the precedent (or as The Standard); if there's any confusion arise please go back and try again to regain the contextual sauce. I was only able to start to talk about this matter as I only completed all the needed gears for the test recently and I also do not provide the guarantee that this setup and version of min-max understanding will provide absolute peak damage but y'all are welcome to bump me to test with stuff listed. TL;DR this part is, beside it is for CB instead of Gale Build, is when we ditch Time Dimensions Rune Crown (Wind Hawk) [1] (400539) for +15[A] 
Yorscalp Crown of Execution [1] (400723) and 
Epesto Walther Megas Card (300595) .
Listed from most precious to least worthy, type @bs in game to see yours:
- Class%: [stays the same] still the hardest and most expensive to get and even slightly harder to get because you will generally want to to go with [MVP] Yortus Arbiter Card (300530) instead of [MVP] Snow Angel Card (300473) (the meta shift will be discussed later). You will have 20%-75%. Main Sources: [MVP] Encroached Tan Card (300533) , [MVP] Realized Amdarais Card (4602) combo, [MVP] Violent Coelacanth Card (4529) , Demigod Set, HoL accesories and enchantments, Abysmal Knight Pet.
- Enemy_Element%: [moves 1 upwards] Rare modifier mostly seen on more modern iterations of items (post 2016), but is less expensive than Class%. You will have around 40%-130%. The reason it moves upwards in the worth list is in the case you will want to use
Gaebolg Boots [1] (470260) or 
Yorscalp Boots [1] (470303) instead of Glade Rune Boots [1] (470174) (the meta shift will be discussed later). Main Sources: [MVP] Boitata Card (27126) -like MVP cards on body slot, Maximum Mammoth Shadow gears, HoL garment 2nd slot enchant, Varmundt Boots 2nd slot enchant, Dimensions/Time Gap Weapons 3rd slot enchant, Jitterbug combo and proc. - Enemy_Size%: [moves 2 upwards] Harder to get now that your weapon slot which is now occupied by Epesto Walther Megas Card (300595) . Even harder if the other slot is filled with [MVP] Thanatos Card (4399) . This is where Gaebolg Boots [1] (470260) or Yorscalp Boots [1] (470303) comes into play, while
Crescive Shadow Armor (24912) and 
Crescive Shadow Shoes (24913) gives a little. You will have around 45%-140%. Main Sources: Cards on Weapon slots, Shadow Gears. - Skill%: [moves 1 downwards] For Crescive Bolt it is easier thanks to the Episode 21 Heroes cards and Yorscalp Crown combo. You will have 160% at +15[A] Yorscalp Crown of Execution [1] (400723) and Epesto Walther Megas Card (300595) and even more with Crescive Shadow Armor (24912) and Crescive Shadow Shoes (24913) .
- Enemy_Race%: [moves 1 downwards] Not very rare but getting the right ones could be costly. You will easily have 70%-200%. Main Sources: [MVP] Boitata Card (27126) -like MVP cards on body slot, HoL accessories and enchantments, various equipment.
- Res_Ignore%: The effect is roughly 5-10% pure damage increase every 20% res ignore, though it is nice, because it is outside all other modifier calculations. We have more now that we use Yorscalp Crown of Execution [1] (400723) and that Crescive Shadow Armor (24912) and Crescive Shadow Shoes (24913) you could pair them with
Fatal Master Shadow Earring (1270015) and 
Fatal Master Shadow Pendant (1270016) for even more Res_Ignore% from the latter. - Critical%: and other critical related modifier like C.RATE: You will have around 200-450% critical% and 80-140 C.RATE. We suffer here on mainly on critical and critical% as we do not use Time Dimensions Rune Crown (Wind Hawk) [1] (400539) anymore and that
Acute Jewel Lv5 (312753) is big on critical and critical%. I think this is the primary reason for the meta shift. In my case I only have around 175 critical without [MVP] Yortus Arbiter Card (300530) , that is most likely the reason of the sudden high demand as people realized this problem. Main Sources: various for Critical%, Shadow Gear Enchantments for C.RATE - Other non-critical related modifiers like POW, P.ATK. Main Sources: Shadow Gear enchantments, Varmundt boots/garment 3rd slot enchantments, [MVP] Encroached Tan Card (300533)
- Range%:: We already have a lot thanks to Calamity Gale/Unlimit, so adding on this is generally redundant. You will have above 350%, around 450-550% or above.
Trivia:
- ATK%: this is useless tier damage modifier and should just be ignored for physical build.
Gears
Recommended gears (as of Date: 10/Dec/2025):
| Type | Item | Card | Enchants and Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Upper | +15 [A] Yorscalp Crown of Execution [1] (400723)
|
|
|
| Middle | Gambler's Seal [1] (410233)
|
|
|
| Lower | Ace of Diamonds in Mouth (Ranged Physical) (420220) (BiS) and/or Ace of Clovers in Mouth (Defense) (420269) (Experimental)
|
| |
| Armor | +12 to +15 [A] Nebula Suit of Creative [1] (450172)
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| Weapon | +12 to +15 [A] Dimensions Wind Crossbow [2] (700093)
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| Garment | +12 to +15 [A] Circulation of Life Winter [1] (480352)
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| Shoes | +12 [A] Glade Rune Boots [1] (470174) (old BiS) and/or +12 [A] Gaebolg Boots [1] (470260) (Experimental) and/or +12 [A] Yorscalp Boots [1] (470303) (BiS)
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| Accessory (Right) | Creative Signet of Star [1] (490135)
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| Accessory (Left) | Signet of Circulation Winter [1] (490486)
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- Pets: Abysmal Knight Egg (9132) or Mistress Egg (9193)
- Shadow Gears:
- Double Maximum Mammoth combo: very strong, theoritically explained by the 12% gain in Enemy_Element% modifier. Only wear double with [MVP] Thanatos Card (4399) otherwise just wear one pair.
- Needing full penetration/infinity otherwise wear [MVP] Thanatos Card (4399) for 100% def pierce and Infinity Shadow Weapon (24386) or Infinity Shadow Shield (24733) or Mistress Egg (9193) for ignore weapon size
- Otherwise double +10/+10 Bow/Fatal/Sword Master Shadow Gears is not bad, however it will lock you into using Mistress Egg (9193) . There's also possibility of using one set of +10 Bow/Fatal/Sword Master Shadow Gears and [MVP] Ancient Tao Gunka Card (27294) (Experimental) and then the rest of the shadow gear will be a pair of Maximum Mammoth
- With [MVP] Thanatos Card (4399) use +10/+7 Bow/Fatal/Sword Master Shadow Gears instead so the 50% def pierce won't trigger
- Crescive Shadow Armor (24912) and Crescive Shadow Shoes (24913) most likely becoming the new BiS, but unconfirmed (10 Dec 2025) because I have yet to test it myself.
- Double Maximum Mammoth combo: very strong, theoritically explained by the 12% gain in Enemy_Element% modifier. Only wear double with
- Currently not-haves list on this part: [MVP] Ultra Limacina Card (300377) , [MVP] Boitata Card (27126) , [MVP] Gloom Under Night Card (4408) , [MVP] Jewgoliant Card (300007) , [MVP] Bone Detardeurus Card (300021) , [MVP] Gaia Pol Card (300445) , [MVP] Broken Thanatos Card (300280) , Crescive Shadow Armor (24912) , Crescive Shadow Shoes (24913)
Sophie's Industrious Alts Mass Production Recommendation (WH)
Not going to be your typical leveling guide, because this approach will prioritize:
- Enable sharing non-core Equipment among characters of different classes Alts Mass Production (coming soon) as much as possible, while only core items for WH will be highlighted on this guide.
- Monotonous, but will be predictable. Important because this leveling is a not chill routine, but more like 30 minutes of triathlons
- Not cost conscious, though time and stress speaking it is worth it if you plan to make more than, say, 10-15 characters of various jobs (just switch out the core item) each reaching lvl 250. I will explicitly say it here that basically you are investing in multiples of low level gears, which cumulatively in total may worth up to hundreds of millions zeny just to save time around 30 minutes to 2h per character creation and leveling up to lvl 250. Only do this when you're theoretically losing more potential value from that farming hours loss.
Undergoing Assumptions:
- Exp Event ongoing and you use the
Novice Battle Manual (7803) (very important for efficiency). When Novice Battle Manual (7803) expires you will use 
HE Battle Manual (12411) or 
Core Battle Manual (100351) - You spend on episode ticket 16, 17.1, and 17.2.
- You are using Guyak Pudding(very important), Eden Food buff separately /
The One Potion (50035) / or at the very least 
Brilliant Protection Scroll (23204) . Teleport items, infinite fly wing, fly wing, or creamy card is mandatory. - Is leveling up single character only per attempt (different methods might be needed for mass leveling multiple chars). And that you One Hit or Two Hit most if not all mobs listed on all maps on the Steps part.
- You have done your research, mastered the basic (I leave it to your wisdom to decide which level range you want which non-core equipment will be worn and what equipment you will skip), and that you have invested and plan well for item progressions each level range, e.g.:
- +9/+11
Drooping Thanatos's Dolor [1] (400023) combo with 
Thanatos' Necklace (490099) or its derivatives (red/blue but not really recommended unless you need HP/SP leech early and you don't need acd% this early) starting at level 1. - Temporal boots and manteaus for level 100 and up.
- Illusions set starting at level 120/130 up to 150/160.
- Convertible wings/Celine Set/Automatic/FWM/EDDA set starting at level 150/160/170.
- Grey Wolf set starting at level 190.
- MVP equips (e.g. +9[C] or +11[C] PCC is nice)/Good and Evil set starting at level 200/205.
- Varmundts pieces (e.g. +9[C] or +11[C] DRM is nice)/Glacier set starting at level 230.
- +9/+11
- Other methods out there might be more efficient and effective than mine, I just don't know it yet so be adaptable and don't treat this guide as if written in stone. Mine is expected to reach level 230-250 in around 30 min, and 250 in around to 1-2h depending on your performance and investment level.
Non-core Equipment and Secondary Skills (passives, buffs, debuffs) will not be specifically named on the phases below (this is not a newbie guide), you will just have to do the best with what you currently possess. Though result may vary if your non-core equipment are far too weaker compared to the original assumption.
Phase 1: lvl 1 to post-Rebirth lvl 100
Primary Skill: 
Arrow Shower
Core item:
Bow [4] (1702) with 4x 
Polluted Wander Man Card (27361)
Steps:
1. Payon Dungeon + Eden Quest, don't claim yet.
2. Orc Dungeon + Eden Quest, don't claim yet.
3. Amatsu Dungeon + Eden Quest, don't claim yet.
4. Keep hitting either Orc Dungeon 2 mobs or the kill Novus outside Abyss Lake (is also Eden Quest) until Rebirth.
5. Rebirth and kill mobs on Payon Dungeon until you change class into high archer, then start to claim Eden Quests as you progress.
6. Repeat Step 2, 3, and 4 and accumulate claimable Eden Quests but do not claim yet until job change to Job 3.
Phase 2: lvl 100 Job 3 to lvl 200
Primary Skill: 
Arrow Storm (AS)-> Aim to reduce 0.3 seconds fixed casting time. Ignis cap + virtual bow combo eliminates the skill cooldown making it very spammable.
Core item:
- +9~+11
Big Crossbow [2] (18110) with 2x Polluted Wander Man Card (27361) at lvl 100. - +9~+11
Ignis Cap [1] (400022) and +9~+11 
Virtual Bow-OS [2] (18178) with 2x Polluted Wander Man Card (27361) at lvl 130. Recommended setup is either +11 Ignis Cap [1] (400022) combined with cheaper 
Minor Casting Stone (Dual) (1000521) or +9 Ignis Cap [1] (400022) combined with more expensive 
Variable Casting Time Stone (Dual) (1000522) . Or source the fixed cast time reduction from other items such as Illusion Sprint Mail + Shoes Set combo at +22 total refinement. - +9~+11
Ignis Cap-LT [1] (400266) (upgrade hammer exist) with 2x 
Virtual Bow-OSAD [2] (700054) or Yormi-Scalleg combo at lvl 170. Economically not really recommended though because the gain is miniscule to unreformed version but gain is a gain and there's no other better bows until Gale Storm is spammable reliably.
Steps:
1. Claim previously stacked Eden Quests.
2. Do and claim Illusion of Moonlight until lvl 150.
3. Do and claim Illusion of Teddy Bear until you are strong enough for Illusion of Twins.
4. Do and claim Illusion of Twins until lvl 190.
5. Do and claim Varmundt's Powerplant2 until job 4. Should be viable if your AS is strong and spammable enough, otherwise just do Illusion of Twins until you get into job 4.
6. (optional, credit to Mango's guide Mango's guide to leveling and farming with SA) ) At lvl 180 do Thanatos Fragments quest from Daily Hunts NPC, buy 10 each of these 
Fragment of Agony (7436) , 
Fragment of Misery (7437) , 
Fragment of Hatred (7438) and 
Fragment of Despair (7439) .
Phase 3: Job 4 lvl 200 to 250 and beyond
Primary Skill: Arrow Storm (early levels), Gale Storm
Core item: 
Temporal Circlet (Ranger) [1] (19484) with acute and +9 
Glacier Bow (700052) fully enchanted at level 230. Get one with 1st slot enchant Gale Storm if you can. Other enchantments could be double elements and physical(ATK).
Steps:
1. Do and claim Powerplant 2 until you are lvl 230. The Eden coin side farming is nice.
2. Do and claim Amiticia 2 until you are 240.
3. Do and claim either Biosphere Glade (if you can OH the Pegasus and all the other mobs) or Biosphere Death (still have to OH all mobs). Otherwise do nif2 as you are farming while leveling up (will be slower).
4. You are at maximum power at lvl 250 able to wield any equipment (e.g. your main character's best equipment). D1 or D2 runs would be great at this point provided you are in a good company. Otherwise solo is only recommended if you know what you are doing.
Glossary
- BiS: Best in Slot, refers to items/cards that are considered the best according to the ongoing meta. May be subject to change, that is why I put emphasize on dates whenever the term BiS is mentioned on that part.
- Old BiS: Old Best in Slot, was the BiS on previous meta. Some have the potential to be BiS again in the future (e.g. Bio5 MVP Ranger Shecil card in the case future Job 4 Wind Hawk Bio MVP cards will give strong combo bonus), so they are generally still top tier recommended items, though not to die for.
- Experimental: Strong items that could possibly be BiS on some setups, but are not widely accepted as the BiS and still need a lot of testing and discussion for it to be universally designated as BiS. Or items that are situationally considerably better than BiS or offering niches that are considered worth trading with the boons gained from the BiS items depending on your personal playing style.
- Damage Flow: Your continuous stream of damage flowing through, it is considered good if you have only skill unique CD as your bottleneck. If your bottleneck is anything else (could be your non-instacast, your ASPD, your aftercast delay,etc) it means your damage flow is not good and you will have to improve upon that. If your bottleneck is PC power or connection (like me) well then it's too bad can't do anything about that but also it means you can be more relaxed and be a bit below theoretical values on some aspects like your acd% reduction.
Acknowledgements
- Special Thanks to Tmisn for editing and proofreading.
- Discussions and demonstrations from Various Masters (ain't namedropping y'all but you know who you are) mostly but not limited to #archer, #swordsman, and #mage class channels of MuhRo Discord that have educated me on so many things regarding this class beyond general guides.
- Hurt Locker's Wind Hawk Guide character picture format was used for character picture formatting of this guide.
- Goldie's EM Guide Endgame part table format was used for gears part formatting of this guide.
- Credit to Yanalicious for personally contacting me and pointing out that on Creative Signet of Star [1] (490135) the double
Star of Master Archer Lv5 (310701) enchantment was actually the slightly better enchantment than double 
Star of Sharp Lv.5 (310706) enchantment (tested, around 1-2% better). (30/Aug/2025)