Hybrid Spearman Guide

(somewhat out of date, feel free to update)

Why go hybrid? Being a hybrid allows you to maximize the amount of damage you can inflict using the third job skills Crusher and Fury. A disadvantage is that you need to change between weapons in order to use each skill. A pure Dragon Knight can use both skills without changing weapons, but one of these skills will be less powerful.

Some comments on DEX and Weapons. Your DEX should be capped somewhere between 60 and 70. Much to your annoyance you'll probably struggle to hit monsters that Mages and Sins can hit with
ease. At level 35 you'll probably want to get a Blue or Dark Crusader Chainmail and scroll it with 100% DEX scrolls. Stick with this for a while. Get some sniper pills, which add 10 accuracy. At level 43 get your hands on a Maple Scorpio. This will add 30 accuracy, which makes your life much easier. Try to get a well scrolled one, because you'll probably end up using it until level 70.

First Job Skills

Spears hit harder when stabbing. Pole Arms hit harder when slashing. Since two thirds of your attacks will slashes, you are better off using a Pole Arm for the first and second job. Furthermore, the range of the slash is a little better; you can jump and hit enemies on platforms above you. For the first and second job use a Pole Arm.

I assigned Skill Points in the following order:

(5) Improving HP Recovery
(10) Improving MaxHP Increase
(20) Slash Blast
(20) Power Strike
(5) Improving HP Recovery
(1) Endure

The order in which you max Power Strike and Slash Blast doesn't really mater. In fact I raised them both at the same time, just to add some variety. To level quickly it is advisable to raise Slash Blast first. Some guides advice you not to max Slash Blast. They are wrong!

With regards to Improving HP Recovery and Endure, these are a waste of time. You shouldn't be waiting around for your HP to recover, you should be spamming pots like madman to maximise your
exp. I put 10 points in Improving HP Recovery, however 5 points would have sufficed. Put your chair on a hot key, and you'll recuperate just as quickly. I only put 1 points in Endure, who wants to hang around on ladders recovering HP?

I put no points in Iron Body. This is to some extent superseded by the second job skill Iron Will. Sure, without it out you'll take a beating, but get used to it!

Second Job Skills

I assigned Skill Points in the following order:

(20) Pole Arm Mastery
(30) Hyper Body
(15) Pole Arm Booster
(20) Iron Will
(20) Spear Mastery
(15) Spear Booster

You might want to put points in Pole Arm Booster before Hyper Body. I maxed Hyper Body first as it makes you more attractive to the ladies.

The boosters I didn't max, but this is no problem. It just means you have to refresh them a little more often. In fact I prefer this arrangement, as my booster acts as an early warning system
for Hyper Body expiry. I cast my Booster and Hyper Body simultaneously. These last for 150s and 155s respectively. This means I have an extra 5s warning to refresh my Hyper Body. If you
allow Hyper Body to run down you stand to lose a lot of HP and MP, so you want to avoid this at all costs, especially when you are in a party. I wish I had left my Spear Booster at (15), but in fact I
put it up to (16) to use up the remaining Skill Point.

I maxed Iron Will because it is a party skill. To be honest I don't really notice the effect of it, but maybe it will help you make friends.

I have no points in Final Attack whatsoever. Final attack doesn't work with third job skills, so most hybrids don't bother with it. However, your progress in the second job will be comparatively
slower. Apparently Final Attack can launch you into the midst of larger monsters where you'll take a beating, so this is perhaps another reason to avoid it.

Third Job Skills

Since I'm still new to the third job this section will be brief and incomplete.

In the third job your strongest attack will be Spear Crusher. This skills stabs three enemies three times with an attack strength of 170% (i.e. 510%). A problem you'll encounter with this skill is
a difficultly in knocking back monsters.  For this reason people tend to keep their DEX on the low side. Unfortunately there is no Warrior Overall until level 80, so you'll have to put up with a
DEX deficiency for a few levels.

Most of the guides I have read are somewhat dismissive of that attacking abilities of Fury. For this reason I started putting points in Spear Crusher first. Now I regret that. Unfortunately low level Crusher pretty much sucks, so early on you are better off using Power Strike. The range of Fury is wider than that of Crusher (almost two times larger) and it hits 6 monsters at once. You can kill steal sins! Sweet sweet revenge. Fury is useable from the off and most importantly it is great fun. From level 70-80 you will be levelling on Gryphons or at the Forest of Golem. For these
maps Fury is ideal. Therefore, the point allocation I would advice is as follows:

(20) Dragon Fury: Pole Arm
(30) Spear Crusher
(3) Sacrifice
(?) Dragon Roar
(10) Dragon Fury: Pole Arm

From then on I'm not really sure. I'll update this section as I level.

At level 20 Fury deals 220% damage and at level 30 it deals 250%. Due to the diminishing returns it's probably best to pause at 20 in order to maximize Spear Crusher.

Most of the existing guides recommend you max Dragon Blood early on. However, with the introduction of the Warrior Elixirs, which may be purchased from New Leaf City, this skill is made some what redundant. That is unless you want to save a bit of money. I'd recommend waiting a while before putting points in this skill.

I'm not sure about Dragon Roar, many guides say don't bother with it. They recommend adding a single point, just to show off. It nearly kills you and so it is nearly useless without a cleric. Additionally, there are few maps where you can actually make proper use of this skill, but apparently it is great for killing at pirates. Finally, Dragon Roar should be maximized in order to
complete the guild party quest, so that's what I'm going to do.

With regards to weapons you are best off using a Maple Snowboard to begin with (from level 70). These are pretty cheap and attack faster than the Gold Dragon. There should be some nicely scrolled
ones in the guild that you can use. After that you'll want to switch to a Omega Spear. This will probably be around level 86 or 87. As for clothes just make do until level 80. Then scroll a
Battle Road Overall for DEX.

My 3^rd job skill points are currently assigned as follows:

(30) Dragon Fury: Pole Arm
(30) Spear Crusher
(3) Sacrifice
(30) Dragon Roar
(1) Elemental Resistance

Now I'm a little unsure what to do, so I was going to ask for some  advice. So far I've resisted putting points in Dragon Blood, since warrior elixirs do, at some expense, the same job. I take it Dragon  Blood isn't a party skill, but I hear it stacks with a 4^th job skill. Is this the case? If so, then it's worth getting.

Maxing Blood would leave few points for Elemental Resistance and Power Crash. Guides seem to recommend assigning few points to Power Crash, and spamming it when required.

Some hybrid guides recommend maxing Sacrifice too, so you can do some decent damage to bigger enemies when using a pole arm. I get the feeling points would be better spent on Elemental
Resistance.