Builds/Imperial Guard

Imperial Guard is the 4th job of the Royal Guard (Crusader or Paladin → Royal Guard → Imperial Guard). It is a tough frontline class with a one-handed spear (or sword) and a shield. It can build for physical spear and shield damage, or for holy magic with Cross Rain, and it protects its party along the way.

These builds are advice, based on how skills are calculated on WeeklyRO. They are a good starting point, not the only way to play. Skill formulas can change with server updates. Stat and skill resets are cheap at the Reset Girl, so feel free to experiment.

At a glance

Role	Tank, area damage (physical or holy magic), party protection
Weapons	One-handed spear + shield (best), or one-handed sword + shield
Main stats (3rd job)	STR, DEX, VIT (physical) or INT, DEX, VIT (magic)
Main traits (4th job)	POW or SPL, then STA
Difficulty	Medium

Key 4th-job skills

Some values are marked as unconfirmed in the server code (the POW parts of Imperial Cross and Radiant Spear, and the shield weight/refine part of Shield Shooting) and may change in a future update. All damage skills scale with your base level (×base level/100). Numbers are at max skill level with Spear And Sword Mastery 10.

Skill	Type	What it's for	Scales with
Overslash	Melee, weapon element, needs Attack Stance	Hits a 7×7 area around the target. 3 hits on one enemy, 5 hits if 2–3 enemies are caught, 7 hits if 4 or more	8,600% + 7 per POW, base level
Grand Judgement	Long range, weapon element, spear, needs Attack Stance	7×7 area hit. Costs 15 AP. Gives you Spear Scar for 150 s	15,250% + 10 per POW (+1,600% vs Plant and Insect), base level
Radiant Spear	Long range, weapon element, 1H spear only, needs Attack Stance	2 hits on the target and up to a 7×7 area. Can crit	15,500% + 5 per POW (+2,500% with Spear Scar), base level
Imperial Cross	Melee, weapon element, needs Attack Stance	3 hits on one target	8,650% + 5 per POW (+1,600% with Spear Scar), base level
Shield Shooting	Long range, weapon element, needs a shield	Area hit around the target. Your shield's refine adds 100% per + and its weight adds a little more	18,500% + 10 per POW + 750% per Shield Mastery level, base level
Cross Rain	Magic, Holy, ground	Holy rain on a 9×9 area that hits every 0.3 s for 2.4 s	5,500% (8,000% with Holy Shield) + 7 per SPL per hit, base level
Judgement Cross	Magic, Neutral	Single-target nuke, 4 s cast, costs 10 AP	19,500% + 10 per SPL (+1,500% vs Plant and Insect), base level
Imperial Pressure	Magic, Neutral (Holy in Guard Stance)	Up to 9×9 area around the target	17,500% + 7 per SPL, base level
Attack Stance / Guard Stance	Toggles (only one at a time)	Attack Stance: +3 P.ATK and +3 S.MATK per level, −40 DEF per level. Guard Stance: +DEF but −50 ATK per level	–
Holy Shield	Self buff, needs a shield	+7–15% Holy magic damage and that much less damage from Shadow and Undead attacks	–

Overslash, Grand Judgement and Judgement Cross also get +1% per level of Shield Mastery (if you hold a shield) and Spear And Sword Mastery (if you hold a 1H sword or a spear), so up to +20% more. Spear And Sword Mastery also adds +3 HIT per level and boosts Cross Rain, Imperial Pressure, Radiant Spear and Imperial Cross directly. Shield Mastery adds +3 RES per level with a shield.

Prerequisites: Overslash needs Attack Stance 3 (which needs Spear And Sword Mastery 3). Grand Judgement needs Overslash 5 and Spear And Sword Mastery 5. Radiant Spear needs Overslash 3 and Shield Shooting 3. Holy Shield needs Cross Rain 3 and Shield Mastery 5. Imperial Pressure needs Spear And Sword Mastery 7 and Guard Stance 3. You get about 59 skill points by job 60.

Build: Spear and shield (leveling)

The main leveling build. Use a one-handed spear so every skill works.

Stats: STR 130, DEX 120, VIT 120, INT 80 (for SP), rest AGI or LUK.
Traits: First 60 points: POW (Overslash +7% and Grand Judgement / Shield Shooting +10% per POW). Your job bonus already gives +11 STA, +8 POW, +8 SPL and +6 WIS at job 60, so you are tanky early. Later, POW up to 110, then STA and CON.
Skills to max first: Spear And Sword Mastery 10, Attack Stance 5, Overslash 10, Grand Judgement 10, Shield Mastery 5, Shield Shooting 5, Radiant Spear 10, then Imperial Cross 4 with the last points.
Playing it: Stay in Attack Stance. Use Grand Judgement first so Spear Scar is up, then gather monsters and spam Overslash (0.7 s cooldown, up to 7 hits on big groups) and Radiant Spear. Overslash and Shield Shooting each refill 5 AP, which pays for Grand Judgement. Refine your shield: every + is +100% on Shield Shooting.

Build: Holy magic (Cross Rain)

For players who prefer magic or want a holy damage dealer. Keep a 1H spear or sword and a shield: Holy Shield needs the shield and the masteries add to Judgement Cross.

Stats: INT 130, DEX 120, VIT 120, rest STR or LUK. DEX and INT shorten the 4 s casts.
Traits: First 60 points: SPL (+7–10% ratio per SPL on all three spells). Then STA or WIS for safety. CON later.
Skills to max first: Shield Mastery 5, Cross Rain 10, Holy Shield 5, Spear And Sword Mastery 10, Judgement Cross 10, Guard Stance 3, Imperial Pressure 5, Attack Stance 5. Spare points: Guardian Shield (party barrier).
Playing it: Keep Holy Shield up and drop Cross Rain on groups (8 ticks in 2.4 s). Finish with Imperial Pressure and Judgement Cross. Choose your stance by target: Attack Stance gives +15 S.MATK (+15% magic damage), Guard Stance makes Imperial Pressure Holy, which is better against Shadow and Undead monsters and worse against Holy ones.

Before 4th job (base 99–200)

As a Royal Guard, level with a spear. Over Brand hits 3 times for 350% per level (1,750% at Lv 5) plus 50% per Spear Quicken level, Cannon Spear deals (120% + 1% per STR) per level to the target and the enemies around it, and Banishing Point is a cheap long-range poke (100% per level + 70% per Bash level). All of these scale with base level, and Spear Scar from Grand Judgement will boost Cannon Spear and Banishing Point later. If you plan the magic build, Ray of Genesis (Holy magic, 350% per level + 3% per INT) is your 3rd-job spell.

Tips

Experimenting is cheap: stat reset 5,000z, skill reset 5,000z, both 9,000z at the Reset Girl.
Lost Farm Valley is full of Plant monsters (the Pitayas), and the Library has Bookworms (Insect). Grand Judgement and Judgement Cross get extra damage there.
Holy does 150% to Shadow 2 monsters such as Mutant Twin Caput in Rudus Dungeon 3, but 0% to Holy ones like Spell Addicted Sanare in the 2nd Power Plant. Swap to Attack Stance there so Imperial Pressure turns Neutral. See the Leveling Guide.
Guardian Shield gives party members a barrier and Ultimate Sacrifice can save the party at the cost of your HP; both need Guard Stance.
Two stances can't be on at once: switching to one ends the other.