Wizard Grind and Zhen

I've decided to do a guide on solo/squad grinding. Why? You might get all the help building your wizard, but once you enter the game you get lost thinking of what's the best way to level up. So here I am to aid you. Choosing a character to play is only the beginning of your journey in any game. Next comes building your character's stats and leveling up. You can't build your character if you don't level up and get your stats =). So this guide is meant to go hand-in-hand with the other wizard guides.

Solo Grinding

To start off, please don't grind until you are around level 34, because that's when your quests start to slow down. Always complete your quests first (when you are 35 and below), then grind in air/water. When you're able to grind well later on, I always do quests when I'm a few levels higher than them so it's easy (e.g. do a quest given to you at level 40 when you are level 44-46).

When you get to 59+ and have Dragon's Breath, this is when you would want to start your zhen grinding. Solo grinding cannot compare to the amount of EXP you get when you zhen. Though at the start it's costly due to the need for having MP charms. As you get higher in your level, you will kill faster and get more money for the same amount of MP used.

Some Nice Grind Spots

Stated below are the mobs I remember grinding on and never regretted. Obviously what you grind on depends on your level, build, and equipment.

Vipion Leaper (level 35) (wood) <254,464>

Wimple/Bloody Goldwing (level 36/37) (wood) <626,727>

Big Mouth Piranha (level 39) (water)

Loft Pterosaur (level 40) (metal) <612,826><627,869> <--- Good exp, easy kill

Vampiric Thresher Lord (level 40) (water) <674,835>

Native Vipion (level 41) (wood) <379,781>

Ramshackle Roc (level 48) (metal) <154,557>

Ramshacks hit you more, you hit them more too using fire, have good drops and EXP.

Vipion Sentinel (level 50) (wood) (Above Skull mountain)

Blood Thirsty Shark (level 52) (water) <598,976> <-- Love these as they are easy to kill

Terrestrial Foxwing (level 55) (fire) <663,995> <-- Love these too

Bloodthirsty Shark King (level 55) (water) <701,848>

Ultrafin Protector (level 58) (water) <712,731><721,773>

Foxwing Supreme (level 60) (fire) <435,377><500,347> <-- LOVE THESE THE MOST! Spent so much time on it with Martial Arts Scrolls.

Pyrofiend Immolant (level 67) (water) <546,473> <-- Ground mob!

Wretched Hydrolace (level 67) (water) <546,465> <-- Ground mob! Beside Pyrofiend Immolant

Minion of Alucard (level 68) (water) <566,475> <-- Recommend this more than Wretched Hydrolace. (Hurts more, but more EXP!!! Much more in 1 hour grind)

I only did wood at 30s - early 40s, if I remember right. I didn't really like them as we don't have elemental advantage over them (metal, clerics love em). Beyond level 44 just stick to water/fire.

NOTE: These are just some examples. There are plenty of other mobs you can grind on.

Advice for Solo Grinding

1. Max Earth Shield first, and perhaps you should have around level 7 water and fire by the time you hit Foxwing Supremes. Well for me I had level 9 earth, level 5 water, and level 9 fire or something like that.

2. Max both earth skills. Some say you don't need to max Stone Rain, but what the heck? It's so easy to get spirit points later on. I'd rather quickly level now and then try to farm spirit points. And you can get spirit points later easily once you hit 60s and start doing lots of zhen grinding. Ultimately you can max all skills so just do what is needed to level for now.

3. For me, I didn't even add 1 point to Divine Pyrogram until level 70 because I feel it only helped me much in Sutra, and my Pyrogram was like level 5 (why my Pyrogram was at only level 5 is because it's only needed to do that little hit of finishing a mob off). Instead I used more like GS>SS>Gush>SR. Still, feel free to add the Pyro family if you want advantage over metal mobs, but I prefer to suffer there a bit, and excel on my grinding. Because we will only need metal mobs for quests? And there are so few metal mobs after Lofty Pterosaur that gives really good EXP. Also, if I can I squad people when I'm questing. Even if you can't find a squad, your SS and SR deals very decent damage.

4. Gush, that's obvious you have to max it; it's so good in PvE and PvP. Glacial Embrace, max it too. Should be your opening skill for most mobs (especially Foxwing Supremes). Like I said, you'd be grinding on Supremes a lot, so just do a GE -> SS-> Gush-> SS. Yes, you have to use 3 hard Nukes, but the EXP is worth it. I got to level 70 in 2 months 3 weeks and I'm working too! Of course I zhen in my 60s too but thats a whole different story. So you should know how helpful these Foxwings are (I'll always remember them).

5. Please do learn Apothecary skills. Get Life/Focus Powder, it increases mana/HP recovery rate by 50 per sec over 10 min. Saved me a lot on pots. You imagine how many pots are saved when you kill over 10,000,000 mobs throughout your grinding career.

6. Buy Martial Arts Scrolls if you can and use them while grinding. They will grant a significant boost to your experience rate.

7. Now for your equipment, I'll try to explain it clearly. When you grind Foxing Supremes (fire), try to get your arcane robes with single/double resistance type, because when you have armor with fewer resistance varieties, the resistance of those remaining will be higher than what you would have on an armor having all the different element resistance.

For example, if a level 50 arcane robe with all elements gives:

690 metal

690 fire

690 water

690 wood

690 earth

Then a level 50 arcane robe with two elements gives:

??? fire

??? metal

Then again a counter argument comes about what if you need to do quests which requires killing mobs of other elements? Now I'll say I always carry two sets of robes. One set is for specific element types, fewer resistance types, but high resistance in the given element(s), and the other set which has all element resistance, but average in all.

So when you grind you use your element focused gear and when you quest you can swap to your general gear. I'm now assuming you've fully upgraded your inventory slots to carry two sets of armor of course =). And it's not expensive to get these two sets because when you grind or quest, you'll definitely come across these kinds of armor. Just be sure to plan what elements you will need in the future, and don't sell it when you come across it. But please note, it's only advisable to have two sets when you're around level 60 and below. Because when you're higher level, there's a need for you to refine and imbue your armor. It's too costly to upgrade two sets.

8. This is a tough one, if you can, try getting cleric buffs in towns near your grind spot =). You'll see the difference! For example, you might need four hits to kill Foxwing Supremes, but with the cleric buff that enhances magic attacks, you'll only need to deal 3 hits, and this could mean that the mob will hit you one less time too. This helps you save time, save pots, and makes you feel good about yourself. For me I have a cleric too, so it was easy.
(NOTE: *Cleric's HP/MP recovery buff overwrites your life/focus powders, so for convenience sake, ask for buffs, then before you hit your mobs, use your powder to overwrite the buff. Powders are better!)

At your level, cleric buffs only last half an hour, so you'll only have time to get a cleric for the 1st half, unless you are lucky enough to find one half way through your grind.

9. Lastly, those mobs stated in the above list are those I've spent my time on. I'm sure somewhere in between there are other mobs. But I only chose water and fire mobs as our earth skills and water skills are amazing. Please do change your mob targets if you feel there are better ones not mentioned and share them with the new people too.

And the way I've played till now, I've never had grinding problems, never been restricted on learning any new skills later on. So just do what you have to do to level fast now. When you've finished your leveling fast, you can take the extra time to catch up on what you've slowed down on (e.g. quests). While others do quests at their current level, you who will be a higher level after grinding first, would be able to finish those quests that were given to you at lower levels easily.

Zhen Grinding

What is zhen ? The word 'zhen' (derived from the Chinese "Zhen Fa") refers to skills/spells that causes damage within a magic/spell circle!!! Anyways, in PWI context zhen grinding refers to AoE grinding. Where a squad can consist of usually up to 5 people max! 2 pullers, 2 DDs, 1 cleric (you seriously don't need more than this).

Best Pullers - Barbarian, BM
DD - Do your best to get 1 wizard, 1 archer (2 wizards is not so good in case mob has Magic Resist)
Cleric - Self explanatory

For me, I never liked two pullers, sucks my EXP. I always look for a barb that is really experienced and does not stop running. And knows the perfect timing as to when to pick the loot. In conclusion when I was level 62-69, I did zhen in a quad squad. At 70> I did trios =).

Pictures of Zhen Setup

1. This shows 5-man squad and their positions, if you look carefully, our archer Whitney is standing beside Muii (cleric) inside the BB. And the 2 wizards are spread out with the two circles touching each other. Wizards shouldn't stand too close to each other as to let our range spread further. Left-click photo to zoom in! 5-man zhen squad

2. This shows 4-man squad (archer, wizard, barb, and cleric) We are all standing together, so that's her position =) 4-man zhen squad

3. As for 3-man squad (wizard, barb, and cleric), well, just take out the archer LOL!

Zhen Locations

At your low 60s I can suggest 2 good spots:
1. Around Sanctuary (South) (Seaweed Thief : level 72)
2. Nightscream Island (South Region) (Pirate Minions : level 76)

At your higher 60s:
1. Nightscream Island (North Region) (Chief Assassin : level 80 )

At level 70 Onwards:
1. East of Cave of Sadistic Glee (Rockenwolf : level 84)
(Rockenwolves can be done in trio squad: 1 puller, 1 cleric, and 1 wizard. But please do have at least 3k HP, TT70 +3 or higher, and at least level 6 DB.)

2. Southern Part of Boundless Grasslands ( Spiders : level 8X )
( Spiders hit harder than wolves, but good EXP too! Should be done in 4-man squad: 1 puller, 1 cleric, 1 wizard, and 1 archer. <-- You can try trio if can get 3.4k HP unbuffed and +6-7 TT weapon with flawless sapphire.)

3. Heaven/Hell (level 89+)

Some Basic Requirements

1. Please do have at both HP/MP Charm (preferably gold or platinum) before you zhen. Having your Dragon's Breath turned on continuously for 1 hour is gonna be mana consuming and spamming pots isn't usually as economical or easy. Just let your MP Charm tick, but please don't go AFK during your zhen unless you have been grinding at that spot and you are confident you can handle all the mobs easily without dying. Cause if you AFK and die, oh boy, no one's gonna take you for further runs. HP Charms self-explanatory, have this just in case too many mobs are lured and BB's healing isn't enough to keep you alive.

2. Get buffs from cleric/barb/BM, whoever is in your team, whatever buff there is get it before you set up zhen.

Steps to Setting Up Zhen

Setting up will definitely be confusing for beginners, but I'll try my best to explain it! To start zhen, cleric and archer have to have two chi sparks (one for wizard).

1. Many times the spot you want to set up on, have mobs surrounding it. So the puller will have to run in gather all the mobs and run off to anywhere else leaving the wanted spot free.

2. Now comes the confusing part for beginners. Normally when archers use their zhen spell (Barrage) it automatically goes off after the targeted mob dies. But there's a way to keep it running even though target is dead, and that is by having one of the group members duel the archer. And you aren't supposed to actually duel, you are supposed to get killed by the archer's barrage. Once the duel is over, the barrage keeps going because the target is still alive. Also, once barrage is set the archer can't move, same as a wizard using DB.

You should not be standing too far from the archer, because if he steals aggro you would need to be able to hit the mobs that hit him too. The wizard's DB range is a 12m radius, though the animation of the Dragon's Breath is only 6m. This means that what you can see is half of the range you can actually hit the mob at. If you are too close to the archer, he will not be able to survive aggro from the mobs that are on top of him. The archer's barrage range is centered around his dueling partner, so if you are too far away mobs can get stuck hitting the archer out of range of all DD.

All DD should stand about the same distance from each other. In a two-wizard situation, both wizards can stand further apart from each other, such that the circle of your DB's animation touches the circle of the other DB's animation since the range of DB is about twice the animation. The archers animation is a little smaller radius, so if your circle doesn't touch his it's OK.

3. Cleric then goes to the spot and turns on BB ("Blue Bubble", the nickname for Regeneration Aura, the continuous area heal skill).

4. Scroll and pull.

Thats it for setting up.