Bishop (Gracia Epilogue) guide — Bishop

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Bishop class guide for Lineage 2 Gracia Epilogue: how to get the class, which skills to take, what to wear and where to level.

1 Cardinal - the heart of any party
2 Skills
- 2.1 Skill enchanting
- 2.2 75 class skills
3 Gear
4 Leveling
5 Olympiad
6 Conclusion
7 Class gameplay videos

Cardinal - the heart of any party

If I have the desire and the opportunity, and of course the interest, I'll make a few guides. I'll start with the character who, already from a low level, is the heart of almost any party and whom all smart people always take "to level". That's right - it's the Bishop (Bishop), who after the 3rd class becomes an epic character - the Cardinal (Cardinal). In this guide I'll try to cover most of the main points about this character. Everything said below doesn't claim to be the one true and ideal way to develop the character. Also, everything here is positioned from the perspective of American/European servers, not RuOff, so don't even ask me about the Russian names and other RuOff-related things!

Skills

I'm not covering the skills of Human Mystic and Clerica. Our goal is the Bishop's own skills. I won't go through all the skills, because many are useless or of little use. Many drop off as you level. So I focus only on the needed and positive skills. I also don't mention the books for increasing buff slots; they're learned at levels 40, 61 and 76. The 4th, last buff slot can be obtained for an expensive book from the Olympiad.

40-75

So, already at level 40 we get 2 quite useful skills that will decide the outcome of many PvP fights and battles at later levels (at early levels they're hardly that useful, but nobody cancels them either).

- Greater Battle Heal, Range: 600 Eats shamelessly much MP, but heals very fast, and when someone gets assisted — especially by mages — only this skill lets you heal them in time. But if there's no Elven Elder, or at worst a Shillien Elder, behind you, after a few heals the Bishop will be empty. This is especially noticeable and critical at low levels.
- Mass Resurrection A priceless skill. Resurrects everyone around the Bishop. Must have in any PvP with 3+ dead clan members around :) More than one PvP has been turned around thanks to a well-timed mass resurrection.

At level 44 an extremely useful skill appears that lets a Bishop level like a mage :)

- Inquisitor

After getting this skill, you can go level in any location, preferably with a weakness to Divine (Holy) Magic. The requirement - herbs should drop in the location and/or there should be a buffer/recharger. The self buff Holy Weapon also helps. In Inquisitor, several new skills appear (a holy nuke, a mass skill, surrender to holy attacks, and a regen debuff) + the ability to transform back. A few of the old ones remain, like Celestial Shield, Invocation and the above-mentioned Holy Weapon. Not long ago nukes were heavily nerfed in PvP, so the Bishop became a support again rather than an uber-nuker conqueror :)

PurifyA useful skill - removes almost all kinds of Paralysis and poison/bleed. When you level at top spots like the Chimeras in Hellbound, you'll use this skill after every 2 AoE from the mobs, which they spam almost constantly :)

Among the useful things at level 44 it's also worth mentioning

Restore Life, Range: 600 A skill notable for healing not a fixed amount of HP but a % of the total. So it's especially useful for healing beefy characters — all sorts of dwarves, Destroyers etc. :) At 48, among the useful ones, it's worth noting

Body of AvatarThe equivalent of the Prophet's Bless the Body, but for the whole party. If a similar HP-boosting buff is on, it also heals during the buff (at max level it heals and adds 35% HP).

The next important turn, with a number of new but priceless skills, comes at level 56. It's, so to speak, a turning point where the Bishop's potential as a character and as a healer really starts to open up.

Magical BackfireA priceless skill for PvP and the Olympiad - increases MP consumption by 200% for 1 minute. It's hard to overstate its importance.

Erase, Range: 600 Spends 3 Spirit Ore - an attempt to "erase" an enemy summon. Speaks for itself.

InvocationThe Bishop's main source of MP until there's a recharger. Lowering P. Def. by 90%, it adds 27 to MP regen per tick.

Major Heal, Range: 600 Our main heal, which we'll heal with the whole game. It eats 1 Spirit Ore (so always stock up on a huge amount of it). It costs very little MP (compared to other heals) and works instantly. In short, put it on the key that's easiest and most convenient to press (like F1-F4).

Mana Burn, Range: 600 The second indispensable skill for PvP and the Olympiad. Drains the enemy's MP. And most importantly, it can crit :) By the way, in Interlude there was a funny "bug": with an augment and Valakas the magic critical rate went up to almost 100%, an Elven Elder drained the enemy's MP in 1-2 Mana Burns, and that was it :)

Trance, Range: 600 The equivalent of Sleep. Casts much faster, has a slightly lower success chance and lasts 2 times shorter.

Turn Undead, Range: 900 A lethal against undead. I mention it for a reason.

- - It has several, so to speak, kinds of outcome:
    - Doesn't trigger
    - Triggers partially and the mob runs away (the Fear effect)
    - A lethal triggers
At level 58 we get 2 more very critical skills.

Major Group HealSpends as many as 4 Spirit Ore, but heals the party instantly and thoroughly. Our second constant heal; put it on a convenient key too. Heals everyone in range. Even through walls and even if you can't see the party members. Great for healing from a corner or behind a wall. It does eat a lot of MP on top of the pile of Spirit Ore :)

Mana StormThe equivalent of the single Mana Burn, but mass :) I don't think it needs explaining. The main thing is no unnecessary heroics :)

There are 3 more important skills:

Celestial ShieldFor 10 sec we become COMPLETELY invulnerable. But there are a few buts

- - Any action (drinking a potion, using a skill, hitting someone etc.) removes Celestial'a.
  - You can still be cancelled (buffs removed) by a skill or a hero polearm (Cancel Stick).

BenedictionA rather specific skill, rarely used, but it can help a lot when MP is low. Condition: the Bishop has less than 25% MP. Fully restores the HP of the whole party.

PrayerA useful party buff (basically it should always be on, so don't be stingy with 1 buff slot). At max level 3 it increases the HP restored on party members who have the buff by 12%.

There are no more useful skills after this. All the old ones grow in level and power.

76-83

Well, congratulations — you're a Cardinal. A healer with a capital H. Now almost all roads are open to you (not counting Hellbound; you need level 78 for that :))

- 76 - we get 1 active skill and 3 passives.

Balance LifeThe only active skill, and what a skill - probably the most cheesy one possible for a healer :) For the whole party within range (even without line of sight to party members and even through walls), it equalizes the party's HP by percentage. I.e. if the party has people with different max HP, they'll have the same HP % as other people who have, say, less HP.

Sigil MasteryLets you wear Sigil. When we put on this wonder of the new chronicles, we get the following bonuses:

- - - Healing power increases by 30
    - MP regeneration increases by 17% (!!!)
    - The sigil gives minimal P. Def. and isn't a shield, so it doesn't block hits that could land on a shield. So you don't need buffs for shield block chance or shield defense.

HealthEveryone wants to be healthy? Cardinals too! :) A passive that seems useless. But when you reach level 78 and get to Hellbound, I think you'll change your mind right away :)

- - - Increases defense against poison and bleeding by 20 - Poison and Bleed.

WisdomOur Cardinal can also be wise and resist all kinds of mental attacks well.

Increases defense against Hold, Sleep and other Mental attacks by 20.

Divine ProtectionFor 20 minutes increases defense against Dark by 30 and Divine by 20. In my opinion, a useless skill for a Cardinal. The EE has the same one, and we need to save up a lot of SP for much more useful skills. If you want to learn it, learn all the other skills first; after level 80, SP has nowhere to go anyway, so you can spend it then. But later.

Mass Block ShieldProbably the only useful skill at this level. Since Gracia Final it also removes combined Improved buffs, so you can learn it without fearing it won't remove anything. Lasts 2 minutes, doesn't allow rebuffing the removed or similar buffs while active, and lowers P. Def. by 10%.

Skill MasteryA rather useful passive whose triggering depends on Str. There are 2 different trigger outcomes:

Increases the skill effect's duration 2 times. Instantly "resets" the skill's reuse (for example, an instant Balance reuse :)) Considering that the Cardinal is Human and all the tattoos go into Casting Speed, running speed and HP (i.e. STR is minused), there's not much STR in the end. Again, I advise learning it once the more important skills are learned.

Arcane WisdomAnother skill that, in my opinion, is useless for a Cardinal. Many use it, but I don't see much point in it (except in non-stop healing situations). We spend 50 HP/sec and get 30% clarity and -10% casting speed. Learn it if you like, since you have to remember to turn it on/off :)

CleanseMust have No. 1. Removes ALL debuffs, including roots, P. Def. blocks and so on. It does consume 1 Einhasad's Holy Water, which makes constant use rather costly :)

Divine LoreMust have No. 2. A passive clarity. Without enchanting it gives 5% clarity to everything.

Mass Block Wind WalkThe equivalent of Mass Block Shield; removes all buffs related to movement speed, including Improved buffs like the Elven Elder's Improved Movement. Lowers running speed by 10% and for 2 minutes prevents rebuffing running speed buffs.

Divine PowerFor 15 sec increases healing power by 1k. Roughly speaking, almost 2 times. Useful :)

SalvationA self-resurrection. Doesn't require Noblesse before resurrecting, keeps all buffs and debuffs, but restores all HP/MP. No experience is lost. Consumes 2 Einhasad's Holy Water. A very useful skill. Gives huge freedom of use.

MiracleAt a cost of 150kk SP, learning it right at level 80 is a rather dubious pleasure. It requires 1 Magic Symbol; now, like all Fusion skills, it works without charges and fully restores the HP of the whole clan within the skill's range.

Purification FieldA very useful Fusion skill; it requires 1 Magic Symbol and removes all debuffs from the clan within the skill's range.

EnlightenmentA new overpowered (yes, exactly that) skill in Gracia Final. For 20 sec increases M. Atk. by 10%, healing power by 40%, casting speed by 50%, magic critical rate by 50%, and gives 90% (!) clarity.

Magician's WillAn excellent passive. Gives +5% M. Atk., casting speed, magic crit and clarity. The only problem is that the book is hard to get - it only drops from epics.

Turn to StoneFor 8 seconds turns you into stone (like Dance of Medusa) - you take no damage (but in paralysis you certainly do :)). A fun and peculiar skill. Use it at the right moment, or the whole party will be killed while you're looking at the stars :)

- 82
  - All the books for these skills used to be for level 81, but they have now been moved to level 82.

Protection of AlignmentGives +20 Holy/Dark defense, and if it triggers, gives a lot of M. Def. when you take damage.

Protection of ElementalSame as the previous one, but gives +20 to elemental defense against fire/water/wind/earth.

Protection of RuneGives +15% M. Def. (yes, you heard right :)) and can also trigger, giving even more M. Def. + elemental defense.

Sublime Self-Sacrifice

Another very cheesy, overpowered skill. It used to be at level 81, but it was moved to 83. True, everyone who managed to get the books before the change could/did learn it at 81 :) In peace-zone it works on everyone (including antagonists, NPCs, etc.), except enemies (but in a peace zone it doesn't restore MP for some reason). Outside peace-zone it works on everyone who isn't at war with the Cardinal and is within the skill's range. Restores ALL CP/HP/MP and gives invincibility for 15 seconds. Costs 4 000 HP to cast. Reuse 1 hour. That's the kind of cheat it is :)

Skill enchanting

Below are just tips, names and numbers, without pictures :) Skills of the 3 class, which are much harder to enchant, are in italics.

Passives

Anti MagicEnchant it — the more, the more M. Def. and magic resistance. The M. Def. bonus is a fixed value.

Boost ManaGives a bit of MP; enchant it only if you have spare books and other MP bonuses, so that together they raise your total MP pool for a few more heals.

Fast Spell CastingIncreases cast speed. Definitely enchant it — the passive gives a % increase.

Fast Mana RecoveryOne of the first passives (or its equivalent) that almost any support class should enchant. Already at +1 it greatly increases MP regen per tick. Further enchanting gives incomparably less (the skill at +0 gives 3.4 to MP regen, +1 gives exactly 4, then nothing changes up to +15 - 5 to regen, +30 - 6).

Robe MasteryThere are 2 optimal options — enchant for P. Def. or M. Def. I chose M. Def., since P. Def. is easier to raise, and with the Dynasty set it will be fine anyway. Not so with M. Def. But, as always, it's up to you :)

WisdomEnchants for resistance to: Hold, Sleep and Mental Attacks. I recommend the latter.

HealthSimilarly enchants for resistance to: Poison and Bleed. I recommend resistance to Poison (in Hellbound a Cardinal is left with 1 HP after a couple of ticks of an unnoticed Poison and dies after the very first AoE), although Bleed is more common, especially in PvP (and in the open Olympiad).

Divine LoreTry to enchant it right at level 78 to +1 Power — your passive clarity will become 6% instead of 5%! After that it gets worse: you have to enchant a lot, expensively and repeatedly to raise the % further.

Heals and resurrections

Major HealI recommend enchanting for Cost, since the skill is cheap and will be even cheaper, and healing power can be increased by wearing a sigil, so enchanting for Power is less relevant imho. Besides, the skill level grows regardless of which route you enchant (cost or power).

Major Group HealSame here. Some prefer enchanting for healing power, but the bonus there is rather small.

Greater Battle HealAlso for cost. Although some enchant it for power too. See for yourself: it casts fast, costs a lot and heals decently; the main thing is to remember to release the key, or you can run out of MP very quickly. Sometimes it's easier to resurrect, honestly :)

Restore LifeEnchants for cost and power. It makes sense to enchant the latter, since it restores HP in %.

BenedictionImho pointless to enchant. Though some level it for Bravery to give a bit more CP (around ~30). There's a cost route, but as I mentioned, the skill is used very rarely, so it's pointless.

Mass RessurectionEnchants for cost and for the % restored. I recommend the 2, and people will thank you :)

Buffs

Holy WeaponPointless to enchant. It enchants for time and cost, but it already costs 23 MP, since it's a skill from the Cleric's 1 class :)

Wind WalkSame here. It costs 27 MP, though.

PrayerEnchants for time and cost. I haven't enchanted it yet, but enchanting it a bit for cost won't hurt.

Body of AvatarSame here.

Debuffs and attack skills

TranceEnchant for chance.

EraseEnchants only for cost. Imho pointless, unless you plan to farm the open Olympiad with your Cardinal.

Magical BackfireEnchant for success chance.

Mana BurnEnchant for power.

Mana StormEnchant for power. You can go for cost, but since it'll be used in PvP in a party with a recharger, the 1 matters more.

Turn UndeadEnchant to +1 Attack. Lets you level in the Hero Rift.

Subclass skills

Everyone chooses the intermediate skills for themselves; I preferred M. Def. But the useful ones deserve a closer look.

75 class skills

Boost CP Gives a permanent +738 CP bonus
Counter Barrier When hit, there is a 3% chance to get Celestial Shield for 5 seconds
Counter Defense When hit, there is a chance to increase P. Def. and M. Def. by 20% for 15 sec
Counter Spirit When hit, there is a chance to get, for 15 sec: +7% M. Atk. and P. Atk., +8% casting speed and attack speed (attack speed)
Mana Gain 6% more MP restored by recharge

The other skills don't deserve enough attention to take them or level a subclass to level 75 for them :) Unless you're leveling the subclass for yourself rather than for the skills.

Gear

Sets

C Grade

Demon setIf you plan to level solo (at 44 we get Inquisitor and off we go).

KarmianIf there's a hint of a mini party. And in low-level PvP, casting speed is as vital as air.

B Grade:
- Avadon or BW.
A Grade:
- I recommend Dark Crystal. Some collect Tallum (the same casting speed, the differences are in other bonuses, e.g. Tallum gives a bit of M. Def.), and others **Majestic. But DC is the choice of champions :)
- It's worth enchanting the set thoroughly, because it'll usually stay with you all the way to Dynasty.
S Grade:
- Arcana Set - in my opinion, not a suitable set for a Cardinal at all, but it has a number of advantages. P. Def., carrying weight, stun resistance and, most importantly, you can insert elemental stones. Still, DC >> Arcana. If you manage to get 2 sets - that's simply great.
S80 Grade
- Dynasty Set - the goal and last step for a Cardinal (I'm not counting Vesper :)) - has mostly advantages. It combines the capabilities of DC + Arcana, so must have. And if the party is smart, it gears up the Bishop and EE first, and then everyone else.

Cannon

Anything with SA for Acumen. The more M. Atk., the better. Why? At low levels it's easier to level (we're mages, after all, while not in a party). At high levels, M. Atk. means:
Healing power
- If the weapon is A/S/S80 Grace - PvP bonuses
- Debuff land chance
- The ability to add a PvP option to Top an A/S/S80 weapon and insert the maximum Life Stones with nice passives/bonuses
- Starting from A Grade you can make an Masterwork item with useful bonuses (e.g. Masterwork Flaming Dragon Skull[A] has built-in Clarity. Acumen+Clarity makes a nice combination :))
- The party shouldn't underestimate Bishops and EEs, and should also think about Arcanas for them.
- In general, the weapon list looks like this:
  - Mysterious Sword[Low C], Sword of Homunkulus [C], Sword of Valhalla[ B], ***Wizard's Tears[Top B], Sword of Miracles[A], Flaming Dragon Skull[A], Arcana ***Mace[S], Dynasty Mace[S80], Dynasty Phantom[S80], Icarus Spirit[Top S80], ***Vesper Buster[S84], Vesper Caster[S84].

Other perks

Jewelry So as not to describe everything at length, I'll say that the better and more enchanted the jewelry, the better. I'll dwell in more detail only on the epics.
- Necklace of Valakas - a priceless epic. Damn hard to get and usually goes to mages. But in the hands (or rather on the neck) of a Cardinal, it works wonders. The main thing for the Cardinal is to be geared up (an enchanted Dynasty set, etc.); a couple of Mana Storm and Mana Burn and the PvP is over :)
- Frintezza's Necklace - an order of magnitude easier to get. Useful first of all for skill reuse and resists to almost everything :).
- Earring of Antharas - also a very useful epic for a Cardinal. The main thing is the built-in Clarity effect, which gives 5%. It also provides a seriously strong stun resistance (with enchanted Resist Shock and Frintezza/Zaken/Antharas, a level 79 Cardinal gets stunned roughly 1 out of 25 times +28 by the stun of a level 84 full-epic archer. Verified by me ^^)
- Zaken's Earring- gives decent stun resistance + several other resists to mental attacks. It also increases the HP restored to the Cardinal by heals (not by the Cardinal to others).
- Earring of Orfen - an epic of little use. A cut-down version of Zaken and doesn't give stun resistance.
- Ring of Baium - useful first of all for the casting speed bonus.
- Ring of Queen Ant - an almost useless epic for a Cardinal, but useful for any physical damage dealer (be it an archer or a melee-dd like a dagger).
- Ring of Core - an epic of little use. Better to wear another one or a Over-Enchanted ring.
- Also useful: if you can't get/make Sigil, the Cardinal needs a shield. The better, the better.
- A shirt for CP. Preferably S Grade.

Farm Territory Wars - the goal is to buy and make a belt for Weight Limit. While archers and others can carry a ton, the Cardinal is a frail and weak creature in this respect :)
A bracelet. Preferably at least A grade. It lets you wear a bunch of talismans at once. Talismans are power! Even a basic Low MP Regeneration talisman for 12k in the Aden shop is a boost to MP regen while leveling!

Leveling

Solo
- There are many places to level, and level well. For example, the start of Dragon Valley, then near Aden, then Cemetery, Fields of Massacre, Valley of Saints and Forest of the Dead. An almost classic nuker chain. Focus on places with undead monsters; they're weak to Holy Magic. Having herbs is also quite critical; if there's no buffer, a recharger is desirable.

The real fun starts after level 76 and the ability to enchant skills. First enchant Turn Undead to +1 Attack and... sit down to buy Dimensional Fragments. As soon as we've gathered a pile and a bit more, buy a MOUNTAIN of SO, take any leecher, preferably a useful one, and go duo to the Hero Rift. You can even leave him far from the entrance, and then only 1 person is teleported (the condition for entering the rift is a party, i.e. at least 2 people. But 1 can enter). And off we go leveling with lethals. Nothing faster solo has been invented yet :)

In a party
- In a party it's easier - wherever they take us, that's where we'll level. Usually at low levels these are mini parties that go to x-boosted mobs somewhere in the Catacombs or something like Lair Of Antharas. Closer to the 3 class, Pagan or the ImT is optimal. MoS is also possible, but IMHO it's not the best location for leveling. There's also the option with mages in Forge of Gods; if the mages carry well, the Bishop levels quickly and without much strain from somewhere around level 64 :)

The main leveling spot is of course Hellbound, but for that you need level 78 and to get seasoned in easier places :) By the way, if you have access to HellBound on any class (main/any sub), you can enter there at any level. In a party, leveling a Cardinal becomes much easier when there's a tank. And also if the EE doesn't let the Cardinal fall asleep at the keyboard and can back him up in an emergency.

Olympiad

The Olympiad is a separate story. Only top characters can farm their class, and only classes. The open one is a whole separate story that needs more than one article :)

I'll try to cover the Olympiad from the Cardinal's side, and only partly, since I often watched it but didn't take part (I'm still Mystic Muse for now, but the main <> sub change isn't far off ^^).

In the current reality it's almost impossible to counter enemy Cardinals if you don't have: 81+ level, a charged weapon, an S80 set, an epic and a number of other goodies like talismans, etc. Let's go in order. It used to make sense to gear a Cardinal in Arcana 150 Holy, make a set against Holy and go drain the competitors, but after the damage nerf in PvP (and the Olympiad accordingly), this scheme no longer makes sense.

It makes sense to stuff LSs into the weapon until a nuke goes in, and then load the weapon with the element the inserted nuke belongs to. The nuke should preferably be: Boulder or something like Hydro Blast. Why these? Well, to begin with, Hydro Blast, like several other nukes, is NOT blocked by a shield. Unlike, say, Hurricane or Prominence. Second, if the nuke has a relatively rare element, it's harder to defend against (though on RuOff everything is different because all stones are cheap).

You need a set of weapons that apply positive buffs, like Mental and Bless the Body. The Cardinal and the NPC that gives a choice of buffs before the start have the other buffs.

Next, for Epaulettes, get the needed talismans at a castle/fortress. For example, the UD talisman, Max Clarity, or HP/MP/CP recovery. Usually (in most cases) a fight goes in several stages - trying to land Backfire and Mana Burn. Whoever burns all the opponent's MP first is the boss :) Then just nuke the opponent and get ready for the next match.

Often you know your opponents by sight, so you can take the trouble to prepare a few more sets mixed with defense against different elements. Or coordinate with someone. For example, the EE makes boots with Holy defense, and we make boots with Dark defense. And so on.

It also makes sense to carry several weapons with different nukes. And you can try inserting some active skill into the buff weapon. This will help a lot if you manage to make a good combination. The whole game is a sum of huge and tiny bonuses. Some are measured in tens of percent, others give hundredths to already small values. Nevertheless, whoever gets more in the end is stronger. So any chance to raise each of your stats even a little more is a plus to your chances of winning, both in PvP and at the Olympiad.

Conclusion

I tried to put a lot of information into this guide, but a lot was still left out. I deliberately excluded things like PvP and some others, because covering them would take another article, or maybe even several.

The Cardinal isn't just a character, it's a calling and the heart of any party. These characters have little fun and work a lot for the party. You need strong nerves and calm to play one day after day. Those who leveled on chimeras or in the citadel for 7+ hours straight without a break at a crazy nonstop pace, staring at a column of 9 HP bars and a line of debuffs, when it's night outside and the clock is well past 2, will understand what I mean :)

Class gameplay videos

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D7_SSABvDa8&feature=related http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mFkulBF7T5E