Axeman / Berserker Guide

UPDATED 2009
Old Guide Found Here
Fairyland
Axeman Guide
Version 1.0, 11/11/2005
By Edward Tuttle a.k.a Shadorr
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Table of Contents
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1: Copyright Info
2: Introduction to Axemen
3: Stat Builds
4: Leveling Your Axeman
5: Berserker
6: Arena and War
7: Combat Skills
8: Pets
9: Work Skills
10: Frequently Asked Questions
11: Credits and Thanks


1: Copyright Info

This guide is copyright by me, Edward Tuttle (A.K.A, Shadorr), 2005.
Nobody is allowed to copy, steal, or plagiarize this guide in any way without credit to the author (me). If any site other than

www.gamefaqs.com
Fairyland Ironwolves

is hosting this guide without my knowledge or credit to me, please notify me at

geminirage@hotmail.com


2: Introduction to Axemen

Axeman is one of the three warrior classes you can select in this game upon
becoming Level 10. Possibly the least popular class in Fairyland USA (don't
know about the other versions), Axemen have been underestimated simply
because of their seemingly weak battle capabilities in comparison to Swordsmen
and Blademen. This probably stems from not knowing how to make the most out
of this class. These characters are intended to be hard-hitters who can cut down
enemies with the least dependence on magic usage. Their only drawback is lower
accuracy compared to the other warriors due to the nature of axe weapons,
which have the highest damage of any weapon in the game, but also the lowest
hit rates when compared to any other weapon. Much like the swordsman, this
class will also become dependant on other players to gain levels above 40 or so.

Here's a breif overview of Pros and Cons of this class (Note that the cons
only apply for the Axeman class, and not the advanced class, Beresker).

Pros
------
+Warrior class, can wear strong heavy armor
+Capable of inflicting great damage on simple attacks.
+Axe skills can reduce the enemy's evasion when they connect.

Cons
------
-Poor against large mobs of enemies. Can only attack one foe at a time.
-Low accuracy in comparison to other classes
-After Level 40, you will most likely become dependant on other players to
gain levels

The point of this guide is to help players understand how to use this class
to it's extent and ways to use it.


3: Race and Stat Builds

For race, I personally chose Dwarf. Their randoms usually consist of good
strength and constitution boosts, and you can get pretty high HP early on and
good damage for later levels. Humans are also good in that they are well
balanced, but they sometimes tend to grow into the wrong stat catergories
because they are well-rounded like this. As for Elf... don't do it. You
will start with poor constitution, meaning you'll never get as much health as
a human or dwarf at the later levels, plus your randoms will often go into
intellegence or charisma more than anything else. The only reason you might
even think of making an Elf axeman might be the dexterity growth, but it's
much better to pick a race that can give you reliable strength growth, as this
is an important stat in making or breaking your axeman.

As for your stat build, it is usually a matter of what style you want your
character to be. If you want to be able to cut down enemies with the least
amount of hassle, you might want to look into a high strength build. On the
other hand, if you'd like to use your axeman to duel other players, high
dexterity is vital. Here are a couple builds you might use.

Most builds will always start with boosting CON to some point around 50 by
level 15 or sooner. If you have access to jewelery with CON boosts, always
wear them before making your level for the best HP increase.

Then the builds start to differ.

STR Build-The Heavy Hitter
--------------------------------------
If you want to be able to deal loads of damage to enemies, boost your STR as
much as possible. While is this a good build for later levels when the
monsters have increasingly stronger defense, you might have trouble in being
able to hit beasts. If you come across beasts that attack before you do, that
means it's time for you to start pumping that DEX stat so you can hit them
first and also be able to run from a fight if it turns ugly.

An STR build like this comes as a bonus when you reach the Berserker class
(explained later in this guide) as you won't need to rely on your DEX to be
able to hit enemies when you can use Sure Hit to always land hard damage!

DEX Build-Improving Accuracy
----------------------------------------------
Another build for the axeman is the DEX build. In this build, you're trying to
boost your DEX to counter the low accuracy drawback. You basically pump a lot
of DEX every time you level so that you hit more often. If you want to fight
other players, even more DEX should be added so you always get the first move
before your opponent can react with whatever attack or defense he/she has in
store for you.

The only drawback to this build is you might have trouble doing good damage
to beasts. You may end up having to get some STR to be able to 1-hit enemies when
equiped with your arms pet.

CON Build-The Health Tank
----------------------------------------
Also what I call a Tank build. This is a stat build focused around getting
very high HP at the cost of some STR and DEX. Basically, keep pumping CON
from the start until you have around 100, then start raising your STR and DEX
much like a standard STR build. By doing this, you'll probably get somewhere
between 4,000 to 5,000 HP by the time you reach level 60, making you quite the
endurance machine.

(Thanks go to Laokong who tested the build himself and gave me the idea of it)


4: Leveling Your Axeman

Okay, so you've made your axeman, but you aren't sure where you should be
training. This section gives you some of the best locations for solo-fighting
as an axeman.

Note:
This section is suggesting areas assuming you are NOT being powerleveled
by a very strong player who can keep you alive in places where you'd die in a
couple hits. It is also written in assumption you are using fire as your arms pet.

Level 1-10
----------------
Becine an apprentice soldier the minute you leave the newbie dungeon. Do the
newbie quests in your region for quick EXP. You should also go to Chamber of
Doors 1 with a friend to fight the large mobs for the best EXP.

Level 11-15
----------------
At this point, you are now an Axeman. You might still have quests to do, so
finish those up. Now go to Rosen Lake and fight the beetles and butterflies
there for a couple levels. You might also try the water monkeys and woodies
there since they don't cast spells.

If you're looking for bigger mobs, go to Slime Maze 1 in the Northern
Grasslands and go to the southern side of the room where you encounter
woodies. These are great for shield leveling if you need to level it, plus
they are easy kills. Just be careful of the occasional fire slimes, as their
fireballs hit for 50 damage, which is a lot at your level. Another alternative
is Nicolas Steppe, northeast of Gion. Here, you can encounter dread rams and
fieries (fire dogs) that are around your level, and neither of which cast spells.

Level 16-20
----------------
Slime Maze 2 might seem like a good idea at first, but if you're using fire as
your main arms like most warriors should, those water beetles will give you a
hard time. On the other hand, the metal slimes can probably be killed in a
single hit of your axe. Just be careful of Spiritual Blade, that hurts when
it's being used every turn.

Or you can try fighting around Western Grasslands and Dwarf Hill if you can't
handle mobs larger than 4 enemies.

Level 21-25
----------------
Slime Maze 3 and Rat Cavern 3 were NOT intended for warriors, as water mobs
who can use blizzard appear too frequently there. Instead train around Snow
White Forest and Genie Desert for some easier mobs. The East of the Wood With
No Name is also a good place provided you've got friends, because the enemies
here sometimes fight in groups of 8.

Level 26-30
----------------
Eh, what can I say? More Snow White Forest. The lizards there are good to
train on as they don't cast Pine Grove or Timber Strike like the other enemies
here. Just be sure to eliminate the fire spiders before they cast Flame Hail
and other nasty fire spells.

Level 31-35
----------------
Crystal Mountain is probably your best option here. Clouds go down pretty
easily and the vultures have a chance of dropping rare nimble gems. Swan Lake
is also a decent place, though the nightmare clouds can get annoying since
they have good defense and can drain 75 or so health from you with vampirism.

Level 36-40
----------------
Moonglow is not for axemen, so if you were hoping to get lucky and make a
fortune off of doll boxes and defense gems, you'll need a friend to help you
fight there. Instead, train around Candy Mountain. If you're using a wood pet
as your armor, those WotLs from the wolves and draconians shouldn't be a
problem, and as for the metal puppets and monkeys, they are easy kills.

Level 41 and above
--------------------------
This is where it becomes nearly impossible to fight mobs around your level and
survive due to the fact most enemies above level 40 appear in groups of 5-10
pretty often, and usually in random elements. If you ever intend to reach the
Berserker class, you'll need friends to help you out here.


5: Berserker

Once you've reached level 60, give yourself a big pat on the back; you can now
become a Berserker! This advanced axeman class comes with some skills that
more than make up for all that time you spent trying to get to this level. The
only drawback to this class is the heavy MP cost on the attack skills.

NOTE: Seeing as I've yet to become a Berserker (6 levels away :/), most of the
skill info is from what I hear in-game or on the official sites.

Axe Rain/Berserker LV60/40 MP
Hits enemies for heavy damage in a plus + formation. This attack has more
accuracy than an ordinary one.

Axe Flash/Berserker LV65/60 MP
An attack that ignores the enemy's defense. This attack also has a chance of
stunning the enemy.

Haymaker/Berserker LV 70-Quest/60 MP
A powerful attack that ignores both defense and resistance factors.

Sure Hit/Berserker LV60/25 MP
This is what makes the Berserker a formidible fighter. This move can ensure
100% accuracy with your next attack, including skills such as Axe Rain and
Combo*. The journeyman skill Mirage is also negated by this skill (no hiding
in the corner for you little beastmaster!)

*There is a bug with the Sure Hit skill when it comes to Combo. Only one of
the combo strikes will connect whereas every other hit will miss. This will
supposedly be fixed in the next major patch, Arabian Nights.

(Thanks to Sovan for pointing this out)


6: Arena and War

Every now and then, you might think of testing your mettle in the Arena or
fighting off waves of enemies at a war. This section has some strategies that
are useful for axemen in these situations.

Arena
----------
Axemen and berserkers are probably the best class to use in the Arena. This is
because they are not heavily dependant on using MP to finish off mobs like
with other classes. Second, they can clear mobs quickly before the enemies can
cause too much damage. However, you will be restricted on how far you can go
depending on your level and what items and pets you bring along.

Level: Whether you have high health and damage or not is a main determining
factor of how far you progress in the arena. Higher health means better
endurance and higher damage means you'll be able to clear mobs with the least
attacks throughout this 100-battle challenge.

Items: if you want to get far, equip your strongest axe and hardest armor. If
you want to keep yourself going even when your HP/MP are low, bring potions so
you can recoup in battle, as theres only one break time where you can heal
your pets and eat food, which is after the 50th stage.

Pets: A good selection of pets at your disposal will help. Generaly, you will
need a powerful arms pet, a sturdy armor pet, and a combat pet. The combat pet
can be one of two kinds; a meatwall, or a damage-dealer. Meatwalls are
basically pets with good defensive capabilities or skills, but poor attack,
such as a wood rat (silence), pie aibo, or water slug.(dancing fountain).
They are usually meant to soak up attacks that might otherwise harm you. On
the other hand, damage dealers can be used to help you kill the enemies even
faster, but you should note that at the later stages, such combat pets that
can do good damage will die pretty fast, and theres no healing them, even if
they have the heal/full heal skill. Such pets include flame tigers, fire
crabs, golden lions, and possibly gophers (for meteor shower).

War
-------
Every hour, a war is announced on the server. The level range is random,
though it is always a 5-level bracket (such as 11-15, 16-20, and so on until
66, which is for anyone above that level). You will usually have 5 minutes to
get to the village head or guard captain who announced the war, or you'll be
excluded.

Odds are, unless you were lucky enough to enter a war with about 8 or more
people, there is no way to win the war, but you may feel free to keep killing
the dark captains/sargeants for experience and a chance to get special boxes
which can be opened at the Ilium Jeweler. Inside these boxes, you'll get a
random item, sometimes its something worthless while other times, its
something rare or unique you can't get elsewhere.

Okay... enough babbling about what war's all about, lets talk about what this
has to do with axemen.

Axemen, much like swordsmen, are vital to winning a war, as they can dish out
the most damage to the enemy leaders. Your objectives should be to start by
clearing the monsters before attacking the leader. You should kill the beasts
in order of most dangerous (wood, fire) to the weaker ones, then finally beat
down the leader. Always use Thunder Axe on the leader, then follow up with
combos. If you end up in a worst case scenario, RUN. Unless an AoL is in your
team, you cannot afford to die on the battlefield, as you will be out for the
rest of the war (And health cards cannot be used to stay in wars).

The above situation might happen if you end up going it alone. While this can
be done in wars 41-45 and below, 46-50 and higher is a different story, as the
enemies hit much harder, and eventually have even more defense. However, a
large group of players can affect the situation, as the leaders will have more
pets bodyguarding them. Here's the list of the mob sizes based on your group
size.

1 player==3-5 enemies
2 players=5-6 enemies
3 players=7-8 enemies
4 players=8-10 enemies
5 players=9-10 enemies

I might be wrong with the list, but thats from my experience.


7: Combat Skills

Axemen have pretty much the same skills as a swordsman or blademan, with the
exception of the axe skills, which are unique to this class. For berserker
skills, refer to the berserker section of this guide that was mentioned
earlier.

Impact/Level 1 Impact/10 MP
-----------------------
Your basic attack skill when you become an apprentice warrior. This does more
damage than your standard hit, but your evasion will drop and you will be
unable to block with your shield. Best used when there are only one or two
enemies around.

Rush/Level 20 Impact/15 MP
-----------------------
Same as impact, except a bit more damage, plus there is a chance the enemy
will be stunned and unable to attack for the turn. There is still the same
evasion and shield penalty like with Impact.

Charge/Level 40 Impact/20 MP
-----------------------
Boss characters and GM duels have given some players the impression that this
skill is very powerful. Turns out this is only about as strong as a windy axe,
except it sometimes stuns and still has the same penalties as the previous
Impact skills.

(Thanks go to Sovan for taking the time to get this skill and testing it out.)

Shield/Level 1/Passive
-----------------------
The other skill you get upon becoming an apprentice warrior. This gives you a
chance to block an attack whenever you are equiped with a shield. The higher
the shield level, the more likely you will block.

Protection/Level 15/5 MP
-----------------------
This skill allows you to protect another party member or pet by giving
yourself a chance to take a hit for them. Useful to use on diviners who lack
the physical defense to take blows themselves.

Shield Strike/Level 30/Passive
-----------------------
Getting this skill requires having to break a lot of shields, and the skill
isn't so great. You will usually do anywhere bewteen 80 to 160 damage on
shield blocks, which is minor compared to the damage you can inflict with your
axe.

Double Combo/Level 1/10 MP
-----------------------
You get this skill upon upgrading to any warrior class. This skill allows you
to hit an enemy twice, doing double the damage of a normal attack if both
combo hits connect. Don't be surprised if you're landing only 1 hit with the
combo early on, as your hit rate will be pretty low at that point.

Triple Combo/Level 15/15 MP
-----------------------
Same as the double combo, except its three attacks instead of two.

Quadruple Combo/Level 30/20 MP
-----------------------
Same as the triple combo, except its four attacks. The best of the combos, but
it's tricky to get all four hits to connect.

Axe/Level 1/Passive
-----------------------
Finally, we get to the axeman-specific skills. This basically determines how
much more damage and accuracy you get with an axe. Higher level, higher damage
and accuracy. This skill can be leveled simply by attacking while equiped with
an axe.

Windy Axe/Level 15/10 MP
-----------------------
A skill that is stronger than Impact, but doesn't have those annoying
penalties and can reduce the enemy's evasion? Cool!

Thunder Axe/Level 30/15 MP
-----------------------
Does even more damage than Windy Axe, plus more evasion reduction!


8: Pets

Pets are very important for the success of your axeman, as they are for other
classes. Here, I will list some various pets you should use with your axeman.

NOTE: I am NOT going to mention merged pets, as these are very difficult to
obtain as of this current patch. So if you are looking for a pure STR
Dark pet, I'm not going to mention such a thing.

Arms Pet
-----------------------
Very important. You will need a hard-hitting pet to use on arms mode to get
the most out of your attacks.

Fire Pure STR: Pets whose growth is mostly STR. These include flame tigers,
fire bears, and blood skeletons.

Fire STR/DEX: Pets whose growth is mainly STR, but they also get some DEX,
which can translate into slight increases in hit rate. Pets
include red beetles, flaming pegasi, and large red buterflies.

Metal STR: Don't know if these are any good, but I suppose they grow about as
much STR as the STR/DEX. Pets include golden lions, mining lizards,
and golden crawlers.

Armor Pet
-----------------------
Also important, these pets will help reduce the amount of damage you take,
especially at higher levels.

Wood Pure CON: Pets whose growth is mostly CON. Pie aibos, wood slugs, and
wood babies are the best choices, as they can be used to
transfer health to you, as well as they you can heal them for
only 35 MP with the Full Heal skill. If you can't afford these,
wood crabs and wood polis work too.

Earth CON/LUK: Pets whose growth is mainly CON, but they also grow LUK, which
improves evasion. The species you should use should be the same
as those for wood pure CON.

Combat Pet
-----------------------
Not exactly necessary, but a pet in combat mode helps, as they can help you
clear mobs faster.

Metal STR: Always use a combat pet whose element of attack is not the same as
yours. In this case, most people use any STR-growing metal pet that
can use Heal, such as a gold lion, metal tiger, or a gold half-
dragon

Fire STR/CON; If you'd rather use a fire pet for combat, you'll usually pick
an STR/CON one. Pets include fire crabs, red bulls, and fire
clams.


9: Work Skills

If you have any intentions of making your own axes, armor, or potions, you
should do so. These work skills, though time consuming, save you money in the
long run.

Axe Weapon
-----------------------
I think this one was pretty obvious. Make your own axes, because very few
people make these for profit. Plus, everything made by players is far more
superior compared to anything an armory might sell.

Required skills: Mining, Woodcutting, Metalworking, Gemcutting (for stat-axes)

Armor Making
-----------------------
Another skill that's useful for an axeman. From my experience, I rarely find
armor shops in the market on FL USA, so you might want to consider making your
own.

Required skills: Mining, Hunting, Metalworking, Gemcutting (for stat-armors)

Helm Making
-----------------------
Same as armor making, except less material is used in the skill.

Required skills: same as armor making

Glove Making
-----------------------
Gloves don't grant as much defense as the previously mentioned equipment, but
every piece of equipment counts.

Required skills: Mining, Metalworking, Hunting, Farming, Weaving, Gemcutting
(for high-level stat-gloves)

Shoe making
-----------------------
If you're going to make gloves, you might as well make shoes, they require
the same work skills.

Required skills: same as glove making

Shield Making
-----------------------
Though you can always block with the square shields sold at the armory, you'll
seldom block attacks with them. Shields with higher armor class made by this
skill tend to block more effectively.

Required skills: Mining, Metalworking, Hunting, Woodcutting, Gemcutting
(for high-level stat-shields)

Jewel Making
-----------------------
Okay, I am going to admit theres already a lot of jewel makers out there in
FL USA. But if you feel like doing this yourself, go ahead. Doesn't hurt to be
able to make stat-boosting amulets and rings.

Required skills: Mining, Metalworking, Hunting, Gemcutting, Fishing (for coral
and pearls)

Apothecary
-----------------------
Another skill that already has a lot of people using it. You can make some of
the more useful healing and magic potions that will help later on. Just try
not to rely on taking many weak potions, as these will make you sick, meaning
the potions lose their effect.

Required skills: Harvesting, Farmining, Brewing (fishing and hunting if you
ever reach the point you can make dragon essence or better)

Cooking
-----------------------
Not quite as good as Apothecary, but food doesn't lose its effect if you eat a
lot of it at a time. Just remember that your food meter will determine how
much more you can eat before you're full.

Required skills: Hunting, Fishing, Farming, Harvesting, Brewing


10: Frequently Asked Questions

Q: How much damage do you do with your Axeman? What are his stats?
A: I tested my Level 54 Axeman on some Gold Clouds with my Level 50 Blood
Skeleton in arms (196 STR), 52 axe skill, and a Barehand Axe with 171
damage rating. My damage rating on the equipment screen was 1038, 683 hit
rate. Here were the results (enemies were in the front row).

1695 damage with an ordinary/combo hit
2204 damage with Windy Axe
2407 damage with Thunder Axe

Now I tried the same thing to some Water Vultures.

696 damage with an ordinary/combo hit
920 damage with Windy Axe
1104 damage with Thunder Axe

As you can see, theres a 300 damage or so increase with windy axe, and
around 500 damage more with Thunder Axe.

As for my stats, they are: 74 CON, 106 DEX, 17 INT, 88 STR, 44 LUK, 32 CHA.
My HP is 2539, my MP is 526. As you can see, I started down the DEX route,
but now I've changed my mind and I'm now going STR all the way.

More to come :)


11: Credits and Thanks

Credits and Thanks go to:

+Lager, for creating such a great game, and EAUSA for providing it.
+The Ironwolves website, ironwolves.exeldro.com
+Sovan, the axeman who helped point out some details I was unaware of.
+And of course, myself, for taking the time to type up this guide. I intend to
do some more.

Contact me at
-----------------------
geminirage@hotmail.com

Please do not send spam, viruses, and junk mail that would have nothing to do
with this guide.

Copyright 2005 Edward Tuttle