What are the elements of Solaris?
The elements are as follows: fire, lightning, sylphid, ice, water, fauna, stone, and demi.
Can the elements be separated into categories?
Some theoreticians separate them into two equal groups, the primary and the alternative, also called the secondary or hybrid elements, based on the notion of the four primal elements: fire, air, earth, and water. While this common practice has both its benefits and discrepancies, the “Elemental Wheel” is also a noteworthy descriptive mechanism.. If one were to draw a circle and distinguish eight points along it, he could assign each point an element, moving around the circle listing the elements in the order they are above so that the circle starts with fire connected to lightning then sylphid and so on until it ends with demi connecting back to fire.
What is “Favored Element”?
At character creation, a character must pick his favored element. He may choose from any of the eight elemental forces. If a character decides he made the wrong choice, he will have an opportunity at Level 10 to cancel his choice and replace it with another element, but after that, any character wishing to change his favored element will have to pay credits for the operation at the Solaris Central Laboratory. When making an elemental attack, the character must choose from his favored element or one of its two “bordering” elements. The bordering elements are listed in each individual element’s description, but can also be seen on the Elemental Wheel, as described above. Each point, or element, on the circle will be closest to two other points, which will be its bordering elements. Any of these three used in an elemental attack will deal the same damage. When creating Special Abilities for the character that will be elemental-based, it must make sense with his favored and/or bordering elements.
How do I know how in-tune I am with the elements?
Wisdom is the Primary Vital Statistic responsible for all elemental capabilities. Firstly, it determines the damage dealt with elemental attacks, so a higher wisdom will result in greater elemental power. Secondly, a character’s favored element will allow him to unlock abilities, known as Elemental Perks, given sufficient wisdom. Thirdly, it is used in the calculation for finding a character’s elemental damage reduction, so even non-casters can benefit by a little bit of wisdom. Lastly, some items may require a certain level of base wisdom in order to be used, as wisdom measures a character’s ability to utilize mystical artifacts.
In the element descriptions, it lists strengths and weaknesses over other elements.
Sometimes you will encounter objects or obstacles that are constructed of, or at least in tune with, a specific element that you wish to destroy. Say an enemy constructs a wall of solid ice with a set amount of health. Sure, you could chip away at it with a hammer, but because fire is strong against ice, you could use fire elemental attacks to destroy it. When attacking something with a strong elemental attack, its base damage is doubled, and when attacking something with a weak elemental attack, its base damage is halved. Character races that are attuned to a specific element (such as Gorgons and Lunarians) are not affected more or less by strong and weak elements; however, creatures and companions of some creature races that are attuned to a specific element (such as Ifrits) are indeed affected in this way!
What are the Elemental Perks?
A character with sufficient base wisdom score (not total, so bonus wisdom doesn’t count) can access the elemental perks listed under his favored element. The amount of base wisdom needed for the first and second perk are 50 and 100, respectively. It is very possible for any character to achieve 50 wisdom at a very low level; however, characters not based in elemental combat will likely take more time as they may choose to focus some of their lower level AP on other, more suitable stats. It is not likely for someone to get to 100 wisdom until a very high level, unless he is specifically lending himself to the elemental arts. Note that each elements’ first elemental perk, the one that can be reasonable reached by any character, lead themselves to be useful to any combat style while the second is much more specialized toward a character who chooses to build himself that way. Therefore, all characters should consider spending enough points in wisdom to gain their first elemental perk, but beyond that, it would be rather trivial for physical or energy-based combatants.
What job class should I pick to specialize in the elemental forces?
The first is the elementalist. The elementalist has the greatest elemental proficiency, meaning his Spirit SVS grants him the greatest amount of damage when using elemental forces. He also is allowed to choose a second favored element, meaning that he now can gain up to a total of four Elemental Perks depending on his wisdom stat. Lastly, he is able to use all eight of the elements, not his favored or their bordering elements, meaning that he will always have what is needed to break through elemental barriers and will always have that one element needed to be strong against another.
The second is the druid. The druid has a respectable elemental proficiency so he can dish out a large amount of elemental damage as well. But he also gains the ability to use his favored element in order to heal others’ wounds. Any of the eight elements heals equivalently, so his choice is unimportant. Along with just healing, the druid also delights in his ability to bolster the abilities of his allies and comes in handy in teams as a healer and supporter.
The third is the ranger. He specializes in both elements and physical attacks, and even gains some abilities in order to combine the two, making him a formidable foe against any enemy as he can make it around others’ damage reductions with several types of damage.
The last is the bard. He, like the druid, has a limited ability to heal others with his element and also specializes in both positive and negative status effects that come with his elements.