Advancement Test Hall/Counterattack

< Advancement Test Hall

Description

Use Counterattack to defeat as many monsters as you can within the time limit. Dealing major damage results in a higher score. As the test rank increases, stronger monsters will appear and you will need a higher score to pass the test.

Equipment

• Advancement Outfit
• Fluted Short Sword & Round Shield (Human/Elf)
  • Fluted Short Sword & Tikka Shield (Giant)
• Mace & Kite Shield (Human/Elf)
  • Mace & Vales Shield (Giant)

Points

• 300 Points: Attack an enemy with Counterattack
  • +100 Points: Attacked a bonus monster with Counterattack
• 200 Points: Defeat an enemy with Counterattack
• 50 Points: Hit over 1000 damage with Counterattack
• 500 Points: Use Windmill on an enemy with Counterattack prepared

Test Spawn Patterns

• Dan 1
• Dan 2
• Dan 3

Monsters

• Wave 1: 6 Green Gremlin
• Wave 2: 2 Black Snake & 4 Gnoll
• Wave 3: 4 Sahagin Soldier & 4 Sahagin Fighter
• Wave 4: 1 Lycanthrope, repeating

Monsters

• Wave 1: 4 Green Gremlin & 4 Light Gargoyle
• Wave 2: 4 Black Snake & 4 Gnoll
• Wave 3: 4 Sahagin Soldier & 4 Sahagin Fighter
• Wave 4: 1 Lycanthrope, repeating

Monsters

• Wave 1: 4 Green Gremlin & 6 Heavy Gargoyle
• Wave 2: 5 Black Snake & 4 Gnoll
• Wave 3: 6 Sahagin Soldier & 5? Sahagin Fighter
• Wave 4: 1 Lycanthrope, repeating

General Tips

• Your Close Combat ranks will carry over into the test, so having higher ranks would be useful.
• Using Counterattack on an enemy will reset its cooldown.
• Knowing enemy attack patterns greatly improves the number of Counterattacks a player can use.
  • Enemies will commonly attack after using Defense. Enemies with more than one-combo hit counts or with slower attack speeds can be baited into Counterattacks using this.
  • Gargoyles all have very strong one-combo attack patterns; loading Counterattack too late can greatly punish the player.
  • Gnolls commonly use Counterattack and thus allow for bonus points from Windmill.
    • De-Ranking Windmill will cause you to do less damage and allow you to use it on Gnolls using Counterattack more times allowing for more points.
  • Black Snakes cannot use Counterattack.
    • The Gnolls and Snakes of Wave 2 have very predictable patterns overall and provide the best opportunity for points.
  • Sahagin Fighters load but do not immediately use their Smash skill; it can take a long time for them to actually use their Smash, if ever.
• Critical Counterattack damage is very important, because high damage attacks provide crucial bonus points.
  • Contrary to popular belief, countering a Smash does not increase the damage of Counterattack above the attacker's normal base damage.
• Success heavily depends on finishing enemies with Counterattack.
• Having multiple enemies targeting you increases the opportunity that one enemy activates Counterattack, but this also poses a greater risk of death.
• Players can disable names and chat using Ctrl+N to improve visibility of enemy skills.

The advice below MAY be out of date after the September 2023 Quality of Life Updates, due to the point increase, but may also help if you're in a bind.

• It is best to speed through the first and third waves as quickly as possible. Take targets of opportunity if they ready Counterattack themselves, but otherwise don't worry about getting points. Get as many points as you can from the Gnolls, then rush to the Lycanthrope (which does relatively low damage on normal attacks and frequently uses Counterattack itself).
  • At higher Dans, even the Gnolls should be skipped. When the Lycanthrope readies Defense and Windmill, simply take the bait and attack it, as the Lycanthrope does relatively little damage. Doing so maximizes the rate at which the Lycanthrope triggers the player's own Counterattacks; between that and the Lycanthrope's own Counterattacks, an average rate of around 100 points a second can be achieved.