Ragnarok Origin Classic beginner's guide - 6 tips for Day One adventurers

Given that I was obsessed with the OG Ragnarok Online back in the day, I foolishly thought I could jump right into ROOC willy-nilly. Suffice it to say, I never thought I'd need a Ragnarok Origin Classic beginner's guide myself, because stepping into this whole new version of Midgard humbled me faster than you can say "Poring".

Of course, getting the most efficient head start into this MMORPG is still crucial despite it being a lot more accessible and newbie-friendly now than the franchise was back then, so if you're looking to get it right the first time (and avoid having to fumble your way through as I did), I've got a handful of tips to help you out.

Ragnarok Origin Classic beginner's guide

Tip #1: Get your Base covered and your Job right

Veteran players might overlook this - mistakenly thinking it's already a given - but the first thing you need to remember is that your Base EXP is different from your Job EXP. Killing monsters will reward you with both, with the former counting towards your Base Level and the latter towards your Job Level. You see your Base EXP progress in the bottom left of your screen as a blue bar, while you see the Job EXP as a yellow bar in the bottom right.

When you level up your Base level, you get stat points you can allocate towards your STR, AGI, VIT, INT, DEX, and LUK (which I'll explain in greater detail later). This is where your class builds come into play depending on which Job you want to play, and as for the Job level, levelling this up will reward you with Skill points you can allocate to unlock job-dependent skills.

Tip #2: Understand your stats

As mentioned, STR is for Strength, which you need to boost your physical damage. It also increases your load limit when carrying items, keeping you from becoming overweight, which imposes penalties on halting your HP and SP recovery and eventually your attacks and skills.

AGI is for Agility, which boosts your attack speed (ASPD). It increases your Flee too, which is your evasion rate, keeping you from getting hit by enemies. VIT, on the other hand, is for Vitality, which you need a lot of not just for physical defence (DEF) but also for your maximum HP and your HP recovery rate.

Meanwhile, INT is for Intelligence, which will enhance your magic damage (MATK) as well as boost your SP recovery. As the equivalent of VIT, this also boosts your maximum SP. DEX is for Dexterity, and it goes hand-in-hand with INT as it reduces your cast time. For melee attackers, DEX boosts your accuracy, while also boosting damage for ranged attackers.

And finally, LUK is for Luck, which increases your CRIT or your critical hit rate, along with a few bonuses to other stats. Allocating the right points to the right stats will determine how well your build will go, but if you're ever confused, the system recommends various builds for you so that you can auto-assign points if you can't be bothered (tap your character profile and hit Auto Assign). There are plenty of quality-of-life features like that sprinkled throughout the MMORPG, which brings me to my next point.

Tip #3: Don't be afraid of the auto button

MMORPGs, by definition, can be long and tedious, but ROOC tries its best to keep things from getting too overwhelming for newcomers to both the franchise and the genre. A lot of things can be incredibly forgiving, especially compared to the original RO, such as the ability to reset both your stats and your skills for free up to 10 times.

And that's simply mind-blowing to me. I remember lamenting my mistakenly allocated points way too many times back in the day - this time around, you can reset everything with the click of a button. Also, changing gear automatically transfers cards and enhancements, so don't be afraid to swap out your equipment and tinker around with them!

Tip #4: You can do it all on Day One

I was also pleasantly surprised to see how fast it is to get to the Job Change quest here. You can get to your first job upgrade from Novice in essentially 10 minutes, then another 15 minutes or so to change to your 2nd job, all from main story quests (tap Story in the Quests menu to activate auto-pathfinding).

Keep unlocking until you clear Chapter 3, the Singing Child, to hit Base Level 45, which is where you can unlock your Field Battle.

Tip #5: Having a field day with Field Battle

Field Battle is that crossed swords icon underneath your avatar profile in the upper left corner of the screen. For the sake of this Ragnarok Origin Classic beginner's guide, the most basic thing you have to take note of on the first day is the Daily Combat Duration, which sets a limit to how long you can play before you stop earning EXP. This is why it's best to get your Main Story Quest out of the way at least until hitting Level 45 before you go around smacking Porings in their squishy faces!

You can use the Speed Candy for 2x EXP if you're feeling impatient. Also, don't forget to hit the Auto icon on the main screen and tap All Monsters (or choose the monster you want to attack) to auto-attack in the field! I spent a good few minutes completely stumped as to why my character wasn't attacking before realising I had to toggle that on.

Tip #6: Recommendations, dailies, and an amusement park

And finally, it goes without saying that you should always, always do your dailies as it's the fastest and most friction-free way to progress. Basically, just tap on everything that has a red icon, and you're golden.

Also, do check the Recommended Monsters in your Field Battle window - it's extremely helpful, and it'll offer useful tips as to which monsters yield the best drops for you. It even takes your weapon and elemental affinities into consideration - how very thoughtful.

And if you're feeling stressed, you can always head on over to the Funfair Isle in the upper right corner of the World Map for some lovely surprises! You can pick up Gold Coins for free and try the attractions in exchange for rewards - and Gold Coins are everything here, as they can help you nab the very, very useful Bounty Pass for free.

And that's it for our Ragnarok Origin Classic beginner's guide for Day One players! Before you head back out into the big, wide world (of Midgard), how about redeeming these Ragnarok Origin Classic codes first, too?