Islington's Pankration Guide

Allkampf

This is my first guide, please be kind. I'm going to be adding to this guide as time allows. There are already a hefty amount of resources on the regular wiki page that i recommend, which can be found here, and several other guides that are excellent (particularly Shoya's Guide). My main objective here is to present some info that others have left out, and to bundle info together. I got sick of moving from page to page while making a Pankration monster; hopefully this guide will help to eliminate that. Anything that i post here is either taken from existing info on the wiki page or is from original research.

Feral Skills
I left off an “effects” column because these seem obvious in all but a handful of cases. In these cases the “effect” is in the fourth column.


 * Feral Skill - The name of the Feral Skill
 * FP Cost - The amount of FP required to add the skill to your monster
 * Lvl^ - Is the Feral Skill able to level up to a max level of 50, or is it a set effect?
 * Additional Info, Main/Sub Job eligibility, Scroll eligibility, etc. - For Main Job/Subjob plates and Scrolls, states monster eligibility. Also states non-obvious “effects” and speculation.
 * Where Do I Find It? - Lists the monster families and jobs that are known to drop the plate. Note that it’s possible that not all levels of the family will drop the plate, and some plates seem to only be dropped by certain families in certain zones. This column is meant to be a rough guideline; for more exact information see the linked page for the Feral Skill.

The Command Platform
In addition to the info found here, the commands used move your monster toward a certain temperament.


 * Discipline refers to how well your monster obeys your commands. The higher the discipline, the more likely the monster is to follow your orders. Discipline is raised by simply giving your monster commands. It makes no difference which commands you issue, discipline will still go up.


 * Temperament refers to how your monster fights. Temperament is influenced by the commands that you use.

Aggressiveness/Defensiveness

Wildness/Tameness

Note that the commands are split into two separate categories. Commands from category one have no effect on the temperaments in category two, and vice versa.

Using a command does not instantly change your monster's temperament; it takes time to change. I'm still not certain if it's better to just spam the most extreme command in order to move your temperament in that direction, or if it's better to use the next command away from your current temperament. For example, let's say i have a mob that is Very Defensive and i want to make it Very Aggressive. In my experience, spamming 'Show no mercy!,' 'Give em' a little more bite!,' or 'Back off a bit!' will start moving it toward aggressive behavior. When the mob becomes Somewhat Defensive, only 'Show no mercy!' and 'Give em' a little more bite!' will continue to move it toward Very Aggressive, as 'Back off a bit' is in sync with its current temperament and 'Guard! Block! Parry! Hold!' is in the opposite direction. As it will eventually be necessary to spam the extreme command, in this case 'Show no mercy!,' i usually just use this one from the start.

If you want your temperament in a middle area however, spam the command that corresponds with that temperament until the mob achieves said temperament, or spam the extreme that's in the direction you want your temperament to move until you get your temperament where you want it. Think of temperament as a volume knob that you can turn up or down. You have to move through the levels in the middle to reach the one you want.


 * - Very Aggressive -- Somewhat Aggressive -- Somewhat Defensive -- Very Defensive -|

Using the above scale as an example, let's say that your monster starts out with a Somewhat Defensive temperament, marked below on the scale with a bold X


 * - Very Aggressive -- Somewhat Aggressive -X- Somewhat Defensive -- Very Defensive ---|

Using the command "Give em' a little more bite!" or "Show no mercy!" would move the temperament toward Somewhat Aggressive, marked below on the scale with a bold X


 * - Very Aggressive -- Somewhat Aggressive --X Somewhat Defensive -- Very Defensive ---|

If only "Give em' a little more bite!" is used, the temperament would eventually settle and stop at Somewhat Aggressive


 * - Very Aggressive -- Somewhat Aggressive X-- Somewhat Defensive -- Very Defensive ---|

Using "Show no mercy!" will eventually move the temperament past Somewhat Aggressive and toward Very Aggressive


 * - Very Aggressive --X Somewhat Aggressive -- Somewhat Defensive -- Very Defensive ---|

The Diablo Cage and Leveling Your Monster
The Diablo Cage is the best cage to use for leveling your monster in the early and late stages. The other three cages feature mediocre monsters, but as your new monster will be around level ten or lower, you won't stand a chance against the monsters in any of the cages. The Annihilation, Bloodlust, and Carnage cages feature one-off matches in which your monster fights, wins or loses, and then exits the arena regardless of the outcome. The Diablo cage works differently. This is the championship cage, so the winning monster ends up staying as the reigning champion until it is defeated. What this means is that, ordinarily, the Diablo cage will feature an incredibly strong, specifically created monster that wins over and over. What this means for you and your monster is a lot of fast exp.

Because your monster starts out so weak, and cannot win battles yet, you will need to go for the loss that nets you the most exp. This means you need to fight against the most difficult monsters available. Most of the time this means you need to register in the Diablo cage. Your monster will get one-shotted for a while, but that's ok. You're earning exp, and that's what matters. Once you get your monster to around level 25-30, i usually take him over to one of the other three cages to work on Temperament. Working on Temperament in Diablo cage will be next to impossible because of how quickly your monster dies, but working on it in any of the three other cages will allow you a large amount of time to issue commands. Wait until 25-30, move cages, and work on Temperament until you get your monster where you want it. Your exp will be more erratic and will fluctuate in these other cages, but you're mainly here to work on making your monster use the abilities you've decided on. Once you find a comfortable Temperament, move back to the Diablo cage to finish the level climb off and attain level 50.

A rough estimation of the cages that should be used to max out a monster as fast as possible. Note that you may be able to move to the 3 lower tier cages sooner, and then back into Diablo sooner, depending on how strong your monster is and how fast you are able to change its Temperament:

{|class=sortable border="0" cellpadding="2" cellspacing="2" align="center" ! Diablo Cage || Annihilation, Bloodlust, or Carnage Cage || Diablo Cage
 * - bgcolor="#B22222"
 * - bgcolor="#FF6347"
 * 5-30 || 30-40 || 40-50