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


 * Check back later for more specific info on what the temperaments mean. I'm in the process of mapping it all out, but i still need to do a lot of testing before i commit to the information.

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 ---|

Temperament: Testing
This section is entirely based on original research. Come back soon for finalized data.

I have decided to do some research into what exactly the temperaments mean. I had entered into this with a general idea of what to expect, but with the concrete numbers now available to post, this section moves from opinion into the territory of factual information. I did use a fairly small sample size, and i may end up going back and augmenting the sample sizes if it looks like it would be beneficial once it's all done and over with. For now, i will post the data as i work through it.

The Pankration monster used was a level 50 Spider, WAR/RDM. The Feral Skills on the monster are HP Max +15%, Triple Attack, White Mage Scrolls, and MP Max Bonus. All Feral Skills were maxed out prior to testing. I used a WAR/RDM mob in order to give it a wide variety of possible attacks and spells; i hoped that by using White Mage Scrolls instead of Black Mage Scrolls i would get a better range of attack/defense moves. I added Triple Attack to give it fast TP.

For each of the sixteen possible temperament combinations i had the monster fight twenty battles. All twenty were done with me outside of the control platform; i only entered after twenty were finished and i needed to change the monster temperament for the next bundle of twenty.

The number in parenthesis next to the spell/ability refers to the number of times the Spider used the spell/ability in the span of twenty battles.

I kept track of the day and moon phase for each battle as well, though i'm not sure that they have any influence whatsoever on the matches. I will not be adding this information unless it becomes clear at the end of testing that it has had a significant influence.

All battles were in single match cages - no Diabolos cage.

The pie graph charts are thumbnails - click on them to enlarge.

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:

It is also important to attach the Feral Skills that are able to level up first. When you start a monster, check the max FP that it will have at level 50. Decide on a couple or all of the skills that you will want to place on your monster. Make it a priority to first attach those skills that can level up to 50. This way the skills level up as your monster does. There's nothing more boring than having to level up Feral Skills on a level 50 monster because you placed them on the monster at a late level. Save yourself the trouble and level the skills as you level your monster.

Soul Plates by Monster Family
All of this information is presented above in the Feral Skills section, but in a much different style of organization. If you're looking for more specific info on which monster families can be made into pit monsters, this page is great. It's helpful when starting a Pankration monster to know what plates a monster family has to offer, especially if you are trying to get the best inborn trait possible on your monster. Inborn traits appear to be random; sometimes when you trade a plate to create a monster it is born with the skill that was on the plate. Sometimes it is born with a random skill. Sometimes it is born with two skills. Most of the time it is born with no skills. A good way to start a monster is to figure out what its best or most expensive plate is, and gather several of this plate. Trade the plates until you get a monster with the trait.

From personal experience, after creating and finishing over 30 different Pankration monsters with different inborn traits, i have yet to ever have a 'status effect attack' plate transfer over as an inborn trait. Examples of these types of plate are Bio Attack, Silencing Attack, Petrifying Attack, Dia Attack, etc. It could be possible that they can transfer as an inborn trait, but i have never seen it, and i have tried with these type of plates close to a hundred times.


 * Beastmen families represented below should be considered jobless. Plates will only be listed for a beastman family if the plate exists on the family regardless of job. As an example, i will not list WAR plates such as Main Job: Warrior under Demons, even though these are available from WAR Demons. Likewise, all of the job specific plates will be listed after the main family chart and will not be mixed in with the normal family plates, unless the plate can be obtained from a family regardless of job. Example: White Mage Scrolls from the Colibri family.


 * The same goes for the more broad families, such as Aquans, Beasts, Plantoids, etc. The killer effect plates will be listed after the large family chart.

X Bonus/Y Penalty X Resistance +2/Y Resistance -2 X Attack Bonus X Attack +15% Additional X Damage Additional X Damage +25
 * Empty and Elemental mobs will not have listed their elemental properties, as these change depending on the color of the core or the type of elemental. I will only list feral skills that apply regardless of elemental alignment. From the elementals expect the following (where X is the elemental alignment and Y is the element that is strong against X):

I think that the same plates apply for the Empty with elemental cores, but i'm not 100% certain. I'll get out to confirm/disprove this at some point.


 * Family - The name of the monster family
 * Pet? - Can the monster family be made into a Pankration monster?
 * Plates - Plates known to be dropped by the monster family


 * Below are the job specific plates. These are generally dropped by beastmen of whichever job. Note that most of these plates can only be added to certain monsters who are able to become the desired job. Check the Feral Skills section at the top of this guide for info on which monsters can become which jobs, or check here in section 5, "Possible Jobs."


 * Job - The job that drops the plates
 * Plates - The job specific plates


 * Below are the superfamily specific plates. If you're looking to add killer effects to your monster, any monster that falls under the umbrella of the superfamily that drops the plate should drop it.


 * Family - The superfamily that drops the plates
 * Plates - The killer plates

Trophies?
I have absolutely no idea how to obtain these. I have been both first and second in the Diabolo cage, have had my monster consistently win overnight and still be there in the morning, and still no trophy.



If anyone has any information regarding how to obtain these, please add it. Otherwise i'm just going to assume that SE has not rendered them obtainable yet.