[Tolinar]

Somewhere along the line, people got the mistaken idea that you could only start to exist at age 10 or 17.

The truth is, there are 8 ages you can start from, and a few SECRET AGES you can level at.

Why would you?
GOOD QUESTION. Read on.


SKILL VS. STAT

Raising your skill level is of course important. This is why so many people claim you should birth and rebirth at level 10.

However, Mabinogi has some ... interesting rules which apply at all times.

1. When you rebirth, you can lose your stats back down to lowest level.
This rule is especially important. It means we can go back and fix stat problems we used to have.

2. Whenever you level at an age, you get a fixed stat bonus based on how old you were. This is equally important. Almost everyone will level 10 times from level 1 in their first week of play. It's easy to collect 20 to 30 levels, and hardcore players may cap 40 inside that week. This increases how much EXP you "push through" that level, and has heavy influence on your stats!


So what is the best policy? It depends on your strategy.
A character can be rebirthed after just 21 days -- after 3-4 years of levelups.

This means a 10 year old could be rebirthed at 13. Is it a good idea? Maybe, you'll see.

You can also keep a character at level 1, until it becomes very old -- and THEN raise its level. Why would you want to? Read on, and find out.

THE SHORT ANSWER - Age Recommendations

These rules STRONGLY apply to a character's first birth. They more loosely apply to a character's births beyond that.

To BOOST a character's age, and increase the AP at an older age, just make the character on a Friday evening, and start playing it the next day. It will age-up overnight and you will be able to use the better stat gains along with extra AP.

BOOSTING is more effective at younger ages, when an Age Up will result in a big lump gain of AP. It's not so effective at middle-to-old ages, when you won't get much AP difference.


THE FIRST BIRTH
Age 10 is best for Pure Combat players, since it provides high LUCK. You will Crit more often, and produce more LUCKY finishes with Age 10.

Age 11 is great for Combat-oriented players who want to use some crafting, and are willing to give up a little Critical to get it.

Age 12 is great for Crafting-oriented players.

Age 13 can be good for characters who want to do a little of everything, and are more interested in Magical Combat than Physical Combat.

Age 14 is interesting since it gives you a running start on magic, but the AP loss is getting heavy. Also, you cannot BOOST Age 13->14 since you will not get those good stats. A pureblood mage would do okay at 14, or an enchanter, but most magic-heavy characters want to start at 10 for the extra AP.

Age 15 is pretty expensive AP-wise, but you can BOOST from 14 to get 8 starting AP instead and cancel some of your losses. If you want to learn magic, you plan to rebirth soon, it's your first birth, and you don't care about crafting... Boosted Age 15 is a fine start.

Age 16 means you get less HP and more MP. If you want to play a more fragile character, and are willing to spend an AP or two, go here. You can boost for 9 AP.

Age 17 gives you a strong gain to your INT. BOOST 16->17 will start you with 9 AP. If you plan to play 17, you definitely want to do that, and level really hard that first week. Mostly, Age 17 is good for a first exploration of the game, since you get a pool of AP to spend right away, and good starting stats to play around with. Most players will check the game out, then delete their 17-year old and start over in a couple days. That's exactly what I did.


REBIRTH

Be sure to time a BOOST anytime you rebirth. Just rebirth last thing on a Friday night, and you're set. It will help buffer off the AP loss of using a higher age.

Ages 12 and 13 should mainly be used if you play more than 2 hours a day. If you only play occasionally, rebirth at 10 to get more AP.


10 is right, again, for Combat Oriented characters who want high LUCK.

11 is still a very good idea for Combat+Crafting, and I recommend doing a BOOST 10->11 for lossless play...

12 is great for Crafting-Oriented. Be sure to Boost.

13 is good for Magic+Crafting. Boost, boost, boost.

14 and older are wasteful because you just lose SO many AP, and you don't really benefit from BOOSTING 13-to-14.


AGING A CHARACTER

Letting a character get older from 10 is the very best way to get a strong mix of AP and stats.
But this is boring and it means not playing the game.

So use it on an alternate character.

You can make a very powerful mage by Aging it to 20 or 21 before leveling. You want to do this with almost all your magical skills mastered, because the rebirth and aging is a huge investment of time. The result will be extremely high INT and MP.



MORE DETAILS
Read below.

[Tolinar]

THE CHOICE OF WHAT AGE TO START
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10: 4.25 avg stats a level
Base 42HP 32MP 40STM 24STR 15INT 25DEX 28WIL 19LUK 26 AP

Lv10 52HP 34MP 45STM 29STR 15INT 30DEX 35WIL 26LUK 36 AP
Lv20 62HP 37MP 50STM 34STR 15INT 35DEX 43WIL 34LUK 46 AP
Lv30 72HP 39MP 55STM 39STR 15INT 40DEX 50WIL 41LUK 56 AP
Lv40 82HP 42MP 60STM 44STR 15INT 45DEX 58WIL 49LUK 66 AP

++HP
+LUK, WILL
=STR, DEX, STM
-MP
--INT

There is no question, starting at Age 10 will net you the absolute most free AP available. It also nets you LUK per level, at the highest available rate. And it has very high HP gain, which is handy if you plan to level a ton. All 3 of these go away with age.

Unfortunately, starting at Age 10 means your Dexterity and Stamina both get average gains. This is not so good for hard-worker characters who were planning on doing lots of crafting. =/ Yes, you need the AP, but it is high DEX that gets you successes, and high STM that keeps you going!


Worse yet, you have poor MP gain at this age, and NO INT GAIN!

This means a Magician-type character who is born at age10 can level 40 times and recieve NO free points to his INT! That is a very BAD thing, since you usually recieve a bulk of your levels during this time. If you are dead-set on being a magician, there are better choices of when to birth.

In fact, age 10 is basically only ideal for characters who want to birth for Luck or absolute maximum AP, such as a character that will never rebirth and must scrape for every last point, or a character who will REPEATEDLY rebirth at 12-13 and keep their age as low as possible, for the sake of mastering all skills. That sounds cool but it's a very expensive tactic, since rebirth cards cost dollars.

A high-HP character might also start at 10, since it will recieve a full 2 weeks of maximum HP gain this way.

A critical-based character that was going for high Luck, or a constant-rebirth character going for high Luck, might do Age 10 too.

RECOMMENDED: High HP or Lucky Combat character, No Rebirths Character, Max-AP shortlife character

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11: 4.25 avg stats a level
Base 43HP 33MP 41STM 24STR 15INT 25DEX 28WIL 19LUK 22 / 21 AP

Lv10 53HP 35MP 46STM 29STR 15INT 32DEX 35WIL 24LUK 32 / 31 AP
Lv20 63HP 38MP 51STM 34STR 15INT 40DEX 43WIL 29LUK 42 / 41 AP
Lv30 73HP 40MP 56STM 39STR 15INT 47DEX 50WIL 34LUK 52 / 51 AP
Lv40 83HP 43MP 61STM 44STR 15INT 55DEX 58WIL 39LUK 62 / 61 AP

++HP
+WILL, DEX
=STR, LUK, STM
-MP
--INT

(Note the two different totals for AP: The second will be recieved on a rebirth, as you do not gain starting AP at Rebirth.)

Birthing as age 11 costs a total of 4-5 AP from age 10, and it takes quite a long time for that change to roll in (the course of 7 weeks, almost 2 months for 4 AP difference. That's just over 1 AP per two weeks.) So really, it's not much of an AP loss.

You recieve slight bonuses to your HP and MP for birthing at 11.

The main difference is, now you get high DEX bonuses. But you lose a little of your LUK, which is important in combat for criticals and Lucky Hits.

A chracter that wanted plenty of AP, planned to focus on combat-grinding, but also fit in some craftwork, would do very, very well with an age 11 birth.

In fact, I recommend it to new players who aren't specifically dreaming of magician.

Age 11 is good for characters with high interest in Combat and some interest in Crafting, and Low interest in magic.

RECOMMENDED: Low-magic Newbie, Combat Balanced w/Crafting character


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12: 4.25 avg stats a level
Base 44HP 34MP 41STM 24STR 15INT 25DEX 28WIL 19LUK 18 / 16 AP

Lv10 51HP 36MP 48STM 29STR 15INT 32DEX 35WIL 24LUK 28 / 26 AP
Lv20 59HP 39MP 56STM 34STR 15INT 40DEX 43WIL 29LUK 38 / 36 AP
Lv30 66HP 41MP 63STM 39STR 15INT 47DEX 50WIL 34LUK 48 / 46 AP
Lv40 74HP 44MP 71STM 44STR 15INT 55DEX 58WIL 39LUK 58 / 56 AP


+HP, STM, DEX, WILL
=STR, LUK
-MP
--INT

Birthing at 12 gives you a smaller, but still sizeable, HP boost. In exchange you gain high amounts of Stamina at age 12, and the HP and some AP are the only expenses.

You miss out on 8-10 AP across 7 weeks, at the rate of about 1 a week. If you can tolerate that, an Age 12 Birth is VERY GOOD for a Crafting-type character. You will recieve high amounts of DEX and STM, while retaining high HP and WILL. Your character becomes slightly easier to kill due to lower HP, but its ability to labor continually, will SIGNIFICANTLY improve.

If you want to focus on Life skills, and have no interest in magic... but don't intend to completely cut out combat, this is a great place to start.

RECOMMENDED:

Crafting Focus Characters, with low magic


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13: 4.5 avg stats a level
Base 45HP 35MP 42STM 24STR 15INT 25DEX 28WIL 19LUK 15 / 12 AP

Lv10 52HP 40MP 49STM 29STR 17INT 32DEX 35WIL 21LUK 25 / 22 AP
Lv20 60HP 45MP 57STM 34STR 20INT 40DEX 43WIL 24LUK 35 / 32 AP
Lv30 67HP 50MP 64STM 39STR 22INT 47DEX 50WIL 26LUK 45 / 42 AP
Lv40 75HP 55MP 72STM 44STR 25INT 55DEX 58WIL 29LUK 55 / 52 AP

+HP, STM, DEX, WILL
=STR, MP
-LUK, INT

Age 13 is a bit of a curiosity. You gain 4.5 stats per level, more than any other age.

Your Luck per level decreases, but you gain decent MP and FINALLY start gaining INT per level!

The main catch is that you lose 11 to 14 AP, which is as much as 2 per week.
Again, this is NOT really a lot, until your character is struggling to gain 2 levels a week.

Age 13 can be a good choice for a character with more interest in Magic than physical combat, but who is still looking for good crafting bonuses.

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[Tolinar]

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14: 4.00 avg stats a level
Base 46HP 43MP 43STM 24STR 15INT 25DEX 28WIL 19LUK 12 / 8 AP

Lv10 53HP 48MP 50STM 29STR 17INT 30DEX 33WIL 21LUK 22 / 18 AP
Lv20 61HP 53MP 58STM 34STR 20INT 35DEX 38WIL 24LUK 32 / 28 AP
Lv30 68HP 58MP 65STM 39STR 23INT 40DEX 43WIL 26LUK 42 / 38 AP
Lv40 76HP 63MP 73STM 44STR 25INT 45DEX 48WIL 29LUK 52 / 48 AP

+HP, STM
=MP, STR, DEX, WILL
-LUK, INT

Fourteen is a rough age, looking at stat gains.
You lose your nice bonuses to Dex and Will, and another 3 / 7 AP bite the dust for a total of 2 per week on a new char., and 3 per week on a rebirth. You're up to 3 AP a week gone and down on stats, with almost nothing to show for it.

Almost nothing, except a magic baseline spike. Your MP and INT drastically improve at level 1, with 8 extra MP and 5 extra INT.

So, who should start at fourteen?
I would say melee mages, perhaps. Without the Dex Bonus, don't expect to be so good at crafting; but characters born at 14 will have good magic stats to go with good melee stats. This is also your last shot at LUCK.

Perhaps, but not with a strong enough proof to make a recommend. After all, you would need to level 2-3 extra times per week to make it worthwhile, and only if you had reduced interest in crafting -- and even then, you still lose some ability to Crit. as your Will goes down for the first time...

That just leaves one type of player
RECOMMENDED: Extremely Patient Mages

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15: 3.75 avg stats a level

Base 47HP 44MP 44STM 24STR 15INT 25DEX 28WIL 19LUK 10 / 5 AP

Lv10 54HP 49MP 51STM 29STR 20INT 27DEX 33WIL 19LUK 20 / 15 AP
Lv20 62HP 54MP 59STM 34STR 25INT 30DEX 38WIL 19LUK 30 / 25 AP
Lv30 69HP 59MP 66STM 39STR 30INT 32DEX 43WIL 19LUK 40 / 35 AP
Lv40 77HP 64MP 74STM 44STR 35INT 35DEX 48WIL 19LUK 50 / 45 AP


+HP, STM
=MP, STR, INT, WILL
-DEX
-- LUK (gone forever)

Those AP losses are finally starting to rack up. You have lost 16 AP over a fresh character at 10, and 21 over a rebirth.

Even over the short 2 weeks to 17, you will miss 4-6 AP, enough for a free skill-up. You will continue to miss out on about 1 skill per 2 weeks, until 7 have passed and you are 22 years old.

Feeling old yet? Your Dex is suffering for a little while at this age. And your luck, your luck, your poor poor luck.

But with age comes wisdom -- your INT has never been so high. This could be a good choice to birth as a Magician, as long as you are fully aware of the AP loss. It's slightly better in terms of AP than the other "Magic Choices" up ahead. It's also the last age you get the "good" bonus to HP, so it' may a good choice for novice characters who want magical power.

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16: 3.75 avg stats a level
Base 48HP 45MP 45STM 24STR 15INT 25DEX 28WIL 19LUK 8 / 2 AP

Lv10 53HP 52MP 52STM 29STR 20INT 27DEX 33WIL 19LUK 18 / 12 AP
Lv20 58HP 60MP 60STM 34STR 25INT 30DEX 38WIL 19LUK 28 / 22 AP
Lv30 63HP 67MP 67STM 39STR 30INT 32DEX 43WIL 19LUK 38 / 32 AP
Lv40 68HP 75MP 75STM 44STR 35INT 35DEX 48WIL 19LUK 48 / 42 AP

+MP, STM
=HP, STR, INT, WILL
-DEX

At this point you have weaker AP, that's all there is to say. Your bonuses are getting pretty poor, especially if you are rebirthing.

Over Age 15, rebirthing at 16 will increase your MP sharply, and cost you 2-3 AP and a HP advantage. Otherwise the ages are virtually the same, except for a sliver of Stamina and a headstart you get at 16.

I recommend rebirth at 16 for a Magic-Focus character that may want to dabble in Craft. True Mages, however, should hold out.

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17: 3.5 avg stats a level
Base 49HP 46MP 46STM 24STR 15INT 25DEX 28WIL 19LUK 7 / 0 AP

Lv10 54HP 53MP 53STM 29STR 22INT 25DEX 30WIL 19LUK 17 / 10 AP
Lv20 59HP 61MP 61STM 34STR 30INT 25DEX 33WIL 19LUK 27 / 20 AP
Lv30 64HP 68MP 68STM 39STR 37INT 25DEX 35WIL 19LUK 37 / 30 AP
Lv40 69HP 76MP 76STM 44STR 45INT 25DEX 38WIL 19LUK 47 / 40 AP

+MP, STM, INT
=HP, STR
- WILL
-- DEX

The oldest Age you can birth at, 17 not only provides you with the biggest lump of starting stats at level 1, but also gives you huge advantages in INT. But what gives, also takes away -- your DEX will not increase as you level, and this will make Crafting very hard! Plus, your Will bonus deflates more, weakening your physical combat skills due to fewer Criticals.

RECOMMENDED: Newbies interested in Magic, Impatient players, Magic-Focus combatants.

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[Tolinar]

A Character Comparison by Age
This chart shows the stat development in one week of a player who trained 50 levels within the first week.


STATS AT END OF FIRST WEEK, Level 51 Character
(at next age on Sat. morning)

AGE - 10 - 11 - 12 - 13 - 14 - 15 - 16 - 17

AP. - 55 - 56 - 56 - 57 - 57 - 58 - 58 - 59
rAP - 55 - 55 - 54 - 54 - 53 - 53 - 52 - 52
(rAP indicates AP from a rebirth)

HP. - 74 - 69 - 70 - 74 - 78 - 82 - 73 - 76
MP. - 33 - 35 - 37 - 53 - 56 - 59 - 76 - 86
STM - 47 - 62 - 66 - 70 - 74 - 78 - 82 - 86
STR - 37 - 39 - 41 - 43 - 45 - 47 - 49 - 51
INT - 10 - 10 - 10 - 22 - 23 - 48 - 40 - 54
DEX - 37 - 52 - 55 - 58 - 48 - 36 - 37 - 25
WIL - 50 - 53 - 56 - 59 - 49 - 51 - 53 - 41
LUK - 50 - 40 - 42 - 30 - 31 - 19 - 19 - 19

This table is very telling. When you stand an Age 10, an Age 17, and an Age 13 shoulder-to-shoulder after giving each one 50 levels across a week, where do they really stand in terms of stats?

Of course, some of these advantages will iron out as characters hit the "wall" at 25...


FINAL DEVELOPMENT AT 25, with 50 levels gained total
AGE - 10 - 11 - 12 - 13 - 14 - 15 - 16 - 17

AP. - 88 - 84 - 80 - 77 - 74 - 72 - 70 - 69
rAP - 88 - 83 - 78 - 74 - 70 - 67 - 64 - 62
(rAP indicates AP from a rebirth)

HP. - 102 - 103 - 91 - 92 - 93 - 94 - 83 - 84
MP. - 62 - 63 - 64 - 78 - 86 - 87 - 100 - 101
STM - 82 - 83 - 95 - 96 - 97 - 98 - 99 - 100
STR - 63 - 63 - 63 - 63 - 63 - 63 - 63 - 63
INT - 32 - 32 - 32 - 44 - 50 - 62 - 62 - 74
DEX - 58 - 70 - 70 - 70 - 58 - 45 - 45 - 33
WIL - 73 - 73 - 73 - 73 - 61 - 61 - 61 - 48
LUK - 56 - 44 - 44 - 31 - 31 - 19 - 19 - 19


This chart only indicates growth for 50 levels in the first week and no levels thereafter.

But since a player will gain the BULK of his levels in the first week, it is a good statistical indicator of things to come.

You should also consider the benefits of the next level somewhat, since a lesser bulk of levels comes in week 2, and level-gaining becomes pretty hard in week 3 and beyond.

As you can see, it has a major sway over your finished character where you choose to group up your levels.



High stats in desired areas for both week-of-birth and week after, should tell you what to do.


....
Whew. That was a huge load of work.

You may applaud now.

[Tolinar]

The "Magic" ages - 15 onward - seem appetizing, but to be honest, the AP loss is realy really bad. Yet those stats call so loudly... what to do?

There's really only one thing you CAN do.

Be patient.

Birthing at 10, and then NOT LEVELING, will let you pile the bulk of your levels onto an age like 15 to 17.

This gives you both lots of extra AP, and also highly effective stats.

What's more, you can age past 17 this way...

starting to level a character at 20 or 21 will get you all the Age AP, as well as all the stats from concentrated levels on good ages.


But every silver cloud is yet full of rain.
You see, to make this strategy work, your character must IDLE.

Idling is not fun. =/ Mabinogi is a GAME.
To go from 10 to 15, a character must idle for 4 weeks and a day minimum. That's a month of no-leveling. Which sucks.

From 10 to 21 takes 10 weeks and a day minimum, or 2 and a half months of inactivity.



What to do?
Make an alternate character.

Play a main character that is actually active and set this magician aside. You will have a powerful magic character when the time comes, very quickly. This strategy can be GREAT fun to play!

Indeed, idling additional characters is an ingenious way to build ANY character type's AP total up while retaining the good stat balance!


"Resting" a character, as it is called, takes a little longer, but the results are very enjoyable.


Here's a great newbie Tip. Since you get better Dex at age 11, and good Dex is helpful in Crafting and such, you can get a cheap enhancement to play by:


- Making a character at Age 10 on a Friday evening, then logging off.
- Wait till Saturday morning, AGE UP.


VOILA! A super-newbie character, with the ideal age 11 growth for a full week, and the AP of Age 10!

Think of it as a thank you for reading.

Remember, AGE 11 is better suited to characters who want to try all the crafting and gathering skills. AGE 10 is better for pure-Combat characters who want high LUCK for more Criticals and better drops!

Pick carefully whether to make a normal newbie on Saturday morning, or a Super-Newbie on Friday Night!


Enjoy!


~Tolinar

[Yoshi]

Wow good Job ^^

[TofuCakee]

nice job, i find it very informative.

[hidencat13]

Very awesome, so like if I want to be to a good archer I'll start at lvl 11 for the huge dex bonus, Mage lvls 14;16;17;, and melee lvl 10 right?

[kitaek27]

Did you write this? It looks like you copy pasted it from somewhere, unless you purposely put that font up.

"absolute maximum AP" for age ten gives all the reason why you should start at age 10. I don't see why you would choose 30 more int over 2~6 extra ranks you could get from a magic skill. I don't care if its less beneficial for mages. The skill stat boosts are permanent, and thats what matters.

If you plan on not getting a rebirth, but want the max possible int (without a rebirth the amount of int you'll have really makes no difference) make a 10 year old and don't level up until you reach age 17.

In every case possible, theres no way anyone would choose to start over age 10, unless they want to be wearing age restricted clothing. Its just an unspoken rule that 99% of the players take, other than the other 1% that are just starting and don't know what to do.

I'm not picking on you or your guide. I'm just trying to elaborate on details as to why I think its crucial to start at the age of 10 no matter what you want to do in the game.

[luffype]

good guide.
ayuda mucho a la hora de eligir la edad para comenzar para de todas maneras empezare a los 10 no revivire hasta los 25 para sacarle el jugo a la rebirth cards ya q no son baratas :P