Sexiness, brains and molten arrows; the package doesn’t come any hotter than this. For those considering a Cra build, I bring up the Intelligence Cra for consideration.

With the arsenal available to the Intelligence Cra, there is more consistent damage than by strength counterparts. However, during the higher mid-levels, the Strength Cra can roll some amazing hits that leave you wondering if you’ve chosen the right build. Patience, and lots of it, is required as you climb the levels toward Explosive Arrow. The payoff is there at Level 90, however, when the Intelligence Cra begins to own everything on the map.

Level 1
Magic Arrow (Fire) 4 AP / Suggested Level: 5
Here it is boys and girls, your first spell and it’s a doozy! This arrow will stand you in good stead for the duration of your career. Max this one first, or level with burning arrow.

Frozen Arrow (Fire) 3 AP / Suggested Level: 1
More fire damage! At 3 AP, you can use this one twice per turn. Great for taking on the smaller monsters or those with just a few points left. This is one of those things that you can level as you want; I never got mine past level 3, and if you don’t max it, you’ll not feel the loss either.

Critical Shooting (Buff) 4 AP / Suggested Level: 1
Most of the arrows in your repertoire have a critical hit rate of 1/50. Using 10 level points to reduce it to 1/45 seems to me to be a waste of points, but if anyone has an argument for the other side of this coin, I’d love to hear it. I do not keep this on my board as I have elected to not go the critical cra route.

Level 3
Homing Arrow (Earth) 3 AP / Suggested Level: 1
Save these arrows for your Sacrier friends, as you can do little damage. Of all the earth arrows I possess, this is one of two that I keep on my spell board.

Level 6
Burning Arrow (Fire) 5 AP / Suggested Level: 5
Holy-mother-of-god, would you look at that damage? The temptation will be to abandon leveling magic arrow in favor of this, which is what I did. In hindsight, I don’t recommend it. Magic Arrow is a more versatile spell with its wide range. Relying on Burning Arrow and its linear line will cause endless frustrations unless you’re grouped with experienced people who understand LOS needs. Packing a hefty payload of 5 AP, this arrow will reduce your attacks to one per round, unless you’re traveling with an AP producing buddy and you’ve got at 8AP gear set up. The nice thing about this arrow is that it can hit up to four targets and can shoot through trees and walls, albeit with limitations.

As your only AoE attack, it’s nice to have … but plan to forget it at Level 90 when you get Explosive. The number of times you’ll use it is very limited at that point, and you may wish to expand your PvP abilities with another spell.

Level 9
Distance Shooting (Buff) 2 AP / Suggested Level: 5
The presents just keep on coming! Even at high levels, this buff gets used almost every fight. Level it to 6 at 109.

Level 13
Atonement Arrow (Earth) 5 AP / Suggested Level: 1
Oh, it looks sweet with its potential massive damage, but don’t be fooled. With its incredibly short range, you’re already in the danger zone unless you’ve got +MP boots. It has a higher-than-normal failure rate. Not for you, my friend.

Level 17
Bat’s Eye (De-Buff) 5 AP / Suggested Level: 1
I watched someone in a Perc fight use this one time. I howled with laughter (not out loud of course ; that would be impolite). It decreases the range of all players on the board, yourself included. Use it in team play and watch the hate mail come flooding into /p.

Now, having said that, this can be useful in one-on-one PvP in later levels where you debuff all players range, then extend yours.

Level 21
Retreat Arrow (Air) 4 AP / Suggested Level: 3
Woot! A two-space push back! Good for those tight spots or when you’ve got 8AP and can also hit them with Magic Arrow. Don’t max the arrow though… level 3 gets you the reduction in AP you need and there is no additional benefit to using more leveling points.

Level 26
Paralyzing Arrow (Earth) 4 AP / Suggested Level: 1
Earth damage. Did you see? Earth. Not for you.

Level 31
Punitive Arrow (Earth) 4 AP / Suggested Level: 1
Look at that level 5 max damage!! Now stop thinking it will ever work for you. Keep it on your board, if you wish, to combine with chafer and retreat arrow ; and oh yeah – fleet footwork.

Bonus Spell
Striking (Fire) 6 AP / Suggested Level: 3
By this time, your leveling points have caught up and you’re wondering what to do next. Get yourself a Striking spell and work on leveling it up as you like. Mine is at level 3 and I’ll not likely get it higher. Works with a blast radius of 2 and is ideal for those times when you get surrounded by the enemy. I leveled much of my career with a sram who went invisible, making me seem like the only viable target on the map, so this spell was a must-have. I may unlearn this spell once I get Explosive Arrow (and if I have the kamas, of course). [edit) Okay, I didn’t have the kama. At Level 125, I still find this spell situationally useful and keep it on my auxiliary spellboard.

Level 36
Powerful Shooting (Buff) 6 AP / Suggested Level: 1
Post Level 100, I’ve changed my mind on this buff and will be levelling it. Bow skill (cra class) plus powerful shooting is an incredibly strong combo.

Level 42
Plagued Arrow (Air) 3 AP / Suggested Level: 1
Your only arrow that does not require LOS. However, low damage for the pure Intelligence Cra makes this a non-viable arrow for leveling.

Level 48
Lashing Arrow (Earth) 4 AP / Suggested Level: 1
Another arrow for the strength Cra. Forget you saw it.

Level 54
Eagle’s Eye (Buff) 6 AP / Suggested Level: 5
Those used to soloing will see little advantage to this buff. However, if you like team sport like me, this is a must-have, and a delight for every other class, adding 5 range to everyone standing on your glyph. For soloists, my argument is that when your Distant Shooting has been de-buffed, you can still use this.

Bonus Spell
Chaferfu (Summon) 6 AP / Suggested Level: 5
If you haven’t already gone through the Skeleton Dungeon and acquired a handy-dandy chaferfu companion, make it a priority now. This guy, while dangerous to you unless you’ve got fancy feets, adds an element of earth damage that has saved my pretty little butt a few times. For me, ‘Bones’ has been level 4 for quite some time, but I will max him when I have the spell points to do so.

There are detractors out there who say that this is a useless spell for a cra. I’d argue that point, most especially for the intelligence cra. He takes damage for me and is able to deal out quite a bit on his own to those troublesome fire-resistant monsters out there.

Level 60
Destructive Arrow (Earth) 5 AP / Suggested Level: 1
This is the holy grail of the Strength Cra arsenal. Watch your cousins own with it and be happy for them.

Level 70
Absorptive Arrow (Air) 6 AP / Suggested Level: 1
The only time I’ve found this useful is when I’m in need of a few more health points so someone can hit me with a healing wand.

Bonus Spell
Weapon Skill (Skill) 6 AP / Suggested Level: 5
I initially went with bow skill, but for a variety of reasons, have switched to wands and then to swords. I may end up switching back to bows for the higher levels, but I’m liking the damage I see with the closer-range less AP-intensive wands and swords. Whatever you choose, know that you’ll be spending plenty on maging the weapon to your fire element.

Level 80
Slow Down Arrow (Water) 6 AP / Suggested Level: 1
I hear that, with good equipment and a couple of levels, this can be a fun arrow. I have not levelled it, but find it useful on my auxiliary board to back up my chafer.

Level 90
Explosive Arrow (Fire) 6 AP / Suggested Level: 5
You’ve finally made it. Grinding through the last 40 levels has paid off… this is the big time, baby! You’ve saved points to max this, right? Damn right!

Level 100
Bow Skill (Buff) 5 AP / Suggested Level: 5
Unlike the non-class Bow Skill that can be purchased by anyone, this adds +13 damages.

Bonus Spells (not levelled)
Along the way, I’ve collected Leek Pie, Moon Hammer, and Release, the latter two finding a permanent home on my auxiliary spellboard. Leek Pie is handy every single fight, and at levels above 100, does a decent amount of damage for a non-levelled spell. I may actually put a point or two into Release at some point.

Characteristics Points are spent on getting your to Intelligence base to 150, where the 3:1 ratio makes you start seriously looking at equipment to boost your int. At that point, I began hitting Vitality as it is the only other statistic that does not have a low soft cap. When I hit 200 base vit, I switched back to int for the extra power. The Vit gives me enough HP to survive in the big kids’ battles.

If this is your first character, you may not have the wherewithal to scroll all stats immediately. Work on them as you can. Scroll your agility, wisdom and chance. If you feel you must spend your levelling points somewhere other than Int or Vit, I suggest Agility. If this is an additional character, you may wish to scroll int to 101 before you start adding in your levelling points.

Now, all of the foregoing is only a suggestion and I am not the ultimate authority on building an Intelligence Cra; not by a long shot. This is how I might build another one, should I decide to re-roll someday. Oralind, with all her faults (and she has more than a couple) is near and dear to my heart, however, and I’ll continue to play her as long as I can.

Thanks to feedback from OzMo and others who’ve used this guide. You’ve helped make it better. Oversights, omissions and errors are mine alone.