Jester Requirements and Abilities?

Stuneree

My alt is a Jester that I wouldn't mind getting into a bit of combat.

I have a few questions regarding which abilities do what, (a lot of the descriptions are vague/I misunderstand due to my lack of combat experience), and also questions regarding the required lessons/what to spend them on.

I'd prefer not to have to tri-trans, simply because if I put money into a character I'd rather it be my main. But if needed it's not a big deal.

If it's not required, I'd have about maybe 3600 or so total lessons to throw around? (This is just for the first couple of months while I figure the class out, then I'll actually start to invest).

I've read pretty much every single thread ever made about Jester combat, but there are still a few things I don't exactly understand.

- How can Hierophant be made useful, seeing as it has some limitations that prevent it from being cheap as all Hell? (I read about an INR tactic, but with serverside curing I'm not sure that's really useful to me). What kinds of things do people actually do with this?

- This may sound stupid, but I have absolutely no idea what a "fashion" is. People say things like, "oh yeah I had 20 fashions at that point", but I don't know what it's supposed to mean.

- How exactly does Death Tarot work, and how much balance/EQ does it take up per rub? Am I supposed to start fights off by rubbing it seven times? Then afterwards it seems like it takes a while to work... So am I supposed to have someone with two broken limbs, therefore they can't move? That just seems like I should use JitB, so I'm guessing that's not how it works.

- What does Aeon do? I literally have no idea. Also, what does Devil do? It says "it can only be used once", but I can't imagine that's a "you use it once on your character and never again". The six random cards it throws, is it at your target or something like that? Is tower useful in 1v1? Justice, Star, and Moon are also pretty vague.

- Is Mickey used in 1v1, or mainly groups? The EQ/Balance seems like it might be redundant to use it alone?

- Are illusions at all useful now, or should I just avoid practicing them?

- Jack in the Box: The goal is to keep someone in the room until the Jack in the Box goes off then? So things like Hangedman?

Regarding lessons: Where should lessons actually be? If it's tri-trans, then an answer isn't too necessary (unless there's a different skill I'll also need not including survival/vision)... But if double-transing is operable, what should I be doing?

Also, any arties required here? I'd probably also grab those once I like the combat more (or dislike and stop with it). 

Thank you, I'll be on this all day.

Bukariin

This is a lot of questions that are probably best answered by some experienced Jesters (Sena and Sobriquet come to mind), but I can answer a few of the basics:

Devil doesn't do anything by itself, but the next time you fling, you'll throw one of six random cards at the same time (I believe Hangedman, Aeon, Justice, Lust, Moon and something else).  This allows you to get things like double Aeon, which is sweet but less reliable than Hangedman/something else.

Aeon does the same thing as Retardation vibes, delaying your actions.  Sipping Speed gives you a defense against it that you can bring back up without balance, so merely throwing Aeon doesn't do shit to most opponents, but if you can somehow strip Speed and immediately land Aeon (think Devil, then get lucky on a double Aeon) it's a more effective hinder than Hangedman. 

Fashioning adds "energy" to your Puppet of another player, and you use this "energy" to do Puppet attacks.  Your ability to lock an opponent will hinge heavily on your ability to gather Fashions and use them efficiently.

Death tarot is pretty unreliable, since I can just force you to IND DEATH, which you can do off balance.  JITB is faster and harder to counter, you basically have to either hinder me or leave the room.

Stuneree

@Bukariin‌
What is the "You can only use devil once" deal all about in that case? 

Also thank you for the answer!

Bukariin

Stuneree said:

@Bukariin‌
What is the "You can only use devil once" deal all about in that case? 

Also thank you for the answer!

lolarpee

It means you only get one extra throw off throwing Devil.  To get the double throw again, you'll have to throw another Devil first.  And no, you can't get Double Devil and then end up with a triple throw.

Sobriquet

JBukariin said:

This is a lot of questions that are probably best answered by some experienced Jesters (Sena and Sobriquet come to mind), but I can answer a few of the basics:

Devil doesn't do anything by itself, but the next time you fling, you'll throw one of six random cards at the same time (I believe Hangedman, Aeon, Justice, Lust, Moon and something else).  This allows you to get things like double Aeon, which is sweet but less reliable than Hangedman/something else.

Aeon does the same thing as Retardation vibes, delaying your actions.  Sipping Speed gives you a defense against it that you can bring back up without balance, so merely throwing Aeon doesn't do shit to most opponents, but if you can somehow strip Speed and immediately land Aeon (think Devil, then get lucky on a double Aeon) it's a more effective hinder than Hangedman. 

Fashioning adds "energy" to your Puppet of another player, and you use this "energy" to do Puppet attacks.  Your ability to lock an opponent will hinge heavily on your ability to gather Fashions and use them efficiently.

Death tarot is pretty unreliable, since I can just force you to IND DEATH, which you can do off balance.  JITB is faster and harder to counter, you basically have to either hinder me or leave the room.

JITB isn't faster than Death, it just doesn't have the build up that Death Tarot has. The counter is also the same for both, either leave the room or get the Jester to do something. Hindering a Jester (Web, Para etc) once they have flung Death or wound a JITB does nothing other than give them the win.

Talysin

You can't IND death tarot off balance, @Bukarin.

Jesters mainly deal in instant kill skills (colloquially called "instakills" by the player base). Death tarot takes 8 seconds, JITB takes 10. Both are fantastic skills to use on a hindered opponent. 

Mickey is essential if you want to delay curing (when going for a truelock).

Illusions are great, especially since Jesters can time them. You should make illusions for shielding, somersaulting, eating herbs, all have the benefit of screwing with your opponents strategy.

You'll want to make use of balloons for a fairly secure getaway (people can't tentacle you down with an inflated balloon). 

You can be effective without trans tarot if you work hard at being clever, but trans puppetry and pranks are essential.

This class is all about innovation. Unlike other classes, you can't use a cut and dry strategy to kill people. Each strategy you use to kill will depend almost exclusively on the person you are fighting.

Private message me if you want some starting strategies.

Stuneree

@Talysin‌
Sounds good, thank you. Confusing definitions, but everything is so cool.;o

Sobriquet

I will be on Sobby a little more these days, so feel free to collar me if you need any help.

Talysin

@Sobriquet is OG. Totally take tips from him first!