-10/17/15 EDIT-
While all the information in this guide is still 100% important, it is much..much MUCH easier to round out things now.
First of all it is still recommended to plan out builds for core, at level 90 and post level 90. There is now up to 75k points if you decide to go for all those extra side quests.
Once your build is planned, see how many of the expertise you want to class 5 or above, and can fit into your level 90 build. Total those classes up and move on to the next step.
Do any quests for any expertise that needs unlocking (ie. gun knowledge or magic control). Get those to class 1.
Finally leave everything off. Yes you heard me off. Farm up any variation of OOPTHS, have a friend farm them for you, or buy them in babel (players occasionally sell handfuls of them. For like 20k I got about 30 OOPTHS). You want to take these to any yagiya npc. Click the third option and a menu to trade in the OOPTHS for a yagiya note should pop up. Convert all the OOPTHS you get (you need 1 OOPTH per rank, 10 per class) and then turn on your exp you want to raise. Find the thoth in babel or H3 and press the first option. If you don't know which option is the specific expertise you are going for, check out Nori's translations. Spam away till you reach class 5 of the expertise, then dance around happy when you have shields or Fire shot, without the days of spamming 1 for hours on end.
This only works up to class 5, so there is still a bit of manual grinding that comes into play. This is where making sure you keep your build rounded is very important. The extra quests are a bit pesky...therefore you want to be as rounded as possible.
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So with all the guides to make certain types of characters, one thing is in common for all of them. There is this strange concept of "rounding" your builds. Here is a short little guide on what it all means.
As per usual read --->
this <---- first. So much good stuff already written down.
There are three stages of grinding:
Pre-30:
This is arguably the most important time in your SMT career. In the Home III magic shop, the robed dude sells three different items that you can use ONLY if you are under level 30; Lethe Waters, Lethe Bottles, and Hourglass of Reversal.
Lethe Water: Removes one rank (100 points) of any expertise chosen.
Lethe Bottle: Removes one class (1000 points) of any expertise chosen.
Hourglass of Reversal: Sets all stat points back to 0, allowing you to reallocate them.
These items are INCREDIBLY important in guaranteeing enough expertise points for your final build.
Lets take a mage build for example whose final build looks something like this:
Class 10 Destruction Magic (Maxed)
Class 7 Magic Control (Maxed)
Class 2 Rush
Class 4 Curative
Class 8 Support (Maxed)
Class 8 Curse (Maxed)
Class 3 Bless
This gives them:
Class 5.3 Enhancement
Class 7 Curse of the Wretched
Class 6 Demolition Dash
For most of their time leveling between 1 and 90 however they will have someone else to do the buffing for them. So what they want to have is their main damaging expertise and some basics of the other two chains unlocked. So Pre-30 their build may look like this:
Class 2 Curative
Class 2 Support
Class 1 Bless
Class 2 Curse
Class 3 Magic Control
Class 5 Destruction Magic
Class 2 Rush
This gives them the basics from all the chains. Now what you want to have a perfect build is exactly Class 2 Rank 0.00 for Rush for example. How can that be accomplished? The newbie lethe waters mentioned above. If you grind to Class 2 Rank 1 of rush and then use the lethe water you will have exactly the expertise you need, leaving the spare .07 points you would have wasted for another exp.
90:
So now you've grinded till your brain has exploded. Now what? In order to keep this perfect rounded build you have constructed you need to keep up with it. Every 10 levels you get another 1000 exp points. Use them. Immediatly. Grind another class into your main exp chain if you are not maxing that exp.
If you are maxing something, in our example something like destruction magic, you don't need to worry as much about hitting exactly 1k since the game will round your exp for you when you get class 10. Its still a good habit to be in to grind every 10 levels. It breaks up the grinding process a bit and ensures you wont forget something.
So continuing the example by level 90 the mage should have a build that looks like this:
Class 10 Destruction Magic
Class 7 Magic Control
Class 2 Curative
Class 2 Support
Class 2 Curse
Class 1 Bless
Class 2 Rush
This means the main part of the build (ie the damaging part) is done.
Post 90:
Here is where you start doing things for your expertise. Look on the wiki to see the requirements for obtaining the extra exp. However keep in mind you still want a perfect build. Once you get the 1k exp or whatever USE IT. Odds are for your secondary classes you wont be maxing everything (curative and bless in our example). Keep that hard earned rounded build rounded and you are good to go.
FAQ
Q: Why should I grind an expertise then lethe it down even if I will be getting more of it later?
A: You want to round off things before you need to level if possible. Yes you are just prolonging the inevitable spam of a skill on a hua po, but you will be happy about it later on.
Q: So....should I be using a lethe after every Class?
A: Nope. Don't lethe unless you are done grinding that particular expertise for the time being.
