Rain

INFORMATION

FROM:

SWORD ART ONLINE

RACE:

LEPRECHAUN

WEAPONS:

DUAL BLADES
1HAND SWORD
RAPIER

MAIN ELEMENT:

NONE

ROLE:

BUFFER
ATTACKER

UNLOCK:

Unlocked in EP09

~DUAL BLADES~

Show/Hide Dual Blades Sword Skills

	NAME	SKILL DESCRIPTION
	Thousand Sword Rain	Rain’s OSS. Summons multiple blades around her and sends them at a target. COOLDOWN: 30
	Gale Slicer	Rushing attack. Quickly rushes forward attacking any enemies in path. COOLDOWN: 3
	End Revolver	Area of Effect attack. Spins in place with both blades extended. COOLDOWN: 3
	Double Circular	Single Strike attack. Looks similar to the Guarding Attack in Lost Song. Has short range. COOLDOWN: 3
	Cygnus Onslaught	Power attack. Crosses both blades on a single point leaving a cool looking X effect on the screen. Tracks target on start-up. COOLDOWN: 10
	Specula Cross	Counter attack. Drops into defensive stance and counters incoming physical attacks with a quick 1-2 strike. Only activates upon receiving damage during start-up of attack (Projectiles & magic do not count). COOLDOWN:* 10
	Starburst Stream	Combo attack. Swift 16-hit combo. Total duration is somewhat long. COOLDOWN: 15
	The Eclipse	Powerful combo attack. 27-hit combo. Extremely long duration (10 seconds?) Be careful how you use this skill because an enemy can move away halfway through it. COOLDOWN: 30

~1HAND SWORD~

Show/Hide 1Hand Sword Skills

	NAME	SKILL DESCRIPTION
	Rage Spike	Rushing attack. Lunges forward skewering enemies with the tip of the sword. COOLDOWN: 3
	Slant	Quick attack. Steps in and slashes diagonally. COOLDOWN: 3
	Around Arc	Invul attack. Dashes perpendicular to the target and then delivers a quick strike. Useful in Skill connect Combos. COOLDOWN: 3
	Meteor Fall	Combo attack. Throws the sword up. Jumps up to catch it and slashes down with momentum from the sky. Stylish. COOLDOWN: 10
	Horizontal Square	Area of Effect attack. 4 quick slashes in rotation around a target with a square emitting from center point. COOLDOWN: 10
	Sharp Nail	Combo attack. 3 Swift scything slashes. COOLDOWN: 10
	Radiant Arc	Single strike attack. Flips the sword to a reverse grip and delivers a rising uppercut. Also stylish. COOLDOWN: 10
	Vorpal Strike	Rushing attack. Launches yourself at the target in an explosive spiral. Covers an incredible amount of distance. COOLDOWN: 15
	Nova Ascension	Combo attack. 10-hit combo. The duration is rather lengthy so be sure to use this carefully. COOLDOWN: 30

~RAPIER~

Show/Hide Rapier Sword Skills

	NAME	SKILL DESCRIPTION
	Stinger	Rushing attack. Dash forward and thrusts the rapier at a point, damaging enemies in path. COOLDOWN: 3
	And Leap	Combo attack. 2 Quick thrusts followed by a large spinning leap to the left. COOLDOWN: 3
	Fake Step	Invul attack. Takes a halfstep back to dodge attacks and then steps forward with two swift horizontal swipes. The start-up has some invulnerability. COOLDOWN: 3
	Quadruple Pain	Combo attack. 4 short range cascading thrusts. COOLDOWN: 10
	Sonic Impulse	Projectile attack. Propels a diagonal shockwave at the target. COOLDOWN: 10
	Pierce Territory	Area of Effect attack. Thrusts the rapier upward generating a barrier around the user that damages enemies within its vicinity. COOLDOWN: 10
	Shooting Star	Power attack. Thrusts the rapier at a point, making a small explosion on impact. COOLDOWN: 15
	Star Splash	Combo attack. Swift 8-hit combo of cascading thrusts. COOLDOWN: 30

~OFFENSIVE MAGIC SKILLS~

Show/Hide Offensive Magic

	NAME	DESCRIPTION
	Fireball	Fires a small fireball at an enemy. Power & number of consecutive shots increases with skill level.
	Flame Blast	Drops a large fireball upon an enemy. Power & number of consecutive shots increases with skill level.
	Meteor Explosion	Summon a meteor from the sky to drop on an area surrounding target. Power increases with skill level.
	Ice Bullet	Fires a small icicle at an enemy. Power & number of consecutive shots increases with skill level.
	Wind Cutter	Fires a small gust of wind at an enemy. Power & number of consecutive shots increases with skill level.
	Sling Stone	Fires small rocks at an enemy. Power & number of consecutive shots increases with skill level.
	Dark Sphere	Fires a small ball of darkness at an enemy. Power & number of consecutive shots increases with skill level.
	Lightning Arrow	Fires multiple spears of light at an enemy. Power & number of consecutive shots increases with skill level.
	Holy Lance	Fires a beam of light to pierce an enemy. Power increases with skill level.

~HEALING & BUFFS~

Show/Hide Healing & Buffs

	NAME	DESCRIPTION
	First Aid	Recover own HP. Amount recovered is increased with skill level.
	Sharpness	Increases Party Attack by 20%. Duration is increased with skill level.
	Protection	Increases Party Defense by 17%. Duration is increased with skill level.
	Resist Fire	Increases Party Fire Resistance by 33%. Duration increases with skill level.
	Resist Aqua	Increases Party Ice Resistance by 33%. Duration increases with skill level.
	Resist Aero	Increases Party Wind Resistance by 33%. Duration increases with skill level.
	Resist Soil	Increases Party Earth Resistance by 33%. Duration increases with skill level.
	Resist Dark	Increases Party Dark Resistance by 33%. Duration increases with skill level.
	Resist Holy	Increases Party Holy Resistance by 33%. Duration increases with skill level.
	Enhance Fire	Increases Party Fire Based Damage by 30%. Duration increases with skill level.
	Enhance Aqua	Increases Party Ice Based Damage by 30%. Duration increases with skill level.
	Enhance Aero	Increases Party Wind Based Damage by 30%. Duration increases with skill level.
	Enhance Soil	Increases Party Earth Based Damage by 30%. Duration increases with skill level.
	Enhance Dark	Increases Party Dark Based Damage by 30%. Duration increases with skill level.
	Enhance Holy	Increases Party Holy Based Damage by 30%. Duration increases with skill level.
	Battle Shout	Draw aggro from enemies within range. Effect & range increases with skill level. *Has no effect in online play.
	Searcher	Allows player to see all treasure & Sudden Quests on the map. Duration increases with skill level.

~PASSIVE SKILLS~

Show/Hide Passive Skills

NAME	DESCRIPTION
The Art of 1Hand Sword	Allows the user to equip 1Hand Swords and use its respective Sword Skills.
The Art of Dual Blades	Allows the user to equip Dual Blades and use its respective Sword Skills.
The Art of Rapier	Allows the user to equip Rapiers and use its respective Sword Skills.
Increase Physical Defense	Decrease amount of damage received by physical attacks by 10%.
Increase Critical Rate	Increases the probability of landing a critical strike by 20%.
Increase Status Ailment Recovery	Increases the rate of recovery from bad statuses by 20%.
Stamina Saver	Reduces the cost of stamina based actions by 20%.
Increase MP	Increases Max MP by 10%.
Cooldown Time Decrease	Decreases the cooldown time of Sword Skills & Special Moves by 10%.
Fast Cast	Decreases the casting time of Magic skills by 10%.
Increased Magical Attack	Increases power of magic attacks by 10%.
Switch Boost	Increases the power of Switch by 10%.
Increase Magical Defense	Decrease amount of damage received by magical attacks by 10%.
Increase HP	Increases Max HP by 10%.
Cooldown Time Decrease+	Decreases the cooldown time of Sword Skills & Special Moves by 20%.
Increase Attack	Increases physical damage dealt by weapons by 10%.
Fast Cast+	Decreases the casting time of Magic skills by 20%.
Skill Connect Boost	Increases power of Skill Connect by 10%.
Switch Boost+	Increases the power of Switch by 20%.
Increased Magical Attack+	Increases power of magic attacks by 20%.
[Lv1000] Skill Connect Boost+	Increases power of Skill Connect by 20%.
[Lv1050] Boss Blocker	Decreases the damage received from Boss type monsters. (Should be 20%. Possible it could be 30%)
[Lv1100] Switch Extend	Increases the duration of the switch stun.
[Lv1200] Increase Rare Drop	Increases the rate of receiving a Rare Drop from an enemy (Most likely by 10%).
Increase 1Hand Sword Damage	Increases damage of 1Hand Sword by 10%.
Increase Dual Blades Damage	Increases damage of Dual Blades by 10%.
Increase Rapier Damage	Increases damage of 1Hand Sword by 10%.
1Hand Sword Master	A title given to those who have mastered the art of 1Hand Sword. Increases damage of 1Hand Sword by 50%.
Dual Blades Master	A title given to those who have mastered the art of Dual Blades. Increases damage of Dual Blades by 50%.
Rapier Master	A title given to those who have mastered the art of Rapier. Increases damage of Rapier by 50%.

~HOW TO PLAY RAIN~

This section is written as an more in-depth extension to the AW & SAO Character Overview post and is meant to be used hand in hand with the General Leveling Guide. The purpose of this How-To-Play is to offer players of all levels a skeleton plan which enables them to build their characters up to their full potential. With that being said, it is indeed recommended that you do follow the steps described here.

-Important Skills-

Sharpness
Protection
First Aid
Enhance Fire
Enhance Ice
Enhance Wind
Enhance Earth
Enhance Dark
Enhance Holy
Resist Fire
Resist Ice
Resist Wind
Resist Earth
Resist Dark
Resist Holy
Searcher

-Weapon Selection-

Rain on Dual Blades is a good look. She has an OSS that turns Dual Blades into a versatile weapon. But even so Dual Blades still suffers from lengthy Sword Skills that virtually need the boss to stand still.

Rain has no major element. But still, if you are able to give her a pair of Max Attack; Half Element Weapons with ~10% Anything or Half Attack; Max Element Weapons with ~20% Anything, she will become very strong. In most cases, higher base attack is better than elemental attack unless you are willing to switch weapons for each boss weakness.

**For more information on the overall Weapon Building process, consult the Weapon Building Guide.

**For some tips on how to select the appropriate Accessories for your character, consult the Selecting Equipment guide.

-Element Etiquette-

Rain has all of the Elemental buffs which make her difficult to play effectively. It is the Buffer’s job to make sure that the Elemental Weakness of the boss is buffed at all times.

Elemental Buffs are important because they increase damage by +30%. If a monster is weak to the element, this damage gets multiplied by 2 making you do +60% damage if you use the correct Element.

On the other hand, if a monster resists an element, the bonus damage can drop to +3%. This is indeed better than nothing but this fact means that buffing the Elemental Weakness of the boss is the most important – even more important than buffing the elemental strengths of the party members.

Using Elemental Buffs:

Always Buff the Weakness of the Boss.
- If party members present are able to cast the Elemental Buff that the boss is weak to, leave it to them so that you have less stuff to cast.
- If a boss has two or more Elemental Weaknesses, use the Element the correlates to the general strength of the party. Example: Satet is weak to Wind & Ice. If a Sumeragi is in your party, use Ice. If an Leafa is in your party, use Wind.
Buffing the Elemental Resist is optional but desired. Typically, Dark, Holy, Fire & Earth are the most useful Resist in that order.

Do not become a One-Trick Pony and just pick an element and stick to it. Not everything in the damn game is weak to Holy, okay LS Rain players? But in the event that you are presented with a Boss and have absolutely no idea what its Elemental Weakness is, use Ice or Dark. Those are the two Elements with the most Weaknesses and Least Resistances.

Since you are a buffer, you have full authority to cast over other peoples Elemental Buffs if they are using them wrong. But be careful because AW characters have stronger buffs and overwriting them will actually be bad for them. But these buffs only affect themselves so you don’t have to pay them any mind.

If you do not know which bosses are weak to what elements, you should definitely keep the Elemental Weakness Spreadsheets on hand while you play. These can be found on the Boss Guides page.

-Using Rain-

Rain is a buffer who has access to all the Elemental Buffs. Dual Wield is an extremely unsafe weapon but it still offers high damage which makes Rain a really nice character.

When a quest or boss fight starts:

Cast Sharpness & Protection.
Cast the Elemental Weakness of the Boss (refer to Elemental Etiquette section above)
Cast the Elemental Resist that the Boss majors in (refer to Elemental Etiquette section above)
Move in for combat.

On the SAO Sword Skills & Weapon Breakdowns page I have written some basic combat guidelines for all the respective weapons in the game. If you feel like you are using a weapon incorrectly or just want some pointers, I would advise you to have a look at that page.

Rain has the heavy burden on her shoulders of making sure that the correct element is currently in use. As Elemental Buffs are so important, it would be really beneficial to the team to have a quick look at everyone’s status to see if your buffs reached them.

Rain has a stressful job but never let it get to you. If you ever don’t know what a Boss’ Elemental Weakness is, just ask someone. Or consult the Boss Guides page.

Remember that when players die in battle, they are revived without any buffs. Recasting buffs when teammates die is a good idea and makes you a wonderful teammate. In Rain’s case, rebuffing dead teammates is her responsibility. Of course, in some cases when a player dies non-stop its a waste of time to recast buffs (>.<)

-Healing-

If you take damage with Rain, use First Aid. If you have taken a considerable amount of damage, First Aid might not be good enough. In this case consider using a Healing Item or wait for a competent Healer to heal you. Do not keep fighting if you are low on health because that will definitely result in you dying.

-BK’s Opinion on Rain-

There was a point in Lost Song where all I used to play was Rain. I didn’t even know if I was using the buffs correctly because I was using the logic of “It looks Fiery. I’m going with Ice”. That was because there was a serious shortage on valid English information on Lost Song.

But now that this Legendary BK Brent has translated some really important bits of the Strategy Guide, you have absolutely no excuse to be as useless as I was back then (T_T).

If Liz didn’t have Axe and Dual Wield wasn’t so lame, Rain would probably be the best character in the game. She’s still really good because a Buffer with access to all Elements is amazing. Definitely consider leveling this character. But if you want a slightly stronger alternative, level Liz.

But on the real though, Rain’s voice is just too cute (X_X). To me, she has a special Passive Skill that others could never obtain through the Passive Bug: