Silkroad Online : Unique Monsters, Part One
A major part of Silkroad Online is killing unique monsters. Uniques are large sized monsters that spawn in each area on a regular time schedule. They are larger than normal monsters and will show up as a purple dot on your radar gauge when you are within distance. Uniques often have enhanced attacks and defenses and all of them, with the exception of BeakYung The White Viper and her mini-uniques, will spawn masses of regular, champion, elite and giant class minions to protect them as their hit points decrease. Generally they spawn at regular intervals, when the Unique's life is 80%, 60% and 20%. If the Unique's death is very quick, spawns can be skipped.
When a Unique spawns, its name and area are posted for the entire server to see and when they die, the name of it's killer is also posted. The kill goes to whomever gets the most damage, party first, then individual. That means that your party as a whole has to out damage another party and then the person within that party who did the most damage gets the kill. Because of this, it's always a mad race to find the Unique before anyone else does and kill it to get your name displayed for all to see! There are several tricks and tactics to killing them all and Ill outline some of them. There are far more than what you will read here and experiences of your own will be the best teacher.
TigerGirl
TigerGirl, also known as "TG", is the lowest level Unique at level 20. She appears as a wild looking woman with a staff riding a giant white tiger. Her worst attack is zombie status, which makes it so that your healing potions have the opposite effect, draining your life instead of increasing it. Her defense and offense is mostly magical. Her spawn area is in China around the Bandit Den west of Jangan, most often inside it at one of the four corners. There is no real trick to defeating TigerGirl other than bring pills (I have known even high levels to die to zombie status) and be fast. Because she is the lowest level Unique monster she dies the fastest, often within 30 seconds of spawning. Higher levels will set up "spawn points" using reverse return scrolls from the item mall so that when they see her spawn, they are there in an instant. If you get her alone, tow her to a side area as quickly as possible and kill her before someone else finds her!
Cerberus
Also known as "Cerb", he is the second lowest level Unique at level 24. He appears as a large, black, three-headed dog with a cloaked figure on its back. Each head does a different kind of damage, including burn (dot), frozen (stuck in ice), frostbite (slowed movement speed) and poison (dot). Almost all attacks are magical and defense is mostly magical. A trick to finding him is when he is near you, the sky goes black and dark like a storm, so when that happens, watch your rador for his purple dot. His spawn area is south of the city of Constantinople, on the other side of the river, most often spawning at crossroads or near them. Like TG, Cerb is often "camped by high levels so if you find him, use aggro to drag him to a remote place. Bring lots of status pills to counter his status effects.
Captain Ivy
Most often called Ivy for short, she is the next Unique in line at level 30. Leading the Evil Order she is a tall, red haired pirate lady with a giant eagle summon over her head. She attacks with a crossbow and all its skills of knockback, knockdown, stun (no movement), poison (dot) and burn (dot). Her attacks are mostly magical with distance attacks and magical defenses, there is no stopping her kocking you flat or stunning you. Her spawn area is in Asia Minor, west of the city of Samarkand and her most often spawn point is in the Amphitheater. Because the spawn points are spread out over a larger distance then the lower level Uniques, Captain Ivy is anyone's game and is least often camped among her lower level Unique counterparts.
Uruchi
Commonly known as "Uru" or "Uri" he is the level 40 Unique. Uruchi is the general in charge of the Black Robbers and his spawn area is the Tarim Basin east of the city of Hotan, across the ferry. He is a large man sitting astride a huge brown dragon and instead of breathing fire, he breathes dust. Unlike most other Uniques, he has no status effects and his attacks aren't that strong, but the hoards of robbers that he spawns are deadly! If you aren't a high level, the best way to kill Uru is to drag him around, getting his spawned summons stuck on buildings and trees and kill them. All summons stay with their Unique so if you lead him close to a building, they get stuck and keep trying to follow him. As long as the obstacle stays between the summon and Uru, you can kill them without them aggroing on you. Uru's most common spawn point is around the base of the Black Robber Den.
Isyutaru
Isyutaru, the level 60 Unique, is most often called "Isy" to those trying to find her. She is the younger, spoiled daughter of a Himalayan ice god. She fought with her sister, threw a tantrum and ended up running away to freezing an entire city. She is an ice princess, frozen and shiny and has deadly magical attacks that rain ice from the sky, causing freeze (encased in ice) and frostbite (slowed movement). She has no physical attack of her own, she leaves that to the giant yetis and more that she summons as she defends herself. Bring pills to meet this princess and make sure you have "target support" enabled in your settings because when she summons, they are so large that she is completely hidden from view. The drag and stick method of defeating her spawns also works, but because her most common spawns are on the Karakoram ice's center, she is often killed by players power leveling their chars in this wide open space.
Lord Yarkan
Referred to as "LY" or "Yarkan" to most and he is level 80. He is the Lord of the dead Niya empire and after his suicide, he wanders the remains of his once thriving lands. LY is a giant, skeletal warrior in armor and he is pure physical in attack. His best (or worst for YOU) move is his ground smash that knocks you back or down. He also has a move similar to the warrior skill "Warcry" (like a skyward shout) and he only does that right before he spawns so you know when to run. LY makes up for his lack of magical attack my spawning the Niya Shamans so watch out for their pure magical offensive. Lord Yarkan spawns in the Taklmakan area north of Hotan. His most common spawn point is in the Arena behind the Niya Remains.
Demon Shaitan
The Demon Shaitan is most commonly called Shaitan and is level 90. He was once human and coorced a demon to aid him in overthrowing Roc, the ruler of Roc Mountain. He failed and became one of Roc's own minions. He is a floating man with white hair and robes, carrying a staff and always accompanied by his green winged, demon counterpart fluttering behind him. His attacks are mostly magical and so is his defense but his summons are the wild denizens of Roc Mountain, mostly all physical. Be prepared for lots of stun status here! Its a great boss for grabbing the last tier of 9th degree gear. Shaitan is fast and his summons are fast, while most unques are slow moving. His spawn area is small, the triangle of Heart, Wing and Claw Peak, but Shaitan doesnt stand around so look in all the corners for this wanderer. His most common spawn point is just south of Claw Peak at the crossroads.
BeakYung, The White Viper
At level 105, this Unique is completely different from all the others and deserves an article all her own. In the second part of Like a Boss: A quick guide to Silkroad Online Unique monsters, I will take you through all the Guardians and complicated steps of reaching this difficult Unique deep in the Qin-Shi Tomb.