Note: I play GMS so, I'll be ignorant and call it Nodestone and not Core Gemstone for this guide.
~~~~~ Introduction to Nodestones ~~~~~
Nodestones can significantly enhance your skills. They can increase a skills' damage and if you can get them to a high enough level, you'll get a bonus for the skill such as:
1. Max Targets: +1
- Oct 01, 2016 I know they gave a few of these out earlier in the year for non reboot worlds, but I don't see why there aren't any coupons for a second permanent pendant slot. We already have hyper teleport rocks to buy with mesos every week, there is literally no reason for pendant coupons to only last 30 days.
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2. Monster Def Ignored: +20%
3. Critical Rate: +5%
Level 1: Consumes 80 Relic Gauge per second. While the key is held down, deals 400% damage 6 times on up to 10 enemies for up to 15 seconds. Cooldown: 80 seconds. Discharge Enhancement: Consumes 80 Relic Gauge per second. While the key is held down, deals 500% damage 6 times on up to 10 enemies for up to 15 seconds.
With all the different Boosts and Skills that you can obtain from Nodestones, you can practically customize your skills. If you want a certain skill to deal more damage, you can! If you need more critical rate, you can use a Decent Sharp Eyes Node Skill! You can prioritize Nodes over others.
Which ones will you prioritize?
~~~~~ First Nodestone ~~~~~
Once you've advanced to 5th job, you'll obtain an untradable Nodestone. From it, you will obtain a Node Skill. The Node Skill will always be the one specifically for your job.
Note: In the Beyond Update, you'll be able to receive 5 Nodestones when you advance to 5th Job.
~~~~~ Farming Nodestone ~~~~~
Farming Nodestones is very basic. You can acquire them from any mob in Arcane River. Although, I must warn you, the drop rate is very low. If possible, get yourself a Greed Pendant from Monster Park or a Big Spider Familiar; these are easy ways to increase drop rate for free.
The Nodestones that you acquire from mobs will only be tradable within the account so, if you plan on selling them, you'll have to go to the V Matrix topic.
~~~~~ Skill Nodes ~~~~~
Skill Nodes are active or toggle skills. There are Skill Nodes made for specific jobs (Phantom, Dual Blade, Blaster, etc...) and there are Skill Nodes that are specifically for classes (Thief, Magician, Pirate, etc...).
There are also Node Skills that can be equipped by all Jobs such as:
1. Decent Sharp Eyes
2. Decent Combat Orders
3. Decent Speed Infusion
4. Rope Lift
and more...
Keep in mind that these Skill Nodes have cooldowns.
When opening Nodestones, you'll obtain Node Skills that are not for you so, you won't be able to use them.
Note: In the Beyond update, each job will have an additional Node Skill making it so each job will have 2 different Node Skills specifically only for them.
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~~~~~ Boost Nodes ~~~~~
Boost Nodes are upgrades to most of your skills. Boost Nodes will always contain 3 skills from all your jobs (1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th and sometimes Hyper). When a Boost Node has three skills that are important for a Job, it's called a Trio. Trios can also be 3 sets of skill that YOU prefer to upgrade together.
Example:
Phantom Blow, Blade Fury and Asura's Anger are important skills for Dual Blades. Having Trios can help with efficiency.
The V Matrix is mostly all about efficiency. Enhancing Boost Nodes are tough, there's an experience curve. Every level will make it tougher to level even more. So, a great strategy would be to get 3 different Boost Nodes with the same sets of skills and level them to 17, 17, and 16. That adds up to level 50, which is the max level for the skills in Boost Nodes.
Example of 3 different Boost Nodes with the same sets of skills:
Another cool thing about leveling Boost Nodes is that it will have benefits for being at level 20 and 40.
Example:
~~~~~ Special Nodes ~~~~~
Special Nodes give the player temporary status or reductions when a condition is met.
Examples:
The temporary statuses that Special Nodes give can be very helpful. But, keep in mind that they have expiration dates. So, people tend to just disassemble them for Node Shards.
~~~~~ V Matrix ~~~~~
There are two different V Matrix: one from the player's 5th Job skill tab (we'll call this the 'Player's V Matrix') and one from NPC's (we'll call this 'NPC's V Matrix').
Let's start with the Player's V Matrix.
You can open this by clicking the shiny 'V Matrix' button.
In this window, you'll be able to equip Skill, Boost and Special Nodes. You can drag it to an open slot (the ones without a lock) or double clicking on them. Once a Node is in a slot, it is activated and will show up in your 5th Job skill tab.
Remember that you can't equip a Boost Node that has the same skill at the top of the set of skills.
Example:
These two Boost Nodes have the same skill at the top so, you get this message:
You can conclude that you can equip 3 Nodes that contain the same sets of skills but they have to have different skills at the top.
Example:
Okay. Now, let's move on to the NPC's V Matrix. This can be opened by speaking with these NPC's and choosing the first option.
From here, you can disassemble Nodes.
When you disassemble Nodes, you'll receive Node Shards. Boost Nodes give 10 Node Shards, Skill Nodes give 40 and Special Nodes give 50. Keep in mind that Nodes that you equipped from the Player's V Matrix cannot be disassembled.
Node Shards can be used to craft Nodes or Nodestones. Crafting Boost Nodes will cost 70 Node Shards, Skill Nodes cost 140, and Special Nodes cost 250.
How to craft Nodes:
Click on Nodecrafting
You can use the search feature to find a Node faster. Sometimes it's case sensitive.
Click on the Node and then click on Craft.
Another window will show up and you will need to click Craft again.
How to craft Tradable Nodestones:
Click on Craft Nodestone.
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A window will show up and you will need to press 'YES'
Like I said, these Nodestones will be tradable so, you can sell them for Mesos.
~~~~~ Frequently Asked Questions ~~~~~
Q: If I disassemble an enhanced Node, will I only get the base amount of Node Shards?
A: No. If you disassemble an enhanced Node, you will receive compensation for it.
Q: If I enhance a new Node with an already enhanced Node, will the new node gain its exp?
A: Yes. Although, it won't gain all of previous Node's exp, it will gain most of it.
Q: Are there better spots to farm for Nodestones?
A: As of right now, there are no proof that different maps have different drop rates for Nodestones. Although, spawn time and how efficient one can mob in a map will definitely affect the amount of Nodestones you'll get in a period of time.
Q: How can I unlock more slots in my V Matrix?
A: When you reach level 200, you'll start off with 4 slots. As of right now, you will receive 1 slot for every 6 levels you gain (206, 212, 218, etc...).
In the Beyond update, it will be changed from every 6 levels to 5.
Q: What's the max level for enhancing a Node?
A: The max level is 25. That being said, keep in mind that the skills in Boost Nodes are able to go up to level 50.
How could this be possible if the maximum level for Nodes are 25 but the skills can go up to 50? It's possible by equipping at least 2 different Boost Nodes that contain the skill and leveling each of them up accordingly so that they'll all equal to level 50.
Example:
Q: Your guide just isn't for me. Where can I find a similar guide?
A: Thank you to Guy V for telling me about this guide. V Matrix Guide by FabulousMel
~~~~~ Conclusions and Credits ~~~~~
Phew. This was the most work intensive guide I've ever or will ever make. I had to screenshot everything that's in the guide. I've had to recall anything and everything I know about Nodestones and the V Matrix. Anyways, I hope this guide was able to shed some light on all things Nodestone related. I remember being so confused about all of these things but, through mistakes, I was able to be more comfortable with what I'm doing.
And big thanks to these guys for reviewing the guide: