yes, just throw in an item at or below your level. they get harder the higher level they are. white items go in

Is there any downside/negative to just going into the Catacombs and Whistling for mobs that are your level, as opposed to exploring the Catacombs?

I know you won't get the Warm Lights, find Wells, or Maps at the end, but short of that?

This post was edited by Breyers1 on Jan 6 2022 01:28pm

you won't encounter treasure chests which have a small chance of giving good drops
you won't get glyphs either which have a small chance of giving good stats
you won't encounter evil presences which are special monsters that are stronger and give better drops
because of the above you won't find certain objective bosses that are evil presences like A Pinch of Evil, Treasure Pest, Soften the Sneaky Shell etc.

Really depends on you... you will level up faster and take less damage and MAYBE find an upgrade.

I personally like to explore for EPs / Whites to Well / Maps (with high number of EPs with +X Monster cap &/or +X Wells) and Treasure Pest objective for more slots / stats.

Is it better to focus more on Physical Defense than Magic Defense? Or is there an ideal ratio of Physical:Magic?

It is more about what armor type you will use the most while unlocking characters.

Scale = best ratio of defense Magical & Physical, also can be used on Feeder (Rogue, Fighter & Barb) / Samurai / Paladin and Headhunter. So you would be wanting Enhanced Effect and hopefully Stats like Dexterity &/or Strength. In certain cases Intelligence can be used if off casting.

Padded Robe can be used by 99% of all characters (Guardian can not use Light / Medium armor), and are predominately Stat related: Dexterity / Intelligence and Strength. Intelligence & Dexterity would be the expensive ones, as for Enhanced Effect, more for solo.

You have to come to your own conclusions on what you will use... Plates / Chains are cheaper and effective with Enhanced Effect as a Tanker in group runs and also solo.

Oh okay, thanks for the info!

I'm just finding at level 50, I'm getting smashed pretty hard by mobs now, lol.

Most likely due to only having:

40 - 121 Physical Defense
0 - 12 Magical Defense

You are using a level 25 (TierVIII) when you should be using a level 50 or 45 at that level... you can just buy a level 50 plate / chain for like 1 fg (even if crap mods) and still have better defense.

I should have mentioned that using around character level, your items should be around the same.. or even a white level 50 armor will have more defense for you.

EDIT: your armor you are using basically has the same defense as a white Tier X (level 35 Plate armor)

This post was edited by izParagonzi on Jan 7 2022 04:17pm

Really? My current armor (Level 25, with 45% EE) gives me 40 to 121 Physical Defense and 0 to 12 Magical Defense.

Looking at the Marketplace, level 50 Plate Armor without EE give 45 to 136 Physical Defense and 0 to 14 Magical Defense.

Didn't seem like a monumental difference, but maybe it is? I just thought for a difference of 15 Defense, the +9% Experience Gained would benefit me more. (I could very well be wrong here)

The only Plate, Chain, or Scale armors on the Marketplace that are level 35+ with EE are like 400 - 1200fg

There are;
Level 50 chain with 22 Dexterity on MP @ 4fg.
Level 50 chain with 26 Dexterity on MP @ 5fg.
Level 50 chain with 17% EE / +14 Mana Regen (doesn't sound important unless you are using Heal charm(s) & Salvation or off casting to regen mana) @ 13fg.

Level 55 Plate with 36% EE / +3 Dex @ 19.98fg

I personally would buy the 26 dex chain, it slightly increases your damage also.