Seeker

Seekers are both a melee and ranged attack class, specializing in swords and dual blades. Their roles include support via debuffs, damage dealing, and secondary tank and they excel at large area of effect combat. A seeker can use buffs called stances to enhance their attacks. With special skills, they can increase their defense levels greatly for a period of time. They can also decrease a target's attack and defense levels through the use of their stances and special Quid Pro Quo skill. Seekers can also place a special debuff on a target so the target(s) will receive additional damage and critical hits as well. Seekers put themselves in harm's way and also use buffs and debuffs to support the squad. While they have many melee attacks and most skills inflict physical damage, they also have skills that inflict ranged and/or metal (magical) damage as well, setting them apart from most other melee classes.

Pros:
 * High Physical Defense and HP
 * Powerful ranged attacks
 * Strong PvE and PVP debuffs
 * Manipulates Attack and Defense levels of foes and allies
 * Many AoEs including a sustained AoE and an additional AoE that does not require a target and bypasses some foe's defenses
 * Able to Tank at higher levels
 * Has a skill that transfers debuffs on a target while cleansing themselves
 * Can deal physical and magical damage

Cons:
 * Low magical defense
 * No reliable disables or crowd control skills
 * No anti-disable skills
 * Tends to steal aggro if not careful
 * Low HP and Physical defense at low levels

Weapons
Damage Chart: Lower-Low-Medium-High-Higher Attack Speed Chart: Slower-Slow-Medium-Fast-Faster

The most popular choice for a seeker is dual blades for their high damage. Most classes prefer to build for highest damage per hit, rather than many small hits (high attack speed). That said, high attack speed hits (APS or Attacks Per Second) is still a living and well play style for the assassin class in Perfect World International. Many players continue to make "off-meta" type APS seeker builds involving the use of single swords and other weapon types.

Ironically, Rank 9 gear pidgeon-holed Seekers into using a single blade until the Chinese version of Rank 9 allowed seekers to upgrade to a Dual Blade Rank 9 weapon.

Armor
Heavy armor is recommended for Seekers due to their tendency to engage in melee combat and their ability to be a secondary tank. Due to the dexterity requirements for using swords/blades it is also possible to use light armor. Light armor can enable a build that is more effective in battling casters through the increased magic defenses of Light Armor. Light Armor builds also allow for more stat points to be invested in dexterity resulting in a high critical rate build. That said, even with the possibilities of viable Light Armor builds, Heavy armor remains the most popular choice, allowing the Seeker to both equip coveted Rank 9 gear and also invest stat points into Strength for heavy hitting and higher Physical defense.

Seekers in PvE
Seekers in PvE are formidable solo and very coveted in group play due to both their ability to tank large quantities of mobs and their strong debuffs.

Seekers at Lower Levels
The Seeker's beginning can prove to be quite a mountainous task. The Seeker class has one of the largest and most intricate lists of skills to learn. Additionally, Seekers start out somewhat lacking of their true strength, defense levels, so leveling up can be incredibly challenging. While leveling as a solo Seeker is possible, the task becomes much easier and much more enjoyable if you can find a friend or two to help you along the way. Seekers at lower levels are incredibly vulnerable as they do not yet have adequate defenses from buffs or gear, nor the damage to nuke mobs their own level before the mobs can Nuke the Seeker. While leveling up with friends, life as a Seeker can be incredibly easy, especially with adequate support in the form of buffs or healing. Solo Seekers are recommended to stat more vitality until higher levels to assist them in the extra damage they must tank in their daily adventures.

Solo PvE as a Seeker
Solo PvE at low levels (below 75) can be incredibly challenging. Though Seekers are given many skills to handle large groups of mobs their main challenge is in staying alive! When fighting alone it is recommended to take mobs slowly, lest the Seeker bites off more than he can chew and ends up food for the wraiths! That said, Seekers who are judicious in their quantities of foes are highly successful. Solo PvE at higher levels can be incredibly fulfilling as this is when the Seeker truly begins to shine. At this point in their adventure they have learned their self-buffs and have become comfortable with their skills. Seekers, with the correct buffs, can easily solo almost any dungeon or boss with no difficulty, whether boss or large groups of mobs.

Group PvE as a Seeker
Seekers are always high in demand for group dungeons! Dungeons like Delta, Phoenix Valley, and the Lunar Glade are all built for large group AoE zhenning, at which Seekers are probably the most proficient of all of the classes in Perfect World. Seekers at lower levels or with gear at less than optimum for their level may find they need help pulling large groups of mobs, however at high levels and with the correct gear Seekers are probably one of the best classes to bring into your Dungeon. Seekers as secondary tank can easily pull whole hallways of mobs and then absolutely obliterate them using their AoE skills. They can even channel their constant AoE skill, Vortex, which once casted will continue as long as the Seeker can maintain adequate mana.

Seekers are no slouch at single target damage, either. While they don't offer the highest single target damage of all of the classes, their damage is more than adequate. Additionally, their shatter skills (which cause the effected target to take extra damage and extra critical hits) and their Defense Level debuffs are highly coveted for every Boss fight in Perfect World and even more so for 'End Game' dungeons.

Seekers in PvP
Seekers have a rare position in PVP due to their "Jack of All Trades" concept. While they are not considered the best at any one of these aspects in Perfect World, they have many options on how to play in any given situation.

Tanking and Survivability
In PVP, Seekers benefit from their secondary tank identity by tanking quite a lot of damage with their many defense levels. Seekers furthermore can self-purify using their Quid Pro Quo skill which transfers their debuffs to an enemy target, allowing them to survive much longer than other classes would without healing or support. Building with heavy armor and a high Defense Level build will allow a seeker to sometimes outlast other pure tank classes like Barbarians in PVP. Seekers can also tank, in a sense, by taking the heat off of other teammates. Though this is not guaranteed as it is not a direct effect of seeker skills, Seekers can sometimes distract enemy players by using their flashy AoE attacks and their Ultimate skill, drawing the attention of enemies to give an opening to other members of their team.

Positioning
Seekers also have the edge over other Melee or Physical classes in that they can choose to use ranged or melee type skills. Being able to attack targets from up close or from far away lends Seekers choices in positioning that other classes do not have. This can often give Seekers an edge in PVP, allowing them to kite Melee classes and attack out of their reach, but also the ability to charge into the middle of large groups and AoE at melee range.

Damage Dealing
Seekers, while not the highest damage dealer in Perfect World, can have high damage dealing potential through paying close attention to the type of damage each skill deals. Seekers, as a heavy armor centered class, are unique in their ability to use a handful of Metal damage skills which lends them an edge against other heavy armor classes who have low magical defenses. In the blink of an eye they can switch to casting physical damage skills if they are engaged by a caster with low physical resistances. This enables them to have a large variety of prime target choices as they can be very effective at eliminating almost any class.

Support
Seekers Shine in Mass PK where they can utilize their stances and debuffs to assist higher powered DPS classes. Seekers can shot-call targets for their squad that they have debuffed when their stances get a random "proc" or they utilize their potent defense level lowering Sacrificial Slash/Quid Pro Quo attack combo. Seekers also have two unique squad buffs that raise attack levels or defense levels of your allies. These buffs are unique in that they applied as a timed "engrave" on their allies weapons that cannot be easily seen or purged by the enemy.

Weaknesses
A Seeker's weakness in PVP lies in their inability to effectively crowd control opponents. While seekers have many debuffs, most of these focus on weakening the enemies defenses. Seekers lack low-cooldown and cost-effective stuns, long seals or freezes to control enemy target's use of abilities. To compound that, Seekers are also weak to being crowd controlled themselves, with either one or no anti-stun skills depending on their chosen cultivation. This can often times lead to situations where seekers must depend solely on their ability to tank damage and clever positioning when confronted with a match against classes who excel in controlling their opponents.

Seekers in Territory War and Dragon's Conquest
Just like in PVP, Seekers have a variety of options in how they would like to play their character in Territory Wars ranging from tanking, damage dealing or support. How they build their character, how they position themselves and the type of squad they are put in will largely decide the most effective way to play.

Seeker as a Damage Dealer
Seekers excel at Area of Effect (AoE) damage due to their large repertoire of AoE skills and the massive amount of enemy targets in Territory Wars. Seekers have 4 AoE skills all with relatively short cool downs and 1 long channel AoE skill, Vortex. This allows the Seeker to chain several of these skills together to almost endlessly deal damage within a large area making them a great AoE damage dealer in combination with Blademasters AoE stuns and Stormbringers AoE vortex skill.

Seeker as a Support
Seekers can also focus on single targets, utilizing their strong single target debuff combos and then focusing the target down from afar with their many long-range, single-target skills. Seekers excel at calling single target focus for their teams as they are able to effectively gauge the positioning limits of both melee and ranged classes while vocalizing when their targets are debuffed. Seekers are also excellent at protecting key team members like Catapult Pullers or Healers from enemy focus with their large selection of attacks.

Seeker as a Tank
Seekers, while they may lack active aggro skills like a Barbarian which forces other players to only target you, do have the ability to take a certain amount of heat off their teammates by getting up close and personal with the enemy. Casting their many melee range AoE skills with flashy animation often draws the enemy's attention away from seemingly less important targets, and casting their Ultimate skill which transforms them into giant versions of themselves can often distract entire teams into calling you as the next target. Beware when playing this way, however, as being this aggressive can sometimes lead the Seeker into dangerous situations where they draw too much focus fire. This is a high risk, high reward type of play and seekers who play this way would benefit from paying attention to their escape cool downs in order to survive. Seekers as a secondary tank also hold the potential to carry a Catapult for their team, so long as the Seeker is properly supported and is geared well relative to the opponent. Note, however, that Barbarians are still the first choice for a Catapult due to their vast array of tanking skills available to them.

Priority Focus
Seekers can play effectively both in a defensive or offensive squad. Ideally, on both offense and defense, the seeker should always target the enemy support classes like Clerics and Mystics in Territory Wars to make it easier to eliminate the enemy team. However, this is not easy for a Seeker. Healers are often positioned in the far back which is oftentimes out of a Seeker's range. While Seekers can wade into the enemy front lines to try to use their ranged skills to take these targets down, a Seeker would do well to gauge their ability to tank this damage relative to the enemy's strengths before committing to these targets. If the Seeker finds they are not able to survive this position, or cannot make their way around the enemy team, it is sometimes better to leave these targets to longer ranged damage classes like Archers and Stormbringers, or stealth classes like Assassins. In a situation where either the enemy healers are being taken down quickly by the Seeker's teammates or they are already dead, a Seeker should alter their focus to the next level of priority.

Seekers on Defense do well to focus debuff and damage Catapult carrying Barbarians as their potent defense level debuffs and magic damage can melt these targets if they are left without resources or support. Other good target choices are attacking Venomancers using their physical damage skills to protect their team from their purges and potent debuffs, and Blademasters, attacking them with their Metal damage skills, to protect their team from being crowd controlled, and lastly any high damage dealing classes.

Seekers on offense would do well to focus first the crowd control and debuff classes that focus their own Catapult puller or their support classes. Most often these are Venomancers and Blademasters, and secondarily high damage casters and other damage dealing classes.

Targets to Avoid
Seekers would do well to play extremely cautiously against classes with large amounts of crowd-control abilities.

Assassins can easily stun the Seeker and deal high amounts of damage while they are helpless to move or act. Additionally, the Assassin's tidal buff often prevents the Seeker from debuffing the Assassin which is their main means of dealing damage high enough to kill. Another class to be very aware of is the Duskblade, who has endless single target crowd control and will easily be able to kill a Seeker before it can get a single hit in. It is often best to avoid Duskblades entirely if you do not have the support of your team. Other targets to play cautiously against are high magic damage classes like Psychics, Wizards, and Stormbringers. Wearing heavy armor gives Seekers a relatively low magical defense which can spell disaster if the Seeker receives a high amount of magic damage.

Though these classes can sometimes present a challenge to Seekers, this does not mean that Seekers cannot survive against or even kill these classes, rather that they should gauge the situation carefully and pay close attention to how much support they are receiving from their own team and how much damage they are taking when engaged.

Basics

 * Seeker Builds

Skill

 * Seeker Skill List
 * Seeker Glyphs
 * Seeker Skill Books