Grinding Guide In Silkroad

Intro

Hello, seeing as how someone made a topic, asking someone to make a grinding guide, I will attempt to make an in-depth guide on how to grind effectively. Criticism and more info to put in is welcome.

The Basics

First thing you want to do, is to put the skill Ghost Walk Phantom onto the Mouse Button, this will speed up grinding by a lot. If you prefer it on another key, no problem, whatever floats your boat. Buffs, generally I only use buffs that are required, grass walk, no matter what build is very helpful. Flame Body for str, and Piercing Force for int, also very helpful no matter what mob you are grinding on. The White/Black/Blue hawk and Soul Arrow(range increase) are helpful for archers. Buffs such as the ice protection, fire protection, fire shield, and concentration are optional, but fire shield is recommended for fighting monsters that inflict status. If you don't use a blade or sword, just equip any shield, buff, then back to your normal weapon.

Before heading out to grind, make sure you have any unnecessary items in storage, as you do not want to drop them upon death, unless they are cheap items(cape, 10k job suits, other job items). Make sure that all your equipment is repaired, and you are filled up on pots(default for grinding). I personally keep a few spare horses in my inventory, but thats just me. Another thing, make sure your inventory is organized(optional, but very helpful).

Quests vs Grinding

Generally, quests are the best way to level up. However, you may find some quests to be very tedious. Quests such as the Liquor Quest, Bandit Sword, Black Robber Archer Jewels, and probably others that I am missing, are very annoying to complete, and I personally skipped them. Do not skip too many quests though, as tedious as they are, they are the best way to level up.

What mob to grind on

Here, the main part of getting good exp. What mob to grind on. For people with average weapons, take all the mobs that are -5 from your level, and +3 from your level. Here is my personal way to figure out which mob is best to grind on. The higher something is on the list, the higher priority it has.

Quests - do quests first unless its not a good quest
Damage taken - grinding isn't going to be worth it if you are losing a lot of exp from dying, or spending too much on hp pots.
Spawn rate - very important, I would grind on green monsters with a great spawn rate than white ones with an average/below average. One exception to this is if you do not have a silk item pet. You will need some time to pick up your gold/drops, so spawn rate isn't as important.
one of bots in the area - one day, while waiting for Uruchi , my usual waiting spots are taken. I go into Tarim Basin, and I find about 20+ pure int nuker bots all nuking one mob, grinding there = no thx. This isn't really important, if you can find a spot that isn't infested with bots.
Weapon - if you have a SoX, or +7/higher, you can probably grind on mobs that are higher than +3 of your level, that wont hit you for much. But generally white mobs are best, even with SoX or high plus.
Ranged or Melee mob - only for str bladers/glaivers, or really hybrid ints(below 80% mag reinforce naked), and even then, its not really important

Although this seems like a lot to do just to figure out what mob to grind on, it really doesn't take that long to figure out.

How to grind effectively

Now, you have found out which mob is the best to grind on, its time to grind! If I have just started grinding on a new monster, I generally bring more pots than I usually use, only for the first few times. After a while, you will figure out how many hp/mp pots to bring for how long you grind. Also, carry the type of pots that the mobs drop. Now that you have enough hp/mp pots to last you for however long you like grind, go out and grind away. Thats basically it, its all about finding the right mob, having enough pots, and just being focused. Things that usually help people out with staying focused is listening to music, covering the exp bar, closing the chat box, or going into F12 mode.
http://www.ogpal.com/news/silkload/2007/05/19/145.html