so I know alot of up and coming arans are looking for advice on what to do, what skills to go for, what weapons/gear to upgrade, where to train etc and This is the place to go for it.

Stat build.

Str: as high as possible
Dex: as close to 4 as possible. This is all dependent on your funding, and your gear, and BOF, and willingness to spend money on acc pots and etc.
INT: 4
Luk: 4

if you are Completely unfunded, go for 35-40 dex max. if you are moderately funded, go for 25 dex max. If you are decently funded or willing to spend the time getting the gear, go dexless.

STR is your main source of attack range basically up to level 100 or so. after that WA takes a much larger role in your range.

My Aran Training Guide.

Dont take this for the gospel truth, but this is how I trained my aran.

1-30 really doesnt matter where you go. 1-15 you will be in rien. 15-23 i did pig beach/pig minidungeon/ quests. 23-30 i did at sand rats.
30-50 I did CPQ. unless you dont have the accuracy to hit the monsters, cpq will be your best bet. 30-43 do max speed and max trojans TW or FWs. 43-50 do max speed and max rombots.
*alternatively you can do 43-50 at truckers, but with a good set of parties, cpq will be much much faster.
50-60 MP3. inarguably the best exp as long as you can hit them. 100% hit at 50 is 100 accuracy i believe.
60-74 WR at Lower ascent. inarguably the best exp as long as you can hit them. 100% hit at 60 is 164 accuracy i believe.
74-80 WS at Wolf spider cavern. arguably with a lower end range, you should stay at WRs, but WS are faster with a decent range. accuracy required is low.
80-120 Himes or Galloperas. galloperas are faster solo/with a priest from 80-105 or so depending on range. when i tested himes at 110, i was getting better exp there solo than at gallos, though I did have a relatively good range.
120+ skelles... basically forever.
150+ Oblivion 4/5 opens up as an option, as does BF. on 4x each BF kill should be ~8% and should only take 10-15 minutes. so if you can string together BF kills it should be faster exp.

Gear Guide.

this is kind of situational, so i'll just put the essentials as seen by me.

nonsituational equips. (get these first.)
1-30. use your beginner polearm and noob equips if you are on the poorer side. if not you can gear up with whatever gear you want.
30-43. Use a steel polearm if you have one, or a mithril polearm if you dont. get a blue crusader chainmail at 35 and 100% overall dex it for a cheap boost.
43-64. Use a maple karstan if you can afford it. if not stick with the steel/mith polearm.
64. Definitely get a karstan. this will last you till 100, or even longer.
100+. Aim for a Crimson Arcglaive. Upgrade to a neos set as you have a higher chance of getting more stats than an overall. IE i get 29 str and 24 dex from my Top/bot set. thats very hard to get from an overall.

attack workgloves > dex workgloves
Zhelm give a 40 accuracy boost. its a vital equip.

Situational equips. (only get these if you can afford them)
spiegleman/dep star/HTP. useful boost to both damage and accuracy.
dex earrings.
FS/Scrolled shoes


This is really just a barebones guide, and if you want me to flesh anything out for you go ahead and ask.