[Ecclesiastes]

I kinda like the idea of 65 eles AoEing mammoths, and RMs who can't die, as well as other RMs who stack AoE skills with suicidally low sta for more damage. Blade AoE skills cast slow, take rape amounts of FP, and unless they restatted to AoE, they're leveling slowly as a merc(not as slow as a merc>Knight, but still slower than a str/dex merc).

Eles, like any other class are only as expensive as you want them to be. I've seen Eles with Lv9-Lv30 armor awakened with running speed, even. With the proper skill and connection, an ele can AoE and barely ever get hit. So there's much less food and pills to be bought, as well as less upgrading for a long time.

The great thing about AoE blades is that they get their defensive and offensive power from the same stat: dex. But to call them the best or almost the best really excludes Rangers, Eles, BPs and RMs(no melee AoE class can compete with stonehand and prevention, I don't care what you have to say).