Sniper (Guide)
- This is an article on training your Sniper. For a guide on how to train your Archer, see Bowman.
- This is an article on training your Sniper. For a guide on how to train your Crossbowman, see crossbowman.
Third Job Analysis
The Sniper is one of stronger characters in maple story in terms of damage dealt to a single monster but is also the character that is pretty high on DEF, and avoid. Unfortunately death is very costly for them.
Pros
- Strafe is a highly powered skill on single monsters
- Arrow Eruption is an effective mobbing skill.
- Blizzard + stun eagle means Snipers can always debilitate any monster.
- Puppet can be used to distract monster's allowing the Sniper to not only mob them with less ease but save HP.
- As one of the least common classes, their equipment and scrolls are often cheaper to obtain.
- They require less STR than Hunters to equip their weapons, resulting in higher dexterity, which contributes to their attacking ability.
Cons
- Often trains alone since they lack party skills.
- Death costs them a lot of EXP due to low LUK.
Sniper Skills
- Main article: Category:Sniper Skills
These are the six skills acquired upon making your job advancement. There are suggested builds on this article, although you can distribute your Skill Points the way you want.
Thrust
Boosts up the moving speed
Master Level 20: +30 speed
Mortal Blow
For a certain rate, allows you to fire arrows even at a very close range. Even kills a monster with one shot every once in a while.
Master Level 20: 70% success rate, basic attack 250%; kills the monster with HP at 50% or lower at 10% success rate.
Puppet
Summons a puppet (your other self) for a certain amount of time. While the puppet is around, the monsters will attack the puppet, not you.
Master Level 20: MP -32; Summon puppet of 6000 HP for 60 seconds.
Blizzard
Uses ice-based arrows to attack up to 6 monsters at once. Only works when equipped with a crossbow.
Master Level 30: MP -30; Attack power 140%, freezes enemy for 3 seconds.
Arrow Eruption
Fires a number of arrows into the ground, attacking upto 6 monsters at once on its way up. Only available when equipped with a crossbow. Note: Arrow Eruption has no minimum range; it will not activate the melee crossbow-whack animation if monsters are near. Prerequisites: 5 Mortal Blow
Master Level 30: MP -28; Basic attack 160%.
Golden Eagle
Summons a golden eagle. The eagle will be hovering around you, attacking 70 times. Prerequisite: 5 Puppet. Note: Requires 1 Summoning Rock to be cast.
Master Level 30: MP -80; lasts 180 seconds and 99% success rate of stunning
Strafe
Fires 4 arrows at an enemy at once.
Master Level 30: MP -32; Basic attack 100% per arrow.
Job Advancement Procedure
You have reached level 30, yippee! Time for the second job advancement! To make the second job advancement, talk to Athena Pierce in Henesys and she will give you a letter for the Bowman Job Instructor. She can be found at the Henesys Dungeon Entrance. Before going there, stock up at least 60-70 Orange Potions, as you will have to pass a test. After talking to the job instructor, you will be teleported to a place like the Ant Tunnel. There are two types of monsters inside: Zombie Mushrooms and Evil Eyes with different characteristics. They hit about 70+ damage on you. Collect 30 Dark Marbles by defeating these monsters. The drop is about 1 in 3 monsters. After that, talk to the job instructor and you will be awarded a 'Proof of a Hero'. Go back to Henesys and talk to Athena Pierce. Choose the Crossbowman and then confirm your choice. Congratulations! You are now a Crossbowman, and have just proceeded into your second job advancement! [And How is this relevant to 3rd Job Sniper advancement? Whoever wrote this whole article has got to fix it and make some sense.]
The Sniper AP Build
Now, for Snipers, you don't need to have Strength +5 your level like Rangers do. All you have to do is have your strength equal to your level to use your crossbows. So, if you're level 70, you must have 70 strength.
Level 70 -- 70 Strength, 290 Dex.
Level 80 -- 80 Strength, 330 Dex.
Level 90 -- 90 Strength, 370 Dex.
Level 100 -- 100 Strength, 410 Dex.
Level 110 -- 110 Strength, 450 Dex.
Skill Distribution
Don't know what you're doing? Maybe this will help.
Before we move onto builds, you must first ask yourself one question. Do you want to hit multiple monsters and do decent damage, or hit 1 at a time and do massive damage? Luckily for you, there is 2 paths a Sniper can follow, that is Arrow Eruption first and Strafe first.
Strafe First
With Strafe first, you'll be pumping up skills to begin efficient Squidding in your 8x levels as your primary training ground, untill 85-86 where you will have a chance to leave as your other skills grow stronger.
Level 70: 1+ Strafe/Blizzard
Level 71-80: 30+ Strafe
Level 81: 3+ Puppet
Level 82: 3+ Puppet
Strafe first only matters up untill here. You will now be equipped for Squidding and any other Single target monster you may choose to hunt. You must decide whether to now add in Arrow Eruption for Gobies and Typhoons, or Golden Eagle for Early Jr.Newties. For detailed explanations please view the training section.
Due to the release of Windraiders, Strafe first is now considered the faster build, but not by far.
Arrow Eruption First
Arrow Eruption, what can I say? It's flashy, it's cool, and it's powerful. By now you're probably used to using Iron Arrow on mobs, but Arrow Eruption will change everything. Not only does it have no minimum range(You can stand in a monster and you will be able to cast Arrow Eruption), but it can also hit platforms below or above you, allowing you to kill in ways that Iron Arrow wouldn't allow you to.
Level 70: 1+ Strafe/Blizzard.
Levels 71-72: 5+ Mortal Blow, 1+ Arrow Eruption.
72-76: 10+ Arrow Eruption. Here is where your build will split. You can now add in Strafe, to begin gobies in your early 80s, or you can continue to add in Arrow Eruption untill it's level 21. Should you choose the second option, you will be going to Typhoons.
Places to Train
Below there are some recommended places where you should train, and monsters of which you should train off.
Level 30-35
Land of Wild Boar & Land of Wild Boar II are the most popular options around this level. With the fast spawn and the nice EXP you can get from these monsters, you will gain EXP very fast. Beware, though, that the spawn may be too fast because it is a very populated area. Bring many potions.
- Note from a player: As an alternative to Land of the Wild Boar, you can level at West Rocky Mountain IV; although the spawn is slower. Because it is less popular, it is easy to keep the spawn pretty high by clearing out one area after another. However, you will have to watch out for the occasional Lupin.
- Note from a player: If you are low on mesos, Jr. Sentinels in Orbis Tower are a really good source of money, but give less EXP then other monsters, and the leveling is slower.
Ant Tunnels are a great option. By now you should OHKO (One-hit Knock-out) Zombie Mushrooms and Horny Mushrooms quite often. There's also a snipe platform at the bottom right of Ant Tunnel 1.
Orbis Tower is also a very good place to train. Jr. Sentinels in there drop good drops and money. Be sure to buy a few MP potions and HP potions before going!
Level 35-40
Land of the Wild Boar I & II are still the most popular options around this level. With the fast spawn and the nice EXP of these monsters, you will gain EXP very fast.
- Note from a player: As an alternative to Land of the Wild Boar, you can level at West Rocky Mountain IV; although the spawn is slower, because it is less popular, it is easy to keep the spawn pretty high by clearing out one area after another. However, you will have to watch out for the occasional Lupin.
Ant Tunnels are still a great option. You should OHKO Zombie Mushrooms and Horny Mushrooms all the time. There's also a snipe platform at the bottom right of Ant Tunnel 1.
The Garden of Three Colors/Green/etc are still nice options. Jr. Grupins, Jr. Cellions and Jr. Lioners give more EXP than Fire Boars and don't have that much more HP. Jr. Lioners also have a chance of dropping a 60% Scroll for Crossbow for Attack, which you will be using in the future. Also, these maps usually are very crowded, so be warned: finding a decent spot may be difficult.
There is also a variety of monsters that you may train on in Ludibrium. Due to the fact that Bowmen have a stronger attack force than many other classes, you can try things such as Brown Teddies or Drum Bunnies, though monsters around Bunnies might cause problems.
Finally, there is the Ludibrium Party Quest. Some people say that it might not be as good as training normally, but it depends on the party you go with as well. It also provides you with neat prizes.
The Masked Fish, in Aqua Road, provide an awesome experience consider going there at lvl 37, The fish have good spawn. And you usually just have to stand there and DS them. They also carry with them a good handfull of drops. And because the training area is just one map outside of town, repotting is a breeze.
Level 40-45
The Burnt Land I, II & III are great options (filled with Fire Boars, some Dark Axe Stumps and the occasional Lupins). The spawn is fast, the drops are pretty nice and the EXP is good. This place will level you up fast. However, beware of Ice Wizards at this popular area.
The Garden of Three Colors/Green/etc are still nice options. Jr. Grupins, Jr. Cellions and Jr. Lioners give more EXP than Fire Boars and don't have that much more HP. Jr. Lioners also have a chance at dropping a 60% Scroll for Bow for Attack, which you will be using in the future.
The fifth, fourth and third floors of Orbis Tower are good options. Leatties and Dark Leatties give nice EXP and drops. You also have a chance at finding your level 40 earrings (Blue Moon) from a Dark Leatty.
You can try Chronos or or Platoon Chronos as well, though they might be crowded due to the fact people are trying to find magician shields.
Ludibrium Party Quest does really nicely now, especially if you can get a party of all level 40 and higher. People will want Bowmen as they can be used for many parts of the quest, and they also do pretty good damage against the boss.
At this level, Masked Fish are still a very decent choice if you choose not to PQ. This is because they are slower and there drop rates are higher than Fire Boars. They also provide a decent 65 EXP.
Helios Tower can also provide very good experience. Floor 100 is better for Crossbowmen, as there are many flat platforms to IA on.
Level 45-50
Dangerous Valley I has got a nice spawn of Copper Drakes and Fire Boars. The EXP here is quite good.
Gollem Temples are quite good for these levels. Nice spawn, 170 EXP and slow monsters. Perfect for range. (Make sure you have a scrolled Crossbow or it will take too many shots.)
Monkey Forests (filled with Zombie Lupins) are also a good place to level, as long there's no Cleric kill-stealing you.
Master Chronos' places are a great source of exp along with its great drops.
Now it might be better for training purposes to skip the Ludibrium PQ and just train normally. However, if you can scrounge up a couple level 47-49 people, then wish for luck and try it (hoping that stage 8 doesn't take too long).
Level 50-60
Dangerous Valley II is a great place for these levels. Fire Drakes give great exp and great drops. You also have a chance to find the ever-so-pricey Steelies. This would boost your treasure by quite a bit.
Cloud Park V and VI are also good places to train. There is an excellent spawn for Luster Pixies and Lunar Pixies.
Zombies (Coolie Zombies and Minor Zombies) are probably the most populated high level area. You shouldn't go here until you're in your late 60's.
Gollem Temples are still a good place to level. It's fairly easy to find an empty map so you can control the spawn.
Jr. Yeti Will now to very, VERY, Nicely. Along with there good drop rate and decent spawn, they also drop the 60% Glove for Attack scroll, a decent boost to your treasury. The only drawback is that Watch Out For Icy Path I is a big target for hackers and for events. (Such as the easter event.)
Level 60-70
Zombies are now bad EXP for you. You should probably camp a spawn with Thanatos here for a while and gain bad EXP.
With maxed PKB and IA, the forest of Golem is also a nice area to train on, especially if you have a party. The spawn is very concentrated, but if you can PKB them easily, you can also mob them easily for very quick exp.
Luster Pixies and Hectors are still decent exp, and they yield great profits.
Sanctuary Entrance I and II are becoming better for you. Party up with a Fighter to heal you or a Cleric to tank the Taurospears and shoot away!
Level 70+
This is about the time where you go off and hunt anything that gives lots of EXP.
Dark Yetis, Dark Yeti & Pepe, Yeti & Pepe, etc, will probably be what you not be hunting by this point.
Another Option is to stick at Zombies, because there EXP is not yet too crude and there drop rates are fantastic.