NOTE: This article is like a personal reflection or essay when you read it. Please help MapleWiki by cleaning up this page.

Introduction

There is no best class. This is because game creators go through a process called class balancing. If there was a best class, everyone would be playing that class and there would be no need for a variety of classes. That is why game creators create an array of balanced classes: to make sure that varied playing experiences are available. Each class has its own pros and cons.

Therefore, the hard part is deciding which class fits you the best. It might be because of the massive damage, looks, or just for fun, but your class should fit your playing style. Otherwise, you'll probably become bored quickly and Maplestory won't be very much fun for you.

Warrior

Warriors are like tanks: they can take a lot of damage, and can deal it right back. As they are melee fighters, they cannot use ranged attacks, so they are given much more health and defense to compensate. While they can later prove to be quite powerful, warriors are generally eclipsed by some classes in 1st and 2nd job (you probably aren't playing for purely that, anyway, right?). The life of a warrior requires much patience, but to those willing to tough it out, it can be a rewarding experience.

There are five different types of weapons available to the warrior class: Polearms, Spears, One Handed Blunt Weapons, Two Handed Blunt Weapons,One-handed axes, Two handed Axes, One Handed Swords, and Two Handed Swords. Except in the case of Spearmen and D(r)Ks, it is highly recommended to choose one weapon type and stick with it, as the second job advancement will only offer mastery skills for two or three weapons. With one weapon skill mastered, one can maximize the amount of damage they can potentially dish out.

Pros

Highest HP and defense of all classes.
Choice of 8 different weapon types.
Proficient at both mobbing and single targets.
More inventory space than other classes.
Generally good in carnival pq
They do very high raw damage

Cons

No ranged attacks until 3rd job.
Lowest MP of all classes.
Damage is unstable in 1st job.
Low accuracy and avoidability.
They don't get a skill for faster movement, 4e job skill rush cant be Spammed
Must use power slash and slash blast until 3rd job

Fighter

Fighters are powerful Maplers, with incredible damage for single AND multiple targets. They get effective attack skills such as Final Attack and Rage. Weapons available are fierce swords and cool-looking axes. Their damage-dealing capability is further enhanced by their advancement to Crusader, and even further to Heroes.

Pros:

Highest HP in the game.
Acquires Rage.
Deal more damage than the other two on single elementally-neutral monsters in 3rd job, and on mobs of 2 or 3 in 4th job.
The skill Panic deals ENORMOUS damage at high levels instant 99.999

Cons:

Lowest MP in the game.
Lose their mob control in 2nd job, but regain it in 3rd and 4th.
Charging up Combo can lead to a string of unstable damage, axe or sword.

Page

Pages focus on swords and blunt weapons, and also receive higher HP than Spearmen and more MP than Fighters. With the advancement to White Knight, Pages become capable of dealing damage sometimes exceding fighters with any enemy weak to elemental attacks.

Pros:

Rarest Warrior.
More HP than Spearmen.
More MP than Fighters.
Deal more damage than the other two on single elementally-weak monsters in 3rd and 4th jobs, as well as on elementally-weak mobs of 4-6 in 4th job as a Paladin.
Become a very defensive class by 3rd and 4th job.

Cons:

Less HP than other Fighters.
Less MP than Spearmen.
Gain no party skill.
Lose their mob control in 2nd job, but regain it in 3rd and 4th.

Spearman

Spearmen use Pole Arms and Spears. Generally, their attacking is quite slow. However, they prove their worth with by being able to attack every enemy on the screen with reasonable damage, but with the cost of a lot of HP. The good mob control and good party skills such as Hyper Body puts them in high demand for parties. They can advance towards Dragon Knighthood and further towards Dark Knighthood.

Pros:

High maximum damage.
Mob control masters.
Acquire Hyper Body, essential to (Cross)Bow and Claw users in boss run survivability 3rd job and beyond.
Balanced HP and MP.
Larger melee range than Fighters and Pages.
Stable damage 3rd job and beyond.
Hybrid (those who use both weapons) D(r)Ks experience greater mob versatility that the other two 3rd job and beyond.

Also are good at Monster Carnival PQ (as all warriors)

Cons:

Least HP than other Warriors if not made into HP warrior (I doubt it, you have hyper body).
Most unstable damage in 1st and 2nd jobs.
Slower attacking speed.
Beaten by the other two in 3rd and 4ths job on single targets.
Most common Warrior.

Magicians

Magicians are very abundant in the MS community. You can't get very close to enemies, but spells like Energy Bolt and Magic Claw, as well as the protection of Magic Guard more than make up for it. They are preferred in many party quests (PQ) for the damage they are able to do. Also, once you reach 2nd job, you have an available skill named MP Eater, which allowes you to drain MP from enemies.

Pros:

Fastest leveling throughout the whole game.
Incredible amounts of MP and MP recovery.
Stable damage throughout the game.
Can attack both up close and ranged.
Can attack through obstacles (Magic Claw).
Can take tons of damage earlier than other classes with Magic Guard.

Cons:

Very low HP without Magic Guard.
Lots of money spent on MP pots until you get MP Eater in 2nd job unless you know how to conserve well.
Due to the reliance on elemental weaknesses, the leveling process can pit you against same enemies over and over
Very little inventory space.

Notes: Magicians can "jump attack" by pressing the spell's assigned key and jump at the exact the same time. 2nd job+ mages can also "telecast", which is similar, replacing the jump key with the Teleport key. Ice strike can be used while jumping if done at the same frame. Note: Although other classes overpower in 3rd class, magicians have strong mob attacks and party skills that are liked among parties.

Fire/Poison

Fire/Poison wizards deal a lot of damage and can drain away at the monster's HP using poison spells.

Pros:

Rarest Magician (Basically nowhere near how common other Magicians are).
Decent 3rd job leveling speed because of poison mist.
Highest damage of 2nd adv Magicians.
Effective drain against high level enemies with poison.
Fire has the second most elemental advantage, second to holy.
Almost effortless 4th job leveling with Meteor (as with the other two).

Cons:

Poison is not much of a use in early levels as a Fire/Poison.
Poison can be difficult to use if inexperienced.
The only fire offensive spell for 2nd job, Fire Arrow, is blocked by terrain (as with Assassins).
Poison ((Effect)) leaves the monster with 1 hp; it cannot kill a monster.
No mobbing skill until 3rd job
Poor bossing in 3rd job

Ice/Lightning

Ice/Lightning wizards can freeze their opponents and bombard them with spells that hit multiple enemies at once.

Pros:

Always have mob skills (Thunderbolt at 2nd job, Ice Strike at 3rd, and Chain Lightning/Big Bang/Blizzard at 4th).
MP Eater + Lightning will often get a great amount of MP back.
Cold Beam isn't blocked by terrain.
Constant freezing usually spells less potion use due to lack of HP loss.
Damage on ice-/lightning weak monsters is generally more than a Cleric's/Priest's/Bishop's damage on Holy-/Heal- weak monsters

Cons:

Damage on ice-/lightning-weak monsters is generally less than an F/P's damage on fire-weak monsters
Lightning has the second least elemental advantage
Lightning is expensive in MP in 2nd job; 40 Mana when maxed.

Cleric

While Clerics don't deal as much damage as the other magicians, they do possess the unique ability to heal, which tends to have the opposite effect on the undead, and can affect up to five monsters of this type at a time. Dark creatures are also vulnerable to Holy Arrow.

Although clerics are perfectly capable of soloing, they are widely acknowledged as a party class. This is especially true once they reach the third job advancement, as priests receive excellent supportive skills.

Pros:

Can self-heal, eliminating the need for HP pots (unless sealed)
Heal is a great mobbing skill for undead monsters
Great support skills, making it easy to find a party
Able to jump-attack freely with Heal
Can gain small amounts of EXP from healing other players

Cons:

Weakest damage
Leveling process pits you against same enemies over and over
Limited enemies are affected by heal (the only mob skill until one reaches mid-level Priest)
Most common magician class
The low HP limits training options for Priests to almost exclusively training with Dark Knights.
Genesis, while still very powerful, is the weakest compared to Meteor and Blizzard (assuming that the Arch Mage/Blaze Wizard has Element Amplification).

In 4th Job, all Mages get a skill where they can have infinite MP, but of course, to use the skill itself, it uses a big amount of MP, only lasts for 40 seconds, and has a cool-down timer of 10 minutes.

Thief

Thieves are a very unique class in MapleStory. They can jump-attack with throwing stars and attack up close with daggers. Thieves don't have much defense, but they have high avoidability, so enemies tend to miss. They get fast attacks instead of few strong blows.

Pros:

Very fast attacks.
Can attack with range or melee.
Can jump-attack.
Haste is a lot of fun.
Highest avoidability and second highest accuracy
"Dexless" or "pure luck" thieves are known for their high damage.

Cons:

Low defense.
Very common job (kinda killing their uniqueness in a way though Magician still is the most common job.)
Rather expensive, even if using a normal AP build.

(pure luck thiefs are dexless which means that they can't use the normal thief armors - instead, they use overalls like bath robes or sauna robes.) Because of the noticeable difference between the two, more cons will be placed in their respective jobs.

Low HP, however this can be resolved by HP washing.

Assassin

An Assassin (often abbreviated 'sin) is the ranged thief using throwing stars and claws. They have more stable damage than bowmen but do less damage in general than Bandits because unstable damage. With Haste, they are very fast.

Pros:

Ranged attacks from throwing stars.
A bit more stable than Bowmen.
Pretty good single target combat.
Can do critical shot which is very useful.
Fastest moving class in the game with Haste + Flash Jump
Triple throw with shadow partner shoots 540 stars per minute.
Number one needed class for bossing due to highest DPM at a boss.

Cons:

Poor at short range/melee combat (they do not get a KB skill until 4th job).
Do not shine at mobbing (no mob attacks in 2nd or 4th job).
Lucky Seven is their main attack skill until the 4th job.
Sins are VERY, VERY common!(So there is not much "pride" in being one).
Low HP becomes a hassle in 3rd job, as with Bowmen.
Equips are expensive.
Stars are very expensive Ilbi's cost about 10 million!
Can't throw stars too close or too far from the monster.
are not good with lots of mobs around

Bandit

A Bandits (abbreviated 'dit) is the melee dagger thief. Although they have less HP and defense than Warriors, they have high avoidability and generally fast attacking. They get a high-damage skill during the 2nd class advancement called Savage Blow.

Pros:

Melee attacker.
has more hp then assassins
High damage potential with Savage Blow.
Less common than 'sins.(The other thief which is extremely common).
Very versatile (mobbing, single targets, meso exploding).
Acquire Meso Guard in 3rd job, granting them survivability parallel to Warriors and Mages but wastes funds
Meso Explosion is one of the biggest damage dealers in the game.
more damage then assassins in 4th job(or at least where it counts)

Cons:

No long-ranged attacking meaning a lot of damage inflicted (what about the shadower skill boomerang step thats long range and close range)
Savage Blow's multiple attacking means it being more affected by monsters' weapon defense, which becomes a problem later in the game.
Versatility brings little specialization on one specific thing.
Meso Explosion wastes A LOT of mesos.

Bowman

Bowmen can use ranged attacks and hit VERY hard with them. Although useless at close range combat until the 3rd job with Arrow Rain or Arrow Eruption, their high ranged damage capability makes up for it. They have unstable damage at first, and jump-attacking with a bowman requires precision timing. Somehow, they are the rarest people to see in the Maple world.

Pros:

Highest accuracy among all classes.
Has a knockback ability.
Has excellent range, even without passive skills.
Large arsenal of mob attacks.

Cons:

Unstable damage until the 2nd job advancement.
Difficult to use in melee combat during 1st and early 2nd job.
Restricted jump-attacking.
Low HP and no HP protection skills become a hassle in 3rd job, as with Hermits/Night Lords.
No skills on close-range until 3rd or 4th job in bow.
Equipment is much more expensive than other classes.

Hunter

Hunters are Bowmen who use bows. Hunters attack faster, but they do less damage than Crossbowmen. They can move onward towards becoming a Ranger, and further towards to Bow Master.

Pros:

Faster attacks.
Acquires a stunning (Arrow Bomb) mob skill in 2nd job and high-damaging fire-based (Inferno) mob skill in 3rd job.
Acquires Hurricane, an attack skill that fires normal damage arrows (100%) at a rate of 500 per minute.

Cons:

Lesser damage than Crossbowmen due to the 3.4 bow damage multiplier.
More common than Crossbowmen.

Crossbowman

Crossbowmen are Bowmen who use crossbows. Crossbowmen do higher damage at a slower attack rate. They can move on towards becoming a Sniper, and further towards Marksmanship. Since it is the least common class, we suggest you TAKE PRIDE in your crossbow!

Pros:

Higher damage due to the 3.4 crossbow damage multiplier.
Crossbowmen are even less common than Hunters, meaning cheaper crossbows and scrolls.
Acquires a high-damaging (Iron Arrow) mob skill in 2nd job and a freezing (Blizzard) mob skill.
Acquires a powerful mob attack similar to Iron Arrow (Piercing).
At 4th job aquire skill that kills all but boss monsters in one shot (Snipe)
Possible random fames due to being such an uncommon class.

Cons:

Slower attacks.
Iron Arrow can't fire upward or downward like Arrow Bomb.

Pirates

Pirates are the newest class in MS. They have the semi-unique ability to be range or melee players, shared only with Thieves. They have the option of two types of weapons: guns (ranged) and knuckles (melee). Like warriors, it is highly recommended to pick a weapon type and stick with it. Pirates also have a highly unique skill set.

Pros:

Hybrid class; Brawler is a mix of a Warrior and a Bandit, Gunslinger is a mix of a Bowman and an Assassin.
Wide variety of skills.
Transformations/Battleship have extremely high damage potential.
Gunslingers are pure range, and even Brawlers have pretty long range melee attacks.
Dash is always good for mobility, but dont use it on Brawlers since you'll be switching directions a lot with your skills in 2nd job.
Time leap is an awesome skill to use in high level PQ's like Zakum, Horn Tail,and Pink bean.

Cons:

Less Maple weapons due to being the newest job.
No knock-back capability.

Gunslingers

Gunslingers are the ranged Pirate class. They are very accurate, and attack extremely fast. They are a combination of Bowmen (attack style) and Assassins (unique skills).

Pros:

Very high rate of fire.
Stable damge.
A lot of KB
Battleship has highest damage per minute (DPM)
Extremely powerful from 3rd job on

Cons:

Although the damage is stable, it tends to be low.
Weak throughout first job and 2nd job
Like all ranged classes, very weak up close to the enemy.
Poor mobbing ability.
All though Battleship has highest DPM NightLords still out damage them at bosses because of the poor durability of battle ship.

Brawlers

Brawlers are the melee Pirate class, but don't be fooled with that information alone, for every job enhancement they go through, they get at least 1 very long range melee attack. A few examples of this are Corkscrew Blow, Backspin Blow, Shockwave, and Dragon Strike, all of which hit multiple enemies at the same time. In the 2nd job enhancement, they get 2 stun attacks; Backspin Blow and Double Uppercut, which are further made useful by the 3rd job enhancement's Stun Mastery. A hybrid mix of a Warrior and a Bandit.

Pros:

High attack power of a Warrior.
Fast attacks and unique skills of a Bandit.
Long ranged melee attacks (skills only, otherwise very short range).
Transformations increase accuracy and avoidability as well as attack power by insane amounts.
Great at mobbing.
Awesome looking attacks, especially in the 3rd and 4th jobs.
Time leap is a great party skill for higher levels Buccaneers

[Note: Brawlers are very good at CPQing, and can solo from 700-1k Carnival Points]

Cons:

Some skills and knucklers alone are very short range.
A few of the 3rd job skills require that you transform before you can actually use them.
Very slow throughout 3rd and 4th jobs
You may get bored with them after awhile, depends on your patience.
Once you get transformation, you won't be able to use most of the powerful skills till 4th job.

Level Power of Classes (In the Author's Opinion)

-First Job Highest Damage Per Minute-

Most DPM: Magician
Least DPM: Pre-Bandit

-Second Job Highest Damage Per Minute-

Most DPM: Assassin
Least DPM: Spearman

-Third Job Highest Damage Per Minute-

Most DPM: Hermit
Least DPM: Priest

-Fourth Job Highest Damage Per Minute-

Most DPM: Corsair
Least DPM: Bishop

Conclusion

Hopefully, you have realized that there is no best class to Maple Story. All classes have their good points and bad points.

Remember class-balancing and keep in mind that although one class might dominate at a certain level, at later levels your class may be stronger than they are. Do not forget that you should also allow your personality to dominate the decision on which class to choose, rather than choosing a class because many people choose it, or because it is recommended by your friends.

A brief description and general overview for each class would be the following. Magicians aren't mean for bossing they are more of a fast training class, with skills such as Blizzard, Meteor and Genesis. These skills can attack up to 15 of the strongest monsters in the game and can kill them 1 attack or 2 depending on the level, Therefore making them the best mobbing / leveling class. Thieves are an attacking class, Night Lords being the best class for bossing and having almost the best DPM in game as well as being most mobile there are also Shadowers good for attacking as well and can fight close or mid ranged and have good endurance with meso guard. Warriors another good class for attacking, Drk's Paladins, heroes. Drk's are the warrior class that are needed for bossing due to HB as well as good attacking skills. Paladins are a very unique class, least played in the game but are powerful, don't boss as much as heroes or drk's but have a lot to offer. Heroes can hit some of the highest numbers in the game and are good for bossing and wanted for rage. Archers with Bow Masters and Marksman are a ranged class with the highest accuracy and good stable damage they aren't as strong as Night Lords or Corsairs but they are very close to their damage. Bow Masters are needed in parties for Sharp eyes allowing more critical hits and they are a powerful class same for marksman. Pirates with corsair and marauder are a powerful class with corsair providing highest DPM and Marauders with good damage as well along with a popular party skill that increases everyones attacking speed.

Class Division

--Ttaffy 00:39, 31 March 2009 (UTC)

Beginner	First Job Level 10	Second Job Level 30	Third Job Level 70	Fourth Job Level 120
" "	Swordman	Fighter Page Spearman	Crusader White Knight Dragon Knight	Hero Paladin Dark Knight
" "	Magician (Level 8)	Wizard (Fire/Poison) Wizard (Ice/Lightning) Cleric	Mage (Fire/Poison) Mage (Ice/Lightning) Priest	Arch Mage (Fire/Poison) Arch Mage (Ice/Lightning) Bishop
" "	Archer	Hunter Crossbow Man	Ranger Sniper	Bow Master Marksman
" "	Rogue	Assassin Bandit	Hermit Chief Bandit	Night Lord Shadower
" "	Pirate	Brawler Gunslinger	Marauder Outlaw	Buccaneer Corsair

Class Choosing Guide

Introduction