Class Choosing Guide

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 in MapleStory. The reason is that game creators go through a process called class balancing. Although some classes are overpowered (OP) when first released, they will eventually be nerfed so that they are balanced out with the other classes. If there were a best class, everyone would be playing that class, and there would be no need for a variety of classes. 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 fun for you. Be aware, though, of the costs to run your character. If you are confused, just remember this: the more mesos, or funding, you have, the better the character, and its damage and appearance, can be.

Explorers

Warrior

Warriors have characteristics of tanks in the sense that they are able to take a lot of damage. As they are melee fighters, they cannot use ranged attacks, so they are given much more health and defense to compensate. While they can prove to be quite powerful later, warriors are generally eclipsed by some classes in first and second job. The life of a warrior requires much patience, but to those willing to tough it out, it will be a rewarding experience.

There are eight 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 Dark Knights, 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 eight different weapon types to use
• Proficient at both mobbing and single targets
• Very high raw damage

Cons

• No ranged attacks until third job.
• Lowest MP of all classes.
• Low accuracy and avoidability.
• No skill for faster movement

Fighter

Fighters are a powerful class, with incredible damage for single as well as multiple targets. They are notable for their party skill, Rage, which increases the Weapon Attack for users. Their strength is increased as they advance to a Crusader, which will gain the ability to conjure 5 orbs that will increase their strength each. Their last advancement is the Hero, an intimidating warrior who can utilize the efficiency of the Combo Attack. However, their amazing damage makes up for the fact that they have a short range.

The Fighter's choice of weapons are Swords and Axes.

Pros:

• Highest HP in the game
• Acquires Rage, which raises their party's attack by a significant amount
• The strongest of the Warrior class; Useful in facing against element-neutral monsters.
• Their combo skills Panic has the ability to stun the enemies and Coma can send them into Darkness, reducing their accuracy.
• The only warrior class to possess Advanced Final Attack, which not only grants a Weapon Attack bonus and more accuracy but a higher probability to use Final Attack.

Cons:

• Lowest MP in the game.
• Rage will not be able to stack with most potions, buffs and skills.
• Charging up Combo can lead to a string of unstable damage, axe or sword.
• Possesses a short range.

Page

Pages are the most protective class of the Warriors. The Page lacks the strength of the Hero or the mobbing power of a spearman, but they make it up for their high defenses. On top of that, they are the only Warriors who is able to charge their weapons with the elements of fire, ice, lightning and sanctity. Their defenses are increased as a White Knight and perfected as a Paladin, mastering their abilties with a shield.

The Page's main weapons of choice are Swords and Blunt Weapons.

Pros:

• Of all the warriors, they are the least made.
• More HP than Spearmen and more MP than Fighters.
• Possesses a skill which reduces the accuracy and defense of monsters.
• The only Warrior with the highest defense, especially with a shield in hand.
• The strongest against elemental monsters due to their charges, bringing more damage out.
• Possesses a hammer skill that hits up to 16 monsters.

Cons:

• Less HP than Fighters and less MP than Spearmen.
• Not the best mobber as they use more single-target skills and less mob skills.
• They contain more defense skills than damage increase skills.

Spearman

Spearmen are the supporting group of Warriors. Spearmen are proficient in terms of mobbing than Fighters or Pages. They can temporarily increase their and others' HP with Hyper Body. They make the third job advancement as a Dragon Knight, where they become more HP dependent. As a Dark Knight, they will be partnered with a small companion that will buff and fight along with you.

The Spearman's weapons of choice are spears and pole arms.

Pros:

• High maximum damage.
• More powerful in mob control than the other two Warriors.
• Possesses Hyper Body, a party skill that increases Max HP and MP for the whole party.
• Balanced HP and MP.
• Larger melee range than Fighters and Pages.
• Their strength is supercharged at a certain HP threshold.
• Gains more speed than the other Warriors due to Berserk.

Cons:

• Least HP among other Warriors if not made into HP warrior but there is Hyper Body to compensate for that
• Most HP dependent of Warrior.
• It's wise to watch your HP as you use HP draining skills like Sacrifice or Dragon Roar against strong bosses.
• Slow attacking speed
• Beaten by the other two in 3rd and 4ths job on single targets.
• Less defense than other warriors as polearms and spears are two-handed (meaning they can't equip shields)

Magicians

Magicians are very abundant in the MS community. Magicians have very low hp, but ranged spells like Energy Bolt and Magic Claw, as well as the protection of Magic Guard more than make up for it. Magicians have good damage until 3rd job, when other classes get much more powerful attacks. Also, once you reach 2nd job, you have an available skill named MP Eater, which allows 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 with for example Magic Claw
• Can take more damage earlier than other classes with Magic Guard.
• Highest damage among all classes in 1st job
• At low levels, they deal the highest dpm
  • This is due to attacking with magic and the fact that monsters have poor magic defense at low levels. (Example: While you're level 10 you can hit Dark Stumps. However other classes are stuck with Slimes.)
• Not affected by debuffs like darkness ( mages don't require weapon accuracy at all , darkness does not affect magic accuracy.)

Cons:

• Very low HP without Magic Guard.
• Lots of money spent on MP pots (but less on HP 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
• Bad damage per minute at high levels.
• Magic guard makes it so that both HP and MP go down when hit, which leads to trickier potting.
• Worst single target damage in 4th job, not generally wanted for boss runs (unless you're a cleric).

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 specialise in dealing DoT (Damage over Time) with their skill attributes. Generally involves stacking DoT skills up on enemies to inflict huge amounts of damage per second. Fire/Poison Mages can aso detonate their DoT skill Poison Mist (which sets poisonous mist over an area) for even more damage.

Pros:

• Rarest Magician (Basically nowhere near how common other Magicians are).
• Impressive 3rd job leveling speed because of Poison Mist.
• Effective drain against high level enemies with poison.
• Fire has the second most elemental advantage, second to holy.
• Fast 4th job leveling with Meteor Shower (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 (with the balance patch, the very powerful fire arrow now hits 3 monsters)

Ice/Lightning

Ice/Lightning wizards can freeze their opponents and bombard them with spells that hit multiple enemies at once. Ice/Lightning Mages prefer to go for straightforward high damage compared to the Fire/Poison Mages who rely on DoT.

Pros:

• Always have skills capable of hitting multiple monsters (Thunderbolt at 2nd job, Ice Strike at 3rd, and Chain Lightning/Big Bang/Blizzard at 4th).
• MP Eater with 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
• Unwanted for bossing.

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. They are generally supportive mages, with many different buffs and spells to help their teammates gain the edge over their opponents.

Pros:

• Can self-heal, eliminating the need for HP pots
• Can Dispel which can be casted when being sealed, nulifying some debuffs from monsters and bosses and generally removing use of All Cure Potions.
• Heal is a great mobbing skill for undead monsters
• Great support skills, making it easy to find a party. (Like Bless, Holy symbol, dispel, advance blessing, and resurrection)
• Able to jump-attack freely with Heal
• Can gain small amounts of EXP from healing other players
• Holy Symbol, a 3rd job skill, gives 150% exp when the priest is in a party. (Gives 110% when not)

Edit: If a cleric has reasonable SP on MP Eater, and Heal and MP Eater combined used on un-dead monsters (eg. zombie mushroom) the cleric will never run out of HP or MP

Cons:

• Weakest damage at 2nd and 3rd job
• 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
• No Mob Skills till third job. (There is mob skill for cleric, which is Heal but it only applies to undead monsters)

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. On the downside, thieves can be a very expensive class to maintain so its not recommended for beginners or people starting out.

Pros:

• Very fast attacks.
• Can attack with range or melee.
• Can jump-attack.
• Haste (increases the entire parties speed and jump).
• "Dexless" or "pure LUK" thieves are known for their high damage (until after Tempest where every class only uses one main stat)
• Dark Sight (gives the ability to stealth).

Cons:

• Low defense.
• Very common job (kinda killing their uniqueness in a way though Magician still is the most common job.) Note: not so much anymore after the past few big updates and with the bombardment of new classes.
• Flash jump and high critical rate is no longer unique to this class.
• Rather expensive, even if using a normal AP build.(As purchasing decent throwing stars require a lot of meso, like illbi: around 5 million meso per set)( Players are recommended to start with a job that can earn enough meso like cleric, then transfer meso to the thief they wanted to train.)

(Pure luck thieves are dexless, which means that they can't use the normal thief armors : Instead, they use overalls like bath robes or sauna robes. Change: After tempest update, every class uses one main stat.)

• Low HP, however this can be resolved by HP washing, not recommended.
• Requires the use of Summon stones to activate shadow partner skill which adds a large amount of damage; this can be obtained through the monsters in the chimney in NLC, and Alcaster NPC in El Nath after doing some quests for him.(Note: that at the revamp of the patch "Justice" for gms the requirement of summon rocks will be removed)

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 of unstable damage. With Haste, they are very fast.

Pros:

• Ranged attacks from throwing stars.
• A bit more stable than Bowmen.
• Excellent single target combat.
• Can often 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.
• Needed class for bossing due to second highest DPM at a boss.
• Can jump attack without pressing both attack and jump at the same time
• With meso up, they can earning more money easy (Meso Up skill was taken out of the game)
• With Alchemy they need to buy fewer potions and save lots of money

Cons:

• Poor at short range/melee combat (they do not get a KB skill until 2nd job).
• Do not shine at mobbing
• Lucky Seven is their main attack skill until the 3rd job (then they get Triple Throw).
• Low HP becomes a hassle in 3rd job, as with Bowmen. ( However , being a long range attacker , slightly lesser damage is inflicted )
• Good stars are costly. Ilbis cost about 5 million. (Edit: This depends on which world you are in. New worlds cost much more than old worlds.)
• 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 avoidably and generally fast attacking. They get a high-damage skill(due to attacking 6 times) during the 2nd class advancement called Savage Blow.

Pros:

• Has more HP then assassins
• High damage potential with Savage Blow. (Note: Though high damage may be inflicted after the six hits, they may not be enough to knockback the monster, so the character may get hit)
• 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, and also saving money.
• Better damage than assassins in 4th job on mobs.

Cons:

• No long-ranged attacking skill before 4th job, meaning a lot of damage inflicted.
• 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.
• Lowest DPM in first job (unless you be a SinDit, a combination of a sin and a dit in which you max the skills a sin would need in first job, but advance to a dit in 2nd job. Sindits use daggers around lvl 40+)
• Though it has higher HP than sins they are not great tankers

Dual Blade

Dual Bladers are a sub-branch of the Thief class. A rebel gang led by a woman seeking vengeance against the Dark Lord over the presumed murder of her father (Balrog was the actual murderer), Dual Bladers brings their speed and skill to further use to bring the Dark Lord down. You start off as a Rogue but begin as a level 20 (Note: that of the last patch for gms dualblades can no longer be created till new advise)( as in , dual blades can only be created in certain events.)

The Dual Blader's weapons of choice are Daggers and Kataras.

Pros:

• A fast attacker, clocking near the speed of Night Lords.
• Basic attack can hit twice instead of once.
• Very mob efficient.
• Can advance at level 55.
• Strong from level 20+
• Their Katara possesses attack just like a dagger. It can be considered as another weapon instead of a shield and can be scrolled or gain potential like one, making it stronger than others.
• Having a skill sudden raid at the last job advancement, having better mobbing power then other theives.

Cons

• Must go through many quests in order to start as a Dual Blade
• Kataras are less abundant than Daggers and you cannot use your skills without one.
• Certain skills requires the use of a mastery book in the Cash Shop, but you can try your luck with Mystery Mastery Books.
• Skills have high MP requirements
• From a personal opinion to players, their skill sound effects can be quite annoying to hear.

Bowman

Bowmen can use ranged attacks and hit 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 (Edit: If a monster gets close enough, the archer might whack it back a long way, and as bows are fast on speed, they can shoot it then. They are not totally useless). They have unstable damage at first, and jump-attacking with a bowman requires precision timing (Edit: Now, bowmans don't usually jump-attack. When they shoot the arrow, it will curve up or down a bit, allowing the bowman to hit monsters on other platforms. This is the same with assassins).

Pros:

• Highest accuracy among all classes. (So bowmans can train on monsters many levels above their level, while other jobs are stuck with the lower ones)
• Has a knockback ability.
• Has excellent range.
• Large arsenal of mob attacks.
• Needed in boss runs for Sharp Eyes, one of the best party buffs in the game

Cons:

• Unstable damage until the 2nd job advancement.
• Nearly impossible to attack while surrounded in 1st, 2nd, and 4th job (Arrow rain/eruption in 3rd job, but is just too weak in 4th)
• Restricted jump-attacking.
• Low HP and no HP protection skills become a hassle in 3rd job, as with Hermits/Night Lords.
• Equipment is much more expensive than other classes depending on your world.

Note: There are such bowmans who do not use arrows, just knocking back monsters a long way and inflicting damage that way. DO NOT try this unless you are extremely bored with the other jobs and have a lot of funding, as the 'whack' only hits one monster and does horrible damage.

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 510 per minute.
• Third best Damage Per Minute at 4th job, making them invaluable for bossing.

Cons:

• Less damage than Crossbowmen due to the crossbow's higher damage multiplier.

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 acquires a skill that kills all but boss monsters in one shot (Snipe)

Cons:

• Slower attacks.
• Iron Arrow can't fire upward or downward like Arrow Bomb.
• Marksmen have poorer bossing ability than Bowmasters, they are more suited to mobbing.

Pirates

Pirates are the second newest class in MapleStory. 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:

• Wide variety of skills.
• Transformations/Battleship have extremely high damage potential.
• Gunslingers are mostly range, but can attack close up, and even Brawlers have pretty long range melee attacks.
• Dash is always good for mobility, but don't 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.
• Both have rather little damage at earlier levels

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 damage.
• Battleship has highest damage per minute (DPM) in the game.
• Extremely powerful from 3rd job on
• Can shoot up close unlike some ranged classes.
• Wings + Recoil Shot is VERY fun, especially when you effectively use them while training :)

Cons:

• Poor mobbing ability. (Note: Until they get to third job advancement)
• Although Battleship has highest DPM NightLords still out damage them at bosses because of the poor durability of battle ship. (EDIT: The durability is being increased alot, and even as it is they have good avoidability)
• Very weak at 1st and 2nd job (you need patience)

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.
• Fast attacks and very unique energy-based skills.
• 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
• One of few melee classes that get criticals (note from higheredgun)

[Note: Brawlers are very good at CPQing, and can solo from 700-1.5k 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
• Once you get transformation, you won't be able to use most of the powerful skills till 4th job.
• In 3rd job, you will have to use many different attacks, which take up like half your keyboard. You will have to use single target / mob attacks with transform, single target / mob attacks with the energy bubble thing, and everything you used in 2nd job when neither of those are available.
• Tends to burn HP pots due to having to stay close to the monsters (They have energy drain!!!)

Cannoneer

Cannoneers are a sub-branch to Pirates. They are Explorers who had a bad tie-in with a Jr.Balrog and was stranded. Fortunately, they found their way out with the help of a monkey and a stranded man. As slow as they look, they bring a good deal of power with their powerful cannons. While a Cannoneer is a ranged class, they use STR as a main stat, just like Buccaneers (Note: that this class is not logger avalable for creation on gms till new advise).

The Cannoneer's weapon of choice are Cannons.

Pros

• While not as mobile as the other Pirates, they are very strong.
• Their link skill gives them a bonus +15 all stat and HP/MP bonus, giving them a premature state of power.
• As a ranged class, they require no ammunition unlike Corsairs.
• Their Cannons provide weapon defense, giving them more defenses than the other Pirates.
• Their skill, Monkey Magic, gives a large amount of stats, lessening the burden to go into a Dexless build. The skill is improved in 4th job.
• Upon advancing as a Cannoneer, you obtain Master of Organization, which doubles your inventory space, giving you more room for storage than the rest of the classes.

Cons

• They are not as mobile.
• They appear to be slow fighters at 2nd job.

Hero/Legend

Aran

The Warrior Hero, Aran, was one of the five brave heroes who fought the Black Mage. She had asked a master craftsman to craft her the biggest pole arm that he could, so after some tests, she was given the Giant Pole Arm, which contained the spirit of Maha. They fought together, holding off the monsters trying to get in to the main throne room where the other heroes were fighting the Black Mage. In the end, as the Black Mage was defeated, he wiped the skills of the heroes and the memories of Aran, and froze them all in ice.

As Aran, you will have access to the unique Combo System, which counts how many times you hit enemies. With the combo count, you'll be able to cast buffs and use stronger attacks.

Pros:

• Has a skill which attacks multiple monsters during First Job Advancement.
• Hits the largest number of monsters in first, second, and third job.
• Only class with combo system.
• Combo Drain greatly reduces the need for HP potions.
• Combo attacks can range up from 410%- 1500% of your attack, depending on your job advancement.
• Uses an element (ice) like the Cygnus Knights.
• Has critical unlike other warriors
• Combo Barrier makes monsters attacks weaker.
• Higher MP than other warriors.

Cons:

• Lacks party skills, only one is available (Combo Barrier)
• Repeatedly presses the attack key for attacks, a "key-basher" class.
• Accuracy problems like all warriors.
• Lower HP than the average warrior.
• Compulsory to do quests to obtain skills.
• Seduced and Stun break the combo count, due to Arans's dependence on their combo count.
• Skills are very slow.

Evan

The successor of first Magician Hero, who fights with an Onyx Dragon. A long time ago, the legendary magician Freed was interested in Dragons and how humans could live in peace with them. To search for the answer, Freed went and saw the king of the Onyx Dragons, Afrien. Afrien was a wise and noble ruler of his kind, and noticed the kindness of Freed and his objectives. Together, they made many pacts and bounded themselves to each other stronger than any other before, thus the first Spirit Pact was made. However, the Black Mage wanted the power of the Onyx Dragons, thus he was granted an audience with Afrien. The Black Mage invited the King to join him and offered him great power, but Afrien refused, stating that the power of the Onyx Dragons did not come from betrayal. In a rage, the Black Mage sought to wipe out the Onyx Dragons from the earth, and succeeded. As for Afrien, when the five heroes confronted the Black Mage, the Black Mage shot a beam of ice at Freed, but he did not expect that Afrien would cover for Freed. The Spirit Pact was broken, but Afrien had left an egg for Freed to take care of. Freed hid it in a secret place, where only a strong spirit would be able to find it and remake the Spirit Pact, then he died soon afterwards. A hundred years later, the farm boy, Evan, found the egg and it hatched. On his hand was the marking of the Spirit Pact.

Evans have a special advantage over other mages, that of being able to fight with an Onyx Dragon. They are able to cast many different spell types and can hit very hard and fast.

Pros:

• • Many range increasing skills.
  • Their resurrection skill, Soul Stone, can revive more than one party member.
  • Combination of Fire, Ice, Lightning and Dark elemental attacks received throughout their masteries.
  • Receives mobbing skills earlier than the other mages.
  • Hits very hard throughout the whole game without much funding.
  • The Dragon has 10 growths at total (10th Growth at level 160) making for interesting and varied gameplay.
  • If you buy a mount as an evan, you will be able to glide through the air.

Cons:

• • Dragon only attacks in the direction you are facing until 8th growth
  • Consumes loads of MP potions.
  • In GMS have to buy special mastery books with NX to max certain skills.
  • Have to do all of the "New Hero" quests for getting enough Skill Points in order to max all his skills.
  • Speed of skills isn't too fast, limited by the damage cap in terms of damage per minute.

Mercedes

Mercedes is the Bowman Hero; she is an elf and has pointed ears. The Black Mage froze everyone in this royal elf's town, Elluel, in ice. Mercedes is thousands of years old and when she wakes up, only her and the elders are unfrozen. The rest of the town's elves remain frozen. Mercedes main weapon is the Dual Bowgun.

Pros:

• • No ammunition required unlike other bowman; she uses magic arrow instead.
  • High DPS and attack speed
  • High mobility (Elven Grace, jumping platforms using skills, gliding up ropes)
  • Easy mobbing
  • Not a super commonly played class.
  • High DPM with Ishtar's Ring
  • Extra EXP from Elven Blessing's passive

Cons:

• • Somewhat hard to fund as there aren't so many scrolled DBG (Dual BowGuns) on the market
  • Low HP and survivability.

Phantom

Phantom is the Thief Hero. In the past, he was the Maple World's greatest thief and only left traces so people would recognise him being the thief. He fell in love with Empress Aria while trying to steal the legendary Skaia, a jewel of the empress. When the Black Mage's forces killed her, he went and joined the heroes for revenge. Phantom wields the Cane and Cards and uses the Deck System in which he gains cards with criticals and can use these cards to receive random buffs.

Pros:

• • Very unique playstyle
  • Can steal adventurer skills (Holy Symbol, Resurrection, Combo Attack, etc) and use them with Impeccable Memory so as to allow for many different playstyles (supportive, offensive, etc)
  • Somewhat flashy skills
  • Very easy transport with Phantom's personal ship, the Lumiere
  • A better Teleport (Shroud Walk) to use for covering distances.
  • Not a super common class.
  • High critical and dodge rate
  • Second Job and above, has a unique system in which cards charge up with every critical hit, can be used for different buffs.

Cons:

• • Impeccable Memory Skills aren't as good as the originals
  • Low HP and defense
  • Somewhat slow to level up
  • Low DPS overall
  • Needs loads of funding to hit high damage.

Luminous

Luminous is the second Magician Hero. He is a member of the Aurora, the organization set up by the Black Mage to research and protect the light. When the Black Mage was corrupted by power, he cast off his light, which became Luminous. Luminous then joined the five heroes and confronted the Black Mage head on. As the last Hero, he was tasked to seal the Black Mage in a time seal by forcing the Black Mage to use his dark powers against Luminous' light powers, thus triggering the time seal. However, the Black Mage had so much strength, he was about to break the seal. To prevent that from happening, Luminous went up close and dealt the Black Mage a final blow, absorbing some of his dark powers in the process. Now Luminous needs to master his dark powers before it consumes him.

In Korean Maplestory, Luminous has a unique gauge gained in second job that measures the affinity of Luminous to each side. As Luminous uses more Light skills, in the gauge, the Darkness will cover more of the light until it totally covers the gauge, then Luminous will enter his Dark side, in which Light will cover the Darkness the more Dark skills are used. In Luminous' third job, he will get an Equilibrium state, achieved in between switching between Light and Dark. In this state, Luminous is free to use his strongest skills without cooldown.

Pros:

• • Very unique playstyle
  • High damage without a lot of funding
  • Two different sides of Luminous to use, with each side buffing respective side's skills by 150% power. Light Skills recover 1% HP and Dark skills use 0 MP.
  • Equilibrium allows Luminous to spam either a screen attack, or an instant kill attack.
  • Extremely high MP
  • Upgraded Teleport

Cons:

• • Without Equilibrium, skills have cooldown
  • Passive Magic Guard drains MP very fast

The Resistance

The Resistance is a secret organization in order to stop the Black Wings from freeing the Black Mage from his prison. The Resistance has the most balanced classes besides Xenon and the Demon class.

Battle Mage

Battle Mages are mages that fight close up to their enemy and attack repeatedly with their staff.

Pros:

• • Highest HP out of all the mages.
  • Early teleport skill.
  • A lot of party buffs.
  • Has a few ranged skills.

Cons:

• • No Magic Guard.
  • Higher chance of taking damage by being too close to the enemy.

Wild Hunter

Wild Hunters use crossbows and get to ride a pet Jaguar while attacking.

Pros:

• • Have mixed skills from Bow Masters and Marksmen.
  • Is easy to move around due to having a Jaguar.
  • HP and MP increased when on Jaguar.
  • 2nd least made class for the Resistance.

Cons:

• • Lack of HP.

Mechanic

Mechanics are pirates that use guns,but instead of using them directly, they transform it into a part of your mech suit mount.

Pros:

• • Stats increased when on mount.
  • Easy to move around.
  • Gets a transformation on 3rd and 4th job.
  • Mix of ranged and melee skills.
  • Least made Resistance class.

Cons:

• • Wasn't as powerful as it used to be.
  • Lack of buffs.
  • Slow to move around on 1st job.
  • Wastes loads of MP.

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 meant 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 with a few attacks depending on the level, therefore making them the best mobbing / leveling class. They also have nice support skills, especially the Bishop, to help in bossing. Thieves are an attacking class, Night Lords being a good class for bossing and having high DPM in game as well as being mobile. Shadowers are good for attacking as well and can fight close or mid ranged and have good endurance with meso guard. Warriors are another good class for attacking. 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. They 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, as is marksman. Pirates with corsair and marauder are a powerful class with corsair providing high DPM and Marauders with good damage as well along with a popular party skill that increases everyone's attacking speed. Aran uses the Combo System and can provide high damage as well as several party skills. Evan has extremely high damage and has many skills good for bossing. Mercedes has the highest DPM out of all the classes, and therefore can hit very hard if funded. Phantom is a class with many variations on how to play with different skillsets being used. Luminous isn't too good for bossing, but is very good for mobbing.

Class Division

Job Table

	Beginner	First Job Level 10	Second Job Level 30		Third Job Level 60		Fourth Job Level 100
Explorer	Beginner	Swordman	Fighter		Crusader		Hero
			Page		White Knight/Knight		Paladin
			Spearman		Dragon Knight		Dark Knight
		Magician (Lvl 8)	Wizard (Fire/Poison)		Mage (Fire/Poison)		Arch Mage (Fire/Poison)
			Wizard (Ice/Lightning)		Mage (Ice/Lightning)		Arch Mage (Ice/Lightning)
			Cleric		Priest		Bishop
		Archer	Hunter		Ranger		Bow Master
			Crossbowman		Sniper		Marksman/Crossbowmaster
		Rogue	Assasin		Hermit		Night Lord
			Bandit		Chief Bandit		Shadower
			Blade Recruit(Lvl 20)	Blade Acolyte (Lvl 30)	Blade Specialist (Lvl 55)	Blade Lord (Lvl 70)	Blade Master
		Pirate	Brawler/Infighter		Marauder/Buccaneer		Buccaneer/Viper
			Gunslinger		Outlaw/Valkryie		Corsair/Captain
		1st Job Cannon Shooter	2nd Job Cannon Shooter		3rd Job Cannon Shooter		4th Job Cannon Shooter
Knight of Cygnus	Noblesse	1st Job Dawn Warrior/Soul Master	2nd Job Dawn Warrior/Soul Master		3rd Job Dawn Warrior/Soul Master		Max Level of Knight of Cygnus is Level 120
		1st Job Blaze Wizard/Flame Wizard	2nd Job Blaze Wizard/Flame Wizard		3rd Job Blaze Wizard/Flame Wizard
		1st Job Wind Archer/Wind Breaker	2nd Job Wind Archer/Wind Breaker		3rd Job Wind Archer/Wind Breaker
		1st Job Night Walker	2nd Job Night Walker		3rd Job Night Walker
		1st Job Thunder Breaker/Striker	2nd Job Thunder Breaker/Striker		3rd Job Thunder Breaker/Striker
Hero/Legend	Legend	1st Job Aran	2nd Job Aran		3rd Job Aran		4th Job Aran
	Evan	Evan 1-10
	Mercedes	1st Job Mercedes	2nd Job Mercedes		3rd Job Mercedes		4th Job Mercedes
	Phantom	1st Job Phantom	2nd Job Phantom		3rd Job Phantom		4th Job Phantom
	Luminous	1st Job Luminous	2nd Job Luminous		3rd Job Luminous		4th Job Luminous
Resistance	Citizen	1st Job Battle Mage	2nd Job Battle Mage		3rd Job Battle Mage		4th Job Battle Mage
		1st Job Wild Hunter	2nd Job Wild Hunter		3rd Job Wild Hunter		4th Job Wild Hunter
		1st Job Mechanic	2nd Job Mechanic		3rd Job Mechanic		4th Job Mechanic
	Demon Slayer	1st Job Demon Slayer	2nd Job Demon Slayer		3rd Job Demon Slayer		4th Job Demon Slayer
Nova	Kaiser	1st Job Kaiser	2nd Job Kaiser		3rd Job Kaiser		4th Job Kaiser
	Angelic Buster	1st Job Angelic Buster	2nd Job Angelic Buster		3rd Job Angelic Buster		4th Job Angelic Buster