Maplestory Starting Class Guide Overview and Classes Review

Maplestory is a strange but somewhat addicting free 2D side scrolling action MMORPG. It was launched by Wizet in April of the year 2003 and grew to be the smash hit that is currently is today. Over 100 million active accounts make up the Maplestory; although this might also add all of the multiple alternate accounts, 100 million is still a fairly impressive number. Personally I think the game has come a long way and continues to keep people playing with fresh content, new classes and events. I remember playing back when the wizard’s second classes were something new… I feel old.

As for classes you have the original Adventurers(Explorers now) which break into warrior, thief, magician and pirate; from these classes they break into other classes/branches, their max level is 200. Next are the Cyngus Knights that have their max level at 120, so they level up faster and get stronger quicker but lack the versatility of Adventurers. Aran and Evan are both incredibly strong classes that get extremely powerful; however their skill sets are pre-determined so you lose out on any versatility. Dual Blades are a new addition, they are dual wielding thieves/ninjas that do lots of damage, and they are kind of being treated like a class of their own. Coming up are the resistance which is a group of 3 other classes… More on this later on the final wrap up.

Maplestory’s 2D side scrolling simplifies the game down to get next to enemy x and attack till dead. Some attacks and skills require some distance/spacing or conditions but it gets quite repetitive. To alleviate the repetitiveness you have the ability to have multiple alternate characters you can easily jump onto and level up if you get tired of a specific character, and most importantly, you have quests.

Quests are usually your general run-of-the-mill “kill amount x of monster y” or “get my amount q of item z.” The early quests are relatively simple while the later side quests ask for a crazy amount of kills or items… But this is to be expected, you will be grinding all the way up to the end… So nothing new really happens there but the quests are neither majorly time consuming, nor are they ridiculously easy. The experience and items gained from them also make them worth completing in comparison to just wailing on a bunch of ribbon pigs or slimes.

Something that was added that helped bring the community together a little was an item that is given to you early on in the game. This item calls out to everyone and asks them to be your friend. An ingenious idea if you ask me, although seeing it repetitively pop up on the screen constantly does get kind of annoying… Despite the extra laughs I might have gotten looking at some people’s screen names. Having “friends” in a game makes the game so much more enjoyable. People to talk to, ask questions or just sit back and relax/listen to what they are saying. Of course, it’s all random so if you do use it, I wish you good luck!

As I have said before, Maplestory is a free game so the developers rely on the cash shop for their income. The cash shop is fairly balanced, some objects give players a slight advantage but there is nothing directly game breaking. One can argue that the upgrade scrolls and other similar things might be game breaking but I’m talking of an indirect item addition as opposed to a direct item that grants absurd stats or silly things like that. It goes without saying, most cash shop items are visual/cosmetic items lasting a limited amount of time before it disappears. (Depending on how much you paid for it)

It looks like Maplestory is and will continue to plow full speed ahead with its constant updates and constantly expanding playerbase. The next patch that is making its way to the game is the “Big Bang” patch which is stated to change the game more than any previous patch ever. (Global Maplestory gets it in “Winter”…whenever that is.) It supposedly alters or updates all maps, all skills, all classes, monsters and anything else you can think of. Balance issues, new skills, buffs, nerfs, monsters, experience balancing. In addition, I believe this patch will also bring the Resistance class group to the rest of the servers. The resistance group consists of a Battlemage class, Wild Hunter, and Mechanic class. There isn’t much info on these classes, and none of it really matters since all of the known info is probably going to change with the “Big Bang” patch.

To wrap it all up, Maplestory is a repetitive game but continually offers fresh content to keep people playing. The community is generally nice although there are a few buggers here and there, but that’s normal wherever you go. Maplestory is a grinding game. You will be killing pigs for a good long time, and then ribbon pigs, and then whatever else you decide works best for you. The game gives you friends and incentives for teaming up, so go for it! It makes it so much more enjoyable.

If I missed anything or put up some incorrect information, let me know. Happy Gaming!