Welcome, those who play Maplestory! If you are seeking to build a powerful mage, you've come to the right place! A careful balance of skills, abilities, and equipment will help you to level quickly and (most importantly) have a great time with your character! Let's get started.
Special Note: This guide is only for regular mages. If you are seeking to make a LUK-less Mage, this is not the right guide for you.
I - The Dice Roll and Ability Points -
When you first open the Maplestory client, you have the option to make a character. Click on “Create New Character.” First, choose your character's appearance and name using your own judgement. Looks and name don't matter when creating a character, regardless of class. Next comes the dice roll. In order to make a powerful mage, you will need a careful balance of skill points. Here are the skills and their descriptions:
STR- Used mainly for Warriors. This stat affects melee damage and HP increase per level.
DEX- Used mainly for Bowmen. This stat affects accuracy and avoidability, as well as damage for the Bowman.
LUK- Used mainly for Rogues. This stat affects the rogue's damage, but is also a requirement to wear equipment for the mage.
INT- Used mainly for Mages. This stat will affect not only the magical damage that the mage does, but also increase the MP gain per level.
As you can probably figure out, you will need the highest INT and the lowest STR and DEX. Therefore, you should roll the dice until you get something similar to this:
- *=any number.
- STR - 4
- DEX - 4
- LUK - *
- INT - *
Remember, throughout your life of a mage, STR and DEX will do you no good and will only keep points away from you that you could be spending on INT to do more damage.
IMPORTANT- You will want to keep your LUK as this:
Your Level + 3 = LUK EX: Level 15 + 3 = 18 LUK
This will allow you to wear the equipment necessary to be a powerful mage. All the other points you receive should go into INT to help your damage and MP.
II - Skill Point Distribution -
After you have made your character, you will find yourself on Maple Island, the ultimate newbie training grounds. Fight here until you reach level 8 and then proceed to Victoria Island via Shanks the captain. Then take the taxi to Ellinia, where you will then proceed to the top of the map and talk to Grendel the Really Old to make your first job advancement as a Mage. He will boost your MP and give you 1 Skill Point. From here on, you will receive 3 Skill Points a level. Here is how you should distribute them:
- Level 8 - 1 Bolt
- Level 9 - 3 MP Recovery
- Level 10 - 2 MP Recovery and 1 Max MP Increase
- Level 11-13 - 9 Max MP Increase
Those are the really crucial levels. Make sure that you max Max MP Increase first, as it will give you the most MP possible, crucial for making a powerful mage. Although those levels are crucial to be followed in that way, the rest of the levels you can choose on your own. I could give you a list to follow, but then it wouldn't really be your own character, but an artificial one, created by a guide. You should have the power to make your character who you want him/her to be without being told what to do. After all, it's your story.
You can see the description of the skills by their names and choose accordingly to make a strong mage. Make sure to max these skills:
- Max MP Increase
- MP Recovery
- Magic Claw
Otherwise, points are your own choice. When you reach level 30, return to Grendel the Really Old and proceed to make your job advancement as either a Cleric, a Fire/Poison Mage, or an Ice/Lightning Mage. Each class has their own pros and cons, so they are pretty well balanced out. The previous choices you have made will have no impact on which class you choose, so don't feel pressured to pick one class over another. You can easily find guides on whichever of the classes you want to pick, but skill point allocation isn't crucial in those levels. Remember, if you do read a guide, take it as ADVICE, not LAW. It's your own story and you can change it as you see fit.
