Syntax's Guide to MapleStory

et's start simple, MapleStory, is a game that is designed for team playing, there are actually some parts (other than PQs) that you'll need a party to survive in. With this said, a number one priority of MS is to keep your buddy list as full as possible, whether you need to buy more room, or anything else. More people on your buddy list, the more chances you'll have a friend online that may be able to help you out in some way.

Now just because it's a team articulated game, does not mean that there aren't exceptions, there is no NEED to depend on a party. You can also stock up majorly on potions and go at it alone all the time, but then what fun is that?


-Newb Info:

When creating a character, you need to think about how quickly you get bored. The different chars all have a boring period somewhere in the path of becoming a "high" level. Bowman have the longest period of boredom, Warriors are next, then Mages, and the least boring is the Thief, mainly due to their diversity and nifty skills.

Okay so you know what char to make, do you know how to make the base stats?
Bowman : DEX and STR
Thief: (SIN) LUK and DEX (STRBAN) STR and DEX (LKBAN) LUK and DEX
Mage: INT and LUK
Warrior: STR and DEX

With that known, while rolling the dice, I suggest you settle for nothing less than the useless stats being at 5/5, many sit for awhile waiting for 4/4, but I assure you 5/5 is good enough.

When you make this char, you need to level, fast and simple. Do not leave Maple Isle until you are atleast level 8, unless you have friends waiting and willing to help you. There are plenty of snails to kill on Maple Isle, and less higher level people there to really bother you.

This goes for all chars:
1-8: Maple Isle
8-12: East Henesys
13-20: The Tree That Grew
20-25: Pig Beach
25-3x: Ant Tunnel I-III

Some of you may thing it's bias or too hard, but I assure you I've had atleast one of every char before, and I ended up doing the same level pattern up to 30.(I buy potions and I only regen after restocking)

-Interaction Info:
I've been around alot of people in MapleStory, I know how good they can be, and how horrific they can become.

Fame, seems to be everyone's first attack in MS, for some reason everyone says they don't care about fame...when they do. If someone threatens to defame you for any reason, and you do infact care about your fame, then apologize for offending them however you did, and quickly leave the area.

If someone randomly defames you, please don't freak out, it happens, people don't always have to have a reason to do it. Just laugh it off, if they randomly did it, maybe there's something you have that made them feel bad about themselves, take it as a compliment, but do not seek revenge.

]Ksing[
Now you won't be able to avoid this, either you will KS someone, or someone will KS you, it's going to happen. Now, if you're the intruder, I don't suggest a blunt assualt and Ksing, pick off maybe one or two monsters at first, try to make a small area just for yourself. This allows the other people in the are to become accustomed to your presence, which lowers agression. If they ask you to leave, then do so, if you don't wish to leave, then stay and see what fate you've chosen.

If you're being Ksed, I suggest you don't say anything to them. Don't open any type of conversation between yourself and the Kser. Opening a conversation gives them what they want, you're attention. If you're busy spouting at them, they're free to take the kills in the area. You're best bet is to plain ignore them, and continue killing like you were before they arrived, if they stay and seem to be picking on you, then ask them calmy to leave. If they refuse you can either stay, or find a new place, a confrontation will only result in you losing more training time.

]Making New Friends[
Once people get settled into MS and moderately fill up their buddy list, they tend to "forget" how to make new friends, it's nothing all that difficult. The best way to make friends is to train in the same are for a period of time. Eventually one of you will get bored and start trying to talk to the other, very simple. In town, with no fighting, it's usually easy to just randomly start a conversation with no one, and wait for someone to start responding to you.

]Trading[
Trading isn't always needed, I prefer to only goto Perion 1 for stuff I can't find. When trading, use respect, don't just throw something in their face. When someone accepts a trade invite, start off with a simple "Hi", then get to business. I know you're thinking you won't ever see them again, but that's not the point. If someone trades you, say "Hi" to them too, even though they'll probrably start throwing stuff at you immediately. When trying to sell something, figure out the base price of the item before you goto sell it. When you ask them to offer, and they tell you they dont know, give them a price 5k above the base price, see how they react to it. When buying something, you need to know how much you want to spend before going, you don't want to end up without knowing how much something costs, that will leave you open for scams.

]Beggars/Hastees[
As a thief, you will be asked for Haste alot, it should be expected, I don't really believe it's acceptable behavior to basically bark at someone to give you haste, but it will happen. Sometimes people get mad when you refuse and Defame you, but that's something that's easily regained. Beggars, you should ignore them unless you really have something to spare. Yeah they may be new to the game, or be confused, but so were you at one point, and you made it above and beyond.

-Training Tips:
Alot of people get confused alot during training sessions, they notice they're power is higher, but they don't kill something to what they expected, leaving them lost until someone can tell them where to train. My best advice, is you go around and kill monsters in different areas, see what it takes to kill them, how many hits, how aggressive they are, and how much damage you'll sustain from a hit. This will allow you to make your own informed decisions.

Here's a simple formula you can consider, when fighting you need to look at two things. How many times you hit and how much exp you get for those hits. Compare them to another monster that give slightly less exp. See which one gives you the most exp for the lowest amount of hits. Sometimes you'll end up fighting a monster that only gives you 0.01% a kill, but when you look at the big picture, you gain 0.01% every time you attack, which can be several times per minute.

]Stocking[
Now, I've seen alot of people say that they stand and regenerate, or that some place is too hard because of their low HP/MP. This is why there are assistance potions, you'll need to figure out which level potion you need to be safe. Bowman, Mages, and Thieves can generally go for a very long time using only White Potions for Hp, while Warriors will need to buy stronger potions to take advantage of their higher HP.

]Profits[
There was an old technique I used to use to show myself how much profit I'm making, I would put all my mesos after restocking into the bank, except for 50k. When it came to restock time, I would sell all my left overs and spare items that dropped during my fighting. After buying more potions/stars, I'd go back to the bank and put all mesos over 50k in it. I used this method alot, it helps you see just how much you're gaining, and restricts you from buying anything randomly for over 50k.

I'm sure anyone should know by now, the best way to gain mesos, is to train, train, train. It's the best, fastest, and simplest way to gain more mesos. Plus you're gaining levels while gaining mesos, win-win situation.

]Hunting[
I've always said to people that the very best way to hunt for an item, is simply......to not hunt for it. Find the monster that has the item you feel you require, if they are at a level where you can train on them, then do so, while you're more concentrated on training, your drop just might come along.

If you want to go and risk for the hunt, then by all means go for it. I'm sure everyone likes to test whether they can kill a MushMom, even when knowing it's basically impossible to train on her.

Be realistic when you think about hunting for something, hunting steelies, is not realistic, hunting tobis however is. By realistic I mean you need to understand what you can kill, what rate you can kill it, and how often that specific item drops. Only higher level Assassins and Ice Wizards will generally go all out against Fire Drakes to find steelies, while on the other hand many of the other classes have a much easier time killing Dark Stone Gollem or Grupin.

-Quests:
Personally, I don't do any quests, I find them boring, and always with an underappreciative reward. However, you can choose to do them, and if you do I suggest you refer to your buddylist for assistance in completing them. It's easier to ask 20 people if they have a certain item, then going to Perion 1 and asking much much more. If a quest seems to be taking way too long, or far too difficult, then leave it alone until you can make it easier for yourself, sometimes this means leveling more, and sometimes it means buying certain items instead of hunting them down by yourself. http://www.onrpg.com/boards/27.html