Firstly, let me explain a process in making a game called “game balancing”. When a game is being developed, during the alpha and beta testing phases all aspects of the game are checked to see if the game is fair and balanced. There would be little point making a game which has one class/job which is better than all the rest because if that were the case then everyone would pick that class, since there’s no point in picking an inferior class. So what all the alpha and beta testers do is compare the various classes and if one seems to be too good compared to others, it gets nerfed (made weaker) in the next release of the game. Likewise if a class is weaker than the rest, it gets boosted in the next release. This continues until all the testers, developers, and game designers are happy that all the classes are fairly balanced against each other.
You can probably see where I am going with this. What I am trying to say is, THERE IS NO BEST CLASS. The game underwent a heck of a lot of testing to ensure that all classes were balanced against each other!
The ultimate rule of thumb when deciding which class is best for you(not best, just which class YOU will enjoy playing the most) is to try making a couple of different characters, leveling em up a bit to get a feel for it, and see if its your thing. Ultimately the choice is up to you, and asking other people which class THEY think is best is pointless, since they might prefer a different style of play than you do, and so what’s good for them might not be good for you.
However, I will give a brief rundown of the various classes and list their play styles and their advantages and disadvantages.
Warriors - Swordsman
Warriors are “melee only”, meaning there is no option of having a ranged attack like all the other classes. This is the primary thing you need to consider before you decide if a Warrior is the class for you. Do you like attacking monsters from up close (melee), or from range? If you prefer range then Warrior is definitely not for you. However, if you DO like melee, then maybe you will enjoy Warriors.
Another thing some people wonder about Warriors is whether to go for 1 handed weapons + shield or to use 2 handed weapons. Well again, there is no “better” option. Using 2 handed weapons will give you higher damage, at the expense of some defense. Using 1 handed + shield will give you more defense at the expense of some offense. Also keep in mind that if you are going to be a Spearman you don’t have the 1h + shield option at all. Another thing to consider is that 1H weapons tend to have a shorter range, but faster attack speed then the 2H equivalent. The beauty of being a Fighter or Page is you can get BOTH the 2H and 1H version of your favorite weapon and select which one you want to use based on the situation. Some monsters you might be able to 1 Hit KO with a 2H weapon sometimes, but you can’t with a 1H weapon, in which case it might pay to fight them with a 2H weapon. In other cases you might find that both the 1H and 2H weapon result in a 1HKO, and so the faster attack speed and better defense of 1H + shield may be the better option. If in doubt, try both and decide for yourself.
Pros:
* Highest HP and Armor by far compared to other classes means you are a lot less likely to die accidentally. It also means you can try fighting monsters higher level than you and still probably survive, as long as you have enough potions.
* Have very strong, powerful strikes which do big damage to enemies, and can knockback higher level enemies quite effectively.
* Get the choice of using 1 handed weapons + a shield, or 2 handed weapons, meaning there are more choices with equipment than other classes.
* Get to choose from 5 different weapon types (Swords, Axes, Blunt Weapons, Spears, Polearms) which also gives more choice with equipment than other classes.
* Get SlashBlast, which is an attack which can hit multiple enemies, in the 1st job advancement. No other class gets a mass-attack skill until at least 2nd or 3rd job advancement.
Cons:
* Don’t have a ranged attack.
* A lot of their weapons have pretty slow attacks, so although you hit hard, you hit slow as well. This is not always the case however.
* Damage is pretty unstable at first since they don’t get Mastery until 2nd job, and their main attacking skill only hit once.
* Never get any skills which increase their movement speed or jump height.
* Tend to have poor accuracy at first meaning some monsters are hard/impossible to hit.
* Tend to have low avoid ability so they get hit very often.
Warrior - Fighter
A Fighter is one of the 2nd job advancements a Warrior can choose from. They tend to be very similar to Pages during the 2nd job advancement, the only difference being that Fighters can use Axes, whereas Pages can use Blunt Weapons (but both can use Swords), and one of the skills is different (Fighters get Rage, Pages get Threaten). Fighters are all about warriors who want to concentrate on having the highest HP, and doing the most damage to all enemies in general, and later on (during 3rd job), being very effective 1 on 1 against powerful enemies.
Pros:
* Fighters get Rage, which is a great offensive skill increasing your damage as though you had a weapon 10 levels higher once its maxed out. This means a Fighter’s damage tends to be higher once they get Rage than the other warriors.
* Get the most base HP out of the 2nd job Warriors.
* Axes and Axe scrolls tend to be very cheap.
Cons:
* Rage reduces your defense slightly, so you take a bit more damage.
* Get the least base MP out of the 2nd job Warriors.
* Swords and Sword scrolls tend to be very expensive.
Warrior - Page
Pages are very similar to Fighters during the 2nd job, only difference being Pages can use Blunt Weapons, whereas Fighters can use Axes (although both can use Swords), and Pages get the skill Threaten, whereas Fighters get Rage.
At higher levels (3rd job and beyond) Pages concentrate on getting elemental attacks, which allows the to do extra damage against certain enemies (but less damage against other types of enemies). They will apparently be able to heal themselves in the 4th job (could be an unconfirmed rumor).
Pros:
* Pages get Threaten, a very defensive skill that can save you a lot of HP by making monsters do less damage to you.
* Get more base MP compared to Fighters.
* Blunt Weapons and BW scrolls tend to be cheap.
Cons:
* Threaten needs to be constantly recast on new enemies, and its offensive capabilities are negligible.
* Get less base HP compared to Fighters.
* Swords and Sword scrolls tend to be expensive.
Warrior - Spearman
The Spearman is actually a bit different from the other 2 Warrior types. Firstly, they use either spears or Polearms, which are big, slow 2 handed weapons that have the highest maximum damage out of all the Warrior weapons. They also have the lowest minimum damage. Spearmen also get some very handy skills which are quite beneficial to fellow party members. At later levels (3rd job and beyond) Spearmen get some amazingly powerful skills such as Dragon Roar which can do massive damage to all the enemies on the screen. The drawback is most of the powerful skills tend to have a long cooldown period, and require expensive items which get used up when you use the skill.
Pros:
* Their weapons have the longest range out of all the Warrior weapons.
* Polearms do the most damage when its “swung”, Spears do the most damage when their “stabbed”.
* Polearms/Spears have the highest maximum damage out of all the Warrior weapons.
* Have some great party oriented skills.
* Get more base MP than Fighters.
* While using Hyperbody, their HP and MP max is actually the highest out of all the Warriors.
Cons:
* Slowest attack speed.
* Lowest minimum damage means their damage is the most unstable out of all the Warriors.
* Polearms do poor damage when its “stabbed”, Spears do poor damage when its “swung”.
* Get less base HP than Fighters.
Mages
Mages are a very common class in MS. They attack at range using magical spells, using wands and staffs to boost their spell damage. They have no melee capability at all, but don’t really need it since their spells hit from far OR close. If you like the idea of blasting enemies with spells, and being able to protect yourself with magical guards, and then later doing extra damage against certain enemies, then Mages may be the class for you.
Pros:
* Can attack at range OR up close.
* They are by far the most powerful class during the 1st job advancement. You will level very fast after level 15.
* They have bucketloads of MP.
* They have ridiculously fast MP recovery rates, meaning you spend a lot less on MP potions than other classes.
* Magic Claw can attack through walls.
* Very stable damage using Magic Claw.
* After 2nd job they can teleport, and absorb their enemies MP.
* Can essentially use their MP bar as their HP once they max out Magic Guard, meaning they can take a lot more punishment.
Cons:
* Cannot jump and then attack while in the air.
* Have the lowest HP out of all the classes.
* Mage gear tends to be expensive since so many people play mages.
* Some people don’t like mages as they have a bit of a reputation as “ksers”, so be prepared for some people to be rude to you.
* Tend to get weaker after the 2nd job advancement compare to the other classes.
* Taking damage from your MP bar (once you have Magic Guard) is expensive. MP potions essentially cost twice as much as HP potions.
Mage - Fire/Poison Mage
The Fire/Poison mage specializes in spells which deal the highest amount of damage. Fire mages don’t care about support skills or freezing their opponents, they just want big damage.
Pros:
* Highest damage spells out of all the 2nd job mages.
* Poison can be very effective against high level enemies if used correctly.
* Huge damage against Ice based enemies.
Cons:
* Cannot heal or freeze enemies.
* Do poor damage against fire based enemies.
* Poison can be hard to use properly.
* Fire Arrow is blocked by terrain.
* Some enemies are strong against, or even immune against Poison.
Mage - Ice/Lightning Mage
Ice/Lightning mages have quite similar skills to Fire/Poison mages, but their attacking skills are quite different in their effect. Although Ice mages do not do quite as much raw damage as Fire/Poison mages, they get the benefit of freezing their enemies, and being able to hit multiple enemies at once.
Pros:
* Ice Beam can freeze enemies.
* Lightning can hit multiple enemies at once, meaning its possible to level very quickly on lower level enemies with a fast spawn rate.
* Ice Beam can go through walls.
* Ice Beam does huge damage against Fire Based enemies.
* Lightning also does huge damage against certain enemies.
Cons:
* Ice Beam does poor damage against Ice based enemies.
* Some enemies are strong against Lightning.
* Not quite as much raw damage as Fire Mage.
* Cannot Heal.
Mage - Cleric
Clerics are a party favorite. Everyone likes being Healed for free, so if you like to party a lot, then maybe Cleric is the class for you. Although your main offensive spells tend to do the least damage out of all the Mages, you make up for it by having some great party support skills, and being able to dish out massive damage against evil/undead enemies. After 3rd job advancement they get some fantastic skills, including one which give them let them be able to morph their enemies into snails.
Pros:
* Can Heal, and gets XP for healing party members.
* Does huge damage against evil/undead enemies.
* Can hit multiple enemies at once with Heal (if used on undead).
* Great party support skills.
* Can actually Jump+Attack by using Heal against Undead creatures.
Cons:
* Weakest attack out of all the Mages against all non evil/undead enemies (which is most of the enemies in the game).
* Tend to be stuck leveling on the same enemies for many levels in a row.
* Limited enemy selection.
* Cannot freeze enemies.
Thieves
Thieves are an interesting class. It is the only class where you can actually choose if you want to attack with Melee or at range. Thieves also get (arguably) the coolest looking gear. Perhaps if you are still unsure if you want to go for a Melee character or a Ranged attacker, making a Thief if a good choice. Thieves tend to rely on high avoidability rather than high armor as a defense against enemies. They also tend to rely on many fast attacks rather than a few powerful attacks. They later get what is arguably one of the best 2nd job skills in the game, Haste, which can make playing MS a lot more fun.
Pros:
* Option to use Range or Melee during 1st job.
* Tend to have very fast attacks.
* Arguably the coolest looking gear.
* High avoidability means you get missed a lot.
* High accuracy means you will never find that missing your target is a problem.
* Ranged thieves get Lucky7, which has built in Mastery, making it a lot more powerful than almost any other 1st job attacking skill (Except Magic Claw for mages).
* Ranged thieves tend to be the 2nd fastest levelers during 1st job advancement after Mages.
* Ranged thieves can jump and then shoot while in the air.
Cons:
* Low HP compared to Warriors.
* Low armor compared to Warriors means when you DO get hit you take a fair bit of damage.
* Dagger thieves tend to be the slowest class to level up out of all the 1st job classes.
* Daggers have a very short range.
* Ranged Thieves cannot attack an enemy up close effectively.
* Ranged Thieves cannot knockback close enemies like a Bowman can.
* Daggers + Claws + Stars plus their relevant scrolls tend to be very expensive.
* There are a lot of thieves.
Thieves - Bandits
Bandits are the melee Thief. If you settled on Daggers and melee during the 1st job, then the path of the Bandit is for you. They attack fast, move fast, and tend to get hit a lot less often than Warriors, however they have less armor and HP then Warriors. During 2nd job Bandits get Savage Blow, which deals 6 very fast hits against their enemies, meaning they start doing very good and stable damage once they get Savage Blow.
Pros:
* Get Haste, a very effective and fun skill.
* Get Savage Blow, a very effective attack with stable and powerful damage.
* Have very fast attacks, especially once they get Booster.
* Once they get Savage Blow they will do more damage than Assassins.
Cons:
* Tend to do less average damage than Warriors, especially against high defense enemies.
* Cannot attack at range effectively.
* Low HP compared to Warriors.
* Have a useless skill: Steal. Seriously, don’t get this skill.
* Daggers and Dagger scrolls tend to be expensive.
Thieves - Assassin
Assassins are the ranged attack option of thieves. If you don’t like melee, and are a thief, then being an Assassin is probably a good option for you. They have higher damage potential than Bandits, but their lower damage stability means they tend to do less damage on average (however they are more stable than Bowmen). Assassins also get Haste, which means you will probably be having a blast jumping around at warp speed, throwing stars left and right like crazy. A lot of people say that Assassins are the most fun class.
Pros:
* Jump shooting + Haste = a lot of fun.
* More stable damage than Bowmen.
* Higher damage potential than Bandits.
* More likely to knockback enemies than Bandits.
* Can benefit greatly from using Warrior Potions, or having a Fighter cast Rage on them (since they have the lower Weapon Attack out of all the non-mage classes).
* Can heal themselves with their attacks once they get Drain.
Cons:
* Cannot attack effectively up close, can sometimes get annoying.
* Cannot knockback enemies like Bowmen.
* Claws and Stars are EXTREEMELY expensive.
* Stars need to be regularly recharged in town.
* Are stuck with only one attack skill (Lucky 7), until they get Drain, which is usually not until the mid-high 50’s at least.
Bowmen
Bowmen specialize in powerful ranged attacks. If you like the idea of usually attacking enemies from a long distance away, and not often getting into close range, then perhaps a Bowman is for you. They have extremely high maximum damage, but unfortunately also have the lowest minimum damage, making them very unstable at first (but DoubleShot and Mastery later on help to stabilize their damage). Bowmen cannot attack up close effectively, at least until the higher levels, and they also cannot jump + shoot like Assassins can, meaning that if enemies get in close, Bowmen are at a big disadvantage and need to get out of there.
Pros:
* Extremely high maximum damage
* Attack at range
* Can usually get their arrows from monsters or for free/really cheap from other players.
* Very high accuracy means missing enemies shouldn’t be a problem.
* Can switch to a melee weapon at the lower levels and still be effective.
* Can knockback enemies.
Cons:
* Very low minimum damage means damage stability is the worst out of all the classes.
* Terrible in melee range unless they switch to a melee weapon (only really feasible at lower levels).
* Cannot jump and then shoot while in the air.
* Avoidability not as good as Assassins which means they get hit more often.
* Slower attack speed than Assassins.
* Some people find them the most boring class as the usual hunting method involves just standing in a safe spot and shooting at enemies at a distance.
Bowmen - Hunter
During 2nd job Hunters and Crossbowmen have many similar skills. The main difference between them is that Hunters tend to attack faster, whereas Crossbowmen do more damage. Also, the Hunters mass mob attack skill hits up to 6 enemies all within a certain distance from each other, whereas a Crossbowmans mass mob attack skill can hit up to 6 enemies in a line, even if they are not that close together.
Pros:
* Faster attack than Crossbowmen.
* Damage gets somewhat stabilized by getting Mastery.
* Get power knockback, which makes them more effective at moving monsters away from them than during 1st job.
* Get soul arrow which means they can essentially stop using up arrows indefinitely.
* Still have very high maximum damage compared to most classes.
* Arrow Explosion can hit enemies slightly above or below you.
Cons:
* Slower attacks then Assassin.
* Less damage than Crossbowmen.
* Mass mob attack less effective in a straight line then the Crossbowmans mass mob attack.
* Bows and Bow scrolls tend to be more expensive than Crossbows as there are more Hunters than Crossbowmen.
Crossbowmen
Crossbowmen and Hunters are quite similar during 2nd job, the only difference being that Crossbowmen do more damage, whereas Hunters attack faster. Also, the Crossbowmans has mob attacking skill works in a straight line, while a Hunters has an area of effect. If you want to do more damage, plus pay less money for your weapons, then Crossbowman might be the class for you. It is also probably the least common class in MS, so you will be unique at least!
Pros:
* Higher damage than Hunters and Assassins
* Damage stabilizes a bit once you get Mastery
* Cheaper weapons than Hunter or Assassin
* Mass mob attack is very effective in a straight line, ie if you are on a flat platform with a whole bunch of enemies in front of you.
* Get power knockback, which makes them more effective at moving monsters away from them than during 1st job.
* Get soul arrow which means they can essentially stop using up arrows indefinitely.
* Still have very high maximum damage compared to most classes.
Cons:
* Slower attacks then Assassin and Hunters.
* Damage is still pretty unstable.
* Mass mob attack less effective in a some situations than a Hunters Arrow Explosion, especially if the enemies are above/below you.
* Might be hard to find Crossbows to buy since most people probably NPC them since there are so few Crossbowmen around to sell to.
So there you have it! An explanation of how each class compares to all the others. If you are still wondering which class is the best, then you have missed the whole point of this post… There is no best. There ?is only “best for you“!!! Read all the descriptions and pros/cons of all the classes you are considering and make up your own mind!
Also keep in mind that different classes are weak or powerful at different stages of the game. Don’t let the fact that your character seems to be weak vs another character of a different class put you off…. in 10-20 more levels you just might be more powerful than them!
leveling speed/Power of the classes compared at various stages:
Beginner (level 1-10):
Most powerful: Warrior
Least powerful: Mages
1st Job (level 10-30):
Most Powerful: Mages
Least Powerful: Dagger Thieves (Bandits to be)
2nd Job (level 30-70):
Most Powerful: Early on Assassins, then Bandits/Warriors for a while, then Bowmen towards the end.
Least Powerful: Early on Bowmen and Bandits, then Mages towards the end.
3rd Job (level 70-120):
Most Powerful: It’s just speculation and rumors at the moment, but supposedly Bowmen become the most powerful during this period.
Least Powerful: Again, just speculation and Rumor, but apparently Mages get weak during this time.
For all the classes in maple story, you can find the importance of meso through the game. You will need it to buy the items fit for you and the potions which may save you from death.
By the way, if you want to enjoy your game without the boring process of farming and finishing quests, www.ogpal.com will help you get rid of them. Our customer service will make sure you are more than satisfied with every purchase!
Fire/Poison In Depth
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