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So after being a Warrior for a couple weeks now, I know pretty much the basics. Level up strength and dexterity and get heavy armored equipment and high attack weapons. But this one troubling question that has brought me to a fork in the roads is, 'Why don't Warriors just level up Intelligence? Like Magicians do?' I got it, they don't use spells and wear the pointy hat. They're warriors. They use big strong weapons, have high health, high defense, and high strength. But who in the history of Maplestory has ever, and I mean ever, simply attacked monsters using only the basic attack ctrl key? I mean think about it. Nobody simply thrusts their weapon forward at one, singular enemy. Everybody uses skills. Skills give you all these powers for every single Hero and class in Maplestory. Then what does having a high attack weapon used for? And what is having high strength used for if you're just going to using your skills? Am I missing something here? Does raising the strength stat also increase skill stats because when I tried it out, the higher my Intelligence was the higher my skills were.
Keep in mind, strength is the only stat to increase weapons' attack power.
Comments
In the very early days of the game, stats mattered slightly more (for example, equips used to have secondary stat requirements, like 100 STR and 50 DEX to equip something), however they were simplified in an update several years ago. So the descriptions of the stats are rather outdated and don't mean anything, at this point. Since characters can't learn skills outside of their job branch and cannot equip gear that's not for their class, there's no need to apply any points to INT or LUK.
If you've already applied points to DEX or any of the other skills, it's possible to reset your stat distribution by purchasing a reset scroll from NPC Matilda (in regular servers) or the cash shop (Reboot and regular servers). Matilda sells them for 3,000,000 mesos each (?) and I don't recall what they'd sold for in the cash shop.
Each class has a single stat into which all its AP need to go (except Xenon). You have a convenient "auto-assign" button on your Stats window for that. If, as a warrior, you have been putting AP into DEX or INT, you have been wasting your AP. They need to all be in STR. If you want to give it some kind of real-world rationale, then the STR gives you the strength to swing your heavy weapon more effectively. The weapon itself doesn't get any stronger.
SP, or skill points, are what controls the skill power. The more skill points you put into an attacking skill, the more damage it does per hit (using the same weapon and character stats). INT does absolutely nothing for you as a warrior, it doesn't increase skill damage.
Generally speaking, the damage formula for a warrior goes something like this:
damage_range = C * STR * ATT * (potential_buffs)
Where
- damage_range is what is shown in your Stats window as "Damage" (either min or max)
- C is various constants that you can't change
- STR is your STR stat (for other classes it would be their main stat. For example, for thieves, it's LUK all the way)
- ATT is the total "ATT" stat on your equipment and your buff skills
- (potential_buffs) is additional buffs that come from your gear, and we can ignore them for the sake of this discussion
The damage per hit is simply:
damage_per_hit = damage_range * skill_%
So if, for example, your DAMAGE displayed in your Stats window is 2000~3000 and your skill says it hits 150%, then each hit will be between 3000 and 4500 (less a reduction due to enemy defense, and with a possible bonus if you're close to enemy level).
Maplestory is very simplistic in its use of stats. There is no real-world or even D&D logic to it.
So let me ask you this, then. Since my entire view of the game has been wrong for many years. If putting any stats in DEX or INT doesn't do anything, then what is the point of giving the different stats definitions?
STR: Determines the power of your physical attacks.
DEX: Determines how much damage and avoidability you can take.
INT: Determines the power of your magic attacks.
LUK: Determines your overall avoidability.
I'm assuming avoidability means not getting hit by monsters. You can walk past mosters and not get thrown back. And, dexterity determines how much damage enemies give you. Intelligence is your skills (AKA: Magic attacks. Unless Magicians main physical attacks are the magic attacks, then I can understand how it doesn't correlate to skills.) And luck, determining your avoidability all together so you don't take any attacks from anything.
If all of this is a lie, and they all just amp your main attack damage depending on your class/hero, then are these definition just, obsolete?
Yes, the descriptions are misleading, although they all say, "It's the <class-type> main attack stat" in addition to the sentences you copied.
Strictly speaking, they are true. However, the game mechanics are such that defense and avoidability do very little for your survivability, and you're much better off putting all your AP into the stat that gives you damage, so you can kill enemies before they hurt you too much. As for physical vs. magical attacks, that is unfortunately not explained, but is simple: all magician skills, and only magician skills, are magical attack. Everyone else's skills are physical attacks.
Your job instructor does tell you, in dialog, what stat to put your AP in (and also says to use the "auto-assign") but few people read or remember dialog.