Greetings, this guide is aimed at new players, players that are coming back to maple, or simply players that have been playing for a while but still don't know who to play as. I ma going to be honest and mention that I have never reached level 200, not even 170, although I have played the game for a fair bit (despite this account being recent) and I tried out every single class, which I believe made me posses some sort of knowledge about the classes.
When choosing a class it is important to know what it is that you want out of the class. Most people go for damage, because that seems to be the important thing, but some classes despite being strong, aren't fun to certain people. For example, Blasters seems to have the highest DPS at the moment, but I personally just don't find them fun to play. Anyway, I am going to be talking about the 4 main things that make up a class, attack, defense, mobility and the overall difficulty. All of the information can be found when creating a character or on the Maple Story website under Jobs & Classes. Some of them are accurate and some aren't. I am going to split this guide into 5 sections; Warrior, Magician, Bowman, Thief and Pirate. Now I was going with the stat charts visible on the website rather than the in game ones, so few things may vary, I shall change them once I log-in to the game.
Most of you may be aware of this chart when creating a character, seems pretty simple, but... what does it actually mean? Is Hayato's mobility really worth being shown as 5/5? And what is the Beast Tamer one about?!
Warrior
Warrior is what the name suggests, strong and defensive... to an extent.
Explorer Warrior - Explorer warriors are pretty much similar when it comes to their stats (according to Maple Story itself) their attack is pretty strong, defense and mobility are alright and they aren't difficult at all.
Now this is the same for all explorer classes, although some explorer classes vary.
The chart stats are:
Attack - 4/5
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Defense - 3/5
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,
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Mobility - 3/5
Difficulty - 2/5
Because it is a warrior, you can already expect that the defense will be pretty good compared to let's say a bowman. The attack is great too, but seems a bit sluggish at first. The mobility side is nothing special to be fair. The only way Explorer Warriors are mobile, is because of their "Flash Jump" like skill, all 3 warrior paths get it, none are different than others. Because of their high damage and defense their difficulty level is pretty low, although they do lack in mobility. Also the Paladin route seems to posses more defense than the other 2 routes, but lacks in damage.
Dawn Warrior - Dawn Warriors have got same chart stats as all Cygnus,
but they all differ from one another.
The chart stats are:
Attack - 3/5
Defense - 3/5
Mobility - 3/5
Difficulty - 1/5
This kind of warrior tends to be faster with attacks and seems more fluent and mobile. The defense is great as it is a warrior, but lacks in high numbers per line, but it evens out in the later game because of how many lines per skill this class does. Despite this Dawn Warrior's mobility being a 3/5 (Same as an Explorer Warrior)
these warriors can also leap upwards which is something that Explorer Warriors cannot do. The difficulty of the class falls under few categories, pretty easy to level, doesn't need skill books, provides a permanent buff for an entire account (but the character itself), great starter class, just like any other Cygnus.
Aran - Combo class, recently revamped. I am not sure why but for some reason whenever I played as an Aran, its defense always felt like it was lacking the warrior-esque feel to it. It could have been me though. This class provides a cool Link Skill which can be used by one character at a time in the server the character was made. The skill increases the experience gained from Combo Exp orb which are earned every 50 Combo Kill you make.
The chart stats are:
Attack - 4/5
Defense - 3/5
Mobility - 3/5
Difficulty - 5/5
Aran is a Warrior but like I mentioned, its defense doesn't feel like a warrior, at least it doesn't to me. I might be wrong so correct me if I am wrong. Aran's attack is great, high numbers, decent lines, amazing drain skill which recovers your HP and the more you attack the stronger you are! The mobility is... just like a normal Warrior's with an addition to a dash ability which if used correctly, can become a great mode of transport. The difficulty level of it is something that is rather odd to me, I'm not sure whether it is because of it's mechanics or because of the defense problem (despite being able to drain HP) I've mentioned, but according to the charts, it is a difficult class to play.
Mihile - A warrior of light with amazing defense, great counter skill and... that's it. Despite the class not being as powerful as other classes, it is still a fun class to play. Also provides a permanent buff same as any Cygnus character, and comes with a link skill too which has been changed from providing 100% stance, to absorbing few blows and providing a temporary damage boost.
The chart stats are:
Attack - 3/5
Defense - 5/5
Mobility - 3/5
Difficulty - 1/5
I am pretty sure that the last time I checked, the in-game difficulty of this class is a 4/5 or 5/5 and let me tell you why. Ever since the Mihile revamp, this class got a new counter skill, which is an active skill. In order to use the skill you have to time it right with when the mob is about to hit you. Which is pretty difficult if you have slow internet, as lags prevent you from being able to correctly use this skill. BUT, there is a way for static mobs, all you need to do is stand close enough so the mob won't attack you at all, but close enough so that when you use the skill it will counter the enemy. The damage of this class is what repels players from playing it, also the mobility is basically a standard Warrior "Flash Jump". Defense is the main big thing about this class, not sure if it rivals the Paladin defense though.
Demon Slayer/Demon Avenger - The Demon line is a pretty cool, newbie friendly class, strong damage, nice defense, extremely mobile, and pretty easy to play. Demon Slayer uses Demon Force for most of his skills which can be easily replenished by attacking the monsters, where as the Demon Avenger uses HP only for his skills which he can quickly regain using some skills and thanks to this class' passive HP Drain skills, this class is nearly unstoppable.
The chart stats are:
Attack - 4/5
,
Defense - 4/5
,
Mobility - 3/5
Difficulty - 3/5
Personally, the mobility on the chart is very misleading. This character can "flash jump" horizontally AND vertically, and most importantly glide. This makes him an extremely mobile class. His mobility should be a 4/5 and difficulty should be a 2/5 thanks to his HP regen skills. Both routes provide a different skill link, Demon Slayer's give you an extra damage against bosses, where as Demon Avengers raise your total damage in any situation.
Hayato - Ahh... Hayto, the amazing Thief branch class... Wait... It's a Warrior?! Well it is, but surely doesn't feel like it. Hayato does offer a nice link skill though which raises some of your stats and damage. Also this class has 2 different stances which are easily labeled as, bossing and mobbing.
The chart stats are:
Attack - 5/5
Defense - 3/5
Mobility - 5/5
Difficulty - 5/5
Hayato's attack is pretty good, his defense lacks in plenty of ways which makes him feel more like a Dual Blade rather than a typical Warrior. His mobility is what surprises me the most. The only reason why this character's mobility is so high, is because of the skills the class comes with.
Some skills allow you to damage mobs and also jump to higher ground. Pretty cool, but in my opinion it doesn't deserve a 5/5 mobility if the Demon class only gets a 3/5. Falcon Dive and Dankuusen combo/Hitokiri Strike and Dankuusen combo is a very cool way of staying mobile on the map. Not a beginner friendly class.
Kaiser - Something similar to an Aran, but with fire and dragons, and more chance of survival. This class is a key masher class for the first 3 jobs. It offers some cool skills and a nice Link Skill which increases your %HP which for a Demon Avenger is heaven!
The chart stats are:
Attack - 4/5
Defense - 3/5
Mobility - 4/5
Difficulty - 4/5
The attack is decent, nothing more to say, can be viewed as overpowered if done and funded right. Kaiser has some cool drain abilities too as far as I remember. Defense is actually better than what the charts say, and the mobility is just perfect. Great "Flash Jump" and the most amazing skill of all, the cool Grapple chain. Thanks to that, the mobility of the class goes through the roof, also you can teleport during the morph.
Blaster - This is a new addition to the Resistance, although for some reason, it shares a different stat chart to the other resistance classes, at least on the website. This is a class that feels more like a Pirate with an explosive knuckle weapon. Few cool skills, great mobbing skills, alright bossing skill, quite mobile, and in my opinion, a bit boring. Don't get me wrong, the class is great and all, but it has some skills that are just... difficult to explain and use I guess?
The chart stats are:
Attack - 5/5
Defense - 3/5
Mobility - 4/5
Difficulty - 4/5
This is another class that lacks in defense despite being a Warrior, it does have few skills to counter that, but... it doesn't do its justice in my opinion. Attack is great, after all it is the highest DPS class in the game at the minute. Mobility is good too, not good enough to be a 4/5 but good enough to fulfill the needs really. It comes with a "flash jump" which can be accelerated with the right use of a "push back" skill. And can also jump higher using the same "push back" skill. Difficulty comes from the awkwardness of skills and the complexity of them too.
Zero - This is a special class that is only available for a short period of time, no one ever knows when they are open unless there is an update about it on the Forums. This class has a special play style when you control two characters at the same time. It used to be the most over powered class which started at lvl 100 and had an amazing set of skills to show off and fly across the maps slashing enemies on the way.
The charts stats are:
Attack - 5/5
Defense - 3/5
Mobility - 4/5
Difficulty - 5/5
This class can also feel like a Dual Blade as well, strong damage, lacks in the defense department, really unique, mobility is great thanks to their "flash jump" and also a flash teleport which you can use bot horizontally and vertically. By the way, this class has A LOT OF SKILLS! Difficulty level comes from controlling both characters nearly at the same time in order to do some great damage, as most skills link with the skills of the other class. But none of the less, it is still pretty cool and requires you to have a character with a lvl over 100 on the server prior to creating one.
Comments
Magicians are the sort of classes that attack from afar, have some nice damage but lack in defense and HP, although most magician classes do counter it by using a skill similar to a Magic Guard. Magic Guard allows portion of damage taken to be absorbed by the character's current MP.
Explorer Magician - The explorer magician that can branch out into 3 different paths. 2 cool damage paths and 1 supportive with an alright damage.
The chart stats are:
Attack - 4/5
Defense - 3/5
Mobility - 3/5
Difficulty - 3/5
The chart stats are the same as for all of the Explorer classes. But it does differ a little bit depending on the class. Magician's are great. The damage of both Ice/Lighting and Fire/Poison mages are great. Ice/Lighting does tend to have more of a good time when mobbing, thanks to chain lighting although Fire/Poison can poison the whole map and then make it explode. Bishops on the other hand are the supportive classes which are always welcome thanks to their Holy Symbol which increases the EXP you get from defeating mobs. Defense wise, it comes with a "Magic Guard" that's it really, apart from a Bishop which has an extra skill that absorbs the damage. Mobility is alright, just a standard teleport really. All in all, great class.
Beast Tamer - This is a special magician class. Beast Tamer uses 4 different animals for her attacks. A bear, a snow leopard, a hawk and a cat. You begin with 2 animals and as you progress through the game you unlock the other 2. The class does seem really versatile and it is, but because of lack of certain skills within certain animals the class forces you to constantly play as the bear.
The chart stats are:
Attack - 5/5
Defense - 5/5
Mobility - 5/5
Difficulty - 3/5
The damage is a 5/5 purely because of the Bear skill tree as it is pretty strong, but slow. Snow Leopard skills are quite strong too but in the later game, when using the leopard your defense is much lower than when using the bear which makes you an easy target. Mobility is only great when playing as a Hawk but that seems to be the weakest animal to use of all, it does seem pretty fun, but it is... really... and I mean it, really weak. The cat on the other hand is a supportive animal which comes with a lot of buffs to help the party members out but lacks in damage similar to the Hawk. Don't get me wrong, the class is pretty fun, although mobility wise, it lacks as you can only "Flash Jump" horizontally when using the Bear, and unfortunately the Bear is the only way to go end-game.
Blaze Wizard - This is another Cygnus class. The class is fun to play and has a lot of mobility thanks to its "Flash Jump" and the ability to aim your main attacking skill in 4 different directions. This class also provides a permanent buff to the whole account which makes it a great starter class. Although these buffs cannot be stacked.
The chart stats are:
Attack - 3/5
Defense - 3/5
Mobility - 3/5
Difficulty - 1/5
The damage of this class is pretty high for a mage, and also the ability to use orbital flames in 4 different directions helps this class out a lot. Defense is quite good as well thanks to the passive "Magic Guard" ability, also this class has A LOT of MP. which makes the "Magic Guard" ability even more useful. Because it is a Cygnus, it can use "Flash Jump" to jump both horizontally and vertically, in addition you also become invincible when using the "Flash Jump" thanks to its 1st job skill. Great starter class.
Evan - Evan is a mage that has his own dragon which he uses for most of his skills. At later levels you can also glide with the dragon which makes the character quite mobile. Recently revamped as well so the chart stats might differ as far as I remember. This class also provides a very useful Link Skill which increases the duration of the runes that you use out in the hunting fields.
The chart stats are:
Attack - 4/5
Defense - 3/5
Mobility - 3/5
Difficulty - 2/5
I am sure that ever since the revamp, Evan's difficulty became 5/5, just like Aran's. The attack of this class is amazing, it comes with some amazing looking skills which combine the skills of the character as well as the dragon. They look very flashy and can damage a lot of mobs on the same map without moving too much. The defense is pretty good as well thanks to the "Magic Guard" ability. The mobility is great too as Evan can teleport, glide, and also do a vertical "Flash Jump" starting on lvl 30! It's great! Although because of how complicated few skills might seem, the class can be difficult to control at first.
Kanna - The exorcist with some amazing skills that speed up your leveling process, it also comes with a cool Pet Fox that uses buffs to help you out. In addition this class can provide a cool Link Skill which boosts your overall damage. You also don't need to spend any money on MP potions as Kanna uses Mana which regenerates extremely fast.
The chart stats are:
Attack - 3/5
Defense - 3/5
Mobility - 3/5
Difficulty - 2/5
Kanna's damage is decent, not too bad but not too good either. The main reason why Kannas are so good, is because of the Kishin Shoukan skill which increases the mob spawn rate on the map. Kanna's defense is quite lacking in my opinion. She doesn't get a "Magic Guard" ability but does have some nice HP, although she can't deal with too much damage, since most of her skills don't provide that much defense. Mobility is... okay... She can teleport but it is very sluggish compared to other teleport skills. The good thing about it is that her teleport works like a blink, if you use it without pressing the arrow keys, she will randomly teleport to a spot in a map, downside is... you can't control it. Nonetheless, Kanna is quite fun to play so try her out.
Luminous - Luminous, the cool guy that is fighting with evil using the powers of light and dark. This class is great at mobbing, perhaps maybe even the best when it comes to mobbing. Great damage, nice defense, nice mobility and is quite easy to play.
The chart stats are:
Attack - 4/5
Defense - 3/5
Mobility - 3/5
Difficulty - 3/5
His damage does shine on the mobs, although I've heard that Luminous isn't that good at bossing, but in my opinion, all classes can be great at bossing, it's just that some take more time to defeat a specific boss than others. Luminous' best skill has to be Reflection on the 4th job which jumps from enemies onto other enemies, this class can kill an entire map by just standing in one spot and spamming the skill. Defense is great because of another "Magic Guard" ability, also the MP pool of this class is through the roof. Mobility is okay, just a standard Teleport. This class is pretty easy to play and also fun, it also comes with a cool Link Skill which increases your Enemy Def Ignore %.
Battle Mage - Battle mage is probably the oddest mage you'll find on this list, whatever I said about mages attacking from afar... forget it. Battle Mages prefer close combat, thanks to this, it seems like Battle Mages have got the highest HP out of all mages, they also come with a nice Aura system, one of them helps you recover HP when attacking! Battle Mage also comes with a cool reaper that follows you around and attacks enemies.
The chart stats are:
Attack - 3/5
Defense - 3/5
Mobility - 3/5
Difficulty - 3/5
The chart stats are the same for all Resistance characters but the Blaster. The damage is really nice, the defense is quite high for a Mage purely because they don't get a "Magic Guard" ability. Mobility is great as well as they can teleport horizontally and vertically. Not that difficult really, although in the early game you need to choose the Auras that you want to use as you can only use one at a time.
Kinesis - The master of kinetic abilities that can send monsters flying across the map... literally. Pretty decent class, quite fun to play, skills aren't too flashy, easy to play as well.
The chart stats are:
Attack - 4/5
Defense - 3/5
Mobility - 5/5
Difficulty - 3/5
The damage of the class is great, amazing at both bossing and mobbing, Defense is okay too, they do have a "Magic Guard" ability which uses up their special resource points, which can be easily regenerated by attacking enemies. Their mobility stat, I'm sort of confused by when looking at other classes. Kinesis' mobility isn't much more special to that of a Cygnus knight. They can "Flash Jump" horizontally, and vertically. That's about it. Difficulty wise it is an easy class to play with, do some decent damage and quite good at bossing when you get to 4th job.
Thank you, I appreciate it
I am aware of that and I did mention that Hayato comes with few skills that allow him to jump to higher grounds and such, but I still don't see why his mobility is shown higher than Demon's or Kaiser, in my opinion, being able to jump pretty high with the vertical flash jump and to grapple up with Kaiser's grapple chain skill is much better than having to use combos, BUT I will include this information in the guide, so thank you
np
Demon Avenger on end game becomes weak due to not getting HP boost from Tyrant equip (HP is main stat for Demon Avenger). And the star force bonus on end game is too little comparable to end game damage. So Demon Avenger will lose a lot if we talk about end game. So if you want to put average attack/damage capabilities, i would put him to 2/5 or 3/5 due to a huge loss on end game damage plus the end game skills capabilities on bossing.
Though, Demon Avenger defense is 5/5. Aside from having high HP and huge defense, they also get 4 kinds of Skills that heal hp plus they have skills that reduce damage that hit by % hp by 30%. So all the fact combined, makes them even 7/5 in terms of defense. They can survive on bosses that has 1 hit kill skill.
Hayato have just gotten a nerf a month ago. Now their damage is 4/5. Their shimada heart is capped due to defense cap.
Edit: Keep in mind that switching to Bird and back to Cat/Bear is really quick and easy. Most people think, "Oh, I have to be Bird to use the mobility, but it has bad attacks, oh well, I guess it's bad." When in reality, I actually got someone to time how long it takes me to get from the bottom left of Horntail attacking its body with Bear, switch to Bird, jump up to the top right and switch back to Bear to attack its head. I got 1.20 seconds. Switching for mobility is NOT a crutch. You just gotta practice.
Great Guide this should be sticky'd/pinned !!!
sadly i end up picking classes in the 'pirates' group too much, and you don't have that yet....