MapleStory/Bowman



The path of the Archer is probably one of the more difficult in MapleStory. Bows are faster than crossbows, but they also do less damage. At their second job, archers have two options, Hunter or Crossbowman, and will proceed on to Ranger and Sniper respectively. The general perception of archers is somewhat biased however, so do not expect to be tops in line for a place in a training party for example.


 * Pros:
 * Flashy Skills mainly in the Ranger/Sniper stage.
 * Has the highest accuracy in the game
 * Gets soul arrow in 2nd job, allowing space saving for more pots.
 * Handles normal mobs pretty well(Puppet, hawk, Blizzard for Snipers)
 * Good mobbing skills.
 * Far ranged.
 * Confirmed as the most effective 4th job.
 * Can hit as high as warrior with double shot very early on.
 * Highest armor of all ranged classes.
 * Cons:
 * Low health, getting 2-hit-killed by monsters at high levels
 * Confirmed as the least popular of all the classes
 * Low damage largely due to weak damage formula
 * Very unstable damage until mastery in 2nd job
 * Elemental advantage is screwed at higher levels, not much fire weak mobs to train on
 * Biased view towards archers from other classes, other classes will be chosen over bowmen any time at anywhere at lower levels
 * Gets ksed easily until 2nd job

Starting Out
As an archer, the main stats used are Dexterity (DEX) and Strength (STR). Luck and Int, are worthless to archers, so to be one it is ideal to keep them as low as possible. This means that when rolling stat dice in the beginning, the optimum stats for an archer are any amount of Str, any amount of Dex, and 4 luck, 4 int. Once these stats have been acquired, begin picking equipment. It really doesn’t matter what is chosen, as it will all be replaced in the near future anyway. After checking the name, hit OK and get started.

Maple Island
Like every class, beginning Archers start out on Maple Island, in front of the Training Camp. There are a number of quests to do that serve to orient first time players to the game. Be warned, however, that once the Training Camp is left, it cannot be returned to. After leaving the starting area, players are given free roam on the island. The strongest monster is Orange Mushroom, which can be hazardous. Fortunately, beginners don’t lose EXP when they die. To do some quests, try traveling to Amherst, where simple quests can be fulfilled to get items. Some must-do quests include:
 * Pio and the Recycling (relaxer chair)
 * Please Deliver a Letter to Lucas (hat)
 * Rain’s Maple Quiz (easy EXP)
 * The Elder's Introduction (Mai gives you best Maple Island weapon)

In addition, it is advisable not to use potions on Maple Island, as there is no penalty for dying. If health is needed, try finding a safe place to sit down and wait a few seconds to recover. Stay on Maple Island until level 10, as it provides a comfortable and relatively secure training environment. If that’s not up to personal preference, Maple Island can be left at any time by Shanks in Southperry, with 150 mesos. Keep in mind that once on Victoria Island, it is impossible to return (Except in ChinaMS), so any quests will remain permanently unfinished.

Victoria Island
The first step to being an Archer is already complete! Now that the prospective archer is on Victoria Island, or Vic for short, it’s time to head to the Job Instructor. For Archers, that’s Athena Pierce, in Henesys. The best way to get to Henesys is via the taxi. In Lith Harbor, the taxi is run by a man in a booth, near the ship.


 * In order to promote to first job, the character in question must be at least level 10. It is recommended, however, that the advancement be made while still on level 10, as crucial skill points will be lost otherwise. If the future archer left before level 10, get there immediately. After reaching level 10, find Athena Pierce in the town of Henesys (the one at the bottom of the world map). She lives in a tree on the far right of Mushroom Park (also called Henesys Park).

After advancing to archer, the max HP and MP will nearly double. Also, it’s finally time to equip a bow! The potion shop of any town sells arrows at 1 meso each, or they can be found from monsters for free. Vicious, the Henesys item maker can also make them for free with Processed wood and Stiff Feathers. Unfortunately, a level 10 archer doesn’t have enough dex to do decent damage with a bow. It’s advisable for starters to continue using melee weapons until at least level 15. These can be found from monsters or bought from the Weapon stores in each town. The best melee weapons are from Perion, at the top of the world map. Buy a 2-handed Axe or a wooden sword for 3k meso (each k = 1000 meso). Both STR and dex raise an archer’s damage, so don’t be afraid to pump it a little, though it’s not advisable to raise it above 30 (for now). Dex is better for bows and STR is better for melee weapons. STR affects the minimum damage range of a bow, but only very slightly, and at low levels almost unnoticeably. To use bows, a certain amount of strength is required. This STR requirement is equal to the level requirement plus five. For example, the level 25 bow will require 30 STR. Once the STR requirement for the current weapon is met, put the rest of the Ability Points (AP) into Dex. Below level 30, an archer can switch back and forth between bows and crossbows at will, which is a good idea, as it allows them to pick a preference.

If unsure, see the Builds page to see what skills to do. The most important skill at first is Eye of the Amazon, as it increases the range of arrows.

First Job Tips

 * 1) Melee weapons are best up to level 18/20, and then switch to a level 18 crossbow or level 20 bow. Funded characters won’t need to do this.
 * 2) Always keep a melee weapon handy to return to town with in case of an emergency, when out of arrows.
 * 3) For unfunded archers, it is best to do Critical Shot first, and then Double Shot. Critical shot activates with all bow attacks, and costs no MP. Double Shot, at low levels, can be quite a drain on funds due to MP costs and the consumption of twice as many arrows.
 * 4) For unfunded characters to build up money, and for funded ones to add to their supply, once reaching level 21, consider trying out Kerning Party Quest. It can reward scrolls, which will be a great aid when sold for large amounts of mesos.
 * 5) It is much cheaper to create arrows in Henesys, using 1 processed wood and 1 stiff feather. Talk to Vicious (found in Henesys Market left of the potion and weapons shop) when 1 stiff feather and either 10 branches or 5 firewood has been collected. He can then turn the branches or firewood into processed wood. Pi from Ludibrium and Vogen from El Nath can create arrows using the same materials as Vicious. Additionally, they can create bronze and steel arrows.  Bronze Arrows require 1 Bronze Plate (refine 10 Bronze Ore through Mr. Thunder, Chris, or various others), 10 Stiff Feathers, and 3 Processed Wood.  Steel Arrows, on the other hand, require 1 Steel Plate, 15 Soft Feathers, and 5 Processed Wood. In Zipangu, particularly Showa Town, Red arrows which add 4 attack are sold. Soul arrow will be available once you make the 2nd job advancement, so rest be assured, you will not have to keep this up for long.

The Second Job Advancement
Upon reaching level 30, return to Henesys. Talk to Athena Pierce, and she’ll send you off to the Second Job Instructor, who is located outside of Henesys on the path to Sleepywood. She will send you to an ant tunnel type setting, where weakened Evil eyes and strengthened Zombie Mushrooms roam. It’s advisable to bring a number of potions, as this can take a while depending on luck. Three Arrow Blows or Double Shots per monster should do the trick. There are a fixed number of monsters on this map, so bring a melee weapon in case they respawn in an inconvenient location. The goal is to collect 30 Dark Marbles. If the test taker leaves the arena, either by changing channels or talking to the Instructor, all marbles are lost and the test must be restarted. Once these marbles are collected (a fairly simple task), talk to the Job instructor again. She will give you a medal and return you to the normal world. Take the medal to Athena, and be sure to know the second job to choose. She will ask whether the successful Archer wants to become a Hunter, who specializes in Bows, or a Crossbowman, whose name is self-explanatory. Choose the appropriate job, and be prepared to get another big boost in power. Go ahead and have some fun by putting the first point into Arrow Bomb or Iron Arrow.

Second Job Tips

 * 1) To train quickly, never use a normal attack; ALWAYS use Double Shot. To keep up the pace, keep plenty of mana potions on hand. Remember, this is only practical after level 30 or so, although Funded characters can do that at lower levels as well.
 * 2) Only use arrow bomb or iron arrow for mob controls! Both of them are cool to use, but it wastes too much mp and are specifically used to train on mobs.
 * 3) Use soul arrow as often as possible, this way you can save money and not buy any arrows! But always keep about 2000 arrows just in case.
 * 4) Try to stay a good distance away from enemies. Bow whacking is fun, but it doesn't do much damage and in most situations is very ineffective. Power Knockback is a better option, if it is necessary. It can be an extremely useful skill, once mastered.
 * 5) Use warrior potions/pills and speed potions/pills to increase training speed when they’re affordable.
 * 6) Do not create a Glove! One can get a level 20 glove Blue Diros and level 35 Gold Scaler glove from quests. Gloves are expensive to craft, and there is little to no benefit in making them, as they do not raise defense very much.  However, consider upgrading to the Green Diros once the funds are available. All it takes to upgrade is the level 20 glove, a little cash and two refined emeralds. This gives a +2 dex boost, which is nice at level 20. This is the glove of choice for 15 more levels. Everything else is entirely inefficient.
 * 7) Do not create Boots! There are only two shoes that the average player needs: snowshoes and whitebottoms. Other shoes can be acquired from quests, if wanted. Speed is one of the more important stats for an archer, as it allows for escape from enemies faster. Snowshoes give traction in El Nath, as well as 7 slots as opposed to the 5 slots of normal shoes. Whitebottoms give speed everywhere else. It can be suggested that you keep whitebottom shoes for quite a while, and then scroll snowshoes for speed when it’s in the budget.  If Shoes that increase stats are preferred, simply use those that can be found or gained from quests. Another option is scrolling Snowshoes with 60% Shoe Jump, which adds one point of dex. These scrolls are fairly expensive, however.
 * 8) If a Hunter, then STR should be 5 more than level, with everything else in DEX; For Crossbowmen-to-be, STR only needs to be equal to their level, with everything else in DEX. NEVER PUT AP INTO HP, MP, INT OR LUK.  At level 30 (and assuming  perfect LUK and INT), a Hunter should have 35 STR and 127 DEX, and a Crossbowman should have 30 STR and 132 DEX. The best AP Distribution (for hunters) is as follows:

Third Job advancement
The third job advancement is one of the most important in the game, but for different reasons. For the first and second job advancements, choices are made as to which weapons the character will specialize in. This is the first time that the advancement provides no choices. On the other hand, the Third Job advancement is the first major boost in power. The skills are far more powerful than any previous job, and the test harder. This advancement is made at level 70 in El Nath. After leveling to 70, go to El Nath, and find the building on the main map called "El Nath: Chief's Residence". Talk to Rene, who is holding a bow behind her back. She will send the prospective Ranger or Sniper to Victoria Island to talk to Athena Pierce, the always helpful Archer leader. She will send the ranger- or sniper-to-be to find a secret map called "the Path of Glittering Crystal" located in another dimension to fight her evil clone. To get there, find the Door of Dimension in Sleepy Dungeon, map five. (Note: This is NOT the portal in the Ant Tunnel Park. That is for warriors.) After being warped in, proceed down the path until arriving at "The Other Dimension". Here, Athena Pierce's dark clone is located. She will summon Tauromaci, so be careful. She uses a one arrow Strafe attack which can be fairly dangerous, however she possesses no moves that can kill an Archer in one hit, so pay attention and be diligent and the fight will be easy. When defeated, Athena will drop a Black Charm. Take this to the REAL Athena Pierce to receive the Necklace of Strength. Now, return to El Nath with the Necklace. Give it to Rene upon arrival, and she will send the almost-Ranger or -Sniper on to the second part of the test. To do this, a complete Dark Crystal is needed. These can be refined by Pi of Ludibrium. Now, walk up to Sharp Cliff II, and find a door hidden on the right side of the map, near the top. Go through it to enter the Holy Grounds at the Snowfield. Walk down to the bottom and talk to the Crystal NPC. It will ask a series of questions. If any are missed, it will take the Dark Crystal and the quiz will have to be restarted. After the fifth question, a Necklace of Wisdom will be awarded. Take this back to Rene (Note: Return to Town scrolls cannot be used in the Holy Grounds map.) The third job advancement is now complete! Enjoy the powers of the Ranger, for hunters, and Snipers, for Crossbowmen. Remember to spend your 5 AP and 1 SP.

Third Job Tips

 * There are a number of builds used in Third Job for Rangers. Some advocate the use of Thrust, which adds Speed passively; Others focus on mobbing skills, like Inferno. The third build advocates max Mortal Blow.
 * low level strafe poses some issues. Its maximum damage is much greater than the potential max for Double Shot, but its minimum is equally lower. Some advocate putting strafe on hold until about level 3 to 5. A better choice for those playing for pure entertainment is to go ahead and use it, as first getting Strafe can be one of the most enjoyable points in an Archer's career.
 * Puppet is a Ranger's best friend. It can be used to distract monsters that the player has aggravated. By placing it out of range of the monster's magic attacks, the monsters are rendered helpless. Puppet isn't as needed for snipers since they can merely freeze opponents.
 * BEWARE: After the Third Job Advancement, the monsters that will be trained on are FAR more powerful. Get ready to enter training methods where the monster can kill an archer in two hits.
 * If you haven't bothered to get a glove scrolled for Weapon Attack or any other direct damage boosting equips, do so ASAP.

Where to Train
This table is not an end-all-be-all guide for where to train, and depending on how you build your archer, some of these places may not be good for you to level at all. For example, Fire Boars or Jr. Kitties at level 46 is much more effective for someone who has Bomb or Iron Arrow early but doesn't work for someone who is getting Final Attack at that time. Final Attack archers can take on golems earlier than archers who don't have FA, and so forth.

Notes: After level 55, you should be able to figure out which training spots are good and which are bad. You can truly go nearly anywhere now, especially now that you are able to enter the level 50-only area in Ossyria. Coolie Zombies are generally the best leveling spot from level 55 till level 80 or so, so give them a try.
 * Take Note that some monsters are only available for MapleSEA and Vice Versa.
 * Despite the many efficient enemies to train on from level 45 to 50, this is considered the "Archer hell" period. The least amount of experience percentage per hour will be gained during this time. Don't get discouraged.
 * The fastest EXP gain is Lunar/Luster Pixies for bowman & crossbowman from 50 to 57. It is highly recommended if you go out and get a speed cape/shoes/bone helm or use speed potions. They seem like a waste of money, but the increase in EXP gained per hour is significant.
 * Pig Beach is the best spot to find pigs. However, they spawn fast and can be difficult for an archer to achieve minimum firing distance.

Jump Shot
This is a relatively simple trick that is hard to master, but it is easy with a good keyboard. There are 3 kinds of jump shots, forward jump shots, back jump shots, and stationary jump shots. While in practice, there is little to no reason to do a jump shot, it is necessary when fighting some bosses as you avoid getting hit entirely. For example, jump shooting against a Yeti will prevent earthquake damage and back jump shooting against Jr. Balrog will take you outside of his range of fire.

Stationary jump shots are the easiest. Just hit shoot and jump at the same time. Some keyboards won't allow you to do this unfortunately, but the majority of keyboards will allow you to do it if the buttons are on different rows and columns. For example, if your attack button is on S and your jump button is on D.

Forward jump shots are the next easiest. While walking forward, do a jump shot.

Back jump shots are the hardest, and most people cannot do them consistently. Basically, while walking forward, jump, hit back, and shoot at the same time. Again, some keyboards simply don't allow this as they only allow one button to be hit at once. Additionally, this is not possible to do with snowshoes because you have to do this while you are "sliding". Go to El Nath to practice, slide forward, jump back and shoot all at once to see the effect. Snowshoes, prevent back shooting from working because snowshoes stop ALL sliding, note that even when you are not in El nath you still slide VERY minimally making back shooting possible and snowshoes prevent back shooting because snowshoes prevent ALL sliding.

Hunter or Crossbowman?
This is a classic example of speed vs. power. While Hunters have a higher damage/minute output in early levels, Crossbowmen catch up quickly in 2nd job. This is unfortunate as it gives a bad example of the strength of Crossbows in the first 30 levels; where the damage difference is minuscule and the speed difference is massive.

In second job however, Crossbows and Bows get the skill "booster" that levels the playing field in terms of speed. While hunters are still faster than Crossbows, it is less noticeable with booster on. (With no booster, the speed difference is 10%, with booster on the speed difference is only 6%). The damage difference does just the opposite, the higher level you are, the bigger the difference is between the classes. Crossbows just get stronger and stronger than Hunters.

Frankly, both the speed difference and strength difference is minuscule compared to the different skills in 2nd job. Hunters get Arrow Bomb, a weaker attack that can cause up to 6 enemies to get stunned. Crossbows get Iron Arrow, a stronger attack that does not "home" on enemies but can go through walls.

The true difference between the classes is simply the Arrow Bomb vs. Iron Arrow debate. The skills are similar; they both hit up to 6 enemies and both cost a lot of mana, however Iron Arrow is a bit cheaper. This is where the similarities end; Iron Arrow gets weaker as it progressively hits enemies, while Bomb gets stronger after it hits an initial enemy. This means Iron Arrow is most definitely going to be stronger on small mobs (3 or 4) and Bomb will be better on larger mobs (6 at a time). However, Iron Arrow is more powerful than bomb in all circumstances.

Please note that since Arrow Bomb does not pierce through enemies, it will do area damage (and perhaps stun) around the first monster it hits. Therefore, a group of six monsters can be easily hit by Iron Arrow; however, the same group must be very close to be affected by Arrow Bomb. It must also be noted, Iron Arrow's strengths are also its weaknesses; Arrow bomb has the ability to shoot upward or downward at a slight angle. This ability is useful in ranged combat from a safe spot.

Arrow Bomb has a stun ability, which makes up for its relative weakness. When maxed, Bomb Arrow has a 60% chance to stun an enemy, for each enemy. Admittedly, it doesn't seem like a "flat" 60% chance, weaker enemies tend to get stunned more often than the stronger enemies, and bosses never get stunned.

Arrow Bomb has reduced impact damage. The monster that is actually struck with the arrow takes less damage, 50% at max. Also, a critical with Bomb does double damage, as opposed to a critical with other skills, where it merely adds 100%. This is a great advantage, as a monster hit by splash damage that criticals will take 260% damage, where as if it had worked normally it would only do 230% damage.

In 3rd job, the tables are reversed. Crossbows get Ice Shot, which freezes foes for up to 3 seconds as long as they aren't ice-resistant; however, it does not receive critical attacks. Hunters get Fire Shot, which is stronger and does receive criticals. In essence, however, the difference between these two bowmen can be summed up like this: Hunters are speedy, and Crossbows are powerful.

Stat comparisons: 20 Dex on a Crossbow =21 Dex on a Bow. Similarly, 20 Weapon Attack on an Crossbow== 21 Weapon Attack on a Bow. This basically means that if you are a hunter with 42 dex, you will do the same damage per shot as an Crossbow with 40 Dex. Or if you are a hunter with 210 dex, you will do the same damage per shot as a Crossbowman with 200 dex. Bows have a Dex * 3.4 multiplier, whereas Crossbows have a Dex * 3.6 multiplier. Everything else stays exactly the same. For that same reason, the same amount of Weapon Attack has a higher net impact on a Bow in terms of unit output, while Dexterity has a higher net impact on a Crossbow in terms of unit output. Similarly, due to weapon requirements, Bow users will overall have 5 more Strength and 5 less Dexterity than Crossbow users, and Crossbow users will overall have 5 more Dexterity and 5 less Strength. Weapon Attack's impact overtime generates an increasing proportional rate to statistics such as Dexterity and Strength. Diminishing returns currently do not seem apparent.

It must be clearly understood that Arrow Bomb and Iron Arrow are not buddy skills, and similarly, Ice Shot and Fire Shot are not buddy skills. The Ranger's damage dealing skill is Fire Shot while the Sniper's is Iron Arrow. The Ranger's disabling skill is Arrow Bomb while the Sniper's is Ice Shot.

Comparing Ice Shot with Arrow Bomb, their damage is relatively similar. Ice Shot has a flat damage rate of 140%. Arrow Bomb has a rating of 130%, but subsequent mobs that get hit gets slightly higher damage. Arrow Bomb can also hit critical, making the average damage of Arrow Bomb 170%. Yet, due to the damage difference between Ranger and Sniper, these two skills do about the same damage. Ice Shot guarantees a freeze but Arrow Bomb only has a 60% chance. Yet, Ice Shot cannot be used on Ice type monsters.

Now, for Fire Shot against Iron Arrow. Fire Shot does 150%, with critical the average is 190%. Iron Arrow does 180%, with critical that is 220%. However, Iron Arrow damage reduces as it hits more targets. In any case, Iron Arrow deals more damage as the Sniper inherently deals more damage. However, unlike Ice Shot, the elemental advantage of Fire must be considered. Ice Shot is only meant for freezing; its damage is a bonus. Fire Shot only has one purpose, which is to damage. Therefore, Rangers can catch up on the lack of damage by attacking Ice type monsters.

One last point about these 4 skills is that when you first reach level 70, the Sniper can immediately learn Ice Shot for 100% damage and 1 second freeze. His Iron Arrow is already at level 30. This means that the Sniper can immediately take advantage of his Ice Shot and take out huge numbers of monsters. The Ranger, on the other hand, has to take 10 levels to max out Fire Shot.

In the 1st job advance period, Hunter's edge on speed is superior to Crossbow's edge on damage. You're not spamming skills, and more speed and less damage vs. more damage and less speed generally comes to an almost equal damage over time, so the versatility of higher speed is better (especially considering the level 25, 35, and 90 Bows have a FAST speed rating). However, if you're spamming skills, then Bows are not better than Crossbows (though, not worse off either), and it becomes solely a choice.

Boobies

Attack Speed Ladder
A common misconception is that bows and crossbows fire at different speeds even though they are both rated normal. This is probably because crossbows have a slight delay before they fire, making them slower in practicality but the same speed when standing still and firing. The delay for bows comes after the shot, like most attacks. Also, all archer attack skills are the same speed with the same weapon. That is to say, Strafe and Double Shot are the same speed.

Continue to Skills