MapleStory/Magician/Builds

Cookie Cutter Build
The path of the Mage starts at the Character Creation screen. The only parts you can customize with any real game-play importance are the four stats: STR, DEX, INT, and LUK.

STR and DEX should be as low as possible, prefferably a 4 in each, though up to dual 5 or 6/4 is acceptable. INT and LUK are the main stats for the Mage, and as long as STR and DEX is 4/4, it doesn't matter what INT and LUK are.

INT is the Mage's main damage stat, as it determines the character's Magic Attack. Also, it increases the Magic Defense of the character as well. LUK is only used for the Mage as a requirement to wear most Mage-specific equipment, with the usual requirement of LUK being 3 points above the equipment's level.

Level 10 -> 13 LUK

Level 33 -> 36 LUK

Level 50 -> 53 LUK

And so on.

If LUK is being kept at a desired level, all points should be placed in INT, as the other stats do not help Magicians AT ALL!

No LuK Build
•Note from a player: For this build, it is recommended that you try and have this:

STR: 4 DEX: 4 INT: 12/13 LUK: 4/5

However impossible looking, yes, this is possible, the 4 4 5 roll notoriously rare, and the 4 4 4 roll even rarer still. Don't settle for anything higher than a 5 5 5 or equivalent.

The build, it you may notice, may remind you of the "Fabled No Dex" build. This is however, only a certain type of LuK Build. Another LUK build is when you up your LUK till a certain point, and continue with only INT after that level. The reccomended Levels (asisde for getting perfect beginning rolls)

Level 8 Level 13 Level 18 Level 23 Level 28 Level 33

Note: If you reach this point and you're still adding LUK, then I suggest you keep going. I personally stopped at 18, the 2nd equipment with a + on it I believe. Basicaly, the only reason I stopped at this level, was because I took a liking to the 2 part equipment :P

First Job Skill Build
The following skill build is recommended from the Magician's start, level by level. This is the most commonly used build.

8: Energy Bolt (1)

9: 3x Improving MP Recovery (3)

10: 2x Improving MP Recovery (5), Improving Max MP Increase (1)

11: 3x Improving Max MP Increase (4)

12: 3x Improving Max MP Increase (7)

13: 3x Improving Max MP Increase (10 MAXED)

14: 3x Improving MP Recovery (8)

15: 3x Improving MP Recovery (11)

16: 3x Improving MP Recovery (14)

17: 2x Improving MP Recovery (16 MAXED), Magic Claw (1)

18-23: 3x Magic Claw

24: 1x Magic Claw (MAXED); Magic Guard (2)

25-30: Magic Guard (MAXED, as if it was a surprise)

With this build, Improving MP Recovery can be replaced by Magic Claw, if you can afford the potion cost. Leveling will be painful drudgery otherwise.

Regal Star/MajesticMystic's alternative non-perfectionist build:


 * 8: Energy Bolt (1)
 * 9-12: Magic Claw (10)
 * 12-13: Improved MP Recovery (5)
 * 14-17: Improved MP Increase (10)
 * 17-20: Improved MP Recovery (11) [MAX]
 * 21-23: Magic Claw (9)
 * 24-30: Magic Claw (1) [MAX], Magic Guard (20) [MAX]

As you can see, this build does not max Improved MP Increase ASAP, so you will lose some max MP in the long run. However, let's face it... 1HKOing slimes and earning enough money for potions and equipment beats 1HKOing snails and conserving MP any day, and this build allows you to do it sooner. The less max MP is less noticable too, as it will make you miss out on, oh, about 30-50 MaxMP, and that's nothing when you're working with 2500s at level 50 or so.

Note from a player: I recommend not to use the non-perfectionist build, as you may regret it terribly and have to start over. Maxing 'Max MP Increase' is a must, and you must do it as soon as possible. In the end, after level 30, you will have the exact same skill levels, only one mage will have much more MP than the other one. - Mach1Sloth, Scania Magician/SlickSinner (Sin)

Second Suggestion: ~And a whole lot less ofensive to level up. It is better to level up Max MP while you keep putting 1 point on claw. Usually its best to put up to 6 or 7 points in Regen then work on Max MP with magic Claw otherwise leveling up will be slow.

Common Myths
Myth: Energy Bolt is Better than Magic Claw

Energy bolt attacks only once, while Magic Claw attacks twice. Magic Claw can also go through walls, while Energy Bolt can't. Energy Bolt is slower each cast compared to Magic Claw. There are reasons for those that choose the Magic Claw path, and the Energy Bolt path. Magic claw is stronger, but takes more mp. Energy Bolt is weaker, but takes up less mp to use. Magic claw is recommended over energy bolt.

~Just to note, Energy Bolt now has 80 base damage. Claw has 40 (x2) so Energy Bolt is no longer technically weaker (tho Bolt is still slow, and gets blocked by ramps etc...)


 * Incorrect, Energy Bolt still has a 55 max base power. -EMP Demon

~Also with magic bolt you can knock back bigger monsters later at an earlier level giving you a slight advantage sence you wont be getting hit, Claw deals more damage total but not per hit wise, so depending on how far you are planing on going could determine wich is better.


 * There are only a few monsters below level 40 with a KB value of greater than 1 (Bubbling(30), Jr Necki(50), Fairy (300), Jr Wraith(50), Star Pixie (100), Jr Boogie (500), Jr Pepe (1000), Zombie Lupin (100), King Slime (300)). Considering that by level 40 you will have another attack skill to replace use of your 1st job attack skill (and you shouldn't really hunt anything above level 30 before you're level 40 anyways), as well as the fact that you should be able to deal enough damage with claw to KB anyways for most of them (Fairy and Boogie doesn't count -_-"), Energy's knock back aspect is kinda moot.

Myth: Magic Armor is better than Magic Guard

Many people make this mistake. At lower levels, when most people's MP regeneration rate is low, and when they have low maxMP, magic guard tend to drain their MP very quickly. However, all exprienced players will know that magic guard is very helpful when one has reached a certain level. Magic Guard is prefered, because of all the higher level monsters that are out there. While Magic Guard can protect you to up to 80% damage from magic attack or weapon attack, Magic Armor cannot. All Magic Armor does is give you a certain amount of defense against weapon attack. Overall, Magic Guard is recommended.

~Just a thought: Although Magic Guard diverts up to 80% of taken damage to your MP instead of HP this will cause a problem for the MP as the magician becomes levels 30-40. During this time their hp is high enough to sustain attacks but the MP guard constantly "drains" MP, making many mages turn to SP reset (1st job) or abandoning the skill completely. Be wary of how much you put into Magic Guard, and it is advisable not to max it if you believe the above situation may apply to you. (But you don't HAVE to turn it on in these circumstances that would be dumb sence mp cost x2 more then hp)

~On high levels you NEED magic guard to survive. There's nothing else in job 1 worth putting the points into and job two has too many things worth considering for your points. Between MP recovery, common sense and MP Eater when you get it any mage should be fine with the 30 to 40 levels. Just stick to green mushrooms and horned mushrooms until level 35, then ice mages can go 1 hit fire boars and fire can go to kitties etc... which are money monsters and all. If you really worry that much just get MP Eater second.

~Additional note: At higher levels, monsters like Crimson Barlog can kill you in one hit if you don't have magic guard on. Barlog can hit you 1k of damage and there isn't a lot of mages out there who can take 1k of damage to their HP. At later levels, magic armor will only reduce 20 damage done to you, give or take the damage. It won't save you from a Barlog attack.

~ Special Tip ~

For fire/poison mages who do not want to put any points to poison brace, you could try putting you extra points in the second job into magic armor. (You will have 11 points left after maxing Fire arrow, Meditation, MP Eater, Teleport and Slow.) Although 40 weapon defence (what M armor will add to your defence when maxed) it not much, but it is still worth putting points into compared to poisin brace, which is next to useless compared to poison myst. (Note: Just a tip) :)

Cleric
This is one of the best builds you can have as being a cleric who plans on making it to the third job and above. You will put 1 point into teleport, Max Heal, Max MP Eater, Max Invincible, Max Bless, then Max Telport. You can always switch Bless, Invincible, and Telport. You will put the last 11 points into Holy Arrow. The reason that you should NOT get Holy Arrow is because your main attack will be Heal and Shining Ray will replace Holy Arrow.
 * 1 Teleport
 * Max Heal
 * Max MP Eater
 * Max Invincible or Bless
 * Max Bless or Invincible
 * Max Telport
 * 11 Holy Arrow

For those who will always have a good party to level with there is this build where bless is maxed first, then heal. MP Eater and Invincible aren't raised 'til later since they only help the cleric without increasing the killing power for the rest of the party. This may cause a problem because you will be using more HP pots than the average cleric who will max Heal first.
 * Teleport or MP Eater 1
 * MP Eater or Teleport 1
 * Heal 5
 * Invincible 5
 * Bless 20
 * Heal 30
 * MP Eater 20
 * Invincible 20

Heal at level 15 is still quite strong, so if you also want to be able to kill anything with your party, you will need an attack, so spending some points in Holy Arrow early can be beneficial. This may not be a good build for a player who actually plans on making it to the third job. Once you're at the third job, you will be using heal A LOT for attacking, and your Shining Ray will replace Holy Arrow.
 * Teleport or MP Eater 1
 * MP Eater or Teleport 1
 * Heal 5
 * Invincible 5
 * Bless 20
 * Heal 15
 * Holy Arrow 30
 * MP Eater 20

Without a party, you will need to be able to attack. These builds are based around going either Heal or Holy Arrow as your main skill. Holy Arrow Build
 * Teleport or MP Eater 1
 * MP Eater or Teleport 1
 * Heal 1
 * Holy Arrow 30
 * Heal 15
 * MP Eater 20
 * Heal 30 (Max)
 * Invincible 10

The heal build is much easier and cheapest since you will never require regular healing potions, and once you get MP eater maxed, you will barely even need to use mana pots. Heal Build
 * Teleport or MP Eater 1
 * MP Eater or Teleport 1
 * Heal 30
 * MP Eater 20
 * Holy Arrow 30
 * Invincible 10

There are 30 points left over after any of these builds to finish of some of your skills. Invincible is a very good skill to max, since it will reduce 30% of the damage taken once it is maxed. However as a cleric, you will heal any damage you take simply by healing making it almost useless at low levels. However at higher levels when enemies do 1500+ damage, while you have less than 1000, this will save you a lot of money on mana potions when you get hit with Magic Guard activated. There are many debates about whether to get Holy Arrow, Bless, or Teleport. Teleport is good since you can get around the screen much more easily, however mp cost is the only thing that decreases as you add more SP. Holy Arrow is good against enemies weak to Holy attacks, however once you get to level 70, it will be replaced by Shining Ray anyway making it useless. And its base damage is hardly higher than Magic Claw. Bless, Magic Armor is a skill which adds a certain amount to various skill rather than a percentage. This becomes less and less useful as your level increases. The choice in this skill really comes down to personal preference.

Here is another contributed build:
 * Lvl 30- Add on 1 heal or Teleport.
 * Lvl 31-40- Max heal in those lvls(on every lvl only add on heal if you added heal at lvl you'll have an extra point, add on tele, you will need it)
 * Lvl 41- 3 Mp eater
 * Lvl 41-51- Max Holy Arrow
 * Lvl 51- Add 3 Invinvble
 * Lvl 52- Add 2 Invincble, 1 Bless
 * Lvl 53-59 Max bless till lvl 19
 * Lvl 60- 1 Bless
 * After that Max TelePort or Invinble your coice, if you want max mp eater.

Essentially all builds sacrifice at least one skill since Clerics are short 19 points to max all skills. This build sacrifices 17 points in MP eater so that both holy arrow and heal can be maxed.

[Note from a Cleric]: Also, maxing Holy Arrow may not be the thing to do because it not only does only a tiny fraction more than Magic Claw compared to Fire/Poison or Ice/Lightning Wizards' main attacks, but also because on your third job change, you get a skill that is much better than holy arrow, making it useless. I would recommend only putting around 10 or 11 points into Holy Arrow, if any, because of those reasons. If you want to do really good damage compared to Magic Claw, Cleric probably is not the best choice for you. =)

[Comment & Opinion]: MP Eater is an extremely useful skill when you are training on undead monsters such as Zombie Lupins or Platoon Chronos. The reason is that you won't waste alot of mesos on pots, therefore making you richer to buy good/godly scrolled items. For example, at level 50 I can train my cleric on platoons or zombie lupins and I would use no mp pots at all unless I decide to spam teleport. Also, Invincible is useful at higher levels when clerics/priest party train. Like when I partied trained at Yeti & Pepe, the damage without invicible ranged around 1000 (more or less depending on equips, but around that area). However, with invincible the damage is around 700. Which makes a difference seeing how high level priest train on things like grims. Or when you are party training at Bains or Yeti & Pepes or any other high leveled monsters. Teleport is good to max since it will help you train faster and for it to consume less mp. The distance only matters for teleporting up and down, but for teleporting left and right it makes no significant difference. Just think of it this way, if you had a friend who didn't max out teleport (130 distance) and tele with you. After about 6-7 teles, you would have been 1 tele ahead of your friend.

Bless and Holy Arrow are pretty sucky skills for a Cleric. However, you must max out one of the skills. So the debate among Clerics is which skill sucks more. Bless will prove to be useful to Warriors when maxed and even more useful for fighting bosses. Holy Arrow is the primary attack for Clerics as the 80 MATK will be increased if fought on an undead monster. It all depends on whether you want to be a solo Cleric (pick Holy Arrow) or a party Cleric (pick Bless). Holy Arrow also has longer range than Shining Ray (third job Cleric skill) which will ease the killing of Jr. Balrog, Crimson Balrog, undead Ludibrium monsters, etc. The main usage of Bless is for the +20 ACC which helps every class except Mages.
 * Controversy between Bless and Holy Arrow

Arguments (Note: these arguments are not written from a neutral point of view and reflect the views of individual players.) ~Just a thought... Bless mainly adds the 20 evade. Thieves and bowmen don't need accuracy and nor do mages. So it's mostly about extra high evade which stacks nicely with the new capes. On the other hand though I found I would have gone quite mad without Holy Arrow... and seeing 1000 on Dark Stone Gollems was pretty kewl... I think practically speaking bless is much more useful but holy arrow will keep you from going mad stuck at undeads (or in parties whether you like the people or not) ~ Marl

Comment on Bless and Holy Arrow - Wrong, wrong and wrong again. Bless is one of the best defensive skills in the game. It adds 20 to every defense, accuracy and avoidability. Holy Arrow is nothing compared to it as it cannot go through walls and it doesn't mob. Bless is definatly more worth it. Holy Arrow is also a horrible spell because at level 11, Shining Ray has the same base attack and it mobs. Holy Arrow shouldn't be maxed, period.--SoullessFire 23:35, 17 March 2007 (CDT) SoullessFire


 * Why have evade when you got a cleric sitting next to you with heal? Practically speaking, the best use for Bless is the +20 accuracy, which allows low-dex warriors to replace their dex skill points with strength if they have a reliable cleric partner. Avoid saves money, but is neglagable compared to heal. Then again, Holy arrow is also considered a pretty bad skill, as in 3rd job you get Shining Ray which outdamages it and hits 6 enemies. Again, this is the argument of "Which is worse" and not "which is better".--Dragontamer 04:33, 29 March 2006 (UTC)

~Most people do want that 20 evade tho. The accuracy is still way up there but practically speaking NOBODY but warriors needs it. Thieves have all dex and luck anyway, and mages don't benifit. And archers are all dex XD But yeah... looking at it from the cleric's POV they may need that evade to not get killed. Holy Arrow on the other hand can make for a change of pace for the long frustrating levels from 30-70... 80 before shining ray is useful and ONLY if you get it first and not holy symbol. Also it has much better range than shining ray. Yes, bless makes it much, MUCH better for warriors. But consider the cleric too. They might not always be able to find people to party and heal, or might not want to. And all in all choosing to be a cleric is not saying 'I'm everyone's slave'. :) Oh, and Holy Arrow has a base of 80 now too. It's not great, but it's much better than claw (at least on dark things).

-Well, if you think about it--most Priests aren't going to be training with sins or archers, they're gonna be training with the people that get into the middle of a mob of Grims and need healing, right? So is HA really gonna help you that much when you're training with a DK at Phantom Watches? Also--Bless is like a Warrior magnet. =)

Ice/Lightning Wizard
You can decide to max either Cold Beam (commonly referred as ice) first or Thunder Bolt (commonly referred as lit or lightning) first. Ice first is recommended to most, although if you have money to burn and just want to train fast, by all means go for lit first. With regard of both choices in mind, your first attack will be labelled as your Primary Attack, and the other as Secondary Attack.

Build A - Maxing two attacks in quick succession


 * 1 Teleport (1)
 * 1 MP Eater (1)
 * 30 Primary Attack (30) [Save SP at skill level 15 until you have 11 SP to spend]
 * 2 MP Eater (3)
 * 30 Secondary Attack (30) [Again, save SP at skill level 15]
 * 20 Meditation (20)
 * 19 Teleport (20)
 * 17 MP Eater (20)
 * 1 Energy Bolt/Slow/Whatever (1)

Build B - Maxing meditation after one attack


 * 1 Teleport (1)
 * 1 MP Eater (1)
 * 30 Primary Attack (30) [Save SP at skill level 15 until you have 11 SP to spend at once]
 * 2 MP Eater (3)
 * 20 Meditation (20)
 * 30 Secondary Attack (30) [Again, save SP at skill level 15]
 * 19 Teleport (20)
 * 17 MP Eater (20)
 * 1 Energy Bolt/Slow/Whatever (1)

Build C - Maxing Teleport AND Meditation after one attack


 * 1 Teleport (1)
 * 1 MP Eater (1)
 * 30 Primary Attack (30) [Save SP at skill level 15 until you have 11 SP to spend at once]
 * 2 MP Eater (3)
 * 20 Meditation (20)
 * 19 Teleport (20)
 * 30 Secondary Attack (30) [Again, save SP at skill level 15]
 * 17 MP Eater (20)
 * 1 Energy Bolt/Slow/Whatever (1)

[Talon] Someone should probably explain why one should save 11SP to spend at once?

[ArkaneShade] ok so saving 11sp all at once no longer applies because in the old version the mp cost would not line up with the amount of points that you would put into a skill. i.e magic claw at level 10 would use 11 mp but magic claw at level 11 would use more mp (enough to make it not worth it to put in another skill point) so the most logical thing to do would be to save sp and use it all at once to make the attack/potency of the skill worth the mp cost. hope this helps your mapling talon!

[HappyViet] There are some people who feel they don't need teleport to be efficient. For those who are wondering, there are other builds that can work better in different situations.

[MajesticMystic] Teleport is almost essential to a lightning wizard. When you're training at say, Lorangs (or basically any map with crowded mobs - exactly the type of maps lightning wizards should train in), they are doing a lot of damage to you, and teleport allows you get in a good spot without getting hit on the way so you can start zapping away.

'''Third job is now available. This is a simple 3rd job skill build guide. Enjoy.'''

Skill Build


 * 30 Lightning Spear (30)
 * 11 Spell Booster (11)
 * 30 Elemental Amplification (30)
 * 30 Ice Strike (30)
 * 30 Magic Composition (30)
 * 20 Seal (20)
 * 2 Partial Resistance (2)


 * Choosing Thunder Spear or Composition first it totally preference, however training ground options are more open with a massive damage spell [ Thunder Spear, up to 8000 damage with amplification ]


 * MajesticMystic: I have to disagree with the above build. Personally, I think it might be better to max Ice Strike first so you can kill Bains earlier (recommended for level 85+). Thunder Spear lacks good training spot since 1)Ludi isn't out yet, and 2) Even with Ludi out, you're not about to kill Vikings on level 80. You can kill Zombies or Baffoons if you go for Ice Strike first, then eventually on Bains. My recommended build is:


 * 30 Ice Strike (30)
 * 11 Booster (11)
 * 30 Element Amp (30)
 * 30 Thunder Spear (30)
 * 30 Composition (30)
 * 20 Partial Resistance (20)

Let's face it, who the hell needs Seal when you can just freeze them solid?


 * Consider whether you should put points into Partial Resistance or not, after all, there aren't many monsters with such elemental attacks, and why would an Ice/Lightning be training on them in the first place?


 * Good point, I didn't realize that when I first wrote the build. In any case, Seal is probably better for everything but Zakum, while Partial Resistance is useful if you do Zakums all day (since you can't seal Zakum). Though, it's not like you're going to try to train on Grims or anything, and for Vikings IS freezes them solid anyways.

MajesticMystic's 3rd job build:

Alright, your first order would be to get an attack skill, get 4 points in Amp, and 11 in Booster. Thunder Spear is not suitable for your first attack skill, since there are no thunder-weak monsters between Clangs and Vikings. So...


 * 1 Ice Strike/Composition (1)
 * 3 Elemental Amplification (3)
 * 29 Ice Strike/Composition (29)
 * 1 Elemental Amplification (4)
 * 11 Magic Booster (11)

After that, max a second attack skill. If you went for Comp first, this will pretty much always be Ice Strike. If you went for IS first though, you can choose between TP or Comp. Personally I feel that TP is more useful since you'd be training on Vikings mainly anyways, unless you're a JMSer or KMSer (in which cases, go for Comp first). So...


 * 30 Thunder Spear/Ice Strike (30)

At this point, max either your final attack skill or amp in either order. IMHO, if you went for IS first, maxing Amp is probably the better option; if you went for Comp first though, you should max TP before Amp. So that makes:


 * Elemental Amplification (26)/Thunder Spear (30)
 * Thunder Spear (30)/Elemental Amplification (26)

Finally, get 1 in both Partial Resistance and Seal, then choose to max either.

Another suggested path is:


 * Put 5 points in Elemental Amplification
 * Put 11 points in Magic Booster
 * Max Thunder Spear (30)
 * Max Ice Strike (30)
 * Max Magic Booster (20)
 * Max Seal (20)
 * Max Elemental Amplification (30)
 * Max Partial Resistance (20)
 * Put 1 point in Magic Armor (2)

Fire/Poison Wizard
Considering Fire Arrow will be your primary attack, the skill build instead differs in whether to get Slow or to get Poison Brace (As an added note, if you max Slow you still has 11 points for Poison).

Build A - Max Slow


 * Teleport (1)
 * MP Eater (1)
 * Fire Arrow (30) [Save SP at level 15 Fire Arrow until you have 11 SP to spend]
 * MP Eater (2)
 * Meditation (20) [Again, save SP at level 10 Meditation]
 * Teleport (19)
 * Slow (20)
 * MP Eater (17)
 * Poison Brace (11)

Build B - Max Poison


 * Teleport (1)
 * MP Eater (1)
 * Fire Arrow (30) [Save SP at level 15 Fire Arrow until you have 11 SP to spend]
 * MP Eater (2)
 * Meditation (20) [Again, save SP at level 10 Meditation]
 * Poison (30) [Don't bother saving SP. You're not spamming it.]
 * Teleport (19)
 * MP Eater (17)
 * Energy Bolt/Slow/Whatever (1)

Alternate Fire/Poison Build
 * Fire Arrow (30)
 * Meditation (20)
 * Poison Breath (30)
 * MP Eater (20)
 * Teleport (11)
 * Slow (10)

This only represents the final look on the build. The way the person chooses to distribute the stats is up to him/her. However it is highly recommended Fire Arrow along with Meditation are top priority. A maxed Poison Breath can do around 347 to 578 damage (with roughly 35 luk and 175 m attack) plus if poisoned 70 hp or 1/40th hp whichever is higher. This can allow Fire Wizards to hunt fire creatures they normally would not be able too such as Fire Boars. Some creatures weak to poison also give good exp. This is an optional build and only recommended for advanced players.


 * Build C - Some Magic Armor


 * Lvl 30- Teleport (1)
 * Lvl 31-40- Fire Arrow (30)(Maxed)
 * Lvl 41- MP Eater (3)
 * Lvl 42-48- Meditate (20)(Maxed) Teleport (1) ///OR Poison Brace///


 * Poison is kinda fun to watch as you caneatch the monsters turn green and *bubbly. It is also quite boring to be using fire arrow until lvl 70. It is also *good if you know how to use poison effectively before using poison myst.


 * Lvl 49-54- Teleport (18)(Maxed)
 * Lvl 55-61- Magic Armor (20) Slow or Poison Brace (1)
 * Lvl 62-67- MP Eater (17) Slow or Poison Brace (1)
 * Lvl 68-70- Slow or Poison Brace (9)


 * Why Max M Armor? Well, it adds 40 weapon def. Although M guard is definately *better than it, 40 weapon def takes away around 40 damage. When you are dealt *high damage (by Boss e.g. Alishar, Mushmom, Jr Balrog, Crimson Balrog, Zakum)  *M guard will protect you from death by taking away hundred/thousand worth of *damage. However, when you are training, 40 damage is A LOT. You will be taking *a lot of hits. For example, when training at jr yeti, they damage around 120- *140 damage. M guard will take around 96-112 of the damage and you receive 24-28 *damage. With M armor, you can decrease the HP damage to 10-20 and the MP damage *to 60-80. In the long run, it will save u alot of hpp and mp pots.

Argument Correct, but then no one has enough precious skill points for that until level 120 where you don't need the skill points anymore because 4th job skills are gotten differently

=Anti-Builds= These are a collection of builds that look great on paper but don't work in practice.

HP Cleric
Instead of spending stat points in INT and LUK, wear a bathrobe, and put it all in HP. This way your heal will do tons of damage since it is based on your HP. Unfortunately this doesnt work since the damage you do to enemies is based on the level of your Heal regardless of your HP.

--Actually, testing has been done, and it turns out that Heal isn't percentage based as most people think. A 4/4 Strength Cleric will probably heal 4 HP with each cast of Heal, since the amount healed is apparently based upon M. Attack, like most other spells.

Well, you're partially correct. The percentage that reads on the skill box--you multiply that by your total HP, and divide it among all of your party members in range. However, when fighting monsters, damage is based purely on M.ATK. I have personally tested it--using a sword and my Lama Staff on Zombie Lupins... Oh, and just a hint of advice: dont try fighting Zombie Lupins with a sword. =P

STR Cleric
You may be thinking, Magicians have access to maces, so it should be a good idea to do a warrior-ish build, just adding enough INT to make the first advancement then doing a similar STR/DEX build to a warrior.

Unfortunately, there are a few problems wrong with this idea. First of all, a lack of mastery and weapon-based skills makes this build nearly as weak, if not weaker, than a perma-beginner. Even then, perma-beginners have access to the 200+ attack weapons (Not in Maple Global, but still...). Second, the few Magician/Cleric skills available won't nearly be enough to compensate for its weaknesses. Why?


 * As stated, with so little INT, Heal will heal very little amounts of HP and do very little damage.
 * Skills that aren't based on INT (Magic Guard/Armour, Bless, Invincible) still work, but they would anyway in a normal build.
 * Attack skills (Magic Claw, Holy Arrow) also do little damage, if any.

Third, Magic Guard will likely be the only thing saving you from death at stronger monsters; At least Warriors have their massive HP, Bandits a good amount of HP and (eventually) Meso Guard, and perma-beginners have no EXP loss on death.

As such, Perma-beginners will likely be better than a STR Cleric in most areas except partying... And the lack of Heal really hurts a STR Cleric in that regard anyway.