MapleStory/FAQs

This page contains a listing of some Frequently Asked Questions. If you have a question that is not answered anywhere else in this book, please add it to the relevant section here and you should receive a reply within a few days. Questions may be removed at the discretion of the authors and editors. (For example, price checks and questions that only pertain to a very small group of Maplers do not belong here.)

= New Questions = If you have a question, please ask it here. It will be answered as soon as possible.

Hotmail accounts are not being accepted to make new acc anymore, will this change?

They have fixed the error with hotmail, you can try resending to code now.

= General Questions =

What are the Minimum system requirements, and where can I find them?
The requirments for MapleStory can be found at the download page on Mapleglobal.com.

CPU: Celeron 500 MHz RAM: 64 MB HDD: 500 MB space needed OS: Windows 98/ME/2K/XP VGA: 3d acceleration card Sound: - Network: 56kbps MODEM Please note these are MININUM requirements not recomended

~Noted I originally started on 800Mhz and 64 MB RAM and... let's just say run double the reccommended speed and RAM if you don't want to disconnect between screens XD But yeah, it will run, just really badly...

Can I choose a another character without quit game and log in again?
No. You must go to "Quit Game" and then log in again to switch to another character.

What should I do about disconnections?
There are some areas in the game where hackers have actually been able to force anyone who logs in to immediately disconnect from the game. The Sauna area in Sleepywood is one known area for this*. The best way to escape the map in this situation is to cause as much lag on purpose; and then walk out of the portal while you are in the lag.

For example, start downloading 20 YouTube videos at once, or turn on BitTorrent at a max upload rate, or do both. Then hold down the quest button as you walk out of the Sauna. Another possible solution is to connect using an old modem, or a phone modem. You should disconnect one last time, and you'll be able to play again.

The Sleepywood Sauna is the only verified place to have this occur. There is no known solution for any other area in MapleStory.


 * A hacker by the name of [please fill in name here I forgot it] used a special sort of vac-hack to pull all the npc's in the game to that location, so when a user walked in, they disconnected, or d/c'ed. This hacker also did it in other areas, too. He announced what areas would be "disconnection hotspot". These places are usually small, and places that sold exclusive items like weapon shops.

~I've seen this done in Perion also. It's just not very common now... whoever was doing it must have gotten bored...

Another reason I often disconnect is generally slow power computer or moving between too many screens. Resetting when you crash helps clear the RAM so you won't disconnect again as soon.

Is MapleStory appropriate for young children?
MapleStory is a game suitable for all ages. However, the players may not be. There is a very strict "curse word filter" that blocks certain curse words, even if the curse word is seperated with a space. For example, the phrase "Bush italics" is blocked, even with the space in the middle (hint: look at the end of "Bush" and beginning of "italics").

Nonetheless, there are always the users bringing on immature jokes and trying to bypass the curse word filter; but that is to be expected in any community-based game.

There is no suggestive artwork; everything is done "Chibi-style" or Super Deformed, a popular anime/manga style in which characters are 3 heads tall and the overall style is very cute. There is no blood or gore; the violence level is equivalent to early Megaman games (enemies fall over and disappear). Death in the game is comical: a little ghost-shape replaces your avatar, and your chat bubble becomes a thought bubble.

There are no "surprises" in this game such as there are in Resident Evil.

In terms of difficulty, the base gameplay is easy enough for a 5-year-old to learn. However, some advanced stuff such as watching the market and trying to sell your ores at the correct price, or avoiding scammers who'll trick you into thinking an item is cheap when it is instead very rare, may be over the head for a child.

~Be warned users also swear, insult, harrass... there's quite a few who are only on Maple to harrass people for fun. The main problem with online games is, quite simply, the fact that you cannot control what the other people do. No amount of swear filtering stops people being racist, for example, and it does happen. But the game itself is very well built considering all that.

How do you save?
In most single-player games, you must save the game otherwise your progress will be lost. As this game is online, progress does not need to be saved. If you leave the game or get disconnected, you will be back in the same location(map that you were in) once you reconnect with all the stuff you found before you thought: "Holy stuff i forgot to save!"

What are these different versions of MapleStory?
MapleStory is different in different parts of the world. Therefore, each of the versions are given a name based on where they are.
 * Official MapleStory South Korea [KoreaMS/kMS] (in Korean)
 * Official MapleStory Japan [JapanMS/jMS] (in Japanese)
 * Official MapleStory China [ChinaMS/cMS] (in Simplified Chinese)
 * Official MapleStory Taiwan [TaiwanMS/twMS] (in Traditional Chinese)
 * Official MapleStory Thailand [ThailandMS/thMS] (in Thai)
 * Official MapleStory Global [GlobalMS/gMS] (in English)
 * Official MapleStory South East Asia/SEA for Singapore, Malaysia and Thailand [MapleSEA/MSEA] (in English)
 * Closed-Beta MapleStory Europe (in multilanguage eg. Dutch, English, French, etc. European languages only however)
 * Tester/Beta MapleStory Global [GlobalMS Tespia] Closed - East Gateway June 2005, West Gateway 16 November 2005
 * Tester MapleStory South Korea [KoreaMS Tespia]

Thailand residents can play both MapleStory SEA and MapleStory Thailand.

How do I access the MapleStory website without using Internet Explorer?
The MapleStory Global website checks to see if the browser you are using is Internet Explorer or not. If it isn't, it will block you from accessing the website. This check is done using Javascript, so to access the website you need to disable Javascript. You will need to reenable Javascript once you are done to continue browsing other websites as some may not work properly without Javascript.

Disabling Javascript varies between browsers. If using Firefox, click on the "Tools" menu, then select "Options". Click the "Content" button and there should be a number of checkboxes to enable/disable certain features. Clear the checkbox beside Javascript, and select "OK". Now, when you visit the website it should allow you in.

Another option is to download the IE Tab extension from the Mozilla website. Once downloaded, select the Sites Filter tab from the top, then add the MapleGlobal website to the URL list. Make sure that the box at the top of the window is checked.

Taxes? Why taxes?
Taxes in MapleStory sounds like quite a bad idea. However, looking at the economic structure of the MapleStory community, we have a source of infinite income (killing monsters) and at the same time, no sources of taking money out of the economy.

Just as the federal government raises interest rates to control inflation, Wizet decided to implement a tax system to curb inflation. Inflation occurs when everyone is richer, but there is still not enough items for everyone. For example, if everyone has 2,000,000 Mesos, and there are 30 +10 ATK work gloves in all of MapleStory, most people will only be able to offer 2,000,000 Mesos because that's all they have.

But if the whole world just trained and trained, you have a situation where the whole world gets 20,000,000 Mesos instead of 2,000,000. This is the case in MapleStory. Given enough time, you will reach an infinite amount of Mesos. Regardless if the typical user had 2,000,000 Mesos or 20,000,000 Mesos, there are still only 30 +10 ATK work gloves. Because of this, work gloves will skyrocket in price to the 20,000,000 Meso range.

Having a tax system is a smart way to make everyone in the world more poor, to counteract this inflation. If the world went from 2,000,000 Mesos to 1,000,000 Mesos, then work gloves will drop in price. Additionally, this gives an edge to the lower-level characters in MapleStory. As players reach higher levels, they earn more money faster. Thus, we don't have a case where everyone has 2,000,000 Mesos, we have a case where 30 people have 20,000,000 Mesos who can buy that +10 ATK work glove, while the rest of the community can't. By making the taxes higher for more expensive purchases, this serves to even the playing field out a little between high level players, and low level players.

The main disadvantage of taxes comes when pure Meso transactions are involved, i.e. lending a friend 2 million Mesos. Mesos will be lost although no actual sale took place.

Taxes are usually circumvented in MapleStory by dropping Mesos in isolated loactions or paying in rates lower than the tax rate. This applies to all players that have trustworthy trade partners.

Maple Story Doesn't Work/Doesn't Run Smoothly...

 * Check the system requirements.
 * The system requirements listed are minimum requirements. Minimum requirements are only enough to get the program running. For better performance, get a system that at least doubles the requirements.
 * Close all other programs.
 * Run virus scans and check for spyware, adware, and other programs that secretly run in the background.
 * Occasionally, Maple Story is updated. This means download the latest version or patch, or wait for the update to finish.

~One more thing... tho I already mentioned it. After a while your RAM memory fills with loaded screens, character info etc... if you find yourself disconnecting or lagging heavily try shutting down the computer to empty the RAM, then reboot it. That usually helps.

= Gameplay =

How do you activate a skill?
Open your skills window (usually by pressing the "K" key) and you can see the list of your skills. Now open your key settings window (usually by pressing the "\" key) and click on the skill icon you want to asign to the key on your keyboard. A faint image will follow your mouse after clicking on the skill icon. Move your mouse over the key on the key settings window that you want to assign that skill to, and click. You should not have the faint image following your cursor anymore. Close the key settings, and now anytime you want to activate the skill, just press the key you have assigned it to. Another way is to double click the skill in the skill book.

Can I use first job points for second job points? What about the third job?
No. Any skill points you gain in the first job MUST be used before the second job. It is okay to use second job points for the first job, but this is generally not recommended. The third job follows the same rule; first and second job points can't be applied to third job skills.

What are some good ways to make money? Both generally and class specific.
The best way to make money is to train on something that you can kill in 2 or less hits consecutively

Warriors: This shouldn't be too much of a problem before 2nd job. Warriors tend to make money really easily.

Theives: Train on whatever suits best, during levels 21-30 I recomend NOT to PQ all the time if you are not funded. This is because pqing too much will slow down your money making pace.

Magicians: To save money, you should only buy red and blue pots till level 30. At lvl 25 magicians will entirely OWN the Kerning pq so you should be able to get pots or ores from there easily.

Bowman: As a newbie bowman you should find or buy a melee weapon (metal axe for example drop from slimes) untill lvl 15 then you could buy the lvl 15 bow there. Save up on stiff feathers, tree branches, and firewood. You use those to make arrows for free.

~Remember blue pots cost about twice what red ones do and using your MP based attacks can rapidly burn several hundred in a level.

When you buy armour and weapons focus on your body armour and weaponry. Check the actual bonus offered for the price... 10k isn't worth 2 more defence when 2 defence barely blocks 1 HP.

Pick up everything that drops. Everything. Even the stuff that sells for 1 meso adds up.

Only buy pots that heal you half or less of your HP and MP when you can. Unless you're fighting things that 2-hit kill you. That way you don't press your pot button when you're only 1/4 or 1/2 damaged and heal what would have been 3/4 of your HP... wasting mesos.

As a mage master MP Recovery VERY early. You can't make do without your magic attacks and MP Recovery rapidly starts to heal 50ish MP every 10 seconds WHILST YOU ATTACK! That means 300 MP every minute. That's a lot of free MP and it costs twice what HP does generally...

What happens if I don't use up all the points before advancing?
Your job instructor simply won't let you advance to the next job advancement.

Why should I max skills?
The argument usually goes: Skills cost more when they are at a higher level, and most of the time, they don't give the same mana/damage efficiency as lower levels. So why max skills at all?

Simple answer: When you are at a higher level, you make much more money. At level 10, you are generally happy to have 10,000 Mesos. At level 60, weapons may cost 15 million Mesos.

The money "wasted" from maxing out skills is miniscule compared to the money used on equipments, scrolls, and so forth. You will always make more money, but you cannot always do more damage.

And this goes for 'all mana- or HP-based skills, including Slash Blast, Arrow Bomb, Iron Arrow, Power Strike, Double Shot, Magic Claw, Lucky 7, Savage Blow, etc.

More importantly, when you max out a damage skill, you save time. 2 level 10 Slash Blasts > more damage than a level 20 Slash Blast, but a level 20 Slash Blast saves time, especially since that level 20 Slash Blast has a much better chance of a one-hit kill than a level 10 Slash Blast.

Is xxx skill good?
Check out the Jobs section with your specific job for the answer. A number of skills are considered useless irrespective of the build used and are only necessary if they are prerequisites for other, more powerful skills. Those skills are listed here.

Mage
 * Magic Armor (not to be confused with the skill "Magic Guard")
 * Magic Armor removes at most 30 or so damage. If fighting Yetis at level 50, you won't care that they do 470 damage to you instead of 500.


 * Energy Bolt
 * Energy Bolt is good if you want a skill to knockback enemys. Magic Claw outdamages Energy Bolt anytime, but doesn't knockback most of the time.


 * Poison Breath (second job, Fire/Poison Wizard)
 * It is weak, and the poison doesn't last long enough to warrant use. However, there are poison mages that like going against the crowd. Given the fact that Poison Mist and Magic Composition (both third-job skills) are more effective Poison-based spells, one would wonder why Poison Breath even exists. A maxed Poison Breath can do around 347 to 578 damage (with roughly 35 LUK and 175 MATK) plus, if poisoned, 70 HP or 1/40 HP damage, whichever is greater. If the enemy has roughly 3000+ HP the Poison will hit for 1/40 HP doing 75+ damage over time. This can allow Fire Wizards to hunt fire creatures they normally would not be able to such as Fire Boars. Some creatures weak to poison also give good EXP. It is recommended, however, that only advanced Fire Wizards should consider maxing Poison Breath after Fire Arrow has been maxed.

Bowman
 * Blessing of Amazon
 * Bowmen have the best accuracy in the game, and can generally hit monsters before they can even break a monster's armor. The only exception is Jr. Neckis in the beginning of the game, however, getting a skill for a single monster is a bad plan, especially when you gain enough accuracy to kill Jr. Neckis by level 28 or so.

Warrior
 * Endure
 * Recover while hanging on a rope. Quite useless since you'll be using potions to get HP. With 4000 HP at L60 it would take a lot of minutes to recover your total health. Besides if you want to recover health while being idle you'd better sit down somewhere. Only put the required 3 points into endure so you can put some points into Iron Body.


 * Iron Body
 * This skill can be handy at lower levels but around L60 it loses its value because of the much more powerful power guard skill. The main and only reason to have Iron body is to negate the weapon defense penalty of Rage. Theoretically you could do with only 1 point in Iron body to undo the -10 wdef effect of Rage. However, it is recommended to put around 8 - 10 points into this skill. There are some builds online that suggest maxing Iron body and only putting 6 points into sword/axe booster. This isn't really recommended as with a duration of 60 seconds the recasting becomes really annoying. Instead, putting 15 or 16 points into booster and 8 or 9 points into Iron body and maxing out Rage will result in 3 skills that will last for approximately 160 seconds. Since Rage and Iron body are casted at the same time this will make recasting easier and less annoying. Also consider this: having 16 versus 40 wdef doesn't really do a lot for the damage you take. A tauromaci touch would be around for example 450 versus 500 damages. However if you have maxed Power Guard(which is very likely) it will reflect 40 % of the damage so you only take 300 out of a total of 500.

(Third job Crusader and Page skills, warriors already have huge weapon defense, and Shield Mastery barely increases it)
 * Shield Mastery

Warriors still get some of these skills because there are too many first job points. It is recommended you get at least 1 SP in Endure and some HP Recovery to help at areas such as El Nath or Underwater maps where the area slowly drains your HP, but there are not enough points to max any of these skills.

Thief
 * Disorder
 * It has been quite a debate between many maplers about the "Which is better, disorder or dark sight?". I personally feel that disorder will not be often used when you are training and mostly only when fighting boss monsters and such. Dark sight, however, is used when you want to pass a map without being disturbed by monsters or when you ran out of potions and only have a little bit of hp left, you will die easily. This is where dark sight comes in to prevent yourself from dying. I feel that both skills are useful and you will have to choose one to add in 1st job advancement and maybe the other in the late 2nd job advancement. Dark sight is also required for the Ludibruim Party Quest, where only a theif with Dark Sight can get past two certain invincible monsters.(lv 60+).


 * Shield Mastery (3rd job, Bandit. Gets you about 10 extra weapon defense points assuming the best sheild for a Thief, which will block about 4 damage from the enemy)
 * Steal
 * Steal is more of a "fun" ability as its not to be used seriously. It CAN help you get something good, but it doesn't happen often. It may be useful in the Ludi party quest so you can get extra passes. But its not as useful as other skills

Why am I training so slow?
You will only train at a reasonable pace if you consistantly use your skills. Never use a "regular" attack for any class after level 25, and if you're an assassin or mage you will probably need to use skills WAY before that. To keep up the pace of your mana-consumption, you must buy potions to consistantly up your mana. By level 35 mages should hold ATLEAST 60 mana pots so you don't have to go back and forth to buy more.

Additionally, you must always have HP potions ready. Sitting still for 10 minutes every time you are hit is not a fast way to train. By level 35, any class should have 50 ORANGE pots, unless you are ungodly good.

Upon reaching level 40, you should start scrolling your weapons, on top of using your skills, to keep a reasonable pace of exp. 60% scrolls are the general reccomendation, and if you are ready to play the lottery, just buy 10% off of other people. 100% are a safe choice, but do worse than 60% on average.

For you assassins, get the best stars you can afford at all times. Kumbis tend to be the ones people get most. Or, if you have another character or you have a really nice friend, get icys off of them at early levels and you kill much faster.


 * Actually, getting +7 100% claw is more important than getting stars, especially with Meba. Also, once you get Kumbis/Icicles you should start spending money on work glove scrolled for attack. You should get 8 atk glove before you get Tobi, 10 atk glove before you get Steely, and 11-12 attack glove before you get Ilbis. Also, starting from level 50 you should start considering get +5 or more 60% scrolled claws. Just look at your next upgrade's cost for your claw, glove, star, and determine which one is cheaper. Don't go out thinking that getting better star is your only option to raise your attack.

If you are low on money, here is the list of priorities if you want to continue training at a fast pace:


 * 1) HP potions and Mana potions
 * 2) Most powerful Weapon/stars money can buy
 * 3) Scrolls for wAtk, or intelligence/mAttack if a Mage
 * 4) Best Top/Bottom/Overalls you can buy

It is reccomended that you don't waste money on gloves or shoes, unless they are upgraded with weapon attack, speed, or jump. The lvl 15 or 20 glove will suffice for a while for any class; in fact, most high levels (lvl 50+) use a lvl 10 work glove (upgraded with wAtk) !

So what does this list mean? It means, if you got nearly no mesos, buy as many HP and Mana potions as you can. If you saved up enough money, then buy a more powerful weapon. If you still got money, then scroll your weapon. If you still got money, then buy your armor.

~I tried this style of play unfunded... it does not work out well. Spending all your money on HP and MP pots sounds fair enough but when you hit level 35 in level 25 gear you start to realise that extra 30 HP you lost per hit added up to 30k after 1000 hits. It's slower to avoid using MP until you have mastery but it pays off. Btw, if you go with claw early as a mage that tends to sap funds too... I had no idea how much MP recovery helps them, Going broke as a mage is not fun...

~Note. Getting 8 mp recovery is sufficient to support 10 claw - around lvl 16-17. mp recovery gradually increases the mp recovered for every 4 int that you have. for example, a lvl 33 wiz with 5/5 stats and maxed recovery would heal 55 mp every 10 seconds. When you are low on cash and want to buy a new wep, you should save up until you have 150% of the cost of the item in case you find a bargain or you need pots or armour. Weps and armour should be considered first at lvls below 20, since ur mp and hp heals on its own. then it is followed by pots. Scrolls should not be considered until you're at least lvl 25 since even the cheapest 10% scrolls will cost you 20k.

~Note: I have no idea why people do not consider the benefits of training in parties. With the 10%+ to experience share and a good solid party that can 1HKO, levelling up becomes a tad bit faster then solo. Also spawn rate seems to be affected by the number of people on the same map.

How do I get to (insert place here)
If it is a hidden street, you must find a secret location somewhere, and press "up" on it. They are scattered all around.

If you are looking for a place in Victoria Island, check the world map by pressing "w".

www.hidden-street.net has a good list of almost all of the hidden streets.

Where do you find ***** item?
Refer to the in-depth item sections at Hidden-Street. They list all the enemies that drop a specific item.

Where do I find a good build for my Character?
Builds in general require a lot of thought and time to put together. There is simply not enough room in this page to describe all your builds. In your specific Job section however; you should be able to find a build for your specific character. Also keep in mind that a perfect build does not exist, every character is supposed to suit the player's style.

Why do people like to buy Solid Horns?
100 Solid horns can be exchanged at the Exchange Quest for 500 experience. While this is not much at higher levels, you can bring a level 10 player into the Exchange Quest and constantly get around 500 exp for every 100 horns. This is most likely the fastest way to level up at early levels, although it can be quite expensive if you do not gather the horns yourself.

Zombie's Lost Teeth, Jr. Yeti Skins, and Hector Tails are also popular choices, as they provide better rewards than Solid Horns. Though being more expensive, in these cases most people will hunt the items themselves. Zombie Teeth also have a relatively high supply due to the sheer number of players that train on Coolie Zombies for a large number of levels (60-80 for most classes).

Again, if you have a second, stronger character, use them to get the solid horns or any other exchange quest items. That way, you get exp for both of your characters.

What Job should I choose?
This has been answered in the Jobs section.

How do you jump and attack in the air with magicians and archers?
Assassins can do this much easier. For archers, this is answered in the Archer guides here. Magicians use the same technique, except with their spells. Magicians can also attack and teleport at the same time, and it is the same technique again, except using teleport instead of jump. But since they CANNOT jump and attack at the same time...it is possible to bit the JUMP and "insert special attack here" keys, it will make it look like that your character is "charging up" before he hits the ground. Meaning his staff or wand will be pointed behind him while in the air and when he hits the ground the special attack will be unleashed.

When doing an attack normally, your character is unable to move for a short period of time until the attack animation is complete. With the jump shot, you are able to move while performing the attack. However the arrow/spell acts as if it was shot/cast while on the ground.

For mages and bowmen, to jump shoot you have to jump and then a split second later, then shoot. This takes practice to master.


 * Warriors and Thieves have an innate ability to attack in mid-air, while Mages and Bowmen can't. Mages and Bowmen can take advantage of a glitch in the game to jump while attacking, although the only thing this does is help you move while attacking. This is accomplished by pressing attack *first*, then jump immediately afterwards. 20:23, 18 March 2006 (UTC)


 * It should be noted that different keyboards have different responces to the jump-attack glitch. Some keyboards can do it very easily, some keyboards require attack and then jump button, some keyboards require the reverse. So try doing it differently if it doesn't work for you the first time. Also, the internet connection of the user has an affect on the jump shot.

Is anything known about the fourth jobs?
Fourth jobs are currently not released in any server. However, the KoreaMS Beta server is testing fourth jobs. Currently, only a few things are known about this job advancement: KoreaMS is currently accepting suggestions for new skills. See MapleStory/Jobs for more information.
 * The names of the fourth job classes.
 * There is a skill that is common to all classes.
 * Each class currently has one class-specific skill.

How do I open a shop in the Free Market?
To do this, you must purchase a Store Permit in the Cash Shop. The Permit will last for 90 days, during which it may be used as often as you like withing the numbered Free Market areas.

What Is Scrolling?
Scrolling is the process of buying usually expensive scrolls (70,000 mesos for cheap 100% scrolls, w.atk for gloves can rise as high as several million mesos), and then using them on your items. Usually; a fully scrolled item is better than the next item. For example, a +7 Red Viper (lvl 35 bow) can have 68 weapon attack and 7 accuracy if scrolled with 60%s. An unscrolled Vaulter 2000 (lvl 40 bow) has upto 59 weapon attack if you are lucky.

Because of the lvl 40/50 gap, it is reccomened that you start scrolling your weapons at lvl 40. 10 levels take a long time, and most level 50 weapons are rare (though creatable in Ludibrium). So you may be using your lvl 40 weapon well into lvl 55 or even level 60! Scrolling allows you to make your weapon stronger without buying a new weapon.

10%s, 60%s and 100%s are three kinds of scrolls that are avaliable. 10%s give the best stats, but only work 10% of the time. 60%s do best on average, but they are usually very very expensive. 100% scrolls are usually cheap, as most are avaliable from NPCs scattered across the Maple Story world, and they always work. However, 100%s won't get you the best possible weapon.

In JMS, there are 30% and 70% scrolls also avaliable. These are similar to 10%s and 60%s, except they may destroy your weapon in the process (50% chance if the scroll fails).

All items can be scrolled, even pet items! If you are a warrior, thief or archer, weapon attack effects your damage the most, usually 3 or 4 times more effective than increasing your primary stat. Mages should focus on getting intelligence on their items, usually on the earings. 60% Jump scrolls on shoes are reccomended for warriors, thiefs and archers, while if you go with 100%s, speed on shoes works out better.

How long does it take for (name) to spawn?
The following are estimates:


 * Chief Grey: randomly
 * Rombot: 15~20 minutes
 * MT-09: 15-30 minutes
 * Mushmom: 45~60 minutes
 * Jr. Balrog: 4~6 hours
 * Zombie Mushmom: 45-90 minutes

If anyone has more accurate information, feel free to add it.

How long will it take to get [certain starting ability point allocation]?
In general, it is more likely to generate evenly distributed ability points (e.g. STR6 DEX6 INT7 LUK6) than skewed ability points (e.g. STR4 DEX13 INT4 LUK4). The total ability points is 25, and the minimum for any ability is 4. The maximum for an ability is 13, though that is rare (see below).

The way starting abilities are generated: (Not verified, though seems to be a good approximation)
 * 1) All abilities are set equal to 4.
 * 2) Randomly choose STR, DEX, INT, or LUK and add one point to that ability.
 * 3) Repeat until STR + DEX + INT + LUK = 25.

The below table shows approximately how long it will take to generate certain ability point distributions. These times are approximate and actual results may vary. One person may get a certain distribution within 1 minute whereas another person will take 10 minutes, depending on clicking speed and pure luck. The table shows how hard it is to get large numbers like 12 and 13, especially where you want them. Therefore, don't set your goal too high, unless you have time for 3 days of nonstop playing!

What should I do to avoid being scammed?
Three important points:
 * 1) Learn how scammers scam. (Go to the Introduction.)
 * 2) Use common sense, be smart, and watch for suspicious offers.
 * 3) Report possible scams.

Common Scams:
 * "Drop Game": Someone dares you to drop a valuable item. That person picks it up before you can. (Don't do something because someone dares you to!) They often bring you to specific areas where another character can hid behind walls and run out to get your items when you drop them too.
 * "Tab Tab Space Enter": That key sequence accepts any trade that's going on. If you put something valuable up for trade, the other person can take it. (Don't press keys unless you know what they do.)
 * Any Unsecured Trade: Don't do it. You never know if someone will keep their promise.
 * "Middleman": A person is making a really good trade offer to you, but you don't have the specific thing they want. Luckily, you find someone who offers just that thing, but at a high price. You buy it, but when you go back to the first person to make the trade, they refuse. (This is a co-op scam between the two people.)
 * "Tax Evasion": Paying for an expensive item in parts is risky, because either the scammer gives only 49999 for your expensive item and doesn't pay up the rest, or the scammer makes you pay until you are short about 50000, then leaves without giving you anything.
 * "The Hold Enter, Keep Clicking Trick": This happens in the Free Market, the title usually says, "To Enter, Hold Enter and Click". When you actually enter, you would have clicked on something twice, and the pop up says 'You sure you want to buy ______ for ___ mesos" or something simular, while holding enter will trigger you to pressing 'OK' on that item, thus buying the item. The trick is you will not be able to see the pop-up since your holding enter which instantly presses 'OK'.  You could accidently buy a useless item(eg.Snail Shell) for 1 million mesos even.
 * "Scroll Switch" You are about to purchase an expensive scroll, but the trade window closes. The person with the scroll re-trades apologising that the window was closed by mistake and puts a scroll of the same % but is a worthless scroll and quickly trades. So you spend a large amount of mesos on a useless scroll if you do not check the item again.
 * "Drop Trade"*: This usually happens in the Hair Salon in Kerning. _____ would like to trade and tells you to meet him in the Kerning Hair Salon. They would then tell you to drop your item on the platform above near the left edge while _____ would drop his on the stairs. Then he would go up while you drop off the left edge. He would then collect his own item and then collect yours because you were too far away.

Miscellaneous:
 * Always check the trade one last time before accepting. Carefully examine all items the other person is offering, and make sure you are putting up the correct items, too.
 * Beginners: learn the average prices of items on reliable websites before making expensive trades.

If anyone has any more tips, feel free to add them here.

= Warrior Specific=

What is the point of a Hybrid Spearman?
Hybrid spearmen seem like a dumb idea at first; you don't get final attack and you max out a weapon that you think you won't use.

However, maxing out both weapons gives a massive advantage in 3rd job. In 3rd job, there are 2 main attacks for a Dragon Knight, and those are Spear Crusher, and Dragon Fury. Dragon Fury will always be stronger with a polearm because it always swings, while Spear Crusher will always be stronger with a spear because it always stabs.

The idea is not to switch weapons in the middle of battle, but to switch to another weapon when the map calls for it. For example, flatter maps would prefer Spear Crusher because stabs have a bit more horizontal range, while in hilly maps, Dragon Fury's swing motion would cover more vertical grounds.

Do I need Final Attack or Not?
Many warriors wonder, whats final attack, and why should I have it? Final Attack is much like an MP free Power Strike. When it is maxed it has a 60% chance of following any attack with a damage of 250%. Now the real question is "Do I need it?" Well if you are a Fighter FA is almost required. It is fast MP free and powerful. Now with a Page I personally think it is a very good idea to max FA. At 3rd job the page gets elemental skills that work for a certain amount of time. Since FA is fast you can get a few extra hits with each element. As a spearmen, so ive heard, FA can really mess up your Spear Crusher because this skill is made up of three quick attacks in one, and apparently FA will happen in the middle of this skill and stop it.


 * Last I heard warrior third job skills DO NOT activate final attack. I.E. Crusher and Thresher will not activate it. ~Marl


 * I would have to agree with Marl. Any references though? This is one reason why most 2nd job Spearmen skip FA, because it doesn't work with Crusher. --Dragontamer 04:25, 29 March 2006 (UTC)

FA will definitely NOT work with 3rd job skills. It is only triggered by Power Strike and Slash Blast.

~If you check Sleepywood's guides you'll get verification from many people. Third job skills just don't activate final attack. And if anyone was still unclear, neither will NORMAL attacks. Just Power Strike and Slash Blast

~ One last thing, incase anyone wasn't aware of it still, Final Attack diffuses its damage with Slash Blast. Basically this means instead of doing 500, 500, 500 with Slash Blast you'll find your attack broken up with 500, 100, 500, 100, etc... whilst it's still free damage, and you'll level faster with Power Strike getting the free fast FA off it, it does mess with Slash Blast. It apparently goes down in damage as it spreads through the mob too. I've heard figures of 2000 normal damage, 20 on the mob edge with FA.
 * with SB FA each following moster will recive 50% of the damge(up to 6 monsters). ex. 1000, 500, 250, 125, 63... thats why when you SB a mob the last 1 or 2 need an extra hit.

Still, it's reccomended you get it because there's not much else and it saves MP. ~ Marl hey

~ Adding to the confusion, it is possible for the first monster hit by a slash blast final attack to take more damage than a regular slash blast is capable of doing. It seems capable of doing 30% to 40% more damage than regular slash blast.

~ IMO there isn't a real reason as a fighter NOT to get it, because you can easily max all your skills as a fighter (as long as you pick either axe of sword) and it will GREATLY increase leveling speeds if this skill is maxed.

= Magician Specific=

Fire/poison vs Ice/lightning vs Cleric
Also known as Fire wizs, Ice wizs/Lit wizs, or Clerics.

This is answered in the Magician Guide already.

How does MP eater work?
For any magic attack you do, you have a chance of draining a good amount of MP from the enemy, While it does nothing to the enemy, this basically means with max MP eater, you would only be able to drain so much MP from 1 foe.

Every magic attack you do, there is a 30% chance that you would gain MP from the enemy. This includes magic claw, energy bolt, and even the cleric's "Heal" attack on undead monsters.

Because of this, it is higly reccomended that mages get 1 MP eater at level 30, to heal back MP at a rate even faster than MP recovery.

MP Eater is especially effective with mob attacks such as Heal or Lightning, for obvious reasons.

How do mages teleport backwards?
The Mage and Cleric Teleport skill work by sending you a certain distance in the direction of whichever arrow key is pressed, given that there is a platform to stand on at that location.

~A mage teleports backwards by pressing teleport then very quickly pressing back on their arrow keys. Simple as that. With practice you can abuse this apparent glitch by attacking, teleporting and pressing back in that order to attack whilst retreating backwards. Most mages I've seen use this technique for bosses etc as the attacks miss them if they teleport at the right moment. You can also do this forwards. Telecasting can also be done vertically.

~It's not a glitch. Teleport can be used at any time provided that:
 * 1. You have enough mp
 * 2. You're teleporting to a valid location
 * 3. You're not in the middle of teleport

~ A glitch is anything occuring in a game that the programmers did not want to happen. Tele casting is a glitch that occurs because somehow they messed up so you can attack and teleport together. It just happens to be a very useful glitch they probably won't remove as it's become the only way mages can fight a lot of big monsters

= Rogue Specific=

What is a Banditsin?
A Banditsin is a bandit that uses Lucky 7s in 1st job, and then turns into a Bandit 2nd job. Lucky 7s is a much better skill than Double Stab, as it is ranged, has innate mastery and does more damage. While this is more expensive than the typical Bandit build, it is much faster if you got the money to burn. But it can cause problems after you make the 2nd job advancement.

You might think that the banditsin are very much well stronger then you might be. There is a good explanation to that. The reason why is because of the use of there SP some might be dexless and some might raise STR. In the end a FULL BANDIT or a FULL ASSASSIN are way stronger then the hybrid BANDITSIN


 * Not true, the only difference between a Bandit and a Banditsin is that the Banditsin won't have Double Stab. Considering that Savage Blow will be more effective than Double Stab past Level ~45, and that the AP build doesn't change, we can concur that Banditsins are just as powerful as Bandits. --EMP Demon

= Bowman Specific =

Double Shot or Arrow Blow?
This has been answered here in the bowman section completely.

Final Attack or No Final Attack??
The debate of FA vs FAless is different for Bowmen than warriors, so warriors who want that answer should check out the Warrior specific questions. As for archers, it has been answered in the Skills and Builds section of the Bowman Guide.

If you are to lazy to go there, well, there cannot be a very precise answer. FA archers and FA-less archers tend to hang out on the same forums, and thus you have clusters of people who think "everyone else" is doing the same as they are doing. For example: the GameFAQs forums usually say FA-less, while Sleepywood forums are a bit more neutral and say both ways go. But for someone on GameFAQs, it is easy for them to think that "everyone" is doing FA-less. This is a very deep issue, too deep to be summarized in a couple of sentences.

Crossbow or Bow?
Before changing classes to a Bowman or Crossbowman, the player can switch back and forth between bows and crossbows with no penalty. It is purely based on preference. In depth information about the advantages and disadvantages of both weapons can be found here.