Template:Infobox MU Online (Korean: 뮤 온라인) is a 3D medieval fantasy MMORPG, produced by Webzen, a Korean gaming company. In the Philippines, the pay to play (P2P) version is distributed by Digital Media Exchange through the company Mobius Games.
Table of Contents
Gameplay
As with many MMORPGs you select a character and fight monsters to gain experience. MU is populated by a large variety of monsters, from simple ones like goblins to frightening ones such as the Elite Yeti or Gorgon. Each monster-type is unique, has different spawn points, and drops different items. For more information regarding monster types and descriptions, refer to the Official Global Webpage.
- Outlaws and Heroes
Outside of a duel, PvP fighting is possible but discouraged. When one player attacks another, a self-defense system is activated, in which the attacked player may kill the aggressor within a time limit. Self-defense is also activated when a player attacks an Elf's summoned creature. If one player kills another without Self-defense active, he/she becomes an Outlaw, more commonly known in-game as "Player Killer" or PK. Outlaws have disadvantages during game play, depending on his Outlaw level.
- Outlaw Warning: A normal player assumes this level after killing another without Self-defense. The character’s name becomes orange, there is a 1/8 chance that you will drop items when killed, and lose extra experience when killed by a mob. If attacked, you will still have Self-defense. If you kill another person within 3 hours of gaining this status, you will advance to Outlaw 1st Stage; otherwise, you will go back to normal.
- Outlaw 1st Stage: On this level the character’s name becomes red. The chance of dropping items upon death is 1/4, players can attack you without activating Self-defense, the Guards attack you, and you will lose even more experience when you die from a monster. Also, the Non-player character shops will refuse to sell any items to you. If three hours pass without a kill, you drop to Outlaw Warning, but another kill within that period advances you to Outlaw 2nd Stage.
- Outlaw 2nd Stage (Murderers): On this level the chance of dropping items at death is 50% and lose a substantial amount of experience when killed by a monster. You are also unable to warp. Players can target you as if you were a monster, and without activating Self-defense. This stage is dangerous as there is an incentive for players to become Heroes. A stage 2 Outlaw becomes almost totally black in color, and his wings, shield and weapon(s) (if any) become a crimson red color. As soon as this stage is reached, 3 hours have to pass before you revert to 1st Stage, and the timer increases by 3 hours for every additional person you kill.
To clear Outlaw status, the character must wait a significant amount of time without killing other players. The wait can be shortened by killing large number of monsters, which is generally done in one of the servers that does not permit PvP attacks, to avoid being attacked by another person. The amount of time reduced from the outlaw penalty is equal to the monster's level in seconds, and depending on the number of monsters killed, the penalty time may be dramatically decreased.
- Hero: A Hero is a character that has killed three or more 2nd Stage Outlaws since logging into the account. The Heroes have a 1/32 chance of dropping items at death and will lose less experience when killed by a mob. The Hero status clears in one hour, though the timer is reset back to one hour after every PK killed. To become a Hero, you must kill three 2nd Stage Outlaws without letting them hit you. If Self-Defense activates, the kill doesn't count to become a Hero.
Note that the chance of dropping an item at death only applies when killed by a monster, a Guard, a Hero or a Commoner. Also, items that cannot be thrown to the floor, such as wings, items +5 or above and excellent items will never drop at death.
- Character Stats
Every character has four basic statistics: Strength, Agility, Vitality, and Energy. When you gain enough experience points and level up, you can distribute 5 points freely among these stats. Magic Gladiator and Dark Lord characters gain 7 points instead of 5. When a character reaches level 220, every level up will get you 6 points instead of 5.
- Strength - This is a character's physical strength. The more invested in this stat, the more damage dealt when striking with a melee weapon and the less chance of missing an enemy. Higher strength allows a character to equip stronger armor and weapons.
- Agility - This measures a character's dexterity. Agility increases a character's hitting accuracy, attack speed, defense and evade rate (known in the game as defense rate). While Strength determines melee damage, Agility determines damage from a Bow or Crossbow. Some weapons and equipment require large numbers of Agility points, and every piece of Elf armor requires some.
- Vitality - This is a character's toughness. Vitality gives a character extra HP so that it can survive more damaging hits.
- Energy - This is a character's capability to use skills and spells. Dark Wizards and Energy Elves need large amounts of Energy to learn new spells, while Dark Knights mainly require it to use their weapon skills more often. Investing points in Energy increases maximum mana, mana recharging rate and "AG" as well as increasing the damage that a skill does.
- Command – This is a special stat that only Dark Lords have. It measures the ability a Dark Lord has to handle the pets of nature. By increasing command, a Dark Lord may learn new spells (apart from Fireburst, which only requires energy, and Force, the spell given to new DL's). A Dark Lord that has raised a lot of command can also hold the maximum capacity of 80 guild members if he's a Guild Master.
Character Classes
At the start of the game the players can chose between three different character classes. Each class has its specific powers and items, making no class truly "better" than the other, and all three are typically used to their fullest extent when grouped together. Later on in the game, the player can create special characters only accessible to players who have reached certain levels.
- Dark Knight (DK)
- The Dark Knight, shortened DK, is the most popular character, most likely because of its focus on pure physical combat. Dark Knights have naturally high HP, great weapons, and the best armor. This makes them well-equipped to be the primary attacker in a party, and coupled with the "buff" of an Elf, is a mighty force indeed. Lower level DKs generally apply their stat points as they "level up" to Strength with some stat points applied to Agility. Strength is a very important stat to them because it helps them with their attack and their equipment.
- Blade Knight (BK)
- After completing the game’s first quest, the Dark Knights are promoted to Blade Knights, which have stronger stats and are able to use greater weapons and armor than those of Dark Knights. They can also learn new skills a Dark Knight can't learn, such as Death Stab (which requires level 160)and Rageful Blow (Which requires level 170). Also notice the character's change of hair from black to blond and long sleeves and pants.
- Blade Master (BM)
- Beginning with MU Online Season III, the Blade Knights can evolve to Blade Masters after completing the three-part quest. They can use all the armors and weapons for Dark Knights and Blade Knights. Moreover, there are 3rd Level Wings (Wings of Storm) with special options.
- Dark Wizard (DW)
- The Dark Wizard specializes in offensive magic and can kill from a distance. Although able to handle some weapons made for Dark Knights, the Dark Wizard's weak armor and slow growth in "strength" makes this impractical. Instead, they wield magical staffs, which increase the offensive power of their spells. A well-developed Dark Wizard can grow to become a Soul Master and cause massive damage with the "Nova" spell, hitting with over 5000 points of damage, far higher than most Dark Knights can achieve. Dark Wizards, however, have the least defensive power available to any of the other classes, which makes physical combat difficult for any level. They are useful in parties, however, being able to hit from a distance with powerful spells. Lower level DWs must make a difficult choice in applying stat points: they need to grow their Energy stats in order to cast higher level spells, but need sufficient Strength in order to wield more powerful staffs and wear higher level armor.
- Soul Master (SM)
- After completing the game’s first quest, the Dark Wizards are promoted to Soul Masters, who can use mighty and awe inspiring spells, and can equip better armor. Also notice the character develops longer silver hair and longer sleeves.
- Grand Master (GM)
- Beginning with MU Online Season III, the Soul Masters can evolve to Grand Masters after completing the three-part quest. They can use all the armors and weapons for Dark Wizards and Soul Masters. Moreover, there are 3rd Level Wings (Wings of Vortex) with special options.
- Fairy Elf (FE or just Elf)
- Elves specialize in long-ranged combat and defensive magic. Because of the lack of synergy between their fighting and magical skills, they have been developed over time into two separate playing styles, not acknowledged by the game itself but by the players. The "Agility Elf (AE)" focuses her stats on Agility and Strength, in that order. This allows them to use the strongest bows and crossbows, and cause great amounts of damage out of harm's way. Because of their ability to attack far away from an enemy's melee attack, and a much higher defense (evade) rate, Agility Elves are great at fighting by themselves, but are also included in parties for that extra bit of damage. The "Energy Elf (EE)", focuses her attention on the Energy stat, allowing them to use monster summons and three brands of defensive spell: "Heal", "Greater Defense" and "Greater Damage" (the latter two known as "aura" and "buff", respectively, although "buff" may apply to both), but in Asian servers buffs and auras are mostly known as "++" These three spells make them invaluable to a party, allowing the top attacking players to cause more damage and receive less, and allowing lower level characters to resist attacks from strong mobs. Some players combine both styles, naming themselves "Hybrid Elves." They have high Agility in order to equip strong weapons and kill by herself, but also a good Energy stat to make herself useful in parties. Hybrids are not very popular because their buff is never as good as an EE's, and they're not as powerful as an AE. However, many AE's spend some points in Energy to gain extra Mana and AG, and to fully make use of the raised energy, they learn the corresponding buffs if applicable, and tend to be confused as Hybrids.
- Muse Elf (ME)
- After finishing the game’s first quest, the Elves are promoted to Muse Elves, who are stronger and can use more powerful armor and weapons. Generally the more powerful armor and weapons are used by AE's, because EE's focus their stat points towards Energy. Notice the change from a brunette ponytail to long blond hair and a different outfit.
- High Elf (HE)
- Beginning with MU Online Season III, the Muse Elves can evolve to High Elves after completing the three-part quest. They can use all the armors and weapons for Fairy Elves and Muse Elves. Moreover, there are 3rd Level Wings (Wings of Illusion) with special options.
- Magic Gladiator (MG)
- The Magic Gladiator is a combination of DK and DW, and can be unlocked as a new class when your character reaches level 220. He cannot wear a helm, and has three sets of class specific armor (Hurricane, Storm Crow, and Thunder Hawk) though he can also wear the armor of a DK (up to Dragon) or DW (but not those of a BK or SM). The Magic Gladiator can run without the need of +5 boots, and swim faster without the need of +5 gloves. Following the example set by Elves, Magic Gladiators tend to split into two groups, focusing on either magical prowess or physical might. MGs receive 7 stat points per level, as opposed to the 5 gained by three other classes.
- Duel Master (DM)
- Beginning with MU Online Season III, the Magic Gladiators can evolve to Duel Masters after completing the three-part quest. They can use all the armors and weapons for Magic Gladiators. Moreover, there are 3rd Level Wings (Wings of Doom) with special options.
- Dark Lord (DL)
- The Dark Lord is a fabled class and the newest character to arrive on MU. It can be created when your character reaches level 250. A Dark Lord's power is formidable, his spells can score a high amount of damage, and has the ability to control pets. Dark Lords also receive 7 stat points per level, and have the ability to swim faster/run without the need of +5 boots and gloves, like the MG. Dark Lords tend to split in two groups: Strength DL, which focuses on power, and Command DL, which focuses on using pets, leading parties and usually leading a Guild.
- Lord Emperor (LE)
- Beginning with MU Online Season III, the Dark Lords can evolve to Lord Emperors after completing the three-part quest. They can use all the armors and weapons for Dark Lords. Moreover, there are 3rd Level Wings/Cape (Mantle of Lord) with special options.
Spells and Skills
Like most RPG games, characters in MU can use many different kinds of magic and special abilities. Each character has its own set of spells and some weapons may be enchanted in order to provide the character with a specific spell. Casting a spell costs MP (mana, or magic point) and sometimes AG.
- Dark Knight and Blade Knight Skills
A DK has the following character skills: Twisting Slash, Impale (can only be used when riding a mount unit and wielding a spear-type weapon), Greater Fortitude, Death Stab, Rageful Blow, Combo Skill (which is a combination of Twisting slash, Death stab, and Rageful blow, all executed in quick succesion), and Raid (which comes with every Dinorant). There is only one shield skill that can be used called Defend. Dark Knight weapon skills include Falling Slash, Cyclone, Stabbing, Uppercut, and Slashing.
- Dark Wizards and Soul Masters Spells
DWs have the largest repository of spells of any character. These are Energy Ball, Fire Ball, Power Wave, Lightning, Teleport, Meteorite, Ice, Poison, Flame, Twister, Evil Spirit, Hell Fire, Aqua Beam, Blast/Cometfall, Soul Barrier and Inferno. Once a Dark Wizard has completed the class change quest and become a Soul Master, they are able to learn more spells. These are Mass Teleport, Decay, Ice Storm, and Nova.
- Elf Skills
Depending on the playing style chosen by the player, elves may learn different types of skills. All elves may learn the Penetration skill at level 130, independently of the playing style. Agility Elves learn the very damaging Ice Arrow spell, which requires over 600 agility points. Energy Elves are able to learn a number of spells that affect other characters in the party. These are Heal, Greater Defense, and Greater Damage. They are also able to summon monsters to help fight for them. They are able to summon a Goblin, Golem, Assassin, Elite Yeti, Dark Knight (as in monster found in the lost tower), Bali (also called Vali), or a Soldier. Only one monster can be summoned at a time, and when summoning a new monster the previous monster is unsummoned. Bows and crossbows can all come with the Triple-Shot skill. Season II introduces a new skill for Muse Elves (after completing the 150 level quest) called 'Infinity Arrow'. This is a buff that helps the elf not to consume arrows/bolts for a period of time. The skill can't be cast again until the effects are diminished.
- Magic Gladiator Spells
Magic Gladiators can use all available Dark Wizard spells except for Energy Ball (the default Dark Wizard skill) and all the SM spells. Similarly, they can use all DK and DK weapon skills, but not BK skills. Strength MGs can also use a power slash skill given to them by three swords only. One is the Rune Blade, another is the Dark Reign Blade, and the newest one is called Valiant Blade. The skill unleashes five orbs that resembles the effect of an Elf's triple shot skill. Strength MGs can also use a fire slash skill, which does high damage and can cause a fire status effect that lowers the target's defense.
- Dark Lord Spells
The Dark Lord can learn powerful spells from scrolls. These spells are fireburst, critical damage, electric spark, and summon. Fireburst is the most commonly used spell due to its range and high damage. A DL also has an innate spell called force, and can wear any scepter equipped with a skill to transform it into the stronger force wave spell. Dark Lords can also use weapon skills normally used by DKs, although some of these weapons are restricted from DL use (Such as the Crystal Sword). Season II introduces also a new skill for the Dark Lord. It is called 'Fire Scream'. It is said to be an evolved 'FireBurst' that consumes not only mana, but AG as well.
Game World
There are many maps in this game. The beginning maps are Noria, where elves begin, and Lorencia, where all other classes begin.
NOTE: Map restrictions by level on Magic Gladiators and Dark Lords are cut by one third.
Noria - Noria is located east of Lorencia. This is the elves’ city where the Fairy Elves start the game. Always bathed in a bright sunshine, Noria is considered the most beautiful land mass on the continent. On the center of Noria is the Chaos Machine, which is used to combine items and jewels needed to create powerful items used by the high level characters. Characters other than Fairy Elves need level 10 to visit Noria.
Lorencia - Lorencia is a city located on the plains on the center of Mu. The Dark Knights, Dark Wizards, Magic Gladiators and Dark Lords start their careers here. This is the easiest map on the game, suitable for low-level training until they can reach the perilous lands of Devias and Dungeon. This city also is the main trading center on the game, and often you’ll find characters on the market square selling their items. Elves that wish to visit Lorencia must reach level 10 first. The entrance to Noria is located in the eastern corner of Lorencia, with the entrance to the Dungeon located slightly further north. The entrance to Davias is located on the north western edge of the map.
Devias (or Davias) - The land of Devias, to the north of Lorencia, is a land covered with a perpetual snow. This land has stronger monsters than Noria and Lorencia, so only characters over level 15 can enter. It’s the favorite town for mid to high level characters, as it has monsters that suit their training needs.
The Dungeon - Long before Kundun’s arrival the Dungeon was used as a jail. However when the feudal wars began, the Dungeon was abandoned, and when Kundun arrived he occupied it as an outpost from where he can send monsters to attack Lorencia. Kundun set one of his most faithful servants, Gorgon, to control it. The Dungeon is a three-story cave, becoming increasingly difficult with every floor, with Gorgon on the deepest room. One of Dungeon's particular traits is the amount of traps located on the ground and walls. Always be very careful when walking around Dungeon.
The Lost Tower - The Lost Tower used to be a shrine dedicated to life, but it was invaded by Kundun and has been cursed with evil. Now the seven story tower is dark, and some of the most dangerous creatures of the land are in it. On the seventh floor is Balrog, A huge creature resembling a Centaur. There are many ground traps in this map, which unleash a barrage of meteorites that hit every person on-screen. People usually form groups while fighting in here, and high levels often train here. Requires level 80 to enter.
Atlans - Atlans is the sea to the east of Noria. When Kundun arose, his ancient servant, Hydra, had fled to these seas, carrying one of the pieces of the Sealing Stone. This is one of the best training maps for mid-high level characters, and it requires level 60 to enter. Since the area is underwater the players swim instead of walk, and they can’t enter with a mount.
Tarkan - This is a desert to the north of Atlans. This is the best map for high levels to train in. Tarkan, meaning “Desert of Death," is ridden with some of the strongest monsters found on the continent of Mu. Within Tarkan are two powerful monsters, the Zaikan and Death Beam Knight. Requires level 130 to enter.
Icarus - This map is based on the skies above Mu. The strongest monsters on the game are found on this place. Only people that can fly using wings or with a Dinorant can enter. One of the strongest monsters, the Phoenix of Darkness, is on the highest cloud, and is hard to defeat.
Kalima - On this map are ruins that are ravaged by a strong water current. It is an event location, so it's divided into several difficulty levels ranging from 1 to 6 with character level limitations. At the end of each map, which resembles a corridor in shape, is a monster named "Illusion of Kundun", which can range from being fairly easy, as in Kalima 1, to very difficult, as in Kalima 4, 5, and 6. However, at the end of the map on level 6 is Kundun himself, the strongest monster so far.
Valley of Loren - A map in which Castle Siege is held, but private servers can allow visitations if they do not allow Castle Siege events. For more info see Valley of Loren.
Land of Trials - A land reserved to the owning guild of the castle on Valley of Loren from winning the Castle Siege. The owning guild's master may choose to either block other people (so they have an exclusive training area without Kill Stealing and with very good drops) or charge players an amount fee to enter. It has recently opened on Global Servers.
Arena or Stadium - Should two guilds be at war they can reason their fights playing 'MU Battle Soccer' in the arena, where both killing the adversaries and scoring goals renders the guild points. Other players may watch the game if they want. The arena is usually used for repotting because of its easy access to the Stadium Guard who sells potions. On most private servers, Arena is considered as a training place.
Aida - The grassy lowlands of MU, it is like her sister map Noria but much bigger and beautiful, it is extensive and holds strong monsters.
Crywolf - The Crywolf map can be entered through the Valley of Loren. It is an event map where characters must protect a statue while also fighting off powerful monsters, including the boss Balgass. -- in private servers Crywolf is one of those maps that are incredulous, and hard to go in most especially since it contains the strongest monsters in the game.
Kanturu/Kantur - A new map that comes with the season 2. it can be entered through Tarkan. As is Crywolf, this map is only for events. It isn't available in Global Mu Online yet.
Balgass Barracks - New map that comes with the Season 3. It can be entered through CryWolf by talking to a NPC 'Werewolf Quarrel'. This map has been introduced because of the 3rd Class Quest.
Balgass Refuge - New Map that comes as well with the third Season. It can be entered through 'Balgass Barracks' by talking to a NPC 'GateKeeper'. There, you must face the ultimate challenge and complete the last phase of the Change Class Quest.
Illusion Temple - New Mass Event Map. A place for a new kind of event. A battle between 2 teams: Blue Team and Yellow Team.
Events
Golden Troop Invasion
Some special types of monsters don't have precise spawning points and appear occasionally within the game. These monsters are golden in appearance and are much stronger than the regular non-golden types. Rare treasures will be dropped when they are defeated. Two common golden monsters are Golden Budge Dragons and Golden Goblins. The former drop Boxes of Luck and the latter drop Boxes of Kundun +1. Both of these monsters can only show up in Lorencia, Noria or Devias. There is also a Golden Titan that spawns in Devias, Golden Drakan that spawns in Lorencia, Noria or Devias, Golden Lizard King that spawns in Atlans and a Golden Tantallos that spawns in Tarkan. They drop Boxes of Kundun +2, +3, +4 and +5 respectively. Also appears other Golden monsters like the Golden Soldier Troop, but these monsters don't drop Boxes of Kundun, only items or zen.
White Wizard Invasion
These are events where a giant wizard and an army of orcs appear at random locations in Devias, Noria and Lorencia. Killing the White Wizard earns you a Jewel of Bless and having your name displayed on the screen. Orcs may drop either 100,000 zen or the Ring of Wizard, which increases attack speed and damage.
Server Specific Events
Sometimes a server may run an in-game event for fun. In some cases, special monsters created especially for these events will show up on certain maps, often carrying valuable items. The events that take place depend entirely on the administrators and Game Masters of a server.
MU Master Events
Game Masters, known in Global MU Online as "MU Masters" or [MM]'s will occasionally appear in a server with a server-specific event. These events typically are a "Catch the [MM]", "Find the [MM]" or a "Scavenger Hunt". All of this events are won in a similar fashion, by opening trade with the [MM]. All three of these event variants have the same reward of one Jewel of Bless and one Jewel of Soul. In addition, the winner gets his/her name posted on the screen for all players to see.
In the Catch the [MM] event, one of the [MM]'s will post a clue as to which map he or she will be. The [MM] will be riding his pet, usually a Fenrir, in an area of the map in question. The first player that can catch up to the [MM] and open a trade wins the two jewels.
The Find the [MM] event is similar, but the [MM] will hide anywhere in the map that he or she specifies. This includes inside one of the three towns, which is considered the fairest of all the [MM] events. This is so because all players move at the same speed inside the towns. The winner is the first to find and open trade with the [MM].
The Scavenger Hunt begins with an [MM] listing three items he or she asks for. The [MM] reveals where he or she will be waiting for the first player to come to them. The first player to show the [MM] all three items in a trade window wins the event.
One common complaint about these events is that they are infrequent and when they do happen, they happen in bunches. Another is that most take place at odd hours, which depends on the region the player lives (this complaint is mostly heard from players in the Americas). In addition, some players have been known to complain about instances of bias and favoritism on the [MM]'s part, though these complaints are based mostly on circumstantial evidence. The most common complaint is that there seems to be too few [MM]'s.
See also
References
External links
Official game websites
- Official Mu Online Global Website
- Official Mu Online Philippine English Website
- Official Mu Online Korean Website (Korean)
- Official Mu Online Vietnam Website (Vietnam)
Fan websites
- Template:StrategyWiki
- Zhyper MU best private server in the world of MU (season 3 coming soon)
- MuHQ - Mu Online Fansite & Community
- Mu Online Center (French)
- Template:GameFAQs
- Mu Online Tutorial
- Polish Tutorial and global news in polish language
- The Final Ashes Hispanic Fansite