MapleStory/Patches

The Big Bang is the first major game-changing update of MapleStory. It updates, alters and adds many maps, skills, and monsters. It was split into three patches. Part 1 updates nearly every map, monster and skill in the Maple World. Part 2 released the first of the Resistance: the Wild Hunter and Battle Mage. Part 3 brings the Mechanic.

Chaos/Renaissance

Chaos brought in part 1, adjustments to Aran, Evan and Dual Blade in which we also saw the return of the Dual Blade, including changes to stat enhancing items (potions, scrolls, etc.). Part 2 (The Technological Age/Age of Artisans) brings in 'Professions', it allows you to create items, potions and accessories and we also saw Black Mage's dream which took place in Henesys Ruins and Future Ereve and saw Empress Cygnus all grown up. Some items in the Profession system are exclusive to the Profession system. Part 3 (Super Fight) brings in PvP (Player vs. Player) and a whole load of new equips.

In GMS, this was separated into 5 parts, part one included the Future Ereve/Henesys. Part four saw Ice Knight, a PvP mode and part 5 saw Capture the Flag, a GMS exclusive PvP mode.

In JMS, the update was titled Renaissance. Part two brought the modified version of the Profession system. The UI for the Profession system is different and the fatigue is used up differently. Additionally, we saw the combination of the Smithing and Accessory Crafting profession and saw the Monster Tamer profession which ties in with another JMS exclusive update, Monster Familiars.

Jump/Ascension

Jump originally occurred in several parts:

Part 1, dubbed Counterattack of the Blade, included Warrior class adjustments and saw in Speigalmann's new quest, Monster Park!
Part 2, dubbed The Spell of Awakening, added further adjustments to the Magician classes and update Monster Park and in KMS, saw MapleStory's 8th Birthday.
Part 3, known as The Arrow of Speed, consisted of Archer class adjustments as well as new and revamped Party Quests.

In GMS, the patch was not split up and was named Ascension. Here, we saw the Wedding Revamp which simplified the Amoria map and added incentives to stay married after a report that noted more than 50% of MapleStory marriages get divorced.

In MSEA, the patch was split into two patches.

Part 1, named The Arising of the Origins (Origins are referring to the original classes), which updated Warrior, Magician and Archer classes.
Part 2, named The Amazing Monster Park, added the Monster Park quest, in addition we saw the Party Quest update.

Legend(s)

This big update brought in three new classes.

The first update saw the Cannon Shooter (Cannoneer in GMS), a Pirate that uses a new type of weapon at the time, cannons, to defeat his or her foes. With high damage and low mobility, the Cannon Shooter is a powerful class.
The second update saw the legendary hero who was awoken after centuries, Mercedes. This elf queen has been sealed for a few hundred years and has awoken to defeat the Black Mage, she uses a new type of weapon, Dual Bowguns. She's quick and speedy with moderate damage and low health, she's great for anyone with experience in Bowmans. The second update also saw a Profession update which raised the amount of fatigue and made it easier to level up your Professions, this update also saw a 20% speed boost to everyone.
The third and final update saw the Resistance warrior, Demon Slayer. He uses one handed maces and/or axes to defeat his foes. He used to be a Black Mage commander and like Mercedes, he wishes to defeat the Black Mage.

This update brought in a ton of new players into the Korean version of the game. In Korea, there was a time where there were about 700,000 people online, a record high whose record before the Legend update was around 400,000.

Advance of the Union

These updates were not announced as one big update and were separated into 2 parts

The first update, labeled Advance of the Union saw changes to Aran and Evan classes and this also brought in Akyrum, a commander for the Black Mage.
The second update, Alliance Unbound saw revamps to the Resistance class, Aran and Evan classes and saw a revamped Mu Lung Dojo, Ellin Forest, and multiple party quests such as Ghost Ship and Nett's Pyramid.
The last update of the trio saw Cygnus Knight revamps and saw the revamp of the popular Lion King Castle.

In GMS, these were in 3 parts. The first launched Aran and Evan changes and a revamped Silent Crusade with the new boss Akyrum. This update to Silent Crusade made a ton of changes to the currently existing system and some of which players were unhappy about. While also launching in this first update saw the return of Crimsonwood Keep PQ which was bugged for years after the Big Bang update.

The second part saw more Aran and Evan revamps but also added in Resistance revamps which boosted some classes quite well. Coming in with this update also revamped Mu Lung Dojo (which now is a completely competitive quest), Ellin Forest, Nett's Pyramid (this update was significantly changed from the previous version, assumed to deter botters), Ghost Ship and it has also brought the Destroyed version of NLC and Nebulites (which are similar to the Potential system).

The last update dubbed Alliance Eternal, brought in the first ever Cygnus Knight only revamps and saw the revamp of the popular Lion King Castle and turned it into a theme dungeon. Notably, the GMS version kept the "Party Play" system which in summary, allows players to gain extra EXP bonuses for each party member in party while in the maps due to player request. All the other versions had removed the Party Play bonus from the game.

In MapleSEA, these updates are merged into one patch known as Return of The Forces.

Justice/Renegades

Here, the first update brought the long awaited Thief and Pirate revamps, a Navigation system for helping beginner players get to where they need to go, a level-up guide so beginner players know what to do to quickly get to a higher level, minor changes to other classes, disabled PvP and made popular bosses such as Zakum, Horntail and Von Leon instanced. The second update brought Phantom, the Thief hero of the Maple World. The last update brought Aswan, an underground city that has been cursed by the Black Magician and allows you to defeat waves of monsters to help liberate the cursed souls.

In CMS/TWMS, we saw Dragon Warrior, an exclusive Pirate class to these versions. This also caused the Pirate revamp to be moved from the first part of the update.

In GMS, this game update was dubbed Renegades. The first update brought in Jett, who is looking for Burke who assassinated and framed Jett for murdering the king of their home planet. Cerebus Rapid Action Force is now looking for Jett who crash landed into the Maple World and ended up in Nautilus Port. This update also brought in a few UI upgrades (level up guide, navigation system, etc.) and the long awaited Thief revamp. The second update launched the mysterious Phantom! The third update brings Aswan. The Pirate Revamp and Dual Blade Reorganization will be in the Mutiny patch.

Champions

In GMS v118 (patch notes here), released at the end of September 2012, brought with it Warrior, Magician, Bowman, Cannoneer, Demon Slayer, Aran, and Evan revamps and leveling incentives for new players. It also re-enabled the creation of Cannoneer, Demon Slayer, and Mercedes characters.

Rise Against

In GMS v121 (unnofficial patch preview here) the three resistance classes, Battle Mage, Mechanic, and Wild Hunter, get a revamp. Battle Mages get damage, speed, and projectile distance increases. Mechanics can now change the color of their mech, they can use a secondary weapon called "Magnum", and they get damage increases. Wild Hunters can get a new mount, the Snow White jaguar named Jaira. They also get a new party buff and increased damage.

This patch also released Chaos Pink Bean, Sakura Castle (an official theme dungeon and the second version of Ninja Castle), a temporary re-release of Red Leaf High School, a Cash Shop revamp, and it started the Thanksgiving events for 2012.

Tempest

Tempest was released in KMS on July 5th and encompassed several separate updates:

The first update dubbed Prelude to the Storm and it brought in lower requirements for job advancements and events.
The second update is dubbed Choice of Light and Dark brought in the last Hero class, Luminous.
The third update was dubbed Protector of the Dragons, Kaiser! launched the first class Kaiser of the Nova race, the hometown of the Novan race (Pantheon) was released with this update as well in July 26th.
The fourth update was dubbed the Idol Of The Battlefield and was released on August 9th, this came the second Nova class, Angelic Burster.
The fifth update, which was named Traitor Magnus, released on August 16th, launched a new boss named Magnus and a new area where he resides.
The sixth update, which was named Beginning of the Evolution, Hyper Skills!, brought in Hyper Skills, which were new skills that could be obtained later in 4th job for which the skills add boosts in their previous job's skills, a few active skills and a buff that could raise the damage cap by 50,000. Only Nova classes and Hero classes got this, in a later patch; Adventurer Warriors, Adventurer Magician and Mihile received their Hyper Skills.