MapleStory/Magician/Builds

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. When you level, put 4 points into INT and 1 point into LUK. If you are not sure, press Auto Assign as this will take advantage of equipment stats as well. Alternatively, put all 5 points into INT for four levels, and at every 5th level put all 5 points into LUK.

Level 8 -> 11 LUK
Level 10 -> 13 LUK
Level 33 -> 36 LUK
Level 50 -> 53 LUK
Level 98 and above level +3

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 and increases the MP gained when you level. All points not spent on LUK should be put in INT, as the other stats do not help Magicians AT ALL!

LUKless Build

LUKless mages keep their base LUK at 4 and add all their AP to INT. At level 197 a LUKless mage will be unable to add more int past 999 base INT. At that point they add their points to LUK. with a ending stat distribution of 999 INT and 19 LUK at level 200.

If carefully built, a LUKless Mage has far more potential than a LUK mage, and costs less (unlike most other statless classes). The magic attack in a weapon is divided several times, and then added to determine your minimum and maximum damage with a given spell, rather than multiplied like the weapon attack in most other weapons. This renders LUK obsolete. Their max MP is also vastly greater at higher levels because INT is what determines how much MP a character gains at level up. Magic attack from weapons does not. But be warned: Magician weapons and armors require LUK to wear.

Note~ Keep in mind that the maplestory big bang patch is coming soon. It has been announced 
that LUKless mages will not work the same way as before, for the time being,
you may NOT want to consider using this build. After the big bang patch,
LUK does not affect the mage's accuracy, instead, level affects mage accuracy.

Maker LUKless

Maker LUKless have the benefit of both being able to wear mage equipment and be considered LUKless when they reach the highest levels of MapleStory. They remain with the no LUK build until level 50, which is the lowest level that maker equips can reach, and then adding enough base LUK up to a maximum of 19 to wear level 50 equips. Using Advanced wisdom crystals to make the level 50 gloves and shoes they make equipment that offsets the amount of LUK they had to put into their base stat to wear. The shoes on average will be 8 INT and the gloves 8 INT also, offsetting the 15 AP Maker mages have to put into LUK. This build is not recommended unless one has access to Zakum helms and other high level and expensive items.

First Job Skill Build

Note: Beginners have three skills, each with a max level of 3. Beginners are given 1 SP each level from levels 2-7, for a total of 6 SP over the three skills.

3 Three Snails (MAX)
0 Recovery (0 or 3)
3 Nimble Feet (3 or 0)

Three Snails: Throws a snail shell to inflict set damage. This skill is a must for all beginning magicians, and possibility any class. This skill uses MP and gives you your first taste of using magic vs. strength to fight. Recovery: Uses MP to recover HP over a period of 30 seconds. Usable only once every minute. This skill is not very useful and will be quickly outgrown. Nimble Feet: Uses MP to provide a very short burst of speed. Usable only once every 2 minutes. This skill is useful until you get Teleport, and possibly beyond.

Standard build

This build is the most commonly used build.

1 Energy Bolt (1)
5 Improved MP Recovery (5)
10 Improved Max MP Increase (MAX)
11 Improved MP Recovery (MAX)
20 Magic Claw (MAX)
20 Magic Guard (MAX)

With this build, Magic Claw can be maxed before finishing Improving MP Recovery (but after Max MP Increase), if you can afford the potion cost. Although higher level Magic Claw is better for faster training. Getting Energy Bolt early is not necessary if you maxed Three Snails as a Beginner.

Perfectionist build

This build is highly recommended.

5 Improved MP Recovery (5)
10 Improved Max MP Increase (MAX)
11 Improving MP Recovery (MAX)
1 Energy Bolt (1)
20 Magic Claw (MAX)
20 Magic Guard (Max)

This build will provide the greatest benefit to your max MP. This build is not difficult if you maxed Three Snails as a Beginner. The end result is having 9 more MP than normal mages. You will train with 3 snail for several levels, and probably never use Energy Bolt (1, only because it is required). Magic Claw comes later, after you have enough MP and MP Recover to actually use it. Having a friend to help you train past these early levels is a great benefit.

Wealthy Perfectionist build

5 Improved MP Recovery (5)
10 Improved Max MP Increase (MAX)
1 Energy Bolt (1)
20 Magic Claw (MAX)
20 Magic Guard (MAX)
11 Improving MP Recovery (MAX)

This build will provide you with Magic Claw earlier. However, your character will not be able to recover MP as fast, so you will need to be able to purchase large quantities of MP potions until you max out improving MP recovery. This build enables you to train on higher level monsters early, potentially making leveling easier. Funding is strongly recommended for this build.

Higher-leveled Monster Patch Build

This build is not recommended.

1 Energy Bolt (1)
16 Improved MP Recovery (MAX)
10 Magic Claw (10)
10 Improving Max MP Increase (MAX)
Save 9 SP
10 Magic Claw (MAX)
20 Magic Guard (MAX)

In this build, you sacrifice 140 MP over the first build. Assuming you don't have Three Snails, it may help you train on higher level monsters faster. Personally, I would delete the character and start over.

Pre-cleric(no holy arrow) build

This build is for the pre-cleric that wants magic armor at earlier levels, but will still max magic guard.

5 Improved MP Recovery (5)
10 Improved Max MP Increase (MAX)
11 Magic Armor
11 Improved MP Recovery (MAX)
1 Energy Bolt
20 Magic Claw (MAX)
9 Magic Guard

This build will delay magic guard until higher levels, after the second job advancement when you become a cleric. You will take away 11 points from the second job. Note: If you max everything but holy arrow on the cleric, you will still have 11 points left over from 2nd job.

Alternative non-perfectionist build

This build is not recommended.

1 Energy Bolt (1)
10 Magic Claw (10)
5 Improved MP Recovery (5)
10 Improved Max MP Increase (MAX)
11 Improved MP Recovery (MAX)
10 Magic Claw (MAX)
20 Magic Guard (MAX)

This build does not max Improved MP Increase ASAP, so you will lose some max MP in the long run. However, 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. 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. (Unless you have 3 on Three Snails.)

LUKless and Low-LUK Builds

LUKless characters should just follow the Perfectionist build.

Common Myths

Myth: Energy Bolt is Better than Magic Claw

For each attack, Energy bolt hits once, while Magic Claw hits twice. Magic Claw can also go through walls while Energy Bolt cannot. Energy Bolt is slower each cast compared to Magic Claw. Magic claw takes more MP. Magic claw is recommended over energy bolt.

Each hit with Magic Claw (40 M.ATK) does less damage than one Energy Bolt (55 M.ATK) hit, however Magic Claw hits twice, which does significantly more damage. Energy Bolt will allow you to knock back some monsters with high defense that Magic Claw will not, however by the time the difference is noticeable, you will already have new attacks (as a Wizard or Cleric). Still, due to its ability to knock back higher leveled monsters, some Lukless mages tend to max this instead since they train at high level monsters due to the pure INT advantage.

Myth: Magic Armor is better than Magic Guard

At lower levels, when MP is fairly low, Magic Guard used to be very expensive. Because of the release of New Leaf City and its potions, MP is not nearly as expensive to recover as it once was. Still, lower-level enemies don't usually do enough damage to make Magic Guard essential for survival. However, at higher level, when enemies do damage in the thousands, Magicians do not have enough HP to survive even one hit from the enemies. This means that Magic Guard is required at higher levels. At higher levels, MP is also not as big a problem due to very quick MP recovery, NLC pots, and the Wizard/Cleric MP Eater skill.

For Fire/Poison Wizards who do not want to put any points to Poison Brace could put any 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 defense (maxed Magic Armor) is not much, it may be better compared to Poison Brace.

Second Job Skill Build

Cleric

Pure Heal

30 Heal (MAX)
20 MP Eater (MAX)
20 Invincible or Bless (MAX)
20 Bless or Invincible (MAX)
20 Teleport (MAX)
11 Holy Arrow

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. With this set of skills, the best option is to take down monsters weak to heal or by PQing your way through, the only bummer is that you're going to get bored to death when training on monsters weak to heal unless you’re very patient. You can always switch the order of Bless, Invincible, and Teleport, or slowly raise them all. You will put the last 11 points into Holy Arrow. The reason that Holy Arrow isn’t strongly recommended is because your main attack will be Heal and Level 11 Shining Ray will replace Holy Arrow.

Party Support

1 Teleport or MP Eater (1)
1 MP Eater or Teleport (1)
5 Heal (5)
5 Invincible (5)
20 Bless (MAX)
25 Heal (MAX)
19 MP Eater (MAX)
15 Invincible (MAX)
30 points Remaining (see below)

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 until 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. However, this build lacks damage dealing skills, so it may be more difficult to find a party.

Party Offensive

1 Teleport or MP Eater (1)
1 MP Eater or Teleport (1)
5 Heal (5)
5 Invincible (5)
20 Bless (MAX)
10 Heal (15)
30 Holy Arrow (MAX)
19 MP Eater (MAX)
30 points remaining (see below)

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.

Solo Holy Arrow

1 Teleport or MP Eater (1)
1 MP Eater or Teleport (1)
1 Heal (1)
30 Holy Arrow (MAX)
14 Heal (15)
19 MP Eater (MAX)
15 Heal 30 (MAX)
10 Invincible (10)
30 points remaining (see below)

Without a party, you will need to be able to attack. This build uses Holy Arrow as your main offensive skill.

Solo Defensive

1 Teleport (1)
30 Heal (MAX)
5 Invincible (5)
15 Invincible or 20 Bless (MAX)
30 Holy Arrow or 20 MP Eater (MAX)
20 MP Eater or 30 Holy Arrow (MAX)

Like the Solo Holy Arrow except you will be focusing defense wise. Useful if you’re training against monsters that deal high damage but have low hp. The only crap thing with this build is that you're going to waste a fair bit of potions unless you max MP Eater earlier than Holy Arrow.

Solo Heal

1 Teleport or MP Eater (1)
1 MP Eater or Teleport (1)
30 Heal (MAX)
19 MP Eater (MAX)
30 Holy Arrow (MAX)
10 Invincible (10)
30 points remaining (see below)

The heal build is much easier and cheaper since you will never require regular healing potions, and once you get MP eater maxed, you will barely even need to use mana pots.

Solo Offensive build

1 Teleport (1)
30 Heal (MAX)
3 MP Eater (3)
30 Holy Arrow (MAX)
5 Invincible (5)
20 Bless (MAX)
32 points remaining (see below)

This build is useful for clerics who tend to train by themselves and can easily take down Maladys, Dark Yetis or Dark Stone Golems unlike some of the other builds. Also they can KB easily due to their Maxed Holy Arrow.

Extra points

The remaining points can be spent in any order, based on the preferred skill. There is a lot of debate in choosing where to put these final points. 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 put the final points in Holy Arrow, Bless, or Teleport.

Holy Arrow is good against enemies weak to Holy attacks, however once you reach level 74+, it will be made obsolete by Level 11 Shining Ray (given that you spend on all your skillpoints on it). Holy Arrows base damage is the same as Magic Claw (80, Claw is 40x2), but it does provide an elemental attack and much better KB.

Bless, like 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 main benefit is when partied with Warriors, who will greatly benefit from the +20 ACC.

Teleport is good since you can get around the screen much more easily. Each level increase lowers the MP cost. Once you get it past level 10, the range is increases slightly. This mainly allows higher vertical jumps, which can be critical on some maps. The Perion Guild Party Quest and the Magatia Party Quest requires a max teleport mage.

Fast Wraith Training build

1 Teleport (1)
30 Heal (MAX)
20 MP Eater (MAX)
19 Teleport (MAX)
30 Holy Arrow (MAX)
20 Invincible (MAX)
1 Bless (1)

This build specializes in training on Wraiths. Clerics get maximum exp/hr on wraiths, and with max teleport you can zip around the map without using any ladders. It minimizes the time spent moving between wraiths on Subway Line 4, and you can easily afford the minimal cost teleports. This was used to level from 56 to 70 in 3 weeks.

Hybrid build

30 Heal (MAX)
20 Bless (MAX)
20 MP Eater (MAX)
20 Teleport (MAX)
20 Invincible (MAX)
11 Holy Arrow

This is a rather rounded-out and average build, and covers most all situations for those who like to split their time between training on zombie monsters and completing Party Quests. You should max Bless at around level 50, and therefore are good for party questing and set for solo training, in which you start maxing MP eater, Teleport for fast movement, and the oh-so-coincidental skill Invincible. One of the downsides to this build is the fact that MP eater takes no effect until level 50, and you have to buy MP pots at a usual rate.

If you start out putting points in random locations and not following a set build, you should end up with everything but Holy Arrow maxed. In this case, Holy arrow should be the "Dump" skill, or the last skill you work on, putting all your extra points into it.

Powerful Party Cleric Build.

1 Teleport (1).
30 Heal (Max).
5 Invincible (5).
20 Bless (Max).
15 Invincible (Max).
20 Holy Arrow (20).
20 Mp Eater (Max).
10 Holy Arrow (Max).

This build is meant for the player who likes to both PQ and hunt. It allows you to hit big in PQ, while still being able to Support your party. The only disadvantage of the build is that you do not Max Teleport, which means it you will spend more MP when using it. As such, you will probably end up spending more on potions.

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 both choices in mind, your first attack will be labeled as your Primary Attack, and the other as Secondary Attack

Ice Hybrid build

1 Teleport
30 Cold Beam (MAX)
5 MP eater
30 Thunder Bolt (MAX)
15 MP Eater (MAX)
20 Meditation (MAX)
19 Teleport (MAX)

MP Thief

1 Teleport
25 Thunder Bolt
20 MP Eater (MAX)
5 Thunder Bolt (MAX)
30 Cold Beam (MAX)
20 Meditation (MAX)
19 Teleport (MAX)

Fast and Cheap Training Build

1 MP Eater
1 Teleport
1 Cold Beam
15 Thunder Bolt
19 MP Eater
19 Teleport
20 Meditation
15 Thunder Bolt
20 Slow
9 Extra

The Reason you Max Meditation before Thunder bolt is because you will be traing in Helois Tower on the Hamsters. This is so that you take no damage, exluding when you go and get your loot. Because of this you do not need to have as much damage, rather increase damage by useing Meditation as Thunder bolt doubles MP cost at level 16. You add 1 in MP eater and Cold beam because when traing in the Mushking empire this will allow you to constantly freeze the yetis and MP eater will always fully restore your mp when activated. Teleport and MP eater are Maxed before Tunder Bolt because the goal of this build is to train fast and get rich, not train fast and get poor[wich you would if you revesed the order].

Both Attacks First

1 Teleport (1)
1 MP Eater (1)
30 Primary Attack (MAX)
2 MP Eater (3)
30 Secondary Attack (MAX)
20 Meditation (MAX)
19 Teleport (MAX)
17 MP Eater (MAX)
1 Anything (including 1st Job skills) (1)

Early Meditation

1 Teleport (1)
1 MP Eater (1)
30 Primary Attack (MAX)
2 MP Eater (3)
20 Meditation (MAX)
30 Secondary Attack (MAX)
19 Teleport (MAX)
17 MP Eater (MAX)
1 Anything (including 1st Job skills) (1)

Early Meditation and Teleport

1 Teleport (1)
1 MP Eater (1)
30 Primary Attack (MAX)
20 Meditation (MAX)
19 Teleport (MAX)
30 Secondary Attack (MAX)
17 MP Eater (MAX)
1 Anything (including 1st Job skills) (1)

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. Teleport is almost essential to a lightning wizard. When 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.

My personal build LV (132 arch mage)

1 Teleport
30 Thunder Bolt
20 Mp Eater
19 Teleport
30 Cold Beam
20 Meditation

This build is for pure leveling and usually for funded mages (also this is the most sensible build and used by many early Arch Mages highly recommended). The reason behind meditation being last is that in nlc you can purchase Wizard Elixir (+20 magic attack for 8 minutes) there by eliminating the need for meditation in favor of rapid leveling. Most of your low lv training would be teddies for 25-35 then you can try retz the little hamsters to the west, there’s a screw you can stand one floor down on and spam thunder bolt for hours and never fear retaliation for very fast xp. If at any point retz aren’t doing it for you your welcome to try clangs at there hidden street but in personal experience it’s too much teleporting around and getting hit with retz you may teleport up or down every few minutes and you should never be hit staying only on screws usually good until lv 51 you can also try straw test dummies 3200 hp. Newer mpg mages should note that Magicians using this build can be the best leaders for offensive fast runs. With teleport they can get to any room faster than any other class and can deliver consistent fast damage to the mob within. It’s all about positioning as a leader you'll be in room 7 Only boxes facing the left can contain tauros. Now when it opens there’s three possibilities: top - stand underneath them and thunder bolt away middle - this one is a little tricky but the fastest one jump up on the platform underneath them you’ll be struck first then while flashing jump again and begin the thunder spam as for the bottom - you can either stand next to them on the left, hide to the right but if your good you can stand on the window and thunder bolt away. Always teleport - never walk. Get used to teleporting all over the place and it will save you hours in the long run.

No/Low Cold Beam Build

Many find Cold Beam to be useless after 2nd job and choose to not invest points in it, especially since Thunderbolt is faster exp anyways, and claw is decent single target damage. Plus, Comp replaces cold beam in 3rd job as a single target attack. Also, Slow can be useful at bosses and other areas, much more than Cold Beam will be later on.

1 Teleport (1)
30 Thunderbolt (MAX)
19 Teleport (MAX)
20 MP Eater (MAX)
20 Meditation (MAX)
20 Slow (MAX)
11 Anything (Including First Job Skills)

Fire/Poison Wizard

Considering Fire Arrow will be your primary attack well into 3rd job, the skill build instead differs in whether to get Slow or to get Poison Brace. Note: For MSEA players, Fire Arrow now has multi-hit capability (3 monsters).Fizards no longer have to walk the path of the soloer. Considering that Fire Arrow is an incredibly powerful skill, this should be even more reason to NOT go for hybrid/ pure poison at all.

Max Slow

This build is the most commonly used build.

1 Teleport (1)
1 MP Eater (1)
30 Fire Arrow (MAX)
2 MP Eater (3)
20 Meditation (MAX)
19 Teleport (MAX)
20 Slow (MAX)
17 MP Eater (MAX)
11 Poison Brace (11)

Alternatively, try:

5 Teleport (5)
3 MP Eater (3)
30 Fire Arrow (MAX)
20 Meditation (MAX)
17 MP Eater (MAX)
15 Teleport (MAX)
20 Slow (MAX)
11 Poison Brace (11)

Fire/Poison Wizards who do not want to put any points to Poison Brace could put any 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 defense (maxed Magic Armor) is not much, it may be better compared to Poison Brace. Most people never use Poison Brace/Breath. Don't confuse it with Poison Myst which is a 3rd job skill.

Max Poison Brace, no Slow

1 Teleport (1)
1 MP Eater (1)
30 Fire Arrow (MAX)
2 MP Eater (3)
20 Meditation (MAX)
30 Poison Brace (MAX)
19 Teleport (MAX)
17 MP Eater (MAX)
1 Anything (Including 1st Job skills) (1)

Pure Poison

This build is not recommended.

1 Teleport (1)
1 MP Eater (1)
30 Poison Brace (MAX)
19 Teleport (MAX)
20 Slow (MAX)
19 MP Eater (MAX)
20 Meditation (MAX)
11 Fire Arrow (11)

Third Job Skill Build

Ice/Lightning Mage

There are no mobs weak to thunder between Clangs and Vikings, so Thunder Spear may not be suitable as your first attack skill. Ice Strike freezes Vikings solid.

Consider whether you should put points into Partial Resistance or not, after all, there aren't many monsters with such elemental attacks. In any case, Seal is probably better for everything but Zakum, while Partial Resistance is useful if you do Zakum all day (since it can't be sealed). Though, it's not like you're going to try to train on Grims or anything.

Note: There is a debate between which is better, Seal or Partial resistance. Seal works against non-boss monsters, though they'll be frozen, and Partial resistance is extremely helpful against bosses such as Papulatus, Zakum, and Horned Tail since they all use Ice and Lightning Based attacks. 10 points into Seal and 10 points into Partial resistance is the key to having a rounded character. If you tend to fight bosses most of the time, then Partial resistance should instead be maxed (the difference between being balanced and maxing the skill is 20% damage reduction).

Boss and Non-Boss Build(Possibly Most effective)

30 Ice Strike(MAX)
30 Element Composition or Thunder Spear(MAX)
30 Element Amplification(MAX)
30 Thunder Spear or Element Composition(MAX)
20 Spell Booster(MAX)
10 Seal
1 Partial Resistance

Thunder Spear

30 Thunder Spear or Element Composition (MAX)
11 Spell Booster (11)
30 Element Amplification (MAX)
30 Ice Strike (MAX)
30 Element Composition or Thunder Spear (MAX)
20 Seal (MAX)*(See Note Below)
2 Partial Resistance (2)

Ice Strike

30 Ice Strike (MAX)
11 Spell Booster (11)
30 Element Amplification (MAX)
30 Thunder Spear (MAX)
30 Composition (MAX)
20 Partial Resistance (MAX)

Element Composition

1 Composition or Thunder Spear (1)
3 Elemental Amplification (3)
29 Composition or Thunder Spear (MAX)
1 Elemental Amplification (4)
11 Magic Booster (11)
30 Thunder Spear or Ice Strike (MAX)
26 Elemental Amplification or Thunder Spear (MAX)
1 Partial Resistance (1)
1 Seal (1)
19 Partial Resistance or Seal (MAX)

Power Up First

5 Elemental Amplification (5)
11 Magic Booster (11)
30 Thunder Spear (MAX)
30 Ice Strike (MAX)
9 Magic Booster (MAX)
20 Seal (MAX)*(See note below)
25 Elemental Amplification (MAX)
20 Partial Resistance (MAX)
1 Magic Armor (2)

Ice Mobber

30 Ice Strike (MAX)
5 Elemental Amplification (5)
11 Magic Booster (11)
25 Elemental Amplification (MAX)
20 Seal (MAX)
30 Element Composition (MAX)
9 Magic Booster (MAX)
20 Partial Resistance (MAX)
1 Thunder Spear or Slow

Ice Mobber build completely removes Thunder Spear because it is replaced by Chain Lighting in 4th job. Additionally Seal and Partial Resistance have very unique and helpful uses. Seal is useful for mobbing monsters that are either un-freezable (not likely you would train on them) and more importantly monsters that have high magic attack (example Skelegons and Newties). Seal is able to be casted from a ladder and has longer range/time than freeze. Partial resistance is for simple boss runs. You could have 11 TS and 11 Booster but trust me when you are an Arch Mage its really a matter of how often do you want to stop attacking to rebuff for a skill that you will not use.

Fire/Poison Mage

Myst build

30 Myst (MAX)
3 Elemental Amplification (3)
30 Explosion (MAX)
11 Magic Booster (11)
27 Elemental Amplification (MAX)
20 Seal (MAX)
30 Magic Composition (MAX)

Note that there is a lot of freedom after maxing Myst. This build is just one of many possibilities. Some people prefer Explosion earlier to attack or to finish off mobs. Some people prefer Seal to go to sharks. Some people max booster instead of Seal, or get 12 seal for a two minute time. Some people take a few points off skills for Partial Resistance.

Explosion build

4 Elemental Amplification (4)
30 Explosion (MAX)
11 Magic Booster (11)
26 Elemental Amplification (MAX)
30 Myst (MAX)
20 Seal (MAX)
30 Composition (MAX)

Perfect Explosion build (No Comp)

4 Elemental Amplification (4)
30 Explosion (MAX)
11 Magic Booster (11)
1 Seal (1)
1 Partial Resistance (1)
26 Elemental Amplification (MAX)
30 Myst (MAX)
19 Seal (MAX)
19 Partial Resistance (MAX)
9 Magic Booster (MAX)
1 Anything (Including 1st or 2nd job skills)

Amplification is useful for increasing Explosion's damage. Magic Booster because Explosion casts very slowly. But after that, there is again much freedom with what can be done. 1 on Seal early is very helpful on mobs that attack, and it cast pretty quick even on ropes. 1 on PR early is very good for mobs that attack with fire or poison. Myst could be done before Amp depending on where you train.

No Comp build

Follow the Myst or Explosion build up to the point where they say to max comp.
20 Partial Resistance (MAX)
9 Magic Booster (MAX)
1 Anything (Including 1st or 2nd job skills)

Many feel comp is very similar to Fire Arrow, and the DPS is very similar between the two. Thus, they choose to max booster and get partial resistance maxed instead (PR can be useful at bosses)

Priest

The first point should be into Element Resistance. This gets you 12% damage reduction from pretty much any magic attack. One point into anything else is not as useful.

Pure Party Build

1 Element Resistance
1 Shining Ray
3 Dispel (Prereq for Door and HS)
1 Mystic Door
2 Dispel (Level 5)
30 Holy Symbol (MAX)

Dispel is very useful for getting rid of Lock and other monster spells. Example: Thantos can disable a party with its multiple spells, and Dispel helps get you out of it. It is also the pre-req for Door and HS. Dispel at level 5 (50% Dispel rate) seems to work a lot better than at Level 3. You may want to add the 2 points somewhere in the middle of maxing HS, depending on what types of parties you are in.

Mystic Door lets you to bring party members to the map you are on. This is very useful for Zombies and other places.

Holy Symbol adds to the party members experience gain. This is probably the most sought after power up, so you want this maxed. Holy Symbol is less effective in parties less than 3, and solo it does something like 1/6th the exp gain.

Shining Ray lets you mass hit non-undead monsters. A single point lets you use it. Getting it up in strength gives you major damage, for the first time.

Solo Build

1 Element Resistance
3 Dispel (Prereq for Door and HS)
1 Mystic Door

Balance between--

20 Holy Symbol
16 Shining Ray
2 Dispel

Door is too useful to not have, and Dispel can save your life. Holy Symbol is not very effective in parties less than 3, and solo it does something like 1/6th the exp gain. However, not having HS makes you less welcome in parties, which is never fun.

At level 20, HS goes from gaining 2% per point to gaining only 1% per point. At level 16, SR gets 40% mastery and after 17 is only adding 1 Magic Attack versus 2.

The Damage resistance gain from ER starts looking more attractive at this point.

One other thing to watch is your stats. You will want to cap your LUK either at 80, 90 or 100, depending on what you plan to wear. And your LUK requirement is reduced by any LUK on your other equips, especially something like a ZHelm (+15 LUK).

SR Build

20 Element Resistance
30 Shining Ray
3 Dispel
20 Holy Symbol
30 Summon Dragon
18 Mystic Door
30 Points Left Over

Fourth Job Skill Build

Fourth Job can go by really fast for Magicians. To ensure that, one of your first points should go into your super skill.

The following skill paths are only based on having all the skills but not having upgraded them to 20 and 30. They are also set for the fastest training possible.

Skills

Fourth Job Skills aren't readily available. You will need to get a skill book or complete some sort of quests to earn the Skill, except the skill book Maple Hero, which is given free of charge by your 4th job instructor. Moreover, you can only add 10 skill points into any particular skill. To raise it further, you need to get additional mastery books. Each Skill has it's own particular book. There are 2 kinds of Mastery Books.

Level 20 Mastery Book: This book requires a minimum of level 5 in that particular skill to use. 70% success rate.
Level 30 Mastery Book: This book requires a minimum of level 15 in that particular skill to use. 50% success rate.

There are also storybooks.

Burning Flame Book (Fire/Poison Archmage)
Frozen Ice Book (Ice/Lightning Arghmage)
Black Book (Bishop)

Ice/Lightning ArchMage

15 Blizzard
1 infinity
9 Maple Warrior
10 Chain Lightning
5 Ice Demon
10 Ifrit
1 Hero's Will (MAX)
5 Big Bang

Due to element amplification, it would be more meso efficient to raise Blizzard straight from level 15 to level 30

Another build worth considering is

1 Blizzard
9 Maple warrior
Max Chain Lightning
5 Ice Demon
5 Ifrit
Max Infinity
Max Blizzard

No matter the build it never hurts to put 1 point into Infinity after Blizzard is obtained. The reason is simply because it will give you 10 seconds of free Blizzard spamming once every 10 minutes. It is a very small savings on potion cost but still adds up over the course of leveling. Like all 4th job build suggestions it is purely personal preference.

Fire/Poison ArchMage

1 Meteor
9 Maple Warrior
5 Fire Demon
10 Elquines
1 Hero's Will
5 Big Bang

Due to element amplification, it would be more meso efficient to raise Meteor straight from level 1 to level 30

Bishop

1 Genesis
1 Resurrect
9 Maple Warrior
10 Bahamut
? Angel Ray
? Holy Shield
1 Hero's Will (MAX)
5 Big Bang

Anti-Builds

These are a collection of builds that look great on paper but aren't efficient 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 heal tons of HP since it is based on your HP. You will be extremely popular with parties, because of your high durability and high healing rate."

Max Heal recovers health equal to about 300% of the Cleric's maximum HP.

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 permanent beginner. Even then, perma-beginners have access to the 200+ attack weapons (not in Maple Global). Second, the few Magician/Cleric skills available won't nearly be enough to compensate for its weaknesses. Why?

As stated, with so little INT, the damage done by Heal to undead monsters will be very weak

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.

In its own ways, though, the STR Cleric is still usable.

The STR Cleric uses MP moreover as an extension of HP, using MP to substitute for health. They rely on this much more than other mages.

STR Clerics also benefit from bless more than other mages since Bless affects accuracy and avoidability, not intelligence or magic.

Though heal cannot be used to combat undead or unholy enemies, it still maintains its healing properties.

STR Clerics can also more easily access other party members since they will be fighting monsters directly rather than standing at a distance and casting spells.

Party spells such as Door and Dispel can still be used, allowing STR Clerics to still maintain the role of a Cleric within a party

STR mages in general get the ability to tele-slash. It is the ability to physically attack, then teleport, similar to tele-casting. This allows STR mages to avoid injury more easily than other classes.

The STR Cleric, like the Perma-Beginner, has a slow growth rate, along with all of its disadvantages. They also require much more planning than other classes and are more limited in equip choices. Still, they have a unique gameplay style and are still an option to consider.

Pure MP Build

It would be exactly like the HP build, but instead of adding HP, you max out the MP improving thing and add MP after maxing it out. After the second job advancement, you make it a cleric, max out heal and MP eater, and "Voila!", you get the Pure MP build. You can heal people with ease, have no risk of dying if MP guard is activated, and you can take free pots using MP eater, since you don't need to hit for MP eater to be activated.

However, because of the new patch, throwing shells is not available, so you should also do something about your INT. You should put it around 43 or something (needs confirming), and then do the job advancement.

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