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Insider tips for the MapleStory skill system
In the third of a series of insider articles, Dean D. Cho, Development Manager of MapleStory Europe at NEXON, discusses the deep, yet easy to use skill system of the hugely popular free to play MMORPG.
If you want to get anywhere in the world of MapleStory, youre going to need show off your skills. ItҒs not enough for a Maplerђ that֒s somebody who regularly plays MapleStory to simply tool themselves up with decent weapons and armour in their quest for fame and fortune. To beat the toughest challenges that regularly face every Mapler you֒re going to need a broad range of skills and abilities too, and thats where MapleStoryҒs impressive skill system comes into practice.
As with everything else in MapleStory, the emphasis has been to create something simple and user-friendly, so those not familiar with the MMORPG genre can pick things up straight away, yet at the same time, still maintain enough depth so that more experienced gamers are kept entertained throughout. The result is a truly amazing skill system that stands out from every other free-to-play MMORPG currently available.
Learning new skills
MapleStory currently boasts over 80 individual skills to choose from, divided into separate categories by character profession. This ensures new Maplers are never overwhelmed by too much choice to begin with, while still allowing plenty of scope for variety. For instance, Beginners the profession that all new characters start as ֖ have access to just three basic skills to help introduce the concept; one offensive (Three Snails), one defensive (Recovery) and one passive (Nimble Feet). This then increases to a much larger range of skills once players gain some experience and specialise as either Warrior, Bowman, Thief or Magician, and even larger still once they progress to the next level of job specialisation.
Some of the skills are passive and designed to improve your offensive or defensive capabilities, such as the Thiefs ґKeen Eyes ability. Others are more proactive and must be physically ґactivated to be used. The MagicianҒs Energy Boltђ skill for instance, unleashes powerful magic bolts every time you tap the keyboard (and conveniently, MapleStory lets you map skills to any key of your choosing).
In every case, the effectiveness of your skills is based on how well trained you are in that particular ability. Every time you gain a level in MapleStory youll be awarded a handful of Skill Points to spend on your growing range of skills and abilities. The more points you spend on a skill, the more powerful it becomes; simple. ThereҒs even a basic skill-treeђ system, with certain more powerful skills only becoming available once a particular level has been reached in a previous skill. For example, Bowmen can only start learning the useful range-increasing Eye of Amazonђ skill once theyve reached level 3 in the previous skill, ґBlessing of Amazon.
Mastering skills
As players only receive a few Skill Points to distribute every time they level up, youҒll need to think carefully about how to spend them when it comes to developing your character. Do you aim to specialise in aggressive, offensive skills or do you opt to concentrate on more passive, ability buffing skills? Alternatively, you can always try spreading your skill points evenly across a number of different skills. Each method has its own pros and cons, although we find most Maplers tend to concentrate on Mastering each skill in turn ֖ in other words, building each skill up to its maximum possible level before moving on to the next.
While many players have commented to us how much they enjoy MapleStorys easy and approachable skill system, one of the biggest points of feedback weҒve received is from people who put their experience into one particular skill, only to decide theyd rather be accomplished in a different area instead. ThatҒs why youll soon be able to buy Skill Point Reset tokens from the gameҒs Cash Shop. These let you transfer points that have already been allocated from one skill to another, giving you even more flexibility over how your character develops.
Staying skilled
However you want to play MapleStory whether it֒s fast and aggressive, or laid back and friendly we֒ve ensured a range of skills that matches each and every players requirement of an entertaining and playable MMORPG. More importantly, weҒre constantly adding new skills to the game as we increase the number of jobs available players can expect another 60 or so skills when the third level of job progression is unveiled in the coming months. And as is always the case with MapleStory, every update, along with the entire game itself is completely free, forever!
Posted by Al on 08/31 at 11:58 AM
MapleStory rocks. Nexons best game by far. Also, you don't exactly do anything to get skills. You get them automatically. The only way to play MS [Maple story] is hardcore. Only way 2 level is grind grind grind xD.
· Posted by
on 08/05 at 11:22 AM
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