******************************************************************************* **************************************************** gabrielkfl and AnnaKwain's Guide to the Area Brawler **************************************************** ********************************** PROLOGUE ********************************* 14/10/08: First version is out. 29/10/08: Corrected all mistranslations acording to Nexon Pirate Teaser 03/11/08: Changed the whole build to ease training. 10/11/08: Minor changes. 12/11/08: Even minor changes people are e-mailing about.* 13/11/08: Changed 1st job and 2nd job builds for faster leveling. 16/09/09: Minor changes. * For those who have asked, the training spots for at least the three first jobs might be uploaded in about two weeks (after I finally get some time to breathe here >_< ). First of all, this guide was created to be as clean as possible. It explains AP distribution at a basic level, as well as Skills and the reasons for every- thing that was written here. After the Pirate Teaser was updated on GMS main page, I had to correct most namings that were wrong, and I might have left one or two behind. If you find a mistake like that, please inform us by e-mail (our e-adresses are at the bottom of the guide). ************************** WHY TO BECOME A PIRATE? ************************** The main reason why anyone would ever want to become a pirate is simply the innovation of the Class. This is the only Maple Story job up to now that has not been released along with it's original version, three years ago. This makes pirates the newest and more interesting MS class we have. So, what's the basic difference between a Brawler and a Gunslinger? Aside from being one a close combatent and the other a long-range shooter, Brawlers have more mobbing skills, and their skill deal huge amounts of damage, but these are also really slow skills, with long animations (as Dragon Strike) or cooldown time (corkscrew Punch is one). On the other hand, Gunslingers are fast and shoot almost as many bullets per second as a Sin, but their skills have low damage. In the end, Brawlers have as many Damage Points per Second as a Gunslinger has, but the Gunslinger is a more expensive (high level bullets) and harder to train job. Also, why to become an Area Brawler (which deals more area damage) rather than a 1v1 Brawler (which deals more single-enemy damage)? Simply because the area skills are much better than the 1v1 skills. Compare, for example, Flash Fist, that deals 270% damage to one foe, with Sommersault Kick, that deals almost 200% damage to six monsters. Let's face the facts, until really high levels, you will not kill any hard bosses at all (mostly because you will train on CPQ, not LPQ) Also, being able to kill many monsters at once makes you level much faster. *********************** THE CHARACTERISTICS OF PIRATES ********************** This might seem odd, but there is not much difference between a Pirate and a Thief. First of all, each one has a Long-range and a Short-range attacking path. Second, Gunslingers use bullets in a similar way to a Sin's Stars, having even a skill that allows each of them to carry more of a certaing projectile. Third, Brawlers use Knuclers, usually Fast or Normal short-range weapons, which can be compared with a Bandit's daggers. ****************************** AP DISTRIBUTION ****************************** When creating a new character, try to roll the dice until you can get as close to this build as possible: STR = Any Number DEX = Any Number INT = 4 LUK = 4 This is not absolutely necessary. If you don't want to waste a lot of time trying to reach these results, getting a 5 or even a 6 INT and LUK won't influence THAT much on your damage. At the very first levels, put your APs on DEX until it becomes equal to 20. This is the minimun amount of DEX you need to make your first job advancement to a Pirate. After reaching that mark, put all your remaining APs on STR. Until you reach level 20, keep putting all your points on STR. The basic rule for an Brawler's AP distribution is to put a single point on DEX at each level after 20 and the 4 other points on STR, in a way your DEX will always be equal to your Level. For example, if you are at Lv25, you should have DEX=25 and all the rest of the points should be spent on STR. ********************** PIRATE (FIRST JOB ADVANCEMENT) *********************** At level 10, with DEX=20, go to Nautilus Port, on Victoria Island, right of the city of Henesys. Enter the Nautilus Ship through a portal on the "whaleish" sub. Navigate through it with the area map (press W) to the lower room, until you find an NPC, a Pirate by the name of Kyrin, to whom you can talk in order to make your First Job Advancement. If you fit the requirements (and I am sure you do, since you were reading this guide up to now), she will turn you into a Pirate. ************************* SKILLS AND SP DISTRIBUTION ************************ The first skill you should max at early levels is Sommersault Kick, as it will make you level up faster, and the order of skills will not really matter at levels 30 and up. Sommersault Kick hits six mobs at once with almost 200% damage on each, which helps a lot on training. It is highly recommended that you do NOT put any points on dash, even though you'll have an extra point on level 30. This is because you might press the arrow key twice while training or doing stuff like jumping on Party Quests (thanks to ~Willcrazy here). Another consideration, maxing Bullet Time before Flash Fist is important even though you should not train on really strong monsters (prefer to train on mobs you can kill with one or two hits of Sommersault Kick). Brawlers usually have low accuracy, and this skill might help you when taking on thougher monsters. LEVEL - SKILLS [POINTS] ---------------------------- 10 - Sommersault Kick [1] 11 - Sommersault Kick [4] 12 - Sommersault Kick [7] 13 - Sommersault Kick [10] 14 - Sommersault Kick [13] 15 - Sommersault Kick [16] 16 - Sommersault Kick [19] 17 - Sommersault Kick [20] + Bullet Time [2] 18 - Bullet Time [5] 19 - Bullet Time [8] 20 - Bullet Time [11] 21 - Bullet Time [14] 22 - Bullet Time [17] 23 - Bullet Time [20] 24 - Flash Fist [3] 25 - Flash Fist [6] 26 - Flash Fist [9] 27 - Flash Fist [12] 28 - Flash Fist [15] 29 - Flash Fist [18] 30 - Flash Fist [20] + Double Shot [1] ********************* BRAWLER (SECOND JOB ADVANCEMENT) ********************** When you reach level 30, go to Nautilus Port again, talk to Kyrin and she will warp you to another map. Keep killing the monsters there until you get enough crystals. Finally, talk to Kyrin again and choose to become an Brawler. ************************ SKILLS AND SP DISTRIBUTION ************************* The following build is not actually easy to train, specially because you will first max skills that do not influence on combat at early levels. But this is suppose to be a clean build, so we'll put here the cleanest skill distribution ever for this job. Also, corkscrew Blow might seem better than Backspin Blow for the damage, but it's a slow skill, so, Backspin Blow is much better for training. (another thanks to ~willcrazy). LEVEL - SKILLS [POINTS] ---------------------------- 30 - Improve MaxHP [1] 31 - Improve MaxHP [4] 32 - Improve MaxHP [7] 33 - Improve MaxHP [10] 34 - Knucler Mastery [3] 35 - Knucler Mastery [5] + Knucler Booster [1] 36 - Knucler Booster [4] 37 - Knucler Booster [5] + Knucler Mastery [7] 38 - Knucler Mastery [10] 39 - Knucler Mastery [13] 40 - Knucler Mastery [16] 41 - Knucler Mastery [19] 42 - Backspin Blow [3] 43 - Backspin Blow [6] 44 - Backspin Blow [9] 45 - Backspin Blow [12] 46 - Backspin Blow [15] 47 - Backspin Blow [18] 48 - Backspin Blow [20] + Double Uppercut [1] 49 - Double Uppercut [4] 50 - Double Uppercut [7] 51 - Double Uppercut [10] 52 - Double Uppercut [13] 53 - Double Uppercut [16] 54 - Double Uppercut [19] 55 - Double Uppercut [20] + Knucler Booster [7] 56 - Knucler Booster [10] 57 - Knucler Booster [13] 58 - Knucler Booster [16] 59 - Knucler Booster [19] 60 - Knucler Booster [20] + Oak Barrel [1] + Mp Recovery [1] 61 - Mp Recovery [4] 62 - Mp Recovery [7] 63 - Mp Recovery [10] 64 - corkscrew Blow [3] 65 - corkscrew Blow [6] 66 - corkscrew Blow [9] 67 - corkscrew Blow [12] 68 - corkscrew Blow [15] 69 - corkscrew Blow [18] 70 - corkscrew Blow [20] + Knucler Mastery [1] This is an Area build, which means fast training and fast leveling. Double Uppercut after level 48 means you'll be training on Ludibrium Maze at level 51+ but if you prefer to train on mobs instead, exchange this skill with Knucle Booster, so that you can train faster. The one point on Oak Barrel at level 60 is for Sharenian Guild PQ, but if you want to train on LPQ instead of CPQ, you can put that point on level 35 and delay the other skills. An important thing to consider here is not to put all 20 points on Knucler Mastery at first. This is because the 19th and the 20th level of these skills have 60% Mastery. The only difference between them is 1 accuracy point, which you will probably not need. ********************** MARAUDER (THIRD JOB ADVANCEMENT) ********************* The Marauder (reached at level 70) is where you start to deal really high damage. Specially because of the combo Transformation + Shockwave, to deal massive area damage. This is also when you'll start to need 1v1 skills, since it's the perfect level for Herb Town Party Quest, but you already have Double Uppercut, so it's still better to max area skills. ************************ SKILLS AND SP DISTRIBUTION ************************* Some people say that Energy Blast is important. But, at it's max level, it only hits one monster more than corkscrew Blow, and at a cost of 30 skill points and a charge time that's almost the same as this skill. The Transformation + Shockwave combination, though, is much more aggressive, considering that, at max level, Shockwave deals 700% damage to 6 monsters. That combination is powerfull, but you will most likely rely on second job skills even after it's maxed, since you can only Transform every 4 minutes. But, to ease training once again, we prefer to max first Stun Mastery, which you will combine with Backspin Blow and Knucler Booster for faster training. LEVEL - SKILLS [POINTS] ---------------------------- 70 - Stun Mastery [1] 71 - Stun Mastery [4] 72 - Stun Mastery [7] 73 - Stun Mastery [10] 74 - Stun Mastery [13] 75 - Stun Mastery [16] 76 - Stun Mastery [19] 77 - Stun Mastery [20] + Transformation [2] 78 - Transformation [4] + Shockwave [1] 79 - Transformation [6] + Shockwave [2] 80 - Transformation [8] + Shockwave [3] 81 - Transformation [10] + Shockwave [4] 82 - Transformation [12] + Shockwave [5] 83 - Transformation [14] + Shockwave [6] 84 - Transformation [16] + Shockwave [7] 85 - Transformation [18] + Shockwave [8] 86 - Transformation [20] + Shockwave [9] 87 - Shockwave [12] 88 - Shockwave [15] 89 - Shockwave [18] 90 - Shockwave [21] 91 - Shockwave [24] 92 - Shockwave [27] 93 - Shockwave [30] 94 - Energy Charge [3] 95 - Energy Charge [6] 96 - Energy Charge [9] 97 - Energy Charge [12] 98 - Energy Charge [15] 99 - Energy Charge [18] 100 - Energy Charge [21] 101 - Energy Charge [24] 102 - Energy Charge [27] 103 - Energy Charge [30] 104 - Energy Charge [33] 105 - Energy Charge [36] 106 - Energy Charge [39] 107 - Energy Charge [40] + Energy Blast [2] 108 - Energy Blast [5] 109 - Energy Blast [8] 110 - Energy Blast [11] 111 - Energy Blast [14] 112 - Energy Blast [15] 113 - Energy Blast [18] 114 - Energy Blast [21] 115 - Energy Blast [24] 116 - Energy Blast [27] 117 - Energy Blast [30] 118 - Unused Points [3] 119 - Unused Points [6] 120 - Unused Points [9] Energy Charge, alone, is an awesome skill since it gives you a huge Weapon Attack bonus on high levels, so you don't really need Energy Blast at first. Here you have more 11 remaining points. Most people would simply apply them into Energy Drain, but that's a skill you will never use once you have Energy Blast. So, here you get to decide where they will be spent, but don't keep them for the fourth job skills, since you wont be able to spend them there anyway. ******************** BUCCANEER (FOURTH JOB ADVANCEMENT) ********************* The brawler 4th job, Bucanner, is full of awesome stuff. Skills that deal 900% area damage that don't require you to be Transformed. Skills that attack a monster 8 times with a 400% damage, and all the rest. ************************ SKILLS AND SP DISTRIBUTION ************************* Since 4th job has Mastery Books and all, there is no certain level to max a specific skill. The first two skills you should max are one 1v1 (Barrage or Demolition) and one area damage (Dragon Strike or Energy Orb) skill. The one to max first is at your choice, but we recommend you get Dragon Strike, Super Transformation and Demolition, at this order. Reason: Dragon Strike deals almost the same damage as Energy Orb, and can be used over and over without wait time, being the perfect skill for training. So, why to max Demolition and not Barrage? Because you will only need a 1v1 skill for killing boss monsters, and this means you'll be Transformed when you do. Even if it requires you to max Super Transformation before, we think it's worth the cause, since you have Dragon Strike to train until then. **************************** CREDITS AND STUFF ****************************** Special thanks to Hidden-Street.net for the Skill Spoiler, To ~Willcrazy, for correcting the build at some points. To Daemarius, for the ideas over Transformation + Shockwave build, To Nexon and Wizet, to whom belong most copyright, for hosting the game, To Sleepywood.net for a few screenshots, To all the folks from Amacna guild on BMS, To all our friends from JMS, and to you, for reading this guide. --> Found a mistake? Got any doubts left? Ideas? Suggestions? Contact us: * gabrielkfl100@hotmail.com * annakwain@yahoo.com.br ******************************************************************************* This guide is licensed and protected under a Creative-Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 3.0 United States-Commons license. This means you are free to copy and share it, but not to sell it, and as long as you give me credit for the original one. (link back to where you got it) *******************************************************************************