~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~- Tagg’s Analysis On the Gunslinger-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~ -=-=-=-=-=-=-=- Table Of Contents -=-=-=-=-=-=-=- I. My Opinion On Pirates II. My Opinion On Gunslingers III. Gunslinger Summary IV. Gunslinger Training Ground Analysis V. Credits -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- I. My Opinion On Pirates My original outlook on the pirate was pretty neutral. I was pretty sure it would ruin Maple Story’s already stable system with an unneeded and unwanted fifth class. Everybody would rush to become a pirate (which they did, more on this later) and the worlds would be overpopulated with them. Their flashy skills, however, impressed me. It looked pretty cool and especially with the option of fighting with guns. I couldn’t wait to see how it would impact Maple Story. Now that It’s been released, I’ve been able to play a bit as a pirate and experience its ups and downs. I’ve also noticed that only positive things have been said about pirates. I’d like to give a different view on pirates. A quick general definition of pirates would be – A weakened combination of different skills from each of the classes that form a fifth “cool” class. It’s obvious (to me at least) that Nexon took some shortcuts when making the Pirate class (no offense). For example if you assemble two or three pirates and have them use double shot repeatedly, the speed of the attacks hitting the monsters is, in my opinion, the equivalent of hurricane (and gunslingers do get a hurricane type attack in 4th class). The sounds (for the skills) also could be more realistic. I don’t know about you but I train better when my attacks make cool sounds both when executed and when they hit. Just pushes me to use it more often. It sounds like they recycled some other classes sounds. There are a couple positives about pirates though. They give a creative addition to the standard classes that most mmorpg’s already have. Though the classes may not be exactly warrior, magician, thief, and bowman; it’s pretty much some form of those. Also, who doesn’t want to say, “I’M A PIRATE, LIKE JOHNNY DEPP!” (lol). Also, they’re extremely powerful at higher levels. In conclusion, most people will become a pirate for their first maple character due to the “coolness” of the pirate and the lure of something new but they will end up either quitting or restarting because they don’t have enough patience. -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- II. My Opinion On Gunslingers Gunslingers are two things. Fast and weak. Their strength comes from overwhelming enemies with rapid successions of attacks. However, due to their low and unstable damage at lower levels, lower leveled gunslingers will find themselves training at weird places for long periods of time (more on this later). Furthermore, they’ll find that they can’t do many of the party quests that other classes at their level are immersed in (such as kpq). Each class has a death level range where you have to push and grind and bore yourself to death in order to pass. For mages it’s levels 1-17 (for the mp build), for bowmen it’s 50-70, and for the gunslinger it’s about 21-40. At these levels it’s crazy hard to level up. Gunslingers are unable to kill the crocs in KPQ (due to low damage) and I wouldn’t recommend trying it until level 25 or so. This harsh period continues through level 30 where our damage is unstable and our damage is so low that gunslingers can’t even score a 30 in cpq. Thankfully, Gun Mastery raises the minimum damage and provides some stability to the damage. The level range of the gunslinger’s torture zone is very badly placed. Magician’s levels at 1-17 is easily remedied due to the quests and easy training grounds at Maple Island and HPQ which quickly levels low levels. Also, by the time bowmen are 50, they have decent damage and are able to grind effectively. As a gunslinger however, you have low damage and must resort to grinding on monsters a lot lower leveled than you are. At really high levels though, gunslingers become one of the better classes of the game, especially with the battleship attacks increasing both defense and offense. Getting this high is the problem, as most people who play Maple Story can’t dedicate most of their time to it and don’t have the patience to get to level 70. In conclusion, gunslingers start out slow and gradually get better the higher you level. However most maplers rarely get to the level that’s needed to be considered “pwnful”. Due to this, they are not the best choice for your first class in Maple Story. I’d only recommend someone to pursue a full fledged gunslinger if they’re willing to dedicate time and money (2x exp) to Maple Story. -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- III. Gunslinger Summary - Quick but weak at lower levels - Requires patience - Must train at lower leveled training grounds - Expensive armor and weapons - Powerful at higher levels - Cool armor and skills - Aren’t able to pq at minimum levels effectively - Kills monsters pretty quickly which means more experience - Great at KSing other people - Uses tons of mp pots -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- IV. Gunslinger Training Grounds Analysis Due to the weak damage gunslingers manage to do, they’re forced to train at weaker locations (as mentioned many times before). This is offset by the fact that they kill monsters at amazing speeds. I have compiled quick list for where an average gunslinger can train effectively. Level 1-10 ~ Maple Island quests and snails Level 10-15 ~ Henesys Hunting Ground I or Henesys Party Quest Level 15-25 ~ Pig Beach or Henesys Hunting Ground I * Level 25-30 ~ Kerning Party Quest or Caution Falling Down Maple Island quests is pretty obvious. Just finish those and you’ll already get at least three levels. I say snails rather than, say, orange mushrooms because with the AP build that average gunslingers follow, you’ll probably do about a maximum of 15 (?). Killing snails would be quick and efficient if combined with quests. When training at Henesys Hunting Ground I, I would stick to the bottom level where you can easily kill snails with your regular attacks. Let your mana fill up and then raid the slimes. This will level you at a decent rate. Henesys Party Quest is a decent alternative if you can find a party to accept you. It provides tons of experience and you’ll level pretty fast. Pig Beach is the obvious choice here. Assuming you’re consistently leveling up double shot first, you’ll be able to kill the pigs in one to three hits. They give twice the experience as slimes in about the same about of hits and they’re concentrated in one little area. Also, the pirate training quests require pigs so why not kill two birds with one stone? Find an area and just grind, this map works really well with 2x exp. You’ll notice I also put Henesys Hunting Ground I here. At this level you can probably graduate to sniping the mushies at the top two levels of HHI. There’s a high chance you may be ksed here due to the large population of newbies training here. The reason I put Kerning Party Quest at level 25 is because at lower levels your damage would be so low, you’d be doing 1s and 10s. Even at 25 you should expect a long time killing gators. However, you’ll be more likely to be recruited and you can look for parties with mages and sorta leech ;). An alternative to KPQ would be the hidden street map CFD. Located on top of the tower one map left of Kerning, it’s filled with octopi and blue mushrooms that spawn at godly rates. Yay for quick skills =D. *At level 20 you can try Ariant Party Questing. I would recommend finding a friend (or five to get tons of points when winning) and just taking turns winning. Start early in order to get a better chance at that chair =P I’d say it’s worth it. -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- V. Credits I hope you’ve benefited from the analysis I have taken the time to make. I’ll add onto it once I progress further into the gunslinger job. Patience is a virtue and I’d say it would apply very nicely here. Good Luck with your gunslinger if you decide to make one. Thanks to: HiddenStreet for the 3rd and 4th job gunslingers skills Nexon and Wizet for creating Maple Story Hidden Street Demethos for introducing me to a new maps If you have any suggestions or would like to express your view on gunslingers, don’t hesitate to e-mail me at roniwog@gmail.com or contact me ingame in Demethos on GunnerTagg.