Best Classes for a First Character on Old Maple's Balance

Picking a class in old Maple was a bigger commitment than it is now. No free job changes, no SP resets without a cash shop item, and a level 70 character represented months of your life. So people argued about it, endlessly, in Henesys and on forums, and mostly they argued about the same thing: which class is the most fun to level versus which one is the cheapest to keep going.

Those are different questions, and if MapleStory Classic follows the pre-Big Bang balance, the answer to the second one still matters a lot. Here is how we see the explorer classes and their branches.

The classes and their branches

Explorers only, assuming the game is set before the Cygnus Knights and Aran era. The original four, with two or three branches each, and then Pirates, who came later.

• Warrior: Fighter (Crusader, Hero), Page (White Knight, Paladin), Spearman (Dragon Knight, Dark Knight)
• Magician: Fire/Poison Wizard, Ice/Lightning Wizard, Cleric (Priest, Bishop)
• Bowman: Hunter (Ranger, Bowmaster), Crossbowman (Sniper, Marksman)
• Thief: Assassin (Hermit, Night Lord), Bandit (Chief Bandit, Shadower)
• Pirate: Brawler (Marauder, Buccaneer), Gunslinger (Outlaw, Corsair)

What each feels like in the old balance

Warriors hit hard and get hit hard. Pre-Big Bang warriors had the worst early game of any class because their accuracy was low and every miss cost a potion. From about level 35 with a decent weapon they became the party's front line, and a Dragon Knight at 70 with Crusher was a joy in Ludibrium. Spearman was the popular pick for a reason: Hyper Body made you welcome in every party.

Magicians were the easy mode of early Maple, and we mean that fondly. Magic Claw carried you to 30 with almost no potion use, and Magic Guard meant you could survive things you had no business surviving. Ice/Lightning wizards were the fastest levellers from about 35 onward. Clerics were slower to level but never lacked a party, and a Priest with Holy Symbol was the most requested character in the game.

Bowmen were the class everyone underrated. Slow to start, weak until Arrow Bomb or Iron Arrow, then very solid. Rangers with Strafe at 70 out-damaged most things and did it from range, which mattered when a stray hit could take half your HP.

Thieves split hard. Assassins had the best single-target damage in the game after Avenger and Triple Throw, and Hermits were the class every kid wanted. Bandits were tougher, cheaper, and later became the meso-farming class of choice with Meso Explosion, which was unique and slightly ridiculous.

Pirates arrived in late 2007 with a weird, fun kit. Brawlers were mobile melee with good survivability, Gunslingers were bowmen with a different flavour and a bullet cost to match.

Cost to gear and maintain

This is where the class you pick decides how many mesos you need over the next six months. Old Maple had real upkeep, and it was not evenly distributed. Our meso economy post explains where the money went, but roughly, per class, it looked like this.

Class	Early upkeep	Endgame gear pressure	Main sink
Warrior	High	Medium	Potions, especially before 35
Magician	Very low	High at 4th job	Elemental wands and staves
Bowman	Low	Medium	Bows and arrows, cheap
Assassin	Medium	Very high	Stars (Ilbis, Steelys), Work Gloves
Bandit	Low	Medium	Daggers, Work Gloves
Pirate	Medium	Medium	Bullets for Gunslingers, Knuckles

The Assassin row deserves a note. Throwing stars were the single most expensive item category in the old game. Subis were fine, Ilbis were the dream, and a set of Ilbis cost more than most players' entire inventory until well into a server's life. Add Work Gloves scrolled for Attack and you have a class where the difference between a rich Hermit and a poor one was enormous. It is the class where people ended up trying to buy mesos, which Nexon bans for and always has; our honest take weighs that properly.

Warriors were the opposite. Their gear was straightforward and cheap, but the potion bill from 10 to 35 was brutal. We remember buying White Potions in bulk from the Henesys shop and watching the mesos vanish faster than the exp arrived.

Mages were, plainly, cheap. Magic Guard and a bit of care meant a Cleric could grind for hours on a handful of Blue Potions, and Priests got paid to exist in parties. A great many people made a Cleric as a second character purely to fund their main, and the leeching post covers the more organised version of that.

Our picks for a first character

Two answers, depending on what kind of player you are.

If you want the smoothest possible run to 70 and a character that always finds a party, make a Cleric. It is the cheapest class in the game to keep going, it is the safest, and you will be one of the most wanted people in every LPQ and OPQ channel. The tradeoff is that solo damage is poor until Bishop, and Bishop is a long way away.

If you want damage, want to be the person the party looks to when the Skelegons show up, and can live with a rough start, make a Spearman. Hyper Body gets you parties from 30 onward, Dragon Knight is tanky enough to be forgiving, and warrior gear is cheap enough that you can spend your mesos on scrolls instead of stars.

We would not roll an Assassin first, however much we love them, because it is the class where lack of mesos hurts most and a fresh server has no mesos. Make it your second character, when you have a Cleric funding it.

One of us made a Hunter in 2005 on the advice of a stranger in Kerning City who said bowmen were "the smart choice". He was right, but it took until level 45 to believe him. That is the old balance in one sentence: the slow classes paid off, and the fast classes cost you.

Whatever you pick, decide before launch. Our prep guide explains why.