Farm or Buy Mesos in Classic? Doing the Hourly Math

Whether to farm or buy mesos in MapleStory Classic comes down to one number: how many mesos an hour of your play actually earns, after potions. Measure that, put it next to what the same amount would cost, and the answer is usually obvious. For most players with a few evenings a week, farming wins in the first month and stays competitive for longer than people expect. For players with almost no time and one specific goal, a small purchase can make sense. This post shows how to get your number properly, because almost everyone guesses it wrong.

We sell mesos, so take our maths with the appropriate pinch of salt. We have tried to make it something you can check yourself.

The one number that matters

Your net mesos per hour. Not the mesos that drop, and not the best hour you ever had at a lucky map. The average over a normal session, minus what you spent to get it.

That last part is where people fool themselves. A mage on a crowded map might pick up 15K in an hour and drink 8K of Blue Potions doing it. The real income there is 7K, and the real fix is a better map rather than more hours.

Measuring it properly

Do this once at your current level and you will never need to guess again.

1. Before you start, write down your meso count and how many potions you are carrying.
2. Train normally for thirty minutes. Do not chase a perfect run.
3. Write down your mesos and potions again, and note the drops you picked up.
4. Add the NPC value of the drops you would sell, and subtract the potions you used at shop prices.
5. Double the result for an hourly figure.

For the potion side, the community database for Classic lists a Red Potion at 50 mesos and a Blue Potion at 220, with a few prices still marked from the test servers; you can check them on meowdb's NPC shop table. Once you have done it, you have a number you can trust, and it is almost always lower than the one in your head.

What moves your number

Level is the obvious one. The jump in income after second job is real, and the maps around 30 to 40 pay noticeably better than anything before them; our post on making mesos from 30 to 70 has the details.

The less obvious ones matter just as much:

• The map. A slightly weaker map where you never drink a potion often beats a stronger one where you drink constantly.
• Your class. Mages pay for MP; everyone else mostly pays for HP and ammunition.
• Parties. A good Kerning PQ group earns less in mesos than a solo grind, but more in exp, and exp is what raises your hourly rate next week.
• Citizenship. From level 12, Henesys and Kerning City residents get cheaper cabs, storage and some shop items, which trims your costs every session.
• What you sell. Selling a good scroll or a useful equip to a player beats an NPC by a wide margin.

Putting it next to a price

Now the simple part. Say your goal is 300K for a second job weapon, and your measured income is 20K an hour. That is fifteen hours of play. If you have six hours a week, it is two and a half weeks. If you have twenty, it is less than one.

On the other side, check what 300K costs to buy that week, per 100K, from a seller you would actually trust. Then ask the only question that matters: is fifteen hours of your evenings worth more or less than that price to you?

Those figures are an example, not a forecast. Your measured number replaces ours, and the price changes every week in a new world. Our post on cheap Classic mesos explains how to compare quotes on equal terms.

When farming wins anyway

Plenty of times, even when the maths says otherwise.

In the first weeks of a new world, mesos are at their most expensive and farming income is at its most competitive, because nobody has flooded the market yet. Every hour you farm also levels your character, which raises your hourly rate for the next hour. And for a lot of us, the farming is the game. One of us spent most of 2005 grinding Wild Boars outside Perion with a guildmate, mostly talking, and those are some of the best evenings either of us remembers.

It is also free of risk to your account. Buying breaks Nexon's terms, and our honest take on buying does not dress that up.

When buying can make sense

If your measured number is low, your time is short, and you have one goal you can name, a small purchase can turn a frustrating month into a good one. Buy the gap between what you can farm by the weekend and what the item costs. Not more.

Our advice either way: do the thirty-minute measurement first. It costs nothing, it usually points you at a better map, and half the time it settles the question on its own.