Hello.

This guide focuses on archiving, looking at the features that keep a record of your gameplay experiences.

I have gathered the official features in MapleStory that document your character’s journey, with an introduction to each and its key details to help newcomers understand what they offer.

The Auto Screenshot Feature in Settings

Screenshots are one of the best ways to revisit your memories of a game, but taking them at every memorable moment is not always easy, and it is common to forget to take them at all.

A helpful option is “Auto Screenshot,” which you can enable in the Screenshot tab in Settings. With this feature enabled, the game automatically takes a screenshot whenever you level up, register a new monster in Monster Collection, or complete an achievement, saving it to the location shown above.

Unless you uncheck this option, these automatic screenshots will continue to accumulate. If you have been playing without paying much attention to the feature, browsing through them together can be an enjoyable way to rediscover old memories, as they present your character’s journey in chronological order.

Even if revisiting these memories does not interest you, it is worth remembering that the feature also captures every level-up for characters you are training for Legion, and those screenshots can eventually take up considerable storage space. An incidental benefit of checking the folder, then, is the chance to free up space by deleting them if too many have accumulated.

Keep in mind, however, that screenshots saved to your MapleStory folder could be lost when you reinstall the game or otherwise remove that folder.

MapleStory currently has the 3 official features shown above for recording your explorations. Let us take a brief look at what each offers.

[World Archive]

World Archive is the newest of these 3 collection features, allowing you to collect research records by speaking to an NPC once or defeating a monster once.

Registering an entry lets you view the research record for that subject. The feature is similar to the Monster Book, but its inclusion of NPCs provides richer coverage, while its simpler registration process makes it an improvement in several respects.

With only areas up to Arcane River currently available, it is far easier to complete than the other 2 features discussed below.

This is because registration is guaranteed, unlike Monster Collection, where it depends on chance, or achievements, which often have challenging requirements.

Completing the entire collection will become dramatically more difficult once Grandis is added, however, as high-level boss monsters will then be included among the collection targets.

Special research records are also available through particular interactions, such as conversations with NPCs, while the appendix comes with supplementary information on races, terminology, and history. These additions have earned it a reputation as a thoughtfully developed feature. Naturally, it offers little if you have no interest in the story, but because it does not affect your character’s strength, you can comfortably leave it aside.

World Archive progress is shared across your Maple ID, and boss monsters cannot be registered in Practice Mode.

[World Archive]: Collection Rewards

You can claim a reward for every 250 research records collected, up to 1500 records, and all of the rewards are cosmetic items.

• [250 Records] Knowledge Appraiser Chair

• [500 Records] Maple World Map - Maple Home Furniture

• [750 Records] Knowledge Pioneer Chair

• [1000 Records] Maple World Map Custom Background

• [1250 Records] Character Selection Screen Theme

• [1500 Records] Arcane River Map Custom Background

[World Archive]: How Difficult Are the Rewards to Earn?

As you can see, all of these items are cosmetic, which has the advantage of leaving you free to skip the feature if none of them appeals to you.

The character selection screen theme, available after collecting 1250 research records, is a popular reward. It was not especially difficult to obtain even when the archive only covered Maple World, but the Arcane River archive update added 233 entries, bringing the current maximum to 1633 and making it a very manageable goal. With a little more time, you can also obtain the Arcane River custom background at 1500 records. If your immediate goal is the character selection screen reward, the calculation looks like this:

• 1699 (Maximum Available Entries) -1250 (Entries Required for the Character Selection Screen) -67 (Maximum Entries from The Seed) = 382 (Entries You Can Skip)

On Victoria Island, some entries require you to complete theme dungeons or story quests again, while others involve NPCs who can only be registered at the end of the Zakum jump quest map. The important point is that every entry is worth 1 point, regardless of how difficult it is to register, so unless you are aiming for a complete collection, you can freely skip the more demanding ones.

In Arcane River, all stories can currently be skipped, and you can register entries simply by traveling around the maps without completing quests again. A practical approach is to use the Premium Teleport World Map feature to register everything there, then fill in the remaining entries on Victoria Island.

Here are some reference notes for Victoria Island:

• Kerning Tower/Ellinel Fairy Academy/Secret Forest of Elodin/Gold Beach Resort/Mushroom Castle/Riena Strait/Lion King’s Castle/Fantasy Theme World/Korean Folk Town/Ellin Forest/Omega Sector/Colossus/Golden Temple: Registering everything requires quest progress, but if you are not aiming for a complete collection, you can register whatever is accessible while traveling around and skip the rest.

• The Seed, the Undersea Tower: Many entries are available here, but there is a great deal to learn if you have never played it before, so you can skip it.

• Entries you can skip because they are inconvenient to register: Neinheart and Lightning at the Gate to the Future (requires story progress)/the Forgotten Temple Keeper at the Temple of Time (requires story progress)/Mu Gong in Mu Lung/the 3 types of flying monsters in Scrapyard/Lira in the Dead Mine (at the end of the jump quest map).

• Maple Island: Only Explorer classes can travel here using a beginner skill.

• Firebomb in the Dead Mine: Head to the lava at the far left of the Cave of Trials 2.

• 아우라 and 알리 in the Dead Mine: Found in the mine cave investigation map and the investigation exit map.

• 루이스 in Ellinia: Accept the Forest of Endurance quest from Hersha, then enter through Shane to register this NPC.

• The robots in Haven whose names are not displayed can also be registered.

• Snack Bar is located inside this portal. You can only damage Balrog once 3 minutes have passed after entering.

• Karta’s location in Aquarium

• Leviathan’s location in Leafre

• Security Robot L’s location: Moves when hit with a normal attack.

• You can enter the town in Kritias using the Teleport World Map even without completing the quests.

• Lionel’s location in Edelstein

[Monster Collection]

Added in 2015, Monster Collection is a collection feature that gives you a chance to register a monster whenever you defeat it.

Successfully registering a monster triggers a notification like the one above, accompanied by a sound effect. Dedicated collectors often say that the sense of accomplishment at that moment motivates them to keep trying, particularly when the monster was difficult to register.

The collection covers almost every kind of monster, from regular monsters and bosses to Elite Monsters with specific modifiers (such as Poisonous Homunscullo, which also appeared in the recent Jin event), flying monsters designed to prevent players from remaining idle, and monsters encountered only during certain quests. Players who pursue it seriously therefore invest an enormous amount of time and effort, and higher-level monsters are said to be more difficult to register.

Unlike the Monster Book or World Archive, Monster Collection does not provide additional information about a monster after you register it. Collection progress is shared within the world.

Besides defeating monsters, you can register entries using Mysterious Momons, which are sold in event coin shops or given as Sunny Sunday gifts.

[Monster Collection] Rewards for Completing 1 Row or 1 Page

Monster Collection rewards fall into 3 broad categories. First, completing 1 row lets you claim the box assigned to that row.

These boxes contain a small amount of mesos, a Reward Points bundle, trait-related items, and enhancement items (Spell Traces and the scrolls shown above). They once included other enhancement items, such as Rebirth Flames and Master Craftsman’s Cubes, but those were removed one by one as the items were reworked, leaving virtually none of those additional rewards today.

Completing an entire page also lets you claim an additional item reward, though these currently offer so little value relative to the effort required that they are rewards in name only.

Page completion rewards also include cube chairs like those shown above, which are generally regarded as Monster Collection’s distinctive and meaningful rewards. These chairs can be combined into stacks for your character to sit on.

All recently added page completion rewards have been cube chairs. Given how demanding this collection feature is, there seems to be a concern that offering rewards that improve character strength or provide material benefits would make players feel compelled to participate.

[Monster Collection] The Exploration System and Its Rewards

Once you complete 1 row in Monster Collection, you can send it on an exploration to earn rewards, with both the rewards and the duration determined by that row’s box tier. You need a character at level 200 or above to start explorations, and you can claim exploration rewards up to 10 times per day per Maple ID.

• Small Exploration Box Row: Rewards available every 1 hour

• Adequate Exploration Box Row: Rewards available every 3 hours

• Decent Exploration Box Row: Rewards available every 6 hours

• Substantial Exploration Box Row: Rewards available every 24 hours

You can unlock up to 5 exploration slots by reaching the collection totals shown above. Exploration rewards are the same as the box rewards discussed earlier, except that they do not include mesos.

At present, the main reward is the Reward Points bundle. Each Substantial-tier exploration provides around 140 Reward Points, so collecting 600 monsters and completing 5 Substantial rows allows you to earn approximately 700 Reward Points per day.

[Monster Collection] Goals for Newcomers

In practice, remembering to claim exploration rewards every 6 to 12 hours can be inconvenient, so players generally prefer Substantial Exploration Box rows, which only require collection every 24 hours. All 5 exploration slots unlock at 600 entries, making 600 registered monsters and 5 completed Substantial Exploration Box rows the usual long-term goal.

However, other enhancement material rewards have been removed, leaving Reward Points as the main reward, and these also count toward the monthly earning limit of 50,000. I would therefore suggest first working toward 300 monsters and 4 Substantial rows relatively quickly, then expanding your collection when you have time.

This is especially relevant now that most new and returning players begin in Challenger World, where Monster Collection is unavailable. Above all, there is no need to feel rushed about completing it.

Monsters at level 100 or below are said to have a very high registration chance, making them a good starting point. To make registration easier, you can stack the effects of the Explorer Bowman Link Skill, event buff skills, and Sunny Sunday.

Recently, the relevant Sunny Sunday event has taken place approximately every 4 months, outside of Special Sunny Sunday events.

There are several Substantial Exploration Box rows to choose from, but those shown above are generally considered reasonably straightforward to complete.

Some rows only require you to register a single monster, as shown here, so you can take your time with these as well.

[Monster Collection] Cube Chair Reward Gallery

These chairs depict the main monster or character in each row. Most are difficult to obtain in the game, so the gallery below is simply a chance to look through their designs.

[Monster Collection] Medal Rewards

Finally, you can earn medals by registering a certain number of monsters in each region, with the difficulty varying from region to region.

• Register 50 monsters in Victoria Island / Register 35 monsters in FriendStory

• Register 100 monsters in Victoria Island / Register 45 monsters on the islands near Victoria

• Register 50 monsters in Edelstein / Register 50 monsters in the El Nath Mountains

• Register 50 monsters in Ludus Lake / Register 20 monsters in Aqua Road

• Register 40 monsters in the Nihal Desert / Register 35 monsters in Mu Lung Garden

• Register 50 monsters in Minar Forest / Register 50 monsters in the Temple of Time

• Register 50 monsters in Grandis / Register 50 monsters in Arcane River

[Achievements]

The final feature is Maple Achievements, added in 2017, which records almost every activity you can perform in the game and awards achievements when you meet specific conditions.

The system is broad and detailed, with many requirements that depend on luck, such as obtaining particular items, making it a genuinely challenging undertaking. Fortunately, it offers no rewards that affect character strength, so the pressure to participate is close to 0. At the extreme end, an achievement requires you to reach 30 Star Force stars yourself, making it unrealistic to complete every achievement.

Newcomers therefore do not need to give this feature much attention. Even later, there is no need to set aside time for it unless you enjoy pursuing achievements in depth or want the Maple Home furniture discussed below.

Hover over an achievement’s points, as shown here, to see its completion rate.

For achievements such as regional exploration, adding them to the tracker as shown here lets you view more detailed information.

Maple Achievements progress is shared across your Maple ID.

[Maple Achievements] Maple Home Furniture

The Maple Home update added furniture rewards to certain achievements, allowing you to place those items inside your home.

These pieces primarily draw on distinctive features of boss monsters. I will cover them in more detail another time if the opportunity arises.

[Maple Achievements] Honorary Reward: Maple Emblem

The “Maple Emblem” is an honorary reward based on your achievement tier and ranking. Activating it from your beginner skills displays the corresponding emblem above your character for 5 seconds.

The current tiers are shown here, with their requirements and emblem effects below. At the time of writing, the player in 1st place has an impressive 42460 points.

• Bronze: 10 points ~ 4999 points

• Silver: 5000 points ~ 19999 points

• Gold: 20000 points ~ 29999 points

• Platinum: 30000 points ~ 35999 points

• Diamond: 36000 points and above

• Master: Ranks 1~100 among players at Platinum tier or above

Thank you for reading.