Hello.

This time, the theme is affinity quests, with a look at some memorable in-game quests that involve building affinity.

MapleStory does not have what you would typically call an affinity system, but quests that increase your popularity and traits upon completion could be considered an indirect version of one.

These are found only among the quests on Victoria Island, so you could view them either as remnants of the past or as a distinctive feature. Personally, I like this element because it gives the NPCs' emotional reactions a little more weight.

That aside, players still look for popularity quests, so this article focuses on quests that fit the theme and offer substantial popularity rewards. Below the summary, I have included detailed scripts for each quest, along with related material worth a look, so you can follow the quest stories here even if you skip the dialogue in-game.

Summary of Quests with High Popularity Rewards

To start, there is a somewhat lesser-known achievement called [Take Care of Your Own Popularity]. It requires you to complete 6 quests, each of which awards between 12 and 30 popularity, for a total of 114 popularity by completing them all.

• <The Truth Behind the Conspiracy> : 12 popularity / About 3 minutes - Kerning City : JM From tha Street

[Kerning City] The Dark Swamp → JM's Conspiracy Theory → Mong from Kong's Information → Nella's Information → Information Gathering Complete → The Truth Behind the Conspiracy

• <Eliza's Long Sleep> : 20 popularity / About 20 minutes - Orbis : Kriel the Fairy

Complete the quest chain starting with [Orbis] Helping the Townspeople.

• <Restoring the Snow Spirit Statue> : 20 popularity / About 5 minutes - El Nath : Jade

The Giant Creature of the Snowfield → The Legendary Snowman → Snowman's Rage → Defeating Snowman → Restoring the Snow Spirit Statue

• <For Phyllia> : 30 popularity / About 20 minutes - Magatia : Han the Broker

Complete the quest chain starting with [Magatia] Han the Broker's Information.

• <Tae Soo's Reward> : 15 popularity / About 10 minutes - Mu Lung : Tae Soo

Tae Soo's Eyewitness Account → No Gong's Disciple → Do Gong's Technique → Defeating Tae Roon → Tae Soo's Reward

• <Defeating King Sage Cat> : 17 popularity / About 10 minutes - Mu Lung : No Gong

Weakening King Sage Cat → King Sage Cat's Call (light bulb above your character) → King Sage Cat's Questions → Defeating King Sage Cat

Although it is not part of the achievement, the Timer quest available from Yang at the Ludibrium Clocktower also awards 11 popularity and takes about 10 minutes. Completing this quest as well brings your total popularity earned to 125.

• [Ludibrium] Operation Stage 1 : Retrieving the Eggs → Operation Stage 2 : Defeating Monsters → Operation Stage 3 → A Cute Baby Bird

Most of these quests involve Master Monsters, and improvements over time have streamlined the travel involved and eased the requirements, making them fairly straightforward to complete. The Orbis and Magatia quest chains take longer than the standalone quests, but even these go quickly if you skip all the dialogue. Access to the Premium Teleport World Map feature is helpful.

There are other quests in Ariant, Ludibrium, and Aquarium that reward popularity, but the rewards are small relative to the time required, so I have left them out of this article.

<The Truth Behind the Conspiracy> : 12 popularity / Master Monster Dyle Quest

Start by accepting [Kerning City] The Dark Swamp from JM From tha Street in Kerning City.

There are no prerequisite quests, so you can start right away. Aside from having to gather Witch Grass with basic attacks, there is little to slow you down.

As the script mentions, Lakelis, who appears in this quest, is also connected to the party quest First Time Together. King Slime, the boss monster at the end of that party quest, was created by one of Lakelis's mistakes, and Dyle is the result of her repeated mistakes in this quest.

The item shown here appears to be unobtainable in the current version of the quest following its revamp, but you can find additional details about it in the Grand Athenaeum's archives. Lakelis's enthusiasm seems to far outweigh her caution, which is rather concerning.

What struck me about JM From tha Street was that, despite his underworld image suggesting someone interested only in money, his real anger seems to come from the threat that King Slime and Dyle pose to public safety.

<Eliza's Long Sleep> : 20 popularity / Master Monster Eliza Quest

Start by accepting [Orbis] Helping the Townspeople from Kriel the Fairy in Orbis.

This quest becomes available near the very end of the Orbis quest chain, so you will need to work through the preceding quests first. Fortunately, this does not take too long; allow about 15 minutes if you skip all the dialogue.

You can read the full Orbis quest story in this article; below, I have included only the section covering Eliza's Long Sleep.

<Restoring the Snow Spirit Statue> : 20 popularity / Master Monster Snowman Quest

Start by accepting The Giant Creature of the Snowfield from Jade in El Nath.

There are no prerequisite quests, so you can start right away. Aside from the dialogue, all you need to do is defeat 1 Snowman, making this a straightforward quest.

I think Snowman has a particularly memorable backstory among the Master Monsters. The game does describe it as a folktale whose truth cannot be verified, but the idea of freezing an entire mountain range for one's child feels very much like something from a fairy tale.

The restored statue is visible only briefly after you complete the quest. Its resemblance to the spirit seen in an Arch Mage (Ice, Lightning) skill also stayed with me—it looks exactly the same—so I have included an image.

<For Phyllia> : 30 popularity / Magatia Quest

Start by accepting [Secrets of Magatia] A Deal with the Broker from Han the Broker in Magatia.

This is the only one of the 6 quests in the achievement that does not center on a Master Monster. As with the Orbis quest, For Phyllia comes near the very end of its quest chain, so you will need to work through all the quests.

Thanks to various improvement patches, this takes 15~20 minutes if you skip everything. However, players have praised this area's quests for several reasons, so if the story interests you, it is worth taking your time to read through it.

If you are unfamiliar with the story and plan to play through it, be aware that the material below may contain spoilers. The complete Magatia quest script is available at this link.

To receive the popularity reward, you must give De Lang's notes to Phyllia at the very end, after completing the quests.

Keep in mind that giving the notes to either of the two society leaders instead of Phyllia will not award any popularity.

<Tae Soo's Reward> : 15 popularity / Master Monster Tae Roon Quest

Start by accepting Tae Soo's Eyewitness Account from Tae Soo in the Peach Farm.

There are no prerequisite quests, so you can start right away. Apart from the slight inconvenience of collecting 50 Peach Seeds, this is a straightforward quest.

What stayed with me about this quest was how Tae Roon replies with a letter when you leave a peach on the altar. Even after completing the quest, you can obtain Tae Roon's note by using basic attacks to pick the peaches visible on the tree and placing them on the altar.

<Defeating King Sage Cat> : 17 popularity / Master Monster King Sage Cat Quest

Start by accepting Weakening King Sage Cat from Do Gong in Mu Lung.

There are no prerequisite quests, so you can start right away, and the 100 Cat Dolls are quick to collect, making this another straightforward quest.

For King Sage Cat's quiz, agree to answer the questions, then choose the 2nd option every time.

King Sage Cat is a monster you encounter only briefly, so its dialogue does not get much attention, but I think its way of speaking might rank among the most irritating in MapleStory.

<Ludibrium : Operation Stage 3 - A Cute Baby Bird> : 11 popularity / Master Monster Timer Quest

Start by accepting [Ludibrium] Operation Stage 1 : Retrieving the Eggs from Yang at the Ludibrium Clocktower.

There are no prerequisite quests, so you can start right away, although the steps are a little more cumbersome than those in the other Master Monster quests listed above. Even so, it does not take long.

One other detail: the description of the quest item Timer's Egg mentions Ghosthunter Bob, but you never encounter him during the current version of the quest. The description appears to be left over from before the quest revamp.

Thank you for reading.