[This post was created as part of Nexon's PEAK activities.]

Hello, I'm 꽤돼.

After playing MapleStory for a long time and leveling several classes myself, my advice to anyone choosing their first class is to consider its survival skills and ease of play before looking at how much damage it deals.

A class that makes it easier to stay alive in boss fights gives you room to learn attack patterns, while simple controls make it much easier to deal damage as you avoid those attacks.

On the other hand, I have often seen players choose a difficult class that does not suit them simply because it is strong. Its damage may make it fun at first, but playing the class eventually becomes tiring, and their attachment to it fades.

Beginners should consider survival skills and ease of play first

MapleStory used to have fairly large differences in mobbing performance between classes, but the introduction of Sol Janus has made those differences much less noticeable.

Leveling has also become much faster recently, so when choosing a class, I personally think whether its bossing playstyle suits you matters more than its mobbing performance.

Running weekly bosses for equipment and rewards is one of the main draws of MapleStory, but I have found it difficult to enjoy that side of the game when the boss fights themselves feel like a struggle.

That is also part of why I enjoy playing Ren now.

Ren has many tools that help with survival, including the 강체 Link Skill, damage reduction, and invincibility skills, and using its skills in boss fights is relatively straightforward, so there is less to keep track of while playing.

​

By contrast, classes that require you to constantly check a gauge or manage skill cancels and combos are much more difficult to play, because you have to handle all of that while avoiding boss attacks.

Memorizing the skill combos is manageable, but against higher-tier bosses, you also have to watch attack patterns at the same time. For me, that felt like adding another layer of difficulty to the fight.

Playing different classes taught me that comfort matters more than strength

I once put serious time into leveling Illium when there was a lot of talk about how strong the class was.

Once I actually played it, though, I found that it really did not suit me.

To use Illium's skills properly, you need to keep repositioning the crystal as you play, and having to track the orb's position while dealing damage was simply too cumbersome for me.

It is a strong class that also offers party invincibility, but no matter how powerful it was, it never felt comfortable to play, so I found myself playing it less and less.

On the other hand, I tried Battle Mage without expecting much and found that it suited me surprisingly well.

Teleport makes it easy to avoid boss attacks, and using Ethereal Form and the 5th Job skill Abyssal Lightning gave the class better survivability than I had expected.

That experience made it clear to me that the same class can feel awkward to one person yet comfortable to another.

Classes I recommend for beginners, and classes I found difficult

Based on my experience playing them, the first classes I would recommend to beginners are Ren, Bowmaster, and Ice/Lightning Arch Mage.

Class	Why I recommend it
Ren	Good survival skills and straightforward skill management in boss fights
Bowmaster	A very simple skill setup and easy controls for bossing
Arch Mage (Ice, Lightning)	Solid at both mobbing and bossing, with Teleport making survival easier

Ren is the class I currently play, and considering both its survivability and ease of play, I think it is a good option for beginners.

​

Bowmaster is even simpler.

Its skill setup is so straightforward that it comes close to what players call a one-button class, requiring very little mechanical effort. That said, some players may find the simplicity makes it less enjoyable.

​

Ice/Lightning Arch Mage feels solid across the board rather than exceptional in any one area.

Teleport is very useful in boss fights, and the class has no major drawbacks in either mobbing or bossing, so I think it is a good choice for someone starting MapleStory.

Regardless of how strong they are, though, I personally find it difficult to recommend the following classes to first-time players.

Class	Why it is difficult for beginners
Cadena	Requires constant use of combos and cancels
Blaster	Cancel inputs are quite difficult to execute
Evan	Requires combining multiple skills and has a complicated damage rotation
Illium	Requires you to keep track of the crystal (orb) position as well
Demon Avenger	Uses HP as a resource, with damage mechanics that change depending on current HP
Khali	Difficult to play because its fast movement is also integral to dealing damage

Of course, this does not mean these are bad classes.

They can be very enjoyable if they suit you, and some have distinct strengths once you learn to play them well.

However, if you are just starting MapleStory and still need to learn boss patterns, I do not think you need to make things harder by choosing a mechanically demanding class as well.

Watch the skills in action rather than relying on tier lists

When researching classes, you will come across plenty of class tier lists on YouTube and in community discussions.

I do not treat those lists as the final word on which class to choose.

Ratings can vary with the current game balance, the distribution of players across classes, and the author's own impressions. More importantly, MapleStory receives balance patches relatively often, so there is no guarantee that a class that is strong now will stay in the same position.

​

If you choose a class that does not suit you purely because it is strong, a later nerf can feel much more significant.

That is why, rather than consulting tier lists, I recommend watching videos of a class's skills first and considering whether you could see yourself continuing to play that way.

​

However, if many people agree that a class is not suitable for beginners, you should at least check their reasons.

There is often a clear explanation, such as complicated combos, mandatory cancels, or unusual resource management.

You do not need to overthink your first character

Personally, I do not think you need to treat your first character and your eventual main as separate choices.

It is actually easier to continue developing your first character as your main while gradually working on other progression systems, such as Legion, Link Skills, and Legion Champion.

Starting with a temporary character and creating your main later may only give you more things to do.

That does not mean you need to put pressure on yourself when creating your first character by thinking, “I have to play this class forever.”

Because of MapleStory's Legion and Link Skill systems, you will eventually level several classes yourself, taking most of them through at least the 5th Job Advancement.

To start, I recommend choosing a class with decent survival skills that looks easy to control, then leveling it to see how it feels.

​

As you play, you will naturally get a sense of whether you feel more comfortable with a Teleport class, prefer a highly mobile class, or enjoy one that deals damage in a straightforward way.

It was only after leveling several classes myself that I gained a clear understanding of which mechanics suited me and which did not.

​

I think the most important part of choosing your first class is finding one you can keep playing without feeling stressed, rather than finding whichever class is strongest right now.

Especially if you are new, I recommend checking those two things first: survival skills and ease of play.

That's all from 꽤돼.