This post was created as part of

Nexon PEAK activities.

My biggest regret since starting MapleStory? Realizing I'd been doing things the hard way without knowing there were handy features to spare me the trouble.

I spent ages getting ready to hunt, activating every skill individually. I also struggled through boss fights without even knowing guild skills and Link Skills existed.

Today, I'm revisiting a few embarrassing moments from my MapleStory newbie days.

1. Before Skill Sequences, My Fingers Did All the Work

The class I'm leveling, 레테, commands a variety of summons.

Its main summoning skills are '바르가트' and '이보크'.

At first, I assigned those two skills to separate quickslots. Every time I started hunting, I'd press them one at a time to bring out my summons.

But that wasn't all.

There was a skill to boost my summons' attack speed, another to extend their duration, and all sorts of self-buffs on top of that!

That was a lot of skills to get through before I could even start hunting.

I needed almost 1 minute just to warm up before a hunt.

The trouble was, I had to keep pressing all those skills separately during the hunt, too.

I could see how playing a class with a more complicated skill setup would get even more tiring.

In boss fights, I'd sometimes get so busy staring at my quickslots and pressing buffs one by one that, by the time I looked up, my character was already dead.

The tragedy of dying before I'd even finished buffing...

But there was an even bigger problem.

I was out of quickslot space!

The basics alone—jumping, dashing, picking up items, using potions, and so on—already took up plenty of key assignments.

There simply wasn't room to squeeze in all my attack skills and buffs as well.

Even putting everything from ASDF on the left to the number pad on the right to work wasn't enough.

I ended up assigning skills to keys so far away that my fingers couldn't even reach them.

'Is hunting this much work for everyone else, too..?'

I started wondering, so I looked it up...

..??

2. Turns Out, There's a Feature Called Skill Sequence

MapleStory had a handy feature called 'Skill Sequence' all along.

Open Skill Sequence through 'Sequence' in the skill window or through the ESC menu.

From there, you can add multiple skills in whatever order you like.

Then, just press the same hotkey repeatedly to use those skills in order.

You can even give each sequence any name you want.

I grouped my pre-hunt self-buffs into one sequence and my summon-related skills into another.

That made using the skills I needed much easier, with no need to remember a whole collection of hotkeys.

Best of all, it saved quickslot space!

I could free up the slots those skills had occupied and assign other functions there instead. So much more convenient.

What had I been putting my fingers through all that work for?

3. Buff Manager? That Was a Thing, Too?

But Skill Sequence had another feature I hadn't known about.

Meet the 'Buff Manager'.

Open the 'Buff' tab in Skill Sequence, and the Buff Manager appears on the right.

Common skills, guild skills, combat potions, Master Craftsman/Meister profession buffs, and even boss rewards!

There were all the buffs I'd been overlooking, neatly sorted by category.

I'd thought my own class's skills were all I needed. As it turned out, I had far more buffs at my disposal.

The biggest surprise was guild skills.

I was already in a guild, but I hadn't been making proper use of its skills to help me in boss fights.

Once I checked the available buffs in the Buff Manager and added the skills I needed to a sequence, getting ready for boss fights became much easier.

After that, I also looked into Link Skills passed on from other characters.

Whenever I struggled to take down a boss, I'd simply assumed my stats weren't high enough. Meanwhile, I hadn't even been making proper use of the buffs I already had available.

I'd only meant to look into skill sequences, but I ended up discovering one overlooked feature after another...



4. New to MapleStory? Check These First!

If you're new to MapleStory or returning after a break, here's my recommended checklist to spare you the trouble I went through.

- Group frequently used buffs and summoning skills into skill sequences

- Give your skill sequences easy-to-recognize names

- Clear out duplicate skill assignments in your quickslots

- Check the Buff Manager for buffs you're missing

- Check whether your guild skills and Link Skills are active

MapleStory really does seem to have a lot of systems to learn.

At first, I thought all I had to do was use skills and defeat monsters. But as I got more familiar with the game, I started noticing handy features one by one.

Looking back, it feels like a lot of effort I could have saved myself. Still, I suppose this kind of trial and error makes for memories you can only collect as a newbie, right? ^ ^