Long time no see, Chisei here.
I actually said last time that I was going to write a long post, but I ended up delaying it for quite a while.
The reason is pretty simple.
Even my friends could tell that I wasn’t really in a good place mentally during that period. Or to put it simply, I just didn’t have much motivation to play MSN at the time.
I mentioned this before too. At the beginning, the anniversary update felt really good to me. But around the middle and later stages of the update, something started to feel a bit off.
At that time, I had also just reached Lv.250, so my daily routine basically became logging in, spending 5 minutes doing dailies, then sitting on a chair at the entrance of the event map and AFKing.
That period felt extremely empty.
The only real gain was probably that my Fame is almost at 1000 now lol.
I think now is a pretty good time to talk about this, because I don’t feel as empty as before anymore.
At least now I know that the new boss, Will, is coming on July 23.
That gives me and my team a new goal again.
Of course, I do hope the next new boss will be a bit harder.
I don’t want it to end up like Lucid, where a brand-new boss basically felt like it had already clocked out after just a month or two.
So, today I want to talk about why I felt a bit down during that period, and share some thoughts from the perspective of a top-progression player.
And yes, I’m still the same person who says what I think.
1. Progression pacing
The first issue is progression.
The anniversary update was released after Lucid had already been out for more than 3 months.
In fact, even before the anniversary update, some players had already reached Lv.250.
Not opening a new level cap essentially forced players who had invested a huge amount of time or money into the game to stop moving forward.
But that is not even the main point.
The bigger issue is that players who were still catching up received better events and much higher leveling efficiency afterwards.
For players like me who had been rushing levels before, it made a lot of our previous effort feel wasted.
Right now, most players are gradually catching up.
Mid-progression players can now erase, within a short period of time, the level and ARC advantage that early players spent a long time building up.
How to handle the value creation effect for top players will be a huge challenge going forward.
2. Enhancement cost
The second issue is enhancement cost.
This is the most important one.
To be clear, I 100% support the anniversary update having discounted enhancement crystals and Payback Crystals.
If this is something that happens once a year, I think it is great.
It gives everyone motivation to upgrade, and it can also bring in pretty good revenue afterwards.
It is a good idea.
But here is the problem:
Why was the equipment enhancement price cap changed from 200% to 130%?
And why was it changed silently?
As far as I know, even before the anniversary update, some individual equipment slots were already testing a 130% cap mechanism, also without any announcement.
Everyone knows that in MSN, the gap between players is mainly created through accumulated Star Force progression.
So why is a 130% cap bad?
Because enhancement prices will become much harder to maintain compared to before.
In the past, once the price went up, it might take several days before it slowly dropped back down.
But now, it is possible that the price hits the cap today, and tomorrow it already drops back to today’s level.
This means many rare items, such as 22-star equipment, can keep appearing in the market within a short period of time, at lower costs and with higher frequency.
For players who had already invested heavily and built their gear before, this damages their sense of security and makes it very hard to maintain confidence among front-line players.
Someone around me once tried to make and sell different 21-star and 22-star items.
His idea was that as long as there was still some profit between enhancement cost and market price, he could also help prevent enhancement prices from dropping too quickly.
But the result proved that he couldn’t do it.
Because the logic is very simple:
Market demand will always eventually become saturated.
And once people no longer need those items, both the market price and the enhancement price will continue to fall lower and lower.
What is happening now is already an example.
I originally thought pushing up the token price was a decent idea.
But the reality is that it could not last for long either.
3. Class balance
The third issue is class balance.
This is already an old topic.
Right now, many classes have received major improvements from V3.
At this timing, I personally remain neutral about the Dojo event.
Yes, it is an event where players of the same class can compete against each other under relatively fair conditions.
That part is good.
But everyone also knows that Dojo-style content, as well as tower-climbing content in general, has always favored sustained-damage classes more.
This makes many burst-class players feel that it is unfair.
Just look at how many Shadower players are able to reach 55F.
I am still currently ranked first among Night Lords, so I am not saying this because I am trying to cry about my own situation.
I am speaking up for all burst-class players.
Honestly, the game could introduce something similar to the Boss dummy event from other servers.
I remember it being a 120-second dummy boss.
That mode is actually pretty good.
Compared to Dojo, and compared to the 3-minute dummy tests that have always been popular, I think it would be fairer.
Final thoughts
That is all I want to say for now.
And these are absolutely not just my personal thoughts.
Everything I mentioned above came from discussions I had with my teammates and friends during this period.
About a month ago, I was honestly pretty frustrated.
There was no new content to play, and at the same time, I kept feeling like the rights and value of top players were being squeezed more and more.
That feeling was really bad.
But thankfully, during this period, I did one thing that still gave me motivation to open the game every day.
My teammates and I funded it together, and I took the lead in organizing a few Chinese-speaking players who truly love the game to help manage it.
We built a new guild and community, partly to prepare for future guild skills and guild events.
You guys can look forward to it.
I believe we will be able to officially open recruitment for new members very soon.
That is it for today.
Goodnight everyone.
@MaplestoryU nexpace:native
I recently grinded from Lv. 237 to 240 in about a week, averaging 3–6 hours of grinding per day (with a much longer session on the final day).
A small tip that worked really well for me was maximizing the [Hyper Summer] Washed Up Guests Event.
💧 Waterlogged Pass
• 5 uses every 15 minutes (Rune Activated)
• Up to 70 uses per day
💎 Pristine Pass
• 2 uses every 15 minutes (Rune Activated)
• Up to 5 uses per day
Since my class has a full-map clear skill with a 2-minute cooldown,
I spaced out my Pass usage to get the highest possible value from every activation.
For EXP setup, I usually stacked:
✨ 3x EXP Coupon
✨ MVP Buff or 50% Self Buff
✨ Rune Activated Bonus EXP 100%
✨ V Matrix / Class EXP buffs
This resulted in roughly +400% to +500% bonus EXP depending on your class, making it one of the best times to use the Washed Up Guests event buffs efficiently.
The results were honestly impressive:
📈 Almost 2B EXP per minute on average.
Big thanks for such a great event. The grinding experience feels amazing right now.
Love you, MapleStory N ❤️
#MapleStoryN #MapleN #MSU
Actually, I usually grind for about an hour first before using the passes. I try to build up around 15 passes, then start using them gradually. That way, the drop rate almost keeps up with the amount I'm consuming.
Personally, if I compare the EXP gained, 10 Waterlogged Passes give me more EXP than 1 Pristine Pass. That said, it really comes down to personal preference and what feels better for your playstyle.
Good luck and happy grinding! 💪
Finally, Dream is On! 🏆✨
Cleared Hard Lucid today!
Running with a Bishop and Paladin PT, around 18m/17m CP, plus another DPS. V3 + C2 made a huge difference for Archer.
The class feels smoother, stronger, and way more fun than before.
Loving the recent progression and updates in #MapleStoryN 💙
P.S. Another milestone achieved, another memory added to the journey. 🌙
https://t.co/PD24tG9MaC
New update to my website, party spliter, had this feature in my discord bot. But a friend of mine suggested to bake this into my website, and now here it is!
Huge thanks to @MaplestoryU for the reward api, and i'll try to keep up with the update once Will is out.
Gotta say, I’m really impressed with the latest patch.
The grinding experience feels significantly better now — managed to get 25B EXP in just 25 minutes, which works out to roughly 1B EXP per minute.
If this is the direction MapleStory N is heading, I’m all for it. ❤️
#MapleN
Welcome to Hyper Summer Grand Opening!
✦ New Class: Adele & Ark
✦ New Land: Arcana
✦ Level Cap Increased to 275
✦ 5th Skill Update
✦ Arcana Symbol & Spirit Savior
Chase your levels, challenge yourself, and power up with the latest updates:👇
The Hyper Summer Update drops in just two days! 🌊🍄 @MaplestoryU
I believe many players have already reached their progression goals. However, during my streams, I've seen a lot of new Maplers getting interested because of the upcoming patch. So let me break things down by CP tiers and give you a clearer idea of what goals you can aim for.
🔸Starter Tier (Good Starting Point): ~10M CP
This is where most new Maplers should focus first. The investment isn't too expensive, and it can significantly boost your grinding efficiency while allowing you to join harder weekly bosses with a party. You'll also be able to participate in the new content while continuing to progress steadily.
Recommended gear:
• 15–17⭐ Von Leon gear
• Max Neophyte accessory pieces 🟩/ some Boss Accessory Set
• Good Weapon, Emblem & Secondary (even Unique Potential is fine if the lines are good)
----------------
🔹 Midgame Tier (Solid Progression): ~20M CP
At this point, you'll be able to participate in most of MapleN's content and comfortably solo / party many harder weekly bosses. This is also a great stopping point to accumulate resources before pushing into higher CP ranges.
Recommended gear (mix-and-match is completely fine depending on your setup):
• 20⭐ Von Leon gear (usually the cheapest option) OR 17–20⭐ Cygnus gear
• 10–17⭐ Fafnir Weapon (with decent Potential) + CRA Top & Bottom
• Max Potential Neophyte Accessories 🟩 OR 10⭐+ Boss Accessory Set
• Strong Emblem & Secondary (I believe both should be Legendary from this point onward)
An alternative option is the Absolab Set 🌑. However, I don't highly recommend it for newer Maplers unless you're planning to Star Force and Cube those pieces further without replacing them soon.
----------------
🔶 Veteran Mapler Tier: ~40–50M CP
At this stage, you've definitely reached Veteran status (maybe called A-Rank Adventurer ? 🤣).
Most content should be accessible with a solid setup. Even Normal Will (or potentially 6-man Hard Will) may be achievable, provided your level is high enough to avoid level penalties. But we'll have to see how things develop after the update.
There are many viable setups at this range, but my most cost-efficient recommendation would be:
• 21–22⭐ Cygnus gear (especially gloves with at least 1+ Critical Damage line)
• 17-20+⭐ Boss Accessory Set
(22⭐Twilight/Berserked maybe your best 1st pick )
• 17⭐+ Fafnir or Absolab Weapon
• 🟩 Emblem & Secondary with Max 6 lines (or at least 5 strong lines)
For players aiming even higher upgrade, another strong option would be:
• 17–18⭐ or 20⭐ Absolab gear
• 17⭐Absolab Weapon
• 17–20+⭐ Boss Accessory Set
• Everything else remains similar
(Arcane Umbra is also excellent, but the cost skyrockets for the CP gains, so I won't include it in this tier.)
----------------
Once you're above 50M CP, you're already approaching top-ranker territory for future content. After this point, you probably don't need my humble guide anymore. 🤣
(I won't even dare talk about the God-Tier players sitting at 100M+ CP ☀️)
One more thing I'd like to mention based on experiments with my community:
Legion and NFT Collection bonuses.🪩
I won't go too deep into the details here, but the quick summary is:
🔼 Every 1 Level of NFT Collection = approximately +5% Total CP
🔼 Outer Legion Board = approximately +3–5% Total CP depending on your block setup (especially Critical Damage % and Boss Damage %)
These percentages may seem small, but as your CP grows, the value of these bonuses grows as well. At higher CP levels, the gains become very noticeable.
This is my current overview based on my experience so far. It may not be perfect or 100% accurate cuz I write this quick guide by Just thought of it😆 and I also not deep talking about potential yet, but I believe it's a solid guideline for anyone starting or continuing their Mapling journey! 🍁
#1stAnniversaryChallenge
$NXPC has surged more than 20% in just one week, so I decided to build a tool that tracks NXPC price movements and whale transactions!
It also displays position win rates and other useful statistics, making it a powerful tool for anyone following NXPC.
🌐 Supported Languages:
🇺🇸 English
🇯🇵 Japanese
🇻🇳 Vietnamese
🇨🇳 Chinese
I'd love for you to give it a try and share your feedback!
🔗 https://t.co/3addwg1ZQD
@MaplestoryU
Pink Bean Event 🍄
Speedrun to Lv. 200 🔥💨
Just finished leveling my Pink Bean to 200 and the experience was honestly really fun. The rewards were pretty solid too.
Important TIP 🔍
Also, getting the Legendary Inner Ability: “Chance to Skip Cooldowns” makes training way more efficient and smooth. 🔝🔝
Make sure to use the event shop and buy the level up potions to speed things up even more. 🔥
My Leveling Route 📍
0-30 Wild Boar Land
30-60 Excavation Intermission Area
60-70 Castle Corridor 1
70-100 Authorized Personnel Only
100-110 Toy Factory (Process) Zone 6
110-120 Black Mountain Entrance
120-140 Haunted House
140-160 Kerning Tower 2F Cafe 2
160-170 Corridor 203
170-180 Forest of Darkness 1
180-200 Forsaken Excavation Site 2
GL. 🍀
@MaplestoryU
#1stUniverseary #maplestoryuniverse #maplestoryn #msu
As an Evan main, something feels weird.
There’s a player dealing damage far beyond what’s possible with his gear and level — including Hard Damien solos and Dojo 52F.
Hope the devs can look into whether this is an bug.
submitted a ticket.
pls share ur opinion. @MaplestoryU