**The following has been edited to mention that Onyx Crystals from Adventure Bonus Boxes were incorrectly mentioned to be account bound in previous notes due to miscommunication. Onyx Crystals from Adventure Bonus Boxes are character bound, same as before the update (Update Dec. 6)
MapleStory 2 is only just finishing its second month of service, but we've been making so many changes to the core systems that we need a special post just to cover them all. We've made all of the below changes in response to your valued feedback and harsh-but-fair criticism, and we hope that the below changes make MapleStory 2 the best game it can be.
Table of Contents
Hard Adventure Dungeons
Hard Adventure Dungeons have seen some of the biggest changes, as we work to smooth out the difficulty for players gearing up for Chaos Raids (more on them in a bit).
Prior to the Skybound Expansion, all of MapleStory 2's Hard Adventure Dungeons were intended to be roughly the same difficulty, and had identical reward structures to match. The unfortunate result of this was that players seeking to simply hit the Gear Score requirements for Chaos Raids would repeatedly run "The Fire Dragon" dungeon, as it was the quickest and simplest dungeon to complete, causing progression to feel more and more repetitive.
With the Skybound Expansion, we are adjusting the Hard Adventure Dungeons to fit into three tiers of difficulty. As part of that, The Fire Dragon and Labyrinthine Halls final bosses will be weakened, reducing their health by 10% and attack by 25%. In addition, we are adjusting the formerly-identical Gear Score requirements for the dungeons to the below:
Note: It was deemed that the difficulty and complexity of the BeyondLink Tris and Rune Temple dungeons were already above that of the other dungeons, and would not need to be made more difficult.
Additionally, the rewards for those dungeons are being adjusted. Previously, you could get Epic-quality gear for any item slot from any of the dungeons, which only encouraged repeatedly completing the easiest and fastest one. Instead, each Tier of dungeon will reward from a more limited selection of items, to make finding just the right sword or breastplate easier, as well as a few other additions...
Bonus Re-Rollers allow you to re-roll the types and values of the bonus stats on the noted type of gear, so that if you'd like a second chance at getting better types of attributes on your enchanted gears, you can re-roll using these and keep or discard re-rolled bonus stats. It takes 30 runs of BeyondLink Tris or Rune Temple to get enough fragments for an Epic Weapon Bonus Re-roller.
Bonus Value Re-Rollers allow you to re-roll the values of the bonus stats on the noted type of gear, so that if you find an item with the bonus stats you need, but too low to be useful, you can take another roll and keep whichever numbers suit you best. It takes 6 runs of BeyondLink Tris or Rune Temple to get enough fragments for an Epic Armor Bonus Value Re-roller.
Meanwhile, 100 Toad's Toolkit Fragments can be used to create one Toad's Toolkit, an Enchantment Wildcard! These toolkits can be used in place of a copy of the item you're enchanting, making it much easier to get the items you need to upgrade your best Epic gear past +10!
We hope these changes will help you get your gear in top shape and make yourselves ready for the challenge of Chaos Raids, and speaking of those...
Normal and Hard Chaos Raids
Chaos Raids are the most challenging content in MapleStory 2, and we didn't want that to change. We want your first time taking down Devorak, Captain Moch and Papulatus to make you shout for joy, to be something that truly must be earned...
...but we also recognize that the jump in difficulty from Hard Adventure Dungeons to Chaos Raids was too much, and there needed to be a stepping stone to get you to a place where you feel like you have a fighting chance on your first go. The natural solution was to create that stepping stone, renaming the current set as Hard Chaos Raids and creating the new Normal Chaos Raids!
A Normal Chaos Raid is a blend of the accessibility of Hard Adventure Dungeons and the challenge of Chaos Raids:
Gear Score requirements are the same between Normal and Hard mode.
A maximum party of 6 players can enter a Normal Chaos Raid
Normal Chaos Raid Bosses have considerably less health and do less damage with their attacks, but you still must defeat the boss in under 15 minutes and safe revivals are still limited
Normal and Hard Chaos Raids share daily and weekly raid limits
Ludibrium Clock Tower is only available in Hard Difficulty, no easy mode for the clock master!
The rewards are as follows. Playing only Normal Chaos Raids caneventually get the same quality of equipment as Hard Chaos Raids, but will take considerably longer:
Daily Missions
We're also improving Daily Missions, so that you can get more consistent rewards without needing to grind through all the missions every day. With the Skybound Expansion, you will instead gain Weekly Mission Points with every Daily Mission you complete, with the points carrying over day after day.
With every 300 Mission Points you earn each week, you'll earn a Gold Mission Complete Box, containing a set array of items; no more needing to pray to the dice for favor. Do your daily missions and you'll be able to pick up the following prizes!
300 Mission Points: Gold Mission Complete Box (Tier 1), containing 2,400 Onyx Crystals, 10 Blue Stars, 8 Metacell and 4 Chaos Onyx Crystals
600 Mission Points: Gold Mission Complete Box (Tier 2), containing 4,800 Onyx Crystals, 20 Blue Stars, 16 Metacell and 6 Chaos Onyx Crystals
900 Mission Points: Gold Mission Complete Box (Tier 3), containing 7,200 Onyx Crystals, 30 Blue Stars, 24 Metacell and 10 Chaos Onyx Crystals
That's not all, of course. While the changes to Hard Adventure Dungeons, the addition of Normal Chaos Raids and more reliable Daily Missions are the big headliners, we also have dozens of other changes. Check out the full patch notes below!
Full Patch Notes
Content Update
New Class: Soul Binder
Channels the power of nature to crush foes! The Soul Binder uses mystical powers to deal ranged damage and can heal allies.
With the release of a new class, there will be increases to the number of character slots:
One additional character slot will be open for free (up to 7 free slots total)
One additional character slot can be purchased (up to 4 purchasable slots total)
Sky Fortress Content
Beginning at level 50, a new chain of quests will appear called "A Fortress in the Skies" that will kick off a new series of Epic quests.
5 new Sky Fortress factions will be introduced that will grant a series of Field, Daily, and Weekly Missions. Completing the quests will grant reputation for the factions. These factions are:
Green Hoods
Lumiknights
Dark Wind
Royal Guard
Maple Alliance
Reputation Progression: "Known" → "Trusted" → "Respected" → "Beloved" → "Revered"
Green Hoods and Lumiknights will give missions from the start.
Dark Wind missions unlock when your Green Hoods and Lumiknights reputation becomes Trusted (Lv. 2).
Royal Guard missions unlock when your Dark Wind reputation becomes Trusted (Lv. 2).
Maple Alliance missions unlock when your Royal Guard reputation becomes Trusted (Lv. 2).
A new menu has been added to view the Reputation.
Talk to each of the Faction Captains aboard the Sky Fortress to view the Alliance Shop. Each Faction will have unique set of items that can be purchased with Faction Tokens. Some items will require a certain level of reputation before the items can be purchased.
Green Hoods Shop with NPC, Nairin
Green Hood Flare (costs mesos only)
Green Hoods Souvenir
Green Hoods Chat Bubble
Green Hoods Name Tag
Pharaoh Cat
Lv.50 Legendary Shoes Bonus Value Re-roller
Exquisite Headgear/Gloves/Shoes Selection Box (Epic)
Blue Crystal
Green Crystal
100x Crystal Fragment
Dark Wind Shop with NPC, Schatten
Dark Wind Flare (costs mesos only)
Dark Wind Souvenir
Dark Wind Chat Bubble
Dark Wind Name Tag
Murpagoth Warrior Weapon Box
Ancient Rune Weapon Box
MSL Onyx Weapon Box
Legendary Headgear Bonus Value Re-reroller (Lv. 50)
Blue Crystal
Green Crystal
100x Crystal Fragment
Royal Guard Shop with NPC, Condor
Royal Guard Flare (costs mesos only)
Royal Guard Souvenir
Royal Guard Chat Bubble
Royal Guard Name Tag
Exquisite Top/Bottoms Selection Box
Legendary Bottoms Bonus Value Re-roller (Lv. 50)
Blue Crystal
Green Crystal
100x Crystal Fragment
Lumiknights Shop with NPC, Mason
Lumiknights Flare (costs mesos only)
Lumiknghts Souvenir
Lumiknights Chat Bubble
Lumiknights Name Tag
Exquisite Headgear/Gloves/Shoes Selection Box
Legendary Gloves Bonus Value Re-roller (Lv. 50)
Blue Crystal
Green Crystal
100x Crystal Fragment
Maple Alliance Shop with NPC, Veliche
Maple Alliance Flare (costs mesos only)
Maple Alliance Souvenir
Maple Alliance Chat Bubble
Maple Alliance Name Tag
Great Pharaoh Cat
Absolute Accessory Random Box
Legendary Top Bonus Value Re-reroller (Lv. 50)
Blue Crystal
Green Crystal
100x Crystal Fragment
A new field boss, CHKY-002, has now been added.
CHKY-002 will invade Sky Fortress every 2 hours at Sky Fortress Deck
If you've received Sky Fortress Faction Missions to fight CHKY-002, you can complete this by defeating CHKY-002
Guild System Updates
New Guild Raid: Xenon System has been added.
L1: Apeullela Outback (Lv. 50)
L2: Rainbow Slime Factory (Lv. 50)
L3: Battle Arena (Lv. 50)
Expand Guild Member Slots: The number of members in a guild is now increased:
At Guild level 1, you can now have 60 members.
At Guild level 4, it will increase to 70 members.
At Guild level 7, it will increase to 80 members.
At Guild level 10, it will increase to 90 members.
At Guild level 14, it will increase to 100 members.
Maple Arena
A new 1v1 PVP game mode has been added where you can compete against other Maplers.
A new menu has been added to enter the Arena:
Game Mode Breakdown:
You must be at least Lv. 50 in order to enter the Arena.
Best 2 out of 3 wins the match.
Potions and consumables cannot be used.
Various stats and Arena-based armor and equipment will be balanced to even out the playing field.
Valor Tokens will be given as rewards that can be used in the Arena Shop.
How to participate:
Adventurers Lv. 50 and above can queue for a match in the Maple Arena menu. The match-making system gathers all queued adventurers in 4-minute intervals and pairings will be determined by your Match-making Rating.
If you are matched and decline to enter, a penalty will be applied and you will be unable to queue for 30 minutes.
If you check the "Spectator Notifications" box queuing, you will instead be invited to spectate the match between the two highest rated players queued.
Match Rules:
Best two rounds of three, with each round lasting 120 seconds.
You win the round when the opponent's health reaches 0, or by having the most health when the round ends.
All buffs will be removed and only your character's skills can be used during the match.
Skill cooldowns reset at the start of each round.
There are 10 arena maps and the arena will be selected randomly.
Rules for Scaled Stats:
The health of players are adjusted in Maple Arena to better fit the 120 round duration.
Increased attack from enchantment on regular equipment will be scaled down significantly, making increased Gear Score from the enchantments meaningless in Maple Arena. This is to ensure that PvP is about players' ability, not what equipment they've earned from other game modes.
Pets can't be summoned, and attribute increases from gemstones and most gear effects won't apply in Maple Arena.
Ladder Score:
After a Maple Arena match, your Ladder Score (scores players can view) increase or decrease based on your performance. Ladder Score can't go below 1,000.
The following ranks are given to characters based on the Maple Ladder Score. You get more Valor Tokens the higher your rank!
3,700 points: Grand Champion
2,800 points: Champion
2,200 points: Diamond
1,800 points: Platinum
1,300 points: Gold
1,060 points: Silver
1,000 points: Bronze
The max Valor Tokens you can obtain resets every week, and that limit is increased when your rank increases:
You can have up to 30,000 tokens in your wallet
Shop and Seasonal Ranking Rewards
Valor Tokens can be earned from Maple Arena and can be spent in the Arena Shop
PvP gears cannot be dismantled nor enchanted, nor gain sockets for gemstones.
Each season is 4 weeks long.
Arena Shop can be accessed through the Maple Arena window. Arena Shop will sell
PvP Equipment for mesos
Sanctity Outfit Set for Valor Tokens
Sanctity Headgear
Sanctity Top
Sanctity Bottoms
Sanctity Gloves
Sanctity Shoes
Tamed Pyrros Fard for Valor Tokens
Permanent
Half the length of Victorious Pyrros Fard
PvP Shop and PvP Equipment added
Each PvP Equipment item is sold for 100,000 mesos except two-handed PvP weapons
Each two-handed PvP weapon is sold for 200,000 mesos
Equipping a 5-set of PvP Equipment (weapon + armor) and accessories offers set effects
Arena Ranking Rewards Added
Dismantle changes
Onyx Crystal and Chaos Onyx Crystals gained from dismantling enchanted gear are now account bound
Increased the return of Onyx Crystal and Chaos Onyx Crystal by 50% from dismantling gear that's been enchanted to +10 and above
Class Skill Balances
Priest
"Heavenly Wings" will no longer move you to the closest ally within range, as it had an unfortunate habit of pulling the Priest into lava. Instead, you can now choose the direction you move towards.
An unintentional nerf that reduced the DoT duration of the Priest's "Celestial Light" from 8 to 6 sec will be reverted to 8 sec.
Wizard
"Ice Spear" range in the tooltip is 8 m, but the actual range is short at 7.5 m. The skill will be changed to 8 m to match the tooltip description.
Note: The projectile looks like it's flying more than 8 m and will be changed to fly only 8 m.
"Mana Claw" range in the tooltip shows 9 m, but actual range is short at 8 m. The skill will be changed to 9 m to match the tooltip description.
Skill Updates for Maple Arena Only (does not apply in the Land of Darkness)
Wizard
Knockback effect added to Thunderbolt skill.
Knockback distance at 150 and 'Knockback' time at 0.3 s.
Knockback duration of Arcane Blast skill increased. (0.3 s → 0.5 s)
Movement speed reduction of Ice Spear skill increased. (10% → 15%)
Priest
Knockback effect added to Sanctuary skill
Knockback distance at 200 and 'Knockback' time at 0.1 s.
Knockback duration of Angelic Ray skill increased. (0.3 s → 0.5 s)
Archer
Knockback effect of Bow Swing changed to stun effect (0.5 s)
Knockback effect added to 2-hit attack of Arrow Barrage skill
Knockback distance at 100 and Knockback time at 0.1 s.
Dungeon Balance Changes
Hard Adventure Dungeons Revamped
Dungeon Gear Score entry requirements will be changed to the following:
The Fire Dragon and Labyrinthine Halls Gear Score requirements will decrease from 2100 to 1800.
Temple of Immortals and Lubelisk Gear Score requirements will remain the same at 2100.
BeyondLink Tris and Rune Temple Gear Score requirements will increase from 2100 to 2800.
The bosses in The Fire Dragon and Labyrinthine Halls will now have 10% less health and 25% lower attack power.
Hard Adventure Dungeon rewards have been changed:
New "Experimental" Event (from Dec. 6 to Jan. 10)
As previously introduced and discussed in Producer Blog - State of the Game Week 7 - Part 2, an experimental event will be added.
The Hard Adventure Dungeons will now be dropping Toad's Toolkit Fragment (drops 50 fragments per run). When fused, it will create a Toad's Toolkit (requires 100 fragments)
This item will be tagged as "Event" item during the duration of this event. The item will expire on January 31, 2019 at 23:59 UTC.
The Toad's Toolkit is an item that can be used in place of sacrificed item (weapon or armor) when enchanting an Epic item higher than +10.
This item can only be used on an Epic item.
Dismantling Exquisite Armor now will give different type of fragments per type of armor dismantled
Dismantling Exquisite Headgear, Gloves, or Shoes will give Exquisite Headgear/Gloves/Shoes Selection Box Fragments
Dismantling Exquisite Top or Bottoms will give Exquisite Top/Bottoms Selection Box Fragments
2 New Chaos Raid Normal Dungeons
Chaos Raid [Normal] "Shadow Altar"
Chaos Raid [Normal] "Moonlight Fortress"
Recommended number of players is 6 people.
The Damage Meter will be available for the 6-player group.
Reward Table For Normal vs Hard Chaos Dungeons:
Chaos Onyx Crystals received from the Normal and Hard Adventure Bonus Boxes will now be account bound.
Note: Chaos Onyx Crystals and Onyx Crystals received from Daily Mission Rewards or when dismantling "Enchanted" gear will be character bound.
At level 50, the maximum amount of Chaos Onyx Crystals received from the Normal/Hard Adventure Bonus Box will now increase from 10 to 43.
At level 50, the maximum amount of Onyx Crystals received from the Normal/Hard Adventure Bonus Box will now increase from 3,680 to 8,500.
"Recommended Gear" has been changed to "Gear Score Tips":
Fairfight Update
It was unintended that the Fairfight mechanic was applied in the Tronix Bunker Normal Adventure Dungeon when dealing damage to the mini bosses using EMP Bombs. This will be removed.
Fairfight was accidentally removed from the World Bosses: Ureus, Acreon, and Amadon in Karkar Island, but it will be reapplied.
Fixed an issue with Fairfight not getting applied to the following item attributes:
Total Damage
Damage to Boss Enemies
Fire Damage Bonus
Ice Damage Bonus
Electric Damage Bonus
Poison Damage Bonus
Dark Damage Bonus
Holy Damage Bonus
Daily Mission Revamped
Daily mission points will now be Weekly mission points and reset weekly
Gold Mission Complete Box will be given at 300 MP / 600 MP / 900 MP weekly. This means completing 30 missions a week will give you all three Gold Mission Complete Boxes.
Gold Mission Complete Boxes you obtain after the update will change to guaranteed rewards. The total amount of Onyx and Chaos Onyx Crystals obtainable from Gold Mission Complete Boxes will be increased overall:
300 Mission Points: Gold Mission Complete Box (Tier 1), containing 2,400 Onyx Crystals, 10 Blue Stars, 8 Metacell and 4 Chaos Onyx Crystals
600 Mission Points: Gold Mission Complete Box (Tier 2), containing 4,800 Onyx Crystals, 20 Blue Stars, 16 Metacell and 6 Chaos Onyx Crystals
900 Mission Points: Gold Mission Complete Box (Tier 3), containing 7,200 Onyx Crystals, 30 Blue Stars, 24 Metacell and 10 Chaos Onyx Crystals
Optimization Improvements
Please note that below fixes may or may not have direct impact on your playing experiences. We are reviewing as many cases as possible and will be continuously be adding optimization tweaks.
Fixed potential frame drop issues caused when players were repeatedly visiting specific houses (i.e. houses with lots of UGC cubes) or large maps (i.e. Tria or Queenstown)
Fixed potential frame drop issues by clearing up the memories being occupied by monster damage info between dungeon runs
Fixed potential frame drop issues caused by the effects applied on Health/Spirit/Stamina UI
Misc. Updates
Changed login illustration and BGM to a holiday theme
For characters at Lv. 5-49, if they obtain gear for a part where nothing is equipped, automatically equip the newly obtained gear
Improve keyboard + mouse controls
Improve the tooltip message that displays when you hover your mouse over a target you can interact with
Improve by allowing the mouse click to move to the location and pick up an object if a pick-up-able map object is clicked
Fix the issue where the character would move to the location when clicking UI or drag-and-drop items
Fix the movement issue with mouse controls in certain maps
Add new percussion instruments
Add Practice Big Drum, Practice Little Drum, and Practice Cymbals instruments to Stefan (Located in Tria) and Kluperizak (Located in Ludari City) shops
Add Drumming 101: Big Drum (Ensemble), Drumming 101: Little Drum (Ensemble), and Drumming 101: Cymbals (Ensemble) items to Stefan and Kluperizak shops
Music scores for melodies only will use red icons and music scores that can use harmonies as well will use brown icons
Voice over change has been applied to Joddy.
Glamour Anvil now can be used on the "Pan Lid" shield item
Convenience Feature: Double clicking the currency within Currency tab of your inventory will open the corresponding currency shop UI
Summoned pet's names will now be colored based on the pet's rarity (i.e. Epic Pet Names will be colored Purple)
At "Vote to Kick", parties that are offline will not be counted to be able to vote
EXP gained by Fishing or Playing Instruments between level 50 to level 60 will be reduced significantly. This change only applies to regular levels and Prestige EXP earned from Fishing or Playing Instrument will not change
Crystal Fragment obtained from the game or purchased from NPC Shops will be account bound (Crystal Fragments purchased before the update will still be trade-able)
Sales Update
An update to the Style Crate and Coin Shop!
You can find the items that are departing the Style Crate and Coin Shop to make room for the new entries here.
Paulie's Random Hair is getting new hairstyles. These hairs will come out at 5% ratio, compared to 11.25% of rest of the hairstyles:
Added Hairstyles:
Softserve Hairdo (F)
Cute Ribbon Hair (F)
Modern Volume Perm (M)
Casual Parted Hippie Perm (M)
Removed Hairstyles:
Dual Spirit Hair (F)
Glorious Heart Bun (F)
Frost-tipped Punk Hair (M)
Raised Regent Cut (M)
4 New face styles added, available for both genders:
Deeply in Love
Crystal Heart Face
Happy Smile
Shiny Eyes
3 New cosmetics:
Mistletoe Face Paint
Christmas Tree Tattoo
Snowman Face Paint
4 New Weapon Templates added to Maple Workshop:
Sharp Blade
Crescent Moon Chakraam
Crystal Orb
Orb
2 Furnishing Packages:
Holiday Furnishing Package
Merry Ice Rink Furnishing Package
5 New Special Offers:
Dark Wind Vigilance Outfit Pack
Lumiknights Honour Outfit Pack
Royal Guard Fealty Outfit Pack
Green Hoods Fiore Outfit Pack
Maple Alliance Luminary Outfit Pack
Events
The Holiday Uproar: A new Story Event where you can help a sad little girl enjoy the season!
Skybound Celebration: Join us as we celebrate the massive expansion with a ton of goodies, including a potion to jump a character up to Lv. 50!
Note: This previously stated that the potion boosted a character to Lv. 60. We apologize for the error.
Schwanda's Holiday Gallery: Complete tasks throughout the Merry Village and Maple World for a wealth of consumables and two special, event-exclusive prizes!
Holiday Dance Dance Stop: A seasonal edition of Dance Dance Stop with festive decoration prizes!
December Daily Rewards: Log in to MapleStory 2 during the holiday season to get special prizes, including an adorable Reindeer outfit!
Double Guild Saturdays: Starting December 15th, get double the Guild Funds and Experience from Guild Quests on Saturdays!
Fixed Bugs
Profanity filter for Portuguese and German will now properly censor inappropriate words.
Fixed issue where the Assassin tutorial had to be restarted when logging in again after getting disconnected in a certain situation.
Fixed issue where a UGC item that includes an apostrophe in the name couldn't be linked in the chat window
The Princess Swing and Rose Wedding Fence is now purchasable regardless of which house template chosen.
The trophy, "Scent of Lavender" will now properly complete after conditions are met.
Hairstyle Vol. 1 will now count for the progression for the trophy, Trend-setter, if it was completed during Head Start
Hidden Golden Treasures Chests will now spawn in the following maps:
Lions Gate
Forsaken Fields
Lulu Village
Aurora Laboratory
Expedition Base
An issue has been resolved where players were able to fall off and get stuck on the ledge in the boss room of Tronix Bunker.
The "Dungeon Cleared" tooltip will now correctly display that you will get items rewards for the first 15 dungeons instead of for the first 10 dungeons cleared.
Fixed a typo in the "Violinist" title
The tooltip for Rooted Strength Lapentier now displays the correct buff duration
Corrected the tooltip for Kay's Belt when the "Sole Survivor" Bonus Attribute is displayed
The Motto button is now properly scaled in size in the Character Window
Cornelian Cherry is now available as a loot drop
Mouse Hovering over an NPC with Keyboard and Mouse controls no longer displays an incorrect tooltip for the NPC
It's no longer possible to become stuck in the Runeblade tutorial
Unused quest item "Dark Call Prison Key" has been removed from the game
Fixed a display issue where it shows that multiple gathering buffs can be stacked is now corrected when it's not supposed to.