~Ultimate Guide for The Aspiring Xbowman~

What is MapleStory?

MapleStory is a 2d, Side-Scrolling Action/Adventure MMORPG (Massivley Multiplayer Online Role Playing Game). It features hundreds of monsters, ranging from the puny Green Snail to the fearsome Zakum. Trust me, as soon as you start playing, you won't stop. For months. So, if I haven't already despised you enough, lets begin.


Starting Off~

So, you just downloaded (or you have been playing for a while, whatever ^_^) MapleStory, and you want to go all range and pure power. Choose a Xbowman (CrossBowman). Even in first job we are strong, but it gets way better. Just keep on trucking mister.
To Start off, at the dice, try to roll a 4 in Int (intelligence) and 4 in Luk (Luck). Or, if you don't want to bother wasying 5 minutes, you can go 5/4 or 5/5. Dex (dexterity) and Str (Strength) can be anything because it all adds up to 25 in the end. So, you have your 4/4 or 5/4 or 5/5 build, now you need a kickass (excuse the French) name!
Try something original, but not corny. And please, please, do not, I repeat, do NOT put AZN or KrN or p1n0y or any other ethnicy in your name. It is EXTREMELEY annoying, no one really cares if your Asian.

~Surviving Level 1-10~

So, you made your awsome character without a ethnic name with a 4/4 or 5/4 or a 5/5 build, and your set! As a level 1 beginner, you should hit 3~5 on your damage. Keep killing green snails until you hit level 5, when you should go see Maria and do here simple quest and get your first hat! Hope for a Red Headband because it gives accuracy! Now, go to the map left of Amherst (the city Lucas is in) and push up at the second portal in the middle. You should be in Mushroom Garden. Kill these Shrooms till level 10. At level 10, sail to Victoria Island, were your maple Adventure begins!

~AP Placement for Level 1-10~

If you press the S button, you should have the Skill menu pop up. When you level up, you are given 5 AP. These are Ability Points, and they are used to make you stronger. As a Xbowman to be, you need Str= your level, and the rest into Dexterity. But, from level 1-10 just add Str+ 1 then Dex +4.

~The First Job Advancement~

So, you made it to level 10, huh? Well, now your on Victoria Island, the land of dreams (or Nightmares O.o). As you come down the boat, you should see someone named Jane. Beside her is a booth, talk to the man in the booth, and select "Take me Somewhere Else". Pay the 80 mesos to go to Henesys, and your one step closer to archer-dom. Once in Henesys, go to the place with the big gates that say "Mushroom Park". Go in the portal. As your walking, you should see a Statue with a person on a horse. Click up at this statue. Come down from the place your teleported, and go into the Giant tree. Talk to Athena Peirce, and tell her you want to become a Archer. She will do some animations, and you will have some more Hp and Mp. Congratulations, you are now a Xbowman to be!

~Skill Over View~

~The Blessing of Amazon~
Master Level: 8
Type: Passive Pre-requisite: The Blessing of Amazon Lv. 3
Description: Increases the range of attack for both bows and crossbows.

Level 1- Accuracy +1
Level 10- Accuracy +10
Level 16- Accuracy +16

My Thoughts- Only put 3 in to unlock Eye Of Amazon, Focus adds more Accuracy ^_^

~The Eye of Amazon~

Master Level: 8
Type: Passive Pre-requisite: The Blessing of Amazon Lv. 3
Description: Increases the range of attack for both bows and crossbows.

Level 1- Range +25
Level 8- Range +120

My thoughts- A must have, add ASAP.

~Critical Shot~
Master Level: 20
Type: Passive
Description: Allows you to perform a critical attack with a certain success rate.

Level 1- 12% Success Rate Damage- 105%
Level 10- 28% Success Rate- Damage 145%
Level 20- 44% Success Rate- Damage 200%

My Thoughts- Put 1 in after Eye of Amazon is maxed, then Max after DS.

~Focus~
Master Level: 20
Type: Supportive Pre-requisite: The Blessing of Amazon Lv. 3
Description: Focussing to temporarily increase accuracy and avoidability

Level 1- Accuracy +1 Avoidability +1 for 70 Seconds MP-8
Level 10- Accuracy +10 Avoidability +10 for 170 Seconds MP-8
Level 20- Acuracy + 20 Avoidability +20 for 300 SecondsMP-16

My Thoughts- Put all the points you have left in this.

~Double Shot~
Master Level: 20
Type: Active Pre-requisite: Arrow Blow Lv. 1
Description: Fires two arrows at once to attack an enemy twice.

Level 1- MP -8, Damage 76% x2 Hits= 152% Damage
Level 10- MP -11 Damage 100% x2 Hits= 200% Damage
Level 20- MP -16 Damage 130% x2 Hits = 260% Damage

My Thought- A must have. Will explain later in the guide why it is better than AB.

~Arrow Blow~
Master Level: 20
Type: Active
Description: Fires an arrow with authority. Applies more damage than usual

Level 1- Damage 141% MP -8
Level 10- Damage 195% MP -9
Level 20- Damage 260% MP -14

My thought- Only put 1 in for Double Shot. Will explain later why DS is better.


~SP and AP Distribution~
Unfunded Build
Level 10- 1 Blessing of Amazon
Level 11- 2 Blessing of Amazon, 1 Eye of Amazon
Level 12- 3 Eye of Amazon
Level 13- 3 Eye of Amazon
Level 14- 1 Eye of Amazon(Maxed), 1 Critical Shot, 1 Arrow Blow
Level 15- 3 Double Shot
Level 16- 3 Double Shot
Level 17- 3 Double Shot
Level 18- 3 Double Shot
Level 19- 3 Double Shot
Level 20- 3 Double Shot
Level 21- 2 Double Shot (Maxed), 1 Critical
Level 22- 3 Critical
Level 23- 3 Critical
Level 24- 3 Critical
Level 25- 3 Critical
Level 26- 3 Critical
Level 27- 3 Critical(Maxed)
Level 28- 3 Focus
Level 29- 3 Focus
Level 30- 3 Focus

End Stats-
Blessing of Amazon- 3
Eye of Amazon- 8 (Maxed)
Focus- 9
Critical Shot- 20 (Maxed)
Double Shot- 20 (Maxed)
Arrow Blow- 1

Funded Build
Level 10- 1 Arrow Blow
Level 11- 3 Double Shot
Level 12- 3 Double Shot
Level 13- 3 Double Shot
Level 14- 2 Double Shot, 1 Blessing of Amazon
Level 15- 2 Blessing of Amazon, 1 Eye of Amazon
Level 16- 3 Eye of Amazon
Level 17- 3 Eye of Amazon
Level 18- 1 Eye of Amazon (Maxed), 1 Critical, 1 Double Shot
Level 19- 3 Double Shot
Level 20- 3 Double Shot
Level 21- 2 Double Shot (Maxed), 1 Critical
Level 22- 3 Critical
Level 23- 3 Critical
Level 24- 3 Critical
Level 25- 3 Critical
Level 26- 3 Critical
Level 27- 3 Critical (Maxed)
Level 28- 3 Focus
Level 29- 3 Focus
Level 30- 3 Focus.

End stats
Blessing of Amazon- 3
Eye of Amazon- 8 (maxed)
Critical Shot- 20 (Maxed)
Focus- 9
Double Shot- 20 (Maxed)
Arrow Blow 1

Arrow Blow Build (EXTREMELEY UNRECOMMENDED!)

Level 10- 1 Blessing of Amazon
Level 11- 2 Blessing of Amazon, 1 Eye of Amazon
Level 12- 3 eye of Amazon
Level 13- 3 Eye of Amazon
Level 14- 1 Eye of Amazon (Maxed), 1 Critical Shot, 1 Arrow Blow
Level 15- 3 Arrow Blow
Level 16- 3 Arrow Blow
Level 17- 3 Arrow Blow
Level 18- 3 Arrow Blow
Level 19- 3 Arrow Blow
Level 20- 3 Arrow Blow
Level 21- 1 Arrow Blow(Maxed), 2 Critical
Level 22- 3 Critical
Level 23- 3 Critical
Level 24- 3 Critical
Level 25- 3 Critical
Level 26- 3 Critical
Level 27- 3 Critical (Maxed)
Level 28- 3 Focus
Level 29- 3 Focus
Level 30- 3 Focus

End Stats
Blessing of Amazon- 3
Eye of Amazon- 8 (Maxed)
Critical Shot- 20 (Maxed)
Focus- 9
Double Shot- 0
Arrow Blow- 20 (Maxed)

Whew, that took 30 Minutes to write T_T. Anways, here is the AP Build.

Level 10- Str +1 Dex +4

Until 30 ^_^

~Training Spots~

At level 10, you probably won't have enough money to buy 3k+ arrows or potions, so I recommend you put that 3k into a Polearm or Spear, because its kind of a waste of arrows ^_^.

Level 10-15 Slimes are good, possibly towards 15 you can try Orange Mushrooms.

Level 15-20, you can move to your crossbow now, I recommend Orange Mushrooms till 18, then Pig Beach.

Level 20-25, Pig Beach till around 24, then you can go Stirges in the Subway or Green Mushrooms.

Level 25-30, PQ, Stirges, Ant Tunnel, Green/Horny Mush Tree. Jr Sentinels if you feel ancy. Possibly towards 28-30, you might be able to 2HKO Boars.

~ Double Shot or Arrow Blow ~

I said I would put my explanation in, so here it is. Double Shot fires two arrows, were as Arrow Blow only shoots one. They both do 260% damage, BUT, Double Shot can do 2 CRITICALS instead of only one fro Arrow Blow. Arrow blow with critical can do 360% damage, but Double Shot can do 460%!

Well, Im gonna add 2nd job and possibly 3rd Job later tonight or tommorow.

-Hiboy

i see this is growing into quite a good guide.
keep it up. :o :o

My only complaint with it is, your explanation for double shot compared to arrow blow doesn't add up. double shot maxed does 130% damge each both add up to 260% 200% of that is 520%, but if arrow blow does 260% aswell then 200% of that is still 520%. so they both do the same damage. If I am wrong then correct this so that you are right, but I have read other guides that say that a Xbowman should max arrow blow because arrow blow does higher damage to armored enemies than double shot because it is an "armor breaking" skill. I am not sure how true that is but that's what I have heard and that's what seems right. the knockback of the xbow compared to the bow is significant enough that stopping power on those enemies is essential. You may still be right though, but you may want to check that out.

Double Shot gets a double chance of hitting a Critical, meaning, they could actually do 720% Damage.


I haven't updated this guide in forever, nor do I plan too. I have quit MS and I don't really plan on Returning. My Xbow was lvl 56, I was writing the second job part : /

critical does not double your damage!! all critical does is add another 100% to an attack.

DS) (130% + 100%) + (130% + 100%) = 460% - this is max damage for ds.

AB) 260% + 100% = 360% - this is max damage for ab.

most of the time ppl get ab because they misunderstand the description of critical (damn u wizet!!). ppl get the idea that critical doubles ur damage BUT it doesnt. all it does is add 100% more to your damage. this is why it is better to get ds as there are 2 chances of critical with one shot.

OOOOOHHHHHH!!!!

I never knew that, the god damn descriptions of these things >_>;;

Well, I may update it later, probably just use Hidden-Street to finish it :P

i'm sorry to critique this, but wouldn't it be best to get critical then double first? you need offensive power first than getting range if you want to easily level up quickly.

You put 1 point into Critical just for the bonus early on, and Double Shot is worth it more in the beginning, because you won't really need critical early because Pig's even at lvl 1 critical, at around 18, are a 1HKO.

but that's only like... 20%

and remember, as an archer in the beginning, your damage is very unstable, especially for an xbowman. getting critical shot maxed in the beginning will allow you to not worry about silly things like that, since you have the possible chance of OHKO.

Critical Shot makes your damage even more Unstable, until you obtain Mastery. It's better to get it later on, hands down.

Double Shot is an actual Attack, critical only raises your maximum Damage. You need Active before Passive.

yeah, that's true if you're funded, but even if unfunded, you can still go with critical shot first.

hence, another reason why to get critical shot first: even in level 1 double shot, if you get critical maxed, you can ACTUALLY OHKO a normal, or even a ribbon pig.

bear in mind, i'm using my knowledge as a level 30 hunter from windia before i abandoned it, while also using my new character as a revisit of my knowledge.

This is a Crossbowmen guide, Crossbow's damage is different from a Hunter.

but you posted archer skills as a beginning. i'm sure with the same skills in the first job, bows and arrows can possibly deal the same situation.

yeah, my logic is really a failure. sorry.