MapleStory/Beginner Guide

The Beginner class essentially serves the purpose of being an introductory class. Though Beginners obtain ability points upon leveling up, they have no skills; however, in the KoreaMS Beta server, Beginner skills are being tested. Beginners do not lose experience upon death. It is advised, however, that one makes not dying a habit before advancing to the first job because experience is lost once the advancement is made. It is also strongly advised that the job advancement is made at the appropriate level (8 for Magicians, 10 for Warriors/Archers/Thieves). Some people choose to completely ignore the job advancement, and play MapleStory as a permanent Beginner. This is a challenging path to take.

This module does not discuss the art of being a permanent Beginner - one should see the builds module for information on that.

Common courtesy
As with all MMORPGs, there are some things that you should and should not do.


 * Territory: While no one "owns" territory (it is intellectual property of Wizet), a significant number of MapleStory players grow attached to the area that have been training on for a decent amount of time. This is an "unwritten law" of MapleStory, and it is suggested that you abide by it, if you value your fame level. If you would like to train somewhere, but it has already been taken, then simply change channels. With 20 channels there are plenty of places to train at. If you invade someone's territory, then it is most commonly considered "kill stealing" and will most likely cause arguements. While it is incorrect to say that this is just as wrong to do as, for example, invading a foreign country, it tends to irritate people, so try not to do this. Unfortunately, in some places such as the popular "Pig Beach", territory is very hard to grasp, and a lot of kill stealing occurs as a result.
 * The etiquette of territory is hard to define, as everyone has different views of how big their territory is. For some maps, a territory may be less than 1/8 of the map, or even a mere monster. On the other hand, the territory of some maps such as the end of the B3 Subway, and the Zombie maps, extend across the entire map. However, as you train in that particular map for a long amount of time, you will begin to grasp this common, unwritten knowledge.


 * Kill Stealing: Many people "kill steal", especially at earlier levels. In essence, kill stealing is when a person either invades someone else's territory, or when a stronger player follows around a weaker player just to irritate that weak player. Kill stealing is often referred to as "KSing" ("KS" referring to "kill steal", and "KSed" referring to "kill stealed"). Sometimes, a form of kill stealing is used to defend against kill stealing. This situation is rare and cannot be defined with a specific term. It typically happens when someone is kill stealing, is warned, defamed, and still will not leave one's territory. Kill stealing is considered rude behavior and generally results in defaming. The kill stealing etiquette rule does not apply to boss monsters, per global belief. In some extreme cases, one may wait for a boss monster such as Mushmom for a considerable amount of time, and is KSed once it spawns.


 * Defaming: Defames, which is the opposite of fame, are generally frowned upon, as they can easily lead to "mass defames" in which a band of people defames a single person repeatedly. Defaming is sometimes a useful tool to use if someone is being extremely disrespectful by kill stealing or otherwise. A "defame war" is similar to a mass defaming, except two parties of people defame each other.

Economy
The economy of MapleStory is complicated, with prices fluctuating all the time as a result of inflation. Prices vary from version to version and server to server, depending on availability. Below is a list of those items which generally retain a standard price:
 * Scrolls (those that increase equipment statistics) are usually valuable, the cheapest selling for at least 20,000 (except for HP, MP scrolls and scrolls for pet equipment, which are generally worth very little) and the most expensive selling for up to 4-6 million (for the mage-demanded 60% Overall INT scroll).
 * Common ores are worth about 1,000 Mesos each. It is recommended that you keep all of your ores instead of selling them to the NPC. However, there are some rarer ores that are worth more, such as the Diamond, Gold or Black Crystal Ores, which can be sold for even more (generally 5,000 - 10,000 Mesos each). Then there are the rarest ores - the "Crystal" ores such as the LUK, Wisdom, DEX, Power, and Dark Crystal Ores. The most expensive, the Dark Crystal, which is needed for the third job advancement test, sells for up to 100,000 Mesos each. Be wary that the Dark Crystal and Black Crystal Ores are not the same thing.
 * The newer or less populated a server is, the higher the prices for rare items are. For example, on GlobalMS Scania, a Blood Chaos Robe may sell for XXX Mesos, while on a less populated or less established server it may sell for up to 1.5 times that amount. At the end of the first week of the GlobalMS Tespia beta phase, those who had found a Panlid sold it for up to 2 million Mesos each. At the end of the last week of Tespia, however, the price had dropped to as low as 100,000 Mesos each. Also, once an item becomes obsolete, its value drops; for example, the price of Panlids in GlobalMS dropped upon the release of the new Magician shields (Mystic and Esther shields) and Bandit shields (Seclusion, Nimble, and Jurgen Wristguards).
 * Counterpoint: Scrolls will usually be lower in newer servers; While there is a lower number of scrolls in the market, there will usually be very few people, if any, who can use them effectively. Also, lower level monsters give less profit, so players will have less money, which will translate into lower prices. Finally, quests such as Jane and the Wild Boar will also add scrolls to the market, in relatively large quantities for the server's age.