Hi everyone. I've been thinking of writing this for a while now, but was really too lazy to do so... But I've finally gotten to it. So here it is! Note that it's best viewed in the Dark theme, as is everything else (check the bottom left corner of this page to switch from bright to dark). Also I feel like the size of the regular font is incredibly small on this forum on the dark theme, but whatever.
emailbox's
Introduction!
Spoiler!Again, hello everyone. I'm emailbox of Hidden Street forums, for about 7 ish years, and I'm writing this guide tofill in the empty hole known as "The Guide Section".help new Banditos/Shadowers level their characters.
I've been playing mine for too long, about a year or so (6 of those months I didn't go near Maplestory, but that's besides the point). I'm not a super amazing Shad by any means, my damage being on the upper end of "good", and on the lower end of "great". I primarily created the class for the Renegade Revamp, but leveled it to 171 much earlier than the Thief Update. As such, I don't really have first hand experience with the new 1st~3rd job, as well as lower 4th job... I apologize if this creates confusion ;_;
For anyone who knows me and my "hardcore" characters, they'll know I do pretty indepth research into AP allocation, skill builds, and gear goals prior to making the character. Sometimes I'll go overboard and get the gear, but never get around to actually making the class... In short, I like my theorycrafting more than the actual grinding that's required to actualize the theorycrafting. I've done this a few times, the first "real" character I had being a Corsair(which I'll make a guide to once the Pirate Revamp comes out). Prior to that my only experience with my researching methods was a F/P Mage that I quit because of certain changes to Poison Mist (this was ages ago when Mist was based on enemy HP and not your own range).
Anyway, in short, I'm an experienced Mapler with about 9-10 4th jobbers (7 of them 140+, 2 of them 190+, and 1 level 200) and too many hours on this game and on the forums surrounding this game. I hope this guide will help you, a new and upcoming Shadower!
Disclaimer
Spoiler!I do not own any of the characters/art/skills/items/whatever mentioned in this guide, they are the property of NEXON. I own all rights to where this guide can and can not be posted, and my explicit permission is required for anyone to share this guide outside of Hidden-Street.net/forum. Linking to my guide is acceptable, copy and pasting it is not. Please give credits where they are due; guides like this take long to write and they're entirely for the benefit of the public, so when someone steals intellectual work it's bothersome.
Sorry if the guide is a little dull on the eyes, cosmetic updates will come as I have more time ^_^
Why should I play a Shadower?
The primary reason why I play a Shadower is because they are fun. They are highly mobile, can deal lots of damage even with low(ish...) amounts of funding, and are extremely survivable. With enough LUK (and luck!) you can get through long hours of training only being hit like once, and even that damage is reduced with Meso Guard, which blocks 60% of incoming damage.
They're a very nice blend of high survivability, cool looking skills, and a nice pile of damage. You can combo many of their skills together, and almost all of their skills synergize with each other. Since the Revamp, their damage isn't only high, with about 110 weapon attack coming from skills (ie, for free!), it's also balanced, with a total of 90% mastery in 4th job. They've got Assassinate, which is pretty much max damage on the last hit, and a 50 ATT (!) buff that stacks with every other buff in the game!
Thanks to Meso Explosion, they can train extremely well in high density maps, and thanks to the powerful Boomerang Step, they can train in lower density maps as well. They can also boss very effectively, thanks to BStep's invincibility frames (iframes), their 45% dodge chance, and Smokescreen every 5 minutes... stacked with their huge avoidability!
In short, the class is fun to play because you're not just holding down one button for 8 hours. Instead, you should actively be switching between skills for the optimal amount of damage and survivability.
Onto the guide!
AP Allocation
There are several ways you can allocate your Ability Points, of which you gain 5 of every time you level up.
1. DEXless.
Spoiler!By opting to go DEXless, you will put all your AP into LUK. This in turn increases your damage output the most of the following choices, but can limit the kinds of items you can equip without the right amount of funding. If you have a lot of funding, this is the way to go 90% of the time. With the number of huge +ALL STAT items that are available (for the right price!) you can easily obtain the 170 total DEX needed to equip the highest possible equipment, the Raven Horn (Empress) set. I believe you can now reset your base DEX below 25 (to 4) so that's always an option.
Secondary stat requirements (DEX requirements for Thieves) were removed from every item in the game that matters, so always put 5 points into LUK every level. Auto-assign will do this for you.
2. Low DEX
Spoiler!This is going to be the optimal choice for most players. I would highly suggest you don't actually put points into DEX until you need to, but if you want to equip some higher leveled gear (like 80+), you'll probably need a bit of base DEX. The reason is that Thieves currently require the highest amounts of their secondary stat to equip gear (level of item + 40 DEX past level 40) for anything level 120 or below.
How low you can go on your base DEX depends on your level of funding. Up to 80 base DEX would be acceptable for a very poorly funded Thief; anything more than that is probably going to be overkill past level 120. I would highly recommend a cap around 60 or 70; too much DEX will really lower your damage, as Shadowers gain a lot of free weapon attack, and they require LUK to boost their damage.
Personally I capped at 60 DEX back in the days when I had very little funding, then spent a whole ton of money on gear... As a result, I've overkilled my DEX to about 400 total DEX, which is incredibly embarassing. I really should've gone DEXless... For players who aim to go to the "end-game", try aiming for a total of 170 DEX without an Overall (Top/Bottom), Helmet, Gloves, Boots, or Weapon. These will most likely end up being filled with Empress gear, which requires 170 DEX, and is the best gear set for Thieves at the moment.
3. Other DEX
Spoiler!Not sure what to put here. I guess this is for those people who put in 100+ points into their base DEX and cry about it later. Really not smart at all. Even if you're stuck using a little worse gear for a while, it's not incredibly expensive to get lower leveled items that give +DEX or +ALL STAT. If you plan on leveling past 140 or so, DEX should pose a very miniscule problem for you. I honestly can't think of a single reason to ever get more than 80 base DEX, but please do comment if you can.
SP Allocations
A general sort of idea of where to put your Skill points into.
1st Job
Spoiler!10: 1 Double Stab (1)
11: 3 Haste (3)
12: 3 Haste (6)
13: 3 Haste (9)
14: 3 Haste (12)
15: 3 Haste (15)
16: 3 Haste (18)
17: 2 Haste (Max), 1 Double Stab (2)
18: 3 Double Stab (5)
19: 3 Double Stab (8)
20: 3 Double Stab (11)
21: 3 Double Stab (14)
22: 3 Double Stab (17)
23: 3 Double Stab (Max)
24: 3 Nimble Body (3)
25: 3 Nimble Body (6)
26: 3 Nimble Body (9)
27: 1 Nimble Body (Max), 2 Dark Sight (2)
28: 3 Dark Sight (5)
29: 3 Dark Sight (8)
30: 2 Dark Sight (Max), 1 Lucky Seven (1)
Totals:
http://global.hidden-street.net/sites/global.hidden-street.net/files/skills/thief001.gif?1243565101 10/10 (Maxed)
http://global.hidden-street.net/sites/global.hidden-street.net/files/skills/thief004.gif?1243565443 10/10 (Maxed)
http://global.hidden-street.net/sites/global.hidden-street.net/files/skills/thief006.gif?1243565725 1/20
http://global.hidden-street.net/sites/global.hidden-street.net/files/skills/thief005.gif?1243565555 20/20 (Maxed)
http://global.hidden-street.net/sites/global.hidden-street.net/files/skills/assassin005.gif?1243648690 20/20 (Maxed)
I max Haste first because the extra mobility will help a lot more than a little extra damage from Double Stab. Double Stab is next because the extra damage is more useful than the unnecessary ACC and Avoid from Nimble, and Dark Sight is needed for Assassinate in 4th job (well not needed... but very nice for it). Lucky Seven is a Assassin skill so you don't need it :P
2nd Job
Spoiler!30: 1 Steal (1), 3 Dagger Mastery (3)
31: 1 Flash Jump (1), 2 Dagger Mastery (5)
32: 3 Booster (3)
33: 3 Karma (3)
34: 3 Karma (6)
35: 3 Karma (9)
36: 3 Karma (12)
37: 3 Karma (15)
38: 3 Karma (18)
39: 3 Karma (Max), 1 Physical Training (1)
40: 3 Physical Training (4)
41: 1 Physical Training (Max), 2 Flash Jump (3)
42: 2 Flash Jump (Max), 1 Dagger Mastery (6)
43: 3 Dagger Mastery (9)
44: 1 Dagger Mastery (Max), 2 Steal (3)
45: 3 Steal (6)
46: 3 Steal (9)
47: 1 Steal (Max), 2 Booster (5)
48: 3 Booster (8)
49: 2 Booster (Max), 1 Shield Mastery (1)
50: 3 Shield Mastery (4)
51: 3 Shield Mastery (7)
52: 3 Shield Mastery (Max)
53: 3 Meso Guard (3)
54: 3 Meso Guard (6)
55: 3 Meso Guard (9)
56: 1 Meso Guard (Max), 2 Savage Blow (2)
57: 3 Savage Blow (5)
58: 3 Savage Blow (8)
59: 3 Savage Blow (11)
60: 3 Savage Blow (14)
Totals:
http://global.hidden-street.net/sites/global.hidden-street.net/files/skills/bandit001.gif?1243649133 10/10 (Maxed)
http://global.hidden-street.net/sites/global.hidden-street.net/files/skills/bandit002.gif?1243649202 10/10 (Maxed)
http://global.hidden-street.net/sites/global.hidden-street.net/files/skills/bandit004.gif?1243649565 11/20
http://global.hidden-street.net/sites/global.hidden-street.net/files/skills/bandit003.gif?1243649354 10/10 (Maxed)
http://global.hidden-street.net/sites/global.hidden-street.net/files/skills/knight002.gif?1243364953 10/10 (Maxed)
http://global.hidden-street.net/sites/global.hidden-street.net/files/skills/chiefbandit006.gif?1243657016 10/10 (Maxed)
http://global.hidden-street.net/sites/global.hidden-street.net/files/skills/channel-karma.png?1341153102 20/20 (Maxed)
http://global.hidden-street.net/sites/global.hidden-street.net/files/skills/hermit007.gif?1243651196 5/5 (Maxed)
http://global.hidden-street.net/sites/global.hidden-street.net/files/skills/physical-training.png?1317984287 5/5 (Maxed)
First thing first: Steal is your primary attack for 2nd job, unfortunately. Bandits and CBs don't get very many "straight up mobbing" skills, so you're stuck with this guy for a while. I leave it at level 1 for a while because you only get +30% damage by the max level, and your other skill will help you more.
Next on the list is to grab a point into Flash Jump and to get Booster to a decent level. You need 5 Mastery to get any SP into Booster, so go ahead and do that. Once you hit level 3 Booster, it lasts for a full minute so I leave it there for a while.
Then I go to max my damage buffs: Karma gives +30 ATT (same as Rage, but not a party buff), and Physical Training gives +30 LUK and +30 DEX. DEX doesn't really do much for you anymore, but 30 LUK is still good. Great skills to get early.
I max FJ at this point because the range on it at level 1 is pitiful, but if you're sitting in Toy Room (Jesters) then you won't need it. If you're at Chimney, however, I highly recommend getting FJ quickly.
Mastery is after this to balance out your damage, though you can get Steal first (more damage!). Which ever you choose, get the other one after.
Booster is finally maxed, for the convenience, and then Shield Mastery (for free damage reduction) and Meso Guard (for not-free damage reduction). Savage Blow is left at 11 because it's instantly replaced in 3rd job with Midnight Carnival.
3rd Job
Spoiler!60: 1 Phase Dash (1), 3 Shadow Partner (3)
61: 3 Shadow Partner (6)
62: 3 Shadow Partner (9)
63: 3 Shadow Partner (12)
64: 3 Shadow Partner (15)
65: 3 Shadow Partner (18)
66: 3 Shadow Partner (Max), 1 Phase Dash (2)
67: 3 Phase Dash (5)
68: 3 Phase Dash (8)
69: 3 Phase Dash (11)
70: 3 Phase Dash (14)
71: 3 Phase Dash (17)
72: 3 Phase Dash (Max)
73: 1 Venom (1), 1 Midnight Carnival (1), 1 Meso Explosion (1)
74: 2 Meso Explosion (3), 1 Pickpocket (1)
75: 3 Pickpocket (4)
76: 1 Pickpocket (Max), 2 Meso Explosion (5)
77: 3 Meso Explosion (8)
78: 3 Meso Explosion (11)
79: 3 Meso Explosion (14)
80: 3 Meso Explosion (17)
81: 3 Meso Explosion (Max)
82: 3 Meso Mastery (3)
83: 2 Meso Mastery (Max), 1 Midnight Carnival (2)
84: 3 Midnight Carnival (5)
85: 3 Midnight Carnival (8)
86: 3 Midnight Carnival (11)
87: 3 Midnight Carnival (14)
88: 3 Midnight Carnival (17)
89: 3 Midnight Carnival (Max)
90: 3 Venom (4)
91: 3 Venom (7)
92: 3 Venom (Max)
93: 3 Enveloping Darkness (3)
94: 3 Enveloping Darkness (6)
95: 3 Enveloping Darkness (9)
96: 1 Enveloping Darkness (Max), 2 Dark Flare (2)
97: 3 Dark Flare (5)
98: 3 Dark Flare (8)
99: 3 Dark Flare (11)
100: 3 Dark Flare (14)
http://global.hidden-street.net/sites/global.hidden-street.net/files/skills/chiefbandit004.gif?1243655960 5/5 (Maxed)
http://global.hidden-street.net/sites/global.hidden-street.net/files/skills/chiefbandit007.gif?1243657234 20/20 (Maxed)
http://global.hidden-street.net/sites/global.hidden-street.net/files/skills/dark-flare.png?1289986440 14/20
http://global.hidden-street.net/sites/global.hidden-street.net/files/skills/chiefbandit003.gif?1243655831 20/20 (Maxed)
http://global.hidden-street.net/sites/global.hidden-street.net/files/skills/shadow-partner.png?1289985612 20/20 (Maxed)
http://global.hidden-street.net/sites/global.hidden-street.net/files/skills/enveloping-darkness.png?1341124539 10/10 (Maxed)
http://global.hidden-street.net/sites/global.hidden-street.net/files/skills/MesoMastery.png?1290006255 5/5 (Maxed)
http://global.hidden-street.net/sites/global.hidden-street.net/files/skills/venom_2.png?1341124715 10/10 (Maxed)
http://global.hidden-street.net/sites/global.hidden-street.net/files/skills/midnight-carnival.png?1341154901 20/20 (Maxed)
This is where my experience starts to falter. Firstly, I have no idea what your main training skill is. In this guide I assume it's Phase Dash (which is quite strong, actually), and a bit of Meso Explosion on the side. If you feel there are errors, feel free to post/comment.
Shadow Partner increases your damage output by 70% so do max this first. Then max Phase Dash for the extra damage. Now go hold down PD and run around back and forth across flat maps like Mutae, C-2, and Pirates. Make sure you put Phase Dash on a macro that shouts "ZOOM ZOOM" because it makes it 1.00x more effective.
In any case, at this point I put one into all of your skills to mess around with them, and go ahead and max Pick Pocket. Meso Explosion is useless without it (you just blow up meso you should really be picking up) so get it after PP. Meso Mastery improves Pick Pocket's drop rate (important for ME bombing), so get that.
Midnight Edge and Venom are going to help at LHC, but not much during training until 100, but they're both more useful than some HP and Dark Flare. The last two skills aren't particularly going to help in 3rd job (Dark Flare is just about useless except in parties, and it's still useless even then), so get them last.
Dark Flare isn't worth maxing over Phase Dash (which becomes almost primarily utility in 4th job) or anything else... Midnight Carnival is good 1v1 damage (for some bosses it's useful) and chains with Boomerang Step in 4th job. All the Meso Explosion related skills are necessary to be effective in large mobs, and Enveloping Darkness is actually a very very good passive... So skip Dark Flare. Only Night Lords max that anyway.
4th Job
Spoiler!If you don't have skill books, I would highly recommend you save your SP until at least 150 so you can max the skills as they come. Your core skills (first 40-ish levels) should be maxed before putting SP into other skills.
100: 1 BStep (1), 1 Shadower Instinct (1), 1 Toxic Venom (1), 1 Sudden Raid (1)
101: 1 Shifter (1), 2 BStep (3)
102: 3 BStep (6)
103: 3 BStep (9)
104: 3 BStep (12)
105: 3 BStep (15)
106: 3 BStep (18)
107: 3 BStep (21)
108: 3 BStep (24)
109: 3 BStep (27)
110: 3 BStep (Max)
111: 3 Dagger Expert (3)
112: 3 Dagger Expert (6)
113: 3 Dagger Expert (9)
114: 3 Dagger Expert (12)
115: 3 Dagger Expert (15)
116: 3 Dagger Expert (18)
117: 3 Dagger Expert (21)
118: 3 Dagger Expert (24)
119: 3 Dagger Expert (27)
120: 3 Dagger Expert (Max)
121: 3 Shadower Instinct (4)
122: 3 Shadower Instinct (7)
123: 3 Shadower Instinct (10)
124: 3 Shadower Instinct (13)
125: 3 Shadower Instinct (16)
126: 3 Shadower Instinct (19)
127: 1 Shadower Instinct (Max), 2 Toxic Venom (3)
128: 3 Toxic Venom (6)
129: 3 Toxic Venom (9)
130: 1 Toxic Venom (Max), 2 Shifter (3)
131: 3 Shifter (6)
132: 3 Shifter (9)
133: 3 Shifter (12)
134: 3 Shifter (15)
135: 3 Shifter (18)
136: 3 Shifter (21)
137: 3 Shifter (24)
138: 3 Shifter (27)
139: 3 Shifter (Max)
140+: Whatever you want.
Total by 200:
http://global.hidden-street.net/sites/global.hidden-street.net/files/skills/nightslord002.gif?1243657660 30/30 (Maxed)
http://global.hidden-street.net/sites/global.hidden-street.net/files/skills/BoomerangStep.png?1290018449 30/30 (Maxed)
http://global.hidden-street.net/sites/global.hidden-street.net/files/skills/shadower-instinct.png?1341155852 30/30 (Maxed)
http://global.hidden-street.net/sites/global.hidden-street.net/files/skills/dagger-expert.png?1341156501 30/30 (Maxed)
http://global.hidden-street.net/sites/global.hidden-street.net/files/skills/Smokescreen.png?1290018113 30/30 (Maxed)
http://global.hidden-street.net/sites/global.hidden-street.net/files/skills/Maple%20Warrior.png?1289850343 30/30 (Maxed)
http://global.hidden-street.net/sites/global.hidden-street.net/files/skills/shadower002.gif?1243658882\ 30/30 (Maxed)
http://global.hidden-street.net/sites/global.hidden-street.net/files/skills/toxic-venom.png?1341125633 10/10 (Maxed)
http://global.hidden-street.net/sites/global.hidden-street.net/files/skills/sudden-raid.png?1341151134 30/30 (Maxed)
http://global.hidden-street.net/sites/global.hidden-street.net/files/skills/Hero%27s%20Will.png?1289851297 5/5 (Maxed)
A Shadower's Core consists of 5 skills, 6 if you want to include Assassinate (which is good at lower levels, but worsens as you pass the 45k range. I'll explain in a bit).
1. Boomerang Step. This is the bread and butter of your core. Without this, Shadowers lose everything. It provides huge iframes, chains perfectly with Midnight Carnival, and does heaps of damage. I would macro this with Midnight Carnival, and also put it on a separate key as well (I have it on Shift and the macro on Ctrl). The macro you use when you're standing still, ie, bossing, LHC, Stronghold. When you're just killing lower leveled mobs for drops (event drops, etc) you want to just use BStep as the macro can interfere with your jump attacking. You can macro this with Assassinate for superior 1v1 damage output (it cancels Assassinate's final 100% crit chance hit if used right after you do your initial 3 hits; in a macro, put BStep after Assassinate), and also Phase Dash for extra mobbing/rushing, as both have moderate delays after individual use. It also chains with ME, which is useful at bosses where the iframes will matter and you can't necessarily afford to sit in one spot holding down ME.
2. Dagger Expert is self explanatory. +30 Weapon ATT, 90% mastery (you have a passive 20% mastery because you're a melee class), and a bunch of Avoid is what is important.
3. Shadower Instinct. This is your buff you'll be spamming, since it only lasts one minute. It seems low, but it's a fair tradeoff considering it gives you a whopping 50 ATT at level 20, which stacks with every other buff in the game, including Karma (your 2nd job buff? Remember?). You need 5 "Body Count" to get the full effect (the little red orbs over your head), which only start appearing once you get one point into this skill. At level 1 it gives a stacking 31 ATT buff for 1 minute (same duration for all levels), so get a point into this fast! Make sure you have it up all the time, sometimes I forget to cast it ;_;
4. Shadow Shifter. 45% Dodge Chance is good. Enough said? Enough said.
5. Toxic Venom. This freaking amazing passive lets your DoT from Venom STACK. Also increases the damage per tick. Not only that, every stack makes its own line of damage. You're probably thinking "who cares?" but if you're a godly funded Shadower, you will understand. Instead of fusing, lets say, 50,000 damage x 3 into one big number of 150,000, it shows up as 3 lines of 50,000. This means that if you were to somehow hit over 333k damage per tick on Venom (which would suggest you have a 200k range or so, luls), you wouldn't lose damage to the damage cap. Obviously for most of us this is pretty insignificant, but I thought it was pretty cool ^_^
(6.) Assassinate. If you've got less than around 80-100k maximum range, this skill is actually very good to use. The reason you don't really want to use it past the upper ranges listed (100k range zzzz) is because you'll lose damage as it will hit max damage every single time you use it, and only to one enemy. If you had used BStep instead (which has a much shorter delay), you'd do more damage to more enemies. Particularly, this is important at places like Stronghold or Lionheart Castle, but in any case, for most people this will be pretty darn important to max after your initial 5 skills. Assassinate can be cast outside of Dark Sight now (yay) but if you cast it while in DS you do 250% of the damage you would do without DS. This is freaking awesome. In addition, if you have 5 Body Count, then it will do an additional 2.5x damage (which stacks with DS...) At 40k range or so, you have a good chance to hit max damage consistently if you use both DS and your 5 Body Count. This is really really good at LHC if you haven't gotten supergodly damage, as well as bosses in the same scenario. Remember that you're vulnerable during Assassinate, so always keep an eye on your health!
Nines!
Spoiler!
Note that, by 140,you'd have maxed your core skills. So what do you do after 140? Max everything else, then max all your 1st, 2nd, and 3rd job skills you skipped out on (yes, including Lucky Seven). At level 187 you max out every single skill you have in the entire book, so there isn't really much to do past that. I'm currently sitting on 35 SP (level 193), though I have yet to pass Maple Warrior 30 and Sudden Raid 30.
Gearing Options
This probably won't be updated, ever. Since DEX isn't a problem anymore, just aim for a level 80 top/bottom and cube; if you can afford to, save up for the 140 Raven Horn set.
Leaving this here for nostalgia reasons.
Spoiler!
This section is primarily a quick overlook at what kind of gear you'll want to get over the course of your Shadower career.
1st Job
Spoiler!All I can say about first job is that either it'll be super quick because you have lots of funding, or not as quick but still pretty quick because you don't. If you're a new player (first character, etc) then I'd highly recommend you grab yourself the hat that you get in a quest at level 18, as it gives +12 LUK which is great. At these lower levels it's difficult to really expand on gear (and is rather unnecessary to do so).
I also recommend new players to save their money and buy a new dagger (and only a new dagger) every 20 levels or so. In 1st job it doesn't take very long to hit 30, and your dagger isn't going to improve that speed by any large amount. Buying new equips every 5-10 levels is not only expensive at lower funding pools, it also means you need to put more points into DEX consistently, which will lower your overall damage.
Rings are nice to get at lower levels if you've got them from a different character.
2nd Job
Spoiler!The only real recommendation I have for 2nd job gearing is that you participate heavily in events. These events can give you great, limited "edition" items that could potentially last you a long time. In particular, Hot Time events are great because they often give a +10 All Stat hat that has special bonuses for a particular class. Even if you're not that class, it's still a great hat to get (+20 total stats for you, 10 DEX 10 LUK).
These events can also provide DEXless weapons for you to use, which is great if you want to upgrade your weapon but don't have enough DEX.
I recommend you save your money on armor because tier 2 (level 30-70) armor doesn't go end-game.
Non-event-wise, I highly recommend completing the Mushroom Kingdom theme dungeon (you'll get a quest notifier) as well as the Kerning City Square quest line. They give itms that you could easily use for most of 2nd job.
Again, 2nd job items are not end-game, so spend as little of your money as possible obtaining new items.
3rd Job
Spoiler!Here's where it gets interesting. There's a lot of new things for you to do (which you should do) at this point.
Firstly, you can grab a great top/bottom set if you can afford it. These can go end-game, or very late-game, if you get something like 6% LUK on both items. The same applies to gloves, shoes, capes, earrings, etc. Everything should be at a minimum level of 80 (71 at the lowest).
Some notable quests include the Silent Crusade storyline, where you can get yourself some rare items (like shoulderpads, which are rather uncommon) and loosely gear yourself with. The Time Traveller's storyline is also quite good, but I think you'll need a good amount of funding to solo it in 3rd job (also, the medal has a level requirement of 130). It gives you a great hat that can be an end-game item, as it's in the third tier of item potentials (and it comes epic on reveal!).
3rd job is also where you'll encounter the first of the two Shadower-specific shields, the Khanjar (the other one is a level 120 requirement). The Khanjars are better than every other shield in the game for Shadowers because they come with weapon attack when clean. The regular, level 80 Khanjars come with 8 ATT (average) and the level 120 Dragon Khanjars come with about 15-17 ATT. They have slots and can be potentialed, making them amazing shields for Shadowers. They're also very pricey so don't fret about getting the best D/Khanjar in 3rd job. Of course, if you can afford it, it's your second priority item next to your main weapon. Note that the Khanjars require a small amount of STR to equip, which is why +All Stat items will benefit you greatly. More on this in the 4th job/endgame section
For helmets I highly recommend getting a Chaos Zakum Helmet if you can afford one and don't want to save up for a Raven Horn Chaser set in 4th job. They're much cheaper than the RHC set pieces and you can equip them earlier.
For your weapon, I highly recommend you save money and go for the highest level dagger within your price range (for instance, Reverse Pescases are around 50-100m, but a Raven Horn Baselard would be more than 2b at the moment). If you can't afford 120+ daggers, the Dragon Kanzir is probably the way to go. They're relatively cheap, and have the highest attack for a dagger pre-4th job.
4th Job/End Game
Spoiler!This is where gearing gets serious. If you've hit 4th job there's a relatively good chance you've made a bit of money on the way. If not, I recommend you go and learn how to play the market a little before continuing. The reason is that you really do need a good amount of damage to train effectively at Lionheart Castle, unless you can mooch off of a stronger group of people (in which case you'll miss out on half the fun of being a Shadower!).
The final, end-game set for all Thieves at the moment is the Raven Horn Chaser set. Each piece of equipment in this set goes for about 200-300m at the moment, completely clean and without potential. The reason these items are great is because they come with ATT on them (every piece has at least 1 ATT on it), and thus can be chaosed for more ATT, and because their full set bonus is really good (+45 total ATT, 30% boss damage, +20 All Stats, +2 to skill levels, +15% HP/MP, etc). In addition, they also give buttloads of +LUK and +DEX, on the item themselves. Chances are, if you can afford such a set, you don't really need to be reading this guide. As such I'll just leave this here and skip to lesser funded end-games.
Assuming you can't afford to deck yourself out in a full, well scrolled, Raven Horn Chaser set, I'd highly recommend you get alternatives to the set.
Your first priority at all times is to find a dagger that you want to use for a long time, to scroll it to a level you're happy with, and to form your armor equipment in a way that will allow you to equip said dagger with as little base DEX as possible. This section I choose to leave mostly open-ended because the definition of a "good" item varies heavily between players and I wouldn't want people to think of their dagger as "bad" when they spent their own time and money investing into it.Personally I'm using a 107 ATT Blood Dagger because I wanted to save up for a Raven Horn Baselard, then got hacked.Edit: I now have a full RHC set including the Baselard, though my BL is clean.
As stated in the 3rd job section, your armor priority should be getting about 3% LUK potentials on every equipment you own that has a level requirement of level 80+. The level 80 top/bottom and shoes are more or less your priority for armor. These should be the cheapest components of your gear.
For gloves, you'll want to grab a pair of gloves with a decent amount of ATT (10+ weapon attack) that has a level 80+ level requirement. A good pair of gloves to do this on are Strong Machine Gloves, obtained from a quest in Magatia, because they're common and, as a result, if you choose to cube and you get a really good pot you don't need (like +15% STR) you can sell them and buy yourself better gloves. Alternately, you can opt to pay more for level 120+ gloves as you can cube them for Decent Sharp Eyes, though I do NOT recommend you do so on a Shadower. While SE is great on every class, Shadowers don't benefit as much from SE because of their low innate critical chance.
Three more pieces that should be relatively easy to find are %LUK Earrings, %LUK belts, and %LUK Capes. Because these can be crafted and have potential on them when crafted, many players will craft hundreds of these items and sell good results for next to nothing. Take advantage of this and grab a pair of 6% LUK earrings (shouldn't cost you much more than 30-50m).
For your shield you'll probably want to grab a level 80 Khanjar. The level 120 Khanjars are really pricey atm (like more than 2b pricey) and aren't really worth it unless you are really going all out on your Shad. I would recommend you try to scroll it with 60% Shield Attack scrolls, and wait for Clean Slate Scroll events to come out and reclaim the failed slots. If you hammer it you can easily get +18 more ATT on the shield. This will probably be a very expensive investment, but also a very nice one as well. Your shield should ALWAYS take less investment than your Dagger, as your Dagger can get more ATT on it for a lower cost.
In your pendant slot you'll ideally want a +1 Horntail Pendant end game. Other pendants are okay too, but the HTP is probably the best bang-for-your-buck item you'll get. +22 All Stat will help greatly when capping DEX.
I would recommend you just get a bunch of cheap rings (like +3 ATT rings or something) until you can afford to buy Evo Rings 1,2, and 3. Alternately, you can wait for new character events to come out, as new character events generally provide you with account tradeable rings. Rings are a low priority, as are Face Accessories and Eye Accessories. For your Eye Accessory, I highly recommend you participate in the Kenta In Danger PQ a bunch of times and get Kenta's Goggles. These are the only (I think) tier-3 eye accessory available at the moment, and they're essentially free.
Finally, for your medal you should probably just do the Time Traveler quests near Leafre (with Andy), as they give you a 6 All Stat, 1 Attack medal, possibly one of the best medals for new characters at this point. The quest line also gives you the Time Traveler's Laurel (the +10 allstat hat that comes epic on reveal), so it's not a bad idea to do. Badges you can obtain from doing Monster Park, collecting coins, and trading them in for Badge Boxes under the special tab. There was a limited edition, permanent badge that came with one of the events for Jett, but it's not available anymore :(
Training Locations
Spoiler!1~10: Maple Island, Lith Harbor surround areas
11~13: Blue Ribbon Pigs
13~25+: Blue Mushmom, Zombie Mushmom if on 2x; if not on 2x, Mixed Golems
25~30: Probably Mixed Fire Golems or other Victoria areas. No good mobbing in 1st job.
30~40: CDs, Bunny Mannequins
40~60: Twisted Jesters (Toy Room); Twisted Jesters (Chimney) if you've got a good amount of low-leveled gear (decent funding) and there's an open channel
60~100: Alien Corridor 6/5/4 if you can get a priest to Door you in and you have good amounts of funding
60~70: Iron Mutae (can go to 75+ if needed), Twisted Jesters (Chimney)
70~80: Lab C-2 (Roids, Huroids)
80~100: Red Nosed Pirate Den 2
Note that in 3rd Job Alien Corridors 4/5/6 will always be faster than everywhere else, at least in gMS.
100-110: Alien Corridor 6 (GL finding a channel), Red Nosed Pirate Den 2 (Slow)
110~165: Lionheart Castle
16+: Knight's Stronghold
Job Advancements
1st Job
Spoiler!Talk to instructor. Done.
2nd Job
Spoiler!Talk to Instructor, choose Bandit path. Kill the swamp monsters and collect 30 marbles, then leave and talk to the instructor again.
3rd Job
Spoiler!Accept the pop up quest, and head to El Nath. Talk to the 3rd Job instructor there, then head to Sharp Cliff 1. Talk to the rock at the bottom of the map, get warped to a hallway, and walk past the hallway to the 1st job instructor's "clone". Kill said clone and MAKE SURE YOU PICK UP THE BLACK THINGY THAT HE DROPS. Talk to the rock on the top right of this map, which will return you to El Nath. Speak to the 3rd job instructor to advance.
4th Job
Spoiler!Accept the pop up quest, and head to Leafre. Find the 4th job instructor in the "secret" portal on the top right of the Dark Birks map in the surrounding area of Leafre. Next, head to Blue Kentaruses, where Manon's portal is at (it's on the bottom right of this map, but the left portal of the 2 portals). Kill Manon (nerfed version) and grab the ETC he drops. Go to the Battlefield of Red and Black, and you'll see a portal in the middle of the "hill" at the center of the map. Griffey is here. Kill him and loot the other ETC item you need. Talk to the 4th job instructor until they advance you.
HYPER SKILLS
Shad Hyper Skills look to be really really good. Here's a look at what we're getting in the upcoming patches. (Double spoilered for convenience/bandwidth reasons)
(Here's a link to all the Hyper Skills)
Spoiler!PASSIVES (STATS)
Spoiler!You get a total of 6 Stat passives. The ones you'll want are as follows:
http://orangemushroom.files.wordpress.com/2012/08/hyper-critical-rate.png?w=32&h=32 Hyper Critical Rate - Req Level 198 - Effect: 10% additional Critical Chance
http://orangemushroom.files.wordpress.com/2012/08/hyper-luck.png?w=32&h=32 Hyper Luck - Req Level 140 - Effect: +50 LUK
http://orangemushroom.files.wordpress.com/2012/08/hyper-max-heart-point.png?w=31&h=32 Hyper Health - Req Level 192 - Effect: 15% HP
http://orangemushroom.files.wordpress.com/2012/08/hyper-max-magic-point.png?w=32&h=32 Hyper Mana - Req Level 186 - Effect: 15% MP
+2 more passives. I personally am considering W.Def/M.Def up, as they stack with Shield Mastery giving you a total of +1000 M/W defense; the cap on these stats gets raised past 9999, I believe, after a certain patch. :)
PASSIVES (SKILLS)
Spoiler!You get a total of 5 Skill passives. The ones you'll want are:
http://orangemushroom.files.wordpress.com/2012/10/boomerang-step-reinforce.png?w=595 BStep : Strengthen - Req Level 149 - Effect: 20% more damage on Boomerang Step
http://orangemushroom.files.wordpress.com/2012/10/boomerang-step-bonus-attack.png?w=595 BStep : Extra Hit - Req Level 189 - Effect: Boomerang Step adds one more hit every use.
http://orangemushroom.files.wordpress.com/2012/10/assassinate-bonus-attack.png?w=595 Assassinate: Extra Hit - Req Level 177 - Effect: Assassniate hits 4 times, then a guaranteed crit, rather than 3 times followed by a guaranteed crit.
http://orangemushroom.files.wordpress.com/2012/10/assassinate-reinforce.png?w=595Assassinate: Strengthen - Req Level 155 - Effect: Assassniate does 20% more damage
http://orangemushroom.files.wordpress.com/2012/10/meso-explosion-reinforce.png?w=595 Meso Explosion: Strengthen - Req Level 143 - Effect: Meso Explosion does 20% more damage
All the damage increases are multiplicative, making them worth getting. While Limit Canceller (200k extra damage cap on Assassinate) and Bonus Targets (2 more mobs mobbed on BStep) are good on paper, it's unlikely that you'll need either of the two; It's extremely rare to be mobbing more than 6 monsters at any time, and the damage cap gets raised to 50m a few patches later anyway. Because of this, Meso Explosion is going to be worth using again, I believe (though only on certain bosses of course). Alternately, I may get extra targets for BStep and skip ME damage, considering ME is really only good for non-floating bosses (Zak, CZak, minor bosses like Pianus and Grandpa Boss), and I'm not sure how its interaction with Empress works. Note that Limit Canceller increases the damage cap for Assassinate by 10m after the Unlimited patch, but it's extremely unlikely anyone will really need this (you'd need approximately 1m+ range to hit damage cap on Assassinate in the first place).
ACTIVES
Spoiler!You get 3 skills and get access to them all by level 200. The first one can be accessed at 150, the second at 170, and the final buff that all classes get is accessible at 200. Here they are:
http://orangemushroom.files.wordpress.com/2012/10/flip-the-coin-effect.gif
http://orangemushroom.files.wordpress.com/2012/10/flip-the-coin.png?w=595
Flip the Coin
Flip a coin to symbolize good luck whenever you hit a critical, increasing your damage by 5%, critical rate by 10%, and your maximum damage by 20,000 for 120 seconds. This effect can stack up to 5 times. [required level: 150]
This alone makes Shadowers total beasts. 50% increased crit range and 25% extra damage is ridiculously insane. The damage cap increase is changed to 5m, though I'm not sure if this is per stack (unlikely) or total at 5 stacks (more probable). Just an incredibly strong buff, should always be up.
http://orangemushroom.files.wordpress.com/2012/10/veil-of-shadow-effect2.gif
http://orangemushroom.files.wordpress.com/2012/10/veil-of-shadow.png?w=595
Veil of Shadow (<3 Veil)
Call the spirits of darkness to attack up to 15 enemies around you for 800% damage for 12 seconds. There is a cooldown of 90 seconds. The maximum damage for this skill is 9,999,999. [required level: 170]
It's great at bosses like Zak and HT since it can hit pretty much the entire map. Also decent for Stronghold (and LHC if you're still there at 170....). The extra damage cap increase is removed once the Unlimited patch hits, though it still bypasses cap with Flip the Coin. Overall, a great skill for bossing as you can attack after casting it (it hangs around for 12 seconds doing damage while you do your own thing).
http://orangemushroom.files.wordpress.com/2012/10/epic-adventure-effect-thieves.gif
http://orangemushroom.files.wordpress.com/2012/10/epic-adventure-thieves.png?w=595
Epic Adventure
A buff that gives the legendary Adventurers of the Maple World 10% increased damage and the ability to pass the damage cap by 50,000 for 60 seconds. There is a cooldown of 120 seconds. [required level: 200]
Damage cap increase is increased to 5m after the Unlimited patch. 10% extra damage is just more icing on the cake. A total of 35% extra damage makes me cream my pants, though you do have to be level 200 to access this one.
That's all for now. Will hopefully update with more graphics to make the guide look pretty, but for now...
TO DO LIST:
1. Training locations
2. Job advancement
3. Gearing goals
4. Tips, tricks, other things
5. Comments on revamp and upcoming patches
6. Make things pretty with more images, less monotone colours, and other such lovely things.
