Tagg’s Analysis On the Gunslinger

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Table Of Contents
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I. My Opinion On Pirates
II. My Opinion On Gunslingers
III. Gunslinger Summary
IV. Gunslinger Training Ground Analysis
V. Credits


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I. My Opinion On Pirates

My original outlook on the pirate was pretty neutral. I was pretty
sure it would ruin Maple Story's already stable system with an
unneeded and unwanted fifth class. Everybody would rush to become
a pirate (which they did, more on this later) and the worlds would
be overpopulated with them. Their flashy skills, however, impressed
me. It looked pretty cool and especially with the option of fighting
with guns. I couldn't wait to see how it would impact Maple Story.
Now that It's been released, I've been able to play a bit as a pirate
and experience its ups and downs. I've also noticed that only positive
things have been said about pirates. I'd like to give a different view
on pirates.
A quick general definition of pirates would be � A weakened
combination of different skills from each of the classes that form
a fifth �cool� class. It�s obvious (to me at least) that Nexon took
some shortcuts when making the Pirate class (no offense). For example
if you assemble two or three pirates and have them use double shot
repeatedly, the speed of the attacks hitting the monsters is, in my
opinion, the equivalent of hurricane (and gunslingers do get a hurricane
type attack in 4th class).
The sounds (for the skills) also could be more realistic. I don�t
know about you but I train better when my attacks make cool sounds
both when executed and when they hit. Just pushes me to use it
more often. It sounds like they recycled some other classes sounds.
There are a couple positives about pirates though. They give a
creative addition to the standard classes that most mmorpg�s already
have. Though the classes may not be exactly warrior, magician, thief,
and bowman; it�s pretty much some form of those. Also, who doesn�t
want to say, �I�M A PIRATE, LIKE JOHNNY DEPP!� (lol). Also, they�re
extremely powerful at higher levels.
In conclusion, most people will become a pirate for their first maple
character due to the �coolness� of the pirate and the lure of something
new but they will end up either quitting or restarting because they
don�t have enough patience.


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II. My Opinion On Gunslingers

Gunslingers are two things. Fast and weak. Their strength comes
from overwhelming enemies with rapid successions of attacks.
However, due to their low and unstable damage at lower levels,
lower leveled gunslingers will find themselves training at weird
places for long periods of time (more on this later). Furthermore,
they�ll find that they can�t do many of the party quests that other
classes at their level are immersed in (such as kpq).
Each class has a death level range where you have to push and grind
and bore yourself to death in order to pass. For mages it�s levels
1-17 (for the mp build), for bowmen it�s 50-70, and for the gunslinger
it�s about 21-40. At these levels it�s crazy hard to level up.
Gunslingers are unable to kill the crocs in KPQ (due to low damage)
and I wouldn�t recommend trying it until level 25 or so. This harsh
period continues through level 30 where our damage is unstable and
our damage is so low that gunslingers can�t even score a 30 in cpq.
Thankfully, Gun Mastery raises the minimum damage and provides some
stability to the damage. The level range of the gunslinger�s torture
zone is very badly placed. Magician�s levels at 1-17 is easily
remedied due to the quests and easy training grounds at Maple Island
and HPQ which quickly levels low levels. Also, by the time bowmen are
50, they have decent damage and are able to grind effectively. As a
gunslinger however, you have low damage and must resort to grinding
on monsters a lot lower leveled than you are.
At really high levels though, gunslingers become one of the better
classes of the game, especially with the battleship attacks
increasing both defense and offense. Getting this high is the problem,
as most people who play Maple Story can�t dedicate most of their time
to it and don�t have the patience to get to level 70.
In conclusion, gunslingers start out slow and gradually get better
the higher you level. However most maplers rarely get to the level
that�s needed to be considered �pwnful�. Due to this, they are not
the best choice for your first class in Maple Story. I�d only
recommend someone to pursue a full fledged gunslinger if they�re
willing to dedicate time and money (2x exp) to Maple Story.










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III. Gunslinger Summary

- Quick but weak at lower levels
- Requires patience
- Must train at lower leveled training grounds
- Expensive armor and weapons
- Powerful at higher levels
- Cool armor and skills
- Aren�t able to pq at minimum levels effectively
- Kills monsters pretty quickly which means more experience
- Great at KSing other people
- Uses tons of mp pots


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IV. Gunslinger Training Grounds Analysis

Due to the weak damage gunslingers manage to do, they�re forced
to train at weaker locations (as mentioned many times before).
This is offset by the fact that they kill monsters at amazing
speeds. I have compiled quick list for where an average gunslinger
can train effectively.

Level 1-10 ~ Maple Island quests and snails
Level 10-15 ~ Henesys Hunting Ground I or Henesys Party Quest
Level 15-25 ~ Pig Beach or Henesys Hunting Ground I *
Level 25-30 ~ Kerning Party Quest or Caution Falling Down

Maple Island quests is pretty obvious. Just finish those and
you�ll already get at least three levels. I say snails rather than,
say, orange mushrooms because with the AP build that average
gunslingers follow, you�ll probably do about a maximum of 15 (?).
Killing snails would be quick and efficient if combined with quests.

When training at Henesys Hunting Ground I, I would stick to the
bottom level where you can easily kill snails with your regular
attacks. Let your mana fill up and then raid the slimes. This will
level you at a decent rate. Henesys Party Quest is a decent alternative
if you can find a party to accept you. It provides tons of experience
and you�ll level pretty fast.

Pig Beach is the obvious choice here. Assuming you�re consistently
leveling up double shot first, you�ll be able to kill the pigs in
one to three hits. They give twice the experience as slimes in about
the same about of hits and they�re concentrated in one little area.
Also, the pirate training quests require pigs so why not kill two
birds with one stone? Find an area and just grind, this map works
really well with 2x exp. You�ll notice I also put Henesys Hunting
Ground I here. At this level you can probably graduate to sniping
the mushies at the top two levels of HHI. There�s a high chance
you may be ksed here due to the large population of newbies training
here.

The reason I put Kerning Party Quest at level 25 is because at lower
levels your damage would be so low, you�d be doing 1s and 10s. Even
at 25 you should expect a long time killing gators. However, you�ll
be more likely to be recruited and you can look for parties with
mages and sorta leech ;). An alternative to KPQ would be the hidden
street map CFD. Located on top of the tower one map left of Kerning,
it�s filled with octopi and blue mushrooms that spawn at godly rates.
Yay for quick skills =D.

*At level 20 you can try Ariant Party Questing. I would recommend
finding a friend (or five to get tons of points when winning) and just
taking turns winning. Start early in order to get a better chance at
that chair =P I�d say it�s worth it.


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V. Credits

I hope you�ve benefited from the analysis I have taken the time to make.
I�ll add onto it once I progress further into the gunslinger job.
Patience is a virtue and I�d say it would apply very nicely here.
Good Luck with your gunslinger if you decide to make one.


Thanks to:

HiddenStreet for the 3rd and 4th job gunslingers skills
Nexon and Wizet for creating Maple Story
Hidden Street Demethos for introducing me to a new maps


If you have any suggestions or would like to express your view on
gunslingers, don�t hesitate to e-mail me at [email protected] or
contact me ingame in Demethos on GunnerTagg.