Pirate Guide to the modern Corsair

Hello, I am xRuru, a level 134 corsair who started playing this character around September/August of last year. Before I made the character I did a substantial amount of research to determine what kind of class I wanted to play and Corsair caught my eye. For some reason this class is surrounded by an air of negativity. People in game told me to avoid making a Sair, guides talked about the dismal life you were bound to live until level 125+ but on top of that, a lot of the guides seemed to be out dated. I've personally found it to be an amazing journey from 1st job all the way through 4th so far; and in my honest opinion I feel that gunslinger is the best 2nd job class. So without further adieu lets get to the guide for the modern Corsair.

Pros and Cons

Pros:
+ Theoretically the highest dps class in the game
+Benefits from every party buff, save for meditation
+ More mechanically involved than most other classes
+ "Jack of all trades" Well rounded kit, has a little bit of everything: dps, decent mobbing, mobility, the swag of using a gun
+ Gear is very affordable

Cons:
- Almost all dps comes from having battleship up
- Offers no buffs to a party
- Mechanics are challenging to master, can make the class off putting
- "Master of none" other classes with more focus can do their rolls better: Hurricane > RF, Mages > Airstrike, Early ranked mobbing skills only hit 2/3 targets, etc.
- 3rd job can be a bit of a hassle

HP Washing

HP washing ultimately comes down to what your goals for your character are going to be. Some people argue that you need as much HP as possible, and now with PB being released that's more true than ever; but others argue that keeping HP low is better in order to keep boat up longer because 1/1s will lower it's durability less.

You can gain 16-20 HP per AP and lose 16 MP per reset.
Minimum HP formula: (22 x Level) + 380
Minimum MP formula: (18 x Level) + 95

For a more in depth guide about HP Washing, specifically for Corsair Akash has a great guide that can be found here https://forum.maplelegends.com/inde...ir-works-a-comprehensive-corsair-guide.27336/

Stat Build

You need 20 DEX to become a pirate. This won't generally be an issue if you want to be a Corsair, but depending on how much INT you plan to invest in you should be able to plan accordingly.

There are 3 main builds that people use with Corsair, STR less, Low STR and Reg STR. MW boosts stats by a percentage of the base stat only. More stat = bigger boost.

STR less: Keep strength at 4. Only use maple guns at end game. Highest damage early on because att is worth less than dex at lower levels.

Low STR: Cap STR somewhere between 20-60 depending on what you can get from gear. You want to be able to get enough STR from equipment that you can wear what ever your target gun is (Concerto 100, or DFR 110, usually). Slightly weaker than STR less early, higher than STR less later.

Reg STR: Put points into STR until around 80-100 and scroll gear for DEX. Lowest dps out of all of the builds, but never needs to worry about equipping gear.

It's recommended to start STR less and to slowly transition into low STR, but that ultimately depends on gear availability. The higher level maple guns can be hard to come by from time to time. Capes and Overalls can be scrolled for STR. Helms and Pendants give STR naturally.

1st Job Skill Build

1st job has a few different training options. One focusing more on solo grinding, the other will focus more on KPQing for levels.

Solo Grinding:
10: +1 Sommersault Kick
11-13: +3 Dash
14: +1 Dash MAX, +2 SK
15-19: +3 SK
20: +2 SK MAX, +1 Double Shot
21-26: +3 DS
27: +1 DS MAX, +2 Bullet time
28-30: +3 BT (11/20)
More points can be added into SK earlier if you find that the damage is lacking, but the boost of speed that Dash gives is very helpful with early navigation.

KPQ Queen:
10: +1 Sommersault Kick
11-13: +3 Dash
14: +1 Dash MAX, +2 Double Shot
15-19: +3 DS
20: +3 DS MAX
21-26: +3 SK
26: +1 SK MAX, +2 Bullet Time
27-30: +3 BT (11/20)
By maxing DS early you can do massive amounts of damage at an early level. This will allow you to kill the Ligators for tickets more easily, and practically solo King Slime depending on your INT.

2nd Job Skill Build

2nd job has a very similar situation to first job, and ultimately comes down to how you like to play: solo training vs. pqing to level. Depending on which events are active during your 2nd job might influence your build one way or the other, since pqs typically don't drop event etc. items.

Solo Grinding:
30: +1 Invisible Shot
31: +3 Gun Mastery
32: +2 Mastery, +1 Booster
33: + 3 Booster
34: +2 Booster, + 1 Mastery
35-38: +3 Mastery
39: +2 Mastery MAX, +1 IS
40-45: +3 IS MAX
46: +3 Wings
47: +2 Wings, +1 Recoil Shot
48-53: +3 RS
54: +1 RS MAX, +2 Blank Shot
55-60: +3 BS MAX
61: +3 Wings
62: +2 Wings MAX, +1 Booster
63-66: +3 Booster
67: +1 Booster MAX, +2 Bullet Time
68-69: +3 BT
70: +1 BT MAX, +2 Grenade

This build will give you access to booster early. Booster and DS is practically Hurricane for this level range, and it is glorious. Invisible Shot and Blank shot can be swapped because the damage between them is not too different, and BS stuns and can be used next to mobs. BS is not affected by Mastery though.

PQ King:
30: +1 Invisible Shot
31: +3 Gun Mastery
32: +2 Mastery, +1 Booster
33: + 3 Booster
34: +2 Booster, + 1 Mastery
35-38: +3 Mastery
39: +2 Mastery MAX, +1 Wings
40: +3 Wings
41: +1 Wings, +2 Recoil Shot
42: +3 RS
43-48: +3 IS
49: +1 IS MAX, +2 RS
50-53: +3 RS
54: +1 RS MAX, +2 Wings
55: +3 Wings MAX
56-61: +3 Blank Shot
62: +2 BS MAX, +1 Booster
63-66: +3 Booster
67: +2 Booster MAX, +1 Bullet Time
68-69: +3 BT
70: +1 BT MAX, +2 Grenade

This build gives you booster early as well as early mobility with wings. Wings is an incredible tool for any LPQ speed runs . Since it can be used while climbing ropes it can make the tower climbing stage incredibly fast. Recoil shot is maxed soon after to increase mobility even further. Booster will make your Double Shot into a pseudo Hurricane which will help with LPQ and EPQ clears. With max haste a party with a gunslinger at OPQ can reliably clear the record stage without needing a mage in the group.

3rd Job Skill Build

3rd Job has 2 main skill builds. One focuses on single target dps and the other on mobbing.
Double Shot does more damage than Burst Fire until BF has 11 points in it due to MLs buff to DS's damage. Because of this, and CD grinding for levels I almost exclusively recommend the Mobbing build.

Mobbing Focused Build:
70: +1 Burst Fire
71: +2 Ice Splitter, +1 Flamethrower
72-89: Alternate between Ice and Fire, getting one to the next additional mob each time levels 7, 13, 19 and 25 respectively. Make sure to stop Ice at 26/30 and to MAX Fire.
90-95: +3 BF
96: +1 BF MAX, +1 Gavoita, +1 Homing Beacon
97-101: +3 Gavoita
102: +1 Gavoita 15/30, +2 Octopus
103-111: +3 Octo
112: +1 Octo MAX, +2 Homing
113-120: +3 Homing MAX

Since most people will start training on CDs at level 70 the mobbing build is the easiest one to level with. Ice Splitter can completely isolate freezable mobs until you can clear them, and hitting more mobs means dealing more overall damage. By macroing it with Flamethrower you can deal an adequate amount of damage to a large group of enemies speeding up training times. Gavoita is left at 15 because it is the minimum needed to unlock airstrike in 4th job. Ice Splitter is capped at 26 because it is the maximum freeze duration that you can get, and the last points just barely increase its damage.

Single Target Build:
70: +1 Burst Fire
71: +2 Ice Splitter, +1 Flamethrower
72-84: Alternate between Ice and Fire, getting one to the next additional mob each time levels 7, 13, 19 and 25 respectively. Make sure to stop Ice at 26/30 and to leave Fire at 15/30.
85-90: +3 BF
91: +1 BF MAX, +1 Gavoita, +1 Homing Beacon
92-100: +3 Gavoita
101: +1 Gavoita MAX, +2 Octopus
102-111: +3 Octo
112: +1 Octo MAX, +2 Homing
113-120: +3 Homing MAX

This build allows you to hunt the Headless Horseman at a lower level than the mobbing focus build. The starting levels are exactly the same for early training purposes except Flamethrower is capped at 15 and Gavoita is maxed. While this may seem like an odd choice Flamethrower is honestly not that strong of a skill. At 15 it will hit 4 mobs, instead of 6, and deal 145% damage instead of 190%. But Gavoita can be fully used throughout 3rd and 4th job for additional undelayed dps, while Flamethrower loses its use once you unlock Torpedo.

4th Job Skill Build

While there are several paths you can take once you hit 120, most of your experience will start to come from bossing. Corsair isn't the best at grinding, but they are incredible at bossing. Because of this there really is only one build that you can take once you make it to Corsair.

Boss B*tch Skill Build:
120: +1 Rapid Fire, +1 Battleship, +1 Cannon
121: +1 Torpedo, +1 Elemental Boost, +1 Airstrike
122-130: +3 Cannon
131: +2 Cannon MAX, +1 Wrath of the Octopi
132-134: +3 Battleship MAX
135-140: +3 Bullseye
141: +2 Bullseye MAX, +1 Rapid Fire
142-150: +3 RF
151: +1 RF MAX, +2 Octopi
152-160: +3 Octopi MAX

After level 160 you should have your primary dps for bossing maxed. Torpedo can be subbed in anywhere after maxing battle ship depending on how much you would rather grind than boss. Maple Warrior can also be thrown in if your party doesn't have it, but most parties usually do and you don't want your big stronk Ranged DPS points going into buff skills .

This build starts with several skills getting a single point thrown into them. Rapid fire is the only useful new skill you can use before unlocking the Skill books for Ship, cannon, torpedo, and airstrike. Torpedo is an insanely strong mob skill for investing a single point into it. Elemental boost adds 2 seconds to the duration of all freezes at level 1. And Airstrike allows you to clear large sections of easy maps. It's only 6 enemies every 5 seconds, but the vertical range on it will massively speed up card farming, or grinding on lower level mobs that you can 1hko. We put 1 point into Octopi after maxing Cannon because it doubles its attack speed for a single point; plus boat isn't getting maxed any later because of this skill investment.

Training Locations

The maps that you train in are very similar for most classes in ML. These are some of my personal favorite spots to play for certain level ranges. PQs will be listed along side the level ranges and not included in a separate list. This is because sometimes you won't be able to find a full party to participate in said PQs sometimes resulting in grinding as a result. And remember, these are suggested. Personally I found several quests that were available to be very fun to do as an alternative to direct grinding.

10-15: Pigs and Ribbon Pigs near Nautilus Harbor for Kyrin's Training. HPQ
15-21: Bubblings, Green/Horny Mushroom wanted signs.
21-30: Sleepywood Dungeon. Horny/Zombie Mushrooms, Ligators, KPQ
30-35: Ariant Quests, Brown Teddies, Ligators
35-45: Brown Teddies, Robos/Master Robos, LPQ
45-50: Robos/Master Robos, Master Chronos, LPQ, EPQ
50-60: Straw Target Dummies, Voodoos, Forest of Golems, EPQ, OPQ, PPQ
60-70: Straw Target Dummies, Voodoos, Forest of Golems, OPQ, PPQ
70~120: CDs, Kid Mannequins, PPQ, MPQ
These are basically the meta for training. Fast spawns, lots of mobs to kill. It is not uncommon to see people spend their entire 3rd job in this location. Be warry they do hit very hard though. A minimally washed Outlaw will die in 2 hits to these at lower levels.
90~120: Headless Horseman can start being soloed, (Does ~ 3.2k touch so be warry if minimal washing.) Black Kentaraus if you need a break from CDs, Himes, Dual Ghost Pirates.
120~125: 1-2 F, Himes, CDs, Kid Mannies
125+: CWK becomes a viable source of exp.
135+: 3-4 F, Zak gives exp.
145-150+: 5-6 F, 7 F grinding becomes decent.
155+: HT gives exp (runs will still most likely be a challenge due to either low HP, or low damage from washing)

These are a few recommended training spots to spend some time at. Don't be afraid to go off the beaten path though. Some mobs might drop a specific item that you decide to hunt for in a level range, I know that I spent some time hunting Mr. Ali's for a level 60 Pirate OA for example. These are just some of the most meta places to spend your time grinding. The maple world is vast and has plenty of places to explore and train.

Tips and Tricks

Macros:

Recoil + Wings- Recoil gives momentum, Wings retains momentum through the air. Travel any map with ease.

Ice + Fire- Ice Splitter and Flamethrower attack faster if used one after another, self explanatory.

Airstrike + Battleship + Battleship- Bird Gene has a slight delay on cast. By mounting and dismounting right after casting it you can immediately begin to move again.

Octo + Battleship + Battleship- Same as airstrike. By mounting and dismounting after casting you can negate the delay using octo causes.

Cannon + Cannon + Cannon- If you can type fast you can type to your party while you boss and continue to attack.

Useful Tips:

Gavoita can be spammed between skills without any delay at all. That means that you can get free damage while attacking with things like cannon as long as you time your button presses between your attack presses. It may not seem like much, but an extra attack for free every 5 seconds can add up over a long time. It is also useful while soloing Big Foots to clear Jr. Wraiths that can mess up your positioning.

Rapidfire can continue to attack if you click off screen while attacking. If you're hit or run out of mana you will return to a neutral state.

Quickly dismounting on and off of ship will negate durability damage to your boat if you dismount before an attack hits you. This is the only way to increase the longevity of your boat and one of the biggest reasons Corsair isn't more popular overall.



This guide is not fully fleshed out. I will expand on a gear section in the future, seeing as how I haven't experienced everything the game has to offer myself I can't necessarily give the best advice on it at the moment. I made this for fun in a few hours one night because I wanted the world to know about how useful my beautiful little seagull truly is.

Thanks for reading

 

I personally have 4 base int because I knew that I wasn’t interested in playing a “weak” character, seeing as my Corsair is my first and only real character on the server. All that being said with budget int gear I’ve managed to wash every other level fairly consistently giving me an extra 1200 hp at my level. So, it could be worse. That’s why I mention that HP washing is up to the players personal choice.

 

I didn’t know about the MP formula. I can fix that pretty easily. And their ability to adapt to a lot of situations is one of my favorite thing about Corsairs. The only thing is almost every Corsair I’ve ever met has never spent much time grinding, as bossing is what a sair does best. Because of that torpedo doesn’t get points invested into it until later.

I tried to keep event gear out of the guide simply because the gear may not be obtainable again for a long time, or ever depending on some of the events. Promising a person an extra 9-15 STR if they wait until October/November to get zombie rings, and then not having them as an event item is a very real possibility. I had to alter my gear once my supreme flag expired for example.

On top of that, the Shaolin freeze nerfs made training there, and keeping boat alive, much much harder. The mobs can still be stunned, but blank shot cannot be used while mounted. Without being able to keep boat up fully reliably grinding is still very tedious for the training Corsair.