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The Fashion Mage

Discussion in 'MapleLegends Journeys' started by Luu, May 18, 2021.

  1. Luu
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    Luu Pac Pinky

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    So, things have changed a bit. Long story short, the original idea was much too tedious and not all that fun at all.

    As things currently stand:
    62.png

    This is perhaps a more unconventional journal, but hopefully should prove at least somewhat interesting. This is a challenge playthrough of sorts (mostly me caving in to my magpie urges), for which should hopefully make for an entertaining read and (hopefully) an entertaining grind.

    As things currently stand:
    214.png
    Hi! I'm actually freshly new here; I've not played any private servers at all and haven't played the game proper since roughly a month into big bang. Actually a funny story with that- my first character that I particularly cared about (an I/L mage that I made either around when the pirate class was released or sometime before) was completely botched skill-wise (no magic guard, maxed energy bolt and magic claw). Rather than remake them at the level 30-something that they were, I simply waited until that update freed me of my bad childhood decisions while I played on-and-off with random other classes until then.

    While it did, unfortunately it made things just a bit too easy and kinda sapped away all my motivation to play. So, however many years later when the urge to play finally returned, I figured that I would accomplish the goal I originally set out with that character all those years ago- to be gloriously equipped (let's just say I spent more money than I should at that age on the cash-trade system buying future equipment for myself that I never even got to use). Hopefully the motivation from grinding equips (and this journal) help motivate the grind.

    Luu Bluum, a fresh adventurer, pondered his future. Luu knew his goal and knew it well- to strike fear in the hearts of the beasts of the world with his glorious style before freezing them and striking them down with furious lightning. Not that he started with much style:
    1.png
    And so Luu stood on the precipice of greatness, preparing his journey into new lands. Lands that would pave the way for his dreams... or dash them.
    So, for the most part this will be following Celestalia's Challenge, though there are some differences. The full set of restrictions:
    1. Maple Island will go without any real restrictions, but the moment we land on Victoria Island we will head over to Ellinia. From that point forward, we will be limited to strictly the maps of the road from Ellinia to Henesys, until "basic" monster card has been obtained. That is, the Slime, Stump, Green Mushroom, Snail, Blue Snail, Red Snail, Shroom, Orange Mushroom, Pig, and Ribbon Pig card sets must be obtained before moving on.

    2. Following that, any major mobs (that is, the mobs that stand between the direct path between any two portals, such that they aren't limited in spawning by some other stronger mob) must have their card set completed before their path can be crossed.

    3. Stores are, for the most part, off-limits, with the strict exception of items that are otherwise unobtainable from monster drops.

    4. Equipment must strictly be worn as completed, color-coordinated level-equivalent sets, such that all the previous-level equipment sets have also been worn. Specifically (since mage equipment is weird about levels), tops/bottoms/overalls are a part of their level + 2 equipment sets. Staves and wands are more complicated. Until level 48, all wands are a part of their level - 3 equipment sets, while from 48 onwards they are a part of their level + 2 equipment set. Staves, if they coincide with a new equipment set's level, are a part of that equipment set. Otherwise they are a part of the level - 5's equipment set. If any given equipment set has two items, the lower-level one must be worn prior to wearing the higher-level one.

      Equipment sets specifically constitute a weapon, hat, top/bottom/overalls, gloves, and shoes. Capes may be worn at any time, but must color-coordinate. Earrings can also be worn, as can a shield (though it must be a magic shield).

      Additionally, equipment locations will only be discerned through the monster book- no cheating with the library. Well, besides catching items that can only be acquired through purchase or if I need a justification on choice of direction if a piece of equipment is particularly far out-of-the-way from where I am at the time.

    5. Gach and whatnot will all be squirreled away for characters that might make better use of them. Inventory upgrades will be bought every 5 levels starting at level 30. As per necessary storage mules may be created.

    6. No advantage will be gained through other players, whether by looting, leeching, buying from the free market, or any other such things. Donations are not accepted, but the thought is appreciated.

    7. Partying is fine, but equipment must be purchased from the person who killed the target (if not Luu) at 5000 x the equipment level, and the map must be conquered before potentially wearing (which probably wouldn't happen for a while anyway due to the whole equipment set being necessary).

    Of course, rules can be added or changed to preserve the spirit of the challenge as we go along.


    The goal, as per the original thread, is to be as fashionable as possible while progressing through the game. However, contrary to the original thread, I don't plan on nearly as many restrictions. The only restrictions are these:

    1. Equipment must strictly be worn as completed, color-coordinated level-equivalent sets, such that all the previous-level equipment sets have also been worn. Specifically (since mage equipment is weird about levels), tops/bottoms/overalls are a part of their level + 2 equipment sets. Staves and wands are more complicated. Until level 48, all wands are a part of their level - 3 equipment sets, while from 48 onwards they are a part of their level + 2 equipment set. Staves, if they coincide with a new equipment set's level, are a part of that equipment set. Otherwise they are a part of the level - 5's equipment set. If any given equipment set has two items, the lower-level one must be worn prior to wearing the higher-level one.

      Equipment sets specifically constitute a weapon, hat, top/bottom/overalls, gloves, and shoes. Capes may be worn at any time, but must color-coordinate. Earrings can also be worn, as can a shield (though it must be a magic shield).

      Additionally, equipment locations will only be discerned through the monster book- no cheating with the library. Well, besides catching items that can only be acquired through purchase or if I need a justification on choice of direction if a piece of equipment is particularly far out-of-the-way from where I am at the time.
    2. No leeching. Parties and guilds and all of that are fine, but you gotta contribute to your own gameplay here.
    3. If crafting is an option, buying isn't.
    4. Bronze/Silver/Gold Pride are in the level 25 armor set.
    Since as it turns out I cannot edit the title, I might occasionally dip in with other characters that I create along the way but this will primarily be about my mage. Hopefully. No promises.

     
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  2. OP
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    Luu
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    Luu Pac Pinky

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    So, humble Luu set off on his journey to achi-

    "AH GOD! What the hell are you wearing!?"
    2.png
    Sara replied, trying to maintain gleeful professionalism, "This is an outfit to indicate that we are to help new adventurers such as yourself, of course."

    "But why so garish?" Luu could scarcely conceal his confusion. "Could've been anything else- a maple leaf pin, a glowing symbol floating above you, literally anything else, but no you chose the option that makes it look like if I sit here long enough you're going to turn into a tree. Surely it gets hot to wear that?"

    Sara sighed; whatever tolerance she had for Luu's bewilderment had rapidly diminished. "...Please come with me to the training course and begin your adventure."

    "How often are you attacked over being mistaken for a giant monster maple leaf?"

    "And how often are you mistaken for a 10-year-old wearing rubber boots in the sun and denim shorts that come up above your knees?" A moment of surprise turned to a sinister grin on Sara's face. "Wait, hold that thought- the training course up ahead requires a special uniform."

    "...are you joking?"
    3.png
    "Looks rather hot in that apple one-piece jumpsuit, no?" Sara asked, gleefully. Though perhaps this glee was more earnest than before.

    And so, humbled Luu grumbled his way through the training course and moved on to Maple Island to begin his adventure.

    This adventure naturally started with measly snails:
    4.png
    Remarkably this proved incredibly productive:
    5.png
    (Some measly pirate clothes were also obtained, though nothing to write home about- low-rolled on the defence for a meager 13 weapon defence.)

    The shrooms played ball as well:
    6.png
    They even went so far as to provide a gach card:
    7.png
    And, with some questing, even netted himself a red headband- perfectly matching his red boots:
    8.png
    From there it didn't take too long; soon enough Luu was level 8 and ready to venture into the world proper. For soon he would become a mage, and dazzle the world with his magical power and perfect color coordination.

    9.png
     
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  3. FatSloth
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    FatSloth Windraider Retired Staff

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    When interacting with NPC's you should either label who is speaking or differentiate two person conversations with " and ' . I think it would make it a lot easier to read :)
     
  4. Discor
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    Discor Slimy

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    Good LUK on your journey ;)
     
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  5. OP
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    Luu
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    Luu Pac Pinky

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    Right you are; cleaned up and broke up the dialogue a bit. Thank you!

    Thank you!
     
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    Luu spent little time contemplating his fate; he quickly sailed over to Lith Harbor and shelled out what few mesos he had for a ride over to Ellinia. Though that was briefly interrupted by an unexpected message in his thoughts about monster books.
    10.png
    He quickly encountered the individual responsible, who handed him a ring that would supposedly empower him should he learn of the monsters of the land. Luu payed little attention; his mind was far more focused on achieving his true calling as a mage. He rushed over to Ellina and ascended to the residence of Grendel the Really Old, the most powerful mage in the land.
    11.png
    Grendel spoke tersely, "I see that you're another adventurer wishing to be a mage. I've been seeing a good number of you for a while now, and have been rather busy, so let's make this quick.
    12.png
    And with that, Luu began his journey as a mage. He marched down to the equipment shop to kit himself out in all the gear he could afford.

    He was almost promptly laughed out of the shop.

    "What, we haven't had buyers in years! Do you really think we kept any supply? Look, we've got a box of old stuff that we were planning on using as rags or scrap. You can check in there if anything seems of interest, but that's all we've got."

    Inside Luu found... not much. A rag-tag blue outfit with mismatched brown shoes, some brown and blue robes with black shoes and a staff, and a couple of hats.

    "That's it? This is all you've got?"

    The shopkeepers dismissed him. "Look, buy it or don't; we'll keep the box around if you come back later, but that's the last of any stock we plan to carry."

    Luu was on his own. Without many options, he figured to try his hand on the local wildlife. While the damage seemed reasonable enough, he felt his body tremble under the stress; the mana usage was rather high, and he would have difficulty maintaining this. Sure, he could guzzle some potions, but Luu seemed apprehensive about testing his luck- after the equipment shop incident, he trusted no one to keep stock of what he would need and wanted to waste as little as possible. Grendel kept offering help, but Luu was less than inclined to take it after the cold welcome (only taking it to get Grendel to leave him alone). So, he wandered towards Henesys hoping that perhaps he could stumble upon something more manageable than slimes and stumps. He found some snails, but not a substantial count, deeper into the forest.

    Beating them to death with his wand felt rather undignified, but what works, works. Unfortunately their numbers depleted rather quickly and he turned towards greener pastures. Roads near Henesys proved green indeed, with plenty around that he could deal with without issue. Snails of various assortment, shrooms, and so on, all prime targets. The plan was simple- thin out the numbers of more hostile slimes and pigs, before resorting to the razor on the snails.

    This proved rather tedious, so Luu resorted to what little magic he knew at that point and decided to switch to the razor whenever he ran shy on magic power. If nothing else, he could hit a lot higher than the measly damage he output with the razor:
    15.png
    Progress was quickly made:
    16.png
    During all of that Luu recalled the various assortments of fruits he received back on Maple Island; those were quickly consumed. That left him with his limited supply of magic potions; unlike the health potions, the monsters did not seem to drop these. A concern, but not one Luu could do much about. Meanwhile, Luu got rather lucky:
    17.png
    With the Shroom 4-set completed, Luu could at least see what Shrooms could offer.
    18.png
    Which is to say, nothing. In the meantime, Luu also picked up a thief glove amidst all the mushroom spores and arrows. Not all that useful, either.

    Luu did find a shirt, though not necessarily one specifically for mages:
    20.png
    The stats were sub-par, but better than his current t-shirt. Given that Luu hadn't even found a single bit of equipment for mages yet, he figured to wear the slightly-newer shirt in the meantime. Following that, some more progress was made, at least with the monster journal- all the other pickups were either useless equipment or scrolls for defence:
    21.png
    Eventually Luu reached level 15. His potions and motivation running low, Luu decided to return to Ellinia. It seems that this will take longer than he thought, with the monsters proving little in useful items. Though he did nab one last reward on his return trip:
    22.png
     
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  7. OP
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    Luu
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    Luu Pac Pinky

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    Luu wakes up, unexpectedly finding himself inside the home of Grendel the Really Old.

    "Oh good, you're awake. Try to avoid the green mushrooms next time."

    Thinking on it, Luu recalls that on his trip back that he tried to see whether or not he should be concerned of the green mushrooms of the Forest of Wisdom. He does not recall much else before everything went dark.

    Evidently, he should be concerned.

    Luu shrugs and heads out of Grendel's home. He still needs to resolve his desperate potion situation, and things are looking grim- only 6 blue potions remaining. He tries the potion shop, but is deterred by the extreme prices. "We barely have anyone come in here anymore, so we had to jack up prices quite a bit."

    The shopkeeper pauses for a moment. "However, if you happen to have any red potions, I'll be willing to cut you a deal. One red potion lets you buy one blue potion at 192 mesos. How does that sound?"

    Without any other options, Luu takes the deal and buys 50 blue potions for 50 red potions.

    "We'll also take whatever monster bits you have lying around; we tend to make most of our money reselling that stuff these days."

    With that done, Luu returns to the hill east of Henesys. On the way, he recalls that he actually finished his first bit of training for Grendel, and returns to report his progress. Grendel rewards him with some additional red and blue potions, but nothing else- Luu is well and truly on his own now.

    On the way back to the eastern hill, he gets lucky yet again:
    23.png
    And with that the grind continued. Remarkably, Luu found himself not using very many blue potions at all- his strategy to invest heavily in improving his MP recovery before focusing on any additional magic seemed to be paying off.
    24.png
    The capris weren't much of an upgrade, but given that Luu hadn't found any sort of proper equipment yet, he figured that they would be better than the denim shorts. In the meantime, he could take a look at what potential equipment slimes might yield:
    25.png
    It seems that slime hunting will be a necessity after all- those shoes and gloves are mandatory. Fortunately, with all these slimes here, Luu didn't have to wait too long:
    26.png
    The white bandana, not really matching the rest of the outfit (and Luu not really being a bandana person), was not worn. From there, he did net a few more promising rewards:
    27.png
    The completion of the Shroom set yielded the first completed monster card set! Now if only they dropped anything actually useful. Blue snails, however...
    28.png
    Jackpot. With that outfit and the brown shoes and hat available in Ellinia, Luu would merely be a wooden staff away from his first equipment set. Of course, before those are acquired, a slime finally yields the second piece of their mage equipment:
    29.png
    A low roll on the defence stats, but a shoe's a shoe. In the meantime, a slime dropped a purse:
    30.png
    And Luu, having hit level 18, decides to take a lunch break.
    31.png
     
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  8. OP
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    Luu
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    Luu Pac Pinky

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    Remarkably, as things currently stand the moment Luu acquires his necessary equipment for level 10, he will immediately be able to purchase the remaining equipment for level 15: the robe (beige), hat (brown), and staff (either) all lack drop sources. So, all Luu needs to do is to get these blue snails to give up the goods and give him his training outfit (since the brown shoes and brown hat don't drop for level 10) and he will be on his way. Or at least, killing things until he figures out what drops the wooden staff.

    As for whether the blue snails actually play ball, though... Luu will have to wait, because his etc inventory is completely full. So, back to Ellinia he goes. With his inventory cleared out of monster bits, he went back to the hill. Though not without a little luck along the way:
    32.png
    Once more Luu went through, slaughtering the slimes and snails that stood in his way. Regardless of whether or not the blue snails providing the equipment he needs, Luu still needs the monster cards for red snails. Those, unfortunately, can only be (efficiently) obtained here. At the very least, things continued at a steady pace:
    33.png
    And the blue snails even complied, at least a little:
    34.png
    Once Luu hit level 20 and his etc. inventory filled back up again, he was forced to retreat. The snails will have to wait once more.
     
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    Luu Pac Pinky

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    General plan at this point:
    • Keep killing snails until I run short on patience
    • Either having completed the red snail card set or having run short on patience, move on to stumps or pigs depending on mood
    Luu, wasting no time, rushes right back into the fray of things. Or at least, not without first discovering that you can in fact jump down a level on the Forest of Wisdom and then promptly dying, yet again, to a green mushroom.

    Those green mushrooms will get what's coming to them, but in due time. First, the snails.

    Naturally, halfway there Luu realized that his equipment inventory is pretty much full, so he headed back to try and work out a solution back in Ellinia. Though not without getting lucky on the way back:
    35.png
    Seeing that the drop table for snails is as useless as expected, Luu continues on to Ellinia. Fortunately, the armor shop was willing to cut him a deal- they would buy up any mage or non-job-specific equipment at his level or under. After all, scrap cloth still has its uses.

    With that, Luu yet once more returns to slaughter some snails. It did prove somewhat beneficial:
    36.png
    The netty low-rolled, again, but slightly better than the previous set. As for the sweatpants, those proved superior to the capris and switched to (since still no mage equipment to wear in full). They work well enough, after all- certainly look nicer than capris. Everything else obtained was either useless equipment seen before or useless scrolls (all of these scrolls are useless) or gach cards. To keep things less cluttered, I'll document the exciting drops rather than literally every drop. That or this is just going to be a journal of all the equipment drops yielded by slimes.

    The red snail monster card set was, fortunately, resolved:
    37.png
    And with that, Luu forewent trying to acquire some equipment from those pesky blue snails in favor of moving on to pigs.

    The pigs proved kind to Luu:
    38.png
    As did the ribbon pigs (I failed to picture one):
    39.png
    Though one shy on the pig cards, Luu decided (after a quick return trip to Ellinia) to move on to the forest east of Henesys, which is populated with both pigs and orange mushrooms.

    Though not without getting lucky on the return trip to Ellinia:
    40.png
    The actual trip to the forest east of Henesys provided little more than yet another pair of pants:
    41.png
    While new clothing is always appreciated (and will be promptly replaced the moment I have any mage gear to replace it with), this is getting a bit silly.

    Unfortunately, Luu received nothing else; soon he was level 23, and feeling rather tired, so he set up camp and stayed the night.

    42.png
     
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  10. OP
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    Luu
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    Luu Pac Pinky

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    With Luu properly well-rested, he returned to the hunt for pig and mushroom cards. Things proved successful rather quickly:
    43.png
    However, that early success led nowhere; soon Luu was out of inventory space and out of patience. He returned to Ellinia to clear things out, and decided to focus on stumps while he thought of a better approach to nabbing those orange mushroom monster cards. The stumps, at least, proved much more generous:
    44.png
    Even the green mushrooms were kind:
    45.png
    With stumps done, Luu dwelled on the ordeal that is the orange mushroom card set. The problem is that the only location that spawns any reasonable number of orange mushrooms at all also happens to spawn them all over the place, and alongside far more pigs and snails. This makes obtaining any monster card set there an ordeal and a half. The idea of trying to finish the orange mushroom monster card set under those conditions leaves Luu a bit depressed, so he ventures over to the eastern Henesys gate; maybe the guard would be willing to let him in anyway?

    "No can do. Need to see proof that you can handle yourself out there, and that includes the orange mushroom card set."

    Crestfallen, Luu begins to walk away, before the guard stops him: "I know, there's very few orange mushrooms on that side, so here's what you can do: if you can show me a completed green mushroom set, I'll let you in. But just this once!"

    Elated, Luu heads over to the one location he knows for sure has a ton of green mushrooms (given their propensity for killing him there)- the Forest of Wisdom. It didn't take too long to get what he needed:
    46.png
    And with that out of the way, Luu heads out to Henesys to figure out a proper location to hunt down orange mushrooms. Though not first without stopping in the armor store of Henesys to offload some of this archer armor that he came by. Turns out Henesys Hunting Ground 2, right outside of town, was the ideal spot.
    47.png
    Luu, finally free of his initial burden, ponders his next steps.
    • Acquire level 10 equipment (need brown shirt (blue snail), wooden staff (???))
    • Connect all towns
    However, there was an immediate problem: Luu's inventory was full of warrior equipment he had no means to dump. Figuring that Perion would take such equipment, Luu set out from Ellinia to make sure the path is clear (after a pit stop in Nautilus Harbor to dump those steel knuckles).

    It didn't take long for Luu to identify a new obstacle: Axe Stumps (Dark Stumps, too, but they suffer from a depleting spawn rate in East Domain of Perion while Axe Stumps do not). Fortunately they readily appear in the Forest North of Ellinia, which is the location right before the East Domain of Perion. Luu spent some time here before thinking that this map is utterly gigantic, and killing axe stumps here is even worse than the orange mushrooms before. So, to save his sanity, Luu tries a new approach- from Henesys to Kerning City, and Kerning City to Perion. Surely that would be an improvement?

    Along the way, he did find several pits filled with blue mushrooms, but given that these were not on the immediate path, they were ignored. Other than that, there were no obstructions- Luu passed through without a hitch. Sunset Sky did have axe, dark, and dark axe stumps right before the exit portal, but they did not respawn, so they also did not count there as being on the main path (no doubt having respawned somewhere up above). West Domain of Perion also seems to have axe and dark stumps, with both on the main path. This map, being much smaller, seemed far better for acquiring the necessary monster cards.

    The dark stumps in particular let up early:
    48.png
    And the axe stumps didn't miss a beat:
    49.png
    Also, remarkably, at some point one of the two dropped this?
    50.png
    Rather convenient. With those two monster card sets handled, Luu made his way to Perion. He found nothing standing in his path he had yet to encounter, making things smooth. Fortunately the equipment store here was willing to take all equipment under his level, regardless of for what class- evidently they had a deal with the other equipment stores to distribute the goods between each other. The potion shop similarly was willing to take the various monster bits he had lying around. With that, Luu had fully connected all of the major towns of Victoria Island; he could now freely use the cab service.

    Though before that, Luu would go to bed.
     
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    Luu did a quick jaunt from Perion to Ellinia to make absolutely sure that the path between the two is clear. Having done so, he decided to review what he knows so far to see if he can complete, at the very least, the level 10 equipment set.
    51.png
    The immediately apparent task at hand, then, is killing blue snails and dark stumps. However, some interesting goodies appear to drop from green mushrooms and axe stumps- that armor set from axe stumps is the level 20 top/bottom, and will be necessary (either that or the black outfit, but we've yet to encounter what drops that). The only concern with the orange/white outfit is that the level 20 gloves do not match- they are either blue, green, or purple. It might be doable with... green wizardry hat, orange top, white bottom, green gloves (match hat), blue jewelry shoes (gem in shoes matches gem in hat).

    Regardless of all of that, blue snails are the first on the list. Those seem to spawn predominantly right around Lith Harbor, so Luu heads there.
    52.png
    This remarkably didn't take long at all; some fellow named CivicTypeR hit level 200 right around then. Congrats to them! Perhaps that was a lucky omen? Anyway, with that off the list, Luu thinks on how to handle the dark stumps. In the meantime, he wanders around Lith Harbor; he had not actually walked through this area before. He stumbled upon an unexpected sight:
    53.png
    Mano! Unfortunately Mano dropped nothing useful of note:
    54.png
    With that, Luu heads over to a location with a high count of dark stumps: East Rocky Mountain 2. Lucky for Luu, it took no time at all to acquire what he was looking for (and yet again picking it up before grabbing a photo due to mistaking it for a tree branch):
    55.png
    Luu rushed down to Ellinia, purchased the (undropped) remaining components of the set, and voila!
    56.png
    At long last, Luu finally looks like a mage. He then recalls that he has everything he needs for the level 15 armor set as well! So, he heads back into the shop... only to be told they're out of hardwood wands and sapphire/emerald staves. Luu is deferred to the item creator outside of the shop.

    For the hardwood wand, Luu will need 10 processed wood planks and 50 orange mushroom caps.

    For the staff, Luu will need a respective gem, a steel plate, and some screws.

    Fortunately, no one has actually been willing to buy up Luu's gem and ore collection so far. He actually has 25 sapphire ores, which are enough for sufficient sapphires for the staff. All he needs now are processed wood planks (yielded from firewood, an axe stump drop), orange mushroom caps, and steel and bronze ores. Luu figures to tackle the firewood first; 5 firewood make a plank. Those are readily available in East Rocky Mountain 3, which is just one bit further in than where Luu just was, so Luu heads on back.

    The firewood hunt wraps up quickly, so Luu has himself crafted a steel plate, a sapphire, and 10 processed wood planks. Now all he needs are 50 orange mushroom caps for the wand, and some screws for the staff. The screws will require another steel plate and a bronze plate, for which Luu will need more ore. The orange mushroom caps, however, are much more readily available. According to the monster book Orange Mushrooms can be found in some empty house. Perhaps in Henesys? They seem to be around here, at least.

    Luu wanders about Henesys, trying every doorway he can find to see if the house itself is abandoned. Fortunately it seems the empty house was in the gate all along.

    Getting the orange mushroom caps takes no time at all, so Luu returns quickly to Ellinia to fetch his new wand:
    57.png
    Luu now needs steel and bronze ores to make his next equipment set. He recalls during his wandering about Lith Harbor that there are a ton of snails (which drop bronze ore) around Thicket Around the Beach 3, so he heads there. Mano, incidentally, also appeared here that first time. Perhaps this time he'll give up a card?
    58.png
    Indeed he did. Unfortunately Luu only had one shot at Mano; he had enough bronze ore shortly thereafter. So, back to the harbor Luu went, for the remaining steel ores (dropped by blue snails). Fortunately that means Luu is close enough to Mano that he can try hunting him again for more cards.

    Luu also learned during this endless grind for steel ore a useful concept- use energy bolt to conserve MP and never drink a potion again when killing things as weak as snails and slimes. After all, it is still level 1, and has a minimal MP drain.

    At one point a random beginner appeared:
    59.png
    Together, they wordlessly partitioned the map, with this new player occupying the enemies near the portal to Lith Harbor and Luu killing the rest. A few minutes later this player vanished. They appeared back sometime later, and headed over to the other side and moved on. Alas, perhaps they should have at least exchanged hello's.

    Mano, unfortunately, dropped nothing of note, and the steel ore drop rate is painfully slow. Luu needed a break.
     
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    Absolutely riveting material so far! I love it MapleF2
     
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    Luu decided to give up with the Mano hunting and focus entirely on the snails, just to get this hunt for steel ore over with. Mano can come later.

    While in the process of hunting for the steel ore, Luu heard about a mage-only Horntail hunt! Exciting! Perhaps Luu can participate in such a thing one day? Though given Luu's equipment goals, that might outright be required. Heck, if the timeless equipment has no other means to acquire, Luu might even need to do Pink Bean.

    Perhaps washing isn't such a bad idea, even on a character as absurd as this.

    During the slow tedium, Luu received a pleasant surprise:
    60.png
    And this Brown Nitty wasn't a low-roll! At least, not entirely- it was 4/3 instead of 5/2. Close enough.

    Shortly thereafter, Luu acquired the final piece of steel ore. Relieved, he shuttled himself over to Perion, then Henesys, then Ellinia. While in Henesys, he decided to do something about those particularly-thick eyebrows (and perhaps one day figure out what to do with his hair). Back in Ellinia, he finally has his new outfit:
    61.png
    While in Ellinia, he decides to take a quick stop in the potion shop... only to be told that they will no longer sell him any blue potions. Something about uncouth trade practices. Regardless, Luu was on his own on that front, too. They would, however, start buying up his metal ores and gemstones. Given that Luu's inventory was practically filled to the brim, he sold most of them immediately. He kept hold, however, of the emerald and garnet ores. Those could have some use down the line; Green Morricans and Blood Mesanas do not drop from anything.

    In the meantime, Luu pondered his next goal. The immediate item that he needs for his equipment is the level 18 wand, which drops from... red snails.

    It seems the snail hunt will never end.

    To alleviate his suffering, Luu tries a new location- the construction site north of Kerning City. Not only does it have red snails in abundance, but it also has the Octopus, which Luu has yet to fight, as well as blue mushrooms below. The octopuses quickly gave up a card (you can see just the sliver peeking out beneath the pillar):
    62.png
    And the blue mushrooms provided a nice pirate hat:
    63.png
    However, this map proved too much of a hassle to deal with. The size and variety of monster spawns made it so that, despite red snails being plentiful, they were scattered about and never really spawned in full numbers. Additionally, the wide variety of monster strength meant that Luu couldn't just break out energy bolt and conserve his MP; he was chugging potions like mad. Now that he was cut off at the source, that was a liability. Perhaps West Rocky Mountain 1, with its stumps and snails, would prove better?

    Well, while it provided a bounty of items (for which this is a selection):
    64.png
    No metal wand. The snail hunt never ends.
    Thank you! That means a lot!
     
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    Luu, taking a break from the snail hunting, pondered his future equipment sets... and noticed a problem. A few problems, actually.
    1. There is no level 25 hat
    2. The level 33 overalls go with the level 30 gloves and boots, and level 48 overalls with the level 50 gloves and boots
    3. There are two level 30 hat sets
    The concern here is that the established "equipment sets" that Luu wanted to abide by... do not appear to be entirely cohesive sets. The only apparent solution seems to be to treat overalls before level 48 as a part of the level - 3 set, as opposed to level + 2, like wands. That would, of course, mean that Luu's current equipment set is invalid, and that he should switch to the hardwood wand, basic boots, and apprentice hat. However, that would render the brown netty shoes moot, because they go with none of the split outfits (though of course Luu can just buy the black ones, which would go fine with the black split outfit). That makes things a bit more complicated. Then there's the fact that there's no level 43 overall, meaning that the starlight outfit will have multiple sets of shoes/gloves/hats.

    With that in mind, Luu came to a decision: until level 48, overalls are to be worn with both the level - 3 shoes/gloves/hat and the level + 2 shoes/gloves hat; when used as the former, they will be coupled with that respective wand, and with the latter the staff. This would technically mean that Luu did things a bit improper by retaining his training top/bottom when using the wand instead of the robe, but Luu ultimately did have all of that equipment, so it really doesn't matter. This would also mean Luu does not have to change his current outfit. However, it does mean that if he wants to use the metal wand (whenever he acquires that) he will need a respective split piece top/bottom.

    That leaves the other issue- what about the level 25 hat, and the two level 30 hat sets? Well, naturally that can be resolved simply by treating one of those two level 30 hat sets as a level 25 hat set, but which? Given that it seems apparent that the "many color options" hats appear every 10 levels starting at level 15 and ending at level 35, it seems like the jester hat should be at level 25. Hence, Luu will treat the jester hat set as being level 25, not level 30.

    With that all sorted out, Luu sighs; he still has to hunt snails.

    The snails never end, really.
     
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    With Luu's equipment concerns sorted out, he headed back to the snails. Fortunately they did provide a useful item (though not the one he wanted):
    65.png
    Additionally, the axe stumps provided some new drops (for which Luu couldn't sell yet):
    66.png
    However, that was about it. Luu kept at this until he reached level 30:
    67.png
    Feeling empowered, he headed back to Ellinia to do his job advancement. He was tasked with fetching marbles in a mysterious tree filled with fearsome foes:
    68.png
    This took little time. With that wrapped up, Luu advanced to the job of his dreams, the ice/lightning wizard!
    69.png
    ...and then promptly returned to killing snails. He grew tired of this shortly after, and decided to call it early.

    These snails are taking their toll.
     
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    So Luu killed some red snails.

    A lot of red snails.

    Thousands of red snails.

    Both grinding the night and the day away, doing nothing but killing snails.

    Then, as hope was starting to fade...
    70.png
    It finally dropped! Low-rolled on attack but who cares, it dropped! I'm free! I'm finally free! Free of these goddamn snails and their smug nonchalant faces!

    Oh, uh... right. Then Luu took a break because spending literal days doing nothing but killing snails is utterly soul-crushing and he wanted to celebrate.
     
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    With the wand retrieved, Luu now needed the appropriate top and bottom for level 18. Specifically, he needed the black variant, so the shoes would match. However, he had only encountered drops for the white/orange variant (axe stumps), so that left him in a bit of a bind. The easiest approach, Luu figured, would be to simply find the limits of where he can go at the moment, get new cards from the things he can kill, and go from there.

    The best approach, at least in Luu's mind, would be to circle the map clockwise, starting in Perion, and test his mettle against whatever he can find. The first would be to ascend the east rocky mountain.

    Remarkably, Luu was able to reach East Rocky Mountain 5 without encountering anything of note along the direct path. From there, he faced dark axe stumps, which he had seen around occasionally but never on the direct path before. Remarkably, these are the first non-boss foe Luu has faced that he could not slay with a single magic claw. Luu noticed some other player- a thief, perhaps?- pop in briefly and leave after killing a few stumps, and he soon figured out why:
    71.png
    This is the home of Stumpy. After a fierce battle, Luu slayed Stumpy and was rewarded with...
    72.png
    Well, nothing to note. The scroll was a cape int 60%, which seems good?

    Things went quite well from there:
    73.png
    Luu learned through all of this, though, that he chugs blue potions like no tomorrow and instead needs to take breaks to heal his MP; he drank nearly a hundred potions in a few minutes! Not great. Other insight is that Luu gained access to Thunder (hitting level 31) and realized just how useless it is at a low level. Definitely need to pour SP into that one.

    Luu also got some goodies:
    74.png

    At one point a dark knight stopped in; Luu chatted with them before they returned to hunting for trees (Luu felt bad afterwards; he told them there was still an hour left on the timer, but it seems Stumpy only takes 1 hour to respawn, not 2- he respawned two minutes after). Before that, they exchanged fame. Fun stuff! They did kill a bunch of stuff, though, so Luu had to wait for all the drops to despawn.

    The robe Luu netted boosts HP, which isn't the biggest deal, but it would match the white split pants. That's important, because the only shoes for level 20 are white, and hence he will need to match those white pants somehow. Though the black robe on white pants might not look too awful...

    Unfortunately the dark axe stumps drop nothing of note, and the next map has some nasty fire boars that seem liable to kill Luu awfully quickly, so he returns and heads over to the next map, the excavation site. This map is filled with all sorts of fun new monsters- wooden masks and ghost stumps, namely. For which Luu found way too much enjoyment jumping into seas of and spamming thunder, despite its pitiful damage.

    Definitely need to upgrade thunder.

    In the meantime, the ghost stumps did provide their respective cards:
    75.png
    And several interesting pieces of equipment:
    76.png
    (of course the pants are a low-roll)
    With that, Luu decided to return to Perion to offload some of this stuff.
    77.png
    He'll definitely be coming back.
     
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    Luu could tell, as he powered his way through these ghost stumps and wooden masks (for the wooden mask cards and a black split piece top) that he was gaining much. The experience rate here was plentiful, the blue potion drops remarkably frequent... as he leveled, he would eventually reach a point where he could actually make use of his thunder spell.

    Magic claw at its max level does a 40-damage attack twice, yielding 80 damage total. It does this on a single target. This costs 20 mp. For thunder to be more economical, it must do more than 4 damage per 1 mp. Generally speaking, thunder is equally economical at level 15 as it is at level 30, though the jump from 15 to 16 is quite cost-inefficient (jumping from 20 mp to 40 mp without a substantial damage boost). Thunder's economic benefit is, at level 15, 20 mp for 30 damage, or 2 mp for 3 damage. At level 30 it is 40 mp for 60 damage, roughly equating to the same (though with better mastery). However, thunder is not single-target- it can hit several targets at once. Specifically, thunder hitting 3 targets at level 15 or level 30 is more economic than magic claw in terms of mp spent per damage done, yielding 2 mp per 9 damage. Additionally, the actual base power at level 30 per a single hit is greater than a single hit of magic claw, avoiding "wasting" the second hit. Cold beam, meanwhile, reaches 100 damage per 24 mp, or 6 mp per 25 damage. Again, thunder outpaces this at 3 targets or more.

    With all of that in mind, Luu resolved to reach level 15 in thunder as soon as possible and then switch gears to focusing on meditation and mp eater. Only after maxing out both of those will Luu then save up sp to dump into thunder all at once. From there, teleport will be maxed, and then cold beam will cap out the rest of his second job sp. Cold beam is useful as a single-hit spell, but given the nature of this challenge it seems unlikely that Luu will benefit too much from a stronger single-hit spell given that most of what he will be fighting for equipment will be considerably below his level. Though of course, things could change, and Luu might need a strong single-target spell (such as a foe that does not neatly form groups of 3 that he must slay). Time will tell.

    As for the blue potions, as it currently stands Luu can get through an entire clear of the area with his entire MP bar. Given that he has 1.9k mp, that would mean 19 blue potions to then promptly go again. While the blue potion drops here are nice, they are not that nice. The only way to improve his ability to use potions would be to find something that actually drops nicer potions. The nicest potions, of course (mana bulls), drop from nothing, and Luu would need to purchase. The second-nicest that would actually be practical at this point (sorcerer elixers) also drop from nothing (I'm not counting only-drops-from-one-boss potion drops as dropping from anything because good god that's not reasonable to expect to farm). Given that Luu's current stash of cash is approaching a million mesos, perhaps a trip to NLC is in order? Other than that, there would be mana elixers and desert mist that are at this moment acquirable from drops alone. Desert mist no doubt drop from something in the desert, and Luu has heard rumors about potentially acquiring mana elixers in Taiwan. However, they're only marginal improvements over his current situation- Luu would still need 6 mana elixers to heal his mp bar to full. Perhaps sorcerer elixers are the only way?

    Well, looking at the economics of it, Luu gains from ghost stumps roughly 50 mesos per 20 MP. Hence, Luu can spend 5 mesos per 2 MP healed. Given that pretty much every other MP potion is 2 mesos per 1 MP healed, a sorcerer elixer is almost certainly a done deal.

    Luu could contemplate all of this because he's sitting around spending all of his time waiting for his MP to heal. NLC might come sooner rather than later.

    After netting two cards from the wooden masks:
    78.png
    Luu, tired of spending so much time waiting around, takes a jaunt over to NLC. The new potions won't render the idea of MP conservation moot, of course. Rather, it'll just make it tied more to mesos rather than sitting around all the time waiting for MP to replenish.

    Turns out the sorcerer elixers only cost 1500 mesos, which is... literally 1 meso per MP. These might be the most economical MP potions in the entire game before mana bulls become relevant! Luu buys 500 and returns to Kerning City, and then returns to killing ghost stumps and wooden masks. Things should pick up considerably now that Luu isn't having to sit around for several minutes every time. Didn't take long for Luu to wrap up the last few cards:
    80.png
    Additionally, Luu did get some goodies out of it, including a blue wizard robe!
    79.png (low-rolled the defence, naturally). In the meantime, Luu decided to head one map over, where he encountered rocky masks. A card and some items came early (the wand low-rolled. Everything low-rolls)
    81.png
    At which point Luu, failing to notice his magic guard expiring, goes and promptly dies. After that he decided to call it a night.
     
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    Luu felt restless, so he went out to hunt more masks despite the late hour. It actually proved remarkably beneficial. Besides hitting level 35, he acquired some very necessary pants:
    82.png
    Apparently also stumbled upon a robe:
    83.png
    Luu decided to try out the combination of blue robe and black pants, and found that they actually worked well together! While he would've preferred the black robe with the black pants, this actually works out perfectly fine:
    84.png
    Now (as soon as the rocky mask cards are finished), to work on those level 20 shoes and gloves. The goal here are the blue jewelry boots and green morrican gloves. The latter drop from nothing, but can be upgraded from blue morrican gloves, which do drop from something. Of course, what that something is remains a mystery. Why the blue boots and green gloves? There are only two level 20 hats- a green hat and a red hat, but both with a blue gem. There are only blue, green, and purple gloves, so the green gloves will match the green hat.

    Following all of that progress, Luu finally went to sleep.
     
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    Luu decided to do a quick return to the rocky masks to see what he could get. It wasn't too terrible:
    85.png
    Level 25 and 30 gloves, though the colors might make those hard to work with. The ocean mesanas can at least be worked into (undropped) blood mesanas, which will match the trim on the white doros robes (wherever those are). Leaves the open question of level 28, though. Perhaps keep them as ocean mesanas, and pair them with a blue jester hat? Would simply need a fitting doros robe to match, then. Perhaps the yellow one with blue trim?

    Anyway, Luu decided to take a break with the rocky masks and move on to the east domain of perion, where he had access to a hidden street via completing the dark axe stump card set- the land of wild boar 2. Things wrapped up rather quickly:
    86.png
    Additionally, Luu nabbed some goodies:
    87.png
    Speaking of the blue jester hat, it seems that these wild boars drop blue jester hats! Luu will definitely be returning here later. Until then, on to the next target. Luu gets through Ellinia without encountering much of interest- Lupins are too much to deal with at the moment, and horny mushrooms have better locations to hunt. Curse eyes are rather nasty to deal with, too. So, Luu continues south to Henesys. Along the way he decides to deal with some blue mushrooms. Luu heads to the blue mushroom forest, a hidden location accessible via his slime and snail card sets. The blue mushrooms are resolved in quick order:
    88.png
    The blue mushrooms, as Luu discovers, drop wizard staffs! They also drop purple jewelry boots but that does Luu little good due to those boots not matching any hats. With that out of the way, Luu circles around to Kerning City. There's nothing specifically along the path, but he still has those octopuses to hunt. The benefit to having the maxed-out blue mushroom monster card set is that Luu can access the maps that they're in, such as Caution Falling Down. But how could Luu reach that location without encountering an octopus? Well, turns out they stop spawning and are taken up by other enemies, making it perfectly accessible without having the octopus card in the first place. Luu wrapped them up real quick:
    89.png
    And, since octopuses drop nothing of note, won't be returning. Luu moved on to the Kerning City subway, where various beasts roam. Namely, bubblings.

    Tons of bubblings.

    Fortunately that volume of bubblings meant the card was rather easy to acquire:
    90.png
    And remarkably, a very important item was acquired:
    91.png
    Blue jewelry boots! Only the necessary gloves remain. Luu tried the next part of the subway, but the stirges seem too tedious to deal with at the moment. With that, Luu ponder his next steps. He needs the blue morrican gloves (to make the green morrican gloves, which drop from nothing), but he has no idea what from. He has obtained the card sets for every red enemy, and has moved on to orange. Taking a look at the uncollected sets, he notices that the next indicated locations beyond Victoria Island are the desert, the aquarium, Orbis, and Ludibrium. There's also Sleepywood in Victoria Island. From what he can gather, the path to the Aquarium is off-limits- it requires either traversing the entire of Orbis Tower, or working his way down Helios Tower in Ludibrium. That leaves Orbis, Ludibrium, Ariant, and Sleepywood. Sleepywood poses a few problems, namely that every entrance bar one is truly terrible to traverse, and the only one that isn't is one-way. That would mean Luu, even if he could get in, would struggle immensely getting out. The best option for testing the waters is probably Perion, but Luu felt like Sleepywood would be best tackled later. Out of Orbis, Ludibrium, and Ariant, Ariant provided the most foes that would be within the desired level 20 level range. That, at least to Luu, seems like the most ideal next target.
     
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