Just a common maple journal

Ainz It's not fair, some people are born with talent and some are not.
Bring communism back! Nerf everybody with 10+ PGC



kiwiz That's smart. That way you don't feel so bad when you lose your money, kinda like going to Vegas and saying you'll spend X amount. Of course, you could always win and I guess that's the variety.

 

Spoiler: What is this journal about?

The purpose of this journal is to record my journey of reaching my goals.
My goal in this server is to make a "complete NL" and be "self sufficient".

Everyone's definition of a "complete NL" is different. Here is my take:

1. 30K HP / 5K MP. Able to experience all content, able to spam attacks without worrying about MP.
2. All quests complete, helping the citizen of maple world. Pressing Q should show no available quests.
3. Monster Book Ring at Tier 10.
4. End game gear. Currently, my goal is to have gear with total value of 15,000 Prestigious Coins.

Everyone's definition of being "self sufficient" is also different. Here's my definition:

1. Since I am maining NL, I will make a BM so that I don't have to beg for SE like a peasant.
   
2. I also need a Bishop for the same reason... to not beg for HS like a peasant.
   
3. Able to clear low level bosses solo by triple clienting. This includes Zak, Krex, and Wulin (Jiaoceng), etc. This means my other characters should also be strong to a certain degree. I want my BM and Bishop to be geared and washed, preferably to 30K HP if possible.
   
4. Not be reliant on a guild. I think I'll make my own guild and have no one join it.

In the journal, I talk mostly about my goals and what I am doing to achieve them, but I also about how I think and feel while playing maple. I also have a button at the end of every journal entry that shows my progress at the time of the post. It's honestly not too interesting, but I would be happy if you enjoyed it.

Entry #5.

09/23/23, 3 PM.

After passing MW20, I've decided to sell leech for a bit to level up my Bishop. My Maple Warrior is 19 now, so I'll go back to card farming. I've decided to follow moomins' guide in terms of gearing my current Bishop. If I ever make my HP-washed Bishop, it will be much later than any of my other characters due to NX costs. Therefore, it seems unwise to pour billions of mesos on Mage gear especially when I need to gear my future Night Lord and Bowmaster as well. There was a 180 TMA Elemental Wand 6 for 500m that I was really tempted to buy, but in the end I chose not to and opted for a 168 TMA Elemental Wand 6 for 60m.

I forgot to say this on my last entry, but I decided to make a Bowmaster instead of a Marksman. Here are my reasons why:

• I was worried about not having enough AoE if I went with a Bowmaster, but I realized that I can just take care of AoE damage with Bishop's Genesis.
  
• I don't think I can time Snipe every X seconds while controlling both MM and NL. But I can reposition Hurricane while looking at any screen because a boss will attack all characters with the same attack animation.
• My 3-man team requires a Bishop, so I wouldn't have a slot for a Bucc to buff MM with SI. Also, NL/BM/BS team only needs an SE buff to be at max potential.
• I want to shoot lots of missiles, and BM/NL provides that fantasy. Pew pew pew

While I was leeching, I was theorycrafting about what the strongest NL equipment would be. Eventually, I got so into it that I made my own spreadsheet and figured out what would be the best gear. Here it is:

Spoiler: NL Optimized Gear (My Noob Opinion)

MAIN GEAR:
Weapon: Timeless Lampion (58 WA Base, 67WA with 9 out 10 WA from levels, 102WA @ +7) (160 DEX REQ)
Glove: Timeless Lubav (23+ WA, 8.5 DEX, 9.5 LUK)
Cape: PGC 16+ WA
Shoes: FS 10+ WA
Head: Aufheben Circlet (22 DEX, 52 LUK)
Armor: Timeless Prinsid (6 DEX / 9 LUK Base, 10 DEX / 13 LUK assuming 4 out of 5 stats hit on levels, 9 DEX / 62 LUK @ +10) (160 DEX REQ)
Earring: Element Pierce (2 DEX + 4-5 DEX Chaos + 18 DEX from 10% x 6 = 24-25 DEX)
Pendant: Timeless Pendant (35 DEX / 35 LUK after many rerolls + chaos)
Face Acc: Any, 15+ DEX.
Eye Acc: Any, 8+DEX.
Ring: Monster Book Ring (+10 All Stat), Ellin Savior (+1 All Stat)
Throwing Stars: Magic Throwing Knives (31 WA).

SUB GEAR:
Head: Scar Hat (37+ DEX)
Other: Gloves with DEX, Cape with DEX.

See the calculations in the Projection Spreadsheet below.

Spoiler: Projection Spreadsheet

Here is the rationale for my decisions:
Q: Why choose Lubav over BWG?
A:

• Lubav would have 8.5 more DEX and 9.5 more LUK on average vs. a BWG.
• Because you can scroll your Aufheben Circlet for DEX or LUK, you can choose to scroll for whatever DEX you need and then scroll the rest on LUK. In theory, you should only waste 2 DEX stat at most, since Helmet 10% scrolls give +3 Stat (at 162 DEX w/ Helm, 159 DEX w/o Helm).
• A 8 DEX, 9 LUK, 23WA Lubav would be theoretically be slightly better than a 25 WA BWG, as the highest LUK:WATT ratio I calculated on my loadout is 7.2:1 at most. (If there are no wasted stats, secondary stat should have same weight as primary stat, assuming that your gear is optimal and optimal gear is significantly better than next best-in-slot gear.)
• Lubav being untradable after equipping is a big downside, though -- decide at your own risk.

Q: Why choose Timeless Pendant over MoN?
A: This is a tough question. The short answer is: Even though MoN technically has more overall value, there is no method to utilize its value due to the skewed LUK:WATT ratio and WATT consumables.
Here's the long answer: WATT has generally more value than a main stat. For a mid-level attacker (~155), you can assume that their Main Stat to WATK ratio is 5:1. However, if you are a high level attacker (195+) with optimized gear, the ratio becomes skewed from 6:1 to even 8:1, depending on the server. A Night Lord's formula does not account for secondary stats when it comes to damage, so ratio calculation is inversely proportional. (E.g., if you have a Night Lord with 1000 LUK and 100 WATT, Main Stat to WATK ratio would be 10:1. The higher this ratio, the more efficient it is for you to raise WATT instead.)
From my calculations, an end game NL's ratio in ML is anywhere from 6.5:1 to 7.2:1.
So at a face value, MoN ( Assuming 8 DEX / 8 LUK / 9 WATT ) has a total stat value of 6 + 6 + 9*(6.5 to 7.2) = 70.5 to 76.8.
At a face value, TL Pendant ( Assuming 35 DEX / 35 LUK ) has a total stat value of 35 + 35 = 70.
Therefore, MoN does have more total stat value vs TL Pendant.
However, when you buff your character with an Apple, Main Stat becomes more valuable as the ratio closes significantly (E.g., in my previous example of 1000 LUK and 100 WATT, apple would make your character have 200 total WATT, bringing the ratio to 5:1). In our case, the initial range, which was from 6.5:1 to 7.2:1 , would now become 4.3:1 to 4.6:1.
So with an Apple, MoN now has a total stat value of 6 + 6 + 9*(4.3 to 4.6) = 50.7 to 53.4.
With an Apple, TL Pendant still has a total stat value of 35 + 35 = 70.
This is proven in my "Loadout Results" where without a WATT boost, MoN will outperform TL Pendant slightly, but as soon as any WATT boost is applied, TL Pendant will outperform MoN.
Finally, TL Pendant is also more flexible. Because of the raw DEX that it provides, you can more easily swap out your face accessory for, let's say, a Strawberry Icecream (6WA) later down the road.

Q: Why scroll Aufheben for LUK only when you may not be able to wear your Timeless Overall (160 DEX Requirement) with your current loadout?
A: Your timeless gear should have a fair amount of DEX. What you want to do is wear your SUB GEAR, equip your Timeless OA/Glove, switch your Scar Hat back to Auf Circlet, and you should have 160 minimum while equipping your gear. Note that you must have 160 minimum DEX WITHOUT Maple Warrior.

Q: Why should I have 160 minimum DEX WITHOUT Maple Warrior? I may not be able to attack if I'm debuffed, but as long as I cast MW30 again I should be fine right?
A: Unfortunately, no. If you get dispelled, you will have under 160 DEX without your TL OA/Glove being equipped. This means you will have to equip your SUB GEAR to have 160+ DEX, re-equip your overall, and change your helm back to Auf Circlet, which really isn't something you want to do while bossing. This is why having a TL glove is so good - because of the extra DEX, your requirements for Face Acc and Eye Acc may not be as harsh. You may also not have to wear SUB GEAR to equip event items (see next Q).

Q: What is the SUB GEAR for?
A: SUB GEAR is to help you equip your gear initially. However, the Scarlion Hat (DEX) specifically is not only used to equip your Timeless OA/Glove, but also to futureproof you for events. If, for example, an event comes out and offers something like a Strawberry Icecream Bar (6WA), you can't wear your DEX Face Accessory, right? Having a second helm specifically for DEX is for that. You can't scroll another Aufheben Circlet, as all stat helms are categorized as One-of-a-kind item. Scarlion Hat (DEX) was chosen because I assumed it was the next best in slot helmet.

Q: Isn't forcing LUK on both TL Overall and Aufheben Circlet overkill?
A: It may be, but I feel that this is the most futureproof way to gear, especially if admins/devs introduce new gear that gives all stat, or there are events that give temporary all stat items (Fishing Ring, Ring of Passion, etc). Remember that your 23WA Timeless Lubav only has a perceived value of 25WA+ if your DEX is not being wasted.

Q: Isn't having two scrolled helmets overkill?
A: Yeah... it probably is. There's an argument to make on making a Hybridized Auf Helm to account for how much stats event gears bring and how much extra damage a Hybridized Helm would bring, but that has too many permutations to calculate, so I can't do that. Sorry. To be fair though, if you got THIS far with your gear, a 35 DEX Scar hat should be a no big deal, right?

I did a rough calculation on the PCoin cost of what I think is optimized gear, and it rang over 50000+ coins. So yeah... it seems very VERY unlikely for me to ever achieve this. But is this optimized? Are there things I'm missing? Do I have something outright wrong? I need to know. I've thought about this for far too long not to get answers. Please help me NL mains!!! Also, if you want to use this spreadsheet to calculate your NL damage, feel free to let me know -- I would be happy to send it to you.

Spoiler: My Progress, 09/23/23

I've changed "My Progress" spreadsheet to include leeching data and made other small changes. Leeching my way to victory. It has begun. Although, I'm trying to balance it with card farming and leeching brother, so I don't think I'll earn billions anytime soon.

 

kiwiz This is so helpful. Trying to figure out my temporary gear was on my to-do list next, and you've pretty much done it for me. Thank you so much! Though I don't know how the price will change 9-10 months from now as I think I'll be done washing around that time, it's a solid start to figure out what/where the most cost efficient gear is.

I think the upgrade path from there is Perfect Craven / NT, -> Cape -> Shoe -> Auf -> TL Gear. Does that seem about right?

 

kiwiz That's a lot of things to consider, and it sounded like a lot of work on your end. I really appreciate you doing this for me! I'll try to stick to it as close as I can.

Krythan I think the route is, get the gear the kiwiz recommended, and maybe go straight to a maxed RC. If I were to aim for a Lampion, the rerolls will take a long time. (I heard 0.33% somewhere in the forums, and that's assuming that level up rates are equal, which is not explicitly stated by the staff. I'm hoping that I can just buy a maxed out RC, as I know people sell perfect RC and Nisrocks for significantly cheaper (3000-3500 PCoins) as it is out of date. I think it will all depend on how much money I have amassed by the time I'm ready to boss.

akashsky Thank you for your reply! Regarding the discussion with gear, I think we're on the same page, but I want to confirm with you to make sure.

That's why I mentioned the SUB GEAR, where you have the additional DEX to be able to swap to Timeless Gear. So you have, for example, 150 DEX with your non-TL loadout but you gain 3 DEX from TL Claw Upgrade, 4 DEX from TL Glove Upgrade, and 3 DEX for your OA Upgrade (Let's assume). If you wear a 10 DEX Cape (YAC), equip all your timeless gear (which would net you 170 DEX at that point), and switch out your YAC back into your PGC, you would have 160 DEX whilst having your Timeless Gear equipped. Is that what you meant?

And this is where ML might have a different system as you said. But I want to make sure I got this right. Let's say you have 158 DEX with TL gear equipped, but with MW20, you are able to hit 160 DEX. You go to HT. While in battle, Horntail dispels you. This is what I expect to happen:

• You get dispelled to 158 DEX
• Because you no longer meet the TL gear requirement, the equipment slot is colored red, and you will not gain the benefits of the gear until you are able to hit 160 DEX.
  
• If your TL gear had 10 total DEX from Claw / Glove / OA, you now have 148 DEX. Weapon Slot / Glove Slot / OA Slot are all colored red. Recasting MW only puts you at 150 because your gear is all red.

Is this not the case in ML?

I'm so sad... I was aware that PB was weekly, but I didn't consider the implications of tradable gear until you commented this. I just assumed that people liked making new characters and therefore wanted BWGs, but now I realize that it's to raise your farming cap. This means gearing for TL weapons is realistically unfeasible if you want to earn money efficiently (unless you played the server for a long time and you already have top tier BWG / Cape / FS AND a bunch of high level characters with great gear). I see a lot of level 200's in the server -- do you know, on average, the amount of alt characters that PBers use per week? 3? 4?

 

No, your gearing decisions is exactly how I envisioned my ideal, which is why I like it so much. I prefer going DEX-less if I can (although if I didn't have a choice, I'm not averse to it).

 

Milkydoor Yes, I think if I were to go ahead and optimize with what I had, chaosing seems to be a much more efficient method than just outright WS 10%ing everything.

More than 4?? I thought I already put out a really high number by saying 3-4. That's crazy.
I think optimizing for PB would have to be after I accomplish my goals set in this journal. PB itself is much too far away, and I don't think I have the grit to farm for 20+ Monster Cards per map at once... I have to be realistic with my expectations.

akashsky Thanks for your reiterating for me. If that's the case, the helm probably needs to be scrolled into mostly/pure DEX to account for event equips, and there isn't really a way around it. But it wouldn't matter anyways because, as you said, TL gear is inefficient due to how end game bossing works. While I'm pretty disappointed my idealized build won't work out, I'm glad I could get this corrected now so I don't make any mistakes when I'm actually considering end game gear. I appreciate it. Guess I'll stick to NT as main claw that I'm aiming for, BWG as my end game glove, and Lv 80/90 top bottom...