Information Anniversary 2020 Skill Changes [Explained]

At MapleLegends, we've tirelessly been working on achieving a balance in the game that wasn't found in the original version of MapleStory v62. There have been lots of changes over the years to skills and classes in order to realize our balance philosophy. Which revolves around three major pillars: 1) transparency in reasoning, 2) preserving class identity during changes, 3) making all classes rewarding and viable in their own unique merit.

Before we explain the Anniversary 2020 skill changes, it is important to understand the current balance state of MapleLegends (following all the previous skill changes listed here).

Current Balance State of ML



We first refer to the maximum damage possible possible from each class with SE (as that's the usual boss run composition). Maximum damage is calculated assuming a Level 200 character using MW20 + perfect weapon (stats vary according to class) + 120 WA gelt chocolate + 21 WA glove + 20WA cape + 10 WA MoN + 21 WA Socks. Few important observations is 1) Nightlords do the most damage with SE, which isn't shocking at all, 2) Paladins do the highest single-target damage amongst warriors, 3) Marksman damage is one of the lowest at end-game, and the other two classes (DKs and Shads) are able to cleave.

Buccs are a little special, so the normal combo (Barrage + Dragon strike) damage is done without energy charge (which gives them +20 WA), while Supertransform is based off Demolition damage with energy charge. So imagine their damage fluctuating between those two points.



Then comes the damage with SE+SI, which does shift a few things around. But most important observations are: 1) Realistic Corsair damage is still lower than Nightlords (which don't benefit at all from SI), 2) Paladins remain the best warrior class for single target damage, which is the intended class design according to Neckson (as DKs and Heroes are able to cleave), 3) Marksmen still have one of the lowest end-game damage with SI.

BEFORE, the Heroes, Dark Knights, and Shadowers jump to conclusions, look at the cleave damage chart below. What both graphs can't show is the Shadower's full potential, as they don't visualize assassinate damage after weapon cancel, which does 199k x 4 lines. There are additional factors that have to be mentioned about Shadowers: having the best survivability (meso guard + shifter + invisibility frames), versatility (high single target damage & decent cleave damage), and supportive capabilities (smokescreen). Thereby establishing them as the jack-of-all-trades (as their class identity).

Spoiler: More In-Depth Damage Comparisons

[Current] Max Single Target Damage Comparison: https://imgur.com/a/V2xxqys
[Current] Max Cleave Damage Comparison: https://imgur.com/a/PFzQUEQ

Balancing Archers (Bowmasters vs Marksmen)

When we compare the two archer classes, it's understandable that Bowmasters should have the better end-game, seeing that marksmen have the superior early game because of snipe dealing 199k every 5 seconds.



However, what isn't really exposed is just how quickly Marksmen get out-scaled. With exactly 147 total weapon attack (that's one average scrolled bow, a 12 weapon attack glove, and a bear buff), Bowmen quickly deal better damage. Even with SI, it doesn't take much for them to be totally eclipsed by a class that doesn't benefit from SI.



With our two pronged change of Marksman/Crossbow Expert and the Strafe change, the scaling should look more like this and put the archer class (as a whole) back as a better single-target damage dealer than the cleave classes.



Balancing Corsairs

Corsairs are a tough class to balance. So tough, that Neckson straight out removed the Battleship mechanic and gave up on it in later versions. In an effort to achieve our definition of balance, rather than looking at purely theoretical numbers with 100% IDEAL situations (free-fire DPM), we decided to approach it from a realistic scenario (factoring in dismount animation and time).



Referring back to the max damage comparisons, with the realistic DPM, we can see that Nightlords outdamage Corsairs even when they have SE+SI. If we take into account that Corsairs are unable to maintain this DPM, due to the ship cooldown time once it breaks, it became more apparent things could be better balanced with this class.

If dismounting (which is a core element of Corsair class identity) ruins the damage output, we thought it might be better to improve the payoff for while you are on the ship. Thereby bringing the class' actual damage more in line with the other ranged attackers. The damage buff seem high, but considering when the ship is gone (and you rely on rapid fire) your DPM is lowered drastically (and also scales terribly as seen from the chart), we thought the change won't be game-breaking.



Improving Nightlords

While Nightlords have the HIGHEST damage output and scale the best with weapon attack, their reliance on SE is unbelievable. They say that, much like an addiction, a Nightlord without SE will also go through withdrawal symptoms. Because of how the damage is calculated we weren't able to entirely solve this problem, BUT we were able to improve the Nightlord damage without SE by a little. By reworking crit throw so that when you hit harder, but crit less number of times. This change (magically) manages to keep with-SE damage at the exact same amount, but buff SE-less damage. Note that at earlier stages of the game, the change will be less noticeable. This might be baby steps, but we hope to continue to look into this, and maybe make a break through.

Spoiler: Detailed Reasoning

Nightlord damage (with SE) is in a very strong place at the moment. But based off how SE works, if we were to buff SE-less damage, the with-SE damage would be buffed tremendously. Which would completely undermine our other balance efforts. Without re-working SE entirely, any changes to the Nightlord class itself, from all the iterations to the formula, kept leading to the path of majorly buffed with-SE damage.

Post-Change Balance State of ML

The effect of all these changes can be seen in-depth on https://imgur.com/a/V2hSSp2.



Thanks for reading till the end of this very long and in-depth explanation of the Anniversary 2020 Skill Changes! We hope this was insightful in many ways, including our balancing process as well as comprehending the numerous changes that have been implemented over the years on MapleLegends!

We will continue to monitor how these changes affect gameplay, and what other skill changes we should embark on down the line. We'll keep an eye out for your responses, and till then have fun Mapling~

 

Stun mastery (from what I know) doesn't apply to bosses, which is probably why the figures seem different than expected. We are looking into bucc changes, but we wanted to get them right before we released them. So keep an eye for the later patches

It's because Corsairs can't maintain a 100% ship uptime, once they sink the ship, the damage gets reduced drastically. And your mobbing capabilities also disappear, since you don't have access to torpedo. And the idea of premier single target DPS class undermines any notion of balancing, since all classes should be equally viable and strong (with their respective avenues). NLs have lots of self utility with high avoid, alchemist, Meso Up, Taunt. As such, there should be some leeway to making the other classes catch up to the efficiency/effectiveness of NLs. That would apply not just to corsairs, but also to the other ranged single target classes

 

I really really wanted to get that in there, but I also couldn't figure out like "equivalent" scaling for magic attack and weapon attack Not to mention I'm still trying to wrap my head around mage math :s next patch hopefully

 

- The SE-less change was to offset the alchemist changes, we wanted to do a trade off of buff + nerf

- When Neckson released the paladin, they still balanced it around the average of all bosses and didn't have a lower damage by virtue they could do 150% damage more to elementally weak bosses like scar or targa. Based on that same line of reasoning, it would be unfair to balance Corsairs based on the maybe 4 or 5 bosses that don't result in you having to dismount. (The number of ones you should dismount for are definitely far larger - just to name a few Zak, Scar, Targa, Verga, Jiaoceng, Horntail, Toad, Papulatus, Pianus, and Pink Bean whenever it gets released)

- Buccanner changes are definitely being worked on, as we're not entirely satisfied with its state currently, but due to its complex nature, it's not something we can just do the theoretical numbers for and understand the implications of the change. Since the scaling for when you get energy charge, when you turn super saiyan, when you can dodge an attack with your i-frame, which attacks you use, are all things that differ based on the circumstances But please note that this is definitely not the last round of skill changes! ^^