Magician Detailed Ice Lightning Mage Guide

** 4TH JOB WORK IN PROGRESS **
Hey guys! I'm trying to create an up-to-date guide to the Ice Lightning Mage. Keep in mind that I am still in this journey to improve my own mage (no way close to end game) but I still feel like there are a lot of inaccurate/inefficient guides that I have came across that I had to do extra research to overcome. Enjoy!

Spoiler: Why do I want to become an Ice Lightning Mage?

There are multiples of reasons that the Ice Lightning Mage is superior to others in MapleLegends. Here are some of the reasons to create one:
- Easiest mage to train to a high level without leech (AOE spells)
- Does not need funding to start
- Can sell leech at 4th job to fund yourself

WARNING: Be aware that to sell leech, you WILL need to be more geared than our Fire/Poison Mage counterparts for later in the game since Meteor Shower will do around 40 more magic damage (around 8 levels worth) than Blizzard. This difference is mitigated due to the fact that Ice Lightning Mages level extremely quickly.

Spoiler: Rolling the Die + AP Allocation

For rolling the die, you want AT LEAST 11 IN INT. It might take a long time clicking away but it is worth it. Normally, jobs in MapleLegends need to allocate into 2 of the 4 main stats (STR, DEX, INT, or LUK) to wear their equipment. However, as a mage, you generally don't need LUK at all. Since magic damage in this iteration of MapleStory is decided with the total amount of your INT + Magic Attack, we dump all our points into INT and wear LUK-free equipment. If you want to know what equipment you should generally have around a level, look at the Equipment + Gearing spoiler tab.

Spoiler: Equipment + Gearing

Key Word: TMA(Total Magic Attack) - INT + magic attack
Unfortunately for all mages, INT is the most sought out stat out of all the main stats. This is because of hp washing (which we mages do not have to do at all since we have Magic Guard). This still means that low level INT items are EXTREMELY costly; however we will still do a lot of damage without godly INT equips since we make up for that in the amount of INT we have. The rule that I have to upgrading gear is that I will plug in the costs of equipment into the following formula and see which is the most cost efficient item to get.

cost per Magic = (cost of the equipment you are upgrading to - cost you can sell your current equipment)/(INT you are getting + MA you are getting)

This formula calculates which item is the cheapest to get next. The items you should generally go for is in this order (not counting weapons and helmets): Earrings > Gloves > Overall > Cape > Eye Accessory > Pendent > Shield > Shoe
I will list what equips you should generally have as an unfunded magician at which levels.

Level 8 - 30:
Weapon: Beginner Magician's Wand

You actually do not need to spend money on any equipment since you can breeze to lv 30 by relying on your spell damage. Try to save money until lv 50.

Level 30 - 43:
Overall: Bathrobe (Optional)
Weapon: Green Paint Brush

The Green Paint Brush is available in Showa Town (reachable by talking to Spinel in most cities and traveling to japan, then walking a few maps to the right) at the weapon vendor for 100,000 mesos. You can pick up a Bathrobe (20,000 mesos) while you are there by talking to the sauna person and buying from the vendor inside the sauna. You see that the mage is very inexpensive while doing decent damage.

Level 43 - 50:
Weapon: Maple Lama Staff / Nocturnal Staff

This is where you need to start using the Free Market. Try to search around for a cheap Maple Lama Staff or Nocturnal Staff for around 5,000,000 mesos or lower. This should be fairly easy to afford since you have been saving up money since the very beginning. Before reaching lv 50, try to have around 15-30 mil in pure mesos.

Level 50 - 54:
Helmet: Zakum Helmet

Getting the Zakum Helmet is an incredibly good investment since it gives you 15 all stats on average. Do the Zakum prequests (3 stages, google it) and keep an eye out for people doing Zakum runs as they will usually smega. This will be the first big investment you will have since the beginning and it will be worth it. After getting the helmet, if you still have money to spend, look for cheap INT equips such as scrolled earrings/gloves as they will usually be the cheapest.

Level 54 - 70:
Weapon: Heart Wand
Pendent: Silver Deputy Star
Overall: ~15 INT Bathrobe
Earrings: ~10 TMA Earrings
Cape: ~10 TMA Cape
Gloves: ~9 TMA Gloves
Eye Acc: ~5 INT Raccoon Mask

This is the point where you should actively get more INT gear since the party quest stage of your journey ends and the grinding one begins. Use the gearing order that I suggested on the top of this section to see what you might need to upgrade next. The first thing you should upgrade is your weapon since it gives the most bang for the buck. Not to get confused with the Heart Staff (which is also a wand) the Heart Wand is a lv 54 wand that is LUK-less, making it good for a small upgrade before lv 70.

Level 70 - 130:
Weapon: Elemental Wand 3

Elemental wands give bonuses depending on which attribute of magic attacks you use. Elemental 1/2/5/6 are beneficial to Fire/Poison Mages while Elemental 3/4/7/8 are beneficial to Ice/Lightning. Elemental 3 gives you +10% ice damage and +5% lightning damage while Elemental 4 gives you +10% lightning damage and +5% ice damage. Since mainly after ~lv 81 you are going to use a mobbing skill with ice as its damage, you will want the Elemental Wand 3. In this version there are no penalties so if you see a really cheap Elemental Wand 1/2, buy it as a placeholder.

Level 130 - 180:
Weapon: Elemental Wand 7/8

Same reason as above, Elemental Wand 7/8 gives you +10% ice damage and +5% lightning damage. Some say that Elemental 7 gives you +10% ice and +5% lightning and Elemental 8 gives you +10% lightning and +5% ice but I have not personally tested that and the research I have done does not prove this. If this was a case, you would want Elemental 7 since it will give more damage on Blizzard.

Spoiler: Training Spots

Keep in mind that in MapleLegends, exp from mobs is 2x and exp from quests is 3x.
Lv 1 ~ 8: Maple Island quests, leave around lv 8 with half a bar of exp(even if you overlevel you get SP back don't worry).
Lv 8 ~ 12: Complete Grendel's string of beginner Magician quests.
Lv 13 - 14: Do Beauty of Beast quest given in Amoria in Henesys by Claudia, the hair dresser. WARNING: This will change your hairstyle PROBABLY for the worse
Lv 14 ~ 18: Go to the left portal of Kerning City to Kerning City Construction Site. Then climb the platforms on the left until you get to the very top. Press up on a construction barrier at the top and you'll be taken to a hidden street with Octupuses(Octupi?) and Blue Mushrooms.
Lv 18 ~ 21: Go to the Kerning City Subway and kill bubblings
Lv 21 ~ 31: KPQ! Note: Make sure you get 1+ squishy shoes as the only shoe in game that comes with INT is expensive (Yellow Snow Shoes).
Lv 31 ~ 35: Head on over to Ludibrium and kill Brown Teddies. To get to Ludi, its Ellinia Station > Orbis > Ludibrium.
Lv 35 ~ 51: LPQ! Try to get the glasses (35 times) if you do not have a eye accessory. Alternatively, you can train at Teddies from 35 - 43 and Master Chronos from 43 - 51
Lv 51 ~ 71: This is now where you have choices. You can either LMPQ (if you are on the poor side) or go to GS2 (if you have some money). GS2 takes a lot of pots so make sure you can afford some before you go there. GS2 exp is straight up disgusting as an I/L because you do 1.5x damage to them since they are weak to lightning.
Lv 71 ~ 87: If you weren't at GS2, go there and if you were there, stay there.
Lv 87 ~ 120: Go to Galloperas. Really good exp + map and every time they heal they give you even more exp.

Spoiler: First Job

Congrats on leaving Maple Island, you're officially not an Islander! Now that you want to become a magician, you have to go over to Ellinia and head into the top building to meet Grendel. Requirements for a Mage is lv 8 and 20 int. If you leveled past lv 8, don't worry! MapleLegends has it so even if you go over the requirement level, it still gives you the skill points for those lost levels! There's just a few things you have to do, keep Energy Bolt at lv 1 and DO NOT put points into Magic Armor.

Skill Build:
Lv 8: +1 Energy Bolt (1)
Lv 9: +3 Max MP Recovery (3)
Lv 10: +2 Max MP Recovery (5) +1 Max MP Increase (1)
Lv 11: +3 Max MP Increase (4)
Lv 12: +3 Max MP Increase (7)
Lv 13: +3 Max MP Increase (Maxed)
Lv 14: +3 Magic Claw (3)
Lv 15: +3 Magic Claw (6)
Lv 16: +3 Magic Claw (9)
Lv 17: +3 Magic Claw (12)
Lv 18: +3 Magic Claw (15)
Lv 19: +3 Magic Claw (18)
Lv 20: +2 Magic Claw (Maxed) +1 MP Recovery (6)
Lv 21: +3 MP Recovery (9)
Lv 22: +3 MP Recovery (12)
Lv 23: +3 MP Recovery (15)
Lv 24: +1 MP Recovery (Maxed) +2 Magic Guard (2)
Lv 25: +3 MP Recovery (5)
Lv 26: +3 MP Recovery (8)
Lv 27: +3 MP Recovery (11)
Lv 28: +3 Magic Guard (14)
Lv 29: +3 Magic Guard (17)
Lv 30: +3 Magic Guard (Maxed)

The reason why my guide has it such that Magic Guard is the last to be maxed is because you will be doing KPQ until level 30. This means that you can save more money by just using hp pots (mp pots are DOUBLY as expensive). However, if you follow this build you must know to never go to King Slime until you have at least 5 points in magic guard as it will do extreme damage and might just 1 shot you.

Spoiler: Second Job

To get to be a wizard, you must go back to Grendel in Ellinia at lv 30 and then head to where he tells you and talk to the job instructor located at the north of Ellinia. You need to collect 30 Dark Marbles from the map he teleports you to. After you're done with this and talk to Grendel again, you become a wizard. Congrats on becoming a wizard! Now go back to KPQ until you are lv 31 and head to Ludibrium (Ellinia> plane to Orbis > Ludi). This is the time where you are separated from a lot of other classes due to your ability to mob. Thunderbolt is a fantastic skill.

Skill Build:
Lv 30: +1 Teleport (1)
Lv 31: +3 Thunderbolt (3)
Lv 32: +3 Thunderbolt (6)
Lv 33: +3 Thunderbolt (9)
Lv 34: +3 Thunderbolt (12)
Lv 35: +3 Thunderbolt (15)
Lv 36: +3 Thunderbolt (18)
Lv 37: +3 Thunderbolt (21)
Lv 38: +3 Thunderbolt (24)
Lv 39: +3 Thunderbolt (27)
Lv 40: +3 Thunderbolt (Maxed)
Lv 41: +3 Meditation (3)
Lv 42: +3 Meditation (6)
Lv 43: +3 Meditation (9)
Lv 44: +3 Meditation (12)
Lv 45: +3 Meditation (15)
Lv 46: +3 Meditation (18)
Lv 47: +2 Meditation (Maxed) +1 Cold Beam (1)
Lv 48: +3 Cold Beam (4)
Lv 49: +3 Cold Beam (7)
Lv 50: +3 Cold Beam (10)
Lv 51: +3 Cold Beam (13)
Lv 52: +3 Cold Beam (16)
Lv 53: +3 Cold Beam (19)
Lv 54: +3 Cold Beam (22)
Lv 55: +3 Cold Beam (25)
Lv 56: +3 Cold Beam (28)
Lv 57: +2 Cold Beam (Maxed) +1 MP Eater (1)
Lv 58: +3 MP Eater (4)
Lv 59: +3 MP Eater (7)
Lv 60: +3 MP Eater (10)
Lv 61: +3 MP Eater (13)
Lv 62: +3 MP Eater (16)
Lv 63: +3 MP Eater (19)
Lv 64: +1 MP Eater (Maxed) +2 Teleport (3)
Lv 65: +3 Teleport (6)
Lv 66: +3 Teleport (9)
Lv 67: +3 Teleport (12)
Lv 68: +3 Teleport (15)
Lv 69: +3 Teleport (18)
Lv 70: +2 Teleport (20) +1 Slow (1)

Some people like to get points into Slow rather than Cold Beam. You don't get a single attack skill until far into the 3rd job so I maxed Cold Beam. Also, you have a choice to max MP Eater if you want to save money on pots. I personally maxed Cold Beam right after Meditation so I could kill small bosses and make money by selling their scrolls.

Spoiler: Third Job

Go to El Nath Chief Residence and speak to Robeira. After talking to Robeira, head back to Victoria Island and talk to Grendel. Next, find the Door of Dimension located at Forest of Evil II. Walk until the end of the path and enter the portal to defeat the Grendel's dark side to obtain the Black Charm. Return to Grendel and exchange the Black Charm for a Necklace of Strength. Return to El Nath and give the item to Robeira. Head on to the Holy Ground at the Snowfield at Sharp Cliff II. 1 Dark Crystal is required to answer 5 questions to obtain the Necklace of Wisdom. Again, head back to Robeira in El Nath and give her the Necklace of Wisdom.
Congrats you now are at the grinding stage of the game! Now most PQs are unavailable to you and you have to now just straight up freeze monsters to death for the juicy EXP. The 3rd job skill build might look weird but it will save you MP potions and most importantly, mesos.

Skill Build:
Lv 70: +1 Ice Strike (1)
Lv 71: +3 Ice Strike (4)
Lv 72: +3 Ice Strike (7)
Lv 73: +3 Ice Strike (10)
Lv 74: +3 Ice Strike (13)
Lv 75: +3 Ice Strike (16)
Lv 76: +3 Ice Strike (19)
Lv 77: +3 Ice Strike (22)
Lv 78: +3 Ice Strike (25)
Lv 79: +3 Ice Strike (28)
Lv 80: +2 Ice Strike (Maxed) +1 Magic Booster(1)
Lv 81: +3 Magic Booster (4)
Lv 82: +3 Magic Booster (7)
Lv 83: +3 Magic Booster (10)
Lv 84: +1 Magic Booster (11) Save 2 (2)
Lv 85: Save 3 (5)
Lv 86: Save 3 (8)
Lv 87: +11 Element Amplification (11)
Lv 88: +3 Element Amplification (14)
Lv 89: +3 Element Amplification (17)
Lv 90: +3 Element Amplification (20)
Lv 91: +3 Element Amplification (23)
Lv 92: +3 Element Amplification (26)
Lv 93: +3 Element Amplification (29)
Lv 94: +1 Element Amplification (Maxed) +2 Magic Composition (2)
Lv 95: +3 Magic Composition (5)
Lv 96: +3 Magic Composition (8)
Lv 97: +3 Magic Composition (11)
Lv 98: +3 Magic Composition (14)
Lv 99: +3 Magic Composition (17)
Lv 100: +3 Magic Composition (20)
Lv 101: +3 Magic Composition (23)
Lv 102: +3 Magic Composition (26)
Lv 103: +3 Magic Composition (29)
Lv 104: +1 Magic Composition (Maxed) +2 Seal (2)
Lv 105: +3 Seal (5)
Lv 106: +3 Seal (8)
Lv 107: +3 Seal (11)
Lv 108: +3 Seal (14)
Lv 109: +3 Seal (17)
Lv 110: +3 Seal (Maxed)
Lv 111: +3 Magic Booster (14)
Lv 112: +3 Magic Booster (17)
Lv 113: +3 Magic Booster (Maxed)
Lv 114: +1 Thunderspear (1) +2 Partial Resistance (2)
Lv 115: +3 Partial Resistance (5)
Lv 116: +3 Partial Resistance (8)
Lv 117: +3 Partial Resistance (11)
Lv 118: +3 Partial Resistance (14)
Lv 119: +3 Partial Resistance (17)
Lv 120: +3 Partial Resistance (Maxed)

Main thing here is that you train at GS2 until lv 87 then move on to Gallos. If you see, you max Ice Strike first because it will be your main mobbing skill. At Ice Strike lv 27 you will be able to hit the bottom floor of GS2 from the top (or if you want to be lazy on the steps you should be able to hit both floors fairly early). After maxing Ice Strike, you will get Magic Booster to lv 11. The only difference between lv 11 and lv 20 Booster is just the duration. After that, you save SP until you hit lv 87 because you will do enough damage to 2hit Slimys without spending much mana. When you hit 87, this is when you dump everything to Element Amplification since you will need more damage at the Gallos map. After maxing this, get your main single target damage which is Magic Composition. Why Magic Composition over Thunderspear? Because you do more DPS (less damage per hit, faster cast speed) and you get a thunder based attack after lv 120 anyways. After this and Seal is maxed, finish up Magic Booster for the duration. Now you can spend your SP on whatever skill you want since both Partial Resistance and Thunderspear aren't great. There are just a handful of ice/lighting attacking monsters (I think around 8?) and you train on NONE of them. I just maxed it because I felt that Thunderspear was an even more worthless skill.