Information October 2022 Balance Changes [Explained]

Reminder: This only contains the Balance related changes.



Welcome to the October 2022 balance changes! We hope this is a pleasant surprise for players, since it hasn't even been two months since our last patch. We hope to push out more of these smaller patches in between events in the future, as it allows us more freedom and flexibility. Not to mention the ability to promptly react to developments in the game that might need our intervention.

The balance changes for this patch focus can be categorized into two categories:
(i) Combating AFK-like gameplay
(ii) Quality of life improvements to skills

Enjoy the read!



Before we get to the balance changes however, we would once again like to share some metrics regarding the state of MapleLegends.

In our previous patch notes we introduced the "Server Overview" section for the first time, which sought to share in-depth data with the community with the hopes of bringing about a new level of understanding and discussion amongst players. We would like to continue to support this effort, especially in terms of checking the health and progress of the server.

Not only is transparency important, we think it would be fascinating for our players to also see how the changes we made in the last patch have come to affect the overall health of the server.

Spoiler: Server Overview: The Data

State of the Economy


Do note that during the course of the event meso generation seemed to have been on the lower side. In the past two weeks, generation has started to pick back up again.

State of Bossing



State of Class Distribution


In the past two months we've also seen the creation of 7,630 new characters!

With that out of the way, on with the balance changes!



「 Prestigious Coins 」

• Pink Bean's Mysterious Pouch 5 drop rate has been considerably increased
• Pink Bean's Mysterious Pouch 5 now drops up to a maximum of 3 pouches, previously limited to 2 pouches

Pink Bean being a once-a-week end game boss is meant to be one of the most rewarding types of content in-game. Given the recent difficulty increase in Pink Bean requiring more character skill and teamwork, it seemed fair that players should be rewarded adequately for the increase in effort required.

We believe Pink Bean exclusive drops are in a healthy spot currently, and as such refrained from adjusting anything on that front. What we decided on instead was to buff Prestigious Coins from Pink Bean, as we found that Pink Bean runners also happened to be those that most highly valued and desired Prestigious Coins.

Spoiler: Mysterious Pouch / Prestigious Coin Drop Rates

Boss Name	Pouch Type	Coin Range	Rate Details
Latanica	Mysterious Pouch 1	1 - 3 coins	[Rare]
Ravana	Mysterious Pouch 1	1 - 3 coins	[Rare]
Papulatus	Mysterious Pouch 1	1 - 3 coins	[Rare]
Jiaoceng	Mysterious Pouch 1	1 - 3 coins	[Common]
Scarlion	Mysterious Pouch 2	4 - 8 coins	[Uncommon]
Targa	Mysterious Pouch 2	4 - 8 coins	[Common]
Bergamot/Vergamot	Mysterious Pouch 2	4 - 8 coins	[Uncommon]
Dunas	Mysterious Pouch 2	4 - 8 coins	[Uncommon]
Nibelung/Nibergen	Mysterious Pouch 2	4 - 8 coins	[Uncommon]
Nameless Magic Monster	Mysterious Pouch 2	4 - 8 coins	[Uncommon]
Dunas 2	Mysterious Pouch 2	4 - 8 coins	[Uncommon]
Krexel	Mysterious Pouch 2	4 - 8 coins	[Common]
The Boss	Mysterious Pouch 3	10 - 20 coins	[Common]
Core Blaze	Mysterious Pouch 3	10 - 20 coins	[Uncommon]
Zakum	Mysterious Pouch 3	10 - 20 coins	[Uncommon]
Toad	Mysterious Pouch 3	10 - 20 coins	[Common]
Aufheben	Mysterious Pouch 3	10 - 20 coins	[Very Common]
Horntail	Mysterious Pouch 4	20 - 30 coins	[Common]
Pink Bean	Mysterious Pouch 5	80 - 100 coins	[Very Common]

「 AFK Check System 」

• The following skills require players to move positions after 5 casts (decreased from 100 casts):
  • Meteor Shower
  • Blizzard
  • Genesis
  • Dragon Roar
  • Aerial Strike

As most experienced players know, skills that deal damage have an innate counter which allows up to 100 casts without moving from the same position before they stop dealing damage. In order to reset the counter, players simply have to move slightly before casting them again. The objective of the system was to discourage "AFK" gameplay. While normal skills usually takes a minute or two to hit the counter limit before needing to reposition, it took a considerably longer time for these longer and usually more powerful skills to reach their limits. This leniency in turn enabled the creation of strategies that involved the use of multiple characters to "AFK" at the exact spot to kill monsters with ease and no encumberment. This change should re-introduce some nuisance to these strategies, and thereby make them far less "AFK", more interactive, and healthier in terms of gameplay.



「 Map Adjustments 」

• The stair footholds for the following maps have been improved:
  • « Sutra Depository 1-2 F »
  • « Sutra Depository 3-4 F »
  • « Sutra Depository 5-6 F »

Stairs on the Shaolin map have always been a pain to climb since the footholds were deceptively shorter than what was visually seen on the stairs. This has since been fixed to make climbing the infamous sutra stairs much easier.

• The spawn points of the following maps have been tweaked:
  • « Ninja Castle Hallway »
  • « Memory Lane 1 »

These maps have been heavily used for AFK-like gameplay due to certain spots being semi-safe and optimal for clearing the maps. The spawn points for these maps have been tweaked to prevent such form of advantage.



「 ETC Pricing Changes 」

• Jonin Star NPC price has been reduced from 300 to 110
• Sweat Bead NPC price has been reduced from 200 to 120
• Veetron Horn NPC price has been reduced from 200 to 120
  
• Slygie Tail NPC price has been reduced from 200 to 120

In assessing which items have been key offenders for raw meso generation on our server, we were able to identify that in terms of quantity these four items were one of the most NPCed items on the server. After comparing the NPC costs to ETC drops from higher level mobs level 120+, such as Petrifighters, Skelegons, Dukus, and Shaolin monsters, we found it odd that mobs below level 100 were dropping ETCs that were being sold for more than those higher level monsters. These price changes should help further balance the raw meso generation in our economy, while re-implementing consistency between mobs.



「 Hero/Paladin 」

• Guardian knockback distance has been greatly decreased (suggested here)

Spoiler: Guardian KB distance demo

As noted in the suggestion post, the knockback from Guardian is so large that it creates more problems than advantages, especially in scenarios with hard hitting bosses like Pink Bean and Aufheben. Greatly reducing its knockback distance will keep its ability to "guard" against an attack and stun the monster in a more useful manner for our melee friends. Hopefully this solves the problems that Guardian has while keeping its favorable interaction.

「 Dragon Knight 」

• Pole Arm Crusher increased vertical range at level 30
• Spear Crusher increased vertical range at level 30

Crusher was given the same vertical range as Brandish to help Dark Knights with positioning and allow them to reach certain bosses from certain platforms they previously were unable to.

「 Shadower 」

• Assassinate dash now only procs if the player is holding a directional key (suggested here, here)
• Band of Thieves hitbox increased at lower levels, and hitbox scaling also improved (max level hitbox unchanged)

As noted in the suggestion post, the last hit from Assassinate, which is the dash, tends to occur unfavorably at times. While it is possible to "cancel" the dash, it is unreliable due to client interactions, which results in the occasional death that is out of the player's control. This change will reverse the interaction whereby the dash only procs when a directional key is held, rather than defaulting to a dash always. This change gives more control to players and should hopefully result in less unnecessary deaths.

「 Ranger/Sniper 」

• [Bug fix] Mortal Blow - Now correctly calculates its 90% trigger chance and its 10% instant-death chance proc (reported here, here)
  
• Arrow Rain hitbox increased at lower levels, and hitbox scaling also improved (max level hitbox unchanged)
• Arrow Eruption hitbox increased at lower levels, and hitbox scaling also improved (max level hitbox unchanged)

The description for mortal blow may be misleading or confusing to some. Hopefully, the following chart helps explain the different conditions and chances.

Note: Previously, the description has it wrongly stated as 70% when in reality it is a 90% chance to proc mortal blow

「 Mages 」

• Explosion hitbox increased at lower levels, and hitbox scaling also improved (max level hitbox unchanged)
• Ice Strike hitbox increased at lower levels, and hitbox scaling also improved (max level hitbox unchanged)
• Shining Ray hitbox increased at lower levels, and hitbox scaling also improved
• Shining Ray top vertical range has been increased at all levels to match Explosion / Ice Strike

Most 3rd job classes have had some of their main skills revisited in terms of their hitbox and hitbox scaling in an effort to improve the quality of life for 3rd job characters. Shining Ray for Priests was given a bit more love due to how disproportionate its reach was vertically, especially when comparing it with its archmage cousins. We hope these changes improve the grinding experience for 3rd job characters, and we're constantly looking into ways to make the dreaded 3rd job experience smoother.



We hope this round of changes results in healthier game state, with less AFK-like gameplay and a bit more enjoyability when using certain skills. As always, your sincere feedback is much appreciated!

Special thanks as usual to all our current staff members with the changes!