Sku's MULTIQUEST [Concluded?!]

No matter how much time I spend away from MapleLegends, I always seem to be drawn back by a powerful and mysterious force. Some may call it addiction. Some may call it a lack of anything better to do. But me? I'd probably say it's the product of poor life choic--I MEAN--a longing for something that you can't quite experience in the real world.

So what is it that I love so much about Maple?
Well...

• Building characters
  • Min-maxing stats and skills (you know how I love that INT)
  • Designing a character's aesthetic & appearance, and allowing that aesthetic to change and evolve as they go forth in their journey and acquire new gear and abilities.
  • Seeing your character grow in power; going from piss weak, to weak, to competent, to excellent; stockpiling riches and hoarding cool-looking items.

• Exploring the World
  • Maple has no shortage of unique, colorful towns, roads, & dungeons that are loads of fun to simply *be* in.
  • Time-gated travel gives an exciting sense of adventure to exploring the various areas & continents.

• The Grind
  • Love it or hate it--or hate it so much you end up loving it--the grind never stops. There's always another level to gain, or a piece of gear that could be better, or a quest that you've been dreading to complete, or a set of monster cards that's been torturing you for the past two hours and just won't drop. Life itself may be finite, but the grind is eternal.

• The Shared Experience
  • Some of us play casually, some are basement-dwelling degenerates who have made meso farming into their full-time occupation, and the majority are somewhere in between. No matter what type of player you are, we're all in this odd little game together. I have a soft spot for this community, especially the aforementioned degenerates.

So what have you been up to, Sku? (asked nobody)
Well, I've been...

• Studying hard for career & certifications

• Homeschooling a young family member

• Listening to audiobooks. To anyone who loves a good story, I highly, HIGHLY recommend the First Law Trilogy on audible, written by Joe Abercrombie and narrated by Steven Pacey. It's a gritty dark fantasy that's bloody, captivating, heartwarming, and hilarious all in one. Pacey's narration is the best I've EVER heard in an audiobook - the man has no shortage of great voices, and paces every sentence near-flawlessly. Abercrombie's writing is witty, insightful, and damn funny. Check this series out.

• Listening to lectures. I recently rediscovered the infamous Dr. Jordan B. Peterson, and must say that his Biblical Series on the Old Testament is the most brilliant & illuminating series of talks I've ever had the pleasure of listening to. You may have thought a series of 2.5 hour lectures on the BIBLE of all things would be a tad boring, however you couldn't be more wrong. Link here:
  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f-wWBGo6a2w&list=PL22J3VaeABQD_IZs7y60I3lUrrFTzkpat
  
  I can also highly recommend JBP's advice on responsibility & meaning. If you're struggling to find your way in life, this man's thoughts have helped millions and may help you too. Here's one in particular that really sparked change in me, link here:
  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OOFDqX16_mY

• Currently reading REAMDE by Neal Stephenson. In two words: fascinatingly tangential.

• Practicing the Wim Hof breathing method. If you're not aware, Wim Hof aka "The Iceman" is this crazy Dutch bastard who's known for his superhuman feats of cold endurance, e.g. running barefoot marathons on ice, swimming in freezing cold water. Anyways, if you get anything from this: TRY HIS BREATHING EXERCISE. IT'S HONESTLY 100% LIFE-CHANGING, NO BULLSHIT. LINK HERE:
  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0BNejY1e9ik
  DISCLAIMER: I would check out Motto's post below as well as do some of your own research before attempting this method. In over a month of practicing the method daily, I have had nothing but positive experiences, HOWEVER there's reason to believe it could be dangerous for some.
  
  I've never been able to hold my breath for much more than a minute, yet the first time I did this exercise I was able to reach a full two minute breath hold. The exercise itself feels amazing and meditative - I won't preach too much, just try it yourself and see.

• Doing yoga first thing every morning and really enjoying it.

• Fasting every morning: waking up at 5AM, then having nothing but water until ~11AM. It sounds crazy, but try it. You'll have way more energy throughout the day and ANY food will taste delicious. Oats are my absolute favorite to eat after a fast.

• Setting aside some time for writing every day. I've had loads of ideas for a novel floating around my head for ages, now I'm finally taking the time to jot them down. Writing is so painful and every lackluster sentence makes me want to jump off a cliff. But it's a good kind of pain.

So it seems like you've got it all figured out, then?
Not in the slightest, and anyone who ever claims so is a fool among fools.

Wait, what about the challenge?
Oh, nearly forgot about that...

Is MQv2/Skucci done for?

Skucci, my Shad and most recent main, is a beast. He's crazy strong and fun as heck to play. That said, I'm going to leave a bookmark in his journey for now. He will surely return... at some point. For now, we're onto something a bit newer, a bit fresher, a bit more interesting...
​

So what's next?

A hugely important skill to have in the current meta of MapleLegends is the dexterity to manipulate multiple characters simultaneously, whether through multiple game windows or even multiple computers. After all, two characters are better than one. Just watch guys like that crackhead Blu301 or that one dude selling Shaolin Temple leech with four mages simultaneously. (is he still around?) Total insanity!
So I thought our next challenge would revolve around that fun little aspect of the game.
Allow me to introduce you to...

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MASTER QUEST V3: MULTIQUEST​

THE GOAL:

• Build two characters from scratch, start to finish.
• See how proficient I can become at controlling both of them simultaneously.
  • One will be on my PC, the other on my laptop. One hand each.
• For now, the main focus will be on reaching Level 70 & third job. After that, we'll see what's next.

Our character classes will be: HUNTER & ASSASSIN.

I wanted a pair that would synergize nicely (with NO mages), so I basically had two choices: Warrior/Bucc, and BM/NL. Warriors are CRINGE to play from 1~140, so that left us with only one choice. Sins are great, but I've never earnestly played a BM, so I'm excited to see what they're capable of.​

THE RULES:

1. Start with nothing. No help from existing characters.
   (exception: I will be starting on a couple accounts with ~500k NX because HP washing exists KEK)
2. No mules, only the main characters are allowed.
   (exception: if I end up having a lot of fun with this challenge, I might end up creating a *gasp* Lvl 81/90 HS mule in order to make grinding a tad easier)
   this rule went out the window
3. No leeching. Leech is for big time weenies.
   (NO EXCEPTIONS!)

Streaming?

I don't think I'll be streaming this challenge. For one, I can really only play for 30-60 mins on most days; for another, there are plenty of lovely people FAR more entertaining than myself streaming ML right now. We'll just stick to silly forum threads.
​

OK, let's get it started.
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​

Day 1 (January 31st, 2021)
Total Playtime: 1h, 35m

Skip skippity skip past all that Maple Island nonsense, and...


Say hello to our two new heroes!
My right hand controls Skulu, the aspirant Bowman, and my left Skumu, the soon-to-be Thief.

Getting to this point was a little awkward, with the with the greatest feat being a lengthy grind for 30 Mushroom Spores on Maple Island. I think our situation will be vastly improved the moment these two dudes get their jobs and unlock ranged skills. Until then!

 

Interesting, I'll look into it. So far my experience has been 100% positive with no negative effect, but I will definitely do some more research. Adding a disclaimer to the original post just in case.

 

Days 2-4 (Jan 31st - Feb 2nd)
Total Playtime: 3h, 54m

We last left off just before getting our dudes their advancements.

So, there they go!


Unfortunately, my expectations for the power of ranged skills proved to be the slightest bit overblown. Minimum range (punching at close quarters) is a big problem for our little dudes right now.


So instead of completing both sets of training quests in Ellinia like I thought we might, I settled for good ol' HHG2 instead. Then to Perion to finish Stumps, where I got...


BANNED? That's a first.
radious in 2021 btw


After finishing the basic training quests I took the classic route of doing the easy exp Nautilus stuff. The Pig mini dungeon map is pretty dang good for my current setup, although clearing the bottom is still painful. Again, min range problems.


Finally, something to lift us out of abject poverty! I got this knuckle scroll from Gach and, as is tradition, grievously undersold it for a quick profit. Yahoo!


With heavy-ish pockets, Skulu made a quick shopping trip over to CokeTown for some Coke Zero Pills (15att/15 minutes). I would have gone for Ciders in Showa (5 extra att over pills), but I reckon we can save that for when there's a bit more cash flow to work with. Either way, these are great to have on hand.
Also grabbed some cheap Tobi stars from FM for Skumu. They constitute a massive 8 attack improvement over Subis for less than 25k each, making them the most cost effective beginner stars in the game.


Slammed down the NLC quiz quests + grabbed some Grilled Cheese pots with our remaining coin.


ok who did this


Nothing so special, but here's my current key setup for Skulu the Bowman. For both characters I'm attempting to center the main controls around the non-negotiable arrow keys so that I can move and do everything else with one hand each. Then I shoved everything else to the side in as coherent an order as I could manage, so that we can have plenty of room around the movement controls for future skills and buffs.
Haven't made any skill macros yet, but I reckon those will also be quite useful for simultaneous skill management.





Cool INT, right? I'm thinking my INT goals should be something like this:
50 INT by Lv20 (check)
80 INT by Lv30
100 INT by Lv50
120-150 INT by Lv70

So, the dudes are coming along nicely. I'll be grinding, questing, and hopefully gaching. Catch ya later!

 

Days 5-10 (Feb 3rd - 8th)
Playtime to date: 8 hrs, 9 mins

Heyo. Things have been going pretty good, just grinding along and slogging through some pre-30 struggles.





With each play session, I'm becoming more and more accustomed to the demands of controlling both these guys simultaneously. Don't get me wrong, there's still a lot of brain lag especially where things like LADDERS and ROPES are involved - but we seem to be heading in a generally positive direction.


Case in point: doing desynchronized stuff like ^this^ is pretty fun. Doing it with two ranged classes gives sort of a "tower defense" feel to maple.


Managed to pick us up a couple of decent scrolls to sell in FM--Shoe Jump 10% and something else I forgot. Well-needed funds for our journey!



Invested the majority of it into pots (Grilled Cheese), Ciders, and Bathrobes for both of our guys.


So I'm trying to save a whole bunch of the easy exp lv20-25 quests for that awkward lv30-35 period that's bound to come up. Instead, I'm taking the liberty of getting a bit of early card hunting done, firstly Pigs and Ribbon Pigs. This map is pretty fun to duo with two ranged chars!
Plus, you can never have enough Pig Heads ...


After messing around and experimenting with a couple haircuts, I reckon I've finally found a good style to build on for Skulu.
RULE #4: WE SPARE NO EXPENSE IN THE NAME OF FASHION. For all you maplers out there who rock default styles or zak/scar hats, SHAME unto you. And no, HP washing is not a valid excuse.





2nd job lies in our future. Visions of bomb-tipped arrows, weapons with maple leaves on them, and power-boosting work gloves are populating my dreams...

I'll be keepin at it. See ya!

 

I'm controlling both simultaneously, bowman (right hand) on my PC and thief (left hand) on a laptop.

I won't say that there aren't plans for my other characters... It will be a while, though.

 

Note it's 37 & 30 CARDS total, not card sets. Just saying in case you're being a pepega as usual.

 

LOL yea his all beef diet is some crazy shit - maybe crazy enough to work?? We're all genetically different though so it should be about finding something that works for you. For me, regular fasting has been a gamechanger.
JBP has been through a whole lot of shit in the past couple years, it seems. Prescription drug addiction, rehab & withdrawal, his wife's cancer diagnosis, not to mention the media smearing him at every opportunity as a "dangerous men's rights activist." I'm with you, hope he recovers well. The world needs his kind of insight right now.