Underrated maps within Maplestory?

Nearly every map in Mu lung and Deep ludi.

A patch or 2 ago they got some massive spawn buffs. When I was card hunting in these maps there were soo many monsters to kill and i finished sets very quickly.

 

For the pinchiest of penny pinchers, Outside West Entrance of Ariant is an incredible map for MP pots. Both Jr. Cactus and Cactus, which are both mid-20s mobs with the higher being 550 HP, drop both Blue Potions and Desert Mist, which is worth two Blue Potions. So you can just grind through the top platform and then the ground floor, go up the ladder, repeat as many times as you want. However, if you're willing to spend at least a little bit of money, Zipangu's Crow Forest 2 has similar mobs (albeit flying ones) which drop two types of MP food, Mana Elixir, and Shoe Jump 30% which is a seven-figure scroll. And once there you can just sell at Ninja Castle which is accessible for free. AND you're not melting in the desert sun. So a bunch of pluses with that guy.

In regards to XP, a map I've found recently is the floor of Ninja Castle with the Chuunin, which my Crossbowman has been having a ball in recently. Not sure whether it has been mentioned or not, but I think most people just stop at Genin.

 

Vikerolas are a good map for leech and farm. Leech starts at lv82+ and fits nicely between wolfspiders and ulu1 and gives about ulu1 eph. If you find a duo mage it ranks among the most afk maps in the game (cast ult once and wait for next spawn) and gives better eph than ulu1. As for farming they drop OA int 10s and mithrils.

I remember trying to sell leech here with another mage last year but too many sheeple just go with ulu1...

 

Very low levels could try Coke Snails and Coke Slimes, they frequently drop the scrolls in their droptable (shoe jump 60 for both and oa dex 60 for snails) and it nets easy low effort profit (aside from climbing up the map every time).

The Crows mentioned by HouseAuburn are great too. On my Corsair I got about 1 shoe jump 30% per hour on average. Which is pretty decent earnings for using less than 100k worth in pots. Especially because they drop plenty of weapon stimulators which sell 20k ea as well. Used to be my somewhat semi-secret farming spot. It's nowhere near as good or consistent as other spots (nightghosts 2 maps further), but it's a good alternative if other spots are filled and you don't want to pay too much attention. A large-hitbox on your skills helps tho.

The monsters in China drop great items. Although I have not felt like they drop it very often. However, the equips they drop sell highly at NPCs (100k+) for easy lvl30 mobs. Additionally, many drop INT scrolls or m.att scrolls that do well in FM for at least 200k (wand matt) up to more than a mil (earring int). Another alternative here would be Jr. Cellion which seem to frequently drop Gephart which is a lvl35 dagger that sells for 150k to NPCs (personal experiences though, their droptable has plenty fodder that's not really worth much). Some of the maps in china also have super intuitive rotation routines (Cows/Plow Ox maps)

Cleric grinding at lvl35+ could be done very well at skeledogs/mummydogs as an alternative to LPQ or wraiths. Don't ever grind on chronos with your cleric. Chronos are undead, but they're not weak to holy attacks. You will deal more damage to skeledogs/mummydogs and they're perfectly situated in Victoria Island! The maps are easily navigable and very suitable to low attention rotation. They don't drop too many interesting things (for being lvl44 and lvl47...), but it's a decent alternative to those looking for less meta spots. Additional benefit if you don't mind leveling somewhat slowly: Skeleton Soldier and Officer Skeleton drop a wide range of useful and valuable items and are in the same map region if you like the maps and vibe. (the farting horseyriding Commander Skeleton suck tho, don't even try them)

Going to higher level mobs: Mr. Alli in Mu Lung/Herb Town is actually pretty nice. The maps they spawn in (especially the last map before getting in Mu Lung Area) are amazing if you have some decent range on your skills (my corsair Birb Genesis works wonders here), they drop earring int 60% which is worth at least something, and they drop power crystal ores.

deep ludi dual ghost pirates were already OP before the buff patch iirc. Especially because the map layout is amazing. Only downside is th ebottom part where it's hard to get out of if you can't kill the dual ghost pirates fast enough. (Did they add a portal there?)

At higher levels it seems like most mobs are somewhat meta for something at least. But I'd vouch deep ludi any day as it's amazing and so much more fun than the meta maps.

 

lvl70+ I/L with a lightning wand can easily solo at Vikerola if they have decent gear. Might be expensive in pot costs, but if you self-HS you're pretty well off.

 

But we have CD...

+For utilizing elemental weakness, and to match topic of thread, I usually suggested blue kent for pre-IS ele4-TB ILs. I'm sure this beats Vikerola and can be considered as underrated hidden enough in modern ML.

++Ironically, this method was way more famous back in old days of ML. Forgotten now.

Pro tip : 1 point in amp b4 pumping IS up.

 

Which is a highly contested META map. I'd rather go off-meta

 

I've found that Herb Town: 10-Year-Old Herb Garden (48 Ginseng Jar) and Mu Lung: Deep in the Sky Forest (43 Black Porky) are great maps for leeching that sit in that awkward level range between Wraiths and Jr. Wraiths. You hear "porkies" listed a lot in guides, but I've found it quite quiet around there. Especially due to the absolutely astronomical coverage of the map you can do with a mage ultimate and little movement.

 

Roloducks

 

2102 Akihabara

 

Zipangu: Forest of Oblivion is an amazing map with great atmosphere and a brilliant soundtrack. The map is hardly ever contested nowadays, since Funk decided to move their HQ to the FM a couple years ago.

 

Jail room

 

I never see anyone at Dukus. With one leecher, this map provides me 55m exp/hour at level 152. On top of good raw mesos, the map also drops earring int 10s and Power Elixirs.

 

I really like the Golem's Temple maps! The fact than a single mage ultimate covers ~80% of the spawns makes it even better. They are some of the maps that I'll self-leech at so that my new characters can pick up those cards...

And to add one more - in my continued love letter to Mu Lung, Snake Area deserves a mention. Leech-able starting at level 40, offering about 5% to 10% more exp than Entrance to Sky Forest, with just as simple of a rotation.

 

5th and 6th floor for Warriors (Or non-Mages with a Paladin partner.)!

While it does have a reputation of leech map, it's also a great map to grind on too!


Although there's a caveat though, ya HAVE to have a Paladin as a partner. Heaven's Hammer is essential for grind to function well.
Also, the stronger player has to take the 6th/Gold Floor to make it as efficient as possible as well. Accuracy is a bit more important than damage here since most of the hard work is done by the Hammer.

I've often had grind sessions with my Maple wife's 130+ characters and they could Level Up almost twice in a hour or so of active play!