Zakum Comprehensive Guide (Sellers, dear god read this)

Ultimate Zakum Guide (Updated to 2025)
​

Hello everyone,
I'm Ciss, and today I'll introduce you to Zakum to the best of my ability. This guide was originally made by me back in May 2020, but many things have changed ever since, and an update was requested, so here we are.

This guide covers everything you need to know for smooth Zakum runs from preparation, to in-run maintenance, to proper etiquette and attitude toward your buyers.





Table of Content
1. General Knowledge
2. Minimal Requirements
3. Preparations
4. Learning Zakum's Animations
5. Attackers Guide
6. Dark Knight
7. Bishop Guide
8. Leader Guide
9. Zakum Drops
10. Dealing with Buyers (DEAR GOD, READ THIS)
11. Tips & Tricks
12. Conclusion





General Knowledge
Mystic Door ():
Mystic Door is a 3rd-job skill for Bishops that opens a door to their location from the nearest town. While it doesn't work on all maps, like the Zakum Altar, it's used to create a quick doorway from El Nath to the altar entrance. You should count on your Bishop to go there manually to open the door for everyone else.

Resurrection ():
Resurrection is a 4th-job skill for Bishops that revives all nearby dead party members. In MapleLegends, its range has been significantly increased and should cover almost anyone visible on your screen. It's mainly used to revive your customers who often won't survive the fight, and sometimes your crew.

Holy Symbol ():
Holy Symbol is a 3rd-job party buff from Bishops that increases EXP gain by 50%. This buff is a must-have, as no one will take your party seriously without it.

Holy Shield ():
Holy Shield is a 4th-job party buff from Bishops that blocks all status effects. This buff is highly recommended for your Bishop to have, as it prevents party members from being stunned, sealed, cursed, and more.

Hyper Body ():
Hyper Body is a 2nd-job party buff from Dark Knights that increases both Max HP and Max MP by 60%. This buff is essential for maintaining your party's survivability, especially for members who haven't HP washed or completed their Challenger quests.

Sharp Eyes ():
Sharp Eyes is a 4th-job party buff from Bowmen that increases Critical Rate by +15%, and Critical Damage by +140%. This buff is a must-have if you have a Night Lord in your party due to the significant damage increase it does to the class.

Speed Infusion ():
Speed Infusion is a 4th-job party buff from Buccaneers that increases Attack Speed by 1, or by 2 if the skill level is 11 or higher. This buff is highly recommended when your party includes classes like Marksman, Warrior, or Corsair. On the other hand, Thieves, Bowmasters, and Magicians do not benefit from this buff.

Time Leap ():
Time Leap is a 4th-job party buff from Buccaneers that resets the cooldown of all skills. It's primarily used to reset a Bishop's Resurrection cooldown.

Smokescreen ():
Smokescreen is a 4th-job skill for Shadowers that creates a cloud which makes all party members invulnerable as long as they stay inside it.





Minimal Requirements
Level Requirement:
Before you might even consider going to Zakum please do make sure you are meeting the very minimal requirements.

Zakum is the first major boss you'll face on your journey to the endgame. Zakum is level 140, which means you must be at least level 135 to gain EXP from it. However, keep in mind that you'll suffer damage reduction whenever your level is lower than the mob you're fighting, making it harder to join runs until you reach level 140.


HP Requirement:
To survive Zakum, all you need is 2,900 HP.
As a runner (level 135+) you should not really have an issue meeting that requirement. Though if you do, bring a Dark Knight for their Hyper Body buff, which provides 60% bonus to both HP and MP.

Also, Pet with Auto HP and Auto MP is EXTREMELY recommended.





Preparations
Okay so now after we ensured we meet the Minimal Requirements of Zakum, we need to know how to prepare.

Party Composition:
First thing you want to do is to form a party of 6 members, containing:
1. Bishop
2. Bowman (Sharp Eyes) / Buccaneer (Speed Infusion, Time Leap)
3. Attacker (preferably Dark Knight if your party needs Hyper Body)
4. Attacker
5. Attacker
6. Attacker

VS
Ideally, having both a Bowman and a Buccaneer in your party is best. However, if you can only choose one, Sharp Eyes from Bowmen is usually the better option, as it benefits the entire party. If most of your attackers are Warriors and Marksmen, though, you might want to consider Speed Infusion instead, especially if the Buccaneer also has Time Leap.


Potions:
A common and critical mistake many people make is not preparing for the worst. You never know if your Bishop might disconnect or even die. You also can't always count on the rest of your party to survive. You have to be ready for anything.

HP Potions:
Each class uses a different amount of potions in Zakum, mainly depending on whether they're ranged or melee, their Avoidability stat, and the length of the run. If you're new to Zakum and unsure about your specific case, just bring 600 or more potions to be safe.

All Cure Potions:
All Cure Potions are one of the most important items to bring into the Zakum Altar. You never know what might happen to your Bishop, and even if they're still alive, you can't rely on them to always Dispel your curses. Bring at least 100 to 200 to be safe.

Attack Potions:
You should prepare some Attack Potions before heading into the Zakum Altar, usually Ciders or event-based potions. That said, if you're using Attack Potions with less than 20 ATT, you're actively griefing your party.

The Summoning Rock:
If you're a Night Lord, Bowmaster, or Marksman, make sure to stock up on Summoning Rocks. Even outside of Zakum, you should never carry fewer than 100 in your inventory.

Projectiles:
Before you head into the Zakum Altar, always ensure you have recharged your Throwing Knives/Bullets, or that you have a large amount of Diamond Arrows if you're a Bowmaster/Marksman.





Learning Zakum's Animations
Learning Zakum's animations is not mandatory (unless youre a Bishop), though I definitely recommend getting to know them and not staying a god damn noob who dies and gets stunned 100 times in a single run.

The 1/1 (One-one):
The 1/1 is Zakum's most dangerous animation. It reduces both your HP and MP to 1, and will get you killed if you don't heal instantly. When you see it, be ready on your HP potion key, even if you have a pet with Auto HP, they're not 100% reliable.

Special note to Bishops:
Under no circumstances should you use Resurrection during the 1/1 animation. Doing so will almost always result in the revived player dying immediately.

Spoiler: 1/1 Animation

* Click here to view if the spoiler doesn't open *


Meteors:
Meteors is one of Zakum's more annoying skills. It spawns small indicators on the ground, then drops burning pillars referred as "Meteors" from the sky. These stun you and prevent both movement and attacks for about 10 seconds.

When you see the indicators, move out of the way quickly. However, if you want to take it one step further, you can memorize Zakum's animation that signals meteor indicators are about to appear on the ground, giving you extra time to prepare for the incoming meteors.

As a side note, in MapleLegends Zakum can no longer miss this attack, even if you're a Thief with Shadow Shifter.

Spoiler: Meteors Animation

* Click here to view if the spoiler doesn't open *


Thunders:
The Thunders attack will spawn thunders randomly all over the map and deal damage. Worse, they seal your skills, which is why having a Bishop with Dispel and plenty of All Cure Potions is important.

Spoiler: Thunders Animation

* Click here to view if the spoiler doesn't open *


Weapon Cancel:
Weapon Cancel is an annoying Zakum buff that lasts for 30 seconds and causes all non-magical attacks to deal only 1 damage. During this time, you should rebuff or take a pee, but no poopoo!

Spoiler: Weapon Cancel Animation

* Click here to view if the spoiler doesn't open *


Magic Cancel:
Magic Cancel is a Zakum buff that lasts for 30 seconds and makes all magical attacks deal only 1 damage. While that might sound like a bad thing, it is actually a good moment for the party. Your Bishop should not be attacking the Zakum body anyway, and while Magic Cancel is active, Zakum cannot use Weapon Cancel. This is the perfect time for Bishops to cast Holy Shield and for Shadowers to use Smokescreen, just make sure they do not overlap, or Holy Shield goes to waste.

Spoiler: Magic Cancel Animation

* Click here to view if the spoiler doesn't open *





Attackers Guide
As an Attacker, you don't have to be a genius, however, you're still encouraged to memorize Zakum's animations especially the 1/1 and Meteors because that's gonna help you die less and attack with less interruptions

Arms Stage:
During the Arms Stage, it is your job to kill the arms that are best suited to your class in order to ensure optimal damage output across the entire party.

Warriors:
You begin by attacking the top left three arms, then proceed to whichever arms are available, especially those where you can hit at least two arms at once.

Ranged-Classes:
You begin by attacking the top right arm, which melee classes cannot reach. That is why it is your job to get rid of this arm first. After it is dead, you can proceed to the others.

Shadowers:
You begin by attacking the bottom four arms using jump-attacks with your Boomerang Step skill. Your job is to hit as many arms as possible with each attack to maintain strong damage output.


Body Stage:
After all the arms are dead, make sure you do not touch Zakum's body, as it will deal around 9,000 HP damage. Use the teleport at the skull on the top platforms to move to the left side. From there, keep attacking to drain Zakum's HP.





Dark Knight Guide
As a Dark Knight, you are first and foremost an attacker (which means you should also read the Attacker section above). However, you might be more than just an attacker if your party brought buyers who cannot survive and have purchased a Non-AFK service.

General Rules:
If your party brought buyers who purchased Non-AFK service and cannot survive Zakum (non-Magicians with less than 2,900 HP), it is your job to keep them alive, unless someone brings a Hyper Body mule into the buyers' party.


Arms Stage:
The Arms stage will be the most annoying part for you as a Dark Knight. You will have to leave the Attackers' party every few minutes to re-buff the Buyers, then rejoin the Attackers' party to get EXP from Zakum's Arms. This can be problematic because if an arm dies while you are in the Buyers' party, you won't get much EXP from it.


Body Stage:
The Body stage is fairly easy. All you have to do is stay in the Buyers' party and re-buff them whenever needed. Sometimes you will have to hop back to the Attackers' party, but make sure you re-buff your buyers once again before leaving their party.

Here are the possible reasons for you to temporarily re-join the Attackers' party:
1. Re-buff (Sharp Eyes, Speed Infusion, Maple Warrior, or whatever the party can offer you).
2. Zakum activates Magic Cancel, you might want to join for Holy Shield buff, to avoid getting stunned.
3. The Shadower in your party says they will use Smokescreen.
4. The Zakum's body is about to die, and you need to re-join the Attackers' party to get more EXP.





Bishop Guide
As a Bishop, you are the most important asset in the party and carry a great deal of responsibility. There is little room for mistakes, so make sure you learn everything carefully.
Learning Zakum's Animations is not optional for you, it is absolutely mandatory.

Arms Stage:
During the Arms stage, you have two responsibilities: buffing the party and dealing damage to the arms.

Buffing the Party:
During the Arms stage, you must make sure to cast Holy Symbol on everyone and keep track of its timer. If a Zakum arm dies and someone didnt have the Holy Symbol buff active, thats on you. Make sure you see the Holy Symbol icon above their head to confirm they got it.

Damaging Arms:
Stand in the middle of Zakum's body (it will not deal damage as long as there are still Zakum Arms alive) and use your Genesis attack to hit all of the arms at once. You, as the Bishop, are the one who deals the most damage to Zakum during this phase of the fight, so it is important that you keep attacking whenever you are not buffing the party.

Before the last arm die, ensure you are no longer standing on the Zakum's body unless you can tank 9,000 damage.


Body Stage:
During the Body stage, you have four main responsibilities, listed below.

Dispelling Curses:
During the body stage, you need to keep track of everyone's curses and Dispel them as soon as they appear. This is very important for maintaining high damage per minute. Seals will often occur when Zakum uses its Thunders attack.

Keeping Party Members Safe:
Whenever you see the 1/1 animation, use your Heal skill in order to instantly recover the HP of the rest of your party.

Shielding Party Members:
Whenever you see the Meteors animation, use your Holy Shield skill to prevent the stun effect for those who cannot escape the Meteors in time. Keep in mind the skill has a cooldown, so you better use it right before Meteors or during Magic Cancels. Nonetheless, you should never use this skill during a Weapon Cancel, as that would be a waste.

Buffing the Party:
Before each body dies, you have to make sure you Holy Symbol your party for the 50% EXP bonus. Zakum originally provides EXP only from the last body, but that was recently changed in MapleLegends.

Reviving Noobs:
Bishops are quite literally the guardian angels of the party during boss fights. Your Resurrection skill can bring a dead party member back to life, but it has a 30 minute cooldown (if it is maxed). Because of that, you should use this skill wisely and think twice before casting it.

Resurrection on Zakum Body:
Never resurrect a party member who died on Zakum's body unless they have at least 10,000 HP. Doing so will cause them to die again immediately because they will take damage right away. If your party has a Shadower, they can cast Smokescreen to allow the party member to be revived safely. Alternatively, you can resurrect between Zakum's bodies. After a body dies, there are a few seconds when Zakum does not deal damage. If you time it right, your party member can be resurrected and quickly run away before the new body appears.

When NOT to Ressurect:
Never Resurrect someone when The 1/1 animation appears!

Post-Resurrection Rule:
Never trust anyone, use your Heal skill multiple times right after resurrecting a party member to prevent them from dying again.

Resurrecting an Attacker:
Yes, it happens even to the best of us.
Sometimes attackers do die in the Zakum run from different reasons. When it happens you can Resurrect them right away (but follow the rules above).

Resurrecting a Buyer:
Buyers do not attack Zakum and therefore do not contribute to the party's damage. When one of them dies, start a 9-minute timer. When the timer runs out, you should resurrect them before they are automatically respawned after 10 minutes. This way, they won't have to spend potions to heal themselves and won't be at risk of dying again during those 9 minutes.





Leader Guide
As a party leader, you are in charge of the party as a whole. You decide when the run happens, who participates, and you’re even responsible for getting the buyers. Therefore, you need to make the right choices.
If you are new to this, review the party structure explained above and find what works best for you.


Before Zakum:
Before you are all rushing mindlessly into the Zakum Altar, you want to go over the next checklist:
1. Make sure everyone is ready and non-AFK.
2. Make sure everyone has enough Pots/All Cures Potions/Summoning Rocks.
3. Make sure your buyers have enough potions as well.
4. Finally, continue to the next checklist under Buyer Instructions.


During Zakum:
If you brought Non-AFK buyers who cannot survive without Hyper Body (2,900 HP or lower), make sure you are always ready to re-invite your Dark Knight to the Attackers party during the Arms stage so they can benefit from the EXP. You should also remember to invite them before each body dies so they gain EXP from those as well.





Zakum Drops
While Zakum is not as profitable as some more advanced bosses, it still has some nice drops which you can benefit from.

Here is the full drop list:

Spoiler: Full Drop List

* Click here to view if the spoiler doesn't open *

Notable Drops:
Mysterious Pouch 3:
Mysterious Pouch 3 is a Use item that gives you anywhere from 10 to 20 Prestigious Coins. Today, that is the main reason people run Zakum aside from the EXP. Just dont forget to distribute the coins equally among everyone. If the number you get doesn't allow an even split, simply use roll 100 and the rollers with the lowest numbers will receive one coin less.

Zakum Helmet:
The absolute classic, and what your buyers will most often come for.


Skillbooks (Untradeable):
Occasionally you might find buyers who will be coming to loot these untradable skill books. While you shouldn't charge as much as a Zakum Helmet for them, they are still valuable.

Genesis 20:
Used to worth 40~45m.. today it's garbage...

Red Craven:
Very valuable if 51 ATT, 50 ATT might also worth a few millions. Red Cravens are also a crafting material for Green Dragon Sleeves.

Pinaka:
Worth a few millions if 107/106 ATT.

The Beheader:
A nice Two-Handed sword that can be used in order to craft a Dragon Claymore.

Zakum Card (MapleLegends Exclusive):
Who doesn't want cards? Sometimes buyers might even buy cards from you.

Zakum Chair (MapleLegends Exclusive):
Nice untradeable Zakum chair, sometimes buyers might wanna buy those as well.





Dealing with Buyers
Before you even consider selling Zakum Helmets you definitely want to know the minimal requirements the buyers should meet and how to provide the most professional service. Good service will build you a solid name as a seller, and get you loyal costumers who might refer their friends.

Minimal Requirements:
Zakum Prequest:[/B]
Before your buyer can even enter Zakum, they must complete the prequest. Make sure your buyers have done this ahead of time. If they haven't, they will need to finish it first, and it is time consuming.

2,900 HP:
This is the required HP to survive Zakum without dying in a single shot.
This requirement usually isn't met by ranged-classes at level 50 who did not wash, therefore you want to prepare an HP-Scrolled Gear for this kind of customers if you're constantly hosting Non-AFK Zakum runs. Hyper Body can nullify the need for HP Gear, however this isn't a solid alternative for the long run, because you need to assure you always have a Dark Knight (or an HB Mule) in your party.


Potions:
The number of potions your Buyers will have to buy heavily depends on the estimated duration of your run. Most low-level Zakum runs take about 40 minutes, therefore the number of required potions should be somewhere around ~800.

Potions for Non-Magicians:
Melting Cheese (recovers 4,000 HP).
Honster (recovers 60% HP) (Only for buyers with more than 5,000 HP).

Potions for Magicians:
Ginger Ale (recovers 75% HP & MP).


Instructions for Buyers:
Before you step into the Zakum Altar, make sure you clearly instruct your buyers on what they should do. Many people rush in without saying a word, and that is a huge mistake! By doing that you leave your buyers confused, anxious, and more likely to make critical errors that could cost them the run, and you their money.

You must explain to them that their job is simply to stick to the left wall and keep their HP at 100% at all times. Not 95%, 100%!

Finally, go over this checklist before you take them to the Altar.
1. Make sure they have the required Potions!
2. Make sure they know they are the ones who should provide the Eye of Fire.
3. Make sure they know by 100% what they need to do once they enter.
4. Make sure you explain to them they should NOT look at you fighting, focus on their HP (and MP too if it's a Magician) instead!
5. Make sure you tell them NOT to press on the "OK" button if they die, since you will resurrect them after 9 minutes if it happens.
6. Make sure they have turned their Pet Loot OFF.
7. Tell them to tell you if they have 50 Potions left (although it shouldn't happen).


Professional & Friendly Service:
The first thing you want to do after getting a buyer is to make sure they understand what lies ahead. Tell them how long the run will take, explain what potions they need to bring, and most importantly, what they should do the moment they enter the Zakum Altar. Remember, they are new to this, and preparing them properly in advance will greatly reduce their chances of dying.
Staying professional builds your reputation as a seller, which means happy customers are more likely to refer their friends to you.





Tips & Tricks
Here's the part where we discuss extras to further enhance your Zakum runs.

AFK Service:
AFK Service is a luxury option for buyers who are too lazy, don't meet the HP requirements, or simply cant manage to use potions for 40 minutes straight.
Keep in mind that many buyers are new to this and start shaking the moment Zakum spawns.

Another great benefit AFK Service is that the buyer does not have to bring potions to the run, which saves them about 3 million mesos...

Party Composition Requirement:
Option 1: 2 Bishops + 1 Buccaneer
Option 2: 1 Bishop + 2 Buccaneers

How To:
Spawn Zakum and let the buyer die in the left corner. Start a timer of 9 minutes and resurrect them about 1 minute to 20 seconds before they would respawn.

The Buccaneer can use their Time Leap skill to reset the cooldowns of all party members, which makes Resurrection available again.
With this method, you can provide almost 40 minute AFK service.


Right Corner of the Map:
Many people skip this corner, and that is a huge mistake. You might miss out on a Zakum Helmet, or worse, a Mysterious Pouch hidden in the right corner of the map. Always make sure to check it before leaving.


Opened Character-Window:
As a party leader, you might need to keep re-inviting the Dark Knight into your party. Before you spawn the Zakum, simply click on the Dark Knight and drag the window to one of the corners of the screen, this way you can invite them back with a single click.
(Teach your buyers this trick to invite the Dark Knight to their party for Hyper Body)

And no, /partyinvite is not necessarily better, as it can mix up when you use the chat for other things, better simply do this with a single click.



Conclusion
That is pretty much it. I have covered the most important points you should know before going to Zakum. If you feel I missed something important, misled you, or didn't explain something clearly, please feel free to comment below and I will look into it.

 

Updated:
1. Leader Guide was added
2. Opened Character-Window (under Tips & Tricks) was added.

 

Hi, thanks for your feedback.
However, Power Elixirs will be really unnecessary due to the fact that Zakum's damage is incredibly low and Mages are known to have HUGE MP pool. Therefore, even Ginger Ales themselves are more than luxury potions for Zakum.

 

As requested, the guide has been fully updated to fit the standards and meta of 2025. This guide used to aim for 2020 standards which were much different.