GMS v.177 – Strange Secret Stories (2016-10-19)

Halloween is here! Play through three ghostly Secret Stories, where your choices influence the ending. Then explore The Afterlands theme dungeon, where the souls of the dead dwell in worlds of their own creation! Other Halloween events are coming too, so get ready to explore the Haunted Mansion, or fight the Elite Pumpkin Zombie. We’re also making lots of system changes and improvements, including overhauling the wedding system, implementing a fishing system, and more! Have a Happy Halloween with Strange Stories

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V.177 – Strange Stories is live on October 19!

Table of Contents

NEW CONTENT

The Afterlands

Pre-quests will be available after the game update on October 19

  • There’s some weird talk about what happens to you when you die. Some NPCs have had weird situations happen to them.
  • Start by talking to Chief Stan in Henesys (available through the quest log) to begin the story. After speaking to Chief Stan, all of the following quests will come through the quest log.
  • After being introduced to a mysterious magician, he’ll ask you to take care of some tasks that are extremely important and necessary to get to the afterlife. Your quest will begin with daily quests involving something simple: reciting an incantation for 7 days.

Rewards:

  • You get some Spell Traces after your first attempt at the incantation, and then a lump sum of Spell Traces at the end of the 7th try if you choose to commit.

The Afterlands content will be available on October 26

Requirement: Lv. 75 and aboveNote: The Afterlands pre-quests are NOT necessary to begin The Afterlands content.

  • Begin by accepting the quest ‘The Old Man’s Request’, which will require that you die in order to enter a land known as The Afterlands. You’ll meet your tour guide, Ashkaya, right away.
  • The Afterlands are made up of 4 worlds, each with its own theme. The Land of Warriors, where brave warriors fight all day and party all night; the Land of Riches, where the denizens have all the riches they could ever want; the Land of Contemplation, where the people love to meditate and relax (so much that they don’t mind the lack of color–that is, until you come along); and the Land of Innocence, where you will meet children who want everything to go their way, and throw a fit if things don’t.
  • All of the lands revolve around the main area you first arrived in. You’re able to travel between the different lands with the help of Ashkaya.
  • Each world affects the other. You’ll learn how the weather can control certain outcomes of each day. You might even be lucky enough to see what happens when warriors are allowed to fight with no rest, or rest with no fight. See if you can be useful to the residents (or just outright trick them) and maybe they’ll give you a cool present.
  • To complete this quest line, you need to collect 12 keys to unlock a gigantic door. In order to collect them, you will need to do multiple laps around The Afterlands. You will need to pay attention to the surroundings of each land, and how one land can affect the other.

Rewards: When completing The Afterlands you will receive the following items:

  • Weird Mystery Gift Box: Untradeable, Permanent. A box containing the following:
    • Beodog Figurine: Req. Lv: 90, Untradeable, Unique Equipped Item, STR +20, Weapon ATT/Magic ATT +7.
    • Mansa Figurine: Req. Lv: 90, Untradeable, Unique Equipped Item, LUK +20, Weapon ATT/Magic ATT +7.
    • Adler Figurine: Req. Lv: 90, Untradeable, Unique Equipped Item, INT +20, Weapon ATT/Magic ATT +7.
    • Billy Figurine: Req. Lv: 90, Untradeable, Unique Equipped Item, DEX +20, Weapon ATT/Magic ATT +7.
  • If you equip three of the figurines, you will get a nice group effect of Weapon ATT/Magic ATT +10.

ADDITIONAL UPDATES

Bug Fixes

  • Fixed an issue where damage was decreasing for final attacks when attacking multiple enemies for the Hero class, Mihile and Dual Blades.
  • Fixed an issue where auras weren’t removed after obtaining an aura and leaving a party.
  • Damage over time max damage is now the same as the character’s max damage.
  • Jobs whose Hyper Passive skills changed were reset. This affects Dark Knight, Demon Slayer and Shadower classes.
  • Fixed an issue where breather was not applied after using some fast fire attacks such as Tempest, Soul Resonance, Carrion Breath, Beam Dance and Pressure Void.
  • Removed Cannoneer’s and Dual Blade’s Maple Return skills.
  • Empress’s Prayer was changed so that it is not affected by cooldown reset and buff duration increase effects.

Skill Changes

  • Maple Warrior: No more cast delay.
  • Command Projectile Skills: Changed the behavior where they will search for a new target for two seconds if their initial target is destroyed. If there are no new enemies, the projectile will disappear. Upon finding a new target, will function as normal.
  • Shadow Partner Max Damage Skills: The damage limits are now the same as the character’s. This affects the following skills:
    • Explorer Thief – Shadow Partner, Mirror Image.
    • Night Walker – Dark Servant, Shadow Illusion.
    • Thunder Breaker – Dark Servant, Shadow Illusion.
    • Demon Slayer – Blue Blood.
    • Xenon – Manifest Projector.
  • Return Skills: The cooldown has been set to 600 seconds for the following skills:
    • Maple Return
    • Imperial Recall
    • Return to Rien
    • Back to Nature
    • Elven Blessing
    • Secret Plaza Assembly
    • Temple Recall
    • Return
  • Hero
    • Enrage: Fixed an issue where Ultimate Explorer mob count does not decrease while using Enrage.
    • Combo Fury: Changed so that it will not consume a combo orb. Cooldown is now fixed.
    • Cry Valhalla: Added a passive function that increases max damage to 20,000,000.
  • Paladin
    • Advanced Charge: Increased attack count.
    • Blast: Max Damage cap is raised to 65,000,000.
  • Dark Knight
    • Dark Eye: Removed cooldown. Decreased duration to 200 seconds.
    • Evil Eye of Domination: Changed so that buff, heal and Revenge of the Evil Eye can activate even during free attack mode.
    • Lord of Darkness: Added a function that increases damage by 3% when attacking a boss.
    • Evil Eye Shock: Stun time has been reduced.
    • Sacrifice: Added a 70 second cooldown. Applied Buff Freezer.
    • Dark Thirst: Added a passive function that increases all max damage.
    • Final Pact: Cooldown cannot be reset. Passive Final Pact – Cooldown Cutter has been removed and instead requires less mobs to revive.
    • Three Hyper Skills have been replaced by Evil Eye skills:
      • Evil Eye – Reinforce
      • Evil Eye – Buff Reinforce
      • Evil Eye – Healing Reinforce
  • Arch Mage Fire/Poison
    • Infinity: Increases max damage per tick by 8%.
  • Arch Mage Ice/Lightning
    • Infinity: Increases max damage per tick by 8%.
  • Bishop
    • Heal: Heal’s range has been reduced.
    • Infinity: Increases max damage per tick by 8%.
    • Heaven’s Door: Party members that have received this buff cannot receive it again for 600 seconds. A short cast action has been added.
  • Bowmaster
    • Arrow Blaster: Attack speed has been decreased.
    • Hurricane – Split Attack: Damage increased.
  • Marksman
    • Snipe: Number of attacks: 2, damage decreased, max damage cap decreased.
    • Snipe – Limit Break: Max damage decreased.
    • High Speed Shot: Number of hits: 2, damage decreased, max damage decreased.
  • Night Lord
    • Shadow Partner: Shadow Partner’s max damage cap is now the same as the character’s.
    • Shadow Web: Can now be used after using double jump twice. Height decreased.
    • Bleed Dart: Max damage cap increased by 20% while active. Duration increased to 90 seconds.
  • Shadower
    • Shadow Partner: Shadow Partner’s max damage cap is now the same as the character’s.
    • Smokescreen: Advanced dark sight has a 100% probability while inside the smokescreen. Duration is fixed. Cooldown is 150 seconds.
    • Advanced Dark Sight: Chance to maintain Dark Sight reduced. Dark Sight trigger chance reduced from 20% to 15%.
    • Assassinate: Stun Effect removed. Last hit has no critical. Mas damage of final blow is 99,999,999.
    • Assassinate – Limit Break: Max damage increased for first hit only.
    • Prime Critical: Critical Rate increase per second is increased. Max critical damage also increases.
    • Meso Guard: Coin drop condition added when hit as you use it. Pick Pocket and Meso Guard must be on for coin to drop. Coin drop quantity changed. Pick Pocket coin obtain amount is now limited.
    • Meso Mastery: Removed the chance to increase Pick Pocket Meso Drop.
    • Pick Pocket: Chance to drop meso is reduced. Max number dropped now has a limit. Number of coins dropped are shown on the buff window.
    • Meso Explosion: Can only use your own coins dropped through Pick Pocket. Damage is 100%. Cooldown removed. Can be used in the air. Coin search range increased.
    • Meso Explosion – Enhance: Meso quantity in use is now max usable meso. Added a feature increasing max limit quantity for coins dropped. Reduced the meso drop chance to 10%.
    • Shadow Veil: Removed ability to infinitely grind. While in use, Advanced Dark Sight chance increased to 100%.
    • Into Darkness: Allows you to teleport behind the furthest enemy in range. If there is no enemy in range, nothing happens. Automatically in Dark Sight after movement. Cooldown shared with Dark Sight.
  • Dual Blade
    • Return: Skill is now given with a quest.
    • Return skill removed when job advancing to Night Lord or Shadower.
    • Mirror Image: Shadow partner’s max damage is now the same as the character’s.
  • Buccaneer
    • Octopunch: Full charge damage 320%. Max damage increased to 70,000,000.
    • Dragon Strike: Max damage increased to 99,999,999. Debuff Final Damage 20%.
    • Time Leap: Should not be reapplied if disconnected, debuff will remain.
  • Corsair
    • Broadsider: Character is immobile while using this skill. Attacks only one direction. Damage is based on the character’s damage. If the character doesn’t attack for 10 seconds, the attack stops. Projectiles explode on impact. Up to 2 can be summoned.
    • Ahoy Mateys: Crit min/max increase changed to 5%. Crit min/max passive increase to 10%.
    • Nautilus: When used, the cooldown for Broadside is also reduced.
    • Octo-Cannon: Casting delay has been reduced.
    • Parrotargetting: Changed so Broadside is affected by damage increase.
    • Whaler’s Potion: Overall max damage increased, Critical chance +10%. HP increase amount reduced to 15%.
    • Pirate’s Revenge: 15% Hit damage reduction.
  • Cannoneer
    • Added a return skill ‘Come Back Home Cannon’ that allows you to return to the Nautilus with a cooldown of 600 seconds. This skill is given when completing the quest ‘Return To the Nautilus’ given by Kyrin. This skill is removed when Advancing to the Buccaneer or Corsair.
  • Dawn Warrior
    • Impaling Rays: Fixed an issue where binding Tempest resistance was not being applied.
    • Moon Dancer/Speeding Sunset: Attack count is up from 3 to 4. Damage down from 460% to 350%.
  • Blaze Wizard
    • Liberated Magic: MP Cost down from 200% to 150%.
    • Dragon Blaze: Added passive function that increases all max damage to 10,000,000.
  • Wind Archer
    • Storm Bringer: Max damage cap +25%.
  • Night Walker
    • Dark Servant/Shadow Illusion: Shadow Partner’s damage cap is now the same as the character’s.
  • Thunder Breaker
    • Arc Charger: Damage increased to 70% of Final Damage.
    • Link Mastery: Final damage increased from 15% to 20%.
  • Mihile
    • Royal Guard: Invincible time increased on success from 2 seconds to 4 seconds.
    • Sacred Cube: Added a passive function that increases all max damage to 15,000,000.
  • Aran
    • Regained Memory: Removed crit increase, and Boss Att increase.
    • Advanced Combo Ability: Abnormal Status Resistance reduced from 60% to 40%.
    • Adrenaline Rush: When in Adrenaline Rush mode, skill damage has been reduced from 400% to 150%.
    • Adrenaline Burst: Added a passive function that raises the max damage cap to 15,000,000. Cannot be used for 15 seconds after it has ended.
  • Evan
    • Inherited Will: Remove HP increase, Boss ATT increased.
    • Support Jump: Fixed a bug where it can be used in maps where rocket jump is not allowed.
    • Elemental Decrease: Final Damage reduced from 30% to 15%.
    • Magic Amplification: Final damage reduced from 30% to 15%. MP Consumption reduced from 150% to 130%.
    • Return Flash: Damage reduced from 20% to 10%.
    • Wind Flash: If a single target is attacked, the skill’s final damage is reduced by 35%.
    • Enhanced Magic Debris: Max creation limit is reduced to 15.
    • Dragon Breath: Reduced the damage increase to Thunder Flash from 350% to 300%.
    • Wind Breath: Number of hits increased to 5. Damage reduced from 270% to 215%. Additional damage at low HP lowered from 80% to 65%.
    • Thunder Dive: Orb duration reduced from 15 seconds to 9 seconds. Orb creation delay increased from 500 ms to 700 ms.
  • Shade
    • Critical Insight: Critical rate decreased from 90% to 85%.
    • Spirit Bond Max: Increases max damage by 25% while active.
  • Luminous
    • Equalize: Added passive function to raise all max damage to 15,000,000.
  • Demon Slayer
    • Carrion Breath Hyper Skill: Removed and substituted for Demon Lash Hyper skills.
    • Infernal Concussion: Cannot list enemies that are already in mid-air.
    • Demon Lash Fury: Req. Lv: 183. Fury absorption raised 50%.
    • Demon Lash – Reinforce – Damage Increase: Req. Lv: 149. Increases Demon Lash’s damage by 150%.
    • Demon Lash – Reinforce – Duration: Req. Lv: 143. Increases final damage of other skills after using Demon Lash by 10% for 4 seconds.
    • Dark Metamorphosis: Increased invincibility time slightly.
    • Dark Metamorphosis – Enhance: Level requirement changed to 162.
    • Blue Blood: Shadow partner’s max damage cap is now the same as the character’s. Added a feature where cooldown is lowered by absorbing Fury. Max damage cap is now 15,000,000.
    • Cerberus Chomp: Cast delay reduced to 900 ms.
  • Demon Avenger
    • Exceed: Execution: Damage increased to 540%. Max damage cap increased to 65,000,000.
  • Blaster
    • Blast Shield: Removed any part of the shield that was over max HP. Fixed an issue where quickly inputting certain commands would cause disconnection.
  • Mechanic
    • Giant Robot SG-88: Fixed an error with body collision damage. Is no longer removed after a certain amount of time.
  • Xenon
    • Manifest Projector: Projection’s max damage cap is now the same as the character’s.
    • Pinpoint Salvo: No longer uses energy. Cooldown is up to 2 seconds.
    • Pinpoint Salvo Redesign A, B, and Final: Redesign A now does +20% damage. Redesign B now does +30% damage. Redesign C now does +40% damage.
    • Mecha Purge: Snipe: Max damage cap is now 55,000,000. Additional accuracy removed.
    • Liberty Boosters: Changed it so that pinpoint salvo cannot be used in flight.
  • Angelic Buster
    • Trinity: Hits now do 720% damage for each hit.
    • Trinity – Extra Strike: Trinity’s damage is lowered to 650%.
    • Finale Ribbon: Max Damage cap increased to 30%.
    • Finale Ribbon – Overwhelm: Max damage cap raised to 40%.
  • Zero
    • Shadow Rain: Added a passive function that raises damage to 25,000,000.
  • Kinesis
    • Psychic Grab: Changed so that Kinesis cannot lift enemies that are 11 levels higher.
    • Psychic Force, Psychic Blast, Psychic Assault: Damage over time is increased to 20 seconds.
    • Psychic Drain: Duration increased to 10 seconds.
    • Mind Tremor: Duration increased to 20 seconds. Cooldown increased to 20 seconds.
    • Mental Overdrive: Max damage cap raised by 50% when in use.

‘A Better Maple’ System Changes

We’ve been working hard to improve MapleStory, and have made the following changes:

  • Added the option to prevent item destruction for double the meso cost to Star Force Enchantment.
  • Added the option to remove the Star Catch Mini Game from Star Force Enchantment.
  • Removed Star Planet and related quests/maps.
  • Removed Arrow and Key drops from mobs.
  • Added timer to skill icons for skill cooldowns.
  • Added the option to sell items to NPC shops via right-clicking the items.
  • Added various lag and optimization improvements.
  • Added the ability to drop items and equip pets during battle and on ropes.
  • Added additional rewards and guild contribution points to bosses and Elite Bosses.
  • Added a ‘Use Again’ function for Bonus Potential Cubes.
  • Added Wedding Ring effects when wearing a wedding ring and standing next to your spouse.
  • Added additional emblems to classes.
  • Added party-play zones.
  • Added a coin exchange event to remove old coins from your inventory.
  • Optimized the curse filter.
  • Added a new chat channel.
  • Revamped the Maple Rewards items.
  • Made the following skill changes:
    • Kaiser:
      • Piercing Blaze: Removed from Command Gauge.
      • Tempest Blades: Removed from Command Gauge.
      • Inferno Breath: Removed from Command Gauge.
      • Advanced Tempest Blades: Removed from Command Gauge.
      • Gigas Wave Reinforce: Required level changed to 143.
      • Gigas Wave Burden: Required level changed to 162.
      • Gigas Wave Bonus Attack: Required level changed to 183.
      • Inferno Breath Reinforce: Required level changed to 149.
      • Inferno Breath Blaze: Required level changed to 189.
      • Wing Beat Reinforce: Required level changed to 155.
      • Wing Beat Pummel: Required level changed to 177.
      • Wing Beat Extra Attack: Required level changed to 195.
    • Angelic Buster:
      • Affinity Heart I: Damage formula changed.
      • Soul Seeker Reinforce: Required level changed to 143.
      • Soul Seeker Make Up: Required level changed to 162.
      • Soul Seeker Recharge Up: Required level changed to 183.
      • Finale Ribbon Reinforce: Required level changed to 149.
      • Finale Ribbon Cooldown Cutter: Required level changed to 189.
      • Trinity Reinforce: Required level changed to 155.
      • Trinity Split Attack: Required level changed to 195.
    • Luminous:
      • Flash Shower: Max Level changed to 20. Damage formula changed.
      • Abyssal Drop: Max Level changed to 20. Damage formula changed.
      • Light Speed: Damage formula changed.
      • Sylvan Lance: Damage formula changed.
      • Reflection: Damage formula and range changed.
      • Reflection Reinforce: Required level changed to 143.
      • Reflection Range Up: Required level changed to 183.
      • Apocalypse Reinforce: Required level changed to 149.
      • Apocalypse Recharge: Required level changed to 168.
      • Apocalypse Extra Target: Required level changed to 189.
      • Ender Reinforce: Required level changed to 155.
      • Ender Range Up: Required level changed to 195.

Fishing System

Requirement: Lv. 33 and above

  • Welcome the new fishing system! To participate, open your quest notifier and click the lightbulb quest icon. Search for the first quest called ‘Let’s Start Fishing’ and you will be on your way!
  • Learn how to play the new mini-game and catch tons of fish! Fish that aren’t good enough will be automatically sold to the bait shop for mesos.
  • There is even a fishing contest that occurs every Monday from 3:00 AM to 4:00 AM Pacific. As they say, “the early worm gets the fish!”

Wedding System Revamp

  • The wedding system has been overhauled and simplified. Talk to NPC Nana K to enter the new Wedding Village! She has replaced NPC Tom Swift.
  • There is now only one wedding ticket for sale in the Cash Shop, making getting married even easier. Simply buy the Commitment of Love Ticket, create a party with your partner, talk to Nana K to enter the new Wedding Village, enter any event hall, use the ticket and then BOOM! You and your partner are married.
  • The anniversary quests have also been updated! Every 100 days up to 1,000 days total, you and your partner can commemorate your marriage with new quests and get marriage-exclusive rings! After each 100-day milestone, the ring gets upgraded.
  • Even the time for finalizing a divorce has been shortened! After you get married, you can file for a divorce and only wait 1 hour to have it finalized.

HALLOWEEN EVENTS

Secret Stories

October 19 – November 16

Requirement: Lv. 33 and above

  • Take control of the story and decide the endings!
  • Start the quest by clicking the Secret Stories notifier located within the star event notifier on the left side of the screen.
  • In ‘The Henesys Haunting’, Chief Stan requests help to investigate the strange sightings that have been reported around Henesys. Dig deeper and figure out what’s really going on!
  • In ‘Maid to Order’, investigate the threats made to Phantom’s life and discover the secrets kept by all parties involved. Who are your enemies? Who are your allies? There are some things only a Master Thief may know…
  • In ‘The Snow Child’, investigate the sightings of the Snow Monster that’s terrorizing a small village. Where did this beast come from? Why is it attacking?

Rewards:

  • Complete each ending to earn different rewards! Complete every ending and NPC Masque will reward you with his personal set of equipment!
    • Masque’s Mask: Req. Lv: 33, permanent, can be traded within an account. STR/DEX/INT/LUK +10, MaxHP/MaxMP +250, Weapon ATT/Magic ATT +2.
    • Masque’s Belt: Req. Lv: 33, permanent, can be traded within an account. STR/DEX/INT/LUK +6, Weapon DEF/Magic DEF +60, Weapon ATT/Magic ATT +1.
    • Masque’s Shoulder Accessory: Req. Lv: 33, permanent, can be traded within an account. STR/DEX/INT/LUK +2, Weapon DEF/Magic DEF +30, Weapon ATT/Magic ATT +1.

Haunted Mansion

October 19 – November 16

Requirement: Lv. 33 and above

  • Begin the quests for this event by using the star quest notifier and accepting the quest ‘Prologue: Invitation’.
  • Find out all about the mystery behind the Haunted Mansion, all while attending a party.
  • Hint: If you think you’re stuck, check the Star Quest Notifier for help.

Rewards:

  • Halloween Mask: Untradeable, STR/DEX/INT/LUK +5, Weapon ATT/Magic ATT +3, Weapon DEF/Magic DEF +50, Speed/Jump: +5, Permanent.

Elite Pumpkin Zombie

October 19 – November 16

Requirement: Lv. 33 and above

  • Occasionally when hunting monsters, there will be an Elite Pumpkin Zombie that appears instead of an Elite Boss.
  • Elite Pumpkin Zombies drop tickets that you can use towards the event, and some Halloween Surprise Badge Boxes. However, make sure to open these boxes fast because they only last for 24 hours.
  • The Halloween Surprise Badge Boxes contain one of two badges: the Worn Halloween Badge, and the Brilliant Halloween Badge. The Worn Halloween Badge has different stats each time you receive one. Although temporary with their 7-day duration, they’re still useful!
  • The Brilliant Halloween Badge is permanent and is limited to only one per character.

100 Elite Pumpkin Zombies!

  • Defeat 100 Elite Pumpkin Zombies to receive even more rewards!
    • Brilliant Halloween Badge: Req. Lv: 10, Untradeable. STR/DEX/INT/LUK +7, Permanent.
    • Elite Pumpkin Pal Chair: Untradeable. Recovers 5 HP/MP every 10 seconds.

Hero’s Gauntlet

October 19 – November 16

Requirement: Lv. 33 and above

  • Accept the quest by clicking on the notification that appears above your character’s head every at 15 minutes and 45 minutes past the hour between 6:00 AM and 11:59 PM Pacific.
  • You and other participants will wait in lobby in the order you accepted the invitation. The gauntlet will begin when the number of required members enter the lobby, or when the timer runs out.
  • The event consists of destroying monsters that act as walls, jumping on some platforms, and avoiding deadly pumpkins! Keep in mind that only certain abilities will work in these maps.
  • After running through the event, you will move to the reward map where the NPC will issue rewards:
    • Win: Kaleido-Spinner Event Tickets (x3)
    • Draw: Kaleido-Spinner Event Tickets (x2)
    • Lose: Kaleido-Spinner Event Ticket

Halloween Kaleido-Spinner Event

October 19 – November 16

Requirement: Lv. 33 and above

  • Complete quests in the Haunted Mansion to receive Kaleido-Spinner Event Tickets. Accept the quest ‘Make Kaleido-Spinner Tickets’ to get more information about how to obtain tickets as you explore.
  • The Kaleido-Spinner Event Ticket can be used at any major location where you see NPC Spin Man Dizzy with his Kaleido-Spinner. Aside from major towns, he’s also located outside the Haunted Mansion.
  • There are three boxes that you can win at the Kaleido-Spinner: The Halloween Modest Jackpot Box, Halloween Great Jackpot Box, and the Halloween Ultra Jackpot Box.
  • Open your box to find items such as chairs, Elixirs, Spell Traces, or if you’re lucky enough, the Halloween Damage Skin.
  • The Ultra Jackpot Box contains the best rewards, ranging from a special mount coupon to some Halloween equip items:
    • Halloween Earrings: Untradeable, STR/DEX/INT/LUK +6, Weapon ATT/Magic ATT + 1, Weapon DEF/Magic DEF +100, Permanent.
    • Halloween Ring: Untradeable, STR/DEX/INT/LUK +2, Weapon ATT/Magic ATT +2, Weapon DEF/Magic DEF +30, Permanent.
    • Halloween Pendant: Untradeable, STR/DEX/INT/LUK +5, Weapon ATT/Magic ATT + 1, Weapon DEF/Magic DEF +80, Permanent.
    • Halloween Epaulette: Untradeable, STR/DEX/INT/LUK +3, Weapon ATT/Magic ATT +1, Weapon DEF/Magic DEF +50, Permanent.
  • You can also create a ticket by collecting ticket pieces as you defeat monsters. You may create up to 10 tickets per day.

Dark Lords of Darkness

October 19 – November 16

Requirement: Lv. 33 and above

  • Help the Dark Lords of Darkness recover their lost items!
  • Complete each of the 4 sub-quests to receive powerful reward items, including totems (no visual effects).

Rewards: In addition to 1-day duration items that you can receive from completing the sub quests, you can also receive Dark Racks once all four sub-quests are completed. Open Dark Racks to receive a totem.

These are the highest tier totems:

  • Dark Grin Totem: INT +36, Weapon ATT/Magic ATT +15, Permanent.
  • Dark Helia Totem: LUK +36, Weapon ATT/Magic ATT +15, Permanent.
  • Dark Avenger Totem: DEX +36, Weapon ATT/Magic ATT +15, Permanent.
  • Dark Doom Totem: STR +36, Weapon ATT/Magic ATT +15, Permanent.

2x EXP & Drop Weekend

October 29 – October 31

Requirement: Available for all levels

We will be running 2x EXP & Drop events during Halloween weekend in October! Be sure to mark your calendars so you don’t miss out on these chances to power through your level-ups!

Times:

  • 12:00 AM – 4:00 AM Pacific (3:00 AM – 7:00 AM Eastern)
  • 2:00 PM – 6:00 PM Pacific (5:00 PM – 9:00 PM Eastern)

THANKSGIVING EVENTS

Thanksgiving! Event

November 9 – November 29

Requirement: Lv. 10 and above

  • It’s Thanksgiving! Now is the time to hunt turkeys apearing around Henesys, Mu Lung, Leafre, and other major towns to receive rewards! Talk to Cassandra and accept the ‘Thanksgiving!’ quest.

Rewards: Turkeys can drop the following items:

  • Pilgrim Hat: STR/DEX/INT/LUK +1, MaxHP/MaxMP +100, Movement Speed +10, Jump +10.
  • Chief Axe: Weapon ATT +50, Attack Speed +3.

Food Fighter

November 9 – November 29

Requirement: Lv. 33 and above

  • A child magician named Bianca is requesting your help after she caused a problem. She was trying to play a joke by using magic to make the Thanksgiving food taste weird, but she ended up making living monsters!
  • She will give players cool rewards that she made if you help her to catch the food monsters running loose inside the food hall.

Rewards:

  • After each stage, you will receive a basic EXP reward.
  • If you complete stages 11-29, you will receive the basic EXP reward and a random buff.
  • If you manage to get to stage 30, then you will receive the basic EXP reward and a buff called Dessert for Dinner which gives +4000 HP, +400 DEF, +40 ATT, +40 Accuracy, +40 Avoidability, +40 Speed, +40 Jump for 40 minutes.

Thanksgiving Turkey Egg Hunt

November 9 – November 29

Requirement: Lv. 10 and above

  • Cody is asking for your help in gathering for his preparations!
  • Participate in one of three level ranges at Lv. 10, Lv. 50, and Lv. 100.

Rewards:

  • Some of the rewards include restorative Thanksgiving food items such as Mashed Potatoes and Turkey Legs.
  • There is also potential at higher levels to receive items such as an Epic Potential Scroll 40%, Perfect Innocence Scroll 50%, and Gold Bonus Potential Stamp.

RICE CAKE FESTIVAL EVENTS

Bunny on the Moon

November 9 – November 29

Requirement: Lv. 33 and above

  • To participate, open your quest notifier and expand the star icon. Choose the plate of eggs icon, and you will be presented with three quests that correspond to each of the Rice Cake Festival events.
  • Every day during the event period between 6:00 AM and 11:59 PM Pacific, at the top of the hour and at 30 minutes past, you can enter the mini-game portal via the envelope icon above your character’s head.
  • Talk to the Bunny NPC and enter the Bunny on the Moon space pirate mini-game. Defeat the pirates to receive awesome rewards.

Reward:

  • 2016 Rice Cake Festival Coins

Of Mice and Bunnies

November 9 – November 29

Requirement: Lv. 33 and above

  • To participate, open your quest notifier and expand the star icon. Choose the plate of eggs icon, and you will be presented with three quests that correspond to each of the Rice Cake Festival events.
  • Every day during the event period between 6:00 AM and 11:59 PM Pacific, at the 15 minute and 45 minute marks, you can enter the mini-game portal via the envelope icon above your character’s head.
  • Talk to the Bunny NPC and enter the Of Mice and Bunnies mini-game. Defeat as many monsters as possible in the given time limit. Receive rewards based on the rank in which you finished.

Reward:

  • 2016 Rice Cake Festival Coins

Rice Cakes are Back

November 9 – November 29

Requirement: Lv. 33 and above

  • To participate, open your quest notifier and expand the star icon. Choose the plate of eggs icon, and you will be presented with three quests that correspond to each of the Rice Cake Festival events.
  • Defeat monsters within your level range (10 levels below and 20 levels above) to receive Rice Flour! Use the Rice Flour to make different Rice Cakes. Make them all to receive all the rewards.

Reward:

  • 2016 Rice Cake Festival Coins

OTHER NEW EVENTS

Towering Crown

November 2 – November 16

Requirement: Lv. 33 and above

  • A bunch of greedy monsters have stolen the Shimmering Stars for themselves, and Cassandra needs your help to get them back!

Rock-Paper-Scissors Zakum

November 2 – November 16

Requirement: Lv. 33 and above

  • Play Rock-Paper-Scissors and win prizes!
  • Petite Zakum is back and is looking for challengers to go head-to-head in battles of Rock-Paper-Scissors.

Rewards: Some of the rewards include:

  • 4 Slot Expansion Coupons
  • Power Elixirs
  • True Rock-Paper-Scissors Champion medal (if you complete all of the quests). It gives STR/DEX/LUK/INT +10, MaxHP/MaxMP +300, Weapon ATT/Magic ATT +5. The stats expire in 10 days.

Jewel Crafting

November 2 – November 29

Requirement: Lv. 33 and above

  • Participate in the Jewel Crafting event to create powerful rings! If you have enough mesos, you can combine all of the rings to create a SUPER RING!
  • A special NPC will appear in town that will allow you to purchase all of the materials necessary to craft the rings.
  • Enter the Event Hall and look for the Magical Mortar Bunny to begin.

Rewards:

  • Strong Ring (rank C – S)
  • Lucky Ring (rank C – S)
  • Keen Ring (rank C – S)
  • Nimble Ring (rank C – S)
  • Spend 20,000 mesos to combine 4 different rings to receive the Master Ring (rank SS).
    • Master Ring: Req. Lv: 120, STR/DEX/INT/LUK +30, MaxHP/MaxMP +3000, Weapon ATT/Magic ATT +20

Hunt Acceleration Haste Event

November 16 – November 29

Requirement: Lv. 33 and above

  • Tuner the Cat thinks that players are tired of hunting! Because of that, he wants to gives everyone two drops of a tonic for the ‘Hunt Acceleration <Haste> Event’.
  • This event is made for hunting! Elite monsters and Runes will appear more frequently, and you’ll receive more EXP from the Inferno Wolf. This is a good time for everyone to work on leveling their characters!

Maple Memo: A Better Maple Update

Dear Maplers,

This week we are planning to release our Strange Stories update, and in addition to the new and exciting Halloween content like Secret Stories, you’ll notice that this update contains a large amount of changes as part of our A Better Maple initiative. We’re excited to bring these changes to you and hope they make your experience in Maple World more enjoyable.

A Better Maple was started a few years ago as our way to hear directly from you what changes or improvements you’d like to see. We’ve been constantly gathering and analyzing every piece of feedback we get to determine the best way to address them, and the best time to introduce changes. Over the last few years, some of the changes we have made include: introducing the Maple Rewards system, making equipment enhancement with Spell Traces and Star Force easier, increasing the drop rates and rank up rates of cubes, removing gender restrictions when trading cash cover equipment, and adding the Owl of Minerva to in-game shops. This is simply a small handful of the quality-of-life changes we’ve made as part of this initiative and we intend to make more starting with this update.

Among the variety of changes we are introducing with the Strange Stories update, below are some of the ones we hope you’ll be excited about:

  1. Add the Reboot world Rest EXP system to all worlds
  2. Open an event to exchange old unused coins for coins that can be used in a future event
  3. Improve the latency issue when picking up multiple items
  4. Add Party Play zones to encourage players to group up for more EXP
  5. Add Class Emblems for additional classes such as Kanna, Hayato, Jett, and Beast Tamer
  6. Optimize the sound data and add a feature to stream in-game movies to reduce client size
  7. Introduce an option to adjust transparency of yours and other player’s skill effects
  8. Add a system to prevent Star Force enhancement destruction at certain Star levels
  9. Display skill cooldowns using numbers for better clarity
  10. Add the function to sell items to NPCs by right-clicking
  11. Display a notification message when the buyback items reset for NPC Shop
  12. Add a confirmation message when closing the game window or pressing ALT+F4
  13. Add a hotkey for turning Character Info window on/off
  14. Allow players to drop items during combat
  15. Allow players to summon pets while hanging on a rope and ladder
  16. Revive players to full HP/MP when using a Respawn Token/Pass
  17. Prevent megaphone and messenger images from appearing in some hunting maps and boss battles.
  18. Decrease the time it takes to open the Quest log
  19. Allow the option to keep an ability when using the Miracle Circulator
  20. Add an option to continue using Bonus Potential Cubes within the same window.
  21. Remove the need to have a key to open certain boxes like the Andersen’s Box
  22. Award additional rare rewards for characters that summon and deal the most damage to Elite monsters
  23. Provide additional Pill rewards to players who don’t make it to the 50th floor in Tower of Oz
  24. Bring back Wedding Ring effects when standing next to your spouse while wearing a wedding ring
  25. Remove Arrow and Keys from monster drops
  26. Add new chat channels to encourage communication for different topics
  27. Resolve various legacy issues that have persisted in the game

In addition to these system improvements we are making, some content changes are also being implemented to provide additional awards to our loyal players, and to make the content easier for newer players. You can find more information about these in our Patch Notes, however there are two specific ones we’d like to discuss more in-depth.

First, we are simplifying the wedding system by reducing the options down to simply one type. When looking at how to improve the system, the multitude of wedding options we had made it difficult for us to improve the experience equally. We not only wanted to improve the system, but we also wanted to make it easier for players to understand the whole wedding process. We started by removing the additional wedding tickets in September to prevent players from purchasing tickets for a system we were about to remove, and with this upcoming update we are revamping the wedding system entirely. With this change and the reintroduction of wedding ring effects, we hope our players find the wedding process much easier and more enjoyable.

Second, with the Strange Stories update this week we are planning to close down Star Planet. While we were initially excited about the introduction of Star Planet as an additional way for players to play mini-games with each other, the participation was not as high as we had hoped. When looking at the daily number of players who accessed Star Planet, we only saw less than 1% enter Star Planet from all worlds. We also know many of you expressed concern about losing an avenue to obtain reward points, so we looked into those concerns as well. We found that out of all the Maple Reward point rewards, less than 5% of them were obtained in Star Planet. This told us that players weren’t really accessing Star Planet as much as we hoped and that players were finding Maple Reward points from other sources much more efficient to obtain. We understand that closing Star Planet will eliminate an additional source of Maple Reward points, so we plan to increase the amount of Reward points awarded during events in the future.

In closing, we would just like to thank you all for taking the time to let us know your feedback and suggestions to improve the game. We are always listening to our players’ feedback even if we aren’t able to respond to all of it. These improvements are part of our ongoing initiative to improve the game and we intend to continue this for as long as the game is in service and as long as you keep telling us what you’d like to see. Stay tuned this year for even more changes to MapleStory as we continue to provide you with A Better Maple.

Thank you,

Dennis ‘SavageAce’ Bernardo
Production Manager – MapleStory

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One thought on “GMS v.177 – Strange Secret Stories (2016-10-19)”

  1. Paladinnoob

    So paladins do. more damage now???????