New Player Guide (10 to 200)

A walkthrough from your first character to level 200

Welcome to MapleStory. If you played back in the early 2000s, the game today is very different. Back then it was slow, low-level party grinding, and the appeal was really the social side of it. Modern MapleStory keeps that social core but has evolved a lot, with faster, more structured grinding and far more progression depth on top. Party quests have become weekly bosses and raids, and most of what you used to do in a party you now do on a schedule.

The biggest shift is that MapleStory is now account-based progression rather than single-character progression. Instead of pouring everything into one character, you build up a Legion, and every character you level feeds your whole account.

One thing to set straight before you start: reaching level 200 is not the finish line. It is closer to the end of the tutorial. The real game starts around level 260 with 6th job. This guide covers the core mechanics and story that get you there.

Is your character on Hyper Burning?

Before You Start

Which World Should You Play?

There are two types of worlds, and they play quite differently. Below is a comparison of each. Whatever the pros and cons say, what matters most is playing where your friends play.

This choice changes the rest of the guide.

Why You'll Make More Than One Character

Leveling extra characters grants account-wide bonuses through Legion and Link Skills, so alts are a core progression system rather than a side activity. Legion unlocks once you have 500 total levels across your account, and every character you raise after that keeps adding to it.

Many players roll Mercedes, Evan and Aran early for their account-wide Link Skill bonuses, but there is no rush. You can always make them later.

Pick a world above and answer the Hyper Burning question, and the rest of the guide fills in below.