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Maximizing Your MP

OK, so you’re a magician, with 4 STR, 4 DEX, just enough LUK for your equips, and everything else in INT. Perfect stats, right? Not necessarily. Why not, you ask? The amount of INT that you have affects your MP Increase on every level up. This means that once you place a point in INT, it will contribute to your total MP every time you level, forever. This means that, in order to have perfect stats, you need to not only have the right amount of INT and LUK, but you also need to have added your INT and LUK in the correct order.



For example, say you’re 3 levels away from being able to equip a nice hat. You’re also short 5 LUK. If you were to do the sensible thing and up first up 5 INT, then another 5 INT, and then 5 LUK, this is how much MP you would gain from those 10 INT points:



1st level up: 5x

2nd level up: 5x + 5x

3rd level up: 5x + 5x

Total: 5x*5 = 25x (note that I’m using the variable x because the MP gain changes depending on how many points you have in the MP Increase skill, and possibly other factors as well)



Now, let’s look at what happens if we up 5 LUK immediately, and then 10 INT on the next two levels.



1st level up: 0

2nd level up: 5x

3rd level up: 5x + 5x

Total: 5x*3 = 15x



You’ve lost a considerable amount of MP, just from upping LUK early. And yet, you end up with the exact same stat build you would have if you upped INT and LUK in the correct order. Also, if you have less INT, your magic attack isn’t as strong as it could be, and thus it takes a bit longer to level up. This is another reason to follow the correct order.



Let’s look at a more serious case, where you might lose a lot more MP (and level up a lot slower). You’re now 10 levels away from an equip, and 20 LUK short. If you up nothing but INT until the last 4 levels, this is what happens:



1st level up: 5x

2nd level up: 5x*2 = 10x

3rd level up: 5x*3 = 15x

4th level up: 5x*4 = 20x

5th level up: 5x*5 = 25x

6th level up: 5x*6 = 30x

7th level up: 5x*6 = 30x

8th level up: 5x*6 = 30x

9th level up: 5x*6 = 30x

10th level up: 5x*6 = 30x

Total: 195x



Remember that you’re still gaining 5x*6 on the levels where you don’t add any INT at all, because every INT point counts towards every level. Now, let’s look at how much we gain when we add the 4 LUK immediately.



1st level up: 0

2nd level up: 0

3rd level up: 0

4th level up: 0

5th level up: 5x

6th level up: 5x*2 = 10x

7th level up: 5x*3 = 15x

8th level up: 5x*4 = 20x

9th level up: 5x*5 = 25x

10th level up: 5x*6 = 30x

Total: 105x



Again, we end up with the same amount of INT and LUK, but we would have had 90x more MP if we had followed the correct order. If you think that’s bad, just think of all of the magicians who simply add 4 INT and 1 LUK every level. They’re cheating themselves out of MP every time they level!



If you’ve used your AP in the wrong order, there’s no fixing it, not even with an AP Reset scroll. So if you’re a magician, it’s very important to always up your INT first.



Sometimes, the amount of LUK you need to add each level isn’t always clear, especially when the amount you’re short by isn’t a nice, easy-to-work-with multiple of 5. (Remember that if you’re 2 levels and 8 LUK short of an equip, upping 5 LUK and then 3 LUK won’t give you as much MP as upping 3 LUK and then 5 LUK.) To help you out of your confusion, I’ve put together a formula that’ll make you even more confused than you already are. But don’t worry, you’ll get the hang of it in no time.



If

x = (Required LUK of equip - Current LUK) / 5

y = Required level for equip



At level y – x (not counting the remainder of x), add the remainder of x to LUK, and put the rest in INT. After that level, add 5 LUK until you’re able to equip the equipment. If done properly, you should have exactly enough LUK, no more and no less, on the exact level required for the equip, and you should not have upped any LUK when you didn’t need it.



Is your head spinning? This may seem complicated, but to use it you really don’t have to do anything except substitute values into the equation. Here’s an example:



You have 10 LUK, and want to equip an Old Wooden Staff at level 20, which requires 23 LUK.



x = (23 – 10) / 5 = 13 / 5 = 2, remainder 3

y = 20



y - x = 20 - 2 = 18



At level 18, add 3 (the remainder of x) to LUK, and the rest to INT. This gives you 13 LUK. At levels 19 and 20, add 5 LUK each, giving you exactly the required LUK at level 20.



Example #2:



You have 23 LUK, and want to equip a Wizard Wand at level 25, which requires 28 LUK.



x = (28 - 23) / 5 = 5 / 5 = 1, no remainder

y = 25



y - x = 25 - 1 = 24



At level 24, add 0 (the remainder of x) to LUK. Add all 5 points to INT. The level after that, put all 5 points into LUK. (If you could have figured out the answer to this one without using the formula, you’re catching on!)



Of course, you don’t have to use my formula if you don’t like algebra; there are other ways of figuring out the answer that might be easier for some people. But if you’re one of those magicians who always puts 4 points into INT and 1 into LUK, or if you don’t really think about the order of the points at all, perhaps it’s time to fix that large deficit of MP you have by starting to add your points in the correct order.





FAQs



So if the order of your AP counts, that means that even if you roll 4 STR and 4 DEX in the beginning, it’s not perfect if you haven’t rolled the maximum amount of points in INT, right?



Yes, you’re correct. It’s true that you’ll end up with more MP if you roll the maximum amount of INT in the beginning. However, rolling double 4s is hard enough; rolling truly perfect stats takes a ridiculously long time, and is very, very boring. Personally, I didn’t bother with it when I made my magician (double 4s are good enough for me).



Is it a good idea to hold off on an equip altogether just so that I don’t have to up my LUK early on?



In the beginning, this is a fantastic idea, since you level so quickly anyway, and there’s not much difference between, say, a level 10 hat and a level 15 hat. In the later levels, you should do this when you’re short on mesos and need to save money anyway. Or course, if you like looking fashionable and wearing the best possible equips, feel free to do that. You’ll probably level slightly faster that way, anyway.



My friend insisted that in order to get more MP, he’d put everything into Max MP Increase before he even touched Energy Bolt. Is this a good idea?



Without any magic attacks, you have to keep killing things by whacking them. With no STR for whacking power and no DEX for whacking accuracy, this gets rather annoying even at levels 6 and 7, when you’re still on Maple Island. If you can stomach leveling like this, then by all means do it for more MP. Personally, I don’t think it’s worth it. Of course, you should only put 1 point into Energy Bolt, and the rest into Max MP Increase until you’ve maxed that skill.



Exactly how much MP do you lose when you up 4 INT and 1 LUK every level?



I can't say the exact amount that you lose, because I don't know the formula used to calculate the MP increase. I can, however, give you a comparison chart using the variable x:



5 INT, 5 INT, 5 INT, 5 INT, 5 LUK build



1st level up: 5x

2nd level up: 10x

3rd level up: 15x

4th level up: 20x

5th level up: 20x

Total: 70x



Straight 4 INT & 1 LUK build



1st level up: 4x

2nd level up: 8x

3rd leve up: 12x

4th level up: 16x

5th level up: 20x

Total: 60x



There's a loss of 10x over only 5 levels, and that's with 5 DEX added at the end of the first build (as opposed to when an equip is skipped altogether). Now, imagine getting to level 120 with a 4 INT 1 LUK build. That's 240x of missing MP.



You didn’t answer my question!



When somebody asks a question on the forums, I’ll add it to these FAQs if it’s relevant. Your comments and corrections are also welcome!

==>All Maplestory Guide List<==

==>Maplestory Leveling Guide List<==