MapleStory Classic Beginner Guide: Your First-Week Checklist

Quick summary

• Day 1: set your 25 starting stat points (4 in each stat plus 9 free), finish all 10 Maple Island quests, max your three Beginner skills, and take Shanks's boat to Lith Harbor for 300 mesos. The boat is one-way.
• Day 2: clear the five Lith Harbor quests, reach level 10, and take your first job with your class instructor. Ride the taxi there while you're still a Beginner, since NiaMeowDB says taxis are 90% off.
• Days 3–5: train where you kill in one or two hits, become a Henesys or Kerning City citizen at level 12, start one crafting profession, and do the quest chains that pay potions.
• Days 6–7: move into the Ant Tunnel area in your twenties and prepare for the level 30 second-job test.
• Keep a potion budget. Spend on your weapon first and skip scrolls until you know what you'll keep.

Checked against the Founder's Access build on October 13, 2026. Grand Launch is October 21, 2026; see the end of the guide for what may change.

Before you start: set up your character

1. Pick your job before you place stats. Our first-character party plan compares the four jobs.
2. Place your 25 points. Every stat starts at 4, and you place 9 more yourself. There's no dice roll (wiki Differences and Character creation pages). Put all 9 into your job's main stat: STR for Warrior, INT for Magician, DEX for Bowman, LUK for Thief.
3. Pick the Wooden Club as your starter weapon. NiaMeowDB says it has 19 weapon attack against 17 for the Sword and Hand Axe, and that it matches or beats both on damage for every job.
4. Set your keys. The game has gamepad support, three starting key layouts, and three presets (wiki Classic World page).

Day 1: clear Maple Island (levels 1–8)

Talk to every NPC. NiaMeowDB lists these 10 quests, with chains counted once:

Quest	From	Level	EXP	Reward
Sera's Mirror	Heena	1	2	—
Roger's Apple	Roger	1	—	—
Nina and Sen's Dinner Menu	Nina	1	3	—
Todd's How-to-Hunt	Todd	1	10	3 Eggs
Sam's Suggestion	Sam	1	30	5 Eggs
Please bring this letter to Lucas	Maria	2	120	Random Skullcap or Headband
Mai's Training	Mai	3	200	150 mesos, 20 Eggs
Biggs's Collection of Items	Biggs	3	120	Fruit Knife or Razor
Pio's Collecting Recycled Goods	Pio	5	100	150 mesos, The Green Relaxer chair
Rain's Maple Quiz (7 parts)	Rain	5	490	10 Oranges

Checklist for day 1:

• Get The Green Relaxer from Pio. It's your first chair, and it restores 30 HP every 10 seconds (NiaMeowDB). Metaroad says Pio's Rusty Screw and Old Wooden Board come from breaking the wooden boxes around Amherst, not from monsters.
• Spend your SP on Beginner skills. You get 9 SP by level 10, exactly enough to max all three. NiaMeowDB's order is Nimble Feet, then Three Snails, then Recovery.
• Hunt Orange Mushrooms to level 8. Metaroad notes that the island's quests only get you to about level 6, and every Lith Harbor quest needs level 8. Fewer than 40 Orange Mushrooms close the gap.
• Hand in every quest, then board. Shanks in Southperry sails to Lith Harbor for 300 mesos. NiaMeowDB and Metaroad say you need level 7. The trip is one-way, so you can't come back for a skipped quest.

The six island monsters, weakest first, are the Tutorial Jr. Sentinel, Snail, Blue Snail, Shroom, Red Snail, and Orange Mushroom (Getting started). Our Maple Island guide has the full map route.

Day 2: Lith Harbor and first job (levels 8–10)

Metaroad's Lith Harbor route uses five quests that pay 507 EXP and 1,140 mesos in total:

Quest	Task	Reward
Olaf's First Training	Kill 8 Stumps and 8 Slimes	5 Red Potions, 5 Blue Potions
Teo's Weird Hobby	Kill 10 Slimes and bring 1 Slime Bubble	10 Fried Chicken
Olaf's Second Training	Kill 8 Pigs and 8 Orange Mushrooms	3 Return Scrolls (Nearest Town)
Teo's Even Weirder Hobby	Kill 10 Pigs and bring 1 Pig's Head	10 Lemons, 1 Sniper Potion
Phil's Call	Reach level 10	171 EXP, 204 mesos, a ride to your job's town

• Hunt in Thicket Around the Beach I (Stumps, Slimes) and II (Pigs, Orange Mushrooms).
• Don't go to Thicket Around the Beach III. Mano, a level 20 boss with 7,420 HP, spawns there about once an hour (Metaroad).
• Advance at level 10 with your instructor:

Job	Town	Instructor	First skills you'll see
Warrior	Perion (Warriors' Sanctuary)	Dances with Balrog	Power Strike, Slash Blast, Iron Body
Magician	Ellinia (Magic Library)	Grendel the Really Old	Energy Bolt, Magic Claw, Magic Guard
Bowman	Henesys (Bowman Instructional School)	Athena Pierce	Arrow Blow, Double Shot, Focus
Thief	Kerning City (Thieves' Hideout)	Dark Lord	Lucky Seven, Double Stab, Dark Sight

First job also gives a one-time boost to HP and MP (Getting started). After that, Warriors get the most HP per level (+28) and Magicians the most MP (+22).

Days 3–4: settle into Victoria Island (levels 10–20)

• Buy your first job weapon from your town's weapon shop. Shops sell gear in five-level steps up to level 30. Our equipment guide lists each step and the free drops.
• Train where you kill in one or two hits. NiaMeowDB's rule: if a monster takes three hits, move to something weaker until your next weapon.

Monster	Level	HP	EXP
Slime	6	115	12
Pig	7	128	13
Ribbon Pig	10	172	19
Dark Stump	11	236	21
Green Mushroom	14	233	26
Axe Stump	17	371	32
Stirge	20	296	37

The wiki's Getting started page summarizes it: pigs and mushrooms around Henesys into your teens, then the Ant Tunnel below Sleepywood through your twenties. See our training guide for each bracket.

• Become a citizen at level 12. Pick Henesys or Kerning City. NiaMeowDB says each grade gives 5% to 25% off shops, taxis, and services in your town, and up to 50% off storage. Our Citizenship guide helps you choose.
• Start one crafting profession. Crafting opens at level 10 for everyone, and its materials drop while you train (Getting started). The masters include Silas Irons (Smithing) and Mr. Thunder (Weaponcrafting) in Perion, Francois (Tailoring) in Ellinia, and Vicious (Woodcrafting) in Henesys Market.
• Buy the potions with the best value. NiaMeowDB's comparison:

Item	Restores	Price (mesos)	Value
Meat	160 HP	80	2.0 HP per meso
Red Potion	100 HP	50	2.0 HP per meso
Orange Potion	250 HP	150	1.67 HP per meso
Lemon	150 MP	150	1.0 MP per meso
Blue Potion	200 MP	220	0.91 MP per meso

Mina's shop in Lith Harbor sells Meat and Lemons. Our potions guide goes further.

Day 5: quests that pay in potions and gear (levels 10–35)

NiaMeowDB's list of quest chains worth doing, with totals for each chain:

Quest	Level	Starts with	Rewards
Nella & Kerning City Citizen's Request	10	Nella, Kerning City (costs 1,000 mesos to start)	15 Lemons, 20 Cakes, Work Gloves, 2 Kerning City Return Scrolls, 564 EXP, 1,053 mesos
Alex the Runaway Kid	18	Alex, Kerning City	5 Meat, 15 Blue Potions, Weighted Earrings or Yellow Square, 3,159 EXP, 1,579 mesos
Jane and the Mushroom	20	Jane, Lith Harbor	A random Intermediate weapon attack scroll, 1,610 EXP, 658 mesos
Mystery of Naora Hospital	23	Jane Doe, Kerning City	20 Blue Potions, Old Raggedy Cape, 4,860 EXP, 1,490 mesos
What Shumi Lost	35	Shumi, Kerning City	30 Blue Potions, 30 Mana Elixirs, 23 Return Scrolls, 20,160 EXP, 12,222 mesos

• Party up when you can. NiaMeowDB lists a party EXP bonus of 10% for two players, 20% for three, and 30% for four. It stops growing after four.
• Know the death penalty. Dying costs up to 10% of your EXP bar, never a level, and you keep your items (Getting started).
• Don't sell quest items you don't recognize. Metaroad warns that some are needed later.

Days 6–7: prepare for second job (levels 20–30)

• Move into the Sleepywood area. The wiki says most characters end up there in their twenties.
• Use the Free Market in Perion or Henesys Market to buy what shops don't sell, like gloves. NiaMeowDB says gloves and capes are never sold by NPCs.
• Open storage to move items to an alt. It's shared across your account and holds 50 slots (wiki Storage page).
• Prepare for the level 30 test. Go back to your first-job instructor, who sends you to a Job Instructor nearby:

Job	Instructor at 30	Job Instructor's map
Warrior	Dances with Balrog	West Rocky Mountain IV
Magician	Grendel the Really Old	The Forest North of Ellinia
Bowman	Athena Pierce	The Road to the Dungeon
Thief	Dark Lord	Construction Site North of Kerning City

Use this shopping list

When	Buy	Why
Before leaving Maple Island	Nothing but the boat (300 mesos)	Every gear guide says to save mesos for your job town
Level 8–10	1 Return Scroll (Nearest Town) from Mina	Metaroad's Lith Harbor route uses one before Olaf's Second Training repays you with three
Level 10	Your first-job weapon	It decides your kill speed
Every trip to town	Meat or Red Potions, and Lemons	The best HP and MP value per meso
Level 15, 20, 25	The next weapon step	Shops restock every five levels
Not this week	Scrolls and high-level gear	—

Avoid five first-week mistakes

1. Leaving Maple Island with quests unfinished. You can't go back.
2. Fighting Mano at level 9. He's a level 20 boss.
3. Spreading AP evenly. Put almost everything into your main stat and add a secondary stat only when a weapon needs it.
4. Spending all your mesos on gear. Potions are part of your build.
5. Selling drops below their NPC price. NiaMeowDB notes that early weapon drops like the Wooden Sword sell to NPCs for 2,500 mesos, more than many sellers ask.

If you're returning, boosted, or making an alt

• Returning from pre-Big Bang MapleStory? Magicians now advance at 10, not 8. Starting stats are placed, not rolled. Crafting and Citizenship are new. Third job and Orbis aren't in at launch.
• Powerleveled or boosted past this week? Go back and do the Citizenship and crafting steps, since they're tied to level 10 and 12, not to your current level. Check that your SP and AP were spent the way you want. Our powerleveling page describes that service category.
• Making an alt? Your account can have three characters in Founder's Access. Store spare potions and drops on your main and pull them out on the alt, and skip the shop weapons the alt can get from storage.

Want a hand with this?

If you would rather not grind this part yourself, MapleStory Classic powerleveling services are listed on FullBoosts. Read Nexon's Terms of Service before you buy any service from anyone, FullBoosts included — a marketplace listing isn't publisher permission.

What may change at Grand Launch

This guide describes the Founder's Access build as it was on October 13, 2026. Re-check these against Nexon's Grand Launch notes on October 21: whether crafting still stops at craft level 8, whether Forgotten Hollow, Orbis and third jobs stay closed, KPQ channel limits, NPC shop stock, and any Founder's Access-only events or packages mentioned here. Nothing here assumes a closed area or feature will open.

FAQ

What should I do first in MapleStory Classic World?

Place all 9 free stat points in your job's main stat, pick the Wooden Club, and finish all 10 Maple Island quests before taking Shanks's boat to Lith Harbor.

What level can you leave Maple Island?

NiaMeowDB and Metaroad say level 7, and the boat costs 300 mesos. Metaroad suggests reaching level 8 first, because every Lith Harbor quest needs it.

Where do you get your first job in MapleStory Classic?

At level 10, from Dances with Balrog in Perion, Grendel the Really Old in Ellinia, Athena Pierce in Henesys, or the Dark Lord in Kerning City.

Does first job need stats in Classic World?

The wiki's Character creation page lists a stat check, while Getting started and NiaMeowDB say level 10 is the only requirement. Putting all your points into your main stat clears the Warrior, Magician, and Bowman gates either way. No. Level 10 is the only requirement (NiaMeowDB, Nexon).

How should a beginner spend skill points?

Max all three Beginner skills by level 10. You get exactly 9 SP. NiaMeowDB suggests Nimble Feet first, then Three Snails, then Recovery.

Where should I train after level 10?

Where you kill in one or two hits: pigs and mushrooms around Henesys into the teens, then the Ant Tunnel below Sleepywood in your twenties.

When should I pick a Citizenship town?

At level 12. Henesys and Kerning City each give discounts of 5% to 25% on town shops, taxis, and services, and up to 50% on storage.