In just a few minutes, the MapleStory RED Update Showcase will begin! This conference might reveal some new things about the RED update that we have not been told yet… maybe things like 5th job?
Edit: (June 26, 1PM EST): I have updated the post with some more information as well as clearer pictures!
MapleStory RED will be coming this Summer in three patches! Oh yeah, the new Zero job is 2013 Summer content ONLY, meaning it will exclusively be available at that time and will never be released again.
1st Impact
The first patch of the RED update will be on July 4 (like I predicted!). It is called the 1st Impact. This will include the Adventurer reorganization. A new adventure true to the RPG genre will begin!
Dual Blade and Cannon Shooter will be integrated into the Adventurers! In addition, each job will have specific characteristics!
- Paladin: Charge elemental power and strengthen yourself!
- Dark Knight: On the verge of death, surge with absolute power!
- Hero: Annihilate enemies with your inner rage! Enrage, Raging Blow!
- Fire/Poison Archmage: Extensive damage over time on enemies!
- Ice/Lightning Archmage: Freeze enemies and increase your maximum critical damage!
- Bishop: Blessing Ensemble! Your party members will increase your total damage!
- Bowmaster: Three types of special arrowheads! Quiver Cartridge!!
- Marksman: Move closer to increase your critical chance! Move further to increase your damage!
- Night Lord: Attack once to annihilate all surrounding enemies!
- Shadower: Increase your critical chance for every attack with Critical Growing!
- Viper: When you charge up your Energy, everything changes! Ultra Charge!
- Captain: Battleship’s return! Equipped with more powerful weapons!
13 jobs completely remade with 120 changed skills, along with the special Adventurer only Free Advancement system, a new story line, and the removal of skill books and mastery books!
The Free Advancement system allows you to switch to another class within your job for 4th job adventurers. It will cost mesos or special coins.
Perfect balance is something they are trying to achieve, with trying to make each job look great and balanced with others. This will be done by using log data and hearing users’ voices.
Profession skills will be reorganized to create a more innovative production system! With the new Master system as well as the ability to craft a variety of new items such as Meister weapons, new Cubes, and new Flames of Reincarnation.
Cubes will be available through both drops and by producing them.
In order to move MapleStory into a less Cash-focused game, something new called Maple Mileage will be added. Now, when you buy Cash, play the game, participate in party content and fight bosses, you will gain Mileage.
Mileage will be used along with Nexon Cash as a currency to buy Cash items! During the Mileage System Launching, you will be able to hold a maximum of 50,000 Mileage.
Child of God
The second patch will be on July 18 and it contains the Child of God content!
Of course the most important part will be the new job, Zero. Zero looks extremely fun and I’m really looking forward to playing it this summer! What’s special about Zero is that isMapleStory’s first dual character.
You will be playing as two characters together, Zero Alpha and Zero Beta! You can see this even on the character selection screen.
Zero will have an advanced start up, meaning when you create it, you will start at level 100instead of 1!
In combat, Zero Alpha will have quick attacks and specialize in training. Zero Beta will have strong one hit skills great for bossing. You can switch between them with the real-time Tag systems. To see more of Zero’s skills in use, check out this video!
Using both characters together will give you access to strong combination skills! You will be able to link together their skills in order to be more powerful!
For example, after using Moon Strike, you will be able to link to Fierce Thrust or Shadow Strike. Another example is Upper Slash and Power Stomp, as well as Burst Step.
Zero Alpha and Beta will have separate skill trees which will be managed separately, two different weapons, as well as different HP and Ability gauges. Here is a screenshot of Zero’s skills. The left are used by Zero Alpha while the right is for Beta. I’ll list the skills now.
Zero Alpha
- Moon Strike
- Pierce Thrust
- Shadow Strike
- Tachi Mastery
- Flash Assaulter
- Reinforce Body
Zero Beta
- Upper Slash
- Power Stomp
- Great Sword Mastery
- Front Slash
- Throwing Weapon
- Solid Body
When buying Cash equipment, they will apply to both.
Zero Alpha uses a weapon called the Tachi, it allows you to move quickly and use powerful fast attacks!
Alpha Beta uses the Great Sword, which lets you do one shot, one kills with powerful one hit attacks!
Instead of MP, Zero uses the Time Force ability gauge, which is almost limitless (as you can see, both characters will have one). As the Transcendent of Time, you can freely control time.
You can inflict harmful effects around you or benefit you and your party. You can even resurrect yourself, or stop your time to freeze your HP and TF for a certain period of time, allowing you to boss much easier!
There are some more special benefits but you will have to find out yourself on July 18!
They will even have an upgraded quest system. This includes a new interface as well as illustrations for NPCs and a chapter-type story, with mainstream quest progress.
Quests will reward Timing Coins which will allow Zero to buy Mastery Books and more.
Playing Zero will give you the ability to enhance their two spirit weapons Lapis and Lazuli at the same time! The two weapons will grow along with Zero, upgrading their appearance and stats.
As you hunt, you can collect Weapon Points to get Cubes or Flames for your weapons.
Zero will also have something called Upbringing Simulation, I think it’s sort of like… roleplaying as if you were growing up as them?
Zero will also feature something called Premium Hunting, giving you the ability to train efficiently and effectively in customizable maps. You can even invite friends using theBoarding System to party! Zero`s Temple will allow you to move to areas across the Maple World easily.
The Child of God is complete content. There will be a new world, the Mirror World, which is like another view of Maple World. Could the Black Mage have created a fictional world? The places on the map are interesting, I`ll list them for you to see (from top to bottom, left to right, if you`re unclear you should look at the illustrations).
- Magatia
- Critias
- Shadow Town
- Ludibrium
- Temple of Time
- Zero`s Temple
- Ariant
- Mu Lung
- Leafre
- Henesys
- Edelstein
The goddess Rhinne, captured by the Black Mage, creates the Child of God, Zero to become the next Transcendent of Time. However Zero is sealed away in the Mirror World, within the Shadow Temple and without his memories. To escape the Black Mage`s commander Will and find his destiny, Zero will have to escape from the Mirror World and find the real Maple World! An exciting story will transpire as you progress.
Finally, the Auction House will be released with this patch!
Critias
On August 1, the third part of the update will be released, with the new continent Critias which is a high level area. The Black Mage has hidden away in a kingdom here. The monsters in Critias are stronger, and a new war has begun in Maple World!
Players from all worlds can come together in this area to join the fight against the Black Mage!
The new boss Hecaton might require up to 100 Maplers in order to defeat him! Even if you are not high levelled, you can still enjoy yourself! The boss will require specific targeting and teamwork to defeat.
There will be a real-time PvE system in which Maplers will have to fight against the Commanders’ invasion! At specific times and due to certain situations, the maps will change!
PvP will be expanded beyond Super Fight, including the new Boss Arena PvP!
There will also be something new called Battle Monster League, where you can catch monsters to put in your deck and pit them against other players.
The Maple Hands app will be released, allowing you to integrate with Monster Life, have in-game chat functionality with users and groups, as well as event notifications.
And just for fun, here are a couple of pictures of some Zero cosplayers as well as the MapleStory developers! Look, it’s Inkwell, haha.
Thanks to Insoya for the two pictures above as well as the one at the beginning of my post!
