Welcome back! Over 200 major updates have resulted in quite a few changes to MapleStory over the years. If you're an older MapleStory player who has been gone for a while, there may be a few surprises in store. This page summarizes major updates that have released since the V updates in late 2016, and will be updated in the future with notable older updates and other major changes.
Major Changes
Below are some of the major changes to MapleStory that older players might not know about, and be surprised by on their return. There's been a lot of big changes over the years (multiple Level Cap increases, new jobs, new adventures, new bosses...), but the section below is all about those major changes that made a huge difference in how people enjoyed Maple World, and what you should be aware of when you're coming back!
- Better Maple Updates - Ongoing
- Familiar Revamp - April 21, 2020
- Maple Tour - March 11, 2020
- World Merges - August 28, 2019
- 5th Job Advancement - December 16, 2016
- Auction House - November 30, 2016
Better Maple Updates - Ongoing
MapleStory is a very long-running game, and with numerous updates a year, there's a lot of time to go back and look to see what changes and improvements can be made to ongoing game systems. Many of these changes have been bundled together as Better Maple changes in the patch notes listed below, where we took a long look at some key factor of MapleStory and worked to improve it to, well, create a better MapleStory experience.
Familiar Revamp- April 21, 2020
In the spring of 2020, we released a massive overhaul of the Familiar system, completely changing the way that Familiars grow in power, allowing any Familiar in MapleStory to be upgraded to the maximum power possible. This was an improvement over having a set Familiar level that went unchanged, requiring you to get new ones as you grew in power, leaving your old friends behind.
Familiars were changed to all start out at the same power, letting them grow in power through combat, and upgrade rarity to get even stronger as you level them up. While some of the details have changed since its initial release, the original post for the Familiar Revamp lays out the new system in great detail, so that you can train your favorite helpers to be as powerful as they can be!
Maple Tour - March 11, 2020
In March 2020, we introduced a new dungeon to help with one of MapleStory's ever-popular activities: Earning mesos! Maple Tour is a dungeon specifically intended to be the ideal place to gather mesos, with a limited number of attempts available per day. The more stages that you can clear within ten minutes (up to six), the more mesos you'll earn, although there's a slight delay.
While Maple Tour will give you more mesos than any other piece of content, it comes on a week-long delay. You'll earn the full sum you earned after a 7-day waiting period, although you can get take the Payday Advance option to take only half the number of mesos possible, but receive them immediately upon clearing the dungeon, if you have an urgent need for the funds. This dungeon has become a staple of play within MapleStory since its introduction, and you can learn more about it in the v.212 Patch Notes post!
World Merges - August 28, 2019
Server technology has improved a bit in the last fifteen years, and in 2019 we took advantage of it to combine many MapleStory worlds together and create a more active, vibrant set of worlds! The Worlds of Elysium (formed by combining Broa, Khaini, Galicia, Renegades, Arcania, Zenith, El Nido, and Demethos) and Aurora (formed by combining Windia, Mardia, Yellonde, Bellocan, Chaos, Kradia, and Nova) were added, making it easier to find other players to meet and form a group.
More happened than just combining a few worlds together and calling it a day, however. The v.207 Worlds Unite Patch Notes has the full list of changes made in order to accommodate all the additional players and the number of complications such a process naturally creates. If you were an active player prior to this patch and are recently returning, we strongly suggest that you look over the notes to find out where your old characters are now residing and what changes needed to be made to accommodate the merge.
5th Job Advancement - December 16, 2016
Back during the V series of updates, we released the 5th Job Advancement, allowing MapleStory characters to grow even stronger and unlock a new tier of power. Unlike previous Job Advancements 1-4, however, 5th Job Advancement functions through the V Matrix, a special way to obtain and learn powerful new passive and active abilities.
5th Job Skills are obtained through Arcane River content, collecting Nodestones, crafting skills with randomized power-ups, powering them up, and equipping them as needed. We've also continued to support this with new 5th Job skills coming periodically, giving Lv. 200+ Maplers more powers to play with. You can learn more about how it was originally implemented in the V: 5th Job Patch Notes, get a grasp on how the V Matrix works in full with the V Matrix Maple Guide, or just peruse the full collection of skills with the 5th Job Skills Maple Guide.
Auction House - November 30, 2016
At the end of 2016, MapleStory introduced an Auction House system to make it easier and more convenient to buy and sell items from other MapleStory players! Take your items there, list them for the meso amounts you want, find the items or materials you need, and buy them off your fellow players! You can learn more about it in the Auction House Maple Guide, which goes over the basics of listing and selling your own items, as well as some of MapleStory's unique Auction House features!
Please note that, as part of the Auction House's implementation and adoption by the player base, the Free Market was eventually retired in early 2017. While items and mesos that were present in the Free Market could be reclaimed for a time, the NPC holding those items was removed in early 2020.
Past Updates
v.224 - Neo: Light's Wrath - July 21, 2021
- New Boss: Seren: Maplers could battle a god incarnate, Seren, in a brand brand new boss fight that tests even the most powerful of MapleStory characters!
- Hotel Arcus: Clues from the gods led Maplers to an unlikely destination: a dilapidated hotel in the middle of an unforgiving desert, and an abandoned hotel filled with secrets to uncover.
- Better Maple Updates: MapleStory was improved by unifying the process for obtaining cubes and rebirth flames, allowing Black Rebirth Flames to be crafted by Accessory Crafters, quicker animations for Star Force and Spell Trace Enhancements, making secondary weapons for Mechanic, Demon Avenger, Demon Slayer, and Mihile characters tradeable, and much more!
- PIC Removal: MapleStory's Personal Identification Code (PIC) security system, while useful in the past to protect accounts from unauthorized access, was made redundant as more secure and convenient Two-Factor Authentication systems were added to Nexon accounts. As the PIC system involves prompting Maplers for passwords during many normal activities (such as logging in, trading with other players, or accessing storage), the system was removed to present Maplers with more convenient, and still secure, gameplay. You can learn more about this, and Nexon's set of Two-Factor Authentication systems, in the PIC Removal post here.
- Read the full patch notes here.
v.223 - Neo: Darkness Ascending - June 9, 2021
- New Job: Kain: A new job was added, featuring a powerful bowman powered by pure Malice, imprisoned in his service to the vicious organization that dominated Toolen City.
- Cernium, City of the Gods: A new chapter in MapleStory was added, as the barriers between worlds, sparked by the fall of the Transcendents, has managed to take an already chaotic situation and make it so much worse.
- Better Maple Updates: A new slate of game improvements were added to MapleStory, including major improvements to Boss Matchmaking, more convenient Meso Market functionality, improvements to the V Matrix menu's layout, and more!
- Level Cap Increase: The Max Level Cap was increased from Lv. 275 to Lv. 300, with corresponding increases to V Matrix Slots (up to 25) and additional Hyper Stat Points and Level Achievements.
- Growth Improvements: With the raised Level Cap, we also made improvements to leveling and various other caps. Death penalties were also changed, decreasing EXP and drop rates after death rather than taking hard-earned EXP away.
- Lapsed Character Deletion: As part of this update, a number of older characters were deleted from MapleStory, in order to free up space and character names for future use. This was limited to only Lv. 35 and below characters on accounts that had not logged into MapleStory since December 15, 2016.
- Read the full patch notes here.
v.222 - 16th Anniversary: Hotel Maple - April 20, 2021
- MapleStory's 16th Anniversary: MapleStory celebrated its 16th anniversary with a huge slate of events for characters with a special VIP reservation at the Hotel Maple!
- Read the full patch notes here.
v.219 - Awake: Flicker of Light - December 15, 2020
- Zero in Reboot World: Reboot World players finally got the chance to enjoy the dual characters of Zero, now available whenever Zero is a createable character!
- Familiar Improvements: We went back to the recently revamped Familiar system to add in some much-requested changes and improvements to the system!
- Arcane River Theme Dungeon: Sellas, Where the Stars Rest: What can possibly happen deep under the mysterious sea? Venture into the unknown depths of the Esfera Sea with an all-new Lv. 240 Arcane River theme dungeon: Sellas, Where the Stars Rest!
- Legion Arena: A new recurring event began where you can pit your Legion of powerful characters against other Maplers in the Legion Arena!
- Read the full patch notes here.
v.218 - Awake: Ascend to Mastery - November 17, 2020
- New 5th Job Skills: Even more 5th Job Skills were added for every Job in MapleStory!
- Job Rebalance: Jett got some special attention here, but every Job in MapleStory got a close look to keep everyone on the same playing field!
- Grand Athenaeum Episode 6: Sharenian Knights: Venture to Grand Athenaeum to open a new chapter of Maple World’s history! This time, it was about a group of knights who were dedicated to their kingdom and devoted to training to become the great royal Knights of Sharenian.
- MVP System Renewal: A new MVP reward tier, Red, was added, and the rewards for every tier of MVP were updated to be more valuable and convenient to claim!
- Read the full patch notes here.
v.215 - Rise: Surge of Power - July 21, 2020
- Yum Yum Island: There was a mysterious noise coming from the forest behind Chu Chu island and Skywhale. It was as if... all of Chu Chu Island was sinking! With the sound making the villagers nervous, Chief Lyon asked Maplers to investigate and see if Chu Chu Island was in any danger.
- Burning World: A special addition to the Tera Burning event, Burning World gave players even faster ways to burn their way through lower-level content, before even committing to a single world!
- Read the full patch notes here.
v.214 - Rise: Promise of the Guardian - June 9, 2020
- New Job: Adele: Adele, a High Flora of Grandis and an honorable knight, was locked away in the Void until the chains of her imprisonment were shattered by the wish of a silver-haired boy. Play through Adele’s story and learn more about her lost memories and the reason behind her imprisonment!
- Reverse City: A new Arcane River zone in a strange, upside-down town with an incredible mystery to uncover for Lv. 205+ characters!
- Beast Tamer and Kanna Skill Revamps: Beast Tamers and Kanna characters got some special attention to improve the quality of these Jobs!
- Boss Revamp: Major boss changes came, including large changes to Lucid, Gloom and Darknell!
- Guild Revamp: Guilds were improved with a Level Cap increase, an improved UI, better methods of contributing to your guild, and more!
- Read the full patch notes here.
v.213 - 15th Anniversary: Pixel Party - April 21, 2020
- Familiar System Revamp: A huge slate of changes was released to the Familiar System, with a list of changes so massive it needed its own post to go into all the details!
- Gollux Content Revamp: Gollux was merged into Masteria in order to create a more cohesive storytelling experience.
- Read the full patch notes here.
v.210 - Glory: Savior of Hope - December 17, 2019
- Masteria & New Leaf City Revamps: New quests were added to both New Leaf City and Masteria, and Masteria's storyline was reorganized to create a better storytelling and leveling experience!
- Jett Skill Revamp: Jett got some special attention in the form of a heavily revamped set of skills to make the character more fun to play!
- Read the full patch notes here.
v.209 - Glory: Strengthened Alliances - November 18, 2019
- New Job: Hoyoung: A capricious sage, Hoyoung, was added to fill your days with excitement! Join Hoyoung and Taotie on a journey across Maple World to capture all the unsealed monsters!
- New 5th Job Skills: Goddesses Cygnus, Rhinne, Grandis, and Princess Sakuno came together to share blessings and prayers in the form of new 5th Job Skills for each Job!
- Better Maple Updates: A large number of smaller quality of life updates were made to make for a smoother MapleStory experience.
- Growth Improvements: Reduced the EXP needed to go from Lv. 220 to Lv. 234 by 25%, added additional Daily Quests for Arcane River destinations, added new Explorer Link Skills, and more.
- Read the full patch notes here.
v.207 - Worlds Unite - August 26, 2019
- World Merges: Several MapleStory Worlds were merged together in order to create a better experience for all players! If you've been away for a while, you should check in here and see where your characters have ended up.
- Read the full patch notes here.
v.206 - Pathfinder: Squadron of Heroes - July 22, 2019
- Partem Ruins Theme Dungeon: What were the prophecies about the three dark magicians, cursed spellbook, and the ancient monster? Go discover what the prophecy is all about in the Partem Ruins!
- Beast Tamer and Jett Skill Updates: Beast Tamer and Jett got additional changes to their skills to keep them competitive.
- Additional Content and System Changes: Improvements to New Leaf City, Maple Value Points, Profession Harvesting and more.
- Read the full patch notes here.
v.205 - Pathfinder - June 11, 2019
- New Job: Pathfinder: The Explorer Bowman, Pathfinder, arrived, driven by a thirst for ancient relics and a need to conquer an ancient curse.
- Secret Forest of Elodin Theme Dungeon: Strange sounds were coming from the secret forest. What can it possibly be? Help Anne and discover the secrets of Elodin!
- Job Balance Updates: Every Job got a look with a large balance pass, featuring changes to skills for nearly all Jobs!
- Kanna and Hayato Revamps: The Kanna and Hayato Jobs got a special focus with this update, making changes to large numbers of Jobs and revamping the quests to make them more friendly to complete.
- Content Revamps: 5th Job Advancement, Lv. 30-59 Theme Dungeons, Lv. 140-200 Quests and Fields, Daily Quests, Bosses, and more. Few parts of Maple World went untouched as MapleStory's progression was improved for all involved.
- System Revamps: Major changes also came to Equipment Enhancement (including Star Force Enhancement not regressing until up to 10-Star), Hyper Stat improvements, Star Force and Arcane Power adjustments, easier starts to Legions, and a lot more.
- Read the full patch notes here.
v.202 - Black Mage: New Beginnings - January 22, 2019
- Tenebris Available Permanently: The Arcane River zone of Tenebris became available for all who qualify!
- Level Cap Increase: The Level Cap was increased from Lv. 250 to Lv. 275, along with increases to the number of V Matrix slots and a special chair for those that reach Lv. 275!
- Read the full patch notes here.
v.201 – Black Mage: Labyrinth - December 11, 2018
- The Black Mage War Continues: A new set of maps, bosses, and special features centering around the battle against the Black Mage and his forces!
- New 5th Job Skills: 5th Job Skills were added for every Job in MapleStory!
- See the full patch notes here.
v.200 – Black Mage: Gathering of Heroes - November 14, 2018
- Maple Alliance: A major addition, including new skills, item rewards, and a Maple-Worldwide effort to gather the forces needed to defeat the Black Mage!
- Leveling Up Revamp: A large set of improvements to make leveling up easier and smoother, including reducing the EXP needed to go from Lv. 200 to 220, greater EXP from many quests in the Lv. 100-200 range, more Mastery Books being available to make leveling up 4th Job Skills easier, additional Hyper Skill Points, and much more!
- Better Maple Updates: A huge number of quality of life improvements and UI improvements to make playing MapleStory better, including a larger skill window, more rewarding Burning Fields, faster Continent Transportation without any of the waiting, the addition of a Mute shortcut, and a more!
- New Display Resolutions: Full support of 1280x720 resolution, and the beginning of the beta for 1920x1200 and 1920x1080 resolutions.
- See the full patch notes here.
v.197 – Ark: Monad - July 25, 2018
- Monad: With the aid of the Knights of Afinas, Maplers unraveled the mystery of the vanishing villagers, and united the villages to take back the Abrup Basin via new mini-games such as defending the town of Skuas, and escorting caravans across the Abrup Basin Trail!
- Reboot (EU) World: A Reboot world was added for EU players, giving them the option of greater challenges that NA players had enjoyed!
- Star Force Revamp: Star Force was expanded from 15 stars to up to 25, allowing you to give your equipment even greater power!
- See the full patch notes here.
v.196 – Ark - June 20, 2018
- New Job: Ark: Ark can master both the magic of the High Flora, and the destructive abilities of the Specter!
- V Care: A wide collection of improvements were made to improve the acquisition of 5th Job skills, including requiring fewer daily quests to obtain Arcane Symbols, additional rewards from playing Arcane River content, V Matrix Points, and much more!
- Grand Athenaeum: Shadow Alchemist: A new story was added in the Grand Athenaeum in the form of Episode 5: Shadow Alchemist! Take on the role of Fang, a member of the Shadow Knights, in this prequel to Zero’s story!
- Esfera: Origin Sea: Many mysteries awaited Maplers in a brand-new location, Esfera: Origin Sea, including the elusive Commander Will, and the truth behind the Black Mage's goal.
- Captain Vaga: Maplers could enjoy the adventures of Captain Vaga in this prequel to Stellar Detectives!
- See the full patch notes here.
v.191 – Nova: Brilliance of Illium - December 20, 2017
- New Job: Illium: Illium, a member of the peaceful and secluded Verdant Flora race, has struck out using powerful crystal magic and mechanical creations.
- Morass: The Morass was a swamp in the Arcane River that takes its form based on the memories of those who enter it, however a darkness looms within the swamp, the perpetrator who caused the imbalance in Arcana.... Tana.
- Papulatus Revamp: Papulatus was back for round 2, and he's got some new tricks up his sleeve and new Papulatus Souls to earn!
- Grand Athenaeum Episode 4: Winter Bard: Enter Grand Athenaeum through the Dimensional Mirror to experience Maple World's forgotten history of a hero and his companions who laid down their lives for the people of Maple World. Their fates would be revealed in how they intertwined with those of the six legendary heroes who ultimately brought peace to Maple World.
- See the full patch notes here.
v.190 – Nova: Liberation of Cadena - November 29, 2017
- New Job: Cadena: Cadena was the only survivor of Magnus’s attack on the Heliseum royal family, and has a streetwise edge while excelling at close combat.
- New 5th Job Skills: 5th Job skills were expanded, with new skills available for all classes!
- Maple Achievements: MapleStory gained a new Achievement system, rewarding players for advancing through Maple World and completing difficult tasks!
- Spirit Savior: Maplers could rescue Rock Spirits and deliver them to safety in this special Arcane River dungeon!
- Better Maple Updates: A huge slate of changes arrived to create a better MapleStory, including addition of confirmation windows to prevent , consolidating Use items with the same expiration date, improved Boss rewards (including piles of mesos!), and much more!
- See the full patch notes here.
v.187 – Override: Venture - July 20, 2017
- Dream Defender: Maplers helped Mr Flopsy the Dreamweaver fight back the nightmare by protecting Sleepytime Music Boxes and destroying Nightmare Music boxes in this special Arcane River dungeon!
- Fantasy Theme World: A hopeless romantic named Dylan needed help planning out the proposal of a lifetime for his 101st love as you revisit the Fantasy Theme World!
- Arcana: The mysteries of Arcana were unraveled and the spirits aided in defeating the dark corruption that is taking over the Spirit Tree in this Arcane River destination!
- See the full patch notes here.
v.186 – Override: Evolve - June 21, 2017
- V Matrix Update: V Matrix was improved to grant a new skill slot every 5 levels (improved from 6), and the maximum number of skill slots was increased to 14.
- New Skills: New 5th Job Skills were added for all Jobs, including a new skill for all Jobs that grants bonus EXP and items to help you power-level above Lv. 200!
- Legion System: The Legion System was added, allowing you to gain stat bonuses for your collection of powerful characters and send them on Legion Raids to take down bosses and collect prizes!
- See the full patch notes here.
v.183 – Kerning City Superstars - March 1, 2017
- Theme Dungeon: Kerning Tower: Blake came up with a new sound that he's confident will catapult him back to the top. He just needed a singer, and a talent scout, and basically everything. That's where you came in in this new Theme Dungeon!
- Better Maple Updates: Another slate of general MapleStory improvements, with a collection of changes ranging from the major and important, such as monsters dropping potions that are proportional to their level, and the small but useful, like Mechanics being able to select the color of their mech or Meso and EXP amounts in chat windows having a thousands separator.
- Maple Value Points: The Maple Value Points system was added, to give additional rewards and prizes to MapleStory players that continue to spend NX!
- See the full patch notes here.
v.179 – V: Lucid - January 4, 2017
- New Boss: Lucid: Maplers could reach the top of the Lachelin Clocktower and battle against the Master of Nightmares on her own turf!
- Arcane River: Lachelein: After completing the Chu Chu Island questline, you could prepare yourselves for a land of mystery where not everything is as it seems!
- See the full patch notes here.
v.179 - V: 5th Job - December 16, 2016
- 5th Job Advancement: After completing the Temple of Time questline uponreaching Lv. 200, you could begin your journey to the 5th Job and unlock the V Matrix UI! This is a unique way to earn and empower new skills and abilities that you'll be able to acquire from special Nodestones. There's powerful, unique skills for every Job that will make your characters stronger than ever!
- Arcane River: Vanishing Journey: The Black Mage made his way into the lands surrounding Arcane River. Travel to the first area in Arcane River, Vanishing Journey, where you will encounter a monk who has lost his memories and is on a journey to regain them.
- Arcane River: Chu Chu Island: You could complete the Vanishing Journey questline and then leap into the chasm, where you'll be swept away by the river and meet Muto, a friendly rock creature with the mind of a child.
- See the full patch notes here.
v.178 - V: Limitless - November 30, 2016
- UI Revamp: MapleStory's User Interface received a huge series of updates to make it less cluttered, more intuitive, easier to navigate and customize, and much more!
- Auction House: The Auction House was added to make it easier and more convenient to buy and sell items from your fellow Maplers!
- See the full patch notes here.
