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 Introduction This guide is co-authored by Takeback3r and KazooTheBat. From the makers of the Comprehensive Guide to Gunslingers, we bring you our next epic guide! It has recently come to our attention that a large majority of people, Basilers and non-Basilers, people we've spoken to in-game and others, actually believe some of the ridiculous false statements about Pirates. At first, we thought these opinions were those of the minority, but we soon discovered that these misconceptions are rampant, out-of-control, and a lot more common that we had originally thought. We're making this thread to crush some of those false arguments, with facts and hard evidence, of course. Please note that the biggest misconception of all is that Brawlers are perfect and that Gunslingers suck. Therefore, this guide will have a pro-Gunner tone in order to disprove that misconception. Table of Contents General Pirate Misconceptions • Misconception 1: Pirates are weak. • Misconception 2: Pirates are overpowered. • Misconception 3: Single-target attacker vs. mobber. • Misconception 4: Buccaneer's Demolition has higher DPS than Corsair's Battleship Cannon. Gunslinger Misconceptions • Misconception 1: Gunslingers are always weak. • Misconception 2: Rapid Fire is a Corsair's main attacking skill. • Misconception 3: Gunslingers need a "Soul Bullets" skill. • Misconception 4: Recoil Shot/Grenade are used as attacking skills. Brawler Misconceptions • Misconception 1: Brawlers should max Dash. • Misconception 2: Brawlers are always slow. • Misconception 3: Brawlers don't have any flaws. General Pirate Misconceptions Misconception 1: Pirates are weak. That generalization only applies to Gunslingers and it only applies to them for 1st and 2nd job. Gunslingers start out weak yet fast, but get significantly stronger in 3rd and 4th job. Brawlers are always strong, but they start out slow, and they gradually become faster in 3rd job and 4th job. People have to keep in mind that Brawlers and Gunslingers are polar opposites, so any kind of "Pirates are ______" generalizations are usually just garbage since the two branches are totally different. A ranged class hitting a combined total of 16.2k at 92 is not weak. A melee class hitting 5k+ at lvl 7x, 7.5k+ at lvl 9x w/o Crit, and 10k with Crit is not weak. Misconception 2: Pirates are overpowered. That generalization does not apply to either Pirate. Neither of them are overpowered. Once again, Brawlers are strong but slow, and Gunslingers are initially weak but fast. People usually are referring to Brawlers when they accuse Pirates of being overpowered. It's simply not true. Yes, Brawlers get tons of high % attack skills and they do very high single hits, just like warriors, but Brawlers also have characteristics that keep their DPS in check, so that they won't be overpowered: All of their attacks in 1st, 2nd, 3rd, and 4th job have one or more of these drawbacks: • Very small range for most single-target skills -- Skills like Flash Fist, Double Upper, and Barrage. • Brief delays in repeated usage -- Attacks such as Backspin Blow, Double Upper, Corkscrew Blow, and Barrage cannot be spammed; they instead have to be alternated and chained together to get around the brief delays between repeated usage. • Only usable in a Transformed state -- The best Brawler moves are dependent on Energy Charge/Transform/Super Transform: Energy Buster, Energy Drain, and Energy Orb for Energy Charge; Shockwave for standard Transform; and Demolition, Shockwave, and Snatch for Super Transform. Outside of these states, Brawler DPS is average or mediocre. • Long animation/casting time -- Attacks take longer to complete. Demolition takes a full 1.8 seconds to cast, and its amount of shots per minute [SPM] is only 33. That's far less than a Corsair's Battleship Cannon and a DrK's berserked, fast (5) Crusher, which are 90 SPM and 61 SPM respectively. On trainable monsters, overkill seriously destroys their killing speed on single targets. On bosses, faster characters can catch up very well. Granted when training, mobbing is very frequent. Misconception 3: Single-target attacker vs. mobber. For the sake of clarification, we'll elaborate here on which Pirate falls into which category. Gunslingers, throughout their career, are specialized as single-target attackers. Brawlers are better mobbers. Right off the bat, take a look at the amount of main single-target vs. mob attacks that each Pirate has: Brawler • Single-target: Flash Fist, Double Upper, Energy Drain, Demolition, Barrage • Mob: Somersault Kick, Screw Punch, Backspin Blow, Energy Buster, Shockwave, Dragon Strike, Energy Orb, Snatch • Total: 5 single-target attacks vs. 8 mob attacks Gunslinger • Single-target: Double Fire, Triple Fire, Octopus, Homing, Battleship Cannon, Rapid Fire, Support Octopus, Advanced Homing • Mob: Invisible Shot, Fire Burner, Cooling Effect, Air Strike, Battleship Torpedo • Total: 8 single-target attacks vs. 5 mob attacks It's not just the amount of each type of skill that determines the style of the class, either. Buccaneers' single-target attacks come into play a lot more during bossing than in training. When in normal state, they have to alternate between Barrage and Double Upper which KILLS their damage per minute [DPM]. Even while Transformed, the length of time it takes to cast Demolition [see previous misconception] DESTROYS their damage over time despite their high damage range. Gunslingers can be adept at both, especially with mobbing skills like Air Strike and Battleship Torpedo. But even with those skills, they're still better with single-target attacking. For example, their lack of a KB skill [i.e. Rush, Dragon's Breath] means that they have to rely on natural monster-made mobs rather than user-created ones for Torpedo to be effective. Often times monsters are spread out in higher-lvl training maps, which means Air Strike would be favored over Torpedo. Some smaller maps are great for big mobs, though. Crimson Guardians in CWK have a platform where 4+ spawn constantly, so you could hypothetically just spam Torpedo. In the Shanghai World Tour area, there are snipe spots adjacent to a dresser that spawns golden monks; another map that favors Torpedo. But despite the useful applications of Torpedo, it won't do spectacular damage [compared to Cannon] until you max it. Further evidence of Gunslingers specializing as single-target attackers is the skill Advanced Homing. The 1.2 dmg multiplier [or 20% increase] from maxed Adv. Homing enhances their already amazing single-target damage. Misconception 4: Buccaneer's Demolition has higher DPM than Corsair's Battleship Cannon. This is a complicated one to prove...Warning: math content ahead. Here's the basic premise of determining which skill is stronger: Buccaneer's Demolition is only usable while Super Transformed, and it is "spammable". Demolition attacks a single monster 8 times at 400% dmg each hit, or 3200% damage. A Corsair's Battleship Cannon is only usable while on board the Battleship, and it does 380% damage 4 times on a single target, or 1520% total. Judging from just that, Buccaneers would sound like they destroy Corsairs in DPS, but there's one thing left to consider: Q: How many times could a Corsair use Cannon in the time it takes to a Buccaneer to use one Demolition? A: Just about 3 times [2.7 to be precise]. That means that in the time it takes for a Buccaneer to do 3200% dmg, a Corsair can deal 4104% dmg. The gap becomes even larger when you factor in Advanced Homing. People seem to be under the impression that Demolition is strongest attacking skill in the game. We're going to prove that Cannon is better than Demolition. For the comparison, we will use a lvl 161 Corsair with maxed Battleship, Cannon, and Advanced Homing, and a lvl 161 Buccaneer with maxed Super Transform and Demolition. Those are all the necessary skills involved in this comparison, and lvl 161 is a realistic point at which these skills are maxed. 20 MW will be considered as well, since the scenario is that they're both fighting HT in separate parties. [quote]Formulas for reference: Brawler Damage Max = [(STR * 4.8 + DEX) / 100] * Weapon Attack) Min = (STR * 0.9 * 4.8 * Skill Mastery + DEX) / 100 * Weapon Attack) Gunslinger Damage Max = [(DEX * 3.6 + STR) / 100] * Weapon Attack Min = (DEX * 0.9 * 3.6 * Skill Mastery + STR) / 100 * Weapon Attack) Equips for 161 Corsair: • 15 str/20 dex Zhelm • 91 atk Concerto (lvl 100 gun) • 25 dex/7 str Red Duke (lvl 100 overall) • 22 dex/22 str HT necklace • 12 atk BWGs • 2 atk/10 dex PAC • 7 dex/3 str Blue Effulgent (lvl 80 pirate shoe) • 10 sets of Eternal Bullets (lvl 110 bullets) • (84 dex bonus/47 str bonus from equips) • Total attack: 125 (warrior elixir), 213 (onyx apple) Equips for 161 Buccaneer: • 15 str/20 dex Zhelm • 22 dex/22 str HT necklace • 91 atk 9 str King Cent (lvl 100 knuckle) • 25 dex/7 str Red Duke (lvl 100 overall) • 12 atk BWGs • 2 atk/10 str PAC • 7 dex/3 str Blue Effulgent (lvl 80 pirate shoe) • (66 str bonus/74 dex bonus from equips) • Total attack: 105 (warrior elixir), 113 (+20 atk from energy charge), 193 (onyx apple) Base stats at 161 (including MW): Corsair: 121 str (63+58), 922 dex (754+168) Buccaneer: 121 dex (36+85), 931 str (781+150)[/quote] Damage range: Corsair: 2391-4300 (warrior elixir), 4075-7328 (onyx apple) Buccaneer: 2660-4819 (warrior elixir), 2863-5186 (energy charge), 4890-8858 (onyx apple) Shots per minute: Demolition: 33 times a minute (with Wind Booster) Cannon: 90 times a minute (w/o Wind Booster) Formulas: Format: [(Damage % * # of hits) / Time it takes to cast in seconds = total Damage Per Second] Cannon (with Adv. Homing) = (456% * 4) / .66 = 2763% per second Cannon = (380% * 4) / .66 = 2303% per second Demolition = (400% * 8) / 1.8 = 1777% per second Average damage output per minute: Cannon = 138,180% = 4,622,811 (warrior elixir), 7,878,332 (onyx apple) Cannon (with Adv. Homing) = 165,780% = 5,546,169 (warrior elixir), 9,451,947 (onyx apple) Demolition = 106,620% = 3,987,054 (warrior elixir), 4,290,921 (energy charge), 7,329,591 (onyx apple) As you can see, with or without Adv. Homing on, Cannon is still has higher DPM than Demo. Also keep in mind that Transform has a set duration [120 sec], while Battleship does not. If you can demount/remount Ship in a way that you avoid taking damage, you can potentially preserve your ship for much longer than just a few minutes. On top of all that, there's also the possibility of the Buccaneer and Corsair both receiving Wind Booster by being in the same party out of this scenario. In that case, Wind Booster would increase the Corsairs damage per minute even more. These factors all lead to one conclusion... Cannon outdamages Demolition. End of story. Gunslinger Misconceptions Misconception 1: Gunslingers are always weak. Gunslingers start out weak in 1st Job, and don't get much better in 2nd Job. Double Fire does 80% x2, for a combined total of 160% dmg. In 2nd Job their 3-target mobbing skill does 170% when maxed. Recoil Shot [the nerfed FJ skill] does 260% dmg when maxed, but it's NEVER primarily used as an attack, so it doesn't count. Same end result with Grenade: 140% dmg at maxed against 6 targets, but it's extremely hard to aim, isn't affected by mastery, and its range depends on your timing, so it's not used for attacking at all in any situation. The belief that these two skills are useful attacks is actually another misconception. 3rd Job is where Gunslingers catch up to other classes in terms of DPS and overall dmg. Triple Fire does 210% 3 times, and a well-funded lvl 104 Outlaw at Jr. Newties does 3k-6k each hit, which totals to about 9-18k each Triple Fire. Remember that Gunners don't get any critical hit skill, so they get elements, summons, and high damage % attacks as compensation. Add in the 200 atk from maxed Octopus [2k to 3k dmg consistently every few seconds], the fact that you can have 2 octos out at once, and you'll see that the DPS for Outlaws is equal to or even better than other ranged classes of the same lvl on single targets. Misconception 2: Rapid Fire is a Corsair's main attacking skill. This statement wins the Most Annoying Misconception 2008 Award. We're tired of seeing people saying it. A Corsair's real main attack is Battleship Cannon (grind it into your skull), which is why both Battleship and Cannon are maxed early in all recommended Corsair builds. Rapid Fire's only purpose is to serve as a backup attack when the Ship breaks and enters its cooldown phase. Watch a lvl 151 Corsair training with maxed RF at Jr. Newties. Her individual RF shots did dmg within a range of 1500-3500. Even her octopus was hitting 5ks for Christ's sake. Meanwhile, a 14x Corsair training with max Battleship Cannon training at Time Temple is easily spitting out 10k+ in a SINGLE hit out of the 4 total hits Cannon does. The same Corsair was often hitting 30k+ damage in 1 use of Cannon. The enormous power gap makes Cannon way better than RF, even considering RF's speed. We've calculated that over the course of 1 minute, Cannon can pump out 1mil-2.2mil more damage than RF, depending on whether Adv. Homing is being used or not. A Bowmaster can hit as high as 19kish crits with max Hurricane and max Sharp Eyes, while a well-funded Corsair is stuck being capped at perhaps 8k per shot of Rapid Fire with both maxed Advanced Homing and max SE active. Verdict: Rapid Fire is too weak DPM-wise to be a Corsair's main attack. Misconception 3: Gunslingers need a "Soul Bullets" skill. Here's a breakdown of this skill's concept -- a skill that saves ammo for ranged classes. Why is it necessary? • Archers get Soul Arrow early because their main attack in 3rd Job uses more than the standard two arrows, so they're given the benefit of saving arrows early in 2nd Job. Arrows also don't give significant attack boosts, so archers receive the benefit of Soul Arrows early to balance that out. • Night Lords get Shadow Stars because TT+SP, being a NL's main atk, wastes a lot of stars, and that's the best way to compensate for it. Stars add tremendous attack boosts compared to arrows, which is why Shadow Stars is saved for 4th Job: for balance. • Gunslingers do NOT get Soul Bullets because all of their main attacks are already bullet-efficient, including their main 4th Job attack [Battleship Cannon]. We can safely conclude that because Rapid Fire is not a main attacking skill. There is no need for Corsairs to have Soul Bullets the way that NLs need lots of ammo for TT+SP or how BMs need lots of ammo for Hurricane. RF is a rarely used skill since it's mainly a backup skill for when Cannon breaks, and therefore only useful during the 90 seconds in which their Ship is in repair. Also keep in mind that many bullets hold a much higher amount of ammo per set than stars do. The highest amount of ammo a set of stars can hold is 1200, vs. 3200 for bullets. In fact, every lvl 50+ bullet holds a higher amount of ammo than any star can. [Source] Shadow Stars artificially extends the amount of ammo in 1 set of throwing stars, but that's not necessary for bullets since they hold so much more ammo per set. This offsets the need for an early Soul Bullets skill. Even if you spammed RF all day, if you carried 10 or so sets of high-level bullets, you could train with the skill for over a few hours. It'd be slow training, but bullet sets hold THAT much ammo. And because bullets are relatively inexpensive and easy to find, there's no need to conserve them anyway. Verdict "Soul Bullets" is not necessary because: • A) Bullets hold a high amount of ammo per set. • B) Rapid Fire is not a Corsair's main attacking skill. • C) Bullets are cheap anyway, so there's no need to conserve them. Misconception 4: Recoil Shot/Grenade are used as attacking skills for Gunslingers. Even though both skills inflict damage, neither skill is used as an attack. Recoil Shot Otherwise known as the nerfed FJ skill that Gunners receive in 2nd Job. At max lvl it does 260% damage, more than any other 2nd Job Gunner skill. However, it's not used as a main attack; its primary purpose is to transport you across a map quickly. It also has a 2-second delay, so it wouldn't be a useful attack anyway. Plus, an attack that shoots you backwards every time you use it would not be a very effective or coordinated way to fight. RShot is used exactly like how FJ is used, and in the same situations [dodging a monster, reaching a destination more quickly, etc.] Some speculative reasons why RShot was designed to have such a high dmg % include these 2 theories: • To finish off whichever monster is closest to you as you escape it, as in a mob. If you're surrounded by monsters and you RShot away from them, one of the monsters will receive that damage if you have good aim. And at 260%, it's reasonable to infer that monsters hit by RShot will die or be damaged drastically enough that the next attack will easily kill them. • To KB the closest monster to you, ensuring that RShot provides the Gunner with enough space to attack or continue moving safely. Let's use the example from above: if you're outrunning a mob of monsters, KBing the closest one would decrease the chances that you'll suffer touch/magic dmg and increase the chances that you'll have enough space to attack when you land. The 260% dmg could very well have been intended for KBing monsters, especially those with higher KBs that you cannot normally inflict with your main attack skills. Grenade Every single Gunslinger build we've seen ranks Grenade as the lowest-priority 2nd Job skill. It hits 6 monsters, but its default range is horrible. The tossed bomb's range increases the longer you hold Bomb's key down and the bomb is thrown once the key is released. Therefore, aiming bomb is difficult and requires some degree of timing. You can either have a spammable attack or range -- not both. There aren't enough skill points in 2nd Job to max Grenade and it's the least effective of all the 2nd Job attacks, which is why it's the last skill to be obtained. It's never used seriously as an attack since there's much easier ways to inflict dmg on a mob of monsters without having to charge up or aim. In other words, Grenade is an unnecessary, leftover skill. Some claim that Grenade is useful for luring monsters, but Invisible Shot does it more effectively and with better default range. Verdict • RShot isn't used as an attack because it can't be spammed and it sends you flying backwards. It's designed to be used the way FJ is. • Grenade isn't used as an attack because it has crappy default range, requires unnecessary effort to toss, and has low dmg % at lvl 11, which is where it's left at in most 2nd Job Gunner builds. Brawler Misconceptions Misconception 1: Brawlers should get Dash. People think that Brawlers need max Dash in 1st job. Wrong. They don't get speed and power in 1st Job; Brawlers are not Captain Falcon from SSBM. Brawlers really only start to gain movement speed in 3rd job, where they get a haste effect from Transform. Most Brawlers we've talked to chose to get 0 Dash, and this is why: • From 2nd Job onward, a Brawler constantly alternates between Screw Punch and Backspin Blow while training. That means you'll be changing directions almost constantly, since Screw Punch attacks in front of you and Backspin attacks behind you. Brawlers turn a lot to focus attacks in one direction [i.e. using Screw Punch to attack monsters on your left side, then turning to the right and using Backspin to hit the same monsters]. When you change directions, Dash automatically turns off. If you accidentally double-tap an arrow key while training, Dash would activate, waste a little of your MP, and then turn off right when you turn the other way. • The other risk of getting Dash as an Brawler is that accidental taps of the arrow key will cause you to run right into monsters and large mobs where you'll receive unnecessary touch dmg. Brawlers already get a haste effect from Transform in 3rd job, so until then Brawlers can just get speed equips. Dash for Brawlers, in all honesty, is useless, and sometimes dangerous. You should get 1 Double Fire instead of 1 Dash at the end of 1st Job, because in some instances, Dash can literally hurt you. Granted, some will still want to use Dash for traveling purposes, which I (Takeback3r) agree with. Again, Dash is not recommended for Brawlers, but if you really feel the pro's outweigh the con's, you can max it instead and leave Bullet Time at 11. Alternatively you can jus buy speed equips/potions, which we recommend. We just wanted people to know that Dash can interrupt your fighting style. Misconception 2: Brawlers are always slow. Again, this statement only applies to 1st and some of 2nd Job. After that, it's false. • Moving speed improvement -- Transform and Super Transform both give a Haste effect [+40 speed/+20 jump]. • Attack speed improvement -- Brawlers can be fast if they alternate attacks to avoid the built-in delays. They also get Wind Booster in 4th Job, which increases an entire party's atk speed (regardless of class) by 2 stages at lvl 11, meaning 4 stages of speed increase when stacked with normal booster. Misconception 3: Brawlers don't have any flaws. Once again, false. Though it is true that their disadvantages aren't that major to most people, they DO have flaws. • They take forever to max skills. Energy Charge takes 40 SP (the most SP needed in the game to max a skill), while most other skills take 30. Not that many Buccaneer skills need 20 SP to max. A Buccaneer's attack arsenal will be fairly incomplete and sub-par until you do max those skills. • They have no way of reducing damage. Their high HP doesn't compensate for that, either. Their HP is just double that of Shadowers, or on-par with one since Shadowers have Meso Guard. On top of that, Shadowers have extremely high avoid and Fake. Buccaneers, on the other hand, have low avoid, no defensive skills or attributes other than stun, and no survivability skills like Meso Guard or Hyper Body. Their stun skills do help them, but they're only applicable to training, not bossing. While Demolition has a long animation that provides them with invincibility frames, Brawlers still lack the ability to reduce damage. Avoiding damage =/= reducing damage. If a Buccaneer gets hit directly by HT's tail, he's done. If said Buccaneer is gonna use Demolition to keep some range between himself and HT, what happens if HT tail-whips him immediately after his invincibility frame ends? That's right, death. • Their damage shifts a lot over the course of a long battle. Their damage range is already wide and unstable throughout their Maple career, but it fluctuates even more in and out of the Transformed states. On a boss, especially in 4th Job, they don't have enough attacking skills in their normal state to keep up with their counterpart, Corsairs. This is explained in more detail in another section: the misconception regarding the Buccaneer skill Demolition vs. the Corsair skill Battleship Cannon. Credits This thread is written in memory of Daemarius. It evolved from an idea first proposed by Dae, who has since quit Basil. Thanks to: • sapphire8 for his assistance on calculations • Shrapnel of SP.net for providing Gunslinger videos • ShiKage08 for providing Brawler videos • Everyone who took the time to read or use this guide Final Statements Do not reproduce or plagiarize this guide on Basil, other MapleStory sites, or other gaming-related sites. This thread is currently only authorized on Basilmarket. Always ask permission before using or reposting any portion of this guide on Basil or elsewhere. Finally, unauthorized reproductions will be traced and removed. Back to top Thread last updated: Sunday, February 22, 2009. 03:46 BasilTime. Replies
wow i had no idea about all of that theory. so cool
 i just picked gunslinger cus of its insane speed, however chilish and idiotic it sounds, cus its fun. Thanks for this. I'm a Brawler and have been turned down by PQs for being "noobish and weak". And yet I do more damage than some of the higher levels. :O
Macrorocks: Thanks for this. I'm a Brawler and have been turned down by PQs for being "noobish and weak". And yet I do more damage than some of the higher levels. :O lol u should see how Sligers are being treated at low lvls Personally I never got turned down from PQs for being "weak" but I can see how Slingers would get mistreated. --;
and I'm a Pirate that maxed out Dash. It was because of Dash (and a jump equip) that I was able to do parts in PQs that were reserved for Thieves in OPQ and MPQ. Just double tap and start jumping for the most part. D: thanks for the thread you encourage me that gunslingers are good than brawlers in some things and that it will be worth the wait to be a corsair.
And the guide was real useful on which to put my skill points on. Can you make one of outlaw? which skills you need to max out. Somaxs: Can you make one of outlaw? which skills you need to max out. Lol what I read the while guide. You're right, and even if slingers hit "low", the speed of firing makes up for it. (and it's only for 2nd job)
yeah which skill sgoyld i max out first
flamethrower or the ice splitter? and octopus or gaviota Gunslingers have access to FF and SSK.
lol, no one ever told me i was weak during my 2nd job phase and in 3rd job (looks around), nope don't see any flamers.
Just because no one points out your damage doesn't mean it's not weak. If someone is going to point out your damage it's going to be because you're strong.
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Use of any BasilMarket.com content without permission is strictly forbidden.
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