MapleStory Classic Magician Leveling Guide

Magicians get the easy start in MapleStory Classic: all three branches share the same 1st-job build, so nothing you pick before 30 can go wrong. 4 INT / 1 LUK per level, max Magic Claw first. Below: the SP order, wand and armor tables, and why LUK does nothing for your damage.

Contents

1. The Magician at a glance
2. AP allocation: pure INT or low-LUK?
3. Skill build: the SP math
4. How mage damage scales
5. Weapons: wands or staves, and when to upgrade
6. Armor: meet the requirements, scroll the rest
7. Scrolling: cheap and safe until level 50
8. Where to grind from 10 to 30
9. Level 30: pick your second job

The Magician at a glance

Advance at lv 10 via Grendel the Really Old in Ellinia. All three mage branches share the 1st-job tree, so your AP and SP carry cleanly to 2nd job.

AP allocation: pure INT or low-LUK?

INT is your damage stat. LUK does nothing for spell damage (no LUK-scaling skill). It exists to meet gear requirements and gives a bit of accuracy.

Standard build (recommended): 4 INT / 1 LUK per level until you reach 20 LUK base

• By lv 30 you're able to equip the Mithril Wand (INT 60 / LUK 20) and Wizard Robe (INT 50 / LUK 20) exactly on schedule.
• No gear gymnastics, no AP resets.

Lukless (5 INT per level)

All LUK comes from scrolls and gear. Every wand, staff, and robe past lv 20 has a LUK req, so lukless is really only viable lv 10-19:

• Lv 10-19 → Fully lukless-friendly. Wooden Wand (INT 20) and Hardwood Wand (INT 30) have no LUK req.
• Lv 20+ → Metal Wand needs LUK 10, Ice Wand LUK 15, lv 30 gear LUK 20. Past this, "lukless" just means "low-LUK with the rest from gear."

Skill build: the SP math

Lv 10-30 gives 61 SP; maxing everything costs 105, so you have to skip something. Per-level effects live on the Magician class page.

	Skill	Max	What it does at max	Prereq
	Improved MP Recovery	15	+20% MP recovery from items and skills, passive 1% MP regen every 10s	None
	Max MP Increase	15	Passive +25% Max MP	Improved MP Recovery lv 3
	Magic Guard	15	Toggle: 80% of incoming HP damage is taken from MP instead	None
	Magic Armor	20	Buff: +120 W.DEF, +120 M.DEF for 600s	Magic Guard lv 3
	Energy Bolt	20	Single-hit basic attack 65	None
	Magic Claw	20	Two-hit attack at 30 each	Energy Bolt lv 1

How mage damage scales

Spells scale off Magic (the in-game stat-page line; the formula variable formerly written as MATK) and INT, not W.ATK. Each spell's own level is its mastery. There is no Wand Mastery skill.

Worked numbers by wand tier

Per-cast damage for both spells (Magic Claw = 2 hits combined), standard 4 INT / 1 LUK split with pre-10 beginner INT. Total Magic = `floor(INT/2) + wand Magic Attack`.

Stability is ~94% at full mastery the moment Magic Claw hits 20, with no Weapon Mastery wait like warriors and bowmen. At lv 30 Magic Claw out-damages Energy Bolt by ~14% per cast and gives two crit rolls. All classes have a 5% innate critical hit rate.

Drop your build into the DMG Simulator for 2nd-job spells with elemental multipliers and Meditation.

Weapons: wands or staves, and when to upgrade

Wands (recommended)

	Lvl	Weapon	Magic	WATK	Speed	INT req	LUK req	Job
	10	Wooden Wand	27	18	6	20	0	Common
	10	Beginner's Wooden Wand	26	17	6	20	0	untradeable
	15	Hardwood Wand	34	23	6	30	0	Common
	20	Metal Wand	41	21	6	40	10	Common
	25	Ice Wand	48	24	6	50	15	Mage
	30	Mithril Wand	55	27	6	60	20	Mage

Wooden / Hardwood / Metal Wand are common-class (no Mage lock); Ice and Mithril are Mage-locked. Mithril Wand is the only lv 30 mage weapon; the next mage weapon, the Wizard Wand, unlocks at lv 35.

Staves (Crit Damage flavor pick)

	Lvl	Weapon	Magic	WATK	Speed	Crit Dmg	INT req	LUK req
	10	Wooden Staff	24	20	7	+1	20	0
	15	Sapphire Staff	31	25	7	+1	30	10
	15	Emerald Staff	31	25	7	+1	30	10
	20	Old Wooden Staff	38	30	7	+2	40	15
	25	Wizard Staff	45	35	7	+2	50	20

No lv 30 staff exists. Wizard Staff (lv 25) has to hold until Arc Staff at lv 45, a 20-level gap. Staves also demand more LUK at every tier, so for a lukless mage the call is even easier: wand.

Armor: meet the requirements, scroll the rest

Hats

INT/LUK colour variants at some mage tiers, plus a few common-class hats (Bandana, Pride lines) that can beat the mage-locked option.

	Lvl	Item	INT	LUK	INT req	LUK req	WDEF	MDEF
	10	Apprentice Hat (Mage)	Brown +1	(none)	10	0	5	10
	10	White Bandana (any)	+1	-	0	0	9	0
	15	Moon Conehat (Mage)	Brown +1	Green +1	20	0	7	12
	20	Wizardry Hat (Mage)	Blue +1	Green +2	30	10	9	14
	25	Blue Bamboo Hat (any)	+2	-	10	0	18	0
	25	Sky Blue Starry Bandana (any)	+2	-	10	0	18	0
	25	Yellow Starry Bandana (any)	-	+2	0	10	18	0
	30	Jester (Mage)	Brown +3	Green +3	50	20	13	18
	30	Bronze Pride (any)	+2	-	40	0	13	18
	30	Steel Pride (any)	+3	-	40	0	14	19
	30	Golden Pride (any)	+4	-	40	0	15	20

Tops

	Lvl	Tier	INT	LUK	INT req	LUK req	WDEF	MDEF
	10	Armine / Training Shirt	Black Armine +1	Green Armine +1	10	0	9	18
	15	Arianne	Yellow +1	Green +1	20	0	12	21
	20	Split Piece	Blue +2	Black +2	30	10	15	24
	30	Fairy Top	Blue +3	Green +3	50	20	21	30

Lv 25 gap: no native lv 25 mage top. Bridge with the lv 25 Blue Doros Robe Overall until Fairy unlocks at 30.

Bottoms

	Lvl	Tier	INT	LUK	INT req	LUK req	WDEF	MDEF
	10	Armine Skirt / Training Pants	Black Armine Skirt +1	Green Armine Skirt +1	10	0	6	12
	15	Arianne Skirt	Yellow +1	Green +1	20	0	8	14
	20	Split Skirt / Pants	White +2	Black +2	30	10	10	16
	30	Fairy Skirt	Blue +3	Purple +3	50	20	14	20

Same lv 25 gap, same fix (Doros Robe Overall). Every tier has Pants + Skirt sub-variants with identical stats; pick whichever fits your character.

Overalls (available from lv 15)

Mages and warriors are the two 1st-job classes with a native Overall progression starting at lv 15; the mage line runs Plain Robe → Doros → Wizard Robe. Bowmen and thieves don't get a dedicated overall in this level range. Sauna Robe at lv 30 is a no-req 10-slot fallback any class can wear.

	Lvl	Item	INT	LUK	INT req	LUK req	WDEF	MDEF	Slots
	15	Plain Robe (Mage)	Blue +3	Green +3	20	0	22	38	10
	25	Doros / Doroness (Mage)	Blue Doros +5	Purple Doroness +5	40	15	33	49	10
	30	Wizard Robe (Mage)	Blue +6	Black +6	50	20	38	55	10
	30	Blue Sauna Robe (any)	+1	+1	0	0	57	0	10

Sauna Robe is the reward from the Returned Secret Book quest (final step of Mr. Wetbottom's chain in Sleepywood). Blue and red are identical (+1 to every base stat).

Shoes

Two no-req gems stand out: Squishy Shoes (lv 28, any class, +1 all base stats) and Blue Snowshoes (lv 30, Mage, +1 INT).

	Lvl	Variant	Bonus	INT req	LUK req	WDEF	MDEF	Avoid
	10	Brown Basic Boots (Mage)	+1 avoid	10	0	3	6	+1
	10	Blue Basic Boots (Mage)	+1 avoid	10	0	3	6	+1
	10	Yellow Basic Boots (Mage)	+1 LUK, +1 avoid	10	0	3	6	+1
	15	Beige Nitty (Mage)	+5 MP, +1 avoid	20	0	4	7	+1
	15	Black Nitty (Mage)	+5 MP, +1 avoid	20	0	4	7	+1
	20	Blue Jewelry Boots (Mage)	+2 LUK, +2 avoid	30	10	5	8	+2
	20	Purple Jewelry Boots (Mage)	+1 LUK, +2 avoid	30	10	5	8	+2
	20	Red Jewelry Boots (Mage)	+1 LUK, +2 avoid	30	10	5	8	+2
	25	Silver Windshoes (Mage)	+2 LUK, +5 MP, +2 avoid	40	15	6	9	+2
	25	Black Windshoes (Mage)	+1 LUK, +5 MP, +2 avoid	40	15	6	9	+2
	25	Yellow Windshoes (Mage)	+1 LUK, +5 HP, +2 avoid	40	15	6	9	+2
	28	Squishy Shoes (any)	+1 STR / +1 DEX / +1 INT / +1 LUK	0	0	7	7	0
	30	Blue Magicshoes (Mage)	+3 LUK, +3 avoid	50	20	7	10	+3
	30	White Magicshoes (Mage)	+1 LUK, +3 avoid	50	20	7	10	+3
	30	Red Magicshoes (Mage)	+1 LUK, +3 avoid	50	20	7	10	+3
	30	Black Magicshoes (Mage)	+1 INT, +2 LUK, +3 avoid	50	20	7	10	+3
	30	Blue Snowshoes (Mage)	+1 INT, +3 avoid	0	0	7	10	+3

Gloves

Start at lv 15 (Lemona, +1 INT, only one variant). Pre-15, wear common-class Work Gloves. Tiers 20+ have INT, LUK, and hybrid INT/LUK colour variants.

	Lvl	Tier	INT	LUK	INT req	LUK req	WDEF	MDEF
	15	Lemona	Lemona +1	(none)	20	0	3	5
	20	Morrican	Blue +2 or Purple +1/+1	Green +2 or Purple +1/+1	30	10	4	6
	25	Mesana	Ocean +2 or Dark +1/+1	Blood +2 or Dark +1/+1	40	15	5	7
	30	Lutia	Blue +3 or Black +2/+1	Red +3	50	20	6	8

Capes

Old Raggedy Cape (lv 25, no req, 10 WDEF) is the only meaningful cape in this level range. Grab it the moment you hit 25.

Earrings

Shared across all classes, primarily a scroll-slot piece (MDEF + small bonuses). Scroll Earring INT scrolls into them.

	Lvl	Earring	MDEF	Bonus
	15	Single Earring	19	(scroll target)
	20	Weighted Earrings	22	+1 avoid
	25	Leaf Earrings	24	+5 MP, +2 avoid
	30	Lightning Earrings	27	+2 avoid

Shields

Every mage gets a free shield slot (wands and staves are 1-handed). Grab one as soon as you can meet the req. You can also scroll shields with Accuracy if you find yourself missing.

	Lvl	Shield	WDEF	MDEF	Stat req	Bonus	Job
	5	Stolen Fence	40	0	None	None	Common
	10	Pan Lid	45	0	None	None	Common
	22	Mystic Shield	30	42	INT 34, LUK 12	+10 HP	Mage

Mystic Shield is the only Mage-locked shield in this range. Wear the Pan Lid (or Stolen Fence pre-10) as a placeholder until lv 21.

Scrolling: cheap and safe until level 50

Where to grind from 10 to 30

For per-bracket map picks (Lv 10-15 through Lv 25-30), open the Best Grind Maps guide and filter to the lv 10-30 brackets. Mages out-grind melee in this range because Magic Claw is ranged (no touch damage), Magic Guard absorbs 80% of HP damage into MP, and the MP pool is huge.

Level 30: pick your second job

Return to Grendel the Really Old for a short quest, then choose:

• F/P Wizard → Fire Arrow burst (with 3s DoT) + Poison Breath (4-target explosion with 8s poison DoT at 75% chance), plus MP Eater and Meditation. Reactive, weakness-aware solo play.
• I/L Wizard → Cold Beam freeze + Thunder Bolt AoE, plus MP Eater and Meditation. Strongest clear curve for grinding parties thanks to Thunder Bolt's hitbox.
• Cleric → Heal (doubles as damage to up to 6 undead), Bless (party acc/avoid/HP-from-items; no WDEF/MDEF in Classic World), Holy Arrow (3-hit, extra dmg vs undead), Invincible (-30% physical dmg at max). Single-target damage per minute at the lv 50 baseline is about 111,550, third behind Bandit Savage Blow (about 148,007) and Assassin Drain (about 132,168).

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