MapleStory Game Guide

Bowmen specialize in powerful ranged attacks. If you like the idea of attacking enemies from a long distance away, and not often getting into close range, then perhaps a Bowman is for you. They have extremely high maximum damage, but unfortunately also have the lowest minimum damage. 

Pros

• Very high maximum damage.
• Attack at range.
• Usually can get their arrows free from monsters or from other players.
• Very high accuracy comparing to other classes.
• Can switch to a melee weapon at the lower levels and still be effective.
• Can knockback enemies.

Cons

• Very low minimum damage means damage stability is the worst out of all the classes.
• Terrible in melee range unless they switch to a melee weapon.
• Cannot combine attack and jump.

Avoidability is not very good which means they get hit more often.
Some players find them the most boring class as in general they just stand at a safe spot and shooting at enemies from a distance.

Low health, getting 2-hit-killed by monsters at high levels. Lack of party spells may lead to being excluded from parties.

After considering all its advantages and disadvantages, it is easy to guess, why bowman class is the least popular among players. However, there are still fair amount of players who love this class.

The bowmen are based in Henesys - the most popular place to train, trade, and socialize in Victoria Island.

The formula for bowmen to distribute ability points: for every level up you must put 4 points to Dexterity (DEX) and 1 point to the Strength (STR). Dexterity is good for bows, but and Strength is better for melee weapons. Strength affects the minimum damage range of a bow, but only very slightly, and at low levels almost unnoticeably. By level 10, when you need to do your first job advancement, you should have around 40 points in DEX and 15 in Strength.

At level 10, Beginners can travel to Henesys Park, where Athena Pierce will grant the player status as a Bowman. You will need to have at least 25 DEX to advance, but if you follow our guide it shouldn't be a problem for your bowman.

To reach your next advancement you will need to reach level 30. Want to admit, it is not easy one, because of all bowman's disadvantages. To pass it by the most efficient and quickest way, we will recommend you to follow this scheme:

• At levels 10-16 kill Slimes and Orange Mushrooms. Found around Henesys.
• At levels 17-20: You can add to your list Pigs, Ribbon Pigs. It has a good spawn at a hidden area between Lith Harbor and Henesys called Pig Beach. Also it can be found in a couple of areas around Henesys.
• At levels 21-25: Look for Green Mushrooms, Horny Mushrooms, Wooden Masks and Ghost Stumps. All of them can be found around Perion.
• At levels 26-30: Level up on Horny Mushrooms, Green Mushrooms and Zombie Mushrooms, which can be also found near Perion.

Upon reaching level 30, players need to meet Athena Pierce again at Henesys Park. From there, she will send the player to meet the second advancement instructor at the top of Road to the Dungeon. The instructor will send them into a special map, where they must collect 30 Dark Marbles.

Upon successfully gathering the marbles, the second advancement instructor will send the player back to Athena Pierce, and she will grant the player their second job - either as a Hunter or Crossbowman.

Hunters are specifically designed to use bows, though it is possible for them to wield crossbows. Hunters generally fire shots faster than Crossbowmen; however, their damage is less than Crossbowmen.

Crossbowmen are specifically designed to use crossbows, though it is possible for them to wield bows. A Crossbowman's damage is generally greater than a Hunter's; however, Crossbowmen fire shots slower than Hunters.

Third job advancement is made at level 70 in El Nath. You will need to complete a quest to advance. The third job advancement is the first major boost in power. The skills are far more powerful than any previous job and the test is harder. After the third job advancement, the monsters that will be trained on are far more powerful. Get ready to enter training methods where the monster can kill an archer in two hits. At this advancement Hunters become Rangers and Crossbowmen become Sniper.

At level 120, your bowman can get final job advancement. At Level 120, speak to Athena Pierce. She will send you to see Legor of Leafre. The job instructor will instruct you to return the Heroic Star and Heroic Pentagon. They are dropped by Manon and Griffey, or obtained through buying the Secret Letter of Spell from Vega and giving it back to the Chief Tatamo of Leafre. Bowmen who became Rangers become Bow Masters, Snipers become Marksman.

Tips for the bowmen

Despite the many efficient enemies to train on from level 45 to 50, this is considered the "Archer hell" period. The least amount of experience percentage per hour will be gained during this time. Don't get discouraged!

After level 55, you should be able to figure out which training spots are good and which are bad. You can truly go nearly anywhere now.

Summarizing this class, we can say, that bowman is actually not that bad as many can think. You just need to treat it nicely. And if you like range weapon, this class is definitely for you.