Monster Carnival Guide Meow! Hi Saga, I'm MeowStar and I'm a hardcore MCPQ mule because MCPQ is life. Saga is missing a Monster Carnival guide, so I've written one! 1. What is MCPQ? 2. Why Should You Do It? 3. MCPQ Rewards 4. MCPQ Collaborative Strategy 5. MCPQ Class Guide 6. Making a MCPQ Mule 7. Building the Ultimate MCPQ Mule 8. List of MCPQ mules 1. What is MCPQ? Monster Carnival (Party Quest) is a game mode for players Lv 50 - 70 (Normal Mode) / 95 - 115 (Hard Mode). It can be accessed via Dimensional Mirror in major towns. Teams of two or three will be pitted against another team of two or three. Players compete for Carnival Points (CP) by killing monsters to earn EXP and Maple Coins. To learn more about the mechanics of MCPQ, visit this Hidden Street Article. The only difference between MapleSaga's MCPQ and Hidden Street's is that the mobs give plenty of EXP and the level requirement is Lv 50 - 70 (Normal Mode) / 95 - 115 (Hard Mode). Please note that the Protectors Power Up and Guard Up are bugged in MapleSaga, and summoning them actually helps your opponent. 2. Why Should You Do It? Do you like socializing and talking to people? Do you like earning rewards while killing monsters? Do you hate long PQs? Do you love PVP games? Do you want to level quickly from 50 to 70? Do you HATE the stress, pressure, and cost associated with raiding? If you answered yes to any one of these questions above, then MCPQ is for you! 3. MCPQ Rewards For 2v2 battles (Maple Coins you earn from win/loss): Spoiler: Reveal <250PTS: Rank C (10 / 0) 250PTS: Rank B (12 / 3) 500PTS: Rank A (15 / 5) 1000PTS: Rank S (18 / 6) For 3v3 battles (Maple Coins you earn from win/loss): Spoiler: Reveal <375PTS: Rank (10 / 0) 375PTS: Rank B (12 / 3) 750PTS: Rank A (15 / 5) 1500PTS: Rank S (18 / 6) 5 Maple Coins can be redeemed for a Gold Mustache Box. These boxes contain random rewards: Chaos Scroll Spiegelmann's Necklace of Chaos Spiegelmann's Luxury Cape Secret Key Elixir, Orange Juice, Melting Cheese, Dried Squid, Fat Sausage, Peach, Reindeer Milk Various DEX and DEF scrolls Various ores Screw 4. MCPQ Collaborative Strategy Although MCPQ can be played competitively, trading wins is more favorable for both teams. The most popular summon is F8, as it cost 11CP to summon and gives 6 CP per kill. The playing field has a hard cap to the number of summoned monsters. A general rule of thumb is that the losing team should summon more monsters than the winning team. A ratio of 70/30 summons is fair, but definitely communicate with the other team in advance to clear up any misunderstanding. 5. MCPQ Mule If you're interested in making a character for the sole purpose of MCPQ, then congrats, you've taken your first step in joining the ranks of a MCPQ mule! 6. MCPQ Class Guide Spoiler: Warriors (Fighter, Page, Spearman) Pros: Can hit a ton of mobs with slash blast given the right set up, high endurance. Cons: Problem with accuracy, need haste for movement, short range attacks. Comments: Fighters have the potential to be one of the strongest MCPQ class because they have access to shields and the Rage buff. With the right funding, a fighter can slash blast their way to victory. Spearmans' Hyper Body buff is useful, but unnecessary as Lv 70 MCPQ mules rarely die. Spoiler: Thief (Bandit) Pros: Savage Blow is the strongest DPS skill available for MCPQ. Access to haste and Assaulter for maximum mobility. Damage range benefits from two secondary stats. Cons: Short range, prone to being knocked off platform, costly to fund, no mob skills. Comments: Bandits are the only class that benefits from two secondary stats: STR and DEX. They would be the best MCPQ mule if it wasn't for the fact that they're reliant on high mob density in a single platform. The general damage formula for MAX and MIN range is as follows: MAX = (Primary Stat + Secondary Stat) * Weapon Attack / 100 MIN = (Primary Stat * 0.9 * Skill Mastery + Secondary Stat) * Weapon Attack / 100 This means Bandits benefit from equips that give STR/DEX/LUK, and not just LUK. Savage Blow at max level deals 6 x 80% damage = 480%, and benefits from STR/DEX/LUK/WA. Spoiler: Thief (Assassin) Pros: Lucky Seven is the strongest long range DPS skill available for MCPQ. Access to haste and Shadow Partner for 21% additional skill damage. Able to heal with drain. Cons: Need to recharge stars and can't fight at close range. Can be costly to fund but also cheap. Comments: There is no doubt that everyone who makes an assassin mule should go dexless. This means a base stat of: 4 STR, 25 DEX, 4 INT, XX LUK. Dexless sins are probably the most popular MCPQ mules. Lucky Seven damage is special because it doesn't care about mastery. It is calculated as follows: MAX = (LUK * 5.0) * Weapon Attack / 100 * total skill damage* MIN = (LUK * 2.5) * Weapon Attack / 100 * total skill damage* As you can see, STR and DEX plays no role in Lucky Seven's damage, so you'll want to equip gear focused on LUK and Weapon Attack. Claw Mastery actually does nothing for sins for MCPQ besides increasing the recharge limit of stars and stabilizing Drain's damage. Spoiler: How is Lucky Seven, Critical Throw, and Shadow Partner Total Skill Damage Calculated? At max level, Lucky Seven does 150% skill damage. At max level, Critical Throw has a 50% success rate of dealing 200% critical damage. When you factor in Critical Throw into Lucky Seven, you do not multiply by two. Instead, you change the multiplier of 1.5 (150%) into 2.5 (250%), hence only adding 100% to Lucky Seven's skill damage. At 50% success rate, I will add only 50%, so Lucky Seven's average skill damage is 200%. With one point into Shadow Partner, you get 21% skill damage from your shadow. 200% x 0.21 = 42%. Thus, the total average damage with all three skills is 242% damage, with a min of 181.5% and max of 302.5%. At Lv 70, 1 WA ≈ 3.5 LUK for Lucky Sevens' damage. Spoiler: Gearing a Dexless Sin Stars: Poor players can opt for Steelys and Ilbis throwing stars, while veterans will want to purchase Crystal Ilbis. Weapon: Maple Skanda is widely accessible in the FM (drops from Grizzlies, a popular monster farmed for it's CS) and players can scroll their own claws for 5m/scroll (60%). Hat: Use hats that have WA or LUK. Face Accessory: The best face accessory is Guy Fawkes Mask, but these are hella expensive. You can opt for cheaper alternatives like Mardi Gras masks that have 3 LUK and 3 WA. Eye Accessory: The best glasses are Broken Glasses. Buy them in FM for ~65m, or find one as a random reward from LPQ. Earrings: Use earring for LUK scrolls. The best earrings are ones that have base LUK (RARE!). Top/Overall: Most players will opt for a bathrobe scrolled with LUK, or a dexless top scrolled with LUK. Top for LUK scrolls are slightly cheaper and more available than overall scrolls. Alternatively, you can purchase overalls that have 2-3 WA. Bottoms: Purchase pants from Lith Harbor and scroll them with DEX. DEX doesn't help with Lucky Seven's damage, but they contribute to Drain's damage. You may also get lucky and purchase Silver Clover Pants and Gold Clover Pants from the FM. These pants come with base LUK, but are extremely rare. Gloves: Aim for any gloves scrolled with weapon attack. Veterans should go for 12+ WA gloves. Pendant: Use Spiegelmann's Necklace of Chaos that have LUK and WA. Other stats are not so important. Shoes: The best shoes have WA, like Red Christmas Socks. If you can't afford these, opt for Yellow Christmas Socks as those contain LUK and are cheap. Capes: Poor players can scroll themselves a Spiegelmann's Luxury Cape with LUK. Veterans will want to scroll Pink Adventure Capes or Pink Gaia Capes. Rings: Hardcore MCPQ mules will opt for Trailblazer Ring 1 and Trailblazer Ring 2. Guild War rings will also help immensely with damage. Spoiler: Magician (Fire/Poison) Pros: Access to teleport and has the strongest single target magic skill for MCPQ. Certain mobs like F8 is weak to fire. Can attack at short and far range. No problems with accuracy at high level. Cons: No mob attack, no flashy damage. Comments: F/P mages and their Fire Arrow can deal the single highest damage in MCPQ and can knock back just about any mob. Even an unfunded F/P mage can dish out damage and collect points. Players who want to make a MCPQ mule but don't have money, may want to try building a F/P mage. INT equips are widespread due to washing, and some may be acquired cheaply. At Lv 70, F/P mages reach a damage spike with the Firebolt weapon. Firebolt increases Fire Arrow damage by 10%. For extra damage to Fire Arrow, add 1 point to Element Amplification at Lv 70. Spoiler: Magician (Ice/Lightning) Pros: Access to teleport and AOE skill that hits up to 6 monsters. Can freeze enemies. Cons: Weak magic attack. Comments: Theoretically, I/L should have the strongest total damage over time because F10 (Spirit Vikings) are weak against lightning. In practice, nobody summons F10 because they cost 30 points to summon. At Lv 70, I/L mages reach a damage spike with Icegust. Unfortunately, Icegust only increases Thunder Bolt damage by 5%. For extra damage, add 1 point to Element Amplification at Lv 70. Spoiler: Magician (Cleric) Pros: Access to teleport and heal. Cons: Weakest magic attack. Comments: Heal can only deal damage to F2, F4, F5, and F9. I don't recommend building a cleric MCPQ mule. Spoiler: Bowman (Hunter/Crossbowman) Pros: High accuracy even at low levels. Long range attack. Cons: Can't attack at close range, lack of mobility. Comments: Deals stable and moderate damage. Hunters can use Arrow Bomb to stun and dish out AOE damage. Crossbowman can use Iron Arrow. I would argue that Hunters have advantage over Crossbowman in MCPQ. A huge advantage bowman have over other classes is the existence of DEX scrolls for just about every piece of equipment. They are cheap and can be easily farmed. Spoiler: Pirates (Gunslinger) Pro: Long range attack. No problem with accuracy. Some mobility with dash, recoil shot and wings. Cons: Can't attack close range. Comments: Pails in comparison to Assassins and Bowmans due to lack of critical skill. DEX equipments are cheap and gunslingers would use equipment that bowman uses. Could be considered more "fun" than bowman in MCPQ. Spoiler: Pirates (Brawler) Pro: Access to powerful mobbing abilities and knockback. Cons: Problem with accuracy, mobility, and short range. Comments: Brawlers are built like warrior: STR for damage and DEX for accuracy. However, their somersault kick hits up to 6 monsters for 190% damage, while warriors' slash blast only deal 130% damage. The only downside is that Lv 64 Maple Knuckles are pretty rare as not that many players build Brawlers. Spoiler: Beginners Pro: Bragging rights. Cons: Weaker than a cleric. Comments: I haven't seen any beginner MCPQ mules, but it'd be exciting to see one in the future! 7. Building the Ultimate MCPQ Mule The ultimate MCPQ mule requires time, perseverance, and probably an arm and a leg. The goal of a MCPQ mule is to maximize every aspect of their damage so that they can kill faster and earn more points. This means: Maximizing the stats of your Prestige/Hidden Knowledge Acquiring Trailblazer Ring 2 Feeding Antharium to your Mount Washing your mule from Lv 1 - 70, and resetting MP into HP to become unkillable Scouring the FM for better gear Trying your luck scrolling Get +3 stat on your Pet Equip (and become a legend...) Becoming familiar with the MCPQ map layout Not forgetting to AP reset and adding 5 AP to your main stat after 3rd job advancement 8. List of MCPQ Mules Coming soon. PM me if you're a MCPQ mule! Credits: https://global.hidden-street.net/party-quest/monster-carnival-2 https://forums.mapletip.com/index.php?/topic/137139-the-monster-carnival-party-quest-ultimate-guide/ https://ayumilovemaple.wordpress.com/2009/09/06/maplestory-formula-compilation/