Job advancement

There are two advancements. Level 10 is a walk and a conversation. Level 30 is a short quest chain with one real test. Neither pays much EXP. You go for the skills, so go as soon as you qualify.

1st job: level 10

Talk to your instructor at level 10. Nexon names level as the only requirement for all four classes, and that includes Magicians, who advanced at 8 in older versions. Older references list stat gates as well. Nobody reports being refused, but nobody has shown a test at low stats either.

The gate you can count on is the weapon you buy next. These needs are in the game files, and every weapon here is level 10:

Class	Instructor	Where	First weapons	Seller
Warrior		, Perion	20 STR, 25 STR, 15 STR, no STR	. in Lith Harbor sells the last one
Magician		, Ellinia	20 INT, 20 INT
Bowman		, Henesys	25 DEX, 25 DEX
Thief		, Kerning City	25 LUK, 20 LUK

Shops charge 3,000 mesos for the sword, Steel Pipe, wand, staff and Zamadar, and 5,000 for the spear, polearm, bows and Garnier. Plan for the weapon need in this table by level 10. That covers your weapon only. It does not settle the stat gate question, because the older gates, if they still apply, were not all on your main stat.

Check your bag before you buy. The game files hold Beginner's versions with no shop value: , , , and . Reference data says the wand comes free at the job, not confirmed in Classic World, and we do not know how anyone gets the others. They carry the same stat needs.

What changes

• SP. Reference data, not confirmed in Classic World, gives 1 SP when you advance and 3 per level after that, which would be 61 by level 30. Spend it as you earn it.
• Beginner skills. You keep them. The leaves them alone too.
• HP and MP. By our estimate, not confirmed in Classic World, Warriors gain the most HP per level and Magicians the most MP, and a Magician's HP grows no faster than a Beginner's. We have no client figures yet.

2nd job: level 30

Before you go

• Be level 30. Every quest in the chain is level 30, so do not make the trip at 29.
• Read your branch guide first. You choose at the end of the chain, and nothing in the item tables changes a branch later. The links are below.
• Keep a free Use slot. Nexon fixed a bug on 21 Oct where 2nd job failed and ate the quest item with a full Use tab. A free slot costs nothing.
• Bring HP potions. Test mobs hit harder than the normal mobs you have been fighting.
• Check your accuracy. You want about 60 to 66, by our estimate (below).

The chain

Each class runs the same four quests.

1. Next Journey. Talk to your 1st-job instructor. , , , .
2. Finding the Instructor. Carry a letter to your Job Instructor on the field map. , , , .
3. Test of Qualification. The Job Instructor sends you to the test map. Collect 30 Dark Marbles from the mobs there. You collect them inside: you do not bring them. , , , .
4. Proof of Qualification. Take The Proof of a Hero back to your 1st-job instructor and choose a branch. , , , .

Class	Job Instructor	Stands on	Test map	Marble	Test mobs
Warrior					,
Magician					,
Bowman					,
Thief					,

Each class has its own letter, marble and proof. The Warrior's instructor stands out on West Rocky Mountain IV. He is not inside a hidden map. Warrior's Rocky Mountain is the test map. Each test map also has its own copy of the instructor.

What the test really is

All eight test mobs are level 30, with 718 to 789 HP. They have 204 to 224 W.ATK, which is 13 to 27% above a regular or , even though those are higher level. The Warrior map's also has 250 magic attack. The Thief map's mobs have 118 accuracy against 108 elsewhere, so they should be harder to dodge.

They pay 56 EXP each, less than a normal Fire Boar. There is no EXP trick here. The whole chain pays 9,560 EXP, on steps 1 and 2 only, which is a tenth of level 30's bar on the reference table, not confirmed in Classic World.

Accuracy, by our estimate. Test mob avoid is 18 on the Thief map, 20 on the Magician and Bowman maps, and 18 and 20 on the Warrior map. On the community estimate we use, 60 ACC gives full hits against avoid 18 and 66 against avoid 20. At 54 ACC expect about 80% and 60%. A Warrior with 30 DEX and 4 LUK has 49 before skills and gear, and adds up to 20, so raise it before you go. Whether spells can miss is not settled, so Magicians should treat this as a maybe.

Elements do not matter here. You are still 1st job, so the fire and ice marks on some test mobs change nothing for you.

Expect some waiting. Reference data from before the 30 Oct spawn change, not confirmed in Classic World, points to few mobs alive at once on these maps. If you die, the test map's return point is your Job Instructor's field map, and that is reportedly where you land. We do not know if marbles leave the map with you, so try to finish in one trip.

Choosing a branch

Class	Branch	Weapon	Choose it if
Warrior	Fighter	Sword, axe	You want a sword's accuracy: adds up to 20 ACC. adds a bleed instead
Warrior	Page	Sword, blunt weapon	You want the same sword accuracy from . adds critical damage instead
Warrior	Spearman	Spear, polearm	You can get ACC elsewhere. can ignore W.DEF and adds movement speed, and neither gives ACC
Magician	Fire/Poison	Wand, staff	You want fire-weak from 31 and from 34
Magician	Ice/Lightning	Wand, staff	You want ice-weak on at 35 to 40. Lightning-weak is a bonus if you can reach Florina Beach
Magician	Cleric	Wand, staff	You want on holy-weak undead maps and for parties
Bowman	Hunter	Bow	You want critical rate and movement speed from
Bowman	Crossbowman	Crossbow	You want critical damage from
Thief	Assassin	Claw	You want attack power and star recovery from
Thief	Bandit	Dagger	You want critical rate from

Treat the choice as permanent. An SP Reset Scroll moves your points, not your job, and the item tables hold nothing that changes a branch. Before you commit, look at your weapon. A Fighter or Page who holds a sword gets accuracy from , and no other weapon mastery gives any. See Accuracy explained.

3rd job

Not yet. For now, 2nd job is where you stay, and the game has no 3rd-job skills. Nexon says 3rd job and new regions may be introduced in stages. A 3rd job test server is reported for early 2027, from Nexon's MapleStory Fest panel, not a written notice.

Common mistakes

• Looking for the Warrior instructor inside a hidden map.
• Going in at 29.
• Treating the old stat gates as settled, in either direction.
• Expecting bonus EXP from test mobs. They pay less than normal mobs.
• Choosing a branch at the instructor and reading the guide afterwards.

What to do next

Read your branch guide, then go to the 30 to 40 part of the leveling guide.

Not confirmed yet

• Whether any stat gate applies at 1st job.
• Marbles per kill, any time limit, respawn speed, and whether others can share a test map.
• Whether marbles stay with you if you leave the map.
• How entry to the test works if you leave and come back.
• How much SP you get if you advance late. Advance on time.
• Whether SP earned after advancing can go into 1st-job skills. Spend your 1st-job SP before you advance.
• SP, HP and MP per level. They are not in the game data we hold.