After reading this guide you will be able to plan your first week in MapleStory Classic World (Classic World from here on): how to set up a character, how to reach a first job, which daily event to run, which dated events fit a new character, and what Nexon says is coming in November. Grand Launch happened on October 21, 2026 at 11:00 AM PDT (6:00 PM UTC), and per Nexon's FAQ the game is open to everyone with no Founder's Package needed. Every figure below comes from Nexon or mapleclassic.wiki. Where a figure is not listed, the guide says so instead of guessing.
Classic World is Nexon's recreation of pre-Big Bang MapleStory, and it runs inside the existing Global MapleStory (GMS) client. You install it through Nexon Launcher or Steam, on Windows or macOS, and sign in with a verified Nexon account.
Step one: set up your character
Per Nexon's Founder's Access release notes, each account holds up to 3 characters. Deleting a character starts a waiting period before it is removed, so treat your first slot as a real choice. Classic World characters are created fresh on Maple Island. Nexon's FAQ states that nothing moves between MapleStory worlds and Classic World except your NX balance (NX is the shared Cash currency). Characters, names, items and Maple Points stay where they are.
- Install and sign in. Use Nexon Launcher or the MapleStory listing on Steam, then select MapleStory Classic World. You should now see the Classic World character screen.
- Check the key bindings. Two layouts exist: Classic Style and Modern Style (WASD movement). Pick the one you can hold comfortably for long sessions.
- Turn on controller support if you want it. Xbox, DualShock and DualSense controllers are officially supported, but Enable Controller Support in Game Options is off by default. After switching it on you should see the controller respond in the menus. Other controllers may not work.
- Place your starting AP. AP (ability points) are the points you spend on your primary stats. Per the wiki, there is no dice roll in Classic World. Every primary stat starts at 4, and you place 9 AP directly. Putting all 9 into one stat takes it to 13. Four stats at 4 is 16 points of floor, and the 9 free points bring the opening total to 25.
Why this matters: your first job has a stat gate, covered below, and AP is permanent without a rare reset item. Decide your branch before you place the 9 points so the stat you need is already moving in the right direction.
Step two: your first session on Maple Island
Maple Island covers levels 1 to 10. Victoria Island, the second continent, is for level 10 and up. Your goal in the first session is to leave the island with a clear job plan, not to rush.
- Follow the in-game quest prompts. The wiki lists 221 quests at launch. This guide has no quest-by-quest route for Maple Island, so use the on-screen prompts.
- Watch your levels. Every level grants 5 AP. Until level 11, AP is auto-allocated to the Beginner's primary stats. From level 11 you allocate by hand. You should now see your stat window change after each level.
- Open your stat window before you advance. The fact sheet does not say how auto-allocation splits the points, so read your own numbers and compare them with the gate for your branch.
- Plan the trip to your instructor before you reach the advancement level. No travel routes between Maple Island and the Victoria Island towns are listed here, so use the in-game world map and the quest prompts.
Step three: choose and reach your first job
Classic World has four branches (Warrior, Magician, Bowman, Thief) plus Beginner, with first and second job advancement only. Per mapleclassic.wiki, each branch has a stat gate (the minimum stat you need) and an instructor who handles both the first and the second job.
| Branch | Stat gate | Advances at level | Instructor and place |
|---|
| Warrior | STR 35 | 10 | Dances with Balrog, Warrior Sanctuary, Perion |
| Magician | INT 20 | 8 | Grendel the Really Old, Magic Library, Ellinia |
| Bowman | DEX 25 | 10 | Athena Pierce, Bowman Instructional School, Henesys |
| Thief | DEX 25 | 10 | Dark Lord, Dark Lord's Trade Shop, Kerning City |
The table shows two things. First, the Magician has the lowest gate (INT 20) and the earliest advancement level, 8. Second, Bowman and Thief share the same DEX 25 gate, so DEX is the stat to check for either. A Warrior needs the highest raw stat, STR 35, which is why placing your starting AP with a Warrior in mind matters most. If your only goal is the shortest path to a job, the Magician has the lowest listed gate and the earliest level. That is a statement about the gate only, not about how the class plays later.
Advancing to a first job grants a small one-time AP bonus, but the amount is not listed, so do not plan around it.
- Check the stat and the level. Confirm both against the table. You should now see that your stat meets the gate.
- Travel to the instructor's town. Perion, Ellinia, Henesys and Kerning City are four of the six Victoria Island towns. The other two are Lith Harbor and Sleepywood.
- Talk to the instructor. After advancing you should see your new job name and a first skill list.
This site has separate build guides for several branches. This guide stays at the planning level.
Step four: run the daily check-in
The older Founder's First Step check-in ran October 6 to October 20, 2026, and it has ended. Its Grand Launch counterpart is The Journey Begins, which per Nexon's event notes runs from October 21, 2026 at 18:00 UTC until the end of November 18, 2026 UTC. It is a level 10 event, so it starts working for you once you reach Victoria Island.
- Reach level 10. Monsters level 10 or above are the ones that give you Maple Leaves.
- Collect 30 Maple Leaves. Defeat monsters level 10 or above. You should now see Maple Leaves in your inventory.
- Find Maple Administrator. The fact sheet does not list the map, so check the in-game event window.
- Trade the 30 leaves once per day. The limit is once per day per account. You should now see that day's reward.
The event has 14 daily rewards. They start with a Snail pet, Pet Food and 30 Red and Blue Potions, then move on to Safety Charms, a Regular Store Permit, Return Scrolls, Megaphones, Cakes, Atmospheric Effect Boxes and Item Megaphones. Missed days do not reset your progress; the next claim is the next day's reward. A missed day delays you but does not cost you the chain, so this is worth doing daily without stress. The event window ends on November 18, 2026, which leaves a long runway to claim all 14 rewards.
Step five: know the milestones after your first job
A few systems open at specific levels. Per Nexon's Founder's Access release notes:
- Crafting starts at level 10, with six crafting NPCs: Smithing, Weaponcrafting, Tailoring, Woodcrafting, Leatherworking and Arcforge. Recipe costs are not in the data used here, so read the dedicated crafting guide before spending mesos (the in-game currency).
- Citizenship starts at level 12. Henesys and Kerning City residents get shop, cab and storage perks. How to sign up is not listed here, so look for it in game once you reach the level.
- The Kerning City Party Quest starts at level 21. King Slime is fought inside it, per Nexon's Grand Launch release notes.
- Guilds and the Free Market are present at launch. The maximum character level is 100.
Players also ask about a trade lock on new characters (a level below which items cannot be traded). The sources used for this guide do not list its level or its rules, so no number is given here. Read Nexon's current notes in game before you plan to trade or sell.
Step six: pick your events
These are the dated events that matter most for a new character, all in UTC, per Nexon's event notes. Converting to your local time is your own step.
| Event | Starts (UTC) | Ends | Level | Where |
|---|
| The Journey Begins | 2026-10-21 18:00 | End of November 18, 2026 | 10 | Maple Administrator |
| The Marks We Leave Behind (Mark of the Beta) | 2026-10-21 00:00 | End of November 18, 2026 | 25 | Jay in Henesys |
| To Classic Beginners | 2026-10-21 00:00 | End of November 18, 2026 | Not listed | Mailbox |
| Halloween Candies | 2026-10-28 00:00 | End of November 18, 2026 | 10 | Malady in Henesys and Kerning City |
| Orange Slimes in town | 2026-10-28 00:00 | End of November 18, 2026 | 10 | Henesys, Ellinia, Kerning City and Perion |
Read the table by level. At level 10 you can run The Journey Begins, Halloween Candies and the Orange Slimes event. The Mark of the Beta event needs level 25, so it is a stretch target for a first week; you follow clues around Victoria Island to find the mark. To Classic Beginners has no level listed: if you finished the closed online test events (A Strange and Familiar Wood, Beyond the Unknown), the Classic Beginnings Label Ring and Chat Ring arrive by mail, one of each per test completed.
For Halloween Candies, you collect 100 Halloween Candies from monsters level 10 or above, return them to Malady, then finish her hidden mission around Victoria Island. The reward is the Pumpkin Basket: a tradable one-handed sword with Weapon Attack +27, Speed +3, fast attack speed and 7 upgrade slots. The Orange Slimes drop Halloween Candies and also Red Malady's Candy (600 HP), Blue Malady's Candy (450 MP) and Green Malady's Candy (300 HP and 300 MP), all tradable. Both The Journey Begins and Halloween Candies ask for monsters level 10 or above, so one hunting session may feed both. That is our reading of the requirements; Nexon's notes do not say whether progress overlaps.
GM events
GM (Game Master) events run in short windows. All three listed ones are entered through Paul in Lith Harbor once the GM opens the Event Door. Everyone gets an Event Trophy.
- Jump quest challenge: October 22, 2026, 00:00 to 02:00 UTC. Finish a jump quest within 15 minutes, with movement set to default and Haste and Teleport disabled. Finishers get a Scroll of Secrets.
- Coconut Harvest: November 6, 2026, 00:00 to 02:00 UTC. Two teams hit coconut trees with melee attacks for 5 minutes, with ranged attacks and skills disabled. Harry in the event map sells a melee weapon if you have none. The winning team gets a Scroll of Secrets.
- Ladders and portals: December 19, 2026, 00:00 to 02:00 UTC. Climb three stages within 6 minutes and pick the right portals, since wrong ones send you back to the start. Reaching the last stage earns a Scroll of Secrets.
You cannot enter if you already own a Scroll of Secrets or took part in a GM event in the past 24 hours. There are several rounds and rooms fill quickly, so if you cannot get in, wait for the GM's next round. A Scroll of Secrets goes to Chun Ji at the Kerning City Construction Site for a quest that gives a Magic Box, and Mr. Pickall in Kerning City opens the box for a random item.
When a map is crowded
Classic World has one world, Windia, with 20 channels as of October 14, 2026. If a map is full, click the channel button at the bottom of the screen or press the channel key and pick another number. You should now see the same map with a different crowd. Monsters, drops and quests are identical on every channel, and party members must be on the same channel to play together.
What comes next
Nexon says Forgotten Hollow opens in November. Rotten Mushmom lives there, so you cannot fight it yet. The wiki's monster table holds 66 monsters at launch, with Forgotten Hollow's entries included but unreachable for now. Bosses you can challenge today, per Nexon's Grand Launch release notes, are Mano, Stumpy, Mushmom, Shade, Zombie Mushmom and Jr. Balrog (six), plus King Slime inside the Kerning City Party Quest. Third job, fourth job and the continents beyond Victoria Island are not part of launch, so plan your early weeks around first and second job only.
What the data does not tell us
- The amount of the one-time AP bonus at first job advancement is not listed.
- The level and rules of any trade lock are not in the figures we hold.
- Drop rates and monster spawn counts are not recorded for the events above.
- The maps for Maple Administrator and citizenship sign-up, and travel routes from Maple Island, are not listed here.
A sensible first week, then: pick your branch before you place your 9 AP, reach Victoria Island, start the daily check-in at level 10, advance at your instructor, and watch the calendar for October 28, 2026 and November 6, 2026.
Last verified 2026-10-23 against mapleclassic.wiki data synced 2026-10-23 and Nexon's Classic World FAQ.
Frequently asked
- What should I do first in MapleStory Classic World?
- Create a character on Maple Island, place your 9 starting AP with your chosen branch in mind, and follow the quest prompts to level 10. Then travel to your instructor's town for first job advancement.
- Is there a dice roll for stats in Classic World?
- No. Every primary stat starts at 4 and you place 9 AP directly, so putting all 9 into one stat gives you 13. The original game rolled a random spread; Classic World replaced it with direct allocation.
- What stat do I need for first job in Classic World?
- Per mapleclassic.wiki, a Warrior needs STR 35, a Magician needs INT 20, and a Bowman or Thief needs DEX 25. The Magician advances at level 8; the other three advance at level 10.
- How does the daily check-in event work?
- The Journey Begins is a level 10 event. You defeat monsters level 10 or above for Maple Leaves and trade 30 of them to Maple Administrator once per day per account for one of 14 rewards. Missed days do not reset your progress.
- When does Forgotten Hollow open?
- Nexon says Forgotten Hollow opens in November. Rotten Mushmom lives there, so it is not yet reachable.
- At what level does citizenship unlock in Classic World?
- Citizenship starts at level 12, per Nexon's Founder's Access release notes. Henesys and Kerning City residents get shop, cab and storage perks.
