[2017] What happened this year to Rayque?

It's that time of the year again! It's time for another summary!
This marks the 7th summary on this blog.

In tradition, I (and the rest of the Rayque3 Staff) wish you a great 2018. To be honest about my personal life here: 2017 has been such a mess with a scarce amount of redeeming moments. I wouldn't say it's "the absolute worst year I've experienced", but I could say it's definitely among the top 10. Either way, there's not much I can do about it, and even if 2018 to me doesn't feel to become any better, I'm always optimistic and stubborn enough to give it a try.

But enough "boohoo-ing" about something that will probably be an afterthought in a few years, I know we're all here for the statistics, achievements, shameless bragging and loads of numbers! So, let's get to it!

[EMS] Level 226!

Phew, still managed to level up before the end of this year! Having all those daily events where I have to grind in Arcane River and doing Hungry Muto's again really helped me obtaining lots of EXP (and Nodestones).

I'm certain that going from 226 to 227 isn't going to be as fast given these events don't last forever, plus, somewhere mid-2018 I'll hit Level 20 on my Arcane Symbol for Chew Chew Island. I'm not a person to keep on doing Hungry Muto's forever just for the EXP after maxing out that symbol, given I already have my hands full with a slow progress on my Lacheln and Arcana symbols for the time being (as y'know, you actually have to put some effort into these. Gasp!).

I'll most likely hit 230 somewhere next year to unlock Morass, but I'm pretty sure it'll be around the end of 2018 to get that far unless something dramatically improves to the amount of EXP I obtain a day. There's no need for me to rush to Level 230 though, as I would reach Level 230 and Level 20 on my Morass Arcane Symbol eventually anyway. For a lot of things in my life it's never a question of "if", but more a question of "when". But let's not get ahead of ourselves though - it's a significant journey from 226 to 230 if you rely on daily bosses/events and don't grind at all.

That's it for now - I'll see you guys again next post!

[EMS] Puncture

Puncture (KMS: Incising, MSEA: Incizing), one tertiary skill that is among the bottom layer of underused skills in a Hero's tool kit. Why's that? Dunno, don't ask me.

Hero is one of the few classes in MapleStory that has one skill for both bossing and mobility, being able to change Raging Blow's form to enhance its versatility. In most cases, classes have one skill that focuses on mobility and one that focuses on hitting hard on a limited amount of enemies. Most classes have at least one signature skill to weaken a target - Hero is no exception. In fact, Hero has two of them: Panic and Puncture.

Panic applies Blind on targets at an almost guaranteed percentage, which applies to another skill of Hero called Chance Attack. Chance Attack gives a damage multiplier to enemies that are either Stunned, Blinded, Frozen or Binded. Puncture applies damage over time on targets. This damage over time effect multiplies your damage if the damage is a critical hit. Nowadays, running 100% critical rate is pretty much standard and many people recommend it for good reasons. I mean, there's little reason not to run 100% critical rate on any class, really...

Unfortunately that's not all there is to Puncture. Puncture is one of the few skills in a Hero's lifetime that has barely changed since its introduction. While that might sound stale at first, that's because Puncture never needed a change. It was already broken since it's introduction, and its use has only been made more useful and more versatile in a short span of three years, to a point where a nerf is going to be imminent the moment when more people will figure this out.

I'm not going to say "Puncture is better than Raging Blow". It doesn't have to, therefore, it never will. However, the fact that we're talking about a tertiary skill getting this close to Raging Blow is quite an exceptional sight. And the fact that Nexon has been steadily improving Puncture in the past three years while this stayed unnoticed in the community is baffling to me. Because apparently the general opinion about Hero has always heavily relied on a single person showing on a community forum how to "Git Gud". Not just once - I've seen this happen several times since I've been playing on my Hero daily for the past 10 years.

I'm aware that it probably sounds bonkers that some internet dude claims "Puncture to get close to Raging Blow's level". Because let's be honest: it does sound bonkers. However, this isn't just a blog or blogpost with me rambling on with text without any proof. And I know that most of you recurring readers know that if a blogpost here is just called "[EMS] Puncture", there will a lot to nerd (and read) about. Let's dive in.

[EMS] Ninth Legendary Potential GET!

 

Hi guys! Actually something that happened several days ago, but I couldn't find a proper window to write on my blog as I've been occupied with a lot of different things. I haven't even been able to get my Cadena past Level 30, because most of my spare time went to my dailies (which includes getting a lot of Nova Coins) on Rayque. Haven't even been able to play lots of any other games either, tsk.

As mentioned in my previous Legendary-related blogpost, I took a small sidetrack to start cubing my Pendants to Legendary first as a preparation for the next Murgoth event somewhere in 2018. Fortunately, my Mark of Naricain immediately came with a 20% Item Droprate! Which means I can now focus on getting the same line on my Ani Pendant...

Anyway, my Mark of Naricain might seem like a fairly underwhelming equip, but don't let its appearance fool you: it has 1% All Stats Additional Options (which is still a display bug that Nexon probably won't fix until they reintroduce this upgrading feature). While 1% All Stats might not seem like much... wait until you get to a point where you perfect your Potential and gain a bunch of primary stat. Eh well, perhaps the scrolling is the only thing that might seem poor - but if anything, I could always use the Ark Innocence Scrolls to get rid of the scrolling while keeping the Additional Options, right? RNG scrolls are still RNG, even if you use a hundred Return Scrolls to force a good result (yes, those three slots so far were one hell of an unlucky bunch of Incredible Chaos Scrolls of Goodness).

I will most likely focus on getting my Secondary Weapon to Legendary Potential after I've obtained another 20% Item Droprate. My Secondary Weapon has been Unique for far too long, and the possible stats I could get from that one is probably the most rewarding for the amount of Meister Cubes I need to pour into said equip.

I'll probably have to start working on my Puncture blogpost soon, which most likely will be the next blogpost. I mean, 2017 has less than two weeks left, and before you know it, it'll be the 31st of December.

That's it for today - I'll see you guys again next time!

[EMS] Nova - 5th Job's third wave!

Alright, after pouring over 70 hours and love in Xenoblade 2 in a short week and finishing the main story a couple of days ago, I've caught a cold due to the obvious lack of sleep. Doh. However, the good news is, I can take a small break now that I know how that particular game ends - so it's time for the third wave of 5th Job!

This is going to be a somewhat tough one. The third wave of Nova is a fairly small wave that has been, unfortunately, criticized by many. Unlike the first and second wave, there was only one branch skill (one for each Warrior, Mage, Bowman, Thief and Pirate) and one skill for every class. And well, the branch skills are the ones that got the most backfire. However, as you probably should be aware of by now, is that from my point of view, there is definitely some use in both of the skills we've received - Body of Steel and Erda Shower.

I will also talk about a handful of other things at the bottom of this blogpost that I feel are worth mentioning (something about Erda Nova and the Hero changes during the Nova update), in a similar fashion to my second wave blogpost.

Anyway, let's get to it.

[Other] Well... shit

My weekend is officially over. I probably have to move to Mars. Until someone points me out that a day on Mars is almost as long as a day on Earth. Well, shit. Anyway, whoooooooooooooooooooooooo

And yes, I know the Nova update is in EMS. I mean, I play EMS daily. Of course, the third wave of 5th Job blogpost will arrive in a few weeks, followed by the Puncture blogpost later on! Just be patient for it.

Wait, I haven't told you I own a Switch? Well obviously, I don't always blog about everything that happens in my life.
I mean, how else can I surprise a few friends if they are subscribed to my blog? Kinda beats the point of "a surprise".

That's it for this weekend - I'll see you guys again next week! Unless something significant happens in EMS, that is.