WarriorSTR · Melee fighters with the highest HP
MagicianINT · Spellcasters
BowmanDEX · Ranged attackers
ThiefLUK · Fast and evasiveWarrior Guide Level 1–30 in MapleStory Classic World: Skills, AP and Training
You become a Warrior at level 10 by talking to Dances with Balrog in Perion. From there it's STR, Power Strike and Slash Blast until 2nd job at level 30, when you pick Fighter, Page or Spearman. Skip DEX unless a weapon or a real accuracy problem asks for it.
Quick answer: all AP into STR until level 10 · Power Strike 1 at level 10, then a few points in Slash Blast early · Power Strike 20 by around level 20 · finish Precise Strikes before 30 · add DEX only when your next weapon needs it · Sword keeps both Fighter and Page open at 30.
Levels 1–10: Maple Island to Perion
Do the Maple Island quests, sail to Victoria Island, and walk to Perion at level 10. Dances with Balrog handles both your 1st and 2nd job advancement, so you'll be back here at 30.
Put every AP into STR. The two sources we checked disagree on the details here, which is worth knowing before you plan:
Is there a STR requirement for 1st job? Sources disagree. One says Classic World has no stat requirement for the Warrior advancement and lists a fresh character at 12 STR / 5 DEX / 4 INT / 4 LUK, reaching 57 STR / 5 DEX at level 10 if every point goes into STR. Another, working from older data, lists a STR 35 gate and says all stats start at 4 with 9 AP placed at creation. Either way, an all-STR character clears 35 comfortably. Check your stat window before you leave for Perion.
You also reportedly get 9 Beginner SP by level 10, enough to put 3 points each into Three Snails, Recovery and Nimble Feet.
The Warrior's first-job skills
Max levels, costs and effects below are from the Classic World skill data.
| Skill | Max | What it does for you |
|---|---|---|
| Power Strike | 20 | One target: 160% for 4 MP at Lv 1, 260% for 12 MP at max |
| Slash Blast | 20 | Up to 6 mobs per swing: 70% at Lv 1, 130% at max; costs HP and MP (16 HP, 14 MP at max). Needs Power Strike Lv 1 |
| Precise Strikes | 15 | +20 Accuracy and +5% Critical Rate at max |
| Improved HP Recovery | 15 | HP regenerates every 10 sec even while moving; potion HP +20% at Lv 1, +50% at max. Lv 3 opens Max HP Increase |
| Max HP Increase | 15 | +10% Max HP at Lv 1, +12% at Lv 3, +25% at max. Lv 3 opens Iron Body |
| Iron Body | 20 | 15 MP buff; one point gives +20% Weapon Def. for 300 sec (+40% for 600 sec at max) |
Power Strike or Slash Blast?
Power Strike is your bread and butter: the same 260% skill carries you from level 10 all the way through 2nd job. Slash Blast is the mobbing tool. The common rule of thumb: use it when it will hit three or more mobs. Its reach also grows a little at skill level 11, from 130 px to 150 px.
Some older community skill tables list Slash Blast as single-target. The Classic World skill data settles it: up to 6 mobs (mob count 6 at every level). It also costs HP on top of MP, so keep an eye on your HP bar when you spam it.
Max HP Increase works differently in Classic
If you played old GMS, you remember maxing Max HP Increase immediately because it added HP per level and taking it late lost HP forever. In the Classic World skill data it's a flat Max HP +% passive instead: +12% at Lv 3, +25% at Lv 15. Because it's a percentage, not HP added per level-up, taking it late shouldn't cost you anything, so 3 points is plenty in 1st job.
SP build: levels 10–30
There are 61 SP between levels 10 and 30 (community count), while maxing all six skills would cost 105. So something gets trimmed. This community order lands on Power Strike 20, Slash Blast 19, Precise Strikes 15, Improved HP Recovery 3, Max HP Increase 3 and Iron Body 1:
| Level | Spend | Running total |
|---|---|---|
| 10 | Power Strike +1 | PS 1 (opens Slash Blast) |
| 11 | PS +2, Slash Blast +1 | PS 3, SB 1 |
| 12 | PS +1, SB +2 | PS 4, SB 3 |
| 13 | SB +1, Precise Strikes +2 | SB 4, Precise 2 |
| 14 | Precise Strikes +3 | Precise 5 |
| 15–19 | Power Strike +15 | PS 19 |
| 20 | PS +1, SB +2 | PS 20, SB 6 |
| 21–24 | Slash Blast +12 | SB 18 |
| 25 | SB +1, Precise +1, Improved HP Recovery +1 | SB 19, Precise 6 |
| 26–28 | Precise Strikes +9 | Precise 15 |
| 29 | Improved HP Recovery +2, Max HP Increase +1 | IHPR 3, MHP 1 |
| 30 | Max HP Increase +2, Iron Body +1 | MHP 3, Iron Body 1 |
Finish this before you advance: community guides say 2nd job SP can't go back into 1st job skills. If you keep missing on your favorite map, pull Precise Strikes earlier: a miss still burns the full MP cost.
Some guides take a more cautious line (Power Strike to 20 first, Slash Blast held back). If you mostly solo one mob at a time, that's a reasonable variant; if you train on packed maps, Slash Blast's 6-mob reach pays off.
AP: how much DEX does a Warrior need?
Classic World has no dice roll and no reason to dump DEX "for later". Both sources agree STR is the main stat for the Warrior and all three 2nd jobs, so nothing you put into STR is wasted at 30.
The only thing DEX buys you is weapon requirements and accuracy. One community sample path keeps 5 base DEX to level 10, then mostly adds 4 STR / 1 DEX per level:
| Level | Base STR | Base DEX | Why |
|---|---|---|---|
| 10 | 57 | 5 | All STR so far |
| 15 | 75 | 12 | Sabre-era gear |
| 20 | 94 | 18 | 20 total DEX with Iron Viking Helm |
| 30 | 135 | 27 | Blue Axe needs 30 total DEX; Jousting Helmet adds 3 |
The rule behind it: count the DEX your gear already gives, and only add base DEX up to the next weapon's requirement.
Dexless (low-DEX) Warrior
Some players go further and keep DEX near the floor. One community plan goes: STR 87 / DEX 5 by level 16, STR 107 / DEX 10 by level 21 (DEX 15 if you can't afford the gear), and STR 141 / DEX 21 for levels 21–30, with an eventual drop to DEX 4. Its author says it needs funding for pre-scrolled gear or an AP reset later. It's a plan for a funded second character, not a first one.
Weapons and gear, levels 10–30
Pick your weapon family with 2nd job in mind. Both sources agree on who uses what:
- Fighter: sword, axe
- Page: sword, blunt weapon
- Spearman: spear, polearm
A sword keeps two doors open (Fighter and Page). An axe points at Fighter, a blunt at Page, a spear or polearm at Spearman.
A common upgrade path for sword and axe users (W.ATK from the game data; community shop lists put the level 10–25 picks in River's Perion Weapon Store, but shop stock isn't in the game data):
| Level | Weapon picks (W.ATK) |
|---|---|
| 10 | Wooden Sword (30, two-handed), Metal Axe (30, two-handed) |
| 15 | Sabre (32), Battle Axe (32) |
| 20 | Viking Sword (37), Two-Handed Sword (40), Iron Axe (35) |
| 25 | Broadsword (45), Two-Handed Axe (45), Mithril Axe (45) |
| 30 | Scimitar (53), Blue Axe (50), Gladius (47) |
The level 30 picks have no crafting recipe or quest reward in the launch data and their drop source isn't in the game data, so plan on buying one from another player or keeping your level 25 weapon. If you've already settled on Page or Spearman, the other families hit harder earlier: Pole Arm (35) at level 10, Heavy Mace and Iron Ball (40 each, Warrior-only) at 15, though all three are Slow weapons.
Weapon upgrades first, armor later. Overalls are gender-locked: female Warriors get their first overall (Steel Fitted Mail, female-only) at level 15, while male Warriors wait until 20 for the Kendo Robe line (Blue, Red and White Kendo Robe, all male-only). Overalls matter because they have 10 upgrade slots and take STR/DEX scrolls.
Where to train, levels 10–30
A community training calculator picks maps for 100% hit rate and guaranteed Power Strike kills. We've kept its picks and added spawn counts from the game data, densest first, because a map with more mobs keeps your Slash Blast fed:
| Level | Map (spawns) | Main mobs |
|---|---|---|
| 10–14 | Thicket Around the Beach II (18 Pigs of 48), A Hill West of Henesys (16 Pigs, 10 Ribbon Pigs of 54); the calculator's picks The Rain-Forest East of Henesys (9) and An Empty House (6) are safe but tiny | Pigs (7), Ribbon Pigs (10), Orange Mushrooms (8) |
| 15 | Mushroom Garden (34) | Orange Mushrooms, Shrooms |
| 15–25 | Tree Dungeon, Forest Up North IV (31 Green Mushrooms of 44); Dungeon, Southern Forest III (16 of 26) | Green Mushroom (14), Slime (6) |
| 22–30 | Ant Tunnel III (99: 61 Zombie, 38 Horny Mushrooms) | Zombie Mushroom (24), Horny Mushroom (22) |
| 30 | Line 1 <Area 1> (64) | Bubbling (15) |
Community grind-map lists also add West Rocky Mountain III (32 Green Mushrooms of 67) for the early teens; it also has 9 Dark Axe Stumps (level 23), so it's not a pure level 14 map. Monster levels are from the game data. L Forest I has the most Ribbon Pigs (21), but it's a mixed-level map: one level 28 Iron Hog spawns there too.
Two warnings: community lists leave Stirges (level 20) off Warrior picks because melee has a miserable time with flyers, and remember that a slightly worse map close to a potion shop often beats a "better" one you can't sustain. For the class-neutral route see where to train from 10 to 30, and from level 21 you can mix in Kerning PQ.
Pots and citizenship
Community guides recommend Henesys citizenship at level 12 for a Warrior, mainly for Raymond's Supreme Sniper Potion (+7 Accuracy for 15 minutes, per the item data). The best-value pots are Red Potions (100 HP) and Lemons (150 MP); community shop lists price them at 50 and 150 mesos (shop prices aren't in the game data). More on towns in our citizenship guide.
Level 30: choosing your 2nd job
Go back to Dances with Balrog in Perion. 2nd job is a short quest chain, not a single click: he sends you with a letter to the Warrior Job Instructor in West Rocky Mountain IV, you collect 30 Dark Marbles in a test map, then bring The Proof of a Hero back to him (full walkthrough). Your options, and what each is known for:
- Fighter: sword or axe, Rage party buff, best damage per MP of the three in a community level 70 model.
- Page: sword or blunt, Threaten debuff, can use a shield with one-handed weapons.
- Spearman: spear or polearm, longest melee reach, Iron Will self-buff, no shield.
Still torn? Read Fighter vs Page vs Spearman. Third job isn't in Classic World at launch, so your 2nd job is the whole kit for now. See the job advancement guide for the full picture.