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Night Lord

Thief Night Lord
Path Beginner → Thief → Assassin → Hermit → Night Lord
Primary LUK
Secondary DEX

Night Lords are the throwing-star assassins of MapleStory, combining blazing speed with lethal precision. Shadow Partner doubles every attack for devastating burst damage, while Triple Throw delivers three rapid strikes that tear through enemies. With Flash Jump for unmatched mobility and Shadow Stars providing unlimited ammunition, Night Lords are the premier mobile attackers. They excel at both training and bossing, and remain one of the most popular and powerful classes in v83.

Key Skills
Triple Throw Shadow Partner Shadow Stars Flash Jump Maple Warrior
Pros
  • Triple Throw with Shadow Partner provides some of the highest sustained DPS in the game against both single targets and small groups
  • Flash Jump gives exceptional mobility, allowing quick repositioning during boss fights and fast map traversal during training
  • Shadow Stars removes the need to carry and buy throwing stars, effectively giving unlimited high-attack ammunition
  • Excellent at both mobbing and bossing, making Night Lords versatile at all stages of the game
  • High avoidability from LUK means you dodge many attacks naturally, adding survivability despite low HP
Cons
  • Very expensive class to fund properly. High-attack throwing stars and scrolled claws cost significant mesos
  • Low HP pool makes you vulnerable to percentage-based boss attacks and magic attacks that ignore avoidability
  • Heavily gear-dependent for damage. Without good claws and stars, damage falls behind other classes significantly
  • Shadow Partner can feel clunky in some situations as the phantom copy has a slight positional delay
  • No party utility buffs besides Haste. Night Lords bring pure DPS but nothing like Sharp Eyes or Holy Symbol

AP Distribution

Lv. 1-10 Complete Maple Island quests. Put all AP into DEX until you have 25 DEX, then switch to pure LUK. You need 25 DEX for Beginner thief equipment.
Lv. 10-30 As an Assassin, go pure LUK after meeting DEX requirements. Lucky Seven damage scales with LUK. Keep DEX at the minimum for your current claw.
Lv. 30-70 All AP into LUK. Critical Throw's extra damage also scales with LUK. Your throwing star damage is heavily LUK-dependent.
Lv. 70-120 As a Hermit, continue pure LUK. Shadow Partner effectively doubles your LUK scaling. Flash Jump costs no stats to use.
Lv. 120-200 As a Night Lord, all AP into LUK. Triple Throw with Shadow Partner means every point of LUK translates to massive DPS. Aim for high LUK with gear.

SP Allocation (Level by Level)

2nd Job Assassin Lv. 30-70

Level 30: Start maxing Claw Mastery immediately for stable damage
Level 30-37: Max Claw Mastery (20) then start Critical Throw
Level 37-46: Max Critical Throw (20) for massive damage boost on crits
Level 46-55: Max Claw Booster (20) for faster attack speed
Level 55-64: Max Haste (20) for movement speed and party utility
Level 64-70: Max Drain (20) for HP sustain, reducing potion costs
Remaining: Put leftover points into Endure for survivability

3rd Job Hermit Lv. 70-120

Level 70: Put 1 point into Shadow Partner, Flash Jump, and Avenger immediately
Level 70-79: Max Shadow Partner (30) first - it multiplies ALL your damage
Level 79-85: Max Flash Jump (20) for incredible mobility during training and bossing
Level 85-95: Max Avenger (30) for your best multi-target mobbing skill
Level 95-101: Max Shadow Web (20) for binding enemies in place
Level 101-111: Max Alchemist (20) for potion efficiency, then Shadow Meso with remaining
Tip: Always keep Shadow Partner active. The DPS increase is too significant to let it drop
Tip: Practice Flash Jump timing for smooth horizontal dashes across maps

4th Job Night Lord Lv. 120-200

Level 120: Max Triple Throw (30) immediately - this replaces Lucky Seven as your primary attack
Level 120-130: Max Shadow Stars (30) for unlimited high-attack throwing stars
Level 130-140: Max Shadow Shifter (30) for dodge chance survivability
Level 140-150: Max Maple Warrior (30) for the percentage LUK boost
Level 150-160: Max Venomous Star (30) for poison DoT on all attacks
Level 160-170: Max Taunt (30) for increased EXP and drop rates during training
Level 170-180: Max Ninja Ambush (30) and Ninja Storm (30) for utility
Level 180+: Max Hero's Will (5) and any remaining skills

1st Job Assassin

# Skill Max Notes
1 Claw Mastery 20 Max first for stable damage. Increases mastery percentage and accuracy with claws. 2 Critical Throw 20 Max second for critical hit chance. Critical hits add massive damage to every Lucky Seven and later Triple Throw. 3 Claw Booster 20 Attack speed boost. Claws are already fast, and Booster makes them even faster. 4 Haste 20 Movement speed and jump boost for you and your party. Very useful for training mobility. 5 Drain 20 Recovers HP when attacking. Reduces potion consumption significantly during training. 6 Keen Eyes 8 Passive accuracy boost from 1st job. Put points here early if you have accuracy issues. 7 Endure 20 HP and DEF boost. Low priority but helps survivability slightly.

2nd Job Hermit

# Skill Max Notes
1 Shadow Partner 30 Your most important skill. Creates a shadow copy that mimics your attacks at reduced damage. Effectively multiplies your DPS by 1.5x. Max immediately. 2 Flash Jump 20 Double-tap jump for a horizontal dash. Incredible mobility for dodging, repositioning, and training. Max second. 3 Avenger 30 Throws a giant star that hits up to 6 enemies. Your best mobbing skill in 3rd job. Max for training efficiency. 4 Shadow Web 20 Binds enemies in place. Useful for keeping mobs stationary while you attack from range. 5 Shadow Meso 30 Throws mesos as an attack. Niche use. Lower priority than other skills. 6 Alchemist 20 Increases potion effectiveness. Helpful for reducing potion costs during training.

3rd Job Night Lord

# Skill Max Notes
1 Triple Throw 30 Three rapid throwing stars per attack. With Shadow Partner, that's effectively 4-5 hits per attack. Max immediately as your defining skill. 2 Shadow Stars 30 Unlimited throwing stars with high attack power. Max second to never buy stars again and always have top-tier ammo. 3 Shadow Shifter 30 Chance to dodge attacks completely. Significant survivability boost for a squishy class. Max third. 4 Maple Warrior 30 Percentage-based stat boost. More LUK means more damage. Max for endgame. 5 Venomous Star 30 Adds poison damage over time to your attacks. Extra DPS that works on bosses. Max after core skills. 6 Taunt 30 Increases EXP and drop rate from taunted monsters. Great for training. Max for the bonus. 7 Ninja Ambush 30 AoE damage over time. Situational mobbing tool. 8 Ninja Storm 30 Knockback AoE attack. Useful for crowd control in some situations. 9 Hero's Will 5 Removes seduce. Put 1 point for Horntail, max later with leftover SP.

Training Spots

Lv. 1-10
Maple Island
Snails Blue Snails Shrooms
Complete Maple Island quests quickly. Lucky Seven makes early levels very fast for Assassins.
Lv. 10-20
Henesys Hunting Ground I
Green Mushrooms Horned Mushrooms
Quick kills with Lucky Seven. Close to town for potions and supplies.
Lv. 20-30
Ant Tunnel I
Horny Mushrooms Evil Eyes
Dense spawns in enclosed tunnels. Lucky Seven one-shots most mobs here for fast leveling.
Lv. 30-45
Kerning City Subway
Stirges Jr. Wraiths
Excellent EXP. Lucky Seven handles the flying Stirges perfectly from any position.
Lv. 45-55
Toy Factory Process 2 Zone 3
Robos Master Robos
Consistent EXP with manageable mobs. Lucky Seven and Haste make this map efficient.
Lv. 55-70
Wolf Spider Cavern
Wolf Spiders
Insane EXP per kill. Use Drain for sustain and Lucky Seven for quick kills.
Lv. 70-85
Ghost Ship 5
Dual Ghost Pirate
Great EXP with Shadow Partner doubling your damage output. Flash Jump between platforms quickly.
Lv. 85-100
Cemetery Full of Ghosts
Ghost Pirates Dual Ghost Pirates
Excellent EXP and drops. Avenger hits multiple Ghost Pirates while Shadow Partner amplifies DPS.
Lv. 100-120
Newt Secured Zone
Newties
Dense spawns with solid EXP. Avenger clears groups while Flash Jump keeps you mobile.
Lv. 120-200
Forgotten Twilight
Qualm Guardians
Top-tier EXP. Triple Throw with Shadow Partner melts everything. Also try Road to Oblivion 3 for variety.

Equipment Progression

Level Weapon Armor Notes
10-30 Garnier or Steel Titans Dark Fitted Mail or quest DEX/LUK gear Use Subis or Tobi throwing stars. Focus on getting a decent claw early.
30-50 Adamantium Igor or Blood Slain LUK scrolled Dark Fitted set or Thief armor Upgrade to Tobis or Hwabis. Start scrolling claws with 60% Claw ATT.
50-70 Blood Snowflake or Sapphire Claw LUK Dark/Red Pirate set or Thief set Steelys or Crystal Ilbis for stars. A good scrolled claw makes a massive difference.
70-100 Dragon Green Sleve or Skanda Zakum Helmet, LUK scrolled armor, Thief shoes Transition to endgame claws. Get Zakum Helmet and work toward HTP.
100-130 Scarab or Dragon Kanzir Zakum Helm, HTP, LUK scrolled equipment Ilbis or Crystal Ilbis for top damage. Shadow Stars removes star cost at 4th job.
130-200 Balanced Fury or Neva Full endgame: Zakum Helm, HTP, PAC, scrolled Thief gear Balanced Fury is best-in-slot. With Shadow Stars, you always have top-tier ammunition.
  • Shadow Partner should ALWAYS be active. It effectively adds 50% more damage to every attack you do. Rebuff immediately when it expires.
  • Flash Jump is not just for mobility - use it to dodge boss attacks reactively. Master the timing for horizontal dashes to avoid touch damage.
  • With Shadow Stars active, you always throw high-attack stars. This saves millions of mesos on Ilbi/Crystal Ilbi purchases over time.
  • Taunt increases both EXP and item drop rate from affected monsters. Use it on every mob during training for significantly faster progression.
  • For bossing, maintain a rotation of Triple Throw with Shadow Partner while positioning with Flash Jump to avoid attacks. Venomous Star adds passive DoT damage.