Pathfinder Guide

Exam

Member
May 10, 2019
85
9
18
Durham, North Carolina
Hey guys! I wanted to make a Pathfinder Guide to help new players master some skills that will help you level up faster while training and input maximum damage as possible while bossing!

Who am I
I am currently a level 230 pathfinder in KMS and 210 in GMS. I went through a lot of trial and errors to finally master the class and I hope that I could help reduce the confusion for new players by making this guide!


PATHFINDER
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First, Pathfinder is a very fun and strong class. Currently, Pathfinder is top 1 in the DPM chart in GMS and top 6 in KMS for bossing and ranks top 3 in mobbing overall.

Secondly, Pathfinder is a challenging class. Nexon blessed us with classes that have to link their skills in order to reach maximum dpm and pathfinder is one of them. You have to use multiple skills during bossing in order to reach max dpm and max lines which may scare some people but don’t be! I would put pathfinder in terms of their difficulty to be similar to Mercedes.

Finally, Pathfinder is much better in GMS than KMS. (EX: If PF DPM rank is #6 in KMS, PF DPM rank will be higher than #6 in GMS) This is because of our attack speed hard cap of 0. In KMS, maximum attack speed is 2 but in GMS and Aries, your attack speed can be capped at 0 which would result in more lines per minute. You can reach 0 attack speed cap by

(6 (base attack speed) – 2 (booster) – 2 (Decent speed infusion) – 1 (attack speed inner ability) – 1 (Green MPE potion) = 0

Pros
-#1 DPM class in GMS (before nerf)
-Mobile class Cardinal Transition (teleport/dash) as well as flash jump.
-Top 3 Mobbing Class efficiency
-Consistent DPM class
-Fun to play (not a 1 skill press brain dead class)
-Flashy Skills
-VERY HIGH BASE Critical rate (approximately 75%)
-High Number of lines (Good for Hekaton)
-Have Iframe skill (Ultimate Blast)
-DEX

Cons
-
Will be Nerfed in 6 months (still top 6 dpm chart tho)
-Link Skill Character (need some skills to achieve max dpm)
-Burst Damage skill is Mediocre
-Low base IED of 30%
-No Bind
-Gauge dependent Class
-Squishy
-V Matrix somewhat hard to master
-DEX

First Line = Attack Speed +1 or Boss 20% (Attack speed +1 if you wanna reach hard cap of 0)
Second Line = Buff Duration 30%+ or Boss 10%
Third Line = Anything

Now, I will explain how pathfinder skills work together. For Pathfinder skill builds, click the link by Ayumilove below to get yourself familiarized with what skills to master, what hyper skills to use, and etc.


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https://ayumilove.net/maplestory-pathfinder-skill-build-guide/

After you’ve familiarized with the skills, now I will explain much more in-depth in what skills to use.

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For mobbing

Put Cardinal Blast and Cardinal Discharge to macro and use macro to link them together fluently
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(That’s it! Easy Right?)

For Bossing

(Buff)

Epic Adventurer> Vicious Shot> AB Link > Relic Evolution >

(Attack)

>Guided Arrow > True Arachnid Reflection > Curse Transition > Combo Assault (Transition) > Raven Tempest > Cardinal Blast (once) > Obsidian Barrier (Blast) > Cardinal Discharge (once) > Ancient Astra (Discharge) Press Key Down (Optional) > {Cardinal Blast and Cardinal Discharge Macro > Use Triple Impact and Edge of Resonance every once their cooldown is over} x Repeat

  • The reason why you have to use Curse Transition > Combo Assault (Transition) before you put damage is to 5 stack debuff enemies with ancient curse which increases critical damage by 4% per stack against debuffed enemies.
  • Cardinal Discharge (once) > Ancient Astra (Discharge) Press Key Down is Optional because they don’t input that much more dpm than just repeating {Cardinal Blast and Cardinal Discharge Macro > Use Triple Impact and Edge of Resonance every once their cooldown is over}
  • Also, Ultimate Blast 5th job has a 2-4 second iframe (invincibility) so only use them while when you need to avoid 1hit KO during bossing


Also, I found this video from islingunz to be helpful so feel free to watch them!

Okay, that is all I have, and I will continue to update this thread with new info or old info that I forgot to include.

Thank you all and let me know if you have any questions or something that you would like me to answer!

Please leave a like below if this was helpful!
 
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Sontan

Member
Oct 26, 2018
41
13
8
Beppu
Great timely guide. Can you do mobbing combos (what mode to swap to) and explain how to use Pathfinder in VJ monster park?
 

Exam

Member
May 10, 2019
85
9
18
Durham, North Carolina
Great timely guide. Can you do mobbing combos (what mode to swap to) and explain how to use Pathfinder in VJ monster park?
Since I won't be maining pathfinder (because I already do in other servers), I may not be able to explain how they do in VJ monster park but I'm sure someone will post a video about this soon after it comes out!
 

Meews

Member
Nov 15, 2018
56
40
18
Pluto
There are times when the 2nd job skill Swarm shot consumes 300 relic charges. Is that an official server thing or a bug in aries
 

pumkinkiwi

Member
Apr 9, 2019
42
8
8
Boulder, CO
From what I have gathered from inven, attack speed does not increase dpm that much and boss generally increases dpm more. BOSS -> ATT -> crit rate seems to increase dpm the most.
 

Exam

Member
May 10, 2019
85
9
18
Durham, North Carolina
From what I have gathered from inven, attack speed does not increase dpm that much and boss generally increases dpm more. BOSS -> ATT -> crit rate seems to increase dpm the most.
Thats because Inven is a korean maplestory forums website and KMS attack speed caps at 2 so you dont need attack speed IA. In GMS the attack speed cap is 0 so you can get more dpm with attack speed IA.
 

pumkinkiwi

Member
Apr 9, 2019
42
8
8
Boulder, CO
Thats because Inven is a korean maplestory forums website and KMS attack speed caps at 2 so you dont need attack speed IA. In GMS the attack speed cap is 0 so you can get more dpm with attack speed IA.
I understand that but what I am saying is the way pathfinder attacks, you combo between blast/deluge and the attack speed boost doesn't drastically improve your speed when it comes to that combo. I could definitely feel the attack speed boost if I was only using blast but not so much when I was comboing blast+deluge. But I haven't tested the DPM difference between spamming blast only at 0 AS vs combing blast+deluge at 2 AS so I couldnt tell you exactly but I think boss dmg is a better choice as 0AS vs 2AS doesnt make much difference if you are comboing blast+deluge.
 

Exam

Member
May 10, 2019
85
9
18
Durham, North Carolina
I understand that but what I am saying is the way pathfinder attacks, you combo between blast/deluge and the attack speed boost doesn't drastically improve your speed when it comes to that combo. I could definitely feel the attack speed boost if I was only using blast but not so much when I was comboing blast+deluge. But I haven't tested the DPM difference between spamming blast only at 0 AS vs combing blast+deluge at 2 AS so I couldnt tell you exactly but I think boss dmg is a better choice as 0AS vs 2AS doesnt make much difference if you are comboing blast+deluge.
If you havent tested the dpm yet then how do you know? Please do us a favor and provide concrete evidence for it and I will adjust the guide if your statement is true.
 
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pumkinkiwi

Member
Apr 9, 2019
42
8
8
Boulder, CO

Exam

Member
May 10, 2019
85
9
18
Durham, North Carolina
Found a GMS compiled list of best inner abilities. The author did his own testing and provided these recommendations. According to him, attack speed past 2 doesnt increase DPM like kinesis.
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet...ilcos7vS607y3PX6TmBWw7ndQ/edit#gid=1451626956
Remember GMS is different than Aries since our DSI gives +2 attack speed. Pathfinder in Aries can reach attack speed of 0 while GMS pathfinder can only max at 1 unless you get speed infusion by party buffs.
 

pumkinkiwi

Member
Apr 9, 2019
42
8
8
Boulder, CO
Remember GMS is different than Aries since our DSI gives +2 attack speed. Pathfinder in Aries can reach attack speed of 0 while GMS pathfinder can only max at 1 unless you get speed infusion by party buffs.

I understand that GMS is different and that we can reach 0 AS, but if going from 2AS -> 1AS doesnt affect DPS, why would going from 2 AS -> 0 AS improve it? I am just saying that the way pathfinder attacks doesnt depend on the attack speed but more on the combos. Faster AS doesnt make your combos faster according to that author and he has his own internal testing to support that conclusion.

Attack speed IA is inefficient for pathfinder because their main attack skills(cardinal skills) use cancelableTime mechanic like cadena. cancelableTime mechanic is not affected by attack speed. Now it does affect the delays between non-cardinal skills slightly but in the DPM part of the equation, the 20% boss dmg outweighs the slight reduction in delay for the non-cardinal skills.

Now if you still think AS is better, i.e. your delays for non-cardinal skills go down enough to cover the 20% extra BD from IA, I would love to see your testing and data to support that conclusion because from what I can gather, it does not.
 
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Exam

Member
May 10, 2019
85
9
18
Durham, North Carolina
I understand that GMS is different and that we can reach 0 AS, but if going from 2AS -> 1AS doesnt affect DPS, why would going from 2 AS -> 0 AS improve it? I am just saying that the way pathfinder attacks doesnt depend on the attack speed but more on the combos. Faster AS doesnt make your combos faster according to that author and he has his own internal testing to support that conclusion.

Attack speed IA is inefficient for pathfinder because their main attack skills(cardinal skills) use cancelableTime mechanic like cadena. cancelableTime mechanic is not affected by attack speed. Now it does affect the delays between non-cardinal skills slightly but in the DPM part of the equation, the 20% boss dmg outweighs the slight reduction in delay for the non-cardinal skills.

Now if you still think AS is better, i.e. your delays for non-cardinal skills go down enough to cover the 20% extra BD from IA, I would love to see your testing and data to support that conclusion because from what I can gather, it does not.

Again, you are basing your point on assumptions from other servers which are different from Aries LMAO. First, you based your point on KMS which you agreed it is different and now GMS which you also agreed it is different. Stop doing that. If you think your point is true then go test it out and provide concrete evidence from ARIES, not other servers. If you do indeed find no difference in ARIES, then sure I will definitely change my guide. You once again rejected to answer my request to actually provide concrete evidence for this and now YOU are asking me to do it when I mentioned I don't main PF on Aries above LOL. Please stop assuming and misinform others without CONCRETE EVIDENCE. From now on, I won't reply to your response if you don't provide screenshots of dpm test or lines per minute test because you are likely assuming again.
 

pumkinkiwi

Member
Apr 9, 2019
42
8
8
Boulder, CO
Here is a 10 second test of only using the blast-> deluge combo between 2,4,6 attack speed. If we see drastic increase between the amount of hits between the attack speeds, then we can say the attack speed is worth it. But attack speed does not increase your ability to combo faster, therefore it is not worth to increase your attack speed with inner ability.

Here is a 20 sec test as well.
 
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Jermmodia

Member
Jul 19, 2018
35
9
8
Singapore
You guys need to know that mpe pot is needed to break cap. For soft cap 2 and hard cap 0, there's difference as well. There is noticable different if you have actual 0 att speed, macro or no macro.
 

OkMHalcyon

New member
Jul 23, 2019
6
0
1
Singapore
i have tested it again but its hard to get a accurate dpm. I did a Test with attack speed 5, Attack speed 3 and Attack speed 0 (rune of swiftness), and i did see a increase from attack speed 5 - 0 but my attack speed 3 dpm was higher then my attack speed 0. I guess ping is affecting my dpm.

Another Factor may be Damage. My damage isn't high so the differences maybe not be a very huge difference as compared to people doing 1T Dpm

I guess +1 Attack speed is still best for inner ability. From the picture i can see the increase amount of Total Attacks increase on Cardinal Burst from Attack speed 5 to attack speed 0 but it doesn't affect the Macro speed.
 

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blackstar99

New member
Sep 20, 2018
20
1
3
Canada
Hey, i have a few questions regarding how certain skills work on GMS/KMS.
1. For Awakened Relic hyper skill, this skill is supposed to instantly activate Guidance of the ancients right?
2. Does guidance of the ancients proc when the blue gauge fills up to 1000 or when the purple ring fills up?
3. For Ancient Astra hyper skill, does the skill end when you run out of Gauge or does it just keep going for the 15 second duration?
 

pumkinkiwi

Member
Apr 9, 2019
42
8
8
Boulder, CO
i have tested it again but its hard to get a accurate dpm. I did a Test with attack speed 5, Attack speed 3 and Attack speed 0 (rune of swiftness), and i did see a increase from attack speed 5 - 0 but my attack speed 3 dpm was higher then my attack speed 0. I guess ping is affecting my dpm.

Another Factor may be Damage. My damage isn't high so the differences maybe not be a very huge difference as compared to people doing 1T Dpm

I guess +1 Attack speed is still best for inner ability. From the picture i can see the increase amount of Total Attacks increase on Cardinal Burst from Attack speed 5 to attack speed 0 but it doesn't affect the Macro speed.

I’m confused on why your blast and deluge have different numbers. This makes me think that you tested the combos manually. If you are, this means your execution of the combo is incorrect. This shouldn’t be the case in ideal dps scenarios. Blast can have slightly more because you can chain them into other skills but number of blast=deluge for other times.

Can you do same test as mine? Where you just blast deluge combo for 10 and 20 seconds? In this case, deluge count needs to be equal to blast. You can use macro or manually blast deluge. Whatever you prefer.
But from my testing, 20 blasts-deluge combo is maximum for 10 seconds. If you can get 22 or more blasts/deluge combo off in 10 seconds then I think it would be worth.
 

OkMHalcyon

New member
Jul 23, 2019
6
0
1
Singapore
I’m confused on why your blast and deluge have different numbers. This makes me think that you tested the combos manually. If you are, this means your execution of the combo is incorrect. This shouldn’t be the case in ideal dps scenarios. Blast can have slightly more because you can chain them into other skills but number of blast=deluge for other times.

Can you do same test as mine? Where you just blast deluge combo for 10 and 20 seconds? In this case, deluge count needs to be equal to blast. You can use macro or manually blast deluge. Whatever you prefer.
But from my testing, 20 blasts-deluge combo is maximum for 10 seconds. If you can get 22 or more blasts/deluge combo off in 10 seconds then I think it would be worth.

Good Question. First im using the skill macro way im not doing it manually. Secondly i the only reason why i guess is due to ping. Some of my attack were delayed due to lag once awhile and i only did like 16-18 blast deluge combo in 10 sec.

If u want a Accurate Test i would suggest to find someone with less then 50 ping to test.

If u want me to test 10 sec then i will try but i can only say that a 10 sec test isn't as accurate.
I will do another test with just holding down the macro until it stops automatically from my experience around 23-25 secs
Post automatically merged:

Hey, i have a few questions regarding how certain skills work on GMS/KMS.
1. For Awakened Relic hyper skill, this skill is supposed to instantly activate Guidance of the ancients right?
2. Does guidance of the ancients proc when the blue gauge fills up to 1000 or when the purple ring fills up?
3. For Ancient Astra hyper skill, does the skill end when you run out of Gauge or does it just keep going for the 15 second duration?

Question 1. I'm not Sure but it should be

Question 2. Whenever Relic Gauge is filled to 1000, increases Final Damage +15% for 30 sec. Recovers 20% HP/MP when activated. [Passive Effect: Max HP +50%, Final Damage +10%] This is taken from Ayumilove so i guess it means the its the Blue gauge fills up to 1000.

Question 3. About this i think it will keep going on for the 15 second duration. Because i tested this when i have 80 gauge and i use the skill , It doesn't end in 1 second.
 
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