When it comes to MapleStory you’ll figure out that having a lot of different characters is better than just maxing out one character. The reason is, the benefit of link skills and stats. Links skills are acquired when a character hits a certain level (70,120, 210), and can grant you a ton of bonus stats.
Best Links To Prioritize
- Mercedes (EXP)
- Aran (Combo Orbs)
- Evan (Rune Duration)
- Kanna (Damage)
- Luminous (Ignore Enemy Defense)
- Demon Avenger (Damage)
- Phantom (Critical Rate)
These links should be prioritized because they will be useful to any character you make and will help you progress in the game a lot faster. The trio of Mercedes, Aran, and Evan are almost always going to be your first links. This is because of how useful they are when it comes to training and quickly leveling up your characters. Kanna, Demon Avenger, Phantom, and Luminous are all about doing more damage and they are also very easy to level up.
Best Link Skills To Use For Training
The best 12 links for training are:
- Mercedes (EXP)
- Aran (Combo Orbs)
- Evan (Rune Duration)
- Ark (Damage Increase as you stay in combat)
- Illium (Damage Increase as you move around)
- Kain (Damage increase when you kill a certain amount of mobs)
- Lara (Damage to Normal Monsters)
- Phantom (Critical Rate)
- Kanna (Damage)
- Hayato (All Stat +, Weapon and Magic Attack)
- Kinesis (Critical Damage)
- Demon Avenger (Damage)
When training you will want to have all of these links in place so that you can be training in the most optimal way. The goal of these links are to get the character you’re training strong enough to one shot the monsters. Depending on your equips you might not need all of these links to train and can save some slots. Getting to 100% critical rate is super important when training and mobbing but, if you have 100%, get something like Illium if your class move around a lot of the Thief link if you debuff enemies.
The new addition of Kain will replace Xenon in the link skill list for training. If you have 100% critical rate you can replace Phantom instead.
Luminous is not on this list because IED is unnecessary when mobbing and only useful when bossing. If you cannot one-shot with the Hoyoung link, another good choice is the Bowman Link which gives Critical Rate and Monster Collection.
Lara’s link skill only works for training since the damage increase is only when you defeat normal monsters. It is great since you can get 16% extra damage.
Best Link Skills To Use For Bossing
The best 12 links for bossing are:
- Demon Slayer (Boss Damage)
- Resistance (BM,WH, Mechanic, Blaster) (Invincibility upon respawn)
- Beast Tamer (Crit Rate, Boss Damage, HP, MP)
- Angelic Buster (Active that Increases Damage)
- Demon Avenger (Damage)
- Kanna (Damage)
- Luminous (IED)
- Ark (Damage Increase as you stay in combat)
- Cadena (Damage Increase on monsters lower level than you, Damage increase if monsters inflicted with status conditions)
- Kinesis (Critical Damage)
- Explorer Mage (Bishop, I/L, F/P) (Damage and IED)
- Explorer Thief (Night Lord, Shadower, Dual Blade) (Damage when status is inflicted)
Honorable Mentions
- Adele (Boss Damage)
- Shade (Chance to not die)
- Kain (Damage increase when you kill a certain amount of mobs)
- Illium (Damage Increase while moving)
- Phantom (Critical Rate)
Adele link is actually very good when doing party bosses. If you have a full party it is better than Kanna link and you should replace it. When doing solo bossing it is not as effective.
Shade link can be useful by giving you a 10% chance to survive death but, since it is a random chance it isn’t that sought after. This can be a game changing link but the odds of you triggering it are low. Great to use when practicing bosses.
Resistance link is useful when learning bosses or when doing hard bosses. The extra few seconds of Invincibility will give you time to deal damage or set yourself up. Without this you can chain die really quickly as soon as you respawn.
Kain link comes in when you don’t die in bosses and just need to finish as quick as you can. Usually the case when doing Boss mules.
You always want 100% critical rate and if you have it, you can forget about Phantom link.
MapleStory Links Skills List and Explained
This list and explanation will only be about the Links that are mentioned in this article!
Explorer Mage – Empirical Knowledge
From Explorer Magicians (Bishop, I/L Arch Mage, F/P Arch Mage). Inflicts a curse mark when attacking to increase damage dealt and ignore DEF of marked targets.
Level 70~119 provides 1 point (Level 30~119 if the owner is also an explorer magician)
Level 120+ provides 2 points.
| Skill Level | Effect |
| 1 | Inflicts a curse mark at a 15% chance. Curse mark lasts for 10 seconds, stackable up to 3 times. Each stack increases damage dealt and reduces DEF by 1%. (DEF reduced is summed before multiplied for multiple stacks) |
| 2 | Inflicts a curse mark at a 17% chance. Curse mark lasts for 10 seconds, stackable up to 3 times. Each stack increases damage dealt and reduces DEF by 1%. (DEF reduced is summed before multiplied for multiple stacks) |
| 3 | Inflicts a curse mark at a 19% chance. Curse mark lasts for 10 seconds, stackable up to 3 times. Each stack increases damage dealt and reduces DEF by 2%. (DEF reduced is summed before multiplied for multiple stacks) |
| 4 | Inflicts a curse mark at a 21% chance. Curse mark lasts for 10 seconds, stackable up to 3 times. Each stack increases damage dealt and reduces DEF by 2%. (DEF reduced is summed before multiplied for multiple stacks) |
| 5 | Inflicts a curse mark at a 23% chance. Curse mark lasts for 10 seconds, stackable up to 3 times. Each stack increases damage dealt and reduces DEF by 3%. (DEF reduced is summed before multiplied for multiple stacks) |
| 6 | Inflicts a curse mark at a 25% chance. Curse mark lasts for 10 seconds, stackable up to 3 times. Each stack increases damage dealt and reduces DEF by 3%. (DEF reduced is summed before multiplied for multiple stacks) |
Explorer Thief – Cunning Thief
From Explorer Thieves (Night Lord, Shadower, Dual Blade). Increases damage shortly when you inflict an abnormal status. Not affected by buff duration increases, cooldown reduction and cooldown resets.
Level 70~119 provides 1 point (Level 30~119 if the owner is also an explorer thief)
Level 120+ provides 2 points.
| Skill Level | Effect |
| 1 | When an abnormal status is inflicted, damage +3% for 10 seconds. Cooldown 20 seconds. |
| 2 | When an abnormal status is inflicted, damage +6% for 10 seconds. Cooldown 20 seconds. |
| 3 | When an abnormal status is inflicted, damage +9% for 10 seconds. Cooldown 20 seconds. |
| 4 | When an abnormal status is inflicted, damage +12% for 10 seconds. Cooldown 20 seconds. |
| 5 | When an abnormal status is inflicted, damage +15% for 10 seconds. Cooldown 20 seconds. |
| 6 | When an abnormal status is inflicted, damage +18% for 10 seconds. Cooldown 20 seconds. |
Mercedes – Elven Blessing
Originated from Mercedes. Boosts EXP gain and gives the ability to teleport to Elluel.
| Skill level | Level Requirement | Effect |
| 1 | 70 (10 for Mercedes) | Monster EXP +10% permanently. Can teleport to Elluel with a cooldown time of 10 minutes. |
| 2 | 120 | Monster EXP +15% permanently. Can teleport to Elluel with a cooldown time of 10 minutes. |
| 3 | 210 | Monster EXP +20% permanently. Can teleport to Elluel with a cooldown time of 10 minutes. |
Demon Slayer – Fury Unleashed
Skill from Demon Slayer. Increases your inner rage to deal more damage against boss monsters.
| Skill level | Level Requirement | Effect |
| 1 | 70 (10 for Demon Slayer) | Damage to Boss Monsters +10% |
| 2 | 120 | Damage to Boss Monsters +15% |
| 3 | 210 | Damage to Boss Monsters +20% |
Phantom – Phantom Instinct
From Phantom. Use high levels of insight to locate enemies’ weaknesses, thus increasing critical chance.
| Skill level | Level Requirement | Effect |
| 1 | 70 (10 for Phantoms) | Critical Rate +10% |
| 2 | 120 | Critical Rate +15% |
| 3 | 210 | Critical Rate +20% |
Luminous – Light Wash
From Luminous. Ignores a portion of monster defense.
| Skill level | Level Requirement | Effect |
| 1 | 70 (10 for Luminous) | Ignore 10% DEF |
| 2 | 120 | Ignore 15% DEF |
| 3 | 210 | Ignore 20% DEF |
Angelic Buster – Terms and Conditions
From Angelic Buster. Increases damage for 10 seconds. Cooldown time 90 seconds. Targeted characters will receive half of the original amount.
| Skill level | Level Requirement | Effect |
| 1 | 70 (10 for Angelic Busters) | Damage +30% |
| 2 | 120 | Damage +45% |
| 3 | 210 | Damage +60% |
Demon Avenger – Wild Rage
From Demon Avenger. Your rage goes wild so your damage increases.
| Skill level | Level Requirement | Effect |
| 1 | 70 (10 for Demon Avengers) | Damage +5% |
| 2 | 120 | Damage +10% |
| 3 | 210 | Damage +15% |
Xenon – Hybrid Logic
From Xenon. Using logic, increase all stats.
| Skill level | Level Requirement | Effect |
| 1 | 70 (10 for Xenon) | All Stat +5% |
| 2 | 120 | All Stat +10% |
Hayato – Keen Edge
From Hayato. Increase overall power.
| Skill level | Level Requirement | Effect |
| 1 | 70 (10 for Hayato) | All Stat +15, Weapon ATT and Magic ATT +10 |
| 2 | 120 | All Stat +25, Weapon ATT and Magic ATT +15 |
Kanna – Elementalism
From Kanna. Concentrate and focus your mind to increase damage.
| Skill level | Level Requirement | Effect |
| 1 | 70 (10 for Kanna) | Damage +5% |
| 2 | 120 | Damage +10% |
Beast Tamer – Focus Spirit
From Beast Tamer. Focus and increase overall power.
| Skill level | Level Requirement | Effect |
| 1 | 70 (10 for Beast Tamer) | Critical Rate +4%, Damage to Boss Monsters +4%, HP and MP +3% |
| 2 | 120 | Critical Rate +7%, Damage to Boss Monsters +7%, HP and MP +4% |
| 3 | 210 | Critical Rate +10%, Damage to Boss Monsters +10%, HP and MP +5% |
Shade – Close Call
From Shade/Eunwol. Save yourself from an attack which would otherwise kill you at a chance.
| Skill Level | Level Requirement | Effect |
| 1 | 70 (10 for Eunwol) | 5% chance |
| 2 | 120 | 10% chance |
Kinesis – Judgement
From Kinesis. Increases critical damage.
| Skill level | Level Requirement | Effect |
| 1 | 70 (10 for Kinesis) | Critical Damage +2% |
| 2 | 120 | Critical Damage +4% |
Aran – Combo Kill Advantage
From Aran. Provides additional EXP when absorbing a Combo Kill Orb.
| Skill level | Level Requirement | Effect |
| 1 | 70 (10 for Aran) | Combo Kill Orb EXP +400% |
| 2 | 120 | Combo Kill Orb EXP +650% |
| 3 | 210 | Combo Kill Orb EXP +900% |
Evan – Rune Persistence
From Evan. Increases rune buff duration by intensifying the magical powers of runes. For runes with special 1-minute or 30-second effects, the duration of these effects will be increased as well, up to 1.5 minutes and 45 seconds respectively (for Level 2 link skill).
| Skill level | Level Requirement | Effect |
| 1 | 70 (10 for Evan) | Rune Buff Duration +30% |
| 2 | 120 | Rune Buff Duration +50% |
| 3 | 210 | Rune Buff Duration +70% |
Cadena – Intensive Insult
From Cadena. Indirectly insult monsters weaker than you by dealing extra damage to them.
| Skill level | Level Requirement | Effect |
| 1 | 70 (10 for Cadena) | Damage +3% on monsters lower level than you, Damage +3% on monsters inflicted with any status conditions. (Total: Damage +6% on monsters lower level than you that are inflicted with status conditions) |
| 2 | 120 | Damage +6% on monsters lower level than you, Damage +6% on monsters inflicted with any status conditions. (Total: Damage +12% on monsters lower level than you that are inflicted with status conditions) |
Illium – Flow of Battle
From Illium. You get increasingly powerful as you keep your momentum. Not affected by buff duration increasing effects.
| Skill level | Level Requirement | Effect |
| 1 | 70 (10 for Illium) | Damage +1% for 5 seconds for every 500 pixels moved. Maximum: Damage +6%. Cooldown between stacks/refreshes: 1 second |
| 2 | 120 | Damage +2% for 5 seconds for every 500 pixels moved. Maximum: Damage +12%. Cooldown between stacks/refreshes: 1 second |
Ark – Ecstasy
From Ark. Concentrate and lose yourself in combat to increase damage as you fight longer. The buff resets when the character did not attack for 10 seconds straight. Not affected by buff duration increasing effects.
| Skill level | Level requirement | Effect |
| 1 | 70 (10 for Ark) | Damage +1% for attacking at least twice within 5 seconds, stacks up to 5 times. The 1st stack gives additional 1% damage (Maximum: +6% Damage). Cooldown between stacks/refreshes: 5 seconds (1st stack only applies after 5 seconds of the 1st attack made). |
| 2 | 120 | Damage +2% for attacking at least twice within 5 seconds, stacks up to 5 times. The 1st stack gives additional 1% damage (Maximum: +11% Damage). Cooldown between stacks/refreshes: 5 seconds (1st stack only applies after 5 seconds of the 1st attack made). |
| 3 | 210 | Damage +3% for attacking at least twice within 5 seconds, stacks up to 5 times. The 1st stack gives additional 1% damage (Maximum: +16% Damage). Cooldown between stacks/refreshes: 5 seconds (1st stack only applies after 5 seconds of the 1st attack made). |
Hoyoung – Self Confidence
From Hoyoung. Increases DEF ignored and increases damage to monsters with full HP.
| Skill Level | Level Requirement | Effect |
| 1 | 70 (10 for Hoyoung) | Ignore DEF +5% and Damage to monsters with full HP +9% |
| 2 | 120 | Ignore DEF +10% and Damage to monsters with full HP +14% |
Adele – Noblesse
From Adele. Increase damage against boss monsters, and depending on your party size, further increases damage.
| Skill Level | Level Requirement | Stats |
| 1 | 70 (10 for Adele) | Damage to boss monsters +2%, for every party member including yourself (non-party is counted as 1 person party), damage +1% up to +4% |
| 1 | 120 | Damage to boss monsters +4%, for every party member including yourself (non-party is counted as 1 person party), damage +2% up to +8% |
Kain – Prior Preparation
| Skill Level | Level Requirement | Effect |
| 1 | 70 (10 for Kain) | When you kill 8 enemies or hit a boss monster 5 times, complete 1 preparation When you have 5 preparations, your damage is increased by 9% for 20 seconds Cooldown: 40 seconds |
| 1 | 120 | When you kill 8 enemies or hit a boss monster 5 times, complete 1 preparation When you have 5 preparations, your damage is increased by 17% for 20 seconds Cooldown: 40 seconds |
Lara – Nature’s Friend
| Skill Level | Level Requirement | Effect |
| 1 | 70 (10 for Lara) | Damage +3% Activate nature’s help upon defeating 20 normal monsters. Increases Damage Against Normal Monsters by 7% for 30 sec when nature’s help is active. Cooldown: 30 sec |
| 1 | 120 | Damage +5% Activate nature’s help upon defeating 20 normal monsters. Increases Damage Against Normal Monsters by 11% for 30 sec when nature’s help is active. Cooldown: 30 sec |