Bowmaster is one of two Explorer Archer jobs that can be chosen from in MapleStory and are a part of the original classes added to MapleStory when it was first released. There is a third Explorer Archer called Pathfinder, but it must be created separately from the character creation menu, unlike Bowmaster which uses the Job Advancement system. Bowmasters use arrows to take down their enemies, with a flurry of useful skills to help them deal lots of damage to bosses and mobs.
- Bowmaster Overview
- Archer First Job Skill Build
- Hunter Second Job Skill Build
- Ranger Third Job Skill Build
- Bowmaster Fourth Job Skill Build
- Bowmaster Hyper Skill Build
- Bowmaster Fifth Job Skill Build
- Changelog
Bowmaster Overview
As an Explorer class, Bowmaster is an original class with a simple setup. It doesn't require complex mechanics to use and their skills aren't the most flashiest either (due to being so old!). With the revamp all explorer classes got in Destiny, Bowmaster is now up there with the top mobbing/bossing classes of MapleStory.
Before Destiny, the last update to Bowmaster came in the Red update, where they were revamped to try and bring them more in-line with other classes. That update was in 2013 and thankfully the 2022 Destiny update has made them more viable..
All Explorers got a major revamp in the Destiny V.233 Patch update, including Bowmaster!
When training with Bowmaster you get some useful skills that can help cover entire maps. Arrow Stream's revamped skill is now very good, with a huge hitbox to help with vertical maps and mobbing. Arrow Blaster gets a revamped animation and is very good if you can one-shot mobs with it and in some small maps you barely have to move. When you move into 5th job, you get another cooldown skill called Arrow Rain that really helps with mobbing in larger maps.
As a bossing class, Bowmaster sits somewhere in the middle as a mobber but are really good at bossing. They provide decent party buffs in Sharp Eyes, and can deal damage from range positions to keep out of harms way. They have a new iframe skill with called Silhouette Mirage, so dodging one-shot against bosses can is easy. Their DPS isn't the greatest, however they can continue to do damage when a boss moves out of range for melee classes, allowing them to do more consistent damage over time.
The other option for Archers is Marksman.
- Weapon: Bow
- Job: Archer
- Class: Explorer
- Shared Cash Shop Inventory: Explorer Jobs
- Legion Block: +DEX (10/20/40/80/100)
- Link Skill: Adventurer's Curiosity (+10% Critical Rate, +35% Chance to add monsters to your Monster Collection)
- Primary Stat: DEX
- Inner Ability: 20% Boss Damage
Did you know?
MapleStory Explorer Classes can switch between jobs once they are level 101+. For example, a Dark Knight can job change to a Paladin. They can only job change to characters within their class branch (i.e. archers to archers, thiefs to thiefs etc). You cannot job change a Dark Knight to a Bishop.
To do job change, you can either pay mesos or use a Job Advancement Coin (which is usually given out during events). Speak to your 4th job advancement NPC in Leafre to job change.
Archer First Job Skill Build
You can max all skills in first job. Follow this build:
- Arrow Bow (1), Double Jump (2)
- Double Jump (MAX)
- Arrow Bow (MAX)
- Archery Mastery (MAX)
- Critical Shot (MAX)
As an Archer you'll get lots of critical damage and critical rate. Your main mobbing skill in first job is Arrow Bow, which is pretty decent for a first job skill. Max double jump as soon as possible to help with mobility and training faster.
Skill Description & Overview
| Icon | Skill | Description | Type |
|---|---|---|---|
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Arrow Blow | Shoot consecutive arrows at multiple enemies. | Main Attack Skill |
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Double Jump | Allows you to use the Double Jump skill to move very quickly. Double-tap the up arrow key to jump again while in mid-air. Double-tap the down arrow key to descend more quickly. | Flash Jump Skill |
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Critical Shot | Increases Critical Rate. | Passive Buff |
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Archery Mastery | Gain proficiency in the fundamentals of Archery. Increases Range, Movement Speed, Attack Speed and Max Movement Speed. | Passive Buff |
Hunter Second Job Skill Build
You can max all skills in second job. Follow this build:
- Wind Arrow (+1), Quiver Cartridge (MAX), Bow Mastery (+1)
- Bow Mastery (5)
- Agile Bows (MAX)
- Wind Arrow (MAX)
- Bow Mastery (MAX)
- Soul Arrow: Bow (MAX)
- Final Attack: Bow (MAX)
- Physical Training (MAX)
- Covering Fire (MAX)
- Quiver Cartridge (MAX)
Your new main attack skill is Wind Arrow, which can hit up to X amount of enemies and will allow you to fly through second job levels.
Like other Explorers, you'll want to get your Agile Bows skill asap for that Attack Speed Boost; Quiver Cartridge will deal extra damage when toggled on and the rest of the skills are mostly passive.
Skill Description & Overview
| Icon | Skill | Description | Type |
|---|---|---|---|
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Wind Arrow | Fire multiple arrows that fly like the wind. | Main Attack Skill |
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Soul Arrow Bow | Allows you to use your bow without consuming arrows and increases Attack Power. The arrows in your inventory with the highest Attack Power will be used to calculate your damage. | Buff |
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Quiver Cartridge | Use a special arrowhead. Learning Enchanted Quiver adds arrowheads you can use. Arrowheads can be changed by using the skill again. | Toggle SKill |
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Physical Training | Permanently increases STR and DEX through sheer physical training. | Passive Buff |
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Final Attack Bow | Chance to deliver an additional hit after a direct attack. Must have a bow equipped. | Passive Buff |
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Covering Fire | Fire arrows while leaping backwards. While firing, you'll have 100% Knockback Resistance. If you press and hold the skill key, you will fire arrows rapidly while in mid-air. You will temporarily not be pushed back by any attack after casting. | Secondary Attack Skill |
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Bow Mastery | Increases Bow Mastery. | Passive Buff |
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Agile Bows | Increase Attack Speed and Dexterity. | Attack Speed Buff |
Ranger Third Job Skill Build
You can max all skills in third job. Follow this build:
- Speed Mirage (MAX)
- Arrow Blaster (MAX)
- Reckless Hunt: Bow (MAX)
- Marksmanship (MAX)
- Phoenix (MAX)
- Blink Shot (MAX)
- Mortal Blow (MAX)
- Evasion Boost (MAX)
- Focused Fury (MAX)
Arrow Blaster is the revamped turret skill that you can place down and have it auto-attack, similarly to a static summon. It's very good for both training and bossing.
Speed Mirage will increase your damage output as it summons Mirages to attack for you whilst you use your attacks and you'll want to utilise your Blink Shot skill to make training more efficient as it allows you to create your own Teleport in maps. It's also very useful in Bossing for dodging 1-hit KO attacks.
Skill Description & Overview
| Icon | Skill | Description | Type |
|---|---|---|---|
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Speed Mirage | Fire arrows fast enough to leave afterimages. After striking enemies with enough arrow-based attacks, creates afterimages that fires enemy-seeking arrows before vanishing. These arrows target a single enemy in front of the afterimage and damage any foes pierced on the way to the target. Arrow Blaster turret placement attacks don't count toward this skill's prerequisites. Empowers Wind Arrow. Can be toggled On/Off. | Toggle Skill |
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Focused Fury | Constant attacks focus your concentration, increasing your Abnormal Status Resistance. Getting an Abnormal Status while this buff is in effect will reset the increased Abnormal Status Resistance. Also increases Abnormal Status Resistance and All Elemental Resistances permanently. | Passive Buff |
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Reckless Hunt Bow | Reduces Defense and increases Attack Power and Final Damage. Can be toggled On/Off. | Toggle SKill |
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Phoenix | Temporarily summon a Phoenix to deal Fire damage to up to 4 enemies. Has a chance to Stun enemies as well. Permanently increases Defense. Ignores enemy damage reflection skills. | Summon |
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Mortal Blow | If the attack hits a certain number of times, the damage increases and allows you to deal a more powerful attack. | Passive Buff |
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Marksmanship | When attacking, ignore a portion of enemy Defense. Permanently increases your Attack Power. | Passive Buff |
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Blink Shot | Mark the spot where you are currently standing. Use the skill again to ride a magic arrow back to that spot instantly. Use the skill again while holding the Down Arrow key to replace your original marker. | Teleport Skill |
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Evasion Boost | Grants a chance to dodge enemy attacks. If you succeed, attacks you land in the next second will result in Critical Hits. Also increases Knockback Resistance and Max HP permanently. | Passive Buff |
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Arrow Blaster | Shoots an arrow at a high angle. If you press and hold the skill key, it will fire continuously. While firing, use the Up and Down arrow keys to control the force of the shot. While the skill is casting, press the Interact/Harvest key to set up Arrow Blaster at your location to fire arrows automatically. Unaffected by attack reflection. | Summon/Attack Skill |
Bowmaster Fourth Job Skill Build
You can max all skills in fourth job. Follow this build:
- Arrow Stream (MAX)
- Speed Mirage II (MAX)
- Enchanted Quiver (MAX)
- Bow Expert (MAX)
- Advanced final Attack (MAX)
- Sharp Eyes (MAX)
- Maple Warrior (MAX)
- Illusion Step (MAX)
- Armor Break (MAX)
- Hurricane (MAX)
- Hero's Will (MAX)
Arrow Stream is your main attacking skill and what you'll be using when training. It has a huge hitbox, deals plenty of damage and will make training at 4th job a breeze.
Enchanted Quiver allows you to switch between Healing Arrows and Damage Arrows; healing is mostly good for bossing so you'll want to have gold arrows on most of the time.
Sharp Eyes returns will boosting your Critical Rate and Critical Damage, great for partying at bosses. You also get passive damage boosters with Bow Expert and Advanced Final Attack.
Hurricane is your main bossing skill, so when you first start training your Bowmaster you'll want to level this up last as you won't be doing much bossing early on.
Skill Description & Overview
| Icon | Skill | Description | Type |
|---|---|---|---|
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Arrow Stream | Shoots a wild flurry of arrows straight ahead. | Main Attack Skill |
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Advanced Final Attack | Permanently increases Attack Power. Greatly increases the damage and activation rate of your Final Attack. | Passive Buff |
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Sharp Eyes | Temporarily grants party members the ability to locate an enemy's weak spot to deal fatal damage to that enemy. | Buff |
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Maple Warrior | Temporarily increases the stats of all party members. Does not stack with Maple Warrior, Call of Cygnus, Nova Warrior, Hero of the Flora, President's Orders, Anima Warrior, or Rhinne's Protection. | Buff |
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Illusion Step | Greatly increases your DEX and Avoidability, and reduces damage taken. Also increases Knockback Resistance permanently. | Passive Buff |
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Hurricane | Launches arrows at tremendous speed like a catastrophic rainstorm. Holding the skill key will fire arrows continuously. You can also move while firing. | Single Target Attack Skill |
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Hero's Will | Hones your resolve to ignore certain abnormal status effects. Immune to Abnormal Status for 3 sec after use. | Buff |
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Enchanted Quiver | Equips specialized arrowheads. You can switch between arrowheads by using the skill again. Also permanently increases Final Damage. | Passive Buff |
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Bow Expert | Increase Bow Mastery, Attack Power, and Critical Damage. Additionally, this skill allows you to set Arrow Blaster's firing angle instantly when placing. Placing while holding the up arrow key will fire at the highest angle, and placing while holding the down arrow key will fire at the lowest angle. | Passive Buff |
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Speed Mirage II | Your continued archery training has empowered your Speed Mirage. | Passive Buff |
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Armor Break | Your successfully attacks pierce the enemy's defenses and gain Final Damage in proportion to the enemy's Defense. Does not activate for monsters with 0 Defense. | Passive Buff |
Bowmaster Hyper Skill Build
Hyper skills are available at level 140. You get Hyper Skill Points as you level towards 200, but not enough to max all the skills, so choose wisely. These skills mostly help increase the damage of your current skills.
- Arrow Stream - Reinforce
- Arrow Stream - Spread
- Arrow Stream - Extra Strike
- Hurricane - Reinforce
- Hurricane - Boss Rush
- Gritty Gust
- Epic Adventure
- Concentration
Bowmaster Fifth Job Skill Build
Upon reaching level 200, you will now have access to the V Matrix, which acts as your new fifth job skills. Each class gets their own skills to use, along with boosting nodes to increase the damage of existing skills. To obtain new skills, you open up items called Nodestones, which drop from every mob in Arcane River. You have limited number of slots in your V Matrix, so you want to obtain perfect nodes for maximize your character's damage.
Bowmaster's Nodes should include:
- Storm Of Arrows
- Inhuman Speed
- Quiver Barrage
- Silhouette Mirage
- Trinode: Arrow Stream, Hurricane, Final Attack Bow
- Trinode: Arrow Blaster, Magic Arrow, Phoenix/Gritty Gust
All 5th Job classes should try to also obtain these:
- Decent Holy Symbol
- Decent Sharp Eyes
- Decent Speed Infusion
- Erda Nova
- Rope Lift
- Vicious Shot
- Guided Arrow
- Fury Of The Wild
- Maple World's Blessing
Skill Description & Overview
| Icon | Skill | Description | Type |
|---|---|---|---|
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Storm Of Arrows | Arrows shot into the sky fall like rain. Unaffected by attack reflection. Has no effect in towns. | Cooldown Attack Skill |
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Quiver Barrage | Use every type of arrowhead at once, including a special flaming arrowhead that explodes when hits an enemy. The Flaming Arrow is unaffected by attack reflection. Does not consume arrowheads in the quiver and cannot use Enchanted Quiver while in use. Enchanted Quiver will be canceled if Quiver Barrage is used while Enchanted Quiver is active. | Burst Attack Skill |
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Inhuman Speed | [Active Effect] Causes you to attack so quickly you produce afterimages. Unaffected by attack reflection. [Passive Effect] After performing a certain number of attacks while the skill is on cooldown, an afterimage is created that attacks for a short time. |
Attack Skill |
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Silhouette Mirage | Evade enemy attacks by moving fast enough to create illusory doubles of yourself. Illusory doubles disperse the enemy's attention to either reduce damage taken by Bow Master or inflict damage on the enemy. Not affected by Buff Freezer effects. Illusory doubles are unaffected by attack reflection. | Toggle On / Off Skill |
Changelog
27/02/2023 - Updated for Remastered Skills
26/03/2021 - Added new 5th Job Skill from the Awake update.
11/11/2020 - First update
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