Frequently Asked Questions

Class Summary

Damage

+ High, consistent damage throughout every stage of the game - starts strong early-game and scales well into endgame​ + Decent burst capability​ + Stable performance since class’ release​ - Requires good character control in order to maximize potential​ - Unaffected by Green Pot bug, meaning they are outperformed by several other classes​

Spoiler: * As of 23 May 2020, these charts no longer exist.

Mobbing

+ Has frequent access to a full-screen attack that is guaranteed to wipe everything in one hit​ + High damage; more likely to one-hit mobs with attacks​ + Does not suffer from animation lock on their skills - can consistently stay on the move thanks to their animation cancels​ - Small range on main attack skills​ - High MP consumption​ - Long grinding sessions may not be realistic​

Mobility

+ Can perform six consecutive jumps upwards/backwards​ + Can quickly traverse large maps with ease​ + Able to reposition/dodge boss attacks with precise movements​ - Prone to slight accidental movement while attacking​

Defense

+ Capable of tanking one-hit KOs and super knockbacks​ + Has three i-frame skills​ + High early-game HP and defense​ - Lacks reliable stance​ - Lacks life steal​

Gameplay

Hard to learn, even harder to play perfectly

Very rotational based - combos stay the same in every situation

High APM, fast-paced gameplay

Q: Is Blaster painful to play?

Spoiler: And here's the layout I use

Q: Are Blaster combos affected by ping/lag/latency?

Spoiler: Notes on Hammer Smash and Bullet Blast The appearance of Hammer Smash's shockwave is delayed by lag, and this normally wouldn't be a problem, except you're also locked out of using your skills until the shockwave appears, making a fully charged Hammer Smash clunky to downright unusable depending on how hard you're lagging. Bullet Blast requires you to hit Revolving Cannon to charge up the skill, but any lag you experience will cause delays in your inputs. With enough lag, the skill may release before you're able to fully charge the skill.

Q: Is Blaster a good first class for a new player?

Q: Should I still play Blaster even if I'm not good at the combos?

Q: What does "macro" mean for Blaster?

Q: Does Green Pot affect Blaster?

Spoiler: Notes These are the conditions given by the creator of Global MapleStory's DPM chart , and he has shown a video of 19 hits in 8610ms being possible.

Q: Do I need a mechanical keyboard to play Blaster?

With solid performance at every level of funding and decent enough burst to hold their own in endgame bosses, Blaster is a strong class in its own right. However, in GMS the class falls behind since their attacks are unaffected by the Green Potion bug ( more detailed explanation below ), meaning in the current meta they're outperformed by several other classes, particularly Hero and Angelic Buster.However, perhaps one of the most notable things about this class is that even though it has consistently held the top spot in KMS’ DPM charts*, Blaster has received very few nerfs (the nerfs they did receive were minor and often had nothing to do with their damage), and the class continues to perform excellently while others receive an endless rollercoaster of buffs and nerfs. The developers themselves appear to be fine with the way Blaster is balanced, so fine in fact that at one point they even reverted what could have been a huge damage nerf to the class.The tradeoff, however, is that the class takes a considerable amount of effort and practice to play. High damage requires high effort - this is the intent behind Blaster's balancing, but due to GMS' Green Pot bug, there are a handful of classes who can match, or in some cases, exceed Blaster's damage output with a fraction of the effort.Despite this, Blaster can still be considered a strong class, and they are capable of doing high damage with little investment in their gear. A big draw of the class is their stable performance; they will rarely be targeted by nerfs as long as their high-effort playstyle remains the same (and if GMS were to fix the Green Pot bug in future, Blaster's safety would be guaranteed, though Nexon has said they have no current plans to fix this).Blaster is all around a solid class, but if there’s one area they fall behind in, it would be mobbing. Blasters are let down by the small range on their attack skills, and although they’re by no means the worst mobber out there, Blaster falls short of today’s standards where the best mobbers have huge mobbing skills or a spammable full map attack to clear entire spawns.However, this weakness is offset by their high damage and mobility, and under the right conditions, they can be an effective mobber. Blaster shines in large map layouts where they can use their movement to traverse the map quickly and kill mobs as they fly past them. And, assuming they are played properly, they are also excellent at earlygame leveling thanks to their high damage with no funds.Blaster has some of the most unique mobility in the game. With the ability to jump upwards or backwards up to six times, Blasters can easily maneuver through large maps without being hindered by ropes or awkward platform placement. Their effectiveness is only further enhanced by their animation cancels, which allow them to stay on the move without being slowed down by animation locks from their skills.Blaster can also be very agile while bossing. Mobility is built into their combos, allowing them to easily dodge attacks while keeping up their rotation. However, they are also prone to accidental movement while attacking, and without proper control it is very to get yourself killed by sliding forward/back too much.Blaster’s defensive capabilities are on par with that of a Paladin, but rather than tanking OHKOs passively, Blaster relies on timing their guard windows to protect themselves from attacks, and instead of one long invincibility buff like Sacrosanctity, Blaster’s invincibility is split up into three short i-frames. Blaster is up there as one of the tankiest classes in the game, but their defenses require active input and good control in order to be used properly.One notable weakness is their lack of 100% stance, which can be troublesome if you’re learning the combos. For first-time players, I would recommend Mihile’s link skill.These are things that are not necessarily pros or cons, but are important points to take into consideration when deciding if Blaster is the right class for you. Overall, I can only recommend Blaster to those who know exactly what they’re getting into, and don’t mind the high-APM madness of this class.A: This is something that will vary from person to person, so the only way to get an answer is by trying the class out for yourself. Generally any pain you'll experience will disappear once you get used to the combos--and I don't mean that in the "my hands are so numb I can't feel anything" way. When you get the combos down to muscle memory, it'll feel as natural as typing.This is all assuming, of course, that you're playing without any bad habits. Often Maplers pay no attention to the way they're playing Blaster, and this makes gameplay more painful than it should be. These are some of the most common mistakes:Out of all the bad habits, this is by far the worst one to have. You can probably get away with doing this on most other classes, but as a Blaster, just a few minutes of button-bashing is enough to make the class unplayable.You would be surprised how much of a difference this can make - for example, I can spend 3 hours grinding and not feel a thing because I'm relaxed & mindlessly comboing around the map, but I can also spend 15 minutes fighting a boss I've never killed before and start feeling wrist pain because I'm stressed and hitting the keys harder than I should be.Be gentle with your keystrokes - unnecessary force will just cause unnecessary discomfort, and this discomfort will add up over time, so it's imperative you undo any bad habits if you wish to play Blaster for the long term. It's also important to make sure you're using a good keyboard with keys that don't require too much pressure to press, because if the keys are hard to use, then just imagine how much of a bad time you'll have pressing 4 of those every second.This is something you're likely to do on any other class, but as a Blaster, this is a very bad idea. Using one hand to attack and hold on to your charge skills at the same time is going to cause a lot of strain.Don't have one hand do all the work. Instead, use one for holding+releasing charge skills, and the other for attacking. When you split the load between both hands, Blaster gameplay becomes so much more manageable.This video by KMS Blaster shows an example of a good keyboard layout. Ultimately you should adjust your keybinds based on what you find comfortable, but what’s important is that you have skills on both sides of the keyboard so that you’re not putting so much stress on one hand.Now, depending on what kind of keyboard you use, laying out your skills like this might not always be possible, so if you absolutelyhave everything on one side of the keyboard, be sure to pay extra heed to this next warning:This is important, because even if you're able to grind for hours everyday without feeling any pain, you are still at risk of developing carpal tunnel or RSI. If you are concerned about your wrist health, I would avoid this class altogether. But if you are determined to play Blaster, it's extremely important to moderate your gameplay, as well as make sure you're taking the steps needed to care for your wrists (things like wrist exercises or making sure you have proper wrist positioning/overall posture).A: Yes and no.Blasters are not affected by lag the same way Dawn Warrior, Battle Mage and Blaze Wizard are affected. With high enough ping, the gameplay flow of these three classes can be completely interrupted by lag.Blaster is not like any of these classes - you are able to combo at full speed no matter how far you are from the servers, so the gameplay willthe same whether you are playing at 30ms or 300ms. With the exception of two skills (Hammer Smash and Bullet Blast - explained in the spoiler below), lag does not create abnormal delays in Blaster's combos--this is important to point out since it's a common mistake for new players to execute the combos incorrectly and blame it on lag. If you are experiencing any such delays, be sure to look back at the main body of the guide for common mistakes you might be making.their ammo and Dynamo Gauge resources are severely affected by lag, which has a notable effect on the damage they can put out during burst windows. Ammo consumption is dependent on server response - changes in ammo are not immediately registered. With enough lag, this can lead to Blaster's Dynamo Gauge taking longer to build up. A Blaster player who lives far from the servers can lose out on potential Bunker Buster Explosion uses in Cannon Overdrive, which results in a significant damage loss over time.tl;dr, Blaster's overall feel and gameplay remains the same even at high levels of latency, but with enough lag, they lose a sizable portion of their damage, since they cannot use as many Bunker Buster Explosions due to the Dynamo Gauge being server-sided.A: Some veterans recommend against mechanically complex classes for first-time players, but if you don't mind the learning curve, there is nothing wrong with choosing Blaster as a first class. Their high damage with no funds makes them a fantastic pick for new players (though keep in mind their attacks will burn through your mana fast).Anyone can learn Blaster--in fact I'd argue new players are in a better position to learn the class than anyone else. For veterans who are used to the majority of Maple's classes, transitioning from a class that requires one button to a class that requires a lot of buttons is a major reason why Blaster is hard to learn. But a new player won't run into that problem; they'll likely have an easier time adjusting to Blaster's gameplay since they haven't yet experienced Maple's one-button classes.In the end, you should play what you like, even if you are a new player. If Blaster interests you, go for it.A: Absolutely. Blaster can still do plenty of damage even if their combos aren't performed 100% perfectly, and you'll naturally get better the more you play, so just keep going at your own pace and have fun.A: You've probably seen that word thrown around a lot, but "macro" has two meanings for Blaster:First, third-party macros. These are programs used to automate entire combos so that they're usable in a single keypress. Nexon's official stance is that third-party macros areSecond, skill tab macros. These macros are an in-game feature that allow you to use Revolving Cannon automatically after every Magnum Punch and Double Blast. Nexon has intentionally designed skill tab macros to work with these skills, so they areSo how can you tell the difference between the two when the word "macro" is mentioned? Skill tab macros are almost never brought up in conversation unless it's about No-Reload and how to set it up for the first time, so it's safe to assume that when people say things like "a macroing Blaster", they mean third-party macros.A: Some background information - Green Potion is a consumable from Monster Park that increases your Attack Speed by 1 stage. On GMS, this item has the unintended effect of exceeding the speed cap, which allows many classes to attack faster than what is normally possible. Since Maple's classes aren't balanced around this fact, those who benefit from this bug gain a substantial damage advantage, while others (most notably Hurricane classes such as Wind Archer or Wild Hunter) are left behind. Blaster, unfortunately falls under the latter category.The full explanation behind how Green Pot affects Blaster is a little complicated (be warned: lots of "buts" and "howevers"), but basically, Green Pots do speed up the animations of Blaster's attacks, but since their animations get canceled by Bobbing, this effect is largely meaningless. Green Pots don't automatically make you faster; the amount of hits you do is ultimately determined by how quickly you can combo.However, it was discovered that Green Pots allow you to cancel animations slightly faster than normal, and that it's possible to break the 17 hits/9.5 sec limit of No-Reload and achieve 19 hits of Magnum Punch & Double Blast+one use of Hammer Smash+Bunker Buster Explosion in 8.61 sec at 1 AS., the only way you're going to achieve this is if your cancels are frame-perfect. Realistically, the increased ani-cancel speed is going to be near impossible to take advantage of since you're performing the combos manually, so a Green Pot won't do anything for you in the end.it's worth noting Green Pots do have an effect on skills that aren't usually animation-canceled. The most notable of these is Detonate - with a Green Pot+DSI, you can use back-to-back Detonates faster and improve your mobility.So, tl;dr "should I carry green pots?" You can if you want, but in any situation where you're performing the combos manually, don't expect them to provide any sort of meaningful damage increase.A: No. Blaster is playable on any keyboard--laptop, mechanical, whatever--the only requirement is that you're 100% comfortable with the keyboard you use.