Phantom, a unique Hero class in MapleStory, distinguishes itself by wielding dual weapons – a cane and a dagger – and possessing the remarkable ability to steal skills.
This guide explores the intricacies of this versatile class, covering everything from core mechanics to advanced bossing strategies, ensuring a comprehensive understanding.
Phantom excels in both mobbing and bossing, further enhanced by a valuable link skill boosting critical rate and a legion skill increasing meso acquisition.
What is a Phantom?
Phantom stands as one of MapleStory’s Hero Thieves, uniquely born with extraordinary abilities and defining traits that set them apart within the game’s expansive roster of characters. Unlike conventional classes, Phantom doesn’t adhere to a single weapon type, instead skillfully wielding both a cane and a dagger simultaneously, offering a dynamic combat style.
This dual-weapon proficiency isn’t merely aesthetic; it fundamentally influences their skill set and playstyle. However, the most defining characteristic of the Phantom is their exceptional capacity to “steal” skills from other classes. This isn’t a simple mimicry; Phantom genuinely gains access to and utilizes these abilities, creating a highly customizable and adaptable character.
This skill-stealing mechanic, coupled with their inherent thief abilities, makes Phantom a versatile class capable of excelling in various content, from efficient mobbing to challenging boss encounters. They are a popular choice for players seeking a unique and engaging gameplay experience.
Phantom’s Unique Mechanics
Phantom’s gameplay revolves around two core, defining mechanics: skill stealing via Impeccable Memory and the strategic use of “Markers” applied by certain skills. Impeccable Memory allows Phantom to permanently acquire skills from Explorer classes – Warriors, Mages, Bowmen, Thieves, and Pirates – significantly broadening their combat options.
The stolen skills are not simply cosmetic; they become fully integrated into Phantom’s skill rotation and contribute to their damage output. Understanding which skills to steal and how to synergize them is crucial for maximizing potential. Furthermore, many of Phantom’s skills apply “Markers” to enemies.
These Markers aren’t just visual indicators; they enhance the damage of subsequent skills, creating a layered and tactical combat approach. Mastering Marker application and timing is essential for optimizing damage and efficiently clearing content. This unique combination of skill adaptation and tactical Marker usage defines the Phantom experience.
Phantom’s Core Skills
Phantom’s core skillset centers around Double Entendre for consistent damage, Feather Foot for exceptional mobility, and Impeccable Memory, enabling skill acquisition.
These abilities define Phantom’s playstyle.
Double Entendre: The Bread and Butter
Double Entendre serves as Phantom’s primary attacking skill, particularly crucial during the early stages of progression, specifically when leveling from 1 to 30. While not the most efficient for rapid mobbing, it forms the foundation of Phantom’s damage output.
This skill involves a swift cane attack, dealing significant damage to enemies. Maximizing Double Entendre is a priority for new Phantom players, as it provides a reliable source of damage and establishes a solid base for future skill development.
Investing skill points into upgrading Double Entendre ensures consistent damage, making it a dependable choice for tackling various content throughout the game. It’s a cornerstone of the Phantom’s early-game strategy.
Effectively utilizing Double Entendre requires understanding its range and timing, allowing players to optimize its damage potential against single targets and smaller groups of monsters.
Feather Foot: Mobility and Utility
Feather Foot is a defining skill for Phantom, offering exceptional mobility and versatile utility. This skill allows Phantom to dash forward, providing a quick and efficient means of traversing maps and evading enemy attacks.
Beyond simple movement, Feather Foot can be strategically used to reposition during combat, enabling precise attacks and skillful dodging. Mastering its timing and range is essential for maximizing its effectiveness.
Furthermore, Feather Foot isn’t solely a movement tool; it also grants temporary invincibility frames during the dash, providing a crucial defensive advantage against powerful enemy attacks.
Skill builds often prioritize Phantom Swiftness, enhancing Feather Foot’s capabilities. This synergy amplifies its speed and utility, making Phantom a highly agile and adaptable class.
Ultimately, Feather Foot is a cornerstone of Phantom’s playstyle, blending offense and defense with remarkable finesse.
Impeccable Memory: Skill Stealing
Impeccable Memory is arguably Phantom’s most iconic and unique ability – the power to steal skills from other classes. This mechanic sets Phantom apart, allowing for incredible customization and adaptability in combat.
By successfully stealing a skill, Phantom gains access to a diverse range of abilities, effectively expanding their skillset beyond their inherent class capabilities. This stolen skill becomes a permanent part of Phantom’s arsenal.
However, the skill stealing process isn’t without limitations. Certain classes and skills are ineligible for stealing, and the process requires strategic timing and execution.
Explorer classes are known to carry specific stolen skills, such as Magic Guard for Mages and Dark Sight for Thieves, demonstrating the strategic depth of this mechanic.
Mastering Impeccable Memory is crucial for optimizing Phantom’s potential, enabling players to tailor their build to specific content and playstyles.
Phantom Job Advancement
Phantom’s journey begins as a Thief, progressing through Night Lord and Shadower before reaching their final class, Phantom. Each job unlocks new skills and abilities.
This progression system allows players to gradually master Phantom’s unique mechanics and build a powerful, versatile character.
First Job: Thief
As a First Job Thief, Phantom focuses on building a foundation for their future skill set. The primary attacking skill during this stage is Double Entendre, though it’s acknowledged as somewhat slow for efficient mobbing.
Leveling from 1 to 30 as a Thief requires patience, as Double Entendre isn’t the most effective skill for quickly clearing maps. Prioritize maximizing this skill early on to mitigate its limitations.
Focus on skills that enhance movement and survivability, as Phantom benefits from agility. While damage output is lower at this stage, it’s crucial to establish a solid understanding of the class’s core mechanics.
Early skill allocation should prioritize Double Entendre, alongside skills that improve evasion and basic attack power. This sets the stage for a smoother transition into subsequent job advancements.
Second Job: Night Lord
Becoming a Night Lord significantly enhances Phantom’s mobility and damage potential. This stage introduces skills that capitalize on quick movements and strategic positioning, crucial for both mobbing and bossing scenarios.
The Night Lord advancement allows for more dynamic combat, shifting away from the slower pace of the First Job Thief. Focus on skills that provide increased attack speed and evasion, complementing Phantom’s inherent agility.
Skill allocation should prioritize abilities that synergize with Double Entendre, improving its efficiency and range. Explore skills that offer crowd control and allow for safer engagements.
Mastering the Night Lord’s movement skills is essential for maximizing Phantom’s effectiveness. This job advancement lays the groundwork for the more specialized skills acquired in later stages, building a versatile skillset.
Third Job: Shadower
The Shadower advancement unlocks a new layer of complexity for Phantom, focusing on burst damage and strategic skill usage. This job introduces powerful abilities that significantly amplify damage output, particularly during boss encounters.
Shadower skills emphasize positioning and timing, rewarding players who can effectively utilize their skills in quick succession. Prioritize skills that enhance critical hit damage and provide temporary attack boosts.
This stage is crucial for establishing a solid foundation for end-game content. Skills like Dark Sight, while usable by other classes, become integral to Phantom’s damage rotation.
Focus on maximizing the synergy between Double Entendre and the new Shadower abilities. Mastering the timing and execution of these skills will dramatically improve Phantom’s overall performance and efficiency in various combat situations.
Fourth Job: Phantom
Reaching the Fourth Job as a Phantom marks a significant power spike, introducing skills that define the class’s unique playstyle and high damage potential. This stage unlocks abilities centered around manipulating time and space, creating opportunities for devastating attacks.
Final Cut becomes a cornerstone of the Phantom’s bossing rotation, providing both substantial damage and a crucial invincibility frame. Heavens Hammer and Cannon Bazooka/Showdown further enhance damage output, offering diverse options for different boss mechanics;
Mastering the cooldowns and proper sequencing of these skills is paramount. Tempest, a key 4th job skill, boasts a 14.4-second cooldown, demanding careful planning and execution.
The Phantom job truly solidifies the class as a formidable force, capable of tackling challenging content with both finesse and raw power. Prioritize understanding skill interactions for optimal performance.
Phantom Skill Build Guides
Optimizing your skill points is crucial for maximizing Phantom’s potential. This section details effective skill builds for each stage of progression, from early levels to endgame content.
Early Game Skill Build (Levels 1-30)
During the initial leveling phase (Levels 1-30), focus on building a foundation for efficient mobbing. Double Entendre is your primary attack, so maximizing it early is vital, despite its initial slowness.
Prioritize Feather Foot and Phantom Swiftness for enhanced mobility and faster map clearing. Invest points into Impeccable Memory I to begin skill stealing, opening up strategic options.
Allocate points into Devils Luck, Cane Mastery, and Cane Booster to improve your cane damage. Don’t neglect Carte for additional utility. A suggested build includes maxing Double Entendre, with at least one point in the mobility and utility skills mentioned.
This early build emphasizes consistent damage and efficient movement, setting you up for smoother progression through the initial stages of MapleStory.
Mid Game Skill Build (Levels 30-60)
As you progress from Levels 30 to 60, refine your skill build to optimize both mobbing and prepare for early bossing encounters. Continue maximizing Double Entendre, as it remains a core damage source.
Invest further into Feather Foot and Phantom Swiftness, aiming for higher levels to improve mobility and map control. Begin allocating points into Final Cut, a crucial skill for burst damage and iframe potential.
Prioritize skills like Dark Sight and Magic Guard if stolen through Impeccable Memory, significantly boosting survivability. Enhance your cane damage with further investment in Cane Mastery and Cane Booster.
A balanced approach focusing on consistent damage, mobility, and defensive capabilities will ensure efficient leveling and readiness for more challenging content.
Late Game Skill Build (Levels 60+)
Beyond Level 60, maximizing your Phantom’s potential requires a focused skill build geared towards high-end bossing and efficient mobbing. Fully max Double Entendre, Final Cut, and Tempest, your primary damage dealers.
Invest heavily in Heavens Hammer and Cannon Bazooka/Showdown for burst windows during boss fights. Prioritize skills enhancing critical rate and damage, synergizing with your link skill.
Continue upgrading Feather Foot for superior mobility and consider maxing Impeccable Memory to consistently steal valuable skills. Optimize your cane and dagger skills for maximum damage output.
Fine-tune your build based on your preferred playstyle and the specific content you’re tackling, ensuring a potent and adaptable Phantom capable of conquering any challenge.
Phantom Bossing Strategies
Phantom bossing revolves around strategic rotations, utilizing core damage skills like Tempest and Final Cut, alongside crucial skills such as Heavens Hammer for optimal DPS.
Rotation Set One: Core DPM Skills
Phantom’s primary bossing damage comes from a core set of skills, demanding precise execution and cooldown management. This rotation focuses on maximizing sustained damage output throughout the encounter. Begin with Tempest, your strongest 4th job skill, recognizing its 14.4-second cooldown – prioritize its uptime.
Follow Tempest with Cannon Bazooka or Showdown, depending on boss mechanics and positioning. These skills provide significant burst damage and contribute to overall DPS. Integrate Final Cut whenever available, capitalizing on its iframe and damage potential. Remember to weave in Impeccable Memory stolen skills, such as Magic Guard or Dark Sight, to enhance survivability and damage.
Maintain consistent use of Double Entendre as a filler, ensuring minimal downtime between high-damage abilities. Prioritize maximizing the duration of buffs like Phantom Swiftness to amplify your damage output. Efficiently managing cooldowns and skill timings is crucial for maintaining a high and consistent DPS.
Rotation Set Two: Utilizing Final Cut
Phantom’s second bossing rotation centers around maximizing the impact of Final Cut, a powerful skill offering both substantial damage and an invaluable iframe. This rotation is best employed during predictable boss attack patterns or when a safe window for damage arises.
Begin by building stacks for Final Cut, utilizing skills like Double Entendre and Cannon Bazooka. Once fully stacked, unleash Final Cut, immediately followed by Heavens Hammer for a significant damage burst. Integrate stolen skills, like Dark Sight, to amplify the damage of Final Cut.
Prioritize maintaining uptime on buffs such as Phantom Swiftness to maximize damage output. Remember that Final Cut provides a brief period of invincibility, allowing you to safely navigate dangerous boss attacks. This rotation requires precise timing and awareness of boss patterns for optimal effectiveness.
Important Bossing Skills (Tempest, Heavens Hammer)
Tempest and Heavens Hammer are cornerstones of a Phantom’s bossing arsenal, delivering significant damage and offering crucial utility. Tempest, a 4th job skill, boasts a 14.4-second cooldown, making consistent uptime essential for maximizing DPS. It’s your primary damage dealer and should be woven into every rotation.
Heavens Hammer serves as an excellent burst skill, best utilized immediately after Tempest or Final Cut to capitalize on boss vulnerability. Its short cooldown allows for frequent use, adding consistent damage to your rotation. Remember to position yourself strategically to ensure Heavens Hammer connects effectively.
Mastering the timing and synergy between these skills is paramount. Utilize stolen skills like Magic Guard to mitigate damage while casting these high-impact abilities, ensuring survivability and sustained damage output during challenging boss encounters.
Phantom Mobbing Strategies
Phantom thrives with skill combinations like Double Entendre and Feather Foot for swift clearing. Maximizing efficiency involves strategic positioning and consistent skill usage.
Effective mobbing relies on chaining skills to maintain a continuous flow of damage, clearing maps quickly and efficiently.
Effective Mobbing Skill Combinations
Phantom’s mobbing prowess stems from fluid skill rotations. A core combination begins with Feather Foot for swift positioning, followed by repeated casts of Double Entendre, the bread-and-butter skill.
Integrating Cane Booster and Cane Mastery significantly amplifies Double Entendre’s damage output, accelerating clear speeds. Utilize Phantom Swiftness to further enhance mobility between skill casts, maintaining consistent damage.
Don’t underestimate the utility of Carte for quick map traversal and initiating combos. For larger maps, consider weaving in Shuriken Toss to hit distant enemies. Prioritize maximizing uptime on Double Entendre, as it forms the foundation of your mobbing rotation.
Experiment with skill sequencing to find what best suits your playstyle and the map layout. Remember, consistent skill usage and efficient movement are key to optimal mobbing performance.
Maximizing Mobbing Efficiency
To truly optimize Phantom’s mobbing, focus on minimizing downtime between skill casts. Efficient movement with Feather Foot is crucial, allowing for rapid repositioning and uninterrupted damage output.
Prioritize equipping gear with high attack speed and critical rate, as Phantom benefits significantly from frequent hits. Consider utilizing inner ability enhancements that boost damage to normal attacks, further amplifying Double Entendre’s effectiveness.
Map awareness is key; anticipate monster spawns and pre-position yourself for maximum coverage. Utilize party play to leverage synergy with other classes, creating faster and more efficient clears.
Don’t neglect the importance of potions and scrolls. Maintaining high HP and utilizing damage-boosting scrolls can drastically improve your mobbing speed. Mastering these elements will transform Phantom into a mobbing machine.
Phantom Link Skill and Legion
Phantom’s link skill grants a valuable critical rate boost, enhancing damage output. The legion effect provides increased meso obtained, aiding progression.
These benefits make Phantom a strong choice for supporting character growth and wealth accumulation within MapleStory.
Phantom Link Skill: Critical Rate
Phantom’s link skill is exceptionally valuable, providing a flat 10% critical rate increase to all characters linked to them. This is a significant boost, especially in the early to mid-game where achieving high critical rates can be challenging.
Critical rate directly impacts damage output, as critical hits deal substantially more damage than regular attacks. A higher critical rate means more frequent critical hits, leading to increased overall DPS (Damage Per Second).
Unlike some other link skills that offer percentage-based bonuses, Phantom’s flat increase is consistently effective across all levels and gear tiers. This makes it a reliable and impactful choice for maximizing the potential of your main character and any alt accounts you may have.
Activating the link skill is straightforward; simply level Phantom to level 100 and complete the associated link skill quest. Once completed, the critical rate bonus will automatically apply to all eligible characters.
Phantom Legion: Meso Obtained
The Phantom Legion board offers a compelling benefit: an increased meso (in-game currency) acquisition rate. This is a highly sought-after legion effect, as mesos are crucial for upgrading equipment, purchasing potions, and generally progressing in MapleStory.
Specifically, the Phantom Legion provides a 10% increase to the amount of mesos obtained from monsters. While seemingly modest, this bonus accumulates significantly over time, especially during extended training sessions or while actively farming for mesos.
To unlock the Phantom Legion, players must reach level 140 with their Phantom character and complete the Legion questline. This involves gathering specific items and completing a series of challenges.
Investing in the Phantom Legion is a worthwhile endeavor for any player focused on economic progression, providing a consistent and passive income boost that complements other meso-generating activities.
