Last Updated on December 19, 2023 by Samuel Franklin
Unlock the full damage potential of the Legion grid with this MapleStory Legion guide that simplifies the often overwhelming game mechanic. Providing a number of boss crushing stat boosts (Ignore Enemy Defence, Boss Damage & Critical Rate/Damage) to all of the classes in your account the Legion mechanic is a must have progression system that rewards players for levelling the 40+ classes of MapleStory.
This guide includes an easy to understand explanation of the Legion system, an overview of how to maximise the Legion stats and provides actionable recommendations to build the ultimate Legion grid with the best characters. Having reached the coveted 8,000 (8k) Legion level on my own MapleStory account I’ve acquired the expert knowledge necessary from thousands of gameplay hours to provide players the roadmap to maximising the game changing Legion bonuses.
Table of Contents:
– How Legion Works
– Legion Ranks
– Legion Grid Bonuses
–
– Best Legion Characters
– All Legion Effects (Member Bonuses)
–
MapleStory Legion Guide – How Legion Works
The intention of MapleStory Legion (Maple Union in MapleSEA) system is to encourage and reward players for levelling alternative classes in their MapleStory account and has similarities to the Link Skill system. While there are no Legion skills players unlock a specific member bonus stat based on the MapleStory class and a puzzle like piece for the Legion grid that can be placed to obtain a stat of your choice from the available Legion grid area. Important mechanics and a glossary of key terms to the Legion system include with the links connected to other guide sections:
- Unlock: Reach 500 total levels across all characters and speak to Dame Appropriation to unlock the Legion system.
- Legion Level: Only characters above level 60 (level 130 for Zero instead) contribute to your Legion level and only the 40 highest level characters in your account are included in this level calculation.
- Legion Rank: Your total Legion level gives players a Legion rank, expands the available Legion grid space and increases the number of Legion character blocks you can assign to the grid. Unlocking a new rank requires players to spend a set number of Legion Coins.
- Legion Grid: The Legion grid is where players place the respective grid blocks that are unlocked by growing Legion Levels and the associated Legion Ranks. Players must connect puzzle pieces from the centre of the grid space and the desirable bonuses (Ignore Enemy Defence, Boss Damage & Critical Rate/Damage) are on the outside edges of the Legion Grid. These outer edges are fixed but players can shuffle the internal grid section stats to their preferences.
- Member Bonuses: Each MapleStory class in your Legion grants a static bonus are static bonus. While this makes some classes more desirable for their member bonus most are relatively small buffs and players should be guided by powerful Link Skills first when deciding which characters to level for Legion purposes.
- Character Rank: Character level determines both the power of their member bonus and the size of their grid piece. For each character piece placed on an area of the Legion Grid players will receive the applicable grid bonus for that space. These character Legion blocks increase in size based on Character Rank and are different shapes for each class.
- Legion Raid Power: Your Legion Raid Power depends on your assigned character levels and their Starforce equipment. This influences how many Legion Coins players will earn passively through the dragon raid and thus makes a low level of Starforce investment on all of your characters an important but often overlooked step in Legion progression.
- Legion Coins: The currency of the Legion system that is earned passively by your Legion characters raiding a large dragon and two optional daily quests from Dame Appropriation.
- Legion Shop: Squire Pancho Sanza runs the Legion Shop where you can spend your coins on useful account progression which reset weekly.
- Growing Legion: I recommend that players looking to make early progression with the Legion system efficiently do it at the same time as training alt characters to level 2 Link Skills (requires level 120) by pushing a little further to level 140 to unlock the Legion S rank. Maximising the opportunities of Burning Events and other high experience MapleStory events can save a significant amount of time as well with my personal favourite method to rush characters to level 100 and then farm Zakum daily until level 140.
MapleStory Legion Guide – Legion Ranks
There are a number of Legion ranks that are significant upgrades in power as they allow players to add additional blocks or expand the grid size that help players acquire extra Legion stats. When close to one of these thresholds players should look to push for that rank which are shown in bold below with 6k (full Legion grid) and 8k Legion (36 members) being notable progression milestones for the MapleStory community.
| Legion Rank Title | Legion Levels To Unlock | Legion Coin To Unlock | Max Grid Members | Grid Changes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nameless Legion Rank I | 500 | 0 | 9 | |
| Nameless Legion Rank II | 1,000 | 120 | 10 | |
| Nameless Legion Rank III | 1,500 | 140 | 11 | |
| Nameless Legion Rank IV | 2,000 | 150 | 12 | +1 Grid Size |
| Nameless Legion Rank V | 2,500 | 160 | 13 | |
| Renowned Legion Rank I | 3,000 | 170 | 18 | +1 Grid Size |
| Renowned Legion Rank II | 3,500 | 430 | 19 | |
| Renowned Legion Rank III | 4,000 | 450 | 20 | +1 Grid Size |
| Renowned Legion Rank IV | 4,500 | 470 | 21 | |
| Renowned Legion Rank V | 5,000 | 490 | 22 | +1 Grid Size |
| Heroic Legion Rank I | 5,500 | 510 | 27 | |
| Heroic Legion Rank II | 6,000 | 930 | 28 | +1 Grid Size |
| Heroic Legion Rank III | 6,500 | 960 | 29 | |
| Heroic Legion Rank IV | 7,000 | 1,000 | 30 | |
| Heroic Legion Rank V | 7,500 | 1,030 | 31 | |
| Legendary Legion Rank I | 8,000 | 1,060 | 36 | |
| Legendary Legion Rank II | 8,500 | 2,200 | 37 | |
| Legendary Legion Rank III | 9,000 | 2,300 | 38 | |
| Legendary Legion Rank IV | 9,500 | 2,350 | 39 | |
| Legendary Legion Rank V | 10,000 | 2,400 | 40 |
MapleStory Legion Guide – Legion Grid Bonuses
The Legion grid allows players to place character blocks and select the grid bonus stats they desire. All grid blocks must be connected together with at least one piece placed in the middle 4 squares. The outer grid first unlocks at 2k Legion levels and is only fully available once players reach the elusive 6k Legion at Heroic Legion 2.
The common recommended setup for Legion grid stats is to place attack or magic attack, main stat, secondary stat and HP along the bottom 4 inner grids and utilising long character blocks (often archers) to create a long horizontal line to reach the outer grid area for the desirable stats of Ignore Defence, Boss Damage, Critical Rate and Critical Damage. Players can also setup a Legion preset for Bonus EXP and Critical Rate/Damage to activate while training.
In order to perfectly optimise your Legion grid setup there are a number of community developed Legion Solver options to assist.
The inner grid has 25 squares per stat as follows:
- Stat (STR,DEX, INT, LUK) – 5 per grid square (max 75)
- Attack/Magic Attack – 1 per grid square (max 75)
- HP/MP – 250 per grid square (max 3,750)
Each outer grid area has 40 squares per stat and is as follows:
- Bonus Experience – 0.25% per grid square (max 10%)
- Critical Rate – 1% per grid square (max 40%)
- Boss Damage – 1% per grid square (max 40%)
- Knockback Resistance – 1% per grid square (max 40%)
- Buff Duration – 1% per grid square (max 40%)
- Ignore DEF – 1% per grid square (max 40%)
- Critical Damage – 0.5% per grid square (max 20%)
- Abnormal Status Resistance – 1% per grid square (max 40%)
MapleStory Legion Guide – Character Rank & Legion Blocks
The Legion character blocks size and shape varies based on the archetype of each class and their level. The Zero class is the only exception to the below table and acquires character ranks for larger Legion blocks at level 130, 160, 180, 200 and 250 instead.
| Character Level | Character Rank | Grid Piece Size |
|---|---|---|
| 60 | B | 1 Block |
| 100 | A | 2 Blocks |
| 140 | S | 3 Blocks |
| 200 | SS | 4 Blocks |
| 250 | SSS | 5 Blocks |
Each piece is the following shape at the various ranks and character archetype:
The Lab Server Legion block comes from a 2018 MapleStory event and has not been repeated since.
MapleStory Legion Guide – Best Legion Characters
The best Legion characters to start with are Beast Tamer, Zero, Hayato, Shade, Demon Avenger and Kanna as these offer powerful member bonuses that are universally useful and overlap with some strong Link Skills. After these there are several additional note worthy options which I recommend is completed alongside acquiring the best Link Skills with players aiming to reach the S rank (level 140):
- Beast Tamer/Blaster (Ignore Enemy Defence (IED)): Both of these provide the critical IED stat for bossing and while it is only a small percentage the Beast Tamer is already a popular Link Skill class and maximising these limited sources is important.
- Zero (EXP): A great early addition to your MapleStory Legion progression with a boost to experience gained that can assist in future Legion growth as you’ll level up other classes slightly faster.
- Hayato/Shade (Critical Damage): These offer the deadly Critical Damage stat and should be prioritised for its effectiveness in regular training and boss content with great effectiveness once players achieve 100% critical chance.
- Demon Avenger/Kanna (Boss Damage): Both already popular classes for their percentage damage boost through Link Skills these classes both offer a Legion Boss Damage boost that makes them an easy choice for account progression.
- Mechanic (Increase Buff Duration): Offering a rare source of buff duration this can be a high priority quality of life improvement that results in a boost to your training speeds and boss safety by reducing how often you need to use your class buffs.
- Phantom (Mesos Gained): Ideal for Reboot and normal server players due to the boost in Mesos gained that can add up to millions of Mesos over 100s of hours of Meso farming.
- Night Lord/Marksman (Critical Rate): This small additional source of critical rate can help players achieve the important 100% critical rate alongside other sources.
- Wild Hunter (Chance to Increase Damage): With only a few offensive Legion bonuses the Wild Hunter is another of the best Legion characters to focus on given the damage gained is equally effective across all MapleStory activities.
- Corsair (Summon Duration): A unique Legion bonus that is highly effective if your main class is a summon heavy attacker such as Kanna or Lara as there are essentially no other in game sources to extend summon duration.
MapleStory Legion Guide – All Legion Effects (Member Bonuses)
All of the Legion member bonuses for each MapleStory class are below in alphabetical order:
| Job/Class | Member Bonus | Rank Value (B/A/S/SS/SSS) |
|---|---|---|
| Adele | STR+ | 10/20/40/80/100 |
| Angelic Buster | DEX+ | 10/20/40/80/100 |
| Aran | 70% chance to heal MaxHP by % | 2%/4%/6%/8%/10% |
| Ark | STR+ | 10/20/40/80/100 |
| Battle Mage | INT+ | 10/20/40/80/100 |
| Beast Tamer | Ignore Enemy Defence % | 1%/2%/3%/5%/6% |
| Bishop | INT+ | 10/20/40/80/100 |
| Blaster | Ignore Enemy Defence % | 1%/2%/3%/5%/6% |
| Blaze Wizard | INT+ | 10/20/40/80/100 |
| Bowmaster | DEX+ | 10/20/40/80/100 |
| Buccaneer | STR+ | 10/20/40/80/100 |
| Cadena | LUK+ | 10/20/40/80/100 |
| Cannoneer | STR+ | 10/20/40/80/100 |
| Corsair | Summon Duration % | 4%/6%/8%/10%/12% |
| Dark Knight | Max HP+ | 2%/3%/4%/5%/6% |
| Dawn Warrior | HP+ | 250/500/1,000/2,000/2,500 |
| Demon Avenger | Boss Damage % | 1%/2%/3%/5%/6% |
| Demon Slayer | Abnormal Status Resistance | 1/2/3/4/5 |
| Dual Blade | LUK+ | 10/20/40/80/100 |
| Evan | 70% chance to heal MaxMP by % | 2%/4%/6%/8%/10% |
| Fire/Poison Arch Mage | Max MP+ | 2%/3%/4%/5%/6% |
| Hero | STR+ | 10/20/40/80/100 |
| Hoyoung | LUK+ | 10/20/40/80/100 |
| Ice/Lightning Arch Mage | INT+ | 10/20/40/80/100 |
| Illium | INT+ | 10/20/40/80/100 |
| Jett (class retired) | Critical Damage % | 1%/2%/3%/5%/6% |
| Kain | DEX+ | 10/20/40/80/100 |
| Kaiser | STR+ | 10/20/40/80/100 |
| Kanna | Boss Damage % | 1%/2%/3%/5%/6% |
| Khali | LUK+ | 10/20/40/80/100 |
| Kinesis | INT+ | 10/20/40/80/100 |
| Lara | INT+ | 10/20/40/80/100 |
| Luminous | INT+ | 10/20/40/80/100 |
| Marksman | Critical Rate % | 1%/2%/3%/4%/5% |
| Mechanic | Buff Duration % | 5%/10%/15%/20%/25% |
| Mercedes | Skill Cooldown % | 2%/3%/4%/5%/6% |
| Mihile | HP+ | 250/500/1,000/2,000/2,500 |
| Night Lord | Critical Rate % | 1%/2%/3%/4%/5% |
| Night Walker | LUK+ | 10/20/40/80/100 |
| Paladin | STR+ | 10/20/40/80/100 |
| Pathfinder | DEX+ | 10/20/40/80/100 |
| Phantom | Mesos Gained % | 1%/2%/3%/4%/5% |
| Shade | Critical Damage % | 1%/2%/3%/5%/6% |
| Shadower | LUK+ | 20/20/40/80/100 |
| Thunder Breaker | STR+ | 10/20/40/80/100 |
| Wild Hunter | 20% chance to increase damage % | 4%/8%/12%/16%/20% |
| Wind Archer | DEX+ | 10/20/40/80/100 |
| Xenon | All Stat+ | 5/10/20/40/50 |
| Zero | Monster EXP Gain % | 4%/6%/8%/10%/12% |
MapleStory Legion Coins and Coin Shop
Legion coins add another element of choice to the Legion system with a Legion coin shop that sells various strong consumable items.
How To Earn Legion Coins:
- Passive: As your Legion characters fight in the Legion raid against the large dragon you’ll generate coins passively over time. These coins must be collected by entering the Legion raid itself and it is recommended to do this after accepting the daily quests noted below.
- Active: If players want to earn additional coins they can enter the Legion raid and attack the dragon with their current cahracter. These active coins are limited and when the maximum daily amount is obtained a shield will appear to protect the dragon. Given the time involved to earn this I do not recommend doing this regularly unless you are only a few coins short of an important item or rank upgrade.
- Daily Quests: Every day players can accept two quests from Dame Appropriation which are both completed during a Legion raid. These quests require players to kill 100 Dragon Whelps (10 Legion coin reward) and 20 Golden Wyvern (20 Legion coin reward) that both spawn around the larger dragon.
Legion Coin Shop
Squire Pancho Sanza provides access to the MapleStory Legion coin shop which resets weekly with each item having a weekly cap that limits the number that players can purchase each week. The shop includes Legion buffs to damage, experience, drop rate and Meso drop, clean slate scrolls, epic potential scrolls, potential stamps, cubes, flames, Meso boxes, growth potions, legion preset coupons, potential scrolls, bonus potential scrolls and arcane catalysts.
While your best purchase needs will depend on your current progression and goals purchasing the Legion Expertise (experience gain) is a fantastic boost to your training efficiency while Luck and Wealth are also viable ways to maximise your Arcane River drops or boost Reboot Meso rates.
Written by
Samuel Franklin
Samuel Franklin is the founder and lead editor of the Games Finder team and enjoys video games across all genres and platforms.
With over 2,000 hours of MapleStory played since beta Sam has experienced the evolution of MapleStory firsthand and continues to return for the satisfying progression, the thrill of overcoming challenging bosses and the enduring joy of the community interactions. Playing primarily solo as his level 226 Night Lord for the swift ranged attacks and dominating solo boss power Sam is currently exploring the depths of the Arcane River and the expanding Maple World on the Scania server while developing a legion of powerful characters to support his account.
This extensive experience with MapleStory has given him a deep understanding of the game’s mechanics, hidden secrets and ever-evolving game landscape. He is excited to share his knowledge and insights with fellow Maplers, helping them navigate their own unique stories through the world of MapleStory.
