Vortex Gaming

※ 'Crown' Showcase Thank You Gift:Crown Medal - Unit Damage Skin Exchange Ticket, Crown Poster, 4x EXP Coupon x2, Mannequin/Slot Expansion Selection Ticket x2, Select Slot Max Expansion Ticket x3, Sol Erda/Fragment Selection Ticket x3, VIP Booster x10, Elixir of Extreme Growth x10

The first update of the 2025 MapleStory Winter Showcase 'Crown' is the second common core, 'Sol Hecate'. Sol Hecate is a 6th job common skill that all classes can use, and this time it appears with a concept of assisting boss battles rather than hunting.

Sol Hecate has a concept of a 'reactive summon' that can be used in boss battles. It continuously follows the player, and a new skill is unlocked every 10 skill levels. Initially, it has a 60-second bind and damage support function. This bind resistance is separate and not shared with the resistance values of existing skills. Using Sol Hecate on a bound target increases the bind duration by 4 seconds. The skill can be used separately or assigned to other skills.

Upon reaching Sol Hecate skill level 20, a utility skill with a 10-minute cooldown is unlocked, preventing character death and applying invincibility for 10 seconds. It's easy to understand if you think of Dark Knight's 'Reincarnation'. Upon reaching level 30, an extreme DPS skill that can be used every 2 minutes is added. The level 30 extreme DPS skill, like the basic skill, can be linked to your skills.

A new system to enhance sub-weapons, 'Astra', is being added. This content is designed to act as a bridge between the Genesis Liberation and Destiny Liberation sections.

The enhancement method involves enhancing the sub-weapon you are currently using. As it utilizes existing sub-equipment, the potential of the existing equipment is inherited as is. Enhancement materials can be obtained by defeating bosses in the Grandis region or completing daily quests, and these can be used to create untradeable Astra sub-weapons. Enhancement materials obtained as boss monster drop rewards are also tradeable.

Astra sub-weapons can be grown in 3 stages. Each time the growth stage increases, the base stats increase, and Star Force enhancement becomes possible. Upon completing the 2nd growth, Star Force 15 stars can be achieved, and upon final growth, Star Force can be enhanced up to 30 stars.

Compensations for sub-weapons with unique characteristics (Dual Blades, Shields, Zero, etc.) will be announced through additional notices.

Destiny 2nd Liberation is also being added. The basic skills of Destiny weapons are enhanced, and the maximum Star Force can be enhanced up to 25 stars.

The new boss 'Radiant Calamity' is a level 280 limited boss that can be challenged with a 3-person party. Normal difficulty is between Extreme Suu and Extreme Kaling (early 200 million combat power), and Hard difficulty is between Hard Limbo and Hard Baldr (early 400 million combat power).

The Radiant Calamity boss battle proceeds by switching between reality and illusion. One of the party members can control this, and how well this switch is utilized is the key to the strategy. Other party members must also cooperate to perform gimmicks, so communication between party members is expected to be important in the battle.

The boss reward is the 250-level ring part 'Rapturous Nightmare' belonging to the Brilliant Accessory Set. With the addition of the new Brilliant Accessory, a 4-set effect is also added. With the addition of the new boss, a defeat event will be held in the 1st week of the update, and a hard difficulty solo play first kill top 10 event will be held from the 2nd week.

The top-tier boss 'Jupiter' with a level limit of 295 is also being added. It is a boss that can be challenged with a maximum of 3 people. Normal difficulty (early 400 million combat power) is set between Hard-Limbo Adversary, and Hard is set above Extreme Kaling.

Jupiter fights in combination with a synthetic body. It has three divided patterns, including separation and combination with the synthetic body, and is designed as a boss where the role-playing ability of party members is important. As a reward, you can acquire the face accessory part 'Original Sin of Arrogance' of the Brilliant Accessory Set. Along with this, the 5-set effect of the Brilliant Accessory Set is also added.

A boss defeat event will also be held with the addition of the new boss. Chair items are given for normal defeat, and special rewards are given to the top 3 parties for the hard difficulty first kill.

The new level 295 area 'Geared Lock' is being added. Geared Lock is an area located underground in the western desert of Grandis. It will be an important area in MapleStory's main story, concluding the story of the ancient god. With the addition of the new area, a new Grandis Authentic Symbol is added. The options are the same as the existing Grandis Authentic Symbol, such as increased experience, drop rate, and meso acquisition.

Along with the addition of the new area, system reorganization and events will be held to ease the experience required for leveling up. Epic Dungeon experience reward increase, Extreme Monster Park experience efficiency adjustment, Talahat Monster Park addition and entry count increase patch will be carried out.

Link Skill Level 3 is also being added. It can be acquired upon reaching level 285. Upon reaching level 285, you can acquire 'Proof of Brilliant Hero'. This item can be moved to other characters in the account and used on the desired character to grow the link skill of that character to level 3.

The effect of Link Skill Level 3 is powerful. Drastic stat increase effects such as 15% damage, 6% critical damage, and 20% boss damage are applied. In addition, some link skills with low efficiency are applied with damage increase compensation, increasing their usability.

Authentic Symbols are also expanded to level 11. When level 11 is reached, the damage dealt to certain bosses is increased, and the amount of experience that can be acquired is also increased.

#. Item Burning for Acquiring 22-Star Equipment! Challengers World Season 3

Challengers World Season 3 also begins. Rewards will be increased in Season 3, and various changes will be applied. In addition, a season boss that can only be challenged on the Challengers server will be added. This time as well, 'Hyper Burning MAX' which supports 1+4 level ups up to level 260, and 'Burning Beyond' which gives 1+1 benefits up to level 270 will be held. However, Genesis Pass will not be sold.

The 'Item Burning' that strengthens items through missions is strengthened to 'Item Burning PLUS'. The new Item Burning can only be received by new characters, once per user name. Easy Kalos and Easy Adversary have been added to the missions, and upon completion, you can obtain a set of equipment at the level of 22-star armor and 18-star 'Boss Defense Ignore' legendary weapons.

#. Challengers Partner - EXP Duo System Added

Changes in Season 3 include missions being subdivided into 1-level units up to level 290. In addition, the season boss Kai defeat mission is added to the Master/Challenger tier conditions. Attendance points are deleted for users who progress quickly, and the operating period is also shortened to 4 months, speeding up the overall operating tempo. Various growth support such as VIP boosters, saunas, and step-up missions will be carried out as 'Wintering Missions'.

The Challengers Partner System is also added. You can provide experience to your partner when hunting, and if you defeat a boss in a 2-person party with your partner, you can obtain special rewards such as 'Sol Erda Fragment', 'Android', 'Medal', and 'Partner Ring'.

The newly introduced 'Challengers EXP Duo System' is a growth assistance content that allows you to apply the experience acquired by hunting with Challengers World characters to the general server as well. Shining Star Force will be held every other week in Challengers World.

#. Black Boss Accessory Drop? Season Boss 'Kai'

This time, the season boss 'Kai', which can only be challenged in Challengers World, is being added. Kai can only be challenged in solo play, not in a party, and is not included in the weekly boss kill count. Kai applies gimmicks such as slowing down time to easily solve gimmicks or rotating skill cooldowns faster.

The normal difficulty of the season boss Kai is set between Hard Jin Hilla and Normal Seren, and the hard difficulty is set between Hard Seren and Easy Kaling. The rewards are 'Meso Pouch', 'Black Boss Accessory Box', and 'Sol Erda Fragment', and in hard difficulty, you can acquire 'Sol Erda Fragment Box' and 'Aeternel Armor Box'.

General defeat and hard first-come, first-served defeat events will also be held for the season boss Kai. If you are in the top 10 of the hard difficulty first kill, you will be given valuable rewards such as 1 million Maple Points.

The 2025 winter season main event 'Night of Falling Illusions' is an event set in Talihat. It is an event that deals with the past story of the ancient god.

As before, you can obtain various rewards through attendance and defeating level-range monsters, and this time, 'Elixir of Legendary Growth' that can increase 1 level up to level 279 is added. In addition, a system is added that allows you to exchange 15 300% experience increase coupons for 1 400% experience increase coupon.

'Elanos Chronicle' is added to assist hunting. If you grow Elanos Chronicle through hunting, you can obtain various benefits such as increased Sol Erda acquisition and increased Monster Park experience. After the event ends, the grown Elanos Chronicle will be androidized and distributed.

You can purchase 'Mecha Berry Farm Ticket' at the Coin Shop. It is a 'Golden Strawberry Farm' type content, and you can enter from level 280 or higher. If you defeat monsters during the time limit, you can acquire a considerable amount of experience. Half of the ticket can be obtained from the Meso Shop, and the other half can be obtained from the 'Momentum Pass' that can only be purchased by users level 280 or higher. The Momentum Pass can be purchased once per name and includes various experience products.

This winter, 'Kinesis' belonging to Friends World will be remastered. While maintaining the existing concept, improvements will be made in terms of structure.

Kinesis' unique resource 'Psychic Point (PP)' which caused inconvenience to many users, is deleted, and cooldowns are applied to some skills. The remastered Kinesis can perform rhythmic battles by resetting cooldowns through trigger skills or enabling additional use in certain situations.

A nurturing event commemorating the remaster will also begin. You can obtain various decorative items such as speech bubbles, unit damage skins, and chairs. A new system is also added. 'Kinetic Beauty' which allows you to transfer the appearance information applied to low-level Kinesis characters to new characters, and 'Change Circulator' which allows you to select and change ability options are also applied.

PC room benefits are also strengthened. On December 21st (Sun), if you connect to MapleStory at a Ghetto PC room benefit store, 5 hours of PC room usage time is free. In addition, 10,000 Nexon Cash is paid upon 5 hours of connection.

There are also additional cumulative connection time rewards. Depending on the cumulative connection time, you can obtain 400 Sol Erda fragments, 10 4x experience coupons, and 10 VIP sauna tickets.

- Nickname Express: A system for transferring character nicknames to other characters within the account

- Voice Chat System Added: Supports voice chat within boss parties, Discord account linking possible

- Buff Manager System: A convenient system that allows you to check and purchase all buff items in the game

- Buff Item Reorganization: Deletion of elixir item duration, level chair buff itemization, addition of 30-minute duration effect (Bungeoppang, etc.), addition of Iridescent Moonlight Potion (can be obtained from top-tier bosses)

- Soul Collection Reorganization: Added integrated UI for soul registration/creation/disassembly, added batch soul fragment creation confirmation and creation function

- World Meso Integration: Integrates and manages the mesos of all characters within the account, also increases the holding limit

- V Matrix Reorganization: Added V POINT system to conveniently manage necessary cores

- Added Gender Change Coupon

- Deleted Hyper Stat Preset Change Cost

- Eased 6th Job Advancement Quest Difficulty

- Deleted Union Rank Up Cost

- Guild Castle Addition: A system to strengthen the guild community, a space to collaborate on creating guild decorative items, Star Force Stage, addition of various content such as exclusive mini-games

- Guild Reorganization: Guild skill and guild bulletin board reorganization, guild blessing passivization

- Collection Card Addition: A system that can be decorated in the in-game My Home

- AI Custom Illustration: Added a function to transform the dot image of your character into an illustration using AI. The illustration is output to the character information window and production dialogue window illustration

Next spring, a MapleStory-themed zone 'Maple Island' will open in Lotte World's 'Magic Island'. You can experience various attractions based on the concept of each MapleStory village, and you can also purchase food and goods. Next year, offline collaboration events will also be held in the Jamsil area with Lotte.

Webzine InvenReporter Yang Ye-chan
2025-12-13