Revision 2.0 (Frieren         Collab Patch)  - September 10th 2026

The Buccaneer Bible [Currently Updating]

Author: Subluxe
Contributors: SSJBread, ProddoSenpai, TenaciousB, HoppingFog,

Dango, Alopecias, Crumbies, Malignant

This guide takes into consideration both Reboot and Regular server.

Don’t forget to use CTRL+F and the Outline Sidebar to find what you need!

Class Overview

Buccaneer is a relatively simple class, with a moderate skill ceiling. Buccaneer is a DPM Class, meaning it relies heavily on dealing consistent damage throughout boss fights as opposed to relying solely on burst. The playstyle revolves around staying on top of the boss to deal consistent damage with our DPM skills such as  Lord of the Deep, and  Octopunch. Buccaneer has two iframes which are tied to the burst skills. As a result, Buccaneers primarily dodge boss patterns by utilizing their excellent mobility skills such as  Advanced Dash,  Corkscrew Blow,  Lightning Form and  Serpent Vortex.

This class excels in all stages of the game, from early to end. Buccaneer does not need any additional critical rate when bossing and has a naturally high base IED. In terms of utility, Buccaneer brings  Time Leap and  Pirate’s Banner to the table.  Time Leap can be used to reset key skills such as  Hero’s Will,  Terms and Conditions and other class specific skills, while  Pirate’s Banner provides 100% uptime buff to IED and AP%.

Pros

• Insane amount of mobility options.
• Low skill floor, moderate skill ceiling.
• Good skill expression with movement.
• Bossing rotation is very straightforward.
• Boost nodes are very simple.
• 100% critical rate to bosses.
• High base IED.
• Time Leap can reset important skills.

Cons

• Outside of mobility, bossing is very one dimensional.
• Relies too much on consistent DPM.
• Lord of the Deep struggles to one shot in Grandis.

Before You Start…

Before you start it is essential to do the following.

1. Put your Second Job  Advanced Dash on a keybind.

1. It is extremely important. Putting this on a keybind opens up a lot of new possibilities for the skill and also makes super jumping easier.

2. Use  Loaded Dice to lock your dice before rolling.

1. 5 is for damage.
2. 6 is for experience.

3. Set your  Serpent Scale to ‘auto’ by right clicking it.

1. This will help you proc your Serpent skills off CD.

Buccaneer FAQ

Is  Lord of the Deep 100% uptime?

As of Destiny,  Lord of the Deep is now 100% uptime.  Lord of the Deep is allowed to proc 100 times before it expires. When you are hitting a boss monster, three activations of the skill count as one, allowing you to proc 300 times.

It also has a sixty second cooldown which can be reduced in 3 ways:

1. Killing 40 mobs will reduce the CD by ten seconds.
2. Deactivating the skill will reduce the cooldown by 6 seconds for every ten remaining hits you have.
3.  Stimulating Conversation will reduce the cooldown by 50%.

How do I super jump?

That can be found later in this document, here.

Do I need critical rate for bossing? [Updated 2/5/2026]

Buccaneer overcaps on critical rate when bossing, without any additional sources.

However, it is recommended to have 100% visual critical rate to activate Hayato’s link,  Moonlight Blade Learnings.

The most effective way to do it is as follows:

• 3% - Legion Familiar Badges
• 5% - Maplestory Base Critical Rate
• 8-10% - Legion Members (Night Lord & Marksman)

• 10% - Decent Sharp Eyes
• 15% -  Precision Strikes
• 20% -  Shadow Heart
• 20% - Legion Artifact
  

This totals to 81-83% Critical Rate from these sources alone.

Recommended options to fill up your remaining critical rate:

• Lynn Link Skill (10% Critical Rate with 10% Damage attached).
• Legion Grid (Use your additional blocks to fill in the remaining critical rate you are missing).
• Hyper Stats (Definitely try to minimize this, keep it low as possible because higher points have bad returns).

Which Skill Ring do we use/upgrade first? [Updated 9/10/2026]

 Continuous OR   Ring of Restraint

As of the Frieren collaboration patch you can now wear both Continuous and Ring of Restraint at the same time.

In terms of upgrade priority, you're going to want to upgrade your ROR first in both cases.

• ROR 5 first to match the length of your origin.
• ROR 6 first because it's a significant jump in ATK% between 5 to 6.

Buccaneer has teleport?

In  Lightning Form, double-tapping a directional key will allow you to teleport both vertically and horizontally. The vertical teleport is a true teleport, while the horizontal teleport is similar to a dash. You may right click Lightning Form in the skill window to disable the teleports from occurring, but this is not recommended to do so. You should get used to not double tapping for walking around, and it is always good to have more mobility options available.

Why do we boost  Nautilus Strike?

Although we do not cast  Nautilus Strike, we boost the skill because it provides two additional final attack lines to  Corkscrew Blow,  Octopunch,  Serpent Vortex,  Howling Fist, and the initial cast of  Unleash Neptunus.

What are Buccaneer’s iframes?

Buccaneer’s iframes are tied to their burst. Each activation of  Lightning Form provides a 1 second iframe, for up to a total of 3 seconds. In addition, the second half of  Howling Fist serves as an iframe. It is not recommended to use these for survival.

Does Buccaneer need a cooldown hat? [Updated 2/5/2026]

Buccaneer is the worst class for cooldown hats. Stat hat is better by a large margin.

Updated Note: There are situations where you may consider a CD hat, strictly for min cut scenarios where having cooldown reduction will provide you with an additional burst at the end. Typically -2 should be enough for these cases.

Do I need a green potion?

Any class that benefits from Attack Speed needs a green potion except for a few very niche exceptions.

 Knuckle Attack Speed begins at (5).  Speed Infusion increases that to (7).  Knuckle Mastery increases that to (9), and  green potion brings us to exactly (10).

What is the ideal WSE setup for endgame?

Between 9/0/0 and 7/2/0 (Attack/Boss/IED) is considered ideal for Buccaneer. It is recommended to not have IED on your WSE at later stages of the game since set effects will carry and other sources should be enough.

What IED should I aim for?

• Early Game: (Lotus to Verus Hilla)

• 85% Minimum
• 93% Ideal

• Mid Game: (Black Mage to Grandis Bosses on Lower Difficulties)

• 95% Minimum

• Late / End Game: (Hard Bosses)

• 97%+ Ideal

Hyper Stats

To start off, I want to say there is no standardized hyper stat build. Optimizing your hyper stats takes into account numerous factors and can vary greatly on your level of progression. There is however a priority on how we should allocate our points. If you want hyper stats optimized to your character in particular, you can use this calculator by SuckHard to figure out the most optimal build for you.

It goes as follows:

You want to “evenly” distribute the majority of your points into the first four categories, and spend your leftover points on the remaining. We do not include Critical Rate because Buccaneer already has over 100% critical rate when attacking bosses.

For training however we of course want to maximize our EXP as soon as possible, any additional Hyper Stat points should be filtered into the following. It is recommended to use Legion and Hyper Stat together to boost critical rate for mobbing.

Inner Ability

Buccaneer’s ideal inner ability is Boss Damage, Buff Duration and Abnormal Status.

What about the following inner abilities?

• Attack Speed

• We can self-cap on attack speed with a green pot only.

• Critical Rate

• This is okay to keep in early stages of the game, to help proc Hayato link. Otherwise it is not that useful.

• % Skip Chance

• This does not skip any important skill so unfortunately it is not usable.

• Passive Skills Level +1

• This has been calculated before, and it is weaker than the ideal IA above.

Link Skills [Updated 2/6/2026]

There are no objective 12 link skills that are perfect for the class. Your link skills should vary depending on your level of progression, as well as the situation. I recommend using the three link skill presets to create a bossing, mobbing, and culvert/dojo preset.

Some bosses may require more survivability, sometimes you may prefer to trade off that survivability for more damage.

Link Skills are unlocked at Lv. 70, and upgraded at Lv. 120 and Lv. 210.

Important: Do not double click or activate the Pirate Link skill. Doing so will result in your stats swapping and you will lose a lot of damage as a result. You can tell if this skill is active by looking at your buff bar.

 Pirate Blessing

• Max Level: 9
• While active, this skill swaps the STR and DEX values of your gear.
• 100 All Stat, 1750 HP/MP and -21% Damage taken at max rank.
• Can be leveled to Lv. 9 by having three unique Explorer Pirates at Lv. 210 (Buccaneer, Corsair and Cannon Master).

Bossing        

  Fury Unleashed (Demon Slayer)

• Max Level: 3
• 20% boss damage at max level.

  Terms & Conditions (Angelic Buster)

• Max Level: 3
• 60% damage for 10 seconds at max level.
• Is affected by buff duration.
• Used during both Buccaneer’s full burst and half burst.
• 60 second cooldown.

  Empirical Knowledge (Explorer Mage)

• Max Level: 9
• 15% IED and 15% damage at max level, max stacks.
• Can be leveled to Lv. 9 by having three unique Explorer Mages at Lv. 210 (Ice/Lightning, Fire/Poison and Bishop).

  Thief’s Cunning (Explorer Thief)

• Max Level: 9
• 27% damage increase on debuffed enemies for 10 seconds at max level.
• Can be leveled to Lv. 9 by having three unique Explorer Thieves at Lv. 210 (Night Lord, Shadower and Dual Blade).
• 20 second cooldown.

 Unfair Advantage (Cadena)

• Max Level: 3
• 9% damage on enemies that are a lower level than you.
• 9% damage on debuffed enemies.
• Stacks together for a total of 18% at max level.

 Qi Cultivation (Mo Xuan)

• Max Level: 3
• 24% damage at max level.
• Activates after being in combat for 2 seconds.

Mobbing

  Combo Blessing (Aran)

• Max Level: 3
• 900% bonus EXP from combo marbles at max level.
• Considered to be the least important EXP link skill at higher levels.

  Rune Persistence (Evan)

• Max Level: 3
• 70% bonus rune duration at max level.
• At Lv. 3, this equates to a 14% increase to EXP per hour.

  Elven Blessing (Mercedes)

• Max Level: 3
• 20% bonus EXP at max level.

  Bravado (Hoyoung)

• Max Level: 3
• 19% damage depending on level, to enemies with 100% HP.

  Nature’s Friend (Lara)                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                      

• Max Level: 3
• 22% damage against normal monsters.
• 30 second cooldown.

Both

 Moonlight Blade Learnings (Hayato)

• Max Level: 3
• 7% critical damage if you have 100% visual critical rate and 50% visual critical damage.

 Wild Rage (Demon Avenger)

• Max Level: 3
• 15% damage at max level.

 Hybrid Logic (Xenon)

• Max Level: 3
• 15% all stat at max level.

 Elementalism (Kanna)

• Max Level: 3
• 20% damage at max level, you have to attack to upkeep this skill.

 Spirit Guide Blessing (Lynn)

• Max Level: 3
• 10% boss damage, 10% critical rate, and 5% max HP/MP at max level.

 Judgement (Kinesis)

• Max Level: 3
• 6% critical damage at max level.

 Solus (Ark)

• Max Level: 3
• 16% damage depending at max level.
• Activates after being in combat for 5 seconds.

 Time to Prepare (Kain)

• Max Level: 3
• Activates after defeating 8 enemies or attacking a boss monster 5 times:
• 25% damage for 20 seconds at max level.
• 40 second cooldown, so 50% uptime.

  Tide of Battle (Illium)

• Max Level: 3
• 16% damage at max stacks and max level.
• Activated by constantly moving.

 Guiding Stars (Sia & Erel Light)

• Max Level: 6
• 19% buff duration and 6% critical damage at max level.

Optional/Others

 Light Wash (Luminous)

• Max Level: 3
• 20% IED at max level.

 Noble Fire (Adele)

• Max Level: 2
• 2/4% boss damage.
• Additional 1/2% boss damage per party member. Caps at 4/8% depending on level. Your own character is included.
• In a party of 4 or more, this would provide 6/12% boss damage.

 Invincible Belief (Explorer Warrior)

• Max Level: 6
• Upon falling below 15% Max HP, restore 20/23/26/29/32/35% of your HP each second for 3 seconds.
• Can be leveled to Lv. 6 by having three unique Explorer Warriors at Lv. 120 (Hero, Paladin and Dark Knight).
• This does not work in Verus Hilla or Will Phase 2.

  Spirit of Freedom (Resistance)

• Max Level: 8
• Grants 1/2/3/4/5/6/7/8 seconds of invincibility after reviving, depending on level. This overlaps with the base 2 seconds of invincibility.
• Can be leveled to Lv. 8 by having four unique Resistance at Lvl. 120 (Wild Hunter, Mechanic, Blaster and Battle Mage).

Preset Examples

These are just examples. These may or may not be optimal for you so please take into account your stats when selecting your links.

Mobbing

Bossing/Culvert

Early Skills

Auto Pet Buffs

With three pets, you can auto-buff up to six skills.

The suggested auto buff skills are:

•  Crossbones
•  Speed Infusion
•  Decent Sharp Eyes
•  Decent Combat Orders
•  Decent Holy Symbol
•  Roll of the Dice

As of the Ride or Die patch, Maple Warrior and Decent Advanced Blessing are now passives and no longer need to be put on our auto buff.

Please put 4th Job Speed Infusion on your pet auto buff, because it gives +2 attack speed to hit Attack Speed 10. With Decent Speed Infusion you can only achieve Attack Speed 9.

Important Job Skills

Active Skills

Serpent Scale: Auto Skill

• After activating 5 Serpent Skills, this skill will activate and cast  Serpent Assault when using  Hook Bomber or  Raging Serpent Assault when using  Octopunch.
• It is recommended to put this skill on auto mode by right clicking it in the skill window. When in auto mode, there should be a small ‘A’ icon in the corner of the skill icon.

Advanced Dash: Movement Skill

• It is absolutely necessary to put this on a keybind.

• Command Input (double-tap) cannot be used during  Lightning Form.
• Works more fluidly when on a keybind.
• Can be used after a skill to move while attacking.
• Keybind is much more consistent.

• Details regarding Super Jump can be found here.

Crossbones: Attack Power Buff

• 13% Final Damage.
• 15% Attack.
• 70% Knuckle Mastery.

Speed Infusion: Attack Speed Buff

• Real Speed Infusion increases Attack Speed by 2.
• This should be on at all times.

Time Leap: Utility Skill

• Resets the cooldown of most skills that are 4th job and below.
• Works for party members.
• Does not reset item skills, such as Oz Ring, Krrr Ring, Lucid’s Earring or Firestarter Ring.
• Popular skills to reset:

•  Hero’s Will
•  Terms & Conditions (AB Link)

• If your AB Link cd skips from Legion Artifact, you can use it again, and then Time Leap it to reset for the next burst

•  Roll of the Dice
•  Takeno’s Blessing
•  Smokescreen (Shadower)
•  Shadow Rain (Zero)

• 120 second cooldown.

Vortex Jump: Up Jump

• Cannot be bound to key.
• While in the air, hold up and press jump.

Roll of the Dice: Utility Skill

• Roll 5 for damage buff.
• Roll 6 for experience buff.
•  Double Down passive affects this skill.
• 120 second cooldown.

Corkscrew Blow: Movement Skill

• Can be used to cancel the animations of any skill.

• See here for more information.

• Can link with  Octopunch to teleport to a nearby enemy by holding left or right and pressing  Octopunch right after  Corkscrew Blow.
• 4 second cooldown when using this skill as an animation cancel.
• No cooldown when used without animation cancel.

Octopunch: Main Bossing Skill

• This is your main DPM skill outside of  Lord of the Deep.
• Procs  Sea Serpent Rage every 4 seconds.
• When in Assault Mode, procs  Raging Serpent Assault.
• The range is slightly longer than  Lord of the Deep.

Hook Bomber: Main Mobbing Skill

• This is your main mobbing skill outside of  Lord of the Deep.
• Procs  Sea Serpent Burst every 7 seconds.
• When in Assault Mode, procs  Serpent Assault.

Nautilus Strike: Mobbing/Passive Skill

• FMA mobbing skill.
• 60 second cooldown.
• Passive Effect: 2 additional hits for 165% Damage when attacking with  Corkscrew Blow,  Octopunch,  Serpent Vortex,  Howling Fist, and the initial cast of  Unleash Neptunus (but not the Neptunus Enrage portals afterwards).
• Does not need to be on cooldown for the passive effect.

Passive Skills

Sea Serpent: Passive Skill

• This is a vital part of your kit that procs Serpent Mark or  Serpent Skills. Turned into a passive skill as of the One Punch Man Collab update.

Defensive Stance: Passive Skill

• When  Sea Serpent or  Assault skills hit, generates a shield for 3 seconds that reduces damage taken by 25% damage (including Max HP% attacks).
• 4 second cooldown.

Aggressive Stance: Passive Skill

• When skills hit an enemy, grant 25% damage buff for 10 seconds.
• No cooldown.

Typhoon Crush: Passive Skill

• 40% IED.
• 10% Final Damage.
• 30 Attack Power.

Precision Strikes: Passive Skill

• 30 Attack Power.
• 15% Crit Rate.
• 10% Crit Damage.
• 20% Additional Crit Rate to Bosses (Total of 35% Crit Rate from this skill on bosses).

Groggy Mastery: Passive Skill

• 35% Abnormal Status Resistance for stuns.
• 60% Crit Rate when attacking enemies affected by abnormal statuses (bosses will always have abnormal statuses).
• 15% Crit Damage when attacking enemies affected by abnormal statuses.

Shadow Heart: Passive Skill

• 20% Crit Rate
• 5% Crit Damage

Hyper Skill Passives

Bossing:

Double Down - Saving Grace: 40% Chance to ignore cooldown when Double Down does not activate. The next cast will activate Double Down with a 4 or above.

Double Down - Enhance: Increased chance of rolling 4, 5, or 6.

Octopunch - Reinforce: +20% Damage.

Octopunch - Boss Rush: +20% Boss Damage.

Octopunch - Extra Strike: +1 number of attacks.

Mobbing:

Double Down - Saving Grace: 40% Chance to ignore cooldown when Double Down does not activate. The next cast will activate Double Down with a 4 or above.

Double Down - Enhance: Increased chance of rolling 4, 5, or 6.

Hook Bomber - Reinforce: +20% Damage.

Hook Bomber - Spread: +2 max enemies hit.

Hook Bomber - Extra Strike: +1 number of attacks.

Hyper Skill Actives

Serpent Spirit: Damage Buff

• Passive 15% Critical Damage.
• Turned into passive skill as of the One Punch Man Collab update.

Epic Adventure: Damage Buff

• Buffs other explorers in your party as well.
• 120 second cooldown.

Stimulating Conversation: Damage Buff

•  Serpent skills from  Sea Serpent gets -50% cooldown.
•  Lord of the Deep gets -50% cooldown.
• 120 second cooldown.

V Matrix (Fifth Job)

Skills

Lightning Form: Damage Buff & Burst Skill

• While active, double-tap an arrow key to teleport in that direction.
• Vertical teleport is a true teleport.
• Horizontal teleport is a pseudo-teleport. It functions more like a dash.
• Press the skill again up to 3 times to throw 3 lightning orbs.
• While casting lightning orbs, you are invincible for 1 second per orb.
• You may right click the skill in the skill window to disable the teleports from occurring, but this is not recommended to do so. You should get used to not double tapping for walking around, and it is always good to have more mobility options available. 
• 120 second cooldown.

Lord of the Deep: Toggle Skill

• Buccaneer’s bread and butter skill, you use this for absolutely everything.
• 100% uptime when bossing.
• 100% uptime when mobbing if you are capable of one shotting.
• Will stop registering hits if you stand still for too long (approximately 25 seconds).
• Best skill in the game hands down 😎.

Serpent Vortex: Damage & Utility Skill

• Can be used in place by holding no directional key.
• Can be used going diagonally or horizontally by holding the respective directions on the arrow keys while using the skill.
• Can be used to stall yourself in the air.
• You are in super stance while this is casted.
• Maximum of 6 charges, gains 1 charge every 8 seconds.
• 0.5 second cooldown.
• Can right click in skill window to toggle Serpent Fury Mode which allows you to use all charges in 1 attack (use with no directions held)

Howling Fist: Damage Skill                

• This skill has two parts to it: while the mouth is open and after the mouth closes.
• Immune to status effects and take half damage  while the mouth is open.
• Invincible for a few seconds after the mouth closes.
• You are able to animation cancel with  Corkscrew after the mouth closes.
• You can reactivate the skill to close the mouth early. The damage difference between closing early and letting it close on its own is minor, so this is up to preference.
• 60 second cooldown.

Node Leveling Priority

This is by no means concrete, just a preferred order to maxing out your V Matrix. Priority is given to important bossing skills and essential training skills. You should absolutely unlock most, if not all of your skills before trying to max.

High Priority

•  Lord of the Deep (Max is very important for both bossing and training).
•  Octopunch
•  Raging Serpent Assault + Nautilus
•  Lightning Form
•  Howling Fist
•  Decent Holy Symbol (More EXP for training, and more drop rate).
•  Erda Nova (Important so that the cooldown syncs with your burst timings).

Mid Priority

•  Decent Holy Fountain (if you are new to the game, otherwise low priority).
•  Serpent Vortex
•  Goddess Blessing
•  Overdrive
•  Pirate’s Banner
•  True Arachnid Reflection
•  Solar Crest

Lower Priority

•  Will of Erda (Once you begin more difficult bosses such as Black Mage, this becomes more of a mid priority).
•  Blink
•  Loaded Dice
•  Hook Bomber (Training Skill, can be higher priority if not one shotting).
•  Sea Serpent Burst
•  Rope Lift
•  Decent Angelic Blessing (Get Lv.1 early).
•  Decent Sharp Eyes (Get Lv.1 early).
•  Decent CO (Get Lv.1 early).
•  Decent Hyper Body (Wait until min-max).
•  Decent Speed Infusion (Wait until min-max).
•  Decent Mystic Door (Wait until min-max).
  
  The decent skills are only added for their passive stat boosts. Absolutely do not worry about rushing these as they are considered min-max. Just get Lv.1 early.

Not Needed

• Static Thumper
• Corkscrew (When you are fully maxed, I would add points into this because it does get used as mobility and animation cancel during bossing).

HEXA Matrix (Sixth Job)

HEXA Matrix Priority [Updated 9/10/2026]

As of New Age, Buccaneer is able to advance to sixth job, since there are a lot of useful skills, we have created a priority chart for leveling your 6th job skills.

This guide has been updated for the Frieren Collab Patch and includes the new Common node.

Skill upgrade cost for reference:

HEXA Stat

It is recommended to start this after you have leveled some of your skills to Level 10. On average, the cost for maxing your HEXA stat is approximately 300 fragments.

The three main stats you should pick, can be any of the following four:

• Attack
• Strength
• Boss
• Critical Damage

For the time being, it is recommended just to level it to 20 and sit on it for now. The higher your main stat the better, but it is very min-max to reset at the moment.

Here is an example HEXA stat build:

For HEXA Stat II and III, rotate the chosen stats around as you cannot have duplicate main stats across the cores, or use a calculator to optimise.

HEXA Stat numbers for reference:

Sol Janus

You should unlock Sol Janus right after you unlocked some of the masteries as this skill helps a lot with both farming and just doing dailies/weeklies. Our mobbing capabilities were considered below average, but Sol Janus equalised all of the classes.

Sol Janus has major upgrades at levels 10, 20 and 30. The levels in-between only increases the damage dealt and XP gained, which means once you plan on going for the next major upgrade, you should not stop halfway.

A general guideline on when to upgrade:

• Do just dailies and weeklies, no extra farming - stay at level 1
• Farm for at least 30 minutes - get to level 10
• Farm with WAPs - get to level 20
• People are worried how much you farm / people question are you a bot / you really want to get to lvl 290 or higher - get to level 30

Sol Janus numbers for reference:

Culvert Rotation [Not Yet Updated]

You can refer to a KMS rotation first if you need: Maple_Conti_Builds.xlsx

Rotation courtesy of ImJabbs.
This is our older rotation before the ring changes and the new common skill. You can still use this for now, while we test different variations of culvert.

You might also be wondering how to time  Fatal Strike.

One popular method of timing  Fatal Strike is to attack 2-3 seconds before clicking enter, this is the easiest method. This will line up your  Fatal Strike at 100 seconds and 10 seconds remaining.  

Skill Sequence Examples

Full and Mini are for your bursts, while the other 3 are to shorten the time spent casting the skills.

Crossbones and SI are used as placeholders as sequences require a minimum of 3 skills to be able to be used. Flag is also used as a placeholder for Time Leap and Dice sequences.

Feel free to modify these sequences as you see fit.

Buff Favorite Examples

This is an example of a Buccaneer Buff Favorite setting. This is optional but recommended as it provides visual clarity for finding your buffs. This is typically a little more than most people would have on their buff favorites, so it is recommended to tweak it to your needs.

Row 1: Serpent Spirit, Lord of the Deep, Sol Janus, Sol Hecate (Nebula Skin), Loaded Dice, Double Down, Familiars, Fatal Strike (and Mapae Boss Node if Ride or Die event is present).

Row 2: Goddess Blessing, Epic Adventure, Stimulating Conversation, Lightning Form, Overdrive, Terms & Conditions, Pirate’s Banner

Row 3: Ring of Restraint, Continuous Ring, Genesis/Destiny Iframe, Defensive Stance, Solar Crest, Arachnid Reflection, Time Leap, Sol Hecate: Pactum, Sol Hecate: Styx

Other Considerations: Serpent Scale, Sol Janus

Bossing Rotation

Buccaneer has a very simple bossing rotation, where you just use your burst skills every minute and continue punching the boss until your burst skills are up again.

Before bursting, always remember to apply  Serpent’s Mark on the boss by using  Octopunch first. If you do not, you are losing %FD on your burst.

If you are using  Continuous Ring, try to time the burst skills with it.

The full origin burst rotation:

• Apply  Serpent’s Mark to the boss if it is not applied
• Use the ‘Full’ Buff Sequence.
•  Serpent Vortex before or after Origin on Fury mode.
•  Unleash Neptunus

•  Unleash Neptunus first ensures the boss is binded immediately and that they do not escape or dodge your attacks
•  Howling Fist used to desync, but now Neptunus applies a skill cooldown acceleration effect that lines everything up.

•  Howling Fist
•  Lightning Form Orbs
•  Erda Nova to bind the boss when the origin bind is finished. Alternatively you can wait until  Sol Hecate: Styx finishes as well.

For the full non-origin burst, it is similar to above:

• Apply  Serpent’s Mark to the boss if it is not applied
• Buff up with the Full buff sequence
•  Serpent Vortex on Fury mode.
•  Erda Nova to bind the boss, or use  Sol Hecate: Styx.
•  Howling Fist
•  Lightning Form Orbs

For the mini burst:

• Apply  Serpent’s Mark to the boss if it is not applied
• Buff up with the Mini buff sequence
•  Serpent Vortex on Fury mode.
•  Howling Fist

Once your burst is done, you just damage and dodge until your burst skills are up again:

• Damage with  Lord of the Deep and  Octopunch along with the skills that trigger automatically ( Sea Serpent’s Rage,  Raging Serpent Assault,  Nautilus Strike passive)
• Dodge with mainly  Advanced Dash,  Corkscrew and  Serpent Vortex, while also using  Lightning Form teleport,  Rope Lift and  Blink to aid you as necessary

The Dark Tech ™

Spiked Shoes

In Maplestory, there used to be a 10% Scroll for Spikes on Shoes, that would add the Prevent Slipping status to any pair of shoes you were wearing.

Spiked shoes affect the way  Advanced Dash works, and also changes the way your character walks. Although it comes down to personal preference, I would recommend that you play without spiked shoes.

Prevent Slipping

• Prevent slipping stops horizontal momentum early, resulting in shorter dashes.
• Prevent slipping also gives you full momentum when tapping keys, meaning short adjustments are slightly harder.

To lengthen your  Advanced Dash with Spiked Shoes, hold left/right when pressing  Advanced Dash. This does not work when Crouch Dashing.

Threads of Fate

Buccaneer has the unique advantage of utilizing Threads of Fate skills. The major drawback to these skills is their 30 minute cooldown, however through the use of  Time Leap we can reduce that cooldown immediately, and reset it again every 3 minutes.

Although these skills are often overlooked these days due to their nerfs in the past, Threads of Fate still provides valuable utility to Buccaneer. There are two skills in particular that are considered useful to Buccaneer.

Note for MSEA players: Takeno’s Blessing does not work as a Holy Magic Shell and is not affected by  Time Leap.

 Takeno’s Blessing

[Restores 100% of your HP and makes you invulnerable for 5 seconds.]

• Can be used to heal through some heal blocks.

• Black Mage Curse of Destruction
• Works when potion cooldown is active.

• Does not work through the following heal blocks.

• Will Phase 2
• Verus Hilla

• Not an i-frame but it acts similarly to Bishop’s Holy Magic Shell.

• Blocks Purple Ball in Lotus
• Blocks Bombs in Lucid
• Blocks Bombs in Ursus
• Blocks Screen Crack in Will

 Yorozu’s Wisdom

[Yorozu places 5 traps. Monsters that touch the trap are stunned for 5 seconds.]

Previously, this used to work as an independent bind, but now it shares a bind cooldown with regular binds. It may still be useful to you in the following.

• Dojo (binding on certain floors).
• Missing a bind timing.
• Bosses with multiple phases or bodies.

Advanced Mechanics

Super Jump

Press Keybind  Advanced Dash + Jump, almost simultaneously but jump must come after the dash.

The timing can definitely be a bit difficult on some keyboards, in order to alleviate that try decreasing your repeat delay and increasing your repeat rate on the keyboard.

Duck Dashing

Buccaneer is able to use their  Advanced Dash skill while crouching. This can be useful in bosses where crouching can reliably dodge specific boss patterns.

For example: Black Mage Kick, Seren Dash/Stab, Darknell Dash.

Press Keybind  Advanced Dash while holding down.

Corkscrew Teleport        

Buccaneer can teleport to the nearest mob by holding a directional key, and pressing  Octopunch after using  Corkscrew Blow.

(Reverse) You can also use this skill to dash past a boss, and turn around to face him. To do this, hold inward towards your original dash point and towards the boss.  

Animation Cancel

Buccaneer can cancel longer animations with  Corkscrew Blow. Use it in the middle of an animation to immediately act out. When used to animation cancel,  Corkscrew has a 4s cooldown.

This also works on skills with long cast times, such as  Pirate’s Banner and  Howling Fist after the mouth has closed.

Animation Cancel into Corkscrew Teleport        

Because  Corkscrew also has a teleport built-in to the skill, you can animation cancel straight into a teleport.

Momentum Cancel

During  Advanced Dash, press Down to stop. Very good when precise movement is needed.

This should be your main method of positioning yourself if you need micro movements instead of walking.

When in the air you can use  Serpent Vortex without a directional key to stop all momentum. You can use  Serpent Vortex to stall continuously in the air as well. However, you cannot do this properly if you have toggled on fury mode, but you should not need to use this often anyway.

Blink Teleport

During  Lightning Form, Buccaneer can use their teleport during the  Blink animation. You can do this by double tapping while holding your  Blink skill.

Training

Training General Tips

Listed below will be recommendations for maps (and rotations) that Buccaneers are able to take advantage of. However, due to Buccaneer’s high mobility we have very good map flexibility and can adapt to most maps. In general, Buccaneers prefer long and horizontal maps to utilize their super jump.

Map rotations usually come in three different patterns.

Circular Pattern

As the name implies, you rotate the map in a circular pattern. Typically you will super jump the top and bottom platforms and use rope lift to go upward. Areas that are hard to reach (such as corner platforms) should be covered by either  Hook Bomber or  Erda Fountain.  

X Pattern
This rotation utilizes  Advanced Dash and platforms to create simple rotations. When you slide off the edge of a platform with  Advanced Dash, you gain a large boost. You can also alternatively use super jump for these rotations.  Erda Fountain should be used to cover difficult to reach spots.

U Pattern

Similar to the previous pattern, but rather than  rope lifting to a top platform, you execute an up jump in the middle of (or after) your super jump along the bottom of a map to hit the top mobs. Use  Serpent Vortex to control your momentum in case of overshots. This is done in long horizontal maps such as End of the World in Limina.

Of course, other rotation patterns exist and can be more optimal, but you will find yourself following some variation of these patterns due to the nature of  Lord of the Deep. Experimentation may be needed to suit your own personal playstyle.

Do a Battle Analysis, and take note of the mob count over a 15 or 60 minute rotation. Grandis mobbing with  Lord of the Deep alone can be difficult, consider staying in the Arcane River until you achieve the necessary strength/sacred force.

Training (Regular Server)

Refer to Subluxe’s rotation video for on totem mobbing for some early level maps:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z1zejtuFu9A&t=2s

Vanishing Journey & Reverse City

200-210: Eastern Cave Path 2

            Below the Cave

205-210: T-Boy’s Research Train 1

            Hidden Research Train

Chu Chu Island & Yum Yum Island

210-220: Mottled Forest 1

            Slurpy Forest Depths

            Bitty Bobble Forest 2

215-225:  Hidden Illiard Field

Lachelein

220-225: Revelation Place 2/3

                 Occupied Dance Floor 1

Arcana

225-235: Labyrinth Cavern Upper Path

           Where Water and Sunlight Meet

           Deep in the Cavern Upper Path 1

Morass

Not many good maps for training here, most people here continue in Arcana until they are ready for Esfera.

230-235: Shadow Dance Hall 2/3/4 (as a good alternative)

Esfera

235-240: Radiant Temple 3 (A KMS favorite)

            Mirror Touched Sea 2/3/4

Sellas

240-245: Plunging Depths 4

             Star Swallowing Sea 1/6

             Final Edge of Light 6

Moonbridge

245-250: Void Current 3

Labyrinth of Suffering

250-255: Deep Core 1/4 (Need good control over super jumping)

            Interior 5

Limina

255-275: End of the World 1-5

            End of the World 1-4

            End of the World 2-5

            World’s Sorrow Midpoint 2

            World’s Sorrow Depths 2

Cernium

260-265: Royal Library Section 2

                 Royal Library Section 4

             Eastern City Ramparts 3

Burning Cernium

265-270: Western City Ramparts in Battle 1/2

            Burning Library 6

Hotel Arcus

270-275: Outlaw Infested Wastes 1/2/4

            Nostalgic Drive in Theatre 2/6

            Train with No Destination 2

Odium

270+: Road to Castle’s Gate 1/2/4

           Captured Alley 2/3/4

           Laboratory Behind Locked Door 2

Shangri-La

275+: Blooming Spring 1

           Harsh Winter 4

Arteria

280+: Top Deck 1

           Top Deck 6

Carcion

285+: Among Tainted Trees 3

          Breathtaking Cave 4

Training (Reboot Server)

Korean Training Guide for Buccaneer 200-250

• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NuXrnjpFrvg 

Vanishing Journey & Reverse City

200-210: Eastern Cave Path 2

            Below the Cave

            Hidden Lakeshore https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f1ZfWT9WUhQ (15/16.6k mobs)

205-210: Hidden Research Train https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GACRHy5ILpE 

*Reverse City, generally, has lower mob counts and therefore, less advised

Chu Chu Island & Yum Yum Island

210-220: Mottled Forest 1/2

            Bitty Bobble Forest 2

215-225:  Hidden Illiard Field

            Hidden Mushbud Forest https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yEerHYv44Jo (12k mobs)

Lachelein

220-225: Revelation Place 2/3

                 Occupied Dance Floor 1

             Chicken Festival 3 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kki_h7fBSOQ (18k mobs)

Arcana

225-235: Labyrinth Cavern Upper Path

           Where Water and Sunlight Meet

           Deep in the Cavern Upper Path 1 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0XSkF79XHhQ 

Morass

230-235: Shadow Dance Hall 2/3/4

            Abandoned Area 2 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kcEkPN6bMfw (18k mobs)

Esfera

235-240: Radiant Temple 3 (A KMS favorite) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pPu-6sGqdXw 

            Mirror Touched Sea 2/3/4

Sellas (Good until 250 too)

240-245: Plunging Depths 3/4

             Star Swallowing Sea 1/6

             Final Edge of Light 6 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5Z0jPvWtft8 

                (above video is “lazy” rotation, easily improved with super jump)

Moonbridge (Good until 255 too)

245-250: Void Current 2 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-qPeAocpi2k 

             Last Horizon 4/6 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DRdioFmiyXg 

Labyrinth of Suffering

Awkward platform positions make this less ideal for buccaneers.

250-255: Deep Core 1/2/4 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5PAgZe-qPsE 

            Interior 5

Limina (Good until you give up on fams)

255-275: End of the World 1-4/5 (less recommended with removal of totems, still lazy)

    End of the World 1-6/7 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PtjGTeXi0RY 

            End of the World 2-6

            World’s Sorrow Depths 2/3 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r3XA9lt4j-A 

Cernium https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uVwZkL0qOs4 

260-265: Royal Library Section 2/3/4

            Eastern City Ramparts 2/3

            Rocky Overlook 3/4

Burning Cernium https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uVwZkL0qOs4 

265-270: Western City Ramparts in Battle 3/4

            Burning Library 3 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0ERM6o6Wn6g (pre destiny)

Hotel Arcus

270-275: Outlaw Infested Wastes 1/4 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5ISgWJmb3n8 

            Nostalgic Drive in Theatre 2/6

            Train with No Destination 2 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DWFAG4oEWNE 

Odium

275+: Road to Castle’s Gate 1/2/4

           Captured Alley 2/3/4 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DoO_9qnrcIg 

           Laboratory Behind Locked Door

Boss Specific Beginner Tips

Lotus

•  (ty _brando for contributions)
• In P2 it is recommended to play bottom right side to be safe from Lotus’ FMA.
• In P3 it is recommended to play top left side to be safe from Lotus’ FMA as well as access to the portal which brings you to the bottom right side.
• Use the Holy Fountain.
• Always make sure to use the lasers in P1 to break Lotus’ shield.

Damien

• Blue balls disappear now when Damien is binded.
• Lure the flying sword away from the altar before going to cleanse to get a safe cleanse off.

Lucid

•  Takeno’s Blessing can completely guard Lucid’s bomb.

Will

• You can use  Takeno’s Blessing to block the screen cracks in Phase 1.

• You cannot use it to heal in Phase 2.

• Tap  Advanced Dash to easily dodge the white eye attack in Phase 3.

Guardian Angel Slime

• Try to work your shots in between DPMing to minimize the boss's healing.

• Try to mini burst off cooldown so that you can have it ready for the next test.

• It’s recommended to focus on the Blue and Orange altars only because you can hit them from above, below, and the same platform, allowing for more options.

Gloom

• Utilize  Hero’s Will and  Erda Will to avoid getting skill locked or petrified by the hands.
•  Time Leap resets  Hero’s Will so try to use  Hero’s Will before  Erda Will, so that you can time leap  Hero’s Will.
• Origin can stop Gloom’s laser phase.

Verus Hilla

• Depending on latency and keyboard settings, you can hold  Corkscrew Blow when Hilla knocks you back to move out of the way before you are knocked.
• You can also teleport upward to avoid the initial stun.

Darknell

• You can utilize Duck Dashing to get out of bad patterns. Ducking dodges Darknell’s dash skill and Mage’s blue orb as well.
•  Blink and Blink Teleport can be used to stay in the air and avoid debris.

Black Mage

• Reverse Corkscrew Teleport puts you just outside of one of the pillar hitboxes. Extremely useful in P2 BM.
•  Time Leap is an essential skill for maintaining your  Hero’s Will.
• Abuse Duck Dashing in both P2 and P3 BM. You can reposition without fear of getting kicked by BM in P3.
• Typically you can very safely  Octopunch five times before BM kicks again. If you do it cleanly you can get six.

Seren

• Abuse Duck Dashing in P2 Seren. You can reposition without fear of getting stabbed, or dashed on.
• Typically you can safely  Octopunch twice before Seren is ready to stab again.
• Buccaneer can do a relatively safe pop in Dawn Phase if they are comfortable with super jumping.

Kalos

• Try to keep on the upper half of the map so you can jump up without worry.
• This boss is very communication heavy so notify your party members about Kalo’s position.

Kaling

• For Phase 1, utilize  Corkscrew Blow between three pillars, or  Advanced Dash between two pillars in order to dodge during the wolf test.

Credits

Changelog

(Rev. 2.0) September 10, 2026

• Huge overhaul to ring changes.
• Updated the 5th job skill section (finally).
• Updated FAQ.

(Rev. 1.9) March 30, 2026

• Sea Serpent toggle and Serpent Spirit hyper turned into passives.

(Rev. 1.7) September 25, 2025

• Updated for new Kanna & Hayato Link skills.
• Included changes about oz ring priority.
• Small blurb about CD hats.

(Rev. 1.7) September 25, 2025

• Bible updated for 2 mins change
• Minor edits to some parts of bible
• More changes probably TBA TBA

(Rev. 1.6) July 15, 2025

• Hexa guide added for M3+M4
• More changes probably TBA

(Rev. 1.5) June 14, 2025

• Sequences added
• Updated link skills for Sia, Mo Xuan, and new UI
• Vortex fury mode

(Rev. 1.4) June 18, 2024

• Update the 6th job section.

(Rev. 1.3) April 16, 2024

• Updated with more skill icons.

(Rev. 1.2) December 12, 2023

• More skill icons added.
• Editing to make some sections more coherent or detailed.
• More FAQ questions.
• HEXA Stat section.

(Rev. 1.1) November 18, 2023

• Spiked Shoes Section
• Update to Regular Server Training

(Rev. 1.0) November 14, 2023

• The Buccaneer Bible (Rev. 1.0) is published.

Appendix

Skill Names in Different Servers