MapleSEA Sneak Peek Testing Event of Evan Class [22nd May 2010]

Maplers from SEA region rejoice! Evan, one of the legendary heroes will awake in 2 more days! Are you guys ready for her yet? For those that have yet to know what is all Evan about, well, Evan is actually a magician hero whose soul is being joined together with the Onyx Dragon.

Having said so, Evan power actually lies with the Onyx Dragon and it is no surprise that Evan is nicknamed as the Dragon Master. In truth, the stronger the Onyx Dragon gets, the stronger Evan will be and that is a relative relation that will never change.

Ready for the Dragon Master?

On yesterday, 5 senior Evans has stepped into the MapleSea to aid the reborn of more Evans to the community. I guess I was one of the lucky 5 among the thousands of MapleSea community to be chosen to have a grasp of Evan experience before their official born date!

Evan class is different from the existing classes. Evan is purely based on the growth level instead of the typical job advancement. As you leveled, you will unlock more skills and each of the skills are allocated as per Evan growth. In a bold meaning, the higher level you are, the more skills you possesses!

The skill inventory box of Evan
Evan has 10 growth levels. Each new skill will be owned when you hit the growth level.

Since all of the Evan's attack arisen from the Onyx Dragon, it is no surprise that the dragon can be equipped with dragon equipment to enhance the power of Evan.

Cap, Wing, Pendant and Tail
These are the equipments that a Onyx Dragon can equip.

1. First Growth Level (Level 10)

Just like all the other classes in Maple, Evan possesses the Beginner Skill as well. When the baby Onyx Dragon is born, the first attack he possesses is the Magic Missile. The ability very much resembles the magic claw of Magician class minus the part where Evan missiles is being fired from the Onyx Dragon.

Magic Missile

That is not all, because Evan also owned the skill of strengthening the dragon's spirit. This skill will increase the magic attack of Evan passively!

Dragon Soul
Max level is at 20, and it boost up the magic attack up to 20.

2. Second Growth Level (Level 20)

As the baby Onyx Dragon is maturing into the second phase, he will then learn to evolve the previous Magic Missile into the Fire Circle skill. This skill will be the first area of effects (AoE) skill for Evan, in which it can hit up to 3 enemies at the very first level. Upon maxing, it can hit up to a maximum of 4 enemies.

Fire Circle
Hit up to 4 enemies when the skill level is maxed!

Beside purely relying on the Onyx Dragon, Evan has the ability to teleport too. Like the magician class, the higher the skill level is, the further Evan can teleport while using lesser mana point at the same time.

Teleport
It is made easier to travel when you can teleport.

3. Third Growth Level (Level 30)

As the Onyx Dragon is moving into the third phase of his growing level, he will another technique which will gather the electric field around to create a powerful bolt to strike an enemy. Called the Lightning Bolt, it will the first attack skill of Evan to reach the 4 digit damage!

Lightning Bolt
Cool green lightning that will be sure to jolt the enemy hard.

Unlike the warrior class, Evan do not have a very high hit point. Need not to worry, because just like the magician, the Onyx Dragon also possesses the Magic Guard skill that will shield off Evan some damages from the enemies.

Magic Guard
Evan's Magic Guard only able to successfully absorb 70% of damage as compared to the Magician class of 80% when the skill is maxed.

It is time now for Evan to explore the SEA region map where it includes our very famous Singapore and Malaysia Map!

Off to Kerning Airport!

4. Fourth Growth Level (Level 40)

After previously mastering how to gather the electric field, the Onyx Dragon will now learn to master another skill that involved of gathering cold air around before unleashing it to a group of enemies. A skill named Ice Breath, it has the ability to freeze the enemies with 90% chance upon each successive attack when the skill is maxed at level 20!

Ice Breath
Can attack up to 6 enemies with a very high chance of freezing them.

It is important to note that the damage from the Ice Breath might be low if it is not charged. However, if you hold on and charge it longer, the damage will increase!

A charged up Ice Breath
The longer you charge, the higher damage it inflicts to the enemies!

Not only that, the Onyx Dragon will also get to master a skill that will turn all the elemental attack into a non-elemental attack. Called the Elemental Reset, this self buff allow elemental attacks such as fire, ice and lightning to be neutralized to normal attack temporarily. For instance, when this buff is in possession, a monster that have a 50% resistant to fire will be dealt a normal damage when it is attacked with fire based attack. The same applies to other element such as lightning and ice as well. However, monster that are weak to certain elements will no longer be privileged with increased element damage when this buff is in possession.

Elemental Reset
Transform element attack to normal attack temporarily. When maxed at level 20, it decreases 100% of the attack element to normal attack.

5. Fifth Growth Level (Level 50)

Let's celebrate because it's a milestone where the Onyx dragon has hit the middle growth level! This time round, the Onyx dragon will start to master a new attack skill called the Magic Flare, a skill where a ray of light coming from the sky that will inflict enormous damage to a single enemy.

Magic Flare
A single blue Genesis?

Besides the attacking skill, Evan will also get to master another supportive buff. The Magic Shield is a skill where it will create a temporary barrier around all the party members that capable to absorb a certain damage off from the enemies. When the skill is maxed, it can absorb up to 30% of damage for 20 seconds.

Magic Shield
It's a good skill but it comes with a cool down time of 40 seconds.

6. Sixth Growth Level (Level 60)

As the Onyx Dragon reaches his early adulthood, he will then learn to master a skill which involved of gathering the surrounding wind force. Called the Dragon Thrust, it can attack up to 6 enemies with a 95% chance of knocking them back when the skill is being maxed.

Dragon Thrust
The skill is pretty much the same as Wind Breaker's Storm Break.

Speed is power! Just like the other classes, Evan possesses a skill that will increase the casting speed of magic attacks. Called the Magic Booster, the skill will enable Onyx Dragon to cast his magic attack faster, which in return will result to a higher damage per second (dps).

Magic Booster
This magic booster increases the casting speed by 2 at level 4 and by 3 when maxed. When maxed, the booster is a level higher than the magic booster skilled owned by the Ice and Fire mage.

The third skill at the sixth growth level involved a monster buff. Just like the effect of Slow by the Ice mage, it decreases the movement of monsters for a certain time with a percentage of chances. When the skill is maxed, Slow has a 60 % chance to be inflicted on enemy which will result to the decrease of enemy movement by -40 for 12 seconds.

Slow
A slightly different version of slow buff as per the magician

Unlike the magician Slow buff which is casted to the enemy, this Slow buff is activated on the Evan and it will be stacked upon with other magical attack. Any successive magical attack will have a chance to inflict slow status to the enemies.

Slow status successfully inflicted
Up to 60% chance of infliction to reduce enemy movement by -40 for 12 seconds when the skill is maxed.

Ever wondered before on why only do the Thief and Bowman class owned the critical attack skill? Need not to envy anymore when you are playing the Evan class because Evan have their very own passive skill called the Critical Magic which very much resembles the Critical Attack.

Critical Magic
When the skill is maxed at level 15, it has a 30% probability of dealing 150% critical damage. Just like the critical attack, a successful critical magical damage will be highlighted in Red color.

7. Seventh Growth Level (Level 80)

As the Onyx Dragon progresses into the adulthood, he will then learn to turn his anger into a flaming breath. Nicknamed the Fire Breath, this skill inflict fire damage up to 6 enemies and just like the Ice Breath, it is also chargeable. The longer you hold on to the charge, the higher the damage of the Fire Breath will be.

Fire Breath
A flaming breath unleashed by the Onyx Dragon.

This fire breath does not only grill the enemies. It also has a 30 % chance to stun the enemy when the skill is maxed at Level 20.

The skill is able to hit up to 6 enemies

Killer wings is a cool skill with a cool animation that has a high base magic attack of 320 and 60 % mastery when maxed. However, I was unsure on what does it mean by "all successive attacks target that monster" when a monster was inflicted with the Killer Wings status.

A critical damage of level 20 Killer Wings

Just like the magician, Evan also own a passive skill which increases the magic attack but consumed higher amount of Mana point. When maxed, Magic Amplification will increase the magic attack damage by 120 % and consuming an extra of 180% mana.

Magic Amplification
Passive supportive skill which increases magic attack damage but consume more MP.

Seriously, Evan is a great party member to be with. As Evan progresses, he will get to learn yet another party skill, the Magic Resistance. Magic Resistance provides resistance to magical attack of up to 20% when maxed for 150 seconds. Best of all, there is no cool down time for this skill!

Magic Resistance
With this buff, party member will be dealt lesser magic damage from the enemies.

I moved on to witness a higher leveled Evan which was at level 160. Just as the level suggested, the baby Onyx Dragon has now become a fully grown Onyx Dragon!

Fully grown up Onyx Dragon at Level 160

8. Eighth Growth Level (Level 100)

At this level, the Onyx Dragon is nearing to his full potential. As such, he has learned another attacking skill that will cause the earth to shake and trembles violently. Since it causes a tremor, the skill is known as the Earthquake and has the ability to attack up to 8 enemies when maxed with a fire base attack of 250 and 60% mastery. Obviously, this is a good skill to be used when training at Entrance of the Spooky World, Malaysia.

Earthquake
Enormous damage inflicted when stacked with Critical Magic, Element Amplification and Dragon Fury.

Earth Quake
Just look at the wide radius of the Earthquake, it seriously s-hhhh-aaa-kkkk-ee the whole map! Attack up to 8 enemies.

Phantom Imprint is a skill that imprints cursed status to the enemies. At the max level of 20, enemies with imprinted status will be inflicted with an extra 5 % of magical damage. Up to this stage, it will be the most powerful single attack that deal dark element damage on the enemy.

Phantom Imprint
At the max level of 20, it has a base attack of 380 with 60% mastery. All successive Phantom Imprint attack have 100% of chance to inflict Imprint status to the mob for a duration of 5 seconds.

The next Evan skill will definitely make all the current magician drools! Here, welcoming the Dragon Fury skill! Dragon Fury is a skill that increases your magic attack when your MP falls to a certain range. It a passive skill and will be activated automatically when the MP criteria are met. When this skill is maxed, it needed the criteria of the MP to be above 50% but lesser than 80% for the skill to be activated.

Dragon Fury
Comparison of Earthquake damage on before and after the activation of Dragon Fury. Picture says a thousand words! Just like a Dark Knight's Berserk.

Just when you thought Evan have enough of party skills, Evan will get to master yet another skill which helps to recover the mana of party members. Called the Recovery Aura, the Onyx Dragon will create a blue pool of mana aura for 30 seconds and any party members who falls in the aura will have their MP recover.

Recovery Aura
When maxed at level 20, any party member who are inside the aura will enjoy a recovery rate of MP at 80%! The aura last for 30 seconds on each cast and the skill has a cool down time of 1 minute. Definitely a skill that will be well greeted by other mage spammer!

9. Ninth Growth Level (Level 120)

At this stage, the Onyx Dragon is only a step away from evolving into a full potential dragon. This stage is as good as the 4th job for the other class in Maple, where Evan will be rewarded with the skill of Maple Warrior and as well as the Hero's Will upon the completion of the quest.

Flame Wheel and Magic Mastery is another 2 skills that are needed to be acquired from the basic skill book being dropped by Zakum. Since the senior Evan has a limited of time to complete the quest, there were no glimpse of the skill.

Another skill that were readily available upon reaching level 120 is the Illusion. Illusion is a skill which involved teaming up with the clones of Onyx Dragon to perform an attack on the monster for 4 times.

Illusion
Does it look a little like a Lucky Seven attack with a Shadow Partner?

10. Tenth Growth Level (Level 160)

It's come a long way and finally the final growth level of the Onyx Dragon is reached when Evan level hits 160. Dark Fog and Soul Stone is acquired upon getting the basic skill book drop from Zakum.

Dark Fog is a skill which pretty much look like a Genesis/Blizzard/ Meteor that able to hit up to 15 enemies. However, Dark Rog has a cool down time of 20 seconds after each cast.

On the other hand, Soul Stone is a buff that is activated randomly on a party member upon casting. With the Soul Stone buff, the party member will be revived immediately should the party member dies.

Again, due to the time constraint, the senior Evan did not able to complete the quest to obtain the two abovementioned skills. However, there were skills that are readily available upon reaching the final growth stage. The Blessing of the Onyx, is a supportive skill that increases weapon and magic defense together with an increased in magic attack over a period of time.

Blessing of the Onyx
At the max level, it adds 100 weapon and magic defense as well as increases the magic attack to 50 for Evan. However, it has a cool down time of 2 minutes.

Not only that, the Onyx Dragon will also get to master another skill which unleashes a ferocious flame arising from his accumulated anger. Named as Blaze, it is a fire based skill that attacks a single monster and have the chance of damaging 5 enemies nearby when the skill level is maxed at level 30.

Blaze
The most powerful fire based attack of Evan.

Blaze
Damaging nearby enemies up to 3 of them at level 1 and 5 of them respectively when maxed.

How well do you think Evan can perform when it comes to bossing after knowing almost every Evan's skill? Well, I would say that Evan performed slightly better than the Ice and Fire Mage due to the increased in damage per second (dps) as a result of the passive and active skills which stack together.

Various attacking skills on Targa boss
In the end, Phantom Imprint is the skill that deals the most damage.(due to the unavailability of some skills, I cannot conclude that Phantom Imprint is the best bossing skill for Evan)

So what are the Evan monster buffs that work on the boss?

Phantom Imprint and Killer Wings do work with the boss.

For some reason, I do note that Slow has fail to be inflicted on Targa even after hundreds of successive magic attack.

So what are the Pro's of an Evan?
1. Plentiful of flashy animated skills.
2. Variety of mobbing skills to aid your training needs.
3. Inflicts higher magical damage than typical magician due to the higher mastery.
4 .Enormous increased in the magical attack due to the stacking of passive skill of Element Amplification and Dragon Fury.
5. A lot of useful party member skills and buffs.
6. Able to cast magic faster than typical magician, +3 casting speed.
7. Save the hassles of meeting up the instructor in job advancement.

And the Con's of Evan:
1. Low Hp, just like the other magician class.
2. A lot of skills has a cool down time and it required a lot of attention to maximize the opportunity of casting.
3. Magic Guard is being nerfed to 70% damage absorption instead of the usual 80% by the adventurer's Magician.

And my verdict?
Definitely is a class that is worth playing. The magic damage is really insane after factoring in all the passive and active skills. Besides, it is pretty cool to have all the animated flashy attacking skills with an Onyx Dragon following you whenever you are. With the amount of the skills availability, I'm pretty sure that it will serve you as a challenge to master each of the skill.

Oh ya, I forgot to mention that the senior Evan that I met upon was a normal Evan that have some the ability point (AP) being distributed to luck (LUK). Only God knows, how strong will Evan be if it was created basely on pure intelligence (INT).

Are you getting excited and ready to be the first level 200 Evan in MapleSEA? Do you have what it takes to be a Dragon Master?

A special thanks to AsiaSoft Corporation for inviting me to the exclusive sneak peek event of Beta Testing of Evan class! It is an honor indeed to be chosen as one amongst the 5 best blogger in Maple community.

Official website Asiasoft Malaysia Corporation: http://www.asiasoft.net.my/main/index.aspx

Official website MapleSea: http://www.maplesea.com

Disclaimer: I do not own the images rights. All the images rights belong to the Asiasoft Corporation which is an authorized agent of Nexon to market MapleStory under the flagship name of MapleSEA.