Veteran players are well introduced to the Black Mage, one of the main and recurring antagonists from MapleStory. In this update, he returns, and the world must band together to defeat him once more. Along with this new story content, a bunch more changes are coming their way. The biggest add-on will be a brand new region to explore with friends. On top of that, fans can expect to see a 5th skill to be added for each of the available classes, new gear, and cosmetics to personalize their avatars and many other quality of life changes to help improve the gaming experience.

If you have not played MapleStory in some time or are new to the series, this update is a good point to jump in. New and returning players need not worry about being able to catch up as there is a strong emphasis on new and old players being able to level and gear up together. Fighting the Black Mage will be a world boss where the entire Maple World will join together to overcome this latest threat. This means tackling the Black Mage will not be tied to just your server but the entire community coming together.

Other than discussing the Black Mage fight, Nexon MapleStory director, Wonki Kang, and Global MapleStory Director, Jungil Bae spoke with us about cross-over events and their thoughts on MapleStory coming to other platforms. If you want to see more, you can check out our full interview during PAX West 2018.