Grand Launch · 21 October 2026
MapleStory is goingback to the beginning.
Classic World is Nexon's official pre-Big Bang server — Henesys before the rework, four classes, and points you spend yourself. Forgotten Hollow is a player-run field guide, written before the servers open.
The road to launch
Nexon confirmed the Classic World calendar in August 2026. These are their dates, not ours — and dates can move.
Sep 2
2 September 2026
Founder's Packages go on sale
Cosmetic benefits inspired by MapleStory's early years, bundled with a ticket into Founder's Access. Nexon has not published the price or the full contents.
Oct 6
6 October 2026
Founder's Access opens
Fifteen days of early play for package holders. Your character and progression carry straight through to Grand Launch — there is no wipe.
Oct 21
21 October 2026
Grand Launch
Classic World opens to everyone, free to play, on PC and Android. Nexon has also promised brand-new content at launch that has not been shown yet.
The date the Hollow is built for
Mark of the Beta
If you played MapleStory in its earliest days you will know what this item means. Nexon decided against restricting it to test participants: every player who joins during Classic World's early days can earn Mark of the Beta through an in-game quest, scheduled to end in November 2026. If you want it, do not wait until December.
Two things worth knowing early
Level 12 and above
Citizenship is new
Citizenship is an original Classic World system with no equivalent in the MapleStory you remember. You register with a town from level 12 and contribute to it, and the town keeps a record of who got there first and who has given the most.
It turned into a genuine competition during the second test. Kerning City finished with 3,300 registered citizens to Henesys's 2,600 — and both towns had a named first citizen and top contributor on the board at the end of it.
Henesys
2.6K citizens · first was Toot
Kerning City
3.3K citizens · first was Green
Nexon has not said whether the counters reset at launch. Assume they do, and that the first-citizen slots are open again.
If you played the tests
You have things waiting at launch
Test progress is wiped — characters, items, Cash Shop purchases, all of it. Two event quests are the exception, and their rewards are held for you until Classic World launches properly.
- Classic Beginnings Label RingReach Lv. 10 and finish “[Event] A Strange and Familiar Wood”.
- Classic Beginnings Chat RingReach Lv. 15 and finish “[Event] Beyond the Unknown”.
Did both tests? Accounts that completed these quests in Closed Online Test #1 and again in #2 receive two of each — four rewards in total — at official launch.
Classic World vs MapleStory
Classic World is not a nostalgia skin on the live game. It is a separate world running a different set of rules — what the dev team has called a parallel MapleStory, a timeline where the Big Bang update never happened. Your existing account is untouched.
| Classic World | Modern MapleStory | |
|---|---|---|
| Classes | 4 Explorers — Warrior, Magician, Bowman, Thief | 50+ classes across six job groups |
| Job advancement | 1st job at level 10; 3rd job not in the launch build | Up to 5th job, unlocked steadily |
| Stat & skill points | You assign every AP and SP by hand | Largely automated, freely resettable |
| Damage cap | 199,999 | In the billions |
| EXP curve | The original pre-Big Bang curve — level 70 is an achievement | Heavily accelerated; level 200 in weeks |
| Economy | Free Market — players run physical shops | Auction House and Meso Market |
| HP washing | Removed — Nexon called it unfair and essentially a bug | Not applicable |
| Progression systems | None of it — no Star Force, Cubes, Potentials, Arcane, Legion | A dozen stacked layers |
| Cash Shop | Cosmetics and convenience; no EXP or power items | Extensive, including progression items |
Built by people who were there
Nemi, one of the original Wizet designers from 2001, is lead designer on Classic World. Nexon has said it is working with developers who helped shape MapleStory in its earliest days.
Not a pure re-release
Forgotten Hollow is entirely new. So is a crafting system with six professions and 342 recipes — the deepest non-combat system the classic engine has carried.
The old annoyances are fixed
Proper widescreen support, the Archer and Assassin point-blank melee bug fixed, and shorter boss respawn timers. Slow on purpose is not the same as clunky by accident.
Figures marked from the closed tests reflect a test build. Nexon has not published the launch level cap, or the EXP, drop and meso rates. When it does, they will appear here — guessed numbers are worse than none.
Which class should I play?
Four options, and because you spend every point by hand, the choice sticks. Pick one.
Still deciding? The full class breakdown covers all ten second-job branches.
Area guide: Forgotten Hollow
A brand-new cave area built for Classic World, covering levels 39 to 59 with a boss at 60. Ten monsters that have never appeared in any version of MapleStory, slotted in exactly where the original game used to run dry. Nobody has a twenty-year head start on it, so this is where our guides start.
Every monster in the Hollow
Ten mobs, level 39 through 59, then Rotten Mushmom at 60.
- ?GlowshroomLv 39
- ?RaffleLv 40
- ?Golden StirgeLv 42
- ?AqumanderLv 43
- ?EchopusLv 45
- ?RafflesiaLv 47
- ?DuskmanderLv 50
- ?MyewoodLv 54
- ?Rotten MushroomLv 56
- ?SporewoodLv 59
Nexon has not released artwork for these monsters — they are new to Classic World. We would rather show a blank than a lookalike borrowed from another mob, so the sprites go in once the game is live.
Zone boss
Rotten Mushmom
Level 60 · undead
- HP
- 86,400
- Regen / tick
- 864
- Weak to
- Holy · Fire
That regeneration is the whole fight. 864 HP per tick means a party that cannot out-damage the tick simply never wins, however long it stays alive — which is why Rotten Mushmom punishes underlevelled groups far harder than a straight HP pool would. Clerics are worth bringing twice over here: Heal doubles as a damage spell against undead.
Quest chain
Five quests, two NPCs
- Zelya's MapLv 39
- Natural AdhesiveLv 39
- The Road Back HomeLv 43
- Old FriendsLv 49
- Myra's Old FriendLv 49
Zelya, a cave fairy near the entrance, starts you off collecting map fragments. Myra waits deeper in and recognises what the corruption did to her old companions. The chain closes out with Grendel the Really Old, back in Ellinia.
Closed Beta, by the numbers
Nexon published these in the Ossyria Exploration Report as images rather than text, so they are hard to find and impossible to search. Here they are, written out. All figures are Closed Online Test #2 — eight days, capped population, August 2026.
Which class did people actually roll?
Percentage of characters created per job during the test.
- Magician32%
- Thief30%
- Warrior24%
- Bowman14%
Magician edged it, and Bowman finished last by a distance — fewer than one character in seven. The most popular 3rd job class overall was Hermit. Worth remembering that 3rd Job Advancement is not in the launch build, so that particular race starts again later.
Henesys
2.6K
citizens registered
- First citizen
- Toot
- Highest contributor
- Boog
Kerning City
3.3K
citizens registered
- First citizen
- Green
- Highest contributor
- ttvBGI
Crimson Balrog
756
wins for the Balrog
93
times it was defeated
The Balrog won roughly eight fights in ten. First player to put it down was STANKSACK.
GM events
- Up and Up — fastest clear
- 4m 3s
- by Aeina
- Coconut Harvest — players
- 470
Source: Nexon, “Ossyria Exploration Report”, August 2026. Transcribed by hand from the published images.
“A world you remember from long ago, but with new stories still waiting to be discovered. That is the Classic World we want to build.”
“With Classic World, we want to bring forward that other side of MapleStory — the idea that playing a little more slowly can be just as enjoyable, and embrace the beauty of taking it slow.”
“The next time we meet, it won't be a test. It will be in Classic World.”
Watch it yourself
Nexon's own footage. We embed it rather than re-upload it, so the view counts go where they should.
Closed Online Test #2 Recap
Nexon's own wrap-up of the August test — the run that produced every figure in the section above.
Global MapleStory's 20th Anniversary
The anniversary stream where Classic World was first put in front of players, back in April 2025.
MapleStory Fest 2026
Nexon is running a GMS and Classic World showcase at MapleStory Fest on 17 October 2026 — four days before Grand Launch, and the most likely place for the remaining launch details to land.
Read the sources
Everything on this site traces back to something. Here is the something — go and check us.
From Nexon
Nexon · August 2026
Ossyria Exploration Report
The primary source for the launch calendar, the Cash Shop position and the launch-content exclusions. Published as images, so none of it is searchable — which is why we transcribed it.
Nexon · 17 October 2026
MapleStory Fest 2026
GMS and Classic World showcase, four days before Grand Launch. The likeliest venue for the remaining launch details.
Hands-on and reporting
MMORPG.com · April 2026
MapleStory Classic World CBT Preview
The most detailed hands-on write-up of the first closed test. Source for the 199,999 damage cap, the Free Market economy, the crafting system's scale, and the removal of HP washing.
Massively Overpowered · 24 August 2026
Founders October 6, everyone else October 21
Independent confirmation of the launch calendar on the day Nexon announced it.
Massively Overpowered · 25 May 2026
Classic World outlines its next development steps
Useful for the direction of travel between the two closed tests, including job balance work.
MMOs.com · August 2026
Release dates confirmed
Short and clear on what ships at launch versus what is held back.
Where the community actually is
Worth being straight about the mood: it is not uniformly positive.r/MSClassicWorldhas run long threads questioning how Nexon has handled communication since the second test, and the decision to hold back Orbis, El Nath and 3rd job after players had already tried them in the beta did not land well with everyone. Optimism about the game and frustration with the rollout are both real, and often from the same people.
We are not going to pretend otherwise to sound upbeat. If a launch decision is unpopular, this site will say it is unpopular.
Questions people actually ask
Short answers, each one traceable to something Nexon has said. Where they have not said, we say that instead of guessing.
When does MapleStory Classic World launch?
Grand Launch is 21 October 2026, when Classic World opens to everyone free to play. Founder's Access starts earlier, on 6 October 2026, for players who buy a Founder's Package — those go on sale 2 September 2026.
Is MapleStory Classic World free to play?
Yes. From Grand Launch on 21 October 2026 anyone can play Classic World for free, whether or not they bought a Founder's Package. The Founder's Package buys early access and cosmetics, not the game.
Which classes are in MapleStory Classic World?
Four Explorer classes: Warrior, Magician, Bowman and Thief. There are no Pirates, no Cygnus Knights and no post-Big Bang classes. You pick your job at level 10. During the second closed test, Magician was the most created job at 32%, followed by Thief at 30%, Warrior at 24% and Bowman at 14%.
Is 3rd Job Advancement available at launch?
No. Nexon confirmed that 3rd Job Advancement, along with Orbis and El Nath, is not part of Founder's Access or the initial Grand Launch build. These areas and systems are being reworked after feedback from the second closed test and will arrive gradually afterwards.
Will my Founder's Access progress be wiped at launch?
No. Characters and progression created during Founder's Access carry over into Grand Launch. There is no wipe between the two.
What is Forgotten Hollow in MapleStory Classic World?
Forgotten Hollow is a brand-new cave zone built for Classic World, covering levels 39 to 59, with a level 60 boss called Rotten Mushmom. It contains ten monsters that have never appeared in any version of MapleStory, including Glowshroom at level 39 and Sporewood at level 59. It has never existed in any other MapleStory version.
How is Classic World different from modern MapleStory?
Classic World runs the original pre-Big Bang rules: four classes, manual AP and SP allocation, a 199,999 damage cap, the original experience curve, and a player-run Free Market instead of an Auction House. None of the modern progression systems — Star Force, Cubes, Potentials, Arcane Force, Legion — are present. It runs as a separate world and does not affect your existing MapleStory account.
Is there HP washing in Classic World?
No. HP washing has been removed. Nexon's development lead described it as unfair and essentially a bug rather than an intended mechanic.
Can I still get Mark of the Beta?
Yes. Rather than restricting it to closed test participants, Nexon is making Mark of the Beta available to every player who joins during Classic World's early days, through an in-game quest scheduled to end in November 2026.
Will the Cash Shop sell power?
Nexon has stated it intends to avoid selling anything in the Cash Shop that directly boosts EXP gain or makes characters stronger, focusing instead on cosmetic and convenience items.
What platforms does Classic World run on?
Classic World launches on PC and Android. The second closed test ran on Windows and macOS with Xbox and PlayStation controller support, in English and Spanish.
Where should I train in MapleStory Classic World?
Levels 1–10 are best spent on Victoria Road maps like L Forest I and The Tree That Grew II. From 11–20, move to Green Mushrooms on West Rocky Mountain III and Stirges in the Kerning City Subway. Levels 21–30 belong to the Ant Tunnel maps and Evil Eyes, with Kerning Party Quest adding roughly 10–30% EXP from level 21. From 31–40 it is Jr. Wraiths in the subway and Fire Boars on The Burnt Land V, and from 39 onwards Forgotten Hollow opens and carries you to 59.
What are the 2nd job branches in Classic World?
There are ten, taken at level 30. Warrior becomes Fighter, Page or Spearman. Magician becomes a Fire/Poison Wizard, an Ice/Lightning Wizard, or a Cleric. Bowman becomes a Hunter or a Crossbowman. Thief becomes an Assassin or a Bandit — and for Thieves the choice is made by the skill point you spend at 1st job, with no undo.
Who is the boss of Forgotten Hollow?
Rotten Mushmom, a level 60 undead boss with 86,400 HP that regenerates 864 HP per tick and is weak to Holy and Fire damage. The regeneration is the real difficulty: a party that cannot out-damage the tick will never win the fight regardless of how long it survives, which makes a Cleric especially valuable since Heal damages undead.
What is the level cap in Classic World?
Nexon has not published the launch level cap. The first closed test capped at level 50 and the second reached at least level 100, but those were test-specific settings rather than launch values.
What we're building
None of this is published yet. Classic World does not open until 21 October, and a guide written before anyone has played is a guess with formatting.
Training routes
Where to actually grind at each level bracket, and when to move on. Written against Classic World's own curve, not inherited from a version nobody plays.
Class builds
AP and SP allocation through each advancement, with the trade-offs explained rather than listed. Manual builds mean wrong answers exist, and they cost weeks.
Drop tables
What a mob actually drops and how often, checked against play rather than copied forward from an older version of the game.
The Hollow, in full
Every map, spawn and quest in Forgotten Hollow. It is new content, so nobody has a twenty-year head start on it — including us.
The Hollow is still being mapped
Come back closer to launch. The routes, the builds and the drop tables will be here before the servers are.
21 October 2026