About Spell Trace

Introduction

Spell Traces are a common item used to upgrade your equipment for a certain number of slots. This upgrade process is commonly called "spell tracing" (or just tracing for short). Each equipment has a fixed number of upgrade slots. The number of upgrade slots can be expanded two times -- once using a Golden Hammer, once using a Vicious Hammer. Some equipment cannot be traced / scrolled / hammered in any way.

Each equipment has a certain number of upgrade slots. Note that not all items can be upgraded or hammered.

The table below lists common locations to obtain Spell Traces and Golden/Vicious Hammers.

Item Name Where to get?

Spell Trace

Spell Trace

Monster drops (level 20+), buy from Nadia (MapleSEA only)
Theme Dungeons, Sudden Missions, Events, etc.

Golden Hammer

Golden Hammer
Dropped by Elite Monsters, Event coin shops

Vicious Hammer

Vicious Hammer Cash Shop

The Spell Trace Process

Tracing

To begin tracing an item, double click any Spell Traces in your inventory, click on the red hammer icon at the bottom of your inventory , or use the keyboard shortcut . The enhancement window will appear. Click-and-drop the item you wish to trace into the window.

Select a scroll to use (e.g. 30% INT scroll) and the interface will inform you how many traces it costs (in this case, 120 traces).

Each option in the tracing window will indicate the scroll's success rate and the stats provided if tracing succeeds. Tracing attempts cost Spell Traces only (no meso cost). There is also no destruction chance if you fail tracing. 1 upgrade slot will be consumed regardless of the tracing attempt's outcome. This also applies to Golden Hammers -- if the hammering fails, you will still get +1 possible upgrade slots, but it will immediately be consumed (as though you failed a tracing attempt).

You can keep track of the number of failed upgrades by looking at your equipment details.

Reversing Failed Upgrade Slots

If you failed your tracing attempt, there are scrolls you can utilize to retrieve the failed upgrade slots:

Item Name
[Item Name]
Function
Spell Trace Cost Other Sources
(Pure) Clean Slate Scroll
[(Pure) Clean Slate Scroll]
Restores 1 failed upgrade slot. 'Pure' versions have 0% chance of destruction if the scroll fails.
2000 x
(5% success)

Elite Monsters (5% success), Events
Innocence Scroll
[Innocence Scroll]
Restores all upgrade slots (including succeeded ones). Slots added by Golden/Vicious hammers are erased. Also resets any Star Force on the equipment.
5000 x
(30% success)

Events
Ark Innocence Scroll
[Ark Innocence Scroll]
Same as Innocence Scroll, but retains Star Force on the equipment.
10000 x
(30% success)
N/A

Other Scrolls

Chaos Scrolls

Chaos Scrolls affect every possible stat line visible on the item when you use it. It does not affect % based stat lines (e.g. All Stats %, Boss Damage %, etc.).

Item Name
[Item Name]
Effect
(x10 for HP/MP)
Where to get?
Chaos Scroll
[Chaos Scroll]
-5 to +5
Incredible Chaos Scroll
[Incredible Chaos Scroll]
-6 to +6
N/A (mostly discontinued)
Miraculous Chaos Scroll
[Miraculous Chaos Scroll]
??
Cash shop, gacha-style systems/items
Chaos Scroll of Goodness
[Chaos Scroll of Goodness]
+0 to +5

Events
Incredible Chaos Scroll of Goodness (ICSOG)
[Incredible Chaos Scroll of Goodness (ICSOG)]
+0 to +6[1]

Events

[1] Player reports have revealed that there may be 0% chance to get +5 stats from ICSOGs. See this thread (Google Translate needed).

Special Scrolls

The scrolls below are usually found in the cash shop, or gacha-related systems and items. Apply these scrolls on the item before the next upgrade for it to take effect. These special effects apply only once, and will disappear even if the upgrade succeeds.

Item Name
[Item Name]
Function
Lucky Day Scroll
[Lucky Day Scroll]
Increases success rate of next scroll/spell trace enhancement by 10%.
Shielding Ward / Protection Scroll
[Shielding Ward / Protection Scroll]
Protects regular (non-superior) items from destruction due to a failed scroll. Not usable on items 12* and above. Can be used with Shield Scrolls and Guardian Scrolls.
Superior Shielding Ward
[Superior Shielding Ward]
Protects superior items from destruction due to a failed scroll. Not usable on items 7* and above. Can be used with Shield Scrolls and Guardian Scrolls.
Shield Scroll
[Shield Scroll]
Prevents item from losing 1 upgrade slot if scrolling fails. Can be used with Shielding Ward and Guardian Scrolls.
Guardian / Recovery Scroll
[Guardian / Recovery Scroll]
Prevents scroll from disappearing if scrolling fails. Can be used with Shielding Wards and Shield Scrolls.
Return Scroll
[Return Scroll]
Gives you a choice to return your equipment stats to before the scroll was applied. Only returns stats that were changed due to scrolls that consume upgrade slots. Cannot be used with Shield Scrolls. Cannot be used on Zero weapons.

Tracing Progression

What % scroll should I select?

Getting a perfectly traced item can cost large amounts of Spell Traces (and hence mesos). Higher level items will require more traces per upgrade too.

When starting off, aim for a middle ground between success rates and spell trace costs (e.g. 70% scrolls). At higher levels, when your equipment stays longer and you have more resouces, you can start tracing with 30% scrolls and 15% scrolls (for weapons only). The eventual goal is to have armors fully traced with 30% scrolls, and weapons fully traced with 15% scrolls.

Hammers, Pure Clean Slate Scrolls & Innocence Scrolls

When to use these items is highly subjective to the player, their current equipment status and the resources they have. The table below is one possible method, but you may have different considerations. Numbers may need to adjust for items with more/less default upgrade slots.

Assumption: Unhammered item, 7 default upgrade slots, traced with 30% scrolls:

Item Name When to use?
Innocence Scroll 3 or more slots failed / item is 12* or less
Ark Innocence Scroll 3 or more slots failed / item is more than 12*
Pure Clean Slate Scroll 2 or fewer slots failed
Golden / Vicious Hammer Usually done last; 2 or fewer slots failed

Using ICSOGs

For armors and accessories, an alternative is to use Incredible Chaos Scroll of Goodness (ICSOGs) to get +4 to +6 ATT/MATT with some stats on the first (or even second) upgrade slot before tracing the other slots. You get a slightly better boost from this compared to purely traced stats, but be prepared to use many ICSOGs and Innocence Scrolls (to reset upgrade slots) if scrolling luck is not in your favor!

Credits

Acknowledgements

Credits go to Nexon and Maplestory for images seen on this page. Thanks also to StrategyWiki's Spell Trace page for much of the details seen here, as well as Bready on the MapleSEA Discord for supplementing information regarding ICSOGs.

Contact

If you spot any errors, please contact @whackybeanz on Discord with the list of corrections to make. Thank you!