About Star Force
Introduction
Star Force is the next step after using up all upgrade slots on an item. Items that can be starred will display the possible number of upgrades (stars) above its name. The more stars you successfully get on an item, the more stat bonuses you receive! Starring costs mesos, and higher level items cost more per starring attempt. Each star represents 1 Star Force.
The Star Force Process
Similar to tracing, the same upgrade window is used for Star Force. Place your fully-upgraded item inside the upgrade window (accessed via red hammer icon at the bottom of your inventory or keyboard shortcut ) to begin.
Star Catcher & Chance Time
For each starring attempt, you enter the Star Catcher mini game, where a star moves left and right along a bar. Hit spacebar (or click Stop) to "catch" the star within the highlighted region, and gain a very slight boost to your success rate for that attempt. The more times you star successfully (even without Star Catch), the more difficult Star Catcher will become.
If you fail two consecutive starring attempts, you get Chance Time, which grants you 100% success rate for the next attempt on the item.
Failing Star Force
Success rates gradually decrease as you get more stars on the item. After reaching a certain number of stars, failing star force will result in loss of one star or even item destruction. There are also "safety checkpoints", where the number of stars cannot fall below these checkpoints even if starring fails. All these depends on whether the item is a regular (non-superior) or superior item:
Item Type | Chance of Losing 1 Star | Chance of Item Destruction | |
---|---|---|---|
Regular Items |
Regular Items | 16* onwards Safety at 20* |
15* onwards Falls to 12* if destroyed |
Superior Items |
Superior Items | 1* onwards No safety |
5* onwards Falls to 0* if destroyed |
Regular items provide the Anti-Destruct option at 15* > 16* and 16* > 17*, which removes destruction chance when starring at those stages at the cost of double mesos. Use this option wisely! You may only want to anti-destruct if you have mesos to spare, or if the item is in low supply that makes preventing destruction more worth it.
Item Destruction
Items destroyed during starring leaves an item trace which is unusable, but can be restored by having a duplicate of the same item. Note that items with the same name but have fixed potentials/star force (usually obtained from events) are not valid duplicates. The item trace retains all properties (potentials, flame stats, etc.) from your original item, as well as all star force stats up to 12* (regular items). Upon restoring the item, it will start off at 12* for you to continue the starring process.
Superior Items
Superior items are special items that cost significantly more mesos per star, but also give higher boosts for each star achieved. There are only a few such items in the game:
Item Name | Coin Costs | Boss Drops | |
---|---|---|---|
Elite Heliseum Cape, Boots |
Elite Heliseum Cape, Boots | 100 x | - |
Elite Heliseum Belt |
Elite Heliseum Belt | 150 x | |
Nova Cape |
Nova Cape | 250 x | |
Nova Boots |
Nova Boots | 250 x | |
Nova Belt |
Nova Belt | - | |
Tyrant Cape |
Tyrant Cape | 70 x | |
Tyrant Boots |
Tyrant Boots | 70 x | - |
Tyrant Belt |
Tyrant Belt | 100 x | - |
Tyrant Gloves |
Tyrant Gloves | 400 x | - |
Star Force Scrolls
There are certain scrolls that assign a fixed number of stars to your equipment. Most of these items either have certain restrictions, are difficult to come by, or have consequences if the scroll fails.
Item Name |
[Item Name]
Function
|
|
---|---|---|
2 / 3 / 4 / 5 Star Enhancement Scroll |
[2 / 3 / 4 / 5 Star Enhancement Scroll]
Adds 2 / 3 / 4 / 5 stars. Works only on items at 0*.
|
|
(Advanced) Equipment Enhancement Scroll |
[(Advanced) Equipment Enhancement Scroll]
Adds 1* to an item up to 15*. Destroys item if scroll fails and does not leave an item trace.
|
|
High Quality Equipment Enhancement Scroll |
[High Quality Equipment Enhancement Scroll]
Adds 1* to an item up to 15*.
|
|
10 / 12 / 15 / 17 / 20 Star Force Enhancement Coupon |
[10 / 12 / 15 / 17 / 20 Star Force Enhancement Coupon]
Makes an item 10* / 12* / 15* / 17* / 20*. Does not work on Superior equipment. Scrolls from events usually are level restricted (usable only on items of specific level stated in description).
|
Star Force Progression
Meso costs for starring rise very quickly, jumping in costs at 10*, 15* and 20* while also costing more for higher level items. It can be hard to handle for a newbie, so take things slow! When starting off, consider starring the lowest level item you have for lower costs. The table below is just a recommendation, so don't worry if you find it too difficult or expensive to reach these values.
Join a guild with guild level 5 or above for a free +30 Star Force passive. This reduces the overall burden on spending mesos for starring by a significant amount.
Character Level | Total Star Force | Rationale |
---|---|---|
Below Level 100 | - | Not a priority |
Level 100 to 120 | 5* to 30* (0 to 5* per item) |
Allows training in Star Force maps (better EXP) |
Level 120 to 140 | 55*++ (5* to 10* per item) |
Training in Star Force maps, some stat boost for bossing |
Level 140++ | 80*++ (5* to 10* per item) |
Training in Star Force maps, more stat boost for bossing |
Slowly build towards 12*, 15* and eventually 17* as you acquire more mesos and resources for starring. Beyond 17*, you're probably knowledgeable enough on the risks of Star Force to understand how to proceed and what to focus on first. Starring beyond 17* gives decent stat bonuses, but item destruction risks are always present and anti-destruct is not an option. Not everyone has the mesos or resources to get a replacement item back should things go poorly. Plan well, and may starring luck be with you!
Credits
Acknowledgements
Credits go to Nexon and Maplestory for images seen on this page. Thanks also to LukeAwesum on the MapleSEA Discord for helping refine recommended per-equip star force values to be more newbie-friendly!
Contact
If you spot any errors, please contact @whackybeanz on Discord with the list of corrections to make. Thank you!