3rd May 2006
Dear Maple Diary,
I see in the website that today is the start of the GMS event. I am in Orbis killing Jr. Lioners. Should I go back to Vic Island? My Quest List shows that I have a Cody quest to participate in. Is the reward the sexy-looking Maple Lama Staff?

4th May 2006
Dear Maple Diary,
I decide to head back to homeland Ellinia. On the way to Henesys, I see cute candles but they do damage to me so I don’t find them cute anymore. I ask the lower level people who are killing them and occasionally advertising “S>Candles” about the purpose of the candles, but nobody answers me. Do noobs these days ignore higher levels? I talk to Cody and he tells me to hunt for 10 candles. That’s easy, I thought.

I kill at least 30 candles and nothing drops so far. I wonder if I have to talk to the Maple Admin NPC (who has a lightbulb on his head) first. I go back and the Admin asks me to hunt for a blue birthday present. I’m tired. I don’t want to hunt for something which drops so little. I scout for candles to buy but noobs are selling it at 50k.

I want to hunt for the Maple Lama Staff so I go to Perion and kill the fire boars. Hopefully, the staff will drop together with a glass shoe. The exp and the mesos are low but they are the only fire monster in Vic Island that I can ohko. My MP does not seem to drop at all. I save on Elixirs.

30 minutes later, I am tired of fire boars. There is not a single uncommon drop, let alone a maple weapon drop. I give up. I will go back and ohko the candles which give no exp anyway. Two maps east of Henesys, I find 1 on the ground and 2 dropped within 5 minutes. I am revived. CC spree on my “lucky channels” and I got all 10 in just a little over 15 minutes. I get back to Cody and show off my Maple Flag proudly to the onlooking noobs. I get spammed with trade requests asking me where I get that flag. I tell them to talk to Cody and they come back asking for help in candle-killing. I tell them, “Maybe later.”

I take a break and look through Hidden-Street and BasilMarket. My Red Viper just won’t sell at 150k. Perhaps, I will lower the price even further when the auction ends. At the sidebar, I notice a few topics. As a Basil newbie, I didn’t know a forum existed. I must have been blind all the while when such a clear link is at the top left.

I see a topic called “Maple weapon drops and locations”. I am curious so I click it. Wow, indeed a person called Splashy has compiled valuable information. Apparently, there are certain monsters which are confirmed to drop certain maple weapons. I desperately scan for the words “Lama” and “Staff”. Horny mushrooms? Ellinia mush tree, here I come.

I ohko green and horny mush alike for 45 minutes straight and the rarest drops are wizard potions and ores. I read through the rest of the thread and see that many people have hunted for many hours in vain. My confidence takes a hit. I know my drop luck is extremely bad. At level 51, I only have 8 mil and a 4-5 mil worth of items (ica 2, scrolled cromi and so on).

I give up for the day. I’ll try again tomorrow.

5th May 2006
Dear Maple Diary,
I have bookmarked the “Splashy thread” (as I call it). It lists many drops under Wild Boar but no Lama Staff. Perhaps, if I hunted a maple weapon there, I could trade it for someone with a Lama Staff. I ohko the Wild Boars at Perion frantically. 45 minutes and no drops. Meanwhile, people have replied on the thread regarding their maple finds. I am envious of those with Lama Staff after killing for only 5 minutes.

DEAR MAPLE DIARY!
I found my first maple weapon! After 1 and a half hours of wild boars, a maple bow finally drops. A bow has never looked any prettier. I check the stats and find that not only is the weapon attack below average, but the speed is below average too. Unfazed, I head to the FM and sell it off for a miserable 700k. Is it my gain or my loss? I’ll never know. Nevertheless, this gives me new-found hope in “My Hunt For Maple Weapons”.

I am very happy now, so I decide to help a random noob hunt candles for a while. I hunt 3 for him and give them to him for free. He just gives me an F2 face without a thank you and rushes off like a little boy to Cody. I ohko one more candle for fun and a red birthday present drops. I need blue so I want to sell it off but I have a better idea.

I use my level 23 mule to access the Admin quest. I give it the red present and I get a white maple bandana. Not the best reward but definitely better than a cake, which I heard is also one of the random rewards. Has my luck changed for the better?

I hunt green and horny mush for 45 minutes before I go to sleep. Still no lama staff, but sweet dreams for tonight.

6th May 2006
Dear Maple Diary,
Today is Saturday and I will spend more time at the mush tree. There is no-one in the tree even in Channel 1. It must be very early in the US. I wish good luck to myself.

GUESS WHAT MAPLE DIARY???
MAPLE LAMA STAFF
MAPLE
LAMA
STAFF
LAMALAMALAMALAMALAMALAMAWEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE

MY HAPPINESS CANNOT BE DESCRIBED IN WORDS, SO IF YOU SEE A LEVEL 51 MAGE IN HENESYS (KHAINI) HOLDING A LAMA STAFF WITH A HUGE F2 GRIN, THAT’S ME!!!

stats 102hp 53mp 41w.atk 59m.atk

According to Hidden-Street, everything is perfect except the m.atk which is only 1 above. A good Lama Staff, nonetheless! This is definitely for keeping unless I find a similar one with >59 m.atk.

My 45-minute hunt today has been worth the effort. I give myself a congratulatory pat on the back.

I move on to boars for Kandayos and Wagners. Most channels have sins in it and my ice is no match for their tobis, steelys and ilbis. I finally find a channel with a hunter and request to share channel and he agrees. I hunt for the rest of the day there, taking my own time, and not powerkilling. A few uncommon drops here and there but no claw or dagger.

P.S. My Lama Staff has increased trade requests. I tell them to kill the mushies that drop it but they just want to buy mine. WHY???

7th May 2006
Dear Maple Diary,
I hunt mushies for a short while in case of repeated luck with lama staff but nothing drops. I cannot be too greedy. Another random candle drops red present when I kill it because it’s in my way. I use the mule tactic again but I get the cake this time. I am not disappointed. It was a good try.

I head over to Ludi because I want to scroll my shoes with 100% speed because I cannot yet afford to 10% scroll snowshoes until it succeeds. Now my speed is 133 when walking with a whip. It is fast, but not fast enough. I can’t wait to max my tele too.

Since I am in Ludi, I will train on the platoon chronos for maple shield. I only want the shield, kandayo and wagner for my collection.

Lucky Lucky Maple Diary,
HEHEHE. Another Lama Staff within 45 minutes. It is averagely average and I have auctioned it on Basil for the average price. Thank you, Gods of MS for shining down on me during my times of need. This money will go into the storage to be used when scrolling my cape and earrings soon.

P.S. Please let Splashy find a Lama Staff for himself soon. He has done a good job in providing the valuable information that has helped me find 3 maple weapons in 4 days.

Sidenote: All the best to Maplers out there. May you find the Maple Weapon of your choice!!

Noob Tips:
#1 Find your lucky channel
#2 Find a good spawn rate
#3 Have faith and patience
#4 Don’t party anyone you can’t trust
#5 If all else fails, hunt wild boars, they drop so many maple weapons