Maple Story is a game that is very stat sensitive, meaning that it depends
heavily on stats. Should you “mess up” one of your stats, your character
will be ruined for ever and will deal lower damage than if it wasn’t
“messed up”. The first step to creating a mage is to roll those dice.
When you select “Create a Character”, choose your hair, clothes, etc. Pick a
name for your character, and roll the dice. A “perfect” roll would be:

STR: 4
DEX: 4
INT: X
LUK: X

Int and Luk are listed as “X” because these stats do not matter when you are
rolling. STR and DEX are your two stats that do not affect your damage. You
will NEVER add to these stats, nor will you add to your HP or MP. You want your
STR and DEX to be as low as possible so that your LUK and INT will be
respectively higher. The ideal STR and DEX is 4, however you could settle for a
5 in one of them, or, if you’re really impatient, a 5 in both. In the end, it
doesn’t RUIN your character; it just means you will have a little lower damage.

On Maple Island, most prefer to get their LUK to 11 right off the bat, and then
dump all their points into INT until level 8. You do not need to do it this
way, it is just simpler.

For every level after this, you will want your LUK to be your level + 3.
For example, if you are level 22, your LUK should be 25; if you’re level 45,
your LUK should be 48.

To become a mage, you will need 20 INT. Also, since you become a magician at
level 8, your LUK should be 11 at this time (but it isn’t NECESSARY).
You will have more INT than 20, just a reminder that you need that much.

All you need to remember about Ability Points (AP) is that your LUK
should be Your Level + 3, and that all other points should go into INT.