KMS test preview · About these guides
Korean MapleStory's September 2026 balance preview changed more than damage percentages.
Movement inputs, resources, hit behavior, and burst structure all received changes that could affect actual bossing. Those interactions deserve attention alongside the numbers.
Kain, Night Lord, Pathfinder, and Adele have notable changes to their combat flow. Ren and Lethe also show clear numerical adjustments across several skills.
This article follows the September 10, 2026 KMS Test World client 1.2.206 skill proposal for those six classes. It is a historical Korean preview, not a GMS patch announcement.
The original source was written before live release. The September 17 KMS live notes and October follow-up are now available; use them for final Korean behavior. GMS needs its own release notes and current tooltips.
Six classes at a glance
| Class | Main proposed change | What to assess |
|---|---|---|
| Kain | Some damage reductions alongside movement and facing improvements | The full rotation, including shared-skill changes |
| Night Lord | Throwing Star Barrage attack behavior | Dependence on point-blank positioning and hit reliability |
| Pathfinder | Relic Gauge removed | Less resource management and improved movement links |
| Adele | The KMS Glint movement entry and Territory attack reworked | Whether movement costs less damage uptime |
| Ren | Lower passive Final Damage, with some attacks increased | The net effect across a full rotation |
| Lethe (KMS reference) | Damage increases on several main attacks | The practical gain from their combined contribution |
A recurring direction is cleaner movement and inputs alongside class-specific damage redistribution. Neither part tells the whole story on its own.
Compare the full sequence and real boss hit consistency rather than one skill percentage.
Kain: lower values and easier inputs together
Kain receives a broad set of changes in the proposal.
Several displayed damage values decrease.
At master level, Death's Blessing's base damage changes from 135% to 120%. Advanced Death's Blessing's bonus to that damage also falls from 150 to 130 percentage points.
Dogma's Critical Damage changes from 25% to 17%, and the weapon-expertise passive's Final Damage from 37% to 33%. Grip of Agony and Poison Needle VI also receive damage reductions. These are the proposed KMS values.
At the same time, the proposal improves several inputs.
Shadow Swiftness can move forward during other skills, and its forward and upward jumps can be linked in either order.
Dread Bolt loses its attack and casting animation, making the movement function more direct.
[Possess]Dragon Burst's repeat-facing-change interval falls from 0.5 to 0.2 seconds, while[Execute]Fatal Blitz gains the ability to change facing during the attack.
Include Grandis Goddess's Blessing in Kain's comparison
The proposal also reworks Grandis Goddess's Blessing, so Kain's individual attacks are not the entire balance picture.
Some former class-group damage bonuses are removed, with a Final Damage effect added during the buff.
Compare that shared buff and the complete burst sequence instead of adding only the individual reductions.
The source's preview alone does not establish the final total damage change.
Night Lord: less pressure to stand point-blank?
A central change is Throwing Star Barrage. The source calls it Spread Throw in Korean terminology.
It is changed to damage enemies within its search range and trigger Assassin's Mark on all enemies hit.
The star-firing angles change too.
Previously, maximizing Barrage hits could reward staying very close to the boss.
English players generally describe that as point-blank bossing, rather than using the Korean slang literally.
If the new hit behavior gives a useful effective range, it can create room to keep attacking without standing quite as close. That still needs testing against actual targets.
Quad Star VI changes too
Quad Star VI is changed to throw stars toward all enemies within its search range.
The enhanced version's attack range increases by about 66% in the proposal.
Assassin's Mark and Night Lord's Mark track the enemy that generated the star.
Dark Serenity's Final Damage changes from 15% to 18%, and Shurrikane damage from 615% to 676%.
For Night Lord, targeting and reduced distance constraints may matter as much as the numerical changes.
Pathfinder: the Relic Gauge is removed
Pathfinder has a particularly visible structural change.
The central proposal is removing the Relic Gauge. This is a Korean-version change, not a statement that every GMS client already uses it.
Skills tied to that resource are reworked alongside its removal.
Relic Charge I and II are removed, and several former gauge-consuming skills use MP instead.
Nova Blast loses its Final Damage increase based on consumed Relic Gauge. The source calls this entry Ultimate Blast in Korean terminology.
Pathfinder's movement also becomes more flexible
Double Jump can move forward during other skills.
Forward jump and upward jump can be linked in either order.
The KMS Relic Step entry loses its casting animation, becomes usable during other skills, and has about 6% less delay between consecutive uses. These newer Korean labels should be matched to your current client.
The practical direction is less attention spent on a gauge before using attacks. That can change the rotation's feel beyond a damage increase or decrease.
Existing players should review skill order and hotkeys as well as the damage table.
Adele: movement and the Territory attack
Adele also receives meaningful input changes.
The KMS Glint entry loses its casting animation and attack, and becomes usable during other skills with specified exceptions.
Movement distance changes, repeat-use delay falls by about 6%, and a permanent Attack Power effect is added.
The change makes that entry function more like a movement tool linked smoothly into combat, rather than an extra attack in its own right. The Korean label is retained here to avoid assigning the change to an unrelated GMS skill.
Vault can also move forward during other skills, with forward and upward jumps linkable in either order.
Adele's Territory attack is restructured
The KMS Territory entry, associated with Reign of Destruction in English guides, becomes a domain that creates numerous swords, with a revised casting effect.
Its VI version follows the same direction.
The KMS Aether Loupe entry now starts attacking when used and ends when pressed again or when its duration expires. This is a descriptive romanization of the Korean entry, not an asserted official GMS name.
Its sustained-attack damage changes from 875% to 1,225%.
Assess movement, the domain's actual hits, and damage lost to a moving boss alongside the percentages.
Ren: passive reduction with some attacks increased
Ren's proposal includes changes in both directions.
The fourth-job Clear Mind passive's Final Damage changes from 20% to 17%at master level. Clear Mind here describes the source's Korean passive entry.
Fifth Plum Blossom Sword: Plum Branch Snare changes from 720% to 327%, while the VI spirit-strike entry changes from 1,210% to 1,123%.
Other attacks increase.
The falling-blossom, second, and heavenly-strike components of the Korean Origin entry rise slightly. Its separate myriad-slashes attack changes from 402% to 576%. Component labels here describe the Korean attacks rather than inventing new GMS tooltips.
Serene Breeze becomes usable during other skills and gains more flexible jump links.
Assess Ren using a complete rotation that includes the lower Final Damage and every relevant attack adjustment. A single increased skill cannot establish the net result.
The preview is better treated as a reason to test than as a final class-wide buff or nerf verdict.
Lethe: several main attacks increase
The Korean Lethe proposal has more consistently upward attack percentages.
Overlord: Templar Onslaught changes from 900% to 990%; Overlord: Vargar Trident from 1,500% to 1,650%.
Edict: Fell Storm VI changes from 712% to 783%, Edict: Rampage VI from 760% to 912%, and Edict: Templar Arts VI from 764% to 917%.
Pact Manifest changes from 184% to 221%; Absolute Reign's magic-chain and Ananke's-embrace components also increase slightly. These English renderings identify the Korean entries and do not establish GMS naming or availability.
Oblique Teleport gains a lock for activation through Teleport, allowing a separate keybind when that interaction is disabled.
Within this six-class comparison, Lethe's listed main-attack changes have a relatively clear upward direction. That is a statement about those listed attacks, not the whole rotation's percentage gain.
Different attacks contribute different shares, so do not apply an individual skill's increase directly to total class damage.
The recurring theme: attack while moving
Several Korean classes receive related movement changes.
Casting animations are removed, movement becomes usable during attacks, and forward/upward jumps link more naturally.
Examples include Kain's Shadow Swiftness, Pathfinder's Double Jump and Relic Step, and Adele's Glint and Vault entries.
Compare three things alongside DPM:
- The full rotation
Include shared buffs and the complete burst, not only one attack. - Lost uptime in bosses
Check whether movement and mechanics interrupt fewer attacks. - Input comfort
Easier movement links and fewer resource checks affect practical output too.
Night Lord's hit behavior and Pathfinder's resource removal are particularly clear examples of changes that a percentage table cannot fully describe.
Which of Kain, Night Lord, and Pathfinder changes most?
Pathfinder's structural change is the easiest to identify:
a major resource gauge is removed.
Night Lord's Barrage and Quad Star VI changes can alter effective positioning in a boss.
Kain combines lower attack values, better movement/facing control, and a shared-buff rework, making the net effect harder to infer from a short list.
Adele's movement and domain changes also merit hands-on testing.
Frequently asked questions
Is Kain nerfed in this proposal?
Several main skill values fall, but shared buffs and execution also change. Actual class-wide output needs a full-rotation comparison under matched conditions.
Can Night Lord now attack from far away?
The proposed range-based targeting is explicit, but ideal distance depends on boss size, position, and hit behavior. Do not turn reduced point-blank pressure into a promise of unrestricted ranged damage.
Is Pathfinder's Relic Gauge really removed?
Yes in the KMS 1.2.206 proposal: Relic Gauge and Relic Charge I/II are removed, with some resource costs converted to MP. Check the current regional live version before applying it to your character.
Is Lethe buffed?
Several listed attacks increase. Their differing damage shares mean the total gain is not simply equal to any one percentage increase.
Are these the final live patch values?
This table preserves the September 10 Test World preview, whose test period ran until September 17 maintenance. The final KMS live patch and later follow-up are linked below; they take priority for current Korean play.
Practical changes need practical testing
This preview is broader than a list of class damage gains.
Kain changes movement and facing, Night Lord targeting and range, Pathfinder resource management, and Adele movement and domain behavior.
Ren mixes increases with reductions; Lethe has several clearly increased attack values in the Korean proposal.
The comparison above remains a KMS Test World 1.2.206 snapshot. It should not be read as the latest GMS balance state.
Before choosing a new main or rebuilding an alt, check the final notes for the version you actually play, then test the changed rotation.