The Cygnus Knights Break Their Bonds

Cygnus Knights are special characters who pledge their service to the Empress Cygnus. Their goal is the defense of Maple World against the coming of the Black Mage.

The Cygnus Knights were formed as a legion that would be able to bolster the forces of Maple World. Unfortunately, the Knights were flawed almost from conception. While the vast majority of Cygnus Knights are good and noble people, they are led by Knights who at times in the past have battled more for their own glory than the defense of the righteous. That has led to tragic mistakes like what transpired with Von Leon. The darkness that lurks in their hearts is also the reason why the Knights have never been able to overcome their limitations and become as powerful as their Explorer counterparts. The darkness that lurks in their hearts is also the reason why the Knights have never been able to overcome their limitations and become as powerful as their Explorer counterparts.

After the events of the Big Bang, the Cygnus Knights realize that their mortal enemy, the Black Mage, is returning to Maple World. To fulfill what they see as their destiny, the Cygnus Knights forge an extraordinary alliance with the Explorers in which each Knight will bind themselves to an Explorer. Each will "borrow" a bit of the other's power and transcend their previous limits. It works for both sides, though the final consequences of this fateful decision are yet to come...






The Cygnus Knight Awakening

While the story of the Cygnus Knights may or may not have a happy ending, in game terms, AfterShock offers amazing benefits for Cygnus Knights, Explorers, and especially for those players who have one of each.



New Cygnus Knight Skills
The major benefit for Cygnus Knights comes at level 120, the nominal level cap for the class. When you reach max level for your Knight and go through your final Job Advancement, you should report to your class trainer on the island of Ereve. There you will receive two new skills:

Empress' Shout: This is a passive skill that automatically and permanently increases your Hit Points and Magic Points dramatically.

Empress' Prayer: This is an active skill that may be used once per day. When used, it drastically increases your Attack and Magic Attack stats for two real-world hours. During this time, it also enables you to attack higher level monsters than usual. Unlike other buffs, the Empress's Prayer cannot be eliminated or dispelled by anything until the two real-world hours have expired. The buff will even last through a character's death and resurrection.



Empress' Blessing
Empress’ Blessing: The Empress's Blessing is like a more powerful version of the Blessing of the Fairy. The Empress's Blessing offers a major statistical boost to all of your characters based on the level of your Cygnus Knight character. For every 5 levels your Cygnus Knight attains, all of your other characters will have their Attack, Magic Attack, Accuracy, and Avoidability increased by 1. The Cygnus Knight's bonus, on the other hand, is based on the level of your second highest level Cygnus Knight.

Let's see how this works in practice:

A player has a level 112 Blaze Wizard (a Cygnus Knight class), a level 66 Wind Archer (another Cygnus Knight class), a level 15 Pirate, and a level 10 Warrior.

The Empress' Blessing level equals the level of the Cygnus Knight divided by 5 (rounded down). Therefore: 112/5= a level 22 Empress's Blessing.

The player's Wind Archer, Pirate, and Warrior each get a permanent +22 buff to their Attack, Magic Attack, Accuracy and Avoidability.

The Blaze Wizard on the other hand, derives her Empress's Blessing from the Wind Archer (the second-highest level Cygnus Knight). Therefore 66/5= a level 13 Empress' Blessing or a +13 to those four statistics.

The addition of these three skills means that Cygnus Knights can now play in and acquit themselves well in boss raids and against monsters that were previously out of their reach. While they still cannot go toe-to-toe with the most powerful Explorer or Hero characters (level 160 and above), they can easily operate in Party Quests or in dungeons geared for level 140-150 characters. A well-equipped Cygnus Knight played by a good player can even do well in dungeons rated for level 160. That means you can now explore areas of Maple World that were once out of reach!



The Cygnus Knight/Explorer Connection

The new alliance between the Cygnus Knights and the Explorers also has benefits for the Explorers.


Empress' Might
Empress's Might is a new skill available to Explorers at level 70. In order to get it, you must first have a level 120 Cygnus Knight. If you do, simply go to your class trainer (the specific Explorer NPC who first raised you from a Beginner to your current Job) to receive a quest to obtain it.

Empress' Might: This is a passive skill that allows you to equip items up to ten levels higher than your current level. Note that your character's statistics must still meet the item's minimum values in order to use it.



Cygnus Knight Skills
One of the most exciting new developments for Explorers is the possibility of acquiring skills that were formerly exclusive to Cygnus Knights! In order to get the skill, you must first be level 70, have made the third job advancement, and have obtained the Empress’s Might skill. If you are on Victoria Island, travel to Six Path Crossway and climb up the tree in the center of the map. From there, head up to find a boat to take you to Ereve, the home of the Empress Cygnus. Once there, head right and simply go to the trainer that most closely corresponds to your Explorer class.

Warrior: Dawn Warrior - Mihile


Bowman: Wind Archer - Irena


Magician: Blaze Wizard - Oz


Night Walker - Eckhart


Pirate: Thunder Breaker - Hawkeye

The Cygnus Knight will give you a quest. When you complete the quest, you'll gain the formerly forbidden skill! Note that in order to level up the skill, you'll need to return to the Cygnus Knight trainer every 10 levels and complete the quest again.



The Ultimate Explorer

Of course, the final evolution of the Cygnus Knights comes when they realize they must give up their hubris. They must stop being Cygnus Knights. From this realization arises something new -- The Ultimate Explorer.

But that is another story...

What is an Ultimate Adventurer? It’s basically an Adventurer with benefits. New skills, that is.
How can I become one? First of all, you need a Lv. 120 Cygnus character with the Captain Knight title.
Then, you can become an Ultimate Adventurer by talking to the empress of Ereb.




When you talked to the empress, a new window will popup.
You can enter your character name and choose your job, face and hairstyle. After that, you have to log out and you will probably see a new character which is the Ultimate Adventurer and looks like the old Cygnus creation style.

What kind of benefits does an Ultimate Adventurer have? A special Cygnus skill. Until Lv. 90, every 10 levels you reach, you gain 1 SP to distribute it into your special Cygnus skill.


Soul Driver - Master Level 5



Flame Gear - Master Level 5



Wind Piercing - Master Level 5



Vampire - Master Level 5



Shark Wave - Master Level 5



All skills have a master level of 5 and deal a decent amount of damage at max. level. Every ten levels a skill point can be distributed in the Ultimate Adventurer Cygnus skill.



More information:

Ultimate Explorer
· Lv.120 Cygnus Knights who have made the advancement to Chief Knight and completed the Empress's Grace quest can create an Ultimate Explorer through Empress Cygnus in Ereve. One Cygnus Knight can create one Ultimate Explorer. After creating an Ultimate Explorer, a Cygnus Knight cannot create another one, even if the first Ultimate Explorer that was created is deleted.
· You will choose a class of Explorer, and a Lv.50 character will be created. NOTE: You cannot create a Dual Blade Ultimate Explorer.
· You must have an empty character slot in order to make an Ultimate Explorer.
· The skin color of your Cygnus Knight carries over to the Ultimate Explorer they create.
· Ultimate Explorers share a Cash Inventory with regular (non-Dual Blade) Explorers.
· Ultimate Explorers have a max level of 200.
· Ultimate Explorer’s receive the skill Empress’s Might, an Empress’s Fine Set of equipment, and a Successor medal.
· Empress’s Might: [Max Level: 1] Allows the character to equip items that have a level requirement up through ten levels higher than the character, if the character meets the other stat requirements.
· Empress’s Fine Set: Includes a hat, a robe, gloves, shoes, and a weapon. Talk to Empress Cygnus upon reaching Lv.70 to upgrade to the Empress’s Brilliant Set.
· Successor: HP.MP +200 / ATT, Magic ATT+2 / Speed, Jump+10. This medal includes the name of your Cygnus Knight. For example, if Cygnus Knight Mihile created an Ultimate Explorer, that Ultimate Explorer would receive a medal named Mihile’s Successor.
· Ultimate Explorers also receive a Cygnus Knight skill corresponding to their job. The skill level increases automatically every ten levels, and each has a Max Level of 5. These skills are Mihile’s Soul Driver (Warriors), Oz’s Flame Gear (Magicians), Irena’s Wind Piercing (Bowmen), Eckhart’s Vampire (Thieves), and Hawkeye’s Shark Wave (Pirates).


Cygnus Knights update
New skills:
· Empress’s Blessing: [Max Level: 24] Your other characters in the same world receive a buff based on the level of a Cygnus Knight you have in that world. For every 5 levels your Cygnus Knight gains, the skill levels up and gives an additional +1 to ATT, Magic ATT, ACC, and Avoidability. This skill does not stack with Blessing of the Fairy. You will receive a buff from whichever skill is the highest level.
· Empress’s Shout: [Master Level: 1] HP/MP permanently increase by 20% when this skill is obtained. It is received upon completion of the quest Empress’s Grace, which is available to Lv.120 Cygnus who have made the advancement to Chief Knight.
· Empress’s Prayer: [Master Level: 1] An active buff the increases ATT and Magic ATT for two hours. It also enables a Cygnus Knight using it to hit monsters that are considerably higher in level than they are. The buff does not disappear when a character dies, and it cannot be canceled by monster skills. It requires 24 hours of play time to recharge. It is received upon completion of the quest Empress’s Grace, which is available to Lv.120 Cygnus who have made the advancement to Chief Knight.



Explorer update
Explorers can obtain Empress's Might and the Cygnus Knight attack skills that Ultimate Explorers receive by reaching lv. 70 and going through the 3rd Job Advancement. Empress's Might can be obtained by completing a quest from your 1st job instructor. The Cygnus Knight attack skill available to your job can be received from the corresponding Cygnus Knight job instructors. Warriors go to Mihile, Magicians go to Oz, Bowmen go to Irena, Thieves and Dual Blades go to Eckhart, and Pirates go to Hawkeye. The quest for the attack skill you obtain can be repeated every ten levels in order to raise the level of the skill.

NOTE: The drop rate for the items to complete these quests is very low. This is by design.


- x3TheAran59 Administrator

Sounds promising...hope its in SEA soon...

haha ya we are waiting....

fast come to maplesea!!!!!!!!! i lvl uping my nightwalker in bootes XP
if can like that will so cool

then koc will be proest job??