Power leveling in Maplestory is something I've been gaining interest in recently (including having done some attempts with my own ruleset before checking for a speedrun.com leaderboard, see for my own PB under that slightly different ruleset).

However, I think the current rules for Premium 5th Job have some issues that don't really reflect the reality of Maplestory as it exists right now (at least on the GMS servers).

My main concern is the rule barring interaction with other players because of 2 main points: (1) Frenzy Totem/MVP Atmospheric, and (2) Friends of Arby / Holy Symbol.

Currently Premium 5th job has a single run by ZomgNit that features usage of a self-owned Frenzy Totem and a Holy Symbol mule.

Personally, I believe that at the bare minimum interaction with other players should be allowed for the sake of buying Frenzy Service (where a player pays a frenzy totem owner a (usually hourly) fee to use Monolith on their maps), Fire Starter Service and to get atmospheric buffs (especially from publicly shared MVP Experience Atmospherics, commonly used in Ardentville).

The main argument for allowing these forms of interaction is lowering the barrier of entry for participation in the category. Many players can afford Frenzy Service (with current rates in Aurora, the server I have experience with, being around 70m/hr) while owning a Frenzy Totem is effectively impossible for even the biggest spenders (they don't appear in Marvel Machine or Philosopher Books anymore and buying second hand off the occasional seller is virtually impossible). To a lesser degree, Fire Starter Rings and MVPs are also extremely expensive though much more available than a Frenzy Totem. In the spirit of increasing the ability for participation, I would suggest allowing the purchase of these services and participation in public distributions of these buffs.

The other player interactions that I believe are notable for this category are ones that I have a less strong opinion of, but do think they should be addressed. Primarily:

1. Holy Symbol/Friends of Arby: These buffs both give increased xp to a party member and are provided by Bishops and Beast Tamers respectively. The main arguments I would suggest for allowing these are that it better demonstrates the maximum potential of the category and Holy Symbol is used by a self-owned character in the only run on the leaderboards right now). The best argument against these are both of these systems are opt-in services that cannot be passively given by a passerby (no run killer effect if someone uses one near you as you have to make the decision to be affected by it) and it doesn't demonstrate the solo capabilities of the class being played (where as the services mentioned above are all doable on any single character, though at exorbitantly high costs), which is a valid strategic choice within the category.

2. Trading: Borrowing gear and items that are tradeable from other players is effectively allowed in the current system. A good argument for allowing trading is it simply reduces costs for involved parties (for example, borrowing a Friend's weapon for a run during the run costs 2 Platinums Scissors of Karma (one each way) where as if I borrow it before the run and put it in my storage (which would be allowed by current rules) it costs 3). A good argument against trading is basically that it defeats the spirit of a solo run and, in the case of some events, allows obtaining more of an event benefit than would be possible with a single account.

3. Boss Queues: Boss Queues allow players to quickly get to any boss they have unlocked with a damage boost. In terms of travel, I don't believe that traveling is a meaningful benefit as any competitive run in this category should include usage of a Hyper Teleport Rock to equivalently travel. The main argument against boss queuing for damage is that it's again strictly an opt-in system which reduces the ability for a run to be done completely solo (if attempting to mitigate RNG by hoping for random players to queue).

With these in mind, I would make the suggestion to update the rules of the category to specifically allow interaction from other players for purchasing and/or obtaining Frenzy, Fire Starter, and Atmospheric Buff services.

I would also like to suggest changing the category name (and official ending) to "Level 200" over 5th Job as it reflects the actual run currently on the leaderboard, and is the category as I would personally be more interested in running it.

TL;DR: I would suggest the following changes to the 5th job categories: 5th job categories should be changed (by name) to level 200 I would recommend allowing purchasing/profiting from Frenzy/Firestarter/atmospheric buffs from other players within the "Premium" category.

Thanks for the suggestions! Taking this into the Discord for further discussions but feel free to post your thoughts + suggestions here as well.