Mastery items and Excellent items in MU Online: complete guide

The quality gap between a regular item and an Excellent item in MU Online is dramatic. Knowing which Excellent options are valuable, how to identify them, and when Mastery items supersede them, is essential knowledge for any serious player.

Excellent items — the standard end-game tier

What an Excellent item is:

Definition:
→ Any weapon, armor, or accessory with 1-2 special options called "Excellent options"
→ These options are displayed in blue text in the item tooltip
→ The item has an "Exc" notation or glowing visual effect
→ Excellent items can be any upgrade level (+0 to +15) — the Excellent property is separate

How Excellent options appear:
→ Maximum 2 options per item
→ Each option: one special bonus effect
→ Some items have 1 option; others have 2
→ More options ≠ always better (depends on which options)

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Excellent options list for weapons:

Best options (weapon slots):

1. Increases Damage by X% (THE best weapon option):
→ Adds a percentage directly to all damage dealt
→ Example: a weapon with "+12% damage" = every attack deals 12% more
→ Stacks with: all other damage sources (skill damage, stat scaling)
→ Priority: highest possible value weapon option

2. Attack Speed Increase (second best):
→ Attacks fire faster → more hits per second → more DPS over time
→ Works for both physical and magical attacks
→ Synergy: pairs perfectly with damage % (more hits × more damage per hit)

3. Life After Each Monster Kill (farming QoL):
→ Recovers HP for each monster killed
→ During mass farming: continuous HP recovery
→ Less relevant in single-target or boss fights
→ Best on: characters that kill many mobs quickly (DW Nova, DK Twisting Slash)

4. Mana After Each Monster Kill (farming QoL):
→ Recovers Mana per kill
→ Reduces mana potion consumption during farming
→ Best on: heavy mana users (DW, MG, Summoner)

5. Excellent Damage Increase (some versions):
→ Increases excellent-type damage
→ Less universal than raw damage %

Worst weapon Excellent options:
→ Defense options on weapons: wrong slot — useless
→ HP/Defense recovery options: better on armor

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Excellent options list for armor:

Best options (armor slots):

1. Increases Defense Success Rate:
→ Higher chance to successfully block/reduce physical damage
→ Good for: DK, DL (frontline classes)

2. HP Recovery Rate increase:
→ Faster natural HP regeneration
→ Good for: all classes (survival)

3. Excellent Defense Increase (some versions):
→ Additional defense beyond base armor stats

4. Mana Recovery Rate increase:
→ Faster natural mana recovery
→ Good for: heavy mana users (DW, Elf, Summoner)

5. Life After Each Monster Kill (armor version, some configs):
→ Same as weapon version — HP per kill
→ Doubled benefit if both weapon and armor have this option

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Excellent options for accessories (rings, pendants):

Best options:
1. HP Recovery After Kill: strong for farming survivability
2. Mana Recovery After Kill: reduces mana potion use
3. Damage/Attack increase: flat damage added
4. Specific resistance: fire/ice/lightning resistance (map-specific value)

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BiS (Best in Slot) weapon combinations:

The ideal Excellent weapon has:
→ Option 1: Increases Damage by X%
→ Option 2: Attack Speed Increase
→ Both together: this combination is universally the strongest weapon possible for DPS

Why this combination is the best:
→ Damage % × faster attacks = multiplicative improvement
→ Example: +12% damage + 7% attack speed = both bonuses stack, compounding DPS

This combination is rare:
→ Rolling this specific pair on a specific item: requires many item finds
→ Players often upgrade a "good" weapon (one of the two top options) rather than waiting for perfect
→ A weapon with just Increases Damage %: still excellent for farming

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Excellent item farming sources:

Where to find good Excellent items:

All map farming (drops from monsters):
→ Any monster can drop Excellent items
→ Drop rate for Excellent: very low (perhaps 1 in 500-1000 monster kills)
→ Higher-level monsters: Excellent items of higher item levels

Event-specific farming:
→ Blood Castle: high Excellent drop rate on event monsters
→ Devil Square: enemies drop Excellent items more frequently
→ Box of Kundun (tier 4-5): Excellent items as box contents

Boss farming:
→ Kundun (Kalima 7): guaranteed Excellent+ drops
→ Nightmare (Kanturu 3): guaranteed Excellent+ drops
→ Selupan (Raklion): guaranteed Excellent+ drops
→ Balgass (Crywolf): Excellent drops alongside Loch's Feather

Trading:
→ Player market: buy specific Excellent items
→ Verify options before buying — an Excellent weapon with bad options is worth much less

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Evaluating an Excellent item's value:

Is this item worth keeping? Ask:

1. Is it the right item TYPE for my class?
→ A DK using a staff Excellent item: wrong slot entirely
→ Only consider items your class can use

2. Which Excellent options does it have?
→ Top tier: Increases Damage % + Attack Speed (weapons)
→ Good: One top-tier option
→ Mediocre: Two non-damage options
→ Poor: Defense option on a weapon

3. What upgrade level is it?
→ +0 Excellent: has the options but no upgrade investment
→ +6 Excellent: safe zone completed (6 JoB)
→ +9 Excellent: fully upgraded (6 JoB + ~8 JoS, risky)

4. Does it beat what you currently use?
→ Compare the Excellent item to your current item
→ Even a +0 Excellent weapon can beat a +9 non-Excellent weapon if the options are strong

Mastery items — the modern-season tier above Excellent

What Mastery items are:

Season availability: S10 and above ONLY
NOT available in: Season 6 (S6's ceiling = Excellent + Ancient)

Mastery items overview:
→ A tier above Excellent in modern seasons
→ Have enhanced or stronger options than regular Excellent
→ Some options: exclusive to Mastery (not available on regular Excellent items)
→ The "BiS" tier for modern-season characters

What makes Mastery different from Excellent:

Option strength:
→ Excellent option: "+12% damage"
→ Mastery option: "+18% damage" (stronger baseline)
→ The same option type but with higher values

Exclusive options:
→ Some Mastery options don't exist on Excellent items
→ These represent entirely new bonuses introduced with modern-season content

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Mastery item sources:

Where Mastery items come from (S10+):
→ Modern-season bosses (Phoenix of Darkness, Lord of Ferea)
→ Modern-season events and specialized maps
→ Box of Kundun+ tier drops (if server extends tier system)
→ Chaos Goblin combinations involving modern materials
→ Ruud NPC (some configurations)

NOT available from:
→ S6 content (Kundun, Nightmare, Selupan don't drop Mastery items in S6 config)
→ Normal monster farming (too rare to reliably drop from regular mobs)

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Mastery vs Excellent progression:

S6 server:
→ Top tier: Excellent item with the best options + Ancient set
→ There is no Mastery tier
→ Chasing a +9 Excellent with Increases Damage % + Attack Speed = BiS

Modern server (S10+):
→ Stage 1: Excellent item (still valuable — starting point)
→ Stage 2: Mastery item (replaces Excellent when obtainable)
→ Stage 3: Perfect Mastery item + modern Ancient sets = BiS

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Mastery item upgrade:

Mastery items upgrade the same way Excellent items do:
→ Jewel of Bless: +1 to +6 safe
→ Jewel of Soul: +7 to +9 (risk of drop)
→ A Mastery item at +9 is the maximum standard upgrade goal

Can also use:
→ Jewel of Life: for additional option enhancement (same system as Excellent)
→ The upgrade system is consistent — Mastery items aren't harder to upgrade

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Mastery item identification:

How to recognize a Mastery item in inventory:
→ Different color text from Excellent (often purple or gold vs blue)
→ Higher numerical values on the same option types
→ May have a "Mastery" label or marker in the item title

Don't confuse with Ancient:
→ Ancient items: gold/yellow text, set-based bonuses
→ Mastery items: upgraded Excellent tier
→ They're different systems

See also the Jewel system guide (how to upgrade items), the Ancient sets guide (the set bonus system that works alongside Excellent options), and the 380 items guide (the tier above Excellent in the additional option system).

Frequently asked questions