Monster Carnival (CPQ) Guide

Monster Carnival is a timed PvE party quest where two teams — red and blue — fight on the same map and race to outscore each other. You don't attack the other players directly. Instead, both teams kill spawning monsters to earn Carnival Points (CP), and then spend those points to make life miserable for the enemy side.

Each match runs about ten minutes. When the timer ends, the team with the higher score wins. It's fast, replayable, and because the whole thing is built around killing mobs, the EXP keeps flowing the entire time — which on Zipangu's 2x EXP rate makes CPQ an excellent leveling loop for the right level bracket.

On Zipangu there are two versions: the original Monster Carnival (CPQ1) for lower levels and Monster Carnival 2 (CPQ2) for a higher bracket. Same core rules, tougher monsters and stiffer competition in the second one.

Monster Carnival is a mid-game party quest, so it's aimed at characters who are past the early tutorial zones but not yet endgame. CPQ1 covers the lower mid-level bracket and CPQ2 covers a higher one — every member of your party has to fall inside the version's level range, so build your team with people close to your level.

You start at Spiegelmann's lobby. Talk to Spiegelmann (the carnival host NPC) to register your party into the waiting room. Once both a red and a blue side are ready, the match launches and everyone is warped into the battlefield together.

You queue as a party, so the simplest path is to grab friends or fill spots from the Zipangu Discord before you register. Solo-queuing is possible when others are waiting, but a coordinated party wins far more often.

• ▸Start NPC: Spiegelmann, in the Monster Carnival lobby
• ▸Format: party-based — register your whole party with Spiegelmann
• ▸Versions: CPQ1 (lower bracket) and CPQ2 (higher bracket)
• ▸Level rule: all party members must be inside the chosen version's range
• ▸Find a team fast in the Zipangu Discord: https://discord.com/invite/M4Up4kM

When the battle starts, monsters spawn on both halves of the map. Kill them to bank Carnival Points. The catch from classic MapleStory still applies on Zipangu: mobs on your own side don't reward you — the monsters you can score off of are the ones the enemy team's CP keeps sending at you. So as you spend points, you're literally feeding extra mobs onto the opponent's screen.

Carnival Points are your whole economy. You spend them through the F1–F4 hotkeys, which open tabs of escalating cost. Cheaper tabs summon extra monsters onto the enemy's side (more mobs they have to clear, more chances for chaos). Pricier tabs unleash debuffs and protections — things that weaken the enemy team or shield your own.

The strategic tension is simple: every point you spend on a summon or debuff is a point you didn't keep for score. Good teams read the match — spam cheap pressure early, then bank for a strong debuff at a key moment.

• ▸F1–F4: tabs of summons and debuffs, cheapest to most expensive
• ▸Cheap actions: drop extra monsters onto the enemy side
• ▸Expensive actions: debuff the enemy team or protect your own
• ▸Spending CP lowers your score — balance pressure vs. banking
• ▸Dying costs you — use the revive portal to get back in fast

The team that keeps its kill rate highest for the full ten minutes usually wins, so assign jobs before the match. Put your strongest mobbers (classes with wide, fast area attacks) on non-stop clearing duty, and let one person act as the "CP manager" who watches the score gap and decides when to spend.

Mobbing classes shine here. Explorer warriors and mages with sweeping AoE, plus modern classes like Aran, Luminous, Demon Slayer and Mercedes, can wipe whole packs at once and snowball your point lead. Single-target burst classes still contribute, but pair them with someone who can group the mobs.

Don't ignore deaths. If you go down, head straight to the revive portal and rejoin — every second out of the fight is mob spawns the enemy is clearing instead of you. And keep an eye on the enemy's summons; when they flood your side, switch to defensive clearing so the extra mobs don't pile into a wipe.

The headline reward is EXP. Because you're killing mobs continuously, Monster Carnival is one of the better experience-per-minute activities for its level bracket — and on Zipangu's 2x EXP rate, that adds up quickly across back-to-back matches.

Beyond raw EXP, classic CPQ hands out carnival currency from Spiegelmann that you can trade for useful consumables and items at the lobby — a nice steady supplement while you level. Drops from the monsters you clear follow Zipangu's fair 1x drop rate, so loot is honest rather than inflated.

Because Zipangu is strictly no pay-to-win with a fully player-driven meso economy, CPQ rewards are earned, not bought. That keeps the activity meaningful: time spent in the carnival actually advances your character.

• ▸Strong, continuous EXP — amplified by 2x EXP on Zipangu
• ▸Carnival currency from Spiegelmann for lobby items/consumables
• ▸Honest 1x drops from cleared monsters — no inflated loot
• ▸Zero pay-to-win: every reward is earned in-match

Ready to jump in? Here's the short version. Get your character into the right level bracket, line up a party near your level, and head to Spiegelmann's lobby to register. Bind your F1–F4 keys mentally before the match so you're not fumbling when the timer starts.

Once you're in, just keep clearing. Manage your CP, watch the score gap, save a debuff for the right moment, and rush the revive portal if you fall. Win or lose, requeue — the EXP loop is where the real value is.

• ▸1. Hit the CPQ1 (or CPQ2) level range → verify with /str or your stat window
• ▸2. Form a party of similar-level players → recruit in Discord
• ▸3. Talk to Spiegelmann → register into the waiting room
• ▸4. Match starts → clear mobs non-stop, manage CP via F1–F4
• ▸5. Die? → use the revive portal immediately
• ▸6. Requeue for the EXP loop → download & play free on Zipangu