Hints & Tips

The first ten minutes

Thou wakest in Cameron with a recall scroll and a healing potion already on thy hotbar. Press L to open the Journal — its Quests tab lists every quest in reach with the giver's name and area — and speak to James by the bank. Walk with WASD or click the ground; E takes, uses and gives; right-click always looks and never hurts. The full key table is on Controls.

Touch every teleporter and blue square thou passest. The teleporter opens the World Atlas and only knows stations thou hast reached on foot; the blue square is where thou wakest after a death or a fallen area.

Character building

Warriors

Thy first experience should be invested in Sword, Attack, Parry, and Tactics, since these are the primary skills needed for battle. Once the cost of any of them equals the cost of one Hitpoint, raise Hitpoints until its cost exceeds that of the skills.

When thou hast raised Sword, Attack, Parry and Tactics to about base eight, thou canst also gain from raising Intuition, Agility, and Strength. Once thou art battling mages, thou shouldst also invest in Immunity.

Mages

Invest thy first experience in Bless — raise it one point, then again — followed by Dagger or Staff, Lightning Flash, and Magic Shield. These are the most important spells and skills for the first few quests. Once the cost of any of them equals the cost of one Mana, raise Mana until it exceeds the cost of the spells. Once thou art battling mages, thou shouldst also invest in Immunity.

A mage is very difficult to play, especially in the beginning, but offers many options and a variety of gameplay that a warrior can never reach. Remember always to bless thyself and to activate Magic Shield before engaging in combat.

The Skill Planner mod (one click in the launcher) shows every skill's next-point cost and how far thy unspent experience reaches — see Steam, the Launcher and Mods. Magical bonuses on gear cap at half a skill's base (72.5 % for a Seyan'Du); the Equipment window's Bonuses column shows what actually applies.

Fighting habits

• Leave Smart Cast on: press a spell key and it fires at whatever is under the cursor, or enters targeting mode when nothing is there. Fireball and Ball Lightning aim at the map, Heal and Bless at thyself.
• Keep the generic Potion and Recall slots filled — they accept any size or level, so they keep working as thou upgradest. Two torches, one recall and a potion is still the minimum kit for leaving town.
• Watch the Effects orbs: when Bless or Magic Shield fades, recast before the next pull. /autobless re-blesses for thee.
• If a fight tilts, read the recall. Dying without saves costs experience, thy inventory, thy gold and two random pieces of gear — see Death, Saves & Negs.
• Set /maxlag and the /no… toggles once: when thy connection stalls, the server fights defensively for thee.

Do not go alone

A party of a mage and a warrior is stronger than two of either. Party members near a kill are minted extra experience and the killer earns a togetherness bonus — grouping costs nobody anything. Post in the Party Finder when no friend is online. A companion lends its gifts to the whole party; a Loot Goblin picks up after thee and a Nurse heals thee at rest.

Ask experienced players for advice on Discord or in gossip (/c2) — but not to finish quests for thee; that spoils the game for both of you.

Money and gear

• Sell drops thou dost not need in the Auction House instead of to merchants; the whole realm bids, online or not.
• Bank gold at any bank (deposit: 100); banked gold survives death. See Banking.
• Keys collect themselves on thy Key Ring; /keyring tells thee what each opens before a dungeon.
• Read the merchant's examine text before buying: skill requirements rise with every bonus, and a +6 sword thou canst not wield is dead weight.

Where to next

Finish Cameron's quest chain, then take the road north to Aston — bank, university, Auction House and the first governor missions. The Quest List orders every quest by level with a walkthrough, and the random dungeons pay well once thou canst hold thine own.