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Survival Guide

Starting out can seem an ominous and arduous task. In all reality, it is. But, if you follow a few simple suggestions, life becomes much easier. Following is a short outline of what a new player might do in order to make it safely off of Vale Island, and Ennismore, eventually making it to the mainland.

First off, when starting a new character, you should think about what your character's main profession(s) will be. By this, I mean, will you be an archer? A Swordsman? A Fencer? etc, etc, etc.... With this basic idea in mind, choose your race carefully. There are many interesting possibilities to choose from. Certain races gain added bonuses in certain skills. Take these into consideration before just automatically choosing that human or dwarf character, based solely on the fact that you "always" play a human or dwarf... it might not work out exactly as you planned here. Take a good look at each race's bonuses and limitations before choosing.

Next... you now have your race, and have found yourself in the town of Vale Island. You have only two guild slots to fill at the moment, and you're itching to get to it. Hold on! Again, think about your character. I can tell you that the cave you must pass through to get off Vale Island is long and difficult if you don't choose your initial guild slots carefully. Also, keep in mind that you cannot change your mind about a guild (i.e. leave a guild) until you reach the other end of the cave, and even then it will cost you 5000. All this in mind, also consider that while the crafting skills can offer the ability to make a profit with minimal risk involved, hunting will be more profitable and probably a lot more fun. You would do well to consider one of the fighting arts as at least one of your initial guilds. Another thing to consider is this: the magic guilds do exist in the Vale, but they are hard to get to and a new player could get lost or killed. If you want to be a battle mage or druid, then get some help to find the guildmasters. Choosing initial skills that compliment each other can make your journey easier, while choosing others can make it, while still do-able, much harder to accomplish...

You have some things to prepare for even so early in the game. You need to think about eating and drinking. Open the CHARACTER Gump and you will see two messages about your current hunger and thirst levels down the bottom. Keep checking them because if you get too hungry or thirsty your stamina will be effected as well as your recovery rate. That glass in your backpack can keep your thirst levels down, but you need to think about how you are going to eat. The initial loaves of bread in your starter kit will keep you alive for a few days, but after that you need to have a constant supply of food available. It takes 10 apples to keep you alive per game-day. Other food like bread have better nutrition and you need to eat less of them at a time to recover. If you don't want to become a cook, then you have to either buy food from other players or survive on a boring diet of fruit off the trees in town. In either case it's a good idea to go to a merchant and do some jobs in Farming which will help you pick apples to at least stay alive.

Regardless of your guild choices and your food worries, you need to hit those training dummies and train, train, train... Your strength and dexterity will go up slowly and gradually, and you WILL get quite bored- but TRUST me on this one- you NEED strength to keep you alive and you need dexterity otherwise you can't carry much. Also go sit in the baths for a while- they are magical and give you intelligence up to a certain point. After you have gained all you can through these two methods, pop around town and ask the vendors if they need anything delivered (say "quest"). Chances are, they will, and you can run their packages in exchange for gold, reagents, and the possibility of gaining further stats.

Now that you've chosen your first two guilds, there are two possible paths you can follow:

1.) If you took a craft skill, you will be very limited in the amount of hunting you can do initially, so get out there and gather those resources!
*Carpenters need to chop, chop, chop- but be wary of those nasty little bees nests, and the occasional Ent that will pop out when you "anger the tree spirits". Always be prepared to either fight or run for your life.
*Blacksmiths have it pretty much the same while mining- earth and granite elementals are common sights while mining, as well as the occasional annoying slime popping out to "see what you are doing". Be aware that it is bad ettiquette to leave monsters around town If you can't kill them yourself or can't find another player to assist you, then you should lead the monsters toward the town guards.
*Tailors are faced with many hours of harvesting cotton and flax, as well as wool from the roaming sheep, unless they took a fighting skill as well, in which case you can hunt some cows and deer for hides to craft leather armor out of. Just don't do your hunting in town. Some people like to milk cows and shear the sheep. It's harder to do if all they find is a corpse.
*Alchemists can harvest a limited number of reagents from which to mix potions, and can purchase others from the guildmaster.
*Tinkers have a combination of hardships of the blacksmith and carpenter.
*Cooks can harvest fruits and other raw materials in quite a few locations in Vale, and on average have the easiest time collecting the needed materials for their craft.

2.) If you did take a fighting skill or two, you are probably itching to get out there and test your skills against some critters. Don't be over-eager. They might look like just skeletons and such, but with low melee skills, and especially tactics, you will miss far more than you hit. Dexterity also plays a LARGE part in how fast you swing. The melee skill determines whether you hit or miss. Without the fighting skill, you can swing all day and the  headless will only laugh (well, as best as one without a head CAN). However, once you've trained a fair amount, you should be able to head out if you progress slowly, and take them on ONE at a time. This is one of the most common mistakes I've seen people make- they rush headlong after the one name that pops up on their screen, and end up running into the twelve others that were waiting just off-screen. Chuck a bomb at that single monster, or shoot at it with a bow; it'll eventually head your way, and you can take it out without the worry of his buddies ganging up on you.

The most important thing to remember about hunting when you first start out is that it WILL be slow going to start. Be patient. Your skills WILL improve, (faster if you have bought training from a guildmaster of course) thus allowing you to kill monsters more efficiently, and quickly. But it will take time to become an accomplished swordsman, or macefighter, or whatever. Always remember- it is MUCH better to run, and live to fight another day, than to die, probably losing some items in the process, but more importantly, you can lose some of the SKILLs you paid and trained so hard for. Proceed SLOWLY and you will be much better off.

Continue with your chosen path until you have sufficient monies to equip yourself adequately, and try taking on some other creatures. The variety on Vale Island is not too vast, but some are more abundant than others, and none on Vale are really too dangerous except in numbers. However, you should always keep in mind that there should be no hurry to rush off Vale Island - your skills need time to improve, and there is MUCH to learn about this new world.

Next thing I'd like to point out is the value of JOBS. Jobs can train you up to 60 skill in any of the skills provided by the merchants. At first glance, this might not seem like much, but believe me that 60 skill is FAR better than 0 skill when it comes to healing and anatomy, etc... Also, to start with you should never pay a guildmaster to train you in a skill that he/she offers jobs in. It wastes your precious initial starting cash. Why pay for something you can get for free? Anatomy and Magic Resist are the two biggest ones I can think of, but Farming, mining, and even tailoring (if you cure hides, you gain a small amount of tailoring skill) can be had for free. There are others, but I'll let you figure them out on your own.

If you follow these steps and suggestions, you should have no trouble gaining the appropriate skill needed to make it through the Cave of Trials. If you are uncertain of something, or don't understand how something works/why it doesn't work the way you are used to- ASK. There are almost always volunteers online who will gladly answer any questions about gameplay you might have. Simply click the help button on your paperdoll, and select Volunteer help. A list of those available to ask questions will pop up. Just send em a pigeon with .msg, and likely you'll get a quick response. Or ask on the forums. That's what they are for.

The Cave of Trials is your graduation off the starter island. It's a special cave that requires only 60 strength to enter, but the big catch is that you can only enter if it you have never made it to Ennismore before. (Ennismore is the other end of the cave) So your more experienced friends can't help you in the cave. What makes it tolerable, however, is that if you die in the cave you will be ressurected in the temple again with only the potential loss of skill to worry about before you try again. Tips for the cave - get into some armour, get some decent dexterity so you can keep running or fighting, either carry a weapon or a decent stock of cure, agility and heal potions. There are a lot of things in the Cave of Trials. You can be hit, poisoned, bombed and frozen. It's not meant to be easy, but it really is meant to make sure only players with some survivor skills make it to the big world. The other end of the cave marks the point of entry onto the main map, insanely tough monsters and lots of fun.

The one last thing I'd like to add is this: always expect the unexpected. EXPECT that ratman shaman you've never been up against before to kick your butt. He may, and he may not, but if you EXPECT it, you'll be better prepared for the old "An Ex Por" when it comes... Don't overestimate your new skills, as they are not nearly as powerful early on here as they are on other shards. Everything is taken into consideration when combat is initiated, and if you forgot to eat or drink, and take on 4 ratmen, you might just find yourself in dire straights at the least opportune moment... Also, if you honestly need help with something, do NOT hesitate to ask other players unless you are in the Cave of Trials. If it is a legitimate claim, you will 99.9% of the time receive the help you need- whether it is something as simple as a buff or some greater heal potions, to something like a better weapon. You must, however, bear in mind that simply handing a young player an indestructable silver rapier of destruction and fencing and vampirism and lightning is frowned upon- it simply wouldn't happen in real life (That'd be like me just BUYING a stranger a Porche), and therefore should not happen in the game.

Good luck, happy hunting, and be safe! 
Originally submitted by Celeste Kendreyl

Last modified: 7 August 2007