View source for A New Players Guide For Despair

=A New Players Guide For Despair=

==Who is this guide for?==
* New players to '''Realms of Despair (RoD)'''.
* This guide is aimed at '''[[Peaceful]] (PF)''' players. Whilst there is an overlap of information, '''[[Deadly]] (PK)''' play is aimed at experienced players and not the primary audience of this guide.
* RoD is a despairing game as the name would suggest. Punishing mobs, [[death traps]] (DT), instant deaths await the ardent adventurer, however beyond also awaits untold secrets, rewards and glory.

==Looking for help?==
If you need immediate help or are stuck on something not within this guide, it is recommended to:
* Ask in the newbiechat (level 1 character), for example: ''''new Hello!''''
* Ask a '''Newbie Councillor''', See in-game: ''''help nc''''
* Read the [[The New Player's Guide]] in your inventory.
* Use the in-game help guide, see: ''''help start''''
* Try searching '''Rodpedia'''.
* Join the Discord group: https://discord.gg/aAfAunzrEQ

==What to do as a new player:==
===Learning to Crawl===
* Complete the pre-auth area in [[Sunless Sea]] (including obtaining [[A multifaceted diamond earring]]).
** Learn the basics here:
*** It is assumed upon completing this area the player will understand concepts such as:
**** Navigating including '''movement'''
**** Understanding of interaction with rooms
**** Capable of using items and equipment, food and drink
**** Able to defeat '''mobiles'''
**** Understand '''Laws'''
** It is highly recommended to use the '''Recommended Stats''' suggested in [[Peaceful]]. The game is very punishing to non-optimised stat chars.
** Configure interface, see: ''''help config''''
** Read everything from room descriptions to the '''help guides'''.
** Read [[Deadly]] for further information and helpful tips.
===Learning to Walk===
====Halls of Knowledge (often referred to as The Academy)====
* After authenticating, your character will be in the game proper and appear at '''The Robed Figure''' in [[The Halls of Knowledge]] generally (excluding [[Barbarian]] players). Barbarians receive a unique storyline and start in [[The Peaks of Tar'pa Cithm]] with '''Raewyr''' the equivalent of '''the Robed Figure'''.
** With a bit of exploring the [[Barbarian]] starting area is similar to [[The Halls of Knowledge]] and a [[Barbarian]] can reach [[New Darkhaven]] by visiting '''Caekath''' in the adjoining main town of [[The Village of Tar'pa Cithm]].
** The following further information is based upon characters authenticating specifically into the [[The Halls of Knowledge]]:
*** On re-entering [[The Halls of Knowledge]] (such as by going up and coming back down), '''The Robed Figure''' will cast [[Thoric's Blessing]] a very powerful '''levelling spell''' up to level 20.
*** To the '''north''', '''The spirit guide''' and '''The combat guide''' can train skills and spells, see: ''''help practice''''.
*** Also to the '''north''', '''Spirit Guide Selmanovic''' provides many interesting quests and insight into RoD. To the '''west''' of Selmanovic is the '''Geography Room''' which provides a guide for areas to visit at various levels.
*** To the '''east''', lies the '''New Player Board''' which provides player provided tips for new players.
*** Also to the '''east''', is the '''shadowy gatekeeper''', which sends the player through the '''Cage Mobs''' providing essential early equipment and lessons about RoD including a fake '''DT'''. 
*** To the '''south''', '''the Rabid Ferret''' is also worth visiting early for a ring item.
*** To the '''west''', after going through the '''Cage Mobs''', the '''dragonsnake''' and '''rabid ferret''' provides most players first set of areas to quest/explore/kill for levelling.
====New Darkhaven====
* Heading up from '''the Robed Figure''' will lead to [[New Darkhaven]] the central town of RoD. 
** It is worth heading up prior to continuing your experience in the [[the Halls of Knowledge]] to:
*** Obtain spells from bots generally located '''northeast''' and '''northwest''' of DH[] (DH[] is 'u n w w w' from '''The Robed Figure''' in [[The Halls of Knowledge]]). 
*** Visit '''Deren''' for early levelling potions, food and drink. Your character will need to eat and drink prior to becoming an Avatar to maintain [[mental state]].
*** Visit [[Town Hall]]. '''Roichien''' (to level 20), '''Blorin''' (at each bracket of ten levels to level 49), '''Doris''' (level 2), '''Farsel''' (level 10) and '''the Mayor''' (level 20) all have worthwhile quests at the bracketed levels.
*** Visit '''Jensen''' for a quest to obtain [[Playername's sea chest]]
*** Visit '''Zelah the [[alchemist]]''' for healing and mana potions.
*** Visit '''[[Poshir]]''' for scrolls including [[a recall scroll]] to provide safe passage home.
*** Visit '''Tagerte''' for transport to various areas of interest for early levels.
*** Visit '''Roichien''' in [[Town Hall]] for [[detect invis]] balm and icicle staff for [[create spring]]
*** Raid the newbie chests for equipment at the '''paintings''' near '''Sonoria''' in Notre Dame de Sioux, to the nw of DH[].
====Further Exploration====
* Some sample areas of interest early on suggested below, however please also read in-game the '''Geography Room''' in [[The Halls of Knowledge]] for further areas of interest.
** [[Warehouse]] an easy to reach area located within [[New Darkaven]]. Contains potentially the first maze for many new to the game to explore.
** [[Green Forest]] has a quest for obtaining [[Thoric's blessing]] to level 30.
** [[Wendle Mansion]] a well written area to explore.
** [[The Sentinel]] an interesting area with many useful levelling equipment, suggest visiting around level 10 and prior to the level 20 cap. Leads to [[The Gauntlet]].
===Learning to Run===
* Some suggest that reaching Level 50 and becoming an Avatar is the start of the game. Here the game opens up to ''''running'''' mobiles, questing glory mobiles and equipping end game equipment. At this point, the player is assumed beyond the scope of this document.

==How do I kill mobs and level up more efficiently?==
===Staying Alive===
====Heal====
* Whilst some classes are privy to healing spells, all characters will find restorative items to [[eat]] or [[quaff]] the most efficient form of health restoration whilst in combat.
* Characters may want to consider various '''glowing potions''' from Zelah in [[New Darkhaven]] such as [[A glowing puce potion]] for level 2 to [[a glowing purple potion]] at level 7. It is recommended to use the highest level potion available. [[A glowing sanguine potion]] are recommended for use at avatar.
* [[Create Spring]] is invaluable for allowing characters to continuously '''quaff'''. After 8 or so quaffs, a character becomes '''full''' and unable to [[quaff]] further. '''Drink spring''' resets thirst and allows further [[quaff]].
* '''Rest/Sleep/Sit''' will also restore health over time and may be of value out of combat.
====Mana====
** Some classes, particularly magic classes rely on '''mana''' to cast spells to level efficiently. [[A glowing blue potion]] from '''Zelah''' in [[New Darkhaven]] assists keeping mana up, but is relatively expensive.
** '''Smoking''' certain herbs can provide mana restoration out of combat.
** Later on, skills such as [[trance]] provide mana restoration out of combat.
** '''Rest/Sleep/Sit''' will also restore mana over time and may be of value out of combat.
===Useful Spells whilst Adventuring===
{| class="wikitable"
|-
|'''Fly'''
| [[Fly]] spell reduces movement points and speed of movement when moving and allows characters to surpass climb/no floor checks. See also in-game: help hover, help landing. <br/>
 [[A magical flying carpet]] and [[A flying broom]] are non-consumable items that provide fly spell.
|-
|'''Sanctuary'''
|[[Sanctuary]] is an invaluable spell that reduces 50% of all damage taken.
 A cheap source of Sanctuary potions comes from [[Shattered Refuge]]
|-
|'''Scan / Scry'''
|Having [[Scry]] as a spell or skill allows to '''scry''' into an adjacent room via: look (direction). <br/>
[[Scan]] as a skill can provide some info into multiple rooms via: scan (direction). <br/>
Both may help to navigate mazes and potentially avoid instadeath or DT's.
|-
|} 

===Other Essentials===
{| class="wikitable"
|-
|'''Deity'''
|Being devoted to a [[deity]] provides many benefits.
With sufficient devotion, two particularly noteworthy benefits are [[supplicate object]] and [[supplicate corpse]]. 
 [[Supplicate object]] creates a multi-hit light sources with a +1 stat associated to the deity.
 [[Supplicate corpse]] allows for a player's corpse to be transported to them. 
This is invaluable after dieing to quickly corpse retrieve (or CR). Some rooms/areas are 'no supp' and corpses cannot be supplicated, however this tends to be Avatar run areas but noted here for completeness. <br/>
 Recommended choices are [[A'enari]] and [[Vl'aresch]] due to devotion level being easily and quickly improved by spam visiting said deities.
|-
|'''Stats'''
|Maximising stats is important in speeding levelling progress due to hitting harder and obtaining more experience per hit.<br/>
Leveling gains of hp, mana and movement are randomised and maximising statistics improves chances of a good outcome.
|-
|'''Death'''
|Death and dying is an eventuality in RoD. However death tends not to be permanent.<br/>The player will be transported back to '''Sonoria''' in [[New Darkhaven]]. If the character is naked, a corpse with their equipment will be left behind at where they died, excluding cases such as entering DT rooms.<br/>
After reaching 0 health, a player may not immediately die, but be in a stunned state. [[Cleric]] have some limited capacity to ''''uplift'''' and restore a stunned player from great distances away.<br/>
After death, it is recommended to [[supplicate corpse]], however clerics have some limited capacity to '''resurrect''' and see: ''''help CR''''.
|-
|} 

==Common Game Terminology==
{| class="wikitable"
|-
|'''AC / Armour Class'''
|There is sometimes a misuse of armour class and AC interchangeably. <br/>AC/armor class can refer to the amount of hits a particular piece of equipment can take before scrapping (Typically a positive number e.g. 14 AC for an [[Ice Girth]], and this information is made available with use of spell such as [[identify]]). <br/>AC/armour class may also refer to a character's defensive rating/damage mitigation (this is typically a negative number for the damage mitigation value), typically made available by finding a character's worth, see: ''''worth''''. <br/>Confusingly Armour class takes into account AC in the calculation of armour class. 
|-
|'''Avatar'''
|Level 50 character. Used to run end-game content, many consider this the starting point of the game.
|-
|'''CR'''
|Corpse retrieval. The act of returning to a player's corpse after death to retrieve a player's equipment and invenory.
|-
|'''DH[ ] / [ ]'''
|Stands for Darkhaven Square, the central thoroughfare through realms and starting point/base of travel directions in RoD. After auth it is located: 1u, 1n, 3w. From recall (Harakiem) it is located: 1s.<br/>
For layout of [[New Darkhaven]] see: help map
|-
|'''DT / Death Trap'''
|Death trap room. Fatal rooms on entry that cause death and lose of equipment/inventory - to be avoided at all cost.
|-
|'''Leveling spells'''
|A set of spells used to boost stats and defense to assist levelling. Player run spell bots are typically located nw and ne of [ ]. A limited set of potions are also available from Deren.
|-
|'''Etch / Etching'''
|Effect to worn equipment's AC permanently reduced by 1. Typically due to a failed save vs or acid type attack.
|-
|'''Guild / Band'''
|Player run organisation grouped by class. Open to new players. Note: Band's are exclusive to [[Barbarian]] class.
|-
|'''Glory'''
|Rare form of reward provided for successfully questing, can be used for purchasing modifiers and bonuses. Quests sare adventures that are typically run by Immortals that award Glory and/or Gold. Rare forms involve the reward of items/equipment. See: Help Glory
|-
|'''Gold''' 
|The monetary currency of RoD
|-
|'''HP / Hitpoints'''
|Health points, at 0 hp or less death occurs. Can be restored with spells or health potions. See: Succumb.
|-
|'''Immortal''' 
|The administrators and builders of the world of RoD.
|-
|'''IP/IP Restricted'''
|Refers to the number of concurrent characters that can be logged on at the same time by the player/user. 
|-
|'''Mn / Mana'''
|Mana points, used to cast spells. Can be restored with skills (e.g. trance) or smoking or mana potions.
|-
|'''Mob, mobile''' 
|Non-player characters, but typically refering to NPC's that can be killed for experience or loot.
|-
|'''Mortal'''
|Adventurers, players that form the playerbase.
|-
|'''Mv'''
|Movement points, used to move across terrain in realms. This can be largely unencumbered through the use of spell: fly.
|-
|'''NPCs'''
|Non-player characters, basically every character that's not a player. In RoD typically refers to interactive NPCS such as shop keepers.
|-
|'''Order/Clan'''
|Player run organisations grouped by association. Selective entry requirements. Note: Clans are exclusive to [[Deadly]] characters.
|-
|'''NC/Newbie Council'''
|Helpers who take an active role in assisting new players.
|-
|'''PF/Peaceful'''
|Peaceful players. Players not tagged player killer. May still player kill in designated arenas.
|-
|'''PK/Deadly'''
|Deadly/playerkiller players. Players that engage in player vs player killing. May player kill in and out of designated arenas. Have access to unique deadly only areas and faster levelling exp.
|-
|'''Pots'''
|Abbreviation of magical potions that contain various spells. Notable are heal pots, mana pots.
|-
|'''Pre-auth'''
|Abbreviation of Pre-authorization. The state a player is in prior to authenticating. Being located in [Sunless Sea]] by typing: where indicates being pre-auth.
|-
|'''Tankset/tankset pots'''
|A standardised combination of various buff spells that are brewable and quaffed prior to difficult mob fights.
|-
|'''RoD'''
|Abbreviation of Realms of Despair.
|-
|'''Scrap/Scrapping'''
|Where worn equipment reaches 0 armor class it is damaged to break and destroyed. Equipment at 0 armour class is permanently destroyed.
|-
|} 

===Useful commands===
* '''Survey all''' - checks the condition of your equipment, use it regularly to prevent scrapping/destroying equipment and repair often.
* '''put/get (x.object) my.(container)''' - the my. function prevents inadvertently removing or placing items into containers on the ground (and potentially losing said item). 'x' in container (or objects for that matter) allows interaction with different instances of objects with the same name.
* '''Halt''' - halt stops any pending stacked commands and allows a player to make a different input.
 
==What next?==
* Reach level 50 and become an avatar.
* Create an army of different avatars. 
* Equip your avatar and run end-game content.
* Join an Order.
* Buy a house/apartment.
* Quest for glory.
* Playerkilling as a [[Deadly]].
* Explore. Many secrets still remain untold in RoD.
* Join NC. We were all newbies once. 
* Join TS. The Symposium, the conduit between the Immortal Team and the Mortal playerbase.
* Suggest ideas ingame. See: help idea
* Contribute to Rodpedia.
And more!