Before leaving newbie island...

[robercl]

Well, the biggest problem would be: starting equipment.
You wouldn't be doing optimal damage or getting optimal defense from the items that you could buy in the mainland cities. But harvesting and crafting some basic starter equipment should get you by until then. I think I'll give that a try tonight too Probably with a tryker considering their starting area is rather annoying

Is it just me, or do the fyros have one of the better starting areas??

Fyro is my fav starting area also

[hastings]

Currently, I'm building my swiss bank account so I can get a good set of armor to replace my newbie armor. I know I'll need it once I venture onto the mainland.

I'm currently dual-wielding a q10 sword and q10 dagger, have about 350 hp, and seem to be holding my own easily against single weenie (puny?) kipee. I just acquired increased damage hit 2 last night.

Why doesn't the second kipee aggro me when I'm chopping his buddy up right next to him? Esp. since ragus seem to like ganging up on me 4 or 5 at a time...

So one-on-one, I hold my own fairly well. But when two or three are on me, I seem to be ok but it's a struggle. Get 4 or 5 on me and I'm toast.

I have approx. 60k dappers. Time to find an armorsmith and a weaponsmith, I think.

If you're making armor or weapons for sale, contact Aasha in-game, or e-mail me.

[tashunka]

When I got to the mainland, I was level 35 Fight. Within the first day, I spent 75k on a good suit of armor (used, or it would have been 150k) and about 100k on a good sword and pike.

60k won't buy you much on the mainland - the more money you can accumulate before going, the better.

I found it was much easier to earn money on the starter island, missions were easier and paid better, and the apprentice overseers offered crafters a way to make a lot of money while gaining crafting xp. On the mainland, most of my income is earned from quartering, and it doesn't approach what I used to make.

My outlook is simple: There's no negative consequence to spending an extra day or two in the starter land to make sure you are fully prepared - but if you go to soon there's no undoing it. What's the rush?

[t41nt3d]

Some people dont seem to have noticed that groups of things on mainland will attack you if you attack one of thier kind, for example if you attack a bloated izam on mainland and another is in range and notices ... he fights you too. In n00bisland I never recall this happening with any mobs.

[spelk]

I was a bit naive, and thought the newbie island was just a tutorial style place to learn a bit and then you should move on. It seems from reading the forums here that the place is meant to be a grooming ground to get you into the sort of level and monetary shape to cope with life on the mainland. I've managed to scrape by, I think I left the island with fight at level 10, but it has been hard to make much dapper beyond quartering the easy mobs at the city gate. I'm level 28 fighter now, with 13 crafter and 12 harvest, harvesting isn't really a source of income at the moment, since its slow and painful (aggressively pulling resources out with lots of explosions and gas attacks). A single QL25 mat doesn't seem to command all that much dapper from the vendors, compared to the same amount of time quartering QL16 mats from the flying Lesser Izams. I've made much of my 18 levels in fighter just through culling these animals. They seem to be the easiest to drop, for equivalent mats.

I'm sort of regretting not being able to get back to the newbie island really, I should have stayed there more and built a good foundation to relax on when I finally made the trip to the mainland. Since I've been culling and selling for mats to create my own sword and shield, I have little dapper for armour at all. I'm still in my first crafted boots and gloves!

So my advice, to those just starting out, stay on the grooming islands for as long as you can bear. Things may seem rosier on the mainland, but it is a little harsh without a cushioned foundation to start on.

[spelk]

Some people dont seem to have noticed that groups of things on mainland will attack you if you attack one of thier kind, for example if you attack a bloated izam on mainland and another is in range and notices ... he fights you too. In n00bisland I never recall this happening with any mobs.

Some creatures are openly hostile. Walk within their aggro range and they will chase you, like the Gingos. Some are group hostile, like the bloated and vulgar Izams, attack one and if another is within its aggro range it will link and help its kin. Some are just plain group docile like the lesser Izams, you can whack seven shades of trouble out of one in the middle of another 30 of them and they won't bat an eyelid.

Around your starting city on the mainland, you learn pretty quickly what aggro's instantly, and what link aggros and what doesn't.

I thought there were hostiles, both instant and group based on the newbie islands, although since I was there only a very short time perhaps I'm mixing up experiences...

[banshee9]

Honestly... you want a Challenge go before level 30 and you will pretty much struggle till you hit 40+. Unless your a Crafter/forager only. But remember even if all you do is craft and forage there is no need for sub level 40 in the mainland.

My first toon i left at 20 back when this was just released that was considered the norm. Hated it with a passion have since deleted that toon.

Second outing i waited till i was 30. Was ok and i found a guild. Was still struggling to much for my comfort. Toon still alive but have not played it much.

3rd time i waited till i had 40 in melee 35 Ranged, 40 off magic, 20 def magic, 42 forage, 40 weapon craft, 40 ranged weapon craft, 30 armor craft. I made sure i was well rounded, and made sure i could fill a void when i reached the mainland, even if i was not a fan of the path i still made sure i coudl be useful when i left noobville.

Also... the most important thing i did was i saved up 500k dappers... Sounds extreme and over the top, but its not. I went through that dapp in 2 days.... New weapons... new Armor, Pack mule, Guild donations for the 10mill guild halls. It all adds up and adds up fast. I wish i could go back and slaughter more Weeny Goari's/Kipee till i broke a mill
cause lord knows its not a pleasure cruise here to make good dapp.

Anyhoo good luck with your decisions...