Here's another one, questions ready

[john84]

Hello folks. As you can guess, I am new to this game, and liking it so far. My account name would have been different, but my brother made the account, and once he discovered he had a graphical glitch on his PC with this game, he gave it to me (it cost around $6 with tax ). I just have some questions I would like to ask about, since everyone here seems so nice.

1) How long should I stay on the newb island? I have been leveling there for a while, as the first task I have says to advance to level 20 in a skill, and I have yet to do that. Although I have read posts saying not to stay on that island too long, and I was curious as to how long 'too long' is. I haven't even travelled that far out of town yet (although I am not sure if the rest of the island is similar to this area or not.) Will I be able to last ok off of the island? I am just now able to safely kill the Weanling yubos (funny creatures, they are).

2) Is there any way to judge how tough a creature will be when I fight it? Or is it trial and error? I noticed in the target window that there are some stars, but I don't know if they indicate difficulty or not. What are they for?

I think those are the only questions I have for now. I am sure I will think of some later, as I always do with these kinds of posts. I look forward to playing and getting to know people.

Oh, and one more thing. I haven't experienced much of it yet, but I a very much looking forward to the skill advancement in this game. I know it brances off at lvl 20 (or around there, yes?), but does it branch even more after that? I read somewhere that it does, and I imagine that would make for alot of character choices.

Thanks in advance for any help you can give me on this.

[sprite]

1) How long should I stay on the newb island? I have been leveling there for a while, as the first task I have says to advance to level 20 in a skill, and I have yet to do that. Although I have read posts saying not to stay on that island too long, and I was curious as to how long 'too long' is. I haven't even travelled that far out of town yet (although I am not sure if the rest of the island is similar to this area or not.) Will I be able to last ok off of the island?

There are lots of views on how long you shold stay, but personally I wouldn't leave until you can safely kill anything on the island solo

I am just now able to safely kill the Weanling yubos (funny creatures, they are).

Please note that the "santarats" are only around because it was Christmas Normally they dont have hats antlers or big noses, but they still pee on you

2) Is there any way to judge how tough a creature will be when I fight it? Or is it trial and error? I noticed in the target window that there are some stars, but I don't know if they indicate difficulty or not. What are they for?

Move your mouse over the stars and it will tell you Basically the colour tells you what zone the mob is in and the number of stars tell you how tough it is compared to other mobs of the same species (ie a 2 star yubo is way easier than a 2star kipee)

I think those are the only questions I have for now. I am sure I will think of some later, as I always do with these kinds of posts. I look forward to playing and getting to know people.

Don't be shy Most people will be more than happy to answer any questions, we just want you to enjoy the game and were all just like you one day

Oh, and one more thing. I haven't experienced much of it yet, but I a very much looking forward to the skill advancement in this game. I know it brances off at lvl 20 (or around there, yes?), but does it branch even more after that? I read somewhere that it does, and I imagine that would make for alot of character choices.

Every tree branches at 20, 50, 100, 150, 200, and ends at 250 There are waaaaaaaaayyyyy too many lvls for me to think abot counting at this time of night, but I'm sure someone will clue you in

Thanks in advance for any help you can give me on this.

You're welcome Hope to see you on Atys

[kibsword]

About to head to bed, but I counted once and theres over 11,000 levels. I *think* I remember it was 11,081 or 11,083 excluding the initial lvl 1s you start with.

[john84]

Wow, that many branches eh? At first I thought it would be like Dungeon Siege, wherein the four basic skill classes stayed, and you leveled the one you used most the most. I also figured each of the four could be leveled to 250. But with it working like that, well...that's quite a bit I guess

I figured the Yubo's appearance was a Christmas event, as there are events in many games, but I can't picture em without it And I did notice them peeing on me...little buggers.

[kgrieve]

You asked how to judge the strength of a creature...

You are right about the number of stars indicating the strength of the creature, but there is colour too. The colours indicate the strength and go green, blue, yelllow, orange, red, purple. On starter Island you will only encounter the green and blue which are the lowest levels (green creatures are easier than blue). By the time you get to level 20 in magic or melee you should be able to kill every creature on Starter Island.

Each creature has its own special abilities and part of the game is finding out what each creature is vulnerable to, what sort of damage it does and what is the best way of killing it. There are all sorts of damage spells, weapons and afflictions spells; in a team you can combine these to best effect. For example you can use Root on a fast moving creature to slow it down and then use a ranged damage spell to kill it safely. Ceatures are vulnerable to different things, some take less damage from slashing weapons or are invulnerable to acid but succumb to cold.

Until you find how to kill each creature you can only treat the stars and the colour as a guideline. If you can kill a 1* Yubo easily with a dagger, then you are ready to tackle 2* Yubo. If you can only just kill a 2* Yubo with a dagger you probably won't be able to kill a 2* Yber as it requires a different technique.

The Islands are there to learn about the game mechanics and if you are happy with things like changing stanzas, casting spells, crafting, foraging and working in teams then you are ready to leave the Islands.

It is tougher on the mainland, but there are more people to help you out. The creatures are more mixed and there are fewer 'safe' areas. You can be quietly killing 1* Yubos and a Gingo or Goari may creep up and kill you in one hit. This sort of death is much less likely on Starter Island. The special abilities of each creature are more pronounced on the mainland, I have seen many a person die from trying to kill a single Capryni only to have the whole herd trample them.

There is a great deal to learn, but it all adds to the fun. Atys is a great place, I have been here for 7 months and am still learning.

[john84]

Thanks for that kgrieve. I discovered last night some of the things you mentioned. I thought it was somewhat a waste to get both Acid Damage 2 and Cold Damage 2 as they did the same damage, had the same cast time, same sap cost, etc. But when fighting Ybers, I realized that Acid does full damage to them, yet cold doesn't do as much. I also happen to have root too, and have done what you said, which is to root something and just fire from a distance. I hate when they resist though

I have yet another question though. What is an easy way to get my crafting skill up? It may sound silly, but I am at a point where I can only make 2 things (boots and pants), and while I have alot of armor clips and stuffing from foraging, I need 3 of the clothing and the lining, and those are the harder things to get. I either have to pay ~600 a piece at the raw materials merchant, or slaughter yubo's to get fur and teeth. Is that the only way I can do it right now?

Oh, and I also discovered the mp3 player in the game last night. It makes things so much more enjoyable to have some music playing in the background while I hunt stuff. It's a great feature.

Thanks again for the help, I could really use it

Edit: Just thought of another one. What exactly are the stanzas? Are they things that provide benefits to a certain ability? Do I have to use/acquire them or something along that line? have seen them in skill info windows, but never really done anything with them. I am sure I am missing something important.

[rushin]

I have yet another question though. What is an easy way to get my crafting skill up? It may sound silly, but I am at a point where I can only make 2 things (boots and pants), and while I have alot of armor clips and stuffing from foraging, I need 3 of the clothing and the lining, and those are the harder things to get. I either have to pay ~600 a piece at the raw materials merchant, or slaughter yubo's to get fur and teeth. Is that the only way I can do it right now?

grab a pick and start digging very very hard to level craft without being a digger (or having a guildie donate a lot of mats to you). As you have found clothes and lining are dropped in very small amounts from mobs.

Edit: Just thought of another one. What exactly are the stanzas? Are they things that provide benefits to a certain ability? Do I have to use/acquire them or something along that line? have seen them in skill info windows, but never really done anything with them. I am sure I am missing something important.

right click on one of the actions in your hands bar and choose edit action, i wont explain more than that as its fun to learn yourself. there is also a help topic for this in the ingame help (i think!)

[john84]

I have been digging for a little while now That is where I get my armor clips and stuffing from. It takes a lot of points (well, alot for me at this point anyhow) to just learn a new item to craft, but soon I can start with melee weapons, once I make alot more armor.

Oh, and I will explore stanzas some now. Thanks for that.