Help: Quickstart
Helps
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BatMUD has comprehensive help files on most subjects, reading
them is a great way to find out about most game related
issues. Also, many help files have useful SEE ALSO fields
that refer to other related help files.
Note that we have a neat command called 'hfind' that you can
use to search our help files for keywords. This is a quick
way to find information, and you are strongly encouraged to
take it into use. Try 'hfind armours' for example.
So how does one get started?
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First of all, you might want to use the Batclient. It will
make playing much easier than with pure telnet. Get it here:
http://www.bat.org/batclient/
Second, BatMUD has newbie helpers. They are mortals who
have chosen the status and are (somewhat) obliged to answer
to the questions newcomers have. See 'help newbie helpers'.
Now lets get down to the business...
Tutorial
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When you begin the game, you will be in Dortlewall in the
first tutorial room. Dortlewall offers a lot of tutorials to
help you get acquainted with many game concepts, commands
and how to play. If you are new to BatMUD, it is recommended
that you start by following through the tutorial.
Explore
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Explore; visit new rooms, you will get some experience points
per each new room you visit (not all give explore, roads of
bigger cities and the outworld for instance). The rooms in
Dortlewall do not grant you explore experience, but it is
still worthwhile to learn where services are found in this
town. If you are looking for safe areas to explore, towns
are usually safe. You could visit Pleasantville or Arelium
which are both located close to one another in Laenor.
Explore experience might give you a lot of experience, but
unknown areas may also have risks, so be sure to spend your
experience often enough just in case. Areas with granite
posts outside the area are typically suited for new players.
Type "touch post" and you will be transported to a
portal room with exits to several areas. Explore them all,
but remember to advance your level often, to avoid losing a
lot of experience by dying.
Levels
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You may advance level every time you have enough experience.
You can do this anywhere by typing 'advance level' and you
can see how much level advance would cost by typing
'advance cost'.
There are also adventurers' guilds all around the realm where
you may go advance your level if you so wish to. These
are found for example in Dortlewall, Pleasantville, Arelium
and Calythien just to name a few places. You will also gain
training points to spend starting from level 31, which you
may use in adventurers' guild to raise your statistics.
When you advance to level 11, you will automatically become
a member of your race guild. Race guilds are like regular
guilds and they offer some specific skills or spells for your
race. In BatMUD, you may use experience not only to advance
levels, but also to train skills or study spells. Each race
has its own shrine and race guild is located at the shrine.
These shrines could be located all over the world, but
Dortlewall, Pleasantville and Arelium all have portals which
can take you to the race shrine. However, these portals only
work as long as you have not yet joined a real guild. If
you have joined a real guild, you need to walk or use other
means to get there.
At level 16 you have maxed your racial guild and you now
gain new free levels which you can put into real guilds.
See 'help free levels'.
Other hints
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A free hint: 'wane'-mountain in the transport system provides
a LOT of rooms (and therefore a nice amount of experience).
When you are no longer easily finding new rooms to visit (some
places are rather dangerous by the way), you want to start
killing stuff for experience. At this point you should be at
least on level 10, perhaps even 20. Your call. See 'help
getting started', 'stuff to kill'-section.
The items that you can buy with crystite credits in Dortlewall
are also very helpful. There are some very powerful items, but
they will of course take away your credits in return. These
items are personal and can only be worn/wielded by you. The
crystite items are something to help you get started and give you
a taste of real items. You can use your crystite items as long as
you are level 60 or below.
If you are looking for cheap items, you might want to visit
Damogran's warehouse. High level players donate some items
to the warehouse and these items are free for new players
of under level 30. If you are a fighter type, weapons are
very useful to you in the beginning even if you didn't yet
have high weapon skills. Damogran gets some nice weps now and then,
so be sure to check on him often. He is located 1 east, 2 north
from the church altar, and there's a portal to his warehouse
in Dortlewall and Pleasantville.
Shardik Carthaigh
PS. Ask questions on newbie-channel.
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NOTE: BatMUD's website is now open! Visit "http://www.bat.org"
for a lot of information about our beloved mud.
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SEE ALSO
newbie, saving items, reincarnation