Generation 1 Tips (Part Two) - Everybody loves Dougal

Second part of my Generation 1 tips! You can find the first part here.

Fiodh (fastest with help)
Again, new creatures that could be troublesome for a newbie show up here - once you get to mid-level they shouldn't be a problem though. Fiodh is also a really big dungeon (more like a sprawling ruin) so it may take awhile to clear if going through solo. If you are trying that, then be sure to bring the same gear as from Ciar earlier as you'll probably need it.

Jackals and Bears
I hope you can recall your beginner battle class training sessions. Jackals behave just like wolves. :P

Snakes
Know counter and defense but tend to drop defense quickly so don't try smash them when they have it up. Normal attacks will be just fine since most have low HP but they can bite hard (especially white ones) if they catch you. Fortunately none of them in this arc are poisonous... those will come in later. :P

Werewolves
Can be very problematic for low level characters as their claws do injury (black) damage and they have heavy stander. This means there's a chance they will auto-defend any non-knockback melee attack. Simplest way around this is to stick to smash, windmill and counter. I'd suggest shooting them from far but they usually appear in locked rooms so you'll need to learn how to handle them up close.Later on  you'll be one hit killing them, but for now it's probably best to bring two stacks of bandages along.

Gorgons
Basically armored cows. Again, avoid normal attacks as they too have heavy stander and just like the werewolves they tend to spawn in locked rooms. Expect to spam your heal potions a bit the first time you meet them, and don't use smash as your opening attack. Alternatively if you want to practice fighting them, head to Iria and travel North of Qilla until you find the young short-horned gnus. They have similar AI but are just less aggressive (gnus never attack first).

Rabbie-Albey (fastest to solo as Mari)
Nice looking scary dungeon you'll get to visit in person later on. For now the fastest way through is to use an ultra speed potion and arrow revolver everything until the dark lord shows up. Once he does I recommend magnum shot to prevent him from teleporting. Like everything else that teleports, he can "bug" out and become a non-targetable statue. If this happens you'll have no choice but to change channel and go back to get another set of glasses from Tarlach to do this dungeon again.

Barri Crossing  (fastest with help)
The only thing that maybe new here for you are imps. These little fellas pack quite a punch if they zap you, but they are paper mages. One combo should be enough to kill them. If not, use defense quickly or alternatively use magic on them yourself. They are more a lesson in kill sequencing (start with isolated ones) rather than combat skill.

Tir Na Nog
Welcome to Australia! Erm I mean, Tir na Nog. Sorry, easy to mistake with all these dingoes (again wolf ai) running about. There are only two other things lurking out here.

Map of Tir Na Nog! :P

Zombie
The graveyard here hosts a large number of zombies who are pretty much immune to ranged and magic attacks, plus they have heavy stander! The safest way to deal with these slow moving scum is to windmill, and this was originally the best place to train it. These days you can travel to Tara and do the Their Method mission for more accessible zombies though. Also, if you are quick, you can open with a smash if they haven't noticed you yet. Anyway, you will need to kill one of these scum to bind your soul here (ie. enable respawn), otherwise death with no one nearby to res here or in the nearby Albey dungeon will lead you back to Bangor. Where is your goddess now ey? :P

Giant Worm
Dangerous, heavy stander and heavy hitter. Best avoided if you are low level, and like the dingoes - you never actually have to fight these ones. They behave like snakes.

Albey Green Gem (safest with help)
The first of three runs you'll need to do through Albey for Generation 1. There are no statues to revive at here so bringing backup is a good idea. Also note that if you didn't complete the soul binding quest of killing a zombie, your respawn point will be Bangor. There are also a number of new opponents waiting for you here:

Ratmen
Think of them as talkative and tricky goblins. Their windmill can do some decent damage but otherwise, just fight correctly and they'll die quick.

Gargoyles
The bane of Albey dungeon. They can easily one hit kill low-mid level players and have the same AI as gremlins (annoying). They will probably survive a standard combo or smash too if you haven't got your skills up yet, and enjoy throwing an ice bolt to stun/negate their prey's defense before attacking up close. The "heavy" version also boasts heavy stander and more HP. Shoot them from far when you are given the opportunity, but they will also spawn in enclosed rooms with you which means you and your team simply have to fight well. You'll need to get used to them as they'll show up in the next two dungeons in this story arc too.

Albey Black Orb (safest with help)
A more dangerous run through Albey as gargoyles are going to be more plentiful. Two "new" opponents you'll be facing here are:

Armored Skeletons
They're just like normal skelies except that they now have heavy stander. Avoid normal attacks if possible and remember to focus on the one "!!" aggroed on you as they only aggro one at a time. A mix of windmill, counter, magic and ranged attacks are all good ways to beat them.

Ghost Armor
You've fought them before as Mores and Mari, but now you may not have powerful magic or a strong bow. It is still advisable to shoot them from far but if you are going in close be careful of their lightning bolts and DO NOT open with smash as they have high intuition. Just attack them normally and put up defense to catch their magic or sword if they are still alive.

Albey Goddess Final (safest with help)
Five floors and no respawn points. Better also bring some firewood and a bow if this is your first time in here. A few more "new" enemies to contend with here if you haven't been done the beginner hunting quests. Don't worry, all your old friends from the spiderlings to the heavy gargoyles will also make an appearance.

Hellhound
Often found as the boss of Math dungeon, you'll be locked in with two of them and for a change it is better to be up close and personal with these instead of "middle distance" which they will dominate with their magic. Just treat them as big wolves that happen to have firebolt. :P It takes some time for them to load firebolt so pounce the minute they do.

Lycanthrope
A variation of the old werewolf, you're only going to run into one of these and the best way to beat him is to just spam windmill, as any other skill could level him up and restore his life to full.

Dark Lord
Ideally fight him after taking out his body guards. He can still teleport but if he does that ususally means he is using a normal attack making him open against counter and windmill. Hopefully you've picked up the Goddess pass to "save" your progress just incase your team dies to him or the final boss.

Glas
This giant, four-armed gold eating monster can shoot lasers from its mouth, summon gargoyles and has a really quick regeneration rate. There are three ways to beat him - first, bring a high level friend to seriously just one hit KO him. Second, setup a camp fire at the door and use burning arrows on him (does injury damage which he cannot regen), or the classic way which is to kill his summoned gargoyles until one drops a "seal scroll". Pick it up, burn it on a camp fire to gain 60 second invulnerability and 100% injury dealing rate and beat him up. All methods are equally fun. Again, don't worry too much if you die - as long as you keep picking up the Goddess pass you get to redo this and the dark lord fight over and over until you win. :)

Goddess Enchant
Hopefully you have a fully upgraded and fully repaired, favourite weapon by now as you have only 6 hours after receiving the reward to use it.

Generation 1 Tips (Part One) - The Stoned Goddess

Now that you've had (over) 7 days worth of classes it's probably time to start the first main story arc: Generation 1! In the next few posts I'll give some quick tips to get through the "dangerous" parts of Generation 1! I am assuming you've been through the beginner battle class board sessions prior to doing this.


Grave of the Snowman
Any time you need to go into the snowy region North of Tir Chonail (which will be a lot) be wary of the coyotes. They have wolf AI but can tear a low level player up quickly if you don't fight well. My suggestion is avoid them and jog past them, preferably NOT in combat mode as it makes them aggro faster.

Alby RP (fastest to solo as Ruairi)
Nothing here should pose a threat to your character, so certainly nothing will be a problem for the overpowered Ruairi. Drink up the ultra speed potion and crush the spiders and bats into oblivion. Remember, all the spiders and bats you encounter in all of G1 only know defense and have single aggro. The bats will also never attack first.

Barri Black Wizard (fastest with help)
May want to bring help here if you are still new to the game as you'll probably be meeting new types of opponents for the first time.

Gremlins (various)
Dangerous hard hitting bastards. Ideally magnum shot them from the adjoining room or hallway since they have low HP. Ice bolts work well too. If you have to melee them avoid using defense and instead use counter/wm and normal attacks. When they fly around like spastic idiots don't chase them as they'll usually get first hit in - instead load up a windmill.

Flying Sword
If you don't use magic on them, they aren't that bad and will only attack one at a time. If you can't slay them in one combo, defend often to block their strikes or lightning bolts.
Wisp - harder to read than the average monster (may pay to study their language) and hits moderately hard. Lure them if required to deal with them one at a time.

Black Wizard
Can be a big danger for low-mid level players. If you are opting to have ranged combat you'd better make sure your shots hit (hope you brought a longbow too). If he fully charges firebolt it's around 500 damage if it connects (I know from experience! :P). Otherwise close in and tear him up as fast as you can to prevent him chain firebolting you, but don't do that if his wisps are nearby - lure them first.

In Mabinogi, all black wizards are evil.

Rabbie RP (solo as Tarlach)
Featuring possibly your first encounter with skeletons in enclosed spaces, Tarlach is not so good at melee though and is not the guy to practice fighting skelies with. Fastest and safest way to clear this is to use the ultra speed potion and make use of 3221 icebolt on everything. If you don't know what that is, it is a good time to learn: Charge 5 ice bolts, fire 3 at baddie, charge one, fire two, charge one, fire two, charge one, fire one. If the situation allows though, always charge back up to five.

Math RP (fastest to solo as Mores - twice)
The most fun RP dungeon in this story arc. Fastest way to clear everything is again the ultra speed potion and this time because Mores has chain casting, use lightning bolt on everything. More fun if they are standing clustered together.

Ciar (as of this post bugged and must be run solo - don't forget to touch the end statue to finish this quest section)
Since you're going in alone I suggest you bring a good stock of healing pots, bandages, a shield and if you aren't a giant - a longbow, arrows and 5 pieces of firewood. Just to cover what's in here if you haven't tried the dungeon prior to this quest:

Goblins and Goblin archers
You'll encounter mixed aggro here with them, try to prioritise the archers first and if your windmill is good enough, use that to clear them out quick. If you have a pet, don't forget you can use it to help. You can out bow them if you're carrying a long bow and have an empty corner to work with as their aggro range does not cover the entire room.

Skeletons
They can hit hard as you may have seen in Tarlach's RP earlier, and this bunch also carry bows. However given that the boss room door is open (giving you space to flee) you can just magnum shot them to death - they only run as fast as you and if you go far enough, they get bored and return to idling. Alternatively you can just melee them too as they have no armor. Don't wake up the golem while doing this though! If a skelie is not moving you may as well load up counter or windmill. Usually they run around like idiots though so you can catch them with normal attacks. You probably will want a good shield (kite or better) if you are going to attempt defense to parry them though.

Golem
This is the second weakest golem in the game but can still cause problems with its windmill and stomp attacks. It is unwise to fight it while fighting skeletons so lure it or its buddies to fight them one at a time. This big boy can easily outrun you though, even an elf so don't try to escape unless you've got a fast steed. If you are opting to shoot it to death I recommend using a camp fire to gain fire arrows (x2 damage). Otherwise if you are going to be upclose, bring a shield and fight well as he can KO you really quickly. Don't panic too much, if you die you can always respawn at the goddess statue and try again. You'll be facing a slightly stronger variant in Fiodh soon.

All-Guide Binder

This was orignially a post to put all the skill guides floating about into one place to make them easier to find, but thanks to J. Meyer, it seems someone called Ninjams had the same idea first! (Not updated for awhile though). This is mainly his list I am putting here as it doesn't hurt to have more than one place. If the authors of these wish me to remove the link please just let me know, alternatively if you know of more please leave a comment so I can add it! This post will probably keep growing as time goes on. To find the rest of my classes please see the binding post.

GAMEPLAY

General
The G15 Trading System
Guide to shadow missions
Pet FAQ/guide
Saanis guide to Ant Hell (Connous Underground)

Combat
Shadow Wizard hard solo: A case study on massively multi-aggro handling
The warriors third hand: The role of pets in melee combat
Fundamentals of combat
Guide to your skill rank

Technical
Lag/computer optimization

SKILLS

Combat
Offensive Alchemy, By Naii
Alchemy 102 (who needs 101?)
Elfs powerful range attack, Final Shot
Defense to the extreme, Wind Guard

Windmill
Using Windmill Effectively
A guide to ranking Windmill!
Windmillers' guide to breezing through Ciar advanced

Life
Production Parties
How to rank the blacksmith skill :by Waui of Alexina
Meiyas blacksmithing guide and reference
How to rank the Enchant skill: by Zyrus
Potion Making, your fantasy (Sooni)
Sooni's guide to Refining
Sooni's guide to Tailoring
Herbalore, why don't you try it? Sooni
Paladins weaving FAQ
Yogurt's guide to trapping spiders behind obstacles
Sooni's guide to Weaving
Magitekkefka's guide to Cooking
Life skill guide: Refining
Kaxiyus music guide

CHARACTER

Melee
Guide to Human Melee skill builds, equipments and enchants

Ranged
Daisuke's archery guide

Magic
Zeo's Magic Skills Guide
The Royal Wizard!

Race
Elven handbook: Everything you need to know about elves

ITEMS

General
The Guide to Winemaking
Inuri's/Emiles guide to Merchanting
How to play an elf for free in G15 (an equipment guide)
Guide to tax and fee evasion
How to get wool bags and farm holy water
Dungeon pass guide - the best methods

Spirit Weapons
Ego jewel feeding tables
G15 Ego Guide (Information on Capped Egos and Transfer)

Enchantment Sets
Second chance: The low hp build
The tragic hero
Enchanters set; By Pataterose
Cp Gear the key to Mabinogi!

Foods
Ninjam's guide to getting fat
Fathippos guide to being healthy

WEB
Pikablus short guide to getting a good IGN without having to use x's or numbers

Home is where the Herbs Are

My seventh Mabinogi lesson! To find what other classes are available please see the binding post. :)

At around level 10 you will be awarded a homestead which is a nice isolated piece of land that you can cultivate and design into whatever you like. With the right items it can help your production rates and training and can provide an easy way to meet up with friends - just right click their name on your friend list and select go to homestead. The most important function for me however, is that you can use it to grow herbs... lots and lots of herbs.

Not that type.

It is a good idea to invest in getting 30 base (green), 30 bloody (red), 30 sunlight (yellow) and 30 mana (blue) herbs when your homestead has enough points to support them, because once you start making your own potions you will be saving, or even making, a bit of gold (if you decide to sell the finished product). You can harvest the herbs from dungeons or acquire them from other players, but once once you have a patch growing in your own backyard it becomes very easy - just harvest them till you get another 30 and you can setup another patch and so on and so forth. To help get Holy Water from Kristel's part time job, you may also want a few apple trees to save you some time finding one in the Dunbarton outskirts.

Potion making is easy. You just need a potion concoction kit and the required herbs (one green and one of a different color) to make the 50pt potions. Red is Hp, Yellow is Stam, and my favourite - Blue is Mana. If you spend some gold and get base potions from the nearest healer to go with any of those they become 100pt potions which is what I always create to save on space. If you find yourself running out of mana when making potions, simply stand next to an open mana tunnel in Iria during the day as it will fill you right back up very quickly.

Why are mana potions so valuable to me? Mana Shield. This skill can literally negate serious injuries and has kept me alive on more than one occasion since it basically stacks your mana pool on top of your HP. It can be a little tricky to learn initially, since you have to go hunt hobgoblins in their village which is only reachable by flying mount (get a ride from someone) or rafting, but I highly recommend getting it as soon as possible. Once you are in the village you can either just "finish" hobgoblins your friend has knocked down or if solo hunt archers (and shamans if you can handle them) exclusively. Avoid the warriors if you are attempting this in your first month of playing (and definitely ALL "ancient" titled fat ones) as they can take a fair bit of punishment and dish out big hitting combos. Hobgobs are not really something newbies should be going up against but just think of them as a good test for your combat skills. Fortunately if you die and are not yet at -100% exp, you can respawn right where you fell so just don't die too much ok? :P

Teaching an old dog new Tricks

My fourth Mabinogi lesson! To find what other classes are available please see the binding post. :)

The combat system in Mabi is quite different from most other MMORPGs. Certainly from the ones I've played anyway, and thats a pretty big list. After doing your newbie quests (Giant / Elf / Iria Human) or taking classes at the School (Uladh Human) its probably a good idea to go and nail down some good combat technique with the Beginner Battle Class board that you can find at Tir Chonail, Vales, or Filia. Outside of that, the immediate areas around those towns (and Qilla too) also provide good opponents to practice basics on. Some extra notes on these before we continue that I don't feel the game teaches too well:

Combat Mode:
Try to always be on combat mode (space bar by default) when going into battle. If you don't I've found your first combo into a second skill to be more delayed than usual, which can cost you a few HPs if the enemy capitalizes on it.

Normal Attack:
If your fight method involves simply clicking like mad, they you are doing it wrong. This can get you past maybe some foxes and racoons, but wolves and up will eat you for breakfast. You have a set number of swings you can do based on your weapon and each click should be a concious action. To chain another skill at the end of the combo, you should activate it while you character performs the last attack in his or her chain. With practice you can also add an extra hit to weapons that are 2-hit or more. It's just timing and delay.

While the normal attack is the standard "defense" against Smash, don't forget you can use it while your opponent is preparing another skill. Regardless of what it is, if you reach it in time, you should be able to strike before the skill loads. This goes for you as well: When you are -preparing- a move you are technically open for attack!

Smash:
Sometimes, when executing this you will run up to your target and just stand around/lag like a buffoon - especially when the targeted foe is distant. To combat this, when you load up smash run up beside your intended victim first and only click on them when you are a step away.

Windmill:
Is perhaps the most important skill in the game, as it is your best and often your only multi-aggro handler in close quarters. This along, with refining (trust me it's hard to rank later on), should be your number one priority in ranking up first regardless of what you ultimately want to be. Remember you want -all- the skills. Windmill also ignores protection which means it does a ton of damage even against targets on defense, but if you don't kill them they will have free hits on you. When the skeletons at Rabbie do this to you, you'll see what I mean. :P

Magnum Shot:
For humans especially this should be your staple opening bow attack at the beginning for luring things when you have space to use it (elves may opt to use mirage missile depending on the situation). Stuck in a room full of monsters is probably not the ideal spot but out in the fields or in rooms that allow you to run back through hallways you should have no reason to *not* use this (well unless your targets all have natural shield). With it, you can kill off many baddies and avoid getting into multi-aggro spots. Later on you will be following this up with arrow revolver (humans) which will all but ensure your target doesn't reach you. Later on you will probably switch it out for Crash Shot which does more damage in crowded rooms but for a newbie that will be far yet. Giants will not have this ability and will probably have to resort to bolt magic for ranged lures.

Time to Train - One on One melee:
One of the best critters to train up your combat ability (as a player) on are wolves. They are very readable in combat and move fast enough to catch you if you do something wrong. I suggest finding the correct type that you can take some hits from AND can take a few hits from you. If the battle is too one sided then you will not be learning much! There are quite a few types around Tir Chonail and you can find them East of Vales as well. Mongeese use similar AI outside Qilla and North East of Filia but you may have to travel far to find the correct type to practice on.

Alternatively for more EXP make the trek to Taillteann and take the mission "Defeat the Shadow Warrior" (basic) from a Shadow Mission Bulletin board and head to the Stonehenge to enter the mission. You will be locked in with small groups of enemies but they will only fight you one at a time. Except for the archers, you'll need to be on your toes and kill them quick. :P As a general rule of thumb, while you are free to attack anything it is the enemies that have the "!!" mark that are actively seeking to kill you.

Good sparring partners for new players.

Gearing Up

My third Mabinogi lesson! To find what other classes are available please see the binding post. :)

At some point you will ask what is the best gear available to my character, and the answer really lies in the character itself. You start off with a pretty decent basic weapon depending on your race that has very low repair fees. I suggest hanging onto them as long as you can because no other weapon will be as cost-effective. If you were given an Eiry, then she is also a decent weapon but she will be taken from you sooner rather than later. For newbie humans I recommend moving onto dual wooden blades (or wooden blade/practice short sword) then eventually bastard swords or gladius/gladii (if you can afford it). Elves you will eventually need a long bow for decent range while giants will want to swap for dual blunts or a lance and shield combo later to play to their strengths.

Most equipment can be modified as it gains proficiency to be better tailored to suit your needs so you should upgrade and enchant your gear to what you can best use and afford, and this will probably take some researching on the wiki to suit your character and taste. As an example I still carry around a pair of plain 222 broadswords whose stats are as follows:

Attack: 0 - 73
Critical: 30%
Balance: 21%
Durability: 7

Balance is the important stat here as it dictates what range the damage will be most of the time. For melee and ranged weapons this maxes out at 80%, which my character surpasses easily with his high dexterity (every 4 points of Dex gives 1% balance), Combat Mastery (Rank 1 gives 15%) and Sword Mastery (Rank 1 gives 15%). Without taking strength or anything else into consideration, I would do around 58 points (give or take) damage per hit. The same sword given to a clumsy (1 dex), and untrained newbie (no mastery) and he would be doing around 15 points of damage per hit. For him it would be a totally inefficient weapon, so be smart when upgrading your gear.

Also available are ego weapons. Imbued with a spirit (a cute, violent one) it will, over time, turn a stock standard weapon into a very powerful tool of destruction. As such, you can have only one (at a time). It will cost you though - either with time, gold or real money. The stronger the weapon gets, the faster it gets hungry and the more it will want expensive stuff. It also cannot be "blessed", which means it will deteriorate at the standard rate. Keep this in mind before you ego a small dagger that needs to swing lots of times.

Don't be afraid to use this.

Armor and clothing on the other hand is pretty much just a matter of taste. There's a fair bit of variety out there so it just comes down to what you like and what you can afford.

What do I carry?
Currently a pair of 222 broadswords, a kite shield (for times I really need to parry or charge) and an ego longbow who I only pull out when the situation calls for it (which is becoming more and more common with the dungeons I run). I started out with twin wooden blades though, then moved up to dual bastard swords before getting enough dex to use the modified broadswords. I like being cheap. I also carry over a dozen potions that I make myself because I don't like dying. ;p

Another Soul in the Stream

The first of my Mabinogi lesson! To find what other classes are available please see the binding post. :)

Mabi follows the free to play (but you get more stuff if you pay) schematic, and if this is your first time logging into the game I strongly suggest going with the free human character card they give you first - even if you ultimately want to play as an elf or a giant. You then need to pick what server you will play on - this is very important as you cannot switch around later on. If you are trying to join friends be sure to pick the same one they are on (duh), otherwise the choice is yours:

Mari is the oldest and has the highest population and probably the highest level players all around. Alexina is the newest, and most probably has the lowest population and lowest number of "high level" dudes. Tarlach and Ruairi are in between those two. If you want to personally say hi to me in-game, you can find me at Ruairi. :)

Next you actually create how your character looks like. Since it's a free card you are using, you will be limited from majority of the facial expressions and hairstyles but you can fix that later (if you really want to spend money on it) so again, don't worry too much. Your name however, cannot be changed later so pick one you are happy with.

Age is not so much an issue in the game as you will want to constantly cycle back (you'll understand why as you play). To keep it simple pick your age based on how often you can / will play. If you are going to be very active start at age 17 which I think is the oldest you can pick. If you only play once a week start at age 10. I'll explain why in a later post.

All that is left is to select your start point: I recommend Uladh / Tir Chonail if you want to play as a human. If you are really dying to play a giant or elf straight away start at Iria / Qilla. Once you are happy with everything go ahead and finish the creation process.

Hello Boobs.. I mean... World!

After talking to Mabinogi's resident guardian angel you will be asked what destiny you wish to follow. I suggest Warrior (not Fighter) first but you can pick whatever takes your fancy. Afterwards you will soon be dropped into your selected starting spot and beset by owls dropping tons of stuff on your head. Don't worry - it's natural here. If you are in Uladh then you can begin talking to townspeople and doing various little quests here and there. If you started in Uladh, I strongly recommend going to the School and taking classes from both Ranald and Lassar (she's inside) as they provide a lot of information on the battle mechanics of the game. You should also ask about "skills" from everyone you talk to because really - you will want them all.

Why you ask? Skills, more than anything else, determine your stats and each of them have around 16 ranks of effectiveness. As an example, if there are 2 archers using the same bow - the one with Rank 1 ranged mastery will not do as much damage as the one with Rank 1 ranged mastery and Rank 1 refining. At first glance, refining has nothing to do with archery at all - until you realize that each rank gives a lot of dexterity, and every 4 points of dex increases ranged damage. It is due to little quirks like this that you should work on your "main" character for everything (fighting, magic, crafting, etc.) and use mules or alts purely for storage space.

Mabinogi Classes

After writing up that mini Ultima Online course I thought I'd do the same for my current favourite MMO - Mabinogi! Note that this guide pertains mainly to the North American version of Mabi but will hopefully still be useful for everyone.

If at any time you want specifics then you should head on to the Mabinogi Wiki which is a fantastic resource to keep handy, and remember if you need more help you can always ask on either the main forums or the forums at Mabinogi World. Alternatively feel free to also leave suggestions or questions right here! :)

Without further ado, lets begin:
1. Another Soul in the Stream
2. Off to the Races
3. Gearing Up
4. Teaching an old dog new Tricks
5. Fastest way to gain AP
6. If I were a Rich Man
7. Home is where the Herbs Are
8. All-Guide Binder
9. Generation 1 Tips (Part One) - The Stoned Goddess
10. Generation 1 Tips (Part Two) - Everybody loves Dougal
11. Generation 2 Tips - Give me my Transformation
12. Generation 3 Tips - Holy Hell
13. Becoming the Dark Knight
14. Generation 7 Tips - Can I be a Mongoose?
15. Generation 8 Tips - The Unfair Dragon
16. Generation 9 Tips (Part One) - Where the Fomors Hide
17. Generation 9 Tips (Part Two) - For SCIENCE!
18. Generation 9 Tips (Part Three) - War and the Time After
19. Generation 10 Tips - A Demigod is Born
20. Generation 11 Tips (Part One) - We eat Demigods for Breakfast
21. Generation 11 Tips (Part Two) - Beginning to Hate that Castle
22. Generation 11 Tips (Part Three) - Snakes. Why did it have to be Snakes?
23. Generation 12 Tips (Part One) - Last of the Alchemists
24. Generation 12 Tips (Part Two) - Fighting in Falias 
25. Generation 13 Tips - The Slings and Arrows of outrageous Fortune
26. Generation 14 Tips - O brawling  love, o loving hate
27. Generation 15 Tips - The villainy you teach me, I will execute
28. Generation 16 Tips - Let not light see my black and deep desires
29. Generation 17 Tips - Shamala's Nightmare
30. Iria Sagas 1 and 2

More classes to be posted soon!

UO Class: Wizardry

Tips for magic wielding psychopaths. Face it, if you're zapping, burning and exploding living creatures all with the power of your mind - there's something wrong with you. ;p To see the other available classes please visit the binding post!


Hard Cover:
If you are playing a true mage (robes, not armor) then archers are going to be your bane, at least until you can just blow them away in 1 shot. Always fight them in areas where you have hard cover to hide behind to heal up and time your spells. Remember they have to stop, aim and fire. You should be able to blast them and return to cover taking minimal return fire.

By the power vested in me:
Do not underestimate the power of the bless spells. Before combat or entering hostile territory it doesn't hurt to cast it on yourself and your allies. It will let both them and you take a bit more damage, giving you that last sliver of HP to heal or escape. Remember, 1 HP is all you need to live - so the more you have, the better it is. On some shards Polymorph has a similar (stackable with bless) effect on yourself for additional temporary points.

Take some time to Reflect:
Magic reflect that is. It will instantly protect you from one spell and deprive your enemy of the resources it took to cast it so try to always have it on. Think of it as your "reload" against mages when you duck behind hard cover too. It can lower your physical protection a little but if you are a true mage you probably shouldn't let anything get that close to you to begin with. It will make you more susceptible to arrows though. Enemy spellcasters may have this same spell active so be sure to fire something small to turn it "off" first.

Walled Advance:
A tactic my brothers developed to approach a large mass of enemy ranged units. Basically put up a wall of stone or 2. Advance to the wall of stone to scout. If you want to push forward some more, throw another wall or 2. Hostiles will not aggro you through the wall, they need line of sight, making it easier to scout. Furthermore when they do engage you already have some cover which will funnel them into managable numbers. If you suspect the wall is about to fall, or it actually does (bad if you're still there), withdraw and

The Gate Escape:
Especially useful for dangerous treasure chest spawns, simply mark the spot next to the chest then wander away preferably behind a few walls of stone. Open a gate and step through, right beside the box which you then "open" - triggering the spawn. Step back through the gate and now you can handle them at your own pace rather than being stuck in the thick of it.

Send them back to hell:
Dispel is another often overlooked talent. Sure it can shut gates, knock over walls and make holes in energy/poison fields but it can also insta-kill many summoned creatures that the higher level npc spellcasters tend to dish out. More so if you are in a team - the main enemy is the npc summoning all the stuff but even its death doesn't always equate that all his summons just go *poof* like in Skyrim. Rather than whittle down the summoned demon's HP or endure more chain lightning from the summoned air ele just send them back into nothingness. On all the shards I've travelled, summoned things never leave loot anyway - just headaches.

Or you know, you could do this...

UO Class: Warrior

Tips for those who like going toe to toe with the foe - heavy metal boots are definitely a requirement!To find other classes available please visit the binding post!


Being a Tank:
Just like modern tanks you will need a LOT of armor to take the hits. A shield and parry skill also go a long way in increasing your survivability rate. Once you have it though make sure you keep it in good shape! Your AR rating decreases with each dent, slowly but surely letting in more and more damage. If your shard has it, also look into Mego Invuln potions as that can boost your AR for a number of minutes.

Ultra-Resistor:
Magic resist is important for everyone as it can lower the damage from hostile magics and (depending on shard) increase all of your base defences passively. For someone that needs to run up right beside spell casters this is even more so as you will take 1 or 2 extra spells on your assault, a few more in the melee, and another set if you have to withdraw. It still is usually safer to lure the casters to you, using hard cover. Alternatively wait till they snooker themselves by teleporting to you! Foolish mages. Ofcourse, dragons and greater demons seem to have a penchant for doing this too!

Just Jousting:
If you are using a fast weapon (like a katana, which I recommend) you can often swing, hit an enemy and move away before they have the chance to hit you back. This is the best method for taking down single slow hitting enemies, like a bardiche wielding brigand for example. You must actively have your enemy targetted for it to work though, which means it is harder (not impossible) to pull of against an enemy group. Being mounted helps with both attack speed (less swing frames) and mobility.

Divide and Conquer:
While you are tough you are not invincible, enough of anything will eventually kill you. Even if it is a million cats. Whatever it is, they are guaranteed to kill you faster if they can swarm you and unlike an archer, you have no tactical advantage in getting swarmed by anything. Fortunately it is quite easy to avoid this. First, just keep moving. If you run far enough, the bad guys will form a nice line for you to deal with. If they start piling up, just move again. Injured enemies tend to walk slower, and dying ones tend to crawl away. Once they are all moving at different speeds it is easy to pick them off as you see fit. Alternatively find a narrow alley or doorway and stand just on the otherside. 90% of the time a bad guy will stand in the door to duel you, blocking his other 50 buddies from helping. I seriously did this to an orc army attacking Minoc once. The idiots who stayed outside got swarmed and died. I was pinned down, but it wasn't too bad since I only had to fight them one / two at a time (sometimes one would step in) and killed the bulk of their army with patience.

Mines of Titan Medic:
A strategy my brother developed from playing that old game "Mines of Titan". If you get hit while applying bandages it causes your heal to be less effective. Well if you get hit while someone else is applying a bandage, it doesn't matter. This means, you can have your archer/mage buddy behind you bandaging you and shooting or your other warrior buddy standing beside you while you bandage each other and fight off the enemies. Yes I also do not know how that is physically possible but on most shards, it is. :P

Unless you are Shiva - in which case I think you'd have enough hands. :P

UO Class: Archery

Tips for my fellow arrow flinging comrades on giving enemies the shaft... preferably from very far away! You can find the other available lessons in the binding post.

Choice of Weapon:
This really depends on your team and play style. If you have a whole bunch of fighters or pets to hold the bad guys back then you will have time to "plant" yourself with a crossbow or heavy cross and dish out some good damage. If you are running solo then it is probably best to stick to something that has good range and shoots at a decent rate. I personally preferred the standard-type bow and arrows as that provides good range and a decent firing rate.

Out-Gun Them:
Against enemy mages and archers you'll have no choice but to outgun them. This can be helped dramatically by taking a dex pot and getting agility blessed as your firing rate will be increased for a few minutes. Remember if you're bringing a repeater xbow you'll need to hide behind a corner or other "hard cover" and lure them into your kill range as by default they can out-snipe you. Rushing them is also an option, but will usually put you on the spot (a dangerous one) so you'd better know what terrain lies ahead incase you need cover. Remember too that being mounted also cuts down the number of "firing" frames which occasionally lets you shoot faster.

Blind Fire:
Enemies can usually target you before they come on your screen (if you are being "noisy"). Provided you are on combat mode, you can stop and fire upon them immediately even if you can't see them yet as most bows have greater range than your screen. Remember this goes two ways though, and just because you are shooting at "something" doesn't mean it's alone.

Types of Soft Cover:
Useful against melee mobs (as ranged ones can shoot you right back), these are things you can shoot through or over while exploiting the stupid AI. Take note on some rp shards this is frowned upon!

Terrain - stand on a hill, a tower or a boat and you have a relatively safe firing position. Note that a few things can "swim/fly" onto a boat though, even without teleporting: like eles, wisps and sometimes dragons (shard dependant).

Furniture - stuck on an empty plain with an army of orcs coming at you? Just setup some small tables and you'll have yourself a little wall/fort to protect you from the wave. With a partner you can even use this method to corale a beast you are trying to tame (start with the NW corner). This is obviously heavily RP breaking (who carries around 20 tables into battle) and shard dependant. Some shards let monsters walk right through non-locked down furnishings while on others the monsters actually pick them up!

Allies - have your friends, pets or summons stand in a line infront of you (at least 3 required on open ground with you standing behind the center one) and suddenly a rampaging ogre will have troubles reaching you, while you can freely shoot back. Note that the characters acting as the "wall" do not need to fight the target. If you are shooting it, it will continue to aggro and try unsuccessfully to reach you. Doesn't work too well against things with breath weapons as that forces the "wall" people to fight back, which may give them the aggro. If you only have 2 allies you will need to be next to a wall (form an L shape with you at the back) for it to work. More than one enemy will mean you need more people as eventually they will "spill" around the wall and reach you.

Enemies - Yes. Even enemies are cover. While they can start "stacked" in one square, once they start moving an npc will never occupy the same spot as another one. How does this help? When there are combined groups of things attacking you can usually tell which ones you can take hits from and which ones you can't. As an example a large band of ogres and pet cats attack me. An option if I know that a) all enemies have no range and b) I can take hits from 8 cats is to stand in the middle of 8 cats, one in each square next to me. Bows can't fire on things in melee range, but they work just fine on enemies beyond. While I take a million bandagable scratches the ogres are being shot to death, unable to reach me because the little cats are in the way.

 

Yes, one of these can block an ogre from reaching you.

UO Class: Bare Bones Basics

Welcome to the Ultima Online basics class - the bread and butter everyone should know when venturing into any Ultima Online shard. To find other classes please visit the binding post!


All about Health:
Keep your health bar visible at all times! Regardless if you are using the whole screen as the "play area" or just a windowed section, be it graphical or numerical, you need to keep an eye on your stats all the time. Generally the -best- time to heal is the second you take damage. On some shards you can even start bandaging before taking damage which is even better! The reason for this is because the more hurt you get, the more chance your bandaging will fail. Potions should only be used in emergencies (like, bandaging fails) and on some shards where you have to have a free hand to drink can equal a quick death when you drop your shield, weapon, or spellbook.

Target Practice:
First thing you should do when an enemy shows up is "drag" its health bar out. This makes it easier to target them later on (just target their stationary bar). You can do the same for all your allies if you want to keep an eye on their condition too. Travelling too far from them makes the bars vanish though. Also, if you are trying to target something in a swarm or the enemy is something like a small snake or bird you should also have an "all names" macro at the ready, because "the enemy name" can potentially have more clickable pixels than the enemy itself.

Speed of Aggro:
If you run around crazily, monsters are going to aggro you quick. If you walk slowly on some shards, it takes them a few seconds before they realize you're there - even if you are not hidden. Can be handy if you want to try tame stuff, scout quietly, or setup a gex pile trap. Also handy to drag their health out while they aren't moving around so much.

Push them around:
On almost all shards, you cannot walk "through" an npc (friendly or otherwise) unless you have full stamina. This means you should keep a stock of stam pots handy for those situations where you really need to literally push past some beastie to better terrain, or to extracate yourself from a swarm of lesser critters who have pinned you down. Obviously if big things surround you, either you've put yourself there intentionally and can take it or you are about to die. It is unlikely you'll need a stam pot in either of those. ;p

Lure and Kill:
Unless you are confident in your skills it is often safer that your first action upon enemy contact is to pull back to where you just came from, that way you know you have clear space to deal with the threat, and what exactly the threat "is". This is assuming you aren't just running past other monsters and you are not misfortunate enough to run into freshly spawned critters (by GM or otherwise). It will take slightly longer than the gung ho method, but will make for easier combats (to win or flee from).

Order of Combat:
When faced with more than one enemy, who to target becomes a matter of priority - and I think the "chain" of targetting should look like this:

Weak Mages, Weak Archers, Strong Archers, Medium Melee, Strong Melee, Weak Melee.

Strong Mages should be dealt with individually and not engaged at the same time as any other foe. Also it is important which foes NOT to kill first: the ones that do weak melee damage. Being swarmed by little cats is much more favorable than being swarmed by the ogres milling around them.

Running Like a Girl:
Most things in UO are pretty straight forward to get away from, either you just flee or take cover then flee. On some shards though there are critters that can/will outrun player characters (even when mounted). I've found the best way to "lose" them is zigzag away. The way it works is simple: NPCs turn on the spot before stepping forward, be this for going to the market or chasing down a player. The more moves it spends turning on the spot because its prey is running like a girl left and right, the more squares away it puts you from it. ;p

It possibly also makes them dizzy!

Ultima Online Classes

And now for something completely different! :P

I've played Ultima Online for years and even though I know the game is almost as old as the dinosaurs now, I thought that some basic tips on surviving the many facets of Britannia and/or the many other lands it has spawned could come in handy for anyone (like me) who still wanders those realms. There won't be any mind-shattering discoveries here, just basic truths that should help everyone's gameplay. Note that depending on the shard, some of these may be invalid but in general should be ok to follow.

Classes:
Bare Bones Basics - Everything a newbie should know
Archery Tips - Killing them softly from afar
Warrior Tips - For those who like it up close and personal
Mage Tips - Help for reality altering sadists

If you have any thoughts, corrections or suggestions please leave a comment below! :)