Shattered Kingdoms

I have been looking into getting in MUDs for a few weeks now. I have been doing lots of research ad it seems SK fits my expectations perfectly. I actually was going to play an IRE game, but it seems you need a disturbing amount of money to get anywhere there. But I have a few questions before I get started. or actually..I got started, but I was so lost that I decided to learn some more first.

1) are there any guides or game info to be had? I know there is "help" but it isn't too crunchy with numbers. I like roleplaying as much as the next guy, but I also like knowing if my dagger does 1D4 or 1D6, if you know what i mean. I used to play GS3 way back in the day, and I always loved the documentation to be found. Gives you something to do at work.

2) are there any in game maps or GUI's? Nothing fancy, but just a small ASCII rep of where I am would be extremely helpful.

3) I really dig PvP. I like melee or hybrid chars over pure casters. Can someone recommend me a class? Does race matter much? I like the idea of a halfling or gnome mercenary for some reason.

Hi, and welcome to SK
I'll see where I can help.

1) Dulrik tries incredibly hard to keep actual numbers out of SK. If you want to compare weapons for damage etc. Use the "compare" command, it'll tell you the differences between weapons and armor more or less. Mainly what is better or worse about them.

2) In game, in the wilderness there is a map. I think there is a map on this website somewhere as well of the wilderness. As for the cities and things, most you will have to learn for yourself or have someone show you the basic areas, though some cities and newbie areas have maps. If you have trouble finding your way around, try using the "Mentor" command in a newbie area or a city inn and it will hopefully notify another player online that you need help (if you are not in a newbie area or inn and can't find your way back use the "Recall" command).

3) Every class/race has its own advantages and disadvantages. The most basic PvP melee class is of course the swashbuckler. Barbarians and Mercenaries are the other two main melee classes that have slightly more utility and are a little more complex, but are easy enough to use.
Hybrid classes such as Rogues/Bards are quite complex, and often will need help for levelling while Paladins/Hellions are quite RP intensive and are more specialized in what they can go against PvP.


Hope I helped a little,
I'm always around to help. ^^



Edit:
I'll also add. The best and easiest way I found to learn, was to find someone ICly and more or less take them on as a full time Mentor. I'm usually pretty willing to help a new player that wants to learn in game.

Didn't realize about keeping numbers out! The reason I asked is because the quartermaster in the academy gave me a seriously huge pile of armor. Some was different types that went in the same spot. I had no idea if I ought to be wearing the iron breastplate or the chainmail or if I wasn't trained enough to wear either.

Ah, okay.
Well in that case. The type of armor you can wear, and what each material type is considered, is listed under the helpfile "help armor2"

In sort, not really. There is some info located on certain other sites which the admins don't like to be linked here but hopefully they won't mind too much since we police this one quite a bit to keep out anything really IC.

http://[REDACTED].com/index.php?board=79.0

Between the stickies and the various threads there you should get a decent idea of what classes/races are like. In case you're wondering, no this mud is sadly not very newbie friendly but it is really fun if you stick around lock enough to learn it. Ask people in character about what's going on and you should be helped.



http://www.shatteredkingdoms.org/worldmap/



There are quite a few classes you can play as there are only 3 'pure' casters - Sorcerer, Necromancer, Warlock. Everything else is either hybrid or melee. As has been said before Barb/Merc/Swashies are the pure melee classes and you'd likely be well off playing one of those, but personally I've always been a fan of hybrid classes more. One note on those however, is that they may be harder to level as in the case of a shaman - devastating in the end, but a real PAIN to level, for a new player anyway.

Edit: If you're a darkie especially contact -Ilyash- in game via the TELL command and I'll help you out. If you're grey/light I'll likely help you anyway but that might be more difficult since so many people want me dead.

Bards do not need help to level. I would recommend them as one of the easiest and most versatile hybrid classes to start with. There's tons of built-in RP, PvP, and PvE opportunities with the bard class.

I said often. When I played a bard, I levelled up until about veteran alone then really just needed help from then onwards. Though that may have been my own doing with the way I built the character.

I'll rephrase then, Rogues and Bards do better in groups.

Bards are very fragile. Paladins level very easily and have many spells helpful to a newb, refresh, and curing spells. And still put out enough damage.

Hey, I am happy to help as well. Feel free to contact my character Faerti (tell Faerti oh hi can you help me?) in-game or send me a PM or Y!IM. (First option first )

1) As others have said, using the compare command is often the best way to get to know how good something is. The way you do that is by typing 'compare object1 object2' to get a comparison between two targets or just 'compare object1' in order to compare whatever you target in your inventory to the appropriate item that you are wearing. Another way to find value in an item is with the identify spell. This spell will allow you to also see what sort of enchantments, if any, are applied to an item.

The types of weapons you use vary with your class, but my advise to you is to try and find the most accurate and damaging weapons to start off with. Axes are often great, as are a few swords and spears.

2) http://www.shatteredkingdoms.org/kingdoms is full of maps, both a world map like what was posted before and individual maps of the newbie areas and starting cities. To the left of this page are links that are filled with great resources, though some of the information could probably use some updating.

3) SK's hybrid characters are the bard (who uses magical songs and chords), the shaman (a spirit oriented individual who is much like the priest class but better equipped for melee tanking), the paladin (a devout warrior who can call upon blessings from their lord to heal themselves and become a devastating force against evil), and the hellion (an evil paladin who uses twisted logic to claim honor and has a variety of offensive powers as well as a few buffs).

The bard and shaman can both be selfishly aligned, so you don't have to choose a side with them right away, and you can avoid PK until you're ready a bit easier. Hellions/Paladins obviously come with innate enemies.

I have to warn you that the hybrid classes are dependent on stat modifications down the line. This requires a knowledge base of what items carry stat enchantments. There are a few shops in the game that sell these, and one in particular makes it really easy with many available, but this obviously costs money, and that can cause a problem if you have trouble getting it or somehow lose your equipment without the funds to replace it.

Melee classes are fairly straight forward. Merc./Barb. you just grab some heavy armor, a decent weapon, and for the first bunch of levels go kill stuff. Their primary stats are straight forward (STR, DEX, CON), and my only advice with them is to be sure to train HP, as it is very beneficial in the long run.

Swashbucklers are a class I would highly recommend playing. You can train your CHA to be very high on other classes, but there is a good excuse to do so with a Swashie (it affects your later skills). Natural CHA (charisma your character has without stat mods) affects how fast you gain experience, and maximizing it can do wonders, especially your first time around. I would also suggest that you train HP as much as you can with this one as well. Other than that, just fight some light armor (leather, scale, etc.) and get some accurate weapons. In my experience, accuracy with a Swashie means far more with weapons than even damage. Speed will eventually count for something as well.

The other class I highly recommend is the Scout. This is another light armor class that has skills based off of CHA, so it makes good sense to train it high or max it. This is a second row fighter that is usually best with a reaching weapon (some spears do this, but there are other weapons, too) and range weapons (bows and xbows). They can later tame wild and interesting pets and even skin things to make armor as well as get nifty herbs for buffs.

As for race, I would go more with whatever you like for RP more than anything else, but there can be some pretty big differences in as far as max stats and weaknesses. If you prepare enough, though, much of these can be mitigated, and I've always found that it pays more to like what you're playing than to try and go for the min/max build. Others see it differently.

If you run into problems, don't fear sending people on the who list some tells. This is an in character communication, though, so if you feel the need to break character, be sure to put OOC tags in front of what you say and try to keep that to a minimum. I don't think any immortal is going to curse you if you break character too much right off the bat, but it's best to try and get in the habit of staying in character as much as possible so that you don't break the atmosphere. Also, it is considered more polite to use tells to go out of character than says. You can also try the pray command to get help, but one can never tell when an immortal is going to be online and listening (not to knock the staff, they do a great job.)

My character's name is Banryn, so feel free to send him a tell, especially if you choose a light-aura or "lightie." I hope my rambling so far hasn't left you too dizzy.

Welcome to SK. I really hope you have a fun time.