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Installation and Common Errors
When installing Darkfall Unholy Wars or running the client you may run into various errors. Most can be fixed by the following.
NetSSL Error
-Installing Service Pack 1 for Windows 7. (Found at the Microsoft website as a standalone executable, shouldn't conflict with less than noble versions of windows 7.) To check your version of Win7, click the start button in the bottom left corner of the desktop screen, and in the small white text box, type 'winver' (short for windows version) and press enter. You may be running Windows 7 6.1 build 7600. After the SP1 Update you should be running Windows 7 6.1 build 7601.
- Installing latest Java update. (Version 7 update 9, I believe.)
- Installing DOTnet version 4.5. (Most current.)
Run Time Error
-Install Microsoft Visual C++ 2012 Redistributable (x64/x86)
-Make sure you aren't missing data files from your Darkfall UW Data folder. (Click options on the launcher/patcher and check mark "Validate and Repair Data Files." then rerun the launcher/patcher.
These are the most common errors, if you have others and find fixes around the forums, or on your own, let me know so that I can implement them into this guide. Thanks!
Keybindings/Controls
A very important part of Darkfall:UW, that is important in all games really, is keybindings/controls. In Darkfall 1, players made very elaborate scripts to help access the 100 hotbar spots you had to use. (0-9 = 10 times 10 hotbars.) In DF:UW you really won't need such a thing, however, good key bindings can make the difference in your success in PVP. By good key bindings I mean, easy to access and fluid. In these types of games muscle memory is crucial, therefore I made key bindings one of the top subjects. The earlier you get your keys set the better off you are. So you just finished your tutorial (or not) and you need to get ready for the vast world of Agon.
NOTE* You can press "Q/E" when in active mode to switch the active Radial Menu. Designated by a white circle around the active wheel.
Setting Up Your Radial Wheels
First of all, press 'O' to open up your options and on the left side there is an "Input Options" button. Click it.
Press 'TAB' to open up your Radial Wheel/skills menu.
Place your skills where you want them, leaving room for the 4 unlockable skills. I suggest placing Heal Self and your 3 conversions (Mana to Stamina, Stamina to Health and Health to Mana.) on 5-8 on the right radial menu. These skills will be static across all classes and it simplifies things to remain consistent.
I use a Naga Razer Mouse, so 2/3 of both radial menus are on the 12 thumb buttons. So this next part I will throw out ideas.
After you have placed all of your skills on the radial menu, click on the "Input Options" gui (that should be opened on the left side) and assign keys to the corresponding radial wheel spots/skills.
If you use the AutoSprint toggle ('CAPS') that frees up your shift key to use as a modifier in conjunction with, 0-9. (ie. 0, Shift+0, 1, Shift+1... etc which is 18 total keys. Although Shift+9 can be hard to push fluidly) Find what is comfortable for you. I moved the Toggle Attack (From vertical to Horizontal) From 'T' to 'Y', freeing up the 'T' key.
I also changed the Alt+Right Click radial menu access to Right Ctrl+Right Click. Left Alt is my Push To Talk Key for Communication Programs. (This also frees up Left Alt to be used in conjunction, same as Shift.) Again, it is very important to rearrange/assign keys you find comfortable early on, it helps a lot. So later you don't find yourself trying to rearrange keys for efficiency and making mistakes during the "Reprogramming" of your muscle memory.
NOTE: I did/do use a script (see below) to have 'E' Load and Cast Disabling Shot & Disabling Blow' for me. Since they require different weapons to be active they don't conflict, and it leaves me one button for parry breaking. Not necessary, I just carried it over from DF1.
Setting Up Quick Slots
Quick Slots are also important to be able to switch between. You assign weapons, food, and potions to your quick slots, and fast access is crucial. Access your Quick Slots by pressing "P", this opens your paper doll (that displays the gear you currently have equipped.) At the bottom of the Paper Doll you will see 8 circles that are staggered slightly, they are your quick slots. You change the keys, using the same Input Options as your Radial Wheels. Difference is, you Drag and Drop your items from your back pack ('B') to the Quick slots though. I have mine as follows. Staff, 2 Handed Weapon (Sword), Bow, One Handed Sword (Leaf Blade); on the next row, Shield, Potion 1,2,3. (My Potions are as follows; Health, Stamina, Mana)
I assigned my Staff to, "T", Great Sword to "G", Bow to "Z", Sword and Board, "[,]" (Used with Naga though.), Potions to "F2,F3,F4". I prefer "F1-F3" but the debug mode conflicts. This way, if I change my sword to a better one, or staff, all I have to do is drag and drop the new one onto my quick slot and the key is set. Find what is comfortable for you. The new Scroll of mouse wheel design is cool and all, but it isn't going to be enough to put you in the top PVP spot.
NOTE* I sometimes replace a potion slot or the bow slow with my mount. This allows me to fast spawn my mount for close call escapes. (Thanks Asolar for mentioning this.)
AutoHotkey and Macros
As far as I know these are still acceptable things to use for increasing your fluidity, but aside from a Sword and Board Script, I don't really see the point. Further more, DF:UW blocks virtual keystrokes while you are in active mode. Making scripting these with AHK more of a pain than it's worth.
Random Starting Tips
-Hold 'F' on banks (if in clan) and on mounts (any object with multiple functions.) to access all the related functions. This is used for player interaction as well.
-When you first get into game and make it through the tutorial you may want to turn Vsync off in the options. (Press 'O' for options and then under video or input options(?) uncheck vsync.) This helps remove some of the sluggishness.
-When you are viewing your backpack or bank, and have more items than fit on the row, click the black part of the backpack/back once, and use A/D to scroll Left/Right quickly.
-I would take the time to make some bags/sacks once you start getting many items. (Or before preferably...See Crafting Simplified.) Once you have the Bags/Sacks you can Right Click them and Rename them. I suggest making bags for; Weapons, Staves, Robes, Heavy Armor, Crafting Mats, Enchant/Stackables... atleast. Place these bags in your bank/cbank. Never take them out, use them for organization. They will help once you start getting a lot of items.
-I would go through and finish the "Starter" feats that are displayed in the top left corner. (Open Map turn on bank, etc.) This will get you some prowess needed for leveling up and a mount when you finish.
IMPORTANT** The Developers plan on implementing mount timers to prevent your mount from being stolen, that has not been implemented yet, so be careful! (ie. don't spawn your mount in town!)
- You will probably want to farm mobs at this point to get your fat loots up, that is good, but first I encourage you to search the town you start in for a few things. I have been to many different NPC cities and have found at least one of each of these in/around the city. They have a 15-30 minute refresh timer I believe. (Confirmation?) Return to these regularly, they are very helpful.
A)Resource Stash: (Gives 1-50 of a random resource, Timber,Cotton,Iron ore etc.)
B)Weapon Rack: Gives 1-3 random weapons. Normally (always?) found near the weapon seller. The weapon rack also has a fairly good chance to give out arrows, 20-50. (Thanks Creaca for mentioning arrows.)
C)Armor Rack: Gives 1-3 random pieces of armor. Normally (always?) found near the weapon seller same as Weapon Rack.
D) Food Crate: Gives some random food much like a resource stash. Found 2 of these in many cities. They also give materials for cooking better food, onions, potatoes etc. (Thanks Candy Flip!)
E) Fish Barrel: Gives fish that can be cooked, a random type of fish and a varying amount. Also drops fishing poles. (Thanks Sanshi44 Forum Name)
F)Tool Box: Gives 1-3 random attachable tools. Sickle, Wood Cutting Axe, Pick Axe, Fishing Pole. etc. (Thanks Sanshi44)
G) Treasure Chest: My personal favorite, the treasure chest gives 1-3 chunks of gold, from 1-500 per chunk. (Most I have seen so far.) It can also give random items, found items are fused materials like Leenspar Cloth (Enhanced cloth for higher level crafts).
H) Magicians Box: I have not found any of these in the NPC cities, but I did find one in a goblin spawn. In DF1 they gave a small random amount of spell reagents. The one I found gave me some elementalist powder I believe. (Maybe it was mandrake... point being they exist.) Magicians Box can also give materials need in alchemy such as empty bottles. (Thanks Por Nostar(Forum Name))
Once you have located the various freebie stashes there are some decisions to be made. What class you want to focus first, (Focusing one at a time is crucial to early game pvp fun/success.), focusing crafting or pvp (Can do both of course, but it will be a lot easier to focus one at a time.), and whether or not you want to jump into a clan immediately.
NPCS and Interaction
There are more NPC's than necessary in my opinion, but they add life to the game and I can't remove them so...
Buying
Approach an NPC Character and Press 'F'. This will open the NPC's Shop Gui. It defaults to the buying feature and to purchase an item or skill you need to have the required currency, (If gold have it in your back pack.) and simply double click what you want to purchase, and it will do the rest for you (ie.placing your purchased item/skill in your backpack or skills section). (Tab for skills section.). Some NPC's have items categorized, they use black and white icons with some text as "Folders" to access the items inside. To purchase items inside you double click as before. But, if you want to return to the 'parent' folder, or the previous menu so to speak, click the word on the left most side of the buy window. This word is written vertically from down to up. This will help you navigate without having to escape the NPC's gui and return to it.
Selling
Left of the buying window on the border gui you will see small bag icons with curved arrows. One is for buying, one is for selling. The bottom one is for selling. (If memory serves, not in game atm.) Hover your mouse over them to see which is which. Click the 'Selling' button and the buying window will empty out to a black ribbon. Drag and Drop (double click?) items in your backpack to the sell window (ribbon) to place them in the selling "que". The window will display how much gold the item(s) you are going to sell are worth. Once you are satisfied with your choice, click on the 'Check Mark' in the bottom right of the 'Sell Ribbon'.
Who Sells What?
There are two NPCs for Physical Classes and two for magic classes, there is a common skills/siege stone npc, and there is a 'Stuff Seller'. (That I remember.)
Magic Sellers
The two magic sellers are located near the laboratory in the cities and can be found using the Map. ('M'and clicking points of interest on the left side of the gui border.) There is 'Arcane Supplies' that sells basic mage gear (Robes,Staves) and elementalist powder (Magic Ammunition). There is another 'Magic Trainer' (Can't remember name exactly.) That sells spells/magic skills for prowess.
Physical Sellers
Much like the magic sellers, one Physical NPC (The Smithy) sells Weapons and Armor (Arrows too *Confirmed by Creaca*), the other sells skills for physical classes. I can't remember the NPC names but will edit in shortly.
Siege Stones and Common Skills This NPC is normally near the bank in the city and sells 3 common skills. Slow Fall, (To prevent fall damage.) Heal Mount, (Heals your mount...slowly.), and Unburden increases carrying capacity slightly. All common skills cost 500 prowess. The siege stones are used when besieging a clans holding, we won't go into detail on sieges.
Stuff Seller
Sells stuff... notably, tools for harvesting.
The Three C's. Clans,Crafting,and Classes.
The three important C's to decide on...
Clans
Pros:
Clans are a great way of meeting friends and getting help. Often times you will get 'zerged' (Outnumbered) in Darkfall. Having a group of guys is awesome to alleviate that disadvantage. As of now there is a persistence bug where your back pack and bank are deleted when you crash/dc/log out. The clan bank has been immune to this so far. The greatest joy in Darkfall (IMO) comes from the sieges, and a clan is necessary for them.
Cons:
You are almost required to have a headset and a voice communcation program like Ventrilo,Mumble,Teamspeak or Skype. Some clans are very immature and tend to 'Nerd Rage'. Darkfall has a very competitive atmosphere so emotions can run high. Some clans have very high expectations as far as time devotion and things are concerned, this can be more stressful than its worth. Having said that I suggest finding a clan you mesh well with. There are Clans that only recruit older(very mature exceptions) players. As we are in beta, many veteran clans that have carried over from Darkfall 1, have stopped recruiting to prevent bank loss(thieves) due to the persistence bug and the necessity for bank access, spies and various other things. So it may be tricky to find a knowledgeable clan that will accept you, but I doubt it.
In the least you may want to make 2000 gold, and found your own clan for storing your items safely.
Official Clan Management Video
Crafting
Pros:
Crafting is a very important aspect of Darkfall and it is recommended for players who enjoy that. There are two main crafting stations;Work Bench, and Laboratory. Crafting gives a great amount of prowess and works great as a source of income in general. Another great thing is that although many clans have crafters, nearly all clans will accept a dedicated crafter. (Good ones can be hard to find, and it is very unfortunate to be preparing for a siege and not have a crafter online that you need.)
Workbench and Laboratory
Both the Workbench and Laboratory are crucial crafting stations that offer different things.
Workbench:
The workbench gives access to Engineering, Construction, Tanning, Tailoring, Weaving, and Leather Working. (and more, will add later, can't remember off the top of my head.)
Engineering:
is used in making battle spikes and black powder.
Construction:
is used in making building mods and (maybe warhulks, later not positive here).
Tanning and Weaving:
is used to turn Cotton/Raw Hides into Cloth and Leather.
Tailoring and Leather Working:
is used to make Sacks,bags and robes. (More to come, once in game)
Laboratory:
The laboratory gives you access to Alchemy (potion making) and Mount Summoning. (Making Mount figurines.) (Again will add more later, once I am in game.)
Cons:
It means that you will be harvesting a lot of resource nodes; bushes, trees, iron ore, stone. You will probably fall behind in some of the pvp aspects. (Skill grinding and practice.)
Other:
You will spend a lot of time at the Smelter (Turning Iron ore into ingots, etc.),Work Bench, Anvil and Laboratory. I saw a Thamaturgist (or However that is spelled.) in the game but inactive. That is used for enchanting, more on it later.
Classes
Early on the stat differences from the classes can be a huge factor. However, mid/late game you will have worked your base stats up so that there is a better balance.
Elementalist:
Low Health, Moderate Stamina, High Mana. Casts ranged spells that do a lot of damage. Wears robes that offer very little to melee protections.
"The Glass Cannon"
Warrior:
High Health,Moderate Stamina,Low Mana. A melee bruiser of sorts, that has an arsenal for up close and personal damage and crowd control. Has a great personal heal, perfect for sustaining the front line damage. Uses Heavy Metal armors that offer the highest of protections.
Skirmisher:
Medium Health, High Stamina, Low Mana. Basically an archer. Has evasive skills and high damage skills. Uses a bow primarily but isn't afraid to bust out a melee weapon. Wears medium armors like padded, offers fair protections to melee and magic.
Primalist:
The primalist isn't out yet. However, I would expect base stat pools like an Elementalist's with the spells focusing on healing, buffing, and utility. I also suspect robes with the lowest of melee protections.
You can switch between roles fairly frequently. (Every 15 minutes. (Thanks Elelish!). So, testing the different ones out is easy enough. However, some skills (the Ultimate's for each class/role require a fair amount of prowess. 3k.) have to be unlocked, and it can be risky to unlock a skill and not like it after using up your hard earned prowess.
Leveling Skills
Almost every skill in Darkfall can be leveled by practicing the skill. You can view all your skills in the Skills window ('U' hotkey to access the skills window).
Weapons Skills can be trained by using various weapons. Killing mobs with Greatclubs will increase your Greatclub Skill. As your weapon's skill increases, the damage you do with that type of weapon will increase. Eventually, you will be able to purchase the weapon's mastery (At Skill level 100?) skill using prowess points, further increasing the damage the weapon will do per swing.
Spell skills are raised by casting those spells. The higher level the spells is, the more effective it will be. For example, Heal Self at level 1 will heal for 1.8 health per tick times 5 ticks. At level 50, Heal Self heals for around 3.6 per tick times 5 ticks. I will often try to cast a series of spells when their cooldowns are up, while fighting mobs or even while I'm running around.
Other skills to train include crafting skills. The higher the level of the crafting skill, the better success chance you have to create an item. Higher level crafting skills give you the ability to create higher Rank items. Crafting skills also have Mastery skills that can be purchased with prowess.
Leveling skills is what many players refer to as The Grind. While this was definitely an accurate term in DF1, the skill gains in DFUW seem to come a lot faster and there are dramatically less skills to level up than in DF1. I was able to level my Heal Self skill to 50 in a few days just using it often during PVE. It did not feel "grindy" to me.
Still, some players will choose to use macros to level up their skills as quickly as possible to gain a competitive edge against other players. The will use programs like AutoHotkey to create scripts that cast spells repeatedly. While definitely a viable way to level skills, personally I find just remembering to use my abilities while running around and fighting to be an equally viable way to raise my skills. If you find raising a skill to 50 in a few days too grindy, you may have other problems.
Other Important Tips and Comments
-Don't fret over other jerks looting your corpses as you farm. Most of the low end gear/materials you could get from the safezone mobs isn't worth the time it takes to double click it. Use the various "Treasure Chest" nodes and buy equivalent rank 0 gear from the npc. (Has more Durability on it anyways.) The skill gains when farming the safe zone mobs is more important anyways.
-If you are having trouble farming monsters and are bound determined to do so. You may join a clan and live out of a clan city to farm the monsters near it. Then if someone tries to loot your grave, well you can kill them. +1 for Vigilante Justice.
-Don't be discouraged by macroers(Botters, not hot key users), if AV doesn't ban hammer them, there are limited skills that can be macro'd effectively anways, Conversions and heals, etc. You can remain competitive without the need to macro.
-If you join a clan but have a far travel to make to get with them, have them "Summon" you with a portal shard. They do that by adding you to their friends list. Through the social gui, (or right clicking your name in chat and clicking Send Friends Request.). There is a summon button inside the social gui.
-You can earn fast prowess by Harvesting nodes.
-If you get into a clan, the prowess you earn while you are in the clan is given to the clan as dominion on a 1:10 ratio. Example: If you join the clan 'Awesome Awesome Dudes of Awesome' with 1000 prowess, and then earn another 1000 for a total of 2000. The clan will get 100 dominion from you. 1/10 of the 1000 earned while in the clan.
-Early on it may be more enjoyable to explore naked and earn some prowess from your exploration feats.
-Feats are a fun way to earn prowess and help break the monotony of any single task. (Ironically, some feats I found monotonous.)
DFUW Beta Noob/Starting Guide TIPS!
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As the title suggests, I am putting together a "Generalized Noob Guide" for DF:UW Beta (That will probably be effective after Official Launch with minor tweaking). First of all, I was inspired to write this after reading a thread asking new players for feedback. I noticed some trends in the new players aggravations. I do not know everything about DFUW because it is a lot different than DF1, and if anyone has anything they think should be added/removed/changed, just drop a reply and ill edit it in. Please don't flame if I have a typo or if I am less than accurate, instead be constructive and help me by letting me know, thanks. Now to get on with it.
Installation and Common Errors
Spoiler
When installing Darkfall Unholy Wars or running the client you may run into various errors. Most can be fixed by the following.
NetSSL Error
-Installing Service Pack 1 for Windows 7. (Found at the Microsoft website as a standalone executable, shouldn't conflict with less than noble versions of windows 7.) To check your version of Win7, click the start button in the bottom left corner of the desktop screen, and in the small white text box, type 'winver' (short for windows version) and press enter. You may be running Windows 7 6.1 build 7600. After the SP1 Update you should be running Windows 7 6.1 build 7601.
- Installing latest Java update. (Version 7 update 9, I believe.)
- Installing DOTnet version 4.5. (Most current.)
Run Time Error
-Install Microsoft Visual C++ 2012 Redistributable (x64/x86)
-Make sure you aren't missing data files from your Darkfall UW Data folder. (Click options on the launcher/patcher and check mark "Validate and Repair Data Files." then rerun the launcher/patcher.
These are the most common errors, if you have others and find fixes around the forums, or on your own, let me know so that I can implement them into this guide. Thanks!
Keybindings/Controls
Spoiler
A very important part of Darkfall:UW, that is important in all games really, is keybindings/controls. In Darkfall 1, players made very elaborate scripts to help access the 100 hotbar spots you had to use. (0-9 = 10 times 10 hotbars.) In DF:UW you really won't need such a thing, however, good key bindings can make the difference in your success in PVP. By good key bindings I mean, easy to access and fluid. In these types of games muscle memory is crucial, therefore I made key bindings one of the top subjects. The earlier you get your keys set the better off you are. So you just finished your tutorial (or not) and you need to get ready for the vast world of Agon.
NOTE* You can press "Q/E" when in active mode to switch the active Radial Menu. Designated by a white circle around the active wheel.
Setting Up Your Radial Wheels
First of all, press 'O' to open up your options and on the left side there is an "Input Options" button. Click it.
Press 'TAB' to open up your Radial Wheel/skills menu.
Place your skills where you want them, leaving room for the 4 unlockable skills. I suggest placing Heal Self and your 3 conversions (Mana to Stamina, Stamina to Health and Health to Mana.) on 5-8 on the right radial menu. These skills will be static across all classes and it simplifies things to remain consistent.
I use a Naga Razer Mouse, so 2/3 of both radial menus are on the 12 thumb buttons. So this next part I will throw out ideas.
After you have placed all of your skills on the radial menu, click on the "Input Options" gui (that should be opened on the left side) and assign keys to the corresponding radial wheel spots/skills.
If you use the AutoSprint toggle ('CAPS') that frees up your shift key to use as a modifier in conjunction with, 0-9. (ie. 0, Shift+0, 1, Shift+1... etc which is 18 total keys. Although Shift+9 can be hard to push fluidly) Find what is comfortable for you. I moved the Toggle Attack (From vertical to Horizontal) From 'T' to 'Y', freeing up the 'T' key.
I also changed the Alt+Right Click radial menu access to Right Ctrl+Right Click. Left Alt is my Push To Talk Key for Communication Programs. (This also frees up Left Alt to be used in conjunction, same as Shift.) Again, it is very important to rearrange/assign keys you find comfortable early on, it helps a lot. So later you don't find yourself trying to rearrange keys for efficiency and making mistakes during the "Reprogramming" of your muscle memory.
NOTE: I did/do use a script (see below) to have 'E' Load and Cast Disabling Shot & Disabling Blow' for me. Since they require different weapons to be active they don't conflict, and it leaves me one button for parry breaking. Not necessary, I just carried it over from DF1.
Setting Up Quick Slots
Quick Slots are also important to be able to switch between. You assign weapons, food, and potions to your quick slots, and fast access is crucial. Access your Quick Slots by pressing "P", this opens your paper doll (that displays the gear you currently have equipped.) At the bottom of the Paper Doll you will see 8 circles that are staggered slightly, they are your quick slots. You change the keys, using the same Input Options as your Radial Wheels. Difference is, you Drag and Drop your items from your back pack ('B') to the Quick slots though. I have mine as follows. Staff, 2 Handed Weapon (Sword), Bow, One Handed Sword (Leaf Blade); on the next row, Shield, Potion 1,2,3. (My Potions are as follows; Health, Stamina, Mana)
I assigned my Staff to, "T", Great Sword to "G", Bow to "Z", Sword and Board, "[,]" (Used with Naga though.), Potions to "F2,F3,F4". I prefer "F1-F3" but the debug mode conflicts. This way, if I change my sword to a better one, or staff, all I have to do is drag and drop the new one onto my quick slot and the key is set. Find what is comfortable for you. The new Scroll of mouse wheel design is cool and all, but it isn't going to be enough to put you in the top PVP spot.
NOTE* I sometimes replace a potion slot or the bow slow with my mount. This allows me to fast spawn my mount for close call escapes. (Thanks Asolar for mentioning this.)
AutoHotkey and Macros
As far as I know these are still acceptable things to use for increasing your fluidity, but aside from a Sword and Board Script, I don't really see the point. Further more, DF:UW blocks virtual keystrokes while you are in active mode. Making scripting these with AHK more of a pain than it's worth.
Random Starting Tips
Spoiler
-Hold 'F' on banks (if in clan) and on mounts (any object with multiple functions.) to access all the related functions. This is used for player interaction as well.
-When you first get into game and make it through the tutorial you may want to turn Vsync off in the options. (Press 'O' for options and then under video or input options(?) uncheck vsync.) This helps remove some of the sluggishness.
-When you are viewing your backpack or bank, and have more items than fit on the row, click the black part of the backpack/back once, and use A/D to scroll Left/Right quickly.
-I would take the time to make some bags/sacks once you start getting many items. (Or before preferably...See Crafting Simplified.) Once you have the Bags/Sacks you can Right Click them and Rename them. I suggest making bags for; Weapons, Staves, Robes, Heavy Armor, Crafting Mats, Enchant/Stackables... atleast. Place these bags in your bank/cbank. Never take them out, use them for organization. They will help once you start getting a lot of items.
-I would go through and finish the "Starter" feats that are displayed in the top left corner. (Open Map turn on bank, etc.) This will get you some prowess needed for leveling up and a mount when you finish.
IMPORTANT** The Developers plan on implementing mount timers to prevent your mount from being stolen, that has not been implemented yet, so be careful! (ie. don't spawn your mount in town!)
- You will probably want to farm mobs at this point to get your fat loots up, that is good, but first I encourage you to search the town you start in for a few things. I have been to many different NPC cities and have found at least one of each of these in/around the city. They have a 15-30 minute refresh timer I believe. (Confirmation?) Return to these regularly, they are very helpful.
A)Resource Stash: (Gives 1-50 of a random resource, Timber,Cotton,Iron ore etc.)
B)Weapon Rack: Gives 1-3 random weapons. Normally (always?) found near the weapon seller. The weapon rack also has a fairly good chance to give out arrows, 20-50. (Thanks Creaca for mentioning arrows.)
C)Armor Rack: Gives 1-3 random pieces of armor. Normally (always?) found near the weapon seller same as Weapon Rack.
D) Food Crate: Gives some random food much like a resource stash. Found 2 of these in many cities. They also give materials for cooking better food, onions, potatoes etc. (Thanks Candy Flip!)
E) Fish Barrel: Gives fish that can be cooked, a random type of fish and a varying amount. Also drops fishing poles. (Thanks Sanshi44 Forum Name)
F)Tool Box: Gives 1-3 random attachable tools. Sickle, Wood Cutting Axe, Pick Axe, Fishing Pole. etc. (Thanks Sanshi44)
G) Treasure Chest: My personal favorite, the treasure chest gives 1-3 chunks of gold, from 1-500 per chunk. (Most I have seen so far.) It can also give random items, found items are fused materials like Leenspar Cloth (Enhanced cloth for higher level crafts).
H) Magicians Box: I have not found any of these in the NPC cities, but I did find one in a goblin spawn. In DF1 they gave a small random amount of spell reagents. The one I found gave me some elementalist powder I believe. (Maybe it was mandrake... point being they exist.) Magicians Box can also give materials need in alchemy such as empty bottles. (Thanks Por Nostar(Forum Name))
Once you have located the various freebie stashes there are some decisions to be made. What class you want to focus first, (Focusing one at a time is crucial to early game pvp fun/success.), focusing crafting or pvp (Can do both of course, but it will be a lot easier to focus one at a time.), and whether or not you want to jump into a clan immediately.
NPCS and Interaction
Spoiler
There are more NPC's than necessary in my opinion, but they add life to the game and I can't remove them so...
Buying
Approach an NPC Character and Press 'F'. This will open the NPC's Shop Gui. It defaults to the buying feature and to purchase an item or skill you need to have the required currency, (If gold have it in your back pack.) and simply double click what you want to purchase, and it will do the rest for you (ie.placing your purchased item/skill in your backpack or skills section). (Tab for skills section.). Some NPC's have items categorized, they use black and white icons with some text as "Folders" to access the items inside. To purchase items inside you double click as before. But, if you want to return to the 'parent' folder, or the previous menu so to speak, click the word on the left most side of the buy window. This word is written vertically from down to up. This will help you navigate without having to escape the NPC's gui and return to it.
Selling
Left of the buying window on the border gui you will see small bag icons with curved arrows. One is for buying, one is for selling. The bottom one is for selling. (If memory serves, not in game atm.) Hover your mouse over them to see which is which. Click the 'Selling' button and the buying window will empty out to a black ribbon. Drag and Drop (double click?) items in your backpack to the sell window (ribbon) to place them in the selling "que". The window will display how much gold the item(s) you are going to sell are worth. Once you are satisfied with your choice, click on the 'Check Mark' in the bottom right of the 'Sell Ribbon'.
Who Sells What?
There are two NPCs for Physical Classes and two for magic classes, there is a common skills/siege stone npc, and there is a 'Stuff Seller'. (That I remember.)
Magic Sellers
The two magic sellers are located near the laboratory in the cities and can be found using the Map. ('M'and clicking points of interest on the left side of the gui border.) There is 'Arcane Supplies' that sells basic mage gear (Robes,Staves) and elementalist powder (Magic Ammunition). There is another 'Magic Trainer' (Can't remember name exactly.) That sells spells/magic skills for prowess.
Physical Sellers
Much like the magic sellers, one Physical NPC (The Smithy) sells Weapons and Armor (Arrows too *Confirmed by Creaca*), the other sells skills for physical classes. I can't remember the NPC names but will edit in shortly.
Siege Stones and Common Skills This NPC is normally near the bank in the city and sells 3 common skills. Slow Fall, (To prevent fall damage.) Heal Mount, (Heals your mount...slowly.), and Unburden increases carrying capacity slightly. All common skills cost 500 prowess. The siege stones are used when besieging a clans holding, we won't go into detail on sieges.
Stuff Seller
Sells stuff... notably, tools for harvesting.
The Three C's. Clans,Crafting,and Classes.
Spoiler
The three important C's to decide on...
Clans
Pros:
Clans are a great way of meeting friends and getting help. Often times you will get 'zerged' (Outnumbered) in Darkfall. Having a group of guys is awesome to alleviate that disadvantage. As of now there is a persistence bug where your back pack and bank are deleted when you crash/dc/log out. The clan bank has been immune to this so far. The greatest joy in Darkfall (IMO) comes from the sieges, and a clan is necessary for them.
Cons:
You are almost required to have a headset and a voice communcation program like Ventrilo,Mumble,Teamspeak or Skype. Some clans are very immature and tend to 'Nerd Rage'. Darkfall has a very competitive atmosphere so emotions can run high. Some clans have very high expectations as far as time devotion and things are concerned, this can be more stressful than its worth. Having said that I suggest finding a clan you mesh well with. There are Clans that only recruit older(very mature exceptions) players. As we are in beta, many veteran clans that have carried over from Darkfall 1, have stopped recruiting to prevent bank loss(thieves) due to the persistence bug and the necessity for bank access, spies and various other things. So it may be tricky to find a knowledgeable clan that will accept you, but I doubt it.
In the least you may want to make 2000 gold, and found your own clan for storing your items safely.
Official Clan Management Video
Crafting
Pros:
Crafting is a very important aspect of Darkfall and it is recommended for players who enjoy that. There are two main crafting stations;Work Bench, and Laboratory. Crafting gives a great amount of prowess and works great as a source of income in general. Another great thing is that although many clans have crafters, nearly all clans will accept a dedicated crafter. (Good ones can be hard to find, and it is very unfortunate to be preparing for a siege and not have a crafter online that you need.)
Workbench and Laboratory
Spoiler
Both the Workbench and Laboratory are crucial crafting stations that offer different things.
Workbench:
The workbench gives access to Engineering, Construction, Tanning, Tailoring, Weaving, and Leather Working. (and more, will add later, can't remember off the top of my head.)
Engineering:
is used in making battle spikes and black powder.
Construction:
is used in making building mods and (maybe warhulks, later not positive here).
Tanning and Weaving:
is used to turn Cotton/Raw Hides into Cloth and Leather.
Tailoring and Leather Working:
is used to make Sacks,bags and robes. (More to come, once in game)
Laboratory:
The laboratory gives you access to Alchemy (potion making) and Mount Summoning. (Making Mount figurines.) (Again will add more later, once I am in game.)
Cons:
It means that you will be harvesting a lot of resource nodes; bushes, trees, iron ore, stone. You will probably fall behind in some of the pvp aspects. (Skill grinding and practice.)
Other:
You will spend a lot of time at the Smelter (Turning Iron ore into ingots, etc.),Work Bench, Anvil and Laboratory. I saw a Thamaturgist (or However that is spelled.) in the game but inactive. That is used for enchanting, more on it later.
Classes
Early on the stat differences from the classes can be a huge factor. However, mid/late game you will have worked your base stats up so that there is a better balance.
Elementalist:
Low Health, Moderate Stamina, High Mana. Casts ranged spells that do a lot of damage. Wears robes that offer very little to melee protections.
"The Glass Cannon"
Warrior:
High Health,Moderate Stamina,Low Mana. A melee bruiser of sorts, that has an arsenal for up close and personal damage and crowd control. Has a great personal heal, perfect for sustaining the front line damage. Uses Heavy Metal armors that offer the highest of protections.
Skirmisher:
Medium Health, High Stamina, Low Mana. Basically an archer. Has evasive skills and high damage skills. Uses a bow primarily but isn't afraid to bust out a melee weapon. Wears medium armors like padded, offers fair protections to melee and magic.
Primalist:
The primalist isn't out yet. However, I would expect base stat pools like an Elementalist's with the spells focusing on healing, buffing, and utility. I also suspect robes with the lowest of melee protections.
You can switch between roles fairly frequently. (Every 15 minutes. (Thanks Elelish!). So, testing the different ones out is easy enough. However, some skills (the Ultimate's for each class/role require a fair amount of prowess. 3k.) have to be unlocked, and it can be risky to unlock a skill and not like it after using up your hard earned prowess.
Leveling Skills
Spoiler
Thanks goes to Umer (Forum Name.)
Almost every skill in Darkfall can be leveled by practicing the skill. You can view all your skills in the Skills window ('U' hotkey to access the skills window).
Weapons Skills can be trained by using various weapons. Killing mobs with Greatclubs will increase your Greatclub Skill. As your weapon's skill increases, the damage you do with that type of weapon will increase. Eventually, you will be able to purchase the weapon's mastery (At Skill level 100?) skill using prowess points, further increasing the damage the weapon will do per swing.
Spell skills are raised by casting those spells. The higher level the spells is, the more effective it will be. For example, Heal Self at level 1 will heal for 1.8 health per tick times 5 ticks. At level 50, Heal Self heals for around 3.6 per tick times 5 ticks. I will often try to cast a series of spells when their cooldowns are up, while fighting mobs or even while I'm running around.
Other skills to train include crafting skills. The higher the level of the crafting skill, the better success chance you have to create an item. Higher level crafting skills give you the ability to create higher Rank items. Crafting skills also have Mastery skills that can be purchased with prowess.
Leveling skills is what many players refer to as The Grind. While this was definitely an accurate term in DF1, the skill gains in DFUW seem to come a lot faster and there are dramatically less skills to level up than in DF1. I was able to level my Heal Self skill to 50 in a few days just using it often during PVE. It did not feel "grindy" to me.
Still, some players will choose to use macros to level up their skills as quickly as possible to gain a competitive edge against other players. The will use programs like AutoHotkey to create scripts that cast spells repeatedly. While definitely a viable way to level skills, personally I find just remembering to use my abilities while running around and fighting to be an equally viable way to raise my skills. If you find raising a skill to 50 in a few days too grindy, you may have other problems.
Other Important Tips and Comments
Spoiler
-Don't fret over other jerks looting your corpses as you farm. Most of the low end gear/materials you could get from the safezone mobs isn't worth the time it takes to double click it. Use the various "Treasure Chest" nodes and buy equivalent rank 0 gear from the npc. (Has more Durability on it anyways.) The skill gains when farming the safe zone mobs is more important anyways.
-If you are having trouble farming monsters and are bound determined to do so. You may join a clan and live out of a clan city to farm the monsters near it. Then if someone tries to loot your grave, well you can kill them. +1 for Vigilante Justice.
-Don't be discouraged by macroers(Botters, not hot key users), if AV doesn't ban hammer them, there are limited skills that can be macro'd effectively anways, Conversions and heals, etc. You can remain competitive without the need to macro.
-If you join a clan but have a far travel to make to get with them, have them "Summon" you with a portal shard. They do that by adding you to their friends list. Through the social gui, (or right clicking your name in chat and clicking Send Friends Request.). There is a summon button inside the social gui.
-You can earn fast prowess by Harvesting nodes.
-If you get into a clan, the prowess you earn while you are in the clan is given to the clan as dominion on a 1:10 ratio. Example: If you join the clan 'Awesome Awesome Dudes of Awesome' with 1000 prowess, and then earn another 1000 for a total of 2000. The clan will get 100 dominion from you. 1/10 of the 1000 earned while in the clan.
-Early on it may be more enjoyable to explore naked and earn some prowess from your exploration feats.
-Feats are a fun way to earn prowess and help break the monotony of any single task. (Ironically, some feats I found monotonous.)
PVE Tips
Leveling Mobs: (Thanks Umer, again)
Many mobs in pve are capable of "leveling up" in Darkfall Unholy Wars. A leveled up mob will be slightly more difficult and have a chance to drop better loot. A typical monster that drops a handful of gold will often drop 50g when killing the leveled up version.
To level up a mob, just simply let him hit you repeatedly while parrying using your weapon or shield. Try to use short sprints occasionally to heal yourself or raise your stamina level using your Mana to Stamina spell.
If a mob is capable of leveling, it will happen anywhere from 30 seconds to a couple minutes of beating on your shield.
At the moment during beta with many people at nearby low level spawns it can be difficult to isolate a monster for a period of time without someone coming along and killing it. I will often slowly back up after a mob engages me and pull it to a hidden spot around a wall or behind a tree to help avoid this. It can be frustrating parrying a mob for 2 minutes and someone comes along and kills it before it Levels Up.
-Another note about leveling mobs is that of the mobs that can be leveled they have specific "transformations" they take on, and these transformations yield specific drops. For example, if you let a goblin fighter beat on you for awhile (After it has done enough damage, (and goblin fighters leveled in DF1 not sure in DFUW (Confirmation?)) it can turn into a raging goblin. Raging goblins can drop like 10 meat stew. Any other mob that can become raging, (making this name up) but raging kangaroo, will also just drop the added meat stew. (Or that is how it used to work.). There are other titles that mobs take when they level up. Another one is 'Champion' (Hob goblins can do this, have done it in DF:UW, accidentally). The champion dropped I think 220+ gold.
DFUW Beta Noob/Starting Guide TIPS!
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As the title suggests, I am putting together a "Generalized Noob Guide" for DF:UW Beta (That will probably be effective after Official Launch with minor tweaking). First of all, I was inspired to write this after reading a thread asking new players for feedback. I noticed some trends in the new players aggravations. I do not know everything about DFUW because it is a lot different than DF1, and if anyone has anything they think should be added/removed/changed, just drop a reply and ill edit it in. Please don't flame if I have a typo or if I am less than accurate, instead be constructive and help me by letting me know, thanks. Now to get on with it.
Installation and Common Errors
Spoiler
When installing Darkfall Unholy Wars or running the client you may run into various errors. Most can be fixed by the following.
NetSSL Error
-Installing Service Pack 1 for Windows 7. (Found at the Microsoft website as a standalone executable, shouldn't conflict with less than noble versions of windows 7.) To check your version of Win7, click the start button in the bottom left corner of the desktop screen, and in the small white text box, type 'winver' (short for windows version) and press enter. You may be running Windows 7 6.1 build 7600. After the SP1 Update you should be running Windows 7 6.1 build 7601.
- Installing latest Java update. (Version 7 update 9, I believe.)
- Installing DOTnet version 4.5. (Most current.)
Run Time Error
-Install Microsoft Visual C++ 2012 Redistributable (x64/x86)
-Make sure you aren't missing data files from your Darkfall UW Data folder. (Click options on the launcher/patcher and check mark "Validate and Repair Data Files." then rerun the launcher/patcher.
These are the most common errors, if you have others and find fixes around the forums, or on your own, let me know so that I can implement them into this guide. Thanks!
Keybindings/Controls
Spoiler
A very important part of Darkfall:UW, that is important in all games really, is keybindings/controls. In Darkfall 1, players made very elaborate scripts to help access the 100 hotbar spots you had to use. (0-9 = 10 times 10 hotbars.) In DF:UW you really won't need such a thing, however, good key bindings can make the difference in your success in PVP. By good key bindings I mean, easy to access and fluid. In these types of games muscle memory is crucial, therefore I made key bindings one of the top subjects. The earlier you get your keys set the better off you are. So you just finished your tutorial (or not) and you need to get ready for the vast world of Agon.
NOTE* You can press "Q/E" when in active mode to switch the active Radial Menu. Designated by a white circle around the active wheel.
Setting Up Your Radial Wheels
First of all, press 'O' to open up your options and on the left side there is an "Input Options" button. Click it.
Press 'TAB' to open up your Radial Wheel/skills menu.
Place your skills where you want them, leaving room for the 4 unlockable skills. I suggest placing Heal Self and your 3 conversions (Mana to Stamina, Stamina to Health and Health to Mana.) on 5-8 on the right radial menu. These skills will be static across all classes and it simplifies things to remain consistent.
I use a Naga Razer Mouse, so 2/3 of both radial menus are on the 12 thumb buttons. So this next part I will throw out ideas.
After you have placed all of your skills on the radial menu, click on the "Input Options" gui (that should be opened on the left side) and assign keys to the corresponding radial wheel spots/skills.
If you use the AutoSprint toggle ('CAPS') that frees up your shift key to use as a modifier in conjunction with, 0-9. (ie. 0, Shift+0, 1, Shift+1... etc which is 18 total keys. Although Shift+9 can be hard to push fluidly) Find what is comfortable for you. I moved the Toggle Attack (From vertical to Horizontal) From 'T' to 'Y', freeing up the 'T' key.
I also changed the Alt+Right Click radial menu access to Right Ctrl+Right Click. Left Alt is my Push To Talk Key for Communication Programs. (This also frees up Left Alt to be used in conjunction, same as Shift.) Again, it is very important to rearrange/assign keys you find comfortable early on, it helps a lot. So later you don't find yourself trying to rearrange keys for efficiency and making mistakes during the "Reprogramming" of your muscle memory.
NOTE: I did/do use a script (see below) to have 'E' Load and Cast Disabling Shot & Disabling Blow' for me. Since they require different weapons to be active they don't conflict, and it leaves me one button for parry breaking. Not necessary, I just carried it over from DF1.
Setting Up Quick Slots
Quick Slots are also important to be able to switch between. You assign weapons, food, and potions to your quick slots, and fast access is crucial. Access your Quick Slots by pressing "P", this opens your paper doll (that displays the gear you currently have equipped.) At the bottom of the Paper Doll you will see 8 circles that are staggered slightly, they are your quick slots. You change the keys, using the same Input Options as your Radial Wheels. Difference is, you Drag and Drop your items from your back pack ('B') to the Quick slots though. I have mine as follows. Staff, 2 Handed Weapon (Sword), Bow, One Handed Sword (Leaf Blade); on the next row, Shield, Potion 1,2,3. (My Potions are as follows; Health, Stamina, Mana)
I assigned my Staff to, "T", Great Sword to "G", Bow to "Z", Sword and Board, "[,]" (Used with Naga though.), Potions to "F2,F3,F4". I prefer "F1-F3" but the debug mode conflicts. This way, if I change my sword to a better one, or staff, all I have to do is drag and drop the new one onto my quick slot and the key is set. Find what is comfortable for you. The new Scroll of mouse wheel design is cool and all, but it isn't going to be enough to put you in the top PVP spot.
NOTE* I sometimes replace a potion slot or the bow slow with my mount. This allows me to fast spawn my mount for close call escapes. (Thanks Asolar for mentioning this.)
AutoHotkey and Macros
As far as I know these are still acceptable things to use for increasing your fluidity, but aside from a Sword and Board Script, I don't really see the point. Further more, DF:UW blocks virtual keystrokes while you are in active mode. Making scripting these with AHK more of a pain than it's worth.
Random Starting Tips
Spoiler
-Hold 'F' on banks (if in clan) and on mounts (any object with multiple functions.) to access all the related functions. This is used for player interaction as well.
-When you first get into game and make it through the tutorial you may want to turn Vsync off in the options. (Press 'O' for options and then under video or input options(?) uncheck vsync.) This helps remove some of the sluggishness.
-When you are viewing your backpack or bank, and have more items than fit on the row, click the black part of the backpack/back once, and use A/D to scroll Left/Right quickly.
-I would take the time to make some bags/sacks once you start getting many items. (Or before preferably...See Crafting Simplified.) Once you have the Bags/Sacks you can Right Click them and Rename them. I suggest making bags for; Weapons, Staves, Robes, Heavy Armor, Crafting Mats, Enchant/Stackables... atleast. Place these bags in your bank/cbank. Never take them out, use them for organization. They will help once you start getting a lot of items.
-I would go through and finish the "Starter" feats that are displayed in the top left corner. (Open Map turn on bank, etc.) This will get you some prowess needed for leveling up and a mount when you finish.
IMPORTANT** The Developers plan on implementing mount timers to prevent your mount from being stolen, that has not been implemented yet, so be careful! (ie. don't spawn your mount in town!)
- You will probably want to farm mobs at this point to get your fat loots up, that is good, but first I encourage you to search the town you start in for a few things. I have been to many different NPC cities and have found at least one of each of these in/around the city. They have a 15-30 minute refresh timer I believe. (Confirmation?) Return to these regularly, they are very helpful.
A)Resource Stash: (Gives 1-50 of a random resource, Timber,Cotton,Iron ore etc.)
B)Weapon Rack: Gives 1-3 random weapons. Normally (always?) found near the weapon seller. The weapon rack also has a fairly good chance to give out arrows, 20-50. (Thanks Creaca for mentioning arrows.)
C)Armor Rack: Gives 1-3 random pieces of armor. Normally (always?) found near the weapon seller same as Weapon Rack.
D) Food Crate: Gives some random food much like a resource stash. Found 2 of these in many cities. They also give materials for cooking better food, onions, potatoes etc. (Thanks Candy Flip!)
E) Fish Barrel: Gives fish that can be cooked, a random type of fish and a varying amount. Also drops fishing poles. (Thanks Sanshi44 Forum Name)
F)Tool Box: Gives 1-3 random attachable tools. Sickle, Wood Cutting Axe, Pick Axe, Fishing Pole. etc. (Thanks Sanshi44)
G) Treasure Chest: My personal favorite, the treasure chest gives 1-3 chunks of gold, from 1-500 per chunk. (Most I have seen so far.) It can also give random items, found items are fused materials like Leenspar Cloth (Enhanced cloth for higher level crafts).
H) Magicians Box: I have not found any of these in the NPC cities, but I did find one in a goblin spawn. In DF1 they gave a small random amount of spell reagents. The one I found gave me some elementalist powder I believe. (Maybe it was mandrake... point being they exist.) Magicians Box can also give materials need in alchemy such as empty bottles. (Thanks Por Nostar(Forum Name))
Once you have located the various freebie stashes there are some decisions to be made. What class you want to focus first, (Focusing one at a time is crucial to early game pvp fun/success.), focusing crafting or pvp (Can do both of course, but it will be a lot easier to focus one at a time.), and whether or not you want to jump into a clan immediately.
NPCS and Interaction
Spoiler
There are more NPC's than necessary in my opinion, but they add life to the game and I can't remove them so...
Buying
Approach an NPC Character and Press 'F'. This will open the NPC's Shop Gui. It defaults to the buying feature and to purchase an item or skill you need to have the required currency, (If gold have it in your back pack.) and simply double click what you want to purchase, and it will do the rest for you (ie.placing your purchased item/skill in your backpack or skills section). (Tab for skills section.). Some NPC's have items categorized, they use black and white icons with some text as "Folders" to access the items inside. To purchase items inside you double click as before. But, if you want to return to the 'parent' folder, or the previous menu so to speak, click the word on the left most side of the buy window. This word is written vertically from down to up. This will help you navigate without having to escape the NPC's gui and return to it.
Selling
Left of the buying window on the border gui you will see small bag icons with curved arrows. One is for buying, one is for selling. The bottom one is for selling. (If memory serves, not in game atm.) Hover your mouse over them to see which is which. Click the 'Selling' button and the buying window will empty out to a black ribbon. Drag and Drop (double click?) items in your backpack to the sell window (ribbon) to place them in the selling "que". The window will display how much gold the item(s) you are going to sell are worth. Once you are satisfied with your choice, click on the 'Check Mark' in the bottom right of the 'Sell Ribbon'.
Who Sells What?
There are two NPCs for Physical Classes and two for magic classes, there is a common skills/siege stone npc, and there is a 'Stuff Seller'. (That I remember.)
Magic Sellers
The two magic sellers are located near the laboratory in the cities and can be found using the Map. ('M'and clicking points of interest on the left side of the gui border.) There is 'Arcane Supplies' that sells basic mage gear (Robes,Staves) and elementalist powder (Magic Ammunition). There is another 'Magic Trainer' (Can't remember name exactly.) That sells spells/magic skills for prowess.
Physical Sellers
Much like the magic sellers, one Physical NPC (The Smithy) sells Weapons and Armor (Arrows too *Confirmed by Creaca*), the other sells skills for physical classes. I can't remember the NPC names but will edit in shortly.
Siege Stones and Common Skills This NPC is normally near the bank in the city and sells 3 common skills. Slow Fall, (To prevent fall damage.) Heal Mount, (Heals your mount...slowly.), and Unburden increases carrying capacity slightly. All common skills cost 500 prowess. The siege stones are used when besieging a clans holding, we won't go into detail on sieges.
Stuff Seller
Sells stuff... notably, tools for harvesting.
The Three C's. Clans,Crafting,and Classes.
Spoiler
The three important C's to decide on...
Clans
Pros:
Clans are a great way of meeting friends and getting help. Often times you will get 'zerged' (Outnumbered) in Darkfall. Having a group of guys is awesome to alleviate that disadvantage. As of now there is a persistence bug where your back pack and bank are deleted when you crash/dc/log out. The clan bank has been immune to this so far. The greatest joy in Darkfall (IMO) comes from the sieges, and a clan is necessary for them.
Cons:
You are almost required to have a headset and a voice communcation program like Ventrilo,Mumble,Teamspeak or Skype. Some clans are very immature and tend to 'Nerd Rage'. Darkfall has a very competitive atmosphere so emotions can run high. Some clans have very high expectations as far as time devotion and things are concerned, this can be more stressful than its worth. Having said that I suggest finding a clan you mesh well with. There are Clans that only recruit older(very mature exceptions) players. As we are in beta, many veteran clans that have carried over from Darkfall 1, have stopped recruiting to prevent bank loss(thieves) due to the persistence bug and the necessity for bank access, spies and various other things. So it may be tricky to find a knowledgeable clan that will accept you, but I doubt it.
In the least you may want to make 2000 gold, and found your own clan for storing your items safely.
Official Clan Management Video
Crafting
Pros:
Crafting is a very important aspect of Darkfall and it is recommended for players who enjoy that. There are two main crafting stations;Work Bench, and Laboratory. Crafting gives a great amount of prowess and works great as a source of income in general. Another great thing is that although many clans have crafters, nearly all clans will accept a dedicated crafter. (Good ones can be hard to find, and it is very unfortunate to be preparing for a siege and not have a crafter online that you need.)
Workbench and Laboratory
Spoiler
Both the Workbench and Laboratory are crucial crafting stations that offer different things.
Workbench:
The workbench gives access to Engineering, Construction, Tanning, Tailoring, Weaving, and Leather Working. (and more, will add later, can't remember off the top of my head.)
Engineering:
is used in making battle spikes and black powder.
Construction:
is used in making building mods and (maybe warhulks, later not positive here).
Tanning and Weaving:
is used to turn Cotton/Raw Hides into Cloth and Leather.
Tailoring and Leather Working:
is used to make Sacks,bags and robes. (More to come, once in game)
Laboratory:
The laboratory gives you access to Alchemy (potion making) and Mount Summoning. (Making Mount figurines.) (Again will add more later, once I am in game.)
Cons:
It means that you will be harvesting a lot of resource nodes; bushes, trees, iron ore, stone. You will probably fall behind in some of the pvp aspects. (Skill grinding and practice.)
Other:
You will spend a lot of time at the Smelter (Turning Iron ore into ingots, etc.),Work Bench, Anvil and Laboratory. I saw a Thamaturgist (or However that is spelled.) in the game but inactive. That is used for enchanting, more on it later.
Classes
Early on the stat differences from the classes can be a huge factor. However, mid/late game you will have worked your base stats up so that there is a better balance.
Elementalist:
Low Health, Moderate Stamina, High Mana. Casts ranged spells that do a lot of damage. Wears robes that offer very little to melee protections.
"The Glass Cannon"
Warrior:
High Health,Moderate Stamina,Low Mana. A melee bruiser of sorts, that has an arsenal for up close and personal damage and crowd control. Has a great personal heal, perfect for sustaining the front line damage. Uses Heavy Metal armors that offer the highest of protections.
Skirmisher:
Medium Health, High Stamina, Low Mana. Basically an archer. Has evasive skills and high damage skills. Uses a bow primarily but isn't afraid to bust out a melee weapon. Wears medium armors like padded, offers fair protections to melee and magic.
Primalist:
The primalist isn't out yet. However, I would expect base stat pools like an Elementalist's with the spells focusing on healing, buffing, and utility. I also suspect robes with the lowest of melee protections.
You can switch between roles fairly frequently. (Every 15 minutes. (Thanks Elelish!). So, testing the different ones out is easy enough. However, some skills (the Ultimate's for each class/role require a fair amount of prowess. 3k.) have to be unlocked, and it can be risky to unlock a skill and not like it after using up your hard earned prowess.
Leveling Skills
Spoiler
Thanks goes to Umer (Forum Name.)
Almost every skill in Darkfall can be leveled by practicing the skill. You can view all your skills in the Skills window ('U' hotkey to access the skills window).
Weapons Skills can be trained by using various weapons. Killing mobs with Greatclubs will increase your Greatclub Skill. As your weapon's skill increases, the damage you do with that type of weapon will increase. Eventually, you will be able to purchase the weapon's mastery (At Skill level 100?) skill using prowess points, further increasing the damage the weapon will do per swing.
Spell skills are raised by casting those spells. The higher level the spells is, the more effective it will be. For example, Heal Self at level 1 will heal for 1.8 health per tick times 5 ticks. At level 50, Heal Self heals for around 3.6 per tick times 5 ticks. I will often try to cast a series of spells when their cooldowns are up, while fighting mobs or even while I'm running around.
Other skills to train include crafting skills. The higher the level of the crafting skill, the better success chance you have to create an item. Higher level crafting skills give you the ability to create higher Rank items. Crafting skills also have Mastery skills that can be purchased with prowess.
Leveling skills is what many players refer to as The Grind. While this was definitely an accurate term in DF1, the skill gains in DFUW seem to come a lot faster and there are dramatically less skills to level up than in DF1. I was able to level my Heal Self skill to 50 in a few days just using it often during PVE. It did not feel "grindy" to me.
Still, some players will choose to use macros to level up their skills as quickly as possible to gain a competitive edge against other players. The will use programs like AutoHotkey to create scripts that cast spells repeatedly. While definitely a viable way to level skills, personally I find just remembering to use my abilities while running around and fighting to be an equally viable way to raise my skills. If you find raising a skill to 50 in a few days too grindy, you may have other problems.
Other Important Tips and Comments
Spoiler
-Don't fret over other jerks looting your corpses as you farm. Most of the low end gear/materials you could get from the safezone mobs isn't worth the time it takes to double click it. Use the various "Treasure Chest" nodes and buy equivalent rank 0 gear from the npc. (Has more Durability on it anyways.) The skill gains when farming the safe zone mobs is more important anyways.
-If you are having trouble farming monsters and are bound determined to do so. You may join a clan and live out of a clan city to farm the monsters near it. Then if someone tries to loot your grave, well you can kill them. +1 for Vigilante Justice.
-Don't be discouraged by macroers(Botters, not hot key users), if AV doesn't ban hammer them, there are limited skills that can be macro'd effectively anways, Conversions and heals, etc. You can remain competitive without the need to macro.
-If you join a clan but have a far travel to make to get with them, have them "Summon" you with a portal shard. They do that by adding you to their friends list. Through the social gui, (or right clicking your name in chat and clicking Send Friends Request.). There is a summon button inside the social gui.
-You can earn fast prowess by Harvesting nodes.
-If you get into a clan, the prowess you earn while you are in the clan is given to the clan as dominion on a 1:10 ratio. Example: If you join the clan 'Awesome Awesome Dudes of Awesome' with 1000 prowess, and then earn another 1000 for a total of 2000. The clan will get 100 dominion from you. 1/10 of the 1000 earned while in the clan.
-Early on it may be more enjoyable to explore naked and earn some prowess from your exploration feats.
-Feats are a fun way to earn prowess and help break the monotony of any single task. (Ironically, some feats I found monotonous.)
PVE Tips
Spoiler
Leveling Mobs: (Thanks Umer, again)
Many mobs in pve are capable of "leveling up" in Darkfall Unholy Wars. A leveled up mob will be slightly more difficult and have a chance to drop better loot. A typical monster that drops a handful of gold will often drop 50g when killing the leveled up version.
To level up a mob, just simply let him hit you repeatedly while parrying using your weapon or shield. Try to use short sprints occasionally to heal yourself or raise your stamina level using your Mana to Stamina spell.
If a mob is capable of leveling, it will happen anywhere from 30 seconds to a couple minutes of beating on your shield.
At the moment during beta with many people at nearby low level spawns it can be difficult to isolate a monster for a period of time without someone coming along and killing it. I will often slowly back up after a mob engages me and pull it to a hidden spot around a wall or behind a tree to help avoid this. It can be frustrating parrying a mob for 2 minutes and someone comes along and kills it before it Levels Up.
-Another note about leveling mobs is that of the mobs that can be leveled they have specific "transformations" they take on, and these transformations yield specific drops. For example, if you let a goblin fighter beat on you for awhile (After it has done enough damage, (and goblin fighters leveled in DF1 not sure in DFUW (Confirmation?)) it can turn into a raging goblin. Raging goblins can drop like 10 meat stew. Any other mob that can become raging, (making this name up) but raging kangaroo, will also just drop the added meat stew. (Or that is how it used to work.). There are other titles that mobs take when they level up. Another one is 'Champion' (Hob goblins can do this, have done it in DF:UW, accidentally). The champion dropped I think 220+ gold.
Prowess and Feats
Feats:
The Feats and Prowess system in Darkfall is one of my favorite additions to the game. The system is similar to achievements in other games, but with meaningful rewards gained through the system.
The prowess system seems to be designed in Tiers. Completing a "beginner" Feat will unlock other and more difficult feats to complete. Each tier of Feats will also increase the rewards gained when completing the advanced versions.
PVE Feats:
For example, killing 3 Trolls (Trollkin) will give you a handful of Prowess and unlock killing 15 tollkin. Completing the feat will give you more prowess points and unlock killing 150 Trollkin which rewards you with 45 prowess.
NOTE* Monster Feats require you to last hit them. (Thanks Elelish!)
Harvesting Feats:
This also works similarly with Harvesting and Crafting. And while you are working towards completing these feats you get random Prowess points on skillgains (weapons skillup, spell skillups, harvesting skillups, etc) and things like harvesting a rare resource.
Example
I was able to get over 2000 prowess in a fews days of playing just by "dabbling". I killed 150 skeletons, 150 zombies, 150 trolls to complete a lot of PVE Feats. I harvested 300 cotton, 300 Iron Ore, and 300 Timber which included several "rare" harvesting feats to complete a lot of harvesting feats. I crafted leather armor sets, shields, weapons, chain armor sets to complete a lot of crafting Feats.. I skinned all of the different types of monsters (especially easy with all the tombstones in newbie spawns) to complete a lot of the Skinning Feats.
By using this dabbling method, I amassed a fairly considerable amount of Prowess relatively quickly and had fun by trying lots of different things.
And I still feel like I barely scratched the surface as far as the Feat system goes
Races and Stats + Gains
Races:
There are 6 races in Darkfall:UW. Each race has a base stat distribution that varies slightly and can affect the early game but is negligible mid/late game.
Mercians (Humans)
Are a very balanced race.
They have 20 Strength, 20 Dexterity, 20 Intelligence, and 20 Wisdom. (Thanks Mycke!)
Mirdain (Elves)
Are adept at archery, giving a slightly higher dexterity stat than some other races.
They have: 20 Strength, 24 Dexterity, 20 Intelligence and 16 Wisdom.
(Thanks StormTrooper) (Wisdom is up for debate but surely its 16.)
Alfari (Dark Elves)
Are adept with magic, giving a slightly higher intelligence stat than some other races.
They have: 16 Strength, 20 Dexterity, 24 Intelligence and 20 Wisdom. (Thanks Mycke!)
Tovarr (Tall Dwarves)
Are adept with (crafting?), giving a slightly higher wisdom stat than some other races. I would like confirmation on their starting stats please.
Mahirim (Werewolves?)
Are adept with (not sure, looking awesome?), giving a slightly higher sex appeal stat than some other races. I would like confirmation on their starting stats please.
Orks (Orks)
Are very strong, giving a slightly higher strength stat than some other races.
They have: 24 Strength, 20 Dexterity, 20 Intelligence, and 16 Wisdom.
(I completely made this stat up, not going to lie, just basing on Ork lore. still needs confirmed.)
The races starting stats has been debated in other threads but no official confirmation yet. I simply wrote this as a type of placeholder for future additions to the guide.
Stats:
Strength:
Strength increases your melee damage and maximum health. Strength is increased by using two handed weapons. Great Sword, Great Club, Great Axe, and Pole Arm.
Dexterity:
Dexterity increases your melee attack speed and maximum stamina. Dexterity is increased by using Daggers and/or a bow.
Intelligence:
Intelligence increases your spell's damage and maximum mana. Intelligence is increased by casting spells or staff bolt.
Wisdom:
Wisdom has a moderate affect on maximum mana and increases durability of crafted items.(Will confirm once server comes back on!) Wisdom is increased by casting conversions. (May be increased through harvesting bushes and or casting other common skills. Confirm?)
Much like the races portion, the stats part of this guide will be updated substantially.
Crafting Simplified
A lot of the material here has been covered in other parts of the guide, and may be self explanatory. However, I felt that some of it was over complicated a little.
Basically, Crafting is broken into 3 parts. Harvesting Materials, Processing Materials, and Crafting Items.
Harvesting Materials
You gather different materials by killing monsters (and skinning them with a skinning knife.) and by harvesting "nodes". Nodes are trees, rocks, iron deposits and bushes. Bushes yield Cotton, Trees yield timber, Rocks yield Stone and Iron deposits yield Iron ore.
Processing Materials
During the processing stage you take the materials and convert them into usable materials. There are stations for the different conversions. Smelter converts Iron ore to Iron Ingots. The Workbench has three converters; Weaving, Tanning and Woodcutting. Weaving converts cotton to cloth, Tanning converts rawhide to leather, and Woodcutting converts timber to wood. Each conversion has a 5:2 ratio of input to output. (example, every 5 timber converts to 2 wood. Assuming you don't fail.). Once your converting skill is a high enough level. You can add magical properties to the raw materials to produce better converted materials. Example, Take cotton (or maybe the cloth already produced, will confirm soon.) and fuse it with a Selentine Essence to make a Selentine Cloth. Most (All) processing takes 1 gold per 5:2 conversion.
Crafting Items
This is the good stuff. You use the processed items, add in a little gold and maybe other specified ingredients to make other stuff. So this is self explanatory, but A+B+....=Awesome!
PVP Basics
So, most of us play Darkfall for the hardcore PVP action. However, that action is a lot less fun if you are getting your butt kicked non stop. Having said that we are going to cover some basic aspects of PVP, and perhaps later some advanced Role specific aspects.
Stats and Maintaining Them
This may seem obvious to many, but for new guys this is very important. You have three stat pools, Health, Stamina, and Mana.
Health is probably pretty intuitive (I hope so.) but basically if you lose it, you die (See Reviving & Ganking.)
Stamina is basically like health, if you lose it you die. The difference is you don't die immediately. (Just very nearly). Instead you can't sprint, you can't cast much of anything, you can't jump, you pretty much just die. Stamina is used in all basic movements and in casting many skills from the Warrior/Skirmisher Roles.
Mana isn't as scary to run out of like Health and Mana, unless you're a mage, then you're probably going to die. Mana is used for most (all) common skills, and all spells a mage uses. It's your energy pool for putting out the damage and it's important.
Conversions
There are three conversions (Mana to Stamina, Stamina to Health and Health to Mana.). They are self explanatory. At low levels though, (less than 40) they are actually counter productive. They cost 50 Stats to cast, and tick 5 times. But prior to spell level 40, each tick is less than 10 points returned per. So at 40 you break even. Example... You cast Mana to Stamina, it takes 50 mana, and returns 5 ticks of Stamina. At level 40 each tick is 10 points. Meaning you get a 1:1 ratio on the conversion. At higher levels (75+) (and higher Intelligence (confirmation?)). The conversions become very beneficial, especially when combined with Heal Self.
The conversions can be cast with little to no waiting in between, if you cycle all three. This allows you to "Stat Up" fairly quickly, if you successfully disengage.
Heal Self is a self heal... that costs only 2 mana! And at higher levels can heal for a solid amount.
Reviving and Ganking
Once a players Health is gone, they fall to the ground and die. (Moan in pain) At this point you can walk up to them, look down at them and press and hold 'F' to interact with them. You can always choose to revive. But you can only choose to gank if you have a melee weapon out. (Leafblade, Great Sword, etc.) If the player is left to moan in pain long enough they will revive on their own. (Don't know if this is changing at official launch, it didn't exist in DF1) I believe you revive with little to no Health and Mana but full Stamina. If a player is ganked, their body is replaced with a tombstone that can be accessed using 'F'. The tomb will open up a window like your bank, except it has all the items they had on them at the time of their untimely demise. LOOTS!!! Note: The tomb functions just like mob tombs in noob areas; anyone can take from it.
*PRO TIP: If you are in a clan, Do NOT battle loot (looting before fight is over.), Do NOT bag loot, (steal a whole bag versus a few items out of it) unless the "Loot and Scoot" call has been made. Do NOT touch an allies tomb who may have died without calling it out BEFORE you place your head in the tomb. These things have very negative effects, and your reputation will follow you in Darkfall. And for the sake of preserving Alliances, never touch an allies tomb let his people (Clannies) do it, until you have strong relations and have proven yourself trustworthy enough (to them) to loot their gear.
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DF:UW Tips and stuff : DFO - General / Guide - Discussions
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