The big FAQ!

A place for Frequently Asked Questions

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Dabhand
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The big FAQ!

Post by Dabhand » Tue Aug 12, 2008 2:47 pm

What is Limbo?
Limbo is a safe area of Avatar (there are others in Lomah but you'll have to find them!), where you can wait for people, read messages, see the top 20 and so on. If you want to see the directions you can go in Limbo, or anywhere else in the game, type XS. To look at the noticeboards type READ NB when you are facing one.

How do I move around in Limbo?
Limbo is set up like the real world, you can go forwards, backwards left and right and so on. When you go backwards you do not take a step backwards, but you TURN AROUND and then walk forwards(!). The next room will then be positioned relative to your facing direction.

In Limbo you can also TURN on the spot. If you are facing forward a TURN LEFT leaves you facing the next exit to the left. If you TURN LEFT eight times you end up facing back where you started.

How do I go into Lomah? (Land of milk and honey)
You must firstly create an Avatar to inhabit Lomah. Type ACTIVATE to get a list of avatars and classes. Each Deity can activate an Avatar representing one of the six attributes of their character, namely Intelligence, Wisdom, Charisma, Dexterity, Vitality and Strength. The first three attributes manifest as magic users, the last three as fighters and you may activate any of these, but not at the same time.

The best one to start with is the Strength Avatar. You create this by either typing CREATE STRENGTH or CREATE 6. You then give this Warrior a Name and Sex. Once created you can then ACTivate it. You do this by typing ACT 6 or ACT . You will then be transported into your Guild in Lomah. There is a different Guild for each class, and once an avatar has become a Greater Avatar in that class, he/she may progress to a higher class tier with new skills and attributes. If you e-mail to register your Deity, we will precreate a Strength Avatar for you with the same name as your Deity.

How do I move around?
Generally you move around using compass directions; N for north; NE for northeast etc. There are some areas eg the ship and the mountains that use a different form, type XS (EXITS) to find out what direction you can go in. There are also some areas with the same movement commands as Limbo.

How do I communicate?
To speak to other players in your location type SAY followed by your message. To speak to another player privately type in their name (or the first few characters of their name) followed by your message. You can SHOUT but this is only heard in the immediate area, by using FARSHOUT this will be heard in your current zone. (Examples of zones are:- The Town, The Citadel, The Crypt, etc). You can use EXITS to discover what zone you are in. Some zones are only accessible to certain classes or level of avatars. You do not have to use quotation marks in speech.

How do I kill something?
There are many monsters and people to kill in Avatar but you need to know how powerful they are. You will hear EXAMINE EVERYTHING TO SUCCEED IN LOMAH until you are blue in the face! If you have just created your character you will be in one of the guilds, here you can examine the GuildMaster. Try EX GUILDMASTER. This gives you a description of the happy chappie and an approximation of how powerful he is. Please take note : DO NOT TRY TO ATTACK HIM!! The GuildMaster and storekeepers are more powerful than the highest level avatars and are generally immune to weapons and magic. Type WHEN to make sure it's still daytime and then go and explore! You will be protected from blundering into really deadly monsters but there are still a few dangerous things in the town. Make your way towards the centre of town and then go West until you reach the wilderness. DO NOT ATTACK ANYTHING until you enter the wilderness!

You will find some weapons lying around, others you can buy in the many shops. Your first priority is to READY the weapon, eg READY SWORD, then once you start fighting the weapon will automatically come into use.
You use K to start the fight, which then continues until one of you is dead or one of the fighters flees. If you are attacked by something type HIT and hopefully watch it die. There are also varying degrees of hit strength. A simply HIT gives 20% attack and 80% defence. A :HIT gives 80% attack, 20% defence, with other variables in between.

I don't damage monsters when I attack them!
This could be one of many reasons; You might be parrying in the fight or not hitting them hard enough, if you are still low level try to :K and :HIT them. The monsters themselves might be very tough if you are low level - Don't try to kill the Skeletal Joker at first level, he will have the last laugh! Another reason is you are either not using a weapon or not using a weapon that you are skilled at. To check if you can use this weapon type SKILLS. This gives you some idea as to how good you are at using particular weapon types.

How do I work out how good a weapon is?
You use the test dummies which are south of the town centre. Go down The Whiteway until you get below the point where it kinks Eastwards. Go West into Tiny Gods Close and continue West. You will see a dummy there. You can kill it like a normal monster. There are other dummies further west which wear different types of armour. Try not to be killed by a dummy - it's terribly embarrassing!

What is this day and night business?
Lomah has a day and night like the real world, the length of time it's dark for varies with the seasons - In winter, the nights are longer. Also night-time heralds the arrivals of the town's undesirable monsters! As the city watch has gone to bed it is VERY, VERY dangerous to go out at night while you are still relatively inexperienced.

How do I regain Stamina?
By waiting. Your stamina increases by the number of your level (type LEVELS to find that out) every half minute. This is obviously fairly slow, but if you have enough money you can buy Blue potions. These give you a quick 25 points worth of stamina in one shot.

How do I get money?
Your Guild master sometimes rewards you with cash on killing a monster, also you will pick up many items along your travels which you can sell in the numerous shops or to the various traders. The thief class can of course steal it!

How do I go up a level?
You need to gain the required amount of experience points (type LEVELS to find out how many you need). These can be gained by solving puzzles, killing monsters or players (!) and by learning spells. Your Guild Master will also assign you a quest which you have to complete. Once you have completed your quest and you have the required experience points go back to your guild, your Guild Master will promote you to your next level.

What is morality?
Morality is how good or how evil you are. You become more good by killing evil players/monsters, and more evil by killing good monsters/players. If you become too evil your Guild master will warn you that you will be unable to gain more experience points until you become nicer! You can balance your avatars, ie one can be very evil, another very good without inflicting any penalties. Your magic avatars use spells to determine the moral inclination of a monster/player.

What happens when I die?
When you die your 'essence' is transported back to Limbo. You have to reactivate your avatar to get back into the land and you will arrive in your Guild stark naked! Any items you were wearing or carrying when you died will be in a heap in that location. If you're quick you can retrieve these items (and brave enough to run through the land naked!!!). To get dressed, simply WEAR CLOTHES or WEAR ARMOUR.

How do I find quest items?
Usually the Guild master will give you a clue as to where an object is, but if you get really stuck you can ask him for a hint which costs money. Alternatively you can ask one of the other players for a clue or help. Note that they will almost certainly demand payment or help with their own quest or ask you to join their party.

What is a party?
The Avatar classes are very different, and quests are allocated to suit the skills of the different classes. Although an individual can complete his/her quest solo, many of the higher level quests can be very hard to do alone. The party system allows an avatar to advertise for help on a quest and to offer a guaranteed reward for assistance. The party leader funds the party which the Guild master banks and helpers are invited to join (runners are sent out!) and automatically get paid when the leader has completed his/her quest. Also members of a party can talk privately amongst themselves, when planning strategy, etc. Higher level quests require the avatar to lead a party, even if it's a party of one, as the guild master will expect payment from the party fund when it's time for promotion.

Many of the higher level quests require a good deal of cooperation between players. Non-magical warriors might hack & slay monsters to clear the way for supporting magicians with offensive spells and priests with brilliant defensive and healing spells. Spells can be cast on oneself or on other players and monsters; sometimes at a distance. Please read the write-ups on Magic for MUCH more information.
Dabhand.

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