On this page we cover the following topics:
On page 1 we covered the steps involved in starting a new character in Tharsis Gate:
And here are the links for page 3:
When you enter the game you are in the foyer to the Adventurer's Building in a town called Tolnedra. Right outside the door is a teeming marketplace and the surrounding city. Inside this city you have a large array of wandering local people and animals.B. Combat.Wandering round can of course get you lost and in case you need to find your way back it's advisable you make a map, or use our one. Of course there may well be hidden areas not shown on our map.
You should check out the general store, pubs, bank and other shops shown on the map, for they will provide usefull items for your adventuring.
Some of the people around town are rather tough and you should be careful attacking anyone without first looking at them to determine what equipment they are carrying. You should also use the 'consider' command before attacking.
The newbie booklet, obtained from the dispenser to the west of the login room, lists a few places easily reachable from inside the town that provide a good place to start your adventuring. Or alternatively you can just wander round and start out with the dogs and cats.
Playing Tharsis Gate often boils down to killing monsters. Monsters being anything else that moves. And trying to kill something is usually what gets you killed. Thus you need to prepare as well as possible.Armour makes a big difference in combat, thus get as much as you can. You weapon also makes a big difference, but be a bit careful with your choice as a large weapon can be difficult to use. And if you have a low skill with the weapon, then you will tend to damage it and miss - rather than killing your opponent.
Always 'consider' your opponent before attacking. This provides useful information about how well you think you will fare against them.
Set you 'wimpy'. Once combat starts, nothing stops it until one or the other opponent is dead or runs away. By setting your 'wimpy level' you can specify when you want your character to automatically flee (IE if your HitPoints drop below 20, then run away). Don't think that this will automatically save your life - some monster might do large amounts of damage very quickly, or they might chase you.
Turn on your HitPoint monitor. You do this using the 'notify hp' command. When you have hp notification on then you will be informed of any change in your hitpoints. This enables you to keep track of how the combat is progressing.
Combat is usually started by you issuing the 'kill' command. Once this command is issued the MUD will automatically handle the fight for you, causing you to swing at the monster and it to respond in kind. One or other of you might be a bit faster (you can attack faster with a smaller weapon) and may get more swings than the opponent, so be careful.
Each time you swing at least one of your skills is used. This will be the skill associated with the weapon you are wielding. As a general rule the skills used are the following:
When you attack, your bonus in the appropriate skill (as well as a roll of the dice) determines whether you will be able to hit your opponent. Magic weapon can of course help you here. It is thus usually best to concentrate on raising just one of the above skills and sticking to that type of weapon.
- combat.melee.edged: swords, axes, knives, polearms
- combat.melee.pointed: spears, daggers, some polearms
- combat.melee.blunt: clubs, staves
- combat.unarmed.*: Used when you have no weapon
When the oponent swings at you, your character will make an attempt dodge or block. You can specify whether you prefer to block or dodge using the 'response' command. It is again best to concentrate on raising only one of your combat.defense.dodge or combat.defense.block skills and using the response command.
Combat will continue until one or other opponent's hit points reach 0 or below. At this point that person dies. Their corpse will fall to the ground and you will be able to loot it ('get all from corpse') for items and gold. All guilds also have a spell or command that allows you to use the corpse in some way.
For killing a monster you will receive some experience. This experience can then be used in the training rooms to advance your skills.
Simply by participating in combat your character can learn how to fight more effectively. This translates into possible increases in your combat skills every time you swing your weapon or are attacked by a monster. Such increases are called "Auto Advances" or "AAs". These are identical to the AAs that you can receive through the use of guild commands.
Sometimes you will come second in a fight, and this means you will be dead. Dying isn't the end of the game (usually), but you should definitely consider reading about what to do when you die before you go into combat.