Hello! Welcome to the Zolian world! My name is May and I am a high-elf who loves to document the history and create guides of Zolian along with some artwork! If you see any errors or would like to see something added, send me a whisper, mail (ingame) or a DM in Discord! Down below, I have made a guide for beginners. Even if you have played Dark Ages before, here you will find many things that are different from DA. To start off: Max exp level is 500 and max Job (ability) level is 500. Max base stats are 500. MUCH of what I have written here can also be found in the Zolian Guide Book given to you in game after the tutorial. If you can't locate yours, see if Camille in Mileth Inn has an extra copy!
Chatting
Speaking of whispers, to talk just press enter, type a sentence, and press enter again. To see a chat history, just hit the f key. To whisper, press SHIFT ' at the same time. You will see blue text at the bottom of your screen. From here, type a name (try May) and hit enter. Now it should show the name in blue (May:). Type your message and hit enter to send! If you have multiple people you are whispering, after you open whisper you can use the up or down arrow keys to cycle through recent names you have whispered.
In a group and only want to chat to them? SHIFT' !!
Want to shout to the everyone on your current map? SHIFT! (this text will be yellow)
Want to tell ALL of Zolian something (World shout)? SHIFT'!
Note: world shout is free! No skill/spell or items needed. Test it out by shouting "Hello Zolian!". We have a friendly and helpful community, so don't be shy!
To chat to an NPC, just click on them! This will not work on the mundanes walking around town, BUT they can be very chatty if you sit there long enough.
Interface
Inventory- (Press a) Double click your inventory to show your character information (gear, legend, skills, quests, photo album, and family. In your inventory, the first row will give you quick access to items by pressing the key associated with the item. To deposit something in the bank from ANYWHERE in the world, extend your inventory (SHIFT a or press the +2) and drag and drop the item to the second to last square.
Skills-(press s) If your skill panel becomes full, or you want to use your second skill panel (SHIFT s) you can drag and drop skills to the second to last square. Using skills on the top line is easy! Just press the key it shows in order to execute them in front of a target.
Spells-(press d) Same as skills, you can use your second spell panel (SHIFT d). Some spells here required you to select a target. You can drag and drop the spell onto the target, double click the spell then highlight and click the target, or hit the key associated with the spell then highlight and click the target.
Chat history-(press f) View chat history: out loud chat, whispers, group chat, map chat, or world chat. View system information: Debuffs, whispers, Buffs, spells casted on your, skill/spell failures etc. (SHIFT f).
Basic stats-(press g) Here you will see your stats, hp/mp, gold in inventory, exp(more on this later), Ability(Job) exp, Gear Points (GP), Level, Experience till next level or tnl, Ability(Job) Level, and Experience till next Ability(JOB LEVEL) or tna. Gear points are made up of the type of gear you wear. Info here. Boxed exp will stop showing here around 4.2b exp. However, you can hold MUCH more. View your true "boxed exp" by hitting F1. For stats and your Level, the number shown here will not go past 255. I HIGHLY recommend getting used to checking your stats and level using F1. Second stat panel (SHIFT g) will show your attack element, defense element, regeneration percentage, Armor Class, Dmg, and HIT points (HIT=reflex). Much of this is better reflected in the FI Advanced Stats Window. For more information about that panel, check Chapter V.
Assails and World skills/spells-(press h) left side of this panel are your assails and the right side are world spells such as recall and mine. If your spell panels are overflowed, you will find the spells start filling your world spell panel. NEAT TIP: Want to see your spacebar assail as a certain animation (2hand, punch, stab, etc)? Just move that assail to the #1 spot! Now this only works if the armor you are wearing supports that animation!
Client Options-(press q) access to friends list (will show up green in world population), chat macro, and client settings.
Mail-(press w) If you have unread mail, this icon will actually flash a yellow border. You can also set letters on fire.
World Population-(press e) Here you will see a list of Aislings logged in. To whisper them, you just double click their name! Vitalities are shown until you select a job.
Change your Aislings status-(press r) Awake, Do not disturb (will receive no whispers), Daydreaming (will show your character sitting/laying after some time), lfg, grouped, solo hunting, group hunting, and need help!
Map-(press t) this will not be available on every map
List of your group members-(press y)
Advanced Stats-press F1
Refresh Client-press F5
Take a Portrait-press F8
To block/ignore someone-press F9 and follow the prompt to add (a), delete (d), or view your ignore list (?). When you add someone to this list, you will not receive whispers or see what they say out loud and in world shout.
Stats
As I mentioned before, max base stats are 500. You will also be able to get more from gear. Basic uses of stats across everyone:
STR-Increases weight capacity, increases dmg on some skills
INT-Increases dmg on spells
WIS-affects MP gain each level up and mp regen
CON-Increases fortitude, hp gain on level up, hp regen, and dmg on some skills
DEX-Increases AC and dmg on some skills
When you look at your skill/spell pages on your profile, you will notice at the bottom there are modifiers. Take a look at the skill "Assail". Skill modifier is STR. This means the more you increase STR, the more dmg your assail will do. This is the only modifer for assail. If you look at the Human racial skill "Slash", it has a modifier of STR, CON, DEX meaning all 3 will increase dmg. In many cases, the first stat shown in the modifiers will have the most weight. Damaging spells will always use INT for dmg. However, you will see their exponent as their modifier. The higher the exponent, the higher the damage.
If you feel you want to move your stats around, at level 400 you can reallocate stats with a cost of 5% hp/mp.
Races
Here in Zolian, you have many races to choose from. It will be one of the first things you do! Choosing a race will give you certain benefits. For more information, check out the Races Chapter.
Classes, Mastering, and Jobs
Next up you must choose your FIRST class. So many to choose from! What's your favorite playstyle? Casting deadly spells? Debuffing a target? Tanking? High DPS? Healing? More information found in Chapter II.
You will be able to choose your second class once you get the correct stats and vitality! This happens long before you are close to mastering, or you can wait until right before you master! However, you must be dual classed in order to master. More info on dual classing (advancing) and mastering found in the chapter Hall of Advancement.
Once you have dual classed then mastered, the growth doesn't stop. You will be able to pick up a job for all those tough mobs. These jobs require a sacrifice: all your monk belts, hours of armor smith, expensive spells, a prized sword, and searching for these high leveled mob drops. But from your sacrifice, you will gain great power. Requirements, skills, and spells can be found in Chapter II right below the classes.
Maps:
One important thing when you first start, is how to navigate the world of Zolian. When you leave the tutorial, you will show up in Mileth Inn. I am currently working on section dedicated to navigation! Please have a look at my maps!
Questing
One of my favorite things is questing. As an adventurer, I love to collect the marks in my legend, reputation among the different towns and guilds, experience, rewards, and the stories each quest builds. You can view anyone's legend when you open up their character information, including yours! Reputation is needed for jobs and interacting with certain NPCs, such as Carn in Adventurer's Guild Advanced Camp in Cthonic Remains. Quests and the reputation you get from each can be found in Chapter VIII.
Dungeons/Hunting
To increase your level, you must gain experience. To gain experience you must hunt! Now hunting in itself also requires a more in depth chapter. To see all the different dungeons around Zolian check out Chapter IV. That chapter also has some basics when it comes to hunting and mobs so please give it a read (even if you have played DA before). Each dungeon page will list each map, the mobs, their levels, and their drops.
Elements
Elements in Zolian are an important part of hunting and surviving. Here, you can use a primary (necklace or belt) and secondary (weapons, offhands, accessories, etc) elements to use in your favor. Elements here are Wind, Earth, Fire, Water, Void, Holy, Rage, Sorrow, and Terror. PLEASE read my Element Chapter. It is so very important to understand how elements work to get the most out of your hunting experience!
Gear
There is a great range of gear here. Anything from damaged-mythic can be found from mob loot. Certain gear even have variances that will proc when attacking. I have a list of gear, their stats, and where to find them in Chapter III. On that page, you will also find the different types and variances of gear. You will have a chance to upgrade weapons through blacksmith and armor through armorsmith! Both can be found in Chapter IX.
Saving Throws and Gear Attributes
Another favorite of mine is building my gear. Lets start off by talking about your saving throws, found when you hit F1 (advanced stats panel).
Fortitude: Increases with con (10% of base and geared with a max of 90%) and Elemental Bane from Half Elves. This is the amount of hits mitigated by 33%.
Reflex: Similar to HIT for those who have played retail. This is the amount of physical attacks that you completely dodge and will receive no damage. 10% of HIT from gear and a max of 90%. You can physically see your reflex working when you are being hit, and your character has a white outline! Neat.
Will: Similar to MR for those who played retail. Percentage of magical attacks you mitigate and reduce their effectiveness. 14% of MR from gear for a max of 80%.
Now onto some gear attributes and enhancements!
Armor Class or AC: This will either increase or decrease damage taken. Max AC values are -200 to 500. The higher your AC, the more damage you mitigate (this is what you want). You can increase your AC through gear (especially their rarities and some armor variances such as Sgrios and Reinforcement). Your dex also increases AC (DEX/15).
Armor, Weapon, and Shield Variances: SO MANY VARIANCES. All can be found here, on the gear page.
Some variances will not work on mini bosses and bosses. So be aware of this if you notice your weapon doesn't proc (programmed random occurrence).
Potions
Can be bought from various NPCs and some can be found from mob drops. Elixir of Life potion can be dragged and dropped onto another player skulling to save them. You do not have to run up to another player and select/double click Elixir of Life to rescue them (or red).
Scrolls
Scrolls can be used to port to a certain spot in any town. Many shops in towns sell them, but Dente in Mileth Harbour sells every town scroll. Cthonic Remains scrolls can only be bought from the camps. To get an option to scroll to adv camp, you will need to complete 3 quests from Helnnis. To scroll to forward camp, you need to complete Helnnis' Spec Operator quest.
Altars
Mileth and Undine have altars. When you drop items into it, you will receive something in return. This can either be exp, ard ioc deums, weapons, shields, or belts. Can only receive up to forsaken on these items. Things such as scrolls, paper, potions, or food will only fumble into the altar, giving you nothing in return!