Ok, so I have played this game on and off for about 11 years. 90% of that time was back before the age of 15. I have never made it to hero. Only ever made it in one cabal(heralds). The closest I ever made it to hero was 44 and I died of con loss. So my question is, what in the heck am I missing? I know my way around pretty well, do not use macros, and pretty much fail... Any advice? True advice only please.

And use aliases.

Get JMC or tintin++ or something.

Alias syntax is :

#alias {qt}{quaff teleport}

'qt' is what you type and it will type in 'quaff teleport' for you. This is probably 90% of the reason why you con die - because I can follow you and type in bt (bash target) before you can type out 'qua teleport'.

Aliases are a must have in this game unless you're an amazing typist.

There's two types of survival mechanisms:

1) How to not die *most* of the time.
2) How to never die.

I assume you don't need to *never* die - you just want reasonable protection, so here are some suggestions:

1) Build a hiding spot list. When I have to go AFK for a couple of minutes to smoke or something like that, I don't just log out or leave myself out in the open. I have hiding spots on every continent, near every town most of which have qualities like - airforms can't see me, I can't be gaunted, there's no real reason for people to pass through. Underwater is good for most of the above - there's very many underwater rooms in non-underwater areas that almost no one has any reason to go to. As a result I can go AFK quite often and not die.

2) Know who is around. I'll change my tactics if some types of thief/assassin/ranger types are around.

3) Consider being a hiding type. It's pretty hard to condie a transmuter, ranger, thief or assassin that isn't out constantly looking to brawl. Have a good idea of who is around that can see you and if they're trying to follow you around for some reason assume they are hunting you.

4) Carry teleport/word of recall on you at all times. Ragers is not a cabal for people who don't want to con-die. Learn where you can at least get teleport for free and save word of recall for when you really need it.

5) Avoid eastern road. In all seriousness, avoid it, if there's another equally easy way to get somewhere. The hunting sphere of death is north road, Galadon, eastern road, Hamsah, Weald, East Dairien (by the Inn), the fields north of the crossroads and Tar Valon (or whatever that city is called now). Don't hang around those places afk. Don't hang out in Galadon at all. Don't hang around your cabal. Basically, if you don't have a group, don't just randomly hang out in the open. I don't get gaunted because I go underwater a couple of times to piss the conjurer off losing their gaunt then they stop trying to gaunt me. Cabals like fortress are sort of really, really bad to hang out in by yourself due to the lack of summoning protection and lack of distance where you can see enemies approaching. Hanging out in the Fortress is just asking for a group to walk up and summon you out and bash you to death.

6) If you didn't start the fight, flee. If you're not planning on fighting, set your wimpy to 50%. Set an alias to quaff teleport and use it if you can't outrun your enemy.

7) If they are not your ally they are your enemy. Don't do something like walk into a room with a bard you don't know, or a necromancer you don't know. Assume everyone who isn't your friend is trying to kill you. That's pretty accurate most of the time.

Use aliases. Seriously.

If your goal is to hero, then make ranking a priority. Don't try to PK. Don't spend time sitting around the Inn like Heralds tend to do. Just rank.

Also play a combo/align/etc. that's conducive to ranking.

If making it to hero is your goal, play a support class and make friends. Do this two more times and you'll be leading the groups against skeletons.

If getting 100 PKs is your goal, I can't help you.

If finding sleeks is your goal, roll up an O/G Conjie, go Scribe and have friends show you around.

It's hard to give specific advice without knowing what you want out of the game.

If you don't type extremely fast, it might be a good idea to have some kind of client setup that gives you at least minimal aliases or hotkeys. I think a lot of people can offer you advice on how to do that, and it mostly only accounts for your PK success/failure, so I'll leave that piece for someone else to cover.

Without knowing more it's hard for me to give you advice, so let's dig down a little bit. Of the things you haven't done, what would you like to try to do next? Hero a character? Get into one of the other cabals? Something else? Pick one thing for starters and we'll figure out how to get there and if you're doing anything wrong.

It is hard to know what advice to give when the area is so broad. If you
want better advice than simply a neutral or good char who can tank or
heal, then you need to be more specific with your goal.

Also sorry about not being precise really didnt think about it...lol

Honestly, I want to hero and join other cabals. And get a good feel of making it to end game. also I am not super mud client savy so creating aliases and whatnot is like speeking chinese to me.

Okay: pick a cabal you'd like your next character to try to get in, and we'll offer some specific advice on what to make.

And/or: Tell us about a character you tried to get caballed before and what you did to get in, or what happened that made you give up?

Empire is one decent choice to get more used to the caballed world, because induction is mostly automated or can be if you prefer it. I think Fort and Nexus tend to be two other cabals that are relatively newbie friendly. I could make a case for Tribunal being so as well, though I think that fluctuates a bit depending on the leader.

Once you've been caballed and heroed a time or three and feel like you have a better grip on the basics of that, all the options will be on the table for you, but for now, let's aim for simpler.

Well, many moons ago I wanted to join the fort. Problem was I was an orc.(mind you I was alot younger then I am now) with soon help and love from corlaan, I almost did it before con loss (thrakburzug was not happy). I have tried it with another
to (fort I mean) but everytime I tried to talk to anyone about it, they were busy. Probably not their fault, but it got very ANnoying, so I joined the heralds. I have a character now that might be good for the empire so perhaps I should do some reading up on them.

Note that rangers and druids cannot join and transmuters, shapeshifters, conjurers and invokers aren't going to get past citizen rank so you'd just be everyones bitch there if you joined as one of those.

You might consider rolling a character that's a really good fit for the cabal you have in mind. For example, if you want to go Empire, intentionally make an orderly evil character of one of the sected classes. If you want to be a squire/maran, make a good-aligned character you think you can actually PK a few evil characters with and then do it, etc.

Someone who's playing, say, Battle for the tenth time probably has a solid enough understanding of what does and does not work with respect to Battle that they can play an anti-paladin and have a fair chance of getting inducted; the first few times out I think you can make things easier for yourself by making a more archetypal character (e.g. paladin for Fort or whatever.)

Hmmmmmmmmm.

Tahren would be straight out, but I don't think it's impossible.

Note: I Am Not A Battle Imm and have not consulted any in making this post.

That getting inducted as a non-standard race/class is a no-go as per Zulg's direction these days. The old "RP it and it can happen" doesn't seem to be Zulg's mantra. Nothing against Zulg, but it is why I abandoned my last orcfest orc because I really wanted to try to get inducted into battle and there was another character (paladin maybe) that suffered it out for much longer than I would be willing to and never got the induct and was told it wasn't going to be possible.

Next year.

The only reason ive never tried a paladin/ healer and whatnot is because of the empowerment. I am not a supper strong rper and I guess I never really had the confidence to try and rp with the imms. In fact the only 3 imms ive ever seen/ talked to were shokai/corlaan and eshval. And those encounters at a young age in RL were nerve racking because of them being imms lol. I had this big fear of immortals when I was younger.

Something like my second character got empowered. Really the hard part, for me, is usually just catching the immortal when they are on. Do something basic that follows the religion and almost no immortal, I'd bet, will turn you down. You need the STRONG RP when go to try things like a Zulgh paladin or something of the sort that just isn't common or necessarily meant to be. Like a made-it-up-yourself religion. Plus, I don't think any of them expect you to "get" the entirety of their religion right off the bat. Go talk to them, worst case scenario I bet you at least get some low level initial empowerment.

Paladin?
Write a role that says you want to kill evil and go talk to Baer.

Healer?
Hell, any immortal works for this one. From Whiysdan to Scarabaeus.

Druid is the only one I find daunting, and even that I bet I could get empowerment. It's the actual daily roleplaying I don't think I could pull off as a druid. Somehow I just don't have that archetype in my brain.

What about finding the shrines? I remeber corrlaans but thats about it. Hell i was a herald and had no idea where the patron gods shrine was lol

Most immortals have hints in their helpfile. Sounds like you have been playing for a while, so you should have at least the general knowledge to find them.

Even if you don't, you can also ask around in game.

"who sphere" tells you everyone with the same sphere. They might know.

Obviously someone else in your religion would know.

Just random strangers would know too. For instance, I now know (I think) every active shrine in the game. Aside from the new guys, and I have a good guess on Akresius, just haven't looked. You ask me in game? I'll definitely tell you.

Or hell, PM Matrik on QHCF.net and I'll tell you.

Typically people in the imm's cabal are pretty good resources too.

Most Fort people can tell you where Baer's shrine is, etc.

The pilgrimage to find the shrine IC based on the clue in the helpfile can be a nice addition to your RP and your character's story. You could also talk with people about it and speak of your pilgrimage to become a priest etc. while you ask for their advice.

I actually miss the part of getting empowerment that was the "pilgrimage to find the shrine." I suppose I could still do that now, but it's hard for me to fake not knowing something heh.

Ok, one more question how do you make money. I mean, other than the obvious(killing npcs/pc and selling gear that you loot).are there places to farm that have higher coin amonts?

Dragon scales sell well. The trick is finding the shops that have coin to buy. You'll have to find those on your own though. Can't give away my secrets there.

Some people farm high gold yield chests, but I find that unfun so I'd rather just go without that much money.

You can also kill mobs with lots of money. Frost giants come to mind. It's not quick, but you can get some skill practice in or something.

Luckily my Santa Zulgh came true and when you "list" at a shopkeeper it tells you what type of items they will buy.

Ok, so are their a lot of chests around? the only one I know of is the tir,talath quest one.

The chest you spoke of isn't much, but if you take it every time you pass it can add up.

Same with the trolls in the Gol'Galath path. The first troll has a key to the room north of him that contains like 800 copper. Everytime you pass. He is two rounder once you get past level 20 or so.

The gem in campfire south of wood-elf city. Worth a pretty penny or a barter and is light. Grab it every time you pass by.

Gems in Svirfnebli city gem garden. Not worth much, but good for getting a quick bite to eat in an emergency.

TIP: Always try to barter to save your coin, but try not to barter super expensive stuff for crap. If you don't know the value of the item you can: use lore, use identify, use Alduk (Inn of the Eternal Star), or you can take it to a shopkeeper that would buy it if they had money and type "valute (item)." He/she should tell you how much it is worth if they had the money.

Level 1-10 Kill goblins in the Silverwood. Take all the peridots and give them to the guy that gives you money for them.

Level 11-20 Kill goblins in their hidden fortress. Slow leveling, but the coin adds up and you can practice your skills.

Level 20-30 Clear the ruined keep. Every guard has decent money. The bugbear when you can take him does too. The sergeant's chest has money as well. Be careful as this is typically a high traffic area for a number of reasons.

Level 30-40 Frost giants

Level 40-51 DRAGONS EVERYWHERE!?!?!

These will net you plenty of money to buy the few preps you probably know and buy equipment fromt he bazaar/various city shops that you might like. Beyond that you will have to learn the more advanced techniques in game or from your friendly neighborhood cheat ring.

Well, I know it is not common place to give out secrets so thank you for these tips. The only one I knew about was the gem farm in crag. I am pretty sure I can find the rest of them with maps and the knowledge of theras directions that I already posess. Again thank you all for the help you have given me. I have already started working with them. I wrote my first ever role chapter today

Midnight Dragon and Lord Kiadana-Rah are good gold sources, for example. The latter does fire blasts that hit you for unspeaks, so you should be immune to fire for safe gold farming. Being an invoker generally helps in this.

Selling stuff is how I do most of mine for most characters.

It helps to find some shopkeepers that are a bit out of the way (i.e., not in Galadon or Hamsah or the like) or buy something unusual (not weapons/armor/treasure) or both.

You did a good job roleplaying with me as that orc who wanted to leave the village and become good. Don't sell yourself short.

When you sent the other orc to kill me and tatooed him for it, I was so freakin angry! It was the one and only thing I wanted. I wanted to be chief and tatooed, but I never saw you around.lol, man those were the best times. It makes me smile everytime I think about it. I cant bring myself to roll another orc, however it was the only class I was ever good with,rp wise. I was and still am a horrible pker...

Also thank you for the vote of confidence. You dont know how that makes me feel. I know thats extremely cheesy,but I really want to strive to be good at this game,and atleast I know a few people were touched by bryn, even if everyone else wanted to smash his head in.

IIRC you kept to your role of trying to turn good the whole time. I can't ask for anything else and in retrospect I should have tossed you some ImmXP for that.

Well, the past is the past. It was easy to stay IC because i was so young. I had an extremely vivid imagination back then. I was playing D&D, Magic : the gathering, Warhammer fantasy and many other games plus doing acting in high school. Since Bryn i joined the navy and pretty much stopped doing everything that I loved when i was a kid. Now, I am seperated from the navy and ready to start again, but I seem to have lost my imagination some where along the line. Slowly, it is coming back and hopefully it will be in full swing soon.

How to get into cabals:

1. Read the cabal helpfile.
2. Roll a character that the cabal accepts (suitable align/ethos/race/class). This is the important part. If you are something the cabal hates, your chances of being accepted into the cabal is near zero. Also note that orcs cannot join any cabals.
3. Make a role that is suitable for the cabal and live according to the cabal dogma.
4. Pledge to join the cabal as soon as you are able and write a note to the cabal on why you want to join it. After you reach level 15 would be suitable time to pledge for the cabal, although it is possible to do so at level 30 too. 15 is better though.
5. Speak with the mortal leader of the cabal and get an interview to get in.

As for heroing, one simple tactic is to powerrank to hero in groups of three people. It's hard to be specific since I don't know what kills you off early.

Normally I get pked to no end. Hence why I decided to go a little more neutral this time.

Always have a few of those. Keep checking where repeatedly and quaff a potion if a strange guy in PK range appears.

Ok, so i tried to download MUSHclient. I got it working except I keep getting and error (connection refused). I cant figure out why it is refused and the forums link for the MUSH help says that the server may be down. Though i know it isn't. anyone using mush have some insight? I'm on windows 7 btw.

http://www.gammon.com.au/mushclient/

MUSHclient has an easy to use GUI for setting up aliases.

Ok so with mush I looked through the help on the forum and I found out that the server is refusing my connection. I cant for the life of me figure out why though.

ok i got that downloaded and running, but when i try to connect to

carrionfields.net
port 4999


i spits this out at me:

Unable to connect to "CF", code = 10061 (Connection refused)

Error occurred during phase: Connecting to world: 208.43.220.232, port 4999

For assistance with connection problems see:
http://www.gammon.com.au/forum/?id=8369

Works fine for me with these parameters:

World Name: Carrion Fields
IP: 208.43.220.232
Port: 4449

I am not using any proxy to connect to CF.

i got it working i was using the wrong port number... doh!

From my understanding, MUSHclient is one of the hardest clients to use and write scripts for.

I suggest :

1) Get a tintin based client (tintin++ or JMC).
2) Ask for scripting advice on Dioxide's Scripting board (http://www.qhcf.net).

Between those two you should be up and running in no time.

And you can set up the scripts/aliases/triggers using a GUI. Dunno about scripts, but aliases and triggers are easy to setup, as is using numpad for movement/PK.

I've been playing about a year and was able to hero for the first time as a defensive/defensive shapeshifter (after getting killed left and right as a 40ish warrior and being a pretty weak 40ish assassin). I don't use aliases but starting to think I'll have to take it to the next level...

I'd suggest a defensive major shifter (minor is up to you). With a defensive major you'll get major damage reduction or hp regeneration (or both), plus enlivens that also reduce damage. Hare can sense danger (ie hidden people nearby). This makes for a pretty survivable character. Make it a gnome and you'll have MANY chances to rank because you're neutral and can be a tank, and also you'll have so many practices that con dying won't be a problem.

This build could work well in nexus or tribunal. Otherwise, try a human and you'll fly up the ranks. Take an offensive (or utility or air) minor and you'll have a decent chance to PK, plus you really don't need much for gear other than +hp to do pretty well. Being an offensive minor helps to get groups too because you can do a bit of everything and group with anyone.

In general, just try to rank quickly early on--get past that phase where all the village applicants are trying to bash you--and then be smart about not hanging out in your guild in Galadon. Like others said, find sneaky spots to hide when hurt and spots to sleep when your mana is low.

Ok, without giving to much away. I am working a transmuter right now and really liking it so far. I got mushclient working and it has helped a ton already. My biggest problem is that I cant get my aliases to work on others. I do not know what I need to do to add in a generic target string so that when I type my alias and my target name, it will cast at that target. Anyone know what I need to do?

Some helpful posts by Sock in old Dioxide's Script board:

http://www.qhcf.net/cforum/scripts/vpost.pl?2540

This one is particularly helpful:

http://www.qhcf.net/cforum/scripts/vpost.pl?2592

If you make the ++ alias, you can set your keypad button with something like trip++ and it trips your target you've set with 'targ Bob' command using the targ * alias.

Ok, since it is "command++" does that mean mushclient is a c++ language driven program>

As you can see from Sock's picture:



%1 refers to first * in alias line and %2 means the second * in alias line and @target is the value of your variable target, the one you set with the targ * alias. You can see two plus signs in the alias line as well. Those define the ++ syntax in the command. So, with this alias, you can type ambush++ onslaught and it does ambush bob onslaught (if the value of your variable target is bob).

thanks a bunch, I got those all input to my client. I cant test it right this moment, but i might get a chance today sometime.

I tried setting all of the things in the second URL and i cannot get them to work. I tried targ * on a dockworker. then cast my targetable spell using the ++ setting. It didn't work...

Btw I think I will try the shapeshifter next is I do not like/ delete/con loss the transmuter