Detailed Tutorial

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Welcome to the complete FallenSword Tutorial! Here you’ll find explanations for all the tiny details that make FallenSword such a fun and challenging gaming experience. This tutorial is divided into sections based on the layout of the game screen. You’ll learn to use all the options on the left-hand toolbar, you’ll read in-depth descriptions of everything in the upper information bar, and you’ll find information about contributing to FallenSword to make your character and your gameplay the best it can be. Just click below on any topic in the index to answer a specific question, or read through the entire tutorial to gain a full understanding of the FallenSword universe.

Top Information Bar

The bar that runs across the top of the screen is where you can find quick information about all your stats, equipment, level, experience, and gold. We will work from left to right.

First, you’ll see the name you chose for your character when you first registered for FallenSword. To the left of your name is a little head icon. If you hover over that with your cursor, you’ll find the Character Summary which lists all of your stats. You’ll notice the information is arrayed like this:

Name: 
Level:
Attack:
Defense:
HP:
Armor:
Damage:

Next to each of these categories is a number, except for the first one of course. These numbers are important because they tell you the combined value of the stat modifiers of all your equipment and the total of the level points you have applied to your character. In battle with a creature or another player these stats determine who wins and who loses. When you equip an item, the stats of that item are immediately applied to your character. If you ever need to know the specific stats of an item, just hover over it and a pop-up window will appear that details everything about that item. You can go to the section titled Character for a full description of the item modifiers. If you click on the head icon, you will be taken directly to your character's Profile.

The next item in the information bar is your currently available stamina. There is an icon next to this number as well. Hover over it and you’ll see your current and maximum stamina, along with your current Gain per Hour and the next time you will gain stamina. Starting out you’ll have a maximum of 500 stamina points available to you, and you’ll regain stamina at the rate of 50 points per hour. Some equipment will add to either your maximum stamina or the rate at which you gain it back. When the number here goes below 20, you won’t be able to attack creatures until your stamina increases again. Once it reaches 0 you won’t be able to move around the game map. By clicking on the stamina icon you can go to the Upgrades page where you can purchase increases to your stamina with FallenSword Points. There are several stamina upgrades you can purchase here:

• +25 Current Stamina – This simply adds 25 more stamina to your total once per purchase.
• +10 Maximum Stamina – This allows you to accumulate more than 500 stamina points.
• +1 Stamina Gain (per hour) – This will allow you to increase the rate at which you gain stamina points.

Next you will find a Recruiting link. Click on it and you’ll be taken to a page that describes how to refer people to FallenSword using your unique player ID. This way you can gain free FallenSword Points to use towards character upgrades. You’ll gain 3 free FallenSword Points for each person you refer to the game. However, you must be careful recruiting people in certain circumstances. If many people are accessing the internet from a shared internet connection, for example at a college or office, you won’t get credit for your referrals if more than one person signs up. FallenSword tracks the internet address of all people who sign up through referral links and will only allow a single successful recruitment per internet address.

The next item you’ll see is your Level Progress meter. If you hover over the icon next to the meter you’ll see a pop-up box that gives you specific information on your current level, the experience points required to reach the next level, and how much experience you’ll gain per hour. The information is laid out like this:

• Current Level – The level you’ve currently earned.
• Progress – Shows how far you’ve earned towards the next level.
• Current XP – How much experience you’ve earned so far from killing creatures in the game.
• Next XP – How much experience is required to reach your next level.
• Remaining – The ‘Current XP’ subtracted from the ‘Next XP’.
• Gain Per Hour – How fast you gain XP automatically. It can be increased by certain pieces of equipment.
• Next Gain – When you’ll get your next automatic XP gain.

The next section of the info bar shows how many FallenSword Points you currently have. See the section titled Support FallenSword to see how you can gain these points. If you click on the icon next to the number you’ll be taken to the Upgrades page so you can spend your points.

Finally, you’ll see your Wealth Summary, which shows how much gold you are currently carrying. This number will not reflect any gold in your personal Bank. If you click on the icon you’ll be taken to the Bank so you can make deposits or withdraw money you’ve previously deposited. By default you only get one deposit per day, but this can be increased in the Upgrades page. Keep in mind that if you belong to a Guild you may choose to either deposit gold into your personal Bank or into the Guild bank. To do both (on the same day) you’d have to Upgrade your character.

Main Page

This section will provide details the information that is available in the main frame of the game Home Page. Separate sections below deal with the left-hand and right-hand toolbars. The game Home Page is used to communicate important in game news and is worth checking fairly regularly.

Latest News

Here you’ll find any news updates from the FallenSword development team. Any time the game is updated you’ll see it here, this section is also used to announce the winners of the temple blessings, FSP draw, recruiter draw and the latest bounty champions pot. When an important game update is added to the Latest News section, you will see an alert on the left-hand side of the screen below the toolbar buttons. Click on that alert, and you’ll be taken to home page. Older messages can be accessed by clicking on the "View News Archive" link at the bottom of the Latest News box.

Featured Guild

This box provides advertising space for the many guilds in the game. It is generally used by guilds looking for new recruits. The advertisement changes each time you refresh the home page and is selected from the active bank of advertising guilds. Guilds can place advertisements from the Guild Upgrades page.

Shout Box

The Shout Box is a news bulletin system for the use of FallenSword players. The cost to post a message here is 1 FSP, and your message will be seen by anyone reading the Home page. This service is used mainly for trade offers, buff sales, super-elite advertisements and guild recruitment messages; however, you may post on anything subject to certain rules. You may not use the Shout Box to promote another game, post negative comments about the game itself, or post comments of a sexual, discriminatory, or abusive nature. Offending Shout Box messages will be removed and the posting player may be subject to disciplinary measures. You may post a Shout Box message by clicking on the ‘Post a message!’ button at the bottom of the box. If you see a post that violates Fallen Sword guidelines, please report it.

Guild Conflicts

Guilds can launch co-ordianted attacks agaisnt each other. This box shows the most recently initiated conflicts as well as the results of recently finished conflicts.

The Right-Hand Toolbar

This next section will provide details on all the options along the right-hand toolbar. This toolbar can be seen at all times while you are logged in. It contains an assortment of general game information. This part of the tutorial is divided up by major heading, working from top to bottom.

New?

This box contains links to this Fallen Sword wiki and the Fallen Sword forum, two places that are good entry points to obtain more information about the game.

FSBox

This box contains short messages and advertisements from your fellow players. The displayed message is selected randomly from the current bank of player messages and will change every time you refresh the page. The "send message" button allows you to send your own message (at the cost of 1 FSP). Messages persist in the message bank for 1 hour after submission. The rules that apply to the home page shout box (see above) also apply the the FSBox. The FSBox can be hidden via a setting in your player preference page (see below).

Game Stats

This box shows your current rank within the game, plus your change on the last update. Player ranks are determined by total experience points gained and are updated daily at 09:00 server time.

Below your rank you will find the total number of registered Fallen Sword players. The "View Online Players" link at the bottom of the box takes you to a list that shows you all the players who have logged in within the past 20 minutes. You’ll also see the total number of players who are currently online. For each player you’ll see their name, their guild affiliation if they belong to one, and their level. Plus, you can click on the familiar eye icon to check out their Profile. This is especially helpful if you are undecided about what equipment to use or if you are about to level up. Just find someone at your level or at the level you are about to reach and check out their Profile. After checking out several other players you should have a good idea about what equipment is best for your level. You aren’t limited to just looking at their gear; you can also use the links provided here to send private messages to another player. Click on their profile and then send them a message if you’d like to ask a question or just chat!

The Game Stats box also contains the official in-game time. This is important if you are participating in auctions or if you are hunting Elite creatures. Please note that the Server Time is expressed in GMT, or Greenwich Mean Time, so you’ll need to adjust for your own time zone. For example, the East coast of the United States is GMT -5 (or -4 during daylight savings). Therefore, if the official server time is 10:30, then it is actually 5:30am EST (or 6:30am EDT). Your computer’s clock should be able to tell you this adjustment by looking under ‘Time Zone’.

Super-Elite Slayers

This box contains a link that allows you to view the last 10 super-elite kills. The list shows when the kill occurred, what was killed, who killed it and where, and whether or not a drop was obtained. This allows people that sell the locations of super-elites to super-elite hunters to check and see how the hunter did.

Support FallenSword

FallenSword is free for anyone to play. However, many of the upgrades available in the game require FallenSword Points to purchase.

There are many ways to obtain FallenSword Points, one way is to support the game by recruiting new players. By clicking on the words 'recruiting your firend' you will take to the recruiting links page which provides you with several types of link that can be used for recruiting people to the game. If a new player enters the game through your link you will gain FSPs as they level up, and you become eligible to win the recruiter's draw on any day that one of your recruits reaches level 25. The active players you have recruited can be seen through a link on your character profile page, and all recruits count towards the "Recruiting Medal".

Another way to support the game is to donate money to Hunted Cow Studios. Clicking on the word ‘donating’ in the box, take you to a page where you can purchase FallenSword Points. There are many ways to donate to FallenSword, including:

• Paypal
• Credit/Debit Card
• Cash/Money Order
• SMS
• Telephone

You are also free to choose how much you wish to donate to FallenSword. Of course, if you donate a higher amount you’ll get more FallenSword Points for your money, but it is entirely up to you. You can donate as little as $5 and you’ll receive 25 FSPs in return. If you’re planning to purchase rare and expensive items, or if you belong to a Guild that needs a lot of expansion room, plan on making a larger donation so you’ll have more FSPs to work with.

The Left-Hand Toolbar

This next section will provide details on all the options along the left-hand toolbar. This is where the majority of your gameplay options are located, and this part of the tutorial is divided up by major heading, working from top to bottom.

Home

If you click on the Home button you will be taken to the FallenSword home page. This page is discussed in detail above.

Character

Click on the Character button and you’ll be presented with several options. Each is described in detail below.

Profile Here you will find all the information pertaining to your character. At the top of the screen you’ll see your name and below that will be your Guild rank and Guild membership if you belong to one. Information on Guilds is presented later in the tutorial. Below that the screen is divided into two columns.

Working on the left column first, you’ll see your Profile Image. By default you’ll have the same naked blue guy everyone starts out with. You can change this image by clicking on Change Image directly above the image area. You’ll have to have a JPEG image 200x200 pixels in size and less than 75KB to upload, and you’ll need to know where it is located on your computer. Click the Choose button when you’re ready to upload your image. You will then be able to locate the image. Once you do that click Upload Image and you’re done. If you can’t find an appropriate image to use, consult the FallenSword Forum topic Graphics for information on obtaining a unique avatar. There are many players who generously give of their time and talent to create avatars for people, so just ask and see what is available. Alternately, if you have some ability to use any graphics program you can find your own avatars and adjust them to fit. Be sure you don’t use copyrighted images for your FallenSword avatar.

Below that is your Statistics. This tells you all the important information about your character. These numbers are what govern who wins and who loses in a battle, whether it is against a creature or another player. Your level and XP are self-explanatory. They simply tell you the cumulative experience points you’ve earned from killing creatures in the game. You won’t gain XP from attacking other players, but you may lose it if you are defeated. Player vs. player battles are explained in more detail in the World section.

The most important statistics here are:

• Attack – Determines your chance to hit a creature vs. their defense
• Defense – Higher number increases your chance to avoid being hit
• Armor – Lowers the damage done to you if you are hit
• Damage – This is the maximum damage you can cause if you score a hit
• HP – This is your ‘health’, or how many points of damage you can take before you are defeated

You can also find your current gold and Bank totals here, along with your Stamina. If another player attacks you or if you lose a battle to a creature, you can lose some of the gold you are carrying. Any gold in your Bank is safe from this loss, so be sure to use your Bank deposits every day.

Your PvP rating tells you how often you’ve won in battles against other players. Player vs. player combat is described in the Actions section below.

If any of your items have enhancements, this will be reflected in the appropriately named ‘Enhancements’ section of your profile. You will only see enhancements your currently equipped items give you. Items in your Backpack have no effect on any of your stats. Next to each you’ll find a percentage bar that tells you how likely that enhancement is to work during any given battle. The available enhancements are:

• Piercing Strike – Reduces your opponent’s armor by 50% for that strike, increasing the damage you deal.
• Critical Hit – Gives you a chance to do double damage on a successful hit.
• Holy – Small increase in damage vs. Undead creatures.
• Oceanic – Small increase in damage vs. Aquatic creatures.
• Greenskin Slayer – Small increase in damage vs. Greenskin creatures.
• Glory Seeker – Increase in damage vs. Champions.
• Banishment – Small increase in damage vs. Demonic creatures.
• Beast Slayer – Small increase in damage vs. Beast creatures.
• First Strike - Chance attacker will forfeit their attack in the first combat turn.
• Dodge - Small chance to evade an incoming attack, regardless of Attack/Defense.
• Hypnotize - Chance to be hypnotized the target for between 2 and 5 turns during combat.
• Reinforced Armor – Increases your armor by 25%, reducing the damage you receive.
• Nullify – Reduces opponent’s damage dealt by 25%.
• Elite Hunter - Increases the XP gained from killing creatures.
• Breaker - Increased chance to damage opponents items (PvP only).
• Disarm - Chance to halve the current durability of defenders weapon (PvP only).
• Duelist - Enhances offensive (Attack/Damage) stats in PvP combat.
• Thievery – Increases gold stolen from other player during PvP.
• Master Thief - Small chance to steal all of targets gold (PvP only).
• Breaker – Increases damage to other player’s items during PvP.
• Protection – Reduces lost XP during PvP matches.
• Protect Gold - Small chance to protect all your gold. (PvP only)
• Master Blacksmith - Reduces the repair cost by a percentage dependant on the enhancement level.
• Master Crafter - Improved chance to create better crafted items.
• Master Inventor - Increases successful chances of inventing items.
• Fury Caster - Increases the level of skills when cast on self and others
• Sustain - Increases the time skills remain active.

The calculations that determine how and when damage is applied are complex and beyond the scope of this Tutorial. In general, however, if your attack is higher than your opponent’s defense, then you will score hits more often. If your damage is higher than their armor, you will do more damage each time you score a hit. Enhancements like Critical Hit and Reinforced Armor will modify these calculations, and you will see their effects if they come into play during a battle. Look in the World category under ‘Actions for location…’ for specific details on battle vs. creatures and other players.

Next you’ll see your Allies and Enemies. Starting out you’ll have none of either one, and hopefully you won’t gain too many enemies as you play the game. You can have a maximum of five allies and five enemies, but you can add to this number in the Upgrades section. If you want to add someone as an ally or enemy, just click Add next to the appropriate category. Type in their name and hit the Add button and you’re done. If you are adding an ally, the person will receive a message with your request, and as soon as they accept you’ll see their avatar in your Allies category. If you add someone as an enemy it will occur automatically, but they will receive a message stating that you’ve added them as your enemy so they might do the same to you. There are no specific benefits of adding people either as allies or enemies. It just lets you keep track of people you’ve made friends or enemies with. If you ever need to remove an ally or enemy, click Remove, put a checkmark next to their name, and then click the Remove Selected button. If someone has requested to be your ally, you can click on Manage to accept or deny their request. They will be informed of your decision either way in their log. A full description of the Log follows below.

At the top of the right-hand column you’ll see your Inventory list. This consists of nine spaces for your equipment. To add an item, you’ll have to have it in your backpack first. From there just click on it once and it’ll go to the appropriate slot. If you already have a slot filled and get another item to go there, just click on the one in your backpack and they’ll swap automatically. The nine slots, in order, are for Gloves, Helm, Amulet, Weapon, Armor, Shield, Ring, Boots, and Rune. During your adventuring you’ll loot a lot of items, and you can buy others in the Auction House. You can only have one of each type of item equipped, and it is these items that contribute to your stats. Choose your equipped items wisely, because you will be stronger if your items have better stats. Always keep in mind the impact of various stats and enhancements when choosing your items.

Below the Inventory section is your Backpack. You’ll notice you only have three spaces to store additional items. If you need more storage you can add extra spaces in the Upgrade section. Items stored in your Backpack have no effect on your stats. You must equip them first to see any changes to your abilities. Typically your Backpack will be for temporary storage as you swap out your equipped items. Always be sure to keep at least one space in your Backpack empty when you are adventuring, as you won’t be able to pick up new items otherwise. If you decide you don’t need an item anymore, you can either sell it in the Auction House or discard it. If you just want to get rid of an item, click on the Manage button above the Backpack. Place a checkmark next to any item you wish to drop, then click Drop & Destroy Selected. This will discard the item and destroy it forever, and you won’t be able to get it back. Please be sure you don’t need a particular item before dropping it.

Finally you’ll see Active Buffs. These are Skills that have been activated on you. You can activate Skills you possess on yourself, of course, but you can also activate them on others. A full description of Skills can be found under the next category of the Tutorial.

Skills

The next option under Character is Skills. Here you’ll find all of the special Skills and abilities available to your FallenSword character. The first thing you’ll notice is the Skills are divided up by level. If you look along the left-hand side of the Skills listing, you’ll see Level 1+, Level 25+, Level 75+, and Level 150+. This indicates the minimum level you need to be to acquire a given Skill. When you first start out, only the first layer of Skills will be available to you. There are three categories of Skills:

• Offense – These skills directly affect your ability to do damage to creatures and other players
• Defense – These skills allow you to protect yourself more effectively
• Specials – These are enhancements that allow you to do certain things better.

By clicking on any of the Skills available to you, you’ll see a screen that gives you details of the Skill. You’ll also be able to apply your earned Skill points here. When you first signed up you were given 5 skill points, and you’ll earn five more every time you level up. You can apply a maximum of 100 skill points to any skill, but be careful because you can’t remove applied skill points without spending a lot of FSPs in the Upgrade section. The better skills are available to higher-level players, of course, so a common practice is to reserve 100 skill points until you reach level 25, and then apply them to a single skill. You’ll earn a total of 125 skill points between level 1 and 25, so you can spend 25 points early on without any regrets.

On the details page for the skill you’ll see what the skill is, how much of a percentage difference the skill will make per skill point applied, how much stamina it costs to apply the skill to yourself or another player, and how long the skill ‘buff’ lasts. We’ll use Rage as an example, since it is the first skill you’ll see. Each point you apply to Rage will give you a positive .2% extra attack points. This means if you apply the maximum of 100 skill points to this skill you will gain an extra 20% of your base attack points. If you have a 100 attack stat, then you’d have 120 attack points while the buff lasts. If you have skill points available, just put the number of points you want to apply next to Add Points to Skill and hit the button. Those skill points will apply to that skill forever, but remember you actually have to activate it for it to do anything for you. To do this, click Activate Skill on Self. If you want to apply your buff to someone else, type their name next to Activate Skill on Target and hit the button. They’ll get a log message stating that you activated the skill on them and it will show up in the Active Buffs section of their Profile screen. Each time you activate a skill on yourself or another person it will cost you 10 stamina points.

Any time you have unspent skill points you’ll have a message on the left hand bar telling you so. If you click on the message it will take you directly to the Skills page so you can spend your points.

Level Up

Each time you gain a level, you are awarded two Level Up points. These points can be applied to any of your base statistics to make them stronger. You can choose to add your level up points to Attack, Defense, Armor, Damage, or HP. When you click on the Level Up option, you’ll be taken to the screen to apply your points. A box in the middle of the screen will tell you how many points you have available. By clicking on the Add +1 button next to the desired stat, you will apply a point. As a general rule, beginning players have the greatest need for HP, so it is a good idea to apply your first level up points there. Once you’ve raised your HP by 10 or so, you can move on to other stats. Attack and Damage are always good stats to apply your level up points to, as it will make it easier to kill creatures and other players. You cannot remove level up points once you use them, so think carefully before you apply them to a specific stat.

Log

Click on the Log option and you’ll find all of the messages sent to you in the game. These messages will come from other players and from the game itself. Among other things, you will receive:

• Messages from other players.
• Notices when you send items, gold, or FSPs to other players.
• Notices when others send items, gold, or FSPs to you.
• Notices when you win an item at the Auction House or are outbid.
• Notices when an item you list in the Auction House sells or is returned to you.
• Alerts when another player attacks you and whether you won or lost.
• The log does not keep your messages forever. Typically you will only retain the last five to seven days of messages, depending on how many messages you receive. After that they are gone.

If you receive annoying messages from other players, you also have an ignore list you can access from here. Just click on Manage Ignore List and add their name to your list. Once you do this the other player won’t be able to send you messages.

Quest Book

Click on the Quest Book option and you’ll find a list of all the quests you have accepted, along with their current status. Any quest you’ve completed will have a checkmark next to it. Any you’re still working on will have an X mark next to it. At the time of this writing there are at least 24 quests available in the game. However, you’ll only be able to accept quests once you’ve achieved the minimum level necessary to do so. You can find information about quests on the FallenSword Forum, and a sorted listing of them can be found at The FallensSword Guide.

Preferences

Click on the Preferences option and you’ll find a couple of Account Settings you can manage. The first item is Combat Display Speed. You may choose any setting from ‘Slowest’ to ‘Instant’. This setting determines how quickly a combat will display on your screen, whether you are attacking a creature or another player. If you enjoy the blow-by-blow, simply choose a slower combat speed. On the other hand, if you are in a hurry then choose ‘Instant’ and battles will resolve immediately.

You may also change your account password here. It is a good idea not to give out your password to others, but if you suspect someone else is accessing your account be sure to change your password.

World

Click on the World button to display your current location in the FallenSword game world where all of your adventuring will occur. Note that many of the actions within the World view page can be done both by clicking the icons and by using Keyboard Shortcuts.

If you are just starting out you’ll see a mini-map of Krul Island, which is your starting point to the FallenSword game. New players should choose the Misty Mountains as the creatures you’ll find there are appropriate to your level. Simply click on Misty Mountains on the Krul Island map and you’ll be taken there.

When you are taken to the world map, there is a lot of information to look at. First, pay attention to the middle of the screen. You will see a map here with a round dot in the middle. That little round dot is you, the player, and you will always be directly in the center of whatever map you are currently moving within. You will also see eight arrows surrounding the map. These are your directional arrows and they control your movement on the map. Any movement you make will cost stamina points. By moving North, South, East, and West you will burn one stamina point per click. Moving with the diagonal arrows will cost two stamina points per click because you are moving across two squares. If you are hunting creatures, it is a good idea to only use the up/down and left/right arrows. When you use the diagonal arrows you don’t see any creatures that were on the first square you move to, so you’ll miss a lot. Save the diagonal arrows for when you are in a hurry to get somewhere else on the map and aren’t concerned with hunting creatures.

Above the world map will be a name which corresponds to the area of FallenSword you are currently in. This is important if you are referring to maps, as any maps you find will be sorted by the name of the region they show. You can find maps of virtually any area of FallenSword on the forums, and it is recommended that you familiarize yourself with any area you enter so you won’t waste your stamina moving around randomly.

Below the world map you’ll see five Quick Link bottons, we will discuss them from left to right.

The button furthest to the left links to your Manage Backpack page. Immediately under the icon is an up to date counter showing how many of your backpack slots are occupied. Use this link when you need to free up space in your backpack by dropping items (note that dropped items are permanently destroyed and cannot be recovered).

The next button is a Quick Repair All Items button. Whenever you attack creatures or other players, your equipment stands a chance to be damaged. Damaged items do not give you all the benefits of their stats, so as your gear gets worn you’ll have a harder time killing things. You can click on the Blacksmith button under Actions if you only want to repair specific items. However, as long as you have enough gold to do a full repair it is much quicker to hit the quick repair button instead. Repair your items often while fighting creatures and you’ll always get the full benefit of your item stats. If you don’t have enough gold to repair all of your items you’ll get the message “Not enough gold to repair your items”. If this happens you’ll have to withdraw money from your Bank or borrow it from another player.

The middle button is a Quick Create Attack Group button, and is only applicable if you belong to a Guild. A thorough description of guilds can be found in the Guild section of the Tutorial.

The next button is a link that opens your Quick Buff Pop-up window. You can use this window to select a number of different buffs to activate all at once. Either on another player or yourself. You will need to have enough available stamina to activate the buffs.

The button furthest to the right opens the Realm Map Pop-up window. Use this button to see an overall map of your current realm. The map will show your current location, as well as the locations of stairways between realms, shops, portals and other points of interest.

Below the Quick Links section you’ll see an Active Buffs listing. This shows any Skills that are currently active on your character, either by activating them yourself or by having them applied by another player. You can hover over the icon for the buff to see what it is and what level it is. Below the icon you’ll see the time remaining until the buff disappears.

Beside the world map is the ‘Actions for location…’ section of the game screen, and this is where all the action occurs. Next to the title you’ll see a number like (15,6). This is simply the coordinates you are currently located at on the map. This number isn’t especially useful unless you are looking at a map and need to know how many squares you’ll have to move to get to a specific destination.

Beneath the title you’ll usually find a list of creatures and other players currently occupying the same square as you. Creatures will have a green icon next to them, while other players will have a red icon. You’ll see an icon that looks like an eye next to either one, and this is where you can access their stats or profile.

Click on the eye next to a creature and you’ll access the description screen for that creature. This has important information regarding the creature, and is very similar to your own stats screen. First you’ll see the class of creature. This specifies what kind of creature you’re dealing with. This is only really important if you possess certain enhancements, specifically Holy or Banishment. Besides that you’ll see their level, stats, and any enhancements they may possess. These have the same meaning as your stats, and the numbers listed here will determine whether you can defeat a certain creature. Keep in mind that if you meet the same creature twice, it may have differing stats within a small range. Beware attacking a creature above your level unless your stats are significantly better, because if you lose a fight you may lose experience points and gold. You can attack the creature from here, but you’ll only be using 20 stamina points. It is better to click the Back to World button after studying the creature’s stats.

There are a couple of special creatures that you’ll find in your adventuring. Occasionally when you move to a new square you’ll see something like ‘Nightshade (Champion)’ or ‘Eribor (Elite)’. These creatures are significantly more powerful than others at their same level and are much more difficult to kill. However, if you are able to kill these creatures you will typically get much better loot from them. Champions will typically drop at the same rate as a normal creature, which means you won’t get something from them every time you kill one. They will also appear randomly anywhere within their map and at any time. Elites, on the other hand, typically drop an item every time you kill them, but they only appear occasionally within their territory. Most Elites will appear every fifteen minutes, but this varies according to the Elite in question. You can get further information on Elites and their schedules on the FallenSword Forum. If you check the Auction House you can usually find the loot from Elites and Champions very easily because they will be the items selling for FSPs instead of gold.

Once you are back in the world screen, you’ll notice that you have three buttons beside the creature’s name in addition to the eye. These are your attack buttons, and each specifies a different amount of stamina to commit to a battle. Each time you attack a creature, you have to use some of your stamina. During a battle, each time you take a swing at a creature it costs you 1 stamina point. If you commit a smaller amount of stamina points, and then neither of you defeats the other during the battle, you’ll get the dreaded ‘Combat Unresolved’ message on your attack screen and all the stamina you used will be wasted. The three buttons next to the creature’s name correspond to an attack using 20, 40, or 60 stamina points. As a rule of thumb, use the 60 stamina attack button the first time you attack a creature. If you defeat them easily, you can use one of the lesser buttons next time. Either way, you’ll only expend the amount of stamina it actually takes to kill a creature. If you defeat it in 2 hits, then you’ll only spend 2 stamina no matter which button you press. On the other hand, if it takes 30 stamina points to defeat the creature and you press the 20 stamina button, you’ll get a combat unresolved message and your 20 stamina will be wasted. Of course, you can also lose to a creature. If that happens, instead of getting the ‘Victory!’ message across your avatar, you’ll get a ‘Defeat!’ message and you’ll lose experience and gold.

Once you’ve chosen an attack button and pressed it, you will be taken to the Combat Result screen. Depending on how you set up your Preferences, you’ll either see the battle a single blow at a time or it will all be done in an instant. Directly beneath your picture you’ll see a progress bar that corresponds to your HP. As you take hits during the battle this meter will get shorter. If it falls to 0, then you’ve been defeated. On the other hand, if the other guy’s health meter drops to zero first, you win! It’s as simple as that. Just make sure you don’t pick on creatures bigger than you and you’ll be fine. Beneath the health meters you’ll see a summary of the battle. Each line represents one attack by either player. The battle will occur in turns, with both players alternating attacks. Since you started the fight, you’ll get the first attack. If you win, it will say you are victorious and will tell you how much experience and gold you took from the creature. If the creature drops something, it will show that you looted the item if you have space in your backpack. Always be sure to keep your backpack open if you are fighting creatures that drop good items. Of course, if you’ve just looted your 71st pickaxe you might not care too much about getting your 72nd one. Once the battle is done and you have reveled in victory or wept in defeat you can click on the Back to World link at the top of the page and do it all over again.

If you earn enough XP during a battle to level up, you’ll get this information at the bottom of the Combat Result screen. Read the section titled Level Up to learn more about leveling up and using your Level Up points.

On the other hand, if you decide to attack another player, then you have a few other choices to make. First, another player is designated by a red icon as mentioned previously, and this is for a good reason. Stop signs are red, and you should stop and think before attacking another player. Player vs. player combat is a part of FallenSword gameplay, but you should consider all aspects of PvP before entering into battle with a fellow player.

Most important is the Bounty system, which allows anyone you attack to put a price on your head for another player to collect. Read the information under Actions concerning the Bounty system before deciding to attack another player.

If you are still prepared to attack another player after learning about bounties, there are some things you should know. You may only attack another player if they are within a +/- 5 level range of yourself. That means if your character is level 15 you will only be able to attack those players who are level 10 to 20. Also, you are only allowed to attack the same player once per hour. You can click the attack button next to any player’s name to access the attack. You should first click on the eye icon to check their profile, though, as you won’t know whether you can defeat the other player unless you compare your stats and level to theirs. Look under Actions and Find Player to find a full description of other player’s profile screens. There are a couple of big differences between attacking a creature and attacking another player. When attacking another player you don’t have a set amount of stamina you have to commit to the attack. You can choose any amount of stamina from 10 to 100 to use for an attack. The amount of stamina you choose will have an impact on the results of the battle. If you commit 100 stamina points to a PvP battle and win, you will get more gold from the battle than if you used 20 stamina points. If you lose, it doesn’t matter how much stamina you actually used during the battle, because you will lose it all. You also don’t earn experience points from a PvP battle, although the losing player might lose experience points. You will also gain or lose PvP rating points from wins and losses. The amount of PvP rating you gain from a victory depends on the PvP rating of the other player. Defeat a player with a low PvP rating and you won’t get nearly as much of a boost. Take on someone with a high PvP rating and defeat them and you’ll see your own PvP rating soar. You can take a look at the Top Rated section to see the top 250 players in the PvP ladder. Keep in mind that you don’t have to only attack players occupying your current square in the game world. From the ‘Attack Player (PvP)’ screen you will also see a random list of five people who are attackable. This list will consist only of people within your PvP range. You can see their name, level, gold, and PvP rating. It is a good idea to click on the name of any potential victim to compare your stats to theirs before attacking because you don’t want to waste your stamina points on a loss.

If you move to a square and it says ‘No actions for this location’, that just means there are no creatures or other players currently occupying that spot with you. You’ll just have to move to another square to have something to do. If you see that message on several consecutive squares, it probably means that someone else is out hunting and has cleared all the squares ahead of you. If this is the case, it might be a good idea to change direction or wait a while for enemy creatures to respawn instead of using up all your stamina for no experience gain.

It is a good idea to check the FallenSword Forum for maps when you are entering a new area so you don’t waste stamina wandering around. There are several collections of maps available under the Locations forum, stickied at the top. These maps have all been contributed by players and guilds and are an invaluable resource for players of all levels.

Actions

Outside of the actual game world, here is where you’ll be spending most of your time. The items in this section allow you to perform maintenance on your gear, buy and sell items in the Auction House, buy entry tickets for the Daily Lotteries, and a lot more. Each option is thoroughly described below.

Interaction

Send Message

Here’s where you can send private messages to another player. Just type in their name and the message you want to send and click Send Message. You can also do this from your log if someone sends you a message first by clicking on their name and then clicking Send Message in their profile window. You will not be able to access your sent messages once they are gone, so try to remember what you said until the other player replies to you. When you get a response you’ll see a log entry notice on your screen and you’ll be able to read their message in your Log window.

Find Player

If you are looking for a player to view their profile, trade with them, or send them a message, you can do it here. Just type in their name and you will be taken to their Profile page.

Any other player’s profile page is basically the same as yours, with a couple of exceptions. First, you won’t be able to see their backpack, only their equipped items. Also, there is a new section just above their Inventory entitled Available Actions. These actions represent everything you can do with regards to another player. You can talk to them via a Private Message by clicking on Send Message. You can add them as a friend or enemy. You may attack or trade with them, as well as invite them to your guild. Whether or not you’ll be able to invite a player to your Guild depends on the permissions you’ve been given by the guild founder. Read the section Guild for more specific information on that topic. If the other player is already a member of a Guild, you will see their Guild rank and the name of the Guild they belong to at the top of their profile screen. By clicking on the Guild name, you can see the details page of their Guild.

By the way, if you type in a player’s name and you get the error message ‘Player Not Found’, and you are sure you typed the name correctly, it is likely that the other player has been suspended or banned. Check the FallenSword Usage Agreement to make sure you understand what actions might result in getting yourself banned or suspended.

Artisanship

Blacksmith

Whenever you attack creatures, you will have a chance to sustain damage to your gear. If this happens you can just click the Quick Repair button in the World screen. However, what if you don’t have enough gold to repair all of your items? You can go to the Blacksmith screen and selectively repair your gear. If any of your equipment is currently damaged, it will show up here along with a gold amount necessary to repair it. Always repair your armor and weapons first, as this is how you resist damage and deal it to others. If you simply don’t have enough gold in-hand to repair your stuff, either withdraw it from your bank or borrow it from a guild mate or fellow player. You always need your gear to be in top shape, so do whatever is necessary to keep enough gold on your character to do necessary repairs.

Hell Forge

As it says, the Hell Forge contains the fires of Hell itself. You can conveniently use those fires to boost the stats of any item in your inventory or backpack. You can boost an item in the Hell Forge using FSPs. You can upgrade any item a maximum of five times at a cost of two FSPs and a variable amount of gold per upgrade. If the item level is under 50, the gold cost for the first upgrade will be 7,500 gold and each consecutive upgrade will be double the previous one. (So the gold cost is 7,500, 15,000, 30,000, 60,000, and 90,000). A single upgrade will add a +5 point bonus to any statistic, and for each 50 levels another 5 points are added with the 5th upgrade. So a level 150 item would receive a total of +65 points to all its stats. The stats are spread out and rounded up. For example, if you have a level 15 sword that does +20 to Attack and +10 to Damage, and you fully Hell Forge it you’ll end up with a sword that does +45 to Attack and +35 to Damage. However, if it also boosted defense, then each stat would receive +17 points. (17x3=51, remember it's rounded up.)

Many people reserve their FSPs to Hell Forge full sets of equipment, such as the Frost Dragon or Carnage sets. If you have enough FSPs, you can gain a massive bonus by Hell Forging a full nine pieces of gear rather than only one or two random pieces. You don’t get any addition to the set’s combined bonuses, but the individual pieces will gain substantial stat points through the Hell Forge.

PvP

Attack Player

The PvP system in FallenSword is simple. Just pick a target, decide how much of your stamina you want to commit to the fight, then attack. However, there are a few things to consider before entering into a PvP battle.

First, you may only attack a player within a +/- 5 level range of your own. In other words, if you are a level 20 you can’t attack a level 5 player, and vice versa. Generally you will be attacking players at a lower level than you to ensure a victory. From the Attack Player (PvP) screen you can either type in the name of an intended victim or you may choose from one of the five random players displayed in the Attack Recently Online Player box. Either way, you should study the other player’s profile before attacking, because just knowing their level won’t tell you what gear they are wearing and what stats they possess. The last thing you want to do is initiate a combat with another player and lose. It’s embarrassing, and besides you’ll drop in PvP ranking if you lose to another player. If you win you will take a percentage of the gold they haven’t yet deposited in their bank, plus you will cause them to lose experience points and PvP ranking.

However, you must take into account the Bounty system if you engage in PvP combat. Before the Bounty Board, you could generally attack lesser players with impunity. Since they lost to you once, it is likely they would lose again if they attacked you in retaliation. However, now all they have to do is pay for a bounty to be placed on your head and you are open to attack from anyone. Yes, the typical rules don’t apply anymore. Once you have a bounty on your head, not only can you be attacked by any player of any level, the usual attack timing restrictions are reduced from one attack per hour to one every two minutes. Also, a given bounty will usually require the bounty hunter to kill you five to ten times to collect the offered money or FSPs. If that wasn’t bad enough, you will be subject to twice the experience loss that you’d usually get. This means that if you’d normally lose 100 XP in a loss, you’ll lose 200 if you have a bounty on your head. Finally, any number of potential bounty hunters can accept the bounty until it is fulfilled, so you’ll likely suffer many more attacks than the number necessary to complete the bounty placed by your victim. If you are going to participate in PvP battles nowadays, you must choose your targets carefully. Generally, if a given target has little money or doesn’t belong to a guild they won’t likely be able to afford to bounty you, but then they’ll have less gold to steal when you defeat them. A description of the Bounty Board and Bounty process follows below.

Bounty Board

The Bounty Board is where you’ll find a listing of all the current bounties being offered by other players. At the top of the screen you’ll find a box with two entries in it. The Bounty Champion Pot is an incentive offered to players for completing bounties. The pot increases after every 100 bounties created. Each time a player completes a bounty, they have a small chance of winning the Champion Pot on top of the bounty they’ve earned. If someone wins the Champion Pot it resets and starts building again. The Bounty Tickets entry refers to how many Bounty Tickets you have. It costs Bounty Tickets to take on a bounty, and the number depends on the difference between your level and the level of the target player. If the person is at your level or higher, it only costs 1 Bounty Ticket to claim the bounty. If the person is a lower level than you, it will cost one more Bounty Ticket per five levels difference between you and the target. In other words, if you are a level 25 and you want to accept a bounty on a level 14 target, it will cost you 3 Bounty Tickets to take the assignment. Once the bounty is completed it will disappear from the Bounty Board.

If you do decide to accept a bounty, remember that anyone that is attacked by a bounty hunter can then place a subsequent bounty on the person that attacked them. More than that, remember that if you have a bounty on your head you can be attacked every two minutes by the same person instead of once an hour. Also, you will lose twice the experience points in a loss than you would otherwise, and you’ll be subject to gold loss as well. Of course, any number of people can accept an offered bounty, and you will be attacked until the bounty is completed.

If you’ve been attacked within the past 48 hours, you can offer a new bounty here as well. Just click on Offer New Bounty and you’ll be taken to the proper screen. You’ll see your current number of Bounty Tickets, which is important because it costs 10 Bounty Tickets to offer a bounty. Anyone that has attacked you within the past 48 hours will appear in a dropdown list next to Target Player. Just pick their name and you’re almost done. Next to Reward you’ll have to offer a reward. You can offer the reward in gold or FSPs. The level of the player and how many times you want him killed will have an impact on how high of a reward you’ll have to offer. You have to offer 10 gold times the target player’s level times the number of kills you want to pay for. For example, if you want to place a 10 kill bounty on a level 25 player, it would cost you 2500 gold because you’d have to offer 10 gold per level (250) times 10 kills. Once you have successfully placed the bounty it will appear on the Bounty Board and the target player will be sent a message telling them about the bounty and who placed it. Once someone has completed the bounty you will receive a message telling you it is done and who completed it for you. Your target won’t be able to put a bounty on your head in retaliation, but the bounty hunter won’t be so lucky. If you run out of Bounty Tickets you can always buy more in the Upgrades section.

Trade

Auction House

Here is where you can sell all those items you’re picking up, or buy something you haven’t been able to find elsewhere.

The Auction House is fairly straightforward. You will see a listing of Categories on the left side of the Auction House screen, divided by type of item. You’ll see there is a category for each slot of your inventory, plus one for quest items. By clicking on any given category you can see what is available for that type of item.

However, it doesn’t do much good if you are looking specifically for level 10 items and you have to wade through everything up for sale. For that reason you can click on Search Preferences, which is near the top right of the Auction House screen, directly below the search box. In there you can specify a Minimum and Maximum level for the items to view, as well as blocking either gold auctions or FSP auctions. It is always a good idea to keep your Search Preferences in a small range around your current level. If you are a level 10, for example, you might want to be searching for items in the 9 to 11 range so you don’t miss anything relevant to your current or upcoming level.

If you are looking for a specific item, just put the name of the item in the Search box and hit the button. Now, the Auction House is very literal, so if you are looking for a ‘Broad Blade’ and type in ‘Broad Sword’ instead, you won’t get anything. It is best to put in the most minimal search term for the item or items you are looking for. If, for example, you are looking for Defender of Eribor items, it is just as effective to search for ‘Eribor’ as it is to search for ‘Defender of Eribor’, and it will save you some typing.

It is also a good idea to compare prices before you commit to buy something. If you are looking for a specific item, put in the appropriate search term and then scan the resulting items. Pay attention to current bids to get an idea of what an item is actually worth. If you see a lot of high prices and no bids, or see only one or two low bids amongst the listings, you can be certain that people are putting too high a price on their items. Sit back and wait for a reasonably priced item to be offered and get that instead of wasting your money.

After you have determined a fair price for your item and are ready to buy, pick the best item for your needs and type in a bid. Your bid has to be at least equal to the Min Bid on the item. Press Bid once you are ready to commit your gold or FSPs. If your bid equals the Buy Now price, the auction is over immediately. Otherwise you’ll have to wait until the end of the auction to see if you’ve won and to collect your item if your bid holds up. Remember that you can be outbid at any time if you don’t meet the Buy Now price. If you are overbid, you will get a log alert on the left side of the screen, so pay attention or you’ll lose your item.

Once you’ve won an item and the Auction House processes all the currently ended auctions, which can take up to 10 minutes, you’ll receive a log notice that you’ve won and you’ll get a message that you have items waiting in your Item Mailbox. Both of these notices will appear on the left hand side of your screen. It is very important to remember that you only have twelve hours to collect your item from your Mailbox or it will disappear forever. Schedule your auction activities for when you’ll be online or within twelve hours of your next planned gaming session, because you don’t want to spend your hard-won gold or FSPs on something you won’t get to use.

Of course, you can also sell items on the Auction House. To do this your item has to be in your Backpack. You can’t sell things directly from your Inventory. Once you are ready to sell an item, click on Create New Auction to get started. The first screen you’ll see is the Create Auction (Step 1 / 2) screen. Here’s where you choose the item you want to sell. Just click on it once and you’ll be taken to the next screen. This next screen is where you choose the duration of the auction, whether you want to sell your item for gold or FSPs, and what your minimum and buy now bid will be. Do your homework before getting this far. You’ll want to go through the same research process you completed for buying an item before you decide to sell one. It will do you no good to place an item for sale for 1000 gold if the typical selling price is 100. You’ll just be taking up an auction slot. A good rule of thumb is to find out the typical selling range of an item, then set your minimum bid somewhere within that range and your buy now bid somewhat higher. This allows the item to sell within the normal range of bids while allowing someone that is in a hurry to buy it immediately for a premium price. If you aren’t in a hurry to sell an item or aren’t concerned with the selling price just set a lower minimum bid and leave the buy now bid empty and let the purchaser set the price. The MOST IMPORTANT thing to remember when placing an auction is to double-check all of the information on this screen. If you are intending to sell an item for FSPs and forget to set the Auction Currency field correctly, you’ll probably end up selling your item for two or three gold. Also, you don’t want to run a 48 hour auction when you meant to do a one hour auction and take up one of your auction spaces for two days. Always check the Min Bid and Buy Now fields as well to make sure you didn’t omit a number or add a zero at the end. Once you are sure you are ready to place the auction, hit the Confirm Auction button and your item is up for sale. You will get no other confirmation.

Now you have the basics for using the Auction House. Read the article ‘How to Use the Auction House’ at the bottom of the tutorial for more in-depth information on profiting from the Auction House and how to find good items to sell.

Send to Player

Any time you need to send a fellow player gold, FSPs, or items, here is the place to do it. This page is intended for you to give things to another player. If you want to set up an actual trade outside the Auction House, be sure to use the Secure Trade option instead. Here you will choose whether you want to send gold, FSPs, or items, then you will just type in the name of the character and what you want to send them and hit the Send button. They will get a log entry that tells them you sent them the item, and you will have an entry in your log as well. Make sure you enter the other person’s name correctly, because if you type in the wrong player’s name there is no way to take back your action. To be 100% safe, you can go to the other player’s profile and send items or gold directly without fear of mis-typing their name. Look under Find Player for information on using player profiles.

Secure Trade

If you are trying to set up a trade with another player, here’s where you need to do it to be completely secure in your transaction. Click on Create New Secure Trade to start the process. Type in the name of your target player in the appropriate spot, and then decide what you are going to offer them. You can sell them gold, FSPs, or items, and you can specify exactly what you want in return. After you’ve decided what you want to sell, type in the gold or FSPs you are expecting in return and hit Send Secure Trade Offer. You and they will receive a notice that the secure trade is in effect, and it will stay in effect until they accept or deny it or you cancel the trade. Assuming the trade is accepted, it will occur immediately and you will receive your payment and your offered item will disappear. If you are selling an item, you will have to have it in your backpack until the trade is accepted; otherwise it will cancel the trade automatically. Any outgoing trades will be listed in the Secure Trade window and you can cancel any trade at any time prior to the other party accepting it.

If someone sends you a secure trade, you will receive a log notice on the left side of the screen and you’ll be able to see the details of the trade here. Incoming trades will be at the top of the list, and you can click the eye icon next to the trade to see what the details are. From there you’ll be able to accept or reject the trade. Remember that if you are buying an item you’ll have to have room in your Backpack for it or the trade won’t complete.

Bank

Here is where you’ll do all of your personal banking. Starting out you’ll have one deposit per day, and you can deposit 25% of your gold at one time. If you belong to a guild you’ll have to decide whether to use your single daily deposit here or in the guild. If you decide that you need more deposits, you can upgrade your daily deposit limit in the Upgrades section using FallenSword Points.

The Bank Details box will tell you how much you’ve already got in the bank, whether you have a deposit available, and what your maximum deposit is currently. Keep in mind that it will show a Current Max Deposit whether or not you have a deposit available, so don’t get frustrated if you can’t make a deposit right now. If you’ve already used your deposit for the day you’ll get another one at midnight GMT. You’ll know it is after that time when you get a News Update showing the winners of the Daily Lottery on the Home screen.

You’ll come here to withdraw money as well, if you’ve got some in the Bank already. If you are going to fix your equipment at the Blacksmith or bid on an item in the Auction House you’ll have to withdraw your money first.

Guild

The options under this button control all aspects of creating, belonging to, and managing a Guild and your Guild membership. If you don’t belong to a Guild most of these options won’t do much for you, so go join a Guild! Guild membership is highly recommended in the FallenSword world because you gain many benefits from your affiliation. You will gain the protection of higher-level players, stat increases from the Guild’s structures, and help with finding and obtaining better equipment than you might be able to buy otherwise. In exchange most Guilds only require that you deposit your gold into their bank and occasionally donate FSPs for Upgrades.

If you want to join a Guild, you can start with the A – Z list at the bottom of the Guild button options. This is a comprehensive list of all the Guilds currently established in FallenSword. Of course, there is no way of knowing how active a particular Guild is or how large it might be unless you click on all those names and study each one. A possible shortcut for the process of finding a good Guild would be the Top Rated section, which allows you to look at the highest level and richest Guilds all in one place. A beginner may not be able to join the biggest and best Guilds, but maybe if you send a polite inquiry to the Guild founder you might get somewhere. Also be sure to read the article 'Choosing a Guild Wisely' in the More Information section at the end of the Tutorial.

If you decide to create your own Guild, you’ll need to be prepared. First, you’ll have to choose a good name that reflects what your Guild is all about and isn’t already taken. Next, you’ll have to create or locate two graphics. One will be a 200x200 Guild Logo, and the other is a 16x16 mini logo. Before you can complete the creation of your new Guild you’ll have to upload both of these graphics. A good place to find Guild graphics is the FallenSword Forum under Graphics. There are always a few helpful people in there that can help you create or find the perfect graphics for your Guild. Once you have your graphics uploaded and your Guild name entered, you’re done.

Manage

When you click on the ‘Manage’ option, you will see the profile of your Guild. You’ll see everything there is to know about the Guild from this screen, but what you can actually accomplish here will depend on the permissions given to you by the Guild founder. Starting out you’ll probably be given an introductory rank with no rights or privileges. As you contribute gold, experience, and FSPs to the Guild you’ll move up in rank and you’ll be able to do more. For the purposes of this Tutorial we’re going to assume you’re either a top member of your Guild or the founder, so you can do anything.

The first thing you’ll see at the top of the page is the Guild’s name. On either side of the name is your mini-logo graphic. This same graphic will be used in the A – Z listings and in the Top Rated section as well. Just below the Guild’s name are two columns.

Starting with the left column, you’ll see the Guild Logo. You can change this logo or edit the Guild’s History with the options just above the logo itself. Your Guild history is the small block of text other people will see when they view your Guild profile page. Choose your words carefully because you only get 200 characters by default. This can be increased in the Upgrades section.

Below the Guild Logo is the Statistics section of the Guild profile. The level number shown here is determined exactly the same as your own level. It is a reflection of the amount of experience contributed by all members of the Guild. A Guild member does not give all the experience they earn while they’re a member. It is only about 25% of their personal XP total. However, with many active members the level of a Guild can be considerably higher than the level of any individual member. The level of a Guild is important when it comes to constructing Structures, which are discussed below. The two options here are Change Founder and Leave Guild. Unless you are the Guild founder you can’t change the first option. If you are, then you may choose any other member of the Guild to take on the mantle of Guild Founder. This will give them all the rights and privileges available in the Guild. This is usually only done if the Guild founder is no longer going to be active in the game. You may leave the Guild entirely by using the second option. If you leave the Guild it will lose your contributed experience, and you will lose the benefit of any Guild Structures.

Next you’ll see the Guild Bank. This is the total gold deposited by all players. Anyone with the appropriate permissions may withdraw gold from this bank. The money here is also used to pay the upkeep for any Structures the Guild founder has constructed. If you click the Manage button here you’ll go to the screen where you can deposit or withdraw money. Any member can deposit money into the Guild, and members are encouraged to use their daily deposit to put their money here to help maintain the Guild. Any good Guild will either give you access to this gold or allow you to request gold or items when you need them.

Next you’ll see the Structures section. This is where any structures built by the Guild will be displayed. These structures benefit your stats as a member, and it is important to belong to an active and thriving Guild so it will have more of these structures. In this screen you’ll see the name of each structure the Guild currently owns, along with its level and the hourly upkeep it demands. Hovering your cursor over the question mark next to each structure will tell you exactly what it does. If you click on Build, you’ll see all the structures available for construction or upgrading. Here is a list of what each structure does:

• Health Shrine – Increases HP by +5 per level
• Battle Totem – Increases Attack by +2 per level
• Endurance Shrine – Increases Stamina gain by +2 per level
• Armory – Increases Defense and Armor by +2 per level
• Thieves Guild – Increases the Thievery enhancement by 20% per level
• Weaponsmith – Increases Damage by +3 per level
• Temple – Increases Holy enhancement by 10% per level
• Shrine of Pain – Increases Critical Hit enhancement by 5% per level
• Tranquil Retreat – Increases max Stamina by +20 per level
• Destructive Shrine – Increases Breaker enhancement by 10% per level
• Pentagram – Increases Banishment enhancement by 5% per level
• Protection Shrine – Increases Protection enhancement by 10% per level
• Sustain Shrine - Increases the Sustain enhancement by 5% per level
• Training Room - Increases the Dodge enhancement by 5% per level

There are two boxes on the Build page. The Available Structures are those which have not been built yet, and the Built Structures are the ones that are already constructed. Next to each item is the cost to build the structure or upgrade it, along with the hourly upkeep required to maintain it. You’ll also see a Min Level in the Available Structures list so you’ll know whether your Guild is at a high enough level to build the specific structure. To build a new structure hit Build and it will appear in your Structures list. You must have permission from the Guild founder to do this, and you only have room for two structures by default. This can be increased on the Upgrades page. To upgrade a structure just click on Upgrade and it will be increased to the next level. The cost of either building a new structure or upgrading an existing one will be automatically deducted from your Guild bank. Hourly upkeep gold will also be deducted from the Guild bank. If your Guild bank total ever drops below the amount required to pay the upkeep for your structures they will be destroyed, so make sure you keep a steady stream of gold flowing into your Guild if you plan to have many structures.

Next on the main Guild profile page is Invites/Requests. This is where you’ll know if someone has requested to join your Guild. Any invitations that haven’t been rejected or accepted yet will also show up here. You can find players to invite to your Guild on the Recruiting option below. You can also click on Manage to be taken to the same screen.

The last item on the left column is your Guild Store. This is where items are stored for use by Guild members. Initially you will only have two slots to store items, but this can be increased on the Upgrades page. Only Guild members with the proper permissions will be able to add or remove items from the Guild Store. Click on Manage to add items to the store. Anything currently in your Backpack will appear on the next screen, and then all you have to do is checkmark any item you want to add and click the Store Selected button. To remove items from the Guild Store you need only click on the item you want and it will be transferred to your Backpack if there’s room.

The only item in the right column is the list of Members. Here you can find any member’s username, current level, Rank in the Guild, and Contributed XP. By default a Guild can have eight members, but new Guild member slots can be added for 20 FSPs in the Upgrades section. If you click Manage you will be taken to the Assign Member Ranks page. Here you will see a complete list of the Guild members along with their current rank. By clicking the Rank button next to their name you can change a member’s rank. If you need to remove a member from the Guild click Kick and they are gone. They will be informed of your decision in their log. Typical reasons to kick a member are a long period of inactivity, an unwillingness to contribute to the Guild, or harassing behavior towards other guild members or Guild allies.

Clicking on Ranks will take you to the Rank Management screen. This is an important screen because this is where you decide what ranks to create and what permissions to give them. Any member should be assigned a rank, so carefully weigh the rights they’ll have because you don’t want just anyone withdrawing money or changing the Guild. Click on Add New Rank to create a new rank for your members. On the Add /Modify Rank page you’ll be able to enter the Rank Name and decide on what Permission Settings to apply to the new rank. You can also modify an existing rank but it is easier to do that from the previous screen. The Permission Settings are self-explanatory. It is best if you create a range of ranks to cover all of your members. You have a total of three ranks you can create by default, and this can be increased in the Upgrades page. Typically you will have a rank for new members which will have no permissions whatsoever. These members will be able to deposit gold into the Guild and donate FSPs, but that’s it. A second rank will usually have the ability to withdraw money and add or remove items from the Guild Store. The final rank will typically have the same permissions as the Guild founder in case the creator of the Guild has to stop playing for a while. This will prevent the Guild from suffering from the absence of the founder. Once you have added your ranks remember to return to the Manage screen and assign ranks to all of your members.

Recruiting

If you’re a new Guild just starting out, you probably won’t have the full eight members allowed to you. It is a good idea to start recruiting immediately to build your Guild’s level, Bank balance, and FSP total in order to build new Structures and attract new members. By clicking on the Recruiting option you can begin this process. If you have the name of a particular player in mind to recruit, just type their name in the box and click Send Invite. If you haven’t met many other players yet you’ll also be given a random list of ten players who currently don’t belong to a Guild. You can click on each name in this list to get their details. A brand new Guild might not attract high-level players, but it doesn’t hurt to try. You will always want to recruit active players because they will contribute more XP, gold, and FSPs to the guild. A player who only logs in once a week doesn’t make a very good Guild member and is probably just taking up space.

Any pending requests to join your Guild can be managed from this window as well. Just click on each pending request and accept or deny it according to your ideal member profile.

Once you’ve recruited eight members you’ll have to start paying FSPs to increase your ability to add more. It is a common practice amongst Guilds to require new members above the initial eight to contribute 20 FSPs to the Guild to buy their slot. A good Guild can attract players willing to pay this price due to their reputation, level, gold balance, and built Structures.

Groups

One of the benefits of belonging to a Guild is the ability to create Attack Groups. These groups will band together to kill creatures no single member can tackle. There is a Quick Create button in the World menu to do this, or you can do it here by clicking on Create New Attack Group. When you do this an alert will be sent to all online Guild members and they can opt to join your group by clicking on the Join button which will appear next to any current group. It will cost you 20 stamina points to create a group, and any Guild member that joins your group will spend 5 stamina points to do so. When they join 20% of their stats will add to your stats for the duration of one attack. Once you’ve created an attack group you’ll see a new attack icon next to the creature’s name. Click on this button only if you are certain your attack group is full. A maximum of five other players may join an attack group, so the combined total of their contributed stats can be significant. Typically you will only use Guild attack groups to take down Elites and Champions. If you can’t kill a given ordinary creature, just leave it alone until you level up or improve your gear. It is important to keep a slot in the Guild Store open if you create an attack group, because anything that is looted from the creature is stored here instead of in your Backpack. The attack group will also gain experience from the kill, assuming it is successful, with the majority going to its leader.

Guild Log

This is where you can find information on any activity within the Guild. Every time a Guild leader or member adds or removes item from the Guild Store, upgrades or demolishes a Structure, changes the Guild Logo or history, deposits or withdraws gold, or changes anything to do with members or ranks you’ll find it here. The results of Guild attack group battles can also be seen here. Any time a Guild-related activity occurs, you’ll get a notice of it on the Left Information Bar.

Chat

Guild Chat is where you can post messages to the entire membership of the guild. If you need to talk to a specific Guild member, click on their name in the Manage screen instead and send them a private message.

Any messages listed here will have the date and time the message was posted, along with the name of the person who posted the message and the message itself. If there are any Guild chat messages you haven’t read you’ll see a notice on the Left Information Bar at the bottom. To add a message, just type the message in the Message box and click Send.

Upgrades

This option is similar to the main Upgrades section frequently referred to throughout this Tutorial, except that it only shows upgrades relevant to Guilds. At the very top of the Guild Upgrades page you’ll see Guild Points along with a number. This is the number of FSPs that have been donated by the Guild members. To add points to this total simply type a number of FSPs into the Deposit Points box and click Transfer. Be certain you want to give FSPs to the Guild, however, because these FSPs cannot be withdrawn from the Guild. Once FSPs are deposited they have to be used for Guild upgrades. There are numerous options here, with popular ones being +1 Max Structures and +1 Guild Store Slot. Each of the upgrade options is self-explanatory, and their cost is listed to the right of the Gpgrade description along with a limit of how many of each upgrade you can have. For example, you can add up to 100 members to your Guild beyond the default 8 members. Or, you can have a total of 22 Guild Store Slots.

A – Z List

This is a comprehensive list of all the Guilds currently operating in the game. Click on the name of any Guild to visit their profile page. Keep in mind that Guilds typically aren’t deleted, so the fact that a Guild is listed here is no guarantee it is active. Be sure to visit the Guild profile page for any guild you are thinking of joining to see their level, contributed XP, Bank balance, and built Structures to decide which is best.

Top Rated

When you click on the Top Rated button you’ll see several categories which rank players and Guilds according to various criteria.

Top 250 Players

This is a list of the top 250 players sorted by earned experience. For each you will see their name, their current XP total, and their current level. This is a good place to see what sort of equipment is available to you as you reach the highest levels and just how awesome the stats of the top players can be.

Richest Player

This is a list of the top 250 richest players in the game. The gold amount listed here counts their current bank balance and the amount of gold they are holding. In the past the richest players got there through PvP battles and stealing other player’s gold, but with the introduction of the Bounty Board this may not continue to be the case.

PvP Ladder

This is a list of the top 250 players ranked by their PvP Rating. Players gain PvP rating by engaging in battles with other players. A victory against a player with a higher PvP rating will increase your own PvP rating more quickly than winning against players with a low PvP. As with the Richest Player category, this listing may be affected by the Bounty Board over time.

Bounty Hunters

This page is a list of the most successful bounty hunters ranked by the number of kills they have achieved during successful bounty hunts. You must successfully complete a bounty to be given Bounty Awards, and your Bounty Award is equal to the number of kills it took to complete the bounty you accepted.

Top 250 Guilds

Here is a list of the top 250 Guilds ranked by their cumulative experience points and level. This is a good place to look if you want to join an active Guild, but most of the guilds on this page will probably already be full. If you decide to try and join one of these guilds, be prepared to pay at least the minimum 20 FSPs to buy your slot. You will also have to be active and willing to deposit your available gold into the Guild.

Richest Guild

Here you will find the top 250 richest guilds ranked by the amount of gold in their bank. Typically you will see a correlation between the Top 250 Guilds list and this one, although there are some very small Guilds that manage to build a significant gold balance with only a few very active players.

Upgrades

The Upgrades button reveals several options to use and obtain FallenSword Points. These points are used here for upgrades to your character. To gain the fullest playing experience you’ll probably need to invest in at least a few FSPs in order to make your character stronger and more fun to play.

Use Points

The Use Points option gives you a complete list of all of the upgrades you can purchase for your character. For each option you will see what the upgrade does for you, its cost in FSPs, and the limit to which you can buy the given upgrade. For example, you may purchase as many as ten additional bank deposits per day if you have the required number of FSPs. To buy an upgrade you simply type in the number of the upgrade you want and click Buy. Remember that you won’t be typing the cost of the upgrade in the box; you need to type in how many of the upgrade you want. To illustrate this point, you would type a 1 in the box next to +1 Max Auctions if you wanted to purchase an additional auction slot. You would not type in a 10 because this is the cost of the upgrade. If you typed a 10 in the box and clicked Buy you’d cost yourself 100 FSPs instead of the 10 you intended. Once you’ve spent your FSPs on an upgrade you cannot get them back, so be certain before clicking the Buy button that you’ve done what you meant to do.

The upgrades listed here are all self-explanatory, so the Tutorial won’t go over each individual upgrade. Some of the most popular upgrades are the +1 Bank Deposits per Day, the +1 Inventory (Backpack) Slot, and the +1 Max Auctions.

It is also important to realize that some upgrades are better than others. For example, you can buy an additional 25 stamina for one FSP. This adds 25 stamina points to your current total and is gone forever once it is used. On the other hand, you can buy a +1 Stamina Gain (per hour) for 25 FSPs. Although this costs 25 times as much as the +25 Current Stamina upgrade, each and every day you will earn an additional 24 stamina points. After just four weeks you will have earned an extra 672 stamina points. If you had used your 25 FSPs to buy +25 Current Stamina upgrades at 1 FSP per upgrade, you would only have gained 625 points. Even though the gains occur over a longer time period, they will continue as long as you play FallenSword.

You can gain FSPs by donating to the game using the link at the top of the Character Upgrades page. You can also earn FSPs by recruiting other players using the Recruiting Link at the top of your screen. You can also get FSPs for free by completing advertiser offers in the Free Points section. Whatever way you get them it is always a good idea to keep a supply of FSPs available to purchase upgrades and the more expensive items in the Auction House.

Buy Points

Here you can donate to FallenSword and receive FSPs in return. If you donate more at once, you will receive more FSPs for your money.

Free Points

By clicking here you can find offers to get free FSPs in exchange for completing advertising offers that pay FallenSword for your participation. There are offers for players from the US and overseas. You need to choose offers corresponding to your location for the best results. It is very important to note several things:

FallenSword has no control over the advertisers, and can’t guarantee you’ll receive your free FSPs for completing the offers listed. Sometimes you will be asked to provide a credit card number, and it is up to you to make sure you aren’t charged for something you didn’t intend to buy. Some offers will give you your free FSPs immediately, and some will take several days. This is usually listed with the offer itself, so read carefully. You’ll need to use your real information when completing offers or you may have your free FSPs withdrawn at any time. The FallenSword Forum typically has information on the free FSP offers. Just search for the terms ‘Free FSP’ and you’ll probably find several links where people discuss which offers are best.

Recruit

Here you will find your customized recruitment resources. There are banners and text-only links you can use in emails or on your website to recruit other players to FallenSword. You will receive 3 FSPs per successful referral you make, and the top recruiter each day gets an additional 5 FSPs as a bonus.

Please do not spam these links to other people, and make sure you use the entire link as it contains your unique player reference number. Also keep in mind that you might not always receive your FSPs even though you recruited someone successfully. FallenSword keeps up with the internet address of each person that signs up to play FallenSword from a recruitment link. If you are trying to refer people in a place where many people might be using the same internet link, such as in a college dormitory or at an office, you will likely only receive credit for the first person who signs up using your link. It is best to find people to recruit who are using their own internet service as it will be much more unlikely that someone has already signed up from that specific internet address.

Logout

This option is the simplest of all. When you are done playing, just click here and you will be logged out of the game. You will still ‘be in the game’, however, since people can still look at your profile and you’ll still be visible on the last square you moved to. People can also still send you items, offer trades, attack you, or send you messages while you are logged out. Once you return, you can catch up on all the activity that went on while you were gone.

System Messages

Beneath the Logout button is the space reserved for system messages. Any time something occurs behind the scenes in FallenSword, you will receive an alert here. There are several types of messages, and each is explained below.

A News Update Has Been Posted!
This message appears in blue, and only shows up on your screen when something has been added to the Latest News section of the Home page. Typically you will see these twice a day when the Item Lottery and the standard Lottery are drawn. You will also see this system message when a game update is pending or has recently been completed. Click on it to be taken to the Home page to read the update.

You have unread guild log messages.
This message appears in white, and it will show up any time someone does something in the Guild Manage screen. Click on it to be taken to your Guild log to read the new message.

A new guild attack group has been formed.
Whenever a member of your Guild creates a new attack group you’ll see it here. Just click on the message to go to the Pending Attack Groups page to join the group.

You have level up points available.
Any time you level up you will receive two level up points that can be used to increase your character's statistics. As long as you have level up points available the message will be displayed. Click on it to be taken to the Level Up page in order to use your points.

You have unread log messages.
Whenever anything occurs that affects your character, you will get this alert in yellow. Click on it to read your personal Log to see what occurred.

You have unread guild chat messages.
If one of your guild mates uses the Guild Chat page, you will get a message here in white. Click on the alert to be taken to the Chat page so you can read the message.

Important. You have items awaiting collection in your Item Mailbox.
This message will only show up if you win an item on the Auction House or if an item you listed there doesn’t sell. You only have 24 hours to retrieve items from your mailbox, and you’ll have to have an empty space in your Backpack to take the item. Be sure you don’t buy too many items from the Auction House at once or you might risk losing something. Also do not place auctions for a short time period unless you are expecting to be back online before 24 hours have elapsed.

Items that are successfully invented also appear in your item mailbox; however, for these items you must collect them within 1 hour or they are destroyed.

Occasionally Hunted Cow Studios will give all players special items as gifts. These items will also appear in your item mailbox. Time to destruction for such items is set by HCS for each gifting and may vary.

This is the end of the FallenSword Tutorial. Thank you for reading it and we hope it will make your gaming experience more exciting and fulfilling. Please read the articles in the 'More Information' section just below if you are interested in learning more on select topics.

The FallenSword Team

More Information Here are a number of informative articles which go into more detail about specific topics discussed in the FallenSword Tutorial. More may be added in the future.

Now that you’ve read the FallenSword Tutorial you understand the mechanics of placing bids for items and putting up items for sale. But what do you do if you want to get the most out of the Auction House? How do you get the highest price for your items while paying the least? How do you find items to sell, and which items are worth selling? This short article will try to answer those questions.

First, you must efficiently use the auction slots you have available to you. You only get two by default, and additional ones cost 10 FSPs each. When you’re first starting out and you are only looting items that will sell for a little gold, it clearly isn’t worthwhile to buy more auction slots. However, once you reach a level where you can loot more expensive items, especially ones that sell primarily for FSPs, you might want to consider buying additional slots. Some of the biggest traders on the Auction House have 15 or more auctions going at once, and you can be sure they are earning a lot of gold and FSPs to make it worth investing in the extra slots. A good rule of thumb is to ask ‘How much am I earning per sale?’ If the answer is a few gold coins per sale, don’t bother upgrading your auction slots. If you can earn one or more FSPs or over 5000 gold per item you sell, then you’ll want to have as many auction slots as you can justify by the amount of items you have to sell. Remember you’ll also have times when you don’t sell an item, and you’ll only have twelve hours to get your item out of your Item Mailbox. You may need to also upgrade your backpack slots to accommodate your stock of items, and those cost 30 FSPs each. Try to balance your available auction slots with your backpack spaces and the amount of inventory you’ll be holding at once. Of course, if you belong to a guild you might be able to impose on other guild mates to hold items temporarily or you might even be able to use the Guild Store.

Once you have enough auction slots to cover your intended sales numbers, next you have to decide what you want to sell. Clearly you won’t want to be trading in items that sell for only a few hundred gold pieces. Rather, you’ll need to concentrate on items that sell either for FSPs or for high gold prices. Typically items that are dropped by Elites or Champions will fit this category, but you’ll need to do your research on the Auction House to find out what’s hot at the moment. Once you decide what items you want to trade, then you need to know how much to pay for your items and how much to try to sell them for. Of course you’ll have competition in this because other people have had this same idea before you. A good business practice is to know the typical minimum price an item will sell for and only bid that much or below. If you get outbid, just wait for the next item.

Once you have an item to sell, you’ll need to create an effective auction to sell it for a profit. The first thing you need to do is use the auction duration effectively. If you run a 24 hour auction, it will be 23 hours and 30 minutes typically before your auction reaches the first page of auction listings for the type of item you’re selling. Therefore, only plan to run 1 hour auctions if you are online and then run longer auctions until you log back in. For example, if I’m going to bed I know I won’t be logging back in for 10 hours or more, so I might set up a series of 12 hour auctions to keep items in circulation. That way something is running at all times. Next, you’ll have to decide whether you want to sell your item for FSPs or gold. If you are willing to go the extra step of converting your gold to FSPs by trading with other players, you will often get a higher price out of a low FSP item than if you sell it for FSPs directly. Take for example an item that typically sells for 2 FSPs that you managed to obtain for 1 FSP. Now, if you run that item several times you’ll get your 2 FSPs, but you will be more likely to sell it the first time if you sell it for gold instead. Keeping in mind what FSPs sell for, if you want to get the equivalent of 2 FSPs you’ll need to sell the item for above 6,000 gold pieces. It is not uncommon to find items that normally sell for 1 or 2 FSPs selling for 8,000 gold or more on the Auction House, simply because people will often have gold when they do not have FSPs and they are willing to pay a high price to obtain an item they couldn’t buy otherwise. Once you’ve sold your item, you can make an offer to buy FSPs from others to convert the gold.

Whichever way you decide to sell, you also have to set an appropriate price for anyone to buy your item. Here’s where the Min Bid and Buy Now prices come into play. If you know that a given item will usually sell for 1000 gold pieces, for example, you might want to start your item at or around that price. However, don’t waste your auction and make the Buy Now price the same or leave it empty. Put a price of 1500 to 2000 gold in the Buy Now slot so someone who is in a hurry can pay a premium and get their item immediately. By using the same logic, you can craft FSP-only auctions that get top bids as well. If an item usually sells for 3 or 4 FSPs, put your starting bid at 3 and a buy now price at 5. If it sells for the minimum you’ve still got a fair price, and if someone wants it right now you’ll get an extra FSP out of the deal.

Commonly you will get your stock of items from people who want to sell at any price. You, on the other hand, must be patient and willing to run your auctions multiple times to get the price you want. Sometimes you will run an item a half-dozen times before someone buys it, but when they do you know you’ve made money on the deal and you can go do it again and again.

Don’t underestimate the value of ‘farming’, or staking out certain places in the game to kill Elites or Champions who are likely to drop good items. Most of the time, however, your time is best spent in buying items other people looted for low prices and then reselling them for top bids. Remember, you are a business person, not a hunter. Let other people collect the spoils while you can profit from their efforts.

Choosing a Guild Wisely

Choosing a guild can be one of the most important decisions you will make in the game, and you’ll need to make it early to get the best benefits from your guild membership. There are many guilds that won’t accept lower-level players, but keep looking and you’ll find one that will recognize your potential and take you in.

Before that happens, you need to do your research so you know which guilds are worth joining. There are only a few things you need to look at when choosing a guild, so answer the following questions for each guild you are investigating:

How many members does this guild already have? The answer to this question is important because it will tell you how popular the guild is, and it will let you know how likely it is that it will cost you gold and/or FSPs to join the guild in question. Any guild that has more than eight members will generally charge you 20 FSPs to join because that is how much it costs them to buy an additional member space for you. Sometimes you will see guild recruitment messages on the forum or in the Shout Box which mention that membership is free to the first X number of people who join. This usually happens when the guild kicks inactive players, so take advantage of it if you can.

How many Structures does the guild have? The answer to this question will depend on both the level of the guild and how much gold they have in their bank. An active guild with a lot of members will have a big bank, a high level, and lots of structures. Now typically these guilds are hard to get into for any amount of FSPs, but if you get the opportunity to join a guild with a bunch of structures and the gold to keep them up, then do it. You will reap the benefits of other people’s efforts initially, and then you can start contributing to the guild yourself.

Are the members of the guild active? You can answer this question by looking at the average level of the players in the guild and how much experience they are contributing. A guild with a lot of level 10 or lower players might not be very active, unless it is brand new. On the other hand, if the guild has only level 40 or higher players you won’t stand much of a chance of getting in until you level up yourself.

When starting out, your options for joining a guild may be few and far between. Tilt the odds in your favor by picking out a select few guilds you’d like to belong to, and then engage their members in conversation. If you can help their members with items, gold, or advice, then do so at every opportunity. Read any information their members may have posted about the guild on the forum and visit their webpage if they have one. Learn what you can about the guild, then make key alliances with their members. You’ll be much more likely to be invited to join a guild if you are already making yourself useful, so don’t pass up any opportunity. The benefits you receive by belonging to a strong, active guild will far outweigh any cost or effort you incur early on in the game.

Leveling Up Efficiently

Every player in the game starts out with the same amount of stamina per day. Whether you level quickly or not depends entirely on how effectively you use the stamina points you are given. You can buy minor increases to your stamina with FSPs on the Upgrades page, and certain items will give tiny bonuses to your maximum stamina and the rate you earn it back. However, for the most part you’ll have to choose your maps carefully as you move up from one level to the other.

The first thing you’ll need to do is visit the forums, because there are many resources to make the task of choosing your path easier. Familiarize yourself with any maps pertaining to the area you are currently adventuring within. Those can be found in the Locations section of the forum. At the very top of that same section, however, is a list of places to go at any specific level to get the most from your stamina. The worst thing you can do is either linger in an area too long or go to an area where the creatures are too hard to kill. Both situations will just waste your stamina points and you will level very slowly if at all.

It is best to choose an area where the creatures are appropriate for your level, but can still be easily defeated. It is important to understand that as you gain levels, the same creature will give you less and less experience points. At an extreme, if you are killing creatures 10 levels below you, you might only get 1 experience point per kill. Even though it is only taking a single stamina point to defeat them, you are still only getting a 1 to 1 ratio for your stamina points and that isn’t nearly enough to level up effectively.

When you are in the appropriate locations for your level, a creature should be defeated within 5 to 10 stamina points and yield you at least 50 experience points. By planning your equipment upgrades carefully and concentrating on attack and damage, you may reduce the amount of stamina used to 1 or 2 while still maintaining the 50 experience points per kill number. A 1 or 2 stamina point to 50 experience point ratio is excellent at lower levels. Of course, the players at the highest levels would scoff at that number, as they’ve grown accustomed to getting hundreds or thousands of experience points for their stamina expenditures, but they aren’t reading this tutorial, are they?

Whenever you first enter a new area, check the profile of any new creature you encounter to judge your ability to defeat them. If you can’t tell from an immediate inspection of their stats, hit them with a 60 stamina attack and see how much stamina it takes to kill them. Of course, if you get killed then you might want to leave them alone for a while. Concentrate your attacks on those creatures you can kill with less than 5 stamina points preferably, and save harder creatures for when you level up the next time. If you have chosen your gear effectively, you might find that even creatures several levels higher than you are killable with very little stamina. It is then that you can sit back and smile, secure in the knowledge that you are growing as fast as you possibly can.

Dealing with Other Players

Since FallenSword is a massively multiplayer online role-playing game, you will have lots of opportunity to interact with your fellow players. Unfortunately, not all of those interactions are going to be pleasant. People will attack you for no reason, or steal your kills, or outbid you on the auction house. This is all part of the game and you would be wise to take these situations in stride, or else you’ll start finding your name on a lot of people’s enemy lists. As long as you don’t go out of your way to annoy people, things will usually be just fine.

However, there are always the occasional loose nuts to deal with, and fortunately the FallenSword creators have given you some tools to use to make your game experience as worry-free as possible. First, you may sometimes receive harassing private messages from other players. If this happens, you can add them to your Ignore list, which is located in your Log page. Just click on Manage Ignore List, add their name, and you won’t hear from them again. Of course, they may still attack you and steal your gold, but you can put a bounty on their head to stop that sort of thing.

If someone sends you something especially distressing, such as death threats or degrading discussions of yourself or your family members, never hesitate to contact the FallenSword team at http://support.huntedcow.com/ to report the other player. You should never feel that you have to put up with hate-filled messages, as the FallenSword team will not hesitate to ban any player that stoops to such low behavior.

Using the Forum

The FallenSword Forum is a valuable resource and tool for making the most of your gaming experience, but there are some guidelines you can follow to use it most effectively.

The primary way you will be using the forum is simply by logging in and reading the postings under the various topics. You will learn a wealth of information simply by perusing the postings, as there are always new questions to be answered and other people who can answer them. Always pay attention to the stickies at the top of most of the forum topics. It is here that you will find the most-requested information on any given topic. These stickied postings are the work of many dedicated gamers like yourself, and their effort and insights are extremely useful and time-saving. If you don’t find the information you are looking for, then make yourself familiar with the Search function at the top of the forum page. Here you can search any specific topic or all of them at once, and you can use any search term you think is relevant to your question or concern.

Once you have checked out all the postings and stickies and searched for the answer to your question to no avail, then you can be safe in posting a question of your own. It is good forum etiquette to not post a question or comment that has been posted recently. Please also be sure to read the forum rules before posting. Once you’ve made an effort to find your answer and were unsuccessful it is certain that your question will be welcomed by the other forum users. You just might ask the very question that a dozen other people needed to ask but hadn’t done so yet, and you will be a hero to them all.

One specific forum topic to pay special attention to is the Trading forum. People use this forum topic as an alternative to the Auction House, and you will find postings which are offering to buy or sell virtually any item or service in the game. However, if you decide you want to post something on this forum, be sure you’ve done your homework. If you post that you want to sell something and put a price a hundred times too high, you will receive no positive responses. On the same note, if you post a message offering to buy something at a fraction of its true worth, you will get nowhere fast. Check prices on the Auction House, search the Trading forum for other people offering the same items, and then plan your posting accordingly. A well-crafted trading post with good information and relevant pricing will do wonders to your reputation, both in the forum and amongst the other players.