Starter's Guide 1: The Basics

**NOTE: Information accurate as of patch 1.8 (Dungeons Patch)!**

Welcome to Runic Realms! Mighty equipment, Mystical Magic and Malevolent Monsters await you as you step into the wonderland of Alterra. The road ahead is a treacherous one, but this guide will equip you with all you need to fend for yourself and slay great horrors (one day)!

* **DISCLAIMER: This is a recommended "Get Strong, Fast" guide. If you want to chill and enjoy the server go ahead and explore at your own pace! (reading Chapter 1: The Basics is still recommended so you don't get lost).**

# Chapter 1: The Basics

Knowing the Basics and mechanics of the server is essential to playing efficiently and having fun. Here are some tips which will help. If you know the basics, feel free to jump right into the equipment and leveling guide!

### Hotbar

Your Hotbar contains the Ancient Rune, a Quest Journal, and a Hearthstone as well as 6 empty slots. Additionally, it displays the Offhand you are using.

#### Ancient Rune

The Ancient Rune is imbued with magical powers! Use Spell Scrolls scattered across the Realm to imbue it with spells.

You can equip a maximum of 2 Active Spells and 1 Passive Spell.

For Passive Spells, right click the spell scroll to bind the spell.

For Active Spells, right click the spell scroll to bind the spell to the Right click key(to be used while holding the Ancient Rune). Likewise, left click the spell scroll to bind the spell to the Left Click key (to be used while holding the Ancient Rune).

NOTE: If you already have a spell bounded to your Ancient Rune in any slot, binding another spell to that same slot will override the spell (and the old spell will vanish forever :( )

#### Quest Journal

The Quest Journal is a helpful tool which allows you to view all the Quests which are available, in progress, or completed.

Different Colors of the quest icon indicate the different statuses of the quest.

 Red  indicates that the quest is unavailable, and that the character's level is too low to start a quest.

 Green  indicates that the quest is completed.

 Yellow  indicates that this is a Side Quest which is available to start.

 Orange  indicates that this is a Main Quest which is available to start.

Note: For Main Quests, You must do all preceding Main quests to be able to begin that current Main quest. (i.e. It is recommended to complete all Main Quests in order to proceed with the Main Quest Line.)

Mousing over each quest icon will give you useful guidelines to assist you with that quest. Should you need help completing the quest, head over to the Quests page for a comprehensive guide in doing so!

#### Hearthstone

The Hearthstone is a rune imbued with the power of teleportation, allowing you to warp to the designated town. It works upon right clicking it, and after a delay of 5 seconds of standing still, you will be warped.

The location of the Hearthstone can be set in any Inn by talking to the Innkeeper.

Once a location is set, your character will spawn in that particular inn upon any death, and will also be able to warp to that inn when right clicking the hearthstone.

Note: The hearthstone is especially useful when you are stuck in certain holes or dungeons provided you are able to stand still for 5 seconds.

### Level

Like any RPG, character levels are the key to unlocking... everything. New Artifacts (Class-specific spells), New Quests , New Dungeons, New tiers of Loot and Gear are available as one reaches a higher character level.

You level up by gaining experience, either through Quests or by killing mobs not more than 10 levels higher or lower than you.

#### Profession level

Here is a more in depth guide on Professions.

### Stats

There are a few stats which are important to taking and dealing damage. Pay special attention to the 2 types of damage,  Weapon Damage , and  Magic/Spell Damage !

#### Health

 Health  is denoted by this sign:

Your  Health Points(HP) clearly denotes your remaining HP you can take before you die. You can obtain more Maximum HP upon leveling up or upon wearing gear.

Health Regen:

Every 5 seconds, 10  Health Points is recovered. Some Gems are able to give a boost to this rate.

You can also recover  Health Points by being healed or drinking  Health  Potions, as well as leveling up.

#### Mana

 Mana  is denoted by this sign:

Your  Mana  denotes the resource for casting spells. You can obtain more Maximum  Mana  upon leveling up or upon wearing gear.

Mana Regen:

Every 5 seconds, 5  Mana  is recovered.

You can drink  Mana  Potions, as well as level up to recover your  Mana .

#### Healing

 Healing  is denoted by this green symbol:

The amount of healing **you give** is increased by the raw value show above. This can be boosted by equipping a gear which gives the healing boost.

(Note: Building this stat is only recommended for Cleric as it boosts healing **given**, and not healing received.)

#### Hunger

Hunger allows you to sprint.
More than 3 hunger allows you to sprint.

#### Shield

"Shield" is denoted by this white symbol:

The (Shield) bonus reduces your damage taken by the raw value of your shield stat. This stat can be boosted by equipping certain armor pieces, or by equipping, (get ready for it)... a shield.

#### **Weapon Damage**

 Weapon Damage  is denoted by this symbol:

This denotes the overall **Physical Damage** range you will do in one melee attack. Furthermore, this number will be added to any of your spells which deal  Weapon Damage , unless otherwise stated.

#### **Magic/Spell Damage**

 Magic/Spell Damage  is denoted by this symbol:

This denotes the  Magic/Spell Damage  boost you will receive when casting spells which deal  Magic/Spell Damage , unless otherwise stated.

#### Critical hits

Critical hits deals 50% more damage for that particular hit. (applies to Spells and  Magic/Spell Damage  too)

Currently, critical hit rate can only be boosted by Enchantment Scrolls. Critical hit rate boost is indicated on a piece of enchanted armor.

#### **Boosting Damage**

Generally, to add more  Weapon Damage  or  Magic/Spell Damage , one can either

1. Get a better weapon or Artifacts, unlocking new Spells to deal or increase your damage

2. Get better Gear which adds more  Weapon Damage  or  Magic/Spell Damage

3. Socket Gems which boost  Weapon Damage  or  Magic/Spell Damage  (i.e. Cut Opals/Cut Diamonds)

4. Get a better Offhand which boosts damage

5. Drink Potions which add damage

6. Get lucky and land critical hits.

### Gear

Gear/Equipment is the primary method of gaining stats. There are 4 different types of gears, Artifacts, Weapons, Armor and Offhands. Gear can be obtained by crafting , through Professions, through the Guild Vendor, or by Loot chests.

Here is a brief introduction to each of them. Click the links above for a more comprehensive guide to the gear for each class.

Note that each Class uses its own unique weapon type and gear type. Click here for more information on Classes.

#### Weapons

Weapons do the  Weapon Damage  indicated on them, and do not have any spells tied to them. They are not to be confused with Artifacts, which are  Unique  weapons. These are mainly used to reforge Artifacts.

Note that every class has its own unique weapon type.

#### Artifacts

Artifacts are  Unique  weapons with powerful spells bound to them. They are not to be confused with weapons, which are not imbued with spells.

Artifacts can be reforged with a weapon at the Artifact Mage(weird guy in a purple hut) to hold up to 2 spells, as well as gain more damage. (look at the **Artifacts** page for more information)

#### Armor

Armor provides Health and Mana boosts to the character, as well as various stat boosts at a higher rarity. They also can be enchanted with Enchantment Scrolls as well as socketed with Gems to give even more stat boosts. Furthermore, some legendary armor even come with set bonuses providing powerful enhancements to some spells.

#### Offhands

Offhands provide a decent boost to some stats. They can be crafted by a blacksmith (see Professions).

### Mobs

Look at Mobs for more info on monsters, Mini-bosses and Bosses.

### Cities & Gathering Nodes

Cities are where you'll spend majority of the time outside of grinding. Acquaint yourself to the various NPCs and Gathering Nodes to get a better grasp of the Realm. At the very least, familiarize yourself with the Bank and the Inn for your convenience. (see Cities for more information)

### Gold and other stuffs

Gold is the main currency of Alterra. It is used in almost all vendors as well as the Trade Market. Use your gold wisely.

Other resources and mob drops all have various usages, ranging from Professions to Quest items etc. See the Mobs page for more details on these miscellaneous items.

### Dying

Oh no :( it shouldn't have come to this... but if you die, you will drop ALL items in your inventory - EXCEPT **all EQUIPPED armor and Offhand as well as all items in your HOTBAR**.

You will also spawn where your Hearthstone was last set.

### Parties!!

(updated as of Patch 1.7.0)

Parties are an awesome way to play with other players! Parties grant +15% bonus EXP to its members and allows EXP to be shared among members. They are also crucial for dungeon runs as parties allow groups of people to be teleported to the next room.

However, parties are currently bugged Patch 1.7.0) with the introduction of groups, which are public parties (sort of). The steps to joining a party(in this patch) are as follows.

1. Person A /group and creates a group.

2. Person B /group and joins the group.

3. Person A /party create and /party invite whoever.

4. Person B /group and leaves.

5. Person B /party join Person A

Party up and enjoy the adventure :D

Wow, that was quite the read... Now that you know the basics of the game, feel free to explore or reference the Starter's Guide 2: The Early Levels for your convenience. Enjoy :D