Start Here!

### So You Want to Be A Dust Warrior...

Scratch that, we haven't explained what a Dust Warrior is yet, have we? It's high time we do so, then. 4thewords is a roleplaying game, in which you accomplish battles and quests by keeping track of your writing word count. You will create a character at the beginning, and the story premise is simple: Our Valley has been beset by magical dust, the nature of which you will explore as you advance in the game. "Dust warrior" is simply the friendly term for these characters, yours and mine, who will fight against the encroaching dust.

You might also find the official Video Walkthrough helpful.

Or perhaps the official History of Our Valley video.

If you're looking for wiki-specific tips, try the Getting Started on the Wikia page!

## Jump Right In!

Nothing explains the game better than your first monster battle, so you'll want to go click on the **Writing** in the left sidebar, and then click "New File." It will appear at the top of your list of files as "Untitled." If you click on it int he list of files, it will open in the main window. There you can change the name and click the three dots to assign it to a project. You could also create a project first by clicking "Projects" and then "New Project."

Type something in your new file. You'll see the numbers at the top right track your words. Hurrah, you've begun!

But that's not any different from a word processor, is it?

To start a battle, go to the **Adventure** tab on the left sidebar. Click "Wilderness" at the top and pick a monster to battle. Every monster has a plus sign in the top right corner, and clicking it adds that monster to your battle list. The header bar will have a picture of the monster and say "Ready to Start!" You can either

* click "Ready to Start!" and press the "Press to start your battle list" button, beginning the battle, and then maneuver back to **Writing** and your working file.
* or you can maneuver back to **Writing** and your working file and click "Start your writing battle" in the upper right.

A good one to start with is a Reenu. Okay! Now you've got a time limit. Write those words!

That's fun, but is there more?

Go back to **Adventure**, but this time go to "Quest". Quests require you to fight certain monsters or collect certain items dropped by monsters. Sometimes they'll ask you to write a certain number of words, write a certain number of days in a row (a "streak"), or fight a certain number of monsters regardless of what they are. Quests also give fun rewards. Pick out a fun looking quest. Now, add monsters (back in Wilderness) to you your battle queue that will help you complete that quest.

And you're on your way.

## Navigating the 4thewords Site

For the game interface, you've got a menu on your left with seven categories.

* **Dashboard**. This is your page, and you can customize it with widgets that you use often.
* **Writing**. This is where you find your projects and files.
* **Adventure**. These are things that the valley has to offer
	+ Wilderness. This is a list of monsters available in the area where you are currently located. Different areas have different monsters, and it's possible to unlock more monsters as you progress through the game. Monsters have a word count and a time limit. Your objective is to write that many words before the timer runs out. When you have defeated the monster, it will drop items, which appear in your inventory. The battle queue holds ten monsters. You can set a monster to replay on a continuous loop (so when you win a battle, another immediately begins) by clicking the infinity symbol. You can fill the rest of the spots in your battle queue by clicking the paint can. Note that a monster in your battle queue will remain there until fought or deleted, even if you leave the area or an event ends. Also note that the endurance monsters work differently: you must type continuously while their timer runs.
	+ Quest. This is where you pick up quests. Each area offers different quests, and sometimes completing a quest can unlock new quests.
	+ Markets. Markets vary from area to area. There is usually an item shop, where items can be bought for coins. There are crafting shops where items can be crafted from other items. There are stores where you can purchase wardrobe items.
* **Multiplayer**. This is where you find the new multiplayer mode, which is still in beta.
	+ Lobby Rooms. A place to find lobbies for Co-Op Battles. There is no wilderness area per se, as you need to create a lobby to see the different creatures available.
	+ Special Co-Op Quest. This is where you pick up co-op quests. Different quests require a combination of Co-Op monsters, battle types, items, and regular creatures. You can also check them out on our Multiplayer Battle Room page.
	+ Co-Op FAQ. A basic overview of the multiplayer system and a few frequently asked questions. For more detail, see our step by step guide.
* **Journal**. This is all about YOUR progress through the game.
	+ Questbook. This shows the quests you are working on. You can carry 20 side quests at a time, and one main quest. You can drop a quest at any time.
	+ Writing Streak. This is how many days in a row you have written at least 444 words. On this screen, you can repair a broken streak by using stempos.
	+ Compendium. This keeps track of your bestiary (the monsters you've battled), your masteries, and a few other things.
	+ Game History. This keeps track of every monster you've battled and every quest you've completed.
	+ Stats. This is about how many words you've written per day/week/month, along with time spent and the size of your files.
	+ Calendar. This shows your streaks, how much you've written each day, and special 4theWords events. You can also add your own notes about your plans or progress.
* **Hero**. This is where you can play around and show off the cool swag you've earned.
	+ Inventory. This is where the items that were dropped by monsters or that you received from chests or quest rewards appear. You can see the battle items you have equipped. This affects your attack, defense, and luck stats. To see the battle items in your inventory that you do not have equipped, go to "Battle." Briefly: Your attack stat makes it so you have to write fewer words, your defense stack increases the amount of time given to fight a monster, and your luck stat effects the amount of items a monster drops.
	+ Wardrobe. This is where your wardrobe items appear, and where you can dress your avatar. For the most part, you get wardrobe items by purchasing them at a store or winning them from quests.
	+ Maps. Here is your personal house that you can decorate by buying house items and rearranging your items.
	+ Stores. The stores let you purchase wardrobe items or house items with core crystals (which are bought with real-world money).
* **Community**. In this section you can interact with other dust warriors. This section
	+ Community. this is an overview of everything in this section.
	+ Forum. Here you can talk to other dust warriors. You can ask questions about the game, introduce yourself and greet other dust warriors, show off your latest outfit, discuss the craft of writing, writing tools, and marketing, give suggestions, or show the developers your love.
	+ Reading. Here dust warriors can post projects they have written for others to read. This is entirely optional.
	+ Lookbook. When a dust warrior has a particularly great outfit, other dust warriors can nominate them for the lookbook. You can vote for who you think has the best look.
	+ News. Here the developers give news about events and site updates.
	+ Guides. It's the wiki! Yay!
	+ Pages. Some more explaination about the Hunt for the Ancients, the Shrine of Ages, and--hey! it's the wiki again!
* **Dashboard.**
	+ Dashboard. This shows your total words written, when your subscription ends, and you friends list.
	+ Stats. This shows stats about your writing: how many words you've written each day, and how you're doing in comparison to last week.
	+ Streaks. This is where you can see your streak length, and repair streaks by double clicking on the date you want to repair on the calendar. Note: you can always repair TODAY's streak for free. Repairing streak days in the past or in the future require stempos. That calendar will keep track of how many words you've written each day, and what becomes more important is your **streak**. When you write a minimum of 444 words each day, you get on a roll and get your streak going. You'll earn little prizes the longer you can keep it going, so you'd better try and find a way to build that writing habit into your daily life! (The cool wings some avatars have? Streak reward.)
	+ Account. Here is where you can change your password and account options.
	+ Store. This is where you can spend real world money for Core Crystals, buy subscription time, bundles, and gift cards.
	+ Referrals. If you give a friend your referral code, and they join 4theWords, you can both earn core crystals if they purchase subscription time.
	+ Notifications. This shows that you began battles, won, lost, or fled battles. It shows when you added a day to your streak. It shows when people interact with you on the forum, or when your friends send you a private message.
	+ News. These are informational posts from the developers about current and upcoming events, sales, new features, and bug fixes.

* **Account**
	+ Profile. Here you can talk about you. and other people can see it.
	+ My friends. A list of your friends.
	+ Notifications. All the monsters you've battled, forum activity, and streaks.
	+ Store. This is where you can spend real-world money to purchase core crystals, which you can then spend of subscription time (and wardrobe and house items in a different section).
	+ Referrals. You get some core crystals if you refer a friend!
	+ Settings. This is where you handle your e-mail and passwords. You can adjust some settings and change your color theme.
	+ About us. Learn about the developers.