Manual

A **Manual** is a set of knowledge that can be learnt by a cultivator following a Xiandao Law. Can also refer to the book (Item\_Esoterica) item that represents this knowledge.

Not to be mixed up with Laws, Skills, Battle Spells, or Miracles.

## Basics

Manuals can be seen as the main source of strength for Xiandao Cultivators. They come in two types, Orthodox Manuals, which are Manuals with predefined bonuses and values, contained within Supreme Laws and some Standalone Orthodox Manuals, and Unorthodox Manuals, which are randomly generated.

There are multiple ways to acquire the knowledge within a Manual:

* Learning it from the Manual Pavilion Studying interface
* Learning from Mentoring (requires Golden Core state from the Mentor)
* Learning it from the Cultivators Inspiration (Manual Inspiration) interface
	+ This is how Manual (Items) are utilized which can't be transcribed, like Location Manuals.
	+ While learning happens instantly, the full Inspiration cost is used. Due to this, it's suggested to only use this interface for directly leveling Skills, and any Law Exclusive Manuals.
* Learning from Secrets and Adventures
* Obtaining it from Sub-Spirit Gear: note that in that case, the manual isn't learned and is linked to the equipped item.

Manuals with an Attainment value that are not Hidden (also called Law Exclusive) can be stored in Manual Pavilions. Manuals with no Attainment values can't be transcribed, only learned directly on a Cultivator. Location Manuals are an example of Manuals with no Attainment.

## Costs and requirements

Learning a Manual can have different requirements. The main ones are:

* Inspiration Costs
* Cultivation Stage
* Unorthodox Attainment below the Cultivators cap, equal to 1/4th of the base Attainment.

Learning a Manual requires enough Inspiration, and after learning it, the Attainment of the respective type is increased: Unorthodox Attainment when learning an Unorthodox Manual, and Orthodox Attainment when learning an Orthodox Manual.

The Element Relationships between the Manual and cultivator affects the attainment costs, which in turn affects the Inspiration Cost. The Manual has a base attainment cost, which is then modified:

* None Law (except for Law of Nimbus ConquestDLC) cultivators pay the base cost, None **Manuals** are always the base cost as well.
* If the manual has the same element as the cultivator: base cost
* If either the manual's element feeds the cultivator's element, or the cultivator's element feeds the manual's element: 75% of the cost, rounded.
* if either the manual's element weakens the cultivator's element, or the cultivator's element weakens the manual's element: 300% of the cost, rounded.

## Orthodox Non Law-Exclusive Supreme Law Manuals List

This list only includes the Manuals that are non-exclusive, that is that can be transcribed in the Manual Pavilion.

## Orthodox Law-Exclusive Manuals List

This list only includes the manuals that are exclusive, that is that are specific to a Law outside of Sub-Spirit attachment.

## Standalone Orthodox Manuals

Standalons Orthodox Manuals are Orthodox Manuals that are not part of any Supreme Law.

## Manual Categorization

Manuals can be categorized in multiple ways.

* By Esoterica Type parameter value
* By Esoterica Effect
* By Orthodoxy
* By Source of Manual
* By exclusiveness

### Manual Categories by Esoterica Type

The Type parameter value can be used to categorize manuals into the following categories. These are also utilized with Sub-Spirit Secret Epiphanies, also with the Manual Pavilion categories. The Favorites category does not belong to this list, as it only displays the Manuals that have been set as Favorite within the Manual Pavilions pool of Manuals.

* Artifact Mastery (Fabao)
* Spell (Skill)
* Protection (Barrier)
* Alchemy (Dan)
* Artifact Crafting (Refining)
* Practice (Gong)
* Misc (None)

Unused (Art) category exists, but isn't utilized.

Battle Spells category can be seen in the Manual Pavilion interface, which contains Unorthodox Combat Spells, but it's not an Esoterica Type Parameter value.

### Manual Categories by Esoterica Effect

The effect that manuals have can be used to categorize manuals into the following categories.

* Unlocking Spells (combat skills) for that cultivator
* Unlocking Alchemy recipes for that cultivator
* Unlocking Legacy Artifact recipes for that cultivator
* Unlocking Talismans for that cultivator
* Unlocking locations for that save
* Unlocking secrets for that save
* Unlocking Formation nodes for that save
* Unlocking Formation diagrams for that save
* Adding a modifier for that cultivator
* Unlocking a miracle for that cultivator
* Unlocking buildings for that save
* Adding a sub-spirit to that cultivator
* Setting a Flag (not used in current ingame manuals)

The categories themselves can be split into two, manuals affecting the cultivator, and manuals with a global effect (or affecting the save). Manuals with a global effect only need to be studied by a single cultivator for their effect, but as manuals can have multiple effects (like Formation manuals unlocking both nodes and adding a modifier), those are still useful to learn.

And because a single manual can have multiple effects, this system of categorization can be considered inefficient.

### Manual Categories by Orthodoxy

The type of Attainment can be used to split Manuals into Orthodox and Unorthodox.

Based on the descriptions, Orthodox Manuals come from Orthodox Sects and are used for the foundation for all cultivators. Unorthodox Manuals come from various sects from their own perspectives, and can be used as a supplement for enlightenment.

From a technical point of view, the difference between Orthodox and Unorthodox is that Orthodox manuals are previously defined while Unorthodox manuals are generated on runtime.

### Manual Categories by Source

Manuals can be categorized based on their acquisition method. A list of common sources.

* Manuals from Supreme Laws
* Manuals from Items
* Manuals from Events
* Friendship Manuals (Secret Knowledge of Jianghu NPCs)
* Manuals from Spirit Roots
* Manuals from Wild Laws (Non-Supreme Laws)

### Manual Categories by Exclusiveness

Based on exclusiveness, manuals can be split into two categories.

#### Mutually Exclusive Manuals

A Mutually Exclusive Manual is a manual that can't coexist with other certain Manuals. A set of Mutually Exclusive Manuals is a list of manuals that are all Mutually Exclusive with each other.

#### Law Exclusive Manuals

A Law Exclusive Manual is a manual that can only be learnt by a cultivating a particular law. This is accomplished by the setting a Hidden value for the Manual, which hides it from the Manual Pavilion, as well as the Mentoring interface.

Tentatively, Natural and Divergent Laws (not actually laws) can also go under this category, as those manuals are also hidden and can't be transcribed or passed on.

## Categories

* Artifact Mastery (Passive improvement for using artifacts in combat)
* Spell (Spell, passive imrovement)
* Protection (Barrier)
* Alchemy (Passive improvement, and recipes)
* Artifact Crafting (Passive improvement, and recipes)
* Practice (attribute boosts, pain resist, stamina regen...)
* Misc (usually a Miracle, or Max Qi. but can be a lot of things)
* Battle Spells (Spell active cast)
* Collection

## Parameters of a Manual (Technical)

Manuals (`Esoterica`) have multiple parameters. The following is a list of commonly used ones:

* Name
* Description
* Effect Description
* Difficulty (related to Attainment)
* Type (Category of the manual)
* Required Cultivation Level for learning (Qi Shaping to Demi-God)
* Element (used for Elemental relations)
* Hidden (used to hide the Manual from Mentors and Manual Pavilions)
* Mutual Exclusiveness
* Prerequisite Manuals

1. ↑ `XiaWorld.Fight.FightMgr.SkillDamageApply()`, in the `skilldef.Kind == g_emFightSkillKind.Damage` conditional and `XiaWorld.Thing.ReduceDamage(FightSkillDef...)`
2. ↑ `XiaWorld.Fight.FightMgr.SkillDamageApply()`, in the `skilldef.Kind == g_emFightSkillKind.Damage` conditional and `XiaWorld.Thing.ReduceDamage(FightSkillDef...)`
3. ↑ `XiaWorld.Fight.FightMgr.SkillDamageApply()`, in the `skilldef.Kind == g_emFightSkillKind.Damage` conditional and `XiaWorld.Thing.ReduceDamage(FightSkillDef...)`
4. ↑ `XiaWorld.Fight.FightMgr.SkillDamageApply()`, in the `skilldef.Kind == g_emFightSkillKind.Sheild` conditional
5. ↑ `XiaWorld.Fight.FightMgr.SkillDamageApply()`, in the `skilldef.Kind == g_emFightSkillKind.Damage` conditional and `XiaWorld.Thing.ReduceDamage(FightSkillDef...)`
6. ↑ `XiaWorld.Fight.FightMgr.SkillDamageApply()`, in the `skilldef.Kind == g_emFightSkillKind.Skill` conditional
7. ↑ `XiaWorld.Fight.FightMgr.SkillDamageApply()`, in the `skilldef.Kind == g_emFightSkillKind.Sheild` conditional
8. ↑ `XiaWorld.Fight.FightMgr.SkillDamageApply()`, in the `skilldef.Kind == g_emFightSkillKind.Sheild` conditional
9. ↑ `XiaWorld.Fight.FightMgr.SkillDamageApply()`, in the `skilldef.Kind == g_emFightSkillKind.Health` conditional
10. ↑ `XiaWorld.Fight.FightMgr.SkillDamageApply()`, in the `skilldef.Kind == g_emFightSkillKind.Fabao` conditional
11. ↑ `XiaWorld.Fight.FightMgr.SkillDamageApply()`, in the `skilldef.Kind == g_emFightSkillKind.Damage` conditional and `XiaWorld.Thing.ReduceDamage(FightSkillDef...)`
12. ↑ `XiaWorld.Fight.FightMgr.SkillDamageApply()`, in the `skilldef.Kind == g_emFightSkillKind.Damage` conditional and `XiaWorld.Thing.ReduceDamage(FightSkillDef...)`
13. ↑ 13.0 13.1 13.2 13.3 13.4 13.5 13.6 13.7 13.8 13.9 Cite error: Invalid `<ref>` tag; no text was provided for refs named `:0`
14. ↑ Cite error: Invalid `<ref>` tag; no text was provided for refs named `:1`