After you have completed the Tutorial, you will begin the game (as Human) in Archet. You will receive a "thank you" letter and a blue gift box attached. open the box, but DO NOT OPEN THE RED GIFT BOX yet. The red box contains a temporary mount that we will use to navigate each main area of the game that you will have access to (under level 20 and for free subscriber) and are referenced on the attached maps. Take the starter quests found in Archet and talk to the Captain Trainer to purchase the class attributes, attacks & special abilities. Make sure that you visit the places called, BLACKWOODS ROOST & BROWNES FOLLY in the field, directly outside Archet. These are 2 areas that are part of the 10 "Ruins of Breeland" quest that equal 5 Turbine Points and a Trait (disregard for now). After completing your first "offiicial" quest, an icon will appear, indicating that you have started the "Breeland Adventurer" set of 15 starter quests, which will result in 5 Turbine Points, upon completion.
By this time, you should be around level 5-7 (mostly from tutorial quests) and you will be able to kill mostly starter beasts in the areas around Archet and Combe, the neighboring village. You will not move on to the Combe quests, until you are at least level 10, so don't try to move ahead too quickly here. If you decide to keep this character and recycle another one later for points, you can earn honorary titles in the game for not dying, up to level 20, so it's up to you if you want to keep your character, alive to this point.
After completing the Archet quests, do the 1st round of Combe quests, but do not continue the prologue(or main story quest line at this point, becuase your first priority is to obtain a mount, which at the present is 95 Turbine Points. Next we will move onto Bree, which is the border city of Combe and nearby Staddle. You should have about 5-7 quests completed in the Breeland Adventurer quest set, but we will return here after completing the starter quests in Erud Luin (dwarf & elf) and the Shire (hobbits, duh) to earn Turbine Points in this area and of course, level up in the process to be able to complete the human area quests, more easily.
Run through Bree and go to the Stable Master in the Western Side of Bree. Enter Bree, by running through Combe and going in the direction of Staddle which is past an NPC called Rurik Fennel, past the Combe & Wattle Inn. Proceed up the path and head right until you go through a Guard's gate and you will see a Boar Head's Fountain. Run past the fountain, heading UP the path and you will see the Prancing Pony on your right and a milestone, to bound your spirit to, for your main home location. Proceed down the path that tails off towards to the left and you will see a stable towards the right, near the open gate to the countryside. Talk to the Stable Master and pay the 1 silver coin to "fast travel" to Michel Delving (the Shire). You should be a level 8 or higher at this point, because it is the minimum level to travel by horse in this game. You should not confuse the mount skill with the RIDING SKILL, which is the premium skill, which costs 95 Turbine Points as mentioned above.
Thursday, January 13, 2011
STEP 1. Create Character & Complete the Tutorial
First, I would recommend starting with a Human-Captain Class, Male or Female, whichever you prefer. You will be leveling this character to approximately level 15, so bear in mind this is not a permanent character, just one to help you get through the tougher regions of the game. At level 10 you will receive a "Herald" or helper that the Captain can summon to use as a "Shield". The other reason I suggest you start with a Human race character, because the tutorial is short and you will begin the game in an area that you can rack up some easy points.
Second, make sure you check off the "skip the tutorial" radio button in the create-a-character section, unless this is your first character and you want to spend about 15 minutes interacting with the main prologue "backstory". Complete the tutorial in Archet (the starter city) and do not spend too much time grinding here, because you will not receive credit for monster kills or areas visited, which is the basis for earning Turbine Points, after you leave the tutorial. Complete the minimum quests offered and receive your quest rewards and move on to completion. You will receive the starter weapons, gears and enough cash to purchase your class attributes, later. You should spend about 30 minutes in the tutorial before moving on to the promotion "instance", which is an interactive cutscene, that you will be required to finish, before moving on the main game. You will know you are close to the end of the tutorial when you speak to Jon Brockenbroke in the Hunter Lodge.
Second, make sure you check off the "skip the tutorial" radio button in the create-a-character section, unless this is your first character and you want to spend about 15 minutes interacting with the main prologue "backstory". Complete the tutorial in Archet (the starter city) and do not spend too much time grinding here, because you will not receive credit for monster kills or areas visited, which is the basis for earning Turbine Points, after you leave the tutorial. Complete the minimum quests offered and receive your quest rewards and move on to completion. You will receive the starter weapons, gears and enough cash to purchase your class attributes, later. You should spend about 30 minutes in the tutorial before moving on to the promotion "instance", which is an interactive cutscene, that you will be required to finish, before moving on the main game. You will know you are close to the end of the tutorial when you speak to Jon Brockenbroke in the Hunter Lodge.