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EverQuest Newbie FAQ Version 0.6

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HISTORY:

0.6 SoV added, Equipment added, Guide/GM added, PvP changes, food/drink changes, minor tweaking here and there
0.5 RoK included, Minor changes and additions (Corpse decay, /consent change, /fastdrop etc.)
0.4 Proof read by Zernan
0.3 Some minor changes and a few questions added. Last version before going to be spellchecked :-)
0.2 Minor changes suggested by several test-readers. Added sections about Roleplaying and Buying/Selling. Some new Questions in almost all sections.
0.1 First draft Version
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Hi all, and welcome to Norrath,

You have decided to join one of the biggest Online Roleplay Games on the Internet. Because of its size, EverQuest is not an easy game to start. You will encounter a lot of new things, new impressions, new terms and will surely have a lot of questions.

I'm often reading and answering on the Newbie Message Board on www.everquest.com. During my time there I noticed that the same questions come up over and over again. That is not based on bad or unintelligent people, but on the fact that the community grows and grows and grows. Therefore it's only logical that the new citizens bump into the same problems others already encountered.

Unfortunately this "Newbie Message Board" (or "Newbie Zone") has turned to a shadow of itself in the last weeks. With the closing of the General Discussion Board a lot of whiners and jerks showed up there with the only intention to stirr up trouble. As much as the moderators are trying to prevent it, the "old spirit" has died. That's why a lot of the "oldtimers" walked away and found a new home at the EverQuest Newbie Zone. It's a messageboard created to bring back the spirit we had.

This help file shall be your guide while being online. It is not the sole source of information available for players. There are dozens of good web sites on the net as well as some books available. If you want to have more detailed information, look out for them. Some of the major sites include:

everquest.allakhazam.com
www.everlore.com
www.eqatlas.com
www.eqvault.com
www.eqlinks.com

They also contain links to other great sites, so they are surely worth a visit.

This is not a spoiler file. You will not find the answers to specific quests, items, spells or equipment. This file will not tell you about the best place to hunt for your specific character. It should be a guide about general strategies, what to expect and what not to expect, to do's and not to do's and also the Etiquette in Norrath.

No one could create such a huge file by himself. Consequently, this file is based on many inputs, questions and answers from the Newbie Board. I just collected them, re-arranged and expanded them and put them in a file. I'm one of several people there helping each other out. This FAQ is dedicated to 2 great people from the Newbie Zone: NakedNewbie and Balkor. Both had to leave due to RL issues, but NN recently came back :-)). I also want to thank Zernan for proof reading this file. He corrected all my spelling and grammatical errors :-)

A big thank you goes to Nusabrecat for some good texts I included here. Also to Balkin for his inspirational posts called "I made a mistake..." :-)

Now enough discussion; let us jump in and learn the basic facts...

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* INDEX *
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* BEFORE YOU START TO PLAY *
Q: How Do I start?
Q: Ok, so I read the manual, what now?
Q: I read the manual and did the tutorial, can I play now?
Q: What server is the best?
Q: Wait, what is PvP?
Q: So when I create a char I get killed right away?
Q: But there are still players who only pick "easy" targets, aren't there?
Q: So if I want to fight against other players I have to select one of them?
Q: Ok, now speaking of the normal servers, which is the best?
Q: What's the difference between newer and older servers?
Q: Can my character move from one server to another?
Q: How many characters can I have?
Q: I created a character and can no longer find him!

* SELECTING YOUR RACE/CLASS/RELIGION *
Q: What is the best race/class?
Q: Wait, what is this faction thing?
Q: What happens when I'm KOS in a city and go there?
Q: So what race/class shall I choose to start?
Q: How important is the roleplaying?
Q: How do I know that I have a good combo/char?
Q: I don't like to group. What is the best class/race to solo?
Q: What about religion?

* THE FIRST STEPS IN NORRATH *
Q: Ok, I did the tutorial, created a char, now what?
Q: What is that book in my inventory?
Q: I want to sell my weapon, but I can't...
Q: How do I use my spells?
Q: What can I hunt now?
Q: How do I fight?
Q: I killed a critter, what do I get for it?
Q: I tried to loot the monster with a right click but it keeps telling me "It makes no sense to consider the dead" and doesn't show me the loot.
Q: What can I do with the stuff I looted?
Q: How can I carry more things around?
Q: How do I drink/eat?
Q: Where do I get food/drinks?
Q: Can I die when I'm out of food or drink?
Q: How long does the food/drink last?
Q: What happens when I die?
Q: How long will my corpse be there?
Q: What happens when the corpse disappears?
Q: How can I find my corpse?
Q: Who can help me find my corpse?
Q: I can see my corpse, but there is a tough enemy next to it.
Q: I still can't get my corpse as it is too dangerous.
Q: What happens when I gain a level?
Q: I can't find some of my abilities (like FISH or KICK)?
Q: How can I prevent to lose my posessions by accident?

* EQUIPMENT *
Q: How do I know what items I can use?
Q: What is a LORE item?
Q: What is a NORENT item?
Q: What is a NODROP item?
Q: What is a MAGIC item?
Q: What is a SUMMONED item?
Q: What is an EFFECT on a weapon?
Q: What is a PROC on a weapon?
Q: What does the size of an item mean?
Q: What does PRIMARY, SECONDARY, RANGE mean?
Q: What does item xxx cost?

* COMMUNICATION *
Q: I often see words and abbreviations like SoW, Buff, Bind etc.. What do they mean?
Q: How do I find out who's online?
Q: What is /friend?
Q: How can I communicate with others?
Q: What is /say?
Q: What is /tell?
Q: What is R (reply)?
Q: What is /shout?
Q: What is /yell or /y?
Q: What is /ooc?
Q: What is /auct?
Q: What is /guild?
Q: What is /g?
Q: What is /ignore?
Q: Can I change the default channel I use when just pressing ENTER and adding text?
Q: Can I turn a channel on and off?
Q: Are there more commands with /?

* HOTKEYS *
Q: Where are my abilities?
Q: What is a hotkey?
Q: What else can I have in a hotkey?
Q: What else can I change?

* SKILLS, SPELLS AND ABILITIES *
Q: What does the spell XXX do?
Q: What skills and abilities do I have?
Q: What is the max/cap on a specific skill?
Q: How do I know how high my skill/ability is?
Q: What do these things like "Feeble" or "Awful" mean?
Q: How do I learn XXX?
Q: Any more tips on training?
Q: What do the different colors of spell symbols mean?
Q: When will "Sense Heading" tell me the correct direction instead of "you think you are facing..."?

* GM's/Guides *
Q: What is a GM?
Q: What is a Guide?
Q: What can a GM/Guide do for me?
Q: What can a GM/Guide not do for me?
Q: How do I get the help from a GM/Guide?
Q: How can I become a Guide myself?

* RoK (Ruins Of Kunark) *
Q: What is RoK?
Q: Do I have to buy the whole game again?
Q: I installed RoK, but I can't create an Iksar?
Q: How do I get to Kunark?
Q: What are the Iksar?

* SoV (Scars of Velious) *
Q: What is SoV?
Q: Do I have to buy the whole game again?
Q: How do I get to Velious?
Q: What is that I hear about special faction?

* THE DANGERS OF EVERQUEST *
The Secret Information Scam
The Trade Window Scam
The False Promises Scam
The Consent Scam
The Drag Your Corpse For You Scam
The I'll Show You A Perfect Place To Hunt Scam
The May I Try On Your Armor or Weapon Scam
The Begging Because I Lost My Corpse Scam
The Because I'm Evil, I Can't Buy Scam
How To Prevent Losing An Item Accidentally

* ETIQUETTE *
Q: Are there things I should avoid doing?

* ROLEPLAYING *
A few thoughts about roleplaying

* BUYING AND SELLING *
Some general tips about buying and selling items

* GENERAL TIPS *
Q: Where can I enter a brief history about my character?
Q: How can I take a screenshot?
Q: What are the green bars and numbers on my screen?
Q: What's the deal with the screen configurations? When do you typically use each of them?
Q: Can changing the camera angle (F9 key) actually be good for something other than taking screenshots?

Collection of useful tips

* SOME LAST THOUGHTS *
Thoughts
Credits

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* BEFORE YOU START TO PLAY *
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Q: How Do I start?
A: One of the most important things is to READ first. Read the manual! Even if you consider it lame or think you are an experienced player, there are still things that are new or different. Don't you hate people standing in front of a door with a sign "PULL" and they are pushing and whining that it doesn't open? So, do yourself a favor and read the manual. It's not perfect, but a good start. (top)

Q: Ok, so I read the manual, what now?
A: Do the tutorial. That is THE most important thing to start. So I say it again: Do the tutorial. To run it, click on the EverQuest Tutorial Icon on your desktop. Follow it step by step and learn the basic facts. Facts like talking with NPC's, how to equip items, memorizing spells, using spells, fighting, looting, opening doors, selling and buying things to merchants and much more (ladders!!!). When you have finished it, wait an hour and do it again.... If you skip the tutorial, you will most likely run into troubles... Also the manual might be outdated in certain areas or have typo's (corpse decay times!). It would be wise to check out the file "eqmanual_supplement.txt" in your EverQuest folder for correctoins/additions.(top)

Q: I read the manual and did the tutorial, can I play now?
A: Yes, now it's time to enter the world of Norrath. First thing you have to do is to create your account. For that you need a valid credit card (remember the words "Credit Card needed" on the box?). When entering your account number, be sure not to mix up O and 0 (the letter O and zeros). Also a 1 (one) and l (small L) can look similar. If everything works, you're ready to choose your server.(top)

Q: What server is the best?
A: This question is asked A LOT on the newbie board. And the opinions vary here. Let us look at the facts first (meaning things everybody agrees to). Three of them are PVP servers (Rallos Zek, Tallon Zek and Vallon Zek). All other servers are non-PVP Servers.(top)

Q: Wait, what is PvP?
A: PvP stands for "Player vs. Player" (as opposed to PvE, which is "Player vs. Environment"). Two players who are BOTH PvP can attack, pickpocket, cast detrimental spells on, etc. each other. If only one is PvP, he cannot do anything to the non-PvP. The first (and greatest!) server is Rallos Zek. This server is free-for-all PvP. Everyone automatically starts out in PvP mode and there is no way to become non-PvP. Players on this server may only attack each other if they are within four levels, though. The other two are Tallon Zek and Vallon Zek. These servers are PvP-Teams. The races are divided into four teams (human, elven, small, and evil). You are automatically PvP with ALL THREE other teams. You are automatically non-PvP with your own team. The level window on this server is eight levels.(top)

Q: So when I create a char I get killed right away?
A: No :-) This is thanks to a change that recently got in. You are now "safe" in your first 5 levels. That means you cannot attack nor be attacked. This should help getting started. However, remember that from level 6 it is different than on "non PvP" servers and you will be in full PvP mode :-)(top)

Q: But there are still players who only pick "easy" targets, aren't there?
A: Sure are. As everywhere there are people whose intention is not a "duel" but only to kill easy targets. That might be a player low on health or a much lower level player. However, it's not as easy to find easy targets due to another change, the con system. Other than conning monsters (see below) there are only 3 colours for players: Green (you can't attack as he is too low), black/white (you can attack as he is within pvp range) or red (you can't attack as he is too high). This helps prevent Level 20 players only attacking Level 12 or 13 opponents.(top)

Q: So if I want to fight against other players I have to select one of them?
A: Not necessarily. You can still duel another player on the "normal" servers, but he has to accept the duel. You can also enter several "Arenas" where everybody is PvP automatically. And last, you can become PvP by giving a book to the Priest of Disorder. From then on you will be PvP. But you will only be able to attack other PvP players, not normal ones. And the decision is final. You can't just switch back and forth. Another thing is that, if you are PvP, no "normal" player can cast spells on you (healing or any other helpful spells).(top)

Q: Ok, now speaking of the normal servers, which is the best?
A: All the servers are located in San Diego, USA. So there is no server closer or more far away from you. But there are older servers (like Xegony) and newer servers (like Xev). Another important thing is how crowded they are. The more players on a server, the more you will encounter in the game. That means, it's easier to get help, but some zones/point are very crowded and it will become difficult to find critters to attack. You can see at the list of the servers how many people are online. The decision is yours.(top)

Q: What's the difference between newer and older servers?
A: Game-wise: nothing. BUT (and here the opinions vary) the community is different. On newer servers, you have much less higher level people. So there is less higher level equipment around and the economy still works pretty good. Money is still worth something. On the older servers, there are a lot of experienced, higher level chars. That means you will have luck finding help or tips, but money is often worthless (since these players are so rich) and many things are trade-only. Once again, the decision is yours.(top)

Q: Can my character move from one server to another?
A: No! Once you created a char on a server it will stay there. There is no way to change the server you're on. So if you want to play with friends, make sure everybody is on the same server. If you want to play on another server, you must create a new char there.(top)

Q: How many characters can I have?
A: 8 per server.(top)

Q: I created a character and can no longer find him!
A: You are most likely on the wrong server. Again: You cannot switch servers and the char will always stay on the server it was created. So check out the other servers to find him :-)(top)

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* SELECTING YOUR RACE/CLASS *
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Q: What is the best race/class?
A: There is no general best race/class. What to play depends on your personal preferences. You want to be a sole caster? Gnome Wizard could be it. You want to bash things good? Troll Warrior. But there are so many possibilities. However there are certain things that are important when creating your character. Two of them are very important: Vision and Faction:

Humans, barbarians and Erudites have the very worst vision of any race in the game. This may not seem important until one dies in Everfrost, is bound in Qeynos and has to run through the Blackburrow tunnel to get their body. You quickly learn how to kill fire beetles with your bare hands, just to have something to see by. The world is a dark place, there's no sense in making it any darker until you've mastered some of the fine points of play and learned your way around.

Faction is another consideration. For the most part, this is not a problem for dwarves, halflings, elves and humans -- and in most cases, gnomes. Depends on where one goes. Barbarians are generally ok, too, but have to be cautious if they go to Faydwer. Erudites, on the other hand, are handicapped in many places by poor faction. Rogues also have some of the same quirks to overcome. Learning how faction works and knowing what to avoid killing is an important lesson in the game.

It's also the faction problem that prompts me to discourage new players from trying the evil races -- trolls, ogres and Dark Elves can be great fun once you know your way around, but it's just one huge headache if you're still learning. Being evil effectively eliminates about 70% of the cities from your list of support bases.(top)

Q: Wait, what is this faction thing?
A: There are certain races/communities who don't like each other. Sometimes this "not liking" is just that they won't talk with you, in other cases, they will attack you without asking questions (the term for that is KOS (Kill on Sight)). You can increase or decrease your faction standings by killing things. If one kill affects your faction with a certain group, it will be indicated on the chat window just after you kill an NPC. The message will usually take the form "Your faction with XXX has increased/decreased". For example, if you kill a guard in Freeport, the other guards will less like you and maybe start to attack you, instead of defend you. On the other side, if you kill Gnolls or Orcs in Highpass High, the Guards of Highkeep will like you more (whereas the Gnolls and Orcs will hate you more). Faction is a delicate balance and you have to watch carefully what you do out there.(top)

Q: What happens when I'm KOS in a city and go there?
A: The guards will attack you and try to kill you. The lower level you are, the bigger the chance that you will die. There are ways to enter a city even when you are KOS, but you have to learn them and some parts will be unavailable for you always.(top)

Q: So what race/class shall I choose to start?
A: As mentioned before, start to think about what you want to do. From there on, choose your race and class. The game will tell you how difficult the combo is. For example: a dwarven warrior might be a good thing to start with. No magic to worry about, no major faction problems on the biggest part of Norrath, No vision problems. The best thing is, you can try multiple chars. If you don't like one, try another. Play them a few levels before you decide. Nobody forces you to play a specific combo. You might notice at level 20 that you no longer like the char. Just create a new one.(top)

Q: How important is the roleplaying?
A: EverQuest is a roleplay game. Therefore it SHOULD be very important. Again, nobody forces you to roleplay, but basically you should at least try to do it. If you are an experienced RPG (Role Play Game) Veteran (maybe even with Pen&Paper RPG background), jump right in. Show others how to do it. If you are new to the concept of RPG, then think about your char. It is more than pixels on the screen. What background does he have? How did he grow up? What does he like, what not? And remember the basic facts: A Paladin shouldn't hunt together with a Dark Elf Necromancer. It just don't fit. Unless the Paladin wants to "turn" the DE on the right side. But then try to do it. Talk with him. Give him advice.(top)

Q: How do I know that I have a good combo/char?
A: Easy questions: If you have fun, then it's ok. It does not matter if you are a weakling warrior, or a very strong gnome. But always respect the fun and time of others! Don't have fun at the cost of other people. If your whole group dies, because you weren't in the mood to heal them, you might have fun, but you ruined the fun of others. EverQuest is a community where people should care about each other. And there are certain "rules" you should have to agree to when entering the world. You will see more about that in the section "Etiquette".(top)

Q: I don't like to group. What is the best class/race to solo?
A: Well, first you should ask yourself if EverQuest (as an Online Multiplayer Game) is the right decision for you, if you don't want to group and meet other people. There are other games out there (Diablo II, Half-Life, Quake) that may better suit you. But if you really, really want to solo, then there are several good classes. Again, the opinions vary VERY much here. But a druid, mage or even Necro come to my mind.(top)

Q: What about religion?
A: Religion plays a minor part in EverQuest, however it still has several impacts on the gameplay. NPC's consider if the like or hate you based on your race, class and religion. If you worship the god of hate you're definitely making a statement :-) This is essential for Enchanters. They have the ability to use illusions to change their appearance. However, as much as they can change the "race", they can't change the religion which still "shines through". (top)

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* THE FIRST STEPS IN NORRATH *
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Q: Ok, I did the tutorial, created a char, now what?
A: Well, to speak with Verant's Words: "You are in our world now". You are a young citizen of Norrath. Depending on your race, you start in one of the major cities. The first steps are important. Look at your inventory. You will find a weapon, a book, a scroll, and maybe (if you are a caster) one or two spells. Equip the weapon (remember the tutorial?), and read the scroll. On the scroll you will find the name of your guildmaster. Search him in the city you are and give him your scroll. Don't see this part of the game as wasted. Try to learn the basics of the city. Where is the bank? Where can I buy food? Check out the merchants. If you want, you can make notes. You will be in this city a lot, so the better you know it, the easier it will be for you later. If you are totally lost, try to ask someone for help, showing you your guild. If you ask nicely (and if possible roleplay style), the chances are high that someone will help you. When you have given the scroll to your guildmaster, he will give you your newbie tunic, which you can equip too.(top)

Q: What is that book in my inventory?
A: The book is your way to become PvP on a non-PvP server (see section "Before You Start To Play" for details about PvP). If you don't intend to become PvP, you can destroy the book. Or you can store it in the bank for future use (if you know where the bank is). I'd recommend destroying it over wasting a slot in the bank for that book as PvP basically doesn't exist anymore on non PvP servers.(top)

Q: I want to sell my weapon, but I can't...
A: Yes, your newbie weapon (and tunic) is NO DROP. Therefore you can't drop it on the ground, trade it or sell it. That's a good thing as you will not lose it that way.(top)

Q: How do I use my spells?
A: Do the tutorial. If you did and just forgot: click SPELLS to open your spell book, then click on your spell and it will get attached to your pointer, drag it to an empty slot in your spell book and click again. You will start to scribe your spell in your book. This will take some time, so be patient. After scribing it, you can memorize it by clicking on it in your spell book, drag it to an empty slot on the left side of your screen and click there again. The memorizing will take some time too. And don't worry, memorizing spells will be MUCH faster later in the game :-)(top)

Q: What can I hunt now?
A: It is now time to leave your city. You will not find many things to hunt in the cities themselves. When you leave the city, it is very likely that you will ZONE (except for Kelethin, where the city is in the middle of the Greater Faydark Zone). To ZONE means that you will leave one zone and enter another. This will take some time (based on your configuration, Internet Connection Speed but mostly on your RAM). You will recognize the zoning when the screen freezes and you will see the words "LOADING, PLEASE WAIT..." appear on your screen. After you finished the zoning, you will stand in a new zone. Don't just run mindlessly away. You might never find your way back :-)) Try to stay close to the zone point first. The zone point is a way to flee from trouble. Enemies cannot follow you through the zone, so if you are fleeing and make it to the zone point, you're as good as saved. Look around to find things to hunt. Good starting critters are Bats, or Decaying Skeletons.(top)

Q: How do I fight?
A: Do the tutorial. But there are a few also important things. First, ALWAYS consider a target before attacking it. If you don't know what considering is, then go and read the manual. In short it means to check about the critter. To consider something, select it by clicking on it and type "/con". You will see a message. The most important thing is the color:

Green: You will most likely win
Blue: There is a good chance that you win
Black/White: The chances are more or likely equal
Yellow: There is a good chance that you will die
Red: You will most likely die

You can also tell more from the message. If the enemy looks at you "amiably", it will never attack you, regardless of the color. Wolves to Druids are an example of that. If it looks at you "indifferently", there is a chance that it will attack you, especially if it is blue, black/white or yellow.

After you did a "/con", you can attack by selecting it (if not still selected) and then press "A" (to attack). A good thing would be to re-set your attack key to something you will normally not use when talking (e.g. ~) (details about remapping keys can be found in the section "Hotkeys"). Why? Well, if you stand in front of an NPC and want to talk with him (for example "What is the ....?"), you have to press ENTER first. If you forget that, you will come as far as "Wha" and with the "a" you attack the NPC which will very likely kill you. Trust me on that. Been there, done that. After pressing "A" (or better "~") you will switch into Auto-Attack and start to attack and hopefully defeat your enemy. Watch your health bar. If you are about to die, run to a guard or to the zone point.

Instead of typing /con, you could also re-map considering to a key (details about how to remap functions/commands can be found under "Hotkeys"). Check out the suggestion of Nusabrecat: "For example, I use my keypad to move around, and have my mouse in my other hand, so to keep actual hand movement to a minimum, I assigned /con to keypad 3. Now I just left click on a target, and hit 3, and up pops my chances. Another way to /con is simply right-click on the target. This works just as well and does the same thing, but there are a few reasons why I prefer to use my key.

1. Sometimes if lag is heavy, the server won't recognize your mouse's position because it is too busy at the moment, and will therefore disregard your click, as it can't tell what you are clicking on. This can be FRUSTRATING. But if you have something targeted already, the keystroke will always go through and you will see if you're about to become monster bait or not.

2. If you are close to another PC and you want to get a general idea of his/her level via the /con, and you right click, you will inspect said PC as well. If you use the keystroke, you will not inspect them." (details about inspecting under "Etiquette")(top)

Q: I killed a critter, what do I get for it?
A: You can get several things. First, you will get experience. But only for as long as the critter doesn't con green to you (meaning when you do a /con it should be blue or higher). There are a few exceptions (called "High-Green") where green will still give you experience. Then you might get a faction hit (see above). Normally animals don't give faction hits, but NPC's or critters like Goblins/Orcs/Gnolls and so on will. And you can loot your kill. Just right-click on it and you will see what they have on them.(top)

Q: I tried to loot the monster with a right click but it keeps telling me "It makes no sense to consider the dead" and doesn't show me the loot
A: This message is sometimes displayed if you stand a bit too far from the NPC you are trying to loot. Move a bit closer or around it and try to loot it again.(top)

Q: What can I do with the stuff I looted?
A: Again, several things. You can sell it to a merchant or to a player to get money. Normally you will get higher prices by selling to players (but beware: they might try to fool you. It's good to know about the value of an item). Players won't buy anything and normally they like to buy in masses. Two good things to start with are Bat Wings and Bone Chips. The Wings are a spell ingredient for the spell "Levitate" and Necros or Shadow Knights need the Bone Chips to make their pets. Collect them until you have 20 of them (they are stackable, so you will only lose one slot in your inventory for 20 wings). Once you have 20 (the maximum for stackable items, after that you will need additional slots), try to sell them using the "auction channel". To use it, enter "/auct" followed by the thing you want to sell or buy. Maybe you want to ask for offers first or just sell to the first person that wants them. Always try to sell stacks (20) or multiple stacks. The chances of selling are much higher. The key is to find out what you can sell and what not. But in the beginning, sell everything (unless you can use it), either to players or merchants.(top)

Q: How can I carry more things around?
A: There are several "containers" which will allow you to carry more. Small bags can hold up to 4 items. Large Bags up to 6, Backpacks and some chests hold up to 8 items. There are even 10 slot backpacks out there (player made), but they are VERY expensive. So with 8 backpacks (maximum) you could carry 64 items. Stackable items use only one slot up to 20 pieces. You can tell which items are stackable because they have a small "1" in the lower right corner. You should also try to have 1 or 2 inventory slots without containers, as there are certain things which require a free inventory slot to work (e.g. to drink alcohol you have to put a bottle in the inventory slot and right click on it). Some say a backpack is the first thing a newbie should buy, as it allows you to carry around more loot stuff.(top)

Q: How do I drink/eat?
A: Eating and drinking is done automatically. In zones like deserts (Ro), you will use more drinks than in other zones. You start off with 5 food and 5 drinks. Later you have to get fill ups.(top)

Q: Where do I get food/drinks?
A: You have several ways. One is to buy from merchants. Beware that alcohol does NOT count as drink. The cheapest food to buy are muffins, the cheapest drink is milk. You might have to search for a merchant that sells food and/or drink, or you can ask someone. Another way to get food and drink is to forage it. Some classes (e.g. rangers and later druids) and some races (e.g. Wood Elves) have the ability to search the ground for food. It's a skill (see section "Skills, Spells and Abilities") you have to DO. It's not done automatically. If successful, you will find either food or water. A third way to get food is fishing. Fishing might be one of the most underestimated skills in EverQuest. It is fairly cheap to start. All you need is a pole (costs a few gold coins) and bait (can be foraged or bought for about 4 copper per bait). Then you put the pole in your primary hand and stand or sit next to some water (rivers, lakes or oceans) and start fishing. If you are successful, you will catch a fish (food or can be sold for about 4 silver), a fishscale (can be sold to other players in stacks (spell ingredient)), a rusty dagger (can be used or sold to other players (weapon for pets)) or an old shoe (can be weared as a minor armor or sold). From time to time you might lose your bait or you will lose one when you catch a fish. But all in all, it's a good skill. Needs some patience, but can save money. And there is nothing like sitting on a dock, fishing, and watching the sunset or sunrise. Another way to get food or drink is to summon it. There are 2 spells called "Summon Food" and "Summon Drink" which will magically create food or drink. These items are NO REST, which means they will vanish once you log out of EverQuest. They cannot be sold to merchants. Only to players. But you might find a nice caster who summons it for you for a small donation or even free (e.g. when they are practicing their spells). One last way is the "suicide" way. From level 1 to 4 you will not lose experience when you die (more about dying later). So you can put all your belongings in the bank (even weapons and equipment) and then attack a guard. The guard will kill you and you will start again with 5 food items and 5 drink items. Then you can get your items from the bank and continue your hunt. But it's not quite an honorable way and works only in the first 3 levels (it doesn't work at level 4; you don't lose XP, but you don't get your new food and drink, either):-)(top)

Q: Can I die when I'm out of food or drink?
A: Not directly. But you will no longer regenerate health or mana. And the effect is cumulative. So if you're out of food for a longer period, you will eat more than one "portion" when you finally have found food. So always keep an eye on the food/drink.(top)

Q: How long does the food/drink last?
A: It depends on what it is. A "snack" lasts only a short time, whereas a "banquet size meal" lasts much longer.(top)

Q: What happens when I die?
A: That depends on your level. From level 1 to 4 you will not lose experience. Later, it can be pretty significant (even risking to lose a level). But your corpse, with all the belongings you had on you, will lie where it was killed. You will start again at your homepoint (that point can later be changed with the spell "Bind Affinity"). The homepoint is most likely in your newbie zone close to some guards. So you have to go to the same spot and loot your own corpse to get your things back.(top)

Q: How long will my corpse be there?
A: That depends on your level:

Characters All Levels: If you have no items on your corpse, it will disappear within 3 minutes.

Characters Level 1-5: Corpse will disappear within 30 minutes (real time) whether you are online or offline. Those of you wondering why this rule is in place? There would be WAY too many bodies if we didn't do it this way.

Characters Level 6 and above: Corpse will disappear within 24 hours if the player is online (being at the Character Select screen STILL counts as online). Corpses will disappear within 1 week if the player is offline. Note: the amount of time you spend online, while a corpse is decaying, will be proportionally subtracted from the amount of offline time available. For example, if you are online for 12 of the 24 hours, your corpse will have 3 days and 12 hours of offline time (half of one week) available to it.(top)

Q: What happens when the corpse disappears?
A: It will no longer be there. Also, all the items, money and belongings you were carrying will be lost. So it's a good idea to store some things you don't want to lose in the bank. Maybe even with a spare weapon or armor.(top)

Q: How can I find my corpse?
A: Best thing would be, not to lose it first hand. Knowing where you are makes it easier to collect a corpse. If you have to flee, you can enter "/loc" to see coordinates of your whereabouts. You can even create a hotkey for that purpose (see Hotkeys). If you know the coordinates or some close one, it will be easier to find your body. For more information about how to use "/loc" and the coordinate system, visit www.eqatlas.com.(top)

Q: Who can help me find my corpse?
A: Basically every player. But they have to search around like you would have to. The more information you have (things you've seen, coordinates etc.) the easier it is. Bards and Necromancers have special spells/skills to locate corpses. Try asking one of them for help. But always remember that they have to interrupt what they are doing to help you. So be thankfull and if you can afford it, you can maybe offer a donation. Some will not accept it, some will. But overall you will show your thankfullness.(top)

Q: I can see my corpse, but there is a tough enemy next to it.
A: Try /corpse. This will summon the corpse to your location. But you have to be more or less close to it. Just try it. By walking and entering /corpse (or using a hotkey (see section about Hotkeys)) constantly, you can pull your corpse to a safe spot to loot (e.g. next to some guards).(top)

Q: I still can't get my corpse as it is too dangerous.
A: Then you have another chance, namely to get another player to pull the corpse to you. By using the command "/consent" followed by the players name, you give him the right to pull your corpse around. Earlier in EverQuest he was able to loot the corpse with /consent, but that is no longer the case, so it's more or less secure. I say more or less as he still could pull your corpse even farther away or put it next to a more dangerous critter. Be warned to do it only to players you fully trust.(top)

Q: What happens when I gain a level?
A: When you receive enough experience, you will gain a level. You will see a message on your screen stating "Welcome to Level X" together with a great sound (it sounds like a "DING", therefore a lot of people shout "DING" around the zone to tell that they leveled). You will have more health and mana (if you're a caster) and can continue to increase your skills/spells/abilities (see section "Skills, Spells and Abilities"). You will also be able to hunt tougher critters, whereas you might no longer get exp for others. You will also get 5 skill points to spend (see section "Skills, Spells and Abilities"). In the beginning, you will level fairly often; later on, it will be much tougher.(top)

Q: I can't find some of my abilities (like FISH or KICK)?
A: Check out the section about Hotkeys.(top)

Q: How can I prevent to lose my posessions by accident?
A: There are certain moments in the life in Norrath where the danger of dropping an item is very high. For example bards switching their instruments, during the initial start of a trade and so on. When an item is dropped there is a risk that it gets lost. Another player (or even an NPC) might pick it up or it can fall into a tree or wall and make it unavailable. This danger has been reduced with the announce of a command called /fastdrop. The client now allows players to set "Item Dropping" preferences on the "General" options tab. The three options that can be set are:

- FAST DROP: Items are dropped without confirmation.
- CONFIRM: A confirmation box will be displayed whenever you try to drop an item.
- NEVER: You are not allowed to drop items on the ground.

Alternatively, you can also set these options using the /fastdrop command. The arguments are:

- ON: Same as option "Fast Drop" on the General Tab.
- OFF: Same as option "Confirm" on the General Tab.
- NEVER: Same as above.

Please note that whatever your setting, coin will always be dropped without confirmation. Additionally, the FastDrop option only applies to items being dropped upon the ground. Handing items directly to NPCs will still work regardless of your FastDrop setting. It is highly recommended that you use option "CONFIRM", as GMs will not reimburse any items that are accidentally dropped.(top)

*************
* EQUIPMENT *
*************

Q: How do I know what items I can use?
A: There are thousands of items in EverQuest. The best thing is to ask around. Look out for a higher level player of your race/class and politely ask if he has a few minutes for you. If he has, ask him about tips what to get for your level and budget. Also various websites offer lists of items. When buying/trading from another player, make sure to right click on the item before you accept the trade. It will show under RACE: and CLASS: who can use it. All/All means everyone can use it.(top)

Q:What is a LORE item?
A: LORE means you can have only one of that item on you (including the bank). If you try to loot a 2nd one it will not work and a msg pops up saying that you can't have more than one of that item.(top)

Q: What is a NO RENT item?
A: NO RENT means that the item will vanish when you camp out. This is always the case for summoned items (see below) as well as for specific other items that can be looted. In a recent patch it got changed that if you get disconnected, the item will continue to be on your character for 30 minutes. However, if it takes longer than that time the items will be gone (and in case of summoned bags everything within the bag). Also this 30 minutes is not guaranteed and the items might be lost even if you log in right away. Such items (or items lost because they were inside a summoned bag) can not be reimbursed.(top)

Q: What is a NO DROP item?
A: NO DROP means you can't trade, sell or drop the item. Once you looted it, it will stick on your character unless you destroy it. (top)

Q: What is a MAGIC item?
A: If an item is MAGIC it can bring several advantages. Some of the items will raise (or lower) some of your stats. Other items have an effect (see below) or a proc (see below). You will also need a magic weapon to hit certain creatures (e.g. willowisps or ghouls). Magic Armor can also increase your stats or are just magic in the way that an ogre as well as a gnome can wear it.(top)

Q: What is a SUMMONED item?
A: Certain casters (especially magicians) have the ability to summon items which you can use. These include water/food as well as weapons, bags, bandages or other usefull items. They offer some nice advantages (e.g. all summoned weapons are considered "magic", the bags offer a weight reduction), but also has a danger: all summoned items will vanish when you log out. This is also the case if you crash or go Linkdead. In case of bags the bag will vanish and destroy everything that was in the bag. These items are GONE. There was a change that will hold the items up to 30 minutes if you come back right after a crash. However, this is an aid, and not guaranteed. They might be gone even if you return after 5 minutes. The best is to not count on it. There is no way to get them reimbursed. So use summoned items at your own risk.(top)

Q: What is an EFFECT on a weapon?
A: An EFFECT is a spell that is bound on a weapon or armor. To use it, right click on it in your inventory screen. Every use will use one "charge". You can see on the number next to CHARGES: how many there are left. Use them wisely!(top)

Q: What is a PROC on a weapon?
A: The PROC is an EFFECT (see above) but without charges. It means the effect is randomized and will go of while you fight with the weapon. These effects are unlimited, but you can't decide when to use it.(top)

Q: What does the size of an item mean?
A: The information next to SIZE: does tell you what size of container you need to store it. For example: a wurmslayer is a big weapon and will not fit in a container, that can only hold tiny items. What size a container can hold can be checked by right clicking on the container. In case of armor this should not be mistaken as the size of the actual armor.(top)

Q: What does PRIMARY, SECONDARY, RANGE mean?
A: It shows in what hand the weapon goes. You can't equip two items at the same time if both of them only fit in the primary hand.(top)

Q: What does item xxx cost?
A: Prices vary a lot from server to server and from item to item. There are certain websites that offer a price check, but you should not blindely follow them. If you want to buy a specific item it's worth asking around (especially trusted friends) and watch several auctions for that item to get the general idea of the price.(top)

*****************
* COMMUNICATION *
*****************

Q: I often see words and abbreviations like SoW, Buff, Bind, MoB etc.. What do they mean?
A: EverQuest has developed its own language extensions like every community does. Every football fan knows what a sack, 3 and 7, on-site kick or nosetackle is. Every baseball fan knows about innings, fastballs, triple play and strikes. So in EQ, you will encounter similar terms. Some terms are totally new (like SoW), others are used in context (like Train). If you want to have a detailed list, check out amtgard.pinkpig.com/bards...ssary.htm. Some examples:

SoW - (Abbr.) Spirit of Wolf, a Druid or Shaman spell that enhances movement speed
Buff - (v.) To cast enhancement spells on a target. (n.) Any such enhancing spell
Bind - (v.) To cast the spell Bind Affinity, which resets the location a PC will respawn in the event that they die, or use the gate spell to their current location. Spellcasters may bind themselves anywhere; others may only be bound inside city zones. Parts of Greater Faydark, Highpass Hold, the Arena and Surefall Glade also count as city zones. Can only be cast on members of the caster's group.
MoB - (n.) [From 'mobile' or 'movable object', an old MUD code term] Any NPC capable of moving around on its own.(top)

Q: How do I find out who's online?
A: Use the command /who for that. A few examples: "/who" shows everybody in your zone, "/who all" will list you everyone that's online, "/who all Ellegon" will show you if (and where) a player called Ellegon is online, "/who druid" will show all druids in your zone, "/who all wizard 45 50" will show all wizards in all zones with levels from 45 to 50, "/who all under" will show all members of the guild "Under the Rose" as well as other guilds with the term "Under" at the beginning and each players who's name starts with "under". Note that all of these commands will only show you the people on your server. You cannot check other servers without being online there.(top)

Q: What is /friend?
A: You can keep track of the people you enjoyed grouping with by adding them to your friends list. Type "/friend " to add or delete the person and then "/who all friends" to see which friends are online when you log back on. You can have up to 20 people on your list. Every character has his own friendlist. "/friend" will tell you who is on the list. This is a good way to remember the names of people you liked and to develop closer friendships.(top)

Q: How can I communicate with others?
A: There are several ways to communicate in EverQuest. By using the commands /say, /tell, R (reply), /shout, /yell, /ooc, /auct, /guild and /g.(top)

Q: What is /say?
A: With /say you can talk with the people around you. Only the people in your near vicinity will hear you. If someone is too far away, he will not hear you at all. Beware that EVERYBODY will hear what you say. Some players may be there even when you don't see them (invisible). To just speak you can simply press ENTER and start typing.(top)

Q: What is /tell?
A: To talk with someone over a greater distance, you use /tell . For example, by using "/tell Ellegon How are you?", you would send me the message "How are you?", regardless on where in Norrath I am at the moment (even in different zones and continents). But beware that the recipient might be fighting and not able to answer. Another thing is, that during the zoning process, you will not get /tells. To tell, you can also just press T, followed by the player name and message.(top)

Q: What is R (reply)?
A: If you receive a /tell and want to reply, you can press R to reply to the sender. The system will automatically create a /tell with the name of the sender. All you have to do is to enter your message and send it off. But make sure the recipient is REALLY the one you want to send it to. Mistakes often happen and /tells end up being sent to the wrong person.(top)

Q: What is /shout?
A: If you want to tell something to the whole zone, you use /shout . So by using "/shout Beware! There is a loose Sand Giant near the docks!" you will warn everybody about the upcoming danger. Remember, EVERY shout will be carried to EVERY player in the zone. Multiple /shouts (also called spam) may lead to anger and hate. Don't overuse /shout or take it as a replacement to talk with your friends. There are other ways to do that. Another thing: by using "/shout Help" you will tell everybody that you need help. But nobody knows WHERE you are. That is a bad way to ask for help. Better use /yell...(top)

Q: What is /yell or /y?
A: To solve the problem about telling people WHERE you need help, you can use /yell. It will only be sent to the players in your vicinity (therefore the ones who will most likely be able to help you) and also tells them, where you are. They will see a message like "Ellegon yells for help from the right of you!". They can then run to you and help you. IMPORTANT: Stand still when yelling for help. It's hard to help someone if he/she is running away or in circles. By staying on the spot, you will more likely be helped. If nobody is around, then you CAN use "/shout help", but include WHERE you need help "/shout Help please at Inn!"(top)

Q: What is /ooc?
A: OOC stands for "Out Of Character". It's a term used when you say things that come from you (the player) and not your character. For example: a character would not say things like "Is anybody else having major speed problems?". For that purpose, use the /ooc channel (e.g. "/ooc Is anybody else having major speed problems?").(top)

Q: What is /auct?
A: If you have things to sell or want to buy, you can use the auction channel. The process is similar to /shout, but appears in another color and with the prefix "XXX auctions" instead of "XXX shouts". Two abbreviations you have to know are WTB (Want to Buy) and WTS (Want to Sell). That makes it clear whether you are searching for something to buy or have something to sell.(top)

Q: What is /guild or /guildsay?
A: If you are a member of a guild, you can talk to all the members (and ONLY members of your guild) by using /guild or /guildsay. Rest is similar to /shout or /ooc.(top)

Q: What is /g?
A: If you are in a group and want to talk to only the group members, you use /g. Rest is similar to /shout.(top)

Q: What is /ignore?
/ignore is a wonderful command. It works the exact same way as /friend, but lets you ignore all tells, oocs, auctions, and shouts from a PC. You may not use this much as a newbie, but as you get older (7-9th levels) you'll start to see some patterns. For example, every time you log on, PC AnnoyingGuy is asking for armor or money or a new weapon, rather than getting off his lazy butt and killing stuff like everyone else. Tired of his meaningless spam, you type /ignore AnnoyingGuy, and enjoy the silence that is now only broken by the crash of your sword against bone .(top)

Q: Can I change the default channel I use when just pressing ENTER and adding text?
A: Yes. By right clicking on the text window, you can choose between the different channels. The one which is selected there is the default one, and everything you just enter will go to that channel.(top)

Q: Can I turn a channel on and off?
A: Yes. With "/channel ". E.g. "/channel ooc" would turn off or on the OOC channel.(top)

Q: Are there more commands with /?
A: Yes there are. Either check the eqmanual_supplement.txt file in your EverQuest Directory or visit everquest.allakhazam.com for a list.(top)

***********
* HOTKEYS *
***********

Q: Where are my abilities?
A: They are there, just not prepared yet. On the right side you see some buttons saying "General", "Combat", "Social" and "Abilities". Click on Combat. Now you can see the 6 combat skill slots. Click on one and your abilities pop up (like KICK or TAUNT if you are a warrior). The same is with "Abilities", where things like "Sense Heading" or "Fishing" pop up. You can now select where you want which skill/ability to be placed. There is even an easier way to use these functions, by using hotkeys.(top)

Q: What is a hotkey?
A: On the bottom left corner or your screen, you can see 6 empty squares. These squares are your hotkeys. If you want to use a function more often, it might be a good idea to use a hotkey for it. Just click on a skill/ability ("Fishing", "Kick", "Sense Heading" and so on) and don't release the button. Instead of "using" the skill it will be connected to your mouse pointer. Drag it to an empty hotkey slot and release the button. Voila, your hotkey is created. You can have up to 6 sets of hotkeys (changeable by SHIFT-1 to SHIFT-6 or the arrow buttons next to the number). You might want to order them in a specific way. To use a hotkey you can either click on it or press 1 to 6.(top)

Q: What else can I have in a hotkey?
A: A lot. For example: spells. Just drag/drop them from the spell/slots to an empty hotkey. However, this will NOT give you additional spell slots. It's just a reference to the spell slot. Another thing you can put in there is an inventory slot (again a reference) to quickly use an item. One of the most used functions however is the Social Hotkey. Example: You have learned about the command /yell to ask for help. To prevent having to hassle with your keyboard in a dangerous situation, you can put the command on a social key. To do this, click on "Socials", then right click on a social key you don't plan on using, to edit it. Give the key a new name (at the top) and put the command in the line (e.g. /yell). Then click "DONE", and the social key is changed. You can now drag and drop it over to your hotkeys. Every line is a single command. Tip: by entering /yell on the first line and /loc on the second, you will not only call for help, but also have a reference where you (eventually) died.(top)

Q: What else can I change?
A: You can remap your keys or several functions/commands. To do that, select the "Options" Button in the upper left corner of your screen. Then select Keyboard. There you can see the functions/commands and the dedicated key for it. One of the most important things to remap is the attack key (default is "A"), as mentioned earlier.(top)

********************************
* SKILLS, SPELLS AND ABILITIES *
********************************

Q: What does the spell XXX do?
A: There are many, many spells in EverQuest. Some are DD (Direct Damage, the spell inflicts a damage directly), some are DoT's (Damage Over Time, the spell does lesser damage, but over and over again), some are heals, some for information, and some are Buffs (enhancement spells). If you can't figure out what the spell does, either ask a higher player of your class, or check out the various sites on the internet. Some sites are even dedicated to specific classes (like www.eqdruids.com).(top)

Q: What skills and abilities do I have?
A: Same as with spells, the skills and abilities vary from race to race and class to class. If you can't figure out what a skill does (like Taunt), then ask a higher player of your class/race or check out the various sites on the internet.(top)

Q: What is the max/cap on a specific skill?
A: The skill max varies. Most of the skills have the cap of (5*Level)+5, that means if you are at level 8, the max would be 45: (5* +5. Also the skills have a skill cap, where it will no longer go up. For example, druids can have Tracking starting at Level 20 and the cap is at 50.(top)

Q: How do I know how high my skill/ability is?
A: You can check it by clicking on "Persona" and then on "Skills". But it will only give you a summary like "Feeble" or "Awful". If you want to know the value itself, you have to carefully watch your screen. Every time you increase a skill or ability it will tell you and give a number (like "You have become better at swimming! (14)"). You note down that value. Another way is to turn on logging ("/log"), which stores a logfile in your EQ directory (eqlog.txt). You can then either search through it manually or use a log-file parser. You can find some of these tools on www.eqvault.com under "Files".(top)

Q: What do these things like "Feeble" or "Awful" mean?
A: When you click on Skills under the Persona menu, you'll see a long list of the various skills you now possess. Each skill will have a description underneath it. When you first start out, usually every skill will be listed as Awful, with the exception of your racial language and Common, which will both be Excellent. What do these mean? Well:

Awful=Skill level from 0-10
Feeble=11-20
Very Bad=21-30
Bad=31-40
Below Average=41-50
Average=51-60
Above Average=61-70
Good=71-80
Very Good=81-90
Excellent=91-100
Master=101+(top)

Q: How do I learn XXX?
A: You have two ways to learn skills or abilities. One is to put skill points into it. Every time you level up, you get 5 skill points to distribute. Search your guild trainer and right click on him. You will then see what you can learn. Some skills require a specific level (like "Backstabbing" at level 8 for rogues), others require you to not only put skill points in it, but also money. Points you don't spend will stay and you can accumulate them. The second and IMHO better way is to just use the skill over and over again. That doesn't work for things like Offense or 1HSlash, but for a lot of others like Swimming, Sense Heading, Spell Abilities (Conjuration, Abjuration, Alteration, Evocation and Divination), Fishing and so on. Example: Every time I level up, I wait for the next pause I do (either meditating or healing up) and then I just click on Sense Heading over and over again, until it's maxed for my level (see about max/caps above). I also often spend about an hour or two into training the 5 spell abilities by casting the same spells over and over again (e.g. Skin like Wood for Alteration). I call this "Training Session". The big advantage is, that I don't depend on using the spells in "real" but I have all of them maxed at any time. That's important especially for spell abilities you don't need often (e.g. conjuration). The skill points can be saved to quickly increase a skill later to a certain level.(top)

Q: Any more tips on training?
A: Sure! Training starts costing money after level 20. Any skill that has a level minimum needs to have one point invested in it before it can start growing on its own (like "Backstabbing" at level 8 for rogues). It is this writer's opinion that training points are precious, and should be used wisely. Don't waste them on things that will go up quickly, like melee skill, spell categories, or especially meditate. These will all go up on their own fairly quickly, and you can save your training points for skills later in life. They'll never disappear, so why 'impulse spend' them? Warriors, wouldn't you like to have 10 or 15 extra points to put into Dual Wield or Double Attack as soon as you get it? This is not to say that you should never use training for weapons; as you get to higher levels, it becomes harder and harder to up your skills. If you've been neglecting your piercing ability, it probably isn't a good idea to start practicing on a Sand Giant! Many veterans also advise putting 3 or so training points into sense heading to get it going, as it takes FOREVER on its own. Also, giving any trade skills (Baking, Sewing, Pottery, etc...) a 5 point jump can save you a lot of time and money when you start them, although trade skills can only be trained up to 20, after which you can only up your skill by doing.(top)

Q: What do the different colours of spell symbols mean?
A: Some spells are "Self only". Minor shielding is one of them. Note that the icon is yellow -- Here's a reminder of what the icon colours mean:

Yellow = self only
Red = can be cast on self and others
Purple = Area of Effect (do NOT cast around friendly NPCs as they will attack you)
Blue = Heals, cure, clarity
Green = non-damage spell (lull, harmony, charm)(top)

Q: When will "Sense Heading" tell me the correct direction instead of "you think you are facing..."?
A: Always. That's just the way the message pops up. If you see a direction, then it IS the direction. Either you sense it, or you don't sense it. But you never sense a wrong direction.(top)

***************
* GM's/Guides *
***************
(Note: informations taken from official posts and the FAQ of Verant. Procedures might change without my knowledge. This is NO official Verant document and will not entitle you to anything :-)

Q: What is a GM?
A: A GM (Game Master) is an employee of Verant. He is helping players with problems due to bugs or problems at Verant's side. Every server has a designated GM with defined working hours. In addition there is mostly a GM available in CHAT as well as floating GM's without an assigned server.(top)

Q: What is a Guide?
A: A Guide is a volunteer player. A Guide is NO employee of Verant and does not get payed for his work (except he/she doesn't have to pay the monthly fee for one account). The Guide can help in certain specific problems (see below). However, Guides are bound within policies they have to follow.(top)

Q: What can a GM/Guide do for me?
A: They can aid in problems due to verifiable bugs, help with stuck corpses (e.g. corpses in a wall) or answer gameplay related questions (no spoiler informations about equipment, NPC's or quests). For a complete list check out the FAQ at www.everquest.com = Game Policies = "Game Masters and Guide FAQ"!(top)

Q: What can a GM/Guide not do for me?
A: They can't help if you die due to going Linkdead, give out spoiler informations about quests or npc's, summon you to a spot where you want to go, recover your corpse that is not stuck or with other incidents which the policies state. Again, for a complete list check out the FAQ at www.everquest.com = Game Policies = "Game Masters and Guide FAQ"!(top)

Q: How do I get the help from a GM/Guide?
A: You have to use the /petition command, followed by a description of your problem. Include as much details as possible. For example: "/petition I died in Blackburrow right at the zone line to Qeynos Hills. I searched for my corpse but can't find it. A passing bard told me it might be stuck in the wall". This would be a good example wheras "/petition help" is a bad one :-) Also remember that the Guides/GM's are a) real persons with feelings and b) are not responsible for whatever happened. Try to stay calm and polite. Cursing, threatening or being rude will not help and much more likely lower the will of them to help you. Remember that Guides are volunteers and not payed for their help.(top)

Q: How can I become a Guide myself?
A: First, read the FAQ at www.everquest.com = Game Policies = "Game Masters and Guide FAQ" to ensure that it's really something you want to do. Remember that you are not allowed to tell anyone if you are a guide. So if you want to become one to "brag" around you may want to reconsider it. Otherwise go to the application form at guideapp.everquest.com.(top)

*************************
* RoK (Ruins Of Kunark) *
*************************

Q: What is RoK?
A: RoK (Ruins Of Kunark) is an expansion to EverQuest. With RoK, you will open up a new continent with new zones (Kunark), you can create a new race (Iksar) and your new level limit for your chars is 60 instead of 50.(top)

Q: Do I have to buy the whole game again?
A: At the moment there is no upgrade available. This should change once the Online Store of Verant is open again where you as a current EverQuest Subscriber can buy the upgrade only. If you want to use RoK before that, you will have to buy a complet RoK Set. With the CD key provided you can either create a new account and start with fresh characters, or you can upgrade your current account to a RoK Account. To do that, install the game and then go to the server selection screen. There you should have a button called "ROK UPGRADE", click on it and enter your RoK CD key. After that, you should see the a red text "Kunark Enabled" on the screen. Remember that your old EverQuest CD key is no longer valid then.(top)

Q: I installed RoK, but I can't create an Iksar?
A: You have most likely forgotten to upgrade your account. Check the previous Question about how to do that.(top)

Q: How do I get to Kunark?
A: There are 2 ways to get to the continent of Kunark beside creating an Iksar: 1.) By teleports. Druids and Wizards of level 34 and higher can get the Group Teleport spell to a zone in Kunark. There is no self teleport spell. 2.) There are boats leaving at Butcherblock Mountains (for the "good" races) and Oasis of Marr (for the "evil" races). Be sure to pick the right one or you will end up dead at the destination as you will be most likely KOS there.(top)

Q: What are the Iksar?
A: The Iksar are a lizard like race fitted into the "evil" races. They have their starting city on Kunark and are KOS everywhere else. In addition, they dislike all other races and if you want to visit them, be sure to work on the faction and to /con them.(top)

**************************
* SoV (Scars of Velious) *
**************************

Q: What is SoV?
A: SoV (Scars of Velious) is an expansion to EverQuest. It gives the possibility to enter a new continent, which is mostly based on ice and snow zones.(top)

Q: Do I have to buy the whole game again?
A: No. SoV is a pure Upgrade so you need to have EverQuest already to use it.(top)

Q: How do I get to Velious?
A: There is a barque leaving from the Desert of North Ro which brings you to the Iceclad zone. Once the barque reaches a small island (with a gnome waving at you), leave the barque and make your way to the opposite side. There is a huge dock located where the big ship lands, that will bring you to the main parts of the zone. The ship itself (Icebreaker) is a great sight already. In addition there are various TP spells. However, they are quite dangerous for low to mid level characters as wandering mobs might attack you right away.(top)

Q: What is that I hear about special faction?
A: SoV is roughly based on 3 faction groups: The Giants (Kromrif), the dwarves (Coldain) and dragons (Claws of Veeshan). Improving faction with one group will mostly lower the faction with at least one other group. Since there are a lot of quests available you will have to make a decision which faction to ruin to bring up another. If you don't want to ruin a future quest you should do some research about them.(top)


****************************
* THE DANGERS OF EVERQUEST *
****************************

This section handles some basic scams you can run into. We have to be honest. EverQuest is played by humans and like everywhere else, some are nice and some just want to fool you. By knowing about some of these dangers you will have no problems in this game....

This section is taken from a post of NakedNewbie on the Newbie Board.

_____________________________________________
The Secret Information Scam

NEVER reveal your account name and/or password to ANYONE for any reason! You may now be thinking, "Well duh! Who would?" You'd be surprised at who would. The people behind EverQuest like Verant, Sony, and 989studios will NEVER ask you while playing online for your password, account info, or credit card info. Be very careful of players posing as GMs (GameMasters). A REAL GM will have "GM" or "Guide" in their title when you do a /who. A real GM is also invincible, meaning they will never be attacked by a MOB (monster).(top)
_____________________________________________

The Trade Window Scam

This scam has unfortunately victimized literally hundreds of players to date. Thanks to Verant through a kinda recent patch, this scam has been eliminated substantially, but not completely. To prevent this scam from happening to you is VERY EASY to do. Simply NEVER press the "trade" button unless you are 100 percent POSITIVE that you are ready to give the money or item(s) to the other player you are conducting the trade with. Always CAREFULLY look at both sections of the trade window when performing a trade with another player. The left section is the other player's, the right section is yours. For example, if you are buying a Shiny Brass Halberd and a Barbed Leather Whip from another player, make sure that BOTH items are in the other player's section of the trade window BEFORE you press the "trade" button with your money in it. Also make sure to right-click on each item to verify that it IS the item you truly want BEFORE you press the "trade" button. Also make sure you can use the item with both race AND class.

In an opposite example, if you are the seller of the items, make sure that all the money is exact and in full before you press the "trade" button. Get it? And don't worry about someone removing items or money before you hit the "trade" button to get cheated. Verant fixed that making it impossible to complete a trade that way. You'll have to cancel it causing no loss to both parties.(top)
_____________________________________________

The False Promises Scam

This has happened to HUNDREDS of players and it STILL happens every day! I cannot believe how naive and trustworthy many players are. NO OFFENSE TO ANYONE, here's my point. A player may try to sell you something that you wish to buy. They ask for the money first in advance and then tell you that the item you are buying is actually on a different character of theirs. They tell you to give them the money first, then they will log off and log back on as the other character to give you the item you are buying. NEVER give your money to ANYONE without the goods being delivered to you SIMULTANEOUSLY in the trade window!! There are unfortunately MANY players who will try their best to cheat you and deceive you! I'm sorry, but this IS a TRUE fact. Of course, not all players are like this, but the bad ones are out there.(top)
_____________________________________________

The Drag Your Corpse For You Scam

Sometimes a player is quick to offer to drag your corpse to a safe spot when YOU cannot get it yourself. In theory, how do they do this? Once again, "/consent . After giving consent, they are able to drag your corpse using the /corpse command to a safe spot for you to retrieve it yourself. However, if you do not FULLY trust this person, that person may drag it to an even more dangerous spot.(top)
_____________________________________________

The I'll Show You A Perfect Place To Hunt Scam

This is a very rare scam, but it could happen to you. A veteran player may approach you and ask you to go with them to a really great place to hunt. A place that comes to mind is the dungeon Befallen. If you are a newbie, you should not enter Befallen or any place that you have not yet learned or are not yet high enough in level. The player takes you there, sets you at a dangerous spot, then LEAVES YOU coldly. What does the bad player get out of this? Nothing of yours, but their own evil satisfaction that you are gonna die in a place where you may not get your corpse again. Once again, this is a very rare scam. Be cautious anyway before you go somewhere with someone. That player may actually be a good person who only wants to hunt with someone, but that player may also be too brave and foolish. There are MANY players who think they can take on BIG risks which only causes themselves and YOU to die in a place that may be difficult to retrieve your corpse.(top)
_____________________________________________

The May I Try On Your Armour or Weapon Scam

Some players may approach you and tell you their "dream" of how they would look like in the armour you are wearing or how the weapon you are wielding would look on them. They then ask you if they could borrow the weapon or armour for "just a moment" to try it on themselves and check it out. NEVER lend someone your weapon or armor!! What are you going to do if they do not return it?? A "petition" will NOT work because you gave them the item on your own free will!(top)
_____________________________________________

The Begging Because I Lost My Corpse Scam

From time to time, you will see a player using shout or ooc to beg everyone if someone would be kind to give them money and items because they lost their corpse and they have to start out fresh. Some of these players may even send you a tell directly. Whenever I get a shout, ooc, or a tell from one of these players, I immediately grill them thoroughly on how the hell they lost their corpse. The answers have varied greatly and most of them are outright ridiculous! One bulls&&& story was someone came up to me wearing full bronze and wielding a BIBS. He begged me for money! I looked at him up and down and said, "Bud, you look like YOU could give me some money!" He told me that "somehow" when he logged on, all of his money in the bank VANISHED!!! Yeah right. I told him to petition it and he said the GMs could do nothing. There are some players out there that will be anonymous. They take off all their armor and goods so that nothing will appear on them in view. They then go out and beg while telling a fictional story of how they lost their corpse and Verant won't do anything about it.

Now let's look at the flip side of this coin. It IS possible for MANY players to genuinely lose their corpse which causes them to start over fresh with nothing. My point is that there are also many players that will try to deceive everyone just to get free gifts and money. It is your own judgment call.(top)
_____________________________________________

The Because I'm Evil, I Can't Buy Scam

Some, not all, "evil" player characters will tell you that because their character is "evil", they cannot buy from any of the local vendors food, drink, etc. They ask you to either buy the stuff for them or give it to them now and they will pay you later. They end up never paying you back. This may be no big deal to an established character, but to a newbie, this could be a great loss. NO OFFENSE to anyone. I am just presenting a true action that SOME evil player characters will do to a newbie.(top)

_____________________________________________

How To Prevent Losing An Item Accidentally

This is not a scam, but rather a tip on how to not accidentally lose an item. There are times when you may accidentally drop an item on the ground. This item may be very valuable to you. If you are not quick enough, anyone nearby you who is quicker will successfully pick up the item and they do not have to return it. How can you prevent this? By focusing on the TIP of your MOUSE-POINTER, NOT the item itself. When placing an item in any particular slot, do not aim the ITEM ITSELF to try to equip or store it. Instead, use the tip of your mouse-pointer on your screen to aim the item into the center of the open slot that you wish to place it in. Do this slowly and with precision. Avoid doing this while under stress or rushing, like in the heat of battle for example. Because if the tip of the mouse-pointer misses the center or near the center of the open slot that you want to place the item in, it will most likely fall to the ground.

Also ALWAYS remember that if an item is TOO BIG to fit in any container you are carrying, and there are no more open available inventory slots, the item will automatically fall to the ground. AND, if you have NO open available inventory slots in the first place, any new container that you try to pick up or trade will also immediately fall to the ground.

In plain English, if something ever falls to the ground by accident, anyone nearby you can quickly pick it up before you can.(top)

*************
* ETIQUETTE *
*************

Q: Are there things I should avoid doing?
A: Definitely. It's called Etiquette. Try to avoid:

Spamming
--------
To constantly shout things on open channels like /ooc, /shout or /auct is called spamming and not very popular. It can avoid seeing important things (like tells or warnings) because the screen is flooded with messages.

Kill Stealing (KS)
------------------
To understand KS you have to know how EverQuest handles kills. The individual (or group) doing more than 50% of the damage gets the Experience and loot rights. So some people go to other people involved in a fight, and inflict a lot of damage (especially with spells). That is annoying for the one who started the fight, as he will not have anything from the fight. KS is a bannable offense (if watched by GM's/Guides) and can lead to a temporarily or definite banning from EverQuest. And besides, it's plain rude.

Begging
-------
Unfortunately some players believe that others have too much money or equipment, so they would just give it away for free. Now a lot of people don't mind helping others, but begging is the wrong way to go. And there is a HUGE difference between begging and asking for help:

Begging: "Can I have some money?", "Give me a better weapon!", "Can I have better equipment?"
Asking for help: "Could you tell me what to hunt to make some money?", "Could you maybe help me in getting my corpse back?", "Can you give me some hints on how to fight more efficient?", "Could you tell me about specific dangers in this area?"

The difference is, that with begging you want things (like money and equipment) without doing work. When asking for help, you don't expect donations, but just want information, support or hints. So asking for help is a normal thing and almost nobody minds it. Begging is the way to get a bad reputation fast.

Overuse of /petition
--------------------
With /petition you can reach the GM's/Guides to ask for help. But they can't help you with getting money, equipment, kills or other things, you can get during the game. The GM's/Guides are there to help if you die because of a bug or other game problems. I suggest you read the "GM Guide/Conduct FAQ" on www.everquest.com for detailed information what a GM/Guide can do for you, and what not.

The use of profanity
--------------------
It might be your normal choice of words, but you should avoid heavy swear words or other profane words in open channels like /ooc, /shout or /auct. There are often kids playing or watching their parents play, so please refrain from using them.

Inspecting
----------
Inspecting can be kind of a touchy subject. Many players have no problem with others inspecting them, but other players take exception. Now there is a logical reason for some to not like it. On PvP servers, inspection is often a prelude to an attack. But for the many who do not play on PvP, they simply regard it as an invasion of their privacy. Not to make a sweeping generalization, but a lot of people who take offense to inspection for the latter reason are what we call powerlevelers. These people just want to shoot up levels as fast as they can, with no regard to RolePlaying, and often no regard for anyone else. These are usually the ones who Kill-Steal, and tend to run about soloing as much as humanly possible. As a 'social' EQer, you'll come up against these folks a lot, this is a problem with people, not a problem with the game, and there's not much you can do about it. But you, being the good person that you are, want everyone to enjoy this game. So before you inspect someone, it's a good idea to ask them. I've never heard someone say no, and then you won't run the risk of offending someone who may help you later on.(top)

***************
* ROLEPLAYING *
***************

A few thoughts about roleplaying from Nusabrecat:

This is only an opinion, there will be others who think differently, but as the saying goes, "You catch more flies with Honey than with Vinegar". Now why anyone would want to catch a fly when they could bash 'em is beyond me (My troll is coming through here), but the reasoning behind the old maxim is sound. If you want something, ask nicely. Once again, I assume that you are a social EQer who wants everyone to enjoy themselves while playing.

Let's say that you wish to make a trip from one city to another, say Qeynos to Halas. You will need to go through the home of the BlackBurrow Gnolls, a dangerous dungeon for anyone under 5 or 6 to even be in, as everything there will attack you on sight. You've played the game for a while, so you've picked up some of the lingo, and you know that if a Shaman or Druid were to cast Spirit of Wolf on you, you could outrun any gnoll in the Burrow, making your chances of survival much higher. So you type /who druid and /who shaman to see if there are any around. You're in luck, there's a halfling named Ellegon who could cast such a spell on you. So you type "/tell Ellegon I hate to bother you Good Druid, but would you be willing to enchant me with the Spirit of the Wolf? I would be willing to pay you for the lost mana."
Ellegon replies " I would be happy to, and don't worry about paying me.", and you speed your merry way towards Halas.
Meanwhile, the other newbie standing beside you who has been shouting for the last hour "Someone cast SOW plz. plz. plz." has yet to get a single response, and any direct /tells he has sent PCs have been refused. Why, you ask?

While not everyone RolePlays on EQ, a good number of people do. Others don't roleplay, but still stay in the spirit of the game. Then there are the power levelers, and finally, what I call the kewl doOdz. These are the people who refuse to type out various words, such as 'are' or 'you' preferring instead 'r u', and tend to enjoy spamming zones with repeated requests for 'Lewt plz'. Any roleplayer who is hailed in such a manner will 99.99% of the time refuse the request, if they haven't /ignored the person already. Many non RP folk will react the same way.
If you want someone to help you, you need to show them that you won't squander their help. Generally, the first thing that they use to decide that, is your request for help. If you can't take the time to spell out the words in your request, and you're not in a combat situation, you're going to come off as lazy, and anyone who has put quite literally hundreds of hours of their life towards advancing their character is not going to appreciate a lazy attitude. So you're not going to get the help that you need. But if you put a little bit of creativity into your request, they'll know that this is someone who is willing to work for what they want, and often your wish will be granted. First impressions count. Many long time players keep lists of good, bad, and maybe PCs. These lists tell them if you've been a jerk in the past, or if you've impressed them and are worthy of their help. A rude request or constant spamming can move you immediately to the 'maybe' or 'bad' list, and in a game where you can find yourself the object of a train of Gnolls, you want that level 50 Wizard to help you out with some spell or power if you need it.

Finally, if you are refused help, don't yell at or pester the refuser. They probably have good reason to turn you down, especially if you asked politely. Contrary to what some believe, other people are under no obligation to help you, although most do so out of the kindness of their hearts. Be the bigger man, elf, or dwarf (although it's not that hard to be bigger than a dwarf ) thank them anyway and move on. There have been some amusing stories on the Newbie boards of Wizards pestered beyond end by a PC looking for a bind. So rather than binding them, the wizard teleports the both of them to a high level area, then teleports back alone, leaving the annoyer behind to fend for himself/herself.(top)

**********************
* BUYING AND SELLING *
**********************

These tips were provided by Sysop-Elbrop:

Buying:
******
Abbreviations: Don't know what a GWC is? Then ask the person who is auctioning it. Nobody minds, sure they might make a sale out of you!

Prices: Someone's selling for a price out of your range? Then consider haggling. Worst case he says no.

Race/class: Ask the seller to confirm that your race/class can use the item.

Security: When you are buying the item a trade window opens. If you right click on the item it will bring up a description of the item (stats, race/class restrictions etc). Check that the item is everything you were told it was.

Change: If the item is 10pp and you have 100 gold then ask if they will accept it. While 100 gold is worth 10pp a lot of people might not want the extra weight. It's impolite to dump all your loose change on another player!

Selling
*******
Price: Not sure how much the item is worth? Then ask around in one zone to get a rough idea then sell in another zone.

Description: Ok, there are a lot of items that are so well known that abbreviations are used when selling such as GLS (Giant light stone) or RTS (runed totem staff). But remember even if you know what these are, not everyone does. Be prepared to get tells from people who want to know what a BIBS is.

Stats: If you are selling weapons or armor, then including the stats can help the sale. Not everyone knows the AC of bronze amour. You might just get a few extra sales by informing them.

Race/class: A lot of items are restricted to certain races or classes. Some can be used by all races and all classes. Try and make sure your customer is able to use the item before you waste too much time selling to them. If the customer can't use it, then tell him so; maybe he wants it for a friend or another character so he won't mind.

Bids: Instead of saying it costs 10pp, say bids start at 10pp. Recently I did this and started at 5pp for a pair of gloves and by then end I got 11pp! Some people will use the /auction command to bid, others will send you tells. Make sure you keep everyone alerted with /auction statements (/auction last bid 11pp on gloves).

Notes:
*****
Two terms WTB (want to buy) and WTS (want to sell). Often you will see these at the start of an auction. A simple and quick way of letting everyone know if you are looking to buy or sell the item.

Always make sure you have room in your inventory for what you are buying. If you don't, they fall to the ground and anyone can pick them up. I once dropped a banded helm and boots because of this.

Summoned items will vanish when you log off the game. Remember this if you see someone auctioning summoned items.(top)



****************
* GENERAL TIPS *
****************

Q: Where can I enter a brief history about my character?
A: Change the view mode until you see yourself in the screen (F9), then right click on yourself. In the lower right corner of the screen you can see a text window where you can put information about yourself. This can be viewed by other players inspecting you (details about Inspecting under "Etiquette").(top)

Q: How can I take a screenshot?
A: By pressing the "-" (minus) key on your Numpad. The screenshots are called EQ00000x.bmp with x as an increasing number. They are stored in your EverQuest directory.(top)

Q: What are the green bars and numbers on my screen?
A: That is the lag meter. It works like this:

- Left number: Your ping to the server (avg time to send a packet and get a reply)
- Middle Left: % of packets sent by your client lost (known as PL)
- Middle Right: % of packets sent by the server lost (known as PL)
- Right: Quantity of data received from server (don't know exactly how this is quantified).

If the right number falls to zero, you will find yourself starting a "reverse countdown to disconnection" where the PL numbers will climb steadily. Once you reach a hundred (if the connection cannot be recovered before the countdown reaches the number), you are disconnected.(top)

Q: What's the deal with the screen configurations? When do you typically use each of them?
A: Those are selected based on your own taste, your machine performance and what you're doing at the moment. Switch from one to the other by pressing the F10 key.

- Half-screen / Console view: The most cluttered screen set up with all the buttons and only 1/4 screen display. Often used when checking your char stats, inventory, ... but not really when playing the game (unless your hardware is borderline for the game requirements).
[Press F10 to move to...]
- HUD Mode: Full screen plus hotkeys, basic info (HP, mana), chat window and spell slots. That's the view you'll probably play in most of the time. Gives you better visibility. Make sure to learn how to switch between hotkey button banks (SHIFT+number) and where which hotkey is. This will make you a lot more efficient.
[Press F10 to move to...]
- Full screen mode: Good for screenshots (numeric '-' key) but useless when actually playing.(top)

Q: Can changing the camera angle (F9 key) actually be good for something other than taking screenshots?
A: Actually, this can be very useful when you fight in the open and want to switch to 3rd person view and move the camera a bit farther from your char. This way, you can see whether any wandering monster is about to join the fight. Makes it a bit more difficult to time your spellcasting, ... though. This becomes useful after a couple of levels when your fights take more than 2 slashes or 1 spell to resolve. On some views, you can even zoom in and out with INS/DEL and rotate with ALT-Arrows.(top)

This is a collection of useful tips. Most are taken from the site everquest.allakhazam.com and only changed to fit the context. Kudos to the makers of this great site. Some tips you already read about, but are so important, that I left them in there. Credits go to the submitters of the tips (if known).

- Norrath is an enormous world, and you will get lost. Learn to use your /loc command. There are directions on how to use it effectively all over the web, and I advise looking them up. Keep pressing that Sense heading button, as it will make your life easier, and it will start working, so don't give up . There are a few things that you can orient yourself with though. The clouds always move west. While in many zones you can't see the clouds, due to forestation or rain, it's still good to know. The sun always rises due East, and moves to set due West. If you type in /time to see the time of day in Norrath, you can get your bearings that way. Due to a game quirk, if you drop a dagger, the tip will always point North. I know some people who carry around rusty daggers just to orient themselves. Learn new zones bit by bit, starting at the zone line, once you do, it'll be invaluable to you for the rest of your EQ life. (Nusabrecat)

- While hunting low level mobs, remember that decaying skeletons, kobolds, spiders and beetles will gang up on you (if one sees you attacking another monster of its species). No problem for skeletons and kobolds who are very weak but the other 2 are harder to dispatch. Snakes, skunks, rats, ... will ignore you even if you attack another one next to them.

- It might be worth (once you reach level 2) to put 2 or 3 points in the "Sense Heading" skill. Then hotkey the sense heading button and click on it when you're running outside of a fight (for instance going through town). It is a skill that raises very slowly (atrociously slowly if you don't put a few starting points in it) but it will allow you to know in which direction you're headed once it reaches a certain level). There are other tricks to find your way but a good direction skill can come in very handy.

- If you're a spellcaster, timing is everything. Start casting your spells when whatever the monster (tried to) hit you with is moving back in its initial position (for instance, you see a skeleton arm moving back). That should give you the maximum spellcasting time before it hits again and thus less chance of being interrupted. With a bit of practice, you can get your timing right. Note that some mobs have 2 attacks per round so getting your timing right can sometimes be a bit tricky.

- Learn to Use /assist and /assist . You may want to define a hotkey to /assist. Pick out someone in the group to be prime target selecter. Everyone target that person and hit the assist key. This way you will all fight the same mob. If you group with a tank often, you can define a key to /assist Tankname. This way you don't even have to select them, which can take valuable seconds in a heated battle. Also, whenever you join a group, ask who the Prime healer and who the secondary healer is, and who the prime tank is. These jobs are very important, and they can be a lifesaver if you know to keep the mobs off while the cleric greater heals the tank. Also in higher level zones, check to see if there is an evac person...and keep the mobs off if an evac is called. (submitted by Munchie)

- At the text prompt, you can use the SHIFT-UpArrow to view a history of your previous commands. Just hit Enter again to repeat the command verbatim, or you can press SHIFT-LeftArrow or RightArrow and edit the command first. This is useful for repeating auctions or repeating a tell to a friend who was zoning. (Submitted by Svane Astralsage)

- You can use SHIFT-PageUp and SHIFT-PageDown to scroll a page at a time up through your scrollback buffer. Try it once, and you will never use those annoying scrollbar arrows again. (Submitted by Svane Astralsage)

- You can fish while sitting down and meditating. So if you are near water and have to med or heal anyways, you can fish and make a little extra money.

- Summoned items disappear when you log out. So be careful about buying anything that was summoned such as food and drink.

- Use the /random command to resolve group disputes over loot. Ask everyone to pick a number between x and y and then type /random x y. The group will get a message something like "Whitewhisper rolls a magical die that could a number from 1 to 10 but this time the number is: 7. (submitted by Whitewhisper Brightfist)

- Looking for a sack or other container to store items with your newbie character, but don't want to purchase one? Most of the quests that involve getting multiple items for an NPC involve him giving you a container in which to collect the items. These can usually be used to store anything, and are essentially free containers which you can get often right at level 1.

- For classes with the ability to "sneak", when an NPC merchant regards you less than indifferently, enable sneak before selling or buying from the merchant to get better prices. (You'll know it's working when you /con the merchant and they are "indifferent" to you). This also allows players who couldn't normally deal with an NPC merchant (i.e. Aviak Merchant in South Karana) to buy and sell from them.

- /Autosplit and /split split coins evenly, not amounts. Thus if a party of three loots a corpse with 1 pp, 1 gp and 1 sp, the looter will get a platinum, another person will get a gold and another person will get a silver. Big difference! If you trust your party members and want to be completely egalitarian, have one person go to the bank and start at zero loot, loot every monster and split the money evenly with the party at the end of the day. To be really frugal, make your treasurer the person with the highest charisma and local faction and have him sell any extra items before the final accounting. (Submitted by Llyndeyr Splitter)

- If you hold the right-mouse button down or the control key and press either the left or right movement keys, you slide to the left or right (normally you would pivot in place). This can provide a safer way to approach a blind corner.

- Ctrl-Left clicking on a multiple stacked item in your inventory lets you quickly select one item. For example, Ctrl-left click on 15 water bottles allows you pull one out in a second without sliding that annoying bar up and down. (Submitted by ShayeJarpp)

- You can assign an inventory slot to a hot button. This works great for magic items that have a magic spell to cast, like the wall squad ring. Makes using such items much faster in battle. (Submitted by MeleKahn)

- Program a social button to say /corpse. If you ever have your body in a bad spot and are afraid to go get it, hotkey that button. Then as you inch toward your body trying hard not to awake the nasties who have spawned on your body, press the hot key continually and your body will move toward you from a pretty good distance. When it comes to you, run to a safe place all the way pressing the hotkey and you will "drag" your corpse with you. This also works good for underwater corpse recovery. Also, summoning a corpse (/corpse) will not make invisibility drop, but looting it will. If you die in a dangerous place (say the west side of oasis) you may want to find someone to cast invisibility on you (caster and target must be in same group). You can then hot key /corpse to drag your corpse to a safe place to get your gear back. Added bonus, a corpse bouncing along the ground looks cool (anyone without see invisibility will only see the corpse dragging). (Submitted by Onyxx and Oglug)

- Here is a tip for maximizing profits while hunting with a group: This will take a lot of trust, so if you do not know your party members well do not do it. 1. Get a lot of backpacks, sacks or chests and distribute them to all party members. 2. Have one person loot the corpse until he is full, then the next person loots, and so on. 3. Do not go sell until everyone is full. 4. Have the person with the highest charisma sell all the items at a shop that will give him/her the best prices (most likely his/her home city). 5. Then split the gold between all members as the party sees fit (we always do an even split). 6. Now if there is an item that a person wants the party can have them buy it and split the money between the group or the group can give it to the person. This works very well with a group that hunts very often together. We have employed this tactic to our advantage very often but everyone needs to remember that people get dropped from the server. They will come back with the stuff or your share of the gold(if they are honorable). (Submitted by Brambo the Barbarian)

- Use of small boats (By Tothis) You get IN the boat and right click on it. You will get a message that says "You have the helm" and your movement keys now control the boat. Not only was I able to use this boat, but Rexan (my Dwarven friend) was able to stand in the back of the boat and keep lookout as I paddled us about. The advantage was that he could click on things and con them while my view was pretty much limited to the direction I was rowing us. Some notes on using the boats to travel about:

1. The boats have a definite "front" and "back". If you get in and take control while facing the wrong way your controls will be reversed. Simple solution: right click to give up control of the boat, turn yourself around (do the hookey po..umm) and resume control of the boat with another right click.

2. The boat is NOT zippy. This is NOT a shortcut. If you are tempted to do what we did (Travel from one side to the other) take a look at the map link on this site for the Ocean of Tears (the first one is better). EACH little square is 1000X1000. This map is HUGE. We went from 8000(near the human Island) to -9000 (sisterhood's Island). The top speed of this boat is about the same as if you were running. By comparison, the Butcher Block Zone is about 6000X6000... and that's a pretty good sized zone. The big boat travels MUCH faster...

3. No spells. Just like riding the big boat, something about these romantic ocean canoe trips just stuns your spellcasting.

4. If you fall out most races can't get back on unless you try to do so from dry land. (Humans seem to be able to get back on by going to the long sides and swimming forward) Also, we have managed to 'Lock' two boats together. Neither of us could move and had to swim to shore (so don't get too close to each other if you are each in separate boats).

5. The boat has hit points. This leads to the disturbing idea that it could be sunk.

- As soon as you start your character, go into options and reprogram your hotkeys to change auto attack from the default "A" key to something you will never accidentally hit, such as "~". This will prevent you from accidentally attacking a NPC you are talking to because you forgot to hit the enter key to bring up the talk screen.
If you hold down the numberlock key you will continue to run forward without having to keep a hand on the arrow key. This can free your hands to type messages to you group and friends. Just keep an eye on where you are going.

- If you are new to a zone, play close to the zone border while you check out the monsters in the area. This will give you a chance to run for cover if you get in over your head.

- Practice, practice, practice. If you find yourself standing around waiting for someone, use your time to work on a skill. Cast magic. Sense direction. Doesn't matter which skill you practice, you'll thank yourself later.

- Every action has a repercussion. Pay attention to the faction adjustments you are given. When you go to a new area, try to kill things the locals dislike to gain faction with them. You can readily build up either good will or ill will with almost every action. Start killing kobalds, and not only will every kobald in the area start to single you out for attack, but all of the kobald's allies will start to dislike you as well. This is important, because the developers have seen fit to include high level killer NPC's in otherwise low level zones that will run up and whack you if they start to dislike you (or sometimes just because they can). Also, that kobald runt you have no problem smacking around probably has bigger siblings who will knock your socks off when they see you.

- Learn which monsters give good gold, and which give good experience. It does you no good to power game your wizard to level 8 where you have a whole new set of spells to use if you can't afford to buy any of them.

- Consult with the maps section before starting into a new area. The cities and zones in this game are huge, and it is hard to memorize every piece of them. You should at least get familiar with where to run if you get in trouble.

- Please use /ooc for out of character statements. Also try and limit the use of /shout. It is a role playing game. This doesn't mean saying thee and thou, but it does mean that your character shouldn't know or talk about the real world, at least not on /shout.

- Before you sell to or buy from a shop keeper, /con him. The more he likes you the better the prices. An apprehensive shop keeper will quote you bad prices just because he doesn't like the looks of you. There can be a 15 to 20% difference in rates. If he isn't at least indifferent, you should try and find another shop keeper to sell to. Attitudes will vary even within a city. Buying and selling from the right person can save you a lot of gold in the long run.

- Don't play in one view. Get used to the other camera views (F9 and F10) and use them when appropriate. Most people will prefer to stay in the first person view most of the game. I know this is how I play. However, when in a battle, you may want to switch to one of the wider views where you can see what is happening all around you. The other views can also help you scout the terrain around you for friends or foes.

- As soon as you log on each time, remember to click the run button. Then just keep it on run from there on. There is no reason to walk in this game.

- I was amazed to find out that some newbies are playing in windowed mode. You are missing out on the glory of the game's graphics that way. This mode is strictly for inventory and other temporary things. Program all of your useful commands onto your hot keys (you have 36 of them after all). Then hit F10 once to go to partial full screen mode. You can move around and fight in this mode and still have access to all of your commands. There simply is no comparison to experiencing the game through Full Screen and Windowed modes. Along those lines, you should optimize your screen size by going to options and setting your screen size as high as your video card will allow. You will not believe the difference between the default setting and the higher settings. Get the most out of the game.
(top)

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* SOME LAST THOUGHTS *
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EverQuest is a great game. I'd say it's even more than a game. It's a community and a world of it's own, where a lot of great people from all over the world meet. EverQuest is also very addictive. Once you know the basic facts, it is a great place to be. You don't have to know all the things in this file by heart. In fact, many of the things mentioned in here are unknown to a lot of players. Use the file as a first source for questions you might encounter. If you still have more questions, you can either contact me (balthusdire@hotmail.com) or visit the newbie board on www.everquest.com. But the most important thing is: Have Fun!

Ellegon (aka TheRealEllegon or BalthusDire)(top)


Credits (in alphabetic order and with the knowledge that I forgot many):


DwWarrior, Balkor_Ironfist, CorwinH, Lost-INNer, Mara, Naked-Newbie, Nevat, Nusabrecat, Pand, Sinda, Sysop-Vinria, Sysop-Wendelius, Sysop-Elbrop, Tielle, T. Henmant, Wadin, Zernan and all the others on the Newbie Board(top)

EDIT by Cyranith: Added HTML jump tags to make it easier to find the answer to the question.