Jaan's Info Time Capsule (New Player Guide)

What if I knew then what I know now?

There's a lot going on in this game. Even though I read through the Instructions and Known Issues, along with all of the Updates and Patch Notes when I first pledged, there's a great deal that I missed, or misunderstood, or simply misplaced in my mind. The basic premise of this post is to pass along information that I feel would have greatly aided me back in the beginning of my journey in SotA. In this respect, it can be considered a New Player Guide. However, it is not intended to be comprehensive, or to portray the "one true way" to play this game. It is only meant to help bootstrap new players in with a few things I've learned along the way.

This post is a work in progress. Check back every now and again for new tips, tricks, and insights. Also- feel free to leave your feedback in this thread. Although I welcome all feedback here, I am particularly interested to hear from players that are new to SotA.

Welcome to SotA! If you find this information helpful, be sure to stop by the Agora at Jaanaford where there are more guides available to read for free around the premises.

First things First

Even though this game is in a persistent state, it is still in pre-release. What this means is that things are still imbalanced- sometimes wildly so- and may change at any time. Typically, the most sweeping changes are published once a month, however there are also regular patches. Occasionally, something might even get changed "on the fly".

What this means is that if you are the type of player who likes to decide ahead of time what kind of character you are going to play, you might find yourself getting frustrated with this game.

For example, you might decide right off the bat that you want to wield a 2-handed bludgeon weapon without realizing that the Bludgeon skill tree is underpowered relative to the Blades tree. Or if you are a magic user, you might not realize right away that Sun magic is stronger than Moon magic. (For now- eventually these will all be balanced out.)

On the one hand, you might just so happen to choose a character build that is relatively weak, and then conclude that this game is too difficult. Or conversely, you might make decisions that lead to you having an overpowered character, but not realizing this you could be in for a shock when the dev team rebalances something and suddenly your character is "nerfed" meaning you are much less effective than you were before the change.

Over time- as you read through the release and patch notes and participate in the forums, you will get a better sense for how things are changing, when they are changing, and why they are changing. For now- all you need to do is expect change. Therefore, you may wish to consider making any strong determinations about what kind of character you are going to play until things become more balanced.

By all means, play around with your build and be willing to make mistakes. But if you are the sort of person that wants to make sure you are not "wasting your time" playing with an inefficient build, all you need to do is spend a little time out watching others and you will get some hints about the latest en vogue playstyle. (For example, if you notice that suddenly it seems like everybody is running around with a bow and a water elemental that should give you a hint as to the latest trends.) However, I would recommend just simply charting your own path, and learning what works for you.

One of the things I've repeatedly experienced having backed this game through many iterations, is that I oftentimes have to completely re-think my approach to character development. This has often been an extra challenge as I am a player that is interested in role-playing as well.

I consistently find that it is my prejudice with respect to "how I want to play the game" that is the main thing that gets me frustrated and reduces my fun factor. When I decide that I only want to "do this certain thing a certain way" then when things get changed, I feel frustrated that my character was "nerfed" or that the devs are "picking on" certain kinds of players, while giving special treatment to others.

When I allow myself to be flexible and creative with my gameplay, to try new things, and to discover how to play the game as it is being designed, I tend to get more enjoyment out of the game. When I give myself permission to explore different elements of this game than I am used to, I often find fun where I was not expecting it.

Are you ready to embark? Alright, I've organized everything here according to the same structure that you will find in the Instructions. Reading the Instructions is a great place to start, however as with just about everything in this game at the moment, the Instructions are not complete, or in a final form.

So you can think of this guide as an annotation to the Instructions. I will make notes clarifying some things that I found confusing, or lacking in sufficient detail. Enjoy!

System Requirements
Installing the game
Logging In
Offline Play
Avatar Creation
User Interface
Menus and Help
Moving through the World
Traveling between Scenes and the Overworld
Avatar Character Management
Inventory Management
Maps
Interactive Objects
Combat
Character Progression
Skills
Decks and Deck Building
Player Housing
Crafting and Harvesting
Talking to Players and NPCs
Shopping
Public Vendors
Music and Instruments
Guilds & Parties
Reporting Bugs

 

Moving through the World

Learning how to move is very important in SotA. Take time to learn how to move about the environment. You should read the corresponding section in the instructions and also this quick reference guide. However, neither of these give you the full picture. Here are some other considerations:

1. Running, rolling and backflipping (double-tap WASD) when in Combat Stance (toggle Z) will not work correctly if your graphics are set too high. This is due to an frame rate (FPS) issue with the game that has yet to be fully addressed. Even if you allow the game to choose the settings for you, it might set them too high. Start with the "fastest" graphics setting, and get a good feel for how to roll and backflip, and then move it up one notch at a time until you determine the best graphics setting that allows you to roll and backflip with ease.

2. Combine movement keys for different kinds of movements. Combining movements makes it more difficult for adversaries to react to your movements or hit you. Try holding D or A down as you run forward and backward. Combine this with movements from the mouse button. Do not overlook the rotate left and right commands. By default they are mapped to [ and ], thus making them hard to reach and easy to ignore. These add a whole different dimension to movement. Don't ignore them, but instead find a way to use them.

3. Experiment with moving while attacking. Often you can start inducing a skill while out of range, and then move into range as it executes. However, keep in mind, some skills may lose effectiveness if deployed while moving.

4. Positional advantages are huge. For example, attacking an adversary from behind is much more likely to land a critical hit. As you experiment with moving around, try to learn how to swiftly pivot from the front of an adversary to the rear, and delivering a blow from behind before they can react. Eventually (and soon) you will need to root, mesmerize, or otherwise stun your adversary before moving into a superior position. Attacking from above has advantages too, and yes if you jump and shoot something with an arrow you will get a bonus on the hit. (If you can pull the timing off.... holding down the jump button before release will allow you to jump higher.) Finally, you can also avoid being hit completely by ducking behind a tree or using another object for cover.

5. Experiment with the three different camera views (toggle with V), as each may be more helpful in certain situations. Make sure you are familiar with the hotkeys to fully zoom in or out (PgUp/PgDn), as using a scroll wheel to zoom might not function as intended. Traveling around both in the overland map and in zones fully zoomed out will give you a better perspective on getting your bearings, and what might be coming down the road.

6. Keybindings can make a HUGE difference with respect to your ability to move efficiently. If it is within your budget, you should strongly consider getting a mouse with extra assignable buttons, such as the Razer Naga Chroma, to improve your gameplay. For example, you can map jump to pushing down on the scroll wheel, so that way you don't have to deal with hitting the spacebar with your left thumb. You can also tilt the mouse wheel left or right for two additional keymapped commands. I have them assigned to [ and ] so I can rotate my view while moving.

7. In additional to the three different camera views, there are two "modes" that you can switch between using TAB. Interactive Mode is more setup up for non-combat situations, while Targeting Mode is designed more for combat. Experiment with these to determine which mode works best for you in which situations, keeping in mind that you can use either mode whether or not you are in Combat Stance (toggled with Z).

To recap- in additional to the four directional keys (WASD) and jump (space), you can rotate using [ and ] . There are 3 different camera angles (V), 2 zoom states (PgUp/PgDn), 2 modes (TAB), and finally your basic stance (Z). Additional commands (like the double-tap directional commands) are also available, but only from within combat stance. Make sure your graphics settings are not set so high that you have FPS issues interfering with your movement ability.

Experimenting with various combinations of movements and perspectives will give you a lot more control and flexibility with various situations you will encounter within the game. Keybinding- particularly to extra mouse buttons- will also net you a significant gameplay advantage independent of your leveling in-game. If you are anything like me, you will probably want to "jump right in" without getting into all the nitty-gritty with the movement commands, however this is something you will benefit from revisiting often. Especially if you feel like you've hit a plateau. Try spending some time simply practicing moving around the environment will help you become a more effective player independent of learning how to use skills.

 

Skills

The main thing to understand about skills in SotA is that the training curve is logarithmic, while the effectiveness curve is linear. This is not explained in the skills section of the instructions, however it is very important to understand. You can learn a lot more details about the skill system in this post which outlines the changes made to the skill system for R32.

To put this in perspective, here are some general comparisons: (These exact numbers do not apply to all skills, but the general trend is accurate.)

For a typical active skill at level 20, approximately 600 XP is needed, while the relative effectiveness is 45% as compared to GM.
For a typical active skill at level 40, approximately 4000 XP is needed, while the relative effectiveness is 65% as compared to GM.
For a typical active skill at level 60, approximately 27,000 XP is needed, while the relative effectiveness is 75% as compared to GM.
For a typical active skill at level 80, approximately 180,000 XP is needed, while the relative effectiveness is 90% as compared to GM.
For a typical active skill at level 100, approximately 1,200,000 XP is needed, while the relative effectiveness is 100% as compared to GM.

Here you will find some charts comparing experience and effectiveness.

There is no "hard cap" at level 100, however this general trend continues. In order to advance a skill up to level 200 would require many billions of xp, yet only net a 40% gain in effectiveness over level 100. What this demonstrates is that your ability to defeat stronger adversaries and earn a greater amount of xp does not grow as quickly as the increasing need for xp as you level up.

It is also important to realize that certain more powerful active skills might require 2x or 3x the experience to level. And some of the passive, or innate skills, (like Healthy or Train Strength) require 5X-10X the xp to level as a typical active skill. If you are interested in knowing the exact amount of xp it takes to level a skill, you can use this handy spreadsheet calculator for reference.

For example, while a total beginner might only be able to earn 1000 xp per hour, they will be able to take a skill from level 0 to 40 and reach 65% effectiveness in a given skill within a few hours of play. By contrast, a very experienced player seeing to take a skill from level 80 to level 100 who can earn 100,000 xp per hour is going to need to adventure for somewhere between 8-12 hours in exchange for a mere 10% gain in the effectiveness of a skill.

Another way to look at this is to consider that it takes about 1.2 million xp to take an active skill to level 100, whereas it takes about 2.0 million xp to raise every skill to level 40. What I would therefore recommend you strongly consider is to experiment widely with different skills. It takes relatively very little xp in order to build up a skill strong enough to be useful. And even if you have your heart set on a certain kind of build, you will find there are points in the game where you might need to do something "out of character" in order to progress. This game will go much easier for you, if you are willing to keep a lot of skills on the back-burner in order to deploy in special circumstances.

This is not to say that you will never want to specialize, or become a Grandmaster in certain skills. However, you might find yourself crippled in certain situations if you do not allow yourself to be flexible with your build. In particular, keep in mind that this game is still in pre-release development, and significant changes can and will occur that can throw things temporarily out of whack.

If you are unable or unwilling to "go with the flow" and pivot with the constant changes, you might find yourself very frustrated with this phase of development. It might be worth considering holding off on SotA until it has entered into "commercial release" phase at which time things will certainly be much more stable.

Perhaps the singlemost important thing to know about skills in SotA is that having high skills will only get you so far. Eventually things like collaborating with other players, strategy and tactics, keymapping, movement ability, environment exploitation, deck building and utilization, and the random number generator (RNG) will become more important than the amount of raw experience points you have pumped into your skills.

 

Player Housing

Here is a link to the Housing section of the Instructions. In addition to this, you may wish to read Silis' Player Housing Primer, which is probably more thorough and detailed than I will ever get here.

Here is an excellent map tool (sotamap) which will enable you to get a feel for where towns are located, and how populated they are, without having to spend hours running around in game. You can also access this map in game. However, if you are running around in game checking out the scenery in towns, you can stop by the Town Crier to pick up 100 gold for each one you visit the first time. There are also repeatable mail delivery quests you can run for some gold.

There are three general classes of towns that are available for player housing: NPC Towns, Player-Run Towns (PRTs.) and Player-Owned Towns (POTs).

NPC Towns are the major towns associated in some way with the plot. (Though keep in mind, the plot is not fully implemented at this time.) These are depicted on the sotamap with a castle icon, and also have banners floating over them on the overland map. NPC towns also have some lots available for player housing, however these are in the highest demand and difficult to come by.

PRTs are similar to NPC Towns, except that they are not associated with the plot. PRTs are indicated on the sotamap by a house icon with a transparent roof. PRTs are layed out by the dev team, and generally consist of a city center with some vendors and crafting tables. Generally speaking, PRTs are currently mostly empty and at varying states of finish.

POTs are governed by players. The governor of a POT can layout the lots in the town, and determine what kind of amenities it offers. Governors also have the ability to ban a player from their POT, if they deem it necessary. POTs are indicated on the sotamap by a house icon with a solid roof. Here is another thread I started some time ago that can help you get a feel for which POTs are more active than others. You can also tell roughly how populated a POT is by how developed the town looks on the overland map. The population of a POT affects the strength of any devotionals placed in that town. (Devotionals are devices that grant long-term buffs.)

In order to claim an available lot for you to build housing upon, you will need a lot deed. There are two kinds of deeds available in the game. A "Place Anywhere Deed" will allow you to claim any open lot in an NPC Town, PRT, or POT. By contrast, a "POT Deed" will only allow you to claim an open lot in a POT. The latter is much cheaper, of course.

Finally, deeds may be taxed or untaxed. Taxed deeds require gold payments in order to maintain ownership of the lot, while tax-free deeds have no such restrictions. Even still, somebody needs to be visiting the lot every so often, or it will expire. If there is a certain lot that is already claimed, but seems unused, you can see when the lot will revert to open if it remains unattended by its owner or caretaker.

 

Reporting Bugs

Hey let's not forget our primary purpose for being here... it's to help the dev team find bugs! Right?

The section on bug reporting in the Instructions is somewhat confusing, since it refers to several disjointed mechanisms to report bugs, and then also refers to another document for submission guidelines.

Here's the simplest way to report a bug. Clicking on the sealed letter icon in the Master Menu (top right of the UI) will take you directly to the bug section of the forum AND copy a template with hardware, build, and location information to your clipboard. Choose the most appropriate sub-forum based on the descriptions and start a post. Press Ctrl+V to past the clipboard contents into the post. Then fill in the details.

If it seems like a bug might fit into more than one sub-forum, just pick what seems to be the best one. The forum moderators will move it if necessary, but try not to give them extra work to do.

Besides checking the Known Issues page, you should also check in the forums to see if somebody else has reported the same bug. However- if you make a post and later need to delete it, you can use the Thread Tools at the top of the post to delete the thread.

 

Avatar Creation

You should begin by reading the section on avatar creation in the Instructions. If you are familiar with the Ultima series, you will likely already understand the process of avatar creation in SotA. However, if you are not familiar with a "Lord British" game, there are a few peculiarities that might not make sense to you at first. Here is the breakdown.

Shroud of the Avatar is a role-playing game and like many other RPGs your character has three main attributes: strength, dexterity, and intelligence. If you are at all familiar with RPGs, these function in pretty much the same way you would expect them to. Strength increases how hard you can hit with a weapon and with certain kinds of magic. It also increases your carrying capacity. Dexterity influences your hit chance and ability to avoid being hit by others, along with other more "nefarious" activities. Intelligence is important for casting spells and taming.

One of the things that makes a "Lord British" game is a particular skin that is applied to these attributes. In the first layer of this skin, there are three primary Principles which each correspond to a basic character attribute.

Courage corresponds to Strength
Love corresponds to Dexterity
Truth corresponds to Intelligence

In the second layer of the skin, the 3 Principles combine in different ways to produce 8 virtues:

Courage and Love combine to make Sacrifice
Courage and Truth combine to make Honor
Love and Truth combine to make Justice
... and so on...

This picture will help you understand how the principles combine to produce the virtues:


So basically, in the beginning scene (Isle of Storms) you are going to get asked a series questions by the Oracle. They are all going to be framed as an either/or choice between two of the virtues. For example, if you pick Compassion, then your character will get an initial bonus in Intelligence while if you choose Honor, your character will get a bonus split between Strength and Dexterity.

If you find yourself stressing because the correspondences between the virtues and the attributes seem a little strained, just take a deep breath and relax. It's only a game.

Don't worry if you get confused because the Oracle will give you a chance to change your answer. At the end of the day, what you choose doesn't really make that big of a difference. It is a little bit of a tilt in your character build. Although there are no specific classes in SotA, the basic attributes still align with the type of characters you are used to playing. Moreover, you will be able to raise any of the attributes directly by training an "innate" skill within the game.

The choices you make will also affect the kind of starting equipment you receive, however you are not likely to use any of it much past the introductory scene anyhow.

 

Offline Play

As described in the offline play section of the Instructions, it is possible to play SotA in "offline mode" which does not require an Internet connection. Since there is no communication with a game server, there is nothing in the world that is connected to other players- like for example POTs or player vendors.

Since you cannot collaborate with other players in groups to defeat your adversaries, it is possible to have NPCs join you as companions while you play in Offline Mode to compensate for this. Otherwise, access to the story and quests is exactly the same as for the online modes.

Since no transactions are occurring between players that can affect the world, you can save multiple files and restore your Avatar to previous points in the game. Offline mode is totally disconnected from the game servers, so if a player were able to edit their files in order to alter the attributes of their Avatar it could not impact the online world in any way.

You should keep in mind that, generally speaking, the development of offline mode has received considerably less attention* than online mode, however the aim is to have three companions that can travel with the Avatar for Episode 1.

Offline mode went live in March 2016 with Release 28. The first and last major update to Offline Mode occurred in May 2016, with Release 30:

* References

Spoiler

 

Decks and Deck Building

In addition to the decks and deck building section of the Instructions, a great place to get a foundation in how decks work is this player-written guide.

In a nutshell- decks are the way that skills make it into your combat hotbar for use during battle. If you imagine that the skill glyphs are cards and that your combat hotbar is your hand, then basically the cards are being dealt from the deck into your hand. You currently have 10 slots in your hand, however there is a good chance this will increase to 12. When you either execute a skill, discard a glyph, or allow it to timeout, the card will be replaced with another one randomly chosen from the deck.

It is possible for you to "lock" a slot in your hand such that the same glyph is always present there, thus removing the chance element of having the card dealt to your hand. However, in exchange for the ability to bypass the RNG, you will experience a greater cooldown period that you must wait before executing the skill again. As discussed in detail in the player-written guide referenced above, you may use a combination of locked and unlocked slots in your hand.



A fully unlocked deck requires a minimum of 23 glyphs, or else the missing cards will be replaced by slugs.. As you level up skills, you will be able to add additional copies if its glyph into your deck.