FAQ and Newbie Starter Guide
From CthulhuNationWiki
Remote Islands
I just started!
Welcome! You're on the Remote Island, which is a small island (go figure) not connected to the rest of the game. It's kind of a "newbie area" where you can get the feel of the controls and how the game works before joining the other players in England. There's a quest to complete here, and some creatures ("egg pods and more") to kill. After you're done with the quest, have your passport and battled all the Egg Pods you can stand to face, head for the airport and England.
One thing to keep in mind - the dialogue box on the far left of your screen, below the row of buttons ("Game", "Combat", "Stats", "Events" and "Talk"). Text will appear here as a result of your actions - if you talk to someone, if you go someplace special, if you find something by searching, if you dig up a gemstone. (These are all "Game" events, and will show up by clicking the "Game" button.) Combat messages will also show up here, kept separate in the "Combat" button. (Don't worry about the other buttons for now.)
It's very important to read through new text - sometimes it'll give you important clues on where to go next in your quest!
Okay, so what's this quest about?
If you're still right where you started, then you should see a yellow dot on the tile to your north. (These dots are called squircles. Yellow dots indicate the start of a quest; red dots show that there's a monster there; blue dots show that there's another player there.) Click that tile to move north.
Your "Game" window just got a flood of new text! That's from someone talking to you - Roger Hammersmith. Read through to find that you're supposed move along and meet him at another spot on the islands.
You should probably keep working on this quest fairly quickly. the Remote Islands aren't very big, and you began with some "free moves" (see below). If you click the "maps" link in the big box at the top of your screen, you'll see a map of the whole island, with some colored dots scattered around. Purple dots mark landmarks. If you let your mouse pointer hover over a dot, a tooltip will pop up with the name and address of that landmark.
(Addresses are given as "hex coordinates"; the first number is East/West, the second is North/South. The northwest corner of a map is 0,0 - although you can't always get there!)
I can't remember where I was told to go last.
If you click the "Journal" link up at the top, you'll see your Journal. Notes from your quests gets added here automatically. (There's also two pages of space for you to type in your own notes.) Find the quest you want to read about, click the number that indicates the part of the quest you want to read. The very first quest is called "Starter".
All text that appeared in the "Game" dialogue box *should* appear in your Journal. Your Journal *may* sometimes have details that didn't show up in the dialogue! So it's a good habit to check it after finishing a new part, as well as when you get stuck.
Okay, so... How do I fight? Punching these Egg Pods kinda stinks.
You're in a desperate situation and there's only one thing to do - head for the store! Or rather, Island Weapons at 11,10 on your map. There will be several weapons you can buy but be sure to check out the requirements for each one.
While you're in this little cluster of shops, you might want to have a good look around. Some of the items they sell have no particular use; others are very useful. The Gem Shop has some very attractive merchandise.
I can't use any weapons!
Weapons need a certain level of skill to use them effectively (at all, actually). For instance, a Hatpin is the strongest weapon available on the Remote Islands. But, it requires 14 points of H2H skill. (You can click on the magnifying glass icon beside an item in your inventory to examine something. If you haven't bought it yet, try the small i button in the shop window.) Most players won't start out with nearly that much.
So what can you wield? Well, there are other weapons that require less skill. For instance, the Axe only requires 4 H2H.
You don't absolutely need a weapon at all, actually - against small creatures like the Eggpods and mice, your bare fists work just fine. (That's also going to use H2H skill - of course!)
Notice that whatever you kill using a weapon gives you some XP in the skill for that type of weapon: Killing with a Hatpin (H2H damage) gives you XP in H2H skill; using a sword (Melee damage) gives you Melee experience.
Eventually you will "level up" in H2H enough to use your favorite H2H weapon.
Take the hatpin for Example
- Name: Hatpin
- Class: None
- Type: H2H
- Skill Modifier Required: 14
- Damage: 50 ± 2
- Hands: 1H
The Type is H2H which means if you have the H2H skill you are halfway to using it. the other half is the skill modifier required, which in this case is 14.
Which means that if you don't have a +14 next to the H2H skill (visible by clicking the stats button) then you can't use it.
You should be able to find something that you can use.
I CAN'T MOVE ANY MORE!!
Well, you can't really expect to just keep running in circles around a mountainous island and never run out of breath. Every step you take, every Egg Pod you fight, uses a point of "stamina". When you're down to zero stamina, you can't do any of those things. Your stamina does come back naturally over time - slowly. When you're just starting out, it'll be a few points every ten minutes.
You started out the game with some "Free Moves". (The current number is shown in the panel on the left, *above* the row of buttons - along with little details like your health, your stamina, your experience, and how much damage you can do.)
These Free Moves *only* provide movement, not fighting or other actions. And when you're out, you're out! they get given out rarely at other times during the game. (Subscriber note: Subscribers get 500 Free Moves on their "subscriberversary" every month, and their stamina also regenerates on a 3 minute cycle rather than 10.)
So - relax. Wait a few minutes, maybe come back in an hour when your stamina bar is full again. One of the charms of CN is that you can sit and play for a few minutes, then go away and do other things. (Of course, as you start leveling up, you'll also recover stamina more quickly....)
I'm stuck in this Remote Island Caves place and I can't find anything to do down here and I can't find my way out.... help?
There's a little mining to be done... although very few players will be able to mine usefully yet. (Mining requires strength and/or the Geology/Mineralogy skill, which only Archaeologists/Shadows get.)
There's some Fungal Spores to clear out, if you're spoiling for a fight.
Otherwise, the exit is at 18,18.
BIG TIP: This game often requires knowing exactly where you are and just what's around you. Without a good map, you'll have a very hard time getting where you want to go. The good news: there's a built-in map for every country, and it's actually quite handy. The bad news: It only shows "country maps" and "player maps", like you bought for the Remote Island Caves. Click the "globe" icon in the top bar of the game screen to bring up the map of whatever place you're standing in. (If you don't have a map, you'll get a blank page and a note saying how much skill would be needed to make a map.)
Note that the tiles are slightly different colors - "special" spots are shown very slightly darker than the rest. (Look at 18,18, for instance, where the exit is.) Sometimes that's an exit, sometimes it's a hazard tile, sometimes it's just "special". There's also a bunch of red dots; these indicate spots where you can mine. Purple dots - there aren't any on the Remote Island Caves - indicate "landmarks". The legend on the right explains the other colors.
If you don't have a map of the place you are, and you can't make one in the game... What do you do? You'll probably want to make some maps of your own. Keeping it simple, a pencil and some paper will do just fine. There are computer programs and things that can help out too, but that's really not what we're here to talk about. But you really do want to be able to make maps, one way or another.
Um. I'm in this pit and it's dark. (PS - Am I likely to be eaten by a Grue?)
You can buy lanterns at the general store. They only last a certain number of steps, so buy several! Don't worry, there are no Grues.
Okay, so I *finally* made it to England. What now?
Now the rest of the game begins... it's really a lot like the Remote Islands: You can do quests, you can fight stuff, you can mine, you can just explore the world. Starting out, it'll probably be good to get a few more quests under your belt - some of them pay quite well, and they all give experience. Just stroll around and watch for yellow squircles.
Some things you probably do not want to do for a while:
- Attack big things. (Look at the "card" for the monster first. If it says "Lower Life" or "Human", even a level 1 player has a good chance of victory. If it says "Giant", you might want to wait a little bit and get stronger. If it says anything else - run.
- Travel the globe. Sure, you want to see the world, that's part of the fun of working with the Group. But travel is expensive and most of the other maps are much less "compact" than England. You might want to wait a few levels, or look around England first for some quests that'll give you a destination in another country. Egypt or Pitcairn are generally where most characters travel first.
England is a lot bigger than that first island. And I walk very slowly...
At first, you do. As you level up you can start moving faster. (Hint: Train VIT to get more stamina per hour.) You might try public transport to speed you up: it only takes 1 stamina point to ride the bus or train, and there's usually a stop not far from where you want to go. It does take a little bit of money, though - longer journeys have a more expensive fare.
Dude... my screen's gone red and there's big teeth covering up the ground where I walk!
Disturbed by strange visions? Haunted by the horrors you have seen? You just might be going insane.
Insanity is a very common "feature" of CN - the human mind can only handle so much before it starts to crack. This is measured by the "insanity" value, shown at the very top left of your screen. See how it says "85/100"? It works just like your health or stamina, except that this number, you want as low as possible. If it ever reaches 100%, you've gone completely mad - you'll sit there and giggle madly for a little while, then some nice men will come by with nets to take you away to the asylum. When you wake up, you'll be "reset" to 5% insane... but at the permanent cost of a stat point (chosen randomly).
What drives you insane? Things you don't understand - even small critters like Red Ants are enough to push your insanity up. Dying usually increases your insanity. Especially wicked Cultists are able to affect your mind directly with powerful spells - and yes, there are some who may not hesitate to "practice" on you just because you are new!
What reduces your insanity? Time; starting out, you'll recover at 1 point per day. Hospitals and mental asylums may offer treatment, for a small fee. Electroshock therapy is quite helpful; psychotherapy is cheaper, but not nearly as effective.
- The Arkham Market sells a Psyche Tonic in return for real-life money. This instantly restores your sanity as much as possible (down to 5%). This can be a mind-saver at times, but there are no circumstances designed into the game in which you must pay for a Psyche Tonic. (There are some which make it extremely appealing!)
Other than stat loss, what happens from insanity? If your insanity is above 71%, then your screen (the hex-shaped view window) will go yellow and kind of sparkly around the edges. At this point, you are "frenzying": You'll randomly attack other players and monsters, without concern for your safety or theirs. If your insanity is above 90%, then your screen will go red, and a fanged mouth will occasionally "bite down".
If your screen's gone red, or even "just" yellow, you should make it a very high priority to seek psychiatric treatment - consult your map for the nearest spot with "asylum" in the name, and head there directly.
Which profession should I choose?
One you like - you'll be stuck with this track the rest of your "life"! Seriously, the five different professions -- Archaeologist, Journalist, Private Investigator, Scholar and Scientist - are all pretty similar for what you can do and where you can go. They *do* each have unique skills and emphases:
- Scholars & Outcasts can cast (and even create!) spells using the rare books they've studied.
- Archaeologists & Shadows are good at mining the minerals needed to Forge objects and to cast some spells, and also at making maps.
- Scientists & Warlocks can explore the scattered bits of alien technology sometimes found.
- Private Investigators & Wraiths have special training in Combat.
- Journalists & Phantoms can turn rumors of new adventures into Quest notes which they can sell.
Note that each Profession is paired with a Cultist class. The skills for each pair are very similar, although the Cultist version usually has a bias towards the evil, occult and arcane.
In terms of fighting ability, PIs are the best starting out; Scholars are probably the weakest. The other three are somewhere in the middle. All five classes can become extremely powerful later in the game; in particular, all five classes can cast spells. (This is a recent change; formerly, only Scholars and Archaeologists could.)
If you want more information, you might try the excellent Career Guide written by the player Nyssa.
Inventory & Stuff
Where does my stuff go when I "sleep" (log out)?
It stays on your person, don't worry.
Is there some way to "examine" stuff that I pick up?
Yes, just click on the Magnifying Glass icon next to the item in your inventory. You'll see the description in the box near the top of the screen.
(Include a picture?)
I know I picked up a ___, but I can't find it in my pack...
There are five different "tabs" or "windows" that help keep your inventory sorted for you. Sometimes stuff that you pick up doesn't go to the tab it "should". For instance, sometimes items you get in a quest wind up in the "general" or "equip" sections, rather than "quest". And sometimes, items in "quest" are actually equippable! So be sure to have a thorough look around and see if it's just gotten "mislaid".
I saw this plant on the ground so I picked it up. It said it was an Unknown Item. Is there some way to learn about plants?
Yes, it's the skill Herb Lore, which anyone can learn from the Academy.
If you don't have the skill, you might ask another player to identify a pile for you if you need to sell it.
A few shops will buy herbs, even unidentified ones.
Okay, I learned "Herb Lore". (Boy that wasn't fun.) I still can't see the names of these weeds!
You have to identify each herb first. Click the Magnifying Glass icon, next to the herb in your inventory, to identify it.
Like a lot of skills, "Herb Lore" takes a good bit of practice to really have its full effect. As you increase your skill level, you'll be able to recognize more herbs.
The way the "identified" herbs work is a little funny - if you have a sprig of Belladonna identified, and then you pick up another sprig of Belladonna, then you'll wind up with a pile of two sprigs of "Unknown Item". That is, you forget what the first sprig was when you pick up the second! You can re-ID the stack.
I have "no weapon allocated". But I'm wielding my Beretta!
This is definitely a bug, although it seems to happen only rarely. You might try to un-equip your weapon, then re-equip it. Make sure you have bullets (it should say "Beretta [7]", where 7 is the number of bullets for it).
If it's still happening, post a note about this in the forum, under "Bugs".
Characters, Levels & Stats
How do I know when I can level up? Do I have to go somewhere?
Leveling up happens automatically when you have enough experience in one of your skills. The red bar beside each skill in your "stats" box shows how close you are. After you've leveled up, then your Stats button should turn red because you've got a point to spend! whee!
If you want to check how much more experience you need, you can let your mouse pointer sort of "hover" over the red experience bar. A small tip should appear showing how much total experience you need for the next level.
I just leveled up but my Stats button isn't flashing!
(This section is now outdated. The Stats button no longer flashes green; it merely turns red.)
There probably isn't any reason for this to be happening, other than "it's a bug".
(Formerly, if one had not picked a profession yet then one could level up without getting any stat points to spend. This is no longer possible, because everyone picks a profession at the very beginning of the game.)
What profession should I be?
This is entirely up to you. With the new version of the game, there are now ten choices: Archaeologist, Journalist, Private Investigator, Scholar, Scientist, and their corresponding cultist classes. They emphasize slightly different styles of play, but unlike in previous versions of the game, all classes are now capable of casting spells. As always, the different professions start with a similar list of skills, although the relative proficiency will be different. (For instance, a PI starts out with a higher "Knowledge Weapons" skill than a Scholar, but the Scholar begins with more training in "Library".)
For a much more complete discussion of the different professions, and how they relate to becoming a cultist, you might check out the Cthulhu Nation Career Guide.
Do I have some kind of 'character sheet' or something?
Yes, you can just click on your character's avatar (picture) in the bottom left corner of the screen to access your profile. Your profile is split up into a couple of tabs:
General This shows you some very basic information about your character. If you're a subscriber, you'll see this fact, along with the date your subscription gets renewed next. You can ignore the "Phobias" line currently, although there are rumors of coming changes that may introduce such fears! If you've entered a "background" for your character, this is shown here as well.
Personal This is where you can enter a "background" for your character. This isn't necessary, but it adds a nice flavor to the game; other players will see this text when they look at your character in-game. (Tip: You can add a little bit of basic HTML here - for instance you can use "<br>" to insert a line break. This works other places in the game as well.)
Research As you complete research sets (see Section 11), the boxes in this section will fill up with the required materials.
Options This page lets you select a few basic options that affect the game in small ways. For instance, you can turn off the "help text" boxes that pop up. If you don't care about other peoples' auctions, you can choose to ignore those. You can also turn off the weather effects, which may cause performance problems on older computers. You can change the email address with which you registered here also.
Resistances Your character has certain natural resistances to specific damage types, such as Salt Water. You can also gain resistances to other damage types, such as Poison, Melee, or Heat, by using certain armor or other equipment. This page shows your current level of resistance to the different elements.
Reg Points Registration Points are gained only by inviting your friends to join CN (and having them do so). You can spend the points on some particular bits of equipment - some useful but quite common, such as First Aid Kits; you can let the points build up and cash them in for exotic weapons and powerful potions! If you want to invite a friend, make sure you send them a link including your registration code - click the yellow "Registration Link" on the left, and send them the link in the popup window.
- Do I have to get registration points?
- Definitely not. Everything you can buy with registration points can be obtained by playing the game.
You can also see some information for other players when you are in the same hex with them, by clicking on their avatar in the upper left corner of the screen. How much information you can see depends upon your character level.
What do the different stats *really* do?
We're not sure of *all* the answers yet, but this info is pretty well known. In most cases, the effect of each stat (or skill) depends on the "bonus" or "modifier" rather than the actual number. (For instance, if your Strength is 13, then your STR modifier is 13 / 4, rounding down to give +3.)
- Strength (STR): Determines how much you can carry (30 pounds of weight for every point of STR before you are encumbered). It also increases the amount of damage you do in Hand to Hand (H2H) combat. STR is not immediately important for newbies to build, but will need more points invested down the road as one's essential equipment carries heavier weight values.
- Intelligence (INT): How smart you are! Affects spell casting, and reading books in libraries. Sometimes needed in quests, although it's usually the player's smarts that's essential there. Low priority for newbies - unless you're going to cast spells, which doesn't become a priority until later on.
- Vitality (VIT): Determines how much your stamina regenerates every "tick" (ten minutes for free players, 3 minutes for subscribers). The higher the better, so you can move around and fight. High priority.
- Dexterity (DEX): Affects your combat movement, like dodging, and how well you yourself can fight. DEX is also used in quest tasks that involve "searching". The combat rules make DEX a very high priority. Your Dex is directly compared to your opponent's Dex, so if yours is much lower, you'll have a very poor chance to hit.
- Constitution (CON): In some games, it's called Armor Class. It's how sturdy you are, so the more the better. (The CON bonus is subtracted from the damage a monster does to you.) It also determines how fast your health regenerates. High priority for newbies, but finding armor will do more good than boosting the stat.
- Magic (MAG): Just like it sounds, it's how magical you are. Which is great if you want to cast spells, but seems to be totally useless otherwise. Medium-low priority (early on) if you want to be a powerful spellcaster, very low if you don't.
- Health: This is your maximum health, the amount of damage you can take before you fall over and die. More is always better. When you train this, you get 3 points of health, not just 1. (That's what the "+3" on this button means.) Medium-low priority.
- Why only medium-low? Starting out, there will be two kinds of creature: Ones you can kill easily and can't easily kill you, and ones which will surely crush you like a bug. If that Demon can hit you for 1100 damage, it won't matter whether you have 48 or 51 health. However, as your character levels up, eventually points spent on Health do help.
- Stamina: This is your maximum stamina. It's sort of like the size of the fuel tank in a car: carrying more fuel just gives you more range before you run out, but it doesn't change your speed. The importance depends on how constantly you play -- it's worth a point or two every now and then, but probably a low priority starting out. (This is also trained for 3 points.)
- Mana: This is your maximum mana, the magical "juice" that powers spells. If you don't cast spells, then you can ignore this completely.
- Unlike health and stamina, you're not limited to gaining mana 3 points at a time. If you scroll down through your skills, you'll notice one called Spell Power. Spell Power adds extra "oomph" to your damage spells, increases your chance to cast any spell, and also gives you extra mana when you level up: The mana gain is 3 + your Spell Power level. So, if you really want to increase your Mana, you should be sure to train your Spell Power some first, to get the most effect from those precious stat points!
How do I get my character some skills?
Unlike stats, which are common to all players, the starting skill set assigned to a player depends on which profession he/she chooses at the end of the Introduction Adventure. For more information on the initial skills, check out the Cthulhu Nation Career Guide.
Skills can be gained in three ways: Assigned Skills are given to a player when they obtain a profession or when they increase their tier; Academy Skills are obtained by enrolling and completing courses at any of the Academies in the game; and Quest Skills are gained upon successful completion of a specific quest.
What skills should I train?
This doesn't necessarily have a single right answer. Starting out, your first concerns will probably surviving and getting around. Some good skills to work on early:
- Brawl, H2H, other weapons skills -- These work by increasing your damage. Brawl is the skill that you use when fighting without other weapons; H2H increases your damage with any weapon that's type "H2H". (See Section 4 for more about weapons and combat.) Depending on your class, you may want some training in H2H. The better weapons, even for newbies, are actually "Blades" type (or some kind of gun), and "H2H" skill does nothing for you there.
- Library -- In the long run, it's very helpful, because it lets you read rare books and learn special skills. In the short run, it's a waste.
- Heal -- this skill lets you use First Aid Kits (FAKs) to heal yourself outside of hospitals. Starting out, a few points is all you may need.
- Spell Power, Spell Knowledge, Knowledge Occult -- these all affect your spell casting. If you're going to cast spells, these may be good early investments. If you're not, then they're a total waste of points. Probably. Spell Knowledge increases your chance of *learning* the spell; if you don't learn it the first time, then no harm is done, so you don't necessarily need to have it very high. Spell Power increases the rate at which you gain Mana, and increases the damage done by your spells.
- Spot Hidden -- More "for fun" than any practical use. Occasionally, you'll find a "disturbed site" when you're walking along. If you click "Search", you might find some random (cheap) item. Increasing the skill increases your chance of this happening. It does NOT help with searching as part of a quest.
- Concentration -- This is supposed to help your chances at "quest tasks" (like searching, or translating, or taking notes). So you'll spend fewer turns getting "This is harder than it looks, try again!" when examining hill forts. Then again, in the long term you really don't spend many turns doing that sort of thing anyway, so it may not be the best way to spend points starting out.
Overall -- remember that you don't ever have to spend skill points just because you have them. They do pile up every time you level up, and there's no way to lose them. So if you're not sure what to train yourself in, you can always just wait until you've thought about it some more.
What about spells? I'm a scholar and I want some spells. I want spells and I want them NOW! :)
Be patient, grasshopper. As a professional, you'll have to buy scrolls that teach you spells. They tend to be expensive - the cheapest costs £100.
There are currently three main spells that professionals can obtain. In Peru, you can buy Dynamo Blast (an electrical damage spell) and Cast Elder (which incrementally raises your CON and Knowledge Mythos skill). Subscribers can also venture to Innsmouth to purchase Mesmerize (which stuns players - but not creatures - for a certain number of moves, such that they cannot attack nor retaliate). Additional spells will sometimes appear in the Auction House, or may be hidden in the special event maps.
Cultists also gain a number of spells automatically as they advance, including the ones that Professionals can use. Not every Cultist will get every spell, though.
I've got this "Tactics" skill and it keeps *dropping*... I'm already at -13!
(This section is obsolete. The Tactics skill was eliminated in the v11.1.10.0 revision.)
"Tactics" is based on killing big monsters - and being killed by them. You cannot train it "directly" (by spending skill points). You can only gain or lose points from creatures at Monster level or higher, so you probably don't need to worry too much about it starting out.
Gaining: If you use the right weapon to kill any creature that's Monster level or above, then you gain a Tactics point. ("Right" weapons mean: H2H, Bullets, Blades, and Explosives. Definitely not spells.)
Losing: If a Monster kills you, you'll lose one point of Tactics no matter what weapons you were using.
Effect: Tactics acts to increase the damage you do when fighting the really big stuff: Lesser Demons and above. And that's all it does -- it has no effect on fighting anything less than Lesser Demon. Also, you must be using one of the "right" weapons (as above), and it must be something that the Monster doesn't resist. Spells do not gain damage from Tactics.
In the long term, as you get stronger and stronger then you'll start killing Monsters, which will increase your Tactics score naturally. So don't worry about it now - it's not hurting you, and by the time it can do you some good you'll be better at it.
Let me get this straight. There's Lower Life. There's Humans. There's Giants. There's Demons. What's the difference?
The "mastery" levels are an indication of how strong a creature is. The order is: Lower Life, Human, Giant, Monster, Lesser Demon, Demon, Greater Demon, Cyclopean, and Lesser God. Starting out, you probably shouldn't pick a fight with anything above Human.
Besides indicating the creature's strength, it also tells you how much stamina will be needed to attack it. Lower Life creatures only require 1 stamina for each attack. Humans require 2 stamina; Giants take 3, and so forth up to Lesser Gods, which need 9 stamina per swing!
Weapons & Combat
I just got to England. I want to fight more. Should I even be reading this yet?
No. If you don't have a profession yet, you'll have a hard time fighting even the weakest stuff. Plus, your starting stats limit you to perhaps 2-3 steps every 5 minutes -- hardly a good way to explore a whole country!
I found this Beretta when I woke up, how do I use it?
To equip a weapon, go to your inventory, find the "Weapons" page. If there's a hand by the weapon, click the hand and you'll equip the weapon to that hand. If you do not have the necessary or sufficient Skill to use a weapon, its name will appear in red, and you will not be able to equip it.
This is absurd. I have no idea what I'm fighting - I can't even see what they're called!
It's a game about eldritch horrors and unknown, unpleasant deities. You aren't really going to recognize everything the first time you run into it, are you? You can learn over time by killing these creatures. Just like in the real world, you learn the most about something by killing in. There are two categories of creature "Natural" creatures (like most animals) are biosci; the mind-searing Lovecraftian horrors are "mythos". In the previous game system, you raised a knowledge stat in each of these by killing 100 and 1000 in their respective categories. In the current system, these labels have no inherent meaning.
To learn about an an animal depends on its mastery, You must kill 50 of a lower life creature to learn its stats, 100 for a human-mastery creature, 150 for a giant, and so on. After you have learned a creature, so to speak, you can know its statistics, what it is most and least resistant to, what damage it does when it attacks, and a brief description detailing the creatures origins and place in th game.
I tried shooting one of those little gray demons in England and it said "Your weapon has no effect".
(This section is partially obsolete. The v11.1.10.0 revision radically changed the creature resistances. Most creatures are only "Immune" (100% resistant) to one or two damage types, and have a percentage level of resistance to most of the others.)
Right, those are Gargoyles. And Gargoyles are 100% resistant to damage from Bullets. There are many different types of damage that weapons and spells can do: most guns do Bullet damage, swords do Blades damage, a box of matches will do Fire damage. A monster's resistance to a particular weapon type may range from 0% to 100% -- at 0%, your attacks will do full damage; at 100%, they do no damage. So a big part of combat is knowing which weapons to use in which battle.
In England: Ghosts resist every normal weapon, but can be brought down very easily by a spell or a splash of Holy Water. The dead bodies ("mutilated bodies") resist most weapons, but a few boxes of matches will give them a nice fiery funeral. Gargoyles resist bullets, but not blades. And so a well-prepared adventurer should be sure to carry several different weapons - even those Water Bottles and Penicillin tablets have some use in combat!
What are some good weapons to use?
Starting out, your choices are limited to what you can easily afford and what you have enough Weapons Knowledge to use. Most of the Lower Life creatures give a reward of only a few pennies, or perhaps a shilling; most ammunition costs more than that. So stocking up on Beretta Ammo and firing at Skin Worms may drain your pocketbook more than it's worth. Human creatures do give more money - often as much as a pound - and more experience as well. Two or three shots from a Beretta will bring down most of the human creatures in England, so it's definitely worth hanging onto the Beretta.
Another good weapon that most characters can use in just a few levels is the Scythe. This is the best bladed weapon that's easily available, doing about as much damage as the Beretta. It doesn't require any ammunition, making it an excellent choice for clearing out piles of skin worms. Another very good choice is the Hatpin, which doesn't sound impressive but is actually the best H2H weapon in the game. It's also usable by everyone (WK 1), and it's even cheap.
A little more training in Weapons Knowledge will greatly expand the list of choices. Shotguns make a good option at about WK 11. The Modified Colt Special (WK 8, damage 100) is popular, but it requires expensive silver bullets as ammo. The Blunderbuss (WK 10, damage 110) is very effective, the ammo is cheap, but not every country has a store that sells ammo.
If you can find one, the Sword of Tonturu is an extremely useful bladed weapon, doing 130 damage at a single swing. However, they are not sold in shops, but must be forged by players skilled in that craft. If you don't have the skill yourself, your best hope is to buy one. Do note that this dangerously sharp sword requires a relatively high level of skill to wield safely; without WK of at least 20, you're more dangerous to yourself than to that hungry Giant. (So even Scholars may want to put aside their books and train in the arts of war; not every enemy is worth the precious mana needed for spells.)
Brawling is also an option. This is essentially how you fight any time you're not actually using a weapon; it does H2H damage depending on several factors: your strength and dexterity, your H2H skill and your Brawl skill. The advantage is that you'll never run out of ammo, but even an expert wrestler may wish to carry a gun for the tougher foes. Fists simply don't do as much damage as claws and fangs...
Why can't I use this Artillery Luger I just bought?
Some weapons -- only a handful, really -- are marked "subscriber only". If you're not a subscriber, you won't be able to use that weapon. (This is more common in other types of equipment, such as armor.)
Second answer: It's because you don't yet have the knowledge required to use it. The more dangerous weapons require quite a lot of the skill "Knowledge Weapons". If you examine the weapon, it will tell you how much WK is needed to use it. If you don't have that much, then it won't be equippable. (If you have *more*, then you don't get an extra bonus for being such an expert.)
I just bought a Shotgun but the shop doesn't sell bullets for it. What do I do?
Not all shopkeepers are quite sensible enough to stock both the gun and the ammo... There should be at least one store that sells the ammo, although some kinds are rather difficult to track down.
Where can I buy ____ (my favorite weapon)?
Silver Bullets (Modified Colt Special): Egypt. Holy Water: Egypt. Matches: Most everywhere.
Can I use two weapons at once?
Yes. (The "Offhand" skill was eliminated in the v11.1.10.0 revision.) Obviously you can only use two one-handed weapons, unless you manage to actually turn into an octopus.
Note: You'll do less damage than you might expect with the off-hand weapon. (That's "left" for the purposes of the game, by the way - everyone in CN is right handed whether they like it or not.) The combined damage is treated as the damage type of the weapon in your right hand for purposes of gaining experience (and damage resistance?).
Where can I buy First Aid Kits?
In England, you can buy them at the Apothecary (13,1) and at the General Store (19,18). They cost about £1 11s in most shops.
What should I attack? I keep dying!
Start with the small stuff: Lower Life forms. These can be found in most every country, and generally don't hit back very hard. Some can be tricky, because they resist your favorite weapon. The dead bodies scattered around are especially tough that way -- the only common weapon to deal with them is fire, which is why boxes of matches are more popular than one might imagine!
Don't fight if you can't win. Dying doesn't "hurt", really, but it does waste your time. Starting out, you won't have a clue how hard stuff hits, except by poking it and seeing if it pokes back. If that big blue bird in England kills you easily once, it probably will again. (That's a Shantak, by the way, one of the toughest Giants.)
Pick the right weapon. You probably still have a Potato peeler from your tour of Lighthouse Island, but you'll want something better. If your WK is as high as 5, you can use the Scythe -- this is what most people recommend for players just starting out, and it works pretty well even to surprisingly high levels. If you can't use the Scythe yet, all is not lost -- try the Standard Chain, or the Rapier. Both of these can be bought in England. Soon you'll be poking Skin Worms left, right, and down the middle!
Wear protection. Specifically, the Chainmail Vest (on sale at blacksmiths near you) is the best armour available to free players, and is relatively cheap as well. If you object to the medieval look of chainmail, then the Sandbag Vest is an acceptable runner-up: it's really not nearly as good, though.
I tried hitting one of those zombie things and now I'm diseased! what's up with that?
This big heap of rotting undead flesh hit you and you're surprised that you feel a bit sick? "Diseased" has a very simple effect: Your "naked" CON is cut in half. (That is, your CON before you put your armor on.) So, you'll take more damage and heal more slowly. If you want to fix it, go to the hospital. (It does not wear off over time. It also doesn't do any damage to you directly.)
Great - one of those red and green froggie things bit me and now it says I'm poisoned. Is that the same as "diseased"?
No, it's totally separate. And yes, you can be both diseased *and* poisoned at the same time. When you're poisoned, your maximum stamina is cut in half. (This does *not* affect how fast your stamina regenerates, just how much you can 'hold'.) Again, your best bet is to find a hospital to have it treated.
Where can I get my poison cured, then?
In England, the following places cure disease and poison:
- Carlton Mayne (36,13)
- Peckham House (9,2)
- Broken Wing (15,14)
- casino en ligne francais
Typically it costs about 12-13 shillings.
I found a Monster with a sliver of health left! Can I kill it???
Well... yes, you can, but it's often considered impolite to do so. If the creature you've found is nearly dead, then it's probably just killed the person who's been attacking it. Most likely, that person is hurrying back to kill it so they can get the experience and cash. If you kill it, they'll get back to find nothing but an empty hex, and they'll have wasted a lot of time, stamina and probably First Aid Kits. So, while it's tempting to kill something big when the opportunity presents itself, you'll make more friends if you suppress that homicidal urge. (In fact, it would be a very nice gesture to ask around in the chatroom if anyone has lost it; sometimes people forget to make a note of where they were when they're unexpectedly killed.)
Generally this only applies to Giant-level creatures and above, which tend to require a lot more effort to kill. But, as you'll have noticed, Lower Life and Human-level creatures ain't exactly a walk in the park when you're new in the game. So if you want to be really nice, you can avoid killing anything that's already been dented. (But, accidents happen, and everyone will understand if you get carried away and click on a half-dead Zombie Servant before you realize.)
Of course, it should go without saying that if another player is on the hex, you should definitely leave any half-dead creatures alone. Stealing a kill right under someone's nose is considered extremely rude.
I... think I got turned into... some kind of monster... I'm green and scaly?
Someone's played a little prank on you! It's called "Innsmouth Look", and it's really more of a curse than a prank. (It's cultists that do that. Aren't they fun?) The good news is, the effects do wear off in time.
So what are the effects?
- Your picture changes into that of a "Deep One"
- Because you look like a monster, you can't trade at shops or ride public transportation
- Because you look like a monster, hospitals won't treat you.
- Because you look like a monster, players can attack you who normally couldn't -- in fact, everyone can attack you.
What doesn't change?
- Your stats don't change; you can still fight monsters as normal.
- You can still do quests, even the ones that require you to speak to people. (Apparently only bus drivers and shop keepers notice your face.)
"No shops or hospitals and every man's hand against me? That sounds like the kiss of doom!" Well... it wears off. Depending on the power of the cultist who cast it, it might last for only 10 turns, or it might last for 200. "Turns?" Yes; every time you take a step, that's one turn. Nothing else counts, you'll have to move around and walk it off. And hope that none of the other players strikes you down for looking a bit different.
So yeah, it's bad, especially if you're not expecting it. But it probably wasn't personal, assuming you're new enough that nobody much knows you to dislike you; some cultists just do it for fun. (They also need to practice the spell to improve at it. So it's either selfish, or mischievous, or both at once.)
Questing
How do I find quests? Is there a big list somewhere?
Several have been posted on the CN Forum, although they're not necessarily up to date. Try this one: http://forum.cthulhunation.co.uk/viewtopic.php?t=317
I haven't subscribed yet, how many quests can I do?
Precisely 15.
I'm stuck on a quest, what can I do?
There's no easy answer on this one. Usually, the problem is knowing where to go. You might check your journal, to go back and re-read the earlier parts of the quest to see if there's some clue you overlooked. If you were given any notes, or papers, or books, or odd items, or diaries, or letters, in some part of the quest, make sure you've had a careful look at that. Some quests, there really aren't any clues! and you wind up just wandering randomly until you stumble across the answer.
I *said*, I'm stuck on this quest. Help me!
You're surrounded by players, many of whom have probably done that same quest -- feel free to ask for help! You can leave "Talk" messages; you can ask in the CN Forum; you can pop into the chat room. You might want to explain, if space permits, what you've done so far -- sometimes people will be a little quicker to help if it's clear that you've already had a good long look on your own. Do remember that nobody *has* to help you, and that if we do so it's because we want to help. And most of us prefer to help you solve it yourself, by giving an additional clue, rather than telling you the specific place to go.
Cultists
(Much of this section was made obsolete by the v11.1.10.0 revision. Players are now allowed to begin the game as Cultists.)
What can cultists do? why would I become one?
There are actually five different types of cultists, each one "paired" with one of the professional classes: Wraiths, Shadows, Phantoms, Outcasts and Warlocks. Each one has slightly different powers; the chief difference is the spells that they gain as they progress. Wraiths can fly and teleport; they also begin with a powerful attack spell. Shadows disguise themselves as professionals, then strike when least expected. Phantoms affect their targets' very minds and bodies, draining stats and even sanity. Outcasts have a little of everything, but specialize in curses. Warlocks are technologically inclined, and learn to master magical artifacts as well as a range of spells.
Cultists are much more "magical" than Professions - even the Scholars and Archaeologists. Specifically, Cultists gain spells automatically as they advance ("tier up"), while Professional students of magic generally must buy their spells in shops. Cultists gain experience to advance their spells' power at twice the rate of Professionals. Many Cultist spells are unique; there is no way for a Professional to learn them. Thus, if you really want as much magic as you can get, a Cultist may be a good choice.
Cultists also offer fantastic opportunities for role play: They may represent the darker side of human nature - they are the ones who welcome the horrors rather than fight them. Or are they simply misled students of the occult, tricked by devious demons into bargains they now regret? Are they interested entirely in power for its own sake, no matter the cost to themselves or others?
Powerful spells, cool titles and the avatars look fantastic - what's the catch?
Well... you know all those spells? They require mana. A lot of mana. So Cultists, even more than Professionals, tend to be "tied" to sources of mana ("mana wells") - without mana, the magic doesn't work.
Why can't they just use a sword like everyone else? This is the second disadvantage: They do only half the usual damage when using a weapon. Think it's hard killing stuff with a Scythe that does 30 damage? Try using the Scythe for 15. That high-powered rifle that drops Giants in one hit? suddenly you're not guaranteed a killshot even on Humans.
Finally, Cultists can be attacked by absolutely everyone else in the game, including other Cultists.
I wanna be a cultist - Where do I go?
Like most things in the world of CN, there's a quest. A nice little series of them, actually, as you learn how to perform the dark rituals that will forever bind your soul to evil magic. The quests are supposed to have requirements (certain skills you must master before you are worthy to choose this path). Evidence so far suggests that the requirements are fairly low: You need some Knowledge of the Occult and of Spells; your Spells need Power. You should also learn the skill Herb Lore.
Once you believe you are ready, you might want to explore one of the warmer countries. With your pet llama.
Subscribing
I've been playing for a week or so now and I think I really like it - but I don't know if I want to pay money for it. What would I *really* get?
The official info is that subscribers get faster stamina regeneration, access to more maps and quests, and they can use some special equipment that's only for subscribers. In particular, only subscribers get access to the "tier" quests. Also, subscribers are able to join and form guilds.
- The faster stamina regeneration happens because, FOR STAMINA ONLY, the usual ten minute "cycle" is reduced to three minutes. (Health and mana still cycle every 10 minutes.)
- Subscribers get access to the following countries: Innsmouth, Antarctica. (If you aren't a subscriber, then you'll never see ships or planes going to those countries.) Currently, there are a total of about 75 quests, of which only 15 are available to free players (so that's 60 "pay to play" ones).
- Equipment: There's a couple good weapons that are subscriber-only; the big advantage is in armor.
- Guilds: As a free player, you may be invited to join a guild, but you won't be able to join any guild until you have subscribed.
- Continued Existence: As of early 2008, a 60-day limit has been placed on free players. Players who have not subscribed after their allotted time is up will be deleted. :(
- What subscribers do not get: There's no guarantee at all that subscribers will never run into a bug. There's no guarantee that the admin will fix your bug any faster just because you subscribe.
What if I stop subscribing? does my character die or something?
No, no death - but you'll immediately lose access to the benefits of subscribing. Your stamina regeneration will slow down; any subscriber equipment you were wearing will be unequipped. (You'll still have it in your inventory, though.) If you were in a subscriber-only map, then you'll be moved to a free area. Quests you have completed as a subscriber will remain completed, but you won't be able to finish ones that you hadn't finished. If you were in a guild, you will immediately leave the guild. (If the guildmaster unsubscribes, the guild does not dissolve - but you will want to ask for admin help in appointing the next master.)
And, if you do not re-subscribe within 60 days, your character will be deleted. :(
I dunno, £2.75 a month sounds like a lot...
This isn't strictly a game question - but think about it this way: how much time do you spend in CN every month? 10 hours? 30 hours? 100 hours? Even at only 10 hours a month, £0.25 an hour for amusement is less than you'll spend at a movie, or a theme park. It's much less than you're likely to spend buying some other game. So, if you don't mind spending the money on pure entertainment, then CN is a pretty good deal. :)
I don't have a Paypal account, is there any other way to pay?
Not so far. It's pretty easy to get a Paypal account, even without a credit card; banks in most countries will let you transfer money into the Paypal account, and then it gets taken out every month and sent off to CN. If you'd rather not get one yourself, perhaps a friend could help you out. (For questions about Paypal itself, see their FAQ.)
How do I unsubscribe?
*sniffle* But we'll miss you!
Well, if you have your heart set on unsubscribing, it's quite simple. Just click on the link to the CN Shop — the same place where you subscribed — and click on the button on the left-hand side that says "Cancel Your Subscription".
Guilds
Someone gave me a note about joining their guild. Why should I join them?
Being in a guild gets you several big advantages. Guilds are sort of like "teams", and it's always good to have some people you can count on to help you out. A guild may spend money to purchase a guild house, which provides a safe place to rest, and can contain useful resources like a shared storage area, a forge, a private mana pool.
The big advantage of being in a guild is "allied combat". When two or more people in the same guild are on a tile with a monster, and one player attacks the monster, then the monster hits back as usual. However, the damage is shared between all the guild members on the tile. That big blue Shantak may kill you every time you hit it by yourself, but bring a couple friends along and you may wind up only scratched. So being in a guild gives you opportunities to kill much bigger stuff than you could kill on your own. All the guildmembers in a particular fight also get a share of the experience and the money when they win.
Another useful ability is that characters can see their guildmates' position and health bar (if they're in the same tile). This is very handy when fighting together, you can see just who needs your medical attention.
Even when fighting solo, a portion of the experience from combat goes to the "guild experience". (You still get the full experience yourself.) This gets saved up and is used to determine, for instance, the guild score. Right now there's not a lot that can be done with guild XP.
Okay, sounds great, but how do I know which guild to join? I don't wanna get stuck with a bunch of boring people...
If you click the Scores button, and look at the Guild page, you'll get a list of the top guilds in the game ("top" based on score, anyway). If you click the name of the guild, you'll get a new window with a little bit of information about the guild, and a list of the members. If you like what you read about the guild, then you might try talking to some of the members to see if they're interested in a new recruit.
Every guild has its own agenda, and everyone in a guild has some opinion of the ones they *didn't* join. So it really depends on who you ask. Talking to the members of the guild is a good idea.
I have this really cool idea for a guild, how do I start my own?
All it takes is the £200 to register the guild. Go to the "Guilds" page (from the link at the top of the screen). If you've already been given an invitation to join some other guild, you may have to politely get rid of that before starting your own. Now all you need is a name, a short description of the guild (to be shown publicly) and the registration fee.
A new guild is rather lonely starting out, and not cheap -- a guild house costs £1000 to build, adding a set of shelves to store spare equipment costs another £1000. You may want to find a few friends in the game to join your guild as soon as it begins -- this is a good way to get off to a strong start. It's important to make sure your new team will work well together, so don't rush to trust a stranger who may not really support the idea of your guild...
Money money
I always seem to be running out of money... is there a way to earn more?
Money comes from a couple places in this game: The Group gives you a small reward for killing monsters; you get a weekly paycheck (also from the Group); and you can sell stuff you find or mine.
Killing monsters also gives you experience, but it's certainly the most dangerous way to fill your wallet.
Waiting for your paycheck is pretty slow: It does come every week, but it's easy to spend the £10 on a single boat ride.
Picking stuff up and selling it is slow but effective, depending on what you sell:
- Discarded equipment -- if there's nobody around to claim that Sandbag Vest, then you probably won't get anyone yelling at you for picking it up. If you can't use it yourself, then you can sell it back to a shop, or sell it at Auction (see below). Generally, whatever a shop sells, they also buy. (You'll only get about a third of what the new equipment sells for, though.)
- Body parts -- there's often a really disgusting number of body parts lying around -- eyeballs, skin samples, even brains and DNA. Some of these items can be used in different ways; some others don't have any use, but certain shops will buy them. It's definitely worth picking them up and selling them off. If you can't find a shop that buys them, try the Auction (see below).
- Warning: The biggest use for body parts is in the dark magic that cultists practice. Some of their spells may have very unpleasant effects. For instance, Human DNA is used for the curse "Innsmouth Look", which turns you into a monster for a certain number of turns. Giant DNA is used in "Touch of Azathoth", which can cause the player to go mad and lose stat points! So, be careful about selling body parts.
- Minerals -- there are a lot of caves and mines scattered around (including Collingwood Mine and the Devil's Pit in England). If you have a pickaxe, you can mine at these spots and try to find chunks of ore or even gemstones. (See below for more about mining.) Many of these minerals can be sold for a tidy profit, and the only expense is the pickaxe. If you decide to improve your income this way, get used to being underground -- and it really pays off to have a good map of the mines. Some of the mines in Peru are nearly as big as Peru itself!
Mining sounds pretty safe, any tips on where to go?
First, you'll need some gear: A rope to lower yourself down into the mine, a light source, and some pickaxes. For the light source, you'll need a lantern -- but not just one, because they do run out pretty quickly when you're walking around. Buy several. And then buy a few more, because it's better to have one "too many" than one too few!
Pickaxes also break as you're mining. Guess that rock is "harder than it looks!" So don't just buy one pickaxe, buy a dozen. They weigh 4 pounds each, and cost about 16 shillings. In England, a great place to start and end your mining expedition is in the Davy Mining Emporium at 1,18 -- they sell Pickaxes and Lanterns and Shovels, and they'll pay a good price for anything you find down there. You can buy the Rope at the Chater General Store (19,18) or at the Hardware store (3,3).
Once you get into the mine, just wander around until you come across a spot where you can dig. (The tile for these sites looks like a darker patch of dug-up earth.) You'll get a message and a button in the dialog box on the left side of the screen; just click the button to "mine". You may find something; you may not. The chances seem to depend on what you're mining at that spot -- coal is easier to dig up than gold, for instance. If at first you don't succeed -- or even if you do -- then click again to mine some more. Each time you mine, you use 1 stamina.
You can speed things up by clicking the second button -- "Multi Mine". This will start mining "automatically", stopping only when you find something or you run out of stamina. Much more convenient! Better still, you're actually more likely to find stuff this way. There's a price, though: your energetic mining will wear out your pickaxe faster. (Oddly enough, your pickaxe breaks *only* when you find something or run out of stamina - so while it may be more frequent, it can actually help you use a pickaxe past the point when it would have broken under regular mining conditions.)
If all this seems too complicated, just remember: Multi Mine is the way to go.
If you're an Archaeologist, then your knowledge of the Geology skill will help out your mining operations also.
Okay, I mined some stuff, what do I do with it?
It depends on what you've found. Everything you can mine, you can sell in a shop somewhere. Not every shop will buy all the different kinds of metals and gems. In England, you can mine Coal (average price 4s), Iron Ore (5s), Limestone (3s), Copper Ore (6s). Usually the shops to try are the ones that sound like they "ought" to be interested in buying rocks and things.
The only way to know if a particular shop wants to buy a certain item is either: they sell it, or you happen to walk in carrying some and they'll make you an offer. So as you dig up different kinds of minerals and gems, it may be a good idea to hang onto one of each as you travel around, so you can see which stores will buy things for good prices.
You don't have to sell to stores, though. Some things you mine are very useful for forging new weapons and equipment. Coal + Iron Ore + Limestone can be smelted into Iron Bars; Coal + Copper Ore + Tin can be smelted into Copper Bars. So you may get more money for these items if you sell to another player - especially Tin, since that's much rarer than the others.
Many gemstones are useful in casting magic spells - Gold nuggets are especially popular, but also Aqua, Sapphires, Rubies and Emeralds. So you can also sell these to other players, usually for a better price than you'd get at the store. You might try the Auction House, or you can always ask around for someone who'll buy them direct.
I have a big stack of Human Eyeballs that I want to sell, how do I do an auction?
Click the "Auction House" link at the top of the screen, then click the "Auction" button. Fill out the little form with what you want to auction; the number in "Bulk" lets you sell off a stack of that item. You can choose the duration that the auction will last: 1 hour, 6, 12, or 24 hours.
You specify the starting bid and the minimum "bid increment". This worth a careful explanation. Suppose you auction off 25 Human Eyeballs. You put the Starting Bid at £1, 0s 0d. (That's a very reasonable amount, by the way, based on prices at the time this is written.) You put the Bid Increment at 2s, and set the auction to last 12 hours. Note that you must put down a deposit of 10% of the Starting Bid (2s in this case)!
Once you click "Submit", every player in the game gets a notice about the auction. Two players are having a contest on how many eyeballs they can collect, so they're both very interested in your auction. The first bid amount must be the Starting Bid plus the Bid Increment. That is, the least you will get for your big jar of eyeballs is £1 2s. Now the second player comes along and bids; he must bid at least the amount of the Bid Increment (2s). He can also bid more than that.
While the auction is going on, it will be shown with a "Time Remaining" message. These messages are "Very Short", "Short", "Long", and "Very Long". How much longer does "Very Short" last? It depends on the total length of time the auction was originally set for - it seems to be (very roughly) 0-25%, 26-50%, 51-75%, and 76-100% (for "Very Short" on up). So an auction started for 1 hour and ending in a "Short" time is probably going to be over in 15-30 minutes; one lasting 24 hours showing as "Very Short" might end in the next five minutes or it might be another five hours.
If your item sells, you'll get a full refund of this deposit; if nobody bids, then you lose the deposit. This especially hurts if nobody bid because you set your price too high! So if you're interested in selling eyeballs or other body parts, be sure to check the "going rate" and set your prices accordingly.
In general, if stuff is lying on the ground it's because nobody else wanted it enough to pick it up and carry it around. The "really valuable" bits get snatched up and carried off to storage. You can still make a nice bit of income on the side by keeping your eyes open -- just be sure to set your price to match the demand.
I've mined and I've auctioned and I've killed until I died, I'm still flat broke. Any more tips?
Of course!
- If you want a higher profit on killing stuff, make sure you're using a bladed or hand-to-hand weapon: That way you don't spend all the reward on ammo.
- Don't spend a lot of money on First Aid Kits at first; they don't tend to do much good until you have a good bit of dexterity and "Heal" skill.
- At the hospital, save up for the Medium level of healing; Minor healing often only heals you for a few points.
- If you're poisoned, you don't have to get it cured right away -- it only affects your maximum stamina, not your fighting. You do want to get disease cured, though, since you'll take more damage when you're diseased.
- Time is your friend. Starting out, you're not going to tear through England killing off every Giant that roams the land. Take it slow and let your body heal naturally. Starting out it's very easy to combine playing CN with other things, like reading a book, watching TV, playing some other game, doing real work, or practically anything else. (It's only later, when you've built up your vitality and stamina, that it gets difficult to "multitask".) If you're out of stamina and nearly dead, just take a break -- come back in half an hour or so and you'll be all better.
Chat
The chatroom keeps asking for my name and password, but it won't accept them.
The short answer to this is: ignore it and try again. When you try to enter the chatroom, you should be sent to a screen that shows the rooms available for you to join. (Currently, there's just one, the Rlyeh Lounge.) But sometimes a login/password screen appears instead. If you see it, simply close the window and re-open the chat. Usually you'll see the right screen on the second try - if not, a few more tries should get you in. Really.
More Advanced Play
I've made it to level 10... woohoo... what should I be doing now?
You "should" be doing whatever you find you enjoy! :) You can mine until you get rich, you can kill monsters to get big and powerful. You can explore the game through every tile, find the secret doors and hidden spots for later reference. You can do quests, earning experience, reputation, sometimes money, even artifacts of great power!
Most folks wind up doing some combination of all of these, of course, with the emphasis shifting from time to time.
Where should I look for quests?
Practically everywhere! Every country holds the start of at least one adventure. Of course, some adventures are only available to you after you've completed others, or after you've reached a certain level. There are rumors of some quests that only questers of the appropriate class may uncover.
So you'll probably wind up wandering back and forth, up and down the map. Remember that every start point is marked with a yellow "squircle", so if you search a map and at least *look* at every tile, then you'll have found what there is to find... at that time...
What about these research sets?
The Research Sets are a collection of different objects which are of interest to the Research Centers scattered around the globe. Each Set contains five items, and there are five sets per "level". (So far, only level 1 can be completed, level 2 hasn't even been seen.) If you collect all five items in a given research set, and take it to the appropriate research center, you'll get a nice reward for your trouble. There are five research centers, one in each country (England, Peru, Egypt, Pitcairn and Antarctica). They are not marked on maps, so you may need to hunt around for them. Research items can come from the body parts that creatures drop; most of them come from quests.
You can check on the research materials you've collected in your character's profile, under "Research". The little boxes will fill up with pictures of each item as you fill the "slots". (The interface here is sometimes a little bit tricky. Pick the set you want to look at from the drop-down box, then click "Submit" to "load" items from that set into the boxes. When you reach the research station to turn in a full set, there will be a "Give Research" button in the main window.)
How can I learn new skills?
Your character begins the game with a certain (small) list of basic skills, and learns more skills when he or she gains a profession. You can also learn additional skills in two ways: Quests, and the Academy.
A number of quests will teach you a new skill, and often the skill is itself the main reward for doing the quest. For instance, there is a quest which teaches you the skill "Herb Lore"; some other skills learned from quests "Smelting", "Forging", "Theft" and "Advanced Heal".
You can also enroll your character at a class at the Academy. There are Academies located in England, Egypt, Peru and Pitcairn; they all teach the same set of classes.
How do I train at the Academy?
(This section was made obsolete by the v11.1.10.0 revision. Each skill now has its own minimum Stat requirement and purchase cost; there are no "certificates".)
Academic training requires high intelligence and a good knowledge of how to use a library - in game terms, you must have an INT of at least 40, and a Library skill of at least 40, before you can take any classes. The classes available depend on your INT and Library, so as you train your mind you may gain access to new skills. The first two classes available are Firearms and Blade Mastery. They both cost £400 to learn. Different classes may have different prices, some ranging into the thousands of pounds.
After you've learned a skill at the Academy, you can continue your education by earning "certificates". Certificates represent milestones in your understanding of the skill, and provide additional skill points in that skill. For instance, after you've trained your Firearms skill to 11, you can earn a HSCE Certificate which gives you 1 additional skill point in Firearms. After 21 points of skill, you can earn the JLE Certificate, which gives you 2 additional skill points. Each Certificate has a certain "tuition" fee associated with it, which is £200/level. (So the HSCE costs 200, the JLE costs 400, the third certificate costs 600.)
