Please note that this guide focuses purely on exploring, and is my opinion only.
Hello newbies. When I was smaller, I considered myself a premier newbie explorer, having done almost 45% of explore in a matter of days and only dying once or twice during that time. This allowed me to become familiar with a lot of areas and learn a lot about the world, as well as give a good foundation of exp to then build out into a guild.
Exploring will net you a good amount of exp (help explore), with the rate of exp gain per room rising exponentially with the explore % you have. A resourceful newbie may therefore find it worthwhile to try and explore the tougher areas first, so that explore gained from those areas with increased likelihood of death result in a lower net loss.
For example, I left the newbie mountain until last on my list of areas to explore, knowing that it was almost assuredly safe (note: nothing is ever 100% safe) - exploring the mountain netted about 1.2m in exp, as opposed to the <100k I would have gotten if I explored it first.
My approach to explore relies on invis, liberal use of quit + re-enter, and just being a careful newbie, which will make you a happier, more experienced newbie.
Here are the best explorers:
Riftwalker - a caster with a permanent friend, this gives you both invis AND the ability to take on and dominate newbie areas. Importantly, you finish the guild in 15 levels (ie. by level 30). In theory, you could start as a riftwalker and stay there until you are very far beyond ever needing this guide. This guild will be the ultimate in being a newbie who is able to explore effectively and also wipe out those in your path.
For my own purposes, I was keen to quickly amass exp then reinc into ranger (the ultimate in style), so I prioritised exploration only in the lower levels - I thus avoided combat and did not make a riftwalker.
Mage - in general, this is nowhere near as survivable as a riftwalker. The benefits are that you will get invis early, and can easily train and spend all your exp right in the city before moving on to the next expedition and not worry about exp loss from dying; don't underestimate the usefulness of this. A newbie acid mage will have lock biter, which can net you extra rooms in many areas by burning through door locks. An explore-focused newbie may therefore find this gives them the edge they need over even a riftwalker, as long as they don't get into many fights.
Civmage something - you get invis at some stage, as well as a few extra hp from the background. You will also be able to nip over to the various civilised guilds and get a bit of explore from there and/or join them for some novelty skills. Again, training is just in the city (as is true for all civ guilds), meaning you can spend all your exp in relative safety before moving on.
Brownie anything - you get invis from your racial guild, as well as see invis and see magic, which can help you in some situations. For instance, being able to see an invis mob in an area (many that don't attack you straight away, but rather backstab/cast something at you to start combat).
Tzarakk - Tzarakks get a mount and base their activities around this. You can run everywhere with minimal exertion and can survive ambushes far more than comparable frontliners in the other backgrounds. Tzarakks have the added benefit of being able to wield polearms (even bigger than they could normally, due to the mount), and there are extremely hard hitting polearms available for dirt cheap. However, without invis, you simply won't be able to explore as much as the above (note: invis is not just to avoid aggroes). If you want to hold your own in melee, with some basic ability to explore, this is a good pick for you.
Special note: the brownie tzarakk is famously listed in a comprehensive newbie guide elsewhere; the advice is generally sound, being that you will have natural invis and a free mount to help you survive ambushes. However, brownies get half stats when evil, rendering a brownie tzarakk completely helpless in combat. Since the time that fantastic guide was written, there have been a few areas added to mud (eg. the crystite mines) that mean you want some combat effectiveness for small bits of cash and exp even at a low level.
And just one special mention here, for flavour;
Ranger - rangers are the original newbie guild, which has since been supplanted by many other options that are available, such as those above. You will absolutely not be able to explore like the builds above without dying a whole lot, but it's part of the process. Rangers lead the way! NB: if you ever have questions about rangers, find me in game
Remember that if you are under level 40 and under 10d of game time, you have unlimited access to 'recreate', which allows you to respec your character as many times as you like. In this way you can test out many different guilds and races, until you find something you like or is optimised to your purposes at that time. Trying out different combos will expose you to more knowledge of game mechanics, so this can be a good way to see how other player types get around. This is also a cheeky way that you could perhaps get explore from guilds you can't normally access, and stack up some of those Shrine Search (level quest 41) marks.
This recreate function is a free version of the wildly popular reinc (reincarnation) mechanic, which normally would cost you a small tax on your total exp as well as money for advancing guild levels during the reinc process, ie. while you still have 'safe' experience on. In-game helpfiles go into the reinc process in more details - help reincarnation process.
For my own exploring, here is how I ran it:
Sprite acid mage - the majority of my exploring was done as a sprite mage due to natural flight over water and lava (note: water is not just in outworld squares), a relatively safe teleport with error due to natural flight (except when you teleport into a rock - use with caution, never with lots of exp), infra, see invis, excellent senses and so on. Note you are squishy, so if something hits you, you will probably die. However, by level 30-35 I could mirror image, lock bite, and acid blast small cash mobs or blockers without taking much damage before destroying the enemy. I took 1 level in explorer for a perma shovel.
Through this build I made about 10m exp and 70k crystite credits in the mines, one-shotting most mobs and putting their stuff into my floating disc. With invis, I got the drop on most aggro mobs too while I prepared acid storm. A riftwalker would have had better efficiency, but for my stop-start play style throughout the day, mage had bigger blasts that suited me better.
Brownie civmage - I did a lot of brownie civmage+civfighter early on, for a few extra HP in civilised background and easy access to training in the city. As soon as I had exp to afford sprite mage, I recreated into that due to the natural flight and teleport. A brownie tarma would have similar survivability, but the civmage gives you access to masteries and some small blasts early that mean you can occasionally murder a dwarf or two in the crystite mines.
I also ran with an occasional 1-5 levels of Explorers Guild, sometimes for a permashovel and sometimes for some small amounts of alertness, epeer, hiking, etc. that weren't life changing, but occasionally useful.
Do your research. There are only a few areas that don't have some kind of info about them online; even the theme of an area can tell you a lot about the dangers there. Other players have painstakingly written area info, maps, advice, etc. so a clever newbie will take on this info and be well read and well prepared. After some discussion, I have decided these links will not be published here, because in the spirit of this guide and the game itself, you should find out for yourself! Being resourceful will make you better.
Prepare properly. If you are expecting to get stuck, whether due to something blocking your way back out, a one way trip, or it just gets too sweaty, you want to be prepared for the trip home. This could be a teleport spell, the ruby shoes that give you instant teleport as a newbie, the newbie crystal if you are smol enough to use it, a quit real if you're naked, word of recall if high enough etc.
Proceed carefully and read room descriptions. Being observant will make you a healthy and sometimes wealthy newbie. You can also refer to the various quest listings online to find quests that you won't need to enter combat for, but are great learning experiences for handling areas in general.
There are at least 4 quests doable by low level newbies that will net you some great equipment as rewards. A quick shout out here to Heidel who coded the Village of Stouby (among many other things), which is one of the finest newbie friendly areas around. The quest there is a great representation of how you can merge MUD mechanics, traditional cRPG branching choices AND user friendliness into a truly enjoyable quest/explore experience.
You will die. Don't sweat it.
Enjoy the sights. The outworld is quite a pleasure to explore, and you're sure to find unexpected things (inc. death) deep in the jungles of Lucentium or in the vast inhospitable plains of Furnachia. Coders have put a lot of effort into their areas, and it's a great boon to be able to go on expeditions deep into these areas at your leisure. NB: if you ever run into a capital letter animal (eg. capital 'D' drakes on the map, 'C' chimeras - anything EXCEPT 'W' whales), it's extremely dangerous! Let me or my pal Zoid know as there might be a reward in it for you.
Use the newbie posts until you can't. You can zip around to different parts of the world instantly with these, especially St. Patrics Abbey which is otherwise almost certainly inaccessible to you.
Do this early (20s) so you can get the quest there (don't head south into Renardy main, where you will die a painful death).
Familiarise yourself with the capital cities of each continent, as well as Esiris. You can travel in between all of these for free - instantly if naked, and with a cooldown if you are carrying anything - and this will form the basis of a lot of your exploring for now. A player who isn't carrying anything can travel between all 5 continents and Esiris instantly, which is incredibly efficient for someone looking to get the lay of the land.
Down the line, you can complete Esiris quests to get instant travel between continents for a fee, and the ability to transport back to Esiris from the outworld.
Make use of navigator trees. Similarly to the newbie posts, navigator trees will be indispensable to you for exploring and moving around the continent. They show up as a 'T' on the map and are mostly concentrated around the capital cities of each continent, with one or two outliers (like a fantastic tree outside the city of X on Desolathya). The cost of travel is very low.
Take notes. I maintain a spreadsheet for myself with notes that will last me into the future. My alt could follow this blueprint, and also enter areas forearmed with the knowledge of any big nasty surprises in store. I also made notes of locked doors, blockers, etc. that I would then come and break down/murder/annihilate when bigger (though many still remain).
Now, a newbie riftwalker can both explore in supreme comfort, and then forge on ahead solo without blinking an eye, having reached maximum level in only 15 levels. If you are set on being a caster, this is the most powerful way to start your Bat career. In the crystite mines, I have come across level 30 riftwalkers that could take down opponents many larger players would have considerable trouble with.
However, for you social types, here are two no-recreate build ideas if you'd like to start off your career as explore focused and then maintain combat efficiency so that you are not just a useless tourist, but can contribute to a party of equally industrious newbies.
- Sprite mage (hon. mentions: brownie mage, elf mage, drow mage). As mentioned, you will have good damage output - never enough for meaningful solo exp, but you can take out a lot of cash and crystite mobs. You can also hide behind your bigger friends and contribute nice damage.
- Brownie tarma. You can keep yourself alive and invisible, and even better, soon you will be able to keep your friends alive!
One final note, on exploring vs. killing things. Technically, you could grind yourself up to a relatively comfortable level by repetitively hitting the same level-locked areas day in, day out. The problem with this is that it is not only boring, but will also not improve your skills; the return will also become exponentially worse as the exp tuner kicks in.
On the other hand, while everyone's mileage is going to vary in terms of the worth they get out of exploring, knowing more areas in general is going to improve your future adventures. Plan for future solo/party runs by doing some basic recon in an explore/scouting run. You might even pick up a little secret or two on the way - secrets that are sometimes very rewarding (and repeatable!).
That does it for this explorers' primer. If this was helpful to you, let me know! If you have suggestions, please reach out and I'll incorporate and attribute you.
Thanks to
Kalahar
Kanis
Malcom