From The Mana World

This article contains information for players or people interested in playing on the Classic server. If you are looking for information for The Mana World, go here The Mana World.
See also the Classic Portal

This article is for reference purpose

The features described in this article are already implemented in the game. The article should describe how a certain aspect of the game currently works. You may of course edit this article to improve the description of the circumstances. Your opinions or improvement suggestions about the described aspects themself are of course appreciated, too. But please put these on the discussion page of this article to keep facts and fiction separated.



Rules and Etiquette

In addition to the Game Rules, we would advise the following etiquette:

  1. Do not drop-steal without permission (drop-steal: take items dropped by a monster someone else killed).
  2. Do not kill-steal without permission (kill-steal: kill a monster someone else is fighting to get easy exp).
  3. Multiboxing (quoted as "One human using more than one character at a time in such a way as to gain a disproportionate advantage in gameplay.") is not allowed in game, and is judged as whether you are multiboxing by the GM who may be looking on. This point really should be in the game rules, as it attracts disciplinary measures.
  4. Be polite, take the time to greet people before you ask anything, follow the same etiquette in conversation as you would follow in real life.
  5. Do not do to others things that you would not like to be done to yourself.

To see how a GM may deal with you if you break these rules, look here [[1]]

Default controls

Keyboard

Ctrl [attack]
F1 [toggle the online help]
F2 [toggle profile window]
F3 [toggle inventory window]
F4 [toggle equipment window]
F5 [toggle skills window]
F6 [toggle minimap]
F7 [toggle chat window]
F8 [toggle shortcut window]
F9 [show setup window]
F10 [toggle debug window]
Alt + 0-9,-, etc [show emotions]
S [sit down / stand up]
P [take screenshot]
R [turns on anti-trade function]
A [target nearest monster]
H [hide all non-sticky windows]
Z [pick up item]
Enter [focus chat window / send message]

Tips:

The keys listed here are the default keys. To change the keys go to setup -> keyboard.


Mouse

Left click to execute default action: walk, pick up an item, attack a monster and talk to NPCs (be sure to click on their feet).

Right click to show up a context menu trade, attack, befriend, ...)

Holding [Left Shift] prevents from walking when attacking.


Tips:

When using the mouse to walk, your character will automatically use a pathfinding algorithm to take the nearest route to the mouse pointer's location.

If somebody is in front of an NPC that you want to use, right-click on them, and an option will open up. It will either let you choose the character/NPC/monster, or it will allow you to bypass the person standing in the way.


/Commands:

Whispers:

/closeall [close all whispers]
/ignoreall [add all whispers to ignore list]
/msg NICK text
/whisper NICK text
/w NICK text [send whisper message to nick]
/query NICK
/q NICK [open new whisper tab for nick]


Actions:

/help [show small help about chat commands]
/target NICK [select nick as target, can be monster or player nick]
/outfit N [wear outfit number N]
/outfit next [wear next outfit]
/outfit prev [wear previous outfit]
/emote N [use emotion number N]
/away
/away MSG [set away mode]
/follow NICK [start follow mode]
/imitation NICK [start imitation mode]
/heal NICK [heal nick]
/move X Y [move to X,Y position in short distance]
/navigate x y [move to position x,y in current map in any distance]
/mail NICK MSG [send offline message to NICK. Working only in tmw server]
/disconnect [quick disconnect from server]
/attack [attack target]
/undress NICK [remove all clothes from nick. Local effect only]

Trade:

/trade NICK [start trade with nick]
/priceload [load shop price from disc]
/pricesave [save shop price to disc]

Player relations:

/ignore NICK [add nick to ignore list]
/unignore NICK [remove nick from ignore list]
/friend NICK
/befriend NICK [add nick to friends list]
/disregard NICK [add nick to disregarded list]
/neutral NICK [add nick to neutral relation list]
/erase NICK [add nick to erased list]
/clear [clear current chat tab]
/createparty NAME [create party with selected name]
/me text [send text to chat as /me command in irc]

Debug:

/who [print online players number to chat.
/all [show visible beings list in debug tab.
/where [print current player position to chat.
/cacheinfo [show text cache info.
/dirs [show client directories in debug window.

Other:

/help [displays the list of commands]
/announce [broadcasts a global msg(GM Command only)]
/who [shows how many players are online]
/where [displays the map name your currently on]

First steps

When you first enter The Mana World on the default server (currently server.themanaworld.org), you will notice the relatively clean interface that has a few buttons. Most are self explanatory, although note that not all windows have a close button. You will have to click on the X button for them to close (supposing you opened them). There is a shortcut key to close the map in the readme. If in doubt, hit F1.

You've spawned in Candor (<--click on this link to learn more of what to do here) for the first time. Candor is a beautiful island! Congratulations and welcome to the Mana World. You start off in bed, and you will see before you a lady. As soon as you get out of bed, a series of rules will automatically open up in front of you. Be sure to read them, and be mindful of them, so that you may enjoy your stay on the game, and also enjoy a peaceful playing environment. If you click on Sorfina, she will talk to you (you may notice that there is an exclamation mark above her head). If you try to walk past her, she will grab your attention.

The dialog box here allows you to choose whether you are male, female, or if you don't want to say, you can choose the other option "My home is in", or the wording that is similar.

NPCSorfina.png

Sorfina will then show you some of the basics of how to play and use the commands. You will also receive a Cotton Shirt and a pair of Ragged Shorts, which are in the dresser that is near you. Follow Sorfina's guidance. Open your inventory (F3) and click on the Cotton Shirt, and then click Equip. Do likewise with the Ragged Shorts. This is your first pair of clothes in the game. You will still have undergarments on for decency. Wearing clothes will also increase your defense. If you once again speak to Sorfina, she will give you a towel. To anyone who has read "A Hitchhiker's Guide to The Galaxy", you will understand the importance of a towel already. If not, you have been given a towel to be able to spawn back at the last Soul Menhir stone that you set the towel to. If it hasn't been set, then you will respawn back in Candor. It is where you will reappear if you happen to lose all of your health when attacking or being attacked. After this, Sorfina will give you some money, along with some important information, and some directions. The currency in-game is GP, and you can see your level by looking in your stats options. Have a look at all the tabs above your head, and you will see it there, with STA written inside the button.

If you click again on Sorfina, you will see a list of options. Feel free to click through them and learn more about the game.

Follow the arrow and head to the portal. Portals can be seen as red squares, white secants, sparkling particle effects and other colors and shapes, or they may even be totally hidden. In this instance, it is the white secant at the end of the arrow.

Tanisha170912.png

In the next room (if you've walked through the portal), you will see two NPC's. There is Tanisha, who you will need to see to venture further out in the game. She will train you to start monster hunting. There is also Jessie, who can offer you some other options too. Speak to Tanisha, and she will try to help you. After she explains what is required of you, you will receive a Knife, a Slingshot, and some Sling Bullets that will be useful to kill monsters such as Maggots. Tanisha will train you with killing Maggots, so remember how you equipped the clothes, and after Tanisha gives you the weapons, you need to choose either the knive or the slingshot. These need to be equipped manually. Also, if you choose the slingshot, you will need to equip both the slingshot AND the bullets. You can adjust your stats to see what works better with either weapon by talking to Jessie. Then you will succeed in killing the Maggots successfully, and you will move on to the next part of the game by speaking again to Tanisha. She will explain to you how your Status Points work, as these increase every level, and can be distributed to help you with your gameplay. Pay attention to what she says in this section. You may also like to go to the Stats page for more information.

When you are finished with Tanisha, you will be able to go outside. Strong Suggestion! Before starting other tasks, visit Aidan and Ishi first, so that you can start collecting monster points. These points will later be swapped for items which can be used or sold, by visiting again at a later time. The longer you leave it, the more points you miss out on.

Aidan170912.png

After you are finished with Aidan and Ishi, work your way through the quests at this link. All necessary items are available at one time or another on the island, so there is no need to leave until all quests are complete. The Scorpion that you are required to kill for one NPC will be spawned by another quest on the island. The quests you do here are necessary to build up your strength, and to equip you for the lands ahead.

You gain levels by killing monsters, which in turn give you experience points. Killing monsters is what you'll be doing usually, so you will need to get used to doing it. You can either click on a monster, or target the nearest one by pressing "A" and "Ctrl" to attack. It is a lot easier to beat a monster if you target and press "Shift" and "Ctrl" together. This will make you attack automatically while you don't move. Get started by killing Maggots, the little white things that run around in numbers. If your health bar goes red, never fear - you can go back to Sorfina, who will heal you for free while you are low-level. There is also Elanore in Tulimshar, and Nurse in Hurnscald who will heal you for free. Take note that they won't be able to heal you forever, but only until you reach a certain level. It's a routine process you will get used to - kill monsters, heal (or respawn, if you are a little late for that), go back to killing monsters.

NPCs (Non-Playable Characters) are characters on the server. You can easily recognize them by hovering your mouse over them, and a speech bubble should appear. You can click on them to talk to them, or stand right next to them and press "T". Some of them have quests for you to accomplish, others can sell things to you and buy things from you, and others can heal you. You can be healed for free until you get to Level 20. Note that if you attack by holding down the Ctrl key, you can heal by clicking one of these NPC's at the same time. This should help you speed through those first 20 levels by fighting Fire Goblins.

Once you've killed a monster, it dies and looks dead for a few seconds, before disappearing. It may drop an item. You can stand on top of the item and press "G" or "Z" to get the item (there are more complex settings that you can look at and change, but it isn't the place to discuss that here). If you want to use it, it is in your inventory. If you can't use nor equip it, it might be a quest item or a so-called useless item (this doesn't mean they are useless in that they have no purpose, but in that you are unable to "use" them). Useless items can be sold to any NPC that buys and sells items, such as Neko. Although different shops sell with different prices, they all buy from you at the same price. These prices are listed thoroughly on Items. If you aren't sure if an item is useless or needed for a quest, keep it and ask more experienced players.

From the very beginning, you can start to get the basic skills (presented on the Skills page). These are skills that you will use every day.

Press "S" to sit. This makes your automatic recoveries work faster. You can also hold "Alt" and press any of the numbers 1 through 0, as well as the minus symbol to make an emote (smiley face and similar).

Aside from the island of Candor, where you start from, there are other lands in The Mana World. You will have a chance to find these areas on your own. To get there, you can travel South to the Ferry, which will take you to the South Hurnscald Dock. From there, you can explore Hurnscald, or you can catch the North Hurnscald Ferry to Tulimshar, or Nivalis. Tulimshar has many quests that can help you level, and it used to be the spawning point prior to Candor, so there are many quests available from low-level to high level in that land.

There are also many different weapons you can use besides what you start off with. Keep your eyes peeled at any shops you come across (maggots also drop something useful - a dagger, which hits considerably more than the knife you start off with (See the Items page for more details). Also, the best weapons come by completing quests.

Raising your Stats

  • When you gain a level in The Mana World, you are awarded points that you can distribute as you please between the various Stats. These are not the same as the monster points (there are also job points, health points, magic points, boss points, and experience points.
  • Although there are technically no classes between players, there are three methods of attack. One is with a melee weapon (close-range fighting), another is using a Bow and Arrows, and the other is using magical spells. Of course, these can be mixed around, or they can be focussed on with your stats, to be more powerful with one of these methods.
  • Always try to keep the stats in the multiples of 5. You get bonus if your stats are in multiples of 5. For further details on each stat see the Stats page.
  • You can always experiment with your stats and equipment on the Test Server and I would advise you to first test your stats in Test Server, as changing stats becomes expensive if carried out frequently.


Classes

As mentioned, TMW doesn't have any class to choose but most define Warrior, Archer and Mage based on their stats and equipment. One can build stats to be a mixture of Archer, Warrior and Mage at the same time, and by just changing equipment they can be able to carry out the new method of attack. The disadvantage to this is it will limit your potential as it will be divided between three methods of play. As soon as you are spawned in Candor, you can decide what you want to be, as you are given equipment to start in any of these directions. You are given a Wand, a Slingshot, and a Knife, so have fun, as you can change your stats for free while a low-level player.

Stat Reset


Malivox and Wyara are NPCs, who can reset your Stats once you are no longer able to use the free services of Jessie. So if you want to change your class, try new Stats, or fix a mistake with how you selected your Stats, visit them. Be aware though, that to use the Stats reset here, you will need to pay in GP the amount of {your level}*100. For instance if you are level 30, then you will pay 3000GP, if you are level 86, you will pay 8600GP.


Trading

To learn how to trade safely, see the article Trade Skill.

Changing Your Appearance

There are NPC's who can help alter your appearance free of charge. This includes your hair style and color, as well as your gender. You can be male, female or neutral. Here are the people who can change your style for you.

There is nobody in Nivalis who can do this.

Magic

See the article named Magic.

Quick Walkthrough (suggestions)

  • LVL 1-15:
    • Complete Candor quests, and head to Tulimshar.
    • Kill Maggots and the occasional Scorpion.
    • Kill Fire Goblins while you can heal for free from Elanore in Tulimshar or the Nurse in Hurnscald (they will only heal while you are level 20 and under).
    • After level 10, see Wyara, after touching the Mana Seed for the first time.
    • Read the wiki regarding quests, and plan out your strategy. Some quests are harder the higher your level gets, while others are easier.

More details about the quests are available at this link and maps of the current world at User:Superkoop/IngameMap and In-game_world_map.

Tips for High Level Players

Try to complete the Quests at the level they are designed for. They provide money, items and often a lot of experience that will help you to progress whether you are interested in it's achievement or not.

It becomes fairly difficult to level up after this point, but it is not entirely uncommon to find players with levels in the 80s, and not impossible to get up to 90 and beyond. It does take a lot of time and work. If you are ambitious about becoming one of the highest level players in the game, be prepared to put in many hours, sometimes many hours at once to reach this goal. Here are a few pointers:

Setzer

The Setzer is one of the most used and the best melee weapon in the game. Although the Setzer does less damage than the Rock Knife and other weapons, it has lower attack delay by which you will have greater Damage/Second. To get the Setzer, you need to be level 60 or higher. See the Setzer Quest for more details. The Setzer Quest also gives good xp.

The Scythe

The Farmer's Scythe was one of the most commonly used weapons in the game, and was for a time considered the best. (This was due to a bug which allowed you to do much more damage with it.) It is now easy to obtain and it helps newbies to evolve in the game more easily (+75 Damage). To get this "deadly" weapon, you'll need to go to Hurnscald. To get there, visit the dock on the southern side of Candor. You will then need to wait for the ferry to get to Hurnscald. Once you arrive in the center of town (near the Soul Menhir), head north, go slightly north-east and you will meet an NPC who looks like a farmer. He will give you a quest to bring him 10 Pink Antennae. It takes time but with determination it can be done quickly. The alternative solution is to ask someone if they will donate to you some Pink Antennae. It's not best to buy them from someone since you will need to save up for equipment.

Training locations

South Tulimshar mine (archers 10+, higher for warriors)

West Tulimshar beaches (levels 30-60)

The Snake Caves and other areas East of the Tulimshar Desert have a good place for mid-level players to practice. Snakes give 400 EXP a pop.

For archers with high dexterity (80+), training might also be beneficial in the Desert Mountains southeast of the Snake Desert. The Mountain Snakes are more defensive and aggressive, but 500 EXP may climb up those levels fast if the player can score steady hits.

The Terranite Cave is a nice place to train with it's Spiders, Undead Trolls, Undead Witches and Terranites (60+). Watch out for random killers; It is a PvP area! (you may be killed by a fellow player)

Higher levels can train in the Graveyard. Snow Mountains and their caves also provide large areas for training, both for single players and groups. There are some nice and hard quests in these areas for higher level players.

Mages with high vitality and intelligence can train themselves on a Jack O in the Graveyard or on top of the mines, north of Hurnscald.

The Crypt is also recommended for higher level players.

Training technique

Your wrist may get quite a workout in those long training sessions. Try mapping your keyboard so that your attack and target keys are more ergonomic to your hands. You can do this through the client in Setup. Some use "A" and "Z" on their computer, which greatly helps with their training endurance.

Another good trick is healing on demand. Stock up on your healing item of choice (Some prefer Beer... some collect Apples, and there are many others) and make the Inventory window small enough that it doesn't block much of your area of vision. Now keep that item selected, and you can simply click Use whenever you need a quick heal. You may also add an item to your shortcut bar, and the shortcut can be a key you select on the keyboard.

The Economy

See the Economy page.

Endgame

Once you have gained enough levels and money that the eternal grind begins to bore you (you might be counting Fluffies in your sleep), you have multiple options for spending your time:

  • Finish all the Quests.
  • Practice Magic and finish all the Magic Quests if you haven't already.
  • Become an obsessive collector. Outfit Wars may help you in finding the competitive gatherer within you.
  • Beat the Challenge of Candor Battle. Multiple times.
  • Helping new players navigate their way, and showing them how things work.

And, of course, you can become a developer: see below.

Final thoughts

So you have completed your item collection and levelled as much as you care to. You've finished all of the quests. What else can you do? Well, one of the great things about The Mana World and Open Source software in general is that anyone can help improve it and further it along. There are many ways you can do that even without any "programming" knowledge.

The more active players the game has, the more potential programmers will be introduced to the game. And the more potential programmers we have, the faster the development will go. That means new features, items, quests, etc. for everyone. How can you help nurture a large active player base?

Well, as you may have noticed before you read this guide, the game has a somewhat difficult learning curve for new players. Many more experienced players help newbies with quests and items - some even go so far as to create an account devoted solely to that purpose.

How do experienced players pass the time while we wait for new content? Simply put, we make our own quests and events, stimulating competition among players and giving out prizes as incentive. This is a great way that we keep other players from getting bored and quitting, and anyone can get involved with it.

Most importantly, if you have the time and a little bit of know how, you can influence the development of the game directly by helping to code TMW, scripting new items, making pixel art for new tilesets, NPCs, monsters, etc, as well as mapping. Mapping especially is very simple and done in a freely available editor called Tiled, which you can read more about on the Legacy:Map development page.

Doing all these things is easier when you are not working alone; indeed, bigger projects can be tackled much faster in groups. There are also guilds that you may join (see TMW Legacy Groups). They all serve different purposes, but at least one devotes itself to the purpose of furthering the development of the game through the three methods above. Consider joining a guild like this to be a part of a player community that seeks to better the game. You won't be losing your individuality (usually!) in doing so.