From The Mana World
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Rules and Etiquette

The rules of the game, as posted by Platyna are: 1. Do not abuse other players (it means insults, swearing etc.) 2. No bots. 3. No spamming/flooding (including trade spam). 4. No begging. 5. Speak English.

Additionally we would advice 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. 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. 4. Don't do unto others what you wouldn't like to be done to you. Don't say to others what you wouldn't like being said to you.

Controls

Keyboard

  • ARROW move around
  • 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
  • F9 show setup window
  • F10 toggle debug window
  • Alt + 0-9, - & + show emoticons
  • S or Alt + S sit down / stand up
  • Alt + F toggle debug pathfinding feature
  • Alt + T toggle ignore/allow incoming trades
  • Alt + P take screenshot
  • A target nearest monster
  • H hide all non-sticky windows
  • G or Z pick up item
  • Enter focus chat window / send message
  • Shift hold it when attacking to lock target for auto attack

Mouse

Using the mouse to move will allow you to pass trough certain objects, like NPC's and other players! 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 (attack, trade,...). Holding [Left Shift] prevents from walking when attacking.

First Steps

You've spawned in Tulimshar for the first time! Congratulations and welcome to the Mana World. Immediately, you should either press F3 or click Inventory, click on the Cotton Shirt, and click Equip. This will make you less half-naked and increase your defense.

You gain levels by killing monsters. Killing monsters is what you'll be doing most of the time, so you'd better get used to 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 "Shft" and "Ctrl" together. This will make you attack automatically as long as you don't move.

NPCs (Non-Playable Characters) are characters on the server. You can easily recognize them by their grayish blue name. You can click on them to talk to them. Some of them have quests for you to accomplish, others will sell and buy things from you, and some will heal you. If you walk to the right and down through the gate from where you start out, an NPC named Elanore will heal you for free until you get to Level 10. Note that If you attack by holding down CTRL, you can heal by clicking her at the same time. This should help you speed trough those first 10 levels by fighting fire goblins.

Once you've killed a monster, it dies and looks dead for a few seconds. It may drop an item. You can stand on top of the item and press "G" or "Z" to get the item. 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 useless item. Useless items can be sold to the NPC Neko, or any NPC that buys and sells items. Although the prices of the items they sell vary, they always buy from you at the same price. These prices are listed thoroughly on Item Reference.

After you've killed enough monsters, you'll have enough Skill points to get job level 3. Either press F5 or click "Skills", select Basic, and click "Up" three times. For the moment only basic skills are implemented in the game (no magic, yet!), and only the first three levels have a function.

  • Level 1 enables the ability to trade with others
  • Level 2 enables the ability to express emotions
  • Level 3 enables character to sit

Press "S" to sit. This makes your automatic recovery go faster. You can also hold "Alt" and press any of the numbers 1 through 9 to emote, or show an emoticon above your head.

Raising Your Stats

NOTE: There is no magic in the game yet, so INT is completely worthless! AGI and LUCK do nothing that DEX, STR, or VIT don't already do better. Do not up these stats at all!

When you gain a level in The Mana World, you are awarded points that you can distribute as you please among the various stats. Essentially, only two routes are beneficial in the long term, and the community refers to them as Warrior, or Melee, and Archer, or Ranged.

Warrior

The Warrior is more difficult to train as it eats up 33% more stat points than an Archer, and is more vulnerable to attack from monsters. However, the Warrior has the greatest potential for making money, because there's no need to purchase arrows. The weapon of choice for a Warrior is a Scythe.

  • STR is important to increase the base damage of the Scythe's attack. You can increase this until you are satisfied with your base damage.
  • VIT is always important because it raises both defense and maximum health, as well as speeds up your idle healing rate. Always increase this.
  • DEX is important to the Warrior until somewhere in the 50-60 total points range. This is only to ensure that your attacks aren't evaded by high level monsters.

Archer

The Archer is the easiest to train because only two stats are needed to make it strong, and because it can kill monsters more rapidly and efficiently. However, the Archer is dependent on a lot of arrows for its livelihood, and so a lot of inventory weight and money will be taken up by arrows.

  • VIT is always important because it raises both defense and maximum health, as well as speeds up your idle healing rate. Always increase this.
  • DEX is also always important because it raises both the accuracy of your attack and the base damage of the Bow. Many Archers are content to stop raising DEX in the 80-90 range.

Quick Walkthrough

  • LVL 1-15: Kill maggots and the occassional scorpion. Kill fire goblins while you can heal for free from Elanore.
  • LVL 13-28: Kill pinkies, get a Scythe. Kill bats, pinkies and fluffies.
  • LVL 25-40: Kill green slimes, giant maggots, red scorpions. Save up for and get Light Platemail and a Silk Headband.
  • LVL 38-50: Kill red slimes, black scorpions, an logheads. Save up Raw Logs and GP, get a Forest Bow.
  • LVL 45-60: Kill flowers, evil mushrooms, snakes, spiders, and yellow slimes. Finish up the quests and your collection of rare drops.

Quests

Aiden and Ishi's monsters points

Type: Infinite

Difficulty: Easy

Location: Tulimshar village; market

What to do: First talk to Aiden he's standing at the gate across Elanore the healer, he'll register you for this quest. After that, the game keeps a count of the number of kills you made and gives you monster points accordingly (note that not all monsters give monster points). You can exchange these points for items by talking to Ishi. There's no point in stocking up the points, the rewards will always be the same.

Reward: The items you get change, but they are never rare or highly valuable. Most of the items you'll probably just sell. The best items (currently) are cotton pants.

Vincent's Action Figure

Type: One time Difficulty: Easy Location: Tulimshar village; East What to do: Vincent need 30 Bug Legs to make an action figure. Bug Legs dropped by: Maggot (4%); Scorpion (7%); Bat (4%); Spikey Mushroom (0.5%); Fire Goblin (8%); Giant Maggot (7.5%); Red Scorpion (5%); Black Scorpion (8%)

Reward: 1000 GP

Sandra's Red Scorpion Stingers

Type: One time Difficulty: Medium Location: Tulimshar village; outside the walls of the market SouthEast corner What to do: Sandra wants you to bring her 5 red scorpion stingers to prove you killed them. Red scorpions require some dexterity in order for you to be able to hit them, so depending on what character you're building, it might take a while before you can do this quest. Red Scorpion Stingers dropped by: Red Scorpion (20%)

Reward: 1 Bow + 100 arrows

Farmer's Scythe

Type: One time Difficulty: Easy Location: North of Hurnscald What to do: The Pinkies are eating the farmer's crops. Bring him 10 Pink Antennae as proof of your kills. There are not many pinkies on that map though. I suggest you go to the Ice Cave, where there is a much higher density of pinkies. If you want to know if you'll be able to kill them, Pinkies have more HP then Fire Goblins, but give less damage. Pink Antennea dropped by: Pinkie (8%)

Reward: Scythe

Forest Bow

Type: One time Difficulty: Medium Location: In the bow shop in Hurnscald (there's a practice target out back) What to do: The Bow Master can make you a Forest Bow. After running back and forth a while between the Bow Master and Jack the Lumberjack you find out you'll have to supply the wood, and pay 10,000 GP. The tricky part is, finding a Log that is good. Before you pay, the Bow Master will test out your Log to see if it's strong enough. Whether or not a Log breaks is random--the chance of it not breaking is 1/20. You can find Log Heads in the Woodlands (SW) Raw Logs dropped by: Log Heads (20%)

Reward: Forest Bow

Rauk's Alchemy

Type: Infinite Difficulty: Hard Location: In the Woodlands (NW); in the SE corner What to do: Gauk will turn 20 Small Mushrooms into an Iron Potion and 20 Petals in to a Concentration Potion. Small Mushrooms dropped by: Evil Mushroom (5%) Petals dropped by: Flower (5%)

Reward: Iron Potion and Concentration Potion.

Snowman's Sweet Tooth

Type: One time Difficulty: Mediocre Location: In the Northpole; center of the map What to do: The Snowman would like you to get him 8 Chocolate Bars, 10 Cactus Potions and, and 20 Candies Chocolate Bar dropped by: Scorpion (0.5%); Rudolph Slime (3%); Red Slime (1.1%); Red Scorpion (1%); Black Scorpion (1%) Candies dropped by: Scorpion (1%); Rudolph Slime (6%) Cactus Potions dropped by: Maggot (1.5%); Bat (1.5%); Spikey Mushroom (1.5%); Fire Goblin (1.5%); Green Slime (1%); Yellow Slime (3.5%); Giant Maggot (50%);  ;

Reward: Santa Hat

Treasure Chest

Type: One time Difficulty: Hard Location: In the Mines; Second level, end of the tunnel What to do: Open the Treasure Chest, you need exatly three Keys to do so. Keys dropped by: Spider (5%)

Reward: Short Sword

The "Rapid Attack" Bug

NOTE: This bug will only work with a Scythe or a Bow!

Hold down all three of the following, and do not release until the monster is dead: CTRL + A + Left Mouse button. (CTRL + Q + Left Mouse button for badly configured azerty-keyboards). Then move your mouse (with the left button still held down).

  • If you are using a melee weapon, try to hold the cursor directly over the monster for the greatest efficiency. If it locks up (stops attacking rapidly), drag the cursor away slightly to move and then hold it over the monster again. Repeat as necessary. But DO NOT release any of the buttons until it is dead, or you will have to start over!
  • If you are using a ranged weapon (bows), try to hold the cursor directly over yourself, or over an object or wall for the greatest efficiency. You will be able to attack large groups of monsters, one by one in quick succession, without having to target them individually. Again, if it locks up, drag the cursor away slightly to move and then hold it over yourself again. Repeat as desired, just don't release anything until your group of monsters is dead, or you will have to start over.

Level 60 and Beyond

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.

Training Location

The best place to train is the mines. Some people may disagree, but it's true. The mines have the greatest spawn rate and thus the highest proportion of high EXP-yielding monsters at any given time. Not only that, but one can make 20, 40, even 60,000 GP after 30 minutes or more training there. That said, the mines are packed full of people training most of the time. A lot of the time, there are people there who just want to steal and sell your drops.

Another good place to train is colloquially called "Shroomville," where Evil Mushrooms and Flowers spawn. The EXP gained from the monsters here is technically higher than those of the ones in the mines, however the spawn rate is not as high. However, you can balance this out by spending a little more time there. You also won't be able to get as much money from the drops, but both of these monsters drop Empty Bottles (very very rarely) which can be sold to other players for a lot of money.

Training Technique

Your wrist is going to get worn out in those long training sessions. When you are ready to commit to one, and don't think you'll be talking to anyone for a while, here's a little trick you can use. I must stress that you should ONLY DO THIS while you are present at your computer, actively moving and picking up drops. When this technique is used while you are away from the computer, it is called botting, cheating, and that is against the rules. Take a couple paperclips, bobbypins, Q-tips, or whatever else you find that works to pin down CTRL and A. This way you can rapid attack automatically and use your hands to pick up drops and move with the mouse.

Another good trick healing on demand. Stock up on your healing item of choice (I prefer Beer... I collect Apples ;p) 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. This is even better if you have an SVN client with the Item Shortcut bar. I toggle the healing item to "x" and just heal with one keystroke when needed. The Item Shortcut bar should be included with the default client in 0.0.25.

The Economy

One element of the game that keeps many players active after they have levelled up til they're sick of it and finished all the quests is The Mana World's in-game economy.

No doubt you have noticed some of the interesting hats and armor other players wear. Most of these are rare items that were once available freely, during events or quests that have since been removed from the game, etc. Some are just rare drops that anyone can get from monsters in the game if they devote enough time to hunting them.

Here I will cover all of these items, the general prices they fetch from other players, and where they are from. Of course, these prices are very dynamic. The in-game economy changes constantly. As more time passes after an event, the items become more rare and more in demand.

Common Items (or... Rare Drops)

  • Jeans 100-200k
    • +4 Defense. 0.1% chance of being dropped by Cave Snakes. That's 1 in 1000 on average.
  • Empty Bottle 300-400k
    • Does nothing (yet?). 0.05% chance of bein dropped by Flowers or Evil Mushrooms. That's 1 in 2000 on average.

Uncommon Items (or... Christmas 2007 Event Items)

All of these can be bought or sold at around 300-600k.

  • Santa Cookie
    • Does nothing any more (was used in the Christmas quest).
  • Skirt
    • +4 Defense.
  • Top Hat
  • Face Mask
  • Mush Hat
    • The three above are +15 Defense hats.
  • Shroom Hat
  • Funky Hat
  • Elf Hat
    • The three above are +18 Defense hats.

Semi-Rare Items (or... Discontinued Santa Quest Items)

All of these can be bought or sold at around 400-700k.

  • Turtleneck Sweater
    • +6 Defense.
  • Winter Gloves
    • +2 Defense.

Rare Items (or... Halloween 2007 Event Items)

All of these can be bought or sold at around 500-800k.

  • Ranger Hat
    • +2 Defense.
  • Bandana
    • +3 Defense.
  • Pumpkin Helmet
  • Pirate Hat
  • Circlet
  • Axe Hat
    • The four above are +4 Defense hats.

Very Rare Items (or... Christmas/Halloween 2006 Event Items)

All of these can be bought or sold at around 1-10 million GP... or more.

  • V-neck Sweater
    • This was actually a Halloween 2007 Event item, but its price has skyrocketed. +8 Defense.
  • Christmas Tree Hat
  • Goggles
    • The two above are +2 Defense hats.
  • Leather Goggles
  • Eyepatch
    • The two above are +3 Defense hats.
  • Antler Hat
  • +4 Defense.
  • Santa Beard Hat
  • +5 Defense.

Legendary Items (from Various Events)

These are so difficult to find that they are rarely bought or sold at all. For our purposes, they are priceless.

  • Bottle of Sand
  • Unknown Item
    • Neither of these do anything (yet?).
  • Easter Egg
    • +100 HP (healing).
  • Bottle of Water
    • +250 HP (healing).

Final Thoughts

So you have completed your item collection and levelled as much as you care too. 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 somewhat of a 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. I've written a guide to help people get started doing that.

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. I've written another guide to help people host their own events, as well.

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 TMWServ, 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 Mapping page.

Doing all these things is easier when you are not working alone; indeed, bigger projects can be tackled much faster in groups. Although there is no integrated guild system in the client yet, players have started their own "unofficial" guilds. They all serve different purposes, but at least one (as of this writing) 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. --Sertraline 21:56, 14 February 2008 (CET)