A Dozen Hints for Newbies
From NexusWiki
[edit] A Dozen Things to Know and Do to Get the Most Out Of Nexus War.
1. You will die. A lot.
It's been said elsewhere, but it bears repeating. Fortunately, the lower level you are, the cheaper it is to respawn. Dying is just part of life in the Nexus, so don't worry too much when you do get killed.
2. The NexusWar UberMap Rules.
Perhaps the single most useful thing anyone ever did for the playerbase was to make an all-in-one Nexus War UberMap available on the internet. This map shows all the planes, their important features, and a few of the biggest factions.
Further information about the Nexal places, what can be found where, map keys, and so forth, can be found on the Maps page of this wiki.
3. Stuff breaks.
The main problem with dying is breaking your stuff. Craftable weapons (swords, knives, bows, guns), armour, books, chalk, food, and enchantments all break. Weapons and armour wear down in stages; other items just get broken. Ways to deal include:
- Hide in your faction stronghold every time you log out.
- Join a faction with several crafters and a good-sized safe.
- Alternately, learn the crafting tree for your own preferred weapons.
- Use books, food, and other consumables as you find them.
- Use "Improvised" weapons, as they never break.
- Use the HTH (hand-to-hand) combat tree. (But only if you like slow grinds, because HTH damage is pitifully inefficient and if you're not going for a touch-based tier-3 class (esp. demons and touch-spell wizards), it's not worth buying.)
4. The faction safe is your friend.
You may be asked to sign up for forums or be in a faction for a particular length of time before you can gain access to the safe. It's worth it. Safes can hold thousands of items, and the ones belonging to large, old factions (or factions of dedicated pack rats) can have an awful lot of juicy stuff in them. It is expected that you will put things in if you take other things out.
5. Armor can save your butt.
Protective items don't stack, but multiple armours can cover each others' holes. Rings or bracers of protection can add soak for types of damage your armour doesn't cover.
For complete information on which kinds of armour protect against what damage, and what damage spells and magic weapons do, check the wiki page Grand Unified Weapons Armor and Spell Table.
6. You don't get take-backs, but you can get a do-over.
If you bought the wrong skill or changed your mind about what path you want your character to follow, you can't trade in what you've already done and change it. You can, however, trade in the entire character and start afresh. Lots of people do it for one reason or another - to fix a build, to try a different class, to change concepts altogether. And remember, you've got three character slots to work with, and can buy more, so you've got plenty of room to experiment. During the first week of their account, new players' characters start with 250 Action Points. Use your first week to make a character, spend all your action points, delete the character, and start a new one. Do this several times on your very first day of playing! Try out all the different Mortal Skills to see which work best for you. You aren't locked in forever by your first choices. Relax and have fun.
7. Join a faction.
NexusWar is all about factions. Factional politics shape the game. Being in a faction will give you a stronghold to sleep in, access to a safe, factionmates to stand by your side, instant friends (and enemies), and a lot more. If you don't like the first faction you try, look around and ask advice about ones that might be a better fit.
8. Learn your faction's rules and ways.
Each faction has its own ways of doing things. Actions which might be perfectly acceptable in one faction are taboo in another, so it's a good idea to:
- Read your faction's wiki page
- Sign up on your faction's forums, and read any newbie guides there
- Watch the old-timers and ask questions if unsure.
9. Participate!
Go on faction raids - or join a strike team in a large faction - if you've got a fighting character. Raids help your faction and they're a great way to get combat experience and XP. Sure, you'll often die as a raider. So what? (See point 1) There's nothing sweeter than helping to crack an enemy ward and clear the stronghold. Remember that mortals (level 1-9 characters) get double damage against stronghold wards so even if you're not yet a super soldier you can still be a big help.
Not a fighter? Craft, search for components, heal wounded (hint: joining a faction with a lot of sorcerers or liches is a great way to level up by healing), restore power, mend doors, and meatshield (i.e., stay in the SH while recovering AP so that raiders have to spend the AP killing you if they want the flag).
10. Get involved in the meta-game.
The game is about factions, but the meta-game is where the factions really interact. The best places to go to get involved in the meta-game are the Nexus War IRC server (irc.nexuswar.com) and the NW forums, followed closely by your faction forums. Forum posts about special events, Firefox add-ons, faction propaganda, and Nexus News keep you in touch with what's happening, while IRC is where raids are coordinated, alerts are calling, information passed, and acquaintances are made.
11. Remember the person.
Don't persecute individual characters; don't grief unreasonably; don't flame. Remember that every character you meet has a player behind them; there are no NPCs in Nexus War. (Okay - except the dragon and other monsters. But it is impossible to persecute the dragon.) Likewise, don't indulge in hateful language toward other characters/players. Playing a nasty, evil demon ripping out an angel's heart is all very well, but don't direct your spite towards the player of that character.
12. Keep your dudes apart.
If you've never played this kind of game before, it may not be intuitive, so it bears repeating: keep your characters separate. They don't know each other; should not cooperate to help or harm, trade with each other, or pass information. If you have a character in faction X and hear they are going to raid faction Y, you absolutely don't in any way let on to the folks in faction Y that the raid is coming. Nor do you have your character in faction Y alert and ready to defend against the raid - they have no way of knowing the raid is coming! The only acceptable actions when one of your factions is raiding another are to 1. do nothing with both characters or 2. raid with the raiding faction and silently move the defending character off to another square.
See the wiki page on Multi_Abuse for further explanations of this rule and the important concept of "Theatre of Battle" in Nexus War.
Related pages: New Player Guide -- Nexus for Newbies -- Classes For Newbies -- FAQ -- Tips
