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Revision: 1.20
Committed: Tue Aug 26 00:14:55 2008 UTC (15 years, 10 months ago) by sf-asarth
Branch: MAIN
CVS Tags: rel-0_9975, rel-0_9976
Changes since 1.19: +18 -10 lines
Log Message:
added how to uncurse/undamn items section

File Contents

# Content
1 =head1 FAQ, Tips and Tricks
2
3 Here are some questions you might asked yourself over time.
4 Also some nice tips and tricks are listed here, which you may find informative.
5
6 =head2 Meta - About the Game and the Client
7
8 =head3 What is the relation between Deliantra and Crossfire?
9
10 Deliantra was originally a Crossfire server, but by now most of the code
11 has been rewritten. Still, most maps are very similar or identical to
12 Crossfire maps, so the games share a lot.
13
14 The major differences are a better client, better graphics, a stable
15 server (i.e. no crashes every few hours with players and maps getting
16 reset) and the ability to let more players play, by using less resources
17 and having a fully asynchronous design, and full support for sound effects
18 and background music.
19
20 =head3 The client is very sluggish and slow, what can I do about this?
21
22 Most likely, you don't have accelerated OpenGL support. Try to find a
23 newer driver, or a driver from your hardware vendor, that features OpenGL
24 support.
25
26 If this is not an option, the following Setup options reduce the load and
27 will likely make the client playable with software rendering (it will
28 still be slow, though):
29
30 =over 4
31
32 =item * B<Video Mode> should be set as low as possible (e.g. 640x480)
33
34 =item * Enable B<Fast & Ugly> mode
35
36 =item * Disable B<Fog of War> and C<Map Smoothing>
37
38 =item * Increase B<Map Scale>
39
40 =back
41
42 =head3 The client doesn't correctly react to keypresses or mouseclicks.
43
44 =over 4
45
46 =item Make sure Numlock is off.
47
48 Some Microsoft Windows versions/keyboard layouts do not report modifiers for the
49 numerical keypad keys while Numlock is active.
50
51 =item Make sure no other Modifier is "pressed".
52
53 Mircosoft Windows versions have some accessability features that could
54 interfere with games like Deliantra. You might want to switch these off in
55 the keyboard settings. Sometimes modifiers can be "unstuck" by pressing
56 them down once.
57
58 =item Fullscreen switches confuse the keyboard modifiers.
59
60 Fullscreen switches on Microsoft Windows sometimes confuse which keys are
61 pressed and which aren't. Doing another switch to/from fullscreen might
62 help.
63
64 =back
65
66 =head3 My client doesn't start anymore/graphics are corrupted!
67
68 Sometimes you hit a bug in the client. To reset the state of your client
69 you can delete your client database directory (your client will have to
70 re-download music and images and you will lose your minimap contents).
71
72 =over 4
73
74 To do that, on Unix:
75
76 rm -rf ~/.deliantra/client-*
77
78 On windows:
79
80 Do C<< Start => Run >>, enter F<%APPDATA%>, press return, and in the
81 window that will open, first open F<deliantra>, then delete the directory
82 starting with F<client->.
83
84 =back
85
86 Alternatively you can delete the F<.deliantra> or F<deliantra> directory
87 itself, but this will also delete your settings and keybindings.
88
89
90 =head2 Game Mechanics
91
92 =head3 I lose health, but I can't see why!
93
94 Here are the typical reasons why you lose health:
95
96 =over 4
97
98 =item * You are being attacked.
99
100 Sounds obvious, but sometimes you can't see the monster attacking
101 you. Check the C<Log> tab, as you usually get a message when this happens.
102
103 =item * You are out of food.
104
105 When your food reaches C<0> you will start to lose health. Eating (good)
106 food will replenish your food level.
107
108 =item * You are poisoned.
109
110 Poison will reduce your health. When your body heals fast enough it will
111 eventually get over the poison, otherwise you should seek professional
112 help such as the House of Healing in Scorn, or a player with the C<cure
113 poison> spell. It is rumored that neko san might sometimes cure poison.
114
115 =item * You have a disease.
116
117 Some diseases have such drastic effects on your organism that you can lose
118 health. Get help in the House of Healing in Scorn, or ask a player who can
119 cast C<cure disease> on you.
120
121 =item * Your stats change.
122
123 Switching items or being restored from depletion can affect your stats, which in turn can affect your healthpoints. While this is not a regular effect (it only happens when you change items or are restored from depletion), it can sometimes look as if you are losing health.
124
125 =back
126
127 =head3 I lost an item! How?
128
129 Well, we don't know. If you don't know, either, here is a partial list of ways people
130 typically lose stuff:
131
132 =over 4
133
134 =item You accidentally dropped it in a shop (or elswehere).
135
136 If in a shop, if it was money, you can just go there and pick it up again:
137 shops do not "buy" money. For other items you will have to buy it back.
138
139 =item Thieves or monsters stole your items.
140
141 Yes, thieves and many other monsters (such as demons) can actually steal
142 stuff. They can steal about anything that you don't currently wield, and
143 if they are good, you don't even notice it. Your only chance of getting
144 the item back is to kill the thief or steal the item back with the steal skill before the map he is in resets.
145
146 Many adventurers find that the old road to Navar harbours a lot of thieves
147 and is best avoided by the beginning adventurers.
148
149 =back
150
151 =head3 How do I uncurse/undamn items?
152
153 You need a spell to uncurse or undamn items, but luckily, magic shops commonly have scrolls of remove curse or remove damnation. In addition, all of the gods except the Devourers can remove curses, and Gnarg, Lythander, Mostrai, Gaea, and Valriel can remove damnation. Gaea also grants the remove damnation spell at 300 grace.
154
155 To actually remove the curse or damnation with a scroll, you need to L<mark> the item, and then L<apply> the scroll.
156
157 =back
158
159 =head3 How can I Prepare/Improve/Enchant Weapons?
160
161 This is done in two steps: first you have to I<prepare> your weapon
162 for the desired number of enchantments, then you apply the enchanments
163 (weapons remember how many times they can be enchanted further).
164
165 To prepare a weapon, wield it and L<mark> (e.g. using the popup menu in
166 the inventory) some diamonds, as a sacrifice, then read the I<Prepare
167 Weapon> scroll. The square root of the total number of diamonds sacrificed
168 this way determines the number of enchantments the weapon accepts: one
169 diamond for one enchanment, nine diamonds for three enchantments, 100
170 diamonds for ten enchantments and so on.
171
172 Remember, once you prepare the weapon, it can only be wielded by you.
173
174 After that, you can apply improvement and enchantnment scrolls:
175
176 =over 4
177
178 =item Improve Damage
179
180 Each scroll read will increase the damage by five points, and likewise the
181 weight by five kilograms.
182
183 =item Lower Weight
184
185 This "improves" the weight of your weapon: each scroll reduces the weight
186 by one fifth (20%). It will not, however, create weightless weapons.
187
188 =item Enchant Weapon
189
190 Each scroll read increases the magic by one point.
191
192 =item Improve Stat
193
194 This scroll improves one of the basic stat improvements (Strength,
195 Dexterity and so on). For this it needs a further sacrifice in form of
196 stat potions. The stat potions must be of the same type and will determine
197 which stat gets improved.
198
199 The number of stat potions you need to improve it is twice the number of
200 stat points the weapon currently gives, plus one (the minimum is two stat
201 potions, however). That is, a weapon which gives no stat bonus needs two
202 (C<0 × 2 + 1 = 1> which is less than two, so two) stat potion, one that
203 already gives I<Str +2> and I<Int +1> will need seven (C<3 × 2 + 1>) stat
204 potions. Negative stats are summed normally, so I<Str +4> and I<Int -2>
205 will result in needing five stat potions only (C<2 × 2 + 1>).
206
207 =back
208
209 Keep in mind, however, that your character can only handle a limited
210 number of weapon improvements, see the L<skills> command. Item power will
211 also increase.
212
213 =head3 How can I enchant Armour?
214
215 Enchanting armour is easy: each time you read an I<Enchant Armour> scroll,
216 the magic value will be increased by one, the speed, armour (physical
217 resistance) and weight are increased by some amount, as well as the item
218 power.
219
220 =head3 What is this item power business?
221
222 In general, the more interesting/powerful items have higher item power
223 values. Your character can handle only handle only a limited amount of power - for each overall level
224 you can handle C<1.25> item power points, so if you are level 16 you can handle a total of 20 item power points
225 (see the L<skills> command for your current limit and remaining item power points).
226
227 All the equipment you wear adds to this limit, so if you wield a weapon of
228 item power 30 plus two rings of item power 14 each you will need 58 item
229 power (and a level of 47).
230
231
232 =head2 Generic how do I...
233
234 =head3 How do I use range weapons such as bows?
235
236 First, you have to L<apply> the bow, then it will show up in the lower
237 right corner in the C<Range:> slot. If it is already shown as C<(applied)>
238 but not in the C<Range:> slot you have to unapply and reaply it.
239
240 When you have a bow (or similar weapons like guns or crossbows) applied,
241 you just shoot as with spells or other range attacks - C<Shift>+direction
242 key.
243
244 You need to have arrows (shells, bolts etc.) in your inventory or an
245 active container for this to work.
246
247 You can influence how you shoot via the L<Bow Mode|bowmode> in the C<<
248 Playerbook => Settings >> tab.
249
250 =head3 X<faq_igniteandthaw>How do I thaw icecubes? Or: How do I ignite a torch?
251
252 The right-click context menu in the playerbook inventory has an entry
253 B<ignite/thaw>, which will ignite something or thaw icecubes. You will
254 need a B<flint & steel> L<$ARCH/flint_and_steel.x11> for
255 this to work!
256
257 An alternative would be to use the L<mark|command/mark> and
258 L<apply|command/apply> commands like this:
259
260 mark icecube
261 apply flint and steel
262
263 You can bind these commands to a key and invoke them repeatedly.
264
265 =head3 How do I cast a cone spell all around me (burning hands, holy word etc.)?
266
267 Use the C<5>-key on your keypad. This will cats spells "onto yourself"
268 which has the desired effect with cone spells.
269
270
271 =head2 Playing Together
272
273 =head3 How can I communicate with other players?
274
275 There are five commands you can use to talk to others. All of them can
276 be entered by just typing them in, followed by the message, followed by
277 C<Return>, e.g. C<chat hey guys, what's up?>. If you have a I<tab> open
278 in your message window you can also just type a text in there followed
279 by C<Return> (this is especially handy as C<Return> also activates the
280 current chat tab as well).
281
282 =over 4
283
284 =item chat <message> (short: C<c>)
285
286 The most-used communications command. Whatever you I<chat> will end up
287 in the I<Chat> tab of everybody else who is currently logged in.
288
289 Example:
290
291 c uh, that anchovis almost killed me
292
293 =item shout <message>
294
295 This is like C<chat>, but "louder". Everybody will get your message in red
296 in their C<Chat> tabs. You should not use C<shout> unless you are in an
297 emergency or there is something really important to be said, otherwise you
298 risk being ignored by people.
299
300 Example:
301
302 sh I am stuck! can anybody let me out?
303
304 =item say <message> (short: C<s>)
305
306 This command can be used to talk to NPCs (without going through the NPC
307 dialogue window), but all players anywhere on the same map can hear you as
308 well.
309
310 Example:
311
312 s good that schmorp cnanot hera us here!
313
314 =item tell <playername> <message> (short: C<te>)
315
316 This is your prototypical two-way, private, chat channel. You can talk to
317 any other player that is currently logged in, and only he can hear you.
318
319 =item gsay <message> (short: C<gs>)
320
321 The group say command sends a message to every member of the party/group
322 you are in. This is useful when playing in a team, to avoid cluttering the
323 chat channel.
324
325 =back
326
327 In addition to these, there are a large number of emotes you can use, use
328 the L<help> command to get a list.
329
330 =head3 Can I form parties? Which benefits does party-play have?
331
332 You can form I<new> parties using the C<< party form <name> >> name
333 command, and you can join I<existing> parties using the C<< party join
334 <name> >> command. There are other party commands, use C<help party> to
335 find out more.
336
337 The main benefit of party-play is sharing experience: All experience you
338 gain is distributed to all party members accoridng to their level (people
339 with twice the level as you gain twice as much experience).
340
341 This is great for training skills you are bad in, but somebody else is
342 good in, and of course vice versa!
343
344
345 =head2 Magic
346
347 =head3 How can I summon a specific monster with C<summon pet monster>?
348
349 Higher levels of L<skill_description/summoning> give you access to higher
350 level monsters, but not all monsters have equal abilities. Instead of
351 summoning the highest level monster allowed by your level you can also
352 summon any other monster you had before by adding its I<archetype name>
353 after the command, i.e. to summon bees you would use the C<cast summon pet
354 monster bee> (short: C<cspm bee>) command.
355
356 Level Monster
357 1 bat
358 3 bird
359 4 spider
360 6 killer_bee
361 7 pixie
362 8 skeleton
363 9 stalker
364 11 devil
365 13 beholder
366 15 dark_elf
367 17 skull
368 20 angel
369 25 vampire
370 30 spectre
371 35 lich
372 40 demilich
373 50 hellhound
374 60 unusual_kobold
375 70 chicken
376 80 gr_hellhound
377 90 dave
378 100 laoch
379 105 snitchangel
380
381 =head2 Praying, Gods and Cults
382
383 =head3 X<how_tp_pray>How do I pray?
384
385 First enter the "praying mode" by readying your L<skill_description/praying> skill
386 (by default bound to C<Alt-P>, or by typing C<rspraying>), then hold and keep holding
387 C<Shift> and a direction key (e.g. C<Shift-Up>).
388
389 You will now pray as long as you keep pressing the keys.
390
391 =head3 How can I summon a specific monster with C<summon cult monster>?
392
393 You can't, your god selects the monsters for you.
394
395 =head3 How do I join a cult/become a follower of a god?
396
397 That is simple, just find an altar of a god of your choice and start
398 L<skill_description/praying>. Eventually, the god will recognize
399 you.
400
401 =head3 How do I change gods?
402
403 That is far more difficult: gods really hate it when you defect
404 them. Expect to lose a lot of L<skill_description/praying> experience in
405 the process.
406
407 First you should pray long enough to your god, until you gain 95%
408 resistance to god power. Then quickly go to the altar of your newly-chosen
409 god and pray on her/his altar. Your old god won't make it easy, but if you
410 are persistent your old god will let you go at one point.
411
412
413 =head2 Exploring / Quests
414
415 =head3 What areas are there to explore?
416
417 First, you should explore Scorn and find the port pass (and maybe also the
418 gate pass). Make sure you don't miss out the old city of scorn, many
419 a dangers, but also many treasures, can be found there.
420
421 When you finished most of the quests in Scorn you should investigate how
422 the pirates escape from the prison. This will lead to a number of nice
423 quests in and around Port Joseph.
424
425 Another nice series of quests, from low to medium level, can be found in
426 the King's Palace in Scorn. Who wouldn't want to meet the princess in
427 person?
428
429 The areas you can reach through the various transportation modes in Scorn
430 are Pupland (which has a lot of puzzles and quests from very low to very
431 high level), Stoneville and Santo Dominion (low and medium level quests,
432 also nice shops), and the Aldwulf Archipelago (which is more dangerous).
433
434 Through the gate you can reach Euthville and Santo Dominion to the north,
435 Brest (medium level) and Lake Country (medium to high level) to the south,
436 and Navar (medium level quests) in the east (a long travel).
437
438 From Navar you can travel to Darcap in the far north (medium level
439 quests), near the mystical country of Azumauindo, to Wolfsburg somewhere
440 on the ocean, a rather dangerous area with many thieves and pirates
441 (medium level quests) and Valleynoy to the south, with medium and high
442 level quests (did you find the southpole yet?).
443
444 Also, it is said that Navar somehow has access to the mystical City
445 de Clouds, the biggest city ever seen (high level and very high level
446 quests). There are rumors about lands beyond (St. Bartholemew and other
447 cities) and other even more mystical places, but little is known about
448 that.
449
450 =head2 Where is that damn Goblin Chief?
451
452 In his cave to the north-east of the Scorn Gate. It is the one that starts
453 with a random maze (yes, there are multiple caves). Keep in mind that the
454 Goblin Chief's Head is fastened to his body, so you have to find and kill
455 him first.
456
457 =head2 Where can I find the I<comet> spell?
458
459 In the tower of stars, which is almost directly south of Scorn (but not
460 too near to it). You have to talk to people to solve this quest, and it
461 does not involve a random maze.
462
463