Help Files
Guide
New Player's Guide
Welcome to Elara! This guide is for new players and covers the systems of Elara and how to navigate and play the game.
Connecting to the Game
Elara has two officially supported clients: our web client at https://elaramud.com/webclient and a Mudlet package. While you can use any MUD client to connect to the game, it is recommended that you use one of these options. When you connect using the web client or Mudlet, you will automatically get a custom GUI that has been designed specifically for Elara.
You can download Mudlet here:
https://www.mudlet.org
Accounts and Characters
To play the game, you must first create and login to an Account. Once you login, you can create and play Characters. This system keeps all your Characters organized under your Account.
Help System
The best place to get information about the game is using the Help System. Simply type help to get a list of all help topics. To get help on a specific topic, type help <topic>.
Channels
There are various channels within the game, but the most important one for starting out is the "New" channel. Simply type new <message> to communicate using this channel. Messages here are out-of-character and are intended for new players to ask questions about the game.
Your Character
Here are some important commands for viewing information on your character:
sheet - View your character sheet
skills - View your skills
spells - View your spells
levels - View your experience and character points per level
Exploring the World
Once you have a character and are in a room, typing look will show you the available exits out of that room. Typing the first letter of the exit name will send you in that direction (n,e,s,w,u,d).
You can also use the "minimap" that is available in the Elara GUI to see the layout of rooms near you. The @ symbol will show which room you are in and the map will automatically follow you as you move.
Outside of town, you may notice that the minimap doesn't immediately show your surrounding rooms. The wilderness requires that you explore those rooms first, and then they will be added to your minimap display.
Combat
Most of your experience and character progression will be earned through fighting and defeating various monsters in combat. When you enter a room, you may see a monster inside. If the monster is aggressive, it will attack you immediately. Otherwise, the option to start combat is left up to you. You can attack by typing: kill <target>. Be aware that monsters of similar types will "assist" each other, meaning that if you attack one goblin in the room, all the goblins in that room will attack you.
One of the most important concepts to understand in combat is room zones. Each room is divided into 3 segments known as zones. The 3 zones are referred to as the front, center, and back zones. The Room Zones window in the Mudlet and web client displays these zones with the front zone on top, the center zone in the middle, and the back zone on the bottom.
In preparation for combat, you can use the position command to set your default room zone as either "center" or "back". This will be the zone you start in when you enter a room. Note that you can't set your default zone to the forward zone since a hostile mob could intercept you prior to reaching that zone.
Once combat begins, you can move between zones using the "forward" and "back" commands. Be aware that by default, leaving a zone that is occupied by an enemy will incur an opportunity attack against you. If you are wielding a melee weapon, you must be in the same zone as your target in order to attack them. If you are wielding a ranged weapon, you can attack your target regardless of the zone they are in.
Many skills and spells interact with the room zones. A spell may only work in one zone and not another or perhaps it causes damage to an enemy when they move into a zone. It's a good idea to plan out your combat tactics based on how your abilities interact with the zones.
Healing and Recovery
In order to heal your HP and recover your mana, you will need to rest. Outside of combat, use the rest command to have your character rest for 10 rounds (30 seconds). The amount of HP and mana you gain each round is based on a variety of factors. Additionally you will recover much faster if you rest in safe zones such as within a town.
Death and Respawning
If you die in combat, you will immediately respawn at The Obelisk in the city. Your equipment and inventory stays with you so no need to retrieve it. Your HP and mana will be set at 1 so you will need to recover before heading out to adventure again.
Magic
Elara has a unique magic system that encourages cooperation and experimentation. Rather than learning spells directly, you learn elements. Based on your element level and your class, your list of available spells is dynamically created. Typing spells shows a list of all spells and which ones you have access to based on your element levels.
You can increase your element level through leveling up, but you can also increase it by grouping with others. Each character has a "native element" which is the element you selected during character creation. When you group with another player, you share part of this power with them and they gain a level in that element. Grouped characters need to be in the same room to gain this benefit. Based on your group composition and the native element of each character, you may gain access to different elements and spells.
Leveling Up
For each monster you defeat, you will gain experience. The amount of experience you gain is largely based on the level of the monster. You can look on your character sheet at your "TNL" (till next level) to see how much experience you need to level up.
When your character gains a level, several things happen:
- Your maximum HP increases (static amount based on your race and class)
- Your maximum mana increases (static amount based on your race and class)
- You gain character points that you can spend to improve your character
The 3 categories of character points are:
- Skill Points
- Element Points
- Attribute Points
Typing spend will show you your current points in each category. Type spend <category> <item to improve> in order to spend a point.
Companions
Traveling alone is dangerous, and so every player is afforded a companion that you summon from the Companion Portal in town. Once summoned, they will join your group, follow you, and assist in combat.
You can use the companion command (or co for short) to have your companion do many things such as get items, wear them, and even speak and act. Simply place 'co' in front of the normal command, such as co say Hello or co wear all.
A companion levels up with you and just like you can pick your skills, elements, and attributes, you can do this for your companion as well using co spend. If you want to change your companion's class, you can do this at the Companion Portal by using the morph command. This will also refund your companion points so you can spec them into the new class.
There are many more topics covered by the help files so feel free to browse them. You can also ask a friendly staff member for help or join the Discord (link at https://elaramud.com) Once again, welcome!