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NetHack/Beginning

This visual tour introduces one to ../. This chapter describes the beginning keys and dungeon exploration. More advanced combat will be at ../Combat/.

NetHack can be difficult to play at first because
 * there are several keys to learn
 * the graphics are drawn with ASCII characters
 * the various types of items are unfamiliar

NetHack makes this easier by providing graphical user interfaces in environments like x11 and Microsoft Windows. This tutorial will instead describe the tty (terminal) port. This port uses only ASCII characters and runs on a terminal, such as a Unix or DOS console or a telnet client. By learning the "tty" port, one can play on public telnet servers (like nethack.alt.org). One will also start recognising the ASCII letters of each monster (useful for reading Dudley's dungeon webcomic).

This tutorial will introduce the controls for the "tty" player as an example player explores the first two levels of the dungeon.

Configuring NetHack
The configuration used in the screenshots below is: OPTIONS=!autopickup,autodig OPTIONS=color,hilite_pet,lit_corridor,DECgraphics,boulder:8 OPTIONS=showexp,showscore,time,msg_window:f OPTIONS=fruit:salad,catname:Morris,dogname:Fido OPTIONS=race:elf,disclose:+i+a+v+g+c

In particular, note the use of "color" and "DECgraphics" to enhance the graphics. Boulders will appear as 8, which is easier to see than `, the default for boulders.

These options are stored in ~/.nethackrc on your Unix machine, or defaults.nh on your Windows machine. See the Nethack Manpage for more information.

Starting NetHack
When one starts NetHack, one of two things happens:
 * the saved game loads itself, or
 * you are prompted for a new character

This is a new game. By default, the prompt lets you pick race, role, and gender. The example configuration uses "race:elf", so elf is assumed as the race:

Press [y] to let the game pick randomly or press [n] to use menus to pick. (Press [q] to quit NetHack.) After choosing the character, the game introduces the plot:

The game now stops at a --More-- prompt. This prompt gives the player time to read some text before NetHack decides to show additional text or return to the map. When you see this prompt, read (or skip) the text, then press space bar to proceed.

After proceeding from the plot introduction, the game shows the map for the first time. This is a map of dungeon level 1:

There are some things to notice about this screen:
 * In NetHack, you and the other characters are literally characters. The @ with a cursor on it is you, the player.
 * The d is a pet little dog. The d is highlighted because "hilite_pet" is on the configuration.
 * You might start with a cat f or horse u instead. (Remember, "f" means feline and "u" means unicorn. Whoever added horses to this game thought that they were similar enough to unicorns to use "u".)
 * Most of the screen is blank. The player has not explored most of this dungeon level.
 * One room is visible. We can see the entire room because it is lit with dots . showing the entire room. (This dungeon contains many lit, rectangular rooms!)
 * Because we have "DECgraphics", the wall looks like a box instead of hyphens - and pipes |. The wall contains closed doors + and a doorway . without a door. We cannot see past the doorway because it is not lit.
 * If you start your own game, the room will look different. That is because NetHack randomly generates the dungeon each time. The room in the example does not contain items, but does have a fountain { east of the player.

Moving Around
Learn the eight moving keys so we can move the @ around to explore the dungeon. These keys consist of four "vi" keys for moving in four directions (up, down, left, right), and four "diagonal" keys for diagonal movement.

vi keys
The four vi keys are [h], [j], [k], [l]. These keys originate from the "vi" editor. This text originates from Learning vi:Basic tasks.

We can move our NetHack @ character around the dungeon by using the [h], [j], [k], and [l] keys. Note: your arrow keys may be set up to work (especially on DOS), and you can use them if you like, but for proficiency, you should learn to use the letter keys. Many copies of NetHack, especially on Unix, do not have working arrow keys.

 * The [h] key moves you left.
 * The [j] key moves you down.
 * The [k] key moves you up.
 * The [l] key moves you right.

If you have trouble remembering this, keep in mind that [h] is leftmost, the letter [j] goes down below the line, the letter [k] pokes up above the line, and the [l] key is rightmost. (J also resembles an arrow pointing downward, if you squint a bit.)

Diagonal keys
The four diagonal keys are [y], [u], [b], [n]. These keys are not from vi. Look at their position on the keyboard to see how they work. The upper-left key "y" moves up and left, et cetera.

New players might prefer to use only the vi keys. The diagonal keys are necessary when fighting monsters and for moving faster on diagonal paths.

Numeric keypad
If you enable the "number_pad" option, you can use the numeric keypad to move.

Exploring a Dungeon Path
Continuing with the example game, the player starts moving around in the room and.

To open a door, press o for the open command. At the prompt, In which direction? because this door is to the left, press h for left to open the door:

The player now uses h, y, and k to travel along the path. The player encounters some intersections but continues to travel northwest:

In the darkness of the above corridor, the player can see ahead by only one square, but the player memorises the location of all discovered corridors and rooms.

The player. Remember that every dungeon is randomly generated, so when you play NetHack, you will not find the room in the same place. After the example player enters the room, the pet dog follows the player into the room:

The player opens another door and a. On entering the room, the player discovers a potion ! that is the first item that this player finds:

Because the dungeon is random, the items are randomly placed. If you are lucky, then you find good items early in the dungeon.

Taking an Item
At first, we only know that there is a potion. (Because option "color" is on, the potion looks red.) The player can discover which object this is by walking to its square.

In this case, we discover that there are two items on one square:

The player presses [SPACE] to dismiss the --More-- prompt, and then grabs the items. To pick up an item from the dungeon floor, press [,] (comma). A comma looks vaguely as if it is pointing to the ground. (If option "autopickup" is on, then the player takes the items without pressing comma.)

Normally, pressing comma takes the item. In this case, NetHack wants to know whether to take one item or both. It presents a menu:

This is a typical menu. We can press [a] or [b] on the keyboard to. Though some menus disappear after the selection of one item, this menu allows for the selection of multiple items. Thus, the player presses [SPACE] again to dismiss the menu.

When the menu is dismissed, we pick up the items:

We add both the potion and the money to the "inventory". The inventory (which one can view by pressing [i] for inventory) is the list of all items that this player carries. The 10 gold pieces are added to the "purse". Notice the "$:10" in the bottom line; it shows how much money this player has. The text "g - a puce potion" indicates that this potion was placed at inventory letter "g". When we want to use or drop items, our potion will be listed at "g" in the NetHack menus.

What does a "puce potion" do? This player does not know. Pressing [q] (quaff command) then [g] (inventory letter) to quaff (drink) our potion might show us, but this player chooses to keep the potion.

Handling locked doors
Next, the player. Obviously, only trying to open the door will not work.

The game documentation mentions the kick command ^D, which means to hold [Control] and press [D]. It says that "D" means door. Does that mean that we can kick doors?

So the player presses ^D and then [l] to kick the door to the right. The player kicks the door again and again, and succeeds:

When you need to pass a locked door to continue exploring the dungeon, remember to use the ^D command to destroy the door. (If you are using the "number_pad" option, you can also use the k key to kick. In the future, you might learn other ways of handling locked doors.)

Searching for secret paths
Using [l], [n], and [j], the player explores the path,. The player presses [s] (the search command) repeatedly to search for a continuation, but. So the player turns back and moves upward.

At one point Fido, the pet dog, blocks the path. The message means that the pet moved away when you tried to move to the pet's square.

Sometimes you can hear "sound" in NetHack. This does not involve your computer speakers; it is a message that the player heard something:

This path has also ended. The player presses [s] repeatedly to search. (Warning: Do not hold down the [s] key or any key in NetHack. You might not be able to release it before a monster attacks and kills your character.) We find a door:

Using [o] (open command) [h] (left direction) the player opens the door. but.

Though in this case there was no necessity in open this door, remember to use [s] to find such doors when you can find no other paths to continue.

Boulders
The appearance of a boulder depends on the "boulder" option. By default it is `, but for this game it was set to 8.

A blocks the path of the player. The player is able to right using [l]. Note that pressing [l] normally moves the character right, and because a boulder is blocking the path, the player tries to push the boulder right when moving right.

(The player is pushing the boulder into an unknown path. It is better to push it into an already-explored path, so that the player knows that the boulder will not permanently block something.)

The following is a good position for a boulder:

Notice that the player can now pass around the boulder by pressing [u] (diagonal up-right movement) or [n] (diagonal down-right movement). This is one of those situations where knowing the four diagonal keys (y,u,b,n) instead of using only the vi keys (h,j,k,l) is important.

Armor, gold, gem, light
Now, the player, (finding Fido, the pet dog), , , and discovers a. After opening the door, the map looks like this:

The player steps in and sees two items:

The [ represents armor. Walking to it shows that it is a pair of fencing gloves. The player presses [,] (comma) and takes it. The game assigns inventory letter "h":

The <tt>$</tt> represents gold. In this case, the player for "$:51" total.

Now the player proceeds out the door and discovers another room. Note that from outside the room, only some parts of the lit room are visible:

The other parts of the room cannot be seen because the player is looking from the wrong angle. When the player steps in, more of the room is revealed. Stepping in reveals a <tt>*</tt> representing a gem:

The player and  (finding Fido, the pet dog). After a walk left, up, right, and down, the player. ("You hear the splashing of a naiad.")

Continuing, the player. Again, the player can at first only see part of the room:

But there is a surprise when we step in...

Identifying a character on the screen
This player has encountered a colon <tt>:</tt> on the screen. The staircase to the second dungeon level <tt>></tt> is visible, but how do we handle the colon?

We are now interested in two keys on the keyboard.
 * The colon [:] key (hold [SHIFT] and press [;] on many keyboards), which looks like a pair of eyes, is used to look at the contents of the current square. (Do not confuse the colon key with the colon <tt>:</tt> currently visible on the screen.)
 * The semicolon [;] key looks at another square. It also looks like a pair of eyes, except one of the eyes is squinting toward a more distant object.

Because the colon <tt>:</tt> is on a different square than our player, we need to use the semicolon [;] key, not the colon [:] key.

Pressing [;] makes a "Pick an object." prompt. To pick an object, you move with the (h,j,k,l) and (y,u,b,n) keys as normal, except that this moves the cursor without moving the player <tt>@</tt>.

Here is the result of pressing [;] and then pressing [y] to move the cursor to the colon:

Now, with the cursor over the colon <tt>:</tt> on the screen, press the colon [:] key now to look at that square. (In the "Pick an object." mode, one can use one eye [.] to take a brief look, or both eyes [:] to take a look that involves reading more text, if available.)

We learn that the colon <tt>:</tt> at the screen is "a lizard (newt)":

Note the --More-- prompt, which appears because we pressed colon [:] to ask for more information if it was available. Pressing [SPACE] advances us beyond the prompt. We then read the NetHack "database" entry for newts:

As this is another --More-- prompt, the player finishes reading and presses [SPACE].

First combat
The dungeon contains many monsters which try to kill the player. A monster is normally represented by a letter <tt>A-Z</tt> or <tt>a-z</tt>, but there are other monsters such as apostrophes <tt>'</tt>, semicolons <tt>;</tt>, and colons <tt>:</tt> including this newt.

Some monsters are peaceful; NetHack not only identifies them as such when you look at them with the colon [:] key, but also warns you if you try to attack them in melee.

Ouch
Yet this newt is apparently not peaceful. When the example player pressed [k] and move upward, the newt responded with an attack:

Notice the meter for health points, it reads "HP:12(14)". This means that the player is hurt; from 14 points possible, this player has only 12. Should this number reach 0, our player dies.

This player has options, including the obvious ones:
 * Fight the newt
 * Flee from the newt

Attack
The player attempts to fight. To fight a monster in melee, one simply presses the key to move to the square of the monster. Because the monster is blocking that square, NetHack interprets the key as an instruction to attack the monster.

 * Pressing [h] can move the player left, push a boulder left, or attack the monster at the left. In "Pick an object." mode (after pressing [;]), pressing [h] moves the cursor left for picking an object.

So the player presses [h] to attack the newt:

That was easy! This newt died after only one hit! (Note that there are other monsters which are more difficult to handle...)

Versus a lichen
Now consider this situation, later in the example game. The player has explored some more areas, moved some boulders so that they do not block a path. In NetHack, every player gradually heals, so after this exploration the player is again at "HP:14(14)" instead of "HP:12(14)", despite the earlier damage from the newt.

Then the player encounters a letter <tt>F</tt>. This monster is a lichen:

This lichen seems weak. It only "touches", and the HP meter still reads "HP:14(14)". Again, this time the player fights by pressing [h]:

"You miss the lichen." In NetHack, an attack sometimes fails to succeed. However the lichen was too slow to respond, and the player has another turn to attack, pressing [h]:

"You kill the lichen!" This is another weak monster, dead after one hit.

The next dungeon level
Now that we explored the first dungeon level ("Dlvl:1") and found the stairway <tt>></tt> down, it is time to proceed to the next lower dungeon level and explore. The player <tt>@</tt> and pet dog <tt>d</tt> approach the stairway:

The one thing to remember is to not leave the pet dog (or cat, or other pets that you might have as a beginning player) on this floor! Pets are useful (though these pages have avoided spoiling how pets can help the player). So find your pet before using the stairway, as this player has done here.

Now move to the stairway:

(The downward stairway <tt>></tt> is now not visible, because it is on the same square as the player <tt>@</tt>.)

The pet must be on any of the eight adjacent squares. (If not, press [.] to wait for the pet to come, or press [s] to both wait and search. Press the key repeatedly and carefully without holding it down; one extra key press could move away the pet that came.)

Now, the key to activate a stairway downward <tt>></tt> is conveniently [>], the key with the same symbol as the stairway on screen. (On many keyboards, one types [>] by holding [SHIFT] and pressing [.].)

The player appears on the second floor:

Stepping off the stairway (toward the gold which this player wants) reveals that it is an upward stairway <tt><</tt> because we are now at the bottom of the stairway. One can use this stairway to return upward. The only difference is to use the [<] key to use this stairway.

(If you ever find the Amulet of Yendor, return to the top of the dungeon using these stairways, then use the stairway <tt><</tt> on "Dlvl:1" to exit the dungeon. But if you use that stairway to exit the dungeon before you find the Amulet of Yendor, then you end your game early.)

The inventory
Now to press [i] and see the items. It is good at the beginning of every game to look at our items, but beginning players somtimes forget this. Here is the inventory of the example player:

This lists every item carried by the player. (There is also the gold "$:51" in the purse.) This includes "g", the puce potion, "h", the gloves, and "i", the gems, that we found earlier.

It also includes all of the items that is player started with. Notice that the player is wearing an "elven cloak". An "elven dagger" is marked as the "weapon in hand". This means that the player is wielding the dagger and using it in melee.

Wondered what this player was using to attack that newt and that lichen? The player was exclusively using this dagger to hit them. (A player without a weapon can attempt to fight with bare hands.)

A corpse
After collecting some gold, the player. This player decides to engage the sewer rat r. (The player can use [;] again to identify the sewer rat.)

The sewer rat ; on the next turn the player presses [l] to fight but. In another turn, the sewer rat dies:

It left a percent sign <tt>%</tt>, which normally refers to a comestible, something one can try to eat. Yes, it is. A player on the same square as a corpse can press [e] to try to eat it:

This is a simple [ynq] menu in NetHack.
 * Press [y] for yes, eat the corpse.
 * Press [n] for no. In this case, NetHack does what [e] normally does when there is no corpse on the square; it presents a menu asking for an inventory item to eat. It is possible at said menu to press [f] which is the inventory letter of the lembas wafers of this player.
 * Press [q] to quit this command if you want not to eat now.

The player decides to eat the corpse.

But when the grid bugs <tt>x</tt> make threatening moves toward the player:

This player chooses to ignore the grid bugs and continue eating the corpse. (In some cases, this player might have wanted to try immediately to flee.) To continue eating the corpse, the player the same [e] command.

Using an item from the inventory
Up to now, this player has not used any item from the inventory, other than the dagger already wielded and the cloak already worn. Often, item use is not early in the game; for example this player has not yet decided about that puce potion.

There are several commands to use items, here are some:
 * [d] to drop an item (so the player can use [,] to grab it again)
 * [D] to Drop many items
 * [w] to wield a weapon
 * [W] to Wear armor
 * [T] to Take off armor

There are other commands, like [q] to quaff a potion; press [?] to read the NetHack help screens which provide a full list.

This player decides to wear those gloves. Thus the player presses [W] which makes a menu:

The menu options "[h or ?*]" mean that this player can press one of the following keys:
 * [h] to Wear item "h" (the gloves)
 * [?] to see a list of armor from the inventory
 * [*] to see the inventory (trying to wear something unusual?)

The player presses [h] to wear the gloves. A press of [i] to look at the inventory.

Saving the game
This is the end of the beginning tutorial, which introduces the controls for the tty port of NetHack. There are two more keys we will mention:

 * [S] to save the game
 * [#] for extended commands (type "quit" [RETURN] to quit the game)

The [S] feature to save the game is important. A player can save almost anywhere in the game whenever a break from NetHack is necessary. The "#quit" feature, in contrast, should only be used to cowardly give up on the game; it announces your score and prevents you from continuing that game.

The example player now presses [S] to save the game:

With a [y], the game is saved. At the next time when the player starts NetHack (as the same user on the same computer), the game will continue from this point, with the player <tt>@</tt> in the second dungeon level "Dlvl:2" wearing the gloves.

title: NetHack/Beginning


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NetHack/Combat

This will be a visual guide to combat in NetHack:
 * how to wield a weapon (press [w] and pick from the inventory)
 * how to enhance skills with weapons (NetHack gives you a message; #enhance your skill; mention the upper limit to enhancement, but do not spoil it)
 * how to throw objects (press [t], pick an object, use hjklyubn for the direction; you can throw potions, rocks, and miscellaneous items; you can press [Q] to "quiver" and item and throw it with [f])
 * how to wield a ranged weapon and fire ammunition (wield bow or sling; optionally put ammo in quiver; throw or fire ammo while wielding the weapon; pick up and recycle ammo)

This is similar in scope to the NetHack Guidebook, but with screenshots.

Ammo test: If you are wielding the correct weapon, you can throw the ammo farther. This is a "spoiler" to anyone who does not know that a bow shoots an arrow farther than your hand.

Also, the fact that there are only eight directions to throw implies that you or a monster can avoid ranged attacks by not being in any of the eight paths. For example, you @ and the kobold k cannot hit each other with spears or arrows:

@.. ..k

TODO:
 * Make and upload NetHack screenshots.

license: Creative Commons - Attribution Share-Alike - https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/

title: NetHack/Combat


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NetHack/Choosing Role and Race

What type of character to play?

If you are a beginner, it is much easier to stay alive as a big dumb warrior (such as a Barbarian, Valkyrie or Samurai) than as a highly intelligent but physically weak magic user (such as a Wizard or Healer). Race is not as significant as class, although Elves have very low limits on their strength and constitution, so are not recommended to beginners. Alignment (whether you are lawful, neutral or chaotic) is also not too important; its main effect is on the artifact weapons you can obtain by sacrificing to your deity.

Lawful Human Valkyrie is an excellent combination for several reasons. Valkyries start with a highly enchanted small shield which can remain part of their armour for a long time. They also start with a good weapon, and if they are lawful they can dip it in a fountain to convert it into Excalibur. (The Lady of the Lake does not insist that you are a Knight, but she gets annoyed if neutral or chaotic characters try this trick.) Another excellent weapon, Mjollnir, is their guaranteed first gift from sacrificing. The Valkyrie's quest artifact is the Orb of Fate, which halves any damage they take, making it well worth lugging it around despite its weight.

The advantage of a Human Valkyrie over a Dwarven Valkyrie is that all inhabitants of the Gnomish Mines will be friendly to the dwarf but not necessarily to the human. Some see this as a disadvantage, but nothing in the Mines is particularly deadly. Killing the inhabitants is not advisable if they are peaceful, because your god will not approve, but is a useful source of food, experience and equipment if they are hostile.

A few other classes have special features which may help you to learn about the game:

 * Barbarians have poison resistance, meaning that you can eat (almost) anything and learn which corpses are poisonous.
 * Priests can detect whether items are blessed, uncursed or cursed, which helps with discovering the effect of blessing or cursing items.
 * Wizards start with several magic items - useful for exploring what items exist in the game and what they do.
 * Healers start with a stethoscope, which is handy for checking the state of health of a monster. Note, though, that Healer is one of the most difficult classes.

title: NetHack/Choosing Role and Race


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NetHack/Staying Alive

NetHack is not Quake.

Always remember that NetHack is a turn-based game. You have as long as you need to consider your options, even in the heat of combat. In fact, when you find yourself in a sticky situation, it is wise to walk away from the keyboard while you think about what to do next. You could even save your game and consult the spoilers or the [news:rec.games.roguelike.nethack NetHack newsgroup].

The better part of valor is discretion.

In NetHack, there are no prizes for dying with honour. When a monster is giving you a hard time, it is seldom wise to take one last swing at it in the hope that it will die. It is much better to escape from the situation and return when you are more able to handle it. One reason why experienced players are fond of speed boots is that they enable you to run faster than most monsters.

Running is not the only way of escaping a dangerous situation. It's a good idea to carry a scroll or wand of teleportation for emergencies. Most monsters won't follow you up or down stairs, though a few will. If you have a wand of digging, you can use it to dig a hole through the floor, though again, some monsters will follow you. A cursed potion of gain level will cause you to rise up through the ceiling.

If you can't (or don't want to) flee, you could try to heal yourself. Prayer is effective if you are in reasonable standing with your deity, you haven't pestered them for help too recently, and they recognise that you are in need of healing. Their definition of "in need of healing" is either 5 HP or less, or 1/7 or less of your maximum HP. If you don't meet this definition, try some other means of healing, such as spells or potions.

An alternative survival strategy is to inscribe the word "Elbereth" on the ground. This prevents most non-human monsters from attacking you hand-to-hand, though they can still use ranged weapons, wands and spells. You can scribble "Elbereth" in the dust with your fingers, but then it is easy to erode, so it is better to engrave it with a wand of digging, and even better to burn it with a wand of fire or lightning. For full details on how Elbereth works, see Kate Nepveu's Elbereth FAQ.

If none of the above applies, and you feel you have to keep fighting, bring out the magic items or spells rather than hacking away with your weapon. Rays bounce, so take care to avoid being killed on the rebound, for example by choosing a wand to which you are already resistant.

Sometimes an indirect approach is best.

Walking right up to a monster and whacking it with your melee weapon is not always the best approach. Some monsters, such as mumakil, hit hard but are slow enough that you should be able to keep your distance and kill them with ranged attacks. Others, such as floating eyes, are totally harmless until you hit them in melee, but have a nasty counterattack (in this case, they paralyse you with their gaze, leaving you vulnerable to any newt that may appear). Pay attention to monsters that it is unwise to attack in melee, and think about alternative strategies for handling them. If you don't have a good ranged attack (like a bow and arrows or a powerful wand or spell), then throw junk weapons, or even rocks.

Newbie mistakes to avoid
Do not savescum, reroll, or use similar dodgy tactics.

Savescumming is the practice of making backup copies of your save files and restoring them when you die. Since this involves going behind the game's back, it is universally regarded as cheating. No-one will be at all impressed if you ascend by savescumming, especially not if you try to pretend that it was a genuine ascension.

Some people savescum in order to learn the game. This is harmless provided that you do not boast about savescummed games as if they were genuine and that you play on a single-user machine (you won't be able to savescum on a multi-user machine anyway). Even so, explore mode is a better option because it does not clutter up the high score table with scores obtained by cheating.

Savescumming and explore mode are generally considered to be a less effective way of learning than playing the game properly. When you can refuse to die, or save your game before a difficult encounter and restore it if you get killed, it is tempting to just keep trying the same strategy until you happen to survive, rather than thinking about ways to improve your chances.

Incidentally, it should not be necessary to back up save files as protection against your computer crashing. NetHack comes with a "recover" command for restoring crashed games.

Rerolling means that if you don't like the stats or items which your character starts with, you immediately quit and try again. Although this is a legitimate part of some other games (for example Angband) it is generally considered to be abusive in NetHack. Like savescumming (though to a lesser extent) rerolling is an ineffective way to learn the game - the ability to keep weak characters alive and to make do with the equipment you find is an important part of being a skilled NetHacker.

Many players who do not savescum or reroll will deliberately play in a risky manner in the early game, because you haven't lost much time if a beginning character dies. For example, they might drink from fountains hoping for a grateful water demon to grant them a wish, even though there is an 80% chance that any water demon they get will be hostile and will kill them. This is not considered as bad as savescumming or rerolling, but is still frowned upon by many NetHackers, who feel that you should try your best to ascend each character. Also, when you play this way you miss out on the valuable experience of struggling to keep a marginally viable character alive for as long as possible.

Do not attack peaceful monsters.

Some monsters will be described as "peaceful" when you look at them, and you will be asked to confirm any attempts to attack them. It is generally a good idea to leave them alone, for two reasons. One is that the gods disapprove of killing peacefuls, and will exact an alignment penalty, along with more severe penalties for killing a peaceful human (unless you are chaotic) or a unicorn of your own alignment. More details of the penalties for killing peaceful monsters can be found on this page of myths and facts about NetHack. Note, though, that there is absolutely no penalty for allowing your pets to attack peaceful monsters, or even for healing them as they do. Nor will the monsters retaliate against you for your pets' actions.

The other reason to leave peaceful monsters alone is that many of them are much stronger than you. In particular, tangling with a priest or shopkeeper is likely to lead to your death. (You can use a stethoscope to check how strong a monster is.)

Only pray if you have good reason to.

Some newbies feel that they "ought" to pray on a regular basis in order to keep in touch with their god. In fact, prayer in NetHack is always pestering the gods for help, never praising or thanking them. Hence your god does not mind in the least if you never pray, but does object if you pray too often. Once you get a negative response to a prayer, you will almost always be unable to pray until you have placated the angry deity with a suitable sacrifice.

However, prayer can save your life in an emergency. Just remember that your god's definition of an emergency may not be the same as yours. Wounds aren't an emergency until you are either at 5 HP or less or at 1/7 max HP or less, and hunger isn't an emergency until you are weak from hunger. The praying spoiler gives much more detail about prayer.

Eat only fresh corpses.

Most corpses are safe to eat when fresh, though some are poisonous (see the Food section later for specific corpses which are particularly good or bad to eat). Old corpses, though, will make you fatally ill (and have no nutritional value either). There are a few ways to cure this deadly food poisoning, but it's best to avoid it, by not eating anything that you didn't kill yourself or see die. Since zombies and mummies are created by magically animating an old and rotting corpse, undead corpses are never safe to eat.

Don't eat while satiated.

If you eat while satiated, there is a risk of choking over your food and immediately dying. Eating once you have reached the point of satiety at which the game tells you "you're having a hard time getting all of it down" is particularly dangerous. Experienced players may be able to tell when they can safely eat despite being satiated, but it is safest for novices not to try it. An amulet of magical breathing will eliminate the risk of choking, and a tinning kit or an ice box will keep food fresh for later.

(As long as you are not satiated when you start eating, you should always be permitted to finish your meal. However, owing to a bug this may not apply if you save the game in the middle of a meal.  At least one character has died from this.)

title: NetHack/Staying Alive


text:
NetHack/Tactics with Items

This page answers:
 * Which food is good to eat?
 * How does one use the scroll of genocide?
 * What is an Ascension Kit?

Food
Eat these corpses:
 * wraith (level up)
 * giant (strength up)
 * mind flayer (intelligence up or gain the telepathy intrinsic)
 * floating eye (you get the telepathy intrinsic)
 * quantum mechanic (you get the speed intrinsic if you don't already have it, but lose it if you do)
 * blobs, jellies, fungi (F), gelatinous cubes and puddings (often hurts you a little, but a good way to gain intrinsics if you are observing vegan/vegetarian conduct. black puddings are not vegetarian. don't eat yellow fungi unless you can unhallucinate yourself.)
 * lizard (if needed; cures stoning, lowers stun + confusion to two rounds, will not rot)
 * unicorn (only eat unicorns that are not of your alignment, you can gain poison resistance, and help your alignment. these are also very good for sacrificing as well.)
 * dragon (gain intrinsics that that dragon has, so red dragons give fire resistance, black dragons give disintegration resistance, green dragons give poison resistance, etc)

Don't eat these corpses:
 * kobolds (sickens you, okay for any character who is poison resistant like orcs, barbarians)
 * bats and stalkers (stuns you for a while)
 * mimics (you can't move for a while)
 * cockatrice, chickatrice, Death, Famine, Pestilence (you die)
 * green slimes (slimes you)
 * your own race (cannibalism gives you the aggravate monster intrinsic unless you're a caveman or orc)
 * cats and dogs (gods don't like it, okay if you're a caveman or orc)
 * werecreatures (you become one, considered cannibalism for humans)
 * leprecauns, nymphs and tengus (you gain teleportitis, which unless you have teleport control, is very annoying because it makes you teleport to random places at random times. tengus can also grant teleport control.)

As a general rule, if your pet will eat it, you can too. (Exceptions: pets will eat dogs and cats, and tripe rations aren't for human consumption)

Genocide
A blessed scroll of genocide removes all monsters with a particular letter. A uncursed scroll removes one single type of monster. A cursed scroll creates monsters of that type, which experienced players may find useful.

Genociding your own race is fatal

It's a good idea to genocide all kinds of liches (use a blessed scroll of genocide and take out "L"), because they are powerful spellcasters who can curse your items and summon hordes of nasty monsters.

Mind flayers and master mind flayers should also be genocided, because they eat your brain, causing you to forget what you've learned, and in extreme cases, to die from brainlessness. If your character is a dwarf, remember to use two uncursed scrolls rather than one blessed scroll!

If you have spare scrolls of genocide, consider getting rid of the following monsters:

 * Eels (can drown you, but can be avoided with careful play, an oilskin cloak, or an amulet of magical breathing)
 * Rust monsters and disenchanters (can damage your armour and weapons)
 * Olog-hai and other trolls (have the annoying habit of constantly rising from the dead, though a tinning kit or hungry pets can make short work of them as well.)

The Ascension Kit
"Ascension Kit" is a term experienced NetHack players use for the equipment they hope to have before entering Gehennom (Hell).

Ascension Kits provide extra speed (e.g. boots of speed or a spellbook of speed), magic resistance (e.g. a gray dragon scale mail, Magicbane or a quest artifact), reflection (e.g. a silver dragon scale mail, a polished silver shield or an amulet of reflection), boosted stats (e.g. Gauntlets of Power, Gauntlets of Dexterity, a Helm of Brilliance, any item of gain X), levitation (e.g. a ring or boots of levitation), something holding your stuff (a blessed bag of holding and an oilskin sack are nice), a pick axe for quickly traversing Gehennom's long, pointless mazes, lots of holy water for dealing with cursed items, and ideally at least one amulet of life saving.

title: NetHack/Tactics with Items


text: File:SSBM game cover.jpg

title: File:SSBM game cover.jpg


text:
German/Grammar/Prepositions with accusative and dative

Prepositions with accusative and dative
Now that we have covered the three most important German cases, saving genitive for later, we can start on prepositions, a very important part of language which adds color and detail to sentences. They also nearly always represent as challenge for learners because they often have many different meanings and which preposition to use in which situation is very difficult for non-native speakers to master. For this reason we'll be going into some detail on each preposition, and that means we'll need several sections to cover all of them. We'll start with some prepositions of location; these tell you where something is happening or the destination of movement; it turns out this distinctions is important for correctly using them in a sentence.

Terminology
Prepositions are the small words that go in front of certain phrases to connect them with other parts of the sentence, in other words they are the glue which binds pieces of the sentence together which would otherwise not be connected. Examples in English are "in", "on", "of" and "by". The combination of a preposition and the phrase which comes after it is usually called a prepositional phrase, but this terminology doesn't tell you the role the phrase plays in the sentence. So it might be more useful to classify such phrases according to function rather than form; for example if the prepositional phrase is used as an adverb then call it an adverbial phrase. The type of preposition we'll be dealing with in this section connects a noun phrase with a verb to provide location information about the action of the sentence. Every time we introduce a new way to use a noun we need to ask which case the noun will use. In general the noun phrase after a preposition will be in the accusative, dative or genitive case depending on the preposition in question, and prepositions can usually be classified accordingly. Certain prepositions can require different cases depending on their meaning in the sentence, and the subgroup we're dealing with now are those which require either the accusative or dative case. This might not seem like the best place to start, but these prepositions have certain qualities in common that make them easy to deal with and the rule for when to which case is relatively easy to master, so it may make a good place to start after all. The technical word for a preposition of this type is Wechselpräposition, from wechseln ("to change"). This may be slightly too broad a term though, since it may used for any preposition which allows more than one case.

The case rule
The prepositions we'll be talking about here are an, auf, hinter, in, neben, über, unter, vor, and zwischen. They can all be used to describe either the location something is taking place, in which case the noun that follows is in the dative case, or the destination of motion, in which case the noun that follows is in the accusative case. Another way of saying this is that you use dative if the preposition answers the question "Wo ...", and accusative if the preposition answers the question "Wohin ...". (See the section on interrogatives.)

Since the case which follows one of these preposition is a function of meaning, it's best for the learner to think of them as two separate, if related, words. In English there are two prepositions "in" and "into" which are different words but with related meanings, and you should think of the dative and accusative versions of the prepositions as having a similar relationship.

When used as a location, in other words the dative version, the prepositional phrase formed from these prepositions can be used as either an adverb or as a predicate. When used as a direction, the accusative version, the prepositional phrase is used as an adverb and is applicable to either verbs of motion (for example gehen – "to go") or causes of motion (for example bringen – "to bring").

in + dative
This usually means the action is taking place, as you might expect, in, or more specifically inside, something. For example:
 * Das Kind spielt in der Küche. – "The child is playing in the kitchen."

With masculine and neuter nouns, in dem is contracted to im:
 * Meine Schwester ist im Haus. – "My sister is in the house."

By extension, you can use in for some areas with a border of some kind, for example a park or a garden. More figuratively, the area can be defined by a type of landscape, for example a forest, desert, etc.
 * Tiger leben im Dschungel. – "Tigers live in the jungle."

You can also use in to mean surrounded by a certain substance instead of a specific location:
 * Fische schwimmen im Wasser. – "Fish swim in (the) water."

Note that, depending on the circumstances, in might be translated as a preposition other than "in" in English:
 * Ich sehe sie im Restaurant. – "I see her at the restaurant."

As a predicate it tells you that something or someone is inside something else:
 * Ich bin im Laden. – "I'm at the store."

This predicate sense can be turned into a noun modifier, functioning something like an adjective.
 * Meine Schwester in Chicago ist verheiratet. – "My sister in Chicago is married."

When used with some period of time, in means to take place within that period, thus extending the spatial sense to a temporal sense. In this sense it is usually applied to time periods lasting more than a week: Note that in this sense we have an adverb of time rather than of location, so the phrase comes earlier in the sentence than otherwise:
 * Sie trinkt im Winter Tee. – "She drinks tea in winter."
 * Sie trinkt Tee im Café. – "She drinks tea in the café."

But if the fact is that the event takes place in at most a given amount of time, then in is nearly always used:
 * Das Gericht ist in einer Minute fertig. – "The dish will be ready in a minute."

A rather random exception occurs with Nacht:
 * Ich schlafe in der Nacht. – "I sleep at night."

in + accusative
With the accusative case, it's usually better to translate in as "into", though sometimes just "to" is more appropriate.
 * Ich bringe den Teller in die Küche. – "I'm bringing the plate into the kitchen."

Note that the more figurative extensions of in generally apply to the accusative case as well, and the same principle holds for the other prepositions covered in this section. But there are sometimes subtleties which apply to a single case. For example, in is used for some areas with borders here as well.
 * Wir laufen in den Garten. – "We're walking into the garden."

With neuter nouns, in das is contracted to ins:
 * Ich werfe Steine ins Wasser. – "I'm throwing stones into the water."

As a destination, in is used with locations smaller than a city, especially if it means going into a building of some kind. Certain proper nouns require an article, for example die Vereinigten Staaten, and these always use in when used as a destination. An article is option with compass directions, and if you do use one then use in.
 * Gehst du ins Kino. – "Are you going to a movie?"
 * Mein Bruder fliegt in die Vereinigten Staaten. – "My brother is flying to the United States."
 * Wir fahren in den Norden. – "We're traveling north."

The opposite of in, aus, always uses the dative even though it does indicate motion. In this case you can argue that aus does not indicate a destination, but there are other dative preposition which do indicate a destination. So the above case rule only applies to prepositions where dative and accusative are both options.

an + dative
Although this word sounds very similar to the English "on", it can only be used in some of the cases where "on" is usable. It's never used in the sense of "on top of", but in the sense of "attached to" or "in close contact with", which are other meanings of "on" in English. Sometimes "against" is the most appropriate translation. For example: We don't mean the picture is on top of the wall, but that it's attached to it somehow.
 * Das Bild ist an der Wand. – "The picture is on the wall."
 * Er lehnt an einem Baum. – "He's leaning against a tree."

As with in, an dem is contracted to am:
 * Äpfel hängen am Baum. – "Apples hang from the tree."
 * Note that the preposition in English, "from", is rather peculiar to this situation. The more logical "Apples hang on the tree," would rarely be used though, unless someone placed the apples there like Christmas decorations.

Other examples:
 * Die Blätter am Baum sind rot. – "The leaves on the tree are red."
 * In this case am Baum is used as a predicate and a noun modifier as in a previous example.
 * Ein Mann ist an der Tür. – "A man is at the door."
 * Here, the man is not literally attached to the door, but is paying attention to it, presumably after knocking on it once or twice.
 * Ich sitze am Feuer. – "I'm sitting by the fire."
 * Again, not literally attached to the fire, but close enough to feel its warmth.

As a location, an is often used with schools, universities and other educational institutions. This is especially true if the activity is studying or teaching, as opposed to, say, just sweeping up. For example:
 * Sie studiert an der Universität. – "She studies at the university."

As with in, an can also be used with a period of time, but in this case it's used with either days or periods of similar length. But, as mentioned above, this does not apply to Nacht.
 * Sie trinkt am Morgen Tee. – "She drinks tea in the morning."
 * Ich arbeite oft an Wochenenden. – "I often work on weekends."

It should be mentioned here that a third preposition, um, is used for a specific hour. But um always takes the accusative case so it will be covered in another section.

an + accusative
With the accusative case, an can sometimes be translated as "onto", but it's often more appropriate to just use "on". The main thing is that the connection is created either through movement or some other action, rather than as a situation that had already existed.
 * Ich hänge meine Jacke an den Haken. – "I'm hanging my jacket on the hook."

Again, an can be used more figuratively, but it implies some interaction will occur, not just that something will be placed at the location.
 * Ich schicke ein Geschenk an meine Tochter. – "I'm sending a gift to my daughter."

As with in, an das is contracted to ans. This is used frequently with Telephon:
 * Er geht nicht ans Telephon. – "He's not answering the telephone." (Literally, "He doesn't go onto the telephone.")

auf + dative
This word covers the other main meaning of "on", namely "on top of". Although it sounds very similar to "off", it really means the opposite. For example:
 * Das Boot ist auf dem Wasser. – "The boat is on the water."
 * Die Uhr steht auf dem Regal. – "The clock is on the shelf." (Literally, it "stands" on the shelf.)

English and German don't always agree on when auf/"on" is appropriate.
 * Zärtlich wiegt sie auf den Armen ihre Puppe. – "She's rocking her doll tenderly in her arms."
 * We say "in her arms" in English rather than "on her arms", though technically the doll is lying on the arms, so perhaps German is more logical here.
 * Note that German often uses the definite article with body parts, so den Armen, rather than ihren Armen. This was mentioned in the section on possessives.
 * This example, with some minor changes, was taken from the children's book "Försters Pucki" by Magda Trott. The author uses word order to emphasize zärtlich ("tenderly") by putting it in first position, and to call out ihre Puppe ("her doll") as new information by putting it last.

You often use auf with objects that appear in pictures, TV screens, etc. For example:
 * Ich bin auf dem Bild. – "I'm in the picture."

As a location, auf is sometimes used for certain large, open areas, and for islands in general: English tends to use "in" for countries and states, even when they are islands or archipelagos, but German still prefers auf in these cases:
 * Die Kinder spielen auf der Straße. – "The children are playing in the street."
 * Meine Eltern sind auf der Insel. – "My parents are on the island."
 * auf Island – "in Iceland"
 * auf den Philippinen – "in the Philippines"
 * auf Hawaii – "in Hawaii"

This also holds for certain large, institutional buildings:
 * Er wartet auf der Post. – "He's waiting at the post office."
 * Sie arbeitet auf dem Flughafen. – "She's working at the airport."

It can also be used for events:
 * Ich bin auf einer Konzert. – "I'm at a concert."
 * Sie trägt das Kleid auf einer Party. – "She's wearing the dress at a party."

Sometimes the meaning is rather figurative and random, and the meaning of "on top of" does not apply:
 * Ich bin auf einer Reise. – "I'm on a trip."

auf + accusative
As you should have guessed by now, this can be translated as "onto":
 * Die Katze springt auf das Bett. – "The cat is jumping onto the bed."

You can also use auf so say you're going to participate in some event.
 * Ich gehe auf eine Hochzeit. – "I'm going to a wedding."

The auf + accusative combination is used a in number of prepositional verbs, which we'll talk about at the end of the section.

neben
This means "next to" and implies a somewhat looser connection than with an.
 * Ich sitze neben ihr. – "I'm sitting next to her."

By now you should have good handle on the case rule so we won't belabor the point other than to give examples:
 * Er legt die Löffel neben die Gabeln. – "He's putting the spoons next to the forks."

This time English makes no distinction, however subtle, between the two meanings, so some extra care may be needed.

vor and hinter
These mean "in front of" and "behind" respectively.
 * Die Kinder spielen vor dem Haus. – "The children are playing in front of the house."
 * Die Kinder spielen hinter dem Haus. – "The children are playing behind the house."
 * Der Gärtner stellt den Baum vor das Haus. – "The gardener is placing the tree in front of the house."
 * Der Gärtner stellt den Baum hinter das Haus. – "The gardener is placing the tree behind the house."

Another meaning of vor relates to being the cause of an action. In some cases this would be translated as "from": But other translations are possible depending on the situation:
 * Ich verstecke die Süßigkeiten vor den Kindern. – "I'm hiding the candy from the children."
 * Der Ritter rettet das Mädchen vor dem Drachen. – "The knight saves the girl from the dragon."
 * Er strahlt vor Glück. – "He's beaming with happiness."
 * The verb strahlen means "to shine", so this example is rather figurative.

With expressions of time, vor (with dative) is best translated as "before". However, "after" corresponds to nach in German, to be covered in another section. In English, "before" can also be used to join two clauses, making it a conjunction. This requires a different word, bevor, in German and we'll be covering that in another section.
 * Wir kommen vor dem Winter. – "We're coming before winter."

über and unter
These mean "over" and "under" respectively. Sometimes "above" is a better translation for "über", especially for the dative meaning.
 * Vögel fliegen über dem Meer. – "Birds fly above the sea."
 * Fische schwimmen unter der Fläche. – "Fish swim under the surface."
 * Die Kinder werfen Steine über die Mauer. – "The children are throwing stones over the wall."
 * Ich verstecke die Papiere unter den Teppich. – "I'm hiding the papers under the carpet."

Sometimes unter can mean "between" or "among":
 * Er ist unter Freunden. – "He's among friends."

It's common to use über (with accusative) for the topic or subject of something.
 * Ich habe ein Buch über Fische. – "I have a book on fish."
 * Wir reden über Naomi. – "We're talking about Naomi."

zwischen
This means "between", or more precisely "in between". As such, it's almost always used with either a plural noun or two nouns joined by und:
 * Ich sehe den Hirsch zwischen den Bäumen. – "I see the deer between the trees."
 * Das Kind spielt zwischen der Katze und dem Hund. – "The child is playing between the cat and the dog."
 * Der Gärtner stellt den Baum zwischen die Häuser. – "The gardener is placing the tree between the houses."

Sometimes "among" or "amongst" fits the meaning better.
 * Ich finde Unkraut zwischen dem Weizen. – "I'm finding weeds among the wheat."

Prepositional verbs
We haven't covered every possible meaning of the prepositions listed here, nor would it be practical to attempt to do so. But we'll end the section my introducing prepositional verbs. These consist of a verb and a preposition whose meaning is difficult to find based solely on the meaning of the individual components. (This is different from separable verbs, which is a whole other deal in German, and which we'll cover in later sections.) Such expressions exist in English as well, for example "I'm counting on you," does not literally mean I'm counting (1, 2, 3, ...) on top of you. In terms of grammar these work like ordinary prepositions, but the meaning is specific to the verb and preposition in question, and it's sometimes better to think of the combination as a new verb. With the prepositions in this section, you must learn the case used for the noun in question, though as a general rule it's usually the case that the accusative is used when there is no location involved. For example: A good dictionary should list these special meanings under the verb in question.
 * Sie steht auf dich. – "She likes (fancies) you." (Literally, "She stands onto you.")
 * Er richtet die Waffe auf mich. – "He's pointing the weapon at (onto) me."
 * Das Kind hängt an seiner Großmutter. – "The child is fond of his grandmother." (Literally, "The child hangs on his grandmother.")

A feature of natural language is that the literal meaning of a phrase does not always match the actual meaning. This phenomenon is frequently associated with idioms, but we'll reserve the term idiom for a more restricted set of expressions.


text: Transwiki:WikiProject Pokémon/Pokémon species


text: Template:Pokeinfobox

title: Template:Pokeinfobox


text:
Template:Pokeinfobox/doc

Usage
The sections in red should not be edited under any circumstances. They're part of the structure of the infobox. The black sections should be replaced with the appropriate text.

Make sure you remove any asterisks from the template Wikisyntax before posting.
 * * - The  Pokémon/Pokédex/  link prefix is automatically included, so only add the Pokémon's name.
 * ** - If the Pokémon only has a pre-evolution in certain games, add a note:
(  only in  whichever game(s)  and later  )|
 * *** - If the Pokémon only has an evolved form in certain games, add a note:
(  only in  whichever game(s)  and later  )|

title: Template:Pokeinfobox/doc


text:
Using Cakewalk by Bandlab for beginners

Cakewalk by Bandlab is a free, professional DAW (digital audio workstation). It is the successor of Cakewalk Sonar, so keep in mind that when something says "Compatible with Cakewalk Sonar" or "Use it in Sonar!", then it will most likely work in Cakewalk by Bandlab (CbB).

Contents

 * Introduction
 * /Installation/
 * /Basic Usage/
 * Meta
 * /Local manual of style/
 * /Authors and credits/

title: Using Cakewalk by Bandlab for beginners


text:
Using Cakewalk by Bandlab for beginners/Installation

To install Cakewalk by Bandlab, also known as just "Cakewalk", go to the Cakewalk download page. Keep in mind that you will need to create a Bandlab account and download their desktop assistant, "Bandlab Assistant." It isn't too large and isn't a big problem, but if you don't want to download anything but Cakewalk, then just close the tab and go look at how much Ableton Live or maybe Reaper cost ($400 and $60, respectively. Cakewalk and Bandlab Assistant are free). If you're still here, then I assume that you're fine with downloading Bandlab Assistant.

You will need

 * An email address
 * A Bandlab account (you can use an existing account, or you can create one whilst downloading Bandlab Assistant)
 * 3 Gigabytes of free space on your disk
 * Windows 8.1, 10, 11 (64-bit ONLY for all of them). The system requirements website doesn't actually say you can use Windows 11, but it will probably work. Windows 7 used to be able to be used, but after Windows 11 came out, the website says only Windows 8.1 and up can be used.
 * A decent CPU. The website says you need an Intel Core i5, but I have a Core i3 and it works fine, though it's a little slow.

If you have all of the above, then you are ready to download Cakewalk!

Step 1: Bandlab Assistant and account
On the site linked above, click "Download." An exe file will download to your computer. It will probably be called "bandlab-assistant-windows-latest.exe." Double-click it to initiate download.

When it is finished downloading, you should see a welcome screen. It will prompt you to log in if have an account or create an account if you don't.

If you have an account:
Simply hit the big "Log In" button. It will take you to the Bandlab site to authenticate you. Go back to the Bandlab assistant and hit "log in" again. You can now go to step two.

If you don't have an account
Hit "sign up" and follow the on-screen instructions. You will be taken to the Bandlab site to create your account. Afterwards, follow the steps above in "if you have an account."

Step 2: Installing Cakewalk
Navigate to the "apps" tab in Bandlab Assistant. Click the download button for Cakewalk by Bandlab. Follow the on-screen instructions to download Cakewalk by Bandlab.

Hooray! You've now downloaded Cakewalk! You have a vast amount of fun and music ahead of you, and you only need to know some basic rules.


text:
Radiation Oncology/Toxicity/Gerhard

Gerhard SABR Constraints

2021

Single Fraction

title: Radiation Oncology/Toxicity/Gerhard


text: Category:Book:Pokémon/Shadow Tag Ability


text: Category:Book:Quest for Glory

title: Category:Book:Quest for Glory


text: Category:Book:Phoenix

title: Category:Book:Phoenix


text: Category:Book:Lineage 2

title: Category:Book:Lineage 2


text:
Lineage 2/The Player Character (PC) Classes & Character Guides

= Introduction to Lineage 2 Player Character Class System = Lineage 2 has a very strict Player Character (PC) class system. Humans, Elves, Darkelves and Orcs can choose between Fighter and Mystic in the beginning, while dwarves can only start as Fighter. When the character levels up, they can specialize further at level 20 and level 40. These so called Profession Changes at level 20 and level 40 include a Class Change Quest, which in fact is three different (and very long and time consuming) quests at level 40.

Each of the nine starting classes has their own stats, and no race has a class which is exactly like a class of another race, even if some are very much like each other, at least between humans, elves and darkelves.

For leveling up, one needs xp (experience points). For gaining new abilities and improving existing abilities, one needs sp (skill points). Both kind of points are gained through killing mobs (which is the gamer term for monsters in the game). If a player kills mobs which are below his own level, he gains below average sp (relative to xp), but if he kills mobs which is above, he gains above average sp (again relative to the xp gained from killing that mob).

Each class are defined through a set of skills which have to be bought with skill points. If someone has not enough skillpoints, he will not be able to "outskill" his character, that is, he will lack skills. After some levels, each class can raise their skills even further. A character can not raise skills which are not of his class or which he is of too low level to raise them yet.

Lineage 2 has been created by a korean company, and the gameplay reflects the asian way of thinking. Not only are the characters looking very anime, but the game is strongly intended for group play (that is, the individual matters little, the group is important). That is why all classes are highly specialized and many are very weak on their own, and everybody is much better if in a well composed group.

Changes with C3
With C3, subclassing has been introduced. Characters which have hit the C3 maxlevel 75 can start a second profession, in which they start with level 40.

 * 1) The subclass cannot be Warsmith or Overlord.
 * 2) Elves and darkelves cannot choose professions of the other race as subclass.
 * 3) Any class cannot choose a profession which is their equivalent in another race as subclass. Equivalent classes in this respect are:
 * 4) *Tanks: Paladin, Dark Avenger, Temple Knight and Shillien Knight
 * 5) *Dagger users: Treasure Hunter, Plainswalker and Abyss Walker
 * 6) *Archers: Hawkeye, Silver Ranger and Phantom Ranger
 * 7) *Nukers: Sorcerer, Spellsinger and Spellhowler
 * 8) *Summoners: Warlock, Elemental Summoner and Phantom Summoner

Changes with C4
With C4, the maxlevel was raised to 78. At level 76, they can start a third class change quest which gives them a new job name and access to new skills.

Too, a character that has reached level 75 in his subclass can start a third class, which again starts at level 40.

= Deciding what Class to Play = In Lineage 2, the player has knowledge of the various possible classes that his or her characters can become at the end of the character's career. All the various 2nd Professions are known to gamers, and in the main the advantages and disadvantages of each is known.

It is very important for a starting player to determine what 2nd Profession s/ he wants his or her character to be, because once s/ he embark on a specific path, it has very little leeway for change, and in some cases the character are completely locked into a 2nd Profession. There is no in-game way to change the profession, so once a player is embarked on one class, there is very little room for turning back.

Thus, the first thing a player should do is to read through the 2nd Professions first, and then decide which starting class to play. As the starting classes tends to have a variety of skills to choose from, it is important for players not to waste valuable Skill Points (SP) on skills s/ he will not be further developing after the 1st or 2nd Profession Change. (It should be noted, however, that one can always aquire more Skill Points by killing monsters. Thus, wasting said points is not fatal.)

Decision Criterias
There are separate fields in which a character might be active, and in which different classes are better or not so good.

 * Solo: How well does the class on its own ? Especially archers and wizards have the least problems alone, as they are ranged or, in the case of the summoner, have their own party "in the pocket". On the other hand these classes tend to be problematic inside a conventional party (but comining these classes with each other and with elders works very well). Some classes (healers, support warriors, and Tyrants) can have quite some trouble on their own.
 * Group: How easily does the class find people willing to party, and how good does the class work inside a party ? Clerics, especially buffers, win of course the contest about being welcome in a party. Well formed parties need all elements - tanks who attract the attacks, damage dealers who deal most of the damage, buffers who maximize the effectivity of the rest, and healers that keep the party alife.
 * Resources: A lot of classes offer special features to get faster or more or harder to get resources. Bounty Hunters can spoil extra drops. Primarily Warlords, but also Destroyers, Dwarves and a little bit also Gladiators get skills for polearm useage to battle larger groups of lesser opponents at a time. The dagger users get sneak skills (and various other things) to get to farming points which are otherwise only reachable through brute force.
 * Money: This is of course very much the same as resource hunting, but the Warsmiths get special features in this respect to make even more money than before.
 * Clans: While clans need a healthy mix of all classes, Warsmiths and Overlords play special, central roles in clans and sieges.
 * PvP: During Sieges, but also on other occasions players fight each other. See Classes in respect to PvP for a discussion about this aspect of the game. Having a weak class in PvP can be very frustrating if you get PKed without a chance to fight back.

Starting Stats
In fact, the starting stats have less to say than many might suspect from other rule systems, because the abilities of the classes between the races differ so much. The only way to change these values is with Dyes (can be used from level 40 on; these lowlevel dyes for level 20-40 are used by nobody as they will get lost in the end anyway) and through Items (various items in the game shift the stats around, especially b-grade and a-grade armor; on c-grade there is the Demon Set and the Plated Leather Armor Set which actually give a real statboost). Still knowing and understanding the values will help you understand your characters strengths and weaknesses better.

This is maybe a good place to note that Dyes can NOT change Men for Fighter classes and can NOT change Int for Cleric (Buffer / Healer) classes. Only Wizards (Nukers and Summoners) can freely change their mental stats.

Red means best body stat for fighters or best mental stat for mystics, yellow means worst.

 * Str = Strength: P.atk (+3% P.Atk, Str 40+: +4% P.Atk)

 * Dex = Dexterity: Atk Speed, Accurancy, Evasion, Critical, Shield Defense, Speed, Physical/Dagger Skill Speed (For 4 Dex: +15 Atk Speed, +2 Accurancy, +2 Evasion, +9 Critical, +3 Speed)

 * Con = Constitution: HP max/regeneration, Load limit, Breath gauge, Shock/bleeding resistance (about 100 hp for Con [depends upon class, values of 40+ give more hp])

 * Int = Intelligence: M.atk, Dark Magic Success Rate (+4% M.atk)

 * Wit = Wits: Magical speed/critical, Resistance to Hold/Dark Magic (+5% Magic Speed)

 * Men = Mentality: M.def, MP max/regeneration, Resistance to Poison/Dark Magic/Magic Interruption (For 4 Men: +3% MP regeneration)

Values in parentheses are from the free L2J server and might not be correct on the official servers.

As you can see, elven and darkelven fighters clearly have a disadvantage compared to humans and orcs if you check the sums of the body stats. As compensation, they receive better mind stats. For example, darkelven fighters have debuffs (curses) and get the highest Int (which helps with curses). Too, both races have high Dex, and Dex is linked to a lot of things (Accurancy, Atk.Speed, Critical).

Orc mystics are so completely different from the other races that their penalty isn't noticeable at all, and they get better body stats as compensation anyway.

A note about Dwarves, they do NOT get better stats than Humans and Orcs, as some people seem to think - they get just a total of 113, exactly the same as them. Plus if you want to have battle power, choosing a dwarf is obviously a bad idea.

These are the level 1 values of the given variables, some of these become better with higher levels.

 * Atk.speed = Attack Speed, how fast the attacks are, depends upon Dex.

 * Critical = Chance for a critical attack, depends upon Dex.

 * Evasion = Chance to avoid an attack, depends upon Dex.

 * Speed = How fast the player can run, depends upon Dex.

 * Load = How much the player can carry max (you need to be below 50% to avoid penalties), depends upon Con.

 * Cast Speed = How fast the player can spellcast, depends upon Wit.

 * P.Atk = Physical Attack, the damage dealt with every successful melee attack, depends upon Str.

 * M.Atk = Magical Attack, the damage dealt with every successful magical attack, depends upon Int.

Ideas for the absolutely clueless
A number of ideas for beginners who have no clue at all about which class to choose first:

 * Prophets (Human Cleric) might be a good start because they are the easiest class to get a party. They are the specialized buffers of the game. Also, because of their strong buffs they are the kind of clerics who are the easiest to solo, except Shamans who have much better body stats than other mystics. If you decide later which class you really want to play and can play on two accounts, you will also always have the best buffing possible, which is a HUGE advantage. The disadvantage is however that clerics in general tend to be passive and everybody expects them to help, but many dont help in return.

 * Destroyers (Orc Fighter) are a good start because they are the toughest warriors and quite easy to play. They are also the most general warriors of the game. They move slowly, but have are a strong mix of defensive and offensive battle power, maybe the only class which can be qualified as being both tank and damage dealer, and they also have the bests fully skilled weapon selection of all warrior classes (Twohander for offense, Sword or Blunt with Shield for defense, and Polearm for battling multiple opponents at the same time). They also have the best buffs in the game for emergency situations (Guts and Frenzy, with C4 activateable at 30% max hp, needs 1.5 s to get cast, gives a 200% bonus on patk and pdef, lasts 90 secs - with C3 it was 20% max hp and only 30 secs) which makes them very hard to kill in emergency situations.

 * Treasure Hunters (Human Fighter) are a good start because they are rumored to be easy to play, and are excellent for finding specific resources. In any case they are surprisingly tough warriors with an ambundance of passive and active skills to their increase damage output (Critical Chance, Critical Power, Boost Attack Speed, Dash, Deadly Blow, Backstab, Vicious Stance) and a rich palette of skills to avoid getting targeted (Switch), avoid combat altogether (Silent Move, Veil), stop combat (Trick), or moving a single opponent away from his allies (Lure). Also, they have two emergency abilities (Fake Death, Ultimate Evasion). As the list shows, they are experts in getting into any place and fighting only specific monsters - only why they are easy to play is hard to understand. They are great solo and great in any party - the later because they are the second highest melee damage dealers after Tyrants. Treasure Hunters and Hawkeyes are the only classes except dwarves who get the skill Vital Force for fast healing when sitting down. Like all Human and Orc Fighters, they also get Relax. Having the combined effect from both skills and decent human Constitution to start with, this means they heal faster than anyone else when sitting down.

 * Warsmiths (Dwarf Fighter) are not really ideal for beginners, as you will have to jump into the cold water with the crafting system. But dwarves get good weapon skills (blunt for everyday use, polearm for making money by slaughtering lesser mobs en masse), get a larger inventory and warehouse than other races, can carry crazy amounts of stuff, heal fast when sitting down, and get not many but only overhit-available skills. Warsmiths in special also get some summons, including two for sieges. Overall you can save and gain a lot of money on them through crafting and crystalizing.

= General Playing Rules = While different in detail, many classes have strong similarities that should not be repeated in every single class description again, so here they are:

Classes

 * Mystics have their skill updates at level 7/14/20/25/30/35/40/44/48/52/56 and every 2nd levelup afterwards.
 * Fighters have their skill updates at level 5/10/15/20/24/28/32/36/40/43/46/49/52/55/58 and every 2nd levelup afterwards.
 * C4: After the 3rd classchange on level 76, every class can get special skills on every levelup up to 78.
 * From Level 40 on, spellbooks have to be found - and can no longer just be bought in the shop. The Enchanted Valley as well as the Ivory Tower are central places where a lot of the lesser spellbooks drop. You can also check www.l2wh.com to find mobs which drop your spellbook.
 * Just because a class has a skill for a certain kind of armor, it does not mean it gets the same boni from that kind of armor as another class who has also a skill for it. For example, a Warrior or Dwarf gets both p.def and evasion from his light armor skill, while a Daggeruser, Archer or Tyrant gets only p.def, and a cleric or summoner (not Necromancer) gets p.def, castspeed, atk.speed and mp regen. from it.

Playstyle

 * The golden rule of L2: Always get a party. Every class is more effective, levels faster, can fight stronger monsters and will get better drops if one is in a decent party, especially with support classes.
 * For the class change quests, it is a good idea to first level to 20 (or 40) and wearing equipment from the next grade before starting them. This way the quests will be a lot easier.
 * For the second class change, there are three quests - one at level 35, 37 and lastly 39. It is a good idea to do them in parallel, and save a lot of time and money.

Resources (Mats / Shots / Crystals etc)

 * You should never sell mats in the shop. While being irrelevant on low grades, mats are essential when you become highlevel (i.e. after second class change, or at least after level 52), as armor and weapons can no longer be bought (even top d-grade items can't be bought anymore). Mats can be identified by clicking on their description. You will need tons of them to craft stuff on higher levels, so either sell your mats to other players or keep them for future use.
 * You should only sell key mats if you are sure they are worthless (all no-grade key mats are, while everything from b-grade upward never is). Again sell them to other players instead of selling in the shop if they are of value.
 * You should never sell weapons and armor above no-grade. They can be crystalized.
 * Summoners (Necromancer, Warlock, Elemental Summoner, Phantom Summoner, but also Dark Avengers with their panther, Temple Knights / Shillien Knights with their cubics, and Warsmiths) need crystals (Warsmiths sometimes also gems) for their summons, for which you need a friendly Warsmith who sells you them. You can also make one yourself; a level 20 Artisan is already able to produce the necessary d-crystals. With C4, many summons need c-crystals, therefore a lvl 40 Warsmith will be needed.

Items (Weapons / Armor / Accessories)

 * Keep your second best weapon and armor in your warehouse instead of selling it. You might be thankful to have anything in case you drop your current weapon / armor in death.
 * You should not wear a grade which is too high for your current level. Level 1+: no-grade, Level 20+: d-grade, Level 40+: c-grade, Level 52+: b-grade, Level 61+: a-grade, Level 76+: s-grade.
 * You first get a weapon, and THEN the armor. While the armor is cheaper, it is less important. Note that there are exceptions. Defensive warriors (tanks) should not follow this rule, especially if they are mainly intended for party play. Lowlevel mystics might also prefer to first get their devotion set as it helps so much with spellcasting.
 * Clerical party character can operate quite well even in rags, as M.Atk doesnt help with healing or buffing (only with Root, Sleep, the various clerical curses, and the Undead attack spells). Therefore mainly want spellcasting speed (Weapon with Acumen, many Robe sets), MP (all Robes, some light armor sets) and MP Regen (Blue Wolf Light, Majestic Robe etc). Even buffers often prefer robes for the additional mp - buffing a whole party can require a lot of mp - even if they usually prefer warrior weapons for dealing more damage. Outside a party, clerical characters will prefer a light or even a heavy armor (if they have that skill), and warrior weapons, unless they fight undead with their spells, for which wizard equipment would be best.
 * Clerical classes (except the Orcs) get only general weapon skills and are completely free in choosing what to use. Many clerics prefer dual swords, but bows or wizard weapons are popular too.
 * Party healers don't care about M.atk, as it hardly improves healing spells. To heal more, one simply needs more casting speed (and more mana on the long run, of course), so wizard weapons with Acumen, Mana Up or UpDown/Conversion are prefered.
 * Your M.Def might safe your life. You can avoid having good jewelry up to level 50 or so by avoiding all mobs that use magic, but this means you have to avoid a lot of specific drops and otherwise good mobs, too, therefore consider getting good jewelry from level 20 on. This rule is especially important for mystics, because clerics don't have much choice in what mobs they face alone (undeads in EG, DV, DC and elsewhere), and wizards usually face red mobs while having only little HP themselves.
 * Most fighters will have a polearm weapon in reserve to battle against groups of monsters at a time. This is the main strategy of fighters to make a lot of money in a short time. Many types of wizards can do the same with their mass spells.

= Classes by Race = It should be noted here, that although the different classes have their advantages and disadvantages, there is generally a balance between them. That means no class is better than another, instead they specialise in different things. So in choosing your prefered class/race, you should find what suits your style of play, and what would be best for you, meaning specifically: what you enjoy to play for a long time.

The names in parentheses are the new C4 3rd class change names which can be archieved after reaching level 76 in a class.

Human
Humans have well balanced stats as well as the most specialized classes of all races, and also the largest number of classes to choose from.

Human Classes
 * Human Fighter
 * Human Knight
 * Paladin (Phoenix Knight) --- tank with healing specialized against undead.
 * Dark Avenger (Hell Knight) --- tank with absorb health and summon.
 * Warrior
 * Gladiator (Duelist) -- general warrior.
 * Warlord (Dreadnought) --- specialized polearm user.
 * Rogue
 * Treasure Hunter (Adventurer) --- damage dealer with dagger and light armor.
 * Hawkeye (Sagittarius) --- archer.
 * Human Mystic
 * Human Wizard
 * Sorcerer (Archmage) --- nuker with balanced spell selection.
 * Necromancer (Soultaker) --- dark magic specialist, nuker with summons, rich palette of debuffs, hardly any mass magic.
 * Warlock (Arcana Lord) --- summoner.
 * Cleric
 * Prophet (Hierophant) ---  buffer.
 * Bishop (Cardinal) --- healer.

Elf
Elves are limited to "light" magic and tend a little towards defensive class concepts. Their fighters have highest Dexterity (Atkspeed, Criticals, Accuracy, Evasion, Running Speed), and their mystics have highest Wits (Castspeed, Mag Critical, Hold and Curse Resistance). Light Elven warriors, especially the Swordsingers, have a rather large amount of self-buffs, making them a very naturaly choice for soloing early on.

Elven Classes
 * Elven Fighter
 * Elven Knight
 * Temple Knight (Eva’s Templar) --- tank with healing.
 * Swordsinger (Sword Muse) --- shield + sword/blunt specialist with defensive party buffs.
 * Scout
 * Plainswalker (Wind Rider) --- damage dealer with dagger and light armor.
 * Silver Ranger (Moonlight Sentinel) --- archer.
 * Elven Mystic
 * Elven Wizard
 * Spellsinger (Mystic Muse) -- nuker.
 * Elemental Summoner (Elemental Master) --- summoner.

 * (Elven) Oracle
 * (Elven) Elder (Eva’s Saint) --- healer/buffer combo.

Dark Elf
Darkelves have a lot of interesting "dark magic" in their skills, such as Drain Health. Their fighters have the highest strength (P.Atk) and their mystics the highest intelligence (M.Atk).

Darkelven Classes
 * Dark Fighter
 * Palus Knight
 * Shillien Knight (Shillien Templar) --- tank with debuffs.
 * Bladedancer (Spectral Dancer) --- dual sword specialist with offensive party buffs.
 * Assassin
 * Abyss Walker (Ghost Hunter) --- damage dealer with dagger and light armor.
 * Phantom Ranger (Ghost Sentinel) --- archer.
 * Dark Mystic
 * Dark Wizard
 * Spellhowler (Storm Screamer) --- nuker with some dark magic.
 * Phantom Summoner (Spectral Master) --- summoner.
 * Shillien Oracle

 * Shillien Elder (Shillien Saint) --- healer/buffer combo

Orcs
Orcs have only four classes, but good stats for their fighters and an unusual, hard to compare concept for their clerics (i.e. shamans). Their fighters have the highest constitution (HP, HP Regen, Load, Shock and Bleed Resistance) and their mystics have the highest mentality (MP, MP Regen, M.Def).

Orcish Classes
 * Orc Fighter
 * Monk
 * Tyrant (Grand Khavatari) --- damage dealer with fists and light armor.
 * Raider
 * Destroyer (Titan) --- warrior in heavy armor with flexible weapon selection.
 * Orc Mystic
 * Shaman
 * Overlord (Dominator) ---  clan/alliance buffer with sleep and some offensive spells.
 * Warcryer (Doomcryer) --- party buffer with root and some offensive spells.

Dwarf
Dwarves have only two fighter classes, one for crafting and one for getting materials. While their battle skills are not overly exciting, they are very practical - they can use blunts and polearms well, stun with the former and do extra damage with the later. Additionally, dwarves can carry crazy amounts of stuff and have larger inventories and warehouses, they heal very fast when sitting down, and they are the base of the economy and usually richer than others.

Dwarvish Classes
 * Dwarven Fighter
 * Artisan
 * Warsmith (Maestro) --- crafter.
 * Scavenger
 * Bounty Hunter (Fortune Seeker) --- resource spoiler.

= Classes by Type =

Defensive Warriors
Also called tanks, defensive warriors specialize into heavy armor and the shield, and into focussing attacks on them.
 * Paladin (Phoenix Knight) - Human
 * Dark Avenger (Hell Knight) - Human
 * Temple Knight (Eva’s Templar) - Elf
 * Shillien Knight (Shillien Templar) - Darkelf

General Warriors
These are the other warriors that do not fit into the categories defensive, offensive or support. Gladiators and Destroyers are very good in both offense and defense. Warlords are totally specialzied into the polearm useage. And dwarves simply aren't the greatest warriors, its their other class features which make them great.
 * Gladiator (Duelist) - Human
 * Destroyer (Titan) - Orc
 * Warlord (Dreadnought) - Human
 * Warsmith (Maestro) - Dwarf
 * Bounty Hunter (Fortune Seeker) - Dwarf

Support Warriors
Offering group buffs, but also being full featured warriors by themselves, the support warriors are the battle oriented Lineage 2 variant of what is known from other games as the Bard.
 * Swordsinger (Sword Muse) - Elf
 * Bladedancer (Spectral Dancer) - Darkelf

Offensive Warriors
With only light armor, but being able to dish out massive damage, the dagger users and the special case Tyrant qualify as offensive warriors.
 * Treasure Hunter (Adventurer) - Human
 * Plainswalker (Wind Rider) - Elf
 * Abyss Walker (Ghost Hunter) - Darkelf
 * Tyrant (Grand Khavatari) - Orc

Archers
Ranged attacks where uber strong in the first versions of the game, which is why they require now enormous masses of resources (both ss and bsps).
 * Hawkeye (Sagittarius) - Human
 * Silver Ranger (Moonlight Sentinel) - Elf
 * Phantom Ranger (Ghost Sentinel) - Darkelf

Nukers
These offensive wizards can deal extreme damage through their spells. They also have mass spells and various group effects. A special case is the necromancer, who totally specializes into debuffs, but also has some of the strongest nuker spells - as well as summons (but no support spells for them).
 * Sorcerer (Archmage) - Human
 * Necromancer (Soultaker) - Human
 * Spellsinger (Mystic Muse) - Elf
 * Spellhowler (Storm Screamer) - Darkelf

Summoners
Summoners let their summon do the work and support it with their servitor buffs and healing spells.
 * Warlock (Arcana Lord) - Human
 * Elemental Summoner (Elemental Master) - Elf
 * Phantom Summoner (Spectral Master) - Darkelf

Buffers
Buffers max out other players, which is why everyone loves to party with them. They also get some more offensive spells than the healer classes, and thanks to their own buffs they can solo quite well. While the Prophet at least gets Battle Heal (enough to heal a bit in emergency), the Shamans really only get regeneration skills.
 * Prophet (Hierophant) - Human
 * Overlord (Dominator) - Orc
 * Warcryer (Doomcryer) - Orc

Healers
Compared to buffers, healers can offer a lot more and a lot longer healing. These classes also have some nice buffs, except the Bishop who is totally specialized into healing and has the best and strongest healing and raise dead spells.
 * Bishop (Cardinal) - Human
 * (Elven) Elder (Eva’s Saint) - Elf
 * Shillien Elder (Shillien Saint) - Darkelf

= Other Lists = In this section, the classes are compared with each other.

 * Fighter Comparison
 * Mystic Comparison
 * Classes in respect to PvP (Player versus Player)


text:
Lineage 2/History of Aden

When we describe the history of Aden, one cannot help but to discuss the religion and races within Aden and Elmore. The history of Aden is not just a chronicle of time, but a story of how the gods and godlings rose and fell, how the races fought for supremacy, and how, from the lowliest of races, humans became the mightiest.

= In the Beginning =

In the beginning, there was no Aden, no Elmore, and there were no Humans, Elves, Dwarves or Orcs. All that exists, existed together in a globe that is everything and nothing at the same time.

Slowly, awareness came to a pair of entities that called themselves Einhasad and Gran Kain. They become aware of who they are, and the boundaries that bounded them. For unfathomable reasons, Einhasad and Gran Kain decided to break free from the oneness that bound all existence.

Together, Einhasad and Gran Kain broke free of the globe, and in the process, reshaped Creation. The pieces of globe that fell become the Ground; the pieces which flew up became the Sky, and the spirits contained within the globe became the animals and plants which we see nowadays.

Of these spirits, or Ether, the greatest and most intelligent were the Giants. Formed by Einhasad and Gran Kain's actions, they are surrogate children of these beings, and the Giants looked up to Einhasad and Gran Kain as parents, swearing to keep faith with the two beings for eternity. Einhasad and Gran Kain were well pleased with the Giants, and thus appointed them to be the Lords of all living creatures.

The Giants were surrogate children of Einhasad and Gran Kain, but they were not the only children of Einhasad and Gran Kain. The two gave birth to many god-children, who were empowered by Einhasad and Gran Kain.

The first five children of Einhasad and Gran Kain were Shilen, Goddess of Water; Paagrio, God of Fire; Maphr, Goddess of Earth, Sayha, God of Wind, and Eva, whose songs and poems serenaded the other Gods as they worked.

And for a time, life was good.

= The Creation of the Races =

Einhasad is the goddess of creation, and she used her own spirit to create forms to populate the Earth. Her children took after Einhasad, and also created great races from themselves, giving them the characteristics of their element.

Shilen, Goddess of Water, created a race that is closely bound to water, and which possess wisdom and ability to manipulate magic. These beings were called Elves, and they came to serve the Giants in politics and magic.

Paagrio, God of Fire, breathed fire into his creation, giving them inexhaustible strength and will power. These became the Orcs, warriors of the Giants.

Maphr, Goddess of Earth, instilled within her creations the ability to create and calculate. These became the Dwarves, and they served the Giants in industry and economy.

Sayha, God of Wind, instilled within his creation a wanderlust and curiosity. These became the Arteias, who roamed the world freely to bring back news to the Giants.

But what of the Humans?

Humans were not created by the Children of Einhasad. They were created because of pride and jealously; created of stagnant water, of dying fire, of barren earth, and of wild and violent wind. Gran Kain (God of Destruction, Father of the Children of Einhasad) convinced his children the four elemental gods to give him the discarded remnants of the Children of Einhasad. He used this to piece together the first humans,

Created from the detritus of the other Gods, Humans were sly, weak, stupid and cowardly. Ashamed of his creation, Gran Kain turned his back on Humans and hid from them. The Children of Einhasad despised the Humans, and gave them to the Giants to serve as menial slaves, no better than animals, and lorded over by the other races.

= The War of the Gods, The Fall from Heaven =

title: Lineage 2/History of Aden


text:
Lineage 2/The Player Character (PC) Classes & Character Guides/Shillien Elder

Shillien Elders (SE) are generally seen as healers and are considered the best wizard buffers. They can use robes and light armor and any weapon. They have Dyrad Root, Recharge and Greater Group Heal as well as all standard buffs and two exclusive (and very good) buffs.

The first one is Vampiric Rage which gives the player healing from the melee damage they deal; this spell is of course especially interesting for classes which deal a lot of melee damage, but have not many hitpoints and relatively bad defense (for example, Tyrant or Treasure Hunter). In any case, this buff saves mana otherwise needed for healing and makes up for the lack of the Greater Battle Heal of the Bishop.

A likewise effect to Vampiric Rage is available for level 74 Bladedancer and level 44 Warcryer; still the SE gets this buff much earlier (level 30) and masters it first (level 72) (Warcryer maxes at 74).

The second buff is Empower. This spell causes nukers (Sorcerer, Spellsinger, Spellhowler) to make more damage in their offensive spells. It can be combined with the prophets Berserk and Acumen as well as the corresponding Bladedancers dances to max the damage of nuker spells.

Key Skills
Format: Spell Name (Max Skilllevel) - Description (Level of Update+Number of Updates [; Namechange of skill on higher levels])

Buffs

 * Concentration (6) – Decreases chance for canceling spellcasting because of damage (20/30/44/52/60/68; 3+: Greater Concentration)
 * Death Whisper (3) – Increases damage on critical hit (40/48/56)
 * Empower (3) - Increases m.atk. (25/44/52; 3: Greater Empower)
 * Focus (3) – Increases chance for critical hit (25/44/52)
 * Greater Concentration: See Concentration
 * Greater Empower: See Empower
 * Guidance (3) – Increases accuracy (40/48/56)
 * Kiss of Eva (2) - Increases lungs capacity (20/52)
 * Mental Shield (4) - Increases defense against hold, sleep, fear, and silence. (25/40/48/56; 3+: Mental Aegis)
 * Mental Aegis: See Mental Shield
 * Might (3) – Increases P.Atk. (7/20/40)
 * Resist Wind (2) – Resistance to wind attacks (35/40)
 * Shield (3) – Increases P.Def. (7/25/44)
 * Vampiric Rage (4) - Transforms part of the damage dealt into healing (30/44/58/72)
 * Wild Magic (2) - Increases chance for critical magic (62/70)
 * Wind Walk (2) - Increases moving speed (20/30)

Other Spells

 * Battle Heal (15) - Fast healing on target (14+3/20+3/25+3/30+3/35+3)
 * Cure Poison (3) - Remove poison effect (7/35/58)
 * Dryad Root (33) - Disable movement of target (25+3/30+3/35+3/40+3/44+3/48+3/52+3/56+2/58/60/62/64/66/68/70/72/74)
 * Greater Group Heal (29) - Improved version of Group Heal (48+3/52+3/56+3/58+3/60+3/62+2/64+2/66+2/68+2/70+2/72+2/74+2)
 * Greater Heal (29) - Improved version of Heal (48+3/52+3/56+3/58+3/60+3/62+2/64+2/66+2/68+2/70+2/72+2/74+2)
 * Purify (3) - Removes bleed and poison (44/52/62)
 * Recharge (32) - Give mp to target (30+2/35+2/40+2/44+2/48+2/52+2/56+2/58+2/60+2/62+2/64+2/66+2/68+2/70+2/72+2/74+2)
 * Resurrection (2) - Raise target from the dead (20/30)
 * Wind Shackle (19) - Lower atk.speed of target (14/20/25/30/35/40/44/48/52/56/58/60/62/64/66/68/70/72/74)

Lowlevel/Replaced Spells

 * Disrupt Undead (8) - Attack on undead (20+2/25+2/30+2/35+2)
 * Group Heal (15) - Healing the whole party (14+3/20+3/25+3/30+3/35+3)
 * Heal (18) - Healing on target (7+3/14+3/20+3/25+3/30+3/35+3)
 * Sleep (9) - Sleep target (25+3/30+3/35+3)

Equipment
Healers can basically run around in underwear, they don't really need good armor and weapons, a no-grade devotion set would already be very good. But one might not always get a group in which one can act as pure healer and buffer, and of course people want to equip their characters optimally.

Being a darkelf, a SE needs spellcasting speed more than anything else. Second to that, he wants as much max mp as he can get, third to that, as much mp regen as he can get. Getting good pdef wouldn't hurt either, while patk and matk loose more and more their importance with higher levels.

On d-grade, there isn't really anything better than the no-grade devotion set, especially not for slowcasting darkelf mystics. On c-grade, the Karmian Robe Set can be recommented for its better pdef and more max mp. On b-grade the light Blue Wolf armor is a good choice, as is the Avadon robe. On a-grade, Tallum Robe is maybe best, with Dark Crystal at least very close second for its practial properties and Majestic thanks to its high mana and its mana regeneration not bad at all either.

Weapons depend of course very much upon personal preferences. On lower levels, matk still matters, as it allows leveling with Disrupt Undead. On higher levels, SEs often still use wizard weapons, but for their SAs (Mana Up, UpDown, Acumen) and not for their matk. Alternatively, one can use some other weapon (dual swords are popular) and join the fight.

The optimal dyes for a SE are very obvious. A SE will want to sacrifice Men for Wis to speed up the very slow spellcasting. It doesnt help if you can heal much if the person in question is already dead. Also, lowering the Strength by 8 to increase both Dex and Con by 4 will help a lot with more hitpoints, faster running, better evasion etc. This is well worth the lesser damage the SE is dealing.

SEs need the following spellbooks: Level 40: Death Whisper, Guidance; Level 44: Purify; Level 48: Greater Group Heal, Greater Heal; Level 62: Wild Magic.

Playstyle
SEs are harder to solo as Prophets, as they can't buff themselves as well, and harder to solo as Bishops, as those at least get an ambundance of good spells against undead, and are still worse than Elven Elders, who also get at least a specialized damage spell against undead that is still getting updated. Therefore SEs are even more dependent upon getting a party as the other clerical classes. Up to about level 55, they might however still manage to kill undead with their Disrupt Undead spell, but its not exactly a fast or efficient way to level.

The best party for a SE is a combo with Prophet and a Bladedancer and a couple of melee high damage dealers and/or nukers. Together with the Prophet, a SE can buff such a party faster (if the prophet has the knowledge which spells the SE already has, which many don't have) and to the maximum possible effectivity level (except for the buffs Agility and Resist Shock, which are exclusive to Elven Elders).

On higher levels, the SE becomes the dreampartner of nukers, because the high level spells are very mana expensive and the SE can give them lots of Mana; for one point spend by the Shillien the nuker gets four points back into his mana pool, if the nuker has the skill for it. Elven Elders can also recharge Mana, but do not have the Empower buff.

For raids, SEs are not as good as a Bishops, as they can't heal as fast as the later, while raid bosses usually deal huge amounts of damage that can't be healed up just with Vampiric Rage. But in dungeons, SEs shine, especially if the warriors of the group use polearm weapons. With the Vampiric Rage, such a warrior can fight a large group of opponents at the same time with the pole, and still need no (or much less) healing.

Bugs
The "Greater Heal" spellbook description states that only Shillien Elders get this spell. This is wrong, Bishops and Elven Elders get that spell as well.

If you are creating a macro which should include the Mental Shield spell, and you have stage 3 or above (then called Mental Aegis) and simply drop the icon into the desired command line of the macro, the program inserts "/useskill Mental Aegis". You have to change it to "/useskill Mental Shield" to make it work.