Batmud Newbie FAQ
Some questions arise time and time again. Here I try to answer some, so I can spend more time melting the faces off of things, and less time explaining that ‘recreate’ exists.
If you’d like a question answered here, tell me in game or mudmail me.
What’s are some good starting builds?
It is a normal part of the game to play with different builds. Playing with different race and guild combinations is a big part of BatMUD. LEARN ABOUT THE ‘recreate’ COMMAND!
That being said, here are some newbie friendly builds to help you get your bearings:
Duck magical -> Riftwalker
Minotaur evil_religious -> Disciple -> Tzarakk
Elf civilized -> Folklorist
Barsoomian nomad -> Ranger
Did (insert mistake here) screw up my character permanently?
No. Nothing at all can cause permanent character damage. A few clarifications on this point:
Severe cheating or being enormously offensive can get you removed.
If you come to dislike your race, guild, or stat point allocations, you must ‘recreate’ or ‘reincarnate’ to fix them. This is and always has been a normal part of the game, don’t worry about it too much.
Reincarnating every two days for weeks on end will permanently erase most of your total experience. You can always make more though.
Reincarnating in fast player mode, earning lots of unsafe experience back and drowning in the moat will erase a lot of your total experience. You can always make more though.
Reincarnating at the npc ‘mortis’ is a bad idea, you’ll lose 20% of your experience permanently. You can always make more though.
Losing lots of your gear and/or money by being not using the ‘keep’ command can be very unpleasant. You can always make more though.
Lost stats from praying while dead or being brought back to life with terrible charisma are semi-permanent. These are usually easy to avoid, even for newbies, there are also items that can fix these losses. Reincarnation also fixes this.
It is rare, but possible, to become so addicted to something the addiction is effectively permanent. Reincarnation will fix this.
How can I get experience?
Exploring is the easiest way for newbies. You’ll die sometimes, but it’s well worth it.
What are good places for newbies to explore?
I’m not going to hold your hand on this one very much, but the newbie mountain, public gardens, and other places linked to by the granite post system are good places to start. Areas that are part of newbie quests are also good places to try. Just make sure to spend your experience often, you will die from time to time while exploring. That’s a normal part of the game.
Can I explore without dying?
No, but exploring with other newbies will improve your odds. Exploring with high level players, if you can get them at a good moment, can be very productive. The ‘invisibility’ spell is also very useful if you have access to it, as is the spell ‘word of recall’.
Why am I not getting explore in (insert location)?
Newbie-only areas do not give explore experience. The generic rooms that fill out big, mapped areas do not give explore experience.
How do I train in my raceguild?
Aside from walking to your race shrine, there’s a portal that can take you there in the Arelium Adventurer’s guild, and also a portal in Pleasantville, east of the main gate. These portals only work if you haven’t joined any other guild yet.
Should I max out my racial guild’s skills and spells?
Not usually. Most raceguilds simply give a little flavor, they aren’t ‘real’ guilds. Some DO give useful skills that you couldn’t normally get, but this is the exception, not the rule. You can always read the skill’s helpfile or ask on newbie “Is (insert skillname) useful?”
How can I earn money/What monsters drop lots of coins?
Monsters may drop some incidental coins, but the true way to earn cash is to kill monsters for items to sell, and then haul said items back to Arelium’s shops, or some other npc store, and sell them. The newbie mines is a popular place for newbies to earn a little cash. See if you can find easy monsters that always drop particularly valuable items.
If worst comes to worst, you can go where other players have been and pick garbage up off the ground. Items that are lying around with no one in sight are usually considered fair game. It’s impolite to take things when another player is in the room however.
Completing easy quests is also a way to gain some bonus money.
Is (insert item) a good weapon or armor?/What shops sell good weapons or armors?
There are two main grades of gear in Batmud. First there are generic ‘iron club’ / ‘copper chainmail’ items which don’t have all that much meaningful difference between them beyond what you can sell them for. As a rule, if you find it lying around or get it from a monster you can slay without a large group, an item won’t have much or any distinguishing features beyond its sale price.
Then there are ‘true’ equipment items that give special bonuses. You’ll usually buy or be given these from other players, and almost never will you be able to get them all by yourself. Try the ‘broker’ command. The quality differences of these items can usually be determined by their typical sale price.