Training?!?!?!?

[mattrious]

Hi. I'm still very new to Forsaken Lands and the forums in general. As I level up through the ranks on the mud. I notice that alot of people will stop leveling and say sorry, I'm training. I mean should I be stopping and training at these levels too? I gathered from reading many posts here on the forum, that my skills and spells would level up while I am ranking and if they were not mastered at 42 - then stop and train? Anyway just trying to understand this better. I think I do see the benefit, cause one of my chars got utterly worked last night by a guy who has been "training".

Also, is 100% considered mastered? I've noticed some of my skills go up past 100%? Thanks for any help you can provide!

- Matt.

[songofsixpence]

100% is the basic maximum. If you have racial masteries or weapon expertise as a class feature, then certain skills and spells can get above 100%. As for training. If you're still pretty new here, rank and have fun. Get to 50, learn what you can.

While it might be a bit harder to survive without mastered skills/spells vs. opponents with mastered skills/spells, it's certainly not crucial. If you would enjoy taking the time to stop and master a few things, then do so. Otherwise don't worry about it.

Another good strategy is to read the help files for your class skills, determine what you think are going to be your primary skills (or check out the essays section of the forum). When you reach a level where a new primary skill is available to you, stop somewhere around there and take some time to practice with it and see if you can't figure out how it works best for you.

Also, welcome to the game and to the forums. Hope you enjoy your stay.

edit: I should add that if you got "utterly worked", it's more than just the difference in mastered vs. unmastered skills. Equipment, and more importantly, experience with the game has alot to do with that. If you find yourself reaching a point where many people are repeatedly beating you. Shelf the character for awhile, roll up a new one, stay at lower levels (25-40) and learn the ropes before heading for 50. You will see benefits from training (and in certain cases can mean the difference between life and death), but don't let training get in the way of having fun and exploring.

Another option would be to start an adventurer, and spend time training and exploring to better learn the world. Then get out there and try your new knowledge. This will give you a chance to see how training can affect your survivability w/o having to worry about other players kicking you about.

[Kyzarius]

Train everything to 100%, thats my motto. Some people will say no, others are in the same camp as I am.

Train spells, if not for their damage and effect performance...just so you dont lose concentraiton at a crucial moment. like word of recall if you happen to have it...man...really sucks when you have 50hp...flee...cast word...lose concentration and die because of it.

Train defences, ALWAYS have dodge, parry, second parry, shield block, or any other such defence mastered in the 20's ALWAYS.

Train ALL weapons, Being a master in a weapon does more than just influence your ability to fight with that weapon. Master them all.

if you have anatomies (blademaster/monk) train them to 100% or at least into the 90's before reaching 50.

Training should be considered part of levleing a character, always do it, with every character you make. Some will say you will master everything as you levle naturally...yes somethings you will..but most you wont. FL rewards patience and persistence.

[Kinicky]

No disresepect intended whatsoever, but I have to completely disagree with song's analysis. There is a HUGE (and I mean HUGE) difference between skills at 75% and at mastery - especially defenses. Th egame is about having fun, so if you have fun ranking and such, go for it. But if you hope to be even remotely viable in PvP, stop and train at least your defenses and class defining skills.

I'll give you a little help, if you don't already know. For training defenses, fight scarecrows/black crows in Tarandue in large numbers. This will train up your defenses quickly. For non-damaging maladictions (ie curse, blind, faerie fire, etc.) train by casting on a bumpkin in the shire. Thie mob is always asleep, so he won't attack unless he takes damage. And for things like plague/poison, train by casting on a warrior medic (not sure where it is located - most classes that have plague/poison can also summon, and I just always summoned him.)

Direct damage spells are best trained while ranking. Use them to kill stuff. Same with weapons, dirt kick, bash, etc.

Hope that helps. Personally, I always got my butt BEAT until I learned about training. Made a HUGE difference.

And just so you know, at higher levels you will still probably get your butt handed to you. It comes with being new. Just make sure to look over the combat log when you are finished, and learn from what you did.

Oh, and glad you're here.

[smallman]

I usually master defenses very early on -- somewhere between 15 and 30 -- then buy a practice weapon or two. Don't use practice weapons while ranking, as it's bound to upset some people. Weapon masteries go up while ranking to 50 if I'm a smart race, and it takes a little extra effort if not. Don't forget hand to hand.

Spell training is another thing. Definitely master word of recall, your primary offensive spells, and anything else you'll need in a critical situation. Being a low intelligence race kinda hurts, here, because of the limited mana regen. Keep in mind ferals can whack you in the face and seriously handicap your ability to concentrate; mastering spells helps limit the usefulness of that tactic. Also, mastered spells rule.

There is a HUGE (and I mean HUGE) difference between skills at 75% and at mastery - especially defenses.

Word. Train your defenses at least, and carry different types of weapons so you'll always have something to train with while ranking. Read the essay for your class, if you haven't.

Just make sure to look over the combat log when you are finished' date=' and learn from what you did.[/quote']

This is probably the best thing one could do to improve. Also, look through the PK logs section. You'll see what happens when people neglect their spell uptimes, or fail to prepare, or use the incorrect weapons/spells. And you'll probably learn some neat tricks.

Oh' date=' and glad you're here. [/quote']

Yes, welcome. We like seeing people join the game.

[songofsixpence]

No disresepect intended whatsoever, but I have to completely disagree with song's analysis. There is a HUGE (and I mean HUGE) difference between skills at 75% and at mastery - especially defenses. Th egame is about having fun, so if you have fun ranking and such, go for it. But if you hope to be even remotely viable in PvP, stop and train at least your defenses and class defining skills.

Don't get me wrong, I'm all for mastering everything. It's something I try to do with each and every character I make. At the same time, I also feel that spending the effort to master everything on a first character is not the best thing in the world. I think it's more beneficial to learn the game first and see how things work, and see if it's a place you want to stay before worrying about mechanics.

To me, training is just that. Mechanics. It's necessary, and does tremendously help the PvP aspect of the game. But I don't feel that should be the focus of a first character anyways. A first character in my eyes is one that is meant for exploring and learning. Mastering a few things would be good, so that you can see the benefits of mastering. But until you've decided that FL is the place for you, I don't think that it's what you need to focus on.

[TheNewGuy]

Welcome to FL!

I'd say as songofsixpence; Training is important, but don't spend too much time on it until you start learning your way around. Defences might be worth training though. You will find it much easier to survive with them mastered. And they are pretty easy to train. Just go to the field in Tarandue and gather up a big bunch of crows.

[Unknown Criminal]

Before you go nuts and train your charactor, play the game first. You dont want your first FL experience to be mastering your skills for countless hours while not having any fun, training sucks. If you are new, I 'suggest' staying in the ranks of 25-35, do a little pking to get a feel and a little exploring to know the basic lands. When you learn how to train and feel like putting a few hours into it, just train your defenses 'parry, dodge, shield block', and after that you will be mostly on par with others in your range. Learn where to find vials, use flight potions, watch logs of how you die in pk or even examine them as to how the guy won so that you know what can happen to you. When you get into the higher ranks of 40+ the pk skill gets harder, and if you cant compete between 25 and 35 then you are not ready to go any further, and remember, it takes time to get good. It took me a few months, some people been here for years and still suck:) Just dont get discouraged, play to have FUN.

UC

[mya]

So what class you play ?

Some classes like Battlemages depend a lot of their mastered spells.

Other like clerics can pass with just Defences and Path/Ray.

P

[Fiere]

I was ranking with a thief that I'm sure was new a while ago. On that off chance that you're him, I'd say just find some time when you're not ranking to master at least your defenses, hide, and sneak. Pry, blackjack, backstab, dual backstab, and gag would be nice as well, but it's not essential. And be careful. Many people will kill you solely because you're a thief.

[f0xx]

I was ranking with a thief that I'm sure was new a while ago. On that off chance that you're him' date=' I'd say just find some time when you're not ranking to master at least your defenses, hide, and sneak. Pry, blackjack, backstab, dual backstab, and gag would be nice as well, but it's not essential. And be careful. Many people will kill you solely because you're a thief.[/quote']

-Offtopic-

Not to mention that this same thief had items that are hard to get even for a character at 50 at times.

Now back on topic. No matter whether you master your skills or not, make sure you have fun. If you need skills to be able to have fum (i.e. being able to PK) better, then DO master them. If PK is not the most important thing for you tho, then do as you wish, I would strongly suggest your first few characters to be be created for the sole purpose of exploring the lands. Healers and clerics, sometimes rangers are the best choice for that, but it is your choice after all, just make sure you have fun.

Oh, btw I liked that thief's RP

[archgold]

welcome to FL! you're probably just like the me two years ago. I ranked my ninja up to 42nd (no training included) and got destroyed.....well mainly in part because I had no idea what was happening.

So some advice I have for you: just go with the flow, if you die you died so what? When i had hit 42nd I still didn't even know the major cities (val miran, rheydin, miruhvor), I just knew I could hide there. I didn't even know the basic armor: mithril, onyx rings, rusted medallions, teeth necklace. You'll find out as soon as you get used to the game where everything is and who to kill and who to run from. But don't get discouraged if you see yourself dying alot at first it's part of the game, heck I even starved myself to death a few times before I knew where to get food.

Lol anyways welcome and I don't think you should worry about training if you're a rogue class(i.e. ninja, thief, bard) or melee for that matter(most things train while ranking, just remember to switch your weapons) otherwise if you're playing a c/c (caster/communer) class you might want to hold off on those until you get to know the lands better.

[mattrious]

First, let me say thank you to all of you who've posted your words of advice and encouragement. Yes, I am playing a thief. I'm sure I've ranked with some of you and others probably not. I have not been "decked out" in high level gear since I started playing here on FL. In fact at the time of this post today, I was still in mud school gear mostly. Then another player took some time and showed me where some decent stuff loaded and helped me out a bit. My char has just recently hit the rank of thirty. I'm going to take this time to master all my weapon and defense skills and start working on my more class specific skills like blackjack, pry, gag, etc. Anyway, thank you again for the wonderful advice!

- Matt.

[Aulian]

Funniest thing is I never really train anything... Only my weapons and defences and thats only cause it pisses me off when you cant rank probably because you are getting beat on...

Seriously.. I train in the down time when no one is on to kill in cabal warfare.. The idea of training to me is nuts, sure you fight better (marginally) but I mean cummon spend five hours having fun or five hours spamming spells? Hahah yeah right..

You know, that may be why all of my characters peak in power at the end of their lives... They've died enough and cast enough to master some stuff... Hrmmm actually im going to look into that

But in all seriousness, if you are new don't worry about training all that much. Join the academy so that you can keep asking questions. Learn the lands - perhaps the most important thing. Everything relies on this. Your ability to escape, to find equipment (and thereby to get stronger), as well as complete quests for their many benefits.

AND MOST IMPORTANTLY IF YOU ARE NEW! - Do not give up.. You will die. I've been here seven years and I die. Just keep going.. There is always something to learn from every fight so make sure you do and equipment isnt the be all and end all of everything. You can get more

Keep on trucking

[Ex-D&Der]

I think I'm with UC here. Training makes some difference, but not nearly so much as knowing your way around, solid PK tactics, etc. That said, if you're a thief you should master hide and sneak because you don't want to think you are hiding when you're not. You might also want to take the time to master your defenses before you hit 42, which is when you're in the 50 PK range. But I wouldn't spend a huge amount of time sitting there and practicing the rest, as the return per hour spent is much higher for exploring and trying out PK.

One caveat--don't leave any important skills below 75 percent. It does make a big difference if they are below this level. If you have saved on practices to use them for hit points or some such, either train the skills up or spend another practice.

[Segoy]

I think it comes down to what sort of player you are. Some people have nothing better to do and as such will sit around and train.

My pet peeve is pre 40's who spurn a good group in favour of training. Truth is, you should be surviving anything but a fire giants bash lock (personal experience) until 40. If you want to be nice and trained before making the run to pinnacle, thats fair enough.

As a few have said, it doesn't make a HUGE difference at 50.

What I have noticed with myself and others though is that many with short fuses, will tend to take death of their char a whole lot more seriously depending on how much time they have spent investing in to that character. This can work both positively and negatively.

[Mindflayer]

Then another player took some time and showed me where some decent stuff loaded and helped me out a bit.- Matt.

Your welcome , I've been trying to be as newbie friendly as possible.. we need more of a player base here on this awesome mud!

[mya]

Master defences and Blackjack.

That is enuff for a newbie thief.

[brsingr]

lmao man, ive been here for 3 years and, though it may be because of my on and off interest in the game, the highest rank ive gotten was a rank 42 ninja, nyoboe, and all i know where to find is the orc's fur and axes and the mithril. people get me stuff, but don't show me where to get it. i was so deep in debt, the XP i needed would have brought me from 5 to pinn.

regardless of my suckiness, i always take the time to train my characters, even my first one.