Desert Survival Guide

[Volke]

Can anyone give me a guide to surviving in the desert as a ranger? Right from where to point on the map to how to get an income please.

[WarriorPoet]

http://www.armageddon.org/intro/helpers.php

That's your link, bro. Use it.

You're not going to find walk-throughs, room-by-room maps, or any sure-fire way to survive. Your best bet? Cliche as it is, create a human ranger or warrior. Join the T'zai Byn in Allanak. Trust me. They will teach you the basics and more, and after you first year, if you decide to leave you've got a character that is capable of surviving. You, the player, will also have a far better understanding of game mechanics, theme, and the small things like 'How do I earn coin' and 'wtf did my coins all go? I had eight hundred a moment ago...'

-WP

[Delirium]

This is a useful link for roleplaying a ranger/hunter character:
http://www.armageddon.org/rp/subguilds/hunter.html

I strongly recommend that if you want to try out your first ranger, you start your character in Tuluk.  There are more types of 'small' creatures there and the plantlife is relatively abundant compared to Allanak.  It is survivable in Allanak, but very difficult on your own.

A tip for survival: A ranger does not have to actually hunt an animal to find food.  My suggestion would be to immediately try to experiment in various locations with the 'forage food' (see "help forage") command.  You will be in less immediate danger and, in the right places, you'll dig up water-rich foods.  Once you're able to feed yourself from the land, you'll be in a better position to try hunting small game for the meat and hides.

Be sure to 'examine' everything that you find.  Some of what you'll dig up isn't readily apparent how it might be edible, but examining it or trying to 'craft' it may produce results.

Also, be careful: Not everything you dig up is something you WANT to eat.  If it looks suspicious, it probably is!

Another helpfile to read over and get to know is this one:
http://www.armageddon.org/general/beasts.html

Not all animals are immediately aggressive, but even passive animals can be very dangerous.  A general guideline is that the smaller it is, the more likely you are to be able to handle it.  Be ready to flee ('help flee') as soon as you start getting hit - it's always better to escape and live for another day than to risk something going wrong before you can run.

If you're in the southlands, you can start earning yourself money by mining obsidian (look in the commoner's Quarter in Allanak - there is an office and shop along an aptly named road where you can find what you need), or you can forage for saltin the Salt Flats (look for the saltyards in the eastern side of the city, and a cleaning shop in the bazaar).

If you're in the north, you can make yourself a little money by foraging for stones and wood, and selling them to shops in Freil's Rest, in the northwest section of the city.

Check out "help map_allanak" and "help map_tuluk" if you need orientation.  Also, when you encounter NPCs in shops, try to 'talk' to them to get information: the syntax is normally "talk <npc> topic".

Simply put, a newbie ranger often needs to rely on other sources of income until they're good enough to support themselves on hunting alone.

Good luck.

[Manhattan]

IM me, bud. I have a collection of survival books.

[moab]

Manhattan,

Can you pass these books around? I wonder what their contents are?
Have staff approved em?

[Manhattan]

These are what I have.

Worst-case Scenario Survival Handbooks
by Piven and Borgenicht

Castaway Survivor's Guide
by Rory Storm

The Essential Survival Guide
by Ken Griffiths

various Boy Scouts handbooks

Contents include mapping and orienteering by stars and the sun, trapping animals, first aid, collecting dew water in a desert, camping, making useful tools, lighting fires, hunting, self-defense...

[moab]

LOL.

Awesome!

[Hymwen]

XD

[Majikal]

What about the zombie survival guide?

[zanthalandreams]

What about the zombie survival guide?

Man, I love that book.  When the zombpocalypse happens, I'm ready.

[Eternal]

http://www.randomhouse.com/crown/zombiesurvivalguide/

In case you're wondering...

And on topic:
Making an income and playing a ranger rarely go hand in hand.  Most ranger/hunter types live a subsistence life, spending their days hunting for food and escaping dangerous encounters.  If that sounds like your kind of fun (it's mainly solo roleplay) then it's probably for you.  I've been around a very long time and could give you next to no information on the wastes outside of the cities, so I'd be a bad choice of Helper.   :oops:

There are hunters who have done it well, and you benefit yourself to remember that on Zalanthas skills do not determine who or what your character is.  Many rangers rarely leave the cities, functioning as servants to organizations such as the Arm of the Dragon or working with the T'zai Byn.  Many others are world-travellers, though this life is often short and involves the dreaded solo rp (again, some players' bag, not mine).

Merchants make the most money, though are typically seen as one of the comfortable and less exciting guilds to play.  Other rich people are nobles and templars... but it may be a while until those options become available as there are limited numbers allowed at any time and a history of good play (here on ArmageddonMUD) is required.

Lord Templar Hard Nose hopes he has pointed you in a helpful direction, the links above (especially the ones on the hunter's life and the help files) are invaluable resources.

[zanthalandreams]

you benefit yourself to remember that on Zalanthas skills do not determine who or what your character is . . .

Merchants . . .  are typically seen as one of the comfortable and less exciting guilds to play.  

Exciting is such a subjective term.  The guild itself does not determine how exciting your play is going to be.  Merchants make the world go 'round.  If you want your ranger to get the most buck for his bang, then find a merchant PC who needs what you can provide.  You don't have to be a merchant to get rich, though.  Just be useful to one.


Edited to add:  I think that one of the problems many new players face with surviving involves the jack-of-all-trades ideal.   I'm sure there are experienced players who are able to find it, kill it, skin it, craft it, sell it, buy it all with total eliteness.  The highest level of success, though, comes through interaction.

[spawnloser]

Yeah, Eternal...you kinda disagreed with yourself there.

You make your role enjoyable.  You can make a merchant enjoyable too.

[Eternal]

Well... many new players don't see a class without weapon skills as exciting.  I did indeed, as a merchant does not have to make money, nor does a warrior have to fight, a thief steal, or a ranger range.  I tend to generalize for new players, but thanks for the clarification guys.

Of course, I'm partial to the tavern-crawl, city based roleplay, and I'd guess close to 25% of my characters have been guild merchant (or coded thief).  That's just me, and my preferences go away from hunters/rangers/warriors.

Lord Templar Hard Nose grins mischeviously.