General gameplay tips/Basics

User Interface

• Note: In this picture you can also see a players Inventory(top right), party window(bottom right), and player Chat on the left.

For the current User Interface a player has 3 main panels.
These are Main UI Bar, Equipped Skills, and your Special Abilities.

1. Main UI Bar

   	Account Status	A place to report bugs, Un-stuck toggle, Give Suggestion, Report Abuse.	Inventory	Shows players current carried items	Chat	Panel for talking to other players.
   	Skills	Panel that shows the players current skills and their level in each.	Map	Shows the zone map in which the player is currently in, if applicable.	Quest	Shows the players current quest, stuff to do, and a notepad.
   	Recipes	Shows all recipes that the player has learned.	Pets	Shows the players current pet(s).	Persona	Shows current Equipment, Player Statuses, and Player Abilities.
   	Options	Shows various options.. key commands, Mouse and Movement Parameters, Graphics, GUI and Windows, Sound, Special Settings, Logout, Quit Game.	Social	Shows players hunting group and Friends list.	Game	Word Game that players can Play. (Currently just a blank tile.)

2. The Equipped Skills bars, at the bottom of the screen, are where you can see your currently equipped skills, be they combat, animal, performance ect.
   The default controls for a player's Equipped Skills are:
   • For the top bar: numbers 1⇒6.
   • For the bottom bar: Ctrl+1⇒6.
   These are the abilities that you will be using regularly.
3. The Special Abilities bar, far left of the screen, holds special action skills such as First Aid, Armor Patching, and even items from your inventory, allowing you to use items instantly.
   • These generally have a longer cooldown times and have better long term effects special in that some cannot be used.
   • Note: Players cannot switch armor or weapons if they are currently in combat!

Controls

For a complete listing see Controls.

Player Controls

	Default player Controls
Command	Key	Alternate Key
Turn Left	←	A
Turn Right	→	D
Strafe Left	Q	None
Strafe Right	E	None
Move Forward	↑	W
Move Backwards	↓	S
Jump	Space	None
Run	Left-Shift	Right-Shift
Toggle Run/Walk	'	None
Use Ability 1⇒6	1⇒6	None
Use Ability 7⇒12	Ctrl+1⇒6	None

• Default Movement Controls
• Standard WASD or Arrows Movement
• Holding RMB + LMB will make your character move forward.

GUI Controls

Default GUI Controls
Command	Key	Alternate Key
Show Inventory Window	I	Ctrl+I
Show Chat Window	C	Ctrl+C
Show Persona Screen	P	None
Show Quest Screen	None	None
Show Config Screen	Shift+O	None
Show Map Window	M	Ctrl+M
Close Last Panel Can also open options menu.	Escape	None
Select Next Enemy	Tab	None
Zoom Camera In	Numeric Keypad:+	Scroll Wheel ⇑
Zoom Camera Out	Numeric Keypad:-	Scroll Wheel ⇓
Select Next Non-Combatant	None	None
Use Selected	U	None
Screenshot	Ctrl+P	None
Screenshot: High-Res	None	None
Turn On/Off GUI Windows	=	None

• At the bottom of the options panel, the player can see their current Ping, FPS, and Game Version.
• Typing "/wiki chicken" in the game chat will open an internet browser and search this wiki for 'chicken', quite helpful when first starting. (Yes, there is a chicken page.)
• Select Next Non-Combatant is Useful for selecting ground items, especially if they are hidden in foliage. Highly Recommended
• Use Selected is Handy to use in tandem with Select Next/Previous Non-Combatant, to quickly loot ground items,
  or shuffle through a pile of dead mobs.
• For High-Res Screenshots F12 is suggested.
• For capturing screenshots in general and in particular screen portions Lightshot is highly adviced.

  Especially with it's default PRT-SCR key-usage.

Combat

Short and sweet version here check out Combat for a full run through of all buffs/equipment/effects.

Above, you can see your characters Armor, Health, and Power

Combat Refresh

Combat Refresh is the system used to restore armor, health, and power while in-combat. (It will not auto refill in-combat.)
Activating a skill's Basic Attack will activate this, on a 15 second cool down, not all skills have basic attacks that will activate this, however.

• Wearing different types of armor will boost the effects that combat refresh can give.
  • Metal ⇒ Armor and Power
  • Leather ⇒ Health, Armor, and Power
  • Cloth ⇒ Health and Power
  • Organic (crafted) ⇒ a small amount of Armor, Power, and Health.

• 

  A chicken's Stats
  Armor mitigates 1 point of damage for every 25 points of armor remaining.
• Health is the current health of your character. Can be healed with potions and specific skills.
• Power is consumed by using abilities that have a Power cost (most skills, like emergency abilities, that have no Power requirement, typically have a longer cooldown). The amount of Power available and your ability to recover Power between encounters is very important if you hope to take on more than one enemy at once, or even solo dungeons.
• Running while in combat will drain power.
• 

  This goblin is in vulnerable state as indicated by the overhead icon.
  Rage is the energy source that powers monsters’ special attacks. As you hit monsters or they hit you, they gather Rage, and when their meter is full (an orange looking hand), they user their super power.
• There are some skills that "manage rage', as they decrease a mobs rage or slow its ability to produce rage somehow.
• Vulnerability monsters periodically go into this vulnerable state, and some attacks do extra damage against vulnerable monsters, so it’s sort of a whack-a-mole mechanic — you use your vuln-boost ability when you see the monster flashing vulnerable.

Skill	Description	How to obtain
Archery	Expertise with using bows to hunt and kill.	Learned by new characters automatically, however you need to find the bow and arrows in a dilapidated chest in the Tutorial Cave near the Alchemy Book before you can use it.
Animal Handling	The art of taming animals and teaching them to fight alongside you.	Learned from a Shrine outside Serbule Crypt
Battle Chemistry	Using alchemical concoctions in the heat of battle. Not for the faint of heart, or the particularly sane, this combat style specializes in area affects of all types. Advanced Practitioners can also ingest their formulae directly to take on new combat personalities. Masters can even create homunculi to serve them in battle.	A Test NPC in Marna's shop teaches this for now, but the intended functionality is that you need an Alchemy of 50.
Druid	Druidin'	Use the Druid Shrine in Sun Vale
Fire Magic	Using Fire to destroy your enemies. This is a very potent offensive skill, including long-range and area-effect attacks, and even some Cold attacks for versatility. However, there are drawbacks: Fire magic is extremely Power-intensive; all creatures generate extra Rage when they are burned; and many creatures have some resistance to fire.	Talk with Velkort
Hammer	Mastery of the user of hammer and clubs in combat. Hammers are generally considered the least versatile, least complex combat weapon, best suited to violent brutes. There are few abilities to learn, since it's so simple. Power consumption is higher than average, but so is damage. This is a weapon for crushing enemies, no more and no less.	Reach a higher Favor level with Agrashab.
Mentalism	The power of mind over matter: psychic powers! This combat ability focuses on recovery and restoration, but it also has multiple damaging abilities.	Reach Friends Favor level with Echur
Necromancy	Necromancy is control over the undead, along with other powers that triffle with mortality. To use necromantic abilities, you must be wielding or wearing a necromancy gem. You can often find these on weapons, and less often on pieces of armor. (If you are in a beast form, necromancy gems in weapons won't work, but ones in armor will.) ((Subskill: Corpse Talking)	Use the Necromancy Shrine in Serbule Crypt Level 2.
Psychology	Understanding the mind of sentient creatures. Also, using that knowledge in combat and other stressful situations.	Discover Psychology in the Tutorial Cave.
Shield	Expertise in the use of a shield, both as a weapon and as a defensive tool.	Reach Friends favor level with Tyler Green
Staff	Mastery of the staff as a martial weapon. Staff fighting has a mix of both offensive and defensive abilities.	Raise favor level with Hogan.
Sword	Expertise with swords, rapiers and the like. Swords are very damaging, and can reduce an enemy's Rage.	Learned by new characters automatically, but you must find a sword in the Tutorial Cave.
Unarmed	Mastery of the martial arts. Not especially damaging, but with great controlling and stunning abilities. Generally requires one or both hands to be empty, although you can use kicks even with other items wielded.	Learned by new characters automatically in the Tutorial Cave.

Levels & Skills

• A short explanation: (see Level for a thorough walk-through)
  • Most MMORPGs use a numeric Level system to indicate the power of players, NPCs, and mobs. Project Gorgon does not do this. Skills begin at level 0, and do not show in the player's skill panel. To get level 1 (and a usable skill), the player will need to find the appropriate NPC/quest or item that teaches/gives the skill they desire.

• Skills
  • These are what players use as abilities/skill/attributes that allows them to accomplish things in the game world. See:skills
  • In Project Gorgon skills are increased by using them, so the more a player uses a specific skill the higher their level will be in that skill.
  • It is important to note that if active skill levels are too far apart (more than 25 levels), abilities that are above the 25 level difference are grayed out on the skill bars and unavailable for use. The player simply needs to select lower level abilities in the skill in order to use the same abilities.
  • To change active skills (archery, sword, necro, etc) click the arrow button that is on the left side of the skill bar you would like to change.

• Combat Level:
  • A player has two combat-abilities they can bring to a fight, each with their own skill level, as well as the armor items that the player has equipped, this leads to a, hmm, 'hazy' view on what the effective level a player really is in combat. Generally players are considered on the levels of their two currently equipped skills with the assumption that they have equipment that is reasonably close to their skill's levels. NPC Foes are judged on a case-by-case basis, with none really having at true 'level', the player will have to make an educated guess by looking at the mob's stats, again see Level for complete details.

• First time's the charm
  • Most events in the game reward bonus XP the first time you complete them. This applies to using recipes in various Trade Skills, to eating all types of foods (Gourmand), slaying foes (both common and bosses), dying in different ways, and even Binding yourself to a Teleportation Circle!

Death

• Death is a unique and new experience in PG for most experienced MMO players for a few reasons.
• Death is a skill, as in, each death is unique and each time a player dies they get experience in the Death skill that does in fact give bonuses to some attributes and other useful abilities...
• The game does have a Death Penalty, but only when fighting bosses. When a player falls in combat to a boss they will be cursed with that boss' unique curse, and the curses effects vary, from mildly amusing to being downright unpleasant. The player is then stuck with the curse until they defeat or find some other way to remove the curse.
• Otherwise when a player just dies, for whatever reason, they respawn at the entrance to the zone that they are in.
• One last Note on Death, it is possible for there to be a Death Penalty at all times, players who enjoy this type of play style can check out Hardcore Mode.
  • To activate a player must interact with the sign in Serbule Keep, and it is 100% voluntary.