Ashen

Alright, let's get you up to speed on how to actually play Ashen Empires. It's pretty straightforward once you know the buttons, and thankfully, you can even bring up a full list in-game by hitting F1. Think of this as your quick-start cheat sheet so you're not fumbling around when things get hectic.

First off, moving around is simple. You've got your standard Arrow Keys for walking your character in any direction. If you prefer using your mouse for movement, just hold down the right mouse button and guide your character where you want them to go.

When it comes to combat, here's the drill: hit the A key to get into attack mode. Then, LEFT CLICK on a monster to target it. Once you're close enough, your character will start wailing on it automatically. After you've taken down a foe, you'll want to grab their loot. Just press the SPACE BAR (or double-click if you prefer) while you're next to them, then drag the treasure over to your character's inventory.

Using items like food, opening doors, or chatting with NPCs (those are your non-player characters, like shopkeepers) is done with a DOUBLE CLICK on the object or person. If you just used something and want to use it again quickly, hit the U key – it's a handy shortcut.

There are a few more handy shortcuts to keep in mind:

• CTRL + Left Click: Use this to get a closer look at an object.
• Double Left Click: This is your go-to for using an item or talking to an NPC.
• Right Mouse Button: Hold this down to move your character around.
• CTRL + Right Click: Perfect for setting a path for your character to follow.
• Left Mouse Drag: Use this to pick up and move objects.
• Shift + Left Mouse Drag: Handy for splitting stacks of items, like gold.

Alright, so you've just logged into Ashen Empires and it's time to make your mark on the world! Creating your character is the very first step, and it's pretty straightforward. Let's walk through it together.

Step 1: Naming Your Legend

First up, you'll need to give your character a name. While many players go for a classic medieval vibe, the choice is really yours! Just remember to keep it clean and respectful – no offensive names allowed. Get creative! You could go for something classic like 'Robin Hood' for a Human, 'Frodo' for a Dark Elf, or even something fun like 'Shrek' for an Ogre!

Step 2: Choosing Your Race

Right now, you've got three races to pick from. Based on what I've seen and heard, there aren't any huge gameplay differences between them at the moment. It's worth noting that there used to be more races, like the Tundarian (a blue snow creature), High Elf (basically a Dark Elf with different skin), and Brimlock.

Here's a breakdown of what some players have observed about the current races:

• Night Elf: You might have slightly less HP per level (around 2 less), but you start with 10 armor. Plus, Night Elves have night vision, which is super handy underground as you won't need a torch or lamp! Just a heads-up, this night vision can sometimes be a bit buggy.
• Human: These are your standard, balanced characters. Alignment might increase a little faster, but it's not a massive difference.
• Orc: Orcs have a slower alignment increase, but you get immunity to poison attacks, which can be a lifesaver in certain areas.

Big thanks to Chameleon and mooman for sharing these insights on the Q&A board!

Step 3: Selecting Your Profession

Don't stress too much about your profession choice, because you're not locked into it! Ashen Empires lets you dabble in other professions later on. When you pick one, you'll get some starting gear, but you can always visit a weapon shop, grab a different weapon type, and start training a new skill whenever you feel like it.

You'll choose from three main profession types:

• Warrior: If you like getting up close and personal or raining down arrows, this is for you.
  • Archer: Specialize in bow and arrow attacks.
  • Axeman: Master single and double-bladed axes.
  • Crossbowman: Wield deadly bolts from crossbows.
  • Footman: Focus on heavy, blunt weapons.
  • Knife Fighter: Excel with short blades.
  • Spearman: Use staves, spears, and polearms.
  • Swordsman: Specialize in long blades.
• Craftsman: For those who prefer to build, repair, and sustain.
  • Blacksmith: Forge and fix metal tools, weapons, and armor.
  • Carpenter: Craft wooden tools, weapons, and armor.
  • Cook: Prepare delicious meals from meat, fish, and baked goods.
  • Farmer: Cultivate crops and gather raw materials.
  • Fisherman: Catch fish for selling or cooking.
  • Leathercrafter: Create and repair leather gear and armor.
  • Healer: Mend wounds, cure poison, and treat diseases.
• Mage: If you're drawn to the arcane arts, this is your path.
  • Body Mage: Cast spells focused on the body and physical effects.
  • Mind Mage: Wield spells that affect the mind and mental states.
  • Nature Mage: Command spells related to nature and the natural world.
  • Soul Mage: Utilize spells that deal with the soul and spiritual energies.

Step 4: Balancing Your Attributes

The final touch is balancing your character's attributes. You start with 7 attribute orbs to distribute. To get more orbs, you'll need to hunt monsters and level up – each level grants you 2 more orbs. The four core attributes are Strength, Intelligence, Dexterity, and Constitution. Generally, focusing on Strength is a solid bet for most builds. If you're aiming to be a pure Mage, then Intelligence is definitely the way to go.

Like I said, there is no "BIG" quest in the game like saving a princess or something to the like of it. However, there are little quests that involves running from one town to another with an NPC (non-player character) and a Guild Master quest which you are better off doing this when you reach a safe higher level as welkl as some experience quests.

First of all, familiarize yourself with the town you started out in. If you pick a race, you will start out in the village of the same race. For example, if you pick human, you will start in Silvest. You will start in Whisperdale if you choose to be an elf and Krog if you are an Orc. Each of those town are on their own land, like how Silvest is in Krythan, Whisperdale is in West Mainland and Krog is in East Mainland. And yes, there are three areas in the game and you can get to each one by going through a portal.

Lets take a look at what's on your screen. You are the person right in the middle of the screen without your ID at the top of your head. In the upper left corner of the screen you will see "FPS: ##". I'm pretty sure this is abbreviated for Framerate Per Second and I have no idea what it really means but I have seen those words or the abbreviation of it around. At the bottom right of the screen you will see several icons and from left to right they are:

• Body
  Click on it and it will bring up a screen of your body. This is to show what clothing(s) you have on and what kind of weapon you have equipped. There are 6 different parts on your body that you can equip and they are Head, Hands, Legs, Upper Body, Shield and Weapon. On the left side of the screen is your character's stats and from top to bottom they are Strength, Dexterity, Intelligence, and Constitution. The last thing on that list is Armor and the number will raise and lower depends on what armor you put on. Try not to put too much armor on if you are a new player because if you do, you will put on more weight on yourself and your stamina meter will go down quicker.
• Backpack
  All of the items you have picked up after killing enemies on the way after from town to another town will be put here. Having a lot of items in your backpack can raise your weight up a little bit and your stamina will go quicker as well.
• Skills
  Like I said, if you picked a profession you want to work on, you still can participate in another skill. Clicking this icon will bring a screen of the skills you have practiced. If you participate in a NPC quest and if you successfully completed it, the experience points you are given will be put in the at the bottom of the skill list. You can add whatever how many experience points you have into one of the skills you have practiced to raise it so that you can get better in that skill. For the better, you should add them onto one of the many tradeskills.
• Magic
  This is only for wizardry stuff. A warrior can be a mage but you'll have to find a mage staff or whatever stave you can find. You can buy a staff in the Magic Shop if it has one. Once you find the wand or a type of mage staff, click on it and then click on the wand to enchant it. This will activate the wand and bring up the interface of the wand you are holding.
• Automap
  This is your map of the land you are exploring on. You can enlarge the map by double clicking on it. If you do double-clicked on the map to enlarge it, the black area are the area that you haven't exploreD yet.
• Chat
  Sure, you can chat to other players online if they are on your screen. You'll find them in the bank in the town chatting away, rarely you'll run into one running out across the land. To talk to them, press the T key on your keyboard and start typing away until you hit enter.
  There are three ways to chat and they are Normal, Whisper, and Guild. Players can read what you typed in under normal chat. Stand next to a player and switch to Whisper by hitting the Tab key after you press the T key to talk. While whispering, no one can read what you said if another player isn't one tile around you except for the person next to you. The guild chat is only for the people who are in a guild and again, those who aren't in the same guild or are not in a guild cannot read the guild chat.
• Followers
  This is a pretty neat feature in the game but it isn't really important. Find a stray dog/wolf or whatever animal that can be tamed and click on the Follower Icon and mess around with your new pet.
• Guild Deed
  A guild leader are the one who have access to this icon and they can do whatever they want to their guild from adding to removing members. There isn't much you can do on the Guild screen. You have to be a very skilled character to be in a guild and you can't just join right away. Some guilds have a set limited character level or strength or whatever. If you want to start a guild, look for the guild master quest in the The Beginning section of this FAQ.
• Ship Deed
  This icon is there but has not yet been activated. It looks like you can use a ship to travel across water but not one has been invented as of the moment so the icon stays unactive until ship comes in.
• Game Options
  Here are some of the background options you can mess around with such as turning the music on or off, control click to identify (item name will appear if checked). You can control the music and sound volume by using the slider.

Those are all of the icons at the bottom section of the statistic area at the lower right of the screen. The upper section has all those colored bars numbers and I will explain what they are:

• Time
  This is located at the very top where you see the sun or moon going from left to right. The Dransik time is also on there and the time is a lot faster than the time you are breathing through right now. I do no