With DarkFall being so different from the now traditional MMOs, its only natural people are going to have a lot of questions. Since I post about the game rather frequently here, I figured I might as well try and address some of the more common questions, and also give people a place to ask other questions not answered here.
Sound: DarkFall uses sound in a much more ‘active’ way than most games. The sound of combat is often used to find other players, and anything that makes noise can potentially attract attention. Because of this, music is very minimal, and different sound volumes are used. It’s not a bug that mana missile is obnoxiously loud with no option to turn it down, it’s designed that way. Same goes for in-combat sounds like being hit or eating food. Because these noises are so loud, other players are able to hear them from a great distance, usually long before they can actually see you. It’s jarring and annoying at first, but once you realize the design behind it, it becomes second nature and critical for success. Separating vent volume from in-game sound is extremely helpful in coordinated PvP.
Mining: Unlike chopping lumber or gathering herbs, mining nodes comes in two flavors; iron and stone. Stone is used in city/hamlet construction, while iron can be smelted and used in crafting. A recent patch changed the look of iron nodes, and they are now much shinier and easier to identify. The general ratio of iron/stone is about 1 to 8, and in high-traffic areas it’s not uncommon for the iron to be all gone more often than not. Finding a good, low traffic iron spot is very valuable. Each stone and iron node contains about 50ish resources, and both have a chance to produce sulfur or gemstones. Stone is very heavy and must be deposited in a bank often. 5 iron ore produces 2 iron ingots when smelted. A full set of plate armor is approximately 200 ingots (plus gold and leather), assuming zero failure when crafting.
Combat: Hitting a player or mob in the back causes significantly more damage, and the attacks can not be blocked or parried. The chance of instant death, rather then being knocked down, is much higher if the final blow is struck from behind. Death is always instant if you die underwater. Magic can not be cast underwater, while arrows can still be shot. Arrows fired above water do not hit targets below, and vice versa. Blocking with a shield significantly reduces the damage you take (often nearly to zero), while draining stamina per hit absorbed. The attacker losses more stamina than the defender, which is very important in PvP, less so in PvE. If you run out of stamina during combat, all attacks against you will cause a significant amount of damage; you are basically dead if you run out of stam. Blocking a mob will often cause it to switch targets, while hitting a mob with a power attack seems to draw more agro.
Mounts: Attacking from a mount causes far more damage than a player running on the ground, but only one-handed weapons can be used. To hit a ground target, you must lean in the appropriate direction before swinging. After every swing, you must again lean either left or right. Mastering repeatedly hitting a running ground target is very important for players looking to be successful in PvP. Mobs will attack mounts over players generally, and its best not to fight mounted in PvE (thought it can be somewhat entertaining bashing goblins from a mount). Mounts can enter water, but move very slowly, and fighting on a mount in water is to be avoided. A ground player can easily dive underwater, come up behind you, and bring your mount down before you have a chance to even turn around on your mount. A mount can be killed, and quickly, by skilled players using a bow. Two or more players shooting arrows at a mounted player will often kill the mount before a player is able to flee. Mounts have both a front and rear attack. Both attacks will punt the player away from the mount, and cause even more damage than a weapon swing. Mastering the use of both abilities is again key for PvP, and errant bites or kicks can cause great harm to allies if used incorrectly. A mounted player is able to fall an unlimited distance without suffering damage. Depending on the area, this can be a huge tactical advantage. Mounts are crafted from steedgrass, which has about a .06% chance to drop when gathering herbs (the percentage may be higher for city/hamlet resources). A player with the taming skill can convert a steedgrass into a mount, the type depending on the crafters race.
Weapons: Generally higher rank weapons deal more damage, although your actual weapon skill impacts the actual amount gained. A player with a higher sword skill will get more out of a high ranking sword than a new player, although the new player will still notice a damage increase over a lesser weapon. Higher ranked weapons will also wear down much faster in the hands of an unskilled player, which makes using such weapons for PvE somewhat of a waste. For PvP, since you generally don’t swing as often, a high ranking weapon is always a good choice, even for lower-skill players. Crafted weapons and armor are almost always better compared to the PvE dropped versions of the same item, both in damage/protection and durability. The starter weapon should only be used as a last resort, as it’s significantly weaker than even rank 0 weapons.
Guilds: If you are not in a guild, you will have a very difficult (though not impossible) time in DarkFall. Unless you intend to stack the deck against yourself, it’s very advisable to find a quality guild as soon as possible. Consider the guilds political standing, general area of operation, allies/enemies, along with their approach to the game and activity level before joining. Since DarkFall only allows one character per account, guild hoping should be avoided as you may soon find yourself on many KOS lists. This truly is a social game on many levels (guild, alliance, general area), and someone playing solo will miss the best parts.
That’s it for now, if anyone has any other questions, please comment below and I’ll do my best to address them as best I can.
Hardcore Casual 