Dragon Court (Online/Web Only) Beginner's Guide v1.0 By: Lena LeRay E-mail: crowbeak@gmail.com November 29, 2004 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ TABLE OF CONTENTS ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 1) Introduction ........................... ZX01 2) Registration and Login ................. ZX02 3) Creating Your Adventurer ............... ZX03 3b) Recommended Starting Adventurer ... ZX03B 4) First Day .............................. ZX04 5) The Healers Tower ...................... ZX05 6) The Castle ............................. ZX06 7) Opening New Areas ...................... ZX07 8) The Inventory Screen ................... ZX08 9) Skills ................................. ZX09 10) Clans .................................. ZX10 11) Identifying Items ...................... ZX11 12) Legal Shiznit .......................... ZX12 13) Contact Me ............................. ZX13 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ZX01 INTRODUCTION ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Dragon Court is a fun little online Java game that a friend of mine (I can't remember who) introduced me to years ago. You can find it at www.fiends.com under the Games + Toys section. Things have changed about the game over the years. I remember when the chat room, the Towne Square, had just been born. And since I haven't played it continuously over the years (though I have occasionally decided to start up a new character), I have no clue when they started making T-shirts. The login screen, however looks exactly like I remember it all those years ago and the gameplay has remained largely the same -- including getting started and working your way around the early levels and locales of the game. I'm not going to create a full walkthru for the game because last I knew, they were still adding new places to go and new things to do. Even so, once you get the hang of the game and how it works, you shouldn't need a walkthru to keep going strong. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ZX02 REGISTRATION AND LOGIN ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The first thing you have to do if you want to play Dragon Court is to register. It's a fairly painless process -- it doesn't cost you a dime, you don't have to give them anything like your name or address or your dog's medical history. You have to tell them what you want your character's name to be and you have to type in a valid e-mail address so that they can send you your password. If you want, it can be some lame Hotmail address that you use as a spam shield. As long as you can check your e-mail real quick to get your password, it's all good. A quick note about your password: it's randomly generated. There's a "Change Password" option on the menu bar beside the Java applet, but it just sends you a new randomly generated password. When you get the e-mail they send you (which never takes more than a few minutes, in my experience), all you have to do to get into the game itself is to go back to the main Dragon Court page and type in your name and password. A new button will appear in the form of a picture of a warrior in a field of grass that seems to be gazing at a tree in the distance with the word "Enter" beneath it. Just click on that button, and enter the world of Dragon Court! ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ZX03 CREATING YOUR ADVENTURER ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ When you login for the first time, you'll be presented with a bright blue screen that looks something like this: ````````````````````````````````````` Guts Wits Charm ---- ---- ---- +| 4| + | 4| +| 4| -| | - | | -| | ---- ---- ---- Options Money(1p=$25) ----- [] Noble 12p []Warrior 8p +| 25| [] Wizard 9p []Trader 10p -| | ----- Build Points ------ | 20 | | | ------ ````````````````````````````````````` It's a basic sort of creation system whereing you use Build Points to beef up your character's starting stats and money. There are only three stats you can affect in character creation. Brief descriptions of each are as follows: - Guts is your hit points. I believe it also affects the success of Warrior skills. - Wits affects your ability to help people you encounter, as well as your ability to answer riddles. It also increases the effectiveness of any Wizard skills you get. - Charm is your ability to convince the people and monsters you encounter to do your bidding peacefully while allowing you to evade similar actions on their parts. It also affects your trading and any Trader skills you get. Starting money is pretty obvious, with the key next to the word "Money" telling you that one build point gets you an extra $25 dollars to start. Whether or not you want to take an Option is perhaps the most critical choice you will make in character creation. Taking an Option uses up about half of your build points in exchange for starting out a little bit ahead of the game. - Noble allows you to get into the castle from the beginning of the game and automatically gives you noble status. - Warrior starts you out with one Warrior skill level. - Wizard starts you out with one Wizard skill level. - Trader starts you out with one Trader skill level. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ZX03B RECOMMENDED STARTING ADVENTURER ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ I've had quite a bit of experience in creating Dragon Court characters over the years, as I've started many characters only to cease playing them after a few months. This is the most efficient use of Build Points I have found: *Starting Build Points: 20 The first thing you need to worry about is your starting cash. $25 just isn't enough to get going well. Pump 1 Build Point into your cash so that you have $50 in starting money. That'll get you a Main Gauche (one of the best equip- ment items available right off) and a pair of sandals to get you going. *Build Points Remaining: 19 Since whether or not to take an Option (and if so, which one you want) is such a big decision, let's move on to that. I recommend choosing Trader, and here's why: - Nobility is nice, but it costs more build points than any other Option. The castle becomes available to you at sixth level anyway (not that you want to try getting in right away), and since chances are good that you'll be at sixth level within a couple days of starting the game, it's not that important. Not getting nobility at the beginning means that you have to get past the guards to get into the castle and that you have to pay to become a noble, but taking the nobility Option will not help you in any other way at the beginning of the game. - Warrior's only obvious benefit as a starting trait is the berzerk ability. With it, you do a lot more damage than you normally would. However, the berzerk ability won't show up until the second round of a battle. It can be useful if you come across a pikeman early on, but pikemen are the second- rarest encounter in the fields. A not-so-obvious benefit of being a Warrior is that if you sleep in a bad place and get sick, "Warrior training dispels your suffering." - Wizard can be a good thing to have, because it allows you to use the quartz and opal gems you find all over the grasslands to good advantage with only a few skill levels invested in it. However, you need at least two levels in it to use even a quartz, and you can't increase your skill levels until you can enter the forest. - Trader gets you the backstab and swindle options. You'll only be able to do one trader action a day until you can get into the forest and level up your skills, but if you're poorly equipped (or just weak) that backstab can save you from horrible doom at the hands of a Pikeman. The swindle skill is useful if you don't think you can kill a wizard and don't want him to hypnotize you when you try to attack him. Having swindle also means that you don't really need the wizard Option's hypnotize, as they do much the same thing. *Build Points Remaining: 9 The only thing left to do is pump up your stats. I recommend putting two for sure into each stat. That leaves you with three points to use for a bit of customization. One of those at least ought to go into Guts, since Guts are your hit points, the very life blood of your character. Where those last points go isn't as critical; I usually put them into Charm so that I trade better. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ZX04 FIRST DAY ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Once you've finished the initial creation of your character, you'll find yourself in "The Fields Near Salamander Township." In the upper right-hand corner of the window is the Healers Tower. In the lower right-hand corner is the Exit Game button (which you NEVER want to use). In the center is the same picture of an warrior that appeared on the login and character creation screens when you were capable of continuing, but it's now labeled "{1} Quest." In the upper left-hand corner is the Town Road. On the right-hand side of the screen you'll also see an empty bar running from top to bottom labeled "Exp" for experience. The bottom of the screen shows a general status bar with your name and rank, Guts, Wits, Charm, and cash on the top row. The bottom row shows your number of remaining quests, a numerical experience point value, and your armor and weapon equipped. Since you currently have "Fists & Skin" for your equipment, click on the Town Road. Welcome to Salamander Township! In the lower right-hand corner is the way back to the Fields. In the upper right-hand corner is a blank spot where the castle will appear when you reach level 6. Continuing in a counter-clockwise fashion, you'll see the Weapons shop, the Tavern, the Armor shop, and the Trade Shop. The Tavern is where you want to sleep at the end of the day; the Trade Shop is your general store. The first thing you want to do here is go to the Weapons Shop. If you scroll all the way down to the bottom of the list, you will see something called the Main Gauche. It adds 2 points to your attack stat (indicated by +2a), 2 points to your defense stat (indicated by +3d), and 3 points to your skill stat (which affects your ability to hit and dodge in battle and is indicated by +3s). If you did as I suggested and got $50 dollars starting cash (or ignored that recommendation and got more), you'll have enough to pay the $41 for it. Do so. Then exit back to Salamander Township, go to the Armorer, and buy yourself some Sandals. If you feel naked, don't worry; this is plenty to get you started. To equip them, click on the status bar at the bottom of the screen. This brings up the full status screen and inventory. At the top are all of your stats, including the attack, defense, and skill stats that don't show on the bar in the main screen. Below that on the left-hand side is a list of the guild skill ranks you have and how many you've used for the day, as well as the inventory window showing everything you own. On the right-hand side is the list of what you have equipped, as well as buttons saying Use, Info, Peer, Dump Slot, Oops, and Exit. They are used as follows: - Use equips the armor or weapon selected in the inventory. If you don't equip things, you go out naked. - Info shows you detailed information on the selected item or weapon in either your equipment list or inventory. Good for finding out any axtra abilities your equipment has beyond attack/defense/skill modifiers. - Peer shows a description of yourself based on the attributes you choose when you reach level six. I can't remember at the time of this writing where or how, but it seems to me like it's possible to peer at other people. - Dump Slot drops the selected item. - Oops recovers something you just dropped and have decided that you want back. - Exit causes you to leave the inventory screen. Equip your Main Gauche and Sandals. Then leave town and start questing by clicking on the icon labeled "Quest!" This generates a random encounters. Dealing with these encounters gets you items, money, weapons, and armor as well as raising your guts, wits, and charm stats depending on how you go about taking care of the obstacle before you. Items gained can be used or sold at the stores in town. Some of the items you get, like teeth, are good for nothing but being sold. There are six possible encounters that I know of in the fields. These range in rarity and behavior, and are as follows: - Squirrels are very common and the easiest creature to deal with. Hit them and they die. You get teeth that you can sell. It's not worth wasting your food to feed them. - Brownies are the second easiest creature to deal with, and are as common as squirrels. You have the option to bribe them instead of feed them, but it's still just a waste of your time to do so. - Quiet Blokes are also fairly common. These have a problem that you can try to solve for them. If you succeed, they give you a bunch of stuff in return and you might gain a bonus to your Wits in the bargain. You probably won't be able to hit them when you start out because they run away, so it's to your advantage to try helping them first. They won't hit back, so you don't need to be shy with them in any case. - Travellers have an option to trade with them. However, they will try to swindle you. If they succeed, they run off with some of your stuff. Otherwise the trade might succeed. You can attack them, but like Quiet Blokes they are fast on their feet and hard to hit and won't strike back. - Centaur Runts are too difficult for you to attack at first. You'll want to gain a few levels before tackling them, but they have a trade option. Use it. If the trade is successful, you can get Quartzes and Long Bows. Centaur- traded Long Bows are the best weapons in the field, and quartzes sell for a good amount of money at this point in the game. If you're a Wizard, you'll also be able to use Quartzes as Healing Salves once you gain another Wizard skill rank. - Swordsman are the second-rarest encounter in the fields. You can't take these guys on until you get some better armor than you start with -- not even with a backstab. If you hit one of these early, I am sorry. Run. They're more formidable in battle than Centaur Runts, and far less friendly to boot. - Faeries are the rarest encounter in the field. One of the options on a faery is to try to capture it. This is a match of Wits, which faeries have in plenty. As far as I can tell, these won't attack you. At this point, all you basically need to do is kick some butt, go back to town, identify and sell your loot, buy better armor and weapons, and go do it some more. Hopefully you'll end the day with boots, half plate or scale mail, a long bow, and a spiked helm. Once you've run out of quests for the day, you can't go anywhere but back to town. Go to the town and from there to the Tavern. This is where you want to sleep every night -- preferably in the suite. Tavern prices rise as your levels go up, but where you sleep determines how much health you have in the morning and whether or not you get sick overnight. Once you choose a place to sleep, you will be booted from the game and be shown a screen that summarizes the gains and losses of the day for you. There are also three buttons at the top. Two of these are plugs for the makers of the site and for Dragon Court 2. The other takes you to the ranking lists. Here, you can see the top-12 ranked people in each category as well as your own ranks and the eleven people closest to you. Contratulations! You have survived your first day of Dragon Court. (And if you haven't, you'll just need to hit the healer tomorrow, so don't worry.) ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ZX05 THE HEALERS TOWER ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The Healers tower is your friend. This is especially true at the beginning of the game, when you do not yet have enough Guts to scoff at most of the damage you take. There are five options available in the healers tower, as follows: - Quarter Healing heals one quarter of your lost Guts at a rate of one Guts per unit of money spent. - Half Healing heals one half of your lost Guts at a rate of one Guts per unit of money spent. - Full Healing heals all of your lost Guts at a rate of one Guts per unit of money spent. - Tithing is worthless. You spend a tenth of your gold on nothing at all. - Cure removes sick and panicked status from you. It costs $10 * [your level]. The healer's tower is only in the Fields near Slamander Township. Make sure when you wander off in search of adventure that you either have enough Healing Salves and/or other healing items to keep you safe until you can get back. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ZX06 THE CASTLE ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Unless you take the nobility trait during character creation, the Castle does not become available to you until you reach 6th level. When the Castle does appear, you will not be able to enter because a guard will stop you. You need to either beat the guard in combat -- no easy task -- or bribe it to get through. Once inside the castle walls, you can attempt to get into the Royal Court and try to become a noble, but it costs ************* If you want to get into the castle, keep the following in mind: - If you want to become a noble, you not only have to successfully bribe the guard to let you into the Castle, you have to bribe another guard to get you into the Royal Court, and spend money to become a noble on top of that. It is expensive. - Other things you can do at the Royal Court once you get in are Dice, Boast, Mingle, and *************************. These can gain you experience and stats just like fighting, though not as much. You get a lot of fame by hanging around at the Royal Court, especially if you go out adventuring first so that you have something to talk about. - There are other things you can do in the castle; at the Post Office you can send items to other characters (your own or someone else's); you can explore the Docks or Dunjeons; and at the Clan Hall you can attempt to join a clan. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ZX07 OPENING NEW AREAS ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Not all of the places that exist in the world of Dragon Court are accessible as soon as you begin to play. In fact, it's like that for a reason; you may not be able to handle the creatures in a new area as soon as you open it, much less before that. There is at least one such area in most if not all places you can go. In the Fields Near Salamander Township there are two, the Goblin Mounds and the Forest Road. The Goblin Mounds don't open up until you reach level 8, but the Forest Road opens up to you at level 4. However, taking the Forest Road as soon as you hit level 4 can be very foolish. The monsters in the Forest are far more dangerous than the monsters in the fields. They hit harder, dodge better, and run faster than you do. You'll find that such is the case for most of the areas you open up. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ZX08 THE INVENTORY SCREEN ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ At any time after you log in, you can access the inventory screen by clicking the status bar at the bottom of the game window. At the top are all of your stats, including the attack, defense, and skill stats that don't show on the bar in the main screen. Below that on the left-hand side is a list of the guild skill ranks you have and how many you've used for the day, as well as the inventory window showing everything you own. On the right-hand side is the list of what you have equipped, as well as buttons saying Use, Info, Peer, Dump Slot, Oops, and Exit. They are used as follows: - Use equips the armor or weapon selected in the inventory. If you don't equip things, you go out naked. - Info shows you detailed information on the selected item or weapon in either your equipment list or inventory. Good for finding out any axtra abilities your equipment has beyond attack/defense/skill modifiers. - Peer shows a description of yourself based on the attributes you choose when you reach level six. I can't remember at the time of this writing where or how, but it seems to me like it's possible to peer at other people. - Dump Slot drops the selected item. - Oops recovers something you just dropped and have decided that you want back. - Exit causes you to leave the inventory screen. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ZX09 SKILLS ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ There are three types of skills you can gain, Wizard, Warrior, and Trader. You can take an option in each during character creation, but any other skills you get (or any skills you get at all, if you don't take an option) must be learned at the Guild in the Forest. The only way to find it, like anything else in the Forest, is to go there and start questing, hoping you'll run into it before you die or run out of quests. If you took an option (besides Noble) during character creation, you do not need to register with the guild to start learning skills. If you didn't, you'll have to pay a $1000 registration fee. After that, it costs $1000 * (1+[how many skills you have]) you get a new skill in any area. There are no penalties for cross-training; in fact, I recommend it because the broader range of skills can be a great boon to you. Following is a description of the skill types: - Warrior's only obvious benefit is the berzerk ability. With it, you do a lot more damage than you normally would in the given round of combat. The berzerk ability won't show up until the second round of a battle, but it can save your behind if you get in over your head. A not-so-obvious benefit of being a Warrior is that if you sleep in a bad place and get sick, "Warrior training dispels your suffering." - Wizardry is a good thing to have, because it allows you to use the gems you find all over the place to good advantage as well as giving you the hypnotize option in battle. Hypnotize is exactly like the Trader skill called swindle, causing your enemies to just give you their loot if successful. However, it takes two levels of Wizardry skill mastery to open the next level gem to your magical useage. (For instance, to use a Quartz to the same end as an identify scroll you must have two levels of Wizardry; two levels later, you can use Opals as the equivalent of of healing salves.) - Trader gets you the backstab and swindle options. These are both very nice. Swindle convinces your enemies to leave you and leave their loot behind. Backstab gives you the opportunity to get an awesome hit in on an enemy at the start of (but not in the middle of) a battle. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ZX10 CLANS ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ If you can get into the Castle, you have access to the Clan Hall. There, you can try to join a clan (or create one). Clans give special abilities to their members based on their power. A clan's power is improved by its members. A member's power is based on their court ranking. I won't go further into detail because all the information you need about clans is easily available at the site itself; a list of clans and their leaders, a list of the available clan powers; and within the game itself, a list detailing the clans' rankings. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ZX11 IDENTIFYING ITEMS ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Occasionally you will come across an unidentified item. They are marked by a question mark in the brackets that would normally contain any stat modifiers. You can use them without identifying them at no penalty. However, if you intend to sell the item, they'll only sell for $1 unless you get them identified. There are items that identify, the most obvious of which is the Identify Scroll. With the proper Wizardry skills, you can identify things with a Quartz. These are nice because you can carry them with you. However, you can also get things identified at weapon shops. They charge varying amounts for the service, but the identify button is always in the same place -- the lower left-hand corner of the shop. Select the item to identify and push the button to do so. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ZX12 LEGAL SHIZNIT ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Dragon Court is copyright 1997-2003 by Fred's Friends, Inc. I have nothing to do with them or the making, running, and updating of the game. I don't care what you do with this guide as long as you don't try to say it's yours. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ZX13 CONTACT ME ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ I can be contacted at crowbeak@gmail.com. I also have a web site at http://www.sasdomain.us/, but at the time of this writing the site hasn't been updated recently and the only reason to go there is (shameless plug!) to check out the video game and anime desktop wallpaper I have made.