I wanted to make a kind of starting guide and general arda info for new players. This is simply a very loose outline to get you started, there's much more you could try starting out. I will be periodically updating and adding new info! Comment below any questions.

Visit our website for helpful resources and info https://landsofarda.com/.
Join our discord and feel free to ask any questions https://discord.gg/DyVEywY.

Arda is a low magic setting and can be tough starting out, especially on your own. So unless you are playing in a big group or until you have a good assortment of gear collected, you may want to consider melee multiclass combinations as @olpe has stated below. Cleric/RDD, Fighter/Weapon Master, etc.

However, once you know the module more and have gear and money saved up to pass on to your new chars, other classes like rogues, wizards, etc can be very effective in arda!

-Thanks for the addition @olpe

You'll start arda in the login area. As soon as you get in you should get an extra starting level. After you finish your initial character setup, head outside and follow the road to the building by the dock. Head inside and back out the other end to get on the ship to Mithlond. You are now in middle earth!

You'll also briefly re-appear in the login area on server resets, before it automatically takes you back to your assigned bind stone.

Resting in Arda is done by campsites. You should always have a bunch of these in your inventory. You can buy them at most shops. You'll notice you started with a few of these in your inventory. You must use the unique ability of the campsite and it will spawn a campfire. Click on the campfire to rest! If you click on the campfire too soon after exerting yourself or enemies nearby, you simply need to press "R" or the rest button again to use it, no need to lay another fire down!

Also, don't use a campfire by a doorway, it won't let you and will use a charge on the campsite!

Many cities and some areas also have free campsites, usually noted by a fire and rest mats. All you need to do is walk over the mats and press "R" or the rest button to use them.

When you first get to mithlond you'll notice a glowing stone. This is a bind stone. They are all throughout arda and through a dialogue you can bind to any stone you wish. What this means is this is where you will spawn when you die and respawn, the server resets, or you use your Ancient Rusting Dagger (ARD)* to telport back to it from anywhere in arda! By default, mithlond is already your current bind location. Speak to a bind stone to find more information!

*The ARD is a forge item that teleports you back to your bindstone.

At every bind stone in the module, you will find a shared imports crate and transfer chest. Both have persistent data so the items within will persist through resets. They will also sync across other instances of themselves. So the same items can be accessed at any bind stone.

The shared imports crate has items player have deposited with the intention of giving the items away for free! A good resource for new players to get some good starting gear. There is a set limit per player account per server reset to withdraw items.

The transfer chest is used to transfer items to other characters on your account. It is not to be used for persistent storage.

In several cities throughout Arda, you will find the "Bank of Arda". This is used for player persistent storage. Your stored goods are accessible at any bank location, at any vault inside the bank, and by any character on your player account.

Arda is very large! So it's nice that in most major cities there is a "caravan" that will teleport you to a nearby city, for a price.

Since you'll be doing a bit of walking at first, check out our website at https://landsofarda.com/world-map to see the map of the module! Very helpful in getting around. There will also be road markers to point you towards a city.

In Mithlond, Bree, and some other cities you will find "forest guides" in the inn. Hire one to join you on your journey! Helpful when playing alone.

In general, creatures respawn after being killed in about 45 minutes. So if someone just cleared out angmar, etc... you will have to wait 45 mins generally to adventure the area with enemies. If you ever go in an area/dungeon where there are only loots bags and/or no enemies where there should be... this is probably why. Generally speaking, arda is big enough where this isn't too much of an issue.

For a general idea if you should be in an area or not, check out "Strider's Journal" in your inventory. If you're too low a level for the next area or quest, stick around in an area and get some XP.

There is a list of quests on our website: https://landsofarda.com/CustomContent/Quests.

It is important to note that quests in arda are generally for the individual, so the one who gets the quest and completes/turns in required items gets the xp reward and item rewards. So if in a party, the person who completes the quest should leave the party before hand, then the other party member(s) can complete the quest again in 45mins (so everything respawns) to get the rewards for themselves. Not to worry if you didn't leave the party when someone else completed it, you can do it again after the next server reset.

Lastly, while there are quests in arda, most XP comes from killing/dungeons.

Highly recommended to atleast complete Cirdan's and the Captain of the Guard's quest while in Mithlond!

Most of your best items (besides forging) will come from boss drops. Most bosses have a list of items they drop (see website for every boss). They have a script that will have a percentage chance to drop these items. So you wont see all their drops or the drop you necessarily want every time you kill them.

It is a good idea to keep "named" items from boss drops, as they are likely used in a forge item! You can see what forges there are and what items they require on the website.

Ctrl-F / Cmd-F is your friend when searching the website forge items and drop lists!

Arda uses a system called "Reincarnation" to keep developing max level characters. This is also the only way to gain permanent haste. All other haste on items is only casted as a spell. Hence, there is major incentive to reincarnate atleast one time!

Once reaching level 40, a character may choose to convert all of their experience into a permanent power boost. They will be dropped to level 1, but with the following enhancements:

• +2 Ability Bonus to Str/Dex/Con/Int/Wis/Chr
  
• +1 to Attack Bonus
  
• +1 to Natural Armor
  
• +1 to Dodge Armor
  
• +2 to Spell Resistance
  
• +2 to Will/Reflex/Fort Save
  
• +3 to Lore Skill
  
• +3 to Spellcraft Skill
  
• +3 to Concentration Skill
  
• Haste
  
• +1 additional attacks per round
  
• +20% offensive spell damage
  
  Note: Natural Armor bonus and Spell Resistance bonus will not stack with other sources

The reincarnation process may be repeated up to 4 times, with each set of enhancements stacking on top of the old ones. There is a drawback to this power, however. Each reincarnation also cuts earned experience points by half. A twice-reincarnate will receive 25% of the normal experience point amount, and so forth.

The Houses of Healing also offer other services, such as a way to "rebuild" your character from level 1 for 20k gold. There is no penalty to do so. They can also accept a "deposit" of all your experience points, to give to another on the same account at a 50% penalty (more for reincarnates).

• Recommended to turn off visible cloaks in the item customizer menu (accessible by right clicking on your character and selecting the crafting menu). A lot of the armor in the module is custom and already have cloaks on them. Otherwise you will have a "double" cloak appearance in some cases.
  
  
• Generally speaking, you need to be within 10 levels +/- of other players in the party within the same area to gain the proper amount of XP. However, this can vary by a few levels depending on the area. E.g. someone +/- more than 10 levels from you MIGHT be able to adventure with you.
  
  
• Devastating critical is the only feat not allowed.
  
  
• Arda is mostly an action server so you wont find much, if any, role-playing (RP) from regular players. That being said, RP is more than welcome if you find willing participants.