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Other than roleplaying, one of the basic premises of GemStone IV is the acquisition
of money and experience. As you gain more of both, your character becomes more
powerful by gaining levels, and coincidentally
will be able to afford better equipment and armor.
Experience comes in two varieties: field experience and real experience. You
will usually gain field experience from your activities in the world of Elanthia.
This takes time to 'absorb' and become real experience.
Weapons and Armor
In order to combat the creatures in the encroaching wilderness, adventurers use weapons and armor crafted in the world. There are many different types of weapons and weapon styles, including (but not limited to) standard weapon/shield combinations, the more defensive runestaff for casters, and even bows and crossbows.
Weapon Shop, Armor Shop, Pawnshop
There are a few basic places where most adventurers go to find weapons,
armor, and magical items from non-player vendors. Every major city
has a weapon shop, armor shop, and pawnshop. If you're in a starting
city, you can use the DIR command to find these.
When you go shopping for new weapons or armor, you may find that some are composed of special materials. These materials directly contribute to how much AS or DS the weapon or armor gives your character. In order to use these, your character's level must equal half of the AS or DS bonus of the item, rounded up.
So, for example, an orabroadsword gives an automatic +10 AS when used to attack something. Your character would need to be level 5 to even pick up or hold this weapon. If you can't pick up a certain weapon or armor, it may be because you aren't high enough level to hold it!
The Elemental Blade spell is a unique magic that gives a weapon a +20 to your AS, and you need to be level 10 to hold items that are e-bladed. These items can be identified by the scintillating light surrounding them when you LOOK at them.
What kind of weapon and armor should you use?
Starting out, we recommend that you use basic weapons and armor for
your first few levels. You can wield mithril
equipment (+5 to AS for weapons; +5 to DS for armor/shields) when
you reach level 3, and ora
equipment (+10 to AS for weapons; +10 to DS for armor/shields)
when you reach level 5. Most adventurers carry vultite
equipment (+20 to AS for weapons; +20 to DS for armor/shields),
which you can hold at level 10, and this is considered to be equipment
for experienced players.
You can find a guide to all of Elanthia's armor, weapons, and materials used in their construction in the GemStone
IV Armory.
Hunting
When players talk about hunting in Elanthia, they're referring to going out and fighting creatures in the areas bordering the major cities. There are hundreds of hunting areas, and the creatures that inhabit them boast a wide range of levels and tricks. New players should try to stick closer to town, as creatures there are relatively weak and geared towards players with lower-level characters.
Experience, Levels, and Training Points
When you kill creatures around your own level, you gain a certain amount of experience for doing so. The GemStone IV experience system is unique in that the experience that you gain is not immediately applied to your total experience. When you're hunting, you will have experience you gain in the field saved in your mind. You must gradually convert the experience in your character's head into real experience that will gain you levels.
Every minute, a little of your field experience is converted to real experience. You can only hold so much field experience until you stop gaining field experience, so it's common for adventurers to go out, hunt until their mind can't take anymore, then head back into a city to rest. Certain areas, such as sanctuaries where combat can't take place, provide a boost to how fast you convert field experience to real experience.
Your character's skills can be raised by spending training
points on those skills. You
get more training points every level by having higher character statistics.
Every so often, you will gain some training points from your experience
earned. You can type the GOALS command in game to apply
these training points to skills and gain ranks in those skills.
Material Wealth and Items
There is only one unit of currency in Elanthia, and that is the silver piece. The most common method of making silver is to find it on the bodies of creatures, but you can also find it in boxes or items dropped by those creatures. Be sure to search all of the creatures you kill.
Banks
There is a bank in every major city. When carrying too much silver, it will weigh you down and slow your movements, increasing even the roundtime associated with swinging a weapon. You can use the DIR command to find the bank in your town and read the sign there for more information.
Two basic bank commands are DEPOSIT and WITHDRAW. DEPOSIT allows you to put money into the bank that you have on your person, including any notes in open containers. WITHDRAW allows you to withdraw silver or bank notes. You can specify the format in which you would like to receive money (example: WITHDRAW 1000 note will give you 1000 silvers as a bank note; WITHDRAW 100000 silver will pull 100000 silvers from your account) but, by default, any amount over 4999 will come in a note format.
Lockers
All major cities also have lockers, where you can store any items that you find that you don't need immediately on your person. Basic account holders have one locker holding 50 items in their town of creation, while premium account holders have lockers that hold up to 80 items in every town and the locker contents and are automatically organized. If you join a Cooperative House of Elanthia, your locker space increases even more.
To access your locker, simply step through the curtain and OPEN LOCKER. You will need to CLOSE LOCKER before leaving a locker room. Try not to log out in locker rooms with your locker still open.
Death in Elanthia
As in most games, death is a part of life in GemStone IV. Fortunately, the
gods of Elanthia provide adventurers with the chance to return to life by many
different means. You can find more detailed information on Death here.
Death and Dying
When your character is killed, your body remains where you died. All items and silver are maintained on your character, and characters in Elanthia cannot be "looted" by other players (though some creatures can steal items). You also won't lose levels or have experience or training points taken away for dying.
At the moment of your death, a "decay counter" begins, which is the amount of time you have to be rescued and resurrected before your body decays. Should you decay, you will suffer increased penalties for the death and find yourself alive and well at the designated decay point for your realm.
Acquiring deeds with the goddess Lorminstra, taken at a rate of 1 per normal death, will help alleviate the penalties associated with dying in Elanthia, which are mostly semi-permanent Constitution stat loss and a slower rate of experience gain. Deeds can be acquired by making the appropriate offering to a god, though how to make this offering is left to players to discover.
Rejoining the Ranks of the Living
Returning to life is sometimes an easy task and sometimes a very difficult one. You will need to be rescued by other adventurers if you do not want to decay - they will need to bring you somewhere safe and find a cleric, paladin, or another adventurer with the proper tools to raise you from the dead. You can use the DRAG (example: DRAG belnia SOUTH) command to move dead adventurers around to try to get them help.
Keep in mind that dragging others is a realistic system - it's going
to take a lot of strength for
a Halfling to drag a Giantman around.
If you're having trouble dragging another adventurer, try unloading
some of your items or silver back at the city and returning to try
again. You will also find dragging is easier the more offensive your
stance is, or with help from other adventurers.
HOME
Other than roleplaying, one of the basic premises of GemStone IV is the acquisition
of money and experience. As you gain more of both, your character becomes more
powerful by gaining 
When players talk about hunting in Elanthia, they're referring to going out and fighting creatures in the areas bordering the major cities. There are hundreds of hunting areas, and the creatures that inhabit them boast a wide range of levels and tricks. New players should try to stick closer to town, as creatures there are relatively weak and geared towards players with lower-level characters.
As in most games, death is a part of life in GemStone IV. Fortunately, the
gods of Elanthia provide adventurers with the chance to return to life by many
different means. You can find more detailed information on Death 