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If you’re a noob and not joining an existing, built-out clan, start on one of the noob beaches, near squares C7 or O7. Run around just long enough to pick up some sticks, rocks, and fiber to make yourself a stone sword or club, a stone pick and a hatchet, a water skin, and maybe a campfire and some cooked feral flesh. Maybe those last two; they’re skippable and you can get by on handfuls of insects until step 2.
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Run to the noob river for your side of the map: E8 to E10 in the west, O10 to L8 in the east. Find a spot near the river with a cliffside near enough to have at least some iron and at least some coal. Put down a small house and enough crafting stations to get yourself into medium armor and iron weapons. Put down a separate 4x4 foundation nearby and built your Lesser Wheel of Pain, plus a basic bludgeon, or put down an even bigger foundation and a basic animal pen. If the former, farm wild surges until you capture and “recruit” a tier 2 or better fighter, equip them with at least medium armor and iron weapons. If the latter, scour your side of the map for a not-useless baby animal. Either way, level them up a couple of times on local wildlife.
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Either move up onto the plateaus or move north. Start building a somewhat more permanent base; think really hard about befriending 3-10 people and start a clan, because everything after this step gets easier with a group of people who log on together. Rush to at least level 40ish for yourself, level 20 for your best thrall, and hardened steel weapons and tools.
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Move your whole clan to a new castle or fort somewhere on the edge of the maelstrom zone. roughly column F in the west or column K in the east. Get everybody in the clan at least one horse, push to level 60 and epic normal gear. Your armor needs to be Epic Vanir Fur or Epic Vanir Heavy. PVP note: If you’re on a PVP or PVE-C server, you can fight other players before this point, and other players including ones in much better gear can farm you mercilessly. But this is the point where it starts being possible that you have good enough gear/thralls to be worth stealing. I get the impression that the people in column F are supposed to gang up on the people in column K, or something like that; this is (if I’m right) where the “real” PvP game “starts”?
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If log in solo or duo and need something to do, go farm either X’chotl (west) or New Luxor (east). Bosses there sometimes drop useful loot. But mostly you’re just killing time. Or, y’know, decorate your castle more.
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Any time you have 3 or more people on, start finding Elder Vaults (dungeons) that nobody else is currently raiding, ride there, and take your group inside. Clear the vault. If you have time, clear another vault. Repeat until you have enough ??? (no, really, that’s what it’s called so far) for the next step. You might also get some other gear. You might also get Sigils, but you don’t need them yet, hang onto them.
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Once your clan has enough ???, use it to farm the Leyshrines for the crafting thralls you need to make exceptional or flawless epic Vanir Fur / Vanir Heavy armor and exceptional or flawless epic weapons (if you haven’t farmed enough legendary weapons while thrall farming; you probably will).
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Now farm the Maelstrom during storm events for even more gear, even more end-game mats, rare recipes, and yet more currency for leyshrine farming. Use your sigils to get the damage boosts you need to kill maelstrom NPCs before they kill you. Also, if you’re still short on legendary weapons, I think Maelstrom mobs drop mats you need to craft legendaries yourself.
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Whatever comes after that, I have no idea. From talking to Valeria, I suspect that there’s a not-yet-implemented really hard raid on Siptah’s tower? Don’t know. Hopefully there’s at least some reason to keep playing.
Do I have the gist of it?
(P.S. Yes, I said only Vanir Fur/Vanir Heavy. All of the endgame zones are Cold, and you will need the extra warmth. Also, I forgot to mention it, but step 5 or 6 on you’re going to need a stove to make spiced meat and mulled brew, or some other warming food/beverage.)
