Elemental/Pamphlet

Elementals are embodiments of the classical elements of Earth, Air, Fire, and Water. They unleash these energies in combat to cause significant damage to their opponents but, due to their deep rooting in the elemental planes, their manifestations on this plane are fragile.

Elemental can not unleash their full potential while wielding a weapon, and can only wear armor at a cost.

The peak of an elemental's power lies in packing a bundle of their very essence into an elemental blast which explode with devastating effect.

 ==============================================================
   Elemental Pamphlet :  Useful Information for New Recruits
 ==============================================================

               INDEX

       1. General
       2. Choosing a First Form
       3. Enhancing Skills
       4. Advancing Stats
       5. Useful Aliases
       6. Suggestions, tips and FAQ
       7. Useful Setups
       
       =======
       GENERAL
       =======

 Welcome to Elementals, first off this FAQ is NOT a supplement for 
 reading the help files.  You will get a lot more out of the FAQ once
 you understand the help files.

 Remember to 'evoke' powers.

 The HP Bar  (not applicable for Portal users)

 HP:504/504 C:100%  NRG:100/100(7)  SP:88/88  B:1(41%) G2N:1k

 HP  -  Hit points
 C:% -  Consistency (see info consistency)
 NRG -  How much NRG you have.
 (#) -  Current Emit Level.  In the example emit is 7.
 SP  -  Spell points
 B:# -  Number of blasts
 (%) -  Percent until blast reset.
 G2N -  The amount of gxp needed for next size

 Symbols that can appear
 '*' -  Barrier is on.               i.e. HP:500/500*  (see info barrier) 
 '#' -  Diffuse is on.               i.e. HP:500/500#  (see info diffuse)
 '-' -  You are not fully drawn.     i.e. (7-)         (see info draw)
 '+' -  You are equipollenting.      i.e. (7+)         (see info equipollent)

       =====================
       CHOOSING A FIRST FORM
       =====================

 When you join the elementals guild you can choose from one of the 
 four basic forms (fire, water, air and earth form). 

 Each elemental form is unique.  They differ in what damage types they 
 do, what damage types they defend well against and each get special
 powers unique to the form.  (see info powers)

 The earth form is special for its way of armour handling. Because of
 the solid nature of earth elementals, they can wear every type of
 the armour and gain an armour class bonus from it. As a drawback of
 being able to wear any type of armour, earth elementals suffer from
 the reduced damage potential.
 Other elemental forms can't wear armour due to their element nature, 
 they can bind the elements together and engulf any type of the armour
 though. Because of the enormous concentration that engulfing an armour 
 requires, they are able to engulf only limited number of items 
 simultaneously. Also, they gain no armour class bonus from the items
 they engulf. (see info engulf)

 To choose a first form find the Elemental Master of the form you want
 to join and choose <form>.  Note:  by default elementals start out as
 water elementals, so if you want to stay a water elemental finding the 
 elemental master is not needed. (see info choosing)
 
 There is no best or worst first form, above all play what you want to
 play.

 If you plan to stay in guild a long time you will eventually have the
 opportunity play all forms.

       ================
       ENHANCING SKILLS
       ================

 Early on control and manifestation are the most important skills to
 raise.  It costs you (emit - manifestation) NRG per round of combat,
 so getting manifestation (2/2) really helps with nrg cost.  Control is
 very important since it raises energy emission competency.
 (see info eec)

 It is wise to read the info files on all the skills so you can better
 understand which skills will benefit the way you play the most.  If
 you fight by yourself getting some defense can be very useful, but
 if you party all the time more damage may serve you better.

 One more thing to keep in mind is that raising some stats will raise
 the maximum level that other stats can be maxed.  For example:

               1 resolve  = +1 max intensity
               1 cohesion = +2 max control

 NOTE:  please DO NOT discuss results of skill maxes on guild lines.  
 Skills are there for EACH elemental to figure it out by THEMSELF.

       ===================
       ADVANCING STATS
       ===================

 This paragraph describes only known advantages of every stat.
 There may be others. Please experiment and raise your stats in a way 
 which is best for your playing style.

 WISDOM and CHARISMA affect spell efficiency and let you do more
 damage per round.  The ratio of these two stats is vital as well,
 one should never be more than 50% different than the other.
 Also note, once you hit SPIRIT form there are minimum requirements
 for these stats or your damage starts to greatly diminish.
 (A high or very high spirit/time elemental could need 60 or even
  70 in these stats.)

 INTELLIGENCE gives you more spell points; this is good since
 your rebuild converts sp to hp.  It is conceivable to convert at 
 sp:hp better than 1:1.

 DEXTERITY and STRENGTH affect how well you defend attacks.  It won't
 help you hit any harder, but will help you not get hit as hard.
 The ratio of these two stats is vital as well, one should never be
 more than 50% different than the other.
 It is worth noting that dexterity assists in mud-side related
 combat defense and not just guild-side.  In general you want as
 much dexterity as you can get.

 CONSTITUTION You want to keep this reasonably high - you don't want
 to get blicked by a duplocow.

 CHARISMA affects how much mobs will be aggressive. It also reduces 
 cost when buying and increases cost when selling.  If your charisma
 is low enough quest mobs may not talk to you.  Using the auction
 also may require a charisma greater than 1.

 STRENGTH affects how much you can carry. Since you can put stuff 
 in your vortex you won't probably need this stat be very high.

       ==================================
       ALIASES YOU JUST MIGHT FIND USEFUL
       ==================================

 cb      evoke create blast
 ab      activate blast
 bl      give blast to
 db      drop blast

 ed      evoke energy drain

 equ     evoke equipollent
 reb     evoke rebuild
 sip     evoke siphon

 el      chat el
 wel     chat water
 eel     chat earth
 fel     chat fire
 ael     chat air

 att     evoke attenuate at
 eval    evoke evaluate at

 pres    evoke preservation at
         (i.e., typing 'pres 421 evoke rebuild'
         would evoke rebuild at 421 hp)

 NOTE:   The following are shamelessly gratuitous uses of
        ANSI to get partytell attention during battlescroll.

 pt      ptell <ESC>[32m[EARTH]:
 pt      ptell <ESC>[37;1m[AIR]:
 pt      ptell <ESC>[31;1m[FIRE]:
 pt      ptell <ESC>[36;1m[WATER]:

       ===============================
       SUGGESTIONS, TIPS AND FAQ
       ===============================

 Q:  How do I talk ?
 S:  "chat el <msg>" is the syntax for the main guild line. 
     There are other chatlines you will gain access to when
     you raise your guild level or status.

 Q:  How do I navigate through the guild ?
 S:  The guild area is not very complicated, if you get lost use the
     map info file (see info map)

 Q:  How do I make gxp ?
 S:  Go and kill things. Every combat round you use some of your NRG
     energy to inflict a damage upon your foe. The amount of the
     damage you do every round depends on how much of the energy
     you are emitting (see info emit). Your successfully emitted
     energy is stored and can be used for enhancing your guild related
     skills (see info skills).
     Your maximum emit level depends on your current guild level.
     Every 10 guild levels/sizes (11,21,31...) your maximum emit goes
     up by one. Be sure to have your emit set, or you won't be doing
     damage at all (to set your emit type emit #, e.g. emit 1).

 Q:  Can we use weapons ?
 S   Yes we can. You won't get gexps nor will you emit energy when
     you have a weapon wielded though. Generally not a good idea.

 Q:  NRG, Used Energy, Link Energy, Lifetime Energy, Energy to spend.
     What is it ?
 S:  NRG - it is a pool of energy you draw from when fighting (i.e.
           every round of combat you are emitting energy from this pool),
           or when you use some other specific power (flare etc.)
     Used Energy - It is how much energy you've gained so far in your
                   actual form.
     Lifetime Energy - Total energy gained since you've joined the guild.
     Energy to spend - Stored energy which can be used for enhancing skills.
     Link Energy - Stored energy required by some of the powers.

 Q:  How do I heal myself ?
 S:  There are several ways for to do it. You can use the power 
     rebuild (info rebuild), which converts hp->sp. You can go and 
     sit at apex (info map), where your regeneration rate is increased,
     or you can ask a nice priest for a mend, or buy a healing for 
     yourself (like scarabs at Arundin)

 Q:  How do I regenerate my spell points.
 S:  Again, you have several options. Except for healing obtained from
     players and healing items you gain a special power at glvl 51,
     which is different for every form (see info heat wave, earth tap, 
     the four winds, tidal wave) and when you raise your status even
     further to the rank of Adepts (i.e. when you master three forms)
     you'll gain a power called natural convergence (info natural
     convergence)
 
 Q:  How do I raise my skills ? 
 S:  Type : enhance <skill name> (see info enhance)

 Q:  How do I list my guild related attributes (such as status of
     skills etc.)
 S:  Use escore, escore2, pstats or pstats2

 Q:  What is this "emit weakly" message and how can I get
     rid of it?
 S:  The message can occur when you don't have complete
     control (energy emission competency is less then
     100%.)  This percent can be improved by raising
     control.  (see info eec and info control). Be sure to have
     eec as close to 100% as possible. When you "emit weakly"
     you don't gain any gexp or do any damage in that round.

 Q:  When ever I enter combat I keep getting rocked.
 S:  If you are an earth elemental wear armor.  If you are
     still getting hit too hard, or you are a form that
     engulfs armor consider using barrier, diffuse or
     buying some healing (like scarabs from Arundin).  If
     all that fails maybe the area is too hard for you.
     Remember that elementals are not a defensive guild so
     getting hit hard is very common.

 Q:  How can I stop this "Pain sweeps through you" message?
 S:  The chance of this message can be decreased by raising
     cohesion.

 Q:  I keep running out of NRG!
 S:  Remember to energy drain!! (info energy drain) Raise
     efficacy.  Consider using some siphon energy. (info
     siphon)  If you have barrier on consider turning it off.
     (barrier consumes NRG each time you get hit).

 Q:  I can't get powers working !
 S:  Be sure you use the correct syntax. Most guild related commands use
     evoke <power name> syntax (see info evoke). Also, it is a good idea
     to check your aliases to make sure you don't have an alias with is 
     interfering with the power you are trying to use.  (In general,
     aliasing evoke to anything else is probably a bad idea.)

 Q:  Will guild members tank for me ?
 S:  They probably won't. Low elementals can't tank well and the bigger ones
     can easily get you killed. If you need a tank look for a free juggernaut
     or fremen.

 Q:  Where are areas suitable for my level/guild level ?
 S:  There is the Realms Board one down from apex. You should find directions
     to areas suitable for you there.

       ==================
       SOME USEFUL SETUPS
       ==================

 All the following setups are used for the example elemental:
 HP:504/504 C:100%  NRG:100/100(7)  SP:88/88  B:1(41%) G2N:1k

 >evoke preservation at 450 evoke rebuild 

 this setup heals the elemental from his spell points as soon 
 as he drops below 450 hps.  This is a good all around setup, 
 but healing items must manually be used.

 alias ed evoke energy drain
 alias ed_on evoke perform as combat ed:99,ed:99,ed:99,ed_on
 alias ed_off evoke perform as combat hp
 
 >ed_on
 this will allow an elemental to try and energy drain his foe
 every round of combat.  

 info authors for a list of people who contributed to this FAQ.