A comprehensive guide to your Requiem - 2nd edition

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Sacasa
Posts: 13
Character: Jacques Sacasa

A comprehensive guide to your Requiem - 2nd edition

Post by Sacasa » February 27th, 2019, 9:34 am

This is the second edition of the guide I wrote for Requiem a good while ago. While the original (and many linked guides) was lost to ravages of time, many mechanics have changed since the guide was written. Hopefully, the new edition of this guide can help new and established players alike brush up on shard mechanics.

First, a word of assurance: you do not need to know all of this in order to start playing. The purpose of this guide is to assist UO veterans acclimating to the unique mechanics present on Requiem. It assumes you understand some UO basics (e.g. how skills are gained) and attempts to cover every question I and my fellow beginners have had while we were getting started, however long ago that was. While I recommend you at least peruse the guide in its entirety, I have included a table of contents for a quick reference.

The guide has been divided in three sections. The first section of the guide gives you some bare bones to help you with a new character. The second section covers most of the unique mechanics that are at play on Requiem. The third section covers some suggestions for getting started. Finally, section four has closing words and the fifth section contains one sentence summaries of the mechanics covered in this guide.


Table of Contents
1. Character Creation fundamentals
1.1. Stats
1.2. The skill cap and skills
1.3. Birthsign and other considerations

2. Unique Mechanics
2.1. Animus (and Infusion)
2.2. Armor
2.3. Claims
2.4. Codex
2.5. Currency and vendors
2.6. Durability
2.7. Grit
2.8. Hit chance and critical hits
2.9. Hunger and thirst
2.10. Injuries and Sanity
2.11. KO, KO count and Permadeath
2.12. Languages
2.13. Legacy
2.14. Light levels, darkness and the darkest hour
2.15. Mortality and Soul Potential
2.16. Researching
2.17. Torment and the afflicted
2.18. Unique systems
2.19. Useful commands

3. Getting started - your first week of Requiem
3.1. General concerns
3.2. Playstyle-specific tips
3.2.1. Crafters
3.2.2. Gunslingers and firearms aficionados
3.2.3. Heretics (mages)
3.2.4. Hybrids (heretic melee and what not)
3.2.5. Warriors of all stripes

4. Closing words and staying in touch

5. TL;DR

1. Character Creation fundamentals
Firstly, do not worry about allocating your stats and skills when creating a new character. You will make your character in-game once you enter the game world and see the Songmaker NPC, who allows you to customize your character starting from their name and appearance. Likewise, you will be given a set of starting skill packages based around different themes. The songmaker will also let you allocate your stats and choose a Birthsign.
If you want some notes on stats for different playstyles, you can find some of my observations in the third section of this guide. Ultimately, though, every build should focus on what you want to do and how you want to accomplish it.

Note that you can make the character before your application is approved, although you will not be able to enter the game proper before your character receives an approved visa. Should this process take longer than 24 hours, it is encouraged to page an admin in-game or on Discord. On the other hand, it is fair to give the staff (consisting of unpaid volunteers) at least that one day to do the thing.

1.1. Stats
The important thing to know about stats on Requiem is that they are not linked to each other. Increasing strength, for instance, will not increase your total HP. You are limited to a total of 350 stat points and each core stat can have a value ranging from 10 to 125. It is possible to exceed the maximum value with buffs (e.g. potions), but the core stat cannot be above 125. A new character starts with a limited amount of stat points to allocate between all six stats, in addition to which you have a chance to gain a stat point every time you gain Animus. Stat points can also be bought with Animus in the [Codex under the body tab.

STR affects your HP regeneration rate, your parry chance (STR above 100 gives you a small bonus, STR below 80 gives you a penalty) and your ability to carry weight.

DEX affects your STA regeneration rate, your dodge chance (scales up to 125 with diminishing returns) and how quickly you help others with the [Aid command.

INT affects your MANA regeneration rate, as well as the strength and the range of your spells. It might also help to retain your Sanity, which is a mechanic that may eventually see use.

HP is exactly what you expect it to be, but you can increase the total with equipment (armor made by players) and items (potions, injections, food).

STA governs your weapon special abilities in addition to being used in several crafting and gathering tasks. For instance, an unskilled gatherer loses 5 stamina every time they chop at a tree, whereas one with 100 horticulture will lose only 1 stamina per chop.

MANA behaves exactly as you would expect. Each spell you cast drains a certain amount of mana. A few artisanry crafts also cost mana to perform.

1.2. The skill cap and skills
The default skill cap of a new character is 700 points and skills range from 0 to 100. Most skills can be taken to 120 with a grandmastery perk bought at 100% skill rating. Regardless, skills such as agriculture, geology, horticulture and world lore never go beyond 100. Where available, the grandmastery perk is still required before enchantments can take a skill above 100%.

While you can grind skills in the old-fashioned way, there are some instances where you may have to spend Animus in order to increase a skill instead. Different skills have different costs. For example, horticulture and geology cost 1 animus per rank to increase (100 animus to reach max skill). Meanwhile, going from 0 to 100 in most crafting skills costs 300 animus.

The cost of increasing skill with animus increases with rank, meaning that 80-100 in a crafting skill will cost 5 animus per skill up (total 100 animus for +20 points). Moreover, skills cannot be increased past 100 without purchasing the grandmastery perk. The perk gives you +0.2 skill every day (whether you log in or not), but it is also the only way of gaining skill points past 100 (with the exception of skill-boosting equipment).

In addition to knowing how many skill points you can earn on Requiem, you should also know that some skills behave very differently here. For instance, axes is its own weapon skill and engineering does not cover traps (sold separately under the subterfuge skill, which also lets you disable traps in addition to making and placing them). Common sense will get you far, but it is still good to familiarize yourself with different skills before committing time and resources to increasing them.

Every skill has a set of abilities associated with the skill. Skill abilities unlock things like special weapon moves or the ability to imbue armor you craft with +HP. Each skill ability has prerequisites (always a set skill rank and sometimes a previous ability in the same ability tree) and a cost in Animus. A birthsign may make the cost smaller, but you can learn all abilities within any skill you possess whether you have a sign or not. If your skill rating decreases below the minimum rating for purchasing a skill ability, the ability is deactivated until your skill reaches the minimum.

Although you start with 700 skill cap, the cap can be increased with the [IncreaseSkillCap True command. If you simply want to check the cost of increasing skill cap, write [IncreaseSkillCap (without the ‘True’ part). Note that you spend Animus on increasing skill cap, and it is not counted in your lifetime animus. Furthermore, you lose any additional skill cap you have unlocked in case your character perishes and you make a new one in the same slot. There is no upper limit to your skill cap, but the increasing cost of purchasing a higher skill cap scales up rapidly and thus acts as a soft cap. You can probably expect to get 800 skill cap with a reasonable time/Animus investment. 900 or more is possible, but it will take a fair bit of time and effort.

You can browse information on the available skills here:
https://www.13thrones.com/wordpress/ind ... ompendium/

1.3. Birthsign and other considerations
Generally speaking, you cannot make terrible decisions here. A birthsign will give you an animus discount on certain skill abilities (see 1.2.), which essentially means that you can earn skill abilities governed by your birthsign more easily. That said, the discounts are not earth-shattering.

More interestingly, your birthsign affects the kind of blood one can extract from your character using the hematology system. Different blood types have different effects in these completely safe and sane scientific mixtures.

Although your starting skill package and region affect your skills and equipment, neither stops you from developing completely different skills later on. I will discuss some starting strategies in section three, if you would like more tips on what to pick. To put it briefly, however, make sure that you get the equipment that is critical to the way you want to start playing. Crafters should take note that starting with a crafter package gives you a random unlimited use recipe. In addition, do not overlook the importance of health (you can expect to be hit for 40+ dmg if unarmored) or stamina (you can expect to be rooted at 0 stamina).

When you are done with the character generation, I recommend checking out the camp you spend time in while waiting for your visa to be approved. There is an NPC with a green name who will sell you some basic equipment (esp. a waterskin!) in one of the buildings. You will quickly notice that hunger and thirst are gnawing at your heels when you least expect it.

2. Unique Mechanics
The entries below detail unique mechanics that are at play on Requiem. What is not explained are the mechanics that remain chiefly the same across all shards (e.g. manual skill gains and pet happiness). Similarly, this section does not explain every single mechanic governed by individual skills or skill abilities (e.g. harvesting nodes, hematology or pyrotechnics).

2.1. Animus (and Infusion)
You can think of Animus as very valuable experience points that you earn while you play the game. It can be used to increase skills, purchase skill abilities, purchase stat points, get influence for maintaining a claim, create Moriums (you heretic) and so forth. Instead of earning Animus directly, you generate Infusion with almost every action you take in game. For example, you can earn Infusion by killing mobs or gathering resources. Every thousand (1,000) points of Infusion are automatically converted into one (1) Animus, which can then be spent according to your wishes. Infusion is not to be confused with Influence, which is a separate pool tied to owning and maintaining claims.

In addition to gaining Infusion with your activities, you also receive a passive influx of Infusion on a regular basis. The amount is called the Infusion regeneration rate and it depends on where you are (you gain more frequent ticks and a sanctuary bonus with the hourly Infusion regeneration in safe havens such as the craft hall) and how many players are online (kindling bonus). Generally speaking, you regenerate Infusion once every hour.

You can earn up to 20 Animus in any given day, although you will start accumulating Infusion Fatigue before you get there. Infusion Fatigue is simply a percentage that reduces your infusion gains. The more Animus you earn in a day, the higher your fatigue. Thus, it will take longer to earn the last few points of Animus if you are truly determined to squeeze 18 to 20 Animus out of a given day. Moreover, a freshly created character can hold up to 100 Animus before reaching a hard cap where they must spend the Animus they have earned before they are able to earn more. This amount may be reduced by Mortality (see Mortality and Soul Potential below).

Every point of Animus you spend (note: spend, not earn ― spend!) is counted towards your lifetime Animus. It is the value you get to keep once your character meets their maker and you roll a new character in the same slot (i.e. lifetime animus is unique to the character slot that spent it). Normally, you get 0.75x of your lifetime Animus as bonus Animus when making a new character in the same slot, but the Songmaker also gives you an option to spend Providence in order to use 100% of your lifetime Animus instead. Note that you only have one point of Providence, although it is possible to earn another point in game. I believe the instances of people actually earning Providence were fairly rare during the beta! That being the case, you should not spend your Providence unless your lifetime Animus is at a phenomenal level. Losing two hundred (200) animus does not hurt a lot, but losing a thousand (1,000) might.

2.2. Armor
Requiem features a variety of clothing and three kinds of armor: light, medium and heavy. Furthermore, each category of armor is split into armor that is good versus either elemental or physical damage. It is possible to mix and match pieces, although your ability to dodge and mana regeneration rate are limited according to the heaviest piece you are wearing. Each set of armor has up to six pieces: a helmet, a gorget, a chest, arms, gloves and legs. The resistances granted by each piece stack.

Each piece of light armor penalizes your DEX and stamina by one (1) point. If wearing all six pieces, the total penalty is -6 to both stats. Leather armor has a low durability and the lowest (but okay) resists. Normal leather armor is good versus elemental damage, whereas studded leather armor is stacked with physical and fire resistance. You can dodge in leather armor and regenerate mana at 100%. Light armor crafted by skilled players grants at least +3 hp per piece.

Each piece of medium armor penalizes your DEX and STA by two (2) points. Medium armor is middle of the road as far as durability and resists are concerned. Ringmail is excellent versus elemental damage, whereas chainmail handles physical and fire damage the best. You cannot dodge wearing any medium armor and your mana regeneration rate is halved. All kinds of medium armor mitigate your chance of receiving critical hits. Medium armor crafted by skilled players grants at least +6 hp per piece.

Each piece of heavy armor penalizes your DEX and STA by three (3) points. It is the best you can get in terms of pure resistances and HP. It also offers the best protection against critical hits. Naturally, heavy armor is the heaviest in terms of weight (a real concern). Splint mail is good versus elemental damage and full plate is your go to choice for physical and fire resistance. You cannot dodge or regenerate mana in full plate (unless you have the mage armor augmentation).

Shields do not have an armor type, but lighter shields have less durability and do less damage with some shield-based abilities. A shield does not prevent dodging, but it does incur a penalty to your dodge chance. There is no bonus for having a player-made shield, but they can be made of better materials and more demanding patterns for enhanced durability. Even with a good parrying skill (actually, especially with a good parrying skill), you can expect to go through a fair few shields during a single hunt if you rely on them.

2.3. Claims
You can use a Claim Stake (crafted by carpenters) to establish a small claim in a spot of your choosing. You can expand the claim with influence, which you gain by spending either animus (1 animus per 2 points) or coin (I believe 1 influence costs 10 silver). The claim has an upkeep cost, which is paid in influence. Every 50 tiles you own costs you 1 influence a day, though 49 tiles costs nothing to maintain. It is, coincidentally, enough space for a 7x7 house.

You can build structures such as buildings, walls and even mine shafts inside your claim with the pioneer perk under the engineering skill. Almost anyone can reach the first tier of pioneering at 10 engineering skill, but many engineer players are indubitably happy to help you set up a house - especially if you can help with the resources or have coin. Add-ons to your structure(s) (e.g. workbenches to craft items) are made by carpenters and require no skill on your part to place as long as you have the deed. Rex has written a helpful guide to claims, which will give you more detailed information:
viewtopic.php?f=4&t=1078

2.4. Codex
You can access the Codex with the [Codex command or via a button in your paperdoll. There are several useful tabs within the codex. For instance, you can edit your looks (and alternative descriptions for disguises), monitor your physical attributes or assign stat points under body, use the mind tab to check your sanity, go to the spirit tab for your current animus details or check out your mortality under death. You can also set up icons here (basically custom buttons for commands).

2.5. Currency and vendors
The three units of currency used in the game are copper, silver and gold. One (1) gold coin is worth a hundred (100) silver coins. Similarly, one (1) silver is worth a hundred (100) copper coins. While it is often useful to consider the value of things in silver, the game uses copper as the base for calculating prices on vendors. This being a case, an item listed on a vendor for 1,000 is worth ten (10) silver or 1,000 copper.

When making purchases from vendors, the game uses money drawn from your bank account (an aside: your bank account can only hold coin). The game makes the currency conversions automatically, but you can also convert currency without extra fees at the bank by double clicking the NPCs there (pay attention to their tags). Additionally, it is good to know that most vendors are accessed by double clicking them instead of saying ‘vendor buy’ or anything similar.

If you want a vendor yourself, you can find a contract inside the craft hall for vendors specifically for the craft hall. You will also have to rent a spot for your vendor. There is also a separate vendor outside the fort (South gate) who sells contracts that can be used outside the fort. In fact, I think this is where people go if they want a vendor for their claim. Be sure to check the vendor options to make sure your weekly contract is renewing (both for the vendor and the spot you’ve rented in the case of the craft hall). Note that if you forget to list a price for an item, the default price is one (1) copper! In addition, all items priced at 1 gold (10,000 copper) or more will incur 1% of their value as an additional upkeep cost.

2.6. Durability
Many items have a durability score, which indicates their condition. You can see an overall description by hovering your mouse cursor above an item (battered and falling apart are v. bad), and a more accurate score by using the [Lore command on an item. Equipment such as clothes, arms and armor can be repaired with the skill that was used to make them. Tools and other items with uses cannot be repaired - they are gone when the uses expire.

Ideally, you should get your armor repaired by a skilled crafter when it is worn or worse. Things that are battered or falling apart are so difficult to repair that even a legendary crafter can fail at it. Failure means that your item is not repaired and some of the overall durability is lost. Even when the repair succeeds, your item will lose durability. This is actually true for higher stages of wear as well, but I have successfully repaired items with no durability loss when they have been in a reasonable condition.

In addition to seeking help from players, you can also repair items by using Repair Service Contracts. These are bought from player crafters, but the repairs can be conducted by a Foundry representative at any time.

2.7. Grit
Grit is a renewable resource that you use instead of bandages in order to heal yourself and others with the anatomy skill by utilizing the [Aid command. The command works exactly like applying bandages, but it consumes grit instead of bandage items. You can replenish grit by eating food and spending time in sanctuaries (e.g. the craft hall in the fort). Although you gain lost grit more slowly if you are wearing armor, the recovery rate seems acceptable either way.

The official word on grit and healing:
https://www.13thrones.com/wordpress/ind ... m/healing/

2.8. Hit chance and critical hits
You may be surprised to learn that hit chance on Requiem is calculated against the same skill you are using to hit an opponent. For example, your chance to hit a person with wrestling is based on that person’s opposing wrestling skill. Therefore, even a relatively low wrestling skill may be enough to hit a person with no wrestling at all. Meanwhile, many monsters will have an easier time chewing at you if your wrestling skill is low. It is possible to use the finesse (only in light armor and below) and parry skills to mitigate damage; you do not need every weapon skill to be viable defensively.

In addition to hitting and being hit, you are likely to see some critical hits. There is a small chance to inflict extra damage and a short-term debilitating condition with every attack. Skill abilities under anatomy, perception, tactics and each weapon skill can increase your critical hit chance and damage. If you want to avoid critical hits, heavy armor is the way to go.

You inflict slightly higher damage with your hits if you strike an enemy from the side or the back. Similarly, letting enemies get behind you may go poorly for you.

2.9. Hunger and thirst
You can monitor your hunger and thirst level under the body tab in your [Codex. Different kinds of food and drink can restore your hunger and thirst, so hopefully you got that waterskin and learned how to boil water (10 cooking skill, a kettle, up to 4 waterskins and log as a fuel - and then a source of fire to cook with)!

Once your hunger or thirst drops below a certain value (around 30%), you will start suffering damage due to starvation or dehydration. Moreover, low enough hunger levels may lead to Animus loss or the permanent death of your character.

2.10. Injuries and Sanity
When you get KOd in combat, there is a chance that your character will suffer an injury. You can check your current injuries with the [CheckInjuries command. Unlike debuffs you get from critical hits, injury penalties stick with you until they are treated by a player doctor or until a fairly long time has passed. While you can expect to be rid of minor injuries within a day, more demanding conditions may stay with you for several days - or well over a week if something goes wrong! In addition to the base penalty an injury inflicts, it sometimes flares up with additional penalties.

Sanity is not a mechanic that has seen much use yet. In theory, though, Sanity protects you from mental conditions that will likely act akin to physical injuries. Doctors may heal mental conditions should you get any, but you can also refresh your Sanity buffer in sanctuaries like the craft hall.

2.11. KO, KO count and Permadeath
Each time your hit points are depleted, you are knocked out for a while and incur KO count. The higher your KO count, the more severe your penalties for being knocked out (see: injuries). You also lose your accumulated Infusion (but not Animus) and take a brief stat penalty when you get up. However, you have 30 seconds of invulnerability to avoid being destroyed again by the thing that knocked you out in the first place. Be careful, though. Your feeble and wobbly limbs may not be able to carry as much weight as before.

While a person is knocked out, you can manipulate their inventory or use a bladed item on their body in order to trigger the option to kill them permanently. In addition, it is possible to inflict injuries on purpose on a person who has been rendered unconscious. Further still, you can attach a rope to an unconscious or a dead body. This lets you to drag the body around. Dead bodies do not decay, but they can be destroyed by magic, skinning or with fire. Unconscious people will recover eventually, unless burned (note: Rex says there are checks in place to block burning merely unconscious players).

Killing another player permanently is always something that should be grounded firmly on existing RP (and good PD karma dictates it is wise to seek alternatives to PD before resorting to the very drastic measure). Even if one has a good reason for ending another character’s Requiem, it is good to know that doing so incurs Mortality on the character who administers the killing blow. Of course, you are also granted all unspent Animus in your victim’s pool. Murderer.

Once your character is killed permanently, you will be able to make a new character (with an application, of course) in the same slot. While lifetime Animus carries over, any extra skill cap you accumulated is lost.

2.12. Languages
In addition to bonding over Decus’ English (not an in-game term for the language; the language is called common Decusian), players from different regions can strengthen their ties with regional languages. Pagans from the West speak Collatian, hardworking Midlanders and all around good people speak Yultish and elitist Eastern folks fancy Nothryian (editor’s note: author bias). The language your character knows is based on the starting region you choose and is visible in your [Codex under traits. You speak a language with the [Language_X command. For example you can use [Language_Yultish to greet your fellow honest folk.

When you have started speaking in tongues, it may be difficult to stop. However, you can use the same command again to return to common Decusian (e.g. use [Language_Yultish to go back from honest Yultish speak to more widely understood common Decusian).

There are other languages that can be learned in game, such as High Decusian and Old Dynasty. Oh, and heretics speak Principatus, although the language itself may have roots nobler than its current use by heretics suggests.

2.13. Legacy
As soon as your quarantine visa has been approved and you enter the game world proper, you begin accumulating Legacy points at a rate of one (1) point a day. You can use Legacy points for mainly cosmetic effects, such as buying dyes, hairstyles and interior decoration. The [CustomTitle command allows you to spend legacy on custom tiles based on your character’s physical attributes, skill ratings and skill abilities. However, you also use Legacy to purchase slots for alternative characters up to two (2) additional slots.

Please note that the applications for secondary and tertiary characters are marked separately and also judged with a slightly higher standard when it comes to the quality and the depth of your proposed character. Therefore, it may be a good idea to start preparing your character well before you are able to purchase the slot. Your application can be read and approved before the character has been created, although it is also possible to create the character and get the specifics down before your application goes through. If your application needs more detail, you are usually asked to elaborate via a forum PM. Thus, applications that need more work are not automatically rejected.

Like Animus, Legacy points are unique to the character slot. Thus, you can have up to three separate Legacy point pools.

2.14. Light levels, darkness and the darkest hour
Nightfall and dark areas such as caves cause a penalty to all of your stats (up to -4). You can alleviate the loss by carrying a torch or a lantern. Any light source can also reveal stealthed players who move within a range that depends on their hiding skill abilities (e.g. 6 tiles from a light source). Additionally, it is good to know that some areas become considerably more dangerous upon nightfall when the darkest hour is announced. Considerably. More. Dangerous.

2.15. Mortality and Soul Potential
Though dabbling in heresy is a good way to gain some Mortality, the most likely cause of earning Mortality % is when you allow yourself to be knocked out by deadly creatures (which are marked with a red name and a deadly creature tag in game). Of course, you may also earn Mortality by killing other players (PD). You can check your current Mortality % in the [Codex under the death tab.

Every time you are knocked out, the game checks your Mortality percentage. This rating represents the chance of your character perishing permanently upon KO. Although 1% might not seem like much, that is also the chance of creating masterwork gear..

In addition to making your life thrilling and dangerous, Mortality also limits your Soul Potential. As mentioned above, fresh characters can hold up to 100 Animus before meeting a hard cap. However, this amount is reduced by each point of Mortality you have. Thus, a character with Mortality will also have a smaller amount of Soul Potential with which to store Animus ー i.e. a smaller total cap, which you can check in [Codex under the death tab. One (1) percent of Mortality reduces Soul Potential by four (4) percent.

Naturally, you will want to keep your Mortality percentage as low as possible. Once you have earned a chance to die permanently, you will begin losing it at the rate of one (1) percent per a week. You should know that the game does not track declining Mortality separately for all characters. Instead, every character loses 1% Mortality on the same day every 7 days. If you are lucky, you might be stuck with that 1% Mortality for only a day. (This information was brought to you by the delightful Auri).

2.16. Researching
Researching is a skill ability/mechanic covered under World Lore and it deserves a special mention here. To put it briefly, you need a research book crafted by an artisan in order to conduct research. Both crafters and mages want to research things, but for different reasons.

Every research attempt starts by placing an acacia gum, a beeswax, a drafting ink and a vellum inside the research book, which acts like any container. In addition, you will place either a set of tools unique to a crafting skill or a power word and a morium inside the book. To reiterate, crafters use the common components + a tool to research a limited use recipe specific to the craft they chose. Mages, on the other hand, use the power word and the morium to research a spell mantra containing the power word they chose. Just like crafters will have to use the recipe to craft the item it is used for, mages will have to use artisanry to craft the spell mantra before it can be added to their spellbook.

The result of your research is often a recipe with limited uses. The amount of uses the limited recipe has is governed by your skill abilities in research. The exception is that spell mantras always have a single (1) use. Moreover, the rarity of the resulting research (of both kinds) is determined by your skill abilities in world lore and random chance. For mages, the result is additionally weighted towards your skill in the arcanas. (This critical information is thanks to the wonderful Auri).

Once your research tome contains an acacia gum, a beeswax, a drafting ink, a vellum and [tool/heretic stuff], you have to start the research from the drop down menu while the research book is in your main bag. You advance the research by gaining Infusion.

A guide to researching by revenant:
viewtopic.php?f=4&t=1191
According to Rex, these are the only items that will work for researching:
MixingVials
MalletAndChisel
BookBindingKit
Blowpipe
SmithHammer
SledgeHammer
MouldingPlane
Nails
SmoothingPlane
JointingPlane
CookingPot
RollingPin
FlourSifter
TrapMakingTools
TinkerTools
SewingKit
LeatheringTools

and the same for power words:
Agilitas
Anima
Avium
Contego
Creatura
Cutis
Divinus
Doctrina
Dolor
Facio
Fel
Flamma
Fulmen
Indo
Ingens
Ipsum
Libero
Locus
Lux
Magus
Mors
Motus
Mutatio
Nox
Noxa
Parvos
Pavor
Pumice
Putesco
Renuo
Res
Robus
Tempus
Tollo
Umbra
Ventus
Vita
2.17. Torment and the afflicted
“In droves, the victims of the Torment rose from their eternal slumber, with all of the rage and unholy madness they possessed before death.” - Story Primer

Torment is possibly the defining mechanic of Requiem, although it is somewhat uncommon that a newcomer has to worry about the Affliction or the afflicted. Torment is a virulent infection that can contaminate both flora and fauna through contact and consumption. Additionally, the Disease can spread through air as well. While a gas mask protects one against airborne Torment, one is not as fortunate against the other vectors. In addition, the afflicted are notorious for their ability to strip people even of that one little defence as they descend upon their victims in a frothing rage.

You can monitor your current Torment status in [Codex under death. Appropriately, your character turns once they reach 100% torment saturation, which will be worse than your PD, if you ask the rest of us. You can also scan others for visible signs of Torment with the [Examine and [Look commands. As far as lore is concerned, bleeding from the eyes is a sure sign of torment. Now that person with ruddy eyes and a swollen nose may have had a few too many, but they might also be one of the afflicted.. and a heretic is definitely the root cause.

While there are rumors about a cure (which in fact existed in Act III and is relevant through at least one current character), there is no known or mechanically implemented way of curing Torment in Act V. Therefore, any amount saturation is Very Bad for you ー unless some Decus-favored soul actually discovers the cure, of course.

Those using the agriculture skill should note that some plants are highly susceptible to Torment. If the afflicted parts are not pruned, the plant will spread the infection. Other classic examples of causing Torment-based mayhem include interacting with afflicted corpses and running around without a gas mask.

The 19th Apothecary Corps suggest you burn everything exhibiting signs of the Affliction with prejudicial use of the Flame.

2.18. Unique systems
Though I will not cover any of these systems in detail, it feels like I should at least advertise the clever mechanics that are unique to Requiem. Some of my favourite picks include:
The allopathy system, which allows you to use various medicine and medical techniques grounded in pseudoscience to treat injuries.
Hematology under allopathy, which lets you use samples taken from people and creatures to produce exciting and totally wholesome mixtures. Mad scientists ahoy.
Pyrotechnics under subterfuge - for all your explosive needs.
Toxicology under poisoning - some mixtures are meant to be bad.

Other honorable mentions include modifying your equipment with augmentations (engineers) and enhancing gear with heretical enchantments (archmages). There is a fair bit of depth and opportunity for experimentation to be found in these systems, if one has a mind for such.

2.19. Useful commands
Though you can use [Help to check all available commands, I have included some useful ones here for a quick reference. All commands can be entered in full lowercase, but I believe the game lists individual words with capitals in order to promote clarity. I have decided to follow the practice.

[Aid lets you heal (or cure) characters based on your anatomy skill and skill abilities.

[CheckInjuries allows you to check your character’s current injuries.

[Codex is used to access the Codex.

[CombatMessages can be used to turn combat messages on or off.

[CustomTitle is the command you use to let everyone know your character’s age (or who knows what else), if you have the Legacy points.

[DiscardLiquid lets you empty a container. Useful for refilling waterskin if an opportunity presents itself.. or perhaps you simply need empty bottles and not mysterious potions.

[Drop is used to drop an item from your inventory. This is useful when you cannot see the area around your feet and have to lose weight.

[Examine and [Look are effectively the same command that can be used to inspect a character. Newbies pay heed! Every new character you inspect has a chance of granting you a point of Animus.

[Language_X is how you start and stop speaking a language. [Language alone does nothing; it has to be modified by a specific language e.g. [Language_Yultish.

[LayDown when you are tired and want to express it.

[Legacy allows access to the Legacy point menu.

[Lore is the command for using World Lore to identify an item. You do not need any points in the world lore skill in order to inspect the durability and other properties of already identified equipment (e.g. the sword you are about to buy from that store).

[Time lets you know whether to say good evening or good morning when it is Dark.


3. Getting started - your first week of Requiem

In this section, I will outline my view on what is important for all characters before moving on to describe a few playstyles and how to get started with them. I am inspecting things from a mechanical standpoint - you do not need anything to get out there and start roleplaying.

3.1. General concerns
Firstly, you should consider how your character is going to earn Infusion and therefore Animus. This may seem like a self-evident concern, but I would give it more than passing thought. Combat types should ensure that they are able to find and tackle enemies appropriate to their skill in order to keep generating Infusion. For example, the sewer in Fort Praesidium is a good place for fledgling combatants. Other characters might consider harvesting. For example, I have capped my Animus a few times by grabbing herbs with agriculture. A craft is also a solid choice: many mages rely on creating masterworks with Jeweler, which is a skill ability under the artisanry skill. However, they would need at least some geology skill for mining copper - and of course tools from an engineer. Getting somewhat complicated, is it not? Meanwhile, fighter types have to maintain their gear and find friends with whom to survive or perish. The chief reason for this paragraph is to remind you to create a character who can start earning Infusion right away. Nothing is more boring than waiting three months before getting started.

Secondly, give some thought to how you are going to store your resources. Crafters and harvesters will be glad to know that there is a bulk resource storage available in Fort Praesidium. You can rent a container for holding stackable items such as ore and hides, which are accessible to only you as long as you keep paying the rent. You can also store all your heavy copper coins in the bank. However, there are many resources that will not fit in either category, and as such you should either team up with people who have a house or try to establish some kind of dwelling reasonably soon. It is best to take the initiative here, or else you may find that you are unable to progress without leaving something behind.

Thirdly, you should consider the entirety of your build. What do you want to be able to do? Find out which skills you need to accomplish your goal. Since reading will get you only so far, it is not a bad idea to ask people on Discord for some general advice. For example, many could tell you that a gunslinger is not going to have an easy time finding supplies to use their weapon of choice. Likewise, your mage is going to have a tough time if you have not considered how to get new spells or how to obtain the tools you need if using magic is not an option yet.

Finally, make sure to grab starting equipment from the Templar camp before your Visa is approved. Again, you will appreciate access to the waterskin (or several) and a torch or a lantern may serve you well in case you do not have one already. You will be given some silver to start with, though it is important you spend it carefully. Renting space and a contract for a vendor is one way to solve your storage problem by selling things that might be useful to others. Please note that it is frowned upon to use a vendor as storage space (without the intent to sell the goods); expensive goods worth more than 10,000 copper (or one gold piece) incur an additional cost that equals 1% of the price you have assigned to the item.


3.2. Playstyle-specific tips
While these tips are more specific and thus potentially more helpful, this is certainly the portion of the guide that most closely resembles a strategy guide. It is best to take my suggestions with a grain of salt and talk with people about your ideas before getting started.

3.2.1. Crafters
I likely speak with the most experience when talking about crafters and gatherers. If you are planning a crafter, you should know that crafting is a slow and highly interlinked process on Requiem. A blacksmith may indeed make arms and armor, but they also have to make individual components (chiefly weapon grips and armor hinges) in order to do so. It also makes sense that the blacksmith might need to know a thing or two about geology in order to get materials. However, they also need leather wrappings for weapon grips, which are produced by tailors - but a tailor cannot make the grips unless someone is able to hunt and skin animals for their hides, which a tailor can then cure and tan with the appropriate equipment. Naturally, the appropriate equipment comes from an engineer, who in turn needs materials from someone who can mine or perhaps chop wood.

In addition to the skill dependencies you might expect, it is also good to note that the quality of the goods you make is tied to some skill abilities under the world lore skill. If you are at all serious about making masterwork, extraordinary or sometimes even exceptional goods, you will definitely want those skill abilities.

When you plan your crafter, you have a few routes to pick. It is definitely possible to play a fighter with high blacksmithing in order to make and take care of your armor. In that case, however, you should be prepared to rely on other players. While I once solved my resource shortage by taking every crafting skill, it is also possible to focus on one crafting skill and take as little as possible in other skills to be at least somewhat self-sufficient.

If you are a pure crafter, you are likely concerned with a high STR and HP for carrying capacity and survivability. Similarly, a decent DEX and STA will help you to keep going like the Duracell bunny thrust into the Darkest Stardew Valley. More advanced builds have more advanced concerns. My crafter has 125 STR, 90ish HP, 31 DEX, 30ish STA, 51 INT and 10 MANA.

There are some shard features that can help you with your crafting endeavors. It is good to learn about vendors, for one. In addition, you can make the most of the bulk storage in Fort Praesidium (most of your ‘loot’ is bulk resources, after all). Even so, you might want a place of your own for the hundreds of tools you will use during your Requiem. Moreover, the Foundry offers blank repair writs in exchange for some bulk goods. These writs allow you to create repair service contracts. The same people have also cultivated pack horses, which may be vital to your ability to carry even more junk at once. That said, be prepared to pay an arm an a leg for a pack-toting friend.

You may also want to check out this artisanry guide by Cons:
viewtopic.php?f=4&t=1217

Cons has made a nice guide to tailoring as well:
viewtopic.php?f=4&t=1002

Miners should check out this geology guide by revenant:
viewtopic.php?f=4&t=1283

There is also the official word on harvesting:
https://www.13thrones.com/wordpress/ind ... arvesting/

3.2.2. Gunslingers and firearms aficionados
While the combat strategies for firearms-users are akin to warriors (well, archers), it is extremely important to note that firearms represent bleeding edge technology in the game world. They are powerful, but somewhat unreliable. In addition, firearms require a plenty of upkeep. Even if you find an engineer with the rare recipe for the gun you would like, crafting a gun is a very involved process. Bullets are easy enough.. but finding any kind of blackpowder is a true challenge.

This section is for you if you saw the firearms skill and thought that you would make a gunslinger. Your dream is possible and potentially very impressive when achieved, but I recommend getting another combat skill and/or methods of meeting the very demanding supply requirements of using firearms.

Even if everything goes smoothly, your character has a chance of dying permanently in case their firearm fails critically. I suspect this may be tied to the quality of blackpowder you use. Of course, stable blackpowder is quite difficult to obtain.

3.2.3. Heretics (mages)
To keep things brief, I like two approaches to mages. The reliable slow starter is to start your mage as a crafter, considering how many different resources you need in order to fill your spellbook. You will of course want artisanry and world lore in order to make and research spell formulae, but you will also enjoy every gathering skill in order to get the good stuff. This approach has the added benefit of concealing your nature as a mage; it bears repeating that mages are distrusted and sometimes hunted due to their heretical life choices. Consider the availability of help and resources and plan your skills accordingly. The road to power is slow, but subtle.

Alternatively, you may wish to go all in as a mage and start flinging spells the moment your visa is approved. You will be glad to know that once your INT and invocation skill reach a reasonable level, your mana regeneration and spell damage will allow you to hunt even with the basic starter spells. Many valuable power words and mantras are found as loot and you can use silver to buy the resources from other players. A fledgling mage is a vulnerable beast, however, with few tools to survive an assault. That is not to say a new mage is useless, however. I was healing a full clear of Aiwella’s top region on the first day as my Generalist.

While it is not always reliable, you could even depend on other players to craft your spells. The Consortium has a loose kinship and there might be other groups of players who are willing to teach their diabolical ways to a young heretic. I would suggest, however, that you consider your options carefully. If you know you are going to be starting solo, consider whether you enjoy crafting more (or less) than hunting zombies with a spark.

A mage will want a relatively high intelligence and mana score, and it is probably a good idea to have at least 24 strength to handle wearing leather armor at night. One should not build a total glass cannon either. It is often DEX and STA that take a hit when everything else is important. Still, you do not want to get rooted due to a stamina draining blow. I will return to this notion below (see 3.2.5.), but very tight builds may discover unpleasant surprises when critical hits, spells and darkness modify your stats in unexpected ways. For a concrete example, my current mage has 24 STR (concerned I will get knocked out of my armor), 91 HP, 14 DEX (bad stamina regen), 22 STA (I may get rooted), 121 INT (heck yeah) and 87 MANA (so wise).

Note that you can use magic with medium armor, but your mana regeneration will be slowed by 50%. On that note, you can use the [Meditation command to regain mana even though Requiem does not have the meditation skill. It is possible to gain mage armor augments on crafted gear, which would technically make it possible to use magic in full plate with no ill effects. Neither augmentations or enchanting (the cool mage thing under archmagic) are relevant to you during your first week, but you might consider the availability of both options when making your character. As far as I know, it is impossible to both augment and enchant your gear, making further choices necessary.

This guide to magic by Auri may be for you if you are considering a mage:
viewtopic.php?f=4&t=678

3.2.4. Hybrids (heretic melee and what not)
My experience is that hybrid builds are very demanding to pull off and require extensive meta-knowledge of the system in order to avoid frustration. If you are really going to roll a hybrid, I recommend that you talk to people more experienced in hybrids than I and calculate your skill picks with extreme care. Splendid Auri suggests you start as a warrior and dip into magic as you pick things up. While the mage armor augmentation exists for the fabled full plate mage, it is very rare and not easily obtained.

Mage-Crafter hybrids are generally pretty viable (I recommend you start as a crafter), in addition to which Crafter-Warriors do pretty well with a minimal dip in either direction (a warrior with BS, a crafter with modest throwing skill).

“Yea, it's really more about being a jack of trades man
You're at your best with a group as you can sort of fill and supplement any role” -Outlaw

Outlaw also mentions that hybrids can solo if they make good use of their abilities. They can be nasty in PVP with support spells, buffs and debuffs. The element of surprise is critical, considering that your more focused opponents usually have an edge in their area of specialization.

3.2.5. Warriors of all stripes
If you fancy melee combat, you will be happy to know that you can get right to it as soon as you make your character. Things will be somewhat easier once you get enough anatomy for your [Aid to heal you consistently. Additionally, you might want to consider prioritizing your core stats over other Animus purchases instead of relying on passive gains. Furthermore, archers should be aware that they need reliable access to arrows or bolts. It may be good to have the ability to skin feathers, which you can bring to carpenters in order to cut costs (carpenters with Fletching III can make a ton of shafts at once - do you have enough room for that?). If you are not prepared for all that hassle and want a ranged option, throwing may be the skill for you. A throwing weapon has a limited range, but it wears down like a melee weapon instead of using ammunition.

In my experience, you can get pretty far with just starter gear and reasonable (70ish) skills. In fact, okay skills are probably more important than gear for earning the first bits of silver in early hunting areas such as the sewer in Fort Praesidium. Additionally, a skilled warrior wearing exceptional player-crafted gear is already prepared for most challenges, though the most dedicated may indeed try for extraordinary or masterwork gear that has been augmented. You do not have to worry about this as a new player, however - the benefits are marginal and not critical to your ability to go out there and get things done.

Whether you have gear or not, especially the melee folks out there should know that combat on Requiem can be very trying and punishing. It is best to pick your fights carefully and to avoid overextending. While the same goes for archers and mages, the added range can often be the difference between life and death.

Most warrior builds gravitate towards either high STR and high parry, or high DEX and high finesse. This is because parry gains bonuses with high strength while a high dexterity score will boost your dodge chance. One cannot expect to have phenomenal score in both stats. It is, however, possible to have both high finesse and parry in case you wear light armor and use a 2h weapon or do not mind the shield penalty. Likewise, how you balance your stats much depends on the tactics you wish to utilize.

Melee folks tend to prioritize HP over ranged folks, but being able to stay in the fight is important to everyone. It is worth noting that weapon specials use STA instead of MANA (as you might expect). INT and MANA are often dump stats for warriors. Rumors persist that smart warriors might be less prone to Insanity, although the mechanic is not implemented yet. While armor penalizes your DEX and STA, it also gives a lot of HP in turn, which is worth remembering when allocating your stats.

As mentioned above, very tight builds may discover unpleasant surprises when critical hits, spells and darkness modify your stats in unexpected ways. Allocating your stats may require talking with others in order to discover what you have to take into account. For example, my current warrior has 94 STR to fulfil the 80 STR parry requirement (and to survive a -10 modifier despite -4 darkness). The warrior also has 31 stamina at night in full plate, around 50 dexterity under the same conditions and only 10 INT and MANA (6 at night, wow).



4. Closing words and staying in touch
Even though my guide is full on about shard mechanics and strategy, it is important to remember that Requiem is a roleplaying shard. Therefore, staying connected and participating in the community are often vital to one’s enjoyment. Whether it is company for roleplaying, advice with mechanics or trade deals, one would do well to get on Requiem’s Discord channel and keep an eye on the forums. We are usually a helpful bunch when it comes to questions.

While many of the shard’s events cater to American player base, there is an effort to include players from elsewhere as well. People looking to participate in events should follow the event calendar, the details of which you can read here:
viewtopic.php?t=1325&p=2259#p2259

I do have one strategy tip for interaction between players as well. Be excellent to each other. Tensions may run high when one’s life is on the line, but it is important to foster an atmosphere where you know the person who is currently burning your heretic on a pyre is doing it with mutual respect out of character.

Extra thanks for help with proofing and ideas
Alteripseity (good catches and thorough revision!)
Cons (crafting help confirmed)
Exquisite Auri (kiitos)
Outlaw (hybrids say hi)
Rex (confirmed things, probably - important things)
Toroic (wouldn’t have the section on armor and durab otherwise)

.. also basically everyone who has ever talked with me here. I would not know these things otherwise.

5. TL;DR
I understand it is the tradition of the Internet age to include a TL;DR for my fellow humans. While I try to keep the one sentence summaries accurate, a lot of the detail is lost simply because the entries in guide are packed tight with information. This information often travels as a word of mouth instead of being collected in a centralized, easy-to-follow fashion.

1. You create your character in-game, OSI character generation does not affect anything.
1.1. Stats like STR and HP are not linked and your stat cap for all of the stats is 350.
1.2. Your overall skill cap is 700 and it can be increased as you play, though you should remember that skills do not work the same as in OSI.
1.3. Birthsign has a negligible impact and it is fine to pick whatever you fancy.


2.1. Animus is the EXP you use to purchase skills, stats and skill abilities.
2.2. Armor comes in three weight categories and has penalties to DEX + STA depending on their weight category
2.3. Claim Stakes crafted by carpenters let you claim an area where you can build structures as long as you can pay the price in Animus, silver and resources.
2.4. Codex displays most of the critical stats and is accessed with [Codex.
2.5. 100 copper is 1 silver, 100 silver is 1 gold.
2.6. Durability is difficult to repair when the item’s condition reaches battered or falling apart.
2.7. Grit is used instead of bandages with the [Aid command to heal damage.
2.8. Your hit chance depends on your opponent’s skill in the weapon you are attacking your opponent with.
2.9. Hunger and thirst may kill you if you forget about them.
2.10. Injuries and Sanity can be healed by player doctors, but at least Injuries go away on their own with the passage of time.
2.11. Getting knocked out wipes your current Infusion and gives you stat penalties in addition to increasing your KO count, which may lead to worse injuries upon further knockouts.
2.12. Languages depend on your starting region and are activated/deactivated with the [Language_X command.
2.13. Legacy points are accrued at a rate of one point by day and are used for cosmetics.
2.14. Darkness can cause up to a -4 penalty to all your stats if you do not have any sources of light to help you, although a torch will not save you from the tenebrous dangers that appear when the bell tolls for the darkest hour.
2.15. Mortality percentage is your chance to die upon a KO, in addition to which it limits your ability to store unspent Animus.
2.16. Researching requires a bunch of materials, a research tome and skill in world lore.
2.17. Torment and the afflicted are bad for you.
2.18. Unique systems are cool and worth trying if they are something you might like.
2.19. Useful commands can also be checked with the [Help command.

3. Get out there and die already.
3.1. Make sure you can earn infusion reliably and work towards obtaining a storage.
3.2. The sewer in Fort Praesidium is a good starting area for everyone.
3.2.1. Crafters need many skills to get things done.
3.2.2. Gunslingers and firearms aficionados will find resources hard to come by.
3.2.3. Heretics (mages) are distrusted and sometimes killed on sight, so play with that in mind.
3.2.4. Hybrids (heretic melee and what not) are difficult if you do not know what you are doing. Start small, if you like exploration.
3.2.5. Warriors of all stripes are not invincible even when they have extraordinary gear.

4. Thanks for reading, use Discord, forums and the event calendar.

5. If the TL;DR was too long, ask on Discord instead.

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