Blade & Soul is a different from most MMORPGs is more ways than one and new players run into a lot of confusing elements within the first few levels that are decidedly foreign when compared with other games on the market.
I've been in and out of Blade & Soul for over two years and remember being completely bewildered by some of the game's facets during the first few weeks I played the Chinese version, and that confusion wasn't just because of the language barrier.
You'll have an easier time starting out now than I did two years ago. Some parts of the game are more streamlined compared to how they used to be, the game is thankfully fully in English, and there are tons of foreign-version veterans and new players to help you get on your feet.
Here are some tips and answers to common problems and questions new Blade & Soul players have in their first day(s) with the game.
How do I choose a faction?
This kind of comes about through normal play, but I've seen a lot of super new players ask.
You get a quest while in Bamboo Village to select your faction. Players can switch factions basically whenever they want once they reach a certain point in the game, so faction populations vary from hour to hour.
Sometimes The Crimson Legion will be full and you're forced to go to The Cerulean Order and vice versa.
The lucky part is switching between these two factions is easily done once you leave Viridian Coast by talking to an NPC in Oakshade Village.
What does being in a faction affect?
Being part of one faction does not mean you can't talk to or party with people of the opposite faction. Here are some key points on factions:
This is pretty much all you need to know to start out.
How to enter the arena
The cool kids say arena PvP is where it's at and I'm inclined to agree. You can enter the arena using the 'F9' key.
How to enter the cross-server dungeon (finder)
Just press 'F8' and you'll be prompted to enter.
Don't buy goods from NPC vendors
The prices on goods at vendors is overall high in the international version of Blade & Soul and I see a lot of players get upset early on because vendor prices are far above what they have earned so far.
Always look on the Marketplace for player-sold goods over NPC vendor items. Players will usually price basic crafted items reasonably, but the prices on some important items like Unsealing Charms will be unusually high for a while after launch with the influx of new players. Just stick it out and keep an eye on Marketplace prices.
Daily quests that give Viridian Poison early on should be done each day
Viridian Poison is used as a material in both crafting (especially Merry Potters) and weapon breakthroughs. It can also be sold for a pretty penny.
Daily quests are marked with blue arrows that have an infinity symbol on them.
What's up with the equipment system?
Digitizer v5 download crack. This is kind of complicated, but here's the gist:
You do not replace your weapon. Early on you're given a Hongmoon weapon in Bamboo Village, which is upgraded via the game's evolution system. You evolve this weapon throughout your entire leveling experience.
Accessories are slowly given to you as you start out and are evolved much like weapons.
Soul Shields are essentially your armor and have both defensive and offensive stats. These should be replaced as you progress, but not by the green ones you find around the world.
Green (and the vast majority of blue sans breakthrough items) equipment drops are not meant to be equipped. Instead use them to level up your purple gear or break them down for a chance of powder.
If this doesn't flesh out the basics enough for you, check out my Blade & Soul equipment system explanation.
Quests with red arrows require you to be equipped with your primary faction uniform
Red quests are faction quests and as you progress they become a part of your daily gameplay, but new players can easily overlook or get confused over their first faction quest because it disappears from their quest tracker after it's accepted if they're wearing a non-faction uniform.
If you're one of these players and are nervous about PvP, you don't have to do your first faction quest. But you should.
If you want to get started on it as safely as possible, head up the hill marked in red on the map below. It's behind the camp in Dragonscale. Put on your faction uniform to talk to the quest-giver, then go south and take care of the quest itself.
Do not take your faction uniform off while you're in the middle of the quest.
What's Focus?
This is something that sort of confused me with the localization after playing the Chinese version for so long, but here it is:
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Focus are the blue orbs under your health bar. These are the game's ability resource in the place of the standard mana you see most classes in other MMOs have.
Focus is used when you use most abilities, while some recover Focus. You can use your left-click attack on enemies to recover Focus as well.
What's Chi?
Chi is essentially your life force and is what you need to recover when you are knocked out. Diablo 1 no cd patch.
Skills that say they help other players recover Chi will make them get up faster if knocked out, and Premium membership grants slightly faster Chi recovery time when knocked out.
You get your first gems around level 14 ~ 15
It's better you find out now that gems are a huge part of your weapon's strength. While that isn't so much the case early on, you're going to be putting a great deal of effort towards getting the ones you need at endgame.
But early on, your first gems are easy. Ploggle King Giganura in Croaker Lagoon drops boxes that contain triangular gems, the very first and weakest in the game.
You're going to be using the gems you get from Giganura for a while. You need keys to unlock these boxes.
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There's a large number of gems in the game, but the ones early on are fairly simple. Each color procs off either you or your enemies' statuses or actions. The strongest offensive gems early on are red (+60 damage on attack, 1 sec. stun on attack, etc.) or purple (health leech on critical hit).
You can only have one of each color gem attached to your weapon at a time.
'Q' and 'E' skills don't have hotbar keys
Every class has skills tied to the 'Q' and 'E' keys and no class has any indication of these skills in their UI aside from in their Martial Tome and their cooldown timers after they've been used.
Take a look at your Martial Tome ('K' key) to see if you have any skills that use the 'Q' and 'E' keys yet. Often these are dodging skills, but for Summoner they are cat-control keys. Check them out and see what they are for your class.
Which class should I play?
Whichever one you find most fun! That's all I can really say about that, but I have written up a nifty class overview guide for indecisive new players.
Backstepping for manual dodging is a thing and you need it for PvP
Every class gets the skill 'Evade' at an early level and nearly every new player overlooks it completely because it gets thrown into your Martial Tome with other skills.
Blade And Soul Faction Weapons 2
'Evade' is used by double-tapping the 'S' key. Give it a try!
You don't really need to open the chests you see in solo dungeons, save your keys
I know it's tempting, but honestly just don't open the chests you see in solo dungeons.
Keys are too valuable early on to be thrown at chests, which give a few items but nothing more valuable than keys. You need keys to get your Stalker weapon at the first Wheel of Fate and your weapon in Blackram Narrows at level 20 or so. Don't waste them.
You can grab professions up pretty early and you need them to make money at endgame
I wrote a more in-depth beginner's crafting and gathering guide, but here's a primer:
Crafting and gathering guilds (not to be confused with player-run Clans) are first introduced in Jadestone Village. Professions in Blade & Soul aren't difficult or manually time-consuming and they are almost a requirement if you really want to make money later on. Get in on them early to make money sooner.
Hopefully, these will answer most of the confusing aspects of Blade & Soul new players ram into and scratch their heads over early on. The game does not do an amazing job of explaining all of its systems. You'll run into more confusing tidbits as you push forward, but these basic bits will get you started on the right foot.
The Sarranid Sultanate is a new faction introduced in Mount&Blade: Warband, located in the southern deserts of Calradia. It is led by Sultan Hakim, while the claimant to the throne is Arwa the Pearled One. Sarranid lords are called emirs, an Arab title for a ruler.
Their national animal appears to be the desert eagle, as it is depicted on their emblem. However, Hakim's banner is one of the two monarch banners that does not match up with the emblem, and the only one that does does not contain a heraldic eagle. Interestingly, Arwa has an eagle's head on her banner (and so does one of the most powerful lords of the Sultanate, Emir Uqais, initial lord of Durquba, for that matter), which could be related to her claim hinging on Sultan Ayzar's, while Hakim's hinges on Baybak's.
HistoryEdit
The Sarranids are possibly descendants of the Aserai, hinted by their dwelling place and troop composition.
The Sarranids were ruled by Sultan Ayzar prior to the events of Warband. Ayzar purchased a slave, Arwa the Pearled One, who would later endear herself to him so much that he eventually let her manage his kingdom and practically adopted her as his daughter. After Ayzar's death, Arwa was allowed to rule on the condition that she marry the realm's general, Emir Baybak, and they ruled together for ten more years. However, after Baybak was killed in a skirmish with the Khergit Khanate (likely under the rule of Janakir Khan at that point). His nephew, Hakim, staged a coup against Arwa, ousting her from power on grounds of her bewitching both the previous Sultan and his uncle.
RulersEditVassalsEdit
TacticsEdit
Also see Sarranid Sultanate Tactics.
StrengthsEdit
WeaknessesEdit
SummaryEdit
The starting position for the player is difficult, as many bandits roam the deserts outside of villages and towns. When you can, leave the area and come back with a large force if you want to attempt to drive out the bandits. Most of their units are relatively weak, excluding some of the higher tier archers and cavalry.
The Sarranids use units and tactics that seem to be a blend between those of the Swadians and Vaegirs, giving them more versatility. The top-tier Sarranid cavalry unit, the Sarranid Mamluke, is on a par with the Swadian Knight as the toughest horsemen in the game while Sarranid infantry and archers are tactically closer to Vaegir military units, although they are generally more heavily armored and bear heavier shields than Vaegir troops. Their weakness lies in a lack of specialization arising from this blending. While their archers are relatively tough in melee, they are not as devastating in their main role as archers. Similarly, their infantry have throwing weapons, but lack staying power in melee combat, and their horsemen are slightly less well-armored than their Swadian counterparts (but still quite powerful) and carry more blunt weapons to capture prisoners.
Used well, the Sarranids are a formidable force, but it is hard to squeeze a significant amount of damage out of the archers during a siege because they quickly exhaust their ammunition. Sarranid Master Archers are a hedged bet. They are better in melee combat, and thus a good backup when things go awry, but less effective compared to other ranged troops when things go according to plan. Ultimately, Master Archers may not be capable of clinching victory against powerful enemy forces. Mamlukes rule the open desert and their blunt weapons will help them pay their recruitment costs and salaries by capturing prisoners, but their expensive horses are of no use when besieging a town or castle. Sarranid infantry might score a few kills with throwing weapons, but when you need them to hold the line they simply may not be capable of holding their own against other factions' infantry in a direct clash.
The Sarranid territory is mostly open desert, making battles very favorable for cavalry and archers. Unlike the Khergits, their cavalry are melee only and have no bows, making them less versatile. However, their mounted knights (Mamlukes) are some of the strongest in the game, rivaling Swadian Knights.
Their infantry are considered the weakest in the game when compared to the other factions, and they are not as heavily armed as similar units in other kingdoms. However, they are reliable in large numbers and can be very useful if supported.
Sarranid archers use bows and jarids rather than crossbows, and while they can out-shoot Nord Veteran Archers, they are outclassed by Vaegir Marksmen. They have a very fast rate of fire, which allows a small number of troops to lay down an impressive volley in a short amount of time. But, Sarranid archers are not always reliable because of their low damage and poor accuracy, made worse when they spawn with jarids instead of bows.
Troop TreeEdit
LandEdit
The territory of the Sarranid Sultanate contains the following towns, castles, and villages:
Note that, over the course of the game, other kingdoms may besiege and take over these lands and the Sultanate may gain more or less land. However, these places are the only places from which you can recruit Sarranid troops.
The Sarranid Sultanate is the only faction in which no castle shares its name with that castle's village.
You can buy Date Fruit cheaply which, when sold to the neighboring Khergit Khanate, can fetch a price of up to 100 denars.
TriviaEdit
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