Many MMOGs use very similar mechanics, and in some respects TERA is no exception. Then again, there are plenty of new things to learn in this Korean import. If you’re just setting off on your adventure in Arborea, our basic tips for new TERA players will get you off to a strong head start.

The UI and You

#1 - Fixing the tiny font size

If you've stepped into TERA and everything’s looking great, go ahead and skip this step--you’re golden. But if you’re like some, you might find that text is too tiny to read, even with your dorky reading glasses on.

TERA’s UI is scalable and somewhat customizable, but figuring out what makes it tick can involve some trial and error. Hopefully, we can save you the hassle.

• Hit O to bring up the options menu and then go into “UI Settings” (so far, this is intuitive)
• Move the slider under “Scale All UI” until things look big enough to read
• Unfortunately, you’ll probably find that making the UI scale larger has made the chat box enormous. Before you mess with your UI options any further, save your current settings and back out of the options menu
• Click on the little gear icon in the upper left corner of the chat box. Select “Current Tabs,” and then “Set Font Size.” Adjust the font size so it isn’t enormous.
• You may notice that your chat box still bleeds into your other UI elements such as your hot bar. There’s an app…er, a fix for that. Hit O to go back into the options menu, then back into “UI Settings.”
• Under “Scale Combat Elements” you can adjust the size of your hot bar and other screen elements so that everything fits and is readable. More or less.

Word on the street is that this particular problem is on the developer’s list of issues to address. Until it’s fixed, however, you’re welcome.

General Knowledge

#2 - I see gold spammers

It’s inevitable, isn’t it? You’re going to encounter players spamming general chat trying to get you to buy gold from some hinky site. In fact, you might even see them from the moment you reach the Isle of Dawn. Do yourself and everyone else a favor--report them.

Simply left click on the spammer’s user name in the chat panel, click “Report,” and then use the drop-down menu to select the nature of your report. Once you’re done there, you can go ahead and click the user’s name again and select “Block.” Until a GM is able to ban the spamming evildoer, their annoying text will not darken your chat again.

#3 - Find your pre-order/Collector’s Edition stuff

So, you pre-ordered TERA but you don’t know where to find your promised goodies. No problem! Hit ALT to bring up the Activities Menu. Select the Account tab, then look for “Item Claim.” Voila!

#4 - Take a screenshot

TERA is a gorgeous game, so you’ll no doubt want to capture some screenshots. You can turn off the UI by hitting CTRL + Z. Take a screenshot by pressing PrtScn on your keyboard. After you’ve taken a screenshot, TERA will post the file’s location in your chat interface. Take note of it, because those screens can be a little challenging to find later on.

Gathering and Items

#5 - Gathering can get you buffs

Gathering has a benefit besides yielding you crafting resources--you also have a chance to get a random temporary buff when harvesting a node, and those buffs can stack up to three times granting you things like boost to your healing or attack speed. You also get XP for gathering.

Although there’s a quick gathering tutorial early in the game, you don’t have to train for gathering, so you can start from the moment you first spot a node. To make things even easier, nodes are marked on your mini map as a cluster of three dots. A yellow dot at the top of the triangle means its a mining node, green is for plants, and blue is for essences. [Thanks to a Ten Ton Hammer reader for the color coding tip!]

#6 - You gotta break some eggs…

After you’ve completed some quests, you might see eggs (Lucky Eggs, Destiny Eggs) appear in your inventory bag. Right clicking the eggs will crack them open and net you a random consumable item. Or, if your inventory space allows for it, you can buy Ovomeld from a general merchant and collect eggs to combine them into Fortune Eggs, which yield even better consumable items.

UPDATE: Eggs were recently removed from TERA, so they're no longer available, although a few players may have eggs in their inventory leftover from beta/headstart. So since this tip is no longer valid, we've added a bonus tip at the end of the guide.

Combat

#7 - Get in the first hit

The first hit tags an enemy, meaning if you're part of a queue waiting for a quest mob you'll need to whack the mob first to get credit. This gets difficult when you're a melee class with a long windup, such as the Berserker or Lancer. And if that becomes a problem for you, proceed to the next tip…

#8 - Too many players on the dance floor…

Occasionally, you’ll run into an area that happens to be overrun with players who are all looking for the same quest mobs you are. Fortunately, TERA allows you to switch channels if an outdoor zone is overcrowded. You’ll find a drop-down for channels in the upper right of your screen. Select a channel with a low population and you’ll be back to smacking down monsters in no time…with a lot less competition.

#9 - Be careful what you shoot at

Remember Captain Ramius’s line to Jack Ryan as they’re deep in the belly of a nuclear submarine reactor chasing after an armed saboteur in The Hunt for Red October?: “Be careful what you shoot at; most things in here don’t react too well to bullets.”

Similarly, if you’re not careful with your aim (especially if you play a ranged class), you’re likely to find that most gentle mobs become angry if you ping them with a stray spell or arrow. If you’re unaccustomed to combat that requires you to aim with a target reticle, flailing around while holding down your left mouse button may cause you to bite off more aggro than you want to chew. At lower levels, this amounts to nothing more than some temporary irritation. As mobs get more difficult, though, you’re going to want to be careful to tick off only the monsters you’re actually trying to hit.

#10 - Set up chain skills

Gaining levels means gaining skills. (Duh.) You can access your skills menu by pressing K, and then click and drag skills to your hot bar. (They won’t automagically appear there as they do in other MMOs you may have played.)

You can (and should) also create chain skills, where using one skill automatically triggers another follow-up skill. To set up chain skills, hit K to open the skills menu, then select “Chain Skills.” Click and drag your trigger skill to the box marked “Skill,” and your follow up to the one marked “Chain skill.”

To use chain skills, activate your trigger skill. You’ll see a notification appear telling you that you can use your chain skill. Trigger your hotkey (the default is the space bar, but you can change it in the skills menu), and the chain skill will activate.

Bonus Tip: Stamina matters!

As you engage in combat your stamina will degrade, which also degrades your maximum health and mana pool. Keeping your stamina up is important, and for that TERA has campfires. You'll find them scattered around the game--you can stand beside them to regenerate your stamina. You can also get campfires as dropped items or purchase them from general merchants. It's a good idea to have some on hand for when you're far away from civilization.

While you're standing by a campfire, you can burn different types of charms (open your inventory and right click them) for random combat buffs. Charms of the same type don't stack, so be careful not to overwrite something particularly useful.

While you're still thinking about TERA, you'll want to also check out our Top 5 Newbie Tips. Do you have a great TERA tip of your own? Jump in and share it in the comments below.