Vanguard
Beginner’s Guide:

Adventures in Martok

by Zinn with
contributions from Ralsu

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style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(153, 51, 0);">DISCLAIMER:
The
information reported in this guide is from Vanguard's beta 3. The
article was written in November with a few small additions since beta 4
started in December. Things such as ability and spell names, the levels
when they are received, etc. are in flux and subject to change prior to
release. This article is intended to give you a snapshot of where
Vanguard: Saga of Heroes is at this point in development. This article
has been approved by Sigil for public release.

style="font-weight: bold;">Part I: Welcome, Newbie!

Interested
in playing one of the green-skinned races? This guide details how to
get started as a newbie in the goblin and
orc city of Martok. Read on and you'll be more than ready for your
first day adventuring on Telon's archipelago of Kojan!

Character
Creation

Races:
Goblin and Orc.



Orc Classes:


Warrior, Dread Knight, Ranger, Monk, Shaman and Disciple.



Goblin Classes:


Warrior, Rogue, Monk, Shaman, Disciple, Blood Mage, Sorcerer,
Psionicist and Necromancer.



The Goblins are, in my somewhat biased opinion, the best character
models introduced yet. Goblins are absolutely beautiful with pointy
ears and pointy teeth, but are huggable at the same time. Sigil did a
fabulous job mixing a look of being somewhat bloodthirsty and somewhat
cute. I started my adventures by making a Goblin Shaman named Nippy.



For more information see:



href="http://vanguard.tentonhammer.com/index.php?module=ContentExpress&file=index&func=display&ceid=468&meid=173">Races
of Kojan

href="http://vanguard.tentonhammer.com/index.php?module=ContentExpress&func=display&ceid=469">Cities
and Villages of Kojan

Targeting and UI

The first thing a new character should learn is targeting. A player
will have an offensive target and a defensive target. If he casts a
heal or a buff, it will go to his defensive target (unless it is
self-only) and any use of combat abilities will be directed towards
your offensive target. Beware: Targeting and accidentally attacking a
quest NPC or guard will quickly send you to an altar. When you or your
group are engaged in combat, you will see a list of all href="http://vanguard.tentonhammer.com/modules.php?set_albumName=album20&id=UI_layout&op=modload&name=Gallery&file=index&include=view_photo.php"> style="border: 0px solid ; width: 150px; height: 120px; float: left;"
alt="UI map" title="Click to enlarge!"
src="http://vanguard.tentonhammer.com/files/gallery/albums/album20/UI_layout.thumb.jpg"
hspace="4" vspace="2">offensive
targets aggroed on the group and their distance from you. Clicking the
MOB's name on the UI targets it. Clicking your group members’
names on the UI or pressing the F1-F6 keys has the same effect. Your
offensive target lists which player the MOB is attacking. A player may
or may not be able to see who the MOB is attacking depending on his
perception skill. You can (and probably should) also create an assist
macro key (macros will come in another guide—don’t
worry!)
to assist your defensive target. The UI for targeting and switching
targets is very well done, possibly the best I have seen in any game.

Quest Loot

Quest loot is separate for each player. It is just like you soloed the
MOB. The quest loot you may get is for that player only. If six group
members have the same ques,t then each player has a chance of getting a
quest loot drop from a single MOB. It could work out that the item
drops for no one or for all 6 people.

Encounters and
Dots

Vanguard measures the difficulty of an encounter in two ways: level and
relative power. The level of a MOB is indicated by the color of the
reticule that circles it when you target it:

• Purple = far above the level of your character (5 levels or
  more); often will kill you in one hit
• Red = 3 or 4 levels above the level of your character; will
  most likely kill you
• Yellow = 1 or 2 levels above the level of your character;
  very challenging solo
• White = same level as your character; a fair match
• Blue = 1 or 2 levels below the level of your character;
  shouldn’t pose much of a threat
• Green = 3 or 4 levels below the level of your character;
  usually a breeze to kill
• Gray = far below the level of your character (5 levels or
  more); will not give XP

The relative power of a MOB is measured by the dots that appear on the
UI in your target window:

• 1 dot = weaker than average; easily a solo mob for a
  character of the same level
• 2 dot = average; fair challenge for character of the same
  level
• 3 dot = Small group MOBs for groups of 2-4 players
• 4 dot = Full Group MOBs. Killable by a full group
• 5 dot = Killable by a skilled full group
• 6 dot = Killable by a very skilled full group
  

Levels 1-4

Vanguard is a quest-driven game, especially at low levels. You can
quest from level 1 to 50. You can also grind without questing. Both
play options are supported, but questing is much faster and more
rewarding in terms of storyline and lore.



Level 1-4 simply involves doing the quests and killing MOBs. Game play
at the early levels is less about strategy and more about learning how
to play the game. The Quests and the lore are the most interesting part
of these early levels on Martok.

Levels 4-8

Again, leveling simply requires following the quest line. But grinding
can be quite fun as there is an abundance of creatures to kill. Martok
has a much greater variety of MOBs and more content per square
kilometer than I have previously seen in the rest of the Telon.
Killing MOBs here is a lot like levels 1-4: quite simple.

Levels 8-12

Now the need for groups becomes greater. Some quests may require help. Following the quest line should take you to level 12 with no grinding or killing outside of the quest line.





For information specifically for playing a Shaman, check out my href="http://vanguard.tentonhammer.com/modules.php?op=modload&name=News&file=article&sid=1073">Shaman
Class Guide.

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style="font-weight: bold;"> href="http://vanguard.tentonhammer.com/index.php?module=ContentExpress&func=display&ceid=481">Read
on for more about the places and people of Martok...