1. At level 104, there are still items that Tim the Enchanter has to put on
Arcane enlightenment jewlry to use. Wow. That means that Arcane Lore is
something that you never have enough off. I have also noticed that Mare is
always more powerful than me because she gets two things. Item is power.
Arcane Lore is power. Mare will spend the bare minimum on other stats, but
will keep spending XP on Arcane lore and Item until she can cast level 5's,
and use level 4 jewelry. That means Item and Arcane lore are two of the most
powerful things in the game.

2. Item spells top out at level 6's. If you spec Item, you will be able to
do amazing things with item really early. And then from level 50-126, all
that spec was useless. I can wait for level 6's until I naturally get them.
Your Silifi of crimson Stars is never going to resist your swiftkiller.

3. Early power at the sacrifice of a gimped character is rarely worth it IF
you are in it for the long term. Spec Item will allow you to outlevel, and
outpower people up until about level 40-50. Then you will wish you had those
credits back. Spec arcane lore is good because you will need it to EVER use
jewelry and other items that require arcane lore in the 200-250 range.

4. Endurance and Self are both crappy, non supported attributes that should
start at 10 if you are in for 100 levels. As much as I love my 100 strating
endurcance, I'm still oly level 45. When i am 100, my health will not matter
as much. As for self, its primarily used for mana and magic skill. Unless
you are a mage, any point that could go into self should go right into
focus. Start with a 10 self unless you have war magic. If you are a warrior
and start with a hundred focus, you will still have to do stam to mana and
health to many in order to fully buff. In other words, more self does not
equal less buffing time.

5. The more magic schools you have, the more powerful you are. This power is
also accompanied by more down time, more burden, less reliance on items, and
less fun. An axe warrior with life, creature and item is FAR more powerful
than an Axe warrior with just item. However. He also has three times the
down time.

6. You can never have enough str. Start with 100.

7. Unarmed is BY FAR the best melee skill. Period. We all know it. We know
it for not one reason, or two reasons, but about five to seven reasons. If
you still want to be sword, fine, be a Sho Swordsman. If you must be axe, be
a sho axeman. There really is only one race in AC, and thats Sho. If you are
smart, you'll play sho no matter what your character is. On Dt, the best
mages are the Sho mages that drain you, then sticky patch you to death with
a hollow Katar. They are never, ever going to bring UA into line with any
other weapon. Just accept it, and start Sho.

8. Dev's have admitted that there is a soft cap of 180 quickness for some
things. Don't bother to start 100 quickness, because by level 35 you will
have hit the soft cap on how fast you attack.

9. You have to have Item Magic. Period. Don't argue, don't explain why you
don't, don't be stubborn. It is, plain and simple, essential. When you get
to higher levels, you will kick yourself if you don't have item. Just don't
even consider playing this game if you do not have item. I'm sorry. If you
want to play Conan, and Conan would never use a wand, tough. Its not
possible to keep a character past level 50 without Item. You WILL restart if
you do not have item by 50. Or, you will quit until your vassals get you to
seventy and you get item.

10. Don't play your main on Sunday night from 6:00pm - 1:00 am on Sunday
night. The lag is the worst at this time, and you will die and be pissed
off. Go watch simpsons, drink some beer, work on a lowbie, whatever. Just
don't play your main on Sunday night. Period. If you do, don't say I didn't
warn you.

11. Darktide is the natural evolution of this game. By this, I mean that
eventually, you will get bored with the other servers and look for some new
aspect of this game we all love and DT is the only other option.

12. What things cost for skill credits has NOTHING to do with how worthwhile
they are. Some skills you should just plain never take. We all know it, even
if we are stubborn and want to feel that we are not dumb. But its true.
Don't take Lockpick, Deception, Missle defense, cooking, alchemy, fletching,
thrown weapons, or mace. They do not add up. They are not well supported.
They are a waste of skill credits except for mules.

Jamie C. Wakefield
Druss