New Player Guide

This page will hopefully provide a walkthrough of the most basic course in URW, "Living in the Wild". First, of course, is character creation. For the purposes of this guide, we'll assume that you know the basic movement keys and know what the interface means. If in doubt, the [?] key is your friend! It lists all the common commands. Remember that keys are case-sensitive in Unreal World, so [?] is activated by pressing [Shift+?] and not just [?]. Have fun!

Click here[1] for the keyboard commands.

Character Creation

The first step is to choose what type of character creation you want. Quick and easy skips over most of the character creation, dropping you straight into a world, ready to play. Custom is the standard method, while custom-easy allows you to 'degrade' each skill by up to two levels in the skill creation screen and reallocate those points to other skills and custom-too easy allows three points.

Common choices for your culture include the Owl-Tribe (generally strongest at survival skills) and the Kaumolaiset (generally a jack-of-all-trades). Culture affects your starting Skill points, and will determine the possible range of your attributes as detailed here.

Next, you have to pick a starting season. The game recommends starting in Summer; however, if you want more time to prepare for winter, you should start in spring. There's not much difference, but by the end of summer there should be some berries and other wild plants you can gather. Also, because it's colder in spring (though not enough to be a threat) you can dry food in the first couple of weeks, which means your supplies last longer. On the other hand, starting in Autumn may mean that you can gather lots of food such as the highly nutritious lake reeds that border most lakes. Be wary of harvesting villager's plants because they will get angry at you if you harvest anything inside a village, pasture, or field.

Physical attributes are up next. You can reroll as many times as you like until you get your perfect character. One of the most important stats are Agility, Speed and Eyesight, because they govern your Dodge skill. Try to go for the highest possible these three attributes. Another option is go for the biggest/heaviest body type, because more body weight lets you carry more. You can improve stats with courses, but you can not change body type. The biggest and heaviest can wear a lot heavy clothes before they affect much to their skills, which is a major consideration middle game. See More about cultures' attributes.

The next page shows 2 Rituals|rituals. Rituals are sort of like "spells". They will give your character certain benefits, or maybe appease the spirits so that they favor you. Note that not all rituals have a guaranteed result and may only increase probability of a good outcome. What rituals you start with are random. Possible starting rituals change according to what tribe you choose.

Skills are pivotal in how well you'll survive. You have 5 skill points to put into whatever areas you want. Good skills to invest in are:

• Physician - so that your wounds heal better. Increasing this skill can be difficult, as controlled (intentional) injury is a chore. The Blood-Staunching Prayer removes the need for this skill... provided you actually learn it before a Njerpez shoots you in the eye.
• Fishing - while not what it once was, still a valuable skill to generate food. Active fishing is useful even with low fishing skill (in the 30s) as long as you have a fishing rod, but nets are preferable.
• At least one weapon skill, such as:

>>Club - since blunt attacks control damage to the hide of a catch. Clubs are readily crafted and iron maces/mauls are available, although they may fall behind other options against Njerpez.

>>Bow - bow skill is very useful in hunting. VERY VERY useful and a beast to raise. Recommended, even if you don't choose any combat skill.

>>Axe - because you almost always have an axe on your hand. Good utilitarian combat skill.

>>Sword or Flail - this is a pure anti-human combat skill, because these two classes of weapons don't have much use in day-to-day affairs. Sword is more popular than Flail, as many Njerpez sport a sword of some kind. 

>>Spear - because javelins are readily crafted ranged weapons which can also melee in a pinch. A significant boon to players without bow skill, and can be of help to you long into the game.

• Cookery - this is a recommended skill, even though many protest that it has chance to raise. BUT, it's so very useful from the start. Food quality affects both nutrient level and trade value, making the skill a big help in early game whereas its importance fades once food becomes plentiful.
• Hideworking - this is a strong recommendation because you don't have that many chances to practice it, EVEN if you play exclusively small animal hunter, a miserable way to make a living. Get it right at the start so that when you think about tanning furs to trade with foreign traders, you'll have enough skill to make it worthwhile.
• Trapping - trapping obviously helps you get enough food for the winter, but higher quality fox-traps are a good early-game trade good for players with poor carrying capacity.
• Timbercraft - can be raised quickly and won't help you in a fight, but proves surprisingly useful for trading. A tree on village outskirts can be reduced to 20 boards in a few hours, worth ~50 smoked cuts even at inferior quality. Great for solving food problems and getting early access to expensive items... provided local villages have something worth trading.

Notice that you cannot raise your dodge skill. That's tied in directly with your character's Agility, and can only be raised by dodging enemy attacks in game.

Next, you have to choose a starting location. You'll want to start in the southeast near Reemi (olive green). Some people think Driik (light blue) is better but there are almost no animals in Driik and Reemi's shops are almost as good as Driik. You can take a trip to Driik once you're all set up, but when you're just starting out, you can't afford the items in their shops anyway so starting there is pointless. Reemi has good enough items and you can actually do some hunting too. *CONTESTED! The difference in wealth between Driik and Reemi is underestimated. While hunters will prefer the game-rich lands of the Reemi, A player with significant carrying capacity and some measure of timbercraft skill can access high quality Driik items early by simply selling boards.

Almost done! Now we have to select a scenario. Unreal World features many starting scenarios, some easy, some hard. We'll go with the easiest one, I want to be a fisherman. That way, you'll have two nets so you won't starve to death, which you can use as a 'home base'.

Notice your starting location, which is the dark red rectangle on the map. You can randomize your location until it fits your requirements. Notice its relative distance from certain geographical landmarks, like rivers, big lakes, coasts, etc...

Lastly, pick a course. We'll go with the second course, "Living in the Wild". Not only do courses give you a structure, it acts as a sort of tutorial, and gives us some nice rewards on the way! (Rewards include a pike, handaxe, and a shovel and seeds) At the end of this line of tasks awaits a choice of reward to be picked by you...

5 points to be allocated to your attributes or,

3 points to be allocated to your skills or,

learn 2 new rituals.

Don't pick rituals, you'll learn them anyway. Up to you whether you want to pick skills or attributes. If your attributes are all really great ([shift-P]rofile shows most of the bars all the way full), then pick skills, but otherwise: skills can be raised and this is the only way to increase attributes.

Now is also a good time to learn a little something about trade. Trade is a reliable source of food in the event that your early fishing, hunting or trapping attempts turn up fruitless. Doubtless you will want to purchase more expensive tools or weapons as well as you progress, so having an idea of how to earn them in advance will prove valuable.

Starting Out

*Note* The hotkeys have been updated to the version 3.19

Starting the course

First things first, we'll start the course by hitting [F5]. This should bring up the course menu.

Water

The first task it wants you to do is to find some water, and take a drink. Not too difficult, eh? Just walk around with the arrow keys till you find a lake, then walk next to it and press [q] for quaff. Task complete!

A closer look

Next, the game wants you to zoom in. You can either walk to a village, where it'll force you to zoom in, or just hit [Enter]. Either way, now we have to pick something up. That shouldn't be hard at all, just press [,] when you walk over something interesting.

Make a fire

The next task is making a fire. Walk up next to a tree, and press [Alt+v] to bring up the survival menu. Pick the option 'Cut branches from tree', the [C] key, to get somewhere in the range of 10 - 20 branches. Keep doing this until you have around 25 branches, then walk one square away, open the survival menu and pick 'Build a Fire' (the [B] key). Hit [F5] when you're done.

Cookery

You should now have a raw pike. Open up the cooking menu, [Alt+c] and pick Roast, [R]. Find the pike, and start it roasting. If you are standing nearby, you will receive the prompt, "it smells like the roasted pike is ready" after a short time passes. You can use the [-] key to fast-forward time. Remember to pick it up before it burns! When your roast pike is done, you will have finished another task.

Timberwork

Now you'll have to cut down a tree. There are two kinds of tree in URW: normal trees and slender trees. Normal trees give you a whole tree trunk when chopped down, but you need an axe for them. Slender trees can be cut down with just a knife (although it will go faster with an axe) and they will give you 3 - 5 slender tree trunks, which is a completely different item. Go ahead and cut down a slender tree. They look smaller than ordinary trees, and if you walk into them, you should get a message along the lines of 'A young (whatever type of tree) is blocking your way'. Cut them down by opening up your Timbercraft menu, [Alt+m] then picking Fell a Tree, [F].

Do it yourself

The game now wants you to make something using the 'Make' menu, accessed via [Shift+m], or just [M] for short. Stand next to the slender tree trunks you've cut down. Open the [M] Make menu, and choose [L] Lumber > [2] Staff. Make at least one slender tree trunk into a staff. The task will be finished, but just wait! If you want, you can use these staffs to make a spear class throwing weapon, javelins. Make sure you're standing next to a fire, then open the Make menu, pick [W] weapons, [3] javelins, and turn your staffs into javelins if you so desire. Alternatively, if you have a bow, it could be a good idea to make blunt arrows out of branches.

Sleeping (not in course)

At this point, your character will be hungry, thirsty and tired. Find a water source and have a drink (note if you're in a village that all villages have some sort of water source, be it a little pond or a whole lake), [E]at your pike and take a nap (preferably in a building, if you're a village). To sleep, press [Z] or [/] for the movement menu and then [s].

Fishing

When you wake up, continue the course. This time, we need to go fishing, and for that you'll get a fishing rod. Walk up to a lake or river (those little ponds don't count) and hit [a] to open up the use item menu and choose your fishing rod or put out a net (remember you have to be far enough out in the water to use a net, so you'll need to use a raft), at this point feel free to sit back and relax. The fishing will go on for around 3 hours (in game), less if you manage to catch something. Catch at least 6 fish.

Shelter in the woods

Once you're done, we have to make a shelter. Shelters need 3 slender tree trunks and 20 spruce twigs on the ground, at most 1 tile away from you. Spruce twigs come from spruce trees, through the 'Cut branches from a tree' option in the survival menu. One good trick is to find a young spruce tree, harvest twigs, then chop it down for the slender tree trunks. Use the survival menu to 'Make a Shelter', [S].

Incantation

Now we have to perform a ritual. Rituals in URW come in two types: asking the spirits for help, or sacrificing something to the spirits. Anyways, just perform any ritual you like (all characters start with two). If you have Oath of Iron, you should use them on your metal weapons, so that they will become better weapons.

Tracking

The next task needs you to use your tracking skill to find some tracks. You will probably not find any on the zoomed-out map. Walk around looking for an animal. You will see them best if you are in a mire or if you are in a high area, like on a mountain or a hill. If you see an animal, or person, walk near where they are. Do not walk into them, especially if the picture was of a Njerpez|person in red! Use your tracking skill, [Alt+t], repeatedly, then you should finish this task, but you might have to get an encounter with them and do the tracking on the zoomed in map, which is where tracking is most useful.

Some smaller animals, which leave [[Tracking (Skill)|tracks, can't be seen on the zoomed-out map. If you want to cheat, go to a village and walk around till you see little black smudges. Stand on one and [Alt+t].

Next up is actually encountering an animal. If you've managed to find a track, follow it until you collide with your prey. Zoom in, then hit F5 again to trigger the next step. You now have to combat|kill an animal. If you run into something big, like an elk or even a herd of forest reindeer, it may be better to leave them be, and just zoom back out to look for something smaller. If it's something small, like a squirrel, this should be no problem. Simply chase down your quarry, and let loose with a storm of javelins or blunt arrows(press [t] to throw or shoot) when you get close. If it falls down, run [R] to toggle, and [0] kick it till it goes down. If possible, use blunt weapons (like the blunt arrows) on it instead of javelins to avoid damaging the hide.

Congratulations on your first kill! After you've hunted your animal, you have to Fresh animal skin|skin and cut it. Remember to always skin the animal before cutting it up for meat, because after you cut it up, the carcass will disappear. Hit [Alt+h] to open up the Hideworking menu, and choose to 'Skin a carcass'. Then, hit [b] to butcher the carcass for meat. You'll recieve a couple pounds of meat, plus some fat. If you really want to (and can spare the food), you could sacrifice a bit of meat to the spirits.

I'd recommend that you set up a temporary camp somewhere close to a village, next to some sort of water source. Build a shelter by the water but outside the village, so that you can tan your animal skin. Villagers have a habit of stealing anything that's not nailed down. Actually tanning the skin will involve several steps in the hideworking menu, [Alt+h]: first the skin must be [C] cleaned, using water (of which you should have plenty, seeing as you're standing next to a lake). Then, use [T] for tan. The game will ask you for the animal skin, a cutting weapon, and some 'tanning material'. Tanning material can either be Bark|tree bark, or animal fat. 99% of the time, an animal will leave enough fat for its skin to be tanned. If not, gather bark from a tree with the [Alt+m] Timbercraft menu. When done, the skin is left on the spot "being prepared" for some time and you cannot pick it up until the time has elapsed. When that time has passed, pick up the skin to [T] tan again for the next steps.

All these steps can take hours or days for the skin to be tanned depending on its size. While we're waiting, make some more crafts to trade, or replenish your javelin/arrow supply. However don't forget your skin, because if you let the skin uncared for too long in any of the intermediate steps it will rot and become useless.

After your hide is tanned, we're going to make a trap. More specifically, we're going to make several traps, in a line - a trap fence. Find a isolated spot, at least a kilometre away from the nearest village, and zoom in. It helps if it's near water, so that you have somewhere to go and drink when you're constructing it.

Once you've zoomed in, find a line of trees with small (3-6 tile) gaps between them, about 10 tiles long or so. Try to make this near where you entered the area, so that it's easy to find when you come back to check it. Fell lots of small trees, because you need slender tree trunks to make both stake for fences, and for the traps themselves. Find your line of trees, and then build fences to plug up small, 1-tile gaps using the [M]ake menu (press [T] for traps, then [F] for fence). Leave three to five holes in your fence line. That's where we'll place our traps.

The trap we're going to make is called a pit trap. It works very well on large herds of herbivores, such as Forest reindeer|reindeer or elk. First we need to dig a hole, by [a]pplying our Shovel|shovel. Then open up your [M]ake menu, hit [T] for traps and [5] for a trap pit. You'll need 3 slender tree trunks, 10 branches and 10 spruce twig per trap. Feel free to take breaks during this process to sleep.

Zoom out to finish the task. The game then tells you to wait one or two days, before coming back to check your trap. Pick up your tanned hide, and try exploring the area and finding a new village. Or you could practice some skills, or fish to increase your food supply. After a few days have passed, zoom back in on your trap.

If you haven't got anything, just leave the area, and check it periodically, but with a bit of luck, you'll have caught something. In that case, skin and carve up your prize, then reset the trap through the [M]ake menu. If you think that there's too much meat (if you managed to catch an Elk|elk, for example), make a fire so you can cook some immediately (you may need to [d]rop some meat to be able to move). Tan the hide, then chop it up for cords (or chop up your fur cloak, if you have one).

If it's early spring, you can dry the meat, so go to the village, stand beside a building and use the cooking menu (Alt-C), select drying. Fence this area off to stop villagers stealing the food. Beware, dismantling fences (even those you placed yourself) in the town will cause the villagers to attack you if they catch you. If it's late spring/summer/autumn, you won't be able to dry it and you may as well roast it all.

In fact, you need to go to a village anyways for the next part of the course. If you wandered too far away from a village you've seen before, hit F6 to open up a map. Once you're in, you need to acquire a raft or punt, in order to start journeying across water. Punts weigh 30 lbs, while rafts weigh 80 lbs. The difference is, you can make a raft, but you have to trade for a punt.

Try to get a punt by trading away any excess meat from your catch. If you can't get one, you'll have to bite the bullet and build a raft. They use 3 Tree trunk|tree trunks and some cord/rope, and are made through the [M]ake menu. All you have to do to complete the task is move onto some water with your raft/punt. To do so, equip either a sesta or a paddle (both can be made), drop the vehicle at your feet, then just use the arrow keys to move into the water. Try to use a paddle, so that you can cross deeper water.

Next, you have to actually catch something by fishing. This isn't especially hard, just a matter of time. If you want to get some better fish, fish in rapid tiles. Those are the water tiles which have white highlights. You can catch salmon and trout in them, and they are both brilliant sources of food.

Building a House

Hopefully, completing the course up to this should not have taken a long time. We're going to try and build a little house, nothing fancy, just somewhere to tide us over the winter. Firstly, get some supplies ready. Find a good site to build your house. Islands, especially those on rivers, are ideal. Failing that, go for somewhere surrounded on at least three sides by water.

Build your house on the waterfront, because you can transport logs en masse by raft, instead of having to haul them individually. Once you've picked your site, start by building some walls. Each section of wall requires 6 logs, not tree trunks. Logs are made from tree trunk using the Timbercraft menu. To prepare for an upcoming task, fence off a small area for an animal pen.

You don't have to finish the entire thing at once, obviously. Take some time off to trade for some nets, or make another trap fence nearby to get a continuous source of food. After you've built at least one segment of your future home, you will go on to the Agriculture task. The game will give you some useful and seeds for farming. DO NOT eat them! If you eat all of them, you will either have to wait until autumn to grab some vegetables to plant, or you will have to find them in shops for trade, which limits you to rye and barley. First prepare your fields by lighting fires on where you want to plow. A good trick is to use firewood. Arrange the wood in a square like this (the numbers represent the amount of wood on that square):

2 2 2 2 2
2 1 1 1 1
1 1 1 1 1
1 1 1 1 1

Light fires on the squares with 2 firewood. Leave them, and the fire will spread through the entire field. Once they've all burned out, use the agriculture menu [Alt+a] to [P]repare the fields with your shovel. Wait a day or so, until the embers disappear, then you can sow some seeds. If you start in winter, you'll have to wait until when the weather is warmer, which is months away, to be able to plant seeds. Good for preparing huge tracts of land, not so good if you're looking to breeze through the course. Of course, if it was your first time -- what are you doing, starting in winter? :P

We're almost done with the entire course! Now we need to get an animal. Go to a village with some trading items, and [e] > [T]alk to any villager. There should be an option to trade for animals. Pick an animal to trade for, then barter accordingly. Try to buy either a cow or a dog. Dogs are good hunting companions, while cows can carry a lot and give you milk. Once you get it, immediately [a]pply the rope in your inventory to the animal, so that you leash it. Your animal never needs to be fed, unless it's a dog, and it won't die unless you, or something else, kills it. (Unlike other animals, a dog should be fed regularly). Now go home, and climb, [Alt+l] into your animal pen, making sure that your animal is inside as well. [A]pply the leash again to free it.

The very last thing you have to do is get a companion. Companions can be recruited from villages. Try talking to the villagers until you find one that's willing to join you.

Companions want two things in return for working for you, weapons and food. Food shouldn't be a problem if you have a productive trap fence, or nets. Alternatively, you could trade a staff for some bread, and give it to him. Weapons are a bit more tricky. Companions want different weapons, so simply giving him 10 javelins won't cut it. Try giving him a staff and a javelin, or a club and a staff. If you want him to chop down trees for you, he'll need an axe. Companions won't always ask for weapons but they'll always ask for food. You can order your companion by talking to him, and tell him to stay put, cook food, cut down trees or leave immediately. They help a lot, especially if you get attacked as they will fight with you.

Keep in mind your companions will eventually leave your party to return to their homes. If you chose the longish adventure option, they will tell you in advance 10-13 days before they leave. If you hired them as a helping hand, 2-4 days. The hunting trip will give you a day or two until he leaves. Remember to take any valuables off of him before they leave using (;).

What next?

Congratulations, you've finished the entire course! Now you can choose between learning new rituals, getting a stat increase or a skill increase. I would recommend getting the stat increase, as there's no other way to increase them.

What to do next? Well, you could:

• Finish the house
• Surviving your first winter|Brave the horrors of winter
• Try the Advanced adventures|Advanced course
• Go on a raid to attack the Njerpez
• Just explore the vast world that is URW!

Whatever you choose to do, have fun and good luck!