Before you go running around asking people/guides all the questions you have in mind, have you tried using the in-game help files? Or did you try searching the MM message boards for the answer you needed? What about clan websites? A full list of MM related websites can be found at the MM Links Page. And always thank the person when he/she has helped you. You spam the yell channel asking for help but can't say a simple thank you?!

2. What exactly does multiclass mean? How do I multiclass?

At level 60, you can choose another profession/class and gain a whole new set of skills and spells. I define multiclass as the act of going a new class in addition to your old one.

You can multiclass a total of three times. Each class is 60 levels so you will have a total of 4 classes and 240 total levels. You are restricted to choosing one class from each of the four class groups: fighter, mage, thief and cleric.

The cost of multiclassing each time is a certain number of black tourmalines.

1st Multiclass: 250 Tourmalines

2nd Multiclass: 1250 Tourmalines

3rd Multiclass: 3000 Tourmalines

You can obtain these special gemstones from two places: Verity Isle (<level 75) and the Proving Grounds.

If it is going to be your first multiclass, you should take a look at Gabreille's Verity Guide. If you are thinking about your second or third multiclasses, you should take a look at Bot's PG guide. You might also want to look at Help Multiclass if you haven't already.

3. What is recall?

The most fundamental version of recall is available only to first classers. You lose the ability of using this version of recall when you turn level 61. It brings you to the closest recall point.

The second version of recall also uses the same command and is only available to homeowners. If you type recall and have your recall point set to one of your houses, you will be transported to that house.

The third version of recall is in the form of a spell called "word of recall". This is a priest-only spell which is also available to other users in the form of a scroll which works similarly to the first classers command recall. You can use the spell "word of recall" while webbed.

Note that you can't recall when you are afflicted by curse.

4. What are betters?

You get a better at a skill or spell in two ways: through leveling or through usage. Every time you get a better, the proficiency at the skill or spell will go up by 1%. You want to achieve 100% at as many skills/spells as possible to take advantage of the benefits of having a skill/spell "mastered."

5. What does "frag" mean?

"Frag" means an item is completely destroyed due to damage by acid, ice, fire, or lightning.

6. What does "spark" mean? What does "taint" mean?

"Spark" means an item lose an affect due to the wearing or rewearing of the item. The number of "taints" of an item refers to the number of times an item can be repaired either by a blacksmith or with a forge. When an item is repaired with a forge the stats are reassigned and you might be able to get back a stat or spell that had been "sparked" off before.

7. Where is the Merdraco?!

This is one of the most common newbie yell in every populated town, you might even get this in New Rigel! Chances are that the people who heard you have no idea where it is currently located. Why? It is because they are within the same area as you, DUH. Instead of yelling to ask where it is or have anybody seen it, do a "who". This will bring up a list of players and where they are at. Send a tell to those "at sea" (if any) and politely ask whether they are on the Merdraco.

8. What is a Hero? What is an Archon?

In the context of Materia Magica, a player becomes a Hero when he or she has reached a total level of 240.

After a player becomes a Hero, he or she has the choice to become an Archon. To become an Archon, a Hero needs to complete the Quest of the Arbaces which is located in the Domain of the Arbaces (DoA). Once the Hero becomes an Archon, his or her max hitpoint, spell point, and stamina are all increased by 1000 and his or her max of each attribute is increased by 2 with a cap of 25. Archons also get access to a new set of skills and spells.

The downside of becoming an Archon is that approximately once per hour a tough mob known as an Archon Hunter will rift to where the Archon is and will try to kill him. A warding amulet can be used to repel a hunter. A hunter guide contributed by Nemori is available on this site.

9. What is a Guide?

Guides are helpful players who have volunteered to answer questions from new players and facilitate trades between players. If you type "Guide," you will see a list of guides that have their guide flags enabled. Who guide also does the same thing.

10. Who is an immortal?

Immortals are the people who build and help to run the game. They are specially chosen by Vassago, the creator of Materia Magica, the leader of the immortals. Celestia, Satina, Phronesis, Umlaut, Nanashi, Eveque, Iyora and not forgetting Nymyria are some of the known immortals.

11. I saw a player change into a squirrel, how do I do that?

There is a skill called "shape shifting", which allows you to change into the appearance of a mob in the game. It is racially available to the faerie race (fey and sidhe) and is also available in the form of a donation item called the Stone of Alyria.

12. I saw a gnomish bag lying on the ground, but I can't pick it up. Why?

Are you heavy? Did you type "get gno" when there's a gnome in the room? Else that bag is a player himself. Psionics have a unique spell called "Mimic" which allows them to turn into any non no-mimic item in their inventory.

13. How do I get more practices to train all the skills and spells!!!?

There are many ways to get practices. The most common method is by questing your butt off.

Questing involves undertaking tasks for quest masters located in several major cities. You will get anywhere from 1-8 practices per quest in first class. The best place to quest vary at different levels, at level 60, an ideal place is Templeton. A new player or someone unfamiliar to a particular town would need maps for locating the questmaster and getting around places to complete the quest.

Other methods of obtaining practices would be getting marks, turning in the vandemaar orbs to Balthazar, doing treasure hunts for the Crystal Guild (located in rune), using RU-bought practice gems, and participating in the occasional Globals.

14. What are marks?

Marks are obtainable when you have completed a certain task or perform a particular action. A mark usually comes with special rewards like practices, experience points or even items. Many marks that have already been found are either posted on various clan websites or kept as clan secrets. More information on Marks at the official website. Asking for information on obtaining a mark on the public channel (yell, shout, pktalk) is considered a taboo.

15. Someone just entered the room but why couldn't I see him?

Assuming you were not affected by a blind spell, he must have been affected by some type of invisibility spell. To see him, you need to be affected by the "Detect Invisibility" spell either by an item (example: sand ring) or a casted spell. If the person is in "ethereal form" or an invisible immortal then there is no way to see him.

While I'm on this topic, a "sneaking" person will not be seen entering or leaving a room. And you won't be able to see him while he is in your room if you are not affected by "sense life." You will also not be able to see a "hiding" person if you do not have "sense life."

16. Where can I find maps online?

Click Here! Northstar has compiled more than 50 maps of towns and other areas. We also mapped the wilds as well. For the complete Vmap of all the known continents, the underground and faerie plane, click here.

17. Leveling is so hard, where can I level that is easier?

Leveling can be tiresome at any level but especially during late third class and fourth class. The key to leveling quickly is to know where to level. For suggestions as to where to level at each class check out our Levelling Guide.

18. "A sepulchral voice announced that Riel was slain by Neraka," what does this mean?

That means one of two things. Either Riel was killed by Neraka in Challenge Arena or Rune Arena.

The Challenge Arena is a separate area in the game made up of different colored rooms with different room affects. To fight in the Challenge Arena, one person must challenge the other player, and the other player must accept. Challenges may only be issued at SAFE rooms. The results of the fight will counted as arena combat under Score. Northstar has an Intro to the Arena Guide.

The Rune Arena is just this little area under Rune town square which is LPK.

19. So-and-so is harassing me, what should I do?

So this So-and-so person or is harassing you. First thing you should do is send him a tell to stop harassing you. If he doesn't stop you should send a pray to the immortals and then put him on ignore. Do not forget to log the incident for future reference. If he bothers you again, either on says, emotes or on an alternate character tell him to leave you alone and don't forget to log. Then send both the initial log and your secondary log to admin@materiamagica.com. The immortals may not respond immediately but just continue sending in the logs if the harassment continues till they see it as a problem.

There are a handful of people out to ruin your game and desperate losers who prowls and harass the female players. You'll know who they are. But not to worry, there are more of those who are there to aid you in playing your game.

20. What is player-killing? How does it work on Materia Magica?

Player-killing refers to combat between two or more players. On Materia Magica, there are three different types of PK - LPK, NPK, and CPK. All deaths and kills in LPK with exception to the Arena, NPK, and CPK are counted as player kill combat statistics found under Score.

LPK or Lawful Player Killing occurs in LPK rooms and in the Challenge Arena. If you are killed in LPK you will not lose any items and will reincarnate immediately.

NPK stands for Neutral Player Killing. When you die in NPK, you will not lose any items but will have to wait out the death timer.

Finally, CPK stands for Chaotic Player Killing. When you get killed in CPK, you will lose a certain percentage of things you are wearing and in your inventory. You will also have to wait out the death timer.

Be wary of players asking you to go into PK areas, refuse immediately if it's CPK. Form with them if it's someone you trust. Remember that this is a game; people will take advantage of you when they can and friendships are rarely molded on MM.

21. What is the best race and class path?

The best combo is actually the class path that will work for you.

So, to choose the path and race best for you, you should learn about all the classes and determine which skills/spells you simply can not do without and choose that way. For example, if you absolutely must have the spell "cure blind", you need to choose a class that has it in your path e.g. monk, paladin. Or if you can't live without throwing make sure you have ranger, monk or rogue in your path. The best way to know what's best for you is to actually play and get some experience. You should also learn the classes available for your race and the racial benefits and weaknesses that comes with them.

For reference, you may want to consult our Race Guides and our Class Guides.

22. How do I join a clan?

At level 25, you are able to join a clan run by the players of Alyria. Type "clan list" to view the clans that are currently in operation. Clan names that are in bold red are player-killing clans meaning that their members may engage in player-killing in normal zones ONLY against another player from a player-killing clan. It is not suggested for someone under level 180 to be in a pk-clan.

Typing clan id (clan number or clan name) will give you some basic information on the clan. Typing clan list (clan number or clan name) will give you a list of clan members including their ranks. You should contact a member and get to know the clan by asking questions. If you think your personality suits the clan, ask how you can apply for membership. A good clan will have someone interview you as a potential clannie. He or she will give you further instructions.

23. How do I rename my item?

Restringing an item enables you to change the description of an item. Fields that can be restrung are keywords, short and long.

Players usually restring only the short description of an item which is limited to 10 color codes and 60 letters. That is the description you see when you take the item out of the bag or drop or pick up the item. The long description is for when you look at the item or when you see it lying on the ground.

You will need a strange coin that's available at reward unit emporiums for 3 ru each. You can also purchase them from players or bazaar shops. Then visit Balthazar above Rune Temple with both the coin and item to be restrung in your inventory.

Type shop restring <item name> <field> <description> . E.g. shop restring decanter short |GA |gBottle |Gof |gGoo . Your decanter will now look like this A Bottle of Goo

If you do this right, Balthazar will take your item, tinker with it and give it back to you. Please note: Items that has the nochange flag can't be restrung and items that have been restrung can't be auctioned.

Type "help colors" for available color codes.

24. What is the Bazaar?

The Bazaar is a marketplace full of shop stalls owned by players. It is located North of New Rigel. You can just follow the yellow brick road.

Most things that you could want can be found in one or more of these shops. To see if an item is being sold in the bazaar and at what price type "vendor search itemname". You can also modify the search by adding the minimum level and the maximum level of items you want to be brought up at the end of your vendor search string.

To navigate in the bazaar, the command "vendor where playername" will tell you in what direction the player's shop is.

For more information about how to set up a shop of your own in the Bazaar consult the vendor help file (type help vendor).

25. The game is so BIG! What forms of transportation is available?

There are many forms of free transportation and cheap transportation available including the Iron Worm, the Merdraco, the two ferries and much, much more. For a more complete guide to public transportation on MM please visit our Transportation Page.

For more personal transportation you can ride mounts like stallions, pegasuses, and dragons. Mounts give you more stamina to move through the wilds. Pegasuses and dragons also levitate on their own so you can fly over ocean too that way if you so desire.

Some mounts require you to be of a higher level or of a certain alignment to mount them.

There are also transportation items like the Baba Yaga's Broom and Wooden Rocking Horse. You sit on these items and then say out commands like "Fly east" and "Stop" to move or stop. You will move many rooms at a time this way. Priest and Shaman's spell "magic carpet" can also create a magic carpet which works similar to the other transportation items mentioned above.

We have written guides for potential or current owners of brooms or rocking horses.

26. How do I levitate over water?

There are spells like "levitation," "float," and "air invocation." They all give you the affect of hovering a few feet off the ground which allows you to walk across water. There is also a song which gives the "levitation" affect. If you are a first classer and need to go into the ocean for a quest but do not have any of these spells or song there are a few options available to you.

The first option is to ask (nicely) for someone to cast "levitation" on you. The second option is to go into the wilds surrounding the town you are in and look for something called a sprig of heather. You eat it for the "levitation" affect. The third option is to ride a flying mount into the ocean (Pegasus from outside NR or tame dragon from Vospire City). The fourth option is to wear an item with "levitation" like the colorful rug or the heavy Persian carpet.

27. There's a reboot in 3 minutes. What should I do?!

Calm down. Reboots are sometimes conducted for server maintenance or system updates. If you are doing a quest that is barely completed, submit it for some quest points. Remove your items off auction if there is any. Then take a deep breath and quit out or let the game do it for you. Get some fresh air while the game reboots for this may take several minutes. Everything in your inventory and in lockers will be saved. Items (non save-location items) you drop on the ground will not be saved since the rooms will be reset to their original conditions.

28. What do the colorful asterisks next to the player names mean?

The colorful asterisks indicate certain beneficial spells have been cast on them. These are also available to npcs.

* - Pass door

* - Invisibility

* - Fireshield

* - Lightning shroud

* - Sanctuary

29. I have so many skills and spells! What should I practice?

You can consult our humble class guides written by our very own Northstarians. More are coming up as members become more confident of their skills and spells. Several guides are also available at the official MM website. If you still can't find the answer you need, ask nicely either on Materia Magica's forum or on ours.

30. I am so poor, how do I earn gold?

Getting gold is easy in this game. If you are poor, you are either spending more than you earn, do not know how to get gold or just freaking lazy. Mob killing, selling quest items and questing are some ways to make money. If you have the money in real life, buy RU and sell it to players for gold.

A wealth amulet (Donation Item) is a nifty item to have if you kill a lot of mobs for gold; you will have a 40% chance to get more gold per kill. Selling tourmalines and roots is another fast way to make money. Being poor is just an excuse for being lazy!