Everything on this list is a scar someone earned so you do not have to. Read five of them now, come back for the rest when they start making sense.

On Tutorial Island

You will be here for your first half hour or so. These apply only on the island — everything after them is for the realm beyond the Gate.

• Let the rail lead. The Next Step panel names your next move and marks the tile on your map. It reads what you have actually done, not a script, so wandering off costs you nothing — it will still be right when you come back.
• Seat your first Essence before you leave. The stranger at the Cairn gives you one, and the first meld on the island is free. Everywhere else the gold cost scales with your level, so this is the cheapest one you will ever do.
• You cannot pick the wrong class. Clearing the island unlocks the two you did not choose, every class levels separately, and switching later is free. Pick the one you like the sound of.
• Follow the land. The sea is not walkable — if a direction refuses you, it is the coastline, not a bug.
• Do not rush the Warden. Isolde wants a Level 5 adventurer before she opens the Pathway. If she turns you away, go and win a few more fights; the island is not going anywhere.
• Tidewatch is optional. The market, the notice board and the three quests are all worth doing, and none of them block the Gate. Take them if you want the gear; skip them if you want the realm.
• Do not hunt for better ore. The Copper Seam yields Copper Ore and nothing else — that is the whole island supply, and it is all the forge needs. The mainland is where gathering opens up.
• There is no Safehouse or bank here. Nothing on the island can take your gold, so the banking habit below can wait until you are ashore.

Out in the realm

• Bank your gold often. Gold carried on your person is lost on death. Make a habit of depositing at your Safehouse whenever you pass through.
• Set your Safehouse early. Choose a town central to the area you plan to hunt in. You respawn there for free.
• Check enemy difficulty colours. Green is safe, red means you may die. Work your way up gradually.
• Gather as you travel. Resources are free — stop at Gathering Points along your route to build up crafting stockpiles without any extra effort.
• Spend Stat Points quickly. Unspent Stat Points do nothing. Allocate them into your class's primary stats as soon as they appear.
• Equip spells even if you're not a caster. A healing spell like Helios can save your life in a tough fight, and even fighters have some Intelligence.
• Check the Quest Board daily. Board quests refresh hourly and reward EXP, Gold, and resources for kills you'd be doing anyway.
• Craft gear for the essence slots. Crafted items carry 4 essence slots against 2 on drops. At higher levels, crafted gear with full essences outperforms unenhanced drop gear significantly.
• Bind essences early. The gold cost scales with your level. A Tier III essence that costs 12,000 gold at level 10 will cost far more at level 100 — bind early and bind often.
• Watch for rare monsters. They're worth hunting if you're strong enough — the EXP and loot are far above what regular enemies offer.
• Join a guild. Guild EXP, Gold, and Drop bonuses apply passively to everything you do. Even a new guild with no bonuses purchased grants access to shared strategy and zone control rewards.
• Use keyboard shortcuts on desktop. WASD or arrow keys move your character, with Q/E/Z/C for diagonals, plus action keys for Attack, Cast, Take Loot and the menus — all rebindable under Game ▾ → Keybinds. Much faster than clicking buttons repeatedly.
• Stick to your class's rank A weapon. Weapon skill XP builds over time — splitting it across multiple weapon types slows your progress significantly. Pick your primary weapon type early and commit to it.
• Show up to every World Boss. Even one hit qualifies you for a reward. Travel to the location, land a few attacks, and collect your share. The rewards scale up quickly with contribution.
• Don't rush raid stairs. Always confirm the floor boss is dead before attempting to descend. If it has respawned since you last cleared it, the stairs will be sealed again.
• Check for seasonal events. When an event is active, seasonal enemies drop exclusive currency alongside normal loot. You earn rewards just by playing — check the seasonal shop before the event expires.
• Enter Colosseum tournaments. The entry fee is the only risk — if the bracket doesn't fill, your gold is refunded automatically. Register with your best gear just before the hour and let the arena do the rest.
• Check your Bestiary regularly. New entries unlock automatically as you explore. Filling it out towards 80 entries earns the Cryptozoologist achievement — one of the harder Rare-tier awards.
• Achievements earn you points that appear on your profile. They're checked automatically — just play normally and watch for unlock notifications in the combat log and world chat.
• Pick up rare dungeon keys when they drop. Fire Drake, Void Stalker, Shadow Demon and other powerful enemies have small chances to drop dungeon keys. Keep them — rare dungeons give 2.5–4× normal EXP and Gold and are worth every run.
• Save a loadout for every major activity. One for boss fights (defence + sustain), one for grinding (damage + drop bonus), one for PvP. Snapping between gear sets with a single click beats unequipping and re-equipping a dozen items.
• Claim daily objectives before logging off. A completed-but-unclaimed objective gives nothing — rewards expire at midnight UTC with the daily roll. The pulsing Objectives nav button is your reminder.
• Watch the weather bar. Aurora and Eclipse windows are short and powerful. If your build leans on Light or Dark, the day-and-weather readout on the top navigation bar tells you when to push.
• Mail items to friends instead of using the AH. Send Mail's 100g fee is far smaller than the auction-house cut on a directed trade.
• Poke your nose into the Labyrinth from level 50. Every floor you clear is cleared forever, first-clears pay Ascendant Sigils, and your depth record powers Echo Delves that farm for you while you sleep. The maze reshapes each season — deep runs early in a season are worth the most.
• Never log out without checking the Long Watch. From level 5 your time away banks up to 12 hours of EXP — but only if you earned some EXP since your last claim, so land a few kills before bed.
• Tick Auto-salvage once you trust your Loot Filter. Everything below your rarity threshold turns straight into Ascension Dust the moment it drops — no ground clutter, no bag space, and your future gear upgrades quietly fund themselves.