The West Newbie Guide

The West Newbie Guide by Denisero

11 Things you should know right away

  1. Trading and Trading with Indians are 2 different jobs. Trading is easy to get and Trading with Indians is not. When you get the quest where you need to do Trading with Indians don’t post there is a bug or that you did 9 hours of Trading and it didn’t work. We get asked every day about this and it’s annoying.
  2. Not having a mortician in your town does not mean you can not be dueled. It just means you can’t instigate a duel against anyone. They can still duel you though. The only way to not be dueled is to not join a town.
  3. You can queue a duel against the same player once every hour. They can do the same to you. You can be hit by as many people in one hour as wants to hit you. You can queue up as many duels against different players in one hour as you have energy for.
  4. Corn, cotton, and fools gold are Products you get from doing specific jobs. Items are things like hats, shoes, weapons, horses, (anything you can wear) etc., that you can find on numerous jobs. Be specific when talking about Products and Items on the forum. You can not buy Products, you must work the correct job to get the correct product. You can buy Items. They are found in the Tailor, Gunsmith and General Store.
  5. When you leave a town (no longer are a member) the money in the bank goes with you as cash on hand. Any money you contributed to the treasury does not go with you. To leave a town go to the Town Hall>Residents>Leave Town (bottom right corner)
  6. You can not pull money out of the bank unless you leave the town by no longer being a member. There is no reason to pull money out of the bank as you can access that cash to shop in any town at any time.
  7. Tending Pigs is how you find a Ham for Maya. The quest says something about cleaning out the stables. Do not do the job “Mucking out the stables” as it will not give you a ham.
  8. You are only allowed one account per world. If you have more than one account per world you are a multi-accounter and will be caught and banned from playing the game. If you share an internet connection with someone they may play on their own account on the same world you do. You may not duel each other nor duel the same person within a 24 hour period. To do so will mean both accounts will be banned. You may not play another persons account or account sit for them.
  9. Soldiers can carry a weapon 3 levels before any other class. If they have Premium Character Bonus it is 6 levels. This is not a bug. Don’t report it as such.
  10. The West runs best on Firefox or Chrome. IE sucks for The West. If you are experiencing problems playing the game and are using IE then please try a different browser.
  11. There is no player to player trading in the game. You can not give a player money. You can not give them products or items. Do not suggest trading would be a good idea for the game. We know this and the devs are working on something.

All about jobs

What are Jobs and what do the Job Screens and Reports mean?

Jobs are represented by icons on the world map.

1. Jobs you can do are in color
2. Jobs you can’t do are transparent. You may be able to do these jobs if you change some of the gear you are wearing.

When you find a job you can do and click on the icon you get a screen like this:

1. Name of the job
2. Wages: Shows you how much money you can make working this job. The more Labor Points (LP) you have in the job the more money can be earned.
3. Experience (XP): Shows how many experience points can be earned from working this job. Experience earned helps you level up so that you will acquire Attribute and Skill points you can distribute to your character.
4. Luck: You can find items working a job. The more luck a job offers the better the items that can be found.
5. Danger: Shows how badly you can get hurt on the job. Very high danger means you can get seriously injured. The more LP you have in the job the smaller the risk that you will be hurt at all.
6. Motivation: Shows how willing you are to work this job. Less motivation means lower productivity and with that lower wages, less XP and lower luck. Motivation goes down by 6 for every 2 hours worked. You gain 10 Motivation back per day.
7. The product you can find at this job and the chances of finding the product per 1/2 hour worked.
8. The skills needed to do this job and how many points you have in each with your current gear on.
9. The total amount of skill points you have in this job with current gear.
10. The difficulty of this job. Difficulty is subtracted from your total skill points.
11. The amount of LP you have for this job. LP is Skill Points – Difficulty. You must have at least 1 LP in order to do a job. More LP means more cash earned and less chance to be hurt.
12. Your work queue shows you what job you are doing now and jobs/actions scheduled for the future. Also shows the amount of time left to complete each job/action. You can schedule 2 jobs/actions unless you have Automation premium. Automation allows you to schedule 4 jobs/actions.
13. The distance or how long it will take you to reach the first job in the queue.
14. Where you choose how long to work each job. You can choose 10 minutes, 30 minutes, 1 hour or 2 hours.

Once you have completed a job you will receive a Report like this:

1. Name of the job completed
2. Date and time when job was completed
3. The motivation left for the job after the job was completed
4. How long you spent working the job
5. How much cash (wages) you earned on the job
6. How much XP you earned on the job
7. The items and products you found on the job, if any.
**If you are injured on the job it will show you what the injury was and how much damage you received. This will show up underneath the Luck icon/section.

What is the difference between Products and Items?

Products and items are completely 2 different things. Products are job related in that you can only get a certain product from a certain job. Examples of products are Corn, Fools Gold, Map, Sugar, etc. Items are not job specific. The items you can find on a job are affected by Luck. The higher the Luck the more expensive and higher level items you will find. Examples of items are Black Ragged Shoes, Brown Shawl, Donkey, etc. Basically anything you can equip or wear in your inventory screen. You will be able to find one specific item at many different jobs provided the Luck is comparable between the jobs.

Can I change my clothes after I queue a job?

Yes. The labor points are determined using the gear you have equipped at the time you queue the job. Once the job is queued you can equip different gear as long as you still have 1 labor point in each job queued with your new gear on. This allows you to put your best clothes on for a job then possible change into defensive dueling gear, or the best clothes for the next job, etc.

 

Developing your character

Every player can choose a character class at level 10. There are 4 character classes to choose from. Worker, Adventurer, Soldier, Dueler. You can access a description of each of these classes ingame by clicking on the Character tab on the top left and then clicking on the round picture to the right. Click each class to see what benefits they bring. Weigh your options carefully against your play style. If you like conflict you will probably want to choose Soldier or Dueler. If you want to make lots of money and experience early you probably want to choose Worker. If you like to do quests you should choose Adventurer. The best thing to do is figure out as early as possible which character class you are going to be.

The game starts you off with 10 introductory quests to get you used to working within the game. Do not be alarmed if you can’t complete the quests as they are given to you. You will be able to complete those 10 eventually. As you progress through the game you will receive new quests. Some quests are character class specific while others are for everyone to complete. If quests aren’t your main concern then don’t worry about doing them at all.

Working on jobs and completing quests earns you money and experience. You also have the opportunity to find job products (tobacco, sugar, etc) and items (shirts, shoes, etc). When you earn enough experience you level up. When you level up you receive 1 Attribute Point and 3 Skill Points. You distribute these points based on the character class you will be choosing. The best thing to do, no matter what character class you choose is to put all of your AP into one attribute and your SP into only those skills you will need for your class. Check out the Pure Class Guides thread to give you some idea of how being pure is beneficial.

Attributes
Strength (red)
Mobility (green)
Dexterity (blue)
Charisma (yellow)

If you feel you have put AP or SP where you don’t want it or need it there is a quest at level 14 (The Thievery) that will give you a Golden Hawk. Once you get the Golden Hawk a Shaman will appear in your Skills tab and you can redistribute your AP and SP. This does cost ingame money to do. It is $50 per SP and $250 per AP. If you do more than one AP or SP at a time the cost will go up each time. The cost will slowly go back down to the original prices each day you don’t redistribute points.

Workers

Most workers spec to be a pure builder. Pure builder means all your AP goes into Strength and all your SP goes into Construction. This allows you to construct buildings in a town faster and cheaper than anyone else.

Adventurers

Adventurers do not have to belong to a town to thrive in the game. They get to sleep in level 2 hotels for free (level 4 with premium). Adventurers usually concentrate on Trapping or Trading. If you are going to be a trapper your AP should go into Dexterity and your SP into Trapping. If you are going to be a trader your AP should go into Charisma and your SP into Trading. You can concentrate on any skill though. The point is to specialize in one thing at the beginning until you reach a point where you can branch out and start specializing in something else.

Soldiers/Duelers

These fighter classes make money and experience off of duels. They can also work jobs but they don’t get the high experience/high cash jobs that the other workers get early in the game. Those types of jobs come later in the game for them. One of the most important decisions to make after deciding which fighter class you want to be is which sort of weapon you will wield. When a Soldier/Dueler is called ‘pure’ it is because they have specialized only in dueling skills, not necessarily just one Attribute or one particular Skill. It is still recommended that all AP go into one Attribute though. Please see Dueling Basics further down.

Why should I specialize in just one skill?

Players that specialize in one skill are called “pure”. Specializing in one skill up to character level 30 has many benefits. You will be able to do higher exp/higher cash jobs sooner. This will allow you to level up faster and buy better gear sooner. Once you reach between level 25 – 30 you will have approximately 100 – 120 points into whatever skill you are specializing in. This will allow you to do most jobs that require that particular skill. You can then start concentrating on another AP and SP’s to further enhance your character. By this time you should know exactly what you want to do with your character.

Benefits of a town:

Joining a town means…
– You’ll have access to the shops and to somewhere to sleep for free.
– An active community with helpful players ready to offer guidance and answer questions.
– You’ll be able to challenge others to a duel and others can challenge you to a duel*
– You’ll be able to bank/save cash thereby ensuring should you get knocked out by a job or dueling that all your hard earned cash is safe.

Building a town means…
– You’ll be able to run things the way you like and do everything your way.
– You’ll have no shops or resting place until you build them.
– You’ll have to recruit other players to assist you with cash and defense both of which will become issues as you go on. (Recruiting is hard!)

Note for builders thinking of joining a town:
The first question is, what level are you at now? If you decide to join a town, it will need to be one that has builders whose levels are on par with yours rather than several levels ahead or else you’ll be no use to them.

Building and running a town does require a lot of hard work, but it is also rewarding to create a town and a community from scratch.

Joining an established town gives you an immediate community and allows you to focus on developing your character while others deal with the management issues. If a town is well run and the members are active you can have a very pleasant experience playing the game.

*In order to challenge another player to a duel you must belong to a town with a mortician. If you belong to a town without a mortician you can still be challenged to a duel, you just can’t challenge anyone to a duel. The only way to not be dueled is to not belong to a town.

Belonging to a town, whether you are the founder or not gives you access to gear at town member cost. Out of towners have to pay 4x the regular price as town members. The right gear can make a huge difference in whether or not you win a duel and whether or not you can do some jobs.

Starting your own town:

If you are new to the game it is not recommended you start your own town. It takes much effort to have a successful town. You have to recruit members to donate to the treasury in order for the builders to have the money to build, you have to handle diplomacy matters with other towns, plus many other small details that need your constant attention.

If you decide to start your own town you need $300 and 80 energy. Simply find a spot on the map you want to found a town and click on the icon for it. It will take 8 hours plus travel time to your towns location for the town to be ‘founded’. Once that is done you will be able to invite 4 other players to join your town. If you want to invite more you must build up the Residences with each level giving you an additional 5 spots. A town can hold up to 50 members.

Get ready for your first duel

Always wear your best dueling gear in a fight. If you want to duel you have to travel to the persons town that you want to duel. As long as they are in your dueling range, are not asleep and have not been knocked out in the last 48 hours you can duel them. To find a player to duel click on their towns Saloon. Anyone that you are able to duel at that time will have a clickable link that says “duel”. You can check their profile by clicking on their name.

If you decide to duel someone you should always check their profile first. This will show you the gear they are equipped with as well as their character class, character level and dueling level. This is very important information to have.

When you are ready to duel them just click “Duel”. Ten minutes later a duel report will be generated and you can check to see whether you have won or lost. If you win you gain xp and 1/3 of whatever cash they had on hand. If you lose the other player receives xp and 1/3 of the cash you had on hand. There is always a winner and a loser. If each players damage is the same then the defender is always declared the winner. Each duel costs 12 energy and 3% motivation.

If you get a duel report that says “The player is asleep in their hotel and well protected” it means that player ducked into a hotel before the duel was over. It is a good idea to check right before the 10 minute timer runs out that your opponent is still awake. If they duck into a hotel and you let the duel continue you will lose the energy for that duel.

Watch your dueling motivation. You can find your duel motivation in any towns Saloon that you do not belong to. If a player would normally give you 100xp at 100% motivation that same player will only give you 50xp at 50% motivation. The amount of money won in a duel is always 1/3.

What do the Saloon messages mean?

  • Is asleep right now – The player is asleep in a hotel
  • Duel not possible – The difference in duel levels between you and your opponent are too great. You are not allowed to challenge each other to a duel.
  • Duel not possible for 48 hours – That player has been knocked out within the past 48 hours. Note – if all the players in the Saloon show this message check to make sure you have not been knocked out. If you have been knocked out you will see that message appear for every player in every Saloon until you recover 48 hours later.

What does KO mean?

KO stands for knocked-out. Being knocked out means you have lost all your health points. This can happen either through being injured on a job or through dueling. If you are KO’d you lose all your energy and cash on hand. If you belong to a town you are transported to the highest level room available in your town to recuperate. Any money you have saved in the bank is safe. If you are KO’d and do not belong to a town your character stays at its current location and you must find a hotel to sleep in so you can recuperate. If you KO someone in a duel they are transported back to their town.

Dueling Basics:

Strength (Red) Good for melee (blade) fighters and workers
Dueling skills affected: Vigor, Toughness, Health Points

Mobility (Green)
Dueling Skills affected: Reflex and Dodging

Dexterity (Blue) Good for ranged (gun) fighters and trappers
Dueling skills affected: Aim and Shooting

Charisma( Yellow)
Dueling skills affected: Tactics and Appearance

Offensive skills:
Vigor (melee) – each point adds damage onto the base of your current equipped weapon. Countered by opponents Toughness
Shooting (ranged)- each point adds damage onto the base of your current equipped weapon. Countered by opponents Reflex
Aim – Increases chance of hitting target. Countered by opponents Dodge
Appearance – decreases the chance of the defender landing a hit. Does not come into play when you are the defender. Countered by Tactics.

Defensive skills:
Toughness – reduces damage taken from melee fighters
Reflex – reduces damage taken from ranged fighters
Dodging – reduces chance of opponent hitting you. Countered by opponents Aim. Dodge is your most basic overall best defensive skill
Tactics – reduces the chance an opponent will hit you when you are challenged. Does not come into play if you are the challenger. Countered by Appearance.
Health Points – more health points means less chance of being knocked-out (KO’d). 10 health points per skill point unless you are a soldier, then you get 15 points per skill point.

Vigor vs Toughness
Shooting vs Reflex
Aim vs Dodging
Appearance vs Tactics
Appearance is only for challenging
Tactics is only for defending

What is most ideal is to put all AP into one attribute. For melee duelers it would be Strength. For melee soldiers it can be either strength or charisma. For ranged duelers it should be Dexterity. For ranged soldiers Dexterity or Charisma. (Charisma because soliders get a bonus in tactics).

After getting a few duels under your belt you will be able to tell which skills most likely need built up. You will be able to tell what your strengths and weaknesses are fairly early and can adjust them accordingly.

Striking zones

You can set a dueling tactic by clicking ingame on the Duel tab on the bottom left. By setting the striking and dodging zones you can also alter the damage.

Here you can set a few different things. For one you can set where you want to aim. Depending on the area you hit you make different amounts of damage. If you hit a shoulder you make 15% more damage. Hitting the head creates 50% more damage.

You can also set which way you are trying to dodge. If you dodge with the body part that the attacker was aiming at, your dodging skill gets doubled.

* You can just duck down and by that protect the head and both shoulders.
* You can duck to the left and protect your head, your right shoulder and your right arm.
* You can duck to the right and protect your head, your left shoulder and your left arm.
* You can choose not to try to dodge and have more concentration for the next round. This doubles your attack value.

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