Drakensang Online Beginner’s Guide

Drakensang Online Beginner’s Guide by Grendel


If this is your first time playing Drakensang Online, or you are new to online games, this short guide will help teach you the basics so you can get started quickly.  If you have played other action RPGs or adventure games you should be able to dive right in to Drakensang Online without needing to read this guide.

I’ve also linked to the Gameplay FAQ if you are already familiar with action RPGs, but still have questions.

What is Drakensang Online?

Drakensang Online, or DSO, is a massively multiplayer action RPG.  In short, you explore a large fantasy world, monsters, collect and sell loot, gain experience and as you level up your character you will gain new skills and powers.  This is all done in an online world filled with many other players who you can chat with, work with them as a team or ignore them if that is what you prefer.

Server Selection

When you log in to www.drakensangonline.com with your account, a server selection window will pop-up. You can select one of the displayed servers to play on. Currently there are 3 servers available: Agathon (US-East), Tegan (US-West) and Heredur (EU). Once you select your server you will be taken to the player backpage; from here you can start the game client, review character data, invite friends to play DSO and add more andermant to your character.

Character Creation

Creating a character is an easy process. The first time you log into a server, you will taken to the character creation screen. Here you can choose to be a Dragonknight or a Spellweaver, character name (Forum/Chat rules still apply to names), body type and hairstyle.

Dragonknight or Spellweaver – which is better?

It really comes down to preference of combat style.

Dragonknights are melee fighters, so expect lots of close combat with swords and shields.

Spellweavers harness the mystical arts to blast their enemies from a distance.

First Steps In Drakensang Online

While gameplay in DSO is fairly simple to learn, it wouldn’t hurt to spend a few minutes familiarizing yourself with the interface before diving into the gameplay.

Movement – You can move your character to a specific location by clicking anywhere on the ground with your LMB. Or you can hold down your LMB to continually move in the direction of the cursor.

Hotkeys and Controls – These allow you quick control over the menus and gameplay.

Action bar hotkeys:

1-6 – Activates the skill placed in the corresponding action bar slot.
LMB – Activates the skill placed in this action bar slot.
RMB – Activates the skill placed in this action bar slot.
TAB – Swaps the skill placed in the TAB slot with the skill placed in the RMB slot.

Other hotkeys:

I – Opens the Inventory window.
C – Opens the Character window.
S – Opens the Skills window.
Q – Opens the Quests window.
T – Opens the Shop window.
M – Opens the zone map overlay.
CTRL+M – Pulls up the world map window.
SHIFT – Holding shift will root the character in place. This allows you to attack and not worry about accidentally moving; more a benefit to ranged classes, but still useful to melee classes in some situations.
ENTER – Switches focus to the chat window. Opens the chat window if it is minimized.

Action Bar – The centerpiece of the interface. Displays health bar, mana/rage bar, hotkeys, experience bar and is the anchor for the chat window.

Menu Buttons:

Shop – A buy-only shop accessible from anywhere.
Quest Log – Lists all active quests you are doing.
Skills – Shows all learned skill information and upgrades.
Character – Displays informative information about your character.
Inventory – Shows your equipped items as well as your storage bags.
Options – Allows you to adjust graphic and sound options.
Map – Displays the zone map overlay on the screen.
Social – Coming soon!
Purchase Andermant – Opens a new window that allows you to add andermant to your character.
Logout – Logs you out of the game.
Docked – Stretches the game window to fill your desktop.
Fullscreen – Switches the game window to fullscreen with no window borders.

Essence Bar

Displays your current essence supply to be used by your special skills. These are irrelevant until a few levels in to the game, when you first unlock Lightning Strike and others. When used, those skills will consume essence. If you run out of essence, the basic skill will be used instead automatically.

Dragonknight – Wrath Might Courage Fury

Spellweaver – Ice Lightning Fire Arkan

Quests

Once you start the game, you are presented with a quest giver nearby named Valery. She will have a blue ‘!‘ over her head. This indicates that she has a quest that you are eligible to begin.

Click on Valery with your LMB to open her dialog window. Select The Path of Destiny quest. This now shows you the quest information, quest objectives and the rewards for completing this quest. Click Accept to take the quest.

If you open your Quest Log, you will now see The Path of Destiny listed there. If you click on that, you will see the same quest information displayed underneath that you just learned from the quest giver, in case you forget what you need to do.

In this instance, to complete The Path of Destiny, proceed further up the road and look for Urda. She will have a blue ‘?‘ over her head, this signifies that she is the finish point for a quest (it can also mean that NPC is a person of interest that you need to talk to, but not in this situation). Talk to Urda and select The Path of Destiny to open the quest completion dialog. Here you can read what Urda has to say, review the quest rewards and when finished, click the Complete button to finish the quest.

Most times that you hand in a quest, that person will also provide you with a new quest. The more quests you perform, the more will become available to you.

On to the good stuff… Combat!

Throughout the beginning zone, Pilgrim’s Path, you only have access to the default attack for your chosen class; Basic Attack for Dragonknights and Magic Strike for Spellweavers. Once you get to the first town, Grimsford, you will begin to have access to new abilities and more powerful versions of your skills. For now, the default attack will be bound to your LMB button (you can change this, but it’s not recommended)

To attack enemies, or mobs as they are called in most MMOs, simply click on the mob with your LMB to target and attack – Spellweavers will stop and fire, while Dragonknights will approach the mob and then attack with a weapon. If you hold down LMB after clicking on a mob, you will continue to attack it until it is dead.

Loot

As you continue to kill mobs, each one has a chance to drop loot that you can then pick up. Simply click the loot on the ground with your LMB to pick it up; it will then either be in your Inventory or automatically equipped on your character.

Common loot types are gold, andermant, essence, potions, weapons and armor/equipment. Quest items can also drop from select mobs if you have a related quest in your Quest Log, these items commonly have a light blue glow surrounding them and usually look like pots and chests.

If your bags are full, you will not be able to pick up anymore loot. You can either head back to town to sell of unwanted items, or invest in more bag slots through the Shop button. But eventually you will have to sell items no matter how much bag space you have.

Equipping items

Once you have picked up or purchased some new equipment, you can then equip this on your character in the Inventory window. Double click on the item you want to equip, or you can drag and drop it from your bags to the appropriate slot on your character above. Un-equiping items works the same way.

Changing Zones

To access another zone click on the blue glowing arrow. In regards to Pilgrim’s Path, there is only one exit from this zone, which leads you into the first town of Grimford.

Later zones are much larger, with multiple spots to enter other zones, towns and dungeons.

Towns

Towns are a safe haven. Here you can buy and sell items, learn new skills, embark on new quests or even just sit and chat and meet your fellow adventurers.

Most of the traders around towns have the same items that are available through your Shop button, but they are still handy since you can still sell them your unwanted items.

The Blacksmith is unique; his items (weapons and armor) can only be purchased through him, and he is the only trader that can repair your damaged gear.

Dungeons

Unlike the rest of Drakensang Online, dungeons are the only zones that are seperated from the rest of the players. When you enter a dungeon, that is your own private dungeon until you leave. If you are in a group when entering a dungeon, the rest of your group will be able to join you inside.

Dungeons also have a difficulty setting. Normal is the basic version of a dungeon, while Difficult is for much higher level players to re-experience earlier content again.