WildStar Beginner’s Guide

WildStar Beginner’s Guide by Elric

Table of Contents
Part 1: Creating Your Character
Part 2: Choosing Your Faction
Part 3: Choosing Your Race
Part 4: Choosing Your Class
Part 5: Choosing Your Path
Part 6: Character Customization
Part 7: The Combat System
Part 8: Mounts & Travel Systems
Part 9: Wildstar Housing
Part 10: Guilds & Social Groups
Part 11: PvP & Warplots
Part 12: PvE Dungeons & Raids
Part 13: PvE Adventures
Part 14: Wildstar Crafting
Part 15: Other Helpful Tips

The aim of this guide is to introduce any new players to Wildstar – or even experienced players who may have missed some information along the way. I have compiled as much information as possible into this guide without making it overbearing or too difficult to read through (in my opinion anyway). Some of this information I have put together or written myself, but my other goal was to compile all of the necessary information for a new player in one single guide. I’m sure there are many other Beginner’s Guides out there for Wildstar, but many of them are hard to follow or only include information on one small part of the game. I will do my best to credit any sources that I have used in this guide. Also, please keep in mind that this is a Beginner’s Guide, so I may have intentionally left out some of the more complicated info / data in Wildstar. Many of the areas below are meant to be brief overviews, so they may not include “everything” there is to know about that section.

On a side note, if you notice anything in this guide that you have found to be incorrect – please send me a PM on the COTP forums and I can make the necessary adjustments. Thank you for your time.

Part 1: Creating Your Character

When you first reach the Character Select screen, you will want to choose which Realm (server) that you will roll your character on. Before you even click the “Create a New Character” button, make sure that you check the top of the screen. Here is what you are looking for:

You can also click on the “Change Realm” button that is located right next to the “Create A Character” button on the left side of your screen.

Once you get into the “Change Your Realm” screen, you can see a list on the left side of the screen of the available servers. If you already have a character created on a server, the server(s) name will show up under the “Mine” section across the top of the “Change Your Realm” window. You can select “All” to see all of the available servers, or PvE / PvP if you are looking for a specific server type. This screen will also show you important information such as the Population level (Low / Medium / High), Status (Up / Down), and even will list Notes for some servers that are recommended for Oceanic players and so forth.

Once you have chosen your server by clicking “Enter Realm”, you can then click the “Create A Character” button to get started on your first new character for Wildstar!

Part 2: Choosing Your Faction

Once you have chosen the Realm (server) that you will be playing on, your next step is to determine which faction you will be part of. In Wildstar, there are two main factions – the Exiles, and the Dominion. Each faction has it’s own storyline, starting areas, and 4 available races that you can play (total of 8 playable races). However, before we go into the specifics on the playable factions, it may help you to first understand the storyline / plot that Wildstar is based on.

Essentially, the vast majority of Wildstar takes place on the planet “Nexus”. It was a planet once populated by a race known as “The Eldan”, which were a technologically advanced race that mysteriously vanished thousands of years ago. Before they disappeared, they created a race of robots known as the “Mechari” (more on them later), and left a wealth of technology and resources on planet Nexus. About 1,600 years before Wildstar takes place, the Mechari went to a planet known as Cassus. The Mechari gifted the Cassians with Eldan technology and advanced their people well ahead of their previous level of technology. Eventually, the Cassians became what is now known as “The Dominion”, which is a massive empire that has spread through the galaxy (think of the Empire from Star Wars). The Dominion conquer planets as they continue their interstellar expansion, and wipe out any races that refuse to fall in line under their control. A number of races soon band together, calling themselves “The Exiles”. They come together after an Exile named Dorian Walker re-discovers the planet called Nexus, and are doing their best to establish a lasting home there. Of course, it was only a matter of time before the Dominion hear about the re-discovery of Nexus. The Dominion has now reached Nexus; looking to exploit the technology and resources of the planet.

The Exiles

Quote

“We didn’t start this fight, but you can be Jeepers sure we’re going to finish it.”

The Exiles are a gutsy group of mercenaries, refugees and exiles that have forged an unlikely alliance upon the planet Nexus. Scattered beyond the edge of known space by the violent expansion of their sworn enemy, the Dominion, the races of the Exiles have now banded together to explore the wonders and face the dangers of Nexus, hoping to make a new life among the planet’s mysterious ruins and unexplored frontiers. United by a burning hatred of the Dominion, the Mordesh, the Aurin, the Granok, and the Humans of the Exile Fleet are prepared to make a final stand against the invading empire that has claimed the planet. The Exiles consider Nexus their last hope, and they are willing to die for it.

View of the Dominion: Exiles view Dominion citizens as cowards and sheep who fearfully bend their knee before the power and corruption of the empire.

The Dominion

Quote

“We return to Nexus to fulfill our destiny, and mercy to those who stand in our way.”

The Dominion is a powerful interstellar empire that rules the galaxy, using military strength, religious fervor, and advanced weaponry and technology. Established by the Eldan more than a thousand years ago, the Dominion has now claimed Nexus as its own – and will stop at nothing to ensure that the fabled planet is completely under their control. Having recently arrived in force, the Dominion is prepared to crush the ragtag alliance of the Exiles, unleashing the full power of their formidable military against those who would dare trespass upon the sacred ground of planet Nexus! [The Dominion includes the following races: Draken, Mechari, Cassian, and Chua.]

View of the Exiles: The Dominion views the Exiles as an unorganized group of vagrants and outcasts whose very presence defiles the legendary Eldan homeworld.

Part 3: Choosing Your Race

There are currently 8 playable races in Wildstar. For the Exiles, you can choose between the Human Exiles, the Mordesh, the Aurin, and the Granok. For the Dominion, you can choose from the Cassians, the Draken, the Mechair, and the Chua.

Part 4: Choosing Your Class

There are currently 6 playable classes in Wildstar: Warrior, Spellslinger, Esper, Medic, Engineer, and Stalker. It is important to note that not all races have the full 6 playable classes available.

Available to Races: Human, Granok, Mordesh, Cassian, Mechari, Draken
Not Available to Races: Aurin, Chua

The Warrior is all about face-to-face battles on the front line. They are your typical “Bruiser” melee DPS that can fall into either the tank or melee DPS roles in a group. Generally when looking at the classes available in WIldstar, your first impression is that the Warrior is the typical “tank”. However, their ability to deal out DPS and control combat situations is certainly nothing to scoff at. At least in the time I’ve spent playtesting the Warrior, I could solo DPS my way through groups without a problem. I expected that as I went up in level the Warrior’s defense would ramp up and the DPS would start to fall off, but that didn’t really happen. If anything, the customization options available in Wildstar allow you to grow in either direction. You can choose to spec more in defensive abilities, amps, etc. – or stick to the DPS options and never worry about falling behind in your DPS ability. Of course, a hybrid-spec would be just as viable depending on the situation.

The main Warrior mechanic is “Kinetic Cells”. As a Warrior engages in combat, they generate kinetic energy; which is then used in some of the more advanced abilities. There are three total Kinetic Cells that can be charged by basic abilities. The more Kinetic Cells that are filled, the more advanced abilities are available – and they also become more powerful. This encourages the Warrior to be constantly striking their enemies to build up kinetic energy. Then they need to use combination attacks and unleashing their kinetic abilities at the right times in order to maximize effectiveness.

Warrior Stat Breakdown (per point):

• Brutality: +0.37 Assault Power
• Finesse: +0.25 Strikethrough Rating, +0.50 Critical Severity Rating
• Moxie: +0.50 Critical Chance Rating, +0.50 Critical Severity Rating
• Tech: +0.37 Support Power
• Insight: +0.50 Deflect Critical Hit Rating, +0.25 Deflect Rating
• Grit: +14.00 Base Health

Main Equipment:

• Power Sword: 2-h Melee Weapon. Focus on straight up DPS
• Arm Cannon: Ranged utility weapon. Has options for DPS, defensive shield, utility harpoon, etc.
• Heavy Armor

Available to Races: Human, Aurin, Mordesh, Cassian, Draken, Chua
Not Available to Races: Granock, Mechari

The Spellslinger combines magic with technology, and focuses on dealing damage while staying mobile. While they are not the hardiest of warriors, they excel at hit & run tactics. There is also a subset of abilities for the Spellslinger that can make them effective healers and group support. The most interesting aspect of the Spellslinger is their mobility, which involves some very unique abilities. For example, they have the ability to open a portal to “The Void”, which is an alternate dimension that only Spellslingers can enter (and see other Spellslingers already in there). This means they can break combat by entering The Void, and after healing up (or running away) they can jump back into the battle. It is important to note that their “Void Slip” ability only allows the Spellslinger to be in The Void for 3.5 seconds before forcibly being returned to the “normal” dimension.

In terms of healing, the Spellslinger tends to focus more on single target or small area healing. They do have a few AOE heals, but not nearly as many as you might expect from another healing class like the Medic. That’s not to say that the Spellslinger cannot heal effectively. I’m just saying that the Spellslinger’s heals seem to be more single-target based, or purely situational as off-heals in a larger group.

The main special mechanic for the Spellslinger is called “Spell Surge”. When activated, Spell Surge grants you bonuses to both your Assault (attack) and Support (heal) abilities. This ability can be toggled on and off as needed, and currently has no cooldown for how often you can use it. However, it takes a minimum of 25% of your total spell power to be able to activate this ability. On the current Wildstar UI, this is shown by 4 spell power orbs above your action bar. As you use Spell Surge, it consumes the power from each of these orbs. The spell power does regenerate rather quickly, so maximizing the effectiveness of this ability all depends on your timing and how often you remember to use it.

Spellslinger Stat Breakdown (per point):

• Brutality: +0.25 Strikethrough Rating, +0.50 Critical Severity Rating
• Finesse: +0.61 Assault Power
• Moxie: +0.50 Critical Chance Rating, +0.50 Critical Severity Rating
• Tech: +0.25 Deflect Rating. +0.50 Deflect Critical Hit Rating
• Insight: +0.50 Support Power
• Grit: +14.00 Base Health

Main Equipment:

• Dual Pistols: The signature “gun in each hand” weapons which fire damaging ammo at your enemies, and healing ammo at your friends!
• Sigils: By casting magical sigils, the Spellslinger adds magic effects to their weapons and ammo (such as flame or cold magic damage)
• Light Armor

Available to Races: Human, Aurin, Cassian, Chua
Not Available to Races: Granock, Mordesh, Mechari, Draken

The Esper is predominantly a ranged DPS class that deals magic damage through their psychic abilities and their signature weapon – the Psyblade. While this class does not have the wide variety of mobility skills that the Spellslinger has – it more than makes up for the lack of mobility with increased DPS and utility skills. Notably, the Esper has a number of illusion abilities that can deal damage, heal allies, and even be used for crowd control. From my experience with the Esper, many of the abilities require you to be in one place while casting them – which does make it harder to avoid damage. However, the DPS was very high for a ranged class and the Esper in general seems to scale well. The best defense is a good offense, right?!

The special mechanic for the Esper class is “Psi Points”. A large number of Esper abilities generate additional Psi Points (PP), which are in turn used for other abilities. Some abilities require PP to even cast, while others become increasingly more powerful based on the number of PP available for use. This makes the class very customizable, as you can use a number of different ability combinations depending on your playing style or situation. For this class moreso than the others, it seems like the players who have developed the skill of Esper ability combinations really well are going to be obvious vs. a less experienced Esper player. In other words: Esper has a higher learning curve, but the end result is worth it.

Esper Stat Breakdown (per point):

• Brutality: +0.25 Strikethrough Rating, +0.50 Critical Severity Rating
• Finesse: +0.50 Critical Chance Rating, +0.50 Critical Severity Rating
• Moxie: +0.61 Assault Rating
• Tech: +0.25 Deflect Rating. +0.50 Deflect Critical Hit Rating
• Insight: +0.50 Support Power
• Grit: +14.00 Base Health

Main Equipment:

• Psy-Blade: This signature weapon is 100% created by the Esper’s psychic power, and can take on a variety of different forms.
• Illusions: The Esper can create illusions that can damage foes, heal allies, crowd control, or even serve as separate entities (liked a “pet”)
• Light Armor

Available to Races: Human, Granok, Mordesh, Cassian, Mechari, Chua
Not Available to Races: Aurin, Draken

The medic is largely what you would expect the name to mean – a healer. However, here’s what you wouldn’t expect – powerful DPS! The Medic has a number of really really interesting aspects that make it a fun class to play. For starters, Medics are equipped with medium armor as they are designed to be “in the middle of the action”. In addition to being able to take more hits due to better armor (normally you’d see healers in light armor), they also bring a number of crowd control abilities to the party. Another big bonus to the Medic is that a vast majority of their abilities are AOE. In group fights as a Medic, you are going to be dodging enemy attacks, using your weapon to damage enemies or heal allies, attach probes to damage enemies or heal allies, and drop AOE fields all over the battlefield. If you have been playing healers in past MMO’s and are tired of simply clicking through the party window and button mashing your heal spells – this class is what you’ve been waiting for!

The special mechanic for Medics involves their four “Power Cores”, which show up right above your action bar (like the other classes if you haven’t noticed that already). They start out fully filled up, and when using some abilities you will see the power cores being used up. They quickly regenerate through basic attacks and healing, so you won’t be waiting on the higher cost abilities for long. As you play the Medic you will start to figure out when and when not to use your power cores. As with most other classes, the Medic is all about timing your abilities and managing your resources (power cores) to make sure you don’t get caught powerless at the pivotal points during the fight. I went into beta testing with the Medic expecting a generic healer class, and I ended up having the most fun with a class since I first started my Stalker on the first day of closed Beta. I kid you not, I’m still on the fence between Medic and Stalker for my first class at launch.

Medic Stat Breakdown (per point):

• Brutality: +0.25 Strikethrough Rating, +0.50 Critical Severity Rating
• Finesse: +0.25 Deflect Rating, +0.50 Deflect Critical Hit Rating
• Moxie: +0.50 Critical Chance Rating, +0.50 Critical Severity Rating
• Tech: +0.50 Assault Power
• Insight: +0.50 Support Power
• Grit: +14.00 Base Health

Main Equipment:

• Resonators: The Medic dual-wields resonators that can damage or heal depending on the ability used. Think supercharged “shock paddles”.
• Probes: Through a variety of abilities the Medic can attach offensive drones to their enemies or defensive / healing drones to their allies.
• Fields: The Medic can project AOE fields that deal damage to enemies, heal allies, and are even designed as crowd control.
• Medium Armor

The Engineer is mainly designed as a Ranged DPS / Tank class that specializes in two things: really big guns, and various bots that do their bidding! It is important to note that even though this may appear to be a pet class that depends on their pets to be effective – they also make some very impressive ranged tanks. While they haven’t been common yet, I’ve even heard of some players who put all of their spec points into their main character weapon and tanking abilities (no bots). The Engineer is currently one of the most popular classes in Wildstar. This is likely due to their high damage output and unusually strong defensive abilities. Some of their bots are even designed to function as tanks or off-tanks when needed.

The special mechanic for the Engineer is Volatility. The Engineer’s volatility increases the more that they use their main weapon – the launcher. This volatility allows the Engineer to use more advanced abilities, which is very similar to the Spellslinger or Esper mechanics.

Medic Stat Breakdown (per point):

• Brutality: +0.25 Strikethrough Rating, +0.50 Critical Severity Rating
• Finesse: +0.37 Assault Power
• Moxie: +0.50 Critical Chance Rating, +0.50 Critical Severity Rating
• Tech: +0.50 Assault Power
• Insight: +0.50 Support Power
• Grit: +14.00 Base Health

Main Equipment:

• Launcher: This massive gun deals out a large amount of DPS. Enemies beware!
• Bots: The Engineer can create a large variety of bots – everything from DPS bots to Tanking bots, etc.
• Exo-Suit: This special addition to your armor allows you to switch between offensive and defensive power bonuses.
• Heavy Armor

The Stalker is a stealthy melee assassin that we’ve all come to know and love. Thanks to nanotechnology the stalker is equipped with both offensive and defensive technical abilities that make them terrible foes to face on the battlefield. Most of the time, if you see a Stalker that means someone is already dead – and the Stalker will likely be gone by the time you move in to attack. They specialize in hit and run tactics, burst DPS, and debuffing their enemy targets. As you progress in experience level, the Stalker becomes increasingly more versatile. More experienced Stalkers are able to customize their stalker for stealthy burst DPS, sustained damage with crowd control, or even spec defensively as a medium armor tank. Yes, that’s right – I said medium. Unlike every other class in the game, the Stalker has two separate types of armor they can wear. They start with light armor, but can eventually upgrade to medium armor.

Even the Nano Suit that the Stalker wears is a technological marvel, and you have the option of choosing three separate suit configurations.

• Nano Skin: Lethal – Increases Damage Dealt by 22% and decreases all Resistances by 5%. Attacks from Stealth have a 100% chance to land as a Critical Hit.
• Nano Skin: Agile – Increases Dash Regeneration by 10%, Endurance by 10% and Lifesteal by 5%. Exiting Stealth in combat increases Movement SPeed by 20% for 4.0s. This skin also does not have the 20% movement speed reduction that is part of the other two Nano Skin modes.
• Nano Skin: Evasive – Increases Deflect Chance by 10%, Resistances by 10%, Threat Generation by 200%, and reduces Assault Power by 26%. Exiting Stealth in combat reduces Damage Taken by 15% for 5.0s

As you might have guessed from the above information, the additional special mechanic beyond the Nano Skin modes is the stealth ability that they provide. When enabled, your character is invisible to enemies unless you are “detected”. Stealth detection is based on distance from the Stalker (<15 meters), level, and direction that the enemy is facing. As a stealthed Stalker, the closer you get to an enemy that is facing you – the more likely they are to detect you. More information on how Stealth Detection works can be found on the Stalker AMA discussion thread.

Stalker Stat Breakdown (per point):

• Brutality: +0.50 Assault Power
• Finesse: +0.25 Strikethrough Rating, +0.50 Critical Severity Rating
• Moxie: +0.50 Critical Chance Rating, +0.50 Critical Severity Rating
• Tech: +0.37 Support Power
• Insight: +0.50 Deflect Critical Hit Rating, +0.25 Deflect Rating
• Grit: +14.00 Base Health

Main Equipment:

• Claws – The main weapon for the Stalker is a set of claws for each hand. These deadly claws can take a large number of different forms, but the end result is the same – death!
• Devices – In addition to their claws; the Stalker has a variety of devices such as mines, darts, and traps used to debuff, stun, or damage their enemies – or even buff yourself / your allies!
• Nano Suit – As mentioned above, the Nano Suit (armor) of the Stalker is configurable and is part of everything the Stalker does.
• Light Armor / Medium Armor

Part 6: Choosing Your Path

In addition to your faction, race, and class – you also get to choose your character’s Path. There are four separate Paths you can choose from:

The Explorer path is all about “going where no one has gone before – in a very long time”. They find secret locations, navigate dangerous areas, complete jumping puzzles, etc. There are currently 8 different mission types for the Explorer:

• Cartography: Making maps has never been more fun… or more dangerous! Travel into the untamed wilds of Nexus and chart territory for your faction.
• Exploration: Nexus is chock full of secret places, and you’ll find every one! Use a combination of technology and agility to access hidden locations!
• Expedition: The uncharted frontier awaits! Strike out into the great unknown, making sure to explore every last inch of the map. Cowards need not apply.
• Operations: Exploring isn’t just about climbing mountains. Sometimes you gotta gear up, buckle down, and get a job done. Skills definitely pay the bills.
• Scavenger Hunt: Ancient artifacts? Check. Remote, inaccessible locations? Check. Fearless explorers who laugh in the face of danger? Oh yeah.
• Staking Claim: Nexus ain’t big enough for everyone, and second place sucks. So get out there, plant your flag, and claim this planet for your allies.
• Surveillance: Get your secret agent on! There’s a war out there, and you need to set up remote surveillance devices to keep an eye on the enemy.
• Tracking: Ready to hunt? Track enemies, creatures and strange anomalies through the unforgiving terrain of planet Nexus. Epic rewards? You know it.

The Soldier path is pretty straightforward… You get a mission, and then you go blow something up or smash someone. In general, if you like the combat system in Wildstar – The Solider path is going to be your best bet. There are currently 8 different mission types for the Soldier:

• Assassination: Ever dreamed of being a hit man? Channel your inner assassin as you track down targets, put them in your sights, and rack up the body counts!
• Demolition: Most problems can be solved with the right amount of explosives. Blow stuff up using bombs, grenades and other weapons of mass destruction. BOOM!
• Rescue Op: Listen up, Soldier! We have civilians that have been taken hostage by the enemy, and we need you to get ’em out of there! Are we clear? Get moving!
• SWAT: SWAT: Special Weapons And Tactics. Know what it really means? Shiny new toys! Test advanced military hardware on your foes. Mercy? Not part of the equation.
• Holdout: Conquer: Are you ready to lock, load, and start taking care of business? Defend your territory against waves of hostile enemies. No guts, no glory!
• Holdout: Security: No one likes a thief. That’s where you come in. Defend your loot against dirty underhanded criminals, and crack some skulls with the hammer of justice!
• Holdout: First Strike: Hit ’em hard, and hit ’em fast! Strike your targets and destroy them before they call in reinforcements, then bask in the glow of your badassitude!
• Holdout: Protect: Being a hero ain’t easy… but it’s time to step up. Defend allies against incoming waves of hostiles, ensuring they survive another day!

The Settler path is for players who want to develop cities / temporary sanctuaries and place buff stations that help other players (and yourself). Having a Settler in the zone provides some very important buffs that make the questing or gameplay in the area faster and more fun. There are currently 5 different mission types for the Settler:

• Expansion: That town ain’t going to improve itself. So step up, strap on a toolbelt, and get to work building things that make everyone’s life a little easier.
• Civil Defense: Town guards can handle the small stuff. But when the biggest, meanest monsters on Nexus come a-knockin’, you’ll step up and save the day!
• Supply Cache: Who has time to sit around and wait for vital supplies to show up on a platter? Put on those boots and bring home the bacon!
• Infrastructure: Are you ready for some serious real estate development? Then do your civic duty and build hospitals, taverns, and spaceports for your friends and allies.
• Public Service: Some people just don’t have the grit and backbone to get the job done. Good thing you do. Achieve tasks for the greater good, and get rewarded for it.

Equipped with their trusty Scanner Probe, the Scientist strives to discover the scientific secrets of Nexus. Of the four paths, only the Scientist gets an additional pet (the probe) that serves as a constant reminder to further their chosen path. To make it even more entertaining, you can customize your probe’s appearance, name, etc. There are currently 8 different mission types for the Scientist:

• Analysis: Time to put that big brain of yours to work! Whether it’s a bug-eyed monster or the enemy’s databanks, it’s up to you to scan it.
• Archaeology: The Eldan left behind a whole planet full of awesome. So start scanning those relics, robots, and radical machines!
• Biology: Nexus is home to the craziest critters this side of the Fringe! You and your trusty scanbot better get crackin’.
• Botany: Studying plants on Nexus is cool. Especially when those plants are trying to chew your face off. Stopping to smell the flowers? Not recommended.
• Catalog: Knowledge is power. Which is good, because Nexus has a lot of knowledge that needs to be collected and catalogued. Time to power up!
• Chemisty: Nexus is full of exotic materials and alien compounds just waiting to be studied. Are some of them ridiculously dangerous? No doubt about it.
• Diagnostics: You’re a scientist, and that means you can fix stuff. Whether it’s a broken leg or a busted bot, you’ll diagnose the problem and take care of it.
• Field Study: Who knows what evil lurks in the hearts of hostile alien lifeforms? You do. Study behavior patterns among the natives. And try not to get killed.

Part 6: Character Customization

Customization! One of the leading focuses for Wildstar from the development standpoint has been how much customization the player can control for their character. This includes everything from the character, their mounts, housing, etc. There are a wide variety of options you can choose from when creating your character. You can access all of the available options by clicking the “Customize” button on the left side of your character screen.

The “Face Style” allows you to try various options for your characters head. There are different looks that usually include various accessories / unique parts, so I’d highly recommend going through all of these options to see what you have available. Directly underneath Face Style is a section where you can further customize your characters face, via a large number of sliders for each part of the head.

The rest of the options are fairly self-explanatory, and include the following different options:

• Skin Color
• Hair Style
• Hair Color
• Eye Color
• Body Type

There is also one or two special customization options that are different for each race. For example, in the Mordesh pictured above there is a customization option for “Facial Accessories”. In this same slot when creating a Draken character you will have options for “Horn Style”. Some races, such as the Granok, have two different special options.

Part 7: The Combat System

Telegraphs

The combat system in WIldstar is easily one of the most exciting parts about the game. The developers have taken cues from some other successful combat systems, add a few new features of their own, and ultimately put together a combat system that is really fun to play. If you’ve watched any gameplay videos or tested Wildstar yourself, the first feature of the combat system that you probably noticed is the “telegraphs”. Everything in Wildstar combat revolves around the telegraphs. What I mean by “telegraph” is a visual representation of where your attacks / heals / etc. will land, and any enemy attacks as well (show up as red). Furthermore, the telegraphs will show up as different colors on your UI:

• Blue: Abilities that you are in the process of casting
• Green: Healing / Buff abilities casted by you or an ally
• Orange: Abilities being casted by your allies
• Red: Enemy attacks that you want to avoid
• Purple: Enemy healing / debuff abilities

The telegraphs themselves even serve as status bars for when any timed abilities will go off. If you look at a telegraph, such as the one in the screenshot below – you will see a darker area and a lighter area.

Basically, the way this works is that the lit up area will start at the skill’s origin (you or your enemy) and slowly spread until it reaches the farthest side away from the source. As soon as the telegraph is “filled” the skill goes off and either causes damage / heals / etc. This system encourages you to actively move around to avoid enemy attacks – and aim to make sure that your attacks / heals hit. In Wildstar, you can usually see exactly where the incoming attacks are coming from. You also will learn what types of attacks your enemy is using, so you will know how to get out of danger.

There is also an interesting new twist to the timing of combat telegraphs in Wildstar. If you interrupt or stun an enemy while they are in the middle of an attack (while it is being telegraphed) – they will be temporarily stunned and unable to use abilities. Their nameplate will automatically change to a purple color to show this special “stunned” status.

Crowd Control

One of the more innovative mechanics in WIldstar combat is the Crowd Control system. As opposed to most other MMORPG’s where crowd control effects are represented by a little icon next to the target’s nameplate – in Wildstar you literally see the effects in your UI and how your character operates. For the sake of explanation, I will go over each of the different effects as if your character was being affected by them:

• Blind: Your screen will darken until you can only see a very small portion of your UI / screen. You can either wait or out, or it can be removed with a “cleanse” ability.
• Disorient: This effect will cause your movements to be reversed. In other words, if you press left – your character will move right. This effect can be cleansed.
• Knockback: This status will push you away from the caster and prevent you from casting. You can dash to remove this status.
• Knockdown: Exactly as the name says – you get knocked down onto the ground. You can use your dash ability to stand back up.
• Root: When rooted you will be unable to move. There are special abilities for breaking out of root effects, and they are labeled as such.
• Stun: As expected, a stunned character will not be able to move or use abilities. If you rapidly tap “F” you can break out of a stun.
• Subdue: This is equivalent to being “disarmed”, but in Wildstar you literally will drop your weapon and you have to run over to it to pick up the weapon again.
• Tether: Your character will be anchored to one specific spot on the ground. You can only move in the direction towards the anchor. You can attack the anchor to destroy it, freeing you to move.

Some of the crowd control abilities mentioned above can really ruin your day, but there is some good news! There are a number of self-buff and group-buff abilities in Wildstar that give your character(s) “Interrupt Armor”. Essentially what this means is that for each stack of Interrupt Armor on your character, you will ignore one incoming crowd control ability. Not only does this come into play for normal PvE or PvP, but it is even more important for larger PvE group encounters and raids where managing stacks of Interrupt Armor will be necessary to your survival. Also, one thing that many people might not expect is that enemy mobs utilize the Impact Armor mechanic in regards to mob scaling. For example, say you have a boss mob that is intended as a 5-man encounter. The more characters that join in the fight beyond 5 will scale the mob to make it harder and harder to defeat. Wildstar handles this scaling by adding more and more stacks of Impact Armor to the mob as more players join the battle.

img source: wildstar-online.com

The Action Bar

Say goodbye to cluttered UI’s with hundreds of buttons to organize and memorize where everything is – Wildstar instead chooses to go with a simpler idea. There are 8 ability slots (#1- , one slot for your innate class special ability, one slot for gadget, one slot for path, and one slot for potions. There are also additional bars you can add if needed – see the “Additional Bar (Left) or (Right)” in the above screenshot. Now, keep in mind that the Wildstar devs have already stated that they are strongly supporting the Addon / Mod player community for Wildstar. In fact, there is even an Addon section built into the main menu system when you are in-game. That being said, there are likely going to be more and more action bar options after Wildstar launches. I will go into the different ability setups / specs later in this guide, but now let’s just say that the abilities you choose for the action bar slots will drastically impact how your character performs. If you are struggling with leveling up in one particular class, try swapping out a few abilities and look into a new strategy.

On a side note – you’re probably wondering what the “Gadget” slot does. In Wildstar there are items with the category of “Gadget”, where once you equip them on your character you are granted with a special 1-click ability (specific to that gadget). Nothing massively game-changing there, but I just thought I would point it out.

PvP / PvE Differences

It is important to note that some abilities function differently in PvE vs. PvP. This is Wildstar’s answer to the age old question of “how do you balance an ability for PvP without nerfing it’s effectiveness in PvE?”. For example, any taunt abilities will reduce the enemy’s damage against your allies (but not against the taunt caster). In general your gear and weapons are affected in the same way. There is actually a completely separate set of PvP gear that can only be used in PvP, and thus any item balancing PvP will not affect PvE. The PvP gear includes two new stats – PvP Defense (negates some damage from enemy players) and PvP Offense (ignores a percentage of PvP Defense).

AMP’s: Advanced Modification Protocol

The AMP’s window (located on the 2nd tab next to your Abilities window) is where you will find your more advanced customization options. Basically, these AMP’s will further advance your character in Assault, Utility, or Support roles – or hybrids between any of the main 3 sections. As you invest points in each section, it will eventually unlock the next tier of AMP’s. In case you were not already aware, here is what each section is designed for:

• Assault: Additional improvements or changes to your abilities that deal damage
• Support: Improves your healing, tanking, or other abilities that benefit your group members
• Utility: Increases the effectiveness of your crowd control, movement, and special circumstance abilities

It is also important to note that some AMP’s unlock new abilities for your character that would otherwise not be available. You can mouse over each AMP spot on the AMP’s grid to see what bonus you will gain from investing an AMP point there (even if you haven’t unlocked that spot yet).

Death in Wildstar

When your character dies in Wildstar, you are presented with possible options. You can either resurrect at the nearest Holo-Crypt (zone spawn point), or pay a fee to be resurrected at your current location. Please keep in mind that resurrecting at your current location cannot be used repeatedly, as there is a 30min cooldown before you can use it again.

Part 8: Mounts & Travel Systems

In Wildstar, mounts can be something that you temporarily use for a specific quest – or something permanent that always stays with you. There are “Mount Vendors” spread throughout the game that sell basic mounts. There are also a number of other ways that you can get a new mount through quest rewards, reputation vendors, drops, etc. For example, if you purchased the Deluxe Edition of Wildstar, you automatically will get the Eldan Hoverboard mount as shown above. The first mounts become available to your character at level 15, and you gain access to your first hoverboard at level 25.

It is important to note that you cannot customize the basic mounts from the Mount Vendors, but you can certainly do so with the mounts you obtain from other sources. I’m not just talking about changing a color or two – there are many many MANY customization options for your mount. Let’s take hoverboards for example, you can start with the basic hoverboard – and then add or remove parts until what you end up with isn’t even recognizable compared to the original. As with almost every gameplay aspect in Wildstar, the devs have put a lot of time and effort into a custom options for your mounts.

In regards to the speed of your mounts, on of my favorite parts of the Wildstar system is that the mount itself does not determine your mounted speed. Instead, as you go up in level, you are able to learn new levels of riding skill that increase your speed. Because of this system, the first mount you get at level 15 will be the same speed as a high-end mount that you get later in the game.

In addition the personal mounts, there are two other methods of transportation worth mentioning. The first is the Taxi service. In all camps / cities there is a Taxi Kiosk that can quickly move your character from area to area for a small fee. Note that you must first unlock each Taxi terminal by visiting a new camp / city through normal means (i.e. walking there). Other than Taxi movement; you can bind your location at a Transmat Terminal. This allows you to teleport to that Transmat Terminal, but keep in mind that you have a 1 hour cooldown before you will be able to use this ability again.

Lastly, you do have the option of instantly moving to your Housing Plot once you have it set up. More on that in our next section…

Part 9: Wildstar Housing

As with almost everything else in Wildstar, the housing is extremely customizable. Your first housing plot will be available at level 14, and can be found in your first main city for your faction. This city will be called Illium if you are playing Dominion, or Thayd if you are playing an Exile. You can start the mini-quest for a housing plot at the NPC named “Protostar Housing Specialist“. He will point out where you go next – to the Protostar Housing Initiative. For 1 gold, you can purchase your first housing plot and start setting up your home. Again, this is Wildstar – we aren’t going to stop at simply building a house and decorating it. Don’t get me wrong, the decorations are numerous and very interesting to set up. However, the best part about Wildstar Housing is that your main house is just one small part of the overall housing system.

Not only do you get a house, but your “plot” actually contains quite a few other areas for setting up as you would like. You can add resource gathering nodes, smaller buildings with special functions, etc. You can even place various quests on your land that both you and your visitors can participate in to receive some special rewards for completion. Just to give you an idea of what we are all talking about here, this is a more complete list of the available housing plot options:

• Crafting Stations to work on your non-combat skills
• General decorations such as trees / bushes / etc.
• Target Dummies for testing out your combat skills
• Direct portal to a specific dungeon or raid
• Mini-Game “Challenge” for you or your friends to enjoy
• Resource nodes that respawn over time
• Storage for your items
• Teleporter for instantly getting to your Housing plot and back to where you were
• Visual Effects for your Home plot such as lighting, background, etc.

There are also some more functional parts of housing that are worth mentioning as well:

• You can add your friends in-game to be your “Neighbors” that live next door, or even set them up as your Roomate where you then share the Housing plot.
• You can set permissions for who can and cannot visit your plot.
• Logging off while you are in your housing zone grants you Rested Exp until you log back into the game.
• Every 24-hours you can go to your Buff Board located on your plot to choose a new buff (which affects everyone who enters your plot).

Part 10: Guilds & Social Groups

Social groups in Wildstar enable you to keep track of who is your ally and who is your enemy. There are currently 5 different social lists that you can add and remove players from:

Friends List: The friends list in Wildstar functions in the same way that you would expect – you add players that you enjoy gaming with, and then you can keep track of their progress via the Friends window. You can also use the Friends list as quick way to invite your friends to a party. If you happen to be near a friend out in the game world, they will even show up with a green happy face above their heads for quick “friend” indentification.

Neighbors List: The neighbors list is another type of friends list, but specifically in regards to housing. Once you have your housing plot set up, you can add people to your “Neighbors” social group. This allows them to visit your house that may not otherwise be public. Furthermore, you can set specific permissions in regards to what your neighbors may and may not do at your house. For example, if you have a resource node on your housing plot, you can set up your neighbor’s permission level to allow them harvesting access whenever they visit.

Rivals List: The rivals group is something that I’m sure most of us have wished was around in previous MMO’s. Basically, it is the opposite of the friends list but it functions the same way. You add a player to your rivals list, and thus you will always be able to keep tabs on your enemy. Similar to the friends group, if you happen to see a rival running around in the game – there will be a red face icon above their character.

Ignored List: I’m sure you’ve encountered spammers in chat in pretty much every MMORPG that you’ve played… Or at least some people where the more they talk – the more you want to punch them in the face. Simply add that player to your ignored list, and they will no longer show up in your chat window. On a side note, keep in mind that ignoring someone is a two-way street in Wildstar. If you add the player to your ignored list you will no longer see their chat messages, but they will no longer see yours either.

Suggested List: This is one type of social group that is actually generated by the game itself. After being in a group with another player, the system will automatically add that player to your suggested list once the party disbands. This will help you to quickly identify someone that you enjoyed playing with in that party, even if they were not on your friends list or in your guild.

In addition to the give types of social lists above, there are also two types of social groups that are a bit more structured. Let’s start with the simplest one first:

Circles: As opposed to one long list of player names on your friends list, circles in Wildstar allow you to keep a more organized social group separate from the rest. Basically you can add a number of players to a specific circle that functions like a guild – but without the restrictions of being in the same guild. In other words, you can add any players you want (from your server), regardless of which guild that they are in. As an example: you could create a circle for “Crafting & Trading”, and then add specific players to that group who you like working with. The players in that circle can all chat back and forth in a special chat channel that is automatically set up for that circle – specifically about crafting and trading. You may also want to set up a circle for dungeons and raids, so you have a place to communicate with any other players that you have enjoyed grouping with in the past. If you played FFXIV, then you may recognize circles as Wildstar’s version of the FFXIV Linkshells. In Wildstar, you can currently be a member of up to 5 circles at any given time.

Guilds: More than likely, Wildstar is not your first MMORPG. You’ve probably experienced guilds before in other MMO games, so much of the Wildstar guild functionality will be familiar to you. Given that this is the more structured type of social group in Wildstar, there are certainly a few bits of information that you will want to know about:

• A guild can be created by any character that has reached level 12.
• To create a new guild, you do not need anyone to sign your “guild petition” or anything like that. You simply go to your faction’s capital city and find the guild creation NPC. You name your guild, pay the fee (10 gold), and boom you now own your own guild!
• Keep in mind that when naming your new guild, you currently cannot create a guild with the same name as any other guild in the game (all servers). Many players have pre-ordered Wildstar and were able to reserve their guild name ahead of time.
• Once a guild has been created, you can invite other players to join you. There are a variety of ways to do this, including simply right-clicking their name in chat and choosing “Invite to Guild”.
• As opposed to Circles, you can only be a member of 1 guild at a time.
• Currently the maximum number of members allowed per guild is 500.
• Whenever you are grouped with another guild member, you earn “Influence” points for your guild. These Influence points can be spent to level up your guild and provide buffs or new functions to your guild as it advances.

Part 11: PvP & Warplots

There are a number of different types of PvP content in Wildstar: Open World PvP (on PvP servers), Duels, PvP Arenas, PvP Batlgrounds, and PvP Warplots. In these PvP matches, Gear and level is normalized, so you are generally on equal footing against your enemies. However, you can purchase PvP-specific gear that has special “PvP Offense” and “PvP Defense” stats to improve your effectiveness in PvP. Also, PvP matches reward you with “Prestige”, which is a PvP-only currency that can be exchanged for PvP gear. It is also important to note that any PvP battles that you queue up for using the PvP window are cross-server, meaning that you are competing with players that could be from any server (yours or otherwise).

Open World PvP: You are really only going to see this on PvP servers. This is essentially referring to Exiles vs. Dominion PvP in any of the zones throughout the game (other than the capital cities). It is possible to flag yourself for PvP while on a PvE server, but your enemies are not required to do so.

Duels: As you might expect, this is a 1v1 duel system that pits you against your opponent. It is pretty straightforward, so not much to say on this one.

PvP Arenas: At launch, there will be competitive and casual PvP Arenas available for players to enjoy. They will be set up as 2v2, 3v3, and 5v5 matches. They will be smaller areas than other PvP types such as Battlegrounds and Warplots, so they will encourage you to start the PvP action quickly.

PvP Battlegrounds: These Battlegrounds are for medium sized groups, and usually are based around specific objectives based on which Battleground you are in. These matches are 10v10, and you can queue to join them as a group.

PvP Warplots: Warplots are by far the most exciting PvP option in Wildstar at this point! Not only are we talking about organized 40 vs. 40 PvP matches, but every part of the Warplot battle concept is pretty awesome. Essentially how these work is you create a Warplot Fortress, which feels similar to setting up your base in a tower defense game. You can place traps, walls, mazes, guards, RAID BOSSES, er… ahem, and yeah – other things. Then once you have your Warplot Fortress completed, you and your 39 friends form up a War Party and pit your fortress against your enemy’s fortress to see who is better. So, not only are you facing 40 enemy players, but all of the impending doom that their fortress holds as well. Oh, and did I mention you can put down RAID BOSSES to guard your fortress?! Oh yeah, I did, well… There it is again! Here is the official Warplots video put out by the devs:

Part 12: PvE Dungeons & Raids

Dungeons

The first group (5 players) dungeon becomes available to you at level 20.. Dungeons in Wildstar have been designed to take roughly 1 hour to complete, so it should not be a long drawn out process. At launch, they are looking to have 4 or 5 dungeons available to play. There will also be “Veteran” versions of each dungeon that are playable only at max level. The Veteran versions of the dungeons are obviously more difficult than their lower level counterparts, and thus the loot rewards will be more in-line for level 50 characters.

The dungeons will have what you would normally expect such as bosses and trash mobs in between. However, they will also have public quests built into the dungeons that you can complete – which of course grant you experience / loot / etc. for completing them.

Raids

The raid content in Wildstar is one of the most hyped aspects of the game. The devs have stated numerous times that not only are they putting a lot of time and effort in to make the raids fun, but they intentionally want them to be very difficult. In fact, Brett Scheinert (the dev in charge of Raid development) has stated, “When you fail, we want you to fail spectacularly.” Hah, no pulling punches here!

Raids in Wildstar aren’t going to be simple “stand here, run there, follow this strategy in this order, etc.”… The best way to accurately describe raids in Wildstar is “organized chaos”! If you’ve seen any of the preview videos or livestreams that show the raids in progress, you know what I mean. There are telegraphs going off repeatedly, and even someone who knows all of the strategies for the fight can still be defeated by the challenging mechanics of the boss mob. Also, there will not be situations where the healers are playing some whacked out “grid healing” mini-game where they are just staring at health bars and healing where it’s needed. In Wildstar, every single player is actively fulfilling their role while doing everything in their power to stay alive. There are many situations where a player’s job is to draw attention away from specific areas or players, move players out of danger, or just do their best to survive until their time comes to complete a specific task.

Furthermore, the developers have already stated that they do not want to “nerf the raid content” like you might see in other MMORPG’s over time. Many MMORPG’s have raid content that gets repeatedly nerfed over time to help out the more casual players. In Wildstar for raiding, the developers have instead chosen to side with the “hardcore” players and really swing for the fences. I specifically recall a dev livestream where they said they would only ever make a specific raid enounter easier if they had already came out with a new raid with harder content to take it’s place as “the most difficult raid”.

In addition to how difficult each encounter will be – they have majorly ramped up the number of encounters in Wildstar raids. In fact, there are even rooms that are as difficult to get through as a boss you fight against.

At launch, there will be one 20-man raid and one 40-man raid. They will both be for max level (50) characters.

The Genetic Archives

• Raid Size: 20-man Group
• Storyline: “The forces of corruption nestled in Isigrol grow stronger, infiltrating the secret Eldan facility known as the Genetic Archives, a massive repository for the eugenic data of all organisms across Nexus!” (wildstar-online.com)
• Content: 6 bosses, 10 mini-bosses, 5 events.

The Datascape

• Raid Size: 40-man Group
• Storyline: “Answer the Caretaker’s desperate plea to access the deepest recesses of the Nexus Project and jack into the Datascape—the virtual world where the myriad shards of the Caretaker’s fractured personality reside and have devolved into capering aspects of sadistic madness.” (wildstar-online.com)
• Content: 7 bosses, 16 mini-bosses, 2 rooms.

Part 13: PvE Adventures

In Wildstar, the developers have done something very unique that I don’t recall seeing in another major MMORPG, and they call it “Adventures”. You can start playing your first Adventure at level 15. Essentially what these Adventures exist for is to add more content to an already expansive game. Adventures are completely different from dungeons or raids because they are by nature non-linear. In fact, some Adventures are designed like the old “choose your own adventure” books where you can make numerous choices during the Adventure that determine how the rest of the encounter plays out. These types of Adventures focus more on storyline and the reason why you are in that particular place and time. However, this is only one type of Adventure – some of the other Adventures focus more on objectives and combat. In fact, there is even one type of Adventure that is styled after the MOBA game genre like League of Legends or DOTA. The possibilities are endless! Other than the sheer fun factor of Adventures, they do reward you with gear, crafting recipes, housing items, and experience.

It is also important to note that Adventures are all virtual environments that are controlled by the infamous “Caretaker” NPC. If you haven’t run into him before, the Caretaker is a relic Eldan AI that has gone a wee bit insane over the many years since the Eldan left Nexus. At times he is perfectly casual and helpful, while other times he is borderline psychotic – or maybe even straight up sadistic.

There are currently 7 Adventures in the game, with room for many more to be added over time. At level 15 there is an introductory Adventure (one each for Exiles and Dominion). The next Adventures become available starting at level 25.

Level 15: Riot in the Void (Dominion Only)
Level 15: The Hycrest Insurrection (Exile Only)
Level 25: War of the Wilds
Level 30: The Siege of Tempest Refuge
Level 40: Crimelords of Whitevale
Level 45: The Malgrave Trail

Part 14: Wildstar Crafting

Starting at level 10, your character can learn up to 2 Tradeskills. In addition to your Tradeskills, there are also Hobbies and general crafting-related skills that you can use. There are currently 3 gathering tradeskills, and 6 production tradeskills.

Gathering Tradeskills

• Miner: The Miner excavates precious ores, crystals and gems to be used by the Weaponsmith, Armorer and Architect.
• Relic Hunter: The Relic Hunter excavates omni-plasm and Eldan relics used by the Technologist, and the Weaponsmith. Some of the most powerful items on Nexus may require Eldan Relic Parts.
• Survivalist: The Survivalist skins leather and cuts meat from creatures. They also harvest wood from trees with a laser chainsaw. Best paired with the Outfitter or architect.

Production Tradeskills

• Architect: The Architect shapes FABkits, decor items and war plot deployables. The Architect is best paired with a heavy dose of patience, tons of resources, and the Survivalist…possibly a Miner. Also Farming… and on rare occasions, Relic Hunter.
• Armorer: The Armorer forges heavy armor and combat shields, then powers them with microchips and power cores. This tradeskill is best paired with Mining.
• Outfitter: The Outfitter uses Leather, pelts and bone to craft medium armor and support systems, then powers them with microchips and power cores. This tradeskill is best paired with the Survivalist.
• Tailor: The Tailor uses cloth gathered from humanoids to craft light armor. This tradeskill has no preferred pairing.
• Technologist: The Technologists creates medical supplies, stat boosting potions, and field technologies from combining omni-plasm with herbs and produce. Refurbishes Eldan relics to craft gadgets. Best paired with Relic Hunter.
• Weaponsmith: Weaponsmithing is the art of forging weapons and weapon attachments, then powering them with microchips and power cores. This tradeskill is best paired with Mining.

Hobbies

• Cooking: Cooks use produce and meats to whip up delicious delicacies. By mixing different ingredients at cooking stations, cooks can discover recipes that provide all kinds of benefits and buffs.
• Farming: Farmers collect herbs, seeds, and produce by attacking various plants. The resources can be used for crafting and the seeds can be planted in a garden in player housing.

General Skills

• Runecrafting: Runecrafting is an item enhancement system. Players can create runes to place into open rune slots in their gear. Runecrafting is available to all players at level 15.
• Salvaging: Salvaging is a process by which players break down items into their basic components, providing materials to use for crafting. Salvaging is available to all players at level 8.

Now that we have the basics out of the way, I also wanted to briefly explain how the crafting mechanic works in Wildstar. As opposed to a simple system of having specific mats for a recipe and clicking the ‘craft this item” button, Wildstar has a more unique style for crafting. Basically the way that it works is you choose which recipe you want to craft, and then the materials you use during the crafting process will determine what item is crafted. Wildstar is based on a coordinate system, where each material that you add to the recipe moves your “target cursor” in a specific direction. The end result you are looking for here is that the target cursor ends up on the grid in the spot showing the item you were trying to craft. In case you are a visual person and want to see an example of what this looks like, here you go;

Part 15: Other Helpful Tips

This section for lack of a better explanation; is where I put any random tips and and information that I believe new players may want to know. Enjoy!

• There are actually two separate sections to buy / sell items with other players. The Auction House (usually called “AH”) has gear and items that have stats that directly impact your character. The Commodities Exchange (usually called “CX” or “CE”) will only include items that do not have stats; such as crafting materials.
• Addons (game mods) are supported and even recommended by the Wildstar developers. There are a lot of addons that are not enabled by default that may help you out. The current base UI works great for most people, but other addons are out there that may give you more of the functionality you are looking for. You can look into the available addons in the main ESC menu.
• Love the way your gear looks but want to upgrade for better stats? Check out the Costume slots, which become available at level 7. If you want to edit your characters “Costume”, simply speak to any “Protostar Dye Specialist” NPC. They can be found in the capital cities, and spread around various cities / camps throughout the game. The costume slots accept various armor pieces and obviously anything specifically marked as a “Costume Item”.
• Some abilities in Wildstar pack a serious punch, and may even 1-shot you if you are not careful. Make sure to dodge and avoid enemy telegraphs whenever possible.
• To link a quest to your current chat channel, press Shift+Right Click on the quest name. This will help you to find groups if your guildmates are not available to help you out, as you can simply say “LFG…” and then shift-Right Click the quest name to paste it into chat.
• If you are stuck in a position or are caught in a graphics glitch, type /stuck in your chat window to be instantly teleported back to stable ground.
• In the settings menus for the game, you can change certain gameplay options to match your playing style. For example, if you prefer for your abilities to be instantly cast in whatever direction you are facing whenever you press an ability button – there is a setting for that. Vice versa – you can also set it up so you press an ability button, aim the predicted telegraph area, and then click your mouse to finish casting that ability.
• When you fail a challenge, that is not the end of it. You can choose to replay any failed challenge to hopefully get better results.
• Always be on the lookout for Settler camps, as the buffs left behind by Settler players can be extremely useful.
• If you are a Settler and all the buffs are built in a particular Settler camp, you can “Add Time” to them (which obviously makes them last longer before resetting). By adding time you will still get credit as if you placed that buff in the first place.
• On your abilities screen, you can set up a number of different “Loadouts” which will save your various ability setups for easy switching. Simply save a few different Loadouts there, such as a Tanking loadout vs. a DPS loadout, and then swap between them as needed. This will save you a lot of time compared to manually switching abilities that are needed for different situations.
• Pick up your chosen harvesting tradeskill(s) as soon as you can at level 10. This will enable you to harvest resources while you are questing and generally playing through PvE content. On a side note, if you start doing this early on you will avoid any time spent backtracking to previous zones just to get caught up on your harvesting skills / supplies.
• Start storing any items that you want to keep but not use in your bank, freeing up valuable inventory space when out doing PvE content. Banks are usually found near Auction NPC’s, so keep a lookout for those as well. Also, once you have a housing plot – even if you aren’t going to use a housing item right away, you can simply store that item in your “Crate”, which will always keep that item safe at your house. Currently the Crate does not have a max number of items that it can hold (i.e. infinite house item storage).
• Every time you log on to Wildstar, stop by your house to pick up your current housing buff(s).
• Most (if not all) Adventures become accessible to you only after you complete certain quests. This is one great reason for completing as many of the quests in your current zone as possible.
• If you are trying to get from place to place as fast as possible, and taxi travel is not an option – stick to the roads. When traveling on the pre-built roads, you get a speed boost.
• As attractive as it might be to free up bag space – try not to salvage items! Salvaging, in its current form, does not reward you with good enough items compared to the selling value of that item when sold to a NPC vendor. In fact, most of the items you get from salvaging an item can be bought from various NPC’s like the tradeskill vendors – and for less money than the item would have been worth to a vendor.

Here is a list of tips from CrazyGenius on http://wildstar.mmorpg-life.com (see below). There may be a few duplicates between their list and my info above.

General

• You can get your first house at level 14
• Teleport button to your house is on the right hand side of the action set, where Recall button with an arrow is located.
• You’ll be able to edit your costume at level 7. Costumes can now only be edited at the Protostar Dye Specialists in Thayd and Illium, (you can also try typing /costumes in order to open Costum customization window, but it might be removed once the game launches). Costume slots unlock at levels 7, 14, 25, 35, 45 and 50, for a total of 6 available to each character. The total number available at launch is in flux, but there will certainly be more than 2.
• If you want to see past tutorials pop ups – Press ESC then Tutorials
• Where I can find a bank to store my stuff? Banks are usually next to auction houses.
  For EXILE: In Thayd-Fortune’s Ground, next to an auctineer.There is also a permanent bank inside a house in gallow and the lopp village. Settlers can make a bankbox 10 meters from the house in gallow.
  For DOMINION: Illium-Fates Landing (East part, next to an auctioneer’s house )
• Bank slots need bags…don’t sell off your extra bags until you use them for bank slots.
• If you want to get inlaid amps, you can buy them from AMP vendor in Thayd for Exile. Look in tech fortunes area. For Dominions look in Illium. Amp Vendors are scattered around the world.
• How to link a quest in chat? Shift+right click
• How to remove items from second action bar? CTRL+drag
• To turn off guild icon press P then edit nameplate display
• Shift+Scroll Wheel while hovering over a stacked inventory item will split stack.
• Taxi stations show up as white circles on the mini map when they need to be discovered (You can discover them by right click a taxi station)
• To preview the telegraph for an ability, simply mouseover the ability icon for a moment.
• You can make your character walk by clicking [.] key on the number pad.
• Recall – works similar to a Hearth Stone in WoW – you need to bind it to one of the portals located in large hub points to be able to use it first, once you’ve bound it you can teleport back there without running, when you move to a new area you can move the bind point.
• If you stuck inside a drill, trapped beneath a crate, or free-falling indefinitely, use the command /stuck.
• You can ctrl+right click items to preview their looks.
• When gaining reputation with a faction, Beloved is the max, anything over that is discarded.

UI/Configuration

• Press ALT+F1 if you want to see FPS and Ping
• On your innate skill (skill with R at the bottom) and the recall skill (rightmost skill on the central skill bar) you have little arrows that give you options like changing stance or porting to your home (if you have one).
• Yellow hexagons on your map are quest objective areas and orange hex are path mission areas.
• You can disable the channels in your chat frame by clicking the little spanner icon, then pressing the button next to Advice. You can turn it back on using the same trick.
• If you have problems with the UI, try /reloadui before camping and returning back to the game.
• Marking the option “Hold to Continue Casting” under Abilities Options in the Options’ Combat tab will prevent abilities like Discharge and Runic Healing from clipping.
• There is a key bind C for communicator that you can pop up to submit some finish quest.
• Ctrl+Left Mouse Button removes items from your action bar.

Paths

• You can activate your Path Action by pressing G key.
• Built settler stations can give you some awesome buffs or even offer more taxi routes.
• Settlers can build small camps with vendors and reputation quests
• When there are multiple settler terminals, you can get buffs from all of them.
• Active settler stations are highlighted with a sky beam.
• Explorer’s Scavenger hunts have both physical items you can click on, and items you have to Dig up by standing in the right spot. Pay attention to the meter on the Path UI widget. It will be full and a green ‘Dig’ button will light up when you’re in the right spot
• A small raised stone circle with cracked ground in the middle are explorer only ‘points of interest’ that will spawn random buffs or open up into otherwise inaccessible areas

Questing

• If you click the little number next to the quests name in your quest tracker it will open your questlog on said quest.
• You can use quest items by pressing T
• When you click on a quest title in the tracker you get arrows pointing you in the right direction.
• While questing, look out for special settler-taxi stations, those usually travel short distance to your current quest areas.
• You can get special weapons from named monsters. If you complete a mini quest connected to your weapon, it will give the weapon a special effect
• If you haven’t completed a challenge don’t panic, you can restart a challenge after a cooldown, in the challenge menu.
• You can restart challenges even if you achieved the gold medal.
• When you’re doing a challenge and you don’t know where you can find more of X monster, look at the map. Purple hexagons indicate the zone you can find those monsters or anything else related to your challenge

Mounts

• You can buy riding skill and your first mount at level 15 for 10g.
• You can buy Hoverboards at level 25 – price ~24g
• Advanced riding skill comes at level 40 (costs around 35 gold, increases mounted speed by 15%).
• Once you buy a mount, it goes into your inventory. Use it from there.
• How to mount? Press Z
• Mount button is placed at your bottom left corner. It is activated by keyboard button “Z”. There is a small arrow on this same button. You can use it to bring up a pop up menu with list of all mounts you have in your possession.
• Summoning mount takes around 1,5-2,0 seconds. If you move during this time, it gets canceled.
• The Hoverboard is the only mount that allows double-jump.
• You can use Hoverboard on water.
• The sprint key also works on your hoverboard
• Mounts can’t be used in PVP or PVE instances

Crafting/Gathering

• You can start salvaging items at level 8
• You can start crafting (tradeskill) at level 10
• You can right click on nodes to harvest them instead of attacking them.
• If you cancel mid-craft you lose all your mats.
• How do you craft a rune? At lvl 15 you got a quest at the engraving station. make sure to scroll down and do “show all”.

Instances / Groupplay

• Dungeons and Adventures earn you reputation with your faction
• The group finder has a button to teleport you to the instance, while in an instance party. This is quite useful in case you end up outside by accident.
• If you plan to visit the early dungeons / adventures, try to acquire some support gear first, because they are pretty hard if you go in with the DPS gear (either as a tank or healer).
• When you mentor down you can’t use potions above the level you are mentored to.
• You can gather a group and walk into a dungeon/adventure 3 levels before you can use the dungeon queue.
• Warplots require 10 Warparty members to be online before the Warparty can queue.

Additional Info about Stats: Wildstar Secondary Attributes

Assault Attributes

• Strikethrough Chance – This is your chance to strike through an opponent’s shields or personal defenses, mitigating their ability to deflect attacks. It is countered by your opponent’s Deflect Chance. Your current Strikethrough Chance assumes combat against an equal-level Challenger rank foe and is based on your Strikethrough Rating
• Critical Chance Chance – This is your chance to critically strike an opponent. It is countered by your opponent’s Deflect Critical Hit Chance.
  Your current Critical Hit Chance assumes combat against an equal-level Challenger rank foe and is based on your Critical Hit Rating.
• Critical Hit Severity – Critical Hit Severity is multiplier that determines the amount of bonus effect, healing or damage, caused by Critical Hit.
  This value is calculated from your base Critical Severity and your Critical Severity Rating and is subject to diminishing returns.
• Armor Pierce – All damage you deal ignores this percent of your target’s Armor.
• Shield Pierce – This percentage of all damage you deal will ignore your target’s shield and apply directly to their health.
• Life Steal – This percent of damage you deal will be restored to you as health.
• Haste – All class ability cooldowns are reduced by this percent.

Shield Attributes

• Shield Regen Rate – This is the percentage of your Maximum Shield Capacity that will be restored each Shield Regeneration Interval.
• Shield Reboot Time – This is the number of seconds that must elapse before your shield will begin to regenerate. Taking damage will reset the Shield Reboot Time.
  C-Resistance Atributes
• Physical Resistance – All incoming Physical damage is reduced by this amount. This mitigation percentage assumes combat against equal-level foe and is based on your Armor Value and your Physical Resistance Rating.
• Technology Resistance – All incoming Technology is reduced by this amount. This mitigation percentage assumes combat against equal-level foe and is based on your Armor Value and your Technology Resistance Rating.
• Magic Resistance – All incoming Magical is reduced by this amount. This mitigation percentage assumes combat against equal-level foe and is based on your Armor Value and your Magic Resistance Rating.

Defense Atributes

• Deflect Chance – This is the chance that you will deflect an opponent’s incoming attack, and is partially dependent upon the rank and level of your opponent. It is countered by your opponent’s Strikethrough Chance. Your Current Deflect Chance assumes combat against an equal-level Challenger-rank foe and is based on your Deflect Rating.
• Deflect Critical Hit Chance – This is your chance to deflect an opponent’s critical attack, and is partially dependent upon the rank and level of your opponent. It is countered by your opponent’s Critical Hit Chance.
  Your current Deflect Critical Hit Chance assumes combat against an equal-level Challenger rank foe and is based on your Deflect Critical Hit Rating.
• Resilience – All crowd control effects applied to you will be reduced by this percent.

Focus Attributes

• Focus Recovery Rate – This is the amount of Focus you will regenerate each second while in combat. This value is calculated from your base Focus Recovery and your Focus Recovery acquired from items and AMPS. Focus Recovery Rating is subject to diminishing returns.
• Focus Cost Reduction – The Focus cost of all your spells is reduced by this percent.

Pvp Atributes

• PvP Offense – All damage you deal to players ignores this percentage of the target’s PvP Defense. This value is calculated from your base PvP Offense and your PvP Offense acquired from items and is subject to diminishing returns.
• PvP Defense – All incoming damage from players is reduced by this percent. This value is calculated from your base PvP Defense and your PvP Defense acquired from items and is subject to diminishing returns.