Beginners Guide

So you're new to Tabula Rasa and wandering around in confusion? Don't worry, the Tabula Rasa Wiki will show the the ropes and lead you through the first few steps of installation, setup, and gameplay.

Software installation
Before you will be able to participate in the beta test of Tabula Rasa, you will need to download and install the game client.

Download and run the Tabula Rasa Installer
The Tabula Rasa installer is a small client downloader program available from the Tabula Rasa FTP site ( ftp.playtr.com ) that will automatically download and install the correct version of the client. The client is approximately 3GB in size and may take several hours to download depending on the speed of your Internet connection. It is important to ensure that there is enough space on the drive to which the client is downloaded. (After the final installation and upon running the game, any patches released since the installer version was created will be downloaded as well. The final disk space requirement then is about 4 GB.)

Other options available in the downloader are available by clicking the Options button. Options include the ability to run the installer automatically when the download is complete, finish the download at a later time, configuring proxy server settings, and viewing the Tabula Rasa web site.

If you keep the default setting of "Run This Program When Done" in the Options menu, the installer will automatically install Tabula Rasa upon completion of the download. If the option is turned off, you will need to run the downloaded client installation file manually from the "Save to" location specified in the initial download screen.

Installing Tabula Rasa and the PlayNC Launcher
Once the client download is complete, if the "Run This Program When Done" option remains selected, the client installation program will automatically be launched. If it is not, run the downloaded install_tabula_rasa_version.exe file manually. This will extract the CAB files to your temporary files folder.

Important Note: If you do not have sufficient disk space in your temporary files folder, the setup will fail. Remember, over 3GB is required for the installation. If you do not have this much space on the filesystem that holds temporary files, either change the location of the temporary files folder in your Windows environment variables or use an extraction tool such as the free and open source tool 7-zip.

After extraction, the setup will run automatically. Follow the on-screen instructions.

Important Note: When prompted to chose a language, chose English. Other languages are not yet functional in the beta test version of the client and will cause the game to crash.

It is recommended to choose "Express setup". You must accept the User Agreement to proceed with installation. After Tabula Rasa has been installed, the PlayNC Launcher will be installed automatically. Choose an installation destination folder and click "Next".

Patching
Every time Tabula Rasa is launched, the launcher will automatically check with the game server to see if there is an updated version of the client available. If there is, the updates will be downloaded and automatically installed before the game starts.

Alternatively, the PlayNC Launcher may be run as a background task that appears in the system tray. The launcher contains an option to automatically download and install updates while the computer is idle. Note that the PlayNC Launcher will update all NCsoft games when automatic updates are enabled.

Play NC master account


In order to be able to activate your account for Tabula Rasa, you must first set up a master account at PlayNC, the internet gaming portal of NCsoft, or, if you already have an account from other NCsoft games like Lineage II, Guild Wars or City of Heroes, log into it.

To do so, go to http://www.plaync.com and click the "Account" link in the menu on the left. Alternatively, enter this url manualy or simply click it: https://secure.plaync.com/cgi-bin/plaync_login.pl?language=en-gb

If you don't have an account yet, click the "Create Account" button on the right. After you have set up your master account, or if you already had an account before, log into it by entering your account name and password on the left.

Tabula Rasa account
After you've logged into your master account you may set up your Tabula Rasa account by clicking the "Use a serial code" link in the menu on the left. Enter the serial code that you received from NCsoft via email. It is a "standard PlayNC code (20 digits)".

Login
Open the PlayNC launcher and select Tabula Rasa from the list of games, after that just press Play Now to start, it wi Once the videos have played you will be presented with the Code of Conduct (Non Disclosure Agreement for betaperiod) and End User License Agreement(EULA) on which you have to read and accept both and will then be brought to a login screen where you type in the username and password that you chose when creating the account, after this you press Login and it will bring you to the character creation process explained further on in this section.

There is an option to save your username, that is only recomended if you are playing on your own computer.

Character creation


During character creation you will choose a first name and a last name. Be carefull here, as your last name will be you global name, and used with all your characters you make on this account from the first character to the last one. So, choose your last name wisely.

Also, you will have a few options for changing the following:
 * Race (See Hybrid for information on unlocking the other races)
 * Male/Female
 * Character Size (from small to large)
 * Face and what type of face wear you want if any.
 * Hair style
 * Armor types to start out with for Torso, Hands. Legs, and Feet

For all of these options you can choose various colors or just randomize the whole character including your names.

Game options
Game Options are as Follows:
 * Video
 * Audio
 * Game (which controls various in-game functions)
 * Key Bindings (aka Key Mapping)

Chat Commands and Emotes
See also Emotes

Chat Commands:
 * /clan (also /c)
 * /squad (also /sq, /g, or /p)
 * /say or /local (also /s or /l)
 * /tell [player's last name] (also /w [player's last name])
 * /# (where # is a number; it represents a channel specific to the area you are in)

Voice Chat
Voice chat is a great way to interact with members of your squad. In order to activate voice chat, everyone in your squad who you want to hear you, must go to options, and game and enable voice chat for them to hear it. Once this is done the hot key for the chat is 'v'. Just hit 'v' and chat. (Remember to release 'v' when you are done talking!)

Mouse Modes
Your mouse performs two main functions: Moving your targeting reticle (crosshairs) around, and moving a standard pointer around your UI. Until I find more official names for those modes I'll call them "aiming mode" and "pointer mode". If you have any windows open (log entries, backpack, etc) or if you have your UI tree visible (from holding down CTRL) you'll be in pointer mode. Otherwise, you'll be in aiming mode.

Controls
Key bindings Basic Controls and Keyboard Defaults

Movement

W - Forward A - Left S - Backward D - Right W + A - Forward Left W + D - Forward Right S + A - Backward Left S + D - Backward Right Z - toggle walk/run Space - Jump Num Lock - Auto-Run

UI

T - Use CTRL - Hold for Radial Menu Q - Cycles weapon drawer E - Cycles ability drawer Enter - Chat Right Mouse - Equip item CTRL + Q - Quit V - Hold for Voice Chat Scroll Wheel - Camera Zoom

Combat

F - Melee R - Reload Left-Mouse - Fire Weapon Right Mouse - Click and Hold to target ability. Release to fire. Tab - Lock-on Target C - Crouch 1-5[/] - Switch Weapons 6-0 - Switch Abilities q - Next Weapon e - Next Power

If you get stuck - type /stuck and wait 45 seconds.

Tutorial
For the tutorial, please see Basic Training 101

Weapons & Fighting

 * Early on it is a good idea to use rifles and shotgun as they will give you the most damage per bullet. Even if you have access to machine gun type weapons the starter type weapons are still great until you can afford to use ammo without restrictions.  Rifles are great for single target and shotguns for clusters of mobs.
 * Another combination which works for taking out early mobs with very little use of ammo is to use lightning on the mob and then rush it. Once you run up to it start using your melee attack which should take them down in 2-4 attacks.  Following this tactic, most of the early mobs might not even get one attack on you except for any attacks it got before you hit them with your lightning.  Works well for most mobs unless you're fighting some of the early named mobs from some of the quests.

Cloning
A clone essentially makes a copy of your character. On the new character, you can change:


 * Gender


 * Appearance


 * Skill Points


 * Attributes

You can't change / these will persist on the clone:


 * Level and class


 * Logos symbols gained


 * Quests completed

When to clone? Basically, you'd want to clone to backpedal on choices you couldn't otherwise reverse:


 * Before spending attribute points


 * Before picking a new tier (at the end of level 4 / 14 / 29)

NOTE: Once above is done, you could of course log on the clone, and pick the other tier choice - ending up with final clones at levels 5, 15, 30.

Some players feel cloning at level 5 is not recommended, as the tutorial bypass mission gets you to level 4. They argue it is much more useful to save the clone credit for later. To "save" the clone point, clone your character before receiving the clone credit from the the next tier choice (for example: cloning at level 14.9, not 14.99999). This allows your main and your clone to receive a clone credit from advancing to the tier. With these clone credits repeat the process at level 29.9 (before the level 30 tier choice). The goal is to end up with an unused clone credit on all all your characters after they have reached level 30.

Character Storage
Character Storage in this game is a footlocker which can store any item your character can carry including credits. The footlocker is global, and therefore is common among all your characters on your account. If you place an item in the footlocker on character A, then character B can get it as long as they are on the same account. Even if you delete all your characters your footlocker will still retain its items.

Grouping
There are three ways to invite to a group: The manual command /invite (Name); right-clicking on a friend you added to your friends list; or by pressing the CTRL button and using the player options on the radial menu when standing next to the person you want to invite to your squad.

Manual Commands for Squads
 * /squad [message]: Sends message to the squad channel where everyone in the current squad can see it.
 * /disband: Removes all members from a squad.
 * /invite [playername]: Invite playername to join your squad.
 * /kick [playername]: Kick playername out of your squad.
 * /leave: Leave your current squad. This will also remove you from an instance.

Friends List
Adding another player to your friends list adds their Global Username. So no matter what character they are on, they will appear on your friends list. In order to add someone to your friends list all you need to do is click your friends list to open it, click Add Friend, and type only your friends last name. You do not use their full name or their first name.

Clans
Clans are a group of people who join together as a group under one name. As of right now there aren't many options for clans, however they are a good way to find people you are familiar with and like grouping with besides your friends menu.

In order to form a clan press CTRL and use the radial menu player options next to whomever you want to invite.

There are currently only 4 ranks in a clan for you to edit and use at one time, and only one clan leader at any given time. So, there can not ever be more than one clan leader. Everyone else in the clan can be promoted amongst the other 3 ranks as you see fit.

Manual Commands for Clans
 * /clan message: Sends message to the clan chat channel where everyone in the clan can see it. (Synonyms: c)
 * /clandisband: Disband the clan. (Synonyms: disbandclan)
 * /claninvite playername: Invite playername to join the clan.
 * /clankick playername: Remove playername from the clan.
 * /clanleave: Leave the clan.

Clan Listings
You can find the offical Clan Listings in the community section of the Tabula Rasa website

Misc. Info.
For more info on various other topics, see also Guides