Basics Guide
This page will serve as a basic how to play guide for Fractured.
NOTE: For any questions regarding the game you are welcome to join the game's official discord https://discord.gg/Bmz4WsHD2Q
Basic gameplay
While combat is a core feature, Fractured revolves around traveling and exploration specifically. This means you will have to prepare accordingly for your journey because the environment can and will kill you if you aren’t ready. For example, traveling over the mountains will require food, water, proper gear(for temperature/weather) and shelter(Note: Weather effects are currently not implemented.); without one of these elements, you will die. Fractured wishes to cater to both the hardcore PvP players, more casual PvE players, and any playstyle in between. Thus, they have created 3 planets where different combat systems exist.
These planets are Arboreus, Syndesia and Tartaros. Arboreus is meant to be a mostly collaborative environment tiered toward PvE players, with minimal presence of PvP. Tartaros is the opposite, with a constant PvP activity and cutthroat competition as its theme. Syndesia is halfway between those.
In the current version the planet of Tartaros is not yet available.
Controls
| Q,W,E,R,T,D,F,G | Skill bar |
| LMB(on ground) | Walk |
| LMB(on enemy) | Basic Attack |
| LMB(on object) | Interact |
| RMB | Basic Attack |
| Esc | Menu |
| I | Inventory |
| K | Skills and abilities |
| J | Book of knowledge |
| C | Character window |
| V | Crating and Building - Crafting |
| B | Crafting and Building - Blueprints |
| M | Map |
| S | Social |
| Blocknum | Autorun |
| Ctrl+hold and drag item in inventory | Split stack |
Playing on Syndesia
Syndesia's gameplay is based on trading, guild quarrels, city level politics and a minor presence of murderers.
PvP on Syndesia is allowed but regulated. Everything revolves around the concept of Alignment. Your character will be created as a Good character, with its name in blue color. If it is your first character you will also enjoy 40 hours (game time) of young player protection, which means that you can't be attacked by other players, even evil ones.
At a certain point you may decide to switch your alignment to one of the other 2 possibilities, Neutral and Evil. You can do so at a shrine in a city, and it comes with perks and consequences. Note that changing alignment will remove the young player protection, even if you become good again.
Your alignment will define who you can attack, what happens if you get killed and what affects your Karma.
Good: You can be attacked only by Evil players. If you get killed you lose your inventory and no equipped items. You can attack evil players, and doing so rewards you with karma.
Neutral: You can be attacked by evil and neutral players. If you get killed you lose your inventory and no equipped items. You can attack evil and neutral players without consequences. You can summon and loot Legends on Syndesia.
Evil: You can be attacked by anyone and can attack anyone. Attacking good players will make you lose karma, and if you are below 0 karma you cannot change alignment from Evil. If you get killed, you lose all your inventory and an amount of equipment depending on your karma. At -10.000 karma you lose your full equipment. Red players cannot interact with city structures, unless they are citiziens of that city, or that city has been declared as lawless. You can summon and loot Legends on Syndesia.
All alignments can loot and summon legends on Arboreus
| Alignment | Can attack Good | Can attack Neutral | Can attack Evil | Loses inventory on death | Items from equipment lost on death | Can loot legends |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Good | No | No | Yes | Yes | 0 | No |
| Neutral | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | 0 | Yes |
| Evil | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Depends on Karma Value | Yes |
Karma can go from 10.000 to -10.000. On Syndesia a character with 10.000 karma can apply to become a Bounty Hunter, which allows him to hunt Evil players for a profit.
Playing on Arboreus
Playing on Arboreus is similar to playing on Syndesia, except that there are no evil players who can attack you, so you are looking at a predominantly PvE experience. In addition, on this planet you will occasionally find the Primal Crystal formations. These have 2 purposes. They allow you to recharge the primal form of your character and in addition provide you with Energy Crystals, which are used to power up the stargates which connect to the other planets. In this video here, you can see how to activate a Stargate.
Playing on Tartaros
Details unknown, Tartaros is still not implemented in the beta test. You can check what is known about it from Developer's journals in the Tartaros page.
Character Creation
Character creation consists of choosing a race, defining your character background and assigning attributes.
Step 1 - Race
The choice of race is the most impactful you’re going to make in your Fractured experience. It determines on which planet you start your journey and the ruleset you’ll be subject to – something far greater than what you’ve likely experienced in other MMOs. Other than that, different race come with a set of advantages and disadvantages such as basic statistic modifiers and attribute variations.
Note: As of bo8g version, you can only select the Humans, the Iridra, the Chadra and the Erwydra. The missing Wildfolk and the Demons will be added later.
Step 2 - Background
The selection of the background gives you your first set of learned abilities. Since all characters can learn all abilities without restrictions, the background will matter for your first hours of gaming and then be quickly forgotten. That said, it is still a very impacting choice, since it will dictate your playstyle for a good part of your new player experience.
Each background comes with 5 or 6 abilities already learned, which generally synergize quite well, giving you a good start. Fractured is a game where characters start already decently strong.
Step 3 - Attributes
Once you’ve selected your race and background, it’s time you decide how to set your main character attributes: Strength, Dexterity, Constitution, Intelligence, Perception, and Wisdom.
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The selection of the attributes is a really important part of character creation. In Fractured you can change your skills and talents as many times as you want, but the attributes are carved in stone, with few and limited exceptions. What in other MMOs goes by the concept of "Class", here is represented by attributes. Be sure to check the effects of Strength, Dexterity, Constitution, Intelligence, Perception and Wisdom.
All characters have 6 points in each attribute and can then assign 30 points to them. On top of that, you will get the attribute bonuses of your race. These bonuses are quite significant. Keep them in consideration when allocating points. You can't put more than 10 points in each attribute.
When you select a background, your attributes will automatically be set accordingly, but you can freely change them. What you should avoid at all costs, is to select a set of attributes which don't match well with your background, because in that case your game experience as Intelligence 6 mage will not be great while puny goblins play soccer with your entrails.
What follows are the suggested attribute sets by background. Those archetypes are by no definition, "meta", "Best" or anything similar. They are simply examples. If you have no idea what to do with your char, just keep the default attributes given by the background. They are usually quite fine.
| Class | Strength | Dexterity | Intelligence | Constitution | Perception | Wisdom |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Gladiator | 16 | 12 | 6 | 14 | 12 | 6 |
| Pyromancer/Cryomancer/Aeromancer | 6 | 8 | 16 | 12 | 12 | 12 |
| Street Rat | 6 | 16 | 12 | 10 | 16 | 6 |
| Bowman | 6 | 14 | 12 | 12 | 16 | 6 |
| Druid | 16 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 10 | 16 |
| Commander | 14 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 12 | 16 |
Step 4 - Tutorial
Tutorial will teach you about basic mechanics in Fractured and its advised to follow it unless you know what you are doing. Also, the monsters that you fight there will be found only there, and they have a very fast respawn and are worth a good amount of KP, getting them to 100% before leaving is advised. Every KP helps at the start.
Note: If you are playing together with friends, you may notice that you don't see each other in the tutorial. This is normal. Each tutorial island allows a max number of players. If those are reached, the other ones go to the next tutorial island. To meet with your friends, just complete the tutorial.
Step 5 - Catching a horse
So, what to do after you are done with the tutorial? A good idea would be to catch yourself an horse. It will be incredibly useful to travel, since in Fractured the distances between places tend to matter.
If you want to know how to catch an horse, you can check this video
Alternatively you can go directly for the action, in which case go to the next step.
Step 6 - Your first mobs
Next, you will probably have to fight some mobs. Don't get the wrong idea from the very easy mobs of the tutorial, as soon as you try to fight real mobs, the difficulty spikes hard, There will be 3 kind of enemies that you are likely to fight as your first challenges: grokotons, goblins and animals. Potentially also bandits. What matters here is that you don't randomly wander around looking for stuff. The world of Fractured is DANGEROUS! If you simply wander around, chances are that you will become spider's food. Open the map and follow the Points of Interest. They are colored "?" question marks on the map. The green ones are what you can face for now. You can try yellow if you have friends. Don't try reds, they will destroy you. Goblins and Grokotons are green markers, go toward the green marker closer to you and you will avoid unpleasant surprises.
Goblins: Goblins are found on Syndesia inside goblin camps. There are 3 types of common goblins. Out of those, the Goblin Trappers are the easiest. They will throw a Net Trap at you and immobilize you, but their damage is not so high, and they die reasonably fast. Be wary though that they are often guarded by Wolves, and being entrapped in the net with a wolf on you can be very dangerous. Kill the Wolves first. They give you the Net Trap skill, which is very useful for archers and mages. The second kind of common goblin is the Goblin Enforcer, easily recognizable by the shield. These guys are really hard to kill and keep pushing and stunning you around. A bit bothering but not particularly damaging. Finally there are the Goblin Cutthroat. They are the most dangerous and are responsible for a lot of player kills. They will go in Stealth and then use Shadow Step to jump on you. If you ever get low on HP, they will use the Coup De Grace skill, which will do more damage the more HP% you lack, which usually means that you die. Never approach them if you are not at full health, and if possible kill them from range, they are quite frail. All in all, if you know what you are doing, you can fight 2 or even 3 goblins at the same time, but the situation becomes a lot more dangerous the more cuttroaths are on you, so stay sharp. Inside the goblin camps you will also meet Wargs, kind of big wolves. Avoid them for now if you are alone. Same for warchiefs and shamans. You will come for them later, or with friends.
Grokotons: Grokotons are found on Arboreus, and have a difficulty similar to the one of goblins. They tend to be a lot less grouped up than goblins, so they result usually easier. Grokotons come in 4 common versions. The archer version is the Grokoton Hunter. It inflicts more damage than a goblin, thanks to its Double Shot skill, but it doesn't trap you. Beware of their Spike Traps. The Grokoton Stalkers are definitely less dangerous than Goblin Cutthroats since they don't have high damaing skills, but don't make the mistake of trying to heal while under the effect of Lethal Strike. Then there are the Grokoton Warriors are a bit more difficult, they have several high damage skills and will make you bleed a lot. Finally there are the Grokoton Shamans, they got a few useful poison skills, but are not that dangerous. Contrarily to the goblins, you can also try facing the big Grokotons immediately. The Grokoton Sage is a bit resistent and likes to heal up, he will also cast a Globe of Spell Protection, making him very hard to kill for mages. His only damage is limited to its auto attack and magic missile. If you know how to handle your character you can take them out. Grokoton Chieftains are a good fight, beware of not going too low on HP or they will use Execute. If you can take some distance from them, you will break the Challenge link, making the fight easier.
Bandits: Bandits are yellow markers and they are a harder fight than goblins and Grokotons, and it is highly suggested to not go there alone. They come in a lot of different shapes, but in general they are more straightforward and less tricky than goblins, so you can fight them with regular means. The problem is that they really bundle up, and individually they are not weak. If you really want to fight them alone, you need some way to pull them from distance. If you have one friend with you, killing bandits is a nice way to get gold and a huge amount of useful skills. Put extra care in fighting the Crazy Pyromancers, those have an insane burst damage.
Any other yellow marker? That's a no. You are likely throwing yourself into a termidian nest or an elemental lair. That is not something you can face unprepared, no matter how many players are in your group.
If you have difficulties facing monsters despite this, check the Mobs keep killing me! section toward the end of this guide.
Things to know
Death vs. Unconscious
As with many games of its kind, Fractured used an HP system. In this game though, you don't die if that bar reaches 0. You get knocked down and become unconscious for 30 sec.
When this happens, 10% of your HP bar will change color and become purple. You cannot recover those HP through normal means, the only way is to rest at a fire pit (campfires will not work), which usually means stopping what you are doing and going back to a house or a city.
If your bar becomes completely purple (which means getting knocked down 10 times), or if an enemy player executes you while you are unconscious, you die.
These conditions aside, the only other general consequence for getting knocked down is item durability loss.
A rule of thumb when going pve is to retreat after being knocked down 4 times. Since your maximum HP decreases every time you get knocked down, it also becomes progressively easier for it to happen. You don't want to be left in the middle of a pve hot spot with 25% of your max hp left, it will result in being chain knocked down and in the end killed. That's the reason why the usual hint is to stay in the fight only if you have at least 70% of your max hp left. The PvE in this game can be brutal.
Hunger and Energy
Your character needs to be kept fed and rested. On the left of your HP bar you have 2 gauges, which are respectively hunger (left) and energy (right). Hunger depletes over time and can be restored by eating. When your hunger meter is in the green area, you gain a 10 hp/s bonus to your health regeneration, which will make the difference. If the gauge reaches zero, you become starving and your health regeneration is decreased by 20/s. This can kill you. Energy also depletes over time, but depletes at a rate which depends on your Constitution and on how much weight you are carrying, how often you are attacking and how many skills you are using. When the energy bar is in the green, you get a 4% bonus to movement speed, but if the energy bar reaches zero your character will be exhausted. It will be slowed down and unable to run. To restore the energy you need to rest at a firepit or a campfire. Some types of herbal preparations can also restore energy. Firepits are built inside houses or inns, so they are rarely available out in the wild. If you don't want to come back, your best bet is to build a campfire. You can do so by opening the crafting tab (Default key: B) and going into the blueprint section, where you will find the campfire.
To build the campfire you need branches and small stones. Branches are rarely an issue, you can get them from any tree. Small stones instead are a little harder to gather, especially for new players who have difficulties spotting them on the ground.
Trade
To trade with someone, simply drag any item from your inventory onto player you want to trade with.
When you do this, a pop-up window will show up.
Building a house
Building a house does not require being a citizen. You simply need to find a house plot which is not taken and claim it by stepping inside the borders and pressing a house icon. It requires 2000 gold to claim and further on 2000 gold every week for the rent. The rent must be on the house deposit, otherwise the house and everything inside will be deleted. For more details, click here.
Common Issues
There are a few common issues that all players experience when starting to play this game, namely;
I'm always out of mana!
Yes, mana management is hard in this game. There is no quick way to regenerate mana and it doesn't last as long as one would like. But there are a few tips which can greatly help you with this.
Talents
One quick way to boost your mana regeneration are the "Focused I" talents. Put 4 points in this talent as soon as possible, it will truly make a difference. You can check the talent list here Talent.
Imbues
The absolute best way to increase your mana regeneration will be the imbues. For this, you will need to somehow get access to an imbue table, so it will be the last of these 3 solutions that you can apply. How imbuing works is explained here Enchanting (Items). Tier 1 mana regeneration is a simple enchant which can be applied to all your armor pieces. These 4 enchants alone will give you 10 more mana regeneration. You can see a quick video which explains how to imbue:
A few quick and easy combinations for mana regeneration imbues on Aerhen are: Catmint leaves, which are plants you can find in the warmer biomes of Aerhen. You can replace this with a brain mushroom, a mushroom which grows inside graveyards, or a couple of spider eyes or even 2 zombie brains. Spider gland, which you can find from any spider on Aerhen. You can also replace this with 2 Wolf Teeths or a moonbeam flower, which is another plant which grows in the south of Aerhen. A couple of necrotic bones from the skeletons will complete the combination. Probably the easier combination is 2 spider eyes, 2 necrotic bones and one spider gland.
On Terra you have frog tongues and white cap mushrooms which form a nice basis for it. If you can find a Guzmania the imbue is complete, with just 3 reagents. Alternatively if there are Anthurium pistils in your area, you can mix it with the whitecap mushroom. This gets completed by either a Guzmania or 2 between Oleanders and Wolfbanes.
I need gold!
Yes, you need gold. Getting your first house requires those pesky 2000 gold, and crafting anything non primitive also comes with a gold cost. Gold can also be quite handy to buy that juicy stuff from a player's city marketplace. So, since you start with none and the tutorial does not talk about gold, how do you get yourself a bit of shiny currency? There are mainly 2 ways to achieve this.
Kill humanoid mobs
Killing is always the solution! In this case though, be warned that killing boars will not get you far (this used to be a joke, but we actually have boars now...) since no gold coin has magically found a way into their stomachs, and this is true for all beasts on the planets. Also, there are no NPCs to sell your trash loot in exchange of some easy coin. If you want coins you have to get them from the cold body of intelligent creatures. This means goblins, grokotons, bandits, trolls, giants, undeads and even elementals.
Buy orders
One much easier and less bloody way to get gold, is by checking the buy orders that players place at the market places. Many times you will find orders for stuff which can be easily gathered, like local minerals (coal or stone for example), plants, mushrooms and so on.
Mobs keep killing me!
Yes, PvE in Fractured can be brutal. As previously explained, after the tutorial the difficulty of the game spikes a lot. Your first steps out of it may be a bit hard, especially on some backgrounds. If you're a new player you should try to avoid poison inflicting monsters or kill them one by one as fast as possible. Here are a few tips on things you can improve.
Equipment... or not
Equipment is not the solution. This is a very common mistake done by new players. Getting a short bow will not make all that difference over your primitive bow. Even less for mages. Warriors will want to grab a metal weapon as soon as possible though, that will make a decent difference. In general though, if you want your character to become stronger, equipment is not your first aim. You want skills.
Skills
Having a good set of skills will completely change your PvE experience. A character skill set is made by 15 memory points, and out of the tutorial you don't get to use all of them, so you are not fighting at full strength. You want to grab those skills which make your build shine. There is no guide around for which skills pair well with which build, but if you ask around in Discord or in the game general chat you will get what you need in a matter of seconds.
Talents
Talents are a huge help. Especially the first 15 talents you get have a great impact.
If it isn't nailed down
You grab it. Plants, mushrooms, branches, stones, minerals... whatever. You receive 250KP every time you collect a new type of resource, so grab everything in sight, this will provide a nice KP boost at the start of your career, which will afford you your first talents. To "grab" a new type of tree you just need to collect its branches, no need to cut it down.
Friends
Yeah, sometimes you can also decide that 2 (or 3, or 4...) heads are better than one. In this game, the KP split is extremely generous with groups. Having another player in your group will not halve the KP you gain, but only reduce it by a small amount (around 10-20%). This means that the more the merrier. It is a lot more efficient to go around in groups. Groups between 2 and 4 players are the best.
Are you really going to fight that?
If you keep getting smashed by something despite all this, chances are that you are biting off more than you can chew. Check this list here. It will tell you the challenge rating of what you are fighting. If it is 3 or lower then you are fine, if it is 4 you better have friends. If you are reading this guide and you are trying to fight something of rating 5 or higher, you are way out of your league.
See also
- Bestiary
- Gods
- Schools of Fighting
- Schools of Magic
- System requirements