NEW PLAYER GUIDE
Pathfinder Online New Player Guide
v8 (Early Enrollment) / May 16th 2015
1
A Shocking Arrival
NEW PLAYER GUIDE
You explode into consciousness. An afterimage of a vast wall of pulsing ethereal light blinds you.
Every nerve burns for a moment as if you were aflame. Scents beyond description wash over you.
Your ears ring with the sound of thunder. With effort you force yourself to breathe and the air that
fills your lungs is icy.
You know who you are but cannot clearly comprehend your own thoughts and after a few
seconds the immediate sense of certainty about your identity fades. The sense of history, of ability,
of loved ones seeps away leaving only a lingering sense of loss. After a few breaths all you are
certain of is your name.
Vertigo strikes. You fall to your knees. You realize that you are deeply, profoundly afraid although
you cannot explain why. After a moment you finally begin to take in your surroundings. Packed
and trampled earth. Wood and stone buildings. Trees. The sound of birds and forest creatures.
You look up and see a campfire, and several figures watching you with great interest. Robed and
veiled they are mysterious. From some distant corner of your memory you dredge up the meaning
of the symbols on their garments. These are priests and acolytes of Pharasma, the Lady of
Graves.
“Am … am I dead?” you mumble, your tongue stiff as if you had never spoken before.
They come close and help you to stand. Their leader speaks. “No. Far from. You have been
Chosen, for what purpose we do not know, but our Lady bids us to aid you and others like you.
Death, it seems, is not your fate. At least today.”
“I saw a wall of light…”
“Pharasma’s Barrier,” says the Leader. “It is a new thing to us as well. Some see it, some do
not. All those who do cannot pass it. Those who do not are unaffected. It is a wonder, a mystery.”
“Where am I?”
“These are the River Kingdoms, a land far to the east of the Inner Sea. A great distance to the
north is the Worldwound. Many who travel through these lands are on the Crusade against the
demonic hordes that pour forth from it. This small settlement is like many in this area, a place for
trade and commerce and safety against the dangers of the wild.”
“Who rules this land?”
The Pharasmites share knowing smiles before their leader answers, “here in the River
Kingdoms you have what you hold and all people are free – at least as free as they make
themselves. This small town is under the protection of the Thornguard, who serve the masters
of Thornkeep, but they care little about anything other than ensuring that trade flows and the
Crusade is not impeded. Stay, or go, the Thornguard care not.”
“Why am I here? What am I supposed to do?”
“That my friend,” says the priest, “is entirely up to you.”
2
NEW PLAYER GUIDE
Attention!
Things you must know before you play:
1. The game will run on 32-bit versions of Windows but you must use BCDEdit to allocate 3
GB of RAM to user programs. See this link.
2. If you are playing on a laptop that uses integrated intel graphics you will need to ensure
you have at least 256MB of RAM allocated to the graphics system. This may require you to
make a BIOS change.
3. When you die, each item in your inventory has a 25% chance to be destroyed. Whatever
remains will be placed in a “husk” which can be looted by any player one item at a time or
recovered in one action by its character. Coin which you have in your inventory is subject to
this rule. Abadar credit (bank credit) is not. Visit Banks often to deposit your coin!
4. You can only have 3 characters per account. If you decide to delete a character it takes
24 hours for the deletion to become permanent and for that slot to be recycled. Be careful
about making characters just to see what they look like.
5. Do not train Rank 2 of an attack, cantrip, orison, or armor Feat until you have acquired at
least +1 or better gear matching that Feat. You will get no mechanical benefit until your
Feat ranks activate Keywords on your gear. (See more in the Activating Keywords section)
6. Bandit recruits, omega wolves and goblins have the best chance to drop starter weapons
when killed. No monsters or NPCs drop armor.
7. There are no NPC vendors. You should sell all starter gear you don’t need on the Auction
House in your starter Settlement, and you should buy starter gear you do need on that
Auction House. Selling your unwanted gear and buying the gear you do want will jump-start
the economy and make it much easier for new characters to get correctly equipped.
8. You can get a free quest pack with starter gear from NPCs in Thornkeep near the Trainers
at the Fighter College, Thieves Guild, War Wizard College and Temple, respectively by
accepting the quests they offer, visiting the Trainers they recommend, and returning and
interacting with the quest giver.
3
Troubleshooting
If, after trying all these things, you are still having problems, please email customer.support@
goblinworks.com. Before emailing, if you are on a Windows machine, run the “dxdiag.exe”
program. In your email, please tell us which version of the operating system you are using (the
version number, not just “Windows 7” or “OS X”). Explain as clearly as you can the problem you
are having. Tell us anything that might be unusual about your setup, such as using a non-English
language, strange hardware, nonstandard internet connection (i.e. a wireless cellular connection
or using a corporate LAN/VPN, etc.) Paste the output from dxdiag.exe into the email (our ticketing
system does not give us access to attachments to email). The more information you provide us
the more likely we are to figure out what is causing the problem.
NEW PLAYER GUIDE
Pathfinder Online is ready for your use on Windows 7 or higher, and OS X Mavericks or higher.
Earlier operating systems may work but are not supported.
You will need at least 4GB of system RAM, and 256MB of video RAM. The game requires
approximately 6GB of hard drive space. A fast internet connection is also required to play – the
game will not work over a cellular or dialup connection.
If you are having problems with frequent crashes, low frame rates, or disconnections, please
review these troubleshooting tips before contacting Goblinworks customer support.
1. Restart your computer - don’t just log out but do a complete system restart.
2. Run only one client per time per computer. You cannot log into the game more than once
per account.
3. Do not attempt to run the client in Parallels or another virtualization tool - if you want to run
the Windows version on a Macintosh, you must use Bootcamp.
4. Make your graphic setting “Fast”, and quit the client, wait at least 1 minute and then restart
the game.
5. Ensure that you have downloaded the most recent driver for your video card directly from
the GPU manufacturer - nVidia, AMD or intel. These drivers are updated frequently, often
more than once a month.
6. If you are using a computer with intel integrated graphics make sure it has at least 256MB
of display memory and make the necessary BIOS changes if not.
7. Make sure that you have downloaded and installed all recommended patches for your
operating system. On Windows, run Windows Update to inspect the updates available for
your machine. On Macintosh, open the App Store and go to the Updates tab.
8. We recommend running a spyware / malware detection software suite. We use Spyhunter
and we’ve found lots of problems that our antivirus did not detect or remove.
9. If you are using Windows, make sure you have downloaded and installed the .NET 3.5
framework and any updates to that framework.
10.If you are using a 32-bit version of Windows, make sure you have allocated 3 gigabytes
to user programs using the BCDedit command. If you need more information about this
process please contact [email protected] or search the Pathfinder
Online forum at paizo.com for “bcdedit”.
11.Connect directly to your router with a wired ethernet connection, bypassing wifi.
12.Make sure that nothing else on your local network is consuming substantial bandwidth like
video streaming (Netflix, Hulu, etc.), serving bittorents, etc.
13.Turn off or disable firewalls and virus scanners to see if they are interfering with the game
(and be sure to turn them back on when you’re done testing!)
4
New Player Instructions
Lots More Information
The Crafting Guide provides in-depth instructions on how to process raw materials and craft
Gear.
The Combat Guide provides in-depth descriptions of how the combat system works.
How to Move
W, A, S & D keys for forward, left, back & right. Q & E for strafe left and right. R toggles
automatic forward movement on and off. SPACEBAR for jump. While moving, Left CTRL toggles run
on and off and holding down left SHIFT makes the character Walk (and while Walking the
character doesn’t get the Attack of Opportunity condition while moving near enemies). X toggles
Stealth on and off.
NEW PLAYER GUIDE
Info for People Who Just Want the TL;DR:
Interacting
Right-click on NPCs and the doors of buildings. Right-click in the Inventory window on the item to
learn Maneuvers, Recipes and Spells.
5
How to Access your Character
Using Gear
Drag Gear from your Inventory to the Paper Doll to equip it. You can equip one or two onehanded weapons in the primary, and one or two one-handed weapons in the 2nd slots, or one twohanded weapon in either or both. Shields count as one-handed weapons. You can also equip two
different Implements (Holy Symbols, Rogue Kits, Spellbooks or Trophy Charms - used to activate
specialized character abilities that are not Feats), one in each slot. The “~” key switches between
the sets. Currently weapon and Implement sets are linked.
You must equip an Armor Feat as well as Armor to get the benefit of wearing Armor.
You can put Tokens and Grenades into the “Item” slots.
Keywords
Gear items have Keywords. Keywords have no intrinsic effect until activated by a Feat. Matching
the Keyword on Gear with a Keyword from a Feat provides bonuses.
NEW PLAYER GUIDE
I opens/closes Inventory. F opens/closes Feats (your character’s abilities). C opens/closes
Character Sheet. P opens/closes the Paper Doll. Left-click and drag & drop to move Feats and
Items between windows – weapons and armor to the Paper Doll, Feats to the Paper Doll and the
Action Bar. When you’re moving an icon the places you can drop it will become highlighted.
Training Feats
Feats are character abilities that you gain through Training. Buy Feats from Feat Trainers in
Settlements using XP that accumulates in real time at a fixed rate (100xp/hour) and potentially
Coin depending on the rank of the Feat you are training. After purchasing, you need to drag most
Feats from the Feat window to your Paper Doll (passive Feats) or to the Action Bar (Active Feats)
to use them. The UI will highlight where you can drag them. A small number of Feats are intrinsic
once learned and don’t appear on the list or need to be dragged anywhere.
To add or change Attacks, drag Active Feats from the Feat window to the Action Bar. Each
weapon type has its own Feats. You have to equip a weapon and make it the active weapon (use
“~” to switch between the two sets) before you will see its Feats in the Feat window. You can’t use
bow Feats with a sword for example and you won’t even see the bow Feats when the sword is the
active weapon.
You should not train an attack Feat or an armor Feat to Rank 2 (or higher) until you have
acquired a weapon or armor with at least one “+” and matching Keywords.
Achievements
Some Feats have Achievement requirements in one of seven categories: Adventure, Arcane,
Crafting, Divine, Martial, Social and Subterfuge. To earn credit for an Achievement category, kill
monsters with the right Gear: Arcane (Wands/Staves), Divine (Focii), Subterfuge (Short Bow, Short
Sword), Martial (Everything else). Also, earn Divine Achievements by killing Skeletons.
Ability Scores
Ability Scores don’t provide bonuses. Some Feats have Ability Score requirements. To raise
Ability Scores, train Feats associated with those Ability scores.
System Icons
The icons in the upper left corner of the game window control various functions. The House
opens the Control menu (log out, change settings, bug report). The head opens the Paper Doll, the
star opens the World Map, the wand displays the Feats window, the bag displays the Inventory,
the folded paper displays the Character Sheet, the chalice displays Achievements, the finger
displays Quest information and the Tower displays Company Search. The second Tower displays
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Combat
Attacks are icons in the Action Bar corresponding to keys 1 through 6. Icons on the top row are
ALT-1 through 6. The 4 actions to the right correspond to keys 7 through 0.
Tab to select your target. Move close enough to your target to use the attack you want to make.
The Feat will be gray until you are close enough.
The combat UI displays Hit Points (red), Stamina (blue), and Power (yellow). Run out of Hit
Points and die (you will respawn nearby and all your equipped items will lose 1 point of Durability;
items are destroyed at 0 Durability). Run out of Stamina and you won’t be able to make attacks.
Run out of Power and you won’t be able to use ALT 1 through 6 actions.
You can equip two sets of weapons. Use the “~” key to toggle between them. If you suddenly
lose all your attack icons, you probably hit “~” by mistake.
Some attacks apply conditions to the target. Other attacks capitalize on those conditions to
become more powerful. When a capitalization is possible, the corresponding icon gets a green
background.
When you kill a monster or NPC, any loot it drops is automatically put in your inventory.
NEW PLAYER GUIDE
the Company information for whatever Company you are currently a member of (Companies are
persistent groups of characters like Guilds in other games).
Harvesting
Right-click a Resource node to harvest it. After a few seconds a window will appear showing you
what you extracted. Train Dowsing, Forestry, Mining and Scavenging to improve your harvesting
abilities.
PvP
If you attack another player character twice within 30 seconds, or if a character you attacked
even once dies before completely healing, your character will lose Reputation. If your Reputation
drops too low you won’t be able access most Feat trainers or Crafting structures and the
Thornguard will attack you. Reputation regenerates slowly over time.
If you attack the Thornguard they will become hostile to you. They will stun you, then inflict
massive damage against you. You will die. Don’t fight Thornguard.
You get flagged as an Attacker if you attack someone without the Attacker flag. If you gain the
Attacker Flag, for a period of time (about 1 minute after combat ends) other characters can attack
you without suffering Reputation penalties or getting the Attacker Flag. Characters with red names
are currently carrying the Attacker flag.
7
Welcome to Pathfinder Online
Pathfinder Online is a game that is being developed in a unique and exciting new process.
Most MMOs take 5 years or more to make and when they’re released virtually all the core game
mechanics are set in stone. Graphics and the UI are polished. Discovery of how the game works
through tutorials and help systems are robust.
Pathfinder Online is being released in its 2nd year of development, when many systems are only
preliminarily implemented. You’re seeing a game in a state of development that most players have
never experienced.
The idea of a “Minimum Viable Product” is to do just enough development work to create a
foundation of basic functionality that we can put into service and begin generating input from
actual users.
The game has now reached that state. Early Enrollment marks the start of persistent gaming in
Pathfinder Online – there will be no character resets or database wipes from this point forward.
That means that you can give real, meaningful feedback on how the game will be developed.
We call that process Crowdforging. We think that the people who will play Pathfinder Online as
we begin Early Enrollment are the kind of people who love the idea of helping to make an MMO.
Yes, it’s a little rough around the edges. But the trade-off of being a part of fundamentally defining
how the game will work is worth it!
This game is constantly evolving and improving. We update everything in a process of
continuous incremental improvement based on the feedback we get from the community.
Priorities: Functions over Discovery
In keeping with the MVP philosophy our team has prioritized building functionality over making
those functions discoverable in game. You will need to consult various out-of-game materials
including message board forums, wikis, and various pieces of written documentation to become
fully informed on how all the game systems work and interrelate.
The User Interface (UI) has been implemented at an MVP level as well. It is functional but does
not provide much contextual information yet.
Based on your feedback and the Crowdforging process this will incrementally change over time
as we move toward a more polished and useful UI. Your feedback on these topics will be crucial to
our success in improving this aspect of the game and we welcome it!
NEW PLAYER GUIDE
The Minimum Viable Product
Life in the Sandbox
You decide what your goals and objectives are. Everything interesting that happens in the game
happens because players like you decided to do it. You will see characters pursuing all sorts of
objectives all chosen by their players. They may be working together to knock down an Escalation,
or ambush harvesters, or guard a group of characters moving valuable inventory from one
Settlement to another. They’re engaged in war and peace, commerce, discovering the world, and
building their legends together with their friends.
There are three basic endeavors you can undertake immediately:
1. You can become an explorer, fighting monsters in the wilderness and harvesting resources
2. You can engage other players in PvP through banditry, Tower control warfare, or acting as a
guard
3. You can become a crafter, converting harvested resources into gear useful by explorers
and PvPers
Each of these endeavors relates to the others. The Crafters need the resources harvested by
the Explorers. The Explorers and the PvPers need the gear the Crafters make to become more
8
The Power of Groups
The center of the game design is the idea that you need to work with other people to achieve
large goals and to accumulate power.
There are three levels of social grouping:
4. Parties of up to 6 characters - ad hoc groups that are not persistent
5. Companies which are persistent and can have hundreds of members
6. Settlements which are associated with Companies and could have thousands of associated
characters
Settlements & Companies
NEW PLAYER GUIDE
powerful. Of course you can choose to mix and match Feats in all these areas to make a character
that meets your specific requirements as well!
Settlements are large organizations comprised of one or more Companies and have a physical
location in the game world. Companies are persistent groups of characters somewhat like Guilds
in other MMOs and may or may not be allied with a Settlement.
Your character begins life associated with the NPC Settlements and a member of no Company.
The Trainers in those NPC Settlements are limited. To get more advanced training you need to join
a Company affiliated with a PC Settlement.
The PC Settlements gain expanded access to training based on how many Towers their affiliated
Companies control. Companies take control of and keep Towers by fighting for them.
Settlements and Companies are the center of action in the game. Finding a good group of
people to connect with will unlock a much more interesting and purposeful experience.
There are 33 Settlements founded by players currently active in the game. On the World Map,
they have “flag” icons. NPC Settlements have “star” icons. Thornkeep, the big NPC city, has 3
stars because it fills 3 hexes.
You can find out more about the PC Settlements on the Settlements page:
https://goblinworks.com/patherfinder-online/settlements
War Of Towers
Since Early Enrollment 4.x, Player-run Settlements engage in a struggle called War of Towers.
Scattered across the map (in hexes with a green Tower icon) are mysterious green crystals. The
Common Folk of the area have constructed Towers and low walls at these locations to observe
them.
Towers begin unclaimed. The Hex containing an unclaimed Tower has a 24 hour PvP window.
once a Tower is claimed, that Hex shares its PvP window with the Company that claimed it.
Companies have a 24 hour PvP window unless they are members of a Settlement. All Companies
in a Settlement share the same PvP window. The more Towers are held by Companies in a
Settlement, the longer the Settlement’s PvP window becomes.
If a character that is a member of a Company approaches a Tower and enters the walled area
when the PvP window is open a contest for control of the Tower begins. Every 6 seconds every
Character in a Company that is inside the ring wall (up to 15 characters) scores capture points.
When 1,000 capture points have been scored, control of the Tower switches to the Company that
scored the first 1,000 points and the capture game ends.
Once a Tower is claimed, the PvP window closes until the next day.
The leader of the Settlement determines when in the day the PvP window opens, and its
automatically calculated duration determines when it closes.
Players will care about Tower control because of how Towers affect character power.
9
Character Power & Settlements
NEW PLAYER GUIDE
The Settlement your character belongs to determines the max rank of Feats that your character
can use. If your character learns a Feat of a certain rank but later finds that the Settlement the
character is associated with cannot support that Feat, the character loses access to the Feat
temporarily until the character joins a Settlement that can support that Feat.
NPC Settlements cap your Feats at the lowest point - effectively the Ranks required to earn the
8th level of a Role Achievement (which are discussed in the Achievements section).
PC Settlements that do not hold Towers in the War of Towers system cap your Feats at a level
higher than the NPC Settlements but below the maximum possible rank. This enables small and
up-and-coming Settlements to remain competitive with the larger and more established groups
and gives them an advantage over the NPC Settlements.
PC Settlements that do hold Towers have a max Trainer level determined by how many Towers
they hold. Their trainers advance the Feats they train and support by 1 increment per 3 Towers
held. (Note: Trainer level does not correspond to Feat rank. Trainer rank is an arbitrary level
assigned by the game designers which groups training of several Feats and max Feat ranks
independently of the Trainer rank. So a “10th level Trainer” might train a specific Feat to a max
rank of 4, for example.)
Note: Beginning with Early Enrollment v7, Companies can build Holdings that also provide
training and support. With Early Enrollment v8, those Holdings can be Upgraded so that the
training & support is higher than that provided by an NPC Settlement. A character will always use
the source of the highest support possible.
Managing Characters
Options on the Character Management Screen
You can have 3 characters on your account. If you decide to delete a character it will remain in
the list until the daily maintenance downtime (9am Pacific). Please read this blog for more details
about Backdated XP, Destiny’s Twin, and Packs.
Training XP
You can set one of your characters to gain XP at a time. That character will accumulate XP at a
rate of 100xp/hour, logged in or not.
Click the “Set Training” button. This will allow you to select which character is accumulating XP.
When you are satisfied with your choices, click the “Set Training” button again.
Destiny’s Twin
Players who backed our Kickstarter may have earned a special perk called Destiny’s Twin. If
you have this perk on your account, you can designate a 2nd character that will also earn XP at the
same rate. This choice can only be made once, and is irrevocable.
Special Item Packs & Deeds
Your account may also have one or more special item packs or deeds included with your
account. You can assign these items on the Character Management screen, and you’ll be able to
access their contents in-game once you log in with that character.
Select the character you wish to receive the item, then select the item you wish to give to that
character, then enter the game with that character.
Once you’re logged into the game these items will only appear in the “All” tab of the Inventory
window. Left-click twice to cause the pack or deed to open or activate.
10
Names
NEW PLAYER GUIDE
We want to encourage you to be creative when you name your character. But we want to give
you some guidelines that will help avoid our having to ask you to change that name.
Don’t use the name of a character from a book, comic, TV show or movie that isn’t a common
name. Don’t use the name of a celebrity, athlete, politician, or religious figure. Don’t use a word
that isn’t kid-friendly. Don’t use a name that might be construed as harassing, hateful, racist, or
homophobic. Don’t use a name that you know is going to be used by another player. Don’t use a
name that might be mistaken for a part of the game. Don’t use a name that might be mistaken as a
member of the Goblinworks or Paizo staff. Don’t use a name that uses characters that don’t appear
on a US keyboard.
If we don’t like your name, you’ll have to change it.
We promised our Kickstarter backers that they could reserve character names but we do not
have that functionality implemented yet. If you find that the name you wish to use is already taken,
please contact us and we’ll determine if your Kickstarter pledge date gives you priority for that
name, and if so, we’ll arrange for you to be able to use that name.
Races in Pathfinder Online
The 3 races available: Humans, Elves, and Dwarves, have different starting bonuses. All three
races get some benefits to various skills related to crafting and harvesting. Dwarves get bonuses
to Heavy Melee attacks, and get a bonus when making Divine attacks. Elves get bonuses for
Light Melee attacks, ranged attacks, and Arcane attacks. Humans get a smaller attack bonus than
Dwarves or Elves but they get it to all attacks.
Physical Appearance
The choices you make about your gender or the way your character looks have no mechanical
effects.
Starting Life in the River Kingdoms
You will begin play with basic cloth robes and a wood club. You will have 1,000xp to spend on
Feats. You will enter the game at a small camp on the outskirts of Thornkeep.
The starter camp has a few NPCs that will provide tutorials, some starter Feats, and a crafting
facility for the crafting tutorial. Once you’ve completed the Tutorials you should travel to Thornkeep
where you’ll find many more trainers, lots of facilities, a vault for storage and an auction house.
11
The Tutorial
Slaying Goblins
The area near Thornkeep is infested with goblins. Seek out an individual or small group. Click on
them or use the tab key to target them. Move close to your target and click the Attack Actions on
the Action Bar, or use the number on the keyboard that corresponds to that action. When you’re
close enough you’ll hit the goblin and do damage and if you’re too far away you’ll be told so.
NEW PLAYER GUIDE
In the camp, near the cart is an NPC named “Lumberjack”. Approach and right-click to begin the
Tutorial.
You’ll be given some instructions on how to move and how to make attacks (the “training
dummy” is near the Lumberjack) and then you’ll be asked to go and kill 3 goblins. It is important to
fulfill this request, and to return and interact with the Priest to get your reward, which you’ll use in
the Crafting Tutorial.
If you accidentally hit the “~” key you will switch weapon sets but your alternate set is empty by
default - your Attack Actions will vanish if you only have one weapon equipped. Hit the “~” key
again to switch back to the available weapon set.
When you defeat a goblin it will dramatically die. Sometimes when you defeat a monster you’ll
receive loot directly in your inventory.
Be sure you switch targets with Tab as soon as you defeat an opponent. If your character is
taking a lot of damage you should run away and let your hit points recover - the goblins will only
chase you a short distance. If you die, 25% of your inventory will be destroyed and the rest will
appear in game as a lootable “husk” that any character can access.
Acolyte Tutorials
After you defeat 3 goblins return to the Lumberjack and right-click on the NPC. You’ll be directed
to talk to the nearby Lumberjack’s Assistant. Right-click on the Assistant to begin the next two
tutorials. Accept both the Feat Training Tutorial and the Crafting Tutorial.
Training
The Training Tutorial teaches you how to purchase Feats and how to slot them to use them. If
you have already purchased any of the Feats used in the tutorial, buying any other Feat will allow
the Tutorial to progress.
12
NEW PLAYER GUIDE
Crafting
The Crafting Tutorial asks you to visit the Woodshop. The small structure in the camp is a
Woodshop facility.
Right-click on the door of the Woodshop. This will load the Crafting Interface.
Left-click on the entry for “Introductory Steel Bodkin Arrow” in the Recipes list. When you select
it, the system will show you the components you need to craft this item.
Left-click on each ingredient. Items in your inventory that match this ingredient will appear in
the crafting area to the right of the ingredient list. Left-click on each ingredient to load it into the
crafting job. You have to do this four times, twice for both ingredients. When you have loaded both
ingredients, a new control will appear that will allow you to start the crafting job. When you start
the job, it will appear in the list of crafting tasks in the bottom right corner display.
(Note: Currently, ammunition is not required to use ranged attacks. You won’t actually
use the arrows you’re crafting in this tutorial while you play.)
After you have started the job, click the “X” control at the upper right or hit the Escape key to exit
the Woodshop. Your crafting job will work in the background while you play and when the crafting
job has completed the items you’ve crafted will appear in your inventory.
Get Free Items
Use the M key to open the World Map and click the Settlement button to see the Thornkeep
Settlement Map. Your location on this map is not currently indicated so orient yourself relative to
Castle Thornkeep. Press M again to close the map.
After you finish the Tutorial you should travel to Thornkeep and visit the Fighter College, Thieves
Guild, the Academy and the Temple. At each of those locations there is an NPC named “Pack
Supplier” for each Role standing near the Trainer (the Cleric Pack Supplier is just outside the
entrance to the Temple). Right-click the supplier to be given a quest, accept it, then right-click the
NPC again to complete it. You’ll be given a free Tutorial Pack with starting gear suitable for that
Role. The Pack appears in the “All” tab of the Inventory window. Double-right-click a pack to open
it.
You may wish to deposit the contents of these Packs into the local Vault at the Bank building if
you’re not interested in equipping those items. If you have these items in your inventory and your
character dies, all or part of them may be lost!
13
Combat System
Combat UI
The bottom center of the game window is the Action Bar where you’ll slot and use Feats and
Consumables in combat. The green controls switch between weapon sets if you click on them
(equivalent to hitting the “~” key).
NEW PLAYER GUIDE
The combat system is very complex. We recommend that you read the Combat Guide for more
details on how the mechanics function.
In brief, the amount of damage your attack does is based on a comparison of the attack power
you generate (plus a random number) vs. the target’s defensive power. Damage inflicted is scaled
up or down based on the ratio of the attack’s power to the target’s defense. Attacks are compared
to the Resistances of the target, with the Resistance used dependent on the type of attack.
If you take damage from an enemy, or if you use an attack, the combat status UI will appear on
your character.
The red portion indicates Hit Points, the blue portion indicates Stamina and the yellow portion
indicates Power.
If you run out of Hit Points you will die and be resurrected at a nearby Shrine of Pharasma.
Any items you have equipped will take 1 point of Durability damage. At 0 Durability, the item
is destroyed. Currently there is no repair functionality. Every item in your inventory has a 25%
chance to be destroyed, and the rest will appear in a lootable “husk” in game.
If you run out of Stamina you’ll have to wait a few seconds before you can make another attack.
If you run out of Power you won’t be able to use abilities that consume Power.
Sometimes you will see some additional icons appear on the combat status UI. These usually
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Targeting
Use the “Tab” key to switch targets. You can click on an object or character to target it.
When a monster or character is targeted you will see it’s combat UI so you can determine it’s
health and stamina as the fight progresses.
You can only attack the current target. Attacks that have an Area of Effect based on the point of
impact will use the target as the center of their effect.
If you target a player character you will be able to see more information about that character at
the top of the window. Mouse over the basic text to see an expanded information display.
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indicate that you are being subjected to some kind of effect – usually a negative effect.
Sometimes you will notice that the color in the hit point bar appears shaded. The shaded
sections are due to ongoing effects like bleed damage. They show you how much additional
damage you will take even if you are no longer being attacked. Sometimes effects on your
character will stack, but only the initial effect will display on the UI. So it is possible that you could,
for example, have several stacks of bleed damage that will be inflicted, but you’ll only be seeing
the first batch of that damage on the UI.
Moving in Combat
The normal move speed is “hustle”. While moving, holding down the Left SHIFT key makes the
character Walk and pressing the Left CTRL key toggles Run on and off. If you move within melee
range of an enemy at any speed other than Walk, you will gain the Attack of Opportunity condition,
which means that some attacks made against your character will do more damage or inflict other
negative effects.
Ranged vs. Melee
Ranged attacks can strike your enemies from a distance. Melee attacks require that you be very
close to your target. When you have targeted an enemy but are too far away to use a combat
ability that ability will be grayed out in the UI.
You can keep making ranged attacks even when your target is standing close to you.
The biggest difference between the two kinds of attacks is that ranged attacks usually put the
“Attack of Opportunity” condition on your character, which means that some melee attacks made
against your character will do extra damage. Generally, a character firing a bow standing next to a
monster using a sword will take damage faster than the same character using a sword.
Currently all ranged attacks including the casting of cantrips or orisons “root” the character. The
character has to remain stationary during the attack.
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Understanding Attack Actions
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If you move your mouse over the icon of an Attack Action in the Feat window or the Action Bar
you will see the description of that Feat.
The name of the Feat is in red. The Category of the Feat follows, then the specific name of that
weapon, and the UI currently shows a placeholder durability [0/20] which will be replaced with the
actual durability of the item in the future. Move your mouse over the item on your Paper Doll or
Inventory to see it’s actual Durability for now.
The Stamina Cost of the Feat is then displayed in blue.
“All Keywords” lists the Keywords the Feat can Activate, in the order they’re Activated (see the
Feats & Gear section for more information).
Cooldown indicates how long the Feat’s animation will play (actually the whole Attack Action
takes an additional .3 seconds for system overhead and synchronization with the server).
The Damage Factor is used by the combat mechanics as a base value that is modified by a large
range of other effects. You can read all about that in the Combat Guide.
The Range will describe how close your target must be before you can use the attack.
The last section, “Other”, notes various effects and conditions that may be applied to your
character or the target as the action resolves.
Note: Some attacks, as listed in “Other”, have an “area of effect” and can impact more than one
target at the same time. If the attack has an “area of effect” it will inflict its effects on everything
within the scope of the attack – friend or foe. Types of area of effect include: Area (12 meters
around the target), Blast (Short/Long, 60/40 degrees centered on line to target, half range/full
range), Burst (six meters around the target), Splash (a sphere around the target at melee range),
and Streak (a line from attacker to target).
You can slot a Feat onto the Action Bar when you have the appropriate weapon equipped and
active (use “~” to change which weapon set is active). Wizard cantrips are used with Wands and
Staves. Cleric orisons are used with Battle Foci. Cantrips and orisons are learned from Trainers.
Spells are learned from inventory items. Cleric and Wizard Spells are used with Implements (see
the Implements section).
Inflicting & Capitalizing on Conditions
When you slot an attack action Feat you will notice that it can be placed either in the first 3 slots
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Using an Attack
Once you have targeted an opponent and are close enough to use a combat ability the ability
will become active in the Action Bar.
You can either click the ability you want to use with the left mouse button, or you can press the
number key that corresponds to the ability. To access the top row abilities, use the ALT key in
combination with the number.
Your character will draw the corresponding weapon (if necessary) and you’ll see a brief
animation, then the effects of the attack will be inflicted on your target!
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or the second 3 slots. Generally speaking, the first 3 slots tend to inflict conditions on the target.
The second 3 slots tend to gain large bonuses when they capitalize on those conditions. Often
a weapon can inflict conditions that it can also capitalize on, but sometimes the game design
anticipates one character inflicting a condition that another character capitalizes on as they work
as a team.
If you choose to fight with a weapon in each hand you will only be able to use the first 3 slot
actions in both the first and second sets of 3 slots – the left side for one weapon, the right side for
the other.
Note: Equipping a Shield doesn’t make you harder to hit. Instead, it lets you slot attack action
Feats for Shields, some of which improve your defense when you use them.
Ammunition and Charges
Currently not implemented but planned for inclusion soon. For now, fire at will!
Arcane Spell Penalties
With Early Enrollment v7 we have introduced Arcane Spell penalties. This system is similar
to the tabletop RPG mechanic. If you wear armor other than clothing your arcane effects (from
cantrips or spells) will have a reduced effectiveness. Wearing heavy metal armor reduces Arcane
effects to almost nothing.
Watching the UI
The red portion of your target’s UI element indicates how many Hit Points they have left. When
that bar is exhausted, they’ll die. The blue portion shows how much Stamina they have and if they
exhaust it they’ll have to wait a few moments before they can continue to attack.
Remember to keep an eye on your own Hit Points. If you get too low, run away! Enemies
will chase you for a short distance but they will quickly give up and return to their starting point.
Sometimes you won’t be able to escape, either because your opponents are too strong or
because they’ve inflicted effects on you that slow you down. But most of the time you can retreat
when you realize you’re likely to be beaten.
Loot
When you defeat a monster you may gain some Loot as a reward. Currently there is no
notification of when you gain Loot and what you acquired. You need to check your Inventory
(press the “I” key) regularly. The Tutorial Goblins near the entrance to the NPC Settlements drop
no loot.
What Happens When You Die
If your character dies (for any reason) your character will reappear in the game at a nearby
Shrine of Pharasma. Left behind will be a “husk”, appearing in-game as a backpack with a particle
effect that looks like smoke to help mark it’s location.
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NEW PLAYER GUIDE
Husks
Husks are color-coded.
White/Grey: The Husk is in another Hex or its state is unknown to the client
Blue: Your husk, still has inventory
Red: Your husk, empty
Aqua (Light blue): A husk from someone in your party
Each item or stack of items in your inventory has a 25% random chance to be destroyed. If a
stack has more than 4 items in the stack and the stack is randomly selected for destruction, 25%
of the stack is destroyed. All the rest of your inventory remains in your husk.
If you return to your husk and interact with it you can recover all your remaining inventory with
one click. Anyone else who interacts with your husk can take one item per interaction cycle. So
bandits have an incentive to defeat you and acquire some of your inventory.
When your character dies a green pin appears on your minimap showing you the location of
your husk to make it easier to recover your inventory. The husk and the pin remain for 30 minutes.
If you die while a husk or husk pin is already in the game, a new husk is created and a new pin is
dropped. The old husk remains in game but the old pin is removed.
Durability
All the gear you had equipped will reappear with your character and it will take a point of
durability damage. When your gear reaches 0 durability it is destroyed. Currently there is no way
to repair damaged items.
PvP
Player vs. Player conflict is at the heart of Pathfinder Online. As you play you’ll find that
sometimes other characters will attack and try to defeat your character.
Characters can be flagged for unprovoked PvP. If you hit an unflagged target once your
character will get the Attacker flag which lasts for 1 minute. If you hit an unflagged target twice,
your character will get the Aggressor flag, which lasts as long as your character is in combat plus
30 seconds.
If you attacked a character without a flag and that character dies before completely healing your
character will lose Reputation. The higher the Reputation of the target, the bigger the Reputation
penalty. If your character’s Reputation drops below -2,500 the Thornguard will attack you on
sight and Crafting facilities and Feat Trainers everywhere but Rotter’s Hole will be closed to your
character. Like XP, your character’s Reputation regenerates at 30 points per hour in realtime.
Early Enrollment v8 introduces Feuds which allow two Companies to fight each other without
Reputation consequences.
The Map
Type “M” to open/close the World Map. The World Map has two modes - World and Settlement.
On the World Map you can hold the left mouse button down and move the mouse to drag the
Map inside the Map window. You can use the “+” and “-” buttons to zoom in and out. Your location
is marked with a black silhouette on a white circle.
On the World Map, Hexes with a flag icon are PC Settlements, those with a star icon are NPC
Settlements, and those with a lion icon are Monster Hexes where tough encounters are always
present. Hexes with a castle are especially strong Monster Hexes. Hexes with an “X” indicate
places where you can ascend from lower ground to higher ground (and vice-versa).
When you are in an area with a Settlement map, a Settlement button will be visible on the Map
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NEW PLAYER GUIDE
window. You can click that button to see a detailed map of the Settlement layout. This map is not
necessarily oriented on the same axis as the actual Settlement and it does not show your location
in the Settlement.
The bottom left corner of the game window shows the Local Map. This map will help you find
nearby monsters, resource nodes and other player characters.
If that Hex has an Escalation, you can mouse over the Escalation icon that will appear to get
more information about the Escalation in progress. If the Hex has a PvP window, you can mouse
over the PvP icon to get information about who controls the Hex and when the window will open.
Use the “+” and “-” buttons to zoom in and out.
Red and Orange icons are threats (yes, the Thornguard are threats – don’t attack them). Gems
are resource nodes (of all types). Black silhouettes on white circles are neutral player characters.
Blue silhouettes are members of your Party. Black hammers on white circles are Escalation event
locations.
Escalations
The world is a dynamic place. Many of the encounters you will meet are related to ongoing
events called Escalations. If left unchecked, Escalations become more powerful and spread to
surrounding Hexes.
When you enter a Hex with an Escalation you can help overcome it by killing monsters and
completing Escalation Events. An icon will appear at about 10 o’clock on the Local Map indicating
the presence of an Escalation. The Achievement Tracker will show you what Escalation Events are
running and what you need to do to complete them. Moving your mouse over the Escalation icon
on the Local Map will tell you how strong the Escalation is and allow you to monitor progress in
driving it to 0%.
Everyone who kills monsters and completes Events is helping with the Escalation. It’s a shared
success!
When the Escalation is defeated it will spawn a super-tough Win Boss encounter somewhere in
the Hex. Find that encounter and defeat the Win Boss to earn valuable rewards for every member
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of the party that kills the Win Boss!
The bottom left corner of the game screen is the Chat system.
The tabs at the top allow you to select where you are sending and receiving chat
communications.
1. Chat: All communications in Party, Hex & Local plus Whispers
2. Party: Communications with members of your Party
3. General: Text seen by every player on the server
4. Local: Communications from characters on the Local Map (useful for PvP) (Local and Hex
are mutually exclusive)
5. Help: Reserved for communicating with the staff about problems
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Chat
Click a tab to select it and begin sending and receiving on that channel.
Click in the text entry control to activate it, or hit the Enter key.
To send a private Whisper to another character, use the command /w charactername,
message (don’t forget the comma!) To reply to a Whisper use the command /r message.
Please be mindful of the community when chatting and keep all communication civil and in good
taste. Don’t use “gay” as a derogatory term.
Please don’t use the Help channel for general chat. Help is reserved for people who need actual
help.
Chat Security
People are listening on Chat to what you say. If you talk openly in Local or Hex chat about
what you are carrying, where you are, or what you are doing, you’ll be giving bandits valuable
information that they may use against you. Remember - someone is always watching when you
chat so only say things that are harmless.
Chat Commands
You can enter these commands into the chat system to produce a variety of results. Some but
not all of the commands require all variables in lower case so we recommend using lower case for
all commands. If a variable includes a character, company, or Settlement name you have to use
the whole name.
Command
/invite
Variables
Charactername
/leave
/kick
/trade
Charactername
Result
Related Commands
An invitation to join a party
is sent to the character. If the
character accepts, a party is
formed and/or the character
is added to the party. Parties
can have up to 6 characters.
/leave
/kick
The named character is
removed from the party.
/invite
/leave
The character quits the
current party.
A trade is offered to the
currently targeted character.
If the offer is accepted a
trade begins.
/invite
/kick
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/w
Charactername,
message
/companysearch
Companyname
/vccreate
Companyname
/vcinvite
Companyname,
Charactername
/r
Opens the company
search window
/vccreate
/vcinvite
/vcaccept
/vcleave
/vckick
A reply is sent to the most
recent whisper
Creates a new company
/w
/companysearch
/vcinvite
/vcaccept
/vcleave
/vckick
Sends an invitation to
the character to join the
company.
/companysearch
/vccreate
/vcaccept
/vcleave
/vckick
/vcaccept
Accepts a pending
invitation to join a company
/companysearch
/vccreate
/vcinvite
/vcleave
/vckick
/vcleave
The character leaves the
company
/companysearch
/vccreate
/vcinvite
/vcaccept
/vckick
/companysearch
/vccreate
/vcinvite
/vcaccept
/vcleave
/vckick
Companyname,
charactername
The character is removed
from the company
/settlementapply
Settlement,
companyname
The company applies to
become associated with the
settlement
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/r
A “whisper” (private
message) is sent to the
character. Don’t forget the
comma!
Chat Emotes
There are a wide variety of “Emotes” that your character can produce by typing various “/”
commands into the Chat system.
See this link for a comprehensive list.
Changing Keybindings
You can remap the keys used for all functions. To do so, create a folder in a convenient location
(we’ll use the C:\ drive as a reference) named PFOKeybindingData. From the chat system, issue
the command “/exportkeybinds c:\PFOKeybindingData\keybinds.ini”. This will create a file in the
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Gear
There is a lot of Gear in the game. In addition to weapons
and armor, there are tokens, grenades, Recipes, Spells,
Rogue and Warrior Maneuvers, and more.
Encumbrance
Gear has weight, as do harvested resources and crafting
components. When the Inventory window is open you can
see your Encumbrance. The more weight you carry, the more
the Encumbrance bars fill. The lower bar has no mechanical
effect until it is full. When the lower bar is full, the upper bar
starts to fill and the more it fills, the slower you move. If the
whole upper bar is full, you’ll be fully encumbered and unable
to move until you reduce the weight that you’re carrying.
When your upper Encumbrance bar is filling the Inventory
icon will turn red to remind you.
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directory called “keybinds.ini”. You can edit that file with any text editor and make changes to the
keybindings. Once you have finished making changes, save the file. Then in game in the chat
system issue the command “/importkeybinds c:\PFOKeybindingData\keybinds.ini”.
Wands, Staves & Foci
Wizards use Wands and Staves and Clerics use Foci. They
work just like swords and bows do. You equip them by dragging them from your Inventory to the
Paper Doll, making them the active weapon, and then you slot their Feats into the Action Bar. You
learn cantrips for Wizards, orisons for Clerics from Trainers. Actual Wizard and Cleric Spells are
cast using Implements (Spellbooks and Holy Symbols) and are learned from inventory items.
Implements, Spells & Maneuvers
There are 4 kinds of Implements: Arcane Spellbooks, Divine Holy Symbols, Rogue Kits and
Fighter Trophy Charms.
Implements allow your character to take certain very powerful actions. Unlike most other actions,
the things you do with your Implement consume Power (the yellow bar on the combat UI). Power
regenerates very slowly over time so you have to be careful to use those actions at just the right
time.
You have to learn the necessary Proficiency Feat before you can equip an Implement. And then
you need to find the actions that you slot into it either by killing monsters or buying them from
the Auction House or trading with other players. These appear as items (Spells and Maneuvers).
When you have acquired one of those items right click it in your inventory to learn it. Once
learned, it will appear in the Feats window as an Active Feat when you have an Implement
equipped that can use it.
Implements have “+” levels like other Gear. Some of the actions you slot into Implements require
Implements with a minimum “+” level.
You can equip two Implements. They are currently bound to the weapon sets and you use the
“~” key to switch between them. Eventually you’ll be able to switch Implements without switching
weapons (and vice-versa). For now, they’re linked.
You use an Implement action just like you use an attack action – except you hold down the Alt
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Recipes
Recipes are the foundation of the crafting system. To learn a Recipe right-click it in your
Inventory window. Your character will learn the Recipe if all prerequisites are met and the Recipe
will be destroyed.
Tokens & Grenades (Consumables)
These are one-shot effects that provide a temporary bonus or useful effect.
You can put a stack of up to 10 Consumable of the same type into the “Item” slots on the Paper
Doll. You activate a Consumable just like using an attack action. If you have a stack slotted,
activating the Consumable just uses 1 from the stack.
If the Consumable has a “+” value, its effects become more potent with each “+”.
You may have to meet a minimum Ability Score prerequisite to use a Consumable.
Currently these items are only generated as loot for defeating monsters and NPCs in the
wilderness and aren’t crafted by players. In time, player created Consumables like potions and
scrolls will be added to the game.
If the Consumable has a target of “Self”, it will affect your character automatically. Otherwise you
have to select a target.
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key when you press the number that corresponds to the action you want to use.
Implements consume Power (the yellow bar on the combat UI). Power can be regenerated by
visiting a Tavern or accessing the fire at a Smallholding, Base Camp or Campfire.
Clothing and Jewelry
Players can craft various clothing and jewelry items. They may provide Keywords that match
Keywords on Utility Feats which make those Feats more powerful just like matching a Keyword
between an Attack Action or an Armor Feat and a weapon or suit of armor.
Feats and Gear
When it comes to training and Gear Pathfinder Online doesn’t work like any MMO you’ve played
before. You need to understand how Feats and Gear interact or you may accidentally purchase
training you can’t immediately use.
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Slotting a Feat
NEW PLAYER GUIDE
Most Active and Passive Feats have to be moved to either your Action Bar (Active Feats) or your
Paper Doll (Passive Feats) before they can have any effect at all. A small number of Feats provide
an intrinsic bonus and don’t need to be slotted, like Hit Points and Power, and the Proficiency
Feats.
When you start moving a Feat by clicking & dragging from the Feat window, the proper location
to drop it will become highlighted. You have to equip a weapon and make it the active weapon
(use “~” to switch weapon sets) before its Feats will appear in the Feat window.
Activated Keywords
Slotted Feats “look for” Keywords on Gear. When a Feat matches a Keyword, the Keyword
becomes Activated. Inactivated Keywords have no mechanical effect. When you use a Feat, it will
vary in power and effects based on how many Keywords it Activates.
The UI does not currently have the ability to show you just the Keywords that match your Feats
so you have to understand the system to determine which are Activated and which are not.
Activating a Keyword provides a mechanical advantage. You can read more about those
advantages in the Combat Guide. In simple terms the more Keywords you Activate, the more
bonuses the character will earn. For Weapons, that means more damage and special effects. For
Armor, that means more Hit Points and more damage resistance.
Ranks of Feats
In most games you would want to increase the ranks of Feats as quickly as possible. Intuitively,
higher ranks mean higher power.
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Advanced Gear
When crafting an item it can be advanced. Advanced items have “+” values (i.e.: Longsword +3).
Keywords are either “minor” or “major”. The benefit of Activating a “major” Keyword is
substantially greater than Activating a “minor” Keyword. The Keyword names are just decoration,
they do not have direct mechanical effects related to their names (at this time). (i.e.: the Vorpal
Keyword does not give the weapon a chance to sever an opponent’s head.)
Weapons and Armor always have at least 1 “minor” Keyword. With each “+” added in crafting,
the item gains an additional “minor” Keyword up to +3. When crafting Weapons and Armor, there is
no current mechanical advantage to making +4 and +5 items. Those advancements will be used
in conjunction with a more advanced crafting feature that is still in development.
Gear has 3 tiers. All Keywords on Tier 1 items are “minor”. Tier 2 items have 1 “major” Keyword
and Tier 3 items have 2 or more “major” Keywords. Tier 2 and 3 items provide substantial benefits
in addition to their Keywords compared Tier 1 and you can read more about that in the Combat
Guide.
All Tier 2 Gear has the Masterwork “major” Keyword.
Tier 3 Weapons have one or more of the following “major” Keywords: Artifact, Avatar, Avenger,
Disrupting, Extraplanar, Hasted, Intelligent, Living, Slaying, Unstoppable and Vorpal.
Tier 3 Armor has one or more of the following “major” Keywords: Adamantine, Celestial, Crystal,
Darkwood, Dragonskin, Eldritch, Empowered, Fiendish, Mithral, Sage and Shadowskin.
Note: A +1 Tier 3 item may actually be substantially more powerful than a +3 Tier 1 item,
provided that you have the necessary Feat Ranks to activate the Tier 3’s major Keywords.
Note: The rank of a Feat does not indicate how many Keywords it Activates. Attack action
Feats have 6 ranks, and Activate a new Keyword with each rank. Armor Feats have 11 ranks, and
Activate a new Keyword with every other rank (and provide other bonuses on the alternate ranks).
Note: The 4th rank of the Attack action Feats Activate the Masterwork “major” Keyword, not a 4th
“minor” Keyword. +3 Tier 1 items have 4 Keywords, but not Masterwork. This means that +3 Tier 1
weapons fill a very narrow niche: +3 Tier 1 items that gain value from different Feats than their +2
versions which provides some flexibility to character development and equipment selection.
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In Pathfinder Online, each rank of a Feat means that Feat tries to Activate an additional Keyword
on your Gear. If your Gear doesn’t have Keywords that can be Activated, having more ranks
of the Feat does nothing.
When To Train a Feat
You should not train an attack Feat or an armor Feat to Rank 2 (or higher) until you have
acquired a weapon or armor with at least one “+” and matching Keywords.
If you move your mouse over a Feat in the Trainer’s window, the Feat Window or Action Bar you
can see a description of what that Feat does. In the Feat description in the line of text under the
Stamina cost you will see the order of the Feat’s Keyword progression. The first Keyword Activates
with Rank 1, the second with Rank 2, etc.
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NEW PLAYER GUIDE
If you move your mouse over Gear in the Inventory Window or Paper Doll you can see a
description of all the Keywords the item gains as it gains “+”s. You’ll see ALL the Keywords even if
the item has no “+” enhancement. The first Keyword comes with the base item. The 2nd Keyword
is applied with “+1”. The 3rd Keyword is applied with “+2”, etc.
For armor, the description often has two parts. The first part says “Grants keywords at all
upgrades:” and then lists Keywords. The second part says “Grants keywords based on upgrade:”
then has a list of Keywords. All armor of that type has the first set of Keywords. The Keywords
in the second list are Keywords and are added as the item gets more “+” values. The Peasant
Clothes you begin play with for example start with both the Organic and Clothing Keywords.
Achievements
As your character experiences the world of Pathfinder Online you will be earning Achievements.
These are received for doing various things like killing certain numbers of monsters, training
certain feats, crafting certain items and visiting certain locations.
The Achievement Tracker and Achievement Window
Click the Chalice icon to open the Achievement window. You will be able to see all the
Achievements in the game and your progress on each. The description of each tells you what kind
of Achievement you’ll earn for completing it. Finishing a level of an Achievement usually unlocks
the next level.
You can see your current total for a category of Achievement points by mousing over the
Experience Points on your Character Sheet and they appear in the Achievements window. Points
earned for levels of the same Achievement are cumulative. If you have finished the 3rd Level of an
Achievement, you have earned 6 points (1 + 2 + 3) of its Category. Category points are additive.
If you have 3 Martial points from Longsword Achievements and 3 Martial points from Longbow
Achievements, you have 6 Martial points.
If you click the pin icon next to an Achievement it will be added to the Achievement Tracker.
Clicking that pin again removes it.
The Achievement Tracker
The upper right corner of the game window is the Achievement Tracker. You can click the
arrow control to hide or show the contents of the Tracker. The game tries to determine which
Achievements you’re most interested in tracking based on your current actions in the game. It also
shows Achievements you have pinned in the Achievement window.
Monitoring your progress toward earning an Achievement can help you decide what your
character should be doing as you play.
Adventure Achievements
Killing each type of monster or NPC has its own Achievement. These are Adventure
Achievements, except for Skeletons, which are Divine and Hellhounds which are Arcane.
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Crafting Achievements
Harvesting Achievements
Each time you harvest from a node by right-clicking it you’ll advance an achievement of that
node’s category: Essence, Scavenging, Mineral or Plant.
Harvesting Feats have Harvesting Achievement prerequisites.
Weapon Achievements
Every time you kill something with a weapon you’ll advance an Achievement for that weapon
type. There are 4 Weapon types: Arcane, Divine, Martial and Subterfuge. The kind of weapon you
use to land the killing blow determines which Achievement type you’ll advance.
Wands and Staves generate Arcane Achievements. Battle Focii generate Divine Achievements
(as does killing Skeletons), Short Bows and Short Swords generate Subterfuge Achievements, and
all other weapons generate Martial Achievements.
You can discover other ways to earn various Categories of Achievements as well!
NEW PLAYER GUIDE
Successfully crafting items earns Crafting Achievements based on the kind of item that is being
crafted. Crafting Achievements are rewarded for the commonality of the item and the tier of the
item. Crafting Feats often have Crafting Achievement prerequisites.
Influence
Starting with Early Enrollment v6, Companies accumulate Influence points based on the
activities of their membership. Companies have a capped max Influence total based on the
number of Members in the Company. Companies earn Influence as their members take actions
that are tracked by Achievements. Influence earned by a Company above it’s maximum is lost.
Influence is used by Companies to take or build Holdings and Outposts - persistent playercrafted structures and to declare Feuds on other Companies. 100 Influence must be banked to
erect a Holding, and 50 Influence points must be banked to erect an Outpost. The cost of a Feud
depends on a variety of factors that compare the strength and size of the two Companies.
Roles
In Pathfinder Online you do not have a class. Instead, if you wish, you can choose to have your
character earn Role Achievements. These are a special class of Achievement that are designed
to help give some structure to players who would like some direction on how to make a useful
character.
There are Role Achievements for Wizards, Clerics, Fighters and Rogues in the game now. Over
time we will add more Role Achievements as we add new game mechanics.
You don’t have to earn Role Achievements if you don’t want to. You are free to mix and
match the Feats that your character trains and come up with your own unique list of character
capabilities. The Role system is entirely optional.
Trainers for Roles
There are typically 3 Trainers that you need for each Role, although the Fighters only need 2.
NPC Settlements have all the Trainers for all four Roles. PC Settlements had to pick two Roles
to support (or to focus on Crafting). Everyone can train at NPC Settlements and earn up to the 8th
rank of the Role Achievements.
Clerics train with the Dreadnaught, Seminary and Temple trainers. Fighters train at the Fighter
and Dreadnaught trainers. Rogues train with the Dreadnaught, Skirmisher and Thieves Guild
trainers. Wizards train with the Occultist, War Wizard and Wizard Academy trainers.
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Role Achievement Requirements
Cleric
1. Willpower Bonus 1, Divine Attack Bonus 1, Hit Points 1, Power 2, Focus Weapon
Proficiency 1, Holy Symbol Implement Proficiency 1
2. Base Attack Bonus1, Hit Points 2, Power 4
3. Willpower Bonus 2, Divine Attack Bonus 2, Hit Points 3, Power 6
4. Fortitude Bonus 1, Power 8
5. Willpower Bonus 3, Base Attack Bonus 2, Divine Attack Bonus 3, Hit Points 4, Power 10
6. Hit Points 5, Power 12
7. Willpower Bonus 4, Divine Attack Bonus 4, Hit Points 6, Power 14
8. Fortitude Bonus 2, Base Attack Bonus 3, Power 16
NEW PLAYER GUIDE
In addition to the prerequisite Feats you will also need to increase one Ability score by a
full point to reach the 8th rank of a Role. You can do this by training Feats related to the Role at
your Role trainers or you can diversify and pursue other training at your option. More information
about this prerequisite is provided at the end of this guide.
Fighter
1. Fortitude Bonus 1, Hit Points 1, Power 1, Trophy Charm Implement Proficiency 1
2. Base Attack Bonus 1, Hit Points 2, Power 2
3. Fortitude Bonus 2, Hit Points 3, Power 3
4. Base Attack Bonus 2, Hit Points 4, Power 4
5. Fortitude Bonus 3, Hit Points 5, Power 5
6. Base Attack Bonus 3, Hit Points 6, Power 6
7. Fortitude Bonus 4, Hit Points 7, Power 7
8. Base Attack Bonus 4, Hit Points 8, Power 8
Rogue
1. Reflex Bonus 1, Hit Points 1, Power 1, Stealth 1, Rogue Kit Implement Proficiency 1
2. Base Attack Bonus 1, Hit Points 2, Power 2, Stealth 2
3. Reflex Bonus 2, Hit Points 3, Power 3, Stealth 3
4. Power 4, Stealth 4, Perception 2
5. Reflex Bonus 3, Base Attack Bonus 2, Hit Points 4, Power 5, Stealth 5
6. Hit Points 5, Power 6, Stealth 6, Perception 3
7. Reflex Bonus 4, Hit Points 6, Power 7, Stealth 7
8. Base Attack Bonus 3, Perception 4, Power 8, Stealth 8
Wizard
1. Willpower Bonus 1, Arcane Attack Bonus 1, Power 2, Spellbook Implement Proficiency 1
2. Hit Points 1, Power 4
3. Willpower Bonus 2, Arcane Attack Bonus 2, Power 6
4. Base Attack Bonus 1, Hit Points 2, Power 8
5. Willpower Bonus 3, Arcane Attack Bonus 3, Power 10
6. Hit Points 3, Power 12
7. Willpower Bonus 4, Arcane Attack Bonus 4, Power 14
8. Base Attack Bonus 2, Hit Points 4, Power 16
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When you succeed in training all the Feats for a level of a Role Achievement a line of gold text
will briefly appear over your character’s head that memorializes your success!
Much of the activity in the game is driven by the economy. Players make, buy and sell most of
the items in the game. You’ll want to buy crafting supplies, upgrade and replace your Gear, and
speculate as the market price for everything fluctuates!
Coin
Coin is a virtual currency used throughout the game as the medium of commerce. Coin enters
the game as loot earned by defeating monsters in the wilderness. When recovered as loot, it
appears on your inventory list as an item like any other piece of loot. While in this form, you can
move it between characters using the Trade system and it can be recovered from the bodies of
defeated foes in their husks.
NEW PLAYER GUIDE
The Economy
Abadar Banks
Abadar is the God of Banks. His priesthood maintains a system of vaults throughout the River
Kingdoms. All Settlements have a bank.
When a character visits the bank (right-click its door to open it), any coin in that character’s
inventory is automatically converted to Abadar Credit. Abadar Credit is universal – the character
can access that credit at any Bank and any Auction House. If desired, the character can “withdraw”
credit and turn it back into inventory coin.
Local Vaults
The bank also provides storage in the form of Local Vaults. Items dragged from the Inventory
window into the Vault are stored at the location of that Vault until removed. The Local Vaults are
not connected. You will have to physically move items from one location to another by transporting
them to the destination.
Each character has an individual Vault that they have full permissions for.
Companies have a Company vault, a Company Secure vault, and will gain a Company Holding
vault in a future update.
Settlements have a Settlement vault and a Settlement Secure vault.
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NEW PLAYER GUIDE
Characters have various permissions for access to Vaults. A Character always has full access to
their own vault. The officers and leaders of Companies and Settlements can set various
permissions for various ranks of membership for Company and Settlement vaults.
If a character has the Withdraw or Craft permission, that character will be able to use that Vault
as the source for materials for crafting and refining jobs. If a job is canceled before it finishes and
it drew materials from a Vault, those materials will be returned to that Vault. If the job finishes
successfully, the output of the job will also be deposited in that Vault.
Auction House
NPC Settlements and some PC Settlements feature an Auction House. This is where you will go
to sell excess or unwanted inventory and purchase new Gear, crafting components, Spells,
Recipes, Maneuvers, etc. Look for the tents and market stalls to help locate the Auction House
buildings. Right-click either door on the Auction House building to access it.
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NEW PLAYER GUIDE
The game does not feature NPC vendors who buy and sell items. All the activity on the auction
houses is generated by players. The auction houses are not connected. To sell an item at a specific
Settlement you have to take that item to that Settlement and use its auction house.
Auctions are “Dutch Auctions”. The seller sets a maximum price and a minimum price and the
auction begins at the maximum price. At fixed intervals, the price of the item is reduced until it
reaches the minimum as the auction ends. Buyers wait until the price is reduced to the amount
they’re willing to spend. Currently all auctions have a fixed length of 7 days.
If an auction ends with no buyer the item is returned to the Local Vault.
Sellers pay a commission when the auction is successful. Funds are subtracted from the seller’s
inventory or the Abadar credit of the character as necessary. Funds (less the commission) are
deposited as Abadar credit when an auction is successful.
When browsing the Auction House be sure to use the various filters and use a search term to
narrow down the list of items you are browsing. Most players turn on the option to show only items
that have active auctions.
Trading
You can initiate a trade between two characters without using the Auction House. To do so, click
the character you wish to trade with to target them, then issue the /trade command in the chat
window.
Drag items from inventory to the trade window. Both characters can see what is being offered in
the deal. To complete the trade both sides have to accept the offer made by the other.
Persistent Player Structures
With Early Enrollment 4.x structures that players can build in the game world have been
released. Two are purchased from the Goblinworks.com/shop (Base Camps and Smallholdings)
and a third (Campfires) are craftable in-game.
Additional structures were released in Early Enrollment v7 - Holdings & Outposts. Holdings &
Outposts are craftable in-game and are built by Companies. To craft a Holding or Outpost Kit you
will need to recover Victory Markers which are dropped as loot by Escalation Win Bosses, as well
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NEW PLAYER GUIDE
as a wide variety of other supplies.
One Holding can be erected per hex. To build a Holding, any Escalation in the Hex must be
cleared, then a suitable location (usually found near the center of the Hex) must be found and any
monsters in it removed. Double right-clicking the Kit in Inventory will cause it to be deployed or will
drop a pin at the closest legal location in the Hex. Only Company Leaders can erect Holdings. 1
hour of realtime is required to build the Holding but the character need not wait during that time
and can continue to adventure while the Common Folk do the construction work.
Once a Holding is built the Hex is claimed by the Company that owns the Holding. Two Outposts
can be constructed in a claimed Hex. Note that Smallholdings count as Outposts! Outpost kits are
crafted in the same manner as Holding kits and are deployed the same way.
Outposts produce Bulk Resources based on the type of Outpost and the type of Hex. Bulk
Resources are consumed by Holdings and in the future will be consumed by Settlements. Bulk
Resources generated by an Outpost are automatically transferred to the Hex’s Holding every day,
but they must be transported manually from the Holding to the Settlement or between Holdings.
Holdings also have Trainers and Local Vaults and can be used by Companies who are not
affiliated by Settlements as useful centers of operation.
Read more about Holdings & Outposts in this blog.
Acquiring a Structure
When you have purchased a Smallholding or Base Camp it will appear on the Character
Selection Screen. Click the character you wish to deliver the item to and then click the item on the
list of deliverable items. Log that character into the game, and a deed for the item will appear in
your character’s inventory.
You can craft a Campfire if you know the right Feats and have the right materials, or you can
buy, trade, or acquire one through the Auction House.
Building a Structure
Click the structure you want to build in your inventory (have the “All” tab selected to find it). A pin
will appear on the map showing you the nearest location where the structure can be built.
If there are currently monsters in that area you will have to defeat them before you can erect the
structure.
When you are standing on an allowed construction location, double click the inventory icon. Your
character will begin to build the structure. As long as the character is busy with the construction
you cannot move or engage in combat. If you move or if someone (or something) attacks your
character a stun effect will be applied and the construction process will end prematurely.
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Power Regeneration
Local Vaults
Base Camps, Smallholdings and Holdings have local Vault storage like a Settlement. Like Vaults
in Settlements you have to move items from these structures to other locations - the Vaults are not
accessible elsewhere.
The owner of a Base Camp or Smallholding can access the structure’s private Vault. Members
of the owner’s Party can access a Party Vault. Members of the Company that owns a Holding can
access its Company Vaults.
To access the Local Vault at a Base Camp, click the entrance flap of any of the three tents. To
access the storage for a Smallholding, click the front door. The Vault access for Holdings will vary
based on the type of Holding but it will usually be associated with a door or a tent.
NEW PLAYER GUIDE
Base Camps, Smallholdings and Campfires have an associated firepit. Double click on the firepit
and your character will sit down and begin to regenerate Power.
Power is used in conjunction with Expendables - spells cast by Wizards and Clerics from
Spellbooks and Holy Symbols, or maneuvers from Fighter Trophy Charms and Rogue Kits.
Color Changes
You can set the colors of the Base Camp and Smallholding and some Outposts. Right-click the
red banner flag.
A color picker will appear and allow you to make your selection.
Tearing Down a Structure
If you click on the toolbox near the door of the Smallholding or Holding or Outpost or on the halflog table of a Base Camp the structure will be removed from the game or the Management UI will
open providing access to the Teardown function.
If you move during the character’s Teardown animation, the Teardown will cease. If you have left
items in the Vault a chest will appear that will allow you to remove them. The chest, and anything
left in the Vault will be destroyed when the server enters its normal daily maintenance downtime at
9:00am (Pacific).
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Restrictions and Cooldowns For Structures
Upgrades and Upkeep
With Early Enrollment v8 you are now able to upgrade Holdings and Outposts and Holdings
require Upkeep.
When crafting a Holding or Outpost Kit the Kit can be crafted with values from +0 to +5 by using
proper components just like any other crafting job. If the structure has a “+” value of +1 or more it
can be upgraded once it has been built.
Access the management UI for a Holding or Outpost by clicking the tool bench. If your Company
has enough Influence (100 per upgrade for Holdings, 50 per upgrade for Outposts) you can apply
an upgrade to the structure. Only one upgrade can be applied per structure per day.
Upgrading an Outpost increases the amount of Bulk Resources it generates. Upgrading a
Holding increases the training level and support it provides and upgrades its facilities. In the future
upgrades will have additional effects and features.
Holdings consume Bulk Resources every day. If they are not supplied with sufficient Bulk
Resources the Holding will become disabled (a note will be posted on the door indicating that the
Holding is disabled). Once disabled the Holding will remain in that state until it is supplied with
sufficient Bulk Resources at daily downtime to return to normal operations.
If the specific Bulk Resources required by the Holding are not made available the Holding will
consume other Bulk Resources at a ratio of 4 other resources to 1 required resource.
NEW PLAYER GUIDE
You can only have one Base Camp OR one Smallholding in the game at a time.
After you tear down a Smallholding you have to wait 1 hour before you can build it again. After
you tear down a Base Camp you have to wait 15 days before you can build it again.
Feuds
Early Enrollment v8 introduces Feuds. Feuds are conflicts between two Companies. To start a
Feud, a Company must allocate a portion of its Influence, with the amount based on the relative
size and power levels of the two Companies and the desired length of the Feud.
When characters involved in a Feud fight neither loses Reputation. In order to claim a Tower, a
Feud must be declared in advance against the Company that holds the Tower.
Once a Feud ends, a cooldown period equal to the length of the Feud must pass before the
initiating Company can Feud the target Company again. (The target can Feud the initiator of the
previous Feud at any time).
Ability Score Bonuses from Feats
To get the 8th Rank of a Role Achievement you will need to increase an Ability score to 11. You
can see the current value of your Ability scores on the Character Sheet. If you mouseover a score
you’ll see it’s full decimal value.
This is a partial list of the Feats that provide bonuses to Ability Scores for each Role. The
increase changes with rank. We’ve listed the first rank that a Feat begins providing a bonus and
the max ranks needed for Rank 8 of the Role Achievements. There are lots of Feats that have
Ability Score bonuses in addition to the listed Feats – these are just examples of the kinds of Feats
used to achieve the 8th rank of the Role Achievements. As examples, we also list Feats outside
the scope of the Role that you can consider if you’d like to pick up some generally useful abilities
outside your Role.
You are able to meet the ability score requirement for the Role Achievement up to at least Rank
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General
The Feats that are prerequisites to advance the Role Achievements all have some contribution
to the key Ability Score for that Role (Cleric: Wisdom, Fighter: Strength, Rogue: Dexterity, Wizard:
Intelligence). You will be able to get a complete +1 point of an Ability score by training Feats
associated with your Role if you wish.
Strength
Feats Trained by Fighter Role Trainers
All Axe, Hammer [Club, Mace, Great Hammer], Polearm, Longsword, and Greatsword Feats
provide Strength bonuses. The bonuses are minimal until Rank 3. Additional Strength bonuses
are associated with Fighter role features.
Feats Trained by other Trainers
Armorsmith, Weaponsmith, Soldier, Stonemason
NEW PLAYER GUIDE
8 by training Feats associated with the Role, as described below (assumes all characters trained
Escape 1, Thwack 1 and Toughness 1 in the Tutorial).
Dexterity
Feats Trained by Rogue Role Trainers
All Dagger, Shortbow, Longbow and Shortsword Feats provide Dexterity bonuses. The bonuses
are minimal until Rank 3. Additional Dexterity bonuses are associated with Rogue role features.
Feats Trained by other Trainers
Bowyer, Leatherworker, Tailor, Gemcutter, Weaver
Constitution
Feats Trained by other Trainers
Hit Points, Miner, Sawyer, Smelter, Tanner, Carpenter
Intelligence
Feats Trained by Wizard Trainers
All Cantrips provide Intelligence bonuses. The bonuses are minimal until Rank 3. Additional
Intelligence bonuses are associated with Wizard role features.
Feats Trained by other Trainers
Alchemist, Artificer, Spellcraft, Engineer, Jeweler, Architect
Wisdom
Feats Trained by Cleric Trainers
All Orisons provide Wisdom bonuses. The bonuses are minimal until Rank 3. Additional Wisdom
bonuses are associated with Cleric role features.
Feats Trained by other Trainers
Scavenger, Forester, Iconographer, Apothecary
Personality
Feats Trained by other Trainers
Dowser 1, Sage 1, Officer 1, Seneschal 1
Coming Soon!
For the next update (9.0) we’ll be adding additional functionality to Holdings & Outposts! And
Companies will be able to assign management roles to Company members that will enhance the
efficiency of the structures.
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Where To Get Help & Ask Questions
Our customer service team is ready to help you. Please email customer.support@goblinworks.
com and do your best to describe the problem you’re having and please note anything unusual
about your situation such as using a non-English version of the operating system, any network
other than a wired ethernet connection, etc.
During the hours of 10am to 6pm we monitor the Help channel of in-game chat.
Community Support
The community for Pathfinder Online is incredibly supportive of new players. There are a variety
of places that the community gathers to help and share information.
Goblinworks has our own forums that are more tightly focused on technical issues, news, and
bughunting:
https://goblinworks.com/forum/
The Pathfinder Online forum on paizo.com was the first home for the game and it remains a very
active venue for discussion:
http://paizo.com/paizo/messageboards/paizoPublishing/licensees/pathfinderOnline
One of the more advanced sites for in-depth analysis of the game mechanics is maintained by
Matt Knowles (aka Nihimon):
https://drive.google.com/?usp=chrome_app#folders/0B0THpTRVitJ7clFtVi1lZWptekk
Harad Navar has created the unofficial atlas to the game:
http://www.pfogis.org/
NEW PLAYER GUIDE
We are working on a system for transporting heavy loads outside of your personal inventory
and we’re working on the Outpost War mechanic so you can raid and destroy Outposts of rival
Companies.
Pathfinder University
A group of players is active in the game helping new players learn the ropes. They are operating
the Settlement named University Commons and refer to themselves as Pathfinder University. They
have complied a series of resources and are providing a Mumble voice chat server to assist new
players.
Resources:
Cheatle has created a guide to help understand Roles:
http://www.covenantofthephoenix.com/forums/topic/39542-pathfinder-online-user-guidewinformational-images-and-charts/
Pathfinder University has a guide to your first 15 days in the game:
http://15.pathfinderuniversity.com
Voice Chat
The Pathfinder University team operates a Mumble server with the following configuration:
Server name: golarion.mumble.com, port 3093.
36
Known Issues
NEW PLAYER GUIDE
The game will be off-line every day at 9am (Pacific time) for one hour for maintenance and
during that time you will not be able to log in.
If you are unable to log in to your account on goblinworks.com, and when you attempt to
recover the password using your email address you get an error message, please email customer.
[email protected].
If you become stuck and unable to move due to a hole or obstruction in the terrain, please ask
for help in the Help channel, or email [email protected].
You need to close the game after creating a character, start it again, log in, and then you can
assign various Packs that you may have on your account to that character.
Currently the system does not return more than 50 results for searches in the Company Search
window. If you cannot find who you are looking for, make your search more specific.
If you see a section of the terrain disappear, or observe other visual anomalies, you are likely
experiencing the first signs of a desynchronization with the server. You should quit the game, wait
a minute, then start it again.
If your client crashes and when you try to log in again you are stuck on the “Waiting for
character...” screen, your character has become disconnected from the map server. A script runs
every hour at the start of the hour to fix this problem. You must be logged out of your account (not
playing an alt) when the script runs in order for your character to be fixed.
Players using Macintosh computers report a variety of problems including frequent crashes
and instabilities. We recommend playing the game on “Fast” settings, in windowed mode, with
the window sized to about 1/3rd of the screen size to reduce these problems while we work on
improving stability of the Macintosh client.
There are no notifications for Feuds yet so please monitor the Feuds tab in the Alliances section
of your Company Info panel regularly.
Known Bugs
You cannot “/whisper” to a character with 3 names.
Some accounts are not able to receive delivery of Smallholdings and Base Camps. If you are
affected by this problem please email [email protected] for more help.
Charge and effects that act like Charge do not work as intended. The client & server do not yet
have the ability to negotiate the correct locations between charging character and target to make
these functions work as intended. In addition, some players report that using Charge type effects
creates the “Waiting for character...” problem described above.
You cannot apply a healing effect to a character that is flagged (has a Red name).
Evade, Knockback & Knockdown effects do not work correctly against monsters and NPCs.
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© 2011—2015 Goblinworks, Inc. Pathfinder is a Registered Trademark and Pathfinder Online is a Trademark of Paizo, Inc. used under license