Your standing in the game, known as level, is based on how many experience
points (XP) you have earned.  Experience is occasionally gained by
completing quests, but you generally earn XP by combatting game-generated
characters known as mobiles or mobs.

When you are ready to try out combat, the most important thing to keep in
mind is that you start out as one of the weakest characters in the game. 
You must carefully choose your opponents, or you are likely to quickly die,
losing XP and leaving your equipment behind in a corpse that you'll have to
retrieve.  To see how you would probably fare in a fight with a particular
mob, type `consider <mob name>'.

For example `consider city guard' will return:

    A city guard is a mighty warrior.  You ARE mad!

The "You ARE mad!" is an indication that you might not want to mess with
him.  On the other hand, "consider lamplighter" offers "A worthy opponent.",
which might be more your size.

There are many combat skills available, and they vary depending on the
class you selected when you created your character.  Before you think about
getting into combat, you'll want to visit your guild and `practice' skills
or spells which will help you in combat.  After you have done this, the
commands `skills' or `spells' will offer you a list.

The simplest way to enter combat is with the `kill' command, after which you
and your opponent will attack each other every few seconds until one of you
dies or flees.  You'll also want to try out any combat skills or offensive
spells you have.

As you fight, you'll want to keep an eye on your prompt.  For example:

    43H 60M 87X Exits:NSU>

This example shows 43 hit points, which go down as you are injured in
combat.  If they reach 0, your character will die.  Also shown are 60
movement points, needed to move from room to room, that this character has
87% of his XP needed to level, and his available exits are north, south, and
up.

By default, your character has wimpy enabled, which will cause it to try to
flee when your hit points get below 25.  (See `help wimpy`.)   If you are
getting killed quickly and want to leave combat immediately, use the `flee'
command (or the shorter `f').

After you are done fighting, you'll want to regain 100 hitpoints before you
get into combat again, and `rest' or `sleep' are the fastest way to regain
points.  Be sure to not stay hungry or thirsty for very long, as you won't
regain points quickly if you are.  Bread is available in the temple or from
various shops around the city (such as `buy pie' from Naryas while in Market
Square, if you have money), and you can refill your waterskins in the
fountain for free with `fill waterskin from fountain'.

As you are starting out, you'll want to stick to killing things in the park
in Mareldja and the low-level mobs around the city.

After you have earned 100% of the XP needed, you can stand before your guild
master with pride, and `train' to achieve your next level.

See Also: XP, Consider, Practice, Train, Kill, Prompt, Wimpy, Flee, Rest, Sleep, Buy, Fill

such as "spell" or "MUD Basics"