RF Online Info: Articles: Beginner's Guide
So you've created your first RF Online character - what now?
Controls
Well, to begin with, get a handle on the controls. The in-game tutorial gives you a quick run-through of the basic controls, but if you skip it, probably the most important thing to understand about RF Online's controls is that there are two movement modes: Point-Click movement and WASD movement. In Point-Click movement, you just click on a spot and your character moves there. In WASD movement, you use the W,A,S, and D keys for movement. You can alternate between the two at any time by pressing H. Once you've got movement down, you're basically ready to go. If you ever need to look up a certain command or control, refer to your manual or this list of controls.
Killing Stuff
As soon as your new character appears in your race's headquarters, you're given your first quest. To review your quest objectives at a later time, press J to bring up your journal. Head outside of your race's HQ and start your search for the monsters in your quest objectives - they shouldn't be too far away. Once you've found one, simply press the space bar to start attacking it. You shouldn't have too many problems with the yard trash outside your base, but if your are running low on health, use a health (red) potion to instantly regain your lost HP.
If you skipped past the tutorial, you missed out on how to put skills and force abilities on your hotbar. Simply press S to bring up the skills window, click on an icon, and place it in the lower hotbar area. Once you've placed a skill on the hotbar, you can use it by pressing the corresponding function key. So, if you put a skill in the 1 spot, press F1 to use it. If you would like, you can press \ (backslash) to switch your hotkeys from the function keys to the number keys.
Keep bashing the appropriate monsters until you've met your quest objectives. If you start running low on potions, restock at the Alchemist in HQ.
Understanding PTs and Levels
Levels in RF Online don't work exactly as they do in other MMORPGs. Gaining levels allows you to equip better equipment and raises your max HP, max FP, and PT caps. So levels don't have a direct effect on how strong you are, but they have a pretty strong indirect effect. You gain a little "normal" experience every time you attack a monster and you gain an experience bonus when ever you slay a monster.
PTs are the RFO-equivalent of "stats" in other RPGs. You have general PTs and a PT for every skill you have access to. To raise a skill PT, you simply need to use that skill. To raise a general PT, you need to perform an appropriate action. For example, to raise your defense PT, you just need to get hit by an enemy. To raise your shield PT, you need to block with your shield. To raise your melee PT, you need to hit someone with a melee weapon. You get the idea. Rather than type out what every PT does, take a look at this PT info page.
Don't go crazy and outlevel your PTs, though. For example, if you think you might want to use ranger armor or ranged weapons on your warrior later, you need to level your ranged PT now. If you become too high of a level, you will no longer be able to level your ranged PT, as you won't be able to deal enough damage to a monster with ranged weapons to increase your PT. If you outlevel a PT to the point that it can no longer be increased, it is known as "dead-ending" a PT. Now, you don't need to be the master of every PT. My spiritualist, for instance, is only going to level Force PT and Defense PT - I have no major need for guns, bows, or swords... screw em!
You can view your general PT info by pressing C. You can view your skill PT by pressing S. You can view your force magic PT by pressing F.
Where to Hunt
Every time you level up (or just about) you automatically get new quests. In general, these quests will give you a good idea of where to hunt appropriate level monsters. With potions, you can usually take out monsters several levels higher than yourself. Press M to view your map. The map for the newbie zone is free to all characters... other maps you need to buy. I've documented a lot of monster locations that you may find useful.
In general, its probably a good idea to solo your way up until about level 15 or 20 or so, just to keep your PTs around your own level. These levels will go fast, don't worry. After lvl 15 or 20, you will need to start grouping to get good XP. If you group with higher level characters, your XP will FLY. Your PTs probably won't. So if you're grouping, you need to be especially careful about watching your PTs. This leveling article has more information on this topic.
PvP
All newbie zones are safe - other races can't get to them. Outside of that, though, you always need to be on guard. Enemy players could be anywhere. The crag mines are home to the chip wars, so most players do their PvP there. If you're interested in learning more, take a look at this PvP article.
Getting Cash
Let's face it, unless you get a great drop (like an Intense Weapon that you can sell at the Auction area), PvE is not a great source of money, at least for the first 30 levels (I'm sure pitboss drops are great cash later on). In fact, since potions are so expensive, PvE can almost be a money sinkhole!
So how do you get cash? For many players, the best way to make cash in RF Online is by mining. You equip a drill, buy a battery pack, go to the crag mines, and let your guy go to work. When you come back, sell the ore you dug up to a vendor for some money. If your race wins the most recent chip war, you get access to the central mines, where ore is more plentiful (you get about 6 times the ore there than you would in normal spots). More on mining here.
