Getting Started Guide for MMO Game Atlas is a guide to help new players get their sea legs. This guide references useful Atlas Wiki sections that newcomers to the game might want to look at in-depth, and provides an overview of the first steps to the successful conquest of Land and Sea.
Useful pages and tips for new players:
- Early Access - What is Atlas Early Access, when it is available and how to get into the game
- Controls - How to manipulate your character, gather resources, navigate your ship
- Character Creation - How to approach Character Creation
- Attributes - What are the many Stats and how to improve them
- Skills - How to go about getting Skills
Atlas Getting Started Guide
Getting your Feet Wet
Atlas is a game that revolves around Survival, Character Optimization and Exploration and Conquest of your environment. You will begin the game with basic Attributes (Stats), which can be increased as you level up, and your initially chosen Skills, which you will also add to as you increase your level and spend skill points. To begin with, you will only have your Fists available, so your first order of business will be to find and harvest basic Resources such as Wood, Thatch and Stone to enable you to Craft some Equipment.
To gather Wood, for example, you must approach a tree and punch it with your fists by clicking your mouse. This will give you some wood items that you can then use to craft your first Tools and Weapons (likely a Hatchet or Pickaxe to enable faster and more efficient Harvesting, or a Mace or Spear for defensive purposes!)
You must also consider your Survival needs: satisfying thirst, hunger and proper nutrition (represented by Vitamins in your UI), as well as surviving the environment's various dangers, such as extreme temperatures and other environmental hazards. This Vitamins element of feeding your character means that, unlike other survival games, Atlas proposes that the player should consume a varied diet rather than just get by on one single food source.
Different ecosystems are found depending on the Biomes that they develop in, so you will find a wide variety of Creatures to challenge and consume to fulfill this need depending on your location, as well as different plants and other resources to harvest. Explore your surroundings fully and get to know what can be found where.
Survival
Atlas is a survival game, and as such you need to take care of a few different aspects of keeping your character alive. The key things to look out for in terms of survival are Health, Hunger or Food, Hydration or Water, Stamina, and Vitamins.
- Health is a measure of how much life your character has available. Taking damage from Creatures and other sources such as enemy weapons or environmental hazards will drain your Health. Negative Status Effects such as Starvation, Dehydration or Poison will gradually drain your Health points until death if you don't deal with the problem, such as by eating Consumables to cure Starvation. If your Health reaches 0, you will die and must respawn at a bed if you have built one, or at a Freeport if not.
- Food is a measure of how much food your character has available to draw upon. Food drains passively, and this is accelerated by activities that drain Stamina such as running, jumping or using your melee attack, so make sure to have plenty of food with you when out adventuring. If your Food reaches 0, you will begin to starve, which will cause you to lose Health until you eat.
- Water functions similarly to food in that it must be replenished to prevent Dehydration, which will cause your Health to drop until you drink potable water. Fresh water (such as from a freshwater lake) can be drunk directly from the source but can be difficult to find in the beginning stages of the game as much of the water surrounding spawn zones is un-drinkable salt water. You can dig in damp soil with your hands or a shovel to replenish your Water stores if there's no fresh water available. As soon as possible, it's wise to craft Waterskins so that you can carry Water with you on your explorations.Crafting waterskins also allows you to boil salt water to make it drinkable?
- Vitamins are a unique aspect of Atlas MMO Game's approach to Survival: in addition to the more common Food and Water, you must also consider four different Vitamins to keep your character healthy. Vitamin C (orange bar in your UI) can be replenished by eating Berries; Vitamin A (green bar in your UI) can be replenished by eating vegetables and herbs such as Basil, Beet, Carrots, Maize and others; Vitamin D (teal bar) can be topped up by eating Cooked Fish or drinking Milk; and Vitamin B (purple bar) can be restored by eating Cooked Meat.
- Stamina drains slowly as you move around, and more quickly while you are running, jumping or fighting. Once your Stamina is fully depleted you will become Exhausted, which slows your movement to a crawl and prevents jumping, and must stop moving to allow your Stamina to replenish. It's a good idea to keep a close eye on your Stamina in a fight, as you don't want to find yourself slowed with an angry Lion in front of you!
- Your Oxygen stat will begin to drain away while you are diving if not wearing appropriate equipment: if it reaches 0 you will begin to suffocate and lose health: you must surface to replenish your oxygen or you will die.
In addition to maintaining your health and wellbeing in order to survive, you must also of course survive the various other hazards of Atlas. There are many different Creatures roaming the lands and seas of Atlas, and while some are passive and will simply run away from you if you approach, others will attack you if you bother them (such as by punching them!) and yet others will simply attack you on sight. Be wary of the many Creatures in Atlas and prepare to have to fight for your life! Environmental hazards are also to be considered, and can include threats such as Tornadoes or Water Spouts which can do huge damage to your Ship, and even simple darkness, which at its worst might render you blind! Preparation is key!
Leveling Up and Attributes
You will gain experience (XP) as you complete activities such as harvesting resources or killing creatures. As you gather more XP you will level up, which gives you points to spend in your Attributes and your Skills (see below). Depending on your playstyle you may choose to level different attributes, but as a beginner it may be wise to spend a good few of your first points in Health to help you stay alive. Stamina and Movement Speed are also good choices to spend points on early in the game as the can help you run faster and further in order to outrun hostile creatures, as well as being of benefit in combat. Melee Damage is of course a good attribute to level for those who intend to prioritize combat, and can also increase your yield when harvesting by hand. Points spent in Weight can be of use, allowing you to carry more resources with you, but most players would consider points spent in Water or Food to be a waste.
- Read more about Attributes in Atlas on our Attributes page.
- Read more about Skills and Disciplines.
- Read more about Experience and Levels {coming soon}
Harvesting for Resources
Explore outside your original Freeport and begin harvesting Resources as soon as possible. Players will first want to obtain:
- Plant Fibers (gathered by clicking on bushes and vegetation),
- Wood (gathered by punching Trees),
- Stone (gathered by punching Rocks).
- Thatch can be gathered from Trees by using a Pick or Hatchet.
- Flint can be gathered from Rocks only by using a tool.
- Coal can be gathered from Rocks only by harvesting with a Stone Pick.
- Meat can be harvested from dead animals — you will need lots of it in order to keep your Protein vitamins up.
- Hide is a much needed crafting resource for items and some gear or even structures, you can get it from animals.
- Fruit – there are a lot of variants of fruits, it doesn't matter which ones you get as long as you can keep your Fruit vitamins up.
- Fish meat can be acquired from killing Fish which roam the seas
Punching rocks and trees results in a loss of Hitpoints (Health Loss), so it's wise to craft Tools such as the Hatchet and Pickaxe as quickly as possible. Using Tools also increases the Harvesting yield, so you'll get more Resources per tree or rock and so on. Equip Tools via your Inventory (you may wish to add them to your Hotbar for quick access) and use the melee attack to harvest from rocks and trees and other harvestable assets in the environment around you.
- Read more about all of the resources available in Atlas MMO Game on our Resources page.
- Read more about Harvesting (coming soon)
Basic Materials
Once you have crafted your basic Tools there are a number of basic materials to keep in mind as they will quickly become useful as you begin to learn more things to craft.
- Wood is harvested using a Pickaxe or Hatchet (or by punching with your Fists to begin with). The Hatchet is the best tool for harvesting wood from trees, providing the highest yield compared to other tools such as the Pickaxe.
- Thatch can be gathered from trees using a Pickaxe or Hatchet (or by punching with your Fists to begin with). The Pichaxe is the best tool for harvesting Thatch from trees, providing the highest yield compared to other tools such as the Hatchet.
- Stone is harvested from rocks using a Hatchet or Pickaxe (or by punching with your fists prior to crafting tools). The Hatchet is the most effective tool for harvesting stone from rocks.
- Flint can be gathered from rocks using a Pickaxe.
- Coal can be gathered from rocks using a Pickaxe.
- Animal Meat can be harvested from the bodies of dead Creatures using a Pick or Hatchet (Pick is most effective) and cooked into Cooked Meat on a Campfire. Cooked Meat is important to keep stocked up on for replenishing your Vitamin B levels.
- Fruits, Berries and Vegetables can be harvested from bushes and later from crop plots if you choose to farm them and are important to keep handy for topping up your Vitamins A and C.
- Fish Meat can be harvested from the bodies of dead Fish using a Hatchet and cooked on a Campfire to create Cooked Fish Meat, which is important for maintaining your levels of Vitamin D.
There are lots of other Resources available to be harvested from the world of Atlas - check out the full list at our Resources page.
Crafting
Basic Crafting is achieved in your inventory, which you can access by pressing 'I', while more advanced items will require Crafting Stations. The first things you'll probably want to craft are the Stone Pickaxe, Stone Hatchet, and Cloth Armor, as well as a Weapon of some kind.
To begin Crafting, first you'll need to level up, which can be done while gathering the resources you'll need to craft these items, or by killing small animals. Once you have leveled up, spend a point in the Survivalism skill tree to purchase 'The Basics' skill. This will unlock basic items for Crafting, including the Cloth Armor Set and basic Tools such as the Hatchet, Pick and Torch, and the Campfire and Simple Bed, both essential for long-term survival. Unlocked craftable items display the resources required to build them to the right of the UI description; Resources you have enough of to craft the item will show in green, while resources you need to harvest more of will show in red. Once you have the requisite resources in your inventory and the craftables unlocked, you can right-click on the craftable blueprint to see more options, which include the option to craft.
The Smithy is an important Crafting Station and likely one of the first you will build.
As mentioned above, some of the first things you'll want to craft are the Stone Pickaxe, Stone Hatchet, a weapon such as a Spear to defend yourself and kill Creatures for Hide and Animal Meat, and a set of Cloth Armor. Wearing Cloth Armor will help to keep you warm, which will reduce your Food and Water consumption. The resources required to craft some initially useful items are as follows:
- Stone Pickaxe: 2 Fibers, 6 Stone, 6 Wood
- Stone Hatchet: 15 Fibers, 3 Flint, 1 Stone and 3 Wood
- Spear: 14 Fibers, 3 Flint, 12 Wood
- Cloth Armor:
- Cloth Hat: ??;
- Cloth Shirt: ??;
- Cloth Gloves: ??;
- Cloth Leggings: ??;
- Cloth Boots: ??
- Total Cloth Armor Set Cost:
Skills and Disciplines
In Atlas MMO Game you have a vast Skill Tree to explore and unlock. More than 300 Skills are divided across 16 Disciplines, from Survivalism and Hand-to-Hand Combat to Beastmastery, Cooking and Farming and Captaineering and more.
Unlocking Skills grants various bonuses, from passive buffs such as increased movement speed to crafting packs which allow you to craft various items such as Weapons or Structures, and other specialist activities such as playing instruments to provide buffs to crewmates (eg the Accordion Skill from the Music and Dance Discipline).
There are not enough skill points available within the level cap to achieve every single unlock, so you must choose paths within which to specialize, and may wish to team up with other players in order to work together to have everything available to you as a group.
Engaging in Combat
Engaging in Combat in Atlas MMO Game is a simple affair - simply select your Weapon of choice, decide upon your method of attack and have at it! Different Creatures will require different approaches though, depending on their nature and behaviors, and it's a good idea to learn as much about a Creature as possible before you engage it in combat - for example some Creatures are aggressive in nature and will attack you on sight, so it may be a good idea to begin with to approach these Creatures with caution, perhaps stocking up on Ranged Weapons and Ammo and sneaking around to high ground before engaging the creature. Other Creatures are prone to fleeing as soon as they are engaged in any way, so you may wish to team up with others to flank it, or use a fast-moving tamed Creature to chase it down and kill it.
Exploration: Start with a Raft
Crafting a Raft is the first step in your exploration of Atlas. You must gather sufficient materials (75x Fibers, 20x Hide, 80x Wood), and visit your starting island or Freeport's dock to find the Shipyardsman to commence building your Raft. Once your Raft is complete, you can set sail across the oceans.
- Raft controls are detailed on the Raft page but be mindful: the seas are full of Pirates and other hostile entities and a raft is a defenseless transport ship. You may wish to upgrade your vessel to a larger Ship before embarking on too risky a voyage.
- Larger ships can only be built at your own crafted Drydock. The Tiny Shipyard can accommodate building the Raft and Rowboat, the Small Shipyard allows you to build the Sloop and Schooner, and the Large Shipyard can support the building of the Brigantine and Galleon Ships.
- You will also need enough sustenance for your trip. Pack enough Consumablessuch as water, meat and vegetables so you can keep yourself from starving or dehydrating. Remember to take a variety of foods in order to keep your Vitamins balanced.
Crew
It's perfectly possible to play Atlas MMO Game alone, but it's both more fun and more viable with friends or crewmates, for a number of reasons:
- There are too many Skills to learn them all yourself. To have access to everything the vast system of Disciplines and Skills has to offer, you'll need to team up with a crew and work together to unlock everything between you.
For example one of you may focus on the Construction & Mercantilism and Beastmastery Disciplines, and serve as the Crew's builder and tamer, while others may focus on various Combat styles and fight the Crew's battles, while the Crew's Captain focuses on Disciplines such as Seamanship and Captaineering.
Of course how you divide up the Disciplines among your Crew is up to you to decide as a team, but it's wise to confer and make sure points aren't being wasted too often on duplicates, particularly on the higher tier, more expensive Skills.
- Small boats such as Rafts and Rowboats can easily be sailed solo, but once you begin to build larger vessels such as the Brigantine and Galleon you will need crewmates to help you sail her, especially when it comes to taking her into battle. There are many aspects to sailing a larger ship and while AI crewmembers can help you so far, a well-organized team of unified players is a far more effective Crew, and far more likely to emerge victorious!
- It's easier to defend your Ships and Forts when you have crewmembers to help! AI bots can help to some extent but they're unlikely to hold out long against incoming real enemies. Having a crew means you're better defended and more likely to repel attacks, keeping hold of your hard-earned loot!
You can invite other players to join your Crew or Company by ?? More details needed.
If you'd rather play alone, though, fret not! You can hire AI crewmembers at Freeports (or rescue more seasoned AI sailors from the wrecks of Ships of the Damned) to help sail your Ships, join you in battle and defend your holdings.
Your First Quests
Atlas MMO Game is a very non-linear style of game, and does not particularly require you to fulfil any objectives: if you wish to spend a thousand hours building different Ships, that's totally up to you.
There is an enormous variety of activities to entertain yourself with, from Building Ships and Forts to varied combat experiences against the natural predators of the landscape such as Tigers and Lions, and the more supernatural threats you might encounter such as the Army of the Damned, Ogres, Dragons or even a Hydra, to Taming and Breeding Creatures to create more powerful ones, and all sorts of other things to do without ever even seeing an objective or questgiver!
If, however, you want to complete Quests, you can absolutely complete quests! In addition to an open sandbox of activities, Atlas also provides a Questline. Details on initial quests and quests systems to follow...
[Work in progress!]
Beware the Armies of the Damned
As you venture out on your first voyages across the oceans, keep a wary eye out for Ships of the Damned - haunted ships which will attack you on sight. You will not be able to outrun them on a Raft or Rowboat, so try to steer clear until you have built a larger ship!
This is pretty awesome info - thanks!
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