This is a series of posts that will help the newcomer through Istaria. Though some of it will be general information, much of it will be centered on Dragons…. since that is what I play! Be looking for more information to be added in time – especially with all the new content that the developers are working on adding to the game. There will be plenty to read!

Basic Guides

• Choosing Your Server
• Important Links for New Players
• Istaria Downloads: The Map Pack
• List of Istaria Races
• Setting Up Your Keyboard Commands

Dragon Guides

• Earning the Hatchling Simulated Scales

Like most online games, Istaria: Chronicles of the Gifted has different servers to choose from — there are three, each with a different focus. When you first log in to create a character you will have to choose which server to join:

• Chaos – Normal Server
• Order – Role Play Server
• Blight - Test Server

While one is not better than the other, as a newcomer, you may want to start on the Chaos server. The Order server is really and truly a Role Play server, where you will find many people playing the game “In Character”… so you may wish to gain some experience and learn about the world’s lore before you attempt to create a character there. But if you’re a role player at heart, I won’t discourage you from jumping in head first and finding your game on Order!

Blight is the test server where developers test out new content before it goes on the live servers. There is a much smaller community there — but these folks are dedicated to providing feedback and helping developers stomp out bugs. From what I gather, you can copy a character from another server to the Blight server through the Character Administration website to use for testing.

If you’d like to find out more about the people, guilds and events on each server, I suggest that you visit the server-specific boards located on the Istaria forums.

Learn more about Istaria by clicking here!

The following is a list of links to help newer players find their way around the different sections of the Istaria: Chronicles of the Gifted website. I have heard that in time, the developers plan on consolidating these sites — and these plans have already taken form in a stand alone desktop launcher for the game (players used to have to launch the game through the website). Until then, here’s some links to help the newcomer out.

Istaria: Chronicles of the Gifted Main Website

Istaria Community Forums — Note: Once you register for the forums, the site requires Moderator approval in order to post. Please be patient!

Istaria Account Management – Here you can create or manage an account.

Istaria Character Management — This is a tricky one. At this point, the stand alone launcher doesn’t support the ability to delete a character. You have to log into the Character Management, which is located at the bottom of this page.

Istaria Customer Support - When you have problems, here’s the place to get them fixed!

Istaria Wiki – The community-driven information site and best place to look for help!

Learn more about Istaria by clicking here!

Alright! You’ve got Istaria downloaded. You’ve created your first new character. And now it’s time to rush into that tutorial full speed, right? Right?

Woah… now. Hold on. The first thing you’re going to want to do is check out your keyboard controls and configure them to something that feels comfortable to you. This is true especially if you’ve played other MMORPGs before. The Istaria defaults are somewhat… unusual… compared to other games I’ve played.

So here’s a little guide to get you started on setting up your keys to do what you want them to do!

1. Click the little blue orb in the bottom lefthand corner of your screen. This is your menu orb.
2. When the menu pops up, choose Options.
3. Then open the Key Bindings tab if you don’t already have it open.
4. Here you will see a list that you can bind your keys to. The defaults are currently shown to the right (you can have two assigned to each command).
5. To change the default, simply click the top key assignment button. It will begin to flash. See the picture below.
6. If you want to completely clear the key assignment, simply click the button again.
7. If you want to change the key assignment, click the key you wish to assign the command to. For example, if you want to change “Step Left” to use to Letter Q key (like I do), click the Letter Q key while the button is flashing.
8. When you change your command, the command box might turn red. This simply means that another command is set to use that same key. See the picture below. 
9. This isn’t a problem — it just means that you need to scroll down, find out which other command is set to use the same key and change it to something else. This takes a little time, but it’s well worth it.
10. When you are finished make sure to click the Apply button before clicking Okay! If you don’t click Apply, the changes won’t be made and you’ll be sitting there wondering why nothing you did just took effect (and you’ll have to key them all over again)! Do I sound like I’m talking from experience? Yeah…

Below is a list of keybindings that I change when I create a new character. I encourage you to set them to what is most comfortable to you, however! Because setting up your game is personalizing it just for your playstyle… and Istaria has a LOT of things you can do to make the game feel like your own.

My List of Key Bindings

• Step Left (Strafe Left) – Q
• Step Right (Strafe Right) – E (will conflict with Equip)
• Up/Jump – Space Bar
• Stop Action – Backspace
• Screenshot – PrintScreen
• Toggle Interface – F12

Learn more about Istaria by clicking here!

The very first thing a new player has to do upon entering the fantasy world of  Istaria is to choose from the many, many races available. With Dragons in the forefront, this may seem like an easy choice. But if you check out the other races the game has to play, there’s an opportunity to create so many different types of characters! One thing about the world of Istaria is that it has a very colorful variety of races — when you see a group of characters together, you’re almost always going to see a great diversity.

Below is a quick list of races, each linked to Istaria’s official description page. Hopefully this will help you in your biggest task — choosing the character type that is right for you!

• Dragons
• Dryads (Fairy Type Creatures)
• Dwarves
• Elves
• Fiends
• Gnomes
• Half-Giants
• Humans
• Saris (Feline Type Creatures)
• Satyrs
• Sslik (Lizardman Type Creatures)

Learn more about Istaria by clicking here!