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!

One of the very first things a new player MUST pick up is the community-created modded Map Pack.

Istaria is an old-skool fantasy MMORPG… which means unlike many of the newer games, you may spend time exploring and searching for quest givers, quest objectives, monsters and crafting nodes. These things aren’t obviously highlighted for you — there are no golden rings, map arrows or highlighted areas that point your way through the world. For some, that offers the challenge of exploration. For others, that may be somewhat frustrating.

The map pack will change the way you play. It helps to highlight important NPCs, locations, crafting nodes and monster areas. But it won’t give away quest locations or guide you through your quests (there’s a very good wiki to help with that, however). After I downloaded the map pack and put it into play, I don’t know how I’d play the game without it… especially as a new player that has to learn all these locations in a world as big as Istaria!

So get it now! I mean… download it even while you’re waiting on your patch to finish! This is one fantastic mod!

Files and instructions on how to install the map pack are posted here on the Istaria forum.

Learn more about Istaria by clicking here!

Many years ago, I played a MMORPG that was known as Horizions: Empire of Istaria. It was a world with a small, passionate and tight-knit playerbase… and a world in which you could play an actual Dragon character. I’m talking fire breathing, free-flying, claws and fangs Dragon!

Though it lacked the PVP aspect (which doesn’t bother me as I never PVP), it had a rich character development (in that non-Dragons could multi-class to their heart’s content) and a deep crafting system. It was one of the only games I played where you could actually see players building structures across the world (such as player houses and towns) by using their crafting skills and actually leave something long-lasting in the world.

For whatever reasons, though I loved my dragons, I stopped playing this game. It was only this past weekend when I rediscovered it — I found out that a whole new slew of content has been recently added and the entire game client was reworked in order to support both Vista and Windows 7 systems.

Though I’m a lifetimer at LOTRO (and I doubt that will change) and I enjoy bouts in Guild Wars from time to time, I decided to peek my nose back in the world, now called Istaria:Chronicles of the Gifted.

I won’t beat around the bush… this game feels and plays like a classic MMORPG from back in the day it was developed. But it is also heavily mod able and easy to tweak to your liking. With just a few downloads, some adjustments to the controls and a few new macros in my bar, I was up and playing it not too different than I would some of the newer games. And I was playing a DRAGON!

Kudako standing by the shrine at sunset.

The other thing that struck me was the community. It’s a small community… but many of these players have stuck by this game through thick and thin. They’re very welcoming and helpful to new players because they’re genuinely happy to meet them! When I returned to the game, I might as well have been brand new. There were lots of new quests added and a new introduction area… but I found quickly that all I needed to do was join a chat channel and inquire. There was always someone happy to lend their expertise.

I’m a sucker for an underdog… and indie developed games. I feel like this game has a lot to offer the right types of players. So I’ve decided to dedicate some time and effort to helping spread the word about the game through Wayrift and blogging. I’m not sure how much I can help. But coming at the game as a semi-newbie, I hope my views might be able to offer other potential and new players some help on getting Istaria working and feeling like the kind of game they want to play.

There’s so much to enjoy here — especially if you’re an RPer or a Dragon lover with an interest in a game with lots of fantasy lore to explore. For more information about Istaria, please visit this page.