Before Starting
So, you have come to this page to play Shilla, am I right? Good, but before you even start playing, there are a few things you should know:

  • First of all, your race. It matters quite some. Dexterity is the most important stat in Shilla, and you must be able to boost it easily. Of course, Strength and Constitution are important too. Races such as Kobolds and Dwarfs have great fighting stats, but lack in mana stats, and will have a harder time finding areas, but gain experience faster due to good fighting. Gnomes and Wolves find areas quickly, but have less good fighting stats. Of course, for a balanced character, you can pick human. Your biggest advantage will probably be, that everything on shillatime is found out for humans already, since it's the base stats for everything. For other races, things are still being found out.

  • Second, the starting bonus points you can give matter, but only a little. Some people advice to put it ALL on dex, which seems like the best thing to do. I've found, after some research, that it is better to spend it a bit on dex (10 points), a bit on Int(10 points) and some at Chr(10 points). Each selection is 5 points. One stat you should never spend any bonus points on is Wisdom. Str and Con are useful for boosting, but with your early training sessions you'll get the chance to boost them.

  • Point 3. Gender makes some difference, Males have cheaper Str, and females have cheaper Dex. Therefore, a fist rule many people underestimate is that simply ALL female races are better than their own race male counterpart. I'm not saying that a female ogre is better than a male Dwarf, because that's not true, but still, a female Dwarf is better than a Male Dwarf. If you don't want to choose a female character because you are a male, then that's your choice. I can understand it; I didn't do that either. Instead, choose a good male character that still has good dex. Like Dwarfs or Kobolds, or Wraiths. Gnomes have good dex too, but lack in Str, but being male helps that a bit. With all that being said, read the next sections of the guide for an explanation how to get started.

    Starting Out
    Of course, when you are reading this, you've already created a character and started playing a little. You found the Validator, and asked what to do next in the chatroom you gained access to. Someone apparently gave you the link to this guide, and now you're reading this. Good. We'll get to what you should and shouldn't do. First things first. You are completely new to the game, so a few things should be told to you. Let me introduce you to Shilla. Shilla is a text based RPG, where you click text hyperlinks to move around. On occasion you'll be killing creatures for experience, to build your character stronger. Anyway, let's get started. The first thing you should do is to realize you CANNOT kill Town Guards. You might've already found this out the hard way..but oh well, now you know anyway. Leave them alone. Now if you are really completely new, you should check out the Explanation Page for more information about the Menu on your left side, and about the attack options, etc. Very recommended if you haven't played Shilla before. If you are finished with reading it, then the next step can be taken.

    Memorizing the Town
    That's right. You should memorize this town as soon as possible. Which means right now. It's important that you can find your way around town, as you'll need a lot of services from shops. This is the Town Map. Take a good look at it, and just visit the shops in town, take a look at the walls, and get to know the whole town better.

    Things you should and should NOT do
    You've already learned the most important things of what you shouldn't do, and that is: Don't bother with Town Guards at all. There are some other things you should be aware of though. Let's make a little list, shall we?

    Don't do:
    1) Don't attack Town Guards.
    2) Do not buy leather armor from the armor shop.
    3) Do not buy any weapon unless it is recommended in this guide.

    Please do:
    1)Bank your gold when you gained a small amount.
    2)Ask for something when you want to buy something. This makes it cheaper for you, and trust me, the people in chat can easily afford these things. Don't beg though, just ask nicely.
    3)Follow the steps in this guide and I'll guarantee a good startoff.
    4)Sleep at the fountain. You will need to save your food in the beginning, and by sleeping, you heal yourself for free.

    The Beach
    Now that you know the Town (a little) better, and know what to do and what NOT to do, it's time to fight some creatures, and get stronger. Visit the Mayor(use the map). He's near the fountain. He tells you that you should clean up the beach for him. Now it's a known fact that this mayor can be very vague at times, because you'd expect to slaughter some crabs and move on, but he actually means that you need to boost your stat Intelligence up to either 36, 40 or 44 points (depending on your race) in order to be able to move to a next area, which is the Outskirts. Just a note, the restrictions for areas will depend on your race. You should check the Area Restrictions page to see which race needs how much Int. Now check your map again and see the Training Hall. You don't have any Experience, so you should get that first. For a map of the beach, click Here. Head to the beach, and you'll see crabs. A whole bunch of them, with 3 different kinds. They don't give much gold and experience(exp for short) but it's a start. The Stone Crabs are the "strongest" ones, although you should be able to kill them in one shot. Only Crabs and Hermit Crabs drop Crab Legs, a food that heals for 9. Well well, it's time for some training, and I can't help you with that. Train your stats to the following: 40 str, 50 dex, 40 Con, 40 Wis, (around)40 Int, 30-40 Chr. This should take some time but after you're done, you can move on...and do some other things too. You can see if you have enough money to buy a glowing ring from the Amulet Shop yet, which shouldn't cost THAT much. If you can, good. If you can't, don't worry, you'll buy it later. Glowing rings add 5 points of Strength. Now read on about Alignments..

    Choosing an Alignment
    New to shilla are the Alignments, so I bet that is confusing for new and old players alike. You must choose an Alignment sooner or later to move on. You can pick from Air, Water, Earth and Fire. Here are directions to the Temples in Town: The Water Temple is W, N, N, W, W, N, E from fountain. The Air Temple is W, S, S, W, W, N from fountain. The Fire Temple is E, S, S, E, E, S, W from fountain, and lastly the Earth Temple is E, N, N, E, E, S from fountain. Alignment will give you an advantage over certain creatures, and a weakness against others. The remaining two are neutral for you. Later on you will get to elemental areas. For example, you can expect to find Fire creatures in the Volcano, and Water creatures in the Ocean. Then if you are a Water Alignment, you're very strong in the Volcano, but if you are Air, then you are weak. And so every Align has it's pros and cons. Here is a table with weaknesses and advantages against the elements:
    -FireAirEarthWater
    FireNeutralStrongNeutralWeak
    AirWeakNeutralStrongNeutral
    EarthNeutralWeakNeutralStrong
    WaterStrongNeutralWeakNeutral
    Ok, now how to make sense out of this table.. You read from left to right, and YOU, the player, are the colored Align. The creature you are fighting is the other row. If you are a Fire Align, for example, and you are going to fight an Ocean Creature (Water Align), then look in the table and see... that you are weak against the creature, and that you can expect it to hit alot more, and it will also have much tougher armor. Still being Fire Align yourself, you're facing a Clouds creature, or a bird now, (Air Align Creature) then you are strong against them, like it says in the table, Strong. Then you'll get hit for alot less, and the creature will have pulpy armor that you smash easily.. So that's it. Now read on and go to the Outskirts.

    The Outskirts
    Go to the outskirts, checking the map again. Here is a Map of the Outskirts It's at the northern side of Town. Report to Mayor that you "cleared" the beach for him first. Ahh, new monsters. Gypsies are good monsters to train on as they give you Whey Bread and Goats Milk, that heal you. Convicts are the strongest of the 4, and they can actually kill you if you don't watch out while fighting. Experience is gained faster here, and you should be able to boost some more of your stats in no time. Do so, and train str 10 points higher. It should be 50 now. Now go to the Amulet shop and buy two glowing rings, and equip them. Your Strength is now 60. Some races need 66 Str, others 54. Congrats.

    The Sewers
    Now you can lift the heavy manhole to the east of the town, to access the sewers. Do so now. The sewers has a very easy-to-remember Map. In the sewers are only two creatures: Rats and Warriors. Warriors drop a Weapon called Warrior Knife. It's not great, but it's better than nothing, and it's free. Pick one up, and equip it (If you already have a Gleaming Short Sword, equip that instead). Go back to the outskirts to train more, and when you are strong enough, train on the sewer monsters. You should boost your Dex to 70 also. Sewer Monsters are the first good source of exp and gold. You could save up for a set of Chain Armor, although I don't think that's a great idea for now. Better plan is to save your gold for later, and gain exp. (On a side note: Some people think it's good to buy a GSS, a Gleaming Short Sword. I don't have problems with that, it's better than a Warrior Knife, but it costs you gold though. Ask if someone can send it to you if you really want it.) What to do with your experience? Read on..

    Spells
    Huh? Spells? Where do I get those? To be honest with you, I haven't talked about spells yet because you didn't need them yet. Soon you will. But certainly not all of them! You have gained good exp in the Sewers, so now you have a bit for spare. The only useful spells at this moment are Town portal & Teleport. Town Portal will transport you to the fountain, the middle of Shilla Town, when you use it. I recommend training it to 15. Teleport brings you to other places in Shilla, depending on high your Wisdom is. Teleport is recommended at Level 35 for now, although it's perfected at higher levels such as 50. Town Portal is the must-have at this moment, so get it. With your other exp, you should focus on one stat only: Charisma. That's right, boost only that for a while, even above 100 is fine. This will cause the Throwing Daggers to drop in price, and you are going to need it. Ask someone if they can send you Throwing Daggers, as this will result in a great drop of the price. It's very important to get this weapon. An other important stat you should boost is Intelligence at this moment. Boost it to either 54, 60 or 66 and you can enter a new area. The Vast Valley. Here you will acquire a new piece of armor. It will prove useful..

    Vast Valley
    You can find the Vast Valley at the end of the Outskirts, to the east of the crossroads. Use the map to navigate trough the outskirts. Here is a Map. for the Vast Valley.The Vast Valley is the home of Drunken Monks and Old Wizards. The latter is the one who you want to beat one of. It must be said that these two creatures are stronger than the ones you've fought so far, and you should handle them with caution. Your Life should be around 150 at the very least, for safety. You should prepare well for these creatures, and take a load of food with you that you've gotten from killing Gypsies. When you think you have enough food, take them on. They have 800 & 1000 Life, pretty much, but you should be able to handle him. If he doesn't drop what he should drop, try another, and another until one drops. Pick up the Shimmering Cloak and equip it. The Shimmering Cloak is the best armor you can get for a LONG time, so stick with it. It's just as good as a Silver Chain Mail. If you can't One-round them yet, meaning if you can kill them in a single round with the Single attack button, then you should go back to the Sewers and boost an attack, and perhaps your Str&Con more. When you finally 1rd them, it's time to stick here for a while. The exp is good enough for now, and the gold is better than you used to get, at least. Optionally you can get Chain Mail armor now, but I reccommend against that, since you will not have much use for it, and it'll just weigh you down. Now start training. You're all set for this area. Only shall you find that you are in need of food sometimes. Get food from Gypsies. This is annoying, but it's the better way of getting food. For a more effective way of training, you can use Town Portal to sleep at the fountain, and then use Teleport to go back to the Vast Valley. This requires Teleport at level 35, and Wisdom around level 60. This is a much faster training method. Now get some serious exp. It's about time you shake off your title as Newbie. Grats!

    Now you may move to the Advanced Guide