Getting Started

Welcome to the OrbusVR! We're glad you're here.

Creating Your Character
When you start Orbus, you'll find yourself at the Character Select screen. If you've created a previous Character, just select that Character and then login to continue. If it's your first time, choose "Create Character."

While creating your Character, you'll see a preview of what it looks like in front of you. You can customize the skin tone, eyes, and mouth of the character, as well as giving it a name. Be sure to check out the Naming Policy, but in general: Be careful choosing a name. Inappropriate names will get you banned and names that do not meet the "preferred" requirements will be ineligible for some additional rewards.
 * Choose a name that sounds like a person's name, not a screenname (e.g. "Lucius" is better than "xxxHunterxxx")
 * Don't choose something offensive, or impersonate a well-known celebrity or fictional character (like Gandalf).
 * You can't use spaces, numbers, or punctuation marks, but you can use accented characters.

After you create your new Character, select that Character to login to the game.

Your first time in Highsteppe
After you login on your Character, you'll find yourself standing in the training area near Highsteppe Village as a Level 1 Warrior. To begin the in-game tutorial, just wave your hand at Guardian Bart. He will walk you through the basics of interacting with the game world.

Interacting with the World
Generally speaking, OrbusVR uses only two buttons on your controller. The Grip button is used to grab objects and door handles. The Trigger button is used to "use" an object (such as firing a gun). In addition, you press the Trigger button when you have a free hand to "point" your finger which you need to do to select things in menus.

You often need a "free hand" to do an action, like opening your Player Menu or grabbing an object. If you have a weapon in your hand, you can sheathe it: reach behind your head, and press the Grip button. To get your weapon back out, just do the same thing again.

Player Menu
To open your Player Menu, while you have a free hand, press the Trigger button to "point", then swipe down quickly. Your Player Menu allows you to do many important actions, such as inviting players to your group, enabling Sliding Locomotion, and more. For all the details, check out the Player Menu article.

Getting Around
The default locomotion is Teleportation. For the Ranger, you use the arrow controller to teleport. For the Warrior, use your Sword hand. Other classes, just use your empty hand. Just press down on the Trackpad (on the Vive) or the A/X button (on the Rift) to bring up a green line, then let go to teleport. You will notice a grid building up, showing how far you can teleport. The longer you wait, the farther you can teleport.

Note that the controller you use for teleporting is the opposite hand of your weapon slot. So if you put your Bow in your left hand (the default), you use your right hand to teleport. If you put your Runemage wand in your right hand (recommended for right-handed folks), then you would use your left hand to teleport.

In addition to the Teleportation locomotion, you can turn on "Trackpad + Teleport" locomotion in your Player Menu, under Settings. Once this is active, you use the trackpad (on the Vive) or the thumbstick (on the Rift) of your teleportation hand to move around. Just touch the pad/stick toward the top to move forward or bottom to go backward. The farther from the middle you touch, the faster you go. You will travel in whatever direction your controller is facing. While Trackpad locomotion is active you can still Teleport as well by pressing down on the Trackpad (or the A/X button on the Rift). Note that once you are in combat, you will need to use Teleportation to jump around the battlefield; this is an intentional design decision.

If you get 'stuck' in combat (which can happen sometimes), and your Trackpad locomotion won't work, there is an option in the Player Menu that says 'Stuck in Combat', press that and it will fix the bug. This should be pretty rare at this point so please let us know if it happens to you.

If you're using a front-facing (instead of 360-degree) setup, there's a new option in the Player Menu under Settings called "Tracking Type." Set that to Front Facing (180-Degree). Once you've done that, you can press the joystick left or right to turn.

Inventory and Equipment
To open your Inventory, open your Player Menu (by "pointing and swiping down"), then press the Backpack icon. To move things around your inventory, press the Trigger on your controller to point then select an item once to highlight it, then press again in the box you want to move it to. To equip an item, just select it them press the slot you want to put the item into.

If you find Loot bags on the ground after slaying monsters, use the Grip button when you have a free hand to pick up the bag, then place it behind your head (like you're placing it in a backpack) to put it into your Inventory.

Switching Classes
To switch between classes, just equip the weapon for the class that you want to be. For example, to use the Runemage class, just equip the Beginner's Wand in your inventory. In OrbusVR, each class has its own skill level. So if you level up to level 4 as a Warrior, then switch to a Ranger, you'll start back off as a Level 1 Ranger. If you then re-equip your Sword, you'll switch back to a Level 4 Warrior.

Leveling Up
You will start at level one. You gain XP for each monster you kill. You can advance to level 8 currently. Note that we have accelerated the pace at which you gain XP from killing monsters by approximately 300% versus normal to aid in testing quickly.

If you look up you can see a green XP bar to show your progress. You'll also see your current level. The XP you gain goes toward your current class. So if you are currently a Ranger, your Ranger level goes up. If you switch to a Warrior by equipping the Beginner's Sword, your level will switch as well, and you'll now apply your XP toward becoming a higher-level Warrior.

Note that the level of the monsters in the game is displayed next to their names, so don't fight things that are way higher level than you. All monsters in the game will attack you ("aggro" you) if you get too close to them -- so watch out!

Dying
If you die, you will become a ghost, and the entire world will become grayed out. You then have two options: you can press the Reawaken button, which will transport you to the nearest graveyard; or, you can wait and see if another Player will come by and Resurrect you. When you die, your equipped items will suffer durability damage. If you return to the spot where you died, you will see a Tombstone on the ground marking your death location. Just walk up to it and you will see a glowing effect, indicating that you have re-gained a significant portion of your lost durability.

If you have lost enough durability, your gear will break. If your weapon breaks, you will become Unarmed. Seek out an Apprentice Smith in any major village or city and they can repair your gear for a small fee. Note that you do not take any durability damage if you die when you are Level 4 or lower.

How do I talk to the other players?
By default Voice Chat is enabled, so be sure that on your PC your Input device is set to your Vive or Rift microphone. There are options in the Player Menu to disable your own voice chat, or to mute other players. The Voice Chat is currently only proximity based, so you will hear people nearby and not hear people far away. Just talk in a normal inside voice, there's no need to shout.

NPCs and Quests
To talk to an NPC, walk up to them and wave your hand. A dialog box will appear if they have something to say to you. Hold down the Trigger to point and select the options to advance the dialog. If the NPC gives you a quest, you will be notified. Complete the quest objective and return to the NPC to get a reward. There are more than 20 quests in the game currently, and more are added every test.

Player Compass and Player Journal
Your character begins the game with two very valuable tools for navigating the world around you. The first, your Player Compass, shows you key landmarks in the world. You'll find it sitting on your chest when you look down, on the left side. To use it, just get out a free (empty) hand and use the Grip button to grab the compass. Then hold it and look at it. If you are in a party, you can hold the Compass near your mouth, and speak into it. This will broadcast your voice to your party members or fellowship no matter where in the world they are.

Your Player Journal is an invaluable tool which keeps track of various things about the game world, including your active quests and their objectives. To get it out, just grab your Player Compass and turn it upside down. Then, use your hand and press the Grip button near the corners of the pages to grab them and turn the pages. When you're finished, you can grab the journal by the bottom-center and then place it behind your head like a piece of Loot, it will return to your bag. If you can't put it away just leave it where it is, you can always get it back out at any time, even if you left it out.

Player Grouping
To invite another player to join a group, just open up your Player Menu, and then select their name from the Nearby Players option (the top-most one) and choose "Invite".

Once they are in your group, their name will appear green to you. In addition, if they drop below 30% health, they will have a red outline.

You must join a group with another player if you want to enter the Dungeon at the same time.

The Dungeon
There are two 5-player dungeons now available for testing.

The first Dungeon is designed for level 8 players. To access it, follow the path into the Plains zone towards the village of "Narrow Orchard". At this point you can check your Player Compass and you should see a marker for "Dungeon Entrance." Follow it around the mountain to get to the dungeon.

The second Dungeon is designed for level 12 players and is much more challenging. To access it, enter the Patraeyl Rainforest and follow the Compass toward "Jungle Dungeon."

Note that you must be in a Player Group with your fellow party members before you enter the dungeon or you will find that you're all alone once you enter. Good luck and have fun!

Player versus Player Combat
In OrbusVR, each zone is either "safe" or "unsafe." In safe zones you cannot attack other players no matter what.

In "unsafe" zones, you can choose to attack other players. However, if you attack another player you will become a bandit, and guards will be dispatched to deal with you. In addition, any other players in the area can attack bandits even if they don't normally attack other players.

To allow yourself to attack friendly players (and become a bandit), open up the Settings option on your Player Menu and choose "Attack Players" -> "Enabled." Note that even if you have this option enabled, you won't be able to attack players in your own party or players in a safe zone.

For the current test, there is only one unsafe zone. Head toward "Hulthine's Gate" on your compass to access this zone. Currently there's nothing there but you can freely attack other players without penalty.

Note that in the future there will be advanced mechanics such as bounties for bandits that aren't in the game yet. Also right now if you cross between zone boundaries you will lose your Bandit status, this will not happen in the final version of the game.

Can I record video or stream the game?
Absolutely! We're flattered you'd like to show off the game to others! Feel free to stream the game live while you play or upload recordings of gameplay. Please provide a link back to the game website in the video description.

Standard Classes
Here's a quick guide to each class and how to play it. Remember that you can play any class by just switching your weapon slot, so feel free to try them all and pick the one you enjoy playing best!

The Warrior
The Warrior is the primary Tank class of the game. It features a sword-and-shield style of gameplay, with a focus on controlling the battlefield to aid one's allies and surviving blows which would lay low other adventurers. In terms of difficulty, it is very easy to get started with (although hard to master).

If you want to play the Warrior, read this guide: Warrior Play Guide

The Ranger
The Ranger is one of the offensive-focused classes in the game. It features a bow and arrow that you have to aim and fire quickly and accurately. In terms of difficulty, it's very easy to get started with (although hard to master).

If you want to play the Ranger, read this guide: Ranger Play Guide

The Musketeer
The Musketeer is a support-focused class, and the primary healing class in the game. It features a gun which you aim and fire. You can also load special orbs into the gun to give your attacks different effects, such as healing your allies or poisoning your enemies. In terms of difficulty, it is moderately difficult to play, simply because there is usually a lot to keep track of during combat.

If you want to play the Musketeer, read this guide: Musketeer Play Guide

The Fisher

The Fisher is a class that allows you to...go fishing! It's easy to get started with but eventually it will feature deep gameplay involving crafting lures to catch certain types of fish.

To go fishing, read this guide: Fisher Play Guide

The Runemage
The Runemage is one of the offensive-focused classes in the game. It features a wand which you use to draw runes into the air, which them become spells that you can cast. It requires a lot of practice to accurately and quickly draw the runes. In terms of difficulty, it is the hardest class to play effectively.

NOTE: Unlike the other classes, you do not begin the game with a Runemage wand. You must seek out the Witch of Mulbirth and complete several tasks for her to convince her to teach you magic and earn your first wand.

If you want to play the Runemage, read this guide: Runemage Play Guide and FAQ

The Alchemist
The Alchemist class allows you to create potion for use during and in between battles. It contains several recipes that can only be found by playing the game.

To learn about Alchemy: Alchemy

The Artificer
The Artificer is a high-level discipline that allows end-game players to imbue their weapons and armor with additional powers.

Learn about Artificing