DAoC Guides: Overview
On this website you'll find new player guides for Dark Age of Camelot. These guides assume you have played a MMO before, but no familiarity with DAoC at all. Each guide also includes links to additional useful resources that are still up-to-date with the current game.
Why this website?
When I recently started playing Dark Age of Camelot again, I found the game much improved from what I remembered from my last time there over a decade ago. Compared to when I previously played (first at launch in 2001, and a few more times in subsequent years) the game is far easier to get into. You can start a fresh character and hit level 50 in a matter of hours, less than 20 even if you take your time with side-quests. When you hit the level cap you'll also get a solid set of end-game starter gear for free.
I also found the game to be obscure, in some cases frustratingly so. A lot of nearly critical systems aren't documented, or in some cases even alluded to, in-game on a normal play through. In addition to this a good number of websites for the game are badly out of date and/ or or aren't very useful unless you already know a lot of of the game basics. On my first few characters, I spent almost as much time puzzling things out through web searches, trial and error as actually playing the game. To save you some of that suffering, and help you find the truly great game buried underneath a steep learning curve, I've put together guides to a few essentials.
Index
PvE Leveling for New Players: The modern game does a good job of holding your hand with easy PvE quest chains that will get you to about level 35. However, after that the quest chains run out and the little guidance you are given in-game on where to go next isn't very helpful. This guide contains an easy PvE path from 35 to the cap, info on some optional but rewarding low level side-quests (as well as what side-quests to avoid), and some pointers on new advancement systems that open up at the level cap.
Champion Levels: A guide to champion levels, one of the quickest and easiest ways to get a modest power boost at level 50. An important system that's not very well documented in-game.
Horses: A guide to the mounts that are available and how to get them. Another essential system that the game itself doesn't give you many pointers on.
In addition to these guides to the core game, I've also put together full walk throughs for quests that added a lot to my enjoyment of the game once I figured out how to get through them.
How to get Orion's Belt: Running through this guide at level 30 will net you your first artifact (a powerful magic item that gains abilities as you level it) at a low enough level that all of its abilities will still be useful. In the process you will start in on your first glass quests and learn about several systems you'll use much more heavily at higher levels.
The level 50 Champion Quest series: This is a long quest chain that I had to split into two posts, part one and part two. Running though this quest chain on a fresh 50 will give you a huge head start on your champion levels (5+ levels), net you a decent amount of coin, and on Gaheris is also an entertaining way to earn your first few realm ranks.
If and when I decide to add new guides, I'll update this post. I hope you find these guides helpful. Happy hunting!
 |
| The Gates of Tir Na Nog at night. For such an old game DAoC is still often quite pretty. |
Why this website?
When I recently started playing Dark Age of Camelot again, I found the game much improved from what I remembered from my last time there over a decade ago. Compared to when I previously played (first at launch in 2001, and a few more times in subsequent years) the game is far easier to get into. You can start a fresh character and hit level 50 in a matter of hours, less than 20 even if you take your time with side-quests. When you hit the level cap you'll also get a solid set of end-game starter gear for free.
I also found the game to be obscure, in some cases frustratingly so. A lot of nearly critical systems aren't documented, or in some cases even alluded to, in-game on a normal play through. In addition to this a good number of websites for the game are badly out of date and/ or or aren't very useful unless you already know a lot of of the game basics. On my first few characters, I spent almost as much time puzzling things out through web searches, trial and error as actually playing the game. To save you some of that suffering, and help you find the truly great game buried underneath a steep learning curve, I've put together guides to a few essentials.
 |
| My first character to hit Champion Level 15, Master Level 10, and to play through the level 30, 40 and 50 champion quest lines. May you be baffled far less than I was on his journey. |
Index
PvE Leveling for New Players: The modern game does a good job of holding your hand with easy PvE quest chains that will get you to about level 35. However, after that the quest chains run out and the little guidance you are given in-game on where to go next isn't very helpful. This guide contains an easy PvE path from 35 to the cap, info on some optional but rewarding low level side-quests (as well as what side-quests to avoid), and some pointers on new advancement systems that open up at the level cap.
Champion Levels: A guide to champion levels, one of the quickest and easiest ways to get a modest power boost at level 50. An important system that's not very well documented in-game.
Horses: A guide to the mounts that are available and how to get them. Another essential system that the game itself doesn't give you many pointers on.
In addition to these guides to the core game, I've also put together full walk throughs for quests that added a lot to my enjoyment of the game once I figured out how to get through them.
How to get Orion's Belt: Running through this guide at level 30 will net you your first artifact (a powerful magic item that gains abilities as you level it) at a low enough level that all of its abilities will still be useful. In the process you will start in on your first glass quests and learn about several systems you'll use much more heavily at higher levels.
The level 50 Champion Quest series: This is a long quest chain that I had to split into two posts, part one and part two. Running though this quest chain on a fresh 50 will give you a huge head start on your champion levels (5+ levels), net you a decent amount of coin, and on Gaheris is also an entertaining way to earn your first few realm ranks.
If and when I decide to add new guides, I'll update this post. I hope you find these guides helpful. Happy hunting!
Thank you so much for these
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