I don’t claim to be an elite player, or even semi-elite… so if you’re one of Arctic’s more experienced players and disagree with me on some of the points below, you’ll add comments explaining rather than flaming. The spirit of this document is to get more of Arctic’s neutrals who mainly solo and don’t know much about high-end groups able to group more competently. Please, if you have wisdom to add, correct me or add on to what I’ve said!

This short guide is meant to provide some information for new Arctic players who want to group more, but have never had much chance or have felt badly for not knowing things that your group mates may have treated as common sense. There are also a few solo tips and reminders. I recommend reading all of it, even the parts that seem obvious, since you might learn something new. (And I have also seen plenty of players who seem not to be aware of some of the obvious pointers...) Also, I sometimes embedded lesser known info in among the basic pointers. I'm assuming here that you have played as a group member at least once before, but that you're still somewhat green at it. My hope is this will get more of you grouping, and make it easier for new players to enjoy Arctic!

I have been asked before what level a player should start grouping at. This depends completely on your play style. If you really want to, you can start grouping right from level one if you like, and if you can find some willing group mates of a similar level. Most experienced players, though, solo up until the mid levels or even into the mid 20's. Once you know how to level, a group at low levels is more likely to slow you down than anything else. For this reason, my advice would be to hold off on grouping until at least level 12 or so, when things tend to slow down a little bit.

Common knowledge and solo tips...

Some common abbreviations:
sw me - swap me... this means the player wants you to use the swap command to change positions in the group with you
afk - away from keyboard
brt - be right there
brb - be right back
tnl - till next level (for example, 2.3k tnl means you need 2,300 exp to advance to the next level)
[] - fountain
dt - death trap (read help death trap for more info on this aspect of the game)
lfg - looking for group
dr - damage roll
hr - hit roll
pws - power word stun
ams - antimagic shell
edrain - energy drain
pfe - protection from evil
npp - negative plane protection
bsp - Blood Sea Pirates clan
rgb - Red Goblin Brigade clan
th - toll house (a room near palanthas, vingaard, and kalaman where people sometimes rest or meet up... not an especially safe room, but a good one to know)

I've been bashed and I'm about to die with no hope of heal!
Standing takes an additional step, and also increases your chance of getting bashed again. If it looks like you will die around a bashing mob and you don't have a healer, don't stand up... just recall. (This is more a solo tip than for grouping.)

Lag trouble?
Many leaders will take you through a series of rooms at high speed. You're going to be getting too much data this way, so if lag is a problem, try these things: option brief, option gag, option gag_arrival. If all else fails, break your connection and reconnect.

Learn the roads
You need to learn how to get from one city to another if you really want to be effective. Get yourself a fly item, and learn how to navigate from city to city. The signs on the roads will usually help you. Learn where the recup rooms are, too, and remember that pker's sometimes lurk around these places. Good look exploring!

When exploring, pay attention
If you're going into new areas, there are death traps! You can usually see these on scan, and sometimes in room descriptions. Watch out for that. If you do die to a DT, try to think of it as learning something about the game. It will bring you a little closer to being able to lead yourself. Room descriptions may also give you a clue about what kind of place you are entering. If you see dark shadows moving in the trees, and feel uneasy, you may be walking into a dangerous area (although this is not always the case).

When mobs are in the room and a new one wanders in...
Take this example... you are in a room that has two rats. As you know, 1.rat will be the first rat, and 2.rat is the second one. If you type cast 'magic missile' rat, this means 1.rat. Now, once you begin fighting, if you just type cast 'magic missile' the target will be what you are already pounding on... but if you type cast 'magic missile' rat, it means 1.rat again. Normally this isn't so important, but if a new rat wanders in the room while you are fighting (making a total of three rats there), the rat that arrived most recently becomes 1.rat, and the one you are fighting becomes 2.rat. This means that you may end up splitting your attacks up. Why is this important to know? If you are using an elemental (or grouping with a tank), and you are casting on a target without actually engaging it in combat, then if a new mob wanders in you may end up accidentally targeting the wrong one, and getting yourself involved in melee. Below I will tell you that casters should not assist; however, if there is a danger that you will accidentally target wandering mobs, then it might be wise to assist instead and cast on whatever your tank is hitting.

Tips for when you're grouping...
Don't wander off
If you need something, tell your leader early. Don't get to the tollhouse and wander off to buy something in Vingaard, for example, and expect the group to wait. If you're in a group, you're working as a team. Individual concerns come second, and you can't assume that your group will be willing to wait.

If you have to go afk...
Don't! Okay, okay... real life calls, of course, and sometimes you have to go afk. But remember, you need to let your group know if you are going afk. If you expect you will have to go afk or there is a danger you will need to go suddenly, tell your group. Also, don't go afk resting. If you are not standing, your group can't move. Finally, if you are playing a cleric or the main tank, it is even more important that you do not go afk. This should be common sense, but any group leader has seen it happen enough to know it's worth mentioning. Healer, if you go afk in an aggro zone, someone in your group is likely to die.

Flee vs. retreat (especially for healers!)
Both of these have their uses. If you're a caster but you can't resist assisting your group, or if you are hit by an area effect spell or targeted by a mob, you may need to get out of combat. If the mob isn't attacking you directly, one option is retreat. You will stay in the room with the combat if you use this command. *However*, you will not be able to do anything for a few rounds after retreating, so there is a danger that your tank will die in the meantime. If you are a healer, you will be able to act more quickly if you flee, scan, and come back into the room where combat is happening. If you think you'll need to do this, confirm with your group leader first. Some areas are not good for flee because of spin or aggro mobs. But some combats have such hard hitting mobs that fleeing will be the only way to heal your tank in time.

If your cleric is goofy and doesn't heal when the tank is down to low v.bad or at awful...
It may be that the cleric is lagging, afk, or incompetent. If you have good reflexes and you think there is no chance your tank may be healed, it might be wise to recite a recall on your tank. This is a gamble, since your group may want to kill you for it, but it might be quicker than doing a corpse retrieval.

Set watch and watch_opp
Type "prompt watch" and "prompt watch_opp" and you will see that when you "watch" a person you can now see their status, as well as the status of whatever they are targeting, and you don't need to engage in combat yourself to see it. This can be useful for any class, but especially for casters. (This is how healers know when to heal the main tank, btw.) It also lets you know when whatever you are watching has entered the room. If you want to know when your group's thief has come back into a room after a backstab/flee, this will let you do it. Note... if you engage in combat, you will stop watching the target.

Learn how to use tics... but don't rest at random
Someone in the group may have a tic timer. A good caster will rest just before a tic to reduce mem time (but don't rest if another action is necessary... if you miss a heal to catch a tic, your group will not be happy.) Note!!! If you are assisting, you can't do this, so you should learn how to frag a target without engaging it, by letting the main tank do the fighting. On the other hand, if your group is on the move, don't rest at random. Check with the leader (or rely on the leader) for information about when to rest before a tic.
Generally speaking, tanks should always be standing unless the leader directs otherwise. This allows you to be ready in case any aggro mobs wander in.

If you're a caster, don't assist unless you have a good reason
You're a caster, not a tank. Why should you not assist? If you assist... mobs may target you, your concentration is more likely to fail on spells, and you can't rest at tics during combat to reduce mem time. Learn how to frag without engaging the target. To practice this solo, use improved invisibility and conjure elemental. Let your elemental tank while you remain invisible and frag whatever it is fighting. Use watch to see the status of your elemental and the target.
Note... if you use an area spell, anything in the room that is not already engaged in combat will attack you.

Check with your leader before turning or using area spells
You may cause mobs to become aggro that otherwise can be left alone. It might get you or another group member killed, and it might make the combat more complicated than it needs to be... So check with your leader about this first.

Recalls
Carry at least 3 glowing scrolls of recall. One in case a kender steals when you're on the move, one in case you accidentally recite in a no-magic room, and that third one just in case all else fails. IMHO, don't bother with regular scrolls of recall. If you don't have a light source, they're useless, plus glowing scrolls put you right back at the inn, a safe room in case someone has just tried to pk you. Mages who think you'll always have continual light on, some mobs dispel magic. You may lose your light. It's worth the extra coinage to use glowing scrolls and play it safe.
Be sure you've loaded up on recalls before leaving town. Don't get to the end of a zone, wait until your group mates have all recalled back, and then grouptell "I don't have a recall." There are also some items in the game that function as a recall for times when you are silenced or blinded (certain potions for example). These can be very handy when silenced or blinded.

Food/water
If your group has someone who can create food/water, you'll be okay, but it's better to bring some of your own.

Loot triggers
My opinion on this is, the leader should make a decision regarding how looting and distribution is to be done. A good system is the leader *only* loots, and either decides who gets what, or carries dice in case a good item needs to be given to equally good group members. If you have a loot trigger, *turn it off* unless you also are going to split consistently. It is extremely irritating to have someone in a group who is looting but not splitting anything, or looting and simply assuming that whatever they took is theirs to keep just because they grabbed it first.
If you're in a fast moving group that seems to be passing up loot, you might ask the leader about it... some players/groups are not concerned with loot (or may have some other reason that it is being passed up). The key thing, though, is to ask the leader.

A couple of other notes:
If you're grouping with a clan, you should expect that good items (or all loot) will go to clan members. Don't expect to get anything, but be happy if you do. Don't complain if you don't. If they are passing up loot, then ask politely if you can grab something.

Beyond that... many leaders make decisions about how loot gets divided depending on who is in the group at the moment, and the roles they are playing. The leader him/herself will often expect to get first choice on anything that comes up (a reward for having the zone knowledge and ability to lead). Next, the main tank is always taking the most risk, so any nice weapons or tankish eq will likely go to the main tank first. Beyond that, loot will probably be divided based on who is there. If you have a mage back at the inn but you're running a tank for the group and another player has a mage in the party, if a book loads, it will probably go to the mage in your group. If you have some special wants or needs, you should let the leader know before you start zoning so it can be worked out.
Finally, don't spam the leader or group requesting to go to a certain zone, complaining about the choice of zone, or talking about how much you need x book or eq. Players who do this can get irritating quickly, and when a leader puts a group together they will be looking for players who don't do this kind of thing... especially if the group will be running a high/dangerous zone where everyone needs to be focused on what is happening.

An additional point on this (a pet peeve of mine)... if you haven't been to a zone and don't know it, don't suggest it, get the group going there, and then discover at the entrance to the zone that no one in your group has ever been there. Work out before you go if someone knows it, and if you don't yourself, be clear about this when making your suggestion. If you are a person new to leading, and you are about to try leading a zone that you don't know well, be up front about this with your group.

Follow the leader
Some fights/zones require special strategies. If you're the leader, don't assume your group knows. Even if they've been to the zone before, even if they've been there with you, don't assume that they know. Some of the high end fights are done in different ways by different leaders (different mob orders for instance), so it's worth confirming that your group members all know how to run it. Tell the group what needs to be done and who should do what, and try not to be irritated if they don't know already. If you're in the group, listen carefully. When it comes time for combat then, don't play around with socials for two reasons: first, it delays whatever action the leader told you to do (and affects your group), and second, someone in your group may have triggers set for certain actions (thus affecting your group, too). As an example, if you sing, it may cause someone's trigger to fire for a rescue targeted on you.

Healers, memorize harm
The spell heal is called a divine spell (read help divine spell). This means that you can memorize another spell in that slot, but still cast heal. When you mem, you will mem back up whatever spell you had memmed before casting heal. On my healer, I have all harms memmed at that level, but for every harm I have memmed I can cast heal. This increases your versatility as a caster (however, heal is arguably your most valuable spell, so it's wise not to use harms unless there is an emergency).

If a casting mob conjures something...
If you're fighting a mage and it summons something, cast a dispel magic on it. Don't bother fragging it... it will disappear. Even if you can't dispell it, whatever was summoned will disappear when the summoner dies anyway.

Don't spam socials
Socials are fun, and can add something to the game. However, don't spam them in combat. Additionally, if someone in your group is having trouble with lag, socials add to the data that has to go through... so you're increasing the trouble they experience.

Train your skills
It takes time and practice to train your skills, but in many cases it pays off when grouping. When you're soloing, work on raising your skills. When you're in a group, you're probably going to be hitting hard, new mobs so it's a good time to practice weapon skills; however, if you're not actually hitting the mob you may not be making much of a contribution. Politely ask your leader if it's okay to work a weapon skill. (If they say yes, one option might be to dual wield with a trained weapon in one hand and one you're learning in the other.) Some leaders might get huffy about it and say no. Listen to what they say (you may be about to face off against a tough mob, or the zone may need to be completed quickly). Some leaders, though, will be fine with having you train a weapon for part of the zone. It helps you develop the character, and it will make you a more effective team member in the long run.

Main tank step leads
The main tank goes alone into a room, and the group leader drags the group in. This is how a group works in an aggro zone. Your main tank should be the bottom person in your group list, so no one else is following the tank. If someone else needs to go alone into a room for some reason, one way to do it is to have everyone rest; however, you can also type "east alone" and you will move east without anyone following you.

Tanks, watch for wandering mobs when resting
When you're grouping, the rule of thumb is that casters rest to catch tics for memming spells, but tanks don't rest. Unless your group has no healer, tanks shouldn't sit down unless the leader tells you to. If a mob comes wandering in the room that is aggro, you should immediately attack it so it does not engage one of your resting casters, preventing them from memming.

Tanks, watch for wandering mobs when in combat, too
Sometimes a mob will come in the room while you're fighting, and start pounding on one of your casters. If you're already fighting something and you need to engage something quickly but you can't change your target, one way to do it is use kick, bash, or charge.

Tanks, rescue
If your group's non-tank members are being targeted, you need to rescue them. The main tank needs to eventually rescue everyone so all mobs are targeting on the main. This makes the healer's job easier. If a caster is being hit, though, all tanks should work to rescue that character.

Is someone "singing?" (or using some other social?)
If you see someone singing during combat, it may be because they need to be rescued.

Rescue by name
If you use rescue without a name, and there is more than one character in your group being targeted, then you may end up rescuing the wrong character. This adds to confusion in the battle. Instead, you want to type "rescue " so you can ensure you end up rescuing the right person. If you can set aliases on your client to make it quicker, do it, because this will increase speed and reduce typos that might get your group members killed. (As an example, if the healer in my group is named Healguy, I will set my client so when I type "rhe", the command "rescue healguy" is sent to the mud.)

If you can set colors with your client...
Color code certain phrases so they stand out from the other lines scrolling by on the screen. There is too much to read everything, but there are certain key phrases that you need to be looking for. As an example, I have my client set so any messages relating to bashes (including standing up) stand out in a different color. This will help you know when something special happens to you, a group member, or your target.

Finally, learn how to use your client.
Raw telnet isn't great for playing Arctic. A client program is better, and it can really improve your game play if you learn how to use it effectively. Ask around, and you might be able to find someone familiar with your client. Learn how to make shortcuts in your client so you can use aliases and hotkeys rather than typing out commands every time. (As an example of what you can do with a client, see the nicely written tutorial by Derek and Jasper for JMC at
http://mudlogs.foghaven.net/mudlogs.php?article=jmctutorial )

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