This is a formulated guide to getting through Rookgaard as quickly as possible. Note that following such guides may ultimately degrade the experience of the game. It is recommended for new players to experience the game for themselves rather than follow this.
The page is structured in such a way to guide you through everything from the quests at level 1, to equipping your character and getting to the mainland. It is presented in a progressive manner, and your character may not be able to survive with the tasks unless it is equipped properly.
Tutorial Island[]
When you create your character, you log in on the Tutorial Island.[1] From here, you can get 150 experience by doing The Beginning Quest. Walk to Santiago and complete his quests: this will grant you a club, jacket and 100 experience points (level 2). After you've finished with him, walk east to Zirella and finish her quest. You will be half way to level 3. Finish the tutorial by moving along east, finishing Carlos' quest and going across the bridge to Rookgaard.
Equipping your Character[]
Once you pass the bridge, you will need money to equip your character. The most time-efficient way would be to hunt rabbits, pigs, sheep and deer. Collect their meat and ham and sell them to Willie (or Billy) until you have about 150gp (note: less than 20 gold increments above this does not mean much for you). This may around 10-30 minutes,[2] but will save you a lot more time leveling than it consumes.
With the money you have attained, buy Small Health Potions from Lily. These will not be used for leveling, but to run through dangerous zones for the rewards from quests.
Note: You should not use distance fighting in Rookgaard (unless you plan to stay there), not even if you wish to become a paladin. It will slow down your progress in Rookgaard, and will hardly make a difference in the mainland.
The Rookie Guard Quest[]
- Rewards: (best equipment listed only) Sword, Brass Helmet, Studded Armor, Leather Legs, Leather Boots, Brass Shield, some amulets, Star Ring, also 1 Antidote Potion, 7 Small Health Potions, and some food.
Provides some basic equipment. Not recommended unless you have no other choice as it can take up to two hours to complete.
Doublet Quest[]
- Reward: Doublet
First you will travel to the cellar of the building north of Tom and complete the Doublet Quest.
Bear Room Quest[]
- Rewards: Chain Armor and Present Box, which can be exchanged for a Legion Helmet
- Time: Approximately 15 minutes.
If your server has many active Rookers, the bear room would be much more rewarding as you might not require a key. If the Server Save has just passed, you would be advised to obtain a pick before going, which in turn opens a hole to get the key. You can exchange Small Axes from Daily Respawns for picks or obtain one from The Rookie Guard Quest.
You will be required to run through all of these quests. Be careful, and ensure your connection to the game server is stable. Also keep defensive mode on. Ignore all monsters in the caves you come by as they are too strong for you now. (generally, it's fine to kill spiders, snakes and bugs as these have little defense; not trolls, orcs or minotaurs though!)
Once you've got your doublet and potions, head north to the main cave and enter the dungeon. Follow the guide at Bear Room Quest/Spoiler and be careful not to get surrounded by creatures!
Dragon Corpse Quest[]
- Rewards: Legion Helmet and Copper Shield
- Time: Approximately 10 minutes.
This one you may have problems with, because the path is generally very small and full of bears are. First, ensure you have a rope, shovel, about 7 Small Health Potions and a scythe. You can buy a scythe at Al Dee's store for 12gp.
See Dragon Corpse Quest/Spoiler for a more detailed guide. Start by heading over east of the town to the bear cave. Run through the bears to the south-east avoiding as much conflict as possible. Dig the hole and go through. From there, continue east until you come to fire fields. You must travel through this and back as quickly as possible. If you stop, you may receive more damage than is necessary. Remember to use potions whenever you're on low health. At the end of the path you will find a dead dragon. Search the dragon for your reward.
Katana Quest[]
- Rewards: Katana and Viking Helmet
- Time: Approximately 20 minutes.
This is perhaps the hardest quest you will do in Rookgaard. It is recommended you do this when you have some equipment, as you may be required to defend yourself against several rotworms. Follow the guide at the Katana Quest page.
Note: Although there are poison fields along the way, it is generally more cost-efficient to use Small Health Potions instead of Antidote Potions.
Grinding to Level 8[]
In general, the entire Rookgaard has creatures for you. But you may wish to avoid trolls, orcs, minotaurs and rotworms as these take a long time to kill.
Free Account[]
Free Accounts still have some choices, though you might have problems with other people. Here's a list of the best locations:
- Spider cave. To the north, you can find a spider cave which can yield 500-1000 experience.
- Wolves. There are some packs of wolves in the far north-east. You can find a cave with about 5-10 wolves in it. On the surface nearby the entrance (to the south) you can also find quite a few other minor creatures (spiders, for example).
- Rats. This is desirable despite their low experience. Rats will be easy to kill, have decent gold and cheese to heal you.
- Wasp tower. This one will require expenses: you will not survive unless you are well equipped and have health potions, but it's a good stop for experience if you do. The wasps will be en route to the Orc Fort, or on your way out from it.
- Skeletons. There are a few free account skeleton caves. One is deep in the main cave, another is to the far north-west guarded by orcs, and the other is en route to the rotworm hell. These have low defense but don't come in huge enough groups for you to stay. Avoid this unless you're waiting for other things to spawn, or you have nowhere else to go.
- The main quest line, The Rookie Guard Quest, can take a character almost to level 7. Not recommended for experienced players because it can take around 2 hours to complete (making an average of about 2,100 experience/hour, significantly lower than what hunting can yield).
Premium Account[]
If you are premium, you have a lot more leveling options than free accounts. This is not an exhaustive list, but perhaps a compilation of the best:
- Wolves. These are, hands down, the #1 place to level if you have them alone or shared between two people. Rotate around the following areas (kill anything you see): premium gate to north-west mountain; south to the nearest mountain, south-east to the last mountain, and finally down the hole for the snakes. Avoid the trolls, as they will consume too much time than it's worth.
- Rats. While they mightn't be desirable with their low experience, with little annoyances the rat sewer can make for a quick exit of Rookgaard.
- Skeletons. These are only good because they have low defense. Generally you won't want to leave to sell items if you wish to level quickly, though you can make a lootbag if you need money.
- Free account areas. Just because you're premium that doesn't mean you must hunt in the premium area, you can still hunt in free account areas. This will usually be worse than premium areas though because of the amount of people.
Moving on to the Mainland[]
If you follow this, you should be level 8 within 2 hours, depending on how busy the server is, of course. Generally, this is much quicker than waiting for players to sell you equipment.
You can now go to the Oracle and travel to the Island of Destiny.
Note: It is advisable to give your equipment to an alternative character. This can be done by dropping them on the ground (it's risky, but if you can find a place to hide them in a bag, it should be fine) or by giving them to a friend temporarily.