Arete Landing

Arete Landing is the current Playfield where new players arrive, added in Patch 18.7 which was released on April 21, 2015. Because of the extensive work done in the previous starting area, it is recommended to read the ICC Shuttleport article for tips about starting out; the facts that are not specific to the area are generally still valid, for example the Health and Nano Kits section.

Two things

First, quests are always little complicated by the question of "where?" due to the orange indicator on the Compass. The Compass, like most everything else on the screen, can be moved as desired. The Landing area is probably one of the more complicated, due to the vertical element of the map and a maze of walls at the ground level and a few invisible textures on scaffolding that looks as though you should be able to walk through it when you can't. AO is a game where you are rewarded extravagantly for taking your time and thinking things through, so this is as good a time as any to get in that groove.

Second, and much more lengthy, but very worth it: Lower left hand side, top button: Commands. Choose Help/Settings. Choose Settings. Expand GUI. Click on the red dot next to Control Center. Scroll down to the bottom; activate the empty dot called, "Mini Toolbar". Look up the top right of the screen, and you will see a very thin bar with icons: this is your new best friend, and you could do worse than have the Wear screen up all the time for hot-swapping equipment for your entire career; this only becomes more rewarding as the challenges increase, whereas you will be changing gear more often at lower levels, so there is really no bad time to start learning it. The other screens should be opened and closed as needed. They are best taken off of the chain. To do this, right click on the top of each screen; it will now be stuck to your cursor, and you can place it back anywhere on the screen by left clicking. Do this again, dropping it onto the top of another screen, and they will now be stuck together, and you can tab between them. Combining the screens saves some space, obviously, and if the screens are not too dissimilar in size and shape, there will be no downside. You can even use the "Programs" screen as an alternative to the Quickbars for nanos that are cast less often and out of combat. Same goes for the "Inventory" screen that is not found on the Mini Toolbar, but on the lower left: you can click on meds here instead of using them from the quickbar, if desired, and managing backpacks of loot is a lot easier if the inventory is always up somewhere. Conversely, there are a lot of popup screens you may wish to reduce in size or move to places other than covering up where your character is fighting, especially if you are a melee fighter. And there is nothing wrong with making the chat screen a little less intrusive; the rows of buttons on the left and right can be partially covered and still function, so chat on one side, inventory on the other may be an option.

Note that Anarchy Online is a game that rewards players of lower levels with opportunities specific to those levels: most common is Quests for leveling, but there are also two reasons to Turn Off Experience: money-making opportunities are often level-specific (see Clicksaver and Buff Weapons); more rarely, players will make characters of a specific level to compete in Notum Wars battles.

Links

• AO Universe -

recommended - a very detailed walkthrough complete with dialogue. Possibly missing one sidequest.

• Keyboard Shortcuts
• Anarchy Online - Arete Guide & Tutorial Part 1 (New starting area). Starting guide, with an overview of professions and skills, by a WoW player.
• Anarchy Online : Arete Starting Area complete playthrough. No intro, straight to efficient quest completion
• Anarchy Online - 2016 - Episode 1. First in a series