Starting Guide

Shards of Dalaya (SoD) is an emulated Everquest server which focuses on creating an experience similar to Everquest Live while providing new experiences and adventures. We have taken the best parts of Everquest and integrated them with entirely new lore and content. We have hand made thousands of quests, NPCs, books, zones and pretty much every other part of our game. Shards of Dalaya is absolutely free, and is run entirely by a passionate volunteer staff.

If you have any questions after reading this starting guide, or just want to hang out, be sure to join us on Shards of Dalaya's official IRC server . If you do not have an IRC client, you can also use our IRC browser app .

Most importantly of all, thank you for taking the time try out our game. We have been going for over eight years now. We love what we do, and could not do it without the support of our player base.

Installing Shards of Dalaya

Shards of Dalaya is the longest continuously running emulated EverQuest server, featuring completely reimagined lore and a number of custom mechanics not present in the parent game. To make a character of your own and set foot on your adventure, follow the steps outlined below.

Community Discord

If you have any questions after reading this starting guide, or just want to hang out, be sure to join us on Shards of Dalaya's official Discord server .

Install the Game via Steam (Windows)

Note: Players familiar with Steam may choose to stray from the steps outlined below. Do so only if you are confident in your technical abilities.

To install EverQuest using Steam, do the following:

1. Visit the official Steam website:
   • http://store.steampowered.com
2. Create a Steam account if you don't already have one by clicking on login and then Join Steam. (Steam accounts are free.)
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
3. After creating an account, download the Steam installer from the website by clicking on the green Install Steam button.
   
   
   
   
4. Open the Steam installer to install Steam.
5. Open Steam and log in to your Steam account.
   Note: Use the account name and password you created in Step 2.
6. Type EverQuest into the search bar.
   
   
   
   
7. Click on the EverQuest game (dated Dec 13, 2012) and click on the green Play Game button to add the game to library.
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
8. Click on the Library tab at the top.
   
   
   
   
9. Double click on EverQuest Free-to-Play in your library list and download the game.
   Note: There is no need to run/patch EverQuest once Steam finishes installing the game. This will cause errors when trying to run SoD!
10. When the game has finished downloading, right-click EverQuest Free-to-Play in the library list and select Properties.
    
    
    
    
11. Under the Local Files tab, click on Browse Local Files.
    Note: This will open the folder that EverQuest has been installed to.
    
    
    
    
    
12. Click the "Up" arrow to the left of the file address bar.
    
    
    
    
    Note: This allows you to view the EverQuest F2P folder.
13. Right-click on the EverQuest F2P folder and select Copy (recommended) or Cut (if your hard drive is low on storage space).
14. Navigate to wherever you want to place the folder, such as C: > Program Files (x86), and Paste (CTRL + V) the folder there.
    
    Note: Suggest not putting it in a Windows created directory as suggested above to avoid potential file permission issues(this is an old game and windows has gotten more strict over the years, will likely be fine but it reduces the number of things to check if an error happens) and please don't place in your user folder if you have any errors that need to be resolved your installation directory will likely be included in the information required to solve the problem revealing your windows user name. The desktop is in your user folder
15. Open the Shards of Dalaya patcher (SoD 2.5 Patcher.exe).
    Note: If you do not already have the SoD patcher, it can be downloaded here. The patcher may be placed on the desktop for easy access.
16. Within the patcher, check the Repatch All box, then click on the Browse... button to direct the patcher at your newly installed, newly moved EverQuest F2P folder.
    Note: Refer to Step 14 as needed; the patcher must be directed to the location you chose for your EverQuest F2P folder.
    
    
    
    
    
17. Click Patch and Run to update to Shards of Dalaya's files.
18. After patching, enter the game!
    Note: If you haven't already created your Shards of Dalaya account(s), do so here.
19. if you try to login and it doesn't accept your username and password check for capslock(it is case sensitive) and verify that Use EQEmu For Login Server is checked or unchecked as appropriate in the patcher. If you used SOD's website to register it should be unchecked if you used EQemu to register it should be checked.
20. If you have errors try updating your .Net Framework and DirectX hereand also try installing the C++ redistributable from 2015 here or the C++ redistributable ALL IN ONE here
21. If you are still running Windows 7 and receive an "Error updating patcher, make sure you are connected to the Internet" error, you may need to apply the following registry changes to enable TLS 1.2: https://www.smartftp.com/en-us/support/kb/2679
22. If having problems with installing can try asking in the SOD discord server here in the tech support channel.

Bug!

there is a known memory leak bug in the client that can cause a crash(usually while logging in or zoning) when memory usage of the client exceeds 1.8GB(your total ram doesn't matter this is a limitation of really old windows programs) this can be mitigated by always using a fresh instance of the client for each toon you load. if it becomes a significant issue the third party patch below doubles the memory limit before a crash greatly decreasing crashes from this memory leak. This problem cannot be solved by the team here in an official patch because it requires modification of a binary they don't have the rights to edit to fix.

The UNOFFICIAL/UNSUPPORTED third party patch for memory leak crash is here it is the 4GB patch. it should be applied to eqgame.exe in the Everquest F2P folder(may want to create a backup of this file just in case). Note patch may fail if your installation is in a Windows created folder due to a file permission issue. The game can be moved after installation by moving the entire Everquest F2P folder. Severely discourage placing the install on your desktop as it can cause issues and is a potential security risk. suggest creating a folder at the root of one of your drives and putting the game folder in that.

Bug!

another bug is when logging in sometimes it will seem like it is taking forever to login. if the "Log In" button doesn't look pressed in. hit the enter key which will clear the dialog and click the login button with your mouse. if the Log In button does look pressed in, hit Esc and try to log in again.

Bug!

Razor overlay causes crashes close it to solve the issue.

Bug!

Sonic Radar III(comes preinstalled with Asus brand laptops and with ASUS motherboards) overlay causes crashes close it to solve the issue.

Character Creation

This is the Character Creation page. Here you decide important attributes about your character.

• Name: Shards of Dalaya has restrictions on what kind of names you can pick for your character. Please be sure to pick an actual name, not "Iamagreatshadowknight"!

• Gender: Set the Gender of your character. This is completely aesthetic!

• Race: There are fifteen different races in Shards of Dalaya, each with their own strengths and weaknesses. The race you pick will also effect where in the world you start your adventure. You can find more detailed information on this subject in the wiki article about the races.

• Class: There are fifteen classes in Shards of Dalaya split into roughly five archtypes. You have the Priests (Druid, Cleric and Shaman), the Casters (Wizard, Magician, Necromancer and Enchanter), the Hybrids (Ranger, Bard, Paladin, Shadowknight and Beastlord) and the Melees (Warrior, Rogue, Monk). Shards of Dalaya is largely a team cooperative game, and each class plays a role in a group setting that compliments other classes in different ways. Each class has their own strengths and niches, and all the classes are balanced as well as possible to allow for many different effective class combinations. You can find more detailed information on this subject in the wiki article about the classes.

• Abilities: There are seven different Statistical Abilities in Shards of Dalaya. They are Strength, Stamina, Agility, Dexterity, Wisdom, Intelligence and Charisma. Each Ability gives different bonuses to your character, and each class needs a different set of abilities. For a caster, it is generally recommended to put your starting points into Charisma or your casting ability (Wisdom for Priests, Intelligence for Casters). For Melees or Hybrids, the choice is less clear and you can decide more freely. You can find more detailed information on this subject in the wiki article about the statistics.

The Dream and Game Basics

Once you have created your character and entered the game, you will find yourself in The Dream. The Dream is half tutorial and half an introduction to the lore and main quest of the game. But before we go into how to go through The Dream, lets go over some game basics.

The User Interface

This is the default user interface for Shards of Dalaya.

• Lag Meter: On the upper right is the Lag Meter. This bar will turn from green to yellow to red when your connection with Shards of Dalaya is interrupted while playing.

• Songs and Spell Effects Windows: Whenever you have a magical Song or Spell causing some change to your character, it will show up in this box as an icon. Red icons mean you have detrimental spells on you, while blue indicate beneficial spells. You can manually take beneficial spells off of you by clicking on their icon.

• Hot Buttons: This window allows you to place various custom abilities or macros in a convenient way. As you gain skills and abilities, this window will get much more use. You can find more detailed information on this subject in the wiki article about the hotkeys.

• Chat Window: This is where you will interact with other players and characters in the game. The main chat 'channels' are Say ('/say *message*'), Shout ('/shout *message*'), Group ('/g *message*'), Guild ('/gu *message*') and Out of Character (/ooc *message*). Say sends a message out around your character, shout sends a message to the zone you are in, group sends a message to your group members, guild sends a message to your guild, and out of character sends a message to the entire game. All new players are started in a special guild where they can ask questions and meet friends - you can access this using "/gu *message*". Feel free to say hello! Click the bar at the bottom of the chat window to type into it (or press Enter). You can find more detailed information on this subject in the wiki article about the chat commands.

• Compass: This shows the direction you are facing. The direction becomes much more accurate as you increase your characters Sense Heading skill.

• Target Window: You target things in game by clicking on them. This window shows you the name of whatever you currently have targetted.

• Profile Window: This window shows your character name as well as your current health (red bar), mana (blue bar) and stamina (yellow bar).

• Group Window: When you join a group, this window will show your group mates names and current health.

• Battle Window: This window shows all damage done by you and to you, as well as spells cast and abilities performed.

• Action Window: This window allows you to invite people to your group, disband your group, sit down/stand up, toggle walk or run, and exit the game through 'camping'.

• Spell Bar: If you chose a class with access to spells, this is the place where you place spells prior to clicking on them and 'casting' them. The little red button will show you a book with all your learned spells, of which you can pick eight to be on your bar and ready to cast at any one time.

• Main Window Menu: This bar allows you to toggle on or off most of the other windows we have described. It also will open up your inventory window (you can also get there with the I button), and the options window (also reachable with Alt-O).

• Map Window: You can display an in game map of the zone you are in by pressing the Backspace key.

• Inventory: You can see what your character is carrying and wearing by pressing the I key.

It is important to note that Shards of Dalaya supports a huge range of custom User Interfaces, all with different looks and styles! You can find many by looking on the game forums, or by asking friends in game what they use.

Movement and Interaction

Movement is obtained by using the arrow keys, although many players rebind movement to the WASD keys in the options menu (alt+o). Other than movement, the other two most important keys to know are H for Hailing and Q for autoattack.

Hailing (defaulted to the H key) is the primary way players interact with characters in the game. Clicking your mouse on a character within the game 'targets' it. After targeting it and walking up to it you press H to hail it. The majority of characters in the game will respond to you in the Main Chat window. It will show its own text, followed by yellow text 'dialog' options. You can interact with the character by either using the dialog command (Template:Cmd where # is the option you want to pick), or by typing out one of the options you are given. Talking to characters in Shards of Dalaya is the major way you receive quests and discover things in the game world!

Autoattack is the main way to deal melee damage in Shards of Dalaya. After targeting a monster or character, press the Q key to turn on auto attack. This will make your character swing their weapon until you turn off autoattack, or the mob you are targeting dies.

The Dream

On to the game! The Dream is the a tutorial that all characters enter into before being placed into the world of Dalaya. If you feel that you have a good grasp of the game already, you can skip the dream by talking to The Guide. If you are new to Shards of Dalaya, I highly recommend you go through the dream, as it is a great introduction to the game (albeit a bit tedious!)

The first thing you do when entering the dream, is walking up to The Guide, targeting him and then hailing him with the H key. The white text is what he says to you, while the yellow are your options to say back to him.

To pick an option to say back, type Template:Cmd or Template:Cmd depending on what you want to say. Template:Cmd skips The Dream entirely, which is not recommended for new players. Further text and interaction is done the same way, by using Template:Cmd and pointing it to the dialog number you want.

After a bit of back and forth with The Guide, he should cast a beneficial spell on you and tell you to continue past him.

Here you can see the spell he cast on us to the left. Holding your mouse over it will show you that the spell is called "Power of Dreams". Further, in our Battle Spam window, we see that the spell cast on us also healed our character.

Also, in our Chat Window we see that The Guide gave us experience and added a quest to our journal. Experience is the main progression method in Shards of Dalaya. As you gain experience, your character gains in level and you get access to new and exciting abilities and areas. The quest journal system is a way for players to see where they stand on certain quests throughout the game. You can access it with Template:Cmd.

Okay! It is time to move on. Head away from The Guide and journey further into the dream. Remember that you can bring up a map by pressing Backspace. You may need to turn off the Height Filter to see the map in its entirety.

Sooner or later you will find yourself face to face with your first trial, The Challenge.

The Challenge may be male or female, so if this picture looks a little different have no fear! As you did with The Guide, walk up to The Challenge, target him by clicking on him and then press {{key|H]} to hail him. The Challenge demands that you fight him using autoattack. Tell him you are prepared, and then turn on auto attack either by pressing the Q button or by hitting the 'Melee Attack' button on your Hotbutton Bar. Once you defeat The Challenge, you can continue on your quest to The Sorcerer.

The Sorcerer's trial is accomplished by using magic against her. If you are a class that has access to spells, she will give you a spell. If you are a pure melee, she will give you a magical item that you can use to channel the spell.

For mana users - talk to The Sorcerer until she gives you the scroll. Press the I button to bring up the inventory screen. You will see the scroll there, and it will be named "Spell: Sorcerer's Defeat" if you hover your mouse over it. Click the spell scroll to pick it up, and either type /book or click the little red button on your spell bar to open up your spell book. Move the scroll to one of the slots in the book and click on it. This will write the spell down in your book. Once the spell is written down (this takes a few seconds), you can click the "Sorcerer's Defeat" icon, and move it over to your spell bar. Again, this will take a few seconds, but after you are done you should see a gem appear in your spell bar. Stand back up, target the Sorcerer and click the spell gem. If your spell 'fizzles' you might have to click it more than once (spells fizzle less as your skills go up). Once cast, the Sorcerer will tell you that you passed her trial and you can move on.

For non mana users - you will get a magical stone from The Sorcerer. Open your inventory with I, and find the little stone there. You can inspect the stone by holding right click on it for a second. Target the sorcerer, and right click the stone. This should cast the spell, and allow you to pass the trial!

Continue on your path! Unfortunately, you will encounter a skunk. You will also be sprayed by the skunk - yuck! Luckily, you will soon after find The Healer.

As the ingame note describes, you will also find a Healer in major cities. Speak with this healer and he can cleanse you of the skunk funk. After that, it is on to the last trial - The Choice.

The Choice introduces new players to the Shards of Dalaya alignment system. Talk to The Choice, and then talk to The Thug, The Merchant and The Victim. After hearing their stories, go back and Hail the one you want to give the gift to. Afterwards, to initiate the gifting, open your inventory with 'i' and click on the gift (looks like a golden earring) to pick it up. Then click on the character you want to give it to. This will open up the NPC Trade Window.

Click 'Give' in this window, and you will have made your Choice! Depending on your choice, your alignment might have shifted in different directions. Go speak to The Choice again before moving on in The Dream.

Soon you will find yourself in the end Arena. Here you must talk to The First, then The Second, then The Third and finally The Last.

The First will offer you a range of different starting weapon combinations depending on your class. After picking your weapon, speak to The Second and then The Third. Finally, go to The Last.

After you are done talking to her, you will wake up and enter the real world of Dalaya! Thus ends the tutorial of The Dream.

Further guides

Although this starting guide covers only installation and The Dream, there is an entire set of starting area guides to help get new characters started.