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Getting Started
Welcome to Quest! This guide walks you through your first steps, from creating a character to understanding the core gameplay loop.
When you first launch Quest, you'll be taken to the character select screen. Choose Create New Character and type in a name (up to 16 characters, letters, numbers, and spaces).
Your character starts at Level 1 with:
- 50 HP
- All six attributes at 10 (STR, DEX, CON, INT, WIS, CHA)
- No equipment
- Placed in the Meadow (Zone 1)
You can have multiple characters on the same machine. Each one saves independently to ~/.quest/.
Quest is an idle RPG. Your character fights automatically -- you don't need to press buttons to attack. Here's how a typical session flows:
- Your hero fights enemies in the current zone. Attacks happen every 1.5 seconds. Enemies attack back every 2 seconds.
- Defeating enemies earns XP. Each kill gives 200-400 XP worth of progress.
- Leveling up grants +3 random attribute points, making you stronger.
- Equipment drops from enemies (15% chance per kill). Better items auto-equip if they're an upgrade.
- After 10 kills in a subzone, a boss spawns. Defeat it to advance to the next area.
- If you die to a boss, you're retreated to the last safe zone (the highest zone where you've beaten a boss) and your kill counter resets to 0.
The terminal is split into panels:
- Left side: Your character stats, attributes, equipment, and zone info
- Right side: The combat scene with HP bars and enemy display
- Bottom: Combat log and recent loot drops
Your character has six attributes that determine combat effectiveness:
| Attribute | Abbrev | Effect |
|---|---|---|
| Strength | STR | +2 physical damage per modifier point |
| Dexterity | DEX | +1 defense and +1% crit chance per modifier point |
| Constitution | CON | +10 max HP per modifier point |
| Intelligence | INT | +2 magic damage per modifier point |
| Wisdom | WIS | +5% XP gain per modifier point |
| Charisma | CHA | +10% prestige multiplier bonus per modifier point |
Modifier is calculated as: (attribute value - 10) / 2. So an attribute of 14 gives a +2 modifier, while the starting value of 10 gives +0.
When you level up, 3 attribute points are distributed randomly among your six attributes (respecting the attribute cap).
Enemies drop equipment across 7 slots:
| Slot | Icon |
|---|---|
| Weapon | Crossed Swords |
| Armor | Shield |
| Helmet | Helmet |
| Gloves | Gloves |
| Boots | Boots |
| Amulet | Prayer Beads |
| Ring | Ring |
Items come in 6 rarity tiers: Common, Magic, Rare, Epic, Legendary, and God (unique endgame items). Higher rarity means more attribute bonuses and special affixes (like +% damage, +crit chance, or +HP). Each item also rolls a quality tier (T0-T9) that affects how strong its stats are.
The game automatically equips better items for you using a smart scoring system that considers your character's current build.
See Equipment for the full breakdown of rarity, affixes, and drop rates.
The world has 11 main zones (with 39 more unlocking through endgame progression), each with 3-4 subzones. You start in the Meadow and work your way through increasingly dangerous areas.
Each subzone has a boss that spawns after you defeat 10 enemies. Beat the boss to advance to the next subzone. The final boss of each zone gates access to the next zone.
Your first two zones (Meadow and Dark Forest) are available from the start. Later zones require higher Prestige ranks to unlock:
| Zones | Prestige Required |
|---|---|
| Meadow, Dark Forest | None |
| Mountain Pass, Ancient Ruins | Prestige 5 |
| Volcanic Wastes, Frozen Tundra | Prestige 10 |
| Crystal Caverns, Sunken Kingdom | Prestige 15 |
| Floating Isles, Storm Citadel | Prestige 20 |
| The Expanse (infinite endgame) | Complete Zone 10 and Prestige 25 |
See Zones and Progression for the full zone list with subzones and bosses.
Once you reach Level 10, you can perform your first prestige. This:
- Resets your level to 1 and your attributes to base values
- Clears your equipment and zone progress
- Permanently increases your prestige rank (to Bronze)
- Gives you a 1.5x XP multiplier that makes your next run faster
- Raises your attribute cap from 20 to 25 (so attributes can grow higher)
- Grants flat combat bonuses (damage, defense, crit, HP) that persist
Prestige is the key to long-term progression. Each prestige makes you permanently stronger, letting you push further into harder zones. See Prestige for the full tier list and mechanics.
As you play, new systems unlock through discoveries -- random events that trigger during gameplay:
- Dungeons: After defeating enemies, there's a 1% chance per kill to discover a dungeon. These are grid-based adventures with treasure rooms, elite enemies, and a boss at the end.
- Fishing Spots: After defeating an enemy, there's a 5% chance per kill to discover a fishing spot. Fishing earns XP, ranks up a separate fishing progression track, and can drop rare items.
- Challenges: At Prestige 1+, you'll gradually discover playable minigames (Chess, Go, Minesweeper, Snake, Sudoku, 2048, and more -- 14 total).
- Haven: At Prestige 10+, you'll discover Haven, an account-level base where you build rooms that provide permanent bonuses.
- Soulforge: At Prestige 15+, you'll discover the Soulforge, where you can enhance equipment slots for permanent stat boosts.
- Stormglass: Also at Prestige 15+, you'll discover Stormglass, a currency earned through gameplay that lets you invoke challenges, fast-forward time, and activate powerful Storm Sigils.
- The Deep: At Prestige 15+, defeating The Endless (Zone 11's cycle boss) for the first time automatically unlocks The Deep -- this is a guaranteed trigger, not a random discovery. Access it with D.
- Loom of Worlds: Opening the Gateway at Deep Layer 30 unlocks the Loom -- a resource production chain system. Access it with L.
When you close Quest and come back later, the game calculates what happened while you were away. You'll earn XP at 25% of the normal rate for up to 7 days of offline time.
If you have Haven unlocked, the Hearthstone room can boost your offline XP rate.
- Let it run. Quest is designed as an idle game. Your hero will fight, level, and loot on their own.
- Prestige early. Don't grind forever at low levels -- the XP multiplier from prestige makes subsequent runs much faster.
- Watch for dungeons. When a dungeon is discovered, you can explore it for bonus loot and XP. Death in a dungeon is safe (no prestige loss).
- Check your equipment. The auto-equip system handles most upgrades, but you can see your gear in the stats panel.
- Boss death retreats you. If a boss kills you, you're sent back to your last safe zone (highest zone where you've beaten a boss). You'll need to fight your way back with a fresh kill counter.
Quest runs in the terminal and uses keyboard input:
- Most gameplay is automatic (combat, movement)
- Arrow keys / Enter for menu navigation
- Esc to exit minigames and overlays (press twice to confirm forfeit)
- The game auto-saves every 30 seconds
- Combat -- Deep dive into how combat mechanics work
- Zones and Progression -- All zones and their bosses
- Controls and UI -- Full keyboard controls reference
- Prestige -- Full prestige tier list and strategy
- Equipment -- Item generation, rarity, and affixes