MU Online beginner guide: your first hour

The first hour of MU Online is the part people remember most: the click of the login screen, the music, and the realisation that you are standing in Lorencia with a long road ahead. This MU Online beginner guide walks you through that hour on UnrealMu, in the order you will actually do things. If you want to know how to start MU Online without downloading anything, you are in the right place.

UnrealMu is an unofficial, fan-run Season 6 Episode 3 server and is not affiliated with Webzen. It is free, and there is no cash shop.

Step 1: create your account

Go to the registration page and make an account. You register once, on the website, and the same login works everywhere on UnrealMu, including all three realms. Choose a password you do not use elsewhere. Once registered, the player account panel on the website is where you can look after your characters later.

Step 2: open the game in your browser

Next, open the browser play page. The game runs in the page itself, with no download and no installer. You need a desktop browser with WebGL 2; we have tested it in Chrome. It works on Windows, macOS and Linux. Phones and tablets are not supported yet, so use a computer.

A native Linux client already runs for us, but it is still in testing and not yet available as a download. Native Windows and macOS clients are planned, not available, so the browser is the way to play today. More on that in play on Windows, Linux and Mac.

Step 3: choose a realm

You choose which realm to play in. There are three, with one account shared between them:

• Hard 5x: the original realm, where existing characters and progress live. Slow, closest to the classic grind.
• Classic 100x: a fresh start at 100x experience.
• Fast 1000x: a fresh start at 1000x experience, for those who want to move quickly.

Characters, wallets and progression are separate in each realm, so you can try one and switch later without losing anything. If you simply want to learn the game, Classic 100x is a comfortable place to begin; if you want the old, slow pace, pick Hard 5x. The full comparison is in realms and resets.

Step 4: create your character

This is the choice that shapes everything. Each class plays differently: some hit hard up close, some fight from a distance, some cast spells, some summon. Take a few minutes with the classes guide before you commit. A simple rule for a first character: pick the class whose name makes you curious, because you will be looking at it for many hours.

Give the character a name you will be happy to see on the rankings.

Step 5: find the Elf Soldier and take the buff

Before you leave the town, find the Elf Soldier. This NPC gives a 60-minute beginner buff of roughly +90 damage and +100 defence at low level, and the bonus scales with your level. It is available up to level 220. If you die, you lose the buff, so go back and ask again. In Lorencia, the NPC coordinates are (96,129), (174,129), (130,128) and (132,165). Use your in-game position display to walk to one of them.

While you are in the town, look around. The market, the shops and the vault keeper are all there. Spend a minute learning where they are, because you will be back many times to sell items and buy potions.

Step 6: hunt in Lorencia

Head out of town and fight the spiders. These are our verified Lorencia spots (x,y):

• Spiders: (180,128), (88,127) and (133,79). Start here.
• Liches: (133,174), (155,227), (140,180) and (150,170).
• Skeletons: (165,171) and (140,220).
• Giants: (45,55) and (131,201).
• Elite bull fighter (32,105), hound (65,200), bull fighter (180,60) and budge dragon (218,149), for later.

The details of each map, and what lies beyond Lorencia, are in our maps and hunting spots guide. A tip that works in every realm: if you are losing more health than you can comfortably recover, move to an easier spot rather than pushing through. Dying costs you the buff and a bit of time, but it also teaches you what your character can take.

Step 7: spend your stat points

Each time you level up you earn stat points to spend on your character. Your class has its own stat needs, so read the classes guide before you place them. Two habits help. First, do not spread points randomly; decide on a plan for your class and stick to it. Second, remember that stat decisions are not frozen. All character services on UnrealMu, including allocating and refunding points, are free, so a wrong choice is a small mistake, not a disaster. You can also reset your master tree for free if you change your mind later.

Step 8: understand free resets

Resets are the long-term idea of UnrealMu. At level 400, you can reset your character, which returns it to level 1. Each reset gives 500 bonus stat points, and the bonus is cumulative. The reset cap is 100. Your items, skills and master progress are kept. Resets are free, like the rest of the character services, and there is no cash shop to buy shortcuts.

You do not need to think about this in your first hour. It is simply good to know that the grind has a shape: you level, you reset, and the character you build grows stronger over many cycles. See realms and resets for how this plays out at different experience rates.

Step 9: say hello to the community

The community forum has boards, threads, comments and votes. It is a good place to ask a question, share a hunting spot, or just tell people what you remember from the old days. The rankings show real players and bots separately. The world is kept busy by built-in bot players, and they are clearly marked, so you can always tell who is real.

What to expect from the first hour

Be realistic about pace. In the first ten minutes you will be registering and loading the game. In the next twenty you will pick a class, take the buff and find your feet in Lorencia. In the last half hour you should be hunting and gaining levels, with the first few coming quickly. How quickly depends on the realm: 5x feels like the original game, while 100x and 1000x compress the same journey.

If something goes wrong, remember that the usual problems have free fixes. A character stuck in a wall can be unstuck, a player-kill status can be cleared, and stat points can be refunded. None of them costs anything, and there is no shop to push you towards. If the game will not load at all, check that you are on a desktop browser with WebGL 2 and try again in Chrome, which is the browser we tested.

Quick mu online tips

• Renew the Elf Soldier buff when it runs out or after a death.
• Do not rush to a new map; check the level on the gate first.
• Learn where the town NPCs are before you need them.
• Use the free services rather than fighting a bad stat or a stuck character.
• Read the server info page if you want the current rates for each realm.

An hour in, you should have an account, a character, a buff, and a few levels behind you. After that the road opens up: new maps, new gear, jewels, wings and the Chaos Machine, and the events. Take your time. The game has always rewarded players who enjoy the walk.