Game Basics: Quick Links

• Character Creation
• The Tutorial
• The Combat System
• Death in the Matrix
• Abilities and Disciplines
• The Experience System
• The Chat System
• Team Play
• Non Player Characters
• Levelling Up
• Getting Help and Support
• More Gameplay Information
  

Game Basics: Character Creation

The first thing to do , once you have created an account , is to choose a server on which to create your first character. You are limited to a single character per server, although you may have characters on many different servers. If you are planning on playing with other people make sure you are all playing on the same server. Once you have selected a server, you will be prompted to select a personality archetype. Though this choice will affect your character’s initial capabilities, everybody changes after taking the red pill and you will be given the chance to alter your character’s attributes as you gain experience.

The next step is to create an appearance for your character’s RSI (Residual Self Image). Spend some time now on choosing your physical traits because they cannot be changed after this point. The one exception is clothing, which you will see is limited here, but that will soon be remedied. Once you jack in and start exploring the Matrix you will find yourself overwhelmed with new and stylish options for just about any taste.

Male or Female?	Physical Traits ?	Choose Your Outfit!

Finally you need to select a unique handle for your character. This name will become a part of your AIM name, and therefore must not only be unique to the server, but unique across all servers. You will also be asked to create a name for your character’s name as a bluepill (for example, Neo’s name as a bluepill was “Thomas Anderson”).

Game Basics: The Tutorial

Once you create your character you will be put into the first mission. This mission will help you understand the basics of movement, combat, and interacting with other players and the environment. Try to pay attention, but if you miss something you can always go back and play the tutorial again by selecting it from the hardlines list in the loading area.

Game Basics: The Loading Area

The Loading Area is an extremely important part of playing The Matrix Online. As a redpill, newly freed from the virtual prison of the Machines, you will spend some of your time Jacked Out of the Matrix. When you are not in The Matrix, you have access to several important functions inside of the Loading Area that will aid your experiences once you Jack In.

Review your Loadout	Check Hardlines	Manage Inventory

These functions allow you to adjust your residual self image, load and unload special abilities and disciplines, access hardlines that you have discovered inside the Matrix, manage your inventory and storage, and lastly gain access to a virtual market place system to buy and sell crucial equipment from other redpills.

Load and Unload Disciplines	The Virtual Market Place

Game Basics: The Mission System

Missions are central to The Matrix Online, as they are the first point of contact for the Zion, Machine, and Exile Organizations. Consequently, missions serve as the most effective way for a redpill to engage and affect the overarching storyline. Missions also serve as a great source for both experience and information, in addition to being one of the ways a redpill can find very rare clothing and equipment.

When a redpill enters the Matrix for the first time, they are able to embark on a mission immediately. To do so, they have only to open the Mission Panel and choose the first Zion mission. Although the redpills will eventually have the freedom to accept missions from any of the three Organizations, it is Zion that provides the necessary training for all fledgling redpills. As a redpill grows in ability and capacity, the other Organizations will take a decidedly aggressive interest in their services.

Contact a Controller	Choose a Mission	Read the Briefing

Once a mission has been accepted, a redpill will need to look at their compass, or map, which will identify the direction they need to go in. Once in a mission there are several things to pay attention to. First and foremost, a redpill need to pay close attention to both the operator and controller for the instructions necessary to complete a mission. A successful conclusion to a mission requires that a redpill do everything that is asked of them. To that end, the Mission Panel can be accessed throughout a mission, allowing the redpill to see a list of the current mission objectives. It is important to note that a redpill will come across many different kinds of containers throughout their mission- a thorough check of those containers could yield any number of valuable and rare items.

Review Your Objectives	Follow the Target

Once a redpill completes the current list of assigned objectives, they will receive a notification instructing them to leave the current area. It is important that a redpill heed that advice, in order to receive their next set of orders or to avoid certain danger. Once a redpill has completed all of the assigned objectives related to a specific mission, they will be rewarded for their efforts with an experience bonus upon leaving the mission area.

More Mission Info: Mission System FAQ

Game Basics: The Combat System

Combat readiness is extremely important within The Matrix Online, as a redpill will frequently experience dangerous and violent encounters during their explorations. Combat prowess and abilities become a key factor in completing missions and successfully maneuvering through random encounters with hostile parties. A redpill should always strive towards mastering combat within the Matrix.

There are two major types of combat in The Matrix Online: Interlock close combat and Free-Fire ranged combat. Interlock is, to many people, the signature fighting style of The Matrix. When a master of the martial arts enters Interlock, time will appear to slow, dramatically highlighting the fluidity and intricacy of a particular combat move.

Interlock Combat	Free Fire Combat	Coder Attack!

When a redpill enters close combat they are given the option to use either a standard combat tactic, or engaging in a special move. Standard tactics form the basis of your combat abilities, and special moves are the decisive blows required to win crucial battles.

While it is important to note that all redpills have access to the same combat tactics, each special attack is linked with a specific Ability Code, and a redpill can only use an Ability once it is loaded. With hundreds of special moves, a redpill engaging in combat can never quite know what to expect from their attacker.

Free-Fire combat is ranged combat, a style which allows a redpill to move around during combat. While any player can use firearms in Free-Fire, those who have specialized abilities for gun combat will have a decided advantage. In addition, Hackers are able to use their full arsenal of programs while in combat, with everything from basic attacks and healing to group buffs and de-buffs at their disposal. Unlike combat in Interlock, Free-Fire combat is not broken up into rounds. Though each attack can only be used so often, a redpill can initiate them at any time. A key tactic to be aware of: a close-combat fighter will almost always try to close in on their opponent, rather than allow them the advantage of Free-Fire combat.

More Combat Info: Combat Introduction Article / Combat FAQ

Game Basics: Death in The Matrix

If you die within the Matrix the consequences are not nearly as severe. Due to the truce, and the exchange of information that followed, if you die you will only suffer a severe shock and not death. If you choose to jack back into the Matrix you will have a death penalty for a few minutes while your body recovers.

Game Basics: Abilities and Disciplines

The Matrix Online uses a very different system for abilities than other MMO’s. As a redpill progresses through the game, they will come across opportunities to obtain additional ability codes. Depending on their level, a redpill can load a certain number of the Ability Codes they have discovered, once placed in their Code Archive. This is basically a user's memory capacity. Two key factors in determining which Ability Codes can be loaded are a redpill’s level, and the number and kind of abilities they have currently loaded.

Abilities are organized into groups of 6-8 abilities called Disciplines, and these Disciplines are organized in a vast tree of options. In order to use Abilities from a given discipline, a redpill must use abilities from the entire branch structure, ending with the specific Discipline that is loaded. What makes this method of skill-development so different, is that at any time a redpill can change their entire selection of loaded abilities by simply accessing their Code Archive via the closest hardline. This feature, unique to The Matrix Online, which assures no redpill, is ever limited to one specific class. A redpill is only limited by the number of abilities they have found, purchased or crafted for themselves.

Each Ability, when loaded into memory, gives a specific benefit. Some Abilities allow a redpill to perform a specific combat maneuver, while others give a bonus to certain kinds of actions or attacks. Still others will give the player totally new Abilities, like being able to make dramatic jumps from rooftop to rooftop, or crafting bits of code into useable, sellable and tradable objects with the Matrix. As an additional layer of functionality, many of these Ability Codes can be leveled up when $Information is spent. Once infused with the additional $Information, Ability Codes will never loose the additional power that leveling up brings.

More Information: Disciplines & Abilities Section / Link to Abilities FAQ

Game Basics: The Experience System

The Matrix Online features a traditional RPG experience system where you gain XP as you defeat enemies, and complete missions and objectives. The Matrix Online offers a mission system which rewards your mission team for completing individual objectives throughout the mission as well as a larger XP payoff when you complete the entire mission. Other ways to get XP include battling exile gangs, searching out access nodes, and crafting.

The experience system also supports teams so that you can go on missions or fight gangs with a group and the XP will be shared across the group based on their contributions. This system will also split XP when people outside of the same team work together. This means that you don’t need to worry about somebody stealing your XP – if you have done 90% of the work you will get 90% of the XP when the enemy is defeated. This feature also meant that people often form spontaneous teams when a powerful gang appears.

Game Basics: The Chat System

The chat system offers four in-game chat channels, as well as a unique way of chatting with individuals outside the game environment. To activate the chat window, a redpill has only to hit enter, type your message, and hit enter once more to send off their communication. There are four chat channels, consisting of the Area Chat, Mission Team Chat, Crew Chat, and Faction Chat. For ease and usability, a redpill can customize the color schemes of the aforementioned chat interface to their specifications.

As mentioned before, one of the most interesting features of The Matrix Online is the ability to communicate with individuals outside of the environs of the Matrix. Upon creation of a character, a corresponding AIM account is created, looking something like [character name]@thematrixonline.com. Anybody using the AIM service can communicate with someone inside the Matrix, just as they would when using the AIM client outside of the Matrix. A redpill can also add AIM users to a Buddy List, and communicate with them just as they would with another person in-game. It is in this way that finding key team members is as easy as opening a buddy list and requesting they jack into the Matrix.

Game Basics: Team Play

Playing in groups is a very important part of MMO’s and The Matrix Online makes sure that players interested in this have lots of options. By right clicking on another player, they can be invited to join a Mission Team. Anyone on a mission team can start a mission, and the entire group can then work together to complete a mission, all the while sharing the experience and loot as they move through the Mission’s Objectives. In fact, experience and loot are always shared when redpills work together to take down an enemy. In this way, a redpill never has to worry about someone coming in at the last moment and delivering the killing blow, thereby stealing the glory of victory.

Redpills can also opt to create and join small Crews, which are lead by a Captain. Members of a Crew can elect to share money, and much more. Crew Captains also have the ability to join forces with similarly aligned Captains to create a Faction. Factions allow for massive groups of redpills to align themselves with one another, and through that process, they can assign ranks, and work together on an exponentially larger scale than a Crew of a lone Hovercraft could. Between Teams, Crews, and Factions, there are organizational opportunities to suit any redpill’s tastes.

More Crews Info: Crews Section of Data Node One

Game Basics: Non Player Characters

Throughout Mega City there are all kinds of helpful NPC’s. Understanding how to find them and what they can do to help you is essential to success in the Matrix, especially to the newly Awakened redpill. There are vendors of all kinds, exiles looking for help, and ambassadors from each of the organizations offering help.

Be Wary of Agent NPCs

Vendors are generally found near Hardlines, and specialize in specific wares; some sell clothing, others sell Abilities from a specific branch, while others sell items and equipment. Finding these Vendors is vital to the success of any redpill. The vendors of Mara Central and Tabor Park West are always a good place to seek new Ability Codes.

Throughout the city, in parks, clubs, and other points of interest, a redpill can find Exiles seeking more than just $information in trade for goods and services. Many Exiles are on the lookout for hearty redpills equipped to handle special missions; missions serving to help the Exile in question achieve their own social, political and personal goals and ambitions. These Exiles will often have no allegiances, though accepting their missions may have a detrimental effect on your standing with a particular organization. On the other hand, many of these Exiles will give rewards far greater than a mission assigned by a particular Organization.

Though Zion is the only Organization to offer newly Awakened redpills their first missions, other Organizations are always on the lookout for talented individuals to do their bidding. In many of the areas where the Awakened congregate, you will find Exiles offering advice mixed with propaganda. These Exiles can be a huge help, but one should be careful not to mistake their political opinions as facts. Politics within the Matrix can be a hard nut to crack, any redpills moving up the ranks of a particular Organization could find that independent Exiles and members of opposing Organizations will ignore them entirely. Such is the way of the volatile political landscape in the world of The Matrix Online.

More NPC Info: Storyline Section / Non Player Character FAQ

Game Basics: Levelling Up

As in any MMO, a redpill’s goal is to increase their experience. There are many ways to do this, some of them faster than others. Dependant upon a redpill’s preference and strategy, each method of advancement will have different advantages. The most common ways to increase one’s experience is to defeat enemies or complete missions, but you can also gain valuable experience by finding Access Nodes, successfully performing crafting actions, tapping Data Nodes, and a multitude of other activities unique to The Matrix Online. Once a redpill has gained enough experience, they will gain a capacity for greater Health, Inner Strength, Memory Capacity and additional Attribute Points to distribute at the redpill’s discretion.

This increase allows a redpill to level up their abilities. Many Abilities, like Awakened, become incrementally more powerful as they increase in level, while others must be combined with other Abilities before they can be loaded. Increases in experience require the budgeting of $information to assure that one’s Abilities are an effective addition to their personal arsenal.

Redpills are given the opportunity to raise their Attribute Levels as levels are gained. This is a critical.

Game Basics: Need some help?

Our Game Masters (GMs) are always there to help you if you get stuck or are having problems with another player’s behavior. To report any problems with the game, type /ccr in the chat window and the support console will open. If you are having technical support issues please look at your manual for a technical support phone number.

More Support information: Support Contact Page / Support FAQ

Game Basics: More Game Information

The Matrix Online "MMO" Glossary
What on earth is an Exile Hideout? Awakened Redpill? Learn what all The Matrix jargon really translates into, especially if your come from a MMO gaming background.

Introduction to Combat in The Matrix Online
This article covers all the introductory bases of The Matrix Online combat system. One of the great things about The Matrix Online if the 'Wire-Fu' combat that is possible while playing the game. This article will help steer your adjustment to this system while jacked in.

Introduction to Abilities and Disciplines in The Matrix Online
Want to be a Duel Gun Wielding Assassin today and a Kung-Fu Grandmaster tonight? Then read this introduction to the extremely flexible disciplines system in The Matrix Online.

The Art of the Duel (PvP)
Yes there is Player vs. Player combat inside of The Matrix Online! You can either Duel and opponent, or visit the Archive. Check out some great hints and tips on being a successful dueler in The Matrix Online.