Your First Days[]
During your first days on the server, it may be difficult to gain the trust of other players here, who have most likely been within the community for a few months, if not years. Despite this, The Mystian Network overall has a kind-hearted and welcoming community eager to help out other, and in time you are certain to find your place in the community and on the server.
Joining an Empire[]
To start off, you will probably want to join an empire. This is primarily because there are many unique plugins and mechanics on the server to learn. Although you might feel confused or even overwhelmed at times with a number of the server's largely unique aspects, our amazing community and helpful staff will help walk you through it! For these reasons, it is advisable to join an empire to start, so that you learn more about the server and the people within its community. When deciding on which empire to join, looking at the empire descriptions on the forums (https://www.mystiannetwork.com/site/index.php?forums/empires.24/)* might be able to help! If not you can always ask people on the server or in the discord for help selecting as well. Once you finally find the empire you want to join, ask their leader, or one of their officers to invite you to a city
Establishing a Settlement[]
Another option, should none of the empires on the server be an appealing place to call home, is to starting your own settlement! This is the first step towards creating your very own Empire. Coins, the in-server currency, can be use Settlements cost nine hundred (900) coins. You can receive this amount of money if you exchange the gold ingots you start with for coins at the Bank in Starry. In order to do this, hold the gold ingots in your hand, and right-click the sign in the bank. Once you have this money, and you arrive at the spot you wish to settle, type the following command:
/e create [Your empire name] [Name of your city] settlement
This will create a settlement with an eleven chunk by eleven chunk (11x11) area centered on the chunk the you are standing on. This settlement of yours can be expanded upon later to a City-State whenever you acquire one million (1,000,000) coins by any means.
On Nomads[]
If the above options above don't suit you, then you can always try being a nomad! This is a very tough path to undertake and is not recommended, especially for beginners, as you will not have any secure way to protect your items or whatever dwelling you establish, or any means to create tools.
Although you will most likely be unable to do the above-mentioned tasks things, you will otherwise have complete and total freedom from the confines of civilization and the complexities of geopolitics. However, for the reasons stated above, almost nobody on the server pursues a nomadic way of life.
Blacksmithing and Warriors[]
By default, you are a Warrior. Warriors are not able to use magic, but can make tools, use all types of non-magical weapons, and wear all types of non-magical armors (This is the closest class to default Minecraft on the server). To create tools, weapons, and armor you need to blacksmith these items at an Anvil. More detailed information on Blacksmithing can be found here.
Pursuing the Magical Arts[]
Another choice you have to make is whether or not you want to become a magic user. Spellcasters fall into two general categories regardless of affinity: Paladins, and Mages. (These categories are discussed further on their respective pages.) The main differences are that Mages have a much larger array of spells, can't wear armor, can't use weapons (except for cannons and such), and blacksmith at half the experience of their non-magical counterparts, whereas paladins have a (significantly) smaller spell list, and can wield weapons up to iron can equip armors up to iron. They still however blacksmith for half experience like regular mages.
If if is your wish to follow in the footsteps of great wizards and holy knights as an elemental mage or a paladin, an excellent place to start would be with the Beginner's Guide to Magic.
* As of early 2021, the forums are not frequented as often as they have been in the past, and most interactions outside of the server occur on the Mystian Network's Discord.