General Information

There are lots of little bits of information that are useful, but don't fit in any particular section and are too short to be worth making their own section. Information like that can be found here.

See also Abbreviations and Terms.

Movement
To fly up and down use the Up and Down keys while in flight mode. Winged Elves get flight at level 1, all other races get permanent flight for free at level 30, though you can purchase Aerogear as low as level 10.

To jump, hit the spacebar. You can double-jump by hitting the spacebar again while still in mid-air from the first jump.

Normally you turn the camera by holding down the right mouse button over a blank area of the screen, and then moving the mouse around (though there are a few "dead" areas, such as the space just down and to the left of the mini-map which is normally in the upper-right hand corner of the screen). In the settings menu you can also turn on the "AD Keys" option, which will change the A and D keys from move left and right to rotate left and right, which is helpful for laptops.

Attributes
If you click the C key you will get your "Character Sheet" which lists your various attributes. Here is a description of those attributes.

Your four base stats

 * Vit - Vitality, this is your main source of Hit Points (HP). This also affects your Physical and Magical Defenses and your HP recovery rate.
 * Mag - Magic, this is your main source of Magic Points (MP) and Magical Attack points. This also affects your Magical Defenses and MP recovery recovery rate. This is a requirement for arcane armor.
 * Str - Strength, this is your main source of Physical Attack points (except for Archer, Assassin and Duskblade). This also affects your Physical Defense. It is also a requirement for all three types of armor (heavy, light, and arcane armor), especially heavy armor.
 * Dex - Dexterity, this affects your Accuracy for physical attacks, Critical Rate, Evasion, and is the source of damage for Archer, Assassin and Duskblade. This is a requirement for heavy armor and especially for light armor.

Other main attributes

 * HP - Hit Points, this is your health. Once this hits zero, you die (unless you are an assassin with the assassin buff Deaden Nerves). See Death for details. Both HP and MP are recovered at double normal rate when meditating (using the Meditate action), and at a 25% normal rate when in combat (your chi bar glows red while in combat).
 * MP - Magic Points, this is the main source of energy of your skills, especially for magic users.
 * Chi - This is the energy source for your most powerful skills. 100 Chi = 1 Spark. You're set at a maximum of 99 Chi at level 9, and add one Spark at at levels 29, 59, and 89. Chi is gained by using most skills that don't need Chi or by doing basic attacks.
 * Current EXP - This is the current number of experience points you have. EXP is automatically spent to raise your level once you reach the EXP necessary for it; that amount is removed from your Current EXP. See Experience Points for a detailed list of the EXP needed to reach each level, how EXP is shared in a squad, and methods for gaining EXP.
 * Spirit - Spirit Points (SP), along with coins, are spent to purchase new skills or higher levels for existing skills. They can also be spent to help raise genie levels, Genie skill levels, and for Venomancer to raise pet skill levels. SP are normally gained the same way as EXP, but at about 1/5th the rate.
 * Level - This affects your calculated attributes in different ways depending on your class. The current level cap is 105. Various quests, gear, and events are unlocked (or locked) based upon your level.
 * Reputation - This is a requirement get certain gear. This is gained from most quests plus some items. For more information see Rank and Reputation.
 * Cultivation - This can be raised every ten levels, starting at level 9, by completing certain quests. Most skills require certain cultivation levels before you can learn them. See Spiritual Cultivation.

Other calculated attributes

 * Physical Attack - This is the base range of damage for your physical attacks.
 * Magical Attack - This is the base range of damage for your magical attacks.
 * Physical Defense - This is the cumulative stat from your Vit, Str, level, gear, and buffs showing your resistance to physical damage.
 * Elemental Defenses (Metal, Wood, Water, Fire, and Earth) - This is the cumulative stat from your Vit, Mag, level, gear, and buffs showing your resistance to physical damage.
 * Critical Rate - This is your odds of doing your Rage Damage with one of your attacks. 1% is the base rate, and you gain 1% for every 20 Dex points. Gear and some skills also affect this stat.
 * Rage Damage - This is the percentage of normal damage you will do when you get a critical hit. Normally this will be 200% (x2 damage). Currently only the assassin skill, Wolf Emblem, and a faction base buff (requiring a Level 5 or higher Alchemy Lab) can increase this.
 * Attack Rate - Also called APS (Attacks Per Second), this is the number of attacks you can make per second with your default physical attack. This is capped at 5 APS.
 * Accuracy - This affects your odds of hitting a target with a physical attack based on their Evasion rate.
 * Evasion - This affects your odds of avoiding physical attacks. Magical attacks cannot normally be evaded.
 * Speed - This is your current ground speed. The base flying speed for all classes is 5.0 m/sec.
 * Attack Level - This and the target's Defense Level affect the amount of damage you will deal when you hit that target.
 * Defense Level - This and the attacker's Attack Level affects the amount of damage you take from the attacker.
 * Stealth Level - This determines the level of Stealth Detection required to see you when in stealth.
 * Stealth Detection - This is highest level of Stealth Level that you can detect.
 * Soulforce - This is a stat used for a number of skills and is a primary stat for the Psychic class. It is determined by their level and gear refinement levels.
 * Spirit - Not to be confused with the Spirit Points used for learning skills. This affects the amount of damage you deal or receive from the attacker. It has a higher effect in PvP and a lower effect in PvE.
 * Slaying Level - This is the PvE version of Attack Level, with which it stacks.
 * Warding Level - This is the PvE version of Defense Level, with which it stacks.

To understand how many of the above attributes work, see Damage for details.

Speedbars
You can add actions to the speedbars by hitting "E" and dragging them there from the Action window.

You can add skills to the speedbars by opening the Skills window (hit "R") and dragging the skills there.

You can add items (such as potions and gear) to the speedbars by opening your inventory (hit "B") and dragging them to the speedbars.

And finally, you can add pets to the speedbars by hitting "P" and dragging the pet icon to your speedbars.

The speedbar with 9 slots defaults to being activated by the 1 - 9 keys, and the speedbar with 8 slots defaults to being activated by the F1 - F8 keys.

Combat Related
Monsters with ranged magic attacks will use them unless you get into melee range, at which point they will usually switch to physical attacks. Monsters with ranged physical attacks will usually run away at first if you get into melee range with them. Monsters with no ranged attack will normally run to attack you in melee range with physical attacks.

If a monster cannot reach you to attack back, it will eventually give up and go back to its starting position with a large golden "rapid healing" glow around them (commonly referred to as "resetting"). If drawn far enough away some monsters may suddenly teleport back to their starting position. This means that, for example, attacking a ground monster from the air won't work, unless you do a lot of damage very quickly or are close enough that it can hit you back.

In PWI combat can occur on land, in water, and in the air. If both the attacker and target are in the same terrain then the target will take full damage. If they are on different terrain then there may be a 50% damage reduction. This damage reduction applies to both melee and ranged attacks but does not apply to monsters, Venomancer/Mystic pets, or Damage over Time (DoT) effects.

In PvP all damage is reduced to a quarter of normal damage. This does not apply to some attacks from Venomancer pets.

There are some common terms for how some skills affect their targets, here is what those terms mean (the first name given below for descriptions that have multiple terms is the actual name of the status effect): Note: The Cleric's "Silent Seal" skill does not cause the Total Intervention effect, as you might expect from the name, but it actually causes the Frozen effect instead. For more on status effects, see the Status Icon Reference Guide.
 * Frozen, Bind, and Immobilize = Unable to move, but can attack (assuming it's in range).
 * Total Intervention, Silence, Seal, and Chaotic = Unable to attack, but can move.
 * Sleep = Unable to move or attack until hit (pre-existing DOT effects will continue doing damage and will not end sleep).
 * Stun, Paralyze = Unable to move or attack.
 * Freeze = May either mean the same as Frozen or the same as Stun, depending on source. The Occult Ice genie skill causes a stun-like result called "Freeze", but anti-stun buffs won't prevent it. Whereas some skill descriptions say that they freeze the target, but they actually do a Frozen effect.

Mob Types
A "mob" is an old programming acronym for Mobile Object Block. Mobs are all computer controlled characters in the game, and is often used as shorthand for the creatures you're attacking.

Mobs are usually weak to their opposing element and strong in their own element.

So, if you see a wood type mob, your metal attacks will usually do a bit more damage to them than your other magic attacks, and wood attacks will do a bit less damage than other types of attacks.

Also, the physical defense on a mob will usually be lower than the average magical defense on a mob, though slightly higher than the element that they're weak to.

Non-elemental creatures simply have the same magic defense for all types of magic, and aren't any more vulnerable to physical damage either.

Mobs have certain default stats (which can be found on the Perfect World Database site), but those stats can be modified with various status descriptions shown below their name, which are explained below.

Common statuses: (One of these may randomly be seen on any normal mob. These statuses make the mobs worth extra EXP and Spirit Points, with the exception of "Weak" mobs.)
 * Increased Life - This mob has double the normal amount of health.
 * Increased Defense - This mob is much more resistant to physical damage.
 * Increased Magic Resistance - This mob is much more resistant to magic damage.
 * Increased Attack - This mob does more damage with its physical attacks.
 * Increased Magic Attack - This mob does more damage with its magic attacks. (This can appear on mobs that have no magic attacks.)
 * Increased Movement Speed - This mob moves much more quickly than a normal mob of this type.
 * Weak - This mob has less health and less defense. You also get less EXP/SP for killing these.
 * Sacrificial Assault - This mob will do even more damage than an "Increased (Magic) Attack" mob, however it also has lower defenses and health like a Weak mob. Kill them quickly and they're no problem, however, if they sneak up on you they can do a lot of damage quickly.

Rare statuses: (These are normally only seen on elite mobs that always have the same one or two of these statuses.)
 * Elemental Immune - This mob is immune to wood, fire, water, earth, and metal magic damage. Some mobs are only immune to one element and will have something like "Earth Immune" listed instead.
 * Physical Immune - This mob is immune to physical damage.
 * Immune to Damage - This mob is immune to almost all damage. There are only a few things that will damage these, such as reflected damage from a Psychic's Soul of Vengeance buff.

Miscellaneous
If you want to drag only part of a stack of items somewhere, just hold down the Alt key while releasing the mouse button.

If you want to click on an NPC that is blocked by a bunch of people, just hold down the Shift key while clicking and it will ignore any players and catshops in the way.

Some items have various symbols in their names, so if you want to use those symbols in the game, or the other characters available to you, you can copy-and-paste them from the Symbols page.

Your HP recovery rate is based on Vit and your MP recovery rate is based on Mag (though some gear and buffs can affect the base recovery rate). When in combat (your avatar, chi bar, and squad name will flash red) your HP and MP recovery rate is 25% of your base rate. When meditating your HP and MP recovery rate is 200% of your base rate.

When you socket gems in gear, you can't get the gems back. You can remove all socketed gems from gear, but the gems are destroyed in the process. You can replace gems through a specific NPC.

It takes 10 minutes for a "mined" herb or crafting material ("mat") to reappear, and they usually appear in almost the same location. This means that if you can find a "loop" of mats you need that takes you 10 minutes to traverse, you can just keep going around in that loop, getting back to the mats just as they reappear.

Items dropped by a mob when it is killed will only be able to be picked up by the player or squad that did the most damage to it. If the items are not picked up after a while, then anyone can pick them up. If nobody picks them up then eventually they will vanish. Squads can be set to "Random" or "Free" modes when they are formed (set on the Squad window by hitting "T"), make sure you pay attention to which mode your squad is in when you get the invite notice. In "Random" mode the drops picked up go to a random nearby squad member, while in "Free" mode the drops go to the squad member that picks them up. There is an exception though, if you are in "Random" mode and a character deliberately drops an item, it will go to the next person to pick it up if it is gotten soon enough (wait too long and it will be distributed randomly). If your inventory is full and you get a random item, it will be dropped and nobody but you can pick it up for a little while (allowing you to drop something else from your inventory to you have room to grab it), then it switches back to random distribution. Items dropped by someone killed in PvP can be picked up by anyone immediately.