What are these mobiles?
A mobile is basically what others might know as an NPC (Non Player Character). It is a creature controlled by the game, in MUD2 there are 278 mobiles in the game. It's not possible to kill all of these, as this number includes the Genies & Echo. Some mobiles are also in areas which only open when there are a certain number of players on (Giants & Pagoda).
So.. I get to kill them??
Well... yes and no, I wouldn't advise going out and attacking everything. Some mobiles are more powerful than others and it is a good idea to know how to judge mobiles, and work out which will be easy to kill - and which ones are worth avoiding. To get a basic idea of this, let's look at some useful commands then use them against some mobiles.
Description
As we will see when we look at our example mobiles, the description of a creature can often tell a lot about it. Does the mobile's description make you think of a nice, relaxed creature wandering the land - or does it suggest something just desperate to kill you. A mobile's description is often the first warning to how nasty it is going to be.
Value
The value of a mobile is a surefire way (near enough) to judge how dangerous it is going to be. If it is worth a small amount of points, you can guess that it is probably easy to kill, the higher the value, the harder it is going to be to kill. Although this rule often works, there are of course mobiles who break it, an example of this is Goblin10 - harmless little fellow, who takes out high level players as a hobby :-)
Look at it!
This is possibly the most important command to use when you come across a mobile - and it could lead you to gain more points. Look at the mobile and see how healthy it is. If it says full of life, then you are in for a tough fight - should you choose to attack it (or it you, for that matter). However, if the mobile is close to death - attack for some easy points! Looking at the mobile will also show what kit it is holding - if any. Remember, you can steal things from them, and it is generally a good idea to steal things that will help them kill you.
Ok, I've got that, lemme at them!!
Let's take a look at the easier ones first:
Tally ho! A rabid-looking fox glares at you!
The fox is carrying an adze.
*l mo
l mo
The fox looks full of life, and is holding the following:
the adze.
*val mo
val mo
The value of the fox is 40 points.
*The fox slopes off.
The fox is generally quite an easy mobile to kill - as you can see by his value. By looking at him we can tell that he has a weapon and that he is at full health. His description doesn't really make him seem that scary, he's glaring but we know by his value that he isn't that much of an adversary. It's also worth while getting to know specific traits of mobiles, the fox, like the thief will steal items and will also collect treasure. Which makes him a target early on.
Beating its wings above
you is an incensed dragonfly!
*l mo
l mo
The dragonfly looks full of life, and is holding the
following:
nothing.
*val mo
val mo
The value of the dragonfly is 10 points.
The dragonfly has just flown away.
The dragonfly is an easy mobile to kill - again, as shown by its low value. Pretty much harmless, with a fairly harmless description. This little fellow has 2 main traits, the first is that he flies away - a lot! You'll spend half your time trying to chase him, rather than fight him and he also gives his killer a prefix of "dragonfly-slaying".
But let's step up the pace a bit... lets have a look at some of the real dangers of the land!
Beating its enormous
wings above you is an immense, fire-breathing dragon!
*l mo. val mo
l mo. val mo
The dragon looks full of life, and is holding the following:
nothing.
The value of the dragon is 1,950 points.
This mobile is the biggest and baddest you are ever likely to meet. Thankfully, she is quite hard to find in the land so as a new player it is highly unlikely that you will just come across her. Everything about this mobile screams danger, and the first thing is her description. Not only does it suggest that she is a nasty piece of work, but it is in wiz creature colours (the genies and echo are also in wiz colours, because you can't usually kill them). This immediatly shows she isn't your ordinary everyday mobile. The second thing is the description itself isn't exactly comforting - HUGE, FIRE BREATHING dragon. Not good!
Taking a look at her just reveals she is of full health, however I must stress - even an injured dragon is not something you want to be fighting. Lastly, the value of this mobile just adds onto the fact she is a very tough mobile, 1,950! But don't let point greed trick you into fighting her, she isn't easy to kill! :-)
Standing in the way
is a malign, one-eyed giant! Standing resolutely before you is a huge, one-eyed
giant! A one-eyed, female giant stands angrily in front of you!
*l giant. val giant
l giant. val giant
The giant looks full of life, and is holding the following:
nothing.
The giant looks full of life, and is holding the following:
nothing.
The giant looks full of life, and is holding the following:
nothing.
The value of the giant is 654 points.
The value of the giant is 678 points.
The value of the giant is 654 points.
The giants who have their own realm (The Giant Realm, near the Shrine in Pine Forest) are a force to be reckoned with, and when the giant realm is open - it is very easy for a new player to run into them. They stand guarding the entrance to their realm and as a trait of theirs, they block passage by them - meaning, if you get stuck in the same room as a giant, you can't escape. Your options are fight, or qq.
By the giants description, you can see that they aren't the most pleasant of creatures. The fact they come in a set of three makes it even worse. By reading their value, you can see that they aren't going to be easy to kill and if you are new and without kit, I wouldn't advise taking them on. Another trait of these monsters is that they hit HARD. A few hits from them and you could be dead, face all three and you might not even get a hit in against them. Trust me when I say, these mobiles mean business.
More about mobiles!
So we know how to judge them and we've looked at a few examples - what else is there to know about the inhabitants of the land?
Mobile bashes... KILL 'EM ALL!
A mobile bash is a reset where you try to kill all the mobiles in the land. On the Phoenix server these take place generally every Thursday night at 9pm (BST) (Sometimes replaced however with Sorcerer wars and Event nights) - and are usually a reset of teamwork to eradicate the land of all the creatures, if you manage this - you get 3000 points for your trouble! (As well as other bonuses along the way, and the points you score from killing!).
Some commands that are useful during a mobile bash are:
SV - Standing
for Survivors, this will tell you how many mobiles remain alive.
OBIT ME - This will tell you how many mobiles and which, you have killed since
you entered the land.
Mobile related links
Mobiles, being a large part of the land are often written about and are subject to a variety of articles, which if you wish to read further about them - I've collected here:
Mobile Bashes - Karya's Muddled Times article, Dec 2000
Newbie Central: Monsters - Lexley's Witch? (Feb 2000)/ MT (June 2002) article
Cat's Mobile Rankings from 2000
Some have even been inspired to write fiction regarding MUD2's mobiles... a selection of which can be found here: