As you progress through Alsherok, you will find a greater need for new and better equipment for your character to use. Just as your character grows in level and power, your equipment too will need to grow in type and variety. If you are a Warrior, then you would want the toughest armor and likewise, if you are a Mage, you would want the most powerful magical staff. Equipment defines how well your character survives both in combat and life in the Lands and so it is very important to know how to use, identify and find equipment for yourself.
Firstly, to view what equipment your character currently has, just type the command 'inv' or 'inventory'. This command lists out everything your character currently has but is not wearing or using. To list out the things which you are wearing, just type 'eq' or 'equipment'. All the things which you have listed here have direct effect on your character. So, if you are wearing a suit of Leather Armor on your body, then it will improve your character's armor class (AC) but it will not count other than taking up space if the suit of Leather Armor was just listed in your inventory. Items in your character's inventory do not have any effect on your character because they
are regarded as just being carried and not being used or worn. To wear equipment from your inventory and onto your character such as rings, cloaks and armor, use the command 'wear equipmentname'. For the wielding of weapons such as daggers, swords and crossbows, type 'wield weaponname' and for hand held items such as torches, wands and lockpicks use 'hold itemname'. Likewise, the command 'remove equipmentname['color]' will remove the piece of equipment which your character is wearing, wielding or holding and put it into your inventory.
You can also get equipment from the floor or from containers by typing '[color=red]get equipmentname' or 'get equipmentname containername'. For example, 'get sword scabbard' will get a sword from inside the scabbard container provided that you have a scabbard in your inventory and that there is a sword in it. This also works if you want to get everything by using the commands 'get all' or 'get all container'. Likewise, you can put items into containers by typing 'put itemname containername' and drop items onto the floor by entering 'drop itemname'. This also works with the command 'put all containername' and 'drop all' which will put everything in your inventory into the container specified or drop everything in your inventory onto the floor respectively. Remember that you should never take items that belong to other players without their consent. If you see something on the ground that might belong to someone, use the chat channel and ask first before you take it.
Other important commands related to equipment include 'give equipmentname target' which gives the specified equipment in your inventory to the target player or creature. This is useful when you need to give something to another player. You can also compare weapons and armor by typing 'compare firstitem seconditem' where first and second items are the two which you want to compare to each other. For example, 'compare sword spear' will compare a sword and a spear in your inventory and tell you which is better. Naturally you need to have both items in your inventory. Just remember that this comparison doesn't take into account special magical modifiers. Often you will have items in your inventory or on the floor which bear the same name. This sometimes makes it confusing to get a particular item. To specifically distinguish the items when using these commands, just add a number before the item's name. For example, if there were two bags in your inventory and you wanted to get a potion from the second one which was listed when you looked in your inventory, typing 'get potion 2.bag' will get the potion from the second bag. Using the number to distinguish the items can be used for all item related commands.
You can also use the commands 'fill containername' and 'empty containername' for putting and removing items from containers. It is important to know that there are two different basic containers. If an item container is used in the containername field such as a bag or a pouch, then filling it will put all the items you see on the ground into the bag. However, if a drink container is specified in the containername field such as a wineskin or a bottle, then you will need to be standing in the same room as a water source such as a fountain or a well to fill the drink container up. Vice-versa goes for emptying containers. You can also enter the command 'empty containername containername' which will empty the contents of the first container into the second container. This is limited by the size and capacity of the second container. Item containers are important because it clears up the clutter in your inventory and makes it easy for you to sort your items. Likewise, drink containers are also important to store drinking fluids to prevent your character from suffering from thirst. It always pays to have a full drink container and a couple of bags handy in your character's inventory.
It is also a good idea to keep light sources in your character's inventory. These are items such as torches, lanterns or even magical balls of light. It is useful to light up darkened rooms or as a guiding light while exploring during the night. With a light source held in your character's hand, you will be able to see things which you would normally miss out in darkness. To light up a light source, just enter in 'hold lightsource' where lightsource specifies the light source item. Remember that non-magical light sources do die out after being lighted for a period of time, so keep several spares handy to replace those that have died out.
By now you'll be asking "Wow, where can I get all this neat stuff?". The answer is simple, all around you! You can easily find equipment in the creatures which you kill, in shops and in carefully hidden treasure troves. The easiest by far is to simply buy equipment from shops. Most shops can be found in cities and towns. All you need to know is to use the command 'list'when standing in the same room as a shopkeeper to list out the items which you can purchase from there and how much each specific item costs. Of course, you must have enough gold coins for the purchase. You can buy or sell items in the shop by entering 'buy itemname' and 'sell itemname'. Naturally, to sell items for gold coins, the shopkeeper must be interested in your wares and have enough gold to pay you for it. To find out the price of an item which you want to sell, type in 'value itemname'. This will tell you how much the shopkeeper is willing to pay for your item. Eventually, you will come to notice that the best equipment is always that gained through killing and looting from other creatures. It's a fact of the game that the hardest gained item is usually one that is amazingly rare and useful. So keep on adventuring and exploring and you'll get lucky. Sometimes you can also buy good items from fellow players who are willing to sell them or to go out hunting for them. Just use the auction or chat channels to ask around for these items and if you have enough gold coins or another item to trade for it then why not? Just don't pester anyone into selling stuff or giving you stuff when they've said "No".
Throughout the cities and towns of the Land, there are also special blacksmith and enchanter shops. These shops will repair your damaged weapons or armor and recharge your magical wands and staves for a modest fee depending on how much work is needed. To use their services, simply stand in the same room as a blacksmith or an enchanter and type 'appraise itemname' or 'appraise all' to find out which items you need to repair and how much it will cost. To do the actual repairing or recharging, enter in 'repair itemname' or 'repair all' and you must have enough gold coins to do so. You will also find it useful to use the identify spells which are usually found in scrolls or in the spell repertoires of most spellcasters. These spells fully identify the item which they are targeted at, giving you all the information on what a particular item does. This helps you distinguish between items which are useful and wearable and which items are cursed and detrimental for your character.
Finally, you will need to know commands to clear unwanted items from your inventory so that it doesn't clutter up. Having too much items in your inventory makes it harder for you to pick up new stuff as every single item takes up both space and weight. The easiest and most common command to do this is 'junk itemname'. This effectively gets rid of that item in your inventory permanently, so make sure you really want to junk that particular item or you will not get it back if you change your mind later. You can also use the command 'donate itemname' which sends the item in question to one of the donation rooms in the Land. This is a very good feature as it makes extra equipment available to new players or players who really need them. Remember that this is a gift from the higher level players and is not to be abused. Players are not allowed to sell, hoard, junk or trade items found in donation rooms. If you are generous enough to donate extra equipment, please donate only things which you would find useful and not useless things like scrapped items.