Things to Do in Achaea: A Guide to the Gameplay

There are more things to do in Achaea than most players get to in years of play. Achaea is a text-based RPG where you can fight, craft, trade, sail, roleplay, or run a city, all in the same persistent world. You can hunt monsters for experience, of course, since Achaea is famous for its combat. But you can also captain a warship, run a mining empire, design custom clothing, build a castle room by room, lead a city of other players, or spend a quiet evening on a quest nobody has cracked yet.

This page is the map. Every major system in the game has its own guide, so skim the cards below, follow the ones that sound like you, and come back when you want to try something new. You don’t have to pick one path. Most players run several at once.

Achaea combat: PvP and the curing system

Achaea has one of the deepest combat systems in any text game. Player-versus-player fighting runs on thousands of abilities across 21 classes, a curing system you tune yourself, and afflictions stacking faster than you can read them. The fighting rewards preparation and quick thinking in equal measure.

If you want one system to learn first, this is it, because so much else in Achaea connects back to it. Read the Achaea combat guide for PvP, the affliction-and-curing model, and Dragonhood.

Achaea PvE: hunting, dungeons, and world bosses

The other half of the fighting is PvE. You level by hunting denizens for experience and gold, collect gear sets that change how you fight, and band together for forays, Achaea’s group dungeons. The Mnemosyne, a solo roguelike dungeon, scales without limit, and the hardest world bosses take dozens of adventurers to bring down.

The Achaea PvE guide covers all of it: hunting, gear, forays, the Mnemosyne, and world bosses.

Roleplay and the living world of Achaea

Achaea is a roleplay-encouraged world. Your character has a history, a reputation, and relationships that outlast any single fight. Cities rise and fall on player decisions. Gods watch and intervene. The world remembers what you do in it, so a favour or a feud can echo for years. For a lot of players, the story is the whole reason they stay.

Start with the Achaea roleplay guide if you care about story, or the newbie guide if you just want your feet under you first.

Quests and exploring the world of Achaea

Two continents anchor the map: Sapience, where you start, and Meropis across the water. Around them sit dozens of islands and several other planes of existence. The world is genuinely large, and a lot of it is hidden. Quests range from short errands to multi-stage puzzles that can take weeks to solve, and most of them start when you greet a denizen and read for clues. The most thorough explorers earn a place in the Fellowship of Explorers.

Two guides cover this side of the game. Read the Achaea quests guide for how questing works, then the world of Achaea guide for the map, the continents, and the planes.

Crafting and the 16 tradeskills in Achaea

Achaea has 16 tradeskills, from gathering herbs to forging armour to designing jewellery, clothing, and food. Crafted goods are real items other players buy and use, so a salve you brew might save a life in a fight you never see. A skilled smith or tailor can build a genuine business on reputation alone.

Pick a pair that works together, like a gathering skill feeding a production skill, and you step straight into the economy. The Achaea crafting guide lists all 16 tradeskills and what each one makes.

The player-run economy: shops, mining, and trade

Achaea’s economy runs on players. You can own and operate a mine, complete with Legions to defend it and raid rivals. You can run a shop in a player city and sell curatives, venoms, commodities, or your own crafted work. Shops are limited in number, so holding one is its own kind of status.

If you’d rather make your fortune than fight for it, this is the path. The Achaea player economy guide covers mining, shopkeeping, and trade.

Cities, Great Houses, and divine orders

The six cities and many Great Houses of Achaea are run by players. Climb the ranks and you can lead them: set policy, wage war, run espionage, and shape the lives of everyone under you. The truly devoted instead join a God’s Order, raising shrines and fighting for their patron on the battleplane of Nishnatoba.

Politics and faith are two of the longest roleplay paths in the game. Browse the player-run city-states of Achaea, or read the divine orders guide for the Gods and their Orders.

Seafaring: sail Achaea’s five oceans

Achaea has five oceans, the Borean, Chelic, Eusian, Notic, and Sefyric, and a lot of islands, and most of them you reach only by ship. You can earn a captain’s commission, borrow a friend’s vessel, or buy your own. Then you slip through the waves in a nimble Windcutter to reach far islands, haul cargo for profit in a Thalassian Seastrider, or crew a War Galley and turn pirate. The sea is its own theatre of play.

The Achaea seafaring guide covers ships, sailing, trade routes, and naval combat.

Player housing: build your own home in Achaea

You build a castle, a tower, or whatever you like, one room at a time. First you gather the materials, then you lay out the rooms, write your own titles and descriptions, hide exits, and hang doors. You furnish it with player-crafted furniture and hire servants you can customise to greet guests and keep the place lived-in.

A finished home says something about your character before you say a word. The Achaea housing guide walks through building, materials, furnishing, and servants.

Classes, races, and Dragonhood

You pick from 21 classes, each with three skill sets and over 100 abilities, and one of 14 playable races. Push far enough and you can earn Dragonhood. Reach level 99, travel to the Mhojave Desert, and you awaken the dragon soul within you, choosing its element: poison green, sonic silver, flame red, acidic black, lightning blue, or psychic gold.

Your class decides how you fight and your race shapes who your character is. Browse the 21 Achaea classes and the 14 playable races before you commit.

And that’s just the start. Achaea has been growing since 1997, so there’s always another system to learn.

Frequently Asked Questions