Premium

In the premium section you can purchase small ingame and comfort advantages. To get a premium account you need gold nuggets. Those cannot be found, they have to purchased.
There are four different premium accounts that you can activate for your character. Those are 'more energy', 'automation', 'higher income' and 'character bonus'. Each advantage can be purchased for 50 gold nuggets and lasts 14 days. The schedule shows you when it runs out.

Premiums are available on all worlds, costing 50 nuggets for fourteen days.

 

More energy

This premium account gives your character more energy points and with that the character can work longer before having to rest. Instead of 100 Energy points the character has 150. However, the biggest advantage is the regeneration. Your energy raises by 4.5 points an hour, instead of 3. You also receive a bonus of 50% in the hotel.

Automation

With the premium advantage 'automation' you can add up to eight tasks into the task queue. They are done in the order they are added. You also see a list of all jobs you can do or will be able to do soon.

Higher income

With this premium account you get an additional 50% more money when working on a job. You also find 50% more valuable items. The advantage is instant when the premium is activated. It also raises the chance to find a work product by 50%. When it runs out, the wages go back to normal.
Examples:

• You would normally get 100 dollars for a job. With the premium account you make 150 dollars.
• On your job you would usually find an item that is worth 200 dollars. With the premium account, you find an item worth 300 dollars.
• You work on a job and receive 60 dollars but no item. With a premium account you receive 90 dollars, but still no item.
• The chance to receive a newspaper while selling them is 60%. With the premium bonus the chance is 90%. 

 

Character bonus

The advantages of your character class are doubled. You can find more information about the different characters in the Character page.

Fort Battles

Fort Battles

The only way to take over the fort owned by another town is by attacking it. For this a town's counselor of the attacking town goes to the fort and calls for a battle. Over the next 24 hours players from the attacking and defending towns should go to the fort to attack or defend the fort. 

Calling a fort battle

Only a town's Counselor or Founder can call a fort battle. He/she has to go to the fort to do so. An attack costs $1500 on a small fort, $5000 on a medium fort and $10000 on a large fort. The money is taken from the Town Treasury of the attacking town. The battle takes place 24 hours after the hatchet is dug up. 

Join a fort battle

To take part in the fort battle you have to go to the fort within 24 hours after the battle is called. Players from the attacking town can only take part as attacker, players of the defending town may only take part as defenders. Players that are not a member of a town that is allied with the fort may join either the attacking or defending side. As soon as a fort is under attack a report is sent to all affected players. You can see what battles have been called in the fort overview, which also stores a record of recent battles.
  
In the fort battle

In a battle defenders and attackers are standing across from each other. It's the attackers goal to capture the flag and to hold it for 5 rounds or to beat all defenders. The defenders try to hold the fort for 55 rounds or to beat all attackers. 

Sectors and fields

On the map are sectors and fields. Each field can hold exactly one player. In each sector there may only be players from one battle side, either attackers or defenders. Per round each player can shoot once and move once. They can move into an adjacent sector as long as there is no player from the other team and as long as there are still open fields in the sector. It is not possible to move into a diagonal sector. Some sectors have special features, or add or remove skill bonuses. 

Shooting

Each player shoots automatically at the closest enemy that they can see. It is not possible to shoot at an enemy that doesn't meet these requirements. If you have a neighbouring sector as target sector you automatically shoot at the closest opponent in this sector. It is not possible to shoot at a player from your own team. 

Visibility

The grey area shows which fields you can not shoot at. You can still see players and movements in grey areas. 

Distance

The closer your character is to the person they shoot at, the better the chances are to land a hit. Distance is calculated by fields, sectors don't matter. The distance has no effect on the damage amount. 

Damage

The damage done per hit depends just on the gun you carry. A weapon deals the shown damage, but not more than 1/3 of the persons maximum health points. A player with a maximum of 300 health points can not be dealt more than 100 points of damage per shot. Just a gun causes damage. A dueling weapon has no influence at all in a fort battle, except for any skill bonuses that they may provide. 

Participation

You don't have to be online to take part in the battle. Having passed out in a duel does not keep you from joining a fort battle. However, your character has to be located at the fort in order to take part. If you are not online the player acts like you told him to. They try to reach their target position. If you haven't chosen a target when on the attacking side, you automatically charge towards the flag zone. However, if you don't set a target when on the defensive side, the player does not move anywhere. You can also take over your player's movements during the battle, but you must sign up for the battle before it starts. You may not sign up if the battle has already started.

Forts

Forts

A town can construct or attack a small fort when it has at least 24,500 points, a medium fort when it has at least 36,000 points, and a large fort when it has at least 41,800 points.
A fort gives a lot of advantages to the owning town and it's members:

• The barracks offer a great spot to take a rest.
• In the future: A shop in the fort will sell unique items.
• The town that owns the biggest fort in the county can name the county.
• The forts construction points are counting towards your town's points.
• Exciting battles in which you can make a name for yourself as a town.
• In fort battles you can find great items and your character can get a lot of experience.

Forts are marked on the map as a little icon. A grey fort can still be constructed, a red fort belongs to another town, and a blue fort belongs to your town. On the map fort sizes are identified by different sized icons.

Constructing a fort

A fort can only be constructed by a town's councilor. Grey forts mark the spots on the map where forts can be constructed. The following requirements have to be fulfilled to construct a fort:

• You have to be councilor or founder of your town.
• Your town has to have points.
• The town's treasury has to have enough money.
• You have to be at a spot where a fort can be built.
• No fort may be at the spot already, and no fort may be under construction right now.
• You need at least 80 energy points.

Constructing a fort takes eight hours. Just one player is needed to construct a fort. As soon as the fort is done, all players of the town can visit it and help with the construction. If more than one player tries to construct a fort on the same spot at the same time, the player that began the construction first begins the job.

Size of the forts

There are three different fort sizes. Small, medium-sized and big. There is one fort of each size in each county. Depending on the fort size the maximum building levels differ, the number of possible fighters in a battle, and the building requirements. The big fort also allows the owner to rename the county.

Buildings in fort

Headquarters

The headquarters is the political center point of the fort. Here you can find out everything about the towns and the members of the fort. Also you can monitor the activity and settings. 

Towns

The member page is one of a few pages that every player can see, even those that are not members. All current members of the fort are shown here, sorted by town and level. With a click on the town you can hide and show the member list. Members of the fort also see activity, building levels and the amount of money in the fort treasury. 

Construction

Under construction every player can help with the expansion of the fort's buildings. For the construction resources that are needed, for unlocking a new level, and then for the construction itself. Only Founders and other leaders can unlock construction levels, but only as soon as enough resources are available. All resources have to be stored in the resource stock, so they can be used. 

Invitations

A fort can be built and defended by more than one town. The town that builds or conquers the fort owns it. The leaders of this town can invite and dismiss other towns from the fort. Once a town has been invited the invitation can be accepted or denied by it's towns leader. 

Settings

Fort leaders can rename the fort in settings and add a profile text.

Barracks

In the barracks you can rest if you are member of the fort. Sleeping here is always free. You feel fresh after just six hours of sleep.

Building level: 1    Duration: 6 hour    Energy: 75    Health Points: 80%
Building level: 2    Duration: 6 hour    Energy: 80    Health Points: 80%
Building level: 3    Duration: 6 hour    Energy: 85    Health Points: 80%
Building level: 4    Duration: 6 hour    Energy: 90    Health Points: 80%
Building level: 5    Duration: 6 hour    Energy: 95    Health Points: 80%
Building level: 6    Duration: 6 hour    Energy: 100  Health Points: 80%


Resource stock

Other than in the towns constructing buildings costs products. All products are stored in the resource stock before they are used for construction. With each level the resource stock gets six new slots to store another product type. Each member of the fort can store products until the resource stock is full. It is not possible to take products back out. Councilors can destroy products if needed.
On top of storing products it is also possible to store money in the resource stock to be used for the construction. It is not possible to deduct money or to move it into the town's treasury.
The resource stock has six levels.

Duels

Duels

A duel is the fight between 2 players. To challenge other players you have to be member of a town and your town needs a mortician. You then need to go to the town of the player you want to challenge and go to the saloon. You see a list of all the members of the town and you can challenge them. The other player does not have to be in the town right now, he also doesn't have to be online. You cannot challenge players that are asleep in a hotel right now.
Every duel costs 12 energy points for the challenger. The defender does not lose any energy. The costs are independent of the outcome of the duel.
In the "Duel" menu you can change your dueling settings.

The duel

A duel is separated into 8 rounds. Each player has eight chances to try to land a hit and eight changes to dodge the attack from the other one. To land a hit you need good attack value. To evade a hit you need a good defense value.

Attack value

The attack value is decided by your aiming skill.

Either the attack value of the attacker or the attack value of the defender is lowered. With the skill 'tactics' the defender is able to use his home advantage. He chooses the side on which he stands and uses the knowledge of the town. The attacker uses his appearance to intimidate the defender. If the tactic skill of the defender is higher than the appearance skill of the attacker, the attackers attack value goes down. If it is lower, the attack value of the defender goes down. The bigger the difference between the skills, the more the attack value is lowered.
Additionally each player receives a bonus of five for the attack value.

Dodging skill

The defense skill is decided by your dodging skill.
Additionally each player receives a bonus of five for the dodging value.


Exchange of fire

In every fight each of the fighters attacks eight times. Both fighters have eight chances to land a hit and to cause damage. The attacker is the first to attack. The fighters can use melee weapons or firearms. In the explanation below we explain the duel just based on firearms to make it less complicated.
With each shot the attack value of the attacker is compared to the defense value of the defender. For this a random value is taken between one and the attack value, and a random value between one and the defense value. If the attack value is higher, the attacker lands a hit and causes damage. Is the value lower, the shot doesn't hit it's target and no damage is done. Now it's time for the current defender to attack.

Damage

Damage is causes when one player lands a hit, meaning, his attack value is higher than the defenders defense value. The amount of damage is decided by the attackers weapon. Every weapon has a minimal and maximal number for the damage it causes. Every time a hit is landed a random value somewhere between those numbers is taken. The defender loses the calculated amount of health points.
There are two different dueling weapon classes. Melee weapons and firearms. The damage that is done with a melee weapon is increased by good vigor skills and it is mostly lowered by good toughness skills of the defender. For firearms the damage is increased by good shooting skills and lowered mostly by good reflexes of the defender. A player that has good vigor skills should therefore rather use a melee weapon than a firearm.

Striking zones

You can set a dueling tactic by clicking on the menu 'Duel'. By setting the striking and dodging zones you can also alter the damage.
Here you can set a few different things. For one you can set where you want to aim. Depending on the area you hit you make different amounts of damage. If you hit a shoulder you make 15% more damage. Hitting the head creates 50% more damage.

You can also set which way you are trying to dodge. If you dodge with the body part that the attacker was aiming at, your dodging skill gets doubled.

• You can just duck down and by that protect the head and both shoulders.
• You can duck to the left and protect your head, your right shoulder and your right arm.
• You can duck to the right and protect your head, your left shoulder and your left arm.
• You can choose not to try to dodge and have more concentration for the next round. This doubles your attack value.

A duel lasts 8 rounds. The settings for round one are also used for round 5 and so on.

Winning a duel

The player that causes more damage in the duel wins. If both players cause the exact same amount of damage, the defender wins. If a player loses all his health points in the duel, he passes out. In this case the other player is always the winner of the duel even if he caused less damage.

Dueling requirements

There are a few conditions for starting a duel. Some players may not challenge each other.

• The defender has to be member of a town
• The challenger has to be member of a town. This town also needs a mortician.
• The challenger has to visit the town of the defender. The defender does not have to be in his town.
• The challenger needs at least 12 energy points.
• Both players have to be able to gain experience points from the duel. These are calculated from the dueling level.
• You may not challenge the same player more than once per hour.
• The defender may not have been knocked out within the last 48 hours.
• The challenger may not have been knocked out within the last 48 hours.
• The defender cannot be sleeping in a hotel. 

Dueling level

The dueling level of a player is calculated from his character level and the experience points the player has earned in duels. The more points were received, the higher the dueling level

Motivation


With each duel the motivation goes down by 3 points. A lower motivation means that less experience points and money are received. With a motivation of 50% the winner only receives half of the calculated points. It is always your own motivation that counts even if the defender wins. The motivation automatically goes up by 10 points per day.

Towns

Towns

Towns play a central role in The West. Here you can bind with other players and build up a strong, powerful town. Every building you work on gives advantages to you and the other players. You can not join more than one town at a time. To stitch to another town you have to leave your old town first and then find a new town to join.

Town Buildings

With the help of the other members of your town you can construct several different buildings in your town. Just like any other job the construction of buildings needs labor points. Every level needs an additional 15 labor points. Motivation also exists for construction. A lower motivation means less construction points will be added to the building. The construction motivation is individual for each player, not for the town.
Every building needs a set number of construction points. The higher the level of the building, the more points are needed. Constructing builds is slow. You make very little progress in an hour work. You can see the progress from the yellow progress meter in your town hall. Every town member can help on the buildings as long as enough labor points are available.

Buildings list

• Town Hall
• Church
• Bank
• Saloon
• Tailor
• Gunsmith
• General Store
• Mortician
• Hotel
• Residences

Founding Towns

To found a town you need 300 dollars and 80 energy points. Locations that allow the founding of a town are shows just like any other job site on the map. The picture shows a spade on a blue background. Founding a town takes 8 hours. You can select the name of the town freely, but the name has to be unique.
To get more players to join your town you have to invite them.

Joining Towns

To become member of a town you need an invitation. Only the towns management can send out invitations. It is very important to become member of a town as The West lives on team play. Especially for new players it is often better to join an existing town and not to found your own. Here are a few tips for choosing a good town: 1. It usually isn't a good tactic to write to the town that is ranked #1. The chance that they invite you is very small. 2. It is better to write to a town where the players are ranked about as high as you are. 

Leaving towns

To leave town you will have to go to the Town Hall and select Residents. From there choose Leave Town. You will get an alert asking you if you are sure, and to note that it will be at least 2 hours or more to join any town should you leave.
Every time you leave a town, 2 hours are added to the waiting time you previously had. To reduce the time stay in one town, as the join town timer will decrease down by 5 minutes every day you stay in one town.

Ghost Towns

Ghost towns are abandoned towns. When the last member of a town leaves it becomes a ghost town.
Buildings in ghost towns cannot be used anymore. The hotel and bank close down and so do the merchants.
It is possible to reawaken a ghost town. Doing this costs just as much as founding a new town. The big advantage of taking over a ghost town is that the buildings keep their old levels. When taking over a town you are shown the points that the town will have after completion.

Items

Items
 
Items are a very important part in The West. They give you your special appearance and also give useful bonuses. There are items for different body parts and uses and every item has different advantages. There are 3 ways of getting items. You can purchase them in a town, find them during work, or receive them as a reward for a quest. All items can be seen in your profile. There are eight different kinds of items:

There are hats, caps and headbands. You can purchase them at the tailor. They can raise attributes and skills. 

Neckbands are bandanas, ties and jewellery. You can purchase them at the general store. Neckbands can raise attributes and skills.

Clothes are shirts, jackets or coats. You can purchase them at the tailor. Clothes can raise attributes and skills.

Shoes can be purchased at the tailor. They can raise attributes and skills. A lot of shoes raise your stamina.

Dueling weapons are melee weapons and firearms. They can give attribute and skill advantages. Each weapon has a specific damage range. That number gives the range of health points that the enemy will lose if you score a hit. Dueling weapons can be purchased at the gunsmith. Dueling weapons cannot be used during a fort battle.

Firearms are bows and rifles. They can give attribute and skill advantages. Each weapon has a damage range. That number gives the range of health points that the enemy will lose if you score a hit. The gunsmith sells dueling weapons. Shootout weapons cannot be used in a duel.

 The animals in The West are donkeys and horses. They raise your speed when you move around on the map.

Work products are items that you can find only while working specific jobs. They cannot be purchased. They usually do not give any skill or attribute points unless used with an item set, but they are often needed to complete quests. When you work on a job for 30 minutes you have the stated probability to find the work product for this job. If you work for 2 hours you could find four products if you are really lucky. It is possible to equip products.

Skills

Skills

In the character menu you can upgrade your character by raising your attributes and skills. The numbers show the level that the character has in that skill or attribute. With each level the character gains he receives one attribute point and three skill points. Some quests also give skill and attribute points.
  
Attribute and skill points

To distribute attribute and skill points you just have to click on the attribute or skill you want to upgrade. The level goes up by one point per click. You have to click 'confirm' to finalize the selection. You can cancel it if you made a mistake. Once points are distributed it cannot be undone anymore.

If the level for an attribute or skill has been raised with an item, the level is shown in green.
  
Attributes

 The attributes set your basic strengths and weaknesses. You can create a strong muscular rowdy or a charismatic tactician. There are four different attributes: Strength, Mobility, Dexterity and Charisma. By leveling up an attribute you increase each of the five associated skills. All related skills and attributes have the same color. An attribute is always pictured with a circle.

Strength shows you muscle power and vitality. It is needed when you are interested in doing physically hard labor and work in bad weather. Strength and it's associated skills are shown in red. 

Mobility shows how much control you have over your body. By increasing your mobility you better your balance and reflexes. Mobility and the associated skills are displayed in green.

Dexterity shows how well you are with your fine motor skills. This is needed when you are doing jobs that require very precise work. Dexterity and its associated skills are shown in blue. 
  
Skill List

There are 20 different skills. Every skill is connected to an attribute. By raising the attribute level, all 5 connected skills are raised as well.
To work on better jobs you need higher skill levels. The skills construction, health points, dodging, aiming, shooting, repairing, leadership and animal instinct give additional advantages.
  
The Strength Skills

Construction is important to work on buildings or when setting up things. Working in your town is much easier if you have a high level in construction.

Vigor is the real muscle power of your character and is needed when something has to be pushed or hit. Vigor raises the damage you do with a melee weapon in a duel.

 A high level in toughness makes it much easier to work in bad weather. In a duel toughness lowers the damage that is caused by melee weapons.

Stamina helps you in exhausting jobs and tasks.

Health points are your life force. Each time you add one point to the skill "health points" you receive 10 more health points for you character.
  
The Mobility Skills

Horseback riding shows how comfortable you feel with your horse. It also raises the traveling speed on the map.

Reflex shows how quick you are to react. In a duel reflex reduces the damage that you receive from a firearm attack. 

Dodging is very important in duels. With every level the chance gets lower that your enemy scores a hit.

Hiding helps you escape both man and animal.

Swimming is very useful when you fall into a river or lake.

The Dexterity Skills

Aiming is used for nothing but dueling. if you raise your aiming skills you raise your chances of landing a hit.

Shooting decides how good you are in the use of a firearm. Shooting raises the damage you do with a firearm.

Trapping is important to set traps for animals and to ambush people.

Fine motor skills are important for jobs that need a lot of finger work and concentration.

Repairing is used to fix broken things. It's also important to work in the town.
  
The Charisma Skills

Leadership is important if you have to give instructions to other people. It's also important when constructing buildings in town. 


Tactic allows you to make strategic plans and to carry them out. When challenged to a duel tactic lowers the chance that a hit is landed.

Trading helps you with your negotiation skills and to get better prices. Sadly, the merchants in town have set prices and cannot be talked down. 

Animal instinct helps you to understand the animals and to work better with them.

Appearance is the way you are seen by other people. A higher level makes you more trustworthy, but you can also intimidate people better. If you challenge another player in a duel your appearance helps intimidate your opponent and makes him less likely to land a hit. 

Shaman

The Shaman offers you the unique ability to undo the assignment of your skill- and attribute points. After you do that you can use the points for whatever you want.
The ability to visit the shaman is given after completing a quest sequence that can be accepted once you reach level 14. This quest series gives you permanent access to the shaman. To get to the shaman you have to click the big skill symbol in the skill menu.
The Shaman menu looks very similar to the skill menu. You see your current skill and attribute levels and you can set if they include your item bonuses or not. By clicking on a skill or attribute you lower it's level and the points become available again. All changes have to be confirmed!
Every attribute and skill change costs a few dollars. The more changes you do, the more the changes cost. They slowly go down again as time passes. It might be a good idea to not change all points at once.
It is not possible to lower skills if all their points come from assigned attribute points. You can also not lower points that have been received from quests or items. While doing any changes your character cannot be working on any job.