How to survive as a newbie

Being a newbie anywhere is hard, but it's especially hard on lioden! Things can get very confusing, very quickly. This is why I've decided to create a sort of guide, in order to help direct you in the right direction. Hopefully having all info, acronyms, tips, and tricks in one place can help you to better understand and enjoy this game. Please note that all this info can be found on the wiki, I've simply compiled a lot of it, and added in my own experiences


Logging in-
The first time you log in can be daunting. I assume by this point, you've likely already rolled your new king, and begun to look around the game. You're probably very confused now aren't you? Worry not! Here are some things to do as soon as you join


TAKE THE TUTORIAL!-
While yes, tutorials can be annoying, I promise you it actually helps. Without it, you're very likely to be completely and totally lost! Besides, it'll teach you all the game mechanics you need to know!

Go exploring-
One of the best things you can do as a newbie, is explore. Exploring can get you free items (like food, currency, and nesting materials). You'll also gain experience which, just like in every game, goes towards you leveling your lion up! The more you level up, the more places you can explore, and the more stats you can have (what are stats? See the, "terminology" section for more)

Claim an NCL-
NCL's aren't super nice looking, as they don't generally have special markings, and can only have NCL bases (unless they're a chased lioness. See "terminology" for help with this) and their stats tend to be pretty low. However, they're a good start to your pride until you can afford some better lionesses. Claiming lionesses can be hard, luckily, your first one is free! You'll claim them no matter what moves you make so you don't need to worry :)
Check this out if you're struggling to claim some NCL's:
https://www.lioden.com/topic.php?id=304429256536

Sell any excess food you have from explore-
Meat chunks are often just left to rot in your hoard, going to waste! You can rid of them and make money at the same time by simply selling what you don't need. How do you determine what you need? It's simple!
When you look at a food item in your hoard, it will often say (a number) uses left. So let's say you have 3 lionesses to feed, and you feed daily, you'll have enough food for all of your pride as long as that food item has at least (3) uses, and fills at least 20% hunger! Knowing how much food you need and then selling excess is a great way to acquire silver beetles! You can also sell entertainment items you don't need, like skulls. Just make sure you have enough to keep your lionesses entertained!

Save your silver beetles-
Don't go out and blow all of your silver beetles! Getting currency as a newbie is hard. Once you understand lioden economics, you will easily be able to acquire 1,000 or even more silver beetles daily. Spend your sb only on things you really need. For example, invest it into a good looking lioness from the trade center! Or use it to purchase food if you don't have enough. You can also save it just in case you'll need it later

Send your lionesses hunting-
Hunting your lionesses gives you some good rewards. Your lionesses will seldom be unsuccessful, but don't get discouraged if they are. Set a timer for 30 minutes if you can. This allows you to take full advantage of all your hunts (each lioness gets 10 per day. Any extra hunts cost 10 sb per lion, per hunt added). Hunting them on the *marsh* tiles will help to get you larger prey.



Terminology!

Being new to lioden often means you're going to become lost in the lingo of the more experienced members. Below is a list of common terminology as well as abbreviations, and what it is they mean!

Stud racing- stud racing is when you send a breeding request to multiple males, for one in heat lioness. Then, the males compete or "race" to see who gets her pregnant first. This is often disliked amongst the community so make sure to read the "stud rules" of a male before making them compete

Studding- studding is a feature that can be utilized if you want your female to breed with another male. If you have a rolled king, this is often a good course of action, as you can get special bases, markings, and good stats from this! Studding can be requested if you go to a user's profile, click on their main male, then scroll down to "studding rules". You can send a request for a certain amount of silver beetles. Make sure to read their rules first!

Rolled king- this is the king that you'll choose when you first join the game. They often have very generic NCL bases, few or no markings, and low stats. They're generally pretty undesirable for breeding and overall aren't the prettiest of lions

Potato- used to describe a cub (or a lion in general) with a very generic base, little or no markings, and few stats

CRB- stands for "cotton root bark" an item that increases the chance for a mutation, particularly lethal ones. It can be purchased in the oasis for 1 gold beetle

Ster|f60|vit6|strshne|diabol|633- this is a way to list all info on a lion without you having to view the actual lion! Trade names have a word limit so you cannot make names too long. This allows the seller to share this info in a quicker and easier way. Reading this can be hard, but once you learn mane types, eye colors, general markings, and bases, this become easier to understand. (This particular listing stands for; sterling base, feline 6 onyx, vitiligo 6, starshine eyes, diabolic mane, and the lion has 633 stats)

Colorbomb- a very colorful and contrasted lion

NCL- stands for newly claimed lioness, can be found in explore

IBF/ICD- stands for instant birth feather or instant cub delivery; it's an item that causes your lioness to give birth immediately rather than having to wait three days. It is available in the oasis for 2 gold beetles

BG- stands for background

Bone marrow- an energy item available under "monkey business" for 80 silver beetles. It will refill your energy by 20% but can only be used once per day

MoD- stands for, mutie on demand. This is an item available during events and can equip a mutation (primal, overgrown fur, or piebald) to a lion of your choice

Buffy/buff balls- affectionate name for buffalo scrotum, which is a breeding item that guarantees your lioness will have at least 3 cubs in her next litter. These can be purchased at the shops during the August and February events, or bought from members other times of the year

GOP- stands for "grain of paradise". It's an item that guarantees your lioness will have at least 2 cubs in her next litter

Cubbin- affectionate name for cub

Mut- name for a lion with a mutation

Mutie- name for a lion with a mutation

Lethal- name for a lion with a lethal mutation

Lethal mutation- a mutation that a lion can have, which causes them to die shortly after being born. They're incredibly rare and are often frozen by players to prevent them from dying (guide to the mutations:
http://liodenwiki.wikidot.com/fertility-and-mutations )

Frozen lions/freezing- a feature that stops a lion from aging, getting hungry, losing mood, and dying. Often used on leopons and lethal mutations

Pon- stands for leopon; a lion, leopard hybrid (female lion, male leopard)

gon - stands for Tigon; a lion, leopard hybrid

Karma- every choice you make in explore affects your "karma". Good actions give you good karma, bad actions give you bad karma. How evil, good, or neutral you are will affect your title. That's what the adjective in front of your king's name is! (For example an evil lion with negative karma would be- death lord of the jungle, a neutral lion with a small amount of karma either way- usual, or a good lion with positive karma- heavenly)

BS- black stallion; an item that guarantees pregnancy the next breeding regardless of fertility

Traditional studding- this is getting another male to breed with your female, by sending her to their territory and having them nest her. After her cubs are born, all your lions will be sent back

Reverse studding- this is where a male pays you to breed with your female. Often, they keep all cubs

Fert- stands for fertility, a lion's likelihood of getting pregnant. Fert also controls mutation chance. Low fert lions have a higher chance of producing mutations
(Guide to ferts: http://liodenwiki.wikidot.com/fertility-and-mutations )

Bean/beans- affectionate name for a dwarf lion (look at them, they're so damn cute)

VLF- stands for "very low fertility". This is in reference to the fertility level of a lioness

Stats- how strong, fast, smart, etc your lion is. These help with battling, breeding, and earning territory. The higher your stats, the better!

Tips!

Take some advice from the old-timers here. You can't go wrong following this advice!

-Set timers! For exploring, patrolling, events, hunting, everything! You can get the most out of your hunts/events if you use your time wisely

-play Serengeti shuffle daily, score in the 3500- 4500 tier, and win yourself a valuable item. Then, sell it for gold beetles and get rich quick!

-play baoball daily to improve your stats

-send your lionesses hunting on marsh tiles whenever you can. This will increase the chances of getting bigger prey

-sell extra carcasses and items

-feed your pride every other day rather than daily to preserve food

-use/earn event currency and buy rare items (like buff scrots, lion scrots, GMO cows, GOP, etc) and sell it for gb!

-don't stress over having a rolled king. If you play SS (Serengeti shuffle) daily, and earn decent prizes, you can get yourself up to 1 gb a day. Using that formula, it would take you just 10 days, give or take, to retire your king

-Don't forget to nest your lionesses on their third day of pregnancy, there's a good chance you'll lose their cubs if you don't :(

-If you don't have enough entertainment items, exploring for a few minutes can get you plenty of feathers to make nesting material or play items! Skulls are easy to find too

-when you find the elephant dung encounter, choose dig

-never underestimate the power of "smashing" warthogs

-If you're out of food, an hour or so of waiting for your hunts to complete can really pay off

-The reason some dens look "fancy" or "changed" is because of something called CSS. You can code your own den OR you can get someone to do it for you- in return for payment of course!

-understand the genetics system. Lions are split into 4 groups: black, cream, red, and golden. Then split into two categories from there: solid and countershaded. From there it splits again, into three categories: light, medium, and dark. Then finally, into special and common. For example, a hematite based lion is in the black group, is a countershaded base, with a medium gradient, and is special. To heighten the chances of getting a hematite base lion, you'll want to breed a lion who is in the black group, countershaded, medium gradient, and special. Here is an exhaustive list of all bases and their best matches! http://liodenwiki.wikidot.com/genetics

-be patient! Seriously, it really pays off. Good things come to those who wait..

-if you need supplies, try joining the clans dedicated to helping out newbies!

-ask questions, don't be scared. Just make sure to read the wiki and such if you can

-if you need to find an item, go to the oasis, choose "item catalogue" and narrow your search down. It helps sooo much!

-never buy territory. Seriously, it just wastes all your sb (which are hard to come by as a newbie!). Instead, fight for territory!
Battles cost 20% energy and can only be done once per hour. Other lions can also only be attacked for territory a certain number of times daily.
Choose a lion that is below your level, and has lower stats than you. Doing this will improve the chances of you succeeding. Do remember though that it's really luck in the end, and sometimes, you just won't win!
To get to this, go to a lion's territory, scroll down until you see the option of "attack this lion", then, press or click on the drop down list and choose "territory" then finally, press attack!



Manners & interacting with the community!

Talking to other members can be daunting at first, but worry not, we don't bite! Here are a few tips on what to, and what not to do

-ask questions! There are plenty of wonderful members who are happy to answer

-don't beg! Nobody likes it when people beg. Even just saying things like "sigh, if only I had the gb to retire my king" then saying "trying to get the gb but it's taking forever" and going on and on, isn't going to get anyone on board with you. If you ever need items, chances are it's actually quite easy to get them (read points in tips) Besides that, it's against the rules to beg. If for some reason you can't acquire them, shooting a member a calm pm asking for some in return for payment later is the best way to go

-be mature! It should go without saying, but being mature will get people to respect you and want to talk to you

-do not spam, though many of these things are against the rules, spamming can frustrate members as well. Spamming is one way to get people to not want to talk to you

-join a clan! Clans are tons of fun, and you can meet plenty of new friends there

-try not to "lowball" on trades. Low balling is offering something very low in value, for something that is extremely high in value. For example, if someone is selling a dwarf lion for 65 gold beetles, offering all your carcasses, a few lionesses, and some feathers will NOT equal up to this value. You can certainly make an offer, but remember, your offer should meet or exceed what the member is asking for!

-read stud rules! One way to annoy most people on this game is to ignore their stud rules. Read all thoroughly before requesting a breeding. If you can't afford a breeding, sometimes you've just got to understand that and move on.

-be kind and open minded. This is a community that runs best when we're all kind and respectful. People will have differing opinions, just try to be as nice and respectful as you can towards their views

-don't get too down if players don't request to stud your rolled king. Rolled kings are what people would describe as a "potato", and aren't all that desirable. Worry not, you'll get to pick a gorgeous heir soon!

-play the game how you want! Too often, people become sucked into what everyone else deems best. This isn't always what is best. You should play however you want, and though this guide somewhat outlines how to play, it simply shows the game on a more day to day level. How the "average" player will play this game and view things. You can choose to ignore all aesthetic, stat, and lioness aspects, and play only to explore or have fun in the community. Or you can choose a primal felis with a special base and 20 markings, and train him to become a stat monster. How you play, is up to you!



I hope this guide helped! It was made to help compile info from the wiki into one, easier to read guide. It also helps to explain not just game mechanics, but how the game itself is often played, and what the community makes of it. Hopefully this helps a few newbies out there. If you have any other tips you think I should add, feel free to let me know! Good luck, if you ever need anything- feel free to shoot me a pm newbies ;)