During account creation, you were given the choice of starting with a training tutorial. If you chose the training, then when you first log into Terra an automated trainer named Tarn will teach you the most basic game operations. The training is rather boring, but it's important, so pay attention, and it will be over soon enough.

When you complete your training with Tarn, or if you chose to bypass training when creating your account, then you are taken to the boot camp area. The sole purpose of this area is to get used to fighting robot tanks and capturing forts. To capture a fort, you must destroy all 4 pylons by shooting the spinning yellow disc with machinegun (MACHG). You are automatically taken to Amok_Home or DesertRats_Home, where you will be forced to operate a Rhino, but you may type "@e bootcamp" in order to place yourself where you would like to go on map (FARP) and choose different vehicles.

Once you think you are ready, you may then go to the Dregs by typing "@e dregs" where players earn money and occasionally have small battles. Once you are at the Dregs, it is in your best interest to get to know some of the players and decide which clan you would like to join, or you may make your own clan if you want. You will not be able to save the money that you earn at the dregs when you are in Amok or DesertRats, as these beginner clans have no building privileges.

To pledge or make a clan, select the Game Functions option from the menu to the left.

Around the Dregs, which is a neutral structure that all players can use like Boot Camp, there are 14 beachheads that you may capture. The four closest beachheads are Ex, Gane, Benton, and Nought. You earn 10000 lukers (money) for capturing these forts, which are defended by 6 Rhinos and one Bloodbat each. You can only FARP a Rhino, Goat, Buffalo, or Shrike from Boot Camp, Dregs, BC forts, and these 4 beachheads. Outside of these beachheads are others that contain L30000 upon capture. They are defended by 3 Rhinos, 2 Goats, and 2 Bloodbats each, and you can FARP extra vehicles from these. You may FARP a Barracuda, Bloodbat, Phoenix, Scarab, Armadillo, and Rocket Goat from these beachheads and from assets that are built in the outlands (forts and mobilebases).

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Drill Instructors are players who volunteer their time to help new players learn the ins and outs of Terra Battle For The Outland and will help you with any in-game questions. Drill Instructors are all members of the DrillInstructors clan, and usually have a "DI" at the end of their name.

If you are unsure, type "@l drillinstructors" to list any online instructors. If none are online, feel free to ask for help in the main channel.

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• Mouse Functions
• Keyboard Configuration
• Identifying Objects ("Lasing")
• Aiming and Steering
• Firing Weapons
• Scavenging Wrecks ("SUP") / Path Mode
• Summary / Common Battle Sequence

Mouse Functions

NOTE: If you have reversed the mouse buttons in your Windows settings, the buttons should be reversed for these functions)

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Keyboard controls are initially set to a default configuration, but all controls are custom configurable. To reconfigure the keyboard, press ESC and select the "Key Bindings" button.

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One of the first things you should learn to do is to "lase" objects by RIGHT-CLICKING them with your mouse. This will pop up the objects "dossier", and give you vital, context-sensitive information. For example, if you "lase" a tank, you will find out if it is a friendly tank, or a foe. You will also find out who is operating the tank, what clan they belong to and information about the operator. If you lase a fort, it will tell you who owns it, how much damage it has sustained and how much money is in it. In addition, lasing a fort, mobile base, or radar installation will add the object to your "Clan Map". Other objects provide equally valuable information about themselves when lased. Lasing also provides you with a distance reading in meters, which helps you gauge distances in Terra and "spot" targets for artillery gunners.

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The simplest way to aim your main gun and steer your tank is by SHIFT+LEFT-CLICKING your mouse. This will swivel your turret and aim your gun at the precise point you selected. If you are aiming at a moving target you will want to "lead" it by clicking ahead of it. once your turret stops moving, the tank hull will realign itself with the turret.

Another, more finely controlled way of aiming and steering involves DRAGGING your RIGHT mouse button over the terrain, i.e., HOLDING THE RIGHT BUTTON DOWN while you move your cursor around. Your gun, and turret, will follow. Note that your HULL will NOT change direction until you RELEASE the button. This allows you to scan your terrain left and right without actually changing direction - just keep the button down, drag left and right, and return the cursor to the center before releasing.

Of course, the keyboard can also be used to aim the main gun. By default, 2, 4, 6 and 8 on the numeric keypad move the main gun down, left, right and up respectively.

Remember, you aim your main gun and steer your tank by moving your turret in the direction you want to move and/or fire. your hull will swivel to match the direction of your turret (unless you have LOCK mode engaged, but we'll learn about that later.)

Tactip: you can fire with your left mouse button WHILE you are dragging with your right button - a deadly combination.

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Main Gun

Now that you've identified a target and aimed your gun at it, you can fire your main gun by LEFT-CLICKING anywhere within the window. The main gun in a Rhino fires DUP and HEAT rounds. DUPs are loaded by default when you first enter your Rhino. When you switch to HEATs, your auto-gunner must unload the DUPs and then load the HEATs, which makes your main gun temporarily unavailable and leaves you vulnerable for a few seconds. This is where other wepons come into play.

Missles

Laser Designated Missiles (LDM) are aimed directly with your cursor. RIGHT-CLICKING on a target with LDM selected will "paint" the target and lock your aim to the target for a few seconds, allowing you to "fire and forget" a slavo of missiles.

Heat Seeking Missiles (HSM) lock onto heat sources, and will thus lock onto any wrecks in the area, making them less and less valuable the longer a battle progresses and the more wreckage is strewn across the battlefield. However, HSMs can lock on targets that are not in your line-of sight, making them a deadly first weapon when approaching a new foe on a clean battlefield. Any missiles fired (by LEFT clicking the mouse) during active lock will home in on the target even after it moves.

Missiles can be fired in quick salvos of three at a time, after which your missile launcher must reload. You can switch to your other missile type or other weapons while reloading.

Machine Gun

The machine gun is aimed directly with your cursor, and when you LEFT-CLICK, a burst will fire at the target under your cursor. Machine guns are highly effective but at short range only. They are the weapon of choice for destroying communication pylons in order to capture a fort.

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You can scavenge weapons, armor, Luker and fuel from destroyed tanks, and resupply from supply crates, fuel dumps and ammo dumps. Simply SHIFT+RIGHT CLICK on the object you wish to approach, and a path will be set that will take your tank directly to that object and stop. Then you can hit the SUP button and resupply.

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Thus, a common battle sequence would be to lase a potential target (right-click), aim turret (shift-left-click or drag-right), fire repeatedly(left-click) while switching weapons with the keyboard, and finally setting path (shift-right-click), to scavenge (SUP) the target once destroyed. Rinse. Repeat.

It all sounds more complicated than it is in practice. Once you master the combinations, you'll be extremely effective on the battlefield.

Tactip: Never stand still. Learn to aim and fire while moving at high speed.

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