New Player Tutorial/Guide

This tutorial guide is intended for players who are completely new to Earth and Beyond. If you already have active ’toons (also known as "alts"; i.e. alternate characters), or remember the commercial or "live" version of Earth & Beyond (ENB) from 2002-2004, this may be too simple for you.

While the information in this wiki is written and updated by people playing today's ENB emulator, be aware that if you search the internet for information, the details you find might relate to the original 2002-2004 version of ENB. The NET-7 ENB Emulator has introduced many changes and enhancements, and the locations of asteroids and Mobs may have altered from the old days. Old websites may still retain some usefulness, but should be recognised as such and used with care, due to their potentially containing outdated information. The most up-to-date sources for information about the game are this wiki, and the NET-7.org website (in particular the Net-7 Database).

For more beginner-level information and other resources, see the External Links section at the bottom of this page.

A couple of videos are available, for a quick overview:

from the game's Original "Live era (2002-2004):
Extended Play's 2002 pre-release review (TechTV) (2 minutes, 51 seconds).
from the game's current Emulator era (early, circa 2014):
BlackMaze's review of the ENB Emulator (9 minutes, 38 seconds)

The Basics

Glossary

Earth & Beyond is filled with a ton of jargon, if you see any terms you don't recognize below check out the Glossary!

Guides

There are many other guides available on a wide range of topics, see Category:Guide.

Creating your Avatar

When creating a new character (or avatar, alt, or toon), you will need to choose a Profession which is a combination of (1) a Race, and (2) a Class.

The three races are:

Jenquai: Jupiter-based: superior expertise with beam weapons, and are exploration-oriented (lightly armored ships, but with special energy- and space- manipulation abilities)
Terran: Earth-based; superior expertise with missile weapons, and are trade-oriented (which means their ships tend to be faster and have more cargo-hold space)
Progen: Mars-based; superior expertise with projectile weapons, and are combat-oriented (their ships tend to be more heavily armored and have additional offensive capabilities)

The three classes, which are available to each race, are:

Explorer: Prospecting and Exploration specialists - miners, and device specialists - more device slots and explore skills
Tradesman: Commerce and Trade specialists - more cargo space and build/negotiate skills
Warrior: Weapons and Combat specialists - more weapon slots and combat skills

If you choose the profession which suits your race's natural aptitude, you will of course be playing to its strengths. However, each class comes with valuable skills, and there are certain skills which are unique to each of the nine professions (race+class combinations). Many of these skills can be shared with other pilots, especially if you form a group or squadron of up to six ships. Working together you can accomplish more with a variety of pilots with different skill-sets than you can on your own.

While you can describe your race & class using the names listed above, in-game you will almost always see other players referring to their race & class via their profession and usually using the abbreviation for it based on their official, formal names in the table below.

Profession	Abbreviation	Race	Class
Jenquai Explorer	JE	Jenquai	Explorer
Jenquai Seeker	JS	Jenquai	Tradesman
Jenquai Defender	JD	Jenquai	Warrior
Terran Scout	TS	Terran	Explorer
Terran Tradesman	TT	Terran	Tradesman
Terran Enforcer	TE	Terran	Warrior
Progen Sentinel	PS	Progen	Explorer
Progen Privateer	PP	Progen	Tradesman
Progen Warrior	PW	Progen	Warrior

For more details on choosing a Profession see the detailed Profession page.

Experience Points (aka "XP") & Skills

Each of the nine professions (specific to your race & class combination) has its own start-up sector, which only that particular profession of pilot may enter. This start-sector is where you will acquire the first of your character's skills. Your start-up sector will have two stargates in it: one will lead to your race's home planet (either Earth, Mars, or Jupiter), and the other will lead to a training sector that is friendly to your particular profession, but accessible to any pilot (if they really want to travel out of their way to get there). With regard to your character's skills, it is highly advised that you speak to all Non-Player Characters (NPCs) in the space station where your toon was "born", and also at stations in the two neighbouring sectors just mentioned. They will teach you some skills immediately, while other skills may not become available until you have performed a number of other NPC missions first. NPC mission-givers may award you with ship equipment, credits (cash), new skills, and/or experience points (XP).

Experience (XP) Types Added together, these form your Overall Level (OL)
Combat	Explore	Trade

All pilots possess an Overall Level (OL) rating of skill, represented by a number ranging from 0 to 150. This figure is the sum of your skill levels in each of the following three categories of activity:

Combat (CL), levels 0-50
Explore (EL), levels 0-50
Trade (TL), levels 0-50

i.e. CL + EL + TL = OL.

As you accumulate Experience Points (XP) in these three categories, you will notice turquiose, blue, and purple progress-bars at the bottom-left of your game-window will start growing (a larger representation of these bars can be obtained by pressing the "Y" key, or clicking on the 2nd button from the left, located just above the bars at the bottom of the game window). Once a bar reaches 100%, it will reset to zero, and you will

go up a skill level in the relevant category, and
be awarded a Skill Point, which you can accumulate and use to advance your character's skills (also visible when hitting the "Y" key). Even though you might have enough skill points, it should be noted that unlocking some skills can require you to reach a particular category level (e.g. Trade Level 25) or alternatively a certain Overall Level.

In each of the above three categories there is a maximum of 50 levels, and as your category-levels get higher, the number of Experience Points needed to reach 100% for each level also increases.

When you reach Level 50 in any category, any future experience you earn for that category will be diverted to any categories not yet at Level 50. Once you reach OL150, this number will no longer increase, although you will still continue to earn experience points and be awarded a skill-point upon completing a level so you can continue to increase skills. You need to prioritize skill point allocation carefully during your career, so that you can maximize the skills you want the most - you may wish to use the Skill Planner at Net-7.org to decide which to train and how far. Possibly the most important skill to maximize as quickly as possible, and at every opportunity, is your Reactor Tech skill. Everything in your ship needs power: it's no use having the most awe-inspiring weaponry if your reactor is totally drained after a couple of opening salvos!

There are not enough skill points available in the process of achieving OL 150 (the maximum possible) to train all of your skills to the highest level. The comments included here and in the various links are general guides, not a fixed plan. If your 'toon will have a different role in the game than that discussed, please alter the allocation of skill points accordingly. Don't be afraid to experiment as you can always retrain your skills later with the help of a Progen Sentinel with the Call Forward ability.

Training any skill as far as the seventh upgrade requires 21 skill points in all. Your Level Eight upgrade (this may be your maximum level for some skills, depending on your profession) requires 28 points and the ninth upgrade level requires 36. Reaching OL 150 provides 276 skill points for any player, with players gaining one skill point for each 'level' after that.

All three types of experience can be acquired by taking a job in the relevant experience category from a starbase Job Terminal. These are usually to be found in a station's bar/lounge area, but are not a facility present at all stations.

Also, awards of experience points of one type or another are sometimes given by NPCs in return for your completing one of their missions.

Combat XP

When you encounter an enemy ship or creature (Mobs) in space, you will notice a number next to its name: this refers to its Combat Level. After getting blown up a few times, you will get the hang of how much higher an enemy's CL can be above yours before it becomes too hard to tackle. Jenquai, with their weaker shields and lighter armour may need to engage enemies closer to their CL, whereas Progens may be able to confidently take on adversaries which would make a Jenquai hesitate.

Combat experience points (XP) are gained as follows:

1000 points for dispatching an enemy of the same Combat Level (CL) as yourself.
For mobs of lower CL, XP is reduced by 100 for every CL lower than yours, with 50 XP given for a mob that is ten levels below you and zero for farther down.
For mobs of higher CL than you, in addition to a starting base of 1000 XP, you gain 200 additional XP for each of the first five higher levels above yours, and 1000 XP for each level above that. (Killing a mob that is seven CL above you may be possible and will give you 4000 XP, but is likely to be a quite long process. Your play time may be better invested, and at lower risk, by killing mobs a few levels below your current CL.)
As your combat level increases, you will notice that points earned for the same type of mob you've been hunting will reduce. That is, if you have been shooting CL5 mobs, you will notice if you keep shooting CL5's, the points earned for each kill will decrease as you rise to CL6, 7, 8 etc. Once your CL gets too high, shooting those CL5's will earn you no points at all.
If you are grouped with a pilot who has a higher CL than you, this will reduce or eliminate the combat points you receive while grouped. If you are, say a CL20 grouped with a CL50, you will receive no combat points unless you are hunting something so high-level that the CL50 pilot is earning combat points.

For more details see Combat XP.

Explore XP

Exploration Experience Points (XP) are gained by:

discovering new navigation points (aka "navs" or "navpoints"), whether shown in your ship's scanner or hidden (hidden navs are revealed by the external website "enbmaps.de". See the Maps and Charts article for more information.
prospecting for minerals and ores, or using your mining laser to extract valuable objects from hulks. Note: mining is only possible for pilots who are members of the Explorer class; that is, Jenquai Explorers (JEs), Progen Sentinels (PSs), and Terran Scouts (TSs).

As mentioned above in the combat section, when in a group, Explore XP gained is related to the minimum XP for that task for the best single player in the group, multiplied by a group bonus factor. Thus, banding together with players of similar level may optimize your XP gain -- BUT, if the best player would receive zero for that task, everyone receives zero.

For more details see Explore XP.

Trade XP

Trade experience is primarily acquired when you sell (to an NPC station vendor) your loot acquired through combat and, for Explorer class pilots, the materials you've acquired from mining. Some points to consider:

the higher the level of the item you are trading, the more experience points and credits (cash) you will gain.
for Explorer class pilots, refining your raw ore at a station's Refining terminal will increase its sale value significantly. You should be aware however that some ores are useful in their unrefined state, and might possibly attract a better price from other players on the in-game "Market" chat-channel than from a station vendor (e.g. Discordite).
if you trade items to other player or alt, you will gain more Trade XP than by selling directly to an NPC vendor.
you will obtain better buy/sell prices from station vendors if your character possesses the Negotiate skill (available to all Terrans, and Tradesman-class pilots from the other races: Progen Privateers and Jenquai Seekers.

For more details see Trade XP.

Ship Equipment

All items of ship equipment, and the components to make them, are available in nine levels. You may only use equipment for a higher level once your "Tech" skill level in that area (e.g. Reactor Tech) has risen to the level of the relevant piece of kit. All new pilots start with certain skills set to Level 1, and are issued with some basic Level 1 ("L1") gear: a shield, a reactor, an engine, and a simple laser beam weapon. These are all quite sufficient for your training, as immediately outside the base where your new character spawned, all the mobs are Level 0 and thus quite easy to defeat. As a very new pilot, especially if you haven't played Earth & Beyond (ENB) before, it's advisable to stay close to your starting sector or the sectors of space on either side, until you get your combat level up a bit. The further you venture into the galaxy, the more dangerous the wildlife will become! If you stick to doing the missions your NPC training instructors will give you, though, you will end up making the transition to deeper space quite smoothly.

Items for your ship can be obtained by:

purchasing at starbase market halls (such items are of standard 100% quality)
gathering/tractor-beaming from the wreckage of destroyed enemies (Mobs)
excavating from asteroids or hulks (only Explorer-class pilots, who possess the Prospect skill, can do this)
receiving them as a mission-reward
building them yourself (if you have the needed Build skill and level), or seeking out a Builder to make one for you (it's considered polite to provide the components - you can look these up in the NET-7 Database)

The quality of an item affects the power of some of its features. Quality of items can occasionally be negatively impacted by incurring severe damage in battle. On the other hand, superior quality of up to 200% can be achieved by players who develop their Build skills. Owning player-made (PM) items can significantly enhance the capabilities of your ship. Player-made ammunition can supercharge your hitting power, and is highly recommended. Not all players are builders, as some prefer to spend their skill points on other skills first. If you are looking to enhance your ship's offensive and defensive powers and want to find a Builder, ask in the "New Players" (or more properly, the "Market") chat channels if someone can build the item you need, and you'll usually find one. Possibly the three most popular stations that builders frequent are Orsini Mining Platform, Friendship 7 Recreation Port, and Jove's Fury station.

Gear guides for every class are linked on the information page for each class (see links above and below). These that contain recommendations for leveling and elite, end-game (OL150+) gear. Additional information can be obtained, in game, in the "New Player" chat channel. NOTE: The fastest way to level, at the start of the game, is to get a full set of L1-L3 player-made gear. To compare the characteristics of the various types of ship equipment, visit the Game Mechanics page.

Building

If you are interested in building ship-equipment, see the article on Manufacturing.

Starting Tips

Most new player starting stations have a welcoming message that tells new players which Non-Player Character (NPC) to report to for training. This will be at the top center of your screen. You may have to scroll up to read it. If there is no such message, try the first NPC you see — use your right mouse button to move your character forward until you see a small balloon appear on the npc and then left mouse button to open the menu of possible actions.

For all races and types, the FIRST thing you should do in the starting sector is explore all the navigation points -- Nav beacons, gates, moons, planets, and features. This will gain you enough explore experience ("experience points" are abbreviated "XP"] to get your first skill upgrade. Use this upgrade to boost either reactor or shield to level two and immediately install that level two item you scrounged or were given. This will make the rest of the starting missions much easier.

In general, you want to do every possible mission from any and every NPC in your starting region before getting your first hull upgrade. The first hull upgrade mission for your ship (at overall level ten - which is abbreviated OL10) will begin in the starting sector and be given by the chief training officer.

The starting sector can only be entered by your specific race and character class -- all others are prohibited entry. It has two exits, one to the major planet for your race {that is Earth for Terrans, Mars for Progen, and Jupiter for Jenquai} and the second to a public sector where many of your other skills will be acquired. This sector is your exclusive shortcut from your race's working areas to the Sol star system.

When given a task in a mission, you'll probably want to over do it. Kill multiple instances of the target mob and loot the corpses. Prospect many times the minimum required resources. Boost your XP at least a half level before completing the mission. AFTER completing the mission, sell the extra loot or refine and sell the excess ores. This will allow the XP bonus from completing the mission's tasks to finish the level for you and thus earn a skill point. It will also earn you XP toward Trade experience and put credits in your wallet (which I'm sure you can find a use for).

After using the earliest skill points to upgrade your reactor and shield, the next likely candidate is to upgrade your devices. This will let you use Level 2 devices to resist energy damage (get impact resistance for Progen characters) and make your combat much easier. You will likely NOT be able to loot these devices in the starting sector.

Chat

Click the Chat button at top left and select "New Player" (last item) from the drop down list if it is not already selected for you. You begin chat by hitting the main Enter key on your keyboard (the one by the numeric keypad will not work). Then click the top item in the same list ("Set Channels") and turn the "Market" channel on. (Etiquette — the Market channel is preferred for discussion of tradeable items and when looking to trade, build, or buy one from another player).
If you want to turn off notices that other players are logging on or off by typing the slash command "/hidelogins"

Combat

Mobs in Earth and Beyond display their Combat Level (CL), not their overall level. In the starter sector, feel free to attack any red or yellow mob that you see -- while you may not be able to kill it easily until you've completed the steps above, you aren't going to die instantly either. (Which allows you to warp out if being overwhelmed.) In all other sectors, the easiest kills for decent Combat experience are those about four Combat Levels BELOW you. Search for mobs to kill here ==> Mobs (CL 15 and lower).

Energy management is frequently the key to whether you can continue to fight or must withdraw. Keep a close eye on your reactor level and should it draw down faster than the mob's hit points are used up -- figure out how to escape or get help quickly.

Sector Map

The map website most frequently used by players can be found online at EnBMaps ( http://enbmaps.de/ ). It is interactive and outstandingly comprehensive, and you can select sectors by a menu system, or by clicking on a stargate icon in a map itself. This site is etremely valuable for finding hidden navigation points ("navpoints", or "navs") which don't appear on your ship's scanner. Note that management of the ENB Emulator takes no responsibility for the content or correctness this map website, and are not advised when it is updated. The addition of the nav-points for the three Extended Wormholes appears to have occurred sometime between 2020 and 2022. New game updates made in April 2022 may or may not be reflected at the site yet.
A static, printable map of the ENB galaxy may be found in this wiki on the Maps and Charts page. Click on the map-thumbnail and again on the subsequent picture to get to the full-size version. Players who are completely new to ENB, or who have been away since the game's "Live" era (2002-2004) may wish to print this map out and stick it up next to their computer.

Power-Leveling tips

If possible, use your other 'toons to gather the following items and use the Account Vault feature to transfer them to your new character immediately after successfully creating that new character: one Prototype Plasma beam (level one) (two of these for new warrior classes). One level two shield, one level two reactor, and one level two device for each device slot (one slot for warrior types, two for all others). If you are completely new, ask in the New Players chat channel if some older player of your race and type would be willing to give you these (only they can enter the new player sector to do this) -- after about OL 15 to 20, you (and they) will not need them any longer.

The Prototype Plasma beams, even at level one, have twice the damage per second (DPS) of the new player starter beam, so don't bother upgrading the Beam Weapon skill any time soon. These Beams will be more than adequate to accomplish all new player starter missions (unless you are given a skill in another weapon and tasked to use it).

Immediately equip the Prototype Plasma beams(s) and discard the starting one you were given. (Prospector types will be able to loot Prototype Plasma beams, level one, in the starting sector, BUT this may require multiple sessions to accomplish.)

Generally, getting your first 'toon up and powering along toward OL 150 is the hardest. After that is well underway, you'll discover that helping you next 'toon(s) along is easy and makes their growth come faster.

Internal Links

Helpful websites.

External Links

The Official NET-7 Game Info page (recommended reading if you've never played ENB before)
The Official NET-7 Forum If you can't find what you're looking for, here is where you can reach out to other players in the ENB community.
enbmaps.de The best resource for maps of each sector. Here on the wiki, there is a "quick & dirty" single-page galaxy map, that will help you find your way around. See Maps and Charts.
ENB Gearlist, maintained by Scorpiomidget, of the "Rebels of Earth" guild.
The Original Earth & Beyond Player Manual — a PDF copy of the physical booklet that was included in the ENB game box that was on sale from 2002 to 2004. While you can't get more authoritative than this, remember that some changes may have been implemented in the Net-7 Emulator. This is the game as it originally was, not necessarily how it is now, although most of what you find here will be very helpful. Thanks to enbx.com for hosting this document and other historic ENB material, keeping it available for everyone!

Page Improvements Always Wanted

This guide contains a great deal of information but we always want to support new players getting up and running efficiently. Please add your tips to this page (or any page in the wiki for that matter!) if you find something that is missing!