User:Darkmurkrow/Guide to Jumping

Jumping is a character mechanic in Asheron's Call. It combines the Jump skill with player input to move a character through the air. There are many quests and locations in the game which require the player to perform a jump of some sort in order to progress further. This guide attempts to define the basics of how jump mechanics work. All players should know how to perform basic jumps!

Quests which require jumping will typically have jump instructions as part of their walkthrough. This guide assumes the player is using the default keyboard mappings. This is particularly important for the space bar and shift keys.

Jumping Basics

Pressing the space bar will cause your character to power up for a jump. A bar will appear on the screen depicting the power level of the jump. Releasing the space bar will cause your character to jump. Note that the power bar does not cycle, you only get one opportunity to determine the jump power. Note also that you cannot jump if you are severely over-burdened.

Directional Jumping

Jumping without hold down any of the directional arrow keys (or w,a,x,d keys) will cause your character to jump straight up into the air. Holding a directional key will cause your character to jump in that direction. Holding down multiple directional keys can lead to unpredictable jump direction and is not recommended.

The 3 Types of Jumps: Regular, Side, and Shift

Jump distance is determined by the type of jump performed. In Asheron's Call, there are 3 unique jump types which have varying jump distance: regular jumps, side jumps, and shift jumps. These jump types are determined by different character movement types.

Regular jumps require no special key presses. Simply press the space bar and either the forward or backward arrow key (or w and x keys). Note that jumping backwards travels the same distance as forwards!

Side jumps are similar to regular jumps except they are to the left or right rather than forward or backward. Side jumps travel slightly further in distance than a forward or backward shift jump would. This is useful in cases where a full power shift jump forward or backward is slightly too weak to reach a location.

Shift jumps are jumps performed while holding the shift key. Pressing shift changes your character's movement from run mode to walk mode. You can see this by holding shift and then moving around (you'll walk instead of run). In walk mode, the jumping distance is greatly reduced. Shift jumping is essential for performing short distance jumps, often from platform to platform. Shift jumping can be applied to both regular and side jumps. Virtually every jumping puzzle in the game requires shift jumps in order to complete!

An important point to know is that the height of a jump is determined by the jump power used and is always the same no matter what type of jump is performed! For shift and side jumps, the max height is reached very quickly, while for regular jumps it is reached at a much further distance from the starting point. This fact is key to knowing what type of jump to use to reach the approriate height to land on a target surface.

Tap Jumping

A "tap" jump is a jump which just taps the space bar in order to use a minimal amount of power. This is done to avoid over-jumping the targe area. Tap jumping can also apply to shift jumps when you need to jump down to an area, but a regular jump will cause you to jump too far outward.

Using Walls and Corners

When jumping inside dungeons, it is a common practice to use walls and corners to help with jumping. When jumping straight forward or backward, a wall can be use to stop your movement so you fall directly down onto something. Similarly, corners can be used the same way. Beware of jumping into wall if you are not jumping directly forward or backward! You will bounce off or slide down the wall in a direction based on your original jump trajectory. Using walls and objects to alter jump trajectory is a very advanced technique.

Jumping Myths

There are several jumping myths that have been propagated over the years. Here are the most common.

• Contrary to the laws of physics, jumping while running does not cause you to travel any further distance than a jump while standing still.
• Jumping backwards does not travel less distance than jumping forward. The fact that your character walks backwards rather than runs does not matter when jumping. A forward shift jump and a backward shift jump will travel the same distance.
• Jumping while in combat mode does not have any have any effect on jumping distance or power. Your character will flail their arms while in the air, but that is all. This may, however, have an impact on jump damage when landing.