The New Dark Orbit Bible

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Bonus Boxes and Cargo Boxes

Bonus boxes are blue boxes found floating in most of the maps. They are free to take, and actually should be taken any chance you get. They contain loads of valuable stuff, such as ammo, credits, uridium and more. You might even be lucky and get free Gate Energy from a box. Well worth that second to stop and get them.
Also Bonus Boxes in the battlemaps (4-1 ,4-2 ,4-3) give out 1.5x what you would normally get!. Here's a list of what you can get from a bonus box

Cargo Boxes are found floating in space when an alien or enemy ship explodes. They glow orange or gray. Gray are NOT free to take, orange are free. The contents of boxes vary in player kills, and are dependent on the alien for alien kills. The alien section of the Bible has the all the rewards for the Aliens.

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The Intergalactic Maps

There are 4 maps for each company in the lowers and 4 in the uppers. These are usually called x1-x8, x being your company, 1, 2 or 3. For Example the MMO home map is 1-1.

There is one map in the lowers for each company designated as 4-1, 4-2, and 4-3, that are battle maps. In the middle of these 3 maps is a gate that takes you to a bright red map called 4.4 in the middle of the uppers galaxies.

This is the lowers.


This is the uppers.


The uppers also contains a base in the x8 maps for you to sell ore at. When you hit level 12 you will have access to this map.

There is also a map called 4-5 that has a port in it from all 3 companies x5 maps. This is the uber map, all aliens except cubes and prots can be found in all 3 styles, regular, boss and uber. This is also a pvp map.

The battle maps (4-1, 4-2, 4-3 and 4-4) are special PvP (player v/s player) maps.
Here you will receive 50% more experience for every shot!
The bonus crates also contain 50% more on battle maps.
The battle maps have no NAZs (Non-Attack-Zone), which means, if attacked, you will not be able to flee, as map changes can not be achieved under fire. (refer to number 5 below)

1. When you are in a Neutral Zone (i.e. jump gate or base) in your own company area, other ships cannot fire upon you.


2. Ships from your own company cannot fire upon you when you are in sector x-1 or x-2. When you enter any other sector (x-3 and up), it's open season and your own company may sometimes open fire (especially if you steal cargo). Be careful though, ships from enemy companies can open fire on you in any sector, excluding x-1. In your x-1 map, you are required to open fire first before an enemy can fire on your ship.


3. If you attack another player or an NPC while you are in a Neutral Zone, you waive your neutrality. In other words, if you open fire on anyone in a Neutral Zone, then everybody else can attack you. In essence, your own aggression begets aggression from others. ---Even if you attack another player outside your Neutral Zone and then flee to the Zone for protection, the other player can still engage in battle because you have violated the neutrality by being currently in combat.


4. When entering an enemy Neutral Zone from a jump gate, you get a grace period of 20 seconds. During that time, the enemy cannot fire on you. After that time is up, you best be ready to fight or flee.


5. There are NO Neutral Zones in the PvP boards (4-x). In those boards, you cannot jump away if you are currently in combat and there are no protections offered by proximity to the gates. You have to battle through it to get where you want to go.
NAZ work until you fire at an enemy first, they are then able to shoot back. If you get attacked outside NAZ, then run to it, they are still able to attack you as long as you don't jump. There are no NAZ in the battle maps. You cannot jump if being attacked in battle maps.
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In Game Chat

The in game chat is your chance to communicate with everyone on that server (Global chat), your company (MMO, EIC, VRU chat), Clan Search,your clan (clan chat) your outfit ( outfit chat) and newcomers chat.



Chat is very simple to use, you type in the bottom section and your message is moved into the ongoing conversation in the top section.

There is also a special chat for searching for clans, or members for clans. This is appropriately called Clan Search.

Remember, here we have the same rules as in the forum, that means : insults, death threats, repeating the same message (flooding), advertising for clans, using capital letters etc are strictly prohibited and can and will get you banned.

In order to fully take advantage of all the chat features, please check out these commands:

/create <room name> Create a chat room

/close Close the chat room

/invite <user> Invite a user into the current chat room

/w <user> Whisper something to a user

/ignore <user> Ignore a user

/allow <user> Allow ignored users to chat again

/users Put all users in the current chat room in a list

/rooms Show a list of all existing chat room

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Happy Hours

"Happy Hour" and "Mega Happy Hour" (or HH and MHH) are your chance to really cash in on your money when purchasing Uridium. Both of these events will have an hour's duration, and they will be advertised by a message ingame, and by pop-ups in all sections of the Backpage. They are totally random, and no one can tell you when they are going to occur. Please don't ask CMs in chat, or FMs on the Forum, as they will tell you the same thing.

The clock at the bottom of the pop-ups will give a countdown of the time remaining for the event. The remaining time will also be periodically displayed in an ingame message.

Happy Hour awards you double the amount of Uridium purchased.



Mega Happy Hour awards you triple the amount of Uridium purchased.

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The Jackpot Battle

There is a Jackpot Battle on the second Sunday of every month. All players having reached the age of 18 may participate in these battles. Players who have been destroyed cannot return to this map.

The total amount in the winner's jackpot will be paid out to the winner in real GBPs. Should the amount collected be zero, the winner will receive nothing. The winnings will be transferred to the winner's bank account by direct transfer. This is why the players are asked to enter their bank information upon registration.

Three days before the Jackpot Battle, an invitation (event) layer will be displayed. You can enter your information in this layer in order to participate in the battle.

As soon as the battle is over for you, your spaceship will be transported back to the X-1 map, regardless of where it was before the battle.

This info is taken from the Jackpot FAQ. For complete information follow the link.

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In Game Terminology

Experience- It is gained by killing aliens and players of opposing companies, as well as doing quests. As you gain experience you will gain levels. Higher levels will allow you access to more areas and unlock more quests for you to do. (eps)

Honor-It is gained by killing aliens and players of opposing companies. Honor can be lost by attacking players of the same company, and stealing cargo from another players kill. The more honor that you have the more credits you will get for selling your resources.

Jackpot Dollars- Can be found only in bonus boxes. Each month there is a battle contest. The winner of the battle contest gets the amount of Jackpot Dollars they have.

Credits-Can be gained from killing aliens and players of opposing companies, by completing quests, and it can be given to you from your clan. If you wish to get credits from your clan, send a message to the leader of the clan or the Advisory Council that includes the amount requested and a reason for needing it. Credits can be use to purchase midlevel equipment, or to bid on in the auction.(creds)

Uridium-Can be gained from killing aliens and players of opposing companies, by completing quests, or it can be purchased for real money. Uridium can be used to purchase elite equipment and ships, or to repair a destroyed ship. It takes 500 Uridium to repair a ship, if you don’t have it, you will lose your ship and have to start over with a phoenix. It is a good idea to keep at least 1500 Uridium just in case you get destroyed a few times.(Uri)


Here are a few abbrevated sayings you might need to know.

Kcr= thousand Credits

Gen= Generator

Cred= Credits

Urid= Uridium

NPC= Non player character

VRU = Venus Resources Unlimited

MMO = Mars Mining Operation

EIC = Earth Industries Corporation

TAG = Clan abbreviations, normally 3 letters before the name

Dmg= Damage/Hit strength

Spd= Speed

Jg= Jump gate

Omw= On my way

Ammo= ammunition

Locked on= Weapons locked onto an NPC or enemy in order to keep them in view on mini map.

Ref/Refine = refineing ore in lab screen

rep= Repairing/repair

Baserun/unload = Go to base to sell Resources

mil= million

Sib - Sibelon

Dev - Devolorium

BK - Kristalon

LK - Kristalin

LS - Sibelonit

Cube - Cubikon

Prot - Protegit

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Star Map Function Buttons


This is a sample of the starmap.

Top right corner buttons.


This is your Logout button. When you wish to leave the game, fly to base or a DMZ and press this button to properly log out. If you don't click this button and just close your browser window, your ship will be left in map for 10 minutes. If you do this while not in a DMZ, your ship could be destroyed by aliens or another player.

This is the Help button. Clicking on it will take you to BigPoint's main Dark Orbit Help Page. Hovering your mouse pointer over this button will display info on all open sub-windows withing the star map.

This is the Settings button. Clicking on this will bring up the in-game settings options:

Gameplay Tab

Automatic weapons upgrade by activating lab CPU - If you own one of the 3 available Lab CPUs (NC-AWB CPU, NC-AWR CPU or NC-AWL CPU) placed in an Extras slot, selecting this will turn on the feature. This will upgrade your weapons automatically using the ore that you have pre-selected. If you have no ore of this type, nothing will happen.

Change ammo/rocket type automatically - Having this checked will enable to the game to switch your selected ammunition/rocket type should you happen to run out of what is currently selected. Unchecking this means that when you run out of the selected ammunition/rocket type, you will stop firing (if you run out of x1, you will only be firing rockets) until you manually select another type.

Auto-refine raw materials - If your account is Premium, you have the ability to automatically refine the ore you pick up throughout the maps. If your account is not Premium, this option is still selectable, but has no effect.

Start and stop attacks using the shortcut bar - Having this selected enables you to attack or stop firing by clicking on the ammunition type you have selected in the shortcut bar.

Log into client automatically - When first selected, it will bring up a warning; "Use this setting carfully. When the game is loaded, you will automatically be logged in to the client, and other pilots will be able to attack you immediately."

Double click to to launch attack - Pretty self-explanatory. If you double-click a target in the space map, you will begin attacking it. Be careful as this also applies to players from your own company!

Display Tab

Resolution: Allows you to adjust the resolution of the UI (User Interface or Client). Some of the options visible may not be available to all players as you are limited by the Display Settings of your personal computer.

Show Player Name: This will display or turn off the player names below each ship.

Show Resources: This will display or turn off the resources in the Lowers maps (Prometium, Endurium & Terbium).

Show Bonus Boxes: This will display or turn off the Bonus Boxes (glowing purple boxes) in the maps.

Show Increasing Hit Count: This will display or turn off the visual indicator of a hit being made to an NPC or a ship (including your own damage that you take).

Show Drones: This will display or turn off the visual of each ship's drones (yours and other players). If un-selected, below each ship will be an F: or an I: with dots. The dots will indicate the number of each type of drone (F: = Flax, I:= Iris).

Show Cargo Boxes: This will display or turn off the ability to see cargo boxes in the maps.

Show Cargo Boxes Which Are Not Free: This will display or turn off the ability to see cargo boxes which belong to other members of the same company. These boxes will appear blue (some say grey). Picking up these boxes will result in negative honor, so be careful as you can quickly attain Outlaw status if you pick up too many!

Show Chat: This will display or turn off the in-game chat window.

Show Explosions: This will display or turn off the visual indicator of a ship or an NPC exploding upon destruction.

Show Background: Will display or turn off transparencies for the windows within the UI.

Always Allow Dragable Windows: This will enable or disable the ability to re-size or move the windows within the UI.

Preload Ships: This will enable or disable the pre-loading of ship images as the space map loads. Disabling this feature may speed up the loading of the space map, but it may cause temporary visual discrepancies within the game (you may see a triangle instead of an NPC or ship, or an incorrect image may temporarily be applied to an NPC or Ship).

Simplify Ships: If selected, you will have a more 3D view of the individual ships. De-selecting this will give a more "flat" top-down view of the ships.

Show Engine Tracks: This will enable or disable the visual trail from the ship's engines.

Sound Tab

Play Music: This will enable or disable the playing of background music.

Play Sound Effects: This will enable or disable the audio effects from the game (lasers, rockets, etc.)

Trade raw materials. Unless you own the Trade Drone, this option will be disabled unless at the Space Station. Level 17 and higher will be able to sell cargo at any station, not just the ones in their own company. Selling at an enemy station will not give you the Honor Bonus however.

This is your Jump button (hotkey "J"). If within a DMZ, activating this will jump you to the next map.

This is the "Fast Repair" button. To use this, you must have a minimum of 10 Repair Credits as it utilizes 10 Repair Credits to instantly repair your ship after you have popped. NOTE: Does not repair shields, only the ship hull.

This will bring up your refining window. Players who do not have Premium can manually refine their ore this way.

....On to Part II.

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Outfits

You can go here for the complete FAQ, the following is just a simple overview.

The outfit is a group system. It will help promote teamwork with your clan or with friends. You can have up to 5 people in an outfit. You will share rewards for all except PVP kills. What does this mean to you? Simply if your in a group needing to kill Lordakium's. Then each one that your outfit kills will count towards your quest. The only catch is you have to be active in the maps yourself. You can't be idle or their kills won't count.

You can also tell when a person in the outfit is in trouble. The ship icon beside his name will turn red, at the bottom is a button called fly to, you can click that button and then the persons name to fly directly to them to help them out. There are even more features that are covered in the FAQ.

Quite simply outfits are one of the greatest things to ever come to the orbit.

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Left Menu

This is your log. Will display 25 latest occurrences; You received 10 LCB-10 laser ammo, Banking Doubler active, etc.). If you need to look further back into your log, you will need to go to your back page and open your log book.

This is your Star System Map. Will show the connections between all maps for your present location (Uppers or Lowers).

This is your User Information. Shows: Experience, Current Level, Honor, Credits, Uridium & Jackpot Dollars.

This will display any boosters that are currently being applied to your ship.

This will display your ship stats; Hit Points, Shields, Cargo Bay, Ammo, Rockets & Current Configuration.

This is your mini-map.

Star Encircled with Wreath: This is your Quests Log. Will display all active quests. You can have a maximum of 3 quests active at one time.

3 Men: This is your Outfit window. Will enable you to accept or decline invitations. If in an outfit, will provide you with ancillary functions as well as the ability to see the current status of other outfit members. For more information on Outfits.

This is the in-game chat window.



Clicking the lock will allow you to move most things around on your screen to suit how you view your spacemap.

Under this you will be able to select what laser ammo you want to use when you fire.

This selects the rockets that will be fired, you can also select which rockets to fire with the hellstorm launcher.

This is for special ammo such as smart bombs and emp's.

If you have a cpu that can be set you will find it under here.

This is a handy button, if you run low on ammo, instead of parking somewhere and going to back page etc, all you have to do is click this, then follow it through to buy the ammo you desire.

This is where you trigger the techs that you are building in the Tech lab.

The last button is for the special features on the 5 newest design Goliaths.



This bar is totally customizable. This is just an example of what it could look like. To customize it, just click the lock on the gold menu, then drag the item you want on it to the location you want on this bar. As you get more goodies for your ship you will probably change the contents of this bar quite a few times. The numbers on the bottom of each cell are your hotkey numbers. So you would just hit number 1 to 0 to select the weapon you have set.



Last but not least. The whole reason we are here. In the middle of the map is YOUR SHIP. This particular is shown with all 8 iris drones at level 6. From left to right under the ship you will see Rings/Triangle representing what gates the pilot has done. The rank badge for that pilot, the clan name, the players name and finally the company icon for the company he works for.

[-Parity-]

Clan guide

1. Creating, applying & clan info.
2. Members.
3. Administration & messages.
4. Diplomacy & company change.


Thanks to .Anneliese. for writing this part.