Game FAQ

The Game

What's this game about anyway?

You were a citizen of Serling, before the Darkness came, now you're just trying to find your place in this hell stricken city. You can play as either a Human, a survivor trying to stay alive and fight off the Undead. A Zombie, scavenging the city searching for Human or Vampire flesh to devour. Or a Vampire, hunting for your next feast of blood. The goal of each race? To take over Serling? Or to survive amongst the other races?

Ok, what should I be doing?

That's really up to you, and depends on which race you choose to play.

As a Human, you should find helpful equipment from one of many locations around the city. Then either try and and fight the Undead, or heal fellow surviving Humans.

As a Zombie, you can use melee items, however once you get the Flailing Battery skill your accuracy will increase, you should concentrate on finding Humans and Vampires to devour and infect them, spreading your disease.

As a Vampire, the only items you can use are melee weapons, found in various locations around the city. You should concentrate on hunting for Humans or Zombies to turn and join your Vampiric ranks.

Is there a Map of the city?

Yes, it can be found here. You can also find a Map in-game that takes you to the Map on the wiki page. These Maps can be commonly found in Hotels, Museums or Malls.

Can I have multiple characters?

Yes, but you may not use them toward the same goal. To be safe they should be kept far apart from each other at all times. A basic rule of thumb is to keep your characters in separate suburbs, which are 10 x 10 blocks. Having multiple characters work toward the same goal, aka "zerging" (see Glossary) will lead to automatic lock down of all characters involved by our automated anti-zerg system.

Is there a Discussion Forum?

The official Hell Rising forum can be found here.

How do I report game abuse or bugs?

You can go to the forums and report them here.

What do donations do?

The Mall allows you to buy some in-game and real-life items in order to support Mo (Christopher/Slimebeast), the creator of Hell Rising, to simply give him a little something to show your appreciation. The in-game items available are: the Ancient Katana, a Severed Head, a custom Armband your character can wear, and a Personalized Item (renaming an Item currently in your inventory to whatever you want). The physical items include various T-Shirts of unique designs.

Just in case you didn't know, he can't run a server off of love. It takes money, cold hard cash, green, cabbage, dead presidents, Benjamin's... Stripping isn't paying the bills anymore, so Mo is asking for you to help out with the expenses. Give a little, give a lot... just show him you enjoy this great game. Look at it this way, when you donate, you can say you helped make Hell Rising.

Gameplay

What is "AP"?

Action Points. You spend an Action Point every time you move your character, use objects, attack other players, or take any other action in the game - when you've run out, you have to wait for them to be replenished. They refill at a rate of 4 points every 5 minutes (6 on weekends starting at 5:00 AM GMT), whether or not you're logged in, with the maximum depending on your race at the time. The max AP is 50 for zombies, 60 for vampires, and 70 for humans.

What is "HP"?

Hit Points. You lose hit points when attacked. When you drop to zero HP, you become a corpse. Players can heal or be healed by using or consuming healing items. There are assortments of healing items, some that only certain characters can use or eat. Humans in particular are able to use medical items that heal a lot of HP.

Vampires with the Plasma Feeding skill can heal by draining victims while attacking. Zombies have a 33% chance to heal while attacking if they have Grim Feast skill, or heal from a corpse with the Corpse Feeding skill. The max HP is 50 for humans, 60 for vampires, and 70 for zombies.

What is "XP"?

Experience Points. You earn Experience Points from successful attacks. You gain XP from attacks equal to the damage done, and a little extra for killing your opponent. If you attack for 9 damage, you gain 9 XP, and so on. You also gain XP from healing Human survivors, equal to the amount of Health healed. If you heal for 8 HP, you gain 8 XP and so on. Also, if you're a vampire and have the Defile skill, you can destroy spray painted messages with gore from nearby corpses and get 3 XP. You can also get small amounts of XP for reading books or accessing Lazarix Computers as a human. Along with reviving player corpses for 5XP (you can't revive NPCs).

You do not gain XP for:

• Putting up or taking down barricades (as human).
• Attacking a player of the same race.
• Searching, hiding, reloading, moving, etc.

What is "TKing"?

Team Killing (TKing) is the term for killing another member of your race. You won't gain XP for this, and you will lose one score for your player in the Statistics, but it may give some tactical advantage for one human to kill another causing the victim to stand as a zombie.

How do I gain Levels?

You gain a level for every skill you buy. You can click the "Buy Skills" button to spend your XP on new character skills from the skills tree - They start at a cost of 50 XP, and go up 10 XP for every skill you buy regardless of the skill class or race. So if you buy a skill for 50 XP, the next one you buy will cost 60 XP and so on.

What are Suburbs/Neighborhoods?

Serling is over 1000 square blocks total, that is divided into 10 sections known as suburbs or neighborhoods — the name of the neighborhood you're currently in is given at the top of your 3x3 block city view.

How do I talk to other players?

You can speak to players in the same block as you, using the text box underneath the Discussion box. Humans, Vampires, and Zombies all speak and understand the language, so be careful what you say in the presence of the different race. Because people log in at different times, you shouldn't expect to get an immediate response to anything you say - people you're talking to will see your dialogue the next time they log in, or take a turn.

To speak to members in the same group as you, you need a Walkie talkie, which should already be available since all players start out with one in their inventory. If you lost or dropped your Walkie talkie, they can be found in Police Departments, Fire Stations, and Electronics Stores. You can also adjust radio channels by going to our profile, which is set to channel 27.0 by default, the main channel used by most of the players. You can also use a Cell Phone to send SMSs to mutual friends that aren't inactive(haven't logged in for two days)

How does the "Search" work?

Each search you perform has a percentage chance of turning up an item relevant to the location you're searching. After you gain experience, humans can even buy a skill to increase their chances of finding items, furthermore if the lights are on in the given building it will increase your search rate.

Items don't "run out", meaning you can search indefinitely in one area, though eventually you will be getting the same items over and over again. If you've had a run of fruitless searching, either you're in a type of building that doesn't have anything, or you've just had bad luck. Some places even have better search rates for certain items such as searching for Gas Cans outside a gas station compared to inside.

Players also have a chance to find hiding players in a building by searching. Zombies and Vampires can buy skills to increase their chances to find hidden players.

How does this item work?

Check out the main Items page for various lists of items and their uses.

How do I become Human again?

After being killed, you become a corpse. You will then stand as a Zombie or Vampire, depending on how you died. However, you can be revived while you are a corpse. You will need a fellow Human to come and revive you using an Injector and Revival Serum. Sometime if a Lazarix Researcher NPC is nearby they will revive you if you're already a corpse, however the quickest way is normally to make it to Redemption Street and ask another player for a revive or wait. You can only be revived when you're dead since the serum only works on an inert subject.

Players are encouraged to play the hand they are dealt, but if you really don't want to play undead, you can also travel to a Revive Point(Redemption Street is commonly used), which are community-authorized locations where users frequently go to revive or be revived, and wait there.

How do I revive someone else?

First, your character (as a Human) will need the Lab Studies skill. You will also need an Injector and Revival Serum, which can be found inside any Lazarix location. When loaded, an Injector is capable of reviving up to three corpses. When out, reload and repeat.

How can I revive a specific player in a group of corpses?

Add the player to your contacts list as a friend. The player's name will now appear in the revive drop down menu when standing over the corpse.

How do I become a Zombie?

You can become a Zombie by one of these methods.

If you are a Human, you can:

• Get killed by a Human or Zombie, player or NPC doesn't matter.
• Get killed by a Vampire who isn't a carrier of Vampiric Infection.
• Get infected by a Zombie and wait until the Infection kills you.
• Commit suicide by going to any "Building" and jumping.

If you are a Vampire, you can:

• Get killed by a Zombie with the Biohazard skill.
• Get infected by a Zombie player with Biohazard and wait until the Infection kills you.
• Get infected by a Zombie NPC and wait until the infection kills you.

How do I become a Vampire?

Get killed by the fangs of any vampire who is a carrier of Vampiric Infection.

Do I keep Human skills if I'm a Vampire or Zombie?

Yes, but you cannot use them, they lay dormant until you become Human again. It's the same with all the other races. Each race has it's own set of skills that you need to buy with XP.

What are Groups?

Think of groups as clans or teams. The people in your group have the same goals as you and will do their best to help you out whenever you need. Groups have 3 ways of allowing new members in. "Open" means that anyone can join. "Apply" means that someone needs to apply and need to get approved by the leaders of the group. "Invite Only" means that a person can only get in by being invited by the leadership. Group members with a Walkie talkie can communicate with all other Walkie talkie bearing group members without spending AP or being in the same location. Check out the Groups page for a list of groups in Serling.

How do I spray paint messages?

If you are Human and have the Vandalism skill, you can use a spray can to spray graffiti on the inside or outside wall of a building, or on random walls in empty blocks - new graffiti is assumed to be spray painted over the top of the old. Humans, as well as vampires or zombies can read spray painted messages. Vampires can even use the gore of nearby corpses to cover up spray painted messages.

How do Closed Doors work?

Closed doors automatically stop NPCs and lower-level zombies from entering any building at all, though any Zombie who buys the "Intellect" skill will be able to open the doors, and leave them open for other Zombies to follow. Vampires are another matter, as they can close and open doors just like Humans.

How do Barricades work?

Any survivor with the Carpentry skill can start to build a barricade inside a building, or strengthen a barricade that already exists - any barricade at all will stop Vampires and Zombies from being able to enter the building, although they (or other Humans) are able to weaken the barricade by continually attacking it, which eventually destroys it. Building up a barricade past "Barricaded" means that other survivors can no longer enter the building, but must spend 10 ap to climb over the barricade if they want to get in. This also prevents Vampires with Sharpened Senses from sensing the number of people inside. If a human has the Rooftop Run skill, they may enter and leave a heavily barricaded building by jumping from/to an adjacent building. It saves the AP they would otherwise have to spend to climb over the barricade and saves the barricade from needing to be torn down just to exit. Humans can also buy the Demolition skill, which allows them to take down barricades faster. See Barricading for more information on their construction and demolition.

A Note on taking down barricades:

Certain weapons deal far greater damage on barricades than other weapons. Just because the assault rifle hits an enemy 50% of the time, doesn't mean it would be good taking down a barricade. Think of what you would use in real life. The best known weapons for demolishing barricades are sledgehammers, fire axes, and chainsaws, among other ones.

Why do I see player names in different colors?

Player names are black by default and only show if you and the other player are of the same race. One or more in game options will change the color and allow you to see the other player's name when they are a different race or even if they are a corpse.

• [Player] - The player is neither in your contacts list nor related with your group.
• [Group Member/Ally] - The player is either a member of your group or an ally of your group.
• [Friend] - You've added this player to your contacts list as a friend. This is the only way to identify a corpse before reviving it.
• [Group Enemy] - The player is an enemy of your group.
• [Enemy] - You've added this player to your contacts list as an enemy.

Personal contacts always supercede Group allies/enemies lists. When a player joins a group, any group-mates on their enemies list will still be in red. The first act of any player who joins a group should be to compare their enemies list to the list of their team and remove any members on the enemies list. This will stop a player from accidentally killing a fellow group member.

Why can't I get into this building?

There are several reasons why you may not be able to get into a certain location. See which applies to you.

• It may not be a building. Check and see if you're in the middle of a street. Is there asphalt underfoot? Are you surrounded by burned out cars? If you are in the middle of a street, move to a building. Note that this also applies to parks, wastelands, parking lots, and any other location that is not a building.
• The door may be closed. You cannot walk through doors. Look for an "Open Door" button below the map view. (Note that Zombies without the Intellect skill cannot open doors)
• The building may be barricaded to the point that you cannot enter. Humans can enter areas marked as "Lightly Barricaded" and "Barricaded" for 1 AP, and "Heavily Barricaded" and "Extremely Barricaded" for 10 AP. Undead have to remove all barricading to enter.
• You may be a corpse. If you're not currently standing, you cannot walk through a doorway. Check to see if you are a corpse. A sure way to tell if you are a corpse is by seeing if you are lying down and not moving. Look for a "Stand" button in place of the usual options.

How come I get killed after I sign out?

Hell Rising is a 24 hour real-time live action browser game. When you sign out, your character stays where you left them. It's best to get them inside when you plan to sign out, maybe with a group of others of your race. If you're human, it's best to hide in a barricaded building, preferably with other humans.

How do I see my character's stats?

Click on your character's name in the right hand frame below the map.

Why do you call them "Clips" instead of "Magazines"?

To better draw the line between reading material and ammunition.

Troubleshooting

Why do I repeat actions when I hit "Reload"?

Due to the nature of a browser-based game such as this, in most cases hitting "Reload" on your browser tells the game to repeat your last action. Instead of using "Reload", please use the "Game View" link at the top of the game page. It might just save your life.

Glossary

• Alts - A person with multiple characters in Hell Rising is said to have several alts, or alternative characters. See "Can I have multiple characters?".
• Alt Abuse - A person who uses one in game character to help another. See "Can I have multiple characters?".
• AR - Assualt Rifle. See Firearms.
• AP - Actions points. See "What is 'AP'?".
• Cades (Cading) - Barricades; The act of building up barricades. See Barricades and "How do Barricades work?".
• Devive - Killing a human so they may rise up as a zombie. See "How do I become a Zombie?".
• Devive Point - A place for humans to go to be devived.
• GK (Gker, GKing) - Group (Member) Kill; Group (Member) Killer; Group (Member) Killing. May result in the GKer being expelled from the group.
• HP - Hit points. See "What is 'HP'?".
• Humosexual - Human.
• Meatbag - Human.
• PP - Power Plant
• Revive - Turning a vampire or zombie into a human. See "How do I become Human again?".
• Revive Point - A place for Vampires or Zombies to go to be revived.
• TK (TKer, TKing) - Team Kill; Team Killer; Team Killing. Killing another player of the same race. See "What is 'TKing'?".
• Vamp (Vamping) - A vampire; The act of making a human into a vampire. See "How do I become a Vampire?".
• XP - Experience points. See "What is 'XP'?".
• Zed - Zombie.
• Zerging - A type of alt abuse where one person has several in game characters that attack the same target. From the tactics of the Zerg race in Starcraft. See "Can I have multiple characters?".