What Camaris said. And Manika.
Instead of desperately trying to get a kill at level 11 (which, can be a lot of fun... i can also understand that some people might get frustrated), use those precious few first hours of gameplay to get to know the maps and the battle dynamics.
Get to know the players a bit, try and see what tactics they use and try to keep up.
So, as a peasant:
- Learn the maps
- Get used to the battle dynamics
- Practice poking cavalry in the nose, stopping them near teammates. Use a scythe or pitchfork. Consider getting a boar spear.
- Support teammates by poking over their shoulders with previously mentioned cheap and low requirement polearms
- Get a cheap shield and play bodyguard and personal shieldwall for somebody
- Get a spiked club or knobbed mace and smack an enemy on the head, knocking him down
- Get an axe (once you get str 6) and swing wildly at enemies, possibly getting a hit or two in
- Do NOT save up money immediately, just spend it all untill you get to level 20 or something!
While dead, you can:
- Pick out a cool looking outfit or two costing less than a 1000 gold on the shop while dead
- Browse the cRPG forums and read guides while dead
If you are using steam, i'd recommend using the steam browser. If you go to c-rpg.net (without the www.) it will remember your login, so you'll only have to login once and for the rest of the time you can just type c-rpg.net in the adress bar once every time you start the game. If you have multiple characters, just use the pull down menu under your character name to switch.
Without steam, you can alt-enter to activate windowed mode and put the browser over the game, so you can still keep half an eye on the battle. Learn to recoginze the sounds associated by starting a new round. Make sure you get back to the game quickly when a new round starts, so you'll not get left behind!
But also spend some time observing players to:
- Learn good archer spots
- Find good flanking routes
- Find good camping spots
- Learn likely lines of fire
- Think of strategies and tactics you and your team can use later on in the game
- Take time talking to dead teammates to discuss tactics
- Take time to motivate teammates, possibly even increasing likelyhood of getting a high multiplier for more exp and gold
Etcetera etcetera etcera. Don't come walking into cRPG thinking you'll master the game in a few hours. It's complicated and not easy at all. Don't get fooled into thinking character level and gear is all that matters. Quite the opposite is true: a master at manual blocking with good map knowlege can be a usefull addition to his team, even below level 20... but in the end it all boils down to good teamplay. So try to use tactics and strategies. Encourage teamplay. Make a plan.
Don't feel bad if you don't manage to be very useful at the first week you play. This happens a lot and is normal. Don't get angry. Instead, make the most of it. Plenty to do!
Enjoy peasanthood while it lasts. You'll miss it when it's gone...