AQ Basics: Forums Search and Info Submissions (2025)

Introduction[]

Today's blog entry is going to be a little different compared to some of my previous entries, and has been inspired by the many new and returning players (re)discovering AQ as a result of the recent video by Josh Strife Hayes. A warm welcome to you all!

AQ is, to put it mildly, complicated. The player spawns in a seemingly random settlement, and can effectively take on any quest in the game in any order, so long as they meet the level requirement (and that only really applies to quests >10 years old) and can find them. As a consequence of multiple writers, multiple quest sagas and plotlines can occur simultaneously, and no updated overarching document exists to firmly place them in order. Shops display some item stats, but it doesn't take long to realise that these numbers don't directly translate to damage output and intake, particularly once you reach higher levels. There are a number of existing community resources available (notably the wiki this post is housed on!), but what would be really useful is for there to be a space outside the game to store this in-game data, elaborate upon it with additional information, and place it into a broader context.

Fortunately, such a space exists - the AQ Forums! Unfortunately, if only it were that easy. The AQ forums were created way back in the early 2000s... and it shows. The directory system is not at all intuitive and information is not always in the place you'd expect. A lack of manpower means official item entries into the AQ Encyclopaedia stop being published over half a decade ago (though unofficial entries still are, discussed below). Even if you manage to find these entries, these entires are not easy to decipher.

Today, I'm going to explain how you can navigate and use this resource. From finding item entries to entering into discussions with the community and the spot to suggest your own items. I'll even show you how to read a typical info submission (we'll talk about that later). The only thing I won't be doing is discussing AQ's story. Why? Because, as I mentioned, no overarching document exists. You simply won't be able to get the information you seek on the forums. Your best chance in that regard is to ask the community (come find us here).

You can find some of my other posts related to AQ's game mechanics here.

Navigating the Forums[]

You can access the forums at: https://forums2.battleon.com/f/default.asp

The AQ forums are part of the overall AE forum network. The link above takes you to the overall AE forum homepage. The AQ forums can (unsurprisingly) be found in the "[AdventureQuest]" section. Once you click on this hyperlink, you'll be presented by a number of different subforums:

1. AdventureQuest General Discussion: This is where the members of the AQ community come together to discuss current topics. This is the area where you can find:
   • AQ Design Notes: Contains information on new packages, bugfixes or other game-related announcements
   • General Discussion Threads: General topics started by both staff or community members about a current topic. Usually there'll be running thread dedicated to the week's release (often tagged with "=AQ=")
   • Art Gallery: Where people can display their fan artwork (though also see the suggestions section below...)
   • Game Balance Issues: You don't need to worry about this too much, but this is the area where math nerds (like me) go to discuss balance changes to parts of the game, including core mechanics, items and monsters. This area is a little different in that you have to show why you believe these issues to be problematic.
   • Other Areas: The Paxia clans, (Dis)accomplishment thread, and General forum rules are also found here. Make sure to read the rules!
2. AdventureQuest Q&A: This is where you can post questions and receive answers from the community! Yes, this can including helping to refit your character with updated items. However, please note that this isn't a live chat, and you might receive a more rapid response going here.
3. [AQ Encyclopedia]: This section contains all the item entries for (nearly) every item in-game. However, please note that official item entries stopped being produced around half a decade ago. You can still find the information of newer items, but you'll need to search in the info subs subsection of the Encyclopedia. This section is not at all easy to navigate unless you know what you're doing, and I'll go into more detail about how you can find the necessary information below.
4. AdventureQuest Guides: I cannot stress this enough: DO NOT USE THESE GUIDES. The vast majority of these guides haven't been updated for nearly a decade. They will not provide you with updated information. Use this wiki or ask the community, they'll be far more helpful
5. AdventureQuest Bugs: This is where you can post suspected game bugs
6. AdventureQuest Suggestions: This is where you can suggest your own items/monsters/other things to add to the game! The staff regularly look at this forum and do, on occasion, select something to implement in-game. If you do want to post, make sure to read the FSI (Frequently Suggested Idea) post in this section to ensure you don't break any rules!

Searching the Forum[]

Searching this forum for specific information isn't easy. As mentioned above, items may not have official encyclopaedia entries, potentially forcing you to trawl through pages of items in the info sub section to get the information you need. This is hardly an effective strategy. So here are a few ways to make things easier.

Searching Outside the Forum[]

One way to get the information you need is to take advantage of your browser search rather than the forums' archaic search system (which we'll get to in a moment...). To make things more efficient, you can take advantage of targeted searching. Using speech marks will force your search engine to look for websites that only include the words specified within them. For example, searching:

"Destruction Burst" AQ

This phrase will search for pages that ONLY contain the words "Destruction Burst", with "AQ" added for additional narrowing. You can go even further though. Your result will often offer you the opportunity to gain more results. By clicking on the "More results from forums2.battleon.com" link, will target only pages from the forum website. Alternatively, searching the following will lead to the same effect:

"Destruction Burst" AQ site:forums2.battleon.com

Yes, this works for any item or monster as long as you know its name. If your search takes you to an "Info Submission" page on the forums, you can locate the phrase by using the Cntrl + F command (or the Apple equivalent). It's worth mentioning that this isn't the best way to search though, as a number of items share names with others in AE's other games. This means you might end up finding the item in AdventureQuest Worlds rather than AQ!

Searching Inside the Forum[]

Good news! The forums also have an inbuilt search feature, which you can find here: https://forums2.battleon.com/f/search.asp. You can also click the small "Search" link at the very top right of your screen (no, it would be FAR too easy if they made it large and conspicuous!). Please note that you'll need to make a forum account to do this (It's extremely easy and I thoroughly recommend you do so, as information, contests and other opportunities are posted here).

Bad news! It's not quite as simple to use. Once you click on the link, you'll be greeted with a screen like the one to the right. Here, you can search for a term, narrowing the field based upon the author of the post and the subforum (leaving these blank is ok, the feature will search in all forums and regardless of contributor). You can also narrow it to only focus on the subject of the thread, the replies to a thread, whether it appears in the title of a thread, or whether it appears in the main text body. If you're searching for items, they'll be found in the "AQ Encyclopedia" subsection (widen it to both the encylopaedia and info submission so you can cover both) and the item name will be found in the body of the message.

IMPORTANT: As a default, the search function only searches messages for the last 7 days. You can widen this by changing the button from "7" to "All topics". This will be necessary when searching for items.

What if I don't know what to look for?[]

Perhaps you want a Melee weapon that is able to burn an enemy, but don't know of one. How do you find one? Once again, asking the community is an excellent idea as they will know the best option. This wiki also provides a number of good options to choose from. However, for an extensive list, the wonderful Archknight Ward_Point has collated a series of Equipment Indices that you can use to search through the available items in-game based on a variety of different criteria.

IMPORTANT: Even with your best efforts, you may still miss the item you're looking for. As you'll see below, AQ info subs have some "lax" formatting conventions. The named subs sometimes have a nasty habit of not being exactly the same as the item in-game. Under such circumstances, the community are your best option.

Other Information Sources[]

Sometimes you may simply fail to find the information you need, even despite your best efforts. That's ok, there are plenty of alternatives:

• If you can't find, it, you can always make a post in the Q+A section of the forums (you'll need an account to do this).
• Discord. Both Official and Unofficial AQ servers exist with helpful people willing to lend a hand. Check out the Contact Us page for more on that.
• Posting in the AdventureQuest Reddit is a great alternative way of seeking advice
• YouTube can provide useful information. However, be extremely careful. A large number of AQ-related YouTube videos are outdated. Those that are relevant often take the form of showcases, meaning they may provide a superficial overview, but won't necessarily discuss the mechanics of an item in any great depth. In the interests of entertainment, they may also sensationalise certain aspects of items (e.g., "Biggest Nuke in AdventureQuest"). While certainly fulfilling that purpose, it also means you may need to turn elsewhere to gather the information you seek.

Reading Info Subs[]

So, you can find the information you need, but how do you read it? This isn't as easy as it sounds. Info submissions often include a description of the items effect. There's a wide variety of different effects that an item can provide and it's worth looking at the Glossary page here to decode what these terms mean. These submissions also contain a table of values, which varies depending on the type of item available. Below is a non-exhaustive list of these table values and what they refer to:

• Level: Somewhat self-explanatory. This refers to the level of the item, as well as the minimum level required to purchase it.
• Type: This refers to whether the item can be used by everyone ("-") is Guardian only ("G"), is a z-token item ("Z") or is a special bonus item attached to a paid package or other promotional event ("B")
• PowLvl: A.k.a. PowerLevel. This refers to the level at which an item performs. This is not always the same as its regular level. Guardian items are 3 levels more powerful and z-token items 10 more powerful than their base level.
• Base: This refers to the baseline damage of an attack when this item is used. To see how damage in AQ is calculated, click here. This can sometimes be shortened to "B" e.g.,
• Rand: The additional random damage on top of the base dealt by an attack when this item is used. To see how damage in AQ is calculated, click here. This can sometimes be shortened to "R"
• BR%: The value (in%) applied to an attack base and random when this item is used. To see how damage in AQ is calculated, click here.
• Stat: The stat value (in%) applied to an attack when this item is used. To see how damage in AQ is calculated, click here. Also known as "Stat%"
• Bth: The bonus to hit (accuracy) provided to an attack when this weapon is used. To see how accuracy in AQ is calculated, click here
• Price: The price of an item in gold/tokens. Please note this has pseudonames, including "X2MCP" and "MCPrice".
• Sell: The sellback of an item in gold/tokens. Please note this has pseudonames, including "x2MCS" and "MCSell"
• CostLv: The level of the item used to calculate its resource cost. Yes, this can be different than its level. You don't need to think about this too much.
• MPLvl: The MPlevel of an item, used with a spell. Yes, this can be different to its level. You don't need to think about this too much.
• Proc: The chance of the item having a weapon special. This can also come with a set of base/random/stat values for the special itself.
• SPCost/MPCost The SP/MP cost of an item, or of a skill stored within the item, depending on what the item is and what it does. Yes, this can have pseudonames too. It can have multiple costs, in which case they're usually number e.g., "SPCost1", "SPCost2". Can also be shorted to "SP" and "MP"
• Earth/Fire/Water/Wind/Earth/Energy/Light/Dark: This refers to resistance provided by the item. These are baseline values for armours. If referring to a shield, the number refers to how much you reduce the baseline armour value by. If on a misc, it's a multiplier to how much you modify incoming damage by. Old miscs can be subtractive and, in these cases, same as shield.
• STR/DEX/INT/CHA/END/LUK: How much this item boosts the respective stat by. Can also be named "Stat" (just to confuse you)

There isn't a rigid naming convention, which means that you will have to read the info sub description and infer what some of the more unusual names refer to. Thankfully, these are normally fairly clear. One other important point - if you see these in the AQ encyclopedia (NOT Info subs), please note that the numbers in these tables can also refer to attacks per hit rather than the full attack. Usually, if this is the case, they will provide the full attack values in the description elsewhere on the same entry.

Not all info subs are perfect. Just like in-game, some of them are inaccurate. This could be because an item received an update after it was first released, or even just because a mistake was made. If you're unsure, it's worth asking the community. We keep track of these things because, as you can see, it's not at all easy to navigate these systems!