How long does the first day actually take?

About 90 minutes if you follow the checklist. The welcome quest is roughly 20 minutes; getting comfortable with banking, basic combat, and one moongate trip adds another 30-45. The remaining time is poking at the world without a fixed goal — and that's fine, that's how UO works.

What if I want to skip the tutorial?

You can. The welcome quest is opt-in — don't talk to Guide Arin and the quest never starts. But you'll miss 500 starter gold and the structured intro. For a brand-new UO player, skipping is a real cost. For a returning veteran rolling an alt, the system auto-detects your veteran status and skips most of the loop while still paying starter gear.

Do I need to pick a build before I log in?

No. You can play your first day without committing to a build — your starting skills can be repointed inside New Haven cheaply enough that early choices don't lock you in. The page on the New Player Guide covers profession choice; for day 1, just play whatever feels fun.

Your First Day on Immortal Realm: A Practical First-Session Checklist

This is the page to keep open while you play your first session on Immortal Realm. It's a practical checklist — what to do, in what order, with the things that actually matter and the things you can skip.

If you want the bigger picture (profession choice, first-week strategy, what comes after), the New Player Guide is the right page. This one stays focused on the next 90 minutes.

Quick Answer

Create your character.
Talk to Guide Arin in New Haven and start the welcome quest.
Walk through the four steps (combat, bank, smith, moongate).
Collect 500 gold + starter gear at the end.
Try the moongate to Britain.
Come back to New Haven, do one or two starter quests.
Stop. Take a break. The shard isn't going anywhere.

Quick Facts


Where you start	New Haven, Trammel
First NPC	Guide Arin
First quest	A New Beginning (welcome)
First-quest reward	500 gold + starter gear
Time to complete welcome	~20 minutes
Total recommended day-1 time	60-90 minutes
Risk	None on Trammel; New Haven is fully safe
Status	Young (protected) — see Death and Recovery

Step-by-Step

1. Before you log in

You don't need to plan a build. You don't need to read every guide. You need:

The client installed (see the download page).
An account created.
90 minutes ideally (you can stop earlier and come back).

That's it. The shard handles the rest.

2. Create your character

The character creator is standard UO. Pick:

Looks — change later through specific NPCs if you want.
Starting skills — pick whatever sounds fun. You're not locked in.
Starting city — pick (T) New Haven from the city list. The shard uses stock UO character creation, which spawns you at whichever city you select; New Haven is the city this guide is built around. (If you pick Britain or anywhere else, you'll spawn there instead and have to walk to New Haven to start the welcome quest.)

If you're paralyzed by the build question, the New Player Guide recommends a starter profession, but day 1 doesn't require you to optimize.

3. Complete the New Haven welcome quest

You spawn near Guide Arin. Talk to her. The welcome quest opens with four steps:

Combat trial — kill 3 starter mobs near the training area.
Visit Banker Rowan — open your bank box.
Visit Smith Tessa — get a feel for the crafting interface.
Discover the New Haven moongate — find the gate, click it.

Return to Guide Arin with all four tokens. You receive 500 gold and starter gear.

The full New Haven walkthrough, including the six additional starter quests (A Warrior's Errand, The Sick Animal, The Golden Horse, The Haunted Library, The Missing Shipment, The Duel at Dawn) plus two follow-up orbit quests (Willow's Blight, Vesper's New Name), lives at Immortal Realm New Haven.

4. Open your bank

If you didn't already, walk to a banker NPC and type bank in chat. Your bank box opens.

The bank box is shared across characters on your account. It survives logout, server restart, and character deletion. Anything important goes here.

5. Try the moongate

Walk into the New Haven moongate. Pick Britain as your destination.

Britain is the shard's main civic city — Chirurgeons, the Ledger, the Velvet Hand, the bounty board, the auction house. You don't have to engage with any of it your first day. Just see the place exists.

When you're done, take the Britain moongate back to New Haven (or wherever else looks interesting).

6. Pick one starter quest

Back in New Haven, talk to one of the other quest NPCs:

A Warrior's Errand — combat practice. Warrior Garett asks you to slay a troublesome skeleton near the old ruins west of town.
The Sick Animal — non-combat care quest.
The Golden Horse — early animal-taming intro.

Pick what sounds fun. Each is a single-session quest.

7. Stop when you're tired

This is the most important step. Don't grind your first day. The shard is designed for years of play; the first session is for getting comfortable, not for hitting goals.

Common Mistakes

Skipping the welcome quest because "tutorials are boring." It's 20 minutes and pays 500 gold plus starter gear. Even veterans benefit.
Trying to optimize your skills on day 1. Your starting skills aren't permanent. Worry about builds in week 2.
Going to Felucca on day 1. Felucca is open PvP. Young protection limits the damage but you'll still have a bad time. Go to Felucca after you understand the basics.
Not opening your bank. You'll lose stuff to death drops if you don't have a habit of banking what matters.
Trying to read every guide before playing. This page is enough for day 1. The rest of the cluster waits.

What to Do Next

Day 2 onward: see Your First Week on Immortal Realm.
Find a Chirurgeon if you're feeling unwell: see Death and Recovery.
Learn the basic commands: see Immortal Realm Commands.
Understand the realm's currencies: see Immortal Realm Currencies.

Where to Read Next

For the broader new-player path, New Player Guide.
For week 2 and beyond, Your First Week on Immortal Realm.
For getting help, How to Get Help on Immortal Realm.
The download page is the on-ramp when you're ready.