Opinions on these as newbie guide hints:

Waiting twenty minutes between castings of the same spells will maximize the amount of magic experience gained. The “spells time” command will help you keep track!

Finding yourself in the vastness of the Shadowlands can be difficult. Using the “view” skill learned beneath Justice Tower in Akkad in tandem with the world map found at http://www.darkemud.com/www/map can help you find your way if lost!

The skill “navigate” can be learned under Justice Tower in Akkad. It will tell you the coordinates of where you are when you use it on the world map, which can be useful if you know the coordinates of your destination, but not the route!

The coordinates given by the “navigate” skill can be used to guide you when lost. Each world map square traveled in the east direction is +1e, and each in the south is +1s!

The coordinates of commonly found areas can be found in “help areas”. In conjunction with the “navigate” skill or a compass, you can find anything on the world map!

Castles and Mines on the world map generally belong to players who will vigorously guard them. It is unwise to enter the property of those whom you don’t know, though property near major cities will occasionally have a sanctuary for weary travelers.

Water is one of the many hazards found in the Shadowlands, but you won’t be able to enter it until you turn “crosswater on”. Make sure to “learn swimming”!

In order to survive even a shallow swim, you’ll need to “learn swimming” beneath Justice Tower in Akkad. Even with 100% swimming you may still drown in poor conditions!

The “brief” command will hide a room’s long description. This can be useful while speed walking, or if you’re very familiar with an area.

Eating and drinking are important for survival. Without food and water regeneration halts and you may even die, so make sure to keep well fed!

You can “learn divining” beneath Justice Tower in Akkad, which will allow you to find drinkable water on the world map. Since most cities have at least one fresh water drinking fountain, divining is most useful if you happen to get lost.

You can “learn foraging” beneath Justice Tower in Akkad, which will allow you to find edible food on the world map. Since most cities have at least one restaurant or shopkeeper that sells food, forage is most useful if you are lost or wish to minimize your sustenance costs.

Slim, in the General Store 1w2s of Justice Tower in Akkad, will sell you packs of rations at some price. Shopkeepers like Slim will help you along if you “say <shopkeeper>, help”, where <shopkeeper> is replaced by the shopkeeper’s proper name; in our case, “slim”.

It is important that you get your weapons repaired as soon as they warn you that they are near degrading. Okef the Blacksmith can be found at the Greater Forge in the tinker guild (4e1n1w1u1w from Justice Tower in Akkad), where you can find out more about repairing weapons with “say okef, help”.

A single weapon skill is difficult enough to master for anyone. It is true folly to train more than one, since the greater your skill the better the weapons you can wield!