In order to challenge the most difficult dungeons in Trieste and keep yourself safe while you explore the world, the best approach is to group up with other players. With the Party system, you’ll be able to locate your comrades, keep track of their health, and access many more functions to keep tabs on your companions. 

Starting a Party 

You can be invited to an existing party or you can start your own. You can even start a party with only yourself as a member. To start a party, open the Party screen with P, and press the Create button. You can give your party a slogan if you’d like, which is what other players will see if they search for you with the Recruit function (more on this below). Try to pick a name that describes what you are doing and what kind(s) of players you are looking for. 

If you invite another player into your party but don’t yet have one created, you will automatically create a party, even if the other player declines your invitation. To invite a player to join your party, target them and click on the arrow next to their name on the target window. A pop-up menu with several options will appear. When you select the Party option, the other player will receive a notice that you are inviting them to join you. It is generally considered good manners to talk to people before inviting them into your party, and to leave them be if they decline an invitation. 

Once a party is formed, a drop-down list of all party members will be displayed on your screen (under the Minimap by default), so you can close the Party window. You can monitor your party’s HP and PVP Shield levels on this list, and choose whether or not to view their active buffs or debuffs (but not both at once). The Accompany button next to each party member’s name will set your character to automatically follow that party member when they move, as long as they remain within range. 

Managing a Party 

When more players are invited into the party, the player who sent the first invite will remain the Party Leader, and the only party member who can invite new members. If the Party Leader wishes to pass leadership to someone else, they can open the Party screen, click on another member, and select Delegate to make that member the new Party Leader. 

On the bottom-right corner of the Party screen is a drop-down menu with green text, that says [Default]. This is the Item Share setting setting for the party, which determines how items dropped by defeated enemies are distributed (cash is always distributed equally, regardless of Item Share type). Although any character may still pick up items, the system will place them into the inventory according to the Item Share setting. 

• Default awards loot to the player who delivered the first hit to the monster, though its precise function changes, depending on the party’s current map. 
• In Turn rotates among each party member. 
• Free For All awards items to whomever loots them first. 
• Random distributes items completely at random. 

Experience is always distributed equally among party members, but each may still receive different totals depending on their own experience buffs and other modifiers. 

Recruiting Party Members 

If the Party Leader want to find more members, they can use the Recruit function on the party screen, by pressing the corresponding button. The Recruit Party screen will open. 

• Under Map Settings, select the zone or dungeon where the party plans to do its adventuring. 
• Under Level Settings, the red text will display the lower and upper levels for which the selected map offers suitable content. You may enter specific lower and upper levels on the text fields, and player characters outside this level range will not be able to see your party in Recruit. 
• Job Settings, lets you select which classes you are accepting or not accepting, or for which you want only one member of the class in your party. Click each icon to cycle through whether you are allowing each class, which will determine whether members of that class can see your party in Recruit. 
• Auto Party Request, if checked, will allow potential members to join you automatically. Un-checking this box will prompt them to message you first, so that you can ask more questions to determine whether you want them in your party. 

Finding a Party 

If you aren’t currently in a party but want to find one who might have a spot for you, you can open the Party screen and select Find to try and locate a party who’s using the Recruit function. You’ll need to specify one to three maps in which to search. You’ll then be shown list of all parties who are looking for someone of your class and approximate level. 

Expeditions 

You can only form an Expedition in certain areas, found outside the few dungeons which require them. Expeditions can include up to 18 players (most expedition dungeons require a minimum of 12), organized into three parties. Though each individual party functions as normal in terms of being able to target each other with skills, each expedition member can monitor the health and status of the other members, and loot is distributed among the entire expedition as though it were a single, large party. The Expedition Leader can move members between groups as well, as the situation demands.