A few questions

[Alacar Belicus]

Hello, I started about 12 hours ago and have already started to like this shard. I have never played a shard like this before and because so I have a few questions to ask.

1. I have a shovel and I try to mine but most of the time I just "loosen up the rocks" are there certain areas I'm supposed to mine in or will any cave/dungeon work? I've been trying to mine in the newb dungeon area.

2. Do the different ores do anything special while crafting armor or is it all kind of the same with just different colors? And how do I know which ones are the cream of the crop?

3. So far I've just been running around like a madman swinging my sword at whatever looks at me wrong and I like melee so. But as I grow stronger and want to fight harder stuff will casting be my best friend?

4. Are there any gains from hunting bosses and if so what kind of goodies could I loot from such evil creatures?

That's all I have for now. I'm sure I'll have more by the time these are answered 

/Werit Forgesmash

[Miri]

Oh heck.... a list of questions that I should know the answer too. I've been away for 4 or 5 years however, so I'm a little rusty. I might not be 100% correct, but I'll do my best to answer:

1) That just needs you need to gain more skill. Keep at it and you'll find you get that message less and less. Any cave floor or mountainside will do.

2) The different ores do indeed have different properties. Which ones are better is purely subjective, though. You'll need to decide what you want to be using for yourself. Check this page for a more in-depth look at the different ore types and properties: http://www.uoguide.com/Ingot
Valorite is the hardest to gain and is used for more than just making armour and weaponry - it's also highly prized for it's use in socketing (I believe the general premise for that is explained on the homepage and under the shard basics section.)

3) That depends entirely on your play-style. Whilst many would suggest having chivalry, bushido, ninjitsu or a combination thereof to aid you, it's not strictly necessary.

4) ....I honestly have no idea anymore. It's been too long and I've completely forgotten!

Hope this helps you some anyway.

[Cypress]

1. Yup, gain soem skill
2. Yup and yup on Valorite
3. Yup again though personally I'd recommend as a warrior to have at least a little in almost all casting skills including magery. I enjoy building templates, and you can seek me in game for more info on that if you wish
4. Some are shown on display as in the case of Fel town bosses, but as for the rest, just gotta try and see hehe 

[Alacar Belicus]

Thank you both for your answers I truly appreciate them. I was doing mining all wrong. When I got the loose rock message I just moved on and kept going to different spots until I got iron. Silly me. I do have one more question... What would be a good stat set up for a melee character?  

*EDIT*
Well I guess I have 2 questions now.
I was rummaging through my loot bag and I found an "Ancient Tourmaline" and I saw that it gave bonuses and stuff but I have no idea how to use them and do creatures randomly drop them and if so do certain creatures drop better gems?

Sorry if I'm becoming a nuisance with all the questions. :S

[Cypress]

Stat setup, I'd say just get them all to 150 for now and worry about more stats after that If you mean skills, that's another thing and varies from player to player. As I mentioned, I like building templates, so you can see me in game if you want or ask a warrior in game

About the gem you found, that is what's called an augment. Yes, I believe most are just randomly dropped. You can use blacksmithy to socket armor, weapons, and pets using a socketing hammer and valorite. You will likely want to hire a blacksmith with an Ancient Socketing Hammer (ASH) to do it for you. There is a chance of the item breaking when you socket it. If you use an ASH then the chances are extremely small if not impossible.

Once you have a socketed item, you can add augments to it using the skill item identification. It requires no real skill, so you can use it at skill 0 just fine. You get a menu where you can click a socket in which to put your augments.

There are ancient, legendary, and mythic gem and wood augments as well as normal and radiant crystal augments and glimmering stone augments. See here for further information: http://forum.sylvandreams.co.uk/index.php?topic=2578.0
(some of the information on that page may be a bit outdated, but most should be good.)