1) Client
You will need to have a Client to connect.
A client is used to connect to the server.
You can get it at official site www.lineage2.com.
Download and install it.

Open LineageII.exe and let it update.
A good ideea is to hit "Check Files button" to ensure a full update.

While it is updating, now is a good time to edit your hosts file (see lower).

After you have updated it ONE time, use L2.exe in the games /system directory to run the game. Best to make a shortcut to this file onto your desktop and delete the one the game installation has made on your desktop.

The reason why not to use the LineageII.exe after the first update is that you may accidently update the client beyond the server and you will not be able to play until the server is updated.

2) hosts file
The hosts file needs to be modified to connect.

A hosts file is used to map DNS queries locally on your computer, instead of allowing your ISP to do so.

Your hosts file is in a different location depending upon your operating system.

Windows XP = /windows/system32/drivers/etc
Windows 2K = /winnt/system32/drivers/etc
Win 98ME = /windows

In the hosts file you need to edit the last line in the file to look like:

89.16.113.71 L2authd.lineage2.com

If you can see GameGuard error reporting about "hacking tools" after game start add one more line to the hosts file:

216.107.250.194 nprotect.lineage2.com

Anyway, you can simply download our hosts file which is ready to use. Just unzip it to c:\windows\system32\drivers\etc and start the game!

Good luck!