Town Struggles are large-scale, objective-based PvP encounters simulating faction warfare within various towns across Outlands. Participants are automatically divided into two teams, Chaos and Order, and battle for control over designated Capture Zones to accumulate points. These events offer opportunities to earn Guild Prestige, Guild Reward Points, and Battle Commendations. Active participation is crucial, as extended idling or absence can result in score penalties. Possible locations now include Horseshoe Bay, while the Northwest Prevalia layout has been removed.
Equipment Note: In Town Struggles, high-end equipment bonuses are normalized to standard GM levels during participant combat.
Participation
Entry into a Town Struggle begins 15 minutes before the event starts, when Faction Base Moongates appear in towns throughout the world. Players wishing to participate must enter one of these gates, which transports them to a neutral staging base. Crucially, players must be inside this neutral base when the event officially begins to be included. Players cannot use Incognito, Polymorph, or Disguise Kits, and such effects are removed upon joining.
Inside the base, a Town Struggle Stone allows access to the event menu via double-click (or by typing `[TownStruggle` anywhere). This menu provides details like the time remaining until start and whether mounts will be permitted. Once the event commences, all players within the neutral base are assigned to either the Chaos or Order team, aiming for the best possible population balance based on guild affiliations. Participants are then teleported to their respective team's Faction Base (Chaos or Order).
The Town Struggle menu updates to reflect the randomly chosen town location (including potential layouts like Horseshoe Bay) and the specific layout of Capture Zones and Respawn Zones for that instance. Players use this menu to respawn after death. The top three locations are Capture Zones, available for respawn only if the player's team currently controls them. The bottom three are permanent Respawn Zones, always available for respawn and not subject to capture.
Zones and Flagging
The active area for a Town Struggle encompasses the entire designated town region plus a 100-tile radius around each Capture and Respawn Zone, potentially extending beyond town guard limits. Within this area during the event, special flagging rules apply:
- Participants flag Green to teammates (same Faction).
- Participants flag Orange to opponents (opposing Faction).
- Hostile actions against Green players and beneficial actions towards Orange players are disallowed.
- Non-Participants appear Blue to Participants, and vice-versa. Non-Participants cannot interact hostilely or beneficially with Participants.
- Criminals flag Grey and do not receive special event handling.
- Murderers can participate if they join from the neutral base at the start. They receive a 15-minute grace period post-event before normal flagging and guard zone vulnerability resumes.
Mechanics
Death during a Town Struggle results in immediate teleportation back to the player's Faction Base, along with any tamed and bonded followers. Item loss upon death is limited; players generally retain their equipment unless items are magical weapons, magical armor, or exceptionally crafted gear made from colored materials. Players do not consume Reagents, Bandages, Arrows/Bolts, or Refresh Potions during the event, and receive one free Cure Potion use every 30 seconds.
While participating in a Town Struggle and inside the event zone, players are prevented from using Recall, Gate, or Hike to leave the area.
Participants are limited to casting a maximum of 5 Field Spells during the event. The system now correctly prevents casting attempts once the limit is reached.
Players cannot Release Mounts or Followers inside Town Struggle Bases. Any uncontrolled followers remaining in a base 5 minutes after the event concludes will be deleted.
Penalties
Stationary Player Penalty
If a player uses Recall/Gate/Hike, or has been stationary for 5 minutes or more, they receive a Stationary Penalty. While penalized, they do not count towards controlling Capture Zones. The penalty is removed once the player moves 5 steps. A system message notifies the player of the penalty status.
Absent Player Penalty
Spending 15 consecutive seconds or more outside the designated Town Struggle Zone (including bases) results in a cumulative 5% penalty per minute to the player's final score for the event. This penalty percentage is displayed under the "Penalty" column in the Battle Results menu. (Note: The previous 10-minute AFK kick rule may still apply or be modified by this).
Scoring
The Faction (Chaos or Order) with the highest total score at the end of the event is declared the winner. Individual player scores are tracked separately for reward calculation but do not influence the team outcome.
Control Points
Each Town Struggle features three Capture Zones. Teams earn points based on control:
- Faction Scoring: Each Team earns 5 Points every Tick (now 10 seconds) for each Capture Zone they control.
- Player Scoring: Players earn 5 Points every Tick (10 seconds) they spend inside a Capture Zone controlled by their team (up to a maximum duration, potentially 60 seconds per zone, needs confirmation).
If both Factions have members in the zone, it might still be considered Contested, potentially awarding points differently or preventing control score gain (requires clarification based on the removal of the old 5/5 contested rule).
Player Kills
The score stealing mechanic based on player kills has been removed.
- Player Kills are now worth 10 Points to the killing team.
- Player Kills grant a flat 10 Points to each individual player involved in the kill (no scaling by damage percentage).
Players killed outside the event zone count as valid kills if they entered the zone at least once since their last death (or event start). Similarly, players only get credit for kills if they have entered the zone at least once since their own last death (or event start).
Rewards
At the event's conclusion, rewards are distributed based on team and individual performance.
- Team Prestige: Guilds associated with players on the winning Faction receive 3 Guild Prestige points. Guilds on tied or losing Factions receive 1 Prestige point.
- Individual Rewards: Players are ranked based on their total Individual Score (Control Points + Kill Points), potentially adjusted by the Absent Player Penalty. A Rank Percentage is calculated based on their position relative to the total number of participants. Based on this Rank %, players earn Guild Reward Points:
- 75% - 100%: 3 Guild Reward Points
- 50% - <75%: 2 Guild Reward Points
- 25% - <50%: 1 Guild Reward Point
- Players on the winning team who earn any points receive an additional bonus Guild Reward Point.
- Battle Commendations: For each Guild Reward Point earned, the player also receives one Battle Commendation token in their bank box. These can be consumed for either 2500 Gold or a randomized item.
Post-Completion
After the event concludes, participants are teleported back to their respective Faction Bases. They can leave via Green Moongates. Anyone remaining in a base when a new Town Struggle begins will be automatically ejected. Logging into a Faction Base outside of an active event also results in ejection. Uncontrolled followers left in bases are deleted after 5 minutes.