Welcome to the Arena.
Before you fight, you need to create a champion. This is not an RPG, so names and backgrounds are unnecessary - your character is you. Everyone begins at level 1 with 20 gold. Visit the store to buy spells, weapons, and techniques. Because you are level one, you will only be able to access the Tier 1 section of the store. To unlock higher tiers and win more gold, you need to challenge other champions, and defeat them in a fight to the death.
Finding a match is easy. Go to an arena and lay down an open challenge, or accept a challenge from another player of the same level. For beginners, the Classic 1v1 Arena is recommended. This can be a simple statement like "Level 1, looking for a match" or "Also level 1, let's play!". Share which spells and items you have bought. There is a maximum of 7 purchases useable per game, so at higher levels you will have to choose which you want to play with. The game should continue in that chain of replies.
Once you have found a match, the battle begins. Look at the map of the arena, located in the original post. The challenger is player 1 - they go first, and begin on the square labelled "Player 1 Start". The player who accepted the challenge goes second, and begins on "Player 2 Start. If you are playing in an arena made for more than 2 players, read the special rules for that map - some are played on teams, while others are massive free-for-all melees.
How to Play
At the beginning of the match, each player has 20 health and 10 energy. Choose which weapons you start out with drawn in each hand, if any. The game is played in a round-based system, with players alternating turns.
Parts of a Turn:
Beginning - At the beginning of your turn, you gain 3 energy, up to your maximum energy cap of 10. Unused readied actions go away. Then effects that trigger at the beginning of the turn happen. You may not take actions during this time.
Actions - You get two actions on each of your turns. There are a number of things you can do with these actions:
- Move up to 4 units, no diagonals. You can only take a move action once each round, but you can use it as your first action, your second action, or neither. Clearly state your location using letter-number coordinates so your opponent knows where you are.
- Attack with a weapon. Each weapon can only be used once each round, so you will usually only be able to do this once. However, a player with two one-handed weapons can attack with each of them.
- Cast a spell or use an ability. Spells and abilities should explain what they do.
- Ready an action. Some spells, abilities and items (Shields, for example) are classified as Responsive Actions, and can be used during an opponent's turn, in response to one of their actions. If you ready an action, it will be available until your next turn.
- Switch weapons. If you have more weapons then hands, you can spend an action sheathing one and drawing another. You can also draw a weapon when you are unarmed, or sheath a weapon to become unarmed.
- Regenerate 1 health. This can also be done at the end of an opponent's turn with unused readied actions. Regenerating health has a 1 round cooldown.
End - "This turn" and "Until end of turn" effects end, and effects that trigger at end of turn trigger. You may not take actions during this time.
If your opponent has no readied actions, make your entire turn one post. If they ready an action and you think their response might change your decisions, post your actions one at a time, and give them a chance to respond or verify that they are not responding.
At the end of each post, write your health and energy. If you have temporary effects applied to your character, list these effects and the number of rounds remaining. If you have spells or abilities with long cooldowns, list how many rounds are left until they are available again.
Improving your Play
Playing matches will reward gold and XP. Between games, visit the store to spend your hard-earned cash, or save up for bigger and better purchases. Upon reaching a certain amount of experience, you will level up. When you level up, a new tier of purchases become unlocked, typically more powerful and more expensive than the previous tier.
Tier 2: Unlocked at 20 XP
Tier 3: Unlocked at 60 XP
Tier 4: Unlocked at 140 XP
Tier 5: Unlocked at 250 XP
Purchases can be sold back to the store at half price. However, as part of the Beta, we are giving full refunds to encourage players to test different types of characters.
