Estoc Trials FAQ

Discussion in 'Past Events' started by admin, Apr 8, 2013.

  1. History
    After returning from the desert, wielding the legendary Estoc, Arkosa, daughter of King Darius, slew her father and took the throne. Her first act as queen was initiating the Estoc Trials. From that day forward, the innocent blood of the Damascene people would stain the memory of the king forever...
    Read the entirety of the Estoc Trials backstory below.

    What are the Estoc Trials?
    The Estoc Trials are a series of regularly scheduled wars occurring throughout the week with various starting times to accommodate multiple time zones. The events are open to clans of various strengths and sizes; there may be restrictions on these numbers, which will be announced at the beginning of each week. Once your clan signs up, we will attempt to match you with another clan of similar strength and size. There will also be special tournaments from time to time. Your goal is to work together with your fellow clan members to defeat an opposing clan in a timed war.

    How to Join
    1-Clan Admins must sign up their clan for the next available war.
    2-Players will have to cast the opt-in spell; Wave of Conflict, found at the Alchemist’s, before match-up deadlines to be included. Casting it afterwards will not work.

    *For Admins: When you sign up for an Estoc Trial, we will inform you of the number of players who have opted-in for that war.
    *For Admins: If your clan members affect the qualified number of participants in any way (leaving the clan, casting Wave of Conflict, etc) and that number exceeds or falls below the requirements for the event, then your clan will be disqualified. It is up to you to manage your members and ensure that your clan meets the size requirements once matchups begin.

    Players can join/leave a signed-up clan for up to 30 mins before the sign up deadline. After that, the clan roster becomes locked. If admins wish to modify the roster, they will have to cancel their sign-up, adjust their clan roster, then sign up again.

    After the deadline passes, the roster is locked and no one can join/leave until the end of the war. However, players may join/leave should the clan end up with a no-match situation (for more information on no-match situations, please see the “No-Match Bonus Epic Battle” section below).

    Wave of Conflict - Clarifications
    The Wave of Conflict always opts you in for the first war within the next 24 hour period. Example:

    War #1 - 1 hour from now
    War #2 - 12 hours from now

    Casting Wave of Conflict will only opt you in for War #1, not War #2. To opt-in for War #2, you have to cast it again after War #1 is over.

    Schedule Details
    Weekly Schedule: Please check the forums for specific information regarding war times and requirements as they are updated on a weekly basis.
    Signup: 3 - 6 hours prior to War Start Time. This varies based on how close the wars are together.
    Duration: 2 hours
    Matchmaking: 2 hours prior to War Start Time (Must sign up before this, rosters lock at this point).
    Activity Lock: Approximately 1 hour prior to the earliest War Start Time.
    Start Time: This can vary up to 15 minutes. This will be reflected in your war timer.
    Forfeit: All forfeits are disabled.

    How to Win
    The main objective of wars is to knock out enemy players. To do that, you need to reduce their soldiers and spies to 0 by attacking and spying on them. When the enemy is knocked out, they are invulnerable for 15 minutes. You are also able to knock yourself out by draining your soldiers and spies down to 0 at which point you will also be invulnerable for 15 minutes.

    Winning wars will be determined by a scoring system called Plunder Score. Every player has their own Plunder Score which will increase whenever they generate plunder. When you knock out another player, you will loot part of their Plunder Score, thereby reducing it and increasing yours. If you knock yourself out, you will lose still lose a part of your Plunder Score to the enemy but that amount will be significantly smaller than if you had gotten knocked out.

    At the end of the war, the team with the highest earned Plunder Score will win the Estoc Trial.

    No-Match Bonus Epic Battle
    Should you receive a no-match after signing up for an Estoc Trial, you'll be given two new spells: Rancor’s Vision and Rancor’s Curse to use in The Vanished Paladins Epic Battle. Rancor’s Vision lasts 30 minutes and will allow you to hit the 1st phase and trigger the main phase of the EB. Rancor’s Curse lasts 4 hours and will allow you to hit the main phase and complete the EB. If you leave your clan, you will lose your Rancor’s Curse. The reward for completing this? Mithril, of course! The amount awarded will not be the same as if you had warred, but it will at least help you prepare for your next battle.

    We are doing this because we feel it is a fair compensation for players who receive a no-match. We expect all clans to war honourably. Thus, if clans are intentionally abusing this system by signing up with clans which will generate a no-match, they will receive a warning with an explanation as to what they need to adjust. If their behaviour does not change, we may:

    * Exclude the clan from future Estoc Trials
    * Remove Mithril earned and/or reset equipment enchanted using this Mithril

    PLEASE, do not make the community lose out on this opportunity. We want to keep this Epic Battle available for all players who do not get a chance to war.

    NOTE: It is vital that any admins launch this EB within 15 minutes of their clan’s no-match situation. Rancor’s Vision lasts 30 minutes and is necessary to trigger the EB. The duration of the spells and the difficulty of the EB has been tweaked to allow all types of clans to complete this EB exactly once and get their plunder and Mith payout.


    Rewards
    Estoc's Edge - This will be given out to all winning clans. They will gain one level for winning, one level for losing. It lasts for 2 weeks and provides a bonus on all Epic Battle plunder and rewards. Should you decide to leave a clan, your Estoc’s Edge level will drop by 1 level. The maximum level is five.

    Mithril - Mithril is the main payout of Estoc Trials. In the event of a no-match scenario, you can earn Mithril by completing the Vanished Paladins EB. Mithril payout is roughly dependent on the following formula:

    Contribution = Mithril Spells cast + Attack Pots Spent + Defensive Pots you caused your opponents to use

    Payout = Contribution + Your cut* of the sum of your opponent's contribution
    *Your cut is determined by your involvement in the war

    Mithril spells must be cast after you receive the notice to cast them and before the battle starts in order to be considered in the Mithril award formula. NOTE: You should wait until you’ve been matched-up before casting any Mithril spells so you don’t end up spending any unnecessary Mithril if no matches are found for you. The Vanished Paladins EB does not require any Mithril spells.

    For the uses of Mithril, please check the forums for further information.


    Rancor Level - Two levels awarded to all winners in the Rancor Wars. One level is removed from losers. No levels are lost when you leave a clan. They will expire in 2 weeks, however, if you sign up for a war and are put into the matchmaking process, your rancor level lasts for 2 more weeks (regardless of there being a match found or not). Note that in the later rounds, we may reward additional Rancor levels for winning.

    Based on your Rancor Level, you will be eligible for the Vanished Paladin equipment rewards, given out at the conclusion of the season. They are given out as follows:

    Rancor Level 50 (MAX): 6 pieces of equipment
    Rancor Level 40-49: 5 pieces of equipment
    Rancor Level 30-39: 4 pieces of equipment
    Rancor Level 20-29: 3 pieces of equipment
    Rancor Level 10-19: 2 pieces of equipment
    Rancor Level 1-9: 1 piece of equipment

    Rancor Fury - This is an achievement given out to players at the conclusion of the Rancor Wars. The higher your Rancor level, the higher your level of achievement.

    Rancor Level 50 (MAX): Level 5
    Rancor Level 40-49: Level 4
    Rancor Level 30-39: Level 3
    Rancor Level 15-29: Level 2
    Rancor Level 1-14: Level 1

    Matchmaking
    We make the best attempts to create good matchups for all the clans that sign up. However, there will be situations where we simply cannot find a clan that matches yours. These No-match scenarios are unfortunate but we feel that no-matches are better than an unfair matching where potions, Mithril, and time can be lost. For that, we have created the Vanished Paladins EB (explained above) which provides a fair compensation.

    The Story of the Estoc Trials
    The first Estoc Trials were held in the desert city of Damas, to honor the great king, Darius. Darius was a benevolent king, and his reign over Damas was long and peaceful…until the birth of his daughter Arkosa.

    Arkosa was as fierce and unyielding as a sandstorm. She would disappear into the desert for days at a time, returning wind-blown and spent, her long hair tangled and full of sand. Arkosa never spoke of her time in the desert, but when questioned, her eyes would flare with an ancient hunger.

    Soon the Damascene people came to see Arkosa as a harbinger of some great, inexplicable power. Even Darius ceased to view his daughter as a flesh and blood being—her vitality was too great.

    When Arkosa returned from the desert for a final time, the sun had left its mark—her hair was bleached white and her skin burnt red, and in her hands rested a sleek longsword of blue, translucent glass. The Damascenes knew at once: it was the Estoc.

    Until that day, Darius had relegated the Estoc to myth, a mere story kept alive by the elders. But now, seeing the fabled sword in his daughter’s hands, Darius believed. The Estoc was real. A great change was at hand.

    Darius rushed to embrace Arkosa. It was only after the Estoc pierced his chest that the king registered the lifeless look in his daughter’s eyes. Arkosa was no longer his daughter: she was of the desert now.

    After the slaying of her father, Arkosa took the throne. Her first act as queen was initiating the Estoc Trials. From that day forward, the innocent blood of the Damascene people would stain the memory of the king forever...

    The Legend of the Vanished Paladins

    Long before the Mage uttered her fateful curse, an unusual incident befell the Red War Paladins…
    It happened on a still, moonless night, when the faint rustle of the desert wind was the only sound to be heard. No shrieks pierced the noiseless night, yet in the morning, the captain awoke to discover five of his bravest soldiers gone—vanished without a trace.

    The captain claimed the men fled of their own volition, they were cravens not worthy of the Paladin name. Yet inwardly, the captain knew this was a lie…
    For the vanished knights were of the bravest stock—they had not fled, they had been taken.
     
  2. Interesting...
     
  3. Please change that ungodly yellow.
     
  4. "The events are open to clan of various sizes and strength" -ha! No it is not
     
  5. I know right, cheeze. Resilience pointed out a load of misleading information in the help section in one of kaw_admin's posts. They said they'd change it, but they haven't.
     
  6. Hope this clears up people's questions
     
  7. If you can point out anything that is inaccurate, we will make the adjustments, thanks!
     
  8. Im Confused..isn't Estocs the ONLY war way to earn mith?
     
  9. This is in the Help section, right?
     
  10. The new epic battle rewards mith. Wrong ace.
     
  11. :roll: :roll: :roll:
    Plz read the quotation next time, not just what i write :roll:
     
  12. Yes, but it's only for no matches...
     
  13. Please post the whole quotation next time, Ace. I answered what you asked.
     
  14. Never mind. Maybe I'm just slow today..
     
  15. Stop ******* complaining. The devs can't force clans to sign up. All they can do is facilitate the wars.

    The mismatches aren't their fault, so quit bitching.
     
  16. If the matches are unfair, you complain.

    When they give us the no match option for unfair matchups, you complain.

    WTF do you expect them to do?
     
  17. Today was my first real complaint with matchups and would have been more than happy with a no match over a war that was lost before the war started. Weaker and had 10% less members. We are a good war clan but when faced with numbers like that no one can over come. This of course does not belittle our enemy we faced because they were strong warrior who had great timers.
     
  18. @Kaw_admin I'm saying there should be a new update in wars here's my idea to confirm if someone was active say if you fully mith up and pot up but you can't hit anyone in the enemy clan and make no plunder everyone says you weren't active but you were so im saying you should show the amount of failed action and success to truly know if the person was active
     
  19. Wel,l oh mystical kaw_admin can i ask you a mere question?(sry i know this is a faq thread but watevr) Why is AThinkingApe staff working so hard on tailoring to the EE war system by making "how to build just like your enemy" threads instead of focusing on encouraging more participation to help bring more clans into the matchmaking process, thus giving more matches. Which indirectly correlates to more diverse clan builds and setups? I dont think everyone wants to regulate themselves to death in hopes of a match-up. Large number gaps would work if there was more clans warring. U cant tell me that there is only 50 clans in KaW, well thats about average signups for ee wars. I have developed the war xstal and it has 285 supporters, not one reply. I bet it has about the same if not more ppl supporting the idea than the combination of voters in recent poll. Heck, dont use wxstals. Just focus on participation. Sry for going off-topic, this is my last post on this thread