Duels
From Duels Content
From the Book of Duels...
"The spotlights focus on the pavilion gate where you will emerge in mere minutes. The crowd grows hushed in anticipation as the Shadowmancers complete the veil that gives honor to the Duelists of Ancient Machan. Although you cannot see them from inside the pavilion, you know dancers and musicians propagate their fanfare across the coliseum, but even they have paused their jubilation to focus on the pavilions. Still hidden inside, the last of the shadows falls over your lean form, draping you in tenebrous gauze and clinging like a second skin. As always, a kind of serenity settles over you with an impending contest.
The pavilion flaps are parted by your squires, allowing the great lights from the arena to reveal your darkened form. Across from you, Denali Raa, Magus from Sciorca, shrugs out of her silken robes and pulls on the final trappings of her arcana.
I have studied you, Mage, and know your penchant for attacking high and left. Too, I know of your indulgence in Baca root to calm your nerves before fights--an indulgence that diminishes reaction time...
Weapons drawn, you step into the ring to a rising crescendo of screams and jeers, grinning ferally at your prey. You do not pander to the whims of the throng, or play their emotions.
There is time enough for that after the real goal--victory--is achieved. It is time now to fight and survive."
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[edit] What is a Duel?
A duel is a type of combat, which is usually formalized by codes of behavior and regulated by specific rules. As practiced in Phyrra, a duel is defined as a combat challenge between two fighters (or two teams of fighters) with either matched or unmatched weapons. In the past, duels were affairs of honor, usually between members of the nobility. Duels were usually initiated out of the desire of the challenger to redress a perceived insult to his honor or clan. Today, duels are conducted in specialized Arenas for profit and fame (or notoriety).
Duels are also a form of entertainment for fans and contestants alike to test their strength and skill, but in some cases, duels are deadly situations in which weaker warriors fear. Duels have been around since before time in ancient civilizations. Duels have been disputed as brutal and horrific, but that won't satisfy the contestants thirsts for blood.
[edit] Dueling as Blood Sport
In the late Machanite Kingdom era, dueling became rampant among the noble classes and drew large crowds of spectators. Wagering on duels added to the popularity of what became a fashionable blood sport for the masses. However, with the death of Prince Arkiras of Rathas in a duel with a Machanite baron (200 MKII), Emperor Machanas I issues a prohibition against dueling among the nobility. While duels among the lower classes were tacitly allowed, they never reached the popularity of the "Scarlet Duels" - Scarlet being the color of the imperial court. Those of the court who wished to duel had to find a means of cloaking their identities. Thus was born the necessity of "Shadow Fighting." By using the mystical effects of Kage-musa, duelists were able to fight behind the anonymity of projected silhouettes.
With the creation of Phyrra, the City of Duels, in 1350 ME, the age-old prohibition against dueling was rescinded, although the use of Kage-musa and "Shadow Fighting" remains a traditional part of the combat.
[edit] Types of Duels
Two types of duels, Challenges and Skirmishes, are conducted in Phyrra:
[edit] Challenges
A challenge initiates a duel.
This is the main type of fight and it requires the participation of both players. A Challenge, if accepted, leads to a Duel that shows up on both contestants' public records, impacts rankings and ladders, and gives better rewards (such as tokens, gold) and more experience points than a Skirmish (see below). You can challenge anyone or anyone can challenge you as long as you both have a weapon equipped and as long as there is not a large level difference between the two fighters. You can only challenge someone up to 8 levels above you or 4 levels below.
The same 2 combatants can fight 3 duels per day with a possibility of being rewarded. You will receive diminishing rewards for the second and third duel in each day.
You may automatically find an opponent using the Quick Duel option, located under the Arena menu or on the top left side of the Arena screen.
In a challenge you can use a scroll. The scrolls can give you more health, an extra attack, they can poison your enemy, give you more attack power or defense, etc. The scrolls are very useful in the duels world, so use them. You can only use one scroll per challenge.
The challenge let you earn badges. When you win a badge you can receive gold, tokens and experience.
[edit] Skirmishes
A Skirmish is a practice Challenge that does not appear on the dueling record of either fighter. At any time, a player may elect to skirmish any weapon-wielding character. This skirmish is automatically accepted and instantly resolved, resulting in minor experience and/or token gains (subject to diminishing returns) for either or both players. The amount experience gained varies between 0 and 40 XP. Similar to challenges, you may only skirmish the same person three times per day.
Warning: Skirmishing an avatar well below your level, or above, may not give you any rewards. In this case, you will get a message specifying that you did not get any rewards.
Skirmishes are different from proper Challenges in several ways. During a skirmish, characters may not use scrolls. Both characters use their current default loadout and utilize the opener chosen in the last duel, if applicable.
If your character is skirmished with, you will receive no notification but may notice your experience or token levels increase.
A skirmish may be a good way to examine the difficulty of a particular opponent before Challenging them.
[edit] Rewards
In either type of fight one side will achieve victory and the other will be defeated. Each fighter in the duel will receive either a victory prize or a consolation prize and some amount of experience points.
The Duels reward system relies on the Law of Diminishing Returns. You can only gain a certain amount of experience points and rewards (such as Tokens) from dueling the same duelist over and over again in a twenty four hour period. After three duels (challenges) with the same duelist you will no longer receiver any experience points or rewards. The same is true of skirmishes.
The victory prize for a challenge is Gold and Tokens. All other outcomes, including Skirmish outcomes may result in Tokens and Experience being awarded, always in accordance to the Law of Diminishing Returns. Tokens can be redeemed for Packs.
There are also benefits for challenging different types of fighters. Badges are available for defeating a certain amount of each type of fighter.
At the end of each fight Experience points are awarded to each Avatar. If the earned Experience results in the Avatar achieving the next Level, you are alerted in the Message Center.
It's better not to challenge Avatars with too much difference in levels as it will result in very low or no experience at all. Battling a user with the same level will often result in higher rewards.
After you have chosen a higher path, when you reach level 25 you will be able to use actions. Once you are able to use actions, your rewards will be even greater than you would in just a normal duel.
Is a world of duels, challengers, etc.
