Issue #002, Mar. 03, 2012 - Witch's Hollow
"Anyone who runs is a Gibberling! Anyone who stands still is a well-disciplined Gibberling!"
Welcome, to our second weekly installment of The Battlements! Akin to a periodical newsletter, I'll be your host to feature articles on various features, game mechanics, and other confusing elements.
Due to the potential wide selection of topics, and the potential for coverage of features that are currently released in other regions, The Battlements will be posted in Off Topic, which will allow us a little more conversational freedom.
This week's focus is Witch's Hollow, a Skirmish made available in the recent Game of Gods release!
Overview
Game Rules:
- 12v12 Player-vs-Player Raid event.
- Three "Control Points" - Domination-style gameplay.
- Available from Level 23 to 51.
- Participants can expect either to face off against members of either faction.
- Tokens of Gold or Experience.
- Very powerful gear, appropriate for your level.
- Draconic Relics, which are only otherwise obtainable from Dead City.
Witch's Hollow is a high-octane PvP experience, allowing a randomized mixture of 12 players within your level bracket to duke it out with an opposing force of equal number! Participation comes with high reward, and if you play your cards right, you could become a force to be reckoned with.
Details
Entering the Skirmish
You may queue for Witch's Hollow at any time by clicking the Skirmishes icon (Hotkey: Ctrl-M) on your Utility Bar, at the bottom left of your screen. From here, select Witch's Hollow, and click Join. This will place you in a queue; once there are enough people to create a team (or two) from either faction within your level bracket, you will receive a notification inviting you to the field of battle.
Game Rules
Both teams are placed in a Lightwood-themed zone, with three control points. The objective is to capture these control points and hold them, for as long as you can, until your team reaches a score of 2500.
The control points are banners located at landmarks: The Sawmill, the Windmill, and the Zem Ruins. Ownership of a banner will give your team 2 points a second. Owning a second banner will give you 3 per second, and owning all three will give you 12.
Click the map to view full image.
Click the map to view full image.
Teams that stay in groups, coordinate well, and orchestrate strikes on-the-fly will have a much higher chance of victory, so pay attention to what the experienced players are doing! Match your actions to theirs, and support your teammates in battle in any way you can. The objective isn't to kill the enemy, but simply overtake their flags and hold them, so keep this in mind!
Note: If you would like to check the scoreboard at any time, click your Skirmishes button or use the hotkey (default: Ctrl-M).
Reward System
How it Works
Of course, you wouldn't be asked to spend all this time killing people without a reward. Oh, stop. Stow that "the joy of battle is its own reward" crap, you want gear!
- If you are on Empire, you will find your Skirmish Strategists in Yasker's Tower, top floor, in the Yasker Hawk Lobby, between the entrance doors.
- If you are on League, you will find your Skirmish Strategists in the south-eastern corner of the Novograd Square, by the Axe Merchant.
From the Skirmish Strategists, you will receive a weekly quest which gives you 65 Right Halves of a Battle Emblem. If you accept this quest and already have Right Halves in your bag, the ones you have remaining will be removed!
For your efforts in battle, you'll receive Signs of Victory.
Combine 100 of these, and you will receive a Left Half of a Battle Emblem.
Combine both halves of the Battle Emblem, and you will receive +20 Battle Emblems alternative currency and +35 Reputation with the Soldiers of Fortune.
The Soldiers of Fortune reputation is required for rewards from the Skirmish Strategist vendor.
- Ordinary items (including gear chests, Tokens of Gold, Tokens of Experience) will require anything between 1,000 and 10,000 reputation, depending on level.
- Epic and Relic gear require at least 10,000 reputation.
- Legendary gear will require 25,000 reputation.
You will pay for items from this vendor with Battle Emblems, not gold, so save up! And yes, I know I'm poor. Astral Scholars are paid in smiles and bubble gum. That beggar in Old Square? He's an Astral Scholar. Yup. Same with the one at the Novograd gate, he's an Astral Scholar too.
Reward System Tips
There are several very simple ways to minimize how much grinding you'll need to do for reputation. Because your SoF reputation begins at 0 (not 2500 like most other rep), you'll be doing a lot more footwork than usual, especially since a single Battle Emblem will only give you 35 Reputation.
To cut the length of this process down, simply save your Battle Emblems up for Lucky Moments events that give bonus reputation, and use a Tome of Charm from the Item Shop. The Emblem pieces do not expire, so you can hold onto them indefinitely. You can only turn in 65 a week. Some scenarios (and associated maffs) are listed below.- 65 Battle Emblems, no bonuses: +2275 Reputation
- 65 Battle Emblems, +100% Rep LM: +4550 Reputation
- 65 Battle Emblems, +100% Rep LM, Tome of Charm: +9100 Reputation
- 65 Battle Emblems, +300% Rep LM (very rare), Tome of Charm: +18200 Reputation
So, as you can see, patience is key when turning in these Emblems. Saving them up will save you time, in the long run.
Keep an eye on what Lucky Moments rewards are being offered by hovering your mouse over the LM notepad icon in the bottom right portion of your screen; if it's giving bonus reputation, you're in luck!
Coming Changes
Witch's Hollow may have several major changes coming in future patches, including:- Merit-based achievements such as most healing, most damage, most kills, and other scoreboard statistics champions will receive 40 bonus Signs of Victory for their zeal in topping those charts.
- The reward of Signs of Victory will become dependent not just upon your own team's score, but how low the enemy scores. If you win by a landslide, you'll receive more Signs of Victory than if you won by a hair!
These changes are pending, and are very far-off into the future. Regardless, check patch notes often, you never know when they might show up!
In Conclusion...
So, hopefully now you're equipped with all the knowledge you'll need to tackle Witch's Hollow! If you have any questions about Witch's Hollow, ask away!
Need help for strategies and tactics? Take a look through the very helpful PvP Section of the forums. Good luck out there, my friends, and see you out there in the battlefield!
What do you think of the Witch's Hollow PvP Arena, and of the Reward System? Are there features or improvements you'd like to see? Let yourself be heard in the comments below, and as always, let me know if you have an idea for next week's article!
Interested in more? Check out the complete list of articles from The Battlements:
