Fort Battles

Fort Battles

The only way to take over the fort owned by another town is by attacking it. For this a town's counselor of the attacking town goes to the fort and calls for a battle. Over the next 24 hours players from the attacking and defending towns should go to the fort to attack or defend the fort.

Calling a fort battle

Only a town's Counselor or Founder can call a fort battle. He/she has to go to the fort to do so. An attack costs $1500 on a small fort, $5000 on a medium fort and $10000 on a large fort. The money is taken from the Town Treasury of the attacking town. The battle takes place 24 hours after the hatchet is dug up. After the battle a cool-down of 24 hours protects the same fort from being attacked.

Join a fort battle

To take part in the fort battle you have to go to the fort within 24 hours after the battle is called. Players from the attacking town can only take part as attacker, players of the defending town may only take part as defenders. Players that are not a member of a town that is allied with the fort may join either the attacking or defending side. As soon as a fort is under attack a report is sent to all affected players. You can see what battles have been called in the fort overview, which also stores a record of recent battles.

Positioning

As soon as you join a fort battle you may choose your starting position. As attacker you may only select a spot in the red area, as defender you may choose a spot in the blue area. With a second click you select the desired target location. Your character will try to reach this spot. You can change the starting position and the target location with drag and drop at any time.

Only one player is allowed per field therefore when two or more players choose the same starting position (stacking), the game mechanics (AI) will move players to different positions when the battle will start. The logic by which this is performed is as follows: Higher rank always get's priority, afterwards the person belonging to one of the participating towns gets placed first. If this doesn't solve it, the person who positioned himself first gets placed first. Stacking players will be moved to the next available position. If you haven't chosen a position you will be placed randomly in the area of the attacker or defender, depending on which group you belong to.

You can keep doing normal jobs and dueling other players after joining a fort. You can move around on the map, and do everything else as before. However, your player must be located at the fort in order to partake in the battle. Once the battle that you are in has commenced, you cannot do any other jobs, accept quest rewards, used consumable items, or change equipment; you can also not leave your town or be kicked out. You may also not join any other fort battles. You have to wait until the battle is over to do those things again.

In the fort battle

In a battle defenders and attackers are standing across from each other. It's the attackers goal to capture the flag and to hold it for 5 rounds or to beat all defenders. The defenders try to hold the fort for 55 rounds or to beat all attackers.

Sectors and fields

On the map are sectors and fields. Each field can hold exactly one player. In each sector there may only be players from one battle side, either attackers or defenders. Per round each player can shoot once and move once. They can move into an adjacent sector as long as there is no player from the other team and as long as there are still open fields in the sector. It is not possible to move into a diagonal sector. Some sectors have special features, or add or remove skill bonuses.

Movement/Targeting

Each player shoots first and then moves. A player will move only if a target is selected. Each player has exactly one move per round. Players can move anywhere in the same sector or to any adjacent sector and will move to the targeted field if the field is available. When the targeted field is not available the AI will ignore the move action if the targeted sector is full or move to the closest available field. When targeting more than two sectors away, the AI will move your player randomly in the direction of your targeted field using the shortest distance possible. Defenders shoot and move before attackers.

Shooting

Each player shoots automatically at the closest enemy that they can see. It is not possible to shoot at an enemy that doesn't meet these requirements. If you have a neighbouring sector as target sector you automatically shoot at the closest opponent in this sector. It is not possible to shoot at a player from your own team.

Visibility

The grey area shows which fields you can not shoot at. You can still see players and movements in grey areas. For a better overview of the visibility you can lower the quality of the Flash player to "Low" by right clicking on the battle -> Quality -> "Low"

Distance

The closer your character is to the person they shoot at, the better the chances are to land a hit. Distance is calculated by fields, sectors don't matter. The distance has no effect on the damage amount.

Damage

The damage done per hit depends just on the gun you carry. A weapon deals the shown damage, but not more than 1/3 of the persons maximum health points. A player with a maximum of 300 health points can not be dealt more than 100 points of damage per shot. Just a gun causes damage. A dueling weapon has no influence at all in a fort battle, except for any skill bonuses that they may provide.

Participation

You don't have to be online to take part in the battle. Having passed out in a duel does not keep you from joining a fort battle. However, your character has to be located at the fort in order to take part. If you are not online the player acts like you told him to. They try to reach their target position. If you haven't chosen a target when on the attacking side, you automatically charge towards the flag zone. However, if you don't set a target when on the defensive side, the player does not move anywhere. You can also take over your player's movements during the battle, but you must sign up for the battle before it starts. You may not sign up if the battle has already started.

Ranking System

Ranks can be given out to players in fort battles. When a battle is full on one side, excess players get randomly cut out of the battle. Each rank get priority of the ones below it in the list when in this scenario.

General - The founders and counselors from the attacking or defending town are automatically given the general rank. Generals can talk in the fort chat and assign other players to all ranks excluding general.
Captain - Generals may assign players as captains. Captains can talk in the fort chat and assign other players to all ranks excluding general and captain.
Private - Privates may be assigned by generals and captains. Privates can talk in the fort chat but can not assign ranks to other players.
Recruit - Recruit is the default rank given to players when they sign up for a fort battle. They can talk in the fort chat but can not assign ranks to other players.
Reservist - Reservists are not allowed to talk in the fort chat. They only get let in to the battle once all players recruit rank and above have been let in.
Traitor - Traitors can not see the fort chat at all. They get the lowest priority out of all ranks.

Exchange of fire

Lots of factors are important in whether you hit or miss your target. Your abilities and those of your opponent are important, but also your positions, the distance and, of course, a little bit of luck.

Skills

6 skills are important for fort battles.

• Leadership is used for shooting, but also for defending.
• Aim is only important when shooting.
• Dodging is only used when trying to dodge a shot.
• Hiding is used when a defender tries to shoot or dodge a shot.
• Stamina is used when an attacker tries to shoot or dodge a shot.
• Health is a considerable factor in fort battles, while not giving any shooting or dodging bonuses, it does let you take more hits and last longer.

So, for each shot and for each dodging attempt, exactly three skills are taken into consideration.

Skill bonuses

Skill bonuses are determined by the number of skill points to the power of 0.4 (and rounded to 12 decimal places) [i.e. n^0.4]. Therefore:

• +1 bonus with one point
• +2 bonus with 6 points
• +3 bonus with 16 points
• +4 bonus with 32 points
• +5 bonus with 56 points
• +6 bonus with 88 points
• +7 bonus with 130 points
• +8 bonus with 181 points
• +9 bonus with 243 points
• +10 bonus with 316 points

Distance

The closer your character is to the person they shoot at, the better the chances are to land a hit. Distance is calculated by fields, sectors don't matter. The distance has no effect on the damage amount.

• -1 penalty with a distance of 1 and more
• -2 penalty with a distance of 2 and more
• -4 penalty with a distance of 3 and more
• -5 penalty with a distance of 4 and more
• -7 penalty with a distance of 5 and more
• -9 penalty with a distance of 6 and more
• -10 penalty with a distance of 7 and more
• -12 penalty with a distance of 8 and more
• -14 penalty with a distance of 9 and more
• -16 penalty with a distance of 10 and more
• -18 penalty with a distance of 11 and more
• -19 penalty with a distance of 12 and more
• -20 penalty with a distance of 13 and more
• -22 penalty with a distance of 14 and more
• -24 penalty with a distance of 15 and more

Order of events

Both moving and shooting occur by the following rules:

1. All defenders move before attackers.
2. Higher ranks* move before lower ranks.
3. Alliance members move before freelancers.

• Rank order: Generals, Captains, Privates, Recruits, Reservists, Traitors

When two players have equal priority the player with the highest leadership moves first. Should the tie be unbroken then the player with the highest stamina, followed by dodging and finally player ID moves first.

Special sectors

There are some sectors that give you advantages for your aim and dodging skills. There are also some sectors that lower your skills. The bonuses that are given by the wall, towers and other buildings depend on their construction level. The attackers and defenders receive the same bonuses when positioned on buildings or other bonus-giving fields.

The bonus given is what is shown on the pop-up that you get when you hover your mouse over the sector. These bonuses go straight onto your aiming/dodging ability as they are shown - they are not subject to the ^0.4 formula stated here.

The towers

Towers give the highest protection. They provide bonuses for aim and dodging, as well as an extra bonus to their specific class. Each character class has its own tower. The towers' class bonuses only apply to adjacent players of their respective class (eg. a soldier on the workers' tower gets no bonus). Adjacent players of other classes only get the tower's aim and dodging bonus, not the added class bonus. The higher the level of the tower, the higher the bonuses that are given.

The wall

The wall provides a bonus to both the aim and dodging of attackers and defenders. The same bonus is given in each field of the wall. The higher the level of the protective barricade, the higher the bonuses given by the wall.

The buildings

There are three buildings within the fort. Each building gives an aim and dodging bonus. The bonus increases with each construction level of the building.

Flag

Surrounding sectors

On the fields surrounding the flag every player receives a penalty. They are easier to shoot at and have a harder time aiming. You receive a penalty of -10 to your aim/dodging skills.

Adjacent

On the flag each player received the highest penalty of all. You receive a penalty of -20 to your aim/dodging skills.

Bonuses Formula

Leadership^0.5 + Aim / Dodge ^0.4 + Stamina / Hiding^0.6 + Sector bonus (attack / defense) + Special Bonus (Class Tower Bonus) + Default Bonus

Where:

• Sector Attack Bonus is the aim bonuses provided by the structures (if any)
• Sector Defense Bonus is the dodge bonuses provided by the structures (if any)
• Special Bonuses are additional bonuses provided by structures (ie Tower Class Bonus)
• Default Bonus is 25 when Aiming and 10 when Dodging

Class modified formulas

Soldier
[ Leadership * (0.25x + 1) ]^0.5 + Aim / Dodge ^0.4 + Stamina / Hiding^0.6 + Sector Attack Bonus or Sector Defense Bonus + Special Bonuses + Default Bonus

Where:

• All from the standard list applies.
• x is the number of adjacent soldiers (including yourself) without premium.
• 2x is an adjacent soldier with premium.

Worker
Leadership^0.5 + Aim / Dodge ^0.4 + Stamina / Hiding^0.6 + ( Sector Attack Bonus or Sector Defense Bonus ) * 1.3y + Special Bonuses + Default Bonus

Where:

• All from the standard list applies.
• y is 1 without premium and y is 2 with premium.

Other
The other class bonuses do not affect the aim / dodge formula directly. The Adventurer bonus provides a 25% chance after 2 hits to be “invisible” for the remainder of the round, overwriting the formula if applicable. The Dueller bonus affects only the damage formula.

Result of the fort battle

Individual

Each player who took part in the battle receives a battle report that shows what happened during the battle, who caused the most damage and who dodged the most shots.

If you pass out during a fort battle, you are taken to your town's hotel to recover.

• You lose your cash.
• You lose your energy points.
• You can be dueled during the next 48 hours.
• You can duel other players during the next 48 hours.

If you survive the fort battle you are at the fort when the battle is over. You cannot be attacked here.

Rewards

You receive experience points for taking part in a fort battle. The amount depends on your level, the damage you caused, the duration you survived and whether you won or lost the battle. You even receive points if you passed out. The on-hand cash that is lost by players that died in the fort battle is distributed randomly amongst the survivors.

Bonds

Everyone who participates in a fort battle will receive anywhere between 1 and 26 Union Pacific Bonds for their efforts, depending on their performance in the battle. The battle report that you receive at the end of a fort battle details how many Bonds you received and why you received them. The following factors all contribute to Bond rewards:

• 1 Bond for attending the battle.
• 1 Bond if your team wins.
• Up to 9 Bonds for being the best player in certain categories.
• Up to 10 Bonds for achieving certain secret accomplishments.
• Bonds equal to your total hits multiplied by 0.1.
• Bonds equal to your total dodged shots multiplied by 0.1.
• Bonds equal to your damage inflicted multiplied by 0.0005.
• Bonds equal to your number of passed out opponents.
• Bonds equal to your number of rounds online multiplied by 0.1 and capped at 6.

The maximum amount of Bonds you can receive from one battle is 26, even if your total based on the criteria above exceeds that number.

Consequences of the fort battle

If the attackers win the battle they now own the fort. The previous owners cannot enter it anymore.

Maneuvers

Maneuver fort battles can be initiated by councillors and founders of any town that owns at least one fort. These maneuvers can be used for fort battle practice, testing or just for fun.

Calling a maneuver

To call a maneuver, a councillor or founder of a town that is in ownership of a fort simply opens the fort's Headquarters, brings up the "Management" section and clicks the "Maneuver practice" tab where they will be prompted through the final steps.

Joining a maneuver

Currently active maneuver battles can be viewed via the Fort overview's "Maneuver" tab. In order to sign up for the maneuver, click the "Register" button and choose whether you want to join the attacking or defending side.

Participating in a maneuver

Once the maneuver begins, it will appear exactly the same as a regular fort battle. All aspects of regular fort battles are replicated in maneuvers. However, you are not required to be situated at the fort in order to participate in a maneuver. You will not lose any health points, energy or on-hand cash. You can still change your clothes while the maneuver is taking place and no assignments in the job queue will be interrupted.