Category:Campaign Battles

fr:Catégorie:Batailles de Campagne

Campaign Battles
This is the collective term given to the series of battles and border skirmishes waged in the Quon and Mindartian theaters during the Crystal War.

The regions in question contain areas which are continually being plagued by sporadic outbursts of hostility along perpetually contested borders. Should the incessantly encroaching beasthordes be unequivocally repelled, the lands in dispute will be claimed as territories under Altana. There are several benefits to be reaped once claim is laid to an area, such as an increase in the number of Campaign Ops available, and the number of such benefits will grow in proportion to the amount of land secured.

Moreover, by having "Allied Tags" issued to you by an area's Campaign Arbiter (C.A.), you may choose to have your campaign battle performance assessed. By doing so you may receive rewards for your service, such as Campaign-specific points, known as "Allied Notes," and even experience points. It is worth noting that experience points will not be lost in the event that a player should die while participating in Campaign.

Campaign Map
The Campaign Map shows the current Campaign conflicts and how the nations are faring against the Beastmen. This can be accessed by typing /campaignmap or /cmap.

Map Information:

The Controlled Areas information appears in the upper right hand corner of the map when the arrow is not hovering over an area icon. This shows how many areas each nation currently controls. When a nation controls an area their field Campaign officer will be standing at the fortifications. When the beastmen are controlling an area the C.A. (Campaign Arbiter) will be standing some distance away from the fortifications.

The Campaign Map shows the current Campaign battles. The sword icon over the area icon is the indicator for a current Campaign battle. Icons that are colored blue, red, or yellow are controlled by one of the nations and are currently defending. Grey icons are beastmen controlled.

It also indicates the Fortifications and Resources levels (current vs. maximum) in each area. These amounts represent how much damage the stronghold can take before it falls to the attacking force completely, and the availability of Temporary Items during a campaign battle.

The Fortifications rating indicates how well the defenders have control over the area. This rating will decrease as it is attacked in campaign battles, and can be lowered by saboteurs dropping bombs. The lower this value is, the more likely defenders will retreat and the easier for attackers to gain influence.

Buying temporary items deducts the resource count by one. If resources hits 0, no more temporary items can be purchased. Campaign Ops supply transport missions including Crimson Domino I / II can be completed to replenish an area's resources- by 1 point each time for Crimson Domino I, 2 for Crimson Domino II, etc.; a concentrated effort by several players is needed to add a meaningful amount to the supply.

Enlisting in Campaign Battles
All those wishing to serve would enlist with one of the allied army's three main forces--the Kingdom of San d'Oria, the Republic of Bastok, or the Federation of Windurst--to combat the ever-advancing beastmen confederate comprising the Quon Host of the Orcish Empire, the Quadav Shieldwarriors, the Yagudo Theomilitary, and the Shadowlord's Dark Kindred. However, a volunteer's duties were not always limited to direct engagement with the enemy. Campaign endeavors also extended to tasks such as marches, supply runs, entrenchment and fortification, and cooperative maneuvers with allied forces.

How to Enlist:


 * Complete Steamed Rams, The Fighting Fourth, or Snake on the Plains to join San d'Oria, Bastok, or Windurst's military forces respectively. Once you have enlisted in a military force you are able to partake in Campaign.

Traveling to a Campaign Battle
Speak to a Campaign Arbiter in your Allied nation.
 * They will offer you teleportation to any of the Campaign zones, but you must have previously been in the zone at some point.
 * The C.A will transport you to a Campaign area for a number of Allied Notes. The cost will depend on where you are traveling and who is controlling it.
 * You will arrive at the Fortifications in the zone if it is controlled by an allied nation or by the Jeuno C.A. if it is controlled by beastmen. Some zone's arrival locations are much closer to the fortification than others. Be prepared to sneak if possible.
 * You can also teleport back from any zone to your allied nation by speaking to the field officer or C.A. in any zone.

Participation in a Campaign Battle

 * When you have arrived in a Campaign area, you must sign up with the Campaign Arbiter in the zone to receive Allied Tags for participation in the battle. The battle may sprawl out across the zone, but it is generally focused upon the fortifications in the zone.
 * Once you receive tags a sword icon will appear in front of your name. Under these tags, you will be able to earn Experience Points or Limit Points for participating in the battle, and you will not lose experience if K.O.'d. However, you forfeit any experience points and item drops from all other monsters in the zone, and cannot gain any skill-ups. You will also not be able to get weapon skill trial point.
 * Campaign opponents will only aggro players with Allied Tags. Players not participating will not be affected by their attacks or get aggro, unless they have accrued enmity with campaign enemies.
 * It is to be noted that participating in Campaign without Allied Tags is a very nice alternative for characters that find it difficult to solo or find skillup parties. Just let a mobs be claimed, wait for enough Enmity to be accrued then melee to your hearts content.

Temporary Items
The Campaign Arbiters provide the players with temporary items in exchange for Allied Notes. These items vanish after you exit the battle. The availability of items depends on the area fortification's Resources: if they reach zero, players will be unable to obtain temporary items until resources are replenished. The actual selection may vary further depending on freelances, number of areas under that nation's control, or other unknown factors.


 * Temporary items are only available to players participating in Campaign Battles within their home nation's region. For instance, only players allied with Bastok in the past may purchase items from the Campaign Arbiter in Rolanberry Fields [S].

Campaign Rewards
During the battle, most actions you do will earn you Experience Points and Allied Notes.


 * The calculations and limits on EXP and AN gained during a battle can be estimated using this guide.
 * You can ask for an assessment at any point during the campaign battle and be granted new allied tags after you have reached the capped limit.
 * If you die while participating in a campaign battle and the enemy forces retreat you will still obtain the exp/limit points and allied notes you earned as soon as you are raised. Zoning in any way during a campaign battle will forfeit all exp/limit points and allied notes you have earned during the battle. This includes returning to your Home Point, being tractored, and casting teleportation spells.
 * If you disconnect during a campaign battle with your Allied Tags on, you lose your tags and any rewards.
 * You can earn additional experience for completing battles by signing up for missions such as the Aegis Scream Campaign Ops. Asking for an assessment during the battle will not yield this additional reward.

Fortifications
The battle will be centered on the Fortifications in the outdoor zones. These are generally located at the same spot as the Outpost from the future if there is an Outpost in that zone.

Fortification Locations:
 * West Sarutabaruta (S) - (H-6)
 * Garlaige Citadel (S) - (H-8)
 * Meriphataud Mountains (S) - (E-5)
 * Sauromugue Champaign (S) - (H-7)
 * Fort Karugo-Narugo (S) - (H-9)/(I-8), continue west behind the Phosphorous Ward onto the Fivespires map.
 * North Gustaberg (S) - (D-10)
 * Pashhow Marshlands (S) - (K-6)
 * Rolanberry Fields (S) - (J-7)
 * Grauberg (S) - (I-8)
 * East Ronfaure (S) - (H-8)
 * Jugner Forest (S) - (I-8)
 * Batallia Downs (S) - (J-7)
 * Vunkerl Inlet (S) - (G-10)
 * Eldieme Necropolis (S) - (I-8)

Gaining Control of a Fortification


 * Players can now attack the ???s once they change to targets named "Fortification", which usually happens once an army unit has been dispatched to the area. It seems that the forts' HP returns to full after it reaches 50%.  However, each reduction to 50% reduces the Fortification number by 1 point.
 * Each member of the unit defending a fortification killed also reduces the Fortifications by 1 point.
 * Whenever the unit from the defending force of an area is dispatched, that force uses 1 point from Resources in the area to repair the fortification. For example, in North Gustaberg (S) when a message stating "Dabough Vanguards have undertaken the stalwart defense of North Gustaberg," that means that unit is guarding the fortifications and has repaired the fortifications.
 * Each point used from the Resources repairs that area's fortification by 10 points.
 * Each unit dispatched to defend a fortification uses at least 1 point from the area's resources.
 * Each army has an engineering unit that is capable of repairing the fortifications by small number of points with each unit member that reaches the fortifications.
 * For each battle, there is a winner and a loser. The winning side will have all monsters or NPCs warp out, with the losing side fleeing out of sight.  The winning army will gain influence in the region as well.
 * Currently unconfirmed with actual tests, the winning side is determined by both the number of members of the defending force is killed and the amount the fortification points are reduced. In order to win the battle and gain influence, the fortifications need to be reduced below the number they were at before the battle began. For example, if the fortifications start at 115/150 before a battle starts and is increased to 135/150 when 2 units are dispatched to defend, the fortifications must be brought to a number below 115/150 in order to win.
 * These Fortifications are Lv.50 and can be skilled-up on when not participating in the Campaign battle with Allied Tags. They have incredibly low evasion, but high defense and very high hit points. Though no matter who has done the most damage to them, they do not "turn". However, when used in conjunction with Hide, Sneak Attack will activate (addendum: one of the fortification points is considered the rear of the fort, and Sneak Attack will activate without Hide. For example, the West side of the Rolanberry Fields (S) fortification near the flag will always be hit by Sneak Attack -- Garwyn).
 * Fortifications have no MP and cannot be Paralyzed or Slept. They can, however, be assaulted with Acid Bolts for a Defense-down effect. They take 50% normal damage from magic (tested with BLU breath spells). This damage reduction also blocks 50% of the damage otherwise inflicted with Spirits Within.
 * Black Mage DPS spells such as Rasp seem to affect the attributes of the fortification as well as reduce small amounts of HP.
 * The White Magic spell Dia is proven to reduce the HP of a fortification as well as lower its defense, making it take more damage.

Fortification Flags

Control of the fortification is indicated by a nation or beastman flag. The fortifications controlled by a nation also have their field officer present.

Physicians
The physicians join defenders, serving dutifully to heal and tend to their battle-wounded allies. They patrol the field of battle, seeing to the needs of combatants by bestowing upon them various spells of healing and enhancement. The physicians will not engage in open combat directly; they will resort to fighting only as a means of self-defense when attacked directly. If the defenders flee from battle, they will remain on the battlefield until either the campaign battle ends or they die. They are not very durable and will quickly perish if they are attacked directly.

It can be noticed that physician units will cast tiers of spells in accordance to how many areas a nation controls. For instance, if Windurst controls Windurst Waters and West Sarutabaruta (S), the Combat Salvemixers would be able to cast up to Cure II, Protect II, Shell II and Raise.
 * A recent interview by Gamewatch with the developers seems to point to the technological level of a nation as the primary factor in determining the level of white magic used by the Physicians, but this is not confirmed.

Siege weapons
Upon reaching certain technological levels, both the Allied Forces and the Beastman will be able to deploy siege weapons in campaign battles:

Belfry
Available to both the Allied Forces of Altana as well as the Beastman Confederate, the belfry will become available to armies attacking regions not under their influence once their technological means have reached a predetermined level.

Since they house a "war bell" capable of calling forth reinforcements, it is imperative that players not only protect the belfries of the Allied Forces tooth and nail, but also demolish those of the Beastman Confederate as quickly as possible.

Mantelet
The mantelet is also available to both sides, and will be placed at a location that an army is defending once their technological means have reached a predetermined level.

The mantelet's benefit derives from its ability to restore the HP of friendly players within its vicinity. As such, much like the belfry, they must be defended or destroyed accordingly.

Siege Turret
Available only to the Beastman Confederate are siege turrets, which will appear when an army's technological means reach an incredibly high level while attacking an area not under their influence.

Capable of repeated long-range attacks, in addition to spawning ferocious enemies, the siege turret is widely considered to be the Beastman Confederate's most powerful and deadly weapon.

Strongholds
Each of the seven major forces have a stronghold capital from where they organize their troops: Bastok Markets, Southern San d'Oria, Windurst Waters, Beadeaux, Castle Oztroja, La Vaule, and Castle Zvahl, for the Republican Army of Bastok, the Royal Army of San d'Oria, the Federal Forces of Windurst, the Quadav Shieldwarriors, the Yagudo Theomilitary, the Orcish Host, and the Dark Kindred respectively.

In order for campaign battles to take place in the stronghold areas mentioned above, the stronghold must be the only remaining zone under control; e.g. for a battle to take place in Southern San d'Oria (S), the Orcish Hosts must control every other area in the Ronfaure and Norvallen Fronts. When campaign battles occur in allied nation cities, the teleportation C.A., Campaign Ops NPC, and certain other NPCs will vanish for the duration of the battle. Similarly, Allied Forces must have control of all other areas within range to attack a stronghold.

Note: Currently, Castle Zvahl is not accessible in Shadowreign, so the Dark Kindred cannot be attacked directly, only the other six forces' capitals can be under assault.

Allied Campaign NPCs and Heroes
Allied Campaign NPCs will join in the combat. These seem to be fairly strong NPCs. They come in large squads to protect or attack fortifications. Also, Campaign Heroes will join in the fray. NPCs will tend to stay in one area and only attack Beastmen that enter that area. If you pull or kite a Beastman near them they will assist you.

Campaign Enemies and Notorious Monsters
The monsters appear in squadrons of 10-12 with a named leader. They all check as Impossible to Gauge. These will not aggro players without the sword icon for Campaign; only players with Allied Tags will be attacked.


 * It is possible to gain skill ups on these mobs, as long you do not have an Allied Tag. Regular beastmen are estimated to be between level 50 to mid-60 and are susceptible to most if not all enfeebling magic, including all Sleep spells, Stun, and Gravity. The Commander of each unit is level 75+ and cannot be slept or stunned.
 * Unconfirmed, but in order to cause their retreat in regional campaign battles, at least 10 of the dispatched force must be killed.
 * This seems to be different in Strongholds and may require more to be killed depending on the numbers of the attacking force. It may have something to do with whether they are attacking or defending that determines their limit in battle.
 * This does NOT include the Commanders and it has been proven that their forces do not retreat if the Commander is killed first.
 * Being defeated by these mobs without Allied Tags will cause you to lose experience points.
 * It is possible to gain hate without Allied Tags if you assist other player characters with Allied Tags on.
 * Since the 3/10/08 update, the attack power of these mobs against NPCs and (possibly) Fortifications has been dramatically increased (possibly NPC defense has been lowered instead). As well, NPCs will now earn and keep enmity rather than being ignored at the slightest provocation.  Combined, this means that while it is easier for lower-level players to operate in Campaign without being slaughtered, many more players will likely be needed to maintain control over hotly contested regions as the NPCs can no longer be expected to do all the work.

Dark Kindred
These uncommon forces sometimes show up during campaign battles, and are often more difficult than the other three forces. They only operate offensively and will sometimes bring freelances with them into campaign battles.

Orcish Hosts
The Orcish Host employs "Orcish Counterstance," granting them a counterstance effect. To avoid being countered, stand behind the enemy. Some NM's use "Berserker Dance" to grant a self-Haste effect. Neither effect can be Dispeled.

Quadav Shieldwarriors
Quadav Shieldwarriors have a TP move called "Diamond Shell" that makes any attacks from behind hit for 0 damage while the effect is active, including Ninjutsu and other spells. Take note of when it's used and move to the front to cause damage. Diamond Shell sometimes has no effect. Ore Lob is also usable by all Quadav forces, and Wrath of Gu'Dha (absorbed by 3 shadows, potent AOE knockback and Weight) is usable only by Quadav generals.

Yagudo Theomilitary
The Yagudo Theomilitary have an ability called "Feathered Furore" that will remove one random piece of equipment in a cone blast. Several campaign leaders also use "Dark Invocation" to inflict poison/death.