Pankration

Pankration (pan-kra-tee-on) is an ancient sport that pits fierce beasts against one another in a winner-takes-all melee. The Pankration battlecages are located in Al Zahbi, meaning that only players who have installed the Treasures of Aht Urhgan expansion pack can access this feature.

After years of petitioning by the people, the Empire has finally agreed to open the Pit's gates and allow Pankration matches to be held once again. Soultrappers from all across Vana'diel have already begun to arrive with their trusted pets, eager to take part in what is destined to be one of the most heated events in Aht Urhgan history!

Access

Pankration matches are held in either of the four special battlecages located in an area of The Colosseum known as "The Pit".

Pankration participation requires a special type of currency known as Jettons. Jettons can be earned by participating in matches or can be bought with Imperial currency.

Participation

Before you can participate in Pankration, you’ll need to find a monster.

1. Purchase a Soultrapper or Soultrapper 2000 and some Blank Soul Plates or High Speed Soul Plates from Zandjarl, the Pit Stop vendor at the entrance to The Pit.
   The Soultrapper acts as a type of camera which records the vital information of monsters onto soul plates.

   These items must be equipped in your "ranged" and "ammo" slots.

2. Find a monster and "use" the Soultrapper on it.
3. Keep trying until you capture the monster’s image on a soul plate.
   • Some monsters cannot be recorded.
   • Some monsters can be recorded but cannot be turned into a Pankration Monster (however, these monsters can be used for their Feral Skills).
   • It is possible to capture the image of monsters claimed by others.
   • It is not possible to catch monsters while under the effect of either Invisible or Sneak.
   • The rate of success increases when you are face-to-face with the monster and/or the monster has low HP.

A list of Pankration Monsters can be found at: Pankration/Pit Monsters

Now that you’ve captured a monster, you’ll need to prepare it for battle.

1. Trade a soul plate to a Soul Reflector Manager and confirm if it can be forged into a soul reflector.
2. If you can, trade the plate with an Ice Crystal to the same official, and for a fee of 1 jetton, he will present you with a new Soul Reflector.

   The new reflector can have up to two innate Feral Skills; one depends on the soul plate, the other is random but can include Resist feral skills.

3. Trade your Soul Reflector to the screener next to the reflector manager. If it passes a series of tests, it will be deemed an Official Reflector.

Access options such as monster status confirmation and name adjustment by trading an Official Reflector to a Soul Reflector Manager.

Getting a new Soul Reflector

If you drop your old soul reflector, you must return to the application NPC in the battlecage that you last fought your Monster in.

The text given by all NPCs stating that you should, "Speak to the person across from" them has been identified as an error by GMs; The issue is currently being resolved.

Entry into Battles

The Pit consists of four “battlecages” where Pankration matches are constantly being held. Once you have acquired an official soul reflector, take it to a battlecage registrar to sign up for one of the following two types of battles:

• Exhibition (Battlecages "Annihilation", "Bloodlust", and "Carnage")

  As long as there is an opening, players can enter their monsters in exhibition matches at any time they wish. However, there are no level restrictions in any of the three cages, and no records of winners or losers will be kept. If players wish, they can have their monsters pit against those of their choice by forming a party with another monster’s owner and both submitting their applications within 5 minutes of eachother.

• Tournament (Battlecage "Diablo")

  Here, players can pit their monsters against the current cage champion. If it wins, it is declared the new champion and will continue to battle opponents until it is dethroned.

There is a limit of players that can participate at each cage. If the limit is reached the NPC won't accept a new entry until the next fight ends and a makes place for new entries.

The Cage

When a player’s match is about to begin, they will be paged. Once the battle begins, the monsters will be released into the battlecage. The monster that reduces its opponent to 0 HP within the allotted match time (3 Earth minutes) is declared the victor. Matches can be viewed from the following two locations:

• The Command Platform

  After being paged, participants can proceed to one of the cage officials beside the viewing stage to be transported to a platform where they will be able to give simple orders to their monsters via a system of speaking tubes.

• The Viewing Stage

  Adventurers whose monsters are not currently participating in a match can take in all the excitement of the other matches from an elevated stage in front of each battlecage.

Results

Once a battle has ended, players must trade their official reflectors to the battlecage registrar to confirm match results. Only after confirming match results will participants receive their rewards, and their monsters earn experience and skill points.

The results and rewards for each match will only be available for a period of 3 days (Earth Time), after which time they will be lost and no rewards can be obtained.

The maximum amount of EXP that can be earned in one confirmation is 2000 points. Adventurers with monsters competing in the tournament should confirm results regularly to avoid EXP loss. Jettons earned this way are not limited by this cap.

The Diablo-cage champion will not receive any skill points while defending its title, only for defeating the previous champion. Experience points will still accumulate.

Draws

If both monsters are still standing at the end of 3 minutes, the match will be declared a draw. In this case, the experience point and jetton reward will be split evenly between the participants.

If a tournament match results in a draw, the current champion will continue into the next round.

Monster Customization

There are many different ways players can customize their monsters. By trading a Soul Reflector to one of the Soul Reflector Managers you can access the menu to monster customization.

Leveling Up

Monsters gain EXP for their performance in battles, and after obtaining a certain amount of EXP, their levels will rise.

• The current level cap for Pankration monsters is 50.
• 200 EXP is required for each level.
• Improvable feral skills level up once per fight, whether won or lost.

Learning Magic and Abilities

All monsters possess magic and/or abilities corresponding to their family. However, certain skills often remain dormant until monsters attain a certain level. It is not always a good idea to dismiss a monster as weak until you have had the chance to see it perform at a level where it can call upon a full arsenal of skills.

Feral Skills

The aforementioned inherent characteristics such as abilities, battle techniques, and magic spells are known as “Feral Skills.” Some of these skills have levels and will improve as a result of participating in Pankration matches.

Adding Feral Skills

Trade an official (or unofficial) soul reflector and a soul plate to a reflector forger, and for a small jetton fee, the attendant will add the plate’s skill to the reflector’s monster.

Due to job restrictions, some monsters cannot equip certain feral skills.

Once the skill has been added to the reflector, the soul plate cannot be used again and will not be returned to you.

Feral Points (FP)

Equipping feral skills requires feral points, and all monsters have what is called a “feral point capacity.” Monsters will not be able to equip skills if they do not possess enough FP.

The FP requirements for feral skills can be confirmed by trading a soul plate to a manager, while a monster’s FP capacity can be confirmed by trading a soul reflector.

Discipline & Temperament

The following traits will change depending on the type of orders a player gives their monster, as well as the frequency with which he/she gives them:

• Discipline

  The more disciplined your monster is, the more likely it is to correctly respond to orders given during a match.

• Temperament

  Monster temperament is measured in two ways: wild vs. tame, aggressive vs. defensive.

  A monster’s temperament directly affects how it acts during battle. For example, a tame and defensive monster may choose to use stunning techniques on an opponent attempting to cast a powerful spell or use a weapon skill.

Naming Your Monster

The name of your monster can also be adjusted, see Pankration/Names for a list of names that can be chosen.

Guides

• Pankration Guide by Daveie
• Feral Skills Guide by Shoya
• Islington's Pankration Guide
• Ickeris's Extra Info Pankration Guide

Historical Background

Pankration was an ancient sport and a martial art introduced in the Greek Olympic games in 648 BC. Many historians believe that although Pankration was not one of the first Olympic sports, it was likely one of the most popular. Some also argue it to be the first all-encompassing fighting system in human history. This is a strongly debated issue in the academic community.