Battlegrounds
Organised PvP you queue for. One battleground runs at present: Battle Royale - Rural, a free-for-all for 10 players at level 30+.
Getting in
You queue from the battleground window. A test character cannot queue. A polymorphed character can neither join the queue nor confirm.
When the queue reaches its number everybody in it is asked to confirm, and has 60 seconds to do it. While that vote is open the queue is locked: nobody new can join. If fewer than 2 players are still there when it launches, the match is called off and the queue is cleared.
Launching dismounts you, rests you, and takes off anything you are not allowed to wear inside.
What you may carry, wear and use
Battle Royale caps gear at item level 16:
- Anything may be carried in. Your bags are never checked.
- Only gear at item level 16 or below, or gear made for Battle Royale, can be worn or used inside. Anything else is refused with a message.
- Potions, healer's kits, thieves' tools, keys, torches and books are exempt from the cap. Full heal, harm and spell-restoring potions stay blocked.
- Loot you find inside is usable inside whatever its level, and is destroyed when you leave.
- Polymorphing inside is allowed.
How a match runs
Everyone is frozen for the first 30 seconds, with a countdown, and every player is made hostile to every other. Then the fight starts.
The arena then closes in four steps:
| Time | What happens |
|---|---|
| 1:30 | the first ring is marked, with a 3-minute countdown |
| 4:30 | first close - about a quarter of the arena |
| 7:30 | second close |
| 10:30 | third close |
| 13:30 | the final close: one tile in the middle is the only safe ground |
Flames mark the ring that is about to close, before it closes. When the ring closes, its flames grow to twice their size.
Standing outside the safe ground deals 50 pure damage per second after the first close, +50 for each close after it: 100, 150, and 200 per second after the final close.
Elimination and the end
Dying eliminates you, and so does disconnecting. Both are recorded at the placement you had at that moment, and everyone in the arena is told. When one player is left the match ends, the winner is fully healed and cleared of harmful effects, and the full standings are sent to everyone who played.
On the way out you are raised if you were dead, battleground loot is removed, and you are returned to your respawn point, neutral to everybody again.
What is switched off inside
The player menu, the vault, mounts, and changing your attitude towards another player.