WOTMUD PK guide

• You will die. Embrace this fact; cherish it; accept it utterly. Only by embracing death can you face it without fear or hesitation. Samurai followed a similar philosophy, as do the Warders in the Wheel of Time. Even if you don't in actuality ever die, once you have dealt with the possibility, you will be less inhibited when playing.
• The only way you can get better is by practising. I cannot emphasise this enough. Things will be learned best with first-hand experience; dying from a mistake is the best way (or at least, the best chance) of learning not to make it again.
• Even if you only have limited experience, don't be afraid to use your judgement. Don't blindly follow people into the Blight or into battles when there's a certainty you're outnumbered. Don't panic if things get rough; often pk is all about out-thinking your oponents. Don't be afraid to use your own initiative.
• Don't be afraid to ask questions. I've never met a pker I respected that wasn't happy to answer my questions, however stupid they were. In fact this applies to the MUD in general really, but don't ask too many or people will get sick of answering you. :)
• Remember that experience comes and goes, equipment comes and goes, Turn points come and go. In the end what really matters, and what stays with you, is YOUR experience, the player, not the character you're playing. Persist. Don't let re-equiping dishearten you, even if sometimes there's nobody who'll help or donate any equipment to your cause. That's just the way it is. Try not to lose too many levels -- take the time to get lost experience back; use exping and smobbing as a break to think about why you died and what went wrong.
• Finally, and most important of all, remember it's just a game. Getting pissed off with people IRL, threatening them or "retiring" is pointless and won't solve anything. Take it easy, don't take yourself (or indeed, anyone else :) too seriously, have fun! :)

Common pk terms and abbreviations

Submissions and corrections welcome, send to the usual address (hoshirei@mailcity.com).

Updated Much thanks to Riurk for some updates to this list. :)

  keep - usually short for the ruined keep in the Blight, the trolloc 
  equivalent of Caemlyn. Full name is the Ruined Keep, or Ruined Castle. 
  Contains Blarg the Ghar'ghael Master and the Dreadlord.

  elbow - a room in the Blight with a west and north exit that is a bottleneck; 
  everyone coming and going through the Blight (by the usual means) will pass 
  through it. Often used as a meeting point for groups on both sides. From the 
  trolloc keep it is all w all s. 

  spam - can mean either an information overload to your console (common in 
  large group battles), or to type a command over and over in rapid succession. 
  The most common command in pk will be something like "k trolloc" or "k 
  human". Leaders, because they are leading, will expect other group members to 
  spam things like this for them. 

  patrol - a group of mobs that usually moves about, typically in a pk zone. 
  Examples include fade patrol (a fade leading a group of trollocs) or 
  Shienaran patrol (veterans and soldiers). 

  Bgs - Bridgeguards, (see N plains).

  Blands - The Borderlands west of Fal Dara, a zone west of the Dusty Road, 
  contains the Darkfriend rent and numerous wolves. Often an escape route for 
  trollocs if the Gap is blocked.

  Blight - The Great Blight, a zone filled with some of the toughest mobs in 
  the game, and almost always has a PC trolloc or two around. North of Tarwin's 
  Gap and east of the Orchard

  commy or commander - a "super patrol" located in the ruined tower roughly 
  east of Fal Dara, a popular alternative to Fal Dara for human players. 

  Dark road - The Dark Road, leading from Shayol Ghul to Thakan'dar.

  Decayed - The Decayed Forest, In between the Borderlands west of Fal Dara, to 
  the south, and the Orchard to the north. Contains many mobs aggressive to 
  shadowspawn.

  dusty - the Dusty Road, the northern-most section of the road from Tar Valon 
  to Fal Dara. Starts a little north of where the FD fade used to be and 
  extends east past Fal Dara towards Tarwin's Gap. 

  Endless (blight) - The Endless Blight, leading from Shayol Ghul, heading west 
  to the Shadowspawn Keep, contains the Castle of Illusions. Also connects to 
  the south to the Twisted Forest and eventually Kandor and Saldaea.

  Fade tower - refers to the areas of the Tower of Shadows the the Trolloc Camp 
  north of the dusty road. The mobs here have been improved since the 
  destruction of the Fal Dara Fade, and it is a formidable outpost, comparable 
  to the Shienaran Commander

  Fd - Fal Dara, one of the northern outposts of the Light, humans often seek 
  refuge from battle here, and trollocs are reluctant to enter. Contains the 
  northernmost rent area, as well as Lord Agelmar and Uno of the Borderguard. 
  This city is the base of operations for the Borderguard Clan. South of the 
  Dusty Road.

  fd (Fal Dara) fade - a dead-end room where a fade patrol used to be, but 
  isn't anymore; 2n 1w 1n 1w from Road Beside an Inn on the Tar Valon/Fal Dara 
  Road. The Fal Dara Fade no longer exists due to constant human attacks.

  Gap - Tarwin's Gap, defines the boundaries of the Borderguard land and the 
  Trolloc territory. Often a site of major battles over the years. Contains 
  numerous supermobs, and used to contain the old Shienaran Commander.

  Grove - The Blighted Grove, a ruined Ogier grove containing a Treesinger. 
  North of the Orchard and west of the Blight

  Ko'bal Keep - The Ko'bal Keep was formerly an Aiel stronghold captured by the 
  Dhai'mon and Ko'bal clans, however, only the Ko'bal were allowed to reign 
  there. It is east of Lockshear, in Deception Pass. Contains H'Krreth the 
  Ko'bal Master.

  Long fd road - The Long Fal Dara Road, a zone starting south of the Old Fal 
  Dara Fade zone, and leading to the North Plains, and then to Fal Dara. It 
  contains the Bedroom Fade and connects in the west to the Longcut.

  Longcut - Zone leading from the Long Fal Dara Road to the Grasslands. It is 
  used by trollocs as a bypass of Tar Valon, allowing them entry to the lands 
  south of Tar Valon.

  Ls - The human city of Lockshear, east of Tarwin's Gap, the northernmost 
  human city, poorly defended and often raided by trollocs. To the south lies 
  the Spine of the World zones, leading to Cairhien and eventually Haddon
  Mirk.

  N plains - The North Plains, a zone south of the Long Fal Dara Road, and 
  directly north east of Tar Valon. Contains the Bridge over the Erinen leading 
  to Tar Valon, and guarded by the bgs, or Bridgeguards.

  Orchard - The Orchard, and Monastary zones, west of the Blight, connects in 
  the north to the Blighted Grove and in the south to the Decayed Forest. 
  Contains a well and some spotted horses.

  Sg - Shayol Ghul, zone north of the Blight, Contains the Dha'vol Watchtower 
  and the Shadowsmith, as well as a Waygate

  Shadowspawn keep - Keep in the Westernmost Endless Blight, contains the 
  Trolloc Clan Chests, a scouting Draghkar, and Dreadlord Jaeiryoz, who can 
  transport trollocs and myrddraal instantly to Thakan'dar, The Ruined Keep, or 
  the Ko'bal Keep.

  TKD - Thakan'dar, home of the Trollocs, the largest and most formidable city 
  in the entire game. Filled with channeling Dreadguards, Darkhounds and Fades, 
  it is the home of Mael'tor the Dhai'mon Master as well as Shaidar Haran and 
  Queen Morgase.

  Winding - The Winding Road, also known as the Parched Ground, this area leads 
  from the dusty road north of Fal Dara to Tarwin's Gap. Contains the Shienaran 
  Commander.

  ---Skill Terms---

  blick - to kill somebody with a backstab, often from healthy. 

  stab - short for backstab. 

  hit-flee - a technique with a variety of uses, involving hitting your target 
  then fleeing quickly, then coming back and hitting again, etc. Used to avoid 
  skills with a time delay such as channeler weaves, bashes etc., and to hit 
  people when they're with mobs without being hit by the mobs. Effectiveness 
  depends on situation. :) 

  fade - Myrddraal have the ability to fear their opponents, and ride Shadow 
  Stallions, but perhaps their most unique ability is that to fade into 
  shadows, transporting themselves instantly to elsewhere in the world. Some 
  fade points include the Black Hills near Caemlyn, the Whitebridge Fade, the 
  Tower of Shadows, Thakan'dar, the Tear Road Fade, the Lugard Fade, and the
  Almoth Fade. Myrddraal can issue some of the best equipment in the game
  also, such as gleaming black swords that poison their opponents and fade
  shirts that yield incredible defense and abs bonuses. A fade riding a
  Shadow Stallion also auto-sneaks, making it extremely difficult to pursue
  them.

  warder - to become a warder, a player must attain rank 5 of the Valon clan
  and then be Bonded by a full Aes Sedai. The Warder/Aes Sedai Bond has many
  features, such as:
  - Warders only gain exp when grouped with their AS;
  - if a Warder dies, his AS also loses exp (reputedly a lot), and he has to
    be re-Bonded;
  - Warders auto-rescue AS from attacks initiated on them;
  - Bonded Warders automatically have the regen rate of survival level 7;
  - Warders gain the option to practise additional skills that are variants
    on existing battle skills, such as attack with any weapon and multi-bash;
  - Warders, like wolfbrothers, can see Shadowspawn in their zone with the
    'where' command.

  wolfbrother - wolfbrothers can see Shadowspawn in their zone, hear
  reports from wolves like fades and dreadlords do from shadoweyes and have
  night-vision like trollocs.

  ambush - a skill requiring decent camouflage and backstab that once set up, 
  automatically attempts to backstab your target when they enter your room. Can 
  misfire and hit your side by accident. Usage: ambush , where target is 
  trolloc, human, dreadlord, horse, etc... 

  regen - regeneration (of hit points, saidar/saidin points, or most commonly 
  for trollocs, movement points)

  tick - one MUD hour, roughly equivalent to 70 seconds real time. 

Concerning backstab

Backstab is the pinnacle of thief skills, the ability to deliver a killing blow. Some notes about backstab:

• Backstab can only be performed with a piercing weapon, such as most short blades and some spears.
• The success of backstab depends on two factors:
  • How well you can conceal yourself from your target; i.e. hide in cities and camouflage outdoors (use scan to determine whether a room is a hide or camo room)
  • How high your backstab is practised; this is a straightforward roll (i.e. 1d99 vs your backstab %)
• The damage of backstab also depends on two factors:
  • The damage rating of your weapon
  • Your level
  These two are multiplied together with some random factor to determine total damage done with a successful stab.
• You cannot backstab a fighting person -- too alert! This sometimes causes confusion. You can still finish a backstab while engaged, but a backstab cannot hit a target who is engaged. You cannot initiate a backstab while you are engaged, but if you are not hit, you can finish one you started before you were attacked, so long as the target remains disengaged.

Concerning track

Track is an excellent skill for pk learned at ranger prac. It is often misunderstood though. Some notes about track:

• Ranger sneak will sometimes make tracks appear older than they are. This means they might disappear off your limited number of lines on autotrack. However, they will usually be there if you invoke track directly. They won't always appear older however, which can be very confusing if they've doubled back.
• Snow is a pain, but does not render track completely useless -- it covers older tracks. Fresh tracks should still, unless you're unlucky, be there.
• Track is a great tool for scouting out the enemy, because you can often tell who is present in their group (if they are trollocs) from their tracks, i.e. you don't always need a locate or to go into their room...
• Track can be used with or without a parameter, and is most powerful with. A trolloc's tracks might not appear if you just type track because of the ranger sneak effect or if other people chasing it have passed through the room, but typing "tr trolloc" will only show trolloc tracks. An alias is handy.

Concerning channeling

Many channelers do not have the defense to be really effective in solo pk situations. The reasons for this are as follows:

• When a weave is 'in progess', i.e. the time delay counter is ticking, the channeler is incurred a -20 penalty to their defense, making them easier to be hit.
• If a channeler is hit while channeling, the weave almost always fails, in the same way kick interrupts an in-progress bash.