Keep Warfare

Navigating the Keeps

There are currently three Keeps - Misery, Thorn, and Citadel.

The locations of each of the Keeps:

Misery Keep is in the Lost Catacombs of Tropica, and the portal to enter is in the room behind the Lich that holds the key for the mithril bracers and elven chain.

Thorn Keep is in the Enchanted Bamboo forest on Shokono. To get here, it is possibly to swim from the Northern point of Smugglers bay and gating to a hen. From

there, walk all north and all west. Ships also go there, but it is much slower.

Citadel Keep is in the caves of Frostania on Icewall. To get to the entrance of the portal, go north from the entrance of Frostania, southeast, all north, and follow

the path in the river while continuing to head north.

Navigating the Keep:

First, will be Thorn Keep and Misery Keep because they have the same floor plans.

The guards in each of these Keeps bear a golden aura while the Lord of the Keep has no aura at all. It is usually advised to protect against the Lord in these

two Keeps because you will not be engaged in battle with the guards for long.

Prepare before going in because the guards are hostile! Pass door and fly should not be forgotten because pass door will be needed at different points in the

Keep and the guards will trip if you're not flying. Also it would be best to use a shield and remain in a defensive stance until you reach the lord.

Once you enter the portal, there will be a door after walking or fleeing to the north. If the guards do not attack, you will be able to pass the door there and

into a four rooms by five rooms flat area. Once there, make your way to the northern part of the area. In the middle of the northern wall will be a place to go up.

It is best to regroup first in a place one room away before heading up the tower.

The way up the tower is a clockwise direction that goes up two levels. There are doors while going in each direction so if you are engaged by the guards in any one

room, simply open the door in the direction you wish to flee to, and flee away from the guards. The direction for heading up to the towers from the bottom floor is, up,

southeast, southwest, northwest, up, and southeast. This is to a safe room.

If the safe room is not secure, clear the guard(s) that are there and rest until the group is ready. Then, there are two ways to go about this. If there is a sufficient group, it is possible to clear all the guards to the southwest and then northwest of the established safe room. The portal leading to the Lord is located in the northwest room. Another way is to run past the guards and be prepared to jump into the portal when the leader of the group approaches it.

Assaulting the Keeps

Taking the Keep:

Take note that the Lord of each Keep is vulnerable to piercing and freezing weapons, so have these weapons at hand!

Also, the only rooms you are able to recall from is the room before entering the portal to the Lord, and the Lord's room. Once in the Lord's room, there are no exits other than

to cast the spell of 'word of recall' or to recall.

If there are no defenders present, then all should enter into the portal to engage the Lord. Those that are able to cast should begin placing maladictions upon the

Lord. The maladictions should go in the order of weaken, plague, then poison. Once these three maladictions are on, healers should save their reserve energy to heal either

themselves or the group members. Damage spells are also advised, but healing should take precedence before that. Those that are able to stun can attempt to do so too. Continue to engage the Lord and he will fall with time.

With defenders present, it would take a few preparations before entering the room of the Lord. Those that are able to cast should enter first and place maladictions upon

the Lord while those better with their swords should remain outside in case defenders come. When a person defending does come, they will arrive in the room with

the portal leading to the Lord. The ones able to hit should engage them promptly to prevent them from jumping into the portal and attacking the casters. The only door is the

one to the southeast, so close it to prevent the defenders from fleeing, or open it if you need to flee. If they come in numbers, a few tornadoes can possibly even the

odds.

These are only the basic tactics, so you might need to improvise given each situation!

You will return to the Altar room with nothing lost should you die fighting the Lord, so don't worry about that.

Taking Citadel Keep:

This Keep is a bit more complicated than that of Thorn and Misery. This Keep is much bigger and consists of three separate parts. Also, it should not be attempted with

only a few people!

Before going into the portal, protect yourself against those of golden aura because you will be fighting against a lot of them in order to reach the Lord. Once

you enter the portal, head all the way north and clear the guards there if there are any. To the west, there should be a group of five guards. One of those should hold a

key which cannot be dropped once a person picks it up from the corpse. Obtain this key and have that person run to the east where there will be a door to open. Be sure that

you are not flying and that you remain visible before entering into the room opened by the key!

While that single person is doing this, the entire group should head all west and all north. Once the single person steps on the plate, it should open a door for

the entire group, go into the newly opened room. There is a lever to pull which keeps the door open for that single person to go through and regroup.

Once that person rejoins the group, head east and there should be another group of five guards. Repeat the process above, but this time the person with the key

should walk all east and then all south for the door while the group waits for the door to open to the south. Again, pull the lever and wait for the single person to

join. Search out another group of five or so guards and pick up the key again. This time, the door will be directly north. Open it and it will lead to a tower with

floor plans exactly the same as Misery and Thorn. The directions again are, up, southeast, southwest, northwest, up, southeast, which leads to the safe room. The idea

in taking this Lord is the same as the previous two Keeps. This requires changing your protection to that of people with no auras before combating the Lord! Do not forget

about healing and preparing fully before trying to take on the Lord.

Citadel Strike Plan

Order of Gareth,

As requested by the Loremaster Captain Sehvelarious Iolius, I am reproducing a guide I wrote moons ago pertaining to the Citadel Keep.

The Citadel Strike Plan

It is noted that a strike against the Citadel must be well thought of. A tornado can easily cripple a strike force, and careless members who sacrifice corpses before searching for the keys needed can render an attack ineffective.

Layer 1

Upon entering, head all north, all west, then one north. This cluster of guards are known to carry the key. Kill them in the name of Light. Then back down south, all east, unlock the eastern door, and while making sure you are not most light footed and flying, step of the plates east. The rest of the group will head north of the guard cluster with keys. Once the main group is in the 2nd layer, the plate-triggerer will have to run all west, all north to rejoin the main group. It is also noted that the main group might have to pull the lever to allow the triggerer in.

Layer 2

From where the group is now, by slaughtering all the guards in the lever room if need be, head east, to the large cluster of guards. From memory, I believe that there are 5-6 guards. Kill them. Get the key. Now get the plate-triggerer to head all east, all south, then unlocking the chamber south to activate the plates. The group should head one block west from the guard cluster with the key. They can then proceed south when the plates are depressed. Repeat the same steps to allow the triggerer back in with the levers.

Layer 3

The final layer of the Citadel. Head all south, one block east from where the levers are. Kill this cluster of guards, usually 5-6 guards, again, based on my memory. Once this guard cluster is cleared, a key maybe found to open the locked door to the north. From here, once headed north, it is rather like the layout of the other two keeps (Two floors, going clockwise). It is worth noting that the Citadel Lord is also vulnerable to sharp piercing weaponry and cold weapons.

Assaulting Citadel

A well thought of team, preferbly with everyone understanding the mechanics of the Citadel. It is best at times to consider a strike only on a poorly or unguarded Citadel.

Defending Citadel

A few well placed tornados will tear an assault team apart. It is worth noting that beyond the -1st- layer, the assault team is almost unhindered until reaching the last level.

Citadel Keep Map

This is a rough sketch of the Citadel Keep. Keep this most handy

if the weak minded Citadel Lord is to defect to the Evil Doer.

- Thrakhath Nar'gyatt

Sentinel of Austinian

Lieutenant of the Lance

Traps in Keeps

Keeps give benefits to those who hold them, but this is not the focus for all who enter. Attackers may lay a trap for the holder of a keep.

A defender may only peer into the portal room before the Lord's chamber, and may not see any who are present in the keep unless they should see them first hand. An enemy may attempt a feint. This is achieved in a number of ways, but the general process is as follows. An attacker runs to the Lord's room, triggers the Lord's call of distress, then recalls. Defenders can look in the portal and see perhaps one attacker alone. Note that it does not take long to recall from the Lord's room then return to the portal room, especially in Misery Keep. Defenders may enter and hope to enter the Lord's room to face one, or attack any attacker in the portal room. However there may be more attackers in the safe room at the top of the stairs waiting for your assumption. These will be the ones who have laid the trap while the decoy sits in defensive.

1. Be organised. If three defenders are present do not charge in by yourself. Group up with other defenders and defend together. Getting separated will only get you killed.
2. If in the Citadel, then there is a portal towards the bottom which a defender may use as shown in Level 1 above.
3. You can still enter the bottom of the keep like an attacker if the portal room is not safe, or if you wish to do some recon before committing.
4. If guards are strangled, wake them while you attack.
5. Be aware that it normally takes at least three to take a keep, and usually at least two of those must be able to maladict and have enough damage output to fell him in one attempt.
6. If things go badly then find a large group of guards to rest with.
7. Once the trap is sprung, the attackers may attempt to keep the door closed to prevent your escape from the portal room. A swashbucker may flee through it, though others will have to open it then escape. You may open a door while blind.
8. Keep a cool head and consider the possibilities. It is your duty to retain the keep for Gareth, but your pragmatism must save you from throwing your life away cheaply if their only intention is to slay you rather than take possession of it.
9. Identify the attackers of the keep and their location. Call for help from allies if they are present.

Acre St John, Clerist.

Drakonn: Citadel keep

Sat Jun 11 15:03:17 2011

To: Knighthood

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Knights,

Citadel Keep offers ability to resist magic better. I personally think that

this keep is most useful of all found in Algoron. -Especially- when you are

at the war with Magi. It's crucial for us to own it every moment possible.

In this missive I am going to describe trials of conquering it. Entrance to

this keep is located in the Frostania at Icewall continent. There is cave

at northern part, then you just need to follow the river to get to the room

with portal. As soon as you will enter, you will find yourself at outer level

of the keep.

Outer level

===========

___________________

|D1 |L1 | 2 |G2 | 2 |

|___|___|___|___|___|

| 1 | | 2 |

|___| INNER |___|

| 1 | LEVEL | 2 |

|___|___________|___|

| 1 |G1 | 1 |S1 | P |

|___|___|___|___|___|

| 1 |

|___|

| E |

|___|

Room E is one where you will appear. Getting to next level is two stage

process. Rooms marked as E, S1, G1, D1 will be available at first stage.

Room marked as S1 tends to be safe one. It is usually wise to gather

there to prepare the strike. There is locked room to the east from S1.

You need to obtain key from random guards who will hold it. It is

usually one of guards located at room G1. It is important to not

sacrifice corpses because you can miss the key and your group will be

trapped there for significant amount of time. Also it must be noted that

key will rot shortly and you need to act rather quick.

Person with the key should proceed to S1 while rest of formation goes to D1.

Person with key should unlock door to the east, and enter it being visible.

There is pressure pad located there, person need to stand there till enough

pressure will be applied. As soon as it will happen door to the east

from D1 will open and formation should walk there. Person with the key

then goes to D1. There is lever located at L1 that opens this door,

it must be used to allow this person to join the rest of formation.

Here goes second stage. It's pretty similar to first one. Rooms

marked as L1, G2, 2 will be available to you. Again, you need to get

the key to get access to pressure pad located at room P. Usually one

of guards located at room G2 has it. Door to the next (inner) level

is located to the south from L1. You need to absolutely same strategy

to get there.

Inner level

===========

___________

| E | 3 | 3 |

|___|___|___|

| 3 | S | 3 |

|___|___|___|

| 3 |G3 | 3 |

|___|___|___|

Inner level is much easier to pass as it doesn't have levers or

pressure pads. You will appear at room marked as E as you pass

previous stage. Guard with key is usually located at room G3,

so you need to go straight south from the beginning to get to the

center room on southish side. As soon as you will have key there is

locked door to the north from room D, unlock it and head in. This

will put you to bottom of stairwell (S) absolutely identical to those

that can be found at Thorn or Misery Keep.

General advices:

* Use protection good as guards tend to be good aligned and it

takes long enough to get to the safe room for it to drop.

* It's usually good habit to refresh all spells and get healed

at the safe room. It's a long way, and you don't want to

waste your efforts with failing final strike.

* Sometimes you wouldn't be able to find the key after slaying

all guards. Be patient enough to wait till they will appear

again.

* Plan the strike well. Consider your numbers. Consider enemy

numbers. Be wise.

Signed,

Squire Drakonn Garat.