PVP & PVE Death Penalties
On normal servers, characters of level 49 and under are safe from PVP, but player versus player combat can’t be avoided at level 50 and beyond (You can run, but you can’t hide.) After you complete the quest that lets you move past level 49, another player can “flag up” and attack you at any time, except in safe areas like cities and towns. The Black Spirit quest, [To Level 50!] Breaking New Ground, must be completed in order to level up from Lv. 49 to Lv. 50.
Unwanted PVP occurs most often because of hunting territory squabbles. If you don’t like PVP, stay away from other player’s “rotations” for popular grind spots. You will still get PVP’d while grinding, when someone wants to take your leveling spot, but it’s not an every day occurrence, if you choose grinding spots that are less popular. Switch channels when grind spots are full.
PVP flagged characters have glowing red names above their heads.
A few players go perma red for the fame and excitement. These players enjoy having negative Karma (aka red Karma). Negative Karma occurs when you “flag up” and keep killing players that aren’t flagged for PVP (that don’t have a red name) and your Karma points sink below 0.
Dying with Positive Karma (You died with 0+ Karma):
- PvE Death: Chance to lose crystals + guaranteed exp loss
- PvP Death (Someone flagged red and hit you.): Trade items can be destroyed.
Dying with Negative Karma:
- PvE Death: Guaranteed exp/crystal loss + chance to lose 1 gear Enhancment level.
- PvP Death: Guaranteed loss of crystals (usually 5 max) + guaranteed XP loss (more than Elion’s Tear can recover) + chance to lose 1 gear Enhancement level
- PVP Death in Desert: Jail time only: sentenced according to Karma (30/50/60 minutes) Desert area is in Valencia whenever you can’t view yourself on the World Map. You will see a desert icon on your mini-map.
Negative Karma players will be attacked by NPC guards, except in the criminal’s town inside Valencia. Having extremely negative Karma can even destroy the gear you are wearing upon death.
PVP penalties do not apply during node war, RBF (Red Battlefield), guild war declarations, duels, or arena.
PVE Penalties don’t apply for some boss deaths. (Dark Rift bosses have no death penalty. World bosses do give death penalty.)
Arsha is a special PVP server that removes any Karma penalties, and also increases loot drops for level 50+ players.
Guild Benefits
Joining a guild has tangible benefits besides socializing and group activities. Guilds can earn points though guild quests and player advancement that they can spend on passive buffs to stats like Gathering, Fishing, and AP. There is also a daily contract payout amount that starts low and increases with time.
At one time, joining a medium or larger guild gave an extra daily attendance reward. This may happen again in the future.
NOTE: Guild payments coupled with active sea monster hunting is one way to earn silver for guilds that work together in vanquishing the terrors of the sea!
