PvP

Players looking to combat their friends, foes, or strangers can do so in the form of a PvP (Player versus Player) arena or the War of Emperium.

PvP

Many cities have Inns that allow entrance to the PvP arena. Speaking to the Gate Entrance NPC brings up three options:

• Yoyo Mode - The 'safe' PvP mode, where death does not cause EXP loss or items to drop.
• Nightmare Mode - This mode was not very popular as there are are penalties upon death: EXP is lost with a 1% chance to drop (and probably lose to another player) an item. (Currently disabled in iRO.)
• Event Room - Restricted for events only.

After deciding which mode to use, there is a 500z fee to enter the Waiting Room in addition to the Level 31 requirement.

In the only current working mode, Yoyo Mode, there is just one NPC towards the North East that is the gateway to different maps where PvP is enabled and characters of all levels above 31 can enter. The level-specific rooms and corresponding NPCs were removed.

Select a map from this NPC to be automatically teleported to said map and spawn at a random point in that map. The available maps (which are not the actual cities, but scenaries located on a different server with PvP enabled that are accessable only through the Waiting Room; they do not even have NPCs on them) are:

• Prontera
• Izlude
• Alberta
• Payon
• Morroc

Once selecting a map, the player has 5 seconds of invulnerability upon spawning unless they move their character before this time ends. Then, they can immediately partake in PvP.

There are a few things that should be noted on PvP maps. The lower right of the screen now displays the player's rank in that map (i.e. 6/9: where 6 is the current rank in that map and 9 indicates the current number of people on that map). The goal is to kill numerous amounts of players while staying alive.

The scoring system works as such: upon entering a PvP map, the player is given 5 points. There is +1 point for every kill made on that map, and -5 points for every death of the player. If the points go lower than 0, the player will be booted out of the PvP map immediately without the chance to be Resurrected by a friend.

People within the top 10 rank of a map will have a graphic under their characters' feet. This graphics turn to a white colour the closer they become to rank 1. When rank 1 is achieved, then message 'TIME ATTACK!!' will appear on only the screen of the person who achieved the rank, and the game will begin to record the amount of time said player stays at rank 1 (also displayed for that player, but only for that session). This data is then saved, to be posted on the official site. Currently, iRO does not make use of this feature of the PvP arena.

All skills and items work in PvP arenas except the usage of Fly Wings and Teleport. For example, the Teleport feature of Snatch is disabled (which also applies to Wanderer-carded Garments).

To exit a PvP map, the player must relog, use a Butterfly Wing, be killed and respawn, or make use of another player's Warp Portal skill. There is no gate leading outside of the map.

WoE

Arguably one of the most popular feature of Ragnarok Online, it pits guilds against other guilds, often involving lots of other guilds in the process.

Prontera, Geffen, Payon, and Al de Baran have a nearby map where the Castles for WoE are located. Each map has 5 Castles that spawn an Emperium during the WoE hours, also at which time WoE PvP is enabled.

To participate in WoE combat, the player must simply be in a guild that has a point invested in 'Official Guild Approval' (requires only one guild level to attain). Otherwise, they cannot deal damage to Emperiums. They can however still attack others in Castles and be attacked.

The War of Emperium is a server-activated mode, meaning, it is only enabled at certain periods of time. On iRO these are:

• Wednesdays - 3:00pm PST to 5:00pm PST
• Saturdays - 7:00pm PST to 9:00pm PST

The Goal of WoE

The overall goal is to destroy an enemy guild's Emperium, situated at the heart of their castle (always on level four, commonly referred to as "the Emp room"). Destroying their Emperium will allow the guild of the player who hit it last to overtake said Castle as theirs until either another guild destroys the Emperium or WoE ends (WoE mode will not stop until the designated WoE time is over). Because of this, it is common practice for guilds to attempt to hold off on breaking the Emperium of a castle they wish to capture until WoE is almost over, rather than breaking it near the start and having to defend their Castle for the full two hours of WoE.

Guilds often make alliances for mutual benefits of keeping the Castles and keeping would-be conquerors at bay by cooperating. Allying with another guild renders the members of the guilds unable to harm each other as if they were in the same guild. They will also be unable to attack or be attacked by the guardians of a castle an ally has, nor will they be able to attack the Emperium of a castle an ally has control over. During WoE time alliances may not be created or disbanded between guilds. It is impossible to leave a guild inside of a castle, and it is also impossible to expell someone from a guild while inside a castle.

To destroy an Emperium, enemy players must directly attack it. Emperiums are invulnerable against all forms of damage except direct physical attacks (passive skills like Double Attack will work on it, but active skills will not; long-range attacks from bows will also connect but these do suffer a -25% damage penalty during WoE). The Emperium is of the Angel race, Holy 1 element, and small sized.

Guardian NPCs

Guild Leader can hire the powerful guardian NPCs to patrol their guild's Castles if their guild has invested in the skill Guardian Research. During WoE they will attack all enemy guild members. While theycan be destroyed or weakened, they can also be fully repaired or re-hired. Players cannot attack guardian NPCs during non-WoE periods and cannot be attacked by them. To ressurect Guardians, Guild Leaders must talk to the butler NPC present in all Castles, usually on the second floor.

The guild skill Strengthen Guardians increases the attack power and attack speed of Guardians.

Rules of War of Emperium

There are specific rules in the War of Emperium. These are as follows:

• The flags outside each Castle display the emblem of the Guild currently in charge of them. castles in the castle map by looking at the flag right next to the entrance to each castle.
• As long as someone owns a castle, WoE mode does not stop until the set time is over.
• When WoE mode begins, all guild members who are not member of the guild that owns that castle will be force-teleported to their last saved spot.
• When a guild successfully destroys the Emperium, everybody else not part of that guild will be force-teleported to their last saved spot. At the same time, it'll be globally announced in the server that the guild has taken the castle.
• If your guild owns the castle, 'talking' to the flag bearing your guild's emblem will let you port into your castle.
• Once your guild owns the castle, you can take your guild members into the guild dungeons. There are lots of powerful monsters, and occasionally, bosses will appear as well. Do note that any guilds not in your alliance can also be in the same guild dungeon map, and CAN engage in PvP with your guild members. Dying here - whether by players or monsters - will cost you EXP.
• Allied guilds cannot attack Emperium in each other's castle, and during WoE, allied guild members cannot hurt each other.

Rewards of Having a Castle

Each Castle provides a specific set of items that can be attained through the Castle's treasure boxes.

One of the castles in each city has a treasure box with a unique drop.

Each castle spawns a specific number of Treasure Boxes each day at 12:00 AM Pacific Time. With the specific number of boxes being determined by the castle's economy rating.

Each castle has two types of Treasure Boxes, one shared among all castles accessing the same Guild Dungeon, and one that is unique to each castle. The castle unique boxes are the only source of God Artifact Pieces which are used to make God Items through the God Items Quests.

Modified PvE Mechanics

These changes only affect War of Emperium zones to make the large scale guild versus guild battles viable.

• There is no indicator of damage. Criticals are shown up as blank critical bubble, with no number inside it.
• All graphical effects appear simplified (/mineffect is automatically enabled).
• The Guild emblem icon is displayed over all characters of their respective guild.
• Death in WoE does not cause EXP loss.
• All skill based damage with the exception of Gloria Domini and Gravitational Field is reduced by 40%.
• All physical (non-skill based) attacks are reduced by 30%.
• All long-range attacks are reduced by 25%. This does not stack with long-range skill attacks (these are just reduced by 40%).
• Upon entering a new room in a WoE map, the player is given 5 seconds of invulnerability. This invulnerable status is forfeited as soon as they use an item, cast a skill, or move.
• All Hunter traps last 4 times as long in WoE.
• You cannot 'lock on' to players using CTRL+Click.
• Any abilities that push back enemies do not push back enemies, including enemy guardian NPCs in the castle. (i.e. The push-back effect of Bowling Bash.)
• Ability Steal cannot steal from the Castle treasure box.
• Phen Card's 'immune to spell interruption' property does not work. However, skills with a cast time that cannot be interrupted will not lose this ability (unless they are Spell Broken).
• The Emperium is invulnerable to skill-based damage with the exception of Gravitational Field
• Ninja's Cicada Skin Shed does not push the player (Ninja) back 7 cells.

Disabled skills

• Thief's Back Slide
• Wizard's Ice Wall
• Gypsy & Minstrel duet Sheltering Bliss
• High Priest's Basilica & Assumptio (however Assumptio will remain if cast outside of the castle for its duration or until removed)
• Swordsman's Endure (also applies to items that give the same effect, i.e. Eddga carded shoes or anodyne)
• Teleport (including item Fly Wing)
• Rogue's Snatch

PvP Server

This server is not available to all versions of Ragnarok Online. As of 2007, iRO does not have or plan to have such a server type.