Aika PvP Guide: Altar War February 25, 2010
It's been a great CB2 so far! Guilds are preparing for the chance to rule their nation in Saturday's Castle Siege, raiding parties are descending on other nations' Temples, and more people have been introduced to the amazing world of Aika. We're glad to have you with us!
As a reminder, the server will be down tonight from 9:30pm to 11pm PST for maintenance. Thanks for your patience - we're working as hard as we can to make Aika a great experience.
Also, the CB2 survey is now closed. Were you one of the lucky winners of an exclusive set of crafting items? We'll be posting more information on receiving prizes for this event soon!
And now, in case you have some time on your hands while the server is offline, here's a guide to one of our nation vs. nation PvP modes: Altar War! If you need another reason besides relics and revenge to invade another nation, keep on reading to find out more.
Altar War
Every nation possesses a mysterious stone altar protected by stoic guards in the region of Verband, but these sacred stone structures may seem reluctant to disclose their secrets. There are also locations in Verband where four guards stand in a diamond surrounding an empty patch of land. What is the purpose of all of this protection, and what treasure might lie in store within the Altars of Aika?
The Altar of Aika is a horde of treasure and precious ores, maintained and donated to by each nation's citizens and government. As each Altar contains approximately 10% of the national treasury given as tithes as well as rare items needed to upgrade relics, they are easy targets for armies seeking riches and glory for their nations. When relics are upgraded they are able to give a larger boost to the possessor nation's citizens, and so nations who can protect and utilize the resources stored in their Altars can acquire great advantages in strength.
There are many obstacles to unlocking and raiding an Altar, but the hero or party who succeeds in stealing from an Altar will earn a significant percentage of the stored gold and a large XP boost. Furthermore, the nation (or nations) of the attackers' citizenship will receive all of the money and the items stored in the Altar-an incredible sum of wealth.
Raiding an Altar is an achievement which depends as much on timing as it does on military strategy and brute force. Altars are protected by four Guardian Stones, three of which only appear for two hours each day, and all of which have to be defeated for the Altar to be accessible. The three stones are located in Verband and surround the Altar of Aika, while they themselves are protected by strong guards. These stones must be destroyed in order to trigger the fourth stone, which appears in front of the Altar amidst more guards and defensive turrets. When the fourth stone crumbles, the Altar is defenseless and can be stolen from by anyone regardless of nationality.
When an Altar is robbed, the wrath of Aika falls upon the nation which did not succeed in defending the shrine entrusted to its care. As a result, attacks from monsters in the nation will increase and items dropped by monsters will decrease for a short period of time. The nation will also have lost a very large amount of gold and valuable items as well as national pride, which should be enough to encourage citizens to come to their Altars' defense.
