An alliance battle (often abbreviated to AB) is a style of Player versus Player combat that sees two teams of 12 fight against each other to capture control points found throughout the map in order to gain Imperial Faction. The map selected for the alliance battle depends on the position of the vassal faction border (on the world map this is symbolised by a blue and red line) between Kurzick and Luxon territories - if the border cuts deep into one side, that side will have a map arranged more in their favor, but will also provide a greater reward to the opposition if the opposition wins. The position of the border itself depends on the results of the previous 3 hours of alliance battles.
What is AB?[]
The Kurzick banner.
When an alliance has both enough faction and the outcome of the majority of alliance battles have been in your faction's favor, they will gain control of an outpost and thus be given access to a restricted area in a town somewhere along the Kurzick/Luxon border. The restricted area is a place only people from your alliance can enter where you can receive discounts from merchants and buy firework displays, and if you gain control of the capital even gain free access to the elite missions, Urgoz's Warren for the Kurzicks and The Deep for the Luxons.
AB is played on 5 different maps, depending on how much one side is winning, there is a neutral map, a shallow Kurzick and Luxon map, and then a deep Kurzick/Luxon map. Each map will have 7 shrines which will spawn NPCs for whichever side controls the shrine, and more or less NPCs depending who's territory it is (more will spawn for the faction who owns the territory). The game is played until one of the following conditions is met:
- One side reaches 500 points.
- One side captures and holds all 7 shrines for 60 seconds without a shrine being neutralized or captured.
- All members of one side either resign or leave.
Points are gained by either killing enemies, or by capturing and holding shrines, you will gain 1 point every 7 seconds for each shrine your side holds.
If you die in Alliance Battle you are automatically resurrected at either your base or the resurrection shrine if your side holds it, as such it is advised not to bring any form of resurrection skill into battle as it is a waste of a skill slot.
The Luxon banner.
Scoring Points[]
There are two ways to score points in alliance battles. The first is to take control and hold shrines. Doing so will provide your team with 1 point every 7 seconds per shrine held. The other method of scoring points is to simply kill other players. Killing a player will give your team 3 points.
Setting up a Team[]
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While there are no perfect teams for AB it is suggested that you set up your team depending on whether you intend to be an offensive, defensive, or capping team.
Offensive[]
If you're intending to have an offensive team build it is suggested that you run a build that can either spike (air or certain water eles, ancestor's rage rits etc.), or that can cause mass AoE damage (generally fire eles, SSs' or MMs'). Spike assassins are also exceedingly popular for their ability to quickly dispatch unprotected targets, which is useful to eliminate threats to your team quickly.
Defensive[]
This team build is used mainly to guard your currently captured shrines, and stop them being taken by the enemy, this build should have at least one monk to keep your team alive, the other 3 tend to be anything you want but at least one spiker is advised and one AoE damager.
Capping[]
Specialised shrine-capturing groups should contain one or more nukers to quickly clear out shrine NPCs and equip themselves with self-survival skills and running skills to take over shrines as fast as possible. Cap groups focus on speed and will usually avoid combat whenever possible.
Builds[]
It is advisable to take builds capable of both assisting a team and capping solo. Remember that movement control is particularly important.