PvP basics and the Tournament

What you lose in a fight depends on where you die.

What you lose where

• Pickaxe energy drops. You keep the pickaxe, but its stored Ancient Energy is taxed at your rank's extract rate and dropped. Satchel contents spill.
• No PvP in safe zones, Expeditions, the Vaults of Plouton or Siege raids. You keep your XP. Full table: Death & Item Loss.

Start in the Tournament

Losing a PvP Tournament costs nothing, so enter every one you are online for.

• It runs at 1, 5 and 9, AM and PM Pacific. Click [JOIN] in chat or run /tournament join from a safe zone during the 2 minute signup.
• You fight in a kit the server hands out. Your inventory comes back when you leave.
• Everyone who fights a match gets a prize. The winner gets the Champion's Cache if at least 4 players entered, otherwise the Contender's Cache. The caches hold loot that drops nowhere else.
• /tournament info shows the next mode and gear tier.

Armour first

Wear four pieces of your best tier before anything else. Every piece counts the same, so fill all four slots before you upgrade one.

• /shop sells gold, iron and diamond armour. Chainmail only comes from the Aegis and Ares G-Kits claimed under level 30. Leather gives no Armour.
• Stoneskin on all four pieces. Stoneskin adds up: level V on four pieces is 230 Armour, more than a full gold set.
• Titan Blood on one piece. Titan Blood only counts your highest copy. Level IV is 80 Armour.
• If groups jump you, Anti Gank (armour) and Nemesis (sword or axe) only work against players.

These picks are a starting point with no Map 5 fight data yet. Weapons: Sword & Axe Enchants.

Fight with a sword or an axe. Wands and bows never damage players. Once a player hits you, you can hit back with anything for 15 seconds.

Staying alive in the mines

• Mine where a guard covers you. The Guarded scoreboard line shows it. Attack a player where a guard sees you and you are a Villain for 15 minutes: guards hunt you, and a guard kill destroys your drops. See Guards.
• Empty your pickaxe before you cross a contested mine: enchant, or /extract in a safe zone, where it is free.
• Bank what you can't lose. /pv and Money Notes only work in a safe zone.
• Don't log out to escape. Outside a safe zone a stand-in of you stays for 20 seconds. If it is killed, you lose your items.
• A hit tags you for 10 seconds. You can't use /spawn, /warp, /pv and more while tagged. Run to a safe zone on foot. Full list on PvP Basics.
• Leave your PvP pet in /pets unless you mean to fight. A summoned pet drops with your inventory.

The Pit and the Commissary

The PvP Pit (/pit) opens at level 60. It has no guards. The reason to go is the Commissary, a locked chest with a squad of guards that lands about once an hour when at least 2 players are in the Pit.

• Only sword and axe hits count. It has 60 health and each hit takes 1.
• The last hit takes all the loot. Go with your gang so someone you trust lands it.
• The guards turn on anyone who hits the chest. It leaves after 15 minutes. /events shows the countdown.

KOTH, outposts and duels

• KOTH runs daily at 6 PM Pacific. Hold the hill for 5 minutes to win the Lootbag. You keep your gear if you die, so show up even if you expect to lose. Over-tier gear stops you at the warp: /koth shows the tier.
• Outposts: the Chain Garrison is the cheapest place to practise real fights. See the gangs and outposts guide.
• Duels: /duel <player> in a safe zone, within 10 blocks. Nobody dies. Check whether Risk Inventory is on before you accept. Winnings wait in /duel collect.

Teaming and trucing rules are at ancients.gg/rules.