PvP Basics
Ancients is a prison server, but the fighting is very real. Here's where PvP happens, how the alignment system works, and what's at stake when you die.
Where PvP happens
The two overworlds — Forgotten Polis and Ancient Roads — are the heart of PvP. Both are reached through the /warp menu, and both use the alignment system described below. They're also where some of the most valuable activities live (caravans, shades and more), so risk and reward travel together.
Fights can also break out inside the prison itself, but they're policed: attack someone in view of a guard and you'll be branded a villain (see the Guards page). There are also consensual /duel fights if you just want to settle a score.
A couple of ground rules apply everywhere:
- You can only start a fight with a sword or axe. Opening hits with anything else are blocked. Once someone has attacked you, you're free to fight back with whatever you like for a short while.
- Gang-mates can't hurt each other — friendly fire is off within a gang everywhere. The exceptions: a duel between the two of you, or a raid that puts you on opposite sides.
Choosing your alignment
When you warp into Forgotten Polis or Ancient Roads, you pick a path first. Your choice locks in for that visit — to switch, you have to leave the zone and come back in.
| Alignment | PvP | Damage to mobs | Bonus loot |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pilgrim | Off — you can't hit anyone and no one can hit you | 25% less | None |
| Wanderer | On | Normal | 30% chance for a second loot roll |
| Defiler | On | Normal | Guaranteed second loot roll |
Pilgrim is the safe way to explore and farm slowly. Wanderer is the middle road. Defiler is all risk, all reward — the best loot rates, but the harshest death penalty.
Your path also decides how quickly you can leave. Warping out of a zone (or between the two zones) starts a countdown that cancels if you move or take damage — and riskier paths wait longer: around 15 seconds as a Wanderer and around 20 seconds as a Defiler. There are no instant escapes mid-chase.
Dying in the zones
When you enter a zone, the game remembers exactly what you brought in. When you die there:
- Loot you gathered inside the zone drops where you fell, for someone else to claim.
- What you brought in comes back with you when you respawn — with one exception:
- Defilers risk their gear. If the Defiler-tier penalty applies to your death, each weapon and armor piece you're carrying has an independent 25% chance to drop.
- You're locked out for 5 minutes. Every death in a zone applies a 5-minute deathban from both Forgotten Polis and Ancient Roads, and you're sent back to the prison spawn.
One important fairness rule: the death penalty is capped by your killer's risk level. A Wanderer who kills a Defiler only triggers the Wanderer-tier penalty — your gear can't be taken by someone who wasn't risking their own. Dying to mobs as a Defiler, though, costs the full Defiler penalty: that's the risk you signed up for.
Items you gave away during your visit — dropped, traded, or stored — don't come back on respawn, so don't expect death to undo your decisions.
Combat tag
The moment you're in a fight, you're combat tagged ("You are now in combat!"). While tagged, escape commands are blocked, including: /home, /sethome, /warp, /mines, /spawn, /tpa, /tpahere, /tpaccept, /trade, /pv, /jet and /cellvisit. The tag wears off shortly after the fighting stops ("You are no longer in combat.").
Combat logging
Logging out mid-fight doesn't save you. Whenever you disconnect outside a safe area — in combat or not — a stand-in copy of you remains in the world for about 20 seconds, wearing your gear and carrying your health. If it's killed, you drop loot exactly as if you'd died in the fight — and your attacker gets the credit. If it survives, you pick up where it left off when you log back in, including any damage it took.