Battlemage guide by Orange

Introduction

The Battlemage is a risk free Player vs Player combat area. The combat system used inside the Battlemage is the same as that used in The Outlands. The only differences between Battlemage combat and The Outlands combat are, if you die in the Battlemage, you will not lose any of the inventory items you're carrying or the items you have equipped. The Battlemage also uses its own desert arena map which has a different layout than The Outlands map.

The last player left alive when all other players have been killed will win the Battlemage fight. They will be given a reward of a Desert arena medal which appears in their inventory when the fight has ended, along with 50 combat experience added to each of their 4 combat skills (200 experience in total)

The Desert arena medal can then be exchanged at the Battlemage, costing 1000 gold to exchange, which randomly gives you one of the Desert Arena Weapons or Armour pieces.

Entrance locations & scedule

The Battlemage is located at Kinam on Dearn Island. If you're a Pirate, you have access to the Battlemage at Toothen on Skull Island. The scheduled fights which are shown at both of these locations are the same, as players who join the Battlemage from either of these locations are entered into the same Desert Arena map to fight each other.

To see when the game has scheduled fights, you'll can either travel to one of the Battlemage locations and click the Battlemage link in the citymenu, or check this forum post that the game automatically updates whenever someone visits the arena.

The scheduled fights are shown with their Year, Month, Day, Scheduled Start Time and Combat Level requirement. The last 25 fights show previous winners who were given the Desert Arena Medal, experience gained for winning and the amount of players who were in that fight. Each of the fights scheduled start times and combat level range requirements are chosen randomly by the game.

Rules and Requirements

Before you can enter one of the scheduled fights you'll need to meet the Combat Level requirements for it, along with the Battlemage rules.

The most important rule of Battlemage is... you cannot take cooked or grown food into the Battlemage!!!

You will need to make sure you're not carrying any cooked or grown food inside your inventory, or any items such as locked or unlocked chests, blue or red gifts, drinks or collectable foods etc, which can contain cooked or grown food or can be eaten to heal damage. Remember to store them in a house or ask someone to hold them for you, there's nothing worse than rushing to the Battlemage and realising you're carrying a load of food. If you've donated enough money to the game to get the Trophy Slot, you'll also need to make sure this isn't holding any of these items.

Besides the fact that you may not carry the above items , you'll also need to meet the combat level requirement for the scheduled fight. The different combat level range fights which can be scheduled are as follows:

10-19, 20-29, 30-39, 40-49, 50-59, 60-79, 80-200 and rarely 1-200
(Note: there is no range for Combat Levels 1-9)

Using the 10-19 Combat Level range as an example, players with Combat Level 9 or below and Combat Level 20 or above will not be able to enter this scheduled fight.

The Arena Tent

This is the holding area for fighters who have met the rules and requirements and are waiting to participate in the scheduled fight. If you're carrying any of the items mentioned above, or don't have the correct Combat Level for the scheduled fight, you will not be allowed to enter the Arena Tent.

If you click "The Battlemage" link in the city menu while at Kinam or Toothen 15 minutes or less before the fight is due to start, you will see the link to enter the Arena Tent on the same screen as the scheduled fights list. Within this 15 minute period, the scheduled fight list will also show a timer counting down from 900 seconds (15 minutes) to 0 which is when the scheduled fight will begin. You MUST have clicked the link to enter Arena Tent before this timer reaches 0 or the game will not move you into the Desert Arena to fight.

Once you've entered the Arena Tent, the screen you'll see looks similar to a regular city window with a City Menu, Players at this location area, Dropped items area and Minimap. However, the minimap doesn't show a map image but tells you that you're inside the Arena Tent. You'll also see the same timer counting down which was on the fight schedule list showing you how long is left until the fight begins. The players listed in the Players at this location area are also inside the Arena Tent with you waiting for the fight to begin.

When there are at least 3 players inside the Arena Tent you will all be moved into the Desert Arena at the same time to fight each other when the timer reaches 0. If there are only 1 or 2 players inside the Arena Tent when the timer reaches 0, it will reset to another 900 seconds and count down to 0 again, giving players more time to enter the Arena Tent. Unfortunately once you are inside the Arena Tent there is no link to leave and players have been known to get stuck, in what is referred to as the "Battlemage Limbo" inside the Arena Tent. This is because the timer will keep counting down to 0, resetting to 900 and counting down to 0 again until at least 3 players are in the Arena Tent and the timer reaches 0. If you get stuck, tell a friend or ask someone in World Chat to come and join the fight to make the numbers up to at least 3 players. Alternatively, you can bring a teleport orb and orb out of the arena.

Inside the Desert arena (map)

So the timer has reached 0 and all the players in the Arena Tent have been thrown into the Desert Arena to slug it out. At this time you have to decide what your play is going to be.

Desert arena combat: how it works

Just like The Outlands, you move around the different spots by clicking on the minmap which will display sections of the Desert Arena map. You can attack other players by clicking the "Attack" link beside their name when you see them in the "Players at this location" area. If you click this link you will hit them first, then they will hit you in return without clicking anything, like an auto-return hit. If someone clicks the link to attack you, they will hit you first then you will hit them back with an auto-return hit. If you click "Attack" and deal enough damage to kill a player with that single hit, you wont receive an auto-return hit.

When a player is killed inside the Desert Arena they are sent back to the city menu at Kinam, or Toothen if they are a pirate, with all their inventory and equipped items they are carrying (minus any food they ate). There are no bonuses for killing players, and only the last player left alive will be given the Desert arena medal in their inventory and 50 combat experience added to each of their 4 combat stats when the Battlemage fight has ended. When there are only 2 players left inside the Desert Arena, and one player kills the other, the last player left alive is also sent back to the city menu with their items.

If the remaining players inside the arena can't or won't kill each other, the fight will expire after around 30 minutes of its start time. All players will be returned to the city menu and the Desert Arena Medal is randomly given to one of the players which were inside the Desert Arena when the fight expired.

An important thing to remember - If you're killed inside the Desert Arena your health will be refilled automatically when you are returned to the city menu. However, if you win the Desert Arena fight your health WILL NOT be refilled automatically when you are returned to the city menu. If you plan on returning to Monster combat or combat in The Outlands after the fight, your health will be the same as you left the Desert Arena with. Be sure to heal before entering into any other type of combat.

Cooking in the arena

COOKING IN THE BATTLEMAGE IS CURRENTLY DISABLED, SO THIS SECTION DOES NOT APPLY AT THE MOMENT

To help you inside the Desert Arena you will be able to take in raw food to cook, if you can survive long enough, and then eat the food you've managed cook to heal any damage you take. Cooking inside the Desert arena does not require a Tinderbox or Wood. There are two places in the arena where you can cook (sidenote: no baking or smoking), located on the smallest inner circle of the map, at the East and West spots. A Cauldron can be used to lower your cooking timer inside the Desert Arena, but you will sacrifice the armour given to you by your shield as cauldrons go in this slot. The links to cook any raw food you're carrying will appear below the combat logs in the centre of your screen. Be aware that you can be attacked while you're cooking.

Strategy

First, if you are lucky enough to have a partner with you in the arena, you can try to have one person cook, while the others swarm around defending your position, in an attempt to allow you to cook as much food as you can. As the battle progresses into the later stages, your ability to heal will greatly affect the outcome. Secondly, if you have a fast internet connection, and are well versed with the map of the arena, you can try to run. What it meant by this is that fighters will fight. If you are fast enough, and can run from one location to the next without being hit, the other competitors will eventually knock each other out so that you may pray on the weakest. Lastly, if you have a combat advantage (by skills) you can target only the lower leveled fighters, while at the same time hoping that the larger combatants will knock themselves down a bit so that you can be effective fighting against them.

Exchanging your Desert Arena Medal

The winner can exchange their Desert arena medal, sell it to other players or keep it as a collectable item. Exchanging your medal costs 1000 gold and the link to exchange your medal can be found on the same screen as the scheduled fights list after clicking "The Battlemage" link in the city menu. In exchange for the medal and 1000 gold you will randomly be given one of the Desert Arena Weapons or Armour pieces.

You can find all the different items here. The weapon and armour images shown via this link are clickable and will give you the stats for each item. Please note that these items differ from regular weapons and armour as their requirement to equip does not involve the Attack or Defence skills, but rather require a certain Combat level to equip.

Hints and Tips

Hopefully you have found this guide useful, so here are a few more tips to help you in the Battlemage.

1. Before you enter the Arena Tent, make sure you're at full health. If you enter the Arena Tent with 1HP, you'll enter the Desert Arena with 1HP. Doh!
2. Build a house at the Battlemage city. Storing raws and combat gear here helps if you're a bit forgetful, it also lets you dump any food quickly if you've accidentally brought some with you.
3. Bring the best Armour and Weapon you can wear, also consider enchanting your Armour and Weapon with +3 Aim/Power/Armour as you can bet others will be using them.
4. Team up with friends or clan members to cook or kill other players, 2v1 or 3v1 is a big advantage. There are people which regularly win battles through good teamwork.
5. If you win the fight, check your health at the city menu. You will have the same health as you left the fight with and may need to heal. Those that died in the arena get their health refilled.
6. Some players train their combat stats specifically to excel in the battlemage fights, if you decide to do this too ask around for some recommended training styles.
7. High level Pickaxes, Hatchets and Hammers make pretty good weapons if you have high skill levels but low a low attack level.