Barriers

Barriers are, to date, the only way to fortify enterable tiles from non-allies, NPCs and aggressors. Barriers are most commonly created to protect guild headquarters but are also erected to provide safe havens for trade. Occasionally, griefers will us barriers to inconvenience others by blocking useful stores, banks and healeries.



=Barriers= Barriers are defensive spells that limit access to the tiles they are cast in. They can only be cast on tile interiors. That includes inside buildings, caves and underwater. All barriers can be cast more efficiently with the Focus Defense skill.

There are five types of barriers with different abilities. They are
 * Barrier of Trust
 * Barrier of Darkness
 * Barrier of Light
 * Monster Ward
 * Sanctuary

Barrier of Trust
Barriers of Trust allow only guildmates and allies to enter a the interior of a tile. These barriers are most commonly used to protect guild headquarters or places where a guild is holding an event. A Jhurini Ring or Crystal is required to cast the spell.

Barrier of Darkness
The Barrier of Darkness prevents anyone with a positive karma from entering the tile. A Moglok Ring or Crystal is required to cast the barrier. These spells can be used to keep career PKers away, but it is not a foolproof system. Monster farming can allow karma to shift in ways it normally wouldn't. It can also be used as a mild form of griefing by keeping good players out of stores and other useful tiles.

Barrier of Light
The Barrier of Light prevents anyone with a negative karma from entering a tile. A Moglok Ring or Crystal is required to cast the barrier. This barrier is occasionally used as a mild form of griefing to keep evil players out of useful tiles.

Monster Ward
The Monster Ward prevents NPCs from entering a tile. A Jhurini Ring or Crystal is required to cast the spell.

Sanctuary
The spell Sanctuary creates a barrier of peace that prevents PvP attacks. This spell is frequently cast to ensure no double crosses during trades and as a protective measure for guild headquarters. A Jhurini Ring or Crystal is required to cast the spell.

Limits to barriers

 * All barriers have some limits. Barriers of Darkness, Barriers of Light and Barriers of Trust cannot be cast on the same tile. Also, barriers cannot be strengthened past fully charged.


 * Tiles that serve as entrances to realms or other maps cannot be barricaded. Examples include the Temple of Golgorn and the Badsley Lake entrance to Onocoroa.


 * Barriers kick out corpses as soon as a Barrier of Trust is cast to prevent Corpse Camping. This was a controversial topic when added to the game. Discussions can be found here.
 * http://www.overlordforums.com/index.php/topic,4112.0.html
 * http://www.overlordforums.com/index.php/topic,8163.0.html
 * http://www.overlordforums.com/index.php/topic,8551.0.html



=Circumventing Barriers= Barriers are cast because other players want to attack allies. Once the barriers are up, however, it doesn't mean the problem is solved. Persistent enemies can break through barriers if given time or the means.

Destroy Barrier
Destroy Barrier is the most direct way to knock out any type of barrier. This spell will weaken any type of barrier. The strength of the existing barrier and how frequently it is being supported will determine how long it will take to destroy.

Raids on Barriers
A barrier raid is when a group of players attack and attempt to destroy a guild's barrier. There are various reasons for doing so ranging from killing all inhabitants of that barrier to simply not allowing a particular guild to have a barrier. The simplest and fastest way to raid a barrier is getting a group of people together that have enough mp to destroy a barrier.


 * Tactics:
 * Siphoning MP from other players is another common tactic used when raiding. This allows active players to tape into the MP of inactive players, greatly expanding their MP pool.


 * The Scroll of Shadows provides the most efficient way of busting barriers. The scroll's innate properties increases the potency of the holder's Destroy Barrier. By passing this scroll around, a small group can destroy a barrier with minimal mp usage. While this means less mp is required to destroy a barrier, it does take time to pass the scroll back and forth between members.


 * An effective technique devised by The Divine Order of Assisted Death is the Cuckoo, which is used to break into tiles with multiple barriers. In this technique, an attacker uses Destroy Barrier to take down the Barrier of Trust of a protected tile. The player then enters the tile while a Barrier of Peace is still up. The intruder cannot attack the people inside, but they cannot attack him or her either. The defenders must chose between tearing down their own Barrier of Peace to fight back or persistently strengthening their barriers while its attacked from the inside.


 * Raid Alert:
 * Any attack on a barrier will be notified to the players inside the tile by a message in their Event Log: Player_name weakens the barrier of trust.(x times).
 * Don't expect the proprietors to greet you with tea and crumpets every time you enter their tile, the most common and popular kind of reception commitee in the realm is the one brandishing sturdy sticks, pointy daggers and depending on what day in the week, large sticky hambones.
 * If the barrier's status raises suddenly this is probably due to the occupants bolstering their barriers from inside the tile.

Decay Rates
How Destroy Barrier affects a fully charged Barrier:
 * Each cast will require 15 MP (14 with Practiced Casting).
 * To dismantle the barrier entirely, Destroy Barrier has to be cast 64 times:
 * 64 x 15 MP = 896 MP required


 * If you are in the presence of a fully charged Barrier of Trust and additionally a fully charged Aura of Peace and/or a fully charged Monster Ward, your spell sequence will first affect the BoT then the AoP and finally the MW.

Note that we did not take into account following causalities:
 * The automatized decay rate at each refresh.
 * The increments when using the Scroll of Shadows.
 * Possible barrier supports via the occupants/defenders.

Natural Decay
If left alone, the lifespan of barriers will eventually pass due to the automatized decay setting in at each refresh. Barriers require regular maintenance to survive time and attacks from enemies.

=Related Topics=
 * P.v.P. Players versus Players.