Imperial Fortress

A different fortress for each day of the week, three zones of gates, free entry once per hour and experience based on the party's level.

The Imperial Fortress — also called Imperial Guardian or Order of Gaion — is a party event, on demand, in which up to five players cross a fortress zone by zone, clearing defenders and bringing down gates.

The experience grows with the group's level: a level 400 party takes 390,000 experience per person (585,000 on Sunday), and with Master Level it reaches almost 600,000 (almost 900,000 on Sunday).

The fortress changes every day#

Only one party at a time on the whole server. While a round is in progress, no one else can enter.

How to enter#

Use the 🛡 Fortress button, in the MENU. Entry is free: no item or zen is required, on any day of the week.

Requirements:

• Level 15 minimum;
• fewer than 4 PK kills accumulated in the session — see PK and hero system;
• the party must be alive, on the same map, within 3 tiles of you;
• up to 5 players;
• one raid per hour, per character and per account, counted from the entry — leaving midway doesn't reset the wait. Party members still waiting are left behind.

The whole server is notified of the opening.

The Order's items#

In the original MU the entry costs an item of the day — Gaion's Order from Monday to Saturday, Complete Secromicon on Sunday, or the Varka Tickets. Here they are not charged: using the day's item opens the fortress just like the button, and you keep the item.

They still exist in the game:

• Suspicious Scrap of Paper — drops, rarely, from any monster of level 20 or higher, on any map. Gather 5 and use one of them to make a Gaion's Order.
• Secromicon Fragment — each day's side boss gives one to every participant (First on Monday, Second on Tuesday, and so on up to Sixth on Saturday). With the 6 fragments plus 1,000,000 zen, use any of them to make the Complete Secromicon.

How a round works#

Each zone has the same rhythm:

In total, 34 minutes in the three-zone fortresses and 45 minutes on Sunday.

Inside the zone#

1. The defenders spawn and the side gate becomes vulnerable.
2. You kill them all — 7 defenders per zone (10 on Sunday).
3. When the last one falls, the Lock Gate and the Main Gate become vulnerable, with an on-screen warning.
4. Bring both down and the portal to the next zone opens.

Crossing the portal before clearing the zone doesn't work: you are sent back to the entrance with a warning that the gate is still locked.

The gates don't move and don't fight back: it's pure damage against health.

The last zone#

In the last zone there is no portal to cross. What counts is killing all the defenders:

• if you also bring down the side gate, victory comes right away;
• if time runs out with all the defenders dead, the victory counts just the same, even with the side gate still standing.

In other words: the last zone's side gate only ends the round sooner. If the clock is tight, spend your damage on the defenders.

The defenders#

Each zone has an officer and their escort — Quartermaster, Combat Instructor, Knight Commander, Grand Wizard, Master Assassin or Cavalry Captain, accompanied by Medics, Knights, Shield Bearers and Bodyguards.

The Medic heals. Roughly every second and a half he restores 10% of the current health of himself, when he is at 40% or less, or of the most wounded defender within 6 tiles, when that one is below 60%. Leaving a Medic alive behind the front line makes the fight against the officer last much longer.

The map also has traps scattered around, between 33 and 42 per fortress, and they scale along with the rest.

The difficulty scales with your level#

The defenders don't have fixed strength: their HP, damage and defense are multiplied according to the party's highest level — plus Master Level. A level 400 character with 150 Master Levels counts as 550. The cap is 600.

Notice the jump between 190 and 191. The HP multiplier jumps from 100 to 500 at once. A level 195 party faces defenders five times tougher than a level 185 one, without their damage rising in the same proportion.

If your group is near that boundary, it's well worth doing the round before anyone passes level 190.

In concrete numbers, for a level 400 party without Master Level: a Medic has 900,000 HP, the boss Raymond has 1,440,000 and each gate has more than a million. That's a race against each zone's 10 minutes.

Victory and defeat#

Victory: kill all the defenders of the last zone — right away, if its side gate also falls; or when time runs out.

Defeat: time running out in a zone that isn't the last, time running out in the last one with a defender alive, or everyone leaving.

Dying eliminates you from the round and sends you to Devias. Leaving the map or logging out does too. There is no way back.

Everyone exits to Devias at the end.

The rewards#

Experience#

On a victory, all participants present at the end receive:

10,000 per full ten of the party's highest level + Master Level, minus 1 — and 15,000 per ten on Sunday. Level 400 counts as 39 tens.

There is no experience on a defeat.

Jewels#

The bosses pay an event prize into the Gremory Case of whoever hit them the most (a party adds up its damage):

• the side boss gives 1 draw;
• Gaion Kharein (Sunday only) gives 2 draws.

Each draw is a Rare jewel, an Epic jewel or, rarely, an excellent item with one option. Each account receives this prize from at most 3 fortresses per day: after that the fortress still pays experience, zen and fragment, and the boss prize goes to the next participant who hasn't hit the limit yet. The table is in Bosses, invasions and events.

Zen#

The range also counts Master Level. The zen drops on the ground around the boss's body, within a 2-tile radius, reserved for whoever hit it the most and their party. The Secromicon Fragment goes straight to your bag.

Strategy#

• Build the party with similar levels and, if possible, below 190. The difficulty jump there is the biggest in the game. Remember that Master Level counts.
• Kill the Medics first. They heal the other defenders while you hit the officer.
• Ten minutes per zone is tight at high level. Concentrate your damage: defender by defender, then the gates.
• In the last zone, the defenders come before the side gate. With all of them dead, victory is already guaranteed when time runs out.
• Don't die. Anyone who falls is out of the round and loses the experience, which is the main prize.
• Bring plenty of potions. A full round lasts over half an hour with no NPC along the way.