Realm Vs Realm

This page is originally copied from the Comprehensive Port Battle Guide post by Seya on the Beta Forums[1]. A copy of the topic exists on the current forums[2].

PotBS is classified as an RvR MMORPG. In order to win the map members of a nation work together to achieve victory points. Points are acquired by controlling ports and by capturing ports.

Capturing a Port

When an NPC or player is defeated within 100 nautical miles of a conquerable port of its nation a number of points is added to the Unrest point total. This number can be viewed by opening your mini map and changing the tab to show PvP areas. The number of points can vary depending on a) the number of players in the group and b) the level of the NPC(s) or Player(s). Players who take part in building Unrest points against a port gain Personal Contention Points.

Pirate PvP

A red circle appears on the map, with the contested port in the center, once the Unrest points reach 3,000. Pirate PvP signifies an area wherein Pirates and Privateers with the skill “Sanctioned Piracy” may initiate combat against other players.

Additionally, once a port reaches 5,000 points, no unrest missions may be performed at that port except the Patrolling (Port) mission. This means the only way to move the port's unrest up or down is through combat.

Full PvP

Once the number of Unrest points reaches 6,000 points the Pirate PvP area is given a wider radius and what was the Pirate PvP area becomes a Full PvP zone. The Pirate PvP area is the same as described above, but inside of the Full PvP zone any player of any nation can attack any player of another nation.

Flipping a Port

Now that the Unrest point total has reached 10,000 points, a port battle is scheduled for 46 hours later at the contested port and the Attackers and Defenders start building Conquest points. The PvP zones will remain until the port battle has been resolved. Players who have personal contention points are entered into a lottery for invites to participate. The higher the number of personal contention points you have, the greater your chances to participate are. Players may still gain Personal Contention Points once a port has flipped. Conquest Points gained after the port has been flipped can allow for strategic advantages for the port battle such as modified wind directions and alternate starting spawn points.

Quote: Originally Posted by Taelorn
You earn unrest points to put a point into contention. Once the port goes into contention at 10,000, you earn contention points via the same activities. Those contention points are added up for the entire nation. There are numerous advantages that are given to the nation based on those points. The bonuses are different for attackers and defenders.
You'll be able to see what bonuses you've earned through NPCs in the ready room sometime before R1.

Port Battle Scheduling

A port battle will start no earlier than 46 hours after it has been put into contention. Port Battles always start on a full hour so the time is rounded up if necessary. If a port is put into contention on the 11th of a given month at 17:30 the battle is scheduled on the 13th of that month at 16:00.

A single nation can not have multiple defensive port battles starting at the same time. If this were to happen each subsequent port battle is scheduled 1, 2, 3 etc hours later. For example if on the 11th between 17:01 and 18:00 four Spanish ports are put into contention. The port battles will be scheduled on the 13th at 16:00, 17:00, 18:00 and 19:00 respectively. Note that this only happens to defensive battles. If Spain were to also put an English port into contention at 17:30 of the 11th that battle would start at 16:00 on the 13th at the same time as the first defensive battle.

Leading Up to the Port Battle

30 minutes before a scheduled port battle a warning is broadcast to all players stating that invites will be sent out in 17 minutes. Players should have their port battle ship selected, outfitted, and armed at this point. It does not matter where you are in order to take your invite (in a different port, on the open sea, etc), just as long as you have the right ship you should be good to go. Once the 2 minute window of opportunity has passed, players who took their invites will find themselves in a ready room to discuss strategy and form groups. The timer will go down and players will be asked to zone into the map, or be kicked from the ready room.

Resolving the Port Battle

The attacker wins by defeating all defenders. The defender has the same victory condition. If the attacker is unable to locate / defeat all of the defenders, the attacker may instead destroy both gun emplacements on the map which starts a 30 minute timer. When the timer reaches 0, the attacker and defender may leave their ships to enter the Town. The attacker is also granted an alternate victory condition to defeat the 4 Lieutenants and then the Garrison Commander inside.

As the attacker, destroying one of the gun emplacements enables them to land within the Fort (please note this is NOT the same as the Town). The fort has no bearing whatsoever on the victory conditions for either side, but it will shoot the attacker as long as the Lieutenant inside is alive. The defender may enter the Fort from a side entrance at any time.

When a player is sunk in their ship, they lose 1 point of durability on it. If a player is defeated in avatar combat within the Fort or Town, no durability is lost.

The battle has a timer for two hours. In this case the defender wins.

After the Battle

At the end of it all someone will win. If the defender wins the port stays in their hands and the PvP zone disappears. If the attacker wins they gain control of the port and other nations including the defender must pay extra taxes when manufacturing goods there and individual players other nations might be banned from the local Auction House depending on their Reputation. If the attacker or the defender was the Pirate nation the port will be returned to the defenders control after 48 hours. If the victorious attacker was the Pirate nation the PvP zone will not disappear until the port reverts back to the control of the defender. In all other cases the PvP zone will disappear.

Other Sources of Information

• The Final Battle - a devlog by Isildur including the different port battle maps and tactics.
• Æ's in-game mappe - An online map simulating the in-game map including up-to-date conquest information.