Chumleigh's list of so-called unfair spells and abilities

This proves that there really are not any unfair tactics or spells on Nox. This game is really well made and, if done correctly, virtually everything can be countered, prevented or avoided.

Blink
CTF issue: using Blink in a CTF to transport your teammate carrying the flag is not unfair. It is called teamwork and can be used by all. Summoning Blink Bombers to blink your opponents so that you could follow the blink and carry the flag is definitely not unfair because the blinked opponent can still kill you. Using Blink Bombers to blink the opponents away and keep your flag safe is not unfair, since Bombers have 1 HP and WIZ can cast Anchor on self if theyre lazy J When a CTF team lacks some classes (for example a team with only WARs), it is called unfair teams, not unfair gameplay. By many it is considered unfair to spam blink, because if cast repeatedly, it is hard to fight the blinker. Arguments that prove that blink cannot be unfair: Although the spell description says that Blink takes the player to safety, it is often not so. If a player uses blink much, he is likely to be killed by a random fon, ram, fireball or be killed in a different matter. If not killed, he can get slowed, ran, fumbled, warcried, anchored, confused or stunned without having time to invert. He will not know where he will appear and it may be certain death, like on spyfort.map where it is possible to get disintegrated by the sentry laser in the lava cellar. Blinking is not recommended if elimination is played on this map. When its CON vs CON, WIZ vs WIZ or CON vs WIZ, blinking is totally fair: everyone can use blink. WIZ can, of course, anchor CONs and stop them from blinking but this is really not an unfair benefit for spamming blink, since I have never really seen a WIZ anchor a CON and then blink away at full health. This would be hilarious (fear?). Well, theoretically, it is possible that a WIZ anchors his opponent, shoots him with something deadly, hoping it hits and then blinks away to be untouched. But this is really too time-consuming for WIZ and also impossible because WIZ has no instant-killing spells that stay in the room after the

WIZ has blinked (dray is the only one but why dray? Your opponent will be dead or half-dead. When he is dead, why flee? When he is half-dead, why lose a cheap kill?) With CON, on the other hand, it is easier to kill people with Crossbow + Pixie + Blink and stay untouched if he misses his shot. However, this benefit is required to BALANCE the game. CON is physically the weakest class (because WIZ is fortified with FF) and can be one-hit by all 3 classes. If you aim well, you only need to press one button (possibly right mouse button) to kill a con with WIZ and the same goes with WAR EVEN if the WAR is far away: the WAR can just ram and if he has Full Chainmail or stronger armour, he cannot be one-hit with crossbow. If the WAR is close and has ram on cooldown, the CON is very likely dead EVEN if he blinks, because the WAR is faster than the CON and can follow blinks. This can be prevented by slow, of course, but slow can also be prevented by a Greatsword. CON cannot one-hit anyone except a CON (which is fair combat, 2 CONs blinking). They only exception is Force of Nature, which, imho, is not an overpowered spell (see further under FoN section) and preventing it is not harder than other spells. A perfect WIZ can instant-kill a perfect CON from any range with a click while the perfect CON needs to perform at least two actions to kill quickly (no instant-kill). WAR vs WIZ, it can be said that blink is really not an issue, because it is not really a benefit for a WIZ to blink from a WAR. If the WIZ does this continuously, he will just get less kills. The WAR can always and will follow Blinks with his high run speed or Berserker. With ram, the war will likely deal 150 damage to a noob blinker. CONs use full-health blink more often than WIZ because WIZ have other and better defence and have no instant-kill fear. Blink is essential for a CON to survive. Being slowed, stunned, harpooned or outnumbered in combat with poor placement likely means an instant death to a CON with full health. So, it is not unfair to blink when the CON knows he is in a bad situation and about to be rammed, drayed or hammered. Because CON is a weak class, as mentioned before, Blink

is important to BALANCE the game because CON in fact has to fight from as far as possible. WAR wants the combat to be close (near), for WIZ, the best is midrange, because then he keeps opponents off, relies on his strong defence (Force Field, Haste, crowd control spells: MoM, Fumble, Run, Confuse, Shock) and aims better. But when CON gets close, it is easy to kill him so Blink is the only thing that can save him, although blinking often doesnt save a full health con (Anchor, Slow, Berserker, unlucky Blink = death). WAR and WIZ both have stronger defence and are faster, thus they prevent damage better. Blink is needed to keep the con deadly. Thus, continuous blinking cannot be unfair. WIZ is a class with most powerful defence and it is stupid to spam blink with WIZ. It can only get you randomed and you lose the lessons that you would have otherwise had. It is not unfair; it is stupid, even when youre a Trapper.

The truth about Traps

Q: What about a nasty WIZ trapper who only sets Traps and always blinks when someone finds him? A: It is possible to avoid every Trap in the game. When you know theres a nasty trapper like that, he can be prevented. Traps become visible when people come near them and more experienced players do not step on them. Traps are not invisible to WAR and CON. Q: What if a WIZ makes a Trap in the middle mana stones where people are often? Is this not unfair? Other WIZ cast Teleport to Target to get between the mana stones to replenish mana. They cannot see the Trap from the distance. A: It is possible to avoid every Trap in the game. It is never smart to teleport into mana stones. Cast Teleport beside the stones instead, a few metres away. I admit, I myself often like to teleport into mana stones but in elimination or when there is a serious trapper to handle, this caution is easily taken. Q: What if a Trap is on an elevator or a teleporter exit or under a door?

A: This is a very popular location for Traps so this is to be expected. It is possible to avoid every Trap in the game. Firstly, Traps are not invisible. WAR and CON can sight them and avoid them if theyre seen in dangerous locations. In a situation where it is essential to stay alive (elimination), such Traps can be prevented by Invulnerability and Tread Lightly. To use Tread correctly, you need to MOVE while on the trap. This can make using elevators difficult, but this is learnable. It is easy to cast Tread and start moving 0,1 seconds before the elevator arrives second floor and CONs can place a summoned creature to the elevator or teleporter to enter it before the CON. I myself prefer the jump tactics with goes same for all classes and is easier to learn. For all classes, there is another way to prevent being trapped. It might be annoying at first but when you jump through doorways and jump while arriving with the elevator or the teleporter, you will be untouched by the Trap. Through doorways, the following jump is certain to keep you alive if there should be a Wall behind the door. View the following graphic:

Door red, Wall light blue, Trap dark blue, jump direction black 1. If you jump straightforward, the Trap will kill because you will not know about the Wall behind the door and the Trap is only 10% visible through the door. The Wall stops the jump and the player will land on the Trap. 2. If you jump 45, not 90 with the door, the Wall will change the jump direction so you will be untouched by the Trap. In order for this to work, the jump should be performed as close as possible to the door but not too close. If you know your opponent is a sneaky trapper, you should always use this 45 jump.

Teleport to Marker

We can start thinking of all sorts of nasty scenarios that happen when the WIZ starts playing gay with Teleport to Marker. Contrary to the popular belief, TtM is not deadly in Traps because Traps can be avoided. It might get nasty if the WIZ uses TtM near an opponent. The victim thinks the WIZ blinked, he follows his teleport and gets killed by a Trap that waits in the marked location. Here is where the games unique features come in play. Did you think the game has spell casting chants for nothing? Well, here you go, the chant of Blink and TtM are quite easily distinguished, though it can be difficult at first. Some experience with nasty trappers over the years might help. So, if you hear a TtM chant in elimination (or in CTF with a flag or KotR as a king*), do not follow it. In other game modes, it is just frickin funny to get killed like this and no real frag source. * Following opponents teleports as a flag bearer or a king is questionable anyway. Q: What if the WIZ is just impossible to catch in elimination and just casts TtM each time someone finds him? A: WIZ and WAR can prevent the trapper from teleporting (Anchor, War Cry) or survive the teleport (Invulnerability, Tread Lightly). CON should never follow a TtM in elimination. He has Infravision and he can search the whole map for Traps and disarm it. This cannot be very hard to find, it is probably in a remote location in a secret room or surrounded by a Wall spell. You should keep an eye on the spot where the trap was and try to kill the WIZ while he discovers the Trap is gone so that he could not make new Traps. Until you keep an eye on the spot, one of the 4 TtMs is safe to follow. It is up to you to listen, which one. Q: What if the trapper casts TtM1, I follow him (because with all classes there is a way to prevent the Trap, as explained earlier) and he runs away again and casts TtM2 and kills me with another Trap? A: TtM1 and TtM2 have different chants. If this guy fools you, hes a frickin genius. He should be awarded. Do be aware that if you did not disarm the Trap, he might just cast TtM1 instead of TtM2 and catch you off-guard. Q: What if the WIZ teleports me into a map trap (the spikes in library.map, paradise.map)? You just have to be prepared for this stuff on these maps. When there is also an Anchor trap in the spikes to prevent blinking or if you are WAR, this can be certain death. So, you should never follow a TtM with WIZ or

CON before disarming the Anchor trap. With WAR you should just never follow a TtM in these maps in elimination and try to War Cry the WIZ. In conclusion, TtM traps are difficult to avoid and can mean real trouble but it is not impossible, so it is not unfair.

Swap Location (SL)

This cannot be unfair even in elimination and even when used together with Invisibility and Traps. When the Camper Alert is on, it is impossible to stand still without being noted on the minimap. The WIZ can still be a threat then but not when all the scenarios are considered: WAR is saved by Tread Lightly. Using Berserker while TL is not advised, because while running Berserk, Tread becomes temporarily passive. Try Chackrum to kill him from out of sight (WIZ might use Reflective Shield, though). Try to fool the WIZ by running into his sight without Tread and when Swap Location is cast, start Tread quickly again and teleport into the trap while moving. Now you need to find the WIZ quickly before he can lay another trap. When the WIZ is camping in a bad location, it is a lot easier to finish him off with a War Cry. CON and WIZ can just spam Inversion in any situation against SL and survive. The WIZ might try to keep moving so that the Camper Alert would stay off. While this can be dangerous, this is not unfair play, because a running Invisible WIZ is not invisible and when unlucky, can be sighted. When there is no Camper Alert on, it can be more difficult but never impossible to win. WAR always uses Tread Lightly and will survive. WIZ can try Invisibility + Drain to find the trapper and Invulnerability to defeat him. If there are no windows on the map, it is safe to slowly search for the WIZ. Always be ready to Invert, especially at the doors and corners and also be ready to get drayed. It is safer to cast Infravision on fastmoving summoned creatures and make them Hunt and follow them far behind until they find the WIZ and then it should be a lot easier.

Conclusion. Since all Traps can be avoided, none of them are unfair to use. They can be avoided with attention and keeping in mind all the tips given earlier about teleporters, elevators and doorways, using Eye of the Wolf, Tread Lightly, summoned creatures, Infravision and Invulnerability and of course all protections, Potions and armour available. Be prepared for some WIZ to try dropping Traps under you. Avoiding this is also a matter of speed and readiness.

It can be frustrating for a WAR to be teleported behind a pillar or another location where he survives but stays imprisoned (pillars on losttomb.map). This is not unfair imho, since in elimination, the Trap is as deadly as any other Trap and can be prevented like all other traps. In arena, this can be a good way for weaker WIZs to prevent strong WARs from winning and reminds me of D&D spell Imprisonment. It is never guaranteed that you can avoid 100% of the Traps with WAR and CON but with enough care, it is possible to survive and defeat the trapper.

WAR/CON traps
WAR and CON can trap too! From a WAR, this means camping at an elevator, teleporter exit or a door. This is not really unfair, because the WAR will always be in danger of being killed by someone who comes from the other location. A camping WAR can almost always be overplayed, at least in theory. CONs can make a Ghost and all sorts of nasty creatures at the elevator, door or teleporter exit. This can be easily countered by jumping as described earlier. This should save the WAR even if there are 4 Ghosts (WIZ and CON can Blink, of course). Using Ghosts against WAR is not unfair because WAR can instant-kill all the Ghosts without any weapons and armour and the Ghost movement is predictable. Using Poison Blink Bombers can help a CON steal additional kills but this is not unfair, because Bombers have 1 HP.

Crowd control missile skills

This category includes all blue missiles that deter the victims gameplay directly: Slow, Stun, Confuse, Run, Fumble, Missles of Magic WIZ and CON can all invert these spells or blink if they want. CON will likely lose the Inversion battle against WIZ because of a lesser mana pool. That is where Counterspell helps the CON out (although takes more mana, it helps avoid the Invert spam battle). Also, it is not suggested to confront a WIZ at all with little mana. For WAR, these spells (except Stun) are more of a problem. Still, they

cannot be unfair, because shield/greatsword.

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Spamming Slow or Run to get +kills is not unfair because as shown, these spells are countered or inverted. In case of spam in big crowds, some might still come through, especially for newer players. This is still not unfair because this can be done by WIZ and CON while WAR can get kills very quickly in arena and they can also get +kills from Harpoon, even sometimes twice from the same opponent (Player X harpoons player Y, soon player Y dies, player X gets a kill, then player Y dies again in 5 seconds and player X gets a kill again while not touching player once and using only one Harpoon). So, Slow and Run are needed to balance the amount of kills towards the spellcasters in a ramfest. In 1v1 combat, the spam is not such an issue. Fumble is not unfair because of the amount of mana it takes and the possibility to invert/counter. MoM spam is quite futile against Greatsword. It is long ago proven that this is not unfair. Anchor was left out for obvious reasons. It is just easy to say: Do not get slowed, stunned, fumbled, ran or confused. You might want to avoid fighting the people who use these spells in open and trying to defeat them in more strategic map locations with WAR. It is always best to kill the WIZ before he starts casting any of these spells. WAR has good starting skills for this.

Instant-kills
Force of Nature is clearly an overrated spell. While it can be used to kill a lot of noobs, experienced players not often fall for it, mainly through a bad blink or when it randomly comes behind the corner or through the window. With a bad blink or random movement, FoN is really the best that can happen to you, because it is really slow and easily countered or inverted with a shield or a greatsword. Random Berserker, Fireball or Crossbow Bolt are a lot faster and thus more deadly. Instant-killing tricks like double-dray and Crossbow + Burn / Toxic Cloud are deadly but they need perfect aim and timing and thus provide a worthy lesson that is not unfair. A badly timed War Cry against a WIZ kills the WAR for sure. Still, it needs to be badly timed (against some WIZ, it is difficult to time it well). In that case, when the WAR uses Harpoon + War Cry, the WIZ can just instant-

kill him with Triple Fireball Staff. When the WAR does not use Harpoon, the WIZ can use Dray + Fireball to finish the WAR. Still, these tactics are not unfair because WAR can always choose a better place to fight a WIZ, a place where he can make a surprise or have obstacles (like mana stones) block the Fireballs. Spamming Shock is not unfair even with Invulnerability on. This eats a lot of mana but even if he uses Drain Mana, the opponent can always counter, warcry and keep the WIZ under blue missile debuffs since he has no room left for Inversion. The WIZ will mostly win when the opponent comes unprepared, which can happen to himself when he is unprepared. Fireball spam is not unfair even with Triple Fireball Staff + Fireball spell because it takes a lot of mana, can be blocked and avoided with good movement. The spammers often stand still or run in a linear direction and this makes him easier to kill. Camping for a long time will be dangerous for the camper even without the camper alarm because he draws attention. An additional aura of light is also visible around the campers window. Besides, everyone can use the windows and doorways to camp. I myself often check the windows with a warning crossbow shot even if I do not know if someone is there. So, campers can also provide kills to other players. Spawnkilling and camping at equipment spawnspots can be frustrating to new players but are not unfair against experienced players who have many possibilities to counter this. For me it is an interesting challenge if someone camps the Crossbow. Nobody should ever be dependent on one item in the game. It is easy to mix up tactics and find a way to kill the camper. Wizards have no problems, conjurers have blink and slow; warriors have great speed and survivability (along with the trustworthy sword) alongside them. There are other things that are sometimes called unfair such as Telekinesis, Chackrum, Stun Staff (stronghd.map, kingdoms.map), Fire Greatsword (theguild.map, deepfrze.map) but I am too lazy to speak about them longer for now. Imho, they do not make the game unfair.

So, all these things are as fair as the Crossbow glitch. Just like without the Crossbow glitch, the game would be unbalanced without this stuff. I am quite sure that there will be someone who reads this and disagrees with something. I would be happy to discuss it with him J