Lets start with how pvp worked back in kos:
Players who are able to attack you have a red border around their name (like an aggressive NPC) Players can attack enemy players who are higher level than a certain amount below their own level, the amount depending on the zone they are in. Attacking a player whose level is too high to attack you allows them to counterattack. If a player in your PVP level range is grouped with a person who is too high to attack you, that person will NOT have a red border around their name, they are unable to attack you; should you initiate combat with them, the higher level person they are grouped with is then free to attack youPVP level range varies by zone:
•Tier 1 (Level 0-9): 4 levels
•Tier 2 (Level 10-19): 4 levels
•Tier 3 (Level 20-29): 8 levels
•Tier 4 (Level 30-39): 8 levels
•Tier 5 (Level 40-49): 10 levels
•Tier 6 (Level 50-59): 10 levels
•Tier 7 (Level 60-69): 10 levels
•Tier 8 (Level 70-80): Unlimited
If a player is "carnage flagged" (a red icon with a skull beside their name) they can be attacked by anyone of an opposing faction. Players in a hostile city zone become carnage flagged after a short period of time. This is normally a 15 minute buff.Difficulty:
Solo players consider as solo Grouped players consider as heroic Players in raid consider as Epic x2/3/4, depending on how many players are in that raid; 7-12 players is Epic x2, 13-18 players is Epic x3 and 19-24 players is Epic x4. Characters grouped with someone that would normally be too high for your level range consider as arrow up, those grouped with characters normally too low for your level range consider as arrow down. Alignments:
There are three alignments or teams of players on PVP servers. Characters of Qeynos make up the Good team, characters of Freeport make up the Evil team, and Exiles are allowed to attack and be attacked by anyone. Citizens of differing factions cannot communicate. Evil characters speak Lucanic, Good characters speak Antonican and Exiles speak Argot and other languages cannot be spoken. Chat channels are separate for different factions and only members of your own faction show up in /who queries. The only trading or exchanges permitted between factions are through Fences, neutral brokers. Characters on opposing teams cannot group, and guilds are all aligned with a faction and are exclusive. PVP Combat:
Many items, spells, combat arts, etc. have separate stats when used in PvP combat. This is to make up for the fact that players have less HP than NPCs. Threat abilities tend to force enemies to be targetless (detaunts), lock their targets to the taunter, or do nothing. Other than taunting targeting is unrestricted in PVP. Melee range is increased and rear/flank-requiring attacks (such as many Scout attacks) will work with either flank or rear positioning. Control abilities (Snare, Root, Stun, Fear, Charm, Stifle, Mez, and Daze) cause immunity to that type of ability for twice the duration of the effect. These abilities last way longer than they do on live, but back in kos the long durations were a good thing for class balance. Ability ranges are more lenient and will work after the initial cast as long as the target stays within 2x the range of the ability. Spells are less likely to be interrupted in PVP. Stealthy/invisible characters can be seen by opposing characters within 20m. Going into stealth, turning invisible or feigning death during combat makes opponents targeting you lose their target. Healing or buffing characters does not put you in combat (This was only in kos and got a nerf, but it is appropriate)Players respawn in different areas of zones depending on their alignment. Walking backwards is slightly slower than walking forwards on PVP servers. Heroic Opportunities are unusable in PVP combat currently. Groups or raids engaged in PVP battle cannot be joined, left or kicked from until the battles are over. Rogue classes are unable to Pick Pocket other players. Predators can receive bounties from killing blue-or-better players. Honorable Kills: Any kill of the opposing alignment that was engaged while the target had greater then 50% health. All players that generate at least one point of hate with the victim while the victim’s health is above the honorable kill threshold will be eligible to receive rewards, including experience, status, faction, and the ability to loot item or coin dropped by the other player. Neutral Kills: Any kill of the opposing alignment that was engaged while the target had greater then 20% health. Neutral kills result in moderate faction gain. Dishonorable Kills: Any kill of the opposing alignment that was first engaged while the target had less than 20% health. Dishonorable kills result in a loss of faction with both your alignment and the opposing city’s. Losing enough faction will cause you to fall out of favor with your alignment, and will restrict or remove any access to the rewards system. Note: Dishonorable/Neutral status will be removed if the victim’s health goes above the specified thresholds during the course of the fight. The Kill List: Honorably killing another player will place them on a list tied to your character, designed to reduce friend farming and griefing. Any Honorable subsequent kill of the same player will result in a Neutral kill until you have killed 20 other players. Players will be removed from your list of recent kills after 30 minutes of real time. Players will be removed from you list of recents if you kill more than 20 players in a first in first out order. Mentoring or un-mentoring another player takes 30 seconds, and players cannot engage in PVP (or defend themselves) while mentoring.Fame/Infamy/Notoriety:
Fame/Infamy/Notoriety
Fame (Good Characers) is known as Infamy by Evil characters and Notoriety by Exiles. Fame is gained from killing enemies neutrally or honorably and decays when a player is killing by someone within the same ranks. For, example a non-rank can get fame from non-ranked, and hunters. Hunters can get fame from non-ranked, hunters, and slayers. Slayers can get fame from hunters, slayers, and destroyers. Destroyers get fame from slayers, destroyers, and champions. Champions can get fame from destroyers, champions, and dreadnaughts. Dreadnaughts get fame from champions, dreadnaughts, and generals. Generals get fame from dreadnaughts, general, and masters. I'm pretty sure you get the pattern and if you get killed by someone is that infamy range you can lose your rank no matter who kills them.
The titles are
Untitled Hunter Slayer Destroyer Champion Dreadnaught General Master Overseer Overlord Warlord Coin:
Players that are honorably killed can be looted for 60% of the coin they are currently carrying with them. Coin kept in the bank is not affected, so it is important to store money in the bank if expecting any PVP. - Note - There have been accounts of people losing upwards of 80% of their gold to PvP. Items
There is a chance that players that are honorably killed will drop a chest containing a random item that is COMMON, UNCOMMON, TREASURED, or HANDCRAFTED and not ATTUNED or NO-TRADE. LEGENDARY, MASTERCRAFTED, FABLED and MYTHICAL items may not be looted. Acquiring Gear:
There are three methods to acquiring your equipment. Player made Master Crafted gear will serve you fine for the most part. Keep in mind that there will be people better geared than you who will always have an advantage. Non-Raid loot drops are usually of less quality than Master Crafted. Until you are Raiding or doing high end group content, its not advised that you PvP with loot dropped gear. PvP equipment is available through the PvP City Task system. By completing tasks you collect tokens as well as faction which allows you to purchase PvP gear.Abilities can be acquired through loot drops or made by players. Sages create spells. Alchemists create Fighter abilities. And, Jewelers create rogue abilities. Loot drops are typically Adept I or Master I. Player made abilities are Adept IIIAA in pvp:
AA points can easily determine whether you lose or win a fight against an evenly or even lesser geared enemy. Rarely are you going to win a fight with somebody who hits harder with massive crits, heals faster, or runs faster. Unlike a PvE server, where natural accumulation of AA points is acceptable; PvP requires that you try to max out your AA points (1.5 x Level) as best you can. Fighting on a PvP server with less than suitable gear, abilities and AA points is the equivalent to fighting wearing a paper bag and wielding a plastic straw. AA cap in kos is 50 points at max level Running/Escaping/Suicide:
Contrary to some people, running away is a very solid tactic. When you lose a fight, somebody is gaining something. A portion of the coin in your purse, a random item or more importantly a PvP Writ update. Deny them that satisfaction by getting away!
Running Away:
In order to run away and survive you're going to use several tactics. The First is the environment. They can't target or land an attack if they don't have line of sight. Run behind rocks, trees and into mobs. Second, Make sure you're buffed up on speed including sprinting. It may drain your power, but you're running for your life so who cares? If they can outrun you your effort is futile. Get to a Zone point if possible. Most people camping a zone will turn around as soon as you Zone out. Not always, but its a last ditch effort to deprive them of a Writ Update.Escaping:
This is a Rogue ability gained at T4 that allows you to escape to the nearest revive point and avoid a fight. Note that if you initiate an attack and are unable to break combat you will not be able to use this ability. This is ideal for avoiding groups that surprise you or you see ahead of time on your tracking window. In a group, it will evacuate the entire group to the nearest revive point unless a member of your group initiated the attack.There are various items that also allow for escape/evacuate by non-Rogue classes via Quest rewards and LoN.
Suicide:
Suicide was made popular during the introduction of Kingdom of the Sky. Then it was referred to as "Cloud Jumping". Primarily a form of self-preservation for those who had gained a PvP Title and didn't wish to lose it. So, jumping to their death kept their title in place as there was no fame loss from dying to "natural causes" so to speak.Fractions: On pvp servers, certain classes are limited to which sides they can be on.
Q side: Paladin, swashbuckler, Ranger, Templar, Mystic, Conjuror, Monk, and illusionistFreep side: Shadowknight, Assassin, Brigand, Inquisitor, Defiler, Necromancer, Coercer, and bruiserExile: Exile is a neutral based alignment that can have all 24 classes with no restrictions. Classes that can be on both sides: Warriors, Bards, Druids, and Sorcerer This is all I can think of, if I'm missing anything from kos pvp or I'm wrong on some terms please feel free to comment. I will add more later for raiding, loot, etc