How To Avoid Dying In CPK
How to avoid dying in CPK, By Trithalos
Contents
ENTER CHAOTIC PlayerKill Area (Loot Limit: Unlimited, Level Loss Chance 100%)? (y/n)
Long ago, growing up and hero’ing in the Order of Eternal Champions town I listened, bugged, and asked as many questions as I could regarding CPK. Back then they were the most powerful EQ town and allied to one of the most powerful CPK groups, Mythions 88 and Urimar’s 68. In effect I had a great “childhood environment” to learn a lot of the aspects of med. Many players put up with my childlike questions and provided a great catalyst to improve my med play. Players like Elander, Jabari, Mythion, Taloc, Therac and Keirgar to name a few. I also bore the brunt of a Tharspasm on multiple occasions as he was not a fan of my casual willingness to try new things without having a clue of what I was doing.
The base set of knowledge I gained there allowed me to enter situations with a different perspective, granted large room for experimentation, and drastically improved my gameplay and knowledge. This set of knowledge has enabled me to control my CPK environment. To date, these rules have never failed to keep me alive. All of my CPK deaths were either a direct acceptance of the risk of a dice roll or a failure to respect these rules. Analysis of my infamous 3bil death in Castiack to Aimon and Lycanthu's tech setup follows this article.
With that said, before hitting YES at the prompt, I recommend the following:
Principles:
1) Being good at CPK and being good at NOT getting CPKED are two very different things.
Being good at avoiding death will allow you more opportunities to learn how to kill others. Not to mention enjoyment of the bonus rewards CPK areas have to offer. What would you do with an invulnerability suit?
2) Before entering CPK you should have the following things in order
a. Purpose
b. Directions
c. An Escape plan
d. Sanctuary is far less important than the above 3.
3) Upon leaving CPK you should take a quick reflection. Did anyone see you? Are you auctioning equipment right after running it? Who’s aware of your activity? Are you becoming predictable? Are you making yourself a target?
4) Get to know the zone’s choke points.
Anything which inhibits your movement is a choke point. Mobs that take a while to kill, anti-Flee rooms, move drain, blocker mobs, doors you must go through. All of these areas for pause are where CPK’ers will focus on setting traps at.
5) Get to know the zone’s hidden mobiles keywords.
If you know all the mobs and where they can hide and where they don’t this will allows you a great advantage explained later.
6) Get to know the zone’s agro mobs and detects.
Is the mob aggressive? Can it see invis? Can it see hiddens? Test it out by standing in the room invis and then hidden. Mobs which can detect invis and hiddens are called stake busters. Rock Toads and Ogre Warriors will attack any hidden player therefore any hidden in their room likely isn’t a player and if it is, they’ll have to move or get hit.
7) Learn all the door keywords and if they are searchable or not.
1) Rathernols trapdoor in bloodstone
2) Castiack Wall
3) Fire Giants Picture
Feel free to mud mail me your guesses or answers for the answer.
Rules
1) Before entering the zone, “c sense presence” a known mob which always loads. If it doesn’t show up, it’s either dead or the zone isn’t popped. If the zone isn’t popped, no one can be inside. Try a different mob to be sure.
2) If the zone is popped, we should assume someone is here or has been here. We will use helm everywhere, even non-cpk rooms. Using a helm is superior to casting for multiple reasons. NEVER ENTER A ROOM BLIND. Assume any room you don’t see has at least 2 hidden players in it spamming your name. There’s a reason a cpker will have a totally base set worth 12mil but will make sure they buy a 60mil hf helm.
a. It’s less lag.
b. It can’t be fumbled.
c. It’s 0 mana.
d. You can do it while engaged.
Always helm then move back to digest what you saw. No reason to be a stationary target counting hidden when if they are players, they may have helmed you as well and will come running.
3) Scout everything possible before beginning to kill mobs. Don’t waste time killing mobile 1 and 2 only to find out mob 3 is blocked by a stake. May as well scout first then run. There’s been a few times I’ve been on a stake where because the person failed to scout and assumed they were safe since they’d been in the zone for 30 minutes and dropped their guard. Other CPK’ers historically have failed to scout an entire zone and setup their own stake a few rooms away from a rival group. These situations always lead to a slaughter.
Also if you scout before killing, and you find someone, you can leave without them ever knowing what you were going to do. The less the enemy knows, the better.
Before scouting, make sure you have sanc, manashield, and maximum images. A high level mage scout is pretty much impossible for a stake to deal with.
When scouting, you are navigating through the zone assessing and processing hiddens. Assessing a hidden means, “should it be there?” and processing means, “is it the probable mob or is it a player.” The following tips will allow you to do this effectively.
4) If you see a hidden, say at turn in fg, type “consider meazle”. You’ll get a confirmation back that it’s either easy for you to kill and is indeed a meazle. Or it will miss which means the hidden is not a meazle and probably a player. If there’s 2 hiddens in the room, you only need to consider 2.meazle. You don’t have to check each one. Some people use emotes like “high5 meazle” and you can do that too if that’s your style. Make sure to move while doing this and stack commands. {e;e;con 2.mea;w;w;w}
If two people are spamming trip in a room, the most “points” they can cover are 2. There’s a total of about 16 ‘pulses’ between trip lag. Leaving you with 14 open windows to get your two commands off, consider, and move, if you stack it. Let’s say they do hit a trip, if you have 8 images, that’s a 1 in 9 chance it hits you. Even if it does get to your player, trip is a 50-60% success rate. Total all of this up and if you stacked commands it’s a less than 1% chance of being hit. Go ahead, do the math. {.0083} Ambush brings this up because it’s irrelevant to images but no one has thieves these days.
5) If you see a hidden and it’s in a spot where only a certain # can load, like the well in estate, you can sense p 4.reaver, if it’s alive, you can safely say all the hiddens are the normal expected reavers. If not, you know the reavers have been killed and replaced with players.
6) If you see a hidden in an area where if a player were to hide, they’d have to be invis due to wandering mobs, you can dispel your detect invis and see if the hiddens still show up on helm. If they don’t, you know it’s an invis player.
7) Always open a door with the least amount of lag necessary and move as you do so. Pick door, move 4 rooms, check where, was anyone on the other side spamming open door, south? Go back, open the door, move out of the way, did anyone flinch? Go back, helm what was past the door, any hiddens?
8) If you must search open a door, do so with a formation and put yourself in the back row so you cannot be tripped and if the enemy tries to bash they’ll only hit the guy in the front row. They’ll have to hands and that’s one less person trying to stun you! Get a charmy or a buddy to help. If you have a buddy, the form leader should walk in, the other guy should search, and the formleader should immediately run out of the way and hit “where” incase enemies are on the other side are waiting to move when it opens. If you can’t get a charmy or a formy, you can hide at the door for 3 minutes and then search it open and run away and hit “where”. Chances are the enemy will drop their guard if you disappear from where for a while. However, this is still risky as you may fail your hide and be on the entire time.
9) Watch where. The entire time you’re in, you should be checking where every 4th round or so. Every “where” attempt is a scan at trying to find someone trying to rush you. Note just because you only see someone on for 3 seconds, doesn’t mean they are far away. They could have shadowed successfully to within 3 rooms of you.
10) Always be moving. The more distance you cover the more your enemy has to cover. The more they have to cover, the more risk they have at being spotted by you.
11) Always sacrifice your corpses. Enemies like to “c loc corpse” to see the room names of where you’ve been and try to grasp where you’re going next. Don’t tip your hand.
12) When killing things, helm periodically for “hiddens” which suddenly move closer to you. A player may be lucky enough to dodge your “where” but they still can’t avoid the helm.
13) After icing a mob, immediately move out of the room, check where, then go back to loot. Sometimes players will camp close by and try to cherry pick you after a mob. Either way, known mob locations are ‘hot spots’ or “choke points” we mentioned earlier and should be treated with extreme caution.
14) Minimize your time in CPK. Try to obtain your objective as fast as possible while obeying the rules. The longer you stay the more likely someone will spot you. The more you get spotted, the more likely they’ll try to sculpt a plan to hit you. Also, If you’re known for being quick you’ll force the enemy to be hasty and screw up.
15) Escape with a menthol potion. Make a macro to “quaff menthol” so you can hit it as soon as you see someone pop on where, or as soon as a player engages you, or if a mob is about to kill you. Don’t flee, don’t c word, just hit your macro and menthol out of there. No other command is safer.
a. Quaff menthol can’t be fumbled. Believe it or not, fumbling “c teleport” or “c word” has lead to the stripping of many great players.
b. You can quaff a menthol while sitting, resting, any status. The only spell you can cast while sitting in combat is recall and transport. This is important as trip/bash put you into a sitting status until a melee successfully hits you causing you to stand up. This gives you an advantage because the beginning to all trip traps are only a few people engaging you which means it isn't likely a melee will pop you up. They also cannot trip a sitting person. So you could be sitting, not in lag, while enemies are getting "You cannot trip because target is already down." but not able to cast c tele because "You cannot cast this while sitting" and your opportunity to escape is missed when Rzael changes from trip and lands a bash on you.
c. No mana? No problem.
d. Muffled? No problem.
e. nstore a menthol in your inventory and make sure it’s there before you go in.
f. Make sure your macro works.
g. Practice it. Sounds silly but when you get surprised panic can set in quick and lots of people have typed q maethol where they should have safely ported out med instead processed, “You do not have that item.” Or “You must be confuse.” And then were tripped before their next command went through.
16) Have wimpy set to 255. If you wimpy, it will require them to take action and risk messing it up. You could engage a mob and wimpy again. Some rooms don't tell players which way you fled when wimpying. So players have to check multiple rooms. You may get a mob ice instead of a player death. They may Footfall the stab. All of these chances add up and are in your favor. There is no downside to having wimpy on when trying to avoid a stake. The only downside to wimpy is if you are actively fighting another player and they want to try to get mobiles to get you to flee when you don't want to.
To recap. None of this has anything to do with fighting another player this is only stake avoidance and death protection. This is a lot of work but by following it, it makes you nearly invincible. Having a another player with you doubles your odds of seeing someone on where and makes it safer to walk around as stakers will have to worry about which person to spam and how to get a hands off.
Analysis of the 3bil death in Castiack
Link to full log from my POV is here: [1]
Background: Basically, I watch the zone for a bit after restart and notice the beginnings of what appears a stake. Suspicious movement of the enemy troops around Castiack. This is shortly after a restart but not immediately after. I then leave the area as we had no one setup or ready with the intent of checking back. We do an assessment and agree we can't hit their full force so we decide to try to wait until their interest in Castiack diminishes and people leave their stake. This was during a time when more than 2 people could hide in the same room. So it is likely they could put 16 in 1 room but 30 minutes later only have 8.
Carl ::: in 30min want to rush ::: Dredarius chats k marking clock' Carl ::: think they have that much patience ::: Dredarius chats 30 mins then we kill' Carl ::: for a 120-18 man stake :::
So we wait.
Chojan than appears on where. Not a direct member of the enemy town and I personally didn't know the alts of his being Sichad, who was in enemy town. He didn't fly in, just appeared.
Most of my team has stopped paying attention as it's been a while so I work with Tildabuilda to take action thinking Chojan will hit the 53 stake if it's there.
Carl ::: lets see if he gets litup ::: Carl ::: tilda u in range? ::: Pete (814) uh yeah Dredarius chats i'm here' Carl ::: k gonna mal trans if they hit chojan ::: Carl ::: we'll sneak in ::
After a while Chojan doesn't get hit, dropping my suspicion of a stake.
Sean chats why didnt we rush castiack again' Carl ::: cuz they had guestimated 12-18 ::: Sean chats oh' Sean chats good enough reason' Carl ::: didn't see much interest cept for 5 of us ::: Carl ::: hm or castiack isn't staked at all :::
And I begin shadowing in going directly to the last mob in the zone, Queen Fiona, as he's been on where with more than enough time to get that far. Being careful I helm and con any hiddens on my path in.
I then find Fiona unopened and make the false assumption:
Carl ::: k no stake =p :::
as all the remaining areas they could have staked, to my knowledge, were seen by me. The only places left that I hadn't helmed, have mobs which can see hidden and invis, "stake busters". Meaning they'd have to keep SR's up and lure mobs away. It didn't occur to me that Chojan would be the person keeping SR's up and mobs away. So I dropped my guard.
I also wait at Fiona and didn't time it. It was over 10 minutes, a very suspiciously long time. In ignorant cockiness I shadow to Dannon, that's also not opened. I then shadow to harpy savenger. While I'm doing this, Tilda reports Nyeddan is around him. This would be unusual activity for him which should have perked my interest.
So far two things should have caused me to just leave: Chojan, not running the zone in a timely fashion, being on where for 30+ minutes. The stake I was so convinced was there, suddenly not being there nor showing up anywhere else in the game. The players were still missing. Nyeddan appearing in a spot out of his norm, which also is a spot to rush Castiack from.
At this point I'm checking the very first mob which takes 2 minutes to run yet in the 30+ minutes Chojan has been here, he should be beyond that by now.
Let's review my current status:
- Purpose - Fail. It doesn't make sense, I should have left.
- Direction - Fail. I know all the directions in castiack like the back of my hand. But, as it will turn out, I did not review this with my team so not all of us knew directions.
- Escape Plan - Fail. I thoroughly thought through the escape plan by giving Tilda a poetry, an ec in, and he'd cover my escape. However, I failed to verify directions or assess his knowledge of the zone beforehand. I never thought of a personal escape plan dependent only on myself.
- Sanctuary - Success. I am sanct'ed. But it turns out not to make a bit of difference except keeping me alive for maybe 2 more rounds.
- Choke Points - Success. I knew these well. This is ok.
- Hidden Mobile Keywords - Success. I knew these as fog/faerie which is correct.
- Mob aggros and detects - Success. I knew these as well
- Door keywords and behavior - Success.
Rules:
- Sense P - I did this long before the log started. Part of the sensing the stake was there.
- Assuming someone is there and helming everywhere. Double Failure. I incorrectly assumed there wasn't a stake and I helmed everywhere EXCEPT the last room I entered.
- Scouting w/ precautions. Failure. I was not imaged. I also did not scout the first place first and got comfortable, assuming no stake due to the passed time and Chojan.
- Consider mobiles. Failure. Once I got to Fiona, I incorrectly assumed there wasn't a stake and only helmed, never conned from then on.
- Sense p total hidden mobs. Not applicable
- Use detect tricks to figure out if the hidden is invisible. Failure. Unsure if it would have mattered.
- Open door w/ least lag possible. Success.
- Searching Doors w/ form. Not applicable.
- Watch where. Success!
- Always be moving. Not applicable as I'm trying to hit Chojan, not avoid being hit by him.
- Sac Corpses. Not applicable.
- Helm while fighting. Not applicable.
- Move after icing. Not applicable.
- Minimize time in CPK. Failure. I stayed in for well beyond any reasonable timeframe. This allowed my enemy to setup even more forces to support the stake. With the 10 they had in the stake, they were able to see me shadowing around.
- Escape with menthol. Failure. I tried to, "c word".
- Wimpy 255 on. Failure.
The hit:
[TAGGED!][S]<769hp 1451m 610mv 100br> s
w
hide
A Large Foyer Leading Into the Dining Hall
It is pitch black...
Obvious exits:
West - Darkness...
(0) (0)
[TAGGED!][S]<769hp 1451m 608mv 100br>
Pete (814) nyeddan on where around us carl
A Luxurious Dining Hall
It is pitch black...
You sense a hidden life form in the room.
You sense a hidden life form in the room.
Obvious exits:
East - Darkness...
South - A Timeworn Kitchenette
(0) (0)
[TAGGED!][S]<769hp 1451m 606mv 75br> chug jug
A suit of copper dragonhide mail's colors swirl and blend to match your surroundings.
(0) (0)
[TAGGED!][S]<769hp 1451m 606mv 75br> chug jug
chug jug
You chug the eggnog.
You feel a surge of invigoration run through your body.
You feel drunk.
(0) (0)
[TAGGED!][S]<769hp 1451m 610mv 75br> You chug the eggnog.
You feel a surge of invigoration run through your body.
You feel drunk.
(0) (0)
[TAGGED!][S]<769hp 1451m 610mv 88br>
You chug the eggnog.
You feel a surge of invigoration run through your body.
You feel drunk.
(0) (0)
[TAGGED!][S]<769hp 1451m 610mv 88br> uh s
You shudder as the death knight takes control of your body and glares south.
You inhale and concentrate.....
A Timeworn Kitchenette
You sense a hidden life form in the room.
You sense a hidden life form in the room.
You sense a hidden life form in the room.
You sense a hidden life form in the room.
You sense a hidden life form in the room.
Obvious exits:
North - Darkness...
East - A Well Stocked Pantry
(0) (0)
[TAGGED!][S]<769hp 1451m 610mv 88br>
Aimonsorcio trips you and you fall down!
Aimonsorcio slowly fades into existence.
Xyrolix joins the fight!
Xyrolix slowly fades into existence.
(0) (0)
[TAGGED!][S]<769hp 1451m 610mv 100br>
Carl ::: uh :::
c wor
Aimonsorcio is in excellent condition. (100%)
So. Even after I failed some of the purpose statements and could have avoided this. I still had a chance to live if I obeyed the rules:
- Helmed before I moved. I went s, w, without helming. This walked me into two hiddens. I helmed the next room and gave pause as it was an abnormally large amount, but I should have helmed the first.
- When I entered, there were two hiddens, both spamming my name continuously, I successfully executed 5 commands. None of them being "consider" to verify if they are mobs. I could have easily considered, walked out, known there was a stake.
There could have been a larger chance for my escape if I:
- I was imaged. Since I wasn't his trip was directly on me instead of a chance at my images. Therefore instead of a 7% chance to hit through images, he had a 60% chance and won. (Had I used consider, he never would have had a chance to trip me or my non-existant images)
- I didn't have wimpy set, made it even easier.
- I tried for menthol instead of word. It's possible I could have wimpied and the menthol fire before they got me. Not likely with that many people, but possible.
- Verified that my "porter" knew directions and where I was heading before hand instead of retroactively.
Things that would have made it less painful:
- Don't enter CPK with redudant items you don't fully own. 4 CI Pholes, 2 CI helms, etc.
