A Guide to War

## Overview

War is one of the primary ways to force your influence physically. From being able to kill players, to forcing them into a nation, to raiding their treasury, wars can altar the future of a town and nation. Due to the significance of war, this article will provide an in-depth detail to how wars work.

### PVP and Combat

Towns can toggle PVP with "/t toggle pvp". In times of peace, towns can disable it, but during a siege a town has PVP on. In addition, the wild has PVP on, meaning anyone can attack you in the wild. Skirmishes can happen all the time without an official declarations of war. It is strongly advised to disable PVP in your town when possible to assure a peaceful time. Players can attack towns they are not at war with when PVP is enabled within the town. For this reason, be careful!

Something else players may want to look into are military uniforms for cosmetic and organizational purposes. *Check here for more information*.

### How Battles are Fought

Fights can only count to a town winning during a specific window called Battle Sessions. In these windows, the goal is to control the region nearby the flag. Fights can only count to a town winning during a specific window called Battle Sessions. In these windows, the goal is to control the region nearby the flag.

By killing a siege participant, the other side gains 150 battle points. Partial Keep Inventory still applies during these battles.

In a 16-block radius around the banner is a region known as the Timed-Point-Zone. When a siege participant moves into the zone, a Banner Control Session will start. Enemy players in this region will glow. After remaining alive for 7 minutes within this zone, your side will be added to the Banner Control List. Each minute you control the region, your town will gain 30 minutes per play. For example, 2 players controlling the region will provide 60 points a minute. If the other team captures the zone that you've already captured, they now have control over the zone and the points gained are doubled. Now a single player controlling the region will provide 60 points a minute. This stacks until the battle session is over.

Allied nations can also fully contribute to each other's banner control, meaning allying with nations is highly important.

### Declaring and Ending Wars

Wars are declared by placing a banner right outside the enemy's border. Along with ladders, banners are one of the very few things that can be placed in the wild. When a war is declared, it does not immediately start the fighting. This can only happen during Battles (check further up this article). When a war is declared, the attacker town automatically puts in a deposit of money that the winner keeps. This price is scaled to the defender's size.

There are also revolt wars. Towns may be occupied by other towns with a few effects such as: change in the town's Dynmap colors, obtain Guardian town effects (effect needs to be further investigated), and altars the "/n list" rankings. Occupied towns can declare revolt wars by placing a white banner outside the town.

Wars are ended in two ways: surrender or through the time running out. A town can end a war early (can only be done 12 hours after the war was declared). A town may surrender by placing a white banner nearby the original banner. From there, the winner can demand a reward (check further down this article for more details). After 3 days, the war will also end immediately.

### The Aftermath of War

If the attacker wins, they have two options: plunder the town or invade the town. These options are only presented for 24 hours after the war is over.

To plunder a town, the attacker's king places a chest nearby the banner after the battle is surrendered or the 3-day window is open. The window to make this demand only lasts for a day.

To invade the town, the attacker's king places a WHITE banner nearby the original banner after the battle is surrendered or the 3-day window is open. The window to make this demand only lasts for a day. Invaded towns stay part of their home nation, but have a few addition effects since they're occupied by a foreign town. This will change the town's Dynmap colors, obtain Guardian town effects (effect needs to be further investigated), and altars the "/n list" rankings.

If the defender wins, they automatically get the money the attacker deposited at the beginning. The defender will also obtain war immunity for 3x the length of the attack. This also prevents occupied towns from revolting for 75% of the duration of the attack.

## Strategies

In Islands, there are specific strategies for winning wars.

### Musket Warfare

An effective weapon in fighting enemies is muskets. Although difficult to obtain and require high organization to produce on a large scale, muskets can provide severe advantages. An example of this is the Kirn-Gamer war, which led to a Kirn victory despite being outnumbered 4:1.

### Diamond Armor

Diamond armor is one of the few armors that can protect the player from being killed by muskets in one hit. For this reason, players should equip themselves properly with Diamond Armor