Armies of Gielinor

From FunOrb Wiki

Armies of Gielinor

Genre	Strategy
Release	15 January 2009
Multi-player	Yes

This article or section contains links to our sister site, the RuneScape Wiki.

Armies of Gielinor is a FunOrb turn-based strategy game based on the RuneScape world, set in the time of the god wars.

Players summon fighting units from the RuneScape world, including a King Black Dragon, which despite being the most powerful unit in the game is available even to non-members. These are used to fight other players, with up to 8 different players per game. There are 75 distinct units, although the most a player can have available during a single game is 41. Members can play Rated games, which can earn them runes to buy additional fighting units, gods, equipment and prestige coats of arms.

Contents 1 Gameplay 1.1 Currency 1.2 Maps 1.3 Terrain 1.4 Structures 1.5 Units 1.5.1 Unit Classes 1.5.1.1 Effects on combat 1.5.1.1.1 Exceptions: 1.5.2 The Units 1.6 Playing Strategies 2 Runes 3 Player Ratings 3.1 Rating Glitch 4 Coat of Arms 5 Equipment 6 Prestige Coats of Arms 7 Updates 8 Achievements 9 Trivia 10 References

[edit] Gameplay

Armies of Gielinor is a turn based strategy game involving the interaction of units on a square grid. Players start with a Barbarian Chieftain, which is able to capture buildings, the most important being a nearby portal. Once a portal has been captured, the player is able to summon units using Mana. Units are used to fight the other players. Many units are aligned with a particular god, and require the player to have a suitably high favour to summon them. Favour is increased by summoning a unit of the highest level possible for that god. There are also neutral units, which can be summoned if the player has a high enough favour with any god, or by creating neutral units. The aim of the game is to fulfill one of three victory conditions, before any of the other players. These victory conditions are:

1. Defeat all opponents (by capturing all their portals and killing all their units).
2. Accumulate the maximum victory points for the level.
3. Accumulate the most victory points when the turn limit expires.

Victory points are gained each turn, based on the number of villages, portals and towers the player has. Villages give 25 victory points, portals give 50 victory points and towers give 75 victory points. However, if an enemy player places a unit on top of of theses structures, the amount of Mana and victory points they yield is halved. A small amount of victory points is also given to the players at the start of the game, based on the turn order. This is 25 victory points for each player that has a turn before the player.

[edit] Currency

Mana is the currency used to summon units in-game from portals.

Mana is gained at the start of each turn and at the end. The amount one receives at the beginning of the turn is equal to the victory points that you will get at the end of each turn, which means that you will get 25 MP for village, 50 MP for each portal, and 75 points for each tower controlled. The Mana one receives at the end of one's turn is dependent on how much time was left. The more time that was left, the more Mana you will receive. You will not receive any victory points, however.

Runes are earned by completing games and function similarly to Wands in the popular game Arcanists - are received at the end of rated games, and spent on new gods, units, prestige and equipment. Runes can be earned even if you lose a game, however more are received for doing better, or for staying in a game longer.

Some units of a new God are received free when that god is purchased, but rest need to be bought with runes. The number of runes to buy a new unit is the same as the unit's level. Units from Bandos, Seren, or the Menaphite Pantheon, however, will cost four times their level, and the gods take 50 runes to merely unlock.

[edit] Maps

There are 4 themes (Misthalin, Kharidian Desert, Frozen Wastes, and Hallowvale Swamps) for the maps, and 4 map sizes: small, medium, large and epic.

Map Size	Player Range	Turn Limit*	Map Size
Small	2	15	20 by 20 (400 tiles)
Medium	2-4	20	30 by 30 (900 tiles)
Large	2-6	30	40 by 40 (1600 tiles)
Epic	4-8	40	60 by 60 (3600 tiles)

* There is an option to make the game length double, triple or quadruple the default number of turns.

Map Theme	Map Size
	Small	Medium	Large	Epic
Misthalin	Small	Medium	Large	All Epic-sized maps are randomly generated, so cannot be mapped.
Kharidian Desert	Small	Medium	Large
Frozen Wastes	Small	Medium	Large
Hallowvale Swamps	Small	Medium	Large

[edit] Terrain

Tiles can contain terrain of various types, which can affect movement and sometimes gives a defence bonus. Flying units are affected by terrain defence, but not movement factors.

Type	Movement Speed	Exceptions	Defence Bonus	Other Information
Open	1	None	0%
Track	1.5	Flying units: 1	0%
Structure	1	None	Village: 20% Tower: 30% Portal: 0%
Swamp	0.33	Amphibious units: 1	10%
River	Impassable	Skirmish units: 0.33 Amphibious units: 1 Elemental of Elidinis: 3	10%	It can be difficult to see the difference between rivers and seas. You will need to look closely to see the difference, or you'll need to click on it to check.
Sea	Impassable	Amphibious units: 1 Elemental of Elidinis: 3	0%
Forest	0.5	Guthix units: 1	20% Guthix units: 30%	Ranged attacks can't pass over these tiles except that flying rangers can shoot over mountains. However, if there's two forest or mountain tiles diagonally from each other, range attacks can go through the middle.
Mountain	Impassable	Ourg: 0.33	40%

[edit] Structures

The more structures you capture, the more Victory Points you get at the end of each turn. Structures can only be captured by two units: Barbarians, and Barbarian Chieftains. Each turn, the structure loses an amount of strength equal to the barbarian on it. When its strength hits 0, the structure is captured.

Image	Structure	Strength	Victory Points Per Turn
	Village	10	25
	Portal	10	50
	Tower	15	75

[edit] Units

Initially the only units available are the neutral ones and the free ones from Saradomin, Zamorak, and Guthix. It costs 50 runes to purchase each additional god (Seren, Bandos, and the Menaphite Pantheon), unlocking the units listed as "free" for that god. Players who have purchased an additional god have to choose which three gods to take with them into each game.

[edit] Unit Classes

Each unit has a class, which distinguishes it from units of different classes.

Icon	Class	Description
	Skirmish	Skirmish units are fast and can cross rivers. They are less effective in close combat and cannot attack flying units.
	Warrior	Warriors are effective in close combat but cannot attack flying units and are vulnerable to magic attacks, as their armour magnifies the effect of magic spells.
	Ranger	Rangers attack at long range. They are effective against mages and flying units, but weak in close combat.
	Mage	Mages' spells are powerful and can travel great distances. They are effective against warriors, but vulnerable to rangers.
	Helper	Helpers are weaker in combat, but each has a special way of helping other units in the game.
	Flying	Flying units cannot be attacked by ground units, but are easily picked off by ranged and magic attacks. Additionally, they can pass any terrain.
	Plant	Plants cannot move, but are hardy and can function as walls to hinder the enemy.
	Titan	Titans are strong enough to inflict maximum damage on all things, but are often slow moving and expensive to teleport in.

The class is relevant in combat, as certain classes give greater or lesser advantages against other classes. These relationships are summed up in a diagram, where a lack of a line between two classes means that neither has an advantage.

[edit] Effects on combat

Each unit attacking inflicts a proportion of its strength as hits on its opponent. The % of str that is inflicted depends on the relationship between the 2 units. ^{AoG Forum thread on damage}

Relationship	Combat effect
Attacker >> Defender:	90% str inflicted
Attacker > Defender:	90%
Attacker = Defender:	50%
Attacker < Defender:	50%
Attacker << Defender:	25%

[edit] Exceptions:

Flyer vs mage are =, but both behave as if >> than the other, in other words they will both hit 90% of their str on each other.

Mages behave as if they are << to each other, so they will always hit 25% of their str on each other.

Titans hit each other for 90% of their strength as if > to each other. Any titan that gets 1st attack on another titan will at least almost completely destroy it, and the Ourg can completely destroy the weaker ones. The Ent's extra move (4 vs 3 for the others) is potentially cruicial in any Titan vs Titan matchup, as is good use of other units to shield.

Rounding: Damage results are rounded down.

Terrain: Terrain effects are applied after damage is calculated as above, including rounding.

Counter attack: A unit attacked at range 1 counter attacks using the same procedure, but using its strength after losses have been inflicted.

[edit] The Units

Select a tab to view the units of that alignment. (Note: if no links appear after this paragraph and you have JavaScript enabled, just be patient).

[edit] Playing Strategies

Claim rushing:

This style involves building as many barbarians as possible and sending them to claim as much as possible. Often used early game, especially on large maps where there are a lot of resources. In team games, this type of playing style is used to greatly increase team gain. This style has very low military value, but is useful if trying to gain the King Black Dragon (KBD).

Low-mana surge:

This style involves very few barbarians, and a lot of low cost military. Often relies on the idea that two weak units can beat one strong unit; this is not, however, perfectly accurate. Can be deadly in a well setup team game, but it often not as good in free-for-all games, as it takes a while before numbers become decent.

leveling surge

This style involves quickly trying to increase you favor with a god so you can very quickly pull out powerfull units. Very deadly on small maps and team games if done right. Is sometimes combined with claim rushing (see above).

[edit] Runes

Runes are awarded to members playing rated games according to how well they do in the game. Runes are received whether games are won or lost. Winners tend to receive more runes than losers, but it is possible for losers to earn more than winners.

Each player receives 1 Rune for each of the game award received. Most awards have a threshold that must be reached before they can be received, so a game that ends early usually results in fewer awards and runes. No awards or runes are received for any game ended on turn 1.

Award name	Description	Threshold needed before it will be awarded
Most Summons	Self explanatory	?
Most Units	Most units in play at end of game	?
Most mana spent	Self explanatory	?
Most victimised	The person that was hit the most	?
Most buildings	Self explanatory	?
King Black Dragon Summoner	Self explanatory	Summon the King Black Dragon in a game.
Toughest unit	Unit that has killed the most enemy units	? (Unit does not have to survive)
Biggest bully	?	?
Most Cruel	Taking over the most enemy structures (portals, villages, towers)	Probably a minimum number to be taken over?
Most health lost	Self explanatory	?
Most health recovered	Self explanatory	?
Most kills	Self explanatory	?

In addition runes are awarded for completing a game to the full number of turns, or until only 1 player is undefeated. The number of extra runes given the winner/loser varies according to the size of the map and length of the game:

Map size	Normal length	Double length	Triple length	Quadruple length
Small	5/3	?/?	?/?	?/?
Medium	8/6	?/?	?/?	?/?
Large	11/9	?/?	?/?	?/?
Epic	?/?	?/?	?/?	?/?

The number of bonus runes awarded is decreased if the games ends because a player resigns. The winner receives a pro-rata rate (ie 1/3 bonus if 1/3 turns completed, 1/2 bonus if 1/2 turns completed), the loser receives 0 if resigning before the game is 1/2 competed, then pro-rata over the remainder if resigning in the 2nd half of the game.

[edit] Player Ratings

Fun-Orb members have an option of playing in rated games.

Members start with a rating of 1000, which increases or decreases as members play games.

Winning rated games increases a members rating, losing decreases the rating. Draws can result rating loss for the higher ranked player, but never give any gain for the lower ranked player. ^{Mod Thaddeus - AoG Ratings}

In 1:1 games the amount of rating gained or lost depends upon the difference in rating between the 2 players. A maximum of 100 rating can be gained if a player beats another who has a much higher rating. the minimum gain is 1 point for beating a player with a much lower rating. The inverse applies for losing games - 100 is lost for losing to a player with a much lower rating, 1 is lost for losing to a player with a much higher rating. The gain/loss is 50 for players with equal ratings.

the formula for rating gain/loss is approximately (results are sometimes 1-5 ratings points either side of what it gives):

Gain/loss = (opponent's rating - your rating)/13.5, +50 if you win, -50 if you lose.

The maximum gain or loss is 100, the minimum is 1, so any values higher or lower than this are set to 1 or 100 as appropriate. The 1/100 min/max is achieved with a rating difference of about 700 or more.

The formula for gain/loss in team and multi player games is not known at this time, but the maximum and minimum gain/loss is the same as for 1:1 games.

[edit] Rating Glitch

During the week 23-30 March 2009 there occured a glitch whereby all wins scored 100 rating. This enabled people to amass over 5000 rating before it was fixed, by winning many games vs less experienced players.

The glitch was fixed within 2-3 days, however several people who achieved very high ratings have since ceased playing rated games in order to preserve those ratings. The highest practical rating for people playing regularly is approximately 2600-2700.

The effects of this glitch are currently still visible on the highscores table, with approximately 2/3rds of the players on page 1 of the high scores (13 of 20), and a few on page 2, having artificially high ratings and no longer playing rated games.

[edit] Coat of Arms

Each player can create their own coat of arms by piecing together separate parts. More pieces are available after getting certain achievements, like the Dungeon Assault titles. There are 6 separate components to choose: shield with or without ordinary; right supporter; left supporter; scroll; crest; and charge. This coat of arms is shown next to each player's name in-game. Each individual part has several designs, most with something to do with the achievement required to unlock them. Each part also has 32 colours to pick from, though some parts (like the trim on some helmets and shields) remain one colour, while the rest of it is changed.

[edit] Equipment

Main articles: Armies of Gielinor/Items, Armies of Gielinor/Spells, and Armies of Gielinor/Potions

These are items you can take with you into battle, to help tip the balance in your favour.

Equipments in Armies of Gielinor are one-use consumables that you can use on your units to apply a certain effect on them. They disappear once used and another must be bought to use on a different unit, even in unrated games. However, they are infinite-use in the equipment tutorial. They only last until the end of the game you are playing.

They are split into three categories: Items, Spells and Potions, each of which are split into sub-categories, and for some even sub-sub categories.

[edit] Prestige Coats of Arms

Armies of Gielinor has a Prestige system similar to the one in Arcanists, despite having many differences. Prestige can be bought for a heavy cost in runes, and for each prestige bought, a whole new coat of arms is unlocked. Unlike in Arcanists however, buying a prestige does not reset anything nor make it harder to win runes.

Coat of Arms	Level	Cost		Coat of Arms	Level	Cost
	1	50 runes			2	100 runes
	3	250 runes			4	500 runes
	5	750 runes			6	1000 runes
	7	2500 runes			8	5000 runes
	9	7500 runes			10	10000 runes

[edit] Updates

On January 29, 2009, Jagex posted a schedule of future updates to Armies of Gielinor, as well as projected release dates for each update.^{Mod Nirdgerl - AoG Proposed Updates}

The first update, released on February 26, 2009, included:

• A team battle mode, for a range of players between 4 and 8.
• An option to manage a game's turn limit.
• Changes to the interfaces that help display a unit's movements and attack abilities.
• In-game information on different types of terrain.
• Poisonous attacks will cause green splats.
• Improvements for the in-game minimap.
• New achievements.
• Changes to prevent 'portal camping'.

The second update, formally projected for release in April 2009, but released on May 14th, includes:

• The trinket system, where players can purchase items (such as potions and spells) to use in-game.
  • Trinkets will be bought using runes, similar to units.
  • Trinkets will all be one-use only.
  • Multiple trinkets will be able to be held, with a certain limit usable per game.
• Team chat
• Prestige

The third update, timescales to be confirmed (projected for Summer 2009), will include:

• A single-player campaign mode that allows the player to progress through a mission system with each individual god.
• A new fixed point battle mode, where each player chooses units before the battle instead of teleporting units in.
• New terrain types.
• New structures that will have different effects on units.
• New gods and units (which have not yet been specified).

A previously unannounced update was released on 13 October 2009, introducing the Hallowvale Swamp map type, making the Kharidian Desert available to F2P, and new achievements [1]

[edit] Achievements

Total Achievements: 32

Total Orb Points: 5,500

[Secret Achievements] | [Hidden Achievements] [Halloween Achievements]

No.	Image	Name	Requirement	Orb Points	Orb Coins	Members
AZ		Agree to Disagree	Win a four player rated game in which you have no gods in common with your teammate.	100	1	Yes
AY		Apocalypse	Win a Rated Team game in which the teams have no gods in common.	100	1	Yes
AM		Armageddon	Win a 2-player Rated game with no gods in common with your opponent.	200	2	Yes
AN		Army of Bones	Have 25 animated skeletons on the map at once in a Rated game.	200	2	Yes
AH		Big High War God	Win a Rated game using only Bandos and neutral units.	200	2	Yes
AK		Bulletproof Monk	Level a monk up to 20 Strength in a Rated game.	300	3	Yes
AB		Dawn of Battle	Play a Rated game.	100	1	Yes
BD		Dead Weight	Win a rated game in which one of your teammates is responsible for less than ten percent of your team's kills. The weak player does not get this award.	100	1	Yes
AP		Dragonslayer	Defeat the King Black Dragon in open combat in a Rated game.	500	5	Yes
AR		Fear of Flying	Win five rated games without using flying units.	100	1	Yes
AC		First Blood	Win a Rated game.	200	2	Yes
AF		Fist of Guthix	Win a Rated game using only Guthix and neutral units.	100	1	Yes
AX		Fragmentation	Telefrag an enemy unit with the crystalline shape shifter.	100	1	Yes
AA		Good Learner	Complete the tutorial.	100	1	No
AO		Got To Get Them All	Obtain all units for all gods.	300	3	Yes
AW		Hail to the Chief	Win a rated game with your barbarian chief alive at the end.	100	1	Yes
AQ		Immortal	Win a rated game without a single unit dying.	100	1	Yes
AG		Light of 1,000 Crystals	Win a Rated game using only Seren and neutral units.	200	2	Yes
ZZ		Master of the Marshes	Win 4 Rated games on Hallowvale Swamps maps.	200	2	Yes
ZZ		Monster Feast	Use barbarians, werewolves, skeletons, necromancers and no other units to win a Rated game during Hallowe'en.	200	2	Yes
BE		Multi Faith Society	Win a Rated Team Game where you and your teammates all use the units of only one god (and not the same god).	200	2	Yes
BB		My Sphinx, Therefore, I Can	Using a Sphinx's mind control, kill an enemy with a teammate's unit.	100	1	Yes
ZZ		Peril of the Plains	Win 4 Rated games on Mitshalin maps.	200	2	Yes
AD		Saradomin Be With You	Win a Rated game using only Saradomin and neutral units.	100	1	Yes
BF		Share and Enjoy	Have every player in your team use the same temporary portal at least once after it is opened by one of your team's portal mages.	200	2	Yes
ZZ		Sire of the Sands	Win 4 Rated games on Kharidian Desert maps.	200	2	Yes
BC		Sole Survivor	Win a Rated Team Game as the only remaining member of your team.	100	1	Yes
AE		Strength Through Chaos	Win a Rated game using only Zamorak and neutral units.	100	1	Yes
AJ		Tactically Agnostic	Win a Rated game with all gods on the same favour level. Favour level must be greater than 1.	200	2	Yes
AV		Tactically Atheistic	Win a rated game with all favour levels other than Neutral at one.	300	3	Yes
BA		Team Player	Win five Rated Team Games.	100	1	Yes
AL		Thinking with Portals	Use all level 5 units for your chosen gods in a Rated game.	200	2	Yes
AI		Tumeken Rises This Morn	Win a Rated game using only Menaphite pantheon and neutral units.	200	2	Yes
AT		Warlord	Win five rated free for all games with six or more players.	200	2	Yes
AU		Warmaster	Win ten rated free for all games with six or more players.	300	3	Yes
AS		Warmonger	Win a rated free for all game with six or more players.	100	1	Yes
ZZ		Wrath of Winter	Win 4 Rated games on Frozen Wastes maps.	200	2	Yes

All information for these achievements is stored on their respective pages, along with walkthroughs and tips for many of them. So, if you notice a mistake, or have a good strategy, go there!

Did you notice a missing achievement? You can help the FunOrb Wiki by making a page for it. Simply type the achievement name in this box to make a page for it.

[edit] Trivia

• The only free achievement in the game is 'Good Learner', which is based on the tutorial, 'Learning the Ropes' in RuneScape.

• In the tutorial, there's a city called Eastbridge, based on Cambridge UK, where Jagex Headquarters resides.

• The game was originally planned to be released on 14 January, but was delayed a day to fix a potential problem, and delayed further on the day of release to fix a problem with "resigning in the game".^[1]

• In theory, a single game could take 3 days, 13 hours, and 20 minutes. It could actually take over that, because of the battle cutscenes.

• The 'Bulletproof Monk' achievement probably refers to the movie Bulletproof Monk.

• The 'Got to Get Them All' achievement was originally titled "Gotta Catch 'Em All", a reference to the motto of the early seasons of Nintendo franchise Pokémon's animé series.

• The 'Thinking With Portals' achievement probably refers to the video game Portal.

• The 'Fist of Guthix' achievement is a reference to a RuneScape minigame with the same title.

• The 'Dragonslayer' achievement is most likely named from the Dragon Slayer quest on RuneScape.

• On January 29, a small update changed the voices of troops when you won and the objects thrown by gargoyles (rocks instead of axes).

• The capture gameplay aspect has been reused in a RuneScape mini game Soul Wars where you capture graves and obelisks by holding them.

• The ingame music is the same from the game music on RuneScape. The songs for the different gameplay points are as follows:

-Multiplayer Lobby - 'Legion'
-Combat - 'Attack', tracks 1-6
-Standard Terrain - 'Principality'
-Beginning of Kharidian Desert Map - 'TzHaar!'

• The 'Share and Enjoy' achievement most likely refers to the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy.

• The 'My Sphinx, Therefore, I Can' achievement is probably a reference to the "I think, therefore I am" argument.

• The Gargoyle description in the Army Setup still says it throws spears, but it throws rocks.

• On July 8th, 2009 a hidden update added a single new large Misthalin map

• Armies of Gielinor is currently FunOrb's #3 most played game.

[edit] References

2. Mod Nirdgerl - AoG Proposed Updates 3. Mod Thaddeus - AoG Ratings 4. AoG Forum thread on damage