While this weekend saw a few major sieges in DarkFall, including the use of a Man-o-War (the biggest ship in the game) against a coastal city, my weekend PvP was on a much smaller scale. Due to two new clans taking over previously inactive hamlets in our area, we have some new, local PvP hotspots to poke at.

Isturak, owned by RIP, is a dwarf-style hamlet to the east of Dagnamyr. It’s built up on a platform of sorts and is very tightly spaced, making it rather difficult to fight inside thanks to the guard tower protecting the bank area. However the area all around it is wooded hills with plenty of large rocks and trees to use as cover, and it was exactly this terrain that we (Inq) used to set a little trap.

In a previous trip some days ago we had a good number of RIP members chase us out of the hamlet in pursuit, and using this knowledge we decided to send two members in to stir the hornets nest while two others (myself included) hid behind a large rock just to the south of town. The plan was to get RIP to chase our initial two past our rock, and for us to ride in from behind and hopefully inflict enough alpha strike damage to end the fighting quickly.

After some initial ranged fighting at the hamlet, RIP pushed our two guys out with a force of five, and just as expected gave chase as they backed away. We waited behind our rock for just the right moment, and when it came, we rode out and hit them directly in the flank. The surprise of the attack was obvious, as we managed to take down two quickly and pursue two more as they tried to run back to the hamlet. In the end none escaped, and their Supreme General (a highly skilled player who had given us some trouble in the past) arrived to fight just as his members were put down. While he put up a valiant effort, the odds were stacked against him and he too was brought down. A bit of satisfying revenge for our previous defeat at the hands of RIP, and overall a great little battle.

Later that same day and with the same crew of four, we headed north-west to Ishar Ruins. This previously near-empty hamlet is now the home of Bloodthirst, an active clan with one notorious (from Inq’s perspective) player, Greatest Dane. Simply put the guy is a beast; literally because he is a Maharim, and figuratively because he has likely killed all of us at one point or another with brutal efficiency. As we crested a hill to look down at the hamlet, we saw quite a bit of activity, and before we even had a moment to consider a plan, a group of 5-6 players emerged from the hamlet throwing spells and arrows at us.

We backed off a bit until we crossed a larger rock that we felt would be a good spot to engage. Yet after a quick battle we noticed even more enemies had come out of the hamlet, and so we again mounted up and retreated back towards Dagnamyr. Luckily for us no one lost a mount and fell behind, while more than a few of them dismounted to try and bring us down. What this did is stretch their force out between their hamlet and Dagnamyr, and when we did finally engage just outside of Dag, we initially only fought three players, two mounted and one on foot.

Out of those three two went down rather quickly, quick enough in fact to allow us a little breathing room and recovery time before the rest arrived. The entire battle lasted a good fifteen minutes, and in the end five Bloodthirst members were dead and the rest ran off, including Greatest Dane, who was once again a force but was kept somewhat at bay thanks to well-timed focus fire. We had him on the brink a few times, yet for one reason or another we never could bring him down.

During the fighting I redlined twice, once in the initial battle as I was meleeing in a 1v2 and then a second time as a mounted straggler engaged me. Knowing the numbers were in our favor, my goal was to bring his mount down quickly, and in the process I ended up taking a few hits. Once the mount was killed the player engaged me in melee, and while I was able to keep him at bay long enough for help to arrive, it was certainly close due to my stamina being low from all of the previous fighting.

In the end however victory and all the spoils from it were ours. While our group of four was a collection of some of our top members, it was evidence that as a clan we are improving in small-scale combat. At various times we had good support, be it timely healing or simply peeling an enemy of an ally. We also did a good job in finishing off opponents and getting ganks off to prevent rezzing, something that is key when engaged outnumbered. As more of our members skill up and really define their characters, our PvP force will only grow stronger, opening up bigger targets (popular cities) with richer prizes.

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