Rakion: Chaos Force/Gameplay

Rakion is a free, three-dimensional, fantasy action online game developed by the South Korean company Softnyx. It was in a free "closed" beta testing from August 11 - 25 2005, in a limited group of countries (which included the United States, the UAE and at a later date, Europe).

It switched from development to open beta testing on October 13, 2005, which ended on December 1, 2005. At this point, the game began to follow a similar model to Softnyx's other MMOG, GunBound. Users may purchase "Softnyx Cash" with real-world currency and spend it on "Power User" status (which offers various benefits and unlocks further ingame purchases) or items that are often very powerful and not available to the non-paying public.

Story
LIMITERS EDITION Players from the original Closed-Beta test of Rakion International, were able to read the storyline of Rakion. What has been released indicates that the battles in the game are part of a wider series of conflicts over "cell" - a substance that can be used to summon ancient creatures from a war that took place ages ago, concerning the Crop Kingdom and Alcon, although another conflict took place against Cane, who harnessed part of Alcon's Power. Rakion takes place after the conflicts.

The core of Rakion is "Cell System." This is a History about Rakion and "Cell System."

Chapter One: The Birth of Alcon
Once upon a time, there was a time when monsters ruled over the world and human beings were merely a small community. White Dragons, the king of the monsters, worried about the world becoming deserted and despaired due to the exceeding number of monsters. Therefore, they kept the balance between the monsters by waking up from their hibernation and eliminating any monster species that threatened to take over the world by overpopulating themselves.

However, one day, humans tried to take over the world by learning and training themselves with higher level of knowledge and magic than the monsters. The White Dragons started to wake up from their hibernation slowly, and the King of the humans, Zadro, tried to make truce with the White Dragons, but realized that it was out of his abilities to do so. Therefore Zadro tried to slow, or even to stop the attacks from the Dragons by actually going to their castle. The White Dragons watched the humans in interest because unlike monsters, they tried to reach an agreement through compromising, and they had the bravery that risked even their own lives.

Finally the White Dragons decided to give the humans another 500 years and went back to hibernation. The leaders of the Dragons transformed their form of life to something else and soared into the sky with traces of glitter behind them. The remaining White Dragons told Zadro: 'The leaders are always connected with this world, but will only watch and never come back on their own will. They will certainly keep their promise, but can you? Our waiting may bear a disaster, not mercy.'

Zadro announced this to all humans but the tales of the white dragon faded from everyone's mind even before two centuries had passed.

Chapter Two: Visiting of Alcon
The year of 1025, a magically powered comet named "Alcon" started to drive its course toward the continent. The magical power of Alcon affected monsters in the continent and increased the monsters in number. The honorable mage Rooman found out that Alcon has set its course to the great field of "Roperd", the biggest field in the continent, by tracing the comet.

The continent had splited up to four different countries at this time. A remote and secluded place in the North "The Crop Kingdom" lived on by hunting and the mining. "The Combined of Mobs" lived in seashore, "The Kingdom of Kamec" located in the middle of the continent and "Yolka" free from The Kamec Kingdom which was made up of some successful merchants and the people of lower classes. Four countries kept peace for 100 years in balance.

Rooman visited the four countries. And one by one he persuaded the leaders to organize an alliance to fight the threats Alcon posed. But the leaders did not believe what Rooman had to say. In the situation of keeping up rivalry with each other, they thought they had no time or resources to waste on forming an alliance and they also thought they had enough troops to destroy the monsters, which were increasing in number by every second. Rooman could not get any support from the leaders and valuable time just went by.

But it wasn't that all the countries did not believe in his prophecy. Most of the countries already knew that the monsters had increased in its number and grew stronger. But the fact that the comet was coursing its way to the Roperd field made things very complicated. The strongest country in the continent, The King of Kamec Kingdom had confidence in his troops and hated deploying other countries' troops into his country. Yolka, once a part of Kamec rather hoped that the damage from the comet would destroy the Kamec Kingdom. The Combined of Mobs was making big money by selling weapons and armors to the countries that were in constant fight with the monsters. The Crop Kingdom did not notice the threat of the dangers the monsters were making.

The year of 1027, as the comet got nearer to the continent, the World started to feel the power of Alcon. Monsters started to gather in a group. They gathered together at Roperd field and started destroying the villages and castles in the surroundings. The prediction of Mage Rooman started to come true. The situations of other countries were same as Kamec. Many people left the continent in search of safer place to live. The remaining force of Kamec was struggling and the World became a very dark place to live. The monsters fascinated by the magical comet flock together at Roper Field. Finally the journey of the comet Alcon almost came to an end.

Mage Rooman started to fight off the monsters gathering at Alcon with the combined forces of the remaining three countries. As he approached the core of the Alcon, he and the other mages used magic power to exterminate the Alcon at the cost of all the mages' lives as a last solution.

Alcon blew up and was broken into tiny pieces. The monsters and the alliance troops were amazed by the scene of the explosion. The pieces that fell to the field started to absorb nothing but all the life forms in the field.

The field remained calm after absorbing all the life forms. The shattered pieces of the comet were scattered all around the field. Along with Rooman and the lives of those who tried to protect the world. When people arrived at the field, they were scared that the monsters might revive. So they gathered all the broken pieces of the comet and sealed them off into the deepest underground.

Chapter Three: Devil Cane
1000 years has passed since Alcon had been destroyed. People only heard the tales of the great mage Rooman and how he destroyed the great evil sealed them off into the deepest ground in the world. The continent remained same except 'Yolka' became 'Yolka Kingdom' and the middle of the region was in ruin with monsters. During the time some heroes appeared and drove off the monsters and made their legends. The three remaining nations were in peace, except from time to time where they bumped each others' head. But that was about it.

The year of 2030, one man named 'Cane' was put in to the underground prison for murder. Cane was once a famous fighter in the past, but he went begging after losing an arm and leg in a war. One day he killed a beggar who tried to steal his food and was arrested for murder.

In the prison, he killed another prisoner and tried to escape from it. Cane soon became weary and was being chased by the guards. Using his small body, he got into a crack on the wall. He kept digging into the crack for three days. At last he approached to a huge door with carvings that read Rooman's great achievements and many warnings. Cane now became very tempted and opened the door. Inside the room, Cane found the sealed pieces. Fascinated with the shining of the pieces he started to approach. Alcon was getting ready to revive itself.

By the year of 2033, Cane re-introduced himself to the world. This time he was not alone. With all the monsters following his commands, he quickly destroyed all the underground jails and made himself a new home under the Kingdom of Yolk. Cane no longer had any humane thoughts but only hatred against the world. Except for those who followed his command, Cane started killing and destroy everything around him.

Once again, an alliance was formed to fight against Cane. The war devastated both Cane and the Alliance. Countless numbers of monsters were killed. Cane took refugee in his underground kingdom to prepare another attack to the world.

Chapter Four: Sword, Magic, and Cell
Cane and his troops made their way to the middle of the continent. Yolk's troops were defeated trying to force Cane to remain underground. Now the world faced a new challenge. The remaining countries had to stick together. Another strong nation is formed. An evil nation...

Lives of the ordinary people soon changed after Cane showed up. All the Kingdoms were busy combat against Cane and the people in the Kingdom were offered no support from their country. Monsters that were not in Cane's commend posed a great threat to village people. The annihilation of the monsters within the Kingdom became the job for the hired mercenaries. Village people would gather money to hire these mercenaries to fight the monsters.

At this time the troops of the Kingdoms often disappear while they marched their way to the middle of the continent, so mercenaries were hired by resident or the King to eliminate monsters.

A few years passed and people started to realize the potential of the pieces of Alcon. These pieces were dubbed 'Cell'. A cell contained an ancient army or monsters that were absorbed more than 1000 years ago in the Great War. Only few people realized the true potential of these cells. There were traded for high price. But nobody understood the true identity of these cells.

The existing standard tactics using sword and magic had changed to tactics using sword, magic and Cell as well. The basic and old tactic of swordsmen rushing into the battleground with the archers and mages backing them up from behind had disappeared. Now, the swordsmen not only rush, but summon vast number of creatures using the Cell as well. Archers became more close-ranged attackers, and the mages' role had become more defensive than offensive. Mages and black smith continue their studies to make more powerful cell. Other continents in the world started to pay more attention to the existence of the Cell. They especially worried about the powerful troops in the fear that Cane may be eliminated.

Gameplay
The gameplay of Rakion is similar to that of most third or first-person shooter games. Players use the WASD keys to move their character around the map, and the camera controls are also FPS style, though the player's character can be seen. A secondary console control camera is also available. Characters utilise a variety of combos and attacks, and all characters have both a ranged weapon and a melee weapon that can be switched between by pressing "Q". The camera is rotated by the mouse, zoomed in and out by the mousewheel and the attack buttons are on the left mouse button and the right mouse button. There are five different game types in Rakion (Stage, Team Deathmatch, Solo Deathmatch, Boss War, and Golem War). A level limit may be selected when making a game. There is also a "Basic Mode" option in games, which ignores added stats, making everyone essentially a Level 1 Character. However, it should be noted that armour and weapon stats are not taken into account since the latest updates. The only cells that can be summoned in a Basic Mode game are the Nak and Blood Nak.

Classes
In Rakion, a player is a member of any of the five classes. The classes are Swordsman,Archer, Mage, Blacksmith, and Ninja. Each class has a melee and a ranged attack. All classes can transform into "Chaos Mode", an ability gained by achieving a certain number of kills. You can also gain chaos points by losing games. Players who have the ability to transform into chaos mode have a blue glow surrounding their body as a warning to others. While in chaos mode, players have more vitality, cannot be knocked down, and deal increased damage.

Swordsman

 * Melee: A longsword with a decent speed and average attack damage. It can be used in a wide variety of attacks to slash and stab opponents. The three-hit basic attack does considerable damage, but can be blocked. If an enemy is hit by the first swing, however, they're stunned for the whole combo and cannot block. The Warrior's special-attack is an attack that takes about 1.5 seconds to charge up, has a wider range, deals increased damage and disregards blocks.


 * Range: A small but heavy dagger or throwing knife with medium range and above average damage. Its base damage is second only to the Blacksmith's axe among physical projectiles. However, it flies at a rather awkward angle, making it difficult for a player to aim correctly.


 * Chaos Mode: The Swordsman transforms into a blue, humanoid being with three eyes wearing heavy armor wielding a double-sided sword-spear hybrid. It can be used for a combo, but is more commonly and more well adapted for a lightning-fast attack that spins and hurls the victim into the air. It can also be charged for a crippling running slash that rips apart large targets and other chaos beings. Its stab attack is un-blockable and does the most damage, next to the charge attack. Has a small delay.

An experienced Swordsman will often transform into chaos mode when a large group of enemies are preoccupied in the vicinity. This allows the chaos-Warrior a couple seconds to charge his special attack, bolting him several yards forward doing considerable damage to the unsuspecting enemies. At this point, the enemies will often scatter and the Warrior uses his stabbing attack to chase down specific enemies.

Archers
A female class that uses a bow as a main weapon. She takes part in long ranged attacks and she's also adequate for close quarter battles, although she should refrain from having to participate in melee combat at all. She is the most adept class at long range, anti-air attack and backing up the team. However, she is relatively weak at melee attacks. It depends, of course. In terms of sheer stats, however, the Archer has arguably the weakest melee attacks.


 * Melee: The Archer has a small gladius-like sword and uses this for a limited amount of attacks, most of which are slow and not quite as effective compared to the others. Like all classes, this is the default weapon for Archers, but is usually switched immediately upon entering the game, or starting a new round. One will seldom ever see an experienced archer pull out her sword.


 * Ranged: As can be expected, the Archer uses a bow as her ranged weapon, and often her main weapon. Arrows have the most range of all physical ranged attacks in the game. Arrows travel fast, and can be very dangerous even at lower levels. Effective use of this weapon requires good aiming and proper timing. Often, a mere few hours of gameplay will be enough to get used to firing the bow.


 * Chaos Mode: The Archer transforms into an angelic-looking being with a white aura. Their primary weapon is now their bow, and can theoretically shoot up to two arrows per second at maximum speed. The arrows travel considerably faster than the normal arrows of a Archer and also do more damage though they can still be guarded. The arrows, if unblocked, will throw an enemy a few feet backwards and knock them down.

The Chaos Archer's special attack unleashes, after a two-second charge time, five powerful, un-blockable arrows that will almost ensure a kill if they all hit the same target. Once hit, the enemy will spring back up automatically, if no movement is made. The five arrows are fired all at once, and are spread in approximately a 45 degree angle. They have the same arc as a regular chaos-arrow though they are much more visible.

The Chaos Archer also has an invincible attack where she spins around. Any enemy within melee-range takes damage, is knocked back a couple feet and becomes stunned for a decent amount of time, often just enough for the Archer to fire a regular shot, further throwing back the enemy. At this point, the chaos-Archer will often charge her special attack.

It also should be mentioned that the Chaos Archer has no melee weapon. Her invincible attack is often her only defense against opponents who get up close. The chaos-Archer's special attack is often the most used chaos-ability of an experienced Archer.

Blacksmith
Blacksmiths are large, heavy male characters who wear full plate armor(bronze), complete with a helmet. Though they are humanoid, their true race is unknown but they are thought to be related to golems. They can deal out a lot of damage with range, and sustain incredible amounts themselves. But their great power and endurance does pay a price, as their attack speed is low and they don't move as fast as the average Warrior. During it's chaos mode, the Blacksmith goes faster than the regular Blacksmith's speed.


 * Melee: A large warhammer is swung in horizontal, vertical and diagonal arcs against enemies. It can also charge for a powerful special attack that slams the hammer onto the ground sends out a strong shockwave of damage, knocking enemies onto the ground along with tremendous damage. The Blacksmith has the strongest jumping attack of all the classes in the game. This is in part due to the fact that Blacksmiths often score two hits per jump attack. However, even though his attacks are very powerful they come with an equally large amount of delay, leaving him open to attacks.


 * Ranged: The throwing axes of Blacksmith are similar to the throwing knives of the swordsman, but deal far more damage and don't fly quite as far. The axe is the most powerful physical ranged attack in the game, but is hard to hit with due to its short range and slow flight through the air. Some Blacksmiths dedicate themselves solely to the axe, however; and seldom, if ever, pull out their hammer.


 * Chaos Mode: The Blacksmith now looks more like a golem, and is heavily armored, with blue skin and flaming shoulders. He carries a massive flail, and his face is painted. The ground shockwaves created by the flail are about twice the size of the normal ones. The Chaos Blacksmith's special attack is arguably the weakest of all chaos-specials for classes. It takes almost two seconds to charge up, has no splash damage and a mere 45 degree range.  It's seldom ever used by experienced Blacksmiths. The Chaos Blacksmith is one of the easiest chaos characters to dodge.

Arguably the most common chaos-Blacksmith attack is the invincible attack, where the chaos-Blacksmith charges forward swinging his flail around 360 degrees. The chaos-Blacksmith cannot change directions during this attack, nor can he stop it prematurely. Its damage, especially to multiple enemies, is the most effective of all Blacksmith attacks. Charging in with his invincible attack, the chaos-Blacksmith is a fearful sight indeed, sending enemies scattering.

Ninja
A minimally-armored female human character who wields a split blade and shurikens. Ninjas are the fastest characters in the game, and particularly excel at "grip" (grabbing) attacks and special attacks. They have very weak basic attacks, and the lowest health of any class initially. However they are at the top when it comes to running and attack speed.


 * Melee: A sword with an appearance similar to a jitte. Their attacks are weak but extraordinarily fast. They are the only class that has a 4-strike combo, though this is weak. "Gliding" is a technique only available to Ninjas. This allows the user to slide in a straight line for a couple of feet while also becoming invulnerable to most attacks. The ninja's true power lies in its deadly grips and specials, which deal the most damage of all of the Ninja's attacks.


 * Ranged: The Ninja takes out shurikens ("Ninja stars") and throws them in groups of either three or nine. Although weak, shurikens in groups of three can be thrown without a charging period. However, these do not stun the enemy and have laughable damage output. Shurikens in groups of nine require the Ninja to charge, but do far more damage and stun like all other attacks. It has a much shorter range, however. Groups of three fan out in a cone-like formation, while groups of nine fall in a short-range shotgun pattern.


 * Chaos Mode: The Ninja transforms into a demonic-looking woman with a red glow. The half-sai turns into a short, thin, curved blade and is now wielded underhand. She can now dash forwards while slashing, and the combo attack finishes with an explosion that has the largest area of effect in the game. She can also spin around in a "phoenix"; this attack bypasses armor and attacks health directly. Also, the Ninja can now throw stars in groups of 18, and, like the Phoenix, these bypass armor and directly damage health.

Ninja's chaos is most likely the strongest and hardest to get away from. It has been known to come back in many one versus a lot fights. In large groups, a ninja's explosion attack would deal an extraordinary amount of damage and possibly kill the majority of enemies. A Ninja's 18-star throw also deals a great amount of damage to golems, due to their large stature; all of the 18 shurikens will hit.

Mage
This character is a short humanoid character with an undefined gender. They are designed to be support and long-range bombardment characters, and they are the only class that can heal. They have two powerful ranged attacks. However, Mages tend to suffer from low health values, limited abilities in close combat without proper skill, high delay attacks, and slow movement speed.


 * Melee: A staff or cane that can be used for a weak melee attack, which briefly stuns the enemy. This attack cannot knock down any opponent. The Mage's jump attack is different from any other character in the game, because it can only hit an enemy behind or in front of it, at a specific angle. The attack is very hard to use, but it can be very powerful when used effectively. It can also be used for casting a row of magical ice pillars at an enemy, called "projection" which cannot be blocked, but come with a high delay. Their front grip is also unique in that it can freeze victims in a block of ice, leaving them open to any attack while they're frozen, whether it be from the Mage that froze them or by team mates, and does not knock them down. A recent change to the Mage's front grip is DOT, which means damage over time. The ice does as much damage over time per second as standing in lava. A common strategy for Mage to use in close combat, is to use their front grip when their opponent is near a solid edge then attack them with protrustion, which creates a "stack" at the edge, instead of continuing in a straight pattern. This technique, called "ice stacking," is more powerful than a regular projection attack, because instead of being hit by two ice pillars, the "stack," concentrates all five pillars on to the enemy. Another spell Mage can also utilize is a whirlwind with a 4m radius, that pushes all enemies away from it, and leaves him just about invincible to almost all forms of attack (except on "grips" in case of an error in game due to internet connection or the like). This whirlwind lasts just long enough for an enemy to switch to a range weapon, and attack the Mage, or run up to them with a quick thrust. A Mage can cast orbs that either heal the Mage who cast them, or an allied player when they walk through it. This is a very useful move for the Boss Wars game, because the boss can be healed up to 50% health using these heals. In team and solo death match, enemies can also use heals; whereas, in Golem Wars, the heals can only be used by your teammates, or be destroyed by enemies with any attack. The Mage's healing power depends on the Mage's special attack level. Creating the healing orbs takes considerable amount of time, more so than any other "attack" in the game.


 * Ranged: The Mage takes out a mace and uses it to cast a bomb attack or a homing fireball. The magic bombs are thrown at a target, but must be charged first and travel farther depending on the time charged. They explode after 1.5 seconds and are comparable to grenades. The fireballs are more powerful than the magic bombs, but require the Mage to maintain a "lock on" for a few seconds. When locked on and fired, two baseball-sized fireballs are directed towards the enemy. Their speed increases as they get closer to the target. These fireballs will swerve to hit the foe, but will not make sharp turns. Once these fireballs explode by hitting the target or a nearby floor or wall, they explode causing damage around the area. The fireballs have infinite range, but take longer to reach a target than any other ranged attack in the game.


 * Chaos: A large magician's puppet is summoned and the Mage controls it by sitting on its back. This larger Mage can cast a wider, far more powerful version of the ice attack, sending out three lines of un-blockable ice (10 degree intervals), which deal direct damage to health by bypassing armor values. It can also cast a faster (both in lock-on time and speed) version of the Mage's fireballs, which can only be avoided with precise timing (their speed increases exponantially as they close on their target). This cannot be blocked, except from a certain angle. The 'invincible' attack of the Chaos Mage can heal 30% of the health of all allied players that are in the area of effect, though it does not heal the Chaos Mage itself. The Chaos Mage is the usually the only chaos that enemy players do not run from (usually getting killed before doing significance) The Chaos Mage has the weakest chaos jump attack in the game, but, 1.5 seconds after jumping, casting the four-way protrusion (ice spell) will occur in air, instead of the jumping attack. This allows for a stack of 27 ice attacks on large enemies, generally a golem. While the Mage choas is not very good in close combat fights, when it stacks it's 27 hits of ice attack on any other player, the player dies immediately, though it takes at most about 10 hits to kill a player. The Mage choas is also the only choas which has the ability to deal an instant kill to the master golem in a golem war with the golden sword.

Unlike most other chaoses, the Mage often transforms into chaos when at a distance. At this distance, the Mage unleashes a barrage of fireballs upon the many enemies in the distance. The enemies, being preoccupied, often have no idea of their impending danger. Even many experienced players have trouble dodging a Chaos Mage's fireball attack, as its speed grows with the distance it travels. Often, one fireball attack is enough to outright kill an enemy, although a freshly-spawned enemy will always survive one fireball attack.

Alternatively, the Mage can decide to transform into chaos-mode while nearby a large group of clustered enemies, decimating them with countless ice-attacks. Unfortunately, these ice attacks are often easy to bypass, and due to the high delay of the attack, the Mage is often found stricken by a barrage of melee strikes by the enraged enemies. Unlike most other chaos classes, the Mage has very little defense against melee attacks, and often retreats to range if found surrounded.

Cash Items
This is the system that Softnyx, in most of its games, uses to generate revenue. You exchange, through payment, real money, for Rakion or Gunbound Cash at a rate of 1000 = $1. Rakion has a variety of cash items that are overpowered and have been heavily criticized for it. There are no refunds except for special cases. Here are just a few popular items, which does not include cells, but EX Items :
 * Power User: For 8,000 Cash, one Power User Card gives the user : 50% more Exp, Provide 5 Stat Points (Distributable through all characters), Lower chaos requirements to 5 kills, 15% less cell point usage, 5 second extension of chaos, ability to buy PU items (gold), and if wanted a 2000 ($2) discount on next purchase of Power User Card.
 * Initialize Stat Points: Level 1-15 : 7,000 Cash ; Level 16-40 : 12,000 Cash ; Level 41+ : 19,000 Cash : This allows the user to restore all stat points to unused status, Power User included, to be used again, Level Points are restricted to only the character, while Power User can be distributed to all, if wanted. Permanent.
 * Change Character's name: For 3,000 Cash you are able to change to a new, unused character name. Permanent.
 * Expansion of Inventory: Adds a maximum of 2 new boxes for more storage for 8,000 Cash each. Permanent.
 * Character Slots: Adds a maximum of 3 more character slots at a price of 12,000 Cash each. Permanent.
 * Stage Reset: For the following amounts you are able to set all stage records you have done to original form allowing you to do them over again without losing previous experience or gold gained. 1-20 : 6,400 Cash ; 21-40 : 9,200 Cash ; 41+ : 9,900 Cash
 * Stage for a Day: For 24 Hours all stage level limits are lifted allowing high levels to do low level stages, for the price of 16,500 Cash.

Potions
Potions come in various amounts. Varying from 10 - 100, and can be bought in the shop with gold or cash. A maximum of 3 potions can be used every round; however, a regular user can only use one potion per round. To use more potions one would have to purchase more potion slots through Cash.


 * Big Health Potion: Restores 40% of Health.
 * Small Health Potion: Restores 20% of Health.
 *  Big Armor Potion: Restores 40% of Armor.
 * Small Armor Potion: Restores 20% of Armor.
 * Fear Potion: Knocks back surrounding enemies.
 * Chaos Potion: Gives 1 Chaos Point.
 * Cell Potion: Gives additional CP.
 * Seek Potion: Allows user to see enemy health for a given amount of time.
 * Steam Pack Potion: Gives additional damage percentage at sacrifice of a certain percentage of user's Health (not armor.)

Devil Wings were anonymously released between October and November 2007, this potion was only able to be viewed by players whom did not possess the Power Card and requires cash to be purchased. It disapeared from the shop some time afther.

The Devil Wings potion was seen in one and only occasion by some players, when a Gamemaster showed up in a game, and used the devil wing potion, whitch allowed to fly. The players in the game gave a instant disagree, and no one seen them since.

Cell
There are several different creatures in Rakion. Most of them appear in Stage Mode, and they can all be bought in the shop. Like other items, creatures have level requirements. Creatures gain experience and level too; a higher level creature costs more cell points to summon, but it has higher stats, and should one wish to re-sell it, it will fetch a higher price.


 * Nak: A spider-like creature, it is weak and slow-moving. Naks spit poison at their enemies at close range. Since it is rather weak, it tends to appear in enormous swarms in Stage mode. Even at higher levels Naks are easily destroyed by a few (or even one) attacks. Newcomers to Rakion get a single Nak for free if they complete the tutorial, but they must buy all of their other cells. Naks are seldom ever used by experienced players, as their use is somewhat limited.


 * Panzer: An armored knight. Panzers can take a lot more abuse than Naks, and their Halberds do more damage, often rivaling that of a swordsman's attacks. However, they are not nearly as stealthy and make a lot of noise when they move and attack. Also, they move very slowly and take a long time to get up after they have fallen. Their attack speed is pitiful as well. Nevertheless, they are commonly used among players.


 * Black Panzer: A Panzer which wears black armor. Though they have slightly lower health than average Panzers, they bolster twice as much attack speed and more than twice as much movement speed, often rivaling players in their moving capabilities. They are available at the shop for Cash rather than Gold.


 * Crossbow: A small dwarf, wielding a crossbow; they move and attack quite slowly. They fire one bolt from their crossbow at farther ranges, while using a physical kick up close. Even though the bolts are mildly powerful they are slow and inaccurate. After being knocked down, crossbow take several seconds to get up and are able to be hit while on the ground unlike panzers or naks.


 * Black Crossbow: A Crossbow unit which wears black armor. Their arrows are guided (though not as accurately as a Longbow) and they have twice the vision range as a regular Crossbow. Their attack speed with the Bow is also enhanced, along with their movement speed once they spot an enemy. They can be bought at the shop for Cash rather than Gold.


 * Blazer: A mage, wearing red robes that hovers slightly above the ground. Although immobile, they have a decent amount of health. They shoot large purple blasts of energy at long range, dealing massive splashing damage. However, they have an immense cooldown (delay) time, are vulnerable to attack and their blasts of energy are often blocked by ally units who get in the way, although they will receive no damage, the blast will stop there rather than passing through as a Crossbow or Longbow shot would.


 * Black Blazer: A Blazer unit wearing Black robes. This Blazer deals less damage than normal one, however they shoot three blasts in a 45 degree cone fashion. They have enhanced attack speed and vision range. They can be bought at the shop for Cash rather than Gold.


 * Soul Cannon: A smaller golem-like creature that has a cannon attached to its right arm. It shoots cannonballs at far to close range, and it can also hit air targets. The cannonballs explode violently and do extremely heavy splash damage. These cannonballs cannot be blocked and at high levels can kill in 2 to 3 hits. It also has a melee attack where it swings its thick cannon right arm and whacks the player when he/she gets too close. It cannot be knocked down, thought it can be stunned. When a Soul Cannon is destroyed, after about five seconds it self-destructs, creating a huge blast that deals tremendous damage.


 * Longbow: Elvish creatures of unknown gender. As their name implies, they wield longbows and shoot powerful, homing arrows that decimate the enemy at long range. If you stand too close its impossible to block. However they have slow movement speed and have no close range attack, shooting arrows at point-blank. Like the Crossbow, you can also hit them when they are lying on the ground. Their arrows also lock on like a Mage's homing fireball attack.


 * Golem: A bipedal giant creature made out of stone and clay. It can punch powerfully at close range and hurls large boulders of earth at longer range, these boulders cannot be blocked. However, it is a very large target and easy prey for all attacks. It also moves and attacks very slowly, and is very expensive for players to summon. This creature is the main focus of Golem Wars.


 * Taurus: A minotaur-like creature resembling a bull. It has a double-gore attack with its horn that is very powerful to the unsuspecting. The Taurus can also do a running dash. They walk faster than most other creatures and cannot be knocked down, though they can be stunned. They're attack intervals are very long if left undisturbed, since they usually counter attack. Taurus have less health than the Golem, but have the potential to do much more damage.


 * Dragon: The ultimate juggernauts of destruction, the dragons soar high above the playing field. They have an immense firepower, but relatively low endurance. They can spit a large fire blast at long range that deals titanic damage, and also have a flamethrower-like attack that usually comes in handy due to the lag it creates rather than the damage dealt. If a target has low health, the Dragon flies close and hooks it with its claws, but this move is never used in-game. Although expensive and require a high level to equip, dragons are considered by many players to be the best creature in the game.


 * Ice Wind: An airborne winged creature that looks somewhat like a blue harpy. They shoot ice blasts at long range that freeze you for around half a second (cannot freeze team Golems, gold Golem or other large enemies). They were the main theme of the two Christmas event stages in 2006, and were available for free until the end of the Christmas event. This creature is now buyable with cash and will stay permanent.

Cells which are no longer obtainable
These are creatures which at one point of the game were obtainable in the shop. They were removed in a following update and no longer appear in the shop. Players which had purchased them before their removal however, will retain them in their inventory.


 * Blood Nak: A normal Nak that has been corrupted by Alcon. These Naks have less health but do a lot more damage. They also attack twice as fast as an ordinary Nak, but due to their low health are also killed faster. Blood naks appear in several stages.


 * Assault Panzer: Similar to the Cash-bought Knight armor set, their armor has a green tint rather than the average silver. They are comparable to a Blood Nak with less health and higher damage, they are devastating at higher levels.


 * Iron Golem: A Golem made of iron with darker color than a regular Golem, higher health, higher damage but with slower attack speed.


 *  Sky Blazer: A Blazer that hovers high above the ground, they have both less health and less damage than the normal Blazer. Because they attack faster and float much higher, most characters are limited to using range attacks on these creatures, making them slightly harder to kill.

Game Modes
Excluding Stage mode, which puts all players on the same team, all of the game modes are PvP-based. A game can consist of anywhere from 1 to 21 rounds, and a round can last between five and twenty minutes. There are four types of PvP games in Rakion. The game will automatically balance the teams after a round by swapping the players with most experience points acquired so far in that game to the other team. This switch will only occur if one team has less players than the other. In both deathmatches (Team and Solo) dead players respawn after a 7-second period and have four seconds of invincibility when they respawn. There is also invincibility when newly arrived into the game. The Deathmatch modes have healing capsules and books that provide cell points; the other modes do not.


 *  Deathmatch (Solo): Solo Deathmatch is a free-for-all variation of team deathmatch. All players are on their own (though unofficial alliances are occasionally initiated), and the first player to achieve a specified amount of kills is declared the winner. In the event of a tie when time runs out, the first player to achieve the highest amount of kills for the round wins.


 *  Deathmatch (Teamplay): Almost the same as Solo Deathmatches, except that players are separated into teams. By default, twenty kill points are needed to win a round. People who play this game generally modify it to have more rounds and require more kills to get the most gold and experience. Not an overall rewarding type of game in terms of experience, but it is easy for newcomers and a good source of Gold.


 * Golem War: Players are assigned to a team in this mode. Each team has a Master Golem (with a red or blue aura, depending on the team), and in the center of the map there is a Golden Golem. The objective is to destroy the opponent's Master Golem, but there is a catch: Only the person that kills the Gold Golem can do significant damage to the other team's Master Golem; all other players do 1% of the damage they would normally do. To prevent teams "stealing" the Gold Golem from each other, it has separate health for each team. Unlike the other PvP modes, slain players do not respawn, and a team can also lose when everyone is slaughtered. If the time runs out and both Master Golems are still alive, the team with the Golem with more health wins the round. Golem War is generally accepted as the best way to make Gold and Experience in Rakion, aside from Stage mode. Players also have more health in this mode to offset the permanent-death.


 * Boss War: The most recently added mode, it is a team-based headhunter fight. Each team has a boss that they must protect at all costs; if the boss dies the team loses the game. A team's boss is the person with the highest level on the team. It is not notable for giving experience, but the cash outcome is good. This mode does not have healing pickups, but Mages can still heal other team members (generally the boss).


 * Stage: A co-operative game mode for 1 to 4 players (depending on the stage) that lets you play a mission in your fastest way. After completing a stage level you get a grade ranging from S (Supremium) to D, depending on how fast you kill all creatures, or how many of them you kill in allotted time. This is arguably the fastest way to get exp in Rakion, though stages cannot be repeated to gain the same exp over and over. Unlike other modes, if you "lose" a stage, you receive no gold and no exp.


 * Basic Mode: A setting which can be assigned to any non-stage game. All players are set back to Level 1 for the duration of the game, and as such play with just basic stats. No cells can be summoned in thos mode aside from the level 1 Nak.

Profanity filter
Saying profanities in-game chat system automatically replaces them with the word "LOVE" or "love". Many players, though, are able to bypass this filter and continue their use of profanities.

Criticism
Rakion uses a similar online structure to another Korean based game, GunZ. Both games are not run on dedicated servers and instead make the client act as his own server, a peer to peer network. Some critics have criticized Softnyx for this design decision since in places other than South Korea, the distance latency often creates unfair advantages over other players. Other concerns have been noted that it gives hackers more "tools" to cheat with. Softnyx's only response to this is that Rakion is meant to be run as a LAN set up and not against geographically far away players.