Rakion: Chaos Force/Gameplay

Rakion is an online-only, multiplayer fantasy action computer game made by Softnyx. It was in "closed" beta testing from August 11 - 25th 2005, meaning that it was in free beta testing in a limited group of countries (which includes the United States and the UAE). It switched from development to open beta testing on October 13 2005. When the beta testing ended on December 1st of 2005, the game began to follow the same model as softnyx's other multiplayer online game, GunBound; users may purchase "cash" in order to purchase power-user status (which offers various benefits) and items that are often very powerful.

Gameplay and Controls
The core gameplay of Rakion consists of player-versus-player battles, usually involving ten to twenty players at once. A player controls his character, who appears in a standard "third person" view, using the WASD keys and the mouse to move, and the mouse buttons to attack. Players could press F4 to switch between first person view or third person view, depending on the players' preferences. The left mouse button is a character's normal attack, and the right mouse button is used for a stronger, slower, and usually "unblockable" attack. Both mouse buttons pressed simultaneously, while the player is in direct contact with an enemy player, performs a "Grip" (throw) attack, which does significant damage, and renders both characters invulnerable for the duration of the attack. The shift key is used to block, and the space bar is used to jump. The Q key switches between a character's melee and ranged weapons. The first three number keys on the keyboard can be assigned to summoning different monsters to fight alongside the player. Once a player has killed enough other players in a match, the C key activates "Chaos Mode", which temporarily turns the player into a monster which is significantly more powerful than the player's normal mode. Each characters specific attacks, keypress combinations for additional attacks, and the monster a character turns into during Chaos Mode are all determined by that character's "class".

Classes
As in most fantasy games, player characters are broken down into distinct "classes". Unlike most fantasy games, however, the race and genders in Rakion are strictly determined by the classes. Only two classes are humans. Rakion's five classes are:
 * Swordsman: A male "knight"-like character with a sword. He is the most well-rounded class, with fair movement speed, attack speed, and damage. He is well suited to most forms of combat, though performs the best in hand-to-hand. The chaos form is a blue, very shiny looking and powerful character who excels in close combat. Swordsmen are humans.

Primary weapon: Long sword- a versatile weapon with balanced attack damage, speed, and area.

Ranged weapon: Throwing knife- A heavy knife that does relatively high damage, but has short range.

Chaos mode: The chaos mode swordsman has lightning-fast strikes and attacks in complete combo-strikes. He has a devastating dashing special attack capable of wiping out multiple enemies in a line and defeating golems.
 * Archer: A female character with a bow and shortsword. Naturally, Archers are heavily slanted toward ranged combat, and are not very effective up close. However, that does not mean they cannot defend themselves from melee attackers in a heartbeat. They also have a powerful grip attack that deals damage over time and keeps an opponent out of the action for around 5 seconds. Most people think Archers are humans, but they are elves. Their ears are pointed.

Primary weapon: Short sword- it is the default weapon though rarely used except for defending in short ranged combat. It still has combo-tactics much like the swordsman

Ranged weapon: Longbow- capable of firing deadly arrows over long distances. Arrows travel very quickly but deal light damage at lower levels. However, it is extremely damaging when the character's range attack is maxed.

Chaos Mode: The archer turns into an angelic-looking being with a very fast basic arrow attack and a devastating multiple-shot attack, dubbed the "shotgun" which shoots 5 arrows in 5 degree intervals that cannot be blocked and knock down the enemy. This multiple-shot attack can one-hit-KO characters when all 5 arrows hit a particular target. This is achieved when a target stands directly in front of the chaos archer.


 * Blacksmith: A large, brutish-looking male character with a warhammer. Blacksmiths have the strongest attacks of all the classes, but are also one of the slowest class in the game. Blacksmiths are golem type creatures, although their real race is unidentified.

Primary weapon: Warhammer- Blacksmiths carry around a giant warhammer that can knock out enemies in one blow. Their special knocks enemies off their feet and stuns them. In chaos form, blacksmiths have powerful area attacks.

Ranged weapon: throwing axe- similar to the knives of the swordsman, except they travel slightly faster and more accurately, this is also the most powerful ranged attack in the game but is the slowest to fire.

Chaos Mode: The blacksmith turns into a giant, heavily armored golem. His warhammer turns into a flail, and it can knock an enemy back a very long distance if it hits. He has devastating area attacks and can eliminate weaker foes in a matter of one or two hits.


 * Ninja: A lavender-haired female character with a dagger and shurikens. Ninjas are the fastest characters in the game, and particularly excel at "grip" (grabbing) attacks. They make up for their speed with weaker attacks and a lower defense than the other classes. Their invisibility attacks become annoying, but also deadly. A Ninja's chaos mode is particularly powerful because attacks bypass armour and hit right for health damage. Ninjas are the other human class.

Primary weapon: Dagger- used in explosion combo-attacks that can kill opponents easily. Has a powerful grip attack that involves grabbing the enemy, stabbing them in the back, and jumping up and stabbing them again. Ninjas often slashes their target one time, to stun and ensure that the target is not lagging, then grips the target, dealing a huge amount of damage. However if a ninja misses her grip, it would result in a huge delay time where opponents could either grip or deal huge damage to that ninja.

Ranged weapon: The ninja throws out shuriken-like weapons, either in groups of 3 or 9. Useful for slaying slow enemies like golems and fleeing enemies.

Chaos Mode: The ninja turns into a ninja with a longer blade and a more intimidating red look. The blade has a slightly longer reach than the normal ninja blade, and the ninja can now dash towards someone when she attacks, which will execute two slashes followed by three explosions that track the enemy. The explosions have the best splash damage in the game. She can also do a deadly spin, and can launch out nearly 27 shurikens, which can decimate golems in seconds.


 * Mage: A small moogle-like creature with an undefined gender and staff as their main weapon. Mages are primarily designed to be "support" characters, with both healing magic and a range of long-distance magical attacks. Mages wear masks over their true face, which is never shown in the game. A full grown mage is much shorter that any full grown human, and they live longer (not in the game) than any other human. The mage's devastating spells makes it the strongest character in the game if used properly.

Primary Weapon- battlestaff: the mage's battlestaff can be used for weak melee attacks, but is also used for casting some of the strongest spells in the game. The projection attack, a row of ice spikes, deals massive damage. This weapon can also produce blessings, or orbs that heal an ally.

Ranged weapon- the mage holds a roughly spherical object in its hands and uses it to cast the rotating bomb and the meteor spell. The bomb detonates after 1.5 seconds, dealing area of effect damage. It is a versatile weapon that can be very effective. The meteor attack shoots two homing meteors that deal heavy damage.

Chaos Mode: The mage summons another powerful mage and controls it by sitting on top of it. It has three main attacks: 3-way projection, Fireball, and prayer. The projection spell launches over 10 ice spires in 3 different directions, making it the strongest spell in the game. The meteor is a faster, stronger version of the original mage's meteor (4 shots (cast twice) is enough to slay a player). The prayer spell heals all allies around the chaos mage, but not the mage itself.

In-Game Equipment
Rakion offers an in-game currency system which can be used to buy armor, weapons, jewelry, and pets. These two currencies are gold and cash. Gold can be obtained through all battles and most events, while cash can only be bought by using a cash-charge option or obtained through an event. The following types of equipment can be bought for you character.
 * Helmets: It is necessary to protect your character's head area. Not only does this equipment grant bonus armor, but also may provide bonus cell points (for summoning) or bonus hit points.
 * Shoulders: This piece of equipment does not provide as much defense or bonuses as larger armor, but the extra points may still prove invaluable.
 * Arms/Legs: This equipment provides even less defense than shoulder guards, but may still be useful at times.
 * Body Armor: The most crucial armor, the body armor provides unmatched protection for your character, and has a chance of granting other benefits as well.
 * Primary Weapon: Every warrior needs weapons, and many types of class-specific weapons are available to them. Weapons are very diverse and have a variety of effects, most granting damage to normal, special, and grip attack modes. Some weapons even deal bonus damage to creatures, while others have the disadvantage of being slow.
 * Ranged Weapon: Each character in Rakion is armed with two weapons, the second being a ranged weapon. These weapons grant bonus damage to ranged attack and sometimes normal attack, which stacks with the bonuses received from your primary weapon, thus boosting your damage significantly.
 * Rings: Characters can wear up to three rings, each providing a special bonus. The bonuses provided range from simple speed increases to damage increase.
 * Amulets: An amulet or locket can be worn around the character's neck. Similar to rings, amulets also provide nice bonuses, except amulets generally have a greater range of effects since only one can be worn at a time.
 * Creatures (Cells): Each character can buy and summon monsters with their cell points. Up to three creatures can be summoned at a time. Creatures gain EXP of their own, and can level up.
 * Nak: A weak and slow-moving spider that fires a ranged missile. Their cell summon cost is lower than that of any other creature. In mass quantities, naks can easily overwhelm foes with their stunning strike.
 * Panzer: An armored knight wielding a halberd. Panzers have much more resistance than naks, and deal heavy damage at high levels.
 * Crossbow: A dwarf wielding a cross bow. These creatures fire bolts at enemies at close range, but are slow and inaccurate. They are slightly better than naks because of their higher resistance and faster attack speed.
 * Blazer: A formidable looking mage that hovers above the ground. The blazers fire massive bolts of energy at their foes, dealing titanic damage at maximum range. However, they are very slow and immobile, and thus vulnerable to attack.
 * Golem: A giant brute that attacks with fist and earth. The golem hits multiple enemies with a sweep of his hand, or throws boulders at his enemies. He has the best resistance, but has a very slow movement speed.
 * Taurus A powerful minotaur that charges his enemies. The minotaur has a rapid charging attack, and gores enemies with his powerful horns, sending them flying. He is one of the most feared creatures in Rakion. Despite his low attack damage, he has a double strike that can prove fatal for the unwary.
 * Dragon The ultimate juggernaut of destruction. The dragon soars above his enemies, raining down a torrent of fire upon all foolish enough to stand in his way. He is hard to hit, but has lower hit points than the taurus and golem.

Game Modes
Aside from the Stage gameplay mode, all of the modes use the same collection of arenas. The various modes are:
 * Stage/Quests: Single-player or cooperative missions, all of which involve running from one end of a dungeon to the other, killing all monsters encountered along the way. The amount gold and experience awarded at the end is determined by how quickly the mission is completed.
 * Team Deathmatch: Battle between two equal teams, over a set number of rounds. Each round ends when the time runs out, or when one team reaches a set number of kills. Slain players respawn after 15 seconds. Between rounds, the game will automatically swap skilled and unskilled players between teams to balance the skill level between the teams.
 * Solo Deathmatch: A battle royale between all of the players, over a set number of rounds. Each round ends when the time runs out. As in the Team Deathmatch, slain players respawn after 15 seconds.
 * Golem War: Similar to Team Deathmatch, but each team is assigned a "Master Golem". A "Gold Golem" with separate hit point bars for each team exists at a point between the two teams' golems, and the first player to kill the Gold Golem receives the "Golden Sword".  The player with the Golden Sword is able to deal normal damage to the opposing team's golem (which is the object of this mode).  Other players who do not hold the Golden Sword are able to damage the Gold Golem, but deal very little damage, up to a point that it is negligible. Unlike the Death Match modes, players do not respawn until the next round, and the round is ended when all players on one team are defeated, a team's Master Golem is defeated or when the round time is up. In the scenario when the time runs out and both team's golems are  still alive, the team whose golem with the least health would be the losers for the round. As in Team Deathmatch, the game will automatically try to balance the teams between rounds by switching skilled and unskilled players.

Maps
Rakion provides players with many various maps with unique properties to suit their preferences and likings.
 * Gravity A map where players use strategic locations of gravity lifts to their advantage. A player could jump upon standing on a gravity lift and he or she would automatically float up onto the platform above. There are a total of four gravity lifts in this map that connects the basement, the first floor, and the second floor. The second floor of this map towers above below, resulting in a good position for archers and mages to easily target opponents below. Players could also "stand" on the top platform of the gravity lifts, thereby blocking opponents from going up. Summoned creatures could be used in the same way. This map could be used for Golem war, Solo or Team Deathmatches.
 * Twin Castle This map is a long map where there are two main ways to the center from each team's base. The center is a huge arena where players usually battle each other. On each side of the map, there are two cages where someone could teleport into from the base. These cages could prove to be useful for range attacks, bombarding their opponents fighting in the arena below. This map can be used for Golem War, Solo or Team Deathmatches.
 * Covolt peak This map is a very high map that consists of three floors, mainly the basement, the main floor and the upper floor, and is created in a circular manner. Players could jump down from higher floors to lower grounds. However if the player has no skill in avoiding damage from the jump, players would receive a damage and a recoil when they jump down. However to go up to a floor above, one must use the teleporters that could teleport you to the upper floors. This map can be used for Golem War, Solo or Team deathmatches.
 * Draco Valley This map is the biggest map in the game where the bases of each team are huge. Players must use the teleports in their base to enter the small room which connects into the vast arena where the gold golem would be in Golem War. This map can be used for Golem War, Solo or Team deathmatches.
 * Mammoth This is a map that is and underground ice cave. This map is named so probably due to the huge frozen mammoth head lying on the side of the map. The floor of this map is slippery on some parts, therefore undermining the player's skill that usually plays on normal grounds. This could also prove to be an advantage for the archers and mages, where the other classes may miss their attacks due to the slippery floor. There is a huge pool in the middle of the map where players would move in a lesser speed underwater. However there is no other disadvantages when fighting in the pool. Characters that have long reach such as the warrior and blacksmith would normally excel in the pool. This map can only be used for Solo or Team Deathmatches.
 * Cage This map is formed in a more complicated way than other maps, as there are long narrow passages and huge areas on the other side. This map looks like a maze, and therefore beginners may be confused with the passages and sudden huge areas. This map can only be used for Solo or Team Deathmatches.
 * Tomb of the King A linear, two-storey map with three annexes for each of the team's golem and the Gold Golem in Golem War. The room where the Gold golem resides is located in the middle of the map and can only be assessed when one is on the bridge connecting the rooms where the teams spawn. This map can be used for Golem War, Solo or Team deathmatches.

Events
Similar to Softnyx's previous game, Gunbound, Rakion is also projected ot have seasonal events that will benefit the user. Being a relatively new game, few events have been released so far. The following events have been released so far (note: not all are technically considered events)
 * Beta Testing (Power-User Benefit)- Players who cash charged during the testing period received an extra month for free.
 * End Beta Testing: Users who played Rakion in its two test versions received a ring that granted movement and attack speed bonuses.
 * February 14, 2006: Stage 1 of the Valentines' Day event has been released. Players who complete this stage with ranking A or higher will receive 1000 cash, which can be used to buy several items. This event will last until March, with one stage being released every week. A raffle for 30,000 gold and a few thousand cash is also taking place. Players can receive 1000 additional cash for every event stage they accomplish.

Profanity Filter
The in-game chat system automatically replaces most profanity with the word "LOVE", as in "You LOVEing LOVELOVEer!" Unfortunately, the filter isn't limited to whole words, so typing the word "class" (which is used fairly often in Rakion) will appear as "clLOVE". I WILL LOVE YOU UP YOU LOVING LOVE. LOVE YOU, YOU.

Criticism
Currently, as of a patch intended to remedy lag, instead has a negative effect of characters floating in midair and frequent disconnections on users connected using a LAN or router. This can be remedied by forwarding certain ports.

Also, being a relatively new game, Rakion suffers from an incredible number of hackers. Such hacks include speed hacks, one hit kill hacks, chaos hacks, and pet-change hacks such as changing a simple Nak into a highly accurate longbow. Softnyx has taken measures to prevent hacking and is now banning users who do so although many users find many ways to bypass the banning and continue hacking.