Gods don't like being challenged -- especially by arrogant upstarts from
another dimension. When the Nine, a group of demons daring to call themselves
gods, poke their heads into BatMUD, even such polar opposites as Las and
Draen-Dalar take note, and order these intruders squashed.

Follow their directive, enter the Circles of Hell, and show these demons who's
in charge.

So how does the event work?

1) The main idea is to head to the Arelium candy shop, find the pentagram
there, and enter. You can do this alone, or in a party of no more than three
players. Once inside, you're free to kill and loot whatever you find.

Each level has increasingly difficult monsters and increasingly better
rewards. Kill the boss on each level to get access to the next one. You can
leave at any time.

2) Beware, for you have limited attempts at this. Each day, you can enter the
Circles of Hell once. Once you leave, or die, you're done for the day.

3) Besides any gold or eq you find, there are two kinds of event currency:
Infernal Energy and Celestial Energy. Infernal Energy flows easily, and is
spent in special shops found only in the Circles of Hell. If you leave, or
die, any Infernal Energy you have is lost. By contrast, Celestial Energy is
more rare, but lasts throughout the event. Once you earn it, you don't lose it
if you leave or die. It is Celestial Energy that you'll want to collect the
most.

4) There are two ways you can get powerups in the event. Some items offer
Infernal Powers, which are very strong (and hopefully useful) effects,
typically chosen from a list from an item you find in a treasure chest, shop,
or boss corpse. Infernal Powers stack, but are lost when you leave the Circles
of Hell or die. Racking up a solid list of powerful bonuses you like will make
progressing through the event's layers easier. Celestial Powers are bought
from a sacred tablet next to the pentagram in the candy shop. Once bought,
they will work inside the Circles of Hell for the rest of the event. Since
buying the same Celestial Power over and over causes the price to rise, you're
encouraged to plan out what powers are the most useful to you, because
stacking only one stat over and over will eventually be cost-prohibitive.

**So if this sounds like a roguelike, that's because it is. Each run, you get
stronger and stronger until you win, die, or quit. Each run, you make things a
little easier for the next run.

5) While you can enter the Circles of Hell once per reboot, you only get
Celestial Energy from boss kills -- the vast majority of Celestial Energy
you'll get -- twice, per boss, per week. Therefore, there is not a pressing
need to run the event every single reboot. You still can still go, of course,
to help friends or to get whatever gold and eq still drops.

For example, if you enter on Monday and kill the first four bosses, enter on
Tuesday and kill the first five bosses, then enter on Wednesday and kill the
first six bosses, on Wednesday the first four bosses you kill will drop
Infernal Energy and eq, but you won't get Celestial Energy from those first
four kills. However, you would still get the Celestial Energy from the fifth
and sixth, having not killed them twice yet, and all six bosses would still
drop items.

Bosses reset Sunday. Yes, that includes tomorrow.

6) There is crafting available. During the event, special containers will
appear all over BatMUD with special Ingredients that can be used in the
workbenches in the Circles of Hell. Ingredients stack, last through reboots,
and can be traded. Once you make (or buy) a Crafted Item, it becomes named
(only you can use it) and is nosave. Use the items that run, or lose them for
good.

Besides some curative items, the most useful items are the throwing blades and
the bombs. A merchant can make more blades with the same amount of
ingredients, and blades do more damage when thrown by an offtank or deftank.
Alchemists can make more, and throw better, bombs. Bombs do not hurt the
party, even if they detonate in the same room, and can remove the barriers
some rooms have that block some exits.

If you're trying to make a successful run, Crafted Items can definitely help.
Based on your current reinc, consider which items will be the most useful to
you, capitalizing on your strengths or lessening your weaknesses. If you don't
want to search for, or buy, the Ingredients, the shops inside the Circles of
Hell will have a limited selection you can buy with your Infernal Energy.

7) Bosses currently drop eq sets. These are NOT the event prizes! They are
bonuses, but they follow the same rules (items are indestructible, named-only,
and last for one year) that the prizes follow. Item sets provide more and
stronger bonuses the more of them you wear. Use them, sell them for gold, or
burn them for sac value.

Speaking of prizes, I haven't coded them yet. You will eventually buy them
with Celestial Energy -- yes, including the Celestial Energy you spent on
Celestial Powers, which will be refunded when the event ends. In other words,
get as much Celestial Energy as you can, and spend it immediately -- there's
no reason not to.

So how will you handle the Circles of Hell? Searching every room and killing
every enemy to become as strong as you can? Stealth or sprint for the bosses
to get as far as you can as fast as you can? Loading up on blades and bombs to
"buy" your way to the end? The choice is yours.

The Circles of Hell event is scheduled to run for two weeks, ending Sunday Oct
31. As per usual, send any bug reports to me.

Shinarae "the Nethacking Diablo Hades of Moria" Lluminus