World Warden
VELA's AI director. Every 1–3 hours it looks at the server and starts one of 18 events where the world is empty or stuck: invasion, town defense, caravan, falling star, blood moon and more.
On a small server the world freezes fast. Everyone stands in Giran, zones are empty, one world Path falls behind, and a guild on the Exchange doesn't move. Every 1–3 hours the World Warden looks at the server and starts one event that fixes a real problem. The decision is made by code with clear rules; the AI only tells the story of the event, like a chronicler.
How the Warden chooses
The Warden sees who is online and where they hunt, who is idling in towns, which world Path is behind, what happened today in the Chronicle, where the Shadow is now, how the Exchange guilds are doing, and who holds the Rift and Tower records.
- Each event gets a score based on its own reasons: for example, "two players are standing in the same town" or "the Path of Prosperity is behind". The event with the best score starts if that score is high enough. If not, "the world is calm", and the Warden looks again in 20 minutes.
- The same event twice in a row, or the same zone twice in a row, gets a penalty, so events alternate.
- The next look comes a random 60–180 minutes after an event ends.
- If nobody is online (offline traders and offline hunting don't count), the Warden starts nothing. If everyone leaves during an event, it quietly ends.
- The Warden doesn't touch the zone currently under a Shadow of the World. It stays silent for an hour before and during the Echo Siege.
Events
| Event | When it happens | What happens | Result |
|---|---|---|---|
| Blessing of the Zone | A zone suits the heroes online but is empty | For 60 minutes, XP, SP, zone resources and runes from its monsters ×1.5 | Chronicle, Path of Knowledge +5 and up to 35 more based on kills |
| Invasion | 2+ heroes idle in the same town | 3 waves of zone monsters of their level at the town Herald, every 3 minutes. 4 monsters + 2 per defender (up to 24). The last wave is led by a leader — the zone's raid boss | Leader killed within 30 minutes — defenders get 10 Rift Fragments and 3 stone fragments. Path of War +30 |
| Boss Migration | 2+ heroes hunt in the same zone | The raid boss of the next zone up ("Wanderer") stands in the center of the busy zone for an hour, buffed by the number of hunters | Victory — 10 Rift Fragments and a Raid Mark for everyone who hit it. Path of War +30 |
| Head Hunt | The strongest (40+) are bored, the Path of War is behind, a quiet day | The Echo of a well-known hero (record holders of Rifts and the Tower first) at 90% power and HP ×8 roams the strongest players' zone for an hour | Victory — 15 Rift Fragments, 5 stone fragments, 2 Raid Marks. Path of War +40 |
| Caravan | The Path of Prosperity is behind or trade has stalled | The merchant Firon walks from the town Herald to the center of a zone. He only moves while guards are nearby (within 1500). Every 150 seconds — an ambush of zone monsters | Reached the goal within 45 minutes — 10 Rift Fragments and 3 stone fragments for the guards. Path of Prosperity +40 |
| Guild Fair | An Exchange guild has frozen | Exchange news raises its price by 2%, and for an hour activity for that guild counts double | If people contributed — a second news item (+1%), Path of Prosperity +30 and more |
| Call of the Path | One world Path is far behind the leader | For an hour that Path's points count double | Result in the Chronicle |
| Town Defense | 2+ heroes idle in a town, and there are Echoes in the world | 4 waves of a horde march on the town gates; up to 4 Echoes of that town's heroes fight beside the living. 8 breakthroughs — the town falls | Leader killed — rewards by contribution, a letter to the heroes whose Echo defended. Path of War +40. Details — Town Defense |
Short events (12–20 minutes)
| Event | When it happens | What happens | Result |
|---|---|---|---|
| Gold Rush | a zone fits several heroes online | for 15 minutes, adena from the zone's monsters ×2 | top three by kills — Rift Fragments and stone fragments |
| Falling Star | there are heroes of the zone's level in it | a star falls in a random spot of the zone; whoever holds it alone for 3 minutes takes it | winners get adena and trophies, the rest get shards |
| Treasure Hunt | a quiet world | a cache in the zone and three clues over 15 minutes; to open it, stand next to it for 15 seconds with no rival | the opener gets adena and trophies, searchers nearby get 2 Fragments each |
| Blood Moon | game night only | for 20 minutes, monsters in manual zones are stronger, and runes from manual hunting drop twice as often | from 15 manual kills — Fragments, top three — Raid Marks |
| White Beast | there are heroes of the zone's level in it | a white beast runs from heroes across the zone for 12 minutes and doesn't fight back | rewards by damage share |
| Rift Crack | heroes are hunting or could hunt in the zone | a portal: 3 waves of Rift monsters of your level, then a guardian | rewards by kills and damage to the guardian |
| King of the Hill | many heroes of the zone's level in it | a banner on high ground in the zone: whichever side holds it longer with no guards and no rivals | the winning side gets trophies, the rest get a share |
| Wandering Merchant | adena needs a sink, trade has stalled | for 15 minutes a merchant sells rare goods for adena, limited stock | first come, first served |
| Fish Are Biting | heroes idle in towns, a quiet day | for 20 minutes, in one body of water every catch is two fish | from 5 catches — Fragments, top three — more |
| Relic | there are heroes of the zone's level in a zone near a town | the relic has to be carried to the town Herald; if the carrier dies or teleports, it drops | the carrier and their party get trophies |
More on short events — Warden Short Events.
In combat events (Invasion, Migration, Head Hunt, Caravan, Town Defense, Falling Star, Treasure Hunt, White Beast, Rift Crack, King of the Hill, Relic), a participant or winner also gets 10,000 × hero level adena on top of the items in the table.
Texts and AI
The code gives the AI the event's facts: what, where, why and until when. The AI writes the announcement, a short story and Chronicle lines about the victory or failure, in Russian and English. In Treasure Hunt the AI turns the clues into riddles, but the plain fact is always added to them. If the AI is unavailable, ready-made templates are used, and the game doesn't slow down because of it.
Tips
- Blessing of the Zone often lands on a zone of your level where nobody is right now. One and a half times more resources and runes is a good reason to switch spots.
- A Caravan without guards stands still. Stay within 1500 of the merchant and clear the ambushes ahead of time.
- Blessing of the Zone and Happy Hour stack: resources in a blessed zone during the hour can go up to ×2.25.
FAQ
Is the Warden a live GM? No, it's a program with rules. The AI only writes the texts.
Why haven't there been any events for a while? Either the world is "calm" (no reason for an event), or a Shadow is underway or the Echo Siege is coming soon. The time of the next look is shown in the Warden window.