How to play Phantom-X

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How to play Phantom-X

Postby Duck_42 » 11 Aug 2012, 18:57

This guide is intended to be a brief introduction for new phantom players. If I need to add some additional detail, please let me know. So, on to the game...

Phantoms
A phantom's goal is to kill everyone else in the game. Phantoms receive bonus mass and energy income (a percentage of the total innocent player income), which enables them to build at an accelerated rate. Phantoms frequently team up near the beginning of the game, but a good phantom will always have a plan for killing the other phantom(s) once the innocents have been dealt with.

Possible signs of a Phantom:
-Aggressive behavior (Phantoms get an additional resource bonus if they break an alliance).
-Rapid early advancement (Phantoms may inadvertently outpace everyone else due the mass and energy bonus).
-Not enough energy to support base output. (Sometimes, phantoms rely on the bonus instead of their own production).

Innocents
An innocent players goal is to kill all phantoms. Innocents must typically rely on teamwork to take on and defeat the phantoms. Since the phantoms will often team up, the innocents must be very vigilant early in the game or risk being quickly overwhelmed by a team phantom rush.

Paladins
Paladins are a special class of innocent players. Like the phantoms, they receive bonus resources. Although, the paladin bonus is substantially less (varies from 25% to 65% of phantom bonus depending on the configured lobby option). A paladin's goal is the same as any other innocent (i.e. kill all phantoms).


Scenario
At 7 minutes into the game, all players are given a chance to vote for one, two, or three phantoms. The option with the most votes determines the number of phantoms. If there's a tie, the lower number is used.

Although not required, most people will vote using the following:
Code: Select all
Total Players   Phantoms
--------------------------
      3             1
      4             1
      5             2
      6             2
      7             3
      8             3

At 8 minutes into the game, the selected number of phantoms are randomly chosen (yes, it is random, I've checked). The players not chosen as phantoms are designated as innocents.

If playing with no reveal, players will be on their own in determining who the phantoms are. This is the most challenging way to play Phantom. However, games with no reveal can sometimes last a long time. Some hosts may elect to set a reveal timer. Once the reveal timer expires, a phantom and/or paladin will be revealed (who sees this reveal can be controlled by the game host via a lobby option). The game host may use additional reveal timers to reveal additional players.

Other Rules
Although not often explicitly stated, engineer trading is usually prohibited in phantom games. If you plan on trading engineers, be sure to check with the host about whether or not trading is permitted.

Stealing (capturing) engineers is usually allowed as long as it's not just a disguised trade.

You aren't allowed to attack other players without breaking alliances first, e.g with nukes, tml, bombers.

Roanoke
Like it or not, most Phantom games are played on Roanoke Abyss, so it's a good idea to know that map. When playing phantom on Roanoke, each player may take the islands on each side (right and left) of their spawn island. The middle islands on Roanoke are assigned in a clockwise manner.
Roanoke.jpg
Roanoke
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