Difference between revisions of "Exploration"

Revision as of 16:55, 3 April 2011

One of the tasks for knights is exploration of the Clockworks by joining in parties going down through gates. While in the Clockworks knights will encounter many interesting things.

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Monsters

Main article: Monsters

Treasure Boxes

Main article: Treasure box

Items

Consumables

Main article: Consumables

Pickups

Main article: Pickups

Materials & Other Items

Main article: Crafting

Map Hazards

While exploring the various levels of the Clockworks, knights will encounter many dangers besides monsters. Most hazards can only be found in appropriately themed levels, but others like floor spikes can be found in almost all of them. Knights will take damage and sometimes even status effects by walking into certain hazards and should avoid them at all cost!

Breakable Blocks

Explosive Blocks

If knights stand too close to these blocks and hit them, they will take damage. Take them out with a gun. These boxes can also damage monsters, so use these to your advantage!

Timed Explosive Blocks

These explosive blocks go off after a set amount of time.

Respawning Hazards

Sometimes, blocks will be destroyed, but they will pop back up again. If a knight stands on the respawning block and a block respawns, the knight will take some damage.

Floor Spikes

Floor spikes are the most common hazard encountered by Knights and should be avoided by all cost. They inflict piercing damage and can often break a Knight's shield before they retract back into the ground.

Brambles

Thorns are mostly found on grassy levels and are in fixed positions. Thorns pose most of a threat when an enemy is knocked into the middle of a patch of them, in which case ranged attacks are needed to reach them. Monster drops have a bad habit of hiding in the middle of this hazard.

Poison Brambles =

Poison thorns are exactly like regular thorns except they will give you the poison condition.

Fire Grates

Fire grates are only found on flame levels and, like floor spikes, is only dangerous for a short period of time. Getting hit by this hazard will ignite you with the fire condition.

Fire Pits

These can be found when traveling in the Firestorm Citadel. Unlike fire grates, fire pits are a constant hazard and should be avoided at all costs.

Spiked Wheels

These can also be found in the Firestorm Citadel. Spiked wheels have a powerful knockback capable of crushing knights and enemies alike.

Force Fields

Force fields may be crossed by players, but not monsters. Players may not use weapons to attack from behind the force field.

Buttons

There are two types of buttons. The first can be stepped on and will be pushed down permanently. The second requires a stone cat statue be put on it to keep it pushed down.

Switches

Switches need to be hit with a weapon or thrown item. Some switches can be permanently changed, and others will change every time they are hit. Switches may control gates or sometimes the direction of retraction for a row of spiked floor.

Gates

Some gates need to be opened using buttons. Others are locked and require a key.

Extra Energy Features

Also in the Clockworks are some added features that can be accessed by paying an additional energy fee.

Energy Gates

Mecha Knights

Found in Deconstruction Zone levels, these friendly Mecha Knights require 5 energy for activation. When activated, they will help kill enemy monsters until either they themselves die or you finish the level.

Mecha Turrets

Danger Rooms

Main article: Danger room

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-Far beneath the surface of '''Haven''' lie '''The Clockworks''', a massive underground labyrinth surrounded by a patchwork of pieces of other worlds. These pieces are divided into a series of layers, known simply as '''floors''', that constantly change alignment, and sometimes their very composition. This is thought to be due to the floors being situated on a series of rotating mechanical platforms. The floors themselves appear to be composed of pieces of other worlds, much like the very surface of '''Cradle'''. However, these floors feel far more engineered than '''Cradle''' itself, as there are challenges laid out within for those that would dare explore them, including fearsome monsters and deadly traps.
+{{TOCright}}
+One of the tasks for knights is '''exploration''' of the [[Clockworks]] by joining in [[party|parties]] going down through [[gate]]s.  While in the [[Clockworks]] knights will encounter many interesting things.
-In order to better understand '''The Clockworks''' and its secrets, the '''Spiral Knights''' organize constant expeditions into its depths utilizing the rotating '''gate''' system found in '''Haven's Arcade'''.
+{{stub}}
+== Monsters ==
+{{main|Monsters}}
-==Gates==
+== Treasure Boxes ==
+{{main|Treasure box}}
-[[Image:Official-Open_Gate.png|300px|left|thumb|The "Jade Pawn" Gate, a gate found in Haven's Arcade.]]
+== Items ==
-'''Gates''' are entry points to The Clockworks that are located within the Arcade in the rear of Haven. Built from minerals gathered by dutiful Spiral Knights, gates are made up of a series of levels that descend deeper and deeper beneath Cradle's surface. There are usually a variety of gates available for exploring at any given time, and new gates rotate into existence daily, rotating access to older gates out at the same time.
-Some gates go deeper toward the Core than others, and some will have particular themes to their construction. Be sure to thoroughly search each and every gate you can: you never know what you'll find beneath the surface!
+=== Consumables ===
+{{main|Consumables}}
-Who is responsible for constructing these gates, you ask? Why, that'd be ''you''! For more info, see the Arcade section below.
+=== Pickups ===
+{{main|Pickups}}
-==Levels==
+=== Materials & Other Items ===
+{{main|Crafting}}
-[[Image:Official-Exit_Elevator.png|300px|right|thumb|An elevator leading deeper into The Clockworks.]]
+== Map Hazards ==
-'''Levels''' are areas filled with treasure and monsters that must be traversed in order to descend deeper into The Clockworks. The Clockworks is said to have an infinite number of such levels, though exploration has determined that there are definitely useful patterns and paths that can be located within the chaos.
-Levels are accessed using elevators keenly constructed by the Spiral Knights for their explorations. Each level has an '''entry elevator''' which acts as a start point for any adventuring Knights, as well as an '''exit elevator''' that will take them further down into The Clockworks. Spiral Knights must traverse these levels in search of the elevator to the next, deeper level of The Clockworks, all the while fending off horrible monsters and avoiding traps. Dangerous as exploration is, canny Knights are richly rewarded: each level typically has an abundance of Crowns, materials, items and minerals ripe for the taking by anyone who can find them and safely haul them away. Not only that, but by defeating monsters, valuable embers can be earned which are used by a Spiral Knight's systems to upgrade their equipment!
+While exploring the various levels of the Clockworks, knights will encounter many dangers besides monsters. Most hazards can only be found in appropriately themed levels, but others like [[Hazards#Floor_Spikes|floor spikes]] can be found in almost all of them. Knights will take damage and sometimes even status effects by walking into certain hazards and should avoid them at all cost!
-Upon the completion of a level, a Spiral Knight's currently-equipped gear will be given credit for any embers they picked up on that level, and upon completing a few levels consecutively, a Knight is given the opportunity to safely head back to Haven by using an exit elevator found in a '''Clockwork Terminal'''. Successfully traversing levels is the only way to get to the Core, so don't get in over your head! Take advantage of the equipment-boosting power of embers, and make sure to head back to Haven safely if things are getting a little rough!
+=== Breakable Blocks ===
-Note that constructing and using elevators is a particularly taxing process for the Spiral Knights' technology, and so every Knight that wants to descend deeper into The Clockworks aboard an elevator is charged a small amount of Energy to do so. Energy is a valuable resource on Cradle, so make certain you have a sufficient supply for your expedition before making the trip, lest you have to head back to Haven early!
+=== Explosive Blocks ===
+If knights stand too close to these blocks and hit them, they will take damage. Take them out with a gun. These boxes can also damage monsters, so use these to your advantage!
-==The Arcade==
+=== Timed Explosive Blocks ===
-{{main|Gate creation}}
+These explosive blocks go off after a set amount of time.
-The '''Arcade''' in Haven holds all of the gates that are currently available for exploration. New gates rotate into and out of circulation daily, with active gates residing on the far left of the Arcade, and currently inactive gates sitting on the right. These gates will steadily shift left as time passes, with older active gates eventually disappearing from the Arcade, and new inactive gates being constructed on the right.
+=== Respawning Hazards ===
+Sometimes, blocks will be destroyed, but they will pop back up again. If a knight stands on the respawning block and a block respawns, the knight will take some damage.
-The process is a bit more involved than a simple slide to the left, however! It takes a great deal of resources on the part of the Spiral Knights in order to fully construct a new gate for exploration. You can assist in this effort by depositing minerals previously found in The Clockworks into inactive gates. This can be done by traveling to the Arcade and interacting directly with the inactive gate of your choice. Each such gate has a countdown listed on it. Once this countdown reaches zero, the gate's minerals will be expended to drill down into Cradle and produce a new gate with a new series of levels. Different distributions of mineral will produce different types of level beneath a gate, so experiment to find new and interesting levels, and maybe even a route to the Core!
+=== Floor Spikes ===
+Floor spikes are the most common hazard encountered by Knights and should be avoided by all cost. They inflict [[Damage##Piercing_Damage|piercing]] damage and can often break a Knight's [[Equipment#Shields|shield]] before they retract back into the ground.
-{| class="wikitable" border="1" cellpadding="5" cellspacing="0" align="left"
+=== Brambles ===
-|-
+Thorns are mostly found on grassy levels and are in fixed positions. Thorns pose most of a threat when an enemy is knocked into the middle of a patch of them, in which case ranged attacks are needed to reach them. Monster drops have a bad habit of hiding in the middle of this hazard.
-! colspan="2" style="background: lightblue; color: black"  | '''NEXT''': [[Energy]]
-|}
-[[Category:Official Documentation]]
+=== Poison Brambles ====
+Poison thorns are exactly like regular thorns except they will give you the [[poison]] condition.
+=== Fire Grates ===
+Fire grates are only found on flame levels and, like floor spikes, is only dangerous for a short period of time. Getting hit by this hazard will ignite you with the [[fire]] condition.
+[[Category:Terminology]]
+=== Fire Pits ===
+These can be found when traveling in the [[Firestorm Citadel]]. Unlike fire grates, fire pits are a constant hazard and should be avoided at all costs.
+=== Spiked Wheels ===
+These can also be found in the [[Firestorm Citadel]]. Spiked wheels have a powerful knockback capable of crushing knights and enemies alike.
+=== Force Fields ===
+Force fields may be crossed by players, but not monsters.  Players may not use weapons to attack from behind the force field.
+=== Buttons ===
+There are two types of buttons.  The first can be stepped on and will be pushed down permanently.  The second requires a stone cat statue be put on it to keep it pushed down.
+=== Switches ===
+Switches need to be hit with a weapon or thrown item.  Some switches can be permanently changed, and others will change every time they are hit.  Switches may control gates or sometimes the direction of retraction for a row of spiked floor.
+=== Gates ===
+Some gates need to be opened using buttons.  Others are locked and require a key.
+== Extra Energy Features ==
+Also in the Clockworks are some added features that can be accessed by paying an additional energy fee.
+=== Energy Gates ===
+=== Mecha Knights ===
+Found in Deconstruction Zone levels, these friendly Mecha Knights require 5 energy for activation.  When activated, they will help kill enemy monsters until either they themselves die or you finish the level.
+=== Mecha Turrets ===
+=== Danger Rooms ===
+{{main|Danger room}}
+[[Category:Terminology]]