Season 1: 3/13/2023 – 6/12/2023 Closed
Welcome to the Dark Age of Camelot Hardcore Leveling Challenge! This is a permadeath challenge where if you die, you delete the character. Bots are not allowed, one character per person. Characters may be played solo or may be played in a duo or trio. Resurrection is not permitted. No Help “/nohelp” must be activated.
Questions/comments/feedback? Feel free to reach out in the #hardcore-leveling-challenge channel of my discord.
This community challenge is on the Official Ywain 1 – 10 and Gaheris servers. Test and unofficial servers are not eligible.
Rewards
Players who complete the verified challenge will be placed on a leaderboard. Verified level 50 hardcore characters can join a new guild, yet to be named specifically for Hardcore characters. There will be prizes as noted below for the first season. Feedback is welcome on other ideas/bragging rights. If people enjoy it, we will come up with level 50 hardcore challenges, and future prize seasons as well. (Subject to TOS) The first player to complete a verified hardcore run in each realm on Ywain will get naming rights to the level 50 Ywain guild for that realm. The first player on Gaheris to complete a verified hardcore run will get naming rights to the level 50 hardcore Gaheris guild.
Validated Hardcore Run Completion Prizes prior to 6/12/20231st: 3 Month Game Time Card2nd: 1 Month Game Time Card3rd: 1 Month Game Time Card
Verification
Players are required to stream or record their play. Videos will be reviewed during verification. No video equals no verification equals no prizes. You can stream or record and post it privately to Youtube or whatever platform you choose so long as the entire 1 – 50 is captured and available for verification.
Quests
Legacy quests are the only quests permitted during this challenge. A legacy quest is defined as a quest that is given and performed in the Classic zones, Shrouded Isles zones or Capitol Cities without the NPC having the yellow DAoC knot over their head with three dots outside of it. Classic Dungeon Quests are not permitted. Trials of Atlantis, Catacombs & Darkness Rising quests are prohibited.
The “Town Quests” are part of the New User Journey and are not allowed. If you are not sure about a quest, ask in Discord in the #hardcore-leveling-challenge chat prior to turning it in.
| Legacy (Allowed) Quest Giver | New User Journey (Not Allowed) Quest Giver |
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Starting Out
All characters must port out of the tutorial zone at level 1 without gaining any experience or performing any quests. Once in your realm’s classic zone you begin leveling keeping in mind the quest restrictions. Set “/nohelp” to remove the ability for others to heal or buff you and “/roleplay on” to flag your character as role playing and embark on your hardcore journey!
Solo Rules
| Death = Delete You only have a single life. If you die you must DELETE the character. | Classes & Races Any class and race are permitted. Veteran and Endless Conquest accounts are permitted. | No Trading You may not trade with other characters. This includes not allowing the level 35 and 50 books being traded to gain levels. |
| Gear & Items No Bountycrafting. No Artifacts. All other crafts are permitted if you choose to level them. You may use any gear that you craft yourself, loot/pick up, buy from a merchant or are awarded from a permitted quest. Free weapons from a quartermaster are prohibited. | Battlegrounds You may enter any battleground. You may not acquire or perform quests in any battleground. You may engage in RvR combat, however if you die, it still counts as your single death and you must delete the character. | Skills Other than any type of Resurrection No Master Levels are permitted. |
| Buffs Self buffs are permitted. Buff bots are not permitted. Realm buffs from NPCs are not permitted. Guild buffs are not permitted. Realm Speed is permitted. | Player Interaction You may not ask other players for heals, buffs or anything else. You are free to accept their heals or buffs if they are provided by the other player voluntarily. | Grouping & Guilds No grouping with other characters. You may remain in the starter guild or become guildless. Guild buffs are not permitted. If/When Hardcore guilds are launched, they may be joined. |
| Mithril Items No mithril acquired items are permitted. | Mounts Player controlled mounts are permitted but must be acquired without Mithril or trading. | No Housing You may not enter the housing zones. No exceptions. |
| Speed Realm speed is permitted. Speed potions you craft or loot or receive as a quest reward from a legacy quest are permitted. | Realm Transportation You may ride the NPC stable master horses/wyverns to/from any location. You may use teleporters. |
Duo & Trio Rules
Solo rules apply except as spelled out below.
| Starting Out Hardcore duos and trios must start together from level 1. | Class Combination Any class combination is permitted. Buffs from duo/trio groupmates are allowed. | Stay Together You must stay together in the same zone. Where one ports the others must follow. |
| Presence You must be logged in together at the same time. Verification will include a screenshot of /play to validate time online. | Trading Duo and Trio Hardcore characters may trade only between those in their hardcore duo/trio group. | All for One … You share a life. If one player dies, all are considered dead and must DELETE. |
Uh oh I went Linkdead
If you go linkdead, if you die you still die. Please try again. If you have an unstable internet connection, the verified challenge is probably not something for you to embark on.
Grats on 50!
So you made it to level 50. Grats on all the dings! Don’t forget to submit your verification videos in the #hardcore-leveling-challenge channel of my discord. for vetted bragging rights. Once you are 50, a hardcore character has 3 options.
Option 1: Save it for an update in the future for level 50 Hardcore challenges when we come up with them. If you choose this option, do not talk to the king, do not get the free armor or activate your Champion or Master Levels. Basically don’t interact with any NPCs or violate any existing rules to preserve the hardcore status until level 50 challenges are defined and launched.
Option 2: Retire the hardcore status and play the toon as you would any other level 50.
Option 3: Retire the toon completely. We will most likely be making a guild for retired toons to hallmark the achievement.