AdventureQuest Worlds, often shortened to
AQWorlds or simply
AQW, is a browser-based MMORPG or
massively multiplayer online role playing game developed by
Artix Entertainment in 2008. Unlike most massively multiplayer role playing games,
AdventureQuest Worlds was developed entirely in
Adobe Flash. It currently has over 16 million registered accounts,
[1][2] reaching 6 million in May
[3] and 9 million in July 2009.
[4]
Setting
The setting of the game is in the same universe as
AdventureQuest,
DragonFable, and
MechQuest. The universe of
AdventureQuest Worlds
came into being when the Dragon of Time was defeated by Galanoth
leading all the stray storylines of the previous games to come together
into one, big game in which there are thirteen lords of chaos.
Gameplay
Upon creating an account, players are asked to choose one of four
"starting classes" to be as their personal character, which are warrior,
mage, healer, and rogue. When the players start the game, they will
also automatically receive a default weapon. In AQWorlds, there is
little meaning of weapons; they are all based on art quality. The only
significant choice a player can make about a weapon based on how "good"
it is when viewing a weapon's base damage range. Otherwise, the weapon
(which come in either a sword, mace, axe, pole arm, staff, dagger, or
gun, helm, cape, and armor) are all based on looks. If a player has a
pet it is also useless unless it is a battle pet. The way a player can
advance and essentially progress and get better is by leveling up, which
adds to their stat character page, making various abilities and attack
power better, enhancements (which enhance a weapon to add stat
modifiers, which come in either wizard, fighter, thief, healer, hybrid,
spellbreaker, lucky, spitfire, adventurer, etc.), and class. A Class can
determine all of your stats and the way you play because of the
abilities. All classes have 5 abilities, one of which is always an "auto
attack" or simply just striking an enemy. They may also have another
"passive" abilities that is unlocked at rank 4 and for some classes,
rank 10. Classes all start off as Rank 1 and progress as they receive
class points from defeating enemies. This may depend on the enemies'
level and difficulty stars (1-5). Upon defeating enemies, players also
receive experience and gold. Players an also receive reputation for a
certain faction in order to gain ranks (again, 1-10) for completing the
various quests and quest chains in the game.
Events
AdventureQuest Worlds has special events on special occasions,
usually lasting afterwards to a week. Some are unique to the day (one
time only), while others are presumed to be annual events. There were
also live events with guest stars like
Voltaire,
One-Eyed Doll,
George Lowe,
Paul and Storm,
Jonathan Coulton, the cast of
Ctrl+Alt+Del,
Ayi Jihu,
ArcAttack,
They Might Be Giants,
Andrew Huang,
Mia J. Park, and
Michael Sinterniklaas as the voice of Deady.
[5][6][7][8][9][10]
Plot synopsis
Prologue
The Doom Knight Sepulchure and his undead army invaded Swordhaven.
King Alteon faced Sepulchure in a one-on-one duel to stop him.
Unfortunately, the duel was interrupted by Drakath who kills Sepulchure
and plans to unleash his 13 Lords of Chaos upon Lore. Drakath launches
the castle of Shadowfall into a mountain.
[11]
After the attack, the forces of good (led by King Alteon) and the
forces of evil (led by Sepulchure's daughter Gravelyn) form a truce to
fight Drakath and the Lords of Chaos. There are already signs of
Chaorruption (short for Chaos Corruption) in the nearby forest and marsh
causing the player to capture the Chaorrupted
Wolves, Chaorrupted
Bear, and Chaos
Spiders alongside some antidote-based plants to be studied.
13 Lords of Chaos Saga
Drakath sends each of his 13 Lords of Chaos to each of the countries to cause chaos there:
- The First Lord of Chaos is Escherion, a battle mage who is a homage to M.C. Escher. Escherion arrived in Mobius with his army of Fire Imps, Chaos Sp-Eyes, Cyclops Raiders, Chainsaw Sneevils, and Gargoyles.
Escherion used his Staff of Inversion to invert everything there
including its Guardian Tower which he uses as a base. His henchmen are
Slugfit, Cyclops Warlord, and Head Gargoyle. He sent his armies
throughout Chiral Valley to look for the Runix Cube. The players had to
go to the locations to retrieve the pieces of the Runix Cube first in
Mobius, the Faerie Woods, and Cornelis. Upon recovering all three
pieces, the players forge the disguise of a pizza delivery guy to
infiltrate his tower and fight through the soldiers there. After besting
Head Gargoyle, the players finally confront Escherion. They throw the
Runix Cube at him not knowing what it does, and Escheron explains that
the only thing that could stop him was not the Runix Cube itself, but
not being able to find it. He takes the opportunity to grab the Cube and
eject the character from the tower, then awakening the Lake Hydra
(the first of the "Chaos Beasts" that accompany each Chaos Lord) under
orders by Drakath. When the Lake Hydra is defeated, the character then
goes back to Escherion. After taking out the Staff of Inversion and
Escherion, the character demands that Escherion leave Chiral Valley and
never return. When Escherion retaliates, the character uses a Mirror
Shield found in Cornelis to deflect Escherion's spells. When he tries to
polymorph the character, he ends up turning himself into a toad
which undoes the effects of his inversion spells. Drakath gets word of
this and prepares his next Lord of Chaos after stating that Escherion
has served his purpose.
- The Second Lord(s) of Chaos are the twins Xing and Xang. They
haven't been fought yet, but have enticed Maximilian Lionfang and
Nythera to their side. Xing and Xang were then seen taking interest in
the Void. Xing and Xang also appear in the Bloodtusk Ravine where they
are summoned by the player to answer five questions. They also pair the
Trolls and Horcs against each other in order to help Drakath determine
who will become the Ninth Lord of Chaos.
- The Third Lord of Chaos is Vath, a Drow Dragonlord who wields the Dragon Control Amulet and the Sword of Dragon Control to control the dragon
Stalagbite. He enslaved Dwarfhold with his army of Drow Soldiers, Drow
Assassins, and Chaotic Draconians and is served by the Drow Warden Elfis
(who is a homage to Elvis Presley) and the Scorpion Rider D'wain Jonsen (who is a homage to Dwayne Johnson). The Chaos Beast hatched by him is the Rock Roc
using the Chaos Generalds. After the players hijack Stalagbite to shoot
down the Rock Rock, Vath regains control of Stalagbite as the players
finish off the Rock Roc. The players then fight Vath even when he
summons Stalagbite to his side. After defeating Vath and Stalagbite, the
players demand that Vath surrenders. When Vath conjures his Dragon
Control Amulet, the players throw the disarmed Sword of Dragon Control
at the amulet destroying both of the Dragon Control items. This frees
Stalagbite from Vath's control as Stalagbite pins down Vath. Upon
stating that he will meet the players again and will remember their good
deeds, Stalagbite carries Vath away to an unknown fate.
- The Fourth Lord of Chaos is Kitsune, an anthropomorphic fox. Upon being Chaorrupted by Drakath, he persuaded the Blue Kappa Ninja, Green Kappa Ninja, Ninja Noppera-bōs, Samurai Noppera-bōs, Tanukis, Tsukumo-gamis, and Funa-Yureis to join his cause into claiming Yōkai Island for the Yōkai. His henchmen are Dai Tengu, SoulTaker, Onibaba, Nure-Onna, and Neko Mata.
Princess Ai No Miko summoned the players to Yōkai Island when she
discovers that her father Emperor Daisho has been brainwashed by Kitsune
as the players compete in the Dragon Koi Tournament for the prize of
the Hanzamune Dragon Koi Blade. He uses the stolen Hanzamune Dragon Koi
Blade to summon the Forbidden O-Dokuro
from the Rift of Time as his Chaos Beast. The players managed to defeat
Kitsune and reclaim the Hanzamune Dragon Koi Blade. When Kitsune
refuses to admit defeat, he charges the players until they unknowingly
use the Hanzamune Dragon Koi Blade to open a rift that sucks Kitsune
into the Yokai World as the players close the rift. With Kitsune gone,
Emperor Daisho is freed from Kitsune's spell and the players win the
Dragon Koi Tournament.
- The Fifth Lord of Chaos is Wolfwing, a Werepyre (part werewolf, part vampire)
that was Chaorrupted by Drakath as stated to the player by Shadowslayer
Z. Chaos Wolfwing created an army of Chaos Lycan Knights, Chaos Vampire
Knights, and Werepyres in a plot to take over Darkovia. Because of his
threats, the players had to get the Vampire Queen Safira and the
Werewolf King Constantin to call a truce to help defeat Wolfwing. He
bites a dragon on the Mystic Wolf Moon to turn it into the Dracowerepyre
(a combination of a dragon, a vampire and a werewolf) as his Chaos
Beast. When the players defeat Wolfwing, he is shot by an arrow launched
by Shadowslayer Z. What Shadowslayer Z and the players don't know is
that the moon is slowly restoring Wolfwing's remains.
- The Sixth Lord of Chaos is a Chaorrupted Kimberly Freeman of One-Eyed Doll who was Chaorrupted by a song done by Drakath. She used Discordia (a parody of Erik from The Phantom of the Opera)
as her proxy in her plans to take over Mythsong Canyon. Kimberly and
Discordia used mesmerizing music to hypnotize the Beatles, Tune-A-Fish,
Grateful Undeads, Rock Lobsters, Stingers, Pachelbells Cannons, Music
Pirates, and Flying Music Pirates to disrupt Lorestockapalooza (a homage
to Woodstock). She sent the players back in time to fight her Chaos
Beast Pony Gary Yellow (a Triceratops/Dragon-like creature).[12] Upon Kimberly's defeat, she is freed from the control of Drakath's Chaorrupted song.
- The Seventh Lord of Chaos is Ledgermayne, a bunch of raw mana
that gained shape upon exposure to Drakath's chaos magic making him a
"living magic." He bewitched the Seed Spitters, Gorillaphants (part gorilla, part elephant creatures), Acornents (which were created from acorns), Karasus (which were created from ravens), Swamp Frogdrakes, Swamp Lurkers, Anglerfish,
Merdraconians (half Draconian, half fish), Earth Elementals, Water
Elementals, Wind Elementals, Fire Elementals, Volcanic Maggots, Scoria
Serpents, Living Fires, Mana Imps, and Mana Falcons
in a plot to take over Arcangrove. While the players were gathering the
components to the Supreme Arcane Staff (consisting of the Rod of
Defiance from Mudluk Village, the Runes of Riparian from the Natatorium
in Arcangrove Loch, the Wraps of Gilead from Great Gilead, and the Chaos
Focus Gem from Mount Mafic). Upon knowing that Drakath would fail,
Ledgermayne took matters into his own hands and leaves Drakath to
initiate his own plans. When it came to the Chaos Focus Gem, Ledgermayne
appeared and smashed it stating that the players will never defeat him.
Yet the players managed to gather the fragments. Ledgermayne frees the
Mana Golem
from its prison on the Para-Elemental Plane of Magic to be his Chaos
Beast. Upon Ledgermayne's defeat, Drakath appears and combines his
powers with the players' Supreme Arcane Staff to reduce Ledgermayne back
into raw mana.
- The Eighth Lord of Chaos is Tibicenas, a Chaos Jinn who used the hedge-mage Zahart as his master in a plot to conquer the Sandsea. He used the Heart of the Sphinx to animate the Chaos Sphinx
as his Chaos Beast. When the genie ring that Zahart was wielding was
destroyed by Zhoom, Tibicenas turned against Zahart and began his plans
to go to the Djinn World and take revenge on the Efreet. With help from
the Efreet, the players managed to defeat Tibicenas who explodes after that freeing Zahart from his control.
- The Ninth Lord of Chaos is Krellenos, a Troll prophet who assists Xing and Xang into pitting the Orcs and Trolls
of Bloodtusk Ravine against each other. He even managed to Chaorrupt
his brother Antiphuus into a Chaotic Troll. His army consisted of
Chaotic Chinchilizards (a hybrid of a chinchilla and a lizard), Chaotic Horcboars, Chaotic Koalions (a hybrid of a koala and a lion), Chaotic Lemurphants (a hybrid of a lemur and an elephant), Chaotic Rhisons (a hybrid of a rhinoceros and a bison), Chaos Tigriffs (a hybrid of a tiger and an eagle), Chaotic Vultures,
Chaorrupted Good Soldiers, Chaorrupted Evil Soldiers, Chaorrupted Good
Lieutenants, Chaorrupted Evil Lieutenants, Serpentress (described to be
female Trolls that were turned into Half-Troll Half-Snake creatures by
the Singing Gods), Chaos Horc Spirits, and Chaos Troll Spirits. He later
transforms a Serpentress into the Gruaige Baas (an undead Gorgon) to be his Chaos Beast. Krellenos is killed by his sister Khasaanda (who is a homage to Cassandra)
who steals his Chaos Powers, usurps his position, and plans to defeat
Drakath. Upon being defeated in a forced battle against the players,
Khasaanda plans to use her Chaos powers to track down Drakath and use
her Chaos powers to defeat Drakath.
- The Tenth Lord of Chaos is Iadoa, a renowned Chronomancer and
professor who disappeared for unknown reasons. When he returned, he had
been Chaorrupted by Drakath in a plot to destroy the New Year's Eve
celebration. The players managed to defeat Professor Iadoa and used his
arm-blade to restart to return things to the way before Professor Iadoa
returned. Professor Iadoa resurfaced as the Tenth Lord of Chaos and is
responsible for the materialization of The Span. He takes on the
appearance of an old time sage living in The Span's Library of Time. In
this Pre-Chaorrupted form, Iadoa is willing to serve as the hero's guide
throughout The Span and the three timelines that combined to create
AdventureQuest Worlds (AdventureQuest Classic, DragonFable, and
MechQuest) before he becomes fully Chaorrupted himself (which he knows
will happen to him eventually). When the players are in the Time Void
and gain the trust of Vaxt Ahas the Unending, Iadoa shows them that
Galanoth was the one who slew the Dragon of Time which caused the three
timelines to combine into the player's timeline where everyone was
reborn including Drakath and his Master. Iadoa then proceeds to guide
the players to their destiny.
Payment
The main form of payment is membership: a monthly, three-monthly,
six-monthly or yearly fee required to access additional game content.
However, AQ Worlds can be played for free without this additional game
content. Like Artix Entertainment's other games,
microtransactions, known in
AdventureQuest Worlds
as AdventureCoins, can be used to buy exclusive in-game items. Most
Artix Entertainment merchandise also can be redeemed for in-game items.
Adventure Coins may be bought on the website or via Battleon Points
(used only if the account on AQ Worlds has been linked with the Master
Account through the
AE Portal)
They can be used in many shops on the game such as Yulgar's Suggestion
Shop. The coins can be used to buy some of the best items in the game in
terms of art quality. There are a variety of methods you can use to
purchase coins. These include cellphone, home phone, credit card and
cards you can redeem online (bought in a shop).
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