Battledome

The Battledome is the place where a user's Neopet can fight against other Neopets and other opponents controlled by the computer. Only pets with at least one hit point and that are not hungry or sick may battle. Fights may be one-player - against challengers that are unlocked through different ways - or two-player - against the pets of other players.

Battling is a very popular activity on the Neopets site, and the most powerful battle equipment can cost over hundreds of millions of Neopoints to purchase. There is a full NeoBoard section dedicated to the past time, and it is a common theme for Guilds. Frequently, plots require participation via the Battledome - although less so in recent years - and it is not uncommon for two similarly trained Neopets to act as battledome partners, being used by the two owners to try out different weapons and techniques.

Overview

Battledoming is a turn-by-turn based affair. In each round both players may use up to two items and choose a stance or ability - with the exception of a Neopet who has run out of weapons, power to use abilities, or has been frozen.

After both players have made their move - in two player matches, there is often a delay while one user waits for the other to complete - details of the round are shown, illustrating the weapons each player used and their effects, their abilities, and the total damage performed to and healed from either pet.

Attack damage is gauged in 'icons': a more powerful attack is indicated by a greater number of icons. Icons come in seven varieties - Air, Darkness, Earth, Fire, Light, Physical, and Water - each represented by a different symbol. Certain armaments may also defend against specific types of icons should they be used during a turn it is used in. Certain weapons may also reflect a portion of the icons used against you back at the opponent.

Certain items may also have additional effects to damage and defence, such as being able to generate specific items within the battle, steal an opponent's weapon for the duration of the match, heal the user - or in rare cases, the opponent - inflict an illness, or be usable only by a select species. There are a few extremely rare items that can permanently remove statistics, alter an opponent's Petpet (only one at the moment), delete weapons permanently, or change the opponent's species, colour, or gender. Some weapons will defend against 100% of a type of icon used against you, instead of a specific number of icons.

Many weapons have a variable attack, where a few additional icons may be inflicted. Defence is often variable also, with the number of icons of the types defended depending on the relationship between the user's defence and the opponents attack statistics (IDB's "Defence Explained", IDB's "A Defense of Defense"). The actual damage done by the icons that reach one's opponent is also quite complicated to calculate, being based on the stances of oneself and one's opponent and the strength statistic of one's Neopet (IDB's "A Study of Damage in the Battledome", IDB's approximate Damage Calculator.

Items also have varying reliability in the Battledome. Certain items can be used repeatedly throughout the rounds (Multiple Use), whereas others may break randomly - or in response to a specific stimulus - either for the duration of the battle (Semi-Fragile) or permanently (Fragile). Others may be used only once (Single Use) or once in a battle (Once per battle) - these are often referred to as bombs if they have a high attack.

Some attacks may freeze an opponent for a round (or in rare cases, several) during which they cannot attack or defend, but can be attacked.

Battledome Arenas

There are a total of 7 different arenas to fight in (the normal Battledome, the Stone Dome, the Ice Arena, the Island Arena, the Space Arena, the Water Arena - which was removed after the destruction of Maraqua but returned with the Curse of Maraqua plot - and the Tyrannian arena), though the only differences in battle it makes are the colour schemes of each individual Battledome. 1-Player Challengers can also only be fought in certain arenas, which reflect the theme of where they come from. This is done during those plots which involve fighting, which were:

• The Tyrannian Invasion - Tyrannian Arena
• Champions of Meridell - Battledome
• Battle for Meridell - Battledome
• Hannah and the Ice Caves - Ice Arena
• Curse of Maraqua - Water Arena
• Lost Desert Plot - Stone Dome
• The Tale of Woe - Stone Dome
• Journey to the Lost Isle - Tyrannian Arena
• The Return of Dr. Sloth - Space Arena

Trivia

• Users were able to equip weapons to their Neopets on February 29, 2000.
• The Battledome first opened its doors to the Neopian public on the 11th January 2001, after extensive alpha testing.
• The Water Arena was turned into a hidden link for the duration of the Curse of Maraqua plot, but they re-added the link on the Battledome page when the plot was over.
• An April Fools prank in 2007 involved the battledome being said to be cancelled, but it was restored the next day. Users were unable to access the Battledome Chat, the Hidden Tower, or shops that stocked weapons. The exception was Premium members, they were able to access those areas if they switched to portal mode.
• "Taking it to the Stone Dome" is a common phrase among battledomers when challenging another to fight.

See Also

• Battlepedia
• In-depth Battlepedia

External Links

• Help File: How do we activate characters for the Battledome?, Will I be able to see my pet's armour in the Battledome?, Where is the Neopets Battledome?, How can I see what items are equipped?, What are Hit Points?, I was playing in the battledome but my opponent hasn't made a move for ages, what do I do?, How do I withdraw from a battle?, Can I browse around the site while the battledome is searching for a quick fight opponent?, I just wanted to know if we can still find the Blumarooo and battle with him because I didn't get a chance to do so?, How do I stop people challenging me to battles?
• Caption Competition: #24, #170, #185
• Editorial: 65, 96, 108, 130, 139, 152, 210, 211, 240, 244, 264, 290
• Battledome Front Page
• In-depth Battlepedia