KOTH
| KOTH | |
|---|---|
| Full name | King of the Hill |
| Type | Scheduled event |
| Frequency | Several times daily |
| Capture timer | 5–15 minutes |
| Reward | Loot key or crate |
| Variants | Citadel, Palace, Conquest |
KOTH, or King of the Hill, is the standard scheduled event in Hardcore Factions. A capture zone activates somewhere on the map, and the first faction to hold it continuously for a set timer wins the loot.
KOTHs run several times a day, which makes them the main reason factions leave their base. Between raids and the weekly Citadel, they are what keeps a map active.
In short: stand in a small area, alone, for ten minutes, while every other faction on the server tries to push you out of it.
How it works
Activation
A KOTH is announced server-wide, usually with a countdown, and activates at a fixed location. Schedules are published in advance so factions can organise attendance. Most networks rotate between several named zones across the map.
Capturing
Standing inside the zone starts a countdown, typically 5 to 15 minutes depending on the network and the zone. The timer displays publicly, so everyone knows how close a faction is to winning.
The timer only counts down while your faction, and no other, has someone in the zone. Three things stop it:
- Being killed or knocked out of the zone.
- An enemy entering the zone. Contested zones do not tick for anyone on most networks.
- Leaving voluntarily.
The reset rule
This is what makes KOTH difficult. On most networks the timer resets to full when you lose control, rather than pausing. A faction eight minutes into a ten-minute capture that gets pushed out starts again from zero.
Some networks pause rather than reset, or reset only after a grace period. This is one of the bigger rule differences between servers and worth checking.
Winning
When the timer completes, the holding faction wins. The reward is normally a loot key or crate containing gear, potions or cosmetics, and the win is announced server-wide.
Why it's hard
The reset rule means a KOTH is not won by fighting well for ten minutes. It is won by fighting well for ten minutes *without interruption*, against every faction on the server at once.
Consequences:
- Everyone attacks the holder. There is no reason for a third faction to fight anyone but whoever is currently capping. The leader is always the target.
- Late pushes beat early ones. Arriving at minute nine and knocking out the holder costs them everything and costs you nothing.
- Holding is harder than denying. Breaking a capture takes one player reaching the zone briefly. Completing one takes an entire team holding ground.
- It rewards patience. Factions frequently let others exhaust each other and take the zone late.
Roles in a KOTH fight
| Class | Job |
|---|---|
| Diamond | Hold the zone itself and body-block the entrances. The bulk of the team. |
| Bard | Sit outside the zone, in cover, dropping strength and resistance on whoever is inside. Its range is a sphere, so it does not need line of sight. |
| Archer | Tag whoever is capping from distance so the diamonds kill them faster. |
| Rogue | Reach enemy bards and archers positioned away from the main fight. |
| Miner | Rarely used at KOTH. |
A single Bard can hold a zone alone under sustained attack using resistance and regeneration, a play known as tanking. It is the highest-skill way to take a KOTH and one of the most-recorded plays in HCF footage.
Pearls
Unlike Citadel, ender pearls work normally at a standard KOTH. That changes the fight completely:
- Holders can pearl out of a losing position and return.
- Attackers can pearl directly into the zone to break a capture, then leave.
- Terrain around the zone is bypassable rather than defensible.
This is the single biggest difference between KOTH and Citadel, and the reason Citadel is the map-deciding event while KOTH is routine. See Cooldowns for pearl timing.
Variants
| Event | How it differs |
|---|---|
| Citadel | A fortified KOTH with pearling disabled inside. Weekly, four per map, decides the map. |
| Palace | A large capture event run on some networks, including Kohi, in place of or alongside Citadel. |
| Conquest | Multiple simultaneous capture points scored over time rather than one zone with one timer. |
| Nether and End KOTH | The same event in another dimension, harder to reach and to escape from. |
Practical notes
- Turn up geared. KOTH schedules are public, so everyone arrives prepared and a half-stocked team loses immediately.
- Watch the timer, not the fight. Knowing an enemy is at 0:30 changes what you should be doing.
- Don't overcommit. Deaths at KOTH still carry the full deathban and still freeze your faction's DTR. Losing four players over a loot key is a bad trade.
- Have an exit. Being combat tagged away from base after a lost KOTH is how factions get picked apart.