Main Points
-You are safe from player forced combat if you are under level 20, or in a town, or use the log out button to completely log out.
-By sacrificing a Bouquet of Orchids in a burning volcano, you cross over to the dark side and become a PK permanently.
-PKs will steal up to 25% of the gold you carry if they kill you. This amount is further capped and reduced based on level. A level 60 could lose at most 200k gold, but a level 90 could lose 1.5m. Half the gold stolen is kept by the PK, the other half goes toward increasing the bounty on their head. There is no item looting.
-If you get killed by a PK you cannot be attacked by another PK until you consume another 8 hours of rested time, so you can level without fear. This immunity is lost if you attack a PK.
-You can attack and kill a PK without becoming one yourself. Doing so is a valiant deed and if you manage to kill one, you will receive all their current gold and their gold bounty. The bounty begins at 5 million and goes up as the PK steals gold from victims. Players who kill PKs are known as PKKs, but this is just a label and has no effect on your character.
-If a PK dies to a player, they lose all gold and all non-Legendary combat skills, returning them to level 1. They don't lose items.
-PKs get 3x the experience and trophy drops of normal players provided they have a unique and viable* kill within the past 7 days. This does not stack with Reroller's Boon bonuses but it does stack with all other effects such as the Acceleration Upgrade.
Fine Details
-There is no PK redemption and PKs can't reroll. Being a PK is permanent, however, flashing red is temporary. PKs enter the red flashing state (referred to as PK mode) after being involved in player forced combat (not duels, clan battles, arenas, or beasts). PK mode lasts for 5 minutes after being involved in any forced combat or 30 minutes after killing a player or forcing combat on them.
-There is no item looting when a PK kills a player, however, they will steal some gold. This amount is based on the level of the player killed. Some approximate level/gold values: 20/810, 40/25k, 60/200k, 80/830k, 90/1.5m. This amount can be no more than 25% of what the victim is carrying at the time and is reduced progressively further if the highest victim level (in group) is more than 5 levels below the highest PK level. Half of the stolen gold is kept by the PK (unless victim has a free account, then it's destroyed), the other half is added to their bounty.
-There is no limit to a player's bounty. As much of the bounty as possible will be awarded in the form of gold nuggets worth 10 million gold each.
-Just like in a reroll a PK who dies keeps Learning, Crafting, Artistry, Resourcefulness, Adventuring, Social and LG skills. They should not lose any items, but all equipment and gems are unequipped and sent to inventory/storage. If no room exists, some items will be destroyed. They are then cleansed of PK status. This is not a reroll, but it will record your maximum exp amount and give Reroller's boon.
-Solo PKs under level 80 are protected from being attacked by both other PKs and normal players by a level restriction of +/- 5 or 10 levels. If they attack players below the range of this level buffer or are grouped with fellow PKs during forced player combat, then they permanently become fair game to all level players. This level restriction is also forfeit if the PK has any combat skills leveled more than 20 above their own level while involved in forced player combat. Similarly, players who have combat skills leveled more than 20 above their own level are not be able to force combat on level restricted PKs.
-The 3x trophies PKs get are soulbound unless they have PKed someone unique and viable* that same day. *Unique and viable means a player within 5 levels of PK who is not in the same clan, has no shared IP address history with PK, and that they have not killed recently. This is to help prevent abuse of killing friendlies in safer, remote locations specifically for the bonus.
-PKs cannot group with normal players and must have a standard or premium account to force combat.
-If a PK dies in any manner other than being killed by a player while flashing red, their exact location will be revealed and they will not return to town.
-You will not be able to force combat on a PK unless you are carrying at least 4x the amount of gold listed above for your level. This is to prevent the cowardly act of hunting PKs without risk.
-PKs cannot reduce their level. If you become a PK, your level will become--and never go below--whatever the maximum level your character has reached since its last reroll. For instance, if you hit level 68, deleveled to 65, and then go PK, you will be level 68. You can untrain and reorganize main stat skills, but you would never go below level 68 again until death.
-For the purpose of the tops lists, PK credit (getting player kills) and PKK credit (killing PKs) will be awarded for unique and viable kills based on the level of those killed. PKK credit will be kept during rerolls. PK credit will reset when you die as a PK to only record your maximum successful PK streak.
Takeaways
-Dying as a PK is pretty bad, but not terrible. It's similar to a reroll, except that you retain all items, including those equipped. It may be a fun thing to do prior to a planned reroll.
-If savvy, being a PK can be both profitable and good for more quickly advancing a character who does not yet have enough exp for a proper long-term Reroller's Boon.
-You can PK with elite gear without losing it.
-The longer a PK lives and racks up the kills, the more profitable it will be to hunt them.
-Skills will be added to make tracking and initiating combat with PKs more of a possibility.
-You will be able to hold control and click player (or beast) faces in local to quickly force combat.
-PK and PKK tops lists will be reset when new changes go live.
