Held Words, Devotion and blocking

Two kinds of Words

Spoken Words are said aloud against spirits: choose one in the Words tab and it stays chosen, then click a spirit to speak it again and again. Held Words are prayers you keep up: click one to hold it and again to let it go. You can hold one guard at a time, and the boosts beside it.

A guard you hold shows as its icon over your head, and every traveller near you sees it.

It is written

Spoken, level 1, key 1

Resist the devil

Held, level 5, key 2

In the name of Jesus Christ

Spoken, level 10, key 3

The shield of faith

Held, level 20, key 4

Bear ye one another's burdens

Held, level 25, key 5

The sword of the Spirit

Spoken, level 35, key 6

The peace of God

Held, level 40, key 7

Greater is he

Held, level 50, key 8

The light shineth

Spoken, level 60, key 9

Every knee should bow

Spoken, level 75, key 0

More than conquerors

Held, level 90, key -

Mighty through God

Spoken, level 100, key =

Devotion

Devotion is the blue orb above Peace by the mini map, and it shows small at the top of the Words tab. You have as much as your Faith level, up to 100.

It drains only while a Word is held: a guard uses 1 Devotion every 3 seconds, Bear ye one another’s burdens 1 every 6 seconds and More than conquerors 1 every 1.5 seconds, added together. When it runs out, every held Word is let go.

It never comes back by itself. To fill it again, stand still by a rest lamp and you pray there on your own: the lamp at the cave’s mouth, the lamp in the House of Healing’s courtyard (beside the mats) and the lamp in the High Place’s forecourt. Stand right beside it: a few steps away is too far. Eating bread or grilled musht from your bag brings some back too (below). Point at the Devotion orb (or press and hold it on a phone) to see this in the game; click or tap it to hold your last guard again, or let it go.

Where the server has followed your steps to the lamp (sharing the High Place with others), praying fills Devotion completely at once. Elsewhere the lamps give it back no faster than a whole Devotion in 5 minutes: come back after that long or more and it fills completely; sooner, and it comes back slowly while you stay by the lamp.

Bread

25% of your full Devotion back (at least 1)

Grilled musht

10% of your full Devotion back (at least 1)

Reading a blow and blocking it

Every spirit strikes with one of four kinds of blow, each with its own colour, its own sound and its own name in the warning on your screen. The warning shows the guard that blocks it; tap or click that icon to hold it.

What you hold is judged 1.2 seconds after the spirit begins its blow, a moment before it lands. Holding the right guard then blocks it completely; holding it only afterwards is too late. The server decides every block, never your screen.

The bar in the warning runs out at the last moment a guard you raise still reaches the server in time (that moment, less the time your connection takes), not when the blow lands. After it, the warning says Held in time or Too late, and only the server’s verdict says Blocked or Not blocked. When you play alone, your own spirits’ blows are judged as they land, and the bar runs out then.

Skilled travellers hold a guard only around each blow and switch between guards in time, so their Devotion lasts much longer. This is prayer flicking.

Despair’s draining touch, when it is not blocked, also takes 2 Devotion.

A dart of doubt

Blocked by Resist the devil (level 5)

A fiery dart

Blocked by The shield of faith (level 20)

Despair's draining touch

Blocked by The peace of God (level 40)

A great blow

Blocked by Greater is he (level 50)

Which spirit throws what

A world boss throws a fiery dart at one traveller (The shield of faith blocks it) and a great blow on the ground (Greater is he blocks it, or move out of the circle).

Unclean spirit

A dart of doubt

A spirit of gloom

A dart of doubt

A spirit of fear

A fiery dart, then A dart of doubt, in turn

A spirit of pride

A fiery dart, then A fiery dart, then A great blow, in turn

A spirit of despair

Despair's draining touch, then A dart of doubt, in turn

A spirit of bondage

A great blow, then Despair's draining touch, in turn

An evil spirit of heaviness

A fiery dart, then A great blow, in turn

An evil spirit of fear

A fiery dart, then A great blow, in turn

An evil spirit of error

A fiery dart, then A great blow, in turn

The boosts and the spoken powers

More than conquerors, held, makes every Word you speak drive spirits back a fifth further, alone or with others. Bear ye one another’s burdens, held, bears the burden of the party member near you with least Peace every 20 seconds: you take 1 of their hurt and a quarter of their Peace comes back.

Every knee should bow stops every spirit it falls on from striking for 5 seconds, alone or with others, and a blow of theirs still on its way misses. A world boss is too great to be stopped by it. It is written reads hidden inscriptions, The light shineth shows dark passages and Mighty through God pulls down sealed and barred places: see Places a Word opens.

Raids, later

The raids to come are built on the Words: each room asks for one. A guard to switch in time against its spirits’ blows, a spoken power to open its way on (a dark room for The light shineth, a sealed door for Mighty through God, an inscription for It is written), or a stun to hold the strongest still. The server decides every block, every opening and every reward.