BSanc - Ballerium Interface

Game Interface To be successful in Ballerium, it is important to learn how to control your followers and interact with the environment. There are many times when the action can go from slow and deliberate, to fast and hectic. It is during times like these that understanding the game interface can mean the difference between life and death. Please take a few moments to familiarize yourself with all the buttons and icons.

Upper Menu The information important to your Avatar is contained in the top menu. Many functions to interact with Ballerium can be accessed here also.

Options Menu - Left-click to open the game options interface. From there you can alter various aspects of Ballerium's game play, in addition to exiting the game. There are three tabs, Gameplay, Sound and Graphics. Use these to customize your Ballerium experience.

Ballerian Sun - The six sun colors of Ballerium affect how fast your units replenish their sunpower (mana) reserves. During the favorable sun, sunpower replenishes the quickest. During an adverse sun, you gain no sunpower. During all other sun colors, sunpower replenishes at the normal rate. Sun phases last 20 minutes each. The timer shows the remaining minutes until the next sun change. Clicking on the Sun will open a help popup, just in case you forget what color affects which race.

Control Capacity - Displays the amount of units/cities you can control in the format of: currently available / total available. Each unit or city requires 1 to 4 slots to control. You increase the total available slots by gaining Karma. Initially, slots increase rapidly, but as your power grows, it takes more and more Karma to increase another slot. For every 11 total slots, you are able to control one hero. So, if you have 33 unit slots available, you can control 3 heroes.

MFU - MFU is Monetary Fuzzz Unit, or currency in Ballerium. You use MFU to purchase units and weapons. The maximum amount of MFU a player can have is 2 million. You can gain MFU through mining resources and selling them to the Marketplace. Certain monsters sometimes drop fuzzz or resources after they die. You can pick these up using a caravan for resources or also a normal unit for fuzz. In addition, you can earn MFU by being a patron of a city or by assisting another player to hold onto control points within a city. The more MFU you have, the more powerful a player you become.

Flux - Flux can be considered your avatar's mana. You use Flux to do certain things within Ballerium. As your Karma grows, the amount of Flux available to you increases. Some of the tasks that require Flux are; raise rank of units, promote units to heroes, summon shadow units/caravans, resurrecting fallen heroes. You can regain used Flux by two means. First, the passage of time will refill your flux. Secondly, you can sacrifice units to gain instant flux. Be aware, sacrificing loses karma.

Karma - Karma is the meter by which your deeds in Ballerium are accounted for. Good deeds gain you Karma. Bad ones lose you Karma. With higher Karma, comes more power in Ballerium. Your Control Capacity and Flux increase as your Karma grows. You gain Karma by being a patron of cities, controlling monuments and by defending Ballerium by defeating Shard Rifts. You lose Karma by declaring hostilities on weaker players, sacrificing units, and resetting your army. A player is considered under protection if their Karma is below 2000. While under protection, no Karma is lost for bad deeds.

Player Info - This button opens up an interface to view game stats and clan information. You can view your ranking among players, check on clan posts, among other things.

Summon Shadow Servant - Clicking on this button and then clicking within the main game view will summon a shadow servant to do your bidding. Summoning a shadow will cost some Flux. Shadow servants have many uses in Ballerium. Some of which are; they can supplement your army in a battle, you can use them to meet new players and you can summon one at a nearby city to buy reinforcements.

Summon Trader Caravan - Clicking on this button and then clicking within the main game view will summon a dolom caravan. This action will use some flux. Some uses for Trader Caravans are; you can use them to collect resources for sale to a marketplace, you can trade between players, you can explore far away areas of Ballerium. They also make a nice expendable spy.

Sacrifice Unit - By clicking this button and then clicking on a unit, you will sacrifice (kill) that unit. The benefit of sacrificing is to free up some control capacity to buy different units or patron a city. It'll also gain you some Flux depending on the units rank. The drawback to sacrificing is you lose Karma each time you do it. This ability is not one you want to use carelessly. But, under certain circumstances, it can turn the tide of battle in your favor.

Dismiss Hero - Click this button and then click on your fallen hero icon (skull and crossbones) in the army view window to dismiss that hero. Once dismissed, that hero is gone forever.

Resurrect Fallen Hero - After a hero has fallen in battle, you might want to resurrect him to fight for you again. Click this button and then click on the fallen hero icon (skull and crossbones) in the army view window to resurrect that hero. This action will cost you 20 Flux to perform.

Advance Unit Rank - When a unit has gained enough experience to advance in rank, this symbol will begin flashing on the unit in the army view window. To advance their rank, click this button, and then click on the unit. This action will cost 1 Flux to perform.

Promote Unit - If a unit is rank 3 and has gained 100% of the experience necessary for rank 4, and you have a spot available for another hero, the unit's icon will begin flashing the promote unit to hero symbol. To perform this function, click this button, and then click on the unit you wish to promote into a hero. This action will cost 20 Flux to perform.

Command Mode - This button toggles between group mode and single mode. Click button to swap modes. Under single mode, each unit will perform the orders you give them, ignoring whatever their leader is doing. Under group mode, any orders given to leaders, their followers will also perform. Group mode tends to be slightly slower than single mode because the squads must get set in formation before executing those orders.

Unit Interface Most of your time in Ballerium is spent interacting with your followers. You need to be able to control these units quickly if you want to have success in Ballerium. This section will go through all the buttons and icons pertaining to commanding units and improving your heroes. Many buttons also have keyboard shortcuts. Be sure to check those out before you find yourself knee deep in D'renn monsters.

Unit Window

Unit Name - Hero name or the unit designation will be shown here. Subscribers to Ballerium have the ability to rename their heroes. To change, click on the name, delete current name, type in your desired name and hit enter. Finally, click the apply button to finalize the new name.

Move Command - Units ordered with the move command will make their way to the desired area, ignoring all enemies along the way. This is the default command when you right-click on the ground in Ballerium with units selected. Used while the SHIFT key is held down will set up to 6 waypoints. Right-clicking on this button will set the unit to auto-move. A unit will attempt to move a small distance away from enemies once they sustain enough damage.

Attack Command - This order is given every time you right click on an enemy unit with an offensive unit selected. The selected unit will move within range of the enemy, and start attacking that enemy.

Guard Command - Units set to guard will defend the area surrounding the unit or ground they are ordered to guard. They will chase enemies that attempt to run away. If you have a squad selected, click this button, and then click on the ground, the squad will move to that location, attacking anything hostile they approach along the way. Once they reach the desired area, they will be in guard mode until ordered otherwise.

Hold Position - Select a unit and then click this button to order them to hold their position. Ranged units will tend to stay in one spot and attack hostile units within range. Melee units will engage hostiles that attack them or approach within range.

Trade Command - This command is available on caravan units and opens up a trade dialog between two caravans. To use, click button and then click on the caravan unit you wish to trade with. This unit can be yours or another players. By right-clicking on the button, you'll set the caravan to auto-trade. While in this mode, the caravan will automatically pick up any fuzzz (MFU) or resources it comes across.

Skill Buttons - Heroes and certain units come with special skills. To use a skill, left-click the button and then left-click on a proper target. Some skills can be set to auto-cast whenever needed. Just right-click on the skill to switch between auto and manual.

Unit Rank - The rank of your heroes and units are shown here. Normal units can attain a rank of three. Heroes can gain enough experience to reach rank twelve.

Life & Sunpower Bars - A unit's max Life/Sunpower and remaining Life/Sunpower are displayed in this bar. As you lose Life points, or use Sunpower, the bar empties. When your unit reaches zero Life, they will die.

Unit Stats - Various stats on a selected unit will be displayed here. Certain leaders, skills and items will alter these. Changes will be displayed in real-time.

Experience - A unit's total experience is shown on the left-side of the bar. The percentage they've attained towards their next rank is shown on the right. When it shows 100%, the unit is ready to advance in rank, up to their allowed maximum.

Inventory Window Trader Caravans and organic units can carry resources or items. The weapon a unit is carrying is displayed in top left box. Weapons can only be exchanged at the Smithium. All other resources/items can be placed in inventory by right-clicking on them in the game world while the unit is selected. To drop something from inventory, drag the selected item onto the main game view. You can also give items to other units by dragging and releasing the item on another unit. Left-clicking on the left edge of the Inventory window will close the interface. Just click it again to reopen.

Attributes Window When a hero is selected, the attributes window will be shown. To hide the window, left-click on the left edge, left-click again to reopen.

Everytime a hero gains a rank, they acquire more Glory Points. Glory Points are used to purchase skills and raise your hero's abilities. Each ability affects a a different stat of your hero.

Materialism - Increasing the ability Materialism will raise the level of skills based on the Konkrateeka philosophy. This ability also effects trading costs for the unit as it is increased. Costs 5 Glory Points for Konkrateeka Hero to increase ability, 20 Glory Points for Ealthai Hero to increase ability, and 10 Glory points for all other races to increase ability.
Polemics - Increasing the ability Polemics will raise the level of skills based on the Chicki-Kah philosophy. Your attack rating will also rise. Costs 5 Glory Points for Chiki-Kah Hero to increase ability, 20 Glory Points for Nee Hero to increase ability, and 10 Glory Points for all other races to increase ability.
Industrialism - Increasing the ability Industrialism will raise the level of skills based on the Olligar philosophy. It'll also increase your defense rating. Costs 5 Glory Points for Olligar Hero to increase ability, 20 Glory Points for Groguan Hero to increase ability, and 10 Glory Points for all other races to increase ability.
Enlightenment - Increasing the ability Enlightenment will raise the level of skills based on the Ealthai philosophy. It will also enable your Hero to have more max Sunpower and to regenerate it quicker. Costs 5 Glory Points for Eathai Hero to increase ability, 20 Glory Points for Konkrateeka Hero to increase ability, and 10 Glory Points for all other races to increase ability.
Politics - Increasing the ability Politics will raise the level of skills based on the Nee philosophy. It also raises command bonuses for your Hero. These bonuses increase stats on the followers within range of the hero. Costs 5 Glory Points for Nee Hero to increase ability, 20 Glory Points for Chicki-Kah Hero, and 10 Glory Points for all other races to increase ability.
Environmentalism - Increasing the ability Environmentalism will raise the level of skills based on the Groguan philosophy. The hero's Life Points regeneration rate will also increase. Costs 5 Glory Points for a Groguan Hero to increase ability, 20 Glory Points for an Olligar Hero to increase ability, and 10 Glory Points for all other races to increase ability.
Existentialism - Increasing the ability Existentialism will raise the level of skills based on the Kablaz philosophy. The total Life Points of the hero will also be increased. Costs 10 Glory Points for all races to increase this ability.

To spend Glory Points on an ability, use the + and - buttons to allocate Glory Points among the abilities. When you are satisfied with your selection, click the Apply button.

Heroes are able to carry banners with them while they travel the world and charge into battle. To select a banner, click on the arrows to cycle through the choices. When you find one you like, click Apply.

Mini Map Displays the terrain surrounding your main view. A white rectangle shows the area the main view is displaying. As points of interest come into your unit's line of sight, icons or dots will appear on the minimap. The closer you get to these points, the more detail you'll see.

Within the minimap the following information will be displayed.

White Rectangle - The current view of the main game window.

White Dots with gray border - Sanctuaries, safe havens to rest an army while offline.

White Dots - Resource patches. You construct mines on these to collect resources for sale and production of units and weapons.

Black Dots - Player constructed mines

City Icons - Locations of explored cities. Yellow cities are at truce with you, green cities are allied with you, and red cities are hostile to you.

Red Dots - Animal Habitats, low-level shard rifts that spawn monsters.

Black craters with red centers - Shard rifts that spawn D'renn and Keii, high-level monsters.

Small Yellow, Red or Green Dots - NPC or player's units. The color of the dots depends on your diplomatic state with that player or NPC.

Map co-ordinates- Your current location in relation to the center of Ballerium (HOME key on keyboard). The farther away from center (0,0) - the higher the numbers will be.

Zoom In - The minimap has three levels of zoom. Click this button to zoom in.

Zoom Out - Click this button to zoom out. If your current mini map view is at the farthest zoom level, clicking the button again will open the large Clan Domination Map.

Send a Marker - You can send location markers to the players in your current chat channel. This is useful to pass information onto those players. To send a marker, click this button and then click on the minimap or within the main game window. Your marker will be sent to that chat channel and be visible to players for a few seconds.

Lock Markers - This button toggles between hiding markers on the minimap after a few seconds, and locking all markers on the minimap. When button is highlighted in blue, all markers will stay visible on the minimap until you click the button again.

Radar Signal Management - Clicking this button opens up the radar markers management interface. From within this interface, you can lock certain markers so they stay visible on the minimap. Click to show interface, click again to close interface.

Army View Interface All your units are displayed here for easy managing. Drag leaders onto the main view to dissolve the squad. Drag a unit onto another to create a squad. By selecting a unit and then right-clicking on another unit, the first unit will follow the second. At the left of the army view are four buttons. The three lower buttons will sort your army by life power, rank, or race. The topmost button toggles the unit formation adjustment mode.While in unit formation adjustment mode, you can click in lower left corner of a leader's icon to change the formation of that squad. Available formations are; Array (square), Star (circle), Arrow Head (V), and no formation (random). You can place followers in different assignments within the formation by clicking their corresponding icon. Available locations are; Front, Flank, Rear, and Center. Units behave according to their location in the formation. Front and Flank assignments are offensive in nature. While Rear and Center are more defensive. Units will use their skills accordingly.

Unit Sorting

Formations - Toggles the unit formation adjustment mode display. Using this display you can change the squad's formation and alter where a unit stands in that formation. To change a squad leader's position in formations, you must dissolve the squad, set the units position, and then rebuild the squad.
Life - Arranges squads/units in the interface by their Lifepower score.

Rank - Arranges squads/units in the interface by their rank.

Race - Arranges squads/units in the interface by their race.

Unit Icons

Leader - Squad Leader. Any organic unit can become a squad leader. To place units under their command, drag the unit icon on top of this leader or another leaderless unit.
Followers - These units are under the command of a leader. While in Group Command mode, they will mimic all the commands you give to their leader.
Follower in Building - This white icon ontop of your unit icons means that this unit is inside a Sanctuary or a mine.
Advance Follower - These units are ready to be promoted. Left-click the corresponding icon on the upper menubar and then left-click on one of these units.
Wounded Follower - These units are injured. Cast a healing skill on them quickly or move them away from the fight before they die.
Promote Follower - These units have gained enough experience to be promoted to a hero. You are allowed one hero for every eleven units you are able to command. To promote, left-click the corresponding icon on upper menubar and then left-click whatever unit you wish to make a hero.

Contacts Window All players and cities you encounter in Ballerium will display here. The upper buttons toggle what will show in the window below. Click on the icon to the right of a players name or city to open the diplomacy interface. Here you can change the diplomatic state, and view their current information. Double-clicking a player's name will move you to a private chat channel with that person. Double-clicking a city name will change your view to that location.

City Toggle - Display cities.

Clan Toggle - Display members of your clan (currently in development).

Truce Toggle - Display players or cities in truce with you.

Hostile Toggle - Display players or cities hostile to you.

Peace Toggle - Display players or cities at peace and allied with you.

Truce - Current diplomatic status with player or city

Allies - Current diplomatic status with player or city

Peace - Current diplomatic status with player or city

Hostile - Current diplomatic status with player or city

War - Current diplomatic status with player or city

Chat Window In Ballerium, an Avatar can only communicate with other Avatars that are within range of their followers. Since the world of Ballerium is huge, this means you might not be able to communicate with everyone that is in the world currently. To meet other Avatars, try to spread your followers around Ballerium to extend your range.

All - Chat to everyone. You'll send and receive chat messages to/from all players within range.

Allies - Enter allies chat channel. Only players set to allied will see your messages.

System Admin - Enter system administrator chat channel. Typing a message here will send an email to the admin. Your message will be replied to your email account on file (currently in development).

Expand Chat - All the chat and game notifications display here. There are three sizes to this window. Use the arrows to expand and collapse the window.

Private Channels - You can add up to 8 private channels by double-clicking on a name in the contacts window. To chat in a specific channel, just click on the button or name. Your messages will be sent to the currently highlighted channel. A channel will begin flashing to notify you that a message has been received. Change to that channel to view recent messages.