The Test Of Takeskot

Summary

Takeskot, a Test of the Human Body, is a team-based game. Two teams run in a maze trying to pick up, steal and load crystals at the targets.

Takeskot is pronounced "TAK-uh-skot", and is not spelled "Takeshot".

Rules

A Takeskot court consists of a maze of tile paths, with cat and jackal statues placed certain points in the maze, and small pyramid crystals randomly scattered throughout the maze. Each cat or jackal statue will be of a certain color, and are fixed in place. The pyramid crystals are randomly distributed when the game begins, and will be of the same colors as the statues.

Two teams play the game: Cats and Jackals. Team sizes vary by court, from 2 to 4. (Isn't there a 7-man court somewhere? --Brant) To win, a team must activate all of their statues by picking up pyramid crystals and carrying them to a statue of the appropriate color. For example, if you are on Cats and have picked up a red pyramid, you can tag a red Cat statue with the pyramid. Once a statue has been tagged with four pyramids, it is activated. The statue begins to glow to indicate this. Each player can carry a maximum of three pyramids. Pyramids can be dropped by clicking on them in the inventory window.

It is possible to steal a pyramid from a player on the other team by pressing F1 while standing close to them. This "fast steal" window supercedes the older, clumsier method of stealing tokens (clicking on an opponent and using their menu to steal a token)

However, tagging a statue or stealing from another player makes you immune to this for 20 seconds. (Note: The previous text said activating a statue made you immune, but it seemed to me that tagging worked too. Can anyone clarify this? --Brant)

Strategy

• Each team has their own chat borders and chat channel. It is very useful to turn chat borders on while playing so you can tell who is on your team.
• Keep an eye on the play-by-play window to know when pyramids are stolen from members of your team.
• In the latter parts of the game, look around and see what color statues are unactivated. If the enemy team only needs to activate their white statue to win, and you have a white pyramid, don't let them steal it!
• Communicate with your team! Tell them what your immediate plans are so you don't step on each other's feet. For example: "I have 2 blue, I'm going to tag it." or "I have the last pyramid! Draw them off!"
• Usually, tagging a statue and picking up a pyramid is done by simply clicking on it. However, an alternate method is available: Turn on "Use Color-Helper mode in Takeskot" in your Interface options, and clicking on statues and pyramids will now display a menu reading "This is a (color) pyramid" along with a "Tag/Take [T]" option. This is useful if you are color-blind or find the statues difficult to tell apart.

Passing

A takeskot court can be set to practice mode or tournament mode. In practice mode, players of any rank can play, and no wins or losses are recorded. Tournament mode games count towards your takeskot rank, which uses the Tournament Ranking System. Players in a tournament game must be of the same rank, and must not have beaten any other player in the game before. To advance in rank, win 2 more games than you have lost. After two losses, you can no longer play at your rank, and must restart. You can do this once every 6 days.

Every so often, the highest ranked Takeskot players will gain endurance points. Get to +7 endurance to pass the test.

(See also: [Egyptian Takeskot League]?, Takeskot Courts, Takeskot Contests, Takeskot Ranks, Tournament Ranking System)