Wiki · Combat
Arena and Training Grounds
Safe practice areas with no death penalties, training mob rules, account limits, and how they differ from open-world PvP.
Arena and Training Grounds maps are built for practice. You can spar, test gear, and learn class mechanics with far less risk than hunting in the open world. For general combat rules, start with the Combat Overview. For skulls, bounties, and full death penalties elsewhere, see PvP, Skulls, and Death.
What makes these areas special
On designated arena and training maps, dying does not apply the normal death penalty bundle:
- no random equipment drops from death penalties
- no XP or skill-point loss from death penalties
- no bounty-hunter crystal payouts for kills there (even if the target has a skull)
You still respawn after death — health and mana are restored, status effects are cleared, and you continue on the same map (arena respawn points stay inside the arena).
These safe zones do not turn off combat itself. You can still attack training dummies, companions, or other players where PvP rules allow.
Arena maps
Arena-style maps (scene names containing arena, such as arena-hell) are mainly for PvP practice:
- Kills in arena maps do not give unjustified skulls the way same-faction open-world kills do.
- Death penalties are skipped, so losing a duel is cheap compared with dying on a hunt route.
- Respawn stays inside the arena instead of sending you back to temple.
Use arenas when you want to test PvP timing, execution thresholds, or gear swaps without risking your main progression.
Training Grounds maps
Training Grounds (training-grounds-one, training-grounds-two, and related training scenes) focus on skill and spell practice:
- Death penalties are skipped, same as arena maps.
- Training mobs and battle companions in these areas grant no XP when defeated — they exist to absorb hits, not to power-level.
- Execution spells cannot finish training mobs; the game blocks executing them with a clear error message.
- Training weapons deal only minimal practice damage and bypass normal reduction so you can train without skewing hunt balance.
Account limit
Only one online character per account may be inside Training Grounds at a time. If another character from your account is already there, entry is blocked with a message explaining why. Log out or leave the other character before sending a second one in.
Premium access
Training Grounds maps require premium account access to enter. If travel is blocked, check your account status before assuming the route is broken. See Maps, Transitions, and Weather for other travel gates such as social crystals.
Other no-penalty maps (not the same as Training)
The game also skips death penalties on a few non-training safe maps, including starter-friendly areas such as Ilya and Shadowlands. Those are town or sanctuary spaces — not practice arenas — but dying there avoids item and XP loss the same way.
Do not confuse them with Training Grounds: open-world mobs outside training scenes still grant normal XP and loot rules.
When to use each area
| Goal | Where to go |
|---|---|
| Test PvP without skull or bounty risk | Arena maps |
| Train weapon skills on dummies | Training Grounds |
| Try Execution, Bloodthirst, or Stealth safely | Training Grounds or arena (no XP on training mobs) |
| Earn XP and loot | Normal hunt maps — not training mobs |
Practical tips
- Toggle Auto Loot on Click off in Training Grounds if you want to inspect corpses manually; see AutoLoot.
- Bring food anyway — vigor and consumable pacing still apply even when death is cheap.
- Remember that level 50 is still required for real open-world PvP; arena practice does not replace those rules elsewhere.
- Party members killed in arena or training do not create skull progress; see Bounty Hunter and Skull Targets.