A Free PvP MMORPG with Fair Fights

Looking for a free PvP MMORPG where the fights are fair? In Valdoria, player combat has three sides: open faction war on the Twin Roads Frontier, where you earn honor; duels in the Training Grounds, against the AI or a friend; and Hardcore Mode, where the winner takes the rival's loot. And one rule for everyone: if you're more than five levels apart, no one can attack you.

• 2 factions at war
• 5 levels: the widest level gap allowed in PvP
• 48–67% duel win rate per class at level 60
• 1 minute to loot a defeated rival in Hardcore
• Free on Windows 10 and 11

Faction War on the Twin Roads Frontier

Valdoria is a world split in two: the orcs defend Redfang Bastion and the elves guard Moonveil Sanctuary. Between the two realms lies the Twin Roads Frontier, the disputed territory for levels 6 to 16, and that's where the two sides clash.

In the middle stands Crossway, a neutral town whose merchants serve orcs and elves alike, with the gate to the Dusk Fortress beside its streets. Outside the town, PvP rules. This is open-world faction PvP: the battlefield is the map itself, with its roads, its ruins and two world bosses, the Magma Giant (level 12) and the Scaleborn (level 15).

Earn Honor in Disputed Territory

On the frontier, you turn on faction combat and earn honor in the disputed territory. Each character's honor shows up in their bag, next to their gold, and on their page in My Account.

Having company helps: groups of five players share experience, and there are guilds and a friends list. If you play with friends, pick the same side, because on the frontier the other side is the enemy. More ideas in the guide to playing with friends.

No Ganking: Players More Than 5 Levels Apart Can't Fight

It's the rule PvP players appreciate most: two characters more than five levels apart can't attack each other, in either Original Mode or Hardcore Mode. A level 16 character can fight a level 11 one, but not a level 10 one.

That way, no level 40 player can come down to the frontier to hunt newcomers. The rule applies between players; creatures and world bosses are another story, so check their level before you get close.

Training Grounds: Duel the AI or a Friend

The Training Grounds arrived in version 0.33.0: a coliseum where you can duel with any race and class. It opens from the main menu, and there you choose everything: race (paid ones included), class, talent tree and a level from 1 to 60, for you and for your rival, plus the gear difficulty for both of you: Basic, Medium or Full Gear. Nothing that happens there affects your character.

Against the AI

The AI opponent fights like a person: it reacts with your connection's delay, turns with the mouse and doesn't know when your abilities are ready until it sees you use them. It's the way to practice PvP against the AI without risking anything: rehearse your interrupts, your stuns and your escapes as many times as you like.

Against a Friend

Create a room and give your friend its four-letter code. Each of you picks a character, and whoever created the room sets the levels and the difficulty. These are 1v1 duels at any level, with no need to wait until you both reach 60.

Hardcore PvP: One Life and Your Rival's Loot

If you want PvP with real stakes, you'll find it in Hardcore Mode: a separate world with its own characters, where every character gets one life. If you defeat another player there, you have one minute to open their loot: their gear, their bag and their gold. Take whatever you want, piece by piece, or everything at once. It's full-loot PvP.

And the other way around: if you fall, you lose the character forever and their name goes into the Hall of the Fallen. Logging out won't save you, and the five-level rule applies here too. You'll find everything in the Hardcore Mode guide.

Balanced Classes: Every Duel Win Rate Between 48% and 67%

Class balance is measured in duels. After the PvP overhaul in version 0.27.0, no damage or healing class wins less than 48% or more than 67% of its duels at level 60. Beyond that, it comes down to how you play.

The tuning continued in 0.28.0: an Arcane Step that breaks a stun leaves the caster unable to cast for 2 seconds, Slip Away no longer frees you from roots, and Waylay can only be used from stealth.

Classes for PvP: Stealth, Stuns, Polymorph and Fear

Each side has five classes, each with 21 talents across three trees. Here are their tools against another player:

• Rogue (Stalker): Stealth hides you, and from it, Treacherous Blow stuns for 4 seconds. Kick silences, and Slip Away puts you back in stealth even in combat.
• Caster: the Mage has Polymorph, Counterspell and Arcane Step; the Warlock has Fear, Silencing Seal and Umbral Leap.
• Warrior: Charge stuns for 1 second on impact, Sever Tendon slows by 50% and Pommel Bash interrupts a spell.
• Healer: Dread Wail (Priest) and Forest Lullaby (Druid) incapacitate nearby enemies for 8 seconds.
• Tank: Intercept charges in and slows by 50%; Daunting Howl cuts nearby players' physical damage by 10%.

Race matters only a little: Orcish Grit makes stuns from other players 10% shorter, and the Undead swap it for Cold Flesh, a 25% chance to resist a fear, a polymorph or a lullaby. Look up every ability in the database and find yours in which class to play.

Fair Play: The Server Rejects Modified Clients

PvP is only fair if nobody cheats. Since version 0.33.0, the server rejects console commands, pauses, name changes and spectator joins coming from a modified client. And your character is stored on the server, not on your computer.

You can't buy an advantage either. The only paid content is optional races, which give no levels, gear or items and whose racials are worth the same as those of orcs and elves. We explain it all in No Pay-to-Win MMORPG.

Download and Pick Your Side

1. Download the Valdoria launcher and unzip it into a folder. You need 64-bit Windows 10 or 11 and a DirectX 12 graphics card; the first download is about 1.9 GB, and the installed game takes up about 2.3 GB.
2. Create your account on the website or right in the game.
3. Choose your side, orcs or elves, and a class. To put your character on the line, choose Hardcore Mode.
4. Practice in the Training Grounds and, from level 6, head down to the Twin Roads Frontier.

When you win your first duel, or lose the one you didn't see coming, tell the story in the community.

More Valdoria Guides