Ghost Fort

Ghost Fort
Basic Information
Variants:	Lakeside
Developer(s):	Unknown
Map Info
Environment:	Halloween
Setting:	Nighttime, overcast
Hazards:	Pumpkin bombs, Merasmus, Bottomless pit, Skull Island explosion
Map Photos
Map Overview

“

Enter a haunted King of the Hill map to battle a bomb-spewing, fate-spinning spectral magician! And if that isn't scary enough for you, how about he's also a good damn cop pushed too damn far! What's that? It was scary enough? Okay, we'll save that last part for next year. AWOOOOOOOOOO! — Ghost Fort publicity blurb

”

Ghost Fort is a Valve-made King of the Hill map, released as part of the Spectral Halloween Special on October 26, 2012. It is a "haunted" version of Lakeside.

Similar to Eyeaduct and Mann Manor, Ghost Fort has spawning prizes, pumpkin bombs, and a boss.

Whenever the control point is captured, the Wheel of Fate will spin, and one of nine cards will be randomly chosen. Its effect is bestowed upon all players for a short time. One key deviation from all other King of the Hill maps is the timer length. To win at Ghost Fort, a team must have controlled the point for at least seven minutes (in contrast to the usual three).

Another feature is a bottomless, "toothed" pit located where the water pool would be in Lakeside. It kills all players who are unfortunate enough to fall in and catapults their ragdoll onto the Control Point.

During certain intervals, Merasmus will appear near the Control Point and roam around the map, teleporting around and attacking players. When Merasmus is on the field, the Bombinomicon will choose two players to turn into a bomb, which tells those players to run the bomb back to Merasmus to stun him. The Control Point cannot be captured until Merasmus leaves or is defeated.

Ghost Fort features a second location, called Skull Island. When Merasmus is killed, he will be replaced by a Bombinomicon, which players can use to transport to the island. Atop the hill, players can enter a cage and obtain the achievement A Lovely Vacation Spot, and the Skull Island Topper, if they haven't already. Players are then teleported back into the main field, with invulnerability, 200% overheal, a speed boost, and a crit boost for a limited time.

A Haunted Halloween Gift will spawn on the map for each player individually during Halloween events. Several notifications will appear until the player grabs the gift or it disappears. Only the player for which the gift has spawned will see the spawn and obtain notifications.

Strategy

Main article: Community Ghost Fort strategy

Main article: Merasmus match-ups

Control Point Timing

Control Point	Multiplier	Seconds
Control Point	×1	14 .000
	×2	9 .333
	×3	7 .636
	×4	6 .720

Wheel of Fate

Since Merasmus booby-trapped the Control Point, a "Wheel of Fate" is spun whenever the Control Point is captured. Its effect will be bestowed upon all players of both teams and will be displayed on each player's HUD next to their health, as well as announced by Merasmus. The effect will expire after a short period of time or when a rapid changeover of the Control Point occurs and causes the new effect to replace it. The list of possible effects are as follows:

Card	Description
	Super Jump makes every player jump much higher. In compensation, the minimum height to receive fall damage is increased.
	Small Head will shrink the players' heads. This increases their vocal pitching. This does not affect the hitbox of the head.
	Super Speed makes every player run faster.
	Zero Gravity lowers the map gravity, making higher areas accessible. Also allows the players to jump farther.
	Big Head will cause the players' heads to grow larger. This lowers their vocal pitching. This does not affect the hitbox of the head.
	ÜberCharge makes every player invulnerable. Because of this, the point cannot be captured for a short time. Merasmus will question why he has such an option on the Wheel of Fate. This effect is far shorter in length than others. If Merasmus appears while players have been bestowed with this fate, it will immediately end.
	Critical Hits grants 100% critical chance on each player. This effect is shorter in length than others.
	Dance Off teleports every player to the non-Wheel side of the control point and aligns them into two parallel rows, the RED team in one line and BLU in the other, while they all stop and do the Thriller taunt with Merasmus, who teleports to either end of the rows. After two rounds of taunts, players regain control and will be able to attack the enemies now directly in front of them.
	Whammy has negative effects and will either ignite every player, bestow bleeding effects on every player, rain Jarate on players, or spawn Ghosts that encircle the area around the Control Point.

Other Cards

These cards also appear on the Wheel of Fate while it is spinning, but they do not have any effects and cannot be picked.

Card	Name
	Fish Troll
	Decapitated
	Hells Bells
	Cherry Bomb
	Lucky You

Related achievements

General

A Lovely Vacation Spot Get to Skull Island and claim your reward! Reward: Skull Island Topper

Wizards Never Prosper Kill MERASMUS!

Gallery

Map locations

• 

  Skull Island.

• 

  BLU spawn from the inside.

• 

  RED spawn from the inside.

• 

  BLU spawn from the outside.

• 

  RED spawn from the outside.

• 

  The control point.

Wheel of Fate effects

• 

  Dance Off effect.

• 

  Big Head effect.

• 

  Small Head effect.

Update history

October 26, 2012 Patch (Spectral Halloween Special)

• Added Ghost Fort.

Bugs

• If the Wheel of Fate is spun and a card chosen while the player is respawning, the effect will be bestowed upon the player, though the icon will be missing from the bottom left side of the HUD.
• If the "Whammy" fate is selected and players are set on fire, the Pyro will take damage from the initial attack, but remain visually on fire for the duration of the afterburn. The afterburn deals no damage, however the Pyro is susceptible to damage increases from the Flare Gun and Axtingusher.
• Rolling the "Big Head" or "Small Head" fate can cause some hats and miscellaneous items, such as the MONOCULUS! or various pocket buddies, to flicker very quickly between the scaled size and their normal size.
• Bots do not react to the "Dance Off" effect properly. They are unable to fire their weapons and still play the taunt animation, but they can still move around during the effect.
• If several players fall through the bottomless pit at the same time, players may get stuck.
• The player can avoid being killed in Skull Island by deploying an ÜberCharge or being the recipient of one as the time-limited explosion occurs. The same can be done by drinking Bonk! Atomic Punch or having a deployed Dead Ringer.
• Backing far enough into the RED spawn will cause one of the Resupply cabinets to disappear until you move forward again.

Trivia

• When Merasmus spins the Wheel of Fate and forces the players to dance, his narration references Template:W.
• Merasmus' narration when bestowing a crit boost, "It is the crit boostening!" is a reference to the Quickening from Template:W.
• When Merasmus flies in the air and throws bombs, sometimes he will say "Everything's coming up Merasmus!' This is a reference to the play Template:W.
• The pit that replaces the water in Lakeside resembles the mouth and teeth on the cover of the Bombinomicon.