A Patrol is a group of enemies that patrol a certain area (usually walking back and forth between two points or walking around on a certain path). Patrol groups often consists of several enemies.
Patrols pose a problem for adventuring parties in the game for several reasons:
- Sometimes they will come and stand by a small group of enemies, fortifying it for a short while.
- Othertimes, they will surprise a party by suddenly showing up when the party was not prepared.
- It is sometimes unclear how many patrols there are. If more than one group is patrolling together, or more than one group comes to a certain point, a party could miss a patrol which means the patrol can come back and waylay the party.
- Sometimes patrols are running patrols that move very fast (such as patrols of Grasping Darkness in the Underworld or the Shadow Army in the Fissure of Woe). These running patrols pose a grave threat as they quickly cause havoc in an unprepared party even in small numbers.
Note: When someone in the party says "patrol", that usually means: "wait for patrol to leave before attacking the next group".
Knowledge of patrols in a certain explorable area is only built through adventuring in that area often. A party that is familiar and aware of the patrols in an explorable area has a much better chance of survival and success.