State of War

State of War Overview

A State of War is a siege at a guild province in which players attempt to capture the province flag. These sieges require large parties and the use of siege equipment.

The state of War system is designed so that both attackers and defenders have adequate time to prepare for the siege, and because sieges only happen at specific times, players cannot “night raid” or “offline raid” a province, and have the opportunity to rally players for offense and defense in advance.

In order for a guild to trigger a state of war, they must token the province and then complete siege preparations during the siege preparations window. If they complete those steps, they will trigger a State of War for the following day.

Note: Open Saturday State of War does not require siege preparations.

See also: Guild Provinces | State of War Timers | Open Saturday State of War | Siege Preparations Window

Competing for an Enemy Guild Province

A guild wishing to compete for an enemy guild province must complete the following steps:
1. Unlock a Province Slot
2. Token the Enemy Province
3. Complete Siege Preparations
4. Siege the Province
5. Capture The Flag
6. Defend the Flag
7. Complete the Final Battle

Step One: Unlock a Province Slot

In the guild window (G), select the Provinces tab, and pay the 10 gold fee to unlock a Province slot. This unlock is permanent. A second slot may be purchased for 100 gold. Each province slot gives the right to token or own 1 province.

Step Two: Token the Province

Tokening a province gives your guild the right to immediately begin siege preparations at that province. Tokens also grant the right to capture that province’s flag during the State of War.

To purchase a token, a guild officer must open the world map, right click the flag of the province you wish to attack, and pay the gold fee. Tokens may only be purchased in the 4 hour window surrounding the province’s State of War timer, called the siege preparations window.

It is best to token when your warband is already at the enemy province and is ready to begin siege preparations if necessary.

Only guilds with a token on a province have the ability to capture the province flag during the state of war. Additional guilds wishing to token the same province in order to capture the flag may do so at any time after the siege preparations are complete, including during the state of war itself.

Step Three: Complete Siege Preparations

Once a token is active, begin siege preparations. Kill players and NPCs outside the province walls including workers, guards and the guard commander in order to bring the Siege Preparations progress bar to 100%. Each kill will grant a small amount of progress. The guild tokening must take part in killing each player and NPC in order for progress to occur.

Province owners will be alerted to this activity, so expect defenders! Siege preparations typically take about 30-45 minutes if there are no defenders.

If the tokening guild leaves the province area during the Siege Preparations, the progress will begin to decrease. If it returns to 0% the siege preparations will end with failure, and a State of War will not activate.

If 100% progress is achieved, a State of War will be activated for the following day that will take place during that province’s selected State of War timer.

Siege preparations in progress at Nightlock will immediately end with failure.

Note: Siege preparations are NOT a full scale siege, and the flag cannot be captured during this time.

Step Four: Siege the Province

The day after siege preparations are complete, a State of War will be activated at the province, and the attackers will have up to 1 hour and 15 minutes to siege and capture the province flag. Players from all 3 nations, and players of any level may participate in a State of War siege.

Sieging a guild province requires assembling a very large party with supplies including siege tents in order to spawn siege equipment, necessary for breaking down castle walls.

The State of War will end early if attackers do not maintain a strong presence around the province and activity drops to 0%. Activity is measured by how many attacking players are at the province compared to how many defending players are in the province, as well as how much damage is occurring at the province.

Step 5: Capture the Flag

Only guilds which have placed a token on a province can capture the flag. During a State of War, any guild may place a token to capture the flag. This is especially helpful if the original guild that tokened the province is no longer able to capture the flag due to not being in proximity, but an ally guild is there. A flag capture takes approximately 1 minute, and the capper must not be interrupted during this time. The flag is always located on the top floor of the Bastion building.

Step Six: Defend the Flag

Once the flag is captured, the State of War continues until the 1 hour 15 minute time period expires or enemy activity reaches 0%. Defend the flag during this time.

Step 7: Complete the Final Battle

The Final Battle is a 2 minute 30 second time period after the State of War ends which allows friendly guilds with a token on the province to attempt to capture the flag. This mechanism allows friendly guilds to swap province ownership between them.