Sieges

Sieges are organized warfare that occurs at nation controlled locations and guild provinces, often requiring the use of large parties and siege equipment. Sieges at nation controlled locations can be started any time, with some limitations such as Nightlock.

Players wishing to use siege equipment will need to generate Siege Points in order to spawn siege equipment from either the Siege Camp, Siege Tent, or the Siege Engineer.

For information about sieges at guild provinces see: State of War.

To practice with siege equipment, visit the arena.

Map Indicators

On the world map, a flag on fire indicates a siege is possibly occurring. Most sieges occur at front-line locations (that is, they are adjacent to enemy territory). All individuals in the game can see the same information, regardless of distance or nation. Each location has a fairly large radius around them which will trigger a flag's siege warning.

Flags have several graphics that indicate the seriousness of a siege and how far away those players may be from the castle itself:

Threatened Several enemies nearby without siege equipment OR 1 enemy nearby with siege equipment. "Nearby" in this case can be as far away as the siege camps. Defenders can still teleport into a front-line location at this stage. If you see a flag at this stage, it's a good idea to teleport there as soon as possible to be ready to defend if your nation controls the location.

Under Attack 1 enemy very close to the castle without siege equipment. "Very close" in this case means within a few meters of the walls. Defenders cannot teleport into a front-line location at this stage. If your nation controls the location, try going somewhere nearby and then riding there.

Under Siege 1 enemy very close to the castle with siege equipment or 3+ without siege equipment very close to the castle. "Very close" in this case means within a few meters of the walls. Defenders cannot teleport into a front-line location at this stage. If your nation controls the location, try going somewhere nearby and then riding there.

Small flags attached to larger locations ONLY display the "Under Attack" indicator and do not ever show "Under Siege" no matter how many enemies are nearby.

Often a siege begins with the main flag "Threatened" and then escalates very quickly.

When leading a party to begin a siege, leaders will often avoid "lighting" a flag for as long as possible to use the element of surprise to their advantage. They do this by staying outside the range that enemy activity is detected until they are ready to strike. It is not possible to sneak directly up to a location's walls without the map flag indicating a siege is occurring. The enemy does not have to be banging on the doors or doing any damage for the siege indicator to trigger. The flags will indicate a siege if an enemy is anywhere nearby the location, even if they are trying to hide.

Unstucking and Fast Travel when Defending

The Unstuck command can be accessed by typing /u or pressing ESC and selecting Unstuck to Closest or Unstuck to capital. The unstuck command will take you to your closest visited location, but it is possible to Unstuck into a castle which is under siege by being in range of it for a few moments. The Unstuck command takes 30 seconds to complete, so it's important to do this somewhere safe.

Check your Status Tray and make sure you can to Unstuck into that location.

This will allow you to avoid running into the front gate or past the attackers if you can find a quiet place to do your /unstuck near the castle. You will be teleported into the bastion of the castle if you are close enough. Beware, many players look for "unstuckers" trying to get into castles and will be riding around trying to prevent this.

When a location flag on the front line is under siege, it cannot be fast traveled to. Flags not on the front line that are under siege can always be fast traveled to.

Siege Camps

Outside of every nation controlled location on the Link System there are 2 siege camps, one on either side of the location. This is where offensive siege equipment is spawned using siege points. Siege camps have a defensive mechanism called the Emperor's Flame which is a devastating Area of Effect weapon designed to help defend the siege camp.

The Warwolf cannot be spawned at a siege camp.

Siege Points

Siege Points are obtained by standing in the area of an active siege. This can be as far from a castle as the Siege Camp. Siege Points are generated at a flat rate of 50 per minute. It is not possible to generate points faster.

Siege points are used to spawn Siege equipment from the Siege Tent, Siege Camp, or Siege Engineer NPC (inside castles for defenders).

Each individual participant generates their own siege points based on how long they have been in the area.

Siege Points are spent on Siege Equipment such as catapults, trebuchets, emperor's flames, and mantlets.

Even though each person generates their own points, the Siege Camp and Siege Tent are a shared resource, with limited abilities to spawn siege equipment (therefore preventing players from spawning, say, 20 catapults at once). Siege equipment is available on a timer system, so even if you have enough points to get a siege weapon, the timer may not allow you to. The more siege equipment you have, the longer the timer will be for the next piece.

It's a good idea to ask the party what they need before spawning a piece of siege equipment.

There is a free ram and catapult available at all siege camps which cost no points. These will respawn if they are destroyed or left unattended for 5 minutes.

Any siege will despawn in 5 minutes if left unattended. The points are not refunded. It's important not to let siege equipment sit around unattended.

Each player may only spawn 1 piece of siege equipment at a time. If they spawn another, their first one will despawn. This means each individual must spawn his own siege equipment. The person who spawns the siege is not required to use it. Anyone can then take it from him and use it, but that player still has spawned their 1 piece of siege and should not get another before that one is destroyed.

Enemies may not "steal" siege equipment, but they can certainly destroy it.

Spawning Siege Equipment

Most siege equipment must be spawned in by players at a siege tent, siege camp, or siege engineer, and requires a certain number of siege points to spawn in. Each player may only have 1 piece of siege equipment spawned in at a time. If you spawn another, your first one disappears. All siege equipment requires at least 1 person to control it. Catapults and rams move faster when 2 people are on them.

• Siege tent - Purchased for 1,500 Contribution points from the glory quartermaster, and carried in inventory until deployed. Can be deployed nearly anywhere, except for directly on guild province territory or within the walls of nation controlled locations. Used to spawn siege equipment for attackers. Siege tents can be destroyed by enemies.

• Siege Camp - A stationary siege spawn location, visible on the world map with a Catapult icon, and located on both sides of each nation controlled location. Non-loot siege events use these locations as spawns for attacking nations.

• Siege Engineer - An NPC within the walls of nation controlled locations with a limited selection of siege equipment including catapults, rams and trebuchets. Trebuchets must be placed nearby the engineer.

List of Siege Equipment

The machines of war. All siege equipment requires at least 1 person to control it, but more can help to push moveable equipment faster.

• Emperor's Flames - A portable flame thrower. There is one attached to every siege camp. These do a large amount of AOE damage in a narrow line about 20 meters long.
  Cost - 300 Siege Points

• Large Battering Ram - A heavy wooden beam on wheels with a roof protecting it. It has high health but is too large to fit through gate houses. Great for the initial gatehouse push. The large battering ram is primarily used to break portcullises, walls and towers
  Cost - 400 Siege Points

• Small Battering Ram - A heavy wooden beam on wheels with a roof, able to fit through gate houses. Smaller in size and lower in health than the large battering ram. Battering rams are primarily used to break gatehouse doors and portcullises, and can also effectively damage walls and towers.
  Cost - 200 Siege Points

• Catapult - Shoots stone or flaming projectiles long distances. Its damage is based on how strong of a shot is taken. Its shots have a built in wobble, and are not entirely accurate. Catapults are primarily used to destroy ballistas and break walls and gatehouses, but can be used somewhat less effectively against groups of infantry. Press the jump key to alternate between flame shots and stone shots.
  Cost - 350 siege points.

• Mantlet - Moveable walls, designed to give cover to players or other valuable siege equipment. Spawnable in Horizontal or Vertical versions.
  Cost - 200 Siege Points

• Trebuchet - Stationary catapult that uses a long arm to throw a stone or flaming projectile long distances. These are available for defense only and can only be spawned at siege engineers. Once placed, it can be turned but not moved. Its damage is based on how strong of a shot is taken. Press your jump key to alternate between flame shots and stone shots.
  Cost - 400 Siege Points

• Warwolf - A very large trebuchet with massive range which can only be placed very close to a siege tent. It is for offensive use only. Only 1 Warwolf may be spawned per siege tent at a time. Only the person who placed the siege tent can deploy Warwolf. Press the Jump key to alternate between flame shots and fire shots.
  Cost -

• Ballista - Defensive ranged weapons that automatically appear on level 2 or higher towers, gatehouses, and Bastion buildings. They do not need to be spawned in and have no siege point cost. They are the best way to destroy incoming siege equipment.

Ballistas do 300 damage to players and can hit up to 3 players at once.

Ballistas have shields making them invulnerable to arrow damage until they are at 40% health or below. Attackers must damage the ballista with a catapult or trebuchet to bring its health down. Ballistas respawn automatically every 8 minutes after they are destroyed.

Guilds owning provinces may determine which of their ballistas are in operation at any time except during a siege. Ballistas at guild provinces cost 5 fortification points each.

Siege equipment that rolls across the ground including catapults, mantlets and battering rams can be damaged by the terrain they are moved on. Some terrain actively destroys siege equipment. These are sometimes referred to as "goat paths". These paths are near guild provinces and are very steep. Good paths for siege equipment are usually a worn brown dirt road.

Tips for Sieging a Castle

• Know that ATTACKING is always harder than DEFENDING. The defenders have the advantage of a safe respawn, guards, ballistas, trebuchets, elevated wall positions, multiple gates to fall back through, and they can hide quite a large force behind the walls. An attack is always an uphill battle. The enemy can successfully defend a place with many fewer people than the attackers if they play carefully.
• Understand Guard Mechanics
  • Guards at Holy temples Lordly Haven, Hordun Temple and Lord's Wrath Abbey are MUCH stronger than guards at other castles. A Holy Temple attack is a big task for a big group.
  • Guards at castles closer to the capital city are stronger and in greater numbers than guards further away. A location like Ulfgard or Greenport will be an "easier" location to siege than a location like Haddah or Blackrock Castle.
  • Guards may or may not be "upgraded" at the location you choose to attack. This can impact how much resistance and difficulty you encounter due to these NPCs.
  • Guards will respawn every few minutes. To stop guards from respawning, destroy the guardhouses with Siege Equipment.
• Understand "Native Territory" boundaries. This makes a big difference for how important it is to control small flags and whether or not you can expect enemies to teleport directly to the location. See The Map for more info.
• Understand what "Front Line" means. A location that is not on the front line can be teleported to no matter the severity of the siege if it is within native territory. see The Map for more info.
• Control the smalls when in enemy Native Territory. The small flags (mines, farms, lumbermills) nearby the castles are places the enemy can teleport in to if they are not "lit". Cut off these locations so that the enemy can't get in.
• Have a plan before you get there. Who is going to control siege equipment? Where will tents go? What are your goals? Who is in charge? What is your party composition? Is everyone fed and buffed?
• SCOUT before you go. A good scout can get close to an enemy location and get a sense of how many defenders there might be. A VERY GOOD scout can get close without lighting any flags or alerting anyone of his presence by being careful about how close he gets to flags.
• Use the map to your advantage. Is there another siege occurring somewhere else on the map that might draw away some of the defenders? When is the right moment to strike? Can you set an ambush?
• Learn how to use Siege Equipment. Siege equipment is necessary for most sieges. Axing your way through gates is not going to work. Siege weapons are finicky and particular. Get used to their controls early.
• Use Splash Damage to your advantage. You can decimate their walls and gatehouses with some planning.
• Keep everyone busy. Got some people standing around not having anything to do? Send them to intercept unstuckers around back of the castle, or summon more siege, or prevent more enemies from getting to the castle by posting them near routes that the enemy is likely to take to the castle.

Tips for Defending Against a Siege

• Get there early. If you see small flags (mines, lumbermills, farms) being lit up and taken, it's a good idea to get to the main castle as fast as possible. Coming late to a siege is often wasted effort.
• Watch the map. You can learn a lot about where the enemy is going by watching what flags are under siege and which events pop up and disappear.
• Know that DEFENDING is easier than ATTACKING. The defenders have the advantage of a safe respawn, guards, ballistas, trebuchets, elevated wall positions, multiple gates to fall back through, and they can hide quite a large force behind the walls. An attack is always an uphill battle. The enemy can successfully defend a place with many fewer people than the attackers if they play carefully.
• Guards can give attackers significant trouble. Use them to your advantage.
• Use your Ballistas to take out incoming siege. Spawn trebuchets in your courtyards and fire shots back over the walls. Letting them pile up siege is a good way to lose fast.
• Understand teleporting in and unstucking to castles to defend.
• Attacking their back line can end a siege before it starts Attackers have to manage their siege equipment which mainly comes from a siege camp. Busting up their logistics in those back lines can ruin their entire siege if you will be brave enough to send out a squad to attack it. Usually the majority of the force is at the castle and only a minimal number are at siege camps.
• Take out Tents and Medics. Sending someone out to kill tents and focusing their medics in battle can be highly effective tactics at preventing them from getting reinforcements.
• Don't turtle too much. Walls can be a comfort, but defenders might benefit from "rushing out" of the castle to push enemies out of the immediate area. This can provide enough of a respite to make some repairs and rebuild walls. You can only build or upgrade at the Architect's table 3 minutes after a Siege "ends" (your flag is no longer on fire).

See also: Splash Damage | The Map | Fast Travel | Upgrading | Siege Points | Door Permissions