Hey folks, so I was a relatively long time SB player ages ago. I absolutely loved the siege warfare in that game, and I haven't played another MMO that really compares in that regard. (Although I never played DAoC, which I've heard is one of the better siege MMOs these days... anyway I digress.)
I was curious about siege warfare in this game. How does it work? Where are player bases actually located? I haven't really seen like player cities or anything running around, so I was curious how the whole system worked and how enjoyable it was.
So ya, if anyone wants to give an overview that would be great.
Sieges are for castle control, The victorious clan gains control over the taxes and manor system for the surrounding area for 2 weeks until the next siege. The manor system provides crafting material rewards to players, and the items (fruit) exchanged for those materials are used by the castle lord to create useful items like Weapon and Armor enchant scrolls. This along with the income from the taxes in the region provide a huge boost of income and in turn power to the controlling clan and in most cases their alliance. As well as the benefit of enchants and such, the clan leader also gains the ability to ride a wyvern, teleport his or her clan members to their location with the crown itself, and gains a few other minor perks like castle headband type accessories for the clan members.Naturally because of this castles are highly sought after and usually, with some exceptions based on server politics and powerhouse alliances, sieged for regularly.
Sieging can really be described from two points of view. As a defender your job is to protect the castle. This is done by either preventing the enemy from taking the field, preventing them from breaking inside, or holding them off at key chokepoints in most cases. There are 3 access points to get into castles. Either by breaking down the front gate, or by destroying one of two side walls to the castle with siege golems. Also, along with protecting the entry points, defenders also need to protect life and fire crystals which control the respawn time for defenders and npc mercenaries placed inside the castle to help defend.
From the attackers point, a siege has a number of main goals. The first is usually to have your clan leader place a flag on the siege field. This flag, as long as it remains standing, allows your allies to respawn at its location should they die. Without the flag in place any casualties on the attacking side are teleported two towns away, and must run back on foot as porting into a sieged town isn't possible. Once the flag is down, an attacking force needs to gain entry into the castle by breaking down the outer wall or breaking the front gate. Once inside, another inner gate must be broken in to allow access to the inside of the castle itself. At this point the goal is to safely run your clan leader to whats called the cresting room where a pedestal stands infront of a stone pillar type thing. There your clan leader begins to crest to claim the castle. The process takes about 5 minutes or less depending on the buffs available. Given that the clan leader's cresting isn't interrupted by defenders stunning him, damage in general, or an untimely death the castle is claimed by the attacking clan. The walls and doors repair themselves at half the normal health they would have, and the newly crested clan must now defend their castle from the former owners who will in turn become attackers.
All this goes on for 2 hours. At the end of that time whichever clan holds the castle claims it for themselves for the next two weeks. They then choose a siege date on the second weekend (either saturday or sunday) and the process starts over again.
in just a few words...
castle siege is one of the most interesting features of the game. open pvp, free economy and amazing graphics are just enough to make you addicted with this ****ed game