Castle Sieges

Basics

Castle sieges are one of the biggest events of the game world.

A castle brings its owner various rewards, privileges and special features. Clans fight for the right to own castles and rule territories, and any player can join a clan and take part in large-scale battles.

This article covers the castles, their features and the rules of the event, along with tips on taking and holding a castle.

Castle types

The Lu4 alpha test has five castles. They all have the same architecture, but the landscape around them and where the teleport points are change the ways to attack and defend.

Castle types and what to know when attacking or defending:

• Gludio
  • The castle stands near the town, so attackers can quickly regroup for another push. The river is a natural barrier, which makes it easy for defenders to guess where the attack will come from.
• Dion
  • This castle is also near the town, so attackers can quickly come back for another assault. The terrain is open, so enemies can surround the castle and strike from an unexpected side.
• Giran
  • The castle is far from the town, so a new attack takes longer. The terrain is a natural barrier, and attackers can come only from two directions at the front of the castle.
• Heine
  • The castle stands on an island, far from the town, so a second assault costs attackers a lot of time. The only way in is the bridge linking the island to the mainland, and defenders who hold the bridge can greatly limit what the enemy can do.
• Oren
  • The castle is at a medium distance from the town. It sits on a hill with no natural barriers, so attackers can come from different sides and surround it.

---

Castle structure

Every castle has a standard set of defensive structures, placed and counted according to its layout. In the Lu4 alpha test all castles share one layout, so defense differs mostly because of the landscape around them.

---

---

---

Registration

Castle sieges take place once every two weeks on Sunday at 18:00 server time.

Siege registration is open only in 5 castles. To sign a clan up for a siege, find the special messenger in front of the castle and talk to him.

Registration conditions:

• Clans of level 4 and above can register for a castle siege
• Registration opens as soon as a siege ends and closes 24 hours before the next siege starts
• The Clan Leader, and any clan member with the right privileges, can register the clan or cancel the registration
• A clan can sign up either as an attacker or as a defender
• The clan that owns the castle is registered as a defender automatically
• The Clan Leader of the defending clan has to confirm each registration as a defender
• A clan signed up as a defender without confirmation counts as not registered
• The NPC registrar shows the registered clans in the attacker and defender lists
• Castles held by NPCs can't take defender registrations

Siege Mechanics

Quick guide

Castle capture:

1. Break the main gates or the breakable parts of the wall to get into the inner courtyard
2. Break the inner gates to open the throne room
3. Go through the throne room into the sanctuary
4. The Clan Leader takes the Holy Artifact with a special skill
5. Guard the Clan Leader while the Holy Artifact is being taken — defenders can interrupt it
6. Every stage has defending players and NPC guards in your way

Recommendations:

• Set up Outposts in the siege zone in front of the castle
• Break the Control Towers to weaken the defenders
• Summon Siege Golems to break the castle walls and gates, and keep the Golems and their summoners safe from enemy attacks

---

Castle Defense:

1. Put archers and mages on high ground and on the outer walls
2. If the main gates or outer walls fall, hold the inner courtyard
3. If the inner gates fall, hold the throne room or the sanctuary
4. Don't let attackers take the Holy Artifact. Attack the enemy Clan Leader to interrupt the capture

Recommendations:

• Use the castle layout to fight from good spots and catch attackers in narrow passages
• Use the NPC next to the gates to get through closed gates quickly
• Meet attackers in the siege zone outside the castle and stop them from breaking the defensive structures
• Send mobile groups out through the emergency exit to throw the attackers' forces off balance
• Destroy enemy Siege Golems — killing the dwarf sends the Golem away too
• Once three Control Towers are destroyed, it is sometimes easier to respawn in town and walk back to the castle

---

Stages of the Siege

Sieges start on Sunday at 18:00 server time. When the Siege starts, the Siege Battle Zone around the Castles turns on, and every player in it except the defenders is teleported out of the castle.

Siege participants will receive special icons above their character’s head:

• — Attackers
• — Defenders
• — Clan Leaders
• No icon - Unregistered

The icon color shows who is a friend and who is an enemy:

• Blue icons — allied Clans
• Red icons — enemies

Siege stages and rules:

---

Siege Battle Zone

While the Siege lasts, the Castle territory is a Battle Zone.

The Siege Battle Zone has these rules:

• You can attack enemies and use debuffs without a forced attack and without the "flagged" status
• Killing other characters doesn't raise the PK (Player Killer) counter
• Killing a character standing outside the battle zone from inside it gives no Karma and doesn't raise the PK counter
• A character who leaves the siege battle zone gets the "flagged" effect
• Defenders can't be resurrected with skills or scrolls once two or more Life Control Towers are destroyed
• Attackers can be resurrected with skills or scrolls only if an Outpost has been set up
• Only Leaders of attacking Clans can set up an Outpost in the Siege Battle Zone

Experience Loss:

• Dying in the Siege Battle Zone costs no Experience

---

Consumables

Charms are special items that bring your character back to life right after death.

Types of Charms:

• Charm of Courage (C-Grade)
• Charm of Courage (B-Grade)

Charms work only in the Siege Battle Zone and have a 20 minute cooldown. Any Grocery Shop sells them.

Dying in the Siege Battle Zone can, with some chance, give the character the negative effect Battlefield Death Syndrome; each further death raises its level, up to level 5.

• Battlefield Death Syndrome — P. Atk./ M. Atk. -5% Atk. Spd. -5% Casting Spd. -5% Accuracy -2 Evasion -2
• Battlefield Death Syndrome — P. Atk./ M. Atk. -10% Atk. Spd. -7% Casting Spd. -7% Accuracy -3 Evasion -3
• Battlefield Death Syndrome — P. Atk./ M. Atk. -15% Atk. Spd. -10% Casting Spd. -10% Accuracy -4 Evasion -4
• Battlefield Death Syndrome — P. Atk./ M. Atk. -20% Atk. Spd. -15% Casting Spd. -15% Accuracy -5 Evasion -5
• Battlefield Death Syndrome — P. Atk./ M. Atk. -30% Atk. Spd. -20% Casting Spd. -20% Accuracy -7 Evasion -7

The negative effect lasts 2 minutes, and its timer restarts whenever its level goes up.

The negative effect can be dispelled using special Scrolls:

Recovery Scroll for Combat Use

The Scroll can be purchased at any Grocery Shop.

---

Outposts

The Outpost is the main siege structure of attacking Clans.

An Outpost lets fallen allies be resurrected with skills or resurrection scrolls and adds a new respawn point where it stands.

Only the Leader of an attacking Clan can set up an Outpost, and only in the Siege Battle Zone, with a special skill:

Build Headquarters — Sets up a headquarters during a siege that helps forces recover and get reinforcements.

Setting up an Outpost costs Gemstone x 300. Skill cooldown is 30 minutes.

An attacking Clan has to protect its Outpost and destroy the Outposts of other attacking Clans. Defenders should destroy every Outpost.

Set the Outpost well away from the castle walls, so enemy archers and mages on the walls can't reach it.

If the enemy takes the castle, members of the clan that owns the Outpost are teleported from the castle to it. With no Outpost, everyone is moved from the castle to a safe zone.

During the Siege Alliance you can't attack another attacking Clan's Outpost.

---

Guards

Guards are special NPC defenders of the castle.

Guards stand all over the castle: in the courtyard, on the walls and balconies, and in the sanctuary. They are most dangerous in narrow passages and in the sanctuary, where they can hold the attackers up badly. Guards on the walls and balconies attack from range.

Types of Guards:

• Elven Swordsman
• Knight
• Elven Spearman
• Elite Spearman
• Elven Archer
• Elven Mage
• Battle Mage
• Lord Ruler — only when an NPC holds the castle

Guards have different respawn times. Some respawn 4 minutes after death, while others do not respawn at all.

Castles held by NPCs have more Guards than castles owned by clans.

---

Destructible objects

Castles have breakable objects, so attackers can force their way in and weaken the defense. Kinds of breakable objects:

• Main gates
• Inner gates
• Emergency exit gates on the roof
• Two breakable parts of the outer walls
• Grates
• Life Control Towers
• Flame Control Towers

Features:

• You can enter and take the castle only after breaking its defensive structures
• Breakable objects light up when you hover over them and can be targeted and attacked
• Gates have two halves, and breaking one of them is enough to get through
• Walls can be broken only in certain places and only by a Siege Golem
• Grates guard the Control Towers: you can either break them or go around
• Before the Siege, the clan that owns the castle can strengthen the gates and walls at the NPC in the throne room
• When the castle changes hands, destroyed objects come back with 50% health and crystals with 100% health. Every upgrade the former owners bought goes back to standard

Defenders should stop attacks on breakable objects: destroyed objects don't recover with time, and players can't repair or heal them. The only exception is when the castle is handed to an allied clan for a while and then given back: the objects return with 50% durability and the crystals with 100%, but every upgrade is lost.

---

Control Towers

Control Towers are special castle mechanisms that decide what defenders can do. Attackers can weaken the defenders by destroying the castle's Control Towers.

The castle has 5 Control Towers in different places:

• Life Control Tower — Life Control Tower x3
• Flame Control Tower — Flame Control Tower x2

Life Control Towers let defenders resurrect fallen allies with skills and scrolls and give fast teleportation from the respawn hall.

Locations of Life Control Towers:

• Above the main gates
• Above the emergency exit
• On the second tier of the sanctuary

The more Control Towers are destroyed, the less defenders can do:

Flame Control Towers power the traps in the castle. Destroying a Control Tower turns off the trap tied to it:

• Flame Control Tower in the back courtyard — trap before the inner gates
• Flame Control Tower on the wall — trap in the back courtyard

Traps and Flame Control Towers work only if the castle owner set them up before the Siege started. Traps turn off when the castle changes hands, and in castles held by NPCs they don't work.

---

Traps

Traps are objects that can't be destroyed, set at key points of the castle; they slow down and kill attacking characters.

The castle has two traps: one in front of the inner gates, the other by the ramp up to the wall in the back courtyard.

Trap mechanics:

• Traps work only if the castle owner turned them on before the Siege started
• A trap triggers when an attacking character steps on it
• Traps slow enemies down and damage them
• A trap turns off once its Flame Control Tower is destroyed
• Traps don't work in castles held by NPCs

---

Resurrection in the castle

The Resurrection Hall is a room inside the castle where defenders and castle owners appear after using a teleport scroll to the castle, or after dying and pressing the "To Castle" button.

An NPC in the hall teleports everyone in the Resurrection Hall to the Throne Room in one go. Any defender can start the teleport.

Teleportation time:

• With at least 1 Life Control Tower still standing — 30 seconds
• With every Life Control Tower destroyed — 8 minutes

When the countdown runs out, everyone in the Resurrection Hall is teleported to the Throne Hall. Use the wait to renew buffs and restore resources. Attackers may be waiting in the Throne Hall to hit the defenders right after they arrive.

The Resurrection Hall is cut off from the outside: attackers can't get in or attack anyone inside.

---

Holy Artifact

Holy Artifact — the key object of the castle. The clan that controls the Artifact owns and defends the castle. The Artifact stands at the heart of the castle — the sanctuary behind the Throne Room.

Only the Leader of an attacking clan can take control of the Artifact, using this skill:

Seal of Ruler — Engraves the Seal of Ruler on the holy artifact that protects the castle.

The capture takes 3 minutes, and other characters can interrupt it, so clan members should guard their Leader while it lasts.

Defenders have to stop the attacking clan's Leader from finishing the capture. A single character who breaks it off can decide the whole siege.

Events during Artifact capture:

• The clan that takes the Artifact becomes the new owner and defender of the castle
• The former owner and the castle defenders become attackers
• Everyone except the new castle owners is teleported out of the castle to the safe zone or to the Flag
• All structures get 50% of their health back, and crystals 100%
• Castle guards are resurrected

Some extra things happen only on the first Artifact capture of a Siege:

• All Siege Alliances are destroyed
• All castle upgrades go back to standard
• Traps are disabled

---

Advanced strategies

1. Breaking off a capture inside the attacking alliance.

Clans of the attacking Siege Alliance can't attack each other, and their characters can't interrupt another Clan Leader's capture. Start your capture first to get the castle. If someone beat you to it, you can break off their capture with a character prepared in advance outside the Clan, or have a character leave the Clan. A character who leaves the Clan can't join it again during the Siege.

2. Sending the attackers to a peace zone by letting an allied clan take the castle.

A defending clan that has lost the fight outside the castle can keep the attackers away from the Artifact. An allied clan registered as an attacker starts capturing the Artifact in advance and then takes the castle. After the change of owner, every other clan is teleported from the castle to a peace zone or to its flag, while the former owner clan can come back and take the castle again. The allied clan keeps its capture going non-stop, cancels it by hand just before it finishes and starts again, and lets it finish only once the battle is lost.

3. Repairing walls and gates by letting an allied clan hold the castle for a while.

A Clan defending a castle can let an allied Clan registered as attackers take the castle, which restores the health of the destroyed castle objects. The main Clan walks out of the Siege Combat Zone and comes straight back to the castle, so it isn't teleported to the safe zone. The main Clan can then retake the castle, but all castle upgrades will no longer be available.

Owner Privileges

The owner Clan gets special castle items and functions.

A new clan skill, the same in every castle:

Banner of Victory

Residential Shock Immunity

Effects of Banner of Victory

Your Clan Owns the Castle!

Max CP +10%
Max MP +5%
Incoming Heal Power +5%
Resistance to Stun +5%
Resistance to Hold +5%
Resistance to Sleep +5%.

Effects Residential Shock Immunity (Not available in the Olympiad)

Resistance to Stun +80%.

Use of the castle's Magical Support.

Magic Support

Effect duration: 1 hour.

Castle Crowns with an active stun resistance skill:

Effects of Residential Shock Immunity (Only available in the Olympiad)

For Clan members: Circlet of Giran

Residential Shock Immunity — Resistance to Stun +80%.

For the Clan Leader: The Lord's Crown

Residential Shock Immunity — Immunity to Stun.

The active skill of the Lord's Crown gives full immunity to stun. While it lasts, stun effects deal no damage to the Crown's owner.

Effect duration: 7 seconds. Cooldown: 10 minutes.

Lord's Crown with the Clan Summon Skill: Clan Gate

Features of Clan Gate

Only the Clan Leader can use the skill. The gates stay open for 2 minutes, and while summoning the Clan Leader can't move or use other skills. If the skill is interrupted, the gates close. Cooldown: 1 hour.

To teleport to the Leader, clan members talk to the NPC Court Magician in the castle's throne hall and pick the matching dialogue option.

Territorial Taxes:

About Taxes:

The Clan Leader can set a tax of 0% to 15% on the castle's territories.

The money collected goes to the Castle Clan Treasury.

Part of it goes to the Capital Castle, even when an NPC holds it.

Other Functions:

• Respawn in the castle after death and get back part of the lost Experience
• Faster HP/MP regeneration on the castle territory
• Teleport from the castle to the nearby territories
• Buy regular and blessed Teleport Scrolls to the castle
• The Clan Emblem shows next to NPC names in the castle's territories

Preparing for defense

To hold the castle in a siege, the Clan Leader should get its defense ready in advance.

Preparation Recommendations:

• Strengthen the castle gates and walls at the NPC in the Throne Hall.
• Turn on the Traps at the NPC in the Throne Hall.
• Make a defense plan and place your forces to fit the castle layout and terrain.
• Recruit new members actively — many players will want to join the clan that owns a castle.
• Form alliances with other clans.
• Confirm the Clans that registered to defend the castle.

What the NPC Chamberlain offers to strengthen the castle: reinforcing gates and walls, turning on traps.

Main Gate Reinforcement

• Manage Castle Function
• Manage the siege function
• Reinforce gates and walls
• Reinforce outer castle gate
• 3 000 000 / 4 000 000 / 5 000 000 Adena

Inner Gate Reinforcement

• Manage Castle Function
• Manage the siege function
• Reinforce gates and walls
• Reinforce inner castle gate
• 750 000 / 900 000 / 1 000 000 Adena

Wall Reinforcement

• Manage Castle Function
• Manage the siege function
• Reinforce gates and walls
• Reinforce castle walls
• 1 600 000 / 1 800 000 / 2 000 000 Adena

Inner Gate Trap Activation

• Manage Castle Function
• Manage the siege function
• Deploy trap device
• Turn on the trap by the entrance to the inner castle
• 3 000 000 Adena

Backyard Trap Activation

• Manage Castle Function
• Manage the siege function
• Deploy trap device
• Turn on the trap behind the garden of the inner castle
• 3 000 000 Adena