Castle Sieges

A castle siege is a two-hour battle between clans for a castle. The attacking clans build headquarters on the battlefield, break into the castle and try to engrave its Holy Artifact with the Seal of Ruler. The castle's owner and the clans it accepts as defenders try to stop them. The clan that holds the castle when the time runs out keeps it, and the fighters of both sides who are still on the battlefield at the end earn Knight's Epaulette.

The siege mechanics follow the official servers, with a few Valkyria rules for the battlefield and the rewards. The control towers, the headquarters, the siege weapons (Siege Golem, Wild Hog Cannon and Swoop Cannon), the castle doors and the castle guards have three times the official HP, P. Def and M. Def, because characters on Valkyria are much stronger than on the official servers. The castle walls keep their official values, and only siege weapons can damage them. Every player who doesn't defend the castle, even without a registered clan, can break its doors with his full damage and fight its guards.

The castles and the schedule

• Times are server time. Each of these castles has a siege every week: when a siege ends, the next one is set for the same day and hour a week later. A siege that no attacker clan registered for is cancelled.
• Registration is open from the end of the previous siege until 24 hours before the siege starts.
• Sieges are locked when the server starts and open later. While they are locked, the castle pages show Locked instead of a date, and every registration is refused with Sieges will be available later.

Step 1 — Register your clan

Talk to the castle's messenger to open the Siege Info window, then register as an attacker or ask to defend. The same window cancels a registration.

• Who. The clan leader, or a member with the clan's siege war privilege. The clan must be level 4 or higher and not in the middle of being dissolved.
• One siege at a time. A clan can be registered for only one castle's siege. A clan that owns a castle can't join another castle's siege; it defends its own castle automatically.
• Attackers. Up to 10 clans. Registration is immediate, no approval needed. The clans of the castle owner's alliance can't attack its castle.
• Defenders. Up to 10 clans, counting the requests that are still waiting. The castle lord approves or refuses the requests in the Siege Info window, which he opens from the castle's Chamberlain. Requests still waiting when registration closes are dropped. A castle without an owner can't be defended.
• Alliances. Clans of the same alliance can't be registered on opposite sides.

Step 2 — Get ready

The leader of a clan of level 4 or higher has the siege skills, and a clan leader can learn two stronger headquarters from spellbooks. Only the clan leader can use them, and only when his clan is on the attacking side.

Skill	What it does	Cost
Build Headquarters	Builds your clan's headquarters on the battlefield. 4-second cast, 30-minute reuse.	300 Gemstone C
Build Advanced Headquarters	The same, with twice the HP. Only for a clan leader with Noblesse status. 60-minute reuse.	300 Gemstone C
Build Masters Headquarters	The same, with 450,000 HP. Learned from Spellbook: Master Headquarters (clan level 3 or higher). 60-minute reuse.	600 Gemstone C
Build Grand Masters Headquarters	The same, with 600,000 HP. Learned from Spellbook: Grand Master Headquarters (clan level 3 or higher). 60-minute reuse.	1,200 Gemstone C
Seal of Ruler	Engraves the castle's Holy Artifact. 3-minute cast.	50 MP

The castle owner can reinforce the doors and install traps at the Chamberlain before the siege, and place mercenaries with Mercenary Posting Tickets. A reinforced door has 2, 3 or 5 times its HP.

Step 3 — The siege starts

• The area around the castle becomes the battlefield, a PvP zone: kills there give no karma. Registered players get the attacker or defender mark, and the attacker clans fight as a temporary alliance.
• Everyone inside the castle walls who is not in the owner clan or an approved defender clan is moved out to the castle's siege village (see Restart points).
• The doors close at full HP, the 3 Life Control Towers and the 2 Flame Control Towers appear, and the castle guards take their posts, together with the mercenaries the owner placed.
• The owner clan's Castle Bonus is switched off until the siege ends.

Headquarters

• Only the leader of an attacker clan can build it, one per clan, and only in the parts of the battlefield where headquarters are allowed. Anywhere else he gets You cannot set up a base here.
• It must stand at least 200 away from the headquarters of every other clan in the siege, measured on the map, whatever the difference in height. The hidden headquarters of the clan that holds the castle counts too (see What an engrave changes).
• While it stands, the members of your clan can restart next to it, and Resurrection skills and scrolls work on their bodies on the battlefield. When it falls, both stop until your leader builds a new one, and the skill's reuse still counts.
• It can't be healed. Your clan gets Your base is being attacked. when it takes damage, at most once every 30 seconds.
• It shows your clan name. An Advanced, Masters or Grand Masters Headquarters also shows its kind as its title: Advanced HQ, Masters HQ or Grand Masters HQ.
• Who can attack it. Every player who isn't in your clan: the defenders, the other attacker clans (even though they fight beside you) and players who don't take part in the siege. The members of your own clan can't hit it, not even with Ctrl.

Control towers

• Every castle has 3 Life Control Towers and 2 Flame Control Towers.
• While the siege runs, anyone can attack and damage them, whatever his side: the attackers, players who don't take part in the siege and the castle's own defenders too, and every pet, summon and siege weapon. Area skills and polearm hits that reach a tower damage it, whoever uses them. Outside the siege nobody can damage them.
• Life Control Towers keep the defenders in the fight: Resurrection skills and scrolls work on the defending side's fallen on the battlefield only while at least 2 of them stand. When the second one falls, the defending clans get The guardian tower has been destroyed and resurrection is not possible.
• Flame Control Towers run the traps the castle owner installed. When one falls, its traps stop.
• A destroyed tower leaves its broken shell behind. After an engrave, all five towers come back at full HP.

The siege structures

The siege weapons, as they stand on the battlefield once summoned (before buffs), with three times the official HP, P. Def and M. Def:

The castle doors have three times the official HP, P. Def and M. Def: an outer gate of Giran, for example, has 253,200 / 644 / 518 on the official servers. The walls keep the official values, because only siege weapons can damage them.

• Doors, walls, headquarters and control towers have exactly these values in the game: no stat or level bonus is added. A reinforced door has 2, 3 or 5 times the HP above.
• The siege weapons are summons: their values above already include the bonuses of their CON, MEN and level. A Wild Hog Cannon or Swoop Cannon summoned with an enchanted skill has a higher level, so the same HP and a higher P. Def and M. Def (the ranges above).
• Castle doors and walls only take damage while the siege runs, and a door only while it is closed.
• Doors. Every player who doesn't defend the castle can attack its doors: the attacker clans, and also players whose clan didn't register and players without a clan. Pets and summons can attack them too, whatever side their master is on. Only the members of the owner clan and of the approved defender clans can't. Every hit lands with its full damage, like on any other target, and blunt and polearm auto-attacks deal five times their damage to a door.
• Walls. Players, pets and ordinary summons can't attack the walls at all: only siege weapons can damage them. The Siege Golem's attacks count as polearm hits, so it deals five times its damage to doors and walls.
• During the siege the doors and walls show as enemies to every player who doesn't defend the castle, and as friendly to the members of the owner clan and of the approved defender clans, so a defender's click on his own gate doesn't attack it. Outside the siege nobody sees them as enemies.
• Your level gives no extra critical chance against doors, walls, headquarters and control towers, and Lethal Strike never works on them.

Castle guards

The castle guards and the mercenaries the owner places with Mercenary Posting Tickets have three times the official HP, P. Def and M. Def. The guards that stand in a siege, as they are in the game (the bonuses of their CON, MEN and level included):

• The guards and mercenaries attack every player on the battlefield who isn't in the owner clan or an approved defender clan: the attacker clans, and also players whose clan didn't register and players without a clan, together with their pets and summons. They never attack the owner clan and the defender clans.
• The same players, and their pets and summons, can attack the guards. The members of the owner clan and of the defender clans can't, not even with Ctrl.

Step 4 — Engrave the Holy Artifact

• The leader of an attacker clan stands next to the Holy Artifact (in Goddard, the Altar of Fire or the Altar of Water) and casts Seal of Ruler, a 3-minute cast. The defending side is told as soon as the cast starts.
• When the cast ends, his clan owns the castle. Everyone on the battlefield is told which clan engraved, and the new owner clan hears the victory fanfare.
• 2-minute lock. After the castle changes hands, any other engrave that ends within 2 minutes does nothing, without any message. After those 2 minutes, the next engrave works again.
• The castle can change hands many times during a siege. Only the clan that holds it at the end keeps it. An engrave that ends after the siege is over does nothing.

What an engrave changes

• Sides. The new owner and the registered attacker clans of its alliance become the defenders. The old owner, its defenders and all the other attacker clans become attackers, and the temporary alliance of the attackers ends.
• Who is moved. Only the players inside the castle walls. The new owner and its defenders stay. An attacker goes next to his clan's headquarters if it stands; everyone else goes to the siege village. Players fighting outside the walls are not moved.
• Headquarters. The new owner's headquarters leaves the field and keeps its HP. If that clan loses the castle again during the siege, it comes back with that HP. The other headquarters stay where they are, but the headquarters of a clan that now defends gives its members no restart point while they defend, and on the defending side the Life Control Towers decide whether Resurrection skills and scrolls work.
• Doors and towers. The doors come back closed at half HP, the door reinforcements and traps are removed, and all five towers come back at full HP. The new defending side starts with 3 Life Control Towers.
• Guards and golems. Guards and mercenaries leave for the rest of the siege, and every Siege Golem on the battlefield is unsummoned.
• Early end. If the castle had no owner before and the clan that engraved is the only attacker clan, or every attacker clan is in its alliance, the siege ends at once.

Resurrection in a siege

While a siege runs, a Resurrection skill or scroll used on a player who lies dead on its battlefield only works if his clan fights in that siege:

• The rule only applies while the siege runs, and only to a body lying on that castle's battlefield. Before and after the siege, and anywhere off the battlefield, resurrection works as usual.
• It looks at the dead player's clan, not at who uses the skill or scroll. A clan mate, an ally, a neutral, even an enemy or someone standing outside the battlefield can resurrect a player who passes it. On a player who fails it, the skill or scroll doesn't work, and both players get the message.
• The Resurrection skills cast on a body and the scrolls, such as Scroll of Resurrection and Blessed Scroll of Resurrection, all follow this rule.
• Mass Resurrection reaches the fallen clan members within 200 of the caster. In a siege, every body it reaches follows the rule above: the players who fail it stay dead and get the message, the others are revived as usual. A caster who stands on the battlefield can only cast it while his own clan passes the rule.
• Defender requests that were never approved are dropped when registration closes, so those clans count as not fighting.

Restart points

• Attackers who die on the battlefield wait 10 seconds after pressing a restart button.
• The castle's Mass Gatekeeper takes everyone in his room into the inner castle 30 seconds after one of them asks, or after 8 minutes during a siege once all 3 Life Control Towers have fallen.

Rules on the battlefield

• PvP zone. No karma for kills while the siege runs. You leave the battlefield with a PvP flag.
• One character per PC. A second character from the same PC is sent to Giran.
• No augments. Buffs from augment skills are removed when you enter, and the bonuses of your augmented items are off while you are inside. They come back when you leave.
• No Summon Friend on the battlefield.
• Siege weapons (Siege Golem, Wild Hog Cannon, Swoop Cannon) are unsummoned when they leave the battlefield.

The end of the siege

• A siege lasts 2 hours. Registered players are told when 1 hour, 30, 10, 5 and 1 minutes are left, and then every second of the last 10.
• The clan that holds the castle at that moment keeps it. If nobody engraved a castle without an owner, it stays without an owner.
• If the castle changed hands, the members of the clan that held it at the start take off its circlet and the Lord's Crown: they go back to the inventory.
• Everyone inside the castle walls who is not in the owner clan or a defender clan is moved to the siege village. The doors are repaired, the towers, guards and headquarters disappear, and the registrations are cleared for the next siege.

If the server restarts during a siege

A running siege is saved when it starts, every 10 seconds, and once more when the server shuts down normally. When the server is back, the siege goes on at once with the time it had left: the downtime doesn't count. This holds for every siege, also one that a Game Master started.

• The owner, the sides and the engraves already done are kept.
• Nobody is moved out of the castle when the siege resumes.
• Doors keep their damage, and broken doors stay broken.
• Headquarters come back where they stood, with their HP. A headquarters that had left the field after an engrave stays hidden.
• All control towers come back at full HP, also the ones that had fallen.
• Guards come back only if nobody had engraved yet. Mercenaries placed with tickets don't come back, and the clans' siege kill counts start again from zero.
• If no attacker clan is left, the siege ends at once.
• Maximum downtime. The server can be set to drop a siege when it was down for longer than a set time. No maximum is set, so a siege resumes however long the server was down.
• A siege that can't resume (its saved state is damaged, its restart fails, or the downtime passed that maximum) is dropped: the castle keeps the owner it had when the server stopped, the registrations for that siege are cleared, nobody gets the end-of-siege rewards, and the castle goes back to its weekly schedule.

Music and sounds

• Players on the battlefield hear the siege start and end sounds, and siege music that changes every 2 minutes.
• The clan that engraves hears the victory fanfare, and the clan that holds the castle at the end hears the victory theme.

Rewards

Result	Reward
The castle ends in other hands than at the start	+1,000 clan reputation for the new owner, −1,000 for the clan that owned it at the start
A castle without an owner is taken	+1,000 clan reputation for the new owner
The owner holds its castle	+500 clan reputation
On the battlefield when the siege ends	30 Knight's Epaulette for the members of the owner and defender clans, 10 for the members of the other registered clans (10 for everyone if the castle ends without an owner)
Owning the castle	Castle Bonus for every member of the clan: Giran +750 Max CP and +5% Max HP and MP, Aden +1,200 Max CP and +8%, Goddard +900 Max CP and +6%
Castle lord	The Lord's Crown (+15% CP) from the Chamberlain, outside sieges
Missions	Castle Lord (The Lord's Crown (+15% CP)): done by the clan leader whose clan takes a castle. The Fighters (monthly, 3 Top-Grade Life Stone: level 76): done when the siege ends by the online members (one character per PC) of every registered clan that killed at least one enemy player in it.

The Epaulettes go to one character per PC, and only to clan members who joined at least 24 hours ago (not academy members). Kills on the battlefield also count for PvP Epaulettes. See Clan Points: Knight's Epaulettes.

Tips

• Attackers: build the headquarters first and guard it. Without it your clan can't restart near the castle, and Resurrection skills and scrolls don't work on your fallen there.
• Attackers: your fighters can break the gates themselves, and blunt and polearm auto-attacks work best on them. The walls fall only to siege weapons: bring a Siege Golem.
• Defenders: guard the Life Control Towers. When the second one falls, Resurrection skills and scrolls stop working on your side's fallen on the battlefield.
• Defenders: careful with area skills and polearms next to your own control towers: they damage them too.
• Keep your clan leader alive and with MP: only he can build the headquarters and engrave, and the Seal of Ruler takes 3 minutes.
• Carry Gemstone C for a new headquarters, and keep the 30-minute reuse in mind.
• After an engrave, the castle is reset for the new defenders: fresh towers and doors at half HP.
• Stay on the battlefield until the siege ends to earn the Epaulettes.