Sieges

There's node sieges and castle sieges: I think the castle sieges will be more structured towards a guild element and having some structure there. Neither will be instanced in the sense of what an instance actually is, which is taking you out of the open world and putting you into you know your own shard of existence. But both will be in the open world. But there will be participation structure in sieging castles. With regards to the open siege on nodes, really the only structural component there and participation has to do with what what node you're a member of, what node you're a citizen of. That will restrict your participation to a particular side.^[1] – Steven Sharif

Sieges in Ashes of Creation refer to:

Castle sieges, where guilds battle to occupy one of five Guild castles.^[2]
Node sieges, which are open world battles fought to destroy nodes.^[3]

The risk versus reward relationship, when, say for instance, you've dedicated time towards building a node and other players have dedicated that equivalent time towards sieging the node, there's going to be a pitched battle between those players... They spend that time doing this because they care passionately about having access to that content.^[4] – Steven Sharif

There are points of balance that we want to incorporate, such as the defense mechanisms that the defenders have, the types of buffs that are acquired through completing killing the bosses, or capturing control points, the stages before a siege when it comes to those node progressions in the preceding weeks: Those are all going to be balanced considering all things being equal between the two sides. But obviously we're not going to control the state of gear acquisition that one side might have as an advantage over the other. There might be a much better geared team over there. There might be a much better coordinated team. There might be a higher number of individuals who are part of the attacking or the defense. Those are components that we aren't necessarily going to put on railroads so-to-speak. But the aspects of design that we can talk about like the hit point health of a particular wall or door, or mercenaries that can be hired; what's their cost, what's their damage output: Those are things yes we're going to balance. But obviously anything that's player dependent or that has player interaction and activity and determination you can't always balance; and you don't want to balance. Those aspects you leave those to the players.^[5] – Steven Sharif

Castle sieges

Alpha-1 castle siege gameplay.^[6]

Throughout Ashes of Creation, the player has an opportunity to participate in massively multiplayer siege warfare. Since castles are likely the world’s most limited resource, it will be a task to secure and hold them. Involving hundreds of players on a single battlefield, our sieges will employ many moving parts and intricate design features. Because of the difficult nature of taking and keeping a castle there are great rewards available to the players for their efforts. Castles will allow players to exert control over nearby lands and allow for the development of unique buildings in the nearby towns.^[7]

Guilds participate in Castle sieges in an effort to capture and occupy one of the five guild castles in Ashes of Creation.^[2]

Sieges occur once a month within a server prime-time window.^[8]^[2]^[9]^[10]

The minimum goal is for 250x250 players to be on a single battlefield. It is hoped that this can be increased to 500x500 over time.^[11]

There will be systems that mimic some of the mechanics of sieges, but there won't be practice sieges.^[12]

There may be instanced locations within otherwise open-world castle and node sieges, where specific groups can participate in small, short duration objective-based battles that will affect the overall outcome of the siege.^[13]
- It was previously stated that castle sieges may or may not be (entirely) instanced in the final game.^[14]
- Alpha-1 castle sieges occurred in an open-world zone that was accessible via a NPC teleporter.^[15]^[16]^[14]^[17]

A guild that captures a castle will own that castle for a month before it is sieged again.^[18]^[19]

Each week leading up to the siege week... is a week that's dedicated to one of the three castle dedicated nodes. So around the castle there are three nodes. They represent week, one, two, and three; and then the fourth week is the siege against the castle. Those can only be elevated up to stage three. We've discussed this in the past and there's definitely information out there on the community ran wiki.^[18] – Steven Sharif

In the first three weeks that a guild occupies a castle they will need to level up each of their castle nodes to Village stage through questing.^[18]^[19]
- Each of the three castle nodes have a siege against it at the end of each of these three weeks.^[19]^[20]
The fourth week is declaration week, where other guilds have the opportunity to lay down their declaration flag or to sign up as a defender of the castle.^[18]^[19]
Depending on how well the guild defends their castle nodes results in better defenses for the castle.^[19]^[20]
Different siege weaponry will grant the attackers the ability to destroy walls, doors and sections of the castle in order to gain access to the inner keep area.^[21]
When castles change hands (following a siege), some taxes stay with the castle and some stay with the guild.^[22]

There will be benefits to attracting people... even if they're not in your guild or alliance – kind of a feudal like system, where you can attract other players who are just independent of this whole politic. They will have things to do there - benefits to receive - and there will be a reciprocal relationship between who you can attract, what they do for you; and how that benefits you and them.^[19] – Steven Sharif

Node sieges

Node sieges (Pre-alpha footage).^[23]

As some areas in the world grow, others will fall. This is the foundation of the living, breathing world that is Ashes of Creation, where players will have the ability to make important decisions that matter in the longevity of an area becoming a city, or whether to siege a rival town. Rise above the ashes, create the world around you, and be a part of the story that unfolds because of your actions and decisions.^[3] – Margaret Krohn

Node sieges enable players to destroy nodes starting at Village (stage 3).^[3] This paves the way for new development and access to the locked content in surrounding nodes. Due to this dynamic, political strife and intrigue play an important role in the structure of the world.^[24]

Sieging nodes will not be an easy task for the attackers. Cities and metropolises will have a considerable defensive advantage.^[24]

There will be systems that mimic some of the mechanics of sieges, but there won't be practice sieges.^[12]

Death penalties do not apply to objective-based events such as node sieges.^[25]

If you own a home in a node and you don't want to see that home destroyed, you need to defend that city!^[26] – Steven Sharif

The majority (~80%) of content in Ashes of Creation is open-world but there may be instanced battles within castle and node sieges where specific groups can participate in small, short-duration objective-based battles for specific waypoints.^[13]

Server prime-time

Objective-based PvP events such as node sieges, castle sieges, guild wars, and node wars will occur within a prime-time window somewhere between 3PM and 9PM server time. This is subject to testing.^[9]^[10]^[27]

Guild wars and node wars can be declared at any time, but the objectives will only spawn during the prime-time window.^[28]

Siege alliances

When a siege begins, temporary alliances are formed among attackers and defenders.^[29]

For node sieges, citizens of the node or provincial nodes being attacked are automatically registered as defenders.^[30]
There are many reasons to participate as an ally in the attack or defence of other nodes.^[31]
- Titles.
- Items.
- Materials.
- Money.
- Social bonds.

Many incentives exist that can benefit your node and yourself personally by participating in the attack or defense of cities. These range from titles, to items, to materials, to money. Additionally, aiding others may help you strengthen bonds when your assets are threatened.^[31] – Steven Sharif

Siege participation

Non-registered combatants are not permitted on the siege field in castle or node sieges.^[32]

Alpha-1 castle sieges are located in a separate zone that is accessible via a NPC teleporter.^[15]^[16]^[14]^[17]
- Castle sieges (in the final game) may or may not be instanced.^[14]^[33]

Players may choose to respawn at their HQ as long as they are registered.^[14]^[34]
- Non-registered guilds are not granted the ability to take ownership of the castle if victorious.^[14]

Players could potentially intercept stragglers with the guild war or flagging system en route to the siege field.^[35]

Lower level characters will have usefulness in mass combat that does not depend on their level, such as manning siege weapons, helping repair fortifications, bringing proximity-based buffs to key positions, using stealth or scaling walls. These types of things are relevant to the tide of battle and do not require the player to be max-level or have high combat stats.^[36]

Siege weapons

Trebuchet siege weapon in Alpha-1 castle sieges preview.^[37]

It wouldn’t be a castle siege without siege weapons. These are massive machines of war that enable attackers to bring down the walls, and defenders to keep their keep safe. Crafters can bring their own powerful schematics to the battlefield, or you can order baseline siege weapons from your friendly neighborhood siege master NPC. The Castle’s defenders will be able to deploy their own defensive weapons and turrets based on how well they maintained and defended their own Nodes. The sky will be illuminated with fire and fury.^[38]

Ballista siege weapon in Alpha-1 castle sieges preview.^[39]

Siege weapons are able to be crafted or purchased from NPCs.^[40]

Siege equipment will require materials, recipes and craftsmanship.^[41]

Part of this endeavor of sieging a player-held location (or non-player-held location) is time to prepare; and that includes gathering and crafting these mega weapons or collecting the resources: Whether it be gold or specific quest items to purchase from NPCs.^[40] – Steven Sharif

There will be ways to repair destructible structures (such as walls and gates) and also repair (or re-craft) siege weapons that were damaged during sieges.^[42]
- This is a long term design goal that will not be present during Alpha-1.^[42]

Anything that you want to bring into existence in the world is going to be built by players: Whether that is Ships, Siege engines, Weapons, Armor, etc.^[43] – Jeffrey Bard

Siege PvP

Sieges don't use the PvP flagging system.^[44]

Death penalties do not apply to objective-based events (such as caravans, guild wars, and node sieges).^[25]

Siege NPCs

Siege NPCs serve as defense points. Killing them allows the attackers to gain advantages during a siege.^[45] NPCs are only killable during a siege and will respawn if the siege is unsuccessful.^[46]

NPC guards are intended to be a significant presence but not the main line of defense in a siege.^[47]

Mercenary NPCs

Mercenary NPCs can be hired to participate in objective-based situations.^[48]^[49]^[50]

Varying tiers of mercenary NPCs may be unlocked based on the investment made in their progression. Highest tier NPC mercenaries are referred to as heros.^[51]^[52]^[48]^[49]
- Mayors are able to allocate treasury funding to hire mercenary NPCs to defend their node during sieges.^[49]^[50]
- Nodes can invest in upgrade paths that give a greater selection of roles and quality (gear level) of NPC mercenaries used for caravan defense.^[51]
- NPC mercenaries can be hired to participate in castle sieges based on the allocation made by the governing castle and how successful they have been defending their castle nodes.^[52]^[48]
- These mechanics are subject to change based on testing and priorities.^[51]^[52]
Players can assign mercenary NPCs, but won't micromanage them, in a similar manner to pets.^[50]

There are mercenary NPCs that can be assigned to players. We've discussed about that before and those will follow generically... a kind of pet system even you know adopted majority of the pet system with the added bonus of kind of objective based points of interest that you can assign them to. But we don't want to inundate the field with these mercenaries they'll be kind of few and far between. They'll be assigned specifically like let's say for example you know as the mayor of a node during a siege you'll be able to assign these two specific players that are citizens within your node and then they'll have those they'll spawn during the during the node siege; or vice versa and the castle siege you know guild leaders can assign mercenaries that are available based on the progress of those subsidiary nodes around the castle siege whether or not you have those available to your defense or your attack.^[50] – Steven Sharif

Destructible environments

Destructible environments in Alpha-1 castle sieges.^[53]

Destructible environments is a core element of how players interact with the world, in Ashes of Creation.^[54]^[55]

This applies to buildings, siege weapons and other structures (such as walls and gates) during events, such as sieges.^[56]^[57]
- There will be ways to repair destructible structures and also repair (or re-craft) siege weapons that were damaged during sieges.^[57]
The terrain itself is not destructible.^[56]

Siege abilities

War Beast 3D render. Modelled by Jessica Jennings.^[58]

Group summons are activated by a party leader with that ability in their class kit along with additive components from other classes that are part of the group.^[59]

Some of the following information has not been recently confirmed by the developers and may not be on the current development roadmap.

Up to eight players of the same primary archetype can band together to create monumental effects during a siege.^[60]

The classes will need to be in the same group or raid.^[60]

These are the types of systems that we want to put in place where groups of a single primary archetype can come together to summon these types of effects that play off of what the identity of that archetype is.^[60] – Steven Sharif

Summoner

Summoners can collaborate together during sieges to summon larger creatures, such as Golems.^[61]^[62]^[63]

We do have the concept of siege summons being a thing with multiple summoners being required in order to create that siege summon. In those situations your character becomes the summon. So you don't have an AI that takes over your previous character but instead the recipient of those additional spell effects becomes the actual summon itself.^[61] – Steven Sharif

The target of the group summon becomes the summon itself.^[61]^[63]
- Previously it was stated that the party-leader becomes the summon.^[62]

Some of the following information has not been recently confirmed by the developers and may not be on the current development roadmap.

A siege summon will have an incremental size based on the number of summoners participating in that summon activity, with a maximum of eight.^[64]
The number of summoners participating in the summon will determine its overall size.^[64]
All summoners must be in the same party and the party leader must be a summoner.^[62]
- The party leader initiates the summon and then takes control of it.^[62]
- Once summoned, the party leader cannot be changed.^[62]
- If the party disbands, the summon ends. There will be a grace period to handle disconnects.^[62]
- The party may also contain non-Summoners.^[62]

Tank

Pre-alpha castle siege combat featuring a Tank siege ability.^[65]

Some of the following information has not been recently confirmed by the developers and may not be on the current development roadmap.

If eight Tank archetypes each use one of their summon wall abilities it might construct a larger wall that can divide two raids in a moment; and would require damage and block skills and abilities for a momentary lapse of battle between those two raids.^[60] – Steven Sharif

Deserter debuff

There is no debuff penalty for leaving a siege before it is complete.^[66]

Metrics

Ashes of Creation gathers tracking data to facilitate achievements, titles and other accolades on a server.^[67]

Number of successful siege defenses.^[67]
Number of successful siege assaults.^[67]
Number of PvP kills.^[68]^[67]
Number of PvP deaths.^[68]
Raid participation points.^[67]
Number of firsts.^[67]

Visibility of those types of things on the server help to promote a competitive atmosphere. If there is an attainable impression that you can work towards, so that others know your success, you have more drive to succeed.^[67] – Steven Sharif

Leader boards

Some of the following information has not been recently confirmed by the developers and may not be on the current development roadmap.

There will be dungeon and raid leader boards.^[69]

Some leader boards will be across all servers.^[70]

Spectating battles

The ability to spectate battles, such as Sieges is being looked into.^[71]

One of the issues I did have about that system in Lineage 2, was like you know certain people just have alt accounts logged in and tuned into that thing; and like they would then utilize that information. Which, I guess is you know a means of information gathering. But it's kind of maybe too easy of one. So we're - like i said - we're just looking into that. I haven't decided on that yet.^[71] – Steven Sharif