Siege weapons

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

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.[2]

Siege weapons and siege vehicles are able to be utilized during sieges.[4]

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.[6]Steven Sharif
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.[8]Jeffrey Bard

List of siege weapons

Summoning siege equipment

Siege weapons and vehicles can be summoned by registered participants of the castle or node siege who have the particular item in their inventory.[9]

info-orange.pngSome of the following information has not been recently confirmed by the developers and may not be on the current development roadmap.

A summoning sheet is used to summon siege equipment to the player's position.[5]

  • Siege vehicles that can be player driven.[5]
  • Hand held weapons.[5]
  • Multiple people may need to equip some items of siege equipment for it to function.[5]

Guns and gunpowder

The Gilded Galleon pre-order pack cosmetic ship skin.[10]

The potion launcher idea will be incorporated as part of how cannons operate on ships; and these will be very large potion launchers obviously. The storage of this ammunitions are going to be very important as well... It's not going to be the same potion every time. You can equip the cannon with different types of potions that have different types of effects from a munitions standpoint; and I think that's going to provide a very cool gameplay because as you see the different color of the trail that's coming out of the potion launched, you'll be aware of what your adversary is using and how that affects your ship; and you'll be able to counter based on maneuverability, based on whatever you want to counter that with. I think that's going to present a very interesting dynamic to the attacks with these ships.[11]Steven Sharif

Gunpowder (black powder) weapons will not be present in Ashes of Creation.[12][13]

  • Ships will utilize a larger form of potion launcher in place of canons. These canons will be able to be equipped with different potions that have different effects.[11]
I previously said there was not going to be gunpowder in Ashes. What there will be is something very similar to gunpowder but has a more arcane nature to it. It's not necessarily going to be explainable through the conventional means of chemistry, metallurgy, and physics and what not, but rather the Essence is the core component of many types of magic, one of which is obviously going to be evocation type magic; and that evocation can have some explosive tendencies.[12]Steven Sharif

Weaponry such as Potion launchers, Siege weapons and weapons used in Naval combat are based on the arcane arts.[11][12][14]

As we said in the past, were not really about that black powder life. Instead it's really going to be focused on the arcane arts: The elements; the use of radiance and darkness; and then those being employed in larger weaponry, such as the type of siege weaponry between ship battles as well as those and sieges. A potion launcher is an example of the arcane energies that can be mastered in order to facilitate these highly destructive alchemical blends that can be created.[14]Steven Sharif

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.[15][16][17]

  • Guild wars and node wars can be declared at any time, but the objectives will only spawn during the prime-time window.[18]

Siege participation

Non-registered combatants are not permitted on the siege field in castle or node sieges.[19]

  • Players may choose to respawn at their HQ as long as they are registered.[22][25]
    • Non-registered guilds are not granted the ability to take ownership of the castle if victorious.[22]

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.[27]

Siege mechanics

A siege occurs over several phases.[28]

  • Certain siege mechanics may be gated for specific size groups during sieges.[29]
  • There will not be a deserter debuff for leaving a siege before it is complete.[30]
  • More will be revealed in an upcoming blog entry.[28]

Siege summons

Summoners can collaborate together during sieges to summon larger creatures, such as Golems.[31][32][33]

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.[31]Steven Sharif
  • The target of the group summon becomes the summon itself.[31][33]
    • Previously it was stated that the party-leader becomes the summon.[32]
info-orange.pngSome 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.[34]
  • The number of summoners participating in the summon will determine its overall size.[34]
  • All summoners must be in the same party and the party leader must be a summoner.[32]
    • The party leader initiates the summon and then takes control of it.[32]
    • Once summoned, the party leader cannot be changed.[32]
    • If the party disbands, the summon ends. There will be a grace period to handle disconnects.[32]
    • The party may also contain non-Summoners.[32]

Ashes of Creation Apocalypse siege equipment

Ashes of Creation Apocalypse siege equipment.[35]

As a thank you, we wanted to share a little sneak peek of one of the siege weapons awaiting the players in our upcoming Castle Sieges Mode![35]

Ashes of Creation Apocalypse siege equipment includes ballistas, trebuchets, battering rams and potentially traps and "powder keg" type weapons.[37]

  • Siege weapons available to the attacking side include Trebuchets and Battering Rams.[38]
  • Siege weapons available to the defending side include Ballistas and Traps.[38]
  • Siege weapons are deployable and piloted by players.[39]

With regards to alpha one phase one however in the castle siege system... what will happen is static siege equipment that's placed in the map for the attackers to utilize that will present at focal points of PvP in the match where defenders will know where to target a specific area on the field in order to attack. [5]Steven Sharif

Ashes of Creation Apocalypse castle siege mechanics

Dünzenkell Dwarven and Aelan Human objective torches.[40]
Ashes of Creation Apocalypse castle siege objective torch. The bowl fills with flames colored to match the team that captures the objective.[40]
Reliquary concept art.[41]

The Attacking Team’s victory condition is to take the Defending Team’s Relic which is the final Control Point in the castle.They will also have several Control Points located in their camp to encourage Defenders to skirmish outside the castle walls. These will also act as spawn locations for the Attacking Team.[38]Margaret Krohn

Ashes of Creation Apocalypse castle sieges will be objective-based.[42]

A player elects to be either an attacker or defender.[37][38]

  • The matchmaker will attempt to assign a player their selected side (referred to as role in the article) but it may allocate another side so as to shorten queue times.[38]
  • Once in the match, a player's side will not change.[38]

Players select one of the six classes prior to battle.[37]

  • Players can see the numbers of players in their raid who have selected each class.[43]
  • Players will have a limited amount of time to lock in their class choice. If they miss the window, the least selected class choice will be automatically chosen for them.[38]
  • There is no limit to the number of a specific class that may be on a team, however the developers note that composition will be important from a strategic perspective.[38]
  • Classes cannot be swapped during a match, but this may change based on testing.[38]

There will be a timeframe for preparation where attackers and defenders take positions and prepare weaponry.[37]

  • Siege weaponry will include ballistas, trebuchets, battering rams and potentially traps and "powder keg" type weapons.[37]

When you join into the castle siege in Apocalypse you're going to be able to select one of six classes. Right and upon selecting those classes then you're going to be placed on your starting side, whether it be the attacker or defenders; and then you're going to be able to start preparations. It's gonna be a little bit of a loading time where you have selected those classes. You're going to take positions perhaps and whatnot; and there are siege weaponry that's going to be present there as you see here some ballistas, some trebuchets, a battering ram and maybe some traps and some powder keg stuff available to destroy some things.[37]Steven Sharif

Attacking team

In the first phase of battle the attackers attempt to penetrate the walls and gates to gain access to the inside of the castle.[37][44]

  • Siege weapons available to the attacking side include Trebuchets and Battering Rams.[38]

There will be a variety of siege weapons available to the Attacking side including Trebuchets and Battering Rams. Trebuchets’ range will be long enough to reach the enemy ballistas from their initial placement points. These placement points will be out of player character’s weapon range from the castle walls, but within ballista range, and scattered on the battlefield.[38]Margaret Krohn

Once inside the castle, the attackers need to hold objectives.[37]

  • There are objectives within the castle, such as killing guard captains.[42]
  • Attackers must destroy key strategic objectives to swing the battle in their favor.[39]
  • Defenders must protect key strategic objectives to maintain advantage.[39]
  • Holding capture points increase or decrease the duration of the map, change the opposing side's respawn times and give buffs to the side that holds them.[37][42]
    • Players can also respawn on capture points that they hold.[37]

The ultimate objective of the attackers is to reach the center keep of the castle to channel on the final relic that's present in order to achieve victory.[44]

Defending team

The defenders are attempting to hold out as long as possible, but they can also rush the field to the enemy encampment or headquarters to attempt to damage their ability to siege.[44]

  • Attempt to take out attacker's siege weapons.[44]
  • Attempt to capture attacker's control points to increase their spawn time and decrease the total match time.[44]

If a Defender captures an Attacker’s Control Point, the total match time decreases, the Attacker Teams’ respawn time increases, and it also provides a temporary morale buff to the entire Defender’s side. Defenders will also be able to teleport to any Control Points that have been taken.[38]Margaret Krohn

Siege weapons available to the defending side include Ballistas and Traps.[38]

Ballistas will have fixed positions on castle towers. Traps will be placeable items that the Defending Team can use to damage and crowd control their enemies. Note that these items are destructible by the Attacking Team.[38]Margaret Krohn

Respawning

Players have infinite lives in castle siege mode.[38]

  • Upon death, players join a respawn queue shared with their teammates.[38]

Artwork

See also

References

  1. Video, May 28, 2021 (25:44).
  2. Blog: 10 facts about castle sieges in the MMORPG.
  3. Video, May 28, 2021 (11:55).
  4. Interview, September 10, 2023 (22:29).
  5. 5.0 5.1 5.2 5.3 5.4 5.5 Interview, August 8, 2018 (20:49).
  6. 6.0 6.1 Livestream, January 18, 2018 (37:05).
  7. 7.0 7.1 Livestream, May 28, 2021 (1:04:29).
  8. Livestream, May 24, 2017 (17:08).
  9. Livestream, January 27, 2023 (1:32:33).
  10. Ashes of Creation Store: The Gilded Galleon.
  11. 11.0 11.1 11.2 Podcast, September 29, 2021 (56:50).
  12. 12.0 12.1 12.2 12.3 Podcast, November 15, 2020 (22:22).
  13. Livestream, June 16, 2017 (43:01).
  14. 14.0 14.1 14.2 14.3 Interview, August 17, 2018 (17:57).
  15. Interview, July 29, 2020 (31:05).
  16. Interview, July 18, 2020 (13:13).
  17. Interview, July 8, 2020 (22:37).
  18. steven-wars-prime-time.png
  19. siege-combatants.png
  20. steven-siege-zone.png
  21. Livestream, April 30, 2021 (41:18).
  22. 22.0 22.1 22.2 22.3 Podcast, April 11, 2021 (49:40).
  23. Blog: Creative Director's Letter, April 14 2021
  24. siege-barrier.png
  25. siege-respawn.png
  26. siege-stragglers.png
  27. Interview, July 8, 2020 (1:12:51).
  28. 28.0 28.1 siege more info.png
  29. siege mechanics.png
  30. Livestream, May 24, 2017 (37:05).
  31. 31.0 31.1 31.2 Livestream, March 31, 2023 (1:22:21).
  32. 32.0 32.1 32.2 32.3 32.4 32.5 32.6 Interview, August 17, 2018 (14:59).
  33. 33.0 33.1 Livestream, May 19, 2017 (10:06).
  34. 34.0 34.1 Livestream, 2018-04-8 (AM) (28:01).
  35. 35.0 35.1 2019-10-12 Newsletter.
  36. Video, July 17, 2019 (0:00).
  37. 37.0 37.1 37.2 37.3 37.4 37.5 37.6 37.7 37.8 37.9 Livestream, January 11, 2019 (35:44).
  38. 38.00 38.01 38.02 38.03 38.04 38.05 38.06 38.07 38.08 38.09 38.10 38.11 38.12 38.13 38.14 38.15 Castle Siege Overview.
  39. 39.0 39.1 39.2 Livestream, September 1, 2018 (54:06).
  40. 40.0 40.1 objective-torch.png
  41. reliquary-concept.png
  42. 42.0 42.1 42.2 Livestream, August 17, 2018 (30:29).
  43. Livestream, January 11, 2019 (56:11).
  44. 44.0 44.1 44.2 44.3 44.4 Livestream, January 11, 2019 (37:45).