Castle Sieges

Introduction

By default, all castles are initially occupied by non-player character (NPC) clans.
When a player character (PC) clan defeats an NPC clan and occupies the castle, that castle becomes the possession of the PC clan. If a clan with ownership of a castle has been dissolved, the castle is returned to its initial state.
Only the Castle Lord may select a siege time. Selecting a siege time is done through the Chamberlain NPC. Take care when choosing a siege time, as it cannot be changed once it is set.
Any Lord occupying a castle must determine the next siege time within 24 hours of occupying the castle. If he or she does not select a time, the siege time is automatically set by the game for two weeks after the castle has been occupied — on the same day of the week. (All sieges occur during the weekend in real-time.)
A castle does not receive damage from any form of attack until the next siege time. The next castle siege time is either Saturday or Sunday, two weeks after the castle has been occupied. A clan that has successfully occupied a castle may safely possess the castle for up to 15 days.

Preparation

Sieges are the most ambitious aspects of Lineage II, so their scale and systems are exciting factors in the game. Clans that have reached level 5 can occupy a castle and enjoy the fame and riches therein. Once they own a castle, clans can exercise tremendous influence in terms of tax rate adjustments and political activities.

Siege Overview

Sieges take place at the castles of Gludio Castle, Dion Castle, Giran Castle, Oren Castle, Innadril Castle, Goddard Castle, Schuttgart Castle, Rune Castle, and Aden Castle. There are also unique clan halls where ownership is acquired by battle with NPCs.
Only clans of level 5 and above can officially participate in a siege. Clans that are less than level 5 and characters not belonging to a clan may still participate as non-related parties, but they do not have the right to own a castle.
Unless the castle is captured by a clan, it remains in NPC control.
If there is a PC clan that defeats the NPC clan and occupies the castle according to the rules of the siege, the castle becomes the property of that PC clan.
The very first castle lord must, within 24 hours of becoming Castle Lord, designate the time for the next siege. If this is not done, the default siege time will be applied automatically.
If a clan that occupies a castle is dissolved, the castle returns to its initial status.

Siege Registration – Attackers

The challenging clan leader must have earned the clan skill Seal of Ruler in order to take control of a castle. The clan leader must visit the siege registration Messenger NPC near the castle to sign up for the siege. Siege registration must be done 24 hours before the siege begins.

Siege Registration – Defenders

Any clans that wish to aid in defending the castle must register their clan as defenders.
Each clan wishing to participate must be a level 5 clan. To participate as a defender in a siege, talk to the registration NPC outside the castle gates. The Castle Lord must approve participation. Defenders must register 24 hours prior to the beginning of the siege. The Castle Lord must approve and finalize the siege defender list 24 hours before the siege begins.
The clan occupying the castle does not have to register — it is automatically listed on the siege list and cannot be taken off of the list.

A Siege Begins

A siege begins at the designated siege time. When the siege begins:

• The castle itself and its surrounding areas are designated as the battlefield.
• Some of the NPCs in and around the castle temporarily suspend their functions during a siege.
• When an attacker dies, he/she restarts in the town second closest to the castle during a siege.
• When the siege begins, all characters within the castle walls not listed on the defender list are transported to the second nearest town.
• All castle gates will automatically be shut.

Siege Rules

During a siege, participants are classified into three categories: Attacker, Castle Defense, and Unlisted (or Open Target). They are further sorted into sub-categories: Friendly Forces, Enemies, and No Relationship. These relationships may change during the course of a siege.

Siege Combat

Attackers and castle defenders are enemies. Allies to each clan are friendly forces.
Clans on the attacker side that have not allied with each other have no relationship. Characters not registered as an attacker or defender in a siege are considered to have no relationship if they wander onto the battlefield.
You do not have to press the Ctrl key to attack an enemy or no relation character. The player killer (PK) counter is not activated when a player kills another player within the battlefield. Thus, during a siege, players do not become chaotic even if they kill another player.
For a certain amount of time, the battle status of the participants remains even when they step outside the battlefield. There are no PK penalties during that time.
When a player is killed within the battlefield, there are some experience penalties, but there is no chance of dropping items. All attackers and defenders will receive 1/4 of the normal experience penalty on death inside and outside of the battlefield during the castle siege. Non-registered players will receive 1/4 of the normal experience penalty on death only inside of the battlefield during the castle siege. If a non-registered player dies outside of the battlefield, that character will receive full penalty.
Clans defending the castle may restart either from the residence region within the castle or the second nearest town to the castle. This applies to not only the clan possessing the castle but also all other clans that are listed on the defender list.

Castle Gates

Castle gates become attack targets during a siege. They may only be attacked during siege times. They cannot be strengthened during a siege, however the Castle Lord may strengthen them prior to the siege via the Chamberlain. Castle gates that have been destroyed may not be repaired during a siege. The gates are opened again when the owner of a castle changes. However, the castle gates’ HP is significantly decreased until the siege ends. Once the siege has ended, the doors return to full health.

Siege Headquarters

The Build Headquarters skill is obtained by the clan leader when the clan reaches level 5. This skill establishes an encampment near the castle or battlefield. It allows clan members to restart at that site, instead of at the second closest town, and regenerate HP and MP faster than they would normally.
This skill may only be used by clan leaders on the siege’s attacker list and consumes 300 Gemstone C when cast. This skill may be used only within a designated area of the battlefield, and can only be used once during the siege period.
A siege encampment disappears when the siege period is over.
The headquarters flag also has a certain HP and can be attacked. If the flag falls, members of the clan restart from the second nearest town upon their deaths.

Ending a Siege

A siege lasts for two hours. If an attacking clan leader successfully engraves his or her name on the Holy Artifact with the Seal of Ruler skill, the artifact recognizes the new controlling clan. This takes time, however, and the clan leader may not be interrupted while engraving the Holy Artifact. Only the clan leader may interact with the Holy Artifact; clan leaders that are allied with the defense side may not interact with it.
The changing of the Holy Artifact’s owner before the end of the siege is termed ‘mid-victory’. When the attacking side achieves a mid-victory, the attackers and defenders change sides. All matters of the clan that had previously owned the castle, including the restart point, are transferred to the new defending clan.
The Headquarters of a clan that has newly occupied the castle disappears. When mid-victory occurs, all players, excluding the new castle defense clan’s allies, are sent to their restart points.
If the clan that had previously occupied the castle has never raised a Headquarters before, the clan may establish a flag on the battlefield.

Castle Structures and Functions

Castle Functions

The castle is a structure which exists within each territory of the Lineage II world. By owning a castle, a clan retains central political and economic control through the collection of taxes in the territory.
Once a castle is occupied, just as with a clan hall, the clan can use the clan warehouse and can use gatekeepers to move between the inner and outer castle.
By default, the Castle Lord solely exercises all of the functions of the castle. However, the Castle Lord may temporarily hand over the right to use certain functions to members of his own clan or other alliance members by using the rights delegation system in the Clan Actions window.
The Castle Lord can adjust the tax rates for shops within the territory, as well as collect the taxes from the Grand Chamberlain. Because Aden Castle is the central city of the Aden Kingdom, it not only receives taxes within the Aden territory, but it also receives some taxes from Gludio Castle, Oren Castle, Giran Castle, Dion Castle, and Innadril Castle. Rune Castle is the center of the Elmore kingdom, and receives taxes from Schuttgart Castle and Goddard Castle.
The Lord of each castle can also manage a Manor, selling seeds in the territory and carrying out productive activities with the seeds that are sold. The Castle Lord also has the ability to fly through the sky on the back of a Wyvern. This ability is also granted to a clan leader that owns a fortress.

Structures of Gludio, Dion, Oren, Giran, and Innadril Castles

The restart point for the defending clan is in the inner castle living quarters.
The Holy Artifact is located in a chamber behind the throne room.
There is no passageway into the castle from outside the outer castle wall; however, there is an exit leading out of the castle, which can be utilized in defending.

Structure of Goddard Castle

Goddard Castle makes use of two artifacts: the Altar of Water and the Altar of Fire. Those who succeed in engraving their seal onto these Holy Artifacts assume the castle lordship. Unlike other castles, Goddard Castle is equipped with a rear door that is immune to attacks. This door shuts at the beginning of a siege and opens automatically upon its end.

Structure of Schuttgart Castle

Like Goddard, Schuttgart Castle uses two Holy Artifacts: the Altar of Wind and the Altar of Earth. Those who succeed in engraving their seal onto these Holy Artifacts assume the castle lordship.

Structure of Rune Castle

The raid boss Venom appears in the Rune Castle dungeon 24 hours before a siege war. The defending side can teleport to the dungeon and raid the monster until a siege begins. If the defending side still hasn’t caught Venom before the siege war begins, Venom will appear near the throne in the inner castle when two or more Life Control Towers are destroyed in the middle of a siege. Venom will attack both the defending and attacking sides.

Structure of Aden Castle

The outer castle is designed with a double structure: a first outer castle wall, on the outer-most side, and a second outer castle wall inside of that. One can reach the inner castle only by passing through these two outer castle walls.
There is an entrance on the front side of the first outer castle wall. A certain place on the outer castle wall can be broken with a siege golem. In the first outer castle wall, there is a passageway to the outside of the castle.
There is an entrance on the second outer castle wall, as well as a certain place on the second outer castle wall, that can be broken down with a siege golem.
In some places between the first outer castle wall and the second outer castle wall, various kinds of traps can be set up through the guardian tower of flames. Other than that, the basic structure is the same as ordinary castles.

Flame Control Tower

A Flame Control Tower is a structure that activates the various facilities defending the castle. A certain amount of adena is required to activate these functions, which consist of a damage zone that continuously reduces HP and a slow zone that decreases movement speed. The strength of each of these functions is divided into four stages, depending on the adena invested. If the attacking side destroys a Flame Control Tower, the functions cease to be activated.

(source: www.lineage2.com)