Castle Siege

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Introduction

In an interview with Aion developers, more information about Castle Sieges was requested. Currently, the information available is very vague and lacks detail.

Gameplay

In a castle siege, rather than destroying the castle itself, players will use special skills to attack both objects and the NPC castle commander. Therefore, if there are no defending players, the fortress attack will be like a Raid. If defending players join, however, they can utilize NPCs in their strategies. Although the attacking side cannot get any help from NPCs, they can actually utilize objects such as siege weapons.

Flying restriction

Regarding flying, a castle has an Aetheric Field (magic force field) around it as a default setting, and it restricts flight around the castle. However, because they can still infiltrate the castle, players can use the Field strategically.

Official Information

In an interview with Senior Game Designer Kyoung Won Choi of NCsoft, the question about castle siege was asked and Choi had this to say about it:

How do sieges work in Aion? Are there any guild-specific advantages to controlling a castle?

The main PvP area in Aion is the Abyss. There are several castles in Aion, all which can be captured by player guilds on behalf of their faction. A siege is in its very fundament a raid. Initially, each castle is controlled by the Balaur, who will not gladly give it up. A guild leader would gather his or her troops and initiate an attack on the castle and its defenders. After defeating the NPC defenders, the castle changes ownership. Since the battles take place in the Abyss, it’s always possible that the other PC faction might interfere to either defend or attack. Once the castle has a new owner, there are a few hours during which no PvP can take place on the island. After this period, however, the castle is again open to attacks from the opposing faction.

There are many benefits to be gained from controlling a castle. The castle will have NPCs who vend unique items, whose sales the controlling guild may put taxes on in order to gain a bit of extra income. Guilds will also have direct access to the hunting grounds and resources surrounding the castle.