Castle Siege

Each server cluster has exactly one castle, and Castle Siege decides which guild alliance holds it. The fighting happens in Valley of Loren, which you reach from an entrance in Lorencia (the guide gives 238,13 and 239,13). Anyone may walk into the valley, and it is always a PvP area.

• During the siege you can hit other participants without holding Ctrl.
• Participants do not drop the items that a PK status would normally cost them.
• PK penalties do not apply between attackers and defenders in the valley, but they still apply to players who are not taking part.
• A castle-owning guild that breaks up also gives up the castle.

• The Guild Master must be level 200 or higher (any class) and the guild needs at least 20 members.
• A guild needs an allied guild to make full use of the castle's features.
• Only 3 guilds plus their allies take part as attackers. Other guilds and players can fight as neutrals, but they cannot win the castle.
• To register, the Guild Master of the main alliance talks to the Guardsman NPC and presses "Announce". Members of announced guilds then hand in Marks of Lord during the mark period. Marks of Lord can drop from any monster.

The top 3 guilds by registration rank get the attacking slots. The guide's formula is: number of Marks of Lord handed in × 5, plus the number of guild members, plus the Guild Master's level ÷ 4.

Attackers and their allies show a sword icon, defenders a shield, and each Guild Master a crown (red for the attackers, blue for the defenders). Neutral players get no icon and must hold Ctrl to attack. Your own side can only be hit with Ctrl, and ranged attacks deal 80% less damage to your own troops and 60% less to other troops. Guilds cannot register or withdraw once the battle has started.

• The goal is the official seal on the pedestal at the top of the Dragon Tower. Only a Guild Master can stamp it: he must hold it for 30 seconds, and the stamp fails if he dies or the two foot holders needed for it are lost.
• A successful stamp swaps the sides: the attackers become defenders and the battle goes on. Whoever holds the seal when time runs out becomes lord of the castle.
• The warp command does not work during the battle, but defenders can use a Town Portal Scroll to reach the front of the castle.
• Members of both sides see a siege mini map in the lower right (toggle with Tab). Guild Masters can give Attack, Defense and Stop orders to up to 7 groups.

Attackers break through an outer, middle and inner line of gates; destroying one gate is enough to get inside. Four Guardian Statues power a shield over the Dragon Tower entrance, and only when all four fall can the attackers enter. Guard towers shoot at attackers near the statues. Hitting gates and statues wears weapons down fast, so the guide advises drinking a Potion of Bless or Soul first.

Each gate upgrade costs Jewels of Guardian plus Zen: 2, 3 and 4 jewels with 1,000,000 Zen for HP, or 2, 3 and 4 jewels with 3,000,000 Zen for defense. Nothing can be repaired or upgraded while the battle is running.

• Life Stone: only the attacking Guild Master or assistant Guild Master can place it (a 60-second process). Fallen attackers respawn at it instead of outside the castle, and it restores HP/MP/AG to attackers within 3 tiles from time to time. Either side can destroy it.
• Life Stone recipe at the Chaos Machine: 5 Jewel of Bless, 5 Jewel of Soul, 1 Jewel of Guardian, 1 Jewel of Chaos and 5,000,000 Zen.

Some second-class skills only work on the siege map while the battle is on. The guide lists these (shortened; its Dark Lord entry is garbled and left out):

• Taxes: the lord sets a tax on merchant NPCs and a separate rate for the Chaos Goblin through the Senior NPC in the Dragon Tower. Rates can be changed from 2 hours after the siege until the next one. Sebina, Marlon, the Guild Master NPC, Charon and the Messenger of Archangel are never taxed.
• Only the lord can withdraw the collected tax, up to 50,000,000 Zen per withdrawal. Repairs and upgrades of the 6 gates and 4 statues are paid from the lord's inventory.
• Land of Trials: this hunting map cannot be reached with the move command; you enter through a gatekeeper NPC, and only the castle-owning alliance enters freely. The winning guild may restrict hunting there for others. If you die inside, you return to the entrance of Valley of Loren.

Nearby Crywolf also matters to the castle: a failed defense lowers the Jewel of Guardian drop rate in Land of Trials, the jewel used for every castle upgrade.