This article covers all things related to training, building, and using weapons of siege. This is not intended as a substitute for in-game experience. My intent is to cover the areas that cause problems for people. The 3 training grounds are perfect areas to build upon siege skills under the fog of war.

The following area's are covered.

• Skill Point Requirement
• Weapon Types and Quality Level
• Merchant Keeps
• How to Build and Use Equipment
• Importance of /Control Release
• Macro's
• Repairing
• Realm Point issues
• Use of Vaults
• Suggestions to Avoid Future Trouble

Skill Point Requirements:
To build siege equipment requires parts that are put together to build the whole. These parts are where skill crafting becomes an issue. As an example, to build a simple Battering Ram requires: 1 Cladding, 2 Swing Harnesses, 1 Beak, plus additional wood and tools. While these parts can be purchased (discussed later) they require specific skills to create them. A Cladding requires an Armorcrafter; the Swing Harnesses a Tailor; and the Beak a Weapon Crafter. It takes approximately 480+ skill in the appropriate trade skill to be able to build the part. When you are able to build a part it will show up on you siege craft skill window. You will have a skill of 1. This is normal. Anyone can build a weapon with a 1 siege craft skill.

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Weapon Types and Quality Level:
(Quantity Name /Skill Craft/Weight)

Battering Ram

1 Cladding /Armor/53 2 Swing Harnesses /Tailor/34 1 Beak /Weapon/53 Wood (Quantity has changed)

Catapult

1 Bucket /Armor/55 1 Arm Cushion /Tailor/35 1 Winding Crank /Weapon/53 1 Counterweight /Armor/____ 1 Pivot /Weapon/____ Wood (Quantity has changed)

Ballista

1 Gimbal /Armor/____ 1 Trigger /Tailor/ _____ 2 Torsion Cables /Fletcher/ _____ 1 Spring Arm / Weapon/ _____ Wood (Quantity has changed)

All wood are in 100 intervals. Wood weighs 25 per 100. Catapult Stones must be purchased in Merchant Keep (see below) and weight 5 each.

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Merchant Keeps:
Commonly referred to as MK's, they have strategic importance.

Hibernia - Dun Crauchon Albion - Caer Benowyc Midgard - Bledmeer Faste

As a general statement MK's are the only location Siege Equipment parts can be purchased. However not all parts are available, and since the keeps can be conquered they cannot be relied upon to supply necessary parts. Further, it is much more costly to purchase siege pieces. Therefore crafting is important. MK's are also the only location catapult ammo can be purchased. Catapult stones cannot be crafted. I recommend purchasing and vaulting stones when the MK is in friendly hands. Also when going on siege runs, bringing along ammo is a good idea even if you party does not intend to build a catapult. This goes for wood as well. Remember you can reinforce keep doors with wood after you take it over. Innis Cathaig also has a merchant whom sells siege parts.

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How to Build and Use Equipment:
I highly recommend learning how to build and use equipment in a non-combat location until you get comfortable using them. It's not as intuitive as you would expect. It's quirky and slow. Take the time to learn it. Here are key points to master. They sound obvious but I see these problems happen commonly.

A part is missing - Put someone in charge of following a checklist. Make sure everything is accounted for. Don't forget tools and ammo! Lack or organization - Delegate who is going to build the equipment, when they will build it and where. Also have an idea of who is going to control the equipment and what happens if that person dies. Who takes over? Designate someone to repair the weapon. They must have wood craft skill of 300 to repair it. For example, keeps have 2 doors, outer and inner. It would be foolish to build 2 rams on the outer and be left to melee the inner door. Plan these things out in advance if possible. Siege equipment may not be moved once build. Choose your location wisely. Also, once the weapon deteriorates be sure to pick up the remaining parts that are left lying on the ground. Usually wood or metal. This is known as salvaging.

Know how to use it - Learn how to Arm/Load/Aim/Fire the weapon efficiently and accurately. I've seen groups build rams to far away to use them. I've also seen Rams and Catapults built and never used because they couldn't figure out how to get it working before they deteriorated to nothing. They don't last indefinately.

• Battering Rams sole purpose is to bash down keep doors. Multiple rams are commonly used on the same door. Especially on relic raids.
• Catapults are used for Area of Effect (aoe) damage to the enemy. They can be used to target defenders inside a keep and conversely they can lob stones over the wall towards attacking opponents rallied at the keep door. They are slow but do heavy damage. They cannot inflict damage on a keep door.
• Ballistae are a cross between a ram and a catapult. They can damage keep doors and do aoe damage to a much lesser degree.

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Macros:
Here are some recommended macros to place in an empty hot key bar. They can be helpful in the heat of battle.

/macro REL /Control Release /macro UNLK /Unlock all /macro CTRL /Control /macro AIM /Aim /macro ARM /Arm /macro FIRE /Fire

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A note on /control release. If you are control the equipment and are about to die, it is imperative that you /control release the weapon. If you fail to do this control of the weapon will be lost rendering it useless. Have a macro for this command. In battle siege equipment draws enemy fire fast. Therefore a clear plan for control helps in the chaos of war. Who will take over if you die? Who after them? Etc. The other hotkey macros are not required. A dialog box will appear with some effort that does the same thing. To get the dialog box, after building the weapon. /Control Release it then /Control it again. This procedure will bring up the weapon use box. If you prefer not to use the window, the macros listed above suffice. Experiment with this. The /Unlock All command is paramount in combat. Doing this allows anyone to assume control of the weapon thus relieving some of the planning mentioned above regarding control issues. While this could open up for some outside interference from someone not involved with the process, it does prevent losing control entirely of the weapon. Previously it was actually possible for someone defending a keep on the inside to gain control of a ram that had been /Unlocked through the door. This has been patched.

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Repairing:
Having a designate person to repair the equipment helps extend the life of the equipment significantly. This person must have a skill of 300+ wood crafting. Presently no wood is required for repair they must only have the skill. It has been said this may change in the future. You cannot repair equipment indefinitely. This only delays the inevitable self destruction inherent in all equipment.

Realm Point Issues:
Only the person controlling the equipment gains any Realm Points gained from killing opponents. It's a common perception the entire group benefits. This is not true.

Use of Vaults:
As mentioned above, catapult stones may only be acquired at a Merchant Keep (MK). Due to its strategic importance and location close to enemy portals, the MK's are often in enemy hands. Therefore when able, I suggest vaulting several catapult stones for future use. Another nice use of vaults is for heavy piece movemnt. For example, you can purchase most of the pieces of a ram down in Innis Carthaig. Deposit them in the vault there. Then proceed up to Druim Ligen where another vault exists for withdrawl.

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Suggestion to Avoid Future Problems:
If this is a guild organized build, coordinate who will specialize in which craft. A guild of weapon crafters cannot build anything. You must have as a minimum of, a Weapon Crafter, an Armor Crafter, and a Tailor to build anything. Beyond that, a Fletcher becomes necessary for a Ballista.