Conversely, if there is a large garrison, many of them might be new recruits and very easy to kill. A good target for a siege would be a castle that has recently been taken back by its original faction it is likely that fewer than 100 men guard the castle. If you choose to besiege, you'll want someone in your party with a high surgery skill, and be prepared to upset your heroes if you decide to attack a castle with a smaller force than the garrison. The troops in the garrison make all the difference in deciding whether to besiege the castle or pass it by. If you'll be facing off against 50 Rhodok Sergeants backed by 100 Rhodok Sharpshooters, you may be in for a difficult or unwinnable fight a less formidable force of only 20 Trained Spearmen, 10 Militia, and 20 Crossbowmen might be easily defeated. The garrison complement inside the castle can be seen by approaching closely and holding the cursor over the castle. It is possible to besiege a castle with a small, experienced force, but preparation and knowledge of the castle's defenses are required in most cases. Most castles are quite difficult to conquer without swarming it with a larger army than the garrison. There will normally be about 4-5 men in this area and it will be you and 3 other men who will lead the attack. The strategy to use depends on the style of keep you are attacking, but often the defenders have an advantage from being a floor above you. This is similar to the street battle, but in the castle keep instead of the streets. The final battle takes place in the keep. Here you will have about 5-6 men attacking you from all angles and have about 4 other men who will back you up. It is similar to when you get ambushed in a town. You must go into the streets with some of your troops and defeat the defenders there. This battle only occurs in towns, and may not happen if there are few defenders left after the previous battle. When the rain of arrows on your men have stopped, order your Huscarls to charge. Use the Huscarl's shields for cover while the Sharpshooters pick off the enemy archers on the walls. This is where your ladders or siege tower come into play, the men on the walls will constantly attack you and your troops while they charge up the ladders or siege tower and onto the walls.Īn ideal way to win this stage is to bring your best archers, often Rhodok Sharpshooters, and your best melee infantry, often Nord Huscarls, to this stage. This theater is the main stage of a siege and the only battle phase which is guaranteed to happen. This theater typically happens when the defenders greatly outnumber the attackers it may be omitted if the town or castle has very few defenders, or you may have to fight it several times if the garrison is large enough. Often, they will appear quite close to you, and they may keep coming if the castle has a large garrison. This is where the defenders inside the castle sally out to meet your assault.
In rare cases, these battles may be repeated. *Note that although levels 13 and 14 will make the claim that it takes "0 Hours" to build ladders, in reality, it means that building them will take "less than an hour".ĭepending on the number of troops involved, battles during an assault on towns or castles could take place in between one and four theaters.
Levels 11-14 are only attainable through the party skill bonuses.
Note that if one of your companions has higher Engineer than you, it will go by their level, plus a bonus added to their skill based on your current level. The following table indicates time required to build siege equipment based on your skill in Engineer. Additionally, even waiting for the fortification's food to run out does not necessarily mean they will surrender either, and since it takes an extremely long time for this option, it is not recommended. If they are sufficiently outnumbered, they may surrender immediately. If you do not want to assault it directly, you will have to wait until the residents surrender, usually caused by starvation (30 days in a castle and 100 days in a town). The siege equipment constructed is unique to the fortification and takes time based on your engineering skill to build. No special equipment is required for laying siege, however, to assault a fortification requires construction of ladders or siege towers.