If your guild decides to take control of a battle keep within the Border Kingdom you will inevitably have to defend it. In order to successfully defend against a siege you need to know the basics of defending your battle keep and keeping the enemy at bay as you maintain a point lead and try to wait out the siege attack window. Have some scouts keep a check on any areas near your Border Kingdom entrance in case a guild decides to launch an attack at the last minute rather than declaring early. If one does attack, you will be given a message, but don't get caught with your pants down. Always expect an attack and then you are never surprised or unorganized when it comes.

Step 1: Assemble Your Army

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The Ballista Builder can be found on the keep's tower walls.

As the old saying goes, the best defense is a good offense stands true even here. As a defender your main goal is to prevent the enemy from destroying your structures. In order to do this you will need an army to defend your keep. To successfully manage your army you will need to assign the appropriate levels to a given group and form a raid. Lower levels should be given someone within range that can apprentice them for the defense. The most important part of commanding your army is a clear line of communication. You can do this in text, but it is much more efficient and faster to use a voice chat server such as Ventrilo to aid in quick communication. Establish your communication method and be ready to give your raid orders and adjust your battle plan as needed.

Step 2: Perimeter Defense

Depending on where your keep is located you may have as few as one siege module on the outer walls or as many as three. Your goal for defense should be to disable your enemies siege engines at all cost. Even if your attacking group is wiped out. If they bring down the siege engine then you have achieved a victory if even a small one. You should have small attack groups ready with this general mission in mind. Every minute you hamper the enemy's ability to bring down a structure brings you that much closer to victory.

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Use your ballista to knockback enemy attackers.

Another method of keep defense are the ballista engines which any of your guild can acquire from the ballista builder located on the top of your keeps tower walls. A ballista will do no damage to the enemy but it does provide area of effect knockback to enemy units within its blast range. These small engines can be set on the walls and operate much like siege engines in an attack. These work much like casting an area of effect spell. You will be given a siege targeting module in your inventory to fire your ballista with. I have found it is often best to have any lower level members or lower dps classes such as tanks who can't do a lot from the inside of your defenses to man these and use them to beat back attackers.

Rangers and mages are excellent assets to have during any defense. Rangers can use their long range bow skills to take out enemies from a long distance giving you a very useful method for disposing of pesky units as your rangers rain down death from above along the walls. Mages while not having the range of a good ranger can still drop AoE spells on any cluster of enemies that get to close. Not to mention necromancers can drop their pets down on any nearby siege engines.

Step 3: Keeping Your Point Lead

When the siege begins the defender has the advantage. You will have over 3500 points and it is the job of the attacker to overtake your score. The only way to do this is for them to burn down your structures. All you have to do is stop them or delay them long enough for the two hour attack window to end. Your main goal should always be to take out any siege weapons as quickly as possible. Even if you suffer heavy loses while doing so. Anyone attacking your keep will need to bring down structures in order to win, so if you can stop them from doing so it won't matter how many of your guild they kill. Stop their siege engines and you stop them. Anytime your enemy brings down one of your structures they will gain a fair amount of points and you will lose some. So the balance can shift quickly if you don't stop their siege attacks.

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Always end your battle on a good note

The most important thing for the defender is to hamper or hinder the attacking forces efforts to bring down their structures at all cost. Without the points earned from destroying your structures no siege can succeed. Use your ballista weapons, set up hit and run groups, and be ready to go the distance. Time is your enemy and ally. Turn it against your attackers and you will be victorious and keep your battle keep for another day.

Step 4: Win or Lose

Always leave the field on a good note. This will not always be the case, but if you want your enemies to respect you, leave the field on a positive note in the face of victory or defeat. Otherwise you might become that guild that everyone hates and that target on your back may become just a bit bigger. Of course there are those that like that so the choice is yours. Be respectful and respected or don't. The choice is yours.


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Last Updated: Mar 13, 2016

About The Author

Stacy "Martuk" Jones was a long-time news editor and community manager for many of our previous game sites, such as Age of Conan. Stacy has since moved on to become a masked super hero, battling demons in another dimension.

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