Node Sieges
Node sieges enable players to destroy nodes in the world of Vera. When a node is destroyed it can open up new opportunities for new development of other nodes in the world and this allows access to locked content in the surrounding nodes.
Siege Preparation
The process to siege a node is as involved, if not more, than the process of developing a node as the impact of a siege directly impacts everyone in the surrounding area. Community interaction is paramount to both sides and all players in the region are directly impacted by every stage of the siege.
Siege Declaration
A player must use a siege scroll to declare a Node Siege against a given node that is stage 3 or greater. Siege scrolls are a product of a quest chain that scales in difficulty and resource requirement with respect to the level of the node being sieged. Any player can use a siege scroll, but a siege scroll cannot be used on a node for 21 days after it advances to any stage. To have an idea of how many resources needed to prepare for a siege, developers have described it as roughly the same amount of resources, materials, and time it took to develop the node being sieged.
Once a siege scroll is used in a node, a server-wide announcement goes out that both a siege war is declared and its subsequent declaration period begins. These periods are as follows:
- Village (2 Days)
- Town (3 Days)
- City (4 Days)
- Metropolis (5 Days)
The declaration period is the time between the siege declaration and the siege itself. This period dictates how siege participants assemble, prepare, and interact with node services. If a node levels up during the declaration period, the node itself will not level up until after the siege while the node’s zone of influence is immediately affected.
Siege Participants
As mentioned before, any player/guild can join the attackers or defenders once the declaration period begins. There are some criteria for players who want to participate.
- The siege declarer cannot exclude anyone from joining the attack
- Citizens of the besieged node and related parent/vassal nodes are automatically registered as defenders
- Players who aren’t citizens of the besieged node may join the defenders as long as they are not citizens of any node at war with the defenders
- Citizens of allied nodes cannot register to attack
Node Services
Once the declaration begins, node services essentially halt and convert to preparation quests and siege services. Players are no longer able to move goods out of depositories within the node. This includes any resources and materials stored in all storage containers in places such as warehouses, player housing, guild halls, and freeholds. Player stalls may continue to run during this period as of this moment.
Node Defenses
Both mayors and regional monarchs can purchase and allocate defense structures to reinforce siege defenses. Mayors can also dedicate treasury funds to improving defensive structures, traps, and defensive siege equipment. Citizens are able to procure relics that offer AoE buffs to player abilities like damage, attack range, and defender health. Defenders and citizens are able to gather materials to further bolster the defenses of the node.
Siege Mechanics
The siege itself is a multi-phase event where both sides have their own objectives and several mechanics are tied to specific size groups. Non-registered combatants are not permitted on the siege field but have the ability to interact and impact participants who are en route to the siege field. Node sieges may take up to two hours and do not use the PvP flagging system. There are no death penalties since a node siege is an objective-based event.
Siege Objectives
For the defenders to win a node siege, one of two victory conditions must be true:
- Defenders held a central point in the node for the duration of the node siege
- Defenders destroy the headquarters of the attacking army
For the attackers to win a node siege, they will have to break into the node and capture the central point by channeling a five-minute cast on the defender’s flag.
Both attackers and defenders have their own respective siege objectives during a node siege. Given the nature of a node siege, the defenders have the natural advantage with defensive structures and additional siege machines while attacks must overcome all those obstacles to claim key objective points. It is worth noting that a secondary goal that attackers have is to destroy node buildings within the city districts. While the destruction of these buildings does not contribute to any victory condition, they potentially cripple node services and serve as a resource sink to the node growth overall.
Districts
Each node at stage three and greater will have districts within the city. These districts each have a “raid boss” NPC that attackers must defeat to capture the district. A captured district serves as a respawn point for the attackers. Another target in the cities for the attackers is the city quartermasters. If an attacker defeats a quartermaster, then they increase the respawn timer for the defenders and reduce their own respawn timer.
Siege Weapons & Structures
Players are able to build, purchase, manage, and repair siege weapons during a node siege. Purchasing a siege weapon requires players to speak with NPCs in the city. Siege weapons may also be built and placed by players as long as players have the prerequisite materials, recipes, and craftsmanship. In addition, siege weapons and destructible structures can be repaired during a node siege.
Siege NPCs
Siege NPCs, like the quartermaster, serve as defense points and objectives for the attackers to defeat. While not the mainline of defense of a node, they serve as a major presence for attackers and defenders as both parties have objectives surrounding them.
Mercenary NPCs may also be utilized during a node siege as similar to other objective-based events. Mayors can purchase mercenaries to be assigned to either players or objectives.
Siege Aftermath
Once the node siege is over, the status of the node is highly dependent on who is victorious.
In the event the defenders win, then the node survives and citizens will have to gather materials to repair any structural damage. Besieged nodes cannot be under siege again by another player immediately and have a cooldown based upon the node stage. The cooldowns are as follows:
- Village (20 days)
- Town (30 days)
- City (40 days)
- Metropolis (50 days)
In the event the attackers win, then the node is destroyed and reverted back to stage zero with rubble remaining in the wilderness. Modified terrain will also revert and a portion of all materials and gatherables from the node become lootable as spoils of war. For additional context, the spoils of war will also include a portion of gatherables and processed goods from in-node housing.
In-Node Housing
Static housing in a node will be scaled back or destroyed based upon the advancement of the node. In essence, newer static housing that was built later in development will be destroyed while older static housing may scale down in some cases.
Apartments
Apartments are destroyed and unusable in the following events:
- If the building was destroyed during a node siege
- If a node is deleveled under stage 3 (Village) due to node siege or node atrophy
- If extra apartment buildings were built at stage 4 (Town) and the node is deleveled
- If a mayor destroys the apartment buildings themself, then all items and layouts are mailed to owners
Freeholds
If a node siege is successful, then all freeholds in that node are now open to being attacked for two hours following the siege. Players and their allies are able to bolster their freehold defenses with NPC guards and defensive structures during this time as well. Former defenders cannot loot destroyed freeholds in their former node.
Once the two-hour period has ended and there are freehold owners who have survived, these freehold owners have a one-week grace period to join under another node’s zone of influence. The freehold owners will have to partake in a dedicated questline in order to be adopted by another node and be under their zone of influence.
