WvW Siege Weapons Guide

Overview

Siege weapons are the deciding factor in most large WvW engagements. They tear down walls, deny key choke points, snipe enemy siege from across the map, and turn flat fights into kill-zones. Every WvW player should understand what each weapon does, what it costs, and where it belongs.

Siege requires two things to deploy:

• A Siege Blueprint — purchased from a WvW vendor (with Badges of Honor), looted from chests, or obtained from a guild's Tactics & Tricks workshop. Superior blueprints are stronger versions but cost slightly more.
• Supply — pulled from a depot. The supply cost is consumed in full when the blueprint is placed; the siege weapon itself takes a few seconds to "build" once placed.

Quick reference

Range is in in-game units. Supply is the standard Guild blueprint cost; Superior variants generally cost the same or slightly more.

Dedicated guides

Auto-upgrade siege (no blueprint needed)

Tier 2+ Towers and Keeps automatically build defensive siege into their walls and gates. Defenders can hop on these without spending supply. See the defensive wall siege section for details.

• Cannon — wall-mounted direct-fire weapon with knockback. Excellent for ram defence.
• Mortar — wall-mounted indirect arc fire. 10 supply per shot but auto-upgrade only.
• Burning Oil — gate-top burn pool. 3 supply, devastating against rams.

General placement rules

1. Range matters more than damage. A ballista at max range can snipe an attacking ram at almost no risk. The same ballista placed at melee range will be blown up before it fires.
2. Cover lines of sight. Most siege has a hard requirement for line-of-sight. A catapult behind a low wall fires over it; a ballista needs a clear lane.
3. Don't stack siege. AoE skills and enemy ballistas can wipe a clump of arrow carts in seconds. Spread placements 800+ units apart.
4. Build into upgrade paths. Siege placed inside a Keep gets the auto-upgrade walls protecting it. Placing arrow carts outside the inner wall is throwing supply away.
5. Drop siege when you leave. Use the Drop Siege control on the siege itself before leaving — anyone can do this. It returns the supply to the depot rather than wasting it. Always drop before logging out.

Counterplay — how to deal with enemy siege

• Build counter-siege of your own. A ballista counters another ballista; a catapult counters their wall-mounted catapult.
• Use a Siege Disruptor tactic — it cripples enemy siege output for 35 seconds.
• Run a havoc squad to the siege location. Nothing beats a 5-player team smashing the siege operators.
• Pull the operator off the siege. Skills like Magnet Pull or Spectral Grasp drag the player off, breaking their channel.

Related

• Objectives overview
• Supply mechanic and cap
• Tactics — traps & tricks
• Stonemist Castle siege guide