Catapult
Stats
| Attribute | Value |
|---|---|
| Supply cost | 40 |
| Range | 4,000 units |
| Damage type | Physical (arcing AoE) |
| Effective vs | Walls, gates, stacked players, wall-top siege |
| Ineffective vs | Spread targets, fast-moving roamers |
What it does
The Catapult is the Swiss Army knife of WvW siege. It fires an arcing projectile that lobs over walls and obstacles, can be used at any distance up to 4,000 units, and damages both structures and the players standing on them. Most attacking sieges start with at least 2 catapults positioned out of line-of-sight from the wall.
Catapults are placed in cover — behind a hill, around a corner, or even inside a captured friendly tower — and the operator aims by adjusting the arc indicator on the ground.
Skills
- Skill 1 — Boulder: standard arcing rock. Heavy structure damage. The default attack.
- Skill 2 — Hot Boulder: applies burning to enemies in the impact zone. Great for clearing wall-tops with stacked defenders.
- Skill 3 — Multi-Shot: three smaller boulders in a tight cluster. Lower damage per rock but harder to dodge collectively.
- Skill 4 — Anti-Personnel (Superior only): shreds players hard. Lower structure damage, much higher player damage.
Placement
- Behind hills or buildings just outside the target wall. The arc lobs over the obstacle while the cat itself is invisible.
- Inside an allied Tower aimed at an enemy Keep gate — the tower walls protect the cat from counter-fire.
- On wall-top against attackers — the arc can drop boulders directly behind the gate where rams would set up.
- Pre-build at common siege spots — experienced commanders pre-place 2–4 cats at known angles before the assault begins.
- NEVER place in a straight line — enemy ballistas will pierce all of them with one Triple Shot.
Counters
- Trebuchet out-ranges the catapult by more than 2x — set up a treb where the cat can't reach.
- Ballista if it has line of sight (often it doesn't, since cats are placed in cover).
- Havoc squad pushing the operator — the cat's slow projectile means an enemy can run up and stomp the user before the next shot.
- Reflects and projectile blocks — Wall of Reflection bounces the boulder back. Less common but devastating when timed.
When to build one
Build a catapult for almost any offensive siege:
- Breaking a wall on a Tower or Keep where you have a position out of LoS.
- Clearing wall-top defenders before pushing the gate.
- Defensive — sniping attackers stacked behind a far gate.
Use a different weapon when:
- You need raw range (use a trebuchet).
- You need to break a gate fast at melee (use a flame ram).
- The target is a single high-priority enemy siege (use a ballista).