Trebuchet
Stats
| Attribute | Value |
|---|---|
| Supply cost | 60 |
| Range | 10,000 units (longest in WvW) |
| Damage type | Heavy arcing AoE |
| Effective vs | Walls, gates, large stacked groups |
| Ineffective vs | Single mobile targets, anything inside 2,000 units |
What it does
The Trebuchet is the heaviest siege weapon in WvW. Its 10,000-unit range means it can hit objectives from across an entire borderland. Many of the legendary trebuchet positions on Eternal Battlegrounds and the Borderlands let you break a Keep's outer wall before the defenders even know they're being attacked.
The trade-off: it's slow to fire, has a minimum range (you can't hit anything close to you), and the projectile takes seconds to land — so it's poor at moving targets but devastating against stationary ones.
Skills
- Skill 1 — Boulder: the standard heavy arc. Maximum structure damage. The default attack.
- Skill 2 — Plague Boulder: applies Poison and Weakness on impact. Use against players defending a wall-top — they're easier to AoE-clear after the debuffs land.
- Skill 3 — Cow: launches a comically large cow. Lower damage but applies Defiant Stance Strip + Cripple on a wide AoE. Iconic. Some commanders use this purely for the meme.
- Skill 4 — Ice Boulder (Superior only): chills targets significantly. Pairs with Plague Boulder for extreme zerg slow-down.
Placement
- Known long-range positions — every map has 3–5 spots where a treb can hit a Keep wall. Veterans memorise these. Examples: the cliffs north of Bay on EBG, the hills east of Garrison on Alpine BL.
- Inside an allied Keep aimed outward — perfectly safe behind tier-3 walls, raining boulders on attackers from across the map.
- Build behind a Shield Generator — the projectile-block dome protects the trebuchet from counter-fire.
- Counter-treb position — when an enemy is treb'ing your wall, place yours within their position's range and out-trade them.
Counters
- Counter-trebuchet — only weapon with the same range. Often it becomes a 1v1 treb war that decides the siege.
- Havoc squad ground assault — trebs are usually placed in the open or inside enemy keeps; if attackers reach the operator, the treb dies fast.
- Stealth gankers — a thief or mesmer can teleport in, kill the operator, then reposition before reinforcements arrive.
- Take the supply away — a treb wants 60 supply per build. Kill the dolyaks feeding the depot to starve the position.
When to build one
- You're starting a Keep siege and need to crack the outer wall before committing the zerg.
- You're defending and the enemy has set up offensive siege at long range — out-treb them.
- You hold a Tower with a known treb spot — pre-build it before attackers arrive.
- You want to harass an enemy Keep all night without engaging — passive PPT denial.
Skip the treb when:
- You're inside the minimum range — the treb literally cannot fire at close-up targets. Use a catapult or ram.
- You don't have 60 supply. Two catapults (80 supply total) might do the job better.