Town Sieges

Periodically, Patron Cities and Player Owned Towns that contain a Devotional and will come under siege by the Obsidian Cabalists. The timing, duration, and location of these sieges are dependent on Celestial Mechanics. When you attempt to enter a town under siege, you have the option to enter the Town Siege (where the enemy has made camp outside the town and is fighting the town defenders) or you can bypass the siege and enter directly into the town.

After you enter the siege, you can still enter the town by running across the siege to the exit on the opposite side of the zone (which will take you to the town).

When you enter the siege, you arrive near the enemy camps and near a Scout ally (who gives the Collect Arcane Catalyst quest and the Defeat All Cabalists in a Siege quest). In the middle of the zone is a central battlefield, where waves of enemies and allies repeatedly clash, and where catapult attacks are landing. On the opposite side of the map is a squad of allies who are pinned down by enemy forces as they defend the only exit. The exit they are defending will take you into the town.

There are always 2 pathways through a siege:

Safer path (avoiding the main areas of the siege) - on this path you will encounter a few low-threat enemies.
More difficult path (going through the main areas of the siege) - going through the enemy camps will be quicker but more dangerous because of the higher level and more numerous enemies.

How to Determine if a Town is Under Siege[edit]

A town that is under siege will show indicators on the overworld that the town is being attacked.

A town on the mainland will have at least one catapult and one flaming wagon around the town.
A town on a small island will have at least one catapult on the mainland (which is near the boat to the island) and at least one flaming boat near the island.

If you try to enter the town, a window will pop up that gives you the option to either enter the siege, or to bypass the siege and enter the town.

Where and When Will a Town Siege Occur? & Which Cabalists Will Be Present?[edit]

The occurrence of a town siege depends on 2 things:

The presence of Devotionals in the town - if a town contains 1 or more Devotionals, then the town is susceptible to a siege. If a town has no devotionals, it will never be under siege.
The position of the Cabalist Moons in relation to the Constellations in the sky.

When a Cabalist Moon is within a specific constellation's region, the Obsidian Cabalist represented by that moon will lead a siege on towns that contain the Devotional related to the constellation. The siege will last as long as the moon is in the region of the constellation.

To determine which Patron Cities are under siege and which cabalists are in the siege, you can use any of the following methods:

Equip an Astrolabe, use a list of the Cabalist Moons, and a list of the Symbols/Constellations For Each Patron City (for details on how to use the astrolabe, see How to Use An Astrolabe).
Use a Moondial, a list of the Cabalist Moons, and a list of the Symbols/Constellations For Each Patron City (for details on how to use the moondial, see How to Use a Moondial).
Use a player-made tools, such as Companion of The Avatar.

The cabalist(s) spawn after you have deactivated the 3 catapults (see "Lifting the Siege" below).

If Cabalist Moons are no longer in the area of a relevant constellation (i.e. they moved to an irrelevant constellation while you where trying to deactivate the catapults), then a Lich Mage will spawn rather than cabalists.

Things to Do in A Town Siege[edit]

Fight the enemies and lift the siege (there is no specific reward for lifting the siege).
Complete the Collect Arcane Catalyst quest - a Daily Quest that awards the Shield of Attraction, Common.
Complete the Defeat All Cabalists in a Siege quest - a one-time quest that awards the Banner of Sacrifice.
Complete a step in the Tell Caretaker About Cabalist quests (each of these are one-time quests).
Hunt Obsidian Cabalists and their unique loot drops (cabalist hoods, vile artifacts, Cabalist Robe, Cabalist Boots, and recipes for the Dread Artifact patterns).

Types of Sieges[edit]

There are currently two types of Town Sieges: Hills Siege and Forest Siege.

Lifting The Siege[edit]

Lifting the siege requires deactivating all 3 catapults and defeating the "siege commander" bosses. There is no special reward for lifting the siege.

Deactivating Catapults[edit]

There are 6 Siege Engineers that spawn around each of the 3 catapults (the Siege Engineers tend to spawn in waves of 1 or 2 at a time. When the wave is killed, the next wave will appear until all 6 have been killed). When you kill all six of the Siege Engineers around a catapult, the red flag near the catapult will disappear and the catapult will be deactivated (i.e. it will stop shooting fireballs).

Defeating the "Siege Commander" Bosses[edit]

When you deactivate all 3 catapults (i.e. kill all 18 Siege Engineers), a "siege commander boss" (or bosses) will spawn. The boss spawn will consist of one of the following scenarios:

1 or more Obsidian Cabalists - If a Cabalist Moon (or moons) is still in the area of a relevant constellation, then 1 or more Obsidian Cabalists will spawn.
1 Lich Mage will spawn - If Cabalist Moons are no longer in the area of a relevant constellation (i.e. they moved to an irrelevant constellation while you where trying to deactivate the catapults), then a Lich Mage will spawn (no cabalists will spawn).

You must kill the bosses in order to lift the siege.

Trivia[edit]

Town sieges were originally announced during Kickstarter.^[1] During town sieges, your house will be inaccessible during the siege if it's located in the town during the siege. These sieges may include PVP between players on the enemies side and the side of good but this has yet to be determined or announced.
The first encounter, a Forest Town Siege, went live in Release 37. The second, a Canyon Siege, was added for Release 38.^[2]
POT sieges work a little different: There was a problem where a POT was likely under siege if you placed all devotional types. The solution was to choose a "dominant devotional" on a periodic basis. If your town has the dominant devotional, it should be under siege. There is no user facing way to tell which is considered the dominant devotional, however, it cycles quickly through the day.^[3]
you can choose to join the battle and end the siege early or work your way around the perimeter, perhaps encountering only some scouting parties.^[4]
POT sieges work a little different: There was a problem where a POT was likely under siege if you placed all devotional types. The solution was to choose a "dominant devotional" on a periodic basis. If your town has the dominant devotional, it should be under siege. There is no user facing way to tell which is considered the dominant devotional, however, it cycles quickly through the day.^[5]