| This piece of news is from the Warhammer official website. The culmination of the ever-present conflict in Warhammer Online is the capture and ransacking of the enemy's capital city. Herein we'll detail the steps necessary for opening the gates of the city, and ultimately taking it for your realm. Later on, we'll have more specific guides for each step along the way, but every razing and pillaging group of warriors must start somewhere, so let's begin with the basics.
Opening up the gates of either city is a long and arduous process that begins in the Tier 4 zones primarily. In order to force your enemy's city into the contested state, you and the fellow warriors of your realm must first capture 2 fortresses in the Tier 4 zones within 12 hours of each other.
In order to attack these fortresses, you must first capture the zones prior to the Fortress zones in Tier 4 by Zone Control (participating in Scenarios, queuing for Scenarios, capturing Objectives and Keeps, Killing enemy players and completing PQs). What this means is you'll first push to a zone between your Tier 4 home and the enemy's (Praag for example), and once you've taken control of that zone you would push forward to Reikland or Chaos Wastes (depending on your allegiance) and capture the objectives there. Once both are held by your Realm, you will be free to take on the challenges of sacking the enemy's fortress in that racial pairing. What goes into taking an enemy's fortress in Tier 4, you ask? Fortresses are the last bastion of defense before you can start knocking on your enemy's city gates. If ever there is a need to work together against all odds, this is it. If you don't win here, there is no hope for bringing the fight to the city.
Each fortress has its own zone, and once players enter this area they'll have 60 minutes to topple the defenses and take down the Fortress Lord. The outer reaches of each fortress has 10-12 siege weaponry pads for the attackers to use in order to take down the defenses. Similarly, the fortress walls are lined along the top with 6-8 of their own weaponry pads for the defenders to use.
There are 3 doors (as opposed to 1 in earlier Tiers) that can be broken down by the attackers, with oil above each one to deter attackers. Just knocking down one door can take upwards of 10 minutes, so it's best if you and your invading force pick one before you get started and head for it right from the beginning of your attack. But this first door was just for the outer walls. The attackers still need to work their way to the actual Fortress doors and inside to get at the Lord. Doing so will require a coordinated effort, as inside the walls awaits a host of enemy NPCs and players alike, ready to defend their stronghold with every last breath. This door can take considerably longer to knock down, with the opposition likely being much stronger here. Once inside the fortress however, the fight's not over. The fortress stronghold itself has 3 floors. Guards of varying difficulty are stationed on the first and third floors. On the first floor, which is the one where the attackers will enter, attackers will find many guards waiting to push them back out of the Fortress. These guards are harder than the ones found outside and so players need to be on their toes when dealing with this onslaught. The second floor is accessed via stairs or ramps from the first floor. There are not as many guards as on the first floor here, but that is not to say that the attackers are safe. Expect that defenders will be constantly harassing the attackers, trying to bottleneck them here and soften them up for the battle that is ahead. The third floor, again accessed by ramps or stairs, houses the Fortress Lord and his Bodyguards. These are the toughest guards found in the Fortress since any one of these soldiers can hold back a multitude of players without breaking a sweat. If the attackers are not working in perfect harmony, with constant communication and a solid plan of attack, then all will be lost. Keep in mind that during all of this: beating down the outer door, pushing through the
Fortress Door, fighting through all the guards, and fighting the Fortress Lord himself, players from the enemy realm will be joining in the fight to stop the attackers from progressing through to the end. As if the guards and Fortress Lord weren't a force unto themselves, adding other players to the defenses makes taking a Fortress a daunting task indeed. If the attackers are held at bay and the 60 minute timer runs down, then all is lost. The Fortress will become inaccessible, and the specific pairing will reset back to its starting zone. This means that the attackers will have to push their way through the Tier 4 campaign again in order to attempt to take the Fortress for a second time. You must repeat this process for 2 fortresses in the Tier 4 zones within 12 hours of each other in order to open the enemy's city to a contested state. If you manage this Herculean task, the real trial of your army's mettle begins. The enemy city will be opened to your forces, and the march on your enemies' last bastion will commence. |
