Castle Wars

Castle Wars is a minigame released by Jagex in December of 2004. It is similar to Capture the Flag, but with a RuneScape twist. The aim of the game is to take the enemy's standard (flag) from their castle and return it to the standard in your own castle, gaining 1 point each time. You must prevent the opposing team from taking your flag by blocking them from your castle (place barricades, lock doors or collapse tunnels underground), or by killing them. Slain players will respawn within the game, so both sides are constantly fighting with a near (if not totally) equal numbered team. Each game lasts for 20 minutes, and the team with the most points at the end of the game is the winner. You will gain two castle wars tickets if your team wins, and one ticket if both teams finish on the same amount of points. Castle Wars tickets are redeemable for a number of decorative armors and other rewards. For having more success in Castle Wars it is better to have a higher combat level, but lower level players can focus on the defensive measures mentioned above.



Restrictions
The only items allowed inside the Castle Wars area are potions, runes, and combat-related items such as armour - with the exception of helmets, hats, scarves and capes. Food cannot be brought in, but bandages can be obtained within the arena - which are used to heal players in the same way as food. Alchemy spells cannot be used during the game. Lunar spells such as Heal and Remove Poison can not be used during the game. Also Dwarf Multicannons cannot be brought into Castle Wars, as when unassembled, they are a non-combat item. Originally, players were allowed to bring their pet cats into the arena, but after many players complained, JaGeX removed the ability.

Since this is a safe mini-game, players do not have to worry about dying because they will not lose their items. Unlike the Duel Arena, arrows will not be returned after each match. It is the player's responsibility to pick up any projectiles fired if they choose to do so.

Also, if players are wearing armors or prayer symbols/books of the three gods (Saradomin, Guthix, Zamorak), they will have strange effects on the wearer if they enter the wrong portal. Saradomin will turn a player into a rabbit if they are wearing a Zamorak or Guthix symbol or armor when entering his portal; Guthix will turn them into a sheep if they are wearing a Saradomin or Zamorak symbol or armor upon entering its portal; and Zamorak will turn them into an imp if they are wearing a Saradomin or Guthix symbol or armor when entering his portal. Players transformed into a rabbit, sheep or imp cannot perform any tasks. They also cannot view menu screens other than private and public chat, music and settings. However, when the waiting period elapses and the game starts the player will be turned back to normal.

The Castles
The large rectangular formation covering most of the map is the actual arena. Inside the arena there are 2 smaller castles, one for each team. There are 4 levels to a castle. The ground floor has two outer walls facing into the arena, one with a large door that can be attacked and broken down (or barricaded by the defending team) and another with a smaller door that can be pick-locked (or locked by the defending team). The battlements on the ground floor are accessible via a staircase near the small door, and there is a catapult on top of the outer wall. Within the walls there is a staircase leading to the battlements, a staircase leading to the second level, a ladder leading to the second level, and a ladder leading to the underground passages. There are tables where climbing ropes, rocks, barricades, pickaxes, toolboxes, and explosive potions are attainable. There is a tap, 2 bucket respawns, and a tinderbox respawn. When players die, they are returned to a respawn room in the appropriate castle.

The second floor contains a passage bent at a right angle, enveloping that team's spawn room, which is only accessible to the castle's team. There is a staircase leading to the next level. Inside the spawn room there is a bandage table, a tinderbox respawn, a ladder leading to the next level, and a portal to leave the current game. If any player does so, players on the same team in the waiting room will be asked if they wish to join the game. The first to accept takes the previous player's space.

The third floor has a small inside wall enveloping a trapdoor that leads down to that castle's spawn room. The trapdoor is only usable by that castle's team. There is a one-square-wide passage around this wall. A staircase leading to the highest level is located against one of the walls.

The highest floor contains only a standard stand, which may or may not hold that castle's team's standard, depending on whether the enemy team has taken the standard or not.

The underground passage level can be accessed by two ladders in the middle of the arena or by a ladder from either team's castle. Either castle's ladder is located at opposite ends of the underground area, each with two passages towards the central cavern. At the mouth (facing the centre area) of each passage there is a deposit of rocks which may be removed or replaced with explosive potions or pickaxes. The central area is a small castle that has two ladders leading up to the centre of the arena's ground level. This area can be used for ranging and maging.

The Prizes
All players on the winning team receive two Castle Wars tickets. In the event of a draw, all players receive one Castle Wars ticket. These tickets can be used to purchase decorative armour, capes, and, hoods. The lowest decorative armour is red and blue, which has the strength of Steel. The mid-strength decorative armour is silver and blue, which has the strength of Mithril. The strongest decorative armor is gold and black, which has the strength of Adamant. Players may also purchase (with tickets) Saradomin and Zamorak capes and hoods. Anything bought by using Castle Wars tickets cannot be traded to another player, but can be sold back for the same number of tickets it can be bought for. Here is a list of the prices:


 * Red-blue Decorative Helm (equal to Steel med helm): 4 tickets
 * Red-blue Decorative Shield (equal to Steel kiteshield): 6 tickets
 * Red-blue Decorative Armour (legs, equal to Steel platelegs): 6 tickets
 * Red-blue Decorative Armour (body, equal to Steel platebody): 8 tickets
 * Red-blue Decorative Sword (equal to Steel longsword): 5 tickets
 * Silver-blue Decorative Helm (equal to Mithril med helm): 40 tickets
 * Silver-blue Decorative Shield (equal to Mithril kiteshield): 60 tickets
 * Silver-blue Decorative Armour (legs, equal to Mithril platelegs): 60 tickets
 * Silver-blue Decorative Armour (body, equal to Mithril platebody): 80 tickets
 * Silver-blue Decorative Sword (equal to Mithril longsword): 50 tickets
 * Gold-black Decorative Helm (equal to Adamant med helm): 400 tickets
 * Gold-black Decorative Shield (equal to Adamant kiteshield): 600 tickets
 * Gold-black Decorative Armour (legs, equal to Adamant platelegs): 600 tickets
 * Gold-black Decorative Armour (body, equal to Adamant platebody): 800 tickets
 * Gold-black Decorative Sword (equal to Adamant longsword): 500 tickets
 * Saradomin Hood: 10 tickets
 * Saradomin Cape: 10 tickets
 * Zamorak Hood: 10 tickets
 * Zamorak Cape: 10 tickets
 * Castle Wars Handbook: 5 coins

Note that Castle Wars tickets are nontradeable.

The Catapult
One catapult is located in each teams castle. Players may use the catapult if they have ammo, which they can obtain from tables on the first floor. After players have ammo, they can operate the catapult by clicking on it. A display will open up and players must then choose the X and Y coordinates of where they wish to fire, however often the shot will not go exactly where you aim. All players near the area of impact, regardless of which team they are on, will take damage. Catapults can be destroyed by the enemy team using a tinderbox or an explosive potion. A toolkit can fix a broken catapult. A catapult that is on fire may be put out with a bucket of water. A good tactic with the catapult is to simply continue firing the catapult at coordinates (0,0). Be careful when using the catapult, because it is possible to harm and even kill your own team-mates with it.

Stepping Stones
These are located in the northeast and southwest points of the river. Players can jump from stepping stone to stepping stone to cross the river in the middle of the arena. The stepping stones have many uses, one main use is to escape the enemy team while capturing the flag. If the flag is dropped while standing on stepping stones it returns to the base. Players were once able to evade Ancient Magicks ice spells by crossing these stepping stones but this was recently changed so that bind spells now prevent you from crossing the stones.

Collapsible Rocks
The collapsible rocks are located in the caves below the arena. Using a pickaxe or an explosive potion, players may collapse the walls and fill the cave passageway with rocks, so that players may not pass. To get past the collapsed rocks, players must use either 2 explosive potions or a pickaxe or both. If rocks are collapsed on top of a player, he or she will die immediately. This is an excellent trick if you are running through the tunnels with the flag, as it gets rid of many chasers and blocks the rest, but they could also kill you.

The teams
To join a team, either enter the red portal (for Zamorak, God of Chaos) or the blue portal (for Saradomin, God of Wisdom). There is a possibility that the team you are trying to enter has too many people, so to keep the teams balanced you may not join it at that time. However, if you enter the green (for Guthix, God of Balance) portal, you are included in the team with the fewest number of people.

Waiting area
Once you join a team, you have to wait in an underground cavern until the next game starts. The Time remaining till the next game begins is displayed near the top of the screen in white print. The time to wait is always 5 minutes longer than the current game lasts, so if a game have 12 minutes left, the time to wait in the waiting area is 17 minutes. When a game has just finished, the next game will start in 5 minutes. If you need to leave, you can do so through the portal of the god's colour located inside the waiting area. Also, if you wear an item associated with a particular god in the opposite god's room you will be turned into either a sheep, rabbit or imp for the duration of your stay in the waiting room (you will be transformed back to your regular form for the game itself).

Tools
There are a number of special items that players can pick up while playing Castle Wars. These items are free and respawn immediately; however, they disappear once the game you are playing is over. (Also, if you choose to teleport back to the waiting area during a current game with these items in your inventory, you used to be able to keep them until you either entered the game and used them, or left the waiting room. However, Jagex recently changed this so the only item you keep when you exit the game is a tinderbox.)

Barricades
These can be picked up on one of the tables on the 1st floor of the castles. Barricades can be placed anywhere in the arena, and they are used to "block" the opposing team, hindering their ability to capture your flag. When somebody tries to walk around the barricade, the player must manually click to walk around it, otherwise he will be stuck. If barricades are set up at the ends of the stairs, it will only allow one way direction transport only; for example if a player is going up a stairs and the other end is being block by barricades, the player can still go back up/down without leaving the stairs end or go through the barricade without destroying the barricade for the first time. However he/she cannot go back up/down to the stairs after leaving the stairs end, unless the barricades has been destroyed. Barricades can be destroyed by setting them on fire, by manually attacking them, or by using an explosive potion. One of the downsides to setting up barricades is that a team can only set up 10 at a time and it also blocks the way of friendly forces.

Other Useful Tools
Other tools which can be outside Castle Wars or can be obtained in Castle Wars are:


 * Bandages - Heal 10% of your total HP level (for example if your hitpoint level is 74, you get healed 7 points for every bandage), cure poison, and increase energy by 30%. Can be used on other players of the same team. Players may stock up on these greatly and become Medics for their team, breaking off and hiding near where they might be needed.


 * Climbing Ropes - Used to scale the battlements on the other team's castle. These ropes are one way (in other words you can't climb down them, only up.) and can not be cut off. Some people will sabotage the other team's wall by getting a full inventory of ropes and running to the other team's wall. They will try and set up as many ropes as they can on the wall before being attacked and killed. Some attack the cataplt by setting up rope next to the enemy, clibing up and blowing the catapult up.


 * Pickaxes - For collapsing the underground cave walls to block the enemy. They are also used to clear the way through the collapsed walls. Players typically wait at the rocks and try to time their collapse perfectly as to hit a player trying to run through, although this is easier with explosive potions. Barricades may be used in combination with the walls to guarantee the player will have difficulty getting though. Some people bring their own pickaxe, like rune, to clear rocks/collapse tunnels faster.


 * Tinderboxes - For setting fire to barricades and catapults. The fires can be put out by buckets of water. It is typically good practice to have a tinderbox in your inventory regardless of your choice of "profession" in your game, whether you're a cleric, warrior, or anything else.


 * Buckets- Fill them with water at the faucet and the bucket of water is usable to put out anything on fire. These are almost never used though due to the fact that they must be refilled everytime they are used and the person that set the fire can easily relight it.


 * Toolkits - Used to repair broken catapults or doors.


 * Explosive Potion - Used to blow up barricades, unlike tinderboxes they can only be used once. Also used to collapse the cave walls instantly, killing any person running under. If dropped, this potion explodes and deals 15 damage to the player who dropped it. Many players commit suicide with these to regain health, or prayer.


 * Rocks - Used to fire the catapult.

Flag Holding
Flag holding is a tactic used by teams to ensure that the opposing team is unable to score points. This consists of a player grabbing their own flag after an enemy player has dropped it outside their castle and then holding on to it, rendering the opposing team unable to pick it up.

When the opposing team has taken a team's flag, the team wait until their enemy is outside the castle and kill them, taking their own team flag in the process (If the flag is dropped inside the castle, attempting to pick it up will result in it being moved back to the standard stand).

Flag-holding tactics
The flag is often taken to a corner of the field with some players protecting it, as a player can be easily protected using two barricades, using the walls as defence from the other two sides.

Another tactic is to hide underground, next to the collapsible walls. The flag holder can then use an explosive potion or a pickaxe to collapse the walls when their enemies try to reach them, thus killing them.

The player that holds the flag will often be a high level Magic or Ancient Magicks user, as these players can use spells such as Entangle or Ice Burst to immobilize the enemy flag stealers, without the need to hold a weapon. This is advantageous as they can protect themselves using Magic, whereas a player using Ranged will be unable to attack as they will be holding the flag, and a player using Melee will have their attack power compromised by holding the flag, as they will have to use the flag as their weapon. The flag gives no bonuses to Attack, Defense, Strength or Prayer, and has the same attack styles as a spear.

The player will attempt to stay alive for as long as possible, often with a group of players acting as bodyguards. Donating bandages and other supplies to the flag holder may also prove useful.

Views
Some players have argued that this stops the fun, as it stops the game from being "Capture the Flag" and turns it into a "Hunt and Kill" game. They argue that flag-holding is basically unfair as if a high-level player gets the flag, they consider the game to be essentially over, especially if their team does not have a player of matching combat ability.

However, there is the counterargument that Jagex must find the current Castle Wars system to be fair, as they have not changed it, despite many complaints.

Jagex have not mentioned any plans to change the Castle Wars game, and it has remained unchanged since cats were no longer allowed to enter the arena.

Trivia

 * Castle Wars has had many bugs regarding some aspects of the game remaining active once players had left the game. These include, but are not limited to:
 * Players remaining as imps, sheep or bunnies after leaving the waiting area.
 * Players still holding their team standard after a game.
 * Players having an "attack" option on other players outside of Castle Wars, despite not being able to attack anyone.
 * Castle Wars games do not have random events. Players used to use Castle Wars as a random-free area in which to cast High Level Alchemy on large numbers of items without being attacked. Because of this, Jagex banned non-combat items from the game and made it impossible to cast alchemy spells on items in the battlefield. Jagex also made it impossible to bring any non-combat items into the waiting rooms. Now players may only bring potions, weapons, and armour into Castle Wars.
 * Because of the player having to sacrifice the helmet and cape slot to wear their team colours, the set effects of the Barrows equipment is not active during games of Castle Wars.