Navigation: RuneScape Wiki >> Game Guide >> Minigames >> Castle Wars

	Members Only
	The content on this page is only accessible to RuneScape Members. If you would like access to this feature in game, please make sure that you have subscribed.

Please Note
This area is 'Safe' meaning if you die here, you will not lose any items. However, if you are poisoned outside of the event/area you can still die.

The Castle Wars arena has opened south of Ardougne. Saradomin and Zamorak have taken an interest and are urging their chosen teams towards victory. Which will you choose to fight for? Or will you follow the way of Guthix and help keep the balance?

Castle Wars is a combat-based team game, the goal of which is to breach the other team's defences and capture the flag atop their castle, while also defending your own castle and flag. Your team will score one point for each time it manages to capture the enemy flag, and the team with the most points at the end of the match wins!

Location

The Castle Wars Arena is located west of Yanille.

The fastest way to get to Castle Wars is to use a Ring of duelling, which will teleport you directly there. If you have access to the Fairy Rings, you can travel to BKP, which is just south of Castle Wars. Various teleport spells will get you within walking distance, such as Ardougne Teleport and Watchtower Teleport.

There are many ways of getting to Castle Wars:

• Teleport via a Ring of duelling
• Hot air balloon network
• Walk from Yanille
• Walk from the Fairy ring or crashed Gnome glider in Feldip Hills

Requirements

There are no requirements to join in - just turn up and choose a side! Make sure you are not wearing a cape or have any non-combat items in your inventory, though.

Recommended Items

It is recommended that you bring a good choice of armour and weaponry to protect you from any opponents. Also, a good source of potions will aid you in difficult situations. If you've bought any of the Castle Wars rewards, you may wish to bring those, as some have effects that will prove beneficial during a match. Those with access to The Ancient Magicks may wish to bring good magic armour, a staff, and runes for ice spells if you wish to help defend your team's flag.

Another advantageous item to bring with you is a Castle Wars bracelet. The bracelet comes with three (3) charges, and uses a charge upon entry to a game (must be equipped). It causes bandages to heal 50% more and increases your damage on flagholders by 20%. It does not need to be worn in game, so it's a good idea to bring another item to equip on the Wrist slot.

Note: Non-combat items are not allowed in the arena, e.g. food.

Joining a Match

To join a match, choose which team you would like to be on and enter a portal. Entering the red portal on the left will enrol you on the Zamorak team, and entering the blue portal on the right will enrol you on the Saradomin team. The green portal in the middle is the Guthix portal; if you choose to go through this portal you will be enrolled on whichever team currently has the fewest players, be that Saradomin or Zamorak. Once you have entered a portal, you will be taken to that team's waiting area.

If you enter a portal wearing an item that represents one of the other gods (e.g. entering the Zamorak portal wearing an item of Saradomin), then you will change form and remain that way until the game starts. Zamorak punishes you by turning you into an imp; Saradomin gives you some time to reflect on things as a rabbit; Guthix makes you one with nature as a, er, sheep. Don't worry, though: you'll only remain in this form until either the match begins or you use the exit portal. This doesn't happen for Armadyl/Bandos/Zaros items.

If there is a game in progress, you may observe the action from the viewing orb near Lanthus, which will allow you to survey the battlefield from a variety of viewpoints. Castle Wars matches last for twenty minutes, with a five minute interval between each one. A message will be shown at the top of the screen indicating the length of time remaining to the start of the next match if you are in the waiting area.

You will need at least 2 players per team for the match to begin, though no gold tickets will be rewarded unless the number of players on each team is over 5.

Your Castle

Starting Room

When the match begins (and if you're killed during the match), you'll find yourself in your castle's starting room. In this room is a table of bandages, which you should definitely grab a handful of. As you are unable to bring food with you into a Castle Wars match, these are the only means by which you have to heal yourself (or your teammates). Bandages heal up to 100 life points(without the castle wars bracelet effect or lifepoint boosting armours), restore 30% of your run energy and cure any poisons that you are suffering from. There's also a tinderbox in this room, which you may find useful.

Don't linger in the starting room for too long, though, as you can only stay in the area for two minutes before you'll be dumped back into your team's waiting area for the next match to begin. Also, note that only members of your team are able to enter this starting room; likewise, you will not be able to get into your opponents' starting room.

Flag Area

If you climb up to the very top of your castle, you will see your team's flag, safely at home in its flag stand. This is what you must protect! If the enemy steals this and manages to carry it all the way back to this same part of their own castle, they will capture your flag and score a point. Conversely, this is exactly what your team needs to do with their flag!

Store Room

Heading down to the stairs to the ground floor will lead you to just outside of your team's storeroom. In here you'll find a range of tools that will aid you in successfully capturing the other team's flag and defending your own. Learning how to use these items well will increase your team's chances of winning the match.

Item	Description
Tables
Climbing rope	Can be used to scale the walls of your opponents' castle (must first be tied to that castle's battlements on the first floor).
Barricade	Used to block enemy movement (your team may only place up to ten at a time).
Explosive potion	Used to destroy barricades, rocks in the underground tunnels, or the enemy catapult. If dropped, this will hurt you.
Toolkit	Used to repair your catapult or doors when they are broken.
Pickaxe	Used to remove rocks from and collapse the underground tunnels.
Rock	Used as ammunition for your catapult.
Flare	Used to signal your current location to a teammate who is manning the catapult.
Spawned items
Empty bucket	Can be filled with water from a water source and used to extinguish flaming catapults, ballistae and barricades.
Tinderbox	Found in the starting room, not the storeroom. Used to set fire to barricades, ballistae and catapults.

Siege Weapons

Both teams can make use of siege weapons to help defend their castle. Each team will have one catapult on the first floor of their castle, which can be used to attack area out in the open. Also, if one member of your team has brought a ballista with them (after buying all four parts of it and some ammo for it from the Castle Wars reward shop), they can set that up on one of the eight ballista platforms.

Using the Catapult

The catapults are located on the first floor battlements of your castle. They are a good method of attacking the other team and destroying enemy ballistas. To fire the catapult, use a rock (which can be found in the storeroom on the ground floor) with the catapult. This will bring up the catapult controls interface.

To aim the catapult, click one of the grid squares displayed in the interface (the catapults' range lets you fire up to, but not over the river); the chosen square will be highlighted red. Then, click on the FIRE! button to fire at this location.

If a teammate is in the field using flares, the location at which a flare was fired will be highlighted yellow. You can't hurt your teammates with your catapult, so fire away! With careful teamwork, this use of flares can allow you to make precise, effective use of the catapult (particular to destroy enemy ballistas), rather than just flinging rocks with it at random.

Catapults deal 1/8 of the targets max health and will do more damage if you have completed the Catapult Construction quest.

The enemy has a catapult too, so it's good to know that you can sabotage it. To disable the other team's catapult, use a tinderbox or and explosive potion to set it on fire. If this happens to your catapult, it can be repaired to full working use with a toolkit.

Using Ballistae

In the field are locations for the construction of ballistae. Individuals can purchase the four parts and ammunition for a ballista from the Castle Wars rewards store (and to set one up you will need all four parts and some ammo).

Depending on which of the eight platforms you choose to setup your ballista on, there will be three or four directions in which it can be aimed, by rotating it (it cannot be aimed towards a castle wall). You are able to take up to 100 pieces of ballista ammo into a match to load the ballista with; a loaded ballista will automatically fire upon the first enemy to cross in front of where it's aiming, using up one piece of ammo, and will continue at targets in this way until it runs out of ammo.

The fire rate of a ballista is 2.4 seconds and its maximum range is displayed on the image to the left.

As with catapults, enemy ballistae can be attacked and destroyed, so defend them well. If protected and well maintained, they can be a powerful tool in your defensive arsenal.

The Arena

The Surface

The largest area of the Castle Wars arena is the ground floor. This is the level that both teams' storerooms are on, at the centre of each castle. There are three entrances/exits in each team's castle - the main double doors at the front, a small door on the side, and a ladder to the underground tunnels in the back of the storeroom. You are free to open your own castle's doors, but you will have to either attack or unlock those at your opponent's castle. Make sure to close your castle's doors after you've used them, else you'll be leaving your castle freely open to the enemy. If your door has been broken, you can repair it if you are carrying a toolkit. There is no way to directly block the ladder in your storeroom, so you may wish to setup some of your barricades around it, to slow down the enemy.

Once outside of your castle, there are three main above-ground routes to the enemy castle. You can follow the outer walls to either of the stepping stone crossings in opposite corners, or you can head around the spear walls and over a bridge to the central island (there are two trapdoors on the central island that lead down into the center of the underground tunnels).

	Zamorak team flag		Catapult		Stepping stones
	Ladder to underground		Saradomin team flag		Balista spot
	Gate		Door

Underground Tunnels

The underground tunnels can be accessed by climbing down the ladder in either team's storeroom, or one of the two ladders on the central island. These tunnels are a good and sneaky way of getting into the enemy castle, but the other team will likely be using them too.

Along each of the four tunnels underground are rocks that you will have to mine your way past (so make sure you've taken a pickaxe from your storeroom before coming down here). You can also clear the path with 2 explosive potions. If one of these tunnels has been cleared of rocks, you'll then be able to mine the wall nearby to collapse the area again. You can also collapse a tunnel with a single explosive potion - and it's much faster than mining it. Be careful if the tunnel is clear and one of your opponents is mining the wall - if you don't stay clear of them, the tunnel may just collapse on your head!

The tunnels underground are narrow so you can use the barricades to block them relatively easily. If this is used to stop you, you can remove the barricades by attacking them(they have 500 lifepoints), using an explosive potion on them, or setting them alight using a tinderbox (also found on the table of the ground floor).

	Ladder to Zamorak castle		Collapsed/collapsible tunnels
	Ladder to surface		Ladder to Saradomin castle

Game Interface

During a match, there will be an overlay on the game window that gives you information about the current match in progress. The overlay shows information at the top, and on the left side of the screen.

The interface at the top of the screen details the match score, how much time is left in the game, and whether or not the flags are in their areas (safe), have been dropped, or have been taken by the opposite team.

The side interface details the defences of your castle and their status. You should use this to determine if you should defend your castle or not. The icons can have multiple possible states but, simply put, if the status is shown in green, that defence is safe.

Icon		Green message	Red message
	Main gate icon	Health 1-100% (The more damaged it receives, the further the percentage will reduce)	Health 0%
	Side door icon	Locked	Unlocked
	Tunnel icon 1	Collapsed	Cleared
	Tunnel icon 2	Collapsed	Cleared
	Catapult status	Operational	Damaged

Combat Changes

Within the arena, the Smash ability has a 60% chance to disable protection prayers, rather than the 100% chance outside of the arena.

Rewards

Once a Castle Wars match is over (after twenty minutes), all players on the winning team will receive two gold castle wars ticket (unless there were fewer than 5 players on their side) and one silver castle wars tickets. The losing side will take away one silver ticket. In the event of a tie, all players on both teams will receive one of each type of ticket.

These tickets can be saved up and exchanged for many rewards, by trading with Lanthus at the entrance to Castle Wars.

Note that any rewards that you purchase can be traded back to Lanthus for however much your purchased them for. This way, you could buy all parts of the basic decorative armour, then trade up to the detailed decorative armour, piece by piece, as you earn more castle wars tickets.

Players with tickets from before the update on April 9th 2013, will notice that all of their tickets have been converted to the gold equivalents.

Decorative Armour

The decorative armour items can provide combat bonuses while playing Castle Wars. Note that these items only have stats and their combat bonuses whilst in the minigame. Elsewhere these items are purely cosmetic.

Image	Item	Tickets
	Basic decorative helm	4
	Basic decorative platebody	8
	Basic decorative platelegs	6
	Basic decorative shield	6
	Basic decorative sword	5
	Detailed decorative helm	-	40
	Detailed decorative platebody	-	80
	Detailed decorative platelegs	-	60
	Detailed decorative shield	-	60
	Detailed decorative sword	-	50
	Intricate decorative helm	-	400
	Intricate decorative platebody	-	800
	Intricate decorative platelegs	-	600
	Intricate decorative shield	-	600
	Intricate decorative sword	-	500
	Profound decorative helm	-	650
	Profound decorative platebody	-	1100
	Profound decorative platelegs	-	800
	Profound decorative shield	-	800
	Profound decorative sword	-	800

Click here to view the armour stats and combat bonuses.

Consumables

Image	Item	Tickets
	Ballista base#	2
	Ballista bolt stack#	2
	Ballista bow#	2
	Ballista chamber#	2
	Ballista ammo#	4
	Melee potion set+	1
	Ranged potion set+	1
	Magic potion set+	1
	Castlewars chinchompa&	1

Miscellaneous

Image	Item	Tickets
	Guthix halo*	-	300
	Saradomin halo*	-	300
	Zamorak halo*	-	300
	Faithful shield	-	200
	Saradomin team hood	10
	Saradomin team cape	10
	Zamorak team hood	10
	Zamorak team cape	10
	Castle Wars flag cape~	2
	Castle Wars kills cape~	2
	Castle Wars hobbyist cape~	2
	Castle Wars enthusiast cape~	2
	Castle Wars professional cape~	2

Click here to view the armour stats.

Hybrid Armour

There are three sets of hybrid armour that provide bonuses within certain minigames, and there is a chance for the helm of these sets to drop while playing Castle Wars. Should the item drop, you will get to pick if you would like the Trickster, Vanguard or Battlemage type. The interface for choosing a helm will only open if a game is won.

Click here to view the armour stats.

Notes

*	These items have special bonuses: Guthix halo reduces the drain rate of the prayers Clarity of Thought, Improved Reflexes, Incredible Reflexes, Chivalry, Piety Saradomin halo reduces the drain rate of Thick Skin, Rock Skin, Steel Skin, Chivalry, Piety Zamorak halo reduces the drain rate of Burst of Strength, Superhuman Strength, Ultimate Strength, Chivalry, Piety
~	Each cape can only be purchased after: getting the most flag captures in a match (flag cape); getting the most kills in a match (kills cape); completing 500 matches (hobbyist cape); completing 1,000 matches (enthusiast cape); and completing 5,000 matches (professional cape).
#	Before you can use a ballista in a Castle Wars match, you must purchase all four ballista parts and at least one bit of ammo for it. You can take up to 100 bits of ammo with you into a match.
+	These items contain several potions: Melee potion set contains 1x CW super attack potion, 1x CW super strength potion, 1x CW super defence potion, 1x CW super energy potion. Ranged potion set contains 1x CW super ranging potion, 1x CW super defence potion, 1x CW super energy potion. Magic potion set contains 1x CW super magic potion, 1x CW super defence potion, 1x CW super energy potion. The potions in these sets may only be used during a Castle Wars match.
&	Chinchompas can be deployed in timer or proximity mode. Proximity mode allows the chincompa to look for players on the opposite team exploding when it finds them. The damage affects any player within the area and will not give experience for the damage caused. In timer mode the chinchompa will run around until its timer expires at which point it will explode. You may only hold 3 chinchompas on you and only 10 chinchompas in total can be deployed at any one time (by yourself or your team). Chinchompas may only be used on the surface of Castle Wars, not in the under ground area. Chinchompas may not be sold back to Lanthus for tickets.

Development Team

Original
Content: Developer: Graham B Graphics: Graphics: Joe R, John S Quality Assurance: QA: Danny G Audio: Audio: Ian T
2010 Rework
Content: Developer: Tim C Graphics: Graphics: Alec V, Gurpreet K Quality Assurance: QA: Thomas H, Adam D, Liam H Audio: Audio: Sam J
2013 Rework
Content: Developer: Ashley S Designer: Kyle R, Tim F Graphics: Environments: Alan O'B, Matthew N Quality Assurance: Core Testers: (Project Lead:Richard D) Jamie B, Thomas H, Ben L Audio: Audio: Adam B, Ben L

Minigames

Single Player Minigames Brimhaven Agility Arena • Dominion Tower • Flash Powder Factory • Mage Training Arena • Player-Owned Ports • Pyramid Plunder • Squeal of Fortune Rewards • Temple Trekking / Burgh de Rott Ramble • TokHaar Fight Cauldron • TokHaar Fight Kiln • TzHaar Fight Cave • Vinesweeper Multi-player Minigames Barbarian Assault • Castle Wars • Clan Wars • Conquest • The Crucible • The Duel Arena • The Fishing Trawler • Fist of Guthix • Games Room • The Great Orb Project • Mobilising Armies • Pest Control • Shades of Mort'ton • Soul Wars • Stealing Creation • Trouble Brewing • TzHaar Fight Pit

Activities Minigames • Distractions & Diversions • Holiday Events • Random Events • Challenges • Achievements

Game Guide Game Play How do I get Started • Controls • Combat • Clans • Tasks The Game World Area Guides • History • The Races of RuneScape • Transportation • Terrain Survival Guide • Quests • Activities Other Items of Interest Enhancing the Game • Item Database • Makeover Guide • Pets • Crystal Item Guide • Guild Guide • RuneScape Classic • Rules of RuneScape

RuneScape Wiki Game Guide All you need to know, and more, about the game world. How to get started and how to develop your character. Support Centre Need help with your account? Perhaps the game won't run for you? Help can be found here. Scribbles & Sketches Artwork, fan fiction and arts and crafts are found in this section. The Community Hub Confused by templates or want to contribute but not sure what to do? Check here for details on the RuneScape Wiki editing community. Index Not sure where to start? Visit the index which lists all of the main pages in the wiki.

Categories: Members Content  | Content with templates that are no longer in use  | Content by Graham B  | Content by Tim C  | Content by Ashley S  | Minigames