Siege weapon



Siege weapons are a new feature in WoW PvP. They were added in the latest expanision, World of Warcraft: Wrath of the Lich King. They are pilotable vehicles meant to raze destructible buildings in the same effect as if you manage to kill the commander of an outpost in Alterac Valley.

Siege weapons are limited to the zone of Lake Wintergrasp and Strand of the Ancients. Siege weapons cannot move through water.

Different siege weapons exist for different races (though each one can be used by other races), and each type has different game mechanics. They are not owned or kept like mounts. All land-going siege weapons are slow moving. Some siege weapons can hold more than one player.

WotLK Siege weapons
In order to obtain a vehicle you must have a certain rank within the battleground. You obtain this by killing, but you lose your rank at the end of the game.

List of known playable siege weapons in Wrath of the Lich King:

Demolisher

 * This is the baseline vehicle upon which the rest are based. It has both short and long-range attacks and a ram attack. The vehicle can also carry up to 3 passengers as well as a driver. In this vehicle the passengers are exposed, allowing them to be targeted and attacked -- but also allowing them to do the same. The driver is also in control of both weapons.

Forsaken Catapult

 * This vehicle is much quicker than the Demolisher, with faster acceleration and quicker turning speed, but it doesn't have as long a range as the Demolisher and doesn't do quite as much damage. It also carries no passengers, but has a frontal flame attack. This is the lowest cost vehicle available.

Siege Vehicle

 * The hardest hitting and longest range vehicle of all, it carries a driver, gunner, and passengers. Unlike the Demolisher, the passengers are not exposed. The driver controls only a frontal ram attack, while the gunner is control of a fully mobile turret.

Flying Machine (NYI)

 * A flying vehicle that is very quick but fragile, making it ideal for transport. It is highly vulnerable to anti-air weaponry. Carries a pilot and a gunner.

Bomber (NYI)

 * A flying vehicle bomber variant that was not shown at WWI. It was only mentioned that it will carry both a bomber and pilot, allowing it to drop bombs over the battlefield.

Goblin Shredder (NYI)

 * An anti-air vehicle that fires rockets and can rocket boost into the air to reach air vehicles or jump over walls. It essentially acts as a personal armor suit — if the suit is destroyed, a player can jump out and keep fighting. It has a close-range melee attack but is vulnerable to siege vehicles.

History
While infantry and cavalry fight in close combat on the battlefield, siege weapons wage war across longer distances; catapults and trebuchets can drop explosive payloads on their targets with deadly accuracy. Enormous siege crossbows can hurl heavy iron bolts hundreds of feet to penetrate even the thickest armor.

Siege weapons are usually fielded only by armies, which are able to transport and maintain them. On occasion small groups such as the infamous Quarvel's Raiders have been known to use siege weapons to support lightning strikes on smaller targets.

Other siege weapons
These siege weapons appear in various parts of Warcraft lore or in games.

Orcs

 * Catapult
 * Demolisher
 * Blade thrower

Forsaken

 * Meat wagon
 * Forsaken catapult
 * Plague spreader
 * Plague tank

Blood elves

 * Blood elven ballista
 * Firestarter

Humans

 * Ballista
 * Battering ram
 * Human cannon
 * Siege crossbow
 * Trebuchet
 * Siege wagon

Dwarves

 * Mortar
 * Siege engine
 * Steam tanks
 * Dwarven flying machine

Gnomes

 * Spider tank
 * Gnomish flying machine

Night elves

 * Glaive thrower

Burning Legion

 * Fel cannon
 * Fel reaver
 * Infernal contraption

Goblins

 * Shredder
 * Zeppelin

Cut siege weapons
In World of Warcraft, most races have one or more types of nonfunctioning siege weapons stationed throughout their territories. It is unknown if these were an early stage of siege vehicle development or just decorations.

There were originally going to be "different siege weapons for different races". This hints at more types than were added, though the current types do not invalidate this.

Cut weapons include:


 * Meat Wagons
 * Plague Spreaders
 * Ballistae (Shown firing in the WotLK trailer.)

The first two may be early concepts of the Forsaken catapult, while the ballista may be just a basic example (athough some ballistae did become mobs.