What are Sieges in Black Desert Online?

Sieges (also called Conquest Wars) are Black Desert Online's weekly large-scale guild and alliance PvP, fought on Saturday nights over four conquerable territories. They split into two formats depending on the territory: Mediah and Valencia run as full castle sieges with no gear cap, while Balenos and Serendia run as scaled-up Construction Node Wars with bigger structures, walls, player counts, and a gear cap. Either way, Sieges are the most political and highest-stakes PvP in the game.

If you've spent time in BDO and noticed the giant fortresses on the world map at Mediah, Valencia, Balenos, or Serendia, you've already seen the prize. This guide walks through both Siege formats, when they run, who qualifies, and how they differ from BDO's nightly Node Wars.

When do Sieges happen?

Sieges run once a week, on Saturday night. Saturday is the only night reserved for Sieges — Node Wars run on the other six nights. For most committed guilds, this means seven nights of PvP a week with no rest day: Node Wars Sunday through Friday, then the Saturday Siege.

Each Siege lasts exactly two hours. The exact start time is set per region and visible on the World Map and in-game scheduling UI. Always check the latest patch notes or your region's official BDO site, since Pearl Abyss adjusts the schedule periodically.

One thing worth knowing about Siege scheduling: there's no Node War on Saturday. Pearl Abyss reserves the night so the Siege has the spotlight and so the format can be larger and longer than a nightly Node War. That doesn't mean Saturday is a day off — it just means Saturday's fight is the week's Siege rather than another Node War.

The two Siege formats

Before any other detail, this is the split that matters most. Each of the four siege territories runs in one of two formats.

Castle sieges — Mediah and Valencia (uncapped)

These are true castle sieges. The current castle owner is the defender; everyone else is an attacker. The objective isn't a clock — it's a points race triggered by a kill condition. Guilds earn points throughout the fight by killing:

• Enemy players — every kill counts toward your point total.
• Annexes — castle and guild-fielded structures that score points when destroyed.
• Other guilds — taking out a competing guild's core structures stacks points.

The castle changes hands when the current castle owner is killed. At that moment, whichever guild has accumulated the most points claims the castle. That's why points-pressure is the real game in castle sieges — even guilds that can't burst the owner directly compete to be the highest-pointed contender when the owner finally falls.

Mediah and Valencia have no gear cap. Bring your full kit.

Construction-style sieges — Balenos and Serendia (capped)

Balenos and Serendia run as scaled-up Construction Node Wars rather than castle sieges. The format is the same "last fort standing" loop as a regular Construction Node War, but with bigger structures, sturdier walls, and higher player counts. The mental model is "T2-style Construction with Siege budgets."

Balenos and Serendia are gear-capped, similar to T2 Node Wars. The cap and the construction-format objective together make these the bracket where mid-tier alliances actually have a chance — castle sieges at Mediah and Valencia favor uncapped megaguilds, while Balenos and Serendia stay competitive across a broader gear range.

Roster cap and qualification

Sieges are fielded at the alliance level. An alliance can hold a roster of up to 150 players total (typically multiple allied guilds combined), but only 100 of those players can be brought to the Siege itself. That 100-player cap applies whether the entity is a full alliance or a single guild sieging alone. Leadership has to pick which 100 of the 150 actually field on the night — class composition, gear, attendance, and politics all factor into the call.

Just as importantly, your guild has to qualify to participate. To enter a Siege, a guild must win at least one T2 or T3 Node War in the week leading up to that Saturday. No Node War win that week = no Siege seat. That qualification gate is part of why active alliances grind Node Wars hard mid-week — it's not just for the silver, it's the ticket to the Saturday board.

Forts, spawning, and equipment

Once qualified, guilds plant a siege fort just like they would in a Construction Node War. The fort can be placed at any time before the war up to a hard cutoff: one hour before the Siege starts. After that, the fort positions are locked.

When the Siege opens, every player on your guild or alliance spawns at their fort. The fort is your spawn point, your respawn point, and (in Balenos and Serendia) your win condition.

Around the fort, guilds build the same family of structures as in Node Wars — but stronger:

• Hwachas — significantly stronger than Node War hwachas. Stacked hwacha placement is one of the highest-leverage decisions in a Siege.
• Flame towers — also strengthened versus Node War versions. More damage, more area control.
• Elephants — capped at up to 3 per guild/alliance. The cap is part of the strategic puzzle: where you commit your elephants determines half the engagement plan.

The conquerable territories

There are four conquerable Siege territories in the current map. Each has its own format and gear ruleset:

• Mediah — castle siege, no gear cap. Mid-tier desert/mountain terrain. The Mediah holder also sets T2 and T3 Node War mode for the entire week, which is a major lever beyond the territory itself.
• Valencia — castle siege, no gear cap. Open desert terrain favors mobility and long-range coordination.
• Balenos — Construction-style siege, gear-capped. Coastal terrain, often the entry point for alliances building toward castle sieges.
• Serendia — Construction-style siege, gear-capped. Central forest terrain; often the most contested capped territory because of the geography.

Each territory has its own strategic value. Mediah's grip on T2 and T3 Node War formats makes it one of the most valuable holds even beyond the silver. Balenos and Serendia matter for mid-tier alliances who can't yet compete in uncapped castle sieges but still want a Siege seat on Saturday.

How Sieges differ from Node Wars

Both are guild PvP. But the experience is different enough that many guilds specialize in one or the other.

If Node Wars are the weekly grind, Sieges are the championship. Most competitive guilds field in both, but the prep for a Siege is closer to coordinating a small military operation than running a skirmish.

If you want the full breakdown of how Node Wars work specifically, see our Node Wars explainer.

What do you actually win?

Siege rewards follow the same structure as Node War rewards — just scaled way up. Saturday's payouts are the biggest in BDO's PvP economy, but the underlying buckets are the same as a nightly Node War.

Per-player silver (the main reward, scaled up)

Every player who participates in a Siege gets paid silver, with winners taking home meaningfully more than losers. The numbers are far larger than a Node War payout — the per-player silver is the single biggest motivator for most members showing up on Saturday night.

Guild funds (winners only, scaled up)

As with Node Wars, guild funds only flow from wins. Siege wins drop a much heavier deposit into the guild's coffers than any Node War, which is part of why competitive alliances treat Saturday like the week's biggest revenue night.

Conquest items and seasonal rewards

Pearl Abyss layers in rotating event rewards — boxes, gear coupons, costume items — that drop or get awarded based on Siege participation and outcome.

Prestige and recruitment

Less tangible but real. A guild or alliance that consistently holds Mediah or Valencia becomes the name on the server. Skilled players migrate toward winning alliances, recruitment gets easier, and other alliances take you more seriously at the negotiating table when ceasefires and joint pushes come up.

Who can participate in a Siege?

Sieges are gated by alliance, not by individual gear. To meaningfully participate, you need to:

1. Be in a guild that's part of an alliance declared on a Siege. A solo guild can technically declare on a small territory, but realistically Sieges are alliance-level content.
2. Hit the alliance's minimum gear floor. Each alliance sets its own standards. Top alliances expect competitive-tier gear; growing alliances are more forgiving.
3. Be available for Saturday night. Sieges run on Saturdays specifically. If you can't show up consistently on Saturday, you'll lose your roster slot.
4. Be on alliance voice comms. With up to 100 players on your side spread across multiple guilds, voice coordination across sub-teams is non-negotiable.

The political layer is real. Alliances form, break, and reform throughout the year. Officers spend serious time on diplomacy — securing ceasefires with stronger neighbors, brokering deals with potential allies, deciding when to escalate or stand down. This isn't just a fight; it's a strategic chessboard played at the alliance level.

How alliances prepare for a Siege

The prep loop for a Siege is the prep loop for a Node War — but at 5x the complexity.

Earlier in the week

• Qualification grind. Officers prioritize at least one T2 or T3 Node War win earlier in the week — without it, the guild can't participate in Saturday's Siege.
• Target decisions. Alliance leadership picks which Siege territory to contest. Is the alliance going for an uncapped castle siege at Mediah or Valencia, or a capped Construction-style siege at Balenos or Serendia?
• Diplomatic coordination. Officers reach out to neighboring alliances to confirm ceasefires, negotiate splits, or coordinate joint pushes.
• Roster confirmation. Each member guild submits its roster to the alliance leadership. The 100-of-150 cut, class composition, gear minimums, and named roles (shot-callers, flag carriers, elephant pilots) get assigned.
• Equipment inventory. Hwachas, flame towers, and up to three elephants per guild/alliance cost guild funds. Officers confirm the supply chain.
• Fort placement. The siege fort can be planted any time before the war up to one hour before Siege start. After that, positions are locked.

Siege night

• Pre-war alliance meeting. All member guilds join a shared voice channel an hour or more before the war. Alliance leadership briefs the plan and confirms the 100-player field roster.
• Spawn at the fort. When the Siege opens, every player on your side spawns at the guild/alliance fort that was planted before the cutoff. From there, the engagement plan unfolds.
• Build phase. The opening minutes are spent placing annexes, hwachas, flame towers, and elephants around the fort. Position determines half the outcome.
• Engagement. Shot-callers run multiple sub-channels — main push, flank, defense, supply, scouts. Calls fly. Most members hear only their sub-channel.
• Endgame. In castle sieges (Mediah/Valencia), the points race tightens and committed alliances try to time their kill on the current castle owner. In construction-style sieges (Balenos/Serendia), the last fort standing wins.

After the Siege

• Scoreboard review. Officers screenshot the in-game results. Kills, deaths, and participation get logged per member.
• Alliance debrief. Leadership shares what worked and what didn't with the member guilds.
• Payout distribution. Per-player silver and guild funds (for winners) get distributed according to the alliance's internal payout system.

Many alliances track results across weeks to identify which members consistently show up, which classes are pulling their weight, and which guild within the alliance is over- or under-performing. Officers do this with screenshots and shared spreadsheets, or with tools like CritIQ that automate the war-results capture — but the underlying principle is the same: alliances that measure improve faster than those that don't.

Common Siege mistakes

• Treating Sieges like a bigger Node War. They aren't. The coordination layer is structurally different — if you bring Node War habits to a Siege, you'll get steamrolled.
• Ignoring siege equipment. Players who only focus on personal duels are missing half the game. Stacked hwachas, flame towers, and your three elephants decide more Sieges than 1v1 fights do.
• Voice chat undisciplined. With up to 100 players on comms, anyone clutter-spamming will get muted. Listen first, talk second.
• Showing up without a sub-team assignment. If your alliance hasn't told you which sub-channel you're on and what your role is, ask before the war starts.
• Underestimating diplomacy. Some Sieges are decided by which alliances don't show up against you, not by which ones do.
• Burnout. Sieges are long and exhausting. Members who treat every weekend as do-or-die wash out within a season. Pace yourself.

Frequently asked questions

How long does a Siege last?

Exactly 2 hours, every Saturday night.

How often do Sieges happen?

Once a week, on Saturday night. Saturday is the only night reserved for Sieges — Node Wars run on the other six nights.

Do I need to qualify to participate in a Siege?

Yes. Your guild has to win at least one T2 or T3 Node War in the week leading up to that Saturday's Siege. No Node War win that week = no Siege seat.

How big is the Siege battlefield roster?

The alliance roster pool can hold up to 150 players, but only 100 of them can actually be brought to the Siege itself. Leadership picks the 100 who field on the night.

What are the two Siege formats?

Mediah and Valencia run as castle sieges — points-based fights, uncapped gear, with the castle changing hands when the current owner is killed and the highest-pointed contender claims it. Balenos and Serendia run as scaled-up Construction Node Wars — last fort standing, gear-capped, with stronger structures and walls than a regular Node War.

Do I need to be in an alliance to siege?

For practical purposes, yes. A single guild can technically run its own 100-player Siege, but the meaningful Sieges are fielded at the alliance level (multiple allied guilds rostering together up to the 150-player pool).

What's the difference between a Node War and a Siege?

Schedule, scale, qualification, and stakes. Node Wars run nightly (6 nights a week), don't require qualification, and have rosters that scale by node. Sieges run only on Saturdays, require a T2 or T3 Node War win that week to qualify, cap rosters at 100 from a 150-player alliance pool, and offer the same reward buckets as Node Wars but scaled way up. See our Node Wars explainer for the full breakdown of that side of the system.

Can I do Sieges on multiple territories?

No — your alliance declares on one territory at a time. You fight in whichever Siege your alliance committed to.

What gear do I need for Sieges?

It depends on the territory. Balenos and Serendia are gear-capped, so the floor is more accessible. Mediah and Valencia are uncapped, so the effective floor is whatever competitive alliances are bringing — significantly higher. Each alliance also enforces its own gear minimum on top of the territory rules.

Do I get rewards if my alliance loses?

Yes — every participating player gets silver, win or lose. Winners get more per-player silver, and the winning guild also pulls in guild funds (losers don't).

Do guilds do both Node Wars and Sieges?

Most committed guilds run all seven nights: Node Wars Sunday through Friday, plus the Saturday Siege. There's no enforced rest day. The weekly time commitment for a competitive alliance can run 10+ hours including prep and debrief, so pace yourself — but the system is designed to support guilds that field every single night.

Are Sieges worth doing if I'm casual?

Yes, but pick your alliance carefully. The hardcore alliances expect heavy commitment. There are casual-friendly alliances that field smaller Sieges with lower expectations — just be honest about your availability when you join.

The bigger picture

Sieges are the apex of BDO's PvP scene. They're slower-moving, more political, and more rewarding than anything else in the game. Most servers have a small handful of alliances that consistently contest top territory, and those alliances build a name across the server that shapes how the rest of the week's PvP unfolds.

If you've been playing BDO and wondering what's actually at stake when you see the daily map flip, the answer is on Saturday night. Sieges are where it happens.

If you haven't read it yet, the companion piece in this series covers the nightly version of guild PvP: what Node Wars are and how they differ from Sieges.