Potions can be very useful in game, at least in my experience. Most of the beginner potions are going to add +10 to a stat for 5-10 minutes. If you compare that to level 5 gear, you're talking about being able to add a bonus comparable to two or three pieces of armor that all buff the same stat. Want to heal? Beginner potions will give you a quick recharge of +250 hp if you know where to get the materials. Overall it appears that Mythic intends apothecary to be the number one utility crafting skill. If you don't want to invest a lot of time in raising it, you don't have to: every merchant who sells apothecary supplies sells enough materials for you to grind out restoration potions.
What you need:
Every potion has 3 basic components. First you have to have some sort of container. The basic container is a used glass vial, which costs 5 brass at a vendor. You also need a main ingredient, these can be purchased at a basic vendor as well. Vendors in the low-level towns will have elvish parsley for recovery (heal over time potion) and bear claws for strength. There are also some intelligence materials I believe. Bear in mind that as you progress in level, the quality and type of ingredients vendors provide will change. Finally, you have three slots where you can add additional components. When first starting out, don't waste your time adding anything other than cloudy water. Again: until you get your skill to 25 adding anything other than cloudy water to your potions is a waste of materials that will be helpful later. Simply put, you don't yet have the skill to make more than one potion at a time, and you don't have the materials to make potions that last longer than 5 minutes.
How to get it:
There are two gathering skills that contribute items usable as a main ingredient. Butchering will give you main ingredients as well as some ingredients with varying miscellaneous effects (stabilizing effects appear to be the most common). Cultivating will allow you to grow plants and fungi which can then be used to create potions. Which is better? Well each has its benefits. Butchering is great because if you know where an animal spawns you have an unlimited supply of an ingredient, provided you are willing to farm long enough to build up your stock. However, butchering's strength is also its main weakness: you have to have animals to butcher, which means higher-level components will not be available right away, even if your skill would be high enough to harvest them. Cultivation is the more peaceful alternative to butchering. I've found that every monster component has an equivalent plant. But it's worth noting that each skill point you want to raise in cultivation will take approximately 90 seconds. Butchering an animal has a duration of 5 seconds. This means that while cultivation requires nothing other than seeds, it takes much much longer to raise skill in cultivation compared to butchering. However as far as I can tell butchering has nearly nothing to contribute to dyes; I am reluctant to comment any further on this because my experience with dye-making is non-existent.
How to get good potions quickly:
Here's how I did it, which may not be the best way, but it got me to making some good potions after about 15 minutes of skill-raising. First off, you're not going to be able to use any green ingredient you have until your skill is at least 25 (this may change, I'll explain more later). Your best bet for getting skill from 1 to 25 is to simply figure out what potion will benefit you most from the ingredients available at the vendor, and then just get enough materials to make this potion 25 times. Remember you only need the main ingredient, a used glass vial and some cloudy water at this point. After buying 25 of these three items, open up your skills by pressing 'V', then select apothecary from the top of the alphabetized list under the general skills tab (it's the hammer icon on the far right).
The Apothecary Screen:
As you can see, apothecary is pretty intuitive once you know where to get ingredients. The screen has 5 slots, with each one clearly marked as to what goes there. On the right side is a little bar which you can pretty much ignore. What you want to pay attention to is the text at the bottom which will read one of three things: 1. This potion is unstable (will definitely fail) 2. This potion is volatile (may succeed) 3. This potion is stable (will definitely succeed). At this point, every potion you make will be volatile. That's okay, because that's the best you can do with only cloudy water**.
Here's where WAR crafting deviates from other MMOs you may be familiar with. As far as I can tell, each main ingredient has a set 'stability value'. If the items you have in your three additional slots do not provide enough stability to meet that required 'stability value', any attempted potion with that ingredient will always fail no matter how many times you try. As a correlate to this, any potion which is volatile but succeeds will always succeed and produce a potion.
**: Volatile potions have a small disclaimer stating that they may produce a negative effect, but at the time of this writing the chance of this happening is negligible enough for it to be ignored. I have used scores of volatile potions, and have yet for one to backfire and produce a negative effect.
Sep 17, 2008
High Elf Starter Guide
As a member of the Phoenix King's army, you are tasked with defending the lands from the invading Dark Elves, your twisted mirror images who seek to use the magic resources you hold for their own dark purposes. Launching a noble defense, you seek to preserve the peace and civilization of the High Elves, and keep the powerful items you have at your disposal from falling into the hands of your misguided kin.
You'll start out at the Blighted Isle, under siege by the massive invading Dark Elf forces.
You'll start out at the Blighted Isle, under siege by the massive invading Dark Elf forces.
What Ivory Tower?
Turn around and talk to your first quest NPC, Silvshara Greywind. She'll give you your first quest, Sins of the Past, which will send you on your way to kill . You'll also get the High Elf unlock.
Turn around and talk to your first quest NPC, Silvshara Greywind. She'll give you your first quest, Sins of the Past, which will send you on your way to kill . You'll also get the High Elf unlock.
These "ninjas" you speak of have nothing on us.
Turn around and go over the makeshift barricade to Moonrise Forest to the west. You'll find plenty of Dark Sprites, so kill them, unlock Imp, and go back to Silvshara, who will complete your quest and give you a new one, Necessary Regret. This time around, you're to engage in battle with the scouts of the dark elves, and kill a few of the Dark Elf Infiltrator mobs in the forest. Go back out into the forest again and go further west to find some infiltrators to slay, getting the Dark Elf unlock as well. Once you have enough, go back to Silvshara, who will give you a quest to find Prince Eldrion.
Before you leave, don't forget to go to Career Trainer Lyndriel Flameleaf. Get some Core Training under your belt, then take the road southeast out of the camp and down. On the way, you'll see an Eagle's Claw Crewman, who will ask for your help via a quest called to kill haripes with an Eagle's Claw. Man the shooter and take aim at the to kill them. Afterwards, talk to the crewman again, who will update The Eagle's Claw with a quest to find Prince Eldrion, who we're on the way to find anyway.
Proceed southeast along the road until you run into a Shining Warguard, who has the repeatable quest , which you can complete by participating in the Khaine's Embrace scenario (we'll get into that at the end of this guide). Move ahead to Prince Eldrion as you discover Calumel. He'll complete your quests and give you a ton more. The quests include The Brides of Khaine, to kill Arkaneth Witch Elf mobs, another to kill Arkaneth Harpy mobs, and A Difficult Choice, which sends you to Calumel proper to administer a salve to a Wounded Calumel Citizen.
After getting all of these, it's time to start knocking them out. Go up the path and southwest first and kill enough harpies to finish that quest, then head northeast across the bridge and kill Witch Elves until your quest is complete for them as well. Go northeast and down as the path dips and you'll find the wounded citizens you'll need to complete the last of your quests for now. Head back to Prince Eldrion to turn these in. You'll get Shadows of War, to head down southeast to find Sariel Keenbow. Before you leave, talk to the Career Trainer here, to train if you've gained a rank, but also to unlock Shining Guard. After this, head southeast and you'll get to Azurewood Forest and the next camp.
High Elves - the masters of making things shiny.
Start off at this new hub by going ahead to Laretha the Sun Mage, who will give you the quest Predators, which will send you to kill Cold Ones in the forest. Right next to her, a Kill Collector will give you credit for killing all the Dark Elves you have so far. Go just to the left and back to find the Rally Master in the area. Rally Masters set bind points and give you rewards based on influence gained by completing Public Quests (we'll get to one of those at the end of this guide). Finally, turn around and head back to find Sariel, who will complete the quest the brought you here and give you a quest asking you to do some scouting and get some reports on the enemy.
Let's take care of the Predators quest first. Head into the forest and find enough Cold Ones to kill to complete your quest, unlocking the Cold One entry. Go back to Laretha, and she'll complete this quest and give you two more - Tears of Lileath, which sends you to the Halls of Lileath to get the Tears after triggering four tomes, and Tireless Honor, which sends you to the east to relieve a from fighting.
Head southeast out of the camp and you'll run into a Dwarf, Grunda. She'll ask for your help and give you the quest Reluctant Hand, to get some Azure-rock from the forest for her. Go back towards the camp and right before the entrance, you should see a path leading up to the right. Go up this path to the top, then south to talk to the Keenbow Scout to get the Arkaneth Barracks Reports. Go back north all the way on this lookout point and talk to the scout there to get the Black Ark Reports, finishing your quest for them. From here, you'll be able to see the Halls of Lileath, where you'll need to go to finish more quests.
Start off at this new hub by going ahead to Laretha the Sun Mage, who will give you the quest Predators, which will send you to kill Cold Ones in the forest. Right next to her, a Kill Collector will give you credit for killing all the Dark Elves you have so far. Go just to the left and back to find the Rally Master in the area. Rally Masters set bind points and give you rewards based on influence gained by completing Public Quests (we'll get to one of those at the end of this guide). Finally, turn around and head back to find Sariel, who will complete the quest the brought you here and give you a quest asking you to do some scouting and get some reports on the enemy.
Let's take care of the Predators quest first. Head into the forest and find enough Cold Ones to kill to complete your quest, unlocking the Cold One entry. Go back to Laretha, and she'll complete this quest and give you two more - Tears of Lileath, which sends you to the Halls of Lileath to get the Tears after triggering four tomes, and Tireless Honor, which sends you to the east to relieve a from fighting.
Head southeast out of the camp and you'll run into a Dwarf, Grunda. She'll ask for your help and give you the quest Reluctant Hand, to get some Azure-rock from the forest for her. Go back towards the camp and right before the entrance, you should see a path leading up to the right. Go up this path to the top, then south to talk to the Keenbow Scout to get the Arkaneth Barracks Reports. Go back north all the way on this lookout point and talk to the scout there to get the Black Ark Reports, finishing your quest for them. From here, you'll be able to see the Halls of Lileath, where you'll need to go to finish more quests.
A touching scene...for a place under siege by hated enemies.
Go back down the path the way you came and descend once again. Make a hard right and go back to the camp to turn in the Reports quest to Sariel, who will give you two more quests. The first is Ignoble Weapons, which directs you to kill some Reaper Bolt Throwers, and Decisive Imbalance, which has you killing s in Azurewood. You should be able to talk to Hans Schuler in camp as well to get the Empire unlock and another quest, Silencing Hans, which has you traveling to a Chaos encampment to burn accursed tomes.
Head out of the camp and search around for Azure-rock for your quest with Grunda. When you finish and turn it in to her, she gives you an update to Reluctant Hand by giving you a bomb to set off near the Black Ark. Proceed southeast from here and kill Arkaneth Warriors and Reapers to fulfill your quest there. Go southwest and you'll find the Chaos encampment to burn the tomes. After this, go northeast up the path and follow it until you find the Halls of Lileath. Go into the square and kill all the dark elves attacking Geran Mournfire and talk to him afterwrards to fulfill your Mournfire quest.
Turning to the right, you'll see the entrance to the Halls of Lileath. Proceed down the staircase and wander through to dead ends where scrolls are located. Once all four are activated, you should be able to get the Tears to appear. Retrieve two of them and head up and out of the Halls.
Proceed north, and you'll run into the area's public quest, which you can participate in. But before that, get close enough to the Black Ark landing so you can see the path leading up to it, then open your inventory. Click on the gold quest tab and right click the keg Grunda gave you to set it off, completing that quest.
Go back down the path the way you came and descend once again. Make a hard right and go back to the camp to turn in the Reports quest to Sariel, who will give you two more quests. The first is Ignoble Weapons, which directs you to kill some Reaper Bolt Throwers, and Decisive Imbalance, which has you killing s in Azurewood. You should be able to talk to Hans Schuler in camp as well to get the Empire unlock and another quest, Silencing Hans, which has you traveling to a Chaos encampment to burn accursed tomes.
Head out of the camp and search around for Azure-rock for your quest with Grunda. When you finish and turn it in to her, she gives you an update to Reluctant Hand by giving you a bomb to set off near the Black Ark. Proceed southeast from here and kill Arkaneth Warriors and Reapers to fulfill your quest there. Go southwest and you'll find the Chaos encampment to burn the tomes. After this, go northeast up the path and follow it until you find the Halls of Lileath. Go into the square and kill all the dark elves attacking Geran Mournfire and talk to him afterwrards to fulfill your Mournfire quest.
Turning to the right, you'll see the entrance to the Halls of Lileath. Proceed down the staircase and wander through to dead ends where scrolls are located. Once all four are activated, you should be able to get the Tears to appear. Retrieve two of them and head up and out of the Halls.
Proceed north, and you'll run into the area's public quest, which you can participate in. But before that, get close enough to the Black Ark landing so you can see the path leading up to it, then open your inventory. Click on the gold quest tab and right click the keg Grunda gave you to set it off, completing that quest.
Now that's what I call a kegger.
Afterwards, head back south and back the way you came to the camp, making your way back to the red circles on your map. You can complete your quest with Grunda on the way back (and repeat it if you like), and go back to the camp to turn in the rest of your quests. You're on your way to defending the lands against your evil kin!
House Arkaneth has three stages:
Afterwards, head back south and back the way you came to the camp, making your way back to the red circles on your map. You can complete your quest with Grunda on the way back (and repeat it if you like), and go back to the camp to turn in the rest of your quests. You're on your way to defending the lands against your evil kin!
House Arkaneth has three stages:
- Stage 1 has you killing the Arkaneth soldiers defending the Spires.
- Stage 2 has you defending the Shining Guard as they set up Eagle's Claw weapons to take down the invading Dark Elf force.
- Stage 3 pits you against a Beastmaster and his pet Hydra in a final battle of wills to decide the victor!
The area's scenario is Khaine's Embrace, where you can potentially get unlocks for Greenskin and Chaos by killing them in combat.
- The objective of the scenario is to control the two points on the map for a period of 10 seconds, after which an explosion will kill everyone in the area and reset everything.
- There is a point on each side of the map with a connecting tunnel in the center, although there are multiple paths to take to get to the opposing team's point.
- It's possible to avoid the explosion that happens after two points are taken. Simply take cover a fair distance away and you'll survive the blast, allowing you to re-take a point quickly without waiting for a respawn.
Warhammer Disciple of Khaine Video
Warhammer Online has release a new video on the Warhammer Disciple of Khaine. Paul Barnett explains the class and what the developers wanted for the disciple career.
The Warhammer Disciple is a healer and a buffer at its core. However, the Warhammer developers have tried their best to make sure the disciple is not just a heal bot. The Warhammer Online disciple will need to be standing toe to toe with the enemy in order to heal. He will be a meleeing healer.
Here is a full review of Warhammer Disciple of Khaine.
Check out this Warhammer Disciple of Khaine Video.
The Warhammer Disciple is a healer and a buffer at its core. However, the Warhammer developers have tried their best to make sure the disciple is not just a heal bot. The Warhammer Online disciple will need to be standing toe to toe with the enemy in order to heal. He will be a meleeing healer.
Here is a full review of Warhammer Disciple of Khaine.
Check out this Warhammer Disciple of Khaine Video.
World of Warcraft player's guide to Warhammer Online
Whether or not you see many similarities between Blizzard's epically popular title and Mythic's Warhammer Online, the reality is that World of Warcraft players are going to feel very comfortable in the brand-new game. Much of the framework that has made the world of Azeroth so successful over the last four years is in full force within Warhammer.
Questing as a central component to leveling, an intuitive user interface, and combat very much like that found in Warcraft are all going to be great handrails to incoming players.There are plenty of MMO players (rightly) curious about what kind of game Mythic has created for them. For the curious Azerothian citizen, despite the familiar handholds, there are a number of big differences and additional features you're just not going to have experience with. Warhammer's a brand new world, with a lot of different sights, cultures, and expectations. To help you out as a brand new WAR player, we've compiled a guide to ease that transition, in the same tradition as our guides to Age of Conan and Guild Wars. WoW players, welcome to a brand new world ... one without gnomes!
Did you enjoy this? Make sure to check out all of our previous Warhammer Online features, and don't miss any of our ongoing coverage as Massively goes to WAR!
World SettingAs a WoW player, you're going to have to put aside a lot of your preconceptions about lore and setting when coming into Warhammer Online. Despite the obvious DNA the two worlds share, Stormwind is a very different place than the battle-scarred walls of Altdorf. Put off any expectations you have about what kind of fantasy game Warhammer is, and just read your quests as you go. The world of Warhammer is a great one ... it's what Azeroth is built on, at that. Here are some of the biggest differences a WoW veteran will probably notice:
WAR is low fantasy. Magic is obviously a powerful force in Warhammer, and several classes sling it around like hash at a buffet, but generally the world is much grittier and brutal than what we see in Warcraft.
One faction is evil. No, actually evil, not just 'misunderstood'. The Orcs want to eat babies, the Dark Elves are sadists, and the Chaos Marauders want everyone dead or corrupted. You are playing a very bad person if you fight for Destruction.
The humans are deeply religious. The worship of Sigmar is a driving force for their culture, and religiosity is present in the game in a way very much absent from Warcraft. Not that this doesn't make the humans virtuous - in truth, they're every bit as conniving as the residents of Stormwind.
War is now. In Warcraft, the war has been over for a bit. The world as a whole is in a state of relative peace, though there are obviously plenty of border skirmishes and political problems. In Warhammer what little peace and prosperity people can find is beset on all sides by violence. There are famines, plagues, and war is everywhere.
Sep 3, 2008
Warhammer Online Preview Weekend Update - The Update
Details on what they're going to fix/improve/patch/add to Warhammer Online has been posted over at Warhammer Alliance by Marc of Mythic Entertainment.
Folks,
Well, things have been, as usual, busy here at Mythic so I have lots of news to share. So, without further ado and no SNL references, here's the update on my update:
1) Significantly improved NPC pathing - Okay, in all fairness it wouldn't have taken much to improve on what we showed you folks during the PW. However, the NPC pathing is back to where it needs to be and while it still isn't perfect, well, it's a heck of a lot closer than it was just a short time ago. We identified a whole lot of bugs and squashed them.
2) Improved pet commands and responsivness - Well, pretty much same as above. Pets will no longer act as if obeying an order from you was the last thing in this world that they wanted to do.
3) Fixed an issue with textures blurring - Nothing like looking at textures through a blurred lens to make things look really sharp eh? Major improvements in and more OTW.
4) Enhanced Global Cooldown Mechanic - Well, for one the GCD actually shows the correct cooldown time and not the rounded up cooldown time (Hey, what a great idea, let's make it seem slower than it is. WOOT!). The slop timer is working fine right now and we'll continue to look at making the GCD and combat in general more responsive.
5) Continuing to improve Client Stability - As always, lots of fixes going in here. The client is supposed to be more stable (and looks like it so far) but until we get the masses back in...
6) Added new Graphics Settings and seeking more feedback from testers to guide future improvements. You asked for it, you got it. Well, in all fairness we were going to put these in anyway but it never hurts to nudge us a bit at times.
7) Target Nearest Target improved - Yeah! One of my pet peeves addressed.
8) Renown Gear changes and Potency of Potions increased. Tweaking, adding, subtracting, in other words (don't say "nerf", we're still in beta!) balancing.
9) Increased bonus for medal winners in PQs. PQs are supposed to be fun, joyous and not grindy. We'll continue tweaking and changing them wherever we need to do that to make it so #1. (okay, a ST reference)
10) Added more loot bags in Tier 1 PQs - Boy, it's going to be rather crowded when we launch so we just upped the loot for the Tier 1 PQs. We'll do the same to T2 as needed. And when the rush is over, we'll tweak downwards.
So, in terms of some other good stuff, lots and lots and lots of bugs fixed and lots of new stuff added to the ToK. But wait, there's more and we'll address some of it next week as well as more coming info in the next update.
Oh, and there's still no such thing as a miracle patch so don't expect one here. Just a ton of fixes, additions and adjustments. We have another major patch coming as well before launch. We don't believe in miracle patches (miracle whip is a whole other subject) here at Mythic but simply hard work and a talented team.
Much respect to my team that is really doing one heck of a job getting things ready for launch.
Warhammer Online Goes Gold
Warhammer Online: Age of Reckoning has gone gold, meaning the development stage is completed and the game is now ready for duplication. The highly-anticipated MMORPG from Mythic Entertainment will officially launch on September 18 for a retail price of $49.99.
Warhammer Online is the highly-anticipated MMORPG based on the popular Games Workshop tabletop game. IGN recently awarded it the best MMORPG of E3. Vice President of EA and General Manager of Mythic Entertainment Mark Jacobs was very enthusiastic about the gold announcement. "We've done our best to create the next great MMORP experience, but it's the fans that will bring our world to life."
Warhammer Online is the highly-anticipated MMORPG based on the popular Games Workshop tabletop game. IGN recently awarded it the best MMORPG of E3. Vice President of EA and General Manager of Mythic Entertainment Mark Jacobs was very enthusiastic about the gold announcement. "We've done our best to create the next great MMORP experience, but it's the fans that will bring our world to life."
Age of Reckoning can it Protect its Gold?
Warhammer online is scheduled for release on September 18, 2008. Will it, like every other massively multiplayer online role playing game with an exchange barter system, be suck susceptible to gold farmers? Time will only tell but if the past predicts the future the possibility is high.
There are numerous reasons too for others to make a buck from MMORPGs like warhammer. The main being that people will buy from you and or trade for what they are selling. If a gamer doesn’t want to tediously go through building up the gold to buy that special item they want they could just buy it from someone for real money. The same goes for power leveling, you want that high level character now, and well you could by him from somebody that is willing to part with their leveled up toon, for a sometimes unreasonable price.
This practice has been going on ever since it could be done. For Everquest, another MMORPG, there was so much selling of in-game items for real cash that the BBC did a report that with a exchange rate of game currency to real money that everquest would be the 77th richest country in the world. The developers for EQ made a plea for eBay to stop putting up such trade auctions. This has lead to many specialty sites dedicated to game to real currency exchange. Will Warhammer have the same issue?
Not only with EV is there seen to be a problem between fiction game gold to real money exchanges. In early 2006, Square Enix of final fantasy found that a group of players had found out a way to generate game currency and exchange it for real currency, which, drove up prices for all items across the game, In response, 700 accounts were permanently banned and 300 billion gil (final fantasy’s take one money), was removed from circulation.
In response to more and more of these types of fictional gold for real currency from other developers has been varied but altogether a bit futile, for there are more sellers and buyers then there ever were. Square Enix has declared that the trade of items for real currency is officially a violation of the Terms of Service for Final Fantasy XI. In July 2006, Square Enix banned or suspended over 8,000 other accounts for manipulation and commerce. As of 2006, Square Enix has regularly banned accounts found to be in violation of the Terms of Service, some using third-party tools, removing billions of gil from the in-game economy. EQ seems to have taken “if you can’t beat them join them approach, in that EverQuest 2 launched “Station Exchange” servers in July 2005. The program provides buying in-game items for real money from fellow players for a nominal fee.
With all the in game trades and selling form real to fake money from all the other MMOPG’s out there one has to wonder if Warhammer is prepared for it. What will it do in response to the possibility of selling in game gold and turning it into green cash? So suggest to Usfine.com to buy Warhammer Online Gold !
There are numerous reasons too for others to make a buck from MMORPGs like warhammer. The main being that people will buy from you and or trade for what they are selling. If a gamer doesn’t want to tediously go through building up the gold to buy that special item they want they could just buy it from someone for real money. The same goes for power leveling, you want that high level character now, and well you could by him from somebody that is willing to part with their leveled up toon, for a sometimes unreasonable price.
This practice has been going on ever since it could be done. For Everquest, another MMORPG, there was so much selling of in-game items for real cash that the BBC did a report that with a exchange rate of game currency to real money that everquest would be the 77th richest country in the world. The developers for EQ made a plea for eBay to stop putting up such trade auctions. This has lead to many specialty sites dedicated to game to real currency exchange. Will Warhammer have the same issue?
Not only with EV is there seen to be a problem between fiction game gold to real money exchanges. In early 2006, Square Enix of final fantasy found that a group of players had found out a way to generate game currency and exchange it for real currency, which, drove up prices for all items across the game, In response, 700 accounts were permanently banned and 300 billion gil (final fantasy’s take one money), was removed from circulation.
In response to more and more of these types of fictional gold for real currency from other developers has been varied but altogether a bit futile, for there are more sellers and buyers then there ever were. Square Enix has declared that the trade of items for real currency is officially a violation of the Terms of Service for Final Fantasy XI. In July 2006, Square Enix banned or suspended over 8,000 other accounts for manipulation and commerce. As of 2006, Square Enix has regularly banned accounts found to be in violation of the Terms of Service, some using third-party tools, removing billions of gil from the in-game economy. EQ seems to have taken “if you can’t beat them join them approach, in that EverQuest 2 launched “Station Exchange” servers in July 2005. The program provides buying in-game items for real money from fellow players for a nominal fee.
With all the in game trades and selling form real to fake money from all the other MMOPG’s out there one has to wonder if Warhammer is prepared for it. What will it do in response to the possibility of selling in game gold and turning it into green cash? So suggest to Usfine.com to buy Warhammer Online Gold !
Warhammer The Melee DPS Survival Guide
Welcome to the MDPS survival guide! The current version is beta version 0.3.0, for Warhammer Closed Beta patch 3.3. This guide will be regularly updated as new relevant information is made available.
This guide exists to help users of the Melee Damage (MDPS) archetype, which includes the White Lion, Witch Hunter, Marauder, and Witch Elf classes, gain a better understanding of how "Pick Up Groups" (PUGs), which are unorganized groups of players, function and how to be successful within one of those groups. Users will find plenty basic tips and strategies that have been successfully tested and used on the battlefield. Users will not find comprehensive mathematical breakdowns and exact strategies for each class.
It has always been my hope and sincerest wish that users of this guide learn something and become better players. I hope you, the reader, enjoy this guide and do, in fact, learn something!
The Types of Combat
In Warhammer Online, and indeed most MMOs in general, there are four basic types of "PUG" (Pick Up Group), which is to say- unorganized, combat. What I mean by unorganized is that the players on each side are a random assortment of players that don't have a set plan in mind and are often very uncoordinated. They either never gain a plan, or they have to just make it up as they go along. The four basic types of PUG combat are:
Large Group, aka "Zerg"
The term zerg refers to a race in the strategy game "Starcraft." The main tactic for this race was not getting the best units or technologies, but instead the race was all about getting as many units onto the battlefield at one time...whether the units are very effective or not. Therefore, the "zerg" has come to be a term meaning "a very large, unorganized mass of players." When in a zerg situation, MDPS are at their very weakest. It is difficult for them to cross the field and do anything meaningful before they are gunned down by the large mass of ranged players.
Medium Group
A medium group could be loosely defined as 7-18 players. This size of group will most commonly be encountered in scenarios. MDPS fair surprisingly well in this situation, as long as the player understands some basic principles. "The Flow of Battle," my original guide, as well as the chapter with the same name, address this situation.
Small Group
Approximately 2-5 players. This is when MDPS are at their strongest. MDPS typically have the damage power to kill most healers and ranged damage (RDPS) classes by themselves, and the offense threats against them are at a minimum in this situation.
Solo
1v1 combat. MDPS are very strong here as well, but don't fair as well as melee healers like Warrior-Priests and Disciples.
Basic Tips for Any Combat Situation
There are some basic things that will greatly improve your chances of success as a MDPS, no matter your combat situation.
Have a healer friend.
This is listed first for a reason! Cherish them as much as they should cherish you. In a tier 1 game having a healer would mean the difference from a game with 10 kills and 10k damage to a game of 18 kills and 35k damage. I prefer the ranged healers of any type as you can use your snare to peel enemies off them. The ranged healers also further improve your magic resistances with the appropriate buff...which is GREAT to have (always ask for resist buff over strength buff, trust me and tell them politely to use it on themselves!). Don't underestimate the power of having a melee healer with you though (especially if they have a tank friend to guard them!). Their armor buff is extremely helpful.
Know your enemy.
First, know that your biggest enemy is other melee. You have light or medium armor with only about 25% damage mitigation. A defensive tank gets up to 70% mitigation, an offensive tank 45%ish mitigation. That's a big difference! Second: know that ranged healers stand no chance against you. Last, know that if you start a fight in melee range against an RDPS, it's pretty much over for them as well.
Know thyself.
You're mainly a skirmisher...a caster killer. You're not built to stay on the front lines like a tank. Get in, get your kill, and get out if you're going to take hits.
Situational Awareness
This is basically being aware of your surroundings. Very often it is wise to pan your camera around to check if you're about to be flanked, or what your enemy is about to do. Don't get too caught up in the frenzy of battle.
Stick Together
Never run strait into the zerg unless all the melee run in together. You will get tab targeted and focused down unless there are other melee (especially a shield tank) to absorb part of the damage for you. Running in all together is very effective, but takes some coordination that most pug groups aren't willing to display.
Gear and Statistics
For a list of formulas regarding gear and statistics, reference here.
The most important stats on gear, in my personal preference order (I say it this way because it's bound to be debated), are:
Resists - You're a caster killer, and they don't like to see you coming! Resists are very important for your survival. Even the "physical" ranged damage: Shadow Warriors, Engineers, and Squig Herders, are equipped with a number of skills that are based on resists. Do not spend RPs on increasing resists though. All your resists should come through gear and buffs from friends.
Armor - Realistically, armor is soft capped by the type you wear and so increasing it isn't always possible. Still, you want armor as your biggest enemy is other melee. Having a melee healer (Warrior-Priest or Disciple) in your group that runs the armor buff helps significantly. I would not spend your RPs on increasing armor, increase it through gear or buffs from friends.
Strength - You're a damage class. Strength improves your damage. Makes sense! But wait Duty, I'm a Witch Hunter and have ranged skills, shouldn't I stack Ballistic? No. WHs have a very high base Ballistic skill. Mythic gave them this so their stat spread wouldn't be too crazy. Stack strength as a Witch Hunter just as you would other classes. Strength is where the majority of RPs should be spent.
Toughness - Per point, in my opinion, resists/armor offer a lot more survivability increase, but you can only get so much of those. Toughness is the next best survivability stat. For AoE-focused character builds, I'd recommend stacking toughness equally or in preference with strength. These builds tend to do well in large situations with healers to support the MDPS. Because you will be taking so much damage in these situations, toughness becomes more vital. Toughness is where your secondary RPs should be spent.
Initiative - Lowering your chance to be crit is nice, but still won't have as much effect as other defensive stats. Dodge chance is nice to have to avoid the crowd control and damage skills of shadow warriors, squig herders, engineers, and witch hunters. A note: the point-blank area of effect root of Shadow Warriors, Squig Herders, and Engineers is considered a ranged skill, and so is dodged, not parried.
Weapon Skill - The armor penetration is not as significant as you might think. First, you're killing casters, they don't have a lot of armor (and armor does not work logarithmically like it does in other games...it's a flat increase, so armor penetration is more useful against high armor targets due to hitting the "penetration cap" on lower armored targets). Melee is your biggest enemy, but you are trying to avoid them, and armor is a natural defense against them that doesn't eat stat budget (stat budget refers to what stats you spend on your gear...you can only have so many stats and so have to choose). Weapon skill is nice to have, but you get more offensive punch out of strength, and more defensive punch out of toughness, initiative, and armor.
Willpower - Since MDPS don't heal, 1/2 this stat is worthless. The other half seems beneficial, but you don't gain enough disrupt chance to warrant stacking over other stats.
Ballistic - Mostly worthless. Helps Witch Hunters some, but Strength will net you a better DPS increase.
Intellect - Mostly worthless.
Tips for Large Group Situations
Zergs aren't easy for MDPS. In fact I'd say they're downright painful if you have a bad group or no support. Brawler types tend to fair much much better, but still are at a general disadvantage in this situation. Obviously character builds that emphasize AoE (Area of Effect...skills that hit multiple characters at a time), such as the Marauder's Monstrosity line, will fair better.
Large group situations tend not to "whittle down" to smaller and smaller groups. There are typically too many players to kill before the ones you just dispatched are already back. Splitting up to take multiple objectives, or players just logging/relocating are the only ways zergs tend to dissipate. Since you're weak at this type of combat: encourage dissipation. Go somewhere else, fight another battle. Don't play the zerg game and don't be a sheep. Even if you have to 1v1 you're in a much stronger position.
Still, if you feel you must participate in a zerg, you must know that zergs don't generally get progressively smaller, and so aren't won by killing all the players. They're won by pushes. Admittedly, it can be incredibly fun charging the line and routing your enemies even if that's more a tank's job then MDPS.
To best win the pushing, you must coordinate melee charges. You can't send 1-2 melee guys at a time as they get slaughtered. It can be difficult in a PUG to rally players to all charge at the same time...but when you do get enough to make a difference, it's quite a sight to behold as you rout the enemy and slaughter them from behind. If possible you want to stay behind tanks that are using "Hold the Line." You'll recognize it as an animation that sprays behind the tank, and he will hold his shield steadfast in front of him. He gains a 45% chance to dodge and disrupt (that is: avoid any ranged attack) while you gain 15% chance to do the same. However, you can gain the benefit up to 3 times if you stand behind 3 tanks doing it, which gives you a total of 45% to avoid any ranged attack. Hold the Line only lasts a short amount of time...it's meant to get you to the action (which by that time your enemy will probably be routing unless they have significant amounts of melee players to hide behind).
After you get to the fighting, it's pretty simple. Assist other players by focusing on 1 guy at a time to kill them faster, and don't go beyond the front line. The worst thing you can do is pass your tanks, because you'll get "tab targeted," which refers to players hitting the "target closest player" button and all focusing on you. You want to let your tanks take the damage...that's what they're there for. You try to remain as inconspicuous as possible.
If you have 2 or more ranged healing friends that are dedicated to keeping you alive, you can really rampage and flourish in a large group situation, as long as you are a brawler MDPS (marauder or white lion) that is specialized in AoEs. You can often run in and kill several players at chokepoints when you have such a support corps. Using Monstrosity spec on my Marauder, I've managed to kill 13 players near simultaneously while they came up the stairs in a Dark Elf keep. The secret is to choose your spot: a chokepoint where they're all bunched up (like stairs, a doorway or a bridge), know your AoE combos, and have help to keep you alive. When things go the right way, you'll net LOTS of kills and have a ton of fun doing so.
The Flow of Battle: Medium Group Situations
Let me start by saying that there is a very key difference in how medium group battles tend to take place from large group battles: they whittle down. What I mean is that as players die, it becomes a progressively smaller group situation. So as medium group battles carry on, MDPS get stronger and stronger.
You must use this to your advantage! I have recommended this approach because I know the power of the tab target. The biggest difference in an organized group against an unorganized one is that the organized guys are all hitting the same target to kill him faster, while unorganized guys are hitting all different ones. Tab Target turns those unorganized guys into organized ones by making sure they all target you: the melee guy who happens to be closest. I've recommended this approach so you don't get into that particularly nasty situation.
Phase 1: The Skirmish
When two armies first meet, the skirmish takes place. This is a period where each side is at full or near full strength. Ranged characters are at their best as they can safely hide behind melee types and blast away. The cardinal rule for MDPS of this stage is to stay alive. Don't take risks. Your RPDS buddies are at their strongest: so let them do their job! Let them pick away at the enemy forces from a safe distance. Your job is to use that wonderful snare that all MDPS have and help your RDPS friends stay away from the melee players that charge too early.
The more melee players from the enemy side that want to charge over, the better. Kill those foolish melee! They're your biggest enemy and the more you remove, the better your survival chances are later in the fight. Even if they're tanks, they're by far the safest thing to beat on at this stage, and with enough people focusing on them, they'll die eventually.
Don't worry, they will come to you. A true master does not chase his enemies, but lets his enemies come to him on his land...his advantage. Let their melee come (and they will), as they're easy to single out and destroy. If one of them happens to target you, run back into your group so you "overextend" him. This means you make him chase you out of range of his support: where he becomes a very easy target.
Phase 2: Fun Time!
After their melee characters are either dead or otherwise distracted away from you, it's time for you to make your move. You want to get at the casters at this stage. Try to flank or otherwise reach them without drawing attention. Stealth characters excel at this as they can cross the battlefield without drawing focus to themselves. Brawlers may be tempted to use Charge! but this is unwise. You not only want to save Charge! for retreating or catching a player that tries to escape, but it also brings attention to that fast moving White Lion blazing across the field...something you don't want.
Once behind the front lines, you should know which classes to kill first. Because the majority of their healing comes from their "big heal," which is easily pushed back when they take damage, killing ranged healers is often the easiest to do, and often enough required before you can kill anything else (they'll just keep healing it!).
If you think you can get away with it without them getting heals: kill "Glass Cannons," which are Sorceresses and Bright Wizards first. They do a TON of damage and can ruin your day if you don't take care of them. If smart ranged healers are around to prevent you from doing so, you'll have to kill the healers first.
After the ranged healers and glass cannons are dead or not present, take out "skirmishers," who are Squig Herders and Shadow Warriors. These classes have a lot of crowd control and can make life very frustrating. Taking them out makes your job easier. Last, take out the "defender RDPS," which are the engineers and mages of Tzeentch. They are the most difficult of the ranged characters to kill, and typically aren't your first choice to kill.
So the kill order tends to generally (there are exceptions that experience will teach you) look like this:
Shaman/Archmage
Zealot/Runepriest
Sorceress/Bright Wizard - First if you can get away with it
Squig Herder/Shadow Warrior
Magus/Engineer
Witch Elf/Witch Hunter
Marauder/White Lion
Disciple/Warrior-Priest
All tanks
If you succeed in not attracting attention, you should almost be guaranteed a kill. You're brutally effective when facing the enemies weakest to you while the enemies strongest against you are distracted elseware.
If you do attract attention, be ready to retreat. Where as stealthy types rely on getting there unnoticed and are good at it, brawler types tend to excel at getting out if needed. Your detaunt (that is: the skill that reduces the damage players around you deal to you), followed by Charge! if you have it, will get you out of many situations. The whole reason I personally love brawler MDPS is their 50% AoE detaunt. It's completely underestimated by new players. It has saved me from many many sticky situations.
Understand a key component to this stage: you don't want to overextend. There is still enough DPS on the field to be a threat to you if you stray from your support. No one can heal or kill the enemies attacking you if you're out of range. With few exceptions, you don't want to chase enemies back too far.
Phase 3: Small Group
At some point in the battle, one side will most likely establish itself as the clear victors and will just "mop up the rest." At this point you are generally free to overextend some (never too much though), chase down enemies, and revel in the glory of killing your enemies.
However, sometimes the sides are fairly even with only about 2-6 players left on each side. This is a time you will want to keep special considerations in mind.
First, there generally isn't enough DPS still out there to kill you before you can make it back to your support. *Some* overextending and chasing is warranted if it furthers the cause of winning the battle.
Second, you want to focus fire. Take a look who others are killing and help them. Help other DPS classes before you help tanks. If you see a Witch Elf bashing on a Runepriest, and a Black Orc hitting an Archmage, go help the Witch Elf as your combined DPS is pretty staggering.
Third, help your ranged guys by using your snare against their melee pursuers. Keep them safe: your best weapon is the guy beside you (for proof of this, calculate your current weapon vs getting the best weapon in the game for your class...figure out the gain. Will you gain double the damage or healing, double the hit points, and double the utility skills that you get from having a friend?).
Solo Battles
Solo battles are truly beyond the scope of this guide, as they are a much more exact science then groups. They depend on your class and what class you are facing more then anything, and tend to become exact blow-for-blow, counter-for-counter fights.
There are some key advantages and tips MDPS players have in solo situations though. Knowledge of which classes you can defeat and which generally defeat you is paramount. In general the melee healers, which are Warrior-Priests and Disciples, tend to be the strongest solo classes, and most of the time you'll want to avoid engaging them. Tanks also tend to be fairly tough, but most of the time will not finish you off before you can escape them if the battle goes poorly, as your escape moves tend to trump their pursuit moves.
Knowing which classes you can engage and which you can not is very important because MDPS, over any other class, have the power of selecting their engagements. Stealth and runspeed buffs (Charge!) give you that power. You're very hard to escape and you can escape very easily.
It's always beneficial to get the first blow in as well. You have a major advantage, especially against ranged characters, if you can reach them before they know you're coming. Lastly, bring friends. Two or more can always accomplish more then one solo player.
Closing
This concludes the basic training for MDPS in RvR. It may sound like a lot more work then it is, but with some practice you can become a successful player. The key is to be patient and fight on your terms...not the enemy's. Don't go chasing kills when they'll come right to you. And bring friends!
This guide exists to help users of the Melee Damage (MDPS) archetype, which includes the White Lion, Witch Hunter, Marauder, and Witch Elf classes, gain a better understanding of how "Pick Up Groups" (PUGs), which are unorganized groups of players, function and how to be successful within one of those groups. Users will find plenty basic tips and strategies that have been successfully tested and used on the battlefield. Users will not find comprehensive mathematical breakdowns and exact strategies for each class.
It has always been my hope and sincerest wish that users of this guide learn something and become better players. I hope you, the reader, enjoy this guide and do, in fact, learn something!
The Types of Combat
In Warhammer Online, and indeed most MMOs in general, there are four basic types of "PUG" (Pick Up Group), which is to say- unorganized, combat. What I mean by unorganized is that the players on each side are a random assortment of players that don't have a set plan in mind and are often very uncoordinated. They either never gain a plan, or they have to just make it up as they go along. The four basic types of PUG combat are:
Large Group, aka "Zerg"
The term zerg refers to a race in the strategy game "Starcraft." The main tactic for this race was not getting the best units or technologies, but instead the race was all about getting as many units onto the battlefield at one time...whether the units are very effective or not. Therefore, the "zerg" has come to be a term meaning "a very large, unorganized mass of players." When in a zerg situation, MDPS are at their very weakest. It is difficult for them to cross the field and do anything meaningful before they are gunned down by the large mass of ranged players.
Medium Group
A medium group could be loosely defined as 7-18 players. This size of group will most commonly be encountered in scenarios. MDPS fair surprisingly well in this situation, as long as the player understands some basic principles. "The Flow of Battle," my original guide, as well as the chapter with the same name, address this situation.
Small Group
Approximately 2-5 players. This is when MDPS are at their strongest. MDPS typically have the damage power to kill most healers and ranged damage (RDPS) classes by themselves, and the offense threats against them are at a minimum in this situation.
Solo
1v1 combat. MDPS are very strong here as well, but don't fair as well as melee healers like Warrior-Priests and Disciples.
Basic Tips for Any Combat Situation
There are some basic things that will greatly improve your chances of success as a MDPS, no matter your combat situation.
Have a healer friend.
This is listed first for a reason! Cherish them as much as they should cherish you. In a tier 1 game having a healer would mean the difference from a game with 10 kills and 10k damage to a game of 18 kills and 35k damage. I prefer the ranged healers of any type as you can use your snare to peel enemies off them. The ranged healers also further improve your magic resistances with the appropriate buff...which is GREAT to have (always ask for resist buff over strength buff, trust me and tell them politely to use it on themselves!). Don't underestimate the power of having a melee healer with you though (especially if they have a tank friend to guard them!). Their armor buff is extremely helpful.
Know your enemy.
First, know that your biggest enemy is other melee. You have light or medium armor with only about 25% damage mitigation. A defensive tank gets up to 70% mitigation, an offensive tank 45%ish mitigation. That's a big difference! Second: know that ranged healers stand no chance against you. Last, know that if you start a fight in melee range against an RDPS, it's pretty much over for them as well.
Know thyself.
You're mainly a skirmisher...a caster killer. You're not built to stay on the front lines like a tank. Get in, get your kill, and get out if you're going to take hits.
Situational Awareness
This is basically being aware of your surroundings. Very often it is wise to pan your camera around to check if you're about to be flanked, or what your enemy is about to do. Don't get too caught up in the frenzy of battle.
Stick Together
Never run strait into the zerg unless all the melee run in together. You will get tab targeted and focused down unless there are other melee (especially a shield tank) to absorb part of the damage for you. Running in all together is very effective, but takes some coordination that most pug groups aren't willing to display.
Gear and Statistics
For a list of formulas regarding gear and statistics, reference here.
The most important stats on gear, in my personal preference order (I say it this way because it's bound to be debated), are:
Resists - You're a caster killer, and they don't like to see you coming! Resists are very important for your survival. Even the "physical" ranged damage: Shadow Warriors, Engineers, and Squig Herders, are equipped with a number of skills that are based on resists. Do not spend RPs on increasing resists though. All your resists should come through gear and buffs from friends.
Armor - Realistically, armor is soft capped by the type you wear and so increasing it isn't always possible. Still, you want armor as your biggest enemy is other melee. Having a melee healer (Warrior-Priest or Disciple) in your group that runs the armor buff helps significantly. I would not spend your RPs on increasing armor, increase it through gear or buffs from friends.
Strength - You're a damage class. Strength improves your damage. Makes sense! But wait Duty, I'm a Witch Hunter and have ranged skills, shouldn't I stack Ballistic? No. WHs have a very high base Ballistic skill. Mythic gave them this so their stat spread wouldn't be too crazy. Stack strength as a Witch Hunter just as you would other classes. Strength is where the majority of RPs should be spent.
Toughness - Per point, in my opinion, resists/armor offer a lot more survivability increase, but you can only get so much of those. Toughness is the next best survivability stat. For AoE-focused character builds, I'd recommend stacking toughness equally or in preference with strength. These builds tend to do well in large situations with healers to support the MDPS. Because you will be taking so much damage in these situations, toughness becomes more vital. Toughness is where your secondary RPs should be spent.
Initiative - Lowering your chance to be crit is nice, but still won't have as much effect as other defensive stats. Dodge chance is nice to have to avoid the crowd control and damage skills of shadow warriors, squig herders, engineers, and witch hunters. A note: the point-blank area of effect root of Shadow Warriors, Squig Herders, and Engineers is considered a ranged skill, and so is dodged, not parried.
Weapon Skill - The armor penetration is not as significant as you might think. First, you're killing casters, they don't have a lot of armor (and armor does not work logarithmically like it does in other games...it's a flat increase, so armor penetration is more useful against high armor targets due to hitting the "penetration cap" on lower armored targets). Melee is your biggest enemy, but you are trying to avoid them, and armor is a natural defense against them that doesn't eat stat budget (stat budget refers to what stats you spend on your gear...you can only have so many stats and so have to choose). Weapon skill is nice to have, but you get more offensive punch out of strength, and more defensive punch out of toughness, initiative, and armor.
Willpower - Since MDPS don't heal, 1/2 this stat is worthless. The other half seems beneficial, but you don't gain enough disrupt chance to warrant stacking over other stats.
Ballistic - Mostly worthless. Helps Witch Hunters some, but Strength will net you a better DPS increase.
Intellect - Mostly worthless.
Tips for Large Group Situations
Zergs aren't easy for MDPS. In fact I'd say they're downright painful if you have a bad group or no support. Brawler types tend to fair much much better, but still are at a general disadvantage in this situation. Obviously character builds that emphasize AoE (Area of Effect...skills that hit multiple characters at a time), such as the Marauder's Monstrosity line, will fair better.
Large group situations tend not to "whittle down" to smaller and smaller groups. There are typically too many players to kill before the ones you just dispatched are already back. Splitting up to take multiple objectives, or players just logging/relocating are the only ways zergs tend to dissipate. Since you're weak at this type of combat: encourage dissipation. Go somewhere else, fight another battle. Don't play the zerg game and don't be a sheep. Even if you have to 1v1 you're in a much stronger position.
Still, if you feel you must participate in a zerg, you must know that zergs don't generally get progressively smaller, and so aren't won by killing all the players. They're won by pushes. Admittedly, it can be incredibly fun charging the line and routing your enemies even if that's more a tank's job then MDPS.
To best win the pushing, you must coordinate melee charges. You can't send 1-2 melee guys at a time as they get slaughtered. It can be difficult in a PUG to rally players to all charge at the same time...but when you do get enough to make a difference, it's quite a sight to behold as you rout the enemy and slaughter them from behind. If possible you want to stay behind tanks that are using "Hold the Line." You'll recognize it as an animation that sprays behind the tank, and he will hold his shield steadfast in front of him. He gains a 45% chance to dodge and disrupt (that is: avoid any ranged attack) while you gain 15% chance to do the same. However, you can gain the benefit up to 3 times if you stand behind 3 tanks doing it, which gives you a total of 45% to avoid any ranged attack. Hold the Line only lasts a short amount of time...it's meant to get you to the action (which by that time your enemy will probably be routing unless they have significant amounts of melee players to hide behind).
After you get to the fighting, it's pretty simple. Assist other players by focusing on 1 guy at a time to kill them faster, and don't go beyond the front line. The worst thing you can do is pass your tanks, because you'll get "tab targeted," which refers to players hitting the "target closest player" button and all focusing on you. You want to let your tanks take the damage...that's what they're there for. You try to remain as inconspicuous as possible.
If you have 2 or more ranged healing friends that are dedicated to keeping you alive, you can really rampage and flourish in a large group situation, as long as you are a brawler MDPS (marauder or white lion) that is specialized in AoEs. You can often run in and kill several players at chokepoints when you have such a support corps. Using Monstrosity spec on my Marauder, I've managed to kill 13 players near simultaneously while they came up the stairs in a Dark Elf keep. The secret is to choose your spot: a chokepoint where they're all bunched up (like stairs, a doorway or a bridge), know your AoE combos, and have help to keep you alive. When things go the right way, you'll net LOTS of kills and have a ton of fun doing so.
The Flow of Battle: Medium Group Situations
Let me start by saying that there is a very key difference in how medium group battles tend to take place from large group battles: they whittle down. What I mean is that as players die, it becomes a progressively smaller group situation. So as medium group battles carry on, MDPS get stronger and stronger.
You must use this to your advantage! I have recommended this approach because I know the power of the tab target. The biggest difference in an organized group against an unorganized one is that the organized guys are all hitting the same target to kill him faster, while unorganized guys are hitting all different ones. Tab Target turns those unorganized guys into organized ones by making sure they all target you: the melee guy who happens to be closest. I've recommended this approach so you don't get into that particularly nasty situation.
Phase 1: The Skirmish
When two armies first meet, the skirmish takes place. This is a period where each side is at full or near full strength. Ranged characters are at their best as they can safely hide behind melee types and blast away. The cardinal rule for MDPS of this stage is to stay alive. Don't take risks. Your RPDS buddies are at their strongest: so let them do their job! Let them pick away at the enemy forces from a safe distance. Your job is to use that wonderful snare that all MDPS have and help your RDPS friends stay away from the melee players that charge too early.
The more melee players from the enemy side that want to charge over, the better. Kill those foolish melee! They're your biggest enemy and the more you remove, the better your survival chances are later in the fight. Even if they're tanks, they're by far the safest thing to beat on at this stage, and with enough people focusing on them, they'll die eventually.
Don't worry, they will come to you. A true master does not chase his enemies, but lets his enemies come to him on his land...his advantage. Let their melee come (and they will), as they're easy to single out and destroy. If one of them happens to target you, run back into your group so you "overextend" him. This means you make him chase you out of range of his support: where he becomes a very easy target.
Phase 2: Fun Time!
After their melee characters are either dead or otherwise distracted away from you, it's time for you to make your move. You want to get at the casters at this stage. Try to flank or otherwise reach them without drawing attention. Stealth characters excel at this as they can cross the battlefield without drawing focus to themselves. Brawlers may be tempted to use Charge! but this is unwise. You not only want to save Charge! for retreating or catching a player that tries to escape, but it also brings attention to that fast moving White Lion blazing across the field...something you don't want.
Once behind the front lines, you should know which classes to kill first. Because the majority of their healing comes from their "big heal," which is easily pushed back when they take damage, killing ranged healers is often the easiest to do, and often enough required before you can kill anything else (they'll just keep healing it!).
If you think you can get away with it without them getting heals: kill "Glass Cannons," which are Sorceresses and Bright Wizards first. They do a TON of damage and can ruin your day if you don't take care of them. If smart ranged healers are around to prevent you from doing so, you'll have to kill the healers first.
After the ranged healers and glass cannons are dead or not present, take out "skirmishers," who are Squig Herders and Shadow Warriors. These classes have a lot of crowd control and can make life very frustrating. Taking them out makes your job easier. Last, take out the "defender RDPS," which are the engineers and mages of Tzeentch. They are the most difficult of the ranged characters to kill, and typically aren't your first choice to kill.
So the kill order tends to generally (there are exceptions that experience will teach you) look like this:
Shaman/Archmage
Zealot/Runepriest
Sorceress/Bright Wizard - First if you can get away with it
Squig Herder/Shadow Warrior
Magus/Engineer
Witch Elf/Witch Hunter
Marauder/White Lion
Disciple/Warrior-Priest
All tanks
If you succeed in not attracting attention, you should almost be guaranteed a kill. You're brutally effective when facing the enemies weakest to you while the enemies strongest against you are distracted elseware.
If you do attract attention, be ready to retreat. Where as stealthy types rely on getting there unnoticed and are good at it, brawler types tend to excel at getting out if needed. Your detaunt (that is: the skill that reduces the damage players around you deal to you), followed by Charge! if you have it, will get you out of many situations. The whole reason I personally love brawler MDPS is their 50% AoE detaunt. It's completely underestimated by new players. It has saved me from many many sticky situations.
Understand a key component to this stage: you don't want to overextend. There is still enough DPS on the field to be a threat to you if you stray from your support. No one can heal or kill the enemies attacking you if you're out of range. With few exceptions, you don't want to chase enemies back too far.
Phase 3: Small Group
At some point in the battle, one side will most likely establish itself as the clear victors and will just "mop up the rest." At this point you are generally free to overextend some (never too much though), chase down enemies, and revel in the glory of killing your enemies.
However, sometimes the sides are fairly even with only about 2-6 players left on each side. This is a time you will want to keep special considerations in mind.
First, there generally isn't enough DPS still out there to kill you before you can make it back to your support. *Some* overextending and chasing is warranted if it furthers the cause of winning the battle.
Second, you want to focus fire. Take a look who others are killing and help them. Help other DPS classes before you help tanks. If you see a Witch Elf bashing on a Runepriest, and a Black Orc hitting an Archmage, go help the Witch Elf as your combined DPS is pretty staggering.
Third, help your ranged guys by using your snare against their melee pursuers. Keep them safe: your best weapon is the guy beside you (for proof of this, calculate your current weapon vs getting the best weapon in the game for your class...figure out the gain. Will you gain double the damage or healing, double the hit points, and double the utility skills that you get from having a friend?).
Solo Battles
Solo battles are truly beyond the scope of this guide, as they are a much more exact science then groups. They depend on your class and what class you are facing more then anything, and tend to become exact blow-for-blow, counter-for-counter fights.
There are some key advantages and tips MDPS players have in solo situations though. Knowledge of which classes you can defeat and which generally defeat you is paramount. In general the melee healers, which are Warrior-Priests and Disciples, tend to be the strongest solo classes, and most of the time you'll want to avoid engaging them. Tanks also tend to be fairly tough, but most of the time will not finish you off before you can escape them if the battle goes poorly, as your escape moves tend to trump their pursuit moves.
Knowing which classes you can engage and which you can not is very important because MDPS, over any other class, have the power of selecting their engagements. Stealth and runspeed buffs (Charge!) give you that power. You're very hard to escape and you can escape very easily.
It's always beneficial to get the first blow in as well. You have a major advantage, especially against ranged characters, if you can reach them before they know you're coming. Lastly, bring friends. Two or more can always accomplish more then one solo player.
Closing
This concludes the basic training for MDPS in RvR. It may sound like a lot more work then it is, but with some practice you can become a successful player. The key is to be patient and fight on your terms...not the enemy's. Don't go chasing kills when they'll come right to you. And bring friends!
A Guide to the Witch Hunter Class
A heavy revamp of my Previous guide in the Witch Hunter forums. With overviews of all skills now included and in depth uses of each Mastery Tree.
"Corruption and the threat of the enemy within are what drove into existence the need for the Witch Hunters. These grim folk seek out and destroy the seeds of corruption wherever they find it. With fire and the sword do they hunt, slay and burn any who have even the slightest hint of being touched by the fell powers. Cultists, mutants and unlicensed practitioners of magic all have fallen to the judgment of the Witch Hunters over the years.
These folk get their name from ancient days when ordained folk were given the perilous task of seeking out and destroying those dark magisters in our lands. These Witches and Warlocks as they are called, consorted with dangerous powers, summoned forth daemons and otherwise posed a grave threat. In modern days however the role of the Witch Hunter is much broader, not only do they seek out those who practice magic, or who dabble with dark magic, but also cultists, mutants and even darker threats to our lands.
These folk live a cursed life, hated and feared by most folk for the suspicion and doubts they cast. Witch Hunters are never welcome in most communities, even those that have great need of them, for they are cruel and unrelenting in their pursuit of those corrupted. These folk are skilled warriors out of the necessity of their tasks, often being proficient even in some of the more recent innovations such as blackpowder arms. Nowhere nearly as heavily armored as a knight or even the warrior priests, the Witch Hunter is still a deadly opponent.
Being sought by a Witch Hunter is a great fear for many folk, for a great many stories are told of how these fell protectors of our lands torment and torture their foes, forcing a confession of their black deeds from them before they are put to death. Many Witch Hunters have fallen over the years, slain by those they seek to destroy yet there are always more zealous folk who take up the calling, driven perhaps by some inner torment or burning desire to see justice done to the wicked. Few enter this career who are innocent folk and surely none last long who cannot become hardened to the horrors and trials forced upon these folk.
In this time of great peril to our lands with the coming of a new warhost of Chaos out of the north, many Witch Hunters have come forth to do battle against such an open display of Chaos. After long years of being hidden in the darkness with this new Age of Reckoning many cults have revealed themselves, believing that the time has finally come for the Empire to fall and a new Realm of Chaos to be established upon the world. So too have many beastmen, mutants and worse things come forth to wage their war against us and these foul folk shall soon learn to fear the wicked ministrations of the Witch Hunter."
Extract From Armies of WAR
These poor, simple folk - too fearful or too dull-witted to see the vulgarity and evil in their own midst. They wail and complain about my...uncompromising methods, but who among you can say that hanging half a village is too high a price to pay for the assurance that corruption has been exposed and destroyed this day?" - Ernst Traugott, Templar Witch Hunter The Witch
Hunter Look
Lightly Armored, with long cloaks and coats, wide-brimmed hats and buckled tunics.
Wields off-hand pistols and main-hand rapiers, swords and torches.
Ornamented with other tools of their craft such as stakes, daggers, relics, chains and emblems of the Cult of Sigmar or the Empire.
Why Choose the Witch Hunter?
Witch Hunters are currently Light Melee DPS classes, meaning they can throw a punch yet can be blown away with the slightest breeze. This class takes heavy amounts of concentration and positional tactics to succeed on the battlefield and should not be confused with the WoW variation of the 'Rogue' class as this class requires a braincell to succeed in the battlefield.
Stealth and how it Works!
Stealth is an opening move for a few Witch Hunter Skills for a massive advantage over his target. Currently, there are only 3 openers for the Witch Hunter, all of which grant a 50% off all attack Skills and 50% off cool down. All 3 have unique aspects about them and must be used for each different target.
Burn Armour: This Openers unique trait grants X damage every time your target attacks using a melee skill or auto attack for 10 seconds. This skill should be used on MDPS or Tank. So, from experience, never use this opener in RvR , only on Hero Mobs or Champions. I’ll explain this later.
Sudden Accusation: This Openers unique trait grants X damage every time your target moves for 10 seconds. This is the most useful opener for all targets, as most players seem to circle strafe or run behind enemy lines in fear. Never use this opener in PvE.
Fanatical Zeal: This Openers unique trait grants X damage every time your target uses a Spell for 10 seconds. This skill should be used on every caster type and even Witch Elves who has an array of spells,(melee range of course). However it is better to Use Sudden Accusation.
Stealth, in otherwords 'Incognito' at the moment has a Cool down of 60 seconds, which, only starts once your session in stealth has finished, so you can’t spam stealth attacks. Stealth takes a few seconds to Activate, which also can be done on the Move. Stealth only has duration of 30 seconds, and in total will wipe 50% of your AP bar.
Detecting a person using stealth is easy, however you can only be detected if you are attacking in the line of sight of your target, so it is better to attack from the rear or side to get full advantage. You can also be detected if you take any damage while in stealth, this includes AoE attacks but somehow not DoT attacks that you had on you before activating stealth.
Mythic have not yet responded to the countless threads suggesting better alternatives other than stealth....Since it was implemented last year. Hopefully this will change when both US/EU communities combine in the future.
Masteries and YOU!
Confession
Focused more on burst damage and is commonly used to take down more than 1 target at a time. This mastery is currently in my opinion the best Mastery to specialize in for PvE due to its PBAoE buff and Execution.
This mastery improves the following Core skills:
Blessed Bullets of Purity: This Bullets should on be used in PvE, as mobs do not require a snare as they will only on some occasions run. This skill seems to be designed for solo PvE play if you do not have a healer.
Trail by Pain: Currently, this skill should only be used in Solo PvE and only if you pick on 1 mob at a time. 3 out of 6 shots stack with Bullet Blessings, and in this case should only apply to Blessed Bullets of Purity.
Burn Armour: Can be used in Both PvE and PvP, more useful on Marauders and Witch Elves due to the mass spam of melee attacks, should not be used on caster or healers. Sudden Acussation however outclasses this in PvP due to melee dps players keen interest in Circle Strafing.
Seekers Blade: A good skill if used right if you plan on taking out tanks or infact any MDPS careers. I usually apply this skill along Fervor from the Inquisition line.
Razor Srike: This skill can be put to use in this mastery due to Sweeping Razor, This will become your main damage dealer in mass RvR, combined with Dragon Gun will become a good crowd destroyer.
Skills and Aquired in Confession
Dragon Gun : This skill works brilliantly with bullets. Works very well in mass situations like open world RvR where casters and healers are bunched up. For PvE purposes, this skill can be used for AoE farming combined with Blessed Bullets of Purity.
Repel Blasphemy: This is a MUST HAVE skill if specced in Confession. If under attack by Melee Careers this will add alot of survivability and opening up your Confess ability. This skill also can be put to use with the Tactic Riposte, melee careers will suffer incredible damage if under attack while this skill is active if combined with Ripost.
Tactics
Sweeping Razor: As mentioned above, use this paired up with Razor Strike as your main damage and accusation builder.
Sanctified Bullets: This tactic is also, only useful in PvE at the moment due to Blessed Bullets of Cleansing being superior in PvP than Purity. This tactic is only worth it if you intend on bring BBoP to the battle.
Seeker's Tiumph: A tactic not worth bringing to the battlefield. There are other tactics worth using more than this as armour ignoring tactic for a skill that does not do much damage is not worth it.
Inquisition
Focused more on DoT damage, but has powerful skills that reduce stats and healing done on targets.
This mastery Improves the following Core skills:
Fervor: This skill should be the main accusation builder for Inquisition specced WH's. Use this after a stealth opener 3 times (as it stacks), unleashing Exit wound with 5 accusations can be incredibly powerful.
Burn the Heretic!: This skill does massive damage in PvE and PvE, as it is a DoT and does not do physical damage, it is worth doing this on tanks and medium mdps. This skill still does pack a punch and worth using in RvR on ALL careers.
Confess!: A must use skill if need be. Confession/Inquisition builds benefit from this greatly because of Repel Blasphemy. This skill is great going against melee careers if need be it. It is not worth using against Casters as they use spells rather than weapon attacks.
Sudden Accusation: *See article on Stealth above*
Blessed Bullets of Confession: Avoid this bullet blessing. This skill is not worth using, as the AP your target loses from this skill can simply be recovered in 1 second. Currently the worst skill the Witch Hunter has.
Skills Aquired in Inquisition:
Seal of Destruction: A must have skill if specced in Inquisition or any/Inqui builds. This skill is a life saver. As most Caster classes focus on the DoT line (Curses and Hexes), this skill will remove most attacks the enemy casters throw at you, and healing you as well (Willpower increases healing). Brilliant skill.
Punish The False!: If you are attacking a healer, infact, any class, this skill must be used after you have done damage spike with Fervor or other damaging abilities as healers will only focus on the target if it's health is low. By using it at the right time you can take out your target even with healing support.
Exit Wound: (Currently not listed in WHDB, will update with info once added)
Tactics
Full Confession: A good tactic if you intend to be attacking melee careers more than casters for the damage, however you should not be, instead going for casters careers and I doubt you'll be using ''Confess!'' on them.
Prolonged Confession: A must have if you are mainly specced in Inquisition (like Sweeping Razor for confession). This tactic makes sure you do that extra bit of damage to finish off your enemies with an extra tick of damage.
Encourage Confession: Avoid this tactic! Currently Blessed Bullets of Confession as mentioned above is the worst skill in your arsenal.
Judgement
This mastery is focused in massive single target burst damage, and has great finishers, a mastery that teaches you to deal with all target types including the dreaded Tank archtype..
This mastery Improves the following Core skills:
Blessed Bullets of Cleansing: Currently the PvP bullet buff. The 40% from all executions is priceless to finish off your cowardly enemies. This skill is best used with Dragon Gun to combat zerg mind. However this is subject to change coming the next patch, expect Bullet revamp.
Torment: This should be your main accusation builder, Razor Strike is not an option as this does more damage regardless of position if specced in Inquisition. If you can stay at the side or rear of a tank you can do good damage.
Absolution: The first execution you acquire as a Witch Hunter. Good for quickly applying BBoC on running targets. Use this at the right moment with Burn Away Lies for massive spike damage.
Silence the Heretic: A good skill on taking out casters. The 3 second silence gives you enough time to build up a few accusations to blow your target away. If using Pistol Whip you should use them after either of their timers run out if 1 is used first.
Fanatical Zeal: (See above article on Stealth)
Skills Aquired in Inquisition:
Witch Hunter Armour and Stats.
Those who were expecting this class to have more armour than a Caster will be sorely disappointed. This is the weakest aspect to being a Witch Hunter.
The Witch Hunter has the same base armour for throughout his/her entire career as a caster (We call them Paper thin because of it). This is its biggest downfall, and has led to minimal survivability throughout later tiers above 1, and the reason why few Witch Hunters ascended above Tier 1. The only Trade off is that you look incredibly badass throughout your career (except Tier 3, bad armour design there).
The Witch Hunters most important stats are:
Wounds: Increases Health/Hit Points. If you are to survive, you need quite a few of these.
Strength: Increases your overall ability damage and reduces your opponents chance to parry your attacks.
Weapon Skill: Increases your chance to parry an enemy attack and increases the amount of armour penetration.
These are the most important stats you need to focus on, however it is still important to have a healthy balance of the other remaining stats (besides Willpower) if you are to be affective. The reason I state no Willpower, is because it is a healing buffer skill, increasing Heal Crits and you won’t be doing any Healing.
Current RvR Situation
The current Situation for the past few weeks in Tier 4 has been Zerg Vs Zerg. The WH only get 1 AoE skill, Dragon Gun, which requires full accusations for it to be effective, which requires a massive spec in Confession.
Get a group, you will need a dedicated healer, not a PuG one with more than just 1 healer in the party, because you will drop like a fly if you’re not careful, well, even if your careful, you’ll die anyway.
Combining Dragon gun with Blessed Bullets of Cleansing and Sudden Accusation can disperse Zerg mind easily and Snare allot of enemies, but only attack from behind. This is because most players in the Zerg do not group or have no concept of looking anywhere else than in front of them, it will cause mass panic (we did this last night, lots of fun) and you can just finish off the fleeing healers and stuff.
Mythic in the next patch will be changing all Bullet buffs and Giving ‘Snap Shot’ ( Deals X damage to player, 5-65ft range) a snare if used from behind to catch fleeing players. Also, we will be receiving the +50% critical damage tactic the Sorceress got and had made them OP (they will be losing it next patch).
The main problem Mythic still haven’t addressed is that the WH still do not have a useful escape skill besides ‘Declare Anathema’ which you only get at max rank.
I hardly use this skill, as I always end up flying back into the enemy lines if I do not co-ordinate myself properly, or even off cliffs, lol.
I’ve yet to question why Mythic decided Witch Hunters not to die when you level 40.
Who to Kill
The first Target to get on the battlefield is the ‘Goblin Shaman’. The Shaman has fewer skills in which to defend themselves against mass melee and surprise unlike the Zealot and DoK. Although it’s heals are stronger. The best skill to use in this situation is Silence the Heretic.
The Silence condition may be small, but is effective. Use this at least 2 seconds after you start attacking your Shaman, as within those 2 seconds the Shaman will not be targeting heals on himself yet.
‘The Zealot’ can be overcome, but it is ideal you do not attack the Zealot first if there is a Shaman nearby you can target. It is harder, because the Zealot has access to Knockbacks and damage reduction skills next patch.
Disciple o’ Khaine should be your next target after the Shammy n Zealot. Because of their lack of strength, you will be be able to parry alot of their attacks. By using the skill Confess! as a reactionary you can disarm him (unable to use melee weapon) and thus weakening his heals. He will take longer to kill because of his armour.
Next are all types of RDPS classes. They can be killed easily, but only if they have no healing support. They cause havoc on your team, due to Mexican standoff syndrome in large fights, kill these!
Witch Elves are next in line. They are deadly as hell, and if you do not get rid of them they will kill your healers. Keep using confess to disarm them if they attack you. Now this goes on for all MDPS classes.
Tanks, they will kill you, especially Chosen, However, this can change if you spec in the Inquisition Mastery line, as they have skills to reduce their stats dramatically, however this skill is also high up in the mastery line, but you get some good skills on the way there, some of which are my faves, but it is still wise to avoid them and go for the squishy targets.
To summarize the kill order should be this.
Shaman—Zealot—DoK—All RDPS classes –Witch Elf—Marauder –Tank.
"Corruption and the threat of the enemy within are what drove into existence the need for the Witch Hunters. These grim folk seek out and destroy the seeds of corruption wherever they find it. With fire and the sword do they hunt, slay and burn any who have even the slightest hint of being touched by the fell powers. Cultists, mutants and unlicensed practitioners of magic all have fallen to the judgment of the Witch Hunters over the years.
These folk get their name from ancient days when ordained folk were given the perilous task of seeking out and destroying those dark magisters in our lands. These Witches and Warlocks as they are called, consorted with dangerous powers, summoned forth daemons and otherwise posed a grave threat. In modern days however the role of the Witch Hunter is much broader, not only do they seek out those who practice magic, or who dabble with dark magic, but also cultists, mutants and even darker threats to our lands.
These folk live a cursed life, hated and feared by most folk for the suspicion and doubts they cast. Witch Hunters are never welcome in most communities, even those that have great need of them, for they are cruel and unrelenting in their pursuit of those corrupted. These folk are skilled warriors out of the necessity of their tasks, often being proficient even in some of the more recent innovations such as blackpowder arms. Nowhere nearly as heavily armored as a knight or even the warrior priests, the Witch Hunter is still a deadly opponent.
Being sought by a Witch Hunter is a great fear for many folk, for a great many stories are told of how these fell protectors of our lands torment and torture their foes, forcing a confession of their black deeds from them before they are put to death. Many Witch Hunters have fallen over the years, slain by those they seek to destroy yet there are always more zealous folk who take up the calling, driven perhaps by some inner torment or burning desire to see justice done to the wicked. Few enter this career who are innocent folk and surely none last long who cannot become hardened to the horrors and trials forced upon these folk.
In this time of great peril to our lands with the coming of a new warhost of Chaos out of the north, many Witch Hunters have come forth to do battle against such an open display of Chaos. After long years of being hidden in the darkness with this new Age of Reckoning many cults have revealed themselves, believing that the time has finally come for the Empire to fall and a new Realm of Chaos to be established upon the world. So too have many beastmen, mutants and worse things come forth to wage their war against us and these foul folk shall soon learn to fear the wicked ministrations of the Witch Hunter."
Extract From Armies of WAR
These poor, simple folk - too fearful or too dull-witted to see the vulgarity and evil in their own midst. They wail and complain about my...uncompromising methods, but who among you can say that hanging half a village is too high a price to pay for the assurance that corruption has been exposed and destroyed this day?" - Ernst Traugott, Templar Witch Hunter The Witch
Hunter Look
Lightly Armored, with long cloaks and coats, wide-brimmed hats and buckled tunics.
Wields off-hand pistols and main-hand rapiers, swords and torches.
Ornamented with other tools of their craft such as stakes, daggers, relics, chains and emblems of the Cult of Sigmar or the Empire.
Why Choose the Witch Hunter?
Witch Hunters are currently Light Melee DPS classes, meaning they can throw a punch yet can be blown away with the slightest breeze. This class takes heavy amounts of concentration and positional tactics to succeed on the battlefield and should not be confused with the WoW variation of the 'Rogue' class as this class requires a braincell to succeed in the battlefield.
Stealth and how it Works!
Stealth is an opening move for a few Witch Hunter Skills for a massive advantage over his target. Currently, there are only 3 openers for the Witch Hunter, all of which grant a 50% off all attack Skills and 50% off cool down. All 3 have unique aspects about them and must be used for each different target.
Burn Armour: This Openers unique trait grants X damage every time your target attacks using a melee skill or auto attack for 10 seconds. This skill should be used on MDPS or Tank. So, from experience, never use this opener in RvR , only on Hero Mobs or Champions. I’ll explain this later.
Sudden Accusation: This Openers unique trait grants X damage every time your target moves for 10 seconds. This is the most useful opener for all targets, as most players seem to circle strafe or run behind enemy lines in fear. Never use this opener in PvE.
Fanatical Zeal: This Openers unique trait grants X damage every time your target uses a Spell for 10 seconds. This skill should be used on every caster type and even Witch Elves who has an array of spells,(melee range of course). However it is better to Use Sudden Accusation.
Stealth, in otherwords 'Incognito' at the moment has a Cool down of 60 seconds, which, only starts once your session in stealth has finished, so you can’t spam stealth attacks. Stealth takes a few seconds to Activate, which also can be done on the Move. Stealth only has duration of 30 seconds, and in total will wipe 50% of your AP bar.
Detecting a person using stealth is easy, however you can only be detected if you are attacking in the line of sight of your target, so it is better to attack from the rear or side to get full advantage. You can also be detected if you take any damage while in stealth, this includes AoE attacks but somehow not DoT attacks that you had on you before activating stealth.
Mythic have not yet responded to the countless threads suggesting better alternatives other than stealth....Since it was implemented last year. Hopefully this will change when both US/EU communities combine in the future.
Masteries and YOU!
Confession
Focused more on burst damage and is commonly used to take down more than 1 target at a time. This mastery is currently in my opinion the best Mastery to specialize in for PvE due to its PBAoE buff and Execution.
This mastery improves the following Core skills:
Blessed Bullets of Purity: This Bullets should on be used in PvE, as mobs do not require a snare as they will only on some occasions run. This skill seems to be designed for solo PvE play if you do not have a healer.
Trail by Pain: Currently, this skill should only be used in Solo PvE and only if you pick on 1 mob at a time. 3 out of 6 shots stack with Bullet Blessings, and in this case should only apply to Blessed Bullets of Purity.
Burn Armour: Can be used in Both PvE and PvP, more useful on Marauders and Witch Elves due to the mass spam of melee attacks, should not be used on caster or healers. Sudden Acussation however outclasses this in PvP due to melee dps players keen interest in Circle Strafing.
Seekers Blade: A good skill if used right if you plan on taking out tanks or infact any MDPS careers. I usually apply this skill along Fervor from the Inquisition line.
Razor Srike: This skill can be put to use in this mastery due to Sweeping Razor, This will become your main damage dealer in mass RvR, combined with Dragon Gun will become a good crowd destroyer.
Skills and Aquired in Confession
Dragon Gun : This skill works brilliantly with bullets. Works very well in mass situations like open world RvR where casters and healers are bunched up. For PvE purposes, this skill can be used for AoE farming combined with Blessed Bullets of Purity.
Repel Blasphemy: This is a MUST HAVE skill if specced in Confession. If under attack by Melee Careers this will add alot of survivability and opening up your Confess ability. This skill also can be put to use with the Tactic Riposte, melee careers will suffer incredible damage if under attack while this skill is active if combined with Ripost.
Tactics
Sweeping Razor: As mentioned above, use this paired up with Razor Strike as your main damage and accusation builder.
Sanctified Bullets: This tactic is also, only useful in PvE at the moment due to Blessed Bullets of Cleansing being superior in PvP than Purity. This tactic is only worth it if you intend on bring BBoP to the battle.
Seeker's Tiumph: A tactic not worth bringing to the battlefield. There are other tactics worth using more than this as armour ignoring tactic for a skill that does not do much damage is not worth it.
Inquisition
Focused more on DoT damage, but has powerful skills that reduce stats and healing done on targets.
This mastery Improves the following Core skills:
Fervor: This skill should be the main accusation builder for Inquisition specced WH's. Use this after a stealth opener 3 times (as it stacks), unleashing Exit wound with 5 accusations can be incredibly powerful.
Burn the Heretic!: This skill does massive damage in PvE and PvE, as it is a DoT and does not do physical damage, it is worth doing this on tanks and medium mdps. This skill still does pack a punch and worth using in RvR on ALL careers.
Confess!: A must use skill if need be. Confession/Inquisition builds benefit from this greatly because of Repel Blasphemy. This skill is great going against melee careers if need be it. It is not worth using against Casters as they use spells rather than weapon attacks.
Sudden Accusation: *See article on Stealth above*
Blessed Bullets of Confession: Avoid this bullet blessing. This skill is not worth using, as the AP your target loses from this skill can simply be recovered in 1 second. Currently the worst skill the Witch Hunter has.
Skills Aquired in Inquisition:
Seal of Destruction: A must have skill if specced in Inquisition or any/Inqui builds. This skill is a life saver. As most Caster classes focus on the DoT line (Curses and Hexes), this skill will remove most attacks the enemy casters throw at you, and healing you as well (Willpower increases healing). Brilliant skill.
Punish The False!: If you are attacking a healer, infact, any class, this skill must be used after you have done damage spike with Fervor or other damaging abilities as healers will only focus on the target if it's health is low. By using it at the right time you can take out your target even with healing support.
Exit Wound: (Currently not listed in WHDB, will update with info once added)
Tactics
Full Confession: A good tactic if you intend to be attacking melee careers more than casters for the damage, however you should not be, instead going for casters careers and I doubt you'll be using ''Confess!'' on them.
Prolonged Confession: A must have if you are mainly specced in Inquisition (like Sweeping Razor for confession). This tactic makes sure you do that extra bit of damage to finish off your enemies with an extra tick of damage.
Encourage Confession: Avoid this tactic! Currently Blessed Bullets of Confession as mentioned above is the worst skill in your arsenal.
Judgement
This mastery is focused in massive single target burst damage, and has great finishers, a mastery that teaches you to deal with all target types including the dreaded Tank archtype..
This mastery Improves the following Core skills:
Blessed Bullets of Cleansing: Currently the PvP bullet buff. The 40% from all executions is priceless to finish off your cowardly enemies. This skill is best used with Dragon Gun to combat zerg mind. However this is subject to change coming the next patch, expect Bullet revamp.
Torment: This should be your main accusation builder, Razor Strike is not an option as this does more damage regardless of position if specced in Inquisition. If you can stay at the side or rear of a tank you can do good damage.
Absolution: The first execution you acquire as a Witch Hunter. Good for quickly applying BBoC on running targets. Use this at the right moment with Burn Away Lies for massive spike damage.
Silence the Heretic: A good skill on taking out casters. The 3 second silence gives you enough time to build up a few accusations to blow your target away. If using Pistol Whip you should use them after either of their timers run out if 1 is used first.
Fanatical Zeal: (See above article on Stealth)
Skills Aquired in Inquisition:
Witch Hunter Armour and Stats.
Those who were expecting this class to have more armour than a Caster will be sorely disappointed. This is the weakest aspect to being a Witch Hunter.
The Witch Hunter has the same base armour for throughout his/her entire career as a caster (We call them Paper thin because of it). This is its biggest downfall, and has led to minimal survivability throughout later tiers above 1, and the reason why few Witch Hunters ascended above Tier 1. The only Trade off is that you look incredibly badass throughout your career (except Tier 3, bad armour design there).
The Witch Hunters most important stats are:
Wounds: Increases Health/Hit Points. If you are to survive, you need quite a few of these.
Strength: Increases your overall ability damage and reduces your opponents chance to parry your attacks.
Weapon Skill: Increases your chance to parry an enemy attack and increases the amount of armour penetration.
These are the most important stats you need to focus on, however it is still important to have a healthy balance of the other remaining stats (besides Willpower) if you are to be affective. The reason I state no Willpower, is because it is a healing buffer skill, increasing Heal Crits and you won’t be doing any Healing.
Current RvR Situation
The current Situation for the past few weeks in Tier 4 has been Zerg Vs Zerg. The WH only get 1 AoE skill, Dragon Gun, which requires full accusations for it to be effective, which requires a massive spec in Confession.
Get a group, you will need a dedicated healer, not a PuG one with more than just 1 healer in the party, because you will drop like a fly if you’re not careful, well, even if your careful, you’ll die anyway.
Combining Dragon gun with Blessed Bullets of Cleansing and Sudden Accusation can disperse Zerg mind easily and Snare allot of enemies, but only attack from behind. This is because most players in the Zerg do not group or have no concept of looking anywhere else than in front of them, it will cause mass panic (we did this last night, lots of fun) and you can just finish off the fleeing healers and stuff.
Mythic in the next patch will be changing all Bullet buffs and Giving ‘Snap Shot’ ( Deals X damage to player, 5-65ft range) a snare if used from behind to catch fleeing players. Also, we will be receiving the +50% critical damage tactic the Sorceress got and had made them OP (they will be losing it next patch).
The main problem Mythic still haven’t addressed is that the WH still do not have a useful escape skill besides ‘Declare Anathema’ which you only get at max rank.
I hardly use this skill, as I always end up flying back into the enemy lines if I do not co-ordinate myself properly, or even off cliffs, lol.
I’ve yet to question why Mythic decided Witch Hunters not to die when you level 40.
Who to Kill
The first Target to get on the battlefield is the ‘Goblin Shaman’. The Shaman has fewer skills in which to defend themselves against mass melee and surprise unlike the Zealot and DoK. Although it’s heals are stronger. The best skill to use in this situation is Silence the Heretic.
The Silence condition may be small, but is effective. Use this at least 2 seconds after you start attacking your Shaman, as within those 2 seconds the Shaman will not be targeting heals on himself yet.
‘The Zealot’ can be overcome, but it is ideal you do not attack the Zealot first if there is a Shaman nearby you can target. It is harder, because the Zealot has access to Knockbacks and damage reduction skills next patch.
Disciple o’ Khaine should be your next target after the Shammy n Zealot. Because of their lack of strength, you will be be able to parry alot of their attacks. By using the skill Confess! as a reactionary you can disarm him (unable to use melee weapon) and thus weakening his heals. He will take longer to kill because of his armour.
Next are all types of RDPS classes. They can be killed easily, but only if they have no healing support. They cause havoc on your team, due to Mexican standoff syndrome in large fights, kill these!
Witch Elves are next in line. They are deadly as hell, and if you do not get rid of them they will kill your healers. Keep using confess to disarm them if they attack you. Now this goes on for all MDPS classes.
Tanks, they will kill you, especially Chosen, However, this can change if you spec in the Inquisition Mastery line, as they have skills to reduce their stats dramatically, however this skill is also high up in the mastery line, but you get some good skills on the way there, some of which are my faves, but it is still wise to avoid them and go for the squishy targets.
To summarize the kill order should be this.
Shaman—Zealot—DoK—All RDPS classes –Witch Elf—Marauder –Tank.
Easy-to-follow WAR Leveling Strategies For Beginners
If you're going to be really particular about it, there's no such as thing as "level" in WAR, or Warhammer Online. What it has is rank, and there are two types of them. You have the rank and the renown rank. Nevertheless, since the concept of ranking and leveling is almost the same in WAR, you can still generally say that speaking of ranks is just similar to talking about levels.
WAR is a real-to-realm battle. To make sure that you don't get destroyed by your enemy, you should do everything you can to hold on to your territory, and one of the techniques is to increase your levels. This will give you better capacity to protect yourself, your "people," and your realm. For you to do that, however, you must take note of the following WAR leveling strategies:
1. Advance your career. One of the best ways to increase your rank or your level in WAR is by improving your career. Once you join, you already have a pre-determined rank and career, depending on what realm you are. However, you can move to the next level by improving your craft. You can look for a skilled trainer to help you out with this one.
2. Obtain core abilities. The core abilities, which can differ from one character to another, are essential for you to gain mastery points. The mastery points, on the other hand, can be utilized to increase your level of mastery.
3. Get the gears needed. Though you may need to have some ranks before you can start obtaining gears, the equipment nevertheless will give you more defense during battles. Keep in mind that every time you win battles, you will have the opportunity to rise above the ranks. You may want to read up WAR leveling guides to inform you of the kinds of equipment you need to have, according to your chosen career.
WAR is a real-to-realm battle. To make sure that you don't get destroyed by your enemy, you should do everything you can to hold on to your territory, and one of the techniques is to increase your levels. This will give you better capacity to protect yourself, your "people," and your realm. For you to do that, however, you must take note of the following WAR leveling strategies:
1. Advance your career. One of the best ways to increase your rank or your level in WAR is by improving your career. Once you join, you already have a pre-determined rank and career, depending on what realm you are. However, you can move to the next level by improving your craft. You can look for a skilled trainer to help you out with this one.
2. Obtain core abilities. The core abilities, which can differ from one character to another, are essential for you to gain mastery points. The mastery points, on the other hand, can be utilized to increase your level of mastery.
3. Get the gears needed. Though you may need to have some ranks before you can start obtaining gears, the equipment nevertheless will give you more defense during battles. Keep in mind that every time you win battles, you will have the opportunity to rise above the ranks. You may want to read up WAR leveling guides to inform you of the kinds of equipment you need to have, according to your chosen career.
The Top Considerations When You're Going to Buy War Gold
Whether you like it or not, getting addicted to Warhammer Online has its own corresponding price-literally. If you want to make sure that you can get the most out of every game, you may want to get hold of some gold. However, it doesn't come easy at all. You can start with the following:
1. Do some research. It may consume your time just looking up for Warhammer Online gold prices in the World Wide Web, but it will help you make better financial decisions later. You can try looking shopping websites, even in Ebay and Amazon. You will find that there are plenty of sellers who may be offering their gold at different prices.
2. Determine the quality of the gold. Are the gold used or not? Normally, if they are brand new, they would have higher price than the used ones. But then, you're guaranteed of its quality. If you have some money, you may want to go for them. But if you're on a tight budget, you can settle for the used ones first and then just change it later to something new.
3. Look for great deals. A lot of websites and sellers currently offering WAR gold may be giving some fantastic deals to all their customers. You can benefit from low WAR gold price. Nevertheless, it may mean that you're constantly on the lookout for them. You can just subscribe to their newsletter, if they have one, or bookmark them, so you don't get left behind with the news.
A WAR gold price doesn't really mean that it's going to be cheap, but you can get the best deal if you know how to compare it with others.
Rayford Adams is at the moment playing several MMORPGs including Warhammer Online Gold.
http://www.usfine.com/Warhammer-Online-c-106.html
1. Do some research. It may consume your time just looking up for Warhammer Online gold prices in the World Wide Web, but it will help you make better financial decisions later. You can try looking shopping websites, even in Ebay and Amazon. You will find that there are plenty of sellers who may be offering their gold at different prices.
2. Determine the quality of the gold. Are the gold used or not? Normally, if they are brand new, they would have higher price than the used ones. But then, you're guaranteed of its quality. If you have some money, you may want to go for them. But if you're on a tight budget, you can settle for the used ones first and then just change it later to something new.
3. Look for great deals. A lot of websites and sellers currently offering WAR gold may be giving some fantastic deals to all their customers. You can benefit from low WAR gold price. Nevertheless, it may mean that you're constantly on the lookout for them. You can just subscribe to their newsletter, if they have one, or bookmark them, so you don't get left behind with the news.
A WAR gold price doesn't really mean that it's going to be cheap, but you can get the best deal if you know how to compare it with others.
Rayford Adams is at the moment playing several MMORPGs including Warhammer Online Gold.
http://www.usfine.com/Warhammer-Online-c-106.html
The Evolution of Gaming
From Warcraft to Final Fantasy to the upcoming Warhammer Online, games are slowly evolving from play/win mode to play/play mode, where the game never ends and the fun is in the social aspects and the process you use to better yourself. These Massive Multiplayer Online Role Playing Games, or MMORPGs, are prime examples of gaming and social life combining to create the most popular pseudo-universes in the world.
WoW
World of Warcraft is the old example. While there are goals and levels, the game technically never ends. People from countries all over the planet play the World of Warcraft regularly, playing the game on a daily basis and completing quests and socializing with others. But World of Warcraft was based on an older game, "Warcraft" that already had its own computer presence.
Warhammer Online
Today, even non-computer games are turning to MMORPG platforms. Warhammer Online, scheduled to be released in September of 2008, is based on an offline, computer-less game known as Warhammer, that takes place with dice, miniature sculptures/characters, and a tabletop. That game was incredibly popular throughout the world, featuring over 8 different editions, hundreds of characters and rules, and a complexity that made the table top become its own world. But table tops have limitations. You cannot create new rules or quests on the fly. You cannot choose where to go at your leisure and most of all you cannot socialize. The game was designed for people that enjoyed playing competitive games alone with strict guidelines. Warhammer Online allows them to change that. By taking Warhammer online, the company can turn the universe into something far more dynamic. They can come up with quests that require teams or goals that take weeks to accomplish. They can make the game as complex or simple as they want and negate all of the limitations of the table top.
Most importantly, Warhammer Online has the ability to be a new universe that every day people can enjoy regularly, without requiring another player is around to compete with and without requiring every "piece" be properly located on the table. Warhammer Online is the next in a series of games that plan on taking advantage of the MMORPG craze. Assuming Warhammer Online achieves the same success as World of Warcraft, assume that many other offline games are likely to go the same route in the future. Warhammer Online is taking the first step towards the future of all games. One can only wonder where it will lead in the future.
WoW
World of Warcraft is the old example. While there are goals and levels, the game technically never ends. People from countries all over the planet play the World of Warcraft regularly, playing the game on a daily basis and completing quests and socializing with others. But World of Warcraft was based on an older game, "Warcraft" that already had its own computer presence.
Warhammer Online
Today, even non-computer games are turning to MMORPG platforms. Warhammer Online, scheduled to be released in September of 2008, is based on an offline, computer-less game known as Warhammer, that takes place with dice, miniature sculptures/characters, and a tabletop. That game was incredibly popular throughout the world, featuring over 8 different editions, hundreds of characters and rules, and a complexity that made the table top become its own world. But table tops have limitations. You cannot create new rules or quests on the fly. You cannot choose where to go at your leisure and most of all you cannot socialize. The game was designed for people that enjoyed playing competitive games alone with strict guidelines. Warhammer Online allows them to change that. By taking Warhammer online, the company can turn the universe into something far more dynamic. They can come up with quests that require teams or goals that take weeks to accomplish. They can make the game as complex or simple as they want and negate all of the limitations of the table top.
Most importantly, Warhammer Online has the ability to be a new universe that every day people can enjoy regularly, without requiring another player is around to compete with and without requiring every "piece" be properly located on the table. Warhammer Online is the next in a series of games that plan on taking advantage of the MMORPG craze. Assuming Warhammer Online achieves the same success as World of Warcraft, assume that many other offline games are likely to go the same route in the future. Warhammer Online is taking the first step towards the future of all games. One can only wonder where it will lead in the future.
How to Make the Most of Cheats
The Warhammer Online cheat comes in handy when the going gets real tough. You can usually use it to acquire certain equipment, to discover walkthroughs, to increase strength and healing ability, or to speed up your rise in ranks.
However, these Warhammer cheats will be utterly useless if you don't know how to make the most of them. To help you out, you can start with the following:
1. Begin everything with the -dev command. This is known as the command line parameter. It allows you to enable or to disable specific features in the game, especially while it's currently running. This command, moreover, will be the one you're going to use so you can activate your Warhammer cheats.
2. Get your cheat list. The cheat list may vary, depending on what Warhammer version you're going to play. Nevertheless, you can find a lot of them in the World Wide Web. These are the commands that you need to enter into the command line in order to activate the cheat. Keep in mind that some of these Warhammer hacks are general cheats. This means that you need to modify them to make them really work.
3. Save your list. Since you're going to make some modifications into the cheat file, you may want to save the actual list, the one before you made any change. Sooner or later, you may need them again. Rather than starting from scratch, all you need to do is to simply open the file.
Now, once players tend to discover Warhammer hacks, they tend to become totally dependent on it. Although it's not going to be an issue of morality or ethics, you may want to reserve your cheats, though, when you don't really know what to do or when you're struggling. Make them your saving grace, not the whole drive of the game.
However, these Warhammer cheats will be utterly useless if you don't know how to make the most of them. To help you out, you can start with the following:
1. Begin everything with the -dev command. This is known as the command line parameter. It allows you to enable or to disable specific features in the game, especially while it's currently running. This command, moreover, will be the one you're going to use so you can activate your Warhammer cheats.
2. Get your cheat list. The cheat list may vary, depending on what Warhammer version you're going to play. Nevertheless, you can find a lot of them in the World Wide Web. These are the commands that you need to enter into the command line in order to activate the cheat. Keep in mind that some of these Warhammer hacks are general cheats. This means that you need to modify them to make them really work.
3. Save your list. Since you're going to make some modifications into the cheat file, you may want to save the actual list, the one before you made any change. Sooner or later, you may need them again. Rather than starting from scratch, all you need to do is to simply open the file.
Now, once players tend to discover Warhammer hacks, they tend to become totally dependent on it. Although it's not going to be an issue of morality or ethics, you may want to reserve your cheats, though, when you don't really know what to do or when you're struggling. Make them your saving grace, not the whole drive of the game.
Making the Most of the World Wide Web For Advancement
Don't think that Warhammer Online is just going to be a battle between good and evil. It's definitely more than that. There are a lot of fights that you have to win, and you have the realm to protect. You also need to think of how to advance your career, so you can be a great addition to the team.
Perhaps to speed up everything you need to get some Warhammer hacks. Fortunately, you don't need to scour for them for a very long time. Today, you can already look for a Warhammer Online hack right at the World Wide Web. Here's how:
1. Join message boards and groups. There are already countless forums that are dedicated to Warhammer Online. They are composed of hard-core players and beginners who exchange ideas and tips on how to win battles and defeat enemies. You can surely find threads and posts that talk about Warhammer hacks.
2. Check out game cheats websites. There are also plenty of websites that are currently offering different game cheats for free. Considering that there is a huge demand of Warhammer Online today, most likely, you can already find a number of Warhammer hacks in here. You may have to sign up, though, as these cheats are exclusive to members only.
3. Get yourself some Warhammer guides. You can buy them, or you can ask for them from someone who has. Needless to say, though, these Warhammer guides don't only give you tips and tactics to increase your ranks or to discover shortcuts during your play, but they can also offer cheats and hacks to speed up the game and win more fights.
Indeed, these hacks will give you more reason to become more confident in playing the game, but if you really want to learn and make the game even more challenging, make these cheats your last option.
Perhaps to speed up everything you need to get some Warhammer hacks. Fortunately, you don't need to scour for them for a very long time. Today, you can already look for a Warhammer Online hack right at the World Wide Web. Here's how:
1. Join message boards and groups. There are already countless forums that are dedicated to Warhammer Online. They are composed of hard-core players and beginners who exchange ideas and tips on how to win battles and defeat enemies. You can surely find threads and posts that talk about Warhammer hacks.
2. Check out game cheats websites. There are also plenty of websites that are currently offering different game cheats for free. Considering that there is a huge demand of Warhammer Online today, most likely, you can already find a number of Warhammer hacks in here. You may have to sign up, though, as these cheats are exclusive to members only.
3. Get yourself some Warhammer guides. You can buy them, or you can ask for them from someone who has. Needless to say, though, these Warhammer guides don't only give you tips and tactics to increase your ranks or to discover shortcuts during your play, but they can also offer cheats and hacks to speed up the game and win more fights.
Indeed, these hacks will give you more reason to become more confident in playing the game, but if you really want to learn and make the game even more challenging, make these cheats your last option.
Warhammer Online Leveling Guide
If you’ve read my site previously you’ll know I’m a World of Warcraft player (WOW addict to be precise :)) While I’ve been patiently waiting for the new WOW expansion Wrath of the Lich King to arrive I was lucky enough to gain access to the early beta release of Warhammer Online: Age of Reckoning, so have been spending some VERY LATE nights playing WAR online.
Although it’s early days (MMO’s tend to evolve over time with user feedback) I can see Warhammer Online rivaling World of Warcraft as THE MMO to play. It looks and plays really well and in some respects is better than World of Warcraft (in others it’s not), can see both online games doing well long term: which is going to mean I’ll have to choose one to play most!
Anyway, I hate leveling characters so have been checking online for a Warhammer Online: Age of Reckoning leveling guide and finally someone has created one. It’s from someone called Penn who also has a World of Warcraft Professions guide (never tried it, so can’t say if it’s good/bad).
I just bought a copy of the WAR leveling guide and will be using it to level a new character in the beta release of Warhammer Online: Age of Reckoning.
If you want to check it out go to Leveling Guide Site go to the “Game Guides” link for access to the info on the 1-40 Order Leveling Guide and the 1-40 Destruction Leveling Guide. When I’ve leveled a character will add a review of the Warhammer leveling guide here (I bought both versions, but starting with the Destruction version).
Just noticed he has a 1-70 WOW Alliance Leveling guide as well, obviously not tried it, but I doubt it’s as good as the Team iDemise guide: see my Team iDemise Review.
I really do spend way too many hours a day playing games In between playing games online I actually run my own consulting business and do very well money wise, I love my life
Warhammer Brief Guide
The Warhammer world - a dark and dangerous place to live, full of horror and conflict. Welcome to this guide to the Warhammer world, a look at the kingdoms and races that inhabit this war-torn land.
Few races know the Warhammer World as well as the adventurous and entrepreneurial High Kindred of Elves. Their tall-masted ships ply the northern oceans between the Old World to the east and the shores of Lustria to the west. To the north the Elven seamen keep a watchful eye upon Naggaroth, the Land of Chill, which the estranged Dark Elves have made their own. To the south lie the Southlands and the Fortress of Dawn, a safe haven for many an Elven seafarer bound for distant Cathay.
Few races know the Warhammer World as well as the adventurous and entrepreneurial High Kindred of Elves. Their tall-masted ships ply the northern oceans between the Old World to the east and the shores of Lustria to the west. To the north the Elven seamen keep a watchful eye upon Naggaroth, the Land of Chill, which the estranged Dark Elves have made their own. To the south lie the Southlands and the Fortress of Dawn, a safe haven for many an Elven seafarer bound for distant Cathay.
THE OLD WORLD
Though the proud Elves have for many ages explored the world and learned much about its strange peoples, they do not reveal their secrets to lesser races. To Men these places are little more than names upon a mostly empty map. The lands they know and inhabit comprise what they call the Old World. These lands are home to Men, Dwarfs, Elves and the diminutive race of Halflings, as well as numerous evil creatures which infest the mountains and forests.
The largest and most important of the realms of Man are the Empire and Bretonnia. The Empire lies at the centre of the Old World, bounded by tall mountains and dark forests. It is the most populous by far of the Human nations and probably the most powerful too. To the south of the Empire is the Kingdom of Bretonnia, whose main strength of arms lies in its gallant knights whose tradition of chivalric virtue is held in high regard throughout the Old World.
The other Human lands are less powerful and not so strongly unified as either the Empire or Bretonnia. North of the Empire is the cold, unwelcoming land of Kislev, ruled over by its fierce warrior Tzarina. Further north still is the rocky land of Norsca, inhabited by violent and blood-thirsty savages whose raids are a constant irritation to the Tzarina and Emperor alike. South of Bretonnia are the hot, arid lands of Estalia and Tilea. Neither is united under one crown, instead they are divided into countless petty kingdoms and warring city states. Between Tilea and Bretonnia is the tiny upland region known as the Vaults, a stronghold of bandits and brigands who sometimes hire their services as mercenaries in the Emperor's armies. Beyond the immediate confines of the Old World is Araby to the south and, to the east, the bleak, forbidding Dark Lands. The Arabians are incorrigible pirates and raiders, whose dark-sailed dhows sometimes appear in the trading ports of Tilea and Estalia. The land south of Araby is known only as the Southlands. Few Old Worlders have ever glimpsed its jungle-covered coasts or the tall white mountains of its interior. The Dark Lands east of the Empire are barren and inhospitable, where Orcs, Goblins and other monsters constantly battle against each other.
SOUTH OF THE BADLANDS
To the immediate south of the Empire is the small brigand-infested land of the Border Princes. This is a dangerous region where renegades, dissenters and other refugees from the settled lands face constant predation from Orcs, Goblins and each other. Further south still are the Badlands, dominated by fierce tribes of Orcs, and beyond that lies the fabled Land of the Dead, the source of much unrest in the world.
Between the Empire and the Dark Lands is a towering mountain range whose peaks are so tall and so black that for years beyond remembering Men held the view that this must be the very edge of the world. In consequence these are called the Worlds Edge Mountains and, in truth, they form the natural eastern boundary of the Old World. These ancient peaks have been tunnelled, mined and inhabited for many centuries by the Dwarfs, a strong-minded and equally strong-armed folk whose endless wars against the Goblins of the mountains are well known even amongst Men.
THE EDGE OF THE WORLD
Listed above are the lands and races known to the scholars of humanity, to the sages of the Dwarfs, and to the wise amongst Elvenkind. To this font of common knowledge the Elves could certainly add far more if they did not guard their secrets so jealously. Doubtless too there are many learned men who could make a shrewd guess as to the further nature of the world and its perils. Perhaps they would speak of the subterranean race of Skaven and their gnawing and scheming beneath the world. Maybe they would hint darkly at the threat from the Land of the Dead and the ancient realm of its master Nagash. Then there are the deeper and more sinister secrets of Chaos and the hidden power of the north.
Sep 2, 2008
Warhammer Online Headstart dates!
Customers will have access to the Headstart from:
Collector's Edition pre-orders - 14th of September
Standard Edition pre-orders - 15th of September
The full range of live servers will be available to choose from when the Headstart begins and you will be able to keep your characters and any progress you made with them for the live launch on the 18th of September (note that this only applies to characters created during the Headstart, all Open Beta characters will be wiped before the Headstart begins).
Collector's Edition pre-orders - 14th of September
Standard Edition pre-orders - 15th of September
The full range of live servers will be available to choose from when the Headstart begins and you will be able to keep your characters and any progress you made with them for the live launch on the 18th of September (note that this only applies to characters created during the Headstart, all Open Beta characters will be wiped before the Headstart begins).
Age Of Reckoning Has Gone Gold
FAIRFAX, Va. - August 26, 2008 - GET READY FOR THE WORLDWIDE WAAAGH! Electronic Arts (NASDAQ: ERTS) and Mythic Entertainment today announced that the highly-anticipated MMORPG, Warhammer® Online: Age of Reckoning™ (WAR), has gone gold and will open its servers on September 18, 2008 at an MSRP of $49.99 in North America.
"We've done our best to create the next great MMORPG experience, but it's the fans that will bring our world to life," said Mark Jacobs, vice president at EA and general manager of Mythic Entertainment. "The Day of Reckoning approaches and it's going to be glorious! It's time to go to WAR."
Based on the popular tabletop game from Games Workshop, Warhammer Online: Age of Reckoning is an epic fantasy MMORPG featuring innovative Realm vs. Realm™ game play that pits the forces of Order and Destruction against one another on the battlefield to determine the fate of nations.
Awarded "Best Online Game" at the recent Games Convention in Leipzig, Germany, "Best PC Game" of E3 by G4's X-Play and "Best MMO" of E3 by IGN, WAR has been well-received by critics and by the gaming community as an accessible and engaging MMO title. Tens of thousands of players have already joined the battle in the closed beta, and soon the time will be at hand for players the world over to pledge their allegiance to the armies of WAR.
Warhammer Online: Age of Reckoning is scheduled to launch simultaneously in North America, Europe, and Oceania on September 18, 2008. Available for PC, WAR is rated "T" for Teen by the ESRB. For more information, visit http://www.warhammeronline.com/.
About Warhammer® Online: Age of Reckoning™
Experience the glory of Realm vs. Realm™! Declare your allegiance and join hundreds of thousands of mighty heroes on the battlefields of Warhammer Online: Age of Reckoning, the new MMORPG from Mythic Entertainment, the creators of Dark Age of Camelot™. Enter a grim fantasy world of perpetual conflict to fight for the Realms of Order (Dwarfs, High Elves, and Empire) or Destruction (Greenskins, Dark Elves, and Chaos). Invade enemy lands, besiege imposing fortresses, and sack sprawling capital cities for the glory of your Realm. Wield devastating magic and deadly weapons, battle monstrous creatures, and join your brothers-in-arms in epic Public Quests™. Climb the Bastion Stair, carry your Guild Banner into battle, and unlock the infinite secrets of the Tome of Knowledge as you travel the world. Sharpen your blade and unleash your inner mutation; the Age of Reckoning has begun and WAR IS EVERYWHERE!
About Electronic Arts
Electronic Arts Inc. (EA), headquartered in Redwood City, California, is the world's leading interactive entertainment software company. Founded in 1982, the company develops, publishes, and distributes interactive software worldwide for video game systems, personal computers, cellular handsets and the Internet. Electronic Arts markets its products under four brand names: EA SPORTS™, EA™, EA SPORTS Freestyle™ and POGO™. In fiscal 2008, EA posted GAAP net revenue of $3.67 billion and had 27 titles that sold more than one million copies. EA's homepage and online game site is www.ea.com. More information about EA's products and full text of press releases can be found on the Internet at http://info.ea.com.
EA, EA SPORTS, EA SPORTS Freestyle, POGO, Mythic Entertainment, Dark Age of Camelot, Public Quests, Realm vs. Realm, and Game Time are trademarks or registered trademarks of Electronic Arts Inc. in the U.S. and/or other countries.
Games Workshop, Warhammer, Warhammer Online, Age of Reckoning, and all associated marks, names, races, race insignia, characters, vehicles, locations, units, illustrations and images from the Warhammer world are either ®, ™ and/or © Games Workshop Ltd 2000-2008. Used under license by Electronic Arts Inc. All Rights Reserved.
"We've done our best to create the next great MMORPG experience, but it's the fans that will bring our world to life," said Mark Jacobs, vice president at EA and general manager of Mythic Entertainment. "The Day of Reckoning approaches and it's going to be glorious! It's time to go to WAR."
Based on the popular tabletop game from Games Workshop, Warhammer Online: Age of Reckoning is an epic fantasy MMORPG featuring innovative Realm vs. Realm™ game play that pits the forces of Order and Destruction against one another on the battlefield to determine the fate of nations.
Awarded "Best Online Game" at the recent Games Convention in Leipzig, Germany, "Best PC Game" of E3 by G4's X-Play and "Best MMO" of E3 by IGN, WAR has been well-received by critics and by the gaming community as an accessible and engaging MMO title. Tens of thousands of players have already joined the battle in the closed beta, and soon the time will be at hand for players the world over to pledge their allegiance to the armies of WAR.
Warhammer Online: Age of Reckoning is scheduled to launch simultaneously in North America, Europe, and Oceania on September 18, 2008. Available for PC, WAR is rated "T" for Teen by the ESRB. For more information, visit http://www.warhammeronline.com/.
About Warhammer® Online: Age of Reckoning™
Experience the glory of Realm vs. Realm™! Declare your allegiance and join hundreds of thousands of mighty heroes on the battlefields of Warhammer Online: Age of Reckoning, the new MMORPG from Mythic Entertainment, the creators of Dark Age of Camelot™. Enter a grim fantasy world of perpetual conflict to fight for the Realms of Order (Dwarfs, High Elves, and Empire) or Destruction (Greenskins, Dark Elves, and Chaos). Invade enemy lands, besiege imposing fortresses, and sack sprawling capital cities for the glory of your Realm. Wield devastating magic and deadly weapons, battle monstrous creatures, and join your brothers-in-arms in epic Public Quests™. Climb the Bastion Stair, carry your Guild Banner into battle, and unlock the infinite secrets of the Tome of Knowledge as you travel the world. Sharpen your blade and unleash your inner mutation; the Age of Reckoning has begun and WAR IS EVERYWHERE!
About Electronic Arts
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Guide to Dwarf Grudges
This is an excerpt of Pendrako's guide to Dwarf Grudges. One thing that is understood about Dwarfs is their ability to hold onto a grudge for generations. While some events pass with little notice, the recent events and the taking of Karak Eight Peaks renews many an old Grudge in every Dwarf in the Kingdom.
Of all the creatures in the world, none are more loathsome or worthy of hate than the Grobi. They are a wicked, treacherous race without morality, conscience or honour, the cause of endless woe for our people. No Karak bears a Book of Grudges that does not have many a line devoted to the actions of those foul creatures, and no Dwarf would hesitate before burying his axe in the neck of a Grobi. Every day which passes while these creatures still draw breath brings shame to us all.
Dwarfs are defined by their reverence for their past. They tirelessly construct monumental tombs in order to worship and venerate their ancestors, and great value is placed upon their oldest artefacts in order to respect the long dead craftsmen who originally fashioned them and to help preserve ancient Dwarf traditions. It is said that when Dwarfs are in any doubt as to how to proceed they look to the Dwarf with the longest beard to tell them what to do. This is invariably the wisest solution.
Dwarfs have exceedingly good memories, and live to a very great age. It is the task of any self respecting Dwarf to memorize the names of every Dwarf in their extended family going back many generations to the time their Clan was first founded by a common ancestor. Should a wrong be done to a Dwarf, it is considered to be dealt equally to their Clan and to their ancestors and their unborn descendants, and every other member of the Clan will be duty bound to avenge them. Dwarfs are a proud, stubborn race, who rarely compromise and are never seen to intentionally back down from a fight. This aspect of their character is epitomised by Dammaz Kron - the Great Book of Grudges ? a massive tome written in the blood of the High Kings which recounts all the great wrongs, unpaid debts and deeds of treachery perpetrated against the Dwarf race. Although the grudges listed in the book are occasionally avenged, Dwarfs on the whole tend to prefer to hold a grudge rather than let bygones be bygones. Indeed, the Dwarf language has no word for forgiveness, but many subtle variations on revenge, recompense and retribution.
The Ruinous Powers
The Dwarfs have been fighting the forces of Chaos since the very first page of the Great Book of Grudges. Despite the strength of their mountain strongholds, when the power of Chaos grows strong and the followers of the dark gods sweep down from the north the Dwarfs inevitably suffer. Many are the grudges against the Ruinous Powers, but the greatest must surely be that held for the loss of Karak Vlag. During the first Great War against Chaos when the Dwarfs fought side by side with the elves in a desperate struggle for survival the hold of Karak Vlag in the north of the Worlds Edge mountains was enveloped by the warping influence of Chaos, cutting it off from the outside world. After the Chaotic hordes had finally been driven back to their own realm, the Dwarfs returned to the site of Karak Vlag to find that the stronghold and its entire garrison had vanished into the aethyr, as if it had never existed.
The Great Betrayal
The event that may have originally sparked the Great Betrayal is recorded in Dammaz Kron as a relatively minor grudge concerning the theft of a caravan of gold and other goods being transported across the Old World. The attackers were described merely as Elgi - Khazalid for Elves - since at the time the Dwarfs did not distinguish between High Elves and Dark Elves. The Sundering of the Elves had not concerned the Dwarfs in their mountain kingdoms since the concept of a war of kin against kin was totally incomprehensible to them, and they had maintained good relations with the elves of Ulthuan. In fact the Druchii had been secretly raiding Dwarf caravans disguised as Asur warriors, and as the raids continued the Dwarf king, Gotrek Starbreaker, issued strong protests to the Phoenix King demanding compensation. Caledor the Second, the Phoenix King at the time, was considered arrogant even by elf standards, and he ignored all demands made against him, saying only that the Phoenix King did not answer demands but granted pleas.
Relations between the two races became increasingly acrimonious, and things reached a head when the ambassador sent to Ulthuan by an infuriated King Gotrek in a final attempt to prevent a war was sent home with his beard shaved off, causing the ambassador to take the slayer oath in shame. The inevitable war that followed is recorded as the War of Vengeance, although the High Elves refer to it as the War of the Beard. For the next four centuries the two races slaughtered each other on battlefields across the Old World and many great and powerful grudges were added to the pages of Dammaz Kron, until the Battle of Three Towers at the gates of Tor Alessi, where King Gotrek slew Caledor and took the Phoenix crown from his corpse as payment for the many wrongs suffered by his people. The Dwarf army marched back to Karaz-a-Karak and placed the crown among the treasure hoard of the High Kings, where it remains locked away to this day.
The Grobi Wars
By far the greatest and most vengeful of the grudges held in Dammaz Kron are against the Grobi ? Khazalid for Goblins - and those who aided them. Page after page of the tome records in grim detail the events of the thousand year long period of Dwarven history when tribes of Goblins swarmed over the Worlds Edge Mountains inflicting unthinkable suffering on the Dwarf kingdoms. Earthquakes, eruptions and floods weakened the impregnable defences of their strongholds, and when the Goblins attacked not even the unbreakable axes and hammers of the Dwarfs were able to stop the never ending tide of greenskins from overrunning their holds. The Everlasting Realm was shattered as countless beleaguered outposts, settlements, mines and temples were destroyed and occupied by their enemies.
Among all the grudges recorded in Dammaz Kron, the most grievous losses ever suffered occurred at the hands of Goblins, Orcs, and Skaven as entire Clans were killed to the last Dwarf and mighty kingdoms were utterly destroyed. Karak Ungor the delving hold, now known as Red Eye Mountain. Karak Varn and its gromril-rich mines by the shores of Black Water. Ekrund, home to the Dragonback clans, now known as Mount Bloodhorn. Gunbad, the largest and richest mine in the Worlds Edge Mountains and home to the blue crystal Brynduraz. Mount Silverspear, seized by the Orc Warlord Urk Grimfang and renamed Mount Grimfang. Karak Eight Peaks, Karak Azgal and Karak Drazh, all taken in the space of fifty years. The loss of these treasured holds is still felt by every living Dwarf as though it happened yesterday, and all Dwarfs dream of the day when they can purge the greenskin filth from their ancient halls forever.
Karak Eight Peaks
When the Greenskin horde approached Karak Eight Peaks, the Dwarfs gathered within its walls, confident the impregnable fortress was in no real danger. When the Orcs used their amplified magic to blast a hole in the impossibly thick wall surrounding the city, the Dwarfs were dumbstruck. The idea of an invading army breaking through the perimeter of Karak Eight Peaks was unthinkable. As a wave of snarling, bellowing greenskins pours through the breach, the dour but determined defenders of the doomed city make a last stand.
The news spreads like a shockwave. How could one tribe of greenskins capture the seemingly impenetrable fortress? High King Thorgrim Grudgebearer vowed revenge, the grudge against the Orcs is perhaps the third oldest in in the book of Dwarf grudges. Thorgrim rallied the Dwarf masses and has commanded every Dwarf in the city to make preparations for the war now underway. This seemingly impossible defeat has awoken the primal nature of many a Dwarf. Even those Dwarfs only concerned with their own business dealings soon found themselves rekindling the hostility felt towards the Orcs. The taking of Karak Eight Peaks will not go unrevenged.
No axe or hammer shall rest until the taint of the grobi has been wiped from the face of the earth. We shall not rest when our ancient halls have been reclaimed, we shall not rest when the Everlasting Realm has been rebuilt, for we are oathbound to rest only when we have driven the grobi from the mountains and the dark places of the world for ever. Only then shall the spirits of the ancestors be truly avenged.
Of all the creatures in the world, none are more loathsome or worthy of hate than the Grobi. They are a wicked, treacherous race without morality, conscience or honour, the cause of endless woe for our people. No Karak bears a Book of Grudges that does not have many a line devoted to the actions of those foul creatures, and no Dwarf would hesitate before burying his axe in the neck of a Grobi. Every day which passes while these creatures still draw breath brings shame to us all.
Dwarfs are defined by their reverence for their past. They tirelessly construct monumental tombs in order to worship and venerate their ancestors, and great value is placed upon their oldest artefacts in order to respect the long dead craftsmen who originally fashioned them and to help preserve ancient Dwarf traditions. It is said that when Dwarfs are in any doubt as to how to proceed they look to the Dwarf with the longest beard to tell them what to do. This is invariably the wisest solution.
Dwarfs have exceedingly good memories, and live to a very great age. It is the task of any self respecting Dwarf to memorize the names of every Dwarf in their extended family going back many generations to the time their Clan was first founded by a common ancestor. Should a wrong be done to a Dwarf, it is considered to be dealt equally to their Clan and to their ancestors and their unborn descendants, and every other member of the Clan will be duty bound to avenge them. Dwarfs are a proud, stubborn race, who rarely compromise and are never seen to intentionally back down from a fight. This aspect of their character is epitomised by Dammaz Kron - the Great Book of Grudges ? a massive tome written in the blood of the High Kings which recounts all the great wrongs, unpaid debts and deeds of treachery perpetrated against the Dwarf race. Although the grudges listed in the book are occasionally avenged, Dwarfs on the whole tend to prefer to hold a grudge rather than let bygones be bygones. Indeed, the Dwarf language has no word for forgiveness, but many subtle variations on revenge, recompense and retribution.
The Ruinous Powers
The Dwarfs have been fighting the forces of Chaos since the very first page of the Great Book of Grudges. Despite the strength of their mountain strongholds, when the power of Chaos grows strong and the followers of the dark gods sweep down from the north the Dwarfs inevitably suffer. Many are the grudges against the Ruinous Powers, but the greatest must surely be that held for the loss of Karak Vlag. During the first Great War against Chaos when the Dwarfs fought side by side with the elves in a desperate struggle for survival the hold of Karak Vlag in the north of the Worlds Edge mountains was enveloped by the warping influence of Chaos, cutting it off from the outside world. After the Chaotic hordes had finally been driven back to their own realm, the Dwarfs returned to the site of Karak Vlag to find that the stronghold and its entire garrison had vanished into the aethyr, as if it had never existed.
The Great Betrayal
The event that may have originally sparked the Great Betrayal is recorded in Dammaz Kron as a relatively minor grudge concerning the theft of a caravan of gold and other goods being transported across the Old World. The attackers were described merely as Elgi - Khazalid for Elves - since at the time the Dwarfs did not distinguish between High Elves and Dark Elves. The Sundering of the Elves had not concerned the Dwarfs in their mountain kingdoms since the concept of a war of kin against kin was totally incomprehensible to them, and they had maintained good relations with the elves of Ulthuan. In fact the Druchii had been secretly raiding Dwarf caravans disguised as Asur warriors, and as the raids continued the Dwarf king, Gotrek Starbreaker, issued strong protests to the Phoenix King demanding compensation. Caledor the Second, the Phoenix King at the time, was considered arrogant even by elf standards, and he ignored all demands made against him, saying only that the Phoenix King did not answer demands but granted pleas.
Relations between the two races became increasingly acrimonious, and things reached a head when the ambassador sent to Ulthuan by an infuriated King Gotrek in a final attempt to prevent a war was sent home with his beard shaved off, causing the ambassador to take the slayer oath in shame. The inevitable war that followed is recorded as the War of Vengeance, although the High Elves refer to it as the War of the Beard. For the next four centuries the two races slaughtered each other on battlefields across the Old World and many great and powerful grudges were added to the pages of Dammaz Kron, until the Battle of Three Towers at the gates of Tor Alessi, where King Gotrek slew Caledor and took the Phoenix crown from his corpse as payment for the many wrongs suffered by his people. The Dwarf army marched back to Karaz-a-Karak and placed the crown among the treasure hoard of the High Kings, where it remains locked away to this day.
The Grobi Wars
By far the greatest and most vengeful of the grudges held in Dammaz Kron are against the Grobi ? Khazalid for Goblins - and those who aided them. Page after page of the tome records in grim detail the events of the thousand year long period of Dwarven history when tribes of Goblins swarmed over the Worlds Edge Mountains inflicting unthinkable suffering on the Dwarf kingdoms. Earthquakes, eruptions and floods weakened the impregnable defences of their strongholds, and when the Goblins attacked not even the unbreakable axes and hammers of the Dwarfs were able to stop the never ending tide of greenskins from overrunning their holds. The Everlasting Realm was shattered as countless beleaguered outposts, settlements, mines and temples were destroyed and occupied by their enemies.
Among all the grudges recorded in Dammaz Kron, the most grievous losses ever suffered occurred at the hands of Goblins, Orcs, and Skaven as entire Clans were killed to the last Dwarf and mighty kingdoms were utterly destroyed. Karak Ungor the delving hold, now known as Red Eye Mountain. Karak Varn and its gromril-rich mines by the shores of Black Water. Ekrund, home to the Dragonback clans, now known as Mount Bloodhorn. Gunbad, the largest and richest mine in the Worlds Edge Mountains and home to the blue crystal Brynduraz. Mount Silverspear, seized by the Orc Warlord Urk Grimfang and renamed Mount Grimfang. Karak Eight Peaks, Karak Azgal and Karak Drazh, all taken in the space of fifty years. The loss of these treasured holds is still felt by every living Dwarf as though it happened yesterday, and all Dwarfs dream of the day when they can purge the greenskin filth from their ancient halls forever.
Karak Eight Peaks
When the Greenskin horde approached Karak Eight Peaks, the Dwarfs gathered within its walls, confident the impregnable fortress was in no real danger. When the Orcs used their amplified magic to blast a hole in the impossibly thick wall surrounding the city, the Dwarfs were dumbstruck. The idea of an invading army breaking through the perimeter of Karak Eight Peaks was unthinkable. As a wave of snarling, bellowing greenskins pours through the breach, the dour but determined defenders of the doomed city make a last stand.
The news spreads like a shockwave. How could one tribe of greenskins capture the seemingly impenetrable fortress? High King Thorgrim Grudgebearer vowed revenge, the grudge against the Orcs is perhaps the third oldest in in the book of Dwarf grudges. Thorgrim rallied the Dwarf masses and has commanded every Dwarf in the city to make preparations for the war now underway. This seemingly impossible defeat has awoken the primal nature of many a Dwarf. Even those Dwarfs only concerned with their own business dealings soon found themselves rekindling the hostility felt towards the Orcs. The taking of Karak Eight Peaks will not go unrevenged.
No axe or hammer shall rest until the taint of the grobi has been wiped from the face of the earth. We shall not rest when our ancient halls have been reclaimed, we shall not rest when the Everlasting Realm has been rebuilt, for we are oathbound to rest only when we have driven the grobi from the mountains and the dark places of the world for ever. Only then shall the spirits of the ancestors be truly avenged.
Shadowlands Overview
Following the death of Aenarion, first Phoenix King of Ulthuan, the Elves faced a difficult choice. Some argued that Malekith, Aenarion's lone surviving son, should succeed his father. Others, however, feared what Aenarion had become after he drew the Sword of Khaine and worried that the dread sword's curse had been passed on to Malekith. In the end, it was Bel-Shannar who was chosen to lead the Elves, and not Aenarion's heir.
At first, Malekith concealed his lust for power and his hatred of the Elves who had denied him his birthright. Instead, he made allies and won great victories in war, rising to a position of prominence among his people second only to the Phoenix King himself. It was then that he made his move, assassinating Bel-Shannar and proclaiming himself the rightful Phoenix King. Only one thing now remained. Malekith would have to prove his quality by entering the sacred flame at the Shrine of Asuryan, to be judged by the greatest of the Elven gods.
When he did so, however, the flame rejected him. Malekith was burned and disfigured, and his servants rushed the ambitious lord to the land of Nagarythe in the north of Ulthuan. When truth of the assassination came to light, the High Elves made war upon Malekith and his followers. When he was defeated by the new Phoenix King, Caledor the Conqueror, the son of Aenarion hatched a mad plan to undo the magic of the Vortex and let the raw power of Chaos spill into Ulthuan, destroying his enemies. The attempt was only partially successful, but the results were devastating.
Violent and apocalyptic energies were unleashed, tearing the northern lands of Ulthuan apart. A wall of seawater a thousand feet high crashed into Nagarythe and drowned countless thousands. At the last moment, Malekith and the other surviving Sorcerers chanted spells to preserve their greatest fortresses, transforming them into floating Black Arks. These sailed westward, eventually coming to rest in the north of the New World. Malekith named this land Naggaroth and his exiled people, now called Dark Elves, made a new civilization for themselves.
What little remains of Nagarythe is a tortured and twisted land, blasted by fire and seared by destructive magical energies. Strange, mutated creatures stalk this gloomy, barren wasteland of gray earth and black stone. The High Elves named this cursed place the Shadowlands, for it seemed always to be in darkness.
It was not long before the Dark Elves returned to claim their ancestral land, and the two sides have fought ceaselessly for control of the region ever since.
Though the Shadowlands are forever ruined by the catastrophic wars of the Sundering, the armies of the High Elves and Dark Elves have once again converged here to do battle. The invaders from Naggaroth are searching for more of the ancient menhirs that anchor the Vortex, and the High Elves have come to make sure they do not gain control of these standing stones. The menhirs are sources of great arcane power, but any tampering with that power could have far-reaching effects that mirror the ancient Sundering.
The Shadowlands have other value for the Dark Elves. Artifacts and relics from their distant past can be found here as well, and these are prized by the nobles of Naggaroth. Eager-eyed scavengers search the blasted wastes for some trinket they can offer to curry favor with their lords, or perhaps even with the Witch King himself.
Complicating matters for the warriors of House Uthorin is the appearance of their great rival, House Arkaneth. These two houses despise each other deeply, even by Dark Elf standards. The Witch King has commanded the rulers of both noble houses to take control of the Shadowlands menhirs, pitting his two most powerful rivals against one another. In this way, Malekith intends to ensure that neither Lord Uthorin nor Lady Arkaneth become powerful enough to pose a threat to him.
While the warriors of Naggaroth scour the Shadowlands for pieces of the past, it is the High Elves who make the most surprising discovery. Following a battle at one of the invaders' dig sites, ancient scrolls are found that complete a prophecy once thought lost. The events described in the antiquated scrolls bear a disquieting reference to the unfolding Age of Reckoning, but the prophecy also offers a slim hope that the Dark Elves' terrible plan can be stopped.
More time is needed to research the prophecy and convince the rulers of Ulthuan that it must be pursued. Time, however, is a luxury that the High Elves are quickly running out of. Their armies are spread thin, as many of their legions are still in the Old World fighting to aid the Empire and the realms of the Dwarfs. The Shining Guard has barely been able to slow the advance of the invading army, and if the Dark Elves move on the great gates that grant passage to the Inner Kingdoms, there is grave doubt that they can be stopped.
The spark of hope, it seems, may be extinguished before it has truly been kindled.
At first, Malekith concealed his lust for power and his hatred of the Elves who had denied him his birthright. Instead, he made allies and won great victories in war, rising to a position of prominence among his people second only to the Phoenix King himself. It was then that he made his move, assassinating Bel-Shannar and proclaiming himself the rightful Phoenix King. Only one thing now remained. Malekith would have to prove his quality by entering the sacred flame at the Shrine of Asuryan, to be judged by the greatest of the Elven gods.
When he did so, however, the flame rejected him. Malekith was burned and disfigured, and his servants rushed the ambitious lord to the land of Nagarythe in the north of Ulthuan. When truth of the assassination came to light, the High Elves made war upon Malekith and his followers. When he was defeated by the new Phoenix King, Caledor the Conqueror, the son of Aenarion hatched a mad plan to undo the magic of the Vortex and let the raw power of Chaos spill into Ulthuan, destroying his enemies. The attempt was only partially successful, but the results were devastating.
Violent and apocalyptic energies were unleashed, tearing the northern lands of Ulthuan apart. A wall of seawater a thousand feet high crashed into Nagarythe and drowned countless thousands. At the last moment, Malekith and the other surviving Sorcerers chanted spells to preserve their greatest fortresses, transforming them into floating Black Arks. These sailed westward, eventually coming to rest in the north of the New World. Malekith named this land Naggaroth and his exiled people, now called Dark Elves, made a new civilization for themselves.
What little remains of Nagarythe is a tortured and twisted land, blasted by fire and seared by destructive magical energies. Strange, mutated creatures stalk this gloomy, barren wasteland of gray earth and black stone. The High Elves named this cursed place the Shadowlands, for it seemed always to be in darkness.
It was not long before the Dark Elves returned to claim their ancestral land, and the two sides have fought ceaselessly for control of the region ever since.
Though the Shadowlands are forever ruined by the catastrophic wars of the Sundering, the armies of the High Elves and Dark Elves have once again converged here to do battle. The invaders from Naggaroth are searching for more of the ancient menhirs that anchor the Vortex, and the High Elves have come to make sure they do not gain control of these standing stones. The menhirs are sources of great arcane power, but any tampering with that power could have far-reaching effects that mirror the ancient Sundering.
The Shadowlands have other value for the Dark Elves. Artifacts and relics from their distant past can be found here as well, and these are prized by the nobles of Naggaroth. Eager-eyed scavengers search the blasted wastes for some trinket they can offer to curry favor with their lords, or perhaps even with the Witch King himself.
Complicating matters for the warriors of House Uthorin is the appearance of their great rival, House Arkaneth. These two houses despise each other deeply, even by Dark Elf standards. The Witch King has commanded the rulers of both noble houses to take control of the Shadowlands menhirs, pitting his two most powerful rivals against one another. In this way, Malekith intends to ensure that neither Lord Uthorin nor Lady Arkaneth become powerful enough to pose a threat to him.
While the warriors of Naggaroth scour the Shadowlands for pieces of the past, it is the High Elves who make the most surprising discovery. Following a battle at one of the invaders' dig sites, ancient scrolls are found that complete a prophecy once thought lost. The events described in the antiquated scrolls bear a disquieting reference to the unfolding Age of Reckoning, but the prophecy also offers a slim hope that the Dark Elves' terrible plan can be stopped.
More time is needed to research the prophecy and convince the rulers of Ulthuan that it must be pursued. Time, however, is a luxury that the High Elves are quickly running out of. Their armies are spread thin, as many of their legions are still in the Old World fighting to aid the Empire and the realms of the Dwarfs. The Shining Guard has barely been able to slow the advance of the invading army, and if the Dark Elves move on the great gates that grant passage to the Inner Kingdoms, there is grave doubt that they can be stopped.
The spark of hope, it seems, may be extinguished before it has truly been kindled.
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