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.