Sunday, August 31, 2008

Warhammer online Crafting Review



Introduction
Warhammer Online is attempting something different from other MMORPGs with their crafting system. Their aim is to a make a fun, and ultimately rewarding system that doesn’t feel like a grind. They have expressed that they want everyone out there in the battlefield and have allowed their system to let you craft/gather while you are exploring and killing!

No Recipes! In Warhammer there are no set recipes for your crafting. Basically, this means that instead of picking something out of a list, you gather up a few ingredients and throw them into a pot and hope something cool comes out when you are done.

Example:
    A recipe based system would have you choose out of a list of potions. Say you wanted to make a healing potion, you would typically pull out your recipe list and see you needed A, B, and C to make the potion. You go to a merchant and purchase the items you need, or gather the items from monsters as required, and a short while later you have your healing potion. The value of this potion is constant so you are always sure of what you’ll get.


Overview
The Warhammer method involves a lot of guess work and luck, but also rewards you for trying out odd combinations. You may get something much better than you intended or you may get something horribly wrong. Another great plus is you do NOT have to be at a certain area to craft. Provided you have the necessary items in your inventory, you can craft anything anywhere.

Example:
    Let's say you have been asked by a friend to make him a couple of healing potions for RvR™ later. From experience you know that a certain herb works really well for healing potions so you go out and gather what you need. However, you also know that you can’t just make a healing potion with just the herb, you’ll need other ingredients as well.From experience you have found that cheap wine helps stabilize the healing potions so you go gather that from passed out dwarves. On the way back to your friend you are suddenly attacked by a ravenous fairy! After the fight you decide to clip her wings, thinking it may help strengthen your potion.


    So you’ve made it back to your friend alive and you start on your potions. The first one turns out normal, you’ve added all the typical ingredients you use and the potion comes out the way it usually does. The second one you’ve added all the normal ingredients but you’ve had a stroke of luck! Your potion has come out just a little bit stronger than normal, good for you! For the last potion you decide to drop in the fairy wings when your friend isn’t looking, just to see what would happen. By now your friend is giving you a funny look. The last potion is bubbling and spewing out multi-colored smoke, not to mention the sickingly sweet smell it’s putting off. When things settle down you quickly realized you’ve made a discovery! Your simple healing potion now offers a greater chance to dodge enemy attacks, WAY TO GO!


Note: The obvious drawback of this plan is that it is likely in the near future that we will see all known combinations published on the internet and this will, with time, turn into a recipe based system.

A breakdown of the System
Two crafting skills are currently available:
  • Apothecary

  • Talisman Crafting


And four gathering skills:

  • Butchering

  • Cultivating

  • Magical Salvaging

  • Scavenging


You can only choose one crafting and one gathering skill, so pick wisely! Keep in mind what you want to do. If you want to make highly magical Talisman’s you might want to consider taking up Magical Salvaging as your gathering skill. If you want to make powerful potions, you may wish to take up Cultivating so you can get the herbs you need.

A breakdown of the Gathering Skills

Butchering
What this involves is searching a killed monster for resources. This only applies to non-sentient beasts and is used to salvage bones, meat, and skins. You will be able to identify if a monster can be harvested by noticing the flies buzzing around the corpse. A simple click allows you to butcher, provided you have the skill trained.

Cultivating
There’s no flower picking in WAR boy! Weeds, fungi and herbs are some of the main subjects involved. For this you are going to need to buy some things and carry them around to make this work. First off you are going to need a pot to grow your plants in. You’ll also need things like; soil, seeds and spores. Seeds and spores can be obtained as loot from monsters, as rewards from quests, and bought or traded from other players. Pots and soil can be purchased from merchants.

So you’ve got your items and are ready to do some cultivating! What you need to do is this;
1- Place your seeds or spores inside your pot. Easy enough.
2- Water your little pot and carry that thing around with you a little while. Things take time to grow man!
3-To make your plant healthy you can add nutrients or other things you want to try. Always wondered what to do with that spectral essence? Well add it to your soil and find out!
4-Your plant is done growing, time to find out what you got!

When you harvest you will either get a new type of seed (to be used in growing an even stronger plant), or an ingredient that you can use with the apothecary skill.

When all is said and done the now empty pot will go into your backpack to be used again.

Magical Salvaging
You too can be an all powerful magical expert! This is a pretty basic system that involves extracting the magical properties from items. What you’ll need to accomplish this is any magical item that has some sort of bonus on it (i.e. +10 Power or +3 to health). Using your deeply arcane and magical skill you will be able to extract one of these bonuses off the item. The drawback to this is the item you are salvaging will be lost in the process, so keep that in mind when you are attempting to withdraw one of its magical properties. If the item has more than one bonus on it, you will only be able to remove one property, so keep that in mind as well and choose the power that benefits you the most.

Example:
    You are exploring a new area of the woods and are attacked by a blood-thirsty Cabbit! After a long and exhausting fight you manage to defeat the beast and discovery a shimmering amulet around its neck. Using your powers of deduction you realize this amulet has a +5 Intelligence and +7 Agility bonus. You can’t really use the amulet yourself but you could really use the agility on something else, so you decide to extract that bonus. The process is pretty involved and the amulet is destroyed but you are left with a trinket that will allow you to use that +7 Agility on a Talisman in the future!


Scavenging
This involves recovering hidden items from more intelligent creatures, i.e. sentient. Basically you are rummaging through the dead body’s possessions to see if you can find anything of worth. As with Butchering you will be able to identify a body that can be scavenged by the flies that are buzzing around it. You will, as with Butchering, simply need to click on the corpse to recover items of worth, provided you have the skill trained.

Apothecary
So you want to create some potions, lotions and powders do you? Well in order to do this you will need training in the Apothecary skill. To be successful you’ll need some items such as a container, a main ingredient, and support ingredients.

A breakdown:
  • The type of container you use will determine how many support ingredients you can add to your mixture.

  • The main ingredient determines what type of potion you will end up with.

  • Support ingredients assist in the creation.


A note: All main ingredients are unstable so you will need these support ingredients in order to increase the chance of a successful potion or the possibility of creating something new and exciting.

Example:
Using our previous example of the healing potion we’ll break down the parts.
  • 1- You had your container that you used to make your potion in.

  • 2- The herbs you gathered were your main ingredient that’s used in all healing potions.

  • 3- The cheap wine you scavenged from the dwarves was a support ingredient.

  • 4- The fairy wings were another support ingredient you decided to add as well.

Keep in mind that not all support ingredients you add are going to produce results. For example, you decide to use your old combination that you discovered when you made that last healing potion. This time you decide to try and add some left over frog legs as well. Everything seems to be going fine until the mixture starts to bubble rapidly and emit a thick black smoke. After a few tense moments wondering if you are going to survive this experiment, the smoke clears and you take a look inside. Nothing useful was produced! Obviously this is not a good combination and you make a note of it.

In keeping with the WAR effort and encouraging players to get out there and battle, specific things must be done in order to make certain potions. For example you may have had to capture the enemy’s territory in order to cultivate a certain rare fungi. Or you may have had to defeat Glowworm the Great in order to acquire some other special ingredient.

Side note: All potions have a chance of failing. If this happens your container may break and become unusable, however the ingredients you used will not go away and may be used again.

Talisman Crafting
Talisman Crafting is basically the process of creating things that provide bonuses to worn items and armor. In order to make a talisman you are going to need a container just like with Apothecary. You’ll also need various items from crafting/gathering skills and at least one item from magical salvaging. Like Apothecary you’ll need your main ingredient (item from magical salvaging), and your support ingredients. Talisman crafting can imbue bonuses such as; additional stats, bonuses to armor, and bonuses to resistances.

Example:

  • You’re ready to make your Talisman so you’ve got your container set.

  • You apply the item you got from magical salvaging.

  • You apply the necessary support ingredients that are needed to facilitate the process.

  • FLASH…BOOM… you’re all done and now have a highly magical item that you can equip!


Note: Only rare and powerful items can have Talisman’s attached to them.

Conclusion
Based on all the information, we can see that early on there is a lot of guess work involved with Warhammer Online crafting. With thousands of different possibilities out there for making items, it will be a fun and challenging experience to discover them all! Additionally, in order to make some of the more powerful items, you’re going to need to work with other players. This is where having a good guild or network of crafters comes into play. Crafting won’t be quite so easy at first, but in my opinion this system should prove to be extremely fun and rewarding, a stark contrast to current crafting systems out there today!

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Saturday, August 30, 2008

Warhammer online - It's video time

Warhammer Disciple of Khaine Scenario PVP
A short clip of fighting as a level 10 Disciple of Khaine in the Khaine's Embrace PVP scenario. Played at level 10 with the R10 RR6 gear.


Warhammer online mounts
This one shows dwarf mounts and dark elf mounts and a short footage of the first dwarf mount


Warhammer Keep Siege


Warhammer Online Archmage Starting Area and Seige Weapons
The Archmage Starting Area.


WAR Open PVP


Marshes of Madness
A preview of the Marshes of Madness, a tier 2 Dwarfs/Greenskins zone

NOTE: The draw distance in the beta client is locked very near to the character, so you might notice some heavy clipping in the background.




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Friday, August 29, 2008

Dwarf Engineer Guide review



Overview:
As a race of tinkerers and builders, no career comes more naturally to a Dwarf than that of Engineer. Using a combination of machinery, ingenuity, and brute force they are able to harness technology to defeat their enemies. Sturdy and reliable, the Engineer provides damage support on the battlefield making him a valuable ally.

An Engineer carries quite an arsenal with him, which can include turrets, mines, hand grenades, and a large wrench. His automated turrets bring fire support to combat by using bullets, grenades, and even a flame thrower. A long rifle allows Engineers to fire at a distance keeping them away from danger but doing significant damage to his enemies.

Strengths:
  • Automated turrets that can fire without assistance

  • Long range attacks

  • Area of effect damage through grenades and turrets


Weaknesses:
  • Vulnerable to melee

  • Light armor

  • Turret setup requires time


PvE Overview
An Engineer depends heavily on his gear and well placed turrets can be key to survival. If placement weren't enough the Engineer must carefully choose what type of to use, as a stray grenade blast or burst of flame could easily turn their one problem into many. Turret fire mixed with a few shots from their long rifle will significantly reduce enemy health long before they are in attack range allowing a few swings of a hammer or wrench to finish the job. While they can stand on their own against single targets, when working in harmony with a tank class, the Engineer is a versatile addition to any PvE party. They are not built to withstand heavy amounts of damage however, so direct conflict with multiple foes requires a hasty retreat.

RvR Overview
In RvR combat, the Engineer moves from a sturdy damage machine to a support role on the battlefield. Concentrated attacks from casters or a rush from a tank can make short work of Engineers thanks to their light armor. You will see many rush forward to drop a turret and run to the back lines with casters to fire off rifle shots. One of their best roles is in defense of a battlefield objective where they can set up defensive positions and damage enemies attempting to move in. Their grenades and mines also make nice additions to large concentrations of enemy forces.



Engineer Mastery Paths

Path of The Rifleman: This path focuses on long-range attacks, and taking your time with carefully aimed precision shots. A master of this path prefers to stand back away from the hectic front lines of battle, and dispatch his enemies quickly and cleanly from behind defensive cover.

Path of the Grenadier: This mastery is primarily focused on grenades and bombs, powerful explosives which may be quickly tossed into the middle of a fray to wreak havoc on enemies. While their effective range may be shorter than a gun's - after all, Dwarf arms aren't exactly build to throw for distance - grenades make up for this through sheer stopping power and swift arming times.

Path of the Tinkerer: A specialist in this path is concerned mainly with his deployable contructs, preferring to fight from near the safety of his turrets while he lays out his foes with swings of his heavy steel wrench. Master tinkerers have also been known to use additional deployable devices above and beyond turrets as well, and many are the Engineers who've been banned for life from a blacksmith's forge after trying to test and improve the heat thresholds of land mines.



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Thursday, August 28, 2008

Dark Elf Sorceress review



Overview:
A Sorceress is a master of Dhar, the Dark Magic that feeds her power. Her spells assault her enemies with incredible force, as she forces the magic to do her bidding. She is able to harvest the Dark Magic from her spell weavings, storing it for massive blasts. The higher the level of Dark Magic, the greater the damage she can do. However, she must be prepared for a Backlash effect that may whip back and smack her down.

A Sorceress lightly covers herself in spectacular robes that leave little to the imagination, and they suit her attitude well. She carries a staff pulsing with energy to aid her spell weaving, but will rather not use it to smack her foes. A Sorceress is a ranged DPS class who fights more strongly from the rear where the enemy weapons do not reach. Her light armor makes her vulnerable to projectiles and other other spell casters, but only if they catch her first.

Strengths:
  • High spell damage

  • Very long range spells

  • Area of effect attacks


Weaknesses:
  • Vulnerable to melee

  • Light armor

  • Spells can backlash


PvE Overview
A Sorceress has the beauty of the Dark Elves, and the confidence of a high damage dealer wrapped into an incredible DPS class. While soloing, the Sorceress takes the fight to her enemies long before they see her. She must judge her enemy well, and take him down before he can get in close for a hit with his weapons. The Sorceress must rely on a party member to heal them, or keep potions on hand for the more difficult fights. Against Champion and Hero enemies, with higher health pools and armor, a Sorceress may struggle without a groupmate to distract and deflect the incoming damage.

RvR Overview
The chaos and violence of RvR combat draws the Sorceress, where her ranged attacks are very effective. Letting the melee classes stay up front to meet any advance, the Sorceress is free to pick her targets well, be they healers or other ranged combatants from the enemy. While staying back from the fight is safest, she should be ready to change positions often to make it more difficult to be targeted. A Sorceress' debuffs are in high demand, as they will open up weaknesses in the enemy defenses, which her comrades will then quickly exploit.

Sorceress Mastery Paths
Path of Agony: The Path of Agony is mainly concerned with slaughtering individual enemies in the messiest and most direct ways possible. This path contains a somewhat equal mix of volatile Dark Magic spells and more stable magic.

Path of Calamity: The Path of Calamity is favored by the more subtle and insidious covens of Sorceresses, and is primarily focused on longer-duration effects. A Master of Calamity prefers to hinder and wound their enemies over time, until the effects have built up enough that their foes are already dead, and just don't realize it yet. This path has fewer Dark Magic abilities, and relies more on a steady pace of destructive stable magic.

Path of Destruction: The Path of Destruction is for the Sorceress who believes that killing one enemy is nothing but a waste of time that could be much better spent killing ALL of their enemies. Spreading vast, sweeping swaths of darkness and death across the battlefield, the Masters of Destruction gamble the most heavily on numerous Dark Magic spells.

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Wednesday, August 27, 2008

Empire Witch Hunter review



Overview:
Service to the Empire is honor, privilege, and the singular purpose of a Witch Hunter. Showing unrelenting dedication to the purge of Chaos, they follow the teachings of Sigmar which make up the very core of their soul. Masters of the blade and one of the few classes utilizing firearms, they bring forth judgment against their enemies with no mercy. Using stealth and combination attacks, the Witch Hunter inflicts incredible amounts of damage with exacting precision and is a formidable foe on the battlefield.

Strengths:
  • The ability to inflict a high amount of damage quickly or over time.

  • The ability to move in stealth and utilize special surprise attacks.

  • Can build up points to use execution finishing moves which do high levels of damage


Weaknesses:
  • Is not a tank class and is susceptible to damage

  • Stealth abilities reduce movement speed

  • Ranged attack is relatively weak and short range


PvE Overview
The Witch Hunter's main role as DPS provides players the ability to deal heavy amounts of damage at the price of survivability. They can dispatch a single target extremely quickly but any additional encounters could kill them in short order.

Working much like the Rogue classes in other MMOG's the Witch Hunter builds up points in order to do finishing moves which can provide a variety of effects from normal damage, to an armor debuff. They also have skills which can only be used from stealth giving the Witch Hunter a great balance in PvE combat.

RvR Overview
The Witch Hunter almost has a support role in RvR combat, meaning they can't rush into a one on one battle no matter how badly they want to. However, their versatility provide a number of combat options which can make them invaluable. If two well matched tanks are beating on each other, the Witch Hunter can turn the tide. Perhaps there is a particularly pesky healer or caster harassing people at long range. A Witch Hunter can move in, make short work of them and escape long before anyone figures out what happened. The only downside to the Witch Hunter is their inherent squishyness. When targeted by tanks or a pair of casters, they can be chewed up and spit out pretty quickly.

Witch Hunter Mastery Paths
Path of Confession: The Path of Confession is direct and uncompromising, and focused primarily on direct and immediate opposition to heresy. A specialist in Confession will eschew subtlety and lengthy investigations in favor of simply approaching their enemy and beating the truth out of them. While not necessarily the most powerful approach, it is effective in its straightforward brutality, and provides a small measure of increased protection when the Witch Hunter finds themselves under direct attack.

Path of Inquisition: The Path of Inquisition is focused on longer and detailed investigations, weakening and progressively working over an enemy until the victim's guilt is all but assured. A player with heavy Inquisition Mastery may appear less powerful at first glance, but the devastating effects of their attacks are felt more and more as the fight progresses.

Path of Judgement: The Path of Judgment is taken by Witch Hunters who are assured that their targets are guilty and no questioning is needed. They tend to take their suspects by surprise, and are at their best when the enemy's attention is elsewhere. A Master of Judgment will seek to avoid face-to-face confrontations, and will be at their most powerful when they have allies nearby that can distract their enemies, allowing the Witch Hunter to lay down very potent attacks.

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Monday, August 25, 2008

30 min ingame review of Warhammer online




This is a 30 min+ ingame review of Warhammer online. We manly play Greenskin in this review.

Enjoy.


Warhammer_Online_Preview.wmv


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Sunday, August 24, 2008

Chaos Chosen class review



Overview: Few understand what it means to give your life in service to Tzeentch, the Raven God. To truly be one of the favored amongst the bringer of change's army grants you immense power, at only the cost of your soul. The Chosen lead the Chaos armies into battle with themselves at the front. With the ability to take a lot of damage, cause a decent amount of damage, and the myriad different Auras of power granted to them by Tzeentch, the Chaos Chosen are truly a force to be reckoned with. The effects of their auras set the Chosen apart from other fighters. From auras that buff the rest of the parties damage and resistances to auras that heal the Chosen himself, there are a host of different effects you can chose from depending on the situation.

Strengths:
  • The ability to take lots of damage with an above average amount of hit points.

  • The ability to deal more damage than other tanks on average.

  • Auras that cause different effects such as buffing or damage.


Weaknesses:
  • Lack of ranged attacks makes fighting from a distance effectively impossible.

  • Lifetap aura doesn't heal for enough to offset combat damage.

  • Weak against ranged damage classes


PvE Overview
The Chaos Chosen is hard to beat in PvE play. With their high tolerance for damage and ability to enhance their DPS through their different auras, they tend to solo quickly and effectively. Their abilities are derived from their auras, which they can use to either enhance their ability to resist damage, resist effects, or even afford them self minor heals during combat.

While in a group, the Chosen can stand out as a huge asset to the team. Their ability to buff the team through their auras allows the group a chance to increase their DPS or their resists. With the power of their auras generating extra hate to increase the taunts they already have, a Chosen shouldn't have too much trouble keeping the DPS classes out of trouble.

RvR Overview
The Chaos Chosen's chosen mode of combat is up close and personal. The combination of their ability to soak damage, do a decent amount of damage, and the effects of a their auras make the Chosen a hard foe to bring down. However, beware the ranged DPS classes. If they can draw a bead on you, they'll light you up. If you catch it soon enough however, you should be able to confront them before you die and that's where you shine. Let's face it, for a Chosen of Tzeentch, nothing is quite as fun as beating up on a cloth wearer trying to defend themselves in vain. Healers are your BFF's (best friends forever) and with a dedicated healer you go from being a pain to an outright unstoppable

Chaos Chosen Mastery Paths
Path of Strife: A This Path of Mastery focuses on increasing your DPS, which makes it potentially both sick AND wrong. In order to travel the path of "Chosen the Destructor" you will need to abandon your shield in favor of a two handed weapon, so you do sacrifice some protection in order to deal out more of the hurt.

Path of Retaliation: A This Path of Mastery focuses on being able to take the beating and outlast your foes. This is the path that allows you to be like Marv from Sin City ("Is that all you've got?!") and take an inhuman beating. These abilities allow you to define the battle lines because you ARE the battle lines.

Path of Discord: A This Path of Mastery focuses on the use of your auras. Tzeentch's gifts aren't wasted on the foolish and the Chosen who walk this path will be able to utilize their gifts in ways that other Chosen only dream of. From enhancing your melee attacks to unleashing blasts of magical power, this is the Caster Tank's path of choice.




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Saturday, August 23, 2008

Warrior Priest class review



For the Warrior Priest, faith is life. A Warrior Priest’s Righteous Fury grows strong with every swing of his arm against the Empire’s foes. With enough Righteous Fury built up, the Warrior Priest may call upon Sigmar to heal himself and his companions. Additionally the Warrior Priest's faith provides buffs to strengthen himself and those nearby. One will not find the Warrior Priest in the rear of the battle, as true devotion to Sigmar is celebrated at the front lines. The healing abilities embolden this medium armor class, but a ranged enemy will lessen this ability to regenerate life.



Strengths:
  • Up close and personal melee combat.

  • Group bolstering spells

  • Heals powered by combat


Weaknesses:
  • Less effective at ranged combat

  • Heals require melee combat

  • Less armor than tank classes.


PvE Overview
The Warrior Priest is a very effective soloer, and a great addition to any group. In solo play a Warrior Priest must keep track of the build up of Righteous Fury, indicated by the small globe at the bottom of the screen. Righteous Fury is required to power the healing spells, and can only be increased through melee combat. Ranged spells are few, but the few low damage attacks can be used to pull enemies from a short distance away.

In group combat, the Warrior Priest's buffs provide aid to those nearby, while the heal spells will also bring some aid. Taunts are not part of the spell book here, so holding aggro in a group situtation can prove troublesome.


RvR Overview
A Warrior Priest never fears the combat of RvR, but will cautiously appraise the battle's layout. He must beware the ranged combat fighters; while he can do some damage to them, we will not generate the Righteous Fury needed to keep his heals active. Close up, an enemy that moves around quickly can make landing a hit difficult. He must not stand his ground as a tank would, but be prepared to move and glide with the swing of his hammers.

Those with lighter armors will fall quickly under the Hammer's close range onslaught, while a higher armor class can be defeated with the lasting ability the heals provide.

Warrior Priest Mastery Paths
Path of Salvation: A Mastery Path focused on healing and restorative powers. A player who specializes in Salvation will become a much more powerful healer, although they will still need to place themselves into the front lines of a melee combat in order to build up their Righteous Fury.

Path of Grace: A Mastery Path centered around melee attacks which inspire and bolster the Warrior Priest and his allies. A Master of Grace will be able to simultaneously wreak havoc upon his enemies with his warhammer and improve himself and his companions, making him an especially valuable player when standing side-by-side with other allies.

Path of Wrath: A Mastery Path focused on crippling melee attacks which weaken, hinder, and harass the player's opponents. Someone who specializes in Wrath will certainly be the most offensively-focused type of Warrior Priest, as they will be both damaging their enemies and weakening them with each swing of their warhammer.



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Warhammer Online Cinematic Trailer 2



This new cinematic for Warhammer Online: Age of Reckoning thrusts viewers into the heat of RvR as the forces of Order battle to stop the marauding hordes of Destruction from taking the capital city...





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Thursday, August 21, 2008

Warhammer Online Guide: In depth Public Quest Description



This Warhammer Online video gives you an indepth look into how Public Quests work. I wanted to get footage of me doing a public quest all the way through, but they brought the closed beta servers down for 2 days, so i had to use old footage.

I hope this answers some of your questions about Public Quests(PQ's)

Give me some input of what you would like to know about in warhammer online, and i well try and make a video to answer your question! Comment of send me a message!


Warhammer Online In Depth Public Quest Description - The best video clips are right here



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Magus Class review



A Magus of Tzeentch is a devoted follower of the Raven God, and spends his entire lifetime studying pure sorcery with a fevered intensity. Desperate for even a bare glimpse of Tzeentch’s great plan, the Magus has learned through his research that Tzeentch’s daemonic minions are creations and reflection of the Great Changer, and he focuses his search for knowledge obsessively on this fact – for perhaps, by understanding the servant, he may better understand the master.

Class Mechanic

Daemonic Fiends
The Magus can call forth several different types of daemonic fiends, but can only maintain the concentration needed to restrain a single one at a time. A clever Magus therefore makes sure to best fit his summoning to his need: a Pink Horror which flings bolts of fire corruption at distant enemies, a Blue Horror which spews out waves of warping energy around itself, or a Flamer which spits blasts of fire at groups of enemies. All the base daemons are summoned within a circle of binding and are unable to move outside that circle (they don’t move at all.) Daemons can be set to be passive, aggressive, or defensive in nature.

Daemon Abilities
Each of the Magus’ daemons have two abilities that essentially proc at random. The first ability fires at a rate of 90% and the second fires at 10%. At this time it is not possible to micro-manage these daemon abilities. You can toggle one or the other on or off, but it does not affect the proc rates. This is apparently due to balance reasons as the secondary abilities are considerably more impressive than the primary abilities.

Pink Horror
The Pink Horror is a long range, single target daemon. The primary weapon of the Pink Horror is Daemonic Fire (long range DD) and the secondary ability is Daemonic Consumption (long range DOT).

Blue Horror
The Blue Horror is a short range, area of effect daemon. The primary weapon of the Blue Horror is Warping Energy (short range Cone AE) and the secondary ability is Coruscating Energy (short range PBAE + Snare).

Flamer
The Flamer is a medium range, multi-purpose daemon. The primary weapon of the Flamer is Flame of Tzeentch (medium range single target DOT) and the secondary ability is Flames of Change (short range PBAE DOT).

Uncontrolled Pets
An Uncontrolled Horror is summoned as a random proc when killing a victim is killed using Indigo Fire of Change (Path of Change Spec Ability). A Firewyrm of Tzeentch can be summoned using the Path of Daemonology Morale IV abiity.

Magus Masteries

Path of Havoc
This path focuses on long-range attacks, and primarily focuses on destroying a single target at a time. A master of this path will typically call forth a Pink Horror to help him slaughter his enemies from a safe distance.

The Path of Havoc’s primary focus is long range, single target damage. Spending points in Havoc enhances the baseline abilities Summon Pink Horror, Glean Magic, Surging Violet Fire, and Mutating Blue Fire, earns access to the new abilities Warping Blast, Bolt of Change, and Perils of the Warp, new tactics such as Fiery Winds, Changer’s Blessing, and Chaos Unleashed and ultimately the Morale IV ability Soul Leak.

Path of Changing
A specialist in this path understands that change waits for no man, and that Tzeentch demands speed and swiftness in those who serve. The cost of this decision is that his spells dissipate more rapidly into the Winds and therefore are only effective at moderate ranges, but a master of this path is a quick and adaptable sorcerer who uses a summoned Flamer to great effect.

The Path of Changing’s focus is medium range damage but also includes some area of effect damage in trade for the lost range. Spending points in this path enhances the existing abilities Surge of Insanity, Summon Flamer, Rend Winds, Dissolving Mists, and Infernal Blast, grants the new abilities Seed of Chaos, Tzeentch’s Firestorm, and Chaotic Rift, access to the tactics Infernal Pain, Lingering Mist, and Wild Changing and ultimately the Morale IV ability Daemonic Scream.

Path of Daemonology
This path is primarily focused on exploiting the warped and twisted daemonic Disc that the Magus rides, tapping into its power to unleash massive blasts of power at close range. In conjunction with a summoned Blue Horror, a specialist in this path can rend and shatter everything around him, leaving a trail of ruin and destruction in his wake.

The Path of Daemonology is focused around enhancing your daemons and point blank or very short ranged damage. Spending points in Daemonology enhances the existing abilities Summon Blue Horror, Aegis of Orange Fire, Agonizing Torrent, and Swat Aside, grants the new abilities Exchange Vitality, Instability, Indigo Fire of Change, access to the tactics Chaotic Attunement, Daemonic Pact, and Daemonic Contract, and ultimately the Morale IV ability Firewyrm of Tzeentch.

Character Stats
There are eight stats the affect your character as you level and find better gear. In addition there are eight more stats that are defensive in nature. Not all the stats are effective for all the classes so I’ll try to outline what are the important ones to think about for your Magus.

Stats at Character Creation
When you first create your character, you have 50 points in each of the offensive stats. You are not able to allocate them, you just get what you get and start leveling from there.

Stats as You Level
At this time, all of the eight main stats do increase each time you level, though they all appear to increase at a different rate.

How Does Each Stat Impact Your Magus?
Since all of the careers get the same sixteen stats, they all have a varying degree of impact on each of our careers. Since the Magus can be short/moderate/long range damage your choice of stats may vary slightly from one spec to another.

Intelligence: Increases magic damage and reduces the chance that your attacks will be disrupted. Magi earn 4.5 points of Intelligence per level. Willpower: Increases healing and increases the chance that you will disrupt a magic attack. Magi earn 3.5 points of Willpower per level.

Initiative: Increases your chance to evade attacks and reduces your chance to be critically hit. Magi earn 4 points of Initiative per level.
Wounds: Increases hit points. Magi earn 9 points of Wounds per level.
Toughness: Reduces all damage taken. Magi earn 3 points of Toughness per level.
Strength: Increases melee ability damage, melee auto attack damage, and reduces the chance that your melee attacks will be blocked or parried. Strength has no noticeable effect on Magi.
Weapon Skill: Increases your chance to parry an attack. Increases armor penetration. Weapon Skill has no noticeable effect on Magi
Ballistic Skill: Increases your ranged damage and reduces the chances your ranged attacks will be blocked or dodged. Ballistic Skill has no noticeable effect on Magi.

Defensive Stats
Armor: Reduces physical damage.
Corporeal Resistance: Reduces damage from Corporeal school damage.
Spiritual Resistance: Reduces damage from Spiritual school damage.
Elemental Resistance: Reduces damage from Elemental school damage.
Block: Chance to parry melee attacks. Magi have no block ability.
Parry: Chance to parry melee attacks. Magi start with 8.3% chance to parry.
Dodge: Chance to evade attacks. Magi start with 8.3% chance to dodge.
Disrupt: Chance to disrupt magical attacks. Magi start with 8.3% chance to disrupt an attack.

Initial Abilities
Flickering Red Fire: Summons a chaotic bundle of red flame that flies toward your opponent to inflict 46 elemental damage. Range:100 ft. Cast Time: 2s. Cost: 40 AP.
Daemon Lash: An ethereal tentacle swipes the target in front of you for 45 damage. Range: 5 ft. Cast Time: Instant. Cost: 45 AP. Cooldown: 5s.
Flee: You run away from the battle in a mad panic, increasing your run speed by 30 for 10 seconds. You immediately lose all of your action points and your morale will begin to drop, and you will not begin to regain action points until 10 seconds have passed.

Early Life as a Magus
In most cases you can pull mobs from range using Flickering Red Fire and once in melee range and Daemon Lash. You should also be experimenting with your pets (the Pink Horror is earned at level 3) and learn how they are affected by their agro radius.

General Combat Tactics for Magi
Magi aren’t the squishiest of casters, but when it comes down to it, they are casters. Certainly, early in the Magus’ life, the majority of damage will want to be dealt from range just to keep yourself out of danger. Pet’s can be tricky in heavily congested areas so try some solo experimentation before you start dropping pets in a group so that you understand how your pets will interact with the environment around them.

Choosing a Path for Your Magus
The Magus can be specced for short, moderate, or long range damage. Speccing for long range damage limits you to mostly single target damage while speccing for moderate or short ranged damage allows for some area of effect or point blank area of effect damage respectively. The closer you end up to your targets, the more you are going to want to concentrate on Wounds, Toughness, Initiative, and Corporeal Resists since you will likely be in the thick of melee. It also seems that the Path of Changing and Path of Daemonology offer more crowd control options than the Path of Havoc.

Overall, the daemon pets seem a bit on the week side, however when properly geared, specced, and the right traits, the PBAE damage can be pretty impressive and the pets become instant cast so you just drop them when you need them. The Path of Daemonology is likely to be a powerhouse spec at max rank, but is difficult to manage as a leveling spec.

I’m not a big fan of the Havoc tree simply because the cast times are so long that any melee will have closed the distance gap at around 1.5 spells cast and quickly make minced meat of you. I know a lot of people liked this spec, but I couldn’t make it work for me.

The Changing line seems to be a nice sweet spot if you can’t make up your mind. You get ranged AE damage and the most crowd control available to you while only giving up a small portion of your range. I think this will be the most common leveling spec and could be played even without the deamon summoned.

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Wednesday, August 20, 2008

Squig Herder class review



The squig herder is the ranged DPS class for the greenskins. Small and quick, his job is to slip in and lay some hurt on targets. With a squig at his side, the herder can tackle just about anything that gets thrown at him, given he's at the range to plink away with arrers. The class can be compared to in mechanics like the hunter class in daoc or in WoW, but has it's own unique abilities. Without learning how to become one with your squig, you can't unlock the full potential of the Squig Herder.

Squig Herder Masteries
This is your bread and butter line. It deals the most damage, and will be where most Squig Herders spend their points. This line specializes in stationary archery that can hit for big numbers. You'l need some good coordination with your squig as well as getting to know when to use your detaunt ability. You must be mindful however, that you do most of your damage sitting still, so be on the lookout always for any monsters (or players) that may be coming a little to close. The role of someone who specializes in Big Shootin is to pump out Big numbers for damage. In PvP, pick a target that's occupied with something, such as one concentrating on attacking. They'l notice much later that they're being hit than someone who is not engaged in combat. The gas squig from this specline gives a 10% bonus to range. Your primary skills used will be lots o shootin, Poisen Arrer and Plink.




The abilities granted through the Big shootin line are:

  • 3 mastery: Aimin Quickly(tactic)- reduces the cooldown by 1 second on "Plink"

  • 5 mastery: Shrapnel arrer- (2s cast, 10s recast)Hits your target doing X damage then doing Y DoT damage to enemies near the target

  • 7 mastery: I Feelz your pain(tactic)- Critical hits will recover your action points by 50

  • 9 mastery: Poison Arrer- (3s cast, 5s recast)Deals a large amount of corporeal damage to your target

  • 11 mastery: Clever shootin(tactic)- All path of big shootin abilities cost 35% less Action points

  • 13 mastery: Finish em off- Deals a large amount of damage if your target is below 20% health, or a small amount if they are not

  • 15 mastery: Lots of shootin(rank 4 morale)- Deals an extreme amount of damage to all enemy targets near you


The abilities enhanced by mastery in the Big Shootin line are:

  • Exploding Arrer- (2s cast, 10s recast) Does a small amount of damage to your target and those around it, then also hits them with a small DoT

  • Choking Arrer- (1s cast, 30s recast)Deals a small amount of damage and silences your target for 5 seconds.

  • Plink- (2s cast) Deals a moderate amount of damage to your target
    Lots o Arrers- (3s concentrated cast, 7s recast)You concentrate for 3 seconds on your target sending a barrage of arrows at them

  • What Blocka?- (1.5s cast, 5s recast) An undefendable attack which deals a medium amount of damage.

  • Gas Squig


Path of Stabbin'
Despite how the official description may sound, this mastery line has limited use. Squig herders have a low melee damage potential that is improved only moderately by spending mastery points. While melee may work out alright when you're doing pve and fighting some weakened monsters, getting into melee range of a MDPS in PVP means you're going to be eating dirt before know what happened. Squig herders have light armor, but the horned squig provides a 100% armor bonus effectively giving you about the absorbsion of medium armor. It's not a very good idea to engage a tank or mdps, especially if they see you coming. In pve and against light armor classes like the bright wizard, you can tear them up fairly quickly combined with your squig. The horned squig is powerful against melee damage and deals the 2nd highest damage of the squigs. Your squig is absolutely vital to your success, don't sacrifice it carelessly and always keep it by your side as if it's too far away your bonus disappears. You will have a multitude of quick attacks to use and your primary attacks will be Stabbity, cut ya, don't hit me, spin n slash and Drop That.


Path of Quick Shootin
This is the line of the mid range skirmisher. The benefits of this line can be most appreciated for the PvP oriented player. If you're planning to go solo or in a smaller 3-6 man group in pvp, this is the spec for you. This is just an unrivaled spec line for the pvp player. However, for it's great effectiveness in pvp, comes a cost for PvE. This line is not quite as useful in pve as the Big Shootin line, but it can work for group play. The role of someone who specializes in the Quick shootin line is moreso of a harasser than one putting out big damage. Your job is to fling around DoTs and snares as well as damage while you persist as a less deadly, but highly mobile threat. Abilities in this line are mostly instant cast or will continue to build while you are moving. This line is great for chasing down the enemy, as well as snaring enemies so your friends can get away(or so that your enemies can't). The spiked squig does the highest damage of all the pets and will help your damage. The learning curve for this spec is different than your average caster and may take time getting used to the kind of tactics and movement necessary instead of standing still and blasting. The spiked squig gives a 5% bonus to your critical hit rate. Your primary abilities used will be Stop runnin, Yer Bleedin, Run N Shoot and Shoot through ya.

The abilities granted through the Quick Shootin line are:


  • 3 mastery: Splintering arrers(tactic)- Run N Shoot will now hit all enemies within 20 feet of your target

  • 5 mastery: Run Away!-(instant cast, 45s recast) You command your squig to taunt all enemies near you, and knock yourself forward

  • 7 mastery: The Waagh is Strong(tactic)- Increases duration of Yer bleedin to 24s, as well as the durations of Stop runnin and not so fast to 15s

  • 9 mastery: Rotten Arrer- (instant cast, no recast) Deals a large amount of damage to your target over 9 seconds and incoming heals to them are 50% less effective. (usable only on a target that is ailing)

  • 11 mastery: Shootin wif da wind(tactic)- All quick shootin abilities have their range increased by 50%

  • 13 mastery: Behind Ya- (instant cast, 10s recast) You deal a moderate amount of damage to your target and they must be facing away from you

  • 15 mastery: Arrer of Mork- (rank 4 morale) Deals a very large amount of amount of damage to all targets within 40 feet in front of you, then a very large amount of damage over 10 seconds..


The abilities enhanced by mastery in the Quick Shootin line are

  • Stop Runnin: (1s cast, 2s recast)deals a small amount of damage to your target and snares them for 10s. Usable while moving

  • Yer Bleedin: (instant cast)deals a moderate amount of damage over 15s to your target

  • Run N Shoot: (1s cast)Deals a small amount of damage to your target. Usable while moving

  • Not So Fast: (1s cast, 10s recast) Deals a small amount of damage and reduces your target's initiative for 10s. Usable while moving

  • Shoot through ya: (2s cast) deals a moderate amount of damage to all enemies in front of you up to 65 feet away. Usable while moving

  • Spiked Squig


Note about masteries:
Mastery abilities must first be unlocked. A mastery ability like Splintering Arrers has a lv3 requirement. That means you must spend 3 points in the line to unlock it. You must then spend a 4th point to purchase the ability if you choose to. So Effectively if you wanted the Shootin Wif da wind tactic in the Quick shootin line, you must spend 16 points to acquire it if you also purchased all the abilities in the line before it. Hopefully this will clear up confusion for people thinking they should have the ability but it's not on any lists.

Stats
I've decided to divide stats into tiers, noting their importance.

Tier 1
Ballistics skill: Nothing is more important than this. This is the sole stat that determines your damage with a bow. Value this over anything else

Wounds: This increases your HP by 10 for each point. It's also important to get this up if you can, as it increases your survivability greatly. One of your top 3 stats.

Elemental resist: Most important magic resist. This will bring down those big number bright wizard attacks

Tier 2
Strength: if you plan to melee, put some points into this, otherwise it's not that important. You will be doing some melee in pve

Toughness: Reduces the amount of melee damage you take. Useful for pve, but if you get hit by melee in RvR you're going to be dead anyway

Initiative: Increases your dodge rate and reduces your chance to be critically hit.

Corporeal: second most important magic resist

Spiritual: third most important magic

Tier 3
Intelligence: You shoot arrers, you don't cast spells. This is a worthless stat.
Willpower: increases chance you'l disrupt a magic attack, and also increases healing amount(we don't heal) this stat isn't really worth pursuing
Weaponskill: this increases armor penetration for melee weapons. You're much better off getting ballistics because it's a lot more beneficial

General PvE Advice
The class in PVE plays similar to a hunter in world of warcraft. This is not to say you're going to have the same experience. It has much different abilities and will still be a refreshing change. As you are leveling up, you'l want to try out every ability in combat for a decent amount of time, even if what you have is working for now. You will often find incorporating this new ability that sounded like it wouldn't be much use will make you much stronger and more effective. Give everything a chance and you will find a skillset that suits your playstyle best. There are a very large number of abilties, and you'l be swamped with trying to pick out the ones you like best or will use the most so it's important to go into the UI tab and make 2 action bars available. Between the 2, you should be able to fit everything you're going to be using on them.

Now, for quite possibly the most important thing for Pve. Gathering skills. Training up skills costs money, and a lot at that. You're going to be very poor while leveling and will find it hard to just keep up with skills. This is why you need to get a gathering skill. I personally reccomend the Scavenging skill. What it does is it allows you to scavenge and loot the bodies a second time of a sentient monster. Sentient meaning something that has at least some limited thought or self awareness like a human, dwarf or troll. A majority of the monsters you will be fighting will fall under this category. Items gained through scavenging however, are not normal loot items, but instead crafting materials. That doesn't mean however that they won't sell to vendors and give you a bit of extra cash. Bodies can only be scavenged after they've been fully looted. You can identify bodies that can be scavenged because they will have flies buzzing around them. You can also scavenge bodies that don't belong to you. It is impolite to do so if someone is also scavenging themselves, but if they aren't, then it's fair game. A good way to get this skill raised is in public quests where large amounts of monsters are being killed. You can first aquire a gathering skill In the second town along the road you will find from your starting area with your starting town being the first. This will be home of the Chapter 2 public quests. keep in mind, that if your scavenging skill isn't kept up to date, you won't be able to scavenge the higher level monsters.

Overall, PVE works the way you want it to. Experiment with your abilities with trying different combinations or casting orders and you'l be fine. You won't start getting master points until rank 11 and by that time you should have a good idea of what kind of squig herder you'd like to be.

General RvR Advice
Playing a squig herder can be a lot of fun, especially chasing down someone for that kill or inching just a bit closer to be able to shoot at that bright wizard. Because of this, people tend to get focused and lose sight of your surroundings. This is an often fatal mistake. Often people are trying to flank you from the side, so make sure you're always panning the camera with your mouse to identify threats that may be coming. It's also a good idea to keep in mind that just because you can't see anyone, doesn't mean there isn't someone there. Witch Hunters have the ability to stealth and love to position themselves to hide in the spots casters are most likely to sneak up on. A Witch hunter will almost always wait for the right moment and catch you off guard while you are busy fighting. They will tear you up generally before you get the chance to react. Squig herders are also a favorite target of Empire casters, and likewise they should also be your favorite target. This is why it's very important to be watching your own health bar as well as your enemy's. Sneaking up a couple of feet will likely spark some bright wizards or engineers to sneak up a bit and focus their fire on you rather than the tank you're standing next to. Be aware of the movement of your enemy's front line. If you see a caster moving towards you... assume it's you that they want to kill.

Many people view the squig herder as an easy kill because you are a Ranged DPS type. So it's important to be paranoid and assume that everyone is out to get you. Pre kiting is a vital skill that will often save your life. If you see a tank running in your direction, Pop off a Stop Runnin shot and run a bit away. Often, this will trigger the tank/MDPS into thinking you have no intention of fighting and they likely won't catch you. So they will turn their attention to whatever may be closest to them at the time, which often can be another tank. Don't wait for them to get to you and start hitting for you to decide you want to keep your distance as this will often lead to you eating dirt. Even if they're hitting someone else near you like a marauder, if you're close, they may decide that you're an easier target and turn their aggression to you. It's best to try and keep a distance of around 70-80 feet between your enemies, in particular if you're spec is Big shooting. You want a bit of an extra buffer for some extra shots when your target decides to start running away, as well as to give you some space to pre-kite.

Conclusions
A squig herder is a fun and interactive class. There are many different ways to play one and all of them provide a unique experience.

Just keep an open mind while staying hidden and keeping on eye on your surroundings and you should be successful with whatever you do.

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Monday, August 18, 2008

Warhammer online Character Attributes and abilities



Character Attributes:

Strength
Increases your melee damage and makes it harder for enemies to parry or block your attacks.
Willpower
Increases your chances to disrupt hostile spells and increases all healing you do.
Toughness
Reduces the damage you take from all sources.
Wounds
Increases your maximum hitpoints.
Initiative
Increases your chance to dodge ranged attacks and makes it more difficult for enemies to critically hit you.
Weapon
Increases your chances to parry melee attacks and allows your melee attacks to bypass a portion of the enemy's armor.
Ballistic
Increases your ranged damage and makes it harder for your enemies to block or dodge your ranged attacks.
Intelligence
Increases your magical damage and makes it harder for enemies to disrupt or block your attacks.

**There is no attribute that increases AP


abilities:

Base Skills:
Base skills are unlocked when you achieve a specific rank then purchased at your trainer, players can choose to skip a Base skill if they desire but there is no good reason to do so.

Morale:
Morale abilities are powerful effects that require you to engage in combat for a period of time as you gain Morale. When you use a Morale ability any Morale you've built up is lost. There are four ranks of Morale Abilities. Rank 4 Morale abilities require the maximum Morale possible (100%) but can be devastating to your opponents.
Players unlock their first Morale ability at Rank 8

Tactics
Tactics are passive abilities that can be combined with other tactics to enhance your natural abilities. As your gain ranks you unlock more slots to use additional Tactics at the same time. In addition you can save different sets of Tactics for use in specific situations.
Players unlock their first Tactic ability at Rank 11

Mastery
Supplemental skills are unlocked once you reach a certain Mastery level, once unlocked a player has to choose to spend points to purchase these skills. This is a difficult choice because the same points used to purchase Supplemental skills are used to increase Mastery level. These points are referred to as specialization points, and are earned every rank, a player will never have enough Specialization points to completely Master multiple paths while purchasing Supplemental skills. It is a tough choice because every point of Mastery earned improves EVERY action in that mastery line by a small amount this includes the Base Skills you automatically get. One level of Mastery can seem trivial however they add up and 5 or 10 points of Mastery makes a significant difference.

Guild Formation: (With special thanks to Sir Robin}

There are, currently, four requirements for creating a guild in-game.

* A full six member group.
* None of the group members are part of a guild.
* All group members are standing near the Guild Registrar NPC.
* 1 Brass


When you confirm that you want to create the guild, and name it, a confirmation window popup will appear for each team member. All team members must approve for the guild to be created.

Note: Please be aware that just because someone is asking you to help them create a guild does not mean they intend for you to stay in the guild. They may just not have enough guild members in-game, at the time, to do it on their own.

Starting Area Camp Guild Registrar NPC's:

* Linus Wirtz(Empire)
* Kargesh Fellgaze(Chaos)
* Sabrina Kramer(chaos chp3)

WARBANDS
/wbc convert 1 - /warbandconvert1 (open) /warbandconvert 0 (private)
/w - /wb for warband chat
/warband move <#> - /warbandmove <#>
/warband swap - /warbandswap
/warband promote - /warbandpromote
/warband demote - /warbanddemote
/warband makeleader - /warbandmakeleader
/warbandban (bans that jerk!)
/warbandunban (lets him back in once he's cooled off)
/warbandpassword (creates password-only joining)
/join (allows entry to PW protected WB)
/warbandpassword (cancels PW)
/disband still works but /leave is fewer letters and does the same thing

This is not a comprehensive list; you can find that by typing /help in the game. I just wanted to let you know!

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WAR Guide: In-Game Commands




Slash Commands:

Chat:
/chan joins your realm's (Order or Destruction) general chat channel
/chancreate creates custom channel
/ sends a message to the designated channel
/s sends a message to the say channel
/t sends a private message to the named player (Note: Pressing the "R" key will let you reply to the last tell received)
/p sends a message to your group members
/g sends a message to guild chat
/wb -chats in Warband
/aos - chats in the alliance officer chat
/as (/a) - chats in the alliance's main chat
/reloadui - relaods your user interface


Emotes:
/wave
/bow
/beg
/point
/talk
/charge
/salute
/shrug
/no
/yes
/scream
/sit
/kneel
/lie
/eat
/drink
/yawn
/burp
/cower
/mad
/bored
/cheer
/clap
/flex
/laugh
/cry
/shy
/dance
/time
/drunk
/bye
/hi
/cheers
/chicken
/pig
/rude
/yell
/stomp
/brandish
/beckon
/halt
/howl
/gloat
/belch
/katadance
/rogor
/rez
/slit
/smile
/frown
/happy
/lol
/taunt
/shout
/glare
/intimidate
/waaagh
/grumble
/weep
/think
/insult
/preen
/primp
/scratch
/pick teeth
/impatient
/smoke
/no beard
/showoff
/dropkick
/chase tail
/sing
/plot
/conspire
/dagger
/pray
/juggle
/disagree
/agree
/em allows a custom message to be sent to the emote channel (your character name will be the first word in the emote followed by your message)

Note: This is not a complete list. Emotes can be used with or without another player targeted, and the message will change accordingly.


Ranks:
Alliance Leader: kick/invite/promote/demote/aos/as
Alliance Officer: invite/promote/demote/aos/as
Alliance Member: read/write in as
Alliance Initiate: read as, but no typing (shuts up the new players -- or the ones with colorful post-RVR death language (like me))

General:
/friend adds the named player to your friends list
/assist allows you to target another player's target
/follow allows you to follow the targeted player
/bug submits an ingame bug report
/respec resets every trained ability, tactic, and morale as if you were level one and had never talked to a trainer before
/refund XXXXXX (Actions|morale|Tactics|Spec)
/stuck transports a stuck charcter to the nearest respawn location
/help brings up a list of all slash commands (not true)(but getting better)
/aid it's /assist for getting defensive target
the - on the Numpad for taking screenshots.
/gc apromote - Promotes the player's alliance rank
/gc ademote - Demotes the player's alliance rank
/gc invite invites named individual /targeted individual

Shift - to take high rez screenshots.

This is not a comprehensive list; you can find that by typing /help in the game. I just wanted to let you know!


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Saturday, August 16, 2008

Zealot RvR movie



Lowbie RvR, I'm a level 6 Zealot here. Zealot is a defensive healer. There are 2 defensive healers, rune priest and zealot, the zealot is the more offensive aimed. So I guess we can call it "Offensive Defensive Healer" - or what ever.

Here is the movie:


Warhammer - Zealot RvR from ViXan on Vimeo.

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A Beginner's Guide to Warhammer Lore



INTRODUCTION
Warhammer is a fantasy world created by Games Workshop in 1983 to play host to a tabletop miniature wargame. Originally intended to be another way for D&D players to use their legions of lead figures, Warhammer soon took a life of its own, spawning books, a role-playing game, computer games, jewelry, a heavy metal album, and a pub. Warhammer: Age of Reckoning (or "WAR") is based off of the intellectual property that creates the backdrop for these various bits of consumer media.

The Warhammer story, or background, is vast. It begins tens of thousands of years before the current day with the Old Ones: beings of vast power that sailed between worlds on a sea of infinite potential (known as the Warp, Aethyr, or Realm of Chaos). Armed with incomprehensible techno-magicks and knowledge, the Old Ones raised the races of the Warhammer World from barbarism, teaching elf and dwarf how to draw upon the Realm of Chaos to shape extra-dimensional potential into physical forms… or magic, and bestowing upon them the joys of enlightened civilization. This golden age ended too soon, however, as the Old Ones were exterminated or driven away by things from the Aethyr: the daemons of Chaos and Ruinous Powers native to that Realm. Given form and purpose by the Warp-reflected flaws of mortals, these daemons invaded the Warhammer World, ending the age of Law and advancement brought about by the Old Ones. Many millennia later, the children of the Old Ones continue the battle gainst Chaos.

It is important to note that there are many, varied, implementations of Warhammer lore; none are more "right" or "official" than others. To put it quite simply, according to GW: THERE IS NO WARHAMMER CANON. Players are free to pick, choose, and research the bits they like.

WHERE DID GAMES WORKSHOP COME UP WITH THIS STUFF?
Warhammer's imagery and style are influenced heavily by gritty, classic fantasy authors, such as Michael Moorcock, Robert E. Howard, and H.P. Lovecraft, as well as real-world history and a bit of Tolkien. Designers also list influences such as Terry Gilliam, Black Adder, and Monty Python. The Warhammer world is a playground-like amalgam of everything from Napoleonic gun lines, to sanity-blasting tentacled horrors, to halfings and their giant cocks (depictions of a large rooster that serves as a provincial symbol for the little folk). Those interested in learning more might be urged to pick up some of these older books; Warhammer’s roots are clearly evident in Conan, Elric, and Martin Luther.

THE WARHAMMER WORLD
The unnamed (to its inhabitants) Warhammer world roughly resembles our own. A map can be found here. At the “heart” of the known setting is the Old World, analogous to Earth’s Europe. Here one finds the human nations of the Empire, Bretonnia, Kislev, brutal Nosrca, Tilea, and Estalia as well as the remnants of the Dwarfs’ ancient empire beneath the mountains. Scattered pockets of wood elves (both civilized and less so…) share lands with the Empire and Bretonnia. To the south, past the rogue settlements of the Border Princes and orc-infested Badlands, lie trackless deserts. Cut through by the great River Mortis, the ancient, dusty realm of Nehekkarha lies not-as-silent as it should be, duly earning its title as the Land of the Dead. Past here, one finds the mysterious human nation of Araby, rife with proscribed cults and unknown magic, with the dark jungles of the Southlands engulfing the rest of the southern continent. Nothing but sun-mad orcs and the remains of the Old Ones’ world live here.

To the east lie the dead plains of the Dark Lands, choked with the fumes of Chaos Dwarf industry. Yet further east, in the Mountains of Mourn, are the Ogre Kingdoms. These inhospitable vaults are dotted with the scattered ruins of forgotten civilizations and shaggy prehistoric beasts, pierced in the south by the Silver Road, the sole not-so-safe route between the lands of the Old World and mysterious Far East. Of the kingdoms of Ind, Cathay, and Nippon little is known… other than that the presence of Chaos.

In the middle of the Great Ocean hides Ulthuan, the last great holding of the Asur, first and favorite children of the Old Ones. This magic and mist enshrouded isle contains the kingdoms of the High Elves, including mystical Avelorn and stately Eataine; recently opened to outsiders by the Phoenix King Finubar. Unknown to most of the Warhammer world, Ulthuan is of critical importance. In ancient times, the elves created a vortex of Chaos energy, woven of the structure of the island itself. This vortex drained the Chaos-stuff feeding daemonic legions after the fall of the Old Ones, allowing the elves to fight back and forestall the end of the world. Were this vortex to ever fail, Ulthuan would sink beneath the waves, heralding the final invasion of Chaos.

West of Ulthuan one finds the brooding forests and icy mountains of Naggaroth, the Land of Chill. Now refuge of the Druchii, exiled for millennia from Ulthuan, this is a land as cruel as its inhabitants. To the south is fabled Lustria, where the seat of the Old Ones lies rotting in the jungles. Overseen by things blindly following the edicts of the lost Old Ones, many attempt to enter these jungles to secure the gold and riches within. A few even make it back.

Finally, at the very ends of the Warhammer world lie madness and infinity. The collapsed interdimensional gates of the Old Ones spill Aethyr into the material, and thoughts of mortals into the Realm of Chaos. Surrounding the northern pole gate are the Chaos Wastes, lands of blended Warp and Material, realms of madness, eternal war, and the whims of the Chaos Gods. No one can leave this place entirely untouched by Chaos.

WARHAMMER ARMIES
Considering the wargame roots, Warhammer is often seen in terms of armies and military units, as well as nations and species.

Beasts of Chaos
Hidden in the darkest places of the world are the Beasts of Chaos. Beastmen, Minotaurs, Centaurs, and other spawn of the Dark Gods, these things are Warhammer’s version of the archetypal medieval daemonic satyr or beast in the woods. Beastmen were once human, but became the true and favored children of the Dark Gods when the Warp Gates fell, spilling pure Aethyr into the world. They’re still closely linked too; often a human baby is born horned and hoofed. These turnskins are either killed by Witch Hunters and priests, or taken by insane but loving parents into the woods, where they’re left for the Beasts.

Bretonnia
A thousand years younger than the Empire, the Bretonni tribe became the nation of Bretonnia under the guidance of Giles le Breton. Eschewing the philosophy and science of the Empire in favor of mysticism and feudalism, Bretonnians rely on the martial strength of their lordly knights in battle. They follow the edicts of the Lady, a goddess of suspect origin, but sometimes uphold her message of honor and mercy. A curious blend of pre-revolution France, English fighting styles, and Le Morte d’Arthur, the Bretonnians are a bit of an anachronism compared to the rest of the Old World.

Dark Elves
Warhammer’s version of the Melnibonean archetype, the Druchii have little to do with D&D dark elves or Tolkien’s fading perfect beings. Inheritors of the Phoenix King’s crown by way of heredity, the dark elves followed Malekith, son of the first Phoenix King, into exile after he was driven from Ulthuan by conspirators. The Druchii respect strength above all, and solely worship Khaine, the elven god of war. Taking a cue from the original sorcerers and their Chaos vortex, the Druchii do not fear Chaos, but seek to bind it to their will and purpose. Some would say this has corrupted them as a race and nation, but the dark elves don’t (officially) worship the Dark Gods- just see them as a means to an end.

Daemons ofChaos
At the heart of the Ream of Chaos lie the architects of the Old Ones’ fall. Born of fear and rage, ambition and despair, the most primal of these beings are the most powerful; the Great Gods of Chaos, four brothers who would see the end of the world. First among them is great Khorne, lord of all that is war, hatred, and bloodshed. There are few the martially-minded god hates so much as his sibling, the passionate Slaanesh. Patron of excess and indulgence, Slaanesh is least amongst the Chaos gods but popular with depraved cults of the Empire. Jovial grandfather Nurgle seeks to enrich the world’s despair by blessing mortals with virulent plagues and pestilences. Finally, of primary import to WAR is Tzeentch, the Architect of Fate. Tzeentch brings hope. Hope of change without reason or balance; Tzeentch is a manipulator, plotter, and sorcerer. His touch brings ambition and madness.

At times, the powers of Chaos put their differences aside and send splinters of their selves into the material world; where the skin of reality is thin, daemons can step into the mortal realms and fulfill the urges of their patron.

Dogs of War
As an army, Dogs of War include everything from Tilean pikes and crossbowmen to suicidal Dwarf pirates to an exiled Asur prince and his dragon. This has allowed GW to release a number of unique and interesting models over the years, often from nations that don’t warrant their own armies. Araby, Tilea, Estalia, and rogue elements of other armies have all been detailed.

Dwarfs
As those following WAR are probably aware, Warhammer dwarfs are the Nordic and Tolkien archetype taken to an extreme. More obsessive, drunk, and gold-hungry than most settings’ dwarfs, these guys are a major reason for the success of the Empire, having taught humans ironworking, gunpowder, and numerous other advances. The friendship between the dwarf kings and Empire is one of the few true alliances in the Warhammer world. The dwarfs once held a mighty empire running the length and breadth of the Old World. A mysterious cataclysm befell them many years before the founding of the Empire, followed by battles against the greenskins, then a costly war against the elves known as the “War of Vengeance”. These events saw the dwarfs greatly reduced in power, but through sheer spite and stubbornness, the race continues to survive.

The Empire
The point-of-view for most of the Warhammer World (and setting for WFRP), the Empire is an especially mad take on the 16th century, pre-Protestant Holy Roman Empire. The Empire learned metalworking and industry from the dwarfs, and were taught magic by the elves. The last true hopes of civilization against Chaos, Imperial armies combine gunlines, professional soldiers, knights, artillery, and magic to defeat their foes. Founded by Sigmar two and a half millennia before the current game period, Imperials now worship their founder as a god. It was Sigmar who forged the first true alliance with the dwarfs, saving their High King from capture by a superior band of orcs. For this, Sigmar was granted the hammer Ghal-Maraz, an heirloom dwarf runic hammer (and the titular weapon for the setting)… which is probably still carried by Karl-Franz, the current Emperor.

High Elves
First experiment of the Old Ones, these ancient and lawful beings taught the elves their magic, art, song, and civilization. Unlike other experiments, elven history vaguely remembers the Old Ones, giving them a racial memory and learning that vastly exceeds all others. Physically resistant to Chaos, the elves still suffer the moral and mental effects, especially when succumbing to their own arrogance and passions. High elf culture is extremely rigid and controlled because of this and they see themselves as the protectors of the world, justifying their near-fascism and unchallenged control of major sea-routes. Unlike the Tolkien archetype, the Asur are warriors and imperialists, with a strong fascination in the arts of warfare and bloodshed.

Lizardmen
During their time elevating the races of the Warhammer world, the Old Ones also created servants to help them with their work. After their fall, these servants blindly continued the Old Ones’ inscrutable plans, carrying on adjustment of the planet itself and battling Chaos in all its forms. The mighty Slaan, beings of immense Aethyric and psychic ability, interpret the Old Ones plans, while the Skinks act as their agents. Saurus warriors emerge from spawning pools, ready to defend their Lustrian homes, while Kroxigor and other prehistoric beasts are used for industry and war.

Ogre Kingdoms
One of the final experiments of the Old Ones, Ogres are among the most physically robust and resistant to Chaos. Not completely resistant, however, as an event early in their development lead them to worship of an entity known as the Great Maw, and granted the race an all-consuming hunger to fuel their massive bodies. Ogres have no allegiance to Chaos, though, nor hatred of it, often showing up as Dogs of War or mercenaries in the armies of humans, Orcs, Chaos, and anyone else willing to pay a bit of coin or bucket of stew.

Greenskins
Mushrooms? Monsters? Degenerate barbarians? However one classifies Orcs and Goblins, the only certainty is that they’re as certain as death and taxes. Little more complex than human two-year olds in massively tough and muscled bodies (or quick and wiry in the case of Goblins) greenskins enjoy nothing more than scrappin’ and fightin’. Dey’s ded ‘ard too, and dem Gobbos is pretty kunnin’ too, tho dey’s a buncha weedy gits. All ‘oomies need to know is dat da Waaagh! can’t be stopped and yous gonna get yer ‘ed bashed right in!

Skaven
There is no such thing as skaven. Just because you’ve seen evidence of rat-like beastmen doesn’t mean there’s some sort of intelligent Chaos beats below all the cities of the world, with technology that surpasses the Empire and a master plan to rule the ruins of civilization. That’s ridiculous.

Tomb Kings
Before the time of Sigmar, the first true civilization of Man arose in the deserts south of the Old World. Living amongst architecture strangely reminiscent of both Lustrian ruins and the monuments of the high elves, the people of ancient Nehekhara considered themselves the favored children of the gods. Over time, they came to fear and worship death above all else, believing their lives were mere preparation for a glorious and shining afterlife; much like the real world’s ancient Egyptians. For one Nehekharan, however, the afterlife was not enough; a brother of the Priest-King of mighty Khemri, this man sought eternal life and coveted the lands of all Nehekhara to be his shining paradise. After capturing and torturing the secrets of magic from stranded Druchii sailors, this man developed the science that would one day be known as Necromancy; power over the dead and death itself. Distilling an elixir from human blood, he was able to prolong his life, eventually usurping his brother and taking Khemri as his own. Eventually, the other Priest-Kings united and drove him into the desert, where he passed beyond the realm of the living, but did not truly die.

In his bitterness at being driven out, this man, known as the Accursed One to Nehekharans and He Who Shall Not Be Named to modern Arabyans, polluted the headwaters of the River Mortis, the very backbone of life in Nehekhara. Not content with merely bringing the ancient nation to its knees, he then attempted to cast a single spell that would awaken the entire nation from death and bind them to his will, creating an eternal army to rule the world with. Though he cast the spell and tore generations of Nehekharans from their graves, he was mysteriously interrupted at the peak of the spell, losing control of his would-be slaves. The Tomb Kings and their entombed soldiers were not put to rest, however, and have since resumed the activities of their lives, protecting their dusty homes from invaders and warring against each other. All of these undead, however, nurse a hatred for he who tore them from the afterlife, and the dry desert winds carry their whispers of the Great Necromancer’s hated name; Nagash.

Vampire Counts
As with most undead in the Warhammer world, the vampires have roots in old Nehekhara. When Nagash was driven from Khemri by an alliance of kings, samples of his Elixir of Life and notes were captured and taken as spoils. In the city-state of Lahmia, the queen and her court drank of the Elixir and continued Nagash’s experiments. Soon these depraved nobles learned to sustain themselves indefinitely, not just by consuming the Elixir, but by drawing the very essence of life from living beings. Their souls sustained thusly, their bodies became strong and fast, driven by their own willpower and able to grasp and manipulate the Aethyr. These beings, known later as vampires, were eventually discovered by the Priest-Kings of other cities and driven out, later allying with, then fleeing from, Nagash.

In the modern Warhammer world, the vampires are often split along lines of bloodline and creed, following common archetypes of vampires from all of fantasy stories. Some have infiltrated the nobility of the Empire, counts of the blighted province of Sylvania. Some vampires are physically powerful, while others great sorcerers and necromancers. Some are affected by curses laid upon them by Nagash for their escape and cannot tolerate sunlight or holy relics. All are selfish and driven to make use of their long lives; whether through study, survival, or conquest.

Warriors of Chaos
Mortals who flock to the standards of the Dark Gods can consist of the disillusioned, the corrupt, and the insane. Some are refugees from the civilized nations of the Old World, while the bulk come from tribes of corrupted Norse. Living in the ever-changing wastes beyond Norsca and Kislev, bands of these warriors dedicate themselves to the Gods of Chaos, fighting for glory, the capricious favor of the gods, and the ultimate gift of Daemonhood. At times, a great champion will arise, sometimes dedicated to a single god, others loyal to all Chaos as a pantheon. These champions will then sweep from the north at the head of a vast horde, encased in dark iron armor and wielding weapons of madness and gifts of mutation from their gods.

Wood Elves
Long before the birth of Sigmar, the elves withdrew from their extensive colonies in the Old World. Caught between an unwinnable war against the dwarfs and civil war led by Malekith, the Asur were forced to the defensive. Not all the elven colonists followed the Phoenix King’s call for retreat, however. Small pockets of elves remained behind, in particular the colonists who settled in an ancient and dark forest known as Athel Loren. One of the most ancient and untouched woods of the world, Loren is a living, breathing entity, jealous of its borders and willing and able to brutally protect itself. Allied with the forest, the former elven colonists, called Asraii have returned to many of their rustic roots, favoring bow and bronze spear, eschewing advanced metalworking and armor. Wood elves owe more to medieval legends of forest spirits than Tolkien’s elves; they’re feral and vengeful, uncaring for little but defending the forest.

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Thursday, August 14, 2008

WAR Exploit: Get any dye from a merchant for free



If you go up to a merchant that allows you to dye your items, click the "apply to all". Then, instead of hitting cancel or the 'x' button at the top right, hit escape, and your character model will stay with those colors. I have found out that other people cannot see this color change, and that it disappears after any loading screen.

also works by hitting the character button. you can apply this to any piece one at a time or all at once. i've had instances where it stayed with some pieces and others could view my dye. if you hit the character button after you've done this and hit the X at the top then it disappears. however if you hit the character button again (out of dye screen completely) then it'll stay.

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