Mythic announced City Siege Improvements with patch 1.2 in Warhammer. Seriously? C'mon Mythic, that's a drop on the hot stone named capitol raid endgame. The shift in victory point generation is a step in the right direction, but they really need to fix the empty instance grinding. Now people can only do that for two hours instead of six, but still its a large issue. The server should only open new instances once the existing ones are full and place groups automaticly into existing ones where the group fits on. I know this still leaves issues with eg. a full warband starting a new instance, but still its better to prevent farming then let people chose their own instance. Also the queue system needs to work properly. Reduced time for a contested state means less people will have a chance on invader gear tho, resulting in more raids needed to be able to advance in the other capitol raid content, as you need those superior wards. Let's hope the overall zone domination changes will result in more frequent assaults on the main cities to even this out. I saw one item from the improved purple bags from an Altdorf raid and they sure pimped that stuff. Looking forward to Altdorf raids... I won't rant further on the city sieges, did that before. Let's hope the overall package of changes will result in a fun RvR endgame, but we're not there yet.
I fiddled around with crafting on the PTS more. Still trying to figure out the best way for me to change my main to cultivating, as my Choppa will take a while until rank 40. But i guess once the changes go live I'll do one or two afternoons of grinding materials with butchering on Thulf to stock up and then switch. Those mats then have to last until my alt is high enough to provide stuff cultivating can't. Should be fine. Only problem now is, how to make enough space in my bank or bags? Guess I really have to throw away some BoP greys. :S
Meanwhile i brewed some more potions and while many of the existing pots in my bags have been downgraded it looks like the critical success tiers finally work properly. I crafted some pretty nifty potions. One other thing i realized, and think is good: The materials from the guild vendor will provide less powerful potions then eg. potions brewed with butchered mats. Check the screenshot for a comparison, had to use an extender to create the same result with less duration. The multipliers for potions are pretty straight forward to use. The lvl 1 multiplier (vendor) will give you one extra potion, an uncommon lvl 200 multiplier yields five extra potions. I tried for quite a while yesterday to get my hands on a BoP seed, but had no luck.
From the looks of it those seeds can drop of high level champs/heroes, are lvl 200 BoP and will create the mysterious hybrid potions. Despite what the patch notes said, the plants created are currently not BoP. The potions are quite powerful, but have hefty stability requirements. Here is the first screenshot of such a hybrid potion, courtesy of Djanee.
While being on the PTS i met more readers of my blog, which has been a lot of fun. I appologize if my answers sometimes are delayed, but often i have 2-3 conversations going at the same time, about my blog or the patch 1.2 changes. Today i met two fellow Black Orc players, Neil & Sauce, i want to give a shout-out to. I was really curious if the Black Orc Darkpromise gear had any changes to the models with patch 1.2 and its sad to see, there are no changes. Neil was nice enough to pose in Darkpromise and Invader for me - check out the difference. There are so many nice NPC models, when will those placeholders be changed? Darkpromise on an Orc looks like the stuff my rank three auction house alt wears. Sucks.
On further sidenotes: The overflow system was enhanced, once you make space in your bag the overflow items will automaticly go to your bags, nice. Also the stack buying has finally been fixed. When i bought stacks of mats/containers it worked every time on the PTS.
Mar 7, 2009
PTS Patch 1.2: City Siege Improvements & More Crafting Stuff
Missing Warhammer Solo Content
Missing Warhammer Solo Content? I want Mythic to fix RvR and endgame content to have fun with my buddies. You know what? Me too! BUT what is there to do in WAR when you log in during off-hours, when everyone else is busy doing stuff you're not up to right now or groups are full? Is there anything you can do solo that's fun? And I'm talking about a rank 40 character that does not have to level anymore. Sure, you can join the odd scenario solo, but it really depends on your class and some luck how that will turn out. Often it's not much fun to solo join scenarios. In oRvR chances are, you'll run into a warband and get stomped. I know what some say, its a MMO - you should play with others. But sometimes you just want to idle around and do something on your own. What options are there else or should there be?
Crafting
If your crafting skills are not maxed yet, sure you can train these... but crafting in WAR is very, very easy so that won't last long. You can start to hunt for ingredients, but you don't really need to as there are only few consumables you really need. I always run around with stacks of those potions i can use for tanking, but neither is it hard to hunt for them nor is grinding mats that much fun. In WAR there is no real hunt for recipes either, so being busy trying to acquire that odd recipe you're missing is not an option. The pre-launch proclaimed "experimental" side for crafting does not really exist in WAR.
You could try to earn money with your crafting skills, but at the moment crafted things like potions are worth pretty much nothing. Talisman makers can make a few bucks and sure you can sell raw ingredients, but nothing really gives you the "feeling" you created something valuable that is worth selling and showing off proudly at the auction house. Crafting in WAR right now is not a fun experience once you get the hang of it and the "products" are only of limited use. The ingame economy is quite broken compared to other games.
Warhammer Solo Content
Once you hit rank 40 there are not many quests still worth doing. Most likely you'll have solved all existing epic quests with rank 37 or right after. Why not have some loooong and epic rank 40 questline to immerse in? In Age of Conan you had this very long and character defining main quest line you were following all the way up to max. level. Some epic rank 40 questlines with a good story to tell, a few nice rewards along the way and some epic challenges would be great. In AoC there were many instances for that questline you had to enter solo and no one else could help you with. Some of them had good challenges concerning the appearing fights and you had to utilize your character properly to beat them. Talking about those instances, why not have a duo dungeon? I know many play with their girlfriend/wife or best friend. A challenging dungeon for two players could be fun as well. Could be like an epic PQ, maybe 30-40min long, repeatable once a day. And i really don't care if you can only find social clothing in there, just want something unique.
Tome unlocks
Of course there are tome unlocks you can hunt as well. But most are pretty useless when it comes to character development and just fluff. I like fluff, but killing thousands of NPCs (for the unlocks not everyone has) is not that much fun. And once you scouted the existing world there is not so much more to see.
Beside renown, right now there is only so much to do when soloing. Shouldn't there be at least some things to do? I really hope they'll pimp crafting some more. I read in some comment from a dev that they'll have another look at crafting (especially apothecary) again. Let's hope they'll fix the highest tier potions and maybe add some fun (transformation, speed, etc.) potions. IMO it should be possible to advance your characters devlopment solo in some more ways. And if its an epic questline that's highly entertaining, that's fine with me as well. The rewards can also be of a cosmetic nature... new dyes, cool cloaks, trophies, maybe some character customizing stuff you can apply like the CE stuff. Do you log in sometimes to discover everyone else is busy/offline? What do you do? What do you WANT to do?
PTS Warhammer 1.2: Hybrid Potions, Black Orc Skills and Dungeons
The weekend on the PTS has been great. I met a bunch of new people that poked me due to reading my blog or entered crafting discussions we had in the test-guild chat. Due to this, i was able to get up to speed much faster about all the changes and test different things better. Thanks for sharing guys, you rock! One thing that has been *very* confusing is that often tooltips and skills are not consistent and there is some talk about the US running an updated test server version compared to EU. Since some skills did change quite much, its hard to tell what the current status on them is. But like you know, all of the PTS findings can change until they go live. One more thing i realized for a new UI change: When there is RvR fighting going on in an area you'll see it on your map. If you enable the small HUD campaign tracker, it will show there as well.
I was asked about the difference between Butchering & Cultivating for Apothecary supply. Well, from the looks of it both professions will be able to supply you with the needed stabilizers without a problem. Butchering offers ingredients for Armor & Toughness potions, which cultivating doesn't. Cultivating on the other hand has the new rare BoP seeds now. For base supply both would do, what you take up will probably depend on which things you need and if you can be arsed to grow seeds. I was linked some more of the new hybrid potions and made a screenshot collage for you guys - really awesome potions. On a sidenote: Buff potions now have a cooldown of 5min, so no different potions gulping right before a boss fight. And NO, force shield/absorb potions do not prevent falling damage sadly. ;)
Some wierd graphic bug makes the texture on the new mounts reload every few seconds. Also to other players it looks like you drop off the mount for a splitsecond.
I had some time to play around with some of the new/updated Black Orc skills. While its still unclear in which state they'll make to live, some of the changes are really great. Overall damage got improved and even so with a tank spec and sword'n'board. Some of my favorites I'd like to point out: Stop Hittin' Da Runts - all new, gives 40AP whenever a warbellow triggers. Awesome new tactic, never run out of AP again when you have it. Works together with Can't Hit me! - you'll be able to keep it up a lot even without any +AP regen gear. Wot Armor? applies the armor reduction in one hit now, with the fitting tactic for 30secs plus toughness reduction. Big Slash is now 360 degree, together with Keep it Goin'! its a good AoE damage dealer. Shut Yer Face together with Can Youz Hear Me Now? does around 500dmg usable every 15s. Very nice finisher, not sure if its intended as the tooltip suggest it only increases the dmg up to 350dmg. Overall after all the changes there are many more viable specs possible and you'll have enough tricks up the sleeve to find one that will fit your playstyle.
Like the patch notes said, they went over Mount Gunbad and Bastion Stair again to add some nice quests & loot. While i did not have time to join any dungeon crawls to look for new drops, there are a few quests for each dungeon you might find interesting: Each Dungeon has one quest for different jewelry items (Mount Gunbad, Bastion Stair), some other items and also for timed special talismans (offensive & defensive). The jewelry items might even be good for high level chars, i know I'll get the block ones for my tank. When i tried the boss in Mount Gunbad he had some pathing issues, resetting him back to 100% health, but hopefully that will be fixed before it goes live. The quests for the special talismans are not repeatable from the looks of it.
Tip of the day: The PQ loot bags from city sieges will have new loot with 1.2, should you still have any, keep them! The purple one will have an epic jewelry item (example), the blue ones a weapon and the green ones a cloak. The items are now useful for a rank 40.
PTS Patch 1.2: Guild Crafting Materials and High Guild Rank Mounts
Tonight on the EU PTS a larger zone domination test was organized. As part of it, GOA created a guild (highest rank) and people could join it. While i had no time to stick around for the RvR, i managed to sneak into the guild long enough to check out all the guild benefits you can buy from the guild vendor. The first screenshot collage shows you all the mats you can buy from the guild vendor (those need different guild ranks) and in addition some potions you can brew with those mats. The rez potion (cost you 62.44s in mats) is really cool - being a standard bearer i can also rez with the banner, but could prove useful. You also see that the snare potions are not fixed and the resulting potion will always have the same effect. In addition to what you can see on the screenshot you'll be able to buy different seeds (only different in level not in type from what you get at every other vendor) and also different containers and curios for talisman makers.
juicy stuff: New guild rank mounts! Since the test guild "Eternal Destruction" was of the highest rank, not only could we buy the guild rank 25 mounts, but also the new improved mounts (faster & lower dismount chance) you can get at guild rank 37. The mounts you can buy from the guild vendor have three additional colors and the faster ones are slightly armored, but have the same color then the other ones from the guild vendor. While normal mounts have 50% speed increase, the armored ones have a 60% speed. So people don't need to worry that it will make such a difference in RvR. 10% is not that much tho, we had a short race and it was a tad faster, but not very. Here are the pics of all the guild rank Orc boars:
The cost of 150g is really cheap for the better mounts IMO. It's just that guild rank 37 is not that fast to reach. Thirst is at rank 29 currently, still some levels to make. I know not all will ride boars, so here is a screenshot of an armored dark elf mount. I also met Oziriz, a reader of my blog, inside the Viper Pit and could convince him with a few coins to show of the Chosen steeds (1,2,3,4,5). Talking about blog readers, i met quite a few during my adventures on the PTS. If you play and see me standing in IC, say hello... :)
At the start of todays RvR event i was also able to catch Magnus (GOA) for a few words on his Black Orc in full Conqueror gear. He was joining the fray to fight Order in Praag himself. Overall i've to say that the atmosphere on the EU PTS is very relaxed and people are willing to test things out. Hell, I've send a huge chunk of bug reports myself. The more i see from the patch 1.2, the better it looks. While crafting has been easy before in WAR, after the patch it will still be easy, but much better to understand for people and they ironed out some bugs. And finally crafting will be useful, all of the trades. Personally I'll need to switch around my trades a bit (due to the BoP seeds/plants), but that's fine.
Ragbag, EU Dev Chat & EU PTS R40 Templates
Right now there is a lot of misinformation spread when it comes to the difference between EU and US service and upcoming features. There ARE issues, i talk about them regularly as i think the EU customers should have access to the same features and service then the US got and that not months afterwards.
PhoenixRed posted a larger article at the Warhammeralliance about "The Treehouse of WAR Customer Service" and the problems between EU & US service. You can read my answer in the thread (here). Regis at Wizards & Wenches, a fellow EU blogger, talks about some of the issues in his blog here. Despite the issues you'll find in those threads (and that i have myself), i feel there are a few facts people often mix up or are misinformed about. You can read more critic at the above threads, but here are some infos...
Facts
# Due to timezone and translation into four other languages, GOA usually is one day late with updates, patches and info. (Question remains if this delay could be prevented if they would get a day headstart from Mythic)
# Official Forums: While people are afraid (due to the lackluster GOA website) the EU forums won't be of the same quality then what the US hosts, GOA promises (credible) they'll be equal and of the same quality then the US offers.
# While people are afraid the split between EU/US forums will take us (EU) further away from the developers, it does not have to be that way. GOA already mentioned they'll get dedicated forums for better direct access to the developers so they can ask questions the EU community has and also relay issues the EU community points out faster.
# Did you realize there will be an EU dev chat on the 19th of March? I know i missed it, as i read the herald announcement right before and they looked the same more or less. Thanks to Nic for pointing it out to me. GOA states the EU dev chats will be a regular thing.
# GOA states they have access to all promotional stuff Mythic does. EU WILL get access to dog/wolf pets and EU players WILL definately get a shot at the special Choppa/Slayer heads. GOA works this out at the moment and we should see news on it soon. While its obvious that different marketing campaigns will have a different focus/timing, question remains why Mythic/GOA can't work this out ahead so details are ready at the same time, would prevent an uproar like we see at the forums now.
Overall things could get much better soon, but deeds will show, not talk and promises. And to be honest i fail to understand why GOA/Mythic don't come more forward with correct informations aggressively spread over the forums to counter all the negative opinions, when some are formed purely due to uninformed players.
With the upcoming official forums, GOA offers you to change your nickname that will be displayed with them. Go and check what you entered back then and change it if necessary.
Since we were discussing findings on the PTS in the forum these day, we found out that the EU PTS indeed has been running on an older build then the US server. For the testers this is very confusing as we talk about the same things but about different numbers with our fellow US players. GOA says it was because Mythic wanted the EU PTS to focus test different things. Well, might be so, but it still is confusing and why can't the focus test run with the current build? Talking about the EU PTS, it was just updated to the latest build and also available now R40 Templates for Choppa/Slayer, equipped with fitting gear. Go crazy!
Did you know that with 1.2 the quest part of your tome can have more then one page? I did not either until i read it over at the Captain's Blog.
Some of the new blue items inside Lost Vale will be repairable tokens all classes can use. It remains to be seen how useful those really will be, but at least for RvR where wards play no role, this could be viable. More info and some stats here.
Are you thinking about doing your own podcast? Or need some pointers which programs to use? CoTCast has some tools & guidelines for you. CoTCast is by far the funniest WAR podcast i know, check it out if you haven't. Hmm.. maybe i should record them a bumper if i can come up with something. ;)
Source: stuntystomper.blogspot.com
Black Orc: Sentinel Armor fixed in patch 1.2
The Quest for 7 Warhammer Seeds
The Quest for 7 Warhammer Seeds - Zeronova scours Ravenraid, Salzenmund and Beeckerhoven in Chapter III and IV portions of the Chaos vs. Empire pairing to find 7 skill level 25 seeds. In the process, she acquired almost 50% of the experience points toward level 12 on kills alone. It can be safely said that the various Empire spearmen, trackers, guards, greatswords, handgunners, and the like, have a good chance of dropping skill level 10 leeches for apothecaries. I can attest to this by virtue of accumulating 2 full pots (stacks) of leeches - 40 of them.
And yes, she killed lots of other things too - wolves, boars, sprites, spiders, deer, rats, birds, and well…she probably should have taken Butchering and not Scavenging…
All of this netted some vendor level 1 seeds; 2 level 15 seeds, and 1 skill 25 seed…meanwhile prices in AH for skill 25 seeds are starting to go…up - now 2 gold for one.
She found lots of other useful stuff…dirt, water, talisman components, potions and so forth… Lots of leeches. And Mudmaggot LIKE LEECHES. Especially LOTS and LOTS of LEECHES. Why? They’re great for healing potions. But, more importantly - you want enough healing potions that you can put them on your action bar and know that it’s not going to have to be replaced every time. A stack of 10 or 20 healing potions is a nice thing to have.
So - standardization of healing potions is very useful in PVP for non-healing classes. I tend to keep the “heal over time” potions for my healers - between their own heals, heal over times, a heal over time potion, and their morale abilities - they can go on suicide-take-the-flag missions in scenarios and maybe even have half-a-chance of living.
Ahhh….and that was the limit of my patience for grinding, so I turned to the web to learn a few interesting things. There’s a goblin that offers a quest - reward is only for about 100 xp and a seed - cultivating it continues to produce new seeds (provided one doesn’t get a critical failure). Also, level 1 seeds can get you to skill level 50 - it just takes a while longer. And, that is the route I’m going to take…
Mar 4, 2009
Warhammer 1.2 Rare Hybrid Potions
With warhammer patch 1.2 going live on the EU servers today, i spend most of the day organizing stuff and training crafting skills, etc. Thulf is now switched to 200 cultivating. Its not that hard to do. The increased critical failure rate is a tad annoying and additives are rather costly at the vendors, have to keep that in mind when pricing potions i guess. A major part of the day me and others spend on trying to get our hands on as many rare BoP seeds as possible. I created a large screenshot collage with the 12 new hybrid seeds, plants and potions known to me, check them out... some really cool potions there. One thing i noticed: Special moments with the rare seeds don't yield any dye pigments like the patch notes state. Ah well, maybe they'll be added later. I don't have any reports about special seeds dropping from bosses inside the instances or something like that. If you find/see seeds or potions that are missing in my list please poke me.
HAHA... many contacted me today because of the first live event title you can gain: Stuntie Stompa! Thanks guys, i did not miss it and had a gazillion people tell me they had to think of me when they got their title. funny. =)
TIP of the day: Since i wanted to give Irinia data for her Crafting Info Tooltip about the new seeds, i was researching the WAR chatlog. Some time back Mythic disabled the logging to disc and if you want to switch it back on you need to manually edit the UserSettings.xml file and change Logging logAllToDisk="false" to "true".
Warhammer 1.2 Crafting PTS, Mounts and more
The character copy works now on the Warhammer EU PTS. So i was able to transfer Thulf over and check some stuff. To my surprise the model for the Sentinel helmet changed. O.o You can dye the helmet now, but tbh i liked the old helmet better... wtf? It's still not possible to dye Black Orc Sentinel properly on the PTS. The Vomitous Choppa got a new model and looks very cool now. Many of the higher level Choppa weapons got a new (all the same) model as well. The rest of my items looked the same from what i can remember.
I toyed around with Warhammer 1.2 Crafting some on the PTS . Apothecary, Cultivating and Butchering are much better now. I can only assume (did not test the other professions), it's similar with the rest. They fixed a lot and streamlined the process, which makes it much easier for people to understand. Cultivating is finally a useful profession and its rather easy to level now that you don't have to grind for seeds. Basicly you buy lvl 1 seeds from a vendor and use plant reaping (Ctrl-Right-Click) to produce 2-4 seeds from it - this process will also yield resins (stabilizers). Usually Cultivating will yield you 2-3 plants from that seed, a super-critical success will also grant you one plant from the next higher tier plus dye pigments. You then convert that higher lvl plant into seeds and start over from there. It's much faster to train then right now on live. Stimulant ingredients seem to be bugged right now, at least i could not make any use of them during my quick test. Seeds & Plants will stack up to 50 now. yay! It looks like there will be some cool/weird potions you can brew with 1.2, like resurrection potions, increased crafting skill potions, +morale and a few others. From the looks of it all apothecary potions will have proper "rare" tiers. The ingredients to multiply or enhance potions work out of the box. Don't bother to much with crafting before the patch, some eg. existing healing potions were downgraded through the patch.
In the capitol cities you can visit your scavenging/butchering trainer and pick up a quest to convert into the other skill with your same skill level. Crafting mats that are not ingame anymore can either be converted into the same skill level "new" ingredient or will convert into some rotten parts, 20 of those can be converted into Chaos Black Dye. Because of this and the other changes to loot tables, dyes will be much more accessable after the 1.2 patch. I already heard about the first new dye from crafting , liche purple.
With the funds Thulf brought to the PTS i was at least able to buy the new "standard" mounts. To check out the other ones you need guild rank, which does not transfer over. The old boar is the Light Brown Ridin' Boar and the two new ones i post a screenshot below:
My Choppa is rank 10 and still a lot of fun to play, I'll definately stick to my plan and create an alt Choppa. Thulf being a tank will still stay my main, the new changes to the Black Orc are mostly great, the Da'Toughest selfhealing was nerfed rather much tho. I did not play around with the Black Orc much on the PTS, was thinking about maybe checking out Lost Vale on the PTS if i get the peeps. But then again, Darkpromise is still nice to gain on live.
Warhammer Witch Elf Tier One Scenario Guide
Pay attention to here,warhammer latest news: Warhammer Witch Elf Tier One Scenario Guide is here. Read it now!
MMORPG.com Warhammer Online Correspondent Andrew Bobb writes this Warhammer Witch Elf Tier One Scenario Guide to getting the most out of your Warhammer Witch Elf in Tier One scenarios.
The Witch Elves are the primary melee damage dealers of the Dark Elf race. They dual wield daggers and combine status effects, damage over time, and rapid high damage attacks to quickly subdue their foes. This culminates in the release of built up Bloodlust through a Frenzy attack for big damage. A Witch Elf is an assassin, so do not engage in prolonged fights.
In RvR, Witch Elves provide a lethal boost to the main attacking force, but are even more effective as flankers harassing the enemy's ranged support. You can do this solo or with one or two additional players for support, depending on the number of players in the scenario. If too many players are missing from the main force, this will have the twofold effect of weakening their combat effectiveness and giving your tactic away to the enemy. If taking support, a healer or another damage dealer are ideal choices.
You can queue for RvR scenarios from level 1, but with only Throwing Dagger, Slice, and Flee available, your effectiveness will be limited. You will receive a temporary hit point boost for balance, but will still be lacking in additional abilities. Should you still desire to fight at level 1, hit and run tactics will be your best contribution to the team. Flank the enemy, hit the ranged support units, and then get away.
Open the attack with Throwing Dagger while closing on your prey. If you hit them from behind, this has a snare effect, preventing your target from running away. Follow with repeated use of Slice when you reach melee range. If you attract the attention of more than one target, activate Flee and get away. If they give chase, you will have pulled valuable combatants away from the opponent?s main force.
This guerrilla approach to playing the Warhammer Witch Elf will continue to prove useful as you go up in level. By level 4, you will have a Frenzy ability to release your Bloodlust (Puncture), a stacking damage over time ability (Envenomed Blade), and a damage booster with a chance to cause a debuff (Kiss of Agony). At this point the Witch Elf can really bring the pain. Additionally, this is a good point to begin playing as a front line attacker if this is the way you prefer to play.
At level 5 the art of assassination is revealed. The Agonizing Wound ability is your back stab skill, a damaging attack which ignores armor when used from behind. When flanking, this will be your new opener until level 10. If your target does you the service of trying to run away, keep hitting them from behind with Agonizing Wound for a really quick finish. Chasing scared Shadow Warriors around the backfield while the tanks are busy elsewhere is pure ecstasy for a Druchii.
Having spent the last five levels sating your lust for murder, you have reached level 10. All that sneaky backfield treachery is about to reach new heights of awesome. With level 10 you gain Shadow Prowler and Vehement Blades. Shadow Prowler is an invisibility skill that slowly drains Action Points while you are invisible. Vehement Blades is an opening attack from the invisible state that builds 2 Bloodlust, causes your opponent to take damage when they use melee abilities, and makes all your abilities cost half as much for a short time.
You now have ultimate access to your opponent?s backfield, and all the soft targets that tend to stay there. However, due to the AP drain of Shadow Prowler, it is best to wait until you are almost there to use it, or keep AP restoration potions handy. You do not want to run out of AP behind enemy lines. That said, open with Vehement Blades out of Shadow Prowler, stack Envenomed Blade three times, and then release your Bloodlust with Puncture for a big damage assault with lingering effects.
By level 10 you will also have unlocked a second Frenzy with a debuff (Heart Render Toxin), a skill to use your back stab from any direction for a short time (Feinted Positioning), a detaunt to weaken attacks from non-targeted opponents (Enchanting Beauty), a morale skill that deals massive damage (Sever Nerve), and a second damage booster with debuff (Kiss of Death). This provides a variety of tactical options for dealing with different situations. You should now set two skill bars: one for your backfield guerrilla tactics, and the other for front line combat. Your backfield skill set should focus on pouring on the damage with Kiss of Agony and Puncture being you damage boost and Frenzy choices. The skills to use on the front line should focus on debuffs which support the whole team effort. Kiss of Death and Heart Render Toxin are more useful here.
While pursuing front line combat, use potions to enhance your armor and provide health regeneration. This will help to counter the vulnerability of your light armor and reduce the demand on your healers. Enchanting Beauty will bolster your defenses further by ensuring most combatants in the fray are only hitting you for half damage. Don't forget about Feinted Positioning and Agonizing Wound either. Ignoring the heavy armor of an enemy tank will bypass their greatest asset.
With basic combat tactics covered, it is time to bring strategy to the battlefield. The 3 RvR scenarios for Tier 1 are Khaine's Embrace, Gates of Ekrund, and Nordenwatch. All three are capture and control missions, which focus on gaining and maintaining control of focal points on the battlefield. The focal points are illuminated with a bright circle of light and have flags at the center. The focal points glow blue for Order control, red for Destruction control, and Green for neutral.
Gates of Ekrund and Nordenwatch both feature hree control points; one close to either spawn point and a third centrally located. At the Gates of Ekrund, they are situated in a straight line. At Nordenwatch, the control points form a V shape. Gaining control of the neutral points simply requires standing near them until the progress bar fills. Order controlled points take twice as long to claim as they must first be reverted to neutral status. The more players standing near the point, the faster control is gained.
Khaine's Embrace is unique, as it features two control points rather than three. The mechanic of this scenario requires right clicking the control point flag to begin a five second action to claim the point. Once both points are claimed by one side, a countdown begins. After lock down, a battle horn sounds and massive explosions occur, killing anybody near the control points and the Altar of Khaine. The control points then reset to neutral.
The battle generally begins with each team claiming a point them fighting over the third, or trying to take the other side's point in the case of Khaine's Embrace. This generally results in a massive stalemate somewhere in the middle. So, WOW Witch Elves, it is time to put your espionage skills to use and take control of the field. Take one of the side paths and hide, or Shadow Prowl at level 10, close to the Order side control point and wait for the enemy to abandon it for further conquest. When they leave, slip in for a quick and uncontested claim. After a satisfyingly wicked laugh, go attack from behind.
These tactics should serve you well as you work your way through Tier 1 RvR. This will also provide a solid tactical foundation as you progress to Tier 2. However, these methods are not the only options available to you. One of WAR's best features is the balance of the RvR system. Experiment with your skills; maybe you will discover tactics that are even more effective for your play style. Go forth and slaughter, beautiful Daughters of Khaine.
Warhammer Bots: Bugged lvl 35 Mobs
From Dragonwake go to Isle of the Dead. Head to the Ritual of Death PQ. There are four locations where two Deathwracked Servants spawn by a column. These mobs will not attack you.. ever. They will die randomly, and respawn randomly (Sometimes less than 5 seconds). They give loot (I farmed at least 10 blues and countless greens) and coin and credit for a dark elf kill (I got two pips now) and exp.
Sure, you can go there and kill them over and over, but to maximize this exploit why not bot it? I have no autoit or programming experience so I made a ghetto bot with my nostromo gamepad. The same could be duplicated exactly on the g15 I imagine. Here is what I rigged up with my lack of programming skill.
Position your character so that one is directly behind the other. Set your mouse so that it is on a point where one mob overlaps the other. Set up the gamepad to click left THEN right at a short interval and loop it. I used .1 seconds. Set and loop a kill sequence, as caster I just tossed a few DoT's and a DD.
What happens. You kill the first, as he drops you right click and loot, it auto loots, when the first has dropped to the ground the second becomes available to be clicked on. It left clicks, kills, then loots and continues to click until the first respawns.
I left this going while at work, sleeping, doing other things etc...
Only problem I ran into was the server going down, and my bags getting full.
WARNING: The Tormented Spirits wander and will kill you if you are in the wrong spot. The key is to be in a spot close enough to loot and kill both mobs, but not too close to be in a path of a spirit. If you set your kill macro to be defensive enough you can take a spirit every once in a while (They respawn slow).. but it causes problems as you may click OFF them and they will kill you while you take down a servant. Also, it can push the PQ along, if it goes into stage 2 you are ****ed. I recommend avoiding the Spirits, and it is not too difficult. I have found 3 spots where I can kill both servants and not agro the spirits. One is in the screenshot I have posted. Be careful one does not wander across the path of your mouse pointer or you will click and pull it. Also, make sure your loot screen does not interfere with you clicker. If you leave this on for an extended period of time your bags WILL get full and the loot screen won't go away.
Exp starts really sucking at 38 (100exp a kill) but this is pretty much free exp until 39, and unlimited coin.
Mar 3, 2009
Warhammer 1.2 patch to go live March 3, 2009
Warhammer 1.2 patch to go live March 3, 2009 - The 1.2 patch for Warhammer Online is going to be huge. Mark Jacobs gave fans a highlight reel of what it will deliver back in early February, which includes fixes to over 500 bugs, two new careers, class balance, and much more. Since that time, Mythic put warhammer 1.2 up on the public test server for everyone to give feedback on. Here is a summary of some blog feedback we found (because not everyone can view the beta forums atm):
- Keen shared his thoughts on the new Choppa career .
- Book of Grudges has a good review of Slayers .
- Part 1 of Garrison of WAR's review (map improvements, realm status changes, and new mounts).
- Part 2 of Garrison of WAR's review (rage mechanic and how it performed in both PvE and RvR).
- Part 3 of Garrison of WAR's review [additional map improvements (more accurate group and warband dots), the new parties and warbands window, potions persisting through death, and how all MDPS careers will receive a pick lock skill that lets them enter postern keep doors].
- Stunty Stomper and Obsessive Focus talk a bit about crafting changes.
Arbitrary of the Book of Grudges is also reporting that the latest US WAR newsletter in her inbox says warhammer patch 1.2 will go live March 3, 2009. The Bitter Rivals live event will start March 4, 2009.
Mar 2, 2009
Warhammer City Siege Improvements Coming in v1.22
When Warhammer patch v1.22 goes live, Warhammer Online players should see some big changes in the city siege mechanics/gameplay. See what's in store below:
Since the launch of Warhammer Online, we've received a lot of valuable feedback from our players. One area that has garnered lots of attention is the WAR endgame, and we are very pleased to announce the first of what will be many positive changes to improve the cornerstone of that endgame experience - Capital City sieges!These changes will be going live with the launch of warhammer 1.2.
The first phase of these City siege improvements includes the following
changes:* We have reduced the amount of time that a Capital City will remain in the
Contested state from 6 hours down to 2 hours.
* Capturing Battlefield Objectives in the Cities will now contribute more Victory Points towards City capture.
* Killing players in the Cities will now contribute more Victory Points towards City Capture.
* In order to give players more time to collect their rewards from the City Public Quests, we are increasing the loot timers from 2 minutes to 4 minutes.These changes will ensure that players can still capture or defend a City in the shorter time allotted during the initial Contested phase.
We hope you'll find that these changes improve the overall pace of the City
capture process, and we also hope you'll continue to send us feedback on other
ways in which we can make Capital City sieges even better. In order to encourage
you, the players, to communicate what other improvements you'd like to see,
we'll be starting a focused discussion in the brand-spanking-new official WAR
forums. Be sure not to miss your chance to engage in a constructive dialogue
with the developers!
Warhammer Patch 1.2 Highlights
Warhammer Online producer Jeff Hickman has written a terrific overview of the Warhammer v1.2 patch that is scheduled to go live sometime next week on the public test server. Find out what is in store below:
WAAAGH!!!
Man do we have a set of notes for you...we've been talking about them, and
hinting, and finally the first draft of the Public Test Server notes are here
for your enjoyment! As always PTS notes are constantly changing throughout the
testing process.We'll see you on the PTS next week, there's a lot to test so be sure to bring
your game face...for now relax, read, enjoy, and most of all have fun!Producer's Note
Well here it is; The Public Test Patch Notes for Game Update 1.2. Many hours
of blood, sweat and tears went into these notes, and it shows. From the sheer
size (over 55 pages!) to the numerous improvements being implemented, it's all
been a labor of love (or was that WAAAGH!).In the notes below you'll see over 500 bug fixes, 10 plus pages of career
balancing, numerous RvR improvements, UI improvements, continued building on our success with improving performance and server stability and a considerable
review of our dungeon loot itemization.While these notes are still technically a "work in progress" they represent
the majority of the changes that will be implemented with Game Update 1.2.
Please keep in mind, these notes are for the public test server and can change
periodically throughout the Public Testing Process.As always, thank you to our Players for their continued support.
Jeff Hickman
Executive Producer
Warhammer Online: Age of Reckoning.Highlights
- New Careers! Unleash the savage fury of the relentless Orc Choppa, or take
up the doom-laden oath of the unstoppable Dwarf Slayer. These two new
melee-focused careers relish the thrill of fighting on the front lines and
laying waste to all foes that come within reach of their mighty blades.- Bitter Rivals join the battle! Introducing the newest live event for
Warhammer Online: Age of Reckoning. "Bitter Rivals" focuses on the ancient
hatred that burns between the Dwarf and greenskin races. Millennia of conflict
in the Worlds Edge Mountains have honed the enmity that exists between the Orcs and Goblins and the stout Dwarfs to a razor-sharp edge, and when these nemeses meet in battle, it is war without mercy.- Fight for control of the warped Twisting Tower! The battle rages in this new Tier 4 Scenario found deep in the heart of the maddening Chaos Wastes. Here, the warping power of Chaos is at its peak, transforming the very fabric of reality in defiance of all reason. Warriors of Order and Destruction must grapple for control of this ancient citadel, for if the secrets of the Twisting Tower should fall into enemy hands, the tide of battle will surely turn. Like the Reikland Factory, the Twisting Tower will be available for all players for a limited time as a preview to accompany the Bitter Rivals event. Be sure to stake your claim to the Twisting Tower while you can!
- Answer the Call to Arms with new Realm vs. Realm gameplay enhancements! Introducing the new Open RvR Rallying Cry system that summons you to key battles for Tiers 1 and 2. The new Zone Control Domination System for Tiers 2 through 4 rewards a realm that truly conquers the battlefield. Also, many improvements to siege weapons ensure that the mighty engines of war are now more lethally effective than ever. See below for additional details.
- New treasures await! Across-the-board itemization improvements have been made to the Fortresses, world dungeons, and city dungeons of WAR, including better world drops, quest rewards, Influence rewards, and more!
- Crafting System Improvements! We've made many improvements to the game's crafting system, including pairing-off specific gathering skills with specific production skills in order to make crafters more self-sufficient. Also, the leveling curve of trade skills has been improved and fewer components are
required to create items. Last, but certainly not least, is the addition of new
craftable items!- Easy Public Quests make their debut in Tiers 2, 3, and 4. Scaled for
courageous bands of 1 to 3 adventurers, these Public Quests offer a rewarding
PvE experience without a large commitment of forces. You'll find one Easy Public Quest in each Chapter, so gather a few friends, or venture out alone... if you dare!- Multiple mail attachments! Now you can send several attached items with a single mail message.
- Two new secret lairs await! Finding the new hidden lairs is only half the
battle. Figuring out how to open the door - and surviving the dangers inside -
is another matter, entirely!
