Warhammer Witch Hunter Feature

This time around, GOA Community Managers interviewed some expert Witch Hunter players, as we have done in the past with the Rune Priest and Chosen careers. If you want to learn more about Witch Hunters, suggestions on how to play them, how useful they are, and their pros and cons, read on!

“Wrapped in his long jacket and molded soft leather armor, and concealed by the shadows, he slowly approached the unsuspecting target with ashen stakes at the ready. His emotionless face was partially hidden by his wide-brimmed hat; his eyes were cold and lethal as the weapons he was holding. He crept closer, as silent and icy as the snow. With a quick gesture, he ran the victim through the back. The unaware prey fell down writhing in pain. His gaze was impassive, and in an instant, all that remained was the echo of a gunshot lingering in the air.”

The Witch Hunter Compared to the Other Careers

Witch Hunters are generally known as melee fighters. They are characterized by various abilities, some of which can be used only when invisible to the eyes of the enemy. They move silently and mercilessly on the battlefield. They pick the victim they will follow, kill with lethal precision and then purify with the holy fire of their torch. This is all accomplished in the name of their faith and to rid their path of heretics.

Here is what Thomas Leuterer from the Gorthor server thinks:

“Quoting the Holy Scriptures: ‘Burn the heretic. Kill the mutant. Purify the unclean one.’ Do you need any other explanation? Joking apart, I am a great fan of the Warhammer lore and I have always loved the Witch Hunter. Cynical and cruel, they are motivated by a holy mission whose result justifies the means. I didn’t choose this career because of the DPS but for the charming background… and the hat.

“There is going to be a nasty surprise in store for those who think that this is a brave and unblemished character, devoted to the well-being and the defense of the Empire. The Witch Hunter is deadly, and won’t have any problem committing the most atrocious crimes if need be.”
Calamityjane from the Karak Norn server says:

“The Witch Hunters are technically on the side of the good but are far from being the ideal heroes. A Witch Hunter does not hesitate to burn entire villages to the ground, dispensing judgments of heresy and witchery here and there with the aim of rooting out corruption. This is very much a charismatic character.

“The Witch Hunter is not famous for their resistance to the enemies’ attacks.
They stand out for their exceptional charisma and ability to turn invisible before their foes. They are also cunning and agile, and all these characteristics together with the ideals that motivate them, make this character a lethal weapon for the enemy siege line.”
Kasch from the Dragonback Mountains server agrees with Calamityjane and says:

“According to their mission, the Witch Hunter has to quickly kill the Healers and all the foes that can inflict damage from long range. As soon as the effect of the Incognito Ability fades away, they become weak and don’t live for long – given that the enemies are not that happy to see them approaching out of the blue from behind. As such, they must be quick and effective, and after that they can finally die.”
Fenris from the Carroburg server also gave his opinion:

“I mainly play with the Witch Hunter because of the Incognito Ability. It allows me to be independent and ‘operate’ on my own against the enemy siege line.”
Fighting as a Witch Hunter

Fighting as a Witch Hunter is a challenge. A Witch Hunter cannot rely on the same physical strength or armor as a career devoted to the front line would do. However, with a bit of effort, they can fight beside tanks in the battle against Chaos.

That’s what Calamityjane from the Karak Norn server points out:

“Some would be surprised to find out that Witch Hunters can be excellent attackers, but they have a lot of different defensive strategies and they can fight side by side with tanks to send the heretics back from where they came from. As a Witch Hunter, I try to take care of my group and my game style changes according to the situation.

“Nevertheless, the vast majority of Witch Hunters needs strategy and the ability to inflict damage at the right time, or to find a way to escape if something goes wrong.”
And Fernis from the Carroburg server says:

“It is necessary to learn the tactic “Hit and Go” to survive in RvR.”
Thomas Leuterer of the Gorthor server stresses the action phase:

“Fighting is tough and it doesn’t always pay but it is the difficulty itself that makes the success more satisfying. A Witch Hunter has to think before acting and cannot launch himself against strong foes with impenetrable armor and long swords.”
Other strategies include also the defense of the Healers within the warband, as Calamityjane of the Karak Norn server states:

“The Witch Hunter is one of the most versatile careers that a warband leader could dispose of in RvR – and this may be surprising to those who think this career is characterized only by a few tricks. For example, the Witch Hunter stands out for his ability to fight against expert foes, withdraw and protect the Healers of the group.”
Fighting Against a Witch Hunter

It is arduous to fight against a Witch Hunter. They are not only a potentially invisible foe, but the amount of damage over time they can cause could kill before their time those who do not take the fight seriously. The challenge moves on a defensive level, in order to limit the initial maximum damage that this character can develop.

In spite of this, if they cannot hide, the Witch Hunters become easy targets, because of their weak armor and defense – as also Thomas Leuterer of the Gorthor server

explains:

“Their strength is built on the damage they can quickly inflict on casters, the ability to reduce the healings received by the target, and to hide from and catch the targets they choose, not only by chance. The weak points are… the excessive

fragility and … Well, that is enough!”

Kasch from the Dragonback Mountains server says:

“The weak point is represented by their survival chance, which is very low. Witch Hunters don’t have big armour but it is possible to balance this weakness, at least a little bit, by increasing the ability with the weapons, and as a consequence, the

probability of avoiding hits.”
Final Considerations

Witch Hunters are characterized by an exceptional charisma and a respectable background. They are at their most effective when they can move behind and surprise enemies with their powerful sword strikes, then unleash pistol shots to finish them – it’s thrilling! If you prefer strategy to direct attacks, taking out strategically critical victims, and if you don’t mind hiding in the shadows, then the Witch Hunter is the right character for you!

But . . . are you afraid of the dark?

Interview with a Witch Hunter

We had the pleasure of speaking with Calamityjane, the Rank 40 Witch Hunter who plays on the English Karak Norn server in the guild Ascension. Read on to see what Calamityjane had to say about Witch Hunters!

Why did you choose to play a Witch Hunter?

From the moment I picked up WAR, the Witch Hunter just stood out for me. Their rich history and striking imagery got me hooked from the get-go and I haven’t looked back since. Fictional characters such as Van Helsing and Solomon Kane bear to mind when thinking of this class and they inspire the imagination of a reckless hero, hunting down evil ghouls and goblins. Technically, Witch Hunters are on the side of good, but they are far from being your average hero. A Witch Hunter don’t hesitate burning entire villages, making accusations of witchcraft and heresy left, right and centre if it means that they can uproot evil. Plain and simple, the career is just cool.
You’re a member of ‘Ascension’ of Karak Norn. Please tell us about your guild and your place in it!

Ascension is one of the best guilds I have ever been a part of, not only in this game but from other MMO’s as well. The guild is full of friendly and skilled players who love nothing more than giving the bastardly Destruction a bit of no-good.

How do you see your role in a party or a Warband? Are you a solo player or a team player?

If I join an organized Warband I very much see myself as a team player. When fighting multiple enemies, assisting your fellow team-mates and prioritizing single targets is very important. Team play is the key and that’s what this game is all about. Further, forming a small death squad of two or three Witch Hunters is a force to be reckoned with and is prone to leave a nasty stain. The Witch Hunter is second to none for scouting ahead of the main Warband, alerting them to danger. Also, picking off unfortunate stragglers while scouting is immense fun!

How do you adapt your play style after different circumstances in RvR?

The Witch Hunter can be one of the most versatile classes to have at a Warband leader’s disposal in RvR, which may come as a surprise to those who think the class is a one-trick pony. For instance, if you are facing well-organized opposition, hanging back and protecting the all-important healers of your group is something Witch Hunters excel at. A second and obvious role we fill is to sneak behind enemy lines and causing havoc within their healer ranks, spreading fear and panic in the name of Sigmar. Some might find it surprising that Witch Hunters can be excellent front-line troopers, but we’ve got a lot of defensive tricks and so we can fight alongside tanks to push heretics back to whence they came. I try to provide for my team and my play style will change between these three styles depending on the situation at hand.

How is the game User Interface working out for you and do you use any custom mods to enhance your game play?

The game interface is smooth and clean and I haven’t considered using any mods quite a while. Recently however I’ve started to use mods for fun. I recommend Dammaz Kron in particular as it keeps track of your most heated rivalries and makes hunting heretics even more fun. I also use Scrolling Combat Text and the Crafting Willard as making potions can be somewhat arduous without it.

What are the perks and flaws of the Witch Hunter, in your opinion?

Nothing comes close to the burst damage of a Witch Hunter; spiking down single targets is its forte. You can happily go off hunting the unclean all by yourself as the Witch Hunter can pretty much solo any class if you get a stealth jump on them. There is nothing more satisfying than giving a bullet to the back of the head of a blasphemous non-believer or setting them alight and slowly watching them burn into cinders. There are drawbacks however like with any class; we are technically a fairly squishy class that wears light armor and despite our tricks we can be taken down quickly with concentrated attacks. Like any career, the Witch Hunter has its few niggles but I am sure all of them will be ironed out in time. All in all I think the class pre-patch 1.2 is well balanced and in the right hands it can be used effectively to carry out Sigmar’s fury.

Do you have any advice to offer players who are eager to play a Witch Hunter?

Stick with it. The career isn’t the easiest to play and requires a lot of patience, but once mastered it can be a most enjoyable and rewarding class. I cannot think of anything better than spending an afternoon of bringing uncompromising justice to the forces of Destruction than with the Witch Hunter. It is loaded with fun and keeps bringing me back for more.

Lastly, do you have anything you’d like to share with the community?

I hope some of this inspire you good folks to come roll a Witch Hunter and even better if you come to Norn I will welcome you with open arms and a suspicious looking eye and if not and you happen to make one of them heretic Witch Elves I’ll have a bullet with your name on it.

Make love and war! I will await you on the battlefield.

Warhammer Weapon Proc Exploit

This was discovered using my Witch Elf. In theory this should work for ALL other races/classes.

Basically you can get (for example) Frenzy/Nightfall to work while they are UNEQUIPED.

Wear both weapons that use Frenzy and Nightfall, then take them off (using other weapons). Inside your combat logsyou will see both Frenzy and Nightfall procs showing up (doing shock x and decay x against your enemy)

This means that the procs from these weapons are likely from a hidden self buff. That is why they disappear when we die. It's also why we can unequip them and get the procs from any weapon.

TL; DR version - As long as you get frenzy and nightfall, you can get the weapon procs from any weapon you swap out (before you die). This means you can find weapon's with better stats and use those for the procs instead.

For Witch Elves - it also means that you can go ahead and grab SPITE for an extra free proc and rotate (on a macro) all 3 daggers.

Bear in mind you still need those daggers in the first place to do the procs (note Brutality doesn't have a DD proc.)

Warhammer Builds: Shadow Warrior template

This will be a "Distance" Warhammer build, concentrating on ranged and ranged AOE attacks.

• Ballistic Skill = Increases ranged damage
  
• Wounds = adds to hit points
  
• Initiative = Increases your chance to dodge ranged attacks, detect stealthed opponents and makes it more difficult for enemies to critically hit you.

The 25 points will be placed as follows: (There will be a few extra points due to RvR rewards, however we will not use them here)

15 in "The Scout"

Buy the following skills in the "The Scout" tree for one point each:

• Enchanted Arrows
  
• Glass Arrow
  
• Festering Arrow
  
• Guerrilla Training
  
• Fell The Weak
  
• Rain of Steel

Skills in the tree you do not buy: "Leading Shots".

The last 4 points will be put in the "Assault" tree. Any additional points should also be placed in "Assault", there is no reason to buy the bottom skill in the tree.

80 RvR points to be placed in:

• Marksmen level 1 = 1 point
  
• Marksmen level 2 = 3 points
  
• Marksmen level 3 = 6 points
  
• Marksmen level 4 = 10 points
  
• Marksmen level 5 = 14 points
  
  
• Impetus level 1 = 1 point
  
• impetus level 2 = 3 points
  
  
• Sharp Shooter level 1 = 2 points
  
• Sharp Shooter level 2 = 4 points
  
• Sharp Shooter level 3 = 6 points
  
  
• Sure Shot level 1 = 5 points
  
• Sure Shot level 2 = 10 points
  
• Sure Shot level 3 = 15 points

The purpose of this build is to be able to stay in the back and deal out decent single target and AOE damage to thin out the healers and nukers.

Here are the planned active morale skills:

• Level 1 = Lileath's Forgiveness
  
• Level 2 = Unshakable Focus
  
• Level 3 = Explosive Shots
  
• Level 4 = Rain of Steel

Slotted Tactics can be changed "on the fly", as long as you are not in combat. Since there are 5 quick slots available, I would use each one in a different situation. One for PvP fight, one for PvE Group, and one for PvE solo. Here is my choice for a "PvP fight":

• Steady Aim
  
• Guerrilla Training
  
• Instinctive Aim
  
• Enchanted Arrows

Build Strength:

Decent ranged DPS, including above average AOE damage.


Build Weakness:

No melee skills, as such STAY at range using this build.

Warhammer Elves Meet the White Lion levels 1-5

If you have known classes of Warhammer Online, we will continue our exclusive pre-NDA look at the Elves of WAR today, with a look at the White Lion class from the ground up.

The White Lion career with a loyal lion pet by their side, an enormous axe in their hand is a melee dps class on the side of Order and very good at taking down enemies, especially small groups of them. It is only available to High Elves.

You start the game with three abilities:

Level 1 - Call War Lion
60 AP, 2sec casting time, 15sec cooldown
You call your tamed War Lion to come forth and fight with you. You may only have a single War Lion at a time.

Level 1 - Hack
30 AP, Instant cast, 5ft range
A brutal chop at your enemy which deals 15 damage.

Level 1 - Axe Toss
20 AP, 1sec casting time, 5-65ft range
You fling a throwing axe at your target, dealing 10 damage.

Your initial lion is rather weak, dealing about 5 damage per hit. When you get your first pet buff at 3 level that situation will chang. Until then, consider him a weak DoT. Don't get too excited about the Axe Toss ability either. You aren't a ranged dps class. Its just for tagging mobs from a distance.

The real gem among your initial abilities is Hack. If you desire to take down your enemies quickly in your first few levels, you must gain your spammable special axe attack.

Level 2 - Blindside
30 AP, Instant cast, 5ft range, 5sec cooldown
You attack your enemy at a vulnerable spot, dealing 17 damage immediately and inflicting them with an Ailment which deals an additional 36 damage over 9 seconds.

Later, when you pet can taunt, you can move next to or behind an opponent to unleash more powerful attacks like this one. For now, you must send your lion in first to attack a mob and gain initial aggro so you can come up from behind and open up with this ability. This also puts an Ailment on the mob which opens up other abilities later.

Level 3 - Trained to Threaten
No AP cost, Instant cast
You train your pet to behave menacingly, increasing it's Toughness and Initiative by 6 and increasing your chnce to critically hit by 5% as long as you are at your target's sides or back. Your War Lion gains the ability to threaten its enemies, the abitlity to reduce a fore's armor and the ability to snare its enemies.

This is your bread-and-butter pet tank buff. There are three abilities your pet gets:

Leg Tear
Deals 85 damage to the target over 15 seconds. For the first 5 seocnds, the target will be snared, reducing their movemen t by 40%

Shred
Deals 33 damage to the target and reduces their armor by 29 for 10 seconds.

Lion's Roar
Taunts all enemies in front of your War Lion, up to 30 feet away, making them hate your pet much more and causing them to deal 30% less damage to eeveryone else other than your Lion.

As you can see, your pet is not only better at tanking, but damage and debuffing, too. Sometimes you pet might use unfit abilities in the battle yet you can't tell it. There is a good method to avoid this situation that you can turn the abilities on or off whenever you want, thus limiting the pet's choice in battle to what you need done. It's now also much easier to use Blindside as your lion now has a strong taunt.

Later you will get another pet buff that makes them better at damage in case you like to do the tanking on solo mobs as well as a third buff that balances between offensive and defensive abilities in case you want to fight side by side with your lion.

Level 4 - Coordinated Strike
50 AP, Instant cast, 5ft range
You and your War Lion attack as a pack ravaging your enemies. You strike your traget for 15 damage, and your pet strikes its target for 15 damage. if you are within 10 feet of your pet's target, you will also strike that enemy for 15 damage and likewise, if your pet is within 10 feet of your target, it will also strike your enemy for 15 damage as well.

Here's the TLDR version: you and your pet get an extra strike on each other's target. If you are on the same target, it's a good chunk of damage. If you are on separate mobs, it's like a free attack. This is one of the unique abilities that only pet classes get.

Level 5 - Nature's Bond
30 AP, Instant cast, 150ft range
Your War Lion regains 165 health over 15 seconds.

This instacast HoT is great in a pinch to buy your pet some extra time while you hack away at your opponents.

That's it for the first five levels. Do you think it is very simple at the first five warhammer leveling when you have seen this article? Of course, it is very easy at the beginning of the game provided you were even playing the MMORPG. However, do remember that the first beginning of your character would affect quests which you must complete in the future game. So the first warhammer leveling is very important for each player.

Warhammer High Elf Archmage class review

Warhammer High Elf Archmage class Overview:

The High Elves are known far and wide as the most powerful mages in the world, and the Archmages are the best even among their own kin. Capable of weaving all of the Winds of Magic together in complex and subtle ways, the Archmages can easily turn the tide of battle in their favor.

As the only true experts in the use of High Magic, the Archmages have learned to achieve the ultimate balance between healing their allies, and smiting their enemies. While most commonly classified as a Healer, it would be a grave mistake to keep him from using his magical attacks in a fight. Every cast of a healing ability builds up Tranquility, thereby improving the destructive attacks. Each destructive attack adds to the Force pool, which in turn lessens the cost of the heals.

Warhammer High Elf Archmage class Strengths:
Many single and group heals
Resurrection ability
Damage wards and buffs

Warhammer High Elf Archmage class Weaknesses:
Paper Armor
Action Points run low often
Pulls aggro quickly

Warhammer High Elf Archmage class PvE Overview
For a healer class, the Archmage is really quite an effective soloer. The heals will keep him alive long enough for his magical damage over time strikes to whittle the enemy down. The long range of the damage spells mean that most often, the enemy is near death before reaching melee distance. Remember to use a comparable amount of beneficial spells to attack abilities; achieving a balance between Tranquility and Force makes for a stronger Archmage.

Warhammer High Elf Archmage class RvR Overview
An Archmage is a strong addition to any group. The heals and group buffs will keep everyone alive, allowing the tank and DPS classes to do their best. The Archmage's heals have a very long range, allowing him to stay at a safe distance during the more difficult battles. Building up Force is necessary to maintain his Action Points pool, so he will need to joust forward to land his own damaging attacks during the fights.

Warhammer High Elf Archmage class Archmage Mastery Paths
Path of Isha: The Path of Isha is focused on restoring health and life to the Archmage's allies. A skilled Master of this path will be adept at weaving offensive magic in with his healing magic, greatly extending the efficiency of his beneficial spells..

Path of Asuryan: The Path of Asuryan is primarily aimed at bringing forth the destructive side of the Winds of Magic. An Archmage who specializes in this path will become adept at raining down doom upon his foes, while simultaneously manipulating the flows of arcane power to fuel his healing magic as well.

Path of Vaul: The Path of Vaul is a subtle Mastery that focuses on both crippling the Archmage's enemies, and strengthening his allies. The specialist in this Mastery relies on cunning effects to lead his foes to an inevitable doom which they won't even realize is approaching until it's too late.

Warhammer Shaman Class Review

Warhammer Shaman Class Review is here, check it out below!

- Quests / Public Quests in all zones
- Scenarios in all zones
- Open RvR in all zones

Warhammer Shaman Solo PvE Leveling via Quests:

The shaman does decent doing this. If you get a good spell rotation that works for you, you can pretty much pull mobs close to non-stop. Your ability to heal yourself makes you decent at same to higher level mobs. However Champion and Hero Mobs will compeltly eat you up, even if they are lower than you by 1 or 2 levels. They are completly squishy. Sure you can heal yourself, but then you arent damaging the mob, and eventually you will run out of APs, and die. Not to mention that champs will hit you for 10/20% of your hits, and your only big heal has a push back like WHOA. More on that in PvP section. Once you get moral 1 ability, you have a great get-a-way skill. POP your heal/dot on a mob, hot yourself, hit moral ability and sprint, and you will get away 95% of the time.

There was not a single time where I had any problem with any quest same level or 1 higher.

Warhammer Shaman Public Quests:

If you are a shaman and not in the top 3, you are just flat out just sitting there and dpsing. If you heal and dps (the tools you are supposed to use) YOU WILL ABSOLUTLY BE TOP 3. I was doing PQs with people 3-4 levels higher than me and I was still top 3. Only ones I have trouble hanging with is Tanks. I think the PQs give extra credit for holding aggor (which I am glad they do because tanks dont do as much damage as the DPS classes).

Overall PvE weekness: Well if you even consider this a weekness. You cant solo Champ/Hero mobs, and you cant multi pull like the aoe-ers. But you more than make up but the compelte utility you have in the group PvE settings.

Warhammer Shaman PvP Scenarios:

Hmm where to start. Even with the mechanic to split healing RPs within the group, There have been many Scenarios where I was first in healing and top 4 in DPS. Nothing irks me more than shamans that just sit there and DPS, and only heal themselves. This is the #1 reason I believe Order is winning more Scenarios than Destruction. They dont seem to have a problem being "support" with all of thier classes. I have been on my tank with 5 shamans behind me and I would not get a single heal. Geez. how hard can it be. Not to mention that with your 3 second heal you will get much RPs.

Now the difficult part, if you are healing in a Scenario. Order players WILL notice you, and you WILL absolutly be targeted by Witch Hunters and WPs.
For some reason, they seem to be the classes i have REAL problems getting away from.

NOTE: If a tank puts guard on you. HEAL HIM. PERIOD. Heal him.

Oh and last thing. King of the hill is SOOOOO fun. Keep your back to the wall and keeps your tanks up so they can protect you.. FUN!!!

Warhammer Shaman Open RvR:

This is ABSOLUTLY where shamans shine. They have CRAZY utility. Keep fight/zerg fight/Battle Objective fights. Shamans can sit back and DPS the crap out of Order AND heal those tanks that are running back to the safty of the zerg. Keep fights you can heal heal heal, and drop some DPS on the occasional chucklehead that is foolish enough to stand in the way of DESTRUCTION.

They key is to get in a spot where you can heal with LOS, but Order has no LOS on you. Then you pop out and dump 5 WAAG DPS spells on them MUHAHAHAHA

Warhammer Shaman PvP WEAKNESS:

Warhammer Shamans are OMG squishy. Any melee with a snare will put a hurting on you. Your only completly effective heal is a 3 second heal with CRAZY pushback. Any Lion Elf worth his weight in salt will put his pet on any shaman it sees not DPSing. If you dont have tanks smart enough to taunt them, you will effectivly be shutdown. Communication with your tanks is absolutly essential, as they are the only ones who can save you. This is why organized groups have so much of an advantage. I think if Mythic gives them some sort of PBAoE snare, they would be perfect.

If you level the way I think Mythic intended people to level, you should be roughly Rank 20 RR 12-15 depending if you win more than you lose in Scenarios.

This class is really fun to play, but not going to be easy to master. My idea of mastering a class is being able to utilize all of its tools no matter what spec you are. Warhammer Shamans who can DPs for 20k and heal for 0 are not masters of thier class. Same for those that heal for 20k and do no DPS.

Your job is to Heal for 20k and DPS for 10k :P And your ability to make any heal INSTANT by DPSing means that you absolutly should be able to keep the tank alive, AND get deathblows by dumping spells on those low health people trying to give you realm points. But in all seriousness, it will be your 15$ so play how you want to play.. have fun and dont let anyone else tell you how to play your warhammer shaman class.