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The Only-WAR Warhammer : Age Of Reckoning Editorial : Part 2!

The administrators and moderators of Only-WAR got together with a few select contributors, initiating a project to compile what we know about Warhammer Online: Age of Reckoning into a friendly resource for our members. Then something wonderful happened - we realized exactly how much information we had at our disposal.

Besides, this is much cooler than a typical boring FAQ!!

Welcome back for the Exclusive and most accurate Only-WAR Editorial.....Part 2!!

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Only-WAR Compilation Editorial Staff - Morg'th N'Throg, Kederessa, Skyles, Alluvian Est-Endrati, Arak'us The Leviathen, Grarghsies, Krog'kal, Raelimar, Stunty'git Crusha

Editorial II: WAR is Everywhere
The second in our series of gameplay editorials focuses on understanding the conflict and the issues you will have to give careful consideration to when you decide to sign up. We'll take a closer look at the RvR concept and its application, the war fronts, the careers, the character advancement process and customization features.

A Soldier's Story:
Even in the worst of the winter's storm, the heat of battle makes one sweat. In the flurries of snow around Wolfenburg terrible creatures charged, fought and died. Again and again did we hear the roar of the cannon, positioned to our left rear, drowning out with its thunder even the sound of our own rifles. Throughout it all the wind blew from the north, carrying with it the stench of the dead, the dying and of other foul things.

We had arrived at Wolfenburg, just as the storm crested the mountains, to find the city under siege. Our outriders and horsemen harried them from the walls as we prepared to muster against the ill-organized enemy army. Among their ranks were the creatures of the forest, mutants and beastmen, yet also among their ranks were some of the heavily armored warriors of the north. Their banners bore grisly trophies and marks that signaled their allegiance to the profane powers.

Given the range at which our dwarf-made rifles were effective, we were positioned to the fore of the cannon teams to help protect them and give the support of our fire against the charge of the enemy. As they came so too did the snows, blinding and blurring our vision as the dread foes of our people howled out for blood. Occasionally we could see where our shots fell as again and again the order was given to reload and fire.

From out of the snow it came, right as my finger closed upon the trigger. The blast from the rifle and the shot did little more than clang against its armor. The armored knight came on unstoppable, like the roll of a bolder down a hill. I did not have time to reload as the figure bore down upon me, knocking me over in its mad rush into our ranks. I staggered to my feet, reclaiming my rifle and reloading it as around me I saw many of my companions had also fallen, some likely dead.

The warrior turned then and through the visor of its helm I could see two eyes. One was all too human, the other bestial. I took aim at the more horrific of the two and fired. A spray of blood and other strangely colored fluids answered my shot and the armored figure collapsed.

The dead we left to lie upon the field, forgotten for now by the survivors and buried within the deep snow. It would take the coming of spring thaw to melt the snow and ice before any hope of a burial could be had.

RvR in WAR
RvR means Realm versus Realm. The concept was originally developed for Dark Age of Camelot, where it referred to large scale PvP that had a real effect on faction borders and zone control. Many people, including some Mythic representatives, still use the term RvR out of old habit when talking about large-scale PvP.

For WAR, RvR has been expanded into an umbrella concept that includes both PvP and PvE - all player activity will focus on, and contribute toward, the contest between the factions. The RvR game design means that PvE quests and PvP battles don't exist in their own bubble - they are both geared towards the greater war effort in some important way.

The game world is divided into two realms (Order vs. Destruction), each composed of a loose alliance of three disparate (and self-contained) armies. Among the armies of Order are the Human Empire, the dour Dwarfs, and the haughty High Elves. Among the armies of Destruction are the Human servants of Chaos, the brutish Greenskins (Orcs, Goblins, Squigs and their whole extended family), and the scheming Dark Elves. The RvR design means that these two opposing realms are pitted in a struggle for territory, pushing the engagement back and forth over three broad battlefronts. Each front is composed of 11 zones (for a total of 33) where the forces of Order and Destruction will meet, clash and bleed.

Mythic isn't trying to give us the entire world with those 33 zones. Each zone represents an iconic location, a region of the world that fans of the Warhammer series will recognize, where the armies will battle for resources or struggle to control. Of the 33 zones, 18 represent hotspots where the armies struggle for necessary supplies and resources, while 9 comprise the primary WAR fronts where the armies are battling for control in their efforts to reach and destroy the capitols of their enemy. The remaining 6 zones are the capitols of the six armies, where a successful campaign will culminate with burning, pillaging and slaughter.

The PvE and PvP activity of the player characters are part of the story, their victories and defeats directly contributing to the ongoing ebb and flow of the massive conflict. Players who never take part in PvP engagements, who spend their entire play time in PvE areas, will be participating in the RvR contest by pursuing quests directed at the war effort, contributing to zone control by overcoming enemy NPCs, disrupting lines of supply and enemy reinforcements, securing resources and activating NPC reinforcements for the players who are battling in PvP engagements.

In WAR, RvR is a design principle. All PvP is RvR. All PvE is RvR. Both are directed at defeating the enemy realm. RvR is both a design concept (everything should relate to the war effort) and a game mechanic (actions contribute value toward zone control along the main battle lines), and contrasts with games that are not focused on faction competition, where PvE and PvP both exist in bubbles that don't influence each other or the larger game.

A Soldier's Story:
Though the siege of Wolfenburg had been broken, our real job here in the northern territory of the Empire had only just begun. Our force along with the others that had assembled were broken into smaller regiments and dispersed throughout the countryside. Myself and the rest of the riflemen fell in under the banner of some templar lord, who wore a style of armor I had never seen nor heard of before.

After getting what supplies, ammunition and other gear we would need, we mustered to march north out of Wolfenburg. Our path would lead off into the forests on the northern side of the Middle Mountains. Our mission was to hunt down the beastmen of the forest, to find and destroy their herdstone if possible. We were joined on this expedition by pikemen from Talabheim, footmen from Wolfenburg itself, as well as the templars and their lord.

At the first night's encampment, while still on the road heading north along the edge of the mountains, I was able to speak to the lord of the templars. These knights I learned belonged to a holy order of the Goddess Myrmidia. I had heard of this goddess before, but had never known that within our own Empire there was a knightly order dedicated to her teachings. It was comforting in such a time to learn that despite the differences in faith that we may have, together we were unified in our determination to stamp out the corruption that had rooted itself in the land.

Days passed, marching through the snow, ice and mud. The trip was difficult and the horses of the templars seemed to make a worse going of it than we did. Several times we had to stop to free the few wagons we had been allocated to help carry supplies and our going was slow. Finally, four days out of Wolfenburg we turned to the north west, following an old path through the forest. Though a break in the clouds came that day, the warmth of the sun did not seem to reach us beneath the cover of the trees. Cold and miserable we continued onwards, sharing stories of home and of wives and women long missed.

Realms & Races:
When you get ready to enlist with an army and you take your first look at the two realms and their constituent armies, your first realization should be that none of the participants are champions of goodness. The 'spiritual' conflict in WAR does not focus on a struggle between good and evil, but rather a struggle between order and chaos. Chaos wants to change the world, to alter it or destroy and remake it, while Order wants to keep the world as it is. Both sides have shining champions who fight for noble causes and dark villains who seek only to fulfill their own petty desires, and both will occasionally do unsavory things to achieve their goals.

That is not to suggest that the armies of Destruction are misunderstood good guys - they are openly focused on destruction, conquest and slaughter. They LIKE what they are doing, they revel in it. What it does say is that the armies of Order aren't a whole lot better - they are merciless, unethical, sure of their superiority, proud of what they are doing and the methods they use.

These alliances have emerged out of convenience and necessity. None of the nations of Order or Destruction really like the people they are allied with - at best there is an overtone of superiority and contempt poisoning the relationship, as worst there is a hatred and murderous intent that is held in check purely for the duration of the current conflict. These aren't the cheery, sparkly fey folk of fairy tales, they're the angry, arrogant and violent denizens of the Warhammer world. Choosing an army for your character means accepting the grudges that are part of that racial heritage - Dwarfs vs. Greenskins, High Elf vs. Dark Elf, and Empire vs. Chaos.

Fans of the other armies of the Warhammer IP( Skaven, Bretonnians, Lizardmen, Ogres, Beasts of Chaos, Tomb Kings, Vampire Counts, Wood Elves) will be happy to know that the development team isn't completely neglecting them. Members of those races will be featured as NPCs in the game, and there is always hope for expansions - once the design team at EA Mythic has the resources to spare developing a new pairing and 11 world zones for them to fight over.

When you do finally pick a race for your character, you will be able to travel among and assist either of the two allies within your realm, though NPCs will react to your strangeness. Elves giving your Dwarf a Quest will notice and treat him differently than they would an Elf. While there will be no restrictions on content players can access when they travel abroad, it will offer a great source of humor.

A Soldier's Story:
While it was nearly midday, the forest about us was dark as if night had already fallen. Even when we were not under the added shadow of the twisted trees the sky was thick with clouds. Perhaps even Stromfels was upon the side of the enemy, sending these terrible storms off of the Sea of Claws to plague our mission. For three days we had marched through the forest with no sign of the beastmen, yet with every day as we neared where the herdstone was, our sense of dread grew.

Something terrible lurked within the ancient woods about us, its presence disturbed our dreams and placed fear within our hearts. This very morning we had awoken to find that one of the Knights of the Blazing Sun had hung himself upon a tree within the encampment. The guards who had been at their duty then were whipped for allowing such a thing to transpire without raising a cry of alarm. The look upon the former templars face was one of horror, not at how he had chosen to kill himself but at something he must have seen.

Suddenly the front of our group emerged into a bit of a clearing and hope seemed to fade from our hearts. In the clearing with a great plinth of rock, carved and adorned with dreadful symbols and splattered with blood and gore. About its base were great piles of weapons, armor and bones. Someone next to me vomited noisily when they saw what lay there and I felt as though I may have been next.

It was at that moment that we were finally assaulted by the terror that lay within the woods. Cries came out in the dark tongue of the beastmen yet mingled among them were also human voices, crying out for the blood and skulls of the enemy. Charging across the clearing they came by the hundreds, bestial creatures and twisted shapes of men. Leading their charge was a hulking armored figure, moving swiftly and with a deadly grace for all of his size. They slammed into our column before orders could be given and dozens of our comrades died in the first few seconds.

I barked out the command to fire, seeing that our officer had already fallen and all of my comrades leveled their rifles point blank into the ranks of the enemy and fired. The roar of our guns seemed to snap the rest of us out of whatever curse had fallen and the slaughter became something more of a battle.

I recall little of what happened after the first salvo from our dwarf rifles. During the battle I must have lost my weapon for I recall hefting the fallen sword of one of the footmen. In my mind I can only recall flashes of blood and gore, bits of flesh and fur and screaming snarling faces. In the end, when the sounds of battle fell silent we were the victors. Of our force, only a bit more than two dozen of us were left. Of the riflemen, one other still clung to life. The templar lord, dismounted from his slain horse, gathered us up and we saw to those wounded that could be saved. Morr take the rest.

War Fronts and Zone Layout
The two realms are engaging in a massive war across three broad battlefronts. Each battlefront is made up of 11 hotspots where the armies are engaged - six zones where they struggle for necessary resources, three zones where the main battle line slowly shifts back and forth as the armies vie for supremacy, and two army capitols.

The following schematic illustrates the division of zones by tier and the way the zones will be connected. The map shows how that will work in actual game play - the Tier 1 zones being Ekrund/Mt Bloodhorn, the Tier 2 zones being Barak Varr/Marshes of Madness, the Tier 3 zones being Blackfire Pass/Badlands, and the Tier 4 zones being Karak Kadrin/Black Crag, with Kareg Dren/Thunder Mountain Forming the Center and the army capitols at Karaz-A-Karak and Karak Eight Peaks:

The bottom three tiers on every war front will be composed of two zones, arrayed in pairs that allow players of the opposing realms to engage each other directly at any point in their career advancement. Players will be able to join the PvP conflict in their own zone, or travel to their enemy's zone to join the conflict there. Each of those zones contains both PvE and PvP (skirmish) areas, positioned right alongside one another; by standing in an appropriate spot, you'll be able to observe PvP without being a participant.

The Tier 1 zones will be 80% PvE content and 20% PvP content (battlegrounds, scenarios, red quests) - allowing the Tier 1 dwarves to directly confront the Tier 1 Orcs in the skirmish and battleground areas available in both Tier 1 zones.

The second two zones are for Tier 2 players, the next set for Tier 3 players, and the final (larger) set for Tier 4 players. As players advance, the battles become more significant and direct skirmishes more common (the skirmish areas grow larger while the PvE content shrinks, until - in the three tier 4 zones - we will be facing 20% PvE content and 80% PvP content), culminating in an end-game where the outcome of battles allows armies to conquer territory and eventually – if they do well – sack their enemy’s capital city.

The three zones between the capitols form the main battle line, where we struggle for territorial control in an effort to drive toward the enemy capitol. The middle of the three Tier 4 zones starts out neutral and appears to connect to all other central zones. Ownership of each of those zones will switch depending on the result of skirmishes, battlegrounds, and scenarios fought by the players in each zone.

A Soldier's Story:
Our return to Wolfenburg was one of disgrace, though we had slain many beastmen and other followers of the fell powers we had failed in our task to destroy the herdstone. Our hearts rose a bit when we finally could see the towers of Wolfenburg as we approached from the north. Camped around the city were the other elements of the army and it seemed as if there was a great deal of activity underway.

I was asked to join the Lord templar, to help make the report of our failure. Our news was taken but we were told there were more important matters to be concerned with. The Dwarfs of Everpeak had called out to their allies of the Empire for aid in return. A great assault was underway at their city of Eight Peaks and they desperately needed our support. I was asked if I would like to volunteer to join the expedition that was to be sent.

Remembering the friendship I had with the dwarfs I had met during my training, what else could I say but yes? Though my unit had been defeated, for my service thus far and for taking part in this expedition I was promoted to become an officer. While a few Dwarfcraft rifles remained, it was not enough for a good sized force. Instead a unit of long-riflemen from Hochland had been mustered and I was to be their commander. I was to meet them in a few days when they arrived and until then I was finally able to rest and recuperate from what all I had experienced.

With some of my pay I went into Wolfenburg to take a look around. Most of the taverns and ale houses were quite packed but I managed to work my way into one to get a few drinks and to sit by a warm fire for a while. The chill in my bones melted a bit and I laughed and talked with some other soldiers and mercenaries who had also returned. The stories I was hearing were quite dreadful, some had been sent to check on various villages in the province and had found terrible things.

The threat of plague seems to have been stifled somewhat by the coming of winter, but those who had not died or mutated from it were now threatened by the beastmen and marauders from the north. Some folks claimed to have heard that a great warhost was in the north, heralds of the dark powers that sought to lay claim to the world and change it forever. In hushed tones we whispered of the growing threat, our earlier mirth stilled for a while.

Song and drink soon enough broke us from our black mood. Food was brought and I had the first hot meal in many weeks. The price was high, for Wolfenburg was running low on supplies and meat was costly, but the smell of roasted pork and sides of beef were too much to resist. It was a night for celebration after all, for though terrible things had passed we yet lived and must honor those comrades who had fallen beside us.

Careers

The armies of each realm will each be launched with a set of four unique careers that exemplify the racial archetypes (for a total of twenty-four potential careers). The combination of careers available to each army is intended to reflect its unique personality (Orcs and Dwarfs get more warrior-focused careers, while Elves will likely get more academic and magic-focused careers) with the overarching goal of creating career sets that give each race an equivalent potential and the ability to be self-sufficient (Dwarfs should never need an elf).

Unlike the more traditional RPG class distinctions (tank, DPS, healer, buffer, crowd control), Warhammer will be dividing careers into tank (loaded up with armor and health designed to let them withstand big punishment), melee DPS (all about dishing out the punishment rather than taking it), ranged DPS (all about dishing out lots of damage from as far away as possible), and melee/healer (These aren't standoff clerics). They build up reservoirs of faith/fanaticism/waaagh (the power to cast spells) and gain access to their better heals only by actively dealing damage to the enemy. Efforts are being made to make sure no career can be relegated to a purely support role - everyone's a capable combatant with a place in the fight, everyone's a warrior.

Each and every career will be distinct in their abilities from the other careers of that same type (Greenskin tanks are being designed to operate in a distinct manner and have different abilities than Dwarfen, Elven and Empire tanks) - giving each realm three distinct careers designed to fulfill each of the recognized archetypes. The studio isn't trying to make a completely equitable game where all sides have perfectly equal analogs; they are happy to keep things a bit asymmetrical, as long as everything stays reasonably balanced and enjoyable.

Note:
All of the careers we have seen at this point place us in the roles of elite troops or champions, rather than the rank and file soldiers.

Note:
The design team's goal is to first balance the races and their careers for RvR (large group PvP), and then adjust the PvE environment accordingly, rather than the other way around.

Greenskin Career: Black Orc
Melee Tank
Orcs continue to grow throughout their lives and their skin darkens with age. The strongest and most powerful Orcs grow to become Black Orcs, marked by their increased size and darker skin. They are the most heavily armored warrior and tanker of the Greenskins, and employ a down and dirty brawler’s fighting style that makes use of all the tools available – fists, feet, elbows, shoulders, and assorted other spiky bits, including choppa and shield. Meant to be in the thick of combat taking a beating and dealing it right back, the Black Orc uses disorients and knockdowns to chain attacks and disable the enemy. This leaves the enemy vulnerable to yet more punishment, which comes in the form of other attacks which deliver additional effects based on the target’s condition. With the ability to reduce fellow Destruction players damage taken from certain targets the Black Orc can force enemy players to attack him in PvP and RvR.

Greenskin Career: Orc Choppa
Melee DPS
Some Orcs frenzy in battle, reveling in the blood and slaughter. These are Choppas, named for their weapon, and their weapon named for them, and their frenzy is to be feared. They are down and dirty berserkers who fight with little regard for their own safety, relying on choppa power to carry the day.

As they let themselves be carried away by the frenzy of battle (as their morale rises), the Choppas quickly work themselves into a frothing rage. The more they fight the more berserk they become and the more powerful their attacks become. They are the Greenskins melee-DPS powerhouse.

Greenskin Career: Goblin Shaman
Melee/Healer
The Shaman channels the primal bloodlust of the Greenskins into effects both beneficial and baleful. He keeps the lads up and running far beyond their normal capabilities and calls down the wrath of the twin deities, Gork and Mork, onto his enemies. The one feeds the other, and fighting provides the strange and twisted power that fuels their magic. With Waaagh! power blazing in his eyes, his spells can heal more wounds or empower his allies to achieve feats of unbelievable destruction (the more damage they deal, the more powerful their heals and buffs).

Greenskin Career: Goblin Squiq Herder
Ranged DPS
The toothy embrace of a pack of Squigs has brought down many a hearty warrior, and a Squig pack is never more effective than in the hands of an expert Herder. Commanding a pack of Squigs culled from those types he has learned to train, the Squig Herder is a goblin Arrer Boy who uses a range of tools and training methods to drive his pack into a killing frenzy, supporting them with commands, arrows and bait while safely out of harm’s way. Even if he should fall, his frenzied Squigs will fight on, wandering off only once they have avenged him.

With experience, a Squig Herder can learn to tame a broad range of breeds, control more powerful Squigs, and acquire more specialized abilities such as taking direct control of his Squig. The various breeds offer the Squig Herder tools for different situations, and working out an effective mix is a large part of the art of the herder.

Dwarf Career: Ironbreaker
Melee Tank
From the towering vaults and labyrinthine galleries of the holds to the endless tunnels of the Underway, from the shafts of countless mines to the dark, dangerous warrens of the Greenskin and Skaven, the Ironbreakers patrol and guard the deep. Such is the reputation of the Ironbreakers that they will often be called upon to fight on the surface when the full might of a throng is mustered, but for each battle in sunlight, an Ironbreaker will have fought a dozen in the dark deeps beneath the mountains.

The Ironbreakers are the very icon of the dwarf - wearing massive armor, bearing axes and shields, stolidly facing every enemy and pressing constantly forward with even, measured steps. The charge of the Ironbreakers is a thing to behold - rumbling in behind their massive shields they use their concentrated mass to throw their enemy back and immobilize the unwary. Nobody holds a grudge like a Dwarf, and no dwarf is dwarfier than the Ironbreaker. Every blow struck against him or his allies serves to fuel his ardor. This in turn influences his every action – the greater the grudge born against a particular foe, the greater the damage dealt by the Ironbreaker’s attacks.

Dwarf Career: Hammerer
Melee DPS
Hammerers are an order of warriors who have sworn their lives to serving and protecting the King and hold. They are bound by oath and wholly dedicated to that duty, willing to give their lives rather than face the dishonor of failure. Hammerers are regarded as stubborn by their own people, a folk known throughout the world for their stubbornness. The symbol of their service is the weapon they carry. Each bears a heavy, but perfectly balanced, great hammer. It is the gift of the hammer to the warrior that seals the oath between him and his hold.

When a Hammerer gets going there is just no stopping him, and the longer the fight lasts the stronger and faster he becomes. Momentum builds as the Hammerer attacks, and as it accumulates he can strike stronger and stronger blows. However, his most powerful blows can start to slow him down, reducing his momentum upon impact. For the Hammer, the devastating power of these blows makes this loss of momentum a price worth paying. As long as there are more foes to fight, he can begin to build up his momentum again.

Dwarf Career: Runepriest
Melee/Healer
The ancient Guild of Runesmiths is one of the oldest and most respected institutions in all the Dwarf realms. All Runesmiths are related to each other in some, often very remote, fashion. Each carries on his family's traditions of arcane study, learning the ancient craftsmanship of working metal and magic into mighty runes of power. Although some other races make magic items of great potency, Runesmiths are masters of the art. The greatest Runesmiths are superlative craftsmen, widely respected by all Dwarfs, and even accorded the sort of reverence normally reserved for ancestors.

When a Runesmith judges that it is time, he chooses a young relative as his apprentice and teaches him the secrets of making magic runes. Runesmiths are very secretive about their knowledge and will only pass it on to a worthy successor. Though Runesmiths do tend to live for a long time even by Dwarf standard, many powerful runes have been lost simply because a Runesmith could find no one worthy enough to succeed him. As Dwarfs get older they get tougher, even more obstinate, and extremely stubborn.

By the time a Dwarf can claim the title of Runepriest, they will have endured hundreds of years of harsh apprenticeship, beating runes from hot metal under the demanding eye and unforgiving hand of their forebear, searching out old secrets in the depths of lost Dwarf strongholds. As a result, it is hard to imagine a tougher or more cantankerous Dwarf.

In a world where magic is commonplace, runes offer something unique and powerful – the ability to bind a rune to an object or creature to await a trigger which will unleash its power. A rune-marked blade burns as it strikes, a rune-marked breastplate hardens against a killing blow, and rune-marked flesh awaits only a word of command before releasing its healing energies. It is important to note that runes retain their power even after the Runepriest expires. By marking his allies prior to battle, the Runepriest is free to join the fight where and when he is needed, be it shaping further runes of power, or entering the thick of the fight with runestaff in hand.

Dwarf Career: Engineer
Ranged DPS
Engineers are consummate craftsmen who can perform any task relating to metal or stone, from forging cannon barrels to designing steam engines to drafting the plans for fortifications and mines. They are also recognized as doughty warriors, specializing in the handgun - forming the lines of the Thunderers and handling the great bolt throwers, grudge throwers and cannon. Most engineers will have crafted their own handguns as beardlings for use in the Thunderer ranks, incorporating additional improvements of their own or the latest ideas from noted Engineers as they grow older. There is some rivalry between Engineers regarding what makes for the most accurate weapon, and that rivalry has resulted in the most precise weapons of their type in the world.

The only thing more deadly than a simple bomb is a complicated one, or at least that’s the way an Engineer sees things. Using nothing more than the odds and ends they have at hand, Engineers can create a broad variety of useful objects with various purposes and functions. Some of them are even safe enough to give to others. From grenades of various types to mechanical weapon upgrades, the engineer and his allies can use these devices to significantly enhance or supplement their own combat power.

Chaos Career: Chosen
Melee Tank
The Chosen are the greatest fighters of the Chaos worshippers, those who have given themselves fully to the cause of their gods. The Chosen of Tzeentch, like Tzeentch himself, are ever changing and mutating, surrendering completely to the whims of the Lord of Change. They are warriors who are assured of their might, possess the strength of mind and body to endure the constant gifts of change, and ascend to dominance among the forces of chaos. Battling with great swords and heavily armored, they firmly understand the selection and survival process and are constantly ready to deal death to any who get in their way - enemy and anyone who's closer to the top of the chosen pyramid.

Chaos Career: Magus
Ranged DPS
The Sorcerers of Chaos are the oracles of the gods, the advisors and counselors to the tribes, interpreting the will of the Great Powers and divining with sacrifices and daemonic summoning. Resplendent in their enormous fluted shoulder pads and helmets in the Tzeentchian colors, they fly on great glowing disks and engage enemies with powerful taloned hands. They channel the raw winds of magic, using it to unleash black bolts of energy at their enemies, transport themselves from shadow to shadow, or flay their foes with burning fires and flash lightning.

Chaos Career: The Zealot
Melee/Healer
A religious fanatic and aggressive spellcaster and in the service of Tzeentch. The Ruinous Powers have many gifts to offer their mortal followers and enemies alike � some of them quite terrible, but some of them powerful indeed. Zealots are among the most devout of the followers of the gods of Chaos, and as such it is they who are called upon to convey the will of the powers to their minions. It is Zealots who mark the followers of their patron deity, and who are charged with spreading their faith to the vulnerable and needy masses. They are not the subtle cultist, but the zealous preachers, and they offer open obedience to their dark masters.

Chaos Career: Marauder
Melee DPS
Among the armies of the northmen are the marauders, fierce and vicious fighters who kill and slay anything in their way. They live for no other reason than to serve and honor their god. The Marauders of Tzeentch are blessed by the Changer of Ways with the power of Mutation. In battle the raw energies of Chaos within well up and mutate them into terribly monstrous creatures. Their arms become as living weapons, clawing, hacking and biting at their opponents.

Empire Career: Bright Wizard
Ranged DPS
In former times the people of the Empire had little to do with magic, believing all sorcery to be inherently evil. The Priests of Sigmar taught that magic was the stuff of Chaos, responsible for the existence of mutants and the source of all the world's ills. So it was that for many hundreds of years, wizards and witches were sought out and burned. Many innocents were slain in this way as well as many genuine practitioners of the secret arts. Even the countryside herbalists, fortune-tellers and such kinds of primitive magicians were not safe from the zealots, driven from village to village or tortured and burned by the Witch Hunters.

Such things changed a great deal in the time of the Great War against Chaos, which began more than two hundred years ago. During that terrible war, the Dark Gods rose in the north and cast their minions upon the world, engulfing the lands of the Kislevites. So great was the threat to all of the world that Men, Elves and Dwarfs made common cause to fight the armies of Chaos for the first time in history. The renowned Elven Sorcerer Teclis traveled to the Old World at the request of Magnus the Pious. There he and his companions fought side by side with the armies of Men and Dwarfs and the courage and might of the Elves did much to win the trust of Magnus.

One of Teclis' deeds was to find such low sorcerers and hedge wizards as existed in the Empire and teach them a few rudimentary spells of fire, lightning bolts, and thunderous noises, which they employed against the minions of Chaos. Many Witch Hunters were aghast that Sigmar's folk should embrace the secret arts, but the wise council and undoubted learning of Teclis won over the majority. Soon, the new breed of wizards were hailed as saviors of the Empire alongside Magnus the Pious himself, who became Emperor of all the land of Sigmar.

Today, Bright Wizards learn their art at the Bright College of Magic in Altdorf, one of the greatest bastion of the magical arts in the Old World. Also known as Fire Mages, they are students and masters of combustibility - heat, fire, explosion. They have no buffs, no crowd control, no healing, Think of them as nuclear weapons or buckets of instant sunshine. A Bright Wizard is all about taking the strands of magic, and channeling that surging, burning power at their enemies. Throwing fireballs, lighting strikes, burning and melting. Their bodies show the powers they meddle with (skin and hair changing color, showing char and singe marks, smelling of fire), and their personal habits seem reckless - they smoke heavily, probably chew tobacco, all their clothing looks like it's probably been on fire, they carry matches everywhere, tinderboxes, they like gasoline, they drink whiskey, they always have pipes stuck in their mouths.

Now, once again, the Fire Wizards march to WAR.

Empire Career: Warrior Priest
Melee/Healer
Sigmar is a warrior god, and his clergy are Warrior Priests. Sometimes Sigmar himself chooses someone to be His messenger. He speaks to him and endows him with a measure of His own spiritual strength, power and authority. Sigmar, in His divine all-seeing wisdom, knows that there are many unseen and supernatural evils and horrors which beset Mankind, and so channels His own divine power through His chosen priest. This blessing may fall upon any man, be he noble or commoner. Thus called, they join the clergy of Sigmar's own cult.

Warrior Priests of Sigmar are a common sight among the armies of the Empire. They are most often seen preaching and prophesying in the ranks of the common soldiers. The soldiers of the Empire, trusting in their faith, can withstand and turn back the tide of enemies that assail them, needing only to hear the Priests reciting the Deus Sigmar to inspire them to heroism. But it befalls the Priests to contend with the foe on the physical, spiritual and magical planes - this they do with prayers and invocations, and with the strength of their unflinching bodies and minds.

Every city, town and village of the Empire has its shrines to Sigmar and priests of His cult. Thus a Warrior Priest is ready at hand to inspire and lead the people whatever trials may come. These Priests are recognized by their robes, and by the insignia of Sigmar which they wear, in particular the image of the Holy Hammer. Warrior Priests go about their tasks in castle and camp, blessing the soldiers, healing the wounded, inspiring everyone by their example and the words of Sigmar. In battle, they rouse and inspire tired and flagging soldiers to righteous fury and lead them against the enemy.

Heavily armored, they sing the praises of their god while they're wading into combat, crushing The Enemy with their great hammers. Easily recognized by their exposed, cleanly-shaven heads (so that Sigmar's voice may be heard even in the thick of battle), the Warrior-Priest is expected to be at the front, crushing enemies in the name of Sigmar, and then when he's finished doing that, or if it's reasonable for him to, he might go back and bless others. He's all about fighting things, and helping other people (through blessings) to fight things.

Empire Career: Knights of the Blazing Sun
Melee Tanker
There are a great many knightly orders within the Empire. The Knights of the Blazing Sun are an order dedicated to the Goddess Myrmidia, the goddess of strategy and of the science and art of war. Myrmidia is not as widely venerated in the Empire as some of the other gods, somewhat popular in the southern areas of the Empire (with her greatest temple in Talabheim) but far more widely worshiped in Tilea and Estalia. Her symbols are a spear behind a shield, and the Pegasus.

Also known as the Templars of Myrmidia, the Order was formed in 1457 (giving it a bit over a thousand years of history and tradition) during the crusades against Araby, when knights of the Empire were responsible for the recapture of a temple Myrmidia in Estalia - during the battle the knights fighting for the temple were saved from certain defeat when a freak earth tremor dislodged a huge statue of Myrmidia from the temple roof, crushing the enemy general along with his bodyguard and turning the tide of the battle. Among their more famous traditions is that of the questing knight - young members of the order dispatched to travel alone or in small groups in the pursuit of a quest or heroic achievements.

Knights of the blazing sun are the "tanks" of the Empire's careers, able to absorb incredible amounts of damage while dealing out lumps of their own. They are driven by glory and honor, and their abilities will reflect that. They are the classic knight, wearing heavy armor and wielding great weapons for the greater glory of the Empire. While theirs is primarily a defensive career, protecting their less durable brethren on the battlefield, they will rise to the occasion at critical moments with powerful attacks that inspire their allies and devastate their foes.

Empire Career: Witch Hunters
Melee DPS
The chaplains militant of the Temple of Sigmar have had a strange status in the empire for a long time. Their charge to do whatever is necessary to root corruption out from the towns and people of the empire gives them a broad and indistinct authority, resulting in their having a certain status wherever they go (when even the greatest noble general has to be nervous around them). Now, with the empire suffering the rampant effects of plague that corrupts and mutates, they are feverishly active. As the army of the empire marches against the invaders, the chaplains militant are among the troopers, where disease and sickness are common and may go unnoticed, watching for any sign of the corrupting effects of chaos, ready to do whatever is necessary to keep the taint of chaos from spreading among the righteous soldiers of the empire.

Commonly called Witch hunters, the chaplains militant are somewhere between Van Helsing and a grand inquisitor. They live to "cleanse the heretics," which usually means those tainted by Chaos, but often enough, that definition conveniently expands to include anyone in their way. Armed with pistols, swords, and flaming brands, they are all-out attackers who disdain defense. Once they have chosen a victim, they subject it to torments and assaults that will extract a "confession," at which point they may dispatch the miscreant summarily.

Dark Elf Career: Yet to be Revealed

High Elf Career: Yet to be Revealed

Career Progression
Progression through the career will be through 4 tiers of 10 ranks each. Like any other MMO, progression will be achieved by wandering the world pursuing quests, battling enemies and earning experience. You will be able to advance from start to finish exclusively through PvP if you like - earning experience and loot drops for slaying enemy player characters - or without ever entering a PvP skirmish area. Rather than spending most of their careers laboring to eventually become strong enough to fight challenging battles against other players, player character's instead have the option to jump right into head-to-head, player-versus-player competition - no training wheels forced on your characters here. Those who choose not to head to the contested areas of the zone will find plenty of other things to do, gathering supplies for the war effort, disrupting enemy supply lines, crafting war materials and dealing with various disruptions to the war effort.

WAR will make use of a lateral character advancement system - characters will master new skills and abilities that give them more flexibility rather than gaining raw power (bonus hp, bonus defense value, bonus attack strength) as they advance in their career. A higher tier enemy will still most likely be able to smear you all over the terrain, but it will be because he knows more cool tricks (skills, tactics, morale abilities) and the player knows how to employ and manage them, not because your best attacks bounce harmlessly off him or because his lightest blows are fatal to you.

As character's climb through the ranks, they will have access to a large array of skill packages, each of which will have a defined progression path. They'll be able to work on three skill packages at any given time, gaining "experience" for those skills as they complete quests, kill monsters, or defeat other players in PvP. The packages allow players to select advancements that interest them without level-locking them. So, if you're a big fan of exploring and you want to get a mount earlier than - say - an improved combat ability, you can choose a package that includes the ability to use a mount. Packages will have SOME restrictions - most likely tier-specific - but they offer players the ability to wind up with all of the stuff they want eventually, but also the ability to get it in the order of their choosing. Once a skill package is mastered, they can choose another one to work on, be it the next package on the path, or an entirely different one. Your overall "tier" is a product of how many skills you've mastered, and this will factor in to your point value when it comes to PvP gameplay.

There will actually be 4 experience bars that allow you to select "packages" of advancements that you want to work on - three will be "standard" bars, one will be PvP-specific (likely called the renown bar and opening up new titles, equipment and abilities to those who accumulate renown by killing enemy player characters). The three standard bars will cover separate categories of skill development:

Primary Career Packages: Required skills, shared by all who pursue the career.

Secondary Career Packages: A wide pool of elective skills. This is where you can really customize your character, designing that Ironbreaker who likes to use muskets.

Specialization Packages: Not yet clearly defined, but apparently composed of 'style' skills that customize the way you fight. They've mentioned that packages might include custom emotes - those may be included in this category.

This unique career advancement system awards players several times per rank, rather than once every (or every other) level. Gaining unique abilities, tactics, morale options and more all occur at various times within a single rank (as each bar is individually filled). This means that you are never far away from earning your next new enhancement for your character.

A Soldier's Story:
The riflemen tricked into the encampment in groups, arriving either by foot along the road or up from the docks near the city. In my youth I had seen an exhibition at a fair where a long rifleman from Hochland had been shooting at distant targets before a gathered crowd. That day I remember well for it was the first time I had ever seen someone killed, some thief had stolen something from one of the vendors at their fairground and when the cry went up for the guards the rifleman had been one of the first to respond. I recall how deliberately the man had loaded and readied his weapon, aiming carefully at the fleeing figure running off through the wheat field and then the crack of the weapon's fire. The robber had been far too distant then for me to have really seen what had become to him, yet looking back upon that day I know that the small spray I saw as a child had been his blood and brains being blasted out of a hole in his head.

The riflemen before me that day were a motley undisciplined lot, much like I once was when first mustered to join the army so long ago. The first day we spent doing little more than drilling. How to walk in formation, to turn the correct way, to keep in step. It was a very odd experience giving to these men, some many years my senior, the same lessons I had received once. They learned quickly however and within two days they were able to move and turn and fire well enough under command. I was lucky in that these men were already grand shots with their weapons, some of them even had gone as far as to name them after wives or sweethearts it seemed. The care they took for their rifles seemed a mite obsessive for some of the,, but one could not fault their accuracy.

For myself I secured a few of the remaining Dwarfcraft rifles and an ample supply of powder and shot. We were soon marching away south, through the mud and packs of snow, once again with Talabheim in our sights. There we would meet up with others who would also be joining our group on the way to the lands of the Dwarfs. It was to be a long trip by land by way of the Black Fire Pass, but it was still shorter than the long sea-route that would have been the safer one, or so I had been told.

Before we had departed I had been visited by one of the Dwarfs from the cannon team who delivered to me a letter of introduction written in their own strange language. He told me that it would serve as my letter of introduction to their people when we arrived in their lands and that it also contained what information he wanted to pass along about the state of the war thus far here in the north. It was nice to speak to my friend once again and the two of us shared a few laughs, as well as a few sips from a well earned barrel of beer, about the times and of memories of the fine men and dwarfs who had already fallen.

Character Models, Silhouetting and Customization
A mantra at Mythic is "silhouetting", or visual profiling, which is to say that you should be able to look at an enemy and know what he is, what he does and roughly how powerful he is without resorting to checking UI text. The Mythic artists are using what they call the 20 ft. rule – you should be able to see everything you need to know about a character, including all the details and customization, from 20 feet away. They are less concerned about customizing the shape of a character’s eyes or chin, and instead focused on differentiating the “silhouette” of the individual character. It's a really big deal to ensure people are visually distinct and recognizable before they even fire off an ability. Especially if you want to have a more immersive experience that doesn't rely on reading character info to properly plan your strategies in a swirling melee of combat.
Each character should have an easily recognizable visual profile on three counts:

First Visual Profile is Race. Each race should be distinct - you shouldn't mistake a human for an elf or a chaos marauder from a distance.

Second Visual Profile is Career. It is Mythic's goal to make each career recognizable in some unique way - each will have some sort of visual gimmick that makes it easy to identify (Hammerer's hammers, Magus disks, witch hunter's hats).

Third visual profile is rank - characters will change as they grow more powerful. Warrior characters from all races will become more muscular as they climb ranks, Orc characters will actually get larger and more massive, while dwarf beards will get longer, fuller and more elaborate, the vile servants of Chaos will get "more vile", and everyone gets cooler-looking armor, weapons and gear. The intent is to make it possible to quickly identify who's the top dog in a churning battlefield from a distance, so that smaller, younger characters can marvel at the size of their accomplished brethren and know who to steer clear of without resorting to text floating over the head or by knowing the uber gear they're wearing. If you’re fresh out of the starting area and see a seven foot Orc with an array skulls impaled on his armor charging towards you, he’s probably going to kill you in horrible ways.

One of the most notable aspects of the Warhammer tabletop game is that the players would paint and customize their miniatures, and Mythic has definitely made a note of that. According to the creative team, it's important to them to allow a distinct appearance for each and every character that enters the game. Your character shouldn’t look like every other tier 4 character of your career out there. They want the players to be able to distinguish different characters from the moment they lay eyes on them. Mythic reps have said that if ten or fifteen Ironbreakers were lined up next to each other, though still recognizable as Ironbreakers, each should be unique and discernible.

Character customization is not going to focus on micro details like manipulating nostrils or the shade of your eyebrows, but rather about the larger, more easily perceived differences - the things other players can see and notice.

General Customization - Characters in the game will be customizable in a wide variety of ways: the expected variety of faces, scars, and hair, but also in areas such as armor coloring schemes. You'll be able to "turn on or off" bits of armor to customize its appearance, as well as tack on new pieces to complete the look. Don't like that metal pauldron, turn it "off" so it no longer shows or replace with a giant animal skull.

Accomplishments - Beyond that, players will be able to choose to tack little items onto their character that show off their might and accomplishments. You can gain Trophy Items from PvP to let you customize your armor for looks (and most likely not stats). For instance, if you're an Orc and you kill enough Dwarfs, you can adorn your armor with massive spikes, skulls, Dwarf beards, etc., to let everyone know exactly how high your kill count is. Each race will have different bling that can be tacked on in this way - Dwarfs may get medallions, ale tankards, and pipes, while others will use medals and achievements and armor ornamentation appropriate to their race to brag about their kill count.

Notes:
Mythic has stated that they may give us options to further customize our characters throughout the game - change the characters' haircut or add a scar or change the hair color.

A Soldier's Story:
In Talabheim were assembled those forces that would be heading east and south to aid the Dwarfs in their time of need. Upon the arrival of our riflemen and those others from Wolfenburg and places north who ere being sent we learned that we would be meeting a company of Dwarfs upon the way, aid from their own northern hold of Karak Kadrin. Nearly three thousand of us were assembled to embark upon the journey and we were only given two days to rest and gather what supplies we needed before we would march.

In this short time I met with the general who had been appointed commander of this force, an aging lord who had brought with him two hundred halberdiers from the Reikland. Pikemen, spearmen and light infantry made up the bulk of the force but there were also two groups of archers, including a small unit of Wood Elves from the woods of Laurelorn Forest in western Nordland. Some cavalry were to be with us as well, but not great knights like the templars I was familiar with but instead lightly armored men with pistols and guns of their own.

Thankfully our stay in Talabheim was brief, for nearly immediately I knew there was to be trouble between my men and the horsemen. The pistoliers thought themselves superior to the long riflemen from Hochland, thinking their method of killing more fair and 'noble' in many respects than to pick off far distant targets. A few scuffles broke out within the walls of the city, but nothing serious enough to require medical attention. As we marched out and east and when we made camp the matter was resolved well enough for the time being by just making our camp far enough away from theirs. Not nearly far enough away in my opinion though, for while a man in the army may get used to all kinds of foul scents, the reek of animals is never a pleasant one.

Three days out from Talabheim out force was joined by a motley crew of dangerous looking individuals. Witch Hunters the lot of them, endorsed by the Emperor and the Cult of Sigmar they were to come along and help root out any cultist or minions of Chaos we may find at our journeys end. I was wary of their inclusion in our company for nearly a hundred Witch Hunters had rode on in under the command of their captain. A man is never easy around such folk, for who can say when or why the eye of such folk may fall upon you with suspicion? I knew however that their lot would certainly be ill welcome among our Dwarf allies, for they are not the kind of folk who treat well others who cast upon them suspicion of dealing with the enemy.

Emoting and the Character Face
The Mythic design team is giving our characters a chance to express their personality in ways beyond full-body or voice/text emotes. Your WAR character will not be staring blankly ahead, but will instead express its emotions with a range of facial animations. As a player you will be able to set your character's mood, and everyone else will be able to see it - meaning you can give your character a brooding, sad or happy temperament (among others), and the world will know it. As you do things, your character grimaces and looks excited and otherwise changes expression to react to the activity.

There’s a little face-cam at the bottom of your UI, showing you an animated face portrait of your character so that you can see your own character's range of emotions as it reacts to events, rather than constantly staring at its backside.

While players should expect most commonly useful emotes to be available, they should also remember that the design team is doing their best to keep things focused on the conflict - some emotes are likely to be judged out of place. One good example of a common emote that the design team does NOT plan on doing is /dance. Mythic's own Paul Barnett has said that we will not see Michael Jackson dancing, we will not see medieval-based dancing, we will not see dancing! The only thing they have considered including when players type /dance is a camera pan that spins to give you a close-up of your character's face while your character swears at you! As much as they would love to do that, some people think that is probably inappropriate, so they’re just not going to have any /dance emote. To paraphrase Paul Barnett "And why aren’t we gonna have them (/dance emotes) I hear you ask…Because they’re CRAP! If you want to do that, play a game that does dancing, we are not a dancing simulator, it’s WAR!" and "Let me just explain to you how our design policy works. We put stuff in our game what we think is great and what Games Workshop thinks is great. And as pointed out by Games Workshop, they have yet to release any rules for dancing or any models that have anything to do with dancing. They just don’t. They just haven’t got any. They've got some crazy cheerleaders with nothing to do with dancing; and they have War Dancers - those are not dancing. They are chopping your head off, that’s Riverdancing with swords, they’re allowed to do that. The question was: “Why aren’t we doing it” We’re not doing it, because it’s RUBBISH!"

Notes:
Mythic reps have stated that over the course of your career, you may be able to unlock additional "emote" animations

A Soldier's Story:
Our long march by road and wilderness wore on. Days soon became weeks as at times we were forced to go miles out of our way to avoid loosing our carts of supplies in the thick mud or in the trees. Soon enough though we could see the white-capped peaks of the Black Mountains to our south and the trackers in our company reported that we were following the trail of a large company of Dwarfs that had already passed this way. We crossed the river Aver at Averheim and went south along the Old Dwarf road, following the tale of strange dwarf-folk that had passed that way.

As our route lead us nearer to Black Fire Pass, the only likely pace we could cross the mountains we came upon, one early morning a very odd encampment by the side of the road.

Having been somewhat accustomed to being among a few Dwarfs, I was shocked to say the least to see the disorganized drunken rabble that we came upon. Many of them were without armor, or even decent clothing given the weather, yet all of them ere armed and had the look of murderers about them. To a man (or rather to a dwarf) they had crested their hair and dyed it and their beards a reddish orange color. As our force approached several of them swaggered out and challenged our coming as if we were already in land claimed by the Dwarfs.

The sneers and evil looks between our company and theirs did not bode well, but as these were the first Dwarf allies we had encountered to their apparent leader I first showed the message I had been given. He was a hideous fellow, his face and torso covered with scars and the sign of many old wounds. Several of his teeth had been knocked out and I could smell the rancid odor of animal fat used to keep his crest of hair upright. Upon a cursory examination of the letter the dwarf before me exclaimed what must have been something important in their tongue, for several others bustled over to see what the fuss was about. My letter was passed around and given back, a bit the worse for wear than I had given it and I found myself under their scrutiny.

Finally the leader of the bunch extended his arm in friendship, "Glad to see there are still those folk in this land that do respect what's right. This letter speaks well of you lad, we'll see that ya get to those who best be reading that more proper."

It was somewhat encouraging to find that these dwarf warriors fell in alongside me and my men. Their natural arrogance and pride made them fit in well with the Hochlanders and soon enough we were all laughing and swapping stories of women, drinking and many other things as we marched out way uphill and into the mountains.

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Next Time: We'll take a look at Quest concepts (including what we know about items, drops, etc), Tome of Knowledge, Combat and Death system, Skirmish areas and PvP and how it fits into the Campaign(all the stuff you'll be doing with your character)

A Soldier's Story:
While I had been used to the cold of winter, the chill wind of the mountains was quite different than what I had encountered before. The Dwarfs, who I now knew to be Slayers, took the condition in stride as if they were daring the elements to do their worst. As we marched up the pass, making slow going such that our Dwarf friends were cursing anything that delayed them from getting any "real action" as they said. However some god must have heard their prayers, for on the fourth day into the pass we first saw a sign of trouble.

Rising in the distance we could see a thick column of black smoke and in the clear winter's air we could hear what sounded like a great roar and much shouting. Our pace was hurried and our forces were readied for battle, moving ahead of the supply wagons save for a few skirmishers to keep guard. As we crossed a bit of a rise we could see a dwarf outpost under attack. Below us in the valley were hundreds of green-skinned folk. Without waiting for any command or sign from the general the Dwarfs rushed forward with their own battlecries, the roar of their voices as they came down the hill momentarily drowned out the great commotion of the Orcs and Goblins.

Seeing the signal given I gave the order to my men to aim high, well over the heads of our allies and into the massed ranks of the horde did we fire. The blood ran thick that day, staining the snow red and running in streams and rivers down the side of the mountain.

Features currently being discussed for WAR are not promises - they are ideas that may or may not make the final release.

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