Warhammer OnlineFollow

So since the NDA was lifted and i posted a review on another gaming website i goto i figured i might as well as post it here incase anyone was thinking of picking it up.

First off, i would like to preface this by saying i have a lot different taste in pvp then other people. Throughout my entire time playing i kept a pretty open mind.

The Good:
The first thing that really jumped out to me was just how good the classes were. By far WAR has the best classes in any mmo i have ever played. One thing that irks me is all the cross classing mmo's try and do these days (Think shadow priest in WoW). I like my tanks to tank, healers to heal and dps to dps, and WAR has each of them do that efficiently in pvp and pve.

Leveling is another thing that gets under my skin quite a bit in mmo these days. Once you have leveled characters in 2-10 other mmo's, it's all the same. With only 40 levels the grind is not nearly as bad as most. Also, public quests are a great replacement for instances. The ability to come and go as you please is a major bonus to try to find groups at lower levels. The main drawback here is that everyone is given contribution rank depending on how much they did, points are then assigned to those ranks(First rank gets 300-400) and then everyone there /randoms 1000. So this can easily turn the ranks upside down and is sometimes frustrating when the guy who has been there for 45 seconds walks away with the best prize. Most of them only take about 20-40 minutes so it's not even that huge of a timesink.

The pvp in WAR is really accessible. You can go jump in a battle ground at level one and be completely viable as it automatically kicks your level up to something respectable. The only drawback you have here is the amount of skills you have. The other cool thing is that you can completely level up through pvp as with siide quests and just straight killing you get a respectable amount of xp/money.

Skills/morales/tactics are made a lot better then in most games. The fact that you generally only get 1 a level and it levels up with you is a huge bonus for me. You also are not flooded with a ton of useless abilities that you never use.

I love this games ui. I've never been a fan of downloading custom ui's as games tend to adopt(steal) all the important stuff anyway. Mythic steps it up a notch and has the ability to let you move the important stuff around the screen to where you want it. It's easy and perfectly viable and will save a lot of time not having to redownload everything every patch.

The Bad:
Server imbalance was a killer on the beta servers. I heard several different ways they were planning on fixing this, and i have my own input on it, but i'm going to save that for another time. The bottom line though is that the Order were usually out numbered 2 to 1 or 3 to 1 on all the beta servers that it really made rvring had to get into. The server i am mainly playing on had lost all keeps within the first couple of days. Coupled with the fact that by nuking some of the classes, it started to make leveling difficult in some areas(The humans had no tanks, so by the second tier you needed quite a few healers or hopefully a wandering tank would come by for the pq's).

Gear plays a bigger role in pvp then most had thought it would. The most simple way to explain this is just to explain how it works. You can pvp in the first tier up to level 12. Now, for the first set of pvp gear for the second tier, you need rank 10(real level) and renown 6(pvp levels). People would meet these requirements, run to the second tier and grab the gear, run back to the first and just stomp everyone else as the gear was that much better.

Healers drive the pvp. Healers are just crazy in low level pvp. It takes several people to take one down and they just heal so well (mostly instant heals and hot's) that it's nearly impossible to kill them 1v1. And when you have a massive group going with a decent number of healers, there is almost no chance to focus fire someone down(Now, my highest level is 26 so i deffintly have not seen the endgame of pvp, I also did notice that i do get some moves to negate healing effects and so did my friend playing a Witch Hunter so this is subject to change).

Pvp. Now at the beginning i stated i have different views on pvp then most and here is where i will explain why. The pvp in this game still at it's core is a rock paper scissors button masher. I think you will definitely not see the rps aspect come out of the game as much as you did WoW as the majority of the pvp will be done in groups or warbands. The part that really kills it for me, is that no game has stepped up yet to put in penalties for pvping. You fight, you die, you run back and fight some more. To me, this just turns pvp into another grind.

Overview:
Basically, to me, this game does feel a lot like WoW. My only real reservation at this point is that i'm writing this without having reach level 40 and experienced as much as i can. I do think this game will have no problem taking away a chuck on WoW's player base. Anyone who likes WoW's pvp should definitely give this game a try. Anyone who liked WoW's pvp but quit playing it because they tired of playing the same battlegrounds should be giving this game a try. As for me personally, i'm still up in the air right now. I know if they open up an alternate ruleset server with some drawbacks to pvp i will be playing the **** out of it, but as for right now, i'll be finishing the grind to 40 before i make my final decision.

Warrior Priest:
I play healers/support classes as my mains in every mmo. Warrior Priest is the best class i have ever played. Other games have tried to make a dps/healer hybrid and this is the first one i have ever tried that i think is worth anything. Simple fact is, you are not a viable healer without dpsing. While prolly the weakest healer out of the three, you are by no means never going to be wanted. The simple fact that with instant casting and .5 second casting heals, it dosen't take away from the focus of your class. You have moves to buff and healer your defensive target while your fighting.

Sorceress:
Much like the traditional magic caster in any game, i didn't really feel like this class brought that much new to the table. It has the dark magic buildup which is a fun mechanic, but it dosen't actually change the feel of the class to me. Still a glass cannon but a fun class none the less. Going to fit right in for anyone who likes playing the caster dropping bombs. Also the most proficient aoe class in the game (Along with Bright Wizard) and if there is anything i can say about aoe is that it tears **** apart in pvp.

Shadow Warrior:
This is the class that i have gotten to level 26. I have pretty much stayed away from it's melee abilities and have focused more on it's other two branches. The sniper stance is all about staying in the back and picking people off, while fun, it obviously can get a little boring. I have been focusing mainly on the skirmish stance which is about close range kiting. It's quite a fun stance and great for chasing down runners. The class overall is going to appeal to anyone that enjoys range damage. It's a lot safer in pvp and you have plenty of escape moves for when those Demon Witch's are right on top of you. Their first tier morale ability is something i feel that i have to mention due to the fact that i have so much fun with it. It is just a big nuke that knocks the enemy backwards in the air, very fun for knocking people off cliffs or back into your own zerg.

Rune Priest:
This guy is a healers healer. I personally feel that he is overpowered at the current time in pvp. I'm not really much of a damage dealer when i play support classes so i'll just talk about his healing abilities. Instant cast heal, instant cast heal over time, instant cast damage asorb shield. Unless something is done to negate healing(i mentioned this before) this guy and zealots will be the dominate forces in any pvp engagement. Next, the buffs with this guy are fun. His "runes," while increasing your stats will also give you extra abilities. The first one he gets gives whoever the receiver of the buff is to also cast an instant cast nuke with a one minute cooldown. Different buffs to different things, but it's a fun little mechanic to play with.

And alas, these are the only classes i feel comfortable commenting on. If you do have any questions, feel free to ask and i will do my best to answer them, and if i do hit 40 within a reasonable amount of time, i'll come back to this thread and post my final impressions then.

hmm well....

i absolutely HATE grinding out anything - i never felt that i did any grinding in war. actually its the easiest game to level in next to lotro..lol. my last character is a sorc......i have leveled her to her current level by mostly pvping the only questing ive done with her (im burned out in pve) is in what they call public quests.. and thats for the gear. but really renown gear is great gear for pvp. i leveled my back orc alot slower by doing quests -_- and while you can level fast - i preferred not to because i really did have a lot of fun in the first 2 tiers of pvp as well.


i absolutely loved the pvp. my first character was a black orc (tank since they took the choppa out) i spec'd him brawler - couple of friends of mine make gobbie shammies and we were a killing machine... was some really great combat - we started scenarios at level 2 lol. tier 1 scenarios are from levels 1-11 but if you enter below level 8 in an rvr or scenarios your skills are scaled to level 8. (you dont get more skills just scaling your HP and the skills you have)

i knew people who played order would rush to the boards and scream "server imbalance!"!!!!! while destruction numbers were a bit higher i never saw them 2:1 let alone 3:1... like some people have stated. Any scenario i was in it was even - and i was CONSTANTLY in them. as for rvr areas ...sometimes there was more destruction ..some times there was more order....sometimes it was right on par. criminy...how many times have freeps outnumbered creeps or vice versa... my warg pack still had success....but i have heard that Mythic was going to try to keep things even...

the biggest factor in pvp is grouping. if your going to go solo ...you wont have as much success as in a group and FORGET heals if your on destruction. outside of my group.. destruction healers were idiots.
i saw plenty of order groups wipe out bigger numbers of destruction players because they were organized. when you get into siege combat - its best to be in a raid.

i guess you can say any rvr pvp is like wow - but the look - feel and classes arent like wow. personally i liked my experiences in wow....i had a lot of fun and really enjoyed the raiding. this game is another experience.....wow was raiding centric ...war is pvp centric.

i played destrction cause frankly i didnt want sun shinny goodie goo any more. destruction is dark, evil and even funny if your greenskin....funny thing in war lore, orcs are fungus.. and if they arent killed they grow to enormous proportions. greenskin mentallity is kill everything and if you loose and arm or leg ..it was a good day. they say funny stuff too.

i played witch elf and witch hunter some - they are great assassins.

I played a sorc and bright wizard. talk about KABOOM - they had alot of fire power. i thought the combination of skills was interesting. so was what they called "backlash" ie ...a portion of the damage you do reflects back on you .. so yea as much damage as i was pumping out..without a healer - you can easily kill yourself if you play aggressively.

the only true healer i played was a zealot (cause you can make them look really creepy ) and she was great - my friends loved the gobblin shammy tho too (they made me laugh alot with the things they say). I also played a Desciple of Khaine - which are healers with attitude - they do damage too. Just like warrior priests.

Marauders are also really interesting - but i didnt get to play one alot. they have a ton of skills - and a really wicked arm..lol

i tried a Magus (caster) - they fly around on a disk which was cool and have pets that dont move from the spot you summon them at - so yea lots of summoning.

i loved my black orc - had a lot of fun with him - im probably going to make him and a chosen - they are pretty awsome too.

knowing your class, stats and specs is vital. very easy to see who got it and who didnt on the damage boards. of course gear does affect your survivability.

most of the bad stuff for me has been the bugs/memory leaks/crashes/lags/combat glitches that you find in any beta. Mythic has been very responsive however in fixing problems... and responding to questions and imput by testers.

ive had fun - its been different and like to see how the game will be at launch. Someone told me that you can get preorders for .99 from some retailers - so you can get open beta keys - easy enough to try.

ive been in lotro since beta and my kin - have a some strong ties here too i have no intention of leaving - ill still be here to get my pve fix and see friends - but war is comming and i think ill be dabbling a bit there too

because you're mainly PvPing.

I heard bad things from the AoC beta testers. I haven't heard -too- much about Warhammer. Other than somebody saying that the forums were filled with people crying about how the Devs didn't listen to the testers... not sure if that's true or not.

Love the game - it's been well worth the wait for me, a huge Warhammer novels fan. I know it's beta and things will improve. I think it's the best beta I've ever played - at least, I'm not aware of any huge flaws - the worst I've experienced is getting disconnected now and again. My pc runs fine at High Quality video settings during big battles without any issues. I'm looking forward to my CE.

My beta main is a Rune Priest but I'm dabbling in all the different race/class combos. Due to jumping around all my alts, my Rune Priest is only level 8, and the alts range from lev 2 to 7. ((NOTE: On the Preview weekend, I leveled up my Engineer (ranged dps) and Ironbreaker (tank) to about level 11 each and they were both awesome - the Ironbreaker has renewed my love for tanking just when I was sure I was burned out on it after playing a tank in WoW.))

All the starting areas are pretty damn impressive. You know you are in a time of war. Thundering cannons off in the distance, explosions in the air, burning buildings and windmills (there is a particular one that is awesome to see in the Empire early areas). Love my Witch Hunter, Warrior Priest, and Bright Wizard. No question that my main Empire class will be Witch Hunter.

I've mentioned it before - the High Elf starting area just hits me with the sadness of their overrun area. From what I can see, they are on the defensive, if not entirely on the retreat. I'll probably stick with my Shadow Warrior as my main High Elf toon but I have yet to try the others. I hear the Swordmaster rocks, so I'm looking forward to trying it out. This may be the first game since EQ to get me to play a High Elf.

The Greenskins starting area rocks - I never thought I'd want to play an Orc or Goblin, but color me green. Hands down the funnest and funniest starting area. For those who have seen the trailer - catapault rides ftw! Squig Herder is probably the easiest class I played in regards to leveling up quick - it's great fun - think WoW Hunter...with just one type of pet as far as I know at this point. The Black Orc and Shaman are also great classes. Bottom line - I keep wanting to hop back on my Greenskins for the humor and good times.

Chaos starting area can only be described in two words: Impending Doom - lots of players here, probably the most crowded starting area I've seen in the game. I played only my Marauder, so I have yet to try the other Chaos classes. Marauder is definitely an interesting class to play - doubt I'll work one up upon release, though, as I'm not into the Chaos classes. As a Warhammer fan, I was thrilled to run into a Skaven at one point. I do hope one day that Skaven will be a playable race - they are an integral part to the Warhammer universe.

The Dark Elf starting area is pretty cool - you are just coming off a raiding ship to wreak havoc upon the High Elves - honestly, I didn't get too far into playing my Sorceror yet. I loved the Malus Darkblade books, so I do look forward to exploring more of the Dark Elf race/class combos.

The Dwarf starting area is awesome. I love me Dwarves, and I normally play a tank - paladin or warrior type - so I have an Ironbreaker and he's fun. I like the Engineer, too, but I'm not too comfortable with the Engineer's pet - meaning, I think I suck at working the Engineer in the heat of battle with the pet. It doesn't follow, it's a stationary pet. I guess it's more like a WoW Shaman with its totems. Just keep recasting the pet when on the move. Not the best comparison, but that's what comes to mind. I have to say, the Rune Priest is my favorite Dwarf class so far and the one I'm focused on leveling up for my Dwarves during the beta phase and most likely upon release. I only wish we could play Slayers.

I've been doing RvR and public quests in the Dwarf area and I love it. I should note that I've been resistant to PvP for years - I prefer cooperative play like raids and stuff. Consider me a PvP convert with WAR. I guess because it's cooperative PvP on a grand scale. It's a great alternative to PvE questing when you've had your fill - there are tons of quests, so it's nice to take a break from it. I have only participated in one Scenario, because the other times I tried to get in one, I just never was able to get in, they are so popular.

I've been wanting to play in the Warhammer world since reading my first Gotrek and Felix novel. I'll probably still play WoW with its new expansion due to friends playing there, but Warhammer is my new mmorpg home.

Ganking is not a factor - you'll understand this when you play it. I've been in closed beta and will be in the head start since I bought the CE. The NDA has been lifted and Warhammer Online is a frikkin' blast.

Like every other mmorpg out there, yeah, things could use some polish and some things that didn't get in at release will hopefully be brought in later. Of all the betas I've played, it's pretty damn polished - yes, they cut some things out, but what they do have in there absolutely rocks. It's art is more like LOTRO (but with more charm) and definitely not cartoony like WoW. You know how WoW's art is really immersive and works? The same can be said for Warhammer - but without the cartoon style.

It's not a resource hog like AoC (which is a beautiful game, no question) so you can run Warhammer if you can run WoW.

The Realm vs Realm instances and open areas in the game with big battles going on rarely has made me crash out of the game - I think once or twice in total. Not too shabby for a pre-release game.

You can play the entire game avoiding PvP and have a great time. You can participate in the PvP aspects of the game and have a blast, too.

I'm a fan of the Warhammer novels, and it has absolutely captured the tone, character and overall feel of the Warhammer universe. Two things that have surprised me:

1. I absolutely loathe PvP. Warhammer changed my attitude. This game makes PvP a blast - I attribute that to the cooperative PvP Realm vs. Realm that the game developers (Mythic) did with their previous game, Dark Age of Camelot.

2. Playing the Greenskins (Orc and Goblin) - hands down the funniest area with great humor and fun...usually at Dwarves expense (as I am a die hard Dwarf fan, they are great in this game, too, but I even laughed at the misfortunes that befall the "stunties" by the Greenskins.

Other great things about the game:
- guild leveling like EQ2 (new levels open up new perks for your guild.
- grinding is so subtle that it's pretty much non-existent. Tons of quests, public quests, Realm vs. Realm PVP and open areas PVP - all of these things allow your toon to level up.
- You can group up, participate in public quests as a grouped or solo person, or simply just solo your way through the game (that should make some anti-social types have some fun...or at least one less thing to whine about).

This is the game for me - I'm in the Warhammer setting which is one of my all-time favorite fantasy settings. They have taken a page from WoW's playbook and made a game that improves on its predecessors.