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TERA's High Elves strut their stuff in a high-octane video

Justin Olivetti — Fri, 13 Apr 2012 09:00:00 EST

Filed under: Fantasy, Trailers, Video, Races, TERA

"We believe. We remember." Those are the watchwords of the High Elves of TERA, and they're not just talking about rock 'n roll, mind you. As TERA's launch approaches, En Masse is making a strong bid for the legitimacy of this race by releasing its High Elf spotlight video. It's two minutes of flips, ridiculously big weapons, and strong magic flaunted in the face of enemies everywhere.

Once a conquering nation that operated under the name of the Children of Karas, the High Elves suffered a humiliating downfall and subsequently re-emerged as a force for good. While their aid to the good people of the world is welcome, they're not quite trusted as of yet.

High Elves receive four unique racials: They can teleport to their home city, refill their mana, regenerate mana upon resurrection, and gather alchemy resources quickly.

Check out the video after the jump and let us know if you'll be rolling a High Elf upon launch!

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TERA's High Elves strut their stuff in a high-octane video originally appeared on Massively on Fri, 13 Apr 2012 09:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Trion details RIFT's Silverwood lore

Jef Reahard — Wed, 23 Mar 2011 17:00:00 EST

Filed under: Fantasy, Galleries, Lore, New titles, News items, RIFT

It's mid-week, and if you've been following our RIFT coverage for some time, you know that that's generally when Trion graces us with another lore-centric news item. Last week it was a profile of Alsbeth the Discordant; this time around we've got a look at the primordial elven sanctuary known as Silverwood.

RIFT's high elves are described by Trion as the wardens of all life, and so it follows that the race be given stewardship over the untamed wilds, forests, and vibrant greenery of their ancestral home. Join us after the cut to explore how Tavril, Telara's nature goddess, bade the high elves defend Silverwood through the ages and how the forests are faring under the onslaught of the destructive planar rifts.

Gallery: RIFT: Core Gallery

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Trion details RIFT's Silverwood lore originally appeared on Massively on Wed, 23 Mar 2011 17:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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TERA unveils new class information and its plans for GDC

Larry Everett — Tue, 15 Feb 2011 15:30:00 EST

Filed under: Fantasy, Galleries, Screenshots, Classes, Events, real-world, Lore, New titles, Races, TERA

For a hack-and-slash-type MMO, TERA doesn't skirt around with the lore. Each of the player races has its own distinct personality traits. This week, En Masse Entertainment is talking about the High Elves. As a player race, the High Elves reward ambition and intellectual prowess yet frown on emotional outbursts. Despite being the last members to join the Valkyon Federation, these accomplished Sorcerers, Mystics, and Slayers will probably be running things for a while.

Speaking of classes, En Masse revealed more information about the Berserker and Priest classes. The team claims that, although a Berserker rages through his enemies, it is still a very tactical class to play. And despite the Priest's adept healing abilities, this class is still a terror on the battlefield, dishing damage one second then turning around the next to help keep his friends alive. Nine new images of these classes were added to the gallery below.

If this lore or these classes interest you, then you will be pleased to know that key members of En Masse Entertainment, along with a brand new demo of TERA, will be available at GDC in San Fransisco on March 2nd - 4th. If you are attending, you can be one of the first in North America to get your hands on this action-MMO.

Gallery: TERA Race and Class series

TERA unveils new class information and its plans for GDC originally appeared on Massively on Tue, 15 Feb 2011 15:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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A world torn asunder: RIFT's Mathosian Civil War revealed

Justin Olivetti — Wed, 02 Feb 2011 17:00:00 EST

Filed under: Fantasy, Lore, Previews, RIFT

Brother vs. brother, elf vs. elf: This is the sad state of Telara that led to the Mathosian Civil War. While RIFT players may find themselves drawn to the planar invasions as the key conflict of the world, the truth is that plenty of events and key figures have played a part in shaping the land up to this point.

Today Trion Worlds released the backstory of both the Mathosian Civil War and Shyla Starhearth, the leader of the High Elves. Both Aedraxis Mathos and Shyla find themselves at odds over the conflict and the future of the world. It's interesting to note that the civil war began at the city of Port Scion, which will be both a PvP warfront at launch and a proper zone sometime thereafter.

Hit the jump to bone up on your RIFT lore as two mighty forces come to a head!

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The Perfect Ten: Best non-traditional MMO fantasy races

Justin Olivetti — Thu, 13 Jan 2011 14:00:00 EST

Filed under: World of Warcraft, Fantasy, Asheron's Call, Dark Age of Camelot, Dungeons and Dragons Online, EverQuest II, Lord of the Rings Online, Ultima Online, Guild Wars 2, Humor, Allods Online, Perfect Ten, Miscellaneous

Elves. Dwarves. Humans. Halflings. Gnomes. Hobbits. Dark elves. High elves. Half-elves. Wood elves. Keebler elves. Elvish impersonators.

Are you as tired as I am of the endless regurgitation of stock fantasy races in our MMOs? It seems inconceivable (I do not think that means what you think it means) for a new fantasy title to come out without most of the above races infesting the character creation screen with moldy unoriginality, putrescent stank, and dusty boredom.

That's why today I'm standing up to praise 10 MMOs that dare to go above and beyond the stale by offering mostly unique and different races than the rest of the market. Hopefully future games will learn from their example and throw off the yokes of generic oppression to give us something bold and refreshing!

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Exclusive Rift reveal: The Kelari race!

Justin Olivetti — Wed, 15 Sep 2010 09:00:00 EST

Filed under: Fantasy, Previews, Races, RIFT

As Rift: Planes of Telara marches closer and closer to that glorious day when demons will invade our world, we've been eagerly soaking up Trion Worlds' gradual reveal of the races, classes and features of this promising title. Today we're pleased to announce Rift's sixth race, the Kelari!

If the thought of edgy rebel elves who channel magic into machines makes your ears perk up, then you're going to love the Kelari. They're not just the stereotypical "dark elves" that many fantasy games boast, but instead they carry with them the same genre-twist that Rift is becoming known for creating. Read on for Trion Worlds' official background description of the race, as well as a few new gorgeous screenshots in our gallery.

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Exclusive Rift reveal: The Kelari race! originally appeared on Massively on Wed, 15 Sep 2010 09:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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SDCC 2010: TERA by the numbers

Justin Olivetti — Mon, 26 Jul 2010 17:00:00 EST

Filed under: Fantasy, Classes, Previews, Races, TERA

If looks were everything, then TERA would certainly place as a finalist in the Miss Upcoming MMO Universe pageant. Yet as visually sumptuous as it may be, we're more interested in its personality. Can the brains match the beauty? So far, it looks promising. We've been locked on to TERA's unique brand of fantasy play since this year's E3 (and before), and as such, it's great to check back in with the title, take it out for a quiet romantic dinner, and see how it's shaping up.

We caught up with En Masse Entertainment at the 2010 San Diego Comic-Con and spent a half hour putting the game through its paces and chatting up with TERA's devs. While TERA's dev team is working with a more recent build of the game, our hands-on demo was the same build as the one we saw at E3. Even so, it's always worth spending a few more minutes with an upcoming MMO to see what new facts and impressions can be gleaned. Hit the jump to read more about classes, races and an idea about not getting hit that's so crazy, it just might work!

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SDCC 2010: TERA by the numbers originally appeared on Massively on Mon, 26 Jul 2010 17:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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A Wild Hunt leads to Warhammer's one year anniversary

Brooke Pilley — Mon, 10 Aug 2009 10:00:00 EST

Filed under: Fantasy, Events, in-game, News items, Warlords Online

What happens when you don't appease a god in the Warhammer Online universe? They get angry -- very, very angry. And then they smash things. Unfortunately, it appears as though the High Elves have been too focused on the RvR campaign to properly honour Kurnous with their annual sacred hunt and it has greatly displeased the God of the Hunt and Lord of the Beasts. His retaliation sets the stage for a new Live Event called Wild Hunt, which releases August 31, 2009 and leads into the game's first anniversary.

Mythic just released Grab Bag no. 21, which is full of Hunty goodness. Players will be granted special access to a new dungeon called Hunter's Vale for one week. This dungeon is accessed from RvR areas and is not warded, which puts the tier 4 version on par with Bastion Stair. Each tier will get its own version and lower level players will even be bolstered once inside so they can contribute.

A lot of effort goes into the game's monthly Live Events and they seem to be quite a hit with players. Some of the events will be annual, like the Wild Hunt and Night of Murder and some of them will be unique and introduce game-changing content to the world (e.g., Rise of the Tomb Kings and Bitter Rivals). It doesn't appear as though Mythic will be letting up any time soon.

A Wild Hunt leads to Warhammer's one year anniversary originally appeared on Massively on Mon, 10 Aug 2009 10:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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The Digital Continuum: Beyond Warhammer Online patch 1.2

Kyle Horner — Sat, 07 Mar 2009 12:00:00 EST

Filed under: Fantasy, Warhammer Online, Opinion, The Digital Continuum

Warhammer Online players are in the midst of the Bitter Rivals live event, plus another big new patch. I'm going to guess that it probably took a lot of development muscle to get the Black Guard, Knight of the Blazing Sun, Slayer and Choppa in a fun, playable shape. Not to mention the improvements to open RvR, Scenarios, PvE and general quality of life fixes.

I have no doubt that the east coast developer has the next several patches planned out to some degree. Nonetheless, Mythic, Warhammer Online and its community are at a development crossroads -- and so today I'm going to explore a few possibilities.

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The Digital Continuum: Beyond Warhammer Online patch 1.2 originally appeared on Massively on Sat, 07 Mar 2009 12:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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How to get to Altdorf, Ekrund, the Blighted Isle, or Nordland at level 1

Michael Zenke — Sat, 06 Sep 2008 18:00:00 EST

Filed under: Fantasy, Guides, New titles, Warhammer Online

You've jumped into Warhammer Online, and you're ready to go. You've picked your class and you're happy with your class mechanics ... but perhaps you don't want to play in your race's assigned tiers. Or maybe you just want to head to the mighty human city of Altdorf. We hear it's lovely this time of year. Heading to the Order capital city or one of the other starting zones is as easy as hiking to the first RvR War Camp in your starting zone ... but where is that? If you've never played before, how do you know?

Well, we've got what you need. Click through below the cut for full details and maps on how to get to the first war camps in Nordland, the Blighted Isle, and the zone of Ekrund. Make sure you tell the Dwarven flight masters that Massively sent you!

Continue reading How to get to Altdorf, Ekrund, the Blighted Isle, or Nordland at level 1

How to get to Altdorf, Ekrund, the Blighted Isle, or Nordland at level 1 originally appeared on Massively on Sat, 06 Sep 2008 18:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Lady Sylvanas' model updated

Krystalle Voecks — Sun, 24 Aug 2008 16:00:00 EST

Filed under: World of Warcraft, Betas, Fantasy, Video, Events, in-game

In one of the more unexpected moves in World of Warcraft's upcoming expansion Wrath of the Lich King, Lady Sylvanas, leader of the Forsaken, has finally gotten a new look. Lore purists have argued about why she was modeled on the Night Elf model when Sylvanas was originally one of the High Elves. (Thus her look should have more closely resembled Blood Elves from the Burning Crusade expansion) There's now an equally loud contingent who are complaining that Sylvanas' new look is perhaps a little too... valley elf.

To see things for ourselves, we jumped into the Wrath of the Lich King beta and went through the Lady's Necklace quest arc that triggers off her singing Lament of the Highborne. We were curious as to just how the new model would play out in this player favorite arc. If you've never seen the event, are curious about how it looks with the new model, or just like to listen to the song -- join us after the break for an updated look at Sylvanas' Lament!

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Lady Sylvanas' model updated originally appeared on Massively on Sun, 24 Aug 2008 16:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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The Elves of WAR round-up

Kyle Horner — Tue, 19 Aug 2008 10:00:00 EST

Filed under: Fantasy, New titles, Warhammer Online, Massively Hands-on

It's been a busy week here at Massively as we've been preparing for the eventual NDA lift while simultaneously bringing you early looks at the first half of the Dark Elf and High Elf content. With the announcement that the full NDA is being removed today, we've decided to go ahead and gather all of the Elves of WAR content written thus far into one easy-to-access place. Expect to see lots more from the Massively crew as we bring you information on all of the races that will be butting heads in Warhammer Online.

	Meet the Shadow Warrior, levels 1-5 Our overview of the High Elf ranged dps career, the Shadow Warrior, may not be enough for you. So here we are with an examination of every skill from level one through five.
	Meet the Swordmaster. levels 1-5 Maybe the High Elf melee dps and healer careers aren't your preferred playstyle. It's time to look at the High Elf tanking class, the Swordmaster, in our continuing exclusive pre-NDA coverage of the Elves of WAR.
	The Digital Continuum: Dark Elf days in WAR So we've gotten official approval to speak our minds early and often about the Dark Elf (High Elves too, but bollocks to Order, I say!) experience in tier one and two as much as we like. That led me to decide that it would be fun to give you my personal take on them.
	Meet the Disciple of Khaine The Bloody Handed god has priests like any of the other gods in Warhammer Online, only his priests come with a twist. They are known as Disciples of Khaine and they relish dealing death to their enemies like the rest of their brothers and sisters.

Did you enjoy this? Make sure to check out all of our previous Warhammer Online features, and don't miss any of our ongoing coverage as Massively goes to WAR!

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The Elves of WAR round-up originally appeared on Massively on Tue, 19 Aug 2008 10:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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The Elves of WAR: White Lion levels 6-10

Dan O'Halloran — Mon, 18 Aug 2008 11:00:00 EST

Filed under: Betas, Fantasy, Classes, Guides, New titles, Previews, Leveling, Warhammer Online, PvE, Hands-on, Massively Hands-on

In the first five levels of this High Elf melee dps career, we got a lion, an axe and an attitude. Time to take it on the road for five more levels and all the new abilities that come with it.

Level 6 - Sundering Chop
40 AP, Instant cast, 5ft range
A powerful axe chop which deals 28 damage. If you are behind the enemy, then this attack will ignore 50% of their armor.

With you lion set in tank mode with Trained to Threaten, this axe attack replaces Hack as your spam attack. It costs a little more in AP, but does about 50% more damage if you are behind the mob.

Continue reading The Elves of WAR: White Lion levels 6-10

The Elves of WAR: White Lion levels 6-10 originally appeared on Massively on Mon, 18 Aug 2008 11:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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The Elves of WAR: Meet the Shadow Warrior levels 1-5

Dan O'Halloran — Sun, 17 Aug 2008 13:00:00 EST

Filed under: Betas, Fantasy, Classes, Guides, New titles, Previews, Leveling, Warhammer Online, PvE, Hands-on, Massively Hands-on

Our overview of the High Elf ranged dps career, the Shadow Warrior, may not be enough for you. So here we are with an examination of every skill from level one through five. It's the latest installment of Massively's pre-NDA coverage of Warhammer Online, the Elves of WAR.

Shadow Warriors are the quintessential bow-and-blade class, with skills in long-range, short-ranged and hand-to-hand combat. They have three stances they can switch between at a moment's notice that buffs each combat speciality. The first one, Scout Stance, is explained below along with the other beginning abilities.

Level 1 - Scout Stance
5 sec cooldown
A long distance bow stnace that increases your Ballistic Skill initiative by 2 and the range of your bow attacks by 10%.

Level 1 - Eagle Eye
45 AP, 2sec cast, 5-100ft range
A well aimed arrow that deals 53 damage.

Level 1 - Grim Slash
40 AP, Instant cast, 5ft range
Deals 30 damage to your target.

These are your two basic attacks, ranged and melee, with a ranged buff. Encounters are simple as shoot until melee range, then spam Grim Slash.

Continue reading The Elves of WAR: Meet the Shadow Warrior levels 1-5

The Elves of WAR: Meet the Shadow Warrior levels 1-5 originally appeared on Massively on Sun, 17 Aug 2008 13:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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The Elves of WAR: Meet the Swordmaster levels 1-5

Dan O'Halloran — Sat, 16 Aug 2008 10:00:00 EST

Filed under: Betas, Fantasy, Classes, Guides, New titles, Previews, Leveling, Warhammer Online, PvE, Hands-on, Massively Hands-on

Maybe the High Elf melee dps and healer careers aren't your preferred playstyle. It's time to look at the High Elf tanking class, the Swordmaster, in our continuing exclusive pre-NDA coverage of the Elves of WAR. We've already written up an overview of the class and its chain-combo fighting style, but now let's start from the beginning and work our way up.

Level 1
Graceful Strike - 40 AP, Instant cast, 5ft range
Leads to Improved Balance
A swift attack that deals 10 damage and Cripples for an additional 20 damage over 5 seconds. Monsters struck with this technique will hate you more.

Throw - 20 AP, 1sec cast, 5-65ft range
A basic throwing attack that inflicts 10 damage. Has a chance to deal 90 damage to a severely wounded traget if you are behind them.

Throw is good for pulling, but Graceful Strike is your bread-and-butter dps plus taunt ability and it starts your combo chain by shifting you from Balance to Improved Balance.

Continue reading The Elves of WAR: Meet the Swordmaster levels 1-5

The Elves of WAR: Meet the Swordmaster levels 1-5 originally appeared on Massively on Sat, 16 Aug 2008 10:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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The Elves of WAR: Meet the White Lion, levels 1-5

Dan O'Halloran — Fri, 15 Aug 2008 15:00:00 EST

Filed under: Betas, Fantasy, Classes, New titles, Previews, Leveling, Warhammer Online, PvE, Hands-on, Massively Hands-on

Earlier in the week we gave you a broad overview of this Warhammer Online class based on our higher level beta experiences. Today, we continue our exclusive pre-NDA look at the Elves of WAR with a look at the White Lion class from the ground up.

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

Continue reading The Elves of WAR: Meet the White Lion, levels 1-5

The Elves of WAR: Meet the White Lion, levels 1-5 originally appeared on Massively on Fri, 15 Aug 2008 15:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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The Elves of WAR: Meet the Archmage, levels 1-5

Dan O'Halloran — Fri, 15 Aug 2008 13:00:00 EST

Filed under: Betas, Fantasy, Classes, Guides, New titles, Previews, Leveling, Warhammer Online, PvE, Hands-on, Massively Hands-on

Massively's exclusive pre-NDA coverage of the Elves of Warhammer Online continues with this sneak peek at the beginning levels of the High Elf healer class, the Archmage.

The Archmage has an interesting mechanic it shares with the Destruction Goblin Shaman, a ying/yang relationship between his offensive and healing spells. Every time an Archmage casts a healing spell, he gains a point in Force up to 5 points maximum. Every point of Force will reduce the casting time of offensive spells by 20%. That means at maximum Force, your next nuke will be insta-cast. For offensive spells that are already insta-cast, each point of Force will increase that spells potency by 5%. Once an offensive spell is cast, Force resets to zero.

The same holds true in reverse. For every damage spell the Archmage casts, he gains a point of Tranquility, resetting the counter when he finally uses his stored up Tranquility to power a defensive spell. Out of combat, any gained points will quickly fade.

Level one through five spell details after the jump!

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The Elves of WAR: Meet the Archmage, levels 1-5 originally appeared on Massively on Fri, 15 Aug 2008 13:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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The Elves of WAR: Level 1-5 quests for High Elves

Dan O'Halloran — Thu, 14 Aug 2008 15:00:00 EST

Filed under: Betas, Fantasy, Guides, New titles, Previews, Leveling, Quests, Warhammer Online, PvE, Hands-on, Massively Hands-on

Massively's exclusive coverage of the Elves of WAR continues with a look at the first five levels in the Warhammer Online for High Elves. Whether you roll an Archmage, Shadow Warrior, Swordmaster or White Lion, your High Elf will follow the same quest line, unless you fly to one of the other racial starting areas. Either way, prepare to have it out with Dark Elves from the get go.

Upon creating your High Elf you start the game in the outpost of Moonrise on the Blighted Isle. You'll have some basic abilities/spells already slotted in your hotbar. There is only one quest giver in the outpost, Silvshara Greywind. She gives a kill quest for six Dark Sprites in the forest, then five Dark Elf Infiltrators.

After completing the kill quests, your High Elf will be level two and be able to train in a new spell/ability by talking to the NPC with the bullseye over their head. If you don't have enough cash, you can kill a few more Dark Elves in the forest for coin and loot you can sell to the vendor.

Your next quest sends you to the quest hub in Calumel to the southeast. On the way there, you'll find an Elf who will give you the quest to shoot Harpies with the Eagle Claw Bolt Thrower next to him. This uses none of your spells/abilities, but puts you in shooter mode where you take control of the launcher and aim the crosshairs at the Harpies. This is just training for RvR use of harpoons and other siege equipment later in the game. But don't pass this up as it's easy exp and he will send you on to the same place you were heading anyway.

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The Elves of WAR: "The Joys of War"

Kyle Horner — Thu, 14 Aug 2008 10:00:00 EST

Filed under: Betas, Fantasy, New titles, Warhammer Online, Massively Hands-on

We've seen the first quest for the Dark Elves in Warhammer Online, and it wasn't quite what we were expecting. You could definitely say we were happily surprised. So to be honest, we didn't expect the second quest to be so much cooler than the first. After turning in Blood Feud, you find yourself tasked with a much more vicious quest called, "The Joys of War" This time you're ordered to operate a massive siege weapon, which will rid the beach of pesky High Elf warriors. It's really their own fault for getting in your armies' way of conquering The Blighted Isle.

The High Elves aren't expecting this terrible attack, because they're an honorable race of snooty know-it-all types. Why would anyone do such a dishonorable thing? Well, to win the war, obviously. It was so much fun watching those tippy-toeing High Elves prance up the beach while we nailed them (literally, in a sense) in the face for 30,000 damage with high-grade Reaper Bolt Thrower spikes.

Did you enjoy this? Make sure to check out our other exclusive Elves of War features and all of our previous Warhammer Online features. Plus, don't miss any of our ongoing coverage as Massively goes to WAR!

The Elves of WAR: "The Joys of War" originally appeared on Massively on Thu, 14 Aug 2008 10:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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The Daily Grind: Would you rather play High Elves or Dark Elves?

Kyle Horner — Mon, 11 Aug 2008 08:00:00 EST

Filed under: Fantasy, Warhammer Online, The Daily Grind

So we've given you some hot-off-the-pre-NDA lift information on both the Dark Elves and High Elves. Now we pose to you a "Would you rather" situation: Dark Elves or High Elves? We're aware that Elves tend to be a love-hate relationship with most of us. So even if you would much rather run around as an awesome Greenskin or an Order race, we simply must know which of two evils would you pick and why?

We can certainly understand if you'd want to play as the sinister, wicked and all-around clinically insane Dark Elves. Though there are likely plenty of people who enjoy running around in bright nansy-pansy High Elf robes with giant, golden swords, too. Our strategy is to pretend they're not most certainly surrounding us at every moment. If we succumbed to the truth of it, the world we've built up around ourselves may just crush us into tiny, gooey blogger giblets.

The Daily Grind: Would you rather play High Elves or Dark Elves? originally appeared on Massively on Mon, 11 Aug 2008 08:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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The Digital Continuum: Dark Elf days in WAR

Kyle Horner — Sat, 09 Aug 2008 13:00:00 EST

Filed under: Betas, Fantasy, New titles, Warhammer Online, Opinion, The Digital Continuum, Massively Hands-on

So we've gotten official approval to speak our minds early and often about the Dark Elf (High Elves too, but bollocks to Order, I say!) experience in tier one and two as much as we like. That led me to decide that it would be fun to give you my personal take on them. Especially considering that in the not-so-distant past I made my worries about Warhammer Online very well known. As worrisome as Mythic's decision to remove four cities and four -- but in reality, two -- classes made me before, I'm happy to say that overall my experience with the early Dark Elf starting zone has been a positive one.

From the moment you enter Warhammer Online as a level one Dark Elf surrounded by Black Arks and clanging metal, you'll be made to feel like an evil and menacing figure. This is done in various ways and I'm glad to say that it's never undone. One way Mythic invests you into your character is the first quest you ever receive and it's going to put a smile on a lot of your faces, unless you're an Order player. If you're an Order or player, you'll probably want to run into my sword for Malekith's sake. Trust me, it's really all for the best.

Continue reading The Digital Continuum: Dark Elf days in WAR

The Digital Continuum: Dark Elf days in WAR originally appeared on Massively on Sat, 09 Aug 2008 13:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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The Digital Continuum: Diet WAR

Kyle Horner — Sat, 12 Jul 2008 15:30:00 EST

Filed under: Warhammer Online, Opinion, The Digital Continuum

Diet Warhammer Online: same great taste, less content. Is it bad that the recently re-branded Mythic Entertainment just cut out a large portion of our Warhammer Online pie and put it in the deep freeze? Well it's certainly not good when a developer cuts content they've been talking about publicly for so long, especially when launch is only three or four months away. I've already written about why this MMO ode to classic tabletop trappings shouldn't be shoved onto shelves half-baked and I still feel like I'd rather see a delay than see so much content cut. While there have been plenty of delays already, that doesn't mean more would have been intolerable.

I'm going to try and take an honest look at what the removal of four capital cities and four classes means for Warhammer Online. I will admit that when the news first hit, a vile and seemingly ancient sort of anger began to boil up inside my lungs. It was the onset of some form of draconian rage at the removal of so much content that I'd been personally invested in as a future player. I never really got into Chaos and planned on playing Dark Elves, but now a large part of that content is gone. At first I felt anger and confusion towards Mythic. It wasn't until after that initial knee-jerk anger passed that I was able to give some real thought to their choice and was able to consider the varied consequences.

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The Digital Continuum: Diet WAR originally appeared on Massively on Sat, 12 Jul 2008 15:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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From Tabletop to Desktop: WAR's Order careers

Adam Holisky — Wed, 02 Jul 2008 10:00:00 EST

Filed under: Fantasy, Galleries, Classes, Game mechanics, Lore, New titles, Warhammer Online

It's been a month since we last took a look at how Warhammer Online's Destruction classes have made the transition from the old-school tabletop game to a full-fledged MMO experience, and a lot has happened. We've shown you a huge amount of new coverage with our Massively Goes to WAR series, and even got some more hands-on details of each of the game's many classes. We know that the guild beta is practically within our reach, and the open beta never leaves our minds, though it still lies just over the horizon.

Since our last look at the WAR's tabletop roots was so well-received, we went back to the drawing board to bring you part two - focusing this time on the races on the side of Order. If you plan on joining the ranks of the Dwarfs, Empire, or High Elves and lack the proper appreciation for how the game's classes came to be, read on!

From Tabletop to Desktop: WAR's Order careers >>>>>

Gallery: WAR Careers from Tabletop to Desktop - Order

From Tabletop to Desktop: WAR's Order careers originally appeared on Massively on Wed, 02 Jul 2008 10:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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White Lion confirmed as final High Elf career

Chris Chester — Wed, 28 May 2008 18:30:00 EST

Filed under: Fantasy, Classes, Forums, New titles, Warhammer Online

At long last, Mythic has finally confirmed the last of the High Elf careers for Warhammer Online. After months of speculation and lots of hints, they've finally confirmed that the White Lion class will round out WAR's robust list of player careers. The White Lion will be fulfilling the melee DPS niche on the side of order and will focus on the dynamics between the hardy White Lion and his war lion pet.

Unlike his Destruction counterpart the Squig Herder whose Squigs are relatively expendable balls of sentient fungus, the White Lion's bond with his pet starts at level one, and there will be a good degree of customization available so that each player's pet will be relatively unique. War lions will grow and change as their master grows in power, and will even be capable of fighting in a feral capacity if you fell his master in battle first.

We're excited to see the last of WAR's careers fall into place. Here's hoping we're only a few steps away from the open beta!

White Lion confirmed as final High Elf career originally appeared on Massively on Wed, 28 May 2008 18:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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WAR beta update, dark elf-style

Chris Chester — Thu, 06 Mar 2008 19:00:00 EST

Filed under: Betas, Fantasy, Lore, New titles, Warhammer Online

In the latest news from the Warhammer Herald, the Mythic crew updates those unlucky souls still wandering on the outskirts of the Warhammer Online beta on the progress that's been made in live testing over the last several months. The most recent beta push has focused on the down and dirty combat between the High Elves of Ulthuan and their dastardly neighbors to the north, the Dark Elves. The update picks up the perspective of the Dark Elves, and includes some small chunks of lore, specifics on the various Chapters that underwent testing, and some beta journals from those lucky SOBs who got a beta invite.

For my part, I think they've really done a good job of capturing the spirit of the Dark Elves. Whatever your feelings are about witches, worshiping the gods of Chaos, or scantly clad ladies, the overriding drive that unites all Dark Elves is an undying hatred for those haughty, do-nothing fairy-boys, the High Elves. There's just something endearing to me about a race of people whose primary motivation is spite. Only in the Warhammer universe could they pull something like that off.

The update also says that the next phase of testing will focus on Empire and Chaos. Let's hope that once that's done, they'll finally move into guild beta.

WAR beta update, dark elf-style originally appeared on Massively on Thu, 06 Mar 2008 19:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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WAR's Saphery zone is full of tall magical things

Kyle Horner — Mon, 03 Mar 2008 21:00:00 EST

Filed under: Lore, Warhammer Online, News items

The racial pairing we still have the least information for has been the High and Dark Elves, but that is starting to change. Enter the Saphery zone -- a third tier zone for High Elves -- that is chocked full of magical energies and ancient High Elf beauty. This makes it a target for Dark Elves who want to twist and malign those energies, the Greenskins so they can smash all the pretty stuff and the Chaos so they can, well, bring chaos to everything in sight we suppose.

There's actually quite a bit (actually, more like tons) of background lore in the zone overview of Saphery. We've noticed for some time now that a lot of structure designs in Warhammer Online are very, very tall. However it looks like High Elf architecture trumps all other height-imbued buildings, but that makes sense since High Elves are all about being tall and uppity. Oh, we're digging the blue-leafed trees as well.

WAR's Saphery zone is full of tall magical things originally appeared on Massively on Mon, 03 Mar 2008 21:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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WAR class info: High Elf Shadow Warrior

Kyle Horner — Tue, 19 Feb 2008 16:00:00 EST

Filed under: Classes, Previews, Warhammer Online, News items

There's always a draw to the Elven races in MMOs, especially when they've got some seriously wicked personality. So when we saw this article we had to jump in head first and absorb all the information from within its gooey bowels. It's a long read, but we've got the skinny for your Warhammer Online needs -- including lore and class information. Be warned though, we may ramble on a bit about Shadow Warriors and how cool they're starting to sound.

Continue reading WAR class info: High Elf Shadow Warrior

WAR class info: High Elf Shadow Warrior originally appeared on Massively on Tue, 19 Feb 2008 16:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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WAR boss prologue: Lorkoth and Scornlash

Kyle Horner — Fri, 15 Feb 2008 19:30:00 EST

Filed under: Fantasy, Lore, Warhammer Online, News items

Those looking to read some interesting lore concerning a PQ boss that Order players will face in the Dark Elf lands look no further. Well, we're sure that there aren't many of you who have been specifically looking to read something like that, but maybe you just haven't realized you want to. In fact, if you look around the Warhammer Online website you'll find quite a few little pockets of knowledge that you might have never realized you wanted to know.

Continue reading WAR boss prologue: Lorkoth and Scornlash

WAR boss prologue: Lorkoth and Scornlash originally appeared on Massively on Fri, 15 Feb 2008 19:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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WAR, you and another interview

Kyle Horner — Sun, 13 Jan 2008 21:00:00 EST

Filed under: Fantasy, Interviews, Warhammer Online, News items

Sunday got you down without much to do? Well maybe this will eat up a few of those boring minutes for you. It appears that the WarCry Network has a nice little interview with Joshua Drescher, Adam Gershowitz and James Nichols of EA Mythic. This interview happens to be about Warhammer Online (who knew?), so sit down, strap in, caffeine up and listen in because we can never get enough juicy information about WAR.

Many of the subjects are nothing too special, such as the revelation that EA Mythic is going to let players re-spec their characters. To be more specific, players will have the opportunity to re-spec their Mastery, meaning any tactics or morale abilities that were selected in the system. This doesn't include core tactics or morale, as well as anything received from the Tome of Knowledge. The reason being that these are granted through automatic unlocks (such as gaining a level or killing 200 haughty High Elves).

Continue reading WAR, you and another interview

WAR, you and another interview originally appeared on Massively on Sun, 13 Jan 2008 21:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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White Lions are the last career for High Elves?

Mike Schramm — Mon, 03 Dec 2007 22:00:00 EST

Filed under: Fantasy, Screenshots, Classes, Lore, New titles, Previews, Warhammer Online, Races

Just a little bit of fun speculation about the last class for Warhammer Online's High Elves-- GOA, the company co-publishing WAR in Europe, apparently put up this big display picture at Dreamhack, and Warhammer know-it-alls have identified that High Elf on the right as a "White Lion," supposedly a career straight from the miniatures game.

Of course, we have no idea what this means-- previous speculation has called the White Lion career a DPS-based pet class (wielding a melee-two hander and fighting with pets?), and while the miniatures class looks completely different, there's no doubt that there is definitely a white lion fighting alongside the Elf in the picture above. All of this is still just rumors, however -- we won't know what that last High Elves career is until they announced it -- but hey, at least it's a cool looking display.

White Lions are the last career for High Elves? originally appeared on Massively on Mon, 03 Dec 2007 22:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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November Warhammer newsletter features Mounts!

Michael Zenke — Fri, 30 Nov 2007 16:00:00 EST

Filed under: Betas, Fantasy, Screenshots, Trailers, Video, Classes, Culture, New titles, PvP, Warhammer Online, PvE, Maps

The November edition of the Warhammer Online newsletter has been mailed out to all the eager WAAUGH fans out there, and it's a doozy. Building on the most recent Beta Updates, the dev team lets loose with a huge pile of goodies. Highlights include:

Mounts! Aside from the handsome porcine steed above (a Greenskin favorite), they have images up for an Ale-powered Dwarven carriage, felsteeds for Chaos riders, and beautiful beasts for the Elves and Empire.
A lengthy screed on the mysterious Tome of Knowledge. Their article runs down what you're like to see in the book, and what kinds of tales it will record for your own character.
A Paul Barnett special presentation on the Dark Elf Sorceress ... and Sorcerer! Yes, boy and girl evil mages. As Paul puts it, "They're both emo, and they both live forever!"
A first look at work on a new Warhammer cinematic trailer (you know, since you're probably tired of the first one).
An in-depth look at the High Elf Archmage class.
An overview of the Shadowlands zone, an elven area.
A look at another Public Quest! My favorite idea from the game, as of yet. They run down the IronClad confrontation with King Byrrnoth Grundadrakk.
One of the always-enjoyable animated game design presentations, this one detailing major changes to the Careers and RvR systems.
The video of the month walks us deep into the Inevitable City, the capital of the followers of Chaos.
A bunch of other delights, like Paul's Video Diaries, a Grab Bag update, and another Beta Journal Entry.

There's a ton more stuff exclusive to the Newsletter. This is my not-so-subtle way of saying you really should be signed up to get it. Go check it out!

November Warhammer newsletter features Mounts! originally appeared on Massively on Fri, 30 Nov 2007 16:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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WAR's November podcast previews Shadow Warrior class

Mike Schramm — Thu, 15 Nov 2007 11:00:00 EST

Filed under: Video, Classes, Game mechanics, New titles, Professions, Tips and tricks, Warhammer Online

Yesterday we saw a preview of the Swordmaster class, and today we've got a look at another one of the High Elf classes for the upcoming Warhammer Online, the Shadow Warrior. Mythic sent us their November podcast, in which they get a little wacky while telling us about what they're working on for the class that loves their bows. In the words of Paul Barnett, these are "indie, emo High Elves" that play as scouts, "but unlike scouts that sell you cookies, these guys only sell death."

There are two specialties within the Shadow Warrior career-- one is all about increasing ranged damage as much as possible, and the other is about adding a little bit of melee effectiveness at the end of all that ranged damage. They make it super clear that it's only a little bit of melee-- as you can see from the still above, Shadow Warriors love their bows: "bow bow bow bow bow." But one tree of the Shadow Warrior class will let you finish off foes with melee, adding a little extra dimension to what is primarily a ranged class.

There's also just a tiny bit of game video in the podcast, but way too little-- they even say that they couldn't get much approved to show off yet. At any rate, this looks like yet another interesting addition to Warhammer's already mixed bag of tricks.

WAR's November podcast previews Shadow Warrior class originally appeared on Massively on Thu, 15 Nov 2007 11:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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WAR Online Newsletter out, it's elf-tastic!

Chris Chester — Fri, 02 Nov 2007 10:30:00 EST

Filed under: Fantasy, Video, Lore, Warhammer Online

Even though we knew beforehand that the October edition of the Warhammer Online Newsletter was going to be prefaced with bad news, it was still a welcome surprise when it greeted us in our mailboxes this morning. This month's issue (which marks the two year anniversary for the newsletter) focuses on those always-polarizing High Elves, looking down their noses at the world from their marble palaces in Ulthuan. On the list of goodies, players can watch a video on the High Elf Shadow Warrior (or emo elves, as Paul dubs them), take an in-depth look at the High Elf Swordmaster, read the general description of the High Elf army and the Chrace zone in the north of Ulthuan, and peep at a number of other video updates.

As always, the WAR crew does a great job of inundating us with such a quantity of topical and behind-the-scenes content that we almost forget that the game still has a long way to go. While you can find all the information scattered about the WAR site, the easiest way to get it all is to simply subscribe to the newsletter, which we heartily recommend anyway.

Make sure to stay tuned, as we'll have our first-hand impressions of Warhammer Online later this morning.

WAR Online Newsletter out, it's elf-tastic! originally appeared on Massively on Fri, 02 Nov 2007 10:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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