Massively http://massively.joystiq.com Massively http://www.blogsmithmedia.com/http://massively.joystiq.com/media/feedlogo.gif Massively http://massively.joystiq.com en-us Copyright 2012 Weblogs, Inc. The contents of this feed are available for non-commercial use only. Blogsmith http://www.blogsmith.com/<![CDATA[Waging WAR: The Nagaryth Chronicles, supplemental]]>http://massively.joystiq.com/2010/07/17/waging-war-the-nagaryth-chronicles-supplemental/http://massively.joystiq.com/2010/07/17/waging-war-the-nagaryth-chronicles-supplemental/http://massively.joystiq.com/2010/07/17/waging-war-the-nagaryth-chronicles-supplemental/#commentsFiled under: , , , , , , , ,

During the last three weeks, Waging WAR took a look at the shadow warrior career in Warhammer Online, in an attempt to gain personal experience and insight into the complaints that most players have with the class. Due to popular demand, this week we return (albeit briefly) to the shadow warrior class to touch up a few frayed ends. We also set our sights forward and look ahead to future issues of Waging WAR.

I felt that my review of the career was based on solid ground, given the scope, and taking the setting and focus into consideration, and considering the fact that I had to grind the levels relatively quickly in order to stay on-time and deliver the column promptly. Despite my original intention to simply gain personal insight and experience with the class in an effort to have greater understanding of its hot-button issues, many of the Waging WAR readers who left comments were disappointed with my experiment, as I didn't have time or space to have a serious look at the skirmish and assault trees. So, throughout the last week, I felt obliged to play my shadow warrior, focusing all of my mastery points in either skirmish or assault (starting at rank 30, there are more than enough points available to explore an entire tree, and even a few inter-tree synergies).

Follow along after the break to find out how things went for me.

Continue reading Waging WAR: The Nagaryth Chronicles, supplemental

MassivelyWaging WAR: The Nagaryth Chronicles, supplemental originally appeared on Massively on Sat, 17 Jul 2010 18:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>abilitiesaction-pointsapEAea-mythicfeaturefeaturedfeaturesmythicmythic entertainmentmythic-eaMythic-EntertainmentMythicEntertainmentshadow-warriorshadow-warrior-stanceswaging-warwarWarhammerwarhammer-eaWarhammer-OnlineWarhammer-Online-Age-of-Reckoningwarhammer-online-eaSat, 17 Jul 2010 18:00:00 EST<![CDATA[Waging WAR: The Nagaryth Chronicles, part three]]>http://massively.joystiq.com/2010/07/10/waging-war-the-nagaryth-chronicles-part-three/http://massively.joystiq.com/2010/07/10/waging-war-the-nagaryth-chronicles-part-three/http://massively.joystiq.com/2010/07/10/waging-war-the-nagaryth-chronicles-part-three/#commentsFiled under: , , , , , , ,

This week bears with it the final installment to Waging WAR's Nagaryth Chronicles, which took a long-term, in-depth look at the Path of the Scout mastery tree available to Warhammer Online: Age of Reckoning's shadow warrior. Admittedly, Greg didn't have time to take his character all the way through to rank 40/40, but this past July 4th weekend's double XP and renown bonuses allowed him to level through Tier 3 relatively quickly. He's also promised us that he'll continue to play her casually as a break from his Archmage main, from time to time.

Again, I would like to take a moment to respond to some feedback left as reader comments to last week's column:

@Taawa -- According to my experience, festerbombs are absolutely deadly (think: "BOOM Headshot!"), possibly even moreso than any sort of infiltration attack by stealth-class melee-damage-per-second (MDPS) careers. If you're the type who enjoys sneaking around terrain and quietly selecting a target while taking time to prepare a guaranteed kill, you'll enjoy this build. I'll explain more after the break.
@Kyelthis -- Again with excellent feedback: the Steady Aim (SA) - Replenishing Strikes (RS) - Rapid Fire (RF) combination (a combination that had never occured to me until you pointed it out) is almost always as effective as Lileath's Forgiveness (LF). However, I feel that my use of SA is slightly more productive. I'll explain why after the break.
@Hal900x -- I'm pretty sure you're mistaking Unshakeable Focus with SA. Also, Shadow Sting (SS) is extremely short-range (45'). My ideal build (complete by rank 35) was focusing on extremely long-range, high-burst, sniping -- which is why I opted for Fell the Weak (FTW, 100') instead, since it has the same effect except instead of requiring an ailment, the "mortal strike" component requires Vengeance of Nagarythe (VoN, and is one second longer in duration to boot!). Finally, SA applies a 50% increased critical chance to damaging attacks, not to the overall critical chance of the character; thus, any attack during those six seconds has its critical chance treated like a coin flip: heads for a critical, tails for a normal hit.

So, why do I think that shadow warriors are fine and don't need the attention that everyone seems to claim they need? I'll discuss my side of the issue after the break.

Continue reading Waging WAR: The Nagaryth Chronicles, part three

MassivelyWaging WAR: The Nagaryth Chronicles, part three originally appeared on Massively on Sat, 10 Jul 2010 11:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>abilitiesaction-pointsapEAea-mythicfeaturefeaturedfeaturesmythicmythic-eaMythic-Entertainmentshadow-warriorshadow-warrior-stancesshadow-warriorswaging-warwarWarhammerwarhammer-eaWarhammer-OnlineWarhammer-Online-Age-of-Reckoningwarhammer-online-eaSat, 10 Jul 2010 11:00:00 EST<![CDATA[Waging WAR: The Nagaryth Chronicles, part two]]>http://massively.joystiq.com/2010/07/03/waging-war-the-nagaryth-chronicles-part-two/http://massively.joystiq.com/2010/07/03/waging-war-the-nagaryth-chronicles-part-two/http://massively.joystiq.com/2010/07/03/waging-war-the-nagaryth-chronicles-part-two/#commentsFiled under: , , , , , , , ,

Waging WAR continues this week with the second installment of the Nagaryth Chronicles -- an in-depth look at the Warhammer Online: Age of Reckoning's shadow warrior. We'll talk about how the career performs through tier two, identify key abilities, and open the floor to discussion about how we might begin to remedy some of the most basic issues with the career. So nock another arrow and let's get started.

First things first. I want to quickly respond to a few of the reader comments left on last week's column.

@MiloMenderBender: After you pointed out my target selection could be wrong, I started paying attention to my damage vs. the varying enemy careers. Your suggestion to pay closer attention to damage-per-kill rather than overall made perfect sense, and I'm now making more careful and efficient targeting decisions -- with satisfying results.
@Kyelthis: Your keybinding suggestions were excellent and definitely worth trying out.
@ShadowWAR: After reading your comment, it took only a moment to pay closer attention and confirm that the stances are not on the global cooldown (GCD) and skirmish stance does indeed return 1:1 ballistics to strength from items only.
@ the rest: Thank you for your contributions, and, although I'm hesitant to have this series turn into a conversation about mirrors, issues with the game in general or concerns with other careers, I want you to know that I read all of your comments and appreciate your feedback.

Moving on, let's continue with my impressions and issues with the shadow warrior through tier two after the break.

Continue reading Waging WAR: The Nagaryth Chronicles, part two

MassivelyWaging WAR: The Nagaryth Chronicles, part two originally appeared on Massively on Sat, 03 Jul 2010 16:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>abilitiesaction-pointsapEAea-mythicfeaturedmythicMythic-Entertainmentshadow-warriorshadow-warrior-stancesshadow-warriorswaging-warWarhammerwarhammer-eaWarhammer-OnlineWarhammer-Online-Age-of-Reckoningwarhammer-online-eaSat, 03 Jul 2010 16:00:00 EST<![CDATA[Waging WAR: The Nagaryth Chronicles, part one]]>http://massively.joystiq.com/2010/06/26/waging-war-the-nagaryth-chronicles-part-one/http://massively.joystiq.com/2010/06/26/waging-war-the-nagaryth-chronicles-part-one/http://massively.joystiq.com/2010/06/26/waging-war-the-nagaryth-chronicles-part-one/#commentsFiled under: , , , , , , ,

This week, Waging WAR starts the first in-depth career review with a three to four column exposè on Warhammer Online's shadow warrior. We'll take a look at the career as it progresses through each of the tiers, as well as consider key tactics, abilities and masteries that are learned along the way. As we go, we'll try to understand and break down what makes the shadow warrior tick, why so many players claim the career is broken, and whether or not Waging WAR agrees. So, let's get our tabi boots on, pull our face masks up, and get started.

For a long time now, I've stood on the sidelines and listened to horror stories regarding the shadow warrior. It has been clear that many players are (or have been) dissatisfied with the career, but I've never fully understood why. It isn't so difficult for me to peruse the SW forums or read one of the many blogs out there that explain things quite clearly, and understand the theory of it, but as far as first-hand experience goes, I've been lacking a direct understanding of the career and how it works. With that in mind, I've decided to educate myself; over the next few weeks, I'll be leveling a shadow warrior so I can analyze the career from the inside.

Continue reading Waging WAR: The Nagaryth Chronicles, part one

MassivelyWaging WAR: The Nagaryth Chronicles, part one originally appeared on Massively on Sat, 26 Jun 2010 16:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>EAea-mythicfun-factormicro-managementmythicmythic-eaMythic-Entertainmentpvppvp-tokensrvrrvr-gearrvr-tokensrvr-weaponsshadow-warriorshadow-warrior-stancesshadow-warriorssquig-herderwaging-warWarhammer-OnlineWarhammer-Online-Age-of-Reckoningwarhammer-online-eaSat, 26 Jun 2010 16:00:00 EST<![CDATA[Warhammer Online 1.0.6 patch adds new classes, tidal wave of updates]]>http://massively.joystiq.com/2008/12/02/warhammer-online-1-0-6-patch-adds-new-classes-tidal-wave-of-upd/http://massively.joystiq.com/2008/12/02/warhammer-online-1-0-6-patch-adds-new-classes-tidal-wave-of-upd/http://massively.joystiq.com/2008/12/02/warhammer-online-1-0-6-patch-adds-new-classes-tidal-wave-of-upd/#commentsFiled under: , , ,


All those Warhammer Online players who where playing along with the Heavy Metal event in November will be happy to know that today the fruits of their labor has arrived. That's right: Today, Mythic brings us Black Guards and Knights of the Blazing Sun! For those who didn't finish the full Heavy Metal event, don't worry, the classes will become available to everyone next week. Servers are going down at 3:30AM PST / 6:30AM EST for North American players with Oceanic servers following at 9:00AM EST. No specific time-frame was given for the updating process, so we'll just have to sit tight and wait it out.

New classes aren't the only thing found in this patch, however. There's a ton of general game updates, performance updates, bug fixes and class tweaks coming with the 1.0.6 patch, too. In fact, there are so many class tweaks that Bright Wizards, Chosen, Engineers, Ironbreakers, Maguses (Magi?), Shadow Warriors, Sorcerers, Squig Herders and Swordmasters are all getting their mastery points refunded. Combat also seems to be a big focus, with a ton of improvements to auto-attack animations, ability responsiveness, morale responsiveness and root responsiveness.

All in all, we're pretty impressed with Mythic on this patch, as it delivers some substantial changes that many players have been waiting to see.
Warhammer Online Coverage Did you enjoy this? Make sure to check out our Warhammer guides: Massively's Character Creation Guide and our WoW Player's Guide to Warhammer. Plus, don't miss any of our ongoing coverage as Massively goes to WAR!

MassivelyWarhammer Online 1.0.6 patch adds new classes, tidal wave of updates originally appeared on Massively on Tue, 02 Dec 2008 06:45:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>black-guardbreakingbright-wizardcareerschosenclasseseaelectronic-artsengineerheavy-metalironbreakerknight-of-the-blazing-sunmagusmythicpatch-1.0.6shadow-warriorsorcerersquig-herderswordmasterwarwarhammerwarhammer-onlineTue, 02 Dec 2008 06:45:00 EST<![CDATA[The Elves of WAR round-up]]>http://massively.joystiq.com/2008/08/19/the-elves-of-war-round-up/http://massively.joystiq.com/2008/08/19/the-elves-of-war-round-up/http://massively.joystiq.com/2008/08/19/the-elves-of-war-round-up/#commentsFiled under: , , ,


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.
Warhammer Online Coverage 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!

Continue reading The Elves of WAR round-up

MassivelyThe 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.

Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>archmagedark-elvesdisciple-of-khaineeaelectronic-artselves-of-warfeaturedhigh-elvesmythicmythic-entertainmentshadow-warriorsorceressswordmasterwarwarhammer-onlinewhite-lionwitch-elfTue, 19 Aug 2008 10:00:00 EST<![CDATA[The Elves of WAR: Meet the Shadow Warrior levels 1-5]]>http://massively.joystiq.com/2008/08/17/the-elves-of-war-meet-the-shadow-warrior-levels-1-5/http://massively.joystiq.com/2008/08/17/the-elves-of-war-meet-the-shadow-warrior-levels-1-5/http://massively.joystiq.com/2008/08/17/the-elves-of-war-meet-the-shadow-warrior-levels-1-5/#commentsFiled under: , , , , , , , , , ,

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

MassivelyThe 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.

Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>elves-of-warfeaturedhigh-elfhigh-elvesjoystiqfeaturesmassively-goes-to-warmythic-entertainmentorder-ranged-dps-careershadow-warriorstanceswarwarhammer-onlineSun, 17 Aug 2008 13:00:00 EST<![CDATA[The Elves of WAR: Meet the Shadow Warrior]]>http://massively.joystiq.com/2008/08/11/the-elves-of-war-meet-the-shadow-warrior/http://massively.joystiq.com/2008/08/11/the-elves-of-war-meet-the-shadow-warrior/http://massively.joystiq.com/2008/08/11/the-elves-of-war-meet-the-shadow-warrior/#commentsFiled under: , , , ,

Massively continues its exclusive pre-NDA coverage of the Elves of Warhammer Online with this spotlight on a master of Ranged DPS for the side of Order, The High Elf Shadow Warrior. They come in three flavors, Scouts (long-range dps specialists), Assault (close-combat) and Skirmish (short-range bow specialists). Each one of these masteries has a corresponding Stance that boosts their key abilities:

Scout Stance - Increases your Ballistic and Initiative scores and your maximum range
Assault Stance - Increases your Strength and Weapon skill as well as increases your Armor by 100%
Skirmish Stance - Increases your Toughness and crit chance.

This career comes with a long list of bow attacks and a fair amount of blade attacks. Shadow Warriors also get the Vengeance of Nagarythe ability. Every 3 mins you can increase your damage by 20% for 15 seconds and unlock special additional abilities on many of your exisiting attacks for the duration.

Continue reading The Elves of WAR: Meet the Shadow Warrior

MassivelyThe Elves of WAR: Meet the Shadow Warrior originally appeared on Massively on Mon, 11 Aug 2008 15:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>assault-masteryelves-of-warmassively-goes-to-warmythic-entertainmentorder-ranged-dpsscout-masteryshadow-warriorshadow-warrior-stancesskirmish-masterywarwarhammer-onlineMon, 11 Aug 2008 15:00:00 EST<![CDATA[From Tabletop to Desktop: WAR's Order careers]]>http://massively.joystiq.com/2008/07/02/from-tabletop-to-desktop-wars-order-careers/http://massively.joystiq.com/2008/07/02/from-tabletop-to-desktop-wars-order-careers/http://massively.joystiq.com/2008/07/02/from-tabletop-to-desktop-wars-order-careers/#commentsFiled under: , , , , , ,


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

IronbreakerIronbreakerSwordmasters of HoethSwordmasterKnights of the Blazing Sun

MassivelyFrom 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.

Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>archmagebright-wizardclassesdwarfsea-mythicempireengineerfeaturedhammererhigh-elvesironbreakerjoystiqfeaturesknight-of-the-burning-sunmassively-goes-to-warrunepriestshadow-warriorswordmasterWARwarhammer-onlinewarrior-priestwhite-lionwitch-hunterWed, 02 Jul 2008 10:00:00 EST<![CDATA[WAR class info: High Elf Shadow Warrior]]>http://massively.joystiq.com/2008/02/19/war-class-info-high-elf-shadow-warrior/http://massively.joystiq.com/2008/02/19/war-class-info-high-elf-shadow-warrior/http://massively.joystiq.com/2008/02/19/war-class-info-high-elf-shadow-warrior/#commentsFiled under: , , ,

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

MassivelyWAR 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.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>dark-elvesea-mythicelveshigh-elvesmalekithphoenix-kingshadow-warriorwarwarhammer-onlineTue, 19 Feb 2008 16:00:00 EST<![CDATA[WAR's November podcast previews Shadow Warrior class]]>http://massively.joystiq.com/2007/11/15/wars-november-podcast-previews-shadow-warrior-class/http://massively.joystiq.com/2007/11/15/wars-november-podcast-previews-shadow-warrior-class/http://massively.joystiq.com/2007/11/15/wars-november-podcast-previews-shadow-warrior-class/#commentsFiled under: , , , , , ,


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.

MassivelyWAR'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.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>careerea-mythicemohigh-elvesmythicscouts-that-sell-deathshadow-warriorspecswarhammer-onlineThu, 15 Nov 2007 11:00:00 EST<![CDATA[WAR Online Newsletter out, it's elf-tastic!]]>http://massively.joystiq.com/2007/11/02/war-online-newsletter-out-its-elf-tastic/http://massively.joystiq.com/2007/11/02/war-online-newsletter-out-its-elf-tastic/http://massively.joystiq.com/2007/11/02/war-online-newsletter-out-its-elf-tastic/#commentsFiled under: , , ,

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.

MassivelyWAR 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.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>behind-the-sceneschracehigh-elvesnewsletteroctober-newsletterpaulshadow-warriorswordmasterulthuanWARwarhammer-onlineFri, 02 Nov 2007 10:30:00 EST