Witch Hunting Builds & PvE Thoughts

To start off, Elge over on the Warhammer Alliance forums posted a few good build ideas for varied roles on the battlefield.

During my limited time in the closed beta and the preview weekend, I spent a good amount of time going through the PvE content as a Witch Hunter. Though due to the fact that I was playing Scenarios and questing in the down time I was usually at least 2-3 levels higher than the content I was in, which meant I had no downtime and burned through my enemies very quickly (uner 30sec per fight).

One of the perks of this is that in Public Quests Witch Hunters help the early stages go very quickly as you kill x of y. Even if you are the only one doing the PQ you can finish stage one relatively easily without too much time spent, which can be a great way to farm influence.

The downside is that we can't take on Champions. Period. Even champions half my level would kill me before I could finish them off. So don't plan on going any farther in a public quest without one or two other people backing you up.

But when you are with a group and have the Champions and Heroes attention focused on tanks, it is your time to shine as you unleash your blade and bullet to take them down fast.

In PQs I suggest trying to keep up 5 accusations right before the last stage begins. That way you can start off the last phase with one of the DoT Executions (Like, Burn, Heretic!) then start stacking them all over again.

Work it right and you'll almost always be near the top in participation ranking.

Witch Hunting Withdrawl

Time is ever moving and always seems to go by too fast and too soon. With the closed beta over we all have to wait until the start of Open Beta on September 7th before we can scratch that WAR itch again.

Until then the best we can do is watch videos and play with the Career and Renown Builders (linked in the left column) and reminisce about our experiences this far.

I never got high enough in level to get to really test out the Mastery Paths, but I think that the Confession path will match my playstyle best. So I currently plan to try this build first.

I'll also be stacking Strength ( Increases your melee damage and makes it harder for enemies to parry or block your attacks. ) and Weapon Skill (Increases your chances to parry melee attacks and allows your melee attacks to bypass a portion of the enemy's armor. ) as my main two stats. Followed by wounds ( health ) and toughness ( damage mitigation ).

My main thoughts on this is that while the Witch Hunter is already very good at taking out light armor Healers and RDPS they also need to be able to at least contend with the medium DPS. I'm hoping that this build will stack into that functionality, while also buffing up the already deadly dps vs a Witch Hunter's Primary targets.

I'm hoping this build will help my Witch Hunter be a good skirmisher as well as a decent infiltrator, able to at least put up enough of a fight to engineer an escape if caught in unfavorable position while roaming behind enemy lines or sabatoging siege weapons or harassing an enemy keep.

Witch Hunting the Preview Weekend

This past weekend was the big preview weekend wich saw thousands of players flooding into the game. Put some stress on the servers and I spent much of the time battling combat lag that would keep me from damaging creatures or players for up to five seconds. But it was still quite fun.

I spent most of my time following the PvE Quest lines while doing scenarios. The server I was on (Forest of Shadow) didn't feel like it had much RvR going on. The times I went into the RvR zones I only saw one enemy player take the field. I'm hoping that was just bad luck.

One thing that I wish was implemented is the ability to easily swap between the Teir 1 Scenarios without having to go to the 'host' zone. Nordenwatch is fun, but I would love it if I could switch it up without having to fly to another zone.

I also never got to try the tier 2 Empire scenario as my que never came up (had it up for over an hour many times).

This is a good forum post over at warhammeralliance.com to get an overall feel for the Witch Hunter in PvP/RvR.

So far I have definetly found the Disciple of Khaine to be one of the most annoying targets in RvR. They definetly require focus firng to take down quickly.

Here's a video of my Rank 11 Witch Hunter fighting a Disciple of Khaine bosltered to 8, (I think his regular rank was 4). Not the best skill on display for either party, but it shows just how long it can take to drop the health of the DoK (notice it's not Me that lands the killing blow, but a shot from a Shadow Warrior seen near the pillar at the start of the movie).

On the bright side, WAR really isn't meant for players to be going 1on1 in PvP/RvR. It's all about group tactics, and even just 2 DPS on a DoK will take him down fast. I really wish I had Sudden Accquisition for that fight though, all that running would have killed him faster. (Assuming it had hit before my Incognito broke, unlike in the video).

Welcome to the Inquisition

Welcome to my Warhammer Online: Age of Reckoning blog, dedicated to the Witch Hunter Career.

What's a Witch Hunter?
The obvious answer is of course, one who hunts witches. But that doesn't really get any closer to knowing what a witchhunter from Warhammer Online is. Here's the official description from the Warhammer Online site:

The Witch Hunter is a tireless foe of Chaos, dark magic and witchery of all kinds. As the taint of Chaos continues to spread and more people are drawn to the dark arts, the Witch Hunters' role has become increasingly important to the Empire. Fast, cunning and deadly, they dispense merciless judgment upon any who serve Chaos. While the people of the Empire agree that the Witch Hunters' work is critically important, rare is the citizen who does not feel pangs of dread when they lay eyes upon one, for it is understood that most Witch Hunters would sooner burn an entire village to the ground than see a single follower of Chaos go free.

In gameplay turns this translates into a Melee DPS career that focuses on high, single-target damage. The trade-off for this is that Witch Hunters can only wear light armor, which severely hampers their ability to take a hit.

Tools of the Trade
Witch Hunters rely on a quick blade and their flintlock pistol to persuade the enemies of the Empire to confess.

The bulk of the damage a Witch Hunter does is with his Rapier, through skills like Razor Strike and Fervor. (Find the full list of skills at wardb.com)

These rapier skills build up Accusation points that are used to power the Witch Hunter's Executions. These are high damage abilities that make use of the flintlock pistol, such as Absolution.

How the Witch Hunter Plays:
The Witch Hunter is all about finesse. You don't last long running head long into the enemy. You need to know which of your skills are best suited for the fight you are about to take on.

PvE is a blazing whirl of blades and gunpowder as you slash enemies with your sword and finish them off with a well placed pistol shot. The fact that accusations carry over from one enemy to another (they last approximately 30 seconds out of combat) means that you can easily fall into a rhythm of building up accusations on one target to open up with a full execution on the next. This makes killing fast, fun and flavorful.

In RvR the Witch Hunter has to be very cunning and able to work well with others... or at least know how to use them as distractions. Due to the fact that Witch Hunters can only wear light armor, they are incredibly squishy and will drop fast if attacked, especially by multiple enemies. Due to the high DPS output, Witch Hunters are a priority target when spotted, since if left alone they can put the hurt on Healers and Ranged classes.

The key in RvR then is to not be noticed. This is made easier at Rank 10 when the Witch Hunter learns the skill Incognito. This short duration stealth makes it easier to get into position and strike with an opener that gives an immediate 2 accusations as well as a special effect.

Attacking with a good group is key as there will be more targets for the enemies to focus on, as well as more buffs and heals to keep your squishy vengance slaying the minions of Destruction.

I'll talk more about RvR Witch Hunting in an upcoming post.

For now I'll melt back into the shadows and leave this to distract you.

Witch Hunter In Action:
Here are two videos that show a level 11 Witch Hunter in action in the Tier 1 Scenario: Nordenwatch.