Witch Hunting in the Gates of Ekrund

The Gates of Ekrund is the Teir 1 Scenario for the Dwarf/Greenskin conflict. Like Nordenwatch, this is a territory control map, but it is very, very condensed. Each Realm's starting area has access to both sides of the gate, with Order being nearer to the Supply Room and Destruction being closer to the Ammunition Room. Both of these areas are raised above the central capture point, the Gate Switch.

This layout usually has RDPS such as Engineers and Squig herders, and Ranged Healers standing on the upper platforms that overlook the Gate Switch lending support to the melee fighters in the center. This usually works out fairly well, though some enemy players will run below the RDPS platform, shielding them from attack.

For a basic opening strategy I'd say send most of the RDPS and RHeals to cap the supply room and set up suppressive fire over the Gate Switch, though an engineer and his turret under the overhang.

Tanks and Melee should head straight for the Gate Switch and try to take it then set up their defense.

Once the initial rush is over you usually end up with a see-saw effect over the middle ground, with some harrassment of the other two rooms. RDPS tends to begin trading shots over the center with the opposing RDPS and heals across the gap.

I'd suggest having the RDPS focus on any enemies on the ground level, while any MDSP that can either run up the ramp from the middle to harrass the people on the platform, or once they respawn, take the back route and attack the Ranged careers from the rear.

Witch Hunting the Gates of Ekrund

The Gates of Ekrund is probably the least friendly of the three Tier 1 scenarios for the Witch Hunter. Fights are tight and compact with little room to maneuver or escape. But on the plus side, it isn't that far to break los and escape RDPS that have dialed you in.

My preferred strategy as a WH in GoE, is to harrass the upper tier of RDPS and healers. I generally approach from the rear and can usually kill of one Healer and make my escape clean as long as Order forces have good control of the Gate Switch area. Once you have broken los and incognito is up again you can head up the ramp to strike again.

If the RDPS are too well protected you might think about holding back and protecting your own RDPS and heals from Destruction forces trying to do the same thing you did to them.

Witch Hunting in Khaine's Embrace

Khaine's Embrace is the Tier 1 scenario in the High Elf/Dark Elf conflict. This scenario is something of a mix between territory control and capture the flag. The Goal of KE is to capture both flags and hold onto them for ten seconds, which triggers Khaine's Embrace and scores points. This effect is en explosion that radiates out from both flags and will instantly kill anyone caught in the blast wave, whether they were the ones that triggered it or not.

Due to the placement of the flags a large portion of the fighting tends to take place in the center of the map, with smaller skirmishes happening in the tunnels.

The trick to winning this scenario is finding the right balance between offence and defense. In matches where it's PuG Zerg vs PuG Zerg you'll likely see the timer run out before the point cap of 500 is reached. However if one of the groups is more organized than the other, the match can go very quickly.

In most of my experience as Order, Chaos tends to go on the offensive the hardest, which leaves their flag very vulnerable early on. This means that a small strike group that gets through to their flag will find it very vulnerable, and will hopefully be able to capture it quickly.

For a general overarching strategy I'd say keep the RDPS along with most healers and tanks on defense. Have the tanks & healers watch the three approaches (Tunnel 1 tank, Center 2-3 tanks, back path 1 tank). Also form a strike group of Melee DPS and some support (at least one strong healer) to use for flag assaults. If the Chaos forces pull more forces back to defend, strengthen the assault team and push forward through expanding the defensive tanks, but I would suggest always leave at least three or four people behind to defend which can buy time for reinforcements if a larger Chaos force gets behind the front lines.

Witch Hunting in Khaine's Embrace

Whether you are running solo, or as part as a strike force Witch Hunters make an excellent flag capturer. Especially once they get Incognito it is very easy to get to the flag before any defenders are aware you are there.

My favorite opening move as a witch hunter is to take the path that goes behind the Altar of Khaine (see video below). Most people run for the flags to capture then continue on through the tunnels or across the center field. Thus the back path is the safest and quickest way to the enemy capture point until more people begin using it.

This isn't a guaranteed move. Sometimes the defense fails to hold onto the order flag, sometimes chaos leaves some people behind to defend the flag. But usually the Chaos flag is ungaurded, or might have 1 person defending. Also as you come out on the chaos side, keep an eye above you as well. I've seen some defenders hiding above the path to catch runners unaware.

When all goes right you will capture the point and score Order an early point advantage, and possibly be able to capture the point one or two more times before finally being killed or run off. If all goes wrong you'll die horribly.

Eventually though there will be some enemy players to clue in, so this run won't work for the whole fight if you are doing the run solo.

If you don't want to run the back route or that has become innefectual, the central field is still open enough for a witch hunter with incognito to work around to healers and RDPS to put pressure on them as they tend to get spread out.

You can also help on defense by hanging close to the tunnel exit and jumping enemy healers that come through that way. Also use Snap Shot to help keep Chaos players from capturing the flag.

Here's the video showing the back run at the start of a KE match. Even with me wasting time due to thinking I had seen a Witch Elf stealth, I beat an Order attack band that had used the tunnels by a few seconds.



Come back tomorrow for a look at the final Tier 1 Scenario: Gates of Ekrund.

Witch Hunting in Nordenwatch

Nordenwatch is the Tier 1 RvR Scenario for Empire vs. Chaos.

This is a basic territory control map, with three control points: The Lighthouse, The Fortress, and The Barracks.

The Empire forces start off on a dock (lower right in the map) closest to the Lighthouse, while Chaos starts off at their beach head near the Barracks.

Points are gained through capturing and holding one of the three objectives and through killing enemy players.

The Scenario generally starts as a race to the Fortress, with a few members of each realm holding back at the capture point nearest their starting point. The first realm to get inside the fortress holds the advantage as they can stall the enemy advance at one of the two natural chokepoints (the bridge or the slope).

One opening variant is when one of the realms opts to give up control of the fortress and heads en-mass to the enemy's initial capture point, which is often lightly guarded or totally ungaurded. This can be a quick way to gain a point lead early, though map position is tenuous and the enemy can wipe out your advantage if they capture your starting capture point and the fortress quickly.

Once the opening gambit has played out this scenario usually turns into a game of swapping the lighthouse for the barracks while most people fight for controll of the fortress.

Tips for Witch Hunting in Nordenwatch

For the most part I would suggest avoiding the Fortress zergs as a Witch Hunter. At the very least wait until the Empire forces have pushed past the bridge and are fighting a skirmish with Chaos in the center of the fortress around the flag, then pick on any squishies who have gotten too deep into the Empire mass.

Don't run into the back lines unless you have Incognito up. Generally there is enough open ground that the Chaos will see you as you try to close ground and will burn you down quickly. Plus, with good groups, some healers will shift their heals to your target making your attacks pointless. This is less likely to happen on the front.

If you choose to go to the fortress (and some times you will need to, depending on group make-up) expect to die. The chokepoints that keep people out also serve to keep people in, making escaping a bad situation hard (unless you are healthy enough to jump off a cliff and survive fall damage).

Also while in the fortress keep an eye out on the fortress walls. Ranged DPS and Healers like to hide up on the wall and cause trouble for those in the courtyard.

Where a Witch Hunter can shine in Nordenwatch is being part of a strike group that roves between the Lighthouse and the Barracks, picking off stragglers and capturing lightly defended points. Especially right from the opening charge, if you break off and run straight to the barracks you will usually arrive just after Chaos captures the point. The capturers run off to help in the Fortress fight. This means that you will have an open window for capturing the Barracks quickly. To ensure sucess in most scenarios there should be at least three people doing this, one of them a healer.

Inquisition helps greatly in this roll, as you can approach capture points easier and catch any defenders off-guard.

Once you have captured the Barracks attack can come from two directions, respawning Chaos from their beach head, or people falling back from the Fortress. If you are the only one guarding the Barracks, I'd suggest hiding on the north side of the buildings. If there are more of you (and especially if Chaos controls the fortress) move up to the top of the hill. There is a tree and a bush there that are perfect for hiding in, right next to where most RDPS and Healers stop to support the melee around the flag.

Finally, keep in mind that there are a ton of alternate routes to get places in this scenario. From a lower path around the back of a keep, to hopping down rocks on the way to the Barracks. Most of the zergs take the straight lines between objectives, so learn how to use these paths to get around them and strike where it hurts.


Tomorrow I'll talk about Witch Hunting in Khaine's Embrace.

Open Beta Inquisition

The open beta has been going on for a few days now and I've been spreading my time over all the careers getting a feel for how they play. It's been quite fun seeing the different tactics needed to be employed by the different careers.

So far my non-witch hunter favorites have been the Shadow Warrior, White Lion and the Squig Hunter.

I've been a fan of pet classes in my past MMOs and the White Lion and Squig hunter scratch that itch, though the pets can be non-responsive enough to keep me from going that direction as a main. Mostly this comes through switching targets and calling your pet back. Hopefully Mythic will get the pets under control by release or shortly after.

As far as the Shadow Warrior goes I found it a nice change of pace to be able to sit at range and lay down the DPS. Haven't gotten high enough with one to experience much of the stance dancing, but apparently they can be fairly formidable in melee while in Assault Stance. This will probably be my go-to class for when I need to take a break from witch hunting.

The client and combat has been much more stable during the OB period so far. I've had a few times where combat starts to lag, but I think that might have been my connection as it usually smoothed out if I restarted the game.

The Witch Hunter remains fun even after going through the same content yet again. The Snap Shot snare is useful, but is limited in use due to the minimum range on the skill and needing to be used from the rear.

I'm also really missing Incognito in the early levels of Scenarios as it's much harder to close on targets when visible. I've found it best to hang back a few seconds before entering combat just to make sure most people are engaged to help last longer.

I've also shifted my thoughts on my initial career build to run down a path with more debuffing and armor ignorance. Now planning on this build at R40 moving to this build at R40RR80. I'm skipping the Tier 4 Morale abilities because as it stands right now I'm not sure how often a Witch Hunter will acumulate Morale to that level. Not totally sure on a Renown build, but i'm thinking something along these lines, focusing on strength and weapon skill to maximize how much of my damage gets through to the target.

Leading up to the Head Start I plan on looking at Witch Hunter strategies for the 3 teir 1 Scenarios and basic Open RvR area thoughts.

The Drought is Over

While the real feast is still a few weeks out, another appetizer has arrived in the Preview Weekend Plus, offering a quick look right before the Open Beta.

There have been quite a few changes, making the UI a bit sleeker. One of the biggest improvements is the Tome of Knowledge, which has gotten a lot easier to navigate through. There's also a new "Death" release box that looks so much cooler than the old menu box.

There have been quite a few changes to the Witch Hunter skills. I haven't gotten a look at all of them yet, but here are a few that stood out to me:

Snap Shot: A quick pistol shot that deals 75 damage, and can be used on the run.Your attack will snare the enemy if used behind your target, reducing their run speed by 40% for 5 seconds.

The addition of the snare on this basic skill means that Witch Hunter can keep enemies from running away without needing any accusations built up with a specific blessed bullet buff built up. This is especially helpful since our main targets do tend to turn and run once we start hitting them.

Blessed Bullets of Cleansing: You load your pistol with bullets designed to fragment on impact, causing your Executions to deal an additional 150 Spirit damage to the target. The victim will lose 10 Action Points, and you will gain 10 Action Points.

This is the first Blessed Bullets buff that you gain at level 4. In the previous build this buff had the snare element that got moved to Snap Shot, which made it just about the only buff used by the Witch Hunter in RvR/Scenarios. The new mechanic of an AP leech seems like it will be useful in PvE now, especially public quests where you are going from target to target and burning through your AP faster. Though there are times in RvR where you might get on a hot streak and go through your AP fast enough to warrant this.

Blessed Bullets of Purity: You load your pistol with bullets of purest silver, causing your Executions to deal an additional 150 Spirit damage. The victim's Initiative will be reduced by 80 for 10 seconds, and your Initiative will be increased by 80.

This bullet buff is gained at Rank 9. The old build used to return 50% of the execution damage as healing, and was mainly used as a grinding tool. Now it is an Initiative leech. Initiative increases your chance to dodge ranged attacks, detect stealthed opponents and makes it more difficult for enemies to critically hit you. Not bad, but not exactly stellar either. I imagine mostly using this to debuff a target that will be focus fired by RDPS or to help your next execution to hit. This may apply mostly when fighting other MDPS or tanks. On the up side it will also help you hit harder through more crits and last a bit longer due to taking less crits.

Blessed Bullets of Confession: You load your pistol with bullets doused in holy water, causing your Executions to deal an additional 150 Spirit damage. Any healing abilities that the victim uses over the next 5 seconds will become 50% less effective.

This bullet blessing used to simply reduce the target's AP for a set ammount of time. It has received a wonderful change that will make it the best blessing to use against any healer class. Take special note that it is the healing ability the victim uses, not healing applied to the victim. This means that it won't be that effective against careers that don't heal themselves regularly, but it will be terror against careers like shamans, zealots and disciples of khaine, making them less able to heal through our DoTs and burst damage. Even if they don't focus on healing themselves and continue to heal the front line, their effectiveness will be cut for the few seconds they stay alive. The downside is that this skill isn't obtained until Rank 35.

I imagine that these new Blessed Bullets skills will mean that Witch Hunters will no longer just apply and forget the blessing, but instead began shifting through them depending on their target of opportunity, though the 20ap cost of the blessings will keep you from swapping constantly.

Can't wait to see these new bullets in action.