This post comes from Duty on Warhammer Alliance, I plan to add more to it in the future as there are some blaring omissions, but it is a good read none-the-less.
It has always been my hope and sincerest wish that users of this guide learn something and become better players. I hope you, the reader, enjoy this guide and do, in fact, learn something!

The Types of Combat
In Warhammer Online, and indeed most MMOs in general, there are four basic types of “PUG” (Pick Up Group), which is to say- unorganized, combat. What I mean by unorganized is that the players on each side are a random assortment of players that don’t have a set plan in mind and are often very uncoordinated. They either never gain a plan, or they have to just make it up as they go along. The four basic types of PUG combat are:

Large Group, aka “Zerg”
The term zerg refers to a race in the strategy game “Starcraft.” The main tactic for this race was not getting the best units or technologies, but instead the race was all about getting as many units onto the battlefield at one time…whether the units are very effective or not. Therefore, the “zerg” has come to be a term meaning “a very large, unorganized mass of players.” When in a zerg situation, MDPS are at their very weakest. It is difficult for them to cross the field and do anything meaningful before they are gunned down by the large mass of ranged players.

Medium Group
A medium group could be loosely defined as 7-18 players. This size of group will most commonly be encountered in scenarios. MDPS fair surprisingly well in this situation, as long as the player understands some basic principles. “The Flow of Battle,” my original guide, as well as the chapter with the same name, address this situation.

Small Group
Approximately 2-5 players. This is when MDPS are at their strongest. MDPS typically have the damage power to kill most healers and ranged damage (RDPS) classes by themselves, and the offense threats against them are at a minimum in this situation.

Solo
1v1 combat. MDPS are very strong here as well, but don’t fair as well as melee healers like Warrior-Priests and Disciples.

Basic Tips for Any Combat Situation
There are some basic things that will greatly improve your chances of success as a MDPS, no matter your combat situation.

Have a healer friend.
This is listed first for a reason! Cherish them as much as they should cherish you. In a tier 1 game having a healer would mean the difference from a game with 10 kills and 10k damage to a game of 18 kills and 35k damage. I prefer the ranged healers of any type as you can use your snare to peel enemies off them. The ranged healers also further improve your magic resistances with the appropriate buff…which is GREAT to have (always ask for resist buff over strength buff, trust me and tell them politely to use it on themselves!). Don’t underestimate the power of having a melee healer with you though (especially if they have a tank friend to guard them!). Their armor buff is extremely helpful.

Know your enemy.
First, know that your biggest enemy is other melee. You have light or medium armor with only about 25% damage mitigation. A defensive tank gets up to 70% mitigation, an offensive tank 45%ish mitigation. That’s a big difference! Second: know that ranged healers stand no chance against you. Last, know that if you start a fight in melee range against an RDPS, it’s pretty much over for them as well.

Know thyself.
You’re mainly a skirmisher…a caster killer. You’re not built to stay on the front lines like a tank. Get in, get your kill, and get out if you’re going to take hits.

Situational Awareness
This is basically being aware of your surroundings. Very often it is wise to pan your camera around to check if you’re about to be flanked, or what your enemy is about to do. Don’t get too caught up in the frenzy of battle.

Stick Together
Never run strait into the zerg unless all the melee run in together. You will get tab targeted and focused down unless there are other melee (especially a shield tank) to absorb part of the damage for you. Running in all together is very effective, but takes some coordination that most pug groups aren’t willing to display.

Gear and Statistics
For a list of formulas regarding gear and statistics, reference here.
The most important stats on gear, in my personal preference order (I say it this way because it’s bound to be debated), are:

Resists – You’re a caster killer, and they don’t like to see you coming! Resists are very important for your survival. Even the “physical” ranged damage: Shadow Warriors, Engineers, and Squig Herders, are equipped with a number of skills that are based on resists. Do not spend RPs on increasing resists though. All your resists should come through gear and buffs from friends.

Armor – Realistically, armor is soft capped by the type you wear and so increasing it isn’t always possible. Still, you want armor as your biggest enemy is other melee. Having a melee healer (Warrior-Priest or Disciple) in your group that runs the armor buff helps significantly. I would not spend your RPs on increasing armor, increase it through gear or buffs from friends.

Strength – You’re a damage class. Strength improves your damage. Makes sense! But wait Duty, I’m a Witch Hunter and have ranged skills, shouldn’t I stack Ballistic? No. WHs have a very high base Ballistic skill. Mythic gave them this so their stat spread wouldn’t be too crazy. Stack strength as a Witch Hunter just as you would other classes. Strength is where the majority of RPs should be spent.

Toughness – Per point, in my opinion, resists/armor offer a lot more survivability increase, but you can only get so much of those. Toughness is the next best survivability stat. For AoE-focused character builds, I’d recommend stacking toughness equally or in preference with strength. These builds tend to do well in large situations with healers to support the MDPS. Because you will be taking so much damage in these situations, toughness becomes more vital. Toughness is where your secondary RPs should be spent.

Initiative – Lowering your chance to be crit is nice, but still won’t have as much effect as other defensive stats. Dodge chance is nice to have to avoid the crowd control and damage skills of shadow warriors, squig herders, engineers, and witch hunters. A note: the point-blank area of effect root of Shadow Warriors, Squig Herders, and Engineers is considered a ranged skill, and so is dodged, not parried.

Weapon Skill – The armor penetration is not as significant as you might think. First, you’re killing casters, they don’t have a lot of armor (and armor does not work logarithmically like it does in other games…it’s a flat increase, so armor penetration is more useful against high armor targets due to hitting the “penetration cap” on lower armored targets). Melee is your biggest enemy, but you are trying to avoid them, and armor is a natural defense against them that doesn’t eat stat budget (stat budget refers to what stats you spend on your gear…you can only have so many stats and so have to choose). Weapon skill is nice to have, but you get more offensive punch out of strength, and more defensive punch out of toughness, initiative, and armor.

Willpower – Since MDPS don’t heal, 1/2 this stat is worthless. The other half seems beneficial, but you don’t gain enough disrupt chance to warrant stacking over other stats.

Ballistic – Mostly worthless. Helps Witch Hunters some, but Strength will net you a better DPS increase.

Intellect - Mostly worthless.

Tips for Large Group Situations
Zergs aren’t easy for MDPS. In fact I’d say they’re downright painful if you have a bad group or no support. Brawler types tend to fair much much better, but still are at a general disadvantage in this situation. Obviously character builds that emphasize AoE (Area of Effect…skills that hit multiple characters at a time), such as the Marauder’s Monstrosity line, will fair better.

Large group situations tend not to “whittle down” to smaller and smaller groups. There are typically too many players to kill before the ones you just dispatched are already back. Splitting up to take multiple objectives, or players just logging/relocating are the only ways zergs tend to dissipate. Since you’re weak at this type of combat: encourage dissipation. Go somewhere else, fight another battle. Don’t play the zerg game and don’t be a sheep. Even if you have to 1v1 you’re in a much stronger position.

Still, if you feel you must participate in a zerg, you must know that zergs don’t generally get progressively smaller, and so aren’t won by killing all the players. They’re won by pushes. Admittedly, it can be incredibly fun charging the line and routing your enemies even if that’s more a tank’s job then MDPS.

To best win the pushing, you must coordinate melee charges. You can’t send 1-2 melee guys at a time as they get slaughtered. It can be difficult in a PUG to rally players to all charge at the same time…but when you do get enough to make a difference, it’s quite a sight to behold as you rout the enemy and slaughter them from behind. If possible you want to stay behind tanks that are using “Hold the Line.” You’ll recognize it as an animation that sprays behind the tank, and he will hold his shield steadfast in front of him. He gains a 45% chance to dodge and disrupt (that is: avoid any ranged attack) while you gain 15% chance to do the same. However, you can gain the benefit up to 3 times if you stand behind 3 tanks doing it, which gives you a total of 45% to avoid any ranged attack. Hold the Line only lasts a short amount of time…it’s meant to get you to the action (which by that time your enemy will probably be routing unless they have significant amounts of melee players to hide behind).

After you get to the fighting, it’s pretty simple. Assist other players by focusing on 1 guy at a time to kill them faster, and don’t go beyond the front line. The worst thing you can do is pass your tanks, because you’ll get “tab targeted,” which refers to players hitting the “target closest player” button and all focusing on you. You want to let your tanks take the damage…that’s what they’re there for. You try to remain as inconspicuous as possible.

If you have 2 or more ranged healing friends that are dedicated to keeping you alive, you can really rampage and flourish in a large group situation, as long as you are a brawler MDPS (marauder or white lion) that is specialized in AoEs. You can often run in and kill several players at chokepoints when you have such a support corps. Using Monstrosity spec on my Marauder, I’ve managed to kill 13 players near simultaneously while they came up the stairs in a Dark Elf keep. The secret is to choose your spot: a chokepoint where they’re all bunched up (like stairs, a doorway or a bridge), know your AoE combos, and have help to keep you alive. When things go the right way, you’ll net LOTS of kills and have a ton of fun doing so.

The Flow of Battle: Medium Group Situations
Let me start by saying that there is a very key difference in how medium group battles tend to take place from large group battles: they whittle down. What I mean is that as players die, it becomes a progressively smaller group situation. So as medium group battles carry on, MDPS get stronger and stronger.

You must use this to your advantage! I have recommended this approach because I know the power of the tab target. The biggest difference in an organized group against an unorganized one is that the organized guys are all hitting the same target to kill him faster, while unorganized guys are hitting all different ones. Tab Target turns those unorganized guys into organized ones by making sure they all target you: the melee guy who happens to be closest. I’ve recommended this approach so you don’t get into that particularly nasty situation.

Phase 1: The Skirmish
When two armies first meet, the skirmish takes place. This is a period where each side is at full or near full strength. Ranged characters are at their best as they can safely hide behind melee types and blast away. The cardinal rule for MDPS of this stage is to stay alive. Don’t take risks. Your RPDS buddies are at their strongest: so let them do their job! Let them pick away at the enemy forces from a safe distance. Your job is to use that wonderful snare that all MDPS have and help your RDPS friends stay away from the melee players that charge too early.

The more melee players from the enemy side that want to charge over, the better. Kill those foolish melee! They’re your biggest enemy and the more you remove, the better your survival chances are later in the fight. Even if they’re tanks, they’re by far the safest thing to beat on at this stage, and with enough people focusing on them, they’ll die eventually.

Don’t worry, they will come to you. A true master does not chase his enemies, but lets his enemies come to him on his land…his advantage. Let their melee come (and they will), as they’re easy to single out and destroy. If one of them happens to target you, run back into your group so you “overextend” him. This means you make him chase you out of range of his support: where he becomes a very easy target.

Phase 2: Fun Time!
After their melee characters are either dead or otherwise distracted away from you, it’s time for you to make your move. You want to get at the casters at this stage. Try to flank or otherwise reach them without drawing attention. Stealth characters excel at this as they can cross the battlefield without drawing focus to themselves. Brawlers may be tempted to use Charge! but this is unwise. You not only want to save Charge! for retreating or catching a player that tries to escape, but it also brings attention to that fast moving White Lion blazing across the field…something you don’t want.

Once behind the front lines, you should know which classes to kill first. Because the majority of their healing comes from their “big heal,” which is easily pushed back when they take damage, killing ranged healers is often the easiest to do, and often enough required before you can kill anything else (they’ll just keep healing it!).

If you think you can get away with it without them getting heals: kill “Glass Cannons,” which are Sorceresses and Bright Wizards first. They do a TON of damage and can ruin your day if you don’t take care of them. If smart ranged healers are around to prevent you from doing so, you’ll have to kill the healers first.

After the ranged healers and glass cannons are dead or not present, take out “skirmishers,” who are Squig Herders and Shadow Warriors. These classes have a lot of crowd control and can make life very frustrating. Taking them out makes your job easier. Last, take out the “defender RDPS,” which are the engineers and mages of Tzeentch. They are the most difficult of the ranged characters to kill, and typically aren’t your first choice to kill.

So the kill order tends to generally (there are exceptions that experience will teach you) look like this:

Shaman/Archmage
Zealot/Runepriest
Sorceress/Bright Wizard – First if you can get away with it
Squig Herder/Shadow Warrior
Magus/Engineer
Witch Elf/Witch Hunter
Marauder/White Lion
Disciple/Warrior-Priest
All tanks

If you succeed in not attracting attention, you should almost be guaranteed a kill. You’re brutally effective when facing the enemies weakest to you while the enemies strongest against you are distracted elseware.

If you do attract attention, be ready to retreat. Where as stealthy types rely on getting there unnoticed and are good at it, brawler types tend to excel at getting out if needed. Your detaunt (that is: the skill that reduces the damage players around you deal to you), followed by Charge! if you have it, will get you out of many situations. The whole reason I personally love brawler MDPS is their 50% AoE detaunt. It’s completely underestimated by new players. It has saved me from many many sticky situations.

Understand a key component to this stage: you don’t want to overextend. There is still enough DPS on the field to be a threat to you if you stray from your support. No one can heal or kill the enemies attacking you if you’re out of range. With few exceptions, you don’t want to chase enemies back too far.

Phase 3: Small Group
At some point in the battle, one side will most likely establish itself as the clear victors and will just “mop up the rest.” At this point you are generally free to overextend some (never too much though), chase down enemies, and revel in the glory of killing your enemies.

However, sometimes the sides are fairly even with only about 2-6 players left on each side. This is a time you will want to keep special considerations in mind.

First, there generally isn’t enough DPS still out there to kill you before you can make it back to your support. *Some* overextending and chasing is warranted if it furthers the cause of winning the battle.

Second, you want to focus fire. Take a look who others are killing and help them. Help other DPS classes before you help tanks. If you see a Witch Elf bashing on a Runepriest, and a Black Orc hitting an Archmage, go help the Witch Elf as your combined DPS is pretty staggering.

Third, help your ranged guys by using your snare against their melee pursuers. Keep them safe: your best weapon is the guy beside you (for proof of this, calculate your current weapon vs getting the best weapon in the game for your class…figure out the gain. Will you gain double the damage or healing, double the hit points, and double the utility skills that you get from having a friend?).

Solo Battles
Solo battles are truly beyond the scope of this guide, as they are a much more exact science then groups. They depend on your class and what class you are facing more then anything, and tend to become exact blow-for-blow, counter-for-counter fights.

There are some key advantages and tips MDPS players have in solo situations though. Knowledge of which classes you can defeat and which generally defeat you is paramount. In general the melee healers, which are Warrior-Priests and Disciples, tend to be the strongest solo classes, and most of the time you’ll want to avoid engaging them. Tanks also tend to be fairly tough, but most of the time will not finish you off before you can escape them if the battle goes poorly, as your escape moves tend to trump their pursuit moves.

Knowing which classes you can engage and which you can not is very important because MDPS, over any other class, have the power of selecting their engagements. Stealth and runspeed buffs (Charge!) give you that power. You’re very hard to escape and you can escape very easily.

It’s always beneficial to get the first blow in as well. You have a major advantage, especially against ranged characters, if you can reach them before they know you’re coming. Lastly, bring friends. Two or more can always accomplish more then one solo player.

Closing
This concludes the basic training for MDPS in RvR. It may sound like a lot more work then it is, but with some practice you can become a successful player. The key is to be patient and fight on your terms…not the enemy’s. Don’t go chasing kills when they’ll come right to you. And bring friends!

That is good news for all of you Warhammer Fans though! I will be posting warhammer information every few days and giving some updates on my progress in the game.

(Ideazon Zboard keyboard for Warhammer Online: Age of Reckoning.)
Kemmler’s Arthritic Hand
“Creates a shield of protection allowing  your Action Points to regenerate faster”

(Warhammer strategy guide)
Adventurer’s Handbook
10% xp bonus that last two hours at a time (still need more info about this one)

(CE or normal_Preorder)
RITTENBACH’S PORTABLE CAMP
“Rest your weary soul and heal your wounds between battles.”

(Normal pre-order from Target)
VINDICATOR’S RUBY BAND
Enhance your stats and cast “Touch of Flame,” increasing your chance of doing additional elemental damage with each hit.

(CE_or Normal_Pre-order from GameStop or EB Games online or in-store)
SENTINEL’S AMBER BAND
Enhance your stats and cast “Touch of Earth,” increasing your chance of doing additional corporeal damage with each hit. (Usable in PvE combat only.)

(CE_Pre-order from Amazon.com, GoGamer.com, GameCrazy or EAStore.com___Or normal pre-order from Amazon.com**, Circuit City, Direct2Drive**, EAStore.com**, EB Canada, Fry’s, GameCrazy, GoGamer.com, and WalMart.com)
GUARDIAN’S IOLITE BAND
Enhance your stats and cast “Touch of Spirit,” increasing your chance of doing additional spiritual damage with each hit. (Usable in PvE combat only.)

(CE_Pre-order from Best Buy or BestBuy.com or normal from Best Buy)
CHAMPION’S SAPPHIRE BAND
Enhance your stats and cast “Touch of Frost,” increasing your chance of doing additional elemental damage with each hit. (Usable in PvE combat only.)

(In CE box)
BONUS IN-GAME CONTENT — THE LIBRAMS OF INSIGHT
Readers of the Librams of Insight are granted special insight into their own actions and earn experience at a higher rate for a limited time.

(in CE Box)
Purchasers of the Collector’s Edition will begin their adventures in the Age of Reckoning with twelve (12) additional quests awaiting them in the Tome of Knowledge. Each quest offers an exciting reward, as well as an exclusive character title, that will aid the player in their battles on the front lines.
http://www.warhammeronline.com/collectorsedition/ for more info.

(in CE Box)
The WAR Collector’s Edition includes twelve (12) bonus heads for additional character customization options. Each race gets a truly unique look (with male and female versions) that is sure to turn heads on the battlefields and be the envy of everyone in the army.

(Gamesday 2008 events) (need more info about what events)
Skaven Skin Cloak

(Command & Conquer: Red Alert 3 Premier Edition)
Korssar’s Helm Description:
This magical Kislevite helm is imbued with the spirit of the wild North and will magically transform the wearer into a ferocious bear.

(Realm that has control over the greatest number of regions in Road-to-War)
Never-Ending Bowl of Custard—and a special player title.
The custard may be eaten or hurled at an enemy, and will always be replenished.

(Individual honors will also be given for the top Gold earners, best recruiters, and other top competitors throughout the Road to WAR.)
Signet of the Cursed Company

Warhammer’s Release Date
When I first heard that WAR wouldn’t be out until 2009, I was sad but I just figured that they were taking the time to make the game perfect. All of a sudden, there is a mid September release date pulled out of no where and the first thing I thought to myself was, “Mythic is being told to put out of push off.”

The game has come along in a quite rapid manner in the last month. Bugs are being ironed out and the client is starting to feel much better. The CTDs that Beta 3.1 brought on became much more scarce, but the game still lacked the polish that I expect a game being released in a month to have.

The Dev’s are telling us great things about Beta 4.1 right now, well not much, but they are saying things like the CTDs are fixed, server latency is down, and the game is just more polished and getting ready to be in release candidate material. I am hopeful that they aren’t being optimistic, only time will tell.

Crafting
Right now, honestly, the state of Crafting in WAR is totally unacceptable. There is one crafting profession in the game right now, Apothecary, and it is a complete waste of time and money. In fact, it is a money sink because of the massive gold you have to pump into it to build it up.

There is one other official crafting system, talisman making, that isn’t even in the game yet. The ingredients have started dropping from Scavenged mobs, but they are completely worthless, you can’t even sell them. All they are good for is getting an unlock in you ToK for destroying items. Good job Mr. “The Wasteful”.

The gathering systems are kind of mediocre as well. There is Butchering, Scavenging, and Cultivation. The only one worth my while right now is Scavenging because you make so much money with it. There aren’t just enough “animal” type mobs that you kill to make butchering better than scavenging. Don’t even get me started on cultivation, this should really be a crafting system because that is how it behaves…

Right now, the crafting system is a slap in the face to most MMORPG fans and I really hope that Mythic gets it together before release comes out. I really hope that they have it together in 4.1 so that we can make sure it works. Again, only time will tell, but it has been unwise to pay so little attention to a part of the game that so many people enjoy.

The loss of the four cities
In case you didn’t know, there are only two capital cities in Warhammer. There were supposed to be six, one for each of the six races, but four of them got dropped because they take too long to develop apparently.

The two cities that they did make, Aldorf for the Empire and The Inevitable City for the Chaos, are spectacular. They are huge, well made cities. These cities also serve as the high end raiding content for the opposing faction, so I can understand that it takes a lot of time and attention to detail to make these cities work out perfectly.

I am sure that this decision made sense in Mythic’s eyes but in my eyes, the eyes of a player, this was another total slap in the face. This totally breaks the lore for four of Warhammer’s races. This decision to take out the four cities also breaks the game sort of, there really isn’t a reason to PVP in the Dwarf/Greenskin and Dark/High Elf areas as there is no end game content to work towards.

The loss of the four classes
The decision to take out the four unfinished classes was probably again, a good decision in the eyes of mythic, but in my eyes all it did was break the game. The Greenskin/Dwarf classes that got taken out were both DPS, so they really don’t make that much of a difference because they were mirrors of each other.

On the other hand, the two tank classes that were taken out, Black Guard and KotBS, both make a world of a difference in scenarios. The lack of a tank class makes its totally imbalanced at early levels for Empire and Dark Elves.

I really hope that Mythic will put these classes in soon, but I rather doubt it.

PvP
In Warhammer, PvP is called RvR. Realm versus Realm. This means the Realm of Order versus the Realm of Destruction.  This is an area where Warhammer shines. The PVP is great and at higher levels, you really don’t notice the absence of the four omitted classes, well the order might because the KotBS gives auras like the Chosen, and they are really helpful.

The Scenarios in WAR, equivalent to Battlegrounds in WoW, are great. There are two ways to win, get the 500 points you need or wait 15 minutes and whoever has the most points wins. This takes out the turtling tactic that people did in WoW and it just makes Scenarios much more enjoyable.

Open World RvR takes place in “Lakes”. These lakes have objectives and you have to work together as a team to get things done. These battles can get rather massive at times and they certainly feel really epic.

Public Quests
In WAR, Public Quests are community quests with community objectives. They are one of the most unique parts of the game and they add another dimension to the leveling experience, making it possible for characters to get excellent loot while working together.

Public Quests work in this manner, there is a set of objectives that get progressively harder and eventually lead up to a boss mob. When a boss mob is killed, a chest spawns and everyone automatically rolls for loot. The more you did in the PQ, the more bonus points you get added to your roll, it makes it so that people who work harder and contribute more have a greater chance of getting the bags.

There are a set amount of bags for each PQ and the highest rolls+bonus points get the bags. In the bags there are loot and money if you don’t need the loot. There are different types of bags, white, green, blue. purple, and gold. Each bag has all the things that the lower level bag has in it, but it also has another more powerful item. So, say you get a purple bag. It will have everything that the blue bag had in it, but it will also have another item that you may want.

Also, as you do a PQ, you get influence points which allow you to get Influence Rewards. These rewards are there as guaranteed rewards from doing a PQ and the rewards change as you change chapters. The items are quite good so it gives you a reason to do the PQs.

PvE
Warhammer has PvE just like every other MMORPG. There is high end raiding, and yes you do need to do RvR to access it, but the PvE is there none the less.

One thing I don’t like about Warhammer is that it killed the High End raiding guilds. There is really no reason to have a guild like Death and Taxes in WAR because the PvE is not that hard. The encounters are fun but they are made to be enjoyed by PUG groups, and because of this they are no where near the difficulty level of say C’thun in WoW.

Guilds
The Living Guild system in Warhammer is probably the best guild system I have ever seen. I wrote up a large post on it that you can read here.

Predictions
I think that WAR will be an incredible game. I have played it and I know that it has potential. It is in the hands of the Devs now to get their shit together and finish this project that they started.  They don’t need to take anymore shortcuts or breaks. As I said before, they need to put out or push off.

I think that WAR’s launch will go smoother than WoW’s did, it will have to, People expect a game that can compete with WoW right when the play it. You only have a few days to make a first impression and I am praying that Warhammer’s impression is better than Age of Conan’s.

Sorry for such a long post, but I had to do the game the justice that it deserved.

If you have any opiniions about WAR or completly disagree with somethign that I said, feel free to post a comment and contribute to the story.

The video below shows me playing a Rank 1 Shaman in a Scenario, a battleground in WAR. The Scenario is called Gates of Ekrund and it is located in the Greenskins vs the Dwarfs Teir 1.

The best thing about RvR in WAR is that you can actually increase your rank in PvP combat. At the end of the scenario I think I level up to level 2, just in one PVP experience. In the beta, most of my characters I level exclusively through PVP because I have already done the questing and don’t want to get burnt out on it. Leveling through PVP takes a good deal longer but it is really fun .

I highly suggest watching in High Quality on Youtube but you can watch it in standard quality below.

Now that the NDA has been lifted I figure that I can show you guys a few screenshots that I have taken over the past few days, they are just random moments in the game where I thought, “Hey this would be a nice screenshot.” So, for now here you guys go, some exclusive Warhammer Beta screenshots, only avaliable on ADC.

Here are the rest of the motivators. Click on them to make them larger.

The CE Beta will probably start up on Tuesday, but knowing mythic the servers won’t come up until late Tuesday night or mid morning on Wednesday, they have been previously taking all day on Tuesday to apply closed beta patches.

Here is the post from the original Warherald entry confirming this:

Well you better be!

CE Pre-Orders are being invited in multiple waves, and the first wave has just hit the shore. The servers aren’t up yet but you can prepare to join the WAAAGH by getting the client now!

Remember that CE invites are still subject to eligibility, but everyone who pre-ordered the CE will get in for the Preview Weekend coming up soon!

We’ll have more for you tomorrow, check back then same bat time, same bat channel.

WAAAGH!!!

What does all this mean? It means that the NDA is commiing down and that I will be able to share everything about the Warhammer Online World that I have learned in the past months of Closed Beta testing.

So, be prepared for war!

I did a little googling around and I confirmed the release date on a few sites.

The release dates are as follows

• September 16th for Pre-Orders with servers going live on the 18th
• September 23rd for regular versions

First, I will cover things that you can learn just by watching the podcast. Then I will hit you guys with a few hush hush things that you probably didn’t know about the Living Guild system. Before I do that tho, I have to say that the Living Guild system is done so well that it almost removes the need for guilds to have a website. The guilds are an important organizational aspect of PVP games and I am, for one, glad to see that the folks at EA/Mythic have done such a spot on job with the Living Guild system. Now to the not so secretive information that you can learn by watching the podcast.

The Living Guilds allows for players to compete and play in a “socially competitive” gaming environment.

Guilds are important because of the RVR-orientated aspect of the game, which makes it easier for a large force of players to compete against another group of players.

Living Guilds advance much like a player in a MMORPG. They level up when players contribute to the guild’s experience pool. As you move through the game, things you do help to level up your guild.

Being apart of a guild allows for you to Attack/Takeover/Control a keep. Only guilds can Control a keep and hang their banners from the keep. This gives benefits to allied players in the area.

Guilds have banners. Yes, banners. When your guild reaches a certain level, you are allowed a standard-bearer on the battlefield, he acts as a beacon for your guild and gives them buffs and what not. Later guild levels allow the standard-bearer to be able to brandish the banner and beat people with it, I’m excited.

You can decorate your banners with trophies from previous victories and you can also take enemy banners from the enemy. You do this by picking it up off the ground or by killing the standard-bearer.

Banners also allow the guild to use Tactics. These tactics allow the banner to be more useful in certain situations. I can only hope that all the tactics are good and that people will not just use the best ones like they do with Perks in Call of Duty 4.

You can also have up to three banners available to your guild at any given time when your guild reaches a certain level.

That does it for the stuff you probably already know, but I need this post to have some length to it and maybe you didn’t know all that, it is still fun to read and imagine what the game will be like. Now on to things that I bet you didn’t know!

There are 40 levels that your guild can obtain, yeah you knew that, but do you know what you get at each level? Don’t worry, I do an I will share it now!

The list will go Level Number. Then I will say what you get (eg. 10. Tactics Point).

1. Your guild gains access to the guild vault.
2. Taxes and Tithes, make members pay a membership fee.
3. Guild Calender
4. You guild can now form alliances and its members also gain access to “The Viper’s Pit.”
5. Various crafting components.
6. Your guild is allowed to have a banner, you get your first tactics slot and tactics point, and you are also allowed to give two members the title of Standard Bearer.
7. Guild Auctions!
8. The ability to claim objectives and another tactics point!
9. Heraldry Reservation and Heraldry Reveals: Base Pattern & Color.
10. Warped Standard Tactics Slot 2 and another tactics point.
11. Crafting Containers
12. Standard Post 1 and a Tactics Point
13. The Standard Bearer ability “Flourish”.
14. Warped Standard Tactics Slot 3 and another tactics point.
15. The Viper Pit Leader’s Hall
16. Warped Standard Trophy Slot and a Tactics Point.
17. Expanded Guild Vault
18. A new standard! The Bloodied Battle Standard! You also get the first tactics slot for this banner, a tactics point, and two more standard bearer titles.
19. Transit to The Viper’s Pit
20. The ability to CLAIM KEEPS & a tactics point.
21. Heraldry Reveal: Emblem.
22. Bloodied Battle Standard Tactics Slot 2 & a tactics point.
23. Transit to Gunbad’s entrance.
24. Standard Post 2 & a Tactics Point.
25. Standard Ability: “Rally”.
26. Bloodied Battle Standard Tactics Slot 3 & a tactics point.
27. Transit to Claimed Keep.
28. Bloodied Battle Standard Trophy Slot & a tactics point.
29. Expanded Guild Vault
30. A new standard! The Corruptor’s War Standard! You also get the first tactics slot for this banner, a tactics point, and two more standard bearer titles.
31. Transit to Bastion Stair Entrance
32. Tactics Point
33. Heraldry Reveal: Shame
34. Corruptor’s Standard Tactics Slot 2 and a tactics point.
35. Transit
36. Tactics point and Standard Post 3.
37. Reduced cost Siege Weaponry.
38. Corruptor’s Standard Tactics Slot 3 and a tactics point.
39. **Coming Soon**
40. Corruptor’s Standard Trophy Slot and a Tactics point.

There you have it! I don’t want to go into detail about what each of these are until the Open Beta rolls around, but that should wet your appetite. I have attached pictures of the interface in game where I got this information, just to prove its legitness.

Until next time!