WAR: Tier Two Witch Elf RvR Guide
MMORPG.com Warhammer Online Correspondent Andrew Bobb writes this look at RvR in Tier Two for the popular Dark Elf Witch Elf career in Mythic's RVR-centric game.
After completing the first ten levels as a Witch Elf, you should be familiar with the strengths and weaknesses of the class. Tier One RvR has also given you a feel for how you want to play the class. As you begin leveling through Tier Two, you will begin to focus on a career mastery path. Each point you dedicate to a path increased the effectiveness of that path's core abilities and progresses you towards path exclusive skills.
Since I'm very fond of the guerrilla approach to playing the Witch Elf, we will be following the Path of Treachery. This path focuses on stealth and striking from behind. The Path of Treachery will seem like an underdog, as it you won't see much instant gratification. However, mastering the finesse and strategy needed to play this path will provide an enjoyable and rewarding challenge.
Levels eleven and twelve will respectively unlock Dark Blessing and Force of Will. Dark Blessing is a career tactic which makes heals directed at you more effective. This is great for the front line and almost always useless when flanking. Force of Will is a rank two morale skill which drains one opponent's AP into yourself and lowers their strength. This will put melee characters at a disadvantage and neuter casters.
Ruthless Assault, a new Bloodlust attack, is also available at level twelve. This skill unleashes six attacks over 3 seconds, and deals great damage. However, most player opponents in RvR will not stay put long enough for you to take full advantage of the skill. That said, it is best to save this one for PvE or NPCs like Keep Lords. Stick to Puncture for players as it is must faster; not to mention it will eventually get much better as you allocate career mastery points to the Path of Treachery.
You will receive Jagged Edge at level thirteen and Sever Limb at level fourteen. Jagged Edge, another career tactic, will add damage over time effect to your critical hits. Sever Limb can only be activated after a parry, but it deals damage and causes a disarm effect for five seconds. Disarm prevents your target from using melee or ranged attacks. Sever Limb requires careful attention and quick reflexes, but is quite effective.
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The career tactic Whirling Blades is available at level fifteen. With this tactic slotted, you receive a chance to gain an additional Bloodlust point when you use an ability that generates Bloodlust. This ability lets you frenzy much more frequently when chance is in your favor. While this tactic does provide a powerful effect, I tend to favor tactics with a guaranteed effect.
Level sixteen is a great one. Two new abilities are available, and one of them is the first Path of Treachery core skill since level five. That ability is Throat Slitter, which inflicts the silence status effect, and will inflict bonus damage if you strike from behind. This insidious attack briefly shuts a caster down while you release the fury on them. Rune Priests and Archmages in particular are devastated by this attack, but be aware you will only have one chance to maximize your advantage because this skill has a twenty second cooldown time.
The second ability gained at level sixteen is Confusing Movements. This rank one morale ability allows you to dodge or parry all incoming attacks for a short time. Rushing through the front line, prolonging your time in the opponents backfield, executing a tactical retreat, or going head to head with another melee combatant are all excellent applications of this ability. However, if you are prioritizing faster kills over staying power, it is best to stick with Sever Nerve for the big damage hit.
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Level seventeen grants Alignment of Naggaroth, which is another career tactic. This tactic grants a boost to your spiritual resistance. This one is for the caster killers. Alignment of Naggaroth will enhance your defenses, thereby giving you more time to tie up your opponent. You won't kill as fast, but a caster not supporting his or her team is just making it easier for your team to gain the advantage.
The major landmark of level seventeen is the ability to purchase your first path exclusive ability, which is Swift Movements for the Path of Treachery. This fantastic career tactic reduces the cooldown on Feinted Positioning by 40 seconds. With the cooldown time reduced to 10 seconds, you will be able to make frequent use of the skill to punish heavier armored targets with Agonizing Wound.
You may have become frustrated with being snared every time you go chasing down enemy casters. At level eighteen a trip to the career trainer to pick up Fleet Footed will relieve your frustrations. This wonderful skill will make you immune to snare and root effects for a short time. Just when the forces of Order thought they were safe, you can let a sinister grin slither across your face and put the fear of the Druchii back in their hearts as you chase them down at full speed.
Brute Force, a career tactic which provides a massive boost to strength, is available at level nineteen. This tactic brings the dilemma to continue using Swift Movements or go for the strength boost. At this point, you will have two positional abilities: Agonizing Wound and Throat Slitter. If you are using Shadow Prowler to get behind the enemy and attack magic users, you will likely get Throat Slitter off before your target turns around. Agonizing Wound is for armored targets, so go ahead and slot Brute Force unless you plan on making heavy use of Feinted Positioning as a front line attacker.
Level twenty brings you another magnificent set of options. Not only can you head to The Inevitable City to purchase your Cold One mount, you also get two abilities. One is Relentless Assault, a rank two morale ability which restores ten AP a second to your whole group for a duration of ten seconds. While the previous rank two morale skill, Force of Will, can effectively empty one opponent's AP pool, Relentless Assault will provide significant help to your team. However, Force of Will is still useful when making solo flank attacks.
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Enfeebling Strike is the true gem of level twenty. This delightfully nasty skill is an opening attack from prowling which, for fifteen seconds, causes your target to take damage every time they move. Add to this the fact that you get two Bloodlust and half cost skills for ten seconds and you have one awesome package. Unless your victim receives a quick rescue, this is almost a guaranteed kill against the ranged attackers and healers that Witch Elves excel at killing. They will kill themselves if they try to run, and they still have to deal with you whether they flee or stay put.
At the end of these ten levels you will have a large number of options at your disposal. You can focus on frontline, flanking, maxing damage output, boosting defenses, killing casters, and many other options. You can build to a specific purpose or set up to have something for any situation. If you intend to spend most of your time with minimal support then building for a specific purpose is most useful. However, you can provide invaluable group support as a generalist. Don't forget your stealth also makes you an excellent candidate to claim scenario objectives.
