I've been getting a lot of google hits from folks who are looking for information on the different tanking careers. Most of them are somthing like "Ironbreaker vs. Swordmaster vs. Black Orc vs. Chosen"
So what I figure I'll do is post up some links to the best posts on Warhammer Alliance. There are some good contributors over there. And there is also some junk to filter through. I'll also include some links to a few of my favorite blogs.
So, for all you A.D.D. types who want a quick hit of information, here you go.
I found the results interesting as all of you have voted in the last couple of days.
Initially the Swordmaster was much lower and it was the Ironbreaker that was leading the pack. As the open beta progressed, the Black Orc moved up from 3rd spot and eventually took the lead.
I think these results accurately reflect the amount of interest and complaints posted on the forums over at WarhammerAlliance
Lots of people are finding the Black Orc and the Ironbreaker more fun, and powerful, in the early levels than thier realm counterparts.
There were 432 Votes. This means that the results should be accurate plus or minus 4%, 95% of the time.
Results came in from all over the world, mainly The US, Canada and Europe. Interestingly there were no results from Mexico or South America. Africa was represented with 2 votes from South Africa.
There were a couple votes from the Middle East, Thailand, and one from South Korea.
The most northerly tank you'll find is a Swordmaster from Finland. Naturally the guy from Moscow is going to go Chosen, and probably invade the Ukraine...
Folks from Hawaii are friendly, there's only Order to be found there.
All in all the careers are pretty close, except for Swordmaster. Either Elves are too wimpy looking or that career isn't as well done as it could be, hopefully it balances out over time.
Damond sent me an email. And because his email contained a number of characters used in languages from nothern europe his request moves to the top of the list. I'm imagining him in Norway, a couple of pairs of cross country skiis in the corner, some lefse on the table beside him... just waiting for me to write this post!
So his question was...
Anyway, what id like you to do is to make a black orc vs chosen post.
In this post id like you to discuss the ups and downs for the two
careers. Id like you to get into how well you think the black orcs plan
system works (to me this system seems a bit narrow and locked up to a
few attack combinations) and how well the auras works for the chosen
(switching around, having 2-3 auras on at one time). Also it would be
nice if you could tell which one you would pick and why.
The second thing id like you to post about, is how leveling as a tank
is. Does it take ages to level tank specced, or is it a good idea for
that matter? Or is it better to just go 2 hander and wack out as much
dps as you can, till you reach rank 40 and then respeck tanking?
I want to preface my next comparison, which will be short. First, I'm going to collect up some information from people who've played the classes more than me and give you some links to read more on after I summarize.
Second. It's very hard to predict how these characters are going to play in the end game. Invariably there will be several buffs and nerfs over the next couple of patches that might change things fairly significantly.
Third. In the grand scheme of things the amount of time it takes you to level won't make a big difference in your gameplay experience. In other mmo's the difference between a quick leveling character and a slow one has been plus or minus 30%. So if it takes you 8 weeks to level to 40 or 10, it's really not that big a deal. You'll be at the level cap before you know it.
So here we go.
Chosen
Overview
The Chosen are the tanks of the Chaos, brothers of The Magus, Zealots, and Marauders. They follow Tzeentch who is into messing up the status quo and magic. They're kind of despondent, cold bastards who summon magic to mess people up. They wear really cool heavy armour.
Main Style
Chosen are, of course Tanks, and as such are meant to be survivable, and deal less dps than many other careers. Their main advantage seems to be using buffs and debuffs on their targets and using auras. These effects are somewhat useful to you, but they'll really shine when you have a proper group put together.
The thing that really stands out is the auras. When you put one aura up you can put another up in 5 seconds. When you change auras the first will last 12 seconds before it fades. This means that you can have 3 up most of the time. If doing this sounds like a pain in the ass then being a chosen isn't for you cause you'll have to do that and generate threat on the mob, or debuff and dps the player you're attacking.
Perceived Strengths
This class is good at soaking up damage and helping out your group mates. I believe, although I am sure someone will tell me otherwise, that having a solid Chosen in the group will help the group kill enemies faster than the same group with an Orc in it.
Perceived Weaknesses
I think that Chosen will turn out to have lower one on one DPS and potentially lower threat generation. Combine that with having to be precise with twisting auras and you might find less chosen at higher levels than you might expect.
Black Orcs are well, big Greenskins. To me they really epitomize the Destruction side of things. They're big brawlers who grunt and smash things. They're not too smart but don't need to be.
Main Style
All indicators are that the Black Orc is a fun career to play, and it involves basically smashing stuff and knocking it down as much as possible. Obviously soaking up damage is key but it's straight forward, target something and use your abilities. They also have combos and finishing attacks to help improve your odds.
Perceived Strengths
Orcs are going to be fairly popular. They seem like strong tanks that do good dps on their own although not as much as the pure dps classes of course. If you get into your character the whole angry brute thing has got to be fun.
Perceived Weaknesses
I believe that initially the Black Orc will be a smidge inferior to the Chosen at taking damage. That's the word on the street anyway. This will likely mean you'll see more Black Orcs swinging two handers than carrying sheilds but that remains to be seen
Don't put a whole lot of faith into this very simple overview. A lot is going to change in the first couple of patches and you want to be playing a character you find fun where they playstyle and role match what you want out of the game.
It'll be interesting to see where tanking stands when everyone hits the end game. The whole Tank archetype hasn't done well in PVP in MMO's over the years.
Leveling
I believe that one should not decide to spec into tanking only when they hit level 40. There are a number of reasons for this.
You'll want to tank for your group all the way up to 40
You'll likely switch back and forth from questing, RVR, PVE Grouping many times while leveling up
You'll probably switch weapons/shield from fight to fight, rather than only after 40 levels
You'll want to know how to tank for real once you reach 40. There's no faster way to a bad reputation then by screwing up an instance run early on.
