Warhammer Tank

Which Tank to Choose? - Some helpful links

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.

Tank Popularity - Pre Launch Statistics

 

So the results are in!

Click the graph at the right to see the details.

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.

Great SwordMaster Overview

Cyris on the Warhammer Alliance forums has a nice overview of Swordmaster.  Check it out if you're interested in it.  I think its a bit underrepresented as a class right about now.

An Overview of the Swordmaster

The Swordmaster is one possible tank class that Order players can choose to play in Warhammer Online. Originally designed as an anti-magic tank, the boundaries have since become fuzzy. The strengths of the Swordmaster stem from the ability to wear heavy armor, and the ability to deal large amounts of spirit damage instead of physical damage. (This checks against Spirit Mitigation instead of Physical Mitigation)

The Swordmaster Mechanic

Swordmasters use a mechanic called Balance. It’s a fairly straight forward system in which certain skills require either Normal Balance, Improved Balance, or Perfect Balance to use. In addition, many skills not only require a certain balance, but also increase your balance.

The path of progression through balance is as follows:

Normal -> Improved -> Perfect -> Normal

It is important to note that skills used from Perfect Balance do not consume any AP.

Click here to read the full overview...

Swordmaster video

So I've been drinking a bit and I figure, hey, I'd love to see some Elf on Elf action.  Where better to look than youtube.  After all, it's got almost anything a tank obsessed scotch drinker needs late at night.

I have a number of elf jokes lined up but that annoying dude on my shoulder keeps telling me to STFU and be quiet.  After all, my friends will tell you I have a level 70 Night Elf Hunter in another life.

So this video, with it's crappy audio, (turn down your speakers) will give you a bit of the feel of a very early blade twirling high elf Swordmaster. 

Just to repeat earlier posts, don't judge the class by this, only the feel of a new toon on Sept 18th.

Ironbreaker vs. Swordmaster

Here are two good threads on warhammeralliance that discuss the Ironbreaker vs. the Swordmaster.

Thread 1
Thread 2

It seems to me, based on the responses, that the Ironbreaker comes out on top as a tank.  Especially in the lower levels which is what most people got a chance to test on the preview weekend.

I've never played them, I haven't have the good fortune to get into the closed beta.  But most of the posts seem pretty well thought out.  The Swordmaster just plays as more squishy.

There's a couple things we know however.  One is that in any MMO there needs to be balance and any spin on an archetype needs to be "the same but different"  A tank of a certain level will inevitably need to absorb similar types of damage output in PVE, and be equally survivable in PVP.  Especially in the end game. Otherwise you have thousands of screaming players on your forums giving you grief. 

Certainly, different Tanks will have different roles in PVE and you'll want one of each tank in your guild, but in PVP balance is the watchword.

I fully expect that it'll take Mythic a couple of patches to make sure that tanks are well balanced in this regard.  When the game launches there will definately be issues with all classes.

Personally?  I'll probably roll 2 tanks, to hedge my bets.