Runepriest early feedback

[Zeb]

Hi my Dwarfs friends!

I had the chance to go this sunday to the Paris Gamesday and test Warhammer Online, and particulary the Rune Priest, that I am really looking forward to.
So I wanted to give you a little view of its gameplay and skills. (but remember, this was a old version of the game we played, a lot of things can change till the release).

So, the RunePriest looks very cool, has great and flashy animations (despite the fact that NO it is not magic! It's Rune!!). A little video here : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iLoKoan2qSI

So here are the skills I saw :
-Zap : a basic range attack, very weak
-a heal spell : quick to cast (2 seconds), but not very effective (heal about 1/5 - 1/4 of total life)
-a blinding spell : very usefull to flee behind my tank friends ^^
-buffing runes : those runes are a bit long to cast (about 5 seconds, so it is intended to be cast before battle, not during) and give to the friendly target a buff (I have seen a buff increasing defense, another one who gives heal over time to the target and all ally who are close to him). Thoses buffs last about 1 minute.
-a DOT : quick to cast (2-3 seconds) and effective
-the staff energy chaneling : I think this spell is the most important and characteristic of the Rune Priest Career. By casting it, your Rune Priest begins to gather energy in its staff (if I understood well, it takes 20 secondes to full it at its maximum), and then this energy is used and consumed by launching other spells, giving them more efficiency. A bit like the Waaagh of the Shaman, despite the fact this energy should be accumulated BEFORE the fight ^^

I had a lot of fun playing it, particulary in playing its support function. This means avoid melees and stay behind your ally friends, so finally I stayed a long time alive and accumulated Morale :)
I was able to gather enough Morale to use a 100% Morale Skill, which does an energy explosion around me, damaging all ennemies at less than 12 meters. I used it while running in a group of orcs and gobelins, 2 or 3 of them died (they were not initially full life) but the angry survivors killed me 3 secondes later x_x


So that's all I remember of this wonderfull Dwarf, but I really liked it :)

[Eltharyon]

sounds cool. can't wait to play another preview version, maybe at GC in Leipzig again.

[Wyrmtongue]

Lovely :) (and I'm not even playing Dwarf)

[Fiamma]

Thank you for posting both this info and the video--I'm even more excited to roll my runie now! /happydance

Oh, wait, there's no dancing in WAR. ;)

[Oak]

That's fantastic :) Thanks for giving us a heads up on the class.

The Runepriest is second on my list of characters to play, behind the Zealot... but it sure sounds interesting!

[Dawi]

ouch, that interface kills me everytime i see anyone playing it. i can't wait for the custom UIs and macros or it'll be unbearable to have to go to the bottom and find the button and click it with ur mouse and then go back up and click on a target
but it didn't look like that was a problem for you, u were running around most of the time switching targets before killing the one you have targeted

and the runes last 1 minute? even the defense ones? ouch, i thought the 5minute buffs for WoW pallys were horrible
they say they last through death, but cmon, if they only last 1 minute that sucks... i guess the person with the rune has to use it similar to a healthstone or potion? its not a constant passive ticking like i thought it would be
i heard you could give the runes out and they would last like an hour and if you needed to u could remotely release all your party members' runes early and they would do a burst of extra healing or damage or something

[Duerghaul]

thanks for the info Zeb! im relieved that they finally changed the graphics on some of those spells. looks like the Runepriests are shaping up to be a very fun and powerful class. its my second class im going to play, after Hammerer.

[Zeb]

ouch, that interface kills me everytime i see anyone playing it. i can't wait for the custom UIs and macros or it'll be unbearable to have to go to the bottom and find the button and click it with ur mouse and then go back up and click on a target
but it didn't look like that was a problem for you, u were running around most of the time switching targets before killing the one you have targeted

and the runes last 1 minute? even the defense ones? ouch, i thought the 5minute buffs for WoW pallys were horrible
they say they last through death, but cmon, if they only last 1 minute that sucks... i guess the person with the rune has to use it similar to a healthstone or potion? its not a constant passive ticking like i thought it would be
i heard you could give the runes out and they would last like an hour and if you needed to u could remotely release all your party members' runes early and they would do a burst of extra healing or damage or something

Actually, the video is not mine, but from someone else at the Gamesday >_<

But be relieved, we heard by the people there that the interface is going to be changed in the next weeks or months (that's a good news, cause aiming ennemy or friend with this one is particulary painful)

Concerning the Buffing Runes, I am not very sure that all of them will last only 1 minute, I just test 2 of them...
But I don' think it is a bad thing : by making them last only one minute, it won't be possible to buff all your team so you'll have to make strategic choices...

PS: I test /dance.... nothing happened :rolleyes:

[Belatucadros]

ouch, that interface kills me everytime i see anyone playing it. i can't wait for the custom UIs and macros or it'll be unbearable to have to go to the bottom and find the button and click it with ur mouse and then go back up and click on a target
but it didn't look like that was a problem for you, u were running around most of the time switching targets before killing the one you have targeted

I can't watch the vid atm - can someone explain this a little better? What exactly is the problem with the targetting system?

You target the spell, THEN who you want to cast it on? or what?

[Oasis]

wow nice video man..Were they French?

[Warfield]

Thanks for the information, Zeb.

Looking at the videos for the bright wizard, zealot, and magus, the Runepriest looks BY FAR the most exciting caster class to play. It appears they can attack on the run so they aren't always standing still to cast.

Also, that 100% morale ability sounds great! Three dead greenskins in one blow, someone pass that Dwarf an ale on my tab!

[Mortar]

wow nice video man..Were they French?

If it was Games Day, then yes, they were French.

[Deanorth]

I like what the video offer. It's not a static support role, more like a accurate rune casting dance, a carefully planned sequence of action during a fight, where you can actually play an offensive role too, which is a nice adition. Rune Priest are, by essence, a fighting force to fear.

[dutch_gamer]

Looking at the videos for the bright wizard, zealot, and magus, the Runepriest looks BY FAR the most exciting caster class to play. It appears they can attack on the run so they aren't always standing still to cast

Uh this may be because all the other careers you are talking about were Rank 1 or 2 and the Runepriest was Rank 40. Of course, the Runepriest will look more exciting in comparison with a low level character. It would be really bad if you only get a few abilities. I am counting on the fact that even the other careers will be able to attack on the run when they get a higher level.

[miber]

Uh this may be because all the other careers you are talking about were Rank 1 or 2 and the Runepriest was Rank 40. Of course, the Runepriest will look more exciting in comparison with a low level character. It would be really bad if you only get a few abilities. I am counting on the fact that even the other careers will be able to attack on the run when they get a higher level.Yeah. The Greenskins/Dwarfs in general are much more exciting to watch than the Chaos/Empire. Not only because they're Rank 40 with a bunch of abilities, but they're also typically fighting in a scenario or something, not roaming around doing some level 1 quests. They also just seem more polished, as they've had more development time.

That said, the Runepriest looks a whole lot more interesting to me now, then he did before this video/info.

[Warfield]

Uh this may be because all the other careers you are talking about were Rank 1 or 2 and the Runepriest was Rank 40.

Uh, I think the disc looks slow and silly and I'm sure this will still be the case in PvP, no matter how many tentacles and teeth they add down the road.

For me, Runepriests will still be the most exciting caster class to play primarily because they are Dwarfs. Also, runic lore is rich, interesting, and fun to watch come alive in a computer game.

I should add that fireballs and discs are for stubble-chinned gits.

[AlienOverlord]

Thanks for the RP preview!

There are some worried that the Runepriest will be one of the least played classes in the game.

I shall not be one those who contributes to this :)

[Ogharod]

*snipedisnap*
-a heal spell : quick to cast (2 seconds), but not very effective (heal about 1/5 - 1/4 of total life)
*snapsnap*


Didn't it say somewhere, that RPs dont use "casts" or "magic" but only heal, buff,.. through the usage of their runes?

[Black Hammer]

Spell, rune, there's honestly not a huge difference except for the fact that Runepriests' runes will last their full duration even if they die.

[Leodestan of Tilea]

Thank you for the great info. Runepriest will be a wonderful class to team with. I am glad they respected the opinion of dwarfs towards magic. Although I am slightly uncomfortable not having a "healbot" class in this game, this one does reassure me. In the end, I'm convinced this class will be used only as a healer... it's impossible to me, unless they change the traditional MMO raiding, that you can raid without that "healbot" class, because, if every class melees, but one (runepriest f.e.) can heal, it is almost sure, that the guild will ask that one class who has a slight access to regenerating life to mainly focus on that, which will lead to people asking the Devs to upgrade the healing capacity of the [Runepriest] and they will become, with time, a healing class only (of course they would still have the ability to drop damage, but just like in every game, no one wants "the healer" to dps).

Just sharing thoughts.

Leodestan of Tilea

[Ogharod]

Spell, rune, there's honestly not a huge difference except for the fact that Runepriests' runes will last their full duration even if they die.

Hmm, no not the way i got the whole runes thing to my head.
I thought the RP has to activate Runes or hands out Runes prior to a fight in order to be able to heal- say he somehow summons his runes and activates them when needed or has to perform some kind of ritual ( as in casting time) to activate them. But afterwards the power of the used rune either gets weaker or fades at all.

So a RP possibly comes to a point in a fight where he simply wouldn't be able to provide heal anymore if he managed his Runes poorly.