Witch Hunters: A Career Analysis

[Vikingkingq]

WARNING: This post is an analysis based on my personal interpretation of the newsletter. Nothing here should be taken as absolute fact (except for things I took directly from the newsletter), but as an educated guess based on the evidence available.

Well, my brethren, the day of glory has arrived, and it's so amazing I can barely stand it. The Witch Hunter looks like everything I've wanted it to be, albiet a bit more rogue-like than I had initially thought but I can roll with it. So here is my analysis of the Witch Hunter career. Feel free to add your thoughts and questions.

Basic Overview:

The Witch Hunter career is essentially a few things: a fast, agile melee fighter who privileges offense over defense, a single-target-oriented fighter who uses Interrogation to build up to a Judgment on their target, a fighter who works best by mixing short-range and melee-range combat, and a fighter who takes advantage of position to get the drop on their targets and kill them quick.

Main-hand Weapons: Swords, Rapiers, Torches
Off-hand Weapons: Pistols, handguns, other firearms.
Special Weapons: stakes, daggers, relics, chains and emblems of the Cult of Sigmar; knives, stakes, torches, hot pokers, daggers, relics, holy water and oils, chains, and religious icons, chrisoms (sacred clothes), blessed ashes
Armor: light armor, mostly leather, at higher tiers you get metal breastplates and shoulder-guards. Oh, and the Hat. Never forget the Hat.

Witch Hunter Core Mechanics:

The Witch Hunter's core mechanics, what you need to worry about, is your ranged/melee combat and your Interrogation/Judgment system.

The first is the fact that you are not just a swordsman/woman - you have a big honking pistol/handgun/shotgun and you can do a lot of damage with it. However, it's slow to reload, and has a limited range, both on the near-end and the far-end. So, you'd be stupid to rely solely on your pistol or solely on your sword. A Witch Hunter uses both in combination to kill the foe.

The second is your basic mechanic, similar to the Black Orc Combo, the Ironbreaker's Grudge, the Hammerer's Momentum, the Shaman's WAAGH!, the Choppa's Frenzy, etc.
The way it works is that, when you're fighting someone, you use special abilities to build up Interrogation, debuffing and damaging them along the way (this is where a lot of your special weapons get involved, esp. the blessed oils and waters and ashes and so forth).
At a certain point, you are able to make a Judgement on your opponent - a big blast of direct damage, sticking a pistol in their mouth and blowing their head off, decapitating them, staking them in the heart, and so forth.

While we don't know for sure, it's almost certain that this will be a target-oriented system, something that people from other games might be familiar with. It's unclear whether it works as combo points, or a meter, or style chains or what have you, but the basic system is clear, build Interrogation, make a Judgment, move on to the next heretic.

One final word: it is suggested that Witch Hunters are especially effective when striking targets who are unaware or by hitting them from the rear. It is not yet entirely clear whether this means specific actions, like "Backstab" to use an example from nowhere in particular, whether this means positional attacks, or just in general that it's a bad idea to have a Witch Hunter get the drop on you.

Holy Hand Grenades - Special Features:

You may have noticed a lot of special weapons listed. Witch Hunters do a lot of nifty things with our stakes, daggers, pokers, torches, and many different kinds of blessed instruments and materials. These special techniques are a big part of how we debuff our opponents, and put them down quickly.

One way you can maximize your killing efficiency, as all good Witch Hunters want to do,is to anoint your sword with holy waters, oils, and other blessed instruments, in order to make it even better at killing heretics. Again, this might sound familiar to people familiar with other games that shall not be mentioned, but it's something that Witch Hunters should remember to do. More on this in the next section.

How to Fight as a Witch Hunter, What to Be Careful About:

At this point, as someone familiar with a certain class from a certain game, you might think you know what's what. Some things are very similar, you need to get in range, and it helps if you can get behind your enemy. You will have to focus fire on a single opponent, and drop them as quick as you can. However, things are not completely the same, and you need to keep those things in mind.

First, you don't have stealth, you can't vanish, and you have a coat for armor. Witch Hunters are going to have to be very very good at keeping mobile, hitting the most efficient targets in the most efficient fashion. You can't afford to whale on a big freaking tank, because if you don't put them down asap and move on, you're going to get lit up. Will we have stuns? Maybe, maybe not. Don't count on them being your crutch.

Second, therefore, being a good Witch Hunter is all about maximizing efficiency. Keep your weapon anointed at all times, because that extra 5% damage or whatever might be the difference between 1 second more of combat when your limited health is dropped and a second of out of combat, where you can regain health and get the hell away from the Marauder or the Chosen who wants to kill you for whacking a Sorc or Zealot.

Third, a Witch Hunter needs to manage range efficiently. You have a limited range at which you can work, but it's bigger than melee range. You will want to adjust your range to meet the situation; some classes you'll want to close with right away, other classes, you might want to soften up with some pistol blasts before you charge in. Avoiding the kite is crucial - here, managing your pistol's cooldown and your Sprint ability will save you or doom you.
Make sure you can catch runners if you have to, without spending too long chasing one target.

Fourth, a Witch Hunter is all about the complete range of abilities. As you might have noticed from the list of special weapons, there's a lot of stuff you can do, a lot of stuff to keep track of. You will be victorious if you're smart about using all of your potential abilities in the right way - using that holy water in combination with the holy symbols, possibly, making sure your sword is always anointed, definately; making sure you time your pistol cooldowns, you betcha. Chances are, you will have a lot of reagants to manage - so stay on top of that.

Final Thoughts:

Overall, the career looks great. A few visual kinks need some fixing (the brim of the higher tier hats is far too pointy and not rounded enough, the clothes need more visual depth), but that's what beta is for. I'm not sure that Interrogation/Judgment sounds better than Confession/Execution, but what the hey.

I would like to congratulate Mythic's developers for a well-conceived and well-executed career. I would like to urge my fellow witch-hunters to give three cheers for our good fortune, and I would like to curse the fact that at the very least it will be another month before I get to play one.

[Vikingkingq]

Bump. Posted.

[Krulltak]

Greeeeeeat post.

Prepare to die.


Now is there a question stage to this? Because I have questions.

[Vikingkingq]

Greeeeeeat post.

Prepare to die.


Now is there a question stage to this? Because I have questions.

Sure. Post questions.

[Krulltak]

Hokay then. Because I have no info on the Maurader, how would you think a Witch Hunter would handle a 1v1 fight with a Choppa?

Or alternatively, how would a Witch Hunter allied with a Warrior Priest and a Bright Wizard work against a group with a Magus, a Chosen, and a Black Orc?

[Vikingkingq]

Hokay then. Because I have no info on the Maurader, how would you think a Witch Hunter would handle a 1v1 fight with a Choppa?

Or alternatively, how would a Witch Hunter allied with a Warrior Priest and a Bright Wizard work against a group with a Magus, a Chosen, and a Black Orc?

Well, this is just guessing. But against a Choppa, you'd probably want to make sure you get the drop, and hit from behind, and/or start with the pistol and use range to whittle him down. Basically, the idea is that since you can't really the hits, being a leather coat wearing fighter with maybe a breastplate and a shoulder guard, you need to drop your target as fast possible, give them as little opportunity to hit back as you can.

In a group, you'd want to go after the Magus, while avoiding the Chosen or the Black Orc. You'd probably want to stick close to the Warrior Priest, use him as an off-tank, and slam anyone who looked like they were about to ff either him or the Wizard.

[Fengyun]

Hokay then. Because I have no info on the Maurader, how would you think a Witch Hunter would handle a 1v1 fight with a Choppa?

Or alternatively, how would a Witch Hunter allied with a Warrior Priest and a Bright Wizard work against a group with a Magus, a Chosen, and a Black Orc?


Is the warrior priest player inclined to heal? Then probably the order side. You've given the destruction team 2 taunts though. So... I'd say it would be hard to try and focus anybody down like that but you have to try. Interesting scenario and it would come down to how well the warrior priest is played and how well the taunts are used.

[Krulltak]

Is the warrior priest player inclined to heal? Then probably the order side. You've given the destruction team 2 taunts though. So... I'd say it would be hard to try and focus anybody down like that but you have to try. Interesting scenario and it would come down to how well the warrior priest is played and how well the taunts are used.


Learn about the game before you speak about it. The Tank classes in WAR will not be traditional "stand there and taunt with absolutly crap damage" tanks.

First of all, every class in WAR will be capable of causing significant damage and being capable of fighting and holding their own.

Go and actually learn how the classes work. They are not traditional. Every class will be geared towards pvp.

[Kuari]

Witch hunters seem to be everything I wanted and more so far.

[Roman Stoic]

Vikingkingq,

Your post is interesting, and a decent summary of the currently available information about Witch Hunters. I am concerned, though, that you are perhaps delving a bit too far, too quickly, and moving towards speculation.

For example, the following quote:

'You may have noticed a lot of special weapons listed. Witch Hunters do a lot of nifty things with our stakes, daggers, pokers, torches, and many different kinds of blessed instruments and materials. These special techniques are a big part of how we debuff our opponents, and put them down quickly.'

Now, those are fine and logical assumptions about Witch Hunter abilities. But readers should be cautioned that your analysis is not for certain and is, rather, a collection of intelligent guesses. Although that is certainly obvious to me and others who have spent a great amount of time reading the available information about Witch Hunters, your post could possibly make a newcomer to the site hope that the Witch Hunter will work in a particular way. Again, these are fine guesses, but little of this is definite. Although we do know information about anointing weapons and that Witch Hunters can use torches and whatnot, we do not know exactly how or in what form.

Good post; I do urge readers to not read too much into your analysis, however, as especially at this early stage much of this is subject to change, and furthermore what we currently really know about the mechanics of the game is slim to nothing.

[Fengyun]

Learn about the game before you speak about it. The Tank classes in WAR will not be traditional "stand there and taunt with absolutly crap damage" tanks.

First of all, every class in WAR will be capable of causing significant damage and being capable of fighting and holding their own.

Go and actually learn how the classes work. They are not traditional. Every class will be geared towards pvp.

You are consistently rude in every thread to any number of people. Take your own advice. I never said they did crap damage did I? Nor did I say they are going to sit there and taunt. The taunts REDUCE other peoples damage by a certain %. SO lets see, your witch hunter and your bright wizard are going to put out more overall damage than your WP will. Forget it, you're right, just like you are in every thread. No point in having a debate with somebody who is god.

[Vikingkingq]

Is the warrior priest player inclined to heal? Then probably the order side. You've given the destruction team 2 taunts though. So... I'd say it would be hard to try and focus anybody down like that but you have to try. Interesting scenario and it would come down to how well the warrior priest is played and how well the taunts are used.

Well, you're assuming that that's how Destruction tanks taunt. However, there really isn't a choice for Witch Hunters - Interrogation/Judgement are target-based (most likely), so focusing on one target is the name of the game.

[Krulltak]

Vikingkingq,

Your post is interesting, and a decent summary of the currently available information about Witch Hunters. I am concerned, though, that you are perhaps delving a bit too far, too quickly, and moving towards speculation.

For example, the following quote:

'You may have noticed a lot of special weapons listed. Witch Hunters do a lot of nifty things with our stakes, daggers, pokers, torches, and many different kinds of blessed instruments and materials. These special techniques are a big part of how we debuff our opponents, and put them down quickly.'

Now, those are fine and logical assumptions about Witch Hunter abilities. But readers should be cautioned that your analysis is not for certain and is, rather, a collection of intelligent guesses. Although that is certainly obvious to me and others who have spent a great amount of time reading the available information about Witch Hunters, your post could possibly make a newcomer to the site hope that the Witch Hunter will work in a particular way. Again, these are fine guesses, but little of this is definite. Although we do know information about anointing weapons and that Witch Hunters can use torches and whatnot, we do not know exactly how or in what form.

Good post; I do urge readers to not read too much into your analysis, however, as especially at this early stage much of this is subject to change, and furthermore what we currently really know about the mechanics of the game is slim to nothing.


There is more to Warhammer then WAR, as the intellectual property (invented by Games Workshop) has been around for nearly 25 years since 1983, and thus Viking is problably picking up all these "guesses" from acutal lore he has read on the Witch Hunter from something Middenheim related. Although I'm not entirely sure, but it's pretty obvious he uses anything torture-related like hot pokers.

Forget it, you're right, just like you are in every thread. No point in having a debate with somebody who is god

You see the dillema here is a misunderstanding of your own tone on my part. I am not claiming to be right all the time, but you in turn misunderstand my own point.

[Vikingkingq]

Vikingkingq,

Your post is interesting, and a decent summary of the currently available information about Witch Hunters. I am concerned, though, that you are perhaps delving a bit too far, too quickly, and moving towards speculation.

For example, the following quote:

'You may have noticed a lot of special weapons listed. Witch Hunters do a lot of nifty things with our stakes, daggers, pokers, torches, and many different kinds of blessed instruments and materials. These special techniques are a big part of how we debuff our opponents, and put them down quickly.'

Now, those are fine and logical assumptions about Witch Hunter abilities. But readers should be cautioned that your analysis is not for certain and is, rather, a collection of intelligent guesses. Although that is certainly obvious to me and others who have spent a great amount of time reading the available information about Witch Hunters, your post could possibly make a newcomer to the site hope that the Witch Hunter will work in a particular way. Again, these are fine guesses, but little of this is definite. Although we do know information about anointing weapons and that Witch Hunters can use torches and whatnot, we do not know exactly how or in what form.

Good post; I do urge readers to not read too much into your analysis, however, as especially at this early stage much of this is subject to change, and furthermore what we currently really know about the mechanics of the game is slim to nothing.

You make a good point. I will put a reminder at the top of the page.

[Kuari]

You are consistantly rude in every thread to any number of people. Take your own advice. I never said they did crap damage did I? Nor did I say they are going to sit there and taunt. The taunts REDUCE other peoples damage by a certain %. SO lets see, your witch hunter and your bright wizard are going to put out more overall damage than your WP will. Forget it, you're right, just like you are in every thread. No point in having a debate with somebody who is god.

Yeah he's rude.. but anyways, to answer your question, WPs will want to melee AND heal as... well... that's what they're built to do, be in the fray while helping their allies, sure they can just melee, but they'll suck... as for just healing? Can't do that well without meleeing...

Now as for Krulltak, sure everyone can do significant damage, but naturally DPSers will do... well... more

[Roman Stoic]

There is more to Warhammer then WAR, as the intellectual property (invented by Games Workshop) has been around for nearly 25 years since 1983, and thus Viking is problably picking up all these "guesses" from acutal lore he has read on the Witch Hunter from something Middenheim related.

I have played Warhammer (both the tabletop wargame and the RPG) for many years now, as well. The point of my post is that these are indeed guesses, albeit reasoned and intelligent ones, concerning how the Witch Hunter will actually perform in-game using in-game mechanics.

[Fengyun]

Well, you're assuming that that's how Destruction tanks taunt. However, there really isn't a choice for Witch Hunters - Interrogation/Judgement are target-based (most likely), so focusing on one target is the name of the game.

I'm making the assumption that is how their taunts work because so far that's how it's been done and it's a great idea. The dwarves and the orcs do it. Either way, this is ALL speculation because we have no idea how the classes are even working. When we have a skill and morale list for each character, we can see how they will line up vs each other. Until then, it's all speculation.

[Vikingkingq]

I'm making the assumption that is how their taunts work because so far that's how it's been done and it's a great idea. The dwarves and the orcs do it. Either way, this is ALL speculation because we have no idea how the classes are even working. When we have a skill and morale list for each character, we can see how they will line up vs each other. Until then, it's all speculation.

Right, but we don't know if that's how Chaos will do it, for example. In any case, like I said, the Interrogation/Judgment system doesn't give you a choice - you have to ff on one target.

[Fengyun]

Yeah he's rude.. but anyways, to answer your question, WPs will want to melee AND heal as... well... that's what they're built to do, be in the fray while helping their allies, sure they can just melee, but they'll suck... as for just healing? Can't do that well without meleeing...

Now as for Krulltak, sure everyone can do significant damage, but naturally DPSers will do... well... more


I never questioned what a WP can do. I also never mentioned that the WP will be back healbotting. I understand that they must build RF to use their other abilities. However, is the WP inclined to heal or use his RF offensively? What are his skills set up to be most effective at?

[Vikingkingq]

There is more to Warhammer then WAR, as the intellectual property (invented by Games Workshop) has been around for nearly 25 years since 1983, and thus Viking is problably picking up all these "guesses" from acutal lore he has read on the Witch Hunter from something Middenheim related. Although I'm not entirely sure, but it's pretty obvious he uses anything torture-related like hot pokers.


My sources of information are the following:
- The newsletter itself, and all posts I've read about the Witch Hunter.
- Black Library novels, especially the Witch Hunter series.
- Background books, such as the Witch Hunter's Handbook.
- WFRP books, mostly second edition.
- not particularly any Mordheim stuff, I don't actually play the TT game anymore.

However, I think the man made a fair point, it's wotrhwhile for me to post a notification that this shouldn't be taken 100% as gospel truth until we see it in the game.

[Vikingkingq]

I never questioned what a WP can do. I also never mentioned that the WP will be back healbotting. I understand that they must build RF to use their other abilities. However, is the WP inclined to heal or use his RF offensively? What are his skills set up to be most effective at?

Even so, even a offensive WP will be important to stay near - getting his buffs, esp. his aoe buffs; several offensive abilities heal as they damage; there are a few passive heals that the WP gives off to people to people around him; you'd want to prob. attack targets that he has stunned or snared, etc.

[Kuari]

I never questioned what a WP can do. I also never mentioned that the WP will be back healbotting. I understand that they must build RF to use their other abilities. However, is the WP inclined to heal or use his RF offensively? What are his skills set up to be most effective at?

Solo? Probably offensively unless he's low on health... Group? Healing of course if anyone needs it. Every moment you keep your allies alive is another moment that you have to possibly win the battle.

[Krulltak]

Yeah he's rude.. but anyways, to answer your question, WPs will want to melee AND heal as... well... that's what they're built to do, be in the fray while helping their allies, sure they can just melee, but they'll suck... as for just healing? Can't do that well without meleeing...

Now as for Krulltak, sure everyone can do significant damage, but naturally DPSers will do... well... more


Right there. In the highlighted bold. It's comments like that that light the fuse of my temper.

You make it sound as if they are just throwing out girly slaps for the sake of getting uber heals. Well that's were you are wrong. THey will not "suck a it". They will not be the best at it and will surely be outdamaged by a Witch Hunter (the Light Tank of the Empire) and possibly the KotBS.

The WP, the difference between a hybrid like him and a Light Tank (to whom you refer to as "melee DPSers" which makes no sense technically) in melee is that because he can also buff/heal, he just won't be as constantly on the offensive, and he won't have as easy acess to high damage moves. However, with enough Righteous Fury, he can use it to pull off a heavy damage move, thus, he does not "suck" in melee, he just has more purposes then it and thus is not as phenomanal at it as any degree of "Tank" class.

Also, DPS refers to damage per second, and if you were to gear your character to doing as much damage every second, yet a class could also be configured to do "burst" damage, as in heavy but rarer hits, it would not make sense to refer to a class as a "DPS class" due to the different specifications it can be assigned. Thus why I use the term DAOC used, which was Light Tank.

[Roman Stoic]

Several newcomers to Warhammer (both the setting and the MMORPG) have likened the most apparent information about Witch Hunters to Rogues in World of Warcraft. Oddly enough, though, I wonder if we could get a glimpse of a Witch Hunter in action by reflecting on Dark Age of Camelot. From what little information we know so far, the Witch Hunter in-game sounds somewhat similar to a combination of two Albion classes, the Mercenary and Infiltrator. Of course Warhammer Online will utilise the Warhammer setting and its styles, but I would not be too surprised if the 'feel' of the Witch Hunter is not too different from a kind of Mercenary/Infiltrator mix. Hmm...! :smile:

[Krulltak]

Several newcomers to Warhammer (both the setting and the MMORPG) have likened the most apparent information about Witch Hunters to Rogues in World of Warcraft. Oddly enough, though, I wonder if we could get a glimpse of a Witch Hunter in action by reflecting on Dark Age of Camelot. From what little information we know so far, the Witch Hunter in-game sounds somewhat similar to a combination of two Albion classes, the Mercenary and Infiltrator. Of course Warhammer Online will utilise the Warhammer setting and its styles, but I would not be too surprised if the 'feel' of the Witch Hunter is not too different from a kind of Mercenary/Infiltrator mix. Hmm...! :smile:


Well, the classes in WAR really are just combinations of old, traditional RPG classes to form new class styles, so yeah, basically that would make sense.

[Kuari]

Right there. In the highlighted bold. It's comments like that that light the fuse of my temper.

You make it sound as if they are just throwing out girly slaps for the sake of getting uber heals. Well that's were you are wrong. THey will not "suck a it". They will not be the best at it and will surely be outdamaged by a Witch Hunter (the Light Tank of the Empire) and possibly the KotBS.


THAT'S why they'll SUCK!! They aren't built for only damage. If they aren't contributing anything but damage, they won't compete with ANYONE. Tanks will be able to take the damage. DPSers will easily out damage them. The thing that puts them on par will be their support abilities. Now I imagine they'll do about as much damage as a tank, sure, but they won't have the tank's survivability

And naturally as I said, they don't have the DPSers damage output.

In the end, the WP is NOT built for damage alone, and using them as such makes them suck compared to the other classes.

[Krulltak]

In the end, the WP is NOT built for damage alone, and using them as such makes them suck compared to the other classes.


Well, you see, that was my point all along.

But "suck" would imply they are completly useless at melee, which is untrue. They are however adequate at it. A Goblin Shaman or the Bright Wizard, now THOSE are classes meant to "suck" at melee.

[Kuari]

Well, you see, that was my point all along.

But "suck" would imply they are completly useless at melee, which is untrue. They are however adequate at it. A Goblin Shaman or the Bright Wizard, now THOSE are classes meant to "suck" at melee.

True... but if the current interrupt system we've seen so far stays intact, the one where only abilities built for interrupting do ANY kind of spell interruption, then won't be a problem. They'll be able to spell cast in melee range if needed, just may need to occaisonally fake people out

[Anubis]

Right there. In the highlighted bold. It's comments like that that light the fuse of my temper.

You make it sound as if they are just throwing out girly slaps for the sake of getting uber heals. Well that's were you are wrong. THey will not "suck a it". They will not be the best at it and will surely be outdamaged by a Witch Hunter (the Light Tank of the Empire) and possibly the KotBS.

The WP, the difference between a hybrid like him and a Light Tank (to whom you refer to as "melee DPSers" which makes no sense technically) in melee is that because he can also buff/heal, he just won't be as constantly on the offensive, and he won't have as easy acess to high damage moves. However, with enough Righteous Fury, he can use it to pull off a heavy damage move, thus, he does not "suck" in melee, he just has more purposes then it and thus is not as phenomanal at it as any degree of "Tank" class.

Also, DPS refers to damage per second, and if you were to gear your character to doing as much damage every second, yet a class could also be configured to do "burst" damage, as in heavy but rarer hits, it would not make sense to refer to a class as a "DPS class" due to the different specifications it can be assigned. Thus why I use the term DAOC used, which was Light Tank.

A light Tank? Hehe, They use light armor (see today's newsletter). Light armor doesn't make a tank. A tank mitigates damage, so such low armor makes them not tanks. In fact, WP have more armor, plus with instant-cast heals and the ability to use shields, they should make the light/secondary tanks in the Empire imo ;)

[Krulltak]

A light Tank? Hehe, They use light armor (see today's newsletter). Light armor doesn't make a tank. A tank mitigates damage, so such low armor makes them not tanks. In fact, WP have more armor, plus with instant-cast heals and the ability to use shields, they should make the light/secondary tanks in the Empire imo ;)


Ignorant one! A Light Tank is the word used in Dark Age of Camelot to describe a lightly armored melee fighter with a high damage capacity. Therefore, they have nothing to do with protecting mates, but they usually had more durabilty then Stealthers or ranged classes, therefore making them them an off tank.

Melee DPS just doesn't make any sense to say, because say you geared your character towards bust DPS instead, then it would not make sense to call the class as a whole a melee DPSer now would it?

[Anubis]

Ignorant one! A Light Tank is the word used in Dark Age of Camelot to describe a lightly armored melee fighter with a high damage capacity. Therefore, they have nothing to do with protecting mates, but they usually had more durabilty then Stealthers or ranged classes, therefore making them them an off tank.

Melee DPS just doesn't make any sense to say, because say you geared your character towards bust DPS instead, then it would not make sense to call the class as a whole a melee DPSer now would it?

I don't know if you are correct about DAoC, but the term tank in the MMO community meams a damage mitigator who protects mates. Therefore, a light tank should be someone who does that to a lower grade.

[Vikingkingq]

Ok, getting off-topic here. The subject is the Witch Hunter career and how it functions.

[Krulltak]

I wonder if the Witch Hunter's hat will have special abilities in combat.


You know, like Oddjob from Goldfinder.:D

[Vikingkingq]

I wonder if the Witch Hunter's hat will have special abilities in combat.


You know, like Oddjob from Goldfinder.:D

I would hope so. I'm sure the developers recognize the awesome power that is the Hat.

[Illya]

I would love to see a Witch Hunter tossing his hat at a heretic in battle, the Hat cuts through the heretic's neck, soars around and returns to the Witch Hunter who catches it, whips the blood off, and sets it back on his head. That... would be awesome.

[Kuari]

I would love to see a Witch Hunter tossing his hat at a heretic in battle, the Hat cuts through the heretic's neck, soars around and returns to the Witch Hunter who catches it, whips the blood off, and sets it back on his head. That... would be awesome.

This is WAR, not Mortal Kombat

[Krulltak]

This is WAR, not Mortal Kombat


It came from James Bond before it did Mortal Kombat.

So be quite. Illya is Lord Inquisitor and as such he will decide what is appropriate for catching heretics.

Also, this is Warhammer, and as Warhammer, which WAR will be based on, with such inventions as that giant barrel with flailing weapons that dwarfs use or the freakin' steam tank, I would not be surpised if such a hat were invented.

[Kuari]

It came from James Bond before it did Mortal Kombat.

So be quite. Illya is Lord Inquisitor and as such he will decide what is appropriate for catching heretics.

Also, this is Warhammer, and as Warhammer, which WAR will be based on, with such inventions as that giant barrel with flailing weapons that dwarfs use or the freakin' steam tank, I would not be surpised if such a hat were invented.

Really? What year did that James Bond movie come out?

[Krulltak]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Goldfinger_%28film%29

Sean Connery kicks .

[Illya]

This is WAR, not Mortal Kombat

I find it strange to see someone who's never seen Goldfinger. And it's not Mortal Combat, as far as I know there's no one with a hat like that there. Unless you were referring to a fatality!

Then again, I've never been a fan of the game, so meh. It could be in there too.

[Krulltak]

I find it strange to see someone who's never seen Goldfinger. And it's not Mortal Combat, as far as I know there's no one with a hat like that there. Unless you were referring to a fatality!

Then again, I've never been a fan of the game, so meh. It could be in there too.


Kung-Lao is the one with the ripped-off hat, used exactly the same way Oddjob uses it.

Also, you spelled Kombat wrong.

[Illya]

Kung-Lao is the one with the ripped-off hat, used exactly the same way Oddjob uses it.

Also, you spelled Kombat wrong.

Well, like I said, I haven't played the game much. Didn't care for it much. So meh.

[Bingo]

I have read all and can't be more excited about this class. It looks challenging, complex, and valuable. These are the 3 characteristics which impress me the most. That said, I do worry about the Witch Hunter's mobility, as striking from behind seems to be important. With collision, physics, and multiple "mix it up in melee" classes, It may be tougher than it sounds to get there.

I look forward to the challenge.

[Vikingkingq]

An addendum to my original post:

Positional Attacks:

In addition to the other aspects of a Witch Hunter - ranged v. melee, Interrogation/Judgment, blessing of weapons and various holy implements - the Witch Hunter is also something of a positional fighter. As the career guide explains:
"Fast and agile, the Witch Hunter is dangerous in close-quarters, especially when approaching an unsuspecting or startled target from behind...The Witch Hunter relies heavily on his ability catch targets off guard or to distract them in the thick of a fight. A powerful melee fighter, he is at his most effective when he can move behind an enemy and unleash pistol shots or powerful strikes from his anointed blade upon them."
Now from this, it's not clear whether the Witch Hunter's positional abilities are specific positional attacks - "Backstab" and so forth - or whether they are combat styles - +20% damage when attacking from behind - or what have you. Moreover, the issue of offguard/unsuspecting/startled targets suggests that it might be more complicated than just what are you attack from.

However, I want to emphasize that the Witch Hunter is not reliant on attacking from behind - he's not a copy of the Rogue from the Other Game What Must Not Be Named. In addition to the systems outlined above - ranged v. melee, Interrogation/Judgment, blessing of weapons and various holy implements - the basic fact is that Witch Hunters are good at dealing out damage no matter where they are in relation to their opponent. As the guide notes: "Whether you’re positioning yourself for a devastating strike against an unwary enemy or going toe-to-toe in the thick of the fight, there are few places on the battlefield where a Witch Hunter does not belong. In the face of your tireless assaults and interrogation, your enemies quickly wither and fall – be it by blade, bullet or torch. "

The basic point here is that positional attacks should be seen as part of the Witch Hunter repetoire, not the raison d'etre of the career.

[Kuari]

My impression is that attacking from behind and the confessions combined make up for it not getting stronger over time like the Choppa or Hammerer... otherwise they'll be doing as much damage as them.

[Vikingkingq]

My impression is that attacking from behind and the confessions combined make up for it not getting stronger over time like the Choppa or Hammerer... otherwise they'll be doing as much damage as them.

Not sure about that. A Witch Hunter's base damage is through very quick, relatively light strikes with sword and daggers and whatnot, punctuated by pistol blasts, and then building up by debuffs towards a huge burst of damage in the Judgment.

Attacking from behind no doubt completes the picture, but it shouldn't be over-emphasized.

[Kuari]

Not sure about that. A Witch Hunter's base damage is through very quick, relatively light strikes with sword and daggers and whatnot, punctuated by pistol blasts, and then building up by debuffs towards a huge burst of damage in the Judgment.

Attacking from behind no doubt completes the picture, but it shouldn't be over-emphasized.

Well combining those things should bring it up to full powered Choppa/Hammerer level, but should technically be enough where it keeps them somewhat on par

[Krulltak]

I would imagine the Witch Hunter emmits a Choppa's max damage (when he is in full fury) when attacking from behind, while doing moderate damage from frontal attacks.

When going up against enemy melee classes, the Witch Hunter would therefore need to outmanuver them and always be on their back.

[Vikingkingq]

I would imagine the Witch Hunter emmits a Choppa's max damage (when he is in full fury) when attacking from behind, while doing moderate damage from frontal attacks.

When going up against enemy melee classes, the Witch Hunter would therefore need to outmanuver them and always be on their back.

Possibly. It's hard to say given the character description, since we don't know how much of the Witch Hunter's DPS comes from each part of his repetoire; i.e, what proportion of it comes from reg. attacks, Interrogation/Judgment abilities, imbued weaponry, and positional attacks.

[Sylock]

Or alternatively, how would a Witch Hunter allied with a Warrior Priest and a Bright Wizard work against a group with a Magus, a Chosen, and a Black Orc?

Magus/Black Orc/Chosen vs. Witch Hunter/Warrior Priest/Bright Wizard

With the assumption that all the players have equal experience I would think the Order team you laid out would win, mostly because they have a support healer. On the flip side if the Destruction team is capable of outputting a large amount of dps they would be able to take down the Witch Hunter first, then train the Bight Wizard. In that situation the Warrior Priest would have to dedicate more of his points healing the Bright Wizard then DPS. If he can't keep the Bright Wizard up before killing at least two people it would be a rather difficult to win. (2 on 1)