Swordmaster Played @ Gamesday

[Kiba]

I got to play a Swordmaster on one of the PvE machines at Gamesday. Started at lvl 1 so nothing crazy, but you guys will get a pull attack and a dance that can root a single foe. There was also an ability that did extra dmg when attacking from the side or rear, and when I opened the character screen there was a slot for a ranged weapon as well. Really not much else seeing as I was only lvl 1 but figured I'd let you Swordmaster fans know some of the things that you will have coming.

[lazylink]

Thanks for posting! Do some classes not have a slot for a ranged weapon?

[Kiba]

Thanks for posting! Do some classes not have a slot for a ranged weapon?

I don't know :( I was just letting the Swordmasters know that it seems they will be able to use ranged weapons.

[Snap]

I also played a Swordmaster.
Seriously, they rock! :D

[Ranien]

I remember at last years games day Baltimore I played an Ironbreaker and they could throw a small hammer at enemies if you couldn't get in range so I would guess this would be something similar.

Couldn't go this year though. :(

[Kier Rhonwen]

Great to hear that there is a rooting move available from the start, as I was concerned that with all the magic & stuff Swordmasters have they would not get nice tricks like snares etc. :D

[VeriusCarth]

Their pull mechanic was "Throw Stone" kind of... less impressive than throwing a hammer, but... whatever works.

[Odiamh]

I remember in DAOC all classes had at least one way to pull a distant mob. It worked out well there so I'd imagine it would be the same in WAR. Although they weapon might not be much more then something to pull doing very low damage on something thats called a Swordmaster lol.

EDIT: Thanks for the post Kiba! :)

[faeral]

here are some details from playing a swordmaster @ rank 21 @ games day in toronto.

most of this probably isn't new. hopefully it's easy to skim for details.

sorry, i don't recall some of the dmg numbers for attacks. dps impressions @ the end.

swordmaster
- high elf tank archetype
- hp: 3400
- mechanic: weapon chains

abilities

basic
- flee ( 30% speed boost, 100% ap / morale drain, 10s )
- throw weapon ( weak ranged attack that has a chance of doing bonus damage from behind )

weapon enchants
- each attack has a 25% chance of doing an additional 65.

weapon chains
- the 2nd & 3rd moves in a chain require "Improved Balance" & "Perfect Balance", respectively.
- the opening attacks move you to improved balance, but are spammable if the situation calls.

opening attacks
- deal 90ish dmg, cannot be blocked / parried.
- deal spirit dmg, add hate

improved balance
- deal 15 dmg, target is snared ( 5s )
- deal XX dmg, improve parry rate

perfect balance
- XX dmg, 50% chance of 3 sec knockdown, 100% if snared, 20s cooldown
- 2 x 40ish spirit dmg, target deals 20% less dmg

guard
- apply to a groupmate.
- split all damage incoming to the groupmate evenly between her/himself & you
- must remain within 30 yards of each other

challenge
- target deals 20-30% less damage to all players except you. 30s cooldown

morale

level 1 active morale ability was a massive single target damage over time.

being spec'd for greatsword, i had the chance to see how the 2h tank dps compares. while the autoattack is slower due to being 2h, the combos hit very fast ( GCD is 1s i think ). the speed of attacks meant the weapon enchant was proccing every 3-4 seconds.

to give you an idea of the pacing of combos, if you use your improved balance snare, you can finish the combo & open the next to refresh the snare a second before it's worn off. the snare - knockdown chain is very nice. using the -20% dmg finisher with Challenge was also fun.

my brother was playing a Warrior Priest. setting Guard on him to split the dmg was very nice since WP focuses on spread healing, so he had no problem keeping us both up.

while i did end the scenario with #1 dmg, the destruction makeup was 3 choppa / shield black orcs, 2 disciple of khaine, 1 shaman & a sorc, so there wasn't a lot of other dps in the mix.

i posted a lot of these details in the games day toronto 2008 thread but i wanted to post here because i now love this class. :D the sword animations are excellent, and the way he moves and holds the sword makes it feel like there's real weight & impact to it, in addition to his graceful ways.

[checkthis5000]

I got to play a Swordmaster on one of the PvE machines at Gamesday. Started at lvl 1 so nothing crazy, but you guys will get a pull attack and a dance that can root a single foe. There was also an ability that did extra dmg when attacking from the side or rear, and when I opened the character screen there was a slot for a ranged weapon as well. Really not much else seeing as I was only lvl 1 but figured I'd let you Swordmaster fans know some of the things that you will have coming.

Sounds really cool.

Also wanted to point out, if your name is a Naruto reference, it matches your selected class pretty darn well. :p

[Bizzurk]

Awesome, thanks for the info ;)

[Grayald]

Guard and Challenge sound particularely interesting.