Warhammer Online's Call to Arms

Expansion packs for games are no new thing, but Mythic Entertainment today is announcing what it's calling its first live expansion for Warhammer Online. What exactly is a live expansion? In this context, it's going to be three month rollout of events, new classes, and a large new dungeon for the fantasy-themed MMO. And it's going to be free for existing subscribers.

The fun will begin actually around Valentine's Day, when Mythic will kick things off with a seven day event that's designed to get players to build up grudges. "It's Valentine's Day with a twist," explained senior producer Jeff Hickman. Here's how it works: while playing the game you may get a mission to assassinate another player who happens to be on the other side (it's Order versus Destruction, remember). The thing is, you may have a mark on your head, and there may be another player looking to whack you. The reward for a successful kill is literally a trophy head that you can then show off. If you get killed and someone gets your head, you're likely going to get mad and want some payback, which is the point.

Basically everyone can participate in this event, even new players. To keep things fair, the player-versus-player rules of the game prevent a level-20 character from clown stomping a level-3 character, so you'll be given assassination missions to whack someone who has a comparable experience level to your own.

That will lead into the Bitter Rivals event, launching in March. This is another seven day event where players will be given many tasks involving realm-versus-realm combat. There's a new RvR scenario called Twisting Tower, as well. You'll want to complete the event, because doing so will give you early access to the two brand new character classes (or careers, in WAR speak) that are being introduced: The Orc Choppa and the Dwarf Slayer.

According to Hickman, the new classes are basically melee DPS (damage-per-second) classes. They're designed to inflict massive amounts of damage, but they're lightly armored, so they can't take much damage, either. This makes them ideal for delivering a coup de grace, but they won't be mistaken for a tank class. Both classes have a berserk mechanic that works like, as Hickman explained, an RPM meter. When they go into the combat the berserk meter starts to build. When it enters the green range it unlocks special abilities that are fueled by the berserk rage. If you let the rage build up the meter goes into the red, which is volatile. The berserker then can do an extraordinary amount of damage, but they become especially vulnerable, so they can be taken down quickly. It's a trade off.

Those who complete the Bitter Rivals event will have about an exclusive heads start with the new classes, but eventually everyone else will be allowed in too. That takes up the rest of March. But in April, Mythic will begin the Beyond the Sands event, which will start to introduce the next major new piece of content: The Land of the Dead, a large RVR-gated dungeon. Details about Beyond the Sands are forthcoming, but it will lead into a May event called Rise of the Tomb Kings. This is another competitive event, but on a larger scale. This time the forces of Order and Destruction will battle for the privilege of having exclusive first access to the Lands of the Dead when it opens. The losing realm will have to sit and wait while the winning realm gets to be the pathfinders and get first access to the Land of the Dead.

The Land of the Dead opens in June, and Hickman said it consists of approximately two parts. The first is a large, outdoor area that's full of lots of new content, from public quests, monsters, rewards, and more. This all takes place on an area about three-quarters the size of a starting zone, so we're talking a large chunk of geography. (The content will be designed for levels 30 to 40).

The second part is a large pyramid called the Tomb of the Vulture Lord. This is what's called a gated dungeon; factions will battle for access to enter the pyramid. The winners get to go in, while the losers have to wait. However, the winners will only have a limited amount of time to explore before the other realm is invited in. That means battles can erupt inside the pyramid, and teams can be caught surprised, since the place is full of all sorts of devious traps and challenges; you may be busy trying to deal with the tomb's defenders when the other realm suddenly appears from behind.

It all makes for a very extensive rollout, which seems unusual, but there's a reason for that. "We didn't want to call it a bunch of patches," Hickman said.

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