Warhammer Zealot openPVP compilation as a single YouTube video

I have "digitally remastered" the original compilation for better quality, and thanks to YouTube's generously increased play time and file size limits, I've uploaded the entire compilation as a single video!

WAR: Zealot changes on the horizon?

May 2010 Producer's Letter: In patch 1.3.6, we want to make further improvements upon the Zealot and Runepriest careers. We wanted to give options to the healers that train a mastery path for a delivery method rather than a playstyle. When thinking of changes, we kept coming back to one thing: “HARBINGER OF DOOM” (BIG FOR EFFECT). I can already tell the Zealots are cringing and thinking, “What is that crazy person doing to my Harbinger?” The meat of the change is that Harbinger of Doom becomes an active toggle. You start in “healing mode” by default and by activating the toggle you switch to “damage mode”. This will allow Zealots to pick a Mastery path for the type of abilities that they want, without being forced to then pick again between damage and healing. While the actual effect of the toggle is still being discussed, we are leaning towards flipping magic to healing and vice versa to achieve this goal. Some of you are probably saying, “What about Runepriests? I didn’t hear him say anything about Runepriest!” The plan is to mirror this ability on the Runepriest career as well."

Did someone just say Zealot changes?

No way! That's the first time anything significant has been mentioned for the Zealot since the release of the game. Is the Harbinger of DOOM finally going to live up to its name? Will the Zealot finally play like the official class description? Will the Zealot finally be more than a gimpy wannabe Shaman? Can the Zealot excel at something other than being a boring healbot? Will the Zealot class finally be interesting? Gee golly giggity gosh darn wow!

But then again, considering Mythic's track record, I'm not holding my breath. I wish they'd ask all the unsubscribed RR 70+ Zealots why we stopped playing our class (or the game for that matter).

Video compilation (Zealot RVR)

With no game to play, I decided to make a movie as a tribute to the Zealot. I selected a couple of my videos, stitched them together to have some semblance of flow, sped gameplay up by 5% and picked some tunes to go with it. The product: a compilation of solo/duo/trio and RVR prowling action from my "project" to find some fun away from WAR's horrible endgame.

Warning: the video ended up pretty long (1 hour) despite some edits, and pretty large (800MB) despite messing around with quality and compression.



Links
Download: Part 1 of 2 and Part 2 of 2; or as a single file in lower quality
Warhammermovies.com (Woo! Featured movie of the day! Pic)

Contents
00:00 - BW + BW + SM
04:13 - WP --- Engi
05:44 - SM
07:22 - BW
08:03 - Engi
09:45 - WH
11:26 - (Zealot + Sorc) WH + Engi
12:19 - (Zealot + Sorc) Engi + WH + SM
13:33 - (Zealot + Sorc) WP + Engi + WH
14:23 - prowling
15:26 - evading SM + WL
16:55 - stalking the zerg
17:08 - WH + IB
18:07 - IB
19:39 - Engi
20:35 - BW
23:34 - scouting
23:47 - stalking the zerg
24:02 - hunting stragglers
26:29 - IB + WL + AM + IB
33:00 - (Zealot + Sorc) Engi + WH
33:33 - (Zealot + Sorc) KoTBS + Engi
34:35 - Slayer + AM
35:30 - ninja stealth hiding in tree
35:38 - (Zealot + Sorc) SW + KotBS + Engi + AM + WH + SM + SW + WH
39:45 - SM
40:15 - fishing WL + WL + KotBS
41:30 - fishing WL + WL (2nd attempt)
41:50 - (Zealot + Sorc) BW --- BW --- BW + WH --- SM + SW --- BW + WL + WH + RP + Slayer
43:30 - BW
46:12 - (Zealot + Chosen) WP + AM + SW + BW --- + KotBS + RP
54:33 - (Zealot + Chosen + Sorc) SW + RP + SM + WP + KotBS
57:15 - BW + IB + WP --- + WL + WP + WH
1:02:19 - WH --- BW + WL + WP --- WH
1:04:54 - AM + BW
1:06:36 - gear/spec

Fishing for fights in Tier 4 and twin gobbo power in Tier 2

I raged again yesterday and swore never to do another Scenario (I got tired of: being a 'support class' to the PUG, being a helpless boring healbot, and The Cheese™). So, since Scenarios are the only thing Lylia finds fun in T4 now, she logged on her Shaman today instead of her Sorceress while I went around fishing for fights for a little bit:





But Tier 4 is not something that sits well when taken in anything other than very small doses. I went to detox by watching some TV and caught the sweet finale of Out of the Wild on Discovery. Then, having had enough of Tier 4 for the day, I joined Lylia on her Shaman (Tum) on my Shaman (Bzzt) for some Tier 2 double gobbo action:



Lylia's Shaman got her Wolf mount and last name today!



Of all the things I will leave behind in WAR, the thing that makes me sad is not being able to see our Shamans grow up :( But then again, considering how fowl the endgame is, maybe that's for the best. They get to spend forever in the best levels of their lives!

Gear and specialization

My soloing gear, healing gear, mastery and renown training.



Some details

Black Crag pre-fortress troublemakers

In this episode, Order was trying to lock Black Crag and defense was heavy at each BO. I try to escape the zzzzzzs and run off to look for trouble at the north BO. To my surprise, Andrarlatrip the Chosen follows me. First encounter was against 3 people (2 of which were healers). Outnumbered and without enough damage, we had to keep working them around to create opportunities for some kills. Eventually they get smart and separate the Chosen and me; a KotBS (Knight of the Bullshit Stun/Snare) and a Runepriest join the fight and I am vanquished. I self-rez, regroup with Lylia the Sorceress and we go back to get our Chosen. We get a few more kills, but also pick up a few more adds (probably shouldn't have fought so close to the north BO and Order WC). As we try to maneuver the fight to our advantage, the Knight stuns us and separates us with his super field goal punt. The north BO was getting too hot and we would no longer have the element of surprise, so we left to look for trouble elsewhere after that.




In other news, Lylia somehow managed to obtain a key for Aion's closed beta. She finished installing it last night and is fidgeting for the servers to open (June 5th!).

Also, I clicked the button last night, out of impulse. The pain ends on June 22nd.

Dragonwake locks

There's always a flurry of activity around the time a zone locks. Here, Lylia and I look for some trouble a few minutes before Dragonwake locks.



Update: we might have finally figured out what has been lagging Lylia's game out --- the combat log! She used to have the combat log open and detached from the chat window. Since she turned it off, the game is no longer stupid choppy.

Black Crag pre-Fortress duo roaming

Order was working to lock Black Crag to advance to the Destruction Fortress. There was a sizable force camping the Destro warcamp, and groups of Order were posted to guard each Battlefield Objective.

The video starts out with me harassing the north BO nearest to their warcamp (Squiggly Pens). Two White Lions refuse to play, and before long they start gathering their entire defensive force to hunt me.

Lylia shows up, and we decide to move to the east BO (Madcap Pickins) to see if Order is more alive over there. We run into some Order along the way, and arrive at the BO to find a decent force defending here as well. We evaluate the situation, count the numbers and identify our key targets. At this point the people we killed on the way here respawn, try to get back and we kill them again. Meanwhile, some roamers find us and we bait them away for the kill as well.

After a few sets of kills, it started to feel dangerous. We knew we would get overwhelmed soon. We tried to make our escape to a more advantageous position, but we get intercepted by a large Order force. After some slipping and evading, we end up heading toward some friendly NPCs (not expecting to get out of this alive) --- and that is where the last section of the fight happens.

Two's company

Incidentally, I'm not the only one bored with WAR's zzzzzzz "RVR" endgame. Introducing my partner in crime (in real life and in-game), Lylia the Sorceress. She came along for the hunt one day. It starts as a little project to familiarize with the zones, get used to prowling and finding kills.

Cutting teeth --- low-risk stalking for strays at the perimeter of Praag's RVR lake:


Aqua battle, with Lylia throwing in a disarm with the CCs to save me:


Dragging a 2v3 fight (that reduced to 2v2) away for the kill. Started rolling the camera after evading the WH. Lylia lagged out in this one, running into the trees near the end and leaving me to fend for myself :)


Destro was getting spawn camped in a scenario, so we decided to take a break from the cheese and hunt the weak. The game only allows at most a 6-man to queue together. This means that while the 6-man is strong enough to dominate the entire Destro PUG, there will be weak Order PUGs in the game who aren't well supported by the 6-man. In this fight, we bait rezzers away and Lylia draws aggro one way while I stay sneaky outside their field of view.

Hopefully more to come in the future!

The ninja Zealot waits...

Getting used to flying solo

Having given up on the RVE endgame that Mythic is pushing in WAR (BOs, Keeps, Forts, Cities, cheesy 6-mans, mindless zergs), I have embarked on a lonely journey in search for PVP fun. This is, in a way, my proactive attempt at giving WAR one last chance to provide me with a reason to stay subscribed. It's been a few weekends now, and I must admit there is still alot to get used to. I have been tweaking my tactics and gear, and I think I have found a good combination of survivability and versatility to go against whatever I encounter.

What I've found I needed the most work on was understanding the zones: enemy traffic patterns, safe zones, entry points, exits, advantageous spots, etc. I struggled a little intially, but my increasing familiarity with the maps is helping. I am slowly warming up to the mindset of: stalking from safety, picking targets and maneuvering the fight for a kill, while trying to minimize danger to myself. As I get more comfortable, I plan to take on more risk, and bump up offense.









Occasionally, the zerg still runs over me, but I am starting to feel less helpless.

Chaos Wastes after hours

Was looking for some excitement in Chaos Wastes late one night. There had to be something outside the zergy zerg zerg (zzz)! I found a small skirmish and helped out, but later I ran into the Order zerg and was forced to execute some evasive maneuvers.

Destruction warcamp in Eataine

Some bogies were trying to do a flyby in front of the Destruction warcamp. Being conservative and running at 50/50 healing/damage, I pretty much just annoyed them to death.

Zealot & Witch Hunter

Made this video to show an encounter with a WH, from a Zealot's perspective.



Detaunt is the key to happiness :)