Warhammer Online: Age of Reckoning Career Mastery Paths

Empire Bright Wizard

Official information from EA Mythic

One of the major parts of any MMOG is that the gameplay has to fit your playstyle. If it doesn't then you can bet that you won't be playing that game for long. Warhammer Online: Age of Reckoning is no exception, regardless of how good it might be. When a game doesn't make sense to you with how it plays or it has that "same 'ol same 'ol" feel to it, it can be boring, frustrating, confusing, (insert appropriate adjective here). One way game designers overcome that feeling in a game is to allow you, the player, to take some modicum of control over your character and choose how he/she will specialize for your playstyle in whatever game you're playing. If you want to do more damage, you can specialize in skills that will add to your DPS. If you like being able to take the pain, then skills that stress damage mitigation are key. If you're a healer, then you obvioulsy want to boost your healing ability (unless you're like I am,then you go for more damage and toss your friends to the wind!). And the list goes on and on.

Back in December, EA Mythic announced that they were adding a Career Mastery tree to each class in Warhammer Online so that each player could customize his/her character's playstyle. It's a similar idea to the Talents trees in WoW or the AA lines in Everquest 2.

While they've released no details on the actual abilities in each path yet, this month EA Mythic continues with the release of the Paths of Mastery by introducing us to a career that is sure to be smokin' hot, the Bright Wizard!

... ok, ok, that was really bad, I know, but trust me, you'll want to read on because the Bright Wizard's paths are a LOT better than my jokes.

Bright Wizard Career Masteries

Master of the Lore of Fire, the Bright Wizard is the most destructive battle wizard in all of the Empire. The Bright wizard is renowned for his ability to incinerate anything, ranging from individual soldiers to an entire hillside. However, destructive fire is not the only trick in his arsenal. The Bright Wizards is also capable of manipulating the wind of Aqshy to cause a variety of debilitating effects, ranging from thick banks of choking smoke, to withering heat that saps the strength and endurance from even the staunchest warrior. Some Bright Wizards have even been known to dabble in the healing arts, though cauterizing a wound with white hot fire is never a soldier’s first choice!

Bright Wizard Mechanic

Due to the volatile nature of Aqshy, the Red Wind of Fire that they manipulate, the Bright Wizard is always risking a backlash that could incinerate himself as well as his opponent. This buildup of Aqshy is known as 'Combustion' and the greater the level of Combustion a Bright Wizard places into his destructive spells the more likely they will explode with stupendous results (Critical Hit). However, even the most skilled wizard will get burned when playing with fire. Pushing the combustion level too high can result in a backlash of magical energy that will damage the Wizard himself.

Bright Wizard Masteries

Path of Incineration

The Path of Incineration primarily focuses on destructive single-target spells. About half of these spells have high values of Combustion allowing those who master the Path of Incineration to focus on weaving high risk spells in with more reliable destructive magics for optimal single target damage.

Path of Immolation

The Path of Immolation focuses on damage over time and debilitating, lingering debuffs. A Master of Immolation is more patient, relying less on high-Combustion spells with explosive effect and more on slow burns that build up into an unstoppable inferno.

Path of Conflagration

The Path of Conflagration is the most destructive of the Bright Wizard masteries with area effect spells capable of burning entire swaths of land to a crisp. However, Masters of Conflagration must exert the most self-control; most of their spells build up high levels of Combustion and their reckless use could mean the Bright Wizard’s doom as well.

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