In
massively multiplayer games, there’s nothing more
exhilarating than engaging in player versus player combat. These are
the scenarios and situations that pit players against one another, with
each side eager to draw the blood of the other. It’s all
about violence, strategy, and tactics, and every player is eager to
jump into the fray and destroy the opposing team.



So when I logged into my first RvR scenario in style="font-style: italic;">Warhammer Online to
pen down a RvR guide for our new players, I was shocked to see that the
event was titled “Khaine’s Embrace.” What
right-minded RvR warrior wants to hear the word
“embrace” right when they’re about ready
to clobber their opponents? However, rest assured that
Khaine’s embrace is nothing you’d ever want to
enjoy. Khaine is the bloody handed goddess of murder in the lore of
WAR, so the title for this scenario fit perfectly.

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A map of
Khaine's Embrace.

Throughout the rest of this article, I will attempt to give you an
out-of-game look at what the Khaine’s Embrace RvR scenario is
all about and a few tips and tricks to try to defeat your opponents. Be
on the lookout over the next few weeks as I continue my journey into
each RvR scenario (and general open world RvR guides) and href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/node/43643" target="_blank">
Tony "RadarX" Jones discusses the basics of RvR
. If
you’re an RvR or PvP aficionado, these can’t be
missed!



RvR
Scenario Summary



Khaine’s
Embrace is a battle over two altars: Death’s Charge and Dance
of Swords. Capturing both of these altars will grant you points towards
victory, but also invoke Khaine’s Wrath! Avoid imminent death
or speak with the Scion at Khaine’s Altar for forgiveness!
– from the WAR style="font-style: italic;"> developers



For most RvR or PvP scenario veterans, Khaine’s Embrace will
feel incredibly familiar and the strategies behind this map
aren’t incredibly complex.. As you can see from the adjoining
screenshot Khaine’s Embrace has two altars set on the
opposite ends of a relatively small map. One the left hand side, are
the Order players and the Dance of Swords altar while on the right hand
side you’ll find the Death’s Charge altar along
with the spawn point for the Destruction faction. From each spawn
point, there’s only one route to the upper half of the map,
and that is guarded by NPCs to allow players to respawn without being
killed immediately.



The developers have really designed the Khaine’s Embrace map
to force players to have head-to-head conflicts. Only two real routes
exist for players trying to capture the opponent’s altar, one
through the upper mountains the other that swings to the south and
traces alongside Khaine’s Altar. Although there are terrain
obstacles to interfere with line-of-sight spells and abilities, there
aren’t enough to obstacles to launch any impressive ambushes
of sight unseen assaults.



A “secret” tunnel through the mountainside does
allow players to try to approach an opposing altar without too much
resistance, but these bottlenecks are extremely prone to violent
clashes against your opponents. To make a long story short,
there’s really no way to “sneak” to
victory in the Khaine’s Embrace scenario.



Another interesting aspect that surprised me about this particular
scenario is the class separation within the scenario itself. Due to the
low tier of this initial encounter, players will mainly find themselves
grouped with the new players of either the High Elves or the Dark
Elves. While this doesn’t really cause any major concerns for
the Destruction race, the High Elves do find themselves in a bit of a
quandary, at least when I played through the scenario.

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Khaine's
Embrace features two bottlenecks and lots of rocky terrain for casters
to hide behind.

The times I played through the Khaine’s Embrace scenario,
there was a distinct lack of healers available for the High Elven
ranks. With just one mage/healer class in their four classes ( href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/node/28244" target="_blank">the
Archmage), the High Elves are prone to being overloaded with
melee-based classes. On the opposite end of the spectrum, Dark Elves
have target="_blank">only three href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/node/28249" target="_blank">classes
that target="_blank">new players can diversify in,
meaning that
a number of healers seem to be every at the ready for the Dark Elven
forces. However, a group of well-organized players could certainly take
advantage of the Dark Elven lack of diversity and truly drive a stake
through the evil heart of the Destruction race.



A
Few Strategies



Due to the simplicity of Khaine’s Embrace, there
aren’t a lot of strategies to beating this scenario. Perhaps
the best group that I’ve seen has really focused on leading a
group of ranged attackers to the opposing altar and beating on their
enemies from a distance while a select group of melee combatants draws
their attention away from the ranged attackers.



If you’re defending your position, it’s best to
keep at least 4-5 DPS based defenders around the altar at all times,
with more being pulled off the offensive front if you’re
getting overwhelmed by the opponent. However, if the group
you’re playing with is intelligent, their offensive attack
will draw players away from your own altar and force them into a
defensive mode.



In the case of Khaine’s Embrace, offense is really the best
defense. Players should always be on the move, with groups heading into
the tunnel as well as skirting Khaine’s altar. This will give
you the best chance of stalling the enemy while your teammates swoop
around via the opposite path and snatch the flag from your opponents.



Class
Assignments in Khaine’s Embrace



So what should a player that’s new to Khaine’s
Embrace really focus on? Many of the basics of RvR and PvP remain true
in the Khaine’s Embrace scenario. However, due to the
“capture and hold” mentality, a few of the classes
may want to focus on specific agendas to truly maximize the efficiency
of their side.

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Tanks will
be leading the aggressive charge, but won't be able to get any solid
killing in.

Tanks



- Do: In
Khaine’s Embrace, the href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/node/28245" target="_blank">tanking
classes of Order and
target="_blank">Destruction really excel at
leading the charge at the various altars.
With the best hit point totals of all the classes, the tanks really are
at their best when drawing the attention of the enemy that is
surrounding the altar. Do whatever you need to do to make the enemy
focus on you and not the protection of their altar. Hop up and down in
circles. Wave your arms. Go club a couple of ‘em on the head.
It’s your goal to draw their fire and draw them away from the
altar so the other classes and jump in and nab the flag out from
underneath the opposing team.



If you’re feeling lucky, you can try to claim the flag
yourself. While most tanks are pretty easy to spot, you also can
withstand a barrage of fire from the opposition. Once you make it past
the gauntlet, you may be the only one left to try to nab the flag.



On top of all this, always try to grab a healer to escort you. Though
you may be big and tough, tanks can’t do squat without their
healing comrades. Before the scenario starts, send a quick tell to the
healer to have him watch your back when you go in. That’ll
make things much easier on you.



- Don’t:
Although it may seem like a good idea, don’t get caught up in
one-on-one battles with anyone on the field. The majority of the time,
you’re probably not going to win. In Khaine’s
Embrace, it’s really easy to lose track of your surroundings.
There are so many players running about that an enemy healer could show
up at any time and start putting some healing on whoever
you’re fighting. Once that happens, you’re probably
finished.



Also, don’t spend all your time guarding your own altar. It
may seen like a great idea to have your toughest mook stationed at the
flag, but the best defense is typically a variety of DPS agents
– both ranged and melee. Smart opponents will never focus on
you when they’re at the altar, so having a number of DPSers
at the altar will give you a bit more bang for the buck.



Ranged DPS



- Do: In
this particular scenario, you’ve got an incredible advantage
over almost any melee artist. Rather than being stuck out in the open
with lots of ways to get ganked by your opponents, Khaine’s
Embrace features a rocky, rugged environment that’s perfect
for brushing off those pesky melee characters that are following you.
On top of that, the area’s around each altar are slightly
raised, giving you the perfect firing ground for launching attacks
against the enemy.

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href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/node/43659"> src="/image/view/43659/preview"
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The
aftermath of Khaine's Wrath.

Being on the attack seems to be the best place for the ranged href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/node/28250" target="_blank">DPS
characters to be in Khaine’s Embrace. Raining
magical fire
down on your opponents is really effective from your end and really
aggravating for anyone trying to hold the altar. You may want to keep a
couple target="_blank">ranged DPSers in reserve to deal
with the enemies
casters/archers, but that’s entirely up to the strategy of
your team.



- Don’t: Go
in the tunnel. If you want a nice, quick way to die, go in that tunnel
and see if you can make it through. All sorts of melee nasties wait for
little casters around the corners of the tunnel in Khaine’s
Embrace, and then you have nowhere to run.



Also, make sure you don’t get too far away from your friends.
The best way to capitalize against your opponent is to make him
confused by brushing him off on another ranged DPSer that is raining
down destruction on their teammates. If you see a melee character, run,
but run into the middle of your squad rather than out into the open.



Get too far away from the healer. Although they’re probably
not healing you, if you can take the focus away from your squads healer
and put it on yourself, you’re that much closer to winning.



Melee DPS



- Do: You
will need to be extremely fast in this scenario, simply because there
will be a whole lot of people for you to kill, and there’s a
lot of room for them to spread out. As the
target="_blank">“utility” character
in this particular scenario,
you’ll be called upon to do everything from href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/node/34490" target="_blank">defending
an
altar to going on an attack run to conquer an altar. If
you’re not prepared to step up to the challenge of running in
and gutting a mage or two, while trying to click on an altar,
you’d best try a different scenario.



Teaming up with a healer is also an incredibly good way to keep on
trucking in Khaine’s Embrace. If you can stay with a tank and
a healer, you have a really great chance of doing some damage to the
enemy, if not ruining his day altogether. The tank and the healer will
surely grab the attention of the enemy, so make sure you take advantage
of that by killing the opposition while you can.



You can also try to hold the tunnel along with another melee character
and a healer. If you can keep the tunnel blocked, it will be a huge
boon for your team.



- Don’t: Attempting
to be the loner in this scenario is a great way to get yourself killed.
As I said in the earlier description, there’s no way to
really sneak into an altar area. Almost every avenue will have fighting
players in it, so if you try to break through the line,
you’re simply going to get killed and killed quickly.



Healers



- Do: Grab a
couple of the melee characters and make them into your heal teammates.
These are the individuals you’re going to focus your
attention on when things get down and dirty. You’ll need to
be quick on the healing in this scenario simply because HP totals are
so low, but there will also be a lot of DPS agents running around on
both sides of the field as well.



You’ll be needed almost everywhere in this scenario, so
having a group that you simply follow will be the best way to keep a
focus without having to worry about running back and forth between the
altars. Where your group goes, you go.

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Healers need
to be on their toes with lots of healing spells ready.

Finding another target="_blank">healer to team up with is also a
solid idea, especially
if you’re all in the same “party”
together. With two healers, almost any grab of melee combatants should
be able to tear through their opponents without too many casualties and
take the flag.



- Don’t:
Like the melee DPS character, don’t be a loner. href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/node/28244" target="_blank">Healers
are
always best in groups, so make sure you’re in one. On this
scenario in particular, if you’re playing as an Archmage,
focus on healing. You’ll have plenty of DPS coming from all
the other High Elven classes, so don’t fret about nuking the
opposition. Just keep your teammates alive.



Final
Word



If you enjoy a constant back and forth struggle with lots of combat and
clear objectives, Khaine’s Embrace is the scenario for you.
Whether you play as one of the Elves or as a different race of Order of
Destruction, you’ll definitely find plenty of combatants to
bloody your blade. Don’t be afraid to be aggressive, and make
sure to communicate with your teammates. If you follow those simple
rules, Khaine’s Embrace will be coming your way very soon.



If you like this guide, make sure you let us know on the forums! More
of these types of guides will be heading your way soon, so keep your
eye on Ten Ton Hammer for all your RvR needs!