The Black Orc: RvR Guide

Part 1

In this guide, we will be taking a look at the Black Orc in PvP.  There is already a lot of great information on the Black Orc, but we are going to look at the Black Orc through purely PvP eyes.  We will be discussing viable builds, and tips and tricks to playing a Black Orc to their fullest.

As always, remember that this is just a guide. It's up to you to decide on who you want to play your character. Don't listen to the fanboys if you're not having fun. Do what you feel is best for your enjoyment of the game. If you're not having fun playing, then you might as well be a boring ol' stuntie!

Class Overview

The Black Orc is a Tank, pure and simple. In fact, he is the epitome of Tanks. Your job is to lead the charge into ferocious combat. You are the shock trooper, the vanguard of the greenskins. Your mission is to occupy as many as the enemy as possible and keep their weak, sniveling forces from getting past you and attacking your more vulnerable allies. Have no fear! (Actually, Black Orcs are incapable of fear, which is a good thing. Maybe not smart, but good.) You have tons of hit points to keep you up and fighting while your foes weaken and fall before you. In addition, you wear the heaviest armor in the game; plate armor. Their puny knives and spells can barely penetrate your armor. Nothing that you face will have more hit points or heavier armor than you. You want to get in their faces and see the fear in their eyes up close. You live to feel their last gasps of breath as they fall beneath your might.

The Black Orc is a great class for those who like their fighting extremely close, brutal, and grinding. You will not bring an enemy down with a just a few hits, nor rain death upon them from a distance. If you enjoy frustrating your opponents as they scream, "Why won't he go down?", then this class is for you. You will be attacked by multiple foes from every conceivable angle, but that's ok. You're bred for battle, and you KNOW that you are the toughest, meanest sob out there. As long as you keep your opponents occupied, thus freeing up your Ranged DPS and Melee DPS, you're doing your job. Black Orcs bear the brunt of any enemy attack, but with your toughness, hits, and armor, you can take it. Not only take it, but dish some right back! If you like attacking from stealth or lobbing magic at your foes from a distance, then this class isn't for you.

Enough jibber-jabber! If the thought of beating High Elves or Dwarves into the ground while shrugging off their pitiful attacks appeals to you, then read on!

Stats & Their Effect on the Black Orc

To start off, we'll look at the various stats and their effect for the Black Orc. Some stats are more important than others and everybody on the internet has their own opinion. It's always best to keep your build to yourself to avoid being called a noob or idiot by somebody else who spent way, way too much time running numbers through their own super-computer. Besides, if you're having fun, then what's the problem? Now, the math behind the stats can be complex and intricate, things which are against greenskin nature. Various situations lean towards certain stats, so we'll look at the most basic stats that are vital to a Black Orc. We'll keep the computations simple.

Toughness : Toughness: Toughness decreases the amount of damage taken. The formula for this is (Toughness / 5 = Reduces damage by X DPS). Thus, for every 5 points of Toughness you have, you reduce your damage by 1 dps per enemy. This stat is vitally important to Black Orcs as that they tend to get beat up on by mobs of things. Most of the damage that you will take as a Black Orc will be a steady amount of damage by a handful of opponents. Black Orcs start with a base of 65 Toughness, which is anywhere from 25% to 50% more than other classes. You'll need every point.

Wounds : Wounds are your health. Each point of wounds adds 10 hit points to your base. If an item gives you an additional 5 wounds, that translates into 50 more hit points. You start with 60 Wounds, which, like Toughness, is anywhere from 25% to 50% more than other classes. You should always have the most hit points in a group, not including other Tanks.

Strength : Strength determines how physically strong your character is (duh!) and helps increase damage. Your strength/5 increases your melee ability damage DPS. Your strength/10 increases your auto attack damage. Since you start the game with 55 Strength, that means that you get an additional 5.5 damage per second with an auto attack, and you get 11 additional damage per melee ability dps. You have a pretty good starting Strength, but not exceptional.

Weapon Skill : Your weapon skill determines your chances to parry melee attacks and to penetrate your enemy's armor. The formula for parry is (Weapon skill / (Level * 7.5 + 50) * .075 * 100) = +% to parry. This means that at 1st level (60 Weapon Skill), your chance to parry is 7.8%. Armor penetration is computed by the formula (Weapon skill / (Level * 5 + 50) * .25 *100) = +% armor penetration. Again, at 1st level, your armor penetration chance is 27%. In addition, it seems that your chance of landing a critical strike is based upon your weapon skill. Armor penetration actually goes down as you gain levels to roughly 19% at 40th level. However, this is based off of core stats and not counting any bonuses from armor, weapons, gear, or potions.

Initiative : Initiative deals with how fast your character reacts. This stat is used to calculate your chance to evade and decreases your chance to be critically hit. Evade is only for ranged attacks! The formula for evade is ([Initiative / (Level * 7.5 + 50)] * 7.5). Thus, at level 1 (Initiative of 45), your chance to evade ranged attacks is 5.86%. The formula for the percentage of reducing your chances of being critically hit is ((Level * 7.5 + 50) / Initiative * .1 * 100).

Lots of stats, eh? Even though all the stats above are important for Black Orcs, the three most important are Toughness, Wounds, and Strength. Now, let's get on to the killing in Tier 1.

Tier 1

You should have a lot of fun in Tier 1. Some of your sneakier opponents won't have their stealth abilities until level 10 or so, so you won't have to worry about sneak attacks. The combat should be direct and brutal. You'll have the most hit points and armor on the field (Swordmasters and Ironbreakers will be equal), so there's nothing tougher than you. Feel free to tackle multiple foes and laugh at their pitiful attempts to defeat you. If lightly armored Melee DPS types engage you, take it as a gift from Gork himself! Their paper-thin armor and weak constitution will fall beneath your might!

As soon as you are able, start spending your Renown Points. You gain a point for each rank of Renown you achieve through PvP. Spend them! You can buy some incredibly useful abilities. You should definitely get the tactic that gives you a +5% bonus to your XP during PvP. Ignore the gold tactic as that you should have no problem with gold in the game. You can also ignore the Willpower, Intelligence, and Ballistic Skill advances as that you'll never use them. Your first priority should be Toughness, followed by Strength. If you wish, you can get an increase in Weapon Skill or Initiative, but that's up to you. You cannot increase your Wounds at Tier 1. Your main goal at this stage is to increase your chances of standing (Toughness) and inflicting better damage (Strength). When able, buy Renown Gear when it becomes available. Always look to upgrade your gear, especially armor and weapons. Keep a lookout for gear that includes bonuses for Toughness, Wounds, and Strength. Other bonuses are good, but those three are vital. Elemental and Corporeal Resistance is good too. You'll have spells slung at you like nobody's business by your foes in their feeble attempts to bring you down.

In combat, use your special abilities. Some abilities require "da' Gud Plan!" or "da' Best Plan!" to operate. Certain abilities build up to "da' Gud Plan!", while others build from "da' Gud Plan!" to the "da' Best Plan!" Make sure that you don't use an ability out of sequence as that doing so will sometimes reset your plan back to the beginning. You can track what Plan you're on by looking at the symbol displayed over your action bar. In the beginning, you'll use "Clobber", followed by "Trip 'Em Up", and ending in "Skull Thumper." "Trip 'Em Up" is very handy as that it can knock your opponent prone for a few seconds. Later on, you'll get abilities that will inflict damage and have a secondary effect. You could increase your armor by using "Tuffer 'n Nails" or reduce their weapon skill by using "Right in da Jibblies." Another useful ability is "Taunt", which interrupts a foe's currently building ability and makes them take 30% more damage from your attacks for 15 seconds (or until they hit you 3 times). "Da Toughest!" is a war bellow that gives a 25% chance that each attack gives you 3 additional wounds. This ability lasts for 10 seconds. Extra wounds equals extra hit points, which is always good!

An interesting choice will have to be made by you playing the Black Orc. You can use a single-handed weapon, such as a sword or axe, and a shield, or you can use a two-handed great weapon, with no shield. The difference being that using a shield and single-handed weapon does less damage, but you will have a higher amount of armor. If you use a great weapon, you'll do greater damage, but have less armor. In addition, some abilities require a shield or a two-handed weapon, such as "Da Big Un'" and "Hold the Line!". The choice is up to you. I would recommend carrying a great weapon, a shield, and a single-handed weapon so you can switch back and forth as you see fit.

Your priority in combat should be fairly constant with one or two exceptions. Normally, you'll lead the charge against the enemy forces and try to tie up as many of enemies as possible. Try to bring down your weaker opponents first, then go after their Tanks. In the various scenarios, you should always lead the charge. At level 10, make sure you use "Save da Runts" ability on a healer. This ability will allow you to split damage that your target takes. If you use it on a healer, they'll live a lot longer, and they'll want to keep on living. Thus, they'll keep spamming heals on you, which is always a good thing. If you're defending a spot, make sure to stand close to the healer to protect them. If there's more than one Tank in your group, you can decide on who protects the healer, if needed, and who stays in front.

Stay queued up for Scenarios at all times, and adventure out into the RvR lakes.  Guffaw with joy as you smash your enemies into piles of goo. Gork will heap his rewards on you!

Summary

That's it for Part 1, we have looked at the stats that influence the Black Orc and of abilities that you will be using in Tier 1. In Part 2 we will look at Tier 2, and start to examine the different Mastery Paths. Stay tuned to Ten Ton Hammer for more class guides, and Part 2 of the Black Orc Guide.