In recent days with all the news and hype surrounding Warhammer Online: Age of Reckoning, it's hard to imagine a more frenzied state of the community. The rumblings have quieted as Mythic Entertainment let in tens of thousands to the Closed Beta for increased testing loads. While this likely just shifted much of the discussion to the Beta Forums, with the NDA drop much of this will move right back out to the open. Like a Tsunami, this wave of information can crush the unwary and drown out a number of potential players. What do you need to know? We've put together the top five things we believe you need to know about Warhammer Online: Age of Reckoning as an MMOG player.

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In Any Village...

First, Realm vs Realm combat promises to provide a fairly new twist on Player vs Player content. While it was used successfully on Dark Age of Camelot, it has been taken to an entirely new level in Warhammer online. Unlike other games which have treated PvP as nothing more than an appendage, it has been built into the foundation. Even as early as level 7 or 8 a number of quests become available that take you right into the heart of RvR content. What's even more interesting is almost every task is completed near the battlefield objectives you are fighting over. This not only breaks up combat that has the potential to become reptetive, but provides incentives to those not necessarily inclined to conflict.

If RvR isn't a big selling point for you, a major component of the PvE content is their unique Public Quest system. It's been talked about in length and provides people the opportunity to work together towards a common goal. Three distinct stages allow players to solo in the first part, group up with one or two others for the second, and find a whole group for the final boss. Early on there should be absolutely no problem, and you can see many of these completed on packed servers in less than two minutes. Whether they will maintain constant activity after everyone spreads out we'll just have to see, but it's hard to find complaints about the mechanic. It's just fun and enhances a good PvE experience.

Speaking of PvE content, if you are expecting a ground breaking renaissance of gameplay with super advanced AI and realistic limb chopping combat, you will be disappointed. That isn't to say the content was poorly done, it runs quite well compared to to modern games and compliments their unusual mechanics such as RvR and Public Quests. The game does use a number of very tried and true methods which we are all familiar with like quest hubs and area progression. However, one innovative thing you can say is they've done FedEx and Kill Ten Rats quests extremely well providing a scripted story and an immersive illusion that should satisfy any lore fan.

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Don't Mess With Him

In every game you find certain classes or races that are just overall entertaining in their demeanor and abilities. Warhammer Online presents the Greenskins as their comic relief bringing amusing speech, emotes, and even quests. There is one quest in particular that requires you to actually climb into a catapult and launch yourself into a fortress. Now while the tone of that might actually be serious, it's hard to watch these events unfold without frequent laughter. The humor is subtle, morbid, and just downright hilarious.

Finally, one of the elements Warhammer Online has managed to create which we've almost never seen in another game is instill a sense of conflict. Other games have tried like Tabula Rasa and World of Warcraft which on some level did make players feel a part of a greater war but were missing something. Warhammer Online pits you immediately against your enemies and there are no coffee breaks the rest of the game. It isn't about armor sets, farming for a mount, or completing an epic quest. Your goal is to find the opposition and eliminate them and server your Realm. Everything else is just a side quest.

There you have it, five things we believe you need to know. While you should keep in mind these are totally subjective and based just on one person’s experience, hopefully they are points you can at least agree are important. Prepare for the madness as the NDA drops and we see an influx of information and be sure to keep checking back as we provide you with all the guides you'll need.


To read the latest guides, news, and features you can visit our Warhammer 40,000: Storm of Vengeance Warhammer Online: Age of Reckoning Game Page.

Last Updated: Mar 29, 2016

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