Well everyone, it seems that WAR is upon us again. Carrie Gouskos, producer of Warhammer Online came down from the busy mountain at Bioware Mythic and delivered us the Warhammer Online Producer’s letter for September (released late yesterday). The letter started out going over the previously stated rewards for WAR turning two years old which consisted of an endless firework, a trophy called “The WAR Double Aegis”, and a special Anniversary Cloak. She also let us in on a new “Barber Surgeon” who “hacks off your face and gives you a new one… for a price.” is on the way.
For those of you who don’t know, Warhammer’s claim to fame is centered on RvR (realm vs. realm) combat. A typical bout of RvR works like this: One side gets into something called a Warband (huge team, pretty much a raid group) or two and proceeds onto one of the many battlefields. On the battlefield they find a few battlefield objectives and a couple keeps. The warband then attacks enemy-controlled keeps and battlefield objectives for rewards in XP, items, money, and PvP XP (called Renown). Capturing a keep works like a quest. You break through the defenses using battering rams, catapults, and anything else you can find. You then take out a very tough “Keep Lord” in a PvE fight. Did I mention this is all while being attacked by enemy warbands? It’s quite intense. That said, there is currently no reason to take the battlefield objectives (various control points around the map) … until now.
When the RvR packs hit, Gouskos announced one of the major changes is that controlled battlefield objectives will begin generating resources. This will be the first of a new several-step process towards taking a Keep. Once taken, NPC Convoys will start taking resources from a controlled battlefield objective to your Realm’s keep. These NPCs are attackable by enemy players but upon arrival at your keep, generate resources for all sorts of upgrades including new siege equipment, aerial bombers, upgrading your convoy with armor and mounts, and more.
Another major bit of buzz from this is the announcement is the names of the 4 new Skaven classes. It was also announced some time ago that both sides have access to the Skaven race. Those classes are “the defensive constructible building Warlock Engineer, the stealthy sabotaging Gutter Runner, the tank, rat-hurling Rat Ogre, and the supportive rat-harnessing Packmaster”.
There is no mention of when this content will hit servers or how much they plan on charging. You can read the letter in its entirety from the official site here.