Warhammer Online: Age of Reckoning

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Warhammer Online: Age of Reckoning (alternatively Warhammer Online or WAR) was a massively multiplayer online game produced by Mythic Entertainment and set in an alternate Warhammer timeline. The game was released in September 2008. It was shut down December 18th 2013.

Return of Reckoning is the private server continuation of Warhammer Online: Age of Reckoning with balance changes and additional content, even becoming the first private server to host official Twitch drops.

Setting

The story of Warhammer Online takes place in the aftermath of a great plague when the Empire, Dwarfs, and High Elves join forces to battles Chaos, Dark Elves and the Greenskins. The sides form the alliances of Order and Destruction, respectively.

The World

Tier 1: Nordland, Norsca, Chrace, Blighted Isle, Ekrund, Mount Bloodhorn
Tier 2: Troll Country, Ostland, Ellyrion, Shadowlands, Barak Varr, Marshes of Madness
Tier 3: High Pass, Talabecland, Saphery, Avelorn, Black Fire Pass, Badlands
Tier 4: Chaos Wastes, Reikland, Praag, Eataine, Dragonwake, Caledor, Thunder Mountain, Black Crag, Kadrin Valley
Capital Cities: Altdorf, The Inevitable City

Characters

Players pick their character's career, which automatically determines their race. Gender is optional for some careers. Each character's appearance can be customized.

WAR Career Chart
Armies Tank Melee DPS Ranged DPS Healer/Support
Dwarfs Ironbreaker Slayer (Male Only) Dwarf Engineer Rune Priest
The Empire Knight of the Blazing Sun Witch Hunter Bright Wizard Warrior Priest
High Elves Swordmaster White Lion Shadow Warrior High Elf Archmage
Greenskins Black Orc Orc Choppa Goblin Squig Herder Goblin Shaman
Chaos Chosen (Male Only) Chaos Marauder (Male Only) Magus Chaos Zealot
Dark Elves Black Guard Witch Elf (Female Only) Sorceress/Sorcerer Disciple of Khaine

Gameplay

Warhammer Online features a tiered structure to its game zones. New players begin in the the first tier zones Nordland and Norsca for Order and Destruction, respectively. By tier 4, players battle for control over nine separate zones. This means that unlike the traditional atlas structure of many MMOs, players travel throughout the world nearly instantly to different battlefields.

Player vs. Environment

Warhammer Online features traditional quests which can be accepted from NPCs and completed for a reward. Tier 1 is 75% PvE while Tier 4 is 25% PvE, shifting the focus of gameplay away from solo or small group questing.

One unique mechanic is the public quest - an area of the zone which allows characters to gather and complete a short group quest. This eliminates the need for players to wait around to form groups.

The game contains instanced Dungeons in Altdorf, The Inevitable City, the Chaos Wastes and a few other zones.

The Land of the Dead is a zone where players can complete a variety of PvE public quests inside of an Open RvR lake.

Player vs. Player

Warhammer Online: Age of Reckoning originally had many PvP servers at launch. These servers allowed characters up to ten ranks above the normal limit to participate in RvR and allowed combat outside of RvR Lakes without flagging.

The game also features over a dozen unique instanced scenarios which pit groups of characters against each other. Like public quests, scenarios do not require premade groups.

Realm vs. Realm

Warhammer Online's premiere gameplay is RvR combat. Order and Destruction battle each other for control of individual keeps and battlefield objectives which determine who controls each zone.

While combat over battlefield objectives is done by players on foot, keep sieges require more complex tactics. Normally keeps must be taken by destroying the doors with either a ram or other siege engines and then defeating the keep lord. However, each keep is defended by NPC guards and defending players can pour flaming oil on attackers. Defenders can also hide inside the keep to heal, while the attackers remain in the open without cover. Finally, guilds can claim keeps and purchase upgrades to make them more defendable.

In Tier 4, if at least six of the zones are controlled by one faction a city siege will begin. City sieges are similar to 24 vs. 24 scenarios with a number of objectives and stages. The final stage has players battling alongside their city's leader, some even becoming his champions.

See Also

Computer Games
Games Chaos & Conquest - Chaosbane - Dark Omen - Man O' War: Corsair - Mark of Chaos (Battle March) - Mordheim - Shadow of the Horned Rat - Total War Warhammer (II, III) - Warhammer Online: Age of Reckoning