Emeraude
Total Newbie
Joined: 20 May 2008
Posts: 11
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 Posted: 05/20/08 - 05:12 Post subject: Lineage 2: WC Overview
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This is a post I made, to present the Warcryer (WC from here on) class to anyone who is interested in starting one. It doesn’t have to do with how to level one, just an overview and a role description. Many of the things here (specially on the statistics) also apply to the Overlord class. Their roles and gameplay though, are diversified due to the different buffs and skill sets. Needless to say that these are my personal views, thus subjective. Take this post as what it is intended to be: a simple point of view.
INTRODUCTION
Any class’s role ingame is defined by its stats and skill set. Tattoos and equipment may change things a bit, but only to certain extend. So what does the game give to WC? What are our strengths and weaknesses?
PHYSICAL STATISTICS
Let’s begin our overview from the initial statistics. WC is a mystic class, primarily considered a buffer. What is obvious with the first look is that its statistics can be characterized as extreme. That means it has everything very high or very low. Its physical statistics (CON, DEX, STR) are much higher (or at least equal) than any other mystic’s. That is why they are called a hybrid (fighter-mystic). Not only that, but they get all armor masteries (including heavy). This fact, along with their buffs/skills makes them able to solo much easier than any other buffer-healer (e.g. prophets get also heavy armor mastery, but they fall behind due to lower physical stats and offensive skills).
The magical statistics are still characterized by extremity. INT and WIT are the lowest of all mystics, while MEN is the highest ingame. That means in simple words that you will not hit hard with magical attacks or cast fast, but you will have high magical defense, high MP regeneration rate and more MP than other classes.
UNIQUE ABILITY
NC tries to give every class some sort of unique ability to make them different from other classes. In WC’s case, this is party buffing. A WC is the most efficient MP-wise buffer when it comes to large parties (OL can actually buff more people but they have to be clan/alliance related). There are many advantages to mass buffing:
-Saves MP from other buffers, which they can use to heal and recharge.
-Buffs are made really fast for the entire party
-It’s easy to track the buff duration and rebuff time
Only downside of party buffs is that they cost a lot of MP.
SKILLS
The skill set hides some more surprises. WC gets hammer crush, an attack that does damage (greatly boosted in Interlude) and has also a chance to stun an opponent (blunt weapon is needed). Indeed, hammer crush has been nicely boosted in CT1 (especially if soul cry is on). Orc mystics are the only from mystic classes that get it. Same thing applies for Steal essence. This is a magical attack that damages the enemy and restores a (large) percentage of damage dealt as HP to the caster. Only downside is its MP cost which was increased on C5. Another useful skill is Soul Cry (toggle) that greatly boosts your Patk but consumes mana for as long is on.
The main damaging skills of WC are supposed to be his Damage Over time Attacks (DOT from now on). Well this is hardly the case. Freezing flame and venom are DOT’s that gradually lower somebody’s HP. Freezing flame can be useful some times (really few times) but venom does so little damage that is viewed by most WC as waste of MP (it stops getting levels at 52 so it has a low landing rate anyhow from that point up) . Aura sink burns instantly some MP and also drains some over time. Its uses are limited to PvP (although it is still viewed by many as waste of MP). The problem lies with the Over Time part. Currently a lot of classes can deal big amounts of damage in very little time, thus making anything that works Over Time almost useless. CT1 brought an increase in DoT’s damage, but the impact was insignificant.
There are 4 more skills that give another dimension to WC. First one is Chant of life. It is a Heal Over Time skill (HOT from now on) that restores some points of HP over time. It affects all party members so it costs a LOT of MP and it is not as effective as other heals. It can be used in some cases to relieve a healer’s burden in places where many party members take damage (e.g. when fighting mobs that use AOE attacks). The other 3 are crowd control skills (CC from now on). This is: Dreaming spirit (sleeps the target), Fear (makes an enemy run away in fear) and Madness (makes an enemy attack a random target). Sleep casting time was increased in C5 but did not apply to dreaming spirit skill. That makes an orc mystic the fastest sleep caster ingame. Needless to say how useful sleeping targets in heavily spawned areas is. Fear is also very useful and with the coming of Interlude it will also affect other players. Great CC skill (as long as it lands). Madness has a very poor landing rate so nobody really uses it. But it is by far the FUNNIEST skill. Imagine two monsters A and B near each other. You land Madness on monster A. It then attacks monster B that then attacks you. You end up fighting monster B with monster A helping you by beating on monster B! Really funny. Wish it landed more.
BUFFS
WC has one of the best buff sets for physical combat characters ingame. It is a general conception in the game that the best and most efficient way to kill (physical combat) is by scoring as many critical hits possible in the less possible time. WC gets all the “good” offensive damage dealing buffs that increase attacking speed (haste) and critical hits efficiency (versions of accuracy, focus and death whisper). But also gets good defensive skills (a version of evasion, vampiric rage and magic defense increase). Also at higher levels they get war/earth chant that further (additional to might/shield buffs) increase either Patk or Pdef (only WC and prophets get this). At even higher levels, there is a reflect damage skill (throws some physical damage received back to the attacker). At the end game (lvl. 7 there is a skill that is considered by many the best skill available for physical combat characters: Chant of victory. It gives a big boost to all statistics (only speed is lowered). In Interlude, Chant of Magus will compliment this, and it will be the mage version of CoV. CT1 brought another good buff (Chant of protection) that reduces amount of received critical damage. Too bad is at level 79
CT1.5 brought some sweet changes for the class. The 70-74 combined (combo) buffs. These buffs:
a) Replace several of the existing ones, taking one buff slot while providing 2 buff effects. Level 70 Chant of combat (shielding/battle), level 72 Chant of critical (predator/rage), level 74 Chant of blood awakening (fury/vampire),
b) Require no SP to learn. Only the relevant amulet is needed (droppable amulets, not bought at NPC),
c) Last for 40 minutes,
c) Cost only a fraction of MP of the initial buffs. A WC at 74 needed 1222 MP every 20 minutes for these 6 buffs. With the combo buffs, it only needs 198 MP every 40 minutes!!!
These changes help the class to greatly conserve MP and allows us to wear light or heavy armors more often (e.g. for castle/fortress sieges or when soloing) since we have enough MP to do our buffs. Additionally, buff slots are freed to accommodate buffs that sometimes were left out due to over-buffing (especially if there are more support characters in party).
ROLE
What is your role in L2 world? Well, you are a party animal. That is where you shine. Your buffs and skills assign you the following tasks in a party: buffer, crowd controller, secondary damage dealer, healer (usually with this order). Since these will be expected from you, I suggest building your character in that perspective, especially after C-grade.
GAMEPLAY
Party setup is pretty much standard. Robes help you fulfill tasks number one, two and four (buffs, CC, healing) due to extra MP and casting speed. You also need a good damage-dealing weapon to fulfill your third task (secondary damage dealing). Anything like a 2-h blunt/sword or dagger will do (with dagger being mostly favored after B-grade). A nice addition could be a mage’s weapon with acumen or magical power SA’s to help you with CC and Steal essence. Landing your skills faster (acumen) or with better chances (magic power) is always helpful (personally I went for the second choice, but if I had PvP concerns, I would have preferred the acumen).
Solo game play is quite possible up to 60+ due to your stats, skills and buffs (can’t say if and where it stops, since I am low 60’s). Solo setup is diversified from your party setup only in the armor, since you need heavy to solo (some WC solo with robes too, but I haven't tested it myself). If you can’t afford both sets, light armor (specially Blue wolf light after B-grade) can be a good compromise between the two, if properly combined with a mana up SA weapon. In my early 70’s, I can still solo with acceptable rate. Tallum robes at FoD (unfortunately no tallum heavy available at this time to test) and with my BW light in Blazing swamp. So I guess that with the right equipment and choice of spot, you can solo up to 73-74 (I can’t confirm for higher levels yet).
CT1.5: Ability to solo after level 70 has been increased more with the new combo buffs. They require much less MP and they last for 40 min. thus leaving more MP for damage dealing (soul cry, drains, hummer crush).
UPS
-WC is wanted in parties, be it exp or raids. Finding a party is usually not a problem. Additionally, you don’t face the group restrictions an OL has in order to be efficient (clan/ally group)
-Soloing is a viable option (and I mean soloing, no OOP buffers), especially after the introduction of herbs
-Clans are willing to take you in, even if they already have an OL (or even another WC). Very few people box a WC, so they are usually needed.
AND DOWNS
-Buffs level up later than any other buffer’s. This can be frustrating at early stages, but turns out to be a good thing later, since you have something to expect.
-You need different armor setup for solo and party (of course there is always space for some compromises, so this can be solved too). Also you need two weapons (melee, magical) and ss as well as sps to be most effective. But it is not a must have.
-Everybody makes fun of you because you are green and run really slowly.
PS. This does not cover any PvP aspects of the WC. I leave it to others more experienced to discuss it. My guess is that PvP wise, WC stands somewhere in the middle of the stairs.
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