As with any MMO, the most important decision you’ll need to make is in creating your character. The ‘good’ faction is also referred to as ‘Order,’ and is comprised of Dwarves, the Empire, and High Elves. Those on the evil side of the fence follow the forces of ‘Destruction,’ represented by Greenskins, Chaos, and Dark Elves. The Empire and Chaos races are humanoid and all other races are pretty self-explanatory.
Each race offers a choice of 4 different and unique ‘Archetypes’ that conform to one of the familiar party roles of tank, melee dps, ranged dps, and healers. While there are some rudimentary parallels, there are no direct equivalents, either to classes of the other faction or to those from other popular MMOs. For instance, in other games, a mage is a mage is a mage, regardless of what color she wears. In the Warhammer world, a Sorceress and a Bright Wizard will share little similarity expect for the fact that they’re both spell-slingers. In addition, it’s important to note that even the best healers are capable of doing considerable damage without having to either re-gear or re-spec.
Leveling in WAR is accomplished through both PvE and RvR, and is actually threefold – players will need to accumulate experience, renown, and influence for the best rewards and achievements. Experience earned from quests and mobs builds the player’s level, or rank. The PvE content is sorted by zones into level tiers. Tier 1 areas hold questing areas for ranks 1-11, tier 2 is for ranks 12-21, and so on. Level 40 is the maximum rank. New abilities are gained at each level, and players can begin to specialize within their Archetype at rank 11. Each Archetype offers spells and abilities from 3 different schools or paths, and players can gain Mastery of a certain path by specializing.
While leveling, players work their way through the Chapters of the WAR story as told in the Tome of Knowledge, an ingenious method for keeping track of all progress. The Tome holds all information on history, story, lore, quests (both active and complete), achievements, and enemies encountered.
Participation in Public Quests gains the player Influence which rewards consumables and gear at three different levels per Chapter. WAR’s system of grouping on the fly is especially convenient for PQs. Renown is earned through participation in RvR. There are renown-gear merchants scattered around the world and some of the best equipment is available from them.