Order Strikes Back: Archmage

The winds of magic blow strongly in the Warhammer world, unfortunately, they blow straight from the Realms of Chaos, making one of Order's strongest weapons incredibly risky to wield. The magic of Warhammer is dangerous and unpredictable, and puts the very soul of the user in dire peril. Reach too far, and your soul will be devoured by the very Gods of Chaos themselves. Nor is the study of magic a simple task, even the most talented Bright Wizard requires a life time of study to truly master the Path of Flame, and that is only one of the eight winds of magic.

The True Power of the winds of magic, however, lies not in their separation, but in their combination. Qhaysh, the magic of the High Elven Archmage, represents the pinnacle of mortal magical might and combines the powers of all eight winds into one, pure, uncorrupted force.

Of all the sorcerers in the Warhammer World, only the High Elven Archmages, and the enigmatic Slann Lords of Lustria, have ever managed to conjure this awesome, and nigh unstoppable power. Such is the might of High Magic, that it can move mountains, separate the seas, destroy entire armies, and even slow the flow of time itself.

Such is the skill of the Archmage that he need not fear his own magic turning against him at an inopportune moment, his control over his art is absolute. Indeed, such is the power and purity of his magic that his soul has nothing to fear from the Chaos Gods, his magic is beyond even their corrupting powers.

The very essence of the Archmage is balance, interweaving the positive and negative forces at his command into a single harmonious mastery of life and death, allowing him to simultaneously bring death to his enemies and life to his allies, single-handedly turning the tide of battle.

Choose the path of the Archmage and you will no doubt become one of the greatest magi who has ever walked the face of the Warhammer World. You will be able rain down the ancient and powerful High Magic upon your foes, and bring your allies back from the very brink of death itself.

It is true that there are others who wield magic of similar power to your own: the Dark Elven Sorceresses, the Magi of Chaos. But remember this: theirs is the power of darkness and corruption, bought at the price of an eternity of unquestioning servitude and despair.

So when you stand against the Forces of Destruction, remember that your magic was not bought, it was earned. Your true power stems not from the Powers of Chaos, but from your own wisdom, inner strength, and force of will.

Stormcrow

"While Lesser races must study magic in its corrupted broken form, our Mages harness its power as pure mystical energy. Our minor spells, those Lores taught to the humans by mighty Teclis, are but a pale reflection of the power that can be wielded by an Asur fully trained in the magical arts of the White Tower."

- Loremaster Haydrel, Archmage of the White Tower

Order Strikes Back: Introduction

Destruction junkies are everywhere! I'm sure you've seen the polls, read the forum posts, and generally heard the rumblings of distant thunder when it comes to Population Imbalance. While it's probably too early to tell (but not too early to theorize!) if any one side will severely outnumber the other, it is pretty plain to see that Mythic is really hyping up Destruction.

Debate all you want, if you saw the same Cinematic Trailer I did, you know exactly what I'm talking about. So I think it's time for some counter-hype. That's right, it's time for a little Order Strikes Back...

In this recurring section, "Order Strikes Back," I'm going to highlight a few of Order's greatest Heroes, and explain exactly why Order is just as tenacious, unyielding, and undeniably awesome as the forces of Destruction.

Oh, and we manage it while outnumbered and surrounded. 60 : 40? Good odds for any Spartan, am I right?

Good luck, Destruction, you're going to need it.

Stormcrow

Order vs. Overpowered Demi-Gods of Untouchable Awesome (Destruction)

Heh, sorry for the inflammatory title... made ya look! I've talked to a lot of people, asking them their opinions on the Order vs. Chaos match-up. A year ago, when I introduced my roommates to the game, the first thing I did was show them the Cinematic Trailer.

The comments were as follows:

"Wow, that retarded orc that slammed into the wall at the beginning? Totally you, James."
*retarded grin* "Yup, or the guy firing the retarded one into the wall, cause I'm wily like that."

Greenskin vs. Dwarf:
"Wow, never seen a Dwarf like that, he's kinda cool. Think I might play that."
"He's not in the game, they scrapped him."
"Lameyndor (a hybrid of the words Lame and Gryffindor. Before you ask: I have no idea.)

Dark Elf vs. High Elf Fight:
"Is that hottie dual wielding? Oh my God, did she just deflect magic with her swords? Class found."

At the Chaos Chosen Entrance:
"Dear God, what is that thing?"
"That can't be human..."
"I'm changing my class from dual wielding hottie to whatever that hulking piece of awesome is...."
"That priest is about to get rocked."
"Dude, you always think evil's going to win."
"Yeah, cause they do."

At the Chaos Chosen getting his first hits in:
"Told you, that priest is screwed."
"Not over yet, that guy's weapon is on FIYAHHH!"

At the glowing eyes and burning weapon:
"Nice!"
"Oh Schnap."
"What now negative Nancy? What now?
"He's still going to lose... if he doesn't that's such a copout."
"Dude, that priest is totally you."

I, of course, had already seen the trailer. I laughed and said, "More than you know."

At this point the Chosen knees the Warrior-Priest in the gut, and pounds his face in:
"Wow, I totally meant that when I thought you were going to win..."
"Didn't see that one coming..."
"Called that shit..."
"Really... who isn't going to play that?"

*sheepish grin*

"Wow, you totally want us to play Order don't you."
"Um well, that'd be cool..."
"No, not cool, man."
"Don't play with my emotions like that... really. Behemoth of Ungodly Amazing, or guy with broken face, hmm..."
"Party foul, for real."

All humor aside, these guys are Gamer and MMO veterans (most of them hardcore power-gamers), and even they were swayed by the undeniable awesomeness factor of Destruction, and I'm sure many more will be as well.

Games Workshop and by extension Mythic has gone out of their way to say, "Order is in dire straights. Chaos' victory is inevitable."

But, in a way there's also some massive underdog appeal from the side of Order, very reminiscent of Lord of the Rings, Zulu, or 300. Just from a lore perspective, it's cool to think that even though you're outnumbered, surrounded on all sides, you won't give up. I'm reminded of this quote from 300 (forgive the cheesiness):

"The world will know that free men stood against a tyrant, that few stood against many, and before this battle was over, even a god-king can bleed."

I know a lot of people watch that Trailer and say, "Wow, that's OP. No duh, everyone's going to be Destruction." But I look at it like this, "Wow, now I've got something worth fighting for."

Stormcrow

Population Poll and Analysis at Greenskin!

The guys over at Greenskin! released this poll they garnered over at the Warhammer Alliance Forums. It's some pretty interesting stuff, and if you haven't seen it yet, I suggest you go take a look. It paints a pretty interesting picture of what might happen come release time.

You can check out that poll here:

Class Poll

Discuss here:

Forum Thread Warhammer Alliance

Now I should caution you that this is merely speculation at this point, as we can be pretty sure that the players who are active this early in the game's development (aka before release) are not a completely reliable representation of Warhammer Online's final population.

There is a lot of Theorycrafting (uh oh, WoW reference) going on, and while these numbers are not representative of the whole population, I think the author makes several solid points. For example, I think they are exactly right in saying that it seems the developers are hyping Destruction a great deal more than Order. I'm not going to lie to you, I'm a hardcore Order fan, but even I drool over the models for some the Destruction Classes (eg: Black Guard, Chosen).

But anyway, get on over there, look it over, and add your own two-cents!

Stormcrow