By Dashiel Nemeth, Designer – Warhammer Online: Age of Reckoning
When designing careers, we have a couple of really critical objectives. These
start with character – the look, feel, and background of the career – and also
encompass style and accessibility, which will make or break the experience of
playing it. In essence, the career has got to be both cool and fun, and that’s
no simple undertaking. To do this, we’ve established the character of each
career, along with the essential elements of its function or role, and then
built towards the middle, creating the entire package as a result.
With Black Orcs this wasn’t too tough. The miniatures are awesome, the art is
intense, and in the end it’s a Black Orc and there’s a lot we know about them
just from that, so character is a synch. Looking at his function, a few things
are also obvious: He hurts people however he can manage, he uses weapons, even
if those are his fists and tusks, and he’s also damn tough to kill. Square this
up with our need to create a powerful Greenskin tank, and everything starts to
come together just as nice as you please.
With the Ironbreaker we had somewhat less to work with – the visuals were
great, but at a glance his character seemed to be almost generic to dwarfs. It’s
become clear however that we’d got it backwards – the Ironbreaker isn’t like
every other Dwarf, every other Dwarf is like him! Thus, we elected to focus on
making him the essential dwarf. Capturing the qualities of sturdiness,
steadfastness, and honor above all, we built a stout dwarfen defender who can
hold a grudge like nobody’s business, and we dovetailed those concepts with
mechanics that filled the role.
Careers – Black Orc
“Now den, some times what da boyz need is a lad what can take a beating, and
beat back! Dey need a lad wif a serious pair of tusks! Dem needs a Black Orc!”
- Grumlok, Orc Warboss on Strategy
"Da bigger da Orc, da stronger da Orc. Da stronger da Orc, da more dat's
Orc's da boss. No wonder da Black Orcs is always da bosses!"
- Splinta, a Goblin in the Bloody Sun Boyz tribe
Armed and armored to fight in the thick of melee as a warrior and tanker, the
Black Orc matches physical hardiness with a down and dirty brawler’s fighting
style to make himself the heart of any war band. With choppa and shield in hand,
he can face down any foe unshaken, and his unique approach to fighting makes him
as deadly with his fists as with either of those tools. He’ll knock you down so
you can’t fight back, and then kick you while you’re down, because there’s no
honor among Greenskins, and there’s no such thing as a fair fight – and that’s
the way he likes it!
The Black Orc Specialty
The Black Orc’s fighting style might best be described as brawling. He attacks
with all the tools available – fists, feet, elbows, shoulders, and assorted
other spiky bits, notably including weapons. His various attacks are designed to
jar, disorient, or otherwise disable his enemy, and each of these conditions
makes the enemy vulnerable to yet more punishment, in the form of other attacks
which deliver additional effects based on the target’s condition. The Black
Orc’s use of these tools revolves around the philosophy that the best defense is
indeed a good offense.
Playing as a Black Orc
Combat for a Black Orc revolves around engaging and defeating enemies one at a
time, while weathering the fire of their allies. As a front line fighter, the
Black Orc is well equipped to withstand the attacks of his enemies, protected by
shield and armor, and possessing a hearty constitution, but his greatest
strength lies in his ability to disable his primary opponent with jarring blows
and unexpected attacks, and then exploit the openings that creates to reduce the
enemy’s ability to fight back.
Fighting Black Orcs
When you fight a Black Orc it’s most important to know your enemy and his
abilities, so that you can counter them and keep him from reaching the potential
of his deadly power. He will always have the tools to engage you, so there’s
little sense in trying to get around him, but if you’re aware of his abilities –
especially the multiple attacks he can chain off of one another – you can
maneuver and use your own abilities to break up his chains, denying him maximum
performance. Maneuver, selective engagement, and knowledge of the enemy are key.
The Black Orc Look
- Fully armored in heavy armor (with lots of spikes)
- Large very heavy shields (also with lots of spikes)
- Choppas and great choppas (with spiky bits stuck on)
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