Heavy Metal is on the way to Warhammer Online, but don't break out your Slayer tshirt and denim just yet my friend. In just a few short weeks a Live Event will engage players in a series of quests to unlock two brand new classes, Knights of the Blazing Sun and Black Guards. While there will be no mosh pit, you'll find mobs of people running around in a brand new scenario instance called The Reikland Factory. Ten Ton Hammer caught up with Associate Producer Mark Davis who gave us a backstage pass and talked about what went into the creation of Heavy Metal and what players can expect.
A Great Reward Awaits
What is Heavy Metal all about? While Mythic presented an overview recently Mark graciously gave us a rundown. Very soon players will log in one day to see an extra tab in their Tome of Knowledge which indicates a Live Event. Much like the recent Witching Night after a brief explanation there will be an influence bar providing a series of rewards based on your level of participation. The rewards seem not only promising but truly unique.
%26quot;The very first reward you'll get is a unique trophy that is only going to be available during this event and will go away forever. The Advanced Reward is a unique cloak with stats which are defensive in nature and have a unique ability on it. The Knight of Blazing Sun is a golden scale and very iridescent which is reminiscent of this class. For Destruction it's a Cold One scale cloak with an inner lining of chainmail. The ultimate unlock is of course the unlocking of these two classes a week early.%26quot;
This is only the beginning however as there are also a series of %26quot;day tasks%26quot; which will provide one time opportunities to complete these quests. Many of the objectives will take place in a scenario called the Reikland Factory specially built for this event which allows any character level to participate. With only a 24 hour period to complete each it sounds like players will have plenty of motivation to log in but what lessons did Mythic take away from the most recent Withing Night event?
%26quot;The Witching Night was an open ended event whereas Heavy Metal is daily task oriented and could be done at any time. It's not an exact comparison but we did take away that we were correct in a few assumptions. Tracking it in the Tome and the NPC's in the city were both very successful and players just really seemed to enjoy the event. %26quot;
The crown jewel in Heavy Metal is the Reikland Factory scenario which will absorb characters of all tiers and even house daily task objectives for players to complete. While this may sound like many of the other scenarios like Mourkain Temple or Tor Anroc nothing could be further from the truth. Funneling everyone into instanced scenarios should provide some of the largest scale conflicts Warhammer Online have seen to date.
This Will be a Hotspot
While the scenario won't contribute to the normal campaign it will place everyone in their own tier which could mean you level 31's won't find a group of timid level 20's to bully anymore. Mark also mentions in the past they've been very hands-off in terms of content inside a scenario, but Reikland Factory has changed all that. For instance, one task players will perform requires them to detonate Steam Tank ammunition providing a huge knockback effect and should not only excite but entertain participants.
%26quot;It is an Empire heavy scenario and is very important because it's where all their war machines are made. This factory itself creates the Steam Tank which is a very heavy metal item,%26quot; Mark jokes, %26quot;It's also important because in these events, when we're looking at them, we try and craft for every style of gameplay that you might be interested in. Whether it's Tome unlocks, PvE, or scenario or open RvR we want something for everyone to enjoy.%26quot;
%26quot;As for the daily tasks, we had a few goals we wanted to hit and players are probably anxious to know this information. Number one, all these tasks are soloable so if you are by yourself or with a group you will be able to do these. They can be done by any level, so for instance one of the quests which begin inside the Reikland Factory will require you to scout the objectives in the scenario. These are very simple and straight forward. They also need to be done in under an hour because we recognize this is coming out during the holidays when not everyone may have a whole lot of time to play. We also wanted to vary them so they highlighted some of our most exciting game play elements.
Finally, we wanted to get Mark's opinion on the two new classes and what kind of impact he thought more melee would have in battles. As a professed Engineer he's not excited to have more people chasing him for killing their healers, but recognizes the Knight of the Blazing Sun and Blackguard will enhance the PvE and RvR experience of the game. Look for that Dwarf Engineer who keeps killing your Disciple of Khaine, Mark may be at the other end of that rifle.
While he couldn't provide us any specifics there were promises of more events early next year and well into the future for Warhammer Online. Heavy Metal has the potential to be one giant extended PvP orgy which will provide a wealth of experience, renown, and most importantly fun. We thank Mark Davis and Mythic for their time and look forward to throwing them back by detonating some Steam Tank ammunition later this month.