Ironbreaker RvR Video Guide Tier 1

The following Warhammer RvR video is one of the best RvR guides I have seen.  In this video the narrator teaches you how to play you Ironbreaker.  He discusses in great length the value of positioning in RvR combat and what Ironbreaker abilities you should use and when.

Warrior Priest RvR Video Guide Tier 1

From the same person who did the Ironbreaker RvR Video Guide above, here is a Warrior Priest RvR Video Guide for Tier 1.  This Warhammer video does a great job explaining how a warrior priest should go between combat and healing.  I think that this is one of the hardest things about playing a warrior priest.  If you are struggling with this too, I think that this video will be a great warhammer rvr guide for you.

The warhammer bright wizard turns himself into fire and unleashes this deadly energy on his foes.  Using the Seven Keys, arcane talismans and firery spells, the Bright Wizard uses these powers to incinerate people.  Each of the Seven Keys gives the Bright Wizard more power and unique abilities.

This Warhammer class is the typical damage dealing spellcaster.  They have little to no defense, making them a very fragile target.  Because of such weak defense, they rely on their offense powers to kill before being killed.

Bright Wizard Career Masteries

The Warhammer Bright Wizard has three possible career masteries or paths.

• Path of Incineration
• Path of Immolation
• Path of Conflagration

If you like being the main damage dealer and a spellcaster, I think that you will like the Warhammer Online Bright Wizard.

I am really liking the moves that Mythic is taking to increase the participation in Open RvR combat.  I must admit that currently I am busy doing RvR scenarios because I can gain a lot more XP there than in Open RvR combat.  I think that Warhammer RvR combat will be better once more people are playing Warhammer Open RvR.

Here is the announcement from Mythic:

“With the addition of the new region-wide and RvR-wide chat channels we have seen a marked increase in Open RvR participation. In order to encourage this trend even further, we have made an additional adjustment to the experience awarded for killing enemy players in an Open RvR area. Previously we increased this amount by 50%. As of today, that bonus has been raised to 100%. With this change players killed in Open RvR will now be worth double the experience than those killed in scenarios!

As always, we will continue to monitor your feedback and work on ways to improve the RvR experience. More changes are coming, so be sure to stay tuned to the Warhammer Online Herald and monthly newsletter for the latest updates.

See you on the battlefield!”

Black Guard and Knight of the Blazing Sun Classes

Probably the most exciting addition for me is that the Black Guard class and the Knight of the Blazing Sun class will be a part of this update.  Mythic took these classes out of the initial playable classes prior to launch, but promised that they would be added back in.  Now we know that in December these classes will be playable.  I am especially excited about seeing the Knight of the Blazing Sun class.

Improved Game Performance

Jacobs has promised that Patch 1.1 will fix a lot of the crash to desktop issues that players have been experiencing as well as the stuttering video.  I really hope that this improved game performance will help me to have a better experience on my older computer.

Improved Mail System

If you have tried to use the Warhammer Online mail system you know how slow it can be.  Jacobs has said that this issue will be fixed in Patch 1.1.

Warhammer RVR Improvements

The Warhammer RVR improvements sound awesome.  Patch 1.1 will improve the RvR gear drops and add an RvR-influence system like that which exists for the PvE content.  It looks like this RvR-influence system will be for open RvR to encourage open RvR.  Additionally, there will be new rewards for participating in open RvR.  This is really necessary.  Scenarios are so easy to join that people chose to do them over the open RvR.

Warhammer Online Classes

Jacobs also says that the Warhammer Online classes are going to be fixed.  Now don’t freak out, because unlike most games, Mythic says that they are not going to nerf classes.  Instead, they are going to “buff” classes.  I hope that this is the case.

Warhammer Online Game Update 1.0.3 - October 15, 2008

Another eventful week is flying by here at the studio. As always the team has been working non-stop to bring you updates and make the game you love even better.

Tomorrow morning (10/15/085) at 6AM EDT all North American Servers will be coming down to begin the update to  version 1.0.3.!

Oceanic servers will follow at 9AM EDT, we anticipate all servers to be back online by 2PM EDT.

While these notes are subject to change they’ll give you a taste of what you have to look forward to as 1.0.3 approaches!

• We’re pleased to announce the addition of a new regional chat system. This item has been one of our most requested features, and you can find the details below.

• We have made additional improvements to the functionality of the /ignore command. This command should now work more consistently.

• A “new mail” icon has been added to the edge of the minimap to alert players when new mail messages have arrived.

• We have made some additional improvements to the handling of NPC speech and action text in an effort to reduce the amount of chat players see from NPCs.

• In order to provide a more challenging and rewarding experience, we have adjusted the overall speed at which players can gain control of zones and move the campaign.

• Pet behavior has been improved and should act more naturally when changing between passive and defensive modes while the pet is fighting multiple enemies.

• The war against the gold sellers continues! We have introduced a new “report gold seller” command that works as follows: when you type /rg, the game will automatically fill out a gold seller appeal using the name of the last player who sent you a tell. If you get an unwanted /tell from a pesky gold seller, type /rg to start an appeal and get them busted!

• We have added a new option to the user settings that will allow players to enable or disable shader caching. This is a graphical performance option, and for a full explanation, players can hover their mouse over this option in the user settings window. This should help improve performance on many systems.

Regional Chat System:

• Chapter-based chat channels have been replaced with a farther reaching chat system, referred to as Region Chat.  A region is defined as the contiguous zones that make up a tier-based racial pairing area.  For example, Blighted Isle and Chrace make up one region.  Region Chat consists of two channels, Region and Region-RvR.

• • Region encompasses the entire region area.
  • Region-RvR encompasses the RvR-focused areas, such as the Plain of Bone.

• How to use the Regional Chat System:

• • To type in the Region channel, use /1 [message]
  • To type in the Region-RvR channel, use /2 [message]
    Note: You must be in the RvR-focused region to use the Region-RvR channel.  Players on Open RvR servers will have access to Channel 2 at all times.
  • To disable these channels right click on the proper chat tab, go to “Tab Options” then “Filters.” Scroll down to Region and Region-RvR and uncheck the channels you no longer wish to view.
  • If you have disabled either channel and wish to re-enable them simply return to the “Filters” menu and re-select the appropriate channels.

• In order to ensure that the Apothecary skill remains a valuable crafting profession potions will no longer drop as frequently.

• Seeds for Cultivation will no longer drop as frequently throughout the world.

• Monsters should no longer disappear and then reappear when attacked at range by players.

• In some rare cases, the game would leave “ghost images” of NPCs who had moved away or de-spawned. As a result, players would see NPCs that were not actually there. We have taken steps to correct this issue, and players should see far fewer of these phantom NPCs.

• We fixed an issue that would sometimes cause monsters to break off in mid-combat and attempt to walk away.

• We have made some additional improvements to the pathing and behavior of monsters. These fixes should reduce pathing issues sometimes seen when pulling monsters at range.

• Nurglings will no longer continue to make aggressive sounds after they have been killed.

• Fixed a crash-issue that sometimes occurred when entering city dungeons.

• Fixed a crash that sometimes occurred when searching the Auction House.

• We have made some adjustments to the Hydra boss in the Sacellum dungeon to bring this encounter more in line with the original design and difficulty.

• Reduced the interaction time required to deploy a guild standard

• Reduced the interaction time required for players to pick up standards that they own. Please Note: This does not include the capturing of enemy standards.

• Capturing an enemy standard will now reward the capturing player and his nearby allies with renown.

• Players can no longer be queued for a scenario while they already have an invite pending to a different scenario.

• Attempting to join a scenario that has already ended will no longer send players to the character select screen.

• Renown gained from healing players was granting more renown than intended over long periods of time. Players who heal other players will still earn renown for aiding their friends in combat, but large heals or repeated heal-over-time spells will result in lesser renown gains than before.

• While going over the data collected for renown gained by healing, we discovered a few incorrect values that led to players earning far more renown than designed.  To ensure equal renown gains for players regardless of their chosen career and whether they group or not inside scenarios, we have made several adjustments to the way renown is granted from healing other players:

• • Earning renown from healing players was erroneously granting renown while outside of RvR.  This has been adjusted so getting renown for healing players outside of RvR or from a player that is not RvR flagged will occur less frequently.

• • Healing players will grant renown correctly if the healed player has earned renown from killing other players recently.

Warhammer Online Game Update 1.0.2 - October 8, 2008

The team here at Mythic has been busy this week making improvements and fixes based on your feedback to further enhance your gameplay experience. While these may change read on to check out the latest of these exciting updates coming to a server near you!

• The war against the gold spammers continues.  We’ve added new code that will hinder the spammers as they seek to carry out their nefarious deeds!  This is only the next step, not the final one, in our continued battle against them.
• We have added a ‘Join All’ button to the scenario window which now allows players to join all scenario queues in their current tier at once.
• In order to promote realm and population balance, some realms on some servers will now award their players with a +20% bonus to renown and experience. This is not a permanent bonus, but rather a temporary incentive to promote balance. Realms currently offering this bonus are marked on the server list with a colored icon; blue for Order and Red for Destruction - Check the Herald for the latest list!
• In response to player feedback, we have made several improvements to the behavior and responsiveness of the siege weapon interface. In addition we have fixed some issues with the control and release processes of siege weapons.
• In an ongoing effort to deter players from going AFK while in scenario starting areas, we have made the following changes:
  • First, players who join a scenario and remain in their realm’s spawn area for two minutes will be automatically removed from that scenario.
  • Second, upon entering the spawn area of a scenario, players will receive a debuff that prevents them from earning renown and experience. This debuff will be removed when the player leaves the spawn area.
• The level range at which players are able to receive the “Bolster” buff while in RvR has been expanded. This buff will now be available starting three levels lower than it had been previously. Please note this change only applies to Scenarios on Open-RvR Ruleset Servers.
  • In tier 2, the buff will apply from rank 8 to rank 17, and will raise players to Battle Rank 18.
  • In tier 3, the buff will apply from rank 18 to rank 27, and will raise players to Battle Rank 28.
  • In tier 4, the buff will apply from rank 28 to rank 35, and will raise players to Battle Rank 36.
• In response to player feedback, we’ve added RvR and NPC chat tabs for new players. These tabs filter scenario chat and NPC chat respectively. In order to minimize frustration to users who have already customized their chat window, we will not be overwriting any current settings, so this change will affect only new players. Players who wish to add these tabs may do so through the normal chat configuration options.

• While in scenarios, players will no longer be able to select “Need” in their loot windows unless their career or race can use the item being offered. Please note: players of a lower level than required by the item are still able to roll.
• We have fixed an issue that was causing claimed keeps to forget that they had been claimed after a server restart.

• Improvements have been made to how pets follow and they should now return to their owners more quickly.
• We continue to work on the issues with the pet window. We have identified and corrected another bug which was causing this window to disappear.
  Improvements have been made regarding an issue that was causing pets to teleport back to their owners after combat.
• Fixed a bug that prevented players from creating an alliance with more than two guilds. Now that this issue is resolved, alliances can grow to great numbers to crush their enemies!
• Fixed an issue that was causing the chat window to reset to its default position at logout.

• Ongoing improvements have been made to client and server stability.
• In order to deter players from spam-mailing, WAR continues to enforce a 5-second delay between sending mail messages. However, we have reduced this delay to 1 second for mails being sent to alts or guildmates.
• We have fixed an issue that was causing monsters to lose their aggression toward players in some rare cases.
• We have identified a small percentage of monsters in the game that were slightly less challenging than originally designed. We have adjusted the abilities of these monsters to bring them in line with their intended level of difficulty.
• Fixed an issue that was allowing players to change their tactics configuration during combat.

• We have made several fixes and improvements to the behavior of monsters and encounters in the Lost Vale dungeon. Access to this dungeon has been granted once more, and it should now provide an appropriately challenging experience for high-level players.

• Warlord Set Trinkets were missing their career requirements. Career requirements have been added to these items.

• In response to player feedback, we have made several improvements to the behavior and responsiveness of the siege weapon interface.
• The words in the chat tab labels will no longer disappear when players change the game’s graphical resolution.
• The chat window will no longer slide upward when being resized.
• Fixed some issues with the creation of chat tabs. Newly-created chat tabs should no longer continue beyond the border of the chat window.
• Players who interact with guild vaults while their inventory is full will no longer see items in the guild vault disappear.
• We have fixed an issue that was causing the game not to remember the chat prefix (/tell, /g, /wb), forcing players to retype it each time. The game should now correctly remember the chat prefix.
• Chat font settings will now save properly.
• Fixed an issue which was causing healers to lose targeting on a player who they just resurrected.
• A number of game actions and NPC and monster communications were being sent to players through the wrong chat channel. We have made several fixes relating to these issues.

• The pre-scenario countdown timer should now work properly once again.
• We have fixed an issue that was causing claimed keeps to forget that they had been claimed after a server restart.
• Players’ use of siege weapons will be no longer be interrupted when those players take damage.
• We have fixed an issue that was preventing players from opening the main door of a captured keep which belonged to their realm.

PR: wait… I: wait… L: wait… LD: wait… I: wait… wait… C: wait… SD: wait…

]]> http://warhammerarmy.com/warhammer-online-game-updates/feed/ http://warhammerarmy.com/warhammer-scenario-xp-guide/ http://warhammerarmy.com/warhammer-scenario-xp-guide/#comments Mon, 13 Oct 2008 23:53:06 +0000 Fred http://warhammerarmy.com/?p=33 Since there is so much confusion about how experience is earned in Warhammer Online Scenarios, I thought that I would write a Warhammer Scenario XP Guide.  This Warhammer Guide will explain how xp is calculated during PvP scenarios.

So here is how XP is gained in Warhammer Scenarios.

1. Kills give XP.  These can be your kills or your team’s kills.
2. If an opponent is killed that you or your team inflicted at least some damage on before they died, you and your team gains XP.  Therefore make sure that you hit as many people as you can.  AOE damage is great for this.
3. The XP gained by all of the players in your group is pooled and then distributed to each group member.
4. The XP that you gain is ratio’d to your level.  The higher your level the more XP you will get from your group’s pool of XP.
5. You get XP if your team wins a scenario.

If you know of any other factors that contribute to XP from Warhammer scenarios, please tell us about them in the comments below.  I will add them to this Warhammer scenario XP guide.

(Updated 10-10-08)

I have been playing a dwarf ironbreaker since Warhammer Age of Reckoning launched.  I thought that I would try to create a Warhammer Online Ironbreaker Guide as I learn more and more about my class.  This guide will discuss the Ironbreaker abilities, PVE advancement and most important PvP strategy and tips.

Who is the Warhammer Online Ironbreaker?

The Warhammer online ironbreaker is the warrior of the dwarf race.  The ironbreaker is the quintessential tank, who is ready to protect his allies in any battle.  The Warhammer ironbreaker is the dwarf damage soaker.

The ironbreaker is known for wearing gromril armor and yielding a huge axe or anvil.  The dwarf ironbreaker exemplifies the dwarf races.  As the ironbreaker is attacked each blow adds to his rage.  As the ironbreaker’s rage increases his attacks become greater and greater.

The Warhammer online ironbreaker, main goal is to protect his allies.  He stands between his army in the enemy’s army.  He must maintain the aggro of his enemies in order to protect his army from damage.  Warhammer online ironbreakers will perform best in the groups will be able to solo.  However, to solo fighting will probably be slow.

If your favorite class to play in an mmo is a tank, you’ll probably love to be a dwarf ironbreaker.  If your favorite race is a dwarf, this class will be the model for dwarf warriors.  The Warhammer online ironbreaker will certainly be a fun class to play.

Ironbreaker Abilities Guide

This section of the Warhammer Online Ironbreaker guide will provide an overview of the each of the abilities that Ironbreakers received as they go up in rank.  Each section will start with the basic description of each skill followed by a more in depth discussion on how best to use these skills.

Ironbreaker Abilities Ranks 1 - 10

NAME	RANK	COST	RANGE	CAST TIME	COOLDOWN	DESCRIPTION
Axe Toss Core	1	20 AP	5-65 ft	1s	None	A basic throwing attack that inflicts 10 damage to a severely wounded target if you are behind them.
Grudging Blow Path of Stone	1	30 AP	5 ft	Instant	None	A vicious attack that deals 15 damage, and causes monsters to hate to you much more than normal.
Flee Core	1	All AP	N/A	Instant	30s	You run away in a mad panic increasing your run speed by 30 for 10 seconds.
Oath Friend Core	1	None	160 ft	Instant	15s	You select a single ally to be your sworn Oath Friend. Each time they are attacked, you will gain 10 Grudges, and some of your abilities will affect them as well.
Vengeful Strike Path of Stone	2	None	5 ft	Instant	None	*Costs 10 Grudge*You strike your enemy for 15 damage and stubbornly push yourself to keep fighting, increasing your Toughness by 3 for 20 seconds. Your Oath Friend’s Toughness will also be increased if they are within 40 feet.
Guarded Attack Path of Brotherhood	3	35 AP	5 ft	Instant	None	You deal 15 damage to your target and prepare yourself for their attacks, increasing your armor by 24 for 20 seconds. Your Oath Friend’s armor will be increased if they are within 40 feet.
Binding Grudge Path of Vengeance	4	20 AP	5 ft	Instant	5s	*Improves with Grudge*You chop at your enemy’s legs, causing them to take 30 damage over 10 seconds and snaring them, reducing their run speed by 40%. With 25 Grudges: Damages for 48 damage over 10 seconds. With 50 Grudges: Damages for 72 damage over 10 seconds. With 75 Grudges: Damages for 90 damage over 10 seconds. With 100 Grudges: Damages for 114 damage over 10 seconds.
Grudge Unleashed Core	5	None	N/A	Instant	20s	*Costs 40 Grudge*You focus on your Grudges to ready yourself for action, restoring 75 AP.
Heavy Blow Path of Vengeance	5	35 AP	5 ft	Instant	None	You strike a crushing blow for 20 damage. With 25 Grudges: Damages for 12 damage over 12 seconds. With 50 Grudges: Damages for 18 damage over 12 seconds. With 75 Grudges: Damages for 24 damage over 12 seconds. With 100 Grudges: Damages for 33 damage over 12 seconds.
Shield of Reprisal Path of Stone	6	35 AP	5 ft	Instant	10s	*Requires Shield**Requires Block or Parry* A furious counterattack that deals 30 damage and will knock your target down for 3 seconds.
Taunt Core	7	20 AP	65 ft	Instant	15s	You enrage opponent, interrupting any currently building abilities and forcing monsters to attack you. While taunted your opponent will take 30% more damage from your attacks. This effect will fade after 15 seconds or after your opponent has hit you 3 times.
Shield Sweep Path of Stone	8	None	5 ft	Instant	10s	*Costs 30 Grudge**Requires Shield* You bring your shield around in a smashing hit, dealing 25 damage to your target and to up to two other enemies within 20 feet of them. You regain 10 Grudges for each additional target that you hit.
Demolishing Strike Morale	8	Rank 1 Morale	5 ft	Instant	60s	A powerful melee attack that reduces armor by 26 and deals 120 damage over 15 seconds.
Inspiring Attack Path of Brotherhood	9	35 AP	5 ft	Instant	5s	*Improves with Grudge* A brutal attack that deals 20 damage to your target and inspires you to push the attack, increasing your Strength by 3 for 20 seconds. Will also affect your Oath Friend if they are within 40 feet. With 25 Grudges: Also increases Willpower by 3. With 50 Grudges: Also increases Willpower by 6. With 75 Grudges: Also increases Willpower by 9. With 100 Grudges: Also increases Willpower by 12.
Guard Core	10	None	150 ft	Instant	None	*Only usable on other players*You defend one of your allies and try to take attacks meant for them. As long as you are within 30 feet of them, any damage that they suffer will be split evenly between the two of you, and 35% of all hate that they cause will be redirected to you.
Hold The Line! Core	10	20 AP/Sec	N/A	Instant	None	*Requires Shield* You focus your defenses against enemy fire, increasing your chances to dodge and disrupt by 45% for 12 seconds. You will also defend all allies behind you, up to 40 feet away, increasing their chances to dodge and disrupt by 15% as long as they remain at your back. Allies may have this effect stacked on them up to 3 times. This effect will end if you break your concentration, or run out of action points.

PR: wait… I: wait… L: wait… LD: wait… I: wait… wait… C: wait… SD: wait…

Ironbreaker Renown Rewards

Here is a list of the Renown rewards that Ironbreakers can look forward to.  The following lists are taken from WarDB using Renown level as a requirement. Click on the category link to go directly to the search results in WarDB.

Weapon | Renown | Rank
Axe of Reprisal | 2 | 2
Waraxe of Reprisal | 2 | 2
Militia Axe | 2 | 4
Militia Waraxe | 2 | 4
Axe of Vengeance | 5 | 8
Waraxe of Vengeance | 5 | 8
Axe of Dominion | 9 | 14
Waraxe of Dominion | 9 | 14
Axe of Conquest | 13 | 19
Waraxe of Conquest | 13 | 19
Sentry Axe | 16 | 24
Sentry Waraxe | 16 | 24
Echelon Axe | 20 | 29
Echelon Waraxe | 20 | 29
Martial Axe | 23 | 34
Martial Waraxe | 23 | 34
Vanguard Axe | 27 | 39
Vanguard Waraxe | 27 | 39

Shield | Renown | Rank
Defender of Reprisal | 2 | 2
Militia Defender | 2 | 4
Defender of Vengeance | 5 | 8
Defender of Dominion | 9 | 14
Defender of Conquest | 13 | 19
Sentry Defender | 16 | 24
Echelon Defender | 20 | 29
Martial Defender | 23 | 34
Vanguard Defender | 27 | 39

Armor: Shoulders | Renown | Rank
Ironmantle of Dominion | 9 | 13
Ironmantle of Conquest | 12 | 18
Sentry Ironmantle | 16 | 24
Echelon Ironmantle | 20 | 29
Martial Ironmantle | 23 | 34
Devastator Ironmantle | 25 | 28
Vanguard Ironmantle | 27 | 39

Armor: Body | Renown | Rank
Klad of Reprisal | 2 | 2
Militia Klad | 3 | 5
Klad of Vengeance | 6 | 9
Klad of Dominion | 9 | 14
Klad of Conquest | 14 | 20
Sentry Klad | 17 | 25
Echelon Klad | 21 | 30
Martial Klad | 24 | 35
Vanguard Klad | 28 | 40

Armor: Gloves | Renown | Rank
Irongaunts of Reprisal | 2 | 2
Militia Irongaunts | 2 | 3
Irongaunts of Vengeance | 4 | 7
Irongaunts of Dominion | 8 | 12
Irongaunts of Conquest | 11 | 17
Sentry Irongaunts | 15 | 22
Obliterator Irongaunts | 16 | 18
Echelon Irongaunts | 18 | 27
Martial Irongaunts | 22 | 32
Devastator Irongaunts | 24 | 27
Vanguard Irongaunts | 25 | 37

Armor: Boots | Renown | Rank
Militia Steadkeeps | 1 | 2
Steadkeeps of Reprisal | 2 | 2
Steadkeeps of Vengeance | 4 | 6
Steadkeeps of Dominion | 7 | 11
Steadkeeps of Conquest | 11 | 16
Sentry Steadkeeps | 14 | 21
Echelon Steadkeeps | 18 | 26
Martial Steadkeeps | 21 | 31
Vanguard Steadkeeps | 25 | 36

Armor: Helm | Renown | Rank
Greathelm of Dominion | 11 | 16
Greathelm of Conquest | 13 | 19
Sentry Greathelm | 16 | 23
Echelon Greathelm | 19 | 28
Martial Greathelm | 23 | 33
Vanguard Greathelm | 26 | 38

Armor: Belt | Renown | Rank
Kladgird of Reprisal | 2 | 2
Militia Kladgird | 2 | 4
Kladgird of Vengeance | 5 | 8
Kladgird of Dominion | 8 | 12
Kladgird of Conquest | 11 | 17
Sentry Kladgird | 15 | 22
Echelon Kladgird | 18 | 27
Martial Kladgird | 22 | 32
Vanguard Kladgird | 25 | 37

The High Elves were also first to take up arms against the Chaos armies.  The battle that they first defended against still is ongoing today.  Without these early High Elves, this war might already be lost.  However, through their heroic defence the Armies of Order live to fight on and save the world from the Armies of Destruction.

The High Elves are cool, calm and collected.  By always being in control the Warhammer Online High Elves have been a steady force against the invading Chaos hordes.  However, it is not always easy for high elves to maintain this self control.  They also have a violent streak that constantly pulls at them.

Because of this self control, High Elves have been able to control their minds and excel in the art of magic.  The Mages of Ulthuan are deadly with their magic powers. The High Elves are comprised of the following Warhammer Online classes,

• Swordmaster
• Archmage
• Shadow Warrior
• White Lion

The history of the Warhammer Online High Elves is deep and complex.  They are fundamental to the world of Warhammer and are a force to be reckon with.

Path of Da Brawler - DPS Focused

The Black Orc Path of Da Brawler mastery path is all about increasing DPS.  This career mastery is all about more melee damage.  Hack and slash harder and faster.

Path Of Da Toughest - Defense Focused

Ok, the Warhammer Online Black Orc is all about damage, but this career mastery gives you the ability to better defend yourself.  So while it is fun to hack and slash, it is smart to carry a shield.  You can’t brag about your adventures if you are dead.

Path Of Da Boss - Buff focused

If you are interested in helping your group out, this Black Orc career path will help you to rally them.  Through your shouts, yells and encouragements, you can make your group better.

So far it seems like most people are leaning towards to the Path of Da Brawler career mastery.  However, one of the fascinating things about MMORPGs is how player opinion evolves.  I am sure that throughout the life of Warhammer Online each one of these Warhammer Online Black Orc career masteries will be the preferred path at one time or another.